Monthly Musings

This is one of an ongoing series of informal communications with Portsmouth Abbey School’s constituents.  Current parents, alumni/ae, past parents and friends have all expressed an interest in hearing more about our school, more often.  It is meant to be one element among a number of activities designed to keep you better informed about the School, the Monastery and our community.

Question for Alumni/ae: The Communications Office is assembling content for the Winter Bulletin. The theme is Writing at Portsmouth Abbey School. It will include contributions from alumni authors, a look at the evolution of the writing program at the School and much, much more. As always, we want to hear from you! Please click here to answer a question on your experience of writing at Portsmouth Abbey School, and how it has affected your life-after-School.

Visiting Lecturers on Campus: This month Dr. Mardy Grothe and Jean Trounstine were the speakers in the Dom Luke Childs Lecture Series. Dr Grothe is the author of two books in the "words and language" genre, Never Let a Fool Kiss You or a Kiss Fool You and Oxymoronica: Paradoxical Wit & Wisdom From History's Greatest Wordsmiths. He addressed the School community on the meaning of oxymora and chiasmus, giving plenty of entertaining examples. Professor Trounstine is co-editor of a book entitled Changing Lives Through Literature (also the name of a prison program she co-founded) and the author of Shakespeare Behind Bars: The power of Drama in a Woman's Prison. She works extensively in women's prisons, supplying educational alternatives using a core curriculum of literature, including Shakespeare and modern writers. Professor Trounstine discussed the work that she has directed and produced with criminal offenders, putting faces to the statistics with specific examples of women involved. Anne Joslin, author of Ambushed: Why George Herbert Walker Bush Really Lost in 1992, worked on the 1988 presidential campaign of George H.W. Bush. After his defeat in 1992, she moved back to her hometown of Newport armed with stories and conspiracy theories, which she documents in her book. Ms. Joslin spoke to a rapt audience of faculty and students about the experiences that led her to volunteer on a presidential campaign team, the energy, the "Potomac Fever", of living surrounded by the power in Washington DC, and how her experienced eyes view the current election campaign with its familiar controversy and smear. To see photographs of our visiting speakers, please visit the Photo Galleries on the School Website.

Summer Opportunities for Travel and Study Abroad: This summer, students have three great trips abroad to choose from: Nice, France; Salamanca, Spain; and Rome, Italy. In Nice, students will stay with a local family for a week while attending school in the center of the city. Then comes a week of touring, including time in Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, and Paris. The students visiting Salamanca will enjoy a month of intensive study of Spanish language, culture, and literature, while living with a local family. Excursions available include trips to Segovia, Lisbon, and Santiago de Compostela. More detailed itineraries of these trips are available on the Modern Languages Department Page of the School Website, or by contacting Roberto Guerenabarrena at rguerena@portsmouthabbey.org. The Humanities Rome Program enables students to live in a modest convent in the center of Rome, from where they can stroll around the city, attend a Wednesday general audience with the Pope and tour the major basilicas with the art and architecture class. Further information on this program can be found on the Humanities Department Page of the Website, or by contacting Peter O'Connor on poconnor@portsmouthabbey.org.

National Merit Scholarship Program: Portsmouth Abbey School student David Dufresne was named a Semifinalist in the 2005 National Merit® Scholarship Program. Only about 16,000 students, or approximately one-third of the 50,000 high scorers, qualify as Semifinalists, and have the opportunity to advance to Finalist and be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award. In addition, ten students were named as Commended Students in the Program: Katherine Dennis, Alassandra DeSisto, Elena Fedyszyn, William Gallagher, Keith Hoffmann, Joshua Parks, Matthew Strong, Garrett Thompson, David Thurston, and Susan Willis. About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise, and are placed among the top five percent of more than one million students who entered the 2005 competition by taking the 2003 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

Ninth International Student Dinner: The Ninth International Student Dinner was held in October in Stillman Dining Hall and was attended by close to 100 international and American students, six international officer families from the Naval War College, four host families, and thirteen faculty. This year's international officer families came from Cameroon, Chile, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Our host families this year are the Bergmans, the Buckleys, the DeSistos, and the Kriners. The highlight of the evening occurred when international students from eleven different countries spoke about their countries and culture. Please visit the Photo Galleries on our Website for pictures of this fun night.

The Office of College Counseling deadlines approaching:  The Office of College Counseling is sponsoring a Financial Aid Workshop in November, presented under the auspices of the Rhode Island Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. Amanda Cicciarella of Salve Regina University's Office of Financial Aid will present information about completing both the FAFSA and PROFILE forms. For more information contact Liz Cotta at ecotta@portsmouthabbey.org. October was a very busy month for Sixth Form students and the College Counseling Office. Over sixty colleges have visited and met with students. November early decision and early action deadlines are upon us, there are more colleges visiting in November, and, of course, there is the SAT II in November. All Sixth Form students are required to hand in their final college list before Thanksgiving break, and it is our hope that students will have the bulk of their college applications completed by the first of the year. We encourage parents to contact us with any questions or concerns, and we will do our part to keep you posted on your child's progress through the application process. Please visit the College Counseling pages on the Website for further information.

Dom Paschal Scotti, OSB, Published in the Downside Review: "The Quadrangular Duel and the Critique of Religious Unbelief", an article by Dom Paschal, OSB, was published in the Downside Review this July. The Downside Review is an academic journal published by Downside Abbey in England. Dom Paschal’s article reviews a major discussion in the periodical press of late Victorian England on the future of religion and if, and how, unbelief can still satisfy the religious needs of man called the "Quadrangular Duel", involving the unbelievers Herbert Spencer, Frederic Harrison, Sir James Fitzjames Stephen (Virginia Woolf's uncle) and the lone believer, the Catholic Wilfrid Ward. For more news on the Portsmouth Abbey Monastery, please visit the Monastery Website. 

Students Speak at Church Assembly: Church Assemblies are enhanced these days by the contributions of our own students, who share their personal stories relating to faith and spirituality, with the School community. This month, two recipients of the Haney Fellowship (set up in honor of Bill Haney, to provide a student with a unique educational experience during the summer before the Sixth Form year) told us of the 'unique experiences’ they enjoyed as a result. Inigo Soriano’05 attended the ‘Latin in Rome’ Program, offered by the University of Dallas, and then made a retreat at Monte Cassino, the birthplace of the Benedictine Order. Inigo discussed his spiritual exploration in the churches of Rome, and his resulting thoughts on vocations and Italy. Colette Laflamme’05 spent the summer volunteering at children's hospital in Romania as part of the Global Volunteers program. Her time there impacted her powerfully, as told in her emotional recount of the hardships endured by the innocent children, due to lack of resources, and political instability. For the full transcripts of these speeches, please visit the News section of the Portsmouth Abbey School Website.

Abbot Mark Serna Addresses School Community: Abbot Mark addressed the School community in October on understanding a secular and non-secular way of experiencing life and the world. The Abbot discussed what it means to be secular, and be part of secular relationships, versus non-secular. Secular relationships are those based on power, “with no reference to presences or agencies beyond the tangible”, and based on the belief that one is in complete possession of the truth. The non-secular point of view, on the other hand, “involves a readiness to see things or persons with a sensibility different than one’s own”, as a truly religious mind never exhausts the possibility of knowing more. This thought provoking speech, with a positive message, was enjoyed by faculty and students alike.

Come and Meet Other Parents and Alumni at a Reception Near You: On November 4th, Vin Buonanno ’62 is hosting a reception for Portsmouth Abbey School at the Racquet Club of Chicago from 6:00 to 8:00pm. If you are in Boston on November 16th, Chuck ’77 and Carla Kenahan are hosting a reception at Abe & Louie’s in the Back Bay from 6:00 to 8:30pm. During December and January, there will be receptions held in Greenwich, CT, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and La Jolla. The annual Abbot’s Reception will be held on December 14th at the New York Yacht Club, hosted by Bill Keogh ’78, Chris Abbate ’88, and Phil Moyles ’82. For more information regarding any of these events, or other regional alumni and parent events, please contact Sarah K. McDonough at 401.643.1276 or smcdonough@portsmouthabbey.org, or visit the Alumni Events Calendar on the School Website.

Special Recognition to Junior Varsity Teams: As the fall sports season comes to an end, we would like to give special recognition to the junior varsity teams. There have been significant improvements made with girls' soccer, boys' soccer, field hockey, and football when compared to previous seasons. Junior Varsity football shut-out St. George’s 20-0 and the JV girls' and boys' soccer teams have kept their winning percentage over 65% thus far. In addition, JV field hockey continues to improve offensively by scoring more goals throughout the season than the past few years. These outstanding successes support the schools mission to develop our teams and overall program from within. For end of the season standings, please visit the Athetics Pages on the School website.

Are you a match?: The answer to this question may now be found with the assistance of an online tool recently added to the School’s website. After accessing the Methods of Giving page and clicking on the link found within the Matching Gifts section, you may use the searchable database to learn if your (or your spouses) employer matches gifts to secondary schools. The database of matching gift companies is maintained by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), a professional organization of which Portsmouth Abbey School is a member. Last year, matching gift contributions equaled an added $45,000 for the Annual Fund and nearly $100,000 total for Portsmouth Abbey. Please contact Development Officer Polly Carter at pcarter@portsmouthabbey.org if you have questions about matching gift contributions.

Tools for Gift Planning at your disposal: A new Planned Giving section is now accessible to you from the Giving page on Portsmouth Abbey’s website. From the page you may review topics such as: Building Your Gift, Ways of Giving, and What to Give. Additionally, downloadable brochures are available on various topics related to estate and gift planning. The interactive gift calculator provides you with a convenient resource for quick gift estimating. To share your thoughts on this web tool or to discuss the topic of gift planning please contact Director of Development Patrick Burke ’86 at pburke@portsmouthabbey.org.

The Answer to the September Musings Question: "How many alumni/ae are members of both the Cum Laude Society and the Athletic Association?" 
There are 13 people on both lists:

O. J. Bizzozero '52	Christopher Abbate '88
James Murphy '52	John Pitzer '89
Colin Kerr '67	Ayana Davidson '95
Vincent Lackner '68	Cara Gontarz '99
Gilbert Kerr '71	Milton Little '99
James Murphy '74	Kimberly Taylor '04
Timothy Seeley '77

 






The October Question of the Month: How many students were in the first graduating class at Portsmouth Abbey School?   Please email answers to communications@portsmouthabbey.org

If you have questions, comments, or ideas, please contact the Communications Department at communications@portsmouthabbey.org.

Kathy Heydt Director of Communications

Nicky Piper Asst. Director of Communications

For all issues related to the School, please contact Tony Klemmer at tklemmer@portsmouthabbey.org or Jim De Vecchi at jdevecchi@portsmouthabbey.org at any time. We welcome the opportunity to hear from you.

Tony Klemmer '73 Assistant Headmaster Institutional Stewardship

Jim De Vecchi Headmaster

Visit our web site at: www.portsmouthabbey.org