October 2022

On the main stage at King Theatre for the first time, the fan favorite sketch-comedy show Wicked Sketchy will feature funny sketches and musical numbers written and performed by students.

First performed in 2014, Wicked Sketchy began as a 1212 play—a Milton tradition named for the former room in Warren Hall where pared-down, intimate performances were staged—giving students an opportunity to flex their comedy muscles. Last fall, the show moved to an outdoor tent to accommodate audience restrictions during the pandemic; for the first time, the show had a stepped-up production, said director and Performing Arts Department faculty member Peter Parisi.

“We were able to see the impact that lighting and sound design had on the show, and it just raised the stakes,” Parisi said. “It’s certainly evolved.”

This year, the show has about a dozen sketches, including some musical numbers. Students brought their ideas for sketches to the group, and together they fleshed out the ideas. Writing comedy is hard work, particularly for a show with a broad audience of students and adults.

The inaugural TEDxMiltonAcademy event filled King Theatre with ideas about belonging, health, climate, identity, and psychology, as six speakers from the Milton community shared carefully crafted and passionate talks on subjects of their choosing.

Milton junior Benjamin Siegel ’24 had the idea to bring TEDx to Milton after attending a TEDx conference years ago. Siegel, along with Bea Becker ’25, Grace Grady ’23, and Alexa Burton ’24, organized the event, licensing it through TEDx and soliciting applications from potential student, alumni, and faculty speakers. Together, they narrowed the speakers to six.

A record number of students—nearly 300—have signed up to serve through the school’s Community Engagement Programs and Partnerships (CEPP), following a participation fair earlier in the semester, CEPP Director Andrea Geyling-Moore said. 

The influx of volunteers will have students working at sites all over the Greater Boston area, where they will help train Special Olympics athletes, visit with local senior citizens, spend time with children living in a homeless shelter, provide classroom assistance in public schools, work at food banks, and more. 

“It’s been starting up in stages to accommodate schedules and the number of students who have signed up,” said Geyling-Moore. “We have already started up the Special Olympics on campus, and visits to some of our regular sites. We had a group go to CelebrateMilton! (a town of Milton festival) to volunteer with face-painting for kids. And we’re planning our March break service trip to Puerto Rico.”

When Mathematics Department faculty member Rebecca McCormick was in high school, she struggled a bit as math concepts started to get more abstract, until she mastered the tools that helped her understand and enjoy her classes.

“I think it helps me as a math teacher,” she says. “My general philosophy is that I meet each student where they are and we move forward from there. The students who have a fear of math or believe they’re not good at math often see math as a series of steps they need to memorize, versus being able to step back and see the bigger concept. Then, they can recognize that they have the tools to approach a particular problem.”

To learn math, students have to do math, McCormick says. “Oftentimes, we’re jumping right in, giving students a little time to think on their own, then working together so they can share ideas and ask questions. So they’re learning by putting ideas together. In the real world, you have a scenario, and you have to figure out what information you can pull from it, to ask yourself what you know and how you can apply your understanding.”

Milton students are “pretty amazing,” McCormick says. “They come to us with a huge range of interests and passions and things they’ve already done in their lifetimes that, quite frankly, blow me away,” she says. “They’re super motivated and driven by the learning process. I think most of them just really like to learn. So often, they teach me something along the way, whether it’s about my subject or something new to me, like parts of their culture and traditions.”

On the basement level of the Robert Saltonstall Gymnasium—what some have affectionately dubbed the “terrace of RSG”—you’ll find Equipment Manager Paul Coughlin. For every team in all three seasons, Paul oversees the ordering, storing, replacement, and care for each piece equipment and sporting apparel used by our students in the Upper School.

Paul joined Milton in 2004 following a 34-year career with Verizon, working his last ten years in the company’s Pay Phone Division. Paul joked, “Kids don’t even know what a pay phone is now, so it’s obvious why they offered me an early retirement.” A resident of Milton and close-by neighbor to Milton Academy, Paul jumped at an offer to join the school’s athletic department, assisting the department’s equipment manager at the time. What started as a part-time job quickly turned into a second career when the equipment manager resigned. Her departure opened the door to a busy, full-time position for Paul. A position that he has quietly and tirelessly fulfilled for the past 18 years.