March 2005 · Volume l · Number VI
The eNewsletter of the Boston Latin School Association

AUTHORS! AUTHORS!
As part of the May 6-7 reunion weekend, BLSA is seeking alumni authors who are interested in having their books on display at the school on Friday, May 6. Available scribes should e-mail Lorraine Driscoll '94 at blsa@blsa.org.

LAST CALL: SPRING ALUMNAE FOCUS GROUP
BLSA is hosting the last of three informal spring focus groups to gather feedback about what female graduates want from their alumni organization. To register for the April 5 morning forum in Newton Highlands, please click here.

ALUMNI SURVEY
Calling all alumni! We still seek your help with our first online alumni survey, and, with more than 18,000 living alumni, it is critical for us to learn of your likes and dislikes, what we do well, and where we may fall short. The survey itself is brief and can be completed in less than five minutes. If you have not yet registered for the online community, you will need to use your class year as your password, and your user ID ({{$USER_PREF_CLASS$}}/{{$CLIENT_ID$}}) Please click here to participate, and thanks to all who have already done so. If you need further assistance with logging on to the online community, please e-mail blsa@blsa.org.

RED SOX NATION TOUR 2005
Join your fellow alumni to see the World Series Champion Boston Red Sox in action around the country this spring and summer. All tickets are available for sale now unless otherwise noted on our calendar to the left and on our events page at blsa.org. For ticket reservations, please call (617) 450-0004 ext. 20.

A TEST OF TRIVIA
Due to the work of technical gremlins, we were unable to determine a proper winner from last month’s query in honor of Black History Month, which seemed to stump many of our faithful readers. The few that did come through with the correct answer of Parker Bailey 1877 to the question — What was the name of the first black student to graduate from Boston Latin School, and when did he graduate? ­— should sleep more soundly knowing that they are members of a select group of alumni. Now, with all gremlins hopefully set aside, we pose the following challenge thanks to our own trivia genius, Assistant Head Master Malcolm Flynn:

March's question:

Herman S. Nelke 1907 was an actor, director, writer, producer and owner of a Broadway theater. What was his stage name?

Broadway buffs seeking a free T-shirt should send responses - including name and class year - magna cum celeritate via e-mail to blsa@blsa.org.

NEWS FROM THE SCHOOL
•	Paul Pitts '73, director of the performing and visual arts program, was pleased to announce that Boston Latin School was recently named as a recipient of a GRAMMY Signature School Award, "designed to honor exceptional public high school music programs across the country." The national award, which includes a donation to the school of $2,000, named 40 "Signature Schools" in total with cash awards ranging from $1,000 to $10,000.
•	A total of 41 Latin School students participated in the City Science Fair, with 18 in the junior category (7th grade), and 23 in the senior category (9th - 12th grade). Of these, 36 received prizes. Visit bls.org for a full list of the awards.
•	Thanks to their great efforts in raising more than $25,000 for UNICEF's Tsunami Relief Fund, the top fund-raising homerooms for each class were honored in March with an ice cream party, hosted by guest scoopers Mayor Thomas Menino P'85 and Superintendent Thomas Payzant. Later, the mayor and superintendent taped a congratulatory message to the entire school for broadcast on the WBLS-TV Morning News.
•	This month also marked Latin's annual Battle of the Bands, where a number of student rock bands gather and audition, hoping to earn a spot in the main competition. At press time, a handful of "the best of the best" battled to earn the "favorite band" label, which comes with a $100 prize. Black Tie Affair, one of the school's well known ska bands and last year's victors, returned in hopes of holding on to their crown. More details to follow in the April @blsa.

ALUMNI NEWS
•	Alumni artist Nicholas Abraham '59 will be showing his works during the month of April at ArtistsGallery at the Hyatt Regency Hotel Boston. The hotel gallery - located at One Avenue de Lafayette in the heart of Downtown Crossing - is open for public viewing from 6-9 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, noon to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, or by appointment at any other time. Sale proceeds in April will benefit the arts program at Boston Latin.
•	Carl Morton '85 recently published his first book, "Morton's College Student Dictionary," which takes a lighthearted look at the lingo used during one's four - or more - years of college. Morton's own Latin School background served as a clear source of inspiration, as found on page 3 under the definition of "aced: you came, you saw and you conquered the exam." Morton also cites his other alma mater, Tufts University, as another source of inspiration for his first publishing effort, which is available on amazon.com as well as barnesandnoble.com.
•	Since August 2003, Robert Eugene '97 and Kareem Lyder '97 have hosted a weekly Saturday Hip Hop night at the Blue Wave Bar & Lounge in Boston, one of the longest running Hip Hop nights in the city.
•	Sandra Patricia Castillo '94 was one of several artists whose work was featured during the month of March as part of "Celebrate Women's History Month with: East Boston Women Artists," a program through the Boston Mayor's Office of Arts, Tourism and Special Events.

CONTACT US
101 Huntington Avenue, Suite 200, Boston, MA 02199
Phone 617.450.0004 Fax 617.450.0284
Web www.blsa.org
E-mail blsa@blsa.org