w w w. m a d e i r a . o r g

Nota BeneA newsletter of The Madeira School

I was thrilled to be asked to speak to this class tonight.

This class has come a long way in a few short years. You have grown together, and I mean that in two ways. You have each grown up - you have each matured. But you have also done this side by side, you have grown together until your roots have become inter-twined. This, I believe, is one of the benefits of attending an all-girls school.

I too was fortunate to attend an all-girls school, and two weeks from now, my best friend from Spence will be coming to Virginia to become my son’s godmother. She is a constant in my life—regardless of the length of time that passes between phone calls—she is my touchstone, and in two weeks, I am entrusting her with my child.

These are the kinds of bonds you are forging with each other today. And I am convinced that for this class,

those bonds will be very strong. Look around. How many people in this room would you trust with the most precious things in your life? Your friendship, your love, your loyalty, and maybe one day, your child.

The wonderful thing about all of these amazing entanglements is what they have allowed you to accomplish as a group, as a class.

When I think of this class, I think of pretty powerful adjectives. I also - given my profession - tend to think of U.S. history. And as I sat down to compose this, I combined the two.

This class is assertive, unafraid to speak its mind. This class is Malcolm X, Margaret Sanger, William Lloyd Garrison, and Teddy Roosevelt.

The class of 2007 is, in the words of Kalina Francis ’07, “unafraid of a healthy conversation.”

On last spring’s Advanced Place-ment U.S. history exam, the DBQ, or document-based question, was on the subject of women from the Revolution-ary period to the antebellum era. My students were thrilled, but in the weeks that followed, a great hue and cry went up from high schools around the coun-try…from students, and most revolting-ly, from teachers. “How could they ask such a stupid question?!” “Who bothers to teach that?!” “There’s nothing to teach!” “These are women’s issues not history - women didn’t make history!”

The last of these remarks was in a letter from a teacher in New York State. I forwarded his letter to my AP students with a note that said, “Perhaps we should send this to his boss.”

I believe it was Alex Moore ’07 who replied, “To heck with his boss, let’s send it to his mother!”

You are Shirley Chisholm – utterly unbossed and unbought.

2007 is creative. You are Mary Cassatt, Alvin Ailey, Duke Ellington, and Willa Cather.

Last year, Bree Hollinger ’07 took the braids out of her hair and teased it up so that her presentation on Jimi Hendrix would be as visually stunning as it was insightful.

This class doesn’t do things half way. This class is Manifest Destiny, the Beats, and the Transcendentalists.

In her junior year, Gaby Lapera ’07 dove into her research paper on Scien-tology with such vigor, I was afraid we wouldn’t get her back. I had visions of her arm in arm with Tom Cruise and Lisa Marie Presley, jumping up and down on Oprah’s couch.

Parents’ Weekend Senior Dinner TalkGiven by Kate Gillin

A much-loved tradition at Madeira is the senior dinner on Friday night of Parents’ Week-end. The senior class, their parents and advisors gather together for a special evening of connection. The occasion is highlighted by speakers, musical entertainment and sometimes audiovisual presentations. Some years girls have written and performed a song in their class’s honor. Other years members of the class have shared their talents via the piano or guitar. The event allows Madeira seniors and their families to begin reflecting on the special relationships they have with one another and the School. This year the class asked Mrs. Gillin, member of Madeira’s History Department, to speak to the class on this special evening. Mrs. Gillin’s speech puts into words the unique relationships shared by Madeira girls and their teachers, relationships defined by mutual care and respect.

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Nota Bene

2007 is also remarkably resilient and enduring. You are John Quincy Adams and Alice Paul. You have fought back from failed tests, broken hearts, great falls from horses, and torn ACLs. You have done this because you are together and you support one another.

This class is revolutionary. This class is Patrick Henry, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Jacob Coxey, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Did you know that there is an actual insurrectionary movement brewing in the class of 2007? The plot was hatched last year. The class of 2007 is plotting to overthrow the College Board.

What made this particular revolu-tion interesting to me, however, was the motivation behind it.

These girls are not angry because the College Board makes them get up early on a Saturday morning, or because they are forced to take three-hour-long tests. They’re not even

angry about having to compose a writ-ing sample, the content and analysis of which no one bothers to consider.

No…the Madeira girls in the class of 2007 want to overthrow the College Board because they believe it is a clear violation of the Clayton AntiTrust Act of 1914. And in true Lockean fash-ion, they were enraged that the federal

government had done nothing and decided to take the matter in their own hands. Where else would you find such a revolution?!

This class is also a little crazy…there is some Aaron Burr in each of you. But this is why we here love you all. And this is why you will be remembered.

You, the class of 2007, are now very much a part of my history, my memory. You are also central to Madeira’s history. You are the first class of Madeira’s second century. You herald our future. And if you are any indication of where we are headed, the future is bright indeed.

But you are also destined to change the world. You are bold, assertive, creative, resilient, revolutionary, and, yes, a little crazy. You will be marvelous leaders, and as much as I will miss you - and I will miss you terribly - I will feel much better knowing that you are out there leading the revolution.

Thank you.

Mrs. Gillin is a Master Teacher and has been a member of the Madeira History Department for seven years.

This class is assertive, unafraid to speak its mind. This class is Malcolm X, Margaret Sanger, William Lloyd Garrison, and Teddy Roosevelt.