On Monday, May 27, students will gather for the last time this academic year at the 2013 Underclass Prize Assembly in Armstrong-Hipkins Center for the Arts. The program will be live cast through Blair’s LiveStream channel at LiveStream.com.

Students, families and faculty members attended Blair’s Baccalaureate service, which was held in Armstrong-Hipkins Center for the Arts, on Wednesday, May 22.

Each year, Blair honors graduating seniors at a prize assembly, recognizing their outstanding academic, artistic and musical contributions. For the first time, the School broadcast the Senior Prize Assembly on Monday, May 20 for those who could not attend the annual event.

On Tuesday, May 21, Blair students spent the afternoon getting ready for the prom, which was held at the Stroudsmoor Country Inn in nearby Stroudsburg, Pa. As tradition dictates, prom-goers assembled at Sharpe House dressed in their finest, picked up their flowers and posed for photos before boarding buses at 5 p.m.

On Friday, May 10, the Blair Academy Board of Trustees elected Douglas W. Kimmelman the School’s 19th Chairman of the Board at its annual meeting.

Family and friends of the class of 2013 who gather for commencement exercises on the lawn of Sharpe House on Thursday, May 23 will be joined for the first time by others who cannot return to campus for the ceremony. Blair’s 165th Commencement can be viewed in real time by visiting Blair’s LiveStream channel.

At a late May school meeting, athletic director Jim Stone, Headmaster Chan Hardwick, and the coaches of the baseball, softball, tennis, and boys’ and girls’ crew, lacrosse, golf and track teams recognized student athletes for their many accomplishments during the 2013 spring season.

On Wednesday, May 22, seniors and their families gathered for the Class of 2013 Assembly in Armstrong-Hipkins Center for the Arts.

An interactive art show organized by more than 20 students taking Elements of Art will be on display in The Black Canteen from May 5 to 19, 2013, with an artists’ reception on Monday, May 6 following School Meeting.

At the end of each academic year, the community comes together one last time at Blairstock to listen to live music performed by Blair students.

On Sunday, May 12, students and faculty competed in the School’s sixth annual Kenya triathlon, featuring a 300-yard swim in Blair’s pool, five-mile cycling race by campus loops and two-mile run.

The Blair Academy Players are proud to be presenting their third Mary Zimmerman adaptation, “The Odyssey,” on May 16, 17 and 18 at 7:30 p.m. in the Robert J. Evans Open Air Theatre. In the event of inclement weather, the play will be performed in Armstrong-Hipkins Center for the Arts’ Dubois Theater.

Students from three levels of photography, as well as ceramics student Derek Ng ’15, have their artwork on display in The Black Canteen from May 13 to 19. An artists’ reception was held Monday, May 13 following School Meeting.

On Friday, May 10 following School Meeting, Crew team coaches Stephanie Guilmet and Hans Doerr joined students and faculty to christen two new crew boats.

“April Grace,” a feature-length film that was directed and produced by Andrew Hutcheson ’08, premiered at the Garden State Film Festival in Asbury Park, N.J. on Saturday, April 6 to a sold-out screening, and received a standing ovation. Filmed mostly in Blairstown, April Grace was produced by Zandrak Productions, Andrew’s film company which he established in 2010.

One of the many ways in which Blair students continue learning outside the classroom is through the book club run by Timken Library director Ann Williams. Over the last five years, the Blair Academy Book Club, better known on campus as the BBC, has read a wide range of literature, meeting episodically during the school year to share their thoughts and discuss themes, interpretations and suggestions for future readings.

This year’s Alumni Weekend kicked off Friday, May 10 and with school still in session, alumni took advantage of the opportunity to see Blair students in action in the classroom, on the athletic fields and on Blair’s stage.

On Monday, May 6, Headmaster T. Chandler Hardwick announced the appointment of Solomon Fleckman as Blair's new head wrestling coach. Mr. Fleckman will join the Blair community as a mathematics teacher and as the director of studies.

On Friday, May 3, the senior class council held a first-ever outdoor School Meeting so the community could have a chance to take in and appreciate the warmer weather. Students gathered on the lawn in the Bowl to listen to the morning’s announcements, which were delivered through a megaphone.

On Sunday, April 28, R. Latta Browse, who chairs the mathematics department, chaperoned a group of 18 students to Yankees Stadium to watch a New York Yankees game.

Alumni who returned to campus for Alumni Weekend were able to see the Blair Academy Players present Our Town to mark the 75th anniversary of Thornton Wilder's iconic American play.

Since October, Daniel Geller ’14, has worked to coordinate a day of fun and activities to bring the Blair community together with local special needs children and their families. On Sunday, April 28, he welcomed more than 20 special needs children to campus for a fun-filled afternoon.

Four of Blair’s Advanced Spanish Language and Literature students traveled to New York City on Tuesday, April 23 to the Repertorio Español, a Spanish playhouse on East 27th street in Manhattan.

In February, Sally Weiner ’14 received an award from the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, earning national recognition for her artwork. Her piece, a ceramic teapot titled “Khmai Chai,” won a silver medal at The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, which had more than 200,000 submissions this year.

On Friday, May 3, more than 90 Blair students will gather on the stage in Armstrong-Hipkins Center for the Arts’ DuBois Theatre to perform in the 2013 Spring Concert. To watch the concert as it is streamed live, please click here.

Blair’s annual Student Art Exhibition will be on display in The Romano Gallery from April 29 through May 20. An official exhibit opening was held May 2 for students, parents and faculty members, at which the student artists were on hand to talk about their work.

On Saturday, April 28, Blair's Crew teams traveled to Mercer Lake in Princeton for the MAPL league championship regatta. The Girls' team won the MAPL title, while the Boys' crew placed second overall.

On April 30, Alex Rubenstein ’92 delivered the Herman Hollerith Lecture on Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the weekly Society of Skeptics series.

During a series of hour-long evening lectures throughout the spring, Blair’s assistant headmaster for faculty Rachel Stone is giving interested seniors an overview of the field of epidemiology, focusing on how and why certain diseases affect some people and not others.

On April 29, members of the Blair community gathered in Armstrong-Hipkins Center for the Arts’ DuBois Theater to hear students compete in the Senior Public Speaking Contest. An annual event now in its 12th year, the competition included seniors who were selected by their English classmates to represent them in the class-wide contest.

On Friday, April 26, the Bucs defeated Delaware Valley, 7-6, on Hampshire Field. The game was live cast online for viewers who weren't able to return to campus for the match. To view the broadcast, please click here.

By early April last year, the weather was so warm in Blairstown that Earthshine members had already planted six beds in Blair’s community garden. Although the planting process has been slightly delayed in 2013 due to colder temperatures, club members hosted a garden work party on Sunday, April 21, to dig a seventh bed and plant cherry tomatoes, spinach, lettuce, arugula, zucchini, squash, eggplant and a variety of herbs (including basil, thyme, rosemary and cilantro).

The paintings and drawings by Anna Marks ’13 will be on display in The Black Canteen from April 23 to May 5, 2013, while the ceramics and sculptures by Darrius Campbell ’13, which have been on exhibit there since mid-April, will continue to be shown. An artists’ reception for both students will take place on Friday, April 26, after School Meeting.

In April, the Warren County, N.J., Cultural and Heritage Commission sponsored its Ninth Annual “Warren County Art Teachers and Students Art Show.” Organized by Belvidere High School art teacher Chris Coyle, the exhibition included students and faculty members from Blair Academy, Belvidere High School, Harmony Township School and Phillipsburg High School.

On April 24 and 25, Blair will host more than 90 college admission representatives from across the United States. The two-day program, which is designed for Blair sophomores, juniors and parents, as well as local guidance counselors, will run from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Hardwick Hall’s Field House.

With about a month left until the Class of 2013 gathers on the lawn of Sharpe House for commencement, many parents are looking for special gifts to celebrate their child’s graduation from Blair. In anticipation of this, the School Store has recently stocked a number of new items.

Jay Chamberlin ’87, chief of the Natural Resources Division of California State Parks, addressed the Society of Skeptics on Tuesday, April 23, at 7 p.m. in Bogle Hall’s Cowan Auditorium. He spoke on "Public Land & Parks in the Era of Climate Change."

On Saturday, April 20, Blair welcomed the grandparents of current students to campus for the third year in a row to attend classes, take in a musical performance by Blair Singers and Orchestra, have lunch and root for Blair athletics at a number of home sports competitions. During class visits, Blair offered grandparents tours of campus.

Over the course of the 2012-2013 academic year, the wrestling team has raised more than $18,000 for the Adam Frey Foundation (AFF), an organization named for and founded by Adam Frey ’05, who died of germ-cell cancer in 2009.

The Gallim Dance group performed on Blair’s stage for students and faculty members as part of the annual Bartow Series in Armstrong-Hipkins Center for the Arts at 1:15 p.m. on Friday, April 19.

In mid-April, Blair once again offered seniors a series of evening seminars designed to prepare them for the transition to college. A regular staple of the spring semester since 2010, the senior seminar series covers a variety of topics, such as fostering creativity and spirituality, out-of-the-classroom hobbies, college-level coursework, sex education, memory-boosting aids, an introduction to personal finance, tutorials in classical music and baking, and finding a balance between academics and social life.

From April 15 to 28, 2013, a group of Blair art students exhibited their work at The Hill School’s Boyer Gallery as part of the fourth annual Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) art exhibition. An artists’ reception was held on April 28, followed by an awards ceremony, where students were recognized for work in a number of categories.

The paintings and drawings by Sierra Yit ’13 and ceramics and sculptures by Darrius Campbell ’13 will be on display in The Black Canteen from April 11 to April 23, 2013. An artists’ reception will take place on Friday, April 12, after School Meeting.

Dan McLaughlin, a golfer-in-training with hopes of turning pro, spoke to the Society of Skeptics on Tuesday, April 16, at 7 p.m. in Bogle Hall’s Cowan Auditorium.

On Saturday, April 13, and Sunday, April 14, Blair students joined forces to fight cancer as part of the School’s annual overnight Relay for Life event. Sponsored by the American Cancer Society, the program involved a number of Blair teams that camped out in Hardwick Hall's Field House and took turns walking around the outdoor track for a period of 24 hours.

On Monday, April 15, one student from each of Blair’s 10 English 2 classes competed in the School’s annual Sophomore Public Speaking Contest, which was held in Armstrong-Hipkins Center for the Arts’ DuBois Theatre.

On Thursday, April 11, following a buffet dinner, Blair hosted its third-annual student film festival, which included fiction, documentary and experimental works.

On Thursday, April 4, the fine arts department sponsored trips to the Museum of Modern Art and the Allentown Art Museum as part of its continued efforts to expose students to art outside the classroom.

Retired New York Fire Department Captain Bill Gates addressed the Blair community at Skeptics on Tuesday, April 2, as he delivered this year’s James Youngelson ’53 Lecture on Ethics and Responsibility. He will shared his thoughts on September 11, 2001.

On Tuesday, April 9, New York City performance poet Taylor Mali addressed the Society of Skeptics at 7 p.m. in Bogle Hall’s Cowan Auditorium.

The spring athletics season started off on a good note for Blair with a couple of victories for the School's softball and baseball teams. On Wednesday, April 3, several other teams will kick off season play against Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) opponents, including Hun, Lawrenceville and Peddie.

On Friday, April 5 and Monday, April 8, Blair’s admission office welcomed more than 100 accepted students and their family members to campus for the annual Revisit Days, which introduce visitors to student life and culture at Blair.

In late March, the University of Virginia offered Claire Ryder ’13 its Jefferson Scholarship, one of the nation's most prestigious merit scholarships.

The paintings and drawings of Council Dawson ’13 and Ali Surdoval ’13 will be on display in The Black Canteen from March 30 to April 9, 2013. An artists’ reception will take place on Friday, April 5, after School Meeting.

In early April, Blair’s most accomplished student athletes were recognized by athletic director Jim Stone, Headmaster Chan Hardwick, and the coaches of the ski, swim, squash, winter track, basketball and wrestling teams for their outstanding efforts and accomplishments during the 2012-2013 winter season. From the ski slopes and the basketball and squash courts to the wrestling room, indoor track and swimming pool, the following awards were given to the individuals who performed exceptionally well in their respective sports.

Students raced throughout the center of campus on Sunday, March 31, looking for eggs and competing for a series of prizes at Blair’s annual Easter egg hunt.

When a group of Blair students expressed an interest in forming a new science-based club on campus, science department chair Michael Sayers took the lead this past fall and founded the Blair Academy Mythbusters, better known around campus as BAM.

On Wednesday, April 3, the Blair community had the opportunity to engage in a conversation with John C. Bogle ’47, Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees, at a special “Skeptics on the Road” presentation in New York City.

During a spring break community service and immersion trip, 15 students and four Blair faculty members traveled to Haiti as part of the Caribbean Cultural Experience program, which was founded by Spanish and French teacher Edwidge Dorelien.

From March 25 to April 20, the paintings of Virginia-based artist John A. Lee will be on display in The Romano Gallery as part of an exhibit called “Interiors.” Mr. Lee came to campus on March 28 to meet with students and talk to them about his work during an hour-long artist’s reception.

On Tuesday, March 26, Blair welcomed Stuart Loory '50, former vice president at CNN and executive vice president of Turner Broadcasting in Russia, as he returned to campus to address the Society of Skeptics. Mr. Loory looked back on his own career as a journalist and reflected on the future of the industry at 7 p.m. in Bogle Hall’s Cowan Auditorium.

This spring break, Blair junior Sadie Edwards ’14 accepted a scholarship to play basketball for coach Geno Auriemma at the University of Connecticut.

To give prospective families a more in-depth look at the Blair experience, the School regularly produces films that detail life inside and outside of the classroom. During the 2012-2013 school year, Blair video studies director Nina Yuen created new three videos on Blair’s academic, artistic and athletic offerings, as well as a “day in the life” series that follows seven students as they go about their usual routines on campus. The School has also produced a “Life on the Hilltop” film that supplements these other offerings by providing an overarching look at student life at Blair.

In mid-March, 12 Blair students traveled to Boston to participate in the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Youth Leadership Conference at the invitation of incoming Head of School Christopher Fortunato. The conference’s theme fit nicely with what Blair teaches its students, both inside and outside of the classroom: that leadership itself is not an innate character trait, but rather a set of individual skills that can be taught, practiced and developed over time.

Thanks to the support of the Blair community, the "Blair in Kenya" program opened a primary school in Lagonia, Kenya, in late December 2012. The school, which is called the Blair Education Center, overlooks Lake Victoria and consists of two brick classrooms serving 83 students between the ages of 4 and 6.

In mid-March, a group of nine Blair students traveled to Philadelphia for an alternative spring break trip during which they learned about different religions and volunteered for local community-service initiatives.

From June 9 to 18, 2013, Blair students will have the opportunity to take an educational trip to Costa Rica for nine days of immersion in the culture of Turrialba, the capital city of the province Cartago.

Students have the opportunity to engage in self-exploration and reflection as part of “Self and Society,” a course offered by Blair’s Department of Religion. The class, which is being offered to juniors and seniors for the fourth time this spring, is taught by Jessica Matzkin, dean of students.

In late February, Blair’s lacrosse teams welcomed professional lacrosse player Billy Bitter to campus for an afternoon workshop in which he showed players proper shooting and dodging techniques.

As Blair students were departing campus for spring break, video studies director Nina Yuen was preparing to travel to the United Kingdom to install her first solo exhibit at the Chinese Arts Centre in Manchester. The show, which will run from March 22 to May 11, 2013, features a number of films Ms. Yuen has produced during her time at Blair, including one she created in collaboration with her students.

Blair offers two world religion courses designed to help students to clarify their own beliefs and better understand current world affairs, as well as raise awareness about other people’s values and diverse cultural backgrounds. The classes, which include a trimester course for freshmen and a semester-long class for upper-school students, introduces five major world religions (Hinduism, Buddism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam).

At the January Board of Trustees meeting, Board Chairman James P. Jenkins ’66 announced approval of the timeline for the construction of two new dormitories overlooking Blair Lake. Amidst an air of anticipation, the Board voted unanimously to move forward this winter with the dormitory project.

As Blair students prepare to leave Blairstown for spring break in early March, nine of the School’s 17 spring athletic teams are getting ready to travel south for pre-season training.

As spring break approaches, students and faculty are getting ready to participate in the Spring-Read-a-Thon, an annual program through which an anonymous donor gives a penny per-page read by members of the Blair community from March to May.

On Sunday, March 3, Blair’s advancement office started a new competition among Blair classes called “Alumni March Madness.” The five-week tournament challenges Blair alumni classes to increase the number of classmates who contribute to the Blair Fund.

The Blair Rowing Team held its 3rd annual opening of season triathlon on Wednesday February 27th. This was an event started by mens’ coach Hans Doerr three years ago as a challenge to all members of the rowing team in order to kick off the spring season. The triathlon consisted of a 5000 meter row on the rowing machine (ergometer), a 2.2 mile run (which is exactly 2 campus loops), and a 200 meter swim in the Blair pool. This year, the rowing team was able to open the event up to the community, challenging anyone to compete. Over 70 people participated this year!

With a convincing win that saw all 14 Blair wrestlers place at National Preps and six take individual titles, Blair Academy completed one of the most rigorous – and one of the most successful – seasons in school history. At the 2013 National Preps, Blair scored 324.5 team points, almost 100 more than the 226 scored by fellow national power Wyoming Seminary (PA), which is ranked 2nd in the USA by one national ranking service and 3rd by another.

On Tuesday, February 26, internationally acclaimed photographer Norman Gershman, grandfather of Blair student Zach Gershman ’13, spoke to the Society of Skeptics about his groundbreaking project, Besa, which covers the dramatic story of Albanian Muslims who sheltered and saved Jewish refugees during World War II.

From February 27 to March 25, the sculptures and photographs of four AP art students (Coco Zhang ’13, Sally Weiner ’14, Haven Donovan ’13 and Emma Price ’14) will be on display in The Black Canteen. An artist’s reception will be held on Friday, March 1, after School Meeting.

In late February, 10 Blair students simulated the Treaty of Versailles—one of several peace treaties that ended the first World War in 1919—as part of an assignment for the history department’s Western Civilization course. This is the second time the class has done a simulation of this kind: students also reenacted the 1814/1815 Congress of Vienna during the fall of 2012.

On Friday, March 1, Blair alumni came from around the northeast to watch Temi Fagbenle ’11 and Harvard’s women’s basketball team take on Princeton University at Cambridge’s Lavietes Basketball Pavilion.

In late February, seven Blair students participated in two American Math Contest (AMC) competitions. Suyoung Choi ’14, Haeyoon Chung '13, Jang Won Lim ’13, Tae Hwi An '13, Ju Uhn Park ’14 and Ed Tirpack '13 competed in the AMC12 (for students in 12^th grade and below), while Zeyu Cheng ’16 took part in the AMC10 (for students in 10^th grade and below).

On Saturday, February 23, Blair’s varsity wrestling team won its 33^rd straight national prep title at Lehigh University. The team finished with a final score of 324.5, more than 80 points ahead of Wyoming Seminary, which finished in a distant second place. Good Counsel, McDonogh and Malvern Prep finished in third, fourth and fifth place, respectively.

On Sunday, February 24, a group of 18 Blair students traveled into New York City to see the Tony-award-winning musical Jersey Boys, an outing that was supported by the Mazza Student Life Fund established by the Liebowitz/Sheehan family. Each year, the fund generates money in honor of Dean of Students Carm Mazza for projects that improve student life at Blair.

JV & 3rds Teams: Another Great Season in Gym, on Courts & on Ice

On Tuesday, February 26, more than 80 young Blair alumni came together at the Georgian Suite on East 77^th Street for a reception hosted by Trustee Jim Krugman ’65 and his wife, Connie. Over the course of the evening, attendees had the opportunity to mingle with Chan and Monie Hardwick, as well as a number of other Blair faculty members.

Students who participated in Blair’s fall and winter after-school dance activity showcased what they have learned since the beginning of the school year during a recital in Armstrong-Hipkins Center for the Arts’ DuBois Theatre on Saturday, February 23, at 7 p.m.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar Dr. Audrey M. Dorelien, daughter of Blair French and Spanish teacher Edwidge Dorelien, addressed the Society of Skeptics on February 19 at 7 p.m. in Bogle Hall’s Cowan Auditorium. She talked about her journey as an interdisciplinary researcher, as well as illustrate some uses for and applications of infectious disease modeling.

In mid-February, work produced by Blair’s architecture classes went on display in Hardwick Hall, near the student mailboxes. The exhibit, which will remain up indefinitely, features a project in which students created foam-core-board representations of specific words assigned to them by architecture teacher Eli King.

On Tuesday, February 19, Blair's girls' varsity basketball team beat the Lawrenceville School in the prep A state finals at Blair by a score of 59-43, a win that ended one of the team’s most successful seasons ever.

In March, Blair students will begin a series of renovations to Weber Hall that will modernize the space and heighten its visual impact on visitors. Plans call for livening up the building’s interior by painting each room and installing a mobile in the stairwell.

Sports Illustrated has highlighted Blair wrestler Brooks Black ’13 as an outstanding amateur athlete in its February 18, 2013, “Faces in the Crowd” column.

During the week of February 18, Blair students and faculty members competed in the annual Headmasters’ Societies Games, a series of campus contests designed to bridge the gap between the end of the winter athletics season and the beginning of the March mid-semester exam period. Sharpe won the 2013 competition, with 2012 winner Howard coming in second place, Kelley in third and Breed in fourth.

Every year, as Blair wrestlers get ready for the Prep Nationals, they select a “Pin-Down Campaign,” choosing one charity for which they raise money. In 2013, the team will pin down cancer, donating all proceeds to a non-profit that supports patients and families impacted by this devastating disease.

On Monday, February 18, more than 50 Blair students and faculty members visited the J. Brooks Hoffman Health Center to participate in the School’s annual blood drive, which has been taking place on campus since the late 1980s. Donors filled out paperwork in the health center and then boarded Miller-Keystone Blood Center’s blood mobile to answer questions and begin the screening process.

From February 17 until February 24, 344 ceramic bones (and one whittled wooden bone) created by members of the Blair community will be on display in The Black Canteen. The effort, which was supported by both Blair students and faculty members, is part of the larger “One-Million Bones” project, which is striving to collect artwork bones for a “collaborative installation” to go on display on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in mid-June.

Over the weekend, Blair’s girls’ and boys’ varsity basketball teams beat the Peddie School and the Lawrenceville School, respectively, in the prep A state semi-finals, meaning that both will advance to the state finals this week. The girls will play Lawrenceville at Blair on Tuesday, February 19, at 5 p.m., while the boys will play St. Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark, N.J., on Wednesday, February 20, at 5:30 p.m.

From February 11 to 27, the drawings of AP art student Audrey Tseng ’13 will be on display in The Black Canteen. An artist’s reception was held on February 15 after School Meeting.

John Capponi, Blair Academy’s executive chef, has published his first recipe in Culinary Creations, Asian Entertaining, which is part of a signature series of custom cookbooks published by the food and facilities management company Sodexo. On Friday, February 15, John will be making samples of the recipe for duck confit and mango egg rolls with rice wine vinegar dipping sauce at lunch in the Romano Dining Hall.