Parents’ Post A Newsletter for Parents and Friends of The Thacher School
Late Winter 2001
Dear Parents, Grandparents, and Friends:
Standing behind Bo Eison: Jessie Liu, Emery Mitchem, Alex Lurie, Carina Fisher, Wendi Parker-Dial, Grace Bueti, Stephanie Hubbard, Yasmine Arastu, Justin Torres, and Monique Gaskins.
TO HONOR…
…Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in January, several students joined Wendi Parker-Dial … to present to the assembled crowd in the Centennial Amphitheatre aspects of Dr. King’s life and to read excerpts from some of his sermons, letters, and speeches. Bo Eison concluded the Assembly moment with this: Today we have come together to celebrate and express our appreciation for a man who unselfishly devoted his life not only to the struggle for civil rights, but, more importantly, to [the principles] of love and equity. Instead of hating those who so ruthlessly discriminated against him, he approached them with love and led a life of example, encouraging others to do the same. This remarkable man challenged a nation, our nation, to elevate its character and moral standards, urging it to look inward, observe its morals and conduct, and to make the changes necessary to rid itself of racial stereotypes and discrimination. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was not a black supremacist; rather, he was a man who strove for a nation in which all races could live in harmony. As we—as a nation and as individuals— continue to strive for excellence in our ethics and morals, I ask today that we look past stereotypes and petty differences to accept one another for “the content of [our] character.”
To qualities of honor, fairness, kindness and truth, about which we sing in “The Banquet Song” and which we hold as important, I would add reliability and perseverance, for they put the four others into action, and having real character requires such action. David B. Johnston, Chair of the History Department, in his TOAD talk earlier this year
QUARTET News from the College Board arrived this month, naming four seniors—Mary Ann Bronson, Emmett Hopkins, Brian Kelly, and Kevin Schmidt—as finalists in the National Merit Scholarship Competition. These four have met all requirements, including submitting their GPA and course roster, teacher recommendations, and essays, and will now await news of the actual scholarships. “This is a terrific—and well-earned—distinction for these four students,” says Maria Morales-Kent, Director of College Counseling.
At my desk, not too far from the heart of the campus, I hear a winter Sunday afternoon’s unique counterpoint: the throbbing music to which unseen Dance Ensemble members step and spin, twirl and fly, music punctuated by cracking shots of guns from the trap range and sporadic roars from the gym where a pick-up game thunders back and forth on the hardwood. And under it all, the unheard but present basso continuo of mind-music: reading, writing, thinking. Because, after all, tomorrow’s Monday.
RUNNING WITH A REASON many Thacher students and faculty ran in Ojai’s SSoannual American Heart Association Heart and Sole Run that Thacher walked (well, jogged) off with the School Participation Award. Alice Meyer, with lots of help from Phoebe Barkan (down with the flu or she, too, would have run), rounded up the troops and got ’em moving. In the end, Stephanie Hubbard took second in her age and gender division in the 5K, while in the 10K, Will Barkan, Will Johnson, and Lee Shurtleff took first, second, and third respectively in the men’s 14-18 division, and Erica Reynolds and Carina Fisher snagged second and third in the women’s 14-18 division. Emily Etchells (Spanish, Horse Department) won third in her division of the 10K. Other runners: Julie Manson (Casa Advisor, Admissions), Tara Desjardins, Cara Bonewitz, and Elizabeth Bowman (Director of the Library).