Tuesday, August 9th, 2011
by jason.epstein
Over the summer, rising senior Kara Kneeland (Class of 2012) designed and painted a custom mural for the technology office. She spoke with the folks who work in IT, brought in aspects of their personalities and aspects of technology to come up with a fantastic composite that everyone loves. The mural integrates icons from all different technologies into a spectacular image that meshes high-tech with nature. Look at the pictures, and see the whole album on Facebook and see if you can identify all of the images. Mr. E, Chief Information officer said he will give a prize to the first person who can identify all of the different technologies represented in the mural! Good Luck! Post your answers on the Facebook page.
Mural designed and painted by Kara Kneeland, '12
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Wednesday, May 18th, 2011
by The Vigornia
By Sun-Mee Kasper ’12
As much of the Worcester Academy population knows, we will be losing one of our beloved English teachers at the end of this year: Mr. Naftalis. Since the fall of 2004, Mr. Dan Naftalis, affectionately known by teachers and students alike as “Nafty,” has been a quiet but extremely influential man on campus. He has taught numerous freshman English classes, AP Language and AP Lit classes, and a few electives, and was the assistant coach of the wrestling and boys lacrosse teams. His wit, humor, and biting sarcasm complement his intelligence and insight. Some of my favorite classes were when we would forget analysis and close reading for a bit, maybe only fifteen minutes, and have open conversations with Mr. Naftalis about our fears for college, compare our lives to his, or ask for advice for how to handle living in our world today.
I could write a whole article about why I, and every one of his students, love Mr. Naftalis, but I thought it would be a better idea to let them speak for themselves. I asked a few of his current and former students and athletes if they would like write something short about him, and the response was overwhelmingly positive.
I have only had him for one year, but he has made a huge impact on my interest of English. Before his class I was timid, but he always made me feel like I was not bad at English and taught me to be a good writer. I hope his future students take advantage of having such a great teacher, and I know I will miss him next year. – Delaney Horan ’12
Mr. Naftalis has been one of my favorite teachers. His quick wit and sense of humor made Freshman English a lot of fun. On the academic side, he improved my writing skills and I still use some of his tips when I’m writing an essay. My favorite Mr. Naftalis moment was the day he and Mr. Baillie came in to class and wrote on the board “The English Players Present: Your Generation”. Then, without saying a word, Mr. Baillie stood in the back of the room and shined a laser pointer on the board. Mr. Naftalis proceeded to chase the light, trying to “catch it”. It was much like when one shines a flashlight on the floor and their pet tries to catch it since they do not understand it is a light. Besides that fact that it was a dig at the intelligence of the student body, it was one of the funniest moments in the class and a favorite memory from Freshman year. – Allison Aghjayan ’13
I’d like to thank him for all the great wrestling coaching. – Dom Casamassima ’13
Mr. Naftalis is one of the best English teachers I’ve ever had, always encouraging me and others in my class to go further and dig deeper. I will miss him and his jokes greatly next year! – Raji Pyda ’12
Mr. Naftalis has improved my writing so much this year. He is a terrific teacher, and I didn’t even realize how much I had learned until I took the AP. He made this class entertaining and engaging and still managed to teach things. His students at his next school don’t know how lucky they are! – Micayla Zelny ’12
After having Catholic school teachers for eight years, Mr. Naftalis’ class was a culture shock. I loved it. – Tamani Jayasinghe ’11
Mr. Naftalis is one of the best and funniest teachers I’ve ever had. A short (stupid) story: One time in freshman year World Lit, he was describing to our class the Y position that Jesus had probably hung in. A boy remarked that Jesus must have been really jacked to have held himself up for two whole hours. Mr. Naftalis: “Oh, so Jesus was drinking Red Bull?” – Kiana Nedele ’12
Easily the best English teacher ever. A great combination of teaching skills and humor. – Vinnie Doyle ’12
I remember on Mr. Naftalis’s birthday, we all walked in and proceeded to sing to him. He responded with a typical sarcastic comment about how he hated that we wished him a happy birthday, but we could all tell that he was trying so hard to hold back a smile. The times that he did smile were the most precious moments, as we cherished the few instances when we saw the hidden, internal Mr. Naftalis. I will truly miss his presence, insight, and sense of humor, all of which improved my writing tremendously and made me love English as a whole. – Anita Alur ’13
Mr. Naftalis was a great advisor. His advice over the years I’ve had him as an advisor has been extremely helpful. Although I’m sad he is leaving I wish him the best at his new school. – Mason Clemence ’12
He’s a hard teacher but I really learned a lot. I have the proper MLA essay format burned into my brain. And he always says things like ‘Children, quiet!’ and ‘Children, stop your whining!’ – MJ Duffy ’13
Mr. Naftalis is one of the funniest teachers in this school. He is a great advisor who always gives the best advice and has an awesome sense of humor. He came up with probably over a hundred nicknames for me throughout three years in advisory. I am definitely going to miss him next year, but wish him luck next year. – Jesse Pelletier ’12
Mr. Naftalis has impacted every single one of his students as an amazing teacher, advisor, and coach. Worcester Academy will not be quick to forget the humor and wisdom he has offered. Good luck next year, Mr. Naftalis; we will miss you!
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