Reaching New Heights, Mustangs Are League Champions
Reaching New Heights, Mustangs Are League Champions Boys’ Track Team Breaks School Records The boys’ track and field athletes made their mark in Milton’s history books by winning the team’s first Independent School League Championship in 24 years. The Mustangs scored 100 total team points in the ISL meet, defeating tough competition — including last year’s champion, Thayer. During the course of the day, 11 Milton athletes accomplished at least one personal record. The team’s victory was decided in the final event, in which...
read moreBoard of Trustees News
Milton Thanks Brad : A Decade of Record Bradley M. Bloom Member of the Board of Trustees, 2004–2015 President, 2009–2015 For 11 years, Brad Bloom has devoted himself to advancing Milton’s tradition, mission and capacity to lead. Not ones to stand by, Brad and his wife Terri took on early roles as parent leaders in Milton’s fundraising, when their daughter Elizabeth ’08 entered Grade 4 and their son Ross ’06 joined Milton in seventh grade, the following year. Elected to the board in 2004, Brad exposed more of his talents, and we...
read moreReflections on a Master Teacher
William M. Moore Faculty member from 1978–2008 Bill Moore died on September 11, 2014. Many friends and family, alumni, faculty and staff gathered in King Theatre on October 11, 2014, to share reflections about Bill and celebrate his life. Speakers recounted stories about Bill’s warmth and humor, his care, his boundless intellect and charming, engaging style. Memories of Bill are vivid and enduring. Because it so aptly captures Bill as he was known by many Miltonians, Milton Magazine reprints here the tribute that David Smith, former...
read moreDavid Smith, English Department
David Smith, English Department Member of the Faculty, 1981–2015 “Teaching is play, and anyone, at whatever level, who forgets this axiom will probably have a grim time of it,” writes David Smith, in his new book, Be a Teacher: A Memoir in Ten Ideas. After all, he reminds us, “[We are] but sharing a few precious hours with grumpy, cheerful, feisty, querulous, randy, reflective, impulsive, generous, and spirited teenagers, who deserve a full initiation into the human comedy before they go to college, let alone law school.” As far as I...
read moreMaria Gerrity, English Department
Maria Gerrity, English Department Member of the Faculty, 1998–2015 Young teachers hope to launch a career with curiosity and authenticity; mid-career teachers yearn to balance work and family; and veterans earn gravitas. We are here to celebrate Maria Gerrity, who has played every melodious note on just such an ascending scale of a school career. Her 20-year arc at Milton has been backlit by her natural, easy way with her students and colleagues, an ease that has always invited us to learn and laugh genuinely. Before she set foot on...
read moreVirginia Needham, Admission Office Staff, 1990–2015
Virginia Needham, Admission Office Staff, 1990–2015 Capturing all that Virginia has meant to Milton during her 25 years here is challenging. Virginia has been a welcoming, kind, supportive presence in the admission office. The admission office is often a family’s first point of contact with Milton Academy. Understandably, families may be anxious, but Virginia’s calming influence quickly puts them at ease. She brings grace and care to each interaction and signals to families that they are in good hands. Virginia’s thoughtful approach...
read moreBarbara Kennard, Middle School English
Barbara Kennard, Middle School English Member of the Faculty, 2008–2015 In The Tempest, one of Barbara’s five-star productions with the sixth grade, Prospero says, “Our revels now are ended. These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits and are melted into air, into thin air: And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, the cloud-capp’d towers, the gorgeous palaces, the solemn temples, the great globe itself, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve.” I disagree with Shakespeare. None of Barbara’s work at Milton Academy...
read moreJuan Ramos, Mathematics Department
Juan Ramos, Mathematics Department Member of the Faculty, 1998–2015 Imagining Milton Academy, Wolcott House and the math department without Juan Ramos is difficult. Always flexible and happy to teach what the department needed, Juan taught courses across the math curriculum. Students found his straightforward approach reassuring and his explanations clear, even when they were trying to master the most difficult ideas. More recently, Juan centered his work in the Skills Center, helping budding mathematicians at every level. There too,...
read moreMary Jo Ramos, Modern Language Department
Mary Jo Ramos, Modern Language Department Member of the Faculty, 1998–2015 Mary Jo Ramos, in the eyes and hearts of teachers, students, parents and alumni, is a most caring and generous colleague. She feeds us, supports us, challenges us, inspires us and champions us. Whether she has responded to cover a class in Ware Hall, or coached the Middle School Speech Team to nationals in a Midwestern city, or traveled to Spain with students on a new adventure, Mary Jo understands and tends to the needs and the hopes of all, building toward their...
read moreJanet Levine, English Department
Janet Levine, English Department Member of the Faculty, 1986–2014 Last year the English department saw the departure of Janet Levine, one of its most veteran members, whose worldly intellect enriched generations of students and colleagues. A writer and political activist fleeing South Africa’s apartheid government, Janet moved to Milton in 1984 when her sons, Roger and Tony, enrolled in the Middle School, and Janet turned to her burgeoning writing career that produced such diverse titles as Inside Apartheid (1988), The Enneagram...
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