We Call Them Specials: Chances to Try, “Fail,” Learn
Each day, projects in music, woodworking, visual and performing arts, and physical education add context to what children are studying in mathematics, social studies, science and language arts. In the Lower School, both grown-ups and children refer to these courses as “specials,” and in these classrooms, creativity reigns. K–5 specials are strong curricular components, fully integrated with the academic curriculum. In these fun and challenging classrooms, students ignite and develop particular interests and talents. Specialists may be among the first adults to recognize children...
Read MoreWho made it happen? Reunion Classes Holding the Bowl
Every school depends on committed volunteers. At Milton, volunteers not only have a great time working with equally energetic people on a shared goal. They also make sure that faculty and students this year—as in past years—will thrive, learn and grow in that particular Milton environment. Last year, reunion classes broke records and won the Bowl. For 40 years, the Jackson Bowl, named for Henry B. Jackson ’23, celebrates a “select few” who have done the most to promote annual giving at Milton. The classes of 1978 and 1993 both reached unprecedented participation numbers. Overall...
Read MoreStudents Vow to “TextLess” in Merritt’s Honor
February 3 was the third “TextLess Live More” day on campus, when the majority of students shut off their cellphones for the day. Students wear blue bracelets to show their commitment to the campaign. Three students—Emmie Atwood ’14, Kaitlin Gately ’14 and Abby Lebovitz ’14—founded the TextLess Live More nonprofit to honor Merritt Levitan ’13, who was killed when struck by a car during a group cross-country bike trip last summer. “Often, we live not in the real world but in the virtual one, checking our Facebook pages, our email, our Twitter accounts,” says Emmie....
Read MoreHigh Energy Math Makes Tracks
The math department has taken the lead in a renewal process that every department at Milton will conduct, in sequence and at regular intervals. “Ongoing, rigorous, curriculum renewal” is a key tenet of the Strategic Plan adopted by the trustees in January 2013. Heather Sugrue, math department chair, and her colleagues have pioneered the first major example of the process the plan intends. The energy surge sparked by this process has resulted in many outcomes; Heather established a new speaker series—Pi Talks, pairing math discussion and dessert—and developed Milton’s first math...
Read MoreMessages: Chris Herren
This year’s Talbot Speaker, former basketball star Chris Herren, spoke with students about his very public 14-year struggle with drug and alcohol addiction. In his powerful talk, Mr. Herren urged students to think about the “whys” as well as the consequences of drug and alcohol use during their teenage years. Mr. Herren runs the Herren Project, a nonprofit that assists individuals and families struggling with addiction. One of the nonprofit’s initiatives, Project Purple, aims to create a sober culture within schools. “Studies show that 90 percent of addictions begin during the...
Read MoreMessages: Brendan Caine ’03
Brendan Caine ’03 served as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Marine Corps with deployments to Iraq in 2009 and Afghanistan in 2011. This year’s Veterans’ Day speaker, Brendan asserted that several military acronyms, such as PFC and GPS, relate powerfully to Milton students’ lives at School, opportunities here, and choices ahead. Before joining the Marines, Brendan attended the University of Southern California, where he earned degrees in biology, psychology and neuroscience. Since fulfilling his active-duty commitment, Brendan is pursuing concentrations in econometrics and...
Read MoreMessages: Kevin Young
Kevin Young’s lyrical poems draw on themes of birth, death, food, heritage, New England and the South. The award-winning poet, this fall’s Bingham Visiting Writer, read a selection of new and old work to students. He read poems from his collections about the death of his father, the birth of his son, and his student/teacher relationship with poet Seamus Heaney. Mr. Young earned his A.B. in English and American literature from Harvard University and an MFA in creative writing from Brown University. He is the Atticus Haygood Professor of Creative Writing and English at Emory University in...
Read MoreMessages: Chris Messinger
Where do stereotypes come from? Chris Messinger discussed some of the answers with students. Mr. Messinger is the executive director of Boston Mobilization, a youth-serving nonprofit that works with hundreds of teens each year. Mr. Messinger spent three years after college as a community organizer and then three years as a classroom teacher in Boston. He is the co-author of Speak Up!, an anthology of personal stories being used by independent and public schools around the country. “We all hold conscious and unconscious stereotypes. However, there are ways to break stereotypes. It is...
Read MoreMessages: Jim Cullen
This year’s Henry R. Heyburn ’39 Speaker, Jim Cullen told students their “inheritance” is today’s America of prosperity and political stability, true since the end of World War II. Mr. Cullen, chair of the history department at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York City, yet warned that this “overstretched empire is starting to contract.” Mr. Cullen earned his B.A. in English from Tufts University, and his A.M. and Ph.D. degrees in American civilization from Brown University. He is the author of many books, including The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea That...
Read More