At Roxbury Latin, part of our work is to ask the bigger questions, and to consider who we are, spiritually. On the Jewish High Holy Days, as on the highest holidays of the Christian and Muslim traditions, we regularly hear from faith leaders from beyond our walls. In Hall on Thursday, we heard from three of our own.

In this most holy week of the Jewish calendar, seniors Andrew Steinberg, Jake Wexelblatt, and Zach Levin offered fellow students, faculty and staff an education on the long history of the High Holy Days; the beloved traditions of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in their own homes and around the world; and even a tutorial on the shofar, an ancient musical instrument made from a ram’s horn.

Watch the video below for their full Hall presentation.

As a nine-year-old, Arn Chorn-Pond was one of hundreds of Cambodian children sent to prison camps when the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975. Under the life-saving tutelage of Youen Mek—a master artist—Arn survived by playing the flute, performing propaganda music to entertain soldiers and drown the sounds of executions. Forced into battle during the Vietnamese invasion, Arn escaped into the jungle and made his way over the border into Thailand. There, in dire health, he met The Reverend Peter Pond who formally adopted him and brought him to the United States.

Mr. Chorn-Pond spoke with boys and faculty in Hall this week, sharing his story, his music, and the resonant life lessons derived from both.

He spoke about his great struggle transitioning to life in the United States, where he faced the inability to communicate in English, discrimination for his brown skin, and derision for being an outsider. At the urging of his adoptive father, Arn learned to process his emotions and, ultimately, began to tell his story. That decision became a turning point for Arn, who eventually enrolled at Brown University, which he left after two years to co-found Children of War—an organization dedicated to helping children suffering traumas of all kinds. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Providence College and, since, has committed himself fully to humanitarian service and the arts.

An internationally-renowned human rights activist, he received the 1991 Amnesty International Human Rights Award, and the 1993 Kohl Foundation International Peace Prize, among other honors. His story is the subject of the book Never Fall Down—nominated for the National Book Award. An accomplished flautist, Mr. Chorn-Pond has performed with Grammy Award-winner Peter Gabriel and Grammy-nominated Ron Korb. He founded the Cambodian Living Arts, whose mission is to be a catalyst in a vibrant arts sector, in a country whose rich, artistic tradition was all but destroyed under Pol Pot’s regime.

Roxbury Latin students and adults benefitted from Mr. Chorn-Pond’s visit in great part due to the family of Andrew and Reis White, Class I, who have a long relationship with Cambodian Living Arts.

Curiosity, creativity, and commitment: This is the recipe that Dr. Michael McElroy—eminent scholar of environmental studies—suggests to combat the effects of climate change. The first of four Smith Visiting Scholars to discuss the science and policies of climate change this year, Dr. McElroy has been devoted to this teaching and research at Harvard for 47 years.

To begin his talk, Dr. McElroy explained the Earth’s “energy budget”—the dynamics of energy derived from the sun, and how that energy is absorbed, reflected, and distributed. He explained how the presence of water vapor in our atmosphere affords us a climate that sustains life on Earth, and how increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere alters climate conditions.

Basically, he explained, the Earth is absorbing more energy than it is reflecting back, increasing the planet’s temperatures, especially in our oceans. Heat accumulated in deeper parts of the ocean will stay warmer longer, contributing to changing ecological zones, rising sea levels, and more powerful storms.

Possible solutions, Dr. McElroy suggests, include a concerted global shift from our reliance on coal and natural gas to renewable forms of energy, such as wind and solar. That would involve an investment in our country’s infrastructure to support and improve transmission of that energy, and an ability to effectively store energy derived from variable sources. “Historically,” Dr. McElroy says, “the United States and China have been the world’s largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, and it will depend on those countries to show leadership and commitment to combatting the rise of CO2 in Earth’s atmosphere.”

“We’re at a critical time on this planet, and meaningful changes will have to be a collective investment, globally and with international connectivity,” says Dr. McElroy, who met with students and faculty after his presentation to answer questions and continue the conversation.

After serving for several years as the Abbott Lawrence Rotch Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Dr. McElroy was named the Gilbert Butler Professor of Environmental Studies. He has also served as Director of Harvard’s Center for Earth and Planetary Physics, as founding Director of the Harvard University Center for the Environment, and as founding Chair of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. He currently leads Harvard’s China Project, an interdisciplinary research program on China’s atmospheric environment, energy system, and economy, collaborating across schools of Harvard and partner universities in China.

Dr. McElroy has been honored by several prestigious organizations, and published more than 250 journal articles, written or edited six books, and authored more than 30 articles in the well-known journals Nature and Science. He earned his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Applied Mathematics at Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Over the course of this year, R.L. students and faculty will hear from four prominent thought leaders working in the field of climate science and climate change policy, including Dr. Anthony Leiserowitz, Professor Maria Ivanova, and former administrator of the EPA, The Honorable Gina McCarthy.

In order to promote greater understanding of global issues, alumnus Robert Smith and his wife, Salua, established at Roxbury Latin the Robert P. Smith ’58 International Fellowship. It enables the School to bring visiting scholars to campus each year—individuals who enhance our curricula with insightful perspectives on our increasingly complex world. Past speakers have addressed topics ranging from modernization in China and India to World War I; economic globalization in Africa to Hispanic culture and literature.  

The National Merit Scholarship Program announced today the names of students in the Class of 2018, across the country, earning recognition for their academic achievement.  This year, 11 Roxbury Latin boys have been named National Merit Scholar semifinalists, and nine others have earned commendations from program officials.

In this 63rd 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 450 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 2018 National Merit Scholarship program by taking the 2016 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 Ben Bryant, Robert Cunningham, Marc de Fontnouvelle, Connor Dowd, Eoghan Downey, James Jaffer, Ben LaFond, David Ma, Andrew White, Reis White, Dylan Zhou; and commendation recipients John Golden, Gabriel Grajeda, Paul Kuechler, Zach Levin, Evan Lim, Zach Milton, John Philippides, Andrew Steinberg, and Benjamin Stick.

In response to Hurricane Harvey’s devastating impact on the city of Houston and surrounding communities, Mayor Marty Walsh issued a call for help: Boston’s “Help for Houston” drive mobilized individuals, organizations and businesses to collect items, assisting those in the wake of the storm.

Niall Dalton IV planted the seed that Roxbury Latin could get involved. Headmaster Kerry Brennan and Community Service Director Elaine Driscoll called upon students, faculty, staff and parents to contribute what they could—toiletries, diapers, blankets, clothing, food items.  The collection filled the back of Rousmaniere Hall, and on Thursday afternoon, boys packed the school’s largest truck to transport the items to the Jim Roche Community Arena in West Roxbury—a City of Boston drop site.  These items contributed to the city’s successful drive, which—in total—required nine tractor trailer trucks to transport the goods to Houston.

Thanks to all those who contributed to the drive, and special thanks to members of the Buildings and Grounds crew, who helped deliver the donations on the school’s behalf.

“People hesitate to profess the goal of happiness because they feel it diminishes other things they’ve been taught to value. My contention is that happiness vividly accompanies and complements those other values. In fact, I’m quite sure that most pursuits, even the seemingly most arduous ones, are enhanced by the person’s parallel quest for happiness.”

Under a cerulean sky and brilliant sun, Roxbury Latin began its 373rd school year. Before classes began, Headmaster Kerry Brennan addressed the School in Hall—a student body of exactly 300 including the 45 boys that comprise the new sixth class along with 16 boys added to Classes V, IV, and III—on the subject of happiness, “an especially noteworthy noun.”Before the Headmaster’s address, Mike Pojman read an essay on happiness by Michael Crichton, which aims to invalidate the mythology that surrounds the notion of happiness. To wit, “The more attention you lavish on yourself, the more unhappy you become. If you want to be happy, forget yourself. Forget all of it — how you look, how you feel, how your career is going. Just drop the whole subject of you.” In his talk, Mr. Brennan offered his own response to Crichton by both attesting to the validity of happiness as a goal to pursue and identifying the human endeavors that really can bring happiness, including many things that form the warp and woof of school life. He concluded:”You will practice each day, I hope, as you seek to bring the balance into your lives that will in part be represented by your being happy, but it will start with an attitude, as most important things do. You will will yourselves to make this a priority, to feel it, to know it, to learn how to find it, and to provide it for others. In our school, in this garden of possibility, while other values and aspirations may compete for your attention, let happiness be your constant companion….”The opening day ceremonial concluded with the all-school handshake of tradition around the courtyard. Read the Headmaster’s address in full here. View photos from the day here.

“Technology is neither good nor bad—it all depends on how we use it,” Dr. Jill Walsh reminded faculty during opening meetings. Dr. Walsh is a sociologist, researcher, and lecturer at Boston University, focused on adolescent development and social media use. She aims to help parents and educators establish healthy parameters around teen social media use and foster positive and open communication around technology among parents, schools, and teens.

Dr. Walsh began by quoting David Carr who likened social media to a “series of straws that offer narrow views of a much bigger picture.”

“We have to make students aware of this reality,” says Dr. Walsh, “remind them that what they’re seeing is tailored, manipulated—that it’s curated by the person posting it, so that you see what they want you to.”

Dr. Walsh discussed teens’ emerging and evolving “media diets,” or how and where they spend their time online. She explained what she sees as adolescent boys’ time spent on digital viewership (sites like YouTube), online gaming, and social media.

The “idioms of practice” that older people have are simply different from that of young people who have come of age in this digital space, she explained. For example, the ways in which we construe privacy, meaningful friendship, “good” communication, and the existence of an online versus offline dichotomy vary greatly.

“Because we adults don’t necessarily know the scene, or are uncomfortable with it, we ignore it until it reaches crisis point,” Dr. Walsh says. “We need to reframe our approach. Rather than focusing on the very latest app, we should recognize that—regardless of the medium—young people are facing challenges we know about and are well versed in: social pressures, making good choices, creating healthy boundaries.”

She offered suggestions and insight on how adults can communicate effectively with students on these topics. She also shared her biggest concerns related to adolescents’ online use, such as effects on sleep, emotional contagion, and social comparisons (body image and commercial consumption).

As Headmaster Kerry Brennan has shared with parents, “At RL, paying attention to the whole boy has been a central part of our mission for a long time.” Programs, workshops and courses for boys, focused on topics like sleep, nutrition, and overall wellness (physical, psychological and emotional) have been modified and expanded each year. During opening meetings, members of the faculty presented to one another findings related to boys’ patterns of sleep and technology use throughout the year. All of this work is to better understand and best serve the boys in our care.

Jill Walsh earned her a Ph.D. in sociology from Boston University, her master’s in Public Policy from Brown University, and her bachelor’s from Harvard University. Prior to completing her graduate coursework, she taught, coached, and mentored high school students at the Noble and Greenough School. Her recent work examines the way that social media, and the need to document the self online, has altered the paths to adolescent development. Her dissertation titled The Highlight Reel and Real Me: How Adolescents Construct the Facebook Fable, is a multi-method study arguing that Facebook has become a public space where adolescents engage in self-reflection and dialogue. This work has been developed into a book that will be published in 2017. Dr. Walsh currently teaches undergraduate and graduate level courses on the intersection between society and technology, with an emphasis on the millennial generation.

Peter Cahill ’15, Ryan Sweeney, and Tim Galvin will drop the puck for their 5th annual the Dot Pot Street Hockey Tournament Fundraiser this weekend.The tournament benefits a Dorchester resident and families who’ve experienced a loss or difficult situation. Tournament creator and friend of Peter, Ryan Sweeney, comments on the start of annual Dot Pot, which was originally designed as a tournament between neighbors:  “A friend of ours had a father who was dying from cancer, so we decided to make it into a fundraiser for his family.”

This year’s tournament occurs Saturday, July 22 and Sunday, July 23. It will honor neighborhood friend Stephen Folan, who’s recovering from a stroke. 

Read more on the Boston Herald website.