Mercersburg Academy Newsletter - Parents' Newsletter December 2007

A Crazy-Busy Time

Happy Holidays! This month of December has been full of energy. In fact, last week I asked the president of the student council, James Finucane for a characterization of how things are going, and he picked the word “energy” to describe the mood and feel of the student body right now. We return from Thanksgiving break for a short interim before we head out for winter break. A lot has been packed into a few short days, much of which I am sure you will read about on the web or in this newsletter. Two powerful thinkers and philosophers spoke to the school, the Jewish club sponsored a Hannukah dinner for anyone who wanted to attend (I thought the food was delicious in spite of what you may be hearing about dining hall food), all of the athletic teams are in full action, the chorale sang with the James Buchanan High School choir in a joint holiday concert for the local community in the Simon Theatre, the Christmas candlelight service was beautiful and meaningful, and, of course, every class has probably expected at least one major project or hour test before we depart.

One change the students found upon their return from break was the institution of our electronic key system. We are working out a few bugs, but we are now able to lock all of the dorms 24 hours a day while still allowing the students full access to the dorms when they need it. Other buildings will come on line soon. The type of key they use to get in is called a fob. More...

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.”

“Today, we had the opportunity to visit the city of Jerusalem,” writes lower-middler Lorraine Simonis 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 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 is visiting 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 another school somewhere in the world to examine one of the 20 global problems in Rischard’s book, and formulates tangible, local solutions to the problem.

To read more about the trip, see the students’ blogs.

The Birdman of Mercersburg

“I love the balance of being able to teach physics in the morning, coach football in the afternoon, and check on nesting hawks before I head home,” said 29-year Academy veteran and science department head Jim Malone.

It’s par for the course to see Malone intensely engaged with the students in myriad capacities. In the fall, catch him atop a nearby pine tree with a student, snapping pictures of nesting hawks during his hawk and owl biology directed study. In the spring, he’s breaking down and rebuilding car engines during his automotive physics directed study—a perennial student favorite. “Typically there’s one or two students who sign up for directed studies but automotive physics always has about 10 students,” Malone says. The appeal? “It’s really fun to tear cars apart,” he says, “and the kids love to get dirty.”

In addition to teaching science and directed studies each term, Malone coaches Blue Storm football, women’s basketball, and rock climbing. For the past 10 years, he has worked directly with a local homeless shelter, something that is particularly gratifying for Malone. “Twice a year we have pancakes for dinner in the dining hall which pays for one meal a week at the shelter.”

Malone’s love for birds is known campus-wide and dates to his college years when he studied wildlife biology. Years ago, he ratcheted things up a notch when he began trapping and banding hawks, bringing interested students into this world he knows so well. “Hawks love this area,” he says. “They look for open fields and tall trees or telephone poles for nesting—all of which Mercersburg has in spades.”

Before dashing off to his next activity, Malone points out: “I’m lucky to work at a school that provides me with so many outlets.”

Kwame Appiah Delivers Jacobs Residency Lecture

On Monday, December 10, Kwame A. Appiah delivered the Jacobs Residency Lecture in the Burgin Center's Simon Theatre. As a person of mixed-race ancestry, Appiah addresses the issues of identity, ethics, and cosmopolitanism. He was born in London to a Ghanian father who was a statesman, and a white mother from a prominent family. Currently the Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University, he was educated at Cambridge University, where he earned both a bachelor's and doctorate degrees in philosophy.

Appiah said his father, a Ghanaian politician, always told his children to remember they were citizens of the world. He quoted from Diogenes and Marcus Aurelius, and spoke about the idea of cosmopolitanism (the subject of his 2006 book, Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers). More...

Information for Parents

Parent Challenge

The Parent Challenge is well underway and our parent volunteer callers have been terrific! If you haven’t yet received a call, you will soon. Please be generous in your support of Mercersburg. To learn more about giving to Mercersburg and why parents choose to do so, visit the giving website.

You can also see which class is leading the parent challenge so far this fundraising year. Your support is a vote of confidence for Mercersburg and the opportunities it provides for your children. Thank you!

If you have questions about giving to Mercersburg, email Kelly Schoenberger, assistant director of annual giving, or call her at 717-328-6142.

FIrstClass for Parents

Remember to check your FIrstClass parent account regularly. If you have problems accessing your account email the Technology Help Desk or call 717-328-6232.

Volunteers Needed

Phonathons are planned for February 19 & 26 and March 4, 2008 (Irving-Marshall Phonathon). We need your help! If you are interested in supporting Mercersburg in this way, please contact De-Enda Rotz.

PILOTS Meeting Update

The annual fall meeting of the PILOTS was held during Family Weekend on October 27. Check out what we're working on.