Frighted 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...
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 faculty meetings, sharing feasts with friends as they...
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 family. His humor was noteworthy, with puns close at...
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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