The Green & Gray October 7, 2016 by Berkshire School

VOL. CX

Bears in Meditation

October 7, 2016

No. 2

Sam Bannett ’17 and Dr. Rhie on the Meditation Club By Maggie Zhu ’17, Roman Panibratyuk ’17

The Meditation Club has become one of the most popular clubs for Berkshire students and faculty within merely three weeks of school. “Meditation is for everybody,” Sam Bannett ’17, the student leader of the club says, “When I started, I immediately started to feel the benefits, and so I wanted to share it with others in the community.” “Meditation is becoming aware of your thoughts and emotional and physical feelings through sitting, and shifting your focus to physical sensations,” Bannett explains the process of meditation. “The first stage is to concentrate on one’s breathing,” says Dr. Bernie Rhie, the faculty advisor of the club, “Relax and calm the mind, and then observe its workings once the mind settles.” While meditating, one sees one’s thought patterns more clearly, but one also becomes less attached to, or less identified with them, according to Rhie. “Meditation helps one to take a step back from one’s own thoughts. Over time, and with practice, one gets less caught up in one’s own personal dramas and problems. The ultimate goal, though, isn’t just to free ourselves from our own personal suffering, but to help others. Meditating can make one more attuned to the suffering of others, and one naturally wants to make others feel better, in whatever way one can.” Berkshire’s new schedule creates opportunities for organizations such as the Meditation Club to meet during a regular school day. “Our daily lives are so busy that we don’t have time to check in with ourselves,” Bannett says, “and Meditation Club is just a time to get people together and calm the mind.”

See inside for October Horoscopes and Birthdays... Edited by Lydia McBride ’18, page 6.

Meet the New Coaches

Read interviews by Caroline Lakryc ’18, page 8.

Same Gendered Romeo and Juliet

By Sophia McCarthy ’18, page 5.

Fall Berkshire Theater will present classic Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet in November, casting both Romeo and Juliet with female students. Read interviews with Mr. Howard, theater director, and Ana Tolvo ’17, cast as Romeo.

“It’s cool that there’s a desire for something like this at Berkshire. I think it’s because people here are open minded and willing to try new things,” Rhie comments on his experience with the recent club meetings. “Attending the Meditation Club helps me relax my body and calm my thoughts. This exercise made me feel happy and rested,” says Emilio Aristegui ’18, a club member. “I was an anxious teenager and I didn’t know how to deal with my feelings. When I was 18, I moved to the Sonoma Mountain Zen Center in Northern California instead of attending college.” Rhie talks about his initial experiences with meditation, “I chose this over going to college because I was hungry for the kind of spiritual wisdom I thought I could learn at the temple. I studied meditation with a teacher there for three years and worked as the cook and kitchen manager in the temple, and in the end, I think being there helped me to grow up.” “I like teaching literature because it can help people make sense of their lives, just like meditation can,” says Rhie. The Meditation Club is looking to expand its meeting times to evening sessions in order for more people to gain the experience. A Pro Vita class combining meditation with Dr. Rhie and yoga with Mrs. Turner will be offered in March, 2017. “Mr. Gappa and I have also talked about a potential Pro Vita trip focused on meditation, which would involve visits to Buddhist temples. Who knows if we’ll ever get to do this, but wouldn’t it be cool?” says Rhie.

Presidential Debate Highlights

By Darran Shen ’20 Berkshire students and faculty members tuned in on Monday night to view 90 straight minutes of on stage debate between Trump, and Clinton on subjects of racism, the economy, and national security. A Super Bowl sized audience supposedly viewed the debate on Monday, and out of those 81.4 million viewers, approximately 18% of people were looking for reasons to reach across the aisle. Hillary Clinton was deemed the winner of Monday night’s debate by 62% of voters who tuned in to watch, while just 27% said they thought Donald Trump had the better night, according to a CNN/ ORC Poll of voters who watched the debate. Hillary Clinton’s Performance: Clinton showed her determination to be president by saying “You know what else I prepared for? I prepared to be president,” when Trump attacked her for taking her time. Clinton poked, prodded, and quoted Trump’s own words, goading the Republican. Trump re-

peatedly took the bait, interrupting Unlike his primary debates, where angrily and dismissively throughout Trump could disappear among the midst of bickering candidates, this the debate. time, despite clear opportunities, he never hit Clinton on BengHe couldn’t resist attacks, even hazi, the Clinton Foundation, and when it was evident when they he only barely brushed the issue would backfire. of Clinton’s private server. The Clinton proved more restraint than aforementioned missed opportunities aim to brand Clinton as Trump. . On Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns, Clinton said: untrustworthy and comprise a large “Maybe he is not as rich as he says portion of Trump’s campaign. he is, maybe he is not as charitaHowever, Trump did have bright ble as he claims to be... Maybe he spots. Early on in the debate he doesn’t want the American people to know that he has paid nothing in invoked Clinton’s 2012 praise of the Trans-Pacific Partnership as federal taxes.” the “gold standard” of trade deals, “There is something he is hiding,” something Clinton now opposes. Further attacking Clinton and her Clinton claimed as Trump admiteconomic policies, Trump said, ted not paying taxes “makes him smart” and that the money “would “You’ve been doing this for 30 years. Why are you just thinking be squandered” anyway. about these solutions right now? However, Clinton’s rebuttal simply For 30 years, you’ve been doing consisted of chuckling, and telling it, and now you’re just starting to viewers to look at the fact checkers think of solutions.” (As part of a rebuttal, Clinton had a brilliant one at times. Additionally, she seemed liner planned: “I know you live in to have failed to prove Trump unprepared. Instead, she proceeded to your own reality, Donald”). argue Trump’s platform based on its Both candidates pointed out many merits. things throughout the debate, but were the facts true? Donald Trump’s performance: Clinton claimed that Trump “thinks that climate change is a Trump is appealing to them most

20 De-stressing Tips for Seniors By Maggie Zhu ’17

Senior fall can be demanding and sstressful for all those who are worrying about college applications, essays, SAT and ACT, GPA, etc. Therefore, everyone needs to de-stress sometimes. Here’s a list of helpful tips to de-stress for everyone: 1. Take a 10 minute walk on the mountain 2. Breathe deeply and meditate 3. Buy yourself a plant or a bouquet of flowers 4. L augh out loud with your friends 5. Put on some music-- listen to Mozart 6. Treat yourself, eat a Hershey’s kiss, 7. Peel an orange. The smell of citrus can help reduce stress. 8. Give someone a big hug. 9. Kiss a loved one 10. Unsubscribe from those college spam mails 11. Call your mom 12. Let yourself have a good cry 13. See Mrs. Adams, (a.k.a. Ms. Hutchinson) 14. Look out the window 15. Shop for a Halloween costume 16. Put down yout phone and take a break from social media 17. Embrace the morning 18. Go for a run on Giberson 19. Drink a cup of tea 20. Write your worries down in a journal

Third Formers on Retreat.

hoax perpetrated by the Chinese,” which Trump immediately denied. On November 6, 2012, Trump tweeted, “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.” This tweet later became the most retweeted that night. Trump stated that in order to bring down crime, he would bring back stop-and-frisk, and claimed it was ruled legal, when it had actually been ruled unconstitutional in 2013. He also claimed that the crime rate in New York was going up, citing only one data set, while neglecting another set of data from the NYPD that showed the opposite. Clinton falsely claimed that Trump had never paid his federal taxes. However, that is not true. In a 1981 report that analyzed Trump’s finances as part of his efforts to get a casino license for a proposed casino-hotel complex, it was found that Trump paid his federal taxes for at least three years between 1975 and 1979. Upcoming: October 9: the second Presidential debate

What the Library Means to Me By Jackson Brex ’18

I want to talk about what Berkshire’s Geier library means to me. When I came to Berkshire as a freshman a little over two years ago I was challenged both socially and academically. Being thrown into a new place without knowing anybody, taking harder classes, practicing with more serious teams was not easy. As a day student, I had no dorm room to call my own; no place to return after a tough day of classes or a particularly vigorous soccer practice. So, on most days, after hanging out with friends in Shawn’s place or in their dorm rooms, I would go to the library and study for whatever test I had next.

Magic in the Makerspace

The library was in Berkshire Hall during my freshman year since the Geier we know today was under renovation. Despite the location difference, the feeling of Berkshire’s library remained the same nonetheless. If I was studying for a history test, I would sit in a chair similar to the ones by the television. Or perhaps if I had math homework, I would spread out across a large table by the bookshelves. If I was reading a novel for English class, I would sit in one of those bean bags, sometimes falling asleep.

The library is the place to where I felt I could always go no matter what went on. To me, this place has always had a sense of warmth, a sense of serenity, and an aura of hard work. And I don’t think a day has gone by when I’ve not stepped foot in the library. Without Geier, I wouldn’t have been able to do so well in all of my classes. I wouldn’t be able to visit scientists at the Institute of Economics in Great Barrington. I wouldn’t be able to get the most out of my high school years.

Say hi to Jackson in the library.

Third Form Leadership Retreat By Darran Shen ’20

By Holly Cao ’17 The Makerspace at Berkshire school is starting off strong this year with new facilities and activities. There is more student participation from the two new classes this year: Engineering and 3D Sculpture & Design. Engineering, taught by Mr. Urmston, is a popular choice for any upperclassmen who want to experience electronic design and computer programming. Engineering is only in its first year, yet the class already has two full regular classes and one AMSR class. This year, students even get to build a quadcopter. Mr. Olson also got involved - he requested pressure sensors for his crew team boats. 3D Sculpture & Design, taught by Mr. Riva, educates students on how to make beautiful (and cool) designs using both 3D printers and physical materials. Students have the freedom to make their own designs from scratch or manipulate those downloaded from the Internet. You can drop by the Makerspace to see Dr. Riva’s amazing work using three types of 3D printers. Even if you’re not into science or math, the Makerspace has been given new life this year and is definitely worth a visit.

The Berkshire School community was exceptionally quiet on September 22 and 23, with many teachers and students away for the Third Form Leadership Retreat. I was on the trip, boarding the bus with bag in tow, headed to Camp Hi-Rock. The place itself was secluded and beautiful, and reminiscent of literally every Nickelodeon summer camp movie I had ever seen – even the name fitted. The boys’ cabin was past the woods, and right next to the lake, providing a picturesque view of the waterfront. There, we dropped off our bags, grabbed our essentials, and headed out to the first activity, the low ropes. Needless to say, while the low ropes were short in height, this series of activities required copious amounts of teamwork; even activities that we deemed simple did not turn out the same. Games we had been playing for years such as Red Light, Green Light, suddenly turned into tense situations, which turned to bonding and teamwork. All in all, the low ropes, while underwhelming at first, were invigorating and extremely helpful. Our next activity was a five mile hike on the AT. This hike, while not particularly challenging, was interesting for two main reasons. The first was that our destination was a waterfall, a moment that everyone looked forward to seeing. The next was that we were going to hike into Connecticut and back to Massachusetts. Granted, we were right on the border, but that interstate mosey didn’t make it less brag-worthy. That night, the entire Third Form group and faculty gathered around a campfire and roasted marshmallows, setting the scene for bonding, and for the next day. The first activity the next day was composed of high ropes, a test of daring. I decided to go first, and it wasn’t until I reached the top did I realize how high up I was; everyone down below was but a few barely discernible dots. It was perhaps the highlight of the retreat. Finally, we went canoeing. This was highly anticipated, as previous groups had races that involved ice cream sandwiches as prizes. This part turned out to be the most hilarious, as when the race started, a member of another canoe team broke the paddle, rendering their race chances null and forcing the fishing group to miss a canoe opportunity. On the bright side, everyone had swim time instead, and as the last group, we were allowed to have the surplus ice cream sandwiches, meaning that everyone had one.

Keeping up with Riley in China Excerpts from ninemonthsinchina.blogspot.com

Forbidden City

Riley Bona ’18 is currently studying abroad in Beijing, China through the SYA program.

Yesterday, we took an afternoon excursion to Tiananmen Square and, of course, the Forbidden City. This trip was with the program, so every student was there. We arrived at around 2:30, after going over the historical significance of the place. I wandered around the huge square for half an hour or so, taking in the scene and taking far too many pictures with Chinese tourists. I guess they needed proof when they told their friends that they saw young white people. I personally thought Tiananmen was a little eerie. The entire thing is gigantic, with enough space to hold one million people. There was just enough smog to shroud the distance in a depressing, grey haze, which really added to the effect.

SYA China 2016-17, Tian’anmen Square, Beijing.

Mid-Autumn Festival

Ming Tombs

Sept. 18, 2016 Thursday was the Mid-Autumn Festival, or the Moon Festival. As it is a public holiday, we had the day off. Actually, we had Friday off too. This meant we had a four day weekend. The activities of the holiday mainly focus on eating mooncakes and looking at the moon with your family. This week was the first time I had the pleasure of experiencing that infamous Beijing pollution. Unfortunately, this meant that the moon was not even visible on Thursday night.

Yesterday, October first, was China’s National Day. In celebration of the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949, most Chinese people get a week off from work. More importantly, SYA students get a week off from school. Last night, my host mom said something along the lines of “tomorrow morning we are going out with your classmate and her family”.

In an effort to compensate for this, my host mother sternly offered me way too many mooncakes. The mooncakes were pretty good, consisting of a thin crust around a soft, somewhat sweet filling. When I was persuaded to bring a couple more with me the next day to share with my friends, I was surprised to find that they also had brought some to share. We ended up giving most of them away.

Ming Dynasty silk

Today, I woke up at 7:30am to make the scheduled meeting time of 7:40. My mom, skeptical of my decision to wear shorts, lead me to Yassmeen’s (the SYA classmate my mom was talking about) apartment building. We waited outside for a while, as Yassmeen’s mom told her we were meeting at 8:00. Yassmeen’s host dad pulled up in a car, and my mom and I got in. After a couple minutes of waiting in the running car, which was somewhat cringeworthy as I knew we were contributing to the smog that was smothering the city, Yasmeen and her mom came out and got in.

After a long drive filled with discussion ranging from what I liked about China to Hillary vs. Trump, we arrived at the Ming Tombs. The tombs are a burial place for thirteen kings from the Ming Dynasty. I think. Of course, all of this was explained to me in Chinese so I never really know what’s going on. We checked out the museum and then descended into the tombs. After re-emerging from the underground tombs, we shouted with the rest of the tourists “wo huilaile” (“I came back”). After leaving the Ming Tombs, we went further North to the outskirts of the city. Stopping in a rural village, we had lunch. It was more like a feast, though, with multiple dishes and only five people to eat them.

Something about the distinctly communist statues of the proletariat rising up and huge government buildings coupled with many, many guards made me a little uneasy. Once we had all grouped up, we made our way into the Forbidden City. It is enormous and ancient and quite the sight. We split off into groups and explored the city for about an hour before making it to the North exit. We took more pictures with Chinese people, complained over the 4 bottled water (which is a little more than fifty cents, but double the usual price), and examined the ancient architecture of the massive landmark.

Same Gendered Romeo and Juliet

By Sophia McCarthy ’18

Earlier this week I sat down with Mr. Howard, the director of Berkshire’s Romeo and Juliet production, and Ana Tolvo, who plays Romeo. We talked about the upcoming show debuting on November 3rd at 7:30 p.m. Q:In this production, Romeo and Juliet are the same gender; how did you come across this idea? A: Mr. Howard- It’s kind of a combination of two things. I love Shakespeare, and I haven’t actually done a Shakespeare at my time here, but I wanted to find the right time. The problem with Shakespeare is that there are not many female roles, and I always like to do plays with a lot of good females roles. The other thing is, I wanted to do some theater that looked at some LGBTQ issues and questions. I read a lot of LGBTQ plays over the summer and was left kind of underwhelmed. One day I was thinking about, “what if you took something like Romeo and Juliet and just changed that one angle?” It’s a story that everybody already knows, and that seemed like a pretty exciting way to modernize the play.

Q:Is there a specific message you are trying to get across with this play, and what is it? A: Ana- There will be a lot of small messages throughout the play, but the main goal is we want people to come see it and realize that with a same gender couple, it’s still the classic Romeo and Juliet. People are going to have different stances on it, but I want people to go see the show and I hope the show can spark some conversations. Q:How is this process different from other plays/musicals you have acted/directed before? A: Ana- For me it’s kind of figuring out how much Romeo changed when the gender changes, and I’m figuring out it doesn’t change as much as you think it would. There is a lot of experimenting with Romeo as a girl, and what needs to be changed and what definitely should not be changed. I have to ask myself, “What is Romeo as Romeo, and what is Romeo as a guy?” That has been really cool, experiencing Romeo as a girl. A: Mr. Howard- With Shakespeare plays, I want the average person who doesn’t know much about Shakespeare to walk away understanding everything that happened, so we spend a lot of time with the script, cutting it, really dissecting every line, what it means, how to say the lines so the meaning is clear, and try to make it really conversational so it sounds like modern speech even though it’s really not. Therefore we’ve spent a lot of time working on the script. Q: What has been the most challenging part this play’s acting process? A: Ana-The language and understanding every line one-hundred percent, I have to understand every single word and every single meaning exactly right so when I deliver it people know exactly what I mean. I have to be brutally honest about how little I understand about the language before I perfect it.

Students in theater rehearsal.

AP and Advanced Art takes on NYC By Lydia McBride ’18

On October 6th, Mr. Banevicius and Mrs. Lloyd took the AP and Advanced Photography and Digital Art students on an exploration through NYC. On this insightful trip, the students dove into the many wonders of the city through photography, while visiting many galleries located throughout Chelsea. This trip to NYC allowed the students to look at art, talk about artists, and explore an atmosphere that differs from the one that is on campus. When the art students returned to campus, so did a new outlook of a different world. Students on a ceramics field trip.

Make sure your parents can find you in the all school photo. CANCER (June 21-July 22): A job that interests you will not be all it’s drummed up to be. Ask questions before accepting an offer built on lofty hearsay. If someone talks down to you, walk away. Follow your heart and focus on your best interests.

All school photo day, 2016

October Birthdays and Horoscopes

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Protect against illness or emotional stress. Take time out to assess your situation and to find a way to use whatever difficulties you face to your advantage. A disciplined attitude will make others hesitant to mess with you. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Share your thoughts and resurrect old dreams. You can implement something you love into your daily routine and enjoy the benefits of less stress, better health and a happier outlook. Do what’s best for you. Romance is encouraged.

Compiled and edited by Lydia McBride ’18

October 1: Clark Lotuff, Robert Boyle, Quentin Van der Lee October 2: Charles Millard October 5: Mikayla McEwen, Rafael Arredondo, Garin Techakalayatum October 6: Benjamin Plager, Peter Quilty October 7: William Blomquist, Emma Wynne October 8: Gracie Kraft October 10: John Lloyd October 12:Maggie Markgraf, John Quaintance October 13: Gohta Aihara, Sophia McCarthy October 14: Jameson Coughlan October 17: Alanna Smith October 18: Kent Pendergast October 19: Elliot Winoker October 21: John Pratt, Stuart Miller October 22: Nicholas Emery October 24: Darlene Fulco October 26: Nicholas Botticelli October 27: Grace Federle October 29: Maddy Devost October 30: Kufre Udoh October 31: Olivia Soukup

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Make plans that will get you up and moving. A little exercise will help alleviate some of the stress and anxiety you are experiencing. Deal with domestic problems cautiously and keep an open mind to avoid getting involved in a dispute. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Try to present what you have to offer without giving away too much information. Once you have grabbed everyone’s attention, you will be in a much better position to get the help you need without worrying about someone stealing your idea. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Observe what’s going on around you. Find out what others think of your ambitions. Use the information you gather to tweak your plans and avoid opposition. Ask questions if you think someone has an ulterior motive. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Back away from anyone exhibiting confusion or insecurity. Surround yourself with stable individuals who can contribute to your ideas without leaving you to fight your battles all alone. The incentives you offer won’t be a waste.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Opportunities are within your reach. Don’t sit back when you know you should be the one in charge. Use your past experiences to guide you. Positive changes will result if you take action.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Times are changing, and it’s up to you to stay on top of what’s happening around you. Broaden your outlook and learn whatever you need to know to be more tech-savvy.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Temptation is best ignored. Stay focused on personal improvements and work on making the gains that you know are within reach. A conversation will encourage a closer partnership with someone who can help you reach your goals. Romance is highlighted.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Don’t let anyone put extreme demands on you or your time. Minimize travel and cut down on lengthy conversations that will not lead to the results you want. Rely on your talent, skills and innovative ideas to get where you want to go.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Social events, entertainment and doing things with children will bring you closer to someone you love. Plan to network with the people you enjoy spending time with, and together you will come up with a plan that will lead to new opportunities.

The above material is reprinted from the Cape Cod Times uner a Creative Commons NonCommercial license.

New and Upcoming Artists By David Akomolafe ’18

Within the flurry of mainstream music and names, we often forget that there are thousands of other artists with music that may or may not be to your liking, but often music like this is overlooked, and in this panel we intend to introduce artists from a plethora of sources in order to allow you the reader to discover new artists.

Q: Do you plan on releasing any more music and/or doing shows in the future?”

Q: “What led you to start producing your own music, and do you intend to start a professional career in it?”

A: “As long as people keep asking me to drop new music; then new music will keep coming. I want to do shows, but I feel like I’d need to have more music out, which is fine, I got tons of unreleased music in the stash but I’m just waiting on the time to be right for me to go ahead and release them to the streets.”

A: “Well, basically me and my friends just used to ride around freestyling for hours on and record it for fun and occasionally we would snap so it was easy to go from that to the studio. As far as pursuing a career, I mean as of right now my main goal This week I decided to interview is just having fun with it and give me “Young Doc” who has been causand my friends and the people someing commotion on Soundcloud with thing to ride to. It’s all about having his single “We Winning.” After a fun with it, but no doubt I’mma get conversation with him I found that the bag if I can.” in fact he was a very down to earth person with a love for music and Q: “Is there any specific topic that the people that listen to it. This is you try to address with your music?” the interview: A: “Topics not really, I make my Q: “What is your name and where’s music with the intentions of people your hometown?” getting in their car solo or with their friends and just feeling good when A: “My name is Chouncy Collins you press play on a Young Doc track, aka Young Doc and I was born in whether it be hype or just chilling.” Alaska but raised in the Gwinnett area like 30-45 minutes north of Atlanta.”

Q: “Is money your motivation or is your music determined by the people and for the people?” A: “If music ever puts me in a position to take care of the people I care about then it’ll be my motivation, but as of right now I’m just doing it for everyone who takes time out of their day to press play.”

Banned Books Week Literary review by Victor Li ’18

“Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties,” John Milton thus demanded in his speech directed towards the English Parliament, Areopagitica. In the speech he argued ardently against the Licensing Order of 1643 and provided what is today widely considered to be the most powerful and eloquent defense of freedom of press ever penned. To call it speech is perhaps a misnomer: Milton did not wish to deliver his speech orally; instead, to put his tenet into practice, he distributed his speech in pamphlets, an action that anticipated the publication of Paine’s Common Sense, more than a hundred years later. The foundation laid by Areopagitica inspired countless writers and free-thinkers that were to come after Milton. The discontent Milton and his contemporaries had felt may seem a little distant to us now, because a United States citizen doesn’t ever have to fret over the potentiality of getting arrested when purchasing a book, however “obscene” or “controversial” its content may be. Such is not always the case in the rest of the world. Freedom of Press is a yearly report that surveys and rates the level of press freedom each country enjoys, and in their 2016 report, a great majority of the world is still colored red, which signifies a rating of “Not Free.” The rating is calculated on a scale from 0 to 100: on the one hand, Norway, which has an applaudable amount of press freedom, stands at the rating of 9, and on the other extreme, North Korea has a rating of 98. To give a few more examples: most of Western Europe is lower than 30 in rating; China, Vietnam and Laos are all over 80; and in the category “Middle East and North Africa,” only Israel is lower than 50. The takeaway from this is that the majority of the world’s population does not yet enjoy freedom of press, not to mention freedom of speech. Banned Books Week seeks to draw attention to this cold reality by raising awareness and celebrating the liberty to read, to choose what to read, and to think for ourselves. We hope that by putting “challenged books” (and those meticulously crafted labels) on display in Geier, our community can better take advantage of the privilege we have in this country and in this school to acquire knowledge via unrestricted reading. In the preface to his book Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch, Henry Miller writes: “As to how and where to get the banned books, the simplest way would be to make a raid on the customs house in any

Featured Athlete: Holley Riva ’19 By Ahria Simons ’18

This week’s featured athlete is Holley Riva. From the moment Holley Riva stepped on Berkshire School’s campus as a student she immediately became known as an impactful athlete. During her freshman year, she was one of the few tri-varsity athletes. She was on the varsity team for field hockey, ice hockey and lacrosse. This year, coming in as a sophomore, she has been an important member of the Varsity Field Hockey team.

One of her field hockey coaches, Ms. Woodworth noted, “With her lightning speed, Holley has been an impact player for us on the forward line.” The team had a tough start to the season. After six games, the Bears have already played four top Class A teams. Holley has scored goals in two of the three games since the start of the regular season. With Holley playing with confidence and a strong team, the Girls Varsity Team looks to make the Class B New England Tournament.

Young Doc

Berkshire Spirit Squad By Jack Martin ’18

Every Wednesday and Saturday Berkshire students, who work exponentially hard, compete in sporting events. When playing a sport, an athlete can be nervous and timid at times, especially in high pressure situations. Often times at a small school like Berkshire, games can lack a cheering spectator section that larger schools may have. This may take away the advantage of having a home game because the game lacks the feeling of a home game. What is a better way to support the athletes than to form a group full of outrageously school spirited individuals focused on cheering on athletes? So, Mr. Anselmi formed a group called the Berkshire Spirit Squad which basically goes from game to game supporting Berkshire athletics. So far this year the spirit squad has been unbelievably successful, leading the boys varsity soccer to a win over Hotchkiss, and Girls Varsity field hockey to a win over Millbrook. So, if you see kids dressed in Berkshire colored Zumba pants, their faces covered in green, or kids in green headbands make sure you help them cheer on your

Holley Riva ’19

Interview with New Coaches By Caroline Lakryc ’18

Both Girls and Boys Varsity soccer teams started the 2016-2017 season with two new awesome coaches. We asked Ms. DelGuercio, former assistant Coach at Redlands, and Mr. Mohammed, former Wellesley College head Coach a couple of questions to learn a bit more about their life before coming to Berkshire and how their Berkshire experience is so far. Mr. Mohammed (2016-2017 - Boys Varsity Soccer head Coach) Q: Where are you from? A: “I was born and raised in Greater, Toronto. I went to Kenyon College and have since bounced around the northeast spending eight years in New York and the rest in the Boston area.” Q: Where did you coach soccer before coming to Berkshire? A: “I spent the last 16 years in college coaching. I was most recently at Wellesley College but spend time at Carnegie Mellon University, Vassar College, and St. Lawrence University.” Q: What is different from the Berkshire communities than other communities you have been part of? A:“I like that the community is inclusive and diverse in so many different ways. I also like that the school celebrates all of our students passions and talents, there is a real sense of school pride.I also appreciate the attention to balance in student’s lives in regards to their academic, athletic, and co-curricular commitments.”

Ms. DelGuercio coaching Girls Varsity Soccer team.