Dear Families, As hard as it must have been to part with your kids last week, it has been absolutely energizing to have them all together on campus a

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Dear Families,
As hard as it must have been to part with your kids last week, it has been absolutely energizing to have them all together on campus again.

We came together as a community on Sunday evening in the Chapel for an Order for Compline performed by members of the Choral Scholars. Since then, classes and afternoon activities have been in high gear. We've seen some incredible athletic contests and look forward to more as we dedicate the new squash center tomorrow.

Perhaps the greatest moment this week was Wednesday Night Chapel. Students who attended this year's Student Diversity Leadership Conference in Houston shared their reflections from the 3-day event. It was one of those wonderful, student-led chapels I hope you have the chance to listen to sometime.

All the best,
Will Robinson '97
Communications

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Haiti and Nicaragua Service Learning Trips Still Open

If you are still thinking about the possibility of your child helping rebuild a school in Haiti or bring needed sanitation to a village in Nicaragua, there is still time to sign up for trips this spring break. The most recent two St. Andrew's Magazines featured student reflections from both trips detailing the life-changing work each experienced. As Ben Egan '13 described in his Chapel talk about Haiti, "You just have to go there to experience it for yourself."

Please contact Diahann Johnson for more information about Haiti or Julia Smith for information about Nicaragua.

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Annual Aesthetics Lecture

John McGiff and Joshua Meier delivered the annual aesthetics lecture to the VI Form this week. Here are a few of the questions posited during the lecture:
* What is an aesthetic act?
* Is there such a thing as art?
* How do we make a judgment about it?
* Who determines something to be art?
* Is value made up from a consensus or an individual's point of view?
* How do we develop our own tastes — is it influenced by the marketplace, education, our parents, society?
* How can we make decisions about what’s valuable and what’s not?
* Who is making decisions about what should be seen, and what shouldn’t be seen, and how aware are we of what we are looking at?
* Do we have an obligation to be informed about what we are looking at before we make a judgment?

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Pen Pal Program Fosters Cultural Exchange

Every other week for the past few months, members of Chiachyi Chui's Chinese 3 and Chinese 4 classes have exchanged letters with students in Shanghai, China. Shanghai-native Jiani Chen '13 spearheaded the effort, which has taken off on both sides of the world. The St. Andrew's student letters — handwritten in Mandarin, scanned and emailed — are published in the Shanghai Student Post, a daily newspaper read by more than 200,000 teens across the city. St. Andrew's students help correct the Chinese students' written English and return the letters with edits.

"Their level of English is amazing and it has been so much fun to talk as if we didn’t have an ocean separating us," noted Kirstin Anderson'14. "I have learned to look at many aspects of American culture both critically and appreciatively after learning about how different their high school experience is in China."

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Students in Chinese 3 and Chinese 4

 
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Pen Pals in Shanghai, China

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A St. Andrew's Moment

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Never Give Up: The Boys Thirds Basketball team put on a clinic of what it means to play with heart, passion, and smarts this week against Westtown. Their last-second win (after being down by double-digits in the 4th Quarter) will be remembered as one of the year's great moments.

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Preparation for Baptism and Confirmation

Baptism and Eucharist are the central sacraments of the Christian faith. In many traditions infants are baptized, and when the children get older, they are able to affirm their baptism by being confirmed. We offer voluntary Confirmation classes at St. Andrew’s to prepare students and faculty for either Baptism or Confirmation. Sometimes students have already been baptized and confirmed before they come to St. Andrew’s, but they find that they have many questions and concerns now that they are older and more mature. We offer these classes as an aid to their Christian formation as well.

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We invite you to discuss these options with your children and encourage them to join the classes if they would like to continue their learning and deepen their faith as Christians. Of course, they will only be confirmed if they truly feel called by God to affirm their faith, but the learning and faith development are always valuable. Classes will meet weekly beginning this winter. Roman Catholic students will work with Nathan Costa through St. Joseph Parish in Middletown, and Rev. David DeSalvo and Rev. Jay Hutchinson will work with Episcopalians and members of other Protestant faiths. Bishop Francis Malooly of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington and Bishop Wayne Wright of the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware will confirm the students, but students may also choose to be confirmed at their home parishes.

If you would like more information about these classes or if your child wishes to prepare for Confirmation, please contact one of the following:
Rev. Jay Hutchinson at (302) 285-4392, jhutchinson@standrews-de.org or
Nathan Costa at (302) 285-4201, ncosta@standrews-de.org.

If your child would like to prepare for Confirmation, please send a copy of his/her baptismal certificate to the appropriate contact person above at the School address.

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Happy New Year From the Financial Aid Office!

Reminder: The Financial Aid Application Deadline for the 2013-2014 School Year is February 15.

Financial Aid materials and directions are all available on the School website.

Questions? Please contact the financial aid committee at Finaid@standrews-de.org.

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Upcoming Event Calendar

▪ January 12 — Durkin Fleischer Squash Center Dedication, 12:30 p.m.
▪ January 13 — Choral Scholars Evensong, Immanuel Church, New Castle, Del.
▪ February 9 — Wrestling Locker Room Dedication, DISC Wrestling Championship
▪ March 28 — Faculty Seminar Series
▪ April 6 — Grandparents Day

Full School Calendar — Athletics Calendar

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Bonus Photos! The Week in Arts

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Homemade Pinhole Cameras

 
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Step Step, Step Rock Step: First day of Lindy lessons

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John McGiff spent part of the week taking waves of students to the old barn to visit his studio. He showed them a painting he made when he was 18 years old as the first step of his journey as an artist that continues to evolve. "My hope for you is that you pursue the creative process wherever life takes you," John explained.

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