Over the weekend Roxbury Latin juniors Ian Richardson and Chris Zhu, along with recent graduate Robert Cunningham ‘18, participated in the Hack Umass Hackathon—36 hours of creativity, concentration, coding, and competition. Their team—which also recruited two female computer science students from UMass—won the Hackathon’s Grand Prize out of more than 250 teams—mostly comprising college students.

In the competition, teams must conceive of a project and then build it on-site over a 36-hour period, integrating hardware and code. The Hack UMass event was attended by nearly 1,000 college students, but allowed also for a small number of high school teams.

This was the first hackathon for both Chris and Ian, who teamed up with Robert heading into the Hack UMass event. “Ian and I both like creating hardware and software,” says Chris, “so we thought this would be a great way to apply these skills and have fun. It’s almost like spending the weekend competing in a sporting event.

“The event coordinators supply teams with a bunch of hardware and time, basically. From there, you can create whatever you want. At the end you have to pass some basic judging criteria: first, it has to work! About half of the teams have these great ideas, but by the end their implementation is only halfway there, or their final product doesn’t work in quite the way they’d imagined. Secondly, the judges assess whether the product is new and innovative—whether it pushed you out of your comfort zone.”

Their team’s product was an program they titled “Codability”—an interface that allows people to code without their hands—perfect for those with carpal tunnel, with repetitive stress injuries, or who are amputees. “One of the girls on our team has a sister who has early onset arthritis,” says Chris, “and that really sparked our idea.”

In Codability, the team built speech and text software that formats code, converting English language commands into proper syntax for code and proper coding symbols. The team even developed and incorporated foot pedals that allow users to move a mouse. While other software exists to translate speech into programming code, most require users to speak every symbol, or depend on lots of custom coding language. “The learning curve on these languages is impossibly high, so we wanted to make something that was user-friendly and would create ease of navigation for people,” says Chris.

Both Ian and Chris are currently taking AP Computer Science with Mr. Nick Poles, and both are members of RL’s robotics team, “which did help us a lot in designing this project,” Chris says.

The Hack UMass event is part of Major League Hacking (MLH)—the official student hackathon league. Each year, Major League Hacking powers more that 200 weekend-long invention competitions that inspire innovation, cultivate communities, and teach computer science skills to more than 65,000 students around the world. MLH describes itself as an engaged and passionate maker community, consisting of the next generation of technology leaders and entrepreneurs.

In Hall on October 9, Ms. Kory Stamper—a lexicographer who spent almost 20 years as an associate editor at Merriam-Webster—led boys and faculty along an informative and entertaining traverse through the English language.

Her talk titled “Is Proper English Proper?” was a brief history of Standard English. She explained how, in England, as books became less expensive and more available to people, social mobility increased; and as England became a center of trade, the language began to adopt more words from other countries—cookie from Dutch, banjo from West African languages, algebra from Arabic.

“As social mobility for the lower and middle classes increased, the upper class no longer had exclusive control of the money, the land, their manners, their writing, so they started adding this weird, mystical sense of moral uprightness to being upper class,” Ms. Stamper explained. “This became tied particularly to how you spoke. If you had a good education and good breeding, naturally you would have good manners—being genteel and gracious—characteristics that are ‘morally superior’ to qualities assigned to the lower classes—such as being grasping or greedy or sloppy—signs of ‘moral and intellectual inferiority’. So, for the first time in the history of English, we had an idea that there was such a thing as good grammar and bad grammar.”

After Hall Ms. Stamper spent the morning in classes, first with all four sections of Class II English, discussing American dialects and Mark Twain’s use of the N-word in Huck Finn—along with the word’s origin, evolution, and history. She then spent a period with boys in Latin 1, answering their questions on various topics—ranging from suffixes to Ecclesiastical Latin to “pig Latin.” Finally, Ms. Stamper met with students in Ms. Dromgoole’s “Roots and Shoots” history course, where they are learning about government terminology, such as oligarchy, theocracy, and democracy. (Sixies managed to get Ms. Stamper to reveal her current favorite word—chosen, she says, for its “delightful absurdity”—gardyloo.)

Ms. Stamper was one of three Merriam-Webster editors to write, edit, and appear in their popular “Ask the Editor” video series, where her video on the plurals of “octopus” became a viral sensation. She travels around the country giving talks and presentations on topics that, as she says, “only other word nerds would be interested in.” She has been a regular contributor to a number of publications, including the Guardian, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and Dictionary.com.

In her first book titled Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries, Ms. Stamper explains why small words are the most difficult to define; how it can take nine months to define a single word; and how our biases about language and pronunciation can have tremendous social influence. She also reveals little-known surprises—like the fact that “OMG” was first used in a letter to Winston Churchill in 1917. She is presently at work on her second book; she also owns and operates a blog titled Harmless Drudgery and occasionally contributes to Strong Language, a blog about foul language.

The Reverend F. Washington Jarvis, III, Roxbury Latin’s 10th Headmaster, died the morning of October 7, after a long, courageous battle with cancer. On Tony’s passing, Headmaster Kerry Brennan shared the following with the RL community:

Tony Jarvis was the most significant figure in the School’s fourth century. Tony arrived on the scene in 1974, a largely inexperienced school leader, and took the place by storm. He succeeded Richmond Mayo-Smith, who had led the School during tumultuous times and signaled an appreciation for modern trends that were aborning in American education. Tony realized what had been at the core of Roxbury Latin’s continuity and success during its long history and restored the School to its Classical roots. Truth be told, Tony re-invented the School capitalizing on RL’s past, and affirmed or established traditions of scholastic excellence, character formation, and gathered community. Roxbury Latin became a much more diverse place thanks to Tony’s commitment, and he consciously established a financial model that sustained a humble, but generous, approach to providing opportunity to all kinds of aspiring Boston boys. Tony’s commitment over his thirty years of leading Roxbury Latin was to each individual boy. In part, his insistence on RL remaining a relatively small, intimate place was in order that each boy could be “known and loved.” In Tony’s own distinctive style, he offered life-changing counseling to hundreds of boys who benefited from his empathic, but clear, view of their particular odysseys, and his willingness to extend himself on behalf of countless boys who were facing special challenges.

Of course, over his time as Roxbury Latin’s Headmaster, Tony established its global reputation as a dynamic, healthy place in which boys could thrive. Numerous school leaders from across the globe counted on Tony for his advice and friendship. His leadership was affirmed in numerous ways including his being elected President of both The Headmasters Association and the Country Day School Headmasters Association. He served as trustee of numerous educational and charitable organizations, and received several honorary degrees. Thanks to partnerships with a few key alumni benefactors, and architect Bill Buckingham, he transformed the physical nature of the campus providing much needed support for an expanded, more ambitious program in a suite of buildings that celebrated a consistent, unified architectural approach

In retirement, Tony went on to found and direct Berkeley’s Education Leadership and Ministry Program at Yale Divinity School. Throughout his years in Boston, Tony served as Priest Associate (and occasionally as Acting Rector) at his beloved All Saints Church, Ashmont.

Tony Jarvis was an amazing force for good, a once-in-a-lifetime teacher, friend, and leader. His transformative work will live on in the lives of those of us who were taught and mentored by him. We will not see his kind again. Among the ways he taught us was in the powerful commitment to his faith. He was not afraid of death and welcomed what was to follow. For that profound assertion and our own gratitude for his catalytic life, we are convinced Tony will rest in peace.

Tony’s formal obituary, which includes details regarding upcoming services, is as follows:

F. Washington Jarvis III died October 7, 2018, at CareDimensions Hospice Home in Lincoln, MA after a long illness. Tony was born to Frank Washington Jarvis and Prudence Crandall Jarvis in Pittsburgh, PA on June 24, 1939. After growing up outside of Cleveland, OH Tony attended St. Mark’s School in Southborough, MA and graduated with honors from Harvard College. He received his M.A. from Cambridge University in England, and his S.T.B. from the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, MA. He was awarded honorary doctorates by Bowdoin College (L.H.D., 1998), Middlebury College (D.Litt., 2004), and the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale (D.D., 2016).

Tony was an Episcopal priest. From 1964 to 1971 he served as Curate at St. Paul’s Church in Cleveland. He had special interest in and responsibility for the youth of this large parish, and the program he developed attracted young people from all over the city. In 1971 he was appointed Chairman of the History Department at University School in Cleveland, and the following year Assistant Director, Upper School.

For thirty years, from 1974 to 2004, Tony was headmaster of The Roxbury Latin School in Boston. Founded in 1645, Roxbury Latin is the oldest school in continuous existence in North America. After retiring at age 65 from Roxbury Latin, Tony served twice as a chaplain and master at Eton College in England, and as scholar-in-residence at schools in Perth and Sydney, Australia. He spoke at numerous educational conferences and schools—and served as a guest preacher and speaker—across the US and abroad in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. He delivered the Pitt Lecture at Yale in October 2012. From 2008 to 2016, Tony taught at Yale University, where he was founder and Director of the Educational Leadership and Ministry Program at the Berkeley Divinity School.

Tony was past President of the Headmasters Association of the United States and of the Country Day School Headmasters Association, and he was the former Chairman of the Commission on Independent Schools of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. He served a five-year term as member of the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission. He was a trustee of the Independent School Association of Massachusetts, Winsor School, the American Friends of Maru a Pula (Botswana), and Portsmouth Abbey School. Since 1976 and until the time of his death he was priest associate at the Parish of All Saints, Ashmont, an inner city parish in the Dorchester neighborhood of the City of Boston where he lived.

Tony was the author of eight books and numerous articles in the fields of history, education, and religion. His book, With Love and Prayers, a collection of forty addresses to students, won the Christopher Award for adult non-fiction. He was a Member of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, the Society of Mary, and the Society of King Charles the Martyr.

Tony was predeceased by his sister, Faith Crandall Jarvis Smith, and is survived by his brother-in-law, Craig E. Smith of Hingham; his nephews Ned Smith and his wife, Kristin, of Houston, TX and Benjamin G. J. Smith and his wife, Stacey, of Acton; his niece Cricket Smith Segaloff and her husband, Brett, of Harvard; and his five great nieces and nephews: Catie, Annie, Timmy, Sarah, and Teddy.

Visitation at the Parish of All Saints, Ashmont will be on Friday, October 12, from 4 to 8 p.m. A Solemn Requiem Mass will be celebrated Saturday, October 13, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in honor of Tony to the Parish of All Saints, Ashmont, 209 Ashmont Street, Dorchester, MA 02124 or The Roxbury Latin School, 101 Saint Theresa Avenue, West Roxbury, MA 02132.

Details regarding a memorial service at Roxbury Latin will be forthcoming.

Included below is a video of Tony speaking at the Opening of Winter Term Hall in January 2016. This glimpse is representative of how so many at Roxbury Latin remember him.

For his Western Civilization project last year, Conor Downey, Class III, designed and crafted a reproduction of the famed stained glass window—depicting Mary and the Christ Child—from the Cathedral at Chartres, France. The piece of artwork—a labor of love for which Conor earned RL’s informal “Best in Show”—now has a new and permanent home on the campus of RL’s neighboring Deutsches Altenheim. Conor donated his window to this long-standing service partner of Roxbury Latin, where it now hangs in the facility’s non-denominational chapel.

Conor knew of many remarkable stained glass creations in history, but he wanted to be sure that he was taking on something within his skill range. Art History teacher Dr. Sue McCrory helped him to assess a range of options. Having previously created art at the Diablo Glass School in Roxbury—largely with glassblowing techniques—Conor was intrigued by the stained glass work he encountered there. “For my project I went to the studio every weekend for two to four hours a day,” says Conor. “I spent about 50 hours total—researching, creating my template, cutting, grinding, soldering, and putting on the final touches.”

When the presentation period for the Western Civ projects had come and gone, Conor and his family thought it would be a shame for the window to simply gather dust in their basement. In considering a potential home for the piece, Conor decided ultimately on Deutsches Altenheim: “I had been lucky enough to volunteer there through RL several times. All of the residents there are so kind and appreciative. They also have lots of art in the hallways, and it just seemed the right home for my window.”

Jennifer Clark, Director of Development at Deutsches Altenheim, says she, other staff members, and the residents are grateful to have Conor’s artwork installed in the chapel, which residents and staff members use daily to find some tranquility or pray the rosary.

“As people age they tend to rely even more strongly on their faith, so this space on our campus becomes an important part of their lives,” says Ms. Clark. “We were grateful that Conor thought of us and reached out. The sunlight hits the window really beautifully, and the colors help to brighten and warm this space in a way that residents and staff really appreciate.”

Volunteering, entertaining, and spending time with Deutsches Altenheim residents is the classwide service project for boys in Class IV, led by classmaster Jim Ryan. Several years ago, Roxbury Latin boys built raised planter boxes for the Deutsches Altenheim residents, so that they could garden at waist height, which made a favorite pastime possible again for those residents who can’t bend or kneel on the ground. “RL boys are making important and lasting marks all over our campus,” says Ms. Clark.

The annual Class IV Western Civ project, long a component of RL’s freshman year curriculum, involves students researching, producing, and orally defending an artifact, building, or historical scene linked to Western Civilization. Parameters dictate that the student must make his project with his own hands—no kits, and no enlisting a 3-D printer to craft a prefabricated design. Each student is graded on his oral defense; accuracy in representing the original; workmanship; and the project’s degree of difficulty.

Last year, Lucas Zheng won first place in the Senior Historical Paper category in the state round of the National History Day competition. His essay titled Treaty of Lausanne, on the Greco-Turkish War, moved through stages of advanced rounds in the competition, reviewed by History faculty members Tim Kelly and Chris Heaton. This fall, Lucas’s essay was published in the September issue of The Concord Review. Founded in 1987, the Review recognizes and publishes exemplary history essays by high school students throughout the English-speaking world. The Concord Review’s founding premise is that “the pursuit of academic excellence in secondary schools should be given the same attention as the pursuit of excellence in sports and other extracurricular activities, and that many students do exemplary work in history.”

As of the Fall 2018 issue, the Review has published 1,196 research papers from authors in forty-five states and forty countries. The Concord Review is the only quarterly journal in the world to publish the academic history papers of secondary students. Writing submissions are assessed by the Review’s National Writing Board against an independent academic expository writing standard endorsed by Harvard, Michigan, Princeton, Stanford, Virginia, Yale, and 33 other selective colleges and universities. The September issue of The Concord Review containing Lucas’s essay is available for purchase online.

“At RL, as you know, we care not only about helping you develop your intellectual passions and pursuits, but also about helping you develop the tools to lead physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy lives,” began Headmaster Brennan on the morning of September 20, as he addressed boys in Classes IV through I. Last Thursday’s presentation marked the beginning of a new, comprehensive health and wellness program for RL’s older boys. Coordinated by Mr. Teixeira, Mr. Sugg, and Mr. Chappell, the program will address a range of timely topics over the year, aimed at helping students establish healthy balance in their lives.

The program began with two guest speakers: First, Jordan Grinstein from Ivy Child International set the tone with an invigorating exercise in mindfulness, aimed at getting everyone’s energy flowing and minds focused on being present. Following Mr. Grinstein, boys and faculty spent an hour learning from Dr. Jill Walsh about technology, social media, and their effects on our health.

“Technology is neither good nor bad—it’s neutral. How we use technology, and what we create with it, dictates whether we’re employing it in ways that are good or bad,” began Dr. Walsh. Dr. Jill Walsh is a sociologist, researcher, and lecturer at Boston University, focused on how social media can affect young people’s emotional wellbeing and relationships, in ways both positive and negative. (Last year, Dr. Walsh spoke with RL parents and members of the Headmaster’s Council on this topic.)

Her presentation to boys included lessons on “amplification”—how social media can make things seem more significant and increase the reach of news and images exponentially and instantly. She discussed how we—young people and adults—turn to tech during any downtime, which can increase our feelings of being stressed, overwhelmed, depleted; how the amount of time spent online—gaming, for instance—can have positive effects over 20 minutes, but that those effects plateau and then become negative after 30-40 minutes; and how a bolder, “snarkier” digital version of ourselves becomes the version with which people interact more frequently.

“What we all need to do is be aware: be aware of what you’re putting out there and how people are interpreting it; be aware of what apps/games/technology energizes you and what drains you; be aware of how much time you’re spending so you don’t get sucked into the ‘time void’,” advised Dr. Walsh.

Dr. Jill Walsh earned her Ph.D. from Boston University, her master’s from Brown, and her bachelor’s degree from Harvard. She teaches courses on the intersection between society and technology, with an emphasis on the millennial generation. After Dr. Walsh’s presentation, boys and faculty broke into smaller groups for further discussion and to think together through several, real-life social media scenarios.Photos by Mike Pojman

The National Merit Scholarship Program recently announced the names of students in the Class of 2018, across the country, earning recognition for their academic achievement. This year, 25 Roxbury Latin boys have been recognized—five named National Merit Scholar semifinalists, and 20 others earning commendations from program officials.

In this 64th annual National Merit Scholarship competition, semifinalists have the opportunity to become finalists and compete for some 7,500 National Merit Scholarships, nationwide. The awards are supported by the organization and approximately 410 businesses and educational institutions, to “honor the nation’s scholastic champions and encourage the pursuit of academic excellence.”

About 1.6 million juniors in more than 22,000 high schools entered the 2019 National Merit Scholarship program by taking the 2017 PSAT, which serves as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest scoring entrants in each state. From the approximately 16,000 semifinalists, about 15,000 are expected to advance to become finalists. Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments, and potential for academic success at the college level.

Roxbury Latin boys earning recognition this year include semifinalists Tomas Gustafsson, Nate Lopes, Taalin RaoShah, Ben Rounds, and Erik Zou; and commendation recipients Adam Berk, Jared Brosnan, John Frates, Dominic Gaziano, Isaiah Goldsmith, Ethan Kee, Makoto Kobayashi, Charlie Mazof, Colin Miller, Ben Morris, Kalyan Palepu, Milan Rosen, Gil Rosenthal, Quito Sanchez, Rohan Sheth, Elias Simeonov, Luke Streckenbach, Trey Sullivan, Eric Zaks, and Lucas Zheng.

A time-honored custom at Roxbury Latin is recognizing, as a school, important moments within various religious traditions. We do this, as Headmaster Kerry Brennan describes, not simply for the pursuit of knowledge, nor in celebration of our school’s great diversity, but because “in hearing about and from the witnesses to these different faith traditions, our own journey toward meaning and fulfillment can be most hopefully informed.”

In this year’s recognition of the Jewish High Holy Days, we welcomed Dr. Jerry Katz to speak to students, faculty and staff about his personal faith journey and the meaning of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Dr. Katz is head of school at Gann Academy, a coeducational Jewish high school in Waltham.

“These Jewish holidays mark ten days of intense reflection between when we believe ‘our names are written in the Book of Life’ (Rosh Hashanah) and when ‘the book is sealed’ (Yom Kippur),” said Dr. Katz. “For me, that means reflecting on ways I may have missed the mark over the year, and how I might atone for those missteps.”

After describing his family’s history of immigrating to the United States from Europe intent on assimilating, and then their purposeful, dedicated return to Judaism following World War II, he described how his own identity as a Jew has ebbed and flowed over the years, becoming more central at various points in his life.

Dr. Katz helped the audience understand that “there are more than 30 different expressions of Jewish belief in America, falling essentially into three bands: Orthodox, Conservative and Reform, oriented according to how they determine ‘What is truth?’”

A Reform Jew himself, Dr. Katz believes we do not ask forgiveness from God, but rather from our fellow human beings. For him, the fact that members of the Jewish faith commit to this reflection and renewal once a year implies commitment to a healthy, growth mindset, “always evolving, capable of changing, capable of improving.”

Dr. Katz has more than 40 years of experience as a teacher and school leader, including as former head of The Park School, which he led for 20 years. Between leaving Park and becoming head of Gann Academy, Dr. Katz served as head of school at Rodeph Sholom School, a K-8 Jewish independent school in New York City. Today he  helps educate young people to become confident, engaged, and responsible members of the Jewish faith.

Last spring, then senior Ben LaFond performed very well in the 2018 North American Computational Linguistics Olympiad—earning himself a spot representing the United States at the International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) this summer in Prague. There his linguistic success continued.

Ben earned a gold medal in the individual contest of the 2018 IOL competition. His team (“USA Blue”) also earned first place in the team contest, receiving—in addition—an award for the highest average score on the individual contest. (Ben earned the highest individual score on USA Blue). Ben says the events themselves were gratifying, however the highlight for him was “hanging out with 200+ kids who are (almost) as interested in linguistics as I am. I wouldn’t have expected it, but there are other kids in the world… who have a “favorite phoneme.”

The IOL is one of 12 International Science Olympiads for secondary school students. It draws teams of young linguists from around the world, armed with logical and problem solving abilities, outside-the-box thinking, patience, and creativity, to test their minds against the world’s toughest puzzles in language and linguistics. In this 16th annual competition held in July in Prague, Czechia, 49 teams from 29 countries participated, competing to solve problems on diverse languages including Creek, Hakhum, Mountain Arapesh, and Xavante.

The jury awarded 60 medals (13 gold, 17 silver, and 30 bronze), as well as 19 honorable mentions, six team contest trophies, a team cup for highest average score, and 11 best solution prizes. Ben placed sixth out of all participants with an overall score of 81.4. Prior to traveling to Prague to compete with his teammates, Ben trained alongside them for four days at Carnegie Mellon University. Ben has since begun his first year at Harvard.

“Privilege is not in and of itself bad; what matters is what we do with privilege… Privilege does not have to be negative, but we have to share our resources and take direction about how to use our privilege in ways that empower those who lack it.” Headmaster Kerry Brennan enlisted the words of the famous African-American author, feminist, and social activist Ms. bell hooks, as he addressed the students, faculty and staff during Roxbury Latin’s Opening of Fall Term Hall on August 29.

While the record-breaking heat may have dampened the brow, it did not dampen the spirit as Roxbury Latin began its 374th school year. Before classes began, Headmaster Brennan addressed the school in Hall—a student body of 303, including the 45 boys that comprise the new Sixth Class along with 15 boys added to Classes V, IV, and III—on the privilege of attending Roxbury Latin, and on the term privilege as it stands in today’s culture. Mr. Brennan, in his own terms, likened privilege to “the secular equivalent of grace” and ultimately asserted that “privilege always suggests opportunities.”

Before the Headmaster’s address, Class I president Kevin Demore read John F. Kennedy’s 1961 address to the Massachusetts General Court: “For of those to whom much is given, much is required. And when at some future date the high court of history sits in judgment on each one of us—recording whether in our brief span of service we fulfilled our responsibilities to the state—our success or failure, in whatever office we may hold, will be measured [by whether we were] truly men of courage, judgement, integrity, dedication.”

In his talk, Mr. Brennan offered his own response to JFK’s time-honored words, affirming that these qualities of character are the same we aim to instill in every boy during his RL years. Headmaster Brennan concluded:

“As we start our school year, Roxbury Latin’s 374th, remember that our most important reason for existing is in order to prepare you and inspire you to seek justice, to improve our society for all its members, and to insure that the privileges we have known are utilized on behalf of revelatory, transformative, generous causes. Don’t squander what you’ve been given. But don’t be ashamed of it either. I wish you a year in which we all can begin or continue that good work.”

The opening day ceremonies concluded with the traditional all-school handshake, which serves to welcome people new to the RL community—boys and adults—and for all to wish one another a happy and strong start to the academic year.Watch the Headmaster’s address in full here, or read it here. View photos from the day here.