Page 7 - Alumni Horae: Vol. 93, No. 2 Winter 2013

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Lindsay Gold
St. Paul’s recently received word from the
U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) that
the School has received LEED Gold certi-
fication for its “Leadership in Environ-
mental Energy and Design” of the Lindsay
Center for Mathematics and Science,
which opened in December 2011.
According to the USGBC website, there
are currently only 53 buildings – only 32
under the new construction category – that
have achieved LEED certification in the
State of New Hampshire, of which two are
located at St. Paul’s. In 2004, the Athletic and
Fitness Center earned LEED certification.
“LEED certification acknowledges the
fact that we built a really good green
building,” says Maura Adams, manager of
environmental stewardship at St. Paul’s.
The USGBC evaluated the building in
electrical use, heating and ventilation, light-
ing, indoor air quality, building location,
and the handling of construction waste.
SPS earned 61 of a possible 110 points to
qualify for its LEED Gold designation.
Overall, 13.76 percent of the building
was manufactured using recycled materials
exceeding the 10-percent LEED require-
ment. More than 98 percent of construc-
tion waste was recycled, including much
of the material from the demolition of the
Payson Science Center for fill under the
Lindsay courtyard.
The building also did particularly well
in water efficiency, earning all 10 possible
points; innovation in design, earning all
six possible points; and indoor environ-
mental quality, earning 12 of 15 points.
According to the LEED Certification
Review Report, the Lindsay Center earned
both possible points for innovative waste-
water technologies, which credited the
building for its gray water system that uses
rainwater to flush toilets in the building.
Overall, the building reduces potable water
usage by 83 percent compared with similar
structures. Also noteworthy is the Lindsay
Center’s significant noise reduction, creat-
ing optimal acoustics for learning.
Doves and Crows
A weeklong series celebrating the life of
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. opened with a
January 15 Chapel talk by James Sweet,
professor of history at the University of
Wisconsin Madison, about loving one’s
enemy. Professor Sweet said that humans
are often numbed to their common condi-
tion, instead trying to insulate themselves.
“There is something sacred in the fellow-
ship of suffering,” he said.
On January 17, Maceo Montoya, an artist,
author, and professor of Chicana/Chicano
studies at UC Davis, shared a story about
an encounter he had with a stranger who
simply wanted him to listen. Professor
Montoya was working on a mural when
a man approached and asked him, in
Spanish, “Cuanto me cobras?” (“How much
will you charge?”)
“How much will you charge me to ex-
press what I feel right here?”
Professor Montoya was disarmed by
the request and told the man repeatedly
that he was not sure what he was asking
of him. The man told him how he’d hurt
his back and could not work, how he was
43 years old and felt he would amount to
nothing, how “nothing is how I expected
it to be” in America. Professor Montoya
told the story through his poem “Red Sky.”
On January 18, Deji Ogunnaike, a Harvard
doctoral student in religion and African
studies who spent the 2011-12 academic
year as a teaching fellow at SPS, reminded
the community that Dr. King was first a cler-
gyman, who drew from the often quoted
‘turn the other cheek’ verse in Matthew 5:39.
“Any time a person thinks, says, wishes,
or does something negative for or toward
the other, he or she releases a crow, and
positive thoughts, words, and actions
release doves,” he explained. “On a more
mundane level, I’m sure we’ve all witnessed
the miracle of how one person choosing
to send out doves dissipates an environ-
ment of conflict or animosity.”
Strategic Thinking
Faculty returned from winter break to a
day of workshops for exchanging further
ideas toward the development of the
School’s strategic plan. Faculty were divided
into four groups, rotating through ses-
sions related to the Sixth Form experience;
encouraging a culture of interdisciplinary,
innovative, and collaborative learning;
promoting professional development;
and encouraging global citizenship and
leadership development.
“The point of this,” said Rector Mike
Hirschfeld ’85, “is to create a continuing
culture of strategic thinking.”
Two themes permeated the day’s dis-
cussion: the time restraints imposed by
the School’s busy schedule and whether
SPS has enough faculty to accommodate
the innovations proposed for the future.
Students completed a survey about the
strategic planning process. Of the 221
students who responded, 61 percent said
they are “very satisfied” with their edu-
cational experience at SPS and 92.5 percent
are either “somewhat satisfied” or “very
satisfied.” Thirty-four percent of students
“strongly agree” that SPS offers a curric-
ulum that encourages innovative thinking.
More than 72 percent believe that it is “very
important,” and 96.5 percent “somewhat”
or “very” important, for the School “to
provide meaningful leadership opportu-
nities for students.” Eighty-eight percent
of respondents feel that it is “somewhat”
or “very” important for the School to edu-
cate students about social justice.
Faculty members Tim Pratt and Michael
Spencer, co-chairs of the Strategic Plan-
ning Committee, will present a draft of
the plan to the full Board in April, with the
overarching goals focusing on fostering a
culture of collaboration, innovation, and
creativity; faculty and staff recruitment,
development, and retention; ensuring the
financial viability of the SPS model now
and in the future; and providing an envi-
ronment of community and character.
JANA F. BROWN