The 20th Century Through a Kaleidoscope of Perspectives

Last week, the Sixth Grade wowed us with their performance of For Though They May Be Parted, an original Saint David's musical play that explores the major events of the 20th century from World War One through the end of the Cold War. The show, written by former faculty member Wil Lobko and current faculty Jeff Moore (Music Chair) and Emily Einhorn (Sixth Grade Teacher), tells its story through the iconic songs from the century, as well as famous speeches of the period, and through the poetry of Wilfred Owen and Langston Hughes.

The boys were terrific, singing with passion and talent from a repertoire that included Give My Regards to Broadway; Brother, Can You Spare Dime; With God On Our Side; and We Didn't Start the Fire, among others. They delivered the speeches and dialogue with conviction, and dramatic and comic acumen. Bravo to all in the cast and crew and to Joe Shapiro, Phyllis Clark and Jeff Moore for the music and stage direction.

This production is mounted in conjunction with the Sixth Grade's signature interdisciplinary unit "The 20th Century Kaleidoscope," in which the boys examine the century's events through a kaleidoscope of perspectives and primary sources that include songs, poems, and historical documents.

Due to our construction project, the show was put on across the street at St. Thomas More. These days whenever I marvel at our boys' many and varied productions, I can't help but imagine them in the not-distant future, performing and playing on the stage of a new 300-seat, state-of-the-art performing arts center, which will enable them to stretch their creativity even more, and take their already fantastic shows to new heights!

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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!

Sixth Graders Meet with Dr. Carter Emmart, Director of Astrovisualization at the American Museum of Natural History

Dr. Carter Emmart with Saint David's Sixth Graders This past Friday, as part of our unique partnership with the American Museum of Natural History, sixth graders had the great honor to attend a private lecture given by Carter Emmart, Director of Astrovisualization at AMNH. Dr. Emmart told the boys about his passion for science along with an overview of the history of the Hayden Planetarium. He also gave the boys advice on how to take scientific information about the universe and compile it into an interesting and captivating show for an audience. The boys were able to see Dr. Emmart's original sketches, which helped create the Uniview program they are using to develop their presentations. The session provided our boys with an opportunity to learn how art and science come together in the planetarium, and to obtain expert advice on developing their own space shows from one of the creators of Uniview . You can learn more about Dr. Emmart's work and Univie...

Surf's Up for Horizons at Saint David's

Little can top catching a wave to beat the heat on an exceptionally hot summer's day. Yesterday, as the temperatures soared into the nineties, the Horizons at Saint David's Eighth Grade class traveled to Rockaway Beach with their teachers for surf lessons with New York's premiere surf school, Locals Surf School. The boys have been taking swimming lessons through our program since their first summer with us in 2012. At that time, they were were rising first graders, and our inaugural cohort of Horizons students. Yesterday, they were ready to go, and, as these pictures show, they had a blast while learning a new skill. This is the eighth year of Horizons at Saint David's, a six-week multi-faceted academic and cultural summer experience whose mission is to prevent summer slide in elementary school boys from low-income families. We began the program in conjunction with Saint David's 60th anniversary in 2011, as one way that Saint David's as an ins...

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