The Williston Northampton School will present its annual children’s theater program during the public schools’ February vacation week. This year, Story Theatre: Journeys of Transformation from Around the World and Beyond will delight audiences of all ages.

The play is a collection of folk tales and other stories revolving around the theme of change. The stories, including “The Magic Garden,” “Tipingee,” “The Seal’s Skin,” and others, were adapted into a unified script by the Williston Children’s Theater ensemble. The production will be directed by senior theater student Emilia Caligiuri ’11.

Performances take place every day, February 21-26, at 3:30 p.m. in the Williston Theatre, 18 Payson Avenue, in Easthampton. Tickets are $5, general admission. For more information or to reserve tickets, call the box office at 413-529-3434.

The Cast

Hannah Brooks, A’kala Chaires, Kate Glowatsky, Jenn Hall, Brian Hendery, So Ra Jung, Kathleen Kaisla, Umi Keezing, Denison Marsland-Rello, Mojdeh Mostafavi, Mairead Poulin, Nickki Sarkar, Marie Schonfeld, Matthew Steinberg, Alyssa Stern, Chase Tanguay, Maya Wilson, Talya Wintman, Maddi Wise, Kiernan Zehring

The 8th Annual Pioneer Valley Summer Opportunities Fair will take place on Sunday, February 27, in the Reed Campus Center at The Williston Northampton School, 40 Park Street, Easthampton. It will be open to the public from noon–3 p.m. This informational fair is intended for families with children entering kindergarten through high school. Admission is free.

This exceptional fair showcases a wide range of programs that focus on academic enrichment, outdoor adventure, international home-stay, travel, internships, community service, camps, arts, sports and more for elementary, middle school and high school students. Representatives from more than 30 local, national, and international summer opportunities programs will be available to talk with interested students and their families.

In addition to the fair, several panel discussions will be offered for families on the following topics:

• Choosing the best program for your child ages 4-10
• Maximizing high school students’ summer experiences for college admission
• How to find and land a great summer job or internship

For more information, contact Nola-rae Cronan, Director of Student Activities, at 413-529-3340 or ncronan@williston.com.

Eudora Welty: Photographs of the 1930s and 40s will be exhibited in the Grubbs Gallery of the Reed Campus Center at The Williston Northampton School from February 27 – April 9, 2011. A reception will be held on February 27 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.

During her spare time as a junior publicist for the WPA in the 1930s, Eudora Welty captured people and places in Mississippi with her camera. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author would later write in her memoir One Writer’s Beginning, “Photography taught me that to be able to capture transience, by being ready to click the shutter at the crucial moment, was the greatest need I had. Making pictures of people in all sorts of situations, I learned that every feeling waits upon its gesture; and I had to be prepared to recognize this moment when I saw it.” Eudora Welty was known for her writing, yet her photographic documentation of the Depression-era created a compelling record of the time and place that would greatly influence all of her creative works. Her photographs have been shown in the Smithsonian, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and the Museum of the City of New York.

This exhibit, curated by Burns Maxey, will focus on the story of the photographer and how Welty’s influence has permeated other lives. Alongside the 20-plus silver gelatin prints there will be supplemental multimedia materials exhibited. Ephemera and audio narratives of people who met Eudora Welty will be part of the exhibition and will include a story by renowned illustrator Barry Moser who is a former Williston teacher and currently a professor in residence at Smith College.

The Eudora Welty: Photographs of the 1930s and 40s exhibit is also free and open to the public and takes place in the Grubbs Gallery of the Reed Campus Center at The Williston Northampton School.