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2017 Pro Vita Edition - March 4, 2017
A Decade of Directing Pro Vita
In the days before the 10th Anniversary of Pro Vita got underway, The Green and Gray had the opportunity to sit down with four Pro Vita Directors, past, present and future. In a roundtable discussion, we spoke about their experiences with Pro Vita, their favorite parts and how they’ve seen Pro Vita change over the course of ten years.
Art inspired by the School’s core values in Lisa Warren-Kruger’s P’20 P’15 “Conceptualism Art”
110 Years of Teaching and Learning For Life
Ms. Maher talks about Pro Vita with characteristic enthusiasm, “I’m a big fan.” From its start, Pro Vita week was designed to bring genuine joy and excitement into the classroom. And those two characteristics are exactly what Ms. Maher demonstrates when she talks about the inception of Pro Vita in 2007. Pro Vita was born out of the celebration of the School’s centennial in the 2006-2007 school year. As Ms. Maher explains, the School wondered, “How do we tangibly celebrate the concept of our school’s motto? How can we bring that idea to life to help the community here and elsewhere to understand that for 100 years Berkshire has been educating students “Not just for School but for Life”? The first iteration of Pro
Vita though, was a bit different than it is today. Instead of a week of design thinking, experiential, product-based learning, Pro Vita’s beginnings were far more modest. “So the first iteration began with a day-long environmental symposium that Mr. Kinne coordinated. We had environmental experts on a range of topics from across the country come for a day and run workshops on their field of study. Each student could pick and choose exactly what they wanted to learn about.”
How can we help the community here and elsewhere to understand that for 100 years Berkshire has been educating students “Not just for School but for Life”?
Given the success of the symposium, the School committed to a full week of Pro Vita later in the year, falling exactly where it does today, at the conclusion of the third quarter. As Ms. Maher explains, a day was simply not enough, “One day!” She remarked. “There are so many things that I really like to do and I want to talk about with kids that don’t fit into my Spanish curriculum! Give me a week!” In 2017, 10 years after Pro Vita was born, the logistics look very different. But the program remains the same at its core: an intentional pursuit of experiential learning that students and faculty alike will take with them beyond their time under the Mountain. A reminder of 110 years of educating students not just for school but for life.
Seated at the table were Mr. Mackenzie (PM), who directed Pro Vita for its first two years, Mr. Turner (JT), who took over and ran the program for four years, Mrs. Bullock (BB), who has been in charge for the past two years and Mr. Anselmi (DA), who will pick up the reigns for the future.
G&G: It seems like the best way to kick this off would be to talk about how much we all love about Pro Vita! What are each of your favorite parts about the week and why? BB: Once the week gets started, I love hearing about kids finding out things that they didn’t know about themselves. The second year I taught, I had a friend come back and we taught a movie directing class together. There was a girl in the class who was a freshman, so it must have been her last pick. For the first two days, she just sat there. But on the third day, something clicked, she totally took charge of her classmates; organizing them. When she left Berkshire she went to the film school at NYU and remained in the
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film industry. She didn’t know she was going to like it and now it’s a career for her. DA: I love that it’s an opportunity for students to make a connection with a subject or a passion that they weren’t able to explore before. It’s also another chance for students to interact with students that they don’t get to interact with regularly and forge new relationships. Of course, being in a class and seeing it click is a wow moment. And, of course, I love the trips! PM: The opportunities that exist for students during Pro Vita are so unique.You might be placed in a class that wasn’t your first choice, but you would never get that chance somewhere else, whether it is spending time on a specific skill, or getting to interact with someone from outside of the community, an alum, a parent. And it’s not just a speaker; you get to spend a whole week thinking and learning about something completely new. JT: My favorite part about Pro Vita is that it truly allows us to embrace the school mission in a unique and deliberate way. Our portrait of a Berkshire School graduate has changed because of what we do in Pro Vita. And I love the fact that there are no grades! This is purely about curiosity and intellectual development. See A DECADE OF DIRECTING PRO VITA, Page 2
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A Decade of Directing Pro Vita Continued from Page 1
BB: Pro Vita now is kind of how I used to feed my kids vegetables. I used to shove the vegetables into a pasta tube, so they didn’t know what they were eating. Pro Vita is the same for students. They have no idea that they are learning geometry and trigonometry in “Dunder Mifflin”, when they are making structures out of paper. They never think “We are actually learning high-level math,” but that’s exactly what they are doing!
G&G: Over the last ten years, Pro Vita has certainly come a long way. In the first few years there were even grades! What do you see to be the largest change in the way that we run Pro Vita? PM: When we started, even if anyone had envisioned what it is now, it never would have gotten there right away. It’s been a series of steps away from the traditional classroom to what it is today. When we started, it was still going to be classes, but just different classes. There was still going to be attendance, grades and homework. We stayed away from trips and wanted students to stay on campus. It was going to be school, but just different school. It’s been a series of steps every year that have gotten us where we are now. Even though we are still in line with what was initially envisioned, it’s quite a different model than where we started. JT: The mantra of Pro Vita has slowly changed over the course of ten years to “Solve. Perform. Do. Serve.” It’s encouraged teachers to be much more hands-on
and tangible. The work is much more student-led. Pro Vita also continues to be an innovation lab for Berkshire. There are a bunch of programs and classes that have come directly from former Pro Vita classes, like Aviation Science, STEAM, and Mountain and Me.
The mantra has slowly changed to: Make. Perform. Solve. Serve. BB: The biggest change for me has been the travel. That part has really taken off and is so big right now. The shift has changed for kids from, “if I am going to take a Pro Vita trip” to “when I am going to take a Pro Vita trip.” The way we are looking at trips is also so different. We don’t want our students to leave this campus and be tourists. What are they going to do? What are they going to learn? What are they going to bring back?
G&G: One last question for all of you: If you could give one piece of advice for students during Pro Vita, what would it be? PM: Try something new! Don’t pick anything that you know something about. BB: Open your mind! DA: Be comfortable in your pursuit of your passions! JT: Commit to whatever you are doing! The more you put into it, the more surprised you’ll be by what you get out of the experience.
American Music Documentary, taught by Jim Fiedler ’64, presents to Berkshire County veterans.
American Music Documentary: World War II
Like any student who doesn't get their first choice for both classes during Pro Vita week, I was a little disappointed and had doubts. The class in question for me is American Music Documentary: WWII, which I had put high on my list because of my love for history but now wondered if hearing a bunch of old songs from the ’40s was really going to teach me anything about life. I pictured Dr. Barter up front playing song after song on YouTube. Unbeknownst to me, the class was in reality taught by a
guest teacher Jim Fiedler ’64 and is truly taught in the "Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn" spirit.
He has done the best job of any teacher I remember of ingraining the gravity and human tragedy of war. The numbers are graspable through his exercises, and the fear of war is identifiable. This class is completely different than I imagined. We aren't just listening to these songs as I perceived, we are singing them around the piano, played eloquently by Dr.
Barter, I might add, and through them understanding the human struggle that not only the Greatest Generation endured, but the human struggle that an entire country endured over many generations to secure our freedom. My appreciation of the sacrifice made by kids only a year or two older than me 75 years ago has never been greater, and I have never felt more humbled to be an American. - Jay Spoehel ’17
Cooper Tuckerman ’18 on Pro Vita Abroad and On Campus For Pro Vita in 2016, seventeen Bears traveled to Germany. Upon arrival, we met with our hosts, students from the Hildegardis Schule, whose houses we would stay at for the next three days. In that time, we attended class, explored the town of Hagen and learned about German culture. From there, we traveled to the snow capped, German Alps on the Austrian-German border, with our hosts, where we spent time visiting castles, climbing mountains and eating very,
very well. Fast forward to Pro Vita 2017: our hosts made the trip across the pond to visit Berkshire. After a quick stint in Boston, the Germans made it to campus just in time to settle in with the Bears that they had hosted, minus a few seniors. Their short four days on campus were filled with A Capella Palooza, sugar shack breakfasts and of course, the wide and far reaching classes that make up Pro Vita week, followed by an all too quick depar-
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ture for the Big Apple. Our visitors, accompanied by a handful of Bears, spent the last days of their week touring New York City, taking in all it had to offer. During the two short weeks our group was together, everybody learned quite a bit about each country’s unique culture as well as formed a bond through the struggles of high school, be it Hildegardis or Berkshire. - Cooper Tuckerman ’18
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Roast Chicken 101: By Cast Iron Chef, Jim Wilson P’17 Roast Chicken with Rustic Tuscan Bread Salad Serves 8 2 small chickens around 3.5 pounds each 8 tender sprigs of fresh thyme Salt and freshly cracked pepper 1 loaf of rustic sourdough bread 1 ½ cups of olive oil ¼ cup Champagne vinegar ¼ cup dried currants 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 4 tablespoons warm water ½ cup pine nuts 8 garlic cloves, slivered 1 cup slivered scallions ½ cup chicken stock 8 handfuls of baby lettuces Preheat the oven to 450F. Remove and discard the lump of fat inside the chicken. Pat the chicken dry inside and out with a paper towel. Slide a finger under the skin of each of the breasts making 2 little pockets, shove an herb sprig into each of the pockets. Season the chickens liberally all over with salt and pepper, tuck wing tips behind the shoulders, set the chicken, breast side up into the cast iron pans and into the oven. After roasting for 30 minutes, remove from the oven and brush the chicken with the pan drippings and and return it to the oven for another 30 minutes or until the juices run clear from the interior cavity of the chicken. While the chicken is roasting, carve off the crust of the loaf of bread, and then tear the bread into irregular 2 to 3 inch wads, bite-size bits. Combine 1 cup of the olive oil with the
Champagne vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Toss about ½ cup of this vinaigrette with the torn bread seasoning with salt and pepper in a large bowl. Place the currants in a small bowl and moisten with the red wine vinegar and warm water and set aside. Place the pine nuts in a small baking dish and set in the hot oven for a minute or two, just to warm them through, then add them to the bowl of bread. Add about ½ cup of olive oil to a skillet, along with the garlic and scallions, and cook over medium-low heat, stirring until softened about 5 minutes; don’t let them color. Add to the bread and fold to combine. Drain the currants and fold them into the bread mixture. Dribble the chicken stock over the bread mixture, folding again. Pile the bread salad into a baking dish, tent with aluminum foil and place in the oven during the last 10-15 minutes of cooking time for the chicken.
Remove the chickens from the oven, slash the stretched skin between the breasts and thighs of the chickens, and then tilt the birds to drain the juice into the drippings of the cast iron pans. Lift the chickens from the pans and set on a serving plate in a warm spot (stovetop) and leave to rest while you finish the bread salad. Add about ¼ cup of warm water to each of the hot cast iron pans and swirl them. Over medium-lom heat stir and scrape to soften any hard golden drippings.Taste -- the juices will be extremely flavorful. Drizzle these pan juices over the bread salad, add the salad greens, a drizzle of the Champagne vinaigrette, and fold well, taste for seasoning. Cut the chicken into pieces, spread the bread salad on a warm platter, nestle the chicken in the salad and serve.
Teaching Pro Vita: Bringing Hogwarts to Berkshire In thinking about how I wanted to spend the last Pro Vita of my Berkshire School experience, I was conflicted between going on one of the amazing trips offered, or teaching my own class. What could I possibly bring to my classmates and how could I make a topic both stimulating and fun? With Mr. Splawn’s help I decided to create my own Pro Vita course: Harry Potter Good and Evil. In the class, I bring the Harry Potter references to Mr. Splawn’s discussions of fate versus free will, and what a good life really is.
Julie Kokot ’17 “sorting” Jack Scarfoni ’17.
We certainly went into the week with a day by day plan, but everyday after class we’ve talked
about what worked well, and what didn’t, and made changes to the plan for the next day. Adding a philosophical topic we hadn’t thought about, or deciding not to talk about something else, the day by day changes we made are showing me what being a teacher is all about. You have to think on your feet a lot of the time, to make the time you have count for the kids sitting in class. Teaching Pro Vita is so much fun, and something I’m so glad I had the opportunity to do. Thank you Mrs. Bullock and Mr. Splawn!
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-- Julie Kokot ’17
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No. 7 “My meditation class has showed me how much I have going on in my head and I am excited to spend the week working on controlling my thoughts and actions as it could be a helpful way for me to handle stress in the future.” - Sixth Former in Yoga and Meditation
“I already know this class will be eye opening and hopefully life altering in a certain way. I am very excited to embark on this for a whole week and cannot wait for what is to come.” - Sixth Former in Spirtual Journey
“This was a good change for me because I am a person who shies away from the unknown. This being said, it was a nice surprise when I was able to come out of my comfort zone and embrace the environment around me.” - Fifth Former in Shake Your @$$
“The Jazz Café tonight was great. Watching my classmates and fellow students kill; it was great.” - Fifth Former on Jazz Café
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“I’m glad we learned about this now so like Alynn Stuart said, “I can take fear head on and follow my instincts.”” - Third Former on “Sully”
“Trying to boulder for the first time in my life has inspired me to take more risks and become a more outgoing person.” - Fourth Former in Climbing Big Rocks
“But the main takeaway I took from my first Black Lives Matter meeting was that it wasn’t about me, but it is about empowering a group of people who feel unsafe and oppressed.” -Sixth Former in Black Lives Matter and Social Justice in America
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Pro Vita:
Application to Reality
Learning, Not Just for School but for Black Life This year, for the week of Pro Vita, I chose to participate in HBCU in America (which was led by Ms.Greats) and Black Lives Matter & Social Justice in America (which was led by Mr. Davis and Ms. Satchell). I had some knowledge of what each class would be about, yet I knew that there was still so much to learn. In HBCUs in America, we talked about the history of HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and how they’ve evolved. HBCUs were created out of necessity in the 1800s, but they are now looked at as the most diverse institutions
that produce the highest number of minority graduates who go on to work professionally.
on HBCUs and I’m proud to say that I can’t wait to attend Howard University in the fall.
In this class, we also met with Dr. Vivian Carter, who currently works at Tuskegee University. Dr Carter talked about her experience at Tuskegee and how she works to eliminate stereotypes that come with attending an HBCU.
The Black Lives Matter class has also prepared me on the road to college. In this class, we talked about the social injustices that black Americans face today due to systematic racism and generational trauma.
We also learned about Greek life at HBCUs through step and stroll routines taught by Howard alum and faculty member, Ms. Satchell. This class has helped to enhance my perspective
Fade ’17 with Autumn Truesdale ’17 and Genesis Paulino ’17.
As a class, we listened to songs that influential artists have produced in order to send a message to the younger generation and we watched “13th”, to give us a perspective on how the 13th Amendment has proven to be a false promise to black Americans. I enjoyed this class because we spoke about subjects that most people are afraid to address due to the fear of saying the wrong thing. In this class, however, everyone’s words were valued. At the end of the week, we each expressed our thoughts in written poems that we recited in front of the whole school on Saturday
Sustainable Food dreamt up and taught by Peter Benedict ’18.
When looking at boarding schools I was captivated by the idea of a whole week to go abroad or take classes on campus in line with Berkshire’s motto “Pro Vita Non Pro Schola Discimus”. When the question “If you were to teach a Pro Vita class, what would it be?” was posed on Berkshire’s application, I chose something I was passionate about: sustainable food and farming. morning. I believe that these classes should be included in the Berkshire curriculum, whether as electives or part of humanities classes. HBCUs in American and Black Lives Matter sparked discussion and encouraged us to think about race and privilege
When Mrs. Bullock offered a chance for students to teach classes this year, I had to do it. Bringing this into fruition was challenging, yet so satisfying. Being able to see the reactions of the students when we went to the farm was worth all of the work put into the class. - Peter Benedict ’18
in today’s society. The more information that we, as a community, have on these topics, the better we can understand and learn from each other. - Didi Fade ’17
Spring Sports Preview....continued from page 7 Jeanna Willis returns to the program after a one-year hiatus and will patrol center-field while also sparking the offense from the top of the line-up. Though the team is young, Coach Meade and Coach Keefer are excited about the energy these young women bring to the field and look forward to a great season.
Boys Varsity Tennis Coach Bjurlin will enter his 10th year as the head coach of the Varsity Boys Tennis
program at Berkshire. Hoping to build off the team’s previous successes, including four consecutive years of appearances in the New England Championship Tournament, the team will be led by a core of senior returners: Charlie Boyle, Tanner Boyle, Quentin van der Lee, Mikey Petersen and Tyler Morse. The Taft and Hotchkiss matches are circled on the calendar for the Bears as they look ahead at their season. They open the 2017 season at home when they face Mill-
brook.
Girls Varsity Tennis The Girls Varsity Tennis team will look to build off the momentum from last year’s exciting quarterfinal win in the NEPSAC Class B season ending tournament. Although several members of that team have since graduated, there is a strong group of returners and some talented additions. Our goal will be to have a higher level of consistency during the regular season
and to reverse a some of the match results from last year in order to build a stronger overall record.
Varsity Track and Field Varsity Track and Field will again be headed up by Coaches Driscoll and McCabe. This year they will be led by their four captains Maddy Biasin ‘17 (javelin, hurdles), Mo Omar ‘18 (relay, middle distance) Genesis Paulino ‘17 (discus, shot put) and Ahria Simons
‘18 (relays and jumps). As track is a sport which has numerous events for athletes to specialize in, the coaches and captains are looking forward to taking the individual parts and creating one cohesive team. The teams open at home on Saturday, April 15th, but have their sights set on the Division II New England Championship meet in May.
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Spring Sports Preview Varsity Baseball Coach Gappa begins his 17th season with the Varsity Baseball program and is joined by Coach Bob Posey ‘81 and first-year faculty member Coach Doyle. The Bears will be anchored by their 8 seniors (Sam Boorstyn, Brenden Cournoyer, Tristan Gaynor, Matt Koopman, Kyle Koopman, Drew Pitcher, Jack Scarafoni and Brady Wilson) and two postgrads (Brian Chudacoff and Matt McKinley). The team will head down to Fort Pierce, Florida over spring break to hone their skills, play a series of scrimmages and catch a New York Mets spring training game. They open their season at Taft on April 2nd, quickly followed by Salisbury at home on April 4th.
Boys Varsity Crew Coach Olson will enter his 5th season with the Boys Varsity Crew team and will be joined by Coach (Mr.) Cooper and Coach Carew-Miller. The team has a strong core of senior leaders (Xander Amero, Sam Gatsos, Ian Heissenbuttel, Will Dyer Kloman and Ivan Kulchitsky) that Coach Olson will be looking towards to set the tone
of the team. They’ve been key contributors in the best-in-school-history performances of recent years. The Bears’ opening regatta on Saturday, April 22nd is at home and pits the Bears against traditional rowing powerhouse Choate and recent rival Taft. It will set the stage for the season and Coach Olson hopes to put the rest of New England rowing on alert to the special things happening in Sheffield.
Girls Varsity Crew Coach MacKenzie and Coach Dunchus are looking forward to the start of the spring season after the second varsity boat earned a spot at last spring’s at NEIRAs. The team earned its placed there despite the majority of the team having been new to the sport. With a similar make-up this year, the team is optimistic going into the season. Seniors Catherine Quaintance and Molly O’Neill will be leading the team as co-captains, followed by underclassmen returners Cami Kittredge, Sydney McGill, Elizabeth Rowland, and Ashley Scott. After some hard work in Clemson, South Carolina over spring break, the Bears are looking forward to a
strong start at their opening regatta on Saturday, April 22nd.
Varsity Golf The Golf team cannot wait for the weather to get warmer when they get to play at beautiful Wyantenuck Country Club this year. Coach Kinne will be leading the Varsity team once again, with the hope of improving the record from last year. While most of the matches will be played at home, the team is mostly looking forward to the match against Deerfield and Hotchkiss at The Ranch (Southwick, MA), as well as the last event of the season, the Kingswood Invitational, golf ’s New England Championship played at Oak Ridge Golf Club. The team will be led by Jordi Sabria ’17, as well as Lyons Brown ’18, Bryce Gomez ’18 and Zander Saslove ’18.
Boys Varsity Lacrosse The Boys Varsity Lacrosse program will begin their season in Arizona where the Bears will have the chance to test their might against both local schools and other New England prep schools. Coach D’Am-
brosio enters his third year heading up the program and excitedly welcomes Coach West back into the fold of the program. The small but mighty presence of the Class of 2017 (Ryan Keelan, Colin O’Connor and Nick Palumbo) will lead the team as they look to take on the top teams of the top league in the country. The Bears face perennial lacrosse giant Deerfield Academy for their first home game on April 5th.
Girls Varsity Lacrosse Veteran coaches Cooper and Satchell will be joined by Coach Simmons to lead the Girls Varsity Lacrosse program this spring. The coaching staff is expecting big things out of the six seniors on the team (Ione Bartlett, Maddie Beitler, Maggie Curran, Erin Dillon, Maggie Markgraf and Andi McGraw), all of whom are coming off of varsity seasons in the fall and/or winter. The Bears are headed down to Clearwater, Florida over spring break to tune up before their home opener against Porter’s on April 8th. The squad is looking forward to the annual Bear vs. Bearcat showdown, to be played at home on Saturday, May 3rd.
Varsity Softball The Berkshire Softball program is looking forward to a fantastic 2017 campaign. The team returns 6 players from last year’s squad and will need to find seven new starters this season. Moet Matsuoka ’17 will lead the Bears as their captain and will hit in the middle of the line-up. Jordan Bernier ’18 also returns to the team and will be counted on to provide consistent pitching and offensive punch. Girls Varsity Basketball takes on Lawrence Academy in the semi-finals of the Class B New England Tournament on Saturday, March 4th. Photo courtesy of @ Lyn Biasin
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Coach Simmons Continued from Page 8
“If they were working at Berkshire, just twelve miles up the road from where I grew up, then I figured all signs pointed to the fact that I should too!” After two years of teaching, coaching and living under the mountain, Coach Simmons moved to New York City. There she did some private coaching, as well as keeping up with lacrosse. But the draw to the Berkshires, as well as her connection with Mrs. Anselmi, brought her back. “Mrs. Anselmi invited me to come work with the lacrosse team in the off-season last winter, then to go to Florida with them. Then came the opportunity to step into the head coaching role. This program has such a strong foundation and legacy, and I’m grateful and proud to be a part of it.” Simmons can’t wait for the season to begin: “Lacrosse is the best game in the universe. Not only was it invented by some of the last truly sustainable-minded human beings who got it, but it highlights many of the most impressive attributes of athleticism, like speed, coordination, and teamwork. Also, women weren’t always permitted to play lacrosse - they weren’t even supposed to touch a lacrosse stick - so it’s also empowering to know that just being out there is an example of gender equality progression.” For now, though, her goals are simple: “Start healthy, stay healthy.” The Bears open their season at home with Porter’s on April 8th.
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Spring Coaching Spotlight: Katherine (Kado) Simmons Katherine Simmons (also known as Kado, Coach Kado and Ms. Simmons, to name a few) wears many hats at Berkshire. But this spring, she will step into another role, that of Head Varsity Lacrosse Coach, as she takes the reigns of the Girls Varsity program under the Mountain.
Autumn Truesdale ’17 sinks a three-pointer.
Photo courtesy of @ Lyn Biasin
Girls Basketball Continues to Impress
The Girls Varsity Basketball team ended with a record of 19-3 in the regular season, and have earned themselves the number two seed in the New England Class B Championship Tournament. The season has not always been smooth for the girls. The team began with nine returners and four newcomers, in which Anika Helmke ’18 has made an immediate impact. After a change in coaching staff and an injury to powerful
forward, Autumn Truesdale ’17, the team faced new challenges heading into the season. However, the team united around last year’s defeat in the final of the New England Class B tournament to have a strong season and contend for the title again this year.
The team faced off against Miss Porters on Wednesday, a nail biter as the bears won by only a few points. The great green wall of Berkshire students did well with cheering the team on as the lead in the game constantly changed. It came down to execution as some would say, the Berkshire Bears made a number of highly contested shots and locked
down on defense to win the game. The Bears started off with a lead, but after falling behind in late game, they bounced back to win the game by a few.
Simmons began her lacrosse career at the Taft School in her freshman year. After spending a year on the JV, she made Varsity in her sophomore campaign. Simmons continued to work her way onto the field gaining and increasing amount of playing time and captaining the squad her senior year. From there, Simmons took her craft to Cornell University. As a member of the Big Red lacrosse team, Simmons earned All-Region and All-Ivy awards throughout her career. She also served as a captain both her junior and senior years. In her senior year,
As the team looks to extend their 12 game winning streak, the Bears face off against Lawrence Academy on Saturday for the Semi-Finals of the Class B Championships. The Bears have been successful this season due to their hard work and determination, as they strive to “keep working” in honor of Coach Smith. Go Bears!!! - Katie Hargrave ’18 Ahria Simons ’18
Coach Simmons in action.
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her coach remarked, “Kado will...be one of the top two-way midfielders in the country and as a two-year captain, will be expected to provide key leadership this season. She is both an excellent scorer and a top defender.”
She is both an excellent scorer and a top defender. Which Coach Simmons is technically a “new” faculty member at Berkshire this year, the 2016-2017 school year actually marks a return to Berkshire for her. After her graduation from Cornell, Simmons reconnected with trusted coaches and mentors from Taft, Mrs. Bogardus and Mrs. Maher, both of whom made the move from Taft to Berkshire in the mid2000’s. In the words of Coach Simmons, See COACH SIMMONS, Page 7