Mike Cummins ’04 has devoted his professional life to supporting children in underserved communities. Now a teacher at Brownsville Collegiate, he returned to Peddie to deliver this Chapel talk and pose three challenges to students.
Chapel Program
The Peddie community gathers twice a week in Ayer Memorial Chapel to focus on one of the school's core values: balance. Students and faculty share pieces of music or literature, which are followed by Chapel talks. These talks are as diverse as our student body itself, often personal, sometimes spiritual, occasionally humorous, and always moving.
Ayer Memorial Chapel
When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke in the Ayer Memorial Chapel in 1957, he was not yet widely known, but his heartfelt speech would affect Peddie graduates for the rest of their lives. More than 50 years later, the chapel has hosted presidents and governors, scholars and scientists, friends and alumni -- and students who will become all of those things themselves.
Dedicated in 1951 to the young Peddie men who died in World War II, and funded by donations of their classmates and fellow alumni, the Chapel stands as a monument to the school's deep history. It remains a literal and figurative centerpiece of the Peddie campus and student life, a reminder of all those who came before.
Johan Johnson
Chaplain
B.A., Clark University
M.Div., Union Theological Seminary
Ph.D., Fordham University
M.Div., Union Theological Seminary
Ph.D., Fordham University
Work:
609-944-7517
George Entin '56 entered Peddie in 1948 as a fifth-grader, and went on to serve as a Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTJG) in the U.S. Navy. He recently returned to campus to share his experience during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
Pat Dennis '98 returned to Peddie last week as one of thirty-five founding members of the Peddie Leadership Council (PLC). The group met on campus for the first time to engage more deeply with the community and to begin their mission of serving as ambassadors for the school. During his visit to campus, Dennis took time to share some "advice to his 14 year old self" with students in this Chapel talk.
Courtney Jackson '04 remembers a conversation with her advisor Mr. Gartner that continues to serve as a guide for everything she does.
Math teacher and Peddie alumnus Mark Gartner '84 has been giving a version of this speech for many years, offering a bit of very relevant advice to students at the beginning of the academic year.
Frank Anastasio '12 returned to campus during a break from his studies at The George Washington University.
Alia Santini ’96 was invited to return to Peddie on October 14, 2013 to speak to the community in Chapel.