Milton Student-Athletes on Soccer’s World Stage
Two teammates on Milton’s boys’ varsity soccer team represented their respective home countries in the Caribbean Finals of the CONCACAF U17 World Cup Qualifying held in September in Trinidad. Brandon Jones ’18 played center back on the U17 Bermuda national team, and Jeremy Verley ’19 played midfield for the U17 Jamaica national team. Coincidentally, the two teams faced off in the first round of the tournament, and Jamaica won the game. “The tournament was the closest I’ve felt to playing on a professional soccer team,” says...
read moreModel UN Students Bring Honors Back to Milton
Milton’s Model UN students traveled to Brown University for this fall’s Model UN Conference. During the conference, students take the perspective of a country or political figure, engaging with peers from around the country, and debating and writing proposals on issues like cybersecurity, counterterrorism, and global social and military threats. Caleb Rhodes ’17, co-head of Model UN, earned Best Delegate for his representation of Lt. Col. Manuel da Costa Braz in the Alvor Agreement of 1975. “Before this conference, I didn’t know much...
read moreTerrance Hayes
Weaving imagination with life experience, poet Terrance Hayes shared his work as this fall’s Bingham Visiting Writer. His expressive—sometimes playful, sometimes raw—poems broached love, family, race, relationships, masculinity and music. Mr. Hayes began with several poems from Lighthead, for which he won a National Book Award in 2010. Mr. Hayes was born in Columbia, South Carolina. He earned his B.A. from Coker College and his M.F.A. from the University of Pittsburgh, where he is a member of the English department faculty. How to Be...
read moreDanielle Flora
Professional dance is a competitive industry, but the benefits to those who make it are sublime, film and television choreographer Danielle Flora told students. Aspiring dancers should never stop learning, attending classes and watching peers’ performances, she said. “Entertainment can be a rough business, but dancers I’ve worked with have been able to see the world while on tour with some of the most famous musicians. They spend their lives doing fun and creative things.” Ms. Flora began her dance career as a New York Knicks City...
read moreCatalyst Conversations: The Dialogue Between Art and Science
“You can talk yourself out of something really easily,” media artist Deb Todd Wheeler told Milton students in an assembly sponsored by the Nesto Gallery. “Ideas sometimes need a little bit of sideways thinking.” Ms. Wheeler visited Milton with artist Deborah Davidson, technologist Eric Gunther, and scientist Andrew Berry as part of Catalyst Conversations. Ms. Davidson founded Catalyst Conversations, which explores a dialogue between art and science. As the world becomes increasingly technology-oriented and visual, the connection...
read moreKeiko Orrall
Recognizing and respecting one another’s differences—rather than using them as ammunition in debate—is the key to civil discourse, Massachusetts State Representative Keiko Orrall told students. Rep. Orrall spoke at the invitation of Milton’s Conservative Club, and she acknowledged that the tact she describes is notably absent from national politics today. Rep. Orrall, the Republican national committeewoman from Massachusetts, cautioned students against assuming that people with opposing political views are “the enemy,” saying such...
read moreFanshen Cox DiGiovanni
Educator, actor and producer Fanshen Cox DiGiovanni performed her one-woman multimedia show, One Drop of Love, in which she explores her own racial identity in the context of her family history and American census methods. Ms. Cox DiGiovanni periodically scanned the faces of students as if she were collecting United States census data, using methods from the 1700s to the present day. Census methodology throughout history has grouped people into single, incomplete racial categories without considering the multiracial identities of many...
read moreSarah Colt ’88
Independent documentary filmmaker and alumna Sarah Colt ’88 spoke with students as this year’s Henry R. Heyburn ’39 Lecturer. Sarah shared her process of developing documentaries of historical subjects, specifically the work involved in creating her film Geronimo, one part of the PBS American Experience series on Native American history. Before starting her own company in 2008, Sarah produced the highly-acclaimed biography RFK and earned an Emmy Award for Outstanding Science, Nature, and Technology for co-producing The Secret Life of the...
read moreRod Skinner ’72
Rod Skinner, Milton Class of 1972 and director of college counseling, was the 2016 Veterans Day speaker. Rod told the story of his uncle and namesake, Sherrod E. Skinner Jr. ’47, a Medal of Honor recipient who served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War, where he gave his life for his country. Reading a citation from President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Rod said the Medal of Honor—the military’s highest award—recognized his uncle’s “indomitable fighting spirit, superb leadership and great personal valor in the face of tremendous...
read moreDr. Deepak Chopra and Dr. Rudy Tanzi
Sharing the “gift of self-awareness,” Dr. Deepak Chopra, a pioneer in meditation and alternative medicine, and Dr. Rudy Tanzi, a professor of neurology at Harvard, offered insights on happiness, fulfillment and good health that they have gathered from researching the human brain. In presentations to students, faculty and parents for the Lower, Middle and Upper schools, Dr. Chopra urged students to consider self-reflection and meditation important parts of their education and growth. After becoming disenchanted with the Western medicine he...
read moreJovonna Jones ’11, Osaremen Okolo ’13 and Kevin Collins ’10
You can find humanity and make social progress along any career or academic path, Milton alumna Jovonna Jones ’11 told students. “If justice and equity aren’t part of your life, you should examine that. That’s a problem.” Jovonna is a doctoral student in African and African American studies at Harvard, where she researches critical race theory, American art history, performance studies and cultural practice. She joined fellow alumni Osaremen Okolo ’13 and Kevin Collins ’10 in a discussion about race and service sponsored by the...
read moreJeannine Kayembe
Artist and executive director of Philadelphia Urban Creators, Jeannine Kayembe spoke with students this fall in a conversation hosted by the Office of Multiculturalism and Community Development. Ms. Kayembe was a teenager in 2010 when she and her friends started Urban Creators, an organization that helps transform neglected inner-city areas into safe and dynamic spaces. The group spent a year clearing a blighted, two-acre parcel in North Philadelphia of trash, pollutants and drug paraphernalia, and have since developed the land into a farm...
read moreJonathan Mooney
We should challenge the concept of “normal” and instead embrace the things that make us different, this year’s Talbot Speaker told students. Mr. Mooney, an author and lecturer who advocates for people with learning disabilities and attentional disorders, urged students to draw upon their unique skills and personalities to make their mark in the world. Mr. Mooney, a Brown University graduate who has dyslexia and attention deficit disorder (ADD), did not learn to read until he was 12, and today spells at a third-grade level. While at...
read moreUnsettling, in the Best Possible Way
Immersing myself in a new and uncomfortable situation often comes with some lofty goals. It also, almost always, comes with plenty of trepidation. After all, a “new place” might be geographically distant from anything I’ve known, linguistically mysterious, and just plain intimidating. I know that I perhaps have humbling errors in store and will likely fail often. Yet, somewhere in my head or heart, I know that confronting these challenges is exactly why I chose to put myself out there, and very quickly I start to feel like I’m learning...
read moreRemembering Lefty: Richard Thomas Marr, March 11, 1936–November 11, 2016
At age 21, with a fresh degree from Williams College, Dick “Lefty” Marr joined Milton’s faculty. Dick’s friend and colleague Chuck Duncan says that, in Dick, Headmaster Arthur Perry saw “the model of the New England schoolman, combining the qualities of intelligence and love for the adolescent with the willingness to become involved with all aspects of school life.” At Milton—in the classroom, in the dorm, on the baseball field and ice rink—Dick proved his skills and commitment time and again. For more than two decades, Lefty...
read moreVisiting Jordan With Students, Connecting, Not Just Observing
Master of the wry understatement, Joshua Emmott (history department) notes that trying to understand people and the way they live and think is a real advantage as you try to learn history. An inveterate traveler himself, Joshua has taken students to India over one March break in the past, and to Egypt during another. This year, Joshua, who teaches History of the Middle East and Globalization and Islam, among other courses, inaugurates a trip to Jordan. Eight students are joining him and will do far more than visit the sights. “If you...
read moreThe New Version of Old
by Andre Heard ’93, Associate Dean of Students I am striving to become a new version of adult. As I’ve witnessed four cycles of students arrive in Class IV and depart after Class I, I’ve learned that being young has changed, and so has being old. I watch in awe as the relationships between Class I and IV students evolve. Class IV students look up to their Class I counterparts, who seem to have found balance in their Milton lives. By senior year, they have figured out what is important to them (at least during this period of their...
read moreGoing on Project
Each May, Class I students begin the long-awaited “Senior Project.” A tradition since the 1960s, Senior Projects have evolved, and today seniors’ proposals qualify as: scholarly or academic; community service; internships; or the arts. The Class of 2016 chose broadly—from immigration to the environment, from stem cell research and business startups through working on presidential campaigns. Students painted, gardened, sewed, prepared concerts and recitals, shadowed doctors, wrote and directed plays, tried learning new instruments and...
read moreBook: Dancing With the Tiger, Lili Wright ’82
Dancing With the Tiger by Lili Wright ’82 Putnam Penguin, July 2016 Lili Wright ’82 published her first novel, Dancing With the Tiger, with Putnam Penguin this summer to much acclaim. The novel is a thriller set against Mexico’s epidemic of drug violence, and the global controversy over the repatriation of cultural artifacts. The tale begins when a drug-addicted grave robber unearths an artifact he’s certain is of immense historical and monetary value. His decisions lead to a violent struggle for possession, involving a vicious drug...
read moreDesign: LAMPO, Lindsay Richardson ’00
LAMPO The lamp that comes in a tube Inspired by the mechanics of threaded wooden toys and the infinite possibilities of origami, Lindsay Richardson ’00 and partners developed an ultra-modern lamp using materials they love. Influenced by designers like Noguchi and Nelson, they ensure every detail is both beautiful and functional. They set out to make LAMPO something they could afford for their own homes. LAMPO is the lamp that comes in a tube—it can go anywhere and light up any room. It’s made with quality materials and is easy to...
read moreFood: Mei Mei Boston, Irene Li ’08
Mei Mei Boston Inspired Chinese-American cuisine Irene Li ’08 launched her third and fourth Boston-based food businesses: Mei Mei by Design in the Seaport, a shipping container-turned-lunch counter, and Mei Mei Pantry, a line of Chinese-inspired sauces starring local ingredients. Both enterprises emerged from her and her siblings’ award-winning food truck, caterer, and restaurant, Mei Mei, near Kenmore Square, serving up creative Chinese-American cuisine made from locally-sourced and sustainable ingredients. The food truck opened in April...
read moreFilm: West of Her, Ethan Warren ’04
West of Her by Ethan Warren ’04 Corner Piece Productions, April 2016 West of Her, directed by Ethan Warren ’04, is a film about adventure, romance and a life of meaning. Alone and adrift, Dan joins a mysterious organization, agreeing to roam the country with a stranger named Jane, working by night, laying small linoleum tiles in the streets of towns across America, each bearing the same cryptic message. Dan feels that his mysterious employers—who communicate only through Jane—know vital secrets. As the pair travels together, their...
read moreBook: The Accidental Agent, Andrew Rosenheim ’72
The Accidental Agent by Andrew Rosenheim ’72 The Overlook Press, July 2016 The conclusion to the Jimmy Nessheim trilogy, by Andrew Rosenheim ’72, The Accidental Agent is set in the fall of 1942. In the midst of war, special agent Jimmy Nessheim has asked for extended leave from the FBI to study law at the University of Chicago. But at the university, under the stands at Staff Field, renowned scientist Enrico Fermi is beginning work on what will become known as the Manhattan Project, research that could not only change the course of the...
read moreA Catalyst at Google: Annie Argues for Real Conversations – Annie Jean-Baptiste ’06
Silicon Valley, arguably the most innovative corner of the planet, is also famously—and perhaps resolutely—homogeneous. The Valley’s mostly male and mostly white and Asian tech workforce unremittingly turns out life-changing tools. Can the mix of minds and hearts that created today’s constantly evolving reality come up with inventions that will work for the next billion users, and solve the problems of our battered planet as well? “Tech companies, regardless of their size, are focused on these ‘next billion users,’” says Annie...
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