This is an exciting time in The Academy’s 42 year history. Our faculty, which has always been our strength as an institution, completed our ten year New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) re-accreditation, a practice which brought clarity to what we do well, and elucidated upon what we can improve in order to continue to provide a unique educational, artistic, athletic, and social experience to our students.
We were lauded for our program as a whole, but special commendations were given for the dedication and creativity of Academy faculty. The re-accreditation team, in their findings, wrote that faculty should be recognized for their “exceptional dedication and diligence and commitment to academic and co-curricular excellence.” What the report’s findings do not do is highlight some of the ways in which Academy faculty show their dedication, diligence, and commitment. As a result, we’d like to take a moment to recognize our wonderful teachers by engaging in a more recent Academy tradition. Every other Friday, we take time out of Morning Meeting to offer Appreciations within our community.
We appreciate Will Miller and the seemingly endless projects upon which his students embark, like his upcoming maple sugaring project, for which he was awarded a runner-up grant for the 2023-2024 National
Signature Project Award from the Rural Schools Collaborative.
We appreciate Lauren Schmidt for her firm belief in the value of the Humanities as academic disciplines and for her tireless advocacy of poetry in her classroom. From guest
speakers to student poetry readings, Lauren’s classes are hotspots for student creativity. Her students gain confidence in themselves as a result of her tutelage.
We appreciate Sabine Mauri for her collegiality, organization, and general helpfulness on a daily basis. Sabine functions as a mentor and point person for so many faculty members and students. As our longest tenured faculty member, Sabine has transformed the lives of countless Academy students over the years.
We appreciate Kara Fagan, who is returning to The Academy as a Humanities teacher and as our Athletic Director, for picking up where she left off and offering challenging and rewarding classes that students remember years after they graduate.
We appreciate Kimberly Overtree Karlin for her dedication to teaching mathematics and to our theater program. Kim was the recipient of the 2022 Kapteyn Prize, an award given to exceptional educators of exemplary character, integrity, and honor who lead by example and impart to their students a lifelong love of learning and dedication to personal growth. Is there a more perfect recipient of this award?
We appreciate Alex Zendejas (P’24, ’26), our new Spanish teacher, for leading our Model UN team, even before he officially joined our faculty.
We appreciate Donald Young for the way he teaches his content to which so many students connect.
He is thoughtful, deliberate, and empathetic. As a leader of our hiking team, he gets students deep into the temperate forests of Western Massachusetts in order to help them acquire a greater love for the trees, plants, and stones which make up our homes.
We appreciate Karl Helander who, though leaving his position as Music Director, has greatly expanded the music lessons we offer at school. Karl is leaving us to pursue a career in music, which speaks to the seriousness he brought to our music program.
We appreciate Scott Hoffman, our former and now current Music Director, for taking time this summer to plan what promises to be a fruitful year for music education at The Academy. Scott is coming back to The Academy, something we invite all of our former faculty and students to do.
We appreciate Mary Kay Costello for stepping in and going above and beyond in her teaching, imparting a love of math and science to those lucky enough to have her as a teacher.
We appreciate Marco Almeida for shepherding the senior class through their senior projects and for inspiring so many of his students to study STEM subjects in college. The relationships he has with students are some of the strongest on our staff. He is an exceptional mentor and teacher.
We appreciate Liz Falco who, like Karl, is leaving us, for her
multiple years of making the 8th grade experience and the transition from middle to high school so smooth for her students. The debates and mock trials are some of the highlights our students report from middle school.
We appreciate Rafael Kelman for his creativity and ability to speak to students on their level. The combination of classic and contemporary art mediums in Rafael’s class provide students with tremendous exposure. Always a calming presence, Rafael’s classrooms are a mix of energy and mindfulness, a potent combination to say the least.
The NEASC team notes that we should continue to grow and articulate our mission. Adopted by the school in 2019, our mission promises that The Academy “delivers a rigorous education and fosters joyful engagement, active citizenship, and the desire for justice in each student” in a community which “nurtures creativity, independent thinking and empathy.” Our mission is purposefully aspirational, written so we don't have the opportunity to rest and say, “our job is done here. There is nothing more we can do.” This is why our faculty is our greatest strength. They’re the ones moving our students forward in our mission, day in and day out, year after year.
If you happen to see an Academy faculty member, past or present, out in your community, please take the opportunity to thank them for the difference they made in your life or in the life of your child or friend. And please consider stopping by and saying hello if you get the chance. You’ll find a school that is familiar in its traditions and revolutionary in the change it can wrought for young people.
Community Service is central to The Academy’s commitment to being a “public-spirited private school” and helping our students become active and thoughtful citizens. This year, the Community Service Council worked hard to engage our school community in quite a few fundraisers and drives. Traditionally, we begin the school year with a coin drive dedicated to natural disaster relief. This year, we chose to fundraise for the Community Foundation of Mississippi to assist with the water crisis that Jackson and other communities across the state were experiencing
Published annually by The Academy at Charlemont
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Contributing Writers
Neale Gay P29
Rhiannon Campbell ’23
Paloma Hsiao-Shelton ’24
Santiago Zendejas-Solís ’24
Luis Alfonso Gutiérrez Villarreal’23
Benjamin MacLean ’29
Matilda Morse ’25
Dr. & Mrs. Paul Hoffman GP27
Contributing Photographers Doug Mason P27
Academy Staff
Editor Hannah Smith '06
Production Mike Grinley P23
The Academy at Charlemont does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, handicap, national origin, sex, gender identity or sexual orientation in its education, admissions, and financial aid policies, or in any other programs and policies administered byThe Academy.
(and continue to experience). Our drive was quite successful, and by the end of October, we had successfully raised $569.88. Almost immediately after we wrapped up our first coin drive, we began collecting donations for our annual coat and winter-wear drive. Each year, the Community Service Council encourages students, faculty members, and their families to donate lightly worn coats, hats, mittens, and the like during the weeks leading up to Polyglot and Winter Break. Every year, we also work together as a council to select a location to donate the supplies to, and, for the past few years, we have selected Enlace de Familias, which is a non-profit run out of Holyoke, Massachusetts, that provides assistance to parents and families in the local community. Once again, the school community came through, and we also had quite a substantial donation from Aimie Zale, Co-Head of School Nora Bates Zale's sister-in-law.
After the break, during which we delivered multiple bags of coats and supplies to Enlace de Familias, the council got right back to work. This time, we focused our attention on the Supper for Six drive, which is run out of United Way in Greenfield and works to provide food to families who may need it during breaks in the public school calendar. The Supper for Six drive is unique in that each team works together to fill a shopping bag (or two) with the elements necessary to create a well-balanced and non-perishable meal. This year, the bags we collected ranged from “rice and beans” dinner to “pasta night” bags, and each one was overflowing with additional snacks. By the time the drive ended, teams had successfully filled multiple bags, and we were able to deliver the meals right before the February break due date.
This year, however, the Council did not limit itself to our triedand-true initiatives like Supper
for Six, as we also added back in Love in a Backpack to our list of projects. Academy alum Madeline Leue '06 directs the Ashfield-based program that fills backpacks with one hundred personal care items each. Once filled with toiletries, snacks, books, and other necessities and self-care items, the program delivers the backpacks to local women who are being released from incarceration in order to ease their transitions. With help from the school, the Community Service Council donated many items, including notebooks, hair care products, and other toiletries as well as $200 from the Council’s budget in order to supplement any other items that we may not have gathered during our drive.
After working hard and presenting new drives and fundraisers each season, we began organizing our annual Community Service Day. Co-Head of School and council advisor, Nora Bates
Zale, took the lead in reaching out to local public schools, farms, and nonprofits, many of which the school has built a close connection with over the decades. On Community Service Day in May, the school community was split into teams and spread out across local towns, volunteering at seven different locations during the course of the school day.
All in all, the Community Service Council was as active as ever, if not more so, over the 2022-23 school year. Our group included students spanning almost every grade. They worked hard making announcements, communicating with local organizations, and planning initiative after initiative over the past eight months. Next year, we hope to continue engaging the school with our traditional drives, as well as looking into new ways to bring the spirit of the Academy into local communities.
I am Paloma, a rising Academy senior. During the spring of 2023, I was fortunate enough to spend a semester at the Island School, an academic semester program based on field research in The Bahamas. Ten hours of our week were spent collecting and processing data in our research classes which were all based on the environment we lived in. William Miller is bringing this same place-based learning to The Academy with his projects.
Mr. William Miller is one of The Academy’s most integral science and math teachers. I interviewed him about his most recent award-winning place-based projects and how he’s improved the learning experience in his classes. During my time at The Academy, I have taken his Geometry, Biology, and Chemistry classes and they lit a spark in me for the sciences which I plan to pursue in the future. Additionally, Mr. Miller teaches Climate Connections to the 8th grade and Environmental Science to seniors (the class I am most looking forward to in my senior year). In his Biology class in 9th grade, I conducted my first research project on frogs in the vernal pools at my home. It was one of the turning
points in my learning career because of how encouraging Mr. Miller was in my project and how exciting I found the field research. Now I plan to have a concentration on aquatic field research in my college studies.
Having grown up in a family that promoted hands-on work, Mr. Miller has always been a “project guy.” With his family, he learned to make soap and candles and cared for sheep and chickens and has wanted to bring that experiential learning to Academy students. Since his career at The Academy began, Mr. Miller has played a huge supporting role in the Food and Gardens Council and has “always enjoyed working with students outdoors,” often bringing his classes outside to observe the natural environment.
Mr. Miller has always been an
advocate for outdoor and placebased education but his recent projects have brought his dreams to life in exciting manifestations.
In my freshman year, we had just returned to campus in the spring of 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and I was part of his Geometry class. Our main activity was building a geodesic dome, a spherical structure about fifteen feet high which we made by sawing down sapling birches and maples from campus, stripping their bark, and cutting them into the appropriate lengths.
Of course, Mr. Miller is a fan of making “use of what [is] readily available outside.” After the pandemic, Mr. Miller says “it felt really important to…create a place for people to gather,” and his original idea for the geodesic dome was to create a permaculture garden around it and have classes held inside it. Unfortunately, that dome collapsed, but he says that “failure and learning from your mistakes is such an integral part of science,” an attitude he wants to cultivate in students. “My class had an amazing, exciting time building the dome and we looked forward
to the physical practicality of the project each week. Though we were sad to see the eventual demise of the final product, we had so much fun building it.”
In 2022, he was back at it with his next Geometry class, building another dome with the same techniques of harvesting wood from The Academy campus and processing it in class. He led his students in building a more complicated geodesic dome on a sloped ground and successfully built garden beds surrounding it
which are now home to the three sisters: corn, beans, and squash. This is one way in which Mr. Miller acknowledges the presence of Native American history on this land. Mr. Miller is invested in the social justice aspect of environmental education and hopes to integrate the acknowledgment of our place, living on Native American land in his classes. In the fall of 2022, our now annual Harvest Luncheon was based on these three ingredients in honor of that goal.
During the 2022-23 school year, Mr. Miller has been pushing for even more hands-on experiences for outdoor learning. By keeping snails from a project I was a part of in his Biology class and using the nitrogen they produce to fertilize different plants, he is creating an aquaponics system in the school greenhouse.
Most excitingly, Mr. Miller won the 2023-24 National Signature Project Runner-Up Award from the Rural Schools Collaborative and acquired $1,500 to pursue a place-based, maple sugaring project. Inspired by his six-year-old daughter whose school is integrating maple sugaring into their curriculum, Mr. Miller hopes to bring education about this process to a high school-appropriate level. He has an infinite amount of ideas for how to integrate this project into his many science and math classes. For example, in his Biology class, he mentioned a tool called a refractometer which measures the sugar content in the sap and can be used to find the exact amount of maple syrup made. In Chemistry class, he described how the system of boiling sap to make syrup is like a calorimeter, and how they can calculate the amount of carbon, aka wood, they will need to burn in order to create syrup on the stove.
Responding to the question of how these projects promote the mission of The Academy’s education, he says that he hopes that it is a rigorous, practical educational experience, highlighting “tangible work” and “working with your hands.” Mr. Miller hopes to emphasize the reflective element in his classes, to assure that
students ingrain the importance of their natural environment. He also thinks reflecting will help them to find their voice in terms of their own learning capabilities. He emphasized the importance of understanding and studying decolonization through the dichotomy of the sugar industry versus maple sugaring which is something that predates the arrival of the colonists by centuries. He hopes students come away from his classes with more knowledge of sustainability, criticism of extraction of the natural world, social justice, and a deeper enjoyment of nature.
When I asked Mr. Miller what projects he hopes to bring to The Academy in the future he said “That's a good question…” and proceeded to ponder for a couple of minutes, clearly trying to pinpoint one project he’s thought about. It was impossible. Mr. Miller has so many dreams about what The Academy could become. He has thought about bringing animals to campus and having a makerspace, where carpentry and other functional projects can be facilitated. He hopes that the history of the Hooker-Leavitt house on campus is more thoroughly utilized. It was an Underground Railroad station and a place that housed abolitionists in the era of plantations and enslavement. For Mr. Miller, watching it crumble is heartbreaking. Additionally, he is adamant about developing and expanding the campus gardens and establishing a farm-to-food program, and outfitting the kitchen to allow for more student participation.
Will Miller is an inspiration to The Academy program and his work integrating place-based learning into the curriculum excites the students more than anything. Applying math and science to real-world scenarios is engaging and brings more depth to the understanding of complicated concepts. I am so fortunate to watch this sugaring project come to fruition in my senior year and to watch the geodesic dome gardens grow, not to mention the many projects I’m sure he will pilot in the years to come.
By Santiago Zendejas-Solísn ’27
For most of my life, I've stayed away from politics. It’s not a topic I’m passionate about and, frankly, I often found it to be a tad boring. So when preparation meetings for Model United Nations were announced on a cold morning, I didn’t pay too much attention to it. However, as the day wore on, my curiosity got the better of me. Before I knew it, I was sitting next to
However, dear reader, you must remember that I was as new as it gets when it came to Model UN, and this particular issue would be held in a “crisis committee” (if there were difficulty levels in Model UN, crisis committees would tip the scale in difficulty), so it clearly was out of my depth. I instead opted to represent the Land Down Under in the Disarmament and Security Committee (DISEC). My reasoning was
Sahel region in Africa.
April rolled around, and The Academy’s Model UN team finally left for Dartmouth. The voyage was relatively uneventful, and the check-in at the hotel was fast. We arrived just after two o’clock, and the first session was scheduled for around 6:30. This meant we had quite a bit of time to get acquainted with the hotel rooms and prepare for the first meeting. I even met the North Korean del-
It was very formal and it felt extremely important. However, a choir that was performing in the main room and broadcasting to all conferences via Zoom forgot to turn on the microphone which led to everyone having a good laugh at a completely mute group of people singing. After that, all tension that was in the room dissipated, and I began enjoying the procedures.
other students interested in attending and we were briefed on what the experience looked like. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise that Model UN was exactly what the name said it was (hey, in my defense, I had NO idea what I was getting myself into): a replication of the committees that take place in the real thing (such as the financial and nuclear ones), complete with parliamentary procedures and delegations representing countries, with the whole idea revolving around discussing past, present, and future issues that the actual UN has to deal with.
A few weeks into the prep meetings, our little group was assigned a country: Australia. We were then presented with a list of councils we could choose from. The one that immediately caught my eye was the one discussing the ongoing war in Ukraine.
incredibly simple: the section assigned to this committee in the briefing paper had the word ‘nukes’ in it, so I simply had to try it. Plus, this was the only council where two delegates from each nation worked together, which meant I would have a teammate in the room with me.
After all the delegates had been assigned to either normal or crisis committees, we learned that the campus hosting the Model UN would be Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. All that was left was to write a position paper–basically, one page about the topic the committee is addressing, plus a short paragraph detailing the country’s position on that particular issue. I had to write two of them, since I later realized that apart from covering nuclear disarmament, DISEC would also be discussing terrorism in the
egation (who came from Maine) that would be in DISEC with me. They seemed bent on giving nuclear weapons to everyone. Just before five in the afternoon, we left the hotel and visited Dartmouth’s main building for check-in. Being completely new, I was slightly intimidated by all of the people in suits that were walking on campus (most of them were DartMUN attendees). After check-in, the group split and we all headed to our respective conference rooms. My teammate, Emmett Petrovato ’26, and I arrived before everyone else, which meant we were able to grab a seat close to the front rows. As people started trickling in, a mixed sense of anticipation and nerves began creeping in. Had I prepared enough? Had I researched a sufficient amount of the topic? As I pondered this, the opening ceremony began.
The general flow is relatively simple: opening speeches are delivered, motions are made to discuss several aspects of the problem, and eventually, groups are formed that can draft (and hopefully pass) resolutions addressing the main issue. Twenty minutes or so into the procedures, I decided to do an improvised speech, which went well enough save for the fact that I stuttered several times. After that slightly embarrassing moment, though, most things went smoothly that first session. One noteworthy thing is that I sent out a proposal to everyone to try to gather feedback on and everyone ended up stealing the idea and changing it to fit their resolutions. So, in a way, I was a key factor in the proceedings! I left that first meeting itching for more. And more would indeed be received, for the next session took all day long.
To give a quick overview of what happened on this extra-long day, DISEC split into two large groups: one promoting eventual complete disarmament (which was split into two resolutions, REAL and END, since one resolution was deemed to be too little), and another one that wanted everyone to have nuclear weapons; the North Korean delegation was a key leader in this last group. Two smaller groups didn’t have enough people, so most ended up merging with REAL and END, although several nations ended up siding with the pro-nuke group. Fortunately or unfortunately, the session bell rang before any
resolution passed. This meant it was time for the delegates' dance, which was brief, but hogging the piano with a senior delegate and drawing in a crowd made the time extremely enjoyable. Then, day three of DartMUN began. After being locked out for close to half an hour, I entered the room and sat down for the last time. DISEC’s nuclear proliferation section ended with the final merge between REAL and END into one, extremely large reso-
lution that forced my group to present it as quickly as possible. We ended up winning. Things shifted to terrorism in the Sahel region, which was brief since everyone was unanimous about allowing intervention and the only question being to directly or indirectly counter the insurgent groups. Both resolutions passed, so it didn’t really matter. After that, my DartMUN experience was finished.
In retrospect, deciding to
attend that initial meeting was one of the best decisions I could have made last year. DartMUN was not the extremely pompous gathering I thought it would be. In fact, as the event wore on I realized this is truly an experience for both amateurs seeking something new and seasoned politicos interested in a deep dive. I got to participate in what ended up being a fun event, and I also learned how Model UN works. I cannot stress enough
that the people you meet there are more than sufficient reason to attend, and that the experience is even better when you have a teammate watching your back. As my senior year looms closer, so does my last opportunity to attend this event as a student of The Academy. Whether it is on a crisis committee or a more relaxed general assembly, I know I will have a blast there once again. DartMUN is an extremely rewarding experience.
This year The Academy at Charlemont participated in the New England Public Media hosted Quiz Bowl tournament As School Match Wits, and what a run it was! As Schools Match Wits (ASMW) is an academic quiz show competition, broadcast on NEPM TV. It is open to both public and private high schools in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Vermont, and is one of the longest-running shows of its kind in the nation. This was The Academy’s second year participating in the tournament. According to NEPM, ASMW “...showcases the best and brightest high school students in the region, allowing them to shine in a celebration of learning.” How the quiz show works: Teams pair against each other in qualifying matches to see who can gain the most points and win their match. The top eight highest-scoring teams from the season enter into the playoffs, which consist of quarterfinal, semifinal, and championship matches. There are six question categories: arts and entertainment, literature, math and science, general knowledge (including sports), social studies
(including civics and geography), and world events (including history and current events).”
This year’s team featured Jasper Butler-Kurth ’24, Izzy Schiff ’23, Jonathan Schmidt ’23, and Luis Alfonso Gutiérrez Villarreal ’23. The team made history by being the first Academy team to reach the semi-finals. The first preliminary match was against Holyoke High, which The Academy won by a comfortable margin of 325120. The match was really fun and the four of us had very good chemistry. This put the team in 4th place on the leaderboard.
The quarter-final match was against Pioneer Valley Christian Academy and, despite being down by several points in the first half of the game, The Academy team managed a great comeback and ended up winning 235-170. This is when we noticed that the four of us had certain areas of expertise, and we should let people answer the questions according to their areas. Jasper, for example, has years of experience in Model UN and his area of expertise was geopolitics and history. Izzy’s area was mathematics and science, Jonathan’s was literature and general knowledge, and Luis’ was geography and anything relating
to flags, countries, and capital cities.
The semi-final was against Lenox Memorial, who was ranked first on the leaderboard. While the match was really fun, it was also really competitive and intense. Most of the time both teams buzzed in the middle of the question without hearing the end of it. Sadly, The Academy team lost the game 175-285 in a really well-played match. Lenox Memorial went on to win the
championship. What matters most is that we had tons of fun, both in the game and outside the game. We appeared relaxed and enjoyed the matches —we were not overwhelmed by the pressure of losing— and that helped us be more quick and concentrated. We showed that it is not only possible but also very realistic that The Academy could reach the finals next year. Current students, YOU can make it possible by being part of the Quizzards!
By Benjamin MacLean '29
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is wing’d Cupid painted blind.” This quote was said by Lysander in the play we put on this year: A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. It is a story of order and disorder, reality and appearance and love and marriage.
As a rising 7th grader and a new actor to The Academy at Charlemont theater program, I wanted to do the play because it was a new experience. The play helped me form connections with people I probably wouldn’t have if I didn’t want to try something new. Working with students from different grades and especially students in high school was amazing. It is uncommon for high school students and middle school students to collaborate at many schools, so it was fun acting alongside the older students and seeing all the intricate ideas they came up with.
Working with Ms. Karlin (Ms. KOK for short) was a treat! She is the director of our theater program at The Academy. She knew
how to help us with anything we needed. She helped me figure out all of my acting strengths and weaknesses and all of my friends helped me figure out how to sharpen my acting skills. Learning lines for the play was a big commitment, but a play is so much more than just the lines. It’s hard to pick just one, but I think my favorite part of doing the play was how I developed the voice for my character.
The most memorable part of A Midsummer Night’s Dream was the putting on the play itself. When the lights dimmed, I could feel my adrenaline rise but by the end of the performance, it was clear that all our hard work had paid off, which was really fun to see. Shakespeare’s plays all require a ton of emotion, that’s the reason why I like them the most. I’ll be continuing to do the drama program for the rest of my time at The Academy. In theater, the experience of “being in the limelight” is often mentioned. I feel that this is because theater is so promising and everyone deserves to have their chance to be a bright light.
Theseus, Duke of Athens - Izzy Schiff
Egeus, father of Hermia - Jasper Butler-Kurth
Lysander, in love with Hermia - Meran Paul
Demetrius, in love with Hermia - Chanina Kosovske
Philostrate, Master of Revels to Theseus - Hadley Schiff
Peter Quince, Prologue in the play - Lucas Tikkala-Cutler
Snug, Lion in the play - Ben MacLean
Nick Bottom, Pyramus in the play - Caden Adair
Francis Flute, Thisby in the play - Jonah Pollock
Tom Snout, Wall in the play - Mabel Chesnes
Robin Starveling, Moonshine in the play - Dee Werner
Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, betrothed to Theseus - Ellis Wahlstrom
Hermia, daughter to Egeus, in love with Lysander - Fallon Paxton
Helena, in love with Demetrius - Ainsley Murray
Oberon, King of the Fairies - Izzy Schiff
Titania, Queen of the Fairies - Ellis Wahlstrom
Oberon’s Train:
Puck, a fairy - Charlie Murray
Switch, a fairy - Parker Brown
Troth, a fairy - Hannah Handschuh
Titania’s Train:
Peaseblossom, a fairy - Ruby Bogdanove
Cobweb, a fairy - Hadley Schiff
Moth, a fairy - Roosi Isupov
Mustardseed, a fairy - Kahlan Scappace
Tech Crew:
Nico Lemieux
Solomon McKonly
Lizzy Polatin
Zorah Miller
Ivan Harder
Arlo Dube-Hooker
The class of 2023 had a remarkably successful year in college admissions. Our 15 seniors received 56 acceptances for a total acceptance rate of just over 80%. Our 2023 graduates will be spread out over the central and eastern states this fall, with the furthest Aardvark about 1,100 miles away in Grinnell, Iowa.
College admissions have changed over the 11 years I’ve been The Academy’s college counselor. Partly exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, SAT and ACT tests have become less important because colleges are placing emphasis on a more holistic approach to admissions. Interviews, transcripts, letters of recommendation, portfolios, essays and an online presence are, for the most part, looked upon more favorably than in the past. As I’m sure most readers of Vox know, the admissions landscape gets more difficult every year. This is the second year in a row I’ve had admissions officers reach out to me to encourage my students to apply for binding early decision (ED). Students have a better chance at most colleges by applying ED if it’s an option. For example, Brown University’s class of 2027 has 2,609 students, of which 879 were accepted ED. The advantage of applying ED has never been higher than it is today.
Then there is the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling in the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. This ruling’s impact didn’t affect the class of ’23, but the long term consequences are substantial.
Essentially the ruling states that admissions officers will know a student’s race but can’t factor it into an admission decision, overturning about 45 years of precedent. Effectively the only way a college can really prove it isn’t using race in its admissions decisions is to admit fewer students of color or beware the wrath of lawsuits, thus exacerbating segregation and diminishing inclusivity. In her dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson called it a classic “pink-elephant paradox” as racial inequality will persist so long as it is ignored. This was certainly on my mind this year, as it was for all Academy students looking at colleges. These realities make the class of 2023’s college acceptances and matriculations even more impressive.
The Class of 2023 will be attending the following schools next year:
BRYN MAWR COLLEGE
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
CLARK UNIVERSITY
GREENFIELD COMMUNITY COLLEGE
GRINNELL COLLEGE
KENYON COLLEGE
TECNOLÓGICO DE MONTERREY
THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
THE NEW SCHOOL
OBERLIN COLLEGE
THE UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER
SKIDMORE COLLEGE
THE UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT
WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
Please join us in congratulating the class of 2023!
Caden Adair will remember the “real joy” of the drama program and the senior project (Caden’s involved writing and directing an original musical theater production) from his time at The Academy. He further notes Studio Blocks, music in general,
and performing in the concerts as highlights. Caden will matriculate to the University of New Hampshire, where he will major in musical theater in a 5-year Masters program.
Rhiannon Campbell notes Community Service Days and “getting to talk to people I didn't speak to as frequently while planting vegetables or weeding flower beds at various farms,” as well as the group’s 8th grade class trip “spending hours running around
Hancock Shaker Village in the rain” as the highlights of her time at The Academy. Her senior project was an exploration of dance and creative writing. Rhiannon is now off to Kenyon College, “studying who knows what, but probably humanities.”
Adella Catanzaro will remember how special the teacher-student relationships made The Academy for her–“Coach BZ for basketball and Will Miller for Ultimate were influential leaders–as well as being a part of groups like Grove (“The yearbook is my child”) and the Sustainability Council. Adella's senior project, dear to her heart, entailed interviewing cancer survivors, creating a living website sharing
Rachel Friedman notes the amount of laughter that she shared with countless Academy peers and teachers, all day long, especially post-quarantine, as the highlight of her time with us. Her senior project entailed designing and sewing her own collection
their stories, and organizing a fundraiser where she ran a road race with her father to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Adella departed almost immediately after Commencement for Taiwan to study Mandarin on a National Security Language Initiative for Youth Scholarship summer program. In the fall, she heads to Grinnell College in Iowa to study environmental studies and Mandarin.
of clothing. Rachel matriculates to Bryn Mawr in Pennsylvania this fall, and envisions herself studying something in the humanities, or archeology, or art history.
Anders Gibb-Buursma Anders will remember how much he enjoyed the Studio Blocks. “I got to join and experience things I would never have thought to do. Like basket weaving and learning how to play bass guitar. The music program was really fun and welcoming.” Anders excelled with hands-on learn-
ing demonstrated by his senior project. Anders apprenticed with a blacksmith and built a metal bench that he generously donated to The Academy. Anders will attend The University of Vermont’s Grossman School of Business in the fall.
Gus Grinley will remember working with his peers on his senior project, a collection of dual portraits (one traditional, one environmental) that demanded a lot of collaboration from his subjects– “I appreciated learning about who they are and how they
wanted to be seen…”--as one of the main highlights of his Academy time. Gus heads off to Worcester Polytechnic Institute this fall, and is excited to explore Worcester and the surrounding area. “Going where the wind takes me,” he concluded.
Chanina Kosovske notes The Academy’s music and drama programs as his top highlights, and will also fondly remember his math classes and teachers. For his senior project, Chanina learned how to play the drums alongside composing original music for
drums and vocals, which he performed at an Academy Open Mic. Chanina matriculates to Oberlin this fall, excited to explore theater, math, music, or creative writing–“maybe all of it!”
Paige Lane will remember Mr. Almeida as an incredible faculty member for all of his consistent support with what can be extremely challenging coursework in Physics and Precalculus. Paige also notes participation in the basketball team as a big highlight during their Academy time: “I love Coach [BZ]. Playing on the basketball team and be-
Aisha Pruitt Gonzalez notes the opportunity to engage in a meaningful senior project (in which she explored the world of film criticism) as her main Academy highlight, but also recognizes the benefit of the sense of responsibility she developed during her senior year with us. The community-minded atmosphere at The Academy–everything from
ing influenced by Coach was so positive. I can’t wait for my little sister to be on Coach’s team.” In addition to holding space for their peers to come and participate in lunchtime poetry-writing sessions, Paige wrote and edited their own book of poetry for their senior project. Paige now heads off to the University of Rochester to study Chemistry.
canned goods as the admission price for dances to the expectation of seniors to lead a team was another highlight for Aisha. In the near future, Aisha will take a gap year and move to Mexico with her dad to work and spend time with family. This fall, Aisha matriculates to Clark University.
Izzy Schiff will remember his many wonderful Academy math classes as the highlight of his time here, as well as being a part of The Quizzards (our quiz team that competed on NEPM’s As Schools Match Wits). Izzy’s senior project used original mu-
sic, video and poetry to explore his thoughts on the concepts of Comfort, Birth, Limitation, and Isolation. Izzy is off to the University of Chicago this fall, planning on majoring in math and following a pre-med path.
Jonathan Schmidt notes enjoying walks in The Academy’s upper field as one of his greatest memories of his time with us. He also notes that the three-designer fashion show that he facilitated
with his peers Rachel and Maya as a component of their respective senior projects as a highlight and an “only at The Academy moment.” He matriculates to Skidmore College this fall.
Daniel Tetreault will remember the deep and various conversations he had with fellow Aardvarks about anything from what would happen if every Academy student was stranded on a deserted island, to simulating moral quandaries over board games. Daniel also highlights his fondness for his studio
blocks as they allowed him to explore possibilities beyond those so often found in other institutions. Daniel's senior project entailed teaching himself various forms of programming and eventually creating his own draft of a video game for PCs. Daniel will be attending GCC in the fall.
Luis Alfonso Gutiérrez Villarreal will remember his participation in this year’s Spring Arts Celebration (in which he performed in two bands and displayed his visual art as well) and the joys of the skiing program (as a never-before skier who found it to be the perfect antidote to homesickness) as his
main Academy highlights. Luis' senior project involved a deep study of Chopin's romantic piano music. He produced his own recording of his playing. He now returns to Mexico to attend the Tecnologico de Monterrey and study medicine as the start to what he describes as a 15-year career plan.
Maya Williams-Russell notes The Academy’s music program as one of the most important parts of her time with us. She also will fondly remember the classes she shared with everyone in her grade, and playing on our sports teams with her friends–“I like being around my friends all the time.” Maya’s senior project involved extensive research into
her family’s Lithuanian heritage, particularly as expressed in items of clothing, of which Maya handmade several. Maya heads off to The School of Jazz and Contemporary Music at The New School in New York City after a busy summer of performing with her band, Big Destiny.
Aroa Zumeta Garcia will remember having lunch with friends and getting to participate in our Ceramics Studio Blocks as some of her greatest Academy moments. She also appreciates the faculty and the “amazing way” that they treat Academy students.
Aroa’s senior project involved astronomical studies, including the design and execution of a dome for projecting observatory-like images of the night skies. Aroa now returns to Spain after two Academy years, where she plans to study physics at university.
On Sunday, June 11th, 2023, The Academy’s community, friends, and family, were once again gathered together under the big white graduation tent. All the supporters of our Academy seniors were there to celebrate the end of their high school career, and the beginning of their adventures in the world beyond our school.
Commencement began with the newly elected student representative to the Board of Trustees, Ellis Wahlstrom ’24 welcoming our guests and students with a land acknowledgment. Ellis then directed the audience’s attention to the back of the tent where the graduates and faculty began their procession to the stage. The crowd gave them a rousing round of applause as they took their seats. Co-Head of School for Academics Neale Gay, quieted the excited fans by congratulating every student on completing another successful academic year at The Academy and proceeded to accord them the annual academic awards.
Co-Head of School for Operations and Athletic Director John Schatz distributed the Athletic Awards, and Co-Head of School for Community Nora Bates Zale distributed Community Awards. After the awards ceremony, teacher Liz Falco stepped up to the stage to congratulate the 8th grade (Class of 2027) on graduating from middle school. Falco shared thoughts and memories she had with the group and reflected on their time spent together. “Most of that time, it felt anthropological, like I was observing something I didn’t belong to. It’s loud in their world, swirling, vibrant (and, dare I say, whimsical?). Walking into Erato for our classes, seven times a week, I never knew what I would see or hear upon opening the door.”
After Ms. Falco finished recognizing and congratulating each and every rising freshman, the Chair of the Board of Trustees, Shelley Jackson, stepped up on stage to appreciate the event of the day and The Academy parents' contribution to the school’s spirit and funds. Following her speech of gratitude, she welcomed the Class of 2023 to the stage for a musical interlude. With Luis Alfonso Gutiérrez Villarreal on the piano, Maya Williams-Russell on the bass, Gus Grinley on the guitar, Caden Adair on the tambourine, and everyone on vocals, they performed High School Musical’s “Breaking Free” with smiles on their faces. With the final note blending together into a hum, the gradu-
ates all took their seats. Co-Head of School Nora Bates Zale (BZ for short) then addressed the soonto-be alumni, speaking about how she’ll hold onto the sound of the seniors’ echoing laughter through the hallways, a memory that will grow into nostalgia. BZ explained how hard they worked to get to this part of their life, entering “alumnihood” having overcome so many obstacles to “become their best selves.” Along with her own words, BZ’s speech included contributions from Academy community members who wrote specific Appreciations for each of the seniors. The community appreciations showed how much each of the seniors were truly valued at The Academy, and brought tears to
everyone’s eyes. Neale Gay and BZ awarded the graduates their diplomas, and then the valedictory speeches began.
Caden Adair was first up to the podium to tell a story of life as it related to “when you spend so long unraveling a tapestry”. Caden explained the experience of going through high school almost as a battle. He said, “They would look up at the stars and they would cry, because why did things have to change again when they just became so easy? When you spend so long unraveling a tapestry, it takes a while to roll the thread neatly back up, and start again. But they did. It was hard at first but eventually, the loom became an extension of the self, and things picked up speed.”
At the end of the journey, “their hands did not struggle through the threads but glided through them as if they were conducting an orchestra.”
Rhiannon Campbell shared the idea of “practicality.” Rhiannon explained how practicality was a part of how she was seen and identified in school. She said, “I’m a little scared of falling victim to the practical, of forgetting how to live and act for myself and, instead, orchestrating my choices to fit a general idea of what makes sense.” Her expectations and recommendations built up a layer of protection, but now graduating and moving to a new chapter, she is ready to begin not making sense or being so practical. She ended with “because, for the first time, there will be nothing to catch me, no practicality or expectation to cushion my fall and dull my senses.”
Adella Catanzaro was next up to the podium sharing her gratitude for the small interactions in her life. Addie explained how each of the interactions she has had in her life helped her become the person she is today. She said, “I’ve come to realize that each person I have ever had an interaction with, has been the defining part of my experience in life and are a part of who I am.” Addie talked about how she is thankful for the people who have impacted her life and how she is optimistic about future interactions that will shape her even more.
Rachel Friedman shared how “it's ok to let something end in order to find happiness in something else.” Rachel explained that after spending 6 years at The Academy, she will miss it dearly, but she was not discouraged to move on to seek new and greater experiences in life. She said, “All that I’m doing is letting something end, and seeking happiness in what comes after… And it’s a beautiful thing, causing change. Because, just think, isn’t it lovely that it’s not all stagnant?”
Anders Gibb-Buursma expressed his love and appreciation for those who helped him to
get to this very day. He started by going through and appreciating each and every one of his family members for their unconditional love and support and to friends and faculty who took time to stand by his side when he needed it most. Anders shared a quote from a family friend that he was inspired to adhere to, “Real life from now on; build a solid one, one that makes three persons proud: 4-year-old Anders, 80-year-old Anders, and today's Anders. Full throttle my dear friend!”
Gus Grinley then took the mic to share how moving to a new stage in life was related to his fear of movie thrillers. In scary movies, just like in life, he never knew what was around the corner, getting “caught up in the fear of what is going to happen next.” But he was grateful for “all the people who helped me watch movies and also those who pushed me to succeed.” His teachers, his classmates, and his family all supported and inspired him. He ended with, “As I stand here, I am terrified just like I was on that couch so long ago, but I hope my thriller ends with you all staying in my life even though today is a goodbye.”
International student Luis Alfonso Gutiérrez Villarreal shared a quote from a favorite high school teacher in Mexico offered before he joined The Academy’s graduating class. His teacher said, “If I were to go on an exchange year I should be aware that the Luis Alfonso of that moment will cease to exist.” He explained how this anecdote stayed with him throughout the school year. Luis shared that this experience has “transformed” him and how it taught him, “another type of language, and that’s the language of honestly communicating your inner feelings, the language of allowing yourself to care, the language of accountability, the language of self-love.”
Chanina Kosovske was next up, thanking all his fellow students and teachers for helping him get through 6 years at The Academy. He said the arts pro-
gram, music and drama, really helped him grow as a student and find himself. He said, “The music and drama programs for me helped me discover my love for performance.” After spending such a long time at The Academy, it was hard for him to process the fact that he must go but at the same time he knows he must. He said, “I need new places to explore, new faces to meet. I’m ready to leave.”
Paige Lane thanked all of the teachers for their help and energy. “I have been taught through the past 4 years how to push myself, be goofy, be me and to be a self advocate.” They said, “All your words have been a main motivator and a kick in the butt to be who I want to be and to know that I can do anything.” They specifically thanked Ms. Schmidt, Mr. Green, and Mr. Almeida for really making an impact on their education and in their daily life. They ended the speech with a line of encouragement to all of the students who may need it. They said, “Please create, be bold, be kind, and be you. Take life one day at a time, celebrate small victories and take breaks.”
Aisha Pruitt Gonzalez shared why she decided to apply to The Academy for her senior year and how it impacted her. Aisha
learned about The Academy after befriending classmate Maya Williams-Russell. She said she chose The Academy with only one year left of high school because “I wanted to rediscover my love for learning. If I was going to go to
He took a minute and fumbled through his bag, searching for something, leaving the crowd silent and confused. To everyone’s surprise, he slipped an egg out from his bag, cracked it open on his chest, poured the egg into his mouth, and prepared to take the applause. Laughter and applause indeed roared throughout the corners of the tent as he bowed and took a seat.
If I think I must write one book, all the problems of how this book should be and how it should not be block me and keep me from going forward. If, on the contrary, I think that I am writing a whole library, I feel suddenly lightened: I know that whatever I write will be integrated, contradicted, balanced, amplified, buried by the hundreds of volumes that remain for me to write.”
college, I had to find that spark again. And since The Academy reminded me of the last school I went to where I had that spark, I committed.” The Academy was her spark and joining this community made her rekindle her love for learning. Aisha also learned responsibility, leadership and discovered what it was like to be a part of a community. And her favorite life lesson was, “that creating art for school is valid and valuable.”
Isadore Schiff was next.
According to Jonathan Schmidt, who went next, that was an unbeatable performance. Jonathan, always with a book in hand, shared a quote he reflected on during difficult times, “Why not admit that my dissatisfaction reveals an excessive ambition, perhaps a megalomaniac delirium? For the writer who wants to annul himself in order to give voice to what is outside him, two paths open: either write a book that could be the unique book, that exhausts the whole in its pages; or write all books, to pursue the whole through its partial images. The unique book, which contains the whole, could only be the sacred text, the total world revealed. But I do not believe totality can be contained in language; my problem is what remains outside, the unwritten, the unwritable. The only way left to me is that of writing all books, writing the books of all possible authors.
Maya Williams-Russell shared how her passion for music blossomed at The Academy. Maya explained how she came into high school loving music but believing “I needed to be practical and not let my love for music take over my plans for a 9-5 career that I would hate.” But something changed in her junior year. As she matured, she explained, “I blossomed, and my love for music and being creative came in full swing. I joined my band, Big Destiny, and I started to learn drums and the upright bass, and the passion that had been dampened by COVID was relit into many new possibilities.” She let her love for upright bass override her previous concepts of practicality. Although still nervous about the future, she shared her own words of wisdom from her college application essay, “The peace that playing music gives me is so powerful that it allows my
body to finally take things in, and take a deep breath and know that everything is okay.”
Aroa Zumeta Garcia stood up to deliver the final speech of the afternoon. She began explaining how she was an exchange student with a huge passion for stars and how they didn’t just relate to her “nerdy talk”, but how they related to everyone in The Academy community. She says, “In a week I will be 4,713 miles away from all of you and obviously we will have completely different days, we will see different birds, different people, speak a different language, but when night falls, the star-filled sky that you will see and the shiny night sky that I will see will be exactly the same. When we look at the sky we will be looking at the same small bright stars and this will be the only thing that will connect us, the only thing that I will be able to share from my day with all of you even though I am on the other side of the ocean.” Aroa shared how the stars and space mean so much to her because they are “the only thing that will connect us” once she returns to her home in Bilbao, Spain. Aroa closed her speech, and the rest of the speeches, by sharing how
Class of 2023
Caden Ari Adair
Rhiannon Jo Campbell
Adella Grace Catanzaro
Rachel Raya Friedman
Anders Gibb-Buursma
Michael Augustus Grinley
Luis Alfonso Gutiérrez Villarreal
Chanina Khalil Kosovske
Paige Alexandra Lane
Aisha Yazmin Pruitt Gonzalez
Isadore Schiff
Jonathan Zafian Schmidt
Daniel Tetreault
Maya Ella Williams-Russell
Aroa Zumeta Garcia
grateful she was to be able to have an experience like this one. She said The Academy was an incredible and special community of people.
After a booming round of applause, with smiles and tears
Class of 2027
Casey Bestler
Jackson Cindir
Cosmina (Coco)
Gamsey-Boudier
Katje Gibb-Buursma
Nola Grignaffini
Eli Grunberg
Liz Hoffman
Nico Lemieux
Ursula Lenaerts
Joe Mason
Sofia Mason
Enso McNay
Jack Palmer
Garland Solloom
David Stein
Rachael Strycharz
Luka Toth-Cahn
Callum Watkin
Charlotte Williams
on everyone’s faces, we all sang the school song “Vivat Academia.” Family, friends, students, and teachers all gathered together in the field, Recital Hall, and courtyard to take photos and rejoice with the new graduates.
A potluck of food, fruit punch, and smiles was shared among the community. Soon the gathering turned to goodbyes, but most importantly, congratulations were commemorated to the graduating Class of 2023.
List of awards
Academic Awards
Grade 6: Ruby Bogdanove
Grade 7: Ezekiel Mirin
Grade 8: Coco Gamsey-Boudier
Grade 9: Nicolas Zendajas Solis
Grade 10: Maceo Raker
Grade 11: John McVey
Grade 12: Rachel Friedman
Athletic Awards
Outstanding Lower School Athletes:
Sofia Mason and Casey Bestler
Outstanding Upper School Athletes: Adella Catanzaro and Anders Gibb-Buursma
Coaches’ Award: Maya Williams-Russell
Fine Arts Awards
Kerlin Conyngham Fine Arts Award for Work in Performance: Caden Ari Adair
Kerlin Conyngham Fine Arts Award for Work in Visual Arts: Fallon Paxton
Community Awards
Ellen MacLeish Zale
Community Service Award: Rhiannon Campbell
Robert Jaros Citizenship Award: Jonathan Schmidt
Upper School Jane Grant
Honor Council Award: Paige Lane
Spirit of Zephyr Award: Caden Ari Adair
Will Sparks Award: Marco Almeida
Virginia Gabert
“I am enjoying married life in Plainfield, MA! Moved to Plainfield in 2016, and married Mark Stinson on December 2, 2017. Still working multiple local jobs, but now all are finance related (Treasurer for two municipal organizations, and Bookkeeper for two pet-care businesses). I don't think any of this would surprise any of my Academy classmates! Life is good!””
1988
Jenny Friedl
“Hi AAC family! I am still living in Arlington, VA with my sweet husband, Lawrence, and three super fun and quirky kids, Porter (15) and twins Lindy and Tyler (13). I have been a teacher for many years (decades!), but left the classroom in 2020 after doing my absolute best to teach 1st graders over Zoom. I adored my students, but the pandemic was a tipping point for me and I have been grateful to be able to focus on our own kids as they head further into their teens. In addition to helping fledge our three kids, I am working my way back into better health as I come up on five years postbreast cancer diagnosis, which came a year after a thyroid cancer diagnosis. The side effects from those surgeries and medications, both physical and emotional, have occupied much of my time and mental space. I am glad to be at a point where I can focus once again on my physical fitness. That plus the kids keep me really busy, and honestly I am enjoying being in the "mom taxi" phase - we have great conversations, listen to good music, and I love seeing them flex their independence. Our kids are now the same age I was when I was thriving at The Academy, and we're certainly trying to give them the same sort of roots and wings.”
Reni Papananias
“I am now the nurse manager of an acute surgical specialty unit at NYU in Manhattan and loving being back on the floor leading nurses. My wife Noelle and I welcomed our son Rocco earthside in 2021. He has completed our family and he brings us so much joy.”
Matreya Hughes
“Working at a fine jewelry shop in Back Bay, and spending as much time as I can with my 2 daughters when not at work. Also enjoying beautiful spring!”
blade-maker. I still live in Northwest Vermont with my wife, three dogs and three cats.”
Zoë Plakias
“My husband and I recently moved to Bellingham, WA, where I took a job on the faculty of my undergraduate
Madeline Thompson
Tobey Ward
lives in Philadelphia, where she works as a fashion copywriter. Her recent essays have been published in the Florida Review and Solstice, and she's working on a memoir about ambivalent motherhood. She talks to former Academy classmates Nora and Aethena almost every day, which brings her “endless joy.”
alma mater, Western Washington University. We are thrilled to be back on the West Coast after a few years in the Midwest, and I am loving being at a more student-centered institution. We just bought a new house and are enjoying hiking, boating, and hanging out with our cat!”
Foster Ranney
“I’m about to complete a program at UMass Amherst that will qualify me to teach high school English!”
Rhys McGovern
“I've been living in Amsterdam for the past two years, learning Dutch and Dutch sign language and enjoying acculturating to an entirely new place. I'm headed back to western Mass this summer to embark on a new professional project, and am excited to be able to come visit The Academy again!”
Rebecca Gonzalez-Kreisberg
“I am spending snowy winters in the Lake Tahoe area and foggy summers in Santa Cruz, California. I continue to seek balance between making a living wage, doing work that is fulfilling, and finding ways to live and be that challenge and shift the racist and classist fabric of our society and minds. I am still drawing lots of landscapes, which you can check out over at mtscapes.squarespace.com”
Ethan Brossard
“I’ve been immersing myself in all sorts of photo things at RISD (Rhode Island School of Design), and working on some of my first large scale photo projects. My current series of photographs is a project about my experiences with mental health, which I'm spending the summer printing as platinum prints and self publishing as a photo book!”
Todd Whitney
“I've been working hard at PagerDuty being a senior software engineer. I got the opportunity to spend November in NYC and Lisbon this year as part of major work projects. In my free time I have become a hobby blacksmith and
“While traveling recently in Europe with some of my family, we met up for a day with Verena Schwarz (fall 2006 Academy international student) in Salzburg, Austria. Seventeen years later, it was fun to catch up, reminisce about when we lived together, and spend the day exploring a new city.”
What years did you attend The Academy?
I joined the Academy for grade 10 in 2005 and graduated in 2008.
What was Academy culture like during your time here?
The Academy culture during my time was very small and close-knit. Everyone knew everyone, and we were generally all friends. I believe the number of students in my graduating class was 21 (and we were a BIG class for that time). I remember hanging out in the hallways by the cubbies or in the library on the giant bean bag chairs. I loved being a senior team leader with my co-leader Kate Cooper. We led and helped the students in the years below us navigate their time at The Academy. It did not matter what grade you were in–everyone was an equal friend and hung out. Additionally, we were free to explore things that interested us. There was a strong desire from my friends and I to play Ultimate Frisbee, so we were allowed to create our own team (which led to many great memories).
Did you have a favorite class, project, or particularly impactful teacher at The Academy?
I really loved all of the art classes I took! My favorite was black and white photography with Kerlin Conyngham. It was always a blast hanging out in the darkroom with
loved the suspense of waiting for a piece to bake in the kiln, not knowing if it would survive or how it would look the following day. Metal shop (among other arts) with Mr. [Tom] Brown was also very memorable. The one and only time I’ve held an arc welder in my hands was in that class! I remember welding various pieces of metal together in attempts to create something crazy. My friend, Will Thompson, and I succeeded in creating our interpretation of a scooter, and we were very proud of our creation (it was actually rideable!). Lastly, as much as I saw helping cook meals in the kitchen as a huge chore, learning how to cut veggies and cook for school lunch gave me cooking skills I still use today! I have since grown quite fond of making delicious creations for meals.
What did you do after you graduated from The Academy (college, travel, career changes, family, pets, etc)?
to the midnight fireworks, and then we partied until the sun rose the next day!)
What are some career or personal successes you’d like to share?
I’m a Senior Visual Effects Artist for video games. I’ve been lucky enough to work for Microsoft, Dis-
my friends as we developed our prints. I would experiment with different styles of developing the film to see if I got the right exposure for the photos I painstakingly took on my dad’s old camera. Pottery and glasswork were also always fun. I
After graduating, I was lucky enough to go to college. I went to Champlain College in Burlington Vermont, for Video Games: Art and Animation. I studied abroad in Montreal for a year and experienced some VERY cold weather. After college I bounced around a bit, living in VT, MA, NY before making my way to California for work. I’ve lived in both San Francisco and most recently Los Angeles. I am very much enjoying the West Coast with my girlfriend Kylie and our two pets, Pepper and Jagger. I highly recommend traveling when/if you get the chance to see the world! My best buddy Ethan and I try to travel to a different place every New Year to see how they celebrate! We explore other places throughout the year as well. So far the list includes Edinburgh, Prague, Budapest, Singapore, Morocco, Berlin, Thailand, London (by accident) and most recently Ireland. (Berlin, Germany has the craziest New Year’s I’ve attended so far. There were fireworks going off everywhere in the streets, everyone was celebrating during the build-up
ney, Activision and EA games. Most recently I’ve been a part of helping launch the last few Battlefield titles, but I have also worked on notable titles such as Call of Duty and Skylanders. Working on games is definitely a lot of hard work, but it is definitely worth all the hard work in the end. VFX is a little special in that we collaborate a lot with other departments. One day I could be working with weapon designers and character animators to make sure the shell ejects on a shotgun look correct to the player. Then, the next day, I could be working with lighting, audio and world artists to make sure the ambient fire and smoke fx are placed in the correct area with burning materials and crackling flames for when the player interacts with it.
What advice would you give current Academy students or recent graduates?
If you have a passion for something, give it 100%. Try to see if it can be a career. If you love what you do, then it doesn’t feel like work. Also, keep in mind that you might not get it right the first time. I was lucky enough during my senior year at The Academy to dip my toe into the vast gaming industry for my senior project. I was supported by The Academy as I explored uncharted waters, even though we had no computer or video game classes. They helped me in finding advisors outside of The
Academy to give me guidance for my senior project. Looking back, it was a very small introduction into the gaming industry. Nevertheless, I found it all to be super fascinating and fun! I gave it my all and tried my best to surround myself with others who shared my passion for art and games. Now, after many years of pursuing that passion, I am living in Los Angeles! I never imagined I would be living over here when I was at The Academy! Work hard, but family and friends come first! Work is constantit’s not going anywhere. Stay passionate about your career, but take the time to be with your friends and family for big life events or holidays. Weddings should never be turned down. They are gatherings of all the couple’s favorite people to celebrate. Those moments and memories are once in a lifetime! On the flip side, funerals, as hard as they can be, should always be attended as well. My family is on the East coast while I’m on the West coast, and it is hard to see them. Luckily, thanks to all our lovely social media and other tech, I talk to them almost every day and we try to visit each other on the big holidays like Christmas.
Try to stay in touch with the friends you make at The Academy (during your time there and afterwards)! They are the ones who share the fun memories you are creating as you go through life. I recently attended my friend Will Thompson’s wedding! We may have not seen each other in person in years, but when we met up again, it was just like no time had passed at all. We each had amazing adventures to share with one another and I got to meet some of his amazing friends he made along the way!
Anything else you’d like to share?
Never lose your sense of adventure! The world is a fascinating place with many unique cultures and customs that have something to offer to you. As an adventurer, explore, learn from those different cultures and their history, and most importantly, enjoy every moment of your adventures along the way!
e are Paul and Laurel Hoffman, our granddaughter is Elizabeth Hoffman ’27, in the 8th Grade. This is her third year at The Academy at Charlemont. We never miss a Grandparents and Special Friends Day, and I’m sure
Wthat’s true for many of you. I was going to start by telling you all what a special place Charlemont is, how every student is treasured as an individual, how it’s small enough so everyone can know everyone else, and how there is caring, compassion and choice, yet academic rigor, but you know all that already.
Instead, I’m going to talk briefly about The Academy at Charlemont’s motto: “Find your voice. Speak your mind.” In looking at Liz’s homework recently, when she visited us, we were pleased to see she is encouraged to go to original sources, and to distinguish facts from opinions - not to believe something just because someone says it or because you heard it from an unreliable source like Facebook or Twitter, but to be a skeptic and find things out for herself. The Academy at Charlemont has also taught her to be respectful of differences among people. With every passing year she’s at The Academy, we find Liz more knowledgeable and more sure of herself. All the students here are intelligent. The Academy’s faculty will be sure they become knowledgeable, and I’m confident that the ethos of The Academy will make them able to be wise and to help make this troubled world a better place to
TYPES OF GIVING
ANNUAL GIVING • The Academy relies on the generous, annual support of our community of alumni/ae, parents, families and friends to sustain our programs. Annual Giving supports all of The Academy’s programs, including financial aid.
LEGACY GIVING • An investment in The Academy at Charlemont through a bequest provision or any other planned gift vehicle is a meaningful contribution that demonstrates a strong vote of confidence in the mission and value of an Academy education. Common forms of legacy giving include:
• A bequest of cash, stock, personal or real property via a will, or beneficiary giving via a trust, retirement plan, or life insurance
• Life income plans such as a Charitable Gift Annuity
• Charitable Remainder Trust
Donors are encouraged to discuss their charitable giving plans and needs with their own financial and legal advisors. Our Development Office welcomes inquiries and notification of intent in matters of legacy giving.
RESTRICTED GIFTS • Restricted gifts are those that are designated for specific capital projects or programs. Please contact our Development Office for more information.
ENDOWMENT GIFTS • Endowment gifts are permanently restricted to support The Academy’s programs, including but not limited to financial aid, and help sustain The Academy over the long term. Most recently, family and friends established the Eleanor (Ellie) Lazarus Memorial Fund for the Arts to support The Academy’s Studio Block program.
live in.
I’ll end with a clarification: Intelligence is being able to learn botany. Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put them in a fruit dessert. Please help The Academy at Charlemont continue to be effective in its mission of sending its students out into the world knowing how to make their efforts fruitful. Thank you.
WAYS TO GIVE
The Academy accepts gifts by check, money order, or credit card and gifts of appreciated securities.
ONLINE GIFTS • Please visit www. charlemont.org/give to make a secure online gift with a credit card. Online gift processing is available for one-time or recurring gifts.
RECURRING GIFTS • The Academy can process a recurring monthly gift with credit card information from the donor, either online as above or manually with the donor’s signature on file. Donors may indicate the beginning and end date of the pledge.
MATCHING GIFTS • Many companies match or multiply charitable contributions made by their employees. Be sure to check with your personnel office about your company’s matching gift policy,
and please provide our Development Office with necessary forms in order to maximize your support for The Academy.
PLEDGES • Donors may make pledges to the Annual Fund. Pledges must be paid by June 30th, the end of the fiscal year.
GIFTS OF APPRECIATED SECURITIES • To make a gift of stock to The Academy, please have your broker contact The Academy’s Business Office for instructions about transferring the shares directly to our brokerage account. Stock gifts to The Academy are tax deductible.
GIFTS BY MAIL • You may mail your gift to us at:
The Academy at Charlemont Development Office, The Mohawk Trail, 1359 Route 2, Charlemont, MA 01339
For more information about giving to The Academy at Charlemont, please contact the Development Office at the address above. You may reach us by phone at 413-339-4912 or by email at developmentoffice@charlemont.org
The Academy at Charlemont gratefully acknowledges the following donors for their voluntary contributions to our Annual Fund during the 2022-2023 fiscal year (July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023). Donors are listed in the following categories: Headmaster’s Circle ($5,000 and above), Founder’s Society ($2,500 - $4,999), Charlemont Society ($1,000 - $2,499), Patrons ($500- $999), Scholars ($100 - $499) and Friends (up to $99).
Heads’ Circle
($5,000 and above)
Anonymous
Johnson Scholarship Foundation
Judy Grunberg* GP20, 27
Jennifer and Brian Hoffman P27
Marc Fromm and Beth Sperry P11, 14, 19
Susan Leeds
Bruce Lessels and Karen Blom P14
Cornelia and Wallis Reid P01
Jennifer Rosner and Bill Corwin P19, 22
Mr. Jim Schaefer
Susan and Michael Slowinski P98, 00, 01
T. Backer Fund
Founder’s Society
($2,500 - $4,999)
David Epstein
Dr. & Mrs. Paul Hoffman GP27
Sarah and Mark McKusick P07, 10
Megan Kendrick ’99 and Brian Murphy
Jaka ’90 and Gadi Saarony
Charlemont Society
($1,000 - $2,499)
Johanna Bates and Colin Mitchell P25
Nathaniel Cohen and Jody DeMatteo P13
Alice Cutler GP26
Jody Cutler & Liisa Tikkala P26
David and Jodi Howe P21
Nancy Malina
Charlotte Meryman and Benjamin Thompson P09, 12
Noah Grunberg and Janet Mullen P20, 27
Donald Robinson
Theresa Ruggiero P19
Deborah Shriver P03
Andy and Nancy Smith P06
Peter Stevens and Linn Bower
Sandra Warren
Patrons ($500- $999)
Anonymous
Amy and David Berner P24
Joan and Edgardo Bianchi P09
Diane and Ken Bigelow P14, 16, 21
Meg and Keith Clark P21
Audrey Collins-Watson ’93
Kerlin Conyngham
Carol Corwin GP19, 22
Drs. Sean ’88 and Jessica Dacus
Peter Engelman and Kendall Clark P13, 15
John Harder GP26
Ellen Harder GP26
Tupshin Harper ’90
Shelley Borror Jackson
Phyllis Keyes
Petra Jaros ’04 and Anna Leue ’02
Christine Lioce P15
Michael Lioce Jr. GP15
John and Pauline MacLean P89, 92
Sabine and Michael Mauri P21
Stuart Mieher P13, 15
Anand Nayak and Polly Fiveash P25
Jane and Michael Plager P16
Stephanie and David Purington P11, 14
Mary Anne Schiff GP23
Elizabeth Slowinski ’98
Jennifer Washburn Tilley ’87
Sara Wein and Neal Anderson P16
Scholars ($100 - $499)
Anonymous
Elizabeth Adams
David Adie P08, 12
Kathleen Alford ’07
Cynthia and Shawn Allen P13
Katherine Anderson ’16
Glenn and Heidi Arnold P13
Carolyn Asbury and Peter Ranney P06
Larry and Doris Ashkin GP06
John Baldwin
Shelley Barnett ’90
Jeannie Bartlett ’10
Sam and Marie Bartlett P07, 10
Mr. Alfred Barkan GP13
Nora ’00 and Synphany Bates Zale
Dr. Brian D. Bloomfield and
Carla Bloomfield
Joanne Bourbeau and George Adair P23
Mr. Paul Breault
Jill and Robert Cahn GP24
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Caldwell III GP13, 15
Johnstone Campbell GP23
Carly L. Carey ’05
Paul and Amy Catanzaro P21, 23
William Chester GP07, 10
Peter and Suzanne Chornyak P01, 03
Nicholas Clark ’21
Jesse Cohen ’13
Duke Corliss P19
Sheila and Scott Crofts P24
Jayne and Robert Dane
Bartlett M. Doty ’00
Leanne and Ed Dowd P13
Linda Driscoll and Nelson Shifflett P88
Aethena Enzer-Mahler ’00
Michael and Joanna Evans
Jonathan Friedman and Teresa Buswell P23
Virginia Gabert ’84
Paul Gay and Sue Macmillan GP29
Cris Gibb GP21, 23, 27
Jessica and Adam Gibb-Buursma P21, 23, 27
Cassie Nylen Gray ’93
Rebecca González-Kreisberg ’08
Jane and Stephen Grant P92, 94, 96
Mike Grinley and Dana Stiepock P23
Thomas L Hale and Jennifer KLP Hale P05
Ciara and Jack Hayden P29
Margaret and Ching-fen Hsiao GP24
Ken and Laura Huff GP18, 19
Mary Irwin and Jack Harrison P11
David Jaros ’90
Susan Katz and Zachariah Katz P90
Julia and Leslie Keller P21
Susan Kooperstein GP28
Barbara Kosovske GP23
Rabbi Raquel Kosovske and Rabbi David Seidenberg P23
Carla LaGrassa
Larry and Candace Langford GP25, 29
Brendan Levine ’01
Erica Liebermann and Robin Bestler P27
Simon MacLean ’92 and Jessica Striebel MacLean
Abel McDonnell ’03 and Lillian Meredith
Emma McGowan ’06
Charles and Paula MacLean P29
Douglas Mason and Nina Marshall P27
Carole and James McAuliffe GP27
Jessamy McKay Ackerman ’89
Jacqueline McLaughlin and John Bride GP17, 19
Penny and David Michalak P17
William and Madeline Miller
Craig Miller P13
Frederick Moss
Amy and Ben Murray P26
Karen Natsios P10, 14
Maya Nayak and George Langford P29
Gary and Deborah Niswonger P90, 92
Jeff Novick
Connor O'Brien ’17
Maureen E. Oakes ’98
Ethan Olmstead ’98
Katharine Overgaard ’06
Willmore Paulding
John Petrovato and Rebecca Malakoff P28
Zoë Plakias ’04
Ryan Pirtle-McVeigh ’03
Nick Plakias and Leslie Tayler P04
Julian Post ’07
Elizabeth Purrington ’14
Mary Quigley and Mollie Babize P06
David Raker and Lisa Ballesteros P25
Patricia Rapinchuk GP10
Charlotte Rea and Robert Fricker
Robert Rottenberg P93, 11
Heather Row, P14
Julia Scannell ’08
Valarie and Joseph Scappace P29
John and Angela Schatz ’01
Mary and Joe Schatz
Ryan Schiff and Rebecca Houlihan P23
Lauren Schmidt
Phoebe Shaw and David Chase P20, 22
Joshua Shurtleff ’93 and Jennifer
McLemore
Colleen Sculley and Christopher Polatin P26
Margaret Seiler and Leonard Melnick P10
Mr. Jon Severance and
Kevin Freitas
Mrs. Jane Severance GP29
Ingrid Shockey P11, 14
Hannah Smith ’06 and Jesse Day
Col. USA (Ret.) Mac Snodgrass and Ms. Enedina Garcia Snodgrass
Bob and Virginia Stiepock GP23
Pamela Stewart
Todd Sumner and Mark Melchior P04
Vicki Sutton P90
Martha and Ted Tirk P07
Paul and Dagmar Tobits
Emily Todd ’85 and Liam Harte
Elinor Todd ’93 and Michael Beach
Mo Turner and Sean Glennon P22
Aysha Peltz and Todd Wahlstrom P24
Phoebe Walker and Dennis West P17
Gisela and Tony Walker GP17
Amy H. Waterman Mason ’98 and Josh Mason
Clare and Richard Watkin P27, 25
Guy and Deb Wheeler P97
Erin Wooldridge ’15
Heather Wynne
Masako Yanagita
Christopher Yoon ’08
Beverley and Robert Yoon P08
Ellen M. Zale P00, 06
Peter and Melanie Zschau P98
Friends (up to $99)
Caden Adair ’23
Emily Alling P26
Marco Almeida
M. Jennifer Bloxam P10
Mrs. George Bluh
Thersea and Gerry Bourbeau GP23
Eve Bogdanove P29
Gerry and Neil Borrell GP24
Eleanora Boyd-Owens ’18
Tracie and Koren Butler-Kurth P24
Rhiannon Campbell ’23
Adella Catanzaro ’23
Eli Catanzaro ’21
Linda Dube GP26
Karen Chase Graubard GP 20, 22
Peter Conover ’88
Sophia Corwin ’19
Leah Decker ’06
Ella Deters ’18
Sue Draxler P21
Waverley Engelman ’13
Elizabeth and Tony Falco
Karen Ferrandino P23
Herbert and Christine Forgey P01
Rachel Friedman ’23
Astranada Gamsey and Bertrand Boudier P27
Carlos Gomes
Kimberly Karlin
Peter Gowdy ’85
Eva Gray ’16
Claire Grunberg ’20
Jonathan and Elizabeth Healy
Jessica Dolby
Bi-sek Hsiao and Donald Shelton P23
Katherine Fiveash
Kelly Flaherty P25
Caroline Foley GP27
Jenny Jaros Friedl ’88 and Lawrence Friedl
Andrea and John Keins P15, 21
Chanina Kosovke ’23
Jampa Lobsang
Hannah Lessels ’14
Nathan Marcy ’98 and Lara Drizd
Jerry Levine and Julie McCarthy P01
Robert Mahler and Lisa Enzer P00
Benjamin Michalak ’17
Jonathan Mirin P28
Rhys McGovern ’07
Alla Katsnelson and Geoff McKonly P29
Cynthia Meadows
Stephanie Moss and Thomas Sands
Zoe A. Neeley ’13
Ms. Lisa Newman and Mr. Dang Huynh
Sarah Noble-Dziura ’10
Chelsea Overgaard ’09
Aida Perez P28
Deborah Lockhart Phillips P07, 09
Thomas Por and Karen O’Connell GP23, 25
Monica Pulci and Daniel Delesdernier
Ilene and Terry Rosenfeld GP20
Joy and Leigh Russell GP23
Merry Scappace
Jennifer Schott P25, 28
Eric Smith
Jerah and Whitney Smith
Charles Sweethill
Ellen Doris and Bob Strachota P20
Rick Taupier and Beth Haggerty P03, 05
Madeline Thompson ’09
Sawyer Thompson ’12
Ana Toth and Dave Cahn P24, 27
Henry Walker-West ’17
Tobey Ward ’00
Leonard and Susan Weeks P99
Priscilla White P86
Maria Williams P23
Michelle Woodrow
Tracy Zafian and David Schmidt P23
William B. Zale ’06
Matching Gifts, Foundations, and Grants
Amazon Smile
Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation
Cleveland H. Dodge Foundation, Inc.
Google, Inc.
Johnson Scholarship Foundation
LEGO Community Fund US
Network For Good
Mary Lyon Foundation, Inc
Tribute and Memorial Gifts
Gifts in Honor:
Anders Gibb-Buursma ’23
Cris Gibb
Caden Adair ’23
Thersea and Gerry Bourbeau
Class of 2023
Diane and Ken Bigelow
Cornelia Reid
Charlotte Rea and Robert Fricker
Jeff Coulson
David Jaros
Jennifer Katz-Buonincontro ’90
Susan Katz and Zachariah Katz
Jesse Weeks ’99
Leonard and Susan Weeks
Molly Keller ’21
Julia and Leslie Keller
Neale Gay
The Sands & Moss Family
Neale Gay
Phoebe Walker and Dennis West
Gifts in Memory:
Elaine Gay
Frederick Moss
Liz Hobbs
Laurence & Susan Flaccus
Zephyr Rapinchuk ’10
Margaret Seiler and Leonard Melnick ’10
Gifts In Kind
Anders Gibb-Buursma ’23
Catherine Halberg
Clark Brothers Orchard
Dave and Stephanie Purrington
Field Mahoney & West County Cider
Howard Wein P27
Jessica Gibb-Buursma
Sarah and Mark McKusick
Michael Grinley and Dana Stiepock P23
Marcus Printing
Nel Paul P22
Pine Hill Orchard
Synphany Bates Zale
80% of current Academy Families donated their time or services
Aethena Enzer-Mahler and Nate Frigard
Aldo Pizzi
Amy & Paul Catanzaro
Anders Gibb-Buursma
Andrea Keins
Andrew Smith
Aysha Peltz Wahlstrom
Barbara Cover
Barry Chlypavka
Cheryl Hosby
Chester Theatre Company
Ciara Hayden
Cornelia and Wallis Reid
Cyndee Fand
Cyndy Sperry
David Cahn
Dawn Grignaffini
Doug Mason
Ellen Zale
Eric Smith Pottery
Ethan Brossard
Fran Kidder
Gayle Kabaker
Geoff McKonly
Goose Divine Energy Store
Astranada Gamsey
Gregory Cangialosi
Hawks and Reed Performing Arts
Center
Heart Art
Heather Wynne
Hope and Olive Restaurant
Howard Wein
Jennifer Hoffman
Jennifer Storey
Jessica Salloom
Jill Beckerman
Joanna Dunn
Joanne M. Bourbeau
Jody Cutler
John Petrovato
Ken and Diane Bigelow
Ken Kipen
Kevin French
Kimberly Karlin
Kurt Meyer
Laura Briggs
Calico
LEGO
Linn Bower Fine Art
Lisa Beskin
Lisa Ekus/The Ekus Group
Margaret Miller
MASS MoCA
Maureen Moore
Maya Nayak
Mike Grinley
Molly Cantor
M & T Bank
New England Cheesemaking Supply Co.
Nick Viehmann
Paul Dresang
Peterman's Boards & Bowls
Pine Hill Orchards
Pleun Bouricius
Swift River Press
Red Gate Farm
Robert Dane Glass
Salmon Falls Gallery
Josh Simpson
Sara Wein
Sean Burns
Sergei Isupov and Kadri Parnamets
Sheila Litchfield
Shelburne Falls Coffee Roasters
Shelley Borror Jackson
Stetson Wood Collection
Steve Earp
Stonepool Pottery/Mark Shapiro
The Academy at Charlemont
The Academy of Music
The Inn on Boltwood
The Prindle School
The Rowe Center / Ben Werner
Todd Wahlstrom Pottery
Tracie Butler-Kurth
UMass Fine Arts Center
Vävstuga Weaving School
WEBS - America's Yarn Store
Will Miller
Zoar Outdoor
Cornucopia Auction
Underwriters 2023
Anonymous
Berkshire Fairfield / ST Insurance
Coldwell Banker Community
Realtors
Florence Bank
Greenfield Savings Bank
Marcus Printing
People’s Pint
Shelburne Falls Cork
West County Cider
As of June 30, 2023 the following donors have made their legacy giving intentions known to The Academy. We are grateful for their forward-thinking commitment to our mission.
Anonymous (3)
J. Mary Bloxam
Loren Cole and Jason Cooper P08
Carlotta Crissey Chandler
Jayne and Robert Dane
Don and Margaret Freeman
Eric* and Dianne Grinnell
Ernest Hofer*
Mr. William Hoth*
John Brace Latham*
Elisabeth Leete*
Bruce Lessels and Karen Bloom P14
Mrs. Rolf Merton*
Cornelia and Wallis Reid P01
Jennifer Rosner and Bill Corwin P19, 22
Todd Sumner P04
*deceased
