Fall 2005 PDF - Milton Academy

Class IV Talks:Students deliver wisdom and witMilton traditions: Completing aSenior Project. Seeing Mr. Millet’scalligraphy embellishing eachdiploma. Giving your Class IVtalk. These moments recallMilton long after graduation.The Class IV talks, five- to sevenminutespeeches given beforeyour ninth-grade peers are aMilton rite of passage—an act oftransformation (see HadleyDavis postscript, p. 48).Last spring, Tarim Chung(English department) introducedthe students who were voted bytheir peers to have given the besttalks of 2004–2005: SpencerGaffney, who talked about themental health of favorite childhoodcharacters, includingWinnie the Pooh; TonantzinCarmona, who spoke to herclassmates about the Mexican-American immigrant experienceand finding dignity in yourwork; Gordie Sayre, who questionedwidely accepted postulatesof history; Ned Pride, who(pre–Red Sox World Series win)said, “Every time we lose, winningseems more important”;Ned Morris, who spoke aboutfrivolous lawsuits, such as suitsagainst McDonald’s that claimthe company causes obesity; andSam Panarese, who detailed hisexperience as a “primitive”camper at Night Eagle.“We thank them for their brillianceand their guts,” Tarimsaid of the group.Two of this year’s favorites drewattention for their humor:From Spencer Gaffney’s“Tigger on Ritalin”:There are some things that youdo when you are young that youthink are awesome, but then yougo back and they really aren’tthat great.…I did manage to discovertwo things that remain asamazing as ever: “SesameStreet” (even though Elmo soldout) and Winnie the Pooh.When I was 2, I got a copy ofThe House at Pooh Corner frommy aunt and uncle. AlthoughPooh getting a honey jar stuckon his nose was one of the mostmemorable moments in the collection,it was always Piglet’s fascinationand fear of Woozles thatgot my attention. How could ananimal so small and so scared ofeverything in the world be fascinatedby these ferocious animals?This was one of the manygreat mysteries I set out to solvewhen I decided to reread thebook.“Pooh was a compulsiveeater, always in searchof a small smackeralof something. Piglethad anxiety disorder,Rabbit had OCD,Tigger had ADHD, Owlwas self delusional, andEeyore was extremelydepressed.”However, when I looked back atthe stories, I started noticingsome problems with my friendsin the hundred-acre woods.Problems that, when the bookwas published in 1928, were notgenerally regarded as seriousmedical conditions. Pooh was acompulsive eater, always insearch of a small smackeral ofsomething. Piglet had anxietydisorder, Rabbit had OCD,Tigger had ADHD, Owl was selfdelusional, and Eeyore wasextremely depressed. Whatchanged so that my view ofsome of my favorite children’sstory characters shifted soprofoundly?From Sam Panarese’s“Becoming a Night Eagle”:Hi. I’m Sam Panarese and Iknow how to kill a snake, thanksto Night Eagle.…Night Eagle is a“primitive” camp, where onewould learn to live as theChippewa Indians lived a thousandyears ago. I was an 11-yearoldboy who enjoyed the outdoors,so this camp seemed aperfect fit. I was intrigued thatthe only requirements were tobring a sleeping bag and aseven-inch knife. It took someconvincing but my parents finallyallowed me to go.…On opening day we drove threehours on main roads, one houron secondary roads, 30 minuteson dirt, and then we hikedanother three hours. Expectingto see a traditional “camp” scene,I was shocked to see three 22-foot teepees and a mess tent in aclearing. That was all. NightEagle was not very typical. Inlearning to live in harmony withnature, the camp’s policy wasthat clothing was optional; however,the camp was not co-ed, soI chose to wear clothes. Also,bathing was not mandatory. Wemostly swam in the leech-infestedponds if we wanted to getclean. When my parents broughtme home they made me soak ina bath many times. When I stilllooked brown, my Dad handedme steel wool and sent me backto scrub my skin off.…At Night Eagle, I did, in fact,learn many survival techniques.We lived in teepees, which slepteight around an inside campfire,for over a month. When itrained and water rushed throughthese teepees, those of us whohad followed directions and putour bags on logs didn’t get wet—I got wet…I learned how to shoota bow and arrow to catch food:cooking the food was the realchallenge. Using flint and steel,“The food left a lot to bedesired. Imagine a tofulasagna cooked on anopen fire—those wereour best meals, whichwe had on Fridays.”we started fires in the cookingpit in the middle of the messtent. The food left a lot to bedesired. Imagine a tofu lasagnacooked on an open fire—thosewere our best meals, which wehad on Fridays.…To make bison jerky, we had toconstruct a giant teepee wherewe would smoke the meat. Wetended the fire in the teepeethrough three days and threenights. One night, while walkingacross camp to tend the fire inthe pitch dark, an owl swoopeddown, screaming. I nearly peedin my breechcloth.”…The Class IV talks, of course,often focus on serious topics aswell as the lighthearted. At leastas far back as 1915, studentspracticed public speaking ontheir peers. Rosalie Florance, forexample, delivered, “Social Evilsof Today and How to ChangeThem” that year; EmilyTillinghast, quoting RudyardKipling’s “The Ballad of East andWest” in her talk, “A Day inIndia.”Ultimately, the shared experienceof giving a Class IV talkhelps stimulate students’ naturalempathy and respect for oneanother. “This process [givingthe talks],” Tarim Chung noted,“is really about creating community,in the end.”For a Web site feature, weinvite you to share memories ortranscripts of Class IV talkswith us. Please email us atMiltonMagazine@milton.edu.60 Milton Magazine