Dear St. Andrew's Families, Over spring break I became increasingly aware of a sort of “need to do” mentality among the millennial generation. I loos

NoxontownNews 20140328

Dear St. Andrew's Families,

Over spring break I became increasingly aware of a sort of “need to do” mentality among the millennial generation. I loosely define it as an unwillingness to do anything that isn’t needed or required. This can take the form of something simple like walking past a piece of litter ("do I really have to pick that up?") to choosing not to provide added value to a project, event or relationship ("I’ve done my part").

I began thinking about this issue after spending a weekend with friends who work with Teach For America. “Millennials are tough,” lamented my friend who is working to open a new TFA site on top of his 60-hour a week job supporting young teachers across Boston. “They’ll do the minimum of whatever they’re asked to do and then quit if it’s not fun or if things get too difficult.” Last week, a St. Andrew’s classmate told me over dinner that he recently interviewed more than 20 candidates for a position and came away empty. “They were all more interested in being CEO than putting in the work to get there.” He went back to his dinner, ending my line of questioning and implying that this is just the new world we live in.

If there is, in fact, a down market for finding motivated, hard working, creative problem solvers then there is also tremendous opportunity. Tad continues to challenge all of us to seize it; to work our tails off for ourselves and for each other; to contribute, connect and engage every day to the absolute best of our abilities.

It’s why I was heartened this week to see about 20 kids instinctively jump up and try to help when a fellow student dropped a tray filled with plates and silverware during Wednesday night dinner. Kids promptly cleaned it up while others asked if she was okay. At the tail end a senior boy came whisking out of the kitchen with a mop to finish the job. Lindsay Brown then sat down next to me to say that Chef Ray greeted the crew program an hour earlier with two giant containers of hot chocolate as they came off the pond for no other reason than he imagined they were cold and could use the pick-me-up. Later that night, sophomore Preston Firestone joined a senior tutorial because he loves to write and the class gave him that chance above and beyond his already full course load. On the other side of campus, Stuart Chair in English Elizabeth Roach was trying to learn game theory from Aaron Chang ’14.

None of these activities will show up on a transcript or resume. None of them were exactly fun. None were required or needed to be done. They happened because we believe in an ethic of hard work, exploration and kindness. We don’t always hit our own high mark, but we get out of bed each morning knowing that beyond our day’s extensive checklist awaits a sea of opportunity to help others, learn more and to give more of ourselves, wherever it is needed.

Go Saints,
Will Robinson ‘97

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Spring Athletic Camps

The Sipprelle Field House allowed teams to escape the snow and practice inside during spring athletic camps last week. Crew coaches celebrated the opportunity to row in less than ideal conditions as rowers faced several days of wintry mix on Noxontown Pond in preparation for the upcoming season.

You can find the full spring athletic schedule here.

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Back to Work

With Spring Break a distant memory, Will Brown '14 (left) sets to work in the library revising a Western Civilization paper on the Roman Army for Lindsay Brown. Nik Malhotra '17 (right) somehow finishes an English journal while listening to the "Frozen" soundtrack at full volume. He would later lead an unironic sing-along with several classmates at the conclusion of study hall.

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Creative Campus

Ceramics I students took the first step in an ongoing sculpture unit on Monday by pairing up and making plaster casts of their faces.

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In the Classroom

Wilson Everhart shares a laugh with his U.S. History students at the beginning of class. The students would go on to discuss several critical moments during WWI.

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Mary Kelly's Latin class practices translating the passive periphrastic using John Colby's Review Latin Grammar on white boards they would then share after each translation.

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ChiaChyi Chiu's Chinese 5 students (plus an invader from Spanish 5) share a xiào while reviewing work from Chinese 4 students before class.

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Marta Guevara's Spanish 3 class divide into teams before reviewing the subjunctive.

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Engaging Alumni — Ruby Cramer '08

Ruby Cramer '08 (second from right) is on campus today and tomorrow sitting in on senior English Exhibitions. The political reporter for BuzzFeed could be one of the country's closest observers of Hillary Clinton's nascent 2016 presidential campaign, but today she was interested in senior Mollie Gillespie's response to why she chose Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse for her Exhibition: "Because it was the book I understood the least and I wanted the chance to take it apart," explained Mollie.

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Saints in Service

Aly Saliba '14 encourages classmates to sign up to donate during the annual Blood Bank of Delmarva blood drive set for next week. Critical donations from St. Andrew's students continue to increase each year as students become more and more aware of the tremendous need and impact of donating blood.

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A Rite of Spring

Wilson Everhart, a proud citizen of Red Sox Nation, wanted to make it clear to his class and the world at large exactly what he thinks of the New York Yankees. We'll wait to see if Yankee diehard and Cashman-apologist Tad Roach has a response.

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A St. Andrew's Moment

Dave DeSalvo sticks around after his Honors Calculus class to help answer some questions still gnawing at Kristen Bowman '15.

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Upcoming Event Calendar

March 28 — Noonday Prayer with Choral Scholars, Chapel
March 29 — Swing Dance, 8:30-10:30 (inspiration)
March 30-31 — Environmental Science/Advanced Biology camping trip
March 30 — Math Circle
April 2 — Annual Blood Drive
April 2 — Wednesday Night Chapel, Imam Mohamad Bashar Arafat
April 4 — Payson Art History Lecture, Yu Bong Ko, Engelhard Hall, 8:00 p.m.
April 5 — Grandparents Day
April 10 — Coast-to-Coast Toast, worldwide (REGISTER)

The 2014-2015 Calendar is now available by clicking here.

Full School CalendarAthletics Calendar

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Bonus Photo I

The mind of a III Form boy as told by his Hillier dorm room wall.

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Bonus Photo II

Chef Ray several hours before surprising the crew program with hot chocolate and while preparing a Scandinavian feast for Wednesday's lunch. That's very large haddock in the foreground.

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