Winchendon Views

Real Winchendonians

2010-09-22T21:51:00.004-04:00

While people often comment about the effective academic approach or the wonderful facilities that we have at The Winchendon School, I am always quick to respond that it is the people who make our community so special. With that in mind, I am going to work to regularly bring you a quick profile of a different person within the Winchendon community to provide readers with a sense of who we are.

To start this off, I grabbed Victoria, a senior who has been a boarding student at Winchendon for three years but who has been a Winchendon School family member and hockey fan for much longer. She talks about how as a kid she hated to miss brother Jordan's ('03)hockey games. She loved to stand outside the locker room before and between games, giving all of the players 'dubs'. Now she has found her own place at Winchendon as a successful student, a hall proctor and a leader on the women's hockey team.

Victoria, what would you consider as one of your favorite Winchendon moments?

V - "Playing Red Rover with the other girls during cross training fall of my first year!

What has changed the most during your time at Winchendon?

V - The food!

What is your favorite book?

V - Travis Roy's 11 Seconds - it is inspiring. Note: Travis Roy was a Boston University hockey player who had a paralyzing injury in a hockey game and has gone on to become a successful motivational speaker and leader.

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go?

V - Italy - it's about the food. I love eating and cooking Italian food.

What are your near-term goals?

V - I want to go to the best college that I can and then do the very best that I can. This year, my goals are to have a great senior year and have our hockey team make it to the playoffs.

Is there a teacher that you already know that you will miss?

V - Mrs. Giusti - She has always been there for me in the dorm, in the classroom...even though she wasn't actually my teacher.

What does the School need to improve?

V - The food was the biggest issue, but that has been fixed. I am not sure that there is anything else right now...

Favorite Music?

V - Maroon 5

What has your biggest accomplishment been?

V - Coming to Winchendon. It has really changed me and made me a stronger person. The opportunity to work with people from so many backgrounds is amazing and makes you a better person.

What do you plan on studying at college?

V - Business or marketing, but this could change!

We are fortunate to have Victoria as a leader in our community. Meet her, and you will immediately note the combination of a warm smile and a great handshake.

Creative Programs Take Off

2010-09-18T06:47:00.003-04:00

I keep getting asked about what the highlights of the opening of the school year have been. While there have been numerous from the great new students, returning seniors stepping up, and lots of excitement about the dining hall improvements, one of the most exciting has been the strong participation in the newly-designed Creative Programs. Under Director Joanna Draugsvold's leadership, the different offerings are generating all sorts of excitement. This is reflected in the fact that approximately a third of the School's students are participating in different programs either full time or when their schedule allows. There is a lot of buzz about the program with the sounds of the chorus drifting from Posich in the afternoons, photographers flashing their lenses around campus and Ms. Leshay's group creating impressive, fun and even thought-provoking art at different spots around campus. The image above is a temporary piece of work created in painter's tape. Over the last two weeks, four of Ms. Leshay's students completed this on north wall of the Rotenberg gymnasium. The attention to detail is fascinating. I hope that you have a chance to see this one before it fades away, but, if you don't, I am very confident that there will more exciting things coming from the Winchendon artists this fall.

We're back!

2010-09-05T13:26:00.005-04:00

After a week of Winch U and another of preparatory meetings, the threat of Hurricane Earl and lots of hard work by the Winch staff, we are back, with students and parents convening on a beautiful fall afternoon to kick the 2010-2011 year off. We are now in the midst of a couple of days of orientation workshops and activities, which means that this will need to be a short post. I hope that the following shots capture a little of the spirit of all that is going on.

Members of the men's and women's soccer teams arrived first for preseason. Here they enjoyed the best of both worlds - a good workout while cooling down.

Then most of this year's proctors arrived on Friday to get organized for the arrival of the students. They have some great ideas for the year ahead.

Old friends reconnected and new friends met for the first time at the cookout Saturday evening.

Mr. Tevlin, our new Development Director, and his daughter Kiley '14 shared a moment at the cookout.

Then it was time for getting to know everyone in your dorm...

...before breakfast and adviser meetings this morning.

How can a room look so messy so quickly? Room inspection will come soon enough!

Proud To Be A Winchendonian

2010-08-21T10:39:00.003-04:00

People often ask me what I value most about The Winchendon School and it is never hard to come up with an answer. There are several things that come quickly to mind, but nothing is perhaps more important than being a member of a faculty that is so committed to learning and being the best teachers that we can be.

Starting Monday, we return to a program that represents the very best of this core commitment. While many of our teachers have attended various workshops, continue to work on their masters, or are taking specific courses within their fields of expertise, Winch U is a very special opportunity and differentiates Winchendon from most if not all other secondary schools. The fact that our teachers give up a week of their summer to learn together, to collaborate on best practices and to immerse ourselves on the newest methodologies is evidence of our commitment to ensure that we are providing each Winchendon student with an exceptional education.

Figuring out what a great 21st century education is a constant challenge and requires perpetual innovation in teaching just to ensure that our students will be well equipped when they graduate. If you haven't watched one recently, the start of a new school year always seems to be a great time to watch one of the "Did You Know? - Shift Happens" videos. We challenge ourselves with these questions, we look for guidance to the answers in our work together and by reading such books as "The Global Achievement Gap", and we pursue teaching excellence by committing to constant self improvement.

This passion for and commitment to teaching excellence makes me very proud to be a Winchendonian.

Have a good weekend

Pakistan and China On My Mind

2010-08-08T18:53:00.004-04:00

While it is easy to get caught up with getting ready for the coming year or even just enjoying a few days of summer, I am finding it very hard to get the people of Pakistan and northern China off of my mind these days. While domestic media continues to focus on the apparent good news coming out of the Gulf of Mexico, what seems like the really important news is the devastation and horrors facing millions of people in both China and Pakistan. Both regions are seeing record rains which have resulted in the thousands of deaths and the displacement of millions.

In China, first the north eastern potion of the country was hit with record rains last week, and then even heavier floods deluged the north western region in the Gansu province in recent days, resulting in some horrific mudslides with devastating results. If there is any good news, it is that the Chinese government has mustered a significant response and has the resources to assist the victims. China Daily provides regular updates.

The devastation is likely more tragic in Pakistan where the worst rains in over eighty years have forced rivers way over their banks in several regions including Punjab. Already there have been over 1600 confirmed deaths with many more missing and millions of people displaced by flood waters. But the complications are greater than that. First, Pakistan has been providing support to as many as two million refugees displaced by the violence in Afghanistan. This catastrophe will likely compromise their ability to continue to do that. Furthermore, there is great frustration with the way that the Pakistani government has responded to the crisis, with fears that this could eventually lead to a further destabilization of that government. This would only result in greater challenges in the region. For more perspective, both the BBC and the International Herald Tribune are good resources.

It is hard to find a bright spot in events like this, but one might be China's rapid response to the devastated regions within its country. The same can't be said in Pakistan, and the potential implications are unnerving. Those of us at The Winchendon School will have a good chance to better understand the challenges and responses as Global Dynamics will be focused on southern/southwestern Asia in the first semester before shifting east to China and its neighbors for the second semester. There is no doubt that there will be much to be learned in our GD studies - we can only hope that there is some good news that comes out of these crisis.

A Legend Moves On

2010-08-07T21:50:00.004-04:00

On Friday evening, I stopped by the Byrnes' home to say goodbye to Mike Byrnes and his family. It was certainly a bittersweet moment, especially as I reflected on The Winchendon School moving forward without Mike's presence. He has engaged so many students in remarkable ways over the last fourteen years. And while Mike is best known for his role in building a basketball program that is highly regarded in this and many other countries, this is not where his most masterful work was done. I can't tell you how many alumni and parents have mentioned how Mike Byrnes had such and incredible impact on their lives and defined their Winchendon experience.

One of the more memorable moments of this past year was when a beaming Mike Byrnes pulled up one afternoon with a van full of boisterous students from all over the world. They were off to a rodeo, and for many of them it would be the first such event that they had ever been to. Mike could have been supervising the gym or some other easier duty, but he was having a blast creating an adventure for a group of kids. When I talked to the students afterward, they were so appreciative that Coach Byrnes had provided them with this memorable experience. Over the last several years, many parents have told me how wonderful Coach Byrnes had been to their kids. When traveling through Asia, alumni and their parents are always asking about Mr. Byrnes. And, when Coach joined the Facebook crowd, he quickly built a vast friend list. Whether teaching early second language learners, taking any one of the many of the kids under his wing that he has over the years, or prepping a young hot shot for the big leagues, Coach Byrnes has connected with so many Winchendon students over the last 14 years in ways that the rest of us can aspire to. We will miss Mike Byrnes, Brunelda and the girls.
But it is also time for Mike to take the next step in his career, just like graduation time comes for our seniors each spring. The move to a coaching spot at Robert Morris University is the next step in his education. It wouldn't surprise me at all that by the time this year's incoming freshmen graduate in 2014, Mike will have taken the helm of his own program. His new players will be lucky to have him in their lives just as so many Winchendon students and adults have been.
So now we move on. There is room for the next Winchendon legend to be built. It will take me a while of getting used to Mr. Byrnes not being at morning meeting, or on the sideline at basketball games, or knowing that he has carefully recruited some specific student to be his basketball manager because he wants that student to have a special experience. But is also gives me confidence that Mike has set standards for all of us. He has set the bar for hard work and integrity, for looking for that student who needs a little extra support, for be willing to invest in becoming a better a teacher, for playing to win, for modesty even in the face of significant accomplishments, and for knowing when and how to take a break and have a bit of fun. It is really exciting to stop and reflect that there are a lot of potential and probable legends on the Winchendon faculty, and Mike has set some great precedents for us.

Thanks Mike. Come back and visit your Winchendon School often and stay in touch with your legions of fans on Facebook. Best wishes to you and your family.

The New Dorm Starts Up

2010-07-21T21:29:00.004-04:00

After six weeks of crushing ledge, moving dirt and relocating utilities, we finally achieved what feels like upward progress. The cement trucks were coming most of the day, filling the foundation forms that will yield the walls for the foundation. It feels great to starting up...
These are the early steps in what will be a new dorm with rooms for up to 62 students and four faculty apartments. Construction will be completed late next winter with landscaping waiting for spring to come. The first students will most likely move in next summer. For a look at some of the early plans for the new building, click the images under "One Building Scheme".

This is an exciting new chapter for The Winchendon School. The new student rooms will allow us to bring the home stay students back on campus, provide new rooms to replace the aging ones in Cottage, and free up rooms in the existing dorms to expand faculty residences in those buildings. And, as importantly, the new dorm will provide two apartments for faculty families now living off campus and two other single family members.

Stay tuned for further updates!

And we talk about the pace of change?

2010-07-11T16:01:00.006-04:00

I had the opportunity this past weekend to revisit the Class of 1962 Vestigia. This yearbook is labeled "Volume 1" as it was the first for the School in its new home in Winchendon MA and with a new name. At the end of the prior academic year, the Board had decided to move the Hatch School to what has proved to be a wonderful new home.

What I find stunning is not just the foresight that the Board and Headmaster Robert Marr showed in making this decision, but also the amount of change that Mr. Marr successfully guided the School through during these first years in Winchendon. According to Mr. Marr's comments, only six faculty members made the move to Winchendon, and more than half the students were new to the School that fall. However, in those early years the stage was set for what has been an incredible five decades of advancement.

There are moments today during which we may think that we are marshaling the School through an important period of change. We implement the Global Dynamics program. We steadily introduce new technology. We renew older facilities including the Rotenberg Arts Studios, Posich and Ford Hall, and we build new including the tennis courts, now the new residence hall, or soon the new indoor field with the Clark Memorial.

However, these are nothing like the changes that The Winchendon School went through in the early 1960's. The Vestigia staff captured The School's spirit very well in the yearbook's introduction:

When a new idea appears among men, it is welcomed - sometimes with tumult, sometimes with joy - but always with an avid interest in each progressive step. A new school year, a new campus, a new name - indeed, our school is a new idea taking a child's first steps in the world of learning. Yet, like the Roman god, Janus, whose visage scanned both past and future, we look to the past for sowing and to the future for harvest...
The introduction continued...

"Vestigia", a Latin term for footsteps... In the motto - "Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum" - lies more than just a name; it is both a shadow of our theme and the substance of our hope - No Steps Backward. Only the future, which is big with promise, can bear out the aspirations that swell our thoughts today. We are assured, however, that meeting every challenge as it comes, we will see the footprints of the past firmly placed on solid ground and the footsteps of the future plain before our eyes.

I am in awe not just how well the Mr. Marr and the School thrived through its first decade but even more so how this group of students captured the culture of embracing change that is still a hallmark of The Winchendon School today. The School thrives and is a leader in our field of secondary education not just because of this eagerness to embrace change, but also because our mission and philosophy are well rooted thanks to the tilling of first Mr. Hatch and then Mr. Marr. Our future "is big with promise", our vision for the future is "plain before our eyes" just as the Vestigia staff captured it in 1962.

Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Marr.

Where in the world has John Kerney been?

2010-07-02T16:13:00.006-04:00

For readers who don't recognize the reference to one of my favorite videos of Matt Harding and his world travels, I have been feeling a little bit like Matt in recent months. Now if only the 45,000,000 people who have checked out Matt's videos would read this blog! At the least, I will use the excuse of feeling like him for the reason that I have not been writing.
In an effort to rationalize my absence, I have put together a little top 10 list of why I have not been more expressive during the last three months:

In March, my wonderful hosts in nine different cities in Asia kept me so busy and well fed that there was no time or energy to write.
Then Hayfa Abdujabar joined us from Harvard for a day to infuse our school-wide dialog on gender and rights in Islam and the Middle East. Hayfa had me thinking about a lot.
In April, the town-wide Earth Day effort kept us busy, leaving us especially tired after work and the end-of-day fun.
Throughout the spring, we continued to work at our goal of raising at least $10,000 for Haiti relief, eventually exceeding what to some had deemed an unreasonable goal by more than 20%. This was achieved by many different initiatives involving everyone in the Winchendon School community. Some of that effort has gone to support the terrific efforts of Forward in Health.
Come late April and May, I could blog or cheer on the Winchendon athletes. You choose...
Coach Patty and others did a great job of organizing a fun alumni lacrosse weekend. There will be more like these.
There was the Boston Harbor cruise with all looking sharp and dancing the night away.
Then a generous donor made it possible for all of the freshmen, sophomores and juniors to spend an afternoon in Boston seeing the Imax film "Arabia" and visiting the Museum of Science.
The same donor paved the way for the Class of 2010 to spend an afternoon and evening reconnecting to our Hatch School roots by relaxing in Newport, RI.
The Student Art Show was a stunner. Stop by the dining hall if you haven't had a chance to see some of the great work that was done this year.
And soon the end of the year was upon us with a wonderful baccalaureate at Cathedral Pines featuring the Winchendon Singers, a memorable senior night dinner and graduation day with lots of memorable words, tears, smiles and send-off hugs.
No time to spare...days later, thanks to the significant efforts of several of our Board and staff members, we were able to break ground on the new dorm project. The new building will be complete by next spring.

Oh, was this supposed to be a top 10 list? I ramble... I hope that you get the point!

I am back and will work to do a much better job of keeping up with the blog. Have a good weekend!

Winter Art Program Beauty

2010-03-06T09:33:00.003-04:00

I was walking out of the office earlier this week and a couple of students came rushing in gushing "Mr. Kerney, you have to come see what we have done. Come right away." Now, at boarding school, such a beckoning could be a loaded pronouncement, possible trouble or even a prank. But coming from Ms. Draugsvold's artists and by the tone of excitement in the students' voices, I knew that whatever was in store would be special. I was not disappointed.

The image above is special because it is a collaborative effort by the whole group. This is a group with a wide array of experience and interests, but working together they have created beauty that will hopefully soon grace the dining room.

The pieces below are by individual artists.

Joanna Draugsvold provide all of the images. Thanks for sharing your passion with these students and helping them discover their expressive and creative voices.

Hockey and hoops fun for Haiti

2010-03-03T09:02:00.004-04:00

Yesterday members of both the basketball and hockey teams continued with the fund raising efforts for Haiti. The hockey players organized a great 3 on 3 tournament and had a great time. The basketball team hosted a wonderful clinic for the kids in the youth programs.

From the looks of this hockey image, there was a lot of interesting technique demonstrated.

The hockey players will be sharing these moves in another clinic to be offered to the local youth programs later this week.

We continue to make good progress towards our goal of raising $10,000 to support relief efforts. One significant donation has already been made to the American Red Cross and another will be presented this morning to Forward in Health, a local group of doctors who have been working in Haiti for a long time and have operated clinics to help survivors of the earthquake over the last couple of months.

Congratulations to the students and faculty on their impressive efforts raising funds in creative ways.

Thanks to Elliot Harvey for these photographs.

Four images from the last week of February

2010-02-28T16:50:00.004-04:00

The Women's Hockey Team were treated to a memorable night for the seven seniors thanks to the support of their parents led by Carol Virtue. There was a pregame tribute including being serenaded by the Winchendon A Capella singers. After the game, the parents had set up a huge feast for the players, families and friends. Thanks to all of the parents for making this a memorable evening for a great group of seniors.
...and Men's Basketball will be heading to the playoffs this week. In this shot, Eric F. goes way up over his competitors, looking as if he has a couple of extra feet to clear the basket. Think Winchendon Green and winning thoughts for this Wednesday's opener against New Hampton.
...and, there have been many beautiful images of the campus this week. Unfortunately, they have all involved lots of the white stuff. I have heard of a 'rescue club', but it is going to take something special to play the sixth hole this week! The new driver that I received for Christmas remains tucked in the closet. Spring anyone?
Thanks to Elliot Harvey for all four of these great photos.

Have a good week.

Looking at the challenges through different lenses...

2010-02-17T10:39:00.002-04:00

We constantly think about that key question that takes on some form of "What is the best possible education that we can provide students to prepare them for the this century and they challenges that they will face?" This morning math teacher Tom Patty shared a very brief video that helps us think about this issue and reminds us that there is fabulous potential within this next generation who are currently in high school and college. The video is less than 2 minutes long and well worth the effort. The video has been around, and while I had seen it previously, it is one of those things that I was very glad to be reminded of.

Click here to see the brief video.

This essay was put together by a 20 year old in response to a contest sponsored by AARP. Over the last 2 years, it has been viewed almost 12,000,000 times!

Valentines Day Carnations

2010-02-17T10:23:00.002-04:00

Last week, the Winchendon tradition of students and faculty sending carnations to each other was not just extended but was enriched both as more than 700 carnations were delivered, raising over $1000 for our Haiti relief efforts, and a new twist was added as some of the luckiest recipients were serenaded by members of our A Cappella group.

Fireworks ring in Lunar Year a little early!

2010-02-07T12:57:00.005-04:00

After a month of hard work, many victories and too much cold weather, it was time for a break, and just the opportunity came on Wednesday afternoon with the surprise announcement of a day off and Winter Carnival.

The festivities started off with great wins for Men's Varsity Ice Hockey and Basketball. The latter was especially exciting as it was an overtime win against a very impressive team from Brewster. Most of the School was on hand to cheer the guys on.People reloaded on a superb dinner thanks in part to Jack and Judy Leung as well as the efforts of our our own dining hall team. Everyone then headed out to the bonfire pit for some fun and dancing. Yes, there was live music under the gazebo to further enliven things.
But the surprises were just beginning as suddenly there were fireworks lighting the winter sky. Yes, due to the astute bartering by Mr. Magay and Mr. Delorme with our neighbors Atlas Fireworks up in Rindge NH, they got some skating at the rink and we were able to enjoy a great fireworks show to welcome the New Year. Ashley Abraham captured and shared the above video.

This was all followed by a night and day of fun and contests between dorm groups, and capped off by a wonderful dinner-dance fund raiser for Haiti (see last blog entry). So many worked to make this a great two days for all. Thanks to all of you.

Winchendon Rallies For Haiti

2010-02-07T10:12:00.004-04:00

My last entry was on January 7th. One of the reasons that I have been remiss in writing is that we have been focusing a lot of energy in other areas. Unfortunately, one of those diversions has been the massive earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12th. Since then our School has put a significant amount of time into trying to figure out how we can bring some relief to this devastated country.

Our size and culture allow us be flexible. In the first week, we developed a special one week program in which all students participated in a dialog about natural disasters. The English classes that week focused on reading, research, writing and discussion as to what causes different types of disasters, what both immediate and longer term impacts will be, and how we can respond to these situations. Classes provided a forum for helping us all process this natural disaster and others including the 2004 tsunami, the 2008 earthquake in China and the current drought in east Africa and what our role can be in these situations.

And then there are the relief efforts. By the 13th, the students had already started various fund raising efforts, and then they became more organized. At this point, almost every adviser group has submitted ideas on fund-raising initiatives, and several have already pressed into high gear. There are initiatives being worked on by small groups and larger ones as well. One of the latter occurred this past week where we he held a special dinner-dance in conjunction with our winter carnival in which $2,500 was raised towards relief efforts. Everyone had a good time for a good cause. Thanks to all that made the dinner and all of these other efforts successful.

Our near term goal is for the Winchendon School community to raise at least $10,000 in aid to help our southern neighbors. We are also investigating the possibility of sending a group of students and faculty to Haiti later this spring and have let several relief organizations know that we would welcome a couple of displaced Haitian students into the Winchendon School community. Perhaps most importantly, our students are seeing that they can have an important impact and are stepping up with their time, money and ideas as to how to help out. We don't lose site of the importance of core academic skills, but these are valuable lessons too. I am proud of how so many Winchendonians have rallied in many different ways. Thank you to all of you.

Top 10 List - Semester 1

2010-01-07T23:22:00.004-04:00

I realized today that I missed an important opportunity in the recent weeks. Skimming through the magazines, newspapers and websites, I had noticed a variety of top ten lists covering the last year and decade. Fall 2009 was a pretty remarkable time at The Winchendon School. After polling a couple of people, I came up with our own list for the fall semester:

The opening of the Jon Rotenberg ’65 Fine Arts Studios
Ambassador Stith’s visit
The first rallies on the new tennis courts
The women’s soccer team gets off to a great start
Global Dynamics discussions and presentations
Mountain Day
The Halloween Dance and Party
A Capella and Hip Hop groups provide a great study break
Sleep-in Thursdays
An evening with John Hughes

I would welcome ideas of what would be on your Winchendon top 10 list.

We move on to Dubai, to Tehran, to Beruit and more...

2010-01-06T19:47:00.004-04:00

After a well-deserved winter break, we are back to a snowy campus and ready to work. The faculty spent much of the day Monday sharing ideas and planning for the future. The students were back ready to start classes on Tuesday. One of the notable and fun changes is the number of the guys of all ages who are taking advantage of the winter-time window to grow mustaches and beards. Mrs. Blair is still mad at me for this change, but I keep reminding her that the facial hair will be gone as spring arrives!

A first time visitor to Winchendon this week might think that he or she is wandering the halls of the United Nations. Every student and teacher has been engaged in a broad range of discussions covering the nuclear question in Iran, the challenges in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the various sects of Islam throughout the region and the possibility of a two state solution in Israel. Yes, our ongoing journey has moved northeast from Africa and landed us in the Middle East for the next several months. Even the opening of the world's newest, tallest building has been included in the dialog. If the discussions the first couple of classes are any indication, it is going to be a very intriguing and informative semester for all. I will share more as the journey continues.

Beyond studies, based on popular demand we will continue with sleep-in Thursdays for all students and late lights for seniors and PG's through the quarter. There is talk about another winter carnival, and the big sledding hill is getting lots of use. And for those of us who love spring, the days are getting just a little bit longer each day! Until then, we will enjoy the cross country skiing on our golf course and the very stimulating discussions about the Middle East.

Another busy week at the Winch!!

2009-11-13T19:20:00.005-04:00

The Wapiti Runners ran an impressive race and then rested on the sidelines as the Men's Soccer Team won a great 3-1 victory over a very strong Holderness team.

On Thursday, the students slept in while the faculty worked together on the Self-Study. The students and faculty then gathered for a performance by our a Capella group and gifted African musician John Hughes. (Thanks to Elliot Harvey for these three pictures.)

While the performance was going on in Winchendon, another group of alumni spanning the classes from 1963 to 2009 gathered in Cambridge for a fun evening.
...and many are looking forwards to a well-deserved break in less than a week!

A great eye!

2009-11-09T08:39:00.003-04:00

One of the benefits of the digital revolution is that it has resulted in many more people picking up cameras and becoming comfortable capturing images. The vast majority of them capture a moment for sharing on Facebook, Myspace or one of the other many social networks or photo-sharing sites. However, there are also some students who really have an eye and a passion for looking for and creating special images. Vlad, a tenth grader from Magadan, Russia, can often be found looking for that next great shot. The following are several that he shot this fall.

Vlad provides us with another way to see the new Art Studios:

Vlad saw something special on Mountain Day.

Vlad, thanks for sharing these great images.

English IV heads to Macbeth!

2009-11-06T08:40:00.003-04:00

The students and faculty of English IV took advantage of our proximity to Boston yesterday to head off to see Macbeth performed by the Shakespeare Now! Theater Company at the Mass College of Art. The comments from the students as they returned were that it was a great experience, and most seemed to really enjoy the performance. The students seemed pretty enthusiastic...

Brilliant educator, perennial favorite teacher, but distinguished navigator?!! Perhaps not!
We should keep Mrs. Blair in the classroom or get her a Garmin...!

The best things are worth the wait!

2009-11-04T19:35:00.004-04:00

As impatient as I can be, the new restored and renamed Jon Rotenberg '65 Fine Arts Studios have been worth the wait and certainly reflect the appreciation that we have for the years of leadership that the building's namesake Jon Rotenberg gave the School.

After some not-so-patient waiting, we were finally able to have the first classes in the new studios today. Students and teachers are thrilled with the new space. I can't wait to see the work that will be forthcoming.

Halloween was a blast!

2009-11-04T19:17:00.004-04:00

A special dance party Thursday night, incredible pumpkins carved by each dorm, a sleep in morning Friday AM, costumes all around campus on Friday, few tricks and many treats... it was a fun time around the Winch!

In the photo above, MS. Conlon and Ms. Bennett did great jobs of impersonating Jess and Olivia. However, Jess and Olivia won the grand prize for their portayals of Ms. Bennett and Ms. Conlon. I am sure that the girls can figure out how to share the Ipod prize.

...and in the shot below, Hugo has found himself a fine looking date!

Let the games begin!

2009-10-29T16:13:00.003-04:00

Mother nature provided us a beautiful fall day to open the new tennis courts. The intramural tennis gang went out to whack the balls back and forth on the four new courts. We hope that the sun will warm them for a couple more weeks of use before it is time to retire them for the season. Some of the varsity players are already thinking about the spring season and the chance to host matches on the new courts.

Ambassador Charles Stith visits Winchendon

2009-10-23T16:36:00.004-04:00

On Thursday Ambassador Charles Stith brought his decades of experience of working with many African leaders to Winchendon. Ambassador Stith, who currently directs a program at Boston University bringing the works of African heads of state together, was at Winchendon as part of our Global Dynamics course.

Ambassador Charles Stith began his career as a minister in Boston and quickly migrated into first local civil rights issues and then international issues. In 1994, Ambassador Stith went to South Africa as an official observer for the landmark democratic elections in that country. This is an event that we have referenced several times this fall. Then in 1998, he was named Ambassador to Tanzania, and had the daunting responsibility of rebuilding both the recently bombed embassy and frayed relations between Tanzania and the U.S. Since completing his duties in Tanzania, Ambassador Stith has worked with many different heads of states in numerous African countries.

The Ambassador shared the story with us of how he had first developed his interest in and connection with Africa. As a young man, Stith had the opportunity to go to Africa on a mission to build churches. He was somewhat reluctant to leave the comforts of home, but his mother was relentless in her encouragement for him to go. She hounded him until he gave in! The Ambassador's recounting of this experience with his mother and his final decision to go to Africa to as much to get her off his back as for his own interest made me smile. He shared how the trip changed his life and has created many opportunities over the years. I am always pushing our students to take advantage of the many opportunities that they have to immerse themselves in other cultures but am often frustrated. Perhaps I just need to nag more?!!

The Ambassador's visit wound up being perfectly timed both because in Global Dynamics many of us been spending time looking at the impacts of the colonialism as well as looking for the positive trends and momentum. Stith shared his experiences in a number of countries and some of the very positive progress he sees in different areas. He ended his time with us by fielding a variety of questions from students that ranged from his challenges in his role as Ambassador to the impact of the upcoming World Cup on South Africa to whether current economic support from non-African countries represent a new form of colonialism. There were numerous questions, and I think that Ambassador Stith could have kept us captivated through the afternoon if he hadn't another commitment.

So again, I offer a big "Thank you" to Ambassador Stith for being with us, to the students for some great questions and to one of our parents whose support and connections made this wonderful morning possible. The general enthusiasm about the whole event has me looking forward to the next Global Dynamics event.

Hitting the "Big Time"

2009-10-22T07:36:00.002-04:00

Early one morning recently, I had the opportunity to be rereading a collection of E.B. White's letters. While E.B. White was perhaps best known for bringing us such classics as Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web, he also was an avid sailor and lover of boats. It his love of things boating that had me reading his letters.

Pursuit of the 'big time" is a concept that seems to have become too attached to becoming successful in pro sports, Hollywood or music. However, in a letter written in 1983, White seemed to have a much more appropriate take on 'big time' when responding to a friend. The friend was complimenting White's son, who had become a well known naval architect at that time:

"It has been a great satisfaction to me to have watched Joel work his way into the big time-which is excellence, no matter what the product is, or the craft, or the profession."

There is wonderful clarity in that for me ... Big time = excellence ... "no matter what the product is, or the craft, or the profession".

All week this has hung with me as I have observed many of our teachers and some of our students achieving the "big time". This is the big time that counts.

Thank you E.B. White for your wisdom and to his daughter Martha White for sharing his letters.

Seasons of change...

2009-10-19T06:51:00.004-04:00

As I walked up to the office in the stunning pre-dawn glow this morning, I was struck by how the light coat of early snow covering the sixth green in front of Ford Hall is a very appropriate metaphor for the changing seasons. Sometimes the change in seasons come slower than we might expect or want, and sometimes change comes faster. But through it all, we move on, knowing that winter will follow fall, spring will warm us after winter, and so on.

This past weekend, The Winchendon School experienced a moment of important change. On Saturday morning, Jon Rotenberg '65 resigned as President of our Board after more than three decades of board leadership and service. Jon provided our School and community with absolutely remarkable leadership, keeping us ever-focused on our mission and philosophy and leading the school through very challenging times in the early seventies to being a school today that is among the financially strongest in its peer group with a clear vision, a talented faculty and a beautiful campus. Anyone who has been associated with our School in the last 35 years owes appreciation to Jon. I certainly am very thankful for the leadership and guidance that Jon provided to me as I transitioned in as the new Headmaster over the last two years.

But, as spring follows winter, there is a very strong new generation of board leadership stepping in to follow Jon. This past weekend, the trustees elected Joe Dockery '61 and Chris Frame '63 to be the next President and Vice President of the Board. Joe has been a long time Board member and until this weekend served as Vice President, and Chris just completed his first three year term. Joe was a member of the last graduating class from our predecessor school Hatch when we were still located in Newport R.I. and Chris was one of a few who experienced both campuses, starting in Newport and then spending two years in and graduating from Winchendon. They have both enjoyed successful business careers and bring great experience to lead our Board and School.

As for the early autumn snow on the sixth green, hopefully the golfers will be back at play by noon! Winter will certainly come, but we are not quite ready for it yet!

A view of Winchendon - Mountain Day 2009

2009-10-08T19:09:00.003-04:00

Mother Nature treated us to a spectacular fall day today as The Winchendon School community took time to climb Mt. Monadnock. It was a wonderful day, made even more spectacular by the success of some initially reluctant climbers who ultimately conquered this southern New Hampshire pile of granite. The hike and the aches were worth as the view was almost unlimited in all directions, including back to our own Winchendon School.
The quick break came at a perfect time after five weeks of hard work and tough practices. The festivities started with last evenings surprise announcement at what was billed as an all-school Global Dynamics film viewing. That actually proved to be a an ice cream snack and a school viewing of "Remember The Titans", which almost all including your writer were captivated by. This morning people slept in, wolfed down a big brunch and then went off to climb the rock. This evening it was back for a special dinner which all seemed to enjoy.

I send a special thanks out to Mr. Magay and his helpers who pulled off another flawless Winchendon adventure.

The New Triumverate

2009-10-07T14:09:00.004-04:00

Democracy was in action last week as we completed elections for new officers and this year's Student Council. Candidates treated us to a great evening of speeches last Wednesday, and votes were cast on Thursday and Friday. Voter turnout topped 90%. I was excited to learn on Sunday that three students in the race for President had all earned within one vote of each other. After caucusing with the Student Council Faculty Adviser (Mr. Williams) and the candidates, we decided to head in a new direction. This year we will have Co-Presidents. They are Roxanne Pouliot-Naud, Hao Lu and Junjie Hu. This is especially exciting to me as these are great students who have been involved in our community in many different ways and therefore represent a broad cross-section of students and interests. I know that they have a number of agenda items to push already and look forward to the start of our weekly lunches this coming Monday.

There were also good races for a number of the Student Council spots, and we came away with an impressive team to lead us through the 2009-2010 year. I am looking forward to an exciting year under their leadership. More to come...!

Opening Of School Slideshow

2009-09-27T09:24:00.000-04:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Great guys doing great deeds!

2009-09-25T16:46:00.002-04:00

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!

Global Dynamics Classes Are Hard At Work!

2009-09-18T12:36:00.003-04:00

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!

2009-09-18T11:52:00.004-04:00

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.

Weekend Distractions

2009-09-13T16:41:00.004-04:00

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!

We're back in a big W way!

2009-09-08T18:10:00.008-04:00

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!

It's Back to School Time for the Winch Faculty!

2009-08-29T13:09:00.008-04:00

We have just come off an amazing and important week at the Winchendon School. Thirty five teachers sequestered themselves with no cell phones but lots of good food. For five days the teachers worked together, learning from each other and advancing their craft.
Chris McDonald and Todd Bucklin did a phenomenal job of putting together a wonderful curriculum for the week. Their leadership and expertise were augmented by several outside experts including Bev and Kim from the SIT Graduate Institute, and Dr. Marilyn Engelman and her colleague Meredith Powell, who joined us to introduce new methodologies and strategies.

It has been wonderful to observe the excitement and level of engagement. There have been many discussions that have been so lively that an outside observer might have thought that we talking about politics, the Red Sox or Winchendon basketball. But it was all about ways to enhance the curriculum and student experience for the coming year. Our students will be the beneficiaries of this week's efforts.

As is always the case at Winchendon, with all that hard work there was some fun and good food as well!

Thanks to all who all participated and made Winch U a terrific and important success.

John

Shift Happens/Did you Know v. 3.0

2009-08-20T21:16:00.002-04:00

In our opening all school meeting last September, we viewed a powerful presentation "Shift Happens" together. This is a provocative presentation that was originally put together by the technology director of a small high school in Colorado for opening faculty meeting. I think that it is a worthwhile presentation for us to check in on every once in a while. Millions of other people seem to agree. Our world is changing so quickly that the developers have to redo it several months as many of the stats that we viewed just last December. If you would like to see the latest version, click here. If you would like a little more information about the Shift Happens story and people who have developed it, click here. I hope that you find it interesting!

Bob Harrington, a pillar of the Winchendon School

2009-08-16T11:00:00.004-04:00

The following is a copy of an email I just sent to The Winchendon School community about our beloved and esteemed colleague, Bob Harrington who passed away last night (August 15, 2009):
Dear members of The Winchendon School community,

It with a great deal of sadness that I write to tell you of the passing of our friend and colleague Bob Harrington. Many of you knew that Bob had been ill for the past eight months, and this time was often a great struggle for Bob and his family. In recent weeks his condition worsened, and he passed on Saturday evening.

Bob’s contributions to The Winchendon School were made over a period of many years while working for a number of Headmasters. He began his service with our school in 1983. Over the next 25 years, Bob served our school as an administrator and teacher in a variety of roles including Academic Dean, Dean of Students, Dean of Faculty, College Counselor, International Student Adviser, and Assistant Headmaster. Perhaps the most deserved titles and the ones that Bob would appreciate most would be “friend” and “mentor”.

But none of those titles begin to capture the extent of Bob’s role at Winchendon.
In any good community, there are those people who play a special role that goes way beyond their job description. At The Winchendon School, Bob Harrington has been one of those pillars.

I was fortunate to get to know Bob a bit during my visits as a candidate during the fall of 2007. True to his character, it was during one of earlier meetings that he grabbed me and we went into an office. “I don’t know what the others have all told you,” he said, “but let me tell you what’s really going on around here. These are great people, and this is a wonderful school”. As I continued on through the interviewing and transition process, Bob was always offering help and to do anything that might be needed. His perspective and advice was very helpful.

And I learned much more about Bob as we moved through this past year even though he was not on campus. I learned how much the students cared about and missed him as they would come to my office asking if there were any updates on his health, whether he would be visiting or just to share how much Bob had helped them. The students felt that Bob was always there for them. What’s just as impressive is that many on the faculty felt the same. A number of faculty members sat around a fire in the Magay’s back yard one evening recently reflecting on Bob’s many contributions. One teacher captured the sentiment best when he said something along the lines of “Bob was always there for every teacher. Whatever needed doing, Bob would make sure that it was covered, and he never wanted or expected anything back.”

Bob Harrington has been there for many people of all ages of The Winchendon School and has had a major and important impact on generations of students and teachers. While he could appear gruff on the surface, that big chest was filled with a huge heart. Our School will continue to be a wonderful place if we all aspire to live to the standards that Bob set and bring his level of passion to our daily work.

On behalf of the School I extend our sympathy to Bob’s wife Joan, his former wife and close friend Gerry, his children Rob, Mike, John, Mary and Ralph and their spouses including our own MaryLee, as well as to his grandchildren Jonathan, Sean, James, Megan, Patrick, Bridget, Nicholas, Julie, Thomas and Danny. While Bob may not be with us in person, we are fortunate that his presence will be felt each day through Gerry, his kids and grandkids. They all carry the Harrington name in ways that would make Bob very proud.

Note: At this point arrangements for services have not been completed. We will forward details as they become available.

Boy, are we blessed...

2009-08-16T10:55:00.002-04:00

The view from the front steps of Ford Hall one evening earlier this week...please excuse the quality as I shot the photo with the iphone!

From High School Teacher To Leading Our Troops

2009-07-29T18:42:00.003-04:00

Jack Blair forwarded me this story earlier this week. It features a former Winchendon School teacher Suzie McKinley who is now doing important work in Iraq.

CAMP AL TAQADDUM, Iraq - Being a high school teacher, a professional soccer player and a firefighter in one's local town are all great accomplishments. For one woman who has been all three, there was still something more she desired to pursue. The majority of active-duty second lieutenants serving in the Marine Corps are right out of college or already have prior-enlisted service before deciding to become commissioned officers. But at 31 and having lived through more real-life experiences than the majority of her peers, 2nd Lt. Suzie McKinley has finally found her calling as a Marine Corps officer. She is currently serving her first deployment to Iraq as the G-6 communications operations officer for the 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward) aboard Camp Al Taqaddum, Iraq. However, just a few years ago, she found herself within the confines of a classroom teaching at the Winchendon School in Winchendon, Mass. The school was not your typical high school. It held classes from 9th grade through postgraduate school, and students enrolled ranged anywhere from your star athlete destined to be drafted to the National Basketball Association, to international students who would return to their native country to serve a number of years in their nation's military. Nonetheless, McKinley loved teaching. She loved the impact she made on the students and the remarkable progress she would see in their academic abilities over the course of only several months. But then there came a point where she felt like she was coming up short. "I needed to be able to do more," McKinley said. "I owed my students more; I wanted to get out and get [credibility] . I felt like I hadn't lived." In hopes of finding that "something more," McKinley left the Winchendon School in 2003 to pursue her master's degree in English literature at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vt., assuming that furthering her education was the answer. However, in an unexpected, but welcome, turn of events, she found an opportunity to play on a female professional soccer team, the Vermont Voltage, where she competed against teams from Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts and Canada. Having played soccer since she was old enough to walk, McKinley remembers the offer as an opportunity she could not pass up. Unfortunately, she did it for the love of the game and not the money, so she had to hold a few jobs to make ends meet. She coached soccer at the local high school, managed a backcountry ski center, and if that wasn't enough, she also became a firefighter in her town's local fire department in Ripton, Vt. "It was a once in a lifetime shot to train and play at that level," McKinley said. "The best part of it was to have all the young kids come out to the games and see us play, and to see a light in their eyes because they know there are opportunities out there." As much as she loved to play soccer, it was the rush and adrenaline in being a firefighter and being part of an organization where she would be able to possibly take part in saving someone's life that started to draw her into firefighting. Unfortunately, the day came when McKinley and her squad couldn't get to a victim in time. She still vividly remembers when she and a fellow member of her squad went into the building to retrieve the body. She had trained for something like this, but when they got to the scene, they found that there was a second victim. The woman's pet Rottweiler never left his owner's side. That was the tipping point that caused her to search for a way where she would be able to firefight full time. "Once you experience something like that, you can't just do it part time . I wanted all of it," she said. "When the pager goes off, everything stops. The world stops spinning and someone needs help. The only thing that matters is to get from A to B to get to that person." Her first step was to attempt to enter the Air National Guard Crash Fire Rescue, where she would be able to make firefighting a career. But after beginning the process and going through the physical, she was placed on a waiting list. Discouraged by the waiting process, McKinley was talked into going to see a Marine Corps officer selection officer. After the OSO discussed the training regiment, what she would be tested to do, combined with the leadership, physical training and the opportunity to serve her country, she knew she was hooked. "This is what I was meant to do," she said as she serves on her first deployment overseas as one of the officers-in-charge of a section of 19 Marines. "This is it, because I still have those kids looking at me, but they're not in my English class, they're Marines." McKinley finds that many of the attributes that gained her success as a teacher in the classroom are transferrable over to her new role as a Marine officer. She says there's a requirement to be patient, honest and you have to be okay with not being liked all of the time. But most importantly, you have to be willing to listen. She has the utmost respect for each of the Marines with whom she has the pleasure of serving. "The utter gratitude I have for them at their age to make the sacrifice," she said. "I can't imagine at 18, 19 joining the Marine Corps, but here these Marines are doing such an enormous service for themselves and their country." Although there is no definite plan for what her future looks like, McKinley does know she eventually plans to return to teaching now that she has earned the knowledge and credibility she yearned for back when she was teaching in that 9th grade classroom.

This story was copied from DVIDS, a video distribution system for the armed forces. Click here to go to the original story.

Congratulations and good luck Suzie. You are an inspiration for many.

Why boarding schools are like fire stations...

2009-07-27T08:27:00.005-04:00

I am settling into a week of vacation in Maine, which gives me time to think about all that we prepare for at Winchendon. Summertime may be the busiest time of year as it is the time that we work to make sure that we are well prepared.

I used to keep a quote from Andy Grove pasted over my desk, but now I can't find it. Grove, one of the founders and former CEO's of Intel, had been asked how he had been so successful at building Intel His response was that he worked to keep his team prepared in the same way that the best fire station crews are. As in fighting fires, Intel could never fully predict what the opportunities or challenges would be as they pioneered the micro-processor business. Grove argued that a fire fighting team could never anticipate every possible scenario but were best prepared if they were able to work closely together to solve problems as they confronted them.

Success in boarding school is much the same. Our schools are in some respects living organisms that need to be adaptable and have teams of faculty and administrators prepared to work closely together to tackle challenges and opportunities. We are very fortunate to have just such a team at Winchendon. Who would have thought that we would face an ice storm, the H1N1 influenza, a crumbling economy, and $140 oil and $50 oil all within the same twelve months? Yet we navigated all of those and have continued to move our School forward in amazing ways, with many campus and program improvements, continued faculty development and impressive accomplishments by our students in so many facets of their Winchendon experience. And 2009/2010 is poised to be more exciting and successful despite the obvious challenges on the horizon.

I've always appreciated Andy Grove's wisdom. Grove would be impressed by the Winchendon team. It's a group who are especially wonderful teachers in part because they would also make good firefighters and would even likely rise to the challenge of figuring out the next generation of chips if that would help our students be more successful.

In case I have not said it often enough, "thank you" again Winchendon faculty and staff.

50 Years of appreciation

2009-07-27T07:30:00.004-04:00

This weekend members of the extended Kerney family gathered in Maine to celebrate my parents' 50th anniversary. It was a wonderful celebration with lots of love, appreciation and great stories that at least we found very funny. Fifty years is a long time, and we could have easily filled the three days with recollections of the wonderful things that my parents have done for us and so many others.

However, when it came down to time to distill our most important thoughts to just a few words, the thing that we wanted to say the biggest "thank-you" for in addition to their love and support was for the incredible commitment and sacrifices that they made to ensure that my brother, sister and I had the best possible education. They both worked long hours, drove cars more miles, took fewer vacations, considered chipped beef on toast a delicacy and generally lived frugally in order to send the three of us to the best available day school, boarding schools and expensive colleges. There were challenges, but the one thing that would never be compromised was getting a good education.

Sometimes we don't stop and reflect enough, but this weekend helped me refocus on why this is so important. Thanks again Mom and Dad for all of your love and support, for the thousands of wonderful memories, and for insisting that he three of us had the best education.

As another thunderstorm rumbles through...!

2009-07-02T06:31:00.004-04:00

If water is one of our most precious resources (as we know it is), Mother Nature has been incredibly generous to us over the last five weeks. I just don't know if I can convince our great grounds team who have kept the campus and golf course looking beautiful despite having to work most days in their rain gear. Thanks team!

Where have the last two weeks gone?

2009-06-16T08:10:00.009-04:00

Graduation and all of the associated events came and went...in a flash. Mother nature provided a beautiful day, the speakers were terrific with especially thoughtful comments by Dajin Kim('09) and Tricia Harris (mother of Ryan '02), and it was a wonderful celebration. The day was made made even brighter by a great group of alumni and trustees who came back to celebrate. Photos of the event can be ordered through collages.net. If necessary, the user is "Winchendon09" and the password is "8291". The photographer got some great photos.

...and then the campus was quiet...for about 12 hours!

By Monday, we were in a series of meetings wrapping the year up. Much of the faculty and staff participated in strategic planning meetings on Tuesday, and so on. By Thursday, people were ready for some fun. The women faculty led by Pam Blair had planned a day of fun and reflection, which resulted in among other things some wonderful, expressive work by all under the direction of Joanna Draugsvold.
Not to be outdown, some of the guys felt that they needed their own reflective moment. Where better than to make great use of our own 18 green classroom golf-course. Along the way we did a lot of problem solving, used some creative geography and addition skills and even discussed such global challenges as piracy. Some of the intrepid golfers are pictured below:
While many of the guys reflected on the fairways, Dan Shattuck continued to nurture the crops in Winchendon's newest classroom, a greenhouse where science will be applied.
We will be eating this lab's produce this summer and fall!
Meanwhile, preparations are in full swing for both summer school, which starts June 28th, and the new year, which will start Saturday September 5th. Construction is already under way in the remodeling of the art building, and we are starting the permitting process for the new tennis courts. The plans for classroom and technology upgrades are being completed, and the Ford dorm improvements continue this summer. In the meantime, we have found time to plan for new arts offerings this fall and are finishing the design work on the new Global Dynamics course. The whole faculty will be back for a week of professional development at "Winch U." in late August.

The students may be on a break, but things continue at a fast pace at Winchendon. Mr. Chretien has even been looking for Wapiti on line! How do people feel about a Wapiti trophy head on the wall in the dining hall?! As things get back to a more manageable pace, I will get back to more regular postings, although I hope that a couple of them will be from the coast of Maine as we get into July and August.

In the meantime, I hope that you are finding time to enjoy the summer.

Let the festivities begin...

2009-05-28T19:19:00.003-04:00

Tonight we began our end-of-year celebrations with a great baccalaureate followed by a steak, lobster and chicken dinner. One of the highlights was a visit from Scott Bartlett '63 who shared some wonderful history of the school and a great new fight song that he has composed for the Winch. I will work to get the lyrics up here if not the an actual recording of the song in the coming days. Alex Yeung '05 shared some great perspective as did faculty members Adrian Clewlow and Vestigia dedicatee Alex Magay. Another special moment that few students anywhere will be as lucky to have was the Winchendon students being seranaded by their Director of College Counseling Terry Ward. As is always the case Dajin Kim's ('09) piano music was beautiful. We will miss her music next year.

Ewood Kloos '09 delivered the following wonderful speach:

Once upon a time there was a person whose nationality was unspecified, whose language could be from any part of the world, whose religion was not obvious, whose ethnicity, background, wealth were uncertain. This person walked through the doors of the Winchendon School. He or she ate, slept, studied, laughed, interacted with 26 different cultures and nationalities. This person could be anyone of us.

The past holds the key to what is possible in the future. We acquire here a piece of paper which states we are ready for college, but we have attained much more; the pride of our parents and family; the leap in to adulthood; but most importantly, gratification in ourselves that we have obtained proficiencies that will enable us to choose our own directions. In this unique bubble in which we have lived this year, we have dealt with challenging circumstances. We lived by a relentless schedule of classes, tests, study hours, mandatory afternoon obligations, extracurricular activities and other self disciplines. We have mastered this rigorous place. Working endlessly, trying to achieve our goals while dealing with strict rules, we are the successes of the Winchendon School.

As we begin to look back with nostalgia on this voyage. Attending the Winchendon School has been a daring journey for each of us. Beginning with worries about high gas prices, ending with qualms of a economic recession; beginning with a flu micro epidemic at school, ending with the H1N1 virus pandemic; beginning with a calm fall, ending with a rough cold winter just behind our wake; beginning as teenagers, ending as young adults; we have crossed many thresholds as a community, as cohorts. We have learned from each other. The evacuation during the ice storm bonded us, the study hours disciplined us, our roommates took care of us, our friends comforted us and our teachers guided us.

This is the first time I have ever been at a school which had a morning meeting. It is unique that a school has a gathering of all the students and faculty in such a manner. I compare it to a large family gathering. Mr. Kerney at the head of the table leading and directing, Ms. Blair with either good news- if she gives a Student of the Week Award- or with bad news- if she names you back in study hall- Mr. Duncan, trying to keep us awake with his enthusiasm and spirit, and Mr. Williams with his student activity announcements. Each of us has the chance to have our own little say as well.

There was always something to complain about at the Winchendon School: the food was bland; the classes too small, too stinky, too boring, too American, too hard, too Asian, too “o-my-god-I-got-another-one-for-the-week”; too much of hearing “I want to go home”- probably the most common sentence around. But there was also always something to look forward to: a good workout at the gym, a competitive game in sports, a nice relaxing moment with friends, a climb to the top of Mt. Manadnock, a Student Government organized Chinese New Year, a scavenger hunt, a Ping-Pong tournament, a logo competition with the Wapiti as winner, and, maybe even, a challenging and fun lesson in class. Yes, I think we can admit complaining is an easy thing to do. Caring is more difficult; it requires a certain sacrifice; it demands integrity. We have cared this year.

Now we look to the future. The college choices we have made during the last few weeks have been critical in further developing our own lives. Now we must separate. Many will go to Asia, some go to Europe, a few to Africa, some to South-America and others will stay in North-America. We wish each other will on our journeys. As we think back to this place from time to time and reflect on what we have learned here, what we have gained here, not only as students, but as human beings, we will reflect on a bygone life. College is before us; years where we will further mature and thrive. As Mahatma Gandhi said: “Each night when I go to sleep I die, and next morning when I wake up I am reborn again”, so let us die a little tonight, in peace, and be reborn tomorrow on commencement day into a new life.
Ewoud Kloos '09

Adrian Clewlow's thoughtful words of wisdom are below:
Baccalaureate 2009
This speech will be short, sweet, and hopefully, engaging. While this is directed mostly to our graduating class, I believe that it is relevant to all of you here.

I would like to talk about the lessons that I've learned in the 20 years since my high school graduation. Don't take what I say as "truth." Just listen. Perhaps my experience can help you out a tiny bit. As we look at the present global crises that we are faced with, we only need to look at history to see that we have been here before, and we will be here again, but we will endure and overcome all obstacles. Many of you have experienced great loss and suffering in your lives, but you have endured, and you have overcome. As you progress, here are 5 things that have helped illuminate my path as I have moved forward in my life and they may, perhaps, help you in your adventures in life.

#5: Live as much as you possibly can.
You are going to work the rest of your lives, so don't be in a rush to start. Stretch out your college education. Now is the time to suck life into your lungs, before you grow roots and establish a life that includes a mortgage, car payments and kids.
Take whole semesters off to travel overseas. Take jobs and internships that pay less money or no money. Investigate your passions. Live in different cities. Delay for as long as possible, the inevitable entry into the workplace. You have 50 years of work ahead of you in your chosen careers, so enjoy what is out there now as much as you can.

#4: Pursue joy, not just happiness.
This is probably the hardest lesson of all to learn. It probably seems to you that the goal in life is to be "happy." You may have to make sacrifices and study and work hard, but, by and large, happiness should be predictable.
Nice house. Nice car. Nice material things. Happiness is temporary and fleeting, especially when you suffer the loss of these nice things. Joy, by contrast, is unpredictable. It comes from pursing interests and passions that do not obviously result in happiness, but fill you with a greater sense of achievement, knowledge, and satisfaction. Figure out what your joy is. Figure out what it takes within you to create joy in your life.
Pursuing joy will give you the opportunity to study what you love and what you WANT to study, not the things that you feel like you HAVE to study.

#3: Learn to speak a foreign language.
The world is a great playground, and if you can stretch out beyond that which you know, and even beyond that which you are comfortable with, you will be greatly enriched. Learning a foreign language will open up many doors for you in many different ways. You have all experienced different cultures here at Winchendon, so why not dig a little deeper and live the cultures that you have only scratched the surface of. Most significantly, you will learn a little more about yourself and of what you are truly capable. Reach out and explore what the world has to offer.

#2: Continue to learn.
Learning is a process, not an event. Learning is not over when you get your diploma or your college degree. You should never stop learning. In fact, it gets easier to learn once you're out of school because it's easier to see the relevance of why you need to learn.
You have been learning in a structured, dedicated environment here at Winchendon. We, as a community, should have prepared you well enough to take the next step in your educational careers as you progress into college. All that we ask now is that you carry what you have learned here with you, and that you strive for collegiate success with the same determination as you have shown here.

And lastly, and by no means least:
#1: Enjoy your friends and “be here now”:
This is the most important advice I have for you. It doesn't need much explanation. I'll just repeat it: Enjoy your friends and be here now. Be in the moment.
As you look around, there are many of your friends and classmates who are not here to enjoy the graduation weekend. They, like those of you graduating this weekend, have been working towards this moment for the duration of their time here at Winchendon. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, they cannot be here to share in this celebration. Times change, situations vary, but your friends will always be your friends. Take pride in your accomplishments. Take pride in your friends’ accomplishments. Remember your friends in good times as they will always be there for you in the bad times. Friends will continue to serve as your foundation as you branch out and explore life beyond the Winch. Friends will continue to remind you from where you came and serve as strong roots in your history, while also allowing you to grow and evolve into more complete individuals.

In conclusion, we encourage you to continue to develop as an individual, but we hope that you will always carry with you the things that you have learned during your time here. All 5 of these points mentioned go hand in hand with each other. Each single point exists within all the other points. We hope that you will remember the time that you have spent here fondly, as your time here will always be a part of your experience, and years down the road, it will still have played a major part in defining who you are as a person. Please come back to visit the school and the faculty who have helped to mold you. You are unique in the fact that you are Mr. Kerney’s first Winchendon class. You are the yardstick by which all other classes will be judged. I hope that you are as proud of your accomplishments as we are, and it is our sincere hope that you continue to keep ties to the Winchendon School through alumni events and frequent visits back to The Winch. Good luck and good fortune to all of you.

Thanks to all who made this a great evening. Now the students are back studying hard for the math finals tomorrow and many faculty are working to correct exams. I will work to get more posted in the coming days as I can.

Have a good evening.

We are into the last week!

2009-05-26T09:38:00.003-04:00

This morning started with a working breakfast. Whereas the dining room is usually abuzz on most mornings, lots of students were eating and taking a last look at their exam notes as they prepared for exams. As I write this, most are getting near the end of that first exam and hopefully checking their work carefully! There will be a second exam this afternoon for many, after which the students will take a short break to enjoy the beautiful day, relax with friends, ride skateboards, play some tennis and perhaps even get a few holes of golf in. Then it will be back to studying for tomorrow's assessments.

Outside of Ford Hall the tent is going up, and all around final preparations for graduation festivities are under way. It is hard to believe how quickly this great year is coming to an end. However, there is a whole lot of work to be done between now and Saturday!

Arts and WOW!

2009-05-24T16:15:00.002-04:00

As I look back on last week, highlights would have to involve the culmination of many WOW projects and the arts, arts, arts...

On the WOW front, a number of groups made final presentations. I don't have the grand total yet, but lots of money has been raised for different organizations and causes. It is wonderful to see how the Winchendon School community has stepped up. There was some interesting facial hair growth, a playhouse made from water bottles and a raffle to add to the excitement. Most importantly, different groups shared important information and perspective with not just the student body but also kids in the town school as well.
On Thursday evening I announced that there was a tie for the top prize winners. The Harvey advisee group took top honors for the work that they did educating us about both Angola and land mine atrocities as well as their connecting with a young student in Angola and their fund raising efforts. Mr. Johnson's group shared top honors for the workshops on Asian culture that they led for eighty sixth graders in town. The Winchendon students received many thank you's and compliments from both the local students and the teachers at the middle school.

On Friday afternoon, members of the two winning groups headed into Boston for a little fun, which included a duck boat tour. In this case, Rob M. is about to take the duck boat through/over a fleet of sailboats due to his failure to look where he is going.

A great evening on the Charles River was followed by a big dinner at Smith and Wollensky's.

But WOW wasn't the only excitement. On Thursday night, most of the students and faculty turned out for the annual art show. The dining room was full of art, artists and viewers, and all were impressed by the year's work. We are looking into putting a number of these on longer term display for parents and other visitors in the coming months.

A neat totem pole has of ceramic sculptures has been erected outside of the Dining Hall, and the potters had a raku firing as well.

...and if all that wasn't enough, we also learned where Mrs. Blair gets her wisdom!

Thanks for another great week.

Updated - We Don't Need No More Trouble!

2009-05-13T15:06:00.004-04:00

Shortly after I posted yesterday, Playing for Change changed its website. I have now updated the link to the same video on YouTube, where there are other Playing For Change videos as well.

Great video and message. If you haven's seen it, check it out. Just Click Here. It's well worth a couple of minutes.

...and this is an incredible version of "Stand By Me" that has been viewed more than ten million times.

Click here to get to Playing For Change's website.

Thanks to Margaret Bartlett for telling me about it.

The Winchendon Wapiti

2009-05-11T06:45:00.006-04:00

What is a 'wapiti' you ask? 'Wapiti' is the run-away leading proposal for a mascot for The Winchendon School. Wapiti is a broadly used term for elk, and the students and faculty have strongly supported it as the new mascot.

Since students first welcomed me to Winchendon last year, they have been consistently talking about the need for a mascot. The “green wave” just hasn’t done it for them, and lots of ideas have emerged over the year. There were so many good ideas, it was clear that we needed a contest. And what contest is any good without prizes? After all, we wanted as many good entries that we could get.

In the end, there were eight who submitted not just designs but essays explaining their submissions. A panel of students and faculty members reduced this to three, and then most of the community voted last week. The final three included a mustang (with a link to our Toy Town heritage), a lynx and the wapiti (also known as elk). More than 240 people voted with over 60% choosing the wapiti and fewer than 4% saying that they didn’t like any of the three options.

A quick visit to Wikipedia suggests that the wapiti is one of the largest members of the deer family and one of the largest mammals found in North America and eastern Asia. Members of the species are also found in Europe and New Zealand, and wapiti are known for being very adaptable, just like students from Winchendon. The proposer of the wapiti, history teacher and hockey coach Sean Hayes wrote in his proposal:

"This animal draws similarities to the Winchendon community in various ways. The wapiti are found on three continents in particular, while we have students who come from all over the globe. The wapiti are often times seen living in large numbers in order to provide protection from predators. They work together for the greater good of the heard, providing protection for one another while they eat and sleep....some cultures even revere the elk or wapiti as a spiritual force."

Mr. Hayes had also thoughtfully researched the School's crest and history in an effort to develop a link to the antlered animal featured on the crest. The crest is thought to tie back to the town of Winchendon in Buckinghamshire, England. Mr. Hayes had initially focused on a buck, but that would have resulted by definition in a male mascot. The wapiti allows for a tie to the crest and can can be either male or female (although the females do not have antlers). Many also liked the ideas that the wapiti are strong and can be found on multiple continents, and no one had heard of other schools selecting it as a mascot. Some liked the possible mystery around wapiti and the fact that some people would ask "what is a wapiti?"

Mr. Hayes wins a new Ipod for his efforts. We will be working to refine the design for the wapiti logo and will discuss the Wapiti at the next Board of Trustees meeting at the end of the month. Thank you to Mr. Hayes, to the Student Council for stewarding the selection process and to all of the students and faculty who participated in the selection process.

Good Morning Friday

2009-05-08T07:00:00.003-04:00

It is a beautiful morning in Winchendon, with the early sun and warmth making all those cold winter mornings seeming worth it. As I walked up the sixth fairway to school this morning, I couldn't help but marvel how lucky we are to be able to live, learn and work in such a great setting.

It's also especially nice to go through this morning's headlines from around the world and not see the H1N1 virus anywhere in the top stories. The only exception was in the China Daily, but even that was good news as the story covered how that China has released the people that it had had in quarantine. While we are all saddened by the earlier loss of life in Mexico, it is wonderful to see that at least for now H1N1 has not developed into the dangerous outbreak that many has feared. The head of the WHO credits increased awareness and the rapid response of those initially impacted.

The additional good news is that any concerns about near term border issues or restrictions have declined significantly. At this point we are discouraging the departure of any other students due such concerns. It appears that all borders will remain open and that travel will not be disrupted.
While the total number of cases worldwide will likely climb, the major health organizations are increasingly confident of their ability to treat H1N1.

Now...if only we could have the same good luck in getting through the current economic turmoil! Have a good weekend and happy mother's day.

Thursday Morning, May 7 Update

2009-05-07T09:09:00.002-04:00

Spring showers are providing green fairways and lots of early flowers. The lilacs are getting ready to bloom. Things should be beautiful for graduation, which is just over three weeks away. It is great to see the students out on the golf course and playing fields each afternoon, although I am often jealous as I would like to be out with them.

The good news is that the campus remains very healthy, perhaps healthier than it has been all year! With all the awareness about H1N1 and precautionary measures that we have taken, we have very few people even with colds. Unfortunately, a small number of students have chosen to leave early due to concerns about possible border closures, but the significant majority are hard at work, preparing to finish the year in high style. In the last couple of days, there have also been a number of students who had intended to leave but have now decided to stay as we have learned more about the disease and it is has proved less virulent than initially expected.

Spring is a very busy time. There are all sorts of interesting WOW projects and presentations going on. Mrs. Blair is starting to meet with students about course placement for next year, and Mr. Ward and the college counselors are getting the juniors geared up for their college search. There are games and athletic contests almost every day. It's a wonderful time to be at Winchendon!

Morning update on H1N1 - Tuesday May 5

2009-05-05T08:40:00.003-04:00

Good morning,

We are continuing to get some inquiries from parents, with the greatest concern being not about actual infection but about the risk of border closings. However, much of the news this morning is positive with the reporting of new cases appearing to slow and almost all of those infected responding well to medical treatment. There have been no known further deaths in the U.S.A. other than the one young child who contracted the virus in Mexico.

The Winchendon School remains open as are all other boarding schools and colleges that we are aware of. There had been one boarding school in New Hampshire that had closed yesterday, but they have returned to full schedule and normal classes today.

As reported on CNN, U.S. Director of Homeland Security Janet Napolitino stated that the H1N1 is proving to be similar and not more dangerous than the normal flu.

"What the epidemiologists are seeing now with this particular strain of H1N1 is that the severity of the disease, the severity of the flu -- how sick you get -- is not stronger than regular seasonal flu," she said.

In its daily update, The World Health Organization was also positive about the slowing pace of infection and reiterated its recommendation that there was no need to consider border closures or restriction on travel.

"WHO advises no restriction of regular travel or closure of borders. "

We will continue to monitor the situation closely but are pleased to see the general outlook improving.

Have a good and healthy day,

John

Important Letter To Our International Players

2009-05-04T20:54:00.003-04:00

Updated post - the letter has now been translated to Korean and is included at the bottom of this post. Thank you to senior Dajin Kim for her help getting this translated.

The H1N1 virus continues to be on all of our minds. Below is a letter with a translation into Chinese by Hao Wen , our student body President. I will add a Korean version as soon as it is completed.

May 4, 2009

Dear Parents of International Students,

Many of you have raised concerns about the number of H1N1(Swine) influenza cases in the United States and related concerns about getting your children home safely.

We continue to monitor the situation very closely at Winchendon and have taken many steps to ensure that our community remains healthy. Fortunately the influenza has been relatively mild in the United States to date with all but one who has contracted H1N1 having responded positively to treatment. The one victim who lost his life was a very young boy who contracted the disease in Mexico and then traveled to the States. Otherwise, the current strain of the influenza has proven to be less virulent than previous, more dangerous variants.

However, there are both internal factors and external risks that we cannot control. At this point, perhaps the biggest risk is not actual infection but the risk that international travel may be restricted at some point. We cannot be fully confidant that international travel will be unfettered or that at some point border restrictions may be posted.

Therefore, we are creating an opportunity for international parents to request that their students be allowed to return home and complete their year through independent study starting immediately. However, it is very important to recognize that if your student does return home, he or she will still be responsible for completing a significant amount of work independently and submitting that work electronically. For some students, this may also include the participation in conference calls or web-based seminars. This work will be an important consideration in your student’s final grade.

Please understand that we are creating this independent study program as an alternative to completing the school year as scheduled. The Winchendon School will continue to operate through the next four weeks as scheduled, and we remain committed to maintaining a safe and healthy environment for our students and faculty. The World Health Organization and The Centers For Disease Control continue to maintain that neither school or border closures are necessitated at this point. We will continue to monitor the situation constantly and respond as necessary.

Safety remains our highest concern. Accordingly we will need to speak directly with any parent who is requesting a child’s early departure and to review the travel documents. Students will only be permitted to participate in this independent study program if they are traveling home to be with their parents or another relative who is at least 25 years old. Parents should make their request to either our Dean of Students Elliot Harvey or me, and all final travel documentation will need to be approved by Mr. Harvey. Before students leave, they will need to have time to meet with each of their teachers to review their independent study projects and understand the timelines and requirements. They will also need to meet with Academic Dean Pam Blair to make initial course selections for next year, as well as then going through normal end-of-year packing and check-out with Mr. Harvey. Finally, we cannot promise that we will be able to provide all students with transportation to the airport as our staff will all still be teaching. We will do our best to help out in any way that we can, but students and families leaving early may need to arrange their own transportation to the airport. Mr. Harvey, Mrs. Blair and I can be reached through the School’s main number at 001-978-297-1223 or by email at eharvey@winchendon.org, pblair@winchendon.org or jkerney@winchendon.org.

Please note that The Winchendon School may withdraw this early departure option if the health environment improves considerably and that this option will only remain in effect until May 15th, at which point students will need to complete final exams on campus. Furthermore, if the health environment worsens, the School’s administration may determine it necessary to shorten or close the school year sooner.

I hope that many families will choose to have their children remain with us and see what has been a terrific year to the finish. However, I also want each of our families to feel as safe as possible. You, as parents, will need to make that choice.

It is unfortunate when we have to alter plans unexpectedly because of circumstances beyond our control, but that is also what we aim to prepare our students for. Those who can manage the unexpected often do the best. We have been fortunate to have a remarkable year at Winchendon. This year’s senior class has been absolutely wonderful and has helped lead this school in many ways. While I hope that most of us will still be together through graduation, there is no need for many of us to have to worry unnecessarily about health or travel. This may require some to choose a different path to finishing the year. Knowing these students, I am sure that something very good will come of their efforts. For those that choose to finish the year with us, they will also have a strong finish, and we will take very good care of them.

Nulla vestigial retrorsum (no steps backward),

John Kerney
Headmaster

2009年五月四日

亲爱的国际学生的家长们：

近期许多家长非常关心美国H1N1(猪流感)的传染病例以及如何采取措施让自己的孩子安全到家。

我们持续并且十分仔细的观察着学校状况并且已经采取了必要的措施去保证我们整个社区的健康以及安全。幸运的是这种传染病在美国还处在温和的阶段，在全美所有的病例中几乎所有的患者接受治疗后都有积极的反应。唯独一名从墨西哥旅游回来后感染上这种疾病的年轻男孩子失去了生命。换句话说，如今状态下的流感病毒被证实了比以往传染病毒要温和很多。

但是，现在有许多我们不能控制的内部和外部风险。现存更大的隐藏风险并不是流感的传播，而是国际间旅行有可能会被某种程度的受限。我们不能完全肯定在什么状态下国际旅行会被禁止或者通行。

因此，我们为国际学生家长提供了一个机会去早点接回自己的孩子并且马上在家自主的完成剩下的学业。但是，很重要的一点是即使学生回到了家，也必须完成大量的作业并且通过邮件方式提交作业给老师。对于一些学生来说，这需要包括电话辅导以及网上教学。这些学习和功课将会在期末总成绩中占有很大的比例。

请记住我们只是为您提供了另外一种在家自主学习的项目去完成计划中的学校课程。温臣顿中学会在以下的四个星期继续如往常在学校开展教学，并且我们也会做最大的努力去保证学生以及教师的安全。国际卫生组织以及疾病防治中心在现在的情况下认为学校以及国家边境应该保持开放。

安全始终是我们最注重的一点。我们需要直接与那些希望早点接回孩子的家长交谈并察看旅行资料。只有打算回国与父母或者与年龄高于25岁的亲属来完成这个自主学习项目的学生才能获得这个资格。有意愿的家长可以向学生处主任Mr.Harvey或者我本人提出申请，所有的旅行资料必须需要经过Mr.Harvey的审核认可。在学生离开前，他们必须和所有的任课老师商讨独自学习项目以及家庭功课的要求及提交时间。另外他们也必须和教导处主任Pam Blair交谈并且选择明年的课程。学生们有责任去完成房间清洁并由Mr.Harvey检查。最后，因为老师们会继续在学校授课，我们不能保证学校可以提供所有学校至机场的交通服务。我们会竭尽所能去帮助学生，但是需要提早离校的学生或家庭应该首先自己安排到机场的交通工具。您可以随时通过学校电话联系到Mr.Harvey, Mrs.Blair,和我，或者发邮件到eharvey@winchendon.org, pblair@winchendon.org, jkerney@winchendon.org.

请注意如果健康情况得到很好的改善，温臣顿中学可能取消这个提早离开计划。并且此计划截止日期是五月十五号，因为即将到来的期末考试，在此日期后学生将不会允许离开学校。另外，如果局势持续恶化，学校管理层会视情况决定是否提前放假。

我希望家长能让孩子们与我们待在一起享受余下的美好时光。但是我们也同时希望您感觉并且确保孩子的安全。您，作为家长，需要做出这个决定。

在复杂以及预料不到的局势下，我们感到不幸的去更改原订计划和方案，但借此机会我们希望教会孩子如何去根据不同的局势去做出不同的判断。那些可以合理处理安排的学生将在以后的生活中收益匪浅。我们幸运的和学生一起创造出了非常杰出的一年。今年的毕业班表现无与伦比，并且在各方面做到了学校的标榜。我始终希望大部分学生可以选择与我们留在学校，安全和旅行健康目前还是可以保证的。一些学生可能会选择提早回国学习，我同时相信他们也可以和完满的完成本学年的课程。对于那些愿意和我们在学校一起继续课程的学生，我肯定他们会十分杰出的完成学业，同时我们会很好的照顾他们。

勇往直前！

John Kerney
校长

...and in Korean.

윈첸든 국제 학생 학부모님께.

최근 여러 학부모님들께서 최근 미국에서 일어난 SI (돼지 인플루엔자)에 관련된 사건들과 학생들이 집으로 안전하게 돌아갈 수 있느냐에 관한 고려 사항을 전해 주셨습니다.

우리는 이 곳 윈첸든에서 상황을 자세히 지켜보며 모든 교직원과 학생들에게 피해가 돌아가지 않도록 최선을 다하고 있습니다. 다행히도 미국에서는 인플루엔자의 영향이 상대적으로 작았으며 신종 바이러스 N1H1에 반응한 희생자는 지금까지 단 한 명인 것으로 나타났습니다. 이 감염자는 멕시코에서 일정을 마친 후 미국으로 돌아와 안타깝게도 짧은 생애를 마감한 어린 소년이었습니다. 이 경우를 제외하면 SI의 영향이 이종의 인플루엔자 (예: SARS 사스 감기) 비해 덜 심각한 것으로 나타났습니다. 그럼에도 불구하고 학교측에서 통제할 수 없는 외부 사정이 나타나고 있습니다. 현재로서 우리의 가장 큰 우려는 감염이 아닌 학생들이 고국에 돌아갈 수 있을 것이냐에 관한 문제 입니다. 미국에서 국제 여행이 제한 될 가능성이 있기 때문이 때문입니다. 국제 여행이 현재처럼 자유로울 지 제한 될 지는 현재로서 저희도 장담을 할 수 없는 상황에 놓여져 있습니다.

이 때문에 학교에서는 국제 학생들이 집에 안전하게 돌아가 독립적으로 학교 공부를 하고 과제를 마쳐 학년을 마감할 수 있는 기회를 제공하기로 결정을 내렸습니다. 이 기회를 택하는 경우에는 학생들은 책임감을 가지고 공부를 해야 하며 과제 역시 이메일을 통해 반드시 제출해야 한다는 사실을 명심해야 합니다. 몇몇 학생들의 경우에는 컨퍼런스 (추가 공부시간)와 인터넷을 이용한 수업 역시 포함 사항입니다. 이 모든 과제는 학기말 성적에 포함되므로 굉장히 중요하다는 것을 잊지 말아주십시오. 이 기회는 예정된 학년을 마치는 데에 꼭 필요한 과정의 대안이라는 것을 이해해주시기 바랍니다. 윈첸든스쿨은 예정된 바와 같이 남은 4주 동안 학생들과 교직원의 건강과 안전을 최우선으로 한 환경 안에서 수업 역시 모두 진행 될 것입니다. 세계 건강 기구와 질병 통제 센터에서는 학교 휴업 또는 미국 국경선 폐쇄가 필요치 않다고 발표했습니다. 상황을 계속 지켜보며 상황 변화가 생길 경우 바로 학부모님께 연락 드리겠습니다.

가장 중요한 것은 학생들의 안전입니다. 그러므로 위에 말씀 드린 기회를 자녀분이 택하고자 할 때는 우리는 학부모님들과 직접 대화를 나눌 것이고 학생의 국제선 티켓 문서를 확인할 것입니다. 이 기회는 고국에 돌아가 부모님 또는 25세 이상의 친척과 함께 생활하는 경우에만 허락이 내려질 것입니다. 이 경우, 학부모님들께서는 저 (교장선생님) 또는 Mr. Harvey께 연락을 주셔야 하고 그 후Harvey 선생님께서 최종적으로 국제선 항공 티켓을 확인하실 것입니다. 떠나기 전에 학생들은 각 선생님과 만나 과제, 제출 시간 등을 반드시 확인해야만 합니다. 또한 이 학생들은 아카데믹 학장 Mrs. Blair를 만나 내년에 수강할 과목을 선택하고 지금까지 해왔던 대로 짐을 모두 꾸린 후 Mr. Harvey에게 확인 받은 후 떠날 수 있습니다. 학생들이 떠날 시 교직원들은 수업 중일 터라 공항으로 운송 수단이 제공될 수 있을 지는 현재 미지수 입니다. 최선을 다해 이 문제를 해결해 보도록 노력할 예정이지만 일찍 떠나는 학생들에게는 떠나기 전 운송수단 문제를 미리 생각해보는 것을 권합니다. 연락은 001-978-297-1223으로 전화를 주시거나 Mr. Harvey: eharvey@winchendon.org / Mrs. Blair: plabir@winchendon.org / Mr. Kerney jkerney@winchendon.org 로 이메일 보내주시면 바로 답장 드리겠습니다.

보건 환경상황이 상당히 나아지는 경우 학교에서 이 결정을 취소 할 수도 있다는 점을 숙지하여 주시기 바랍니다. 이러한 경우, 이 결정은 5월 15일까지만 유효합니다. 이 때문에 일찍 출발하기로 결정한 학생들은 5월 15일까지 교내에서 학기말고사를 마쳐야 합니다. 보건 환경이 심히 악화되는 경우엔 불가피하게 학년이 예정에 비해 일찍 끝날 수도 있다는 점 역시 기억해주시기 바랍니다.

많은 학생들이 학교에 남아 즐거운 학년 말을 모두 함께 마감할 수 있기를 바라지만 학생들의 안전 역시 빼놓을 수 없는 문제라는 것을 압니다. 모든 결정은 여러분, 부모님께 달려 있습니다.

학교 측에서 통제할 수 없는 이 문제로 예정에 없었던 대안 방법을 갑작스레 발표하게 되어 굉장히 유감입니다. 하지만 이 대안 방법도 역시 우리 학생들을 위한 최선의 선택이었습니다. 함께 알찬 한 해를 지낸 우리 학생들이 자랑스럽고 이들과 함께 할 수 있었음에 감사하고 있습니다. 곧 졸업생이 될 우리 12학년 학생들은 후배들을 도우며 학교를 이끌어 나갔습니다. 모든 12학년 학생들이 자랑스럽게 졸업하는 모습을 볼 수 있기를 희망하지만 불가피 일찍 돌아가기로 결정한 학생들도 있을 것입니다. 비록 예정과 다르게 학년 말을 마치더라도 지금까지 쌓아둔 노력과 지식이 이 학생들의 밝은 미래의 디딤돌이 될 거라 자신합니다. 학교에 남아 학년 말을 마치는 학생들은 좀더 알찬 마무리를 할 수 있을 것이며 우리 교직원들 또한 최선을 다해 학생들을 돕고 돌볼 것을 약속 드립니다.

Nulla vestigial restrosum (뒷 걸음질 없이 앞으로 나아가자.)

2009년 5월 4일

John Kerney 줜 컬니
Headmaster 윈첸든스쿨 교장

Being Prepared!

2009-05-01T12:43:00.002-04:00

We are very focused on perpetuating a safe environment for all of the members of the Winchendon School community and have therefore been keeping close tabs on recent developments associated with the outbreak of the "Swine Flu", or H1N1. We have a crisis preparedness team that is meeting at least two times daily to track developments and update our own plans. We also have specific "Flu Plan" to cover the specifics of such a situation as an outbreak.

In our case, we focus on two possible scenarios or circumstances, and we are addressing both at this time.

On one hand, we need to protect the community from possible infection and be prepared should that happen. We are 1)educating all in the community on best practices for prevention, 2)ensuring that we are prepared for a quarantine situation, 3)stockpiling extra resources, and 4)looking to minimize risk of infection through unnecessary travel or exposure in confined spaces. For instance, this weekend we are limiting student travel to a few, supervised athletic events and tryouts, and allowing travel for college visits/selection. We understand that this will be unpopular for some and inconvenient for others but need to put the safety of the entire community first.
The second focus is to ensure that our students have the chance to travel home if necessary before the possible closure of international borders or cessation of flights. This is very hard to predict, but we are monitoring the situation closely and will move quickly if we thing that the closure of borders becomes a high risk.

We are in a rapidly developing situation and are working to monitor very closely. If you become aware of new developments that we should be aware of, please direct to Alex Magay or Elliot Harvey at our main number (978-297-1223) or by emailing at amagay@winchendon.org and eharvey@winchendon.org. Alex and Elliot as well as the front desk team should be the front line for any questions.

The resources that we are monitoring include the following national sources as well as local and state agencies:

World Health Organization

Centers For Disease Control (CDC)

We are also keeping posted through various news sources including CNN, The New York Times, China Daily, and the BBC among others.

The following is a statement that we issued from Winchendon this morning:

Influenza / H1N1 Flu (Swine Flu) Precautions at The Winchendon School

The Winchendon School is committed to the health and safety of our entire community, so we have taken proactive steps to protect each of our residents. The Winchendon School Crisis Committee has met daily and discussed the current state of affairs from both local and global perspectives. We have educated our students on how to protect themselves. We have made hand sanitizer available to all students, distributed disinfectant wipes throughout the dorms, and posted notices in multiple languages throughout campus to promote hand washing and health precautions. We have cancelled school trips to public places and restricted unnecessary travel off campus. Certain school-sanctioned, supervised activities will continue as planned.

Recent reports confirm eight cases of the H1N1 influenza A virus in Massachusetts. Our medical staff has been monitoring our students’ health closely and has not detected any students with flu-like symptoms. Nevertheless, our medical staff is in close contact with national and state agencies, as well as the local hospital. We stand ready to identify and treat any potential cases of influenza on campus.

Our Crisis Committee is assessing, planning, and implementing the School’s response to the situation. We are following the advice of health officials and are doing all that we can to prevent infection. The safety of your children remains our first priority.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the campus health center at gharrington@winchendon.org, or at 978-297-1223 or the office of the Dean of Students.

We recommend that you reinforce the following precautions with your child:

First and most important, wash your hands with soap! Try to stay in good general health. Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food. Do not touch surfaces that may be contaminated with the flu virus. Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

According to the CDC, symptoms for swine flu are similar to the symptoms of seasonal flu in humans and may include some combination of the following:

Fever, greater than 100° F (38° C) Sore throat
Cough Stuffy nose
Chills Headache
Body aches Fatigue

To prevent the spread of H1N1 flu, the CDC suggests:

Avoid contact with ill persons, cover your nose and mouth when you cough or sneeze, and throw used tissues in a trashcan. After you cough or sneeze, wash your hands with soap and water or use an alcohol-based hand gel.

Summary:

We are continuing to consult and follow the advice of public health authorities and sharing developments with the independent school community through email and also on our website.

For more information about, please visit the websites listed below or contact the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology and Immunization at 617-983-6088.

Massachusetts Department of Public Health website on influenza
http://www.mass.gov/dph/flu

Center for Disease Control (CDC) website on swine flu
http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu

Our Student Body President Hao Wen has also translated it into Chinese for us:

温臣顿中学流行性感冒/H1N1流感（猪流感）防范措施

温臣顿中学由始至终的将学生的健康以及安全放在首位，我们已经实施了积极的方案来保护学校片区。温臣顿中学成立了紧急预防小组并且每日商讨国际以及国内的安全局势，另外还有教导学生如何保护自己的身体健康。学校已经开始提供手部杀菌剂，发放宿舍杀菌纸巾，用几种语言在全校范围内粘贴了关于健康防范措施的宣传单。我们同时严控并取消了一些公共场所的校外活动。

最新的报道显示马塞诸塞州有八个H1N1流行性感冒病例。我们的医护工作人员非常仔细的注意着学生的身体安全，目前尚未发现有疑似流感的症状。另外，本校医护人员随时和美国以及本州的卫生部门以及当地医院保持着联系。在校园内我们随时准备着去辨认以及治疗任何潜在的流感案例。

学校紧急预防小组正在评估，计划，以及更新学校对当前局势的回应。我们听从卫生官员的意见以及采取任何措施去预防传染。学生的安全永远是我们的前提。
如果您有任何的疑问，请与本校医护室联系，gharrington@winchendon.org, 978-297-1223,您同时也可以与学生处主任联系。

我们也希望您能帮助增加孩子的预防意识：

第一也是最重要的，用洗手液勤洗手！保持身体健康。保持睡眠，多运动，减少压力，多喝水，以及多吃健康的食物。不要接触可能粘有流感细菌的物体。避免与生病的患者有过近的接触。

根据疾病防治中心的资料，猪流感的症状与人体季节性流感相似，有如下症状：

高烧超过38度喉咙疼
咳嗽鼻子堵塞
发冷头疼
身体酸痛疲劳

为防止H1N1流感的传播，疾病防治中心建议：

防止接触病人，在咳嗽时遮掩鼻子，将用过的纸巾扔到垃圾桶。在咳嗽以及清理鼻涕后，要用洗手液洗手或者喷杀菌剂。

总结：

我们将继续商讨、跟随公共健康官员的意见以及与周边学校交换信息。

如果您需要更多的信息，请游览以下的网站或者与马塞诸塞州卫生部流行病免疫科联系， 617-983-6088.

马塞诸塞州卫生部关于流行性感冒的网页
http://www.mass.gov/dph/flu

疾病防治中心关于猪流感的网页
http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu

We will post additional updates as the situation warrants. Until then, we are busy ensuring that all at Winchendon are safe.

I'm procrastinating...!

2009-04-18T16:12:00.004-04:00

It is Saturday afternoon and I am supposed to be doing prep work for a strategic planning workshop that we will be having with some of our trustees and faculty next weekend. I was doing some research and took a detour to check in on someone that our faculty and students have heard me speak about before. At the start of the year, I showed people a couple of videos of Matt Harding, a young man who has visited over seventy countries and made short videos at many stops. If you haven't seen one of them, I encourage you to take just a few minutes to take a look. You will join more than 30,000,000 others who have seen his videos:

For his most recent, click here.

For his earlier video, completed in 2005, click here.

Matt recently completed a "This I Believe" recording for NPR. This is wonderful series and Matt stepped up. I find his words, some of which I have excerpted below, very insightful:

Here's what I can report back: People want to feel connected to each other. They want to be heard and seen, and they're curious to hear and see others from places far away. I share that impulse. It's part of what drives me to travel. But it's constantly at odds with another impulse, which is to reduce and contain my exposure to a world that's way too big for me to comprehend.

My brain was designed to inhabit a fairly small social network of maybe a few dozen other primates — a tribe. Beyond that size, I start to get overwhelmed.

And yet here I am in a world of over 6 billion people, all of whom are now inextricably linked together. I don't need to travel to influence lives on the other side of the globe. All I have to do is buy a cup of coffee or a tank of gas. My tribe has grown into a single, impossibly vast social network, whether I like it or not. The problem, I believe, isn't that the world has changed, it's that my primitive caveman brain hasn't.

I am fantastic at seeing differences. Everybody is. I can quickly pick out those who look or behave differently, and unless I actively override the tendency, I will perceive them as a threat. That instinct may have once been useful for my tribe but when I travel, it's a liability.

When I dance with people, I see them smile and laugh and act ridiculous. It makes those differences seem smaller. The world seems simpler, and my caveman brain finds that comforting.

I believe my children will have brains ever so slightly better suited to the vast complexity that surrounds us. They will be more curious, more eager to absorb and to connect.

And I believe when they look into eyes of strangers, what they will see before the differences are the things that are the same.

(This was originally played on NPR's Weekend Edition on March 29, 2009.)

This is incredibly insightful from a former video game programmer! Matt's "This I Believe" column can be read or listened to in it's entirety at NPR's site by clicking here.

It is an amazing, remarkably connected world that we live in. To Matt's point, we are increasingly members of one big tribe. As educators, we have accomplished a very important task if we can help the next generation focus on the similarities that we all have rather than the differences.

Thanks again Matt Harding. Now, I have to get back to work.

Art Show at the Mount

2009-04-17T08:23:00.006-04:00

Last evening, a group of Winchendon's artists had a celebratory dinner and then traveled over to Mount Wachusett Community College to participate in their annual regional art show. There were over 300 entries from artists from 16 schools, and our Winchendon students did very well, earning 2 of the ten top awards and numerous honorable mentions.

Adrian (above) was one of two winning
top honors as was Yaewon(below).

Hyun Joo got a lift to get up to the height of her stunning painting (above), and Jacob and Gilberto framed Gilberto's stunning work.

Xiaoda painted a beautiful interpretation
of Winchendon's icon.

"Tis the gift to be simple, tis the gift to be free..."

2009-04-17T06:54:00.003-04:00

I borrow a line from this wonderful old Shaker song of the same name written in the mid- nineteenth century and popularized by Aaron Copland. Late last week, I received a wonderful 'simple gift' from one of our students.

Moumy, a senior from Senegal, stuck her head in my office as she often does and said she had something for me. She then handed me a piece of paper with the following on it:

"In the Winchendon School, we live as a family, perfect our English, and Love each other. At the consummation of our time here, we succeed."

Moumy Diop
April 2009

Thanks Moumy. Your gift made my week.

Taking time out for some fun!

2009-04-12T20:06:00.007-04:00

On Thursday afternoon, we took some time out on a sunny day for a little competition between the dorms. Cottage won in a closely contested scavenger hunt. After the fun, we enjoyed a cookout. Elliot Harvey took lots of pictures, a few of which are featured below:

Celebrating good news...

2009-04-08T21:57:00.007-04:00

It has been a busy couple of days since returning from my Asian travels, and there have been a number of highlights:

Marily and I drove to Maine this weekend to watch our Men's Lax team record a win over Hebron on Saturday night and then play a close game against Gould on Sunday. While Gould also played impressively and recorded the win, I couldn't help wonder what happened to the mattresses we used to provide visiting athletes when I was at Gould. Was Coach Lehman at Gould so worried about the strength of the Winch team that he felt it necessary to have the players sleep on the hard basketball floor so as not to be at their freshest on Sunday morning?
We had a wonderful group of families revisit on Tuesday. It was a pleasure to meet these prospective families and many others who have visited in recent weeks, and we hope that most will choose to join the Winchendon community next September.
The guys from West Wing were down here at Homewood (the headmaster's house) for chocolate sundaes last night, and most of our hosts/interpreters for Mr. Blair's and my recent Asia trip were here for Marily's pasta and lots of chat tonight.

Perhaps most exciting however has been the great news heard by many of our seniors in recent weeks. All of their hard work has paid off, and acceptances have been coming in from a great range of schools including NYU, Norwich, USC, U. of Illinois, UMASS, George Washington, BC, BU, Brandeis, Babson, Quinnipiac, Northeastern, Middlebury, Skidmore, American, Fordham, Penn State, Perdue, Richmond, FPU, Emory, Nichols, Syracuse and many, many others. We will provide a complete list (I am doing this from memory!), but the highlight has been in seeing so many with so many great options. Great job class of '09!

The faculty have homework too!

2009-04-08T21:42:00.002-04:00

My hope is that each person in the Winchendon School community without regard to whether he or she is an adolescent or adult is committed to being their best in all that he or she does. To that end, in our opening faculty meetings for the year back in early September, I told the faculty that my goal for each of them was to be at least as good students as they are learners. In that vein, while we encouraged the students to relax over spring break, the faculty left with two books to read:

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

and

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

If you have any interest in what we are discussing and thinking about, I encourage you to consider reading either of these. Both are provocative and compelling reads whether you are fourteen, forty-four or eighty-four.

Just thought that you might be interested...

Apologies

2009-04-06T21:20:00.007-04:00

"Gee, it's good to be back home again!" goes the old John Denver song, and I share that sentiment. My trip through Asia was wonderful and made all of the more memorable by the wonderful hospitality and generosity of so many. It was terrific seeing so many of our students, families and alumni. Thank you to all who took time to attend one of our receptions, host a meal for us or show us some of the local culture and history.

However, I have to admit to one serious deficiency. Some of you know how poor my Chinese is. One of the unforeseen implications of this language challenge presented itself when I went to blog, and the interface and controls were all in Chinese. I was truly "utterly useless" as my wife's uncle used to joke.

I am way behind but will look to get back on track...

Greetings from Guanzhou

2009-03-15T01:25:00.007-04:00

I have covered a lot of miles since the last post. It's a long way in many ways from Winchendon to Asia, but it has been wonderful being welcomed by members of the Winchendon family once on the ground here. While things are very different in terms of climate, urban environment, language, pace, scope of just about everything and even diet, it has been a treat to be in the care of the Winchendon team and makes it feel a lot more like home.

I met up with Jack Blair in Hong Kong last week. Throughout our stay in Hong Kong, we were wonderfully chaperoned and taken care of by Hugo Mo, his sister Kristine and their family.
Hugo has certainly earned honorary membership in the Green Key group and is a great ambassador for the Winch. Thanks to all who were so kind during our visit and took such good care of us.

We have since moved on to spend a day each in Guanzhou and Shenzhen, two of China's largest cities and both very impressive. We had a wonderful turnout to our dinner in Guanzhou as well as the chance to meet with several of our families. We now are in Taipei and will head to Seoul tomorrow. After a very quick side trip to Busan, we will return to China to visit Shanghai, Dalian and Beijing. It's great to be spending time with our Winch students in their home countries and getting to know their favorite sites and meals.

More to come as we travel on...

The Mo and Wong families hosted us to a wonderful evening.

More photos from Wednesday's big win...

2009-03-06T07:59:00.010-04:00

Thanks to our Dajin ('09), I can now provide some much better pictures of Wednesday's big win!

Eric out-jumped!

Jordan dunked...

The crowd roared...

Yves outmaneuvered...

Coach provided wisdom...and all listened...

Preye went up and Ewoud launched another three...

Thanks Team W and thanks Dajin!

Winchendon Wins!!!

2009-03-04T21:25:00.005-04:00

The Winchendon School's Men's Varsity Basketball Team and over half of the student body and faculty traveled to Endicott College today and came away with a big win over a strong Worcester Academy team. Winchendon went up early but Worcester battled back to keep the game close through the second half. Both teams played hard to the end, but Winchendon held onto the lead and came away with a 74-67 win and a seat in the NEPSAC semi-finals. It will be back to Endicot on Friday night for a game against South Kent, with whom we have won and lost one so far this year.

It wasn't just a big day for the hoop players as the whole community rallied to support the team. Even those who didn't make the trip to Endicott put up with an upside down schedule for the day as we had a study session in the morning and then came back and did classes and conference in the late afternoon.

For those who went to the game, it was a lot of great basketball and loud cheering. Winch's school spirit was out in force. Many stood and shouted from the first shot through the last bucket.
With the great time had by all, it might have been easy to forget that it is exam week. But many studied on the way to and from the game, and a number even found time during half time to review their note cards.
Members of the Women's Hockey Team put on their Winch faces for the day.

I encourage any one who can to come out for the game on Friday night. It will certainly be good basketball, and I know that the guys will welcome your support. I will also work to put up some additional pictures as I can get my hands/flashdrive on them!

Serious and fun WOW!

2009-02-26T20:19:00.007-04:00

The WOW program is ongoing with a number of projects in process. This week the Draugsvold group have been raising money through a five day sequence of spirit dress days. Today was "rainbow day"!
The Harvey group has continued to do a great job raising awareness as to the current challenges in Angola. Last night they attracted more than a hundred people to a presentation by the group on current issues in Angola. Attendees watched a show, even took a test and then enjoyed sundaes.

Thanks to Mr. Harvey for these images.

Where have I been??!!

2009-02-24T22:49:00.004-04:00

The winter is flying by and more than one person has asked what I have been doing or where I have been. I know that I have been remiss in writing notes in this blog as often as I would like! But what does my calendar say that I have been doing?

In recent weeks, I have had lots of discussions with students about weekly grade slips, almost all of which are going well, and a few conversations with students about academic honesty, which is a couple more than I would like.
I have met with almost every faculty member to discuss performance, expectations and contracts for next year, and thoughts about their professional development. While these discussions can sometimes be tough, they are also incredibly gratifying because I constantly am reminded of the great abilities and passion of our faculty and their commitment to providing an exceptional Winchendon education.
I have also had visited with a number of schools and educators both on our campus and in locations as far west as Denver. It is a pleasure to get out there and tell the Winchendon story, and people are excited to hear about all that is going on here on campus.
Each week, we have been having a good time bringing a dorm group to Homewood for ice cream and Marily's chocolate sauce and brownies. Last week, I got some important advice from the girls of Merrell 2 as to the ghosts who inhabit Homewood and other spots on campus!!
I have seen and heard about a series of well-played athletic contests which have included wins over Canterbury, Marionapolis, Worcester Academy, New Hampton, Pomfret, North Smithfield and Tilton.
I have interviewed some terrific prospective students for next year from as nearby as Massachusetts and Rhode Island and as far away as Beijing.
We are already hard at work getting ready for next September with meetings on all kinds of things ranging from the curriculum to technology. We are also continue to work on the planned upgrades for Ford Hall, the athletic facilities, additional technology and the fine and performing arts programs.
We are gearing up our Self-Study and Strategic Planning process. If you have an interest in participating, please let me know. There will be much more discussion of this initiative in the coming months.

And these are just some of the things that keep the days showing red for booked on my Google calendar. The days at Winchendon are very full for all, and my calendar is no exception. There are always the unplanned things as well, the sick or injured student, the accidental bump to a vehicle or the failed furnace and a host of other issues and opportunities that crop of each day. In addition to the work, the learning and the discussions that challenge us, we find lots of time to laugh as well. It is an exciting time to be at the Winch!

Luxury buses or improved academic program?

2009-02-24T07:34:00.004-04:00

One of the questions that I have been facing recently from students and some of their parents as well revolves around "Why can't we ride to our games more often on luxury buses more often? Some of the other teams do and they arrive at games more rested."

There are several good and easy answers to this question. Most importantly, the rental of a motor coach is a one-time expense that benefits a very limited number of students. Once the $1,000 - 2,000 expense for that bus is paid, the money is gone. Our highest priority here is our core academic mission, and that money can be used to buy new books or technology for classrooms that will benefit many students for years to come. That money can be used to send a faculty member to a workshop from which he or she will bring back ideas that can strengthen a broad aspect of our curriculum. Take 15 or 20 of luxury bus trips per year, and that same money pays the salary and benefits of an additional teacher and coach.

But even if we were a very wealthy school and had lots of extra cash available, I would still limit the use of luxury buses unless truly necessary. One of the most important skills that we can impart on our students is the difference between "needs" versus "wants". Our students will be much better prepared for success beyond Winchendon if they can make thoughtful decisions about discretionary expenditures. Athletic teams and student groups have been traveling by school buses and activity vans for generations, and they (we!) have lived through the experience.

The reason that I publicly discuss this issue and my apparent frugality is that I think that these issues are important and represent great learning moments for all of us. So, when we have decisions to make like this, I encourage discussion about them. We will evaluate most if not all spending decisions on the basis of 1)how much of the Winchendon School community will directly benefit from the expenditure and 2)how long the benefit will endure. This approach is especially important at times like these but is also the basis of sound practice at all times. I hope that you share this view.

Please don't hesitate to ask if you have questions about this or any other decision that is being made about our school. Generally we all learn something from those questions.

WOW - A Red Yarn..

2009-02-14T14:03:00.008-04:00

The unprepared visitor at Winchendon on Thursday might have questioned why some students and faculty had a piece of red yarn tied around one of their limbs and why others with no apparent injuries hobbled about on crutches.

Of course, it was just another example of WOW (Winchendon One World) kicking in. Mr. Harvey's advisee group is focusing on the challenges facing the victims of landmines in Angola. That morning at morning meeting, several in the advisee group provided the whole school a brief overview of the landmine issues and shared some images. This is an issue that is especially sensitive for one in the group - Paolo's family is from Angola.

The ribbons were a way to help us get a little sense of what it is like to live the life of an amputee. We were to tie a yarn around one of our limbs and live the day without using that appendage. I tried to figure out whether I could do it, but with an afternoon of appointments in the northern suburbs of Boston, I wouldn't have been able to make it. Just thinking about the yarn doing the day and how I would have been sgnificantly hampered in safely completing the day that I had planned helped me think about the plight of Angola's land mine victims.

But just getting us to think about the issues surrounding landmines wasn't enough for this group. That day and night they set about fundraising, and the Winchendon community turned out. It wasn't just the amount of money raised that was impressive, but also the fact that 98% of the community of students and faculty participated in the effort.

Thank you to the Harvey advisee group for your efforts and to the Winchendon community as a whole for your participation.

(The lower three images are some of those that Jonathan, Carissa and Paolo presented at morning meeting to support their message. The topmost, shot by Mr. Harvey, is the advisee group that worked on this great effort.)

Just six kids having fun!

2009-02-08T21:14:00.000-04:00

It’s a pleasure coming back to Winchendon after being away on a trip, and this week was no exception. My travels had taken me out west, where in one meeting it had been thrill to speak about our school with an educator in Denver. This woman is very familiar with the broad array of secondary schools available across the country, but she was genuinely excited to learn more about the Winchendon Way and the support and structure that helps allow our students to succeed. Her comment was something along the lines of “Why aren’t more schools doing it this way?” As is too often the case, this woman was one of many influential educators who did not understand what makes Winchendon special.

And back on campus, while I had only been away for three days of classes, it was great to catch up with the students and community. Students would drop by the office to just to say “hello”, share their weekly grades or update me on our athletic achievements or college acceptances.

On Thursday, my first day back, I was sitting at lunch with a visitor and one of our teachers, and I looked to my left and was quickly reminded of another factor that makes Winchendon special. I pointed out to our visitor the six students sitting at the next table. They were all students who generally work pretty hard, but they were relaxing and having fun. In many respects it was probably typical of lunch at many high schools across the country Thursday with boys and girls enjoying a moment or two of down time. The only difference is that at the Winch, the six kids represented four continents and six different countries including Angola, Canada, Brazil, South Korea, France and the U.S.A. It was one of those moments that reminded me how lucky our kids are and how I wish that many more students could share in the Winchendon experience.

Photos from Winter Carnival and the Lunar New Year

2009-01-28T12:07:00.013-04:00

Thanks to Mr. Harvey for these great photos.

Happy New Year, Year #4070, The Year of the Ox!

2009-01-26T14:00:00.004-04:00

Today at morning meeting, I handed Hao Wen a traditional, red envelope as parents might for their child in China to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Unfortunately for Hao, it did not include money, but it did include the following proclamation that Hao proceeded to read to the rest of the school…

For Men’s Hockey beating Cushing for the first time in 15 years;

For the great job done by all during the Ice Storm and evacuation of 2008;

For the 74 students who achieved High Honors for the first semester;

For Men’s basketball for their compelling victories over Patterson, Edison and Notre Dame in the last eight days;

To Mr. Magay and all if you who have been working hard towards better environmental and recycling practices…with a special thanks to the gorilla recyclers for their dumpster sorting; To all of those who have gotten 3’s in the last two weeks;

For the Winchendon athletes who have a combined record of 12 and 4 over the last 8 days;

For those who have been creating the wonderful work coming out of the Art Building this winter;

To the 14 who earned Merit Category after first semester;

For Women’s Hockey for cleaning up in Canada this past weekend;

For the 25 students who achieved Honor Roll for the first semester; And for the many of us who celebrate the Lunar New Year this week…

As President of the Winchendon Student Body, I hereby issue an order that tonight we will celebrate these great achievements, tomorrow morning we will all sleep in, and tomorrow afternoon we will celebrate some more. Happy New Year!

We are having a terrific year and everyone deserves a little break and celebration. Happy New Year or …

(http://www.jackiechankids.com/images/SiJiPingAn_small.jpg)

The Opportunity To Be Together...

2009-01-20T16:11:00.002-04:00

Today we modified our daily schedule so that the whole school could come together to watch the culmination of the democratic process and the inauguration of the country's first multi-racial president. It was a privilege to be able to share this experience with the Winchendon School community. My thanks to all who helped make it happen including the building and grounds team, the dining hall crew who prepared a special meal, those who made sure that the technology worked and all of the students and faculty who did little things to make it a great experience.

Majestic Oak On A Cold Morning

2009-01-20T15:03:00.004-04:00

...and sometimes I may just bore you with some of my favorite images of the school. I took this while walking to school yesterday morning.

The champions!

2009-01-17T12:32:00.002-04:00

Thanks to Jean Daniel Clément for this great picture of the winners at the recent St. Sebestien's tournament. Great job Winch hockey!

Brrrrr....

2009-01-16T09:42:00.002-04:00

The sun is bright, but it is not warming much yet...
Fortunately the warmth of our community sustains us!

Jaffrey Municipal-Silver Ranch Airport
Lat: 42.8 Lon: -72 Elev: 1040
Last Update on Jan 16, 7:52 am EST

Fair with Haze

-19°F
(-28°C)

Humidity:	77 %
Wind Speed:	S 5 MPH
Barometer:	30.30" (1030.1 mb)
Dewpoint:	-24°F (-31°C)
Wind Chill:	-32°F (-36°C)
Visibility:	6.00 mi.

Winchendon 2009

2009-01-11T14:56:00.002-04:00

Here we go…it’s time to get going. But what will 2009 hold for all of us at Winchendon?

As I write this, there is the part of me that is very focused on the global challenges: Things continue to deteriorate in too many places and for too many people on the African continent; the two-week old hostilities between Israel and Hamas in Gaza have caused over 500 deaths and the displacement of thousands and are an indication of the fragility throughout the region; and further east the multi-faceted tensions involving Afghanistan, Pakistan and India threaten to worsen at any time. Pair these with the widespread economic challenges and loss, and about the only thing that is too exciting beyond Winchendon is the hope for the incoming administration in Washington.

Fortunately, the other part of me is able to focus on Winchendon and all that is exciting here. A rested and refreshed faculty and student body on its own would be enough to look forward to, but all come back to continued improvements on the campus. After the improvements in the library over Thanksgiving, energies were re-focused in other areas over the most recent break. While many were relaxing over the holidays, a crew was hard at work in Ford Hall upgrading bathrooms, Mr. Chretien was overseeing the installation of the new fitness and weight training equipment, and others were working on plans for the performing arts facility improvements that start this month. We also completed the installation of additional digital technology as part of the continuing academic program upgrades.

As we kicked off the first week of classes, the rosters of both those who had made honors and high honors were announced and the first honorees for the year for the highest merit category were announced. We started the week celebrating the men’s hockey team’s winning of the St. Sebastian’s tournament and finished the week with a men’s basketball victory against MCI. Click here for more of a write-up on that.

This first weekend found several of us preparing to welcome our trustees to campus for the winter meeting. A major portion of the meeting was spent working through plans for the continued improvements in Ford Hall, the addition of new tennis courts and the plans for the restoration and the upgrading of the Fine Arts Building scheduled for this coming summer. We finished that meeting with the launching of a strategic planning process that will ultimately involve many in our community. We will be working on setting the strategic vision and creating a plan for the school during a series of meetings and workshops over the next year. I hope that you will contribute your input to this process if you have thoughts.

It is an exciting time to be at Winchendon. While we keep the external challenges in our focus, we are also committed to ensuring that 2009 is our most exciting yet and that our students have an exceptional Winchendon experience.

A Week To Remember!

2008-12-19T18:10:00.014-04:00

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...

2008-12-13T22:13:00.003-04:00

...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...

2008-12-13T08:52:00.009-04:00

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?

2008-12-07T20:07:00.003-04:00

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

2008-12-07T19:42:00.002-04:00

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!

2008-12-06T19:15:00.003-04:00

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!

2008-11-24T19:08:00.002-04:00

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

2008-11-22T15:29:00.003-04:00

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

2008-11-22T15:25:00.001-04:00

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

2008-11-13T16:12:00.002-04:00

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

2008-11-09T14:28:00.003-04:00

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!

2008-11-09T14:11:00.002-04:00

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!

2008-10-31T11:52:00.007-04:00

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

2008-10-31T11:08:00.002-04:00

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!

2008-10-30T09:40:00.003-04:00

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!

2008-10-20T19:44:00.003-04:00

"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

2008-10-20T19:32:00.003-04:00

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!!

2008-10-11T11:05:00.003-04:00

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!

2008-10-11T08:51:00.007-04:00

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

2008-10-07T08:14:00.003-04:00

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!

2008-09-30T19:11:00.009-04:00

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!

2008-09-27T19:00:00.001-04:00

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

2008-09-27T18:20:00.006-04:00

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

2008-09-23T09:15:00.004-04:00

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.