The Allen-Stevenson School

Dear Alumni,

 

Last month I was at a reunion of alumni who live in San Francisco and later this month I’ll be at a similar event in Washington D.C. I like these out-of-New York reunions as I get to see alumni I don’t see very often, some I’ve not seen in years. San Francisco was particularly delightful for the company of wives and girlfriends and lots of little children. When I speak to these alumni about the School, I start with things that are different -- curriculum changes, new ways of teaching, computers, current enrollment, and the new schoolhouse. (For those who were here before 2005, all that remains are a stairwell, the new gym, the roof, and the School’s façade.) Then I tell them that much at the School is the same -- the orchestra, Randall’s Island, Gilbert and Sullivan, Founders’ Day, and little boys in blue hooded sweatshirts, menacing the grannies crossing Park Avenue.

 

I was thinking of the sameness of things earlier this week at the Upper School Speech Contest. I don’t know when speech contests began, but they were very much a part of things when I arrived over 40 years ago. This year’s winner was seventh grader John Lubin ’15 who talked about sharing his friend’s family’s celebration of Christmas. His speech was neither controversial nor meant to persuade or amuse as was eighth grader Henry Curcio’s which warned against the evils of water: “Attacking England from all sides!” Rather, John’s was distinguished by his delivery, which seemed perfect to me: The voice matched the subject and filled the small room. I’ve heard this voice before, which is another way of saying some things at the School are very much the same.