Dear St. Andrew's Community, When Dominic Holder ’16 learned that he needed to pass the swim test before being allowed to join the crew team, the non

NoxontownNews 20140404

Dear St. Andrew's Community,

When Dominic Holder ’16 learned that he needed to pass the swim test before being allowed to join the crew team, the non-swimmer did the only thing he could think to do: he started taking swim lessons.

“I remember Jonathan Witchard ’13 met me in the pool on a Friday afternoon in September of my freshman year,” recalls Dominic. “He asked me to swim out from the wall. I made it about ten feet and then I actually began to drown. Ms. Kelly had to jump into the pool to save me.”

The incident reinforced what Dominic describes as an irrational fear of water — “drowning, specifically” — but he came back the following Friday and Jonathan was again there to help. And he kept coming back for Friday lessons and even some open swims on Sunday afternoons. “Rowing was something I wanted to do since I applied to St. Andrew’s. I wanted to be on the water with my classmates and I needed to get past my fear.” He felt ready to take the swim test by the opening of crew season in the spring.

And then he failed “spectacularly” before unceremoniously joining the j.v. baseball team. He also recommitted to his goal. The swim lessons continued and he rarely missed opportunities for extra practice. Kirstin Anderson ’14 and Taylor Graves ’14 picked up where Jonathan left off after graduation and helped Dominic get stronger in the water. “I felt good, but I was also still a little nervous,” he says. A moment during a St. Andrew’s service trip to Nicaragua last month helped him summon the courage to face the test again.

“I was in a field at midnight and found myself surrounded by cows and horses. I’d never been in a situation like that. I’m from Brooklyn. I decided I needed to take advantage of every opportunity I had in life and at St. Andrew’s.”

Last Thursday, varsity swim coach (and Dominic’s Chemistry teacher) Bill Wallace met Dominic in the pool to try the test again. “He immediately sensed how tense I was and told me to relax and remember to breath. He was very encouraging.” Dominic made it the length of the pool and back and readied himself for two minutes of treading water. “I’m treading water and Mr. Wallace asks me about Chemistry. So that’s what we did. We talked about our class. I forgot about the clock.” A full three minutes went by — enough to let Dominic know he could do it, and more — before Wallace turned the subject back to the test and congratulated him on passing.

Dominic climbed out of the pool, thanked Mr. Wallace, changed into his workout clothes and bounded down the gully path to the boathouse. He was more than a week behind and a year older than other novice rowers. Some knew and appreciated the journey he took to get there, but all welcomed him. “I’m getting better every day and enjoy the hard work,” says Dominic, instinctively searching for the calluses already beginning to form on his palms. “My goal is to become a very good rower by my senior year. It doesn’t matter what boat I’m in. I just want to be the best I can be.”

Go Saints,
Will Robinson ‘97

Dominic
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GO SAINTS!

It was a great week for St. Andrew's athletics. A day after the baseball team won in a walk off, the varsity lacrosse team won in overtime against Wilmington Friends. The girls soccer team also made history by playing its first ever Independent Conference game, a 1-0 win over Tower Hill.

You can find the full spring athletic schedule here.

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Photo Credit: Karen Gowen Photography

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Math Team Storms States

St. Andrew's, led by Math Chair Eric Finch, took second and third place at the Delaware High School Math Championships this week. The 'B Team' was the third best team in the state (they have a deep bench). IV Formers Bill Hu '16 and Lily Shao '16 each earned one of the state's four perfect scores on the day.

The 9th grade St. Andrew's math team finished third behind a perfect score from Ben Chen '17 (the guy hidden behind all the trophies).

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2014 Payson Art Lecture — Yu Bong Ko

We are excited to welcome Yu Bong Ko to St. Andrew's tonight to deliver the 2014 Payson Art Lecture. Yu Bong teaches Art History at Tappan Zee High School and Dominican College, both in New York. He is a frequent lecturer at schools, colleges, and museums across the U.S. and serves as Co-Chair of the College Board’s AP Art History Development Committee.

You can watch his talk live from Engelhard Hall on our livestream channel starting at 8:00 p.m.

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In the Classroom

Jen McGowan fires up her first period precalculus class by having each student work through a mathematical mystery. "How can we have a vertical asymptote at X=5 and X-intercept at X=5? We can't! X=5 is a hole on graph (X^2-5X)/(X^2- 25)."

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Dr. Harvey Johnson observes the results of his Advanced Chemistry students' independent project measuring the impact of varying temperature on the chemical reaction between diphenyl oxalate and hydrogen peroxide. Students are encouraged to pursue independent projects as a way to practice developing questions about the natural world and taking the steps to answer them.

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Mary Kelly's Latin 2 class wrestles with translating Titus Pomponius Atticus.

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Dave Myers' computer programming students share their Java code that can output fibonacci numbers up to the 24th in the sequence

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Imam Bashar Arafat gave the Wednesday Night Chapel Talk and spent two days visiting classes this week. Mr. Arafat is the President of the Islamic Affairs Council of Maryland, Founder and President of the Civilizations Exchange and Cooperation Foundation and has taught Islamic Studies at St. Mary's, Johns Hopkins, and Notre Dame of Maryland.

Since 2005, he has worked with the U.S. Department of State in more than 25 countries, and several St. Andrew's students have attended his annual youth leadership and interfaith conference, Better Understanding for a Better World.

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School Meeting Snapshot

(Left) Luke Baumann '15 gives a brilliant, data-filled presentation on how homophobia continues to pervade mainstream society despite so much progress on gay rights issues.

(Right) Global Studies students educate the community on the current situation in Crimea by offering historical context, key events leading up to Russia's annexation, the many viewpoints, and the fallout.

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Saints in Service

More than 80 members of the community donated blood in the annual Blood Bank of Delmarva blood drive in the gym this week.

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Sustainable Saints

(Left) Members of the facilities staff replaced incandescent bulbs in the Dining Hall and Main Common Room with more energy-efficient LEDs on Wednesday morning. The bulbs cost less than traditional bulbs, use less energy, and last longer.

(Right) Early signs of spring mean fresh produce from the Organic Garden. Chef Ray used several herbs and baskets of spinach for a vegetable soup on Tuesday.

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Creative Campus

All-State Band members head out early Friday morning for rehearsals.

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A St. Andrew's Moment

Monday's relative warmth entices students and teachers out to the Front Lawn for classes.

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Arts Weekend Form Picnics — May 9

The tradition of Form Picnics started as a way for parents to meet their children's friends and others parents in an informal setting. It is a parent-sponsored event and we hope you will join us for these potluck picnics to kick off Arts Weekend! We need two or three parents in each Form to be the Form Picnic Co-Chairs responsible for organizing this event. Please contact Bernadette Devine bdevine@standrews-de.org if you are interested!

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The Class of 2012 at the 2012 Form Picnics

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Upcoming Event Calendar

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 (Please Email Sheryl Rojas to RSVP)
May 9 — Form Picnics! Parents, please contact Bernadette Devine if you can co-chair a Form Picnic.
May 9-10 — Arts Weekend (Rooms under the SAS block at the Best Western in Smyrna are still available, but will be released on April 15.)

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

Full School CalendarAthletics Calendar

Bonus Photo!

Chinese 4 students prepared for a Peking Opera by designing their own masks. Different colors represents different characteristics — red represents faith, blue represents determination, white represents evil, and green represents kindness.

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