Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
The Northfield Mount Hermon School community will celebrate the start of the school year September 7 during Opening Convocation at Memorial Chapel at 4 pm. Following the ceremony, there will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5:15 at the Rhodes Arts Center to commemorate the completion of the new home for the arts at NMH. The RAC will house both performing and visual arts in a modern, energy efficient building that is expected to be LEED-gold certified (the highest level of green-building certification). On three floors divided by an interior “street,” there will be a stage for theater productions, a concert hall for music performances, a dance “black box” space (with a sprung floor), as well as a drum studio, classrooms, and practice areas. The visual arts space holds a wet darkroom, a digital media room, a critiquing area, a pottery studio, a printmaking studio, as well as painting and drawing classrooms and a professional art gallery.

Summer Updates to Campus Nearly Done
NMH initiated several ambitious projects this summer, and as the season winds down, the work is nearly done. Changes include rerouting the campus entryway and fine-tuning roadways; installing signs; improving parking facilities; creating new tennis courts; laying new steam pipes underground; planting disease-resistant elm trees and paving and lighting paths; adding stairways to two cottages that will serve as center steps when future additions get under way; finishing up the Rhodes Arts Center (photos), which will be open for the start of school; preliminary work on Bolger House, the new admission building; new professionally built Frisbee golf baskets; and the start of work on two new artificial turf fields (webcam).

“Improving the experience of the campus for visitors and residents, of course, is just one part of improving NMH,” says Charlie Tierney, assistant head of school. “Our goal is to become more coordinated, more cohesive, and more attractive.”

See more construction photos here.

Salvadoran Scholars
During the school year, Victoria Cavanaugh teaches high school history and economics at the International School of San Salvador in El Salvador. She also works nights and weekends there teaching English. Using these funds, and donations to her Easthampton-registered nonprofit, Nuestro Ahora (Our Now), she funds the college educations of orphans in San Salvador.

Cavanaugh began volunteering at an orphanage in San Salvador as an undergraduate at Boston College. She graduated in 2007, and since 2006, has been spending summers teaching at Northfield Mount Hermon School’s Upward Bound program helping low-income, first-generation students prepare for college, a mission that dovetails with Nuestro Ahora.

“As the UB program caters to a population similar to the one I work with in El Salvador,” Cavanaugh says, “the idea and philosophy of UB—getting kids to college—and my experience at NMH has played a big role in forming the concept of Nuestro Ahora.”

Two students who received $3,000 each—enough for tuition, room and board, and books—are in college in El Salvador because of her efforts. She hopes to help seven more who have applied to the program. 

Cavanaugh, 22, is studying for her master’s degree in education from University of Central America in San Salvador. She recently held fundraising events in South Hadley, Amherst and Willimansett. Cavanaugh has been profiled by the Daily Hampshire Gazette and the Republican. She returns to El Salvador August 3.

Hot July, Cool Jazz
For two weeks in July, the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, hosts a jazz camp called, you guessed it, Jazz in July. Ron Smith, director of band and jazz programs at NMH, received a professional summer study grant from NMH to attend. Also sharing the experience were a recent NMH grad, a rising senior, as well as two incoming freshmen.

Smith reports that he was thrilled to teach, to perform bass and conga, and to learn from the legendary pianist Dr. Billy Taylor. Also on faculty are saxophonist and composer Dr. Fredrick Tillis, and consummate drummer Winard Harper.

Alto saxophonist Spencer Hattendorf ’08, guitarist Stephen Berg ’09, alto saxophonist Kai Matusuda ’12, and bassist Marty Jaffe ’12 were in attendance at the camp as well.

“The Jazz in July camp offered opportunities for musicians from all levels to study and perform jazz from notable jazz artist and educators,” says Smith. “It was a wonderful experience.”

Moonlighting
When she’s not heading up the English department at M.S. 325 in the South Bronx, Pema Latshang ’99 is working to raise funds and support for Dawa Doan Mei School, a one-room school in eastern Tibet. Dawa Doan Mei School, which in Tibetan means moonlight school, was started in 2004 by an organization Latshang and her family founded, the Tashi Nyima Foundation, with significant input from villagers. The school is now attempting to register with the Chinese government so it can draw students from neighboring villages.

Tashi Nyima Foundation has raised more than $45,000 for the school over the past several years. The group is raising money now to continue funding the school’s operations and to erect a building for the group’s operations in Tibet.

“Learning has always been a love of mine and NMH helped to foster that, as well as expose me to so many different cultures and types of people,” Latshang says. “I had a great education there and met many wonderful people. That gave me a solid foundation to study in college and beyond. NMH and my family have made everything I’ve accomplished so far in my life possible.”

Comparing her students in the Bronx and those in Tibet (where Latshang has traveled three times to help with the school) she offers these thoughts: “The students I teach in America and the students in Tibet have similar situations of facing fierce obstacles to being educated.” She cites extreme poverty and marginalization, and the problems they cause, as being the same in both populations. “I believe a decent education is a right and that’s what I work for both in America and in Tibet,” she adds. “All children are naturally inquisitive and strive to be successful.”

NMH to Add Two New Turf Fields
NMH has begun fundraising to install two new turf fields. The fields will allow NMH teams to practice in all weather conditions, having an immediate positive impact on both current athletes and the school’s admission recruitment efforts. Two multisport surfaces will be installed, one each on Thorndike and McLamore fields. These improvements, which should be finished in late fall, will enhance the lacrosse, field hockey, football, and soccer programs.

“These fields will give our students the opportunity to play on state-of-the-art surfaces regardless of weather or standing snow,” says Director of Athletics Tom Pratt. “NMH student athletes will train and play on the same type of fields being used at colleges and universities across the county. This will undoubtedly enhance our ability to both prepare student athletes for college athletics and to continue to draw top-notch athletes to NMH.”

The turf fields, when viewed together with the nearly finished Rhodes Arts Center, the new cottages, Bolger House, and updated roads, “point to our investment in our students and to the value of a strong community as we seek to inspire the individual best of each student in our academic, arts, and athletic programs,” notes Head of School Thomas K. Sturtevant in his announcement of the project.

Artificial turf benefits the environment by eliminating the use of pesticides, fertilizers, and herbicides. The turf is made of recycled tires that are removed from landfills and artificial turf requires no mowing or watering, conserving both petroleum and water. Sturtevant notes, however, that “the implications of the down-cycling of rubber during resurfacing are not yet tested,” adding, “We’ve given much care to the look and blending of the field surface color and how it will blend into the landscape.”

The project cost is estimated at $2.85 million. The NMH Board of Trustees announced earlier this month that an alumnus and current parent initiated the fundraising for the project. The donor has offered his own pledge with an additional $19,780 match for any gift or pledge of $200,000 or more to the project. So far, two other alumni have pledged $250,000 each to support the new turf fields.

Click here to view a webcam of the progress

She Bakes Up the Best
Bay-Area-based pastry chef Emily Luchetti ’75 may have taken a round-about route to her current career—she was working at the New York Times in the classified advertising department when she saw and answered an ad for assistant cook; from there, she made the transition to celebrated dessert-maker, and eventually cookbook author—but her path, winding as it may be, has earned her no shortage of satisfaction and distinction.

Earlier this month, Luchetti was honored by her alma mater, Denison University in Ohio, for “…career achievements and service on behalf of the common good….” The Columbus Dispatch wrote up a fine profile of Luchetti. Read it here.

Reunion Draws Hundreds to NMH
Alumni from across the country and around the world returned to NMH June 5 through 8 to celebrate their shared past and join together to support the future of the school. Eight hundred fifty-two NMH grads were on hand to attend special events, including professional development workshops and a presentation on the state of the school.

On a blistering day, a beer tasting refreshed alumni. The event was hosted by Sam Calagione ’88, the founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales in Rehoboth Beach, DE, who recently talked about the book he coauthored, and bantered with Kathie Lee Gifford and Hota Kotb on The Today Show.

A Hymn Sing, led by director of choral music Sheila Heffernon, allowed alumni to revive the tradition that made their alma mater become renowned as the singing school. Outdoors, alumni stargazed, gathered around campfires, cycled, played tennis, and ran a race in honor of late faculty member Mary Ellen Peller. Several receptions offered gathering time for artists; authors; alumni of color; and gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered alumni. And at a convocation, alumni and members of the NMH community were given awards for their service to the school—and to the wider world.

Willem Lange ’53 offered this NMH remembrance, which was published in his local newspaper, the Times Argus of Barre and Montpelier, VT.

Net Working
NMH has got fans. Three hundred nine of them to be exact. Well, as of this writing there are 309. More Facebook users declare themselves fans of NMH on its new Facebook page every day. Emily, Will, and Leah are three of them. Some pine for their alma mater. “I MISS NMH!” Shabnam cries, virtually. Several images of hoggers (NMH's rough-and-tumble mascot) wallow and snuggle there. NMH’s photo galleries are posted. Friends are made. If you’re curious about this new way to network, check out the page, created June 4. You may become its biggest fan.

Alumni Have Stories to Tell
Whether it’s a financier crafting a $51 billion buyout of a telecom giant, or a child’s-rights activist struggling against a hostile government, the stories of two alumni recently were front-page news.

Jonathan Nelson ’73 appeared on the cover of the May 19 issue of Fortune magazine. The article detailed the acquisition of the holding company of Bell Canada by Providence Equity Partners, of which Nelson is CEO. His investment in relationships, rare in the cutthroat world of corporate finance, and old-fashioned common courtesy were instrumental in securing the deal in the face of competition from LBO powerhouses Kholberg Kravis Roberts, The Blackstone Group, Cerberus Capital Management, and The Carlyle Group.

On the cover of the May issue of IBWorld, the magazine of the education foundation International Baccalaureate, was Kimmie Weeks ’01. Inside, the Q&A with the founder of Youth Action International touches on Weeks’ childhood in his native Liberia. Civil war broke out in that country in 1989, changing forever the lives of those who lived there. Weeks and his mother spent time in a refugee camp, where he felt the intense pain of hunger. He contracted cholera there, and was believed to be dead when a person in the camp brought him to a burial ground. He regained consciousness, saw his mother’s crying face, and realized he wanted to spend his life “helping people, especially children,” he says. When he was 16, he formed a group that opposed the use of child soldiers in the war, and was hunted by the government of president Charles Taylor. He fled Liberia in disguise and came to the US where he attended a high school in New Jersey and then came to NMH under the Transition Year Program.

 

Navy Pitcher Now Throws for the Os
NMH alum and righty pitcher for the Navy Oliver Drake ’06 was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles June 6. Drake, 21, was the fourth Navy player drafted by a Major League Baseball team in the program’s history.

He produced some of the best performances of his career during the latter portion of his sophomore season in 2008 to finish the year with a 6-3 record and a 3.70 ERA with a league-best 78 strikeouts over 80.1 innings, according to navysports.com. Over his last-four starts, he went 2-0 with a 1.95 ERA over 27.2 innings with one walk and 34 strikeouts. During that span, he was named to the Patriot League All-Tournament Team and recognized as the ECAC and Patriot League Pitcher of the Week.

Over his career, Drake holds a 9-6 record with a 3.48 ERA over 147.1 innings with 43 walks and 130 strikeouts. His 7.94 strikeouts per nine innings mark ranks as the eighth-highest average in school history.

Alumna's Film an "Undiscovered Gem"
Xandra Castleton ’86 and her husband David Munro spent five years raising $2 million “out of thin air” to make the independent film Full Grown Men. Following its world premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival, Full Grown Men won the coveted Sundance Channel Audience Award for the indieWIRE: Undiscovered Gems film series, which earned the filmmakers a theatrical release with Emerging Pictures and a television premiere on Sundance Channel. The movie, about a 35-year-old husband and father pathologically avoiding growing up, opens at the Cinema Village in New York City June 25, and will be released widely after that.

Castleton, who co-wrote and produced the film, said the deal feels like a “Cinderella story,” and notes that the culture of fear in the movie industry means that creative independent films are becoming rarer. “People are talking about this prize and our movie as representing the last caboose on the train that was the era of independent filmmaking in the pre-digital age,” she says. Full Grown Men, shot on 35 millimeter film, stars Matt McGrath, as Alby Cutrera, Judah Friedlander as his old friend Elias, Amy Sedaris as a randy bartender, Alan Cumming as a commando hitchhiker, and Deborah Harry as a trailer-dwelling delusional mermaid.

Castleton and Munro’s experiences making the film were documented in diary entries published by the San Francisco Chronicle.

They're Playing Basketball
More than 45 of NMH's best basketball players from years past joined current players on campus May 23 for the Third Annual Batty Roundball Classic. This year's tournament saw a full day of competitive basketball from ace players around the country. English teacher and b-ball coach Bill Batty was back on campus (he’s been on sabbatical this year) for the Classic. The tournament matched six teams of seven or eight players on two courts. The championship game was won by Team Lewis, headed up by Alvin Lewis ’05. Coach John Carroll ’89 (Team McGeary) noted that the action “keeps getting better!”

In other basketball news…Mike Marra '09 and Matt Brown '10 gained invitations to the Reebok All-American camp, which is also known as Reebok University. Connor Frizzelle '09 who be attending NMH next year, also was invited. Only 120 players from around the country gain invitations to the camp that will be held in Philadelphia in early July. Matt will be one of only a handful of underclassmen to receive an invitation. And Simon McCormack ’08 was recruited to American University, a fact that was not overlooked by New England Recruiting Report, which gives NMH’s basketball program high marks: “As for NMH, McCormack’s commitment caps what has to be one of the best academic recruiting classes of any school in the country,” the story says. “Consider this…the NMH basketball program is sending student athletes to Harvard, M.I.T., Dartmouth (two of them), Lafayette, Trinity College, and American next year. Pretty impressive!” We couldn’t agree more!

Domini Tells the Class of 2008, ‘I Was Never Afraid of Work’
On Sunday, May 25, under sunny skies, Northfield Mount Hermon School graduated 213 members of the class of 2008 during its 125th Commencement.

Alumna Amy Domini '68, who pioneered socially responsible investing in the 1980s, delivered the commencement address.

“This school imbued me with values and skills that made a difference,” Domini said.

“When I became a broker, I ran into clients whose memories and way of thinking were like my own. And they challenged me. They didn't want to participate in war…and products that kill when used as intended,” she said. "And I listened and learned and eventually I saw.  This is right.  This is my path."

“When you have a passion, nothing stops you. But I had something to build on. I was never afraid of work,” Domini said.

Domini wrote the groundbreaking book, Ethical Investing, on socially responsible investing in the 1980s; developed the Domini 400 Social Index; and oversees Domini Social Investments. Time magazine named her one of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2005.

Bagpiper Jarad Weeks ’08 led the procession of the faculty and the class of 2008. The Honorable Frederick Macdonald, sheriff of Franklin County, Massachusetts, called the ceremony to order. In the invocation, the Reverend Gary H. Partenheimer, a religious studies teacher at NMH, recited an e.e. cummings poem. Jooyeon Hahm '08 carried out the Ritual of the Spade, advising class of 2009 representative Nicole Dancel, “Enjoy your work.”

Sarah-Anne Tanner '08 delivered the Class Oration, citing the change her time at NMH has brought. “I am now more confident,” she said, “and take more risks—try telling that 14-year-old that she would go to Russia, or get sucked into that crew cult and become a coxswain, or perform at Disneyland, or go swimming in the Connecticut River, or be the only girl in wrestling class.”

Head of School Sturtevant awarded the Cambridge Prize to graduating senior Thomas Patrick Fagan; the prize is by vote of the faculty and recognizes a student’s extraordinary contributions to the community. On Class Day, Dean of Faculty Hugh Silbaugh announced winners of 77 prizes, while valedictorian Julia Portia Mix Barrington '08, who will attend Barnard College of Columbia University in the fall, addressed her classmates. Salutatorian George Maxwell Honda Posner '08, who will attend either Claremont McKenna College or Middlebury College, addressed the class of 2008 at Baccalaureate the preceding week.

The newly graduated seniors come from all over the world—from Philadelphia to the Virgin Islands, from Hong Kong to Arlington, Texas, from West Sacramento, California, and beyond.

Underclassmen were given awards at a ceremony May 19.

Photos:
Click here to view photos on the NMH website.
Click here to view photos on Flickr.
note: Photo placed on Flickr are larger than normal to make it easier to make prints from them.

On Coming in Second
NMH’s salutatorian, George M. H. Posner ’08, gave a poignant, honest, and funny speech at the Baccalaureate ceremony May 18. Read it here. George, who entered NMH as a junior, has won several awards for academic achievement and has been inducted in the school’s Cum Laude Society. He’s worked for The Bridge, the student newspaper and is an officer of the debate team. He also is a codirector of the Jewish Union, and is a member of the Japanese Student Alliance.

During his junior year, he managed dining hall initiatives for the Green Cup Challenge, a contest among independent schools to cut electricity use. He is a member of the 2008-New-England-Championship-winning Ultimate Frisbee team, varsity cross country team, and the alpine skiing team. He has served as an international ambassador to new international students, and has spent spring breaks sugaring at NMH’s farm. He plans to attend either Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, CA, or Middlebury College in Middlebury, VT, this fall.

Volleyball Team Undefeated League Champs
Not only is the boys varsity volleyball team undefeated (10-0 was their record), it also won the Founding Four Prep League Tournament at home May 17 against Phillips Andover Academy and Loomis Chafee.

Here’s how it happened: NMH dominated its semifinal match, blanking an Andover team that had played well against NMH a month ago. NMH attacked from a variety of angles and beat the tall Andover block. The Hoggers also served with purpose, targeting players in serve receive other than the libero. Players were led in the semis by excellent setting (ball distribution) from Pete Rosoff ’08 and Kelvin Cheung ’08. Pete also had a game-high 11 kills, while Ryan Peters ’09 (9 kills) and Peter Duplissie-Johnson ’08 (5 kills) had season-high totals. This enabled David Rufful’08 (5 kills) to sit out some of the match in anticipation of the finals.

The final brought a hard-fought, well-played match against a talented, senior-laden squad from #2 seed Loomis Chaffee. Loomis offered a trio of hitters, good defense, and skilled servers. NMH was led by strong play on the right side (Pete Rosoff, Kelvin, and Ryan); David's stellar offensive play and good coverage on defense; and Benson Chiu’08’s serving, defense, and indomitable spirit. Also contributing were middles Peter Duplissie-Johnson, Ryan Kim ’09, Josh Leslie ’09, and libero Davy Mok ’08. NMH dominated play in Game 1, while Loomis came back strong in Game 2. The Hoggers reestablished control in Game 3, jumping out to a 5-0 lead, and maintaining the cushion until 26-23. NMH closed out the game when David rotated to the front row, winning four of the last five points. Game 4 was a nail-biter. Loomis had an early lead, 5-1. NMH trailed until the team caught Loomis at 14-all. The Hoggers then pushed a 23-21 lead out to 26-21 with a sideout and a two-point service run. Down 23-27, Loomis fought back to 27-all with a four-point run, tying its longest run of the match. NMH lacked momentum at this point, but as the team has done all season, the Hoggers earned a big sideout when they needed it (nice tip, Kelvin!). Pete Rosoff served out the final two points, and David got the kill that may forever keep this squad unbeaten.

The Best…Again
NMH’s Ultimate Frisbee team beat six opponents to capture the New England Prep School Ultimate League Championship. This is the second year in a row the team has been the best in the league. May 17 and 18, the Hoggers beat Hotchkiss, Exeter, St. Paul’s, Belmont, Philips Andover, and Chase Collegiate. The tournament followed a season where the team was 21-9 against public schools, independent schools, and universities. Against prep schools it finished 9-0. Coach Mark Yates describes the play at the bottom entry on the Ultimate results page. Scroll down and click on Highlights.

Spreading the Spoken Word
Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai, a Chicago-born, Brooklyn-based, Chinese Taiwanese American spoken word artist, will give a poetry workshop and a performance at NMH May 16. Tsai has given more than 250 performances worldwide, including three shows on HBO’s award-winning “Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry.” Current projects include her recently released CD “Infinity Breaks” and her solo show “The Grieving Room.” She will help the community celebrate Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month.

UMass Soccer Coach to Speak at NMH
Sam Koch ’74, the coach of the UMass Minutemen soccer team, will be the guest speaker at NMH’s Athletic Banquet May 16.

Koch guided the Minutemen to the team’s first NCAA College Cup appearance this season, and he has been invited by the Boston Red Sox to throw out the first pitch at their game against Kansas City May 19.

With a 17-8-1 record, the UMass soccer team enjoyed its best season ever, winning the Atlantic-10 Tournament title to advance to it second-ever NCAA Tournament. The Minutemen won four-straight NCAA Tournament games before falling to Ohio State in the National Semifinals.

Koch and the Minutemen completed their spring season last Saturday with a thrilling 2-1 win over the Western Mass Pioneers.

NMH Launches 130th Anniversary Campaign

Northfield Mount Hermon School trustees, Head of School Thomas K. Sturtevant, and donors gathered in New York City May 7 to celebrate the public launch of an $80 million comprehensive campaign. Guests attended the Broadway production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, starring Academy-award nominated actress Laura Linney. A 1982 NMH graduate and honorary chair of the NMH Arts Advisory Council, Linney joined the group for a post-performance reception.

The NMH 130th Anniversary Campaign, the largest and most ambitious campaign in the school’s history, will help raise funds for initiatives including the NMH Annual Fund, the endowment, and facilities.  The school expects to reach its goal by June 2009, to coincide with the 130th anniversary of the school’s founding.

“We are here tonight to celebrate the tradition of excellence at NMH, particularly in the arts,” Sturtevant said during the reception. “We are here to connect with our school and with each other, and to learn why NMH is worthy of our investment. We are here to cheer the milestones we have achieved and to look forward to the challenges and successes ahead of us.”

To date, NMH has raised $65 million in gifts and pledges during the quiet phase of the campaign. Trustee and campaign cochair Janet Turnbull Irving, parent of an NMH sophomore, applauded the school’s fundraising progress and announced the kick off of the public phase of the campaign: “NMH has had seven fundraising campaigns since 1928. Today, we have raised almost more in this campaign than in all seven campaigns combined. This is a remarkable accomplishment. We intend to meet our $80 million goal to support the school’s mission and its most vitals assets—the students and faculty.”

Bolger House Begun
David Bolger ’50 grabbed a shovel, as did members of the NMH Board of Trustees and Head of School Tom Sturtevant, and turned over the earth where the new admission building, Bolger House, will stand, ready to open in fall of 2009. Shaded by the pine trees in the memorial grove to the west, the groundbreaking ceremony May 1 was accompanied by drumming by the World Percussion Ensemble. NMH students thanked Bolger for his dedication to the school, and all ate ice cream, made from milk from the cows at NMH’s farm, and named Bolger Berry Swirl by local ice cream makers Snow’s of Greenfield.

Several NMH tour guides, students who work with admission staff to orient visitors to campus, presented Bolger with a framed copy of the floor plans of Bolger House. “On behalf of the tour guides and all of NMH, I would like to thank you, Mr. Bolger, for your generosity,” said Leo Chiquillo ’09 as he presented the plans that were signed by the tour guides and members of the admission staff. Mark Chardack ’74, the chair of the board of called Mr. Bolger, “a living example of a person who gives with his head, heart, and hands,” adding, “When he sees a need, he fills it, and we are grateful for his many years of support to our school.”

Sturtevant thanked Bolger, who has given credit to a minister at NMH, who inspired him with the words of a Christian hymn, “Stand by me.” “David, you have stood by us all the way, and we are grateful for your strength, your wisdom, your vision, and your legacy.”

Following the ceremony, Sturtevant invited Bolger, his sons John Bolger and J.T. Bolger, and the board of trustees, to a celebratory dinner at Ford Cottage where Bolger was presented with a watercolor rendering of the building. Bolger also was given a rocking chair, one of several that will grace the wrap-around porch of Bolger House. To see photos of the event, click here.

The Magic of Service
At the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, at Montague and Greenfield parks, at residents’ homes, and all around their own campuses, NMH students took a break from the work of the head Thursday, and instead worked on the heart and the hand, volunteering their time and hard work during Service Day.

Elementary students from surrounding schools brightened the campus with their laughter as groups of NMHers led acting workshops, sports games, and craft projects.

Each and every student and faculty member had a job to do, from clearing trails for the upcoming Adventure Challenge, to painting benches, to weeding around Perry Pond at Northfield, to mucking stalls at the farm. At lunchtime, those on campus assembled for a barbecue behind Memorial Chapel before going back to work.

And for dinner, the class of 2011 decked the dining hall in a Harry Potter homage, fabricating a faux Hogwarts, complete with banners from the four houses (Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Griffindor), pumpkinish juice, candles hanging in midair, and shepherd’s pie. Several ninth graders wore robes, wizard caps, and brandished wands. It was a pretty magical day.

Ring Those Bells
The 47-bell carillon that stood in Russell Sage Chapel on the Northfield campus for decades is being moved to NMH’s Rhodes Arts Center. A crew dismantled the instrument with a crane and trucked the bells over the Connecticut River. Workers plan to install the carillon into the specially built bell tower April 21 and 22. The bells will toll at reunion this June during a ceremony for the class of 1958, which helped raise the $500,000 for the move. Bringing a physical piece of Northfield to the unified NMH campus, “is both healing and a recognition of our loyalty to the school,” says Joan M. Walker, a member of Northfield's class of 1958 and an organizer of the fundraising effort. See photos and read articles in The Recorder and The Republican.

Author Boylan to Speak at NMH
Jennifer Finney Boylan’s best-selling works include I’m Looking through You (2003), She’s Not There (2008), several novels, and a collection of short stories. A professor of creative writing and American literature at Colby College for 20 years, Boylan, who used to publish under the name James Boylan, writes about gender and much, much more. She’ll speak here April 16. About her work, the playwright Edward Albee said in 1988, “Boylan observes carefully, and with love. [Her] levitating wit is wisely tethered to a humane concern…. I often broke into laughter, and was now and again, struck with wonder.”

Boylan has appeared on the “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “Larry King Live,” and “The Today Show,” and has been the subject of a documentary on CBS News’ “48 Hours.” She has also appeared on a wide range of local and syndicated television shows, as well as NPR's “Marketplace” and “The Diane Rehm” show. In 2007 she played herself on two episodes of ABC's “All My Children.” She has spoken widely around the country on gender and imagination, at venues including the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., and at colleges and universities.

Former Hoggers Reach Postseason Heights
The UMass Minutemen face Ohio State in the championship game of the Division I National Invitational Tournament Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. Three NMH alumni are on the team: Gary Correia ’07, Matt Glass ’07, and Tony Gaffney ’04. The game will be broadcast at 7 pm on ESPN.

This year, nine former Hoggers played in postseason tournaments. In the Division I NCAA Tournament, Boris Meno ’04 and the Davidson College Wildcats played Cinderella this year as they lost in the Regional Final to the University of Kansas and just missed the Final Four (Boris is the captain of the Davidson team). Ty Nash ’07 and the University of Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish were upset by George Mason University in the first round. In the inaugural College Basketball Invitational, Joe Wolfinger '05 and the University of Washington Huskies hosted Valparaiso in the first round.

In Division II play, Alex Popp ’04 and the Assumption College Greyhounds reached to NCAA regional final versus Bentley College, the #1 ranked team in the country. Andrew Lyell ’05 and the Bryant University Bulldogs lost to Bentley College in the NCAA regional semifinal.

And in Division III, Robert Taylor ’03 and the Trinity College Bantams lost in the first round of the Division III NCAA tournament to the Coast Guard Academy. The loss ends a great college career for Taylor.

Speaker Urges Help for Africa
The founder of an organization that aims to improve the lives of Africans told a group at NMH that their help is needed. Nana Fosu-Randall, who formed the group Voices for African Mothers, was the State of the World speaker March 27. She pointed out that within Africa are ten countries that are home to tragic conflicts.

After working and traveling for the United Nations for 29 years, Nana Fosu-Randall in 1997 founded a Montessori School, which has grown to educate 700 students, in Ghana. In 2004, she founded the nonprofit group VAM, which teaches both conflict prevention and conflict resolution to solve problems. The group works with residents, especially women, in Ghana, Tanzania, and Uganda to teach them to be leaders. The Recorder of Greenfield, MA, covered Fosu-Randall’s addres.

Call for Art
The Rhodes Arts Center, opening in September 2008, will be home to a professional art gallery. Philip Calabria, gallery director and chair of the visual arts department, is planning the 2008-09 exhibit schedule. He would like to display professional-quality works—either two- or three-dimensional—by NMH alumni, friends, or other professional artists (no individual pieces; an artist’s work must fill the gallery).

Calabria invites submissions of artists’ personal work through slides, a CD, or web address. Patrons of the arts interested in showing their own collection are welcome to submit. For more information, contact Philip Calabria at pcalabria@nmhschool.org.

*Note: as of July 1, NMH is no longer seeking submissions.

Alumnus Dives in
Kai Robinson ’05, a junior at Amherst College, became the new NCAA Division III national champion diver on the three meter-springboard at a meet at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, this weekend. Robinson won the one-meter springboard event earlier in the week, and was recognized on March 23 as the Diver of the Meet.

His coach, Mary Ellen Clark, was recognized as the Diving Coach of the Meet and the Amherst College swimming and diving team placed 10th overall. 

Earlier this month Robinson won the 1- and 3-meter springboard diving events at the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Swimming and Diving Championships held at Middlebury College.

Amy Domini '68 to Speak at Commencement
This year's commencement speaker will be Amy Domini '68. Voted in 2005 to Time magazine's list of the world's 100 most influential people, Domini is recognized as a leading voice for socially responsible investing. In 1989 she and two partners created the Domini 400 Social Index, which rates companies on 140 issues ranging from toxic-waste fines to diversity in top management. Domini now oversees Domini Social Investments, a mutual fund giant that invests in environmentally and socially responsible companies.

 

 

Concert Hall Named for Legendary Choral Director
In recognition of NMH’s historically rich music program and tradition of excellent teaching, the board of trustees has announced that the spectacular 225-seat concert hall in the new Rhodes Arts Center will be named in honor of former music teacher and choral director Albert R. Raymond and his wife, Virginia B. Raymond, also a teacher at NMH.

Raymond, who taught and directed choral music at both Northfield and Mount Hermon for 30 years, is considered a legend by many alumni who attended the schools between 1943 and 1973. A perfectionist who encouraged his students to reach for their best, Raymond won prestigious awards for his teaching abilities but always deflected praise to his students. In turn, many of his former students say Raymond influenced their lives more than any other teacher, not only by bringing a love of music into their lives, but also by teaching them confidence, respect, and compassion.

NMH invites alumni and friends of the school to honor the Raymonds by making a gift to the Raymond Concert Hall fund. Patricia Johnstone LaCrosse ’53, inspired by a recent collaboration to name the art center’s rehearsal hall in honor of current choral director Sheila Heffernon, has made a generous donation to spearhead this fundraising project.

 

NMH’s Upward Bound Program Turns 40
NMH began offering college preparatory help to low-income students during the Johnson Administration. On March 8 more than 200 people gathered to help the school celebrate 40 years of Upward Bound, the federal program that helps talented public high school students from western Massachusetts prepare for college.

During the ceremony, Wilfredo Perez ’04 spoke about how Upward Bound changed his life. The senior and medical-student-to-be at Brown University recalled doing homework in a homeless shelter before attending NMH.

Perez later started the nonprofit Operation Happy Birthday, which celebrates birthdays of children in homeless shelters. He received a full scholarship to go to NMH and said without NMH’s Upward Bound program, he’s not sure if he would have gone to college. “No one in the history of my family has ever even graduated from high school,” he said.

Later, Charlie Tierney, the assistant head of school, presented State Rep. Christopher Donelan with the Howard Jones Award for his advocacy for access to higher education. Dezee Olivo of the Springfield High School of Science and Technology (a UB graduate) read a citation by State Sen. Stanley Rosenberg. Thomas Putnam, who led NMH’s UB program from 1992 to 1999, and who now is the director of the JFK Presidential Library, also spoke. Brad Zervas, who led UB from 1990 to 1992 and is currently the executive director of the Boys’ Club of New York, addressed the crowd, as did Alex Hiam, a trustee for the Edwin S. Webster Foundation who received the Friends of Upward Bound Award. There was also a silent auction. See photos.

Wrestling Gold
Led by four champions and five place-winners, the NMH wrestlers struck gold, capturing the school's first New England Wrestling Championship. NMH's margin of victory was the largest in tournament history and was a fitting capstone to a season that saw the team win the Class A League Tournament, three other tournaments, place 11th in the National Championships, and post a 21-1 season dual meet record. Fourty-four of the 50 New England wrestling schools were represented at the event. The team title helped to soothe the frustrating second-place finishes in '98, '01, and '02 for retiring Coach Frank Millard.

Omar Bey '10 (112) was the first champ as he overwhelmed his opponent in the finals. His opponent was a two-time New England Champ, a two-time All American, and had pinned Omar in last year's NE finals and in the finals of an early season tournament this year. Naval-Academy-bound John Coutoumas '08 (125), who was never challenged in the tournament and in the finals, beat the defending champion. Todd Patterson '08 (130) was the next champ, and his relentless attacking mode allowed him to wear down all of his opponents. TJ Strunk '08 capped off the champs with another dominating performance as he completely controlled his opponents when they were on their feet wrestling for a takedown. The Hoggers' four champions ties the school record for number of champions set in 1997.

Alum's Film Wins Oscar
A film produced by NMH alum Don Glascoff ’63 won an Oscar for best documentary. The film, Taxi to the Dark Side, tells the story of an Afghan taxi driver who is mistakenly arrested, imprisoned, tortured, and murdered, even though his American captors know he is innocent. The movie includes interviews with the man’s killers, young American servicemen who felt they were simply following orders. Glascoff was on campus in November to talk about the work. “The film tracks the responsibility for a policy of torture to the highest levels of American government,” he says. 

Glascoff is a retired partner and co-chairman of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, the oldest Wall Street law firm. He is the chairman of the Park Avenue Bank in New York City. His experience is in international casino and hotel development and management, public and private debt and equity offerings by commingled investment vehicles and financial institutions, real estate financing, leasing, development and management, and secondary mortgage market transactions. Glascoff served as special assistant to the general counsel (1973-1974), and associate deputy general counsel (1974-1975) in the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. He was also an adjunct associate professor of law at Delaware Law School in 1974.

Top Brass
Kudos to the NMH Jazz Ensemble, which earned a silver award plaque (the highest honor) at a high school jazz festival competition February 26. The competition, sponsored by the International Association of Jazz Educators, was held at Westfield High School. Saxophonist Spencer Hattendorf ’08 received three awards: MVP for outstanding musicianship and soloist, a full scholarship to attend the UMass Jazz in July Summer Music Festival, and an outstanding soloist certificate. Stephen Berg ’09 received an outstanding soloist certificate and a partial scholarship to attend the UMass festival.

The NMH Jazz Ensemble was the highest-rated of six able ensembles and received the most awards, which earned it an invitation to attend the state finals on March 30 representing the Western Massachusetts Class A Division. This was the first time NMH has attended this competition under the direction of Ron Smith, director of band and jazz programs.

 

NMH Athletes Bounce to Great Colleges
Members of the NMH boys varsity basketball team finished the regular season with a nail-biter against Winchendon; the Hogger win (77-76) gave the team a record of 18-9 as league tournaments loom. Colleges are taking notice. Six team members have been courted by and have committed to fine colleges and universities across the country. Mike Marra ’09 has committed to the University of Louisville, Andrew Moore ’08 to Lafayette College, Andrew VanNest ’08 to Harvard University, Joshua Riddle ’08 and David Rufful ’08 to Dartmouth College, and Ted Eby ’08 to MIT. David and Josh will join Clive Weeden '07 at Dartmouth and Andrew VanNest will suit up with Dan McGeary '06 at Harvard. Go Hoggers!

 

Rowing for the Gold
Tessa Gobbo ’08 won a gold medal in the junior women rowing event at the CRASH-B Sprints, more formally known as the World Indoor Rowing Championships, February 24. This competition brings together more than a thousand competitors of all ages and from all over the world to see who can row the fastest 2,000 meters in each age group.

Winners of satellite races are brought to Boston to compete in this championship. Tessa was seeded third going in to the weekend, took the lead in the first 100 meters, rowed a perfect race, and held the first-place position for the entire race. She finished with a winning time of 6:56.5.

Conference Welcomes Latino Students
NMH will host the second annual Latino Conference March 1 and 2, bringing together Latino students from independent schools across the region. The conference, called Sí, Se Puede! (Yes, We Can!), will feature speakers Jorge Zeballos, a diversity consultant from Washington D.C. by way of Lima, Peru; headRush, a trio of educators from Oakland who use satire and comedy to convey their message; and Aya de León, a writer, performer, hip-hop artist and community activist.

 

Alumni of Color Reunite
Thirty-three alumni of color gathered on campus earlier this month for a first—but definitely not the last—Alumni of Color Reunion. Alumni attended classes, shared stories for the Northfield Mount Hermon History Project, participated in an admission presentation, and were guests at the Circle of Sisters gala dinner where model-dancer-actress Yaya DaCosta ’00 made a special appearance and children's-rights activist Kimmie Weeks ’01 was the presenter.