On Saturday, 2 June, Class III French students boarded a plane for Caen, France and Class III Spanish students embarked for Cadiz, Spain. Both groups make up RL’s signature month-long language immersion program, now in its eighth year. The students are keeping blogs of their studies and adventures, their adoptive (homestay) families, and their own reflections and discoveries. Follow them as they unfold via the links below: Caen, FranceCadiz, Spain
On the morning of 2 June, the 373rd year of The Roxbury Latin School ended with Closing Exercises and the graduation of the Class of 2018. When Headmaster Brennan finished reading the names of the 48 members of Class I, and each had received his diploma from Board Chair Bob O’Connor ’85, thunderous applause burst forth from the family members, friends, and faculty who filled Rousmaniere Hall. Following the benediction, the tolling of the school bell, and a rousing rendition of The Founder’s Song, all in attendance streamed outside onto the Senior Grass for hugs, handshakes, and farewells. (See photos)
Class valedictorian Thomas Bulger spoke on the subject of humility, a quality he saw in his classmates and which, among other things, “made this class special.” An accomplished student of the Classics, Tom began by offering Socrates as an example of what humility is not. (“Students appreciated that he recognized how much he did not know, but for a man who recognized how little he knows, he sure liked to show people how much he did know.”) Tom went on to describe in poignant anecdotes the many examples of humility shown by his classmates over their six years together. In closing, he said,
“There is no better example of character than taking time from your own life to help a person in need, especially when it would be all too easy to keep your extraordinary talents to yourself. …It’s not about whether or not you all change the world, because I am confident that you will. It’s about the manner in which you do it. I call on you today to keep your humility and to keep your character…. Continue to lend a hand to the struggling man, not in hope that it may one day be reciprocated, but because you all know it is the right thing to do.”
The commencement speaker was faculty member Dr. Sally Stevens, retiring this year after eleven years with the school. Having taught many of the Class of 2018 in her economics and history courses (and guided as many through the college application process), Dr. Stevens took this opportunity to draw deeply from her own expertise to address “some challenges facing the United States that will engage the Class of 2018 now and as adults when they are long gone from their seats of honor.” She discussed the ways in which Russia, China, and the US have evolved since WWII and the ways that the resulting relative power shifts are challenging what binds our nation together: “Not blood, not religion, not race, but a secular liturgy that proclaims all men, and women, are created equal.…”:
“The United States is not entitled to forever enjoy the privileged position it held after WWII and after the end of the Cold War. Yet, without correcting flaws in our economic policy, we will find our remaining privileges waning in the years ahead. Without paying attention and exercising our citizenship responsibilities, we risk compromising our political system. The task for you—the Class of 2018—is to ask questions, to search for what is true, and to be active and involved citizens in the long-term future of the country that has given you so very much.”
Three major senior prizes were also awarded during Closing Ceremonies.
The Richard A. Berenberg Prize, for generosity of spirit and concern for others, was presented to Reis White.
The Class of 1913 Award, for significant contributions to the life of the School, was presented to Andrew White.
The William Coe Collar Award, for achievements and contributions to the School that are deemed by the faculty as most deserving of recognition, was presented to two boys: Ben LaFond and David Ma.
On 30 May the Class of 2018 took their front row seats in Hall for the last time as the First Class, and anticipated, along with the classes behind them, this year’s roster of prize-winners and their plaudits. Every year its singular purpose is to recognize discernible excellence in all areas of school life and across every class. (See photos here.)
Major athletic awards to Class I: ISL: Ayinde Best Sportsmanship: Evan Lim Scholar-Athlete: Paul Kuechler Best Athlete: Jim Duffy Varsity Athletic awards to Class I:Soccer: Ben Bryant Lacrosse: Thomas Englert Hockey: James Duffy and Zach Milton Tennis: Harris Foulkes Football: Thomas Bulger Basketball: Sawyer Wellman Track & Field: Paul Kuechler Cross Country: Ben Lawlor Wrestling: Evan Lim Baseball: Robert Crawford Major book awards to boys in Class II:Holy Cross Book Award: Nate Lopes Brown University Book Award: Erik Zou Dartmouth Book Award: Rohan Sheth Harvard Book Prize: Ethan Kee Academic awards:The Joseph A. Sasserno French Deturs: George Madison V, Thomas Gaziano IV, Christopher Zhu III, Dominc Gaziano II, Reis White I Headmaster’s Spanish Deturs: Eli Bailit V, Daniel Berk IV, Michael Stankovich III, Tomas Gustafsson II, Robert Crawford I The Isabel M. Fowler History Prizes: Nicholas Frumkin VI, Peter Frates IV, Andrew Zhang III, John Frates II, Andrew Steinberg I The Richard M. Whitney Science Deturs: Gabriel Stankovich VI, Mark Henshon V, Andrew Zhang III, Rohan Sheth II The N. Henry Black Science Detur: Zach Levin I The Donald L. Whittle Deturs: Justin Shaw VI, Vishnu Emani V, John Carroll IV, Chris Zhu III, Kalyan Palepu II The Islay F. McCormick Mathematics Prize: David Ma I The Anna Cabot Lowell Deturs in English: Tait Oberg VI, Theodore Glaeser V, Ethan Phan IV, Jonathan Weiss III, Erik Zou II, Dylan Zhou I The Trustees’ Greek Deturs: Jonathan Weiss III, Coleman Smith II, Ben LaFond I The Anna Cabot Lowell Deturs in Latin: Robert Zabin VI, Vishnu Emani V, Daniel Sun-Friedman IV, John Harrington III, Gilbert Rosenthal II, Ben LaFond Extra-curricular awards:Lower School Latin Declamation Prize: Robert O’Grady Upper School Latin Declamation Prize: Coleman Smith Greek Declamation Prize: Thomas Bulger The Cameron A. Rylance Music Prize: Ben Lawlor The Ralph F.F. Brooks Art Prize: Andrew Gray The Philip A. Kaye Prize: Justin Shaw The Joan M. Regan Service Prize: Cole Englert The Class of 1976 Dramatics Prize: Andrew White and Reis White The Gerhard Rehder Prize in International Relations: Connor Dowd The Albert W. Kelsey Debate Prize: Joe Nero and Andrew Steinberg The Publications Award: Robert Crawford
For four concentrated weeks each spring, Class V students convene every C Block for a rich lesson in what it means to be a responsible, engaged, informed citizen of the United States. This Civics mini-course, conceived of by Headmaster Kerry Brennan, has been a hallmark of the Class V program since 2011. Through it, students learn early in their R.L. tenure how their government works, what their civil rights and responsibilities are, and what service to country and commonwealth can look like.
History Department Chair Stewart Thomsen kicks off the course with an Introduction to Civics—what the term means, and what the boys can expect in the coming weeks. On day two, Mr. Brennan walks the boys through the American election process, digging deeply into the federal branches of government and how the individuals in those seats come to arrive there. He offers the history and current state of the electoral college; the difference between primaries and caucuses; the steps toward running for our nation’s highest office; and the voter turnout percentages during recent presidential elections.
During the perennial favorite “May Madness” competition, the boys face a test of knowledge connected with the naturalization process for U.S. citizenship. This test segues into an introduction to immigration, offered by Mr. Thomsen and faculty member Chris Heaton of the History Department, who plays a key role in organizing the course. A major highlight of the immigration unit is when members of the Roxbury Latin community share their personal immigration stories and their various paths to citizenship. This year French master Ousmane Diop; Eli Roumally of R.L.’s Buildings and Grounds team; and Elias Simeonov of Class II generously told the boys their varied and personal tales of how they arrived in the United States and what made them stay.
A keystone of the Civics course is a series of guest speakers who represent different avenues of public service. This spring, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gareth Cook (father of Aidan Cook, Class III) walked the boys through exercises designed to help them identify “fake news,”; former R.L. parent and Boston City Councilor Mark Ciommo, with his associate Daniel Polanco, spoke with boys about their different roles and paths to serving with the City Council; and finally Dr. William Sparks (father of Andrew Sparks, Class V) discussed the critical role of the military staff corps—the lawyers, engineers, supply specialists, nurses, doctors—who ensure that other active duty service members and their families have the resources they need to do their jobs. Dr. Sparks served as a pediatric anesthesiologist for the Naval Medical Corps.
While boys enter the month-long course with various levels of interest and awareness about these topics, they all enhance their knowledge and walk away with a well-rounded understanding.
Reunion kicked off on Friday, 11 May, with RL Today, a program that welcomes alumni back to campus while school is in session. Alumni attended an all-school Hall, followed by lunch in the Bernstein Tea Room. The program concluded with an address by the Headmaster and a discussion with a panel of seniors in the Evans Choral Room. Students led alumni on tours of the campus before and after the scheduled events. Many guests saw for the first time such recent additions to the school as the IDEA Lab, the Evans Choral Room, and the Indoor Athletic Facility and Hennessy Rink. (RL Today photos.)
On Friday evening, the 25th Anniversary Class (1993) enjoyed a family supper reception in the IAF, sharing the occasion with their parents, spouses, and children. (25th Reunion photos.)
Alumni returned Saturday morning for a program—new this year!—called Back to School, in which they were students again in classes taught by Joe Kerner (poetry), Mo Randall (comparative literature), Sally Stevens (The United States’ Place in the World), and Nate Piper (STEAM and the Maker Culture). (Back to School photos.)
Varsity home games began at 12:30 p.m., despite the damp, and alumni and families came out to support our teams while enjoying barbecue fare under the arches of the Gordon Field House alongside Schoolhouse Field. (See Family Day photos.)
Reunion 2018 culminated in RL’s annual Cocktail Party and Dinner on Saturday evening. Rain kept the party indoors but at no expense to the festivities. Some 260 alumni and guests returned to Alma Mater, representing classes from 1953 on. (Reception photos, Class photos.)
Each spring, boys in Class V enrich their science curriculum with a day trip to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI), on the southeastern point of Cape Cod. For nearly 15 years, this hands-on experience has been a popular culmination of students’ fourth marking period studies in their Introduction to Physical Science course, which focuses on water quality.
Through RL alumnus Mike Earley ’87, the science department faculty communicated with Rob Reynolds, a Woods Hole Guest Investigator and founder of the Zephyr Education Foundation. Mr. Reynolds organizes educational investigation experiences for students using a boat that easily fits the entire class and includes sampling and video monitoring equipment. Onboard, students are able to view (through a camera filming the bottom of the ocean in real time) different ecosystems existing at different depths. Using his sampling nets Mr. Reynolds collects organisms from the sandy ocean bottom for the students to handle and examine up close.
Once the boys disembark, they hear from Dave Bailey—a research assistant in applied ocean physics and engineering. This year, he spoke with the boys about aquaculture from both scientific research and commercial perspectives.
With the help of RL alumnus Jim Flynn ’75—a member of the Woods Hole development team—students were invited aboard the US Navy’s state-of-the-art research vessel, the Neil Armstrong, which is operated by WHOI.
“The entire day has great value to the boys,” says Dean of Students Paul Sugg, a member of the science faculty and longtime teacher of the IPS course. “Just being away from campus, as a class, is a good way to spend a day, but being able to experience, firsthand, the life and work of a major research community—that’s invaluable to the boys. They get a sense of how significant Woods Hole is in the world of biological research. And because we have all these wonderful RL alumni who help us make this kind of trip happen, the boys gain perspective on the value of the broader RL community. They understand another way in which they might contribute to the school once they’ve graduated.”
On the trip home from Woods Hole, the group stops at a salt marsh to study, close-up, an estuary, which is relevant to the topic they’re covering in class.
“When the boys return to class, they’re presenting projects related to their study of Charles River water quality, and every year there’s mention of what we saw at Woods Hole, what we learned down there. It’s all connected,” says Dean Sugg. “When we began the Charles River water quality testing unit 15 years ago, water quality wasn’t as much of a mainstream story. That area of science has only become increasingly relevant and applicable.”
Tenzin Thargay, RL Class of 2014, has received a Fulbright U.S. Student Program award to South Korea in political science from the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Tenzin will conduct his research at Hanyang University’s Center for Energy Governance and Security as part of a project to examine how political party affiliation influences local attitudes on nuclear energy.
On 11 May, Tenzin will graduate from University of Massachusetts Amherst, completing dual degrees in political science and Chinese language and literature, as a Commonwealth College Honors student. He has earned a certificate in public policy, as well as an International Scholars Program certificate. Tenzin has also been named one of ten recipients of this year’s 21st Century Leader Awards, and he will deliver the student address at the University’s commencement ceremony.
Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement, as well as record of service and leadership potential in their respective fields. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government, designed to build lasting connections between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The Fulbright Program is funded through an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The program operates in more than 160 countries worldwide.
Since its inception in 1946, the Fulbright Program has given more than 380,000 students, scholars, teachers, artists, professionals, and scientists the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas, and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. Fulbrighters address critical global challenges in all areas while building relationships, knowledge, and leadership in support of the long-term interests of the United States. Fulbright alumni have achieved distinction in many fields, including 59 who have been awarded the Nobel Prize, 82 who have received Pulitzer Prizes, and 37 who have served as a head of state or government.
Sam Trabucco ’11 was the focus of the New York Times’ April Wordplay feature, “Who Made My Puzzle.” This millennial has already published ten puzzles in the NYT.
Sam is a protégé of crossword maestro David Quarfoot, who taught for a few key years at Roxbury Latin and in that short time planted a hardy seed for future RL puzzle makers. Sam calls his first puzzle—published in Tripod, RL’s student paper—“terrible…a one-off, fun project I might have forgotten about a few weeks later if not for the auspicious introduction of David Quarfoot to my high school’s math department my senior year.” Mr. Quarfoot encouraged Sam to start writing crosswords seriously, directing him to the best puzzle-making software and quality word lists and offering lots of advice.
Sam, a 2015 MIT graduate with degrees in math and computer science, always enjoyed puzzles as a child, especially Scrabble and word games in general. “Paper puzzling” began in earnest for him after he attended his first MIT Mystery Hunt as a high school junior; after that he started solving crosswords regularly. As for their creation, he finds grid construction “a fun and satisfying problem to solve, and theme development/clever cluing to be nice creative outlets.” He also enjoys sharing his puzzles with friends, watching them solve them, and hearing their feedback.
In addition to Sam, Mr. Quarfoot’s RL disciples include Math Department chair John Lieb and then-student Andrew Kingsley ’12 (now a member of the English faculty), both of whom have since had numerous puzzles published in the NYT. Mr. Lieb first revealed his wordplay avocation in 2012 when he teamed up with Mr. Quarfoot to produce an RL-themed crossword for The Newsletter. He had only been constructing them for two years when his first puzzle appeared in the NYT in 2013.
Most recently, Messrs. Lieb and Kingsley collaborated on a puzzle that appeared on Saturday, 28 April. They enjoy their shared interest. “As a duo, we find we work nicely together,” says Mr. Kingsley, “especially since we can pop into each other’s office during free periods and talk shop.” Last summer, they teamed up to create a crossword tournament—Boswords— at Roxbury Latin. The first-of-its-kind event attracted 149 competitors from all over New England. (Mr. Quarfoot provided a challenging championship puzzle for the top three competitors.)
Who knew back in 1645 that John Eliot’s “little nursery” would also become—370-odd years later—a little incubator of master crossword makers?
What: 40th Annual Roxbury Latin Giant Yard Sale Where: The Roxbury Latin School, 101 St. Theresa Ave., West Roxbury When: Saturday, May 5, 9 a.m.–1 p.m., rain or shine.
Mark your calendars for this fun, long-standing community event. Treasures abound for everyone in the school gymnasium, including games and toys, furniture, jewelry, linens, books, boutique items, home décor/holiday, sporting goods, A/V equipment and computers, appliances, and clothing. And don’t miss the best baked goods table around!
Doors open at 9 a.m. Students will be available to help you carry your newest treasures to your car.
All are welcome. Be sure to stop in this year!
Jonathan Edwards has, for nearly five decades, built a musical career of uncompromising integrity, delivering songs of passion, insight, and humor. A cornerstone of America’s folk music tradition, Mr. Edwards has traveled the world—the “barefoot troubadour”—performing for legions of fans. On 19 April, Mr. Edwards performed (with shoes on!) in the Smith Theater, as this year’s Andrew Daland ’46 Memorial Concert.
Mr. Edwards, who began performing music at age eight, built a following by playing on Saturday nights in the lobbies of college dorms throughout New England. He soon found himself opening for national acts, including the Allman Brothers Band and B. B. King. In 1971 he recorded his first—eponymously titled—studio album, for which he earned mainstream attention. His song “Sunshine” made its way to the top five on the national charts, earning him a gold record. He has recorded 18 studio albums to date—many critically acclaimed, and many cultural markers for our time.
Vigilant over the years about maintaining his own work-life balance, he advises young, aspiring performers on balancing personal life and career. In 2001, he hosted Cruising America’s Waterways, a PBS documentary series in which he traveled by boat from the Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence River to Key West. In 2008, a documentary of Mr. Edwards’ life and career titled That’s What Our Life Is was released.
Mr. Edwards prides himself on “taking good care of an audience.” He delivered for an audience of RL boys, faculty and staff, with lyrics accompanied by guitar, piano and harmonica—songs ranging from his 1971 hits “Sunshine” and “Shanty,” to ballads “Emma” and “Don’t Cry Blue,” to a tune off his album Tomorrow’s Child, titled “Gracie,” inspired by his daughter.
The Andrew Daland ’46 Memorial Concert Fund was established by Andrew’s wife, Pamela Worden, and his family and friends, with the purpose of bringing a musical concert to Roxbury Latin boys each year in Mr. Daland’s memory. Since the Fund’s establishment, the school has been privileged to hear guitarist Jason Vieaux; the a cappella group, Cantus; Elijah Rock; Roxbury Latin’s own, violinist Stefan Jackiw, Class of 2003; and last year, Yale’s Whiffenpoofs. The School is grateful for the generosity that fuels this musical experience each year, and we were honored to have Ms. Worden join us for this year’s Daland Concert performance.