Brunswick Chronicle

You can find the Middle and Lower School publications, here

Here is the link to Grant McFaddin’s Lego Stronghold Kingdoms Stop-Motion Video:
Lego Stronghold Kingdoms Stop-Motion
For the full article, see the print copy of the Chronicle, which is available now, or the digital copy, which will be available on the site soon.

As you may have noticed, the Gallery is showing the artwork of featured artist Jerry Craft. You can read the full article in the print copy of the Chronicle, which is out now. The digital copy will be available soon.
More of his art can be seen at Mr. Craft’s website, here
You can also see his interview here: Jerry Craft Interview

By Curren Iyer

Below is Curren Iyer’s interview with Michael Chronert, President of the Support Our Troops (SOT) club.

CI: When was SOT founded at Wick and who founded it?
MC: I’m pretty sure the support our troops club was founded in 2007 by my brother. After he graduated from Brunswick, I took it over my sophomore year. However, instead of just sending supplies over to Afghanistan and Iraq I wanted to make the club a little more personal. Meaning, I tried to have people write letters instead. Unfortunately, having people write letters to people they don’t know is a little more difficult than you think…so for the past few years we’ve been sending supplies to troops, corresponding with a brain trauma clinic and have not only collected supplies, but created artwork for that clinic.

CI: What inspired you to take part in SOT?
MC: As most people know, my family is very connected to the military (except my dad…he was too much of a California surfer). My dad’s step-dad was a brigadier general, served in the Green Beret’s for 41 years, had 3 purple hearts, 3 bronze stars, 3 silver stars and 52 other metals for heroism. The man was unbelievable…the things he did helped foster an incredible respect for the military in my family. My mom was born on an air force base where her dad was serving and ended up growing up in a very small conservative town in the middle of nowhere in Indiana, so obviously she had respect for servicemen since birth. I have a few other relatives who have served in the military such as my two cousins who are currently in Afghanistan. Most importantly, my brother is at the Coast Guard Academy and may end up doing his service in an other branch if he isn’t able to do drug-runner hunting or pirate hunting in places like Somalia. The kid is a beast. I have more respect for my brother than I do for the majority of people in the world. On the surface he always looks like he’s about to kill someone, but inside he’s deeply committed to spending his time on earth helping others (and taking down those who want to hurt others). It’s the combination of all of my family members, but mostly my brother that makes me want to run SOT.

CI: What are some of the goals for SOT this year?
MC: The major goal is to help the three classes of military men (and women) – the deployed, the wounded and the veterans. In terms of the deployed we will be focusing on Mr. Benjamin the entire year. Most specifically, I hope we can send him a bunch of letters right before Thanksgiving, right before Christmas, and send supplies to him and his fellow soldiers throughout the year. For the wounded we will be supporting a brain trauma clinic in Afghanistan. The support our troops club will be supplying this clinic with all sorts of things (from video games to food) and additionally will be sending a good amount of artwork to decorate the place (this is created on a day where all the members in both Brunswick SOT and GA SOT come together and have a good time making some inspirational posters). This area houses tons of veterans in need. My mom did a lot of work over the summer for a veteran who needed help fixing up his house and didn’t have the means to pay for it. Whenever the local veterans need help my mom usually hears about it so I hope to get some of the kids in the club doing the work instead of my mom.

CI: What plans do you have in coordinating with Mr. Benjamin?
MC: I’ve been coordinating with Mr. Benjamin for quite a while now. He was the faculty representative for the support our troops back when he was home. However, I still haven’t asked anyone else so he is still technically the teacher rep. Anyway, the plan consists of letters, more letters, and some supplies. Thanksgiving and Christmas are two important times of the year for us all and I’m sure it can be pretty depressing being so far from home during those times. For that, I want to send letters that will be in Afghanistan right before Thanksgiving and right before Christmas. If anyone has any ideas I’m definitely down for the good ones. The support our troops club has a decent sum of money in the bank, we just need worthy causes to spend it on.

By Peter Ciporin

Below is Peter Ciporin’s article about Brunswick’s Freshmen crew program. The Chronicle apologizes for the printing error.

Fall Crew for Freshmen:  A First for Brunswick School

Usually thought of as a spring sport, Crew is also offered by Brunswick in the fall.  In the past, only upperclassmen have been eligible to join the fall team, but this year Coaches Falco, Martin, and Moors have extended the privilege to freshmen. There are eight freshmen rowers on the fall team this year:  Salvy Cavicchio, Clay Berger, Tom Dunleavy, Christian Fuscone, Sam May, David Ruf, Chris Wortman, and me.  There is also one freshman coxswain, Addy Albano, giving us the perfect number for our own “eight” boat. Coach Ed Williams graduated from Brunswick in 2009 and is the brother of Crew Co-Captain Jack Williams. In the first few days, we learned the basic elements of the stroke on the indoor rowing machines called “ergs” and did stamina-building runs along the Mianus River.  After learning some fundamentals of rowing on the water such as keeping the boat set and feathering one’s blade, Coach Williams decided we were ready to put our newfound knowledge to the test. We went to the river.

All I can say is, Crew is tough, period.  I’ve rowed before, mostly at the Greenwich Water Club, but Brunswick’s Rowing program takes competition to a whole other level. The sport demands not only physical effort but intense mental focus as well. One wrong motion, one slip up, can alter the entire boat’s course.  Keeping the boat stable is a major challenge as well.  If the boat tips even a little bit in one direction, it becomes harder for all of the rowers to deliver a good and efficient stroke.  Even with only six men rowing, it is difficult for the other two rowers in charge of setting the boat to keep it from tipping slightly.  When all eight are rowing, the task becomes even more difficult.

Our freshmen crew team definitely needs some work before we are ready to begin racing, but by the time of our first race on October 16 at the Head of the Connecticut Regatta in Middleton, CT, we will be ready. We will only be racing in 2-3 regattas this season, but that will provide plenty of experience to help us all grow as athletes and prepare us for the spring season. Despite the challenges of rowing, I think I speak for my entire boat when I say that being out on the water is so much fun that it overshadows the difficulty of the physical and mental effort.  After classes each day, I sprint to the bus, ready for another great afternoon on the water.

As Mr. Philip announced this past Monday, there has been a recent change in the logo for the Bruin Bear this year.
Rather than keeping the old bear leaning on the B (whose gender, as Mr. Philip pointed out, is rather obscure), the school is adopting a new logo as seen below:

Due to some of its alternate versions including a bear in white rather than yellow, the new logo has gained some interesting reception from the community, including an idea that Wick should change its logo to the Polar Bears.

The 2011 senior prank included most of the grade spending hours Sunday night placing styrofoam cups with water in them throughout the entire school.

Look for more pictures in our Late Spring edition of The Chronicle!