MATTHEW S. ROBINSON 62 Brookline Street, Needham, MA 02492

617 877 6264 / matthewsrobinson@mac.com The following notes appeared in the alumni magazine for Concord Academy:

FACULTY NEWS

In an effort to add a few more lines to their already impressive CA cv’s, math professor Howard Bloom and music teacher Keith Daniel performed in a community theater production of the Broadway musical "1776." They had colleague Christine Campbell to blame, for it was she who choreographed the show for Acton's Theater III. In the production, Bloom took on the role of Connecticut Representative Roger Sherman and Daniel portrayed New York’s Lewis Morris. CA junior Maya Gupta was also involved as a violinist in the company’s orchestra. Another of CA’s master thespians, Theatre Director David R. Gammons, took some time in October to act as a guest set and costume designer at Suffolk University’s 11th Annual One-Act Play Festival. The evening of plays included “Impromptu” by Tad Mosel, “A Separate Peace” by Tom Stoppard, and “The Constitutional Convention, A Sequel” by Charles Mee. During the Festival, Gammons also lectured on topics of design. Speaking of festivals, Dance teacher Richard Colton’s new work, “Billy Nijinsky,” recently won “Best Production 2002” at the New York International Fringe Festival. The production was a collaboration with Blue Man Group's Associate Artistic Director Randall Jaynes. Congratulations, Richard! Turning from theater to poetry, English teacher Anne Colman recently attended a workshop on the topic, the gleanings from which she hopes to bring not only to her classes but also to CA’s Poetry Club.

Ceramics teacher Marvin Sweet recently had two essays published in the newly released book, 500 Teapots: Contemporary Explorations of a Timeless Design (Sterling Publications /Lark Books). In other publishing news, History teacher Peter Laipson wrote articles on the topics of bachelorhood and on urbanization for the Encyclopedia of Men and Masculinity (Sage). He also began revisions of the manuscript for his book, No Genius for Marriage: Bachelorhood in Urban America, 1870-1950, which is set to be published by Cornell University Press in 2004. In November, Laipson’s colleague Mustafa Aksakal presented a research paper entitled “Ottoman Public Opinion and War in 1914” at the Middle East Studies Association's Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. For the third year in a row, Assistant Dean of Students and Health and Wellness Coordinator Jeff Desjarlais conducted summer training sessions for orientation leaders at Boston College. In a special presentation entitled “Courage, Strength and Faith: Friends Helping Friends,” Desjarlais also addressed BC’s 2300 freshman on the topic of alcohol use and abuse. Well done, Jeff!

STUDENT NEWS On November 7, the CA student body took part in an Afternoon of Action. During this day of community service, students participated in a wide variety of programs. . Locally, students worked at Belknap House, The Emerson Umbrella arts space, and helped clean Mill Brook and the famed Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and Minuteman National Park. While some helped bring in the harvest at Drumlin Farms and Codman Farms, others shared the bounty with the help of the Haley House and Kingston House soup kitchens, Gaining Ground, The Boston Food Bank and Community Servings, a support organization that serves individuals living with AIDS. Students also helped out at Boston area shelters such as Project Hope and Rosie’s Place. Their dedication to the next generation was demonstrated through work at Lena Park in Cambridge and at The Stone Zoo in Stoneham and Dorchester’s Zoo New England. In keeping with CA’s dedication to education, students also assisted with area chapters of the Jump Start program. Other events of note include CA’s observance of National Coming Out Day on October 11, the Womens Organization student club’s fundraiser for breast cancer research, and a Halloween House Decorating Contest that was organized by House Faculty Brett Morrison. CASA (Concord Academy Service Activists) also served lunch at Rosie‚s Place on October 27.

CAMPUS EVENTS Adding another chapter to CA’s extensive library of arts events, students recently performed in and produced a number of new plays and projects.

The CA Dance Company’s spring production of “Zero at the Bone” features choreography by Richard Colton and sets by Art teacher Antoinette Winters and Theater director David R. Gammons. Theatre III Company’s production of “Beauty Sleeping,” an original work based on the famed fairy tale, “Sleeping Beauty,” was written and directed by Gammons, who will also direct the Fall, 2003 production of “Heart’s Desire Hotel.” This year’s Student Theatre Independent Festival featured “The Importance of Being Earnest,” directed by Kasia Cieplakvon Baldegg ’02, and “Spiral,” an original work written and directed by Matt Ricci ’02. Summer Stages Dance celebrated a record year in terms of attendance, thanks in great part to director Amy Spencer. Among the guests artists who graced the PAC stage were the Concord Chamber Music Society, the internationally acclaimed piano trio Triple Helix and former Boston Symphony Orchestra Program Annotator Steven Ledbetter. Boston-based Salsa sensation Mango Blue also performed for the CA community in October. Other recent guests include South African teacher Baphiwe Nxumalo and Harvard School of Public Health Professor Jody Heymann (’77), both of whom have been on the leading edge of the fight against the AIDS epidemic in Africa. In recognition of her work, Heymann was awarded CA’s only award, The Joan Shaw Herman Award for Distinguished Service On Halloween, Joyce Willig addressed the CA community on the important and often inflammatory topic of organ donation. As a recipient of a liver, it is a topic that is literally and figuratively close to Willig’s heart and one which she has championed in similar presentations throughout the region.

MATTHEW S. ROBINSON 62 Brookline Street, Needham, MA 02492

617 877 6264 / matthewsrobinson@mac.com

The following feature was the cover story for the Fall/Winter 2010 edition of the Bancroft School alumni magazine:

Standing Tall

From day one through graduation - confidence is built at Bancroft

By Matt Robinson

Ask any Bancroft graduate and they will rattle off a long, long list of benefits they garnered while a student at their beloved school. Top among these, however, would be the all-important element of confidence.

From the first time students carry a flag into the auditorium until their senior co-op project, a Bancroft education gives students not only the knowledge and skills to succeed but also the confidence to use what they have learned to make their own lives and the lives of others better.

According to Lower School Head Jyoti Datta, confidence is a “mindset” that Bancroft students have from their earliest days. But of what exactly does this confidence consist?

“Confidence is being able to stand up and hold your own in front of classmates, teachers, older and younger peers, and adults,” Datta suggests. And while it is hoped that all children grow up in an environment in which such attribute can be developed, Datta says that Bancroft is especially adept at supporting it. “Our students feel comfortable and confident to be able to learn and own their learning,” she says, citing the Lower School as “an environment where people care for [the students] and care about what they have to say.” While many educators talk about supporting their students in developing confidence, Datta and her team of teachers in the Lower School have the students speak for themselves.

“Starting in Kindergarten,” Datta notes, “each child has an opportunity to be up on stage during our morning …and lead the school in saying the Pledge of Allegiance.” Many

new students also publicly share what they are learning or doing in their classes with parents, teachers, and peers. Such opportunities give students a chance to take risks and enter unfamiliar and potentially uncomfortable situations with support “Public speaking is encouraged from a very young age and they learn to embrace this with enthusiasm and excitement instead of fear,” Datta says.

While many students do not even look at complex texts like the works of Shakespeare’s until high school, Bancroft students not only explore but perform these plays much earlier on. In fact, Datta says, today’s fourth graders not only present performances of “Twelfth Night” and “A Midsummer Night's Dream,” they also perform such stories as Goldilocks and the Three Bears…in French! By the time they reach fifth grade, every Bancroft student is ready for their moment in the spotlight- and they all get it! “Each child has a speaking part,” Datta says, “and they build teamwork and leadership skills through this process.”

In addition to drama, many Bancroft students also take advantage of the school’s strong arts and music programs as means of self-expression and development.

“They are validated and encouraged,” Datta says. “They come to recognize their strengths and share their talents and accomplishments with others in a nurturing and encouraging environment.”

Though these skills may first be developed within the more comfortable confines of the Bancroft community, many students are soon ready to show their stuff to the outside world. From field trips to a four-day trip to Leadership School at Camp Kieve before the transition to Middle School, Bancroft students spread their wings far sooner than many other students.

“Often museum staff are amazed by how much our knowledge our young students have about a subject or topic,” Datta says, noting how enthusiastic Bancroft students are to share what they have learned. “There are numerous opportunities for children to have their voices heard,”

In fact, public speaking begins early on in a Bancroft career and continues right through to graduation. In the Middle School, Jane Merritt oversees the eighth grade forum, another key element in the Bancroft system of confidence-building. According to Merritt, confidence involves “a feeling of self-assurance that a student gets when they believe in their own abilities or qualities.” As Bancroft students are encouraged to develop not only innate but also potential skills and abilities, they quickly develop confidence in these abilities as well. And just as they have plenty of opportunities to show and share in Lower School, there are many Middle School milestones that continue to bolster their confidence. From Speak Out Night in sixth grade (during which students present research projects) to the seventh grade Science Fair to Merritt’s Forum (in which students must research, prepare, and present a five-minute talk and PowerPoint) and the World Fair (for which eighth graders research and prepare interdisciplinary discussions about current events in various countries), the path through Bancroft’s Middle School is virtually paved with opportunities to show what students know and to

feel good about doing so. “Each year the projects require students to work more independently and to present to larger groups,” Merritt says, noting a scaffolded structure that is so key to proper learning and development.

“Speak Out changed me in a way that I am now more comfortable speaking in front of an audience,” says recent sixth grader Carleigh O'Connell. “The teachers helped me to prepare by giving me constructive criticism and encouraging me to prepare by speaking in front of an audience before the real thing. The preparation support that I received at Bancroft didn't exist at my previous school.”

Even Middle School assemblies are completely student-run and feature book reviews, vocabulary-based skits and other public speaking segments that are prepared and presented by the students for the students. “Students who choose to do so may also use the Assembly to showcase a particular talent they have,” Merrtt says, recalling such diverse offerings as pianists, jugglers and a student rock band.

As Bancroft students progress through the program they are continuously supported. The Upper School experience is no different. As at the beginning of their careers, opportunities for public speaking and presentation foster such personality elements and get soon-to-be graduates ready to present themselves to colleges and the world.

Though confidence building is a key element of the Bancroft experience from start to finish, Upper School instructor and speech team advisor Chris Sheldon observes that it is never explicitly discussed. It just is.

“I don't think you could say Bancroft has a ‘system’ of confidence building,” Sheldon suggests. “I think instilling confidence is what we all try to do in our classrooms and extracurricular activities, and that makes it integral.”

By providing students with appropriate challenges and the support to overcome them, the Bancroft system allows and encourages students to find and develop their own sense of confidence.

“They certainly come back from college to tell us they are extremely well prepared,” Sheldon notes.

As he works directly with the speech team (a team that has qualified for the National tournament for the past six years and that has also had six state champions, nine runners-up and placed three other students in the top 10 in their categories), Sheldon may get to see some of the more confident Bancroft students. However, he says, many come to him with other skills and strengths that also contribute to their abilities in and confidence with public speaking.

“A lot of the students who come to the team already have some confidence,” Sheldon admits, “[and] certainly the team gives them an opportunity to shine in a way that they might not otherwise have. [However] all students on the team, from those that win awards at Nationals to those who have just started, bring talents.”

Speaking of talents, many Bancroft students have been able to use the skills and talents fostered and developed at the school in their post-Bancroft careers. Wilma Cespedes-Rivera graduated Bancroft and is now a successful actor in New York! “Confidence is an energy that needs to develop with time,” Cespdes-Rivera suggests, “and I must say that my confidence in my craft began at Bancroft.” In fact, Cespedes-Rivera credits the talented team at Bancroft with lighting the “small wick of confidence that was in me back then” and fanning the flame into the confident conflagration it is now “It is a hard to say that I was truly confident in high school,” she admits, “but Bancroft gave me the tools I needed to begin to develop my confidence. Whether it was in the speech team, bringing home awards, or the fact that when I got to college I knew what the right format of writing a paper was, Bancroft truly did guide me in the right direction to gaining confidence.” As a member of the speech team and the theater department, Cespeda-Rivera took full advantage of the opportunities to develop her confidence at Bancroft. “My passion for acting grew far more at Bancroft that it ever would have at a public school,” says Cespeda-Rivera, who notes that she still keeps in touch with Mr. Sheldon and does what she can to support the next generation of speech stars “I only hope that those programs are still helping students today.” Don’t worry, Wilma- They are!