n Graduation/Summer 2006 ditio cial E Spe Congratulations Seniors!
Letter to Seniors by Dr. Larry Dougherty, Headmaster Dear Seniors,
Congratulations on all your successes at AOSR! You have contributed so much to the school through your excellent work in your classes, your terrific Declamations in your junior year, your triumphs in sports, the artwork that has graced our corridors and the fabulous plays and performances of the ensemble. Now that you are about to become alumni, I hope you take with you many positive memories of your friends, your teachers and your experiences of living in Rome.
I too am a senior leaving this year—more of a senior citizen, I can hear you thinking—but like many of you, today for me is a bitter sweet moment. I have been here eleven years—not quite long enough to earn a diploma but I have gained tremendous knowledge and joy from my time as your Headmaster. I have cherished the successes of the students, the passion and professionalism of the teachers, the support I have received from parents and the leadership provided by the Board of Trustees. I have enjoyed our conversations at the bar and the cafeteria and watching students learn and grow.
As you begin your life as an adult, I have a few words of advice for you.
First, find what you love and pursue it. One of our graduates fell in love with Rome and with art history as a student at AOSR. Daniel Pinto went on to become Professor Pinto, an art historian at Princeton University. He has written two famous books about the art and architecture of Rome. His research has naturally led him to return to Rome and to Italy many times throughout his life, and the passion that he developed for bella Roma as a young man has remained a central part of his life. Your teachers are wonderful models for you as they have chosen to do what they love.
Second, I hope that like your teachers, you will become profound conservatives and thoughtful revolutionaries. I can hear your thoughts now—Mrs. Bianchini, Mrs. Fiochi, Mrs. Levine and Mrs. Cioli are revolutionaries? Mr. Zimmerman (Continued on page 2)
END OF YEAR MESSAGE By Dr. Beth Pfannl, Associate Head
At AOSR our students experience education as a collaborative process that is the result of the joint effort and coopera- tion of the school, the home, the students, and the community. To support and encourage this education cooperation, we are dedicated to providing clear expectations, open dialogue and communication, ongoing support and guidance, and opportunities for growth. As a school rich in diversity, we value and celebrate our differences; they are connections for learning about other cultures and uniting us as a community. We find ways to share experiences, foster understanding, and create common ground on which we can build. We give importance to maintaining an active partnership with the parents of our school community to ensure the success of our students. At AOSR we have an extraordinary atmosphere that allows students to develop strong relationships with their teachers. They provide a rigorous, caring and supportive environment for all students. (Continued on page 3)
1 (Continued from page 1) is a conservative? What about Writer, Branch and Vogel? They don’t seem like conservatives to me! Dictators have always known about the power of teachers. It is no accident that the Taliban, like the dic- tators in the Soviet Union, China and Czechoslovakia, wanted to close all schools except those that were used to propagate a political or religious point of view. One of the first acts of the students who led the Czech revolution was to free the most famous professors who had been locked in jails for forty years. Dictators know the problems that teachers who challenge children to think, to analyze, and to argue their point of view, can create.
Teachers are also profoundly conservative. They are passing on the tremendous history and richness of their disciplines—the beauty and symmetry of Euclidean geometry, the understanding of biology that emerged from the discovery of the structure of DNA, the timeless reflection on human nature of Shake- speare and the rich language and poetic images in Dante’s Inferno. Our teachers want you to understand history, literature, science, foreign languages, music and art so you will have an understanding and rever- ence for the past and an intellectual foundation to confront the problems and issues that you will face throughout your lives. In preserving and teaching about the past, our teachers prepare you to face the future.
It is this reverence for the past, coupled with a questioning attitude in an environment of academic free- dom which makes teachers both the most profound conservatives and the most threatening revolutionar- ies. I hope that you will take these special paradoxical qualities with you for the rest of your lives. I hope you retain a respect and understanding of the past that is grounded in the disciplines you studied here. I hope you will learn from the past and create a better world for your generation and those genera- tions that follow. Someday, I hope you will look back to your years at AOSR and acknowledge your teachers for what they have given you.
Finally, and most importantly, I hope that you are able to create a world outside of AOSR that reflects the profound respect for human, religious, linguistic and cultural differences that exists in our school. Like the senior classes before you, you inherited a very special community and you have worked hard to pass this rich tradition on to the underclassmen. You leave the community stronger than you found it. I know you will strive to bring this spirit of democratic compassion with you wherever you go.
I also hope that you will take AOSR’s spirit of caring, sharing and support with you. Two students have said it best.
I have attended seven schools in my life and I can say with security that this school is the first that I con- sider my second family. The students and teachers bond together to form one big team. During class time teachers are open to helping us overcome teenage problems. Class time flies by as the lessons are connected with jokes, stories and activities.
When walking through the hallway everyone greets each other with occasional teasing. Misunderstand- ings rarely occur though. A big hug is always waiting for anyone who feels a little down. It is a school with infinite smiles and limited frowns—a school filled with love and support to help students succeed and improve themselves
Another wrote, AOSR has been performing little miracles in my life since I became one of its students at the age of six….There must be a magic on these grounds that builds up such an atmosphere of suppor- tiveness and safety in which everyone feels free to grow up into the best person they could ever be. They feel safe to do so because they know that goodness will not be taken advantage of while they are on these grounds.
Thanks to this magic, I grew up feeling safe.
I urge you to recreate this magic for yourself and others wherever you go. It has been a magical time for me as well. I hope to see you at an alumni reception in the future!
I will miss you all. Godspeed, Dr. Dougherty 2
(Continued from page 1)
As another school year comes to an end, it is time to say arrivederci to some of our students and their families, and to some of our faculty members. We thank you all for enriching our school community. Don’t forget about us! Come back and visit!
Dear Seniors,
As you look back over the years and reminisce about your days at AOSR, you will remember this as a very special time in your lives, not to mention the location, Rome, with all it offers –culture, art, and history! Here you have made friendships that will last a lifetime. You formed bonds with classmates from so many different parts of the world, all of whom brought their varied experiences that so enrich our school. You acquired knowledge and skills that you’ll use for the rest of your lives. We’ll miss you. Use what you learned, make good choices and do amaz- ing things –for yourselves and for a world that you are well equipped to help and make better for all.
Dr. Beth Pfannl, Associate Head
To the IB Diploma Class of 2006
On behalf of myself and your teachers, congratulations on reaching this summit, and for having worked the extra hours that this program requested from you. We hope you are now prepared for the challenges ahead, and we trust that being in the International Baccalaure- ate and at AOSR has helped you to become the young adults that you are today.
To you we dedicate the message in Mother Teresa’s poem, AP/IB Trip to London
LIFE IS.... by Mother Teresa The annual AP/IB English trip to London Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. was a most successful one again this year. Life is beauty, admire it. A group of AP/IB English juniors and sen- Life is a dream, realize it. iors accompanied by Mrs. Bianchini spent Life is a challenge, meet it. six days visiting museums, palaces, sights and curiosities, and Shakespeare’s birth- Life is a duty, complete it. place in Stratford-upon-Avon. Three Life is a game, play it. musicals, a tour of the Globe and a matinee Life is a promise, fulfill it. performance of Coriolanus there were high- Life is sorrow, overcome it. lights of the week: this was the first time London trippers were able to see a play at Life is a song, sing it. the Globe with its roof open to the heavens. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Antonia Ciuffreda, a graduate of AOSR Life is an adventure, dare it. and of St. Andrew’s University, joined us daily for activities and extra assistance. Life is luck, make it. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Life is too precious, do not destroy it. AP/IB English excursion to London, an Life is life, fight for it. important tradition at AOSR.
From Belinda Fiochi Molly Bianchini IB Coordinator at AOSR
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College Acceptances Class of 2006
American University of Paris Keele University The University of Iowa American University of Rome * Kingston University Trinity College Aston University * Lafayette College Universiteit Maastricht * Beloit College Lake Forest College Universiteit Utrecht Boise State University Lancaster University University College Chester Boston University Libera Università Internazionale University College London Brunel University degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli * University of Cambridge * California Institute of London Metropolitan University University of Dallas * Technology * London South Bank University University of East Anglia Carleton University, Canada Longwood University University of East London Carnegie Mellon University Loughborough University University of Edinburgh * Case Western Reserve Loyola University Chicago ** University of Essex University Lynchburg College University of Gloucestershire * Cass Business School, City Uni- Middlesex University University of Hertfordshire versity, London New York University University of Kent at Canterbury Colorado School of Mines North Carolina State University University of Liverpool Duke University * Northeastern University University of Mary Washington * Eckerd College * Northern Arizona University University of North Carolina at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Nottingham Trent University *** Asheville University - Florida Oregon State University University of Ottawa Emory University * Red Deer College * University of Plymouth European Business School, Lon- Rice University University of Portsmouth don Royal Holloway, University of University of Reading Florida Keys Community London University of Southampton * College * School of Oriental and African University of Sussex Georgetown University * Studies University of the Arts, London * Guilford College Smith College * University of Virginia Hamilton College Suffolk University - Madrid Cam- University of Warwick * Hampshire College pus University of Westminster Imperial College of Science, Thames Valley University Wheaton College * Technology, and Medicine The American International Uni- James Madison University versity in London (Richmond) * * Denotes the number of students who John Cabot University ** The College of Wooster * plan to enroll in the college or university
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AOSR Rome Reunion 2007 AOSR 60th Anniversary
The Sixtieth Anniversary Steering Committee for AOSR was inaugurated on May 31st by Dr. Dough- erty and Dr. Pfannl in preparation for AOSR Rome Reunion 2007 which constitutes the 60th Anniver- sary of the school.
The evening was an opportunity to recognize Mr. Stett Harrison who graduated in 1964 and who has been an important contributor to AOSR over the years. Most recently, it is thanks to his significant gift that it was possible to carry out the impressive renovation of the High School library, which now bears his name.
The idea behind the Sixtieth Anniversary Steering Committee is to constitute a group of dedicated individuals interested in providing valuable input to planning this celebration and helping organize as well as communicate this very special event to the entire school community. This committee can also provide valuable resources to the school during the coming 2006-2007 school year.
The areas of contribution which could benefit the school include: • Supporting significant fundraising efforts in celebration of the 60th reunion. • Providing knowledge or links to professional and academic areas of endeavour to be shared with the student body. • Links with the Italian community for the enrichment of the artistic and musical lives of the student body and the alumni who will come for the reunion next June. Supporting and promoting AOSR’s Annual Fund and main campus initiatives.
Anyone interested in participating in these efforts may do so by contacting the Headmaster.
During the evening, Dr. Dougherty and Mr. Boyd Haight, Chairman of the Board of Trustees spoke eloquently about Mr. Harrison’ s continued support of the school and the importance of fundraising and of alumni and parent involvement in its various forms for the strengthening of the school’s pro- gram. Dr. Pfannl identified the three areas of the school requiring immediate attention: the Hillside Theatre, the Science Labs and the Sports Facilities. A brochure describing the projects as well as pledge cards are available in the Headmaster’s office, where the AOSR Sixtieth Anniversary Steering Committee Member Book is also on display. If you are interested in contributing to this effort, please write your name, contact point and area of interest in the Member Book. THANK YOU
Mr. Stett Harrison Dr. Larry Dougherty and Dr. Beth Pfannl
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From Lora Shapiro, Mayfair 2006 Coordinator
Many thanks to the entire AOSR com- munity and our sponsors for making this year's Mayfair a great success!
THANK YOU GRAZIE
To the parents, teachers, staff, stu- Ai genitori, insegnanti, tutto il personale dents, and members of the Board of della scuola, studenti, e membri del Trustees who generously volunteered Board of Trustees che hanno gen- their time and good spirit to make erosamente offerto il loro tempo e buon MAYFAIR 2006 an outstanding suc- spirito per fare del MAYFAIR 2006 un cess, I want to extend my thanks and eccezionale successo! Ringrazio per- appreciation. Also many thanks to all sonalmente tutti voi!! Vorrei anche rin- the families who came and shared this graziare tutte le famiglie che hanno wonderful event! partecipato in questo bellissimo evento!
PPAC NOTES Meeeting May 22, 2006
This was the last meeting of the 2005-2006 school year. Among the topics discussed were:
• Summer Reading Lists: These will be published in the June/Summer Issue of the Falcon Flyer. • Shelving was purchased and paid for in part by a parent donation for guidance department free brochures on health and wellness related topics. These brochures wil