December 2006

Monthly Musings

This is part 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. 

De Vecchis' Trip to Asia -- Goodwill, School Support Abound:  Deb and Jim De Vecchi returned safely and filled with excitement from their 16-day, four-city School trip to Asia.  The goals of this trip were to visit with alumni and friends, to promote Portsmouth Abbey School and its new Summer English Program to prospective families, feeder schools and educational consultants, and to share some of Portsmouth's development plans with our Asian friends. 

The first stop on the tour was Hong Kong, where a reception for Portsmouth was hosted by Lincoln Yung with considerable help from son John Yung '86 and his wife Eunice.  The reception was attended by approximately 40 people, including alumni, past and present parents, educational consultants and prospective families. 

Next along the way was Manila, where Portsmouth has a long and rich connection.  In Manila, the De Vecchis were hosted by Francisco and Carmen Elizalde, with ample assistance from sons Santi '83, Patxi '85 and Carlos '87 (we were sorry to have missed Inigo '91), and the Delgados (Eduardo '73 and Pablo '00).  This was the first official School visit to the Philippines since 1978, and the welcome and hospitality were very warm indeed.  The highlight of the visit was a gathering at the Elizalde home attended by approximately 60 people, mostly alumni currently residing in the Manila area.  In addition to the reception, the De Vecchis were hosted at the Manila-area schools where the Elizalde and Delgados children attend.

From Manila, the De Vecchis visited Korea and were once again honored with a warm and gracious welcome by our Korean families and alumni.  Through their numerous hosts, the De Vecchis were able to experience some wonderful elements of Korean culture and tradition.  The high point of the Korean visit was a reception hosted by our Korean families and attended by approximately 50 parents and alumni, at which Jongwon Kim (Parent of Kunwoo '08 and Albert '04) served as master of ceremonies, and Francis Kang '96 spoke about his strong regard for the School.  A highlight of the reception was a presentation given by Jim De Vecchi and Woosik Chu (Parent of Joseph '07) on some of Portsmouth's development goals and the announcement of the establishment of The Korean Fund, through the generosity of many of our Korean families, to support some important initiatives of the School.

The last stop was Tokyo where the De Vecchis were hosted by Peter '75 and Lily Ferry with help from their children Lucy and Oliver (Abbey Classes of 2014 and 2016, respectively).  In addition to their congenial and generous hospitality, Peter and Lily facilitated visits and contacts with several Tokyo-area feeder schools and educational consultants, including a particularly good visit with Lily at the Nishimachi International School which the Ferry children attend.  The Ferrys also hosted a reception at the Tokyo American Club, attended by prospective families and consultants.  This being the De Vecchis' first trip to Japan, there was much to learn about its educational culture.  Optimistically, the contacts made on this visit and the continued support of Peter and Lily will lead to a stronger Japanese presence in our School and Summer Program.

All in all, this was an exciting and productive trip, and the De Vecchis were most gratified with the support and loyalty that Portsmouth Abbey School enjoys in Asia.

2006 Clothe-A-Child Effort -- Another Successful Year:  The School's annual "Clothe-A-Child" program, during which students, parents, faculty and staff raise funds to purchase much-needed winter clothing for disadvantaged families, was once again a major success this year.  All told, the Portsmouth Abbey Community raised $5,455.23 in 10 days--enough to sponsor 110 local children in need.

Clothing, gift certificates and monetary donations were made to the following agencies, organizations and individuals:

• Newport, RI, and Fall River, MA, Salvation Armies (coats, hats, mittens)
• Hathaway Elementary School (clothing, gift certificates for toys)
• Providence Rescue Mission (money to purchase Christmas dinners for the homeless -- donation matched by the Alan Shawn Feinstein Foundation)
• Star Kids (money to help sponsor children in need)
• Sponsored a family of six (clothing and food certificates)
• Assisted a child from a developing country who desperately needs surgery (cash donation)

Portsmouth Abbey School has conducted the Clothe-A-Child program since 1990. The program is coordinated by the enthusiastic and capable Infirmary staff led by Ms. Pam Gorman and Mrs. Nancy Weida.  Big thanks go to these committed women, who dedicate countless hours every year to this worthy cause, and to each and every individual in the Abbey community who contributed to this effort.  

Fall 2006 Dean's List and Honor Roll Announced:  The Dean's List and Honor Roll for the Fall 2006 semester have been announced.  Click here to see a full list of students on the Dean's List; click here to see the Honor Roll recipients.  Congratulations to these students!

Portsmouth Abbey Webcam Up and Running -- See Real-Time Video and Photos of New Dorm Construction:  If you can't get to campus to check out on-going construction of the exciting new girls' dormitory, here's the next best thing:  the Portsmouth Abbey Webcam!  Providing real-time video streams and day-by-day photography, from the beginning of construction to present day, the web cam offers an exciting glimpse of the School's newest and most significant capital initiative.  Also included are architect's renderings of the new dorm, facts and figures, and "green" construction features that will make the dorm environmentally responsible.  There's even a "countdown to completion!"  Check out the construction site now!     

Abbey to Host Two New England Girls' Tournaments:  Portsmouth Abbey School will be hosting two New England tournaments during the second half of the School year. 

On Saturday, February 24, and Sunday, February 25, the Abbey will host the NEPSAC Girls' Class C Squash Tournament.  This will be the first time that Portsmouth Abbey has participated in this event.  The tournament attracts 12-15 schools from the region, and between 85 and 100 squash players are expected to attend.

On Monday, May 7, the 23^rd Annual ISL Girls Golf Championship will be held at the Carnegie Abbey Club. The event was recently named the Pippy O'Connor ISL Golf Championship after O'Connor, the well-known golf coach for more than two decades at Noble & Greenough School in Dedham, Mass., and a long-time champion of women's golf.  The Championship has, since its inception, been held at the finest golf courses in the Boston area.  The event draws participants from nearly two dozen New England-area independent schools that offer golf.  Approximately 100 golfers will participate on nine- and 18-hole courses, based on ability, at Carnegie Abbey.

Of Portsmouth Abbey hosting both events, Abbey Athletic Director Al Brown said: "This is a great opportunity for our athletes to compete at home and to showcase our School's outstanding facilities to a large group of people from New England-area schools."

Alumni Affairs -- Abbot's Reception, NYC:  The Abbot's Reception was held on December 5 at the New York Yacht Club in New York City. Hosts for the evening were Mr. and Mrs. William Keogh '78, Mr. and Mrs. Donald M. Dowd, III '84 and Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Ruggieri '81. New York was resplendent in holiday finery and more than 200 people enjoyed a festive evening in the Model Room of the Yacht Club, featuring a beautifully decorated Christmas tree.  Don Dowd welcomed the crowd. Headmaster Jim De Vecchi and Dom Caedmon Holmes offered remarks about exciting current events taking place on campus. Dr. De Vecchi discussed the success of the wind turbine, both from a cost-savings and media exposure standpoint, along with the School's on-going efforts to be environmentally responsible through such "green" projects as the new girls' dormitory, which will feature eco-friendly materials and systems.  See photos of the Abbot's Reception.      

Abbey to Join Eastern Independent League:  Portsmouth Headmaster Jim De Vecchi and Athletic Director Al Brown have announced that Portsmouth Abbey School has been invited to join the Eastern Independent League (EIL), a select group of regional independent schools, beginning with the 2007-8 School year.

"Portsmouth Abbey School is very excited and pleased to be joining the EIL," said Dr. De Vecchi.  "This new affiliation will provide the core schedule for almost all of our sports while allowing Portsmouth to maintain its traditional rivalries and continue with a strong regional, non-league schedule.  The EIL provides a good match for Portsmouth, both in level of competition and in athletic and institutional philosophy."

Al Brown added that membership in the EIL will afford Portsmouth the opportunity "to play like-minded schools, academically and athletically, that will offer us equitable competition and will suit our institutional goals."  Portsmouth athletic teams will play every school in the EIL that offers that same sport.  "The League is comprehensive, yet diverse," continued Brown. He explained that participation in the new league will allow Portsmouth to field separate boys' and girls' tennis teams and boys' and girls' golf seasons, and will offer the Abbey a new league for field hockey and girls' ice hockey.  "There will be more opportunity for Portsmouth to play as a school against others, traveling together and adding to school spirit," said Brown.

EIL schools include:  Bancroft; Beaver Country Day; Berwick; Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall; Concord; Dana Hall; Landmark; Lexington Christian; Newton Country Day; Pingree; and Winsor.    

Special Faculty Workshop -- "10 Hallmarks of a Benedictine School:"  On Friday, December 15, Portsmouth faculty and administration participated in an enlightening workshop led by Sr. Mary Collins, O.S.B., Ph.D.  Sr. Mary is a Benedictine nun, distinguished theologian and former prioress of Mount St. Scholastica, in Atchison, Kansas.  She is also a past professor of liturgy at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and lectures extensively. 

Sr. Mary's presentation was entitled, "Ten Hallmarks of a Benedictine School." She spoke of the primary qualities of the Benedictine rule, the ever-increasing impact of globalization on our youth today, and the Benedictine response to that globalization, especially as it relates to young people and education.   

Following the presentation, the faculty broke into small groups. Each group was assigned one of the 10 hallmarks and charged with examining how Portsmouth Abbey promotes and instills that hallmark in our day-to-day existence, along with how we might better incorporate that characteristic into our daily School experience.  Sr. Mary encouraged all workshop participants to add to the "hallmark list" from our lived experience at Portsmouth Abbey.  She also suggested that we continue to discuss among ourselves what Portsmouth's best practices are for sharing and passing on Benedictine wisdom so as to strengthen Mission effectiveness in our own School.

The 10 Hallmarks of a Benedictine School

1. PRAYER:  Everyone knows how to pray or is learning the traditions of prayer.
2. OBEDIENCE:  Requires the quiet and leisure for interior growth.
3. STABILITY:  Being known and loved as the foundation for strong personal identity development.
4. DISCPLINE:  Daily practice leading to proficiency and autonomy.
5. STEWARDSHIP:  Learning the properties of things and how to care for them.
6. HUMILITY:  Human interaction that presents an honest face.
7. STRONG COMMUNITY:  Grows from mutual support and encouragement.
8. HOSPITALITY:  Letting oneself be blessed by "others"
9. MUTUAL LOVE:  Relating respectfully and non-violently in a culture of violence
10. CONVERSATIO:  "Staying with the program" day-in and day-out for a lifetime

Summer Lacrosse Camps at Portsmouth Abbey:  This summer, Portsmouth Abbey will again be host to two lacrosse camps run by Abbey Lacrosse Coach and Athletic Director Al Brown.

The 14^th Annual New England Top 150 Lacrosse Camp brings together 400 experienced lacrosse players and more than 50 college and 12 prep school coaches for an intense recruiting/instructional camp.  Players from 21 states attended last year along with coaches from Tufts, Middlebury, Haverford, Holy Cross, Harvard, Georgetown, Deerfield and Phillips Exeter.  Twelve players from the Abbey were selected to attend the 2006 camp.  The dates for the two sessions are July 7-10 and July 10-13, 2007.  Information on the Top 150 Camp can be found here.

The 15^th Annual North Star Lacrosse Camp will also be held once again at the Abbey. The camp provides boys ages 8-16 with a program designed to improve each participant's skill and understanding of lacrosse.  Coach Al Brown will be joined by Coach Renzie Lamb (35 years as the head lacrosse coach at Williams College) and coaches from Skidmore College, Phillips Exeter and Virginia Wesleyan College to provide a challenging week of lacrosse.  Two separate programs will be run simultaneously.  The JV Day Camp is open to boys ages 7 through 12 and will provide two on-field sessions each day combining skill, practice and games.  The new Varsity Camp (day or overnight) for boys ages 13 to 16 is a more intense program offering three sessions daily and is designed with the JV and rising varsity player in mind.  For more information check out the North Star Lacrosse Camp web site.

Portsmouth Abbey Attends Harvard Model UN:  Ethiopia was the country that this year's delegation represented at the 54^th Harvard Model United Nations in Boston, December 7-10. The Portsmouth Abbey delegation joined more than 2,500 students from 17 states and 16 countries, from as far away as China, India and Greece. Afterward, one Abbey delegate noted the insights she had received about humanitarian issues and how the conference raised her interest in international relations and improved her ability to speak with little preparation. Another spoke of how the experience underlined the importance of compromise in conducting diplomacy. A third Abbey student relished meeting such a wide variety of people, including "a Dane living in Greece but attending a boarding school in Switzerland." The Portsmouth Abbey delegation was headed by Grady McCune '07 and included Caroline Gralton '07, Chiu Guan '07, Na Hyun Lee '07, Yong Seok Kim '07, Seung-Hyun Yang '07, Claire McCarthy '09, Ja Kyung Lee '09, Marisa Edmonds '08, Aeree Kim '08, and Brittany Hunt '08. See photos of the Harvard Model UN. 

Novel by Tom Mullen '92 to Become Film:  The best-selling novel, The Last Town on Earth, written by Tom Mullen '92 and published by Random House earlier this year, is being made into a feature film. Oscar-nominated writer Robert Rodat has been selected by Dreamworks Pictures to write the screenplay for Mullen's tome.  Rodat received an Oscar nomination for his work on the 1998 blockbuster hit, "Saving Private Ryan."  Mullen's novel tells the gripping tale of a small mill town in Washington State that attempts to keep the deadly 1918 flu epidemic at bay by isolating itself from the rest of the world with a self-imposed quarantine.  The anticipated release date for the movie is 2007.  Mullen, who grew up in Rhode Island, currently lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and son, and is currently at work on a second novel.

Answer to November Question:  What "new invention" first arrived on the Portsmouth Abbey School campus in March 1949?  Answer:  It was the school's first television set, a black and white Admiral, donated by Mr. Ross D. Siragusa, of Chicago, founder and chairman of Admiral Television Corp.  The TV set was housed in the Common Room of St. Benet's.

December Question:  Since Portsmouth Abbey's Clothe-A-Child program began in 1990, how many children have been clothed and how much money has been raised?  Please email your answers to: communications@portsmouthabbey.org.

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

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

Kathy Heydt Director of Communications

Kathy Stark Asst. Director of Communications

Jim De Vecchi Headmaster