The Center for Global Leadership and Service (CGLS) is excited to announce a three-year grant from Ion Bank Foundation for $13,200 in support of the Taft School-Police Activity League (PAL) Summer Enrichment & Mentorship Program.

Enrollment for the Taft-PAL summer program, now in its fourth year, has increased from 26 students in 2013 to approximately 40 students for summer 2014.

While in the program, the students receive academic enrichment over the summer. Research shows students typically lose two to three months of learning each summer. Whether students are coming to Taft or another school after each summer session in the program, their participation in the program helps close the learning gap.

After students complete the Taft-PAL summer program, they have an opportunity to give back to their community. One of the primary goals of the CGLS and its programs, such as Taft-PAL Summer Enrichment, is developing the next generation of mentor-leaders.

The program will once again be held on the Taft School campus in Watertown, and PAL will provide transportation to the program to students who need it. 

“The PAL transportation is key to maintaining high attendance rates,” adds CGLS Director Jamella Lee.

Thanks to the grant from the Ion Bank Foundation, the program has also hired one additional instructor, Tamara Sinclair, a 2005 Taft School graduate who now serves as the associate director of multicultural recruitment at Taft. Ms. Sinclair attended the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in the biological basis of behavior. She has taught English in Tokyo, Japan, and worked for Berlitz English in Thailand as an instructor and seminar leader. 

The Ion Bank Foundation grant, a match against a $250,000 challenge grant to the CGLS from the E.E. Ford Foundation, will also cover the cost of meals for students in the Taft-PAL Summer Enrichment Program.

“We work with the students on applications to all academic programs they are interested in,” says co-founder and Taft faculty member Laura Monti, “including Chase Collegiate, Holy Cross, Sacred Heart and the SOAR program at Kennedy High School.”

Two Taft-PAL graduates attend Taft this year, and two more will start ninth grade there in the fall.

Participants in the Taft-PAL Summer Enrichment Program report that they feel better prepared for school and that they feel comfortable being around other talented kids where it’s “finally cool to be smart.” Above all, they say they simply enjoy being around kids their age and not stuck at home in the summer.

The Center for Global Leadership and Service, founded by the Taft School in 2013 in partnership with the City of Waterbury, Waterbury Public Schools and the Police Activity League (PAL). Premised on the philosophy, “think globally, act locally,” the center will allow students from Taft and Waterbury Public Schools to collaboratively explore global issues while developing leadership skills to address them.

Taft is partnering with Waterbury leaders in developing three primary programs of the Center for Global Leadership and Service: Mentorship Programs, a Global Leadership Institute (GLI) and a Collaborative Service Learning Course.

For more information about the Center for Global Leadership and Service, contact Jamella Lee at 860-945-7888.

• Fourteen Tafties and two faculty members just returned from Taft's 7th annual service trip to Guatemala. They built three houses in and around Antigua, the colonial capital, and also volunteered at the Dreamer Center playing with children and helping with malnourished infants at Casa Jackson. 
• "It was a full and exciting ten days!" said trip leader David Dethlefs, who started the trip in 2008.
  
  
• Additional activities included running clothing and food distributions and serving dinner at a homeless shelter. Two days were spent at Lake Atitlan, visiting the Mayan ruins at Ixmiche, and exploring the indigenous market at Chichicastenango. 

Lou Dantzler believed in people. He believed that every child "has the capacity to do something positive with their lives, to make a contribution…” Sometimes, Dantzler thought, just taking an interest in a child’s life could make all the difference.  So when he came home one afternoon in 1968 to find the neighbor’s young son breaking into his home, Dantzler didn’t take the child to the police station, he took him to the park with eleven other boys.  More trips followed; more boys—and then girls—joined the crowd. Today, nearly 45 years and 35,000 young people later, Dantzler’s mission continues as the Challengers Boys & Girls Club in Los Angeles, California. And for some, the “trips” reach as far as Taft School, and last the five full weeks of its summer school program.

Since 2005, Taft has welcomed two academically gifted Challengers students—one boy and one girl—to campus each summer. LA resident and Taft alumnus Lisa Firestone von Winterfeldt ’85 worked with Dantzler and Taft’s former admissions director Ferdie Wandelt ’66 to establish the Challengers Scholar program at Taft.

"The tenth year of summer school at Taft is an exciting milestone for the Challengers Scholars,” notes von Winterfeldt. “I am saddened that the two extraordinary educators who co-founded the program with me, Lou Dantzler and Ferdie Wandelt, have passed away. They would be extremely proud. It was important to all of us to provide a world class educational experience to Challengers' teens and to let them know firsthand the opportunities that are available to them.”

Challengers Scholars receive an all-inclusive scholarship, funded in part by the Roger S. Firestone Foundation. This year, 14-year old Tyrek Edwards and 13-year old Arianna Bowden made the trip east. Both were tapped by Dantzler’s son, Corey, now Challengers’ President and CEO, for the program.

“Corey approached me and said, ‘I’ve been watching you for a while, and I’d like to show you an experience that is different from anything you have known,’” Tyrek said.

Tyrek, who recently graduated from Lou Dantzler Preparatory Middle School with a 3.97 grade point average, eagerly accepted the offer. He expressed his gratitude to Corey during his valedictory speech at graduation, and with a Thank You Award from the school named after Dantzler’s father.

At Taft, Tyrek is honing his acting and photography skills, while preparing for the Geometry class he faces this fall back in LA. He also enjoys his English Literature and Composition class.

“I’ve always looked up to my sister,” Tyrek explained, “and when I was young she was always reading, so I started reading, too—a lot. One day my father looked at me and said, ‘Tyrek, that’s the dictionary you’re reading!’ I just wanted to read, which I think has made me a good writer.”

Arianna is studying both Algebra and Literature at Taft, and also creating ceramic pieces for every member of her family. Her artwork is on display in Taft’s Summer School Art Show.

For both Tyrek and Arianna, the value of  their summer school experience extends far beyond the classroom.

“I love learning,” Arianna, says, “but I also love meeting people. And sports; sports here are great. And New York—I really love New York.” 

Tyrek, who would like to attend boarding school fulltime and to return to Connecticut to study at Yale, is grateful for the rich cultural, social, and academic experience Taft Summer School has provided.

“Corey did such a good job explaining everything about this experience to me, and it really was exactly like he said. But even knowing all that, my time here has been so much more than I could ever have expected.”

For more information, visit Taft's Summer School website and Facebook page, and the Challengers Boys and Girls Club website.

• From the entire Taft community, thank you alumni, parents, grandparents and friends. Your generosity raised the 2013-14 Annual Fund to new heights, with record giving totaling more than $4.4 million. Your gift made the difference!

Like many people her age, Olivia Paige ’15 gets a lot of information from social media. It isn’t often, though, that a Facebook post can create extraordinary opportunity.

A few years ago Justin Muchnick was applying to boarding schools. He had questions--many questions--and had trouble finding answers that felt genuine. Now a rising third year student at Andover, Justin decided to put together the book he wished was in print back then. His intent was to aggregate personal stories, insider information and meaningful recommendations from current boarding school students. He contacted heads of English departments, editors of campus newspapers and, he writes, “posted incredibly frequently on Facebook.”

Olivia first saw one of Justin’s posts on Taft’s Facebook wall.

“Later in the winter I noticed that one of my friends from Andover also posted the link,” explains Olivia, “saying that they needed more writers. So I messaged him to get in on it.”

Justin found a publisher in Peterson’s, the prolific all-things-education resource. He had a list of topics he hoped to cover, and an early crop of contributors. By the time Olivia joined the project, Justin was looking for a few people to write the remaining chapters, or to re-write sections that did not meet his expectations. Of the four topics still open on Justin’s list, Olivia chose orientation.

“As a new sophomore at Taft it was definitely something that I clicked with in terms of getting settled and being in a totally new place,” Olivia said. “And I had some pretty funny moments when I went through orientation that I definitely knew I had to share (did someone say…football players moving the girls in?). I also did choose the do’s and don’ts format for my chapter because I figured it would be the most effective way to approach the topics of orientation without it all getting jumbled together.”

Among Olivia's recommendations to new boarding school students: Do make the most of orientation by indulging fully in every opportunity, including the "ridiculous icebreakers"; reach out to other new students, returning students, and the adults on campus during those important first days of school; don't be afraid to try new things, to challenge yourself, and, most of all, to just be yourself.

Since its publication in June, the book has enjoyed steady sales and positive reviews. It is available for purchase through most booksellers, including online at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. And the book that came to Olivia through social media continues to blossom there: The Boarding School Survival Guide has a Facebook page, and Olivia’s Snapchat with the hashtag “published” may have set a personal record on views and screen shots.

“It’s kind of surreal,” Olivia says, “I don’t really believe that I’ve been published, or in such a big book with Peterson’s publishing company. All in all it’s been a really positive experience.”

Taft’s Senior Food Service Director Jerry Reveron has earned ProChef Level III certification from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), Hyde Park, New York.

Developed by CIA, the ProChef Certification program provides hands-on skill validation, recognizes professional achievement, and prepares chefs to deliver food and service at the highest level.

“Chef Jerry is one of an elite few with a PCIII Certification,” said Matthew Thompson, Aramark’s Northeast Regional Culinary Director of Higher Education. “The rigorous four-day exam process requires chefs to create authentic menus from both Latin and Asian Cuisines and to produce a menu to pair with selected wines from a market basket. In addition, the chefs also had to have a clear understanding of the role a chef plays in HR and build a financial plan to support a failing restaurant and be prepared to present their case and defend it.” 

ProChef Level I and II certifications include training on the fundamentals of running a food service business, from basic nutrition, baking, and knife skills, to healthy cooking, employment law, and financial analysis. At Level III, the top level of ProChef Certification, chefs must be experts in a multitude of culinary disciplines and be able to demonstrate strategic application of human resources and financial management.

“I am so grateful to The Taft Community for supporting me in my pursuit of this opportunity,” said Chef Reveron. “The process took close to a year of preparation and studying. There were times I wanted to give up as this exam is next to impossible to pass. I am so proud of the accomplishment. Now it is time to pay it back and continue to create the best dining program I can for Taft.”

Founded in 1946, the CIA is an independent, not-for-profit college offering associate and bachelor's degrees with majors in culinary arts, baking and pastry arts, and culinary science, as well as certificate programs. As the world's premier culinary college, the CIA provides thought leadership in the areas of professional excellence, health & wellness, sustainability, and world cuisines and cultures through research and conferences.

Taft's Collegium Musicum traveled to Italy for its “Living the Arts in Italy” concert tour in June 2014. The group performed in the country town of Faicchio and in Rome’s Basilica di Santa Maria del Popolo. They also sang in Positano, Florence, and Chiusi, and during Masses in Benevento and St. Peter's Basilica.

View photos of the 2014 Collegium trip.

Watch a video of one of the group's many performances this summer.

For more than 90 years Baldwin School — proud and tidy and alive with students and teachers — served as a school for the children of Watertown. In 2000, with the opening of a new school in town, Baldwin was mothballed and the halls and classrooms at 68 North Street were silenced.

This summer Taft purchased the Baldwin School building with the hope of bringing the school back to its original vibrancy.

“Taft and Watertown have shared such an intimate and wonderful history since the day Horace Taft moved his school here in 1893 — and buying Baldwin seemed such a perfect way to honor that history and the partnership between the school and the town, our neighbors, and the municipal leaders. I could not be more excited,” said Headmaster Willy MacMullen ’78. “It simply is too lovely and too historic a building for Watertown for it to sit idle and slowly decline. The board of trustees and I felt an obligation to preserve it — for the neighborhood, for the town, for all of us.”

With more than 20,000 square feet spread over three floors, the building offers high ceilings, wide hallways, and large windows. The property sits on almost three acres of land just a short walk from Taft’s main campus.

Though much analysis and planning work will need to be completed before the building can again be put to use, Taft’s plan is to restore the building and return it to a well-maintained, lively part of Watertown’s historic district. The building’s purchase came after the Watertown Town Council voted in July to lift a deed restriction that would have limited the property to residential units for those aged 55 and over.

The building’s purchase was made possible, in part, by a partnership between Taft and town leaders and the support of Watertown residents — as well as the remarkable generosity of the David, Helen and Marion Woodward Foundation.

“As was the case when Taft purchased and renovated the church on the Green, the Woodward Foundation stepped forward in a way that was simply inspiring,” MacMullen said.

As Woodward Foundation board member M. Hemingway Merriman noted, Taft’s purchase and restoration of the Baldwin School aligns well with the Foundation’s mission. “When Mrs. Marion Woodward Ottley established her trusts,” Merriman explained, “she hoped that by doing so it would allow the trustees of her funds the ability ‘to leave the world a better place than we found it.’ She lived in the house next door to the present Health Complex (known by us old timers as The P. O. Drug Store) and loved the neighborhood and the Taft School.”

“When I was approached by Willy MacMullen to see if The Woodward Foundation would have an interest in helping with the purchase of Baldwin School, we as a board were as enthusiastic as he was with his wonderful vision for Taft's use of the old school. The grand old building, with Taft’s care and attention, will be the best way to maintain the neighborhood,” said Merriman. “Watertown is fortunate to have The Taft School as neighbors and residents of Watertown.”

In 1975, longtime Taft physics teacher Ed North organized a summer workshop for fellow teachers on Taft’s campus. The workshop’s goal: to help teachers become better at teaching.

Fast forward to this past summer – the 39^th for those teacher workshops, which are now offered under the umbrella of the Taft Educational Center (TEC) and continue that original mission set out by North. Nine hundred and thirty-five veteran and new teachers from across the globe traveled to Taft this summer to devote some of their vacation to growing their skills as educators.

While the workshops were originally focused on advanced classroom skills for physics teachers, participants now choose from 75 workshops over a five-week period, honing their teaching skills and subject expertise in everything from art history to multivariable calculus. The majority of today’s TEC workshops are focused on teaching Advanced Placement (AP) courses. The Center has been approved by The College Board as an Advanced Summer Placement Institute and is the largest such institute in New England.

TEC’s instructors are the key to making the workshops such a great experience. “Most of our instructors have been AP readers in their subjects and have scored AP exams,” says Al Reiff ’80, who serves as director of TEC. This summer, seven Taft faculty members were among those who presented workshops at TEC.

Rob Papp, a math teacher who was a workshop participant for TEC’s entire five weeks this summer, came to Taft to develop his content skills and teaching practices and was quickly impressed by the quality of the teaching. “The workshop leaders were experts in their teaching and communication and encouraged us to not only absorb the topics we were learning, but challenged us to think about all of the different ways we could make the topics accessible to our own students,” Papp says. “The most important lesson I took away from the classroom was what it is like to be a student again. Sitting on the ‘other side of the desk’ gave me a perspective that will be invaluable as I work with my students and guide them through lessons in the upcoming school year.”

One of the greatest benefits to TEC participants is the community of teachers that they gain while at Taft.

“Many teachers are actually in isolation throughout the school year,” Reiff says. “Physics is the perfect example. If you are the AP Physics teacher, you are it– most schools only have one AP Physics teacher. When TEC participants are here they get to spend a week with a dozen people who are as passionate and excited about that subject as they are. That’s something they don’t get during the other 51 weeks a year.”

Workshop participants have access to virtual dropboxes with shared digital resources, which allows collaboration beyond the workshop. Former participants continue to share and grow those resources throughout the year. One participant, for example, created a searchable database of free response questions from the AP Environmental Science exam and shared the database with his fellow participants.

Besides those tangible resources, the time spent with other participants in the dining hall and outside the classroom can prove to be invaluable. “Getting to discuss issues with teachers from other disciplines like Art, Government, or English gave me a perspective I might not get in my math classes,” Papp says. “I learned how different teachers deal with discipline issues, difficult lesson topics, and how they use assessment for learning.”

In their final evaluations of the workshops, many of the participants say that they feel completely prepared, excited, and energized to teach their subjects in the upcoming year – and have gained resources to help them, notes TEC assistant director Rachael Ryan. “They come away knowing more about their subject, more about how to teach their subject, more about how the exam works,” Ryan says. “And many of them really enjoy being a student and watching another teacher teach.”

Some of the more captivating sights History teacher and Academic Dean Jon Willson '82 saw during his trip to France this summer were in places many tourists never go. Willson, traveling with assistance from a Davis Fellowship, found interest and intrigue in the catacombs, hundreds of feet below the streets of Paris.

“The remains of roughly six million Parisians are interred in the catacombs,” Willson notes. “They go on and on and on: chamber after chamber of neatly arranged skulls and bones -- many of them victims of The Terror during the French Revolution.”

L'Ossuaire Municipal, as the catacombs are formally known, is a labyrinth of tunnels once used to shuttle limestone mined in the Parisian suburbs to the city proper for construction. Near the end of the 18^th century, the French government began closing local graveyards because of the perceived risk they posed to public health. The catacombs became a repository for remains being relocated from those sites.

“It is unlike any place I’ve ever visited,” says Willson, “orderly, respectful, immense, and somber but, I thought, paradoxically life-celebrating.”

Willson and wife Sarah Albee, a children’s history book writer, also visited Musée des Égouts de Paris--Sewer Museum of Paris--as well as some more traditional destinations.

“Not only did we appreciate the numerous engineering marvels executed in the building and maintaining of this massive, critical-to-public-health project, we also saw where the 19th century well-to-do rode in their finery on flat-bottom-boat tours of the place,” Willson says. “While the Tuileries, Shoah Museum, and Arc de Triomphe were our other dedicated-trip favorites, simply the architecture and wonderfully convoluted layout of the city -- including in the Marais, where we stayed -- gave us the best sense of Parisian historical culture.”

Willson and Albee spent time in Lyon, the Loire Valley and Normandy, traveling via rental car in order to maximize the number of historical sites they would visit during their 10-day stay.

“We visited the river-traversing and stunningly well-maintained Chenonceaux castle (of Catherine de Medicis fame) and the Fontevraud Abbey,” Willson notes. “There lie the remains of Eleanor of Aquitaine and part of those of Richard the Lionhearted (he is buried in four different places!). Then it was on to Normandy, where we just had time to to see the incomparable Bayeux Tapestry – commemorating the battle whose linguistic significance I had not previously grasped. Finally, we toured the D-Day beaches and cemeteries. I cannot accurately capture the effect of our tour guide's breathtaking command of the military particulars -- from the strategic planning down to the most intimate details of the participants’ lives -- related to us as we were standing right there. My mother has vivid memories of the war…so much rode on its outcome...so much death and suffering was endured by so many. To end the trip by visiting historical places from which you can readily draw a straight line of impact to today -- poignant, perfect. It was easily the most educational trip we have taken in twenty-five years together.”

The Davis Fellowship, established in 1997 by Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey D. Davis and their daughter, Whitney J. Davis, Class of 1997, promotes excellence in teaching by encouraging members of the English, history, and foreign language departments to pursue cultural and scholarly experiences through international travel and study in order to broaden and deepen their capacity as classroom teachers.

In the small town of Mtubatuba on South Africa’s northeast coast, a simple, yet profound sign hangs outside the local football academy. It reads, “Be good. Do good.” Each day this summer, as Fjordi Mulla ’15 arrived at the academy to coach young South African soccer players, he thought about that sign.

“At first glance, I thought ‘Okay, that sounds simple enough!’ And it was, it truly was,” says Fjordi. “There was no simpler but yet detailed enough statement to be given as advice to whoever walked by; students, coaches, teachers or just citizens of Mtubatuba.”

As the weeks went by, Fjordi came to more fully realize the power of those words. The more he learned about South African culture, the deeper his understanding became.

“I learned about respecting elders and family values and traditions,” Fjordi explains. “Being a good person, morally, culturally and socially is incredibly important. But doing good; helping people, being a volunteer in your community and stepping up to leadership positions is an exceptional feeling one gets, as it builds character development and a sense of happiness that comes from within someone’s character and soul. This will definitely be something that I will bring back to Taft and I hope I spread it in the community as much as possible.”

Fjordi traveled to South Africa with Woza Soccer Adventures, a new organization that develops and leads educational service trips for high school soccer players. Woza was founded by world traveler and soccer devotee Chris Kaimmer on his deep belief in the ability of soccer to connect people from different countries and cultures. Fjordi’s trip was the program’s first.

“Throughout my time there my roles ranged from coach, soccer player, mentor, and leader, to role model, global citizen, researcher, student, and volunteer,” notes Fjordi. I was a coach and a soccer player at Mtubatuba Football Academy (MFA), and a volunteer for support system groups that help kids with HIV/AIDS. Other times, I would do research on how prevalent HIV/AIDS was in Mtubatuba and South Africa and what can be done to help the atrocious disease. At all times though, it was my responsibility to represent not only Woza Soccer Adventures, but also America through showing leadership skills, responsibility, active listening and most of all, respect of all of my surroundings and environment.”

The common denominators in each of Fjordi’s roles were clear: Doing good, and playing soccer.

“Some days we would dedicate our whole mornings and afternoons to volunteer work in cleaning up soccer fields. The fields were in horrible condition as glass and garbage were covering huge portions of the grass, and often sand fields! A lot of the players in the teams would play barefoot as well, which was very dangerous,” Fjordi says. “Other times, we would go on two-to-three-day trips reaching out to orphanage-based soccer organizations that helped underdeveloped communities, again through soccer. A few mornings we connected with people who were HIV/AIDS positive or girls who were stigmatized for playing soccer in South Africa! The discussions with both of these groups were powerful and very eye-opening because I truly understood how they were viewed by the society.”

Fjordi’s travel was funded in part by a Meg Page ’74 Fellowship. Page g rants are given in the spirit of Meg Page '74, whose courage and commitment to improving health care and medical treatment inspired others.

For more informaton visit wozasoccer.com

Work hard. Carry in equal amounts resilience, perseverance, and humor. Be nice. Recognize the edges of your comfort zone – and then step right over them. Get to know your teachers well. This was just some of the advice that Headmaster William R. MacMullen ’78 offered to students during his welcoming address to new students and families on Sunday, September 7.

Two hundred new students joined the Taft School community this week. In all, 596 students are enrolled at Taft this year – the school’s largest student body ever.

"Other than graduation, there is no day on this campus more exciting — as we welcome the most incredibly talented and diverse group of students in our history," MacMullen said.

As always, the admissions process was highly selective; Taft received 1,670 applications for the 200 spots available for new students this year. Students hail from 34 states and 32 countries (Taft’s student body includes 100 international students from countries including Brazil, Bulgaria, Egypt, Georgia, Germany, Lithuania, Moldova, Mozambique, and Somaliland). Thirty-seven percent of current Taft students are receiving financial aid. In all, Taft has 113 day students and 483 boarders. Sixty-three current Taft students are the children of Taft graduates, and 24 students have a grandparent who attended Taft. Students of color make up a third of the student body.

“Horace Taft had an idea that you could be a school that tried to do a number of things at the same time, and that all these goals could come together, like strands in rope, in a unique and enduring mission, which would bind us all together,” MacMullen said during his remarks on Sunday. “Taft called it the ‘education of the whole student,’ a traditional liberal education — at once intellectual, moral, aesthetic, spiritual and physical —and that’s what we will begin tomorrow. Taft thought you could be a school of profound intellectual rigor, achievement and challenge; high expectations of honor, perseverance and integrity; and warmth, humor and love. And every year we set out, once again, to become that school we have always been and the one we are not yet. It’s glorious work we do, and you are now part of it.”

After the suitcases were unpacked and parents departed campus, students were quickly immersed in campus life with a variety of orientation activities including a campus-wide scavenger hunt for the lowermid class.

On Monday morning, Headmaster MacMullen formally opened the academic year with convocation remarks that touched on Taft's history and how the school has evolved while remaining, at its core, a “school that gathers around the table.”

View a photo gallery of arrival day 2014.

View a video of Headmaster MacMullen’s convocation speech. (Read the text of the speech.)

Rockwell Visiting Artist Mark Lewis will be in residence at Taft this week, meeting with art students and addressing the entire Taft community during Thursday’s morning meeting. An exhibit of Lewis’s work—titled “Streets, Trees, and Signs” will open at the Mark W. Potter Gallery this week with an opening reception to be held Friday, September 12, from 5-7 pm. The exhibit will run through October 20.

Painting, drawing, and mixed media are Lewis’s main mediums. He has exhibited widely over the past 30 years, and currently serves as an associate professor of art and director of the Alexandre Hogue Gallery at the University of Tulsa. Lewis received a MFA degree in painting from Yale University and a BFA in painting from Kansas City Art Institute.

“When I choose a scene or a place to work in the landscape, I imagine that it is like a jazz musician choosing a standard tune to create or to invent with,” Lewis said about his work. “Each time the musician returns to the standard tune they might hold to a structural aspect of the piece, but build unique ideas each time the music is played. There are irregular formats in many of my works. In one way or another I enjoy finding and locating the format while I’m working.”

Taft’s Rockwell Visiting Artists Fund, established in 1997 by Sherburne B. Rockwell Jr., Class of 1941, and H. P. Davis Rockwell, Class of 1944, supports a program of visiting artists to speak with students and faculty, work with art classes, and exhibit their work in the Mark W. Potter Art Gallery. Professional artists involved in painting, drawing, photography, pottery, sculpture, fabric design, printmaking and other visual arts are included in the program.

Read Mark Lewis’s artist’s statement.

View his CV.

Image info:

Mark Lewis

Oak (Woodward Park)

74" x 57"

Graphite and paper collage

2014

The Taft student body came together on Sunday, September 14, for “Super Sunday” – an annual orientation event (think: messy field day) where all students are assigned to a different color team. The afternoon started with a senior class paint war before teams competed in events such as the Crisco slide, egg toss, three-legged race, human pyramid, and tug of war.

View photos and video of Super Sunday 2014.

For eleven days this summer, Emma Belak ’16 and Ai Bui ’16 lived the life of a mahout, as they trained to become certified elephant handlers. Mahouts, or Thai elephant keepers, dedicate their lives to caring for elephants, which have represented Thai culture, tradition, and royal power for centuries. The mahout is essential to the survival of elephants, which are endangered, making the mahout esteemed and respected in Thai culture.

Throughout their visit, Emma and Ai were each paired with an elephant and a mahout. They spent many hours each day learning--through full-immersion and hands-on training--to ride, bathe, feed, and care for their elephants.

“We woke up at around 6:45 am each day, walked through the jungle with our mahouts and retrieved our elephants from where they slept the night before,” Emma explains. “We then rode our elephants to the lake where we bathed them by riding them into the water, commanding them to sit, and using our hands to wash the dirt off their fully submerged bodies.”

The elephants are the center of the mahout’s life, and their primary responsibility: only after the animals had been bathed and fed could Emma, Ai and their mahouts begin to think about their own needs each day.

“We spent the second to last night of our trip at a camp in the jungle, and while we were there one of the staff members, interviewed my mahout,” said Emma. “I was present for the interview, and when asked what he likes to do in his free time, my mahout said he likes to be alone so he can write in his journal about his elephant, who he has worked with for more than 25 years. He also said he is sad because he will be forced to retire in two years, and will miss his elephant very much.”

Ai and Emma also spent time learning how elephants have become endangered, and about current worldwide conservation initiatives. They visited an elephant hospital to more fully understand the perils facing the animals, how injured elephants are treated and cared for, and about elephant abuse and rehabilitation. For Ai, the visit to the hospital was especially powerful.

“I have recently taken a deeper look at bioengineering, and seeing how the elephant hospital functions with all its advanced and specialized technology, such as portable x-ray scanners for elephants, was quite mesmerizing,” said Ai.

Even greater, though, was the bond Ai formed with both her elephant and her mahout.

“In the early mornings when we walked to the jungle to get our elephant, our mahout, Sak, always found ways to make us laugh,” said Ai. “Throughout the week, the three of us were the prankster trio of the whole camp, following the lead of our mahout. On one of our last nights in the jungle, we were brought to tears when Sak gave us the tightest hugs and called us his own daughters.”

Emma and Ai traveled to Thailand with assistance from Robert Keyes Poole Fellowships and William W. Hatfield '32 grants. The Robert Keyes Poole Fellowship was established in memory of Robert Keyes Poole '50, Taft master from 1956 to 1962. It is awarded annually to enable Taft students to engage in travel or in projects consistent with Mr. Poole's lifetime interest in wildlife and the environment. The William W. Hatfield '32 grants are supproted by an endowed fund made possible through the generosity of Guy Hatfield '65, Ross Hatfield, and the ongoing support of the Hatfield family. The grants celebrate the ideals of Horace Dutton Taft—service above self—and are given annually to one or more students whose commitment to volunteerism brings to life the message behind Taft's motto: Non ut sibi ministretur sed ut ministret—Not to be served, but to serve.

For more information the elephant conservation program in Thailand, visit Rustic Pathways.com

The origin of photography is inextricably linked with the art of printmaking through etching. In the first half of the nineteenth century, artists were experimenting with a variety of techniques designed to make stable, fixed images, or “etchings by light.” Early successes, including the first “camera” image, were borne of the same materials and techniques used in etching. This summer, with help from the Palamar Fellowships Fund, Photography teacher Yee-Fun Yin explored the roots and essence of his art through workshop study in photogravure with reknowned artist and Cape Fear Press founder Jennifer Page.

Photogravure is a printmaking technique where a continuous tone photograph is etched into a copper plate with a sensitized gelatin pigment paper resist, then transferred to an acid-free paper. The process was developed in the late 1800’s for reproducing fine archival photographic prints. And while it remains the best way to make photographic intaglio plates for printing, the process uses highly toxic, solvent-based liquid photoresists.  Jennifer Page has found a better way.

“Jennifer has experimented with several technical innovations and has developed a dry film process using photopolymer positive and pigment inks,” Yin explained. “Her technique is the merging of technology with tradition, and provides better stability and repeatability without any of the toxic chemicals."

Yin has worked with the large format camera in his photography, and works almost exclusively in the black-and-white medium. Both are prerequisites for understanding and mastering historical processes like photogravure.

“The photographic art is increasingly digital-based, but the value of the product is also less substantive. For the classically trained artists like myself, it is still the unique hand-made pieces of work that compel, inspire, enchant, and affirm the creative spirit,” said Yin. “The impact of studying with Page will be long lasting, both on my art and in my teaching."

The Palamar Fellowship Fund, established in 1998 in memory of Dr. Paul Lovett-Janison, Taft master from 1942 to 1969, by Mary Palamar, grandmother of Randal ’64 and Richard ’68, supports mid-career faculty who show particular promise of developing as master teachers.

Wearing “Green Rhino” t-shirts, 21 Taft students and faculty were among the 400,000 people who demonstrated at the People's Climate March in New York City on Sunday, September 21.

The march was organized to coincide with a meeting of 120 United Nations officials this week, under Secretary-General of the UN Ban Ki-moon—a meeting which will include discussion of political action on climate change. “The intent of this demonstration was to send a message to UN officials that there is support for a global climate policy to be put in place,” explains faculty member and Director of Environmental Stewardship Carly Borken, who led the trip. "Having support from Americans is, unfortunately, unique—so that made the number of demonstrators even more exciting.” 

Mary Collete ’17 said the march was one of the most interesting experiences she has ever had. “It was eye-opening and inspiring to see the reactions of people, young and old,” she said.

Many of the students commented on how exciting it was to be part of the movement. “I thought it was incredible to be around so many tens of thousands of people all supporting the same goal,” said Lauren Fadiman ’17. 

“For our students, many of them who don’t yet fully understand the facets of climate change yet (‘What is fracking?’ ‘What does 350 ppm of CO2 mean?’), it was a highly educational experience," Borken said. "They spoke with people on the train to NYC and in the march, asking them why they were at this demonstration too. (‘Why was a nurses' union marching? What do nurses care about climate change?’) It was such an eye-opening experience for kids to see people other than the stereotypical tree-hugger out in action. Mothers, students, transportation workers, island nation members, corporate and non-profit workers, all with a common concern  to have the whole world, including the US, make the right choice about emissions and climate change.”

Lidia Gutu ’16 was particularly impressed with the way marchers of different backgrounds were united. “I also understood that, even though marching itself does not directly solve the problem, expressing that you care and interacting with other people makes the world better,” she added.

“Many fellow demonstrators commented on how impressed they were by our students,” said faculty member Amanda Benedict. “It was a historic day for all of us. I'm proud of us for taking a stand! Taft served well!”

Taft welcomes Ethnomedical Research Specialist Dr. Ina Vandebroek to campus for an open lecture Friday, October 3, at 6:45 pm. The event is part of Taft’s ongoing New York Botanical Garden Series, and is made possible by the Yerkes Family Botanical Art and Science Speakers Fund. The program is free and open to the public; registration is not required.

Dr. Vandebroek's research marries principals of ethnobotany--the science of people, plants, and the relationships between them--with issues surrounding community health. She has spent more than fifteen years as a researcher and on international cooperation projects in Bolivia, the Dominican Republic and New York City. She is currently conducting fieldwork in rural Jamaica. Her research focuses on the dynamics of medicinal plant knowledge and its use in primary healthcare in remote, rural areas, and by Latino and Caribbean immigrants in New York City.

The results of Dr. Vandebroek’s research show that, despite a narrowing of cultural and biological diversity worldwide, the use of plants as medicines remains popular in many ethno-specific communities today. Her work with immigrants from the Dominican Republic in New York City has important implications for healthcare delivery to an underserved community, and has been used to develop training activities that help healthcare providers improve relationships and dialog with Latino/Caribbean patients.  Her lecture, entitled “Caribbean Ethnomedicine in New York City: The Diaspora Connection,” reviews this important work.

Dr. Vandebroek’s lecture will begin promptly at 6:45 p.m. in the Laube Auditorium.

The New York Botanical Garden Seminar Series at Taft features unique lectures by NYBG scientists, and is made possible by a grant from the Yerkes Family Botanical Art and Science Speakers Fund. For more information, call 860-945-7751.

Renowned pianist Andrew Armstrong will open this year’s Music for a While performance series Friday evening, October 10 at 7 pm in Walker Hall. The program is free and open to the public.

Praised by critics for his passionate expression and dazzling technique, Armstrong has delighted audiences around the world. He has performed solo recitals and appeared with orchestras in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States, including performances at Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Grand Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and Warsaw's National Philharmonic. He has performed with such conductors as Peter Oundjian, Itzhak Perlman, and Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, and in chamber music with the Alexander, American, and Manhattan String Quartets, as a member of the Caramoor Virtuosi at the Caramoor International Music Festival, and as a member of the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players in New York City. Armstrong is devoted to outreach programs and playing for children. In addition to his many concerts, his performances are heard regularly on National Public Radio and WQXR, New York City's premier classical music station.

Armstrong will bring his short concert program, “Chopin & Company,” to Walker Hall.  The program features popular Romantic masterpieces. Armstrong will deliver brief spoken remarks about each piece.

Listen to Armstrong here, or watch a performance.

Kelly Sunho Park ’15 is an actress, a musician, editor of Taft’s Global Journal, and now, a published author. “Harmony in the Forest,” written and illustrated by Kelly, is currently available on Amazon.com.

Kelly spent the past few summers teaching English at a children’s community center in South Korea. It was there that the idea of writing a children’s book first came to her.

“Part of each session included reading books to the children,” Kelly said, “which eventually prompted me to create my own book that would be both informative and enjoyable for them.”

“Harmony in the Forest” begins with a “lonely piano” sitting quietly in the forest—waiting, hoping, and wishing that someone in the forest will come to play. At last, Mother Kangaroo finds the piano, and as “her fingers danced around the black and white keys…The voice of the piano echoed from her left hand to her right hand. Whispers of the fingers tossed back and forth.” One by one the animals of the forest gather around the piano, each bringing and playing their own instrument. Bride beaver plays the cello, with a song “rich as chocolate, mellow as fresh fruit, and deep as the ocean,” while the “cool and rich tones” of the swan’s clarinet “melted into the air like ice cream.”

Kelly has been playing the clarinet for four years, and the piano for more than double that. The inspiration for her book, though, came from a grade school lesson.

“When I was in the elementary school, I was given a task to describe an image that came to my mind when hearing certain music during class. Everyone had different answers: some described the music with different colors, some with the conditions of weather; I described it with animals,” Kelly explained. “This certain childhood memory came to my mind and I decided to go for it.”

Kelly spent a good deal of time thoroughly exploring ideas before she set pen to paper. As both author and illustrator, she worked to develop a complete concept for each page from the start. The final product is one that Kelly is very proud of.

 “I hope that children from all over the world will read the book and learn about what the orchestra is, how it functions, and more importantly,” Kelly noted, “the pleasure that music brings into our lives.”

“Harmony in the Forest” is currently available on Amazon.com.