The Williston Wildcats are going to look a little different as they travel New England this fall to take the field against other members of the New England Prep School Athletic Council (NEPSAC). They’ll be wearing new travel suits that will be the standard for the school’s teams.

“We’re very excited about this change,” said Mark Conroy, Director of Athletics at The Williston Northampton School. “A school’s athletic program is arguably the most public aspect of any institution so we wanted to make sure that our teams looked as sharp and uniform as possible while representing Williston. The Wildcats will play in nearly 800 contests during this coming school year. While we are extremely proud of how well our teams compete and represent the school with great sportsmanship, we felt that adopting these travel suits would go a long way towards improving the school’s identity and recognition by others. I know our teams will look fantastic in these new suits!”

Using the blue and green travel suit will limit the need for individual teams to purchase expensive outerwear on a seasonal or annual basis, although teams will still be allowed to order sport-specific wear. The new travel suits will standardize the school’s “look” while controlling escalating costs for families with students on multiple teams. 

Returning students who plan on being associated with a competitive team were sized for the new suits in the spring and will receive them at Registration this fall. All new students will be sized for their travel suits when they arrive at Registration. The suits will be charged to student accounts during the fall trimester.

Go Wildcats!

This fall, the Williston Northampton community will welcome not only a new group of students, but new faculty to both the Middle School and Upper School.

“We are eager to welcome this new class of faculty to our ranks this fall,” said Peter Valine, Dean of the Faculty. “This group, which is a little larger than in the past few years, will be distinguished by the energy and passion that they will contribute to our campus. Williston also will be well served through the experiences that seven members of this cohort have accrued working in other independent schools. I am excited about this enthusiastic group of well-rounded men and women who will actively embrace their various roles at Williston and who will be inspirational role models for our students.”

Among the new faculty this year are three Williston alumni: Kyle Hanford ‘97, Nick Katzenbach ‘00, and Adrienne Stolarz Mantegna ‘94. In addition, Chris Dietrich, the school’s Director of Financial Aid, has returned to the Admission Office where he worked from 2000 to 2003.

The new faculty members are:

Elisabeth S. Belisle – Science Teacher. Elisabeth earned a degree in Biochemistry from Mount Holyoke College in May 2011. While at Mount Holyoke, Elisabeth served as an Organic Chemistry PLUMS mentor (Peer-Led Undergraduate Mentoring System). She also participated in research projects at Baystate Medical Center.

William D. Berghoff – Science Department Head. Bill received a BA in Chemistry and Geology from Bowdoin College and has done graduate work at Wesleyan University. He comes to Williston from Choate Rosemary Hall, where he served as Form Dean, Chemistry Teacher, Physics Teacher and coached swimming and water polo since 1993. Prior to Choate, Bill served on the faculty at Suffield Academy and Wilbraham Monson Academy.

Caitlin Bradley – Math Teacher. Cait earned a BS from Dickinson College with a major in Mathematics. She was the assistant cross country and track coach at Hamilton College. This summer she served as a trip leader for students ages 11-18 at Apogee Adventures

Christopher J. Dietrich – Director of Financial Aid and Admission Data Coordinator. Chris earned a BA from Amherst College with a major in American Studies, and a MA and Liberal Studies Degree from Wesleyan University. Chris has returned to Williston after working at The Taft School as Assistant Director of Admission and Loomis Chaffee School as Associate Director of Admission.

Kyle T. Hanford ’97 – English Teacher. Kyle received a BA from Ithaca College majoring in English and MEd in English Education from Boston College. He is also working towards an MA in English from the Bread Loaf School of English. Kyle taught English at Canton High School and was the assistant coach of the boys’ hockey team. He has also taught at several schools in the Boston area.

Nicholas S. Katzenbach ’00 – French Teacher. Nick earned a BA from Wesleyan University, majoring in French Studies. He also played varsity soccer at Wesleyan. Since graduating, Nick has been involved in media production enterprises that include research, editing, production and translation.

Adrienne Mantegna ’94 – English Teacher. Adrienne earned a BA from UMass and a MFA in Creative Writing from Vermont College. She will return to Williston in September after spending a year as Program Director at the Firehouse Learning Center in Monson as well as an Adjunct Faculty/Writing Instructor at Bay Path College.

Kyle P. Maurer – Science Teacher. Kyle received his BS from Cornell University, majoring in Materials Science and Engineering. He taught Physics and Chemistry to grades 10-12 at Sabis International Charter School in Springfield. Kyle also is a rowing coach for the Northampton Youth and Community Rowing, Inc. in Northampton.

Donald R. McKillop, Jr. – History Teacher. Donnie earned his BA from Middlebury College in May 2011, with a major in Political Science and a double minor in Psychology and American Studies. While at Middlebury, Donnie was team captain of football and baseball. This summer he was a teaching intern at Choate Rosemary Hall.

Kathryn M. Noble – Dean of Students. Kathy has both a BS in Physical Education and a MS in Physical Education, Teaching and Administration from Springfield College. Kathy was the Director of Athletics at Lawrence Academy and has also served as Director of Athletics at Proctor Academy, Miss Porter’s School and The Rivers School.

David B. Sanders – Science Teacher. David earned a BS from Morehouse College, with a major in Biology and minor in French. He previously taught Biology and French at Thomas Jefferson School in St. Louis.

Matthew Spearing – Director of Student Activities, Science Teacher. Matt earned a BA in Environmental Studies and Government from St. Lawrence University. After graduation he was the International House Coordinator at St. Lawrence. He went on to work in international schools in Abu Dhabi and Egypt. He has also worked two summers with the Seeds of Peace organization in Maine.

Dan Mead and Sally Eagle will exhibit “Ultimate Antarctica” at the Grubbs Gallery in the Reed Campus Center of The Williston Northampton School from September 6 through October 31, 2011. An artists’ reception will be held on Sunday, September 25, 2:00-5:00 p.m.

These photographs seek to capture the character and scale of the wildlife and landscapes of Antarctica, a place where Mead and Eagle spent twenty-four days in 2009. Although many of the species are threatened or endangered, the show is not a “photographic elegy,” says Jennifer Sahn, editor of Orion Magazine, but “a celebration of the great diversity of life to be found at the underside of the Earth.”

Dan Mead, a former educator turned psychotherapist, and Sally Eagle, entrepreneur and first Executive Director of the Berkshire-Taconic Community Foundation, have traveled extensively and studied with leading photographers such as David Muensch, Jack Dykinga, and John Shaw. Their photograph “Sand Sprinters” won a Highly Commended Award in a BBC/London Natural History Museum annual contest in 2008, and is now part of the Wild Planet exhibit sponsored by the Natural History Museum in London. Mead and Eagle have lived in western Massachusetts for 30 years. With this project, the husband and wife team celebrate their seventh continent visited and photographed together.

The exhibit is free and open to the public. The gallery is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and selected Saturdays, 8:30 a.m. to noon. For more information, go to www.williston.com/grubbsgallery.

Junior midfielder Bridget Instrum was named U.S. Lacrosse All-American in recognition of her outstanding 2011 season.

Teammate Katie Cavanaugh was named an Academic All-American.

Instrum and Cavanaugh led the Wildcats to their sixth straight Western New England Class B Championship this past season.The most recent championship continues an unprecedented streak of success for the team, which has lost only two games in the last four seasons.
 
“Bridget is one of the hardest working and gifted athletes I’ve ever had the pleasure to coach,” says Jen Fulcher, the team’s head coach. “She’s a natural scorer and instinctive in her play. Most importantly, when the game’s on the line, she wants the ball.”  
 
According to Coach Fulcher, Bridget had a “dominant” year. She led the team in scoring, averaging almost six goals per game. She also led the team in ground balls.  She will be team captain next year and has verbally committed to play lacrosse at The Ohio State University after she graduates from Williston.  
 
Katie Cavanaugh is the second Williston student to be named Academic All-American.  She started every game as a defender and according to Coach Fulcher, “she does whatever it takes to better the entire team.”  Katie is the program’s second academic All-American.  Katie Pettengill ’09, who currently plays at Williams College, was the first. This past May, Cavanaugh was also chosen to be a part of the prestigious U.S. Lacrosse Women’s New England Team at the National Tournament.
 
The girls lacrosse program began at Williston in the 1970s, soon after The Williston Northampton School was formed as a result of the merger of Williston Academy and Northampton School for Girls. This marks the second year in a row that a Williston girls lacrosse player has been named to the All-America team.  SA Fogelman ’10 was named to the team last year; she currently plays lacrosse at the U.S. Naval Academy.