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Monthly Musings - Summer 2007
August 27, 2007
Monthly Musings
REVERENCE FOR GOD AND THE HUMAN PERSON
RESPECT FOR LEARNING AND ORDER
RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE SHARED EXPERIENCE OF COMMUNITY LIFE
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.
Right Rev. Caedmon Holmes Elected Abbot: The Portsmouth Abbey Monastic community has elected The Right Rev. Dom Caedmon Holmes, O.S.B., to be its third Abbot. The abbatial election took place on August 22 in the Church of St. Gregory the Great in the presence of the Right Rev. Richard Yeo, Abbot President of the English Benedictine congregation.
Born in New York City and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Abbot Caedmon joined the Portsmouth community as a lay teacher of Classics in 1965. He entered the Monastery in 1969, made his first profession of monastic vows in 1970, and continued to teach Classics for several years. He later began teaching Christian Doctrine, and from 1979 taught primarily CD. He served as head of the Christian Doctrine Department from 1992 until 1997, when he took over as head of the Classics Department upon the retirement of Peter Harris. Abbot Caedmon then resumed teaching Classics full-time until he was named Prior Administrator in March 2005 and served in that capacity until his election as Abbot.
"The two-and-one-half years of being Administrator have eased the transition for me," said Abbot Caedmon of his election. "I must rely completely on the mercy of God, and the prayers of our Blessed Mother and all the saints--including so many kind people connected with Portsmouth Abbey--to keep us sailing on."
Abbot Caedmon will serve a term of eight years. As leader of Portsmouth's 15-member monastic community, he presides at Mass and the Divine Office on the most important feasts, preaches to the monks, and is responsible for their spiritual and temporal welfare. He calls formal meetings of the community, called Chapters, at which he presides, and frames the questions-concerning the inner life of the monastery, its work, and the community's property-on which the community is to vote. He also receives new members, and officiates at their ceremonies of investiture and profession of vows.
Abbot Caedmon will be blessed in a special ceremony by the Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin, Bishop of Providence, on October 11, 2007, during a Mass to be celebrated at 11:00 a.m. in the Church of St. Gregory the Great.
The entire Portsmouth community extends its congratulations and best wishes to Abbot Caedmon!
SummerCore '07: In early June, Abbey faculty members took part in the one-week Summercore program offered by The Original Teaching Company. The Summercore program is described by its founders as "A Unique, Five-Day Marathon in Hardware, Software and Humanware." For more of the story, click here. For photos of this year's Summercore, click here.
Save the Date and Start Swinging: Save the date and get ready to hit the links at Portsmouth Abbey's Seventh Annual Scholarship Golf Tournament, scheduled for Friday, September 28th! The tournament will be held at the prestigious Carnegie Abbey Club in Portsmouth, adjacent to our campus. This par 71, championship course is one of golf's finest, so grab a friend, foursome, or come on your own and join alumni and friends who support this wonderful event. Click here for more details and/or to register on-line.
Spring 2007 Dean's List/Honor Roll Announced: The School's Dean's List and Honor Roll for the Spring 2007 trimester were announced in July. Click here for the complete list of students on the Dean's List and Honor Roll for the Spring 2007 trimester.
Raven Girls' Lacrosse Standouts Receive All-American, Academic All-American Honors: Abbey Girls' Lacrosse standouts Madison Nunes '08 and Steph Perez '08 have been named High School Academic All-Americans for the 2007 season. This year's High School Academic All-Americans were announced in July by US Lacrosse, the sport's national governing body. Nunes and Perez were among a distinguished and select group of high school student-athletes selected for this honor. For the full story, click here.
Faculty Appointments: Dr. De Vecchi recently announced the following appointments among our faculty: Kaye Caplin, Registrar; Daniel Hodes, Director of Campus Ministry; Peter O'Connor, Director of Summer School; Colleen Sanchez, Head of Visual Arts; Bowen Smith, Head of History Department; Mindy Urick, Assistant Athletic Director; and Fred Zilian, Dean of Faculty. Congratulations to all!
Haney Fellowships Awarded to Four Fifth Formers: Four Portsmouth Abbey students were awarded Haney Fellowships for independent study this summer. The recipients were Marisa Edmonds '08, Katie Hughes '08, Emily Pederson '08 and Kevin Walsh '08. The coveted fellowships, created in 1998 by Bill Haney '80 in honor of his parents, Irene, and the late William Haney, Sr., long-time Abbey teacher, houseparent and coach, fund summer independent work for qualified Fifth Formers. To read details about each student's inedpendent study, click here.
ProJo Names Ravens Among 2007 Prep School All-Stars: The Providence Journal announced its 2007 All-State selections in July, and the following eight Ravens made the cut: Bryan Kriner '07 for baseball; Maggie McCarthy '08 for track, Katie Coaty '07, Steph Perez '08, Madison Nunes '08 and Emily Kerwin '07 for girls' lacrosse; Brendan Kinnane '07 and Chris O'Reilly '07 for boys' lacrosse. Well done, Ravens!
St. Brigid's Nearly Complete: Director of Operations and Project Manager Paul Jestings reports that St. Brigid's is nearly "...ready to go. The new carpet is down, the floors of all student rooms have been waxed, all dorm furniture has been installed, house families are settled in, and we are nearly ready for the students. Barring any unforeseen surprises, we should be wrapping up everything in the next week." For those who have not viewed the impressive progress of our new dorm in recent weeks or months, we encourage you to visit our Web site to see video and still photography of this stunning addition to our campus.
Juan Maegli '07 Wins Pan-Am Gold! Juan Maegli '07, who graduated from the Abbey in May, won a gold medal in sailing at the 2007 Pan-American Games, which took place in late July in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Juan represented his home country of Guatemala as he captured first-place honors in the Hobie Cat 16 class. To read more about Juan's accomplishment, click here.
Reunion '07 Around the Corner: Reunion '07 is scheduled for the weekend of October 12-14 and is fast approaching! Plans are well underway for an entertaining and memorable weekend including class dinners, golf outings, a children's carnival and, of course, a Reunion Dinner and Celebration on Saturday evening. We look forward to welcoming back the classes of 1957, 1962, 1967, 1972, 1977, 1982, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2002, and all members of the classes of 1926 through 1956. Take advantage of our Early Bird Registration to save $30.00 off our full weekend registration fee. Click here for more details and/or to register on-line.
"Experience Rome 2007," by Naseemah Mohamed '08: The following is a first-person account of the 2007 Summer Humanities Rome Program, as told by Sixth Former Naseemah Mohamed, one of the 35 Abbey students and six adults who made this year's pilgrimage to the Eternal City.
"This year's Portsmouth Abbey Humanities Rome pilgrimage was a complete success. Both the students and teachers alike enjoyed every aspect of the great modern-ancient city. We stayed at the Centro, a delightful, small religious house, run by lay women in one of the oldest parts of Rome called Trastevere. The neighborhood was a maze of cobbled streets lined with little shops, restaurants and Italian gelaterias, not to mention pastel-colored, two-story apartment buildings, complete with clothes lines and garden terraces. The central gathering point of our neighborhood was the famous Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere." For Naseemah's complete account of the 2007 Rome trip, click here. View photos of this year's Summer Humanities Rome Program.
Fr. Julian Keeps Busy with Summer Travels, Book Publishing: Fr. Julian Stead has had a full summer, with a visit to Guatemala and the publication of his second book, entitled, Love-Ability: Becoming Lovable by Caring for Yourself and Others. He writes, "In the first 10 days of July I was the guest of Michael Bartlett '72 in Antigua, Guatemala. I found the country an artists' paradise, rich in flora and baroque churches -- some in ruins due to earthquakes, all nestling beneath volcanoes. The people are small and gentle, few have grey hair, friends and families walk freely in the streets, or sit in the shade of plazas, the churches are open, and people are praying.
"They have a local saint, Hermano Pedro (+1667); Pope John Paul II came there to canonize him. Our journey was partly business, Michael looking (successfully) for opportunities as a professional landscape architect, while helping me promote my latest book. We visited a rug factory (Guatemala is splendid for textiles). The proprietor was eagerly reading my book; Michael's father had loaned him his review copy. We flew in Juan Maegli's ('75) helicopter over lakes and mountains to Esquipulas, which the Bartletts proclaimed "the Taj Mahal of the West." It is extraordinarily beautiful. The monastery attached to the basilica was founded from St. Joseph's, Louisiana, in the 1950s; I wanted to pray at the grave of the first abbot, who had been one of my better friends in college."
Fr. Julian's book will be available in the School bookstore on September 7. We will share more news of his book, as well as information regarding his book signings, as that becomes available.
Girls' Varsity Basketball Team Polishes Skills During Summer Break: Seven members of the Girls' Varsity Basketball team traveled to Meriden, NH, on August 4 and 5 to compete in a team basketball camp held at Kimball Union Academy. Returning players included Sixth Form captain KK Behan '08 and Fifth Formers Kelsey Shea '09 and Sarah Taddei '09. The team welcomed Fourth Former Kaitlin Gladney '10 who played on JV last year. Three incoming Third Formers participated as well, including two younger siblings, Abby Shea and Brigid Behan. Third Former Jasmin Amaral '11 was voted by the opposing coaches to the camp All-Star team. According to Ms. Liz Benestad, Girls' Varsity Basketball Coach, the Ravens had a great time, learned a lot, and displayed skills that show the future of Portsmouth Abbey basketball looks bright!
Adam Towler '05 Memorial Road Race: The Portsmouth Abbey Class of 2005 held the first Adam Towler '05 Memorial Road Race at School on Sunday, August 19, 2007, in honor and memory of their classmate, Adam R. Towler, whose life was tragically cut short in July 2006, one year after his graduation from Portsmouth. For a full report of the event, click here. Photos of the first annual Adam Towler Road Race may be viewed here.
Summer Trip to Spain: This summer, 12 Abbey students spent a month in Salamanca, Spain, in an intensive undergraduate college language and culture program for which the students earned eight college credits. Salamanca is home to one of the oldest universities in the world and, according to trip leader and Portsmouth's Modern Languages Department Head Roberto Guerenabarrena, it is a tranquil city full of history, art and literary traditions. While in Salamanca, the students immersed themselves in Spanish life, language and culture. See the full report and photos of this year's Spain trip.
Welcome to our New Faculty/Administration: A warm welcome to our new faculty and administration who are joining us this School year. Listed in alphabetical order, they are:
David Barnes, Art, University of New Hampshire, B.F.A., University of Massachusetts, M.F.A.
Maureen Gassert, Classics, B.A., College of the Holy Cross
Christine Geremia, Assistant to the Headmaster, B.S., Salve Regina University
Alexander Marx, English, B.S., Seton Hall University
Mary McDonald, Director of College Counseling, B.S., University of Georgia, M.Ed., State University of West Georgia
Daniel McManus, Photography, Massachusetts College of Art, B.F.A.
Elliott Moffie, Mathematics, B.A., Williams College
Guillermo Moronta, Modern Language, B.A., Bates College
Brent Osner, Director of Music, B.MEd, Abilene Christian University, M.MEd., Angelo State University
Jill Reilly, Modern Language, B.A., College of the Holy Cross
Cecilia Schilling, Modern Languages, B.A., Oakland University
Dimitra Zelden, B.A., Christian Doctrine, Franciscan University, M.A., St. John's College at Annapolis
Kale Zelden, Humanities, B.A., Thomas More College, M.A., Louisiana State University.
Yearbook Appoints New Editors: The editors for the 2007-08 School yearbook, Gregorian, have been selected. They are: Aeree Kim '08, Stacey Lee '08, and Celina Wright '08; photo editor is Horace Allen '09. We look forward to a terrific 2008 yearbook!
New Planned Giving Web Site: Have you considered making a gift to Portsmouth Abbey School but aren't sure what type of gift to make? The new and improved Portsmouth Abbey School planned giving Web site has tools and information to help you find a gift that makes the most sense for you and your family. The development office team can help you craft a gift that accomplishes your goal for providing for your family while also making a charitable gift to Portsmouth Abbey School. If you have questions, please feel free to contact the office at 401-643-1307.
Hall Manor Society: The Hall Manor Society recognizes Portsmouth Abbey School alumni, parents, and friends who have included the School in their estate plan. If you have made a provision for Portsmouth Abbey School through your estate plan, we would like to thank you and recognize you as a member of the Hall Manor Society; please contact us at 401-643-1307.
Upcoming School Events:
September 8 - New Student Registration, New Parent Barbeque, New Student Cookout
September 9 - Returning Boarding Students Check-In, New Student Orientation, All-School Picnic
September 10 - Opening of School - Mass, Assembly
September 21-22 - Board of Regents
September 28 - 7th Annual Scholarship Golf Tournament
October 11 - Abbatical Blessing Mass
October 12-14 - Reunion '07
October 19-20 - Parents' Weekend (St. Brigid's Blessing/Dedication)
Answer to May Question of Month: What auspicious event took place on the Abbey campus on June 1, 1960? The dedication of the Church of St. Gregory the Great. The dedication Mass was celebrated by His Excellency Bishop Ansgar Nelson and attended by His Excellency Russell J. McVinney, Bishop of Providence.
Question of the Month: The School's first development drive occurred during what School year and was the result of what event? Please email your answers to communications@portsmouthabbey.org.
We Welcome Your Input: If you have questions, comments or ideas for Monthly Musings, please send them to the School's Communications Department at communications@portsmouthabbey.org .
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Jim De Vecchi
Headmaster |
Annual Archive
2003-04 Musings
2004-05 Musings
2005-06 Musings
2006-07 Musings
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