News Briefing: Summer News

By NM '20, Priya Phillips '20, Raj Sastry '20, and Liam Warin '20

They Came, They Saw, They Conquered: STA Football Triumphant vs. Severn Heights 
In a dominant 30-0 away win against the MIAA “B” League side, the Dogs trounced the Admirals, with running scores from Evan Asuncion ‘21, Will Harmon ‘20, Jayden Bendesky ‘21, and a two point conversion from Will Harmon. St. Albans enunciated their win with stellar defensive play, including a forced safety by Kyle Parizek ‘21 (who also recorded two sacks), a pick six by Chris Tingle ‘21, and two tackles for loss from Benjamin Sherman ‘20. The bulldogs march across the Rubicon into their next matchup against Bishop Ireton looking for a promising 2-0 start to the season. 

Cathedral Condemns Trump 
In a series of two Facebook posts over the summer, the Washington National Cathedral waded in political waters as it shared (then later deleted) a left-leaning Washington Post opinion piece and a strongly-worded censure of President Trump, entitled “Have We No Decency?” and signed by Bishop Budde, Dean Hollerith, and Rev. Douglas. The posts were met with mixed reactions from commenters. 

Conte’s Departure Forces Adjustment at NCS 
The unexpected summertime decampment of Ms. Svetlana Conte forced several faculty members within the NCS Math and Science departments to take on new classes to cover the slack. A letter was distributed to affected students regarding the readjustment

Bosland Grasps the Reins at NCS 
After things went south with Ms. Elizabeth English last spring, NCS has appointed Ms. Susan C. Bosland as Interim Head of School for the 2019–20 school year.

NCS Makes CASH 
Anaya Rodgers ‘20, along with a cabal of NCS seniors, has founded the Cathedral School’s equivalent of STA’s long-standing BEEF Club (arbiter of school spirit and regalia at athletic events), “Cathedral Athletes Stay Hype” (CASH).

Non-Collaboration Rule Lifted at Discus 
After a parlay with Claudia Smith ‘20, Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Discus, Priya Phillips ‘20 (Co-Editor-in-Chief of The Exchanged) has secured the abjuration of an outdated rule that prohibited Discus editors from writing for The Exchanged.

Magoba Passes Away 
On August 4th, Mr. Edward Paul Magoba, who served NCS as Transportation Driver for 47 years, passed away. He was 65 years old. He is remembered for his enthusiastic support of Close athletes and dedicated service to the school, and will be dearly missed.

Chapin Duke Takes the Helm at SPS 
After this summer’s iteration of the St. Albans’ School of Public Service (SPS), Ms. Woods stepped down as Director of SPS in light of her responsibilities as Associate Head of School. Ms. Nicole Chapin Duke, who has worked with SPS for seven summers and is currently Associate Director, has taken Woods’ helm. Woods, who will continue to work with SPS in her capacity as Associate Head of School, passes the torch amiably.

Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! Robinson Commences “Law, Justice & Society” 
Today, Headmaster Jason Robinson will begin co-teaching (along with Ms. Woods) his course, “Law, Justice & Society.” Robinson has taught the class (or a similar adaptation of it) at previous institutions, though this year marks its inauguration at STA. 15 St. Albans and four NCS seniors are registered. The Exchanged editors frowned upon the lack of an Oxford comma in the course title.

​New Upper School Teachers on the Close  
The promotion of Ms. Paige Blumer’s to head of middle school and the midyear departure of Ms. Liz Sokolov prompted the NCS English department to hire Ms. Caroline Miller and to tap Ms. Priscilla Siu into the Upper School professoriate from the Middle School. Ms. Alisha Couch boarded ship as Director of College Guidance, Ms. Leslie Klein as Director of Counseling, and Ms. Riho Okamura as athletic trainer. On the boys’ side, Dr. Taylor S. Coughlan joins as a classicist and lacrosse-ist following the retirement of Mr. Wallace B. Ragan III after more than three decades last year. Mr. David Hutchinson embarks as Director of Facilities, Mr. Kyle Money as the first UPenn fellow at STA, and Mr. Kinari Sakamoto Pierce, who will teach world history following the substantial redesign of the Upper School history progression that leaves the history department stretched rather thin during the two-year transition. Mr. David Schwartz joins as STA’s 38th Writer-in-Residence.

That's all for this issue. Stay tuned next week!