Club members with Easthampton police officers

The Community Service Club at The Williston Northampton School has collected over 400 new and used stuffed animals that will be given to children experiencing traumatic situations. The club teamed up with the Easthampton Police Department, which has agreed to distribute what they can to local children. Any excess animals will be given to other charitable organizations such as the Red Cross.

Senior Jeff Eichenberger, a boarding student from Midland Park, NJ, is the community service club president. He got the idea for this project because he had a pile of stuffed animals that were “no longer getting love” in his house. He researched what to do with them and found a group called Stuffed Animals for Emergencies (SAFE) that collects stuffed animals to be distributed by law enforcement personnel and firefighters to children in emergencies. Jeff says, “Though I myself have been fortunate enough to never have experienced such a situation, I found the concept of donation very appealing.”

Since there is no Western Massachusetts chapter of SAFE, and the club had decided they would like to make the effects of the collection accessible as locally as possible, they worked with members of the Easthampton Police Department, who agreed to take the donations. Jeff says, “This is a prime example to the giving nature of the Williston community, and I imagine many children will be delighted to have a companion in their time of need.”

From November 2010 through January 2011, a total of 408 stuffed animals were generously donated by Williston students, parents, faculty, and staff members.

As February draws to a close, a number of Williston athletes will be competing in conference and national championships, and the varsity hockey teams will play their last home games of the season.

Tony Alvarez ‘11

Two Williston wrestlers, Tony Alvarez ‘11 and Connor Adams ‘12, qualified for the National Prep Wrestling Championships taking place February 24-26 at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. They are the first Williston wrestlers to qualify for the Nationals since 2008. Tony qualified by finishing 6th at the New England Championships in the 160-lb weight class last weekend. Coach Matt KaneLong says, “Tony is a two-year captain who struggled all last season with shoulder injuries, but honed his craft and has come back strong after off-season surgery. He lulls opponents into a sense of security and then pins them.”

Connor Adams ‘12

Connor qualified after successfully petitioning for entry after he was unable to compete in the 2011 NEPSAC Wrestling Championships held last week at Brooks School. Coach KaneLong says, “Connor has been our most-winning wrestler over the past 2 years.”

Other Williston teams competing in championships this weekend include the boys’ and girls’ squash teams competing in the New England Squash Tournament. The girls will be competing at Westminster and the boys at Brooks. Peter Gunn coaches the girls’ squash team and Stan Samuelson coaches the boys’.

A number of Williston swimmers will be competing in the Western New England championships at Hopkins.

Finally, the last girls’ ice hockey varsity home game is tonight at 5:00 at Lossone Rink against Winchendon. The last boys’ home game is tomorrow at 3:30 against Pomfret.

Students and faculty members have been sharing some of their personal beliefs at The Williston Northampton School’s weekly assemblies. Based on the series of the same name that is a weekly feature on National Public Radio, “This I Believe” invites individuals to reflect on what is important to them.

Williston chaplain and teacher Daphne Burt developed the series in 2010 by inviting SA Fogleman ’10 and Maike Blakely ’10 to speak. Language Department Head Nat Simpson kicked off the 2010-11 series when he spoke on his belief that the study of language can change one’s life.

Now, Pastor Burt says, “students have really seen how cool it is,” and they have begun volunteering to speak as part of the series. This winter and spring the Williston community will hear presentations by Chad Adams ’12, Walter McLaughlin ’12, Marisa Roth ’11, and David King ’11.

Videos of several of the speeches can be found at www.williston.com/video.

Noted violinist Erin Keefe ’98, who in 2008 had a day named after her by the City of Northampton, recently appeared on PBS as part of the Live from Lincoln Center series. As a member of the prestigious Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, she performed in String Sextet by Brahms. Now in its 35th season, Live From Lincoln Center makes performances by Lincoln Center’s great artists accessible to home viewers across the United States.

A graduate of The Williston Northampton School, The Curtis Institute, and The Juilliard School, Erin has been hailed by The New York Times as “an impressive violin soloist.” Winner of the 2006 Avery Fisher Career Grant, she is quickly establishing a reputation and earning praise as a compelling artist who is “among the top violinists of her generation” (The Albuquerque Journal).

Erin will return to her home turf of Northampton, MA, to perform Brahms’ Double Concerto in A minor and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C minor with the Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra on May 21, 2011, at the Academy of Music. She also has upcoming performances in Sarasota Springs, Boston, Minneapolis, and elsewhere. Read more at her website.