Stories and updates from around campus

Orientation 2011: Classes Begin the Year Together

ninth grade orientation willistonWhile academic classes started on Tuesday, September 13, in many ways the real start of school was the Monday before, when the Upper School celebrated the new school year with orientation activities.

From ropes courses to improv, from dodgeball to scavenger hunts (with GPS technology!), each grade at Williston worked together in new ways, welcomed new classmates, and spent time with returning ones. Planned by grade advisors, each of the class activities was organized to help new students integrate into their classes.

All orientation programs are part of the school’s advising program, which works to ensure each student’s success both academically and socially. But we think the pictures show that all those activities were pretty fun, too!

See what Middle School students and ninth grade students did for their orientation adventures.

2011 Writers’ Workshop Series

Williston hosts four acclaimed authors this fall as part of the 14th annual Writers’ Workshop Series. Each author will offer public readings and discussions of their work. The series kicks off with author Lynne Barrett on October 4 at 7:00 p.m.

All presentations, which are free and open to the public, take place at 7:00 p.m. in the Dodge Room of the Reed Campus Center at The Williston Northampton School. For more information, please call 413-529-3311 or email twolfe@williston.com.

Lynne Barrett
October 4, 7:00 p.m.

Lynne Barrett is the author of three story collections, The Secret Names of Women, The Land of Go, and Magpies. She co-edited Birth: A Literary Companion and The James M. Cain Cookbook. Her work has appeared in Delta Blues, A Dixie Christmas, Miami Noir, One Year to a Writing Life, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Night Train, The Southern Women’s Review, and many other anthologies and journals. She has received the Edgar Allan Poe Award for best mystery story from the Mystery Writers of America and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. She teaches in the MFA program at Florida International University, edits The Florida Book Review, and lives in Miami.

 

Andre Dubus III
October 11, 7:00 p.m.

Andre Dubus III is the author of a collection of short fiction, The Cage Keeper and Other Stories; the novels Bluesman, House of Sand and Fog, and The Garden of Last Days; and a memoir, Townie. Published in 20 languages and made into an Academy Award-nominated motion picture, House of Sand and Fog was a finalist for the National Book Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and Booksense Book of the Year. It was also an Oprah Book Club Selection and reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Dubus has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, the National Magazine Award for fiction, and the Pushcart Prize. He is a member of PEN American Center, has served as a panelist for The National Book Foundation and The National Endowment for the Arts, and has taught at Harvard University, Tufts University, Emerson College, and the University of Massachusetts Lowell where he is a full-time faculty member.

Nikky Finney
October 27, 7:00 p.m.

Nikky Finney is the author of four collections of poetry: On Wings Made of Gauze; Rice, recipient of a PEN America Open Book Award; The World Is Round, recipient of the 2004 Benjamin Franklin Award for Poetry; and Head Off & Split. She also wrote Heartwood, a collection of short stories for literacy students, and edited The Ringing Ear, an anthology of African American poets writing and reflecting on that historical American geography known as “the South.” A recipient of the Kentucky Foundation for Women Artists Fellowship Award and The Governor’s Award in the Arts, Finney has taught at Smith College and Berea College, and is a former faculty member at Cave Canem, a writing home for African American poets. She is presently professor of creative writing at the University of Kentucky.

Alison Pace
November 1, 7:00 p.m.

Alison Pace is the author of five novels: If Andy Warhol Had a Girlfriend, Pug Hill, Through Thick and Thin, City Dog, and A Pug’s Tale. Her essays have appeared in several anthologies including It’s a Wonderful Lie: The Truth About Life in Your Twenties, Everything I Needed to Know about Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume, and Howl: A Collection of the Best Contemporary Dog Wit. She lives in New York City where she teaches creative writing and is at work on another book.

Williston Hosts 43rd Annual Hampshire County College Fair

college clip artThe Williston Northampton School will host the 43rd annual Hampshire County College Fair on Tuesday, September 27, 2011, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Held in the Athletic Center at 80 Park Street, the fair will feature representatives from more than 165 colleges ready to share information about their schools. There will be a table for the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA), and a number of area guidance counselors will also be available to answer questions. 

This annual event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by The Hampshire County College Fair Association. The college guidance departments at the 11 participating western Massachusetts high schools (Williston, Amherst Regional, Belchertown, Easthampton, Hampshire Regional, The Hartsbrook School, Hopkins Academy, Northampton, Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter School, Smith Academy, and South Hadley) invite all interested students and families to the fair. View the list of participating colleges here.

Williston Celebrates 171st Convocation with Professor Shamus Khan

wiiliston convocationThe Williston Northampton School will celebrate the opening of the 171st academic year with a Convocation ceremony to be held Friday, September 16, at 5:00 p.m. in the Quad in front of the Reed Campus Center. Our distinguished speaker this year is Professor Shamus Khan of Columbia University. The program also includes a welcome from Senior Class President Adrian Mendoza ’12, the awarding of faculty chairs, and recognition of faculty members who have served the school for 25 years. 

shamus khanShamus Khan is an assistant professor in the department of sociology at Columbia. He was the inaugural scholar in residence at the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy and directs the culture in the social sciences group, the business and politics group, and the elite research network at Columbia University. Khan is currently researching the history of elites in New York City, the structure of fame, and deliberative decision-making in multiethnic groups.

With a primary focus on inequality, Khan’s first book, Privilege, explored the life of an elite boarding school. Khan has also written on the development of gender theory and political decision-making. He is editing a book on research methodology, The Practice of Research (Oxford) and a monograph titled Exceptional: Elite New York and the Story of American Inequality. In 2011-2012 Khan will be in residence at the Cullman Center of the New York Public Library, where he is the Andrew W. Mellon Fellow.

Students are asked to dress formally for Convocation and will be seated by class in Assembly order. Following Convocation, seniors will take part in the traditional Senior Dinner at 6:15 p.m. in the Birch Dining Commons. All other students will attend class dinners in assigned locations.

In addition to their dinner, seniors and faculty members will be addressed by this year’s guest speaker, United States Marine Corps Captain Colin D’Amour, a member of Williston’s Class of 2003. Captain D’Amour served in Afghanistan from March 2010 to February 2011. He will share what leadership means to him personally and in the context of the modern United States military.

Gymnast Jonathan Deaton ’12 Places 2nd Nationally

jonathan DeatonJonathan Deaton, a senior honor student at The Williston Northampton School, continues his hard work and achievement in the national gymnastic circuit.

A member of the Men’s Junior Olympic National Team, Jon recently competed in the USA Gymnastics National Championships in St. Paul, MN, where he finished second all-around in the 16-18 age group. He missed first place by only .100 of a point. In the individual 16-18 age group events, he won first place in the floor exercises and in vault. Watch a video of Jon’s performance at the national championships in August.

In May 2011, he competed in the Men’s Junior Olympic National Championships in Long Beach, CA, placing sixth All-Around and finishing in second place on the floor exercise.

 

Stories and updates from around campus