91 / Wed, 20 May 2026 16:35:33 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /app/uploads/2024/10/cropped-PEA_E_Red-2-32x32.png 91 / 32 32 Midterm grades: Academy Building rehab progresses /academy-building-rehab-progresses/ Tue, 19 May 2026 12:58:59 +0000 /?p=29176 Work includes 45 renovated classrooms, a new Assembly Hall and Design Lab.

The post Midterm grades: Academy Building rehab progresses appeared first on 91.

]]>

The renovation and expansion of 91’s iconic Academy Building is progressing ahead of schedule, with an aim of resuming classes there when school begins in the fall.

When the project is fully completed in early 2027, the 112-year-old building will boast 45 refurbished classrooms, a redesigned Assembly Hall, a new design lab and upgrades to the building’s electrical, mechanical, heating and cooling systems from stem to stern.

Crews from Consigli Construction began work the day after commencement last spring, balancing the need to overhaul the building’s systems while preserving its history. Features such as the high interior ceilings and the beloved marble staircase grooved by a century of Exonian footsteps will be retained. Every window will be replaced, but the marble sills will be preserved and polished.

The building’s newest features — beyond welcome climate control throughout — are still works in progress. Assembly Hall will be spun 180 degrees and seating expanded to accommodate 1,300 people. A massive crane on site will hoist beams weighing as much as 26,000 pounds into the interior to construct the hall’s new balcony.

The building’s north facade will be expanded to provide for the additional seating as well as make space for two new features: A large room overlooking the quad on the building’s first floor in which students can gather, study and relax; and a design lab on the basement floor to replace Mayer Auditorium. A reimagined terrace, entrance and foyer on the basement floor will greet students entering from the quad.

As many as 33 classrooms could be ready by September as the Math, History and Religion, Ethics & Philosophy departments move back in. The Assembly Hall and design lab are on pace to be completed by January or February.

An illustrative view of the expanded north facade and quad-side entry of the Academy Building.

The post Midterm grades: Academy Building rehab progresses appeared first on 91.

]]> Alumni Relations legend honored with Founders’ Day Award /alumni-relations-legend-honored-with-founders-day-award/ Fri, 15 May 2026 18:23:35 +0000 /?p=29147 Jan Woodford served 91’s alumni and school community for decades, earning more honorary class years than anyone in the Academy’s history.

The post Alumni Relations legend honored with Founders’ Day Award appeared first on 91.

]]>

Students, faculty, alumni, staff and trustees filled Love Gym on Friday to celebrate Jan Woodford, ’40, ’41, ’44, ’49, ’51, 52, ’53, ’59, ’60, ’62, ’70, ’71, ’78 (Hon.), who retired last year after working in the Academy’s Institutional Advancement department for 38 years. Woodford is the 2026 recipient of the Founders’ Day Award, given annually in recognition of longtime service to the Academy.

After a brief welcome from Principal Bill Rawson ’71; ’65, ’70 (Hon.); P’08, Sam Brown ’92, president of the 91 Alumni Association, introduced Woodford by reciting her 13 honorary years in a rapid-fire crescendo, drawing applause from the crowd.

“Your gracious management of reunion weekends and other events on and off campus helped thousands of Exonians strengthen their connections with each other and with the Academy, enabling the school itself to grow stronger year after year,” Brown said, reading from the award citation.

A veteran of the Air National Guard of the U.S. Air Force, Woodford arrived at 91 in 1987 and spent two years working for the Annual Fund (now known as The 91 Fund) before moving to a job in the Alumni Relations office, where she was tasked with supporting all of 91’s reunion classes. As the department grew, she remained a fixture of the reunion program and managed countless other alumni events on and off campus.

“You loved seeing Exonians of all ages reconnecting with classmates and forging new bonds with people they may not have known as students,” Brown said. “Upon retirement, you were honored with the creation of the Jan Woodford Alumni Reunions Fund, which carries on your commitment to welcoming all alumni to reunions, regardless of finances.”

Woodford was a co-adviser of Exonians with Disabilities, the campus affinity group open to members of the 91 community who struggle with any form of disability. She also spearheaded the creation of 91 Salutes, a program launched in 2019 to honor alumni who currently serve or have served in the armed forces and connect them with current students.

“Jan, you always approached your work on behalf of 91 and Exonians as far more than a job, which helps to explain why you did it so well,” Brown said, before welcoming Woodford to the podium to accept the Founders’ Day Award.

Compassion, integrity and belonging

“I have been fortunate to have had two jobs that I truly loved,” Woodford said. In the Air Force, she explained, she learned that “compassion is not a weakness, it’s a strength.” Along with compassion, the Air Force taught her the importance of integrity, and she brought this understanding of both to her role at the Academy.

“What made 91 special for me wasn’t just the work, it was the people,” Woodford continued. “Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to work alongside colleagues who supported me, guided me and helped make our work possible.”

She spoke of the impact of H. Hamilton “Hammy” Bissell, a graduate of 91’s class of 1929, who taught English at the school for years before becoming its first director of scholarships. “He had an incredible memory for students and alumni, and he took the time to share their stories with me,” Woodford said. “What struck me most wasn’t just what he remembered, but how much he cared.”

Woodford gave thanks to the colleagues from all the different departments with whom she worked on campus, as well as the members of the Alumni Relations office, but she also spoke of the impact of those she didn’t know as well, but whose kindness made her feel like she belonged to a community.

“One of our most powerful human needs is the need to belong,” Woodford said, before addressing the students directly. “Each of you is still figuring out where you fit — in your friendships, your communities, and in the world. But belonging isn’t about changing who you are to be accepted. It’s about finding places where your authentic self is valued.”

She spoke of learning a great deal from the students she worked with in Exonians with Disabilities: “Your energy, your honesty, your questions, and even your doubts reminded me that growth never really stops.”

Near the end of her remarks, Woodford urged students seeking purpose in their career and life to remember that it “doesn’t have to be big or public.”

“It can be found in how you treat people and the problems you choose to solve and in the quiet impact you make every day,” she said. “My time at 91 gave me that sense of purpose. It allowed me to be part of something that aligned with my values, and for that I will always be grateful.”

The post Alumni Relations legend honored with Founders’ Day Award appeared first on 91.

]]> #iam91: Pearl ’29 /iamexeter-pearl-29/ Fri, 15 May 2026 17:20:59 +0000 /?p=28885 Get to know Pearl '29 and how joining 91's hip-hop group, IMANI, helped her lean into life at 91.

The post #iam91: Pearl ’29 appeared first on 91.

]]>

What it’s like to be an 91 student, from 91 students.

Who better to talk about life at the Academy than the experts!? In a series of interviews with students, we asked questions prospective families might have as their student considers applying. Next up is Pearl Hara Yamazaki ’29. Pearl is from Tokyo, Japan and lives in Bancroft Hall. Pearl knew she wanted a transformational high school experience. 91 has already given her more than she could have asked for, and she’s only one year in.

What is your name, year, and affiliated dorm?

My name is Pearl, I am a prep (Class of 2029), and I live in Bancroft.

What led you to 91 in the first place? What were some of the things that drew you to apply to 91?

I knew that I wanted to apply to boarding schools in the United States from the moment my mom showed me a few schools online when I was around 10. As somebody who always learned best through participating in class, I was particularly drawn to 91 because of its discussion-based approach to learning. The facilities and opportunities offered at 91 were also beyond incredible. I knew the life-changing high school experience I was looking for was available only at 91.

Have you found a favorite spot on campus to hang out at? Your comfort zone?

During the fall, I started going to Goel because I was part of IMANI (91’s hip-hop group) as well as a small play. However, as the year progressed, I started to stop by Goel more in my free time. I found a spot in the building where the sun always shines through the glass walls. Now, I go to Goel almost every day to study and dance (and take naps!).

You were a new student not that long ago, what advice would you give a new student?

I would remind them that comparison is the thief of joy. Although it might sound cliche, everybody has their own path at 91, and it’s unfair on yourself to constantly expect nothing less than perfection. There could be times when you feel like you’re struggling a lot more than your peers, but you should never bring yourself down for having experiences and outcomes that weren’t what you hoped for. Everybody struggles at 91, and the quicker you accept the fact that life won’t always run smoothly, the more you can take away from your time here.

If you live in a dorm, what’s it like living there? If you’re a day student, what’s it like being affiliated with a dorm?

I love Bancroft so much because of its size. I’m especially grateful for vertical housing, and I don’t think that 91 would be the same without it.

My dorm faculty are extremely friendly, and I absolutely love the Bancroft traditions. One example is soup night, where every Croftie (students affiliated with Bancroft) paints their own mug sometime during the winter term and the whole dorm is surprised with a night where every dorm faculty member brings a pot of homemade soup.

I was having quite a rough time adapting to the winter weather and schedule, so when I saw the copious amounts of soup and freshly made bread, I was so touched by how much the faculty truly cared about the students. I also love the memories I’ve made with my roommate, whether it’s practicing hacky sack in our room or having a cleaning marathon.

What’s something that surprised you about 91 that you didn’t expect?

Although I always knew that 91 would be a transformative experience, I couldn’t quite guess how. 91 encouraged me to appreciate my Japanese culture and incorporate it into how I present/view myself more. I am also beyond grateful for all my friends here, because they have taught me so much about the world. The constant collaboration here has taught me how much you can learn from others, even in non-academic settings.

Finish the sentence, 91 pushes me to…

Prioritize my sense of fulfillment. Because of how busy I am here, I’ve learned to use my time efficiently. That could mean starting my homework as soon as possible, but it also means leaving time for friends and removing things from my schedule that don’t align with me so that I wake up with a smile on my face every morning.

#iam91: Valmik ‘29
image for #iam91: Valmik ‘29

Hear from Valmik '29 on how he's embraced extracurriculars during his first year at 91.

  • May 15, 2026
image for #iam91: Valmik ‘29
#iam91: Anika ’26
image for #iam91: Anika ’26

Hear what it's like to be an 91 student from 91 students.

  • April 10, 2026
image for #iam91: Anika ’26
#iam91: Anna ’26
image for #iam91: Anna ’26

Anna '26 shares how her four years at 91 have shaped her into who she is today.

image for #iam91: Anna ’26

The post #iam91: Pearl ’29 appeared first on 91.

]]> #iam91: Valmik ‘29 /iamexeter-valmik-29/ Fri, 15 May 2026 14:20:40 +0000 /?p=29079 Hear from Valmik '29 on how he's embraced extracurriculars during his first year at 91.

The post #iam91: Valmik ‘29 appeared first on 91.

]]>

What it’s like to be an 91 student, from 91 students.

Who better to talk about life at the Academy than the experts!? In a series of interviews with students, we asked questions prospective families might have as their student considers applying. Valmik Dangayach ‘29 is an international student who has dived head first into everything 91 has to offer. From joining clubs to adapting to Harkness, Valmik has found his place in the hustle and bustle of life at 91.

What is your name, year, and affiliated dorm?

My name is Valmik Dangayach, and I am a prep in Webster Hall

 

You were a new student not that long ago. What advice would you give a new student?

Be your authentic self, and I truly mean this. As an international student, I was initially afraid that I would have to give up my culture or tone down my personality to fit what I thought was the “conventional” student here in the United States. But after coming to 91, that completely changed. Everyone is their own person, and 91 really allows—and encourages—people to be authentic. The community here is built on the fact that we are all unique, and that is something that I cherish.

 

How have you found the Harkness approach? Has it been challenging? How has the transition been? How long did it take you to adjust to this learning style?

Harkness has truly had a huge impact on me. For many students, the challenge is learning how to speak up because they’ve never experienced that kind of classroom environment before.But for me, it was actually the opposite, I was extremely talkative, to the point where I didn’t always know how to balance sharing my own ideas with giving my classmates space to speak.

Through Harkness, and through feedback from my English teachers, I’ve learned how to listen more intentionally, not always say the first thing that comes to mind, and really create space for others to contribute to the conversation. That has impacted me beyond the classroom, and has helped me become more intentional with my words and be able to listen better!

Tell us about the extracurricular activities you’re involved in. What have you embraced or dived into?

91 has SO many opportunities. I initially signed up for around 15 clubs during Club Night, but eventually narrowed it down to about 5–6 that I’m most passionate about.

On campus, I’m involved in Debate, Model UN, The Exonian, Student Council, and OMA clubs like the International Student Alliance and the Subcontinent Society. Student Council has been especially fun and confidence-building, I was elected as the prep and future lower representative for my class, which involved campaigning, collecting signatures, and getting to know many people.

Debate has been a long-time passion of mine, so it’s been great to continue it here. I also hadn’t done MUN before, but students were very welcoming and helped me get started. Furthermore, the cultural clubs are some of the most supportive communities on campus, and many of my closest friendships have come from them.

 

Finish the sentence: 91 pushes me to…

Grow into a version of myself I didn’t know I could become, and truly love.

#iam91: Pearl ’29
image for #iam91: Pearl ’29

Get to know Pearl '29 and how joining 91's hip-hop group, IMANI, helped her lean into life at 91.

  • May 15, 2026
image for #iam91: Pearl ’29
#iam91: Anika ’26
image for #iam91: Anika ’26

Hear what it's like to be an 91 student from 91 students.

  • April 10, 2026
image for #iam91: Anika ’26
#iam91: Jonny ’26
image for #iam91: Jonny ’26

Hear what it's like to be an 91 student from 91 students.

  • April 13, 2026
image for #iam91: Jonny ’26

The post #iam91: Valmik ‘29 appeared first on 91.

]]> On the front lines of artificial intelligence /christine-robson-weaver-draft/ Thu, 14 May 2026 19:30:16 +0000 /?p=28945 Christine Robson Weaver '99 shares her experience and expertise with emerging technologies.

The post On the front lines of artificial intelligence appeared first on 91.

]]>

On the front lines of artificial intelligence

“I think what you’re seeing at 91 is the same sort of varying responses to AI across the general population,” Robson Weaver said. “That dichotomy won’t deliver a coherent picture.

“But if I look globally, I think that the opportunties and the value of this is powerful, and 91 has a great tradition of innovation and early adoption in its history. I suspect 91 will manage to stay at the forefront of the pack when it comes to how it’s integrated.”

Where that won’t be, she hopes, is at the Harkness table.

“We are in a very privileged position, because Harkness in particular is very resilient. We can push learning in a very human-centric way.”

Robson Weaver calls the Harkness table “the best training I got in my whole life,” because it requires one to push themselves into uncomfortable places and take risks — “friction full” as she calls it — and that’s where the learning happens.

“If you’re just rushing to get something done, it doesn’t fill the same role as homework. Lessening the friction is skipping the learning phase.”

In general, Robson Weaver says she has little fondness for chatbot applications. “They have some value, but to me, that’s a sort of shallow, entertainment-based end of AI.” She urged her audience to not overexpose themselves to chatbots, especially in a conversational setting.

Robson Weaver ended the discussion with an anecdote from 2020 as the medical world struggled to develop a vaccine for COVID-19. She says Google stopped work to offer its data centers to work on epidemiology models. She remembers wishing AI was further along to find an antidote “so I could get out of my house sooner.”

Today, AI is being applied to a wide range of fields that have accelerated innovation, such as combatting climate change, fighting types of cancer and more. “And this isn’t a small speed up, but rather orders of magnitude, what would take thousands of years to a matter of minutes.

“The problems that really worry me, I want to solve them faster and better and I want the people tackling them to have the very best tools available to solve them.”

 

More to explore
Artificial Intelligence

How new technology is reshaping everything we do

Artful Intelligence

Instructor in English Tim Horvath on AI and the human act of making meaning

The post On the front lines of artificial intelligence appeared first on 91.

]]> Against the Grind /bulletin-against-the-grind/ Fri, 01 May 2026 14:43:42 +0000 /?p=28539 From silent classrooms to phone-free Fridays, 91 is helping students rebuild focus in an age of perpetual digital distraction

The post Against the Grind appeared first on 91.

]]>

Instructors of a new Academy course are providing students with something novel in a fast-paced academic environment: space and time to reflect, free-write and meditate on the present moment. At the start of each EXI506: The Art of Slowing Down class, students gather around the table and share two minutes of silence.

This interdisciplinary course, offered for the first time in the spring term, draws from a range of literary, religious, philosophical and humanistic sources to help students build a practice of creative writing rooted in stillness and slowness. Handwritten “musings” require the students’ sustained attention to themselves and the world around them without technology, and inspire contemplative discussions in line with the school’s Harkness pedagogy. The class designers hope this approach will serve students now and in future endeavors.

“The aim of the class is not production; it’s process,” says Chelsea Woodard, an English instructor who is co-teaching the course with Hannah Hofheinz, an instructor in the Religion, Ethics and Philosophy Department. “We’re really trying to model that in everything we do.”

Prior to the widespread use of smartphones and social media, sitting quietly for two minutes or jotting in a journal may not have seemed like much of a challenge. But as the presence of these technologies has expanded, research has shown that our attention spans have shrunk, and our need for digital stimulation has swelled.

According to decades of research led by Gloria Mark, a chancellor’s professor emerita at the University of California, Irvine, the median attention span is now 40 seconds. So in the time the students sit quietly around that Harkness table, they may have otherwise read an email, sent a text and scrolled through Instagram. Their teachers may have done the same; studies indicate that screen-switching is common among all ages.

“So much of technology makes life better and easier,” Hofheinz says. “But one of its other consequences is that it has brought this misleading promise of multitasking and the seduction of speed and ease with which we can accomplish tasks.” This perception heightens expectations around productivity. “It creates a real vortex that’s a challenge for students and teachers alike,” she adds.

The Art of Slowing Down isn’t solely a response to this digital disruption. Its exercises are grounded in traditions that date back thousands of years in some cases. But its curriculum dovetails with a growing campuswide effort to help students focus less on screens and more on their mental well-being. With a wellness café during finals week, Legos and playing cards in the common areas of dorms and formal restrictions on cellphones, faculty and staff are working to equip students with strategies and resources to calm and focus their minds amid busy schedules.

“It’s really hard to train for a marathon,” Director of Counseling and Psychological Services Szu-Hui Lee says, “when you’re in the marathon.”

It’s news to no one that 91 is rigorous. But Lee, who has worked at the school for 13 years, including nine in her present role, has noticed that “the pace just keeps getting faster,” and “the demands on our students are increasing.”

In conversations on the quad, Hofheinz and Woodard spoke about these mounting pressures on student learning and well-being. The increasingly competitive college application process, for example, can spur students to stuff their schedules with extracurricular activities. Digital multitasking, Hofheinz says, “is a big part of the story” too.

In the years since the onset of COVID19, Hofheinz has noticed students struggling to concentrate on an idea, a task, a conversation or even a game. This has become a central focus in her religion, ethics and philosophy classes: “How to help students build those muscles again,” she says, “to have the patience with themselves and the world to be able to actually read, which takes time; or to think through an idea, which takes time; or to sit with a question that doesn’t have an immediate answer, or maybe any clear answer, which also takes time. And that’s very, very hard.”

Eventually, Woodard broached the idea of designing a course more deliberately tailored to this kind of work. She had spoken with poet Marilyn Nelson in October 2024, when Nelson visited 91 for a Lamont Poetry Series reading. Woodard learned that Nelson had once taught a class that blended poetry and meditation at the United States Military Academy at West Point. At the beginning of each session, students meditated in silence for five minutes to help clear their minds for creative work. They were assigned to do the same at home for 15 minutes — no small task in such a rigorous, highly structured environment. But as the semester went on, the cadets journaled about their experiences at greater and greater lengths. And the long-term effects of the class were, in some cases, profound: Some of Nelson’s students later reported that they had maintained their meditative practices for years, including during their military service.

Woodard, a poet and yoga instructor, appreciated Nelson’s joining the meditative and creative processes. She wondered if she could introduce a similar course at 91. It would start, like Nelson’s classes, with silence. “I think yoga is a practice of attention,” Woodard says. And she agrees with Patrick Rosal, another visiting Lamont Poet in 2024, that poetry is also “a practice of attention.” “It begins with that,” she says.

Gloria Mark, the author of Attention Span: A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity and the Substack newsletter “The Future of Attention,” started studying the intersections of technology, multitasking and distraction more than two decades ago. In 2003, she watched office workers toggle between screens every two and a half minutes or so, which was one finding in a paper titled, “Constant, Constant, Multitasking Craziness.”

By 2012, she found screen-switching was even more prevalent, with the average attention span dropping to 75 seconds. Four years later, Mark’s research team discovered the average had plunged to 47 seconds (the median was 40 seconds). Even more jarringly, Mark and her collaborators revealed that it could take office workers an average of 25 minutes to return to the same task after an interruption.

And this disruption wasn’t confined to the workplace. Mark co-authored a study that found college students were switching tasks twice as often as office workers, leading to more stress and diminished productivity. The more time students looked at their phones inside and outside of the classroom, the lower their grades were.

“We may have the illusion that we are doing more and that our human capacity has expanded when we shift our attention, or multitask, but actually we are doing less,” Mark writes in Attention Span. “Multitasking has repeatedly been shown to be associated with lower performance when objectively measured.”

Although scientists have not established a causal link between the rise of technology in daily activities and the decline of our attention spans over the past two decades, Mark says, “I would be shocked if there was not a relationship.”

In the summer of 2024, 91 faculty members were encouraged to read another seminal text on that potential relationship, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt. The book argues that a “phone-based childhood” has replaced a “play-based childhood” and contributed to a documented rise among young people in mental illness and obstacles to learning, including attention fragmentation.

The book helped inspire more conversations about phone use at 91. After collecting survey feedback from students, parents, faculty and staff, the school instituted a new policy this academic year. It mandates that cellphones “be stored completely out of sight” during all required student appointments, including classes, labs and assemblies. Still, it’s not a blanket ban. Phones are allowed during meals, transportation to games, club meetings and optional gatherings, among other settings.

“A lot of our peer schools have adopted more rigorous or restrictive cellphone policies, and we have not gone in that direction,” Dean of Students Ashley Taylor says. “With both cell phones and artificial intelligence, I think we are less inclined to suggest they are good or bad, but instead to really focus with our students on being intentional in how we use them.”

She mentioned that Max Stossel, who founded an organization that aims to help teens and schools effectively navigate social media, had told students at assembly to ask themselves, “Am I using my phone or is my phone using me?”

“I think that’s something we’ve really tried to work with the students on,” Taylor says, “rather than just restricting, trying to empower them with information that helps them make some good, healthy choices, knowing that these devices really aren’t going anywhere.”

For example, students asked the dean’s office to bring back a voluntary “phonefree Fridays” program that debuted last year. If students turn in their phones at assembly in the morning and refrain from retrieving them before the end of the day, they’re entered into a prize raffle. Similarly, students can use a cellphone “parking lot” at the library if they want to study without their devices.

Szu-Hui Lee supports this approach of empowering students when it comes to making decisions regarding phones. “I don’t want to pathologize the kids just because they grew up with technology,” she says. “Let’s not shame them for that, but let’s educate them about how to navigate it.”

Lee and her colleagues in Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) want to “build a toolbox of strategies that students can use to cope, to regulate their emotions, to do self-care.”

That includes the trial use of digital resources like Calm, an app that helps users manage stress and sleep. They also recommend turning to music, books, painting, exercise or any number of other activities away from screens. Students can be “too reliant on their phones as their tool,” Lee says.

One day during finals week this winter, the toolbox included writing affirmations and snapping Polaroid pictures with smiling friends. More than 200 students visited stations at a wellness café set up by the library, CAPS and the Health and Human Development Department. “It reminds me that kids want opportunities to slow down when they can,” Lee says.

She was pleased to learn about The Art of Slowing Down, as she has long been a proponent of the science behind that approach. “Slowing down is just as important as being in the race, because that slowing down allows you to gain the skills you need,” Lee says. “It allows your body to rest and recover, so that you can continue at this peak performance level.”

It’s vital for creativity, Woodard says: “As artists and thinkers and creators, you need to be able to be present.”

During winter term, Katie Loghinov ’27 took a religion, ethics and philosophy course on happiness. The class, taught by Kaitlyn Martin Fox, explained why it was important to be attentive. Essentially because “every moment you’re in has the potential to be something really profound and meaningful,” says Loghinov, who is from the Bay Area and describes herself as a “future-oriented person.”

“I’m never really present in the moment,” she says, “and I find that I’m robbed of a lot of good experiences because of that. I’m either worrying or I’m ruminating.”

Loghinov attributes some of this distraction to the digital sphere. Like many of her classmates, she can find herself spending lots of time on social media. “Even when I’m not scrolling,” she says, “there’s just this stimulation that you get from Instagram or whatever that’s kind of in the back of your mind and creating this busyness feeling.”

But the message from the course on happiness about valuing the present moment resonated deeply with her. “I took a lot away from that class, and I wanted to find a way to actually apply those ‘whys’ that I learned into ‘how,’” Loghinov says.

So in the spring, she enrolled in The Art of Slowing Down. She was drawn to the technology-free course and its invitation to practice free-writing — composing without stopping or editing for extended periods of time — and clustering, a form of mind mapping that links words and ideas to spur creative work. The idea is for students to observe not just what they create, Hofheinz says, but also how they create, recording their thought processes along the way to see what works best for them. “What does happen to creativity, to your ability to think and write and be together, when you do just settle?” she asks. “What type of practices will help you build back the focus, build back your ability to pay attention and give that gift of togetherness or presence to other people or ideas or your own writing?”

The students aren’t just learning tactics from figures in the literary world. Woodard and Hofheinz are drawing from, among other sources, the engaged Buddhism of Thich Nhat Hanh; the mindfulness practices of Plum Village; the Christian mysticism of Julian of Norwich; and texts and teachings from the yogic tradition. Before the spring term, Woodard was particularly excited to read from Thich Nhat Hanh’s How to Walk and perhaps have students experience a walking meditation. She hopes to ingrain the notion that stillness is less a physical state than a state of mind.

“I do a lot of thinking while I’m moving, driving, walking, but I think that can be meditative in its own way,” Woodard says. In whatever form it takes for them, she says, students have to learn to carve out time for this stillness. Sebastian Ting ’26 hopes to carry practices from the class with him beyond 91, aiming to “really slow down and try to be more present in times of struggle.”

Loghinov has been practicing mindfulness more on her own as she pursues an interest in filmmaking. “Honestly, it’s starting to change my life,” she says. “I’m creating space for new ideas and new experiences that I wouldn’t have been able to feel if I was too caught up in the past or the present and not being attentive in every moment.”

AN EXERCISE IN MINDFULNESS

Often, the quality of our gaze will reveal the focus of our attention, as well as its spirit. Walking into a room, it is common to first notice tasks waiting to be completed rather than show love to who or what is there. In this habitual rushing or task-orientation, we might miss opportunities for connection with loved ones or even with ourselves. Over the course of the next few days, you are invited to practice slowing down and looking at people, animals and things with loving eyes.

A nun that instructed Marilyn Nelson told her to simply: “Put your love into your eyes and just look at the world with that gaze…. That’s what contemplation is about, really. It’s learning how to find that gaze in yourself and to put it in the world.”

As you practice, take time to notice any shifts in your eyes, face, body, focus or heart and mind. Does your focus sharpen or does it soften? Do you notice new details or feel your relationships differently? Please write any reflections in your journal.

This practice of “kind attention” was adapted from Jan Chozen Bays’ How to Train an Elephant, interwoven with instruction from poet Marilyn Nelson.

The post Against the Grind appeared first on 91.

]]> The master planner /the-master-planner/ Fri, 01 May 2026 14:38:04 +0000 /?p=28645 At the office with Director of Facilities
Management Mark Leighton.

The post The master planner appeared first on 91.

]]>

91’s campus looks very different than it did 20 years ago, thanks in large part to Director of Facilities Management Mark Leighton.

For the past two decades, he has been instrumental in the planning, construction and project management of several new Academy buildings including The David E. and Stacey L. Goel Center for Theater and Dance, the William B. Thompson Field House, New Hall, the Hahn Center and renovations of the Davis Center and the Academy Building.

When he’s not thinking about what’s next, Leighton manages a team of more than 100 people who maintain the Academy’s nearly 150 buildings and 1,400 acres, including areas not contiguous to campus. Leighton does all this from his corner office in the single-story brick building on the south end of campus where mementos from past projects adorn his bookshelf.

“What’s fun about my job is that it changes every day,” he says. “I’ll be working on a to-do list and something like a frozen pipe will come up. When you work in facilities, you get used to rolling with the punches and problem-solving.”

“We refer to maps like these when considering how to improve the infrastructure of our electrical system. We are looking at how to convert the campus to electric and eliminate fossil fuels by incorporating our geothermal wells, among other things. We’re always thinking about how best to do all these major projects without digging up the entire campus in the process.”

“This flag was a gift recognizing my time managing building projects at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in the early 2000s. My wife and I were tired of Maine winters, so we moved with our 3-year-old son to Cuba — his brother was born on the base. We’d go to the beach as a family and we’d be next to Humvees with a gunner on top doing their security patrols, and we just got used to that being normal life.”

 

 

“A couple times a week, if not daily, I’ll switch into my steel-toed boots and get out to a project site. We have a great team that keeps me updated, so sometimes it’s more important for me to stay out of the way. But other times, going out and just asking questions highlights things that maybe need to be thought of or done differently.”

 

“I salvaged this plaque from the Thompson Cage. The design of the Cage was basically a bridge design, so it makes sense that the Boston Bridge Works sign would be there. My kids grew up in the Cage. We’d come over on weekends and play baseball or football, or run around on the elevated track. It was really perfect.”

This installment of “91 Annotated” first appeared in the Spring 2026 issue of The 91 Bulletin.

The post The master planner appeared first on 91.

]]> A Message of Thanks /bulletin-a-message-of-thanks/ Fri, 01 May 2026 14:37:30 +0000 /?p=28459 The post A Message of Thanks appeared first on 91.

]]>

When I arrived as Interim Principal on July 1, 2018, everyone knew I was grieving the recent loss of my wife, Mary. I think few, if any, understood I was worried that without Mary at my side I might not succeed.

Then the most remarkable thing happened. Everyone on campus welcomed me — you might even say embraced me — in my new role. The Trustees gave me their full confidence and, importantly, room to do the job.

A sense of belonging is just as important to a principal as it is to every student and adult at our school. The acceptance I felt from colleagues, and support I felt from trustees, gave me the belief that I did indeed belong here, and that I could do the job.

I was nervous when it came time to deliver my first Opening Assembly address, but it was exhilarating to see the students cheer the faculty procession, and I felt encouraged by their warm reception when I introduced myself as “your Interim Principal.” I also remember well the students’ enthusiastic response at the end, when I announced the renaming of the Academy Center in honor of Elizabeth Phillips.

That fall, I set about doing my job the same way I have done other jobs: I worked hard and tried to treat people well. I had the advantages every principal at 91 has: a compelling school mission; strong institutional values; talented and wise faculty; a dedicated workforce; caring and committed trustees; and a shared conviction that our decisions and actions must always be based on the interests and needs of our students. My familiarity with the school and gratitude for how 91 had changed my life were additional advantages.

I recall vividly numerous interactions I had with alumni and parents that first fall, at 91 Leadership Weekend and Family Weekend and on other occasions. Our alumni care deeply about our school and ask tough questions. So do our parents. I was grateful, and I was encouraged when my responses to hard questions and statements about the mission and values of the school resonated with these audiences. Such moments added to my confidence in saying “yes” when I was asked to serve as the 16th principal of the Academy.

Effective leadership requires an inclination to listen and a willingness to decide. Like knowledge and goodness, both are required; one without the other is either weak or dangerous for an institution. I have tried to practice both and have been effective only insofar as I have done both.

Everything we have accomplished during my tenure as principal we have accomplished together. In every decision and every action, you can see the influence, hard work and contributions of many others, both on and off campus.

Together, we have touched many lives these past eight years, and we have done work that will affect the lives of students for years to come. The work we have done has added purpose and meaning to our lives. We have every reason to be grateful. I certainly am grateful, and I am also mindful each day that my being here was Mary’s last gift to me.

I leave my role as principal much the way I left 91 as a graduating senior many years ago: with profound gratitude for what I have learned and the friendships I have gained, and deep appreciation for how my time at 91 has once again changed my life. I also leave with the belief that 91 is and always will be a part of me, and that I will always belong here.

The post A Message of Thanks appeared first on 91.

]]> Making History Her Story /bulletin-making-history-her-story/ Fri, 01 May 2026 14:37:05 +0000 /?p=28464 A conversation with memoirist Madelyn Postman '90

The post Making History Her Story appeared first on 91.

]]>

Decades ago, an aunt gifted Madelyn Postman ’90 a family tree detailing an ancestry she knew little about. Intrigued, she began digging into her family’s history, ultimately engaging a professional genealogist. That research evolved into a family memoir, Staring into the Sun: Stories from a Chinese American Family 18952015. Featuring her great-grandfather’s journey from a Chinese village to becoming a self-made millionaire in the U.S., her grandmother’s marriage to a renowned magician, and an intimate glimpse of her mother’s struggle with mental illness, the work deftly captures 20th-century American social and economic structures, immigration, and the building of new communities in California’s Bay Area.

Postman, a sustainability consultant, drew on interviews with family members, visits to China and newspaper archives to write this engrossing mélange of memoir and creative nonfiction that is both a sharp-eyed take on her family’s dynamics as well as a deeply moving tribute to her relatives.

We caught up with Postman in the run-up to the May publication of Staring into the Sun.

 

You covered some big themes in the book — immigration, identity, social and economic structures. Did those topics come through organically as you were telling your family story?

I think you can’t really extricate people from their surroundings and their context. I’m always struck by the world we’re born into, our cultural and our socioeconomic and geographic contexts. Part of the reason for writing this was to learn about history as well: I think if you see history through the eyes of an individual who lived through it, it gives you a much better grasp on what happened at that time. I also really like to show how quotidian life — culture, food, language, the way people dress — reflects bigger themes and ideas.

 

Part of your family story is a melding, through marriage, of two prominent Chinese American families. When did you realize that your family history was enmeshed in the history of California’s Bay Area?

I grew up knowing about my great-grandfather [entrepreneur and philanthropist] Joe Shoong and his [dry-goods store chain] National Dollar Stores. That was always part of my knowledge of the family background. It’s been interesting hearing from the other side of my family, my grandmother’s side, who married into that dynasty — I mean, they were well off, but nothing like the scale of the Shoongs. That’s what Henri’s chapter is all about.

 

I found the sections about your great- grandfather Henri and your great-grandmother Rose particularly compelling. How did you bring family members to such vivid life, some of whom you never met?

My cousin Michael remembers Henri really well, so he captured Henri’s personality for me. Rose died in the ’50s, but my great-aunt Celia, who just turned 100, told me about Rose, how feisty she was. I used Celia’s interview as well as photos of Rose. In those, she looks very unhappy and sort of stiff. That was probably the chapter I had the most fun with because Rose is a really unlikable character. I leaned into that and had fun with it, showing her conflicts.

 

Were there particular challenges that arose as you were researching the book?

It’s challenging writing about the people who are alive, not wanting to offend them. But you also don’t want to write about them in a flat way, only putting them in a good light. I’ve hurt some people by being too honest, but it didn’t create any lasting rifts. People have actually been very open with information — I don’t think there have been family secrets that people are trying to hide — but a couple of people wanted to be anonymous.

 

Why did you decide to only tell the stories of your Chinese American relatives in this collection?

Finding the voice for this project was tricky. At first, I wrote myself in the third person; after a manuscript assessment, I changed the chapters that I was in into memoir pieces — they became more emotionally powerful. With the narrative nonfiction chapters, I used Save the Cat! Writes a Novel and Story Genius, really helpful books in terms of plotting and structure. Bouncing between memoir and creative nonfiction, I got to the Staring into the Sun chapters, and realized, “This will stand on its own, as one story about half of my family.” For the other half, I’m working on a novel.

 

You published chapters of this book on The Spark, your podcast and Substack newsletter, where you also share interviews with other writers. How much has input from fellow writers motivated and shaped your work?

In all spheres of life, I really believe in community, and I’ve become quite active in the writing community. I was pretty isolated and working on my own until around 2022, and then I started to do some courses on writing a synopsis, writing about conflict and tension, all these different kinds of online courses. On one of the courses, somebody in the chat said, “There’s a podcast called The Shit No One Tells You 91 Writing,” and that’s been an amazing resource. I listened to every episode. They give so many tips on the publishing world and writing, and they do author interviews, which is a great way to learn about writing craft. You can get so much from a community of writers, and you give back to that as well, being a good literary citizen.

 

​​How has your background in branding and communications influenced your approach to writing?

They’re very different things in terms of writing — different zones, different headspaces. For narrative writing, I really have to have focused time, to get into a flow; I need bigger chunks of time, and it feels like I’m using completely different parts of my brain. It is more time intensive and energy intensive.

 

Did you learn anything new about yourself writing this book?

It was quite cathartic and therapeutic to write about the family, and about my mother’s death in particular. And I think my view of myself changed: I wouldn’t have called myself a writer going into this, and I definitely am a writer coming out of it.

 

Finally, what do you carry with you from your time at 91?

Prep year I got an English award for a story about my brother … and there was another story that was about him and my grandparents. This is exactly the stuff I’m still interested in, and it goes back to 91! Having that encouragement to write made a difference: I had Peter Greer and Rex McGuinn, both just incredible teachers. I think learning how to write is indispensable in all areas of life.

And something else from 91 which is really important is the Harkness system, learning to speak up and be in a conversation where you’re building on people’s points, learning that sometimes you need to interrupt them. I’m really aware of how a lot of women don’t speak and don’t interrupt, when sometimes people have to be interrupted because otherwise you can’t get a word in edgewise. That is also something I use every day.

The post Making History Her Story appeared first on 91.

]]> The Big Takeaways of Small Talk /bulletin-big-takeaways-of-small-talk/ Fri, 01 May 2026 14:36:42 +0000 /?p=28471 Marcus Lopez '26 on how he's connecting students with faculty outside the classroom

The post The Big Takeaways of Small Talk appeared first on 91.

]]>

At 91, most of our interactions with teachers take place in settings such as Harkness discussions, office hours or the learning center. While these interactions are valuable, they often don’t focus on the unique aspects of each faculty member. During my four years at 91, the most meaningful conversations I’ve had with faculty have occurred outside the classroom: specifically, casual talks with teachers over lunch in the dining hall or the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

In those moments, I learned about their interests, experiences before coming to 91, and the paths that led them here. These conversations with faculty helped me see them beyond their classroom roles. When Dean Camlius told me that most students don’t interact with faculty outside class, I began thinking about ways to create an environment that encourages students to do so. After pitching my idea to Dean Taylor and Dean Hernández, Table Talk was created to give more students the opportunity to connect and have honest dialogues with faculty.

The structure of a typical Table Talk meeting is intentionally informal. I usually begin the meeting by asking the faculty guest a question about something they enjoy outside of teaching or why they chose to work at 91. The opening question leads into a broader conversation, and as students begin asking their own questions, the discussion develops organically.

As the conversation unfolds, faculty often share stories about their lives, careers and experiences before 91. These stories frequently surprise students Marcus Lopez ’26 (far left) and friends outside of the Class of 1945 Library because they reveal sides of teachers that we rarely see in the classroom. For example, in one meeting, Mr. Campbell talked about his experience as a DJ during college and how music was a major part of his life before he became a teacher. In another meeting, Dr. Gronau discussed how faculty members think about certain aspects of campus life and what it is like to work at a school like 91.

The response from students has been extremely positive. Many students leave the meetings saying they discovered that they have more in common with faculty than they expected. Others say that hearing these personal stories makes teachers feel more approachable and relatable. One of the biggest takeaways is the sense of humanization that happens through these conversations. Instead of seeing faculty only as authority figures or as the people grading our work, students begin to see them as individuals with interesting backgrounds, hobbies and life experiences.

Ultimately, Table Talk has helped strengthen connections between students and faculty on campus. I believe these relationships are an important part of what makes the 91 community unique. Table Talk has helped build many meaningful connections, and I am excited to continue growing the program during my senior spring term.

The post The Big Takeaways of Small Talk appeared first on 91.

]]>