New England offered a surprise twist on NMH’s Homecoming weekend—a snow-bearing Nor’easter. In spite of the crazy weather, a spirited crowd of alumni and parents cheered and rang cowbells at the boys varsity football game on Oct. 30.
NMH was among the many locations in the East that temporarily lost power; classes and activities were cancelled for two days following the storm. Electricity was restored on Monday and students spent that evening trick-or-treating at faculty houses around campus.
Dean of Students Nicole Hager reported that said she saw many students and faculty on Sunday night playing Monopoly, Scrabble, and card games from various cultures; boys in Lower North Crossley took the extra step of making an indoor "home run derby" game.
“It was great fun to see so many people—faculty, staff, students, and faculty children—playing games and enjoying each other's company around the school's ‘kitchen table’ (in the dining hall),” wrote Hager. She said she was “so impressed and grateful for the fast and compassionate action of so many parents who took their child plus 2, 3, or 6 other friends with them to warm, lighted places.”
If you are a parent who did not receive regular updates from NMH during the storm, please
provide the school with an accurate phone number and email address to be included with the emergency Connect Ed system.
Mountain Day 2011
NMH’s favorite fall holiday, Mountain Day, is always announced as a surprise for faculty and students. This year, Dean of Students Nicole Hager teamed up with guest speakers Andrew Goldstein and David Farber to make the announcement particularly entertaining.
Goldstein and Farber spoke during a Monday all-school meeting about their experiences as gay athletes (see story below), and during the subsequent question and answer session, Hager asked for the microphone.
“I wonder if your journeys are analogous at all to—I don’t know, climbing a mountain?” Hager said, eliciting gasps and cheers from the student body.
“I would say it’s been a lot like climbing Mount Monadnock,” Goldstein said, grinning.
Watch the announcement as captured by Daniel Hay ’12.
On October 11, students headed to local hiking trails (the seniors spent the day on the traditional trek up Monadnock), and capped the day with the annual Mountain Day meal of chili in bread bowls. “Wish I was climbing mountains and eating chili with my Hoggers today,” wrote Clara Conklin on the NMH Twitter feed. “Every school needs a Mountain Day,” agreed Megan Scheck on the NMH Facebook page.
(What did Mountain Day look like back in the day? Take a look!)
Extending Acceptance to the Locker Room
The NMH community paid extra attention to matters of diversity and acceptance in early October. On Oct. 10, Andrew Goldstein, a former professional lacrosse player, and David Farber, a hockey player, spoke at an all-school meeting about their separate but parallel experiences as gay athletes.
Farber and Goldstein’s visit was part of NMH’s recognition of Ally Week, a nationwide celebration of safe, healthy, and respectful school environments and of the allies who stand up against anti-LGBT language, bullying, and harassment. The men also held a separate training workshop for faculty and coaches.
Goldstein and Farber discussed with the NMH community not only their personal experiences, but also how students, faculty, and staff could make the school’s playing fields and locker rooms safe and welcoming places for everyone.
“It’s really easy to bash a faceless enemy,” Goldstein said. “Dave and I are here to put a face on this. Don’t let it be okay to use degrading language.”
Diversity Summit Recap
NMH’s annual fall Diversity Summit encouraged students and faculty to discuss issues of multiculturalism and social justice. The summit featured “Incognito,” a one-hour theatrical presentation focusing on race, identity, diversity, and stereotypes, by writer and actor Michael Fosberg, and a lecture on defining diversity by Rodney Glasgow, director of diversity and community relations and dean of students at Worcester Academy.
Lia Gladstone’s State of the World
The city of Kabul is brimming with disparity and contrast, according to playwright and teacher Lia Gladstone, who brought the stories of young Afghan students to NMH in a recent Wantman Family State of the World lecture entitled “Afghan Voices.”
In 2009, Gladstone served as a professor of English and theater at the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul. More recently, she ran a series of theater workshops for children in Afghan schools and orphanages. Gladstone’s work in Afghanistan followed her careers as a social worker, a playwright, and a teacher of playwriting in the U.S.
“Kabul is relatively normal compared to the past 30 years of war,” Gladstone said. “People go about their jobs and social lives.”
Making a Difference Through True Patriotism
What is true patriotism? That’s the question Stephen Kiernan, journalist and author of Authentic Patriotism: Restoring America’s Ideals Through Selfless Action, posed to students during an all-school meeting in October.
Patriotism is not a lapel pin or a cudgel, Kiernan said. It occurs when people step up to make a difference in society by identifying problems and working to solve them. Only a nationwide movement of volunteerism and civic action, he said, could help the country rebound from its current economic and societal problems.
“It’s essential that you make a difference,” Kiernan said. “Everyone who has a good idea can make a difference.”
Math Class, Flipped Style
In his BC calculus class, teacher Dick Peller is challenging conventional methods of classroom learning and homework.
This semester, his students are watching online videos and completing interactive lessons provided by institutions such as Khan Academy and the University of Houston. During class time, they work together on sets of problems. The goal of this approach, known as “flipped thinking,” is to let students play a larger role in their own learning and set the pace at which they learn.
Students report that they like the new teaching method. They appreciate the explanations on the videos, as well as the freedom to learn at their own pace. The more nimble learners can zoom ahead, and other students can review videos and practice larger sets of problems. Still, students find that the web lessons work best as a supplement to, rather than a replacement of, traditional teacher-student interactions.
Although Peller has not yet begun to use online methods with his other math classes, he said the initiative confirms his belief that students benefit from innovative teaching techniques that incorporate modern technology, not to mention from the opportunity to be more self-directed.
“The more we can put learning in the hands of the individual student,” Peller said, “the more effective it can be.”
An Axis of Good
Don Goodrich began his Oct. 5 Wantman Family State of the World lecture by describing a sunny September day in 2001. That morning, his wife, Sally, took her father to a doctor’s appointment. Goodrich headed to his Vermont law office. Their son, Peter, boarded a plane in Boston.
“At 9:03, Pete’s plane flew into the south tower of the World Trade Center,” Goodrich said.
As the Goodriches mourned the loss of their son and grappled with how to cope with such tragedy, they talked to a friend of Peter’s who was a U.S. Marine serving in Afghanistan. He told them about the lack of education in the country, about teachers defying the Taliban, and about the need for school equipment and supplies. The couple began organizing local donation drives and raising money for schools and children in Afghanistan.
The Goodriches’ efforts eventually led to the creation of the Peter M. Goodrich Memorial Foundation, which supported the construction of a girls’ school in the Logar province of Afghanistan. Goodrich said that providing educational opportunities for Afghans has helped him “unpack the past…and move on with resolve and hope.”
Barn’s Missing Piece Settles into Place
The red and white cupola rose up in the Saturday morning sunshine, trailing hay. Balanced on the long arm of a crane, the cupola swung over the Northfield Mount Hermon barn and was maneuvered onto the roof.
Watch a time-lapse video of the cupola raising.
The cupola, dedicated to Jim Mayshark ’32 and to all the NMH farm directors, was funded by the Mayshark family. It was also funded by contributions from both alumni and Farm Director Richard Odman. Odman said getting a cupola atop the barn was one of the major tasks he had hoped to complete before his retirement at the end of the 2011–12 school year.
The installation was supported by alumni, staff, and current students, including a dozen NMH work job students; and Mary Peck '82, who donated the dairy cow weather vane for the top of the cupola.
Parent Giving
Annual Fund letters will arrive in mailboxes this week from NMH Parent Giving Co-chairs David and Kathy Ferguson P ’12 and Tracy Korman ’81 and Joan Hsiao P ’11, ’14. The letter explains how the Annual Fund benefits students and highlights this year’s matching challenge, in which all new gifts and any increases from last year’s gifts will be matched dollar for dollar. Success in the Annual Fund challenge will bring an additional $500,000 to student scholarships, faculty support, and educational programs.
NMH Senior Represents U.S. in China
In October, Bou Lee ’12 represented the United States in the “Chinese Bridge,” an international language competition in Chongqing, China, for non-native high school students. Lee was invited to participate after placing second in the Sixth Chinese Bridge U.S. High School Student Chinese Speech Contest at the UMass Confucius Institute in Boston.
The competition took place over two weeks in Chongqing and was televised nationally in China. Lee said before her trip that she expected her American team to be among the best in the competition.
Math Team Win at WPI
Math teacher Forest Reid and his four students held their breath as officials at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Invitational Mathematics Meet on Oct. 19 read out the list of winning teams.
When officials called NMH as the last name, Reid realized that the team had won the mathematics meet for the first time. Zeyu “Harry” Zeng ’12, Yucheng “Luca” Lu ’14, Yifei Gao ’13, and Shiyao “William” Yu ’12 cheered, accepted their plaque, and high-fived.
Lu and Zeng each won $5,000 scholarships to WPI for acing the individual test, which only eight people at the competition did, while Gao and Yu won $1,000 WPI scholarships for being on the winning team.
“This is a shot in the arm for us,” Reid said of the WPI win.
Meet the Calves: Sarah and Jordan
On Oct. 17, Rachel, one of the NMH farm's dairy cows, gave birth to the first calf of the season. Per tradition, the calf was named after a student who has distinguished herself on the farm, in this case Sarah Bravo ’12, a farm volunteer since her freshman year.
Two days later, another NMH cow, Zuska, gave birth, this time to a bull calf. Farm Assistant Rachel Onuf named the calf “Jordan” after farm work job student Jordan Short ’12.
Over the coming weeks, Sarah and Jordan will be separated from their mothers in another enclosure and fed independently, in order to obtain the cows’ milk, which will be pasteurized and used in the dining hall. Visitors to the
NMH sugarhouse can also buy raw milk, as well as the farm’s signature cheeses —cheddar, Monterey Jack, and a soft chevre-like cheese— and a variety of ice creams.
In Other News
- On Homecoming weekend, the class of 2013 introduced bright red cowbells at the football field concession stand, to go with the typical fare of hot dogs, hamburgers, and hot cider. The bells, sold as a class fundraiser, could be heard throughout the varsity football game against Choate. Associate Dean of Students TJ Farmer, advisor to the Class of ’13, said he got the idea to sell cowbells after using his own at previous games.
- Four teams were inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame during Homecoming 2011. The 1952 boys track team, the 1951 boys football team, the 1951 boys cross-country team, and the 1981 girls soccer team all received honors.
- Ted Borland '05, aka "Bundy," was featured in the November issue of Snowboarder magazine. In the magazine, Borland, who lives in Salt Lake City, was described as “constantly pushing rail tricks and innovating new moves.” The snowboarder, who is the son of NMH Spanish teacher Sue Borland, will also be featured in the upcoming movie "Ransack Rebellion."
Introducing the NMH Panel of Experts
Selecting an independent school is a challenging process. Researching 20 to 30 schools, visiting the interesting ones, trying to imagine where you will be happiest (and most successful), and deciding where to enroll—that’s all a bit daunting.
That’s why Northfield Mount Hermon provides an inside look at the process.
Our on-campus experts offer advice on how to approach the school selection process, what questions to ask, what to look for during school visits, how to find the perfect match. Over the coming months, these experts will provide information on a range of topics. Check back every other Friday for a new post.
Events and Notices
Gemini Ads and Class Photos
The yearbook staff at Northfield Mount Hermon has extended orders for personal ads in the 2011 yearbook, Gemini. Parents of seniors may now purchase ads honoring their students until December 1. Click here for the pdf version of the ad order form and email any questions to Laura Christiansen.
Full-color panoramic photographs of the NMH classes, taken during convocation, are also available. To order, visit
www.panfoto.com or complete
this form. Panfoto is offering free shipping on orders placed
online by November 20.
Health Services Update
With cold and flu season right around the corner, O'Connor Health Center is holding flu-shot clinics for students. The O’Connor staff held their first immunization clinic in October, and will hold another in Alumni Hall on November 8 from 5 to 7 pm. Only students who have permission on file with the health center will be allowed to participate. Students who are unable to attend the clinic can also schedule an immunization appointment with a nurse. Contact Student Health Services at (413) 498-3407 or email Beth Buyea, Director of Student Health Services with questions.
November-December
Parents are welcome to attend all NMH events. Check our web calendar to keep up with what's happening at NMH.
Nov. 3-5: "Trajectory," Fall Dance Concert, RAC, 7:30 pm
Nov. 6: String Festival, RAC, noon
Nov. 10: Athletic Banquet, Alumni Hall, 6:30 pm
Nov. 11: Pops Concert, Alumni Hall
Nov. 13: Concerto Contest Recital, RAC, 3 pm
Nov. 16: 121st Bemis-Forslund Pie Race, 3 pm
Nov. 17-18: “Curtains,” the musical, RAC, 7:30 pm
Nov. 19-20: “Curtains,” RAC, 2 pm
Nov. 22: Thanksgiving break begins, 1 pm
Nov. 28: Students return from break by 7:30 pm
Dec. 4: Christmas Vespers, Memorial Chapel, 3:30 and 7 pm
