Taft School News

Big Mike

Tue, 15 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Michael McCabe '07 has made it through rookie camp with the Green Bay Packers and begins Organized Training Activities (OTAs) on May 22. The three-day camp included eight draft picks, 14 undrafted free agents and 29 tryout players, concluded with a late-morning workout in the Don Hutson Center.

McCabe, 23, was a first-team All-Patriot League selection and a first-team All-New England choice in 2011, the third straight season he earned all-conference honors and the second straight he was named all-region. He started all 11 games at left tackle as a senior, helping the Crusaders average 400.9 yards of offense per game. McCabe played in 47 career games with 36 starts along the offensive line, including a streak of 34 straight to end his college career. He signed a three-year free-agent contract with the Packers in April.

Mike McCarthy, seven-year Packers head coach, calls this one of the best rookie camps and says it could offer immediate help for a team trying to get back to the Super Bowl. “The way our program is designed tells you how we feel about young players,” McCarthy said. “We’ve been a draft-and-develop program going on year seven now. It’s a young man’s league, in my opinion. I think that’s a trend that potentially is only going to pick up, so it would not surprise me if you continue to see those numbers.”

“Today was our best practice. The tempo was the best we had of the three. I really felt the practice environment for the team as a whole got better through the weekend. That’s a credit to the players and a credit to our coaches. We actually finished a little ahead of schedule coming off the practice field today. I don’t think that’s ever happened for a rookie orientation camp. They were flying around today,” McCarthy said.

http://www.packers.com/team/players.html

Summer Reading

Sat, 12 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Summer Reading Committee, made up of students and faculty and chaired by Rev. Ganung and Mrs. Taylor, is pleased to announce that this year's all-school book is The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, by Wes Moore.

This fascinating nonfiction work tells the story of two boys growing up in inner-city Baltimore, two boys living only a few blocks from each other, each coincidentally with the same name, but two boys who end up living very different lives—one very successful, one ending in life-imprisonment. When the author discovered the existence of his alter ego, he decided to try to learn why their lives were so different. His book is the result of several conversations with "the other Wes Moore" and his research among neighbors, friends and family. What makes the difference in how a life turns out? This book offers some thought-provoking answers.

Wes Moore will also visit campus in the fall as the Paley Lecturer.

In addition to The Other Wes Moore, students will read a second book this year as well, selected from a list of books that faculty have chosen to sponsor. Both books are required, and we will discuss them in the fall.

Of course, we hope that students will read several more than just these two books, because reading expands one's perspective on life, besides being entertaining. And we hope the list of faculty-sponsored books will provide many options and ideas and create an opportunity for many discussions in school and beyond. Enjoy!

—Linda Saarnijoki

summer readings options

FBLA Workshop Series

Sat, 12 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Taft School chapter of The Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) will host the second installment of its new business workshop series during Alumni Weekend, Friday, May 18 at 2:45 p.m. in Laube Auditorium. Writer, speaker and entrepreneur William C. Taylor ’77 will be the featured speaker.

William C. Taylor ’77 is an agenda-setting writer, speaker and entrepreneur who has helped to shape the global conversation about the best ways to compete, innovate and succeed. His latest project, Practically Radical: Not-So-Crazy Ways to Transform Your Company, Shake Up Your Industry, and Challenge Yourself, is based on in-depth access to 25 organizations that are making major organizational changes under difficult circumstances. From hard-charging technology companies to long-established nonprofits, these organizations are mastering strategies and practices that define leadership in turbulent times. Practically Radical is a sequel of sorts to Bill’s most recent book, Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win.

As cofounder and founding editor of FastCompany, Taylor launched a magazine that won countless awards, earned a passionate following among executives and entrepreneurs around the world and became a legendary business success. In less than six years, an enterprise that took shape in some borrowed office space in Harvard Square sold for $340 million.

Taylor is also an adjunct lecturer at Babson College, America's top-rated school for entrepreneurship. He is the co-author of three other books on strategy, leadership and innovation, and has published numerous essays and CEO interviews in the Harvard Business Review. He is a graduate of Taft School, Princeton University and the MIT Sloan School of Management.

FBLA is the world's largest and oldest student business organization, with more than 250,000 high school students involved in FBLA clubs throughout the United States. Taft's FBLA chapter was founded in 2010, and has participated in two national leadership conferences and two virtual business competitions. In February 2012, FBLA launched Taft's first series of business workshops on campus with guest speaker Phil Schiller of Apple, Inc.

Moorhead '62 Honored

Thu, 10 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Rodman W. Moorhead III ’62 will be awarded the Horace D. Taft Alumni Medal, formerly known as the Citation of Merit, on Alumni Day this year. The medal is the school’s highest alumni honor and is given each year to a person whose life work best exemplifies the school motto: Not to be ministered unto but to minister.

Rod first established himself as a dedicated member of the Taft community when he arrived as a student more than 50 years ago. During his three years at Taft Rod was a monitor, corridor monitor and a member of the class committee. He was also a member of the Glee Club and Church Choir, was Alpha Club president, chairman of the Chapel Committee, a member of the Switchboard Committee and Community Chest Committee. He played varsity football, basketball and track, earning varsity letters in ’59, ’60, ’61, and ’62. Rod continues his service to Taft today as chairman of the school's Board of Trustees.

Rod earned both undergraduate and graduate degrees from Harvard College. MBA in hand, Rod moved to New York, where he spent more than 30 years with the private equity group Warburg Pincus. As head of healthcare investment activities, Rod helped grow the company’s assests under management from approximately $40 million to $15 billion.

A staunch supporter of a broad range of education initiatives, Rod has been a valued and contributing member of many corporate boards. He is currently a director at Proximity Learning, which provides language learning programs for K-12 students, and at the Scientific Learning Corporation, a computer-based special education training company. Rod also sits on the Board of Directors of Imagine Schools, Inc., which operates public charter schools.

Beyond the field of education, Rod serves on the ElderTrustBoard of Trustees. ElderTrust operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that invests principally in senior housing and other healthcare facilities, primarily skilled nursing facilities, assisted and independent living facilities, and medical offices and other buildings. He is a member of the Harvard Medical School Board of Fellows, a former member of Harvard’s Board of Overseers, a trustee of the Jackson Hole Land Trust and co-chair of the Board of Directors, Stroud Water Research Center, Inc.

Rod’s dedication to both education and to Taft is in evidence in the academic facility here that bears his name. At the dedication of the Moorhead Learning Wing in 2004 Headmaster Willy Mac Mullen said, “Rod Moorhead is one of the school’s most remarkable, generous and committed graduates. In addition to being a longtime trustee, he has supported the school in every way imaginable, and his unique commitment to student learning has changed this place. Without his intellectual curiosity, this center would never have happened. This is clear: We will meet the school’s mission of educating the whole student even better now.”

Rod was first elected to the school’s board in 1991 as an alumni trustee, and stayed on after the completion of his four-year term, becoming a corporate trustee and eventually the treasurer. He succeeded Will Miller ’74 as board chair in 2006. Rod is a current member of the Admissions Committee, the Committee on School Life, the Development Committee, the Finance and Investment Committee, chair of the Governance Committee, a member of the Audit and Financial Risk Committee and the Campus Planning Committee.

Rod and his wife, Alice, split their time between their homes in Wilson, WY, New York City, and Unionville, PA. In his free time he enjoys fly fishing, fox hunting, golf, traveling, biking in France and Italy, and fishing in South America, Alaska, New Zealand and the U.S. West.

The Horace D. Taft Alumni Medal is the school’s highest alumni honor and is given each year. The recipient’s life and actions must demonstrate something humanitarian apart from a vocation or service. He or she must have gone above the ordinary demands of life or occupation. Success in a chosen field does not necessarily quality a person for the honor. At the same time, it is possible for a person to be eminently successful and go beyond the call of duty to serve others. All honorees, since the award’s creation in 1960, are recognized in a place of honor along Main Hall. The award is a reminder of Taft’s commitment to serve others.

For more information on the Horace D. Taft Medal, and a list of previous recipients, visit www.taftschool.org/alumni/merit.

Science Speaker Series

Wed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Taft’s Science Speaker Series continues Alumni Weekend with a presentation by allergy and immunology specialist Dr. Paul Ehrlich ’62. Dr. Ehrlich will talk about the impact of the environment on our health, and about how his efforts to bring asthma clinics to the South Bronx have their roots in Taft’s motto, “Not to be served but to serve.” The event will be held Friday, May 18, at 10:30 a.m. in Laube Auditorium.

Dr. Ehrlich is one of the nation's leading authorities on childhood allergies and asthma. After graduating from Taft, he studied at Columbia University and earned his medical degree at NYU. He completed medical training in pediatrics at Bellevue Hospital at NYU, and in allergy and immunology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He is currently Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the NYU School of Medicine. Dr. Ehrlich is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, and the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. He has been featured as one New York’s top pediatric allergists in New York magazine for the last ten years.

The Taft program will focus largely on our simply daily routines and interactions, and the impact they have on our health. Dr. Ehrlich will invite the audience to consider how everything in our environment—from the food we eat to the air we breathe—can trigger a biological response that affects our overall well-being. Dr. Ehrlich will end the program with an open question and answer session.

Benefit Concert

Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

For her ISP, senior Bailey Outerbridge planned to write five original songs. She performed those pieces on April 30 at Taft. And that was just the beginning.

The Taft concert was not only a part of Bailey’s ISP, it was a fundraiser for Dana’s Angels Research Trust (DART). DART is a nonprofit organization founded by Phil and Andrea Marella to fund medical research, education and care for Niemann-Pick Type C disease (NPC). NPC is a genetic metabolic disorder in which harmful quantities of cholesterol and other fatty substances accumulate in the cells of the body including the spleen, liver, lungs, bone marrow and, most dramatically, the brain. Dana Marella, Phil and Andrea’s daughter, was diagnosed with the disease in 2002 when she was eight years old; her brother was diagnosed two years later.

Bailey first heard about DART through her friend and manager, Janice Roeg.

"After hearing about the charity from Janice, I did some reading to learn more," Bailey said. "I thought it was a great cause and decided to hold a DART benefit at Taft. The idea of a concert fit perfectly with my ISP."

Bailey does not know exactly how much money was raised at Taft, as the funds were donated directly to the Marella family.

"There was a great turnout," Bailey notes. "My classmates were very generous."

On Saturday, May 5, Bailey continued her work for DART by performing one of her ISP pieces at a major fundraiser in Stamford, CT. Hosted by celebrities Frank and Kathie Lee Gifford, the DART Gala Benefit and Concert featured headlining artist and nine-time Grammy winning singer Natalie Cole. Opening for Cole, Bailey debuted her song ‘Smile,” which was dedicated and inspired by Dana’s battle with her disease.

“In writing the song, I talked to Dana’s mom a lot and looked at her pictures and I was really struck by her smile,” Bailey told the press. “Her smile is really one of the only ways she can interact with people, but she has this really rich smile that is really very touching.”

After a decade, DART has raised $2.3 million to fund research and, organizers said, their goal is to raise $375,000 more this year.

To learn more about DART, visit danasangels.org

Click here to read more about the Stamford event.

Yale Intern

Tue, 08 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Kaela Gilbert ’13 has been awarded acceptance into Yale University’s prestigious Discovery to Cure summer internship program.

The highly selective, 6-week program is open to high school juniors with an interest in science and medicine. Dr. Gil Mor, M.D., PhD of Yale’s Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, created the program to expose top-notch students from both local and international high schools to Yale's laboratories while “opening their minds to future career opportunities.”

Science teacher Laura Monti first heard about the program though Taft parents Bill Garfinkle and Linda Elkman; Monti nominated five Taft students for honor.

“All five nominees are amazing young women,” Laura Monti said. “They are all intelligent, hardworking and just plain nice people. All five are doing very well in AP Biology, which is an incredibly rigorous course that involves a great deal of independent learning. I think all five were deserving of this honor, but this is a very selective program and I am thrilled that Kaela was accepted.”

Each year Yale selects 25 to 30 participants for the program; the applicant pool is many times that number. Selected students spend six weeks working in a laboratory with a research scientist, who acts as their mentor. At the end of their training, students present their data and receive a certificate of completion. Students are invited to attend weekly lunch-meetings to discuss their project and meet other scientists from the medical school.

Run for a Cause

Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Eric Metcalf and Charlie Garcia are Taft seniors who, in their own words, have spent the past three years running "side by side" in both cross-country and track. Todd '92 and Amanda McGovern '93 are Taft alumni who, for more than 5 years, have run a non-profit -- side by side. On alumni weekend, all four will join forces to benefit the McGovern's nonprofit while deepening their imprint on the Taft community.

On July 18, 2004, Todd McGovern was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. The 30 year-old newleywed was told he had less than two years to live. According to the nonprofit's website, "Todd faced the ultimate decision: die a little each day, or live a little each day. He chose to Seas It."

Seas It is a nonprofit organization that promotes cancer recovery through recreation. Following his cancer diagnosis, Todd faced the difficult road by committing to those things that had always brought him comfort and a sense of well-being. A two-sport college athlete, staying active topped the list of commitments: being active both lifted Todd's spirits and improved his health. That personal commitment became the foundation of Seas It, which provides cancer patients and their families with the means to participate in recreational activities through individualized programs and services. Seas It also works to educate the public about the importance of a healthy and active lifestyle in both fighting and preventing cancer.

"When we heard about Todd and Amanda McGovern’s nonprofit organization, we saw a rewarding opportunity to give back to the school we love so much," explained Eric.

Adds Charlie, "Using Taft’s motto as an undercurrent for our work, we are excited to present our project to the Taft community and to the Watertown community."

Eric and Charlie have planned two separate events to benefit Seas It; both feature 5k and 1 mile run/walk options. On Saturday, May 19 Taft alumni are invited to run for the cause; event registration is limited to alumni on this day. The following day, Taft students, faculty and community members are invited to participate in “Sweat for Sweets.” Day two division winners will be awarded baked goods made by faculty member and Taft parents. There are over forty divisions, including all Taft sports teams (Varsity, JV and Thirds), a fastest Thesbian division (for Tafties involved in theater) and a Clydesdale division (for the fastest runner over 200 pounds).

Registration for the alumni-only event on May 19 is free; t-shirts may be purchased for $20. Registration for the community race on May 20 is $15 for race only, or $25 for race registration and tee. Race organizers Eric and Charlie are also looking for baked good donations and race-day volunteers. Email cgarcia@taftschool.org to help.

For more information about SeasIt, visit http://seasit.org/

ALUMNI REGISTRATION

http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=dtlxm8cab&oeidk=a07e5os1h17d88eae89

STUDENT AND COMMUNITY REGISTRATION

http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=dtlxm8cab&oeidk=a07e5urpxb36741c5b8

Visiting Poet Taylor Mali

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

[please note change of location]

Well-known poet and YouTube sensation Taylor Mali brings his art to Taft’s LAUBE DINING ROOM, MOORHEAD WING, on Friday, May 11, at 7:00 p.m.

One of the best-known authors and performers to emerge from the poetry slam movement, Taylor Mali has published two books, The Last Time As We Are and What Learning Leaves; he has also recorded four spoken-word CD’s. His life, words and mission speak of inclusion, not exclusion, which makes him an unexpected force among dissimilar wordsmiths. He claims to be one of the few people in the world to have no other job than that of poet.

Mali is a vocal advocate of teachers and the nobility of teaching, and spent nine years in the classroom teaching everything from English and history to math and SAT preparation. He has performed and lectured for teachers all over the world, and his New Teacher Project is working to attract 1,000 prospective teachers to the education field through his personal “poetry, persuasion and perseverance.”

In 2001, Taylor Mali received a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant to develop Teacher! Teacher! a one-man show about poetry, teaching and math; the show won the jury prize for best solo performance at the 2001 Comedy Arts Festival. Mali is a past-president of Poetry Slam, Inc., a non-profit organization that oversees all poetry slams in North America. He currently makes his living as a spoken-word and voiceover artist, a performer and a workshop leader. He has narrated several books on tape, including The Great Fire, for which he won the Golden Earphones Award for children’s narration.

The one-hour performance is free and open to the public; no tickets or reservations are required. Mali’s books will be available for purchase after the show.

High Note

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Taft musicians went out on a high note at two recent piano competitions. Alicia Wang ’15 tied for first place in the Schubert Club Awards competition, while Natalie Tam ’14 placed second in 2012 Hudson Philharmonic Orchestra Piano Concerto competition.

“I am not surprised with the results; both are excellent students and phenomenal musicians,” said music teacher TJ Thompson. “Alicia is one of my top saxophonists in Jazz Band; she plays great, is extremely attentive, and is both creative and thorough. Natalie was a phenomenal force on the European tour last year when we performed excerpts from Saent Saens' Carnival of the Animals. She too, unsurprisingly, is one of my top students in AP Music Theory.”

Alicia has been playing piano for about 10 years; she has been studying with her current teacher for most of that time. She has also been competing at the Schubert Club Awards for the past few years.

“It's pretty competitive, but it's also more fun than other competitions because it's not that formal,” Alicia explained. “There is an audience near the stage and the judges are way in the back.”

The competition was hosted by the Schubert Club of Fairfield County, based in Stamford, CT. Founded in 1910, the Club sponsors performances, competitions and educational programs.

“There were four award competitions,” said Alicia, “Bach, French Impressionist, Chopin, and a floating award, which was Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. My first place finish was for the floating award in the junior division.”

Natalie traveled to New York last month for the 2012 Hudson Philharmonic Orchestra Piano Concerto competition.

“I have participated in many piano competitions in Hong Kong,” Natalie said. “Now that I have been in the United States for about a year, I decided to continue my competing experience. This competition is only my first competition, and I still have at least five more to go.”

Natalie earned a second place finish for her performance of the first movement of Beethoven Piano Concerto No.1 in C Major and Chopin Polanaise Op26. She has been playing piano for the past 11 years, and currently travels to Yale University twice each month to study under Professor Wei-Yi Yang.

“I attended the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts since I was 6 with other very competitive young pianists. I met a lot of talented musicians in this event and have made many musicians friends,” Natalie concluded.

As young students, teacher TJ Thompson knows there is much more ahead for both girls.

“I am proud and happy for both of them, thrilled to get to teach them, and can't wait to hear more,” said Thompson.