BrennanBits

We are very lucky to have a truly exceptional photography exhibit hanging in Horowitz Hall for the next five weeks.  Dan Mead and Sally Eagle have been traveling the world for many years visiting some of the most interesting places and taking photographs as they wander.  Dan and I worked together at Salisbury School, and when he offered to hang his and Sally’s work, I immediately took him up on it.  One of their photos is entitled Ostrich Family.  It was taken in Namibia, with a steep dessert dune rising in the background.  The mother ostrich has climbed to the top of the dune while the father leads the little chicks up the steep face of the dune.  It is a striking picture, the comfort of a family unit contrasted with the barren landscape.  It is no surprise that it was selected by Nature’s Best Photography in the 2009 Windland Smith Rice International Awards competition.  As a result, a copy of the print will hang in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (a mouthful) in Washington, DC.  It opens on November 12, 2009 and runs through May 2, 2010.  Of course if Saxtons River is closer to you, come see it in Horowitz Hall!  We had an opening reception with Dan and Sally on November 2^nd and we will have them back on December 16^th for another chance for our VA friends and family to meet them.  Currently, they are on a trip to Antartica, the only one of the seven continents they have not reached.  I look forward to seeing what they capture from that trip as well.  To see a copy of the show that is currently hanging in Horowitz Hall, follow the link below, but I have to tell you that it is much better to see it in person.

http://www.meadeaglephotos.com/MeadEagle_Photos/Welcome.html

Copies of the prints are also for sale, and Dan and Sally will give $100 per print sold back to Vermont Academy as a gift!  Very generous!

Last Thursday evening, Vermont Academy had an event in Manhattan at the 212 Restaurant.  We are most thankful to the generous parent who hosted the evening for us.  The gathering brought together alumni spanning 40+ years, current and past parents, trustees (past and present), prospective families, and various members from the Vermont Academy faculty and staff.  A slide show of pictures put together by our very own Maryann McArdle
ran continuously in the background while friends reunited. It was also nice to have current parents talking to prospective parents.  Many great ideas were generated as well – VA alumni are always filled with great ideas – ranging from a career connection page on our alumni section of the website to out-of-the-box ways to keep classmates connected.  We will be having these types of receptions all around the country this year.  We will be in Seattle on November 15th at The Ruins (570 Roy St. in Seattle) and in Chicago on December 2nd at the home of Tim Maloney, P ’06 (1950 Merritt La. Lake Forest).  I hope to see you at either of those events.  If you would like to host an event in your area, please let us know as well.

What do you get when you mix science with performance art?  On Alumni Field today, that mixture brought to life a scaled version of our solar system with students taking on the roles of planets, the sun, and even comets.  Using a computer program and individual I-Pods, Dr. Brant Nelson, our Astronomy teacher, lined up nine students (one for each planet and one for Pluto, since Pluto got a bum deal by having its planet status revoked) and each “planet” orbited around “the sun” based on the program telling them when to move.  Pan Dian was Mercury, and he collapsed in a heap at the end of the six and a half minutes because he had made hundreds of rotations around the sun while Grace Hagedorn, as Pluto, had taken only one step in her orbit.  Alejandro Gutierrez, a rogue comet, crashed into Jupiter at one point rousing the audience into applause, and Dr. Nelson made a cameo appearance as a meteor.  I would be remiss if I did not mention that Jackie Stafford “starred” as the sun, naturally taking to the role as the worlds rotated around her.  When I asked her what it was like, she replied, “Just like any other day.”  A fun project to participate in, but also fun to watch, I found Dr. Nelson’s idea fresh and interesting, another example of how learning is not always done while sitting at a desk listening to a teacher lecture.  Get out there and have fun with it!

NOTE: a short video of this performance can be seen at Vermont Academy’s YouTube site link

As a teacher of English, I am constantly obsessed with the right word or words for a given situation.  From obvious differences like “affect” and “effect” – the first being a verb and the second a noun – to more subtle differences like when to use “that” or “which,” I spend far too much time and too much angst over getting the “right” word.  I have been known to spend entire class periods dissecting a single sentence in one of William Faulkner’s novels, so I do not take diction as passing fancy.

Interestingly, the first six men to lead Vermont Academy were called “Principals.”  The first, Mr. H.M. Willard served from 1876-1889, and he was followed by Dr. George A. Williams, Mr. Homer C. Bristol, Dr. Edward Ellery, Mr. John L. Alger, and Mr. George B. Lawson.  The subsequent nine men to run VA carried the title of Headmaster, although I still do not have a definitive answer about when the change from Principal to Headmaster officially occurred, but it seems to have coincided with the shift from a coed school to an all male institution.

The amazing stories of what both Principals and Headmasters accomplished during VA’s long history gives me pause about what fortitude and courage these men had, but I cannot imagine that their specific titles had anything to do with how they carried out their duties.  As Dorothy Hall Leavitt (wife of Headmaster Larry Leavitt) so eloquently put it in her description of “What is Vermont Academy?” “It is masters working with schedules and tests and themes . . . it is masters’ wives making butterfly nets and taking parts in plays; it is a headmaster, talking, planning, urging and dreaming.”

But as I humbly take the reins of VA, we are in a different world than the one Mrs. Leavitt portrayed so well.  Now the wives of teachers are teachers themselves; there are strong young women in our classrooms next to our young men; and we no longer call our teachers “masters” but rather, simply, teachers.  As a result, the one who leads this school is no longer the “head” master.  I wanted to be called Head of School, not in any way to snub the title that has preceded mine, but rather to pave the way for those who will follow, male or female, as leaders of this school.  A new chapter in Vermont Academy’s history began on July 1, 2009.  As the first Head of School, I welcome the challenges that await me, and I can only hope to measure up to those men who came before me.

What a treat to have a traveling group of performers from the Inner Mongolia University Art College (IMUAC) in the Nita Choukas Theater this morning!  Dressed in colorful costumes from their native land, the performers played traditional instruments, sang beautiful songs, and danced with a great deal of energy.  Some of the instruments they were playing have been around for over 3,000 years!

Sponsored by Journey East Art Exchange, the ten-year relationship between IMUAC and many organizations in Vermont has allowed performers to come to our state and also for people from Vermont to travel to Inner Mongolia.  I look forward to learning more about the Exchange.  It is always nice to have people from the other side of the world come to Vermont Academy.  Check out the great picture!

While there was a ton of organization, work, and stress leading up to parents’ weekend, moms and dads alike left campus on Saturday with a great feeling about what we are doing here at Vermont Academy.  I cannot count the number of parents who took the time to let me know how appreciative they are about the work their sons or daughters are doing.  From character development to academic achievement, our students are raising the bar daily and making great strides.  One father tried to hold back tears of appreciation, and a mom took me aside to marvel at what her daughter had accomplished in her time here.

I have to admit that I took a lengthy nap on Saturday afternoon, but now I am looking forward to seeing our students grow in the second quarter of this year.  Thank you to everyone who planned the weekend, to those who coached games, and to the arts folks who put together an amazing Cabaret performance!  Keep up the amazing work you all are doing!

Receptionist Peggy O'Keefe holds two of her most challenging puzzles

Since I was a kid, I have always been intrigued by puzzles.  From Rubik’s Cube to Sudoku, I like trying to figure things out.  I have to admit that I even liked the SATs because essentially, you are asked to figure out the right answer.  Here in Fuller Hall, Mrs. O’Keefe, our receptionist, has a great collection of puzzles for students, faculty, and obsessed Heads of School to try out.  Currently, she has a pyramid puzzle that is driving me crazy!  Of all the options out there, crossword puzzles still are my favorite.  After a couple of years of becoming obsessed with Sudoku, I have returned to crossword puzzles again.  For those of you who are crossword aficionados, you know that the difficulty varies from one to the next.  The NY Times (like most newspapers) publishes a puzzle daily.  The Monday puzzle is fairly easy, and each day the level of difficulty increases.  By Saturday, the puzzle is pretty tough.  Of course the Sunday Crossword is the biggest and toughest of the week, and countless people spend a good portion of the day, or even an entire week, to get the Sunday puzzle done.  I must get my passion for these challenges from my paternal grandmother, Polly Brennan.  I remember watching her start in the upper left hand corner of a Sunday puzzle and working her way down to the lower right corner, seemingly without taking a breath.  I am not that good yet, but I hope to be someday.

On October 8^th, we grabbed a handful of four-year seniors out of class and set them loose with the bell to ring in the 2009 version of a beloved tradition here at V A: Mountain Day!  The weatherman had missed the mark a bit for the morning forecast, and the ground was still wet from some showers at dawn; however, a few breaks in the clouds showed the promise of better weather to come.  Following an all school meeting in the Nita Choukas Theater, where I recounted that Larry and Dorothy Leavitt had originated the tradition as “a day off from classes to enjoy the peak of the fall foliage,” the students piled into busses and vans to head over to Townshend Dam.  As someone pointed out, “if we aren’t going to a mountain, shouldn’t it be called Dam Day?”  I digress.  The day turned out to be beautiful.  A short, but steep, hike to the ledge overlook provided a great view (and sore legs the next day).  Hackey sack, volleyball, ladder golf, Frisbee, etc. occupied the time before and after a stellar BBQ staffed by Mr. Harrington, Mr. Hodgson, and Mr. Carreno.  Everyone chipped in to help set up and clean up.  Oh, and of course, the faculty took it to the seniors once again in the touch football game!  All in all, it was a wonderful day and everyone enjoyed the break.  I cannot wait until the 2010 version comes round again!

On Monday, I was off campus for a few appointments in the New York City area and had the chance to visit Victory Collegiate High School in Brooklyn.  In the past few years, what had been South Shore High School with a population of 4,000 students is now split up into 7 different schools within the same building.  City-wide, students and families are able to select from hundreds of public schools, and Victory Collegiate is one option.  One of my former advisees, Mr. Marcel Deans, is the Principal of the school which is three years old.  Over that time, Mr. Deans has grown the school class by class, starting with a freshman class of 80 which is now the junior class.  He then added 80 each year for the past two years, so the school now stands at 240 strong.  With another influx of 80 students for next year, he will have a full school of 320 and see his first graduating class in the Class of 2011.

As a way of getting to know the new freshman class, Mr. Deans visits with each homeroom over a lunch period.  I tagged along to see him in action, and he certainly was impressive.  Sitting at desks that were moved into a circle, each student gave his or her name and a famous person who had the same first initial.  By the end of the period, Mr. Deans had every student’s name figured out.  He then spoke about the school’s mission which is to send every one of its graduates to college.  An ambitious goal for any school, but the faculty and staff at Victory Collegiate stand behind their talk.  Through campus visits to colleges and universities and discussions about students’ goals and aspirations, the end result of attending college and finding success there is always at the forefront of what they do.

I found my time at Victory Collegiate to be an inspiration for what we are all doing in educational institutions.  We need to keep close at hand the dreams of our young men and women here at Vermont Academy.  We need to push them “to achieve high and reasonable standards in the pursuit of personal excellence.” (one of our Core Beliefs)  I think we already do a great job in this regard, but it never hurts to be reminded of our goals!

Last night I attended an information session at The Grammar School in Putney, VT.  Jill Hutchins, Director of Admissions, and I were asked to speak to their 8^th graders and their parents about Vermont Academy.  Jill brought four of our seniors along for the ride to tell their stories about coming to VA.  She chose four-year seniors in Sophie Yingling, Julia Stickney, Tim Lord, and Tom Costello.  After Jill and I said our opening comments, each of the seniors told his or her respective story about how they came to VA and why they are still here.  All different paths, their common ground is firmly planted on the relationships they have developed with their teachers and with each other.  They relish the fact that teachers can be called at 9:30 at night for help or a good laugh.  Day students and boarders in the foursome, their different experiences are linked by the camaraderie they have developed.  They play different sports and participate in various activities while responsibly planning for the next chapter, college.  Hearing their stories helps me to understand VA on an entirely different level.  I certainly want to thank Tim, Sophie, Julia, and Tom for taking time out of their busy schedules, but mostly I want to thank them for all that they bring to VA each day to make it the place that they love.