Convocation Kicks off the 2024-25 School Year

Head of School Donald M. Austin welcomed students to the 2024-25 school year, which launched a new academic schedule that was restructured with the goals of reducing stress levels, increasing community bonding time and enhancing hands-on classroom experiences. 

School Council President Brett Matlosz ’25 reminded his peers to embrace this change with positivity. “Being founded in the height of a revolution, change has always been a part of NA’s culture,” he said. “NA has always preserved through change … and I have no doubt that you will continue to persevere.”

Following, Dean of Faculty Traci Osterhagen Brock recognized milestone awards for long-serving faculty and staff:

 

Charles Crosby

Fan Luo

Sarah Morgan

Dan Reed

Scott Rowling

Hernando Santamaria

Richard Stilliard

Renée Walker

 

Caitlin Ciampaglio

Erik Jacobsen

Dave Kapferer

Mike Thayer

Kerri Speck

 

Lou Scerra

Ed Pursell

 

Karen Kuser

Kirsti Morin

Neil Stourton

 

Billy Blomn

Pat Neary

 

Dan Erlandson

 

During his keynote address, Ben reminisced about his first-ever newspaper job on Newark Academy’s Minuteman newspaper. He went on to become a hugely successful sports reporter at The Wall Street Journal for many years, where he now pens a business column.

 

“There’s no way any of this would have happened if not for Newark Academy,” he said. “It was right here, from teachers on this stage, where I learned how to write and how to think.”

 

Ben went on to captivate students by detailing the inspiring journeys of two entrepreneurs (the founders of Hoka and the woman who brought Birkenstocks to the United States) and the world’s greatest pole vaulter (Armand Duplantis). Through carefully crafted mini-stories, Ben demonstrated the ways in which each had a problem – and instead of waiting for someone else to create a solution – they took it upon themselves to create something better or be better, one day at a time. “Better is always out there for anyone willing to find it,” he said.