Spring Recap: Plenty Going On
by Tonysha E. Taylor-Samuels

Spring started strong and kept up the pace.  On the heels of March break, the annual Junior Leadership Weekend launched April. During two fun-filled days at Camp Bournedale in Bourne, Massachusetts, rising Class I students got to know their classmates from a different and closer point of view; they brainstormed ways to set a positive tone and establish themselves as leaders of the School and the Class of 2010.  Many of our students carried energy from Leadership Weekend to the Student of Color Conference (SOCC) sponsored by the Association of Independent Schools of New England (AISNE), hosted at Thayer Academy. Continuing the conversations about community that began at SOCC, student members of Common Ground, held their yearly social justice institute in May.  In typical Milton fashion, students balanced their academic work with organized play at the annual multischool Onyx dance, biennial Culturefest, and a newly-fashioned multicultural dance co-sponsored by the Student Activities Office, Caribbean Students Association, Asian Society, and Jewish Student Union. 

As part of our Alumni of Color Series, Ohene Asare ’96, Langston Dugger ’00, Regine Jean-Charles ’96, and Jamal Shipman ’03 returned to campus and shared their experiences, knowledge, and wisdom with our brother and sister bonding groups, a memorable experience. Brother and sister bonding is an opportunity available for black and Latino students to build a sense of community through biweekly meetings and quarterly outings.  This year, the students in the group expressed a strong desire to meet Milton graduates of color; their idea resulted in the informal dinner and discussion series with local alumni of color.  Ohene, Langston, Regine and Jamal shared experiences of church involvement, youth development work, counseling and advocacy work. Their voices were encouraging and their stories of perseverance and resilience were inspiring.  In his article, “Why are all the black kids sitting together?” John Allan Williams ’10 describes the meaning of the brother/sister bonding to him.  Other student writers in this issue reflect on various recent activities such as Community Service Day, The Prison Project, and the West Roxbury-Milton Academy exchange. They highlight the opportunities at Milton for students not only express their diverse identities, as Elias Mizrahi did in an all-school assembly, but to also explore the world outside of our green acres.  Enjoy this issue and please let us know what you think!