by Michael Kelly
February is Black History Month. During this month, the African-American contribution to the cultural & social enrichment of the USA is recognized and celebrated. Visit our library to view an exhibition of famous African-American icons and heroes drawn from the world of art, politics, sports, and science. Biographies and pictures of such inspirational figures such as Jackie Robinson, Malcolm X, and Katherine Johnson are on display. Black History month is celebrated not only in the USA and Canada, but also in Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Black History Month was instituted in the city of Cork, Ireland in 2010. Cork championed abolition in the 19th century, and Frederick Douglas visited there at the time to study the tactics of peaceful protest. MBA students will host several events during Black History Month, including the screening of the movie, Freedom Writers, for students and parents on 2/23. More details on this event and others will follow.
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| NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson |
MBA hosted an International Boys School Coalition conference this past weekend. The event, which explored the theme of “The Culture of a Boys School” featured excellent speakers, including three women from MBA’s board of trustees (Varina Buntin, Beth Harwell & Pam Koban), parents drawn from the world of education (Kathryn Zeuthen & Catharine Hollifield), sports (R.A. Dickey & Neil O’ Donnell), music (Travis Hill), and of course, from our student body. All of our students (Robbie Barnes, Ike Cravens & Kiran Peterson) spoke eloquently and thoughtfully, but I particularly would like to share the observations of senior, Matt Kaplan. I think he captures well the notion of inclusivity and belonging.
“When I first came to MBA as a 7th grader, my familiarity and sense of fitting into the community was a paradox. On the one hand, I had two older brothers and a father who went here, and many older students would already recognize my last name. But on the other hand, I was one of 3 Jewish students entering my class, and most of my friends throughout my life thus far had actually been Jewish. I was familiar with MBA’s campus, and I had attended football games on the Hill longer than I had been able to stay up past 8 o’clock Simultaneously, though, I came from a 6th grade class with 11 students and had no experience mixing with 120 all at once, especially in an all-boys environment. But my unique set of experiences and background only reflected what everyone else was going through at the time. As I would find out gradually over 6 years, each one of us has his own different story to tell, not only in where we came from, but also, and especially, in what we’ve done and who we’ve become since we’ve gotten here. As I’ve progressed through my time here, I have grown to appreciate so much of the work I’ve done here in my classes, and applied it outside of the classroom too, and really found my own intellectual center as a boy, one of curiosity and determination. I have found gratification in working on our school’s newspaper, in competing on our school’s mock trial team, in running on our school’s cross country and track teams, and in serving on our school’s honor council. Within class, I have found the satisfaction of solving a calculus problem, an infatuation with important leaders of American and world history, an appreciation for the subtle ways in which the Chinese language reflects its culture, and the inspiration to make my own life more meaningful through the literature I’ve read here. But I want to particularly emphasize that last part, the books we read, because I think that English class at MBA, at its best, is a great window into the connection between an intellectual center and an emotional center of a boy or young man. The discussions we have here, in an all-boys environment, allow us all to express our thoughts and feelings about the subjects of the books we read, without fear of ridicule or judgement. Reading Great Expectations last year, I would find myself relating to Pip and his experiences and thinking hard about them, and then I would go to class to listen to my friends describe how the novel hit them a different way. I really think we all became smarter through those conversations, and smarter through the essays we would write or quotations we would consider, but more importantly, we gained a better senses of ourselves, together. And that English class is just one way I have found my own emotional center, and it came through my intellectual center, through a shared experience of dealing with human emotion together with my classmates, in an environment where we all felt comfortable doing so. That’s what I think is so special about a community like MBA: it allows us to be vulnerable, we’re allowed to express ourselves, and we go through it all together. The all boys environment, at its best, is one where we are comfortable to launch into ideas and see how they feel, to explore our interests and find our passions. And this place does that through giving us the opportunity to explore our own lives, to use not only our intellectual centers, but our athletic centers, our creative centers, to unlock our emotional centers.” (Edited for length)
Quotation of the Week: “I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.” – Louisa May Alcott
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| Louisa May Alcott |