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.