Messages: Francine Prose
Award-winning author Francine Prose read pages from an unfinished novel to students. The story grew from a photo titled Lesbian Couple at Le Monocle (1932) by Hungarian photographer George Brassaï, which Ms. Prose saw at a museum exhibit. Brassaï chronicled underground Paris nightlife during the 1930s. In this particular photo, one of the subjects was a former French athlete who was banned from competition due to her sexual orientation. Upon an invitation from Adolf Hitler, this woman attended the Berlin Olympics as his guest; she went on to become a spy for the Germans during World War II...
Read MoreMessages: 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 for two weeks, where he was deeply moved by what he...
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 warm and lovely events to help Milton connect and...
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 kayaking,” says Spencer Gray ’13. “But even if...
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 projects—performances, slide shows, installations, lectures...
Read More5 Albums
Music moves us–it excites, inspires and soothes us. Music opens doors to new ways of thinking and feeling. At first pass, some music just sounds like noise, but our tastes can expand. Ultimately, we gravitate toward genres of music that speak to us. These five albums are list leaders in each of the genres that I rely upon, for listening and singing, for enjoyment and sustenance. By Mike Kassatly, Math Department Thriller Few people miss out on popular music; it’s aptly named. It’s accessible—catchy melodies and steady, rhythmic beats—and it provides useful distraction. Michael...
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 money…there must be more money.” But how do we wrap our...
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 sense of responsibility for myself and for others....
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 than 20,000 classes, and watched the English...
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