Milton Magazine, Fall 2013 by Milton Academy

fall 2013

Choose to Care

fe atures CHOOSE TO C A R E

Principled, Indefatigable and Charming, Jack Reardon ’56 Helps Harvard and Milton Make Headway

Common Sense and Core Values Drive Edgy Business Decisions

A student during the 1950s, Jack Reardon ’56 has guided two rooted and resilient institutions across old boundaries to adopt and even embrace change.

by Cathleen D. Everett

6 12 The Goal Is Having Fun at the 92nd Street Y José Ortiz ’99, director of the teen center and 92nd Street Y after-school programs, says that his days really ramp up around 2:30 p.m., when children and teenagers from nearby schools start pouring in. by Liz Matson

When Nai Ko ’00 joined his family’s company, he had already decided that conventional retail car sales was not going to work for him. Fully committed to the family business, Ko Automotive Group, Nai broke new ground. by Erin Berg

21 24

Dogged Pursuit, Tactical Focus and Taking the Long View

Living in the Active Voice: Things Don’t Just Happen. People Do Things.

Brina Milikowsky ’96 works in the face of intimidating odds to promote Michael Bloomberg’s gun-control coalition, Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Aiming to develop thoughtful, confident leaders, administrators take stock of what they see on the ground, and make adjustments that they hope will make important differences for students and the faculty who advise them.

by Peter Smith ’00

18 21 Wendy Millet ’86 Believes That Understanding Connections— Land, Animals and People—Is Transformative “Horse” was the first word that Wendy Millet ’86 ever spoke, according to family legend. This beginning could not have been more fitting. by Ryan Eshoff and Wendy Millet ’86

by Cathleen D. Everett

depar tment s 54 In•Sight

On Centre News and notes from the campus and beyond

65 Class Notes

76 2

Post Script A Bowl of Eggs

Across the Quad

by Rob Radtke ’82

38 Head of School Milton’s Culture Is Rooted in the Faculty by Todd B. Bland

Editor Cathleen Everett

39 Sports The Outdoor Program by Liz Matson

34 27 What They Think

Associate Editors Erin Berg Liz Matson

Service Yields More Than the Predictable Rewards

Faculty Perspective

Photography Erin Berg, Kendall Chun, Michael Dwyer, John Gillooly, Akintola Hanif, Liz Matson, Glenn Matsumura, Greg White

Frighted by False Fire: A 14-Minute Talk on Money for Class I, May 7, 2013

Design Moore & Associates Front cover by Stoltze Design

At Milton, community service is a choice, not a requirement. Every week more than 250 students use their free periods to volunteer in over 30 different organizations in the Greater Boston area.

by Tarim Chung, Chair, English Department

by Liz Matson

Milton Magazine is published twice a year by Milton Academy. Editorial and business offices are located at Milton Academy, where change-ofaddress notifications should be sent.

As an institution committed to diversity, Milton Academy welcomes the opport unity to admit academically qualified students of any gender, race, color, handicapped status, sexual orientation, religion, national or ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally available to its students. It does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, handicapped status, sexual orientation, religion, national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship programs, and athletic or other school-administered activities.

Graduates’ Weekend 2013

Printed on Recycled Paper

New Evaluation Dynamics Get Results: K–8 Early Adopters React

Four students revisit the prospect and the reality of choosing to lead.

Milton’s Strategic Plan prioritizes student experience, and that leads directly to building a top-notch community of educators.

by Cathleen D. Everett

by Liz Matson

43 Commencement 2013

across the quad Pure Ella

5 Albums

usic moves us–it excites, inspires and soothes us. Music opens doors to new ways of thinking and feeling. At first pass, some music just sounds like noise, but our tastes can expand. Ultimately, we gravitate toward genres of music that speak to us. These five albums are list leaders in each of the genres that I rely upon, for listening and singing, for enjoyment and sustenance. By Mike Kassatly, Math Department

Thriller Few people miss out on popular music; it’s aptly named. It’s accessible—catchy melodies and steady, rhythmic beats—and it provides useful distraction. Michael Jackson’s Thriller, a smashing success in 1982, is 2 Milton Magazine

quintessential pop. The album is ubiquitous, and several songs still play frequently. The video for “Thriller” is iconic. When “Beat It” plays at a wedding, everyone jumps up to the dance floor. If “Billie Jean” plays during a car ride, you can’t help but sing along. Popular music brings us together. A medium for social interaction, it gives us cultural currency and permission to let our guards down.

To focus on jazz vocals might seem to counter the heart of jazz. Yet singer Ella Fitzgerald’s jazz sensibility is unmatched, and Pure Ella highlights her extraordinary versatility. The first track, “Mack the Knife,” is a playful tribute to Louis Armstrong, something few jazz vocalists dare attempt. On “They Can’t Take That Away from Me,” Ella sings alongside Armstrong and the real fun begins when they harmonize in the third verse, trading contributions, each feeding off the smooth embellishments of the other. “Misty” features Ella’s silky melodic voice, unadulterated. “Blue Skies” opens in similar fashion and then Ella seamlessly transitions into a phenomenal sequence of scat singing. All 18 tracks are easy on the ear and oozing with creativity. She reigns gently on her band, as they follow her intuitive lead through melodic and rhythmic improvisations, harmonic changes, and interludes of lyrical anomalies.

Blue Folk music is introspective, frequently exploring lost love and political unrest. Writing or performing folk songs can be cathartic, and listening can be a comfort. Joni Mitchell’s Blue carried me through my first heartbreak. The soul-bearing lyrics assured me that I was not alone. The free-flowing melodies helped me release myself from the grip of my emotions, to redirect my passion into music, to trust my voice and sing without fear or tension. Simple in composition, the creativity of Joni Mitchell’s vocals and well-executed balance of piano or guitar accompaniment sustain the poignancy of this album through decades of listening.

Haydn, String Quartets (Op. 33), Quatuor Mosaiques Chamber music activates the intellect, as the interplay between instruments simulates a wellformed conversation, like the dialogue of a Shakespearian play. Lacking words, it is by nature abstract and open to interpretation, to whatever meaning the performer and listener assign. When I need an escape from the day’s worries, but also need to work efficiently at home, I listen to Joseph Haydn’s String Quartets.

Proportioned and constructed with light, playful melodies, String Quartet in D Major (Op. 33, No. 6) quickly becomes familiar to the ear, while the complexity of the harmonies and balanced composition ensures that the listening experience is always fresh. The mathematical form promotes clear thinking and sustained focus, and the playful melodies reduce stress and encourage creativity. All the better if you can listen when you don’t have pressing work, as your mind can focus on the intricate fabric woven by the four instruments.

Josquin Desprez, Missa Pange Lingua, The Tallis Scholars Sacred choral music moves me in a way that no other music can. Whether singing or listening, I achieve a freedom from thoughts and worries that is rare and uplifting. I lose myself and feel a sense of belonging to something much greater. For a truly transcendent listening experience, I recommend Missa Pange Lingua by Josquin Desprez. Each movement opens with a mesmerizing melismatic duet. Voices join to form a polyphonic wave that sweeps the listener into an ethereal ocean of meditation. In the Credo, the polyphony pauses, yielding to an intensely intimate measured homophony depicting the incarnation of the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary. Whether or not you are Christian, the import of Josquin’s belief is undeniable in this moment. Finally, in the Agnus Dei, layered beneath the sustained, delicate praise is the palpable pleading of each individual voice, building to a chorus, representing all of humanity, calling for an end to our suffering.

senior projects

s an idea, Senior Projects seems to have emerged from the fog of the late ’60s and early ’70s. Having made their way proposal writing, finding faculty sponsors, and earning a thumbs-up from overseers, students are free to immerse themselves in something totally different for their final five weeks at Milton. They expand an area of interest, like composing music; or take on a challenge, like building a boat; or try something completely new, like creating a movie. During two days just before graduation, students present their projects—performances, slide shows, installations, lectures and papers. Underclassmen and faculty anticipate and then attend, in venues all over campus. The spring projects that follow reflect the diversity of explorations by the Class of 2013. Liam McNeil ’13

Liam McNeil interned at Stewie’s Auto & Tire Repair in Randolph, Massachusetts. On a typical day, the garage dealt with fluid leaks, squeaky brakes, broken ACs, dead batteries, and “check engine” lights. On his first day, Liam cleaned up a beatup car and learned how to change a flat. He eventually progressed to oil changes and replacing spark plugs, and observed more-complicated procedures, such as fuel system repairs. “My idea was inspired by my grandfather, who owned an auto body shop. I am planning on a career in pharmacy, but I’ve always wanted to learn how to work on cars. I hope to be able to restore cars as a hobby when I am older, and just being able to help out my friends and family with their car problems will be rewarding. The whole project opened my eyes to the skill involved in auto repair, and I am much more appreciative of what mechanics do.”

Skye Russell ’13 Skye Russell’s art installation titled “Beautiful Minds” was displayed in the Arts and Media Center. Her work featured paintings, sculptures and three-dimensional pentagonal spheres relating to the mind.

“Part of my inspiration stemmed from the movie A Beautiful Mind about a schizophrenic man who had a mind that allowed him to see unusual patterns. My recent experiences working with students with learning disabilities, ADHD and students on the autism spectrum, also allowed this idea to take flight. Tutoring is a large part of my life and has greatly influenced my artwork. I know from my own personal experience that having a learning disability can be very stigmatizing, and I believe that having a mentor, seeing success in others, can help build confidence.”

Liane Thornhill ’13 Liane Thornhill’s project also explored learning as well as physical disabilities, culminating in a performance in the Studio Theater titled “We’re All Superheroes: A Theatrical Exploration of our Differences.” “In my project, I was exploring the art of documentary theater, an art form that I fell in love with after I learned about the actress and playwright Anna Deavere Smith in my performing English class. My topic was Americans with disabilities, and I conducted interviews with people with physical, neurological or emotional disabilities. All of my interviews were amazing experiences, but I narrowed down my performance to five people, including an 18-year-old female with epilepsy and a mother of a son who is nonverbal. I loved doing this project and putting on the performance.”

Jon Esty ’13, Evan Garnick ’13 and Caleb Warren ’13 These three seniors spent hours playing seven different German-style board games multiple times, and then analyzing each game for its degree of strategy, luck, balance and fun. While American board games, such as Monopoly or Life, rely on luck and a strong emphasis on individual play, German-style games, such as Settlers of Catan, are known for a mixture of collaborative and confrontational strategy that requires working with one’s opponents to be successful. Drawing on their research, the boys also developed a proposal for a board game of their own design. “One of my earliest game memories is playing Settlers of Catan with family friends who had just translated the scarcely known game from German,” says Caleb. “As I watched the game’s popularity explode in the U.S., I continued to learn two to three new German-style games every year. Because the games are so interactive, a player’s strategy has to be adaptive in response to certain moves others players make. This fascinates me, and led me toward wanting to study these German-style games and then create a game with Evan and Jon.”

Fall 2013 3

4 Milton Magazine

Choose to care â&#x20AC;&#x153;You can count on the fact that some people in the class will just step up,â&#x20AC;? one student told us, during an interview. Adults might make the same observation about people in their lives. Why do some people take initiative rather than stand by? Why do some people take ownership for the direction weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re headed, or seem to understand the need to make choices, create outcomes, and carry a project to the next level? Milton students learn quickly that they are in charge of their own lives and their learning. They can and do make choices that affect themselves and others, every day. The Harkness table, the field, the dorm and the stage represent opportunities to experience what happens when an individual does, or does not, take responsibility. In this issue, we track alumni who have unflinchingly made commitments to people, ideas, institutions or values. They have invested deeply in endeavors that matter, moved the needle forward, and gained personal fulfillment in the process. At Milton, administration, faculty and students talk about cultivating the disposition toward accepting responsibility, and the transformative experience that follows when you choose to care.

Fall 2013 5

Jack Reardon ’56

Principled, Indefatigable and Charming, Jack Reardon ’56 Helps Harvard and Milton Make Headway

uring the last half-century, both Milton Academy and Harvard University have counted on a single alumnus— Jack Reardon, Milton 1956 and Harvard 1960—to be alert at the hub, both hubs. Jack has profoundly influenced the recent histories of both schools at the infrastructure level. He has affected fundamentals: issues that determine what these institutions can achieve; how they can weather danger and damage; and how aggressively they can or should aspire to new goals. Reliably congenial, Jack is also rigorously attentive to standards. More aware than most people about what might be practical or impractical, he nonetheless always asks, “What’s right”? A student during the 1950s, he has guided two rooted and resilient institutions across old boundaries to adopt and even embrace change. “I’ve always been able to do different things in different areas, and was able to make a difference, I think,” says Jack, “with individuals, mostly.” Having earned his M.B.A. from the Wharton School at Penn after Harvard, Jack had a real political experience at the center of the dynamic Boston Redevelopment Authority as Boston approached large-scale urban renewal. Jack was hired by Ed Logue, who was development administrator, and he was to report to Kane Simonian, who was tenured and held the titles of executive director and secretary of the authority. The political situation at that time meant that these two men did not work well together. While Jack was not able to change the relationship, he says that both men gave him a positive experience, and they remained Jack’s friends for life.

6 Milton Magazine

A student during the 1950s, he has guided two rooted and resilient institutions across old boundaries to adopt and even embrace change.

Fall 2013 7

The Orange and Blue, 1956

“Jack subordinates his own ego to serve others and the institution,” Michael Murr says. “He has a role in so many important decisions and you rarely see his hand.”

While at the Authority, Jack would also visit local schools for Harvard admissions, already interested in students’ lives and their options for the future. When Fred Glimp invited Jack to join Harvard’s admissions staff in 1965, at an annual salary of $9,000, Jack reasoned, “If I didn’t accept the job, I’d probably always make just a bit too much money to be able to live on that income.” His decision to join Harvard’s staff launched 12 years of work based in the admissions office, but not limited to it. “I lived in the yard and proctored,” Jack says, “then became residential dean at Kirkland House. I enjoyed it all.” “Jack goes five steps beyond the call of duty,” says Bill Fitzsimmons, who joined Jack in the admissions office in 1972, and is now Harvard’s dean of admissions and financial aid. “Jack took it upon himself to know every single person well, especially in Kirkland House. He’d sit down with students. He’d counsel them: “What makes the most sense for you right now? What next steps would make the most of who you are and what your talents in life are?” “Jack always had a preference for those groups who had lost hope, either racially or economically,” says Michael Murr, Harvard Class of 1973 and key financial supporter for Harvard, “people not typically touched by the mainstream opportunities.” As an orphaned high school senior and a football player, Michael Murr lived in Walla Walla, Washington. His eyes were trained on playing in a Pacific–8 school. Harvard was far outside his frame of reference when some alumni brought it to his attention. Michael remembers that Jack met him at Logan, toured Harvard with him, ushered him into a class and into a conversation with coaching staff. Michael wasn’t persuaded. Giving up his option to play at a Pac–8 school to undertake something as distant and unfamiliar as Harvard was not appealing. He turned Harvard down and then reconsidered at the last minute, just before school opened. When Michael arrived at Harvard, Jack was his freshman advisor. “I was concerned that I wasn’t prepared for Harvard.” Michael says, “Jack convinced me that not only would I be okay, but that I would excel. I had been living on my own since I was 16, and Jack inspired such confidence in me. As he is about nearly everything, Jack was right.” 8 Milton Magazine

After five years in admissions, Jack and a number of others became convinced that Harvard’s financial position would support funding a greater number of nontraditional candidates. Jack remembers their long conversations, in 1970, late into the evening, with Chase Peterson, then dean of admissions and financial aid, on being more intentional about enrolling some of these students. “The dean agreed with us that we needed to do a lot more, and right away,” Jack says, “and we moved on that.” Soon, Jack was leading others in that effort: in 1971 he became director and in 1975 associate dean of admissions and financial aid. During this time, Harvard and Radcliffe integrated separate admissions operations. Jack’s skills were already on tap beyond the admissions office. Bill Fitzsimmons points out that Jack served as a “bridge to Boston,” a critical person in the relationship between Harvard and Boston over many years. When Chase Peterson moved from admissions to become Harvard’s first vice president of alumni affairs and development, he relied on Jack to “help me think through that office.” Listening as closely as he did to students, Jack became increasingly aware of how urgently Harvard athletics needed attention. Athletic facilities were outdated and insufficient, a reality gaining definition as Harvard absorbed the Radcliffe athletic program, and across the university, interest in physical exercise grew. The athletic director’s position opened up during the fall of 1976, and Jack was interested. Although Jack calls himself “a controversial candidate” because he’d never played college sports, President Derek Bok appointed him director of athletics in September 1977. At that point, Jack had already positioned Harvard athletics for major change—with a master plan as well as philanthropic support. In February 1974, President Bok and the Harvard Corporation had given Jack approval to prepare plans, and in June of that year Chase Peterson had appointed him to a special fund-raising effort directed toward the athletics plant. Summarizing 13 years at the head of athletics, Jack says, “We built lots of buildings, there weren’t any scandals, and teams

“I’m pretty straightforward,” Jack says, I’ve been honest with people.”

Always a great fan, Jack shares his enthusiasm for Harvard football with Drew Faust, president of the university.

did relatively well.” The detail is more substantial. In his book Crimson in Triumph, A Pictorial History of Harvard Athletics 1852–1985, Joe Bertagna describes Jack as a singular character who was able to develop a plan to meet the athletic needs, win approval, identify the key donors, and execute the plan itself. On May 15, 1976, ground was broken and “by 1985, Harvard’s entire athletic plan had been affected by the change,” which totaled $32.5 million. Intercollegiate athletes, house teams, and recreational athletes all benefited from these advances over less than a decade. During Jack’s tenure, the department spearheaded a cultural shift toward recognizing female athletes appropriately—a transition no smoother than those at other universities, but a steady and deliberate one. Incentivized by Title IX (1972), Harvard added a dozen sports beyond those offered at Radcliffe and increased the budget more than tenfold. By 1984, Bertagna cites “nearly 600 women competing on 33 teams in 18 intercollegiate sports…another 1,000 on intramurals, as well as post-season opportunities comparable to those the men enjoyed.” Bill Cleary, who followed Jack as Harvard’s athletic director, says, “I was fortunate to inherit the nation’s largest Division I athletics program, and as far as I’m concerned Jack was its architect. We had 41 varsity sports at the time, along with junior varsity and club teams. Jack grew those programs for students;

he had a tremendous feel for students, and for coaches, too. I put Jack on every committee that had an important coaching decision at stake, and I’m sure Jack is just as critical for Bob Scalise (current athletic director) as he was for me. I think one of the great joys of Jack’s life is having been so involved in athletics.” A few years after Jack helped manage Harvard’s 350th anniversary in 1986, Fred Glimp, vice president for alumni affairs and development, and President Bok suggested that Jack consider directing alumni affairs. Since 1990, Jack has led the Harvard Alumni Association, connecting the university with all its alumni, in the United States and around the world. Jack’s brother, Tom Reardon, was leading the university’s development effort at the time. Their synergy, integrating the planning and the goals for alumni and development, turned out to be a key strategic strength for Harvard. Jack serves as associate vice president of university relations as well, working with Tamara Rogers, current vice president for alumni affairs and development; Drew Faust, president; and the board of overseers. Jack staffs the alumni committee responsible for nominating candidates for the Harvard Board of Overseers, the larger of Harvard’s two governing boards. The committee reviews hundreds of potential nominees to name eight candidates, who run for five places and serve for six years. The board meets five times a year; Jack attends the meetings and also works Fall 2013 9

Jack and Drew Faust at commencement, a locus of familiar and important Harvard ritual

closely with individual overseers. The nomination process itself, as well as service on the board, is a great crucible to identify skilled, dedicated leaders who will help determine the university’s direction. Men and women elected to the corporation (the smaller governing body formally known as the President and Fellows of Harvard College) have often served terms as overseers first. Jack is able to “get key people energized,” Tom notes, building connections that lead to volunteerism at Harvard over years, to philanthropy that changes the quality of the undergraduate experience, and in certain cases, to pivotal leadership roles, helping shape Harvard’s future. “Jack has the best judgment, the best character, and the keenest institutional sense of anyone I have ever known,” says Tamara Rogers. “He is both an optimist and a realist who inspires trust. I have learned immeasurably from him and I admire him more than I can say.” “Jack subordinates his own ego to serve others and the institution,” Michael Murr says. “He has a role in so many important

decisions and you rarely see his hand. It’s fascinating to watch Jack in the middle of epic battles. His connections in the community are so deep, his moral compass is so strong, that most people shudder at the prospect of crossing Jack.” “There are few people at Harvard, over a very long tenure, who have not sought and benefited from Jack’s wisdom and candor,” Bill Fitzsimmons says. “His ability to be the best kind of devil’s advocate allows you to think through all sides of an issue.” Jack’s Harvard template applies seamlessly to Milton’s history during his 22-year tenure on the board. While Milton’s context is distinct, Jack’s skill and unique sense of responsibility influenced the course of events at Milton again and again. The scale may have been different, but Jack’s impact was equally defining. His opening trustee project was helping Milton undertake a first comprehensive capital campaign. Peer schools had long ago focused on building endowments that fund annual operations, and making facilities improvements that support top-notch education. Jack helped trustees and administrators understand what needed to be done, commit to a level of fund raising new to Milton, and succeed together. He chaired the steering committee charged with setting the goals, organizing the leaders to meet the need, and launching the drive. Beyond raising $60 million from 1995–2000, “The Challenge to Lead” expanded the strong, supportive connections with alumni and parents that would be a crucial foundation for future planning and capability. Once the campaign was underway, the Milton board addressed other key questions. Competing priorities, institutional traditions, strong opinions, and finite resources all complicated the decision-making process. Should Milton build a new athletic center? How and when should renovations update the academic spaces? Can we increase the diversity on the board? Will we be well prepared if we decide to rebalance the boarding and day student enrollment at Milton? Are we connecting with young alumni effectively? Predictably, Jack helped people hear one another, confront reality, and agree on a direction and action steps.

“Jack’s assurance about Milton’s strength and excellence and endurance was critical for me at that time,” says Todd Bland, current head of school. 10 Milton Magazine

Bill Cleary, who followed Jack as Harvard’s athletic director, says, “I was fortunate to inherit the nation’s largest Division I athletics program, and as far as I’m concerned Jack was its architect.” Jack often figured in the foreground—leading an assessment of students’ experiences in athletics, for instance, or expanding the numbers and influence of women on the board. He was just as likely, however, to be active in the background—providing counsel to the board president, or testing faculty opinion about an issue at stake. His reputation as a listener qualified him for many tasks a less courageous person would deflect. People sought his perspective, privately and publicly; it was reliably candid and tactful at the same time. “I’m pretty straightforward,” Jack says. “I’ve been honest with people.” In June 2007, President of the Board Fritz Hobbs turned to Jack with the prospect of identifying Milton’s 12th head of school. Along with his co-chair Vicky Graham, Jack mapped out a search process that would seek and consider opinions from every Milton constituency—faculty and staff, students, alumni and parents— across the country and internationally. He traveled for Milton, assuring Milton audiences that he wanted to know their perspectives as well as their hopes. “We want everyone who has an opinion to feel that he or she has had a good opportunity to share it with us—in person, online, over the phone, through the mail.” “Jack’s assurance about Milton’s strength and excellence and endurance was critical for me at that time,” says Todd Bland, current head of school, “especially when he and Vicky had to restart the search, after one finalist withdrew early in 2008. That conversation with Jack allowed me to keep my eye trained on Milton and the chance to lead the School.” After seven years leading Milton’s board, when Fritz Hobbs began to consider his transition, Jack was again the right person to develop consensus about new leadership. For Brad Bloom, who accepted a nomination to serve as president, Jack’s inspiring persuasiveness was rooted not only in his institutional wisdom, but in the many hours Brad knew Jack had devoted to gathering thoughts from each board member. The board elected Brad Bloom as president in 2010, at yet another pivotal and promising time in Milton history.

Why give back, at this level, to demanding institutions, over many, many years? Jack says that his affection for Harvard is “an innate part of me. I really love this place. “Everything about Milton was good to me, as well,” he says. “I enjoyed many of my teachers. I learned from Stokie, who always knew what a bad athlete I was, about the importance of being organized and being efficient. When I lost my father, the summer after seventh grade, Frank Millet worried about me, and I thought then that he was tough with me. Frank often paid attention without your knowing.” Frank Millet remembers Jack at Milton as “a perfectly decent person with a lot of friends.” Just this past June, Frank said “Jack is good at giving people advice; he’s nice, and not overbearing. We’ve always been good friends—I may have been the only Catholic teacher he met. He has a good sense of humor, and he enjoys people.” Progress in Jack’s world depends on expertise—artistry, even—in managing “process.” Few people are skilled and even fewer are patient enough to guide the conversational commerce within or among groups that successfully heals institutional wounds, or tackles intractable problems, or determines successors for key positions. “He’s developed skills based on a core set of attributes,” Tom Reardon explains, “gaining an understanding, respecting, reconsidering an opinion. So in difficult situations, Jack may be able to move things forward. He doesn’t try to camouflage and he isn’t antagonistic or insulting. At the core Jack’s focus is on people, on human beings.” “He has never been about prestige, or money, or even some dry sense of ‘community,’” Bill Fitzsimmons says, “and he has strengthened both Harvard and Milton immeasurably.” Cathleen Everett

Fall 2013 11

José Ortiz ’99

The Goal Is Having Fun

At the 92nd Street Y

“This job has so many layers of responsibilities and sometimes difficulties, too; but I look for the difficulties because they help me grow in my position. They also help me improve the experience for my staff and for the young children and the teens.”

osé Ortiz ’99, director of the teen center and 92nd Street Y after-school programs, says that his days really ramp up around 2:30 p.m. when children and teenagers from nearby schools start pouring in for after-school programs that run into the early evening. José directs the Y’s enrichment and community service–based programs throughout the school year. Three hundred school-age children and 1,500 teens participate in these programs. Every afternoon roughly 40 interns and communityservice volunteers join the children to help out. “It’s busy,” José says. “I need to be visible, as the director, and I’m on my feet most of the day, greeting and connecting with kids and volunteers. On one day, I might speak to one parent and on another day, 50 parents. Fastpaced activity, interaction, 12 Milton Magazine

problem solving: I enjoy this and look forward to the new challenge each day.” José is also the Y’s ambassador when it comes to recruiting families to join the after-school programs. He travels to local schools in various city neighborhoods to speak at PTA and administration meetings. “It’s about being on the ground, and as a nonprofit, not spending a lot of money on marketing. It’s a personal effort. I try to get in front of the families, so I can answer their questions right there. I also talk with current families about spreading the word about what we offer here.” A full block long and wide, with a vast array of programs and activities, the 92nd Street Y has been a beloved New York City institution for more than 125 years. It was founded in 1886 as the first Jewish community center in Fall 2013 13

the U.S. when Jews were not allowed to join YMCAs. Today, the massive building includes a fitness center, pool, renowned nursery school, playground, indoor basketball courts, center for new parents, and auditorium. Programming is diverse (i.e., not all religion-based) and appeals to all ages. “Growing up, I was always connected to the 92nd Street Y. We lived in East Harlem, a neighborhood that has always struggled and was really tough when I was growing up. It bordered this affluent neighborhood, however, and some family members worked at the Y. That’s how I came to work there as a summer camp counselor when I was 16.” At Milton, José worked at the on-campus children’s daycare and tutored students at a local church in the Boston neighborhood of Mattapan. “My connection to children was good in general, but working with kids from neighborhoods similar to mine struck a chord. As I worked my way through school and opportunities became available, I realized I didn’t need to spend the next five to eight years figuring out what I wanted to do with my life; I had already figured out what my passion was. My salary wasn’t going to be high, but this was what made me happy. José worked 40-hour weeks at the Y while he attended Baruch College in Manhattan. He considered law school, but José says as he grew closer to the programs, “I knew I couldn’t leave.” He became a director when he was only 21. José is proud of the programs he runs and the options available to students, who can choose from roughly 40 classes per day, from hip-hop, drawing, and digital music to tae kwon do and swimming. One of José’s favorite activities, in the junior clubhouse, is for kindergarten students, the only ones not allowed to do homework when they are at the Y. The goal is having fun, and continuing to learn, so middle school volunteers come to read books to them. “The little kids look up to the older ones. They are so excited to know them and be around them. That makes the reading more exciting; volunteers on the younger end can connect more.”

“As I worked my way through school and opportunities became available, I realized I didn’t need to spend the next five to eight years figuring out what I wanted to do with my life; I had already figured out what my passion was.”

José believes in fostering social development from the earliest possible age. Although a babysitter or nanny might be the right choice for some families after school, José says that these programs provide necessary social stimulation that helps a child interact well with his or her peers, and in society. They are learning things geared to their interests, or developing new interests, and just as important, learning what they don’t like to do. All these experiences have a sustained impact in their development as young adults. If José gets back into his office in the afternoon, he is usually not alone. Children come in and out to chat, or just to sit on the bright red bench that serves as a refuge when some just need a break. José does deal with a number of unpredictable and variable challenges. “We always have a few families that are less responsive to our direction or are not as involved as they should be. People’s circumstances in working families, or with single moms or dads, make life challenging for parents and children. Being there for a child is important.” Recently, when a parent passed away, José’s staff mobilized to support the child as well as give him a place where his loss wasn’t at the center of things. “We want to keep this place as safe and free from the outside world as possible,” says José. The outside world does intervene. The Sandy Hook tragedy affected the 92nd Street Y both directly and indirectly. “Sometimes, parents don’t know how to respond to some of the questions that children ask after these horrible events. Some don’t want their child to learn about events without them or want to be the person telling their child. When one child knows, however, his or her knowledge spreads to 30 other children in the classroom. So we think, ‘How do we help the families respond to that situation?’” After Sandy Hook, José’s staff marshaled resources and put together a counseling kit for families about the services they provide. He is proud of their work. Responses from families were amazing and positive, he says. The building quiets down in the summer as activity shifts to the camp programs on the Henry Kaufman campgrounds in Rockland County, New York. In past summers, José has worked at the camps; in fact, he met his wife at camp when they were teenagers. With a new baby in his family, José stayed at the 92nd Street Y building this summer to focus on planning for the upcoming year. “When I started working here, I was a typical teenager; I didn’t understand what my supervisors really did and how hard they worked. That understanding develops over time. I enjoy seeing that same sense of things in some of our teens who eventually become staff members. An evolution takes place, just like it did for me. This job has so many layers of responsibilities and sometimes difficulties, too; but I look for the difficulties because they help me grow in my position. They also help me improve the experience for my staff and for the young children and the teens.” Liz Matson

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Brina Milikowsky ’96

Dogged Pursuit, Tactical Focus, and Taking the Long View

n early April of this year, I interviewed Brina Milikowsky ’96 about her work with Michael Bloomberg’s gun-control coalition, Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Shortly thereafter, the Senate rejected a bipartisan bill—supported by a strong majority of the American public—to expand background checks for gun buyers. Flanked by victims of the Newtown school shooting, an unusually angry Barack Obama described the defeat as “a pretty shameful day for Washington.” If our government couldn’t enact limited but lifesaving legislation that most of the populace thought was reasonable, how could we hope for any kind of progress? I brace myself for a gloomy encounter with Brina. Instead, I get a reminder—almost uplifting—about the mechanics of change. “Actually, the mood on the inside is very different from what I think the national mood about it is,” Brina says about the fallen Manchin-Toomey bill. “The national news was, ‘The vote failed in the Senate.’ But 20 senators voted the right way in April who wouldn’t have done that a year ago. We’re optimistic that the April Senate vote was just round one, and we’re in a very strong position to have an even better round two.”

Brina sounds convinced. “We’ve come so far in the past six months,” she goes on, “we’re giddy with excitement. Gun violence was an abandoned field. This myth of NRA’s intractable power had come to dominate conventional Washington wisdom.” When Brina first came to City Hall, she hadn’t planned to work on gun control. “I got this job because I’m an attorney, and I’ve done a mix of law and policy and wanted to come back to New York. I got into gun work without any anticipation that it would be the hot issue of the day.” The work was diverse and challenging; she wrote policy reports, drafted bills, directed strategy, managed field workers, and even helped develop TV ads. Gratifying work, but unlikely to land her office on The Rachel Maddow Show. That changed after Newtown. Suddenly the NRA’s perceived invincibility was in question. “In terms of the national conversation, Newtown was apocalyptic. It created a singular opportunity when the country was listening. A newfound commitment surfaced in unexpected corners of the country—senators rated A by the NRA were saying, ‘You can support the Second Amendment and still do so much more to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.’ So the last five months have been an accelerated

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“The other reason morale stays high is that the gun lobby is really good at what they do. They are formidable and insidious. Opposing them is a fascinating challenge.”

version of what we thought was going to take five years and a national PR campaign: getting people to know that background checks are a problem. And in the meantime, we’ve had solid wins; six states have passed really strong laws since Newtown.” One irony of this sudden surge is that high-profile mass shootings like Newtown constitute a tiny percentage of the gun violence inflicted on Americans every day. If the public’s concern about mass shootings helps curb domestic violence shootings, which are vastly more common, fine. Idealism will only go so far. This fight requires political finesse and tactical acuity; it’s a challenge Brina clearly relishes. “The other reason morale stays high is that the gun lobby is really good at what they do. They are formidable and insidious. Opposing them is a fascinating challenge.” This struggle also requires tremendous persistence, which gets back to the question of why Brina is the cheerful one at the table. “I’ve been conditioned to take the long view on this,” she explains. “I mean, the Brady Bill created the background check system. James Brady was shot in ’81. The Brady Bill passed in ’92, and it originally passed one of the chambers in ’87. It took ’87 to ’92 to get it done, and it was 10 years after the man—and also the president—had been shot. So this is actually the pace of really large-scale legislation, especially of the social-issues variety.” Doggedness in the face of intimidating odds has been Brina’s approach at least since her time at Harvard, where she worked to challenge what she and others experienced as the university administration’s indifference to campus sexual assault. “Harvard lacked resources directed toward this problem at the time, and was falling far behind its peer schools. You would think this would be the kind of thing Harvard would care about it,” she says. “We found deep resistance among certain pockets of the administration. It took a few years to work our way up the chain of people saying ‘no, no, no’ and figure out a way to go above them.” But she and her co-workers did make things happen, as she is now intent on doing with gun control. By the end of the conversation, my post-Senate-vote despair seemed shortsighted. After all, was this supposed to be easy? Change is work. Real progress demands that we show up, again and again. Brina has clearly decided to show up. The next time she and her team go up against the NRA, those who think more control of gun violence isn’t possible should be watching closely. Peter Smith ’00

Fall 2013 17

Nai Ko ’00

Common Sense and Core Values Drive Edgy Business Decisions

hen Nai Ko ’00 joined his family’s company, he had already decided that conventional retail car sales was not going to work for him. With a degree in industrial engineering from Columbia, Nai was convinced that the business prototype could change. Fully committed to the family business his father had started in 1989, Ko Automotive Group, Nai broke new ground. He re-imagined the sales process and ultimately earned top customer ratings among Toyota dealerships in the nation. In addition, Wellesley Toyota’s new building proclaims the company’s commitment to sustainable practices. It is the only car dealership in New England that is Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified. “Developing this building speaks to the culture of our company,” says Nai. “It’s a metaphor for how we do business. We want to manage the full spectrum of our customers’ needs— from sales, to service, to parts, to lifetime ownership. This building contributes responsibly to the full community—to the neighborhood and the environment—by using as little energy as possible.” Achieving LEED certification translated to a 15 percent increase in construction costs. Certifying also meant choosing certain materials, sourced from particular locations; taking into account the interaction of the building and its occupants; and choosing technology that allows the building to adjust energy use. Ko Automotive also scored LEED points by using much of the existing 1950s structure. The new building’s footprint is 30 percent larger, yet is 40 percent more energy efficient than its predecessor.

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“Grit is a family characteristic. We often have to work twice as hard for the same result. That’s fine with us. I’m grateful for many things my father taught me—his work ethic, his kindness, the honest way he does business. My family ingrained these fundamentals in me.”

Fall 2013 19

“We considered the long term in developing this building,” says Nai. “By going with LEED lights and occupancy sensors, for instance, we conserve more energy, and that will help us in the future when energy becomes more expensive. “That decision goes hand in hand with the technology that Toyota is developing and manufacturing. Prius is the top-selling hybrid in the United States, and Toyota anticipates that eventually all its vehicles will be hybrids. Our customers care about being on the forefront of technology, and being environmentally responsible.” Nai is the general manager of Ko Automotive Group and his father, Nai Nan Ko, Sr., is president. Nai Senior was a mechanical engineer in Taiwan and moved to the United States in the 1960s, with $200 and no English skills, to study aeronautical engineering on a scholarship at Boston University. A full-time student, he took a job as a mechanic to support himself and his future wife. Balancing school and work became too much, so he left BU and purchased a gas station on Memorial Drive in Cambridge. His business break came in 1986 when he partnered to buy his first automotive franchise—Cambridge Nissan in Inman Square. His business has since grown to include six dealerships.

Being part of a family business is stressful and demands long hours. “Ultimately,” Nai says, “I wanted to be with my family. When I was growing up, my dad worked all the time. I never had a relationship with him. What better way to meet and know my father than to become his business partner?” Language barriers meant that Nai’s parents couldn’t help their children navigate logistics like soccer sign-ups or skiing lessons. Nai learned to manage extracurriculars on his own. He remembers struggling with English class and the SATs. “Grit is a family characteristic,” says Nai. “We often have to work twice as hard for the same result. That’s fine with us. I’m grateful for many things my father taught me—his work ethic, his kindness, the honest way he does business. My family ingrained these fundamentals in me.”

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Separating personal and business relationships is challenging for families in business together. Nai struggled to understand his father’s conservative approach; his father was slow to adopt new ideas. “Over time, you see the success of one another’s styles and learn how to merge the best of both. But that happens only after many, many arguments. Everyone puts so much heart into what they do. Equally challenging is that people outside the family often make judgments about who you are and why you’re here. So, you have to lead by example. You have to work harder.” Wellesley Toyota does work harder to earn a loyal customer. “During the conventional sales process, an overwhelming, high-pressure salesperson confronts the customer,” says Nai. “That salesperson relies on commissions and is trying to close the next deal, so he or she spends less time explaining features and trying to understand a customer’s lifestyle requirements. Compounding the pressure is the thin profit margin in new-car sales. People know what we pay for these cars, so they’re savvy negotiators. This traditional formula is bound to fail.” Nai’s sales model, like Apple’s Genius structure, relies on product specialists, who are paid hourly and who encourage you to spend as much time as you like test driving different cars, ask about your needs and hopes, and help you become thoroughly informed. When you decide on a vehicle, you move on to an engagement specialist, who works with you, one-on-one, through the process from trade appraisal to price negotiation, from finance needs to purchase protections. When you come to pick up your new car, you meet again with a product specialist, who takes time to walk you through your car’s many (increasingly technological and complicated) features. “The industry can’t draw young talent right now,” says Nai. “Our generation doesn’t want to be commission-based. This sales process enables us to draw younger talent.” Nai, at 31 years old, has the youngest staff in the car industry: his managers are 26 and 27; his marketing director is 22; and many of his product specialists are still in college. MIT professors have approached Nai, wanting to learn about the innovative process. BMW just rolled out a similar program, based on Nai’s model, called BMW Genius. “The buying process should be educational and low-pressure,” Nai says. “The best type of pressure to solidify a sale is self-pressure. The customer should want to do business with us.” In 2008, under Nai’s management, Wellesley Toyota won the company’s prestigious President’s Award, honoring exceptional customer satisfaction and sales service metrics. “Winning the President’s Award prompted me to give back somehow,” says Nai. He established the Ko Family Speaker Fund where he attended elementary school, Belmont Day School. “I’m concerned about risks to the moral and ethical education of our children,” he says. The series focuses on topics like raising children in a culture of affluence, the effect media have on young people, preventing bullying, and the importance of grit.” Erin Berg

Wendy Millet ’86

Wendy Millet ’86 believes that understanding connections— land, animals and people— is transformative

“H

orse” was the first word that Wendy Millet ’86 ever spoke, according to family legend. This beginning could not have been more fitting. Wendy says “horse” a lot these days. A Northern California resident by way of Boston, upstate New York, Montana, Wyoming, Seattle, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles, Wendy loves horses, and her consequent desire to help connect people with nature, has led her to a career in conservation, ranching and personal development. Wendy’s primary job is director of TomKat Ranch’s Educational Foundation, where she is responsible for overseeing the daily activities of a working cattle ranch and developing educational programs on sustainable agriculture. The ranch, named for owners Tom and Kat Steyer, operates in the hills of Pescadero, about 45 miles south of San Francisco. Its cattle operation, Left Coast Grassfed, provides 100 percent grass-fed, grass-finished beef, and takes pride in its extensive efforts to care for the land and animals while providing a healthy local product for local consumers.

A concise, clear-cut description for Wendy’s job on the ranch is elusive. Her days may be spent working with staff developing a new educational venture, consulting with the ranch’s onsite ecologist tracking ecological processes and progress, or figuring out the best way to get the ranch’s beef to the local farmers market. Every day is full of opportunities and challenges, and then there are her favorite days—out on horseback moving cattle. If her roles as ranch manager, educator and part-time cowgirl aren’t enough, Wendy also runs a company she co-founded some years ago thanks to her passion for horses. The company, called Gallop Ventures, is a transformative equine-based teamwork and leadership business focused on helping people “find their stride.” While nobody actually rides the horses, participants gain unexpected insights about themselves and how they interact with the world. Described as a sort of “ropes course with horses,” Gallop Ventures is inspired by the belief that when people connect with themselves and others (both people and horses), they, in turn, may be inspired to contribute to a more connected and caring world. Fall 2013 21

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While there she encountered cowboys and cowgirls and remembers thinking: “I love this way of life; the commitment to the land and the passion for animals. The respect for natural systems really inspired me.”

While Wendy’s love for horses and the natural world started in early childhood, her desire to pursue a career in ranching conservation began during an undergraduate summer working on a dude ranch in Wyoming. While there she encountered cowboys and cowgirls and remembers thinking: “I love this way of life, the commitment to the land and the passion for animals. The respect for natural systems really inspired me.” Cowboys may have seemed an unconventional circle of colleagues for the Harvard literature major, but Wendy, a selfdescribed “Transcendentalist fan,” didn’t necessarily see the inconsistencies. While college summers were spent wrangling horses off a Montana mountainside, the rest of the year included long nights at school reading Emerson, Thoreau and Muir, all of whom wrote extensively about transformative experiences in nature. (It was in Milton’s tenth-grade English class that she first learned about Thoreau’s two-year immersion in the woods surrounding Walden Pond.)

Subsequent summers ranching in the West, and inspired by the concept of Milton’s Mountain School, Wendy began to envision sharing her love of horses, nature and ranch life to inspire others. Nobody knew how serious she was about this dream. She remembers meeting with a financial counselor in 1995 and six months into her marriage to discuss the future, “When I piped in that we needed to remember to plan for “the ranch,” I remember dumbfounded stares from them both, but my mind was made up,” she smiles. For Wendy, immersion in the natural world has been more than a two-year experiment; it has been a conscious commitment and passionate undertaking. She has worked for the Nature Conservancy, the Conservation Fund, Stanford’s Woods Institute for the Environment, and several local land trusts, and she serves on the board of the California Council of Land Trusts and Save the Redwoods League. “Many people don’t understand the way that everything is connected,” says Wendy, “the way that we care for ourselves, our land, our community, the animals—it’s all connected. The choices that we make matter in every moment.” Ryan Eshoff and Wendy Millet Fall 2013 23

At Milton

Living in the Active Voice Things Don’t Just Happen. People Do Things.

dults at Milton—administrators, faculty and staff—are the architects of students’ experience. They work hard to provide a context that encourages a teenager to take ownership of his or her life: in the classroom, as a teammate, in a production, as a roommate. Taking responsibility for yourself is a prerequisite to sharing responsibility for others. These steps are developmental building blocks for leadership. Whether formally through elected office, or informally through attribution, leaders commit themselves to affecting the lives of those around them. “We want responsibility to have a deep, comprehensive meaning for students, more than just acknowledging past error,” says David Ball, Upper School principal. “Responsibility is affirmative, aspirational—not just reactive. “A person moving from childhood to adulthood has to stumble a bit to figure out what it means to be responsible, and it’s often easier to figure that out in the aftermath of a decision. As young people grow, it’s challenging for adults to reconcile their desire to encourage the right kind of risk taking, with the desire of adolescents to 24 Milton Magazine

take every kind of risk, whether it’s the right or wrong kind. We can’t point to a model that shows us that ‘the responsible leader takes this risk and not that risk,’ nor is the safe and cautious choice always the right one.” Adults at Milton review and tweak elements of student life, trying to maximize the effectiveness of widely diverse student activities. Aiming to develop thoughtful, confident leaders, administrators take stock of what they see on the ground, and make adjustments that they hope will make important differences for students and the faculty who advise them. A host of adults and student leaders, speaking separately, landed on three components that seem fundamental to the growth of responsibility they see or feel at Milton. The first is Milton’s culture, in and out of the classroom, that insists upon and rewards individual thinking and acting. The second is the sense of connection students feel with one another. Finally, both groups named role models: older students whose influential power, creativity, and the generous ability to give back, inspire their younger peers.

The classroom itself is the baseline cultural experience. New students learn quickly that their own points of view are not only welcome but expected. Each person has a distinct role around the Harkness table or in a problem-solving group. Their peers and their teachers expect that they’ll come to class prepared with their own ideas. They see that their teachers are not necessarily the authority

“We can’t point to a model that shows us that ‘the responsible leader takes this risk and not that risk,’ nor is the safe and cautious choice always the right one.”

figures that will drive every aspect of how things go, but rather that students share responsibility for that. To get along, they have to take risks, respond to feedback, design experiments and research projects—not independent of adults, but with adults’ mentoring and coaching. “All the writing and speaking we do at Milton,” says David Ball “communicates the power of language. ‘Here’s a tool,’ we

show students. ‘It’s both fun and dangerous to play with.’ We ask students to think about communication as a statement of an individual’s distinctiveness. And we ask them to think about the impact their communication has on others.” Editors of the Milton student newspapers know about that power of language; their decisions about what to print are complex. Jackie Bonenfant, academic

dean, commended the student-paper editors for taking on several issues of global importance this year, and for finding balance in responding to particular issues on campus. “All sorts of conversation and debate that people don’t see goes on among editors,” David reminded the group. “Journalists, particularly journalists in a small community, deal with questions Fall 2013 25

“Students who take on these roles are always balancing the needs of individuals and the community—housemates, classmates, or the School as a whole.”

about what constitutes responsibility— and responsibility to whom?” Once words are printed, editors know, the text stands; it reaches other students, and faculty, parents and alums, as well. Retracting or clarifying is ineffective and damages the paper’s status. As the writer, you are exposed and held accountable. Reporters need to resolve the tension between the need to be cool, to be smart, to uncover things, and the need to represent reality, especially when the story is more layered than met the eye. These editors, “they uphold the Measure’s or the Paper’s legacy, for better or for worse,” David notes, “but they love the School, and are trying to be responsible to the School and to care about one another.” José Ruiz, dean of students, points out that dorm head monitors also need to center themselves on caring about others. The dorm curriculum revolves around learning how to live in community, acknowledging your impact on others and contributing to the overall sense of well-being. Houses are a strong source of identity and pride at Milton, and dorm monitor positions are attractive. Dorm monitors are excited to set the spirit and the tone for the house, and model the values and the traditions that define each house. It’s not all fun, however. You might need to energize housemates for some group event when you least feel like it, or gather the troops and with the house faculty lead a discussion about some behavior that needs to change. “Sometimes, a challenge can highlight a tension,” José says. “We chose this person for this particular set of reasons, students think; we understand what he or she needs to do, but now that we’re in the middle of it, it feels different. Students who take on these roles are always balancing the needs of individuals and the community— housemates, classmates, or the School as a whole. They have to manage institutional 26 Milton Magazine

responsibility with responsibility to self and to peers. They end up broadening their perspectives, understanding competing interests and needs, and taking a role slightly different from what peers wanted it to be.” Sitting on a disciplinary committee (DC) is an intense example of students’ needing to understand their peers and at the same time recognize the institutional need for accountability. All Self-Governing Association (SGA) reps may sit on a DC, which includes four faculty and four students determining, by consensus, what disciplinary response to impose when a student breaks a major School rule. “I’ve appreciated the consensus aspect of our process,” José says. “That allows for good dialogue between adults and students, and often leads to long conversations and some solid growth.” Students often come in with and articulate one idea, José and Jackie agree, and inevitably work to find a balance between what’s good for the student and what’s good for the community. Students are willing to put themselves in another student’s shoes, and at the same time, recognize that actions have consequences. When you’re running for office, however, the time you may serve on a DC doesn’t figure too prominently in your vision of the role. “One of the great elements about serving on a DC is that you have to come to a conclusion,” David says. “You can’t avoid it; you can’t walk away; and you’re working on it with other people. Experiencing the responsibility involved in making a difficult decision helps teenagers move from living in the passive voice to living in the active voice.” Milton likes to award responsibility to groups as well as to individuals. All of Class II, for instance, is responsible for the program of the Class II Retreat (C2R). A weekend in early spring designed to bring

the junior class together and focus on their leadership roles as seniors, C2R is a time for reflection and bonding. It typically surfaces a fresh look at each other, what Milton has meant, what’s at stake in the coming year, and how the characters and talents in this class can coalesce to lead the School. Decisions about whether to run for office often percolate over this weekend, and always, some candidates that surprise the class come forward. “I was impressed with the large team effort this year,” Jackie says, “with the students who felt compelled to speak, to include their voices, to demonstrate that they did share some global responsibility in terms of what happens with that class moving into leadership of the School.” Elections that follow during the spring show are always colorful and show heartening signs of growth. “Students get up and articulate what this place has meant to them, that they have received something, that they want to give to someone else,” David says. “They are interested in giving to others that which they have received. Many students, with or without leadership titles, are in a position to influence others, and do. “Sometimes it feels to students that when they’re taking responsibility, they’re somehow subordinating themselves as individuals,” David notes. “Often, taking responsibility does involve some kind of sacrifice. But we ultimately see individual growth, too. Students willing to take those leaps gain perspective, skills and confidence, and they take pride in what they’ve done. It’s just a little easier for them to see that on the other side of having done so.” Cathleen D. Everett

At Milton

What They Think Four students revisit the prospect and the reality of choosing to lead.

How did you come to the decision to run for office? I started thinking about it last year. Seeing Robert Bedetti and Casey Caine (head monitors, 2010–2011) and admiring them helped me realize that you have to step up. People are doing that for us, now, so we need to, as well. I saw Jess Li and Nick Maragos (head monitors) in

action this year, and thought about the impact they would have on the School. I love meeting new people. I wanted to give back and get people excited about all the cool things here.

can help create an environment where others can speak up, or demonstrate their talents in other ways, or feel free to offer carefully thought out counter arguments.

—Cameron

I remember coming to School and admiring people above me—students and teachers— in the soccer program, for instance. Holding a leadership position allows you to meet more people. For example, as SGA rep last year I was one of the first people to meet 17 new students in my grade—and I’m still good friends with all of them. You realize that there’s such a broad spectrum of students at Milton—you can have an impact on them and they can have an impact on you. Connections can be so much deeper when you don’t limit yourself to the first people you meet.

Milton helps you understand responsibility through your classes, which allow you to have a personality, a role in the conversation, a role in creating the environment in the class. You

—Liam

Cameron Park, Class I • Co-Head Monitor, 2013–2014 • Varsity field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse • Step Team • Gospel Choir

• Outdoor Program • Orange and Blue Key • Dance Concert • Peer tutor and group leader

Being a Milton student, in and of itself, requires responsibil ity—academically, athletically, in whatever extracurriculars you do, the commitment is significant and strong.

What do you want to achieve? Our main goal, Liam’s and mine, is to allow people to make more connections, especially throughout the grades. —Cameron Cam and I are going to put particular emphasis on new sophomores and juniors, helping them feel more integrated right away, moving right past what might have been a few weeks of quiet observation. The Class of ’14 has shown growth. Different people have stepped up and found a voice. I was pleasantly surprised by the Class II leadership weekend—I felt new energy in the class; our class has respect and appreciation for students around them and is ready to show that. —Liam I’d like to be seen as a role model, someone who wants to do what the community needs. —Daniella

—Daniella

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This year Nick and I didn’t want to revolutionize things, we just wanted people to sense approachability on our part. We wanted to do a number of fun, small, random things, including events, so that people could feel our constant presence in their lives, just getting everyone together, appreciating one another. —Jessica

What surprised you about leading? I learned in sports that as a leader, you need to be alert, aware and extra-involved. You need to know what’s going

on around you, avoid getting blind-sided and know whether you need to step in. You are accountable for what other kids do. All juniors, moving into senior year, are given the opportunity to make what they want out of the year to come. They’re given the chance to step up even without a formal leadership position. In fact, the most prominent role models may have no title at all; that’s especially true in the dorm. I watched the older kids to feel out Milton’s culture. So I know that setting the tone is important. Kids really look up to seniors.

When we get into planning things, we’ll need to collaborate and feel things out, see what works, build consensus among kids. Not all our ideas will be approved, for any number of reasons. —Cameron I’ve learned, and others have told me, that patience is impor tant. You start out with goals, and they take more time to achieve than you think they will. You can be focused on one issue when another crops up. —Liam We’ve had a number of events this year, and no one realizes the logistics, the details, the little things that take planning and that must happen to pull something off. Follow-through is incredibly important. You can have a food drive, but people need to show up to sort the food and take multiple trips to the food bank. —Jessica

What about Disciplinary Committees (DCs)? Liam White, Class I • Co-Head Monitor, 2013–2014 • Varsity soccer captain • Step Team • Co-Head, Model U.N. • Varsity lacrosse

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• Three for Each of Us, a cappella • Self Governing Association, class representative, Classes III and II

Being in the room itself is one thing; knowing your role and serving it is another. Everyone comes in with a different perspective. We do come to consensus, but no one comes out

feeling like they won. Adults realize what students have to go through and they understand that kids make mistakes. They tend to see things in the context of time—“this happened 12 years ago, and at that time…”—but you need to assess every case separately. Finding a balance is one of the hardest things. —Liam After a while, you get a sense of yourself, you understand the student perspective and also where the administration is coming from. It’s really about the community and protecting a relationship students have with it— keeping it safe. You have great empathy for the student in the situation, but a school has to have some accountability for its rules. We [the students on the DC] do have a hard time with the confidentiality. So many factors go into a single decision; you want to be transparent, but the situation you’re considering is always more complex than it seems on the surface. —Jessica It’s probably hard to see each DC as brand new, but you need to, because that’s the way a student sees it; it’s the one time that this thing happened to that person. Each incident represents a different time and circumstance.

Jessica Li ’13 • Co-Head Monitor, 2012–2013 • Varsity soccer tri-captain • Varsity softball • Millet House dorm dodge ball championship team member

Administrators become real people to you; you understand their role. There’s respect in both directions, and we respect how hard they work. They want us to enjoy school, but they have responsibilities to the School, too. —Cameron

Did you make sacrifices? Yes, you may have to drop some activities; you need to prioritize and focus. You need to balance your own needs with supporting others. Sometimes, you know you need to go out and

• Presenter, Milton Academy Science Symposium: “The Effect of Population Density on Duckweed Lemna Minor Growth”

varsity basketball. However, being part of an intimate community and watching everyone experience success is worth the time you devote to it.

Getting close to people, understanding them more deeply. You have an impact; you gain their respect because you look out for them.

—Daniella

—Liam

Is the takeaway valuable?

I’ve participated in a number of different situations, and with exposure, have learned how to deal with them. I have a better understanding of myself, and I’ve enjoyed seeing myself succeed. I’m really grateful for having had an impact on people.

I do want to do this, and knowing that you’re helping kids is gratifying. The administration has a role, but it’s up to us to make things work and make the year what we’d like it to be. We’re people students can look up to.

—Jessica CDE

—Cameron

support other kids, to do what’s good for others, even though you might not be excited about it. —Cameron You need to prioritize very carefully. I love all my extracurricular activities and I have to think carefully about the way I use my time. There are times, too, when you’d just like to go lie on the quad, but you can’t do it. —Liam I know this position will take lots of work and time will be my sacrifice. Just like when I was the manager for the boys’

Daniella Colombo ’13 • Day Student Monitor, SelfGoverning Association (SGA) 2012–2013 • Community service—Boston Public Schools

• Manager, boys’ varsity basketball (2013 ISL champions), 2012–2013

Fall 2013 29

At Milton

Service yields more than the predictable rewards

t Milton, community service is a choice, not a requirement. Students say this makes the commitment more meaningful. Every week more than 250 students use their free periods to volunteer in over 30 different organizations in the Greater Boston area. Students travel in small groups to tutor in local schools and centers, visit elderly in assisted living homes, and work with disabled children and adults. Some students return to the same placement year after year. We spoke to six of these students about their experiences—the challenges, the surprises and the lifelong influences. “Community service is an important way to spend my time,” says Mallika Iyer, ’13. “Getting caught up in your own cycle of homework, sports and other activities is easy. I was worried about losing perspective, being too focused on my own advancement. Community service keeps me level-headed; I see how other people live their lives. Giving someone your time is really invaluable. Even if I can’t fix everything, investing my time and focusing on somebody can make a difference.” Two faculty members, Andrea Geyling and Heather Sugrue, lead the program, and an enthusiastic 18-member student board helps drive the program’s direction

and student participation. Mallika and Josh Ellis ‘13 served as co-heads on the 2012–2013 student board. Josh says their role included delegating tasks, coordinating service sites, liaising with those sites and running weekly board meetings. Students decide to participate in community service for a variety of reasons and family influence is a strong force. “We are so lucky to go to this fantastic school,” says Arielle Ticho ’13. “My Jewish background teaches me to give back. My family uses the saying tikkun olam, which means ‘repairing the world.’ Community service felt like a natural extension to do that.” For Josh, church trips to Haiti planted the seed for doing community service at Milton. “I started going to Haiti before the earthquake and I’ve now been there nine times. Every trip is life-changing. It’s a nice reality check on how I should appreciate everything and should live my life to the fullest.” “When I was younger, my parents always encouraged my brothers and me to do community service and give back,” says Amanda Beaudoin ’13. “Now it’s me trying to get my family to do more. We do Walk for Hunger together every year. It is a good thing for our family to do and at the core of our family values.”

“Doing community service made me realize that I can succeed academically and professionally and still give back in the way I want to give back.” 30 Milton Magazine

Students interested in considering service from an academic point of view can take History in Action for a Sustainable Society, an elective in the history and social sciences department. Coursework includes the weekly service commitment at a local site, along with readings, journaling, and class projects. “History in Action was the perfect class for me because we learned about social issues such as poverty, hunger, immigration and education,” says Arielle. “With each of those units, we traveled to sites. We went to two homeless shelters and also to speak with immigrants who are learning English. Connecting our class readings with reality makes issues more alive and closer.” The students say that every weekly visit is, itself, a learning experience. Amanda spent three years teaching art to first graders at the Taylor School, a public school in Boston. “My first year around the holidays, there were student drawings of Santa hanging on the walls,” says Amanda. “There were black Santas, yellow Santas, white, green, blue. Most of my students were AfricanAmerican and I should have expected they would draw Santa as African-American or a different appearance. But at first it seemed surprising to me that not everyone thinks of Santa as the old white man with the fat cheeks. Seeing the different perspectives they bring and how they interpret Santa however they want was amazing, just as they interpret each art project I lead. They taught me so much.” Jesse Rice ’13 spent two years tutoring English at Mujeres Unitas, a center for Latina women. A big surprise for him was

Front row (L to R): Josh Ellis ’13, Jesse Rice ’13, Amanda Beaudoin ’13, Jeremy Mittleman ’13; back row: Arielle Ticho ’13, Mallika Iyer ’13

meeting a woman who had been living in the U.S. for five years without ever speaking English. “I couldn’t grasp, at first, how someone could get by here without speaking any English. I didn’t understand what some people, particularly immigrants, go through. In two years, I gained a much better perspective and understanding of the world around me.” “One thing I didn’t expect was making strong friendships,” says Mallika. “I work with one girl who has Down syndrome. From a community service interaction, our relationship changed and we connected on a deeper level. We now consider each other good friends.” Students often feel challenged in their service and in seeing the challenges where they worked. “It’s hard, at first, to gain focus and ground the work you are doing,” says Josh. “You think you will be like Hilary Swank in the movie Freedom Writers and ‘save’ the kids. Over time you realize that small

things matter. If you help one kid with a worksheet for 45 minutes, that helps that student and ultimately the class. The student board holds an annual feedback luncheon for all our volunteers where we discuss all kinds of issues. This one comes up a lot—volunteers have the challenge of focusing their work and applying it to their lives.” For Jeremy Mittleman ’13, who worked at the Taylor School and also at a New York City summer enrichment program, the realities of city public school systems were eye-opening and sometimes despairing. “It was incredible to see what a big deal testing is in the public schools and how stressful it is for the teachers. They have to find a balance between the testing and the learning. I’d never experienced that because I’ve always gone to private schools. It was also a shock to see the teachers buy their own materials, to see what the teachers go through day-to-day and sometimes the lack of support they feel. I came to

understand the inequities in our society and why some kids aren’t graduating from high school.” Each March, the Community Service Program sponsors a spring-break service trip. These trips take students, faculty and parents to places such as Belize, Navajo Land in Arizona and rural Appalachia. “I had to motivate myself on the springbreak trip,” says Mallika. “I was used to more passive activities like teaching or working one-on-one with children. In Belize, we were doing manual labor, building learning spaces for the local school. It was about carrying bricks and using cement. We were interacting closely with the people who would use the school, so we wanted to give them something good. At the same time, the work was taxing. It made me appreciate the people who built and maintain the facilities we use everyday.” Students who can’t make a weekly commitment get involved in other ways. At Fall 2013 31

“It’s hard, at first, to gain focus and ground the work you are doing. …Over time you realize that small things matter. If you help one kid with a worksheet for 45 minutes, that is helping that student and ultimately helping the class.”

During the biennial Community Service Day, students help out on numerous projects in surrounding communities and host a field day for children from a Boston elementary school.

32 Milton Magazine

least 200 additional students participate in multi-annual events such as the Greater Boston Foodbank, Special Olympics tournaments, the Blood Drive and holiday giving events. The whole School participates in the annual Oxfam Hunger Banquet and the biennial Community Service Day. Each year, the program also supports individual and group initiatives for particular causes, such as earthquake relief in Haiti. The Hoops for Haiti event raised $10,000 the first year and has turned into an annual event that brings the whole School together. Community service work has forged a path that some students will follow into college and the future. “Starting junior year at the Taylor School, I knew I was interested in teaching but was not definite,” says Arielle. “But these past two years, I have been with those students every week. I loved it. Last summer, I worked with a professor of education doing research on inequities in education and how education connects to civic engagement. Now I plan to study education in college. I now know this is what I want to do and how I want to spend my life.” “I want to be a doctor and work in Haiti regularly,” says Josh. “Doing community service made me realize that I can succeed academically and professionally and still give back in the way I want to give back. I tell new students that service is a tough commitment that demands a lot from you outside of the classroom, but once you get past that, it’s a great experience. It is cool to see students get interested in helping others in the middle of all the academic pressure. Community service does a good job of grounding us.” Liz Matson

Milton Replenishes the Food Bank’s Late-Winter Supply Serving 600 Local Families

n 2012, then co-head monitors Molly Gilmore and Tom Schnoor initiated a Schoolwide food drive, run by the Self-Governing Association (SGA). The goal was helping the families around our School, but a secondary outcome is the major and collective effort of students in all grades. Wanting to continue this great tradition, we met with Mr. Bland, Upper School Principal David Ball, and K–8 Principal Marshall Carter this year, hoping to involve students, faculty and staff in both the Upper School and in K–8. They helped us spread the message, through meetings and assemblies, conferences and postings around campus. Next, we contacted a representative from the Milton Food Pantry, who spoke with Upper School students during

assembly. She talked about the huge impact that we could make on the lives of people around us: the Milton Food Pantry serves more than 600 Milton residents, including 230 children.

Who Gave What? We set an ambitious goal of 100 percent participation for all Upper School students. Class representatives encouraged their classmates to get involved and kept track of participation in their respective grades. Students donated all sorts of nonperishable items—canned vegetables and fruit, peanut butter, jelly, cereal, pasta, rice and hygiene products. Students sorted their donations into bins in the Student Center—a visible manifestation of our progress. Because boarding students

Jessica Li and Nick Maragos, head monitors, spearheaded the 2013 Food Drive.

have less access to grocery stores, dorm faculty members were instrumental in our success, volunteering to bring students to buy items. In 2012, we collected more than 3,000 items. This year we lost count; food was literally overflowing from the bins. When we delivered our donations to the food pantry, however, the representative confirmed that we had surpassed last year’s donation.

From School to Tables Delivery day is hectic, and the effort requires help from many people. Most of the SGA leadership dedicated their afternoon to loading cars with food and sorting at the food pantry. Many students and faculty outside of SGA got involved, as well. Seeing everyone work together during this event was so rewarding. The food drive helps all of us look beyond campus, beyond our daily lives at Milton, and recognize the importance of paying good fortune forward. At Milton

we have everything we need at our fingertips, but many people living just minutes away have a very different experience. With this in mind, students in grades K–12 can work toward a common goal. No matter what our individual backgrounds or interests, everyone is involved in this experience. The annual food drive benefits not only families in the Town of Milton, but also our School. Our greatest reward was the reaction of those working at the food pantry. Food pantries often see a decrease in donations in the late-winter months, and we were able to replenish most of their supplies. This gratification energizes us, as leaders, and makes us want to do it all again. We hope that each pair of future head monitors recognizes the value of the food drive. While the work is significant, the rewards are tremendous. Jessica Li and Nick Maragos Class of 2013 Co-Head Monitors

Fall 2013 33

At Milton

New Evaluation Dynamics Get Results K–8 Early Adopters React

ublic debate about how to evaluate teachers still fuels talk shows, opinion blogs and cocktail parties. Perhaps the nationwide discussion is passionate because a teacher’s competence and skill affect student outcomes more powerfully than any other factor. Milton’s Strategic Plan prioritizes student experience, and that leads directly to building a top-notch community of educators. We depend upon teachers who are in touch with each other and the world, their disciplines, and up-to-date, effective practices. The Strategic Plan builds on Milton’s tradition of a strong faculty. Milton is committed to setting and reinforcing the highest standards for the teaching profession and to providing faculty with the support to achieve. Quality professional development is crucial, and a rich, productive evaluation system is at the core. This past year, 10 K–8 faculty members piloted a new evaluation and professional development program. Their reactions outline what was important to them, and set the bar for results. “The new system seemed intentional, thought-out and holistic,” says Corey Simonson, who teaches sixth-grade science and computer classes. “It wasn’t a topdown process. You felt your peers had a

34 Milton Magazine

“We hoped they’d see it as colleagues’ helpful eyes observing their work, and assistance in learning to reflect on their practice.” hand in developing the evaluation system’s content. I looked forward to participating, because it was a chance to have comprehensive feedback, something everyone knows is lacking.” Derek Palmore, who teaches seventhgrade boys’ English and eighth-grade English, also welcomed the chance. “People should know what I’m doing in my classroom, and I should know what others are doing in theirs. It is necessary to articulate what you do and why you do it, and to outline what you are good at and areas you want to focus on.” The K–8 evaluation system is not a rubric-style matrix, checking or grading teachers against each criterion. Instead,

the three-part process begins with a teacher’s careful reflection about his or her own teaching, and a meeting with the evaluating administrator to articulate the process, goals and timeline. Fourth-grade teacher Tamara Nikuradse describes herself as a “corporate refugee” accustomed to formal review processes. The Harvard M.B.A. worked as a brand management executive at Fortune 500 companies before taking time to raise her daughters and volunteering in their school. This led her to pursue a master’s in education at Lesley College and a career in teaching. She came to Milton two years ago. “As a relatively new teacher, I’m excited about this process,” says Tamara. “I bring a lot of different experience but a person can always enhance her craft. Going through this, I’m seeing and learning what I can do to become a better teacher. My goal is to be the best I can be and to improve my skill sets. I like that we have input into this evaluation process, whereas in the corporate world the process is already set.” When Marshall Carter came to Milton in 2008 as the K–8 principal, developing an effective evaluation process was among his top priorities.

“Middle schoolers can be tricky. So much of what they remember doesn’t come from the structured time you spend with them, but rather from a one-on-one that occurs. If they say something brilliant or out of line, how do I respond to that immediately? The students tend to remember those moments the most.”

Derek Palmore

“I wanted to design a constructive and engaging process so teachers would get feedback, talk thoroughly about their teaching, reflect on where they were strong and focus on where they wanted to improve,” says Marshall. Beginning in fall 2011, Marshall worked with a committee of three faculty— Barbara Kennard, Middle School English; Jerrie Moffett, Grade 1; and Bridget Sitkoff, K–8 technology specialist, to review other schools’ processes and gather from K–8 faculty what they felt was important in their teaching. The committee wanted to guarantee comprehensive self-reflection, collegial dialogue and formal evaluation. The following spring, faculty volunteered to pilot the result of their work. The committee “hoped those faculty would model a level of leadership. We didn’t want the faculty to perceive the experience as threatening. Instead, we hoped they’d see it as colleagues’ helpful eyes observing their work, and assistance in learning to reflect on their practice.” After the pilot, Marshall and the administrative team attended an intensive course, Observing and Analyzing Teaching, offered by Research for Better Teaching, which publishes The Skillful Teacher, a resource for many teachers. The course educates staff about recording observations from the classroom and afterward, giving helpful feedback. Marshall says, “undergoing our own training was important because we wanted to have credibility and greater skill when we sat in someone’s classroom.” During their initial meeting, the teacher and the evaluator generate two to three questions to explore during the evaluation process. The teacher then nominates two to three peers, and the administrator chooses one to be the observational partner. Tamara’s main questions were, “How can I incorporate more technology into my teaching, and how can I provide more one-on-one teaching to meet the students where they are?” She chose Liz West, Grades 4–8 learning specialist, as her observation partner because “she brings a whole set of skills as a learning specialist. She brings that experience to observing me, in my classroom.”

Fall 2013 35

Tamara Nikuradse

“Going through this, I’m seeing and learning what I can do to become a better teacher. My goal is to be the best I can be and to improve on my skill sets. I like that we have input into this evaluation process, whereas in the corporate world the process is already set.”

36 Milton Magazine

Corey, in his eighth year of teaching at Milton, also chose Liz as his observation partner. “I was interested in how my teaching style and my pace affected students of different learning profiles. Was I going too fast or too slow? Did I use too few or too many visuals in my teaching? Liz validated things I knew I was doing well, but also encouraged me to add to my lessons to reach the diversity of learners that are out there.” Derek’s goal was to work on the more informal, “in-between” conversations with students. He chose Sue Austin, Grade 7 dean and Middle School science teacher, as his peer reviewer because, Derek says, “she is really good at those informal conversations and learning moments with students.” “Middle schoolers can be tricky,” says Derek. “So much of what they remember doesn’t come from the structured time you spend with them, but rather from a oneon-one that occurs. If they say something brilliant or out of line, how do I respond to that immediately? Students tend to remember those moments the most.” During the evaluation’s second phase, the teacher assembles a “narrative portfolio” of assignments and student work. The administrator or the observation partner visits the classroom for three to four full lessons. Some of the long observations are scheduled and some are unannounced. Four to six short “pop-in” visits happen at various times. Brief follow-up conversations afterward keep a dialogue going, and a more substantive conversation takes place when all the observations are completed. “One of the things that struck me was how many times I was observed, which was great actually,” says Corey. “Coming into the classroom once is one thing, but coming in five or six times is effective because you always need to be on your toes. They have a good data set for the follow-up, and those conversations are more meaningful.” During the third and final part of the evaluation, the faculty member receives a written summary that includes insights, commendations, areas for growth and input from the observation partner. The summary names future goals, a professional development pathway and a timeline.

“Faculty shouldn’t find surprises at the end of the process,” says Marshall. “It should lead to a supportive and precise professional development plan.” Tamara’s growth plan involved attending Summit Core, a program about teaching with technology, and a language arts seminar called “Visualizing and Verbalizing,” over the summer. Derek says the evaluation process influenced the final spring project he assigned to his seventh graders. “Students broke into groups and each group chose a book from a list of eight novels I compiled. To encourage student interaction, each student in the group taught his classmates about the book’s themes. The seventh graders had to learn how to make things relevant and engaging, which is tricky. It resulted in some very cool moments, students using online tools and the smart board, and asking thought-provoking, open-ended questions. I don’t think I would have come up with this idea without having participated in this evaluation process. I was reminding myself that what is meaningful to them matters.” Marshall hopes that the whole K–8 faculty will complete the evaluation process within three years. “A good evaluation process opens up the doors, allows air in and conversations to take place. It asks faculty to reflect about what they do in the same way that we ask Milton students to reflect about what they do. This introspection and reflection powers us all to become lifelong learners.”

“I was interested in how my teaching style and my pace affected students of different learning profiles. Was I going too fast or too slow? Did I use too few or too many visuals in my teaching? Liz…encouraged me to add little things to my lessons to reach the diversity of learners that are out there.”

Liz Matson

Corey Simonson

Fall 2013 37

he ad of school Milton’s Culture Is Rooted in the Faculty

ne thing I love about Milton, a characteristic that drew me here and connects me deeply, is the sense of accountability that alumni, students, faculty and staff feel for their own lives, and the life of the School. Daring to be true seems to be a standard we require of ourselves. How has this come to be? How does Milton nurture a culture centered on this value? I believe that for generations our faculty have modeled and fostered this value, and I am proud to preserve their legacy. Role models in my life were the people who cultivated in me a sense of responsibility for myself and for others. I admired them and aspired to lead a similar life— family and friends, teachers, coaches and advisors who showed me what it meant to be committed and to reach for certain personal achievements and contributions to others. Their lives enabled them to be fulfilled, to be happy people. I’ve had opportunities to rethink my choice to be an educator. Events of this past year, international, national and local, including the Newtown school shooting, the Boston Marathon bombing and the untimely death of our own Merritt Levitan ’13, have rocked our collective foundation. Crises as momentous as these refocus me on core questions. Am I spending my time and energy on what is most important? Affirming my passion for education and my priorities for Milton is restorative and energizing. I am grateful for my role as head of school, and I’m grateful for the work all of you did to help define our Strategic Plan and articulate clearly our direction for the

38 Milton Magazine

future. You have helped affirm my commitment to redouble our efforts to honor the great teachers that shaped Milton, by making it possible for us to recruit and retain their contemporary counterparts. Milton’s faculty is one of the most senior in New England; we can anticipate that in 10 years almost 50 percent of the faculty will be new to Milton. Today, they uphold the Milton tradition: connecting young people with role models who are more than classroom teachers, advisors, and coaches, who model the highest sense of responsibility for themselves and for others. Our upcoming campaign centers on supporting teachers: those active in our classrooms today, and those who will come to Milton in the next decade.

“A hundred times a day I remind myself that my life depends on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give, in measure as I have received, and am still receiving,” Albert Einstein said. Now our turn has come, to give in the measure in which we have received. We must choose to care about Milton’s ability to carry forward this culture of responsibility so powerfully nurtured by our faculty, and even strengthen it for the students yet to arrive on Centre Street. Todd B. Bland

sp or t s The Outdoor Program

ome inspired students spend Wednesday afternoons rapelling down the sides of the Quincy quarries, paddling kayaks in the Neponset River, or hiking on local trails. On weekends, any and all students can choose to sea kayak, whitewater raft, backcountry ski, snowshoe, and ice climb on instructor-guided day and overnight trips. They travel to the coasts, rivers and mountains of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. All skill levels are welcome—from novices to experts. “Some students may be intimidated by an activity like whitewater kayaking,” says Spencer Gray ’13. “But even if you’re a rookie, by the end of the day, you will know the lingo and the basics, while also having a great time. I did four or five of these trips and it’s amazing how each time you improve and get better.” The H. Adams Carter ’32 Outdoor Program was founded to honor the Milton graduate, teacher and world-renowned mountaineer, who, in 1947, founded the precursor to the Outdoor Program, the Ski and Mountaineering Club. In his years of teaching at Milton, Ad Carter introduced many students to the joys of skiing and climbing, and through those sports he taught them enduring life skills. One of his former students, Gil Butler ’55, is the main benefactor of today’s program, contributing his time and resources to continue the tradition of involving students in outdoor experiences. “My fondest memories are of Adams Carter and the Ski and Mountaineering Club,” wrote Gil in his 50th Reunion update. “I continue to work with the School to build up activities that expose students to the joys and disciplines of nature participation sports. It is my hope that the students at Milton find these

activities promote controlled risk taking, enjoyment of nature and caring for the environment.” The Outdoor Program includes an after-school activity program and a trip program. The after-school program offers season-long instructional courses, which earn one season of physical education (PE) credit. Students may use an after-school Outdoor Program weekly commitment in place of a team sport or a PE class. Rock climbing, backpacking and sea-kayak touring courses are offered in both the fall and the spring. Rock climbing indoors at Milton’s climbing wall is a feature during the winter season. The program provides all technical equipment, food, transportation and basic instruction. All day and weekend trips are free and open to all Upper School students. Kendall Chun, math faculty member, directs the program. The planning for

various activities and trips goes on from his office, just outside the Student Center in the lower level of Wigg Hall. He has lots of help from the student board members, who are very active in brainstorming ideas, setting up the trips, and getting the gear organized and packed into the vans. “We try to get the word out that students don’t need to be ‘outdoorsy’ to participate,” says Kendall. “And we really encourage Classes IV and III to give it a try, because many of our students in Class II and Class I say that they wish they had started participating sooner. In addition to learning about responsibility, meeting challenges, taking intelligent risks, and trusting each other, we have loads of fun.” Izzy Lacata (II) says participating in the Outdoor Program is a great way for underclassmen to get to know upperclassmen and to forge bonds that last through their Milton time and beyond. “My favorite Fall 2013 39

Please see our tribute to Merritt Levitan ’13 in Class Notes. Merritt was an active and enthusiastic member of the Outdoor Program. She served as co-head of the program’s student board in 2012–2013.

breaks and after the school year. Some recent trips have included sea kayaking in the Bahamas; hiking in Moab and Arches National Park; climbing and hiking in Joshua Tree National Park and Red Rock Canyon; and winter camping in the White Mountains. What makes the program unique is that participation is flexible. For some students, one trip a year is perfect. For others, like Serena Lan (II), the program is a way for a New York City girl to experience the outdoors, and she takes every chance she can to go on trips. For others, like Spencer, it forged his future path. He spent his junior fall at the Chewonki School on the coast of Maine and is now an environmental studies major at the College of the Atlantic. Liz Matson

trips are the rock-climbing ones. I love the achievement of getting to the top, and just hanging in the air is always fun,” she says. Spencer, who was co-head of the board in 2012–2013, says some students worry about balancing their homework load while taking a weekend trip. He says time management is key, such as starting some of the homework on Friday and not leaving it all for Sunday night. “Even though it is a time commitment on the weekend, I come home from these trips feeling so relaxed,” says Spencer. “I play tennis in the spring, so I am familiar with the rigors of playing on a team, but with the Outdoor Program there is no pressure to perform at a certain level. Whatever your level, you still feel you accomplished something.” The Outdoor Program also offers adventurous multi-day trips during school 40 Milton Magazine

facult y perspec tive Frighted by False Fire: A 14-Minute Talk on Money for Class I, May 7, 2013

hy don’t we talk more about money? We complain about it often enough, but as conversation, nothing summons up boredom, embarrassment and helplessness like money. To be clear, this is not an antiwealth talk. I’m asking us to think more about money and ourselves without casting judgment on wealth itself. As seniors, you are beginning a lifelong relationship with the most mundane internal monologue of adulthood. Like the animated house in D.H. Lawrence’s “The Rocking-Horse Winner,” we tell ourselves: “There must be more money…there must be more money.” But how do we wrap our heads around the constant demands made by an acultural, apolitical, virtual substance? After all, money, whether seashells or pressed metal discs, is merely an accepted method of payment, a transferable symbol of value. It is an imaginary substance; it is worth what we believe it is worth. In David Mamet’s Heist, a bank robber says, “Of course everyone wants money. That’s why they call it money.” Money has universal importance in our lives, yet it eludes definition. My own experience with money has been all over the map, so I too remain confused. My single mother was on welfare when I was born, and 21 years later I banked more in Christmas bonus on Wall Street than I would ever make in a single year of teaching. Mostly through luck, I’ve known the giddiness of eating in four-star restaurants as well as the embarrassment of not being able to pay my rent in college. I’ve flown in private jets and ridden on allnight Greyhound buses. Money has made me feel free and special, as well as frightened and powerless.

We live in systems of huge markets that obsess about money’s speculative value. In his book The Age of Turbulence, Alan Greenspan uses the word “psychology” abundantly; our economy, the world’s largest, moves principally according to our fears and desires, he suggests. Stock prices reflect the future value that we think companies possess. When I was on Wall Street, I packaged mortgage-backed securities, huge bundles of promises to pay home mortgages. Someone weighed the probability of these promises coming good. Someone insured this estimate. And someone bought these virtual promises. In 2006, a mountain of these promises brought the U.S. economy to its knees. Starting without much of a notion of what you want from this virtual substance puts you in the position of chasing money. And chasing is a frightening, anxious

business. Take the word of three of my college friends, self-made multimillionaires, whom I interviewed for this talk. I asked them to complete this sentence: “To me, money is...” Stephen said, “never a priority. Don’t make it your goal. Be passionate about something, become the best in your field, and the money will be a happy byproduct of your labor.” Will said, “a sword. It has no moral code. It’s dumb in both senses (speechless and unthinking). Someone can pick up a sword to be violent. Another can use the sword to do good. The sword doesn’t care.” And Tom said, “the public domain. After you have enough to live well, the rest belongs to society. Think of Carnegie. Making money feels good; giving money away feels amazing.” Consider that you have three main expenses in your adult life: a mortgage, your children’s education, and retirement. Fall 2013 41

What does the extra money represent? More legroom on an airplane? Better hair-care products? More goji berries in your organic Amazonian shampoo? As Tom Hanks said to a young George Clooney, who was on the brink of stardom: “Remember, George: You can only eat so much steak.” Tony Wagner, an education expert from Harvard, spoke to the faculty this year. He mentioned that in his research in Finland, which has the world’s best-performing educational system, the students, nearly all middle class, stunned him when they spoke of aspiring to be their parents’ socioeconomic equals as members of the middle class. A bigger house or car didn’t really interest them. An American discussion of a child’s future without explicit aspirations is hard to fathom. Are you prepared to make modesty part of your own discussion with yourself about money? In counterpoint, a friend’s father, a prominent lawyer in D.C., heard me in high school talking of my big plans, and he stopped me cold. Nearly every rich guy he knew “got on the treadmill,” he said. “What treadmill?” I asked. The treadmill of expenses that you rack up with expectations of even more wealth in the future. The second sports car, country club membership, or expensive hobby—expenses will always sponge up money you’ve not yet made.

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Let me say something heartening: If you want to become wealthy, it’s pretty easy. Stanley and Danko’s bestseller The Millionaire Next Door, calls out the two real builders of wealth: patience and discipline. Get rich slow. If you want to become wealthy (which I define as meeting the above three lifetime expenses while being able to go out to dinner and take an outrageous annual family vacation), then find what you love to do, and save as you go! You don’t need a big income to accumulate wealth. With patience and discipline, even a high school teacher can become a millionaire on paper. At 18, you have time on your side: Every dollar you save now, you will get back fivefold at retirement. You’ll more than likely have many opportunities to generate an income that allows you to save. Now that we’ve gotten that fear of “I’ll never be wealthy” out of the way, I have one more suggestion. Let’s talk literacy, financial literacy. Before you finish college, you should learn the value of a dollar (virtual as it is), and so you should read up on the banking system, the markets, how a mortgage works, and the credit system in general. You don’t need to become an econ major; you just need a primer in financial literacy. Learn “the time value of money” and the power of compounding. Understand that there is no such thing as a free lunch: A credit card company that has incentivized you to use

their card has already passed on the cost to the merchant, who has already passed it on to you. Speaking of credit cards, they exist as legal usury, that is, lending at exorbitant rates with harsh fees. Do not accept credit card offers by mail or those that promise a free T-shirt if you fill out this form while standing in the cafeteria at college. If you do get a credit card, pay it off in full every month. I know smart adults who don’t really understand how their mutual fund or credit card works and never read the fine print. No amount of ingenuity or high-mindedness will do you good if you leave college and don’t understand the contours of the playing field. The bottom line is to devote some thought to what money means to you so that you never live in fear of it. Become financially literate. Expand your definition of wealth to include modesty, slow wealth, and psychic income (like spending time with loved ones). Once educated, set good habits and then think of money as little as possible. If you make a metric ton of cash, go all Carnegie on us and redistribute it for the public good. And never let money silence or confuse you. It’s just a concept— admittedly, a big concept—that you can and should master on the way to a fulfilled life. That’s the real bottom line. Thank you. Tarim Chung, Chair, English Department

Commencement 2013 Commencement Speaker Jenny Slate, Milton Class of 2000, was a student speaker at her own graduation, on this stage 13 years ago. On the eve of that graduation, Jim Connolly, Jenny Slate’s advisor during her years in the Upper School, made a grand pronouncement, he wrote, “Your youth is but a prelude to the greatness that awaits you.” In fact, Mr. Connolly had a great sense of where her talent might land her. “In my nightmares,” he wrote, “I see you doing a

‘Saturday Night Live’ impression of [me] and I cringe.” An actress and comedienne, Jenny was a “Saturday Night Live” cast member during the 2009–2010 season, following work at the improv/sketch comedy theater, Upright Citizens Brigade, where she performed her one-woman show Dead Millionaire. Jenny and her husband, director Dean Fleischer-Camp, co-wrote the viral success, stop-motion short film “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On.” (Jenny

performs the unique and endearing voice of Marcel.) The two then co-authored the New York Times best-selling Marcel the Shell with Shoes On: Things About Me. A sequel to the picture book is due out later this year. Jenny has made guest appearances on television programs such as “Parks and Recreation,” “Girls” and “Raising Hope.” You can hear her voice as Ted’s mom in the 2012 animated film Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax.

Jenny attended Columbia University, where she earned a degree in English and comparative literature. She lived in New York City and Brooklyn for 12 years, working as a standup comedienne, both in partnership with friend Gabe Liedman and performing solo shows. Jenny now lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their dog, Reggie. She performs standup comedy weekly.

Jenny Slate ’00, Commencement Speaker Fall 2013 43

Milton Academy 2013 Awards and Prizes Cum Laude Class I Nicole Akosua Acheampong Nelson Landers Barrette* Amanda Ruth Beaudoin Kate Hendrik Bodner Mary Frances Brown Emma City Julia Anne Cowen Anne Anlan Deng Clare Severinghaus Dingle Allison Rose Edwards Jonathan Cole Esty Kirby Carylon Feagan Evan Harris Garnick Alexandra Faith Golden Ellyn Jane Golden Lucie Madeleine Hajian Abigail Sterling Higgins Yuta Inumaru Daniel Keeha Kim Catherine Alexandra Kulke Jessica Li Erica Christine Mathews Nicholas Edward Pagliuca Sara Yang Yue Pearce-Probst Daniel Nicholas Rubenstein Lillie Nicole Simourian Ellen Sukharevsky Arielle Ticho Caleb Nathaniel Warren Monique Joan Sophia Williams Isabel Vilar Wise Julia Ximan Xiong Tristan Vladimir Zeman

Class II Anna Elizabeth Lachenauer *elected to Cum Laude in 2012

The Head of School Award The Head of School Award is presented each year to honor and celebrate certain members of Class I for their demonstrated spirit of self-sacrifice, community concern, leadership, integrity, fairness, kindliness, and respect for others. Nelson Landers Barrette Benjamin Hayes Bosworth Samantha Susan Clifford Joshua James Ellis Kirby Carylon Feagan Kevin Wen Ma Jordan Fay Quintin Liane Grace Thornhill

The James S. Willis Memorial Award To the Head Monitors Jessica Li Nicholas George Maragos

William Bacon Lovering Award To a boy and a girl, chosen by their classmates, who have helped most by their sense of duty to perpetuate the memory of a gallant gentleman and officer. Olivia Raine Atwood Nelson Landers Barrette

The Louis Andrews Memorial Scholarship Award To a student in Class II who has best fulfilled his or her potential in the areas of intelligence, selfdiscipline, physical ability, concern for others and integrity. Helson Jose Taveras

The Korean War Memorial Scholarship Award Created in 1956 in memory of Frederick Sprague Barbour ’46, Thomas Amory Hubbard ’47, George Cabot Lee Jr. ’47, and Sherrod Emerson Skinner Jr. ’47, who gave their lives for their country and the United Nations. Awarded to a boy or girl from a developing region to further his or her education at Milton Academy, while enriching the School by their presence. Nelson Mugabo 44 Milton Magazine

Harry Wood, Class of 2013 speaker

Olivia Atwood, Class of 2013 speaker

The Frank D. Millet Scholarship Award

The A. Howard Abell Prize

To a student who demonstrates moral integrity, supports classmates, and has established meaningful relationships with peers and faculty. The Millet scholar, by virtue of character and deeds, is an integral member of his or her class and shows great promise as a leader. Anthony Michael Scurto

The Leo Maza Award Awarded to a student or students in Classes Iâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;IV, who, in working within one of the culture or identity groups at the School, has made an outstanding contribution to the community by promoting the appreciation of that group throughout the rest of the School. Monique Joan Sophia Williams

The H. Adams Carter Prize

Established by Dr. and Mrs. Eric Oldberg for students deemed exceptionally proficient or talented in instrumental or vocal music or in composition. Alessandra Marie Gianino Brittany Eugenia Lee Adam Matthew Rochelle

Harrison Otis Apthorp Music Prize Awarded in recognition of helpful activity in furthering in the School an interest and joy in music. Liane Grace Thornhill Sage Marissa Warner

The George Sloan Oldberg Memorial Prize Awarded in memory of George Oldberg â&#x20AC;&#x2122;54 to members of the School who have been a unique influence in the field of music. Eliza Wincombe Cornwell

Awarded to the student or students who, in their years at Milton, have shown a dedication to the pursuit of outdoor skills, demonstrated strong leadership, and reached high levels of personal achievement in one or more outdoor activities.

The Science Prize

Spencer Edward Gray III

Sarah Marie Anderson Haejun Cho Allison Rose Edwards Lydia Barton Emerson Abigail Sterling Higgins Charles Vincent Wang Caleb Nathaniel Warren

Awarded to students who have demonstrated genuine enthusiasm, as well as outstanding scientific ability, in physics, chemistry and biology.

Fall 2013 45

The Wales Prize Awarded in honor of Donald Wales, who taught Class IV science for more than 36 years. It recognizes students in Class IV who have consistently demonstrated interest and excitement in science. Mary Constance Corcoran Jeremy Charles Cowham Madeleine Rose Dupre Andrew Christopher Lu Ravi Rahman Tara Sanjana Sharma Luis Enrique Viceira Carter Jarrod Wilcox

The Robert Saltonstall Medal For preeminence in physical efficiency and observance of the code of the true sportsman. Nicholas Frost Bland

The A.O. Smith Prize Awarded by the English department to students who display unusual talent in nonfiction writing. Jessica Anne Blau

The Critical Essay Prize Awarded by the English department for the best essay about a work or works of literature. Won Tae Yoo

The Markham and Pierpont Stackpole Prize Awarded in honor of two English teachers, father and son, to authors of unusual talent in creative writing. Emeline Noelle Atwood Jonathan Cole Esty

The Dorothy J. Sullivan Award To senior girls who have demonstrated good sportsmanship, leadership, dedication and commitment to athletics at Milton. Through their spirit, selflessness and concern for the team, they served as an incentive and a model for others. Samantha Jane Curran

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The Donald Cameron Duncan Prize for Mathematics Awarded to students in Class I who have achieved excellence in the study of mathematics while demonstrating the kind of love of the subject and joy in promoting its understanding that will be the lasting legacy of Donald Duncan’s extraordinary contributions to the teaching of mathematics at Milton. Sarah Marie Anderson Amanda Ruth Beaudoin Haejun Cho Skye Shasha Russell Caleb Nathaniel Warren

The Performing Arts Award Presented by the performing arts department for outstanding contributions in production work, acting, speech, audiovisuals, and dance throughout his or her Milton career. Nelson Landers Barrette Oliver Toland Bok Kirby Carylon Feagan Hayley Morgan Fish Grace Rose Kernohan Brittany Eugenia Lee Oona Newman Osaremen Fortune Okolo Matthew Thomas Sullivan Isabel Vilar Wise Harry Maddox Wood

The Richard Price ’50 Prize in Technical Theater Awarded for unusual contributions of time, energy and ideas in theatre production and in technical assistance throughout a student’s career. Spencer Edward Gray III Oona Newman Claire Elizabeth Robertson

The Kiki Rice-Gray Prize Awarded for outstanding contributions to Milton performing arts throughout his or her career in both performance and production. Oona Newman

The Priscilla Bailey Award To a senior girl who has been a most valuable asset to Milton Academy athletics and to the Milton Academy community— an athlete who has demonstrated exceptional individual skills and teamwork, as well as true sportsmanship. Delaney Marie Flynn

The Henry Warder Carey Prize To members of Class I, who, in public speaking and oral interpretation, have shown consistent effort, thoroughness of preparation, and concern for others. Elizabeth Rider Siphron Liane Grace Thornhill

The Robert L. Daley Prize Created by his students of 1984 in his memory and honor, this prize in classics is awarded to the student from Latin 4 or beyond who best exemplifies Mr. Daley’s love of languages. Javon Micah Etienne Ryan

The Richard Lawrence Derby Memorial Award To an outstanding student of Class II in mathematics, astronomy or physics. Jonathan Daniel Chang Anna Elizabeth Lachenauer Cameron Young

The Alfred Elliott Memorial Trophy For self-sacrifice and devotion to the best interests of his teams, regardless of skill. Duncan Henry Sewall

The Gorham Palfrey Faucon Prize Established in 1911 and awarded to members of Class I for demonstrated interest and outstanding achievement in history and social science. Nelson Landers Barrette Evan Harris Garnick Jeremy Charles Mittleman Daniel Nicholas Rubenstein

The Benjamin Fosdick Harding Latin Prizes Awarded on the basis of a separate test at each prize level. Level 5: Olivia Rose Berman Level 4: Ian Hunt Zylstra Level 3: Ellora Nimbkar Rich

The Modern Languages Prizes Awarded to those students who, in the opinion of the department, most exhibit the qualities of academic excellence, enthusiastic participation, and support of fellow students, both in and out of class. Lindsay Wells Atkeson Alexandra Faith Golden Abigail Sterling Higgins Ellen Sukharevsky

The Milton Academy Art Prizes Awarded for imagination and technical excellence in his or her art and for independent and creative spirit of endeavor. Emma City Kirby Carylon Feagan Hye Jun Kwon Claire Elizabeth Robertson

Fall 2013 47

Graduates’ Weekend 2013 48 Milton Magazine

1. Marc M. Goodman ’88 catches up with friends

2. Faculty member Frank Millet 3. Patrice Jean-Baptiste ’88 and Damon D. Bizuka ’88 4. Welcome back alums 5. John Bihldorff ’63 6. Head of School Todd Bland

1. Jane Cheever Talbot ’63 2. Amy F. Kelsey ’93 and family

3. Singing old favorites 4. Roger Haydock ’68 and Albion R. Fletcher, Jr. ’68 5. Alexandra Langlois Dubois ’88, Ellen J. Dunne ’88 and Nancy Cutler Berube ’88 6. Essential reunion supplies 7. John T. Goodhue ’43 stops to chat with Stephen L. Washburn ’43 and his wife, Suzy Washburn 8. Jenny H. Russell ’63 tests the hypothesis

Fall 2013 49

1. A jazzy night in the Student Center 2. A tiger enjoys his cupcake

3. George S. Ames ’48, Humphrey Doermann ’48 and Lansing Lamont ’48 4. John J. Russell ’63, Henry G. Beyer IV ’63 and Head of School Todd B. Bland 5. Sarah M. Loomis, Elizabeth C. Keady, Muhammad J. Kirdar, Michelle Lombardi, Taylor C. White, Kristin Marie Savard—all Class of 2003

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1. Just bouncing around 2. Michael Edgar, science department chair, talks through an experiment

3. Wigg Hall reception 4. An evening gathering behind Straus Library 5. Relaxing on the quad

Fall 2013 51

1. Emily Rider-Longmaid, Kathryn Dwight, Baxter Townsend, Marissa Simmons—all Class of 2008

2. Lyh-Hsin Lam ’03, Christopher T. Kwok ’03, Jamal M. Shipman ’03, Sarah R. Magaziner ’06 3. Taking home memories 4. The home team

52 Milton Magazine

1. Student panel members Matt Rohrer ’13, Chimene Cooper ’13 and Samantha Clifford ’13

2. Big hugs 3. Catching up in the hallway 4. Associate Dean of Students Andre M. Heard ’93 greets Sheldon Ison ’93 5. Mini-golf fun 6. Faculty member Bryan Cheney

Fall 2013 53

in • sight Corey Schwaitzberg, Class I, Alé Gianino ’13 and Harry Wood ’13 belt out the tunes in the spring musical production of City of Angels

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Fall 2013 55

on centre

National Recognition for Student-Writer Victoria White

T Boys’ Basketball Team Ended 2012–13 as League Champions

ilton fans burst into exuberant celebration as the boys’ varsity basketball team earned the Independent School League Championship title in a 54–53 win over Noble and Greenough. At the final buzzer, students rushed the court as players celebrated their victory, the first league championship in the team’s history. Both teams had strong records going into the game on Friday night, and Nobles led in scoring for most of the game. In the final 15 seconds, Milton had possession of the ball and was down by one point when Coach Lamar Reddicks called a time-out. “This team has been one of the grittier teams I’ve ever coached,” says Coach Reddicks. “They know how to bounce back. It’s not easy to do, but they have the confidence to come from behind.” As the final seconds ticked down, Nick Bland ’13 passed to Max Motroni ’13, who brought the

ball down the court, passing back to Nick. Spying Alec Brennan (I) near the net, Nick passed to him. Alec took the shot and missed, but then tipped in his rebound in the final four seconds for those crucial two points. Nobles made a serious attempt at one more shot, but the game ended in a Milton victory. In the crowd were two Army National Reserve members who worked with the team earlier in the season. Before the game, Sergeant McKay and Sergeant Petrie spoke with the boys in the locker room. They had run the team’s first day of practice back in November, leading them through Army training exercises and speaking to them about brotherhood. “Sergeant McKay was phenomenal with them,” says Coach Reddicks. “He had their attention like I’ve never seen before. They learned about what it means to have each other’s back and really support one another.”

he wall on Victoria White’s (I) side of her room in Hathaway House is covered in not-your-averageteenage-girl décor. “I have a big bulletin board where I collect poems that I like,” says Victoria. “I think I might drive my roommates crazy, because they have all these cool posters and I have a big wall of text!” Always a strong writer at Milton, Victoria is being recognized nationally through numerous awards and accolades this year. She was one of 150 high school students chosen as a YoungArts National Finalist, where students are recognized for excellence in visual, literary and performing arts. She traveled to Miami last January to participate in the weeklong program that connects students with leaders and mentors in the arts. “We met people there who spoke with us about making writing a career, and they showed us that it is something worth doing,” says Victoria. “They helped validate that goal for me, and now I believe it’s something I could legitimately do.” In February 2013, her poem “Oncology” won the Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest and was published in Cargoes, the Hollins University student annual literary magazine. “The poem is about seeing someone who is sick, and being afraid for that person,” says Victoria. “I don’t usually draw upon personal experience in my writing, because that takes

emotionally maturity, and I don’t feel that I have that yet. However, finding the words for that poem helped me find a way to talk about real experiences.” The poem was also recognized with two of her short stories by the 2013 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the nation’s largest, longest-running, and most prestigious visual and literary arts program identifying the creative accomplishments of high school students. Victoria earned a Gold Medal in Poetry and also won Best in Grade, where only two writers and two visual artists from each grade are chosen from a national pool of applicants. She traveled to New York City for the national awards ceremony at Carnegie Hall. Last year Victoria took two English classes—Advanced Creative Writing and American Literature. She says her writing has “improved exponentially since freshman year because of the opportunities to share work and get feedback in classes. Milton places a lot of value on writing well.”

Oncology The bones are swimming to the surface of your skin like fish. I say this instead of the word that hooks in my throat and would mean we can no longer ignore this. I was not scared until I saw your back, your shoulder blades nosing the skin, rising for air.

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Indu Chugani: A New Dean, Set to Realize a Strategic Goal

ndu Chugani, Milton’s dean of teaching and learning, has been busy on campus since July 1, and was happy to meet faculty and students when everyone returned to campus. Indu’s role is new to Milton. The heart of her job, Indu says, is “working with faculty on identifying teaching practices that will allow every Milton student to realize his or her full potential.” The position description says that the dean of teaching and learning “oversees the professional growth of the faculty.” Indu describes that as “constantly reviewing and defining the act of teaching, and how it is changing as we speak.” Indu comes to Milton from the Winsor School in Boston, where she taught English, created innovative courses, and with English and history teachers, developed an interdisciplinary global studies program. She was named the Virginia Wing Outstanding Teacher in 2007. Indu chaired Winsor’s Teaching and Learning Committee, which led professional development on teaching practices and technology integration, and she managed new faculty orientation. As a co-chair for the Skills and Instruction arm of Winsor’s stra-

tegic plan, Indu generated, prioritized and implemented goals for the plan, “Learning in the 21st Century.” Prior to Winsor, Indu was an English teacher and dorm parent at Exeter; she began her teaching career in Roswell, Georgia, at Centennial High School. Indu has long studied the art of teaching; her involvement in programs, projects, presentations and conferences about teaching parallels her time in the classroom. From her first encounter with education courses in college, particularly her student teaching, Indu knew that her career needed to couple work with students and work with teachers. Each of Indu’s professional roles strengthened that dual orientation. She has been immersed

in the scholarship and dialogue among educators about student learning and teacher practices; at the same time, she has taught, mentored, and led the development of innovative curriculum. Indu’s role at Milton is rooted in the Strategic Plan, which prioritizes student experience in and out of the classroom. The Strategic Plan names professional development—“providing both the tools and the support for teachers to excel at their profession”—as an essential component of our commitment to students and to the quality of our work with them. Indu describes her summer as a “luxurious” research opportunity. Not only did she meet with David Ball, and deans Jackie Bonenfant and José Ruiz, she also spoke at length with administration at roughly 15 independent schools to explore their professional development models. Indu is particularly excited about managing Milton’s progress toward one of our key objectives, developing personal growth plans with and for each faculty member. Over the course of the year, she will also work with department chairs, as independent curriculum leaders and also

as a committee of instructional leaders. Together, Indu says, they will articulate Milton’s core educational values, a baseline activity that will anchor consistent evaluations and ideas about what should change over time. She plans to organize a teaching and learning team, including faculty volunteers who are enthusiastic about sharing the reflective and active agenda at hand. Indu is Milton’s “mentor in chief,” supporting the four teaching fellows at Milton who are candidates in the University of Pennsylvania’s Resident Masters in Teaching program. An experienced proponent of integrating technology, Indu will partner with Milton’s chief information officer, Bryan Price, to explore learning management systems that would provide dynamic, organic experiences online with students. Milton’s Strategic Plan, Indu says, is “an ambitious, bold vision.” She feels “drawn to this challenge,” she says, and “fortunate to have had certain experiences that prepared me for this possibility.” Indu’s energy matches her enthusiasm, and she “can’t wait” to meet the students that shape the lively day-to-day life at Milton.

tion intends to meet the growing demand for models of best practice and access to expertise in developing partnerships, in order to scale innovation more quickly—and with greater results. “Schools everywhere are engaging in public-private partnerships that expand educational opportunities for all young people,” according to NNSP’s Web site, http://www.schoolsinpartnership.org. The group is eager to act as a central facilitator, where educators and community leaders could turn for support

in the design, implementation and improvement of high-impact partnerships.

Milton Joins in Leading the Trend Toward Educational Partnerships

“T

his is good news. This is good news for everyone, for all children,” Todd Bland said at the launch this year of the National Network of Schools in Partnership (NNSP) at the National Association of Independent Schools annual conference in February. NNSP promotes and supports educational partnerships to develop, test and share cross-school innovations that affect the educational experience of children in all settings. More than 250 independent school educational lead-

ers attended, and heard Maureen Dowling, director of the Office of Non-Public Education at the U.S. Department of Education, declare that, “The potential of this launch is beyond anything that I’ve been privy to at the U.S. Department of Education.” Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is equally enthusiastic about NNSP’s mission. “I’m on the team,” he said at the launch. Todd Bland, Milton’s head of school, serves with 10 other national educational leaders on the NNSP board. The organiza-

Fall 2013 57

Beloved “Coach Mac” Inducted into Massachusetts Coaches Hall of Fame

ilton Academy’s head football coach for the past 17 years, Kevin MacDonald—or “Coach Mac”— says his work with his players off the field brings him the most joy. “I love being involved with the players’ college process,” says Kevin. “Nothing makes me happier than the number of students we send on to play college football.” During his tenure—with a record of 87–43–3—roughly 100 Milton players have gone on to play college football, 19 at the Division I level. Nick Bland ’13, a team captain in 2012, is playing for Cornell University this fall. “Coach has a lot of respect from college coaches because of his honesty,” says Nick. “He makes sure that if players want to go on and play football, that it is an option for them. He does so much work behind the scenes, talking to coaches and making sure we have those opportunities.” Prior to Milton, Kevin spent 14 years as head coach

at Archbishop Williams High School in Braintree. In recognition of his long-term commitment to and success in the game he loves, Kevin was inducted into the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in April. Many former and current players were in the audience to support and thank the coach who did so much for them. “Coach loves teaching more than he loves winning, and that means something, because he really likes to win!” says Jeff Bortman ’13, a team captain from the 2012 season. “When we were sophomores, we weren’t expecting that much attention, but Coach takes the time to get to know each of his players from a young age.” “He is very encouraging,” says Nick. “He rarely has negative comments. Overall, he gets respect from his players because he respects them. It’s hard to find a coach more dedicated to his players.”

Kevin clearly loves the day-today of football season. Besides Gordon Sewall, assistant head of school, and Paul Rebuck, dean of admission, the rest of the coaching staff is made up of former players who have played for Kevin over the years. “Working with these guys every day during the football season is so much fun,” says Kevin.

And now, “Coach Mac” is looking forward to the 2013 season. The Independent School League is one of the top leagues in Massachusetts, and Kevin relishes the challenge of facing tough opponents. Though football may be on his mind yearround, Kevin immensely enjoys his roles as advisor, teacher, house parent, and coach of the boys’ freshman baseball team.

Milton Scientists Share Their Culminating Work

dvanced science students were also advanced communicators at Milton’s Third Annual Science Symposium in the Pritzker Science Center. For students enrolled in advanced biology, chemistry, physics and environmental science, discussing independent projects that they’ve pursued over the last several weeks of the second semester is their culminating work. Milton science faculty invited Caleb Warren ’13 and Lydia Emerson ’13 to be the symposium’s keynote speakers. Caleb and Lydia framed the event by sharing their experiences of doing science at Milton.

58 Milton Magazine

Students work as individual investigators, in pairs, or in several cases a team of three—more than 35 students were involved. The Milton scientists developed posters that described their work, and talked with faculty, friends and parents about their process and outcomes. Within the four discipline areas, student projects were wideranging. Examples include: • Jess Li ’13: “The Effect of Population Density on Duckweed Lemna Minor Growth”

• Brian Cho ’13 and Charles Wang ’13: “Cloud Chambers: varying alcohol chain length and concentration to optimize cloud trail visibility from radioactive sources” • Emily Spencer (I) and Ellyn Golden ’13: “Investigating the Location of a Point Source Nitrate Effluent in the Pine Tree Brook” • John McDonough ’13 and Tom Goode ’13: “A Study of Wiffle Ball Aerodynamics”

messages

Tyler Hicks

Francine Prose Award-winning author Francine Prose read pages from an unfinished novel to students. The story grew from a photo titled Lesbian Couple at Le Monocle (1932) by Hungarian photographer George Brassaï, which Ms. Prose saw at a museum exhibit. Brassaï chronicled underground Paris nightlife during the 1930s. In this particular photo, one of the subjects was a former French athlete who was banned from competition due to her sexual orientation. Upon an invitation from Adolf Hitler, this woman attended the Berlin Olympics as his guest; she went on to become a spy for the Germans during World War II and was executed by the French Resistance. Ms. Prose was this spring’s Bingham Visiting Writer.

“What would you do if you weren’t afraid? This question challenges us. It forces us to think about our action and how we respond to difficult situations, but it also compels us to think boldly and, if I may, dares us to be true.”

New York Times award-winning war photographer Tyler Hicks discussed his work with students and explained why he thinks journalism coverage of conflict and war is important. Mr. Hicks was on campus for three days as the Melissa Dilworth Gold Visiting Artist. In visual art and photography classes, Mr. Hicks showed images from Afghanistan and Iraq, and talked about becoming a photojournalist after graduating from Boston University’s School of Communication in 1992. After various staff photographer jobs, Mr. Hicks traveled to Kosovo on his own for two weeks, where he was deeply moved by what he saw. He left his job and returned to Kosovo as a freelance photographer, where he covered the Balkan crisis. He began working for the New York Times in 2002 and was named Newspaper Photographer of the Year in 2007. In 2009, he shared the Pulitzer Prize with a group of fellow Times staff members.

Erick Tseng ’97

“I thought, ‘Wow, what an amazing story.’ What could be more fun than writing a scene set in the Berlin Olympics from the point of view of a furious lesbian who hates everyone!”

Erick Tseng ’97 is head of mobile products at Facebook and is a Milton Academy trustee. Mr. Tseng took the Asian stereotype headon as he described the defining moments in his career and personal life to students. Mr. Tseng attended M.I.T., where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science and electrical engineering. He earned an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he graduated with top honors as an Arjay Miller Scholar. Before joining Google, Mr. Tseng was an associate at McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm. He has also held product management and engineering positions at Microsoft, Yahoo, and the M.I.T. Media Lab. Mr. Tseng was on campus as the 14th Hong Kong Distinguished Lecturer.

“Many people ask me why I continue to go back to areas that can be dangerous. First, it’s my job. Second, I feel responsible for documenting these events and for telling people’s stories, especially in areas with American soldiers.”

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Joining the Board of Trustees

Retiring Trustees

Yunli Lou ’87

rad Bloom, president of the board, expressed on the board’s behalf profound gratitude to four trustees whose service on the board concluded in May of this year. Caroline Hyman P’00 was elected to the board in 2009. Caroline clearly understood and appreciated Milton, and she helped Milton in many ways during four important years of our School’s history. Caroline and her husband, Ed, directly and powerfully affected Milton students’ experience through their philanthropy. Caroline’s generosity took many forms: She unfailingly hosted warm and lovely events to help Milton connect and communicate. Academic Affairs, Student Life and Enrollment, along with External Relations, were Caroline’s committees. We will recall her service to the board within the framework of a remarkable time—during the introduction of a new head of school, the completion of a New England Association of Schools and Colleges re-accreditation, and the development of a comprehensive strategic plan. Caroline’s demonstrated confidence in Milton is inspiring to all.

Yunli Lou ’87 and her husband, James Kralik, operate Milestone Capital, where Yunli serves as managing director. Milestone is a China-focused private equity investment and advisory firm with main offices in Shanghai and Beijing. Yunli also serves as a director of Yuhua TelTech and Dehaier Medical Systems and was an observer of Focus Media. Yunli, Milton’s first graduate from China, is a graduate of Harvard College and was named a John Harvard Scholar. Helping to promote and expand Milton’s profile in Shanghai, Yunli and James have hosted dinners for alumni, parents and students, and prospective Milton families.

Caterina Papoulias-Sakellaris P’17 ’19 Caterina Papoulias-Sakellaris P’17 ’19 has been active at Milton since her daughter Christina ’17 entered in 2004; her son Peter enrolled in 2006. Formerly vice president for global accounts with Nielsen Marketing Research, Caterina serves on the board of Kalinga Power Corporation, a power and energy company in New Delhi, India, and is also a board member of Leadership 100, an endowment fund of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. She graduated from the University of New Hampshire. Caterina brings experience with K–8 to the board, and she enthusiastically anticipates her children’s experiences in the Upper School.

Dorothy “Dottie” Altman Weber ’60, P’04 Dorothy “Dottie” Altman Weber ’60, P’04 served Milton as her class agent for more than two decades. Dottie chaired the Annual Fund from 2002–2004 and helped lead Class I gift fund raising in 2003–2004. She is a 1798 Circle volunteer, and was a chair for her 50th Reunion.

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Dottie earned the Jackson Bowl Award in 1976, 1985 and 1990; in 2004, Milton created the Dorothy Altman Weber ’60, P’04 Award, in honor of her efforts to secure the success of the Annual Fund. To celebrate their daughter Meredith’s graduation in 2004, the Webers dedicated a classroom to honor Jim Connolly of the English department. Dottie completed her undergraduate work at Tufts and earned her doctorate in psychology at Boston University. She is a member of Judge Baker Children’s Center, vice chair of the board of Shakespeare & Company, Inc., and serves on the board of the Celebrity Series of Boston.

Ronnell Wilson ’93 Ronnell Wilson ’93 is an assistant United States attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Newark, New Jersey. Ronnell came to Milton from North St. Louis, Missouri, through A Better Chance (ABC), and he graduated from Yale and Yale Law School. He lived in Wolcott House and served as head monitor in his Class I year. Ronnell will bring valuable, experiential perspectives on many of Milton’s strategic objectives. Along with Ronnell’s legal background, his deep appreciation for Milton’s impact on students’ lives will enable him to serve the board well.

Vicky Graham ’81, Jide Zeitlin ’81, and Jack Reardon ’56 devoted 17, 18 and 22 years, respectively, to Milton, and their dedication relates directly to Milton’s strength today. During that time, not only did Milton enhance the facilities that serve students and faculty—the Athletic Center and Fitzgibbons Convocation Center, Schwarz Student Center, Millet and Norris houses, Pritzker Science Center and the Art and Media Center—but also, all key institutional markers advanced significantly. Milton mounted its first comprehensive capital campaign and in addition, met major building and endowment goals. Admission applications tracked

steadily upward, and enrollment was rebalanced to reflect Milton’s history as a boarding and day school. Leadership and programming in residential life gained depth and quality. Milton restructured its former grade alignment into K–8 and the Upper School. The science department led Milton in substantive curriculum revision, and optimized students’ learning opportunities in the Pritzker Center. Of course, the list is much longer, including recruiting Todd Bland and culminating with the creation of our Strategic Plan. Within this framework of progress, Vicky’s, Jide’s and Jack’s individual projects and responsibilities were many, but to highlight a few: Vicky Graham chaired the Annual Fund and vigorously helped oversee our finances as budget chair, a crucial contribution during the financial crisis. She helped set the foundation for the upcoming capital campaign, and with Jack Reardon, co-chaired the national head of school search in 2007–2008 that helped Milton identify and recruit Todd Bland as Milton’s 12th head of school. Throughout her tenure, Vicky was asked to address vital issues, particularly in the financial area, and she leaves Milton with a robust and transparent financial reporting system. As Milton’s Investment Committee chair, Jide Zeitlin set high expectations—meeting the investment performance of the top quartile of similarly sized endowments and reported successfully against those metrics. He piloted Milton’s endowment during a financially perilous time. Jide’s study of student life in 2000, undertaken along with trustee Tom Hill ’66, led to defining changes in residential life, including rebalancing the enrollment. During his service on Milton’s board, Jide was asked for his counsel on many of the

Retiring Faculty

Walter McCloskey Member of the Faculty, 1971–2013 critical challenges we faced. A man of few but precise and powerful words, Jide often clinched the issue at hand and articulated the pathway forward for Milton. Jack Reardon’s first challenge, as chair of the Steering Committee in 1992—preparing for Milton’s first comprehensive capital campaign—was helping Milton understand that professional-level fund raising is the linchpin to fulfilling the School’s mission. Jack chaired the Trustees Committee during his tenure, guiding trustees and trustee practices in supporting Milton. That position signaled a much broader portfolio: trusted emissary, diplomat, counselor, honest broker, or change agent when that was necessary. On the board and in the School, Jack was an astute listener, and always promoted the broadest possible understanding of an issue. Co-chair of the search for Head of School Todd Bland, Jack implemented a process that stands as an example of open, responsive communication with the full Milton constituency. Milton is extremely grateful for Jack’s seemingly limitless service over 22 years, helping Milton to be evermore daring and true; he has prepared Milton well for the future. Throughout change and growth over the last two decades, these trustees devoted countless hours on innumerable teams for Milton’s well-being. We are all most grateful for their enduring care and commitment.

alter arrived at Milton in September 1971, fresh from graduate school at Harvard. He was 33. A long way from his native New Orleans, Walter remembers walking into Forbes House with his wife Josephine during his job interview. Teachers were taking postprandial naps with newspapers over their faces. The room had the feel of, in his words, “a broken-down men’s club.” Suddenly New Orleans did not seem that far away. He thought it all “just felt right.” Since that fateful September, Walter has seen six heads of school, taught more than 20,000 classes, and watched the English department build to a cohort of famous figures who gave it its modern identity. He and Joey raised their children, Rob and Caroline, who graduated from Milton in the ’90s. With his energies trained on the classroom, Walter shared his literary passion with generations of students. Discussing literature, particularly the Americans, is his mainstay. He prepares for each class now as he did then: reading with care texts that he knows almost by heart. If you interrupt him during these preparations, he will look up quickly and say, “You know, Henry James amazes me... .” When students are under his care, classes begin with banter, the discussion—before anyone has noticed—begins, and then students are taken on a tour of the inner workings of Shakespeare, Hawthorne, Melville, Faulkner, demanding authors that Walter explains with ease and expertise, as if they were old friends. Walter is always friendly, thoughtful, poised and ready with a laugh. He would bristle at the epithet “Southern gentleman,” but he is one of a kind in these parts. Walter knows how to have a good chat or take a little ribbing without casting

an aspersion. He meets his students as they are, avoiding judgment and perhaps offering greater sympathies to those who are transplanted, like himself. He tells you what he thinks with neither reservation nor a superior air. He does not take intellectual shortcuts; he doesn’t do bullet points. To him, the Internet is a mild inconvenience that’s better left unexamined. And don’t let his newly acquired cane fool you: Every big laugh in the department’s hallways or at our gatherings comes from silver-tongued

Walter. Around Walter we all relax a little more, laugh a little more. We are sad to have Walter retire. We hope to keep his finest qualities within us: an exquisite literary sensibility, a gentle hand with students, and a congenial heart for colleagues. We will never know another like him. Thank you, Walter, for all these years of extraordinary teaching and warm company. Tarim Chung, Chair, English Department

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Retiring Faculty

Keith Hilles-Pilant Member of the Faculty, 1986–2013

eith Hilles-Pilant touched the lives of so many here, including budding mathematicians eager for more encouragement, and those just beginning their algebraic studies—in Warren, or in a math trailer, or at the top of Ware Hall. Many know about his love of math; he was an educator who prodded the department toward developing long-lasting relationships with other educators throughout academia, in Boston and beyond. Still others think of Keith and envision him with violin in hand. He happily hosted musical gatherings before Tuesday-night faculty meetings, sharing feasts with friends as they serenaded each other. Keith and his wife Carolyn are avid travelers, and he finished his teaching career with characteristic panache in Viterbo, Italy. During the span of his career, Keith taught at School Year Abroad in Spain and France, and helped explore a new site in Japan. This daring and courageous man motivates us to think outside the box, to push ourselves

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beyond our comfort zones. Keith is the antithesis to the idea that getting older means becoming more sedate. To imagine his settling down at home in Milton is difficult. Perhaps he is just catching up with Carolyn, who retired a year ago, so they now can venture to other fantastic destinations. As a teacher, Keith shined both as a mentor to students pushing the boundaries of our curriculum, and as a motivator to math colleagues eager to move the department ever forward. He is always ready to talk about math, share one of his favorite proofs, or discuss which cheeses to purchase at the local wine shop. We could always bring an unresolved question from class to Keith, confident he would grapple with the problem and talk you through it as needed. We will miss his laughter at the top of Ware, his mathematical prowess, and his energy. Heather Sugrue, Chair, Math Department

Scott Ford Member of the Faculty, 1981–2013

he Lower School and then K–8 counted on Scott. By the time we arrived at school each day, he had unlocked each classroom so we could bypass the fumbling for keys, and made coffee so that we could infuse our bodies with morning energy for greeting the already-energetic students. He’d read his emails and could announce to all faculty the order of the day ahead: who was absent, how the schedule had changed, which dignitaries were visiting, what was forecast for weather and how many days were left in the school year. He treated us like family. His humor was noteworthy, with puns close at hand. The astute student spent the day chuckling while others looked bewildered. His joking was caring, kind and supportive. Our students, in turn, admired him, felt comfort with him, and showed affection for the man who always wore a noteworthy necktie and, surprisingly, would quack like a duck at the least provocation. His math classes began with the Problem of the Day. This year, he surely asked, “What is the connection of 32 and the real world?” The answer is the number of years Scott taught at Milton. Fifth graders kept him young and through them he followed his passions in world cultures, stock portfolios and the environment. Students, by year’s end, could sketch a map of the world from memory. They’d read about Greek gods, invented corporations, sold T-shirts as part of their business model, recited weekly poems, supported the rain forest in Costa Rica, navigated via GPS, and knew all there was to know about CIO (coin, inch, ounce). Scott speaks fluent Mandarin and paints Chinese scrolls with great skill. His expertise led to helping out in the second grade

and traveling to China with Upper School students. He is a bit like that quacking duck: a look of calm above water with much going on below the surface. His running the talent show for years was no accident. We hope that Scott will continue to keep us informed, even though he has grandchildren to tend, sports teams to cheer, and tennis games to play. We will remember to turn off the lights when we leave a room, recycle, and save our pennies for the rain forest. Scott is everyone’s idea of a fine friend, wonderful colleague and spectacular teacher. Caroline Damp Former Faculty Grade 4

Alumni Authors: Recently Published Works

Islands of Time: A Novel By Barbara Kent Lawrence ’61 Just Write Books, 2013

The Woman Upstairs By Claire Messud ’83 Alfred A. Knopf, 2013 Nora Eldridge, an elementaryschool teacher in Cambridge, Massachusetts, long ago compromised her dream to be a successful artist, mother and lover. She has instead become the “woman upstairs,” a reliable friend and neighbor always on the fringe of others’ achievements. Then into her life arrives the glamorous and cosmopolitan Shahids—her new student Reza Shahid, a child who enchants as if from a fairy tale, and his parents: Skandar, a dashing Lebanese professor who has come to Boston for a fellowship at Harvard, and Sirena, an effortlessly alluring Italian artist. When Reza is attacked by schoolyard bullies, Nora is drawn deep into the complex world of the Shahid family; she finds herself falling in love with them, separately and together. Told with urgency, intimacy and piercing emotion, this brilliant novel of passion and artistic fulfillment

explores the intensity, thrill—and the devastating cost—of embracing an authentic life. Claire Messud’s most recent novel, The Emperor’s Children, was a New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post Best Book of the Year. Her first novel, When the World Was Steady, and her book of novellas, The Hunters, were both finalists for the PEN/Faulkner Award; and her second novel, The Last Life, was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year and Editor’s Choice at The Village Voice. All four books were named New York Times Notable Books of the Year. Messud has been awarded Guggenheim and Radcliffe Fellowships and the Strauss Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her husband and children.

When Rebecca Grangers falls in love with Ben Bunker, she is only 14. In 1958, a summer girl is not allowed to love a year-round boy, son of a fisherman in Downeast Maine, and yet she does. When her father dies, loss and anger overpower her, and she commits a sin, terrible at the time, that almost destroys her. She hides from her life in fantasies until she returns to Maine as an adult, and struggles to come to terms with the past. Islands of Time is a moving story of loss, pain, and growth, but also of unexpected forgiveness and love that celebrates the people and places of Downeast Maine. In 1948, Barbara Kent Lawrence fell in love with Mount Desert Island as a summer kid, and in 1979 she became a “yearround summer person,” a status more compelling and complex than she could then have imagined. In 1998, she wrote her dissertation on the gap between the high rate of achievement Maine’s fourth-grade students evidenced on national tests, and the low rate at which they went to college. She has since written books about education and eating disorders in men, and she’s working on a manuscript about her British family during World War II. Though Lawrence no longer lives in Maine year-round, she spends as much time as possible on Mount Desert Island.

The World of Sicilian Wine By Bill Nesto ’69 and Frances Di Savino University of California Press, 2013 The World of Sicilian Wine provides wine lovers with a comprehensive understanding of Sicilian wine, from its ancient roots to its modern evolution. Offering a guide and map to exploring Sicily, Bill Nesto, an expert in Italian wine, and Frances Di Savino, a student of Italian culture, deliver a substantive appreciation of a vibrant wine region that is one of Europe’s most historic areas and a place where many cultures intersect. From the earliest Greek and Phoenician settlers who colonized the island in the eighth century B.C., the culture of wine has flourished in Sicily. A parade of foreign rulers was similarly drawn to Sicily’s fertile land, sun-filled climate, and strategic position in the Mediterranean. The modern Sicilian quality wine industry was reborn in the 1980s and 1990s with the arrival of wines made with established international varieties and stateof-the-art enology. Sicily is only now rediscovering the quality of its indigenous grape varieties. Bill Nesto is a Master of Wine and a founder of the Wine Studies Program at Boston University. An expert on the wines of the world, he has written for Gastronomica, Santé, and Massachusetts Beverage Business.

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Edward “Biz” Cahill Park ’41

Planning for Impact

“D Waltzing with Bracey: A Long Reach Home By Brenda Gilchrist ’47 Bauhan Publishing, 2012 In this brave and thoughtful memoir, Brenda Gilchrist tells the story of learning to claim her place in the world—Deer Isle, Maine—and a wonderfully bossy little corgi, Bracey, who helps her to do so. After a girlhood spent abroad in various world capitals, Gilchrist never felt entirely at home anywhere, or indeed, particularly confident about who she was. Her family’s Deer Isle summer cottage might qualify as an anchor of sorts. But there are so many ghosts up there—so many august forebears to live up to. As a middle-aged New Yorker she confronts her Aunt Eleanor’s bequest of the Deer Isle property. Moving to Main full-time with her corgi puppy in tow, she sets out to claim not just this big, rambling shingle-style pile of a house but also her own life. Bracey is vital to this process, serving as companion and example. Brenda Gilchrist worked at various jobs in the New York art and magazine worlds, including the Brussels World’s Fair, Museum of Modern Art, and SHOW magazine, before she became senior editor in charge of Arts Book Division at Praeger Publishers. She was also general editor of the Smithsonian Illustrated Library of Antiques series. Since moving to Maine in 1990, she has written, illustrated, and designed books published by Braceypoint Press. 64 Milton Magazine

oing something for education is one way to justify your life,” according to Edward “Biz” Cahill Park ’41 and his wife, Helen O’Boyle Park. Through their estate, the Parks established the Edward and Fentress Park Scholarship Fund in honor of and named for Biz’s parents. The fund will provide financial aid for Milton students across all grade levels. The Parks considered leaving their assets to their respective colleges, but decided ultimately that “secondary education is a more important place to put our emphasis.” Biz attended Milton for 12 years. His parents applied when he was three months old. After graduation from Milton and Harvard, Biz built a career in aerospace research and development. His work took the couple to many locations, and they settled on the West Coast. Helen, a scholar, painter, sculptor and organizational leader, became an enthusiastic participant

in the Los Angeles art community. Biz loved his time at Milton Academy and Helen grew to love Milton as well. In a letter written July 4,1991, Biz expressed his sadness at having missed his 50th Reunion. “I would certainly like to have seen Milton again, particularly the new library and the arts center—and, of course, the old Warren and Wigglesworth Halls. (We named one of our batch of five kittens Wigglesworth, Wiggley for short.)” When the Parks made the decision to support Milton through their estate, Biz remarked, “I have always been very grateful for my own Milton education and can think of no more deserving an institution, nor one more able to make good use of the funds.” The Parks’ forward thinking and support for financial aid certainly achieves their goal: joining in the exciting process of learning at Milton, now and in perpetuity.

For information on gift planning, contact: Suzie Hurd Greenup ’75 suzie_greenup@milton.edu 617-898-2376

cl a ss notes

1938 Amabel K. (Eshleman) Barrows started as a day student in 1926. After graduating in 1938, she spent eight months in Paris, returning in 1939 when Germany became threatening. She got a job in New York in 1941 as a draftsman at the Submarine Signal Company. In 1943 she married Elliot Barrows, a navigator in the Army Air Force. They moved to Monroe, Louisiana. When he went overseas to India, she moved back to Milton with her baby for the duration of the war. After living in Westwood for several years, they moved to Wilton, Connecticut and brought up their three children. She was an antiques dealer for 40 years. After her husband died, she moved to Marion, Massachusetts. She has six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. “I have been blessed with a wonderful extended family, good health, happy children, caring friends, loyal dogs, aloof cats, wonderful travel experiences and I hope to continue,” she says. Marjorie S. Nichols reports a hectic winter after her son, Jim, his wife and two cats moved in when their house was damaged in “Sandy.” But everything was back to normal in the spring. “I walk and I still have a license so I get out when I want. Lots of trips to the theatre, museum, and lectures. So I keep pleasantly busy at ‘me old folks home,’” she says. Katherine Sutton regrets missing the 75th Reunion. “It was too far for me and my chariot necessary because of arthritis. I had to give up my car last year. After 60 years of independence, it was one of the hardest things I have ever had to cope with,” she says. She has a son who lives nearby and helps out. She

acquired the Harvard Classics and read Cicero’s essay on old age. “He was one smart cookie way back in 33 B.C. He said eat moderately, exercise carefully, watch your attitude and keep your mind busy, which of course is what all the doctors tell us to do now!” Her five children are spread out in Texas, Oklahoma, and Illinois. Her two daughters spent three days with her last month, which was a “treat.” She has five great-grandchildren.

1943 Caroline Haussermann was sorry to miss the 70th Reunion. She was in Willicushing, Virginia for her annual four months retreat with old friends from William and Mary teaching days. “I have many happy memories and hope all of ’43 are well. I am busy and happy! Joan Clarke was so great at keeping us together, and I miss the annual letter from her,” she says.

1953 Mary Lee Lambert could not attend reunion but has happy memories of her three years at Milton. She has been married 57 years to her wonderful husband, Paul. Their three living children are great. Their lovely son Chris died of a brain tumor at age 20. They also have six terrific grandchildren (ages 2–20). She continues to help people find volunteer jobs at the volunteer referral center. She would love to see any old Milton pals if they come to New York City. Hugh Marlow welcomes his newest grandchild, Parker Marlow. Parker’s older brother Gray is 3 years old.

Class of 1953: front row (L to R): Anna Hunt Latkowitch, Jane Cheever Carr, Bob Twombly, Elinor Hallowell; second row: John Webster, Sandy Earle, Phil Andrews, Penelope Starr, Mike Robertson, David Sheehan.

1953

1955

Members of the Class of 1953, raised with and guided by “Dare to Be True,” are leaving Milton Academy students with a legacy of Dare to Love Kindness so that they, in turn, may pass it on to future generations. They established the Class of 1953 Dare to Love Kindness Endowed Fund. The purpose of this fund is to help support the good works of Milton students in their effort to help others. The fund supports the Community Service Spring Break trip to an area where help is needed. This fund will support those students who are on financial aid, and any remaining income will be applied to help pay for the supplies needed to complete the specific project for that year or for other costs associated with the trip.

Paul Robinson attended Reunion Weekend and had a lovely time seeing ladies and gentlemen from nearby classes and attending events. “It was nice to return to campus and see Hugh Marlow, Phil Andrews, Frank Millet and Mrs. Torney, to name a few. It was good to see people we might not see if we wait too long. Things to think about,” he says.

1956 Sarah Bowles’ family and friends established the Sarah Bowles ’56 Speaker Fund this past spring. The fund is designed to bring to campus speakers who reflect the intellectual curiosity and rigor that marked everything Sally did as both a student and a professional. Over time, speakers will reflect a wide range of perspectives on issues critical to the health of society in the United States and around the world. The fund supports the keynote speaker at the Peter Keyes Seminar Day, which occurs every other Fall 2013 65

Class of 1958: front row (L to R): Betsey Farnham Blair, Jody Emerson Howard, E. Pendleton, Tally Saltonstall Forbes, Andrea Forbes Schoenfeld, Neilson Abeel; second row: Nat Goodhue, David Gannett, Ruth Cheever Drake, Moyra Byrne, Doug Bingham, George Davidson, Star Martin Hopkins; third row: Sherry Bingham Downes, Arthur Holcombe and Eliza Kellogg Klose.

year. The next Seminar Day will be in the spring of 2014. If you would like to contribute, please contact the development office at 617-898-2376.

1957 Ned Hamlin died on September 13, 2012, leaving behind a wife Suzanne (Browder) Hamlin; a son, Nathaniel; his daughter-inlaw, Kristina; and his two grandchildren, Stella, and Levi. He also leaves his adoring four sisters, Katy, Jenny, Hilary, Charlotte, and two nieces, Lydia and Caitlin. He will be remembered for dedication to both his community and family.

Mary Whitehead is sorry to have missed everyone at the 60th Reunion. She continues to show her artwork and do calligraphy commissions. “Glad to still be up and running! Hope all are well,” she says.

1960 Bill Minot died on April 5, 2013. He graduated from Dexter, Milton Academy, and Trinity College, after which he went on to receive an MBA from Harvard Business School. He will be remembered for his kind heart, his incomparable skill at dancing, and his prodigious and unrestrained sense of humor.

1958

1961

Lisa Hartmann Blake works with people in recovery from all addictions. “As my life gets shorter, this list gets longer, if you catch my drift!” she says. Thomas S. Paine reports that his deteriorating health has proven to be life-limiting but as yet not life-threatening. He spends as much time as possible Downeast at his old family home in Prospect Harbor. “I continue to chug along, keeping in close touch with five children and 10 grandchildren. John Scholz and I had a lovely lunch and caught up in Camden this spring,” he says.

Barbara Kent Lawrence published her sixth book and first novel, Islands of Time (see Alumni Authors) in May. She taught for many years, most recently at Northeastern and Lesley Universities, and conducted research on education and small schools. “Milton helped me love going to school, and I’ve spent most of my life in education. Now I’m writing more and teaching less, but serve on our local school committee. I am very fortunate to live with my partner Bob in the same town as my daughter and three of our grandchildren,” she says.

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Members of the Class of 1991 celebrate the big 4-0 on Martha’s Vineyard. From left to right are Meg Foley Burke, Tamsen Caruso Brown, John David Corey, Hannah Miller Lerman, Adriana McGrath Clancy, Liz Kettyle, Erin Sullivan Sheepo.

1962

1978

Diana Roberts published a memoir called Farrago: A Memoir of Markie and Me.

Katherine Howard Bolton moved to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1990 after marrying fellow Miltonian Bill Bolton. Two sons followed, Charlie, a junior at Georgetown University, and William, a sophomore at Davidson College. “Bill and I run a commercial real estate company in downtown Cleveland and keep up with Milton friends such as Diddy Parson, Laura Appell-Warren and Alison von Klemperer,” she says.

1963 John Grandin reports that Mrs. Torney wrote him a nice note about the school dinner they invited her to that said, in part: “I had a wonderful time reconnecting with people I had taught English to in the fifth grade in my first year at Milton. And seeing so many Wolcott House boys, meeting wives, hearing about what you have been doing since 1963, and what you are involved in now. The evening brought back so many wonderful memories, which I am still feasting on!”

1973 Caroline Place Necchi is a licensed insurance producer and married Al Necchi on August 11, 2012. Her daughter Lisa, a second-grade teacher in Framingham, is engaged to be married on October 13, 2013. Her son Zachary just graduated from the University of Arizona in May. He will be moving to California to pursue music production.

1981 William C. Janeway became the executive director of the Adirondack Council. “These are exciting times for the Adirondacks and the Council. I am excited about bringing my family and focus back to the North Country,” he says. During his supervision of DEC’s regional programs, the department became both greener and pro-business. He is an Adirondack 46er, having climbed the 46 major high peaks, and won the Adirondack Life “Adirondacker Award” for his early work protecting the Adirondacks.

Class of 1963: front row (L to R): John Grandin, Peter Gleason, Jim Roberts, Jeff Ross, Daphne Hunsaker Hall, Judith Musgrave Fairbrother, Arthur Chute, Bill MacLaren; second row: Alan Whitman, Arria Chase Bilodeau, John Bihldorff, Judith Pierpont, Kathy Weston Reardon, Pauline Sargent, Ben Wellington, Douglas Kinney, Peter Burling; third row: Jenny Hamlin Russell, Roger Feldman, Thomas Perrone, Anthony Abeson, Lee Kimball Byron, Janie Cheever Talbot, Peter Forbes; fourth row: Elizabeth Thacher Hawn, Cynthia Bilodeau Sydnor, Bill Brewster, Penelope Crittenden, Ann Farnham Deming, Helen Locke Ladd, Bill Vanderbilt; fifth row: David Sargent, Peter Robbins, Robert Strauss, Elton Clark, Timothy Brooks, John Russell, Charles Stillman, Brock Putnam; sixth row: David Taylor, Richard Bowers, Philip Bolton, Jane Gratwick Bryden, John Cunningham.

Class of 1973: front row (L to R): Will Thorndike, Ann Silk Munger, Jean Barrett, Sue Inches, Tamsin Knox, Anne Keefer, Terry Parkinson Smith, Susie Carey Hatfield, Catie Marshall, Tom Russo, Robin Reynolds, Marguerite Bailey Graham; back row: Jill Shaw Woolworth, Ann Robbart, Karan Sheldon, David Mark, John Hughes, Sam Carr, Jay Quimby, Sarah Cleveland Narode, George Ticknor, Kip Gould, Amanda Aldrich Obannon, Ed Giandomenico, Anne Marie Nesto Filosa, Laura Jackson, Linn Cary Mahta, Edith Forbes, Margaret Barron Lawrence, Carrie Place Wiznitzer Necchi, Jane McDermott Hoch.

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Class of 1978: front row (L to R): Andy Brengle, Brad Blank, Didi Belash, Betsy Leggat, Laura Appell-Warren, Greg Jacobson, Philippa Karmel Wharton, Ashley Tessmer, Jenny Crawford; standing: Dan Dwight, Diddy Toulmin Parson, Telly Jorden, Eliza Erskine Drummond, Susan White Spofford, Frances Marshman, Katherine Howard Bolton, Bunky Hurter, Allison MacDonald von Klemperer, Chris Huntington, Carin Ashjian, Susie Morrill, De Grice, Mary Leach Heppner, Becca Badger Fisher, Prudence Murray Bovee, Matt Hoffman, Ollie Radford, Lisa Foster, Jennifer Trakas-Acerra, Charlie Duffy, Janet Albers English.

Class of 1983: front row (L to R): Alexander Stevens, Mark Soto, David Marshall, Pam Parizek, Todd (Julie Whiteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s husband), Ann Torney, and Eliza Tappe ; back row: Gwenna Toncre Williamson, Louisa Daley Winthrop, Jim Griffin, Deborah Carr, Roanne Kaplan Kolvenbach, Jennifer Marshall, Tina Cortesi, Chris Robertson, David Wood, Beth Colt, Susan Schorr, Meg Cabot, Julie White, Jonathan Zonis, Chrisina Ashjian.

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Class of 1988: first row (L to R): Jon Lee, Leslie Feigh, Robin Buonato, Tonia Mercer Winter (and daughter, Nicole Outsen), David Wiborg, Rich Mullen, Josh Goodman, Adam Towvim; second row: Sam Sears, Chris Warren, Paul Sabin, Kurt Griffin, Mark Friedman, Sarah Colt, Alex Dubois, Naomi Aoki, Annie Elliott, Ellen Dunne, Alixe Callen, Marc Goodman, Ellen Mitchell, Jessica Greenfield, Curt Cetrulo, Jen Hershfang; third row: Gala True, Liz Redwine, Phillipa Cully, Katy Henrikson, Cris Gerez, Zang Garside, Bruce Barry, Ia Andrews, David Ball, Kermit Westergaard, Harriet Delima, Ali Danois, Liz Wiellette, Mike Kobb, Hilary Ram, Damon Bizuka, Nancy Berube, James Slavet, Connie Pendleton, Caitlin Barrett DeVaul, Steve Fitzgibbons, Courtney Tarpley, Rima Chatterjee, Nick Leitzes, Joe Koltun, Patrice Jean-Baptiste, David Wolff, Matt Katz, Taylor Fogelquist.

Class of 1993: first row (L to R): Caleb Clark, Abbey K. Edwards, Amy Kelsey, Celina Kennedy, Jill Mannino, Kaitlin May, Sue Lee, Liz Hanify, Andre Heard, Sarah Bacon, Nancy Lainer, Elena McCarron, Jess Yager; second row: Aya Yamamoto, John Collins, Sadia Shepard, Ronnell Wilson, Keenan Forbes, Simon Tang, Julia Travers, Michelle Fink Lev, Paula Bonney-Haughton; third row: Ray Chan, Jonathan Cope, Arkadi Gerney, Maureen Trowbridge, Paul Frey, Jenn Craword, Tina Aspiala, Rose Sargent, Emily Reardon, Ned Roberts, Jamie Bell, Juan Fernandez, Katie Leeson, Lars Albright, Oona Coy; fourth row: Amanda Van Vleck, Darren Ross, Christine Griffin, Fell Gray, Kate deLima, Graham Goodkin, Steve Clarke, Priya Stephen, Jess McDaniel, Julian Cowart, Doug Chavez, Talia Senders, Jenn Lustbader, Andy Laurence, Isabel McDevitt, Annie Tucker, Josh Hausman, Al Yu, Will Schlumberger, Bob Seltzer, Dai Ellis â&#x20AC;&#x2122;98; far back middle: Tonya Platt, Mike Sweeney, Demetrios Efstratiou, Sheldon Ison, Doug Goodman, Keisha Powell-Burgess; far back right: Andrew Stern, Chris Coyne, Ian MacLaren, Mitty Arnold, Mike Fitzgibbons, Ben Barlow; far back left: Evan Sotiriou.

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Class of 1998: first row: (L to R): Will Graham, Sarah McGinty London, William Hilgendorf, Morgan Bradylyons, Angie Tseng, Sydney Johnston McConathy, Rosemary Doherty Byrne, Maria Demeke; second row: Mike Lanzano, Ian White, Liz Simon-Higgs, Chad Bright, Andrew Kelly-Hayes; third row: Nia Jacobs Hays, Lydon Vonnegut, Torrey Androski, Gabby Jacquet, Emily Sigman, Lila Dupree, Kate Cochrane; fourth row: Beth Taylor, Lindsay Haynes Lowder, Lizzy Caroll, Patrick Burek, Rachel Nance Wade; fifth row: Justin Basilico, Simon Rasin, Ming Zhang, Mayhew Seavey.

Class of 2003: first row (L to R): Joe Posner, Sarah Loomis, Allie Clark, Julia Cain, Jools Gale, Mike Brown, Andrew C. Fink, Brendan Byrne, Navena Vatachka, Tommy Coleman, Kyla Rathbone, Chloe Walters-Wallace, Christina Luccio, Katie Fitzgerald, Georgie Konesky, Rebby Bliss, Monice Rhee; second row: Steph Burlton, Jessie Millet, Rebecca Wilsker, Henry Roth, Matt Basilico, Gabrielle Thorpe, Ingrid Festin, Kristina Lingertat, Corey Baker, Leslie Welsh, Michelle Lombardi, Laura Maloney, Taylor White, Sarah Sullivan; third row: Dominique Morris, Kristin Savard, Ben Peebles-Mundy, Alex Miller, Henry Shepherd, Kate Lenehan; fourth row: Caroline Walsh, Kyle Lee, Bill Pijewski, Kit Will, Tina Damalas, Julia von Metzsch, Lindsey Schwoeri, Lindsee Redmond, Caitlin Domke, Phil Pitt, Maura Travers, Christine Gerson, Tyler Simmons, Ben Saltzman, Liz Bondaryk, Stacey Slate, Katie Riley; fifth row: Andrew Dassori, Zach Henderson, Jamal Whyles, James Ferullo, Tyler Zink, Matt Wheeler, Rafael Pedicini, Ben Steiner, David Koretz, Jamal Shipman, Alex Larrieux, Jon Magaziner, Chris Kwok, Jidenna Mobisson, Daniel Starmer, Freddy Deknatel, Alex Jacobs, Lyh-Hsin Lam.

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1983 Elisabeth Strekalovsky was sorry not to make reunion this year due to her children’s busy schedules. “Life in Watertown was interesting this spring, with our neighborhood on lockdown and adventures in homeland security! Life as a school psychologist has been pretty intense as well, and the snow-day-shortened summer was incredibly welcomed,” she says.

1990 Austen Barron Bailly is the new curator of American art at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. The whole family, including husband, Jonathan, 3-year-old son Lee and 20-month-old daughter Jane, made the cross-country move from Los Angeles, California.

1995 Dawn Meehan Pologruto and her husband Tom welcomed a baby girl, Josephine Mary Pologruto, on June 17, 2013, in Huntington,

New York. She weighed 9 pounds 5 ounces and measured 21 inches long. Big brothers John and Thomas are happy to welcome their baby sister home.

1996 Alexa Gilpin Janssen and Michael Janssen welcomed Elizabeth Janssen on March 19, 2013. They are living in Northern Virginia, and enjoying their little family.

1997 Stephen Wei and his wife Vevi welcomed their son Miles Abraham Wei on March 11, 2013. The Wei family currently resides in Hong Kong along with Miles’ sister Mia Lynn, and their Shih Tzu, QQ.

1999 José Ortiz is proud to announce the birth of his daughter, Mila. Anthony Michael Salem ‘99 is Mila’s godfather.

Judith Sun ’02 married Henry Chou on May 11 in Houston, Texas. The couple had another reception in Guangzhou, China, on May 26. Momoko Hirose ’02 was present in Houston, and Jennifer Cheng ’00, Justin Ng ’00, Ike Yeung ’04, and Andrew Zheng ’05 were in Guangzhou.

2001

Dawn Meehan Pologruto ’95 and her husband Tom welcomed a baby girl, Josephine Mary Pologruto, on June 17, 2013, in Huntington, New York. She weighed 9 pounds 5 ounces and measured 21 inches long. Big brothers John and Thomas are happy to welcome their baby sister home.

Stephen Wei ’97 and his wife Vevi welcomed their son Miles Abraham Wei on March 11, 2013. The Wei family currently resides in Hong Kong along with Miles’ sister Mia Lynn, and their Shih Tzu, QQ.

Claire Tinguely Serpi ’04 announces that her son Leo was born January 18, 2013, in Rome.

Mike Daley recently launched a new web project called the Daley Screening. He will be watching a movie he’s never seen every day for one year and writing about each film. You can follow his progress and make suggestions by following the Daley Screening on Facebook and Twitter (@DaleyScreening), or by visiting the site at www. daleyscreening.com. Tomica Burke launched her catering company, TomCookery, a full-service, off-site catering company specializing in new comfort cuisine. TomCookery takes the “catering” aspect very seriously and works with clients to create a menu that speaks to moods, guests, and budget. You

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can go on www.tomcookery.com, like them on Facebook at www. facebook.com/tomcookery and follow @TomCookery on Twitter. “Please spread the word about TomCookery. Word of mouth is priceless in the catering world. I hope to cross paths with you all in 2013,” she says.

2002

2004

Mona Safabakhsh married Taylor Dickey Joss in Deer Valley, Utah, on March 23, 2013. Daniel Caleb Sargent married Kathryn McColl in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 4, 2013. Jen Ragus married Christian Saarback in Naples, Florida, on April 6, 2013. Judith Sun married Henry Chou in Montgomery, Texas, on May 11, 2013.

Claire Tinguely Serpi announces that her son Leo was born January 18, 2013, in Rome.

2006 Joya Jones started a consulting firm for musicians that helps talented Bay Area artists achieve sustainable success by teaching them to become better business

people. Mainstream media say the music industry is going under, but she believes people have more opportunity to shift systems and mindsets to accommodate an economy that favors the individual and socially oriented entrepreneur.

Class of 2008: first row (L to R): Madeleine Murray, Massimo Soriano, Emily Kenner, Jenell Randall, Samantha Bondaryk, Mary Bruynell, Christine Sanchez, Tonantzin Carmona, Lily Kaiser, Izzy Elmahdi, Jessica (Phillibert) Tretina, Danielle Leahy, Baye Cobb, Victoria Aiello, Alyssa Blaize, Molly Krause, Alex Englis, Maggie Williams, Catherine Gibbons, Gordon Thorpe; second row: Dean Perry, Noah Goldrach, Anthony Portillo, Elaine Lin, Betsy Wright, Faisal Kirdar, Marissa Simmons, Erika Bach, Alyson Friedensohn, Maddy Hobbs, Kathryn Dwight, Emily Rider-Longmaid, Katherine Perzan, Katie St George, Geoff Mucha, Niles Turner; third row: Courti Walker, Jessica Yanovsky, Prutsdom Jiarathanakul, Robert Woodhouse, Zack Hill, Matt O’Sullivan, Chelsey Locarno, Lexa Gluck, Maggie Bouscaren, Baxter Townsend, Megan Campos, Dineen Boyle, William Pride; fourth row: Maria Steiner, Sarah Miller, Steve Wagner, Frannie McBrian, Tyler Hayes, Izak Shapiro, Rachel Kay, Olamide Oladipo, Allan Jean-Baptise, Barret Takesian, Michelle Fang, Sophia Topulos, Mark Jensen, Jesse Flynn; fifth row: Ahmed Bakkar, Marcos Rodriguez, Ivan Yeung, Leif Jacobsen, Alexander Williams, Demetrius Caminis, Jake Copithorne, Liz Bloom, Sam Panarese, John Chang, Mehur Chahal, Kyle Song, William English, Ali Brace, Ashley Bradylyons, Rebecca Evans; far last row: Russell Keathley, James Williams, Alex Day, Nick Hunnewell, Connell Driscoll; Ned Morris on shoulders. 72 Milton Magazine

Deceased

Class of 1940: Nancy Wendell Ketchum

Class of 1950: Howard Phillips

Class of 1974: Janet G. Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Donnell

Class of 1933:

Class of 1942: Richard Chapin

Class of 1952: David A. Lincoln

Class of 1976: Lovie Elam

Class of 1943: John Amory Thornton Kirkland Ware, Jr.

Class of 1955: Daphne Abeel Rafael Torrico Edward L. Francis, Jr.

Class of 1982: Chris W. Papageorge

Class of 1957: Edward Hamlin III

Class of 2002: Alexandra B. Cooper

Class of 1958: Quazi G. Awlia

Class of 2013: Merritt Levitan

Marjorie English Little Class of 1934: Margaret Hallowell Williamson Class of 1935: Rose Weld Baldwin Sarah Campbell Hansen Mary Gaddis Roosevelt Frederick Witherby Class of 1938: Reginald Fitz J. Grigsby Markham Class of 1939: William O. Apthorp

Class of 1945: Rodger P. Nordblom Class of 1946: Russell H. Crawford Class of 1948: Charles F. Nason, Jr. Class of 1949: Richard Millar Earle

Class of 1989: Cortright McMeel

Class of 1959: Duffy MacNaught Monahon Timothy B. Taylor, Sr. Class of 1960: William Minot, Jr.

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Lee Merritt Levitan Milton Academy Class of 2013 October 11, 1994 – July 3, 2013

erritt Levitan ’13 was an accomplished, selfaware, highly motivated young woman, well known by adults and students across the Milton campus because of her diverse passions and commitments. In describing Merritt, those who knew her highlight her bravery, her kindness toward others, her maturity and resilience, and her inherent leadership qualities. “Merritt was simply a wonderful person,” says Todd Bland, head of school, “intellectually impressive, generous and thoughtful, to name just three of many endearing characteristics. Merritt was amazingly gracious, when offering a favor to a friend, a classmate, or a head of school. She would ask with complete sincerity, ‘Would it be okay with you if I give you this gift?’ That was Merritt.” Planning a cross-country bicycle trip was only the most recent example of the energy and focus with which Merritt lived and relished life. She had a passion for being outdoors, says Kendall

Chun, faculty advisor to the Outdoor Program. “During winters, Merritt was on the ski slopes racing and teaching young skiers; in the warmer months, she was with the Outdoor Program, hiking, kayaking and canoeing. Merritt joined the Outdoor Program her freshman year and became a familiar face on trips at Milton. As a senior, she became one of the three heads of the program and helped introduce new students to the outdoors. Merritt carried herself with a sense of purpose and direction.” Merritt was committed to helping younger students beyond the Milton campus, as well. She was a dedicated volunteer at the Taylor Elementary School in Mattapan, where the children looked forward to her weekly presence. Merritt was an avid interscholastic varsity athlete. She was a four-year varsity ski team and girls’ tennis team member. “She served as tennis captain this past season in an ISL championship year,” says her coach, Troy Crichlow. “She was always there for teammates going through

At Graduation, Merritt and Osaremen Okolo ’13, news managers of The Milton Paper

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bad times, on and off the court. She made their problems hers because she cared for each of them so much. She was selfless. Although she was injured this year, she came to every match and every practice to support the team. Merritt made me a better coach and person through the years.” Merritt’s role on the editorial board of The Milton Paper called on the attributes that were evident in her athletic endeavors, along with the ability to listen, analyze and write. A news manager, she balanced a journalist’s eagerness to find and report an “inside story” of an issue with careful consideration of the complexities involved. Getting “the scoop” is one thing; weighing responsibilities and evaluating the outcomes of what you might publish is another. “I think of Merritt as this incredibly steady presence amidst a group of expressive, opinionated buddies,” says Lisa Baker, faculty advisor to The Milton Paper. “She had an understated, gentle way about her, an equanimity. She laughed easily, too—she had a great, dry sense of humor.” Merritt and her Paper colleagues showed restraint and maturity over the year, navigating students’ and adults’ expectations successfully. Merritt excelled in the classroom. Nicole Colson, Merritt’s teacher in Modern Comparative Literature, describes her as a “serious student who brought wonderful ideas to the classroom.” An advanced Spanish student, Merritt this year chose a Don Quixote course taught by Victor Llacuna, who was also her faculty advisor. “She had a special instinct to analyze, a talent in

finding the core of the message from any complex text,” Mr. Llacuna says. “Merritt participated in the Spanish Exchange with Colegio El Pilar in Madrid; she was key in making that experience successful for everyone.” Another of Merritt’s passions was art. A talented 3-D artist, she took Advanced Independent 3-D Art as a senior. One of her art teachers, Maggie Stark, noted that “Merritt was intrepid in her willingness to take chances on seemingly impossible tasks, which allowed her to create original and exacting work.” Rod Skinner, director of college counseling, is among many others who note Merritt’s independence and judgment. She invested deeply in many projects, both personal and public. Whether or not her plans came to fruition, Merritt was always able to step back, reflect, and move forward. Merritt’s astute and playful sense of humor was always near at hand, and her quiet, humble sense of self inspired everyone. David Ball, Upper School principal says, “A generous friend and a giving mentor, Merritt forged deep connections, her kindness and loyalty enriching those around her. Energetic in the pursuit of her passions, Merritt embraced the Milton Academy community wholeheartedly, giving of herself without hesitation. Merritt’s presence enriched us all; her legacy of strength and generosity will endure.”

William O. Apthorp Milton Academy Class of 1939 November 21, 1921 – January 24, 2013 Remembrance by Harold Janeway ’54

’m Elsie’s brother, Harold. I had the pleasure of being Bill’s brother-in-law for 65 years. When Elsie first brought Bill to Middletown Farm, I was all of 10 years old. I don’t remember my first impression of Bill, but I do remember his car. It was a prewar (perhaps a 1939) coupe with a two-seat passenger section with a small space behind, and a huge trunk stretching out in the rear—designed for traveling salesmen, but ideal for skis. This fellow wasn’t putting on any airs. Although Bill was only 15 years older, he was another generation to me. Many years later Tom Brokaw labeled Bill and his contemporaries “The Greatest Generation.” He’d graduated from Harvard in 1943, been commissioned a U.S. Naval officer, where he served in the Pacific, and now had a job in Boston. As I looked into Bill’s early years to fill in the gaps in my knowledge, you may not be surprised to hear that I found a certain consistency. Water was a common denominator: water in liquid form (with salt added), water in solid state as ice, and water as snow. All forms offered him opportunities for recreation and competition as an individual and as a member of a team or crew. The first line of Norman McLean’s book A River Runs Through It reads, “In my family there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing.” For Bill, there was no clear line between competition and recreation on snow, ice or water.

He was born in Salem, the early seafaring capital. As a lad he summered in Marblehead and sailed his own catboat. At 15, he skippered a boat from there to Maine. Milton was an important part of his life. His family lived close to the campus. He was a day student for six years, graduating at 17, strikingly handsome in his yearbook photo. Apthorp was a big name at Milton, his greatuncle having served as headmaster for 17 years (Harrison Otis Apthorp). The stone chapel was named for him. Bill was a fine athlete, gaining letters in football, hockey (of course), and track. He intercepted a pass in the Nobles game, giving Milton a 13–6 win. No surprise, he was a member of the Nautical Society. His senior talk was on ice boating. Does a pattern begin to emerge? Jumping ahead, we shouldn’t be surprised that he met Elsie spring skiing on Mt. Washington. Bill would climb mountains to descend on skis, but in the summer and fall sailing took precedence. When Bill

and Elsie built their house on Monument St. (in Concord), a ski hill and a pond were close by. Bill meant a great deal to our family and certainly to me. I doubt that I would have gone off to Milton were it not for his connection. Bill said little of his wartime experience. We know he served on a destroyer in the Pacific. I knew there had been a typhoon, but little more. A book, Halsey’s Typhoon, published in 2007 when previously classified material was released, tells the tale. Bill’s ship, the Aylwin, was part of a huge fleet that was near the Philippines to protect General MacArthur’s invasion of the islands. The fleet was beset and blindsided by a huge, powerful typhoon; in the end, four ships were sunk and more than 800 lives were lost, twice as much destruction and loss of life as in the Battle of Midway. At one point Bill’s ship lay over on her beam ends for 20 minutes, totally out of control, “hanging on the brink of nothingness,” as one seaman said. Bill’s thank-you note for the book was brief, “Our skipper brought us through,” then he was back to the present: “If winter ever arrives maybe we will see you skiing.” He signed off, “Pray for snow.” Bill was without pretense. He held his opinions as firmly as he held his tiller. He wasn’t given to idle chatter. He was thrifty as we Yankees say. At times his sweaters were worn through at the elbows, but his rigging was tight and his sails well stitched. He rode the same one-speed Raleigh bike to the train station forever, but did replace his skis, boots and boats as needed.

When I phoned our family last month to tell them that Bill had died, one said, “When I think of Bill I think of him eating a lobster.” Those of you who have witnessed that will know how apt the thought. He devoured the lobster and life with pleasure and with gusto until it was all gone. With his 38-foot sloop’s destination in sight after their 23-day crossing to Scotland, champagne was popped and the crew raised their cups and said, “Well done, Bill.” Yes, indeed. Well done, Bill. Delivered at the Celebration of the Life of William O. Apthorp, February 11, 2013.

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p os t scrip t A Bowl of Eggs by Rob Radtke ’82

ne of the great privileges of my work is to travel around the world to visit the programs of Episcopal Relief & Development, the international development agency of the Episcopal Church. We are the stewards of sacrificial generosity from around the United States, and we take very seriously the responsibility we have to our friends and supporters to ensure that their gifts are used as they intend. My travel helps me carry out that responsibility. Recently, when I was in northern Ghana, I visited about six different villages to assess our programs and to learn about some of the challenges facing the communities where we are working in partnership with the Anglican Diocesan Development and Relief Agency. The particular villages that I was visiting on this trip are participating in the NetsforLife program, Episcopal Relief & Development’s flagship malaria prevention partnership. I was learning about the challenge that malaria poses to families with young children and pregnant women. Most visits include a tour of the community and this one was no exception. People are always warm and welcoming, despite the challenges that they face. Virtually every family I visited had lost a child to malaria. Once the tour is complete, I am usually offered the seat of honor (often the only

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chair in the village) at a “durbar,” which is a gathering of all the people in the village and their elders and local chief. Drama is a critical way to teach people about malaria and how to prevent it. Members of the community often put on a performance of their malaria education play—which generally stars the local village hams and gets a lot of laughs. It is followed by heartfelt testimonials about how NetsforLife has changed and transformed life in the community. Once we have all participated in the celebratory dances and songs, things normally close with a few brief remarks of thanks from the community members. In the last village visit I made, I had just delivered my formal remarks of thanks and greetings, and I was gathering up my hat and camera to make my way to the vehicle to leave. At that point the chief of the village came forward to say that he had a presentation to make to me on behalf of the entire community. I was a bit taken aback. This was very different from what I had experienced previously during program visits. As I sat down, the chief said that although they had a gift to give to me, they were very embarrassed as it was such a small and poor gift. He told me that they had wanted to give me an elephant as a gesture of thanks as that was the grandest gift they could imagine presenting to show how important the malaria nets were to their community.

However, they were too poor to give me an elephant. (I was trying to imagine how I was going to get the elephant back to New York City!) Instead, all of the family heads of the village had met that morning to discuss what would be the most valuable thing that they could give me to show their gratitude for all that had happened in their village as a result of the net distribution. They had decided to collect all of the eggs laid that day and present them to me in a bowl. He explained that the eggs represented the entire village’s wealth for that day, and while it wasn’t very much, it was everything they had and they wanted to share it with me. I had come to Ghana to take stock of the impact of our programs, and I was left humbled by the generosity and abundance that had grown out of such apparent scarcity.

Post Script is a department that opens windows into the lives and experiences of your fellow Milton alumni. Graduates may author the pieces, or they may react to our interview questions. Opinions, memories, explorations, reactions to political or educational issues are all fair game. We believe you will find your Milton peers informative, provocative and entertaining. Please email us with your reactions and your ideas at cathy_everett@ milton.edu.

Milton Academy Board of Trustees, 2013–2014 George Alex Cohasset, Massachusetts

Stephen D. Lebovitz Weston, Massachusetts

Robert Azeke ’87 New York, New York

Yunli Lou ’87 Shanghai, China

Bradley Bloom President Wellesley, Massachusetts

Stuart Mathews Waban, Massachusetts

Bob Cunha ’83 Milton, Massachusetts

F. Warren McFarlan ’55 Vice President Belmont, Massachusetts

Mark Denneen ’84 Boston, Massachusetts

Chris McKown Milton, Massachusetts

Elizabeth Donohue ’83 New York, New York

Erika Mobley ’86 Brisbane, California

James M. Fitzgibbons ’52 Emeritus Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts

Wendy Nicholson ’86 New York, New York

John B. Fitzgibbons ’87 Bronxville, New York Catherine Gordan New York, New York Margaret Jewett Greer ’47 Emerita Chevy Chase, Maryland Franklin W. Hobbs IV ’65 Emeritus New York, New York Ogden M. Hunnewell ’70 Vice President Brookline, Massachusetts Harold W. Janeway ’54 Emeritus Webster, New Hampshire Claire Hughes Johnson ’90 Menlo Park, California Peter Kagan ’86 New York, New York

Caterina Papoulias-Sakellaris Milton, Massachusetts H. Marshall Schwarz ’54 Emeritus New York, New York Kimberly Steimle ’92 Boston, Massachusetts Frederick G. Sykes ’65 Secretary Rye, New York Dune Thorne ’94 Lincoln, Massachusetts Eric Tseng ’97 San Francisco, California Dorothy Altman Weber ’60 Boston, Massachusetts Ronnell Wilson ’93 Jersey City, New Jersey V-Nee Yeh ’77 Hong Kong

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