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Author: Milton Magazine

Creatures Great and Small Outside the AMC

Two birds in flight, a swimming shark, and a fanged fish are just a few of the sculptures that make up the Creatures Great and Small exhibit outside the Art and Media Center (AMC). Each of the eight pieces is done by a different artist in materials such as bronze, granite, steel, and resin. Pamela Tarbell of PR Tarbell Fine Art curated the exhibit, which will be on display throughout the 2019–2020 school year. One of the pieces, “The Understudy,” by local artist Bob Shanahan, is housed inside the AMC. The sculpture, built out of natural materials such as bark and twigs, depicts a Diatryma — a dinosaur that roamed New England millions of years ago. The other pieces line up in front of the AMC. Morris Norvin’s “Piscator II” is the largest — a steel structure, painted gray and bent into the shape of a swimming shark. The smallest is the sleek “Epoxy Cheetah” by Wendy Klemperer. Shirin Adhami, a new visual arts faculty member and Nesto Gallery director, says a favorite of the younger students on campus is “Toothed Fish,” composed of granite and quartz by Thomas Berger. Shirin’s art history class discussed the pieces; she said many students are really responding to the exhibit’s “creatures” theme. In past years, outdoor installations focused on abstract work, so Ian Torney, chair of the visual arts department, asked the curator to think of...

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“Dare to Be True” Is a Lesson for Life, Grammy-Nominated Musician Jidenna Tells Students

Rapper and singer Jidenna Mobisson ’03 returned to campus as part of the expanded Transition Program (see page 32), serving as the keynote speaker for new students of color and international students, and as a panelist in a conversation with their parents. The events preceded programming throughout Labor Day weekend for all students new to Milton. “It’s the first day — I know you feel a little bit nervous, but I want to say congratulations to each and every one of you,” Jidenna said. “I sat in the same seats you’re sitting in right now, with students who were just like you. Some of the people here that you don’t know yet will be your best friends for life.” Born in Wisconsin, Jidenna moved to Nigeria with his family and lived there until the age of six. Upon returning to the United States, the family settled in Massachusetts. Throughout his youth, he encountered racism from children and adults that made him question his sense of belonging in certain places. His family lived in the working-class Boston neighborhood of Mattapan, which borders Milton but felt like a world away from campus. Jidenna recalled feeling embarrassed by his mom’s car, asking her to drop him off at the edge of campus on the days he didn’t walk from the train station. Jidenna offered tips for rising to the challenges of a rigorous environment...

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Learning About Local Environmental Justice Work

Poor air quality, asbestos dumping, and lack of green spaces are just a few of the environmental issues that residents in lower-income city neighborhoods face on a daily basis. Twenty-two students from the Activism for Justice in a Digital World class and two sections of Science in the Modern Age went on the Toxic Tour of Dudley Square in the Boston neighborhood of Roxbury to learn about environmental justice initiatives. David Nolies, from Alternatives for Community and Environment (ACE), a nonprofit based in Dudley Square, was their guide. “We are the voice for the people that don’t have a voice,” he told students. Nolies grew up nearby in a government housing project and has been involved with ACE for 22 years, since he was 15. As he walked students around to different spots, he explained that Roxbury’s childhood asthma hospitalization rate is nearly six times as high as the state average, that developers would raze buildings and leave behind toxic debris, and that the neighborhood train to downtown Boston was replaced by an inefficient and polluting bus system, making access to jobs more difficult. History faculty member Andrea Geyling-Moore started taking students on the tour almost 10 years ago when Dave Jenkins ’99 worked as an organizer for ACE. Dave video-conferenced with students the day before the tour and talked about how one of the group’s big successes was...

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Lessons in Service and Leadership from Army Captain Nick Morton ’02

Nick Morton ’02 was a few weeks into his senior year at Milton when the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, stirred in him the need to serve. Before graduating from Milton, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve — and began a lifelong military career. Now an army captain, Nick was the 2019 Veterans Day speaker. “We spent the days and months trying to process what had happened” after the 2001 attacks, he said about the many conversations he had with classmates. “I can’t speak to what my classmates felt at that time, but for me, it began to synthesize this sense that I wanted to become part of something bigger than myself. I started wondering if I had something to give, if I could be of value.” As a soldier, Nick has served as a weapons troop commander, infantry company commander, air operations officer, platoon leader, and civil affairs sergeant, with deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. His military education includes graduation from the Army Ranger School, where he finished in the top 15 percent of students that completed all phases of the grueling program on the first attempt. Nick has been awarded the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Joint Service Achievement Medal, and the Army Achievement Medal, among others. He received his bachelor’s degree in finance from the University...

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Students Spend a Day in the Life of the U.S. Senate

It’s one thing to learn how a bill becomes a law. It’s another thing entirely to step into the shoes of a lawmaker. American Government and Politics students spent a morning in Boston last fall at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, where they shed their student personas and became U.S. senators, poised to act on a comprehensive immigration reform bill. “It’s helpful for them to have hands-on experience with the process,” said Perin Gokce, a history and social sciences faculty member who arranged the trip. “It gives them a better understanding of all the competing demands that senators grapple with before they go into a vote: their party’s interests, their state’s interests, and their personal viewpoints.” Milton students joined students from Mansfield High School in the institute’s senate chamber, a nearly exact replica of the U.S. Senate chamber in Washington, D.C. The student senators broke into subcommittees, where they had the opportunity to ask institute staff experts about various provisions they could attach to the bill, or to interview and vote on presidential appointees. They then caucused with other members of their parties to decide on proposed amendments to the bill. Finally, student representatives from each party spoke on the senate floor to defend their amendments. The bill was defeated by a vote of 51–39. Each student was given a profile that included their...

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