Disciplines

At St. Andrew’s annual Book Talks on Sept. 6, students explored the idea of “slow productivity” with their French teacher, chatted about popular science fiction novel Dune with their religion and philosophy instructor, and pondered the psychology of money with their math teacher. 

On a designated day once a year, St. Andrew’s students and faculty gather to chat about what they read this summer—not for a grade, not for an upcoming quiz, but to prepare for a lifelong love of reading. 

“The idea of this approach to summer work [is] to really be simultaneously fostering a love of learning and a lifelong love of reading,” says Interim Dean of Teaching & Learning Emily Pressman. “We want to make sure that students are having the opportunity to just be encouraged to read for fun and to just expand their own horizons on their own.”

This is already happening at St. Andrew’s in the classrooms throughout the year, Pressman says, as well as in the student-led Book Club, which recently read and discussed Charlotte’s Web in honor of Banned Books Week over Sunday-morning French toast on Sept. 29. This format of summer reading, however, drives home the importance of reading for enjoyment. 

Over the summer, students choose two books to read from a list of nearly 50 recommended by faculty. Faculty are free to pick any book of their interest—whether that’s a book they already love and can’t wait to share with students, or a book at the top of their to-be-read list. Then, during the first week of the school year before classwork kicks into high gear, students gather in small groups—the average group size being 13 students—with the faculty recommenders. The groups identify parts of the book they connected with, share what surprised them about the book, and discuss other topics that you might hear about at a book club meeting.  

The timing of the Book Talks at the beginning of the school year serves as an opportunity for new and returning students to develop community. Faculty sit down with students across forms who they might not teach or coach or have on dorm this year, but with whom they may share a common love for sci-fi or mysteries.

“[St. Andrew’s] is a place where learning is always a communal and community act,” says Pressman.

These conversations go beyond this singular day of the Book Talks and serve as an ice-breaker during the early days of the school year, whether that’s between roommates who discovered they read the same book over the summer or between faculty and students. 

“I loved at the picnic that the faculty had with the seniors on one of the first nights back, there was a student who came over and talked to one of the faculty members because he had read the book that she had suggested,” Pressman remembers. “Even before we got to the Book Talks, it was this moment of connection and this opportunity to say, ‘Oh, I read that book that you suggested, and I’m so excited to talk about it.’”

Director of Library Lisa Myers takes care of the behind-the-scenes work of organizing the Book Talks, keeping track of what students read and assigning them to discussion groups. Myers and the other librarians assist in ensuring that students have access to the books over the summer, which Pressman hopes also serves as an introduction for students to the services of the library. 

This year, Myers says that the most popular books were A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, recommended by Spanish instructor Valerie Vitalo, with a total of 60 students, and All the Light We Cannot See, recommended by IV Form Advisor and Director of Community Service Kelly Lazar, with 50 students.

Pressman is excited for this St. Andrew’s tradition to continue to evolve over the years to address the needs of each particular student body, but hopes to maintain the same spirit of choice and enjoyment when it comes to summer work. 

“We are always asking the question of, ‘How do we create something that’s going to best serve these goals that we have for continuing to cultivate outside of the classroom a love of learning in our students?’” says Pressman. 

 

Head of School Joy McGrath ’92 announced and welcomed the new faculty who will join St. Andrew’s in the 2024-25 school year. The school is grateful to Emily Pressman, Ana Ramírez, and the many department chairs and faculty members who engaged in the faculty hiring process this year. 

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Jonah-Kai Baker joins St. Andrew’s as a history instructor, head volleyball coach, and assistant basketball coach. Originally from San Francisco, California, Jonah-Kai graduated magna cum laude from Carleton College in 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in Religion and a minor in Medieval and Renaissance Studies. At Carleton, Jonah-Kai was awarded the Bardwell Smith Prize for Excellence in the Study of Religion, and was recognized for distinction in his major based on his thesis paper “Un-Orthodox Icons: Adaptations of the Byzantine Iconographic Tradition in the Contemporary Christian West.” Jonah-Kai’s studies have been wide-ranging, but he is particularly interested in the intersection of art, religion, and history as a lens for understanding how people live and what matters to them. His teaching experience includes a summer as an assistant first grade teacher at the Ventana School (Los Altos, California), and as a seventh grade literature teaching fellow at Breakthrough San Francisco.

Outside of the classroom, Jonah-Kai plays and coaches both volleyball and basketball. As a basketball player in high school, he won two league championships, one section title, and appeared in the 2019 CIF Division 3 state championship game. In college, Jonah-Kai transitioned to volleyball, where he served as team captain for three years. In his senior season, Jonah-Kai led his team to an unprecedented third place finish in the Northern Volleyball Conference and was recognized as an All-Conference player. He has also worked for three years as a student assistant coach for the Carleton women’s basketball team.

In his free time, Jonah-Kai loves watching movies, chilling outside, spending time with family and friends, playing and watching sports, and reading. He loves the San Francisco Giants more than just about anything.

Rick Barron joins St. Andrew’s as an English teacher, head football coach, and assistant boys lacrosse coach. He earned his master’s degree in English from Middlebury College and his bachelor’s degree in English from Washington and Lee University where he also played football for the Generals.

Rick has taught English for 14 years in boarding, public, and private day schools before coming to St. Andrew’s. He has also served as an administrator, head lacrosse coach, assistant football coach, dorm parent, advisor, and English team lead. While he considers himself a Virginia native, his career has taken him up and down the East Coast from Portsmouth, Rhode Island to Savannah, Georgia.

In the classroom, Rick enjoys blending coaching and teaching philosophies and encourages dedicated practice, enthusiasm, and an attention to detail when it comes to the written and spoken word. Outside the classroom, Rick enjoys spending time with his wife and two kids, having weekend adventures, reading a good book, watching a good movie, studying coaching strategy, and trying to stay in shape.

The son of educators, Chris Bates is originally from Katonah, New York, a suburb of New York City. He graduated from Dartmouth College with a B.A in psychology and played lacrosse as a two-time All-Ivy attackman. After a brief stint working in New York City, Chris began his career in education by establishing the first lacrosse program at Archbishop Ryan High School in Philadelphia and then went on to work at Drexel University, both as an assistant and then head lacrosse coach for 10 years. He helped build the Dragons into a perennial CAA conference contender, winning two conference championships, as well as being named the CAA Coach of the Year twice. Chris moved on to become the head coach at Princeton University for seven years where he guided the Tigers to three Ivy championships and two NCAA tournament appearances.

Chris most recently worked at Episcopal Academy where he helped create and lead the school’s auxiliary programs, including athletic camps and clinics, summer academic offerings, and Lower School enrichment classes and aftercare. He served in the role as a liaison between the college counseling and athletic departments helping students with the college recruiting process and also served as an advisor for the freshman class. As head lacrosse coach of Episcopal’s boys’ varsity program, the team was a top three Inter-Academic Athletic League competitor each season with many of his players going on to compete in college. In his first season leading the St. Andrew’s lacrosse program in 2024, the team recorded 10 wins and made the quarterfinals of the state tournament for the first time in six years. 

Chris has a M.Ed. in school psychology from the University of North Carolina. In addition to his work at St. Andrew’s, Chris is also the head coach of the 2023 Premier Lacrosse League championship team, the Archers Lacrosse Club. Chris is married to Melissa, who is pursuing her master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling through Wake Forest University. Together they have three children: Eliza, Charlie, and Nicholas. Chris lives on campus in the historic Lewis Farmhouse near Rodney Point. 

The Reverend Thomas Becker, St. Andrew’s new associate chaplain, was born and raised in Newark, Delaware. He holds degrees from Centre College (B.S., Economics), Vanderbilt University (M.Ed., Leadership & Organizational Performance), and Sewanee: The University of the South (M.Div.). Prior to his ordination, Thomas worked for his entire career in school settings in areas adjacent to Appalachia, including stints in both higher and secondary boarding education. In addition to admission roles at Vanderbilt and Centre, he served in a variety of positions at The Webb School (Bell Buckle, Tennessee) and Christ School (Arden, North Carolina) including teacher, coach, lay chaplain, college counselor, and dorm parent.

During seminary, Thomas completed over a year and a half of field education at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. After graduating, he accepted a call back to his “chosen homte” of Kentucky where he served as Associate Rector of Christ Church Cathedral in Lexington. Thomas worked as the clergy coordinator for Christ Church’s Pastoral Care, Outreach, Pride (LGBTQ+), Youth, and Young Adult ministries.

Thomas is absolutely thrilled to be returning to his Delaware roots with his appointment as Associate Chaplain at St. Andrew’s School. He will serve alongside the Reverend Michael Giansiracusa, incoming Chaplain, in supporting and enriching the Chapel program. Additionally, Thomas will be a member of the Religion and Philosophy faculty, teaching a variety of courses, and a coach on the men’s and women’s soccer teams.

Joining Thomas on campus will be his beloved and lovable mini Aussie Maggie, his Green Bay Packers and Tennessee Volunteers paraphernalia, well-worn hiking boots, a growing Blenko glass collection, a needlepoint project in some stage of completion, and more books than any one human needs to own.

Khadijah Bell joins St. Andrew’s as a Math Teaching Fellow and a member of the basketball coaching staff. Khadijah is from Mississippi and is a recent graduate of Dartmouth College where she earned a BA in Mathematics.  

Khadijah’s time at Dartmouth was marked by diverse roles and significant contributions. She excelled as an academic tutor and a member of various committees, including the Dean Search Committee and the Black Student Events Planning Committee. Her leadership was recognized when she was nominated as a Dartmouth Emerging Leader.

Khadijah’s international experience is extensive; she has traveled to 13 countries and completed internships at American Express in New York City and the American University of Kuwait. She also studied German in Berlin as part of a Language and Culture Immersion Experience and visited Canada as part of Dartmouth’s Rockefeller Global Leadership Program.

Her teaching experience includes roles as a substitute teacher and lead math teacher for Phillip’s Academy (MS)^2 program. In her free time, Khadijah enjoys spending time with friends and family, traveling, reading, and baking. 

Katharine Celata joins St. Andrew’s as a science and math teacher and cross-country coach. She graduated from the College of William and Mary in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Geology. After graduating, she moved to Bainbridge Island, Washington, teaching science at an outdoor school. In 2015, Katharine received her Masters in Education from the University of Washington. For the past eight years, Katharine has been a dorm parent, science teacher, and coach at the Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, Massachusetts.

Katharine spends her summers on Sebago Lake as the assistant director of an all-girls summer camp. In her free time, she enjoys running, reading, and sailing.

As head chaplain, Michael Giansiracusa will lead spiritual life at the school, direct the school’s chapel program, and be responsible for defining, preserving, and promoting the school’s Episcopal identity to all constituencies. In overseeing the school’s chapel program, Michael will preside at services three times each week, and manage the student-led chapel guilds and vestry, as well as the chapel team.

Michael joins St. Andrew’s with extensive experience in spiritual leadership and campus ministry. He served as chaplain at Doane Academy, an Episcopal K-12 school where he also taught World Religions, and as vicar at St. Gabriel’s, a mission church in Philadelphia. Prior to Doane and St. Gabriel’s, Michael spent 13 years leading urban and suburban parishes, including Episcopal Community Services (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), where he engaged in a variety of nonprofit work; the Romero Center (Camden, New Jersey), where he led college and high school mission retreats; and St. Mary’s (Ardmore, Pennsylvania) where he served as rector.

Earlier in his career, Michael taught religion, English, and film at various secondary schools including St. Mark’s (Wilmington, Delaware), Malvern Prep (Malvern, Pennsylvania), and Bishop Eustace Prep (Pennsauken Township, New Jersey). It was during this time he spent teaching that he discerned a call to the Episcopal priesthood, attended Episcopal Divinity School, and earned a doctorate in Ministry. Michael is an ordained priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Michael attended LaSalle University, where he studied communication arts with minors in philosophy and English; and Villanova University, where he earned an M.A. in religious studies. Michael is a rabid Philadelphia sports fan, enjoys film and cooking, and is an animal rights advocate. He is father to a son, Michael, who attends Villanova University as a VUScholar.

Ben Horgan ’19 joins St. Andrew’s as a math teacher, admissions fellow, head soccer coach, and assistant baseball coach. He graduated summa cum laude from Washington College in December of 2023 with bachelor's degrees in economics and business management, and a minor in finance. His senior thesis examined the economic, environmental, and cultural impact of the professional soccer industry looking closely at Dutch team AFC Ajax. While in college, Ben served as a residential assistant for freshman boys and a tutor for math, accounting, and economics courses.

Prior to joining St. Andrew’s, Ben worked for a private equity fund in Philadelphia. There he assisted the company’s community service efforts organizing employee volunteer events and helping determine where to distribute grants. Ben also spent time volunteering at a financial literacy nonprofit mentoring individuals from underserved communities on personal finance skills.

Ben captained the Washington College men’s soccer team his junior and senior years. He helped lead the team to the program’s first conference championship and first NCAA tournament appearance. The 2023 season saw his team reach the NCAA Division III Final Four for the first time. He was recognized on the all-conference team, awarded team MVP, and won the Alfred Reddish Academic Award. Ben is thrilled to return to St. Andrew’s where he captained and was an all-state player in both soccer and baseball.

Ben Knudsen joins St. Andrew’s as an English teacher and assistant soccer coach. Born and raised in South Burlington, Vermont, Ben graduated summa cum laude from Middlebury College in 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in English and education. At Middlebury, Ben was a captain of the men’s club soccer team and an actor in multiple theatre department productions, as well as Freedom Dreaming: Envisioning an Anti-Racist Middlebury, a theater piece exploring race and racism on campus.

Prior to joining St. Andrew’s, Ben spent time working as a long-term substitute teacher in the language and literature department at Middlebury Union High School, where he completed his student teaching during his undergraduate studies. He also has experience as a place-based educator, spending his last three summers at Shelburne Farms and Cedar Circle Farm, two Vermont nonprofit education centers. Ben has also previously coached at Far Post Soccer Club.

Outside of his role as an educator and coach, Ben loves to hike, play soccer, read, and write creative fiction. You can often find him with a book in hand or a soccer game on the TV.

Gabe Perla joins St. Andrew’s as a math teacher, assistant tennis coach, and assistant indoor track coach. Gabe is from Cleveland, Ohio, and graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2023 with degrees in mathematics and environment and sustainability studies. Since then he has been working at The Island School on the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas. In this role, Gabe has taught math and sustainable systems classes and served as a dorm head.

Gabe went to and worked at summer camp for many summers growing up and is really excited to be coming to the strong all-boarding educational environment at St. Andrew’s.

In his free time, Gabe enjoys playing music and all forms of exercise. Gabe is excited to enjoy the outdoors on the St. Andrew’s campus through exploring running trails, playing tennis, and swimming in the pond.

Julia Poyato Montes was born and raised in the beautiful region of Andalusia, in the south of Spain. Her love for languages began at the age of 8 with English, which sparked a lifelong passion that has only grown ever since. Over the years, she became proficient in English and Italian, gained a basic understanding of Portuguese and French, and recently started learning German.

Her dedication to languages led her to pursue a double degree in Translation and Interpreting at the University of Granada (Spain) and the University of Bologna (Italy), with a later specialization in Audiovisual Translation. Although she worked as audiovisual translator for several months, her true calling was teaching. This passion drove her to earn a master’s degree in Teaching Spanish as a Second Language.

In 2022, Julia moved to the United States to pursue an MA in Languages, Literatures, Cultures, and Pedagogy at the University of Delaware. There, she also taught Spanish undergraduate courses, served as the graduate student ambassador for her department, and was vice-president of the Hispanic/Latino Graduate Student Association.

Julia currently lives off-campus in Newark, Delaware. In her free time, she enjoys playing sports and cooking. She is not entirely sure whether she loves cooking because she enjoys eating, or she enjoys eating because she loves cooking. Whatever it may be, one thing is clear: what truly makes her happiest is preparing and sharing meals with others.

Karen Pupke ’87 is thrilled to return to her alma mater as the Director of Academic Support. A proud SAS alum, Karen has worked with students and families in grades K-12, serving as an administrator, a classroom teacher, and a reading specialist. At the Chapin School in New York City, Karen worked as the Upper School Learning Specialist (grades 8-12) and as the Head of Learning Resources (grades K-12) for almost 10 years. Prior to that, she was the Middle School Learning Specialist at The Town School also in New York. She taught elementary school at The Dalton School in New York City, and she began her career as a Kindergarten teacher at St. Peter’s School in Philadelphia. After a move to Maryland, Karen worked most recently as a sixth grade English Language Arts teacher at Centreville Middle School.

Karen earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Lehigh University, a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Teacher’s College, Columbia University, and a post-master’s degree in reading from Bank Street College of Education.

Karen enjoys spending time with her daughter, Elizabeth, their dog, Molly, and friends and family on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

Caroline Towne joins St. Andrew’s School as a Senior Associate Dean of Admission, who will coach swimming and lacrosse. Originally from West Hartford, Connecticut, Caroline graduated from Williams College in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Aside from a sabbatical year in California to receive a Master’s in Education from Stanford University, Caroline has spent her time since college graduation as a faculty member at Blair Academy.

At Blair, Caroline primarily worked in the admission office, but enjoyed brief stints in the Student Life Office, College Counseling, and the classroom as an AP Psychology teacher. Most recently, she acted as the Director of Financial Aid, during which she helped create and implement an experiential equity program to better support low-income students’ access to all parts of boarding school life. Over her years at Blair Academy, Caroline has coached swimming and JV lacrosse, in addition to spending the last six years running a dorm of 75 ninth and tenth grade girls.

A four year member of Williams’ varsity swim team, Caroline was named NCAA Division III swimmer of the year in 2013, and she was a 13-time Division III National Champion and a seven-time Division III NCAA national record holder. Recently, she was named one of CSCAA’s 100 Greatest Women’s Swimmers & Divers of the past century, in addition to being inducted into the inaugural class of the CSCAA NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame.

Caroline is looking forward to moving to Delaware with her husband, Mitch, who is a law student at Villanova University. In her spare time, she enjoys running, cycling, hiking, and reading.

Lauren Urbont joins St. Andrew’s as a history teacher and tennis coach. She earned a BA from Yale University, where she majored in Literature, and an MSt in Medieval Studies from the University of Oxford. She is All But Dissertation in the PhD in History at Stanford University. Her research is devoted to exploring intercultural relations between Jews, Christians, and Muslims in medieval Europe and the Middle East during the Crusades. Her dissertation addresses how practices related to the commemoration of the dead were shared among these communities. She has taught courses on the global ancient world, medieval intercultural relations, and approaches to doing history.

Prior to starting the PhD, Lauren worked in college admissions as an admissions officer, and still loves to discuss possible educational paths with students. She also loves to play tennis, see new cities, and listen to classical music, especially opera.

Susannah Voigt ’13 joins St. Andrew’s as an English teacher, crew coach, and cross country coach. Susannah graduated from Colby College in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and creative writing. While at Colby she was a coxswain for the men’s and women’s crew teams, earning All-American honors her senior year. After Colby, Susannah earned her master’s in education from Lesley University through Berwick Academy’s Teaching Apprentice program. She is currently pursuing a Masters of Arts in English at Middlebury’s Bread Loaf School of English.

Prior to returning to St. Andrew’s, Susannah was a teacher at Brooks School in North Andover, Massachusetts, where she was an English teacher, a cross country and crew coach, and a dorm head. Susannah’s husband, George, daughter, Lydia, and dog Tilly are excited to be joining the St. Andrew’s community!

A science teacher advising a Model United Nations (MUN) team may present a combination of duties that raises eyebrows at other schools. But at St. Andrew’s, it’s not so weird for teachers to touch seemingly disparate aspects of school life—teaching chemistry, checking dorms as co-dean of residential life, coaching cross-country, and advising the Model UN program is just all in a day’s work for Will Rehrig ’11. 

As an undergraduate student at the University of Delaware studying chemical engineering, Rehrig was a member of the university’s Model UN team. He brought that passion for history back to St. Andrew’s as a faculty member in 2017, and facilitated the first Model UN conference hosted at St. Andrew’s in November 2018. 

Model United Nations allows high schoolers to engage with and debate world issues, both current and historical, furthering their understanding of the United Nations and international relations, while also strengthening their skills in debate, cooperation, critical thinking, and research. MUN conferences are organized into numerous committees where students consider specific issues of global importance, representing member countries as delegates. 

The sixth-annual St. Andrew’s Model UN conference, known as SASMUN, was held on Nov. 5, 2023, with 140 students from local schools, along with nearly 20 St. Andrew’s students, in attendance as delegates. 

Months of planning go into the conference, and Rehrig says that student leaders are at the helm of the organizing. 

“It’s an incredible leadership experience for them in terms of having to plan and put together a committee, and thinking about what a whole day of this looks like,” says Rehrig. 

Two students, Zachary Macalintal ’24 and Caroline Adle ’24, served as secretary general and executive director, and they worked with Rehrig to prepare the logistics for the conference, as well as lead a team of students in planning the content for the committees they chaired. Over the summer of 2023, the students started writing background guides for their respective committees.

“Zachary and Caroline worked tirelessly to bring the conference to fruition, supporting each committee in developing their content and training the staff in chairing and running their committee,” says Rehrig. 

Macalintal and Adle both joined the MUN team during their III Form year, with Macalintal looking for something new to get involved in, and Adle encouraged to join by two upperclassmen who were both passionate about MUN. 

“This club gave me the resources and experience to represent something greater than myself,” says Macalintal. “Whether it was reading some of the most amazing background guides, sending back-and-forth emails to Caroline about MUN… each moment [of SASMUN 2023] felt like the culmination of my [Model UN] career.”

The conference also aims to provide St. Andrew’s students with a low-stakes opportunity to check out if Model UN is something they may be interested in, since the conference is on their home turf with their friends leading the charge. 

The SASMUN conference, says Rehrig, is committed to distinguishing itself as the premier, one-day Model UN conference in Delaware. The student leadership aims to focus on teaching, learning, and guiding, while also balancing a competitive environment for the more experienced delegates. He adds that thorough background guides and challenging topics at the SASMUN conference push the expectations of a high school Model UN conference. 

“Delegates and advisors commented on the high-level committee content, smooth organization and logistics, and competitive and supportive atmosphere,” says Rehrig of the response to this past year’s SASMUN. 

The delegates also were simply into it. 

“I love how deeply invested the delegates get,” says Adle. “Many delegates continue to debate over lunch, so I loved walking around the lunch room and picking up on little snippets of conversation.”

This upcoming school year, returning members of the St. Andrew’s MUN team—including SASMUN Secretary General Peter Bird ’25, MUN Co-President and SASMUN Deputy Director General Amanda Meng ’25, and MUN Co-President and SASMUN Director of Registration Grace Anne Doyle ’25—will pick up planning for the fall 2024 SASMUN conference, and continue to build bonds with each other and the delegates from neighboring schools. 
 

A beam of light streams through the window and spills across a gray Marley floor. Three ballet bars stand against the wall. A bird decal sticks to the glass window, wings stretched skyward. 

Kayden Murrell ’26 snaps a photo of the scene, a moment of peace in the usually bustling dance studio. Though the angle of the photo conceals the rising V former’s image in the wall of mirrors, the scene is a reflection of Murrell’s identity and most authentic sense of self. 

Murrell’s photo is one of 28 by the 2023-2024 IV Form students in Kate Cusick’s English classes as part of an inter-school project in which SAS students explored places on campus that feel like home to them through photography and poetry, and shared their work with school communities beyond St. Andrew’s for dialogue and feedback. 

The idea for the project took root in the summer of 2023, which Cusick spent with the Change Fellow Cohort at Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English in Vermont. The fellowship tasked Cusick and her fellow educators with creating a project that brings communities together and bridges divides. Cusick collaborated with Rebecca Rose, a teacher at Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, Pa.; and Nora Britton, a teacher at the Academy of American Studies in Queens, N.Y., for the project. Although the trio was inspired by their shared classroom reads like Nested Interculturality, which centers on creativity and immersive cultural experiences, they didn’t know precisely what their project would become. They did know the pieces they wanted to incorporate: letter-writing, mapping, and creative expression. 

As they built out the details of how to bring these ideas into harmony, they developed the structure of the project: a cross-school exchange of photography, poetry, and reflection centered around “a sense of place”—the places in which the tenth-grade students at each school find comfort and belonging. 

“Who are our students?” the teachers wrote in their reflection of the project in the Bread Loaf Teacher Network Journal. “How can we develop students’ sense of belonging to, and ownership over, their school/local community? What relationships can we forge with distant places, individuals, and communities?” 

The educators aimed to foster understanding between the students whose senses of place might be wildly different—from the rural settings of Middletown and Mercersburg to the urban cityscapes of Queens—with a dialogue about personal and shared experiences and identities. 

“We wanted to work through that channel of breaking the barrier of their understanding of us and us of them,” says Cusick. 

This project took place over four months of the school year, and it started with the St. Andrew’s and Mercersburg students trekking around their campuses and photographing the places that resonated with them, from the shining floor of the basketball court to a leaf-covered trail nestled by the woods.  

The students then virtually sent their photos to Queens. There, the Academy of American Studies students looked through the photos—which had no personal identifiers—and selected those photos that they wanted to ask questions about, and sent responses to the photographer.

“We gave them a frame of questions, of things to consider,” says Cusick. “[They asked questions and made comments like,] ‘I noticed in your picture you chose the pond or water,’ or ‘I’m curious, why did you choose this angle, this color?’”

The Academy of American Studies students also shared their own photos, capturing corner delis, rainy highways, quaint bookstores, and more with the same students with whom they corresponded previously.

“The first thing that struck me was that we were outside for my partner’s picture, I think it was a bridge and there was a body of water and there was the sunset,” says Murrell. “Compared to my picture, which was bright and indoors, their picture was dark and outside. Yet, I still felt that this is an important place to them … I thought that was really interesting to see how there’s two different spaces, but they invoke the same feelings.” 

Murrell also felt an odd sense of familiarity looking at the photo, recalling memories of visiting the city with family—as the New Jersey-native’s mom works in New York City. 

“They’re closer to home, to my home, than I am,” says Murrell. “It felt refreshing in a way, being grounded there again.”

After the initial feedback of their photos, the students wrote poems about their senses of place associated with their photos. After getting feedback from their peers at their school, they sent their poems to their inter-school partners. 

Though the Academy of American Studies student will never know the face or name behind Murrell’s poem, it touches on a deep sense of identity that has blossomed within the dancer and actor in the studio. 

In the following excerpt, Murrell explores the warmth of the spotlight: 

I wouldn’t go out of my way to garner attention

But,

There is something in that room splashed with sunlight,

Black birds surrounded by a halo of sky,

The far wall covered with advice from stage legends old and new,

A large mirror filled with performers, training to be on stage.

There is something that makes me want to try

Harnessing the sun.

I’m no Icarus.

I wouldn’t go out of my way to garner attention

But,

There is something in the spotlight that makes the attention worth it.

“I learned to take command of the spotlight [with performance], and it’s helped me lose my shyness,” says Murrell. “The story of Icarus is that he flew too close to the sun. So when I say ‘I’m no Icarus,’ I’m not going to just venture out to the spotlight, not normally, but because of my experience in that studio, I’m learning to step further into the spotlight. I’m learning to allow myself to shine.” 

Sending the poem off to Queens was even more scary than handing in an assignment to a teacher, Murrell says. Murrell didn’t know the student that would read the poem, nor how they would react to such a personal piece. But when Murrell received the feedback, the Queens student recounted her own memory of dance, and the shared connection eased Murrell’s fear.

Students opening themselves to an audience greater than their teacher and their classmates was just the point, says Cusick. 

“When we write just to a teacher, it’s so insular,” says Cusick. “[The project] is breaking the barriers of what it means to be a student.”

Breaking the boundaries of instruction was just one goal of the project, another was to make campus part of the curriculum. 

“When I think about Mary Oliver’s poetry, and I think about Robert Frost, and I think about even Mark Doty, who we’re learning in 11th grade right now, places are embedded in our memory and in our sense of identity,” says Cusick. “And this place is four years of these young people’s lives. It’s such a part of who they are. So [this project helps] them both use that as a tool to find their voice in their writing, and articulate who they are, but also embed that then into the work that they’re doing with the literature outside of them.” 

She says the project also aimed to bridge identities rooted in place to something larger than our campus, a goal which culminated in a creation of an interactive map which includes the students’ photography, poetry, and reflections. Students can explore the interactive map of all the participants’ work and physically see where each picture was taken in connection with the other photos. 

Cusick says that this project deepened her understanding of her students, as she discovered unknown passions for rowing or art or students who got up early just to watch the sun rise. It also helped Cusick connect to her personal mission and identity behind education. 

“Oftentimes [as teachers], we get stuck in this rote aspect [of teaching] assignments and grading and the literature,” says Cusick. “And we forget that at the center of everything we’re doing is the student. And this project placed our students at the center of everything we did … their exploration, their desire, their images, their choices.”

Murrell says that this was more than just an assignment. The assignment “elevated” the classroom experience by giving Murrell a taste of what it might be like to be a professional writer, getting feedback from other writers and providing it. Your work may be different from others’, but that’s nothing to be afraid of, Murrell says. 

“It’s a good different, it’s an eye-opening different, and I think that’s something people have to learn,” says Murrell. “You’re not all the same. You’re all different. … [but] you’re all different with the same goal, with the same feelings. I think this Sense of Place project really helped bring that similarity to light, because in different places, you have the same feeling of comfort, the same feeling of home away from home.” 
 

This year, Latin- and French-language students put their knowledge to the test in two national competitions, the National Latin Exam and Le Grand Concours. 

The National Latin Exam, an annual exam that all Latin students at St. Andrew’s take but don’t specifically study or prepare for, provides a chance for students to demonstrate their vocabulary, their understanding of how the Latin language works, and their critical reading skills. 

“The process of learning Latin or ancient Greek can feel solitary or unremarkable,” says Classics Department Chair Dr. Phil Walsh. “But when our students are presented with texts or questions that they have never considered and when many find success, they are reminded of how far they have come, how much they have learned.”

Le Grand Concours, a 75-minute optional exam for French-language students, evaluates participants’ written, oral, and listening comprehension skills in French. 

“Taking the Grand Concours shows them how they can use their skills beyond the classroom and in real life situations,” says French teacher Dr. Pam Pears. “I hope it inspires them to continue to take French, to study abroad, and to use their French in all the ways they can.”

The following St. Andrew’s students were recognized for their performance on these exams: 

The National Latin Exam 

Cum Laude 

• Joe Baker ’24
• Ethan Kim ’25 
• Oscar Ji ’24 
• Madeleine Lasell ’25

Magna Cum Laude

• Margaret Adle ’27 
• Sam Kwon ’26 
• Coco Holden ’27 
• Kayden Murrell ’26  
• Ben Auchincloss ’26 
• Julissa Hernandez ’25 
• Josephine Xie ’27

Maxima Cum Laude

• Sol Bean Lee ’26 
• Josie Denny ’26 
• Mac Gooder ’24 
• Elyot Segger ’24 
• Peter Bird ’25 
• Sofia Golab ’25

Summa Cum Laude

• Ian McDonnell ’26
• Alice Fitts ’27
• Erik Liu ’25

Le Grand Concours

Level 1A (9,445 total participants)

• Steele Malkin ’27: 18th nationally, 1st in the Delaware chapter, mention honorable
• Jessica Tian ’27: 21st nationally, 2nd in the chapter, mention honorable

Level 4A test (4,334 total participants)

• Sades Green ’26: 29th nationally, 8th in the chapter
• Sophie Parlin ’26: 24th nationally, 6th in the chapter 
• Finn Waterston ’25: 20th nationally, 4th in the chapter, mention honorable
• Angela Osaigbovo ’24: 14th nationally, 3rd in the chapter, Lauréat National: Médaille d’argent
• Eleni Murphy ’25: 9th nationally, 1st in the chapter, Lauréat National: Médaille d’or

Level 5C test (112 total participants)

• Saskia Hood ’25: 12th nationally, 2nd in the chapter
• Vincent von der Forst ’25: 11th nationally, 1st in the chapter
   

Like many budding engineers, Legos and Transformers were the building blocks of a growing passion for STEM within Yiru Wang ’25. The origin, however, of Wang’s engineering project that took him to two regional science fairs wasn’t found within these bins of legos, but on the Sipprelle Field House basketball courts.

Wang has been a presence in the St. Andrew’s basketball program since their III Form year, leading the varsity Constellation basketball team in three-pointers and remaining among the top scorers on the team each year. 

“I’m a basketball player myself, a student-athlete, and I’ve witnessed my teammates and myself and my coaches getting knee injuries really often,” says Wang. “And also my parents, as they get older, they are having trouble getting around, moving around, and being able to exercise their knees every single day.”

He watched as the people in his life utilized different types of knee braces to rehabilitate from their injuries, devices he classifies into two types: a cloth brace, “which is focused more on decreasing swelling in your knee and limiting blood flow,” and a “heavier, bulkier metal brace,” which he says “is mostly targeted on immobilization after surgeries to limit any kind of movement in your leg and knee.” 

Wang began to notice what he felt was a gap in these devices: What about a flexible, assistive rehabilitation device that helps an injured person facilitate gradual movements? 

Wang started to breathe life into their idea by talking to their St. Andrew’s community about it toward the end of their IV Form year. They discussed their concept with their friends on the crew team, their basketball coach, the athletic trainers, science faculty, and anyone else at St. Andrew’s with an ear to listen. 

“What definitely was the most helpful for me was their motivation and also their acknowledgement of how useful a device like this could be if I did carry out the research and manufacturing of this device,” says Wang. 

Emboldened by the community’s encouragement, Wang combed through research on pre-existing devices and materials. The summer after his IV Form year, he crafted his “pneumatic knee exoskeleton,” which consists of three sections of “airbag structures” which inflate and deflate to help the user bend and extend their knee. 

“I worked for around a month over the summer, and I worked really hard,” says Wang. “It was 10 hours per day, so that was a lot of work for me. But I really enjoyed the process. It was just a very independent research process.”

Wang learned by doing. They explored different two-dimensional and three-dimensional design software, and they learned how to sew to develop “a breathable outside layer” for the device. 

“I was able to gain so much knowledge about the medical and orthopedic rehabilitation field in general and also just learn random skills that I know will be helpful for me in the future, too,” says Wang. 

Upon his return home to China for Winter Break, Wang spent all his free time fine-tuning his project for the upcoming New Castle County Science Fair, in which he would be competing in the engineering category. 

As the science fair approached, Wang had to overcome a logistical hurdle, one that only a student attending boarding school would likely confront: How do you showcase a project that was developed on the other side of the globe? 

Wang calls the lead-up to the science fair a “chaotic“ time, as their disassembled project was shipped to St. Andrew’s from China, and they had to reassemble it on top of classwork, homework, afternoon activities, and all of the other responsibilities that come along with the St. Andrew’s experience. 

“It was really hard for me to find the time to put everything together and organize everything before the science fair,” says Wang. “I did have to stay up really late and wake up really early. It was a little bit hectic for me, but it was a really rewarding experience, finally seeing everything.”

Wang also credits his St. Andrew’s community with helping him with the little things as he prepped for the science fair, like running around campus trying to print all the materials for his poster. 

“I couldn’t have done anything without [the faculty who helped me],” says Wang. “Even though it’s an independent project, at the end of the day, it’s all those small things that other people around me helped me with that were really meaningful.”

In late March, Wang traveled to the Staton Campus of the Delaware Technical Community College for the fair, meeting other students from across the region and receiving helpful feedback from the judges. 

“It’s more than just a competition … but more of a socializing event and just being able to form those connections with like-minded people that are genuinely interested in STEM,” says Wang. 

Wang placed first in the engineering category, won the Agilent Special Award for Most Likely to Improve the Human Condition, and the FUJIFILM Special Award for Best in Show, advancing to the April 2-4 Delaware Valley Science Fairs. 

At this fair, Wang won the Office of Naval Research Naval Science Award and the West Pharmaceutical Services Engineering Award. Though this is the final fair that Wang will compete in this year, he says that this is not the end of the road for his research. 

“I still want to learn more about this area from different angles,” says Wang. “For example, maybe the biomedical angle to learn more about what can be done on the nanotechnology or micro-level. And then also more on the medicine, health side of things, like the anatomy of the knee. Knowledge in different areas can definitely help me create a more in-depth research project on top of what I already have. This is something that is going to be an ongoing process for me.”