Matt Bingham Extends His Science Classroom by 2,000 Miles
Practicing what he preaches and teaches, science faculty member Matt Bingham spent two weeks in Greenland this spring with a group of fellow researchers, studying how ocean conditions on the west side of Greenland affect the vast ice sheet covering roughly 80 percent of the country. Milton students supported the trip stateside, writing content for a blog documenting the trip and conducting experiments on samples brought back from Greenland. “The Arctic is warming much faster than the rest of the planet, and this ice sheet is showing evidence...
read moreArt and Science, Teacher and Student, a Collaboration at the Museum of Science
Artist Anne Neely’s large canvases, filled with rich hues of blues, greens and browns, hang in an exhibit hall in Boston’s Museum of Science. The paintings in Water Stories: Conversations in Paint and Sound reflect Anne’s interpretation of water cleanliness and water access issues plaguing the United States. This merging of art and science developed from a collaboration between teacher and former student. Anne was new to the visual arts faculty in 1974, and David Rabkin ’79 was one of her students, whom Anne describes as “inquisitive...
read moreJoining Trustees
Ted Wendell ’58 Edward “Ted” Wendell Jr. ’58 was elected to the board during the summer of 2013. Ted is a founding partner and principal of Northern Cross, LLC. During the 1960s, Ted served as a math teacher, head of admissions, and dean of students at Marlboro College, in Marlboro, Vermont. He graduated from Harvard College and earned a master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Washington. Ted served as a Milton trustee from 1974 to 1986 and has been active on reunion committees. Ted and his wife, Mary, have been...
read moreRetiring Trustees
Kitty Gordan Milton Academy Board of Trustees, 2006–2014 During her eight years on Milton’s board, Kitty brought the wisdom of her deep school experience to serve — generously and graciously — the head of school, all of us as trustees, and the adults and children at Milton today, and through the importance of her work, for years to come. Kitty is reliably open and consistently positive. Her appreciation for how myriad pieces contribute to a whole bigger than the sum of the parts is always evident in her comments. No aspect of...
read moreMessages: Jennifer Pozner
Journalist and media critic Jennifer Pozner spoke to students this winter about how women and girls are treated in the media and the effect this coverage has on female leadership. Ms. Pozner was the 2014 Margaret A. Johnson Speaker, a series that brings noted female leaders to campus each year. Ms. Pozner is executive director of Women In Media & News (WIMN), a media analysis, education and advocacy group. She is also managing editor of WIMN’s Voices, the popular group blog on women and the media. Her work has appeared in Newsday and the...
read moreMickey Steimle, English Department
Mickey Steimle, English Department Member of the Faculty, 1982–2014 Arriving in 1982, a daughter of teachers, a mother of two girls under eight, and already an experienced teacher herself, Mickey Steimle had two connections to the School: her sister Sheila in the English department, and her beloved husband, Chip, a graduate from 1965 with strong ties to Milton. Her first weeks were a tad overwhelming: teaching Middle School boys grammar in the then language skills department. Mickey entered the room each day to find a new boy hiding behind...
read moreMissy Manzer, Director of Cox Library
Missy Manzer, Director of Cox Library Member of the Faculty, 1998–2014 As a librarian, Missy is an ace researcher. A horticulturist at home, Missy enjoys weeding in the library, and (unlike some softies) is able to discard books without weeping over each one. Perhaps that is because she is a master of collection development, and she can always find the ideal choices to broaden or rejuvenate our holdings. As director of Cox Library, one of Missy’s cardinal accomplishments has been to oversee the incorporation of digital resources. During...
read moreMessages: Naomi Shihab Nye
Award-winning poet Naomi Shihab Nye read a selection of poems and spoke about the writing process to students as last spring’s Bingham Visiting Writer. Ms. Nye’s books of poetry include 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East, a finalist for the National Book Award; A Maze Me: Poems for Girls; and You & Yours, a bestselling poetry book of 2006. She has written several prize-winning poetry anthologies for young readers, as well. Ms. Nye has held several fellowships, including Guggenheim, Lannan, and Witter Bynner. She has...
read moreGordon Chase, Visual Arts Department
Gordon Chase, Visual Arts Department Member of the Faculty, 1978–2013 In 1978, Gordon Chase brought to Milton his energy and passion for students making art. Milton’s walls have highlighted student self-expressions for more than three decades — witness to Gordon’s idea that art is about “identity” — where students have tested their assumptions and declared their beliefs. With long hair and cowboy boots, supported in his creative quest by Head of School Jerry Pieh, Gordon’s energy for new ideas was colorful and...
read moreGordon Sewall, Assistant Head for Development and Alumni Relations, 1996–2014
Gordon Sewall, Assistant Head for Development and Alumni Relations, 1996–2014 For 18 years, Gordon has been an institutional leader who helped Milton come alive for donors. He has been a teammate who put his shoulder to the common wheel, a problem solver, a can-do person. With donors, Gordon was as passionate as he was honest about Milton. That’s a perfect combination if your job is to build authentic relationships and keep them lively. Perhaps that is why he was such a successful fund raiser. He led Milton’s first comprehensive capital...
read moreMessages: Dr. Eric Jay Dolin
Dr. Eric Jay Dolin is an environmental scientist, a researcher and a writer. Dr. Dolin, presenter of the 2014 Hong Kong Lecture, told students the story of how America’s trade relationship with China began. His most recent book, When America First Met China: An Exotic History of Tea, Drugs, and Money in the Age of Sail, chronicles the period following the American Revolution through the mid-19th century with tales of the tea, fur and opium trade, clipper ship travels and life in the seaport of Canton. “During this period, trading between...
read moreDuck & Goose Go to the Beach, by Tad Hills ’81
Duck & Goose Go to the Beach by Tad Hills ’81 Schwartz & Wade Books, April 2014 Duck and Goose have shared, explored, learned and quarreled in a long series of picture books, every time returning to the importance of their friendship. Duck & Goose Go to the Beach is the tenth book in the New York Times bestselling Duck & Goose series. Duck wants to go on an adventure. Goose doesn’t. He doesn’t see the point. After all, why would they go anywhere when they’re happy right where they are? But then Goose sees the ocean and...
read moreDrop It, Rocket!, by Tad Hills ’81
Drop It, Rocket! by Tad Hills ’81 Random House Children’s Books, July 2014 Rocket, the beloved dog from the New York Times bestselling picture books How Rocket Learned to Read and Rocket Writes a Story, is back in a Step 1 leveled reader. Rocket is ready to find new words for his word tree with his teacher, the little yellow bird. He finds a leaf, a hat, and a star . . . but when he finds a red boot, he doesn’t want to let go. What will make Rocket drop it? With predictable patterns, simple words, lots of repetition, and bright,...
read moreAddiction on Trial: Tragedy in Downeast Maine, by Steven Kassels ’68
Addiction on Trial: Tragedy in Downeast Maine by Steven Kassels ’68 AuthorHouse, October 2013 When Downeast local Annette Fiorno is found at the bottom of a ravine, outsider and relapsed drug addict Jimmy Sedgwick is accused of murder. Unassuming Maine lawyer Rob Hanston and big-shot attorney Shawn Marks form an unlikely legal team as they attempt to discredit the overwhelming evidence. Addiction on Trial, the first in a series of Shawn Marks thrillers, sends a powerful message of societal discrimination toward drug addicts and explores...
read more“When It Comes to Movies, Everyone Has an Opinion.”
By Ty Burr ’76 Being a movie critic can be a strange way to make a living. For one thing, everyone wants to talk about my job, but no one quite respects it. This occasionally includes me. I’ll meet someone at a party, ask what they do, and he or she will say “cardiac surgeon” or “third-world food bank coordinator,” and then I have to admit I spend my days watching movies about heavily digitized superheroes while taking illegible notes in the dark. And then someone else will walk up and want to talk about the new Hunger Games...
read moreGolf at Milton in 9 Holes
Hole 1 In 1912, Milton Academy decides to establish a golf club. Recognizing this endeavor could create logistical issues, the trustees label it “an experiment.” “The game of golf is not to be introduced here to compete with the major sports of baseball and football, but to give a comparatively large number of boys and others in the Academy, who cannot participate in these games, an opportunity for some healthful athletic diversion.” — The Milton Orange and Blue, December 1912 Hole 2 The trustees approve $150 in funds to build...
read moreThe Gift of an Oral Legacy
by Todd B. Bland The Camp — built by my great-grandfather, Hiram Bingham, as a retreat for his wife and seven sons — has been a family gathering place for more than five generations. So many of my childhood “firsts” happened during annual visits to the Camp; so many meaningful memories took root there. There, I learned through stories about my family’s intriguing adventures. My mother and father, aunts, uncles, great-uncles and great-aunts told stories, but my grandmother’s and grandfather’s were the most powerful. In the...
read more5 Treasured Traditions
Class IV Talks A rite of passage. A distinct memory for most alumni. Five- to seven-minutes on a subject you choose. At Milton today, classmates vote on which talks they want to hear again at an annual “Best of” event in May. Topics range from being the oldest of eight children to China’s one-child policy, from hiking Mount Washington to breaking a Breaking Bad addiction. “Class IV Talks are one of the most valuable things we do here,” says English faculty member Caroline Sabin ’86. “Putting students in front of their peers and...
read moreWhat’s on your Milton Bucket List?
How many of these “Milton musts” have you experienced? Observing the night sky from the Ayer Observatory Applauding budding thespians at the Class IV Play Getting your laughs at Improv Night Finding your rhythm in the Dance Concert, or at Beatnik Café Entertaining classmates during morning assembly Cheering on the Mustangs at an away game Running for an elected position Calling alumni during a development office phone-a-thon Spending a night in a dorm, if you’re a day student Spending a night at a day student’s home, if you’re a...
read moreJoe Ellis ’76 is President of the Denver Broncos — Not Just a Team, but a Brand
He’s a master of relaxed, congenial banter. Just ahead of him was a game that would end in a three-point overtime loss by the Broncos to New England—after midnight on a wind-whipped field. Trim and dapper in his orange Broncos’ warm-up jacket, Joe Ellis ’76 casually answered a stream of questions about what it takes to lead an enterprise that is intensely talent-dependent: talent in executing game-winning football, and talent in growing a brand experience that millions consider part of their lives. Joe describes the Denver Broncos as...
read moreLeading a Frontline Media Agency, Lisa Donohue ’83 Lives “Life in Beta”
As CEO of Starcom USA, one of the largest and most cutting-edge media agencies in the business, Lisa Donohue ’83 keeps her finger on advertising’s racing pulse by surrounding herself with talent on all levels, and staying on top of an ever-changing technological and media-savvy world. From her Twitter presence (@ldonohue), to walking the floor at the annual CES conference, to meeting with start-ups, Lisa brings an entrepreneurial spirit to an industry that is changing rapidly, driven by technology that is constantly shifting consumer...
read moreWhen Doctors Tell Stories
Jonathan Emerson Kohler ’94, M.D., uses more than one theater. Many of us know and envy people who can balance work lives with serious avocations. The engineer who’s also a chef, or the investment manager who writes spy novels—somehow these people have cultivated different talents simultaneously. A few people pursue two separate careers at once. Jonathan Kohler ’94, on the other hand, has woven two seemingly unrelated talents into a single career. He is a pediatric orthopedic surgeon who integrates story and medicine. His formula has...
read moreTze Chun ’02 Wants to Introduce You to Your Favorite Work of Art
Tze Chun ’02 is five-feet-three-inches tall and as lithe as you would expect a dancer to be. She’s an uncommon combination of radiant warmth and fierce focus. That focus has helped her complete a self-crafted double major at Columbia, run a bartending agency of more than 200 employees at age 19, and found the thriving Tze Chun Dance Company. Her passion is art, and these days Tze concentrates her entrepreneurial vision on her newest venture, Uprise Art. An online gallery of contemporary art, Uprise welcomes new collectors as well as the...
read moreThe Act of Teaching is Changing as We Speak
Indu Chugani is Milton’s dean of teaching and learning. In her first year here, she has focused on cultivating talent within Milton’s faculty through new professional development programming. Growth as an educator, Indu says is “constantly reviewing and defining the act of teaching, and how it is changing as we speak.” We asked Indu to consider questions about teaching that intrigue and challenge every community, and resonate at Milton. What set of skills should I bring to the table if I want to teach at Milton today? In a different...
read more