Global Citizenship

Christine Ling '23 has released the first edition of Lingoscope, an interscholastic, multilingual online publication. It is a wholly student-run online platform "where students learning foreign languages can engage with each other and publish their work."

In mid-November, Jiamin (Sunny) Li '22 delivered a TEDx Talk in Suzhou, China. Her topic was "She and Culture," and Sunny addressed issues of cultural confidence and open-mindedness.

The St. Mark's Haiti Partnership Committee has been very busy this November.

On Tuesday, October 27, St. Mark's alumna Jess Danforth '02 was the speaker for morning chapel. She shared with the school community the story of her best friend, fellow St. Marker Caitlin O'Hara '01 (pictured at left), who died at the age of 33 of complications from cystic fibrosis. Danforth then introduced the work she was doing in East Africa as a memorial to her friend: the Leo Project.

2020-2021 marks the beginning of St. Mark's third year working in partnership with the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Center for Cross-Cultural Student Emotional Wellness (CCCSEW), as part of the School's commitment to Global Citizenship and the well-being of its Asian international students.

1920 was a watershed year for St. Mark's School in many ways. For the first time, a process for financial aid support was introduced: meager perhaps by today's standards, but clearly a step in the right direction. That year also saw a significant renovation of Belmont Chapel, expanding it to accommodate increased enrollment and dedicating it as a memorial to those St. Markers who had served in the Great War. Another memorial to the fallen would have an even more substantial impact on the School and its philosophy. Today, St. Mark's proudly asserts in its mission statement that it "educates young people for lives of leadership and service." It was in 1920 that St. Mark's introduced its very first formal program of community service and outside leadership opportunity, when it began a collaborative relationship with Brantwood Camp in Peterborough, New Hampshire.

It has been a virtual summer, but that hasn't stopped St. Mark's alumnus Junseok Jason Hwang '19 from singing. Below is a link to his virtual prize recital after he earned second place in the International Korea-China vocal competition.

In October of 2011, the St. Mark's Board of Trustees presented a Strategic Plan for the future. It focused on three major goals—increasing STEM opportunities, advancing global education, and creating a Center for innovation in teaching and learning—resolving to achieve these goals within a decade. The plan was called St. Mark's 2020.

At the Prize Day ceremonies later this week, eight St. Markers will receive the first-ever Global Diplomas awarded by the School.

On Wednesday, February 12, Douglas Sutherland, the new executive director of Brantwood Camp, visited St. Mark's. He addressed the St. Mark's community at the all-school meeting that morning, and he made himself available for questions and conversation at lunch.

Wednesday, February 4, was Play for Haiti Day at St. Mark's. It was a day to raise funds to benefit St. Mark's longtime partner school: Ste. Marguerite's in Haiti, under the auspices of the Haiti Partnership Committee at St. Mark's.

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

On Friday evening, January 24, St. Mark's faculty member Showjean Wu was installed as the first holder of the new Antony and Elsa Hill Asian Studies Chair at a ceremony in the Putnam Family Arts Center's Class of 1945 Hall.

On Thursday evening, February 23, the St. Mark's Asian Student Alliance (ASA) hosted a Festival Dinner to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

In April 2019, Charles Brookby '20 received an Anthony A. Jones Family International Studies Grant to fund a proposed trip to Germany. There, said Brookby, "I will 'walk' Martin Luther's path of Protestant reformation." Upon returning to campus this past fall, Brookby asked Head of School John C. Warren '74 to oversee an independent study project (ISP) researching Luther and other protestant writers and theologians in a special course.

Over three days, from Thursday, January 16 through Saturday, January 18, St. Mark's honored and celebrated diversity with events sponsored under the auspices of the School's Community and Equity program.

From December 15 through December 18, St. Mark's participated in a virtual Global Citizenship Institute collaboration with the NGO Educate Lanka.

"I think it's the job of the artist to create work that inspires and uplifts so we can, together, move forward to a future that we create," says Dr. Mark Lomax II. On Thursday, November 7, Dr. Lomax will come to St. Mark's to present portions of 400: An Afrikan Epic, his acclaimed 12-album cycle that tells the story of Black America over the past 400 years.

On Monday, October 28, the band Mariachi México Lindo Boston performed before a packed St. Mark's dining hall during seated lunch. They were on campus at the invitation of veteran Spanish teacher Charlie Sellers.

On Thursday, October 3, St. Mark's alumnus Michael Greenwald '02 visited campus to open the 2019-2020 Gray Colloquium series. The theme of this year's series is "Civil Discourse."

On Saturday, September 21, Anishka Yerabothu '20 presented "A Kathak Showcase" in the Putnam Family Arts Center. The event was a fundraiser for Educate Lanka, a program providing support to Sri Lankan students, where Anishka volunteered this past summer.

This fall, St. Mark's welcomes five exchange students from Australia. They come from two of St. Mark's partner schools as part of the Global Citizenship program.

On Friday morning, September 20, some 200 members of the St. Mark's community joined hundreds of thousands of protesters around the world to raise awareness about climate change. While supporters of all ages turned out for the Global Climate Strike, the day was billed as a walkout by high school students to call on world leaders to step up their efforts against carbon emissions and other environmental issues.

This past summer, Reina Wang '22, a boarding student from Shanghai, China, took the St. Mark's Robotics "Blue Suitcase" project to Pakistan. The "Blue Suitcase" is packed with Lego Mindstorm kits and is used to teach the local children how to perform simple assembling and programming.

The Global Citizenship program offers numerous opportunities for students to engage with partner schools and international organizations. This past summer, 10 St. Markers took advantage of those opportunities, spending time at schools and programs in Australia, Germany, Spain, Chile, and Sri Lanka.

"Incredible!" declares Anu Akibu '20. "Amazing!" is how Libby Flathers '21 describes the experience. Both students are simply echoing the consensus opinion of all those involved in this summer's Theater Arts trip to the United Kingdom, where 14 St. Markers and two faculty members took part in the 72nd annual Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Over seven days in July, as many as 40 participants took part in the 6th Annual Global Citizenship Institute (GCI) at St. Mark's. A collaboration between St. Mark's School and Austria's Salzburg Global Seminar, the Global Citizenship Institute's mission is to educate and support faculty and students from public, private and international secondary schools as they learn ways to become engaged global citizens, actively working to solve problems of global and local significance.

This summer, 14 faculty members traveled to Asia as part of the St. Mark's Faculty Travel program. Together, Loris Adams, John Camp, Jeanna Cook, Marion Donovan, Jason Eslick, Caitlin Kosow, Daniel Mertsch, Elise Morgan, Barbara Putnam, Christopher Roche, Jordan Studevan, Barbara Talcott, Rick Umiker, and David Vachris, visited China and Korea.

For the third year in a row, all St. Markers are actively participating in Lion Term: a two-week Form-based experience. Each Form has its own theme and schedule of activities, with students getting involved in team-building, community service, and experiential learning. In addition, the Lions Roam program provides a global experience for its participants.

On Friday, May 10, and Saturday May 11, the St. Mark's Theater Department will present performances of the Spring Play, The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh.

St. Mark's III Formers participating in this year's Global Seminar have been working on collaborative projects focusing on the impact of globalization and a variety of other factors on the spread of infectious diseases. Mentored by V Form biology students, the III Form students have worked for several weeks on the research and writing involved in this project. On Monday evening, April 29, the groups presented the results of their research in the form of a poster presentation, similar to poster presentations given at science fairs and academic conferences.

Six exchange students from Germany—Salma Boushib, Carlotta Havener, Isabella Schepanek, Valentin Fischer, Daniel Seitz, and Georg von Poblotzki—are at St. Mark's for 18 days this spring as part of the Wittelsbacher Gymnasium-St. Mark's School exchange program. This is the 22nd year that students from the Wittelsbacher Gymnasium in Munich have been coming to St. Mark's.

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.

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

The annual celebration of community and equity at St. Mark's highlighted diversity and identity in the School community.

Two St. Mark's faculty members—Dr. Laura Appell-Warren and Ms. Loris Adams—have recently taken on important leadership roles in national educational organizations, continuing their commitment to global and diversity education respectively.

On Monday, November 12, the second presentation of this year's Gray Colloquium series—"Creating Change"— featured Bryan Linck Vice President of Outreach360 (formerly Orphanage Outreach).

On Monday, October 8, the diverse music ensemble LADAMA came to the St. Mark's campus. They gave a concert at lunch and then led a workshop during the co-curricular block in the Putnam Family Arts Center's Black Box Theater.

Over seven days, from July 8 through July 14, more than 40 participants— students and faculty from several different schools—took part in the 5th Annual Global Citizenship Institute (GCI) at St. Mark's. A collaboration between St. Mark's School and Austria's Salzburg Global Seminar, the Global Citizenship Institute's mission is to educate and support faculty and students from public, private and international secondary schools as they learn ways to become engaged global citizens, actively working to solve problems of global and local significance.

From technology to global citizenship to sports and more sports, once again it is a busy summer on the St. Mark's campus.

Two St. Markers, Edna Kilusu '19 and Frances Hornbostel '21, have been selling Rafiki bracelets during lunch, to support communities in Africa.

On consecutive evenings, Friday and Saturday, May 4 and 5, more than a dozen St. Markers performed songs from a number of Broadway productions as part of the annual Broadway Nights event. Funds raised at these shows went to benefit the St. Mark's Haiti partnership.

St. Mark's III Formers participating in this year's Global Seminar have been working on collaborative projects focusing on the impact of globalization and a variety of other factors on the spread of infectious diseases. Mentored by V Form biology students, the III Form students have worked for several week on the research and writing involved in this project. On Tuesday evening, May 1, the groups presented the results of their research in the form of a poster presentation, similar to poster presentations give at science fairs and academic conferences.

This April, St. Mark's welcomed ten visitors from Bhutan. Seven students, two teachers, and the CEO of the Desi High School in Thimphu, Bhutan arrived on the Southborough campus and immersed themselves in the life of the School.

On Sunday, April 8, eleven St. Mark's students attended the annual Asian-American Footsteps Conference at Deerfield Academy.

During the first week in April, Suzanne Chami, a teacher at the International College of Beirut, visited St. Mark's from Lebanon.

Five exchange students from Germany — Oliver Wagner, Mikolaj Plewa, Annalena Kienle, Laetitia Altenburg, and Amelia Plewa — are at St. Mark's this spring as part of the Wittelsbacher Gymnasium-St. Mark's School exchange program. This is the 21st year that students from the Wittelsbacher Gymnasium in Munich have been coming to St. Mark's.

Four international trips highlighted the recent spring break for 41 students and eight adults from the St. Mark's community. Greece, the Dominican Republic, Belize, and Paris, France were the destinations of four groups of intrepid St. Mark's travelers.