“Robert Ward drew forth the best of our ability to think from the deepest parts of soul,” said John Hazen White, Jr. ’76 at a special assembly on May 10 during which he received the Ward Medal, one of the school’s most prestigious alumni awards.
Photographers Braden Chattman and Michael Zide are so in sync with one another that, during a recent talk at the Williston Northampton School, they finished each other’s sentences.
“The big word at Hallmark is ‘intention,’” said Mr. Zide. “As someone who absorbs photography,” Mr. Chattman chimed in, “that’s what ultimately matters.”
The Hallmark Institute of Photography teachers were at Williston on April 23 to give the final evening talk of this year’s Photographers’ Lecture Series. That afternoon, Mr. Chattman and Mr. Zide had also spent a class period speaking to Williston’s photography students about what a professional career in photography involves.
“Photography is a lot more than a career decision,” said Mr. Chattman. “It’s a lifestyle.” He described his dream retirement: traveling the country with his wife, who is also a photographer, in a motorcycle with a tripod mounted on its sidecar. That way there would be no glare from car windows. Continue reading
Dr. Tom Schiff began the special morning assembly at the Williston Northampton School with a personal admission.
“I’m also a former smoker,” he said. “It’s a very hard thing to quit. So part of why I talk to people is that it is much easier to never start than it is to quit.”
As a health educator at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Dr. Schiff works on such issues as men’s health, violence prevention, and leadership. On April 24, though, he spoke to Williston students about another area in which he specializes—tobacco education and cessation.
Braden Chattman
A pair of photography instructors who approach the natural world from vastly different perspectives will visit the Williston Northampton School for the final in this year’s Photographers’ Lecture Series. The event, held in the Dodge Room in the Reed Campus Center on Tuesday, April 23, at 6:30 p.m., is free and open to the public.
Braden Chattman and Michael Zide, both instructors at the Hallmark Institute of Photography in Turners Falls, will speak about their work, how their approaches have changed over time, and how others can explore their own authentic voices.
While Mr. Zide looks to capture what he describes as “moments of wonder in the landscape,” Mr. Chattman combines photos he takes over time to form landscapes of his own.
“I’ve never met a girl who doesn’t have something to be sorry about,” said Rachel Simmons to her female audience on April 12. “It’s not, ‘people were so mean to me and now I’m so nice.’ No one’s perfect.”
On April 12, Ms. Simmons, a nationally regarded speaker on bullying prevention and female empowerment, spoke to the girls of the Williston Northampton School about how they could identify hurtful behavior, and change the patterns that created it.
The Upper School had divided in two for the special morning assembly. Girls listened to Ms. Simmons in the Phillips Stevens Chapel, while boys headed to the Williston Theatre to hear Dr. Christopher Overtree, director of the Psychological Services Center (PSC) at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an expert on the prevention of bullying and harassment.
