Maria 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 Milton’s campus, Maria’s teaching career was well...
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 extends to all of us. At one time or another,...
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 is going to fade anytime soon. Consider what...
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, students greatly appreciated his clarity and willingness...
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 success. Always on the lookout for new materials,...
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 Intelligences: Understanding Personality for Effective...
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