HOLIDAY 2016 SPECIAL BlairBULLETIN WELCOME FROM THE HISTORY OF FROM HILLTOP HEAD OF SCHOOL BLAIR ACADEMY TO HOME P. 0 3 P. 0 4 P. 1 8 On Exhibit “Observed Fictions” by Kathleen Hall January 5 to 30, 2016, in The Romano Gallery IN THIS ISSUE: HOLIDAY SPECIAL 2016 STUDENT SPOTLIGHT 04 02: Carly Leifken ‘16 FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL 03: Welcome to Blair FACULTY PROFILE 08: Meet Jay Gnanadoss ACADEMICS 10: Economics: A Valuable Course of Study History of the Academy ARTS Learn about Blair Academy’s history, leadership and continued commitment 12: Calendar of the Arts to providing students with exceptional educational opportunities. 2015-2016 ATHLETICS 15: NYC Golf Workshop 16: New Varsity Football Coach 06 Blair @ a Glance 18 From Hilltop to Home Our monthly parent e-newsletter This overview will better is one way Blair partners acquaint you with our unique with parents in supporting learning community. students and offering guidance throughout the academic year. 21 Read Our Viewbook Our viewbook conveys the vibrancy of the Blair experience to prospective students and their families. A STUDENT SPOTLIGHT CARLY LEIFKEN ’16 Volume LXXV, No. 3 Holiday Special 2016 Staff ATTENTION: Send address changes to Blair Academy PUBLISHED: HEAD OF SCHOOL: Bulletin, P.O. Box 600, Blairstown, NJ 07825 January, March, Chris Fortunato June & October COMMUNICATIONS STAFF NOTICE OF NONDISCRIMINATORY Suzy Logan ’99, Editor-in-Chief & POLICY: PUBLICATION NUMBER: Director of Communications Blair Academy does not discriminate on USPS 057-760 the basis of sex, age, creed, race, color or Joanne Miceli, Senior Editor & Assistant national and ethnic origin in the adminis- Director of Communications PUBLISHER: tration of its education policies, admissions, Blair Academy Melissa Collins ’09, Photo Editor & scholarships, loans or other school-ad- Blairstown, New Jersey 07825 Communications Manager ministered programs. Each Blair student is Heather Sprague, Communications afforded the rights, privileges and social, As the Blair community celebrates Assistant academic and athletic opportunities that the start of a new year, this special are generally accorded or made available CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: issue of the Blair Bulletin looks back to students of the School. at fall 2015 and ahead to the many Melissa Collins ’09 exciting events planned for spring Suzy Logan ’99 DESIGN BY: Joanne Miceli 2016 semester. David O’Neill CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Douglas Benedict Melissa Collins ’09 Carly Leifken ’16 02 HOLIDAY 2016 SPECIAL FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL From the Head of School It is my great pleasure to welcome you to Blair Academy. I invite you to explore our website and learn more about Blair’s dynamic and diverse community. Since I first stepped foot onto Blair’s spectacular hilltop campus, I have fallen in love with the School and everything that makes it truly exceptional. Blair offers a rich and challenging curriculum, world-class programs for athletes and artists of all abilities, and an array of meaningful leadership, travel and service opportunities. However, what truly distinguishes a Blair education are the special and caring relationships between faculty and students that come from our commitment to knowing our students. Those relationships form the cornerstones of our superior academic preparation and make the Blair experience so personally enriching. They set Blair apart as a leader in education and inspired my decision to join this extraordinary community. Truly knowing our students offers them a unique and competitive advantage, not just in preparation for college, but for a lifetime of achievement. Together as a faculty and in partnership with students and parents, we take an individualized approach to teaching and learning. We invest in discovering and understanding our students’ talents, interests and personalities. We achieve this in part through a multi-tiered approach to academic advising, our commitment to engaging students every evening in their dorms and meeting throughout the year as an entire faculty to review every student’s progress and development. We are thus able to thoughtfully connect each of our students to the learning opportunities best suited to challenge and inspire them, develop their characters and stretch their abilities. Even though my journey at Blair is just beginning, I have already experienced the warmth and authenticity of the Blair community and witnessed, in action, The Seven Principles That Define a Blair Education. I have seen these principles beautifully articulated in a graduating senior’s moving chapel talk about the importance of humility in becoming a true leader. I have seen them come vividly to life in the pictures and stories of our students’ public service initiatives from Delaware to Haiti to Kenya. Most impressively, I have already seen so many instances of how these values and ideals are woven deeply into the daily experience whether in the classroom, on athletic fields, on stage or in the dormitories. At Blair, we create foundations of trust and connections that empower our students to step outside their comfort zones to achieve things they thought were not possible, while becoming confident with who they truly are. This is the Blair advantage. As an educator and a parent, I can think of no greater purpose or outcome. I enthusiastically invite you to visit Blair’s campus and meet the students and faculty who fill our community every day with a love of learning, integrity, friendship and the remarkable Blair spirit. Warmest regards, Christopher Fortunato Head of School BLAIR BULLETIN 03 The History of Blair Academy Blair Academy was founded in 1848 by three members character. During Mr. Fortunato’s tenure, the School has of the Blairstown community: John Insley Blair, wealthy introduced several forward-thinking leadership education merchant and railroad entrepreneur; the Reverend John and service initiatives, including The Blair Leadership A. Reilly, minister of The First Presbyterian Church; and Stories Project and global engagement program. Mr. John Bunnell, a local carriage maker. It was intended as a day school offering a classical education for the benefit Mr. Fortunato’s work has been built upon the solid of the people of Blairstown and the immediate vicinity. foundation established by the School’s leaders who preceded The Old Academy, which still stands on the hill on the him. John I. Blair was the School’s principal benefactor right after you pass through the front gates of campus, for a half-century, and his gifts of land and money made is the original School building and continues to be used the Academy’s growth possible, specifically through as a faculty residence. Within two years, students were the construction of Locke, East and Insley Halls. Mr. attracted to Blair from beyond Blairstown because of its Blair’s son, DeWitt Clinton Blair, more than duplicated high academic and personal standards, and a boarding his father’s generosity, financing the construction of house was established in what is now Insley Hall. Clinton Hall and the gymnasium, and providing funds for campus improvement and expansion. Other members Today, under the leadership of Chris Fortunato, JD, of the Blair family continued to support the School in MSW, our 16th Head of School, Blair continues to admit later years, but none remain connected to Blair today. students from across the United States and around the world, offering them a superior college preparatory education The original gifts of John I. Blair were made by deeds amid a rich, vibrant community life. Under Mr. Fortunato’s of trust providing for the control and management of leadership, Blair has continued to invest strategically in the School, and many of those deeds continue to govern relationship-based learning with the goal of empowering Blair’s operation. From its founding, Blair has always students to become persons of great accomplishment and been closely associated with the Presbyterian Church and, 04 HOLIDAY 2016 SPECIAL HISTORY OF THE ACADEMICSACADEMY specifically, The Presbytery of Newton, which continues to James R. Kelley, former associate and dean of freshmen support the School with scholarship funds and other gifts. at Brown University, was elected the 14th Headmaster Blair Academy exists today as a “church-related” school, by the Board of Trustees in 1976. Enrollment grew a term which is intended to acknowledge its religious and the endowment increased six-fold during Mr. legacy at the same time that it disallows the kind of control Kelley’s 13 years as Headmaster. The physical plant to which parochial or diocesan schools are subject. also expanded with the addition of six new faculty residences, Marcial Field (1984) and Bogle Hall (1989). From its founding in 1848 until 1915, the School was co-educational. For reasons that remain lost in Thomas Chandler Hardwick III, Blair’s 15th Headmaster, history, the Board of Trustees voted to make the was appointed in 1989 after spending years at the Taft School entirely male in 1915. However, in 1970, Blair School as an English teacher, dean of the senior class and again returned to educating young women. director of the summer school. During Mr. Hardwick’s tenure, Blair’s endowment continued to grow and a campus During the first 50 years of the School’s existence, there master architectural plan was completed, leading to the were eight Headmasters. Since 1898, three Headmasters construction of Tracy Hall (1993), Armstrong-Hipkins have served a total of 70 years: John Sharpe, Headmaster Center for the Arts (1997), Annie Hall (1999), Hardwick from 1898 to 1927, acquired additional land for the campus Hall (2009) and Blair Commons (2009). The 1990s and and built West Hall, the old gymnasium and Sharpe House. 2000s also saw many renovations take place across campus: Charles Breed guided the School from 1927 until 1946 Memorial Hall became Timken Library (1998), the Romano and, in spite of the Great Depression and World War II, Dining Hall was remodeled (2000) and Insley Hall expanded strengthened the School’s reputation as one of the leading (2001).