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February 2017 Newsletter

Dear Bancroft Friends:

I am so proud of the Bancroft community, the City of Worcester, and the deep connections between us. Nearly 200 people attended the Worcester City Scholars 20th Anniversary Celebration and Fundraiser last weekend. We are immensely proud of this scholarship program, which has brought dozens of Worcester's brightest, most promising, yet financially disadvantaged students to Bancroft's Upper School, enriching this community with a wider diversity of cultures, perspectives, and experiences.


When the program was established, the founders set up an endowment to offset its costs. However, that initial investment has long been insufficient to independently cover the costs of the scholarships and fees. Bancroft School and a handful of donors have made up the difference. Today, thanks to the generosity of so many of you, the Worcester City Scholars endowment is in a much healthier place. The final tally from last Saturday night's event was $100,510.

We are grateful to all of the folks who sponsored the event, purchased tickets, donated goods or services, made bids and donations, took part in the raffle, volunteered, and spread the word. Tobey Fossey and the Advancement Team did a remarkable job rallying the many talents of our community in support of this great night.

At the event, I had the privilege of presenting Bancroft's prestigious Stoddard Award to Allen Fletcher '65 in recognition of his decades of extraordinary community service. Then, like the rest of the audience, I was immensely moved by the powerful words of two former Worcester City Scholars, Monique Goring '07 and Q Karmue '01, who spoke eloquently about the many ways their Bancroft experiences changed them, and led them toward careers involving service to others. All three of these alumni — Allen, Monique, and Q — traced their civic engagement back to their years at Bancroft.


WORCESTER CITY SCHOLARS VIDEO

The final element of the evening was a concert from world-class pianist Mackenzie Melemed '13. With his musical gifts, Mackenzie could easily have attended a specialized school for the performing arts, but he chose Bancroft. Now at Juilliard, he remains a loyal and generous alumnus, sharing his time and talent with our community whenever his schedule of concerts and studies allows.

Bancroft's relationship with the City of Worcester is fundamentally important to us, and something we will continue to develop year after year. The Worcester Partnership with Elm Park students, the CARE and Horizons programs for young people with special needs, and numerous other service projects invite our students to make meaningful contributions in our community. In this issue of Shorelines, we share updates on the WRAP soccer league for Worcester's Burmese refugee children, founded by members of Bancroft's Class of 2016. We thank journalist and author Jim Dempsey, who brought The Worcester Journal to life. And we offer other examples of the ways Bancroft students are actively learning, inquiring, creating, collaborating, and performing. 

We all have much to be proud of. Thank you for your good work,

Trey Cassidy

Head of School

Thank you to all of the businesses that purchased sponsorships to support our WCS Event. We hope you will support their businesses in return!  Bennett Building Corp. • Blackstone Williams Properties, LLC • Checkerboard Invitations • Dolan Landscaping • Enterprise Cleaning Corp. • Grodsky Service, Inc. • Lincoln Architects LLC • Peppers Artful Events • PuzzlEscape Hudson • Reliant Medical Group • Struck Catering • The Wetzel Group at Morgan Stanley

BANCROFT'S GOT TALENT—PLAYATHON 2017!

The PFA Cultural Series presented the annual Playathon on Jan 26th. This beloved annual performing arts event captures the Bancroft spirit as it showcases the musical gifts of our entire community. Students and faculty from Pre-K through Upper School displayed their musical and dance talents to their peers, friends, and families. Many of the acts have been captured in this entertaining video—sit back & enjoy! Click on photo to watch video.

THE WORCESTER JOURNAL'S FINAL CHAPTER

Now available online, the Winter 2016-17 edition of The Worcester Journal is the final issue of this Bancroft-based literary magazine, "at least in its current incarnation," says Editor James Dempsey. Dempsey is the award-winning journalist, author, WPI writing instructor, and Bancroft writer-in-residence who has just finished up the three-year writing grant that made The Worcester Journal possible.

"We have been incredibly fortunate to have Jim at Bancroft for the past three years," said Head of School Trey Cassidy. "We're always seeking a broader audience for our students' work, and The Worcester Journal opened up amazing opportunities for young authors and photographers." Martha Fortier, chair of the Bancroft's English Department, also praises Jim's contributions to our community: "He identified mentors for the Young Writers Conference, provided resources for students' independent projects in last year's Creative Nonfiction elective, met with any student who wandered into his office, and taught a couple of students what it was like to revise a piece until it was publishable." One of those students, Noah Keates '16, wrote an essay in 2014 titled "Family Feud: The Three Cousins Who Led Europe Into the First World War," which remains the Journal's most popular piece.
James Dempsey

Dempsey says he has "greatly enjoyed the welcoming atmosphere at Bancroft, and the students I worked with were top-notch." We extend our sincere thanks to Jim, and to the Judy and Tony King ('52) Foundation for providing the grant that supported this partnership.

 

Read the Winter 2016-17 issue of The Worcester Journal .

BANCROFT STUDENTS HELPING WORCESTER KIDS

Bancroft's Director of Community Engagement, Mark Taylor, shared the news of two new

sports-related programs in which our US students are working with the Worcester Refugee Assistance Project (WRAP) and the Greendale Y to provide mentorship and recreational instruction for some of Worcester's neediest children.

 

WRAP Saturday Soccer Program: At the end of January, Bancroft students began working with kids in the Saturday Soccer program for WRAP's youth group. This project is the latest chapter in our relationship with WRAP that started last spring as part of a Senior Co-op project. Today, there are five student leaders, Jose G-C ('17), Grace L ('18), Sophie F ('18), Arianna L ('18), and Megha S ('18), organizing the coaching and mentoring responsibilities for their classmates. The program will include two different sessions, culminating with a final Saturday in the Field House in early March.

 

Safety Around Water Program: Bancroft students Joe R ('17), Sophie F ('18), and Rebecka S ('18) are volunteering as assistant instructors at the Y for their Safety Around Water program. They are teaching the basics of water safety to underserved 8 and 9 year olds from the Guild of St. Agnes. The long-term goal is for the children to be comfortable enough to enroll in outreach activities like kayaking and sailing at Regatta Point. Two Bancroft parents, Mary Ann Ricca and CJ Dickson, have been instrumental in facilitating this collaboration.

WRAP Saturday Program
WRAP Saturday Program
Safety Around Water Program
Safety Around Water Program

ATTENTION GMAIL USERS!

Be sure to click the link at the bottom that says "[Message Clipped] View entire message"  to see the rest of the stories and photographs in this issue of Shorelines. You don't want to miss a thing!

EMMANUEL B. SCORES 2,000 POINTS!

Emmanuel Scores 2,000 Points!
Emmanuel Scores 2,000 Points!
Bancroft is thrilled for senior Emmanuel "Manny" Bangandozou, who scored his 2,000th career point at Thursday's varsity basketball home game against LCA. He began the game just 10 points shy of the 2,000 mark, and within eight minutes he had hit it. The Bulldog fans went wild as the game stopped and Coach Mark O'Brien marked the occasion with words of pride, respect, and congratulations for Manny's achievement. He is the first Bulldog, the 5th from Central Mass, and only the 30th in the history of Massachusetts boys' high school basketball to score 2,000 points. What a journey… from "Freshman Phenom" to "#Manny2K" in four short years! For more details, photos, and video check out these links:

Bancroft Facebook

Bancroft Sports Twitter

CharterTV3 Video (scroll forward to the 3:58 mark)

Telegram Article
Emmanuel Scores 2,000 Points!
Emmanuel Scores 2,000 Points!

2017 ALUMNI AWARDS ANNOUNCED

Bancroft's Alumni Council is proud to name the following people as the 2017 Alumni Award honorees:

Scott R. Reisinger, The Milton P. Higgins (1918) Award for Distinguished Service to Bancroft
School.

Lorna Wayland '62, The Esther Forbes (1907) Award for Distinguished Professional Achievement.
Benjamin I. Dobson '97, The Young Alumni Achievement Award

 

The award recipients will be honored at Bancroft's Reunion Weekend on April 21 & 22, 2017.

Scott Reisinger
Lorna Wayland
Benjamin Dobson

FRENCH IMMERSION DAY 2017

Beyond eating fresh croissants and macarons, Saturday's 3rd annual French Immersion Day touched on many aspects of French language and culture. "We wanted to provide a global experience right here on campus that felt as if the students were traveling or taking a trip," said US French teacher Flavien Collet. "We had ten US students, four MS students, two Bancroft parents, three students and two teachers from Notre-Dame Academy, and a great group of supportive adults including all our French teachers, and my wife Natalie." Workshops included an interactive presentation about Haiti, a pop-culture lesson about French Reality TV, and the always-popular French cooking. Students made Tartiflette, a savory dish from Savoy, and Charlotte aux fraises, a dessert with cream, strawberries and ladyfingers. "It was fun to learn about French cuisine and do something hands-on that we could eat afterwards," said one student. Quelle belle expérience!

French Immersion Day
French Immersion Day

SCHOLASTIC ART & WRITING AWARD WINNERS

We are delighted to announce that the following students in Grades 8–12 were recognized with Gold and Silver Key Awards in the 2017 Boston Globe Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Gold Key winners are automatically entered in the National Scholastic Competition! For a full listing, including the Honorable Mentions, please visit the News section of the Bancroft website HERE.

GOLD KEY

Alyssa J, 12, Poetry, I, a Flower
Andrew D, 9, Poetry, Where I'm From
Chloe S, 9, Poetry, Talking Love
Grace L, 11, Humor, The Christmas Ugg(h)s
Grace L, 11, Poetry, Charting A New Course, Untitled, For My Sister
Nicholas C, 11, Humor, Elementary School Adventures
Michael B, 12, Photography, Bridge Patrol [shown below]
SILVER KEY

Alyssa J, 12, Poetry, Salt
Carmen B, 11, Flash Fiction, Coping
Katerina G-C, 8, Critical Essay, One Idea, One Community, Countless Benefits
Lindsay I, 11, Poetry, The City, Down by the Water, Newton's Second Law of Thermodynamics
Maggie G, 8, Short Story, Inflection Points
Andrew S, 9, Photography, Bancroft FTW [shown below)

Michael B., Bridge Patrol
Andrew S., Bancroft FTW

HOW'S YOUR CLASS DOING?

 
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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS

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Shorelines is produced by Bancroft's Marketing and Communications team. If you have questions or story ideas please contact shorelines@bancroftschool.org.

Bancroft School

110 Shore Drive • Worcester, MA 01605 • (508) 853-2640

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