Summer 2006
Time present and time past are both perhaps present in time future.
—T. S. Eliot, “Burnt Norton”
With the scent of lilacs fading and the gleam of parents’ cars receding, I’m tempted to tell you how much I appreciate ritual and the familiar cycle of academic life (all true). We’re left now with the palpable texture of place: our enviable skyline; the rugged coolness of Pennsylvania limestone beside freshly cut grass; the Chapel reflected in the glass of Lenfest Hall. People have quieted, for a moment, their hurrying, stopping to say hello, reaching for what’s next. The power of youthful exuberance pauses. Amidst the frenzy of the academic year’s end, it’s easy to overlook uncomplicated, good moments: the baseball team, for instance, won the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) championship and placed second in the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools (PAIS) tournament. In the fall, the football team also won a MAPL title. I celebrate, as I know all of you do, the command of the Blue Storm and its fine coaches; and I appreciate what discipline, teamwork, and this success give our students.
Another recent success highlights student innovation: our robotics elective, in its first year, competed against 50 other secondary school teams at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology RoboCup in late May. Students Basil Kaaki and Mark Zbikowski, supported by faculty member Julie Maurer, captured first in the search-and-rescue competition, a technically challenging task in which a robot must find and deliver “victims.” Though timing precluded their attendance, this victory won Basil and Mark an opportunity to compete in Germany this summer; it also demonstrates our students’ ability to master complex problems, suggesting further and greater contributions to come.
As we consider our historic Mercersburg successes—a legacy of athletic heroes and creative, disciplined thinkers such as Burton Richter ’48, who won the Nobel Prize for Physics—we adults, too, reach for what’s next. We pause to witness the rise of the jaw-dropping Burgin Center for the Arts, an expression of respect for what’s gone before us and optimism for what’s to come. Our mission to prepare students well for life in a global community is steadfast: we instill in students the value of hard work and the importance of character and community. We emphasize that agile, well-trained minds set the stage for innovation, independence, and competence in the sciences, arts, and life. In mid-May, the Board of Regents ratified a new strategic plan, which will build further upon what we value most. We agree that we must forever sustain at Mercersburg our democratic spirit; residential school quality; strength of community; commitment to thoughtful self-examination; and our exceptional campus. In coming months, I look forward to sharing more details about this new plan and what it will mean for all of us who care about Mercersburg. During the last moments of this academic year, I heard and joined in singing “The Alma Mater.” The middle verse, always resonant, is especially so for me today:
Come, Mercersburg all, and we’ll praise her.
The world will we tell of her fame.
Till down the long trail of the ages
Shall echo old Mercersburg’s name.
The world will we tell of her fame.
Till down the long trail of the ages
Shall echo old Mercersburg’s name.
Douglas Hale
Head of School
