Mrs. Umiker, You will be Missed!

By Elise Gobron ‘21

Mrs. Umiker and Bella, Photo

After an impressive 40 years working at St. Mark’s, Mrs. Umiker is retiring with Mr. Umiker this spring. Mrs. Umiker began working at St. Mark’s as the Assistant to the Head of School for Special Events. Over the course of her 16 years in this position, she coordinated major events around the school from Trustee Weekend to Prize Day and everything in between. When a position opened at the bookstore, she was excited to take this new job. Mrs. Umiker says that she was thrilled the position at the bookstore opened because she would be able to work more directly with students in a retail setting. 

One of Mrs. Umiker's fondest memories this year was being able to give new homes to the collection of vintage St. Mark’s gear that she had collected over her 40 years of service at the school. Her collection of items including Groton t-shirts, cross country jackets, tennis hats and more were very popular amongst the students. She said that she was glad to see all the gear being worn around school and was especially delighted to see her daughter’s squash shirt being worn in the dining room, and Mr. Umiker's basketball sweater coming down the hall.

While there are many things Mrs. Umiker is sad to leave at St. Mark’s, she says that she will miss the students most of all. She says that in her time working at the bookstore it has been such a joy and privilege to provide a space where kids could stop by, chat, and even pet Bella: “a calm respite from the business of St. Mark's.” 

Mrs. Umiker, fondly known as “Ginny” by her faculty friends and colleagues, is an avid gardener and participated in the establishment of the Community Garden with Dr. Harwood. “ She taught me so much about planting and tending healthy growth, but never in a pedantic way. I will miss those afternoon chats in the garden as we planted or weeded or watered.”

Many students, myself included, can certainly attest to Mrs. Umiker’s positive effects on not only the bookstore but the entire St. Mark’s community. Current V former, Tate Frederick, is among many who are appreciative of Mrs. Umiker and her “constant kind presence on campus.” Tate also says that she will miss Mrs. Umiker’s bright and warm energy next year! The St. Mark’s community will miss you dearly Mrs. Umiker, but wishes you all the best in the future and hopes you come back to visit soon!

Meet the New Monitors!

By Taylor Zhou ‘23

As Window Four came to a close and the class of 2020 is about to graduate, including the eight monitors of 2019. The students and faculty voted for eight new monitors for next year. 

Due to the special COVID-19 situation this year, the election process was slightly different. Instead of Meet the Monitors in the PFAC, two online sessions of questions took place in order to adapt to the time differences between St. Mark’s students around the globe. Hosted by the monitors of 2019, all the candidates were given questions to answer in order to help the rest of the community to gain a deeper understanding of who they are and thus facilitate decision-making. After a round of online voting was completed, the new monitors were announced. The co-Head monitor for next year Lily Wang Luo and Tommy Flathers. Also serving as Monitors with Tommy and Lily will be Brooke Farrell, Jake LaMalva, Kaley LeBlanc, Megan Miantkoso, Henry Sansone, and Richard Zhang.

Congratulations again to the new Monitor team!

These eight Monitors will work closely with Mr. Warren, Dr. Warren, Mr. Vachris, their faculty advisors as well as the rest of the community. They will be responsible for all-school events such as school meetings and Groton nights, keeping students’ spirit high, connecting the different parts of the community, and representing the interest of the student body of St. Mark’s to all faculty and administration. Although we are unsure of whether we will all be together in person next fall, the end of the year chapel and school meetings these new Monitors help run indicate that they will find creative ways to connect our community. We look forward to all the wonderful experiences that our new monitor team will bring to us next year!

Upper row: Brooke Farrell, Jake LaMalva, Kaley LeBlanc

Middle row: Lily Wang Luo, Tommy Flathers

Bottom row: Megan Miantkoso, Henry Sansone, Richard Zhang

We interviewed the head Monitors about their plans for the future.

Lily Wang Luo:

What does it mean to you to be a monitor?

To me, being a monitor is about being there for all our community, students, and teachers alike. It’s our job to be there for people and push for the change we want, to listen to the people, and make ourselves available to encourage a respectful, understanding, safe, and honest (RUSH) environment for all.

What will you do in the next school year?

Right now everything is incredibly unstable and we still have no clue what next year will look like. With that said, whether we go back in fall or winter or spring, we will do everything to gather our community on and off the screen and make more events that people will love to attend.

Tommy Flathers:

What does it mean to you to be a monitor?

Being a monitor is the largest responsibility that a student can have at St. Mark’s. As a monitor, we are tasked with setting examples for the rest of the community. People look up to you and you set the tone for the rest of the school

What will you do in the next school year?

I don’t want to give too much of what we have planned for next year but we do have things planned for both an in-person and virtual reunion next fall.