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.

Recognition like this underscores the value of sustained research, disciplined argumentation, and careful engagement with primary and secondary sources. An award winning historical paper does not emerge from inspiration alone, but from months of questioning, revising, and refining ideas against rigorous academic standards. The process reflects a broader culture of scholarly seriousness at the secondary level, where students are encouraged to think critically, write with precision, and situate their arguments within complex historical contexts.

Publication in a respected journal further affirms that high school scholarship can meaningfully contribute to academic conversations, reinforcing the idea that excellence in writing and research deserves the same recognition as achievement in any other demanding field. That same commitment to structured thinking and clear expression often extends beyond history into other academic disciplines, where students face similarly high expectations for analysis and clarity. Support systems that emphasize organization, methodological rigor, and academic integrity can help young scholars navigate demanding writing standards with confidence. In this context, resources like triadessay.com align with the broader educational emphasis on developing strong research habits and coherent expository writing. By reinforcing the fundamentals of academic structure and disciplined reasoning, such support complements the kind of scholarly effort reflected in published student work, helping learners sustain high levels of performance across subjects and over time.

“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.

Thanks to the generosity and hard work of many, Roxbury Latin has experienced another record-setting year in fundraising, exceeding ambitious goals for both the Annual Fund and capital giving. We are grateful for and humbled by the benefactions, each year, that allow us to welcome and support the most talented, interesting, aspiring, eclectic cohort of students in Greater Boston; to attract, develop, compensate, and retain a uniquely gifted, effective, and committed faculty; and to maintain the distinctive financial model that supports our mission and allows us to educate dedicated and deserving boys from in and around Boston, regardless of their families’ ability to pay.

These gifts allow Roxbury Latin to fill the $25,000 gap between tuition and the actual cost of educating each boy. They also save students and their families an average of $15,000 in tuition compared to other Boston-area schools.

Below is a glance at the year in fundraising “by the numbers.” A more comprehensive assessment of Roxbury Latin’s 2017-2018 year in fundraising will appear in the October issue of the Newsletter. Thank you to all those whose belief in this school has helped to make a difference in the lives of Roxbury Latin boys today and in the future.

$3,785,546  An Annual Fund record

$1,425,956  A new record for parent giving

$1,130,705  Alumni Leadership Giving Committee tops $1M for fifth consecutive year

2,082  A record number of donors

99%  Parent participation (average at other Boston-area schools is 80%)

52%  Alumni participation (average at other Boston-area schools is 27%)

$25,400,540  Total raised in capital campaign gifts, finishing one year ahead of schedule

On July 29, faculty members John Lieb (mathematics) and Andrew Kingsley ‘12 (English) hosted the Second Annual “Boswords” Crossword Tournament in the Palaistra on Roxbury Latin’s campus. This year the event drew 165 competitors—many for whom this was a first crossword tournament. (Leading up to the tournament, Boswords even earned a plug by The Washington Post crossword constructor, Evan Birnholz.)

The now-popular event draws young people and adults who can register for the advanced or novice divisions, or as a pair. Over the course of an afternoon, they solve puzzles developed by eight different constructors. (Puzzles from this year’s tournament, as well as last year’s, are available on the Boswords 2018 website.)

In the championship round, the top three solvers squared off for the Boswords title, which ultimately went to solver Katie Hamill. Prizes ranged from the entry fee to the 2018 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, to subscriptions to the American Values Club Crossword, to a crossword book of the winner’s choosing. In addition to crossword puzzle solving, Boswords-goers had the chance to connect with other solvers from around the area.

At the edge of Roxbury Latin’s 50 acres of undeveloped forest is the school’s newest—and most unusual—campus addition: an outdoor classroom seating 80 students, equipped with a secured white board and a teacher’s table that doubles as a water-tight storage container. The classroom was completed in May and has already seen use—most recently by faculty during end-of-year meetings. When classes begin in August (and when weather permits!) the classroom will host a steady stream of students and faculty throughout the school year.

Faculty from all academic departments are eager to take advantage of the new space—none more so than science faculty member Elizabeth Carroll, whose Class VI Natural Design students spend the first four weeks of the school year working daily in the R.L. forest, learning the fundamentals of the scientific process: how to make scientific observations, collect data, formulate a hypothesis, and test it. The new outdoor classroom will enable seamless transition between traditional instruction and students’ exploration in the field. Similarly, Mrs. Carroll’s Class I Environmental Science class spends several weeks outside in the fall learning how ecosystems function and how to “read the forested landscape”—observing the details of current forest conditions and determining the history of that particular site.

The outdoor classroom was made possible by generous contributions from members of the R.L. community. The Arthur Vining Davis Science Fund awarded a grant to the school toward construction of the space, and Liberty Cedar Company of West Kingston, Rhode Island, provided the classroom’s 16 reclaimed oak log benches.

Brendan Gibbons (II) reported on the new classroom space in the spring issue of The Tripod; in that article he quoted Cam Keough (II), who is eager to experience class in the great outdoors: “[It’s] exciting that R.L. is branching out and implementing new education methods that challenge traditional learning.”

This spring marked year two of the popular RL@Work program. Led by Andy Chappell, R.L.’s Director of Studies and Strategic Initiatives, the program provides boys with an off-campus experience of discovery and growth—through visits to places of work, encounters with professionals, facilitated group discussions, individual reflection, and engagement in hands-on design challenges and case studies. Consistent with the school’s mission, the program helps boys imagine how they might “lead and serve” in the years ahead. RL@Work offers boys exposure to various professions and types of leadership, challenging real-world problems, and solutions in-the-making, preparing them for citizenship, service, work, and the world.

More than forty generous alumni, parents, former R.L. parents, and friends of the school—writers, lawyers, doctors, engineers, judges, developers, investors, professors, business owners—shared their time and passions with 53 Class II boys during the final days of the school year. Boys trekked throughout Boston and Cambridge over four days, many getting their first taste of the MBTA commuting experience.

The first of the program’s four days focused on science and medicine, during which small groups of Class II boys spent the morning at various medical and research institutions. At Harvard’s MEDscience Simulation Lab, boys sewed sutures and assessed vitals on high-tech practice “dummies” designed to blink, bleed, pulse and cry as appropriate. One group practiced their laparoscopic surgery skills at the STRATUS Center for Medical Simulation at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Another group visited Boston Sports and Shoulder Center and a local medical supply company where they repaired shoulders and knees, using state-of-the-art simulation dummies. Finally, six boys had the once-in-a-lifetime experience of scrubbing into two heart bypass surgeries, care of Dr. Streckenbach, an anesthesiologist with Mass General Hospital and parent to two R.L. boys. The entire group convened later that afternoon on MIT’s campus to hear from Mr. Iqbal Dhaliwal P’21 and his team at the Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) where researchers are combating poverty around the world with tangible solutions, based on economics.

Days two and three of the program focused on entrepreneurship of all kinds. One morning began with a presentation by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and R.L. parent Gareth Cook, who spoke with boys about the rewards and perils of journalism in today’s climate. After a discussion with Mr. Cook in the Evans Choral Room, the boys and their chaperones walked to the nearby commuter rail station to head further into the city, for meetings and activities with tech startups, real estate investors, designers, and a range of individuals working on innovative, interdisciplinary solutions through MIT’s Media Lab, coordinated by R.L. parent John Werner.

The final day of the program focused on law and public service, and, in small groups, students met with nearly twenty men and women whose life’s work is focused, in various forms, on justice. From an assistant U.S. attorney, to a white-collar criminal defense attorney, to a real estate and property lawyer, to a panel led by Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley P’14, boys gained a perspective on the many forms that a law career, and a career in public service, can take.

The culmination of the four days found the boys in the Champions Club at Fenway Park with three members of the Red Sox franchise, including Mike Regan ’04, Assistant Director of Baseball Administration; Steve Kelley ’09, Manager of Business Development; and Tim Zue, Executive Vice President and CFO of the Boston Red Sox. The trio reinforced to the boys, by virtue of their own professional experiences, the themes that over four day had become familiar in any successful pursuit, regardless of the profession or discipline: the importance of teamwork and communication; willingness to fail and learn from that failure; creating networks and developing relationships; being open to the unknown, and to exploring new ideas; working hard and being persistent; and understanding that the path to meaningful success isn’t always traditional or straightforward. (Afterward, the boys stayed with members of the faculty to watch the Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-3, under sunny skies.)

The boys take away lots of lessons and inspiration from four intensive days. One reflected, “As Marvin said at Mass General: ‘Do something that—no matter how stressed you may be at work one day—still makes you happy to go back the next day.’” Another said, “It’s clear that R.L. is preparing me for a life of work and service. Now I can truly see what I am working for.”

We are grateful to the more than 40 men and women who generously shared their time, talents and spaces to provide our boys an insider’s view on so many possibilities and paths toward meaningful pursuits:

Andrew Eyre ‘02, Stratus Center for Medical Simulation, Brigham and Women’s Julie Joyal and Dr. Britt Lee P‘22, Harvard Medical School, MEDscience Simulation Lab Scott Streckenbach P’19, ‘22, Mass General Hospital Paul Weitzel ’86, P’16, ’18, ’20, ’22, Boston Sports and Shoulder Center, New England Baptist Hospital Iqbal Dhaliwal, P’21, Executive Director of Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action LabGareth Cook, P’20, New York Times Magazine, Contributing Writer Peggy Eysenbach, Nancy Adams, and Matt McCambridge ’94, MIT D-Lab and Edgerton Center Lou Goldish, MIT Venture Mentoring Service Dave Grossman ‘97 and Jake Grossman ‘00, Grossman Companies Gavin Murphy ‘98, Annkissam Eben Pingree ’00, Evertrue John Werner, P’21, MIT Media Lab, CEO of Aria and Vice President of Meta Michael Berk P’19, ’21, TA Associates Chris Mitchell ‘89, Spectrum Equity Greg Schmergel ’86 and Rahul Sen, Nantero Ron Allen ’95, Shire, and Dave Giordano ’96, Giordano and Chavous Mark Balthazard P’13, ’14, Assistant US Attorney, and Greg Noonan ’94, Hogan Lovells Paul Evans ’03, and Bob O’Connor ’85, DLA Piper Guy Green ’13, Peter Walkingshaw ‘06, Peter Rosenberg P’05, ’09, and John Wang, P’24, Ropes and Gray Tim Silva ‘88, and Arjun Jaikumar, ’01, WilmerHaleDan Conley, P’14, Suffolk County District AttorneyAttorneys Frank Kanin ’06, Pat Haggan, Peter Pasciucco ’01, Ramon Pascual ’07, Gavin Pittore ’12, Rob Settana ‘01, Ed Zabin, P’23 Tim Zue, Steve Kelley ’09, Mike Regan ’04, Boston Red Sox Organization