Headmaster's Blog

We left Addis for an early flight to  Lalibela via Gondar.  Located in the mountains of Lasta north of Addis Ababa, it is best known for its incredible rock-hewn churches, 'the eighth wonder of the world.' The landscape is more barren and dry compared to Bahir Dar just a few hundred miles to the west. The shot above is looking north.  Below is the group on the steps of the Tomb of Adam.  In the morning we visited the Northwestern cluster of churches, the oldest,  Bet Maryam  (House of Mary), and its replicas of the Tombs of Adam and Christ, and the largest, Bet Medhane Alem   (House of the Saviour of the World), home to the Lalibela Cross.  In the afternoon, we visited the Southeastern cluster. The most famous of which is Bet Giyorgis, built in honor of St. George, the patron saint of Ethiopia.  The eleven churches were built by King Lalibela in the 1100s. They are believed to repr...

On Lake Tana with our guide. The lake, which is considered by the locals to be an inland sea is 3,627 square km. It is the source of the Blue Nile and flows south then north for some 372 km before joining up with the Nile. Hippos and alligators can be found in her waters. The short hike through the lush forests of Zege where the only remaining indigenous forests and monkeys can still be found in Ethiopia. Wild coffee trees cover the island.  An Orthodox monk greets us at the church.  One of the many spectacular 17th century wall paintings found inside the church.  The circular church of Ura Kidane Mehret.  Orthodox Ethiopian churches all consist of a mixture of Jewish, Muslim, and early Christian influences.

Expedition Ethiopia flew north and west to Bahir Dar today. We enjoyed a boat trip on Lake Tana to the monastery and Church of Debre Maryam on the Zege Peninsula. Later in the day the group crossed the Blue Nile and hiked through the local mountainous countryside to Blue Nile Falls.  The river, brown with mud, was running strong through lush green banks. We crossed in a small boat powered by an 8 hp Yamaha outboard.  Below are the Student Council presidents from the Classes of '11, '12, and '13 aboard our boat to Zege Peninsula. These are the boys who led the effort to build the school in Kalina.  Below is the contingent just about to cross the Blue Nile. It rained soon after.  Here are some of the village children, distracted from their chores by our passing through, trying to sell souvenirs.  

Early Friday morning, June 13th, a small contingent representing the boys of Saint David's School left New York to officially open the Saint David's Kalina School in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia. Colin '11, Jack '12, Skakel '13, John '72, Terry '73, John D, '95, Jim, John, Jim, Peter and me on Saturday, just after arrival in Addis Ababa, on the steps of the palace of Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie, now the Ethnological Museum. 

Friday, in our first ever DNA Expo our fifth grade boys showcased what they have learned in our new DNA unit, done in conjunction with our DNALC partnership. Fourth grade boys, teachers and administrators visited the expo which featured exhibits on a variety of DNA-related topics. Some were informational/learning stations that demonstrated what DNA is. In the hands-on “Extract Your Own DNA” presentation, the boys guided visitors in extracting DNA from their own saliva. Others, like “Take a Spin on the Centrifuge!” and “DNA Subway” were hands-on barcoding equipment stations. Still more stations featured the results of the DNA barcoding work the boys recently performed on samples of their choice in order to test their hypotheses. Some of these results supported a team’s hypothesis, while others were surprising. (One group that sought to determine the quality of the beef in fast food and more expensive burgers, was surprised to find that the more expensive “gourmet” burgers wer...

Connecting math to the outside world is a great way to enhance learning and increase understanding of abstract concepts. Our Upper School open-ended math investigations do just that. Two recent examples: last week sixth graders explored the effects of force and angle on the distance a rubber band will travel in the “rubber band cannon” math investigation. Today, eighth graders went to Central Park to shoot baskets, which their classmates videotaped using iPads.   Later, they imported the videos into an app that plotted points corresponding to the paths of their basketball shots, converting them into parabolas and quadratic equations, which the boys then analyzed.  Before today, it’s doubtful that many of our boys had ever thought of the mathematics behind a successful shot at the hoop. Now, most likely, they will. Math made real.

Mark S and Oliver S have both finished up their freshman years at Hamilton and Georgetown respectively. They stopped by the office for a visit Friday. Thriving.