Messages: Tyler Hicks
New York Times award-winning war photographer Tyler Hicks discussed his work with students and explained why he thinks journalism coverage of conflict and war is important. Mr. Hicks was on campus for three days as the Melissa Dilworth Gold Visiting Artist. In visual art and photography classes, Mr. Hicks showed images from Afghanistan and Iraq, and talked about becoming a photojournalist after graduating from Boston University’s School of Communication in 1992. After various staff photographer jobs, Mr. Hicks traveled to Kosovo on his own...
read moreRetiring Trustees
Brad Bloom, president of the board, expressed on the board’s behalf profound gratitude to four trustees whose service on the board concluded in May of this year. Caroline Hyman P’00 was elected to the board in 2009. Caroline clearly understood and appreciated Milton, and she helped Milton in many ways during four important years of our School’s history. Caroline and her husband, Ed, directly and powerfully affected Milton students’ experience through their philanthropy. Caroline’s generosity took many forms: She unfailingly hosted...
read moreThe Outdoor Program
Some inspired students spend Wednesday afternoons rappelling down the sides of the Quincy quarries, paddling kayaks in the Neponset River, or hiking on local trails. On weekends, any and all students can choose to sea kayak, whitewater raft, backcountry ski, snowshoe, and ice climb on instructor-guided day and overnight trips. They travel to the coasts, rivers and mountains of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. All skill levels are welcome—from novices to experts. “Some students may be intimidated by an activity like whitewater...
read moreSenior Projects
As an idea, Senior Projects seems to have emerged from the fog of the late ’60s and early ’70s. Having made their way proposal writing, finding faculty sponsors, and earning a thumbs-up from overseers, students are free to immerse themselves in something totally different for their final five weeks at Milton. They expand an area of interest, like composing music; or take on a challenge, like building a boat; or try something completely new, like creating a movie. During two days just before graduation, students present their...
read moreFrighted by False Fire: A 14-Minute Talk on Money for Class I, May 7, 2013
Why don’t we talk more about money? We complain about it often enough, but as conversation, nothing summons up boredom, embarrassment and helplessness like money. To be clear, this is not an anti-wealth talk. I’m asking us to think more about money and ourselves without casting judgment on wealth itself. As seniors, you are beginning a lifelong relationship with the most mundane internal monologue of adulthood. Like the animated house in D.H. Lawrence’s “The Rocking-Horse Winner,” we tell ourselves: “There must be more...
read moreMilton’s Culture Is Rooted in the Faculty
One thing I love about Milton, a characteristic that drew me here and connects me deeply, is the sense of accountability that alumni, students, faculty and staff feel for their own lives, and the life of the School. Daring to be true seems to be a standard we require of ourselves. How has this come to be? How does Milton nurture a culture centered on this value? I believe that for generations our faculty have modeled and fostered this value, and I am proud to preserve their legacy. Role models in my life were the people who cultivated in me a...
read moreWalter McCloskey, Member of the Faculty, 1971–2013
Walter arrived at Milton in September 1971, fresh from graduate school at Harvard. He was 33. A long way from his native New Orleans, Walter remembers walking into Forbes House with his wife Josephine during his job interview. Teachers were taking postprandial naps with newspapers over their faces. The room had the feel of, in his words, “a broken-down men’s club.” Suddenly New Orleans did not seem that far away. He thought it all “just felt right.” Since that fateful September, Walter has seen six heads of school, taught more...
read moreKeith Hilles-Pilant, Member of the Faculty, 1986–2013
Keith Hilles-Pilant touched the lives of so many here, including budding mathematicians eager for more encouragement, and those just beginning their algebraic studies—in Warren, or in a math trailer, or at the top of Ware Hall. Many know about his love of math; he was an educator who prodded the department toward developing long-lasting relationships with other educators throughout academia, in Boston and beyond. Still others think of Keith and envision him with violin in hand. He happily hosted musical gatherings before Tuesday-night...
read moreScott Ford, Member of the Faculty, 1981–2013
The Lower School and then K–8 counted on Scott. By the time we arrived at school each day, he had unlocked each classroom so we could bypass the fumbling for keys, and made coffee so that we could infuse our bodies with morning energy for greeting the already-energetic students. He’d read his emails and could announce to all faculty the order of the day ahead: who was absent, how the schedule had changed, which dignitaries were visiting, what was forecast for weather and how many days were left in the school year. He treated us like...
read moreIn Sight, Fall 2013
Corey Schwaitzberg, Class I, Alé Gianino ’13 and Harry Wood ’13 belt out the tunes in the spring musical production of City of Angels
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