Kaleb Tarczewski and Nik Stauskas, both VI Formers on this year’s St. Mark’s Boys’ Varsity Basketball team (17-2 overall), have been nominated for the 2012 McDonald’s All-American High School team. 300 high school seniors are nominated from across the U.S. and Canada, less than one-half of one percent of high school seniors playing basketball this year.

Ms. Amy Willey, Executive Director of Brantwood Camp, visited St. Mark’s this past Tuesday, speaking to students assembled in morning Chapel about the Brantwood experience. A number of current St. Markers who volunteered at Brantwood last summer also spoke at the service. Following her Chapel talk, the St. Mark’s Society presented Ms. Willey with a check for $1000 to benefit camper scholarships.

The St. Mark’s Girls’ 3rds Squash team took time off from their practice schedule on two Friday afternoons this month to visit the Countryside branch of the Marlboro Boys & Girls Club. At the Club, the St. Mark’s athletes played with local youngsters and helped them with their homework in the after school program there.

On Monday, January 9, author Stephen Kiernan delivered the fourth presentation in this year’s Gray Colloquium series at St. Mark’s. “Need is no longer a fringe issue,” he told his audience of St. Mark’s students and faculty in the Class of 1945 Hall. “Poverty and need used to be ‘on the other side of the tracks’; now it is all around us.” Speaking in front of a rapid-fire power point presentation featuring telling statistics and inspiring stories, Kiernan encouraged volunteerism, calling such service “authentic patriotism”. The Gray Colloquium is designed to engage St. Mark’s students in an exploration of one complex global issue annually. It has been made possible by the generosity of former St. Mark's Board President and current School Trustee C. Boyden Gray '60. The theme for this first Gray Colloquium series is "citizenship", in all its varieties and complexities.

Head of School John Warren ’74, Executive Director of Development Kirk Swenson, and Director of Admission Anne Behnke recently returned from a successful ten day Asian visit. The purpose of the trip was to connect with local parents and alumni/ae, interview prospective students, and explore partner school relationships. St. Mark’s currently enrolls 53 students from this area of the world.

On Sunday, January 8, 17 St. Mark’s students attended a special edition of ABC News’ “This Week”, broadcast live from Manchester, NH, on the eve of the 2012 New Hampshire Primary. George Stephanopoulos anchored the event, just hours after his moderating the ABC News Republican Presidential Debate in New Hampshire.

Over the holiday break, nine St. Mark’s students joined St. Mark’s Director of Counseling Dr. Jamelle Greene and Mr. Brandon Zeigler of the School’s Admission Office to travel to West Africa and the Republic of Ghana. Samantha Bauer ’14, Claire Eun ’12, Ian Martin ’13, Samiat Okoya ’13, Stephanie Osei ’13, Beth Pezzoni ’13, Lindsay Ryder ’15, Alex Santangelo ’12, and Luya Wang ’14 visited the Sankofa Children’s Home in Ghana, spending five days with the students there.

The St. Mark's Boys' Varsity Basketball team travelled to Springfield, MA on January 15 to take on Friends Central (PA) in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame 2012 Spalding Hoophall Classic. Before a packed house in the Blake Arena at Springfield College, the Lions won decisively 67-57, over an opponent that was ranked among the nation's top 25 high school teams in a 2011-12 pre-season poll. VI Former Kaleb Tarczewski led the way for St. Mark's with 22 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 blocked shots.

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The St. Mark’s Computer Science 31 class (Introduction to Computer Science) visited a computer testing company this past Thursday. Led by Mr. Christopher Roche, fourteen St. Mark’s students went to Teradyne, located in North Reading, MA.

The Rev. Barbara Talcott, head chaplain at St. Mark's, recently had an article published in Network, the newsletter of the Association of Episcopal Schools. Entitled "Building the Beloved Community", the article talks about the work of Episcopal Schools and particularly the chaplaincy.

The St. Mark's Robotics team took time last week to visit with local children at the Southborough Public Library. They brought with them their award-winning robot from last year, and they delighted a group of Southborough youngsters with their demonstration. They unveiled their new robotic arm with great success.

Julia Alvarez, author of In the Time of Butterflies (1994) addressed the St. Mark’s community on Thursday afternoon, as part of the Gray Colloquium. The Gray Colloquium is designed to engage St. Mark’s students in an exploration of one complex global issue annually. It has been made possible by the generosity of former St. Mark's Board President and current School Trustee C. Boyden Gray '60. The theme for this first Gray Colloquium series is "citizenship", in all its varieties and complexities. This 3^rd presentation in the 2011-12 Gray Colloquium series took place in the Class of 1945 Hall. Ms. Alvarez spoke about her experiences growing up in the Dominican Republic under the Trujillo dictatorship, and stressed to the attentive St. Markers the importance of telling stories. “It is our stories,” she said, “that welcome the great democracy of the imagination.” She paralleled the story in her book of the three Mirabal sisters and their underground movement with the need for everyone to become good citizens—“to become a butterfly.”

While still basking in the glow of last year’s success, the St. Mark’s Robotics Team is refusing to rest on its laurels. In fact, the “Gone Fishin’ Team” is gearing up for both competition and outreach in 2012. Once again guided by Ken Wells of the School’s science faculty, the participating St. Markers have high hopes for the new year. There are twelve members of the 2012 team. Two—Jonathan Cox ’12 and Diana Wang ’14—are returnees from last year’s squad, which took home two awards in the 2011 regional competition. Ryan Alipour ’14, Mia Chen ’14, Ga Ram Kim ’14, Alistair Chase ’14, David Eacho ’14, Henry Kim ’15, Melissa Kok ’14, Varun Shankar ’14, Luya Wang ’14, and Kevin Wu ’15 are also part of the St. Mark’s Gone Fishin’ Team 3566.

Over the holiday break, a dozen St. Mark’s volunteers visited the Worcester County Food Bank. There they sorted more than two hundred boxes of donated goods, inspecting them for expiration date and condition. The twelve from St. Mark’s included students, staff, faculty, and faculty families. Taking part in the four-hour community service opportunity were School chaplain Barbara Talcott, Miles Borchard ’15, Amy Vachris from the Admission Office, Maddie Vachris ’13, math teacher Scott Dolesh, director of music Tom Berryman, Roman Fuller ’13, director of student life Dave Fuller, Nick Noble ’76 from the communications office, computer science teacher Christopher Roche, director of college counseling Megan Harlan, and her son Jack Harlan.

The St. Mark's Boys' Basketball team has opened its 2011-2012 with four straight victories, but that success was not their focus this past week. Instead, the St. Mark's players took the time to work with some local youngsters. The St. Mark's players hosted members of the Southborough 6th grade boys' travelling team at the main gymnasium in the Faculty Athletic Center. They provided instruction and advice to their eleven young guests, coaching them and playing with them. It was a fun time for both the St. Mark's athletes and the local 6th graders from Southborough.

This past weekend, a group of seventeen St. Mark's students finally and definitively secured a record for St. Mark's, folding paper a total of 13 times, with the final product stable and holding its form. Utilizing the 825-foot long “infinite corridor” at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the St. Mark's contingent, led by Dr. James Tanton, Director of the St. Mark's Institute of Mathematics, and SM computer science teacher Christopher Roche, folded more than ten miles of toilet paper 13 times. Last April, fifteen St. Markers folded two miles of paper 13 times over a four-hour stretch at MIT, but the structure was unable to hold its form after the final fold. This year, they took seven hours, using five times as much toilet paper, to accomplish the record-setting feat.

“How to Think Like a Math Genius” will touch on traditional topics in pre-algebra, beginning algebra, and number sense, and is based on the innovative conceptual approach to mathematical thinking created by St. Mark’s math teacher and Institute of Mathematics founder Dr. James Tanton. The course, which is currently in development, will benefit incoming St. Mark’s students desiring summer work to prepare for the St. Mark’s math curriculum, current St. Mark’s students needing review of select pre-algebra topics, and middle school students across the globe.

“Who resisted the Nazi Regime? Confusion among the Young and Conflicts within the German Church.” This question and its complicated consequences were powerfully presented to the entire St. Mark’s community on Monday, November 14, by the Rev. Heidi Hoskin, as part of the Gray Colloquium series. An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, Rev. Hoskin was born and raised in Nazi Germany. She came to the United States in 1961 on a Fulbright Scholarship. She has served churches in Vermont, New Hampshire and Miami , Florida as their pastor. Now retired, she provides regular pulpit supply and is the moderator for 21 churches of the UCC Grafton-Orange Association in Vermont. The Gray Colloquium is designed to engage St. Mark’s students in an exploration of one complex global issue annually. It has been made possible by the generosity of former St. Mark's Board President and current School Trustee C. Boyden Gray '60. The theme for this first Gray Colloquium series is "citizenship", in all its varieties and complexities.

Brendan Dawson, a member of this year’s St. Mark’s Boys’ Varsity Soccer team, has been named recipient of the 2011 Goodband Award by the Independent School League. Established in the fall of 2010, the Goodband Award is given given in memory of long-time Belmont Hill Coach Cliff Goodband, who served his school and the ISL for 36 years. The Goodband Award seeks to honor, when merited, a member or an alumnus of the ISL who has either courageously faced adversity himself or who has helped others to overcome adversity, and thereby endeavors to emulate the virtues of both courage and service that Cliff Goodband exemplified throughout life.

On Thursday afternoon, the annual Fall Athletic Awards ceremony was held in the Class of 1945 Hall. Twenty-five different St. Mark’s athletes earned All-League recognition from the ISL, while the unbeaten Boys’ Varsity Cross Country team was presented with the Wiedergott Award, for the season’s best winning percentage by a St. Mark’s team. Two endowed awards were presented. VI Former Caroline MacNeille received the Hall Field Hockey Prize. It is endowed in memory of Brinley M. Hall, Class of 1930, and goes to that member of the Girls’ Varsity Field Hockey team whose contribution is characterized as strong of will, positive by nature, reasoned and co-operative. The Smith Football Prize is given each year to the player, excluding the captain(s), who best exemplifies the spirit and sportsmanship which elicits memories of Archie Smith and the 1934 team. This year’s recipient was VI Former Charlie Peters. Athletic Director John Levandowski also recognized III Former Brendan Dawson, who was presented with this year’s Goodband Award for courage in overcoming adversity by the ISL.

Fourteen St. Markers shared their talents with the School community at a recital on November 15, held in the Class of ’45 Hall. Both instrumentalists and vocalists were featured. Snare drum, bassoon, piano, violin, cello, flute and guitar were on the program, along with four singers. One student performer—Felix Chan ’13— both played and sang, presenting his original composition “Articulation of Emotion” in its world debut. An attentive audience of students, faculty, staff, friends and family were on hand to see once again the dynamic versatility of the strong music program at St. Mark’s.

St. Mark's nurtures an intellectual spark that reaches across disciplines. A powerful example of that is the utilization of 21st century technology by Girls' Varsity Soccer Coach Chris Payne and team manager Laura Sanchez '14 that has helped their team achieve its most successful season in almost a quarter century. Certainly the talented and hard-working players have been the key to the team's winning record and first-ever post-season playoff appearance, but Payne's willingness to bring new ideas to St. Mark's athletics and Sanchez's implementation of his methods have certainly given the program an edge.

This fall, St. Mark's has had much to be thankful for. A terrific group of students, a productive orientation, academic excellence, and successes in the arts and in athletics, were all part of an amazing autumn. Since St. Mark's and Groton broke even in terms of wins-losses-and-ties on November 12, the coveted Raccoon coat stays in Southborough, at least until St. Mark's teams meet Groton this winter. The School also unveiled its Strategic Plan this fall. With a focus on The Plan’s three initiatives, the Center, STEM, and Global Citizenship, the 2020 Strategic Plan will allow St. Mark's to address a challenging and changing global environment while staying firmly rooted in its mission of educating students for lives of leadership and service. Together, St. Mark's scholars, athletes, and artists celebrate that mission.

Directed by Mr. Chris Kent, the St. Mark's Fall Play-- Fuddy Meers by David Lindsay-Abaire-- entertained three nights of audiences in the School's Black Box Theater just before Thanksgiving break. Fuddy Meers tells the story of Claire, an amnesiac who wakes up each day as a blank slate, and must relearn who she is through information provided by her husband and her rebellious teenage son. But things are not always what they seem, and the play is at once a comedy, a mystery, and a series of character studies, replete with laughs and surprises. Sixteen St. Mark's students participated in the production, as cast and crew.

Read More to check out link to photo gallery.

UPDATE: Last Wednesday, the St. Mark's Varsity Field Hockey team defeated Brooks 6-5 in overtime, while the Girls' Varsity Soccer team shut out Kimball Union 3-0. Both teams now advance to the semi-finals of their respective New England Preparatory Athletic Council championship tournaments on Saturday, November 19. Varsity Field Hockey will play Thayer at Andover, starting at 12 Noon. Varsity Soccer will take on St. Luke's (New Canaan) at St. Luke's on the same afternoon. Check out the pictures in our special gallery! (see Read More for link)

And don't forget: Cross Country Race of Champions here at St. Mark's on Saturday!

The second of two Admissions Open Houses was held just this past weekend., on Saturday, November 12. Visiting families got to be part of an exciting Groton Weekend, as well as learn more about St. Mark's and what the School has to offer. The first Open House was held on October 22. St. Mark's welcomed nearly 400 prospective students and parents over both days. Families had an opportunity to tour campus, hear Head of School, John Warren speak and listen to our wonderful musicians perform. Admission tour Guides and Prefects, led by Associate Director of Admission Elise Morgan, provided visiting families with a comprehensive tour of campus. Following the program faculty, coaches and current parents were available to answer questions.

On November 12 at Groton, the St. Mark’s Boys’ Varsity Cross Country team capped an unprecedented season by winning the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council’s Division II Championship. Never before has a St. Mark’s Cross Country team gone undefeated in the regular season while winning both the ISL and NEPSAC titles. Congratulations to the this outstanding team. Four runners: Peter Duffy ’12, Sean McLaughlin ’14, Cash Armstrong ’12 and Harry Sullivan ’12 will be competing in the annual Race of Champions (featuring the top twenty runners from the New Englands) here at St. Mark’s this coming Saturday. Representing St. Mark’s in the Varsity Girls’ Race of Champions will be V Former Samantha Buttrick, who finished 17^th out of 105 runners in the Girls’ New Englands.

It has been an exciting post-season for St. Mark's athletes. This past Saturday, St. Mark's hosted the annual Cross-Country Race of Champions, featuring the top 20 finishers at the New Englands from the week before. In the race, Cash Armstrong '12 set a new SM course record, leading four St. Mark's runners who finished in the top 7 that day: an impressive accomplishment. Both Varsity Field Hockey and Girls' Varsity Soccer advanced to the semi-final round of their respective New England Preparatory School Athletic Council tournaments, capping excellent seasons. In an impressive display of St. Markers as Scholar-Athletes, 91% of all SM participants in this post-season action are Honors students.

On November 11, six St. Markers signed national letters of intent/likely letters with major college and university athletic programs, in a ceremony in the Hinkle Room. Three basketball players and three lacrosse players from St. Mark’s will move on to participate at top college levels.

Founder’s Day—November 11—honors the birthday of St. Mark’s School Founder Joseph Burnett. Born in Southborough on Nov. 11, 1820, Burnett was the son of a Revolutionary War veteran. He studied in Worcester, earning a degree in Chemistry, and then moved to Boston, where he became a successful pharmacist and entrepreneur, making his fortune patenting a process to create vanilla extract for household use. He married and returned to Southborough in 1849-50, where he built a house (the old Burnett mansion still stands on Main Street, less than a mile to the west), established an Episcopal Church (St. Mark’s Church, right next to the Southborough Town Hall), and founded a school—also St. Mark’s—in 1865. “Founder’s Day” was first celebrated on November 11, 1894, just a few months after Dr. Burnett’s sudden death in a tragic carriage accident the previous summer. Although it now shares the spotlight with Veteran’s Day (originally Armistice Day, first recognized in 1918-1919), for 117 years it has remained “Founder’s Day” to the St. Mark’s School community. This year’s Founder’s Day takes place on the eve of the 123^rd annual Groton Day, when St. Mark’s teams take on their long-time rivals.

This has been a spectacular autumn for the St. Mark’s Boys’ Varsity Cross Country team, posting an overall record of 16-0 and this past weekend capturing the championship of the Independent School League, coming in first out of 16 teams over the Brooks course at North Andover. The top three St. Mark’s harriers ran tremendous races, taking the fourth, fifth, and sixth overall spots in a race that featured 110 varsity runners. As he has all season, captain Peter Duffy ’12 led the way, finishing in 17:00. Sean McLaughlin ’14 and captain Cash Armstrong ’12 followed Peter, finishing with great times: 17:03 and 17:09. This is the first time in more than a quarter century that St. Mark’s has won the ISL title, and only the second undefeated team in the sport’s history at St. Mark’s.

David R. MacDonald, a renowned ceramic artist, visited St. Mark’s on Thursday, November 3^rd, as a guest of the Art Department. During the day, he spent time with St. Mark’s students in their Art classes. Thursday evening, he led informal gallery talk at a reception in Taft Hall. Mr. MacDonald’s art has been inspired and informed by his investigation of his African heritage. Looking at a variety of design sources in the vast creative traditions of the African continent; Mr. Mac Donald has drawn much of his inspiration from the myriad examples of surface decoration that manifests itself in the many ethnic groups of sub-Saharan Africa (such as pottery decoration, textiles, body decoration and architectural decoration). In recent years he has began to research the rich decorative possibilities of patterns created in the world of quilts and tessellation as represented in the arts of Islamic cultures. An Exhibition of a number of his works will be on display in Taft Hall through December 15^th.

Parents' Weekend was a great success with over 400 parents in attendance. An unprecedented October snowstorm did not deter parents from traveling to Southborough. Friday night began with an Arts Reception featuring unique sculptures, paintings, and other student works. The Arts Reception was followed by an impressive Performing Arts Program featuring performances by the Jazz Band, the School Orchestra, the Octet, and the Cats Meow, along with excerpts from the upcoming drama production, Fuddy Meers. The climax of the evening was a combined St. Mark’s Chorus and Orchestra performing portions of Carmina Burana to a most appreciative audience of parents, students, and faculty.

V Formers in John Campanale’s American Lit course read Chapter 2 of Henry David Thoreau’s Walden—“Where I Lived and What I Lived For”—as a bridge between thematic units ‘American Voices’ and ‘American Landscapes’. As part of the overall experience for his students, Mr. Campanale takes his classes to the Walden State Reservation in Concord, MA. There they can see the model of Thoreau’s cabin and the site of Thoreau’s original cabin. They can also walk the perimeter of Walden Pond, and they note their observations and reflections in their journals. On Wednesday, October 26, the first of Mr. Campanale’s classes made the trip to Walden. His second section will go on November 2^nd.

Award-winning Cellist Sergey Antonov and pianist Ilya Kazantsev presented a program for the whole school community on the afternoon of Monday, October 24 in the Class of 1945 Hall. Sergey Antonov won the Gold Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 2007.

Brantwood Camp has been part of the St. Mark’s experience for more than ninety years. Located in Peterborough, NH, its program serves inner city youth from all across the northeast. This past summer, twelve St. Mark’s students volunteered to spend two weeks at Brantwood, each working with a group of ten-to-fifteen year-old campers. It is one opportunity St. Mark’s offers to its students in fulfillment of the School’s mission statement. “I learned the true meaning of leadership and service there,” said VI Former Nialah Ferrer. Joining Ferrer at Brantwood this summer were Cathy Shen ’12, Buck Auchincloss ’12, Jack Pfirrman ’12, Luke Trautwein ’12, Jeremy Abend ’13, Drew Pfirrman ’13, Stephanie Osei ’13, Patrick Judy ’13, Jason Kim ’13, Nick Kean ’13, and Colton Hiler ’14.

As part of the Third Form Seminar (TFS) course, the History Department brought III Formers to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts on October 16. The Peabody Essex Museum is the nation’s oldest continuously operating museum and has an outstanding collection of art from around the world, much of it assembled when Salem was at the center of world trade in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. St. Mark’s TFS students have been studying globalization and world trade, and this trip focused on giving them a greater appreciation of globalization’s historical roots. This opportunity was underwritten with a generous grant from the Stanton Foundation.

From time to time throughout October and November this website will feature stories of how various St. Markers spent this past summer... For two weeks thus summer, Charlie Sellers of the Modern Language Department and Director of Student Life Dave Fuller took eight St. Mark’s students to The Working Boys Center (WBC), an organization that serves disadvantaged families in Quito, Ecuador. Danielle Mondragon ‘12, Megan O´Leary ‘12, Roman Fuller ‘13, Patrick Judy ‘13 , Gabriella Salerno ‘13, Will Lyons ‘14 , , Connor West ‘12, and Director of College Counseling Megan Harlan´s daughter Merritt all participated. “It was an unforgettable experience,” commented Mr. Sellers.

From time to time throughout October and November this website will feature stories of how various St. Markers spent this past summer...

For two weeks this past summer a group of St. Markers lived and studied in Germany. Cynthia Pando, Mimi Gualtieri, Jonathan Cox and Christina Beck ended their V Form year by travelling to Munich, staying with host families and exploring all that Germany had to offer.

From time to time throughout October and November this website will feature stories of how various St. Markers spent this past summer...

Four St. Markers spent an entire month studying in Spain this past summer. Chloe Aubuchon '13, Samantha Buttrick '13, Samantha Bauer '14, and Haley Jeon '14 travelled to Segovia with Esther Sanchez, chair of the St. Mark's Modern Language Department, to take part in a program run by Instituto San Pedro. The students stayed with local families and spoke nothing but Spanish during their time there. They had three classes each day, studying Spanish grammar and composition, as well as the history, literature, and art of Spain. "It was a life changing experience," declares current IV Former Samantha Bauer.

Presenting his one-man show as John Adams, actor Sam Goodyear '61 opened the first Gray Colloquium series in the Class of 1945 Hall on the evening of Tuesday, September 27. Before an audience of students, faculty, staff, alumni/ae, and special guests, Goodyear-- former President John Adams, that is-- welcomed all as guests to his home, Peacefield, in Quincy, Massachusetts, on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration on Independence, July 4, 1826. The Gray Colloquium is designed to engage St. Mark’s students in an exploration of one complex global issue annually. It has been made possible by the generosity of former St. Mark's Board President and current School Trustee C. Boyden Gray '60.

St. Mark’s unveiled its new artificial surface playing field during the Varsity Field Hockey and Soccer games vs. Middlesex on September 24. The fantastic new turf field was made possible by the generous gift of an anonymous donor and gifts from the St. Mark’s Class of 1959, who offered their support in honor of their 50^th reunion.

It was a record crowd: perhaps the largest to witness a home St. Mark's sporting event other than when hosting Groton. On Saturday evening, September 24, Belmont Field was the place to be, for the first-ever night game under the lights for St. Mark's football. "It's just like Groton Day," exclaimed one St. Marker, and the excitement was palpable. Middlesex was the opponent, and Coach Campanale's Lions were up for them.

Thursday, September 22 was Form Day for the entire School. There were no formal classes. Instead, in the morning each Form took a separate path of discovery: exploring service, leadership, and themselves. After lunch, the entire School came back together for House photographs and to participate in a variety of activities. Wearing their colorful House shirts all day, St. Markers took positive steps in the morning toward making a difference—for others and for themselves—and in the afternoon gathered in their individual Houses to kick off the annual House Cup competition.

On Wednesday, Dr. Sarah Griscom took her Chem 30 class to E.L. Harvey Facility in Westborough. Harvey is a full service waste hauling, transfer, and scrap recycling operation. The company had invited all of their customers to join them in celebrating their 100th anniversary today and it proved to be a great opportunity to show St. Mark’s students where all of their trash and recyclables were processed. Students attending were IV Formers Christine Seo, Jessica Cha, Kathleen Mitchell, Emily Brown, Jack Trevor, Jeff Cyr, DeAnna Sandoval, Ethan Foy, Jillian Deveaux, Will Rossiter, Laura Sanchez, and Kara Violette.

At the first evening Chapel service of the 2011-2012 school year, eleven new faculty were formally installed. A full house of students, faculty, and guests welcomed Chuck Greene, Sarah Griscom, Maria Gullily, Christopher Kent, Brady Loomer, Mark Machan, Liz McCulloch, Doug Piper, Christopher Roche, Lauren Sischo, and Showjean Wu “into this community of love and learning, into our life together, and into the responsibility we all share for leadership and for service to others.” That message was delivered by Head of School John Warren ’74, concluding the formal installation.

On Wednesday and Thursday of the first week of school, educational consultant Derrick Gay visited St. Mark’s. He spoke to the entire community on Wednesday evening in the Class of 1945 Hall, and to the faculty on Thursday morning. He spoke on the power and impact of language, on the use of words and their effect on others and ourselves, on prejudice and stereotypes—the sometimes dangerous “single stories” we often have about different groups or cultures—and how we are often conditioned to perceive things not necessarily as they are but what we already believe them to be.

For their performances on last year’s Advanced Placement tests, eighteen St. Markers were named AP Scholars. The St. Mark’s students so honored are: Amelia Ames ’12, Josh Byron ’12, Kate Danielson ’12, Claire Eun ’12, Heather Piekarz ’12, Harry Sullivan ’12, Allegra Terhorst ’12, Haily Tran ’12, Andreas Valhouli-Farb ’12, Grant Cho ’12, Jack Dewey ’12, Mimi Gualtieri ’12, Elizabeth Kim ’12, Adam Cimpeanu ’12, Michelle Seo ’12, Brian Lee ’13, Shenghan Li ’13, and Courtney Kim ’13.

At the All School Meeting on Wednesday September 14, Jack Dewey ’12 received a trio of academic honors for his national accomplishments. The VI Former from Southborough earned the highest score on the national Spanish exam, was recognized as an AP Scholar, and was named a National Merit Scholarship semi-finalist. Head of School John Warren and Spanish teacher Charlie Sellers both remarked on the impressiveness of Jack’s accomplishments.

On Friday evening, September 9, the traditional St. Mark’s School Convocation was held in the Class of 1945 Hall. The entire school was gathered together to open the 2011-2012 year by welcoming new students, honoring returning students, and recognizing faculty for their service to St. Mark’s. In his keynote address, Head of School John Warren ’74 cited In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, a book read by all students and faculty over the summer. Music was also featured during the hour-long event, which followed a school-wide advisor-advisee dinner.