Wednesday, November 21 was our annual fall fencing tournament in Philadelphia, held at the Fencing Academy of Philadelphia, at Lancaster Avenue and 36th Street. We had an enthusiastic crowd of cheerleaders from TAA, including friends and relatives of our students. Captains Joel Fink and Barbara Matejova did a great job of warming up the team, and helping the fencers when help was needed. Our opponent was Christ Classical Christian Academy, and a great time was had by all. We anticiapte a great re match in the spring, and all are invited.

On Monday, January 14, students from grades 7-12 attended a special Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) lecture, entitled Hizballah’s Military Strategy.  The lecture was presented by Andrew Exum of King’s College, London.  From the FPRI website:

Andrew Exum served in the US Army from 2000-04, leaving active duty as a captain. He was decorated for valor in 2002 while leading a platoon of light infantry in Afghanistan. Subsequently, he led a platoon of Army Rangers into Iraq in 2003 and into Afghanistan in 2004. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, he has lived in Beirut, where he studied at the American University. He is author of This Man’s Army: A Soldier’s Story from the Front Lines of the War on Terrorism (Gotham, 2004).

TAA has received an invitation from our friend Ms. Marianne Hansen, assistant curator of Rare Books, and we plan to take our students to the Bryn Mawr College Library Rare Book Room spring exhibit on Books of Hours, which are medieval illuminated prayer books.  Bryn Mawr has one of the great liberal arts college libraries in the country, with more than a million volumes and nationally significant collections on the history of women, classical antiquity, the early development of printing, and many other fields. Unfortunately, time and handling have taken their toll on many of these books, resulting in broken bindings and damaged pages that put their long-term survival at risk.

On January 3, a group of 12 TAA’ers attended Anthony Lawton’s production of CS Lewis’ Screwtape Letters at the Lantern Theater in Philadelphia.  A clever staging used the character of Toadpipe (Screwtape’s demon-personal secretary) to deliver the letters from nephew Wormwood, demon in training, who just couldn’t quite capture the soul of a Christian young man in WWII London.  We all agreed that the choreography segments were “a bit much,” but nevertheless it was a worthwhile evening and much discussion was generated.  We were thrilled to have two TAA grads able to join us: Kate Anthony UPENN ’10, and Julie Soper Swarthmore ’11.

Congratulations to the following students whose poems have been accepted for publication in Creative Communication: Sam Anthony “The Rhyme Scheme-Meter Challenge,” Josh Carroll “Gory Goblin,” Danny Carroll “The Wrong Way,” Patrick Devine “Right Down Santa Claus Lane,” Joel Fink “Frangar non Flectar (I Will Break Before I Am Bent),” Maggie Harnish “A Horse Named Pete,” Molly Harnish “Bedtime with Sisters,” Nathania Hofstetter “Party,” Hyunki Joo “Fall Wonders,” Mark Luber “My Bad Writing,” Noelle Ludlum “The PSAT Trial,” Samantha Ludlum “School,” Tad Lyon “A Trip to Japan,” Catherine Lyon “Fat Cat,” Albert Manginelli “Fabulous Fall’s Grand Opening,” Gianni Manginelli “Big Bunches of Books,” Nathan Master “Attack of the Ants,” Hanna Master “Train Game,” David Matej “Spring Baseball and Winter Basketball,” Barbara Matejova “Not Yet Right,” Stephanie Meell “Rules Rule the Roost,” Samuel Miller “Writing a Crummy Poem,” Felicity Miller “What Is He?” David Null “Terrifying Tornado,” Sarah Null “Sewing with my Mom,” Laura Null “Woof Woof,” Ace Robinson “Dad Travel,” Mikhail Shevchenko “Whipping Wind Weather,” and Peter Shevchenko “Splashing, Swimming, and Sliding.”

Students who are interested in seeing intercollegiate fencing may be interested in the University of Pennsylvania fencing schedule. January 13 is the Philadelphia Invitational; February 10th is the Ivy League Round Robin 2; and March 1 is the NCAA Regionals at Drew University in NJ. TAA graduate Kate Anthony is presently on the women’s varsity fencing team at the University of Pennsylvania. TAA students and families: please let Mrs. Anthony know if you would like to attend any of these meets.

Congratulations to the following TAA students who won awards from Veterans of Foreign Wars (Post 1711):

Voice of Democracy: Joel Fink 1st place, Barbara Matejova 2nd place, Sam Anthony and Noelle Ludlum 3rd place tie.

Patriot’s Pen: Patrick Devine 1st place, Ace Robinson 2nd place, and Samuel Miller 3rd place.

The top two students from each section were sent to the district-wide contest.

Thank you to Mrs. Robinson for the delicious cupcakes and special cake with the Blue Star insignia, which is the organization of mothers of active military.

On Thursday, December 20, Mrs. Hanko’s K-1st grade class presented the nativity story at Beaumont. Their program was warmly received by about 25 residents of Beaumont Residential Community in Bryn Mawr, including Mrs. Ruth Schmitt, a long-time friend of TAA. Mrs. Schmitt was thrilled to have her “children” come and treat her and her friends to Christmas carols, hymns and recitation of scripture. Several residents were singing along and reciting the verses with the students. The girls also made Christmas cards in bright green envelopes, which they handed out to the Beaumont residents.

This New York Times editorial, entitled “A Vote for Latin” by Harry Mount, promotes the study of classics, particularly Latin. Mr. Mount is the author of Carpe Diem: Put a Little Latin in Your Life by Hyperion Books. His editorial begins:

At first glance, it doesn’t seem tragic that our leaders don’t study Latin anymore. But it is no coincidence that the professionalization of politics — which encourages budding politicians to think of education as mere career preparation — has occurred during an age of weak rhetoric, shifting moral values, clumsy grammar and a terror of historical references and eternal values that the Romans could teach us a thing or two about.