David Thiel
the technological age. “Learning involves patience, focus, and time. All of that flies in the face of technology, where with the click of a button you can find an answer, you can Google anything.” Whitcomb and Dickinson may have a vested interest here, but they are far from alone. Whitcomb thinks back to filmmaker Ken Burns’ visit to Deerfield last winter. “The very last question he got was, ‘What makes us quintessentially American?’ And Burns said it’s our ability to reinvent ourselves, to improvise. That’s why he believes strongly in the arts,” notes Whitcomb. “Young entrepreneurs talk about how important it is to think creatively, and that comes from the arts; when you engender creativity it can lead to all sorts of things: an entrepreneurial mindset, new ways of looking at familiar situations, and a fresh take on problem solving. ” Which brings us back to Deerfield’s now-vital performing arts program—a far cry from the empty, echoing gymnasium Whitcomb walked into decades ago with a class she could count on one hand. “I remember all of those students as though I taught them yesterday, and I recall that the gym felt immense to us,” Whitcomb says now. But then again, perhaps things haven’t changed that much. The goal is the same: to give students the skills and the inspiration they need to approach problems with fresh eyes, and to express what cannot be said with words. Looking back on those early days, Whitcomb comments that it feels like “half a lifetime ago.” And it was. But that means there’s half a lifetime to go yet. When she returns next year, her colleagues will have continued to set the stage, and the show will go on. •• Naomi Shulman has written for The New York Times, Ladies’ Home Journal, Whole Living, FamilyFun, and other publications. She is a frequent contributor to Deerfield Magazine.
Visit deerfield.edu/go/on-cue for “live” performances.
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