Bulletin Spring 2012

BULLETIN @ Williston NORTHAMPTON

s p r i n g 2 0 12

ARTs

The Williston Northampton School

40 years of coeducation

BULLETIN

Volume 98, Number 2

Features

Departments

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Coeducation @ 40: A Brief History of Two Legacies and One Future by megan tady

A look back at 1972 and where we are today.

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Reflecting on a Career in the Classroom

by Charlot te Wilinsky ’07

After more than 30 years of teaching, Marcia Reed will be leaving at the end of the academic year to pursue new artistic adventures in Delaware, and beyond.

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Smart Education

Our fine arts program continues to thrive, and terrific art has emerged from the studios in the Reed Campus Center.

<< Seen at left is a section of the watercolor painting, Rooftop Cluster, Rose (2011, Gouache and ink on paper, 7x11) by Carrie Rubinstein ’90. Carrie is a Brooklyn-based artist, who earned her B.A. from Smith College through the Ada Comstock Scholars Program in 2002 and her MFA in sculpture from Hunter College in 2007. She uses watercolor, pen, and ink for two-dimensional work and builds sculpture from paper.

Carrie has exhibited regularly in New York City and across the Northeast and teaches at Community Word Project in New York City. An active member of the tART artist’s collective, a group comprised of women committed to making art professionally, Carrie is involved in the organization’s public engagement, activism, and education efforts. Visit www.tartnyc.org or www. carrierubinstein.com to learn more about her work.

Cover photo: by Kelly O’Donnell ’13 of Connor Sheehan ’12

Letter from the Editor

Reflecting on coeducation and honoring our legacy

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Campus News

There is a lot that’s new on the Williston Northampton campus.

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Sports Review

The Wildcats excelled both individually and as teams this fall and winter.

Please send letters to the editor, class notes, obituaries, and changes of address to:

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Class Notes

Catch up on all the alumni news.

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In Memoriam

Remembering those members of the Williston Northampton community whom we have lost.

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From the Archives

An alma mater written with an eye to the future.

Head of School

Robert W. Hill III P’15 Chief Advancement Officer

The Williston Northampton School Alumni Office 19 Payson Avenue Easthampton, MA 01027 T (413) 529-3300 F (413) 529-3427

Eric Yates P’17 Director of Alumni Relations

Melanie Sage Director of Communications

Traci Wolfe P’16 Established in 1915, the Bulletin is published by the Advancement Office for the benefit of alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and friends of The Williston Northampton School.

Assistant Director of Communications

Kathleen Unruh P’13 Rachael Hanley Emily Gowdey-Backus Design

Lilly Pereira

www.williston.com

Follow us online:

Twitter: @TheWillistonNS Facebook: facebook.com/willistonnorthampton Flickr: flickr.com/photos/willistonnorthampton Youtube: youtube.com/user/WillistonNorthampton

From the editor

This issue of the Bulletin considers the 40th anniversary of the graduation of the first coeducational class from The Williston Northampton School.

The truth is that the joining of the two schools was complicated. Creating a new culture out of two meant that there was much to be both lost and gained.

Traditions, long cherished, were set aside. Songs, long sung, changed their lyrics. Two headmasters departed, and a campus was left behind. It’s not wrong to mourn that, but a feeling of loss should only be the first step. There has been so much gained from merging the legacies of NSFG and Williston Academy. It is important to see what has emerged from those blended histories.

As I sit in the Homestead, looking out at the quad, it is hard to imagine the school as anything but what it is now: a vibrant learning community of girls and boys, of faculty and staff, who make this place extraordinary. We talk about purpose, passion, and integrity a lot on campus, and I see it in action every day.

I watch the cast of this spring’s production of Fiddler on the Roof—a group that is larger than our football team’s entire roster, by the way—and I am amazed. It takes a village to actually create a village. I see a junior so in love with filmmaking—and so accomplished at it at only 17—that he convinced an entire film company to produce his short (I’m betting on it going to Sundance, so stay tuned!). I see students excelling on the playing fields and courts, with five seniors signing with Division I athletics programs in five different sports this winter.

I love that all of this excellence is in addition to an academic program that pushes students to test themselves in an amazing curriculum. That there are 37 Honors and AP classes only gives a hint to the breadth of the school’s offerings. Our Williston Scholars program—much like Oxford’s tutorial program—creates classes that are more often found on a college campus than at a high school. How amazing to not only study art and history, but to learn to do it and do it well.

So I look at The Williston Northampton School of today, and I can’t imagine it any other way. Yet I believe it is important to understand our legacy and the history behind who and where we are. The earth seems solid beneath our feet, but that does not mean it didn’t shift for those who came before us. As Head of School Robert W. Hill III P’15 points out in this issue’s article about coeducation, it is easy to lose how the merger felt to those who lived through it, “…they were monumental decisions…Those were tectonic plates shifting.”

I hope you enjoy this issue of the Bulletin. Please be in touch and let us know your thoughts. We love hearing from alumni, and we are grateful for the memories you share.

Best, Traci Wolfe P’16 Director of Communications Want to keep up with what’s happening at Williston Northampton?

Follow Head of School Bob Hill’s blog: The Head’s Perspective: http://willistonblogs.com/headofschool/

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The cast of Fiddler on the Roof visited the National Yiddish Book Center on the Hampshire College campus to research Yiddish literary culture and history.

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Pink in the Rink A Night of Fun for a Good Cause by emily Gowdey-Backus

Pink, pink, pink. Pink jerseys. Pink tape. Pink socks. Pink was the name of the game at the first annual Pink in the Rink, hosted by the girls varsity hockey team.

“There was a lot of excitement and hype about this game, for a variety of factors,” said Head Coach Christa Talbot ’98. The opponent, Tabor Academy, a longtime rival, had had a great start to their season. After a crushing loss to Tabor in overtime (5-4) last year, the team “had a sour taste in its mouth,” Talbot said.

Organized by Talbot and the girls varsity hockey team, the proceeds from Pink in the Rink went to the AVON Walk for Breast Cancer

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Foundation. Talbot will be participating in her third walk this spring, and her mother is a two-time survivor of breast cancer.

In the past, Williston Northampton has held a charity game in which the faculty face off against the varsity girls. That first game, held six years ago, generated $650. This season, the team wanted to do more and enlisted the help of the Williston Northampton community.

“This year was tremendous,” said Talbot. “We raised $1,225.”

Glenn “Swanee” Swanson challenged the team to raise $100, in $1 increments, the day before the game. If they could do so, he agreed to dye his beard pink.

“I was actually a little worried that we wouldn’t make $100 because it was such short notice,” said Captain Sarah Wilkie ’12.

Some $220 later, though Swanee had a pink beard.

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Members of the Williston Northampton community held a bake sale and parents of team members put together a raffle to draw in more funds.

“The combination of fundraising, the baked goods sale, and the raffle got us to $1,225,” said Talbot. “We really doubled that first year.”

“We bonded with the community,” said Wilkie of the parents, faculty, and students who helped with the fundraising. Parents purchased the pink jerseys and socks, which the team wore to practices for the rest of the season, and “really helped the team look the part,” she said.

Decked in pink, the girls varsity hockey team shut out Tabor 5-0 at the first Williston Northampton Pink in the Rink game. Goalkeeper Sydney Belinskas ’14 said she knew it was going to be a tough game, “but we got in their heads and scored five.”

Madison Jerolman ’15 called the game “a turning point” for the season. Preparing for the Pink in the Rink game inspired the girls to pull together and be the first Williston Northampton team to make it to the semi-finals of the NEPSAC Division I tournament.

“Coach Talbot always says we have amazing talent,” said Belinskas, “but it’s the hard work that is going to get us places and that’s what happened with our season.”

French

New Dormitory Configuration Ahead

by Charlot te wilinsky ’07

Beginning in the 2012–13 academic year, several dorms on the Williston Northampton campus will change with regard to the gender of students they house. The result of several years of discussion and planning, the reconfiguration will make housing more equitable in terms of the number of singles and doubles available for boys and girls.

As a result of the change, boys will live in Conant and Logan, which were previously girls’ dorms, and girls will live in Memorial Hall West, Clare, and French, which were previously boys’ dorms. The other dorms will remain the same: boys will continue to live in Ford, Hathaway, and 194 Main, while girls will continue to live in John Wright and Memorial Hall East.

Dean of Students Kathy Noble characterized students’ responses in an email following the announcement in December: “while there was some disappointment among some students, in general, most students were receptive to the changes and accepting of the news.”

Liza Ach ’12, a proctor in Logan, which will be a boys’ dorm next year, believes that the change makes sense as now Ford will have its counterpart in Memorial Hall; she says that the change will “…make it more equal [because] each gender has… a main dorm in the center of the quad.”

Boys will live in Conant and Logan, and girls will live in Memorial Hall West, Clare, and French in order to make

Logan

Clare

Conant

Memorial Hall

housing more equitable between the genders.

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o Cum Laude Society

BY Rachael Hanley

The Cum Laude Society honors the achievements of students who have excelled academically, so it was fitting that the speaker for this year’s induction ceremony was the valedictorian of the first co-ed class at The Williston Northampton School.

On Tuesday, January 31, Sheila Fisher ’72 of Trinity College was the guest speaker at a ceremony to induct 11 seniors into Williston Northampton’s Cum Laude chapter. The event was webcast live and will be archived on the school’s webcast page.

Fisher attended the Northampton School for Girls from 1968–1971. She graduated from The Williston Northampton School in 1972, before earning a B.A. at Smith College and an M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in English from Yale University.

Fisher is a member of the English Department at Trinity College in Hartford, CT, where she is associate academic dean. Her most recent publication is The Selected Canterbury Tales: A New Verse Translation (2011), which will be reissued in paperback this coming April.

“I’ll come back some other time to talk about Chaucer, but today I want to talk about you,” Fisher told the assembled students, families, and guests.

“It wasn’t just brains that earned you this honor, it was your relationship to work,” she said. “You have worked really, really hard to get here.”

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Fisher described her own experience at Williston Northampton as a time of transition and growth, of girls getting used to having a pool and a glee club, and of a merged faculty creating a formidable academic force.

“There were giants on the earth in those days,” Fisher said.

Fisher urged Williston students to embrace their newly crafted work ethic, not to become workaholics, but to bring focus to whatever avenue they choose to pursue, from music and sculpture to physics and mathematics.

“One of the most important things you’ve learned at this school is how to build this love affair with work,” Fisher said, “And how to make it last a lifetime.”

The following students were inducted into the Cum Laude Society: Katherine T. Cavanaugh, South Hadley, MA Alexander J. Cervone, Dalton, MA Addison Maria M. Coley, South Deerfield, MA Kevin L. Conroy, Easthampton, MA Adam B. Curtis, Ashfield, MA Jonathan P. Deaton, Longmeadow, MA Alex S. Garcia, Easthampton, MA Elizabeth A. de Ubl, Hadley, MA Samuel E. Slezek, Hatfield, MA Midori Tagawa, Japan Hansen Yang, People’s Republic of China

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FIELD NOTES

Eighth Grade Field Trip to Boston by emily Gowdey-Backus

This past February 14, The Williston Northampton School’s eighth grade class descended on Boston for a day of learning and exploring. With visits to the State House, Faneuil Hall, and the Museum of Science planned, the day had something for everyone.

Teachers and students look forward to this trip every year because, as Middle School Science Teacher Marcus Ware said, the students are “able to see demonstrations that animate concepts learned in class in a different way.”

The day began with a tour through the Massachusetts State House, where the students admired the golden dome. Once inside, they stopped at the cannon that commemorates the victorious Concord Minutemen at the Battle of the North Bridge. That battle took place on April 19, 1775 when the infamous “shot heard around the world” was fired.

Next, the students were shown the Hall of Flags. Over 400 flags are housed in the State House, but only transparencies are displayed to the public. Those on display ranged from the dislocated “Don’t Tread on Me” colonial snake to the Civil War colors. The latter were returned to the Massachusetts State House after the Confederate surrender. Transfixed by the history of the flags, some of them bloodied, the students wandered the room in silence.

“My favorite part was the State House,” said Lucas Ferrer ’16. “It was really interesting because there was so much history.”

The Senate Chamber and the House of Representatives were also on the tour.

Located directly below the gold dome, the Senate chamber consists of a 39-seat desk, one seat for every senator, and the rostrum, an elevated position where the Senate president sits.

The House of Representatives is a much larger chamber. Students were allowed to sit in any of the 160 seats—except the chair behind the podium, which belongs to the Speaker of the House. Representative

John Scibak, from the second Hampshire District, met with the class.

Civics Teacher Andrew Syfu introduced the students to Representative Scibak.

“There’s often a misconception that government is so far removed from our daily lives,” he said. “But taking the trip to the State House and meeting people that represent our communities helps the students see that government is not just a national issue but a local one as well.”

After a quick lunch at Faneuil Hall, the field trip continued with “Ring of Fire” at the Boston Museum of Science. Shown in the 180-degree Mugar Omni IMAX Theater, “Ring of Fire” described how shifting tectonic plates, especially in the Pacific Rim, create volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

After learning about the Earth’s moving crust, the students were treated to a lightning demonstration in the Theater of Electricity.

Ware said he was very impressed with the lightning show. “We just finished exploring static electricity and static discharge,” he said. “What better way to see the effects of these two concepts than by a Van de Graaff generator?”

“I loved the lightning show, it was really cool,” said Dani Anastasovites ’16.

English Teacher Doug Niedzwecki said the kids, “loved the electricity demonstration for the huge, brilliant, and excessively loud lightning strikes.”

“I also believe that the physical science side of the exhibit is a great way [to lead] students who love to touch and manipulate objects,” Ware said. “Everything they experience has a tactile component.”

“Once you can touch and move something in science, it can solidify concepts that were hard to understand previously,” he added.

Caroline Borden ’16 agreed. “My favorite part was the physics area where you could test out different things like the seesaw and the swings,” she said.

With stops at the State House, Faneuil Hall, and the Museum of Science, the day had something for everyone.

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First Person

by Diane Williams History and Global Studies Teacher, Logan Dorm Head

I like to create an opportunity for my seventh and eighth grade students to explore their own identities, location, and cultures before we launch off and investigate the world. This year, it came in the form of “Who I Am and Where I Live,” a geographic adventure in culture and identity, shared around the world.

The project is based on the work of James Mollison, and the book, Where Children Sleep. The children photographed are from all over the world and from all walks of life, and their living conditions vary predictably. However, each child is presented in the same fashion, creating a sense of both universality and jarring inequity.

For our project, each student created a PowerPoint slide with a selfportrait (including a cultural artifact), a “Declaration of Self ” paragraph, and a photograph of a place where he or she spends a lot of time or “lives.” In class, we unpacked the idea of “culture” and discussed cultures to which we were connected. After viewing Where Children Sleep, I invited photographer Janine Norton P’13

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to class to discuss the idea of composing and editing a photograph.

The final results were fantastic. The students worked hard and created projects that represented and defined themselves to the world. Though I initially intended to create an online slideshow with the projects, I quickly realized that the projects were too powerful to keep only online. I printed them out and displayed them in the Middle School and at Middle School Arts Night. Students, faculty, staff, and parents alike have enjoyed the display, impressed and engaged by the students’ candid, thoughtful, and powerful work.

I also posted the projects online, hoping to share them and create a dynamic cultural exchange with students in the Ukraine. My

friend Sally coordinates an English Club there as a part of her Peace Corps service.

Soon, her students will be checking out our work, and producing similar projects for us to see. In the meantime, we studied the former USSR nation-states so that we understand more about the Ukraine and the lives of the children we might meet through this exchange. Until the international exchange happens, however, we are learning patience, and appreciating the fun of getting to learn new things about each other. We are defining, creating, and sharing our identities in this Williston Northampton world we inhabit.

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Lady Hulk The seventh graders crowded the edge of the roller derby track, ready with homemade posters and tee shirts. As one tall skater in purple shorts cruised into view, they jumped and waved.

“Go, Ms. Williams!” they yelled. “Go, Lady Hulk!”

While by day Diane Williams is an enthusiastic history and global studies teacher at the Middle School, at night she takes that energy to the roller derby track, where she is known under her derby name “Lady Hulk.”

Lady Hulk, or “Hulkie,” has been competing with Pioneer Valley Roller Derby (PVRD) since 2008. In a July article in The Nation, Williams described derby as combining “an underground vibe with the fun of athletic competition in a blend of sport and spectacle that is as much fun to play as it is to watch.”

Last year, Williams had the chance to unite the separate halves of her life when her team, Western Mass Destruction, headed to Lossone Rink for a bout against the Sufferjets of Ithaca.

WMDs lost by a close 103 to 161, but the event was so successful—and the students so enthusiastic—that the school worked with PVRD to schedule additional bouts this year.

The skaters will return four times between April and August to showcase the women’s home teams, Florence Fightin’ Gals and Quabbin Missile Crisis, and the Dirty Dozen, the men’s team.

Candace “Celia Casket” Locke, WMD co-captain and captain of the Gals, described Williams as an incredible athlete, an ideal teammate, and “frankly an exceptional human being.”

Locke said that she couldn’t wait to take to the roller derby track with one of her favorite skaters—and a Williston Northampton faculty member to boot.

“Who doesn’t feel pumped when so much enthusiasm and adoration is focused on one of your teammates?” she said. “Who doesn’t love Hulkie?

Hulk kicks butt.”

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Williston Northampton Holds Tenth Annual Diversity Conference “We are more authentically human when we embrace diversity,” said keynote speaker Dr. Martha Ackmann at the start of Williston Northampton’s 10th Annual Diversity Conference.

A professor of gender studies and English at Mount Holyoke College, Dr. Martha Ackmann opened the Tenth Diversity Conference by speaking about her recently published book, Curveball: The Remarkable Story of Toni Stone, the First Woman to Play Professional Baseball in the Negro League. A strong and independent woman, Stone had pursued her dream against the wishes of her parents. They forbid her to play baseball because it was considered ‘un-ladylike’ and they feared wouldn’t allow her to be economically independent.

As Dr. Ackmann wrote in her book, Stone was not always the most popular player in the league. Stone, described the discrimination she faced daily during her career in the male dominated sport of baseball by saying, “Sometimes they gave me a pat on the back and sometimes they gave me a boot.”

Dr. Ackmann ended her speech by wishing the students a sentiment that reflected the goal of the day, “I hope you’re uncomfortable at times today and that you learn from that discomfort.”

Then, in the spirit of Toni Stone, she said, “I hope you never allow someone to take away your love of the game, whatever your game may be.”

Religion and beliefs, body image, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, and language were just some of the topics of the student-led affinity groups that followed Dr. Ackmann’s speech. In these groups, students were free to test the waters and share their opinions around socially tumultuous topics in the safety of small peer groups.

In “Religion and Beliefs” one student asked another, “Are you lonely as an atheist, relying on yourself ?” The reply was simple and sweet. He smiled and said, “No, I have me.”

“I’m not the sort of person who’s proud about something I didn’t choose, except for being Jewish,” said a young man who had been listing his favorite Chanukah activities.

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Students in the “Body Image” group had a prescribed set of guidelines for discussions: suspend judgment, speak from “I,” and challenge by choice with the goal of slowly developing a trust within the safe environment of their peer groups.

On the other side of campus, in John Wright House, local storyteller Rona Leventhal was leading a workshop with a group of faculty. Some were wringing their hands, others shook their heads, or hurried up to one another and said, “I’m so glad you came. Thank you very much.”

In another classroom, Ann Prescott, director of the Five College Center for East Asian Studies, described education in

Confucian China. Students would spend up to 72 hours in a miniscule cell during exams. Only then would they be considered lower in society than a novice.

In the imperial system, education was valued over fame. “Michael Jackson,” she said, lowering her hand, then, “Me!” and raised her hand above her head.

Down the hall from Prescott, International Intern Hasan Awaisi, a UMass graduate student, gave a lecture entitled “Demystifying Islam.” Awaisi discussed a number of misconceptions including the oppression of women, honor killings, and the Arab Spring. In defense of Islam, Awaisi said, “If you want to, you can interpret any religious text to justify barbarity, it’s been seen across history.”

Many of the afternoon workshops were based in Reed, which became a hub of activity. Small groups formed in 103 to work on Kamishibai or paper theater projects; students in the West African drumming class played iron gankoqui bells.

The loudest by far, though, was the “So You Think You Know Hip-Hop?” workshop in the Stu Bop. A crowd of enthusiastic dancers, led by Adrian Mendoza ’12 and teacher Marcus Ware, learned three short dance sequences and free-styled.

In a later email about the event Bridget Choo, the director of the diversity conference, applauded the student leaders saying, “From the survey to the workshops: every aspect of the conference came from the purpose, passion, and integrity of our students.” Choo is the International Student Coordinator and Director of Diversity at Williston Northampton.

“The work of diversity, most authentically done, begins with introspection,” she said. “I am so proud of our student leaders for not only modeling this but also leading the way for the rest of the community, including me, to follow.”

Board of Trustees

campus news

This FALL, The Williston Northampton School was pleased to welcome five new members to its Board of Trustees. At the end of this year, three members of the Board—Julie Chornesky Garella ’78, Catharine C. Porter P’97, and Catherine H. Skove ’75—will step down, and the school is grateful for the time, service, and counsel they provided during their terms.

Shannon Shaughnessy Greenwood ’83 P’13, ’15, ’17 Easthampton, MA Appointed 2011; Term Ends 2013 Shannon Greenwood is coowner with her husband of Greenwood Builders.She was formerly a program coordinator with Hampshire Educational Collaborative. Shannon is the new president of Williston Northampton’s Parents’ Association; she has served on the Parents’ Association since 2007, and has been on the PA Executive Committee since 2008. Shannon also chaired the Class of 2015 Parents’ Fund in 2011.

A graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, she lives in Easthampton with her husband Brian, and their children Devon ’13, Aidan ’15, and Tyler ’17.

Stewart Reed ’66 Westfield, MA Appointed 2011; Term Ends 2016 Stewart Reed has been the vice chairman and COO of Mestek, Inc. since 2008, and a director of the company since 1986. He is also a director of Omegaflex, Inc., a public NASDAQ listed company. Stewart has extensive knowledge and experience in managing and leading manufacturing enterprises supplying the HVAC and machinery industries, and in corporate finance, investments, and industrial relations. A graduate of the University of Houston, Stewart lives in Ware, MA and has one son.

Cyrus E. Driver ’76 Hastings on Hudson, NY Appointed 2011; Term Ends 2016 Cyrus Driver is the vice president for strategy and planning at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving. Appointed in January 2012, he leads research, strategy and planning, knowledge management and evaluation, and oversees collaborations with partners at the local, state, and national levels. Previously, Cyrus was the director of program learning and innovation at the Ford Foundation, where he led learning and collaborative knowledge building efforts of the Foundation. He was also deputy director, education, sexuality, religion (ESR) Unit of the Knowledge,

Creativity and Freedom Program, and was the co-architect of the Ford Foundation’s K-12 and community grant-making programs in the United States.

Prior to joining the Ford Foundation in 1998, Cyrus co-directed coalition-building and parent organizing strategies at Designs for Change in Chicago, helping to lead to a historic reform to decentralize control of Chicago’s 600 public schools to boards of parents, school-level educators, and community leaders. Cyrus also has served as a policy analyst for the Oakland and Berkeley, California Unified School Districts; researcher for the Accelerated Schools Project at Stanford University; and community organizer and adult educator for several organizations in Chicago. He holds a B.A from the University of Chicago, an M.P.P. from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.A. in Economics and Ph.D. in the Economics of Education, both from Stanford. Cyrus lives in Hastings on Hudson, NY with his wife Amy and their two children.

James M. Brennan, Sr. ’85, P’15 Longmeadow, MA Appointed 2011; Term Ends 2016 Jim Brennan is the CEO of Medvest LLC. Medvest is the parent company for Doctor Express New England, a group of urgent care medical facilities created in response to a growing need for immediate physician care in a convenient, comfortable environment. As a master franchisee, Jim’s company will be opening sites in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. His first center opened in Springfield, MA in September 2010. He is currently developing a center in West Springfield, MA and five in Boston, MA. Nationally, there are over 42 Doctors Express Urgent

Care Centers open with over 120 expected to open by the end of 2012. Jim was previously owner of Brennan Food Services.

Jim is an active volunteer in the Springfield area, serving on four boards, including the Longmeadow Parks and Recreation Board. Jim was chair of Williston Northampton’s Annual Fund from 2006-2008, and served on the Legacy & Vision Campaign Committee.

Jim attended Boston College and American International College, and he is married to Marilu Brennan and lives in Longmeadow, MA with their three children, including son Jay ’15.

H. Reid Sterrett IV ’91 Las Vegas, NV Appointed 2011; Term Ends 2016 Reid Sterrett’s career in sports marketing has always been aligned with industry learders. Reid is currently the director of brand marketing at UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) the world’s leading mixed martial arts organization. Previously Reid was a marketing executive with Burton Snowboards, the premiere brand in the snowsports industry. Prior to working at Burton he was a consultant to the Pepsi Sports Marketing Group helping guide relationships with X Games, Dew Tour and snowboard Olympians Shaun White and Hannah Teter. Reid’s career began on Madison Avenue in New York City with the advertising firm, DDB Needham. Reid served on Williston Northampton’s Alumni Council from 2009-2011 and is the current Class Representative. A graduate of Colgate University, he lives in Las Vegas, NV with his wife Mackie (Gardner) Sterrett ’90 and their three daughters.

new Chair On July 1, 2012, Elizabeth D’Amour will become Chair of the Board of Trustees, replacing Fred Allardyce ’59 in this role.

Elizabeth is a nurse educator at Baystate Medical Center. She is a community volunteer and supporter of many organizations in Western Massachusetts. Elizabeth chaired Williston Northampton’s Head of School search committee in 2009–2010. Elizabeth has served as a member of the Board of Trustees since 2003, and formerly was president of the Parents’ Association from 2001–2003. Elizabeth is a graduate of Boston College and Yale University. She is married to Charles D’Amour ’70, president and COO of Big Y Foods, they have four children, Emily ’00, Colin ’03, Margaret ’04, and Christian ’07, and make their home in Longmeadow, MA. “I’m honored to have the opportunity to continue my involvement with Williston Northampton, a place that has meant so much to me and to my family. As board chair, I look forward to furthering the work we’ve already started, and with Bob Hill, the faculty, staff, and Williston Northampton families both past and present as partners, I’m confident we can guarantee a bright future for our school, our students and our community.”

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Sports Highlights The Williston Northampton School had fantastic fall and winter seasons this year, with several teams reaching new heights. The Wildcats are fierce competitors, and the teams continue to be recognized for their sportsmanship in the New England Prep School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC).

Fall Team Highlights

Girls Cross Country (1–5): The Williston Northampton girls cross country team’s remarkable stretch of 25 consecutive winning seasons came to an end this fall.

That said, the team, led by coaches Greg Tuleja and Katie Fay, had its largest roster in decades with 33 girls competing. Devon Greenwood ’13 earned All-New England again for her tenth place finish at the New England Division II Championships. At the NEPSAC All-Star meet, she finished in tenth place.

Canterbury 19–0 on the road, defeating Gunnery 41–22 under the lights at home to retain the Ogden Miller Cup, and finishing with a hard-fought 50–28 victory over St. Thomas More on Senior Day. A number of Wildcats earned postseason recognition for their outstanding play. Seniors Danny Rowe and Chris Norberg earned All-New England honors with Rowe becoming the first twotime All-New England player at Williston Northampton in the past 15 years. Rowe and Norberg were joined by Chad Adams ’12 and John Woodside ’13 on the first team Colonial League. Earning second team AllLeague honors were seniors Kevin Conroy, Connor Adams, Walter McLaughlin, and James “June” Ward.

Boys Cross Country (6–4): Under the direction of coaches Christa Talbot ’98 and Caitlin Bradley, the 2011 boys cross country team enjoyed its first winning season since 2004. The boys earned a third place finish at the Westminster Invitational and conquered 3.1 miles in the snow at a memorable Shaler Invitational. The team had a solid showing at the New Englands, held at Groton School, finishing eighth out of 17.

Football (5–3): The highlights of the season included a 20–6 opening game over a strong Westminster squad, shutting out

Field Hockey (12–3): This fall, the varsity field hockey team tied last year’s school record for most wins in a season. The team finished in fourth place out of 32 teams in the Western New England League and broke the school record for goals scored in a season with 76 goals—surpassing last year’s record of 65. The team also retained the Western New England Class B Cup with the best record among medium-sized schools.

The team was led this fall by senior tricaptains Jill Dahrooge, Sarah Wilkie, and Bridget Instrum. Instrum broke the school

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To see the scores and schedules of all the Wildcat teams, please visit www.williston.com/athletics.

Girls Volleyball (3–8) Water Polo (5–9)

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record for career goals with 60 goals over three years (the record was set in 2001 by Allie Joseph ’02) and set new school records for career assists (22 over three seasons), and for goals in a single season (28 goals over three seasons). She is now the all-time leading scorer in school history.

The team was the number three seed in the NEPSAC Class B Tournament and won their quarterfinal game in thrilling fashion with a 2-1 overtime victory over Miss Porter’s. The team lost in the semifinals to Class B runner-up, Middlesex. In recognition of their outstanding seasons, seniors Sarah Wilkie and Bridget Instrum were selected to both the WNEPSAA All-Star team and the NEPSAC Class B AllTournament team.

Girls Soccer (6-5-4) Boys Soccer (9–4–3): It was an excellent

season for the boys soccer program, and all four teams had winning seasons. This year, Coach Whipple and Niedzwecki’s thirds finished undefeated with a 6–0–2 record.

The varsity boys were also one of the top teams in New England this fall.

The team ranked ninth out of the 50 schools in Western New England. Against Class B schools, the Wildcats were undefeated with a 5–0–1 record. The team’s outstanding regular season earned them a

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number seven seed in the Class B tournament and a matchup against number two seed Nobles. The boys played their hearts out and defeated Nobles (2–1). In the semifinals, the boys continued to play tremendous soccer only to come up short to Brooks (2–1).

Five members of the team were named NEPSAC All-Stars: Jon Bzdel, Grant Cohen, and Sam Connor for the senior game; Mark Richards, and Pierre Deliso for the junior game. Four boys had Western New England All-League honors: Jon Bzdel ’12 and Mark Richards ’13 made first team All-League and All-State; Pierre DeLiso ’13 and Sam Connor ’12 earned honorable mentions.

Winter team Highlights Girls and Boys Swimming and Diving

Both the boys and girls teams enjoyed very competitive seasons. At the NEPSAC championships, Calvin Frye ’16 finished fifth in the 500 freestyle and Matt Freire ’13 finished seventh in the 100 butterfly. Seniors Andrew Spruck and Michael Tanner finished first and second, respectively, in the one meter diving competition.

Girls Squash (2–13) Boys Squash (6–7) Boys Basketball (5–18)

The team won its opening game over Gunnery and then finished runner-up in the Rivers Holiday Tournament in December. Keegan Dunlop ’12 and Addie Adams ’14 were both named to the AllTournament team.

adams ’12

Girls Basketball (9–12): Varsity girls basketball, under coaches Kevin Kudla and Janine Whipple, took on its usual very competitive NEPSAC schedule with an extremely young squad this winter; the team typically started three freshmen and a seventh grader. In the final week of the season, the girls defeated the number three-ranked team in NEPSAC, Miss Porter’s School, 72–58. For her outstanding play during the Ray Brown Holiday tournament, leading scorer Natalia Ovando ’15 was named to the All-Tournament team.

Boys Ice Hockey (10–14–2): Under coaches

Derek Cunha and Mike Fay, the varsity boys hockey season was a tale of two halves. During the first half of the season, the boys played hard but had few victories, with a combined 1–9–1 in their first 11 games. The boys’ resilience and determination paid off as they played some terrific hockey and went 9–5–1 in their last 15 games. They beat NEPSAC tournament semifinalist Albany Academy twice, had road victories at Winchendon and Pomfret, and defeated Deerfield Academy 3–1 (for the third year in a row).

Girls Ice Hockey (15–9–3)

The varsity girls ice hockey team enjoyed a terrific season under the leadership of coaches Christa Talbot ’98 and Erin Davey.

Highlights of the season included the team’s Pink in the Rink 5–0 shutout over Tabor, an exciting 3–2 victory at Berkshire, a shutout of Loomis (1–0), and a win at home over Deerfield (6–2).

As the number seven seed in the NEPSAC Division 1 tournament, the team was matched up with number two seed

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Winchendon. Winchendon entered the contest with a 28–1–1 record—including two wins over the Wildcats. The girls played a tremendous game and beat Winchendon 6–0 to advance to the semifinals for the first time in the school’s history.

The girls then lost a heartbreaker 2–1 in overtime against Lawrence Academy.

The team enjoyed great senior leadership from Sarah Wilkie, Jill Dahrooge, Bridget Instrum, Sam Fallon, and Kathryn Tomaselli. Tomaselli became the second girl in Williston Northampton history to surpass the 100 point milestone, and she was also named a first team All-New England All-Star.

Wrestling (11–7): The varsity wrestlers had

one of the most successful years in school history, ending the season with a 11–7 record in dual meets. Three of those seven losses came down to the very last match.

At the Northern New England Invitational Tournament, Williston Northampton finished second as a team, with ten out of 11 wrestlers placing.

Seniors Sam Goldsmith and Kevin Conroy faced each other for third place at 170. Both Andy Pierce ’13 at 145 and Pat St. Martin ’12 at 195 were champions. At the Class A League Championships, eight out of 11 varsity wrestlers placed to put the team sixth, with Connor Adams ’12 bringing home a championship in the 285 class. The team reached a milestone by winning its 200th individual bout and finished with 210 wins, more than any team in the past decade.

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coeducation @ 40

A Brief History of Two Legacies and One Future by megan tady 14

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The year was

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THE WILLISTON NORTHAMPTON SCHOOL

Williston Academy • Northampton School for Girls

1971

Nixon was president. The Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, and women’s lib were calling for societal shifts. The iconic Ed Sullivan Show was cancelled after a 23-year run. The public, the times, were demanding something different.

It was a difficult moment to be a prep school; many were struggling under tough economic times and an “old guard” persona.

In Western Massachusetts, two boarding schools—one girls school and one boys—decided to link arms. After 47 years as an all-female institution and 130 years as an all-male one, the Northampton School for Girls (NSFG) and Williston Academy merged.

In the fall of 1971, The Williston Northampton School admitted 143 girls, 63 of whom came from NSFG. “Both economic and social times were changing in the United States,” said Charlotte Heavens Bruins ’47, “and it seemed both Williston Academy and Northampton School for Girls were ready for that change.”

Four decades later, The Williston Northampton School is a thriving coed boarding and day school. But the 40th anniversary of the merger offers a moment to reflect on both the triumphs and the pitfalls of two schools and two worlds colliding. As seamless

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as coeducation now appears, the first years were tumultuous, chaotic, and exciting—painful for some, and liberating for others.

“They were brave and courageous decisions—motivated by necessity and the dominos of the culture falling— but they were monumental decisions nonetheless,” said Head of School Bob Hill. “There’s no way it could have been completely smooth. Those were tectonic plates shifting.”

Brother and Sister Schools In truth, the merger was taking shape well before 1971, with negotiations quietly happening among the Boards of Trustees at both schools. When NSFG’s founders, Dorothy Bement and Sarah Whitaker, retired in 1962, questions about the school’s future emerged. Williston Academy was feeling economic pressure, and the move to coeducation seemed inevitable.

Williston Academy and NSFG had nurtured a special relationship over the

years, coordinating programing since the 1930s, including dances, theater, and singing groups.

“There was a strong feeling, even if it was never official, that we were brother and sister schools,” said Richard Teller ’70, Williston Northampton’s archivist.

Still, the announcement of the merger was met with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Williston Academy alumnus Glenn “Swanee” Swanson ’64 taught history at the Academy for three years pre-merger, and continues to teach at Williston Northampton today. “A lot of people had some apprehension,” he said. “How do you deal with girls? How do you deal with some of the social tensions that are going to happen on campus and in the classroom?” There were faculty murmurings that the NSFG girls wouldn’t keep up with the boys in academics. And in several editorials in NSFG’s Pegasus newspaper, students wondered if their school would be swallowed up by the “Big Bad Willies.”

Their concerns were penned in a letter to the editor in October, 1970:

“ There was a strong feeling, even if it was never official, that we were brother and sister schools.”

“What kind of meals are we going to get?

Will we be deprived of our privacy? Will we be uneasy with boys in the class? Will we have bells? What about our traditions?”

To Do NSFG Proud Many of both institutions’ greatest fears dissipated in the first few months of the merger. The boys still studied; the girls had privacy and eased into life with testosterone-filled classrooms. But there was still jostling as students figured out their roles in the new school.

Sheila Fisher ’72 was certain she would be the editor of the school newspaper her senior year. Then the schools merged, and suddenly her school newspaper was The Willistonian, and a boy was slated for the position. In the end, she was named coeditor along with her male counterpart, but she recollects that one of the early struggles of the merger was fighting for female parity.

“In certain areas, there was the assumption that NSFG was being absorbed into Williston, and there had been leadership

positions already allotted to the boys at Williston,” Fisher said.

An exceptional student, Fisher became Williston Northampton’s first valedictorian.

“When I got to Williston, I felt like I had to do NSFG proud, and I also had to prove to these guys that the girls were every bit as smart and every bit as capable,” she said.

Girls also vied for equality in athletics.

Williston Northampton was still working out the kinks by the time Mary Conant ’73 arrived as a freshman. Conant recalls that the girls still didn’t have Williston Northampton blue and gold athletic uniforms, but had to wear NSFG green and white uniforms. They rarely had professional umpires to call their softball games and the girls’ locker room was small and ill equipped.

A Good Time to Be Young Alumni recount the early years of the merger as an electric time. Daily chapel was out, and with it a strict dress code. Day students flooded the school. The arts program blossomed, and the theater program

flourished. New ideas were discussed and debated. There were boys in the classroom! There were girls in the classroom!

People fell in love. Gil Timm ’72 met new classmate Trili Goodrich ’72 at a Halloween dance. The two eventually married.

People also “fell” into the school pool, fully unclothed. “First year of the merger, a bunch of girls and boys [went into the] swimming pool and skinny dipped,” recalls retired faculty member Alan Shaler. “The problem was, we looked through the rulebook and there was no rule against this. But we had to do something about it. Finally somebody came up with it: ‘swimming without a lifeguard.’ They got ’em on that.”

Across the nation, the times were changing. Along with that came a push for coeducation. Yale went coed. Harvard, Princeton, and Trinity, too. Title IX was passed and the Equal Rights Amendment was proposed.

“I did feel like, the very first day in September, there was something very exciting going on, and I loved it from the split second I stepped foot on campus,” said Judy Fisher ’73.

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Tony Spagnola ’72 also felt a new burst of creative energy on campus, and he attributes this to the girls. The arts became a viable part of the curriculum, not just an after-thought. “Guys were doing ceramics, that alone would’ve never happened,” Spagnola said. “It was a major, major change to the direction of where the school was going.”

The food improved, too: “All of a sudden, there was a salad bar, which is like saying ‘scotch tape’ now,” Spagnola said. “Back then, there was no such animal.”

Administrative Shifts The ideals of a “proper boarding school” were slipping away, and the faculty and administration faced the need to create a new school identity. French teacher Kendrick Heath ’57, who taught at both Williston Academy and NSFG, remembers the merger as chaotic and volatile.

“We were sort of flying by the seat of our pants,” he said.

Teachers found themselves under dual leadership. Headmasters from both schools—Phillips Stevens of Williston Academy, and Nathan Fuller of NSFG— were simultaneously steering the ship.

With different administrative philosophies, the transition was less than smooth.

“We had two headmasters and I always felt a little odd about that,” Timm said. “I wasn’t sure who was running the school and I wasn’t even sure what all the rules were. They sort of combined schools and it felt like we were trying to throw it all together and see what sticks.”

Chuck Tauck ’72 said that although he “had fun dancing on the edge of the rules” senior year, his tenure on Williston Northampton’s Board of Trustees as an adult gave him new sympathy for the struggles the administration faced during the merger.

“Looking back through the glasses I now wear from being on the board, this was probably, from an administrative and faculty standpoint, a complete nightmare,” Tauck said.

Headmasters Stevens and Fuller both resigned after the first year of the merger.

Stevens wrote in his letter of resignation: “The merger, while difficult, has been a good thing for the school. I would make the same decision again to merge.”

The tumult continued into 1972 as the school labored on. In 1973, Bob Ward, the dean of students at Amherst College, took the post, bringing with him a sense of calm. “[Ward] settled the ship down,” said Ray Brown ’55, now a retired math and science teacher.

“And once we got this whole thing administratively straightened out,” Heath said. “It went really smoothly. I found it a tremendously exciting time.”

Combining Legacies Dorothy Bement and Sarah Whitaker forged their school at a time when education options for women were minimal.

They opened their doors in 1924 to a single student, and soon were purchasing additional buildings to house, teach, and feed the girls. The pride in the school was enormous, and women found NSFG a haven for their dreams and aspirations. It wasn’t just nostalgia that made the merger difficult; NSFG was home.

“It was as if as soon as you go off to college, your parents decide to sell your family

“ Two schools, each with distinguished reputations, are now one. We can take justifiable pride in the separate histories of both schools, but we can express even greater confidence in the present vigor and future strength of our school.”

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home and expect that this [new] place you’ve never lived in is going to be your home,” Sheila Fisher said. “Well, it’s not.”

Although Fisher enjoyed her senior year at Williston Northampton, the move was, and remained, painful for her and her classmates. Until she returned to campus in 2012 to deliver a speech at the Cum Laude induction ceremony, she hadn’t set foot on the merged campus in 38 years.

Fisher isn’t alone. NSFG alumnae who graduated before the merger don’t necessarily see Williston Northampton as their campus, yet they now have no other physical campus to return to. They also fear that the legacy of their school will be lost.

A handful of NSFG traditions were carried over in the merger, including the Sarah B. Whitaker Award, the “White Blazer,” which recognizes “the young woman who has distinguished herself with the greatest contributions to the academic, athletic and community life of the school while exhibiting exemplary leadership and integrity.” The Angelus, a large bell that was the centerpiece of NSFG ceremonies, was recently recovered and has been installed in a garden on campus. Yet 40 years after the merger, some NSFG alumnae still call for more recognition.

Much of the dismay stems from the merged school’s name. In written references, it is ‘Williston Northampton,’ paying tribute to both schools’ pasts. Yet in conversation, people often refer to the

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merged school as ‘Williston,’ leaving NSFG alumnae feeling disenfranchised. “It’s kind of an expunging of the name,” Fisher said.

Some Williston Academy alumni also pine for their alma mater. “I was disappointed because we had to change our name and I felt like we should still be ‘Williston Academy,’” Brown said. The boys also lost many of their traditional school songs, which were replaced with gender-neutral lyrics.

Teller offers a practical reality to paying homage to NSFG. “We are not a campus of monuments,” he said. “Our two pieces of public sculpture are a lion of very dubious origins, and a statue of Sir John Falstaff, a fictional character and a notorious corrupter of youth.”

“There are schools where you can’t go around a corner without bumping into some dead guy in bronze. That’s never been us.”

Two Become One In his initial address to the school in 1973, Bob Ward said, “Two schools, each with distinguished reputations, are now one. We can take justifiable pride in the separate histories of both schools, but we can express even greater confidence in the present vigor and future strength of our school.”

“I’m not saying that the transition was seamless, but looking at the school from

this present moment, it looks fantastic,” Fisher said.” I don’t think it’s a merged entity anymore. It’s a single entity.”

The question of gender equality on campus now seems antiquated. The male to female ratio is nearly equal, and girls assume many of the leadership positions on campus, including roles in student government, on the school’s publications, and in the school’s many clubs.

Four decades later, Williston Northampton is a unified institution.

Even though coeducation is now taken for granted, Bob Hill says the anniversary of the merger nudges students to appreciate the people who came before them.

“The women from NSFG were pioneers in education, as were their heads of school and founders,” Hill said. “There is a courage and pioneering spirit to the very essence of NSFG, which I think is a timeless message for both boys and girls at The Williston Northampton School.”

The anniversary of the merger is allowing both Williston Academy and NSFG alumni to take stock of the past, and reflect on the present.

“It makes me proud of the way that the young women who went through that first year made it through,” Fisher said. “And it makes me proud of the school to be honest, that it’s come out the other side in such a healthy way.”

A Chat with Sue Barnett

Fresh out of college, there was no question in Sue Curry’s mind that she wanted to work at a private boarding school. Having grown up on a boarding school campus, she loved the sense of community and equality among the faculty and staff. After by emily Gowdey-Backus interviewing at a few schools, Curry chose Northampton School for Girls, “because I felt that same sense of community…it was a nice fit.” In addition to serving as a dorm parent during her tenure at NSFG and Williston Northampton, Barnett taught social studies, psychology, and math. She also coached soccer, hockey, and softball. An institution in the history of Williston Northampton, Sue Curry Barnett was always a friendly face on campus and played an important role in the transition to the two schools becoming one.

Q

A

What was the culture of Northampton School For Girls at the time you were working there?

It was a bunch of girls, so it was things like dancing to records, putting on little skits just spur of the moment, being out on the athletic fields with Frisbees. It was easy to walk into downtown Northampton, and some did that, but there was a lot more spontaneous activity on campus.

Q What are your fondest memories of NSFG?

A The kids. I coached, I ran a dorm, I had PE classes. I’m still in touch with hundreds of them. I’ve seen them grow up, fail, pick themselves up again, succeed, raise families. That’s what I loved from start to finish.

Q What was the effect of the

merger on NSFG’s culture?

A It was not easy for females coming into an all-male environment. I don’t think that’s unique to Williston Northampton. I think any place where there is a merger and the female population is picked up and moved people would say the same thing. I think I felt it less than some of the kids and some of my peers. We were fighting to get back to the place we had been, but it turned out okay.

Q What were people concerned about as they thought about the merger?

A In the areas I was working, girls feared that they were going to be second-class citizens. We have limited athletic fields. It rains.

Who gets to play? That was an issue at first because the boys varsity teams would play, the girls varsity teams would be postponed or cancelled. I don’t want to say it was horrible, it wasn’t horrible.

But it wasn’t easy.

Q When did it feel like Williston Northampton emerged from the transition?

A I think that the merger got its best shot once that sophomore class graduated because now there was no longer any student who had started at NSFG. I think it was easier with the kids than the faculty and administration.

Q Do you think anything was lost going from a girls

school and a boys school to a coed school?

A I think one of the things that was lost is a sense of ‘oneness.’

The guys who are cleaning your dorms are as important to you in some ways as the person who is teaching your physics class. And that’s what made the real sense of community at NSFG; everybody had the same goals in the long run. Everybody wasn’t doing the same job or the same thing but everybody had the same purpose.

Q What do you think was gained?

A More opportunities. Everywhere. More choice of classes, more options for athletics, and more space. NSFG didn’t have anywhere near the diversity in student population. An important part of boarding school is the diversity; you get to meet so many people from different cultures. And I’m not sure that dealing with adversity is all that bad. It teaches you a lot.

Q When you talk to alumnae with whom you’re still in

contact, what do they bring up?

A The funniest stories are from the kids who lived in my dorm.

One year I was living in French House and by study hall time there was absolute silence in the dorm. Every now and then a tennis ball would roll down the stairs in front of my apartment, bump bump bump bump bump. Now, you’d think that if I could hear a tennis ball, I could hear feet. So I would go out, pick up the tennis ball, and walk it upstairs. But once I got upstairs there wouldn’t be a soul around. There started to be rumors amongst the girls that there was a ghost in French House.

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Reflecting on a Career in the Classroom After more than 30 years of teaching, Marcia Reed, a familiar and highly respected name in the Williston Northampton community, will be leaving at the end of the academic year to pursue new artistic adventures in Delaware, and beyond.

by Charlotte Wilinsky â&#x20AC;&#x2122;07

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1

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M

arcia arrived at Williston Northampton in 1978, and she has been an invaluable

member of the faculty as both an art teacher and an artist. In fact, her own work has been inseparable from her

teaching. Over the years, Marcia has approached her classes as an artist, which has provided a freeing and flexible classroom environment for her students to explore their own creativity.

Pictures of Marcia from her years at Williston Northampton and some of her paintings: 1. Storm Approaching Summer Fields, oils, 12 x 12” 2. Small Grove of Trees, watercolor, 6 x 6” 3. Heat Filled Evening, oils, 24 x 38”

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Marcia currently teaches three levels of painting and design. In these courses, she works with students of varying artistic abilities and experiences.

She is quick to highlight the rewarding aspects of teaching different kinds of students. “The inexperienced students,” she explains, “can often be more open and willing to try new things as they do not have any preconceived ideas of art.”

Marcia also has found it very rewarding to work consistently with experienced art students throughout their years at Williston Northampton. She is proud to witness their development and to push them to explore. Many of the students that Marcia has worked with have gone on to become artists themselves, becoming good friends with Marcia along the way.

According to her, it is these many varied student connections through the years, including those students she now calls friends, that make Williston Northampton so special.

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Besides guiding and forming relationships with students in the classroom, Marcia traveled abroad with art students during the March vacations in the late ’80s and early ’90s. She led art museum and painting trips, taking students to a variety of countries, including Greece, France, and Holland. These trips represent some of her favorite memories of Williston Northampton. As she recalls fondly, part of what made these trips so special was that they “…simply brought people together.”

What’s next? This summer, Marcia will leave behind the familiarity of Easthampton and move to Milford, Delaware, where she will open Gallery 37-A Destination for Artful Living. The significance of her gallery’s name is personal and special; in 2007, she reconnected with her first love after 37 years. The gallery will be a commercial space, focusing on Marcia’s painting and placemats, as well as pottery, painting, lamps, furniture, and wearable

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“ Marcia is one of the best teachers I have ever known as a colleague or as a student. To me, Marcia is at the very heart of what is the best that Williston Northampton can be, bringing to her students, her colleagues, and our greater community an unmatched professionalism, vibrancy, and vitality.”

Susanna White, Peforming and Fine Art Department Head

art from artisans in Austin and Denver, and painters from New York City, the Caribbean, and Western Massachusetts.

In addition to managing her gallery, Marcia will be teaching several workshops for adults in Delaware, including classes in acrylic and aqueous media. In late September, she will travel to Lake Garda, Italy, with a group of adults from throughout the United States for a location painting workshop. This trip will mark her eighth season teaching in Italy with the Il Chiostro program.

Her excitement regarding her new ventures is evident in her current work. She is completing a set of tiles for her kitchen at her new home in Milford. Although Marcia says she has not worked with ceramics

for quite a while, the tiles are strikingly beautiful, in shades of turquoise, purple, and green. In addition, she is designing a door for her gallery, which she expects will represent a bit of Western Massachusetts in her new surroundings.

What does Marcia’s departure mean to both her and Williston Northampton? Although she is looking forward to opening her gallery and to having the opportunity to focus more fully on her own work, Marcia will miss Williston Northampton in many ways, especially the camaraderie on campus.

It is clear that the people at the school— both students and colleagues—mean a great deal to Marcia, and she means a tremendous amount to the Williston Northampton community. The campus

has been immensely fortunate to have Marcia Reed for over 30 years; she is a special combination of colleague, friend, teacher, and artist, and that does not come around very often.

Susanna White, head of the Fine and Performing Arts Department, is confident that Marcia’s presence will continue to resonate in the Williston Northampton community long after she has journeyed on. “We may be knocked off balance when Marcia first departs, but she has taught us all well. If we look to those lessons and paint, teach, and learn with a similar passion from our hearts, we will stand as strongly as if she were in our midst.”

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SMART

education___

Williston Northampton’s fine arts program continues to thrive, and terrific art emerges from the studios in the Reed Campus Center.

Here are some examples of student work over the course of this year > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >

drawing by betsy lewis ’12

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betsy leiws ’12

emily mchuch ’12

Maria strycharz ’12 elAna gerson ’12

max reichelt ’12 28

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qi hua Cai ’14

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.

Pablo Picasso

Davin aberle ’12

Bowie Miao ’13

tory Durocher ’13

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Class Notes

Class Notes

Send us your notes! ✒ S e n d your notes and digital photos to your Class Representative(s). ✒ C l a ss r e p s —Please send your completed notes to msage@williston.com by July 15, 2012, for the fall Bulletin. ✒ I f yo u h av e q u e s t i o n s , or would like to volunteer as a Class Representative, contact Melanie Sage at (413) 529-3301 or msage@ williston.com.

Class Notes

To view class notes please log in at www.williston.com/bulletin

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our history

From the Archives

Anticipating how future generations of alumnae would feel about Northampton School for Girls, roommates Frances Cashman ’25 and Katherine Burnett ’25 wrote the Northampton School song in the very first year, 1924–25.

Frances composed the music, Kay the words. It is not sung much anymore. We think it should be.

Learn more about school history at www.williston.com/archives.

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by Richard Teller ’70 Williston Northampton Archivist

The Williston Northampton Annual Fund

Every Gift, Any Amount, Every Year

There are many ways to support The Williston Northampton School.

Every year, we rely on the generosity of alumni, families, and friends to help make the Williston Northampton experience possible for todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s students. Please consider supporting the school by making your gift to the Williston Northampton Annual Fund by June 30, 2012.

We are also grateful to those in the Williston Northampton community who include the school in their estate plans and who generously provide support through a planned gift.

To learn more about ways to support The Williston Northampton School, please contact the Advancement Office at 800.469.4559.

www.williston.com/give

Parents: If this issue is addressed to your son or daughter who no longer maintains a permanent address at your home, please notify the Alumni Office of the correct new mailing address by contacting us at alumni@williston.com or (800) 469-4559.

Thank you.

19 Payson Avenue, Easthampton, MA 01027 (413) 529-3000, www.williston.com Change service requested

Reunion

2012 June 8-10!

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID The Williston Northampton School