Stories and updates from around campus

Friday’s Special Assembly to Focus on Difficult Issues

During advisor meetings on Wednesday morning, Williston Northampton students bent over their phones and Surfaces for a special school-wide quiz.

The quiz asked about such difficult topics as consent, sexual assault, and violence in relationships. Students had to decide whether statements such as “if someone keeps following someone else online without permission, that can be considered stalking,” were true, false, or somewhere in between. They were also asked how likely they were to stop violent behavior if they saw it happening and other questions about their own reactions.

Faculty member Adrienne Mantegna said that the quiz had both tough and thought provoking for her advisees.

“They struggled with terminology, worried about getting questions right or wrong, and talked about what the questions might be asking,” she said, adding that students slowly realized that some of the questions might not have a definitive answer.

The advisor meetings were part of a three-day series on healthy relationships this week that will culminate in a special assembly on Friday. First, though, faculty members will meet with two presenters from Campus Outreach Services on Thursday night as part of an advanced training session on relationships and how to facilitate discussions on sexual assault.

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Writers’ Workshop Presents Ian Cheney

Ian Cheney
Ian Cheney

A filmmaker whose work brings to light the hidden stories behind people, the world they inhabit, and their effect on that world, will present the second lecture in the four-part 2015 Writers’ Workshop Series on September 29.

Ian Cheney, an Emmy-nominated and Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker, has turned his lens on such topics as the link between corn and obesity, green buildings in Boston, and the history of Chinese-American food through one of the most popular dishes: General Tso’s chicken.

“Bluespace,” Mr. Cheney’s most recent work, bridges such seemingly distant topics as polluted waterways in New York City and the terraforming of Mars.

Mr. Cheney blogged about a trip he took to the Sargasso Sea for the film, and his subsequent horror upon discovering that what he imagined to be the “vast blue sea, still wild and unknown,” was actually littered with microplastic.

“’For God’s sake,’ I thought, ‘We’re in the middle of nowhere. This would be like landing on the moon and finding bits of Evian bottles and scraps of plastic bags. How did this get here?’”

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Two Students Get a Behind-the-Scenes on National Security

Jack Phelan ‘18 and Tim Fay ‘18 head to Washington D.C. for the National Youth Leadership Forum
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Courtesy of Karen Phelan

Two Williston Northampton School students are headed to the nation’s capital this week to learn about a prominent topic in the news today: national security.

Jack Phelan ‘18 and Tim Fay ‘18 are headed to Washington D.C. to participate in the “National Youth Leadership Forum: National Security—Diplomacy, Intelligence, and Defense.” The program is run by the for-profit company Envision Experience, based in the capital.

Over the course of the six-day program, Mr. Fay and Mr. Phelan will meet with policy makers, military leaders, and other experts for a “behind-the-scenes view of national security in action,” according to an Envision press release.

The boys, and some 300 other students from across U.S., will be visiting historic and notable sites such as the Lincoln Memorial, and the World War II, Korean and Vietnam War memorials. They will also stop at the Smithsonian and the National Mall. Their group will take part in the wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.

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Courtesy of Karen Phelan

Mr. Fay, who was on his way to Washington D.C. on Tuesday, wrote via email that he’s most looking forward to a talk by former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. He noted that he hopes the program helps him meet new people and “gain a full understanding of what makes a good leader and apply that to myself.”

“I am most looking forward to going to memorials and the Arlington National Cemetery and honoring the noble people that came before me,” added Mr. Phelan. “I hope to meet new people and enhance my leadership skills on the national stage.”

Writers’ Workshop Presents David Maraniss

Portrait of David Maraniss by Lucian Perkins
Portrait of David Maraniss by Lucian Perkins

“It has to be something I’m obsessed with.”

When it comes to picking the subject of one of his acclaimed biographies, fascination is always a factor for author and journalist David Maraniss. Speaking to fellow author Jeff Pearlman, Mr. Maraniss said that each new book “insinuates itself into my life and in a sense takes over.”

“Formats change but two things remain eternal, or so I hope,” he noted during the interview. “The human need to understand ourselves through story and the essential need to search for truth and separate fact from misinformation.”

The author and Washington Post associate editor will lead off the 2015 Writers’ Workshop Series at the Williston Northampton School with a public lecture on September 24 in the Dodge Room, Reed Campus Center.

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2015 Writers’ Workshop to Explore Personal Journeys

Portrait of David Maraniss by Lucian Perkins
Portrait of David Maraniss by Lucian Perkins

Delving into the very personal is at the heart of the 2015 Writers’ Workshop Series, which will explore a range of journeys—of professional growth, political power, and revenge—through the work of four strong storytellers this fall.

Williston Northampton School’s popular lecture series, conceived by authors Madeleine Blais P ’00, ’04 and Elinor Lipman P ’00, is celebrating its 18th year of hosting inspiring and inventive writers on campus.

Lectures are always free, open to the public, and take place in Williston’s Dodge Room in the Reed Campus Center at 7:00 p.m.

Ian Cheney
Ian Cheney

The 2015 series begins with acclaimed journalist and award-winning biographer David Maraniss, who will speak about his most recent work, Once in A Great City: A Detroit Story, on September 24. Mr. Maraniss has been nominated in the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting for the Washington Post, and has written acclaimed biographies on Barack Obama, Vince Lombardi, and Bill Clinton, among others. His latest book explores his hometown during the rapid changes of the 1960s.

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Stories and updates from around campus