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Today marks the last full day of the first New England High School Summer Program, and there was palpable excitement in the air, mixed with the sad realization that the week was almost over. At breakfast, all the students talked over the week, laughing at the fond and funny memories that they had made, and running through propositions on paper napkins for the last time. “We never let Euclid’s props get us discouraged…” joked Isabel C., “because that’s not the point!” All too soon, they were off to their last Euclid class and their last three demonstrations. 

Mass and lunch followed Euclid, and the dining hall was at its noisiest today. At one table, students discussed their favorite parts of the program with their tutors, while at another a group of boys filled admissions counselor Reuben Trull (CA’25) in on their antics and adventures. Outside the dining hall in the Commons, a large group of prefects and programmers gathered around the piano, where Finn S. energetically played “Don’t Stop Believing” while they sang along. There was an unmistakable sense that everyone wanted to linger a little longer, but finally class called and students had to be on their way. 

When they arrived at the classrooms, students were greeted with a surprise: at each seat at the table was an array of gifts from their prefects! Joyful presents received, the programmers sat down to Fabre’s The Bees and the second question of the Prima Pars of St. Thomas’ Summa Theologiae. Together, the students examined Fabre’s observations of the bees and how their incredible actions are ruled by instinct, applying this to St. Thomas’ argument that the order in nature proves that there must be one Who orders. Simply by watching the behavior of animals and wondering at the beauty and design in nature, we see that there must be a designer behind all of this work, thus proving the existence of God through one of his most mundane creatures. The discussion was a fitting conclusion to a week spent considering topics from mathematics and literature to philosophy and theology.  

After the class let out, students were greeted by all of the Summer Program prefects and staff, who made a tunnel by arching their arms over the walkway from the building’s entrance. One by one, each student ran through the tunnel to the applause and shouts of their friends and classmates, ready for one final afternoon at 51����.

Tomorrow brings the one-week Summer Program to a close, but there is still one more evening to share together — check the Summer Blog tomorrow to read about it!

More photos from the High School Summer Program

Tap on the right center edge of the image to scroll through the album.