Spring 2025 Milton Magazine

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

WHY WARM WELCOMES AND POSITIVE BEGINNINGS MATTER

Samantha Barkowski ’09 of Fenway Sports Group (See page 10)

Editor’s Note

Dear Readers:

This will be my last issue as editor of Milton Magazine. As I’ve helped put this magazine together over these past six years, it has been a real privilege and a lot of fun to get to know so many of you—from staff and faculty to students and alumni.

To a one, from the littlest among you (yes, I’ve even interviewed kindergartners) to Milton’s remarkably accomplished alumni, you have all shown me such kindness, thoughtfulness, and support. Thank you so much for a wonderful experience.

I am truly grateful.

Sarah Abrams

Fenway Park usually conjures thoughts of summer fun, but photographer Matt Kalinowski took portraits of Samantha Barkowski ’09 on one of the coldest days of the winter. Samantha was a trouper, though, bringing joy and warmth to the grandstand.

10

Fan Forever

In the 15 years since Samantha Barkowski ’09 was a Fenway Ambassador, her responsibilities at Fenway Sports Group have changed dramatically. One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is her focus on the fans.

16

A Family Tradition

A legacy of innovation and goodwill has brought great satisfaction to restaurateurs Van Haidas ’97 and Michael Haidas ’98—and to the Cape Cod community their family has served for three generations.

Gallery Turns 50, MLK Speaker Lamont Gordon ’87, Milton Senior Appointed to Juvenile Justice Committee, and more

24

A Priceless Connection

For pediatric oncologist Katie Janeway ’88, the importance of building strong relationships in caring for her young patients is incalculable.

Callen

Newman

Abrams

Marisa Donelan CLASS

Jacqueline O’Rourke

COPY EDITOR

Martha Spaulding

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Andrea Dawson

Alexander Gelfand

Lewis Rice

April White

DESIGN

MO.D/Patrick Mitchell

André Mora

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS

Blake Cale

Andrea D’Aquino

Nathalie Dion

Michael Dwyer

John Gillooly

Matt Kalinowski

Kjeld Mahoney

Adam Richins

Simon Simard

Jo Sittenfeld

Hatty Staniforth

Hana Tintor

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

As an institution committed to diversity, Milton Academy welcomes the opportunity to admit academically qualified students of any gender, race, color, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, or 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, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship programs, and athletic or other school-administered activities.

Feldman

competes in the slalom during a race in January.

finished third in the 2025 NEPSAC Class B championship.

photograph by Adam Richins

Allegra

’28

Milton’s girls’ varsity alpine ski team

A Warm Welcome

“Milton is a school facing the street.”

Headmaster William L.W. Field said this in 1942, and it’s still true today—literally and figuratively. Milton Academy, unlike many of its peer schools, is not cloistered at the end of a long driveway. Our campus is instead eagerly open to neighbors who walk their dogs, play tennis on our courts, run our track, and sled in the winter. We are less than a mile from the Boston city limits, giving our students access to all the fun, culture, and opportunities of a major metropolitan area, and from certain vantage points, we can see the harbor and the world that stretches beyond. □ We also “face the street” in our approach to welcoming new people and ideas. Since I was named head of school in June 2022, countless people have reached out to welcome me back to Milton. I am always touched by these moments. As our students are aware, my favorite word is “community,” and I can think of no better indicator of the quality of a community than our open hearted embrace of each new member.

□

In a world where so many schools look the same, Milton is deliberately unique. For generations, our school has been intentionally different—and much of that difference comes from recognizing that each individual adds to a spectacular mix of personalities and interests. Inspired by our motto, “Dare to be true,” we have held fast to the notion that an exceptional education does not have to be a cookie-cutter one. Living by our school’s values means we are unafraid to forge our own path and to explore life’s unknowns. □ We’re not strictly a boarding school. We welcome students both from the streets surrounding our campus and from streets crossing other parts of the world. This

ALIXE CALLEN ’88 , HEAD OF SCHOOL

anchors our students with a sense of home and expands their understanding of the rich variety of identities and cultures in our increasingly global society.

We were one of the first independent schools to embrace integration. And not only that, we were committed to doing it thoughtfully. While we have certainly made plenty of mistakes on our journey to a more inclusive, equitable, and just community, we have been a leader in this work. Our Transition program, now 41 years old, demonstrates Milton’s awareness that welcoming students of color to a predominantly white institution requires a great deal of thoughtfulness and humility. We hear over and over that this program has helped students build lifelong friendships and a necessary sense of belonging.

Unlike the majority of our peer schools, Milton has been explicitly and historically committed to the education of girls since our founding in 1798. Our commitment has been not only to girls’ education, but also to a deep belief in female leadership—both here on campus and beyond.

As I mentioned above, I am among the many grads that Milton has welcomed back. Lots of our teachers, coaches, and staff members share a connection with the school that has called them to return. Our broader network has been outstanding in its support of current students and younger graduates, volunteering to speak on campus and serve as mentors, and offering internships and life-changing opportunities, inviting the next generation to the world beyond campus. If you are a Milton alum,

you are welcome on Centre Street. I hope you will attend your Reunions or a Milton event near your home. Visit campus and reminisce among our beloved older buildings, walk through our new Reflection Garden outside Apthorp Chapel, and see some of the state-of-the-art learning spaces we have added since you last spent time here.

thanking her for her vision and care for Milton.

illustration by Hatty Staniforth

“We have held fast to the notion that an exceptional education does not have to be a cookiecutter one.”

And although our theme—in these pages and on campus—is “welcome,” this issue is also a farewell, as our wonderful Milton Magazine editor, Sarah Abrams, begins her well-deserved retirement. Sarah has given the magazine an appropriately “Milton” treatment: preserving the high-quality storytelling we have always loved while ushering in a new, award-winning design. I hope you will join me in

Here, you will find stories of Milton people who have dedicated their lives to the needs of others: professionals who work in hospitality and medicine, welcoming and shepherding folks through the highs and lows of the human experience with compassion and kindness. You’ll also read stories of those on campus who are constantly thinking beyond themselves, sharing their joys and inspiration as well as their expertise and advice, making our school—and our world—a better and more welcoming place.

Milton is not a community that leaves you after your four (or seven, or thirteen) years in orange and blue. We welcome you, always. We face the street. ■ Spring/Summer

An Invaluable Resource

MILTON’S ADMISSION OFFICERS GO ABOVE AND BEYOND IN INTRODUCING MILTON TO PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES.

Stan, Milton’s Mustang mascot, leads the way during a video congratulating newly admitted students

before arriving at Milton as a new sophomore, CHRISTOPHER LEWIS ’15 didn’t know much about American boarding schools. Leaving his home and family in Jamaica was a daunting prospect. A deciding factor was Chris Kane, then a counselor in the Upper School Office of Admission and Lewis’s eventual soccer coach.

Now Lewis and Kane—the school’s director of financial aid and boys’ varsity soccer head coach—are colleagues, both in the admission office and on the soccer pitch.

“Chris was one of the main reasons my family and I chose for me to come here—the support, care, and concern he showed us throughout the process was above and beyond,” Lewis says. “Then, when I arrived at Goodwin House, the friends I made and the other new students from all over the world became huge sources of support and friendship, and the older kids reinforced that feeling of welcoming.”

Milton’s admission officers are the first point of contact for most prospective students and families.

Their work combines marketing and recruitment with a detailed review of applications, and during the entire cycle they act as guides and informative resources for the families they’re assigned.

Among the experienced counselors in the admission office are several parents of current and former students and three Milton alumni: JOSH JORDAN ’11, MOLLY GILMORE ’12, and Lewis. To describe them as immersed in school culture is a profound understatement. All the Upper School counselors support students through advisories and overseeing student clubs, and several live on campus and coach athletic teams. Jordan has spent his entire professional career at Milton, with roles in the Lower and Upper Schools, as a football and basketball coach, and as a member of the staff; today, he is the head of Wolcott House in addition to his admission role. Gilmore and Lewis began working in the admission office at the same time. Today, they are married and live in Hathaway House, where they are active dorm parents, drawing on their own experiences as boarders. Lewis is an assistant coach on his former soccer team and head coach of the girls’ varsity track team, and he advises the school’s Black culture club, Onyx, and the Caribbean Students’ Association.

This immersion in student life is paramount to the admission staff’s knowledge of every corner of Milton Academy and its members’ ability to field questions from nervous parents and prospective students during in-person or virtual interviews and follow-up conversations: Is it easy to make friends and belong in the community? What do eve -

nings and weekends look like for boarding students? Does the school have programs tailored to a particular interest? What happens when a student struggles in a class?

“We do tons of interviews,” Lewis says. “Each admission officer meets with hundreds of families every year, but that meeting—for the families—may be their only time on campus throughout the process of selecting a school. And so we’re trying to make sure that we are making them feel heard and seen, and answering questions. A lot of the work is providing information. Milton is a big and complex place, and families have a lot of questions. But it’s just as important that we show them that Milton really prioritizes being welcoming and accessible and that we make them feel comfortable.”

Throughout and following the admission process, students and families interact with current students, part of a series of connections designed to build a sense of belonging and excitement about the community, Gilmore says. “During my freshman year in Hathaway, the group of older girls was so friendly, welcoming, cool, interesting, and diverse, and I still appreciate how much of an effort they made in really getting to know us.”

Admission staff members are supported by Orange and Blue Key (obk) students, Upper School leaders who serve as ambassadors to visiting families and help promote Milton on the office’s Instagram. Under the guidance of the office’s visit coordinator, Nina Panarese, obk students manage and train a team of student volunteers who give tours throughout the school year and assist during other admission events,

such as virtual information sessions and revisit days for accepted students. Because the tour guides are peer-trained and not given an exact script to follow, their interactions with visitors are friendly and real, Gilmore says.

“We’re trying to make sure that we are making them feel heard and seen, and answering questions.”

Tour guides receive training on a route and some talking points about the Upper School and the community, but they’re also counted on to give prospective students and families an honest and personal perspective on the school. The obk heads schedule tours, and they may opt to align visiting students with guides who share their interests or some aspect of their profile. Magic often happens, however, when guides and their visitors are very different from one another, Lewis says.

“You can’t guarantee that you’ll be

matched with someone who mirrors your interests, but that’s a big part of the culture here,” he says. “Milton kids are so multidimensional, and even if you’re meeting with someone from a different demographic, or with different interests, they’re so good at making connections and building genuine relationships.”

“Milton students do such a phenomenal job of welcoming people to campus—even if they’re not tour guides,” Gilmore adds. “I constantly hear anecdotes from prospective families about how they arrived on campus and a student connected with them and walked them all the way to our office. We always hear that we have the friendliest kids of any school they visited. That warmth, I think, is a real differentiator.” ■

SPRING/SUMMER

YOU’RE WELCOME

A GESTURE, AN ACTION, A NEW BEGINNING, AND A SUSTAINED SENSE OF BELONGING. HOW DO WE BUILD ON THE MOMENTUM OF A GREAT WELCOME AND A MEANINGFUL FIRST IMPRESSION? THIS ISSUE FEATURES MILTON ALUMNI WHOSE WORK FOCUSES ON WELCOMING AND POSITIVE BEGINNINGS AND ON ALL THE WAYS OUR SCHOOL OPENS ITS DOORS—LITERALLY AND SYMBOLICALLY—TO THE WORLD.

IN THE 15 YEARS SINCE SAMANTHA BARKOWSKI ’09 BECAME A FENWAY AMBASSADOR, HER RESPONSIBILITIES AT FENWAY SPORTS GROUP HAVE CHANGED DRAMATICALLY. ONE THING THAT HASN’T CHANGED, HOWEVER, IS HER FOCUS ON THE FANS.

Story by Sarah Abrams

Photographs by Matt Kalinowski

SAMANTHA BARKOWSKI ’09 grew up a Red Sox fan, but as a child, she visited Fenway Park, baseball’s oldest ballpark and one of Boston’s most beloved landmarks, only three times. The first time was in elementary school, when she won a ticket through the Red Sox Foundation’s Read Your Way to Fenway program. Later, in high school, she attended two games with Milton friends. That all changed 15 years ago when, in college, Barkowski became a Fenway ambassador, working wherever the team needed her. In the intervening years, her role in the organization has grown dramatically, from ambassador to full-time employee. She rose from executive assistant in the legal department to senior vice president for strategy and growth with Fenway Sports Group (fsg), the Red Sox’s parent company, where she was recently charged with managing fsg’s golf holdings .

From her office located just half a block from the iconic park, Barkowski exuded enthusiasm about the recent investment of fsg and its subsidiary, Strategic Sports Group (ssg), in men’s professional golf and her present full-time focus on seeing that investment succeed. ssg acquired 11 percent of the pga tour, which comes with four board seats and some minority rights. “We’re fired up,” said Barkowski, who had just returned from Orlando for the pga tour’s annual tournament business meetings.

Barkowski believes that the pga tour currently has a lot to offer in the way of entertainment value, but there are ways in which ssg can help improve the tour’s profile. “We’re in just the right spot to make it happen,” she said. “Not only are we posi-

“Catering to the fan was something that was ingrained in me from day one at Fenway.”

tioned to invest in the tour, but we’re also true investor operators. We’re from pure operator backgrounds. I’ve worked customer service at the Red Sox. I’ve worn every hat on the day-to-day of a team operation.”

That operational perspective Barkowski offers began as a Fenway ambassador, where she took on a variety of tasks, from working in the front office fielding phone calls and answering fan mail to acting on game day as chaperone for the national anthem singer to overseeing “meet and greets” with players for their charitable initiatives.

“Catering to the fan was something that was ingrained in me from day one at Fenway,” she said. “They have a policy that we respond to every fan phone call, every fan letter. It’s why I loved being an ambassador. It was really fun.”

After graduating from Harvard College in 2014, and thinking she might eventually pursue a law degree, Barkowski transitioned to fulltime work in the general counsel’s office as an executive assistant.

She was concerned that, as a woman, she might get pigeonholed into a string of support jobs, but Ed Weiss, fsg’s general counsel and executive vice president of corporate strategy, made her a promise. “He told me, ‘If you do it and kick ass, give us a year to 18 months and then we can have a conversation about what else there might be,’” she recalled. “I took a little bit of a risk, but I said to myself, ‘Okay, I’m going to trust that won’t happen,’ and, fortunately, I work with incredible people, and he was true to his word.”

And true to her word, Barkowski worked hard, doing what was needed as she gained exposure across the organization’s divisions. Within two years, she was doing hands-on legal work, which helped expose her to the business side of the organization.

In 2018, Barkowski went to work for David Beeston, the team’s chief strategy officer, as a research and intelligence manager. The focus at that time was on fsg Boston (the Red Sox, Fenway Sports Management, and fsg Real Estate).

Barkowski was still thinking about law school, but her new boss offered some advice. “When I went to work for Dave, he said, ‘Give it a year,’” she said. “‘Law school will always be there. Try it out, and if you still want to go to law school, we’ll write you a recommendation.’ So I went to work for Dave, and law school never came up again. I said to myself, ‘I love what I’m doing. Do I really want to go back to school?’”

Several promotions followed and Barkowski advanced in 2020 to director of strategy and growth. In 2021, fsg launched its first strategy and growth team, and a year later, Barkowski was named vice president for strategy and growth. The following year, in 2023, she became senior vice president for strategy and growth. Along the way, she worked on deals such as the purchase of the ice hockey team the Pittsburgh Penguins and the tgl team Boston Common Golf partnership with Rory McIlroy. In March, Barkowski was entrusted to manage fsg’s golf holdings, which include ssg’s investment in pga tour Enterprises and the tgl team, Boston Common Golf.

“I often get asked how I ended up where I am, and the answer is

Top left: With her sister Laura Barkowski ’15 before Laura’s senior prom. Today, Laura lives and works in Washington, D.C. as a private equity healthcare consultant. Top right: In her senior year, Barkowski was captain of her soccer, volleyball, and track teams. With track teammates. Bottom row, left to right: Kate Nimmo ‘10, Jovanna Jones ’11, and Barkowski. Top row: Olivia Irving ’11 and Lauren Kee ’11. Bottom: Graduation Day. Barkowski remains close with many of her Milton friends. “Some of my best friends are from Milton,” she says."There’s something unique about Milton in the strength of those relationships.” Left to right: Azza Bakkar ’10, Allie O’Hanley ’09, Allanah Wynn ’09, Barkowski, and Laura Barkowski ’15. In back, Luke Barkowski.

“I’ve always been available and worn many hats. There are people who say they’re willing to do anything, but when they realize it’s administrative work and filing, they’re like, ‘Maybe not.’”

not always the answer people want. But there’s no secret or shortcut. I’ve always been available and worn many hats. There are people who say they’re willing to do anything, but when they realize it’s administrative work and filing, they’re like, ‘Maybe not.’”

Barkowski credits her parents with modeling a strong work ethic and Milton for helping her hone it.

Growing up in Dorchester the oldest of five children, she attended Boston public schools before entering Milton in the seventh grade, a transition that wasn’t entirely smooth.

She didn’t realize how much help she needed until high school, when she started receiving grades. “I knew I wasn’t performing to where I had been at my prior school, but I chalked it up to adjusting,” she said. “When I started to get grades, I thought, ‘Oh, this isn’t great.’”

The summer after eighth grade, English teacher Richard Hardy— former chair of Milton’s English Department, Upper School principal, and interim head of school, who later became Concord Academy’s head of school—tutored Barkowski in writing, grammar, and English.

“He helped me learn how to take notes,” she recalled. “There were some basic skills that I hadn’t developed, partly because I just wasn’t as challenged at my other school. I built a great relationship with Mr. Hardy. I often think back on that. I’m not even sure if he remembers me, but he did a lot for me, because by the time I got to high school, I was

in better shape. I still struggled, but it got better and better over time. Eventually it clicked.”

But hard work, according to Barkowski, doesn’t tell the whole story of how she got to where she is today. Timing, too, played a critical role.

“Not to undercut myself, because I think I’ve worked really hard to get where I am,” she said, “but at the same time, I’ve been so fortunate that my time in sports coincided with greater and greater institutional investment in the industry and sector.”

In 2010, when Barkowski joined the Red Sox as an ambassador, the organization had 500 employees, all part of the Boston Red Sox and the New England Sports Network (nesn). It had recently bought 50 percent of the nascar team Roush Fenway Racing. In 2010, fsg acquired the Liverpool Football Club in the English Premier League (epl), now one of the most valuable sports properties in the world.

“That’s a testament to fsg’s leadership and ownership,” Barkowski said. “I believe we were the second American ownership group in the epl, which today is such a giant. It’s become so popular in the United States over the past decade. It’s easy to look back and think, ‘Oh, yeah, that’s obvious,’ but at the time, Liverpool was on the brink of bankruptcy. fsg went over and acquired it for almost pennies on the dollar because it had been run so poorly. Over the past decade plus, we’ve built this incredible juggernaut on both the competition and commercial sides.”

Barkowski describes today’s organization, with close to 2,000 employees, as “opportunistically built.”

She said, “fsg’s investors just saw opportunities like Liverpool Football Club and jumped. It’s really pushed a lot of conglomerates like us to professionalize in a way that sports teams previously have never really been run. They’ve often been family-owned trophy assets where the owners show up to the game and that’s it. Teams have been handed down generation after generation, but over the past 10 to 15 years, that has changed.”

Barkowski is confident that fsg will now apply that same energy and know-how to expanding the pga tour. “At the end of the day, we want to create a compelling competition that people feel that they have to tune in for every week,” she said.

“Today the pga tour generates about $2.2 billion in revenue. The National Hockey League brings in about $6 billion, Major League Baseball $9 billion to $10 billion, the National Basketball Association $10 billion to $12 billion, and the National Football League about $20 billion. There’s a lot of opportunity there. We think that this business could be three times the size.”

Barkowski is pleased by the progress that has already been made since ssg’s investment in the pga tour The organization is exploring ways to improve the quality of the events, considering how golf might be made more exciting to fans.

Working with former Red Sox general manager and fsg partner and advisor Theo Epstein and members of a working group of pga tour employees, Barkowski is looking at possible changes to the game’s rules.

Epstein, who recently worked

with Major League Baseball to oversee its new rule changes, “has the expertise and experience to look at a product and help make it more exciting, to create drama and rivalry and really engage the fan and the viewer,” Barkowski said.

She is also working with fsg ’s real estate team and the pga tour to review its real estate portfolio and options. “I see my role as one of facilitating progress,” she said. “It’s a little similar to maybe an operating partner at a private equity firm. You bring operating expertise and an understanding of what the investors expect to see and the progress they expect to make. You support that effort.”

And she has no regrets about her decision after college to stick with the Red Sox. “The cool thing about working at fsg,” she said, “and we talk about it in our growth and strategy team all the time, is you never know what opportunity is going to present itself and where we’re going to be. If you had asked us 18 months ago about the pga tour, we’d be like, ‘What?’ And now, a year later, I’m all golf.”

And how is her golf game, now that she is working full-time promoting men’s professional golf? “I used to play around with my siblings at Franklin Park Golf course in Dorchester,” she said. “They have a caddy program during the summer for kids who grow up in Boston, and my brothers actually ran the caddy program one summer in high school. But I’m not really a golfer.

“I can hit the ball,” she said with a smile, “but I’ve got to work on my game a little bit if I’m going to be playing around with professional golfers.” ■

A FAMILY TRADITION

A LEGACY OF INNOVATION AND GOODWILL HAS BROUGHT ENORMOUS SATISFACTION TO RESTAURATEURS VAN HAIDAS ’97 AND MICHAEL HAIDAS ’98 —AND TO THE CAPE COD COMMUNITY THEIR FAMILY HAS SERVED FOR THREE GENERATIONS.

STORY BY ALEXANDER GELFAND

PHOTOGRAPHS BY SIMON SIMARD

if you’re inclined to think of the phrase “History repeats itself” as either a warning or a lament, consider the delightfully recursive story of the knack, a mini-chain of restaurants founded by brothers VAN HAIDAS ’97 and MICHAEL HAIDAS ’98 on Cape Cod.

Approaching the order window at either of the two knack locations, your first impression is most likely to be that of a refreshingly modern take on the classic Massachusetts beach shack and its nostalgia-inducing menu of seafood, burgers, and soft serve—an experience that generations of visitors to the Cape have enjoyed on a hot summer’s day.

But while that vibe is wholly intentional, it does not capture the whole story. For the knack also represents the latest iteration of an oft-repeated family tale—one of seeking broader horizons, only to be drawn back years later to a place that was a source of great purpose and pride, and of carrying on a family tradition of treating the community it serves with fairness and respect.

Van and Michael’s parents and grandparents launched their own eateries on the Cape in the 1950s and 1970s. And just like their father, Jim, and his brother, Connie, Van and Michael left the Cape to attend school, built careers in New York City, and ultimately returned to the place where they grew up to raise their own families and build food-service empires.

In 1953, Van and Michael’s paternal grandparents established the Kream ’n Kone, a soft-serve stand that evolved into a seafood restau-

rant, which is still in operation not far from where the brothers grew up. (Their maternal grandfather, meanwhile, had a lunch counter in New Orleans. “It’s really in the blood,” Van says.)

Jim and Connie earned mba s from Cornell and founded a Wall Street brokerage firm together. But after more than a decade in New York City, the stock market crash of the early 1970s and ensuing bear market persuaded the elder Haidas brothers to return to the Cape and enter the family business. In 1977, they opened Cooke’s Seafood in Orleans, followed by another in Hyannis a year later. There Van and Michael spent much of their childhood. (The Orleans restaurant is today run by another branch of the family. Jim and his wife, Frances, eventually opened a third Cooke’s in Mashpee.)

“There are stories of me putting Michael in the flour bin,” says Van, who is older by one year. “We would chase the workers with tongs and pinch everyone.” As kids, the two stood on egg crates to punch out onions for onion rings; as teenagers, they worked full-time during the summers, even after shipping off to Milton—Michael as a sophomore, Van as a junior.

By then, the two were eager to leave both the Cape and the restaurant business. “We had grown up in it and done it for so long that we were ready for something new,” Van says.

For Van, that meant earning a degree in classical civilization with a minor in economics from Colby College, his father’s alma mater. Not sure what to do after graduating in 2001, he worked at Cooke’s for the summer, saved his money, and spent

Opposite, clockwise from top: Michael Haidas ’98, left, and Van Haidas ’97 are hands on in the family kitchen. By the time they were teenagers, they were working full time during the summers in the family business, even while attending Milton. Bottom right: Michael Haidas ’98 with his parents, Frances and Jim, on graduation day. “For me, Milton was a transformative experience. For the first time in my life, I felt a deep connection to a community that was diverse, compassionate, and accepting. I made deep and meaningful friendships that sustain me today.” Bottom left: Van Haidas ’97, in 1996, with teammates, after beating Thayer and winning Milton’s first New England championship for football. According to Van, Milton was instrumental to his social growth. "My time in Forbes House encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and become more outgoing and confident, and competing in three varsity sports helped me to build strong friendships across teams.”

the next nine months backpacking around the globe.

When he got back, his father arranged a summer internship with an old Wall Street colleague, and a stint fetching coffee for traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange led to a full-blown career. “I became a broker myself and stayed on the floor for 10 years,” says Van, who spent his free time exploring the endless variety of restaurants across the city. “There’s no place like New York for food: there’s always something new, and you never get bored,” he says.

Michael, meanwhile, graduated from Brown in 2002 with a degree in history and an interest in law and government. He was accepted to Northwestern Law, in Chicago, but deferred enrollment to work for an NGO in South Africa for a year. After completing his law degree, he joined Van in New York City, where he worked as a litigation attorney at the white-shoe firm Shearman & Sterling. He found his true legal calling, however, doing pro bono work on a wrongful-imprisonment case involving a man named Carlos Morillo, who had been convicted of murder in 1991. “There was basically no evidence tying him to it,” says Michael, who served as co-counsel to the Legal Aid Society, which provides legal services to low-income New Yorkers.

In the wake of the 2008 financial meltdown, the firm offered its associates a year’s partially paid leave, and Michael transitioned to a position as a public defender with Legal Aid in the Bronx. He loved the job—in addition to his official caseload, he continued to work on the Morillo case, helping to exonerate the man in 2011—but it was also draining, and after five years he knew he was near-

The most lasting lesson of Milton, says Van Haidas ’97, opposite, left, has been the importance of being a positive and engaged member of a community. “The knack wouldn’t be what it is today without those years at Milton—and neither would I.”  Says Michael Haidas ’98, right: “My Milton experience informed all subsequent experiences, from the first part of my career in law to the decisions we have made the past 10 years in creating and operating the knack.”

ing the end of the road. “I didn’t have much more in me,” he says.

The timing was propitious. Van had already decided to head back to the Cape to raise a family in the close-knit community that he and Michael had known as kids; and the fact that their father was ill provided an added incentive to return home and try his hand at the restaurant business. He left the trading floor after celebrating Michael’s wedding in May 2012 and was scouting possible locations with his father by June. For nearly two years, every property they lined up fell through; until one day, while driving through Orleans, Van happened across a taco stand that had sprung up on the site of an old Dairy Queen. Something about the place—its visibility, the way the road turned into it—intrigued him. He brought his father out to see it. They ate a taco. Van called Michael. And the idea of the knack began to take shape.

(The name has nothing to do with the rock band best known for “My Sharona”—a song more than a few customers have sung while approaching the counter. Instead, the brothers wondered if they could build a brand around a word; and while flipping through a dictionary in Michael’s Brooklyn apartment, Van stumbled across “knack.” “Knackburger” was an early candidate, but didn’t seem quite seafood-friendly enough. “Would you buy a lobster roll from a place called Knackburger?” Michael asks.)

By then, Michael and his wife, Erica, were expecting their first child; and when Van asked Michael to join him in the restaurant venture, the siren song of the Cape—made even more compelling by a shared desire to spend time with Jim, who was

struggling with kidney and heart disease—was too strong to resist. What Michael had originally envisioned as a temporary paternal-leave arrangement turned into a permanent relocation that saw the brothers fully recapitulating the journey their father and uncle had made more than three decades earlier.

But Van and Michael were not content simply to repeat the past. Rather than recreating Cooke’s, they wanted to update the traditional counter-service model, raising it to a level that could compete with the best of New York City.

That meant adapting what had most impressed them—including locally sourced ingredients and an artisanal approach to production— to the constraints of a small roadside stand doing a high-volume business.

There were hiccups. When Van and Michael opened the knack for a brief trial run in 2014, they were determined to make everything from scratch—including the french fries, which they cut by hand, parbaked on sheet pans, and fried to order. “Before we even opened,” Van says, “our dad was like, ‘That’s a mistake. Don’t even try it.’”

He was right: Despite assistance from Van’s now-wife, Vivian; their general manager, Chris; and Michael’s friend Sam, from law school, the task took so much time and effort that they were clocking in at 4 a.m. and out at 1 a.m. every day. Within just a few days, they’d switched to frozen fries. (It didn’t seem to hurt them: In 2024, the knack’s fries were voted best on the Cape by readers of the Cape Cod Times.)

When the stand opened for real in a completely redesigned building in 2015, everything on the menu except

A third generation of restaurateurs. Top left: Van Haidas ’97 and Michael Haidas ’98 at the grill station at Cooke’s in Hyannis. Van, in back, works the broiler, while Michael works the grill. The two brothers spent years in New York City after college, working in finance and law, before returning to the Cape to continue the family legacy. Top right: The knack in Orleans, pictured above, opened in 2014. A second larger branch of the knack opened in Hyannis in 2022.

the fries and buns—including the pickles on the burgers and the peanut butter in the shakes—was made in-house. The meat for the burgers was ground fresh every day, and the seafood was sourced from the same local fishermen that Jim and Connie had used.

Even the batter for the fried seafood and onion rings had a local origin: It was a variation on the recipe that Jim’s mother had originally invented for the Kream ’n Kone, versions of which have since spread through the family network to a half-dozen restaurants on the Cape.

That first full season brought both joy and sorrow: The knack was booming, Van married Vivian—and Jim passed away. But not before he’d had a chance to see his sons succeed at the family business. “He couldn’t believe what we were doing,” Van says.

As if getting one restaurant off the ground wasn’t enough, in 2016 Van and Michael acquired Cooke’s Seafood in Hyannis. (The owner, who had previously bought the business from Jim, had himself decided to retire.) “We didn’t necessarily want it at that point, but there was so much legacy and nostalgia that we didn’t want it to go to someone else,” Van says.

For five years, Van and Michael operated both restaurants. Cooke’s, however, was in slow decline owing to changing tastes—“People don’t go out for whole-belly clams three nights a week anymore,” Michael says—and an aging clientele. So when the covid-19 pandemic hit, and demand for take-

and to the surrounding community, has become part of their brand.

out from the knack surged even as Cooke’s dine-in business suffered, the brothers decided to turn the Hyannis Cooke’s into a second knack. There were other considerations as well. Although it now boasts a heated wooden enclosure that can seat 44 customers, the knack in Orleans initially had only limited outdoor seating under an awning, making it more of a summer destination than a winter one. But the brothers wanted to provide stable, year-round employment for their full-time staff rather than paring down during the off-season. “We wanted to keep people year-in, year-out, and not have them scramble or go on unemployment over the winter,” Michael says.

So in 2022, they reopened Cooke’s in Hyannis as a second, larger branch of the knack with indoor seating for 100 and outdoor seating for 30. The brothers created a large commissary in the basement of the Hyannis location that now handles food prep for both knacks, with a cold truck running supplies to Orleans daily.

Today Van and Michael spend less time working the line and more time managing a full-time staff of 35 that can swell to 100 during peak season, supplemented mostly by college students home for summer vacation. (They’ve even begun bringing their kids in to help out, just as their own parents did.) And their commitment to their workers,

In addition to year-round employment for their core staff, the brothers provide health insurance, paid time off, and higher-than-average wages. They also donate 10 percent of all dessert sales to local charities—a number that recently surpassed $250,000, distributed across 10 organizations involved in everything from healthcare to food and housing security.

Like their emphasis on fresh homemade products, those commitments mean more work and higher expenses. But they inspire considerable loyalty from the knack’s clientele and its employees. “We just have so much goodwill in the community, because people understand that doing all this doesn’t come easy, and they appreciate it,” Michael says.

That goodwill translates into repeat customers and low employee turnover—a virtuous circle that refutes the idea that success in the fiercely competitive restaurant business has to be a zero-sum game in which one party’s gain is another’s loss.

“We learned a lot of this through our life experiences, including, first and foremost, seeing how our family treated the people who worked for them, and our experience at Milton—what community means, and how to be good citizens,” Michael says. “We’ve taken all that and said, ‘Okay, there are things we’re not going to compromise on.’ And it’s worked out very well for the community, and for us.” ■

ALEXANDER GELFAND IS A FREELANCE JOURNALIST LIVING IN NEW YORK CITY WHOSE WORK HAS APPEARED IN SUCH PUBLICATIONS AS WIRED, THE ECONOMIST, AND THE NEW YORK TIMES.

courtesy of the Haidas family

Cooke’s in Hyannis, where Van and Michael spent most of their childhoods. In 2016, the brothers acquired the restaurant from the owners who had purchased it from their parents. “We didn’t necessarily want it at that point, but there was so much legacy and nostalgia that we didn’t want it to go to someone else,” Van says. During COVID-19, when dine-in business suffered, the brothers decided to turn the restaurant into a second knack.

A Priceless Connection

FOR PEDIATRIC ONCOLOGIST KATIE JANEWAY ’88 , THE IMPORTANCE OF BUILDING STRONG RELATIONSHIPS IN CARING FOR HER YOUNG PATIENTS IS INCALCULABLE.

STORY BY APRIL WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS BY JO SITTENFELD

The starting line of the Pan-Mass Challenge in Wellesley is a sea of brightly colored spandex and barely contained enthusiasm. Each August, thousands of cyclists gather there and in other locations around eastern Massachusetts for the twoday ride, all to benefit the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. In 2024, nearly 7,000 riders raised a record $75 million to fund cancer research and treatment. KATIE JANEWAY ’88, in her

from Wellesley to Provincetown—a feat she had undertaken several previous years—but for her the most important moment came not at the end of the journey but here, at its beginning. “When you’re all lined up to get started and you look back or ahead, and you see all these people who have turned out, that’s really an amazing experience,” she says.

Janeway is a doctor at the Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, and the money raised by the Pan-Mass Challenge funds her work treating patients with pediatric cancer and the research she undertakes as director of a clinical genomics lab at Dana-Farber that bears her name. More than that though, the event is a show of support. She says: “I see parents of patients who survived; I see parents of patients who didn’t survive; I see patients who are riding after they complete their treatment. I see a ton of other physicians who ride it. And then there are people who have never been impacted by cancer who just think it a great thing to do.” Even before the riders cross the starting line, they’ve left an impression that’s important to Janeway: Patients are not alone in their cancer journeys.

Katie Janeway didn’t dream of becoming a doctor when she was at Milton. She came from a family of medical professionals, with six generations of physicians and researchers. Her father and stepmother were both immunologists who often discussed their scientific studies at the family dinner table in New Haven. “I’m never doing that,” teenage Katie thought. “So boring.”

In 2021 at the Pan-Mass Challenge. Janeway has participated every year since 2019. 2025 will be her seventh year riding.

left: courtesy of katie janeway ’ 88

Katie Janeway ’88 didn’t start out thinking she would become a medical professional like the six generations of physicians and researchers in her family who came before her. But a clinical research position after college convinced her that life as a physician would fulfill both her scientific curiosity and her desire for a people-facing career.

Focusing on osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer, in teens and young adults requires more than just a physician’s medical knowledge, says Katie Janeway ’88. It requires an ability to communicate and educate and develop a “trust relationship.”

Janeway’s impressions of the medical field began to change when she was in college at Barnard. Janeway was an environmental science and political science major who envisioned a career in nature conservation that would make the outdoors her office, but as she completed her basic science requirements, she discovered a surprising affinity for the lab and the complex scientific questions she grappled with there. The only thing missing was the sense of teamwork and the personal interactions she found in her part-time job waitressing and bartending. After graduation, a clinical research position at Mount Sinai convinced her that life as a physician would fulfill both her scientific curiosity and her desire for a people-facing career. “I

as a service profession,” Janeway says today. “When I enter any interaction with any patient, I enter it in the same way I did in the service industry. I’m trying to find out what somebody is looking for—What do they need? Why are they coming to me?—and deliver it. It’s much more complicated in medicine, of course, but the framework is no different.”

Young people and their caregivers typically arrive at the Jimmy Fund Clinic in Boston, where Janeway often sees patients, with a lump or a bump—an abnormality in an examination or a scan their pediatricians couldn’t explain. It’s a scary moment for everyone, and Janeway knows she won’t be able to soothe their worries or confirm their worst fears and offer a treat-

ment plan quickly. In suspected cases of leukemia—a general term for cancer of the blood cells, the most common pediatric oncology diagnosis—a determination can come within 24 hours. But in solid-tumor cancers, or sarcomas, like those Janeway studies, it can take several weeks to complete the necessary medical tests.

For patients and their loved ones those long weeks can be an agonizing limbo, so Janeway and her team typically meet with the patient once a week to discuss the possible diagnoses and communicate even more frequently about the next steps in the process. It’s vital information, Janeway explains, but the relationship it fosters is even more important. For patients it’s the first opportunity to get to know their treatment team— which can include Janeway, a doctor-in-training, another specialist such as a surgeon, a social worker, and other support staff—and it serves a similar purpose for Janeway. “We’re trying to get to know patients as people, not just as their diagnoses and their treatment.”

Janeway usually first meets her patients when they are between the ages of 10 and 20, often a time of big dreams and big changes. She wants to know if they love to cuddle with their dogs or ride their bikes through the neighborhood; if they aspire to be video-game developers or to join the military. Other seemingly typical questions—such as,“Have you had people with cancer in your family?”—are not solely about collecting a medical history but about developing an emotional understanding of how the disease and its treatment will change a young person’s life at a pivotal moment. And it’s not just

“I think of doctoring as a service profession. When I enter any interaction with any patient, I enter it in the same way I did in the service industry. I’m trying to find out what somebody is looking for—What do they need? Why are they coming to me?—and deliver it.”

about the patient. “In pediatric oncology, it’s the patient-family unit,” Janeway says. She wants to know what the family’s support systems look like and what challenges they might be facing beyond the cancer diagnosis. “Getting to understand who they are and what really matters to them impacts how you think about the treatment and explaining the treatment,” she says.

The science of treating sarcomas has not advanced as quickly as in some other cancer specialties. Targeted therapy and immunotherapy, which have proved effective against other cancers, have not yet shown the same results in many types of sarcomas—Janeway’s research is working to change that—which means that most patients will undergo chemotherapy and surgery. “They’re getting treatment that removes them from their day-to-day school life. They’re getting surgeries that really impact their physical function or how they appear at a very crucial time in their developmental life,” Janeway says, her voice wavering. “I feel a ton of compassion for them.”

Forming a bond with her patients and their caregivers is key to navigating this treatment process, Janeway says. She relies on patients and those around them to provide vital feedback on the side effects of chemotherapy and other treatments. “It’s really important that people know when to call you and feel comfortable calling you,” she says. That information can shape the course of individual treatment and ultimately advance the medical understanding more broadly. Among her other research interests, Janeway is involved in a patient-partnered research program called Count

Me In that works to develop community among osteosarcoma patients and caregivers and to build a dataset of patient experiences, treatment information, and test results to spur advances in treatment.

Though Janeway is unaware of any research that has tried to directly measure the impact of relationship building on cancer prognosis, “I think it’s essential for a good outcome,” she says. “I don’t think you can actually treat cancer without building those relationships.” And in the best-case scenarios, the relationships that start in those anxious moments before diagnosis can last years, well beyond the typical six to 12 months of treatment and five years of regular monitoring. Janeway treated her first osteosarcoma patient more than two decades ago. This past winter, she received an email from the woman, announcing the birth of her baby.

“Some people ask me, Why do you do this job?” Janeway says. “It’s so hard. Even the parents of some of the patients I took care of have asked me that.” Her answer: “You see these young people going through this incredible challenge and coming out the other side often—although not always—and going on to do amazing things.”

When Janeway heads to the starting line of the Pan-Mass Challenge this year, she will again be riding for her patients—past, present, and future—and for her fellow physicians and herself. Eleven years ago, she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a rare and aggressive cancer. She underwent chemotherapy and a bone-marrow transplant

at Dana-Farber, which sent the disease into remission. At the time of her diagnosis, in 2014, she had been training for the Boston Marathon as part of the Dana-Farber team. Four years after treatment, in the spring of 2018, she was ready to run 26.2 miles, and the next year she began riding the Pan-Mass Challenge.It was a chance to show herself—and others—that recovery is possible.

Janeway is quick to add that her own experience with cancer is not a shortcut to understanding her patients better. “Every cancer journey is different, every treatment is different,” she says. Instead, her diagnosis reinforced her career-long dedication to relationship building and turned her professional passion into a personal one—an evolution that has helped her develop more genuine bonds with her patients. “Earlier in my career I felt the need to have more boundaries between who I am as a person and my work,” Janeway says. “Over time that has changed quite a bit for me. I show up a little bit more as who I am as a person, not so much as doctor me.”

“The foundation of any relationship is about honesty,” Janeway says, noting the echoes of Milton Academy’s motto, “Dare to be true.” “And there is no more important setting in which to be honest and straightforward than when somebody is trusting you with the care of their child.” ■

APRIL WHITE IS THE AUTHOR OF THE DIVORCE COLONY: HOW WOMEN REVOLUTIONIZED MARRIAGE AND FOUND FREEDOM ON THE AMERICAN FRONTIER HER WORK HAS ALSO APPEARED IN PUBLICATIONS SUCH AS SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE, THE WASHINGTON POST, AND THE ATAVIST MAGAZINE

On Centre

Student Life at Milton

Seeking Support

AN INCREASING NUMBER OF MILTON STUDENTS ARE VISITING THE ACADEMIC SKILLS CENTER AND ENCOURAGING THEIR CLASSMATES TO DO THE SAME.  BY ANDREA DAWSON

“When a student can articulate what works for them—a specific strategy, habit, or skill— and they can use that tool when they most need it, I know we’ve achieved our goal.”

LAINEY SLOMAN

emester exams were looming. Armed with their study materials, students stretched out on plush chairs, filled three quiet study rooms, and gathered around tables with built-in whiteboards. Contrary to appearances, they were not in the library. They were nestled in the Academic Skills Center (asc), Milton’s welcoming hub of learning support.

Before the 2023–24 school year, (known by students as the Skills Center) was tucked in the basement of the old library. But its new location and look—a light-filled space on the second floor of Wigglesworth Hall, smack in the middle of campus—is both a symbolic reflection and a practical response to its increasing use among students.

When she became director of academic support, in 2020, mere months into the pandemic, Lainey Sloman recalls, students were reluctant to visit. That changed dramatically in the past school year. “Nearly one of every three Upper Schoolers met with us,” she says. “I’m excited by that cultural shift, that students no longer feel stigmatized coming to us for help.”

That help comes in many forms. Sloman and the Upper School learning specialist, Kelsey Mumford, manage an impressive array of programs and resources in the asc, from 1:1 academic support, workshops, and drop-in help to peer tutoring (an initiative known as TutorMilton), teacher training, and campus advocacy. What’s more, help is available to any Milton student.

While they work with those who have diagnosed learning differences, such as adhd and dyslexia, and develop individual accommodation plans for them, Sloman and Mumford support plenty of other students, too. Often just a handful of visits can get them back on track.

“Over half the students we meet with do not have a documented learning profile or receive any formal accommodations,” Sloman explains. “Our work, which complements the classroom support teachers already provide, is in service to the goals and needs of individual students.”

Some benefit from essay-writing tips and test prep, for example, while others get a primer on

illustration by Blake Cale

“It was very different for me in my previous school. We didn’t have anything like the ASC, and my teachers didn’t understand ADHD. It’s just so helpful to be able to talk with Ms. Sloman and Ms. Mumford about what I’m struggling with, and have access to different strategies and resources.”

executive functioning skills, such as time- and task-management and procrastination-busting strategies. Sloman and Mumford frequent ly share paper planners and digital planning tools.

Central to the asc’s work is a close partnership with Milton’s counsel ors, advisors, and classroom teach ers, who often refer students and help identify what types of sup port will be most beneficial. (Sev eral Milton faculty staff the center during its popular drop-in hours.) The goal: Helping students uncov er what they need to learn best, and coaching them to use those strategies on their own. “We’re always nudging them towards independence,” Slo man says. “And that independence often comes from greater confidence utilizing the resources on campus.”

Supporting students new to Mil ton—freshmen, yes, but also transfer students in any Upper School grade— is another priority area. Sloman and Mumford meet with them during ori entation and throughout the first sev eral weeks of school. A series of fall workshops they host cover all the ba sics: Locating the printers on cam pus, using Google Calendar to set up teacher meetings, composing ef fective emails, and building healthy homework habits, for example. Including upperclassmen in their workshops is essential, Sloman notes. “For new students, the as much a social-emotional support as an academic one. Destigmatizing asking for help is a significant part of our efforts with them, and it’s com pelling to hear from fellow students who have been in their shoes.”

MOLLY SHEEHAN ’25 is a prime ADJACENT

ORGANIZATIONS.

Upper School faculty members (L-R) Peter Kahn, Sarah Jacobs, and Eric Idsvoog work in the Academic Skills Center. Teachers partner with the ASC to provide support for students.

photograph by John Gillooly

Stepping Out

SIXTH-GRADER SIDNEY LAMOUSNERY ’31, WHO HAS BEEN DANCING SINCE SHE WAS TWO, RECENTLY ADDED CHOREOGRAPHY TO HER LIST OF DANCE PURSUITS.  SARAH ABRAMS

“I couldn’t sleep because I was so excited to share what I had created. I knew they were going to like it.”

SIDNEY LAMOUSNERY ’31

at the beginning of the school year, sixth-grader SIDNEY LAMOUSNERY ’31 was asked if she might be interested in putting together a step-dance routine for the upcoming Winter Assembly—a festive allschool get-together that takes place in December before students leave for winter break. It would also be performed at the MLK Day Assembly in January.

At 12, Lamousnery had been dancing since she was 2, but step dance—a rhythmic series of percussive claps and footwork—was still a relatively new dance form for her, and she remembers feeling a little hesitant. She thought about asking a few friends for help, she recalls, but then it all just started coming together.

“That weekend I got home and began testing out beats, trying to find a rhythm, something that might work,” she says. “I stood there in front of my iPad recording different possibilities, because if it was good and I didn’t catch it on camera, I might forget.” It wasn’t long before she had put together something that she liked—a lot.

“I couldn’t sleep because I was so excited to share what I had created,” she remembers. “I knew they were going to like it.” The following Monday, Lamousnery showed what she had come up with to JoAnn Brown, the Lower School’s dean of teaching and learning, and Kim Alston, the Lower School learning specialist. Brown and Alston are the founders of the Lil’ Steppers, the school’s step team for students of color in grades three through five, which was recently expanded to include students in grades six through eight. Brown and Alston couldn’t have been happier when they saw what Lamousnery had created. “It was beautifully choreographed,” says Brown. “The fact that she created a step routine within a couple of days was just so impressive. We shared it with the Upper School’s step-team leaders, SHALEKA MADDIX ’26 and CHRISTINA KING ’27, and they said, ‘We don’t need to create a routine for you all; let’s just use Sidney’s. Hers is phenomenal.’ So we went with it.”

Step dance was something both Brown and Alston knew a lot

kjeld mahoney

illustration by Andrea D’Aquino

“They would come over during morning recess or lunch and teach the kids how to step, giving them feedback about the rhythm of the step and their arm positioning, making sure we were stepping as one voice and in sync.”

about, having participated as step dancers in college and high school.

“Stepping is a passion for both of us,” Brown says, “as an African American representation of music, rhythm, stomp, and dance that we wanted to share with the community.” From the beginning, the Lil’ Steppers have partnered with members of the Upper School’s step team, 898, TRINITY HARTRIDGE ’23, JAIDEN DELVA ’24, and OLUWATAMILORE ADEWUMI ’24, who help introduce step to the young dancers. Performing arts and cocurricular activities—such as dance, robotics, and math competitions—provide opportunities for Milton students to work together across grades and academic divisions, often providing meaningful and lasting mentorship connections among older

and younger students.

The Lower School team performs throughout the year, including at MLK Day and during Black History month. It has also performed at Beatstock, an annual spring event, and, last year, the Lil’ Steppers were invited to perform as part of JASON DELVA’s ’24 senior project about step. “These have all been really wonderful opportunities for the kids,” Brown says.

“When I got the call to have the Lil’ Steppers perform at the Winter Assembly, I immediately thought of Sidney and her enthusiasm and talent as a Lil’ Stepper,” Brown says. “Sidney was excited back then about stepping and was creating step routines of her own.”

Thirty-four students volunteered to participate in the December production, which was open to all Milton students in grades three through five. Because of the number of dancers, the group was split in two, with one group performing at the Winter Assembly and the other at the MLK Assembly in January. Starting in early October, students rehearsed the routine weekly. A recording of the dance was sent to the students and their families so that they could practice at home.

A few former Lil’ Steppers, in addition to Lamousnery, also helped out. “The amount of time, effort, and energy that a few of the students put in—including Sidney, C.J. CAFFERTY ’31, and ANNIE PRUDENT ’31—was remarkable,” Brown says. “They would come over during morning recess or lunch and teach the kids how to step, giving them feedback about the rhythm of the step and their arm positioning, making sure we were stepping as one voice and in sync.”

“They really were wonderful mentors to the students, teaching them all the components of the steps,” says Brown, who is delight ed that the program recently grew to include Middle School students.

“We’d wanted to grow the pro gram beyond the Lil’ Steppers in the Lower School and our partnership with the Upper School 898 Step Team. Including the Middle School was the way to do it, and we now have a K-12 step team,” she says.

“For some of our third-graders,” Brown says, “step was new, so we would help them. It’s about eye/ hand coordination and keeping to the beat and rhythm. For some, it was really challenging, but they got it.”

The Lil’ Steppers’ performanc es—at both the Winter Assembly and the MLK Day Assembly—were great successes. “We stole the show,” says Brown, “and Ms. Alston and I are incredibly proud that Sidney’s talent got to be showcased.”

In addition to her participation in step dance at Milton, Lamous nery explores dance outside school, studying tap, ballet, and jazz twice a week at a studio near her home and entering dance competitions around Boston. The hours she devotes to dance are long, but “it’s not a sacri fice,” she says, “if it’s your passion.”

And now choreography can be added to her résumé. “It is so much fun when you’ve created something you like,” she says about her venture into choreographing. “I surprised myself that I created something amazing. I thought I would need help, but then I just started stomp ing, trying to make sounds with a beat and ended up putting together something really cool.” ■

photograph by

Kjeld Mahoney

In the News

IN THEIR

FIRST “NOBLES DAY” VICTORY SINCE 2016, THE MUSTANG GIRLS’ VARSITY SOCCER TEAM BEAT NOBLES 2–1.

photograph by Michael Dwyer

Nesto Gallery Turns 50

The Nesto Gallery opened on January 10, 1975, and has since brought in scores of professional artists from New England and beyond, offering the community access to accomplished works of painting, photography, sculpture, and much more. The gallery’s presence on campus also enriches Milton’s visual arts program, giving students opportunities to meet and learn from a diverse range of talented creators.

This year’s gallery schedule culminates in a special event involving all the gallery directors and chairs since Nesto opened. Past directors will curate an exhibition that will open with a reception on April 24.

The 50 Years of the Nesto Gallery exhibition will remain open until Reunion weekend and close with a reception on June 14.

OPENING RECEPTION OF

THE

ARCHIOMETRIES, AN EXHIBITION BY ARTIST SANTIAGO HERNANDEZ AT THE NESTO GALLERY IN NOVEMBER 2024

A HALF CENTURY OF FINE ART ON THE MILTON ACADEMY CAMPUS

SPEAKERS

Army Veteran Daniel Kim ’09 Shares

His Story of Service

Solid preparation is the key to success in high-stakes situations, army veteran DAN KIM ’09 told Upper School students during this year’s Veterans Day Assembly.

“All kinds of things can go wrong, all sorts of bad things,” Kim said. “But that’s why you train. You study, you plan, and you prepare ahead of time. And when it’s time to execute, it’s time to stop worrying about the unknown and the hypotheticals.

SPEAKERS

Lamont Gordon ’87 Returns as MLK Speaker

ton, he was a minister and community leader in Boston who had recently founded a nonprofit organization called ONE, Organization for a New Equality.”

Gordon was so moved and inspired by the assembly that later that year, he and a classmate reached out to Reverend Stith to ask if they could do their senior project at ONE. Stith accepted their proposal. For their project, they conducted research, analyzed data, participated in focus groups, and contributed to the organization’s work in tangible ways. “It was one of the best experiences that I had at Milton,” Gordon said. “As I reflect back on that time, I’m reminded of the pivot-

al role that Milton played in my personal and intellectual development. It was a time when I was beginning to figure out who I was, my place in the world, my values, and what was important to me.”

As a first-generation college graduate and firm believer in the power of education, Gordon has dedicated his career to creating pathways to college for students from underrepresented communities. Currently, he is the executive director of College Visions, an organization empowering low-income and first-generation college students in Rhode Island to reap the benefits of higher education. He also serves on Milton’s Board of Trustees.

SPEAKERS

Jonathan Schroeder ’99 Returns as Heyburn Speaker

A pivotal first-person account of slavery in the United States lay dormant in Australia for a century and a half until a literary scholar’s curiosity led him to it. The scholar, JONATHAN D.S. SCHROEDER ’99, returned to Milton last fall as a Heyburn Lecturer and shared his amazing journey toward resurfacing John Swanson Jacobs’s story.

“Who was John Jacobs?” asked Schroeder, the editor of Jacobs’s The United States Governed by Six Hundred Thousand Despots, published in full this year by the University of Chicago Press. “At the very least,

he was the brother of Harriet Jacobs and an ally and friend of Frederick Douglass, two of the most important Black writers of the 19th century.”

Schroeder discovered Jacobs’s narrative through an internet search in 2016 while he was reading a biography of Harriet— whose book Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl was a groundbreaking work and the first published account of slavery written by a formerly enslaved Black woman in the United States. He learned that Harriet’s son Joseph and her brother, John, had gone to Australia, where The

United States Governed by Six Hundred Thousand Despots first appeared, in a Sydney newspaper in 1855.

During his lecture, Schroeder, a professor at the Rhode Island School of Design, described his motivation to give Jacobs’s narrative the platform it deserved in the United States, where it had never been published.

“In 2016, I could not say what I now know: that the rediscovery of John Jacobs’s narrative represents the most important recovery of an autobiographical slave narrative on record,”

Schroeder explained to students. “What I could do was ask the question ‘How can one do justice to this text?’” He wrote a biography of Jacobs that accompanies the original text.

“His own words constitute the strongest proof of who he was and what he stood for, for John Jacobs wrote and spoke fearlessly,” Schroeder said. “Here, we might invoke the Milton motto, ‘Dare to be true.’ I think it’s important to ask, ‘What does it mean to tell the truth? And in what conditions or situations can telling the truth actually make a change?’”

Milton Senior Appointed to Juvenile Justice Committee

As a 10-year-old with the dream of serving on the nation’s highest court, EDNA ETIENNE-DUPIE ’25 caught the attention of some high-profile Massachusetts lawmakers. She delivered a speech at a campaign event for former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and was soon invited to speak at Walsh’s inauguration.

“I mainly talked about the importance of voting and spoke about how I wanted to be a United States Supreme Court justice,” she says.“ I have no idea if that’s my career plan now, but I’ll think about it. The clerk of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), Maura Doyle, was watching, and after I spoke, she invited me to intern there for two weeks. It was absolutely incredible. I loved it.”

And so—as a 10-year old— Etienne-Dupie began her public-service career. Today, she is a member of a state advisory board aiming to help some of the most at-risk young people in Massachusetts.

During her time at the SJC, she met and later interned with Judge Marjorie Tynes, who was then serving on the state’s Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee (JJAC). This past summer, at Tynes’s recommendation, Governor Maura Healey appointed her to the JJAC.

Her early interest in politics and public service stems from her family’s activism and involvement in local politics. “I’ve grown up around politics my entire life,” she says, “so I know that other students my age may have a different experience, but

I do think that within my gener ation, there’s a lot of interest in politics and activism.”

Etienne-Dupie’s experience at Milton, in and out of the class room, has deepened both her interest and her understanding.

As a junior, she took the “History of Civil Rights” elective taught by Matthew Blanton, which pro vided an “amazing and infor mative” deep dive into the civil rights era and Black history in the United States. She is also a member of the Milton Progres sives, a club that meets weekly to discuss current events in pol itics and encourage peers to get involved.

Now, as a member of the JJAC, Etienne-Dupie row seat to see politics in action. The JJAC reviews and approves funding related to outreach pro grams for incarcerated young people, and also those who are at risk of returning to prison. The group also focuses on legal assistance and social- and emo tional-health resources for in carcerated youth. Typically, the youth member of the JJAC is a college student. Etienne-Dupie its youngest-ever member.

“I’m interested in criminal jus tice because I have always had a passion for the law,” she says. “I’ve read a lot and heard about a lot of cases where young chil dren have gotten involved in the legal system and cannot fi nancially support themselves to get out of it. I personally believe that it is my job, as someone who has had a lot of opportuni ties, to help people who are gen uinely in need.”

Jazz Students Shine at National Conference

In January, Milton jazz students traveled to Atlanta for the Jazz Education Network International Conference. They watched professional musicians perform at the highest levels of their craft, attended master classes with experts in individual instruments, received instruction from renowned jazz educators who coached small groups of students, and performed the repertoire they have studied at Milton this year. They also enjoyed jam sessions with prominent musicians and had a chance to learn more about studying and participating in music in college. Milton’s celebrated jazz program was founded by former director Bob Sinicrope, who retired in 2024 after 50 years at

the school. It is now led by Jared Sims.

The Atlanta trip was supported in part by the MARGARET FILOON ROBERTSON ’56 fund, which gives Milton’s music groups opportunities to travel. The fund also supports an annual concert on campus. At this year’s concert, Head of School ALIXE CALLEN ’88 explained, “The cultural and musical experiences these trips afford our students—including the opportunity to play with musicians from all around the world—expand their perspectives, influence their creativity, transcend language and cultural differences, help them grow in their confidence as performers, and deepen their passion for music.”

A young visitor took in the celestial sights at Milton’s Ayer Observatory in February. Science teacher Jim Kernohan hosts open observatory hours for the Milton community and the general public to view stars and planets in the night sky.

SPEAKERS

Mathematician Po-Shen Loh Urges Critical Thinking and Humanity in the Age of AI

Young people should commit to deep learning and understanding—even as artificial-intelligence tools deliver efficiency and make information more accessible, renowned mathematician and social entrepreneur Po-Shen Loh told the Milton community. Loh explained that AI tools must be combined with critical thinking, curiosity, and ethics in order to have positive impacts in the world.

“Even today, I keep learning. I keep coming up with new experiences,” Loh told audiences in the Hobbs Commons of the new Farokhzad Mathematics Center. “You can’t figure out what interests you unless you’re always learning new things.”

Loh is a math professor at Carnegie Mellon University and served as the coach of the U.S.A. International Mathematical Olympiad team from 2013 to 2023. He was once a member of the team, along with Milton grad PAUL VALIANT ’01. In 1999,

Loh spent a day at Milton speaking with students in the morning and an audience of students, faculty, alumni, and families in the evening. He visited classes in the Mathematics and Computer Science departments and spent time with Middle School faculty and students, as well as the school’s College Counseling Office and AI working group.

AI has led to many advancements in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), but Loh explained that STEM and humanities learning must go hand in hand.  ”You need both. If you don’t have humanities, you have no business doing any research that might affect real people. If you’re going to build things that are going to affect the lives of real people, you better understand people, or you shouldn’t be doing it. On

the other hand, if you’re on the humanities side, I strongly recommend you figure out what the heck all this STEM stuff is, because it’ll make you able to do everything more effectively.”

With this mindset, Loh has founded programs and software that help middle and high school students build intelligence and problem-solving skills. “We need to build intelligence,” he said. “It is not just whether you can get the score on the test.  If you know how to solve a problem because you saw it before, it doesn’t count.  You’ve got to turn the ideas into something.”

Students should be empowered by their skills—along with their values—to think critically and make a difference, Loh said. “The world will be run by you, your generation. So the question then becomes, how do we empower people who have this fire in them, to want to do something of value for other people?”

Loh received a silver medal in the Olympiad while Valiant won gold.

Dare to Lead Greg Marsh ’98

Greg Marsh ’98 started his career as a Milton Academy Admission officer. Inspired by his admissions experience, he focused on scaling high-growth, transformative companies, including Google, Square, and Pinterest. Greg currently serves as Head of Recruiting at Sierra, a conversational AI platform for businesses. Before Greg’s time at Sierra, and even as an Admission officer, Greg joined the Milton community as a boarding sophomore, where his life was transformed.

It is because Greg knows the power of a Milton education that he remains committed to giving back to Milton annually. Greg shared that he continues to support the Milton Fund as a 1798 Circle donor because he is so grateful for the financial aid that enabled him to attend and thrive at Milton Academy.

“Simply put, I would not have been able to attend Milton Academy without the support of financial aid. Growing up in Maine, attending boarding school wasn’t a reality for most families. I feel fortunate to have had the support of my family and Milton to make attending a reality. As a 1798 Circle member, I hope my support for Milton– in a small way– has a big impact on helping a student attend Milton as I did,” says Marsh.

Greg is also inspired by the spirit of “Dare to be true” which remains so prominent in current students. Marsh notes, “While my senior project crew gained so much during our experience organizing hockey clinics for under-resourced communities, we did not gain millions of followers on social media, nor were we featured in national news stories like the @boys.with.the.bus. We loved following their adventures on land and sea and knowing it all began on the Milton campus.”

When asked about Milton’s impact on him, “Dare to be true” immediately came to mind:

“Few schools live, breathe, and teach their motto like Milton. I dared to be true at Milton by pushing outside my comfort zone. Before Milton, my extracurricular activity exclusively focused on sports. The Milton community provided a supportive space where I could try new activities, such as theatre and speech, student government while serving as Co-Head Monitor, and community service.” The activities Greg participated in as a student helped him cultivate skills in communication and leadership that continue to serve him in his career today.

Do you want to join the 1798 Circle?

You can join this circle of donors who support our community each year with a gift of $2,500 or more to the Milton Fund. Already a member? Thank you!

To renew your membership or join the 1798 Circle just like Greg Marsh ’98, make your Milton Fund gift by June 30, 2025.

ELLIS WALLER ’55 of Wisconsin loves playing the Highland bagpipes— mostly at funerals and nieces’ weddings.

80TH REUNION, JUNE 13–14

1950

75TH REUNION, JUNE 13–14

1951

NANINE (POWELL) RHINELANDER writes that survivors from our class are thinning out. Many beloved friends have passed over. She remembers them with joy and appreciation. Her memoirs are into the 90s by now with fewer exciting events to write about in the new century. She looks forward to the year 2025 with some trepidation, as she suspects we will never be the same after the coming changes. She is holding her hat as she continues to give acupuncture to a few souls, occasionally paint, garden, and dance. Pretty creaky these days!

1952

EMERY (BRADLEY) GOFF

CARHART along with all her classmates, turned 90 this past year and is beginning to regret this. She moved from her large apartment in her Portland, Maine, facility to a smaller first-floor apartment. Unfortunately, this was scheduled over Christmas, and the resulting stress brought on another debilitating bout of AFib, which she is still battling. Beyond that,

all offspring, grandkids, and the one great-grandkid (Madeleine Gurney Goff, age two and a half) are doing well. She loves her new apartment, though it is still a chaos of boxes yet to unpack and paintings still to hang. She has access to OUTSIDE! She is looking forward to spring and her daffodils blooming.

1953

HUGH MARLOW sends greetings to one and all from one of the elders of the Class of ’53. Seasons greetings and best wishes to each and every one for sure! He always enjoys the messages from Milton, so please keep up the good work.

ICON KEY

BIRTH

BOOK

RELOCATION

WEDDING

PASSING

1955

70TH REUNION, JUNE 13–14

OLIVIA (AMES) HOBLITZELLE published a book, Ley Lines of Love: Adventures Along the Spiritual Path, in March of 2024. You can find out more about it on her website, www.oliviahoblitzelle.com.

ELLIS WALLER is living in Wisconsin and is active with the Madison Symphony and the Madison Rotary Club, which is the 8th largest of the 32,000 Rotary clubs worldwide. He and his wife, Katie, love small-ship travel, cruising on rivers and circumnavigating islands like Iceland, Newfoundland, and those in the Caribbean. Ellis still plays the Highland bagpipes, mostly at nieces’ weddings and funerals. He and Katie have loved living in their frequently remodeled house for 46 years and hope to be there for many more years. Their motorboat is just two minutes from home, and great art and music, and the airport, are all less than 15 minutes from home. Their little village of 1,300 residents is surrounded by Lake Mendota, a golf course, and a city park. Ellis misses his classmates from the Robbins House “pit” and offers to house any classmates visiting Madison.

1956

HANNA (HIGGINS) BARTLETT reports that her husband,

Jim, passed away in early November after a short illness. They had been married for 61 years. After 10 years of living on Commonwealth Avenue, they moved to the Commons in Lincoln in 2019, where Hanna still lives.

RUPERT “RUPE” HITZIG discovered his lifelong and best friends during his four years at Milton. “Lifelong” is no exaggeration. They all talk frequently and although the theme changes as they age, the shared thoughts have never changed; the same spirit and warmth are still there. It is harder and harder to DARE TO BE TRUE these days, but Rupe has given it a fair effort. He would love to give it all a shot again, but alas, we can only change things in our heads, and too much regret will stifle the joy we still get in our 80s. Turning over our world to the next generation and all the changes in the way the world works have been difficult. This was written by AI... only kidding. Rupe is now known as Rapperdaddy86, and here is a verse from his latest rap:

It’s all up to you to age like a turtle / But make the right choices to keep your brain fertile / Make lots of money but if you don’t it’s okay / Success is not measured by what you get paid

Believe in the past, it got us this far / But now for the problems let’s lower the bar / Include the forgotten, don’t envy the rich, Cause during our lives, even that may just switch

EMERY (BRADLEY) GOFF CARHART ’52

I’m older, I’m better, I watch what I eat / Longevity is something that’s a reachable feat Be happy, be healthy, and keep telling the truth / And believe me, you will all find your own fountain of youth!

1957

BRENDA (CANGIANO) GODWIN retired from teaching at Proctor Academy in 2017 after 29 years. After spending a year organizing her winter home in Ocala, Florida, playing a lot of golf, and binge reading, she realized that jobs structure life and got two: at a golf course in the summer in New Hampshire and in the public high schools of Ocala in the winter. She’s a starter and cart washer at the former and a substitute teacher at the latter. Subbing has given her a new appreciation of dress codes and uniforms and reaffirmed the rightful place of weekends and vacations in a balanced life. In both states, she enjoys time with her nine children and 13 grandchildren.

ROBERT “BOB” FULLER has been writing fiction since retirement. A talent he developed when writing law school exams has been his avocation. His military-themed short story “Flashback Morning” was included in Scars on My Heart, Milspeak Foundation’s anthology of the best military-themed short stories of 2009. Most recently, Bob collaborated with the author of Calm Command,

U.S. Chief Justice Melville Fuller in His Times, 1888–1910, the first biography of Fuller written since 1950. Bob happens to be the Chief Justice’s first cousin three times removed. Over the years, their family preserved a treasure trove of his Supreme Court correspondence, contemporary newspaper articles, family photographs, and other ephemera not obtainable elsewhere. All this material found its way into the book, which opened to laudatory reviews. (Shameless marketing: the book’s website is www. melvillefuller.com)

PHILIP TYLER RAND is headed back to Norway in August, after a tenyear absence, to see Norwegian friends and refresh his knowledge of the language.

1960

65TH REUNION, JUNE 13–14

1962

DIANA “DINA” B. ROBERTS reports the class held two off-campus gatherings in 2024. The first was hosted by PAM (WATSON) SEBASTIAN

1974

MARK PANARESE ‘74 and his wife, SaSa, hosted Mark’s 1974 classmates at their home for their 50th Reunion in June 2024.

PHILIP TYLER RAND ’57 WILL BE RETURNING TO NORWAY AFTER A TEN-YEAR ABSENCE.

1963

CHARLES P. HOWLAND just moved to a retirement community. Still independent and traveling. Last year, he visited Istanbul, Cairo, Athens, the Caribbean, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Brussels, and London. On tap this year, if his knees hold up: Alaska, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and Tahiti. Already exhausted.

in October at Dina’s home in Mil ton, and was attended by class mates DAVID MILLET

RUGO, and wife Vicki, and class mates JAMES “TACK”

RINE “KATTY” CHASE

AMES hosted a lunch in nearby Dedham for 11 classmates: RICHARD “DICK” SPENCER, PERRY MILLER, CHARLES “CHARLIE” WYZANSKI, JAMES “JIM” KAPLAN, DUDLEY LADD, DAVID MILLET, DIANA “DINA” B. ROBERTS, and JAMES “TACK” and KATHARINE “KATTY” CHASE. They hope to gather again in May of 2025. It is wonderful that the class continues to keep in touch both near and far through the years!

1965

60TH REUNION, JUNE 13–14

SCOTT PARKIN helped create a nonprofit called Reston for a Lifetime during COVID-19 and being tired of staying behind closed doors. Its mission is to educate and inform the Virginia community’s residents about how to age in place. He is now its volunteer president, newsletter editor, and website manager (restonforalifetime.org). Scott is looking forward to Reunion in June and serves on the planning committee.

1970

55TH REUNION, JUNE 13–14

JOEL RICHARD DAVIDSON notes that 55 years is a long time to be out of high school. “At least we’re obeying the speed limit!”

TOM MARKS released a new book, The Second Best Business Book Ever Written: The Pursuit of Thought Leadership in Sales, Marketing, and Life in July 2024. The book became the #1 new business book released in the U.S. and the #2 best-selling business book. Inc Magazine requested a follow-up book, which Tom declined to write, instead developing and launching the only Digital Retirement Collective website, thepeacefulretiree.com. With 27 contributing editors, this is the largest retirement blog in the country, with thousands of subscribers and thousands of daily web visitors. Please contact Tom if you’d like to be a contributing editor at bepeaceful@ thepeacefulretiree.com or submit an article at www.thepeacefulretiree.com/submit-article.

1973

1971

WILLIAM “BILL” MARKS celebrated the birth of his first grandchild, Owen Hudson Gold, on Christmas Day and the first night of Hanukkah.

ROSANNA (WARREN) SCULLY will have a new book of poems, HINDSIGHT, come out

from W. W. Norton in September 2025.

1975

50TH REUNION, JUNE 13–14

ELAINE APTHORP is enjoying retirement in Northampton, Massachusetts, conducting an online manuscript workshop,

doing some book coaching, and volunteering with her wife, Terri, at their local Unitarian society. They’re finding Pioneer Valley an awesome place to live, with more walking trails, bookstores, live music, and lifetime learning opportunities than hours to take it all in—but they’re having a great time fitting in as much as possible. :-) Elaine sends shoutouts to all her comrades in the Class of 1975, to her dear former colleagues in the English and History Departments, to the boarding faculty, and to the lads of Goodwin House.

MARTHA “EM” (SMITH) MCMANAMY retired from her second career as a speech pathologist in 2024. She is now fully able to enjoy her new home in Providence with proximity to Brown University and to two of her children, who have bought homes within biking reach. Her daughter lives and works in Vermont. So glad that Milton has updated its addresses, so we now receive only one copy of the excellent bulletin. Looking forward to seeing ‘75 classmates in June at their 50th (yikes)!

WILLIAM H. NIXON published his latest collection of poetry, called If Not in Heaven, Then in Saugerties, in November 2024.

1977

PAUL ROBINSON has officially retired from corporate life as a software engineer. He has since enrolled in an online MFA in creative writing program to launch a new

L–R: TWINS CONOR MCMANAMY ’15 AND LAURA MCMANAMY ’15, JOHN MCMANAMY, MARTHA “EM” (SMITH) MCMANAMY ’75, CAMILLE MONTANO, AND EVAN MCMANAMY ’10.

career as a famous science fiction writer. He should be finishing that program, with a completed novel, in the spring of 2026.

1979

CHARLES “CHARLIE” HENRY, ALFREDO BRILLEMBOURG, MALCOLM

“MAL” MACDOUGALL, and DOUGLAS “DOUG” SCHWALBE got together in New York City to celebrate Alfredo’s 38th birthday.

1980

45TH REUNION, JUNE 13–14

1982

ERIC HOWARD has for the sixth time taken the helm of a small environmentally related nonprofit to help diversify rev-

enue streams and do a better job of achieving its mission. The most recent one is the American Discovery Trail Society, which oversees a 5,000+ mile coast-to-coast hiking, biking, and running trail that passes through 15 states and near the homes of more than 45 million Americans. If you live somewhere along the line from D.C. to Chicago to Denver to San Francisco, you’re near it.

MICHAEL RICHMOND spent the autumn teaching a class on exoplanets at the University of Tokyo. It was great fun, but a lot of work. Thanks to a fortunate arrangement of holidays, he was able to spend a week and a half visiting interesting places with his wife in the middle of the semester. Michael takes part in

1988 MARC GOODMAN and KA-HAY YIP ’89 had an unexpected and very fun reunion at a mutual friend’s daughter’s wedding in Cape Town in November 2024.

ongoing research projects with scientists in Japan, and so will likely be going there again next summer. If you plan to be there too, please let him know via email!

1985

40TH REUNION, JUNE 13–14

1990

35TH REUNION, JUNE 13–14

SAMUEL “SAM” HEALEY grew a beard and then later shaved it off.

JOCELYN ROSENTHAL has been training to become a facilitator

IN 4000S BY 40, MATTHEW “MATT” LARSON ’95 EXPLORES MIDDLE AGE AND HIS LOVE OF NATURE.

ALEXIS GREEVES, BRYONY GAGAN, and JENNIFER “JENNA” GLASSER met up in Santa Barbara for their annual Presidents’ Day visit. They first started in 2014 and love the chance to exchange Favorite Things gifts and laugh, read, and walk the beach with the dogs.

of horse-assisted learning, and has gone back to school, getting her master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling to become a therapist!

1994

FREDERICK “FRED” MELO, a city hall bureau chief for the St. Paul Pioneer Press in St. Paul, Minnesota, celebrated both his 48th birthday and 20th work anniversary at the newspaper on January 10, 2025. In the past year or two, he’s enjoyed lunch in New York City with JEEIL KIM and separately BRIAN CHEIGH ‘96. He also caught up virtually with JENNIFER “JEN” LIU and NJERI THANDE

1995

30TH REUNION, JUNE 13–14

NATHALIE (GOODKIN) EMAMI was given the Willi Dansgaard Award for contributions to paleoclimatology by the American Geophysical Union in December 2024.

MATTHEW “MATT” LARSON recently published his first book, 4000s by 40, combining his love of nature with a humorous introspective on middle age. The memoir chronicles Matt’s efforts to climb all the 4,000-footers in his home state of New Hamp-

Say Nothing:

A Popular TV Series

Say Nothing, a popular nine-episode series about the Troubles in Northern Ireland based on the 2019 book by PATRICK RADDEN KEEFE ’94 Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland aired last fall. A staff writer for The New Yorker and author of numerous books, including Empire of Pain and Rogues, Keefe was executive producer of the television series. The FX docudrama, which took nine months to shoot and five years to produce, explores the costs to the people of Northern Ireland whose lives were unalterably changed by the violence and betrayal that occurred during that period. Reaction to the series has been quite positive, according to Keefe in a recent interview on Mediaite News. “In Northern Ireland, Ireland, and England, there are people who don’t agree on anything when it comes to the Troubles who agree on the show, and that feels like some kind of achievement,” he said.

Didion & Babitz

LILI ANOLIK ’96

SCRIBNER

After Lili Anolik ’96 finished her 2019 book Hollywood’s Eve about Eve Babitz, an artist and writer at the center of the cool Hollywood scene of the late ’60s and ’70s, she thought she could leave the object of her obsession behind. But then newly discovered boxes containing Babitz’s letters revealed a world that included another avatar of cool from that era, Joan Didion, inspiring Anolik to write about the lives and relationship of “the two halves of American womanhood, representing forces that are, on the surface, in conflict yet secretly aligned—the superego and the id, Thanatos and Eros, yang and yin.” Through the letters and more than 100 interviews with Babitz and others who knew her and Didion, the book offers intimate details of their “complicated alliance,” their artistic aspirations, and the excesses and tragedies of the era. It shows the protagonists’ contrasting styles: the “tight and efficient control” of Didion and the “overlapping love affairs and big, unwieldy, slovenly talent” of Babitz. Didion died in 2021 only six days after Babitz, with one writer quipping that she outlived Babitz out of spite. But Anolik says that, if anything, they were joined together to the end.

Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music

ROB SHEFFIELD ’84 DEYST

Rob Sheffield ’84 has been a Taylor Swift fan since he first heard one of her songs, in 2007. But he acknowledges that he hasn’t come close to figuring her out, even as a longtime music journalist for Rolling Stone magazine. His new book is his attempt to understand Swift as a cultural phenomenon, a songwriter, and a person whom he has met and admired as a fellow “music nerd.” The author traces Swift’s rise starting when she was 11 and dropping off her demo to 20 different record labels in Nashville, where her parents moved shortly thereafter so she could pursue a music career. He writes that her success was fueled in part by her continued musical evolution and perseverance in overcoming obstacles, notably when she rerecorded her entire catalog after her masters were sold against her wishes. He also digs deep into her songs and craftsmanship, analyzing lyrics and comparing her to artists as varied as Prince and Paul McCartney. Swift has romanced her fans from the start, writes Sheffield, inspiring not only a legion of devoted Swifties worldwide but also young women who feel empowered to pick up a guitar and pursue their own artistic vision.

Lifeform

JENNY SLATE ’00

LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY

The essays in this book by Jenny Slate ’00 are on topics familiar to many people, such as being single, finding love, and becoming a parent. But they are written in a style unique to the comedian and actor, known for voicing Marcel the Shell, stand-up performances, and myriad TV and film roles. Slate celebrates finding a partner who will take a raccoon on a boat ride, invents a woman in the early 1900s who discovers that everyone cruel to her has fallen into a very large hole, and considers problematic aspects of the movie Ghostbusters. Amid the offbeat detours, she also shows vulnerability: her worries that anything unlikable about her would erase anything likable, that her work as an artist is behind her, that “there is no way for us to have our loves without breathtaking pain.” The title alludes to the “bizarre” experience of being a human and creating another human, made all the more bizarre by giving birth to her daughter during a global pandemic. Even in dark times, Slate writes, it can help to play games of pretend, such as imagining you’re on the receiving end of a ceremonial pudding.

The MAGA Diaries: My Surreal Adventures Inside the Right-Wing (And How I Got Out)

TINA NGUYEN ’07 ONE SIGNAL PUBLISHERS

As a reporter covering the conservative movement, Tina Nguyen ’07 had an advantage other journalists didn’t: She was once part of it. She chronicles her journey from conservative activism to mainstream journalism, starting when she was a student at Milton and her conservative boyfriend encouraged her to attend Claremont McKenna College, where she became a research fellow for the Salvatori Center for the Study of Individual Freedom and was first introduced to leading conservative thinkers of the time. Following a stint working for Tucker Carlson at the Daily Caller, she writes, she became disenchanted after “laundering right-wing talking points through a fake newspaper.” Later writing for Politico and Vanity Fair, she covered events such as the Turning Points USA Student Action Summit, showing how the movement cultivates youth activists. She also reported from the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and on other stories associated with Donald Trump’s MAGA movement. She contends that “the conservative movement wants to master and restructure America’s civil institutions.” And, she adds, it is very good at doing that.

Democracy or Else: How to Save

America in 10 Easy

Steps

JON FAVREAU, JON LOVETT, AND TOMMY VIETOR ’98, WITH JOSH HALLOWAY

ZANDO – CROOKED MEDIA READS

The hosts of the popular podcast “Pod Save America,” all of whom served as Obama White House aides, team up for an educational and irreverent guide to encourage participation in the democratic process. Each step, from a lighthearted civics primer to tips on running for office, offers “lessons that will hopefully transform you into a savvier, saner, well-armed citizen (well-armed with knowledge!).” The authors opine on how to stay well-informed in an age of rampant misinformation and how to develop a healthy media diet. They delve into the voting process and outline their views on voter suppression and distrust in election results. Bemoaning the influence of superrich and secretive political contributors, they advise people on how to donate to candidates strategically so that grassroots support can counteract megadonors. They also cover more-active participation, such as volunteering, organizing, or even, like them, making politics your job. For too long, many of us have taken democracy for granted, they write, but the best way to fight efforts to stop progress and foment hate and fear is to practice democracy every day.

CAROLINE KINSOLVING ’99 (SECOND FROM LEFT) MARRIED GARY CAPOZZIELLO LAST JUNE IN SALISBURY, MASSACHUSETTS.

old, casting light on the lessons he learned along the way. Matt credits Milton with providing a foundational education in writing, and one relative quipped after reading the book, “Your MegaBlunders training at Milton served you well!” Matt lives with his family in Amherst, New Hampshire.

1997

HELENA BAILLIE, SAMUEL “SAM” COX, MARTINA BAILLIE, ALEXANDER HENRY ’98, KATHARINE MILLONZI ’99, and MAX BAILLIE ’99 got together for a holiday music performance in Tivoli, New York.

1999

CAROLINE KINSOLVING married Gary Capozziello in Salisbury on a 160-acre former equestrian center (the famous Riga Meadow) where they live. The ceremony was in a field with a backdrop of the Berkshire mountains. It included a performance by a 13-piece chamber orchestra playing Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring, conducted by Orchestra New England Concert Master Raphael Ryger. Appalachian Spring is the couple’s favorite piece of music. At the beginning of the ceremony, the Quaker poem “Simple Gifts”was read by Caroline’s sister, Eliza. Owing to

DANIEL “DAN” WEISMAN ’00 WAS NAMED TO BILLBOARD’S 2024 TOP MONEY MANAGERS LIST.

VICTORIA “TORI” AIELLO married Andy Käser at Radegast Biergarten in New York. The ceremony was officiated by CAROLINE AIELLO ’99 who donned a dirndl in a nod to the couple’s first encounter at Munich’s Oktoberfest. (Class of 2008: MEGAN CAMPOS, SARAH (MILLER) WILLIAMS, BAXTER TOWNSEND, LEIF JACOBSEN, GEOFF MUCHA, JACOB LEVKOWICZ, MARIA (STEINER) YERGSTEIN, REBECCA (EVANS) HERTER, MICHAEL CHAO, BROOKE RICE, ALYSSA BLAIZE, VICTORIA “TORI” AIELLO, MICHELLE FANG.)

the dramatic weather of a heat dome and torrential rain, an air-conditioned sailcloth tent was prepared. However, the clouds broke 15 minutes before the ceremony, and the vision of being wedded outside in a field was fulfilled. June 22 was the night of the strawberry full moon (an extraordinary sight at the farm!), when the fireflies peaked.

Every flower on the property bloomed that night. Caroline wore two different gowns for the ceremony and the reception, both by designer Zac Posen, a friend from her childhood. Her veil was Lanvin, Paris. The groom wore Paul Smith, London. Caroline’s sister, Eliza, an event coordinator for several nonprofits throughout her career, ran the

event. Caroline hired some of her favorite teen theatre students from Sharon Playhouse to help with the event. The eco-conscious approach ensured that guests’ place settings were compostable, reusable, or recyclable, and dinner and dessert were vegan. Dear friend and local Tina Millman was their floral artist, Meg Mcmackin was

Mead emceed, and Jordan and Nicole Moskowitz prepared the property with great care. It was important to Caroline that their official photographer have an artist’s eye, so Hagop Kalaidjian, an international fashion photographer, filmmaker, and fine artist who shot Caroline 15 years ago in Los Angeles—where they became friends while surfing—photographed the event. Caroline’s 87-year-old godmother served as the flower girl. Caroline is an actor and Gary is a concert violinist. Caroline recently shot a role on Law and Order,and her short film, Stable, made it to the semifinals at several film festivals this year. In the fall, she starred as “The Writer” in WAM Theatre’s production of Galileo’s Daughter at Shakespeare and Company in Lenox and Central Square Theater in Cambridge.

2000

25TH REUNION, JUNE 13–14

DANIEL “DAN” WEISMAN made partner at Alliancebernstein at the top of 2023 and was named to Billboard’s 2024 Top Money Managers list for the second year in a row. He is also an executive producer, alongside Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, on the

movie musical Kiss of the Spider Woman, starring Jennifer Lopez, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2025.

2001

PATRICK WALES-DINAN and his wife, Annie Dear, welcomed their second child, Louie Dear-Dinan, in October 2023. Their oldest, Jonas, turned three in December.

2002

ANNE DUGGAN joined TIFF Investment Management, which is based near the New England Aquarium. TIFF, a leader in alternatives-heavy portfolio construction, has been managing nonprofit money for more than 30 years. Anne is thrilled to be focused on serving nonprofits.

NAOMI MOON SIEGEL is a leading artist in the Pacific Northwest and calls Missoula, Montana, home. Her latest album, Shatter the Glass Sanctuary, was released in November and is about her move from Seattle to Missoula. It features six stellar Seattle musicians.

2003

CHRISTINA (LUCCIO)

SARGENT, her husband, Dave, and their two daughters Selena (six) and Luciana (three and a half) recently relocated

Board of Trustees: New Members

Milton’s Board of Trustees provides essential support to the school in pro moting its mission, vision, and goals.

TOM

REARDON ‘92 P ’26 ‘28

Tom Reardon is a managing director and cohead of North America for PSG Equity, a private equity firm based in Boston. Previously, he was a general partner at WestView Capital Partners and focused on software and technology-enabled business service investments. Prior to WestView, Reardon was a director at CIBC Capital Partners. Before that, he cofounded Revolution Partners as an associate and worked at Robertson Stephens & Co. as an analyst in the software group. Reardon received an MBA from Harvard Business School in 2005 and an AB from Harvard College in 1996.

CALEB J. WEINSTEIN P’26

Caleb Weinstein has built a career at the intersection of technology and media in the United States, Europe, and Asia. He is currently working with companies utilizing sports data (i.e., stats) to scale up content production in sports media to enable greater fan engagement. This work builds on his prior experience at Google, as the director for sport, media & entertainment at Google Cloud, and a deep career in media. Prior to Google, Weinstein was at 21st Century Fox, Amazon, Discovery, and Viacom, where he worked on the development of several sports media platforms including FOX Sports Eredivisie and FOX Sports Africa, Eurosport, and the UFC on Spike TV. Weinstein earned his BA in urban affairs from Columbia College in 1996.

In Memoriam

1940-1949

Robert C. Alsop ’41

Joan Bentinck-Smith ’42 **

William J. Griffith III ’44

James E. McKittrick ’45

Charles J. Hubbard ’46

Virginia Robbins Gauss ’48

Ralph L.F. Robinson ‘48

George P. Baker, Jr. ’49

1950-1959

Johanna Wislocki McKenzie ’51

Charles C. Cunningham, Jr.* ’52

Roger Dane ’52

William R. Potts, Jr. ’54

Henry A. Stone ’54

Peter F. Cutler ’56

K. Drew Hartzell, Jr. ’56

Ella L. Clark ‘58

Hannah Ward Magoun ’58

1960-1969

Joel R. Cherington ’60

Lucinda Hopkins Lee ’61

Arthur L. Chute ’63

Peter R. Potter ’63

David R. Henderson ’69

1970-1979

Bradley H. Hale ’71

Gerald C. Conley ’72

1980-1989

Thomas E. Curran ’81

1990-1999

Alejandro Amezcua ’95

Faculty and Staff

Susan J. Barclay

Clark G. Duncan

Peter L. Fleming

Cathy Gately

ALUMNI, FACULTY, AND STAFF WHO PASSED JULY 1, 2024— DECEMBER 31, 2024. TO NOTIFY US OF A DEATH, PLEASE CONTACT THE DEVELOPMENT AND ALUMNI RELATIONS OFFICE AT ALUMNI@ MILTON.EDU OR 617-898-2447.

2010

ELIZABETH “LIZA” DINGLE married Nicholas Hesselgrave on September 14 in Marblehead, Massachusetts, with quite a few friends from Milton in attendance! CHRISTOPHER “CHRIS” SPERANDIO ‘09 officiated at the ceremony. Top (L-R) ADAM CONKLIN, Blair Friedensohn, GABRIELLE “GABI” (STARFIELD) KARNES ’09, BORA KIM ’09, PATRICK “PAT” MCNALLY ’11, LYDIA GREEN ’11, and MARILYN (PETROWSKI) LAVOIE Bottom (L-R) ANDREW DOWTON, MICHELLE SU ’09, BRIDGET (PETITTI)

TREMBLAY, EMILY BARTLETT ’09, ELIZABETH “LIZA” DINGLE, CLARE DINGLE ’13, NEELUM WADEKAR ’09, and CHRISTOPHER “CHRIS” SPERANDIO ’09

Milton Academy Board of Trustees 2024–2025

Claire D. Hughes Johnson ’90 P ’24 ’27

Peter Kagan ‘86

David Cappillo P ’20 ‘24 ‘26

Bradley M. Bloom P ’06 ’08

Lisa Donohue ’83

James M. Fitzgibbons ’52 P ’87 ’90 ’93

Franklin W. Hobbs IV ’65 P ’98

David B. Brewster ’90 P ‘25

Jason Dillow ‘97

Rana El-Kaliouby P ’21 ‘27

Shadi Farokhzad P ’23 ‘25

Yeng Felipe Butler ’92 P ’25 ’33

John B. Fitzgibbons ’87

Lamont Gordon ‘87

Sonu Kalra P ’23 ’26 ’28

President Milton MA

Treasurer New York NY

Secretary Wellesley MA

Emeritus Wellesley MA

Emerita New York NY

Emeritus Washington, DC

Emeritus New York NY

Cambridge MA

Greenwich CT

Milton MA

Chestnut Hill MA

Milton MA

Bronxville NY

Cranston RI

Milton MA

Molly King Wellesley MA

John D. McEvoy ’82 P ’19 ’20 ’25

Meika Neblett ‘90

Milton MA

Lincroft NJ

Osaremen Okolo ‘13 Cambridge MA

Thomas R. Reardon, Jr. ‘92 P ‘26 ‘28

Gene Reilly ’79 P ’10 ’12

Hendrick Sin P ‘23 ‘25 ‘27

Gabriel Sunshine P ’22 ’24

Patrick Tsang ’90 P ‘27 ‘27

Justin Walsh ‘99

Caleb J. Weinstein P ’26

Helen Zhu P ’25

Cohasset MA

Delray Beach FL

Hong Kong

Boston MA

Hong Kong

New York NY

London UK

Hong Kong

Cambridge, Massachusetts, with fellow 2011 Milton graduates in attendance. (L-R): JACLYN PORFILIO, CAROLINE OWENS, CHLOE MICHAELIDIS, KATHERINE WOODHOUSE, SARAH COSTELLO, CAITLIN DUTKIEWICZ, KATHERINE CLAIRE “K.C.” CAINE, JOVONNA JONES, and SARAH KECHEJIAN from the Chicago suburbs to Norwell, Massachusetts, so that the girls can grow up with their cousins. The whole family looks forward to visiting the Milton campus again soon!

2005

20TH REUNION, JUNE 13–14

EDITH “EDIE” STARK-MENNEG has launched Edie Stark Consulting after working 10+ years as a psychotherapist. Whether you’re a parent feeling lost in your child’s treatment plan, a clinician stuck on a tough case, a therapist ready to level up your business, or someone striving to portray eating disorders ethically in the media, Edie is here to help! Learn more about all the exciting offerings at www.ediestark.com.

2008

MARTE “MOLLY” KRAUSE and Henri Neuendorf welcomed a daughter, Philippa Corinne Krause Neuendorf (“Pippa” / “Pip”), in September.

2009

MELISSA MITTELMAN and her husband, Kyle Harrold, welcomed a baby boy, Jake, in November 2024. All is well!

WILLIAM YU was part of the writing staff for the Peacock limited series Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist, starring Kevin Hart, Samuel L. Jackson, and Don Cheadle, and the NBC medical drama Brilliant Minds, starring Zachary Quinto, both of which premiered last year. Next up, he is writing on The ‘Burbs, an upcoming Peacock

RACHELLE (ALFRED) INNOCENT is the founder and owner of Weft Fabric and Needlework shop. In addition to running the online shop, Rachelle teaches in-person workshops to new and experienced crafters. A clinical social worker by training, Rachelle has seen the impact of community and connection and uses Weft to bring people together through creativity and learning new things. Almost 14 years ago, Rachelle completed her senior project on sewing, crocheting, and knitting along with SOLANA ADRIENNE and JULIA BROWN!

2013

ADAM ROCHELLE is living what is colloquially referred to as “the dream” in L.A. with his cats Pants and Waffles, surrounded by synthesizers and the accompanying cable spaghetti. Leading up to his second annual 29th birthday this winter, he released two jazz albums in 2024, Endless Pants from his electro-funk project PRNDL, and LPC with his new fusion band, Low Poly Cactus, which includes forever-collaborator

2011

MARTE “MOLLY” KRAUSE ’08 AND HENRI NEUENDORF WITH DAUGHTER.

MUSICIAN ADAM ROCHELLE ’13 AND COLLABORATOR JOHNNIE GILMORE ‘14

my essay on which his only comment was to underline my thesis and ask “Why would anyone write about this?” His refusal to mince words in his critiques—though the humor softened the blow—made his praise indelible.

JOHN “JOHNNIE” GILMORE ’14.

2015

10TH REUNION, JUNE 13–14

CAROLINE WALL won the 2025 William James Prize at the Eastern APA for her paper “Emersonian Moral Perfectionism as a Method of Ethics.”

2016

KELLIE QUINN married her college sweetheart, Greg Krisberg, on August 17 with fellow Milton 2016 grads HANNAH WOLFBERG, CASSIDY “CASSIE” WARWICK, EMILY GRACE, ELEANOR “ELLY” VAUGHAN, and ANNA DIGRAVIO by her side as bridesmaids. Congratulations to the Krisbergs!

2020

5TH REUNION, JUNE 13–14

SUBMIT A CLASS NOTE!

Have news to share? Your classmates want to know! Share your accomplishments and life updates with Milton and your classmates at https://forms.gle/ 4NHrztmPtjPpGq6n6. Your submission may be shared on social media, in an email to alumni, and/or in the next edition of Milton Magazine

CORRECTIONS

In the Fall ’24 issue of Milton Magazine in “Milton Pays Tribute to Retirees,” Sarah Wehle was a member of the Classics Department, not the English Department, and in “An Introduction to Architecture,” architecture courses have been offered at Milton—both part- and full-year— for many years. As art department chair in the late 1970s, Gordon Chase taught the first year-long architecture course, and other architecture courses have been offered through the years.

From the student friend who bought me full-size toiletries while I was still getting blue card permissions set up (Matt Smith, you’re a prince) to the parents’ association that furnished my first snow-appropriate outerwear, the Milton community wasted no time in rallying around and carried me through the 2005–2006 school year, even as I wobbled trying to be a worthy recipient of so much generosity.

With apologies to Mr. Smith, this may be another essay struggling for a thesis 20 years later. But the main lesson I learned about first impressions at Milton was immediate generosity. The school quickly provided me and two other students who arrived after Katrina with safe and stable accommodations when we might otherwise have struggled to find them and gave the benefit of the doubt to a bedraggled, overwhelmed teenager. The other lesson was to check all assumptions and the weather when picking an outfit. p

JENNIFER DOHERTY ’08 SPENT THE NEXT THREE YEARS AT MILTON, RETURNING TO NEW ORLEANS AFTER GRADUATION TO ATTEND TULANE UNIVERSITY. TODAY, SHE LIVES IN THE NEW YORK AREA WITH HER FAMILY AND COVERS INTERNATIONAL TRADE POLICY AND LITIGATION NEWS FOR LAW360

Arriving at Milton After Katrina

FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD JENNIFER DOHERTY ’08 FOUND A WARM WELCOME AT MILTON AFTER HURRICANE KATRINA FORCED HER OUT OF HER FAMILIAR SURROUNDINGS.

I was sweatIng in my new pullover as I arrived at Robbins House. I landed at Milton in time for movein weekend with just the small bag I had packed two weeks earlier when my family evacuated New Orleans ahead of Hurricane Katrina, plus the new outfit my southern mama and I thought would be more appropriate for fall in New England. Getting out of the car, I felt my moccasins going soggy as I observed my future classmates sunbathing on the quad.

It was the first of endless bungles that marked my three years at Milton after arriving as cowed and materially unprepared, I would wager, as any new sophomore who has set foot on Centre Street before or since. Had I undergone the same thorough application process as my classmates, I am confident the Admission Office would have quickly weeded out my shaky, artless profile. Instead, the school threw open its doors to me sight unseen and rerouted the rest of my life.

We had charged our cell phones at a church in town, because my uncle’s house in Laurel, Mississippi, where my family had evacuated, was still without power a week after the storm, when I finally got a call through to my childhood friend Olivia. She was already a boarder at Milton. Her mother answered the phone and said simply: “They have a place for you at Milton.”

Days later I was on a flight out of Jackson, seated next to a Kevin Federline lookalike. His readiness to show off his rap talents to the rest of economy class impressed upon me that despite my new status as an internally displaced person, I had not previously known trauma.

“The Milton community wasted no time in rallying around and carried me through the 2005-2006 school year.”

So I arrived, perspiring and dressed as a southerner’s off-brand vision of autumn in Boston. I was assigned to Robbins, the best dormitory, and handed a class schedule stuffed with all-star teachers.

cured my habit of mumbling answers by calling me out on it during Parents Day.

Ms. Baker let me write poems about streets flooded with tears, which probably saved me thousands on therapy later on, while Mr. J.C. Smith—well, all I can say is that he taught me to think. He demanded acuity and graded with the incisiveness of RuPaul reading a Drag Race contestant to filth. I wish I had saved

Mr. Banderob helped me appreciate the beauty of math the same way I can enjoy the wonder of space travel, knowing full well that I am not meant to do it. Mr. Lou steered his class through the absurdity and inevitability of world history and CONTINUED ON P. 63

“I surprised myself that I created something amazing. I thought I would need help, but then I just started stomping, trying to make sounds with a beat and ended up putting together something really cool.”

SIDNEY LAMOUSNERY ’31, DANCER AND SIXTH-GRADER (SEE PAGE 36)