Final Comments & Grades; Visiting Chilean Students; Community Service Hours, & Summer Reading

Friday, 17 June 2011

Greetings Upper School Parents:

I hope these first couple days of summer break finds you rested and well. Following end-of-year faculty meetings and scheduling sessions with students new to MVS, it is has been a productive week here at MVS. This e.mail serves as the official acknowledgement that grades and comments for the Spring Trimester, as well as final grades for the 2010-2011 academic year, are now available via My Backpack.

As way of gentle reminder, summer provides an opportune time for completing outside service learning and community service hours. Students are required to complete 20 hours of community service for each year they attend the upper school. A list of approved local service organizations in need of student help, and related community service forms are available on the documents section of the MVS upper school homepage at: http://www.mvschool.com/academics/upperschool/overview/upper-school-documents Considering how busy the school year becomes, summer remains a convenient and highly recommended time to work towards maintaining service learning contacts and completing outside community service hours.

The required 2011 Shared Summer Reading Selection is Peace, by Richard Bausch. Though an exciting partnership with the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Mr. Bausch will visit MVS in mid-September to speak with students and attend classes. A list of additional recommendations for summer reading is posted on my MVS Blog.

Descriptions and schedules for 2011 Summer Camp at MVS are available on the MVS web, including “College Application Fun Land,” a great way for rising seniors to get a serious jump-start on their college application processes. There are also a number of academic refresher courses, as part of August Academic Review.

In mid-September, I am thrilled to share that MVS will again host a student delegation from our sister school at The Thomas Jefferson School in Concepcion, Chile. We are again seeking MVS families to serve as hosts for our 10-12 Chilean visitors, ranging in ages from 14-16, for the two weeks that they are in the Dayton area. If you have interest, please send me an e.mail and I’ll be happy to discuss additional details with you. Thank you for your help with this important sister school connection, affirming MVS’ commitment to supporting global citizenship.

Many folks have asked for a copy of my Graduation Ode to the Class of 2011, presented as a traditional part of MVS Commencement exercises Victoria Theatre last Thursday. A printable version is available on my MVS Blog http://wagnersmvsblog.blogspot.com/ along with the archives of all letters and e.mails sent from the upper school office this year.

Best wishes towards a relaxing, invigorating, and productive summer.

With sincere regards,


Sam Wagner
Head of Upper School

MVS Summer Reading, 2011

MVS Upper School: Summer Reading, 2011

From our philosophy that reading should be an ongoing process, and, therefore a lifetime activity, the English department of The Miami Valley School has developed a summer reading program. Through this required reading, the department hopes students will cultivate an appreciation of literature and further develop skills of critical analysis and independent thinking. Finally, all students will share their common reading experiences at the beginning of the fall term.

2011 Shared Summer Reading
Entire Upper School, Grades, 9-12 & Faculty
Peace by Richard Bausch ISBN-10: 9780307268334

In addition, students in grades 9-12 are expected to select at least one additional title of their choosing to read over the summer. Members of the English Department have recommend the following books for summer reading.
Happy Reading!

Wagner recommends:
Selected Short Stories - Richard Bausch
Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India - William Dalrymple
A Visit From The Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything - Joshua Foer
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War - Tony Horowitz
In Spite of the Gods: The Rise of Modern India - Edward Luce
Anything for Billy - Larry McMurtry
The Barn at the End of the World: Apprenticeship of a Quaker, Buddhist Shepherd - Mary Rose O’Rilley
Civilwarland in Bad Decline - George Saunders
Your Inner Fish - Neil Shubin

Romeo recommends:
1984 - George Orwell
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Ken Kesey
And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie
October Country - Ray Bradbury
The Hunger Games trilogy - Suzanne Collins
The Stand (unabridged) - Stephen King
The Next President (political thriller) - Joseph Flynn
The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
The Kindness of Strangers - Katrina Kittle
China Run - David Ball
The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls

Moulton recommends:
Norwegian Wood - Haruki Murakami
Room - Emma Donoghue
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Don’t I Know You - Karen Shepard
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz
Nine Stories - JD Salinger
The Brothers Karamsov - Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Kindness of Strangers - Katrina Kittle
Tree of Sighs - Lucrecia Guerrero
The Sweet Hereafter - Russell Banks

Cleary recommends:
Kitchen House - K. Grissom
One Amazing Thing - Chithra Banerjee Divakurani
Stones into Schools - Greg Mortenson
Cutting for Stone - Abraham Verghese
Little Bee - Chris Cleave
The Yellow House - Pat Falway
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet - Jamie Ford
Zeitoun - Dave Eggers
Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

Munhofen recommends:
All the King's Men - Robert Penn Warren
The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce
A Separate Peace - John Knowles
Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison
The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor - Flannery O’Connor
Anthem - Ayn Rand
Tartuffe - Moliere
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead - Tom Stoppard
The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli

Graduation Photos from Nicholas Studios

Sunday, 12 June 2011

Greetings Upper School Parents:

Photos from the MVS 2011 Commencement have been posted on the Nicholas Studios website at: http://nicholasstudios.exposuremanager.com/g/06-09-11_mvs_graduation . It was a fabulous and bittersweet ceremony!

I best wishes towards a relaxing, breezy, and cool Sunday afternoon.

With sincere regards,


Sam Wagner
Head of Upper School

June Articles of Interest: 2011 Grad Speakers, Twitter #tags, Weird Al, & Modern Turkiye

Sunday, 12 June 2011

Greetings Upper School Community:

As a bonus from the busy schedule associated with start of June (Exams, Academic Awards, Graduation, and grad parties), here is a double-helping of “Articles of Interest” to conclude the 2010-11 academic year, begin Summer, and honor our MVS graduating Class of 2011.

Sunday, 12 June, New York Times: For Life’s Next Stage, Gallows Humor and Sage Advice, by Lisa W. Foderaro: Annual review and analysis of gradation speakers and topics; along with awesome multi-media graphic for 2011! http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/us/12intro.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=For%20Life%E2%80%99s%20Next%20Stage,%20Gallows%20Humor%20and%20Sage%20&st=cse

Sunday, 12 June, New York Times: Twitter’s Secret Handshake, by Ashley Parker. The cultural power of #tags; from Twitter and beyond… http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/fashion/hashtags-a-new-way-for-tweets-cultural-studies.html

Sunday, 12 June, New York Times: The Day the Music Died, by Freddie O’Connell: On-going demise of college radio stations. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/opinion/12oconnell.html

Sunday, 12 June, New York Times: Serving Pop Stars, but on a Skewer, by Dave Itzkoff. A priceless review of the quirky yet always entertaining Weird Al Yankovic; never underestimate the power of the accordion! http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/arts/music/weird-al-yankovics-album-alpocalypse.html

Sunday, 29 May, New York Times: Can Turkey Help to Unify the Arabs, by Anthony Shadid. Having extensively toured Turkiye a year ago during the 2010 Immersion, Turkiye provides some intriguing models for recent changes among Arab countries. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/weekinreview/29ottoman.html

Sunday, 5 June, New York Times: Defiant Showman Demands His ‘Wow,’ by Jason Zinoman. An inside look at the logistical and creative force behind Cirque du Soleil: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/theater/guy-laliberte-guides-cirque-du-soleil.html

Sunday, 29 May, New York Times: Funny or Die: Groupon’s Fate Hinges On Words, by David Streitfeld: The active and growing world of Groupon. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/business/29groupon.html

Happy reading and best wishes towards a restful summer.

Best regards,


Sam Wagner
Head of Upper School

Bittersweet Farewell to Class of 2011

Friday, 10 June 2011

Dear 2011 Graduates and Parents:

Your Graduation ceremony was a bittersweet delight; incredible in honoring you and your accomplishments, though certainly sad in imagining you-all departing from the Upper School.

I have posted the text of my graduation Ode To The Class of 2011 on my Blog at: http://wagnersmvsblog.blogspot.com/ for folks to peruse at your leisure.

I look forward to seeing you in the days, weeks, and months to come. Best wishes towards a restful summer and please remember to return and visit us here at MVS, especially before you head-off to college and life’s next steps.

I am very proud of the Class of 2011!

With sincere regards

“Wags”

Samuel Wagner, V
Head of Upper School

Wagner's Graduation Ode to Class of 2011

A Poetic Tribute to The MVS Class of 2011
Graduation Exercises: 7:PM, 9 June at Victoria Theater

Greetings scholars, parents, faculty, and guests
To MVS Commencement, designating time’s beginnings & rests.
Gathered in Dayton’s Victoria, for this exciting event
I extend a sincere welcome, and I am honored to present

An homage to our Seniors, I stand before you as scribe,
Their awesomeness, in which we take immense pride.
A rich blend of personalities; mixing of sugars and spice.
This class is so great, it is #1 . . . Twice.

The MVS faculty, seated in rows right up-front,
So proud to have shared class-room spaces.
On this Thursday evening, the ninth day-of-June,
They beam with smiles a-glow on their faces.

Looking deeper in the rows; I see family smiles.
Radiating satisfaction of accomplishments won.
Friends & guests, traveling from distances a-far
Faces shining brighter than that of the sun.

As writer and poet, I’ve earned dubious acclaim;
In truth, occasionally my rhyming is, a bit lame.
Sentiment a-side, I’ll try not to ramble too long
In reflecting their traits and to whom they belong.

Thus, with gathered resolve, I humbly commence.
Modestly, a simple cobbler of meaning.
Hoping to do justice to those in spot-light,
Our stars of this festive evening.


Leading off, our first is KATIE ADIB;
A leading-force on Brenna’s softball squad.
BADGLEY conjures songs with sultry smooth tone
For which soon, we will all applaud.

At ease on dramatic & musical stage,
JOELY is known to fashion beatnik attire.
NATE’s strength, during each of three seasons,
From golf, basketball, or tennis, he could retire.

STEPHANIE, akin to famed Yo-Yo Ma,
Crafts melodious notes on the cello.
Many a-chat have KORINNE & I shared
On topics deep, yet always, in tone mellow.

LIBBI’s arrangements, while hidden back-stage,
Assures smooth scenes of drama productions grand.
KETA’s long-jump has so distant become
At Dartmouth, next she will land.

Following sibling paths of Romina & Leo,
FERNANDA recently caught a bad case of “Bieber fever.”
CAUGHEY’s obvious grounding in Green Club ideals
She served also as orphaned-squirrel feeder.

LAUREL’s swift and fleet-footed skill;
About which she’s researched and knows very much.
To advance his study of basketball flair,
BOB traveled to the land of the Dutch.

Her dad, soon to confer our Diplomas,
CAROLINE’s middle name ‘Grace’ is not a far jump.
CHAORAN heads South to attend Alabama,
Alma Mater of the Forrest Gump.

Cultivated in proud Yellow Springs soil,
Bastion of peace-nics & organic gardens.
HOLLISTER & PORTER, eclectic they are,
In musical skill, require few pardons.

CLAIRE’s talent as writer exemplar
Trains her eye as a true “photo bug” resident.
MARY, in fact, shares her last name
With the first of our first American President.

Polite, witty, and clean-cut WALTER
With a Major General, he shares his name.
RAY regales verses of epic blitz-chess,
Poet Laureate of the Commons is his claim.

ZHENGHANG I first graciously met
In China’s lush province of Suzhou.
AMRITA, skilled wearing rhythmic tap-shoes,
Future as physician is destined, you know.

MATTHEW, traveled during Junior Immersion,
To historic land of Ataturk.
SOPHIA has appetite for topics science and math,
About which, she’s unabashedly berserk.

CIERRA, recipient of famed Sharron Jackson prize,
Poised leader, when excited, she tends-to-talk-faster.
KAILEY better known as our ‘Double-K’
Has yet to find a sport she cannot master.

MAYA’s technique as dancer-choreographer,
She has trained with Alvin Ailey’s Company.
As rumored leader of secret Improv group,
TORI’s rule of epic flash-mob was un-canny.

Guitar virtuoso, MAXWELL quickly became known
With in weeks of his arrival, two years hence.
JOHNNY, though regarded as sharing traits a panda,
In discussions, he thrives beyond recompense.

KATHLEEN, inspiration for MVS cheer-squad
She serves as organizer, leader, and coach.
TARA, in addition to handling “the twins”
Her leadership is be-yond any reproach.

The mystery behind VEERAL’s beguiling smile:
He’s the alias of masked super-hero, “The Bird!”
JEFF middle of legendary Paul brothers,
Of which, he fulfills a full third.

For those keeping count, we’ve crossed the half-way
Class of 2011, worthy of applause a-thunder.
MICHAEL departs for famed Notre Dame
On exotic campus, in the land of Down Under.

CAITLIN spent a year studying abroad;
We cried for her when she traveled to Argentina.
CAMERON’s unmatched self-less skill on the field
Will play soccer wearing Princeton-orange patina.

ELLEN’s compassionate instinct is beyond compare,
As ‘Ford, she’ll join famed ranks of “Black Squirrels.”
COREY’s manner comes from unique parental balance:
Mom a Reverend; Dad known for ref quarrels.

JYOTSNA & AURIEL, both thoroughly involved,
In diverse activities, always with aplomb.
A special bond in common they share
Both join sisters, as MVS Alums.

KHAYLA & I once greeted Obama together,
Last term, we reunited in Great Books.
VALERIYA brought to us international appeal
Her names: cool to pronounce, though perplex in looks.

Known most-commonly as “Suth,”
MATT once dressed as twin of Mr. Squiers.
After SUNEAL’s brief sojourn “out East,”
To become next Warren Buffet, he a-spires.

ELLIOT, the soul of cross-country and track squads
He exclusively can call his coach, “dear Father.”
For KIERA, volunteering with youth of all-ages
Through 4-H, to her, is no bother.

As if graduates departing were not sad enough,
SARAH & ALEX’s bright future plans.
Graduating, along with these two,
Are the last of WORKMAN and ZORNIGER clans.


If my math be correct, that makes 49 strong;
Right on the cusp of the half-century mark.
Profuse accolades collectively they have won,
Into larger world, they soon will embark.

So distinctive you look, formally seated on stage
Poised at cross-roads of college & high school.
Beyond your deeds, present & future,
As group, candidly, you’re really quite cool.

Be it as your Principal, English Teacher, or loyal-est of fans
Pride inside me wells at your sight.
Envisioning your exciting, audacious bright futures
And celebrations lasting into this night.

In closing my verse, more epic in jolts than in skill
Lines varying from dips, gaps, and lags,
Know that my intent is honestly derived;
Genuine sentiment from the one you call “Wags.”

Parents, teachers, family & guests, please join with me now:
In adulation for our graduates on stage.
In sending them off, with abundant acclaim
Our hopes, when returning, will be all-the-rage.

The praise from your audience, us seated before you,
Planning celebrations long into June.
Some final words, to recall this festive night,
God’s Speed, Best of luck, And visit soon!

Thank you


Samuel Wagner, V
Head of Upper School
Thursday, 9 June, 2011