Important Admission Dates
Sept. 2008 - Feb. 2009: Campus Tours and Interviews.
Feb. 1: Application & Financial Aid Deadline
** Online Application
Mar. 3: Decisions Mailed |
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Nov. 21:
Fall Concert
Nov. 22 - 30:
Thanksgiving Vacation
Dec. 2:
ARTists and STARTists opening - Romano Gallery
Dec. 7:
Christmas Vespers | |
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Greetings from Blair Academy!
 Welcome to the third installment of this year's Around the Arch, Blair's monthly admission newsletter aimed at giving you - the prospective student - a peek into the daily life of the Blair community. The last month has been an exciting and busy time on the Blair campus. Our seniors completed their early round of applications for college, the Blair Academy Players performed the first of many dramatic productions this year, and the entire Blair community rallied for its annual Peddie Day festivities. With Thanksgiving vacation around the corner, we wish you and your family a safe and enjoyable holiday!
- The Blair Admission Team |
What's Happening on Campus
During the week leading to Peddie Day, frivolity abounds at Blair. Students bedecked the campus with banners, often poking fun at the Peddie chicken mascot, and during each day of the week students dressed in "garb of the day," including pajamas or other themes such as a particular decade of fashion (click here for photos). On the evening before Peddie Day, a spirited pep rally, torch procession, and bonfire paved the way for the following day's athletic competitions. Our archival files indicate that the first pep rally and bonfire lit the spirit and the skies of the Blair community in 1895; one can learn of the storied history of Peddie Day by clicking here. This year, Blair missed winning the Kelly-Potter Cup by one point, and the students eagerly await the beginning of the winter sport season to gain redemption. Other highlights of Peddie Week include the dedication of Blair's new tennis courts and Peachey Plaza, a beautifully paved and landscaped area adjacent to Blair's new student Activity and Athletic Center. Dennis Peachey '62 began his time at Blair as a student, but he returned for a career at Blair that spanned almost 40 years, as he served on the faculty and as the assistant headmaster for finance and development.
In the weeks leading to Peddie Day, Blair was pleased to announce the receipt of its second largest gift ever. Bill '53 and Judy Timken have made a total commitment of $5 million to Ever Always: The Campaign for Blair, providing significant momentum to the Campaign as it heads toward its $50 million goal. According to Mr. Timkin, "I wanted to be as involved as I could in helping the School to reach these goals so I decided to step up and accelerate my plan for giving to Blair." The faculty's personal commitment to each student's success and Blair's deep sense of community are the School's greatest attributes; Bill hopes that his gift will sustain those qualities well into the future. "Kids face a complicated world today. Education can equalize the playing field and really propel young people forward," he said. "Blair offers an incredible education, and our students leave the School so much richer for the experience. The investment we make in students today pays off a thousand-fold in bright, articulate, thoughtful leaders tomorrow." In publicizing his gift, Bill hopes to inspire others to give their best gift in the final year of the Campaign. |
| Measures of Excellence
 Dean of College Counseling Lew Stival and Lawrenceville School's Director of College Counseling Jeffrey Durso-Finley recently co-authored a book entitled Understanding Athletic Recruiting: A Comprehensive Guide for the High School Student-Athlete. Stival said, "Understanding Athletic Recruiting: A Comprehensive Guide for the High School Student Athlete addresses the many needs of student athletes who hope to make sense of the athletic recruiting process, from those at the top of their sport who are being recruited nationally to those who simply hope to continue with their sport in college. As the athletic recruiting process is fraught with unexpected twists and turns, we hope to shed light and clarity on the process from various perspectives. We've included a chapter on how college coaches recruit, for example, which provides a glimpse into the mind of those who really do have a good bit of control over the recruiting process-the college coaches."
Durso-Finley added, "Both Lew and I understand the subtleties of the process and how the academic component of the process figures into the recruiting of student athletes. In our chapter entitled 'Case Studies,' we create fictitious student athletes, provide the necessary academic, personal and athletic background, and chronicle their recruiting process through to the end, with college outcomes and final decisions."
"All told, the undertaking was well worth the time it took for us to finish it up," Stival adds. "Jeff and I hope that student athletes and their families along with coaches, teachers and counselors, find Understanding Athletic Recruiting helpful and informative." |
Blair on Stage
On November 13, 14, and 15 the Blair Academy Players continued their 2008-2009 performance season with a presentation of Black Comedy in the Wean Studio Theatre of Armstrong-Hipkins Center for the Arts. Faculty member Micki McMillan, with student director Maggie '09, directed this hilarious farce by playwright Peter Shaffer. "Farce is a difficult genre to perform, especially for amateur actors, as precise comic timing and demanding physical agility are essential to its success," said McMillan. To help educate the actors in this difficult endeavor, Mrs. McMillan hired Ray Rodriguez, professional actor and instructor at Adelphi College, fight choreographer and regional representative of the Society of American Fight Directors, to assist with the task.
London sculptor Brindsley Miller, played by Chris '10, has a very big night ahead of him as he prepares both to meet his debutante (Abby '10) fiancee's father, Colonel Melkett, played by Matt '09, but also to show his sculpture to eccentric millionaire Gretchen Bamberger (Jen '10). Before his important guests arrive, a fuse in the house blows leaving the characters in the pitch black. Hilarity ensues as Miss Furnival (Asia '10), the spinster from upstairs seeking refuge from the dark, joins the party, Harold Gorringe (Cole '11), Brindsley's flamboyant and fastidious neighbor, returns early from a weekend holiday, and Brindsley's ex-girlfriend, Clea (Lisa '09), arrives unexpectedly. To add to the hectic scene, a philosophical London electrician played by Savannah '11, who comes to repair the blown fuse, joins the crowd. The cast of Black Comedy performed each night for a full house entertaining their audience with wit, comedy and chaos.
Craig Evans, Jen Pagotto, Clarissa Newby-Phillips and the cast of Preppies are already in gear for the Winter Musical. Auditions took place last week and the crew is hard at work preparing for the February performance.
Click here to see a detailed schedule of our upcoming arts events. |
| Athlete in the Spotlight
Arielle '10 has proven to be one of the best soccer players in Blair history. This fall she scored a remarkable 33 goals, including a hat trick on Peddie Day. In doing so, Arielle became the school's all-time leading scorer with a Blair career total of 63 goals; with one more season to go, she will undoubtedly surpass her Blair record next fall. Arielle not only led her teammates in scoring, but she led the entire MAPL league with 13 goals in her 5 MAPL competitions. With this stellar performance, she was named to the All-MAPL team.
Head Coach Stacey Spring commented, "While Arielle's uncanny ability to create scoring opportunities and her high-percentage rate of finishing are both amazing, I found this season that I was even more impressed with Arielle's efforts as a leader and a team player. In the game where Arielle was looking to score her 30th goal, she had the chance to shoot in traffic (and she probably would have scored). Instead, she opted to lay the ball off to a wide open teammate. When sophomore Sara '11 finished for her first career goal, Arielle was even more excited than if she had scored herself. So while she is the best goal scorer in Blair girls' soccer history, Arielle has proven that she is one of the best teammates and leaders as well."
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A Closer Look at the Community
Under the direction of Jess Matzkin, school counselor, Blair partook in its first-ever Health-a-Palooza, which began Tuesday morning, November 11, with a presentation by Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D., on the topic "Deadly Persuasion: Advertising and Addiction." Kilbourne, internationally recognized for her pioneering work on alcohol and tobacco advertising and the image of women in advertising, was named by The New York Times Magazine as one of the three most popular speakers on college campuses today. She won the Distinguished Publication Award from the Association for Women in Psychology for her book, Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel, and has also created several award-winning documentaries.
Tuesday evening, students gathered in Armstrong-Hipkins for a screening of Judith Kampmann's latest in-house video production followed by an all-campus game of Health Jeopardy, where each grade competed against one another. The junior class was victorious, outdoing the faculty team by just 1 point! On Wednesday morning students chose two seminars to attend from a list of nearly 50 taught by Blair faculty. Among the seminars available were Personal Motivation, Life Fitness: Stairs or the elevator?, Building Mental Toughness, Nutrition and Sports, Ways to Unwind after a Blair Day, and Tai Chi. A health fair took place in the dining room during lunch, followed by yoga with Mrs. Facciani in the new aerobics room and the annual Fall Run-an event that the entire Blair community, including parents, was welcome to attend. With the enthusiasm of the students and faculty and overall success of the first ever "Health Days," Ms. Matzkin hopes to make Health-a-Palooza an annual event at Blair.
Click here to see and to read more about Health-a-Palooza.
Click here to see videos from Blair Academy's Video Production Program. |
We hope this month's edition of "Around the Arch" provided you with an informative glimpse into the Blair community.
Remember to call our office at 908-362-2024 or email admissions@blair.edu to schedule your visit!
Sincerely,
Mr. Pagotto, Mrs. Eckert, Mr. Posner, Ms. Machabanski, Mr. Clavel, Mr. Pearce, Mrs. Findlay, and Ms. Constantino | |
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