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The Frederick Gunn School conducted its 171st Commencement Exercises on May 30, graduating 87 students representing 14 states and 11 countries in a hybrid ceremony that was notable for its warmth, inclusiveness, and joy.
 

Students have been taking advantage of the school’s outdoor spaces this spring, whether fishing off the dock at Beebe Boathouse, working in the school’s gardens, playing Spikeball or volleyball on the Jones-Koven Quad, or gazing at the stars on the turf field. After classes, you might even see a few students playing a quick round of golf at Teddy National.
 

The Frederick Gunn School Drama Society will present “Almost, Maine,” a romantic comedy by John Cariani, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 20, and Saturday, May 22, in the Tisch Family Auditorium of the Thomas S. Perakos Arts and Community Center. While our campus remains closed to the community, and only students and faculty may attend in person, the Saturday performance will be livestreamed. Please use this link to create an account with Broadway on Demand prior to May 22. This step must be completed in advance to access to the livestream event.
 

On Sunday, May 30, 2021, The Frederick Gunn School will graduate 87 students, representing 14 states and 11 countries, who comprise the Class of 2021. This will be the 171st Commencement of the school, which was founded in 1850 by abolitionist, outdoorsman and pioneering educator Frederick Gunn.
 

The 2021 Speaker Series concluded April 1 with a presentation by Holocaust survivor and Connecticut resident Judith Altmann, who shared her incredibly moving story. A member of the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Speakers Bureau and Vice President of the Holocaust Child Survivors of Connecticut, Altmann has extensive experience speaking in schools.
 

Original artwork by three students will be featured in a new exhibit opening this Saturday, April 3, at the Washington Art Association. In its inaugural High School Expo, WAA presents the work of area art students, who pursued their creativity to navigate the isolation of an unprecedented and uncertain year.
 

By early April, seniors at The Frederick Gunn School are required to complete what’s known as the Civic Changemakers Project. A diploma requirement, it’s an opportunity for students to work independently on a service project in their local communities, and put into action what they have learned across the school’s four-year citizenship curriculum under the Center for Citizenship and Just Democracy. 
 

In recent years, students in the Model United Nations (MUN) co-curricular program have participated in conferences at Harvard and Georgetown universities. This year, MUN Advisors Ed Surjan and Karoline Theobald P’09 ’14 created a virtual MUN experience for students who participated in the Winter Term co-curricular program. “MUN Winter 2021: Major Global Issues Forum” introduced students to eight major international issues in as many weeks, using readings, videos, and group discussions led by guest speakers, including several alumni.
 

On February 25, The Frederick Gunn School Community welcomed author and businessman Edward Conard as part of the 2021 Speaker Series. A graduate of the University of Michigan and Harvard Business School, Conard is an adjunct fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a former partner at Bain Capital. He is the author of two New York Times top-10 bestselling books, including “The Upside of Inequality: How Good Intentions Undermine the Middle Class” (2016), and a contributor to “United States Income, Wealth, Consumption, and Inequality” (2020) by Oxford University Press. 
 

Last week, students announced the formation of two new clubs, adding to what is already a thriving number and range of student-led groups on campus this year.
 

The Girls Varsity Hockey Team has organized its second annual fundraiser in support of the LoveYourBrain Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to “improve the quality of life of people affected by traumatic brain injury through programs that build community and foster resilience.”
 

On February 25, the school’s Black History Month celebration concluded with an impressive, virtual mini-concert, featuring select students from the String Ensemble, Vocal Ensemble, and Concert Jazz Band, who performed sacred and secular music interspersed with poetry to bring the theme of Black joy as expressed through the arts to life.
 

A new podcast, created by the editors and staff of the student-run newspaper, The Highlander, recently debuted on Spotify. The first two episodes feature interviews with two students who are writing and producing original music; with a member of the Engineering Club, who is working with Engineers Without Borders on a water resources project in Tanzania; and with two members of the Black Student Union, who have been educating the community about Black history and culture during Black History Month.
 

On February 11, CBS News Senior Political Analyst and “60 Minutes” Correspondent John Dickerson spoke to students, faculty, parents and alumni about the American presidency as part of the 2021 Speaker Series. Dickerson’s presentation, which came just two weeks after the inauguration of President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., and less than a month after a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol, was based on the research for his third book, The New York Times bestseller, “The Hardest Job in the World: The American Presidency.”
 

Laura Tierney, the founder and CEO of The Social Institute (TSI), brought her entrepreneurial spirit, and her strategy for how to use social media and technology in positive ways, to The Frederick Gunn School Speaker Series on February 4. The school partnered with TSI, the leader in engaging student-led lessons related to social-emotional health, social media use, and technology, to bring its #WinAtSocial Program to students starting last month. The program’s unique, gamified social media curriculum – co-created with over 50,000 students at 60 schools nationwide – offers interactive lessons that are scaffolded by grade level and user-friendly for both remote and in-person learning environments.
 

The Frederick Gunn School community mourns the passing of Richard L. Feigen ’47, whom Sotheby’s hailed as “a pivotal figure on the international art scene for the last 63 years.” According to a statement from Richard L. Feigen & Co., the eponymous gallery he founded, Feigen passed away on January 29, 2021. He was 90 years old.
 

The second installment of The Frederick Gunn School 2021 Speaker Series featured Justin Dunn ’13, right-handed pitcher for the Seattle Mariners, and Jeremy Cohen ’87, Vice President and Group Director of Partnership Activation at Major League Baseball, who shared two different perspectives on their MLB careers, and what their experience has been like living in this time of COVID-19.
 

Students and faculty paused to reflect on the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at School Meeting on Monday. The presentation by history teacher and Director of Diversity Equity and Inclusion LaDarius Drew was the first in a series of programs planned over the next six weeks as part of the school’s Black History Month celebration.
 

The 2021 Speaker Series began January 14 with an all-school presentation by Eric Ward, a longtime civil rights strategist, who spoke via Zoom about the history of anti-Semitism and its resurgence.