Blowing out 125 candles will take some time. We've got all year.
Where it all began in 1900 is where a most historic anniversary year for Christ School started Sunday night: Yard A.
Convocation took place on the site of the original school grounds for the fifth consecutive year – a relatively-new tradition born out of the COVID-19 pandemic that was so ingenious, it stuck. But immediately, there was something audibly different about this Convocation.
The strains of traditional Scottish music could be heard as a bagpipe player led the faculty by procession out the front doors of Wetmore Hall. There, they joined a waiting assembly of 308 boys, the largest enrollment in school history.
Christ School’s student body for its 125th academic year comes from 17 different states and 11 countries.
Head of School Dr. Sean Jenkins and Head Prefect Wiley Kessler ’25 from New Orleans spoke about honoring the past by plotting an even brighter future for the Long Green Line.
“We open this new school year together, but this is not any year. And we are not just any school,” Dr. Jenkins said.
Wiley said he has looked up to the strength of leadership in Greenies such as Charles Redhead ’19, Jack Shimer ’23, and Kaden Brown ’24.
"I came here as a boy not knowing anyone but my older brother (Avery ‘23) and I’m going into my senior year making brothers and some of my closest friends for life. This is what Christ School is about, making boys into men who are ready and willing to serve their community throughout many challenges,” Wiley said.
“As your Head Prefect, I’ll do everything I can to make this year the best year that Christ School has yet to have in its 125-year history."