Dear Blair Family,
Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2022 from all of us at Blair! We remain grateful for your engagement, support and partnership; may the year ahead be filled with joy, gratitude and good health.
There have been many meaningful moments at Blair this fall as we embraced being back together and celebrating all of our beloved traditions. We were thrilled to welcome Peddie athletes to Blairstown in November to celebrate the competition between our two schools, and watching the rivalry and friendship in action was exciting—as was seeing students rush Hampshire Field after Blair won the Kelley-Potter Cup!
Planning is underway for Blair’s 175th anniversary, and there will be much more to come on that as it will be exciting to see Blair’s spirit on proud display around the world when the festivities kick off in September 2022. In the meantime, we will continue to double down on our mission of fostering meaningful connections, extraordinary educational experiences and lifelong friendships.
Odafe Oweh ’18 Making His Mark in the NFL
Blair grad Odafe Oweh ’18 has become a vital defensive player for the Baltimore Ravens. Selected in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, the outside linebacker has played for the Ravens in every game of the season. In their opening contest against the Kansas City Chiefs, Odafe forced a fumble and recovered the ball with minutes left in the game, giving the Ravens a 36-35 victory. For his performance, Odafe was named by the NFL as the AFC defensive player of the week. Congratulations, Odafe, on an explosive start to your rookie season! We have loved watching you each week!
Society of Skeptics
Society of Skeptics was established as a forum for students and faculty to discuss and debate important global issues; it has grown to become one of the premier high school lecture series in the United States. This fall, Skeptics featured a variety of accomplished speakers from political, social, scientific and economic arenas who engaged the Blair community with thought-provoking and sometimes controversial topics.
Learn about our speakers and watch their sessions at the links below.
Fritzi Horstman
September 21, 2021
Founder of Compassion Prison Project
Coach Joe Mantegna
September 28, 2021
Afrobasket and the South Sudan Men’s Team
Colum McCann
October 5, 2021
Award-Winning Author, “Let the Great World Spin”
Zach Weisberg ’03
October 12, 2021
Blair Alum Discusses The Inertia
Dr. Thomas Crabtree
October 19, 2021
A Tale of Two Pandemics: A Personal & Viral Journey
Ashley Thompson ’08
October 26, 2021
Blair Alum & Founder of MUSH
Dr. Ben Schwartz P’21
November 9, 2021
Remote Surgery with the DaVinci Surgical Robot
Alan Springer
November 16, 2021
Vice President & Head of Video for The Arena Group
Dan Lucky
November 30, 2021
Retired NASA Engineer
Young Alumni Panel: Women in Tech
Kathryn Middleton ’10, Kate Anello ’12, Sierra Yit ’13, Lara Bucarey ’06, and Beth Martens ’08 share advice from their journeys in the tech industry.
Blair Begins 174th Year with Convocation
With bagpipers leading and the flags of 28 countries represented by Blair’s student body fluttering, a stream of students filed through the Arch and past Blair’s storied stone buildings for this year’s Convocation—much as Blair Bucs have done for the past 174 years.
Blair’s Fun-Filled Weekends of Fall
In addition to panels and performances, exhibitions and concerts, Blair strives to offer a variety of events throughout the year to keep students active, engaged and broadening their horizons. “The best activities are in October,” said Blair’s Associate Dean of Students, Rod Gerdsen, before launching into a lineup of fall events sure to make any class long for the bell.
Events included...
Goat Yoga
Fall Fest
and Halloween fun!
Belonging & Equity at Blair
Recognizing the strength and value that diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) bring to our community, Blair has long sought to make our hilltop a place where all students feel that they belong. Recently, Blair sought to build on that foundation by creating a new student leadership group at the School: the Belonging & Equity Committee. Read on to learn how one student leader and her fellow B&E members are contributing to Blair’s DEIB efforts and educating the community with their work.
“We are all excited about being on the committee, especially the potential impact we could make. B&E has done a great job with our first projects this semester, and I look forward to what the second semester has in store for us.”
— Laila Davson ’22
Dungeons & Dragons Came to Life in ‘She Kills Monsters’
The Blair Academy Players presented “She Kills Monsters” on October 28, 29 and 30 at 7:30 p.m. in the Armstrong-Hipkins Center for the Arts’ Wean Theatre. Written by Qui Nguyen, “She Kills Monsters” is an epic, raucous journey of a young woman on a mission to connect with her late sister, complete with swords, fantasts, ’90s pop culture and ogres!
“She Kills Monsters” tells the story of Agnes Evans (played by Alex Schamberger ’22) who loses her parents and little sister Tilly Evans (played by Leilah Elkholy ’25) in a car accident. Agnes discovers that Tilly was an avid participant of the roleplaying game Dungeons and Dragons, and through playing a module that Tilly had written, Agnes embarks into the reality and fantasy world that her sister inhabited.
Cheyenne Joachim ’25, Serena Khanna ’25, Grant Breckenridge ’24 and Eli Maloney ’25 made up the adventurers whom Agnes meets in the fantasy world of the game, while Julian Perello ’24 portrayed the game’s dungeon master. Marc Lui ’23 portrayed Agnes’ confused boyfriend who has to discover what his girlfriend is up to playing the fantasy game, while Amalia Scripsick ’23 and Teodora Vukosavljevic ’25 entertained the audience in several roles. Playing various monsters who attack the intrepid band were Kennedy Henry ’25 and Char Yeiy ’25. The narrator was Hanna Wilke ’23.
“ ‘She Kills Monsters’ has become one of the most popular plays in American high schools and colleges. The Blair Academy Players were excited to be performing such a provocative play for its first production of the year.”
— Craig Evans, theatre teacher & director
Nurturing Blair’s Budding Writers
Last year, Blair introduced J-term, a two-week learning opportunity during which students intensively study a subject that interests them. The J-term course titled “Where Have You Come From, Where Are You Now?” provided students with the time and space to interview and profile Blair alumni from around the world, learning how to tell someone’s story and sharpening their writing skills. What follows are excerpts from four articles by Blair’s 2021 J-term students. The pieces showcase not only how distinguished Blair alumni have made a global impact, but also just how exceptional writing is developed at Blair.
Mini-Seminar Series Offers Unique Summer Learning Experience
While many faculty members enjoyed time off before the start of the 2021-22 school year, one group of teachers came together over the summer holiday to offer a series of unique mini-seminars to Blair students. Each participating teacher chose a subject that is not traditionally taught during the year and about which they are passionate. Topics included the science of emotions, a short look at the history of spaceflight, harnessing the power of photography through a smartphone camera and exploring physics by designing one’s own roller coaster.
Sigety Summer Institute Focuses on Student Development
While students relaxed during their last moments of summer, faculty prepared for the upcoming year. In late August, 14 faculty members joined Dean of Teaching and Learning Amanda Lucas and Dean of Academics Nathan Molteni for the 5th-annual Sigety Summer Institute. Topics covered this year included how to work effectively with peers from different backgrounds, aligning the science department’s curriculum to nurture our future scientists and prioritizing clear communication with effort marks.
School Spirit & Joy Define First Community Weekend
Hoarse voices, high energy and incredible memories are lingering on campus—remnants of our first Community Weekend. Saturday night was filled with the beloved Blair tradition of Soccerfest.
This year, the girls’ varsity squad battled local high school Kittatinny under the lights on our home turf. Face paint, cheering and spirit were plentiful as fans rushed the field and piled onto the bleachers for the big game.
A halftime penalty kick contest with the Blair Buccaneer as goalie brought laughter and free T-shirts to participants and spectators alike, followed by continuous chants and cheers led by members of the Senior Class Council.
On Sunday, students gathered in dorm and day-student groups by Blair Lake for Kon-Tiki boat races, huddling as they hurried to craft a serviceable boat out of cardboard and duct tape in one hour.
While Insley Hall, day students and the faculty kids rowed fastest across the lake, the Annie Hall boat lasted the longest, turning back to remain afloat and cheer on the second heat.
The Kon-Tiki races were followed by Super Sunday, where the much-anticipated soap slide saw students flying down one end of the Bowl while hot pretzels, corn dogs, ice cream and a dunk tank featuring Mr. Curran gathered crowds in the other.
In between, lawn games and the traditional egg toss kept students busy and laughing. The weekend ended with the delicious smell of a cookout wafting over campus as students and faculty, relaxed and hungry, settled at tables for a community-wide picnic down in the Bowl. As lines of students drifted back to the dorms for study hall, the air was filled with the camaraderie and friendships that were strengthened over a memorable first weekend at Blair.
Welcoming Fresh Faces to Blair: 2021 Preseason Is Here!
With the first hints of fall and the excitement of preseason hanging in the air, Blair welcomed a sea of shining faces during the last week of August as students and athletes returned to campus. Read on to learn more about how our football team, Senior Class Council and the members of several student organizations spent their first days back at Blair.
Family Weekend Returns to Blairstown
Family Weekend is always a much-anticipated event for the Blair Academy community every fall. For the first time since 2019, families gathered from near and far, returning to Blairstown to celebrate in person! Over the course of three days, parents were provided with the opportunity to meet their child’s teachers, watch their student perform on stage or on the athletic fields, and tour our beautiful campus.
“We are so excited to finally welcome all our families back to campus. We do our best to make it an exciting program that gives everyone the opportunity to be enriched in the tradition of Blair Academy, and I hope our families were able to immerse themselves in the experience the weekend provided.”
—Susan Long, Assistant Director of Advancement for Parent Relations
The always-engaging event aimed to give parents and loved ones a chance to experience daily life on the hilltop as well as get to know other Blair families. The weekend began on Thursday evening at nearby Brook Hollow Winery, where Blair hosted a reception at which parents could mix and mingle. The activities continued on Friday morning with a 5K run and golf scramble, as well as the opportunity to attend a class or visit the archives in Timken Library.
Later on Friday, parents watched athletic practices and attended workshops on topics such as signature Blair programs or planning for college. Families also had the opportunity to attend the dedication of Blair’s state-of-the-art new Crew Training Center, located on Park Street.
An evening all-parents’ assembly with Head of School Peter G. Curran was followed by Blair on Stage, a performing arts event that showcased the repertoires of the Symphony Orchestra, Singers and the cast of the Blair Academy Players’ production of “She Kills Monsters.”
On Saturday morning, families were invited to enjoy breakfast before meeting each of their child’s teachers. The day ended with an additional opportunity for parents to attend a college-planning workshop as well as cheer on the Bucs on the athletic fields as they took on rival The Hill School.
Fall Exhibitions in The Romano Gallery
At Blair, art is not just a creative outlet, but also a seam woven into the fabric of our community. To that end, each year Armstrong-Hipkins Center for the Arts’ Romano Gallery proudly exhibits the work of professional artists, as well as that of Blair students and faculty. Click the images below for more information about the artists who shared their work with us this fall.
Interpretation & Iteration
Kristin Müller: Ceramicist
Still Resisting [Convenience]
Heather Palecek: Photographer
Memory Palace
Natessa Amin ’06: Mixed-Media Artist
Experiments in Artistic Collaboration
Fall Student Show
Blair’s Musicians Present Annual Fall Concert
On Friday, November 19, Blair’s Symphony Orchestra, Singers, Chamber Choir and Jazz Ensemble came together for an evening of beautiful music. Marking the first time that Blair’s musicians have reunited in the DuBois Theatre since the start of the pandemic, the annual Fall Concert showcased several new pieces with international influences in addition to Blair’s classic “Pirates of the Caribbean.”
Blair Student Makes Her Mark in International Film Festival
Blair’s Thao Nguyen ’21 was honored recently when her film “5 Years from Water” was selected for inclusion in the 2021 Indy Shorts International Film Festival. Exploring the lost art of wooden shipbuilding, the film chronicles Mike Danesi, a 72-year-old from New England who spent the last decade building a wooden boat by hand in his self-crafted barn.
Celebrating Blair’s Peddie Day from Coast to Coast
Members of the Blair alumni community gathered in their respective cities on Wednesday, November 3, to celebrate upcoming Peddie Day—New Jersey’s oldest prep school football rivalry and Blair’s unique celebration of school spirit—that occurs every year on the first weekend in November.
The Blair Fund immediately benefits every corner of Blair Academy, every program, every student and every teacher. Philanthropic support of the School helps sustain its mission of educating young people—a mission that is vitally important in today’s increasingly global and complex world.
Questions? Contact Emma Barnes O'Neill, director of annual giving, at (908) 362-2045 or barnee@blair.edu.
Credits:
Photos taken by Tyson Trish & Douglas Benedict