VOL CX, No. 3
Sheffield, Massachusetts
NEW @ BERKSHIRE Erin Lyman, Director of College Counselling
by Olivia Mirabito ’22 Erin Lyman recently joined Berkshire’s College Counseling office as the Director of College Counseling. Prior to her position at Berkshire, she worked in both college counseling and admissions for almost twenty years. She was attracted to Berkshire through the leadership opportunity that the position offers. She has spent time at schools such as Northfield Mount Hermon School, of which she is an alum, the Groton School, the University of Vermont, and Columbia University. During her few weeks here at Berkshire, she has
felt “completely welcomed by everyone. By the administration, by my new colleagues, every adult in the office, and finally in the last couple weeks students have arrived and the students that know that I’m new to the community have welcomed me.” Her first impression of Berkshire was that it is a friendly and kind place, an impression that she has confirmed to be a genuine feeling as her time here continues. As a people person, Lyman is extremely excited to be working with a new set of colleagues, and to work under Mr. Mulder and Mrs. Maher, who she really respects. She has also been enjoying working with her group of seniors, who she credits as “well prepared after working hard over the summer. Students seem to have a diversity of interests in schools that they’re excited to move onto after Berkshire.” She
Explore East Asia with RG Meade by Remy Bond ’22 and Julia Kurth ’20 Mr. RG Meade is a history teacher at Berkshire School, and this year he is reintroducing the course Modern East Asia. This course was last taught in 2008 and is now available to students again because of the increasingly prominent role that East Asia plays in our world today. Meade has always had a strong passion for learning about the intricate dynamic that the United States has with Asia. He explained in an interview how ten years ago, the United States was allied with most of Asia and working toward a positive relationship with China, whereas now, relationships between among the countries, including China, Japan, and South Korea, are much more contentious. Our school is so lucky to have such a passionate and qualified teacher share his vast knowledge with our students at Berkshire. Meade focused his graduate studies on the culture, philosophy, and religion of East Asia. As a member of the Peace Corps, he also spent time serving in Korea. When asked about why he enjoys teaching this
class so much, Meade mentioned that “Chinese culture happens to be one of the oldest in the world.” Meade likes the smaller class size but wants to expand the program in the future to include more students. Meade does, however, want to utilize this small class size to conduct excursions outside of the classroom that he can integrate into the subject. When asked what sparked his interests in Modern Asian Studies, Meade said it was the fact that he had not had exposure to the subject prior to college. “When I was in school,” he said, “we learned mainly about the United States and marginally Europe. I learned even less about Asia, but what I did learn sparked my interest immensely. It’s also the time I decided I wanted to be a history teacher.” Meade has spoken Chinese, Korean, Spanish, and German in his past years; his son is currently teaching English at a school in southwest China. Meade’s students have expressed immense interest in the course, and based on this year’s response, there will most likely be even more participants in upcoming years.
October 11, 2019
Akilah Edgerton, Dean of Diversity and Inclusion
has loved being able to put faces to names, understand why they chose to spend their high school years at Berkshire, and to actually sit down at a table to delve into her students’ college processes. Says Darran Shen ’20, “Mrs. Lyman is a great addition to the Berkshire community. She’s been a great help to my college applications and has given me invaluable advice and ideas. I look forward to working with her more throughout the fall.” In her free time, she enjoys caring for her 8-month-old baby, Ernie, and new mom, Lyman, and her husband have spent a lot of time learning how to be parents. She also loves hiking and running, and she will help coach the track team this spring. She will do a lot of traveling while visiting college campuses to find other universities for Berkshire students. She has been enjoying her experience on campus, and cannot wait for what is to come!
by Sofie Fisher ’21 As a graduate from Miss Hall’s School in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Akilah Edgerton already had the proper knowledge of life at a boarding school. With her past experience in this atmosphere, it is clear that her work at Berkshire will be out of understanding and patience. After high school, Edgerton went on to claim a major in social work and a certificate in global studies, graduating in the top 15% in her class at North Carolina Agricultural and Tactical State University. As the “one and only” black female at her middle school, Edgerton was never introduced to a diverse community such as the one found at Berkshire School today. Without an inclusive environment, Edgerton experienced racism and discrimination during her early life. Responding to a ques-
tion regarding how her experience was at the beginning of her educational career, Edgerton replied that “to see everything that was happening, it was appalling, it was eye-opening, and I could not just sit silent and allow students to be discriminated against, because if I sat silent, that meant that I was okay with what was happening.” With her inside knowledge of what inclusion should look like and feel like, Edgerton strives to share it with the rest of our community today. Currently, Edgerton’s main goals at Berkshire are to closely work with the affinity groups found on campus, act as a support system for others, and build long term relationships with students and faculty. Edgerton’s transition from working at Miss Hall’s School to Berkshire has been a successful shift so far. Responding to the question, “How are you currently enjoying it here,” she replied, “It feels like this is a community, and I am a part of it.”
Brooke Depelteau, Dean of Academics
by Peggy Stansbery ’20 Brooke Depelteau, also known as Mrs. D, is the new Dean of Academics at Berkshire School, as well as a third form English teacher. She lives on campus with her husband Jeff Depelteau, who is Berkshire’s Director of Summer Programming and a boys basketball coach, and her two sons, Max, age 9, and Bryson, age 5. Before Berkshire, Depelteau worked as a Dean of Academics and English teacher at Christ School, a boarding and day school in North Carolina, and at Suffield Academy in Connecticut. Additionally, Depelteau worked at Rabun Gap School, a boarding and day school in Georgia, where she grew up and met her husband.
A New Class for a New Era by Nicky Finn ’21 Programming is becoming more and more common in this day and age, where computers are completing complex equations and helping people access more and more. Specifically, here at Berkshire, there is a brand new class that is teaching students how to be a part of the programming move-
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Depelteau ended up at Berkshire because of her high school chemistry teacher, Bob Brigham. Not only was Brigham her teacher, but he also hired her to work at Rabun Gap, and he used to teach and coach at Berkshire. In fact, Berkshire’s ski league is named after Brigham and he currently lives in the area. When Brigham heard of the opening for the posi-
tion of Dean of Academics at Berkshire, he informed Depelteau of the position, thinking she would be a great fit. Depelteau was interested, applied for the job, and now is the current Dean of Academics at Berkshire. To Depelteau, the position is “a role where you oversee the academic program and guide it; it is also a role where it’s important to connect with teachers and students and figure out academically what the needs of the school are.” As Depelteau is settling in to the Berkshire community, she has been working to figure out what her specific goals are as
ment. The class, taught by Ms. Mendez Kennedy, will teach students critical thinking skills that will help them excel in not just the programming field, but at anything during their lives at Berkshire and beyond. This class is very important to the Berkshire School community and for those looking at Berkshire. It shows that Berkshire is a proactive and modernising school and willing to add new classes to prepare us students once we graduate. The class will begin with the basics such as what a
computer is, how it works, and the parts of the computer. Right now, students are learning what certain parts do. To show how much they understand students have been asked to make a project on Scratch, an open source programming software created by MIT. The project will show computer components and inform users of their purpose and where they are located on a computer. The class will focus on both individual and group projects; these will compel students to use
It is important to remember that Akilah Edgerton will not only contribute as a faculty member but as a friend. Edgerton has established that her doors are always open, and she hopes that people will follow her own personal core value of “always be yourself.” Outside of her role as the Dean of Diversity and Inclusion, she hopes that both students and faculty willingly come to her with whatever problems may arise. It is important to Edgerton that she can be an ally for people who feel as though they don’t have a voice. She also believes that the best atmosphere comes from a place where people can be their authentic selves, whatever that means to them. As a final message to our school, Akilah Edgerton wants the Berkshire community to know that she has a passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and she is looking forward to working with this school. Thank you Ms. Akilah Edgerton, and welcome to Berkshire School. the Dean of Academics. However, right now, her main goal is to get to know the community. When asked what she thought needed to be changed in terms of Berkshire’s academic program, Depleteau expressed her opinion that “Berkshire is not a school desperately in need of change. It is less about changing and more about building upon what is already there, and not being stagnant.” One thing that has impressed Depleteau about Berkshire is the teachers. She believes they are all fantastic, passionate teachers who have diverse backgrounds. Depleteau is excited to be a part of Berkshire’s community and looks forward to getting to know the school better. problem-solving skills to complete projects such as proposing app designs that could solve real-life problems. Later on in the semester, students will also learn how to code in Python, a more complex language that is used for everything from websites to the development of applications. With the outside world changing it is great to see the Berkshire is changing with it. Adding such forward-thinking classes that will help students excel in this ever changing world we all live in.