Taft School Non Ut Sibi News

Tree Tapping

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Uppermiddler Ujal Santchurn has long enjoyed the open spaces of Woodbury's Flanders Nature Center and has volunteered there for the past two sugaring seasons. This winter, he had to idea to transfer some of what he has learned to the Taft Campus, by inviting two instructors from Flanders to come to Taft and show students the proper method of harvesting sap from sugar maples to distill into maple syrup.

"Ujal gathered the materials and volunteers and fed everyone donuts and hot chocolate (with the help of his delightful mother Kaveeta)," says environmental science teacher Jim Lehner. "Then, we repaired to the copse of woods between the campus and the Fifers' home on North Street and proceeded to drill, tap and gather. It was a great experience and one that I hope will be successful this year and in years to come."

The group met on Monday afternoon--a combination of students, teachers (Jim as the scientist/environmentalist, and Tom Antonucci as the maple sugaring expert because his family does it big time), parents (Ujal's mother, Ellie Boyd, and Eve Li), and two experts from Flanders. Grounds director Vern Lenz worked with Ujal to identify the trees he wanted us to tap. Flanders will come to collect the sap twice a week.

"This is a chance to help Flanders Nature Center," says Volunteer Program Director Baba Frew, "by contributing to their supplies. Maple syrup is a big fund raiser for them. It's also great opportunity for our students to learn about a traditional and valuable New England activity."

No word yet on how much sap the trees have delivered, but thewarmer days and still cold nights of March are perfect weather to getthe sap flowing.

Run for a Blue Planet

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

To celebrate Earth Day this year, Stephanie Manley '11 is planning a road race for the Blue Planet Foundation. The 5K road-race fundraiser will begin and end on campus and will help raise awareness for the need to conserve water.

The Run for a Blue Planet will be part of the school's Green Day Fair on April 25.

Blue Planet Run Foundation seeks a world where everyone has access to safe drinking water and healthy human beings have a chance to live up to their potential. Its mission is to bring the global community together to provide safe drinking water to the billion people around the world in need.

They are a fairly new foundation, explains Stephanie, "and the people involved all have a strong desires for environmental awareness, specifically water conservation. The fact that they encourage young people like myself to raise awareness to my school is very appealing. Water conservation is something that a lot of people overlook. It is always the right time to raise awareness and do you part. Statistics say 1/6 of the world population doesnt have access to safe drinking water and it is only going to increase. This, in turn, makes this issue so important. People need to realize that water isn't an abundant resource."

And the Other Is Gold

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Comparable to the Eagle Scout award for boys, the Gold Award is the highest achievement a girl scout can earn and often takes two to three years to complete.

For her award, uppermiddler Meghan Boland logged more than 130 hours refurbishing and decorating a nursery room at a local recovery center and also helped plan and run summer activities for the center's new family residence for homeless or addicted mothers. To decide on her project Meg researched three separate communities and found a common theme: struggling women and their children.

"It is often difficult for single mothers to raise their children and provide a stable living environment while remaining in control of their own lives," says Meg. "The Recovery Center and Hope Residence at Eva’s Village aims to provide these mothers with training and lessons in order to help them create a stable life. Therapists, addiction counselors, and teachers help instill the skills and confidence these women need. The nursery I created offers a safe place for their children to stay while their mothers are taking classes and receiving life-changing treatment. This will give the mothers the feeling of knowing their children are safe and being taken care of, allowing them to focus on their studies and or getting better."

Meghan chose to step outside her own affluent community when she saw so much need in nearby Patterson, NJ. She spent the previous summer helping indigenous women in Costa Rica. "A few adult friends had challenged me, 'Why go to Costa Rica again whenthere’s plenty of need only 20 minutes away.'"

"I also knew I wanted a project that required real work and getting messy," adds Meg. "I loved it, especially the painting. I realized that I am a good leader--not too bossy--with a lead-by-example style. I believe people will help you because they like you and see your enthusiasm and dedication."

Teddy Bear Tea

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The Taft Volunteer Council raised nearly $1,000 for Family Services of Greater Waterbury on Sunday, through the Teddy Bear Tea Party.

Children from surrounding towns brought their favorite stuffed animal and enjoyed a party in the Choral Room with punch and cookies, and a special visit from Miss Connecticut.

Chef Jerry Reveron took the time to work with Taft students and helped them bake the cookies and cupcakes for the children and their guests.

Green Power

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The Taft School’s Renewable Energy Choice

The Taft School is taking responsibility for its environmental impact by choosing green power for its electricity needs and natural gas for heating the campus.

"The school, through the purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), is offsetting 100% (4 million kwh), or the annual usage for the entire campus," says Business Manager Gil Thornfeldt. "We value the environment and believe that taking steps to reduce the school’s environmental footprint is good for the Taft community and our environment."

Renewable energy credits are produced by wind farms, biomass facilities and other renewable energy projects that allow companies and consumers to offset their electricity use with clean and renewable energy.

"By purchasing renewable energy credits," Gil adds, "the school is guaranteed that the electricity we consume is replaced on the national power grid with clean power. In addition, Taft is also offsetting the emissions that are produced by heating our buildings with natural gas. By offsetting our carbon emissions and our electricity that is produced by fossil fuels, the school is reducing our carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and working toward being a more sustainable institution."

How RECs Work

It is difficult and inefficient to pipe renewable energy from wind farms and other renewable energy projects directly to the campus, Gil explains. Electricity is sourced from the national power grid and that has the same mix of energy as everybody else, and this mix has less than 2 percent from renewables.

"The difference is that by Taft choosing to pay a bit more, or two-tenths of one cent per kwh, we ensure that the electricity we use from the grid gets replaced back onto the grid with renewable energy, which makes the energy mix cleaner for everyone."

Why RECs and Carbon Offsets are Important

By purchasing RECs Taft is making a commitment to sustainability and to lead by example. That commitment helps:

Save our natural resources
Support farmers and ranchers who make money from leasing their land
Reduce our CO2 emissions and cleans the air for everyone
Increase the demand for new projects
Reduce our dependence on fossil fuels
Generate awareness for supporting clean technology projects

Finally, the school’s commitment to renewable choice electricity and natural gas is also cost effective. The school has negotiated a three-year contract for electricity sourcing and has converted one oil-burning boiler to dual fuel, which gives us the option to use natural gas for heating. The nearly completed HDT/Dining Hall Project will be LEED certified building, hopefully at the level of Gold.

Helping Haiti

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Many Taft students first became aware of the poverty and challenges that confront the small island nation of Haiti when they read Mountains Beyond Mountains as our all-school summer read in 2007. Author Tracy Kidder came to speak to the school that fall, and described the medical and humanitarian work in Haiti by Dr. Paul Farmer.

So when news of the earthquakes came, students were eager to help. Student leaders from all school clubs and organizations met the day after the earthquake struck to coordinate relief efforts at Taft. The Global Concerns Club and the Volunteer Council are working together to consolidate the many different forms of outreach students chose to pursue.

The Volunteer Council is raffling off five tickets to the Trey Anastasio (Taft '83) concert at the Oakdale Theater on February 13, and so far have raised more than $2,000. (See video above. Tickets were kindly donated by Brad Joblin '73.)
Students have had bake sales, and will be having more in the near future.
They are collecting toiletries and towels in all of the dormitories.
There will be a Coffee House next Saturday, and students will be asked to give a voluntary donation to aid earthquake relief.
Students are also planning a music festival in which bands from the surrounding area will participate and from which all proceeds will go to earthquake relief.
On February 14, students are participating in an erg-a-thon in Boston, and are looking for sponsors. All proceeds will benefit Haitian relief.

Teddy Bear Tea

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Sunday, January 31
from 2 to 4 p.m.

(Snow date = February 14)

The Taft School Choral Room
110 Woodbury Rd. Watertown

$10 for children and $15 for adults - more at the door, group discounts available.

Call to reserve your tickets - 203-756-8317

or email: hleone@familyservicesgw.org

Download the invitation here.

The Legacy of MLK

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Once again, the school adopted a special schedule on Monday to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King. In lieu of a day of classes, students listened to guest speakers and performers and participated in workshops or helped run clinics.

Highlights of this year's MLK Day celebration included:

a talk by Callie Crossley, producer of the award-winning civil rights documentary "Eyes On the Prize"
a performance by the Nzinga Daughters on Sunday evening
keynote speaker Lt. Gov Michael Fedele at the Prayer Breakfast on Monday
guest speaker Nadine Naidoo, and guest faculty Kristen Atwood, Jamella Lee and Rohan Freeman
clinics in arts, academics and athletics for 200 local middle school students
28 different workshops for Taft students on topics that celebrate the legacy of MLK

To culminate the day, all students and faculty gathered in Bingham Auditorium at 2:00 p.m. on Monday for
"Faces, Voices and Spirit: A Celebration of Taft’s Beloved Community," a collection of performances and reflections to honor Martin Luther King's legacy.

Click here to view the entire program, with more information about each of the speakers.

Photographs by Yee-Fun Yin, Andre Li '11, and Peter Frew.

Stack the Caps

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

This is an update that on December 3, a group of students, faculty, and faculty kids stacked more 235 baseball caps for kids with cancer. At the second national Stack the Caps event in the country, Taft stacked 11 feet 2 inches beating The Benjamin School in Florida which stacked 7 feet 11 inches.

The event was organized by Blake Turner '12. Caps have been donated to patients at Connecticut Children's Medical Center. Donating new or unused caps helps inspire and give them hope to get through their tremendous struggle.

For more information, visit stackthecaps.com

Rhodes Scholar

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Oppenheim Named Rhodes Scholar

Spending summers working construction in rural Maine while at Taft, Willy Oppenheim '04 felt a chasm between that environment and his affluent hometown in Connecticut. He was determined to forgo college until he “felt certain my elite education could benefit someone other than myself,” he wrote in his essay for the Rhodes Scholarship.

So, at 18, he headed to India and discovered that he could “amplify the voices” of local educators before a global audience and help avoid “the tendency of development efforts to patronize and disempower those they intend to serve.”

Back in Colorado the next winter, and living in a tent, he worked from a public computer to build a database of Indian schools seeking foreign support, which has evolved into the Omprakash Foundation [see “Connecting the Dots,” Spring 2008 Taft Bulletin, p. 4]. Today the Foundation, which he spoke about at Morning Meeting today, connects volunteers and donors with opportunities to serve around the Globe. It's also, he says, a way for us to learn from other cultures, not just an act of charity.

At Bowdoin College, where he continued to live in a tent all four years, Willy designed his own major in international educational policy, with courses in religion, anthropology and education. He wrote his thesis on Muslim schooling in South India. He now teaches for the National Outdoor Leadership School and continues to volunteer his time with Omprakash.

“My ambitions and accomplishments as a student, a teacher and a nonprofit founder emerge from a unitary intention to ‘lead out’ the citizens of the world toward an awareness of the greater human and ecological community from which we are indivisible and within which we can enact change,” Willy wrote. He will use the Rhodes Scholarship to study comparative and international education at Oxford.

Oppenheim is the fourth alum in recent memory to be named a Rhodes Scholar, following Karen Stevenson '76 (currently a member of the school's board of trustees), Julianna Horseman ’85 and Will Polkinghorn '95.