News and Events News Archieve

Past News at NMH, 2005-06

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News from 2005-06

Upward Bound Conference Examines Gender
A discussion of gender will kick off the 12th annual Diversity Conference July 21 hosted by Northfield Mount Hermon School’s Upward Bound Program.

Natalie Thoreson, the Youth Program Specialist for the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ). Thoreson will give a keynote address called, “Learning Gender: Men, Women and the Binary Gender System.”

The conference is part of an exploration of gender issues that Upward Bound students have been studying throughout the year and during the six-week NMH Summer Academy. Students from five other Upward Bound programs in New England and New York will join the NMH Upward Bound students at the conference.

Workshops will include how gender roles and class affect teens; an examination of how women and men are portrayed in the media and popular culture; and a workshop on unlearning bi/homophobia, and uprooting heterosexism, the mainstream culture’s de facto marginalization of people who are not heterosexual.

There will also be workshops on African and Latin drumming; Step Dance; and Tinikling, the Philippine national dance. Students will explore diversity issues through theater games and will watch and discuss the film, A Journey Towards Peace.

Skating with Sharks
Graham Mink, who attended NMH for a postgraduate year in 1997-98, signed a two-year, two-way contract with the San Jose Sharks July 15. The right wing battled back from sports hernia surgery to play a major role in the AHL Calder Cup victory of the Hershey Bears in June.

After NMH, Mink earned a hockey scholarship to the University of Vermont. He then moved on to the professional ranks, signing a contract with the Washington Capitals organization. After two-plus strong seasons in the AHL, Mink spent time with the Capitals in 2004 at the NHL level and following the NHL lockout, served as captain of the Capitals AHL affiliate, the Portland Pirates. He joined the Bears for the 2005-06 season.

NMH Golf Coach and Son State Champs
Math teacher and golf coach Mace Hemphill and her 11-year-old son Cooper took the highest prize in their division at the State Mother-Son Golf Championship Tournament July 10 at the Ipswich Country Club.

The duo, playing in the 12-and-under division for the Crumpin-Fox Club, "fired a field-best 46 through nine holes," according to an article in the Greenfield Recorder. The tournament featured a selected-drive, alternate-shot format.

Mr. Pothier Goes to Washington
Articles in the Washington Post and the Ottawa Citizen chronicle the trade of NMH alum Brian Pothier '96 from the Ottawa Senators to the Washington Capitals for a 4-year hockey-playing contract.

Here’s what the Post had to say:

“Pothier, a 29-year-old native of New Bedford, Mass., enjoyed a career year in Ottawa last season, posting 5 goals, 35 points and a plus-minus rating of plus-29, which ranked fifth among all NHL defensemen. He will earn $2.5 million per season in Washington.

“‘He's a very mobile, puck moving defenseman who has performed very well in the new NHL,’ General Manager George McPhee said. ‘We believe he'll be a top four defenseman for us.’

“Pothier, who is 6 feet, 198 pounds, added: ‘I'm looking forward to playing a bigger role in Washington. It's an exciting time to be a part of a team going in the right direction.’”

Former NMH Hockey Player Goes Pro
Brian Strait was picked by the Pittsburgh Penguins in this summer’s NHL draft. While at NMH during his freshman and sophomore years, he played on the varsity hockey team.

In 2004, at the end of his sophomore year, he committed to Boston University, and will be attending on a full scholarship this fall. He has been playing in the National Development Program in Ann Arbor, MI, for the past two years, and served as the captain of the Under 17 team. Brian was later asked to move up to the Under 18 team and finish the season with the older club.

Alum’s Organization Wins $50K
Wilfredo Perez ’04 created Operation Happy Birthday (OHB) while a junior at NMH. The organization celebrates the birthdays of children who are homeless, giving them a sense of worth and pride. It also offers mentoring and tutoring to underserved kids.

Perez, who was homeless for periods of his childhood, continues this work at Brown University, where his organization recently won first place in the $50,000 Brown Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition. OHB was the only nonprofit to make it to the final round of the competition, and the first in history to win. OHB is now a 501 c3 nonprofit organization and beginning in the fall, there will be outposts in Boston, New York City, San Francisco and Washington DC.

OHB has celebrated the lives of 82 homeless children so far and has more than 100 active volunteers.

Perez is studying community health at Brown, and plans to become a doctor of infectious diseases.

Northfield Campus Update
At reunion, trustee Carol Ramsey ’70 spoke about the latest developments concerning the Northfield campus. (Access the link to her Reunion 2006 PowerPoint presentation.) Director of the Northfield Campus Initiative Carol Lebo says the school’s highest priority remains looking for a single, education-based user for the campus. “We’ve had about 40 inquiries along those lines,” Lebo says. “Of them, 15 have high viability. Two or three of them are working toward their final proposals, which we hope to have by the end of the summer.”

The Northfield initiative has also commissioned a mixed-use study to examine the campus’s potential for an assortment of enterprises (e.g., a small school, condominiums, small businesses, a bed-and-breakfast with restaurant). “The study is about the potential of mixed use,” says Lebo. “We’re not abandoning the single-use scenario, but simply trying to anticipate the next possible level.”

NMH’s database of inquiries includes about 100 names. Of these, says Lebo, a number are people “who were just fishing.” Others were interested in subdividing the land and selling it. “That’s something we absolutely don’t want to do,” Lebo states. Most of the interest has been in buying the campus, although there have been some strong inquiries about leasing. Last year an existing school in eastern Massachusetts wanted to move to Northfield but backed out due to insufficient financial resources. “In a sense, that was the perfect outcome for us,” says Lebo. “The last thing we want is to convey the campus to someone with a really shaky foundation.”

The proposals from educational institutions expected by the end of summer will be the first written proposals NMH has received.

Reunion Draws Hundreds

Overcast weather on Saturday didn't prevent more than eight hundred alumni and their families from gathering on the Mount Hermon campus the weekend of June 10 and 11 to reunite with classmates. Members of the classes ending in ’1 and ’6 were on hand to reminisce, break bread, raise a glass, and participate in a never-ending array of activities. Among them were golf tournaments, boat rides, student-led walking tours, in-depth seminars, and the beloved Hymn Sing. See photos of the event by clicking here.

NMH Receives Major Gifts from Two Distinguished Alumni

David F. Bolger, class of 1950, has donated securities valued at $10 million to Northfield Mount Hermon. He has asked that we use his generous gift to endow scholarships, establish a faculty chair, and support an endowment for Memorial Chapel. This is the largest commitment the school has received in its 126-year history. Read more

William R. Rhodes, class of 1953 and chairman emeritus of the NMH Board of Trustees, has donated a total of $5 million for the school’s new center for the arts. To honor both his lead gift toward this critical project as well as the faithful service and support given to the school by his father, Edward R. Rhodes '16, the arts center will be named The Rhodes Center for the Arts. Read more

• See photos
• Learn more about The Rhodes Center for the Arts

NMH's 123rd Commencement Held on June 4 See more photos!

The Cambridge Award is presented at commencement to a member of the graduating class for general excellence. The winner is determined by faculty vote, and it has become the school's most prestigious award. This year there are two recipients: Owen Christopher Barron of Brattleboro, VT, and Taylor Renee McCormack of Yarmouth, ME. Owen will attend Harvard University and Taylor will go to Bowdoin College in the fall.

Class of 2006 Orator

Rosa Von Gleichen ’06 delivered the class orator speech at the June 4 commencement. Rosa was chosen from seven finalists who delivered speeches they composed. Although this was the first address she has given to a large audience, Rosa says two techniques saw her through: confidence and repetition. “Confidence first to interest an audience, and repetition to keep them coming back to your message if they get off track, which undoubtedly most audience members will at one point,” she says. Rosa's speech focused on the responsibility of NMH graduates to make the world a better place, "To build a Jerusalem in every green and pleasant land." She plans to attend Cornell University next year to major in music.

Diplomat Alum is NMH Commencement Speaker

Ambassador Aurelia Brazeal ’61, a senior diplomat with the U.S. State Department for 30 years, was this year’s commencement speaker. Brazeal earned a BA from Spelman College and an MA in international affairs from Columbia. She was the first African American woman career foreign service officer to be promoted into the US Senior Foreign Service and appointed an ambassador. Her diplomatic posts include serving in Ethiopia, Micronesia, and Kenya. She also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific. She is currently diplomat-in-residence at Howard University.

Brazeal served three terms on the Spelman College Board of Trustees and was a member of the selection panel for the Woodrow Wilson National Foreign Affairs Fellowship program. She has also served on the advisory boards for the Morehouse College Andrew Young Center for International Affairs and the Institute for International Public Policy, which addresses the lack of diversity in the Foreign Service. In addition, she was invited to join the Council of Foreign Relations in 2001.

In a 1999 interview with NMH Magazine, Brazeal said her interest in international affairs was piqued by experiences she had while a student at NMH. She strongly believes in education as the key to personal and professional growth, especially for young women. She received the NMH Alumni Association's Distinguished Service Award for outstanding career achievement in 2001. Read Ambassador Brazeal's address.

Alum Jumper is National Champ
Fred Jones '03 won the NCAA Division III National Championship for the triple jump at a meet in Chicago in late May. Fred jumped 49' 6.5'' to claim the title as a member of the Tufts University track and field team. Congratulations, Fred!

Librarian Wins Leadership Post
Alison Ernst, director of library and academic resources, has been elected to serve as the chair of the Independent School Section of the American Association of School Libraries, a division of the American Library Association (ALA).

She currently serves by appointment on two ISS committees (data collection and conference). This was her first national professional election.
Ernst’s candidacy statement expressed her convictions about independent school libraries. In it, she stated, “I have long been a multitype library thinker, believing that librarians in diverse institutions have much to learn from each other. What we share is our commitment to providing the best library we can to our students and faculty, whatever our resources and staffing.”

She added that, as chair, she will focus on strategic planning. “Good planning is the first step toward effective advocacy in my view.” Ernst is working to translate a college-level information commons model to secondary schools for the June 2007 ALA conference in Washington, DC. Mount Holyoke's Library, Information and Technology Services, recently won a national award for excellence in academic libraries. The NMH Library System's Information Commons is based in part of the Mt. Holyoke model.

NMH Fetes Mary E. MacKinnon Cottage and Shea Family Cottage
The new boys and girls student houses got new names May 5. The new girls’ dormitory was named Mary E. MacKinnon Cottage in memory of the mother of trustee Robert MacKinnon ’53. MacKinnon’s generous gift recognizes the care and community he experienced as a boarding student. He is also honoring his mother’s strong faith in the education he and his two brothers received at Mount Hermon.

Trustee Bill Shea ’72 generously supported the construction of the new boys’ dormitory, as well as other important initiatives at NMH. He is deeply engaged at the school and is enthusiastic about its plans for the future. In recognition of his support, the dormitory was named the Shea Family Cottage.

The houses were opened in September 2005. The dedication ceremony was part of NMH’s trustee weekend and offered an opportunity to celebrate the school’s success.

Russian Speakers Take Medals
Fifteen NMH students in April attended the Olympiada, an oral competition for high school students of the Russian language. The Olympiada dates back to the 60s, when Russian became the language to study (an ironic byproduct of the Cold War). The competition is judged not by teachers but by the native speakers of Russian. The competition challenges students to demonstrate their ability to converse in Russian with the native speakers, inspires them to learn more Russian poetry, and spurs them to become experts in the geography of Russia and the former Soviet Union. NMH has a long and very successful record of participation in the New England Regional Olympiada. We had winners in the three categories of beginner, intermediate and advanced.

Beginner Level

• Gold, Teresa Le ’07 and Franklin Redner ’09
• Silver, Rosanna Driscoll ’09, Sabrina Savinski ’07, and Duncan Spaulding ’09
• Bronze, Leonardo Chiquillo ’09 and Samuel Watrous ’09

Intermediate Level

• Gold, Harriet Booth ’09 and Naomi Shafer ’07 
• Silver, Caroline Dickey ’06
• Bronze, Catherine Kraft-Kenney ’08
• Honorable Mention, Elise Lubanko ’07

Advanced Level

• Gold, Sam Winkler ’06 (earned the third-highest score of the five top finalists)
• Ksenia Kuchugurny ’09 won in the Heritage Speaker category of students who grew up in households where Russian is spoken. She now has the opportunity to go to Russia this summer with the All-American team.

Coach Nets Distinguished Service Award
Each year the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NESPAC) presents the Distinguished Service Award to an individual who has “contributed significantly to New England Independent School athletics and physical education through enthusiasm, dedication, leadership and vision.”
Frank Millard, NMH’s Physical Education coordinator, is the recipient of NEPSAC's Distinguished Service Award for 2006 and will be honored at the NEPSAC fall meeting in November.

Symphony Director to Present Composition
Steven Bathory-Peeler, director of the string program and orchestra at NMH, will present his own composition at the Graduate Student Research/Creativity Symposium this month at the University of Hartford.

The piece, called String Trio No. 2 (Coffee Shop Music), was inspired by the idea of classical players getting together, as jazz players do, and performing without much rehearsal. The piece was composed for three string instruments, violin, viola, and cello. Each of the three musicians chooses among three lines of music at any given moment in the piece. The separate lines of music are designed to complement the others. Thus the piece unfolds differently each time. Bathory-Peeler calls this type of composing “flexible form.”

Bathory-Peeler has won the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers award for emerging composers three times and recently released his first CD, Music of Steven Bathory-Peeler. Among his recent compositional premieres are Film Score to an Unmade Film performed by the Windham Orchestra in Brattleboro, VT, and Dance Music performed by the University of Hartford Contemporary Players.

Math Teacher Earns Top Honor
Mark Yates has been recognized by the National Science Foundation with a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. He is one of only 100 such teachers recognized nationally each year. The prize carries with it a $10,000 grant. Awardees serve as models for their colleagues, inspirations to their communities, and leaders in the improvement of mathematics and science education. Read more

To read an article about Yates' award in the Greenfield Recorder, click here.

Click here to read about NMH's future: get updates on campus planning and facilities projects, view photos of construction work, and more.

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