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Spring 2011

IT'S FINALLY, TRULY, SPRING. The sap buckets have long been put away and the trees are in full bloom. Students and faculty spent time cleaning, indoors and out, during the annual campus-wide Service Day, and now they are buckling down for the final stretch. Here’s a snapshot of what’s been happening at NMH.

Campus News

Leadership Transition

On May 4, Thomas K. Sturtevant announced that he was stepping down as head of school, effective at the end of this academic year. The NMH Board of Trustees accepted his resignation and granted him a leave of absence through the end of the year. In accepting Tom’s resignation, board chair Mark Chardack '73 expressed sadness, gratitude, and confidence, feelings that are shared by the entire board and campus community. "You have left behind a grateful and optimistic community," Chardack wrote. "You leave behind a great and noble school."

The board appointed Charles A. Tierney III, who has served as assistant head of school for seven years, as interim head of school for the rest of this year and for the 2011-12 academic year, while it conducts a national search for a new head of school. "We have great confidence in Charlie's leadership during this transition," Chardack says. "We know that he will maintain the strong momentum at NMH and will uphold the school's mission to educate the head, heart, and hand." Find more information about the leadership transition here.

A New Stage Name

The 80-seat black box theater in the Rhodes Arts Center will be named in honor of David Rowland, the director of NMH's theater program for more than 30 years.

Chief Advancement Officer Allyson Goodwin '83 remarked on the announcement in late March by describing Rowland as an inspiration to generations of students "with his creative example, his passion for the arts, his precise instructions, and his erudite interpretations of the dozens of plays he has directed."

A group of alumni and parents, led by Laura Linney '82, a former student of Rowland's, and John and Janet Irving P '10, '83, initiated the plan to name the theater, and they have raised approximately 50 percent of the $500,000 necessary to complete the project. Rowland said he was surprised when Goodwin first told him of the decision in mid-March. It "took awhile to sink in," he said. "It's not the kind of thing you can anticipate. It certainly made me feel very, very good."

Sweet

The NMH Farm had a super-sweet sugaring season this year, with more than 750 gallons produced over roughly six weeks. Farm Program Director Richard Odman attributed the near-record production to an abundant sap harvest and to the reverse osmosis equipment that speeds up the concentration of the sap, saving both time and wood used for fuel.

Twenty-one work job students collected 14,000 gallons of sap over the two-week March break alone, and a few alumni offered up donations of equipment and time. Mary Peck Castle '82 donated a new arch, a stove part on which the syrup pans sit, and a new stainless steel stack to vent wood smoke out of the sugar house; NMH Archivist Peter Weis '78 donated two vacuum pumps that help collect sap; and Andrew Wolkoff '82, volunteered his time throughout the season.

Watch a video about sugaring on the farm, download an order form for syrup and other farm products, and check out this story about NMH’s cheesemaking operation that features Farm Assistant Rachel Onuf.

High Achievers

In problem-solving: A youth-empowerment outreach project developed by six students on NMH's Destination ImagiNation (DI) team will be presented at an international competition at the end of the school year. The NMH "DI" group created and led confidence-building workshops for local elementary school-age children as part of DI's annual challenge to school groups across the country. The NMH project, dubbed "I Am" (for International Acceptance Movement), earned the team multiple awards at a regional DI tournament in Nashua, New Hampshire and a spot at the DI "Global Finals" in Knoxville, Tennessee, in May.

In math: Two members of NMH's Math Club are among the top 500 high school math students in the country. Juniors Andrew Byun and Brian Han have been invited to compete in the USA Mathematics Olympiad (USAMO), for the first time in NMH history. They started out with 400,000 other high school students in the 2011 American Mathematics Competition (AMC), then moved on with 7,185 others—including eight NMH students—to the American Invitational Mathematics Examination. The AIME further whittled the number down to the 500 top scorers, who will compete for one of six spots representing the U.S. at the International Mathematics Olympiad, which will be held in July in Amsterdam, Netherlands, July 13-24.

In robotics: The robotics club, established by students a few months ago, won two out of three contests at a northeastern regional RoboCupJunior tournament in New Jersey in April. The students built and programmed three autonomous robots for the tournament; a pair of the bots played two-on-two soccer and the third went through a rescue course.

10,000 Views

Last fall, as the school year began, NMH launched a Vimeo channel to showcase the elements of campus life. Recently the channel exceeded 10,000 views, with an average of 2,000 views each month. The videos are produced both professionally and by students, and they feature stories on dorm living, maple syrup production, and all sorts of campus events and traditions.

Master Plan

This winter the NMH community began brainstorming for a long-term master plan for the school. Faculty, staff, and students met with planners from Austin Architects and the landscape architect firm Richard Burck Associates, Inc. to discuss how the campus might look in the future. They covered topics such as the geography and history of the landscape and its buildings, popular walking routes, favorite and least favorite campus spots, and ideas for campus improvement. NMH administrators and trustees are currently working with the outside planners to map out a guide for future planning and development on campus. A preliminary plan was reviewed by the board of trustees in May.

Speak Up

The roster of visitors who came to campus throughout the winter and early spring to present all-school lectures and lead small-group discussions was, as usual, eclectic and thought-provoking.

Ernest Green (at left): One of the "Little Rock Nine," the black students who desegregated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. Green was the featured speaker during NMH's week of events celebrating the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Adam Mazo: Producer and director of the documentary "Coexist," which covers post-genocide reconciliation efforts in Rwanda, Mazo screened his film and discussed his efforts to investigate it.

Chris Bradford: President of the African Leadership Foundation and co-founder of the African Leadership Academy, on supporting African youth in becoming students, entrepreneurs, and leaders

Joe Ehrmann: Community organizer, co-founder of Coach for America; former pro football player and coach.

Amber Madison: author of Hooking Up: A Girl's All-Out Guide to Sex and Sexuality and Talking Sex With Your Kids: Keeping Them Safe and You Sane—By Knowing What They're Really Thinking.

Ehrmann and Madison met with boys and girls separately to discuss making healthy, positive choices in relationships, and choosing to define yourself instead of allowing society to define you.

Wilfredo Perez '04: Currently enrolled at the Alpert Medical School at Brown University, Perez spoke about his ongoing health care clinic work in Haiti.

Edith Widder: Biologist, deep-sea explorer, and marine conservationist, Widder discussed her research on bioluminescence and how it is used to track pollution, and about the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Col. Rick Van Arnam P '13: A citizen soldier in the Vermont National Guard, Van Arnam recently completed his second tour in Afghanistan, serving as a senior military intelligence officer for an infantry brigade team.

Students Head Out

Over the past few months, students and faculty packed their bags and left campus to explore cities and landscapes around the world. One school group headed to India over spring break; three others incorporated the trips into co-curricular or spring-semester courses.

Qatar: Six students headed to Doha for a week to for a Model United Nations conference sponsored by Georgetown University. They were the only American students at the conference.

New Zealand: Ten students tackled topics in this country’s history, environment, literature, and Maori culture as they traveled, and also performed community service on Rarotoka Island with the Ngai Tahu tribe. (See a photo gallery.)

South Africa: Twenty-two sophomores in Humanities II recently returned from two weeks in South Africa. Among the places they visited: Johannesburg, Cape Town, the Hendrik Verwoerd High School in Pretoria, The Apartheid Museum, the U.S. Embassy, Soweto Township, and Pilanesberg National Park; they also put in a day of community service with the non-governmental organization Soil for Life.

NMH Teachers Come to You

The Faculty on the Road program picked up steam this year, following a launch in November at the Studio Museum in Harlem in New York. English teacher Bob Cooley led that discussion, on his Harlem Renaissance class, and in February and March, teachers Ted Thornton and Bill Batty '59 took their turns. Thornton, chair of the history and social science department, visited Houston, Texas; Batty, an English teacher, discussed his literature and film studies classes in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Find photos of the events in four separate galleries: Harlem, Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. For more information, contact Becky Neubert Dominguez, associate director of Alumni and Parent Programs, at 413-498-3335.

Million Dollar Gift

Edward Batchelder '31, who died late last year at the age of 98, left a bequest of $1 million to create the Edward S. Batchelder Endowed Scholarship Fund, which will support students who, in one way or another, have been cut off from their parents or guardians. Batchelder was an orphan himself, and he felt that his experience at the Mount Hermon School for Boys set him on a path in life that he otherwise would never have reached. The scholarship funds will be available to students starting in the 2011-2012 academic year. Read the full story on Batchelder.

Announcements + Calendar

Commencement

NMH's 128th Commencement will take place May 29 on Thorndike Field on the Mount Hermon Campus at 11 am. Lorrie Byrom, longtime NMH history teacher and the director of the Center for International Education, will be the featured speaker. Read a profile of Lorrie and find out more about Commencement.

Sports, Stat

Lacrosse, ultimate, tennis...what NMH sports do you want to follow? Check out our sports Twitter feed, @NMHHoggers, and let Social Media Manager Rachael Hanley know what other sports news and stats you'd like to see.

May-June

Alumni are welcome to attend all NMH events.

May 12-14

"Signature," Dance Concert, 7:30 pm, RAC

May 15

Student recitals, 3 pm, RAC

May 29

Commencement

June 9-12

Reunion weekend

June 11

Gallery reception, 4 pm, RAC

View current exhibit titled "Balancing Choices: The Artwork of Carol Odell ’61 and Tom Odell" and meet the artists

Spring 2011

ALUMNI PROFILES

Thursday, 07th June

Friday, 08th June

Saturday, 09th June

Sunday, 10th June

Sunday, 30th September