Graham Higgins '05 Gives Special Chapel Talk on the Environment

When I visit alums in high school and ask them about their favorite school traditions, they typically cite daily Chapel and our family style lunch as most memorable. Both of these bring our boys together, whether to share time for reflection or a meal.

Since Chapel means so much to our boys, we have added a series of new Chapel talks given by our young alumni. Yesterday, Graham Higgins '05 returned to Saint David's to talk to sixth graders and their parents about global climate change.

Graham, a graduate of Trinity High School, University of St. Andrew's, and Columbia University, is a Senior Environmental Designer at Atelier Ten. Much of his work involves developing solutions to mitigate climate change's negative impact. "With every challenge comes opportunity," he told the boys and their parents. Citing the example of young Greta Thunberg, he encouraged them to actively participate in environmental efforts and causes that are meaningful to them.

Our Chapel talk topics range widely and are often born from the speaker's personal experiences. They provide an opportunity for boys to reflect upon an important issue or situation and to consider it from the speaker's perspective. The personal experiences shared during Chapel give the boys tools to navigate life and its challenges with strength, courage, and integrity. It is one way that we seek to fulfill our mission's aspiration that our boys become good men.

Thank you, Graham, for returning to Saint David's yesterday and inspiring our boys to be good by doing good.

The Wisdom Within - A Matter of Trust

The Teaching Boys Initiative (TBI) is a cornerstone of Saint David’s School’s strategic vision, aimed at developing a robust framework of evidence-based best practices in boys’ education. The initiative’s primary goal is to empower educators with the knowledge, skills, habits, and dispositions of reflective practitioners, enhancing their professional growth and the overall quality of teaching and learning for boys. In TBI's new quarterly blog series, "The Wisdom Within," our faculty share stories that inform, inspire, and encourage reflective practice using evidence-based approaches in teaching and learning for boys. The following inaugural entry, "A Matter of Trust," was written by reflective practitioner and Master Teacher Tom Ryan, who has been inspiring generations of Saint David's boys for more than 53 years. A MATTER OF TRUST …but, I digress. I cannot possibly begin any writing piece, and/or class, without some digression that, as I have said to my s...

Jack Mullin '12 : Reflections on a Mom's Love

The Chapel talk tradition at Saint David's provides faculty and alumni with the opportunity to share with our boys meaningful and inspiring personal stories: their experiences, lessons learned, challenges overcome. The annual Fifth Grade Mother-Son Chapel gathers our fifth-grade boys and their mothers or mother figures for a special shared pre-Mother's Day experience; a Chapel Talk by a young alumnus who reflects upon the role his mother has played in his life. This year, we welcomed former Student Council President Jack Mullin '12. Jack's family has deep roots with school. His older brother Patrick graduated in '08 and his dad, Terry, in 1973. Jack's talk centered on the impact both his alma mater and his mother, Immy, have had on his development into the man he is today. Below are excerpts that I would like to share: "My family's multi-generational lineage is a testament to the incredible sense of community Saint David’s fosters, and I too hope I have...

Strong Values

You can feel it in the air: the indescribable yet readily recognizable excitement of the start of a new school year - in our boys, teachers, families, administrators, and staff. Below, I share excerpts from my opening letter that speak to our 2024-25 school-wide theme, "Strong Values:" "To-morrow I cease to be a puppet, and I become a boy like you and all the other boys."* We teach boys. That’s what we do. And we want our boys to think for themselves. And we want that thinking to be rooted in and guided by “strong values”—our school-wide theme this year, found in the last line of the mission’s second paragraph. In keeping with the school’s classical tradition, these strong values are shaped at Saint David’s by the cardinal and theological virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, and courage, along with faith, hope, and charity. To many Western philosophers, possession of these virtues makes a person good, happy, and thriving. Something we want for all of our sons. ...

David O'Halloran, Headmaster - Saint David's School, New York City

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