Echoes: Fall/Winter 2006

Go Blue! Cheering on the soccer teams was a favorite pastime this fall.

EchoesFall 2005/Winter 2006

Contents

EditorRachel Henry-BallDirector of [email protected]

Alan T. PoppHead of [email protected]

Kathy BryanAlumnae/i Relations [email protected]

Send notice of address changes to the WMS Alumnae/i Office.

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.whitemountain.org/echoing

Phone: (603) 444-2928

Mail: White Mountain School371 West Farm Road Bethlehem, NH 03574

C Echoes is published two times each year and printed on recycled paper.

Home in Escalante . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5An OLE backpacking trip this fall took a group to canyon country in a remote corner of southernUtah. Amy Lawton, Humanities instructor and trip co-leader, writes about this special place.

A New Foundation for Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7Ground has officially broken for The Fred Steele Science Center.

Residential Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Residential life is more than living in dorms. Through our residential curriculum, it’s about providing structure and guidance for students in the many facets of life outside of the classroom.

Discoveries in Peru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10Four thousand miles from campus, our group had a profound community service experience high in Peru’s Andes mountains.

Surf’s Up! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Whitemountain.org has a fresh new look, added features, and so much more...

WMS Welcomes New Administrators and Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Introducing new faces on campus this year.

Fall Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Class Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Annual Report of Giving, 2004-2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

The Scribble-in Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30What was St. Mary’s like in 1934-35? Thanks to the wonderful donation of a “scribble-in book,” we get a glimpse into the School’s daily activities through written history.

Above: All in good fun! During the Dark Blue/Light Blue tug-of-war on Community Weekend (held thefirst full weekend of the new school year) Dean of Studies Jay Thornton met his match with Julie Yates,Dean of Students.

On the front cover: Photo taken by Andy White, Director of Technology, during the Fall OLE trip toLower Richardson Lake on the northern border of Maine and New Hampshire.

On the back cover: Hindu Goddess Masks by (top row L to R) Hiroki Inaba ‘07, Braden Smith ‘06,Brienne Black ‘06, (bottom row L to R) Kate Bond ‘07, and Charles Truslow ‘08.

Overwhelming. That is the only

word to describe the gorgeous

abyss set before my eyes. As the

wind softly brushes my back, I

attempt to take in everything all at

once. Far in the distance loom

gargantuan rock faces, bright red

and orange in color. I also witness

magnificent arches, canyons and

gulches, some hundreds of feet in

height. It is so quiet. All my ears

presently sense are the distant

voices of my companions, the

scratch of this pen, and, of course,

my friend the wind.

““

- Excerpt from the journal of Sam Griffin ‘06

scalante is home to me in a strange way, because I’ve never actually

lived there. Still, every time I journey to this remote corner of southern

Utah, every time I drive down Hole-in-the-Rock Road, heading for the

canyon country, I feel a sense of warm contentment wash over my insides

like a gentle wave sweeping up the beach. I can breathe easier. The World

recedes - all my daily stresses slip away - and I, like a snake slipping out

of its skin, shed my worn and tired exterior.

The fact that I can do this in a van piled high with nine noisy teenagers, all

the iPods, magazines and Little Debbie snacks that accompany those nine

teenagers, not to mention enough gear and food to last us for the next

seven days, and the country music that my husband Josh has blasting on

the radio (the only station we get out here, much to the chagrin of Pete

and Drew) - well, this must be one special place.

I think it has to do with the vastness of the sky.

The first night, as we are falling asleep spread out on two plastic ground-

sheets, I hear one student whisper to his neighbor: “Dude, check out those

stars.”

The sky surrounds me in a different way here than when I am back East.

Standing in the desert in the middle of the day, I understand more fully

that our world is round - the sky stretches farther, the horizon seems lim-

itless, and I feel as if I am standing in the middle of this giant, startlingly

blue orb. I can almost see the curve of the earth bending around me.

At night, the sky shines brightly with many stars. All the words that I type

in this spot and then delete cannot capture the hugeness of that night sky,

the sheer multitude of those stars. They stretch on forever. An upside

down bowl of stars so bright that it illuminates the darkness. Every night,

as we settle down to sleep, my eyes search out the constellations I know -

by Amy Lawton,Humanities Instructor &

Trip Co-Leader

EscalanteHome in

E

SMALL SCHOOL. B IG OUTDOORS.page 5

Continued on the next page.


the usual suspects, Big and Little Dipper, the Pleiades (I search in vain for

that seventh sister!), Orion and his belt, Cassiopeia - and I am confronted

with how much I don’t know.

This is good for me to think about.

I like being surrounded by so many things that I cannot identify - it

makes the world seem big and unknown and mysterious again, like it used

to be when I was a kid.

For four days we hike through the rustling cottonwoods and soft sand of

Coyote Gulch, and as the towering, massive red sandstone walls of the

canyon deepen, the strip of sky above us narrows. At night we can watch

the stars moving across this small strip, our viewfinder of the heavens. One

day, while we are camped at Coyote Natural Bridge, eating dinner, we see

a rainbow. How fitting, to be camped by this natural red rock bridge span-

ning 40 feet over the streambed, and have a colorful bridge of light span-

ning from one canyon wall to the other.

I always leave the desert wishing I had a few more days, just like I am

wishing now that I had a few more lines on this page to describe the slot

canyons, and the quicksand, and the look on Lucas’ face as he peered,

mouth open, at the enormous canyon walls rising hundreds of feet above

him. How he kept stumbling because he was walking with his eyes glued to

those red walls, and how seeing that made my heart well up with joy at

helping him discover this new place. The way the red rocks are warm to

the touch. And Drew in his boxer shorts

learning t’ai chi from Josh.

My consolation is that I carry that sky

with me now. It has become a part of me,

and I have come to know it - the enor-

mous bowl of stars, the brilliant blue, all

the colors of that rainbow - and I can

always close my eyes and go home.


Groundbreaking

A new foundation

Construction of The Fred Steele Science Center, slated

for completion by Fall 2006, officially broke ground in

October. The $1.5 million project will provide an aca-

demic facility equal to White Mountain’s outstanding

instruction in chemistry, biology, physics, earth science,

and sustainability studies.

Among the modern ammenities will be spacious, fully-

equiped laboratories that allow for multi-day experi-

ments, natural lighting, and air ventilation. The Center

will also accelerate the School’s momentum into an

experiential science curriculum and aid our shift to a

Physics First curriculum. With this curriculum, freshman

physics will be more experimental and theoretical,

chemistry will involve more wet labs, and biology will

feature more experimentation in its molecular biology

focus.

The construction of a new building for the sciences will

also allow for the conversion of old laboratory and

classroom space into classrooms for math and humani-

ties courses to meet the needs of our growing student

population.

Frederic L. Steele, a noted alpine botanist, taught biology and chemistry

at The White Mountain School/St. Mary’s-in-the-Mountains for 34

years, 1946-1980. The Science Prize at Graduation is named in his

honor. Described as “Steele,” “Stainless Steele,” “Fearless Fred,” and

“Our Mr. Chips,” he is a beloved institution for many alumnae/i.

SCIENCEfor

See the center’s construction in progress. Log on to www.whitemountain.org. Click Exploring, then News & Events.


White Mountain School’s

Residential Curriculum program

continues to grow into many

facets of life outside of the class-

room. For students and faculty, it

has become a regular part of our

weekly activites - dorm gather-

ings, advisee lunches and dinners, field trips, to name just a

few. This fall we have been busy with activities aimed to

strengthen our community, communication, and understand-

ing. Here is an overview of how residential curriculum has

been incorporated into our daily lives.

IInn tthhee DDoorrmmss

Proctors have been working with their dorm heads in Carter,

Burroughs, and Hill House, putting together events for their

respective dorm communities. Hill House held a successful

‘spa night’ this fall. The girls even drew in some non-Hill

House residents for chocolate, tea, and

facials. Yoga and relaxation time before

bed have also become popular for the Hill

House girls.

In Burroughs, ping-pong tournaments are

frequent. Earlier this fall, Lower

Burroughs went as a dorm to Upper Falls

for a picnic dinner and pre-study hall

swim. Upper Burroughs has also ventured

into town together for a Subway meals

after study hall. Jaime Pollitte (Lower

Burroughs Dorm Head) has several times

creatively converted the common room into a mini-movie the-

atre so that the boys can watch movies on the ‘big screen.’

Carter took a trip to Echo Lake in October for a pizza dinner

together, making for a great fall evening in Franconia Notch.

Some guided relaxation time, in addition to frequent

impromptu tea or cookie parties, have provided opportunities

for slowing down in an otherwise very busy schedule.

In Dickey House, the group decorated their dorm by making

new pillows for the couches and silk paintings for the walls.

Solar boys had an early study hall one evening so that they

could watch a movie as a dorm before lights out. They have

also had an ice cream social and an evening trip to

McDonald’s.

All of the dorms participated in “Project Santa” this year.

Through this program, students in the dorms donated money

for children in New Hampshire whose families needed assis-

tance providing gifts at Christmas time.

An addition to the residential curriculum,

this year we’ve held scheduled meetings

once a week in all of the dorms. Students

now check in thirty minutes early on

Tuesday evenings for their dorm meetings.

This time together gives dorm heads an

opportunity to discuss important topics or

issues within the dorm community. Dorm

meetings are also a chance for each dorm

to gather as a group and have fun, relax,

or work on issues that inherently arise in

community living situations.

Part of the WMS mission is to “prepare

young people…for life beyond formal

academics, by helping them learn who

they are, how they contribute to their

communities, and how they can

become responsible citizens of the

changing planet.” The WMS

Residential Curriculum is intended to

address these goals and to provide

added structure and guidance for

students outside of the classroom.

LifeResidential by Ginger Beattie,Carter Dorm Head &

Residential/Procter Leadership Coordinator


LLeeaaddeerrsshhiipp DDeevveellooppmmeenntt

Now in its second year, the dorm tutor program continues to

be helpful. Selected students from the junior and senior

dorms rotate spending evening time in the younger dorms

assisting with study hall and providing academic tutoring.

Dorm tutors are also present after study hall to provide a posi-

tive older student presence in the dorms. Dorm tutors act as

role models for students who are often adjusting to life at

boarding school.

For the second year, the freshman class participated in an all-

day class retreat at the CODY Education Center in Freedom,

NH. The y participated in group initiatives and low-ropes

course elements that encouraged them to work on communi-

cation and teamwork skills. The freshman retreat is part of a

larger effort to begin teaching leadership skills and to create a

sense of unity among the class.

AAddvviissoorr MMeeeettiinnggss

New this year, advisor meetings are now held twice a month as

opportunities for advisors and students to discussing a variety

of different human development topics. September and

October meetings were themed around community and

respect with activities like brainstorming and discussing our

ideal community and the values that we want to embrace.

Groups created posters expressing these ideas, and students

worked on setting personal goals in the areas of academics,

relationships, community involvement, and physical and emo-

tional health. Team-building and communication skills are also

themes for activities. In November, Detective McGlaughlin

from the Keene Police Department presented an informative

talk on internet safety to the entire school community.

Top photos were taken at the FreshmanRetreat in October. Left: Freshman Joey Tomasello ‘09, LaurenHolland ‘09, and Max Pizey ‘09.Middle: Sharon Mazimba ‘09, Eve Evans ‘09,and Jeff Roy ‘09.Right: Dylan Farley ‘09 and Lexi Sampson ‘09

Pictured at left are this year’s Dorm Proctors:(L to R) Sam Griffin ‘06, Pete Elkins ‘06, ElsaCamuamba ‘06, Yana Ostrovsky ‘06, GingerBeattie, Mike Sanborn ‘06, Emma Daughton‘07, Eileen Clancy ‘06, and Kendra Lowe ‘06.

Stay tuned for updates. The year is just underway!


How did I get here? Here I was: a traveler from thefar north speaking a language I’ve studied for onlythree years; and here was a man before me, whoseweathered face still had kind and understandingeyes during my attempts at communication inSpanish. This simple exchange lasted only a fewminutes, yet it sticks with me even today.

Last Fall, an announcement was made at Morning Meeting that there wouldbe a trip to Peru. So, I wrote my name on the list. Who would have thought-that four months later I would be sitting on the back of a flatbed truck head-ing for a small mountain village high in the Andes mountains. Six of us,including Matthew Toms, our instructor, made the phenomenal trip.

During the flight, I could see hundreds of little flickering lights from firesspread out all over Peru. We landed in Lima, the Spanish capital. Severallong hours were spent in the airport before our flight to Cuzco (the ancientcapital of the Incan empire, commonly referred to by the local indigenousfolks as the “belly-button of the world”). Arriving in Cuzco, what struck memost was how green everything was. In Cuzco, we met Kenny, director of PróPerú (the organization we were volunteering for), and Nico, an all-aroundgood guy. After some time getting acclimated to the high altitude, we traveledwith Kenny and Nico to Urubamba, a small town tucked in the Sacred Valleyof the Incas. This would serve as our base for most of the trip.

The next day, after Spanish classes, we met our hostfamilies, who, as we would later discover, treated uslike their own children and would teach us the intri-cacies of Peruvian culture. For the first time ourgroup was split up, and we were on our own. Thefollowing morning, we started our volunteer work.We drove out of town to nearby Cotawincha, a poorsuburb of Urubamba, to meet the town government.Our first job was to make, then distribute, new cleanburning stoves to the people of Coatawincha. Theyneeded these stoves for a few important reasons.First, since most families live in one room adobe huts

Last March, a small WMS group traveled 4,000 miles from the White Mountains of New

Hampshire to the Andes mountains in Peru to volunteer with ProPeru Service Corps. Offering pro-

found 2-26 week cultural, service, and academic experiences in Peru, the core of every ProPeru

program experience is a participant-driven development project with their host community. All

projects are collaborative and are selected based on each community’s internal assessment of its

needs. Here, Ben Meisel ‘06 reflects on his own experience.

PPRROOPPEERRUU CCLLEEAANN BBUURRNNIINNGG

SSTTOOVVEE PPRROOJJEECCTT:: Introduce

500 cleaner burning stoves

into the homes of remote

communities throughout the

region. Aid in the construc-

tion, installation, and edu-

cation of the environmental

and health benefits of

cleaner burning stoves.

Discoveries in Peru


and cook over an open fire all day, manysuffer from the long-term effects of inhal-ing smoke. The stoves we were installinghave small chimneys, thus alleviatingthese problems substantially. And second,throughout the Sacred Valley, there is aproblem with deforestation. These newstoves burn 50% more efficiently than anopen flame, and burn 50% less wood.Using these stoves will hopefully diminishdependence on the scarce resource ofwood. We spent almost three days makingthe stoves. We were told that we were thefastest foreigners they have seen makingthese stoves!

The next leg of our trip took us toCh’ayuacocha, a small community about 12,000 feet above sea level, where wewere going to build a trout farm and guard house. We loaded a truck with allthe materials we needed (lumber, tubes, windows, doors, netting, etc – almostall recycled to keep costs down). Our journey began pre-dawn in Urubamba,took us through the village of Ollantaytamba, and then up and into themountains on an unmaintained two track. We then drove at length until westopped seeing houses, then trees...then the road ended. We unpacked oursupplies and met members of the Ch’ayuacocha community who broughtsome horses down from the village. We each took what we could on our backsthen began to hike. My classmates and I took a rather big blows to our egoswhen we saw that little kids of this community were taking larger loads thanwe and handling them with relative ease while we were struggling with whatlittle we had! During the five hour off-trail hike through the mountains andover passes, we experienced the gamut in weather -sun, sleet, hail, rain, and snow; sometimes all at thesame time! Arriving at the village, we were tired,cold, and wet, but were warmed by an incrediblecommunity welcoming. After an introduction withthe community, we fell fast asleep and slept well inpreparation for the long, hard days of work ahead.

Ch’ayuacocha, like many Andean villages, suffersfrom extreme poverty. At this altitude, potato is theonly crop that can be harvested. It is eaten threemeals a day, sometimes augmented by Cui, smallguinea pigs that run freely throughout the adobehuts. The result of limited farming capacities andlack of money to buy food, villagers often sufferfrom a lack of protein and malnutrition. Thus, the

Sam Haverstock ‘05 and local communitymembers celebrate with music.

Continued on the next page.

CCHHIICCOONN EENNDDAANNGGEERREEDD

FFOORREESSTT PPRROOTTEECCTTIIOONN

PPRROOJJEECCTT:: Continue the

efforts to integrate ProPeru

forest protection program

with the community of

Chicon. Work with local

community members to

develop sustainable uses

of the forest resources and

methods of continued pro-

tection of habitat and

endangered forests.

We left the community with atremendous feeling of satisfac-tion that our work will likelyhelp to improve the quality oflife for the Ch’ayuacocha mem-bers. Even more, we got aglimpse of a world so distinctlydifferent from our own that itleft us feeling confused aboutour place in the world and ourrole as Americans. Why is it thata child born in Ch’ayuacocha haslittle opportunity to get an edu-cation, to live a life withoutpoverty, or even to leave thecommunity that she was born in.Whereas the simple geographicaldifference of being born in the United States provides us with all of theseopportunities and more. This question, and many more, filled our minds andhearts as we began our very long journey back to New Hampshire. Theanswers are not coming easily. Yet my classmates and I feel more prepared toaddress such questions, having had this mind-opening experience and theamazing opporuntity to learn from and to share experiences with so manywonderful Peruvians.


trout farm! Once built, it will provide a sus-tainable and self-supporting source of pro-tein for many, many years. The next daywe hiked up to the lake and learned earlyon how our lungs did not work as well atthis high altitude. Running even a shortdistance was a bad idea! Once at the lake,we built a mud and stone fuard housecomplete with a thatched roof. Then webuilt the farm and stocked it with fish.Once completed, the town’s president invit-ed us to participate in a ceremony askingthe Earth for its blessing of the farm.

Learn more about ProPeru’s service opportunities by visiting their website at www.proworldsc.org.

L to R: Brady Mott ‘05, Sam Haverstock ‘05, and Eli Hutchinson ‘05 during the blessing ceremony.

Ch’ayuacocha members work to thatch a new roof.


Months of design and development have lead to the launch of an exciting new White Mountain School website. With expanded con-

tent areas and added features, the new whitemountain.org offers an informative and useful online extension to our school. Take a

quick tour here through the site’s main sections, then go surfing on www.whitemountain.org to experience it directly.

Catch the new wave of WMS online today!

surf’sUP! Launch of a new website brings waves of excitement.

EExxpplloorriinngg LLiivviinngg

LLeeaarrnniinngg

SSuucccceeeeddiinngg

EEcchhooiinngg

AAppppllyyiinngg

Our history and who we are; get the latest

news; read Campus Notes; view the calendar;

and find out about employment opportunities.

Success at WMS is realized in many different

ways - in academics, socially, and through

sports.

Read about course offerings this year. Who

are our faculty and staff? Learn how outdoor

programs extend the classroom and how com-

munity service is done near and far. College

advising...and more!

Discover the fun of daily life around the WMS

campus; learn about our residential faculty;

student leadership opportunities; and WMS

support systems.

How do you apply to WMS? Dowload an

application; send an inquiry, and find local

area information.

WMS/SMS alumnae/i now have a “home” on

the web. Send us your Class Notes or tell us of

an address change; read Echoes; find out

Alumnae/i Weekend events; help us locate

“lost” alumnae/i, and so much more!

whitemountain.org


WMS Welcomes New Administrators and Staff

AAmmyy BBrroobbeerrggDirector of Admission

Originally from Connecticut, AmyBroberg began her career inAdmission at the Northfield MountHermon School as an AssistantDirector of Admission. There sherecruited students from as far awayas Tashkent, Uzbekistan to as close asKeene, NH. She then went on tobecome the Director of Admissionfor the Shackleton School, a smallexpeditionary boarding school inAshby, Massachusetts. Amy hasworked as an Americorps volunteerin Colorado, as a YouthConservation Corps Supervisor inthe Rocky Mountains, traveled as astudent with Up With People, andworked as a volunteer coordinator inGuatemala for Habitat for Humanity,International. She received her B.A.from Colorado State University inSociology and her M.A. inInternational and InterculturalService from the School forInternational Training inBrattleboro,Vermont.

PPaauull HHiiggggiinnssoonnChaplain

Paul joins the WMS community asChaplain. He and his wife Sheelaghmoved to Bethlehem 2 1/2 years agofrom Connecticut after Paul retiredfrom the State Vocational HighSchool system. There he taught 11thand 12th grade Carpentry for 25years, building houses with kids. For12 summers, they worked for CampWashington, an Episcopal Camp inConnecticut, where they plannedand led 12-day backcountry tripswith teens. Paul has also worked as acanoe trip leader for a Maine outfit-ter. Whitewater kayaking is his pas-sion, and he currently holds an ACAmoving water instructors certificate.

Paul became an ordained EpiscopalDeacon in 1991 and has focused onyoung people. His church connec-tion is assisting at All Saints Churchin Littleton.


FALLSSPPOORRTTSS

Can you guess what this is?ANSWER: A CELL!Jill Fineis takes her biology students inside to learn how a cell is composed.

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Parents of Alumni/ae:If Echoes is addressed to your son or daughterwho no longer maintains a permanent addressat your home, kindly email us with his or hernew address. Thank you.

Do you know a student

who may be right for

White Mountain School?

Please tell us by contacting

the Admissions Office. Phone

(800) 545-7813, e-mail

[email protected],

or visit www.whitemountain.org.

Hindu God Masks:In Ceramics I, students researched the Hindu religion and a godthat they felt drawn to. Then, using slab building and additivesculptural techniques, students created masks interpreting thegod’s likeness. Some are painted with acrylics and others withmetallic spray paint. The project was in conjunction withNovember’ Cultural Event performance “Nataraj: A Concert ofIndian Dance.”

Echoes of Tomorrow

Documents

Echoes: Fall/Winter 2006