When the 13 new faculty members arrived on campus this year, Dean of Faculty Peter Valine was pleased to see how quickly the group came together. Not only were they highly educated (six have master’s degrees), and dedicated (nine will live on campus to work with the residential program), but they got along. In fact, they established a rapport right from the start, he said.
“Through their orientation process they created an exceptionally tight bond,” Mr. Valine said. “They supported each other through the orientation program, and really seemed to enjoy each other’s company.”
In a group “distinguished by a true passion for education,” Mr. Valine said he expected the math department to particularly benefit. Three of the new faculty members will be math teachers, including Josh Seamon, the new math department head.
Meet the new faculty for 2013-14:
Carey Baldwin (Math) – Ms. Baldwin joins Williston—and returns to the Pioneer Valley—after teaching and tutoring for the last 10 years in California, and most recently Washington state. She graduated from Mt. Holyoke College with a BA in Physics and Environmental Science. Ms. Baldwin will teach math, and will also be a coach and advisor. Ms. Baldwin and her husband, Brent Visser, will live on campus with their sons Quinn and Sam.
Kate Biddiscombe (English) – Ms. Biddiscombe joins Williston after completing a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She also has a master’s in English Literature from the Breadloaf School of English, and she is a graduate of Colby College with a BA in English and American Studies. Ms. Biddiscombe worked for five years at Choate Rosemary Hall. She will teach English, coach, advise, and live on campus.
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As he stepped to the podium for Williston Northampton School’s 173rd Convocation, Head of School Robert W. Hill III pulled a cell phone from his pocket. With the school community looking forward to a year of new technology, it was only appropriate that Mr. Hill kick off the ceremonial beginning with what he described as a “reverse selfie.”
Mr. Hill said he was reminded of another modern wonder: the Panama Canal. Mr. Hill said there was a metaphor in the human ingenuity, colossal machines, and transnational cooperation that each canal passage required.
