Taylor Mali, one of the most well-known poets to have emerged from the poetry slam movement and one of the few people in the world to have no job other than that of poet, enthralled Middle and Upper School students today at an assembly presentation. Eloquent, accessible, passionate and often downright hilarious, Mali studied drama in Oxford with members of The Royal Shakespeare Company and puts those skills of presentation to work in all his performances. He was one of the original poets to appear on the HBO series Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry and was the “Armani-clad villain” of Paul Devlin’s 1997 documentary film SlamNation.  He is also the author of two books of poetry, The Last Time As We Are  and What Learning Leaves, and four CDs of spoken word. He received a New York Foundation for the Arts Grant in 2001 to develop Teacher! Teacher! a one-man show about poetry, teaching, and math which won the jury prize for best solo performance at the 2001 Comedy Arts festival. We thank Sharon Smullen for arranging for this very special guest to help us celebrate National Poetry Month and Arts Month at BCD.

To learn more about Taylor Mali and his poetry, visit www.taylormali.com

BCD’s Got Talent Night was a huge success and raised $1,771!  Thank you! Thank you! The Service Learning Club met on Monday to discuss ways to sustain and support our relationship with the school AVS in Salino Haiti.  They have come up with some wonderful ideas and will share them with the school community soon! If you were unable to attend or want to relive the night, a video of the performances can be found on MyBCD.

Don’t forget that Student Council and the Environmental Club will be hosting a movie night tomorrow (Friday) night in the Furey Hall Music Room at 6:00 p.m. The movie to be shown is Disney Pixar’s “Wall-E” (rated G).  A $4 admission fee will be charged to raise money for the purchase and installation of motion-sensor lights. This initiative will help the school become more energy efficient and reduce energy costs. 

The Dangerous Women Event Committee will be on campus again tomorrow at both drop off and pick up selling class gift raffle tickets and tickets for both performances of Dangerous Women. Raffle tickets are $10 or 5 for $40, 10 for $75 and 20 for $100. Please help support your child’s contribution to the financial aid fund by buying raffle tickets. Looking to buy tickets and no one is around? Stop by the Development Office any time (between 8:00 – 4:30) and see Joanne DelCarpine or Maxine Carter-Lome.

Mark your calendar for Arts Night at BCD, Tuesday, April 20. This celebration of the Arts features exhibitions of student artwork and live performances by the Vocal Ensemble, Band, Caribbean Music and Improvisational Theater students. Join us in Fitzpatrick Hall starting at 4:45 for our gallery showing. Hors d’oeuvres courtesy of the Parents’ Association will be served.

Mark your calendars for Thursday, May 6 at 7:00 p.m. when the Parents’ Association will present guest speaker Dr. Lyn Mikel Brown. Dr. Brown is the author of the books “Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing our Daughters from Marketers’ Schemes” and “Packaging Boyhood: Saving our Sons from Superheroes, Slackers, and Other Media Stereotypes.” Dr. Brown will be giving a talk entitled “Packaging Childhood: Saving our Kids from Marketers, Schemes, and Stereotypes.” This lecture is free and open to the public so please help us spread the word.

We are pleased to announce that 21 Upper school students were awarded certificates and medals for their high scores on the 2010 National Latin Exam. The NLE exam is sponsored both by the American Classical League and the National Junior Classical League. More than 150,000 students from all 50 states and 13 foreign countries took the test in March.

The following students received their Certificates and Medals at a special MS/US Morning Meeting today as their proud parents looked on. Congratulations to Eugenie Fawcett, all the students that participated, and our award winners:

For the Introduction to Latin exam, C. Wessel received a Ribbon and Achievement Certificate.

For the Latin I National Exam, the following students received Gold Summa Cum Laude distinction: I. Raposo and N. Sprague.

For the Latin I National Exam, the following student received Silver Maxima Cum Laude distinction: J. Cole-Kink, S. Hampton, H. Newman and Z. ParkeHarrison.

For the Latin I National Exam, the following student received Magna Cum Laude distinction: G. Ciaburri, C. Capeless, and H. Novak.

For the Latin I National Exam, the following student received Cum Laude distinction: J. Corcoran and G. Pichard.

For the Latin II Exam, the following student received Gold Summa Cum Laude distinction: J. Reynolds, G. Rossman, H. Bruggemann and H. Piasecki.

For the Latin II Exam, the following students received Silver Maxima Cum Laude distinction: W. Benner and S. Blair.

For the Latin II Exam, the following students received Cum Laude distinction: MG McNulty (G8 – Lenox, MA).

For the Latin III Exam, the following students received Silver Maxima Cum Laude distinction: I. Ciaburri and B. Wheeler.

Did you know that BCD’s Upper School Arts Block consists of over 20 classes for students in Grades 7-9 to choose from?

• Band
• Chorus
• Chamber Music
• Electronic Music
• Caribbean Music
• Guitar Ensemble
• Drawing, painting, Sculpture
• Black & White Photography
• Arts Foundation
• Mosaics & More
• Graphic Design
• Shop
• Digital Film
• Improvisational Theater

These classes encourage BCD students to explore new mediums and creative ways of expressing themselves. For more information on BCD’s Upper School Arts Block, view the Upper School Program of Studies .

Want to see and hear what these students have been working on this year? Join us for Arts Night at BCD, Tuesday, April 20 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. This family event celebrates the Arts at BCD with exhibitions of student works and live performances. We hope you will join us!

Members of the Dangerous Women Event Committee will be selling Class Gift Raffle Tickets and tickets to both performances of Dangerous Women at the wall tomorrow, Wednesday, April 14, and Friday, April 16 at drop off and pick up. 

Support your child’s class in their effort to raise money for BCD’s financial aid fund. Raffle tickets are $10 each, or 5 for $40, 10 for $75 and 20 for $100. The more you buy – the more you increase your odds of being a winner. The drawing will be held at the Saturday night gala performance of Dangerous Women. You need not be present to win – but it sure would be fun!

Tickets for both Saturday night’s performance and the Sunday matinee will also be on sale. Avoid the Shakespeare & Co. online service fee and buy direct from us.

Cash and checks only, please. Stop by our ticket information booth this Wednesday and Friday for more information.

Don’t forget that the Environmental Club is still collecting bottles and aluminum cans to recycle to raise money to purchase and install motion-sensor lights in BCD classrooms around campus. A well-marked collection bin is available behind Clemons Hall. Please help us make our campus more energy efficient.

The members of the Environmental Club and Student Council invite all students to attend a special movie night fundraiser on Friday, April 16 at 6:00 p.m. in Fitzpatrick Hall. The movie to be shown is Disney Pixar’s “Wall-E” (rated G).  A $4 admission fee will be charged to raise money for the purchase and installation of motion-sensor lights. This initiative will help the school become more energy efficient and reduce energy costs. See you all at the movies!

Find out for yourself at

BCD’s Got Talent Night                                                                                                Saturday, April 10th at 6:30                                                                                             BCD’s Winthrop Theater – 45 West Street, Lenox

ALL PROCEEDS TO BENEFIT HAITI!!!!!

Suggested donation at the door of $4.

Support the Bake Sale during intermission.