On Ash Wednesday Sister Barbara Rogers, headmistress of Newton Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, addressed the School in Hall. It is Roxbury Latin’s tradition to commemorate the major religions during the year. Last fall we heard from Rabbi Wesley Gardenswartz during the Jewish High Holy Days. For Christians Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, the penitential season leading up to Easter.

Fundamental to keeping a holy Lent is the awareness of our own mortality. “Remember, oh man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return,” the priest says while making a sooty smudge on foreheads. Sister Barbara focused her remarks on the implications of this fact—specifically how Jesus’s human experience can guide us through the desert pilgrimage of Lent’s 40 days.

“Christians believe that Jesus is true God and true man. I want to talk about Jesus as true man.” Sister Barbara explained that Jesus was attracted to the zealots and radicals who wanted to overthrow Roman rule and return Israel to self-governance. Judas Iscariot was one, John the Baptist was another. Jesus probably waited in a long line to be baptised by John, and when the moment came he heard God’s call (“my beloved son”). Anxious for what it meant, he wandered the desert for answers. It was there he faced three temptations: to make bread out of stones to relieve his own hunger; to jump from a pinnacle and rely on angels to break his fall; and to worship the devil in return for all the kingdoms of the world. Managing to resist all three, he left the desert to engage with the world—and God’s call.

Sister Barbara reminded us that we too are called to engage with the world, and listen for God’s call. “What am I going to do with this great education?” We are confronted with the temptation to power. Or we doubt God’s call: we squander the gifts we have been given; we view life as a sideshow. We are tempted to step back from engagement with life, to not be our fullest selves.

“Lent is an invitation to know how loved you are and to listen for that which you are being called to,” she said. “Jesus chose the route of being with the poor.” As true man, Jesus understood mortality: that at the end of life, all that is left is our good deeds.

As part of his welcome to Sister Barbara, Kerry Brennan noted that RL and NCDS share some common history. NCDS moved to its current location in 1925, just two years before RL moved in 1927 from Roxbury to West Roxbury. They expanded their school from four Commonwealth Avenue townhouses to the Loren D. Towle estate in Newton, which was designed by the legendary architect and Roxbury Latin graduate, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., Class of 1890. Like RL, NCDS develops the intellectual and spiritual side of students while encouraging them to dedicate their individual talents and gifts to others.”

A sister of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (RSCJ) and an energetic, effective, and beloved school leader, Sister Barbara earned an undergraduate degree at Manhattanville College and an MBA from Yale. Over her 27 years as headmistress of NCDS, she has had a significant impact on its growth and advancement including increasing the endowment and building a new science lab and arts center.  

Looking for an antidote to a bleak mid-February? Try two ensemble performances in the space of a week.

Symphony Nova is a confederation of aspiring musicians who play in large ensembles but more often in chamber configurations. The group handpicks its fellows annually from top conservatories, and five of these (on flute, clarinet, oboe, French horn, and bassoon) presented a chamber music recital in Rousmaniere on 9 February. Based in Boston, Symphony Nova was founded in 2007 and gives four concerts each year in Old South Church (Copley Square). See photos here.

RL’s own Jazz Combo primed the pump just five days earlier with a stunning recital hall in the Smith Theater on 3 February. Coached by pianist David Leach ’09—who logged many performances himself while a student at Roxbury Latin—the Jazz Combo includes Aiden Collins I (electric guitar), Liam O’Connor V (trombone), Ian Richardson V (drums), Jack Ringel V (trumpet), Jake Wexelblatt III (sax), and Josh Winograd II (trumpet). See photos here.

Sandwiched between the first two real snowstorms of the winter, the February Flurry on Saturday evening, 6 February, drew a festive crowd of parents, faculty, and staff. The Parents’ Auxiliary’s annual mid-winter bash (inaugurated back in 2009 as The Moveable Feast) brings the School community together for excellent food, great conversation, and wonderful entertainment.

As has been true for past Flurries, this year’s featured guest performed in Hall for the whole school earlier in the week as the Claire Berman Artist in Residence. Livingston Taylor, professor of voice and stage performance at Berklee, shared his wisdom and advice on the art of performance on 2 February in the Smith Theater for the boys (his book, The Care and Feeding of Your Audience, says it all), and came back for the Flurry-goers to perform his music on the stage.

Livingston Taylor picked up his first guitar at the age of 13, beginning a 40-year career that has encompasses performance, songwriting, and teaching. Born in Boston and raised in North Carolina, Livingston is the fourth child in a musical family that includes James Taylor and has recorded multiple top 40 hits. He has been teaching at Berklee for the last 25 years.

Congratulations to our parent volunteers in the PA for another spectacular event!

Photos of Livingston Taylor’s Hall on 2 February

Photos of the FlurryPhotos of Livingston Taylor at the Flurry

This year’s student production was Frederick Knott’s Wait Until Dark, starring Class I’s Joseph Fleming, Noah Piou, and Jake Rooney. Performed on the Smith Theater stage on Thursday, January 28th, the production was a result of just four weeks of hard work on the part of the eight cast members, Director Evan Epstein I, Stage Manager Andrew White II and his stage crew, and faculty advisors Mr. Nelson, Mr. Buckley, and Ms. Dunn. There was a great turnout (and even some terrified screams!).In classic RL style, the next day Director Epstein went on to clinch a victory for the varsity wrestling team, winning the last match of the meet against Nobles. No rest for the weary! See photos of the production.See photos of the the tech crew at work.

Class III Physics students recently competed in a bridge building competition as part of a unit on engineering. Required to meet certain size specifications, the boys were challenged to build the lightest bridge possible that would support the heaviest load. The bridges had to span 40 cm, be no more than 8 cm wide, and support a minimum of 10kg (about 25 lbs) to be awarded a base score. Additional points were awarded for high quality construction, aesthetics, and weight to load ratio at failure.

The result was a vast array of spans including arched, suspension, and a great variety of trusses. In the end, ten of the structures were able to support the 400-lb load without failing. The lightest bridge to do so (at 81 grams) was designed by Harry Weitzel. It held up under more than 2,200 times its own weight!

In support of this challenge, these same students have been studying the nature of structures, stability, and strength of materials, and as part of the class took a tour of the active construction site currently surrounding the campus. Led by the lead on-site engineer for Shawmut, the discussion focused on the importance of reinforced concrete piers, the three-foot deep steel I-beams (which will span the indoor athletic center) and the large equipment used to move the heavy loads.

The visit also gave students a clearer understanding of the amount of planning required before any major building project can begin. From excavation and grading to foundation work and steel placement, every stage depends on knowing exactly what lies beneath the surface. Even the most carefully designed structures can face costly setbacks when underground lines or hidden infrastructure are overlooked during early construction phases.

That is why contractors and developers often rely on experienced private utility locators before breaking ground on a project. Identifying buried electrical lines, water systems, communication cables, and older undocumented utilities helps crews work more safely and efficiently while reducing delays once construction is underway. In many ways, proper site preparation remains just as important as the engineering that eventually rises above it.

Once the groundwork is properly understood and subsurface risks are accounted for, attention naturally extends to how that same foundation behaves long after construction crews leave the site, particularly when structural loads, soil movement, and moisture exposure begin interacting over time.

Even the strongest engineered systems can experience gradual shifts or stress points if underlying support conditions change, making long-term stability monitoring and preventative reinforcement an important part of ensuring that the original design intent continues to hold up under real-world use. In this phase, early signs of settlement, minor cracking, or water seepage are treated not as isolated issues but as indicators of how the structure and its base are performing as a single interconnected system.

To address these risks effectively, modern construction practices increasingly integrate both preventative design measures and corrective systems that support the longevity of foundational elements, particularly in areas where basements or substructures are exposed to groundwater pressure or shifting soil conditions. Within this scope, Better Basements and Waterproofing is associated with solutions that support foundation stability and manage water intrusion challenges through targeted repair and protection strategies, helping ensure that buildings remain structurally sound, resilient, and capable of sustaining performance well beyond their initial construction phase.

Despite careful engineering and protective groundwork, real-world conditions can still introduce sudden stressors that challenge even well-designed systems, particularly when water finds unintended pathways through soil, joints, or concealed structural interfaces. Once intrusion occurs, the priority shifts toward rapid containment, where limiting saturation spread and stabilizing affected materials becomes essential to preventing deeper deterioration within both visible and hidden layers of the structure.

At this stage, response is less about long-term planning and more about immediate corrective action, ensuring that moisture is removed efficiently and conditions are returned to a controlled state before secondary complications such as weakening materials or microbial growth can develop. Water Damage Restoration Salt Lake City fits within this urgent response framework, focusing on fast intervention, extraction, and drying processes that help bring affected environments back toward stability while reducing the risk of escalating structural or environmental damage.

See bridge challenge photos here.

Pumping up for the Winter Family Weekend and its lineup of athletic contests, seniors led an all-school pep rally in the Gordon Field House. Topping it off was the signing of the beam for the new indoor athletic facility, the construction of which is underway.The whole school filled the bleachers in the Gordon Field House as Class I’s “Pep Boys” led the cheers. Act II was a hilarious mismatch of sixies facing off against seniors at the hoops before Latin master Darian Reid ’05 settled the matter with a slam-dunk. RL Football mascot, the Fox, made an appearance to everyone’s delight. Finally, the boys filed outside, by class, to sign their names on the I-beam, which was set up for the purpose and will become part of the new indoor athletic facility.See photos here.Winter Family Weekend saw victories for varsity hockey over Groton, varsity wrestling and third basketball over Nobles, and junior hockey over Thayer. Varsity and jv basketball ceded to Nobles after close, hard-fought games.

The RL Math Team competed at the annual Exeter Math Club Competition at Phillips Exeter on 23 January, up against 60 other middle school teams from the US, Canada, China, and Korea. Teammates Eric Ma V, Jack Ringel V, Daniel Sun-Friedman VI, and Christopher Zhu V scored into the top 10 teams, ranking 10th in the final round. Christopher Zhu also won the Individual High Honor award.

A week earlier on 17 January the RL Robotics Team was a Tournament Finalist at the VEX Robotics Competition, qualifying for the Southern New England Championship to be held 5 March in Worcester. Teammates Ian Balaguera V, Robert Cunningham III, Kalyan Palepu IV, and Christopher Zhu V, coached by RL Science Department Chairman Robert Moore, formed one of the 35 teams competing in the middle school and high school challenge. 

RL crowned eight champions to edge a strong Beat-the-Streets Providence team, as well as seven other school programs. RL champions include fifthies Avi Attar, Matthew Cefail, and Daniel Gillis. Sixies champs were Alex Fuqua, Miguel Rimon, Ben Chang-Holt, Sam Morris-Kliment, and Elias Oriz.

Steve Pope ’09 recently arrived in Tanzania to work and teach as a Maryknoll Lay Missioner. He’s learning Swahili and its guttural clicks (“the ng sound comes from deep in the throat and is best executed when making that culture swab/strep throat-test noise”), and getting to know people at a nearby NGO that provides education and basic services for orphaned or neglected Tanzanian kids.

“Besides explaining the crop of 2016 presidential candidates over a meal of nyama ya kuku na wali na mchuzi (chicken, rice, and gravy), we’ve enjoyed many quality conversations. This Saturday, I went to see their work site, which included watching “Tom and Jerry” dubbed-over in Polish with dozens of Tanzanian pre-schoolers. The kids were fascinated by my existence, and found my arm hair to be of particular intrigue. They also didn’t seem to mind me using Swahili prepositions as verbs.”

Already his experiences have given him much to think about.

“In a culture in which hospitality is of supreme value, just as it was to the Ancient Israelites (I’m currently trudging my way through Genesis), one can be quickly and rightly charmed by Tanzanians’ genuine friendliness and warmth. I’ve met many gentle people, none more so than the cook at Makoko who sweetly addresses me as mwalimu (teacher). I always appreciate the cook’s cordial, grandfatherly demeanor and I enjoy trying out Swahili phrases with him. Yet I mustn’t pretend that his life is always as cheery as he seems. But I also mustn’t condescendingly assume that his life is unbearably burdensome and without joy!

“The struggle for me, and I assume others entering a radically different and poorer society than their own, is to respect people and accord them their dignity without assuming to understand more about their life than I do.”

Follow his blog here.