No speaker for graduation

There will not be an outside speaker for the graduation ceremony for the class of 2009.
Barbara Wagner, head of school, said this is not unusual, nor is it in any way due to the construction.

“It’s really been what we’ve done almost always at Marlborough. We’ve had, I think, in the time I’ve been head of school, maybe four outside graduation speakers in the last twenty years,” Wagner said.

Wagner said the reason for not having a speaker is to keep the focus on the girls.

“Most of the time, people have felt that it somehow detracted from the focus on the graduation class, and we wanted to keep it on the graduating class,” she said.

Some students said they feel upset about the lack of a speaker.

Aucher ’09 said she is angry “because they keep telling us how great graduation is and make us put up with the construction.”

There will not be any other additions or Amandages to the ceremony, Wagner said.

Wagner is not yet sure if there will be a speaker for the class of 2010, but if there is support for a particular speaker among the students, it is a possibility, she said.

-Brianne ’10
School provides free water and Nalgenes in green effort

Students can now fill up school-issued, BPA-free Nalgene bottles with free water from the filtered machine.

The Leadership in Learning Campaign paid for the bottles with the intention of reducing the amount of waste produced by the school, said Robert Bryan, head of the middle school.

The Environmental Committee originally proposed the idea.

The water from the filtered machine has not been made free permanently, Bryan said.  While he hope the policy will remain in place, factors such as the number of people taking advantage of the machine and the cost will be considered.

Bryan said they will also consider the location of the machine and whether it is in an accessible enough area.

Although he is not sure, it seems that the policy has reduced the number of plastic bottles being used, Bryan said.

“I think so far, so good,” he said.

Students confirm that impression. Zoe ’09 said she uses her water bottle every day. Harriet ’09 said, “I love the free water.”

– Julia ’09

3 debators move on to state

After staying at school until 12:00 AM on a Saturday for the debate state qualifications, Amanda ’09 and Rebecca ’11 were two of five students to qualify for the state tournament in the Congress division.  Amanda also won third place in the Western Bay Forensics League for Congress.

Julie ’10 also qualified for state in the expository speaking division with her speech on fecal indicator bacteria, her honors research topic.  In addition, Julie placed second in the league for expository speaking.

Rebecca said she is excited to challenge herself at the state competition.

“It’s going to be better to go to the big tournament,” Rebecca said. “You get to practice with people who are better than you.”

Mollie ’11 is an alternate for Congress, and Taylor ’10 is an alternate for original prose and poetry.

-Sally ’09