Principled, Indefatigable and Charming, Jack Reardon ’56 Helps Harvard and Milton Make Headway
During the last half-century, both Milton Academy and Harvard University have counted on a single alumnus—Jack Reardon, Milton 1956 and Harvard 1960 ...
Read MoreThe Goal Is Having Fun At the 92nd Street Y
José Ortiz ’99, director of the teen center and 92nd Street Y after-school programs, says that his days really ramp up around 2:30 p.m. when children and teenagers from nearby schools start pouring in for after-school programs that run into the early evening. José directs the Y’s enrichment and community service–based programs throughout the school year. Three hundred school-age children and 1,500 teens participate in these programs. Every afternoon roughly 40 interns and community- service volunteers join the children to help out. “It’s busy,” José says. “I need to be...
Read MoreDogged Pursuit, Tactical Focus, and Taking the Long View
In early April of this year, I interviewed Brina Milikowsky ’96 about her work with Michael Bloomberg’s gun-control coalition, Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Shortly thereafter, the Senate rejected a bipartisan bill—supported by a strong majority of the American public—to expand background checks for gun buyers. Flanked by victims of the Newtown school shooting, an unusually angry Barack Obama described the defeat as “a pretty shameful day for Washington.” If our government couldn’t enact limited but lifesaving legislation that most of the populace thought was reasonable, how...
Read MoreCommon Sense and Core Values Drive Edgy Business Decisions
When Nai Ko ’00 joined his family’s company, he had already decided that conventional retail car sales was not going to work for him. With a degree in industrial engineering from Columbia, Nai was convinced that the business prototype could change. Fully committed to the family business his father had started in 1989, Ko Automotive Group, Nai broke new ground. He re-imagined the sales process and ultimately earned top customer ratings among Toyota dealerships in the nation. In addition, Wellesley Toyota’s new building proclaims the company’s commitment to sustainable practices. It is...
Read MoreWendy Millet ’86 believes that understanding connections–land, animals and people–is transformative
“Horse” was the first word that Wendy Millet ’86 ever spoke, according to family legend. This beginning could not have been more fitting. Wendy says “horse” a lot these days. A Northern California resident by way of Boston, upstate New York ...
Read MoreLiving in the Active Voice: Things Don’t Just Happen. People Do Things.
Adults at Milton—administrators, faculty and staff—are the architects of students’ experience. They work hard to provide a context that encourages a teenager to take ownership of his or her life: in the classroom, as a teammate, in a production, as a roommate. Taking responsibility for yourself is a prerequisite to sharing responsibility for others. These steps are developmental building blocks for leadership. Whether formally through elected office, or informally through attribution, leaders commit themselves to affecting the lives of those around them. “We want responsibility to...
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