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The ReMarker • May 21, 2021
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Cum Laude
Looking into the routines and memories of seniors inducted into the prestigious society. Page 13
In brief ALUMNI AWARD Victor Vescovo ‘84 was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award by the Award Committee in honor of his accomplishment of climbing to the highest altitude on every continent and his work mapping the bottom of all five ocean basins. While the recipient of the award was decided in 2019 and was due to be awarded in April 2020, the ceremony was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ANNUAL AUCTION Celebrate St. Mark’s, an annual auction, took place April 23. According to Jennifer Applbaum, co-chair of the auction, over $230,000 was raised, which will be divided between the Frank Jordan Wilderness Fund, the St. Mark’s Fund and Great Hall renovations. The theme for the silent auction was “The Great Outdoors” in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the wilderness program. Celebrate St. Mark’s was live streamed from inside the Great Hall due to COVID-19 restrictions. Additionally, “party-at-home” packages with a variety of food and snacks were delivered to ticket holders to enjoy while they watched the livestream. QUIZ BOWL Two Marksmen placed at the Individual Player National Championship Tournament (IPNCAT) April 11. Senior Ned Tagtmeier earned third place and freshman Aditya Shivaswamy earned seventh place. Tagtmeier competed in eight rounds, and afterwards received recognition for the best performance in the following categories: literature, social science, popular culture and sports. Tagtmeier and the academic team are preparing for their upcoming team-based national tournaments. Tagtmeier plans to continue Quiz Bowl at the University of Chicago. ALUMNI SERVICE MEDAL David Sammons ‘76 was awarded the Alumni Service Medal for his contributions to the school, including chapel talks. The Alumni Service medal is given in recognition of alumni who go above and beyond when they serve the school and is voted on annually by the Alumni Awards Committee. CHAPEL COUNCIL Juniors Abhi Jain and Benjamin Gravel are the co-chairs of next year ’s Chapel Council. Their roles, along with other students on the council, is to be involved with the spiritual health of the community and to assist and advise Rev. Stephen Arbogast in leading chapel services. The council is optimistic that there will be in-person chapel services next year.
Pecos
For five decades With its 50th anniversary on the horizon, the annual Pecos Wilderness trips continues its march of excellence.
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the same as a kid that would have gone in my first year in 1986.”
This summer will be the 50th anniversary of the trip. According to Eugene McDermott Headmaster David Dini, the experience sets boys on the path to manhood and teaches them to be outdoorsmen, to rely on their peers and to develop their leadership skills. He also sees it as an important transition to high school. “The Pecos is a rite of passage for incoming freshmen and a graduation requirement,” Dini said. “It’s part of the experience that every boy goes through.” 50 years ago, when a group of Marksmen embarked on a hiking expedition through Big Bend National Park, they initiated the tradition of going on wilderness trips—a significant part of the school’s culture. The wilderness program was established under Headmaster John T. Whatley, who moved the location to the Pecos Wilderness in New Mexico and made it mandatory for all ninth graders. Now, Dini can hardly imagine an authentic school experience without the Pecos. “The Pecos in so many ways is a part of the St. Mark’s journey,” Dini said. “It’s tied to the fundamental values and ideals that we set forth in the mission of this school. It develops a sense of connectedness with your classmates and the people around you. You also learn interdependence, teamwork and shared responsibility.” From moving the location to the Pecos wilderness to a plethora of small additions to the camping experience, the trip has undergone many changes. Mark Sullivan, former wilderness program director and director of physical and experiential education, has led the program through many of these. “Occasionally, [we] get technology upgrades,” Sullivan said. “Backpacks are lighter than they were in the 80’s. Our menu is different than it was in the 80’s. We’ve just streamlined a bunch of different things.” Many alumni recall their own Pecos Wilderness trips, and, despite the slight differences between the years, it has remained something all alumni have in common. “The core of the trip is almost identical,” Sullivan said. “I would say the experience that you had on your Pecos trip is fundamentally
Wilderness Program Director Cameron Hillier ‘13 will take the reins from Sullivan this summer in planning and organizing trips. Sullivan feels confident in Hillier’s wilderness experience. “I think it’s going to be a nice shot in the arm for the program to have younger leadership, and I’m looking forward to being able to help him and support him in any way that I can,” Sullivan said. “I’m also looking forward to the program taking on the life of a younger, more vibrant personality, and I think we’ve hired the right guy for that. Sullivan is confident in Hillier’s capability in leading the program because he actually went on the Pecos as a student here. “Typically, we’ve given up the Wilderness Program to a new hire that has some experience, but they’re new to the school,” Sullivan said. “Whereas Mr. Hillier is an alum and actually went on the Pecos.” The trip had a big impact on Hillier, sparking his love for nature and hiking. He enjoyed it so much that he went on the trip many more times after his freshman year. “For me it was a phenomenal experience,” Cameron Hillier Hillier said. “As a student, Wilderness it really cemented in my Program mind the importance Director of taking care of the outdoors and the environment as well as just really striking a passion for being outside. I went back on the Pecos seven more times after that.” Because of the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, Dini and Hillier needed to finalize plans for the summer. Only the current freshman will go on the trip this summer. They will be on campus Aug. 2 for orientation, and their trip is scheduled to span from Aug. 3 to Aug. 11. After careful consideration, Dini and Hillier decided to organize two trips during the summer of 2022. “We started thinking early in the school year about how we resume the Pecos experience this summer,” Dini said. “We didn’t know how the COVID situation would unfold. Because the class of 2024 missed the trip last summer, we were thinking about how we would get back on schedule. We knew that we would have to have a double trip at some point, and it became apparent to us for a variety of reasons that we only wanted to do one trip this summer, and two next summer.” With all of these trips on the horizon, Hillier’s first priority is making sure that the
weat drips down a student’s face. He has been hiking for hours with a 50 pound load on his back. As exhaustion starts to kick in, making it to the next campsite is his only goal. He puts his head down and continues, step by step. Then, as the group stops to take a break, he looks up, seeing miles of trees, a waterfall and his friend chugging iodized water. Forgetting all about the struggles that he was going through, he marvels at the beauty of nature. He realizes that he is somewhere special. Somewhere historic. Somewhere Marksmen have gone for 50 years.
AT THE TOP Members of the Class of 2021 summit the peak of the mountain in August 2017.
IN THE WILD Former Marksmen check their map on the trail during the school’s yearly trip to Pecos, NM.
trip is as safe as possible for the students. He plans on partnering with the medical advisory board to ensure the safety of all Marksmen that go on the trip. At the same time, he wants to keep the core of the trip intact. “It’s important that we keep so much of the trip By the the same,” Hillier said. numbers “For 50 years, Marksmen have done this trip. It’s more than... something that we all have in common, which is really special. We continue students gone to make the trip safer and on Pecos safer by partnering with paramedics.” Hillier has noticed sherpas served many students’ on Pecos enthusiasm about the Pecos, and the school is considering offering more optional wilderness freshman opportunities in the future wilderness for upperclassmen. trips taken “We are hoping to expand the wilderness program to offer guys opportunities past the Pecos,” Hillier said. “If that really sparks interest, maybe we will offer trips for upperclassmen.” For Hillier, the experience is much more than a graduation requirement. To him, the brotherhood and camaraderie built throughout the trip represents a transition into manhood. “It’s a challenging trip,” Hillier said. “It’s not just a shared experience, it’s a shared hardship that we overcome together. And the way we overcome it is by leaning on one another for help. We build on each other’s strengths to get through the trip, which is exactly what high school is all about.”
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STORY Shreyan Daulat, Nikhil Dattatreya PHOTOS Courtesy Dave Carden
The timeline 1971 School’s first wilderness trip at Big Bend National Park. The Lutkin family oversaw the early wilderness trips.
2022 Class of 2025 and 2026 will go on a double Pecos trip next summer.
1972 Headmaster John T. Whatley moved the trip’s location to Pecos, NM. A few years later, the trip’s location changed again to Colorado.
2021 Class of 2024 will go on their Pecos trip in August. Cameron Hillier is the new program director.
1993
1985
1988
Athletic trainer Doc Browning was hired to lead the program. He oversaw the move of the trip back to New Mexic from Colorado.
Former band director David Pittman was named director of the program.
2009
2000
1998
Associate Headmaster John Ashton, Arnold E. Holtberg Master Teaching Chair Scott Hunt, science instructor John Mead and former science instructor Michael Heald were apponted as the co-directors of the Wilderness Program.
The school began bringing medics and radios on the trip.
Nick Sberna became the new director of the program.
Mark Sullivan, director of physical and experiential education, took over the program.
