Skip to main content

West of the Hudson!

This past November 29, I took a quick trip out to visit alums at Lawrenceville and Peddie in Lawrenceville, NJ and Hightstown, NJ respectively.  Traditionally, not many Saint David's boys have ventured west of the Hudson for high school. Those who have though seem to have gained from the experience immensely.

I enjoyed a tour of the Lawrenceville campus with Nader (who presented his business card at the end just in case I had any questions after my visit), and then lunched with all three, Nader '09, Miles '09, and John '11, in the Senior Dining Hall.  John was quite in awe. Apparently he never gets to experience the fancy senior spread found only in the esteemed Senior Dining Hall. We enjoyed a spirited lunch together.

Nader is excited to be taking a creative robotics course this semester.  He received his latest assignment while touring me--a very cool looking project box.  Miles is proud to be one of 4 heading off to Houston, TX to represent the school at the National Diversity Conference being held this week.  And John is super excited to be starting the hockey season. The boys expressed feeling well prepared for Lawrenceville and fondly reflected on their time at Saint David's.

After lunch it was a short drive north to Peddie to visit Max '11.  After a nice tour of campus, Max and I found a quiet place to chat for a little about the transition to high school, ways to improve Saint David's and things the school should never change.

Max was candid and thorough in his critique.  He is truly enjoying himself.  He's most excited about gearing up for basketball season.  In fact, he had to make tracks right from our meeting to a preseason scrimmage game.  He must be all of 6'6''.  I'm not sure what he's eating at Peddie, but it must be good too!



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

OLIVER!

This morning our fifth graders continued a great year-end tradition at Saint David's, The Fifth Grade Musical. The boys performed Oliver! and they were fantastic, providing impressive performances and demonstrating great vocal ability. They have been mastering the dialogue and musical numbers for weeks, and clearly gave it their all. Congratulations to the cast on a job well done, and to their Producers/Teachers James Hubbard and Jamie MacNeille, Director Phyllis Clark, Musical Conductor Jeff Moore, and the Parent Committee of Cynthia Chapman, Susan Kissane, Tara Neumann, Joyce Restituto, and Ann Roberts. Musical theater is alive and well at Saint David's!

Fascinating Art Talk by Michelle Marder Kamhi at Grandparents Event

Yesterday evening, independent scholar and critic Michelle Marder Kamhi ( www.mmkamhi.com ), co-editor with husband Louis Torres of Aristos , an online review of arts; author of Who Says That's Art? A Commonsense View of the Visual Arts ; and grandmother of two Saint David's boys, gave a thought provoking talk on art for our grandparent community. An advocate of objective standards in arts scholarship and criticism, Ms. Kamhi focused her talk on the ways in which art critics such as Clement Greenberg promoted the shift from representational art to abstraction. Kamhi argues that the abstract and post-modern art prevalent today, which often requires explanation by docents in order to be understood, goes against art's purpose. Taking issue with Greenberg's contention that representation is an expendable convention of painting, she quoted the late art critic John Canaday: "Art is the tangible expression of the intangible values that men live by." ...

NE Patriot Tom Brady at Saint David’s

Last night, Saint David’s was honored to have one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, four time Superbowl champion and three-time MVP winner Tom Brady, as the guest speaker for our Alumni Parents Council Lecture Series. Tom, who is the father of one of our Saint David's boys, addressed a standing-room-only audience in Hyman Hall comprised of our eighth graders, alumni, alumni parents and faculty. Friendly, introspective, witty, and wise, he directed his talk to the delighted eighth graders in the front of the room, and focused on the topic of leadership. “You are the young men and leaders of Saint David’s,” he noted. Tom debunked the perception that leaders are born not made, and credited his leadership abilities to “standing up to and facing fears” and to “cultivating a mental strength,” which he cited as “more important than being physically strong.” He also stressed the importance of working hard, honoring teamwork, believing in oneself and being a good lis...