2003–2004
A Year in Review

Milton proudly opened the doors of the new Student Center, a crossroads and hang-out for students from sunrise until lights-out. The building features a snack bar, common rooms for each class and recreation such as Foosball.

Broadcasting executive Pat Mitchell, of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), addressed students as the part of Margo Johnson Lecture Series.

The girls' squash team clinched the ISL championship in February with a close (4-3) victory over St. Paul’s. Seven members of the varsity team are nationally ranked in their age group.

Award-winning British novelist Zadie Smith lectured and read from her novel, White Teeth, as part of the Bingham Lecture Series.

Milton Academy’s new portable planetarium, STARLAB, is helping students to see stars. The planetarium complements use of the Ayer Observatory.

In September, a student's short story was published in The Apprentice Writer, a literary magazine of the Writer’s Institute at Susquehanna University: junior Meg Weisman’s "Shuck the shell, lick your lips, bat one eye..." was one of 75 entries selected from nearly 5,000 submissions.

The Academy broke ground for two new dorms, which will house 84 students beginning in September 2005 (this fall!).

Flik Dining Services began providing food service at the Academy, bringing vegetarian and vegan options—such as stuffed zucchini boats, tempeh tomato and portobello stacks and lentils and roasted vegetable casserole–to the Milton community at each meal. Old favorites such as chicken patties and fries remain on the menu.

Two seniors won national writing prizes: Matt Humphreys’s poem, “Carnival,” earned him a place among 125 young artists selected from a national pool of 6,500 applicants to attend ARTS Week 2003; Emma Clippinger won an honorable mention in Seventeen magazine’s annual short story contest.

Milton wrestler Ken Lee ’05 of Thousand Oaks, California, won the 171-pound weight class at the Independent School League’s Graves-Kelsey Wrestling Tournament.

A panel of MIT professors spoke to students about race from an academic perspective. All Milton students also viewed documentaries on race, which were originally aired on PBS.

On the MiltOnline conferences, the Knitting Club discussed sock patterns and techniques for crocheting; the philosophy club pondered whether faith comes first, or ritual and prayer create faith; students from Common Ground announced their planned discussion of Mel Gibson’s new and controversial movie; the Young Republicans debated whether illegal immigrants should receive any benefits of American citizenship; and the Team Rocketry group made plans to test their rocket-building skills at a launch in late March.

Students launched a new math journal, Axiom, and put their environmental and outdoor magazine, GAIA, online. Other student publications include the literary magazine, Magus-Mabus, newspapers in French and Spanish and a magazine dedicated to Asian culture.

The Music Academy of Gauteng (MAG), a 15-piece big band from South Africa, performed for Milton students this winter. Hosted by families of Milton musicians who visited MAG in South Africa in 1998, 2001 and 2003, the band members toured the city of Boston and spent two days on campus.

The School’s Human Sexuality and Relationships (HS&R) class celebrated its 25th anniversary. The optional (but always oversubscribed) course gives students a small group in which to discuss identity and relationships; the course also aims to deliver accurate information about birth control and other facts related to relationships and sexual activity.

Senior Meredith Weber, was one of 600 students recognized for outstanding writing performance by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). The NCTE’s Achievement Awards recognize some of the best student writers in the nation.

Gerry Bergstein, head of the Graduate Painting Program at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, is one of this year's Melissa Dilworth Gold ’61 Artists. Gerry's work has been the subject of over 20 solo gallery and museum shows in Boston, New York, Geneva and Chicago. The Melissa Dilworth ’61 Gold Visiting Artist Fund regularly brings a nationally recognized artist to campus.

Senior Josh Bone, a member of Milton Academy’s Speech and Debate Team, ranked the nation’s top extemporaneous speaker. Extemporaneous speaking places a premium on eloquence and expertise in analyzing current events; Josh’s area of expertise is Southeast Asia, but his spur-of-the-moment assigned topic for the final round of the Montgomery Bell Academy Extemporaneous Round Robin Championship was, “Has the electoral system learned the lessons of Bush v. Gore?”

Best-selling memoirist and novelist Anchee Min read from Red Azalea and talked with students as part of the Hong Kong Speaker Series.

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