St. Mark's School

On Wednesday, April 24, the St. Mark's Parents' Association hosted the 13th Annual Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day in the Hinkle Room. Many parents donated wonderful items in a tremendous demonstration of appreciation for the year-round efforts of St. Mark's faculty and staff. There was also a delicious collation set out for staff and faculty.

The St. Mark's Musical Theater Club will present two performances of "Mamma Mia!" this weekend. Friday, April 26 and Saturday, April 27 performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Putnam Family Arts Center's Black Box theater.

This April, 12 St. Markers were named recipients of grants for specialized study. The Matthews Educational Fund, the Anthony A. Jones International Studies Fund, and the Thomas H. Kean '53 Fellowship program providing the funding. Mr. John Camp, associate director of the St. Mark's Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning in charge of student enrichment, made the announcement at an all-school meeting.

On Tuesday, April 23, the St. Mark's Orchestra, under the direction of Nathaniel Meyer, gave a concert for the residents of the Highland Gracious Living Retirement Living Community in Westborough, Mass.

Earth Week is here. Monday, April 22 was officially Earth Day, but St. Mark's chose to honor sustainability and the environment with a week of celebration.

Earlier this month, St. Mark's hosted the 26th annual AISNE High School Student of Color Conference. It was attended by more than 400 students and 50 faculty chaperones from 35 schools. The event was co-sponsored by the Association of Independent Schools in New England (AISNE) and the Community and Equity program at St. Mark's.

On Monday, April 15, more than 30,000 runners competed in the 123rd Boston Marathon, among them three intrepid athletes from the St. Mark's community.

On Thursday, April 11, a triumphantly successful second annual St. Mark's Giving Day event shattered its stated goal of inspiring 600 gifts in one day—representing one for every current member of the School community, including student, faculty, and staff—as 812 gifts were made and well over a quarter million dollars was raised in support of the St. Mark's Annual Fund.

At school meeting on Wednesday, April 17, the current Monitors announced the new Monitors for next year at St. Mark's. Current V Form classmates Ashley Batiata and Alex Sumner will be co-Head Monitors for 2019-2020.

This past winter, a number of St. Mark's alumni participated in competitive athletics at the collegiate level.

Biologist and environmental nonprofit leader Dr. Nigella Hilgarth was the April speaker for St. Mark's Gray Colloquium series. On Thursday, April 11, she addressed the entire School community from the stage of the Putnam Family Arts Center's Class of 1945 Hall.

On Friday, April 5, six St. Mark's students (two three-person teams) accompanied science teacher Christopher Roche to New York City, where they participated in the Cornell University High School Computer Programming Competition. In a field of 66 teams from all over the Northeast, one St. Mark's team came in second place, while the other finished sixth.

Thursday, April 11 is Giving Day at St. Mark's. Last year, the School made history, surpassing its goal of 360 gifts in 24 hours, representing one gift for each of St. Mark's 360 students. This year's goal is even more ambitious. St. Mark's is seeking 600 gifts in 24 hours—one gift for each member of the School community: students, faculty, and staff, all in support of the Annual Fund.

On Tuesday, April 16, renowned math historian Dr. William Dunham will speak on campus. His visit is hosted by the St. Mark's Mathematics Department. Dr. Dunham will be speaking on "Euler: the Master of Us All," starting at 7:00 p.m. in the Putnam Family Arts Center's Class of 1945 Hall.

The music was outstanding at this year's Cutler Jazz Festival, featuring two St. Mark's Jazz Ensembles and the renowned Boston-based BT/ALC Big Band.

On Sunday, April 7, the St. Mark's Students for Sustainability organization hosted the 2019 Independent School Sustainability Coalition (ISSC) Conference on campus. The St. Mark's group collaborated with students from Milton Academy and elsewhere.

On Thursday, April 4, Amy Willey, Acting executive director of Brantwood Camp, visited campus and addressed the student body at that morning's all-school meeting. Joined by seven current St. Markers with previous Brantwood experience, Mr. Willey emphasized the long-standing relationship between Brantwood and the School, and encouraged students to volunteer for the upcoming summer.

Over two days in early April, St. Mark's hosted its annual Admission Revisit Days for students accepted to St. Mark's for next year. On Tuesday, April 2, and Thursday, April 4, more than 130 prospective new students and their families revisited St. Mark's.

Alice Hung '86 is the 2019 recipient of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton China Entrepreneur Award.

Hung, who graduated from Wharton in 1990, is the founder and chief executive officer of Universal (Hong Kong) Technology Co. Ltd. and the chairperson of Wharton's Executive Board of Asia.

At School Meeting on Wednesday, March 27, eleven St. Markers were awarded Class of 1968 Fellowship Grants.

Before March break, two St. Markers—VI Formers Rwick Sarkar and Matthew Walsh—were named as National Merit Finalists.

Jiwon Choi, a VI Former from Seoul, South Korea, won the 2019 Worcester Regional Engineering & Science Fair (WRESF) at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) this month. In addition, five other St. Markers—all part of the Taft STEM Fellowship program at St. Mark's— earned honors at the WRESF, including two more finishing in the top ten out of 130 entrants.

Each season the Independent School League (ISL) recognizes specific teams and individual athletes for their sportsmanship. This winter, St. Mark's boys' varsity squash received the ISL award for team sportsmanship, while SM squash captain Eduardo Perez '19 was recognized by the ISL for his individual sportsmanship.

It was an outstanding winter for St. Mark's athletics, with eleven of sixteen teams posting winning records.

On Wednesday, March 6, St. Mark's hosted its sixth annual Career Day. The event, involving both on- and- off-campus experiences, was a tremendous success. More than 50 adults—alumni, past and present parents, and friends of St. Mark's—either visited campus to lead workshops and presentations or hosted St. Markers at their places of work.

On Saturday, March 2, Dean of Students David Vachris announced Team Fearing as the winner of the 2019 Quad Games.

On Friday, March 1, the Advancement Office sponsored their recognition of St. Mark's Tuition Freedom Day, marking the point 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" (i.e., tuition only accounts for 60 percent of the total cost of educating a St. Marker). The gap between full tuition and the real and fullcost of a SM education is $25,000.

The St. Mark's boys' varsity ice hockey team is headed into the semi-final round of the New England Preparatory School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC) Piatelli/Simmons (small school) division N.E. championship tournament. On Saturday, March 2, the Lions will be playing top-seeded Tilton School on the road in Tilton, New Hampshire. The game starts at 4:00 p.m.

On Tuesday evening, February 26, the St. Mark's Advancement Office and the Young Alumni Leadership Council (YALC) sponsored a reception and dinner for the VI Form, recognizing that just 100 days remain in their time as students at St. Mark's.

Former faculty member and successful St. Mark's ice hockey coach Bruce Gardner died on Monday morning, February 25. He was 94.

The St. Mark's Theater Arts Department will be presenting the annual Winter Play, One Man, Two Guvnors, this week in the Putnam Family Arts Center's Black Box Theater. There will be evening performances on Wednesday, February 27; Thursday, February 28; and Friday, March 1. There will also be a Saturday matinee performance on March 2.

Longtime St. Mark's faculty member Thomas Crane Wales died on Thursday, February 21, 2019. He was 91.

On Thursday, February 21, former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy visited St. Mark's as part of the Gray Colloquium speaker series.

On Tuesday evening, February 19, alumnus Ibrahim Ayub, SM Class of 2010, was the guest speaker at the evening service in Belmont Chapel.

On Monday, February 11, busloads of St. Markers traveled to New York for the annual Opera Trip. They dined out in the city and enjoyed a production of La Fille du Regiment at the Met.

On Sunday, February 10, the St. Mark's boys' varsity hockey team held a fundraiser event to benefit Austism Speaks.

Six students and two faculty members from the Grange School in Santiago, Chile, visited campus this winter as part of an established exchange program with St. Mark's, through the SM Global Citizenship Initiative.

On Monday, February 4, innovative educator and LGBTQ+ and feminist activist Dr. Mira Krishnan visited St. Mark's as part of the Gray Colloquium series.

Over the first three days in February, both the St. Mark's boys' and girls' varsity squash teams competed in the 2019 HEAD U.S. High School Team Squash Championships. It is the world's largest squash tournament with more than 1,400 players—more than 200 seven-person teams competing across 14 draws—Boys' Divisions 1-8 and Girls' Divisions 1-6. Six venues in and around Hartford, Connecticut hosted the tournament.

Acapella music reigned at St. Mark's on Friday, February 1 and Saturday, February 2, as the 26th Annual Wick Choral Festival took place in the Putnam Family Arts Center's Class of 1945 Hall. Over both nights, the two St. Mark's acapella groups—the Royal Blues and the Marksmen—were joined by guest performers: groups from both high schools and universities.

On Friday evening, February 2, the St. Mark's Asian Student Alliance (ASA) hosted a Festival Dinner to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

Jonathan Jackson, co-founder of Blavity, Inc., visited St. Mark's at the end of January. He met with students, visited classes, and spoke in chapel.

Four St. Mark's students have been accepted into the Massachusetts Music Educators All-State Music Festival. Violinist Waverly Shi '21 (pictured here), violinist Richard Zhang '22, Sophia Liu '19 (flute), and Grace Li '21 (flute) faced a series of challenging auditions to achieve All-State recognition.

This season, between varsity, JV, and 3rds, St. Mark's is fielding 16 different teams in winter athletic action. A dozen of these squads have achieved real success and are looking strong at mid-season. Overall, with 146 games already played and with 114 remaining (along with various league, New England, and national tournaments), St. Mark's teams have won 55% of their games, going 77-64-5 with 13 teams posting records of .500 or better.

The 2019 Winter Trustee Weekend at St. Mark's took place on Friday, January 25, and Saturday, January 26. Members of the Board met as various committees as well as all together, they interacted with students and faculty, and they attended a special Friday service in Belmont Chapel, featuring music from Lora Xie '20 and presentations from VI Formers Caroline Dawson and Matt Hart. The major highlight of the weekend, however, was Friday evening's Distinguished Alumni Induction Ceremony.