{"id":4064,"date":"2018-11-30T23:08:01","date_gmt":"2018-12-01T03:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/?p=4064"},"modified":"2018-12-04T12:25:48","modified_gmt":"2018-12-04T16:25:48","slug":"an-intersession-gallery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/an-intersession-gallery\/","title":{"rendered":"An Intersession Gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Alan Shaler’s cooking class, with Gwen Pullman and Barbara Sloan, 1979. (Click all images to enlarge.)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For twenty-one years, beginning in 1975, Williston Northampton culture was partially defined by the Winter Session, later called Intersession, program.\u00a0 It was modeled on the January Term programs then popular in many colleges.\u00a0 The “statement of purpose” in the prospectus for the first year read,<\/span><\/p>\n

“During most of the academic year, the Williston Northampton School is primarily concerned with the very important task of giving its students the best in college preparatory academics.\u00a0 \u00a0This should and must be our primary task, but often this leaves little or no time for experimentation with new programs and different approaches to learning.\u00a0 Thus, during the school year 1974-75, Williston Northampton has lengthened its overall school year and set aside 25 days in January during which the whole school community will concentrate on programs which tend to be\u00a0extra<\/span>-curricular during the bulk of the school year.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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A quilting workshop, 1991<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“The emphasis during the Winter Session is on\u00a0learning by doing<\/span>.\u00a0 The student will not just read about the Navajo Indians but he will actually go and live among them.\u00a0 He will not just speak French in class but will speak it with and among Frenchmen in Cannes.\u00a0 He will perform in a play; or sing in a chorus; or build a table; or learn to type; or serve senior citizens in the community; or work each day with mental patients; or observe criminal court proceedings; or … the list goes on and on.\u00a0 Student and teacher will be active and involved.\u00a0 The student will not be graded but will be expected to evaluate his own accomplishments at the end of the session, which evaluation together with a verbal evaluation of his work\u00a0 by the teacher will be placed in his permanent file.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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Students at the Ming Tombs, Nanjing, China, 1982<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One observes, alas, the use of gender-specific pronouns to describe a program at a school then in its fourth year of full coeducation.\u00a0 But let us overlook that, for the moment; it is symptomatic of a cultural issue\u00a0endemic to the school for more than a decade after the merger with Northampton School.\u00a0 This has been discussed elsewhere.\u00a0 (See the last part of <\/span>“Northampton School for Girls \u2013 and After.”<\/a><\/strong>)\u00a0 Better we should consider the ambitious nature of this fledgling program which, remarkably, achieved most of its goals and established a high standard in that very first year.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Bob Bagley assisting with wooden toy-making, 1991<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Over the next few years the program would grow and evolve.\u00a0 The range of some of the offerings is hinted at in excerpts from the annual catalog, reproduced at the bottom of this article.\u00a0 Students were encouraged to try new things, new approaches to learning\u00a0\u2014 and by the second decade, students were teaching some of the courses.\u00a0 Faculty frequently taught their avocations, rather than their academic specialties: some of the offerings over the years included fine cooking with Alan Shaler (English), carpentry and toymaking from Bob Bagley (Math), wood carving with Ann Vanderburg (Math), home renovation with Stephen Seybolt (English) and Bob Couch (Math and Photography), music and architectural appreciation from Elizabeth Esler (Librarian), “Developing a Comic Character” with Stan Samuelson (Math),\u00a0 investment from Robert Blanchette (French), figure skating with Harriet Tatro (Science).<\/span><\/p>\n

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Wooden rocking giraffes, from Mr. Bagley’s workshop, 1991<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other faculty stayed closer to their specialties, but offered mini-courses that didn’t quite fit the regular elective curriculum, or which \u2014 Ellis Baker’s and Richard Gregory’s acting and directing workshops, for example \u2014 involved students new to those particular pursuits.\u00a0 The Williston Children’s Theater, which presented ambitious performances to local school children until well into the 21st century, began with a Winter Session puppetry workshop.<\/span><\/p>\n

Opportunities for travel were a special feature; in most years, there were three or four overseas trips.\u00a0 Beyond the “usual” European destinations, travel courses took people to destinations considered, at the time, exotic: Egypt, China (in 1982, when Western tourists were only beginning to be welcomed back), Soviet Asia, the Gal\u00e1pagos.\u00a0 And there was no question that these trips were courses, not holidays.\u00a0 Students were expected to maintain detailed, reflective journals, which were to be turned in to the instructor\/tour leader for evaluation before credit could be given.<\/span><\/p>\n

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January in Moscow, 1976.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There was also time set aside for\u00a0more traditional essentials: offerings included SAT prep and, for those who needed it, remedial academics.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1980 the program was renamed “Intersession” and moved to the spring, for two weeks immediately following March break.\u00a0 It continued to thrive and grow.\u00a0 Perhaps growth was the problem.\u00a0 By the early ’90s, there was a sense among some faculty that perhaps Intersession had outgrown its relevance.\u00a0 Simply put, we weren’t in ‘seventies any more.\u00a0 Throughout the school year, there was a greater focus on the traditional academic program while, simultaneously, opportunities for student independent study had been integrated into the full curriculum.\u00a0 Furthermore, many faculty wondered if restoring two weeks of teaching days to their regular classes might not be a better use of class time, particularly as the end of the school year, with AP exams, the rush to graduation, and concomitant senioritis loomed.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Joan Tierney ’78 & Paula Brusco ’79, in Harriet Tatro’s figure skating class<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And while for many, the spark was still there, other faculty found it increasingly challenging to shift gears every spring.\u00a0 After much discussion, in 1995 Head of School Dennis Grubbs announced that following Intersession 1996, the program would be suspended for a year for re-evaluation.\u00a0 Perhaps something similar might return, with different timing, or possibly a more creative use of Saturday classes throughout the year might be addressed.<\/span><\/p>\n

For a variety of reasons, that re-evaluation never happened.\u00a0 While there were some personal disappointments, and unquestionably hurt feelings, people mostly moved forward.\u00a0 Denny Grubbs stepped down at the end of 1999, and reviving Intersession seemed not to be on his successor Brian Wright’s agenda at all.\u00a0 Arguably, much of the best of Intersession \u2014 independent study, creative approaches to curriculum, collaborative learning, and a strong sense of the world beyond Easthampton \u2014 remained, and continue at Williston Northampton today.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Dressmaking, with Lisa Menicke ’77 and Tara O’Brien ’78<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What are your intersession memories?\u00a0 Please share them in the comment spaces below, or<\/em><\/span> write or email the archivist<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 And if you have documents — photographs, travel journals, you’d like to share with the archives, we’d love to have them.\u00a0 Also, we were not always able to identify all of the students in the photographs.\u00a0 Please help!\u00a0 Thank you.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Erroll Flynn would be proud: a demonstration of unorthodox fencing technique<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Below are sample pages from Intersession catalogs from 1979 to 1995.\u00a0 Yes, in 1982 we actually produced an opera!<\/span><\/p>\n

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1979<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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1982<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Winter camping, with Doc Gow. Careful observers of the photograph will realize that the group is roughing it on Sawyer Field.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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1985<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Harris Thompson’s storytelling class, 1991<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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1995<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Thus, during the school year 1974-75, Williston Northampton has lengthened its overall school year and set aside 25 days in January during which the whole school community will concentrate on programs which tend to be extra-curricular during the bulk of the school year. The emphasis during the Winter Session is on learning by doing.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[44,453,43],"tags":[496,495],"class_list":["post-4064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academic-history","category-student-life","category-williston-northampton-school","tag-intersession","tag-winter-session"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4064"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4064"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4064\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4105,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4064\/revisions\/4105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}