December 14, 2007 -- In the spirit of the holidays, today’s All-School Assembly began with a medley of songs of the season performed by Young Eun Choi ’08 on violin and Kanji Nada ’09 on cello and accompanied by Music Director Andy Campbell (photo on right). Their efforts were appreciated and applauded by their fellow students.

Head of School Mike Cooper introduced the theme of this All-School, speaking of the responsibility of giving back to society to help those who are less fortunate -- locally, nationally, or globally.

Highlights included:

A music video produced by musician Sarah McLachlan for only $15 instead of the customary $150,000. The balance was donated to various causes that helped one million people in need around the world. View the video and the causes that benefited at www.worldonfire.ca.
A video of a Boston TV-news report of the annual Thanksgiving dinner for 500 people held at the Boston Rescue Mission. Brewster students worked behind the scenes again this year to prepare this meal, an annual event organized by computer graphics teacher BG Hodges ’66. A slideshow of the behind-the-scenes action and antics followed the video.
A slideshow with the voices of three students who went to other countries to volunteer:

Jillian Brooks ’10 went to the British West Indies to monitor aquatic life in the area, helping to collect data for researchers.
Katherine Eastham ’08 traveled to Kenya to teach children in an orphanage.

Ian Kaye ’08 traveled to an orphanage in Ghana to teach residents ranging in age from 5 to 22.

Director of Student Activities Tim Radley urged students to participate in the upcoming Relay for Life, an opportunity to raise money for cancer research and awareness.

Director of Residence Life Jaime Laurent presented a slideshow of photos of Brewster community members, both students and adults, involved in a variety of projects. The final slide noted that Brewster Academy students performed 6,300 hours of community service in 2006-2007, a fact that was greeted with delight, surprise, and applause by the audience.