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| Students on their first day of classes at The Hill |
The Hill School marked the opening of our 162nd academic year on Tuesday, September 4, 2012. We start this year with the most students in the history of the School -- 512. We are especially excited to welcome our new students: 178 new girls and boys
arrived at The Hill this past weekend. Hill’s 512 students include representatives from 20 states; 34 percent of Hill’s diverse young men and women are students of color, and 16 percent are international, hailing from 18 different foreign countries ranging from Vietnam and Venezuela to Hungary and Greece.
Students enjoyed a day filled with 20-minute class periods straight through until the first seated lunch of the year, followed by individual form meetings, and afternoon activities (athletics, afternoon arts, and community service).
Last night, Headmaster Zack Lehman, along with Hill student leaders and members of the Hilltones and Hilltrebles (Hill’s select a cappella groups), kicked off the year at our annual Convocation ceremony. After Sixth Form President Ted Poatsy '13 offered opening remarks, our talented students performed a “day in the life of a model student” skit which served as a reminder to all students about Hill’s traditions and the daily routine. The entire Hill community then joined voices for an enthusiastic performance of the School’s Fight Song, “Hill, Dear Old Hill.”
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| Students sing The Hill's Fight Song at Convocation |
When Headmaster Lehman took the stage, he spoke about his experience in law school and the Socratic Method used in many college classrooms. He posed four questions to the student body:
Why are you at Hill? What are your goals at The Hill? What can you do? What does innovation mean to you and who is an innovator you admire? He then randomly selected four names and asked those students to stand and answer one of those questions.
Finally, he spoke to students about Hill alumni who are innovators in their own right – Caitlin Klein ’09, a student at Davidson College and director of the Children of Fire USA organization; Colleen Gulick ’09, a bioengineering major at the University of Maryland, three-time field hockey national champion, and an accomplished cyclist; Melissa Dillard '99, one of Hill's first female graduates and a flight instructor at the Naval Air Station Pensacola; Andrei Herasimchuk '88, lead designer at Twitter; Manoj Bhargava '72, creator of 5 Hour Energy; James Cromwell '58, Academy-award-nominated actor and animal rights activist; Max Pearson '53, National Prep School and Big Ten national wrestling champion and award-winning furniture designer at Knoll.
Headmaster Lehman wrapped up the night by quoting "Lose Yourself" by Eminem and asking the audience to consider the lyrics of the song as they will pertain to their time at The Hill:
You better lose yourself in the music, the moment. You own it, you better never let it go. You only get one shot, do not miss your chance ... this opportunity comes once in a lifetime.
View photos from Covocation here.