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News & Photos
Students Honor the Memory of "Shining Star" Ceres M. Horn '86
In a special assembly, students and alumnae honored the memory of Ceres Millicent Horn ’86, who was killed 20 years ago today in an Amtrak train crash in Chase, Maryland, while on her way back to Princeton University to finish her freshman year. She was 16.
Seniors in the Rollins-Luetkemeyer leadership program designed a fitting tribute to a "shining star" who graduated from McDonogh at age 15. They wanted fellow upper schoolers to know about Ceres Horn and what she meant to the McDonogh family. The school’s theatre is named for her.
Using interviews with her teachers and reflections from her classmates, the seniors painted a video portrait of Ceres as brilliant, kind, friendly, multi-talented, energetic, and full of promise.
They added their own perspectives, too, gleaned from weeks of research. Remarking on Ceres's boundless energy, one said: "Perhaps we can think of Ceres when we need to push ourselves harder."
Two of Ceres’s friends, Dawn Potocki Loughborough '85 and Barbara Garnish '87, spoke at the assembly. Dawn urged students to take a lesson from Ceres: live life passionately, explore the arts, reach out to friends and family. Barbara reflected on Ceres as the best kind of friend: accepting, non-judgmental, encouraging.
Others contributed their thoughts in writing. Reported one: “Ceres had to know that she had a tremendous intellectual gift, yet she never used that gift to separate herself from those around her. She had the gift of quiet presence where one always felt comfortable being around her.”
Several mentioned life lessons they learned from Ceres: “I was in tenth grade, Ceres in ninth and we shared a math class … I recall having particular trouble with a set of algebra problems and with no hesitation she offered to help me if I needed it. What struck me was her confidence to offer help to a tenth grader and the gentle way she offered ... I'm sure she had no idea she made an impression on me, but 25-plus years later I can see her standing in front of me in the hallway ... She may have changed or even revolutionized this world we all share [had she lived longer], but I know she changed mine.”
Added another: “Ceres was extraordinary. She was in a class of her own in terms of talent, enthusiasm for life, intellectual curiosity, compassion, and humility. I have never met another person like her and don't think I ever will.”
Students ended the moving program by performing a piano and violin duet of "The Palms," the piece that concluded Ceres Horn's memorial service 20 years ago.
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In a special assembly, students and alumnae honored the memory of Ceres Millicent Horn ’86, who was killed 20 years ago today in an Amtrak train crash in Chase, Maryland, while on her way back to Princeton University to finish her freshman year. She was 16.
Seniors in the Rollins-Luetkemeyer leadership program designed a fitting tribute to a "shining star" who graduated from McDonogh at age 15. They wanted fellow upper schoolers to know about Ceres Horn and what she meant to the McDonogh family. The school’s theatre is named for her.
Using interviews with her teachers and reflections from her classmates, the seniors painted a video portrait of Ceres as brilliant, kind, friendly, multi-talented, energetic, and full of promise.
They added their own perspectives, too, gleaned from weeks of research. Remarking on Ceres's boundless energy, one said: "Perhaps we can think of Ceres when we need to push ourselves harder."
Two of Ceres’s friends, Dawn Potocki Loughborough '85 and Barbara Garnish '87, spoke at the assembly. Dawn urged students to take a lesson from Ceres: live life passionately, explore the arts, reach out to friends and family. Barbara reflected on Ceres as the best kind of friend: accepting, non-judgmental, encouraging.
Others contributed their thoughts in writing. Reported one: “Ceres had to know that she had a tremendous intellectual gift, yet she never used that gift to separate herself from those around her. She had the gift of quiet presence where one always felt comfortable being around her.”
Several mentioned life lessons they learned from Ceres: “I was in tenth grade, Ceres in ninth and we shared a math class … I recall having particular trouble with a set of algebra problems and with no hesitation she offered to help me if I needed it. What struck me was her confidence to offer help to a tenth grader and the gentle way she offered ... I'm sure she had no idea she made an impression on me, but 25-plus years later I can see her standing in front of me in the hallway ... She may have changed or even revolutionized this world we all share [had she lived longer], but I know she changed mine.”
Added another: “Ceres was extraordinary. She was in a class of her own in terms of talent, enthusiasm for life, intellectual curiosity, compassion, and humility. I have never met another person like her and don't think I ever will.”
Students ended the moving program by performing a piano and violin duet of "The Palms," the piece that concluded Ceres Horn's memorial service 20 years ago.