Art students from The Williston Northampton School will curate Joint Venture, an exhibition showcasing paintings by individuals in the Riverside Industries arts program. Joint Venture will exhibit at the Grubbs Gallery in the Reed Campus Center at The Williston Northampton School from April 12-29, 2011. An opening reception will be held on April 17, 2011, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

This semester, five Williston students who are the advisees of Williston art teacher Marcia Reed have joined art classes at Riverside Industries—a non-profit organization that serves people with disabilities. Riverside Industries is located in Easthampton in the One Cottage Street mill building, just a few blocks from Williston’s campus. The organization offers art classes to clients, giving them the opportunity to explore and express their creativity. In this semester’s classes, the students of Williston and Riverside worked together to create artwork as they talked about their processes and interests. During the final class preceding spring break, Williston students worked with Marcia Reed and Denise Herzog, art director at Riverside Industries, to select individual pieces for the exhibit in the Grubbs Gallery.

Marcia Reed says about the class, “All of my advisees this semester are all art students. I thought this could be a good community service project and a way for them to interact with the Riverside. I approached Denise and she thought it was a good idea, too. I thought that it would be a great opportunity for them to curate the show, select the art, and help to hang it. They could be part of that whole process.”

During one class, Williston and Riverside students casually chatted around a table about their hometowns as they painted on large pieces of paper. With Williston students’ hometowns ranging from Saudi Arabia to Easthampton, MA, and Riverside Industries clients coming from all of the surrounding pioneer valley area, the group learned about a variety of places, some near and far.

During the discussion, a Riverside client named Jen turned to Williston student Ashley Wong, a senior from Hong Kong, China, and asked what color should she use next on her drawing. Ashley, a senior at Williston, encouraged her to pick a color that she liked. Ashley has been enthusiastic about the program since the group began visiting Riverside. She says, “All the students have their own style. They are very independent. There is a student named Tony, his work is amazing! He captures so much detail.”

Denise Herzog toured the Willliston art studios in the Reed Campus Center and was enthusiastic about the work on view. Herzog says, “I’m very impressed with this group from Williston. They are very mature for their age. To come into a new situation like this class, one has to adjust their comfort levels. They did it quickly.”

The exhibit is free and open to the public and takes place in the Grubbs Gallery of the Reed Campus Center at The Williston Northampton School. For more information see www.williston.com/grubbsgallery.

During assembly on Tuesday March 29, 2011, Head of School Robert Hill III announced that Brett Beaney ’11 of Scarborough, Maine, is a finalist in the 2011 competition for the National Merit Scholarship Program. Brett was presented a Certificate of Merit for his advancement to finalist standing.

The National Merit Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955. High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test—a test that serves as an initial screen of more than 1.5 million entrants each year–and by meeting published program entry/participation requirements. The semifinalists were named in the fall of 2010 and must advance to finalist standing before considered for an Achievement Scholarship award. Scholarship awardees will be notified in April and May of 2011.

Williston senior Dongyang “Don” Cheng ‘11 has qualified as a semifinalist for the 2011 U.S. Physics Olympics Team, the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) announced recently. Don was one of approximately 3,000 students who participated in the first phase of the selection process by taking the “Fnet=ma Exam” in January. As one of only 400 semifinalists nationwide, Don took a second exam in March, the results of which will be used as the basis for selection as a member of the 20-member U.S. Physics Team.

The US Physics Olympiad Program is a joint initiative of AAPT in partnership with the member societies of the American Institute for Physics (AIP): Acoustical Society of America, American Association of Physicists in Medicine, American Astronomical Society, American Crystallographic Society, American Geophysical Union, American Physical Society, AVS, Optical Society America, and the Society of Rheology. Ms. Lauren Benson is Don’s physics teacher. In February, Don was inducted into Williston’s Cum Laude Society.

Race to Nowhere: The Dark Side of America’s Achievement Culture, a documentary described by the Washington Post as “an education film that gets it,” will be screened for the public on Thursday, April 14, at 6:30 p.m. in the Williston Theatre at 18 Payson Ave. Tickets are $10 general admission ($5 for teachers/students; $15 at the door) and may be purchased online.

In Race to Nowhere, Vicky Abeles, a concerned mother turned filmmaker, aims her camera at the high-stakes, high-pressure culture that creates unhealthy, disengaged, unprepared, and stressed-out youth.  The film describes “a silent epidemic” among high school students in the United States by which many young people arrive at college and the workplace unprepared and uninspired. Race to Nowhere seeks to challenge current assumptions on how to best prepare the youth of America to become healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens.

“Race to Nowhere shines a light on the crisis of learning and meaning facing American education,” says New York Times bestselling author Rachel Simmons (Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls). “The film is both a call to arms and a beacon of hope, a source of relief and outrage and a way forward for all of us.”

The screening is sponsored by The Williston Northampton School’s Parents’ Association and a portion of the proceeds from the screening will fund programs at The Williston Northampton School. The film will be followed by a panel discussion led by faculty members.

Six Williston students recently participated in the American Mathematics Competition, a worldwide competition that involves more than 250,000 high school students. Dongyang “Don” Cheng ’11 (far right) and Jiayuan “George” Xu ’13 scored high enough on the AMC 12 and AMC 10 tests, respectively, to be invited to the next level of competition, the American Invitational Mathematics Exam.  
 
The purpose of the AMC exams is to increase interest in mathematics among high school students through friendly competition in a timed format. Students taking AMC exams must answer 25 multiple-choice questions within 75 minutes without the use of a calculator. Students moving on to the next level of competition will face a 4.5-hour exam. That exam will be given at the end of March.