The special assembly with Andrew Watson, of Translate the Brain, began with a game. The Upper School students had 30 seconds to examine a chart and, using three simple conversion rules, figure out solutions to several strings of numbers.
But there was a trick to this game. After calling time, Mr. Watson asked if any of the students had picked up on it. The key, he said, was in the numbers: the first half of the answers mirrored the last. Those who recognized that could complete the task in half the time.
Why was this relevant to students on an early November morning? Mr. Watson promised his talk, entitled “How to Study Less and Learn More”—and bizarrely subtitled Import Anthill Wontons!—could give students half a dozen strategies for achieving higher grades while doing less work.
The best ideas and strangest rhymes come to her when she is half asleep said poet Mary Jo Salter on November 11 during her Writers’ Workshop Series lecture at the Williston Northampton School.
Madeleine Blais, co-founder of the Writers’ Workshop Series, likened Ms. Salter’s poetry to “the gift of water from ice,” in her introduction of the John Hopkins professor. Ms. Salter was the fourth and final speaker in the 16th annual series.
“She takes the moment that is utterly forgettable and turns it into something utterly memorable, which is to say her words are shapeshifting and miraculous,” said Ms. Blais.
Sixteen years ago, authors Madeleine Blais P’00, ’04 and Elinor Lipman P’00 combined forces to create the Writers’ Workshop Series, a long-running lecture series that invites fiction and non-fiction writers, playwrights, journalists, and poets to speak to students and to the general public.
On Monday, November 5, Ms. Blais introduced her fellow co-founder by first listing several of the renowned authors that had visited the Williston Northampton School since the series began in 1998: Wally Lamb, Arthur Golden, Anita Shreve, Tracy Kidder, and Nikky Finney, among others.
“There are two things all of these authors have in common,” Ms. Blais said. “They are all performing at the top of their game… And they’re all personal friends of Elinor’s, who she talked into coming to talk to you.”
Mr. Kamkwamba with his windmill in the background (Photo courtesy of HarperCollins)
Malawi is a country struggling to overcome the effects of famine, poverty, and AIDS. The country has limited electricity, their main source of light in rural regions is kerosene lamps; these areas also have little access to running water. However, thanks to the ingenuity of William Kamkwamba, a boy from a farming community, one village was able to overcome these limitations. Mr. Kamkwamba will address the Williston Northampton School in the fourth annual Sara Wattles Perry ’77 lecture, on December 5 at 8:30 a.m. in the Athletic Center.
Forced to leave school when his parents could no longer afford the $80 fee, Mr. Kamkwamba continued his studies by pouring over books in the local library. He developed a love for science and technology, and wanted to find a way to bring electricity and running water to his home.
Mr. Kamkwamba atop his windmill (Photo courtesy of HarperCollins)
After reading donated textbooks, Mr. Kamkwamba designed and built a windmill from scrap metal that continues to supply his village with electricity and running water today. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope, which he co-authored with journalist Bryan Mealer, chronicles the creation of this windmill. In an interview with publishing firm HarperCollins, Mr. Kamkwamba said, “All things are made possible when your dreams are powered by your heart.”
Currently a student at Dartmouth College, Mr. Kamkwamba travels across the country speaking to groups about his life since building the windmill and the publication of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.
“Fiction becomes interesting when a line is crossed,” said author Rebecca Makkai during the first public lecture of the 16th Annual Writers’ Workshop on October 3.
In her lecture Ms. Makkai addressed how she came up with the idea for her award-winning first novel, The Borrower, which is centered on the relationship between rebellious librarian Lucy Hall and 10-year-old book lover Ian Drake, whose parents are forcing him to attend weekly anti-gay classes. Kidnapping, followed by a road trip from Missouri to Vermont, and references to classic children’s texts are all facets of the plot in Ms. Makkai’s novel. Continue reading →
