Video: Expressing Specific Details and Overall Picture in History
By Jane Watts, V Form
This year is my first year taking any history at St. Mark’s. Taking two histories my junior year, it’s been hard for me to keep up with so much material that we’re given to understand each class. I feel that using art to visualize and work with the material we learn provides me with a more comprehensive understanding of the general picture. In Advanced US History, I’ve recently done two assignments utilizing art. The first assignment was for the Technology project, (more…)
The Pillars of Herakles: At the Bridge Between Europe and Africa
By Stephen Hebert, Religion Faculty
For his tenth labor, the lion-skin-wearing, club-wielding, Greek hero Herakles fetches a bunch of cattle belonging to Geryon, a monster living on an island beyond the far western end of the Mediterranean. Geryon is a fearsome creature, so fearsome that centuries later, Dante Alighieri will depict him in the Inferno as a flying manticore who embodies fraud. In order to reach this great mythical beast, Herakles must go beyond the edge of the known world, past where “Europe meets Libya,” in the words of Apollodorus. To get there, Herakles splits a mountain in two, creating a strait between Europe and Africa now known as the Strait of (more…)
Oh….Chem: The Power of a Narrative in an Advanced Science Course
By Michael Wirtz, Assistant Head of School/Science Faculty
“Negative finds the positive.” I use this phrase often. If you did not know me, you might think I was a pessimist. In fact, I am quite the opposite: I am a teacher and I believe that optimism lies at the core of any good teacher. I share this phrase, “negative finds the positive,” in my attempt to distill the complexities of organic chemistry[1] into something sticky for my students. While most chemistry students experience limited amounts of organic chemistry in high school, it is a discipline featured prominently in my Advanced Chemistry course at St. Mark’s. In fact, organic chemistry is critical to (more…)
TASP Aims To Solve A St. Mark’s Energy Problem
By Liam Monheim V Form, Erica Christensen VI Form, Sarah Robertson V Form, and Jazzy Randle VI Form
In Advanced Environmental Science, we have stopped doing modules and problem sets and instead are beginning a project that will take us until the end of February. Our class is split into groups of three and four. The project is to create an Essential Question and a Challenge that we will then address and attempt to solve.
The only specification for our Challenge is that it must relate to energy. In order to help generate ideas for Challenge, we wrote down observations on the campus of St. Mark’s relating to energy. We asked administrators, teachers, and students about their thoughts (more…)
Overcoming the Challenges of an Introverted Entrepreneur
By Abi Smith, VI Form
My heart thumped as I walked onto the stage in front of thousands of people at the White Privilege 
Conference (WPC) in Seattle. I was one of four students from St. Mark’s School selected to attend the conference; WPC examines concepts of privilege and oppression and works to promote a more equitable world.
“Break a leg,” I whispered to myself as I maneuvered my way to the front of the stage. As I stepped toward the microphone, my foot became tangled in the wire. I stepped backwards, which unfortunately made the problem worse. (more…)
The Pain Cave
By Ryan Haarstick, VI Form
“Last five-hundred! We are three seats behind. Power ten. Here we go!
One.two.three.four,” barks the coxswain from the bow of the boat.
I need to make sure my pulling is hard. I am exhausted. I must clear my mind, stop thinking, and keep my eyes in the boat. My shins are paralyzed; I cannot lift my feet. I have to push through it.
Since ninth grade, I have been rowing with the St. Mark’s Varsity Crew Team, working my way from the fourth boat to the second boat, and finally to the first boat. Now is not the time to give up. I took my teammate Alex’s seat at the top, and as the youngest member in my boat I have to prove myself. I focus on (more…)
Fighting To Get My Life Back
By Brendan Dawson, VI Form
Cancer tried to defeat me, but I fought back. In the summer of 2011 I became thyroid cancer’s latest victim at the young age of 14. I experienced a wide variety of emotions throughout the next year. An enthusiastic, confident, active eighth grader vanished, and a mortified, timid ninth grader emerged. My uncertain future was now in the hands of the various doctors at Children’s Hospital in Boston. Life as I once knew it had abruptly ended, and I fought the challenge of a lifetime to win it back. (more…)
Sharing the Faith: Religion and Science
By Julie Geng, VI Form
For many, science and religion are mutually exclusive since science — reliant on the scientific method — can find no proof for Deity. Others think that these two forces coexist without influencing each other. As both a passionate young chemist and a faithful Christian, I have reconciled for myself the purported dichotomy between scientific endeavor and religious awe through understanding their shared element of faith. (more…)
LEO 