New England
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July 16, 2023
With Friday night’s festivities in the rearview mirror, the weekend is in full swing! On Saturday morning, students on the New England High School Summer Program were up bright and early for the day’s events. Many started with Mass before stopping by the Gould Commons for a cheesy-veggie egg scramble, crispy bacon, and fruit. Then, all rushed the athletic field for the morning’s volleyball tournament!
Six teams were formed with prefects and Admissions officers as the captains. Students cheered from the sidelines as the players fought their way through the bracket, trying to come out on top. In the end, the team captained by prefect Jonahs Chavez came out on top!
Photos: Volleyball Tournament
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But it wasn’t the end! The final championship round was still to come. One by one, the tutors of Thomas Aquinas College, New England, arrived, ready to play Jonahs’ team. The tutors play in the school year’s volleyball tournament, so they know a thing or two about the sport. But Jonahs’ team wasn’t about to give up so easily! In the end, the students triumphed, and the whole field burst into cheers!
The tournament ended, and students quickly changed from their gym clothes into something a little more formal, eager for the next event. After grabbing a quick lunch of beef nachos, the programmers found themselves once again on buses. The first stop was the Clark Art Institute. All were captivated by the walls of stunning paintings, keeping Mr. Nieto’s lecture in mind as they opened their eyes to the beauty around them.
The Clark Institute holds paintings by Winslow Homer, Claude Monet, Pierre-August Renoir, and many others. The students took time to soak in the beauty of the artwork. They were drawn in by the beautiful lighting of the landscapes, they marveled at the intricacy and detail of the portraits, and they delighted in the delicate simplicity of the still-life paintings.
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“My favorite artist was Degas,” said Therese L. “When you look at ballerinas, you usually see the epitome of grace, but Degas paints them as ordinary people in their practice rooms, and so all of a sudden you see that ballerinas are normal people that can really attain that beauty and grace in their dance.”
At the end of their time at the Clark Institute, the group grabbed a quick group photo before heading to their second destination: Tanglewood Music Center! Every student got a ticket for the evening’s performance of Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte, presented by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. This opera features two men and their betrothed. The men are confident in the faithfulness of their wives-to-be, but their friend Don Alfonso is not as convinced. He persuades the two men to test the fidelity of the women. Deciding to take the risk, the two men tell the women that they are going off to war, and then disguise themselves and return to woo their fiancées with hidden identities.
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The Boston Symphony Orchestra gave a tremendous performance, stunning the audience with incredible music and singing. “I liked how the orchestra stood in the background,” commented student Dennis C. “It really added to the ambience.”
After the talented performers’ final bows, the summer programmers headed back to the bus. The opera had gone late into the night, and many students took the opportunity to take a nap before arriving back on campus, where all promptly went back to their residence halls to get ready for bed. It was a day full of beauty and joy, and the students went to bed with colorful paintings still in their mind’s eye — and sweeping opera ringing in their ears.
Thus concludes the first week of the 2023 New England High School Summer Program. Return tomorrow to catch up with our programmers and see photos from today’s planned kayaking trip along the Connecticut River!
