Williston’s faculty and seniors recently competed to see who would win the Annual Fund Frog of Awesomeness statue, which is awarded to the group with the best participation in the Annual Fund. Traci Wolfe, director of annual giving, announced the results of the competition at assembly on May 24: the faculty won the frog statue with a participation rate of 86.1%, narrowly defeating the senior class which had an 82.8% participation rate. The faculty will keep the statue until next year, when the class of 2012 will challenge them.

Have you remembered to give to the Annual Fund? The fund closes on June 30, 2011.

At the recent United Way of Hampshire County campaign celebration luncheon, Williston teacher Bob Blanchette was recognized as the most valuable employee campaign coordinator for the UWHC’s annual campaign. For the past three years, Bob has led the charge to rejuvenate the United Way annual campaign throughout the campus of The Williston Northampton School.

Bob became Williston’s campus coordinator for the United Way in 2009, and has been a donor for decades.  Since he began coordinating, the school’s overall giving has increased each year, and this year, gifts nearly doubled. Bob says, “I am hopeful that the momentum we have built will continue for many years to come, because I believe it is very important that those of us who have the financial resources agree to help our friends and neighbors in the Valley who are in need of our support.”

Bob, who will retire at the end of this school year, was joined in making appeals this year by staff member Dan Curylo, who will continue next year, assisted by faculty member Allison Marsland.  “There is no doubt that Dan’s involvement helped a great deal this year, and it was terrific to have such an enthusiastic partner,” Bob says.

Since coming to Williston in 1972, Bob has taught French, was director of admission, and taught math, as well as advising the academic and investing clubs and serving as president of Williston’s Cum Laude Society.

Something Wicked this Way Comes: Macbeth at Williston

by Brendan Hellweg ’14

Upon entering the Williston Theater it is nearly impossible not to notice the gorgeous set: it is both on the stage and above the audience, ropes hung from the catwalks above the audience. A primarily minimalistic set, the ropes are the only part that is not full black or stone colored and represent the “strings of fate” that the witches seem to weave for Macbeth.

The beautiful set is only one of several jobs Charles Raffetto was responsible for. He has burnt the candle at both ends: directing, stage managing, set designing, and casting for the play all at once. Even one of these jobs is enough to make someone want to complain about their “unfair” responsibilities, so when I heard that he had taken on all of these jobs, I worried that this huge burden might be too much, but Mr. Raffetto exceeded all my expectations and cast away any doubts with the powerful production of Macbeth he put on. Under this incredible pressure he managed to shine and create something worth giving two hours of my life for.

It’s an extremely dark, somber play. No true happy ending exists besides the death of the protagonist, and even the story of the “conquering” Macduff, played by Timi Onafowakan, ended in sorrow, his entire family brutally murdered. Besides the humorous monologue by a drunken porter, played by my friend, Henry Lombino, which was a rather dirty, lecherous  shining light in the otherwise depressing play, there were nearly no parts that didn’t make you want to cringe at how cruel people could be or gape at the depths of guilt murder bestows on a man.

The acting was excellent, although at points I could not understand what certain people were saying, and not everyone thought that the “no flash photography” rule was anything more than the vaguest of guidelines, as evidenced by the woman who happened to sit near me when I went to the play. Kiernan Zehring plays an excellent Macbeth, his breastplate being far too large for him to highlight how he was not really an extraordinary man but one who thrust himself into the most extraordinary and depraved of circumstances. His cutthroat dagger evidenced this: it was nothing in comparison to his soon to be killers’ swords. He acted with skill and vicious anger: an excellent way of showing a lowly thane whose level of power was not earned in any means and simply stolen from those who deserved it.

The one part of it that I did not enjoy by any means was the fight scenes, which were given surprisingly little attention for such a large part of the play. The actors looked like twelve year olds playing with sticks, not warriors fighting for their lives! I couldn’t imagine how these sections were given so little thought.

However, these almost laughable moments were more than balanced out by the excellent acting, tasteful costumes, and beautiful set design. I hope that this show was seen and appreciated by many, and that everyone else enjoyed it as much as I did. It earned the attention the audience gave it and was absolutely worth an evening at the theater.

Read more about theater at Williston.

On Monday, May 23, students in all sections of World Civilizations will present their work at The Williston Northampton School’s fourth annual Africa Museum. The event is free, open to the public, and parents are encouraged to attend. The museum opens at 6:00 p.m. in the Athletic Center at 80 Park Street. At 7:00 p.m. the speaker portion of the program, featuring two Williston faculty members, will begin.

At the Africa Museum, students present their work in the format of a science fair with original, interactive displays. This year, the World Civilizations unit on Africa focused on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Each section of the course has been looking at a different goal and assessing how far the UN has come, as well as what still needs to be done to reach the goal. 

Two members of the Williston community will speak at 7:00 p.m. regarding their experiences studying and living in Africa. Music teacher Ben Demerath studied music in Ghana through This World Music and UMass Amherst Drum & Dance Cultural Field Study. English teacher Janice Hanley lived in Liberia in the 1970s while she and her husband served in the Peace Corps.

View a slideshow of last year’s Africa Museum.