The Biography of a Schoolhouse
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CMCommonwealth School Magazine Spring 2015 Also in this issue: Aha! Moments A Nose for the New Dead Bunnies and the Close-Reading Mafia ManyThe Lives Biography of a Schoolhouse PHOTO BY WALTER CRUMP Why I Made It A Balanced Pot by Maria Ronchi ’15 oday I want to create something special. Centering my attention as mindfully as I center the clay, I tune out the chatter in the room. To apply pressure and force the increasingly uniform Tmass into the very center of the wheel is not as easy as it looks! I open the pot and start bringing it up—forming the sides. Reminders keep running through my head: “Leave a quarter inch on the bottom…don’t bring up too much at once…slowly…” I know nothing but the developing form under my fingertips. It starts out a cylinder, but then on a whim, I expand the middle and carefully make the top thinner; I tweak the sides and rim and then pick up the wooden rib Jean taught me to use last year. This tool gives a pot a more geometric surface, changing the vaguely curved bottom into a slanted edge that merges with the curve halfway up. I like this combination of even rigidity and smooth, gentle arcs. A week after throwing the pot, I trim it meticulously. Once it’s fired, I seek a glaze that will fit it. This pot seems to need a light glaze, but the contrast between top and bottom demands two colors, so I choose celadon and clear. I take a chance and let the celadon drip down the sides. Though I’ve never before tried this style, I have an idea that it might look nice to let the colors cross the division of the sides. It’s my best piece so far this year. The balance of the angular and curved sides and the clear boundary between top and bottom, combined with the free-dripping glaze, all reflect the methods I used to create the art. On one hand, focusing on the techniques I’ve studied, I make a concrete object from an abstract idea. On the other hand, I experiment with components of the pot. The element of chance means that I don’t quite know what my pot will look like until it comes out of the kiln a final time, then awaits in the studio to surprise me. CM 1 FROM THE EDITOR hese days, I’ve been thinking about the value of speaking CM The Commonwealth School Alumni/ae Magazine up, and even, sometimes, of talking back. The idea came to me when I noticed that David Allen ’87, who created the Issue 8 Spring 2015 Chatfield Travel Scholarships at Commonwealth (see the Tstory on page 22), and Mark Denbeaux ’61, the Guantánamo-detainee Headmaster William D. Wharton defender we profiled two years ago, both arrived at Commonwealth because they had rebelled against their previous schools. They may Editor Tristan Davies ’83 not have intended to use disruption to find a new path in life, I [email protected], (617) 266-7525 x290 realized, but that’s what happened, and in both cases the world is Design better for it. Jeanne Abboud Commonwealth is, in many ways, a school built on speaking out. Associate Editor Charles Merrill made a bold statement just by creating a co-ed high Rebecca Folkman school in the center of Boston. And he continued on his own route Class Notes Editor to accomplish what he wanted. For more than half a century, classes Grayson Palmer here have worked best when students chime in, partly because the Contributing Writers unexpected comment often sparks the greatest excitement. Honest Alisha Atlas-Corbett ’01 dialogue among teachers at faculty meetings, and frank discussion Mara Dale between teachers and their advisees and students have proven essential Ludovica Ferme ’06 Maria Ronchi ’15 to the school’s doing its work well. At recess, the most memorable Jonathan Sapers ’79 announcements are frequently the edgiest. Brent Whelan P’01 P’03 It seems to me that we have reached a similar realization in www.commschool.org/cm our culture. Today large numbers of people write, speak, protest, Facebook “f” Logo CMYK / .eps Facebook “f” Logo CMYK / .eps and otherwise give of themselves seeking justice and fairness for commschoolalums communities of color in their relationships with law enforcement @commschool (and society as whole). This includes many Commonwealth alumni/ ae—a natural fit with their progressive leanings and history of commonwealthschool commitment to social causes. On page 8 you’ll find photos and short texts concerning actions and protests that four of our number have CM is published twice a year by Commonwealth School, 151 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA organized and participated in. They, as well as many other alumni/ 02116 and distributed without charge to alumni/ae, ae I’ve had contact with in the last few months, see this as a time to current and former parents, and other members of the Commonwealth community. Opinions expressed actively show their children, families, and friends the importance of in CM are those of the authors and subjects, and do direct involvement, of standing up to speak out for principles you not necessarily represent the views of the school or believe are important. its faculty and students. Tristan Davies ’83 We welcome your comments and news at Director of Communications, Editor [email protected]. Letters and notes may be edited for style, length, clarity, and grammar. [email protected] Printed on recycled paper. Please recycle. Corrections In the fall issue, on page 6, Amanda Dai should have been identified as a member of the class of 2015. We also misspelled the name of Perri Wilson on page 24. We apologize for the errors. 2 CM CMCommonwealth School Magazine Spring 2015 Contents Why I Made It 1 A Balanced Pot 7 News 4 Great Steps to Greater Good Allez! 10 Arts & Letters Aha! 7 Biology teacher Andy Clifford on the unpredictability of insight 8 The New Civil Rights Movement: 8 Through Commonwealth Eyes Dead Bunnies and the Close-Reading Mafia 10 What Mary Kate Bluestein takes with her— 8 and leaves behind—as she retires Many Lives: Biography of a Schoolhouse 14 From generation to generation, the evolution of our home 14 A Nose for the New 22 David Allen ’87 is making sure any Commonwealth student can have a travel adventure. The Alumni/ae Association 26 Highlights from our storytelling event, “The Mermaid” On the cover: Ever since 151 Commonwealth Ave. and its now-conjoined mate at 303 Class Notes 27 Dartmouth St. were built, they have, in one way or another, been homes. And even as the fluted columns, ornate woodwork, and grand stairways have welcomed generations with warmth, grace, In Memoriam 34 and gentility, they have also witnessed dramatic changes in how the brownstones are used. On page 14, former English teacher Brent Whelan Alumna Perspective: Villages 36 imagines the earliest days of the school and Ludovica Ferme ’06 on the communities that have supported her, traces its life into today, and beyond. Photo by Kathleen Dooher. and her desire to return the favor. CM 3 NewsCOMMONWEALTH Great Steps to a GREATER GOOD Students organize a school-wide Day of Service t started with a prayer—at least that’s how junior Kevin That experience sparked the first Day of Service anyone can Ballen remembers it. remember at Commonwealth. Kevin led the complex effort, “I was volunteering at the Pine Street Inn, serving with crucial help from his advisor, Frédérique Thiebault- dinner at the Women’s Emergency Shelter with a church Adjout. They recruited committees of students to line up group from Quincy. Before we began, they included organizations where teenagers could volunteer and to lead Ime in their prayer circle. As a fairly unreligious person, I was teams for each location. Every student and nearly every teacher reluctant; but they insisted that they would not pray unless I signed up for one of thirteen sites in and around Boston. On joined in. So I held hands with the people on either side as they November 10, with classes cancelled, the groups fanned out passionately shouted, ‘Praise the man above!’ Their invigorating across the city to their assignments. exclamations echoed through the kitchen. I lost myself in the “My group went to the Women’s House,” in Dorchester, says moment and instantly forged a connection with these strangers. sophomore Maya Venkatraman (on the right in the photo on We were all there and all grateful for the same reason: we could the opposite page). “We prepared a lunch for the women there. help others.” We bantered while sautéing vegetables and chopping onions; it was a lot of fun!” Classmate Jazmin Lantigua served at the same location: “I discovered that my eyes can tell there’s an onion in the room even without the onion having been cut. And I also remember BILL WHARTON how Maya and I delayed the lunch (thereafter getting teased) because we cut the food so slowly.” Sophomore Isabella Pucker’s group helped with yard work and maintenance at the Jamaica Plain home of a senior citizen, Patrice. “The coolest moment for me was seeing Patrice’s reaction after we had finished. Her life appeared to involve a number of instabilities, and our help raking and weeding seemed to lift a weight off her chest. She was so grateful, and thanked us profusely. Although we did not rake every leaf in the world, or even every leaf in Jamaica Plain, it was powerful to see the huge difference that we made.” “Although the day was very fun and festive and important,” Kevin explains, “what I remember most are the emails, the spreadsheets, the meetings, the crises, the complaints, the concerns.