Mix It Up Day

By Michael Kelly and Jamie Redmond

The poet Louis MacNeice was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1907 and died in 1963 of a severe chill, the result of his spending some time in a cave recording sounds for BBC radio. MacNeice’s parents originally hailed from the West of Ireland, and he was the product of an Irish nationalist mother and Protestant father. As an adult, MacNeice chose to live in England where he felt alienated, as he did in Ireland, both North and South.  MacNeice, in some of his most beautiful poems, transposes this feeling of alienation into a celebration of the plurality of the world. He believes that our recognizing and our embracing these differences and contrasts make our world beautiful. In his poetry he uses the often mundane rhythms of speech and clunky words to produce a beauty that stuns:

“World is crazier and more of it than we think,  

Incorrigibly plural. I peel and portion

A tangerine and spit the pips and feel

The drunkenness of things being various.”

​​​​​​​​from “Snow”, by Louis MacNeice 1967

On Tuesday at MBA, we celebrated “things being various” with Mix It Up Day. Led by faculty members, Annie B. Williams, Jake Lawrence and Jamie Redmond, and student leaders Emanuel Barrett, Brycen Brown, Jacob Hanai, Kiran Peterson and Ashton Terrell, the school day began with free donuts in the quad. At break, the quad was flooded with students playing ping pong, corn hole and tackling the hoola hoop. Mauro Mastropasqua, Joseph Dattilo, Reed Ragsdale, Ian Durelli and Brantley Golczynski, under the baton of Jan Pippin & Jordan Frederick, provided the music. The real business began at lunch where the students were invited to sit at tables labeled with their birth months. The hope was that the boys would break bread and chat with students from various grades and with different interests and backgrounds. The event was a great success with the students entering into the event in with positivity and curiosity.

Please click here for a video of Mix It Up Day: https://youtu.be/L6BvOlCF60U

Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur on The Hill

MBA’s Jewish families began a 10 day stretch of festivities on Monday, September 30^th. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is a fall holiday, taking place at the beginning of the month of Tishrei , which is actually the seventh month of the Jewish year It is both a time of rejoicing and of serious introspection, a time to celebrate the completion of another year while also taking stock of the good and the not so good in one’s life. As such, our Jewish students will be absent for a few days as the holidays prohibit work of any kind.  The two days of Rosh Hashanah usher in the Ten Days of Repentance also known as the Days of Awe which culminate in the major fast day of Yom Kippur the Day of Atonement. The Days of Awe represent the climax of a longer process. Starting at the beginning of the previous month, called Elul, the shofar, a ram’s horn that makes a trumpet-like sound, acts as a wake-up call to prepare for the Tishrei holidays. One week before Rosh Hashanah, special petitionary prayers called  are added to the ritual. Rosh Hashanah itself is also known as Yom Hadin or the Day of Judgment, on which God opens the Books of Life and Death, which are then sealed on Yom Kippur, the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar.

Food is an important part of most celebrations and it plays an integral part in Jewish holidays such as Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. After fasting and reflecting in solitude, the Jewish family reconnects over a marvelous meal. The challah (traditional bread) that is eaten for the Rosh Hashanah season is round, symbolizing the eternal cycle of life. The challah is traditionally dipped in honey, symbolizing the hopes for a sweet New Year.

Shanah Tovah Umetukah!

Mr. Redmond & Mr. Kelly

Hear from MBA seniors Jacob Hanai and Mattew Kaplan about their own families' traditions.