Dr. Abigail Judge addresses students at a recent Student Life assembly.
Teens need to know the difference between “hot” and “cold” cognition, and how making decisions in each of these emotional states can bring vastly different outcomes. Student Life Speaker Abigail Judge, a Cambridge therapist who also teaches at Harvard Medical School and conducts research at Massachusetts General Hospital, connected with her teenage audience using humor and self-deprecation during a recent assembly. Her message: know your brain.
“Hot” cognition occurs when emotions are high, when someone is upset, angry, or sad. Teens in this state should notice their feelings (a tight stomach, sweaty hands, a feeling of anguish, for example) and put their phone down. This is not the time to send a text or reply to a provoking phone call. In the cold light of day, Judge said, we all make better judgment calls on how to interact with people. Continue reading →
Cody Rutty, an American painter living and working in Boise, Idaho, will be the third visiting artist to spend time at Williston Northampton School as part of the Grum Project, funded by a generous alumna. Rutty will be on campus through April 14, leading classes, working with individual students, and creating a large oil painting that will remain at the school.
After studying architecture and virtual technology and design at the University of Idaho, Rutty pursued fine art with a focus on painting. This focus has led to what he calls iterative abstraction: a process-driven approach to visual art through repeated layering. Continue reading →
On April 21, 2017, Williston will take part in a nationally recognized event called DayofSilence. According to GLSEN, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ rights in K-12 schools, DayofSilence is a student-led national event organized in thousands of schools, bringing awareness to the silencing effects ofanti-LGBTQ name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. Students from middle school to college take a vow of silence in an effort to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBTQ behavior by illustrating the silencing effect of bullying and harassment on LGBTQ students and those perceived to be LGBTQ.
Set aside the descriptors—gay, black, southern, Christian, preacher—and Reverend Erik Taylor Doctor’s message is one of simple and pure inclusion: we are all different, but we all share common bonds.
However, those undeniable identifiers of his character are exactly what brought the Williston community together during his Why Not Speak? Day February 22 assembly, and helped make his message—a sound, sweet one—resonate so strongly.
You may have noticed some new faces in the Dining Commons recently. Joining Assistant Food Service Director Chris Couchon is a friendly and experienced new leadership team that will be making sure all our meals and functions on campus are terrific.
Food Service Director Jim Grimaldi has been in management and operations for 33 years, including at Springfield College. He’s an avid cyclist, riding more than 1,100 miles last summer! And he loves pan seared scallops. Can you blame him? Continue reading →
