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A Winter Welcome
This is the time of year when walks across campus are quicker, heads are lower to protect against the wind blowing cold, faculty are bundled up, and worried conversations are had with students who are not dressed warmly! Yet, when winter is harsh as it can sometimes be, it is wonderfully comforting too. We have periodic snow flurries and the occasional accumulations, and we are all transformed by the beauty of the campus dressed in white. We pause on clear winter nights to enjoy the starry night sky. We linger in the dining hall to talk together over a second cup of coffee. There are terrific afternoons spent in the warm Nolde Gymnasium to enjoy athletic competitions and spectacular evenings in the Burgin Center. Afternoons in the Chapel inspire even more so with winter light illuminating the stained glass as visiting speakers discuss the moral and ethical issues of our time.
This time of year the community is also comforted by the knowledge of your continued involvement and support. Participation in the annual fund is so important to Mercersburg that those alumni, parents, and friends who make gifts each year are recognized as leaders, as Torchbearers. Students and faculty are able to achieve their ambitions in direct proportion to the strength of the community of support. Over the next few weeks, volunteers will be contacting you to ask you to renew your support. Please enjoy the opportunity for a personal conversation about Mercersburg and the characteristics of the Mercersburg experience that are important to you.
Find a way to become more involved with Mercersburg in 2008. Recommend the school to a promising student in your community. Attend a school event. Help contact classmates for your class reunion. Talk to another family who has a son or daughter at Mercersburg. Suggest a friend for an alumni profile. Go to the website and find something you want to know more about. Send us photos of your gatherings with fellow Mercersburg family and friends. Give us a call or write us a letter or email. I look forward to talking with you. Mary Carrasco, assistant head of school for external affairs
The Competition Continues - Irving Marshall 2008
 Will Marshall win?
“The pigs have a greater chance at flying than beating Marshall. Marshall's mix of beauty and brains couldn't possibly take second to a pink, barnyard animal.”—Chris Freeland, President
Or Irving?
 "The loss from last year still stings but that's going to give us that extra motivation to step it up and beat Marshall! Let’s go Irving!! "—David Strider, President.
Every student who has ever attended Mercersburg can claim membership in either Irving or Marshall. These two societies participate annually in a fun-loving but fierce mid-winter competition connected to a long and serious tradition of debating at the school.
Although it has evolved from its origin as a debating contest, the Irving-Marshall competition continues as a spirit-filled week of rivalry in a variety of events, such as pool, chess, swimming, wrestling, and basketball. Newer additions to the week include the librarian’s challenge where the societies answer a research question for the privilege of decorating the library, the split of the dining hall into opposing sides complete with red and blue drinking water, and the phonathon. This year, the society officers are in talks with the administration about adding Powder-Puff Football (girls' football) to the list of competitions.
The week culminates in Declamation, this year on March 6 at 7:15 p.m., where individuals present practiced monologues as representatives of their societies. Afterwards, students attend a dance and wait for the announcements of the winners. Alumni are cordially invited to attend the speaking contest, which is held in the Simon Theatre in the Burgin Center for the Arts. See a slide show from last year's competition.
Meet a Torchbearer—Q & A with Larissa Chace Smith '97
 Of the 500 Mercersburg moments that matter to you, please share a couple that stand out.
Declamation was probably my most memorable experience at Mercersburg. I felt that my fellow Marshall classmates were depending on me to garner the last winning points, and I was thrilled to step up to the task. Entering the dining hall for dinner and Boone Hall for the competition, and hearing the rousing cheers of my teammates made me feel individually important, but part of a communal tradition unique to my school. The sense of confidence and belonging I felt on Declamation night continues to inspire me as an adult. Winning third place made the experience even more unforgettable. Other noteworthy moments: having my father, Joel Chace, as my creative writing teacher; dancing to the Talking Heads with friends before squash practice; recording with Emily Peterson '97 in the chapel and selling our tapes to schoolmates on the last day of our senior year; hanging out in the "Day Room" in Tippetts with day-student friends; winning first place in a cross-country race my freshman year. I could go on; there were so many special moments with great friends and faculty.
You grew up in Mercersburg. What's been best about going away for a while, then coming back?
My experiences at Mercersburg prepared me for more than I bargained for. Though I missed the small community I grew up in, I found I was able to navigate various circumstances, towns, and cities with relative ease. I made a full circle from Massachusetts, Idaho, and Texas before returning to Mercersburg 10 years after high school. Every new location, school, and job bolstered my sense of adventure and curiosity, but I never stopped thinking about what it might be like to live in Mercersburg again. My now-husband lived around the country with me, but grew up two blocks from my house in Mercersburg. This made the urge to move back to our families even stronger. After 10 years away, Mercersburg continues to provide a supportive community of people I have known my whole life, as well as new opportunities for my husband's and my photography business (www.csphotographs.com). Being away has made me appreciate this special place all the more. I believe you can be happy anywhere with the right attitude. (Read More)
What's Up at Burgin?
DANCE
The dance program, directed by Denise Dalton, will host guest artist Jacqueline Sinclair in a residency January 18–24, 2008. Students will perform a hip-hop/funk piece set by Sinclair at the student dance concert on May 24.
Sinclair has been a principal dancer with the Chicago-based Joel Hall Dancers for 14 years. The Joel Hall Dancers specialize in Urban Jazz, a funky yet classic style of movement. Sinclair has a bachelor of arts from Columbia College of Chicago and a master's in theatre from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. Currently, she is directing the dance program at Maine South High School in a Chicago suburb.
 VISUAL ARTS
Faculty member Wells Gray and guest artist Brad McNew fired up the new Raku kiln for its inaugural run on Monday, January 14. (See photo at left.) Two classes of ceramics students assisted with the process amid clouds of smoke and steam.
Raku is originally a 16th-century Japanese earthenware firing process. A glazed ceramic piece is rapidly heated to 1800 Fahrenheit to melt the glaze, and then carefully removed with tongs. It is immediately placed into a container of combustible material, usually straw, sawdust, or shredded paper, and sealed by a suffocating cover. This post-fire reduction stage, creates a carbon atmosphere, affecting the metallic nature of the glaze and producing a lustrous effect, and gives Raku its unique look
Kristy Higby spent two days (by invitation) as Artist-in-Residence at the new Greenville County Fine Arts Center in Greenville, SC, working with the advanced visual arts students preparing digital portfolios of their work. Her film, Cornie will be part of the three-day Martin Luther King celebration at Shippensburg University in January. The theme for the 2008 celebration is "One Community, One Vision"." View Cornie.
MUSIC
District Band - In mid-January Janice Jung '08, clarinetist, performed with the District Band at Lebanon High School, Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Janice was selected for district band in December in auditions attended by over 2,000 students from south-central Pennsylvania. Janice won the third chair, first clarinet position—a very high honor.
Band - The band will perform a concert for community gathering on February 15 in the Simon Theatre and again at an evening concert on May 2. Selected students from the band will perform in the County Band at McConnellsburg High School on February 1 & 2.
Chorale - In December, the Chorale performed in a combined holiday concert with the James Buchanan High School Chorus and strings in the Simon Theatre. That program included over 200 students and played to a standing-room-only audience.
Students Travel with the 20/20 Program
 On November 27, six Mercersburg student ambassadors and three faculty members departed for the Middle East to investigate three global issues with the potential to touch every one of the world’s six billion people. As part of the NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) Challenge 20/20 program, Mercersburg is partnering with the American British Academy (an independent school in Muscat, Oman) to examine “peacekeeping, conflict prevention, and combating terrorism.” To read more about their experiences read the students’ blogs.
“Today, we had the opportunity to visit the city of Jerusalem,” writes Lorraine Simonis '10 of Philadelphia on November 30. “Although we would have liked to visit Bethlehem, we were not able to, as it lies in Palestinian territory. Therefore, we went to a hill overlooking the town instead to take some pictures. This further emphasized the significance of borders, whether cultural or official, in the region.”
The Mercersburg group visited Oman, a country on the southeast corner of the Arabian Peninsula, for a symposium on the same topic. The hope is that students from Oman will, in turn, visit Mercersburg for a symposium during the 2008–09 school year. The program is based on Jean François Rischard’s 2003 book, High Noon: 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them. A school in the United States teams with a school elsewhere in the world to examine one of the problems in Rischard’s book, and formulates tangible, local solutions to the problem.
International trips scheduled for spring break.
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How much do you know about the world? Students to take Global Awareness Profile
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By Magdalena Kala '08
What country can you walk across in one day? How long did the shortest war on the record lasted? Which nation in the world consumes more Coca-Cola per capita than any other? While our lives will never rely on the knowledge of such world trivia, we usually find it enjoyable to learn and share it with others. The interest should, however, stretch to more serious issues that every well educated person should be interested to learn about and understand.
In today's interconnected world, it is impossible to separate ourselves from the global society; we are inevitably a part of it, and we should be able to bear the associated responsibilities. Thus, it is essential for this generation to gain greater global awareness and understanding that will help us face the challenges yet to come. The opening sentence of the mission statement declares: "Mercersburg Academy prepares young men and women from diverse backgrounds for college and for life in a global community." Recognizing the importance of gaining a cosmopolitan worldview, Mercersburg Academy has made an ambitious goal of offering the best possible curriculum for students to become true global citizens, and constantly strives to meet it. (Read More)
At the McGowan Invitational on December 15, Cody Barrick '10 (pictured with Coach Rick Hendrickson) won his second tournament championship of the season, while A.J. Firestone '10 finished second.
A.J. Firestone's explosive pin in the 285 lb. championship bout capped an impressive performance by the Mercersburg wrestling team at the 17 team Jefferson Invitational on January 4–5. Firestone, Garrick Skubon '09, and Cody Barrick all won championships for the six man Storm contingent.
Check out the wrestling site.
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Faculty Enjoy Travel Grants
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Tom Thorne (pictured at the temple of Athena/Ceres, Paestum), his wife, Barb, and oldest daughter, Elissa '06, visited southern Italy and Sicily over the winter break. The family met up with youngest daughter Julia '07, who is spending the year abroad on an English-Speaking Union scholarship, as well as current Mercersburg School Year Abroad students Hillary Smith '08 and Kiva Rudd '08. Elissa, an ESU participant last year, led a tour of parts of Rome she discovered during her travels.
"It was a trip strongly connected to Mercersburg people and programs," Thorne says.
Four faculty travel grants are given each year by Pierce Lord '98, for travel outside of the United States. Other grant recipients in 2007 were David Bell, Gretchen Frederick and Trini Hoffman. To see where they went, read the full story.
On Campus
Winter Musical–Into the Woods – February 8–10, 2008. Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Simon Theatre. Email after February 1 for reservations.
Winter One-Act Play –All in the Timing – February 29–March 1, 2008. Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Hale Studio Theatre.
Phonathons are planned for February 19 & 26 and March 4 (Irving-Marshall Phonathon). We need your help. To support Mercersburg in this way, please email Jenn Flanagan '99, assistant director of alumni & parent programs or call her at 717-328-6141.
33rd Annual Burbank Squash Tournament - February 23. If you're interested in playing, please email Carol Swinehart, assistant director of alumni and parent programs or call her at 717-328-6204.
Mark Your Calendar Now—Alumni Weekend 2008 is October 16-19 and we need volunteers. If you're interesting in helping to plan your reunion email De-Enda Rotz, director of alumni & parents programs or call her at 717-328-6178.
Off campus
Mercersburg is going to the Birchmere (in Alexandria, Virginia) on Thursday, January 31, for an acoustic concert with country music recording artist Phil Vassar. Tickets are $40 and must be purchased in advance. To order your tickets, email Carol Swinehart or call her at 717-328-6204.
Young alumni event for the classes of 1987–2004 at Mad River Bar & Grille in Philadelphia on February 22. For more information email Jenn Flanagan '99, assistant director of alumni & parent programs or call her at 717-328-6141.
Do you know a Mercersburg graduate with an interesting personal background or a cool job? We're always looking for ways to tell the stories of Mercersburg alumni. Please share your ideas with us.
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