The Class of 2020

Class of 2020: Special Delivery

This spring, Head of School Mary Halpin Carter embarked on an unforgettable adventure to visit every local members of the Class of 2020. She and senior Ridge Gonzales each reflect on their own perspective of the experience:

MARY HALPIN CARTER: We were a surprising spectacle—a small white and maroon school bus (driven by Danny Pouliot), a petite head of school in a Derryfield jacket, and a large cougar mascot (played by Dawn Kilcrease). What was striking was how happy the kids were to see us and how emotional many of the parents were. As the mom of a Dartmouth senior, I can relate. You empathize with your child for all that was lost of their senior spring, but don’t have much agency to make it better. Then here comes this ‘clown car’ of adults willing to be silly, giving your child a personalized lawn sign and a stuffed animal baby cougar.

I didn’t realize until I started that I had the opportunity to look right into each graduate’s eyes and tell them why what they had done at Derryfield made the community better, or how we admire their grit in finishing the rigorous program, or how they were to be commended for the specific ways they took advantage of the opportunity. These exchanges felt like the most normal thing in the world, but also better than normal, because I got to thank and commend each graduate for their contributions to the school community. We often bounced back on the bus laughing and joyful, feeling like we were able, through some divine intervention, to provide a moment of healing.

We laughed, we got bus sick, we got lost on rural back roads, we got hangry and there was nowhere to buy a snack, but mostly we felt it was an honor to be part of an important life milestone for good young people in uncertain times.

Ridge will be attending Bentley University in the fall.

RIDGE GONZALES: When your dad calls you from the other room, telling you Dr. Carter is on your front lawn, you become very confused... but also very intrigued. It had been many weeks since I last saw any member of the Derryfield community in person, so it was a happy surprise to see Dr. Carter and of course, Moose the Cougar. The lengths that Derryfield will go to honor each individual student is what struck me the most, as Dr. Ridge ’20 will be attending Carter traveled to every seniors’ Bentley University in the fall. home with a personalized Derryfield lawn sign. For me and for many, senior year wasn’t the fairytale ending we all wanted, but Derryfield never let us down and made us always feel that we were not only connected but also cherished through this especially hard time.

Independent Senior Projects

This year’s Independent Senior Projects (ISP) were nothing short of innovative. Each project was designed and crafted with the most meaningful and creative ideas. Many seniors travelled outside of their comfort zones and embraced all the challenges that arose over the course of their ISPs.

Josh and Jake Ehret created large-scale murals for their ISP.

During a time of braving new waters for the whole world, our school and our courses needed to pivot and adapt quickly to accommodate for all the COVID-19 restrictions. This meant that ISP’s needed to be done completely online. When asked about this, head ISP Advisor Andy Myers explained, “The challenge of the pivot was really the rapid turnaround. Students had been planning their ISPs since November, and then the majority had to go back to the drawing board and develop a new idea within three weeks. These projects had to be vetted and refined prior to the start date.” For some seniors this was an easy transition, but for others it meant changing what they had originally planned on doing all in the matter of days. Myers also said, “The other challenge for some students was the lack of human contact as classes were dropped. However, I think Derryfield did a good job of mitigating this with more frequent check-ins.”

There were some positives for the students as well. “One of the main benefits was the individual creativity that emerged from the ashes. Many students who were planning on shadowing professionals changed direction entirely, and developed projects which challenged their creativity. For example, Isaac Plotsker was planning on working in sports management, but ended up designing and marketing clothing. I think for some students the changing parameters meant that some students chose to base their ISP on what they wanted to do as opposed to what they felt they should do,” Myers exclaimed. The ISP also allowed for some of the seniors to be more involved with their friends than they originally would have been while being at home. Myers commented, “Several students developed team ISPs, which gave them an opportunity to work with their pals during their final days at Derryfield.”

Julia Tilton and Rose Speigel studied the history of protest art.

This ISP semester differed compared to all of the past ISP semesters in many ways. “The lack of a physical ISPalooza was a significant difference. I think that the website was a strong substitute though, and I plan to have a similar website next year (as more of an ongoing record). The requirements throughout the process were also different. Students were asked to complete daily as opposed to weekly blog entries,” Myers explained. The seniors’ blogs and websites added so much substance to their projects and allowed for the whole community to enjoy them as well.

There were many ISPs that were beyond influential this year, and the subjects and projects that were chosen varied across the board. Each student found a way to create an ISP that inspired them during such confusing times. There may have been challenges, but a lot of great accomplishments came out of this ISP semester too. Myers remarked, “One thing that surprised me was the number of students who chose to stay in classes. All of the students were given the option of remaining in their classes, yet only two chose to. It seems as if the students as a whole really wanted to live the typical senior year at Derryfield, which now includes the ISP.” This ISP semester was a chance for students to be extra creative and build something remarkable. It gave the seniors more time with their peers and to have a modified normal end to their career at Derryfield. The seniors and Derryfield community should be very proud of their Independent Senior Projects this year.

Visit the ISP page of the website to read more about this year’s projects.