Service yields more than the predictable rewards
At Milton, community service is a choice, not a requirement. Students say this makes the commitment more meaningful. Every week more than 250 students use their free periods to volunteer in over 30 different organizations in the Greater Boston area. Students travel in small groups to tutor in local schools and centers, visit elderly in assisted living homes, and work with disabled children and adults. Some students return to the same placement year after year. We spoke to six of these students about their experiences—the challenges, the...
read moreNew Evalutation Dynamics Get Results: K–8 Early Adopters React
Public debate about how to evaluate teachers still fuels talk shows, opinion blogs and cocktail parties. Perhaps the nationwide discussion is passionate because a teacher’s competence and skill affect student outcomes more powerfully than any other factor. Milton’s Strategic Plan prioritizes student experience, and that leads directly to building a top-notch community of educators. We depend upon teachers who are in touch with each other and the world, their disciplines, and up-to-date, effective practices. The Strategic Plan builds on...
read moreBoys’ Basketball Team Ended 2012–13 as League Champions
Milton fans burst into exuberant celebration as the boys’ varsity basketball team earned the Independent School League Championship title in a 54–53 win over Noble and Greenough. At the final buzzer, students rushed the court as players celebrated their victory, the first league championship in the team’s history. Both teams had strong records going into the game on Friday night, and Nobles led in scoring for most of the game. In the final 15 seconds, Milton had possession of the ball and was down by one point when Coach Lamar Reddicks...
read moreNational Recognition for Student-Writer Victoria White
The wall on Victoria White’s (I) side of her room in Hathaway House is covered in not-your-average-teenage-girl décor. “I have a big bulletin board where I collect poems that I like,” says Victoria. “I think I might drive my roommates crazy, because they have all these cool posters and I have a big wall of text!” Always a strong writer at Milton, Victoria is being recognized nationally through numerous awards and accolades this year. She was one of 150 high school students chosen as a YoungArts National Finalist, where students are...
read moreIndu Chugani: A New Dean, Set to Realize a Strategic Goal
Indu Chugani, Milton’s dean of teaching and learning, has been busy on campus since July 1, and was happy to meet faculty and students when everyone returned to campus. Indu’s role is new to Milton. The heart of her job, Indu says, is “working with faculty on identifying teaching practices that will allow every Milton student to realize his or her full potential.” The position description says that the dean of teaching and learning “oversees the professional growth of the faculty.” Indu describes that as “constantly reviewing and...
read moreMilton Joins in Leading the Trend Toward Educational Partnerships
“This is good news. This is good news for everyone, for all children,” Todd Bland said at the launch this year of the National Network of Schools in Partnership (NNSP) at the National Association of Independent Schools annual conference in February. NNSP promotes and supports educational partnerships to develop, test and share cross-school innovations that affect the educational experience of children in all settings. More than 250 independent school educational leaders attended, and heard Maureen Dowling, director of the Office of...
read moreBeloved “Coach Mac” Inducted into Massachusetts Coaches Hall of Fame
Milton Academy’s head football coach for the past 17 years, Kevin MacDonald—or “Coach Mac”—says his work with his players off the field brings him the most joy. “I love being involved with the players’ college process,” says Kevin. “Nothing makes me happier than the number of students we send on to play college football.” During his tenure—with a record of 87–43–3—roughly 100 Milton players have gone on to play college football, 19 at the Division I level. Nick Bland ’13, a team captain in 2012, is playing for...
read moreMilton Scientists Share Their Culminating Work
Advanced science students were also advanced communicators at Milton’s Third Annual Science Symposium in the Pritzker Science Center. For students enrolled in advanced biology, chemistry, physics and environmental science, discussing independent projects that they’ve pursued over the last several weeks of the second semester is their culminating work. Milton science faculty invited Caleb Warren ’13 and Lydia Emerson ’13 to be the symposium’s keynote speakers. Caleb and Lydia framed the event by sharing their experiences of doing...
read moreCommencement Speaker 2013
Jenny Slate, Milton Class of 2000, was a student speaker at her own graduation, on this stage 13 years ago. On the eve of that graduation, Jim Connolly, Jenny Slate’s advisor during her years in the Upper School, made a grand pronouncement, he wrote, “Your youth is but a prelude to the greatness that awaits you.” In fact, Mr. Connolly had a great sense of where her talent might land her. “In my nightmares,” he wrote, “I see you doing a ‘Saturday Night Live’ impression of [me] and I cringe.” An actress and comedienne, Jenny...
read more2013 Awards and Prizes
Cum Laude Class I Nicole Akosua Acheampong Nelson Landers Barrette* Amanda Ruth Beaudoin Kate Hendrik Bodner Mary Frances Brown Emma City Julia Anne Cowen Anne Anlan Deng Clare Severinghaus Dingle Allison Rose Edwards Jonathan Cole Esty Kirby Carylon Feagan Evan Harris Garnick Alexandra Faith Golden Ellyn Jane Golden Lucie Madeleine Hajian Abigail Sterling Higgins Yuta Inumaru Daniel Keeha Kim Catherine Alexandra Kulke Jessica Li Erica Christine Mathews Nicholas Edward Pagliuca Sara Yang Yue Pearce-Probst Daniel Nicholas Rubenstein Lillie...
read moreMessages: Erick Tseng ’97
Erick Tseng ’97 is head of mobile products at Facebook and is a Milton Academy trustee. Mr. Tseng took the Asian stereotype head-on as he described the defining moments in his career and personal life to students. Mr. Tseng attended M.I.T., where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science and electrical engineering. He earned an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he graduated with top honors as an Arjay Miller Scholar. Before joining Google, Mr. Tseng was an associate at McKinsey &...
read moreMessages: 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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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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