Welcoming some new faculty members...

One of the highlights of this summer has been getting to know many of the returning teachers at Winchendon. It is an impressive crew that brings a wealth of experiences as well an incredible passion for working with kids. Their commitment to Winchendon's mission is compelling.

The excitement got even greater this past week as we formally welcomed and began training with this year's new faculty members (including yours truly). It is a larger new group than normal because we both increased the overall size of the teaching faculty by some six positions and added several new positions as well (Humanities Head, Director of College Counseling, Director of Admissions, Women's Ice Hockey Coaches).

The returning administrative team led by Pam Blair, Elliot Harvey and Alex Magay with support from others led a very productive three-day workshop to help indoctrinate us “newbies” to the Winchendon Way. In addition to lots of serious training and discussion around academic philosophy and practice, athletic and dorm expectations and generally how we work with our students, we also enjoyed some fun evenings and a few laughs along the way. A special thanks goes out to Alex and Raman Magay and Elliot and Chris Harvey for two hosting two fun evenings. The picture below is of part of the crew in a moment of reflection!

One of the thrills of welcoming this crew is the remarkable diversity and richness of experience…

• People variously born and raised in Hanoi, Venezuela, Spain…and Detroit!
• A former stand-up comedian (and several who seem to be trying!)
• A Tanglewood singer, a tap dancer, a ballroom dancer and at least one accomplished artist.
• Speakers of Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Spanish, Portuguese, French and …
• Ice hockey, lacrosse, basketball, soccer, karate and golf coaches as well as a surfer and a windsurfer!
• One who thrives on math competitions and another who can’t wait to be climbing his next mountain.
• 101 or more passions and interests.

I hope that you will take the time to quickly get to know both some of these new and our returning faculty. Our students and I are very lucky to work with such a dynamic group.

This week, we will be hard at our own learning again as we work our way through three days of full faculty meetings and collaboration...and on Sunday, it all gets going with the arrival of the students.

Have a good week,
John