Dublin School

The temperatures are starting to claw their way above freezing, and the sun is increasingly strong and warming, yet, even so, there are surviving piles of snow and ice to show that spring is not fully here in Dublin. Thorndike Pond, where the rowers will eventually go for practice, is still frozen over. Thus, for these opening days of the spring term, rowing practice is taking place in the recital hall and up on the rowing machines in the gym area while we all await the "ice out" event. Let's hope it's soon!

Even with the challenges of supporting a rowing program in New England, the number of rowers in the program is at an all-time high. Currently, there are 24 boys and 22 girls, a nice mix of veteran and novice. There are seniors as well as freshmen out to try rowing for the first time. Somehow having to start the season indoors, and then brave tempestuous spring conditions once on the water, has not scared away Dublin students from coming out for crew.

It’s always a surprise what you might find in a student record file. In this case, it was a class ring found in the student file of Reza Amjadi ’79.

Although the ring was a tad tarnished it’s still in great condition. The blue stone is still remarkably bright and inscribed inside the band is Reza’s name. The ring had been lost, somewhere on Mount Monadnock, where it was later found sometime in May 1981 by a Steven Baratz. Mr. Baratz returned the ring to Dublin, and for whatever reason, it remained in Reza’s folder until Donna Stone in the Alumni Office recently came across it.

If you have ever traveled internationally, you know how comforting it is to see a familiar face when you disembark in a strange new place. So when I landed in Shenzhen, China on March 29th and found my former advisee Xing (Star) Xiong ’13 in the line of hired drivers and waiting family members, I smiled. Just like when I visited China 7 years before, Star was my guide and companion helping to ensure I was well fed and cared for as we ran from one meeting to the next. Our roles reversed, she was advising me, and I was very grateful.

He unzips the small bag. It’s been sitting by the lectern for the past hour. The air gets sucked out of the room as he pulls out a white mask. 

On February 29th, the last Friday before exams, Daryl Davis showed up an hour early to campus. Davis is a famed jazz musician, but he came to Dublin as a prominent anti-racism activist. In particular, he is known for his work befriending and deconverting members of the Ku Klux Klan.

My advisor was the famous and wonderful Associate Director of Admissions, Teresa Imhoff. I spent many hours hanging out in what was then the admissions building, the Schoolhouse, talking to prospective students and their families about the school. I loved communicating what I loved about Dublin and showing them how the faculty and staff were so close with the students. Dublin also taught me how to respectfully interact and communicate with adults, which helped greatly during my college internships.

Dublin Alpine skiers navigated their way to a 3rd place finish for the girls and a 4th place finish for the boys at the NEPSAC Championships. Both the Boys and Girls Nordic teams won the NEPSAC Championship - the best in New England! Our snowboarding teams won Giant Slalom Lakes Region GS Snowboarding Championships at Okemo. 

If you are a cross-country skier, come on over and use the Dublin Nordic Center trails – conditions could not be better! Click here for information about the trails. 

Any Ragnarians out there? Who’s up for putting together a Dublin School Alumni and Former Faculty Team for the 2019 Ragnar Reach the Beach Race, September 13-14, 2019?

Dublin School has been participating in Reach the Beach, a 200 mile relay race that stretches from Bretton Woods to Hampton Beach NH for 7 years now and we think it is time for an Alumni team! We are one of the only high school teams that participate – We’re that cool…

I graduated 10 years ago and went to Goucher College, it felt like a “bigger Dublin.” That led me to major in Spanish and minor in psychology and as a requirement of my major I studied abroad in Cordoba, Argentina for six months. It was an eye opening experience to live in another culture and country. ..

“It was the many Latino students at Dublin who first introduced me to their culture and the Spanish language. I was always in awe of my teammates on the dance team and credit them with sparking this passion of mine. Dublin was the catalyst.”

It was definitely a sign that I spent International Women’s Day last Friday in Boston with Dublin School alumna Tricia Hurley ’08 having our first meeting to make an idea we had over Reunion Weekend a reality - A Dublin School Woman’s Retreat Weekend. 

We want to create a campus weekend event that brings together Dublin School alumnae, female faculty and students to explore common interests in hopes of building stronger relationships with each other, supporting each other's goals and the mission of Dublin School.

Time seemed as though it stood still when we walked through the swinging doors of the Fountain Arts Building, fondly known as the FAB, but truly our second home while at Dublin. The stage looked primed for an amazing performance. Parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and faculty alike piled into the intimate theatre and then it hit me: I was going to see individuals who I regarded as some as my best friends perform, but I would not be there right next to them. Just like everyone else, I just had to sit back and enjoy the show without knowing every single aspect of the process leading to it. In this feeling, there was something thrilling, but it also made me extremely nostalgic. 

Our Dublin Lake is one of the cleanest spring fed lakes in NH. Water from as deep as 100 feet works its way up through New Hampshire’s granite base to replenish the lake in a reliable, invisible way, often only noticeable when you happen to swim through a “cold spot!” Our 450-acre campus and surrounding town are blessed with natural springs that bubble up freshwater to create our lakes, fill our wells, and nourish our forests. When we were considering the intent of this new Dublin alumni newsletter the concept of being “spring fed” seemed to fit.

Like spring water that exist beneath the surface, your memories and feeling for Dublin no doubt exist beneath the surface of your life. This newsletter is designed to help bring Dublin to the top of your busy life so that when you desire to take a sip, to refresh a memory or make a connection in your life today, it is reliably right there. And as in nature, there are seasonal patterns but no set schedules and no way of knowing exactly where the water will go. So we begin this new communication with an openness that allows it to become whatever feeds us best. We welcome any and all suggestions and hope Dublin School will always be a wellspring of joy and meaning in your life.

Alexandria Farrell ’08 was familiar with Dublin well before she arrived as a first-year student. A native of Brooklyn, her first introduction to Dublin was on MLK day over fifteen years ago when her middle school choir made a visit to campus as part of a multi-school visit to New England. Her older sister, Ashley, matriculated two years prior to her arrival at Dublin as a student. “I felt like I had a family within a family” at Dublin, “I already knew many of the faculty and students well before I was a student.”

This year, Dublin School held its first full-day conference to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life and legacy. 

Last year, the Students of Color Alliance (SoCA) galvanized efforts around planning, hosting, and executing the school’s first Unconference, which they called “SoCA’s a Seat at the Table Unconference.” This event—which involved topics like stereotypes, representation in the media, and internalized racism—involved an evening of student-led workshops facilitated with questions generated by participants.