Features
The Concord Academy Survival Guide
Starting at a new school is always daunting, and beginning your Concord Academy experience is no different. It’s daunting to step onto campus as a student for the first time. There are unspoken rules, traditions, and things that would have been nice for people to tell...
Joan Shaw Herman Award: Dr. Ingrid Walker-Descartes ’91
On Friday, April 9, Dr. Ingrid Walker-Descartes ’91 returned to campus as one of the 2021 Joan Shaw Herman Award recipients. This award is bestowed annually to Concord Academy graduates in recognition of their outstanding service to others. Dr. Ingrid...
Junior Leadership Retreat
On Friday, March 25, 100 juniors from Concord Academy left for a one-night junior leadership retreat at the Prindle Pond Conference Center in Charlton, MA. This 15-year annual retreat provides juniors with an opportunity to bond as a class and strengthen their...
Class of 2022 Senior Transition Seminar
On Friday, March 25, the Class of 2022 came together as a class for the annual Senior Transition Seminar. Through a variety of activities and presentations led by Alexa Holmes, Wilcox Fellow for Health and Wellness and Community and Equity team member, and Ndanu...
A Look Back in Time: The Council Representation Issue of 1994
December 9, 1994; during the very same month that Concord Academy received its first computer, CA was facing one of the most difficult questions it has come across. How do minority groups receive representation on all-school councils? The system in place at the time—a...
2022 Admissions Season
On March 10, 2022, Concord Academy’s Admissions Office released admissions decisions to prospective members of the Class of 2026. In an interview with the Centipede, Marie Myers, Director of Enrollment Management, offered insights on this year’s admissions season. Due...
News
Signs of Spring and Where to Find Them
With the Spring Equinox on March 20th, spring has officially sprung in Massachusetts! Signs of spring are everywhere; perhaps the most obvious are the flowers appearing from under leaf litter. The first flowers to pop up are typically crocuses, which are naturalized...
Semi-Formal 2022
Semi-Formal 2022 was hosted on Saturday, April 2 at Concord Academy. The dance, hosted by the junior class, was highly anticipated, as it was originally planned to take place earlier in the year, but due to COVID-19, was pushed back to allow students to have the best...
Layers of Ourselves Project
Walking down the hallway on the second floor of LABS, you may have stumbled across a brightly-colored project attached to the whiteboard. A series of maps is on display, each one covered in magnets with a prompt question written in marker above. This is John Pickle’s...
CAMUN 2022
Concord Academy Model United Nations (CAMUN) was hosted on campus on Saturday, April 2. The annual conference is known for its creative committees and professional atmosphere. This year, CA hosted 19 schools and over 200 delegates for a day of debate....
2022-23 Academic Year Course Request Assembly
On April 11, 2022, rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors of Concord Academy gathered in the Performing Arts Center for an assembly on course requests for the upcoming academic year. During this event, Will Tucker and Alyse Ruiz-Selsky ’05, Director of Studies,...
Summer of Soul Screening
On March 16, UMOJA (Concord Academy’s Black Student Affinity Group) launched a two-part screening of Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), a 2021 documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. Students were ushered into the PAC...
Opinions
“Don’t Say Gay” Bill
On March 8, Florida’s Senate passed the Parental Rights in Education Bill, more commonly known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, a title that has caused an uproar of backlash from LGBTQ+ rights activists and allies. In essence, the bill bans Florida’s public schools...
One Year Later: Looking Back on “Sexual Assault Awareness at CA”
When I first saw Darley Boit’s ’21 Centipede article in the work-in-progress folders of last year’s May issue, I did not know what to think. In my two years spent at Concord Academy, I had known that cases of assault and harassment existed at CA; I had heard, not...
A Love Letter to Figure Skating: Kamila Deserves Better, and International Sports Needs to Wake Up
Last month, the Winter Olympics happened, and figure skating Twitter promptly exploded. Called by some a tragedy and by others an embarrassment, the story, too, died down in the weeks following, leaving behind a sour aftertaste and a gap of forgotten...
My Experience on a Semester Away
Last semester, instead of beginning my junior year at Concord Academy, I drove three hours north to join the Chewonki Maine Coast Semester Program’s sixty-seventh semester. The Chewonki Foundation operates a variety of programs, including the Maine Coast Semester, on...
Should We Celebrate Presidents’ Day?
Most people know Presidents’ Day as a day off when students do not go to school and most of the professional world is shut down. Everyone enjoys a day of sleeping in and relaxation in the midst of their chaotic lives. But, the purpose of Presidents’ Day is to...
The Best Pizza in Concord
While we all know and love the food that the wonderful Stu-Fac provides for us here at Concord Academy, sometimes, you just want pizza. And in Concord, with several options, it is hard to choose where to get that pizza from. I am here to tell you where exactly the...
Arts
Movie Review: The House
The House is a cozy kind of creepy. Unlike conventional horror films, The House relies much less on cheap jump scares, rather giving you nightmares through pure psychological horror. This is no ordinary feat for a stop motion film. Segmented into three parts,...
Directors’ Workshop Presents Mustardseed and The Lifespan of a Fact
This May, the bustling spring performing arts season at Concord Academy continues the celebration of student-driven productions through Directors’ Workshop. As CA’s highest level theater course, this semester-long opportunity is dedicated annually to two seniors who...
Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood Review
Margaret Atwood’s Cat’s Eye, published in 1988, is a novel about the experience of Elaine Risley, who goes back to her hometown Toronto and confronts (or rather, is haunted by) memories of her family, her childhood bully Cordelia, and her life as an artist. I stumbled...
Winter Dance Project: A Room With Us in It
As audience members ascended the central stairway of the Student Health and Athletic Center (SHAC) Saturday, February 26, evening, warmly-lit fairy lights hovering over the balcony illuminated their presence, transforming the space into the opening stage for the...
Science and Tech
Course Spotlight: Advanced Economics
Roughly ten years ago, the dean of faculty of Concord Academy asked Mathematics Department faculty Mark Engerman to teach a new math elective on economics. Up until this current school year, Engerman has taught the ensuing course, Advanced Economics, once every...
Wait, They’re Growing Plants in the Stu-Fac?!
Since March 23, the Stu-Fac has been home to three brand-new artificial gardens which can be seen in the wall separating the freshman pit and the faculty tables. They have thus far been a modest yet intriguing addition to CA’s most central building. Designed by the...
Course Spotlight: Advanced Topics Vectors & Variables
Concord Academy’s Mathematics Department offers a variety of courses for students of different interests and backgrounds. To ensure equity, the department provides options for both advanced or introductory and passionate or indifferent students. For those who have...
Sports
Athletic Spotlight: Boys Tennis
The 2022 boys tennis team is shaping up to be one of the best in years. 33 players tried out for the team this spring, including nearly a dozen freshmen, leading to one of the deepest talent pools in a long time. With only three former varsity players not returning...
Spring Sports Preview
As the days get longer and warmer, Concord Academy prepares to begin the Spring athletic season. After the conclusion of a very successful winter season, athletics for the 2022 spring season are underway. A wide variety of programming including interscholastic team...
Super Bowl LVI
Super Bowl LVI took place on Sunday, February 13, 2022. The Los Angeles Rams met the Cincinnati Bengals at SoFi Stadium, the home of the Rams, although they were designated as the away team for the Superbowl. Many Concord Academy community members watched the game, in...