A Week To Remember!

The week started for many of us on Sunday morning at the Hampton Inn in Natick while we waited for storm clean-up...

We returned to campus on Sunday afternoon to find damage and beauty...






The ice was beautiful but dangerous...


Many faculty and students were without power or other services for several days and several families are still without. Everybody has been wonderful through this with lots of patience and support for those hit hardest...


On Monday, it was time to get ready for exams, which started Wednesday...

...and then Mother Nature threatened another storm for Friday. The decision was made to move Friday's exams to Thursday night so that the students could leave safely early Friday. First we were treated to a great performance by the a cappela group at dinner on Thursday. Everybody was up early Friday and the buses pulled out before 8:30...



The faculty retreated to work on grades and comments, waiting for the snow, which arrived just as predicted. Of course, one can only work for so long, and by mid-afternoon, a group of the teachers were ready to burn some steam off...









Now it's time for all to relax and reflect in how fortunate we are and what a term that we have had. The campus is still looking a lot like the scene captured by Jacob Park for the school's holiday card.

Marily and I send you our best wishes for a restful and fun holiday and hope that you are as excited for 2009 as we are.

You've been in the hotel too long when...

...when Ms. Bennett and Mr. Kennedy serenade the other 160 of us! I am not one to be critical, but perhaps they should stick with their terrific work as teachers and coaches!

We are in our second night at Winchendon East, comfortable not just in the great service of the Hampton Inn but even more so with the news that we should be able to return to campus tomorrow morning (Sunday). Students and staff should plan to be back on campus for study hall Sunday night, and classes will resume Monday morning.

Perhaps even more exciting, Mr. Kennedy and Ms. Bennett will be able to retire their microphones and return to coaching as the Women's Varsity Hockey Team takes on Andover Sunday afternoon at the Winch rink at 2:00. I hope to see you there.

The Unfortunate but Excellent Snow (Ice) Day...

Snow days are not supposed to happen at boarding school...
Friday morning came very early as many of us were woken up around 2:00 AM by the non-stop popping and cracking of breaking branches and falling trees. Winchendon had been hit hard by the ice storm and plunged into darkness and slippery-ness by the severe ice storm that left over one million people without power. Power lines were down all over and roads were impassible. Just making your way around campus was dangerous as branches and trees came down throughout the day.

Key administrators made their way to the campus at around 4:00 am to coordinate efforts. Very special thanks go out to a number of members of the Building and Grounds and Dining Hall teams who made their way in by foot and otherwise and worked to keep the campus safe. The dining hall crew did an amazing job in providing the whole school a hot meal mid-morning (the meals were hot, the room was cold!).
After speaking with police, fire department and the power company, it became clear that it could be several days before we would get power and heat back or the wires picked up around campus. Concerns were compounded by wind warnings and forecasts of freezing temperatures. It quickly became clear that trying to keep the students on campus was not a good option. A number of us passed around the few cellphones that still had signal and made arrangements to move the student body. Many families were able to come pick up students and friends, but what to do with 160 students, teachers and dogs at a time like this?
Fortunately, there was a Hampton Inn in Natick, MA that still had enough vacancies that we could get everyone into. We packed the vans and were able to secure two other large buses to transport everyone east. By about 4:00 PM we were safely settled at the Hampton Inn, and thoughts turned to food and keeping the troops quiet. A long trivia contest, pizza dinner and visits to the mall rounded out the day and what appears to be a happily quiet night!

Back at campus, a core crew continues to work on the campus and coordinate arrangements that will allow us to return as soon as possible. In the meantime, the best snow day for those of us in Natick continues...

My thanks especially to a faculty and staff who have done a wonderful job during this challenge and also to the students who did miss a day of classes but have been patient and great through missed meals and games, broken schedules and the general disruption of the last 24 + hours.

More to come...

-The big oak was one of the few to survive unscathed!

Varsity Sledding?

The first snow of the year arrived today with perfect timing. There were plenty of reasons to be festive with big wins over the weekend by Men's Basketball over New Hampton and Men's Hockey over Cushing and Millbrook. The hockey team's win over Cushing (2 to 1 after being down 1-0 to start) was especially exciting, and there was a loud group of students and teachers over at Cushing to cheer the team on.

Over weekend, a group of students headed off to Killington for a fun day of skiing with Mr. Duncan while others went on a movie/mall trip. Today, while Christmas came early to campus with the installation of new flat screen TV's in several classrooms and the lighting of a tree in the main lobby, another group was heading off for Thai food!

But for many, the excitement was due to the first (small!) accumulation of snow. There were snowballs thrown and trees being trimmed. And then the first sledders were out. We have lots of varsity sports and a hard working group in Varsity Academics, but now some are talking about Varsity Sledding??!! I can just see it -- "Winchendon sledders chosen to Olympic luge team!" After all, when we do things at Winchendon, we do them very well!

Taking Time To Look Back At Home From Away

I have just returned from spending two days with lots of other boarding school people at The Association of Boarding School (TABS) conference. TABS is the annual confab when boarding school educators and heads from all over the country come together to share ideas and discuss new developments.

While I was initially reluctant to go as I struggled to think about being away from Winchendon during a very busy time, as always it was a very energizing and provocative use of time. I thought that I would share a few observations and interesting ideas that I came away with:

• I attended a number of interesting presentations including a terrific talk by the “Head Learner” (headmaster) David Bouton of the Blue Ridge School in Virginia talking about the design of their program. There are many similarities between Blue Ridge’s and our approach, but he also provided some great ideas to think about and reinforced some things that we have already been contemplating. One of the things that David is very purposeful with his teachers about is the emphasis on the idea that they are students as much as they are learners (hence his title). This is something that I am proud to see with our faculty at Winchendon.

• The concept of boarding school teachers as change agents was discussed in more than one context. We often lose sight of the fact that our role is more often than not life changing for our students, but that it can be easy to lose sight of this in the pace of daily life at our schools.

• There was a great forum for head of schools featuring a panel of former heads including our own former head Bill LaBelle. Bill was being heralded for not just his twenty years leading Winchendon but the fifty years of service at three boarding schools (Trinity Pawling, Wilbraham and Monson and The Winch).

• There was lots of wonderful perspective there including the idea that while many schools have chosen the more political “Head of School” title, those of us in this role must not lose sight of our role as master teacher, master of the house and even our pastoral responsibilities to our community.

• The retiring heads also challenged the rest of us to make sure that we don’t succumb to all of the other pressures from boards, parents, financing, fundraising and others at the cost of the time that we can spend with our two most important responsibilities, our students and the faculty.

• In that same session, long time and retiring head of the Moss Porters School Tracy Burch offered her three “C’s”, the three characteristics of a head that she feels are most important. Her guiding words of “clarity” (in terms of mission and vision), “conviction” and “courage” seem especially appropriate in these times.

Perhaps most interesting was the number of people who wanted to know what was happening at Winchendon and whether we still used the great teaching approach and methodologies that we had in years past. Winchendon has not had much of a presence at events like this in recent years, and some worried that we might had strayed from our core emphasis on skills and study habits. People were pleased to hear that we are true to our commitment to small classes, clear expectations, constant feedback and individualized coaching.

A theme throughout the conference was the need for heads, teachers and schools to have very clear focus, and we benefit from that at Winchendon. There are lots of schools that are wonderful places but have trouble differentiating themselves or articulating their mission or goals concisely. That is not the case here at Winchendon where we will continue to have our commitment to the “Winchendon Way” (individualized support, clear expectations and constant feedback, multi-sensory learning…) guide all that we do. It works for our students and is compelling to others.

It's often hard to find the time to step away, look back and hear from others. But when you are looking back at The Winchendon School, it is a wonderful view!

Winchendon - One World!

On Thursday in morning meeting, I noted after the excitement of a victory that the starting five on the Women’s Varsity Basketball Team was truly reflective of the Winch in that there are three continents (Africa, Asia and North America) represented. It is even more impressive that it is four different countries with just five players.

This evening however, Mr. McDonald noted that the Men’s Varsity B starting five were just as diverse or even more with a Puerto Rican, Lithuanian, African American, Chinese and Taiwanese taking the court to start each game. While this isn’t a competition, I do find that it represents the best of students working with students of all different background, collaborating to win! It’s a great thing.

While on the subject of our global Winchendon, I wanted to congratulate Bianca on her winning submission for WOW – Winchendon –One World. As announced on Tuesday, Bianca won an Apple I-Touch.

There were wonderful submissions for this challenge, and the judges struggled with the decision. I do want to note that Chastity contributed a wonderful statement that really catches the essence of what we are doing:

Winchendon One World

Working together to make the world a better place!

Thanks to all for the wonderful entries and creative thought.

The Morning Meeting That Could Have Been!

This morning I happened to walk into the dining room at right around 10:00. I was in there by myself, and it was eerily quiet. Normally there would be a lot of buzz, especially after the weekend of successes.

Cory or Ian might have quickly grabbed the opportunity to celebrate men’s hockey’s wins over Buckingham, Brown and Nichols and then Bridgton. When the cheering stopped, Britney or one of the Sam’s would have countered with news about the women’s team’s tie with St. Paul’s followed by wins over Brooks and a team from New Jersey. Pause for more hooting and cheering! That’s a lot of good hockey.

It would then have taken a few moments to quiet the room down, but we would have then gotten to talk about the day’s news. It’s tough to figure out who might have offered what, but I would guess that it might have gone as follows:

• Tucker might have offered something about President-elect Obama’s most recent cabinet selection rumors.
• Yaewon would likely have said something about the recent warming cycle of freezing and thawing of relations between South and South Korea.
• It wouldn’t have surprised me if Victor had talked about President Mugabe’s refusal to grant former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, former U.N. Sectary General Annon and Winnie Mandela permission to visit Zimbabwe.
• Perhaps Mr. McDonald, Mr. Blair or Dajin would have commented on the Citibank bailout or the stumbling talks with the big three automakers.

And then Jordan would have brought a chuckle by deliberately overlooking the Patriot’s win to focus on the Giant’s and Jet’s successes. We will turn him into a Boston fan yet!

After that it would be time to get more serious again. My announcements would have focused on campus safety today with all of the construction and improvements being made this week. There is a full construction crew in the gymnasium making preparations for the new fitness center. The electricians, carpet guys and maintenance crew are in the Library putting new carpet down and wiring for the new Information Resource Center. Several classrooms would be out of commission as they get wired for new flat screen monitors, and contractors are in and out of both the Art Building and Posich (performing arts) as we prepare for renovations on both of these special buildings. Please try to stay out of the way of the workers!

Mr. Magay or Mr. Williams would have then offered some hints of some great upcoming weekend opportunities, Mr. Ward might have reminded us about this evenings A Cappella practice or the looming application date for the University of California schools, and then a birthday or two would have been celebrated.

After a couple of more announcements, there would have been a moment or two to catch up with an advisor or friends, grab a hot chocolate or coffee, and then it would have been time to head back to classes.

BUT, WE ARE ON VACATION! Enjoy yourselves. You have earned it!

Photo of the Week

Members of the women's varsity ice hockey team were at the rink to cheer on the men in their 5-3 victory over Buckingham, Brown and Nichols (BB&N). I am worried that don't seem to be having any fun!

Thanksgiving

It’s Saturday morning and most of the students and many of the faculty have left for a well-deserved break. The women’s hockey team and men’s varsity basketball and hockey teams are still around, and all three are off to great starts to their seasons. After a two point loss in their first game, the basketball team has won their next four games decisively. Cumulatively through their first five games, they have outscored their opponents 413-301. The women and men’s hockey teams have both jumped out to quick starts as well and have looked strong on the ice. The women overcame St. George’s on Wednesday in a scrimmage and then beat a Canadian team yesterday. The men scored a 5-3 win over Buckingham, Brown and Nichols this morning in the first game of their jamboree and will face Bridgton this afternoon. The women were there to cheer for that game and are now on busses bound for Exeter for three games this afternoon.

But otherwise, the campus is getting quiet quickly, allowing me to catch up on some work and some thinking. As I sit here looking out across the cold, sunny golf course towards Mt. Monadnock, I am reminded that one of my favorite parts of each day is Morning Meeting. It is important how the school comes together, sits in advisee groups and shares a few moments together. There are often serious announcements as well as very fun pronouncements. We share laughs with each other, cheer victories academic, athletic and otherwise and sometimes poke fun at one another. And most days we find time to have a very large group discussion of sorts of world events with several different people regularly chiming in. It’s great to be able to talk about current events with so many perspectives from so many countries and backgrounds represented in one room.

This past Thursday was our last meeting before break, and I changed things up a bit to take time to talk a little about Thanksgiving and all that we have to be thankful for, especially in light of the world events and the current economic upheaval. It was still a participatory discussion but with more of a framework provided by me. I thought I would share a few of my notes, with the hope that readers will recognize that there was input from others in the course of this discussion.

We first talked about the roots of Thanksgiving, with most believing that the American holiday is traced back to the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. Many seemed surprised 1)at the notion that post-harvest celebrations have been going on for thousands of years, 2)that many other countries and groups have similar celebrations and 3)that historians increasingly think that the first Thanksgiving in this country was celebrated in the mid 16th century near what is now St. Augustine, FL by a group of Spanish explorers. History does get rewritten!

I then wanted to try to find a context to put all that we have to be thankful for in. We discussed the total world population, estimated to be this month at 6.75 billion. We then talked about how the people gathered in this room represent some of the 1% most fortunate people in the world – the 1% wealthiest, healthiest, best educated, best fed people in the world.

We then contrasted that to the approximate number of people in the room that morning (about 300) and discussed the fact that for each of us, there were about 20,000,000 who are far less fortunate than us. To put that 20,000,000 in context, I suggested that each person think of their 20,000,000 people as their own country in which we are among the most fortunate people in. If any of us were really a country, it would put us right around the 50th largest country in the world, in the top quartile in terms of population and nestled right in there with Syria and Mozambique. It’s a different way of thinking about things but helped me and at least a couple of others reflect on just how fortunate we are.

I suggested to the group that we each take a moment to think about what our own ‘country’ would look like, to think about the following…

Many wake up wondering when and where their next meal will come from.
Millions wake up worried that their home or village will be attacked in the next 24 hours or that a family member will be harassed.
Millions wake up worried that they will lose a family member to disease or malnutrition in the next day.
Millions of kids in your country won’t get to go to school or learn to read or write.

And then I closed along the following lines…

“We in this room are among the most fortunate in the world and have so much to celebrate Thanksgiving for. I think that we often forget just how fortunate we are as we worry about tests, grades and the SAT’s, whether we have a cold or an infection or a concussion or whether we will have cell phone coverage or just how bad the economy is.

“We don’t worry about where our next meal will come from…
We have the opportunity to take advantage of a fabulous education…
We don’t worry about who will care for us…
We can have confidence that rebels aren’t going to come sneaking up Hall Road tonight and that there will be a peaceful transition to the new president’s government in the coming months…
We can clothe ourselves, and our families are safe…
We are part of a very caring community…

“So, as you enjoy your break, I hope that you will take a few minutes to reflect on all that we do have. If you have any trouble doing that, think about the 20,000,000 people in your own make believe country that you are more fortunate than.”

“While I can also be guilty of wanting, of complaining, I quickly get over it when I think about all that I do have, my family, my health, much happiness and the Winchendon community. I have much to be thankful for.

“And to all of you, I say a very big thanks for an incredible fall. Thank you for the fun that we have had. Thanks for welcoming me to your community. Thanks for all that you do each day to help each other and to make Winchendon such a special place. Thank you.”

Have a great Thanksgiving.

Another Big Day For Winchendon Athletics

Wednesday afternoon was another big day for Winchendon. Our Men's Varsity Soccer Team went into the Class B NEPSAC tournament as the #1 seeded team and lived up to that billing, winning 7-1. The team played exceptionally! The semi-final game will played on the Williston Northampton campus on Saturday at 2:00 PM against South Kent School. Come cheer the team on if you are in the area. For a more complete write-up of yesterday's game, click here.

As the soccer team was finishing, the Men's Varsity game was getting under way. They too had a terrific day, chalking up a win of 104-52. The hoop team is now 2-1 on the season and looking very strong.

In every game there are the unsung heroes. This blog entry acknowledges the guys who run the sidelines for our soccer games. Thanks guys!

Lilly In Charge

Meet Lilly. She's new to the Winch this year as a 9th grader and has been a wonderful addition to our community. She seems to throw herself at everything she takes on. This fall she showed her gumption and skills as she was the only girl to join the Men's JV Soccer squad. There she quickly earned the spot of starting goalie, was selected as Captain and helped lead the team to a successful season. Lilly's skills should bode well next fall as we launch the Women's Varsity Soccer program.

Lilly was initially attracted to Winchendon after meeting Mr. Delorme at a hockey tournament in Canada. She was intrigued by the opportunity to to be part of the new program and came for a visit. She's been pleased by her choice and was complimentary of her Winchendon experience so far. She also noted that the ice here is "phenomenal".

Long term, Lilly has ideas of forming her own hockey program or possibly running a rink complex. As the photo above suggests, she certainly looks like a natural in the boss' chair!

Winchendon/Hatch - Living Large!

Prior to 1961, The Winchendon School, then known as The Hatch School, was located in Newport. These buildings, now part of Salve Regina College, were principle buildings of the campus. In 1961, the board of trustees determined that these buildings were too expensive to heat and maintain and made the decision to move the campus to our current location. While these were pretty fancy digs with great views, our current campus suits us much better today!

Another hard day of formal dress!

Just another day of formal dress at the Winch!
Note the candidates in the lower right.

Our President!

That's a full bodied trainer!

The pumpkins are absolutely amazing (well perhaps except our West Wing...) !

These are some of the finest teachers in the world.
They just had a problem with dress code this morning.

Future World Leaders Come Together at The Winchendon School

The following is an article that I wrote for The Gardner News. The was printed on Friday October 24.

Each morning we are greeted with daunting headlines:

• World Leaders to Meet This Week to Address Economic Crisis
• 10,000 Leaders from Around the World Gather in Bali to Discuss Climate Change
• Leaders Come Together to Address Hunger and Poverty in Africa

The bigger the challenge, the more likely it is that the solution will only be found through discussions among representatives from many different countries. There are few major issues today that can be successfully addressed in a roomful of people all speaking the same language, dressed the same, or sharing the same skin color or country of origin.

Furthermore, today's secondary school students are going to graduate from college into a world where they are likely to be collaborating with colleagues from all over the world whether it be working to solve a major problem or to just conduct business each day. Our goal as secondary school educators must be to do all that we can to prepare our students for this dynamic world that Thomas Friedman so accurately describes in his latest book Hot, Flat and Crowded, the follow up to his highly acclaimed The World Is Flat published in 2005.

The Winchendon School is a microcosm of this emerging global community. Within our population of students and faculty, some thirty different countries are represented. Kids and adults are as likely to be greeting each other in Mandarin, Polish or Portuguese as in English. Whether in math class, on the soccer field, doing laundry, or working on a community service project in the region, the students, teachers and coaches are learning how to communicate, how to work with each other, and how to respect and embrace their differences.

Sometimes this multi-cultural collaboration happens in the funniest ways or at the oddest times. Recently I was sitting at breakfast with students from Turkey, China, The Netherlands, and Lithuania, and the conversation suddenly migrated from the state of our own economies to the recent reluctance of the Netherlands to support Turkey's bid to join the European Union. There was some initial tense discussion before the boys started really listening to each other's position. We all came away from the table better informed and respectful of alternative viewpoints. And this all went on outside the classroom with a group of teens before 7:30 AM!

These are the kinds of opportunities that students and adults have at The Winchendon School every day. I recently watched a boy from Brazil working with a girl from South Korea to support each other's candidacy for our Student Council. Three weeks ago, groups of students from many countries coaxed and cheered each other up Mt. Monadnock. For many, it was the first time on such a summit bid, and despite some discomfort, they helped each other get there and cheered when they succeeded.

There are also the more formal opportunities in the classroom or in advisee groups in which every student and faculty member participates in small group discussions on global issues each week. And nothing makes it as "real" as when roommates with different customs and backgrounds learn how to live well together. We share rooms, meals, classrooms, and playing fields, and in doing so we learn from each other very day. I am fortunate to be as much a student of my students as I am a teacher or administrator.

So, as we struggle to make sense of the current economic challenges, think about solutions to global hunger or disease, manage global warming, or work to create peace in the Middle East, we can have confidence that there are students right here in Winchendon, MA, gaining the skills and confidence to tackle these issues in the coming years. As an additional benefit, Winchendon students will have friends from around the globe when they graduate and enter college to further prepare for their future careers, and they will have had a lot of fun along the way.

The grass is not greener out there!

I spent the last four days participating in an accreditation visit at one of peer schools in New England. Each of our schools is accredited every ten years by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). I have to admit that as I worked to help evaluate the subject school, my thoughts also regularly returned to Winchendon. There is the old adage about the grass always being brighter on the other side, but in this case the more I saw of the impressive school that I was visiting, the more it confirmed for me just how special and compelling Winchendon is. When I arrived back last evening, it was a thrill to to see all of the members of our community. It felt great to come home to the Winchendon School.

Meet President Hao Wen!

"How and When!" That is the way that Hao Wen introduced himself as a candidate focused on change in the Winchendon election for President of Student Council. I am not sure whether it played a role in his win, but the How/When shtick was catchy! Turnout was strong for Hao in a highly competitive field. Rumor has it that the McCain camp has been trying to recruit Hao to infuse some energy into their campaign. Hao won't comment.

In person, Hao is impressive and has a lot on his agenda. He talks about driving the multi-cultural program, looking into lights-out schedules, and thinking about food and menus, recycling and other community initiatives. And that is what Hao is doing when not racking up an impressive academic record. When I asked about his most challenging class, he cited Mrs. Blair's English 4 class.

Hao came to the US three years ago and spent a year in San Diego before coming to The Winch last year. He is from the city of Shenzhen in the south of China, right near Hong Kong. Shenzhen is a city that has grown rapidly over the last 20 years from its humble roots as a fishing town to a urban area of more than 12,000,000 people (bigger than any city in the US).

When Hao first came to the states, he took up tennis and it has quickly become a passion for him. He played on Winch's team last spring and came back to the states early this summer to watch the US Open. His favorite players? Nadal and Sharapova! He is looking forward to this spring.

But between now and then Hao has some application writing to do and English 4 to work on. He is focused on getting ready for a career in law. If his work in the election or our discussions across the conference room table in my office are any indication, he will be very good. I am definitely looking forward to working with Hao this year.

Go Winch Varsity Soccer

16-3

Big numbers! That is the cumulative score of Winchendon's Men's Varsity Soccer Team over its last three opponents. This includes big wins against traditional rivals Cushing and Bridgton. Too many players to name have scored and Ian has been terrific in goal. Go Winch Soccer!

It's time to Recycle!!

Thanks to Mr. Magay, we are on the road to being a more responsible community as we aim to reduce our waste by 50% or more through an aggressive recycling program. In just four weeks, Mr. Magay has worked with Waste Management to put in place a new program and restructure our contract.

Just to give you a sense of the scope of our garbage production, we have been having 35 yards of waste hauled out of here each week. That amount is basically the equivalent of more than two tractor trailer loads and has been costing the school more than $25k per year in addition to the negative environmental impact. Our goal is to slash that amount through the recovery of all cardboard and a new "single stream program" available through Waste Management.

Through the "single stream program", all recyclable plastic, paper and aluminum can be bagged together in clear bags in a single receptacle, deposited in a single dumpster, and it will then be sorted by Waste Management at a new facility. This ability to consolidate recyclables rather than having three to four bins should make it much easier for all and allow us to quickly reduce the amount going to landfills.

So thanks to Mr. Magay for moving us forward on this, and thanks to the Community Service crew (picture above by Mr. Blair) for their help with launch yesterday.

The Votes Are In!

Senators Obama and McCain could have learned a few things at The Winch this week as we worked our way through our own campaigns and chose our new student body President, Vice President and student council. On Wednesday night the Winchendon students and faculty gathered in the Dining Hall to listen to the candidates. Whereas on Tuesday nights our national candidates spent most of their time taking shots at each other, a dozen students running for different offices spoke of their passion for Winchendon and laid out their platforms. There was not a negative word said.

The speeches were articulate and compelling. As we went to the polls on Thursday morning I was excited as there were at least six candidates any one of who would have been an excellent pick for Student Body President. There was a buzz all morning Thursday as the Harrington boys got the voting organized and the students cast their ballots.

Mr. Taplin announced the results on Friday morning, and there was loud applause and cheering as it was announced that Hao Wen had been elected President and Luis de Carvalho Leao was chosen as Vice President. Hao spontaneously stepped forward to give a thoughtful acceptance speech.

I am excited to start working with Hao and “his cabinet”, and he and I will get down to business over lunch on Monday. Thanks to Mr. Taplin, the candidates and the whole community for a great election.

The picture below includes most of the Council with Hao and Luis both in black shirts.

Candidates and Colors

This will be a quick post as there is much going on this morning including a visit from the fire department as someone decided to toast an oven mit(?) on Jaffe 2. All is fine and our thanks to the fire fighters who were responsive and good natured as usual. I did want to share a couple of photos that Elliot Harvey took yesterday as they capture some of the excitement on campus:
While much of the country is focused on Obama and McCain, here at Winchendon we are in the midst of our own campaign season as students run or Student Council President and Vice President and other positions on the council. The competition is thick with many entrants. Speeches will be Wednesday night with the voting scheduled for Thursday. Stay tuned for the results!

We are just off of a terrific Parents Weekend. More will be coming on that. I would be remiss not to mention the success of the soccer teams on Saturday. JV Soccer fought back from a two goal deficit to tie Vermont Academy and the Varsity Soccer team continued their undefeated streak by beating Hoosac School. Tomorrow the Varsity takes on Andover. We all be helping getting excited for that with a Winchendon Green Day scheduled for the students and faculty tomorrow.

Finally, mother nature is treating us to a beautiful fall, as evidenced by the picture that Elliot snapped from East Wing yesterday afternoon. Should we be charging more for rooms with a view like this?!

Have a good day.

What a great day it was!

Mountain day... all but 4 students in the whole school made it to the top...and back! It was a great time and an amazing outcome on a challenging climb. Great job Team Winch. Here are some first pictures...

Some of the team on top...I think that they heard our cheer in Ashburnham!

Is this getting full value for the tuition?

"Almost there and still smiling" or "James and his team!"

Merrill 2 gets pumped!

That's some chorus line, especially on top of a mountain!
Celebrating on top!
Hiding in the trunk on the way down...

Thanks for a great Mountain Day.

A Big Thanks!

Yesterday we took time as a community to acknowledge many of our colleagues who play a vital role in enabling us to pursue our mission each day. We offered our thanks as a school at morning meeting, had a special lunch and then encouraged them to take the afternoon and evening off.

Some keep us well fed. Others make sure that we are healthy, that we can travel, that our academic records are available when we move on to college, that we can access the info we need in the library or that we have money when we need it. Yet others work hard to keep our wonderful campus and facilities in great shape. Without them, the rest of us, students and faculty alike, would struggle to get our schoolwork done.

So, to the housekeepers, the building and grounds crews, the people at the pro shop and the rink, the dining hall team, the women in the nurses office, the library and business and administrative offices, and Chris our IT guy – a very big “THANK YOU” one and all from all of us.

Mr. Harvey's Photos

Thank you Mr. Harvey for a couple of great photos from this week. The first is a humorous moment at Morning Meeting earlier this week. In the second (below), Mr. Harvey caught (prior to the announcement) our first Student Of the Week, his own daughter Allegra. Allegra, a new ninth grader, has gotten off to an exceptional start to the year. Here she is caught (front and center) at morning meeting with her fellow advisees. Congratulations Allegra!

Finally, I caught and interesting example of an epicurean culture clash. Pizza with chopsticks??!!
Have a good weekend!

Meet Luis de Carvalho Leao

Now that we are through the opening of the year, my goal will be to regularly introduce you to a member of the Winchendon community between my other musings.

Luis de Carvalho Leao is in his second year here at Winchendon, where he is working hard to get into a pre-med program. His journey has been a long one, the kind that stories are written about. He told me about arriving at Winchendon a little over a year ago and walking into his first class. There his teacher, who coincidentally was Coach Byrnes, asked him to read. There was a problem…Luis knew little English and was even less confident in his ability to read.

It may have been long journey from Brazil, but the academic and educational journey that Luis has been on is even more impressive. Luis’ spoken English today is incredibly strong, and he talks about Edgar Allen Poe being a favorite author. When we started talking, I had just assumed that he had grown up in a bilingual family. Assumptions can be dangerous. Luis clearly has taken advantage of the opportunity to immerse himself in the Winchendon experience.

Today, Luis is in the midst of his college search, and is focusing on several Ivy League and other top tier schools. He is preparing for the SAT’s next weekend and the upcoming basketball season while also being a proctor on West Wing. Then there are the applications… It’s a busy time on top of an already full Winchendon schedule.

When I asked Luis where in the world he might like to visit, he didn’t hesitate to mention that he would like to get back to see his family in the south of Brazil. It’s been almost eighteen months since he has had the chance to get home to see his mother, father and ten year old brother. He is able to check in with them each weekend on Skype, but he would love to get home for some barbecue and Feijoada, a bean-based dish.

In closing, I asked Luis if he had anything to say to students considering coming to Winchendon. His response was “If you are looking for a school where you don’t have to do much work, this is not the right school.” We must be keeping him busy! Luis certainly seems to be making the most of the Winchendon opportunity.

Dressed For Success

I would put the Winchendon students up against any school as the best dressed student body in the business. At first the formal dress code was something that I was a bit skeptical of. I am a fan of casual and pushed hard in my old business days to break through to the “corporate-casual” standards of the nineties.

But once again, I am wrong! Each day I am impressed at how great our student body looks compared to so many of the schools that I have visited. These are well dressed, happy kids who get up, dress neatly, and head off to their jobs of being successful in the classroom. There is work to be done and the students don’t have to spend a lot of time worrying about fashion each day. They are focused on the business at hand.

That isn’t to say that the ties, jackets and dresses don’t disappear pretty quickly each day as classes come to an end. They do, and it is still a pretty good-looking group of kids when they abandon their finery for the afternoon.

But they sure are a sharp looking bunch when they are dressed for success each day. I wouldn’t fault them if they think that their Headmaster sure could use some fashion tips!