Communication Office
The communication office develops, implements, and evaluates communication plans and programs that support the mission of the School. The office facilitates Milton Academy’s efforts to promote awareness and good will among its various constituencies and external public; to recruit students and faculty; and to raise financial and volunteer support.
Communication Staff
Sarah Abrams
Editor, Milton Magazine
sarah_abrams@milton.edu
Marisa Donelan
Associate Director of Communication
marisa_donelan@milton.edu
Eileen Newman
Chief Communication Officer
eileen_newman@milton.edu
Esten Perez
Director of Communication and Media Relations
esten_perez@milton.edu
Greg White
Director, Web Development and Academy Graphic Design
gregory_white@milton.edu
Media Contact
If you are a member of the media in need of information or press materials, please contact Esten Perez at 617-898-2395 or esten_perez@milton.edu
Media Resources
Campus News
Farah Pandith ’86 Kicks Off 2024 DEIJ Speaker Series
On April 2, Farah Pandith ’86 spent the day with our K–12 community as part of the 2024 DEIJ Speaker Series. Farah is an author, foreign policy strategist, and former diplomat. As a world-leading expert and pioneer in countering violent extremism, she is a frequent media commentator, and we were thrilled to welcome her back to Centre Street to share her insight and expertise with students.
Classes she took as a Milton student sparked her interest in world issues and ultimately led to her career in foreign policy, she shared during a “Fireside Chat” moderated by student leaders in the Upper and Middle Schools. “Seeds that are planted when you are very young help you to think about the world in a different way,” said Farah as she reflected on learning about ancient Egyptian history as a fourth-grader at Milton.
Throughout the assembly, Farah spoke about the importance of diplomacy, self-advocacy, public speaking, digital hygiene, the “us vs. them” ideology, knowing where you get your facts from, the difference between facts and opinions, and more. She shared, “If you leave today with nothing else, the bottom line is that you should never want to be duped. You should never let anybody tell you what to think and who you are.”
“Perspective is Everything,” Milton Grad Jake Thibeault Reflects on Life-Changing Injury
Milton Academy was a big part of the plan Jake Thibeault ’22 made for his own future.
The plan: Work hard, get into Milton, play hockey at Milton, work hard at Milton, get into college, play hockey in college, and so forth. Thibeault learned about the school when his older brother attended; he saw how driven Milton students were about their passions and, he said, “I knew it was going to take a lot to get there, but I knew I wanted to be part of this community. I put my mind to it and decided that this was the journey I was going to take.”
Accustomed to achieving his goals through a combination of determination and grit, Thibeault was well on his way in September 2021, when a collision on the ice during a pre-season club tournament changed everything. He awoke in the hospital two days later, with his parents and brother Drew ’19 by his side. He had suffered a spinal cord injury that caused paralysis; a doctor told the lifelong athlete that he may never walk again.
“I turned to him and said, ‘Doc, I am going to fight this,’” Thibeault said. “I’m going to war with it. I’m still at war with it.”
Milton Alumni in the Big Dance
Fans of college basketball have two former Milton Mustangs to look out for as March Madness kicks off this week.
Cormac Ryan, a senior guard for the North Carolina Tar Heels, set a career record earlier this month, scoring 31 points in UNC’s win against Duke to clinch the ACC title. No. 1-seeded UNC takes on Wagner Thursday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Division I basketball tournament. Ryan was a captain at Notre Dame before transferring to UNC this year.
Casey Simmons, a sophomore forward for the Yale Bulldogs, is in his first year playing for Yale. The Bulldogs face off against Auburn on Friday. Simmons was rated the No. 1 player in Massachusetts as a four-star recruit out of Milton, and was one of the top prospects in New England. He transferred to Yale from Northwestern this year.
From Facilities Services to Film Sets, Milton’s Mike Malvesti Shines
He’s in two of the films nominated for Best Picture at this weekend’s Academy Awards—as well a movie still in theaters across the country—but you won’t catch Mike Malvesti on the red carpet.
You’ll catch him, instead, quietly working to keep Milton Academy beautiful and safe.
Malvesti, a member of the Facilities Services team, has found his niche as a film and television actor, a side job that has had him rubbing shoulders with some of Hollywood’s most esteemed stars. There he is in American Fiction, playing a police officer; in The Holdovers, hawking Christmas trees to Paul Giamatti; in The Town, playing the guard of an armored car that Ben Affleck targeted for a heist; in “Madame Web” as a trucker. Malvesti also scored a recurring role on the HBO series Julia* as Benny, Julia Childs’ cameraman. You might have seen him in popular commercials, as a detective in Boston Strangler, or going toe-to-toe with Rosamund Pike in I Care a Lot.
A Digital Opportunity for a Timeless Concept
Ben Rhodes-Kropf ’24 has a message from his father. In order to receive it, he’ll have to travel to Spain.
That’s because his dad left the message through Trace, an app Rhodes-Kropf and classmate Benjamin Siegel ‘24 developed throughout their junior and senior years at Milton. The location-based service combines the functions of a messaging app with the thrill of an in-person treasure hunt, allowing users to “leave a Trace” wherever they are in the world. Messages for other Trace users (or their future selves) are delivered only when the recipient is physically close to the location where the message—in video form—was recorded.
Frustrated by the passive nature of existing social media, which users can idly scroll through for hours on end, Siegel and Rhodes-Kropf set out to create a different kind of messaging service that would foster more-meaningful connections and inspire users to travel near and far.
