The Poetry of a Boys School

Certain regular occurrences on this boys school campus might surprise you, but not in ways you would expect (you’d be surprised by your surprise, if you will). Here are just a few examples of what you might see and hear at any given moment (from least surprising to most surprising):

1. a conversation about who will be the next Titans football coach
2. a PIG tournament in an advisory meeting
3. hearing bits and pieces of William Blake’s The Tyger emanating from every study area in Massey
4. a sophomore spending his study hall outside reading Thoreau
5. juniors addressing each other with, “Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote” and expecting some kind of response
6. a student asking if he can read literary criticism about Kafka‘s The Metamorphosis when he finishes the novel--outside of class
7. a freshman writing a Bell Ringer article questioning the wisdom of our donut fundraisers
8. students discussing the Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire–outside of class
9. students having a heated debate about the fiscal cliff–outside of class
10. a student asking if he can compose a “grammatically correct rap” about Bernard Malamud‘s The Natural to perform at the end of class

Boys just don’t do many of those things (certainly not #3-#10) in other schools. There’s a special brand of camaraderie that develops among the boys here. They’re not afraid to speak up in class; they appreciate the talents and interests of others; they can be themselves.