Portsmouth Abbey introduced a Summer English Program this summer and it met with great success. Open to students (day and boarding) entering grades seven through ten, the Program was held in two, two-week sessions in July and offered intensive classes, taught by Abbey faculty, in such disciplines as: Public Speaking; Creative Writing; Latin for English; Composition; and Literature and Writing. Some 50 students took part in the program.
Dr. Michael Bonin, head of the English Department and Summer Program director, said, "The first year of the Summer English Program went extremely well. We had an extraordinarily experienced and highly-credentialed faculty, and the most friendly, good-natured group of students I've ever met. The students came from throughout the United States and all over the world: Spain, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Colombia, Venezuela, the Caribbean and Latin America, Korea, China, Japan, and the Philippines.
"It was a month of intensive English study. Even during daily assemblies, our focus was on the word. We began each assembly with a passage from classic literature, from Treasure Island to Kipling to A Midsummer Night's Dream. At first, I recited these passages, but later in the program the students took over. We also went to Boston and to the beach, to Newport and to see films together. Every afternoon, a quiet hour was set aside for pleasure reading-the whole school, teachers and students, with their noses in good books. Then came sports; we had some terrifyingly good European soccer and tennis players, but somehow Capture the Flag became the school game, fiercely contested. When the month ended, we departed to Shakespeare's line from The Tempest: Our revels now are ended."
See photos of students during the Summer English Program. Thanks to Laureen Bonin for serving as our photographer!
Legacy students enjoying the Summer English Program were (left to right): Eliza Keogh (father Tom '76), Isabel Keogh (father Bill '78), Andrew Godfrey (father Andrew '84), Luke Howe (uncles Mark '73, Ben '79 and Peter '89), Eduardo Soriano, David Magrini, and Juan Vicini (father Felipe '79). Other legacy students who attended were Abigail Deely (father Michael '83), Sarah and Rachael Powers (father Jim '79), and William Welch (uncle Paul Geib '92).
