the GAM

A Conversation Among Mariners

Education in Action

Falmouth Academy

engaging the challenges of our times

Cover: Henry Redfield ’23, a student in French V, enjoyed ambling through the streets of Nice while on the French exchange in March, capturing local color with his phone camera. An amateur photographer, Redfield explains that he is drawn to symmetry, and a balance and vibrancy of color when shooting, which is reflected in his striking cover image.

This year, both the French and the German exchanges resumed, with students traveling to Nice and Heidelberg, respectively. Students stayed with host families while in Europe, and returned the hospitality when French and German exchange students visited Cape Cod.

Redfield, also an accomplished studio artist and magician, has cultivated a keen eye for creating art and illusion. In addition to running cross country this year, he studies advanced drawing, is serving as editor of the school’s literary magazine, Resonance, and leads the magic club.

Left: Clara Athearn ’24 perches atop a ruin in the town of Schwetzingen while on the German Exchange Trip. “The whole garden was really cool,” said Athearn, “and I just really liked seeing all the old architecture.”

GAM: “A social meeting of whale ships ... with all the sympathies of sailors [and] all the peculiar congenialities arising from a common pursuit.”

Falmouth Academy

7 Highfield Drive, Falmouth, MA 02540 508-457-9696 falmouthacademy.org

Administration

Matthew Green, Head of School

Michael Earley, Assistant Head of School

Petra Ehrenbrink, Academic Dean

Pamela Clapp Hinkle, Director of Development

Sarah Knowles, Director of Admission and Enrollment Management

Carmen DiSanto, Director of Finance and Operations

Editorial Staff

Amy Galvam, Director of Communications

Barbara Campbell, Director of Alumni and Parent Relations

David Gallagher, Development Associate, Annual Giving and Operations

Photos: Leah Fasten, Susan Moffat, Robby Lender ’25, Brenda Sharp, Britta Santamauro, FA Archives

Design: Julianne Waite

Mission

Harnessing the power of inspired learning in a world-renowned scientific and vibrant artistic community, Falmouth Academy emboldens each student to take creative and intellectual risks to confidently engage the challenges of our times.

Guiding Values

We value the beauty of knowledge and the joy of conversation.

We value collaboration and generosity of spirit.

We value the power of a culture of kindness.

We value relationships built on trust, respect, and direct communication. We value the wonder of imagination. We value each student’s pursuit of diverse challenges and opportunities.

We value teachers as models of confident, rich adulthood.

We value the richness of an educational experience that includes people with diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and identities.

Dear Friends,

Most know that before being exiled to school administration, I spent twenty plus years as an English teacher. I took particular pride in my understanding of English grammar and in my enthusiasm for passing that know-how along to my students. (In fact, I once received a gift coffee mug inscribed with “I am silently correcting your grammar.”)

One of the more challenging concepts for my students was understanding the distinction between action verbs and linking (or what are sometimes called being) verbs. Now, I don’t want to spend too many of my allocated five-hundred words reviewing this particular lesson, but I will note that what these particular fifth graders found most challenging about this concept was how only some verbs qualifed as “action” verbs, a designation which they saw as a distinctive honor. They easily grasped that words like run, eat, or throw were action verbs, but there was some head scratching when I told them that words like think, care, and wonder also met the standard. Inevitably someone would say, “Wait, how are those action verbs? You’re not actually doing them, are you?”

At Falmouth Academy, the answer to that question is a resounding, “Yes, you most definitely are!” Here, words like “think,” “care,” and “wonder” are most definitely action verbs, and so are “teach” and “learn.” Fittingly, action is the focus of this edition of the GAM, particularly our belief that verbs like these are most definitely action verbs and central to everything we do here. Indeed, preparing and inspiring students to turn education into action in powerful ways that will ripple well beyond our current place and time is why we are here.

Herein, we provide just a sampling of the many Mariners who exemplify the term education in action, whether they be alumni flexing their entrepreneurial spirits or current students exercising their political muscle. You will read about ninth graders spending a day at the State House, engaged in complex policy simulations, about eleventh graders generating business plans or recording podcasts about the Cape’s affordable housing crisis or researching health disparities affecting indigenous youth, about two students selected by the Cape Cod Commission to serve as youth climate ambassadors, about a class of students partnering with the 300 Committee to care for Beebe Woods, our beloved back yard, and about an army of students planning and hosting our second Students for Social and Environmental Justice Conference.

From its earliest days, Falmouth Academy has always been about people: faculty who are cited time and time again as the engines that have driven the school’s and each student’s growth and success, and students, who have been, are, and most definitely will need to be action-oriented as they prepare to engage the challenges of their particular times.

I often say of Falmouth Academy students, “They don’t just know, they do.” Know and do; now those are two action verbs this old English teacher can definitely get behind.

Thank you all for your support,

Matthew Green Head of School

The Turkey Came Back to Roost

The 25th annual Chase the Turkey Fun Run came back this year after a two-year hiatus. Former parent and learning-support tutor, Dana Miskell P’06, ’07, good-naturedly stepped up to organize this event, which raised more than $3,000 for the Falmouth Service Center.

The race made a strong comeback this year with over 150 runners completing Falmouth Academy’s new 5k cross-country course early Thanksgiving morning. The FA team had a good showing with Elise Casso ’26 as the top female runner overall, Natalie Pil ’24 and Bianca Greco ’23 tying for 3rd in the females under 18 category, and Wylie Wakefield ’24 and Benjamin Angell ’24 coming in 1st and 2nd, respectively, for males under 18.

Earlier in the month, students in Engage, FA’s community-service elective, dropped off 1,463 nonperishable food items to the Falmouth Service that were collected during FA’s Fall Food Drive. This was 863 items over the goal!

“A Night at the Met” Charity Gala

More than 200 students and guests turned out in style on January 27 for “A Night at the Met,” Falmouth Academy’s 2023 charity gala organized by the Student Council. The event, which included refreshments, games, swing dancing, and live music, raised over $2,000 to benefit Smile Train, an international nonprofit that provides treatments for children with cleft lips and palates.

Chess over the Sound

On a chilly, clear Tuesday in February, Falmouth Academy and Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School (MVRHS) students played an exhibition chess match that was months in the planning. With multiple games going at once, the students hardly noticed the hum of the engines or the blue horizon as the 2:30 PM ferry navigated its way across the Sound bound for Vineyard Haven. Earlier in the day, Vineyard students ferried over to meet FA students in Woods Hole, where they boarded the homebound ferry to begin playing. The friendly match continued on land at the Copper Anchor in Vineyard Haven until the FA students boarded the 5 PM ferry for home.

Back in November, FA math teacher Doug Jones approached MVRHS physical education teacher TJ Reap with this novel idea and the two coaches proceeded to study and strategize the myriad obstacles—transportation, schedules, exams, sports, and the unpredictable variable, the weather—to compose an artful endgame. Although the match was officially a draw, according to Jones, “It was a big success and a lot of fun.” He plans to do it again but in reverse this spring. The Steamship Authority graciously covered the fares.

Paying It Forward at Bridgeview Montessori

Falmouth Academy students traveled to Bridgeview Montessori on March 29th to assist with the elementary school’s science fair. This was the first time since the pandemic that Falmouth Academy was able to return. During the visit, FA students served as judges, actively listening as the budding scientists presented their research on a variety of projects, including Hedgehog Spike Defense, Colors of Quartz, Artificial Pancreas, and Polar Bear Papillae.

After the fair, they sat on a panel for a Q&A session where Bridgeview students asked them about their own science-fair experiences, research interests, and life at Falmouth Academy. “This was a great opportunity for our students to inspire younger students,” said Director of Admission Sarah Knowles.

Evan Freedman ’24, who attended Bridgeview, said, “Judging the fair was incredible. It was great to encourage the students to pursue their interests in science and hear how excited they were about their projects. As someone who went through it just a few years ago, I realize how valuable the experience was.”

In addition to Freedman, Natalie Pil ’24, Gracie Coggins ’25, Lila Journalist ’25, Nina McKim Kight ’26, Hannah Flanders ’26, Zoe Van Keuren ’27, Harley Snowden ’27, Elyse Sharpe ’27, and Sophie McSherry ’27 participated.

Sprucing Up the Trails

Upper- and middle-school students in the Engage elective headed into the woods for four days this spring to clean up the trail signage in Beebe Woods, a popular spot for hiking and dog walking adjacent to Falmouth Academy. School Counselor and Engage Elective Adviser Jen Chamberlain laced up her boots and slipped on work gloves to pitch in alongside her students to remove and replace trail markers throughout the 383-acre wood. Will Poirier, a TerraCorps volunteer working with the 300 Committee explained that a total of 40 markers were installed with new numbered posts. Poirier demonstrated how to work safely, and then turned the shovels and posthole diggers over to the students.

Rights & Responsibilities Conference

Falmouth Academy’s Students for Social Justice organized their second social and environmental conference this year around the theme of Rights and Responsibilities with the support of their adviser, Matt Barnes, and a small group of dedicated faculty volunteers. The Honorable Judge Shannon Frison of the Massachusetts Superior Court kicked off the event, which was held at FA on March 25th, by first commending the young people in attendance for their activism, and then, over the next hour, detailing her personal and professional experience with social justice issues, particularly racial justice and gender equity.

Nearly 200 students and faculty members from schools across Southeastern MA attended three sessions of workshops led by experts in their fields and student leaders before coming together for closing remarks offered by MA Representative Dylan Fernandes ’08 and a musical performance by the acapella sensation from Plymouth North High School, Northern Lights. Feedback from the event was very positive and set the tone for future gatherings, with the hope of even greater collaboration with area schools and student leadership.

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100th National Tree Lighting

Every year, students from schools all around the country and U.S. territories are invited to decorate trees representing their respective regions with ornaments that celebrate some of their unique features and customs. The 58 trees are part of the National Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony organized by the National Park Foundation and the National Park Service held at President’s Park in Washington, DC, and displayed through the new year. This year, Falmouth Academy was chosen to create the ornaments that adorned the Commonwealth of Massachusetts tree.

“We are proud to represent Massachusetts at this year’s ceremony and display,” said Head of School Matt Green. “The project invited us to reflect on how to best represent our state’s rich history, and joyfully celebrate the many cultural backgrounds and religious traditions of its people, something we value as an independent, secular school.”

Working with arts faculty members Lucy Nelson, Susan Moffat, and Seth Rainville, students created unique designs that represented quintessential aspects of life in the “Bay State”— graphite drawings of chickadees; colorful pastels of the Boston skyline; renderings of marine life in various media; photographs of a cranberry harvest, a Duxbury lighthouse, and the Vineyard Sound, just to name a few. Out of the 72 submissions, 18 were chosen.

Alumni Director Barbara Campbell reached out to local DC-area alumni inviting them to visit the tree and share or post a picture. “It was really exciting to receive messages and photos of the FA tree, and it wasn’t only from alumni!” said Campbell. She said that texts, emails, and social media shares came in from all over—community members, current families, friends, as well as complete strangers who just wanted to say thank you.

Copies of the ornaments were hung on the branches of FA’s annual “hat and mitten tree” alongside donations of warm socks, hats, and mittens collected for the Falmouth Service Center.