On Friday morning, May 10, twenty visitors from the Southborough Senior Center toured the St. Mark’s campus. The tour was led by alumnus Nick Noble ’76. Assisting on the tour were III Formers Marissa Huggins and Sean Kim.

On the afternoon of Friday, May 10, St. Mark’s Music Director Tom Berryman gave a presentation to an fascinated crowd of more than two dozen students, faculty and staff, on the subject of the Belmont Chapel organ. He demonstrated the instrument, then took members of the audience up to look at some of the 3500 pipes, while others remained at the console, attempting to play the organ.

This year’s VI Form Pledge Project was a great success, yielding a record 58 gifts toward the VI Form Annual Fund Gift. Now in its third year, this participation and awareness drive for the Annual Fund was led by 2013 Class Agents Matt Golding, Mark Upton, Jessica Maposa, Jenna Levandowski, Nick Kean, Natalie Armacost, Livie Colburn, Maddie Vachris, Henry Marshall, and Stephanie Osei.

In late April, Lynette Sumpter, St. Mark’s Dean of Academics and Director of the School’s new Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, took part in the 5^th Annual National Partnership for Educational Access (NPEA) Conference in Cambridge, MA. She spoke as part of an Alumni Panel regarding equity in education.

At the 21st Annual John P. Garrahan MetroWest Community Prayer Breakfast this spring, Laura Sanchez ‘14 was one of thirteen local high school students honored with the John P. Garrahan Leadership in Diversity Award by the Alliance for MetroWest Unity. Each was recognized for fostering “greater communication and harmony in school communities” and promoting “understanding between people of diverse backgrounds.”

On Sunday evening, May 19^th, the annual Spring Student Showcase Concert will be presented on stage in the Putnam Family Arts Center. The Class of 1945 Hall will ring with the musical abilities of a dozen talented St. Markers. Come check it out!

This coming Friday and Saturday nights, May 10 and 11, St. Mark’s will present the annual Broadway Nights performances in the Class of 1951 Lobby at the Putnam Family Arts Center. Students will perform music from Chicago, The Lion King, South Pacific, The Woman in White, Little Shop of Horrors, The Magic Show, Sweeney Todd, Aladdin, Pinocchio, Little Women, DreamGirls, and more! The performances on both nights will begin promptly at 7:30 PM.

Each year, a number of St. Mark’s graduates carry on the School’s strong athletic tradition at the college level. This past autumn, the St. Mark’s website featured a story about several alumni/ae participating in in college field hockey, cross country, football, boys’ soccer, and fall crew programs, just to name a few. During the subsequent winter and spring seasons, St. Markers have continued to achieve success on the college sports scene.

The Great Cannection, a statewide independent project, was founded by Enrico Shippole ‘14 to help alleviate food insecurity, promote health and raise awareness about obesity. It was a massive undertaking as Enrico, a V Former from Shrewsbury, MA, contacted superintendents, Principals, Deans, and school clubs and organizations at every public, private and charter school in Massachusetts. Over 1,000,000 Massachusetts students in public, private and charter schools were invited to join The Great Cannection nutritious food drive. The top school donor received awards at Harvard School of Public Health.

On Thursday evening, May 2^nd, four St. Mark’s musicians made their worldwide radio debut in a live broadcast from the performance hall at WICN (Worcester Public Radio). Singer-songwriter Felix Chan ’13 was joined by classmates Susannah Krapf and Chris Welles to perform two of his original compositions: “Sailor Song” and “Song of My Mother”. They also performed “Blue Roses”, a song written by Krapf. Natalie Armacost ’13 also performed, singing Paul Simon’s “Mrs. Robinson”, the Frey-Henley song “Desperado”, and Jackson Browne’s “These Days”.

On Wednesday, May 1^st, the St. Mark’s Classics Department held the annual Classics Banquet honoring two dozen students of Latin and Greek for their performance on the National Latin and Greek exams sponsored by the American Classical League and the National Junior Classical League. Along with the banquet, both students and faculty enjoyed a “Festival of Dionysus” put on by this year’s Greek II students, in order to fulfill their 2012-13 Classical Diploma requirements.

Congratulations to Mark Upton ‘13, who has been selected by the Massachusetts High School Football Coaches’ Association (MHSFCA) to play in this year’s Shriner’s All-Star Classic. Upton, a VI Former from Winthrop, MA, was co-captain of this year’s St. Mark’s Varsity football team, setting a new School record for tackles in 2012 with 108, eclipsing his own mark of 104 accomplished during his V Form season. He also holds the St. Mark’s career record, with 280 tackles. This past fall, he led the Lions in rushing, and was 5^th in ISL scoring with 13 touchdowns and 3 conversions for 84 points. He also caught 20 passes for 280 yards. A two-time all-ISL selection and a Class C All-New England linebacker, Upton was MVP of the 2012 Lions, helping St. Mark’s gain its first victory over arch-rival Groton since 2006.

St. Mark's recently announced the election of nine VI Formers to the Cum Laude Society. They are: Caroline Jianna Clark, Matthew James Golding, Michael Stephen Hoffman, Ga Young Courtney Kim, Jun Hyun Jason Kim, Min Jae Kim, Seung Min Brian Lee, Ethan Davies Pailes, and JinPyo Rha. They join Rohit Bhatia, Min Jung Angela Koh, Shenghan Li, Adamm Emanuel Norgren, Yeong Seo Sera Park, and Katerina Monique von Campe, all of whom were elected at the end of their V Form year. In addition, current V Formers Daniel William Kimmick, Melissa Yee-Mei Kok, Varun Jagannathan Shankar, Christopher Finnegan Schick, and Luya Wang were inducted into the Cum Laude Society, at the annual Cum Laude installation ceremony, which took place on Tuesday, April 30^th, in the Class of 1945 Hall.

Over 125 members of the St. Mark’s community gathered recently to honor Andy Harris for founding St. Mark’s Varsity Girls’ Crew in 1978, the School’s spring varsity sport for girls, and for his remarkable 35 years serving as the team’s Head Coach. Harris, St. Mark’s current Senior Master, is stepping down as rowing coach but will continue to teach.

Last week, IV Form students participated in a “Hunger Banquet”. They were invited to Benson with the promise of “free pizza”. Upon arrival, only one table of students received an ample supply of several pizzas, representing the bounty of an upper class family or a first world nation. Another group received a single pizza, which they had to share, representing the struggles of a global middle class or a second world country. The remainder received nothing, or, on occasion, a single slice of pizza to either be hoarded by the individual recipient or to be doled out in tiny portions to the rest of the group. Following this experience, students responded through discussion and reflection.

On Sunday evening, the Feast of St. Mark was commemorated in Belmont Chapel with a service of baptism, confirmation, and reception. The Right Reverend J. Clark Grew ’58, retired Bishop of Ohio, was the celebrant and preacher, assisted by the Rev. Barbara Talcott, School Chaplain.

On Sunday morning, April 28, St. Mark’s welcomed a crowd of almost 500 people to its campus for a “Southborough Run for Boston”, co-sponsored with the Fay School and hosted by the St. Mark’s Monitors. St. Mark’s School Head of School John C. Warren ’74 welcomed everyone, then turned the megaphone over to Assistant Director of Athletics Lauren Sischo, one of the key organizers of the event, who called the start. Some 300 runners of all ages and from all around town and the area set off on a 2.62 mile course, in honor of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. More than $10,000 was raised at the event, to benefit the One-Fund to help those impacted by the recent tragedy.

On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, the 15^th Annual Spring One Act Plays were presented in the Black Box Theater. This annual event provides an opportunity for student directors to gain hands-on experience, and for the School community to once again celebrate the excellent tradition of Theater Arts at St. Mark’s.

The St. Mark’s Parents Association congratulates V Former Laura Sanchez for the award she received at the Parents Independent School Network’s (PIN) Community Service Award Ceremony which took place on Friday, April 26, 2013 at St. Sebastian’s School in Needham. Laura was selected from dozens of applicants to be recognized for her work organizing and running the Black Student Union at St. Mark’s School.

St. Mark’s teams are off to a strong start this spring, led by Coach Megan Harlan’s 8-0 Girls’ Varsity Lacrosse squad. On Wednesday, the team took on ISL girls’ lacrosse powerhouse Brooks. It was a tough, hard-fought, physical, and high-scoring game. In the final minute of play, the Lions went ahead 11-10 and held on to the victory, sealing their first win over Brooks since 1999. In eight games, the St. Mark’s Girls’ Varsity Lacrosse team has scored 112 goals, with an average winning score of 14-6.

Nearly 100 grandparents and special friends of St. Mark's students visited campus on Wednesday, April 24. After a violin performance by Jason Cavanagh ’14, our guests were welcomed by Grandparents Day Host Ham Kean ’43 (grandfather of Nick Kean ’13). Head of School John Warren '74 also welcomed grandparents and special friends to St. Mark’s and encouraged visitors to explore the many beautiful new spaces on campus.

This past weekend, St. Mark’s hosted a STEM (Science-Technology-Engineering-and-Mathematics) Think Tank. The School asked industry leaders, alumni and parents to help develop new curriculum for St. Mark's students.

This past Monday afternoon, renowned American poet Donald Hall visited St. Mark’s as the final speaker in this year’s Gray Colloquium series. 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. This year’s Gray Colloquium theme is “Global Challenges”.

On Sunday, April 21, St. Mark’s hosted the annual Cutler Music Festival in the Class of 1945 Hall. Featured performers included the St. Mark’s Jazz Band, the BB&N Jazz Band, and STYGLD from Canton High School. Special guest was Boston-based trombonist and music educator Brian Thomas.

In April, St. Mark's students and faculty attended conferences in both Seattle, WA, and Cambridge, MA, addressing issues of equality, inclusiveness, and social justice. In all, thirty students and a half-dozen faculty were took part in these conferences, and will be sharing their experiences with the School community later in the month.

Head of School John Warren ’74 recently announced the appointment of Eric Monheim to the position of Director of College Counseling, effective July 1, 2013. Monheim is currently Director of College Counseling at Sidwell Friends School, in Washington, DC, a position he has held for the last ten years. Previously Monheim had been Director of College Counseling for four years at the Bullis School, in Potomac, Maryland. “St. Mark’s is extremely fortunate that Eric Monheim will be taking over the leadership of the St. Mark’s College Office,” Warren stated. “Eric is highly regarded throughout the college counseling profession,” continued Warren, “particularly because of his work as Executive Director of the Association of College Counselors in Independent Schools (ACCIS). Eric also has an excellent reputation among college admission officers.”

The Monitors and St. Mark’s Society teamed up to host the St. Mark’s Annual Havoc on the Hardwood Basketball Tournament on Saturday, April 6 in the MFAC Gymnasium. Spectators filled the stands to cheer for their fellow classmates in this fun-filled, competitive event which helped raise monies for charity.

On Saturday March 30th, Eun Soo Koh '16, Mykel Macedon '15, Christine Seo '14, DeAnna Sandoval '14 and Ryan Palmer ‘14 visited the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for an annual conference sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). The conference featured workshops and speakers that brought together "more than 200 students and educators to spend a day building community and sharing resources for creating safer, more affirming schools for LGBT youth, educators, and allies."

On Thursday, April 11, alumnus John Heminway ’62 delivered the April address for the 2013 Gray Colloquium series, speaking on on “Saving the African Elephant”. He also took the time before his presentation to have lunch with a number of interested students and adults from the St. Mark’s community. 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. This year’s Gray Colloquium theme is “Global Challenges”.

At all-school meeting this Wednesday, the new Monitors for the 2013-14 St. Mark’s school year were announced. Eric Danielsen of Westborough, MA and Meg Josephson of Charlottesville, VA will be co-Head Monitors next year. The other Monitors will be Mandy Abend (Hopkinton, MA), Bolaji Ekhator (Wakefield, MA), Ethan Foy (Brookline, MA), Hayden McCall (Dedham, MA), Annie Pease (Lincoln, MA), and Ernie Pichardo (New York, NY).

Under the direction of Dr. Lauren Riva, the St. Mark’s Institute of Mathematics has opened an online course available to high school students both within the St. Mark’s community and beyond its walls. The course—“An Introduction to Mathematical Modeling of Epidemics”—is a free six-week Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) modeled on the Coursera offerings for college and university students.

Jessica Maposa, a VI Former from North Grafton, MA, recently returned from a visit to Bangladesh over spring break, where she took part in a program sponsored by BRAC (Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance /Rural Advancement Committee). There she gained new insights into issues of poverty, public health, and education there, as well as into the political situation in that country. Her trip was made possible by a grant from the Matthews Fund, which awards financing for, among other things, proposals involving “special instruction, seminars, academic experience of a national or international nature, and personal growth and advancement opportunities.”

This past Thursday, March 28, the 2^nd Annual Gray Colloquium Seminar Day took place at St. Mark’s. The morning’s keynote speaker was Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee, while the day ended with an address from Lynn Barendsen, Project Manager at the Good Work Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The day-long event also included a series of workshops and presentations, many of them facilitated by St. Mark’s graduates. 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. This year’s Gray Colloquium theme is “Global Challenges”.

This past weekend, at all-school meeting, V Former Riona Reeves was presented with a 2013 Prudential Spirit of Community Award, for her creation and implementation of the SMILE Math Project for local elementary school students. The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards is the United States' largest youth recognition program based exclusively on volunteer community service.

On Tuesday, March 19, the St. Mark’s Academic Technology team, Seth Battis and Brian Lester, informally inaugurated the newly opened Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning with a gathering of faculty and students in the School’s first-ever "unconference". The Workflows UnConference celebrated and shared many of the ways that St. Mark’s faculty and students are currently innovating with technology in our classrooms and in our own learning.

After more than a year of planning, design, and construction, the new St. Mark’s Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning opened for business this week. Along with the Center space, two dedicated student areas were also unveiled.

Earlier this year, St. Mark’s acquired a new 3D-Printer. Seth Battis, the School’s Director of Academic Technology, has utilized this innovative technology in a variety of ways. “So far,” he says, “we've used the 3D printer both for our final project in the fall New Media class and to construct some custom parts for the FIRST Robotics Team 3566 robot. The New Media students learned about the basics of 3D design and modeling using Blender, a free, open source 3D design and animation package. They designed and fabricated USB drive cases as their final project, calibrating their designs to accommodate the physical specifications and user requirements for the USB drive (it has to have x dimensions for the drive, we need to be able to plug it into the computer, etc.).

Just before departing for vacation, students at St. Mark’s wrote, signed, and sent hundreds of thank you notes to alumni and other donors, as part of Tuition Freedom Day. Planned by the student Development Prefects, Tuition Freedom Day denotes the day during the academic year when the School’s operating expenses are no longer covered by tuition revenue and the Annual Fund and endowment “kicks in”, as tuition accounts for just 63% of the total cost of educating a St. Marker.

A little more than a year ago, the Lion’s Den opened at St. Mark’s. In the space once occupied by the old Dixon Room, there is now a popular common area, with tables, couches, a sound system, and a television, where students can gather together and socialize informally while enjoying both hot and cold food from a snack bar and grill run by FLIK, the School’s Food Service providers.

At their 25^th reunion, the Class of 1968 created a fund to provide grants to V Form students for independent study during the school year or, more commonly, during the summer between Fifth and Sixth forms. Their intent in establishing this fund was to reward independent thinking, ingenuity, and planning and to encourage the student exploring non-traditional fields of inquiry or using non-traditional methods of investigation. This year, four St. Markers were awarded grants under this program: current V Formers Peter Hopkinson and Alex Padron, Will Lyons, and Luya Wang.

Congratulations to all the sports teams at St. Mark’s this winter. The overall success against Groton, the unbeaten Girls’ 3rds Squash team, and winning records for Boys’ Varsity Basketball, Girls’ JV Hockey, Boys’ 3rds Basketball and Girls’ JV Squash were surpassed only by the sportsmanship, leadership, and hard work of St. Mark’s athletes. At the recent Winter Athletic Awards ceremony this past Thursday, all teams were recognized and individuals honored. Twelve different athletes earned All-League or All-New England recognition, while the Wiedergott Award for best winning percentage went to the undefeated Girls’ 3rds Squash team. For the fourth consecutive year, St. Mark’s Girls’ Varsity Basketball was recognized with the ISL Team Sportsmanship Award. The St. Mark’s Varsity Wrestling team was singled out as well for a much-deserved ISL Sportsmanship Award this season. Long-time St. Mark's Squash Coach Dave Suitor, retiring this spring, was also honored for his 28 years of service.

The annual Winter Carnival event has become a traditional end-of-term celebration for the St. Mark's school community right before the beginning of March break. It is organized by the Monitors and is held in the Elkins Field House gymnasium. Lunch is served-- hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, and salads-- along with ice cream, cotton candy, and a variety of activities. There is plenty of music as well. Please enjoy the photographs of this year's Winter Carnival!

Once again, a series of concerts filled the air with music as St. Mark’s approached the end of Winter Term. Last Sunday, the annual Winter Ensemble Concert was held in the Class of ’45 Hall, featuring performances by the School’s Jazz Band, Chamber Players (both strings and winds) and visiting orchestras from Noble & Greenough and BB&N. On Tuesday afternoon, ten students performed on flute, piano, violin, and guitar in the Hinkle Room, for an appreciative audience. On Tuesday evening, the annual Winter Student Showcase featured performances from eighteen different students, playing works by Mozart, Debussy, and others. Once again, singer/guitarist Felix Chan ‘13 performed the world premiere of his own composition: “Sailors Song”.

On Monday afternoon, Terry Turchie, Former Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, addressed the entire St. Mark’s community in the Class of 1945 Hall on the subject of fighting terrorism. 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. This year’s Gray Colloquium theme is “Global Challenges”. There is no question but that terrorism is one of the great challenges of our time, both international and domestic.

The Monitors and the Lions Fitness Club teamed up to host the St. Mark’s Annual Dodgeball Tournament on Saturday, February 23 in the FAC Gymnasium. As fellow students and faculty competed for a winning spot, roars of laughter bellowed from supportive classmates who filled the stands.

Mr. Josh McCall, CEO of Jack Morton Worldwide and St. Mark’s parent, visited the School this past Friday as a guest of the SM Business Club. Jack Morton Worldwide is a brand agency whose recent clients include Nike, Samsung, Wal-Mart, Verizon, GM, and much more. The company has offices all over the world, and it has done a variety of projects from brand experience to World Cup opening ceremony. It was founded in 1931, and Mr. McCall became the CEO in 2003.

This past Saturday, St. Mark’s teams travelled to Groton to play six games, and the Lions emerged as victors over the Zebras in five of them. Over the entire winter season, St. Mark’s has gone 8-6-1 against Groton, and on the year the teams from Southborough lead their archrivals 14-11-1 in the race for the coveted Burnett-Peabody Cup.

This past week, the St. Mark's Theatre Department presented the play To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday over three nights in the Black Box Theatre. Michael Brady's 1984 romantic drams was directed by department chair Les Baird and featured a cast of seven. Finnegan Schick '14 played the leading role, as David, the former college English professor mourning the death of his wife. Liz Swain '15 played his daughter. Susannah Krapff '13, Miles Borchard '15, Brittany Bing '15, Desmond Goodwin '16, and Claudia Chung '16 rounded out an outstanding group of players.

Congratulations to the St. Mark's 2013 Girls' Thirds Squash team for finishing their this winter undefeated at 5-0. Led by Captain Abi Smith '15, Coach Liz Cavanaugh's team shut out three of their opponents-- Milton, St. George's, and Andover-- and edged a strong Brooks squad 9-4 for their final win of the season. The highlight of their unbeaten campaign, however, was a nailbitingly close 11-10 victory over archrival Groton.

Ryan Lee, a IV Former from Seoul, Korea, emerged victorious in the regional “Who Wants to Be a Mathematician?” competition, sponsored by the American Mathematics Society as part of the American Association for the Advancement of Science “Family Science Day”, held at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. Ryan was one of four students (out of 60 original entrants) to make the finals based on the results of a qualifying math test.