D E P A R T M E N T S S P O T L I G H T - The Taft School

S P O T L I G H TSusan and Daniel Christman withCatherine ’98Penelope Eaves, Christian ’98, Peter ’95,and Lasse BeckerWe are gathered here this morning tohonor the transformation of young livesand to salute them as their grand odysseybegins—gathered here together inthis extraordinary place—the place now,to borrow a metaphor from ShelSilverstein, “where the sidewalk ends.”“There is a place where the sidewalk endsAnd before the street beginsAnd there the grass grows soft and lightAnd there the sun shines crimson brightAnd there the moonbird rests from flightTo cool in the peppermint wind.”(Shel Silverstein)As Taft graduates you are bound by muchmore than a place, though. You are boundby a powerful legacy, a legacy informedby three common values which stand asThe Class of ’98 enjoys perfect weather thatday in the Centennial Quadrangle.tight compass for what lies beyond thesidewalk’s end.New Chaplain Michael Spencer watches seniors process into the quadrangle in his firstgraduation at Taft.First, COMMUNITY. Above all else Taftis a model of an almost ideal academiccommunity, prizing intellectual adventure.Your success or failure in college willdepend on whether you build on this andcontinue to learn as much as possible,honing the skills of analysis and assessmentwhile sustaining the capacity forcreativity. Fencing masters instruct theirstudents to grip the sword as you woulda sparrow. If you hold it too tightly, itcannot breathe. If you hold it too loosely,it will fly away. Good thinking bears analogyto the fencer’s grip. It combinescontrol with freedom.The 21st century will be no time formediocrity or tentativeness. By 2002, theThe Berkley MatthewsAwardYoung women whosegentle concern for othersbest reflects qualities ofBerkley Matthews ’96.Alison McCann CoopeMelanie Adrienne RoysterThe Class of 1981 AwardFor most overall improvementduring his or heryears at Taft.Rachel Dawn BrodieThe Joseph I. CunninghamAwardThe seniors who haveworked selflessly for thebetterment of the Taftcommunity.Courtney Christensen CampTimothy Babson KirkpatrickThe Maurice Pollak Award$1000 aid to a deservingmember of the graduatingclass.Eileen Elizabeth FennThe Roberts Scholarship$1000 aid to a deservingmember of the graduatingclass.Sarah Mirium AkhtarTaft Bulletin 21