School Year Opens with Convocation

The Great Hall filled with 923 Marksmen this morning as St. Mark's began its 121st school year with the traditional All-School Opening Convocation. Across campus, boys reconnected with classmates and shared summer stories, and teachers prepared their students for the year ahead. 

In his remarks at Convocation, Board of Trustees President David McAtee II ’87 borrowed a term from fly fishing: "gulpers," the name anglers use for trout that feed on the surface with purpose rather than caution. He used the term to describe what it means to show up each day as a Marksman. 

“Gulping is what you do when you wake up each morning and you decide how you’re going to meet the day,” McAtee said. “Gulping is what you do when you see a classmate in need and you don’t hesitate.” 

Student Council President Dylan Bosita ’27 encouraged his classmates to see one another as family, not just classmates, and to invest in the small moments that make up a school year. 

“Classmates share teachers, assignments, and maybe even a locker room or uniform,” Bosita said. “Families share much more. Families share hopes, dreams, aspirations, losses, trepidations, and even failures. Whether we see it or not, St. Mark’s makes us all stronger.” 

Eugene McDermott Headmaster David W. Dini welcomed boys back to campus and shared a passage from a 1915 Terrill School yearbook, recently donated to the school, that described the honor expected of a student council member. 

“He must be honest in his work and earnest in his efforts. He must set an example by his own life for his fellow students to follow,” Dini read. “What was true then is true now. Your character is what matters the most.” 

Cory Martin, mathematics teacher, coach, and Pecos trip leader, is beginning his 36th year at St. Mark’s. In his remarks, he reflected on what has kept him at the school for so long: the students themselves. 

“It is with pride and gratitude that I look to you,” Martin said. “My words will not be remembered by most of you. What you will remember is the shared experience, the camaraderie, and the sense of belonging.” He closed with the phrase that has guided generations of Pecos trips: “Go slow to go fast.”