Update from a Former Student
Nathan McAlone is the son of Margaret and Tom McAlone. Margaret is a substitute teacher at Aurora School and Tom was President of the Board of Directors of Aurora School. Nathan graduated from Aurora School in June 2000.
What school is your son attending now?
College Preperatory (High) School (CPS)
What are Nathan's plans for college?
He will be attending Columbia University next year through early admission. He's also a National Merit Finalist.
What is the question you most get asked about his attendance at Aurora School?
It's a constant question I hear. What do you think about Aurora and do you feel the school prepared your child for higher learning? My answer is always yes. The students all seemed to do very well as they went along.
What was Nathan's fondest memory while attending Aurora School?
He loved being in the school plays. He really liked performing in the production, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and "The Wiz" It was a lot of work but I think it was very meaningful for him. We have videos from the production and it's always so adorable to see all the kids on stage. It's so very true, there's something about theater that brings in all types of learning. You have to work together as a team, memorize lines, be organized; it's always a challenge. Sometimes the plays were written by the students. It's fantastic when the cast can actually project something logical to the audience through the medium of the stage; the whole process is very exciting, including making and seeing the kids in the costumes.
What is he studying now?
Nathan wants to study English. He wants to write. He is already a very creative writer. He became very interested in both English and History while at Aurora. He has always been a curious kid. We travel a lot and he's also into sports, both baseball and basketball. He also does some acting now and possibly will do more while at Columbia University. Last summer he spent six weeks with Amigos in Costa Rica and lived with a local family. No one spoke English. They had to plan all the Summer school activities for all the kids in the village. He was in charge of conducting the activities during the Summer. It was a very rewarding experience for Nathan.
What was the one thing that most prepared him for adult life while attending Aurora School?
I'd say the creativity of the school, which helped him in so many areas, from acting to writing. When I grew up I remember being so concerned about spelling correctly, perfect handwriting and also math. These are all important at Aurora School, but with Nathan it was more about getting his ideas out and fine-tuning them, inspiring others. Everything else fell into place once these ideas came out.
Where would Nathan like to be 20 years from now?
He chose Columbia for the core curriculum of studying classics. He could be writing, doing something in travel, writing for films. He's very interested in film. He doesn't do it as much, but he always loves being on a film set. Maybe he'll teach or do something with film and travel. He wrote an essay for the National Merit Scholarship, describing himself as being interested in many things without narrowing himself to one area. He loves Science, English, and History but doesn't want to zero in on any one of those. He is certainly one to try new and different things such as sports, musicals, plays; a wide variety of things. He really tries to keep an open mind about all things, and I think Aurora School helped him learn that.
Why Aurora?
I looked at many schools, but I really liked Aurora. Nathan picked the school that allowed the best education for life progression. He didn't choose the school because of friends, he chose because of where he wanted to be later in life.