Friday, September 25, 2009

Great guys doing great deeds!

Last night Coaches Byrnes and Convertino and some of the men from the basketball team headed down town to serve dinner to those less fortunate than us. The guys did a great job helping others out and spreading some good cheer as well. Thanks guys!


Friday, September 18, 2009

Global Dynamics Classes Are Hard At Work!

It has been very exciting to see the engagement and energy of the students as they have all immersed themselves in Global Dynamics and the first leg of our expedition into Africa. 250 and students and teachers have virtually spread out across the continent. It seems that someone is studying different issues in most if not all of the 53 different countries at this point. I have heard of projects involving economics, literature, native storytelling, music and art. I hope to feature some of them in this space soon.

A walk through the classrooms during D period yesterday found lots of groups working collaboratively.



Thanks to our artists for our visual glory!

I am remiss in acknowledging the beauty that we have been treated to in our dining hall since early September. Several members of our faculty including Alex Magay, Joanne Draugsvold, Shana Brautigam, Ethan Hamby and a group of our women teachers who spent a wonderfully collaborative day back in June have brightened all of our days with their work.
These are just a few representative works...





Unfortunately, my photography does not do their work justice. I hope that parents, alumni and friends will stop into take a look at the great talent on show.

And to the artist, a big "thank you" for sharing your work with us.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Weekend Distractions

It is hard to believe that the first week is behind us, and all seems to be going well. Mrs. Blair has been busy making course adjustments to make sure that all are well placed, and students are getting through their first weekend of homework, fun and rest. I have seen several students and teachers playing through on the golf course on a beautiful September afternoon. I have also heard lots of excitement about the new Global Dynamics - Africa expedition that the whole school is involved in.

The Men's Varsity Soccer team has had a good weekend, playing in a tournament on Friday at Berkshire, and then regrouping on Saturday morning to travel to Rhode Island to St. Georges for another tournament. The ten hours or so of travel didn't seem to daunt them to much as they came away with two wins at each tournament and a combined 4-1-1 record for the weekend. Further details can be found at the soccer team page at winchendon.org.

I will admit that if I had my actual druthers, I would be holed away upstairs immersed in my current book "Strength in What Remains" by Tracy Kidder. Kidder, who brought us "Among School Children", "House", "Mountains Beyond Mountains" and "The Soul of A New Machine" chronicles the amazing journey of Deogratias, a young med student who was caught in the middle of the tragedies in both Burundi and Rwanda in the early 1990's. A variety of people show wonderful human spirit in helping Deo rebuild his life and get an American education. Mid-book, Deo is back in Burundi building a clinic. As is so often the case, Kidder is captivating, and I look forward to getting back to the book.

Coincidentally, Marily and I were doing a little channel surfing on Friday evening, and happened on a terrific new documentary on recent successes in treating infectious diseases in Rwanda - "Africa: House Calls and Health Care". The entire 23 minute segment is viewable on the PBS site. Too often these documentaries focus on the challenges or bad news, but this segment highlights some very positive developments in the treatment of malaria, TB and AIDs. My guess is that our students may see some of the in Global Dynamics in the coming weeks.

Well, now it is back to getting ready for week #2 and the adventures that lie ahead. Have a good week!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

We're back in a big W way!

It is hard to believe but faculty meetings are behind us, Winch U is a distant memory and we have just finished day one of classes. Our global community is more vibrant than ever:

We got to know each other better through a busy day of orientation.


As true Winchendonians, we have been working hard and playing hard!

We talked about courage and a couple of heroes who established the bar for courage...

...and set the stage for the coming Global Dynamics journey to Africa...
Mr. Byrnes had to wrestle David to remind him who was boss (bigger?)!

It is great to have the gang all back together!