On 9/16/16 two member of the Williston Math Department family received Instructorships!

A HUGE congratulations to Mrs. Whipple and Mrs. Baldwin!

Here’s what Dean of Faculty, Peter Valine, had to say about Mrs. Whipple:

The Karin O’Neil Instructorship was established in 2001 by alumni and friends and named for former Associate Head of School Karin O’Neil who, until her departure that year, directed much of the school’s program for over 30 years and enabled the school to achieve great progress and to aspire to the highest levels of scholarship and engagement with student success.

The O’Neil Instructorship is given this year to a teacher who, like Karin O’Neil, has dedicated her career to sharing her passion and talents with Williston students and peers.

In her twenty-five years at Williston she has taught students of all ages. No matter their age or mathematics level her students know that she will push them, that she will demand their focus and attention, and that she will hold the bar high. No matter their age or mathematics level they also know that she will encourage them, cajole them, pick them up when they fall short, and that she is utterly committed to their success. As one of her students wrote: “Math is hard for me, and if it were not for my teacher I would be completely lost. She explains things very well and she is always willing to work with me until I understand.”

Her teaching is rooted in guiding the students through a process of investigation and discovery. She is a well-organized lesson planner who establishes clear learning objectives and then provides the necessary repetition, feedback, and patience that promotes learning. She introduces the concepts thoroughly, her notes provide a clear map for the students to follow, and she is absolutely selfless in her willingness to provide extra help. She earns high marks from her students for her ability to teach even the most abstract math concepts in ways that are accessible. She understands that students learn differently and encourages students to employ different methods and to uncover different paths to the solution.

This O’Neil recipient has also had a profound influence on many Williston students outside the walls of the math classroom. She is a dedicated advisor, she has served as a dorm parent, and she is a talented coach who brings basketball acumen and a sense of purpose and intensity to the sideline. She is a teacher and motivator who brings out the best in her players, and she strives to have the team be greater than the sum of its individual parts. With energy, enthusiasm, and a keen sense of humor she has inspired her students and athletes to attain the highest levels of scholarship and performance.  At the end of a self-evaluation she once wrote-“Whether it is math, basketball, or life lessons I want the students to know that I enjoy passing on my passion and knowledge.”

On this occasion it seems appropriate to award the O’Neil Instructorship to a Williston teacher whose tenure overlapped with Karin O’Neil. I am pleased to present the O’Neil Instructorship to Janine Whipple.

Here’s what Dean of Faculty, Peter Valine, had to say about Mrs. Baldwin:

The Northampton School For Girls Instructorship was established in 1999 by the alumnae of the school to note the importance of that school in their lives and to support the focus on the education of young women that remains a part of the commitment of the merged schools.

The new recipient of the NSFG Instructorship arrived on the Williston campus in 2013 a little differently than most of her peers. She never came to campus for an interview, never met any of her teaching colleagues, and accepted the position relatively sight unseen. Since she was living across the continent in Washington state- she and we took a chance on this virtual match-and we have been thrilled ever since that she decided to join our community.

She is a true scholar with a strong background in teaching both Physics and Math. Her love of numbers knows no bounds, and she is on a personal quest to make her students love numbers as much as she does. Her enthusiasm, patience, and positive attitude create a classroom environment in which her students feel valued and supported. She is a creative teacher whose classroom is filled with a variety of activities and is richly laced with technology that both engages the students and effectively supports her learning goals.

She is successful in getting her students to view themselves as statisticians. She engages the them by using cleverly constructed, real world examples and she teaches them the jargon of the statistician. They approach the problems as analysts as they learn to organize data webs, understand and identify patterns, and utilize graphs to make data more accessible. The second floor hallway of the Schoolhouse is typically adorned with live stat collections, and it is not uncommon to see her students outside collecting data for a project in which they can demonstrate and apply their understandings of the concepts. When asked on a survey what they learned in the class, one of her students replied-“I learned that friends don’t let friends extrapolate!”

It is perhaps not surprising that our Northampton School for Girls recipient is a life-long learner who is intrinsically motivated to grow in her career. This year she is bringing great energy and new ideas to our community as the Academic Technology Director in supporting her colleagues with the integration of technology in the classroom. She is also currently advancing her own knowledge in the content area by working toward a master’s degree from Colorado State University. Our community is fortunate that her case of numerophilia is not in remission as she continues to live and work by the numbers.

It gives me great pleasure to announce that the Northampton School For Girls Instructorship is awarded to Carey Baldwin.