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Today, we can already see the beginning
But his father worked hard with him late into the
of the next generation of dreamers in
nights and, by fifth grade, Halbert entered an
Halbert Bai. Arriving in Middle School,
advanced English class. His homeroom teacher,
it became clear that Halbert excelled in science. But as St. Mark’s aims to educate the whole boy, Halbert’s teachers encouraged him to explore his passions and curiosities across every discipline. This was an experience and a challenge that the young boy had not found at his previous schools.
Mrs. Irving, encouraged Halbert to apply to St. Mark’s, but she soon became ill with breast cancer. On her deathbed, she wrote Halbert’s St. Mark’s recommendation. At 10600 Preston Road, Halbert found a completely new kind of learning. While Halbert proved himself as an excellent science student, he found his artistic pursuits to be
Halbert’s journey to St. Mark’s was anything but typical. His father, who
equally rewarding.
escaped Communist China on a scholarship, raised Halbert alone, working
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long hours at a small medical clinic just to make ends meet. Their early
In the 2014 Marksmen yearbook’s “Most Likely
life together was simple, in a small home that contained little more than a
To…” page, the senior class voted Halbert “Most
refrigerator, a stove, and a single mattress. Halbert’s English was so poor that
Likely to Teach Photography.” On campus,
in first grade he was placed in an ESL class at Plano’s Daffron Elementary
Halbert spent almost as much time in the
School. He fondly remembered how he “thought the word and was a letter
photography lab as he did in the biology lab.
that followed y, and came before z, as in w, x, y, and, z.”
During his Upper School career, Halbert served
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St. Mark’s School of Texas