Page 8 - Alumni Horae: Vol. 93, No. 3 Spring 2013

Religious Snapshot
Nearly 66 percent of students and 71
percent of faculty responded to a survey
conducted by the SPS chaplains this winter.
Dean of Chapel and Religious Life Michael
Spencer said the survey was used to “get
a snapshot of who’s at the School right
now,” with regard to religious beliefs.
Of those who responded, 74 percent
identified a personal religious belief, with
61 percent falling under Christianity.
Fourteen percent associated themselves
with Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim,
Sikh, Wiccan, Zoroastrian, and other relig-
ious identities; 13 percent as agnostic; and
12 percent as atheist or atheist/humanist.
The second part of the survey sought
feedback on the Chapel program itself,
with 93 percent of respondents providing
positive affirmation of the offerings. The
Last Night Service was the highest-rated
individual event, with 90 percent of those
who responded reacting positively.
Response from students who want to
be involved in Chapel programming led
Spencer to create positions for 12 Chapel
prefects and four student vestry members.
“These positions will allow students to
take a more active role in Chapel program-
ming and worship services,” says Spencer.
Community Choir
The St. Paul’s School Choir has expanded
its membership to allow non-student
members of the SPS community to join.
The change comes under the guidance of
Director of Chapel Music Nicholas White,
who extended the invitation to anyone of
high school age or above, who teaches,
works, or lives at St. Paul’s.
“I thought it would be a great opportu-
nity to offer one occasion a week, where
basically the whole School is invited to
come and sing,” explains White. “It’s a
chance to open up the musical and social
opportunities and also break down the
barriers a little bit.”
The “school-community Choir,” as White
describes it, will perform at a limited num-
ber of events, including Lessons and
Carols and the once-a-term Evensongs.
White is currently planning a performance
for Anniversary Weekend in Memorial
Hall, where the group, combined with
the SPS Orchestra, will perform the
“Kyrie” and “Gloria” sections of the Mass
in G Major by Franz Schubert.
Penn Teaching Fellow Samuel Crihfield
is one of two community members who
have accepted White’s offer to sing, “It’s a
great way for me to keep up with my sing-
ing,” says Crihfield, who sang in the Har-
vard Glee Club. “And it puts us on equal
footing with the kids. I’m not their teacher;
I’m just one of the Choir singers.”
Despite the slow start in membership,
the Choir director is optimistic. “The idea
is the important part,” says White, “invit-
ing people to join in with the students.”
Pitch Perfect
Coit Center, with its production of Pitch
Perfect, was the winner of the 79th an-
nual Fiske Cup house play competition
(February 11-15).
Center beat out fellow finalists Kitt III
(Shrek) and Ford ( How the Grinch Stole
Christmas) to earn the title.
Nine houses participated in the Fiske
Cup, which included participation from
guest judge Danny Freeman ’09, a senior
at Dartmouth College and member of the
a cappella group the Dartmouth Aires.
The Aires gained fame in 2011 when they
placed second in the NBC singing compe-
tition The Sing-Off.
Caroline Ferguson ’13, who directed
Ford’s performance of How the Grinch
Stole Christmas, received the Greaves
Medal for best overall contribution to
the Fiske Cup. Christian DiGiacomo ’13
(Drury) earned the best actor nod while
Tekla Monson ’14 (Ford) garnered best
actress honors.
Overall, about half of St. Paul’s School
students participated in the 2013 Fiske Cup.
Haitian Partnership
In 2010, after the devastating earthquake
in Haiti, St. Paul’s School established a
partnership with the upper school at
College St. Esprit in Cap Haitien, Haiti,
as part of the Episcopal Schools-Diocese
of Haiti Partnership Program organized
by the National Association of Episcopal
Schools. The Partnership Program serves
Haitians and North Americans by develop-
ing relationships of understanding and
advocacy with global partners to support
education as a means of societal transfor-
mation. College St. Esprit is a K-12 school
for 1,300 students with a technical school
for an additional 600 students, plus an
on-campus medical clinic.
In March 2012, Dean of Chapel and Relig-
ious Life Michael Spencer and Director of
Community Outreach Jo Brooks traveled
to Haiti to visit College St. Esprit and tour
the country to learn about its history, cul-
ture, and challenges in the wake of the
earthquake. One year later, faculty mem-
bers Alisa Barnard ’94, Leslie Chamberlain,
Kathryn Green, and Brian Schroyer joined
Reverend Spencer for a return visit to
College St. Esprit and to explore a rural
school in the mountain community of Leger.
“We left inspired by the amazing work
of the Episcopal Church in the country,
the deep commitment and care of the
priests, the generosity and hospitality of
the Haitian people, and their resilience,”
says Spencer.
Eager to deepen the School’s relation-
ship with Episcopal Schools in Cap Haitien
and Leger, Spencer says St. Paul’s also
continues to pursue efforts to benefit its
own students; providing an introduction
to global partnership, social enterprise
and entrepreneurial engagement; aware-
ness of issues of social justice; a deeper
understanding of the Episcopal Church;
and a manifestation of living out the
values of the School Prayer through an
ongoing partnership born out of mutual
understanding. 6