An Honorable Gunston Graduate

Several days ago in my Literature of Modern Asia course, our class Skyped with Adam Jacquet, a recent Gunston graduate who was severely wounded in an IED attack in Helmand province in Afghanistan.

It was great to speak with him, and after many months of rehab and recovery, his mood was buoyant and upbeat.  In our class, we are reading Rory Stewart's book The Places in Between, a travelogue about a British diplomat who walked across the country in 2001.  Our conversation with Adam brought the country of Afghanistan to life, and Adam helped all of us gain a deeper understand of the dynamics of the American involvement there.

As many of you know, Adam received his Purple Heart recently.  The entire Gunston community is proud of his service and grateful that he is recovering.

Stay tuned later this spring for information about our "Run for Adam" 5K Fundraiser.

Chesapeake Bay Trust Grant

Gunston is very excited to have received a $100,000 grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust to restore our waterfront, and the Chestertown Spy recently ran a great article about the upcoming major renovations that our community will soon see down at the waterfront.  Here is the article: http://www.chestertownspy.com/gunston-awarded-100000-grant-from-cbt/

The Crash B's

Our crew team travelled to Boston this weekend to participate in the "Crash B's": The World Indoor Rowing Championships.  Our own Taylor Leverage not only broke the men's erg record for Gunston, but he won his heat at the event.  Check out this very cool video: http://utilities.concept2.com/replays/crashb2012/AHeat17.

Congratulations to the rowers, the coaches, the parents, and Mrs. Gruss for helping to organize this event!


Taylor Leverage pulling away from the pack



Congratulations to the Gunston Players

What a pleasure it was to see the Gunston Players light up the Church Hill Theater for three splendid performances of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.  Indeed, I was so inspired that I penned this sorry little doggerel in their honor:

A Poem for our Players
by John Lewis

After weeks of rehearsing day and night

Our Players delivered great delight

It’s hard to say what entertained more

Samantha’s slaps, or Blaise’s snore.

For three days upon a dusty stage,

They brought to life a bard and sage,

We saw men of wisdom and great buffoons,

And a most unforgettable popping of balloons.

And alas, we thank our directors three

For the hours spent in the pursuit of glee

(and let’s not forget, the talented Hongyi)

Our Wiening, our Catherine, our Robinson,

Gave hours of critique, and direction, and fun.

Three days and nights we laughed aloud

At our players as they wowed the crowd,

Our regal Daniel, and his Catherine queen,

The Brothers Walls, and Morgan’s scream.

Oberon’s tiptoes, the longest in the land,

Added to his appearance grand.

And Jackie Gross, whose poise and class,

Gave hope and light to her love, the ass.

We loved Johnson’s wall and Bannon’s light,

Quince’s humor, and Demetrius’ fight,

Wegner’s suspenders and his shoes,

The fairies giggles, Lysander’s swoons,

We loved the singing, and the harp

Which I must say Jack Wilson, was pretty sharp.

Thus, tis my duty as your head of school,

He that is mostly fool, but sometimes cool

To declare, in thanks for a play so gay

That Wednesday, for our players, is a dress down day.

A few more good reads

Millie Eliza

Sorry for the long blog hiatus, but having a new baby girl has cut into my blogging time.  Here's a photo as evidence: 

In the meantime, here are links to three interesting recent articles:

• Tom Friedman's article in the New York Times, Average is Over
• Nan Keohane is the former President of Duke and Wellesley, and she makes a powerful argument for liberal arts education in her article, The Liberal Arts as Guideposts in the 21st Century
• And, over the winter holidays, David Brooks awarded his annual Sidney awards for the best magazine articles in 2011.  Here is Part I and Part II.

Now that Millie is sleeping through the night, you can expect more regular updates.

Off the bookshelf: "The Element" by Ken Robinson

Last week at the AIMS conference, I had the opportunity to hear one of the world's experts on creativity, Sir Ken Robinson.  Sir Ken is the author of the highly regarded Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative, and he lectures around the world spreading the idea that creativity can be cultivated, and that the range of human ability is extraordinarily rich and diverse.

His new book, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything is "a hymn to the breathtaking diversity of human talent and passion and to the extraordinary potential for growth and development."  Through dozens of vivid anecdotes, a review of the latest research on intelligence and creativity, and using his dry British wit, Robinson provides an inspiring roadmap for how individuals can cultivate and maximize their talents and passions.

The book resonated with me because it speaks to one of Gunston's core values: our desire to help each and every student discover, celebrate, and maximize their personal abilities and strengths.

Multim in Parvo

Gunston's annual magazine "Multum in Parvo" has been published for 2011.  It's a wonderful publication, and I encourage you to check it out!

Open publication - Free publishing - More alumni