NFA World

By Geoff Serra

 

We resume our weekly column about all things NFA with a tribute to Joyce Back, colleague, friend, and originator of this column in the hope of fulfilling her vision and continuing her legacy.

 

• The Chelsea Ballroom of the Holiday Inn filled with excitement on the evening of Thursday, December 28^th, when 250 members of the NFA community honored John Iovino for 29 years of coaching the Wildcat boys baseball team. Tributes from colleagues, former players, friends, and family were the order of the evening. Among the many NFA notables who turned out for the event were former Superintendent Principal Joe Levanto, former Director of Athletics, Rene Ledoux, and former physical education teachers and coaches Tim Ryan, Arden Curtis, and Sarah Jane Shearer. Most touching were two presentations – one by Iovino’s brothers, and one by Iovino himself in which he honored his fellow coach, colleague, and friend Hugh “Duke” Campbell by establishing an annual award in Campbell’s honor. It truly was a night about scholar athletes, community, and family, and a fitting tribute to the legacy of the longest standing boys’ sport at the Academy.

 

• There’s still time to view the outstanding exhibition at the Converse Art Gallery—“Wrapped in Pride: Ghanaian Kente and African American Identity,” brought to the community by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Expertly installed by the Slater’s Assistant Director, Leigh Smead, the colorful exhibition explores the connection between the cultural heritage of woven cloth in its original African contexts and contemporary African American identity. Two special programs, free and open to the public, accompany the exhibition: a lecture by Former Fulbright Scholar, Edward M. Goldberg on January 6^th, and a performance by Eastern Connecticut State University professor and storyteller Raouf Mama on January 19^th. More information is on the NFA website – Don’t miss these events!

 

• Popular author Jodi Piccoult will visit campus on January 25^th. Piccoult’s novel, My Sister’s Keeper is one of 10 titles in NFA’s independent reading program. Students who read this book will attend Picoult’s presentation in Slater Auditorium. It will be simulcast across campus on the NFA network and available for public viewing on NFA-TV (Channel 12 in the Norwich area). Piccoult is the author of 14 novels focusing upon family, love, and relationships. In March, My Sister’s Keeper goes into production with New Line Cinema in Los Angles directed by Nick Cassavetes and starring Cameron Diaz. Piccoult comes to the Academy through the efforts of Janet Wilber of the English Department.

 

• In the World Language Department, Maria Crooks, Spanish Teacher and Spanish Club advisor, has news about Saturaday morning salsa dance lessons in the Norton Gym. The ever popular Latino dance style (“salsa” from the Spanish for “sauce”) is truly a spicy mixture of flirtatious and sensuous steps and moves. Students pay a nominal fee for professional dance instruction. About ten students currently participate, but we are sure the program will grow in numbers and popularity.

 

• Perhaps not so enthusiastically, students are also dancing toward Midyear Examinations which begin Thursday, January 17^th and extend over the Martin Luther King Holiday (Monday, January 21^st – no school) to end on Wednesday, January 23^rd. After a Semester Break Day (no school on Thursday, January 24^th), the second semester commences, Friday, January 25^th.

 

·        By now, most seniors have met college application deadlines and await spring letters or on-line announcements of admission. As guidance counselors breathe a sigh of relief after this round of college applications, they have little time to rest, for uppers are beginning their future planning. Eleventh graders have spring college admissions testing to look forward to (SAT and ACT), and tenth graders face the Connecticut Academic Performance Test in late March. Testing dates are posted on the NFA website and will be mentioned again in this column as they approach.

 

• Last month, the Academy submitted an application to the Character Education Partnership, a national organization promoting character education. Several years ago, the Academy received a “Promising Practice Award” for dedication to volunteerism and community service. In the current application, NFA seeks to be considered a national school of character. Spearheaded by Shattuck House Principal Jeff Hardell and a hard-working committee of faculty and students, the application outlines NFA’s efforts to continue the 150 year old mission of its founders to influence all aspects of a student’s growth and development, personal as well as academic. Let’s cross our fingers for a positive result in March.

 

To honor the Academy’s dedication to character, we will end each week’s column with inspiring words to remember and ponder. This week’s words come from ancient Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria: “Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

 

See you next week in NFA World….until then direct your comments or questions to serrag@norwichfreeacademy.com.