Berwick Today Magazine • Summer/Fall 2022

From the Head of School

Greetings from the Hilltop. I hope everyone in the Berwick Academy community had the very best summer possible. It was a great and busy summer here at Berwick, with numerous campus improvements and robust summer programming. I am excited to be back in school with our amazing students and talented, dedicated faculty and staff for Berwick Academy’s 232nd year.

When I arrived at Berwick four years ago, I was inspired by how the School fosters distinct, innovative, and engaging learning experiences for each of our three divisions. Each division creates a joyful engagement that challenges our students in age-appropriate ways to stretch beyond their comfort zones to try new things and expand their skills. Just as inspiring to me was when the School would come together as a whole community. These are powerful moments where we see the interconnectedness of our youngest and oldest students. Lower School students look up to our Middle and Upper School students as mentors and inspiration. They are visibly thrilled when an older student knows their name or gives them a fist bump. Our older students, on the other hand, have a sense that little people are observing them, and their level of decorum and empathy are elevated, which fosters good leadership. This intersection of divisions happens in both big and small ways — from large events like Community Circles and our Veterans Day and Earth Day assemblies to daily moments where students ride the bus together or when a twelfth grader volunteers to read to a younger student. It was because of these experiences, and my hope to strengthen the community, that I introduced the concept of “One Berwick” with the goal of continuing to bolster connections around campus.

I am tremendously proud of how our community has navigated the past two and a half years and a pandemic that has asked us to be flexible in countless ways. One effect of the pandemic is that many of us have had to exist in a more siloed way on campus. As we enter into a new school year, we are focused on how we can reignite the pursuit of One Berwick. Our Pre-K through Grade 12 community is a special component of Berwick, and I challenge us all to find ways in which we intersect.

Whether you are a current or former parent, proud alum, prospective family, faculty/staff member, or friend, I encourage you to engage in as many aspects of the community as you can. I hope faculty will find more ways to bring students in different divisions together for learning experiences. Our administrative team is planning for ways in which we can have more full faculty and staff time beyond our normal circles. We are excited to once again welcome alumni and other special guests to campus this year to engage with our entire community.

We are at our strongest when we are One Berwick. I hope that you will join me in celebrating and elevating how we come together in the year ahead. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Sincerely, Jim Hamilton Head of School

Welcome to Berwick

Whether you’re reading this as a proud graduate, as a current parent, or as a prospective student patiently waiting in Burleigh-Davidson to meet with a member of the admission team, we hope this will either evoke fond memories of your time on the Hilltop, solidify your commitment to your child’s education, or excite you with a glimpse of what your future may hold.

Berwick is dedicated to academic excellence. The curriculum, from Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 12, lays a foundation that ignites in our students an excitement for the lifelong process of learning. Our faculty encourage critical thinking, curiosity, and engagement, giving students the tools they need for success in the world beyond the Hilltop.

The School strives to understand each student as a complete learner, blending traditional and innovative approaches, to allow them to discover and explore personal talents and passions. Within this well-rounded program, our community members become part of a stimulating and meaningful learning environment.

While three separate divisions create distinct, age-appropriate learning opportunities, the School thrives on the powerful notion of fostering a cohesive community — One Berwick. There are moments throughout the academic year when Lower, Middle, and Upper School students gather for communal learning experiences, whether to recognize an event of historical significance, cheer on our youngest students during the annual Halloween costume parade, or congratulate our twelfth graders on their final day of classes.

However, One Berwick is not limited to these larger gatherings. Upper School science students visit Middle School science classrooms to help with lessons about the properties of water molecules; Middle School students read books to PreKindergarteners; and Lower School students attend presentations delivered by Upper School athletes. The ability to have the smallest and the tallest learners engaging with one another, both formally during the school day and informally throughout the school year, is a distinct aspect of the student learning experience at Berwick.

In the pages that follow, you will get a glimpse of this dynamic. A map depicts where all three divisions intersect during a typical school day. The Upper School features its robust curriculum and extracurricular activities. The Middle School highlights socialemotional learning and emphasizes unstructured recreational time. The Lower School focuses on a hands-on, nature-based approach.

The student experience is the centerpiece of the Berwick community’s dedication to promoting virtue and useful knowledge among the rising generations.

Interaction Map

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Lower School STUDENT EXPERIENCE

Asign outside the southwestern corner of the Kendall Lower School reads “Pick-Up/ Drop-Off Line Starts Here.”

A process that began in 2020 has become the standard morning routine for Lower School families. Vehicles line the curb adjacent to The Commons Dining Hall and wait for administrators and staff to enthusiastically greet the campus’ youngest learners with warm smiles to start the day.

The car line inches forward as students dart toward the building entrance. The Berwick bus fleet converges on the designated bus lane near the playground with the soft pop of hydraulic brakes having reached their morning destination. Staff welcome Lower Schoolers as they leap down the school bus steps, ready for another day of learning. Simultaneously, students in the Early Bird program are accompanied for the short walk from Jackson Library to the Lower School building.

After dropping their bags in the classroom, students enjoy a short window of free play prior to the 8:30 a.m. morning meeting. Kindergarteners sing a welcome song, while fourth graders form cooperative groups to discuss the upcoming day. On Fridays, the entire Lower School community comes together for a divisional assembly.

Third graders begin a new unit in literacy, while first graders share the day of the week and month of the year to learn how arithmetic helps discern the passage of time. Homeroom classrooms are filled with learners absorbing subjects from social studies to math; deepening their curiosity and developing critical thinking skills; and creating an academic foundation that leads to open-ended experiences.

Morning snack time is accompanied by the sharp hiss of zippers and snap of reusable containers while students enjoy a light treat brought from home. The squeal of giddy children fills the air on the playground for staggered recesses. Berwick offers 15 unstructured outdoor play experiences for Lower School students each week.

At 11:20 a.m., a line forms in The Commons Dining Hall as Kindergarten through Grade 4 students get ready for lunch. Friends sit at tables, each with one adult, enjoying their midday recharge before another trip to the playground for recess. Meanwhile, halfday Pre-Kindergarteners depart at noon, while full-day friends enjoy their lunch.

Exploration classes consist of art, library/technology, music, physical education/ wellness, science, and world languages which rotate within the daily schedule. Fourth graders draw trees in art and Pre-Kindergarteners snowshoe through the forest in physical education classes. Outdoor, nature-based play promotes positive social growth and nurtures local and global citizenship.

On a given day, the first grade class might return from a field trip to an area horse stable after making a real-world connection to their unit about local jobs and places. The second grade might complete a community service project collecting non-perishable foods for a local pantry, tying into Berwick’s commitment to social-emotional learning. Fourth graders might be asked to speak about their Passion Projects, articulating their knowledge, showcasing their research, and presenting their results as part of an approach that fosters student choice, engagement in learning, and ownership of the student experience.

Vehicles begin to arrive on campus and buses idle their engines in anticipation of the 3:10 p.m. dismissal. As buses roll away, students gather on the mini turf for various After Care activities, eager to extend their campus stay with play and exploration until a 5:15 p.m. departure.

The soothing hum of a vacuum has replaced the tapping of pencils on desks and the clanging of toys in buckets. A pink and blue watercolor sky reflects off the windows of the Lower School’s exterior as the sun sets. Even after students are gone for the day, the joy of learning lingers in vacant classrooms, as another day of building comprehensive academic and social foundations for Lower School students await.

TEACHERS:

Lower School teachers create joyful, engaging learning environments — fostering critical thinking and a love of learning through a balanced approach to classroomand nature-based education. Teachers get to know their students, understand that each child learns differently, and are devoted to helping students grow from both successes and setbacks.

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING:

Berwick’s commitment to social-emotional learning is a major component of the Lower School wellness program. Through a purposeful approach to developing the whole child, students understand the importance of a safe learning environment, exercise kindness and empathy, and commit to building community through service projects. Social-emotional learning promotes individual growth and develops a trusting classroom community where students are comfortable taking risks in their thinking and actions.

NATURE-BASED EDUCATION:

Connecting students to the natural world through authentic outdoor learning experiences that promote positive social growth and nurture good local and global citizenship has become a major focus in the Lower School. Art, science, writing, and physical education classes regularly venture outside for investigating and learning.

THE PROJECT APPROACH:

The project approach includes studying meaningful and authentic topics, encourages collaboration and deep thinking, and fosters engagement and joy in learning. Projects are based on student interests and involve in-depth investigations that ignite passions. Taking ownership of their experience creates active participation and greater independence and confidence, laying the foundation for students to understand themselves.

Middle School

EXPERIENCE

Car doors swing open, tailgates slam closed, and backpacks hang off limbs as students scurry away from the drop-off zone behind Clement Middle School as a new day of learning begins on the Hilltop. The diesel engines of the Berwick bus fleet idle in the distance as Middle School riders make their way to their advisor’s classroom or assembly in the Great Room.

The Middle School experience is designed for students to take risks and get outside of their comfort zone. Students in Grades 5-8 are encouraged to feel comfortable being uncomfortable. They will mature, develop critical thinking skills, gain greater independence, cultivate friendships, discover and explore passions, and develop a sense of self.

Students disperse to their first class at 8:25 a.m., the first of two 75-minute periods. At 9:40 a.m., their excitement can be heard from the mini turf and outdoor basketball court as the 15-minute morning recess begins.

The first of two or three unstructured blocks — depending on the grade level and day of the week, recess is an important part of the Middle School experience. It might consist of pick-up basketball or football or just chatting with friends about an upcoming class field trip.

Community time follows, where students engage in activities and attend club meetings. Leadership skills emerge as those elected to student government organize a community event for an important cause. Time management is emphasized in study halls. Blue & White Challenge competitions — which make up a year-long friendly battle for points between two teams of Middle School students — elicit cheers and laughter during assemblies. The daily buzz around indoor and outdoor communal spaces softens around 10:30 a.m., as students return to the classroom for their second 75-minute period.

The classroom culture allows learners to stretch themselves — drama students put on their first performance in front of an audience; World Languages and Cultures students speak in another language for the first time; humanities students examine an issue from a different perspective.

At 11:50 a.m., the aroma of the day’s lunch emanates from The Commons Dining Hall, drawing students into an orderly — and perhaps sometimes chaotic — line. Round tables fill with hungry students talking about their morning classes and what the afternoon might bring. A 15-minute recess following lunch expends a small amount of refueled energy before classes resume at 12:25 p.m.

Two 45-minute class periods fill the time until 2 p.m. While the majority of classes take place in the Clement Middle School, some students make the trek across campus to the Jeppesen Math and Science Center, while others don their smocks and tune their violins in the Patricia Baldwin Whipple Arts Center. In the winter, footprints scatter the snow on Fogg Field, tracking the movements of Middle Schoolers to and from class.

A flex period follows, allowing choice for extra recess or extra help. Depending on the season, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, a sixth grader laces up their soccer cleats, a seventh grader lugs their hockey gear on a minibus for the short trip to Dover Ice Arena, and an eighth grader dumps a bucket of lacrosse balls into the grass as practice begins. Grades 6-8 sports are built into the weekly schedule, with interscholastic games on weekday afternoons and occasional weekends.

The final class period meets from 2:30 to 3:15 p.m. Students soon gather their belongings from lockers to board buses or climb into cars. Classroom lights click off and hallways fade to darkness as another day of academic and social maturation concludes on the Hilltop.

FACULTY:

Our Middle School teachers are all focused on the unique developmental needs of middle schoolers. While they are also passionate about their subject areas as historians, scientists, artists, and mathematicians, they are Middle School educators first. Our teachers understand how to motivate and support kids during this delicate stage of their lives and they possess the creativity, patience, empathy, and sense of humor to help our students achieve their best.

BULLDOGS FOR JUSTICE:

A group focused on social justice issues, Bulldogs for Justice meets regularly to discuss important topics and develop plans to educate the community with the goal of ensuring that our Middle School remains an inclusive, supportive, and welcoming environment that celebrates the strength in diversity. Read more about Bulldogs for Justice on page 18.

CELEBRATION OF LEARNING:

Throughout each school year, Middle School students maintain a digital portfolio of their work and curate artifacts of their learning as they strive to become selfdirected learners, transformational thinkers, dynamic collaborators, and responsible citizens. At the end of the school year, our Celebration of Learning gives students the opportunity to share their growth in front of an audience, reflect on their learning, and set goals for the future.

Upper School

As vehicles make the turn off Academy Street and ascend the hill toward the student parking lot or drop-off circle, another day of learning is on the horizon. It’s 8:10 a.m., and depending on the day of the week, students are gathering with their advisory groups or assembling in the Patricia Baldwin Whipple Arts Center theater to jumpstart a new day on the Hilltop with announcements and updates.

Advisors check in with their advisees about coursework, chat about the excitement of last night’s professional sporting event, or listen to an honest review of the most recent blockbuster movie. The Prefects, four twelfth graders elected to serve as community leaders, coordinate the assembly proceedings and rattle off the lunch menu for the week. At 8:25 a.m., it’s off to the first class block of the day.

The Upper School schedule is designed to bring balance to the student experience. There are five class blocks per day that rotate over a seven-day period. Community Time takes place each day from 9:50 to 10:25 a.m., allowing students to attend club meetings, seek out teachers for extra instruction, check in with college counselors, study in the Cogswell Center, and listen to guest speakers during special assemblies.

At 10:30 a.m., the sound of footsteps in the hallways of Fogg Memorial and the Jeppesen Math and Science Center gives way to quiet focus as students begin their second and third classes of the day. Dedicated faculty challenge them to reach their full potential. Teachers get to know their students, leading to creative curricular opportunities to explore their interests more deeply.

The classroom clock now reads 12:25 p.m., and students gather their laptops and backpacks to walk down the campus pathways toward The Commons Dining Hall, eager to enjoy lunch together.

The final two class periods run back-to-back from 1:15 to 3:05 p.m. While one student might enjoy a free period to work on a proposal for an Innovation Pursuit® — a studentdriven learning experience that falls outside of the academic curriculum, another student scours flashcards, reciting lines for a presentation in their upcoming Pinnacle class — an advanced-level course.

As the academic day concludes, students spread across campus to their many extracurricular pursuits. The Athletic Center echoes with bouncing balls and blaring music as athletes prepare for practice. The engine of a minibus revs as the rowing coach readies the team for a trip to the Salmon Falls River. Meanwhile, voices and instruments buzz in the Patricia Baldwin Whipple Arts Center as actors rehearse their lines for the upcoming play and musicians learn their notes.

As the sun begins to set, walkway lights shine bright as a stillness engulfs campus; another day of engaging academics and robust extracurricular activities is on the horizon.

PINNACLE PROGRAM:

Pinnacle courses are advanced-level courses that encourage students to confront ideas and problems that are relevant to the real world, stretch their thinking, require sophisticated analysis and application, and foster an appreciation for diving deeper into a specific content area. Pinnacle courses are guided by the understanding that rigor is not defined by a textbook, but comes from student initiative. This rigor is distinct to each department, teacher, and student, measured not by the breadth of material covered in a course, but by a student’s depth of understanding.

FACULTY:

Teachers at Berwick are dedicated and passionate professionals who are experts in their fields. Beyond the classroom, teachers are also coaches, advisors, directors, mentors, and club leaders who go above and beyond to connect with students. This nurturing environment allows students to create curricular opportunities, where they can explore their passions more deeply.

INNOVATION:

Innovation is a cornerstone of the Berwick experience. From the Fabrication Studio in Inspiration Commons to the Innovation Pursuit ® program, innovation requires students to think critically, collaborate with others, and understand and appreciate the learning process. Read more about how one student used the Fabrication Studio to improve campus trails on page 24, and about the Innovation Celebration on page 20.

WELLNESS:

Berwick defines resilience as the ability of an individual to cope with everyday challenges, bounce back from disappointments and adversity, develop clear and realistic goals, solve problems, relate comfortably with others, and treat oneself and others with respect. The Walsh Wellness Center at Oakes House is a space for academic support and tutoring as well as social and emotional counseling. There is a Student Wellness Advising Team (SWAT) comprised of eleventh and twelfth graders who model respect and integrity in their daily actions and interactions. Upper School students also meet monthly to discuss themes of BELIEFS: Balance, Empathy, Leadership, Inclusion, Engagement, Followership, and Skills. Read about how one student is helping raise awareness around the stigma of mental health on page 48.

RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM:

Berwick offers a small residential program for boys in Grades 9-12 and PostGraduates through five- and seven-day boarding options. Located in the Hancock House, just a short distance from campus, the residential experience at Berwick allows students to immerse themselves in the community by forming deep relationships with peers and faculty. Each of the six rooms has an adjoining ensuite bathroom, and there is a comfortable common space where students can watch television, play video games, and relax. The kitchen and dining room, where family-style meals convene, serve as places for students to gather, build community, and feel comfortable in their home away from home.

Philanthropy at Berwick

As a nonprofit institution, we rely on the generosity of donors to make improvements and innovations to our facility, technology, and program. Philanthropy allows us to hire and retain inspiring and expert faculty who establish an environment in which each student is challenged and supported. Gifts to the School also ensure that our student body is made up of a diverse and engaged group of learners.

The Berwick Fund, which serves as immediate and current support each year, is the tool that allows Berwick to be truly extraordinary. Each person who participates inspires someone else to give, and a strong annual fund allows the School to live its mission each and every day. During this unique time in our history, it has been humbling to see the continued and increased support of our community. We continue to see strength in The Berwick Fund through gifts from alumni, parents, faculty and staff, trustees, former parents, grandparents, and many friends of the School.

Philanthropic support this past year amounted to nearly $850,000 in unrestricted gifts to The Berwick Fund, including $145,000 during the annual day of giving – One Berwick. We are inspired by your generosity and grateful for your commitment and partnership with Berwick Academy.

BERWICK’S ROOTS IN PHILANTHROPY ARE STRONG. SUPPORT FROM THE COMMUNITY HAS ALWAYS BEEN WHAT HAS FUELED THE BERWICK EXPERIENCE.

The Klingenstein Summer Institute, offered through Columbia University, brings together independent school educators within their first five years of teaching for a two-week residential program at The Hotchkiss School in Connecticut. This summer, Sustainability Coordinator Sarah Jeanne Shimer had the opportunity to attend the workshop.

“It’s the best professional development experience I have ever had,” Shimer said.

Building an equitable school environment and using cognitive science to inform pedagogy were among the program’s focuses this year. Participants pinpointed strengths and weaknesses embedded in the systems of independent schools and brainstormed tangible steps for improvement in each area.

“Speakers, lead teachers, and peers pushed me to think deeply about practices in my classroom, relationship building with students, and being a driver of positive change,” Shimer explained. “This helped me examine why I teach, what I teach, and how I teach.”

Transformative

Summer Enrichment

Shimer was grateful for the opportunity to be surrounded by colleagues who were equally passionate about creating the best educational environment for their students.

“I learned just as much from my casual conversations as I did from the classes we took,” she added. “We found similarities in our experiences as early career teachers and shared many new ideas.”

One of those with whom Shimer connected at the institute was Amanda Goodrich, who currently teaches science at Worcester Academy. Both women apprenticed under Berwick Middle School science teacher Krysta Ibsen, Shimer in 2018-19 and Goodrich in 2019-20. Ibsen, who attended the Klingenstein Institute in 2019, wrote letters of recommendation for both Shimer and Goodrich.

Along with a journal full of notes, professional contacts, and curricular ideas, Ibsen said the biggest takeaway from her experience at Klingenstein was the joy she found in unlearning. “I developed tools to continually assess my teaching,” Ibsen shared, “and built a network of educators who could help me continue to grow as a teacher.”

For Shimer, the two-week workshop introduced her to new pedagogical approaches and pushed her to think critically about her current practices.

“It gave me the opportunity to be a student through the lens of a teacher,” she said. “And, for that, I will be forever grateful.”

SARAH JEANNE SHIMER BECOMES THE LATEST BERWICK FACULTY MEMBER ACCEPTED TO THE KLINGENSTEIN SUMMER INSTITUTE FOR EARLY CAREER TEACHERS.

Elizabeth Clemence, Director of

“It gave me the opportunity to be a student through the lens of a teacher,” she said. “And, for that, I will be forever grateful.”

Sarah Jeanne Shimer (right) and Amanda Goodrich.

COLLEGE COUNSELING

Moira McKinnon ‘88, director of college counseling is used to adapting her strategy and guidance to keep up with the modern demand for post-graduation opportunities. She and her team utilize the academic and financial resources on campus as a springboard for student success, while setting appropriate expectations that are catered to the current demand of college admissions.

“Our students aren’t immune to the complexity of a process that has changed on the college side from admissions to enrollment management,” McKinnon says. “Ten years ago, perhaps a third of the class would apply in the early rounds; now that number is closer to 90%.”

Though the timeline for applications may be speeding up, College Counseling is showing no signs of slowing down.

Berwick Academy strives to provide all the tools necessary for students to define their own success and pursue it. In the College Counseling office, McKinnon and her colleagues deliver personalized post-graduation guidance that focuses on the passions, skills, and goals of each student. This tailored approach for life planning after leaving the Hilltop has aided in students attending over 150 different colleges and universities over the last five years. Many of these institutions

reside outside of New England, including multiple international schools. When visiting Berwick, Edward Fiske, author of the Fiske Guide to Colleges , praised the distinct qualities of the acceptance list and the success of the carefully crafted college counseling approach.

When speaking about the edge Berwick students possess, as it relates to the competitive college application process, McKinnon was eager to boast about the hardworking students that take the baton and run.

“Berwick students, first and foremost, are self-aware and thoughtful in their approach to college admissions,” she says. “They focus on the academic, social, and career opportunities at the colleges they consider.”

Knowing what the top schools are looking for, she pressed the importance of quality over quantity in the application process.

“Because Berwick students apply to only six or seven colleges on average, rather than a dozen or more,” McKinnon continues, “they are able to put the time into crafting outstanding and memorable essays. Their interest in each college is genuine and well demonstrated, leading to stronger outcomes.”

The department’s success rate owes some of its success to those who support The Berwick Fund, the School’s most influential financial reserve that targets

the most necessary needs. Through this funding, College Counseling was able to set appropriate goals such as hiring a third counselor. This expansion to the team allows the counselors to devote more time to get to know each student, leading to better counseling and more detailed and personalized letters of recommendation. It also fosters a greater ability to attend conferences and network with colleagues in college admission, building strong connections for Berwick students.

McKinnon sees the college counseling process as a team effort that includes counselors, families, staff, and faculty joining forces to continuously improve the quality of support for Upper School students as they transition into young adulthood.

“Our faculty nurture and inspire our students in critical ways,” she says. “The college counselors help our students with the how-to’s of college; so often it is the faculty who remind them of the why.”

When discussing the impact of the counselor role, McKinnon explains that the joy of the work is giving space for each senior to define their goals on their own terms; there is no one path. As The Berwick Fund continues to support the efforts of College Counseling, students can continue to expect more counselors to go above and beyond for them.

WHY WE GIVE

“Our son Griffin has had the good fortune to be enrolled at Berwick since Kindergarten, and his experience in each division has been excellent. We cannot express how amazing the faculty and staff at Berwick have been, especially over the last three years. Teachers have risen to incredible challenges with grace and compassion for their students and each other. Our giving is a reflection of the pride we have in the Berwick team for the amazing work they do each day.”

– Shannon and Jan Nedelka, P’25

Gifts to The Berwick Fund provide enhanced support for college counseling to ensure students receive individualized attention throughout the entire college application process. The success of Berwick’s College Counseling program can be attributed, in part, to its loyal supporters.

If you are interested in learning more about The Berwick Fund, or other fundraising opportunities at the school, please contact Elizabeth Clemence, Director of The Berwick Fund, at elizabeth.clemence@berwickacademy.org or 207.384.6307.

GIVING SOCIETIES AT BERWICK

Since the School’s founding, philanthropy has played a crucial role at Berwick Academy. Leadership support consistently accounts for close to 90% of giving to The Berwick Fund. Leadership gifts of $1,791 or more in a fiscal year are critical for sustaining the growth of the Fund.

Last year, in honor of the long tradition of philanthropy at Berwick, the School reinvigorated its giving societies to recognize the deep commitment leadership donors have made over the years. As part of this change, the School increased the introductory leadership giving level to $1,791 to continue to inspire a culture of generous philanthropy at Berwick.

If you are interested in learning more about Berwick’s Giving Societies, please contact Stephanie Caswell, director of leadership giving and philanthropy, at scaswell@berwickacademy.org or 207.384.6396.

CHADBOURNE-THOMPSON SOCIETY BEQUESTS AND PLANNED GIFTS

HEAD OF SCHOOL’S SOCIETY

FOGG

HILLTOP

GIVING TO THE BERWICK FUND

DELORIS WHITE SOCIETY

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CELEBRATING ONE BERWICK

On Thursday, May 12, the Berwick community came together to showcase its incredible strength and spirit during the fifth annual day of giving, One Berwick. In less than five hours, the Berwick community rallied to secure an additional $7,500 in philanthropic support from a generous Berwick family, well ahead of the 12 p.m. deadline. In total, 265 donors contributed to the School during the 24-hour giving day, soaring past our goal of 231 participants. We celebrated the Class of 2022, enjoyed ice cream treats across campus, and shared stories of amazing student achievements powered by your generosity, including those by Yuanyuan Kong ’29, Hannah Hudson ’24, Aidan Rothkegel ’23, Julia Cabral ’23, and Caleb Weinstein ’22.

Grade 8 Baccalaureate

THE CLASS OF 2026 CELEBRATED THE CULMINATION OF THE MIDDLE SCHOOL EXPERIENCE.

n the evening of June 1, 2022, the Berwick community honored the Class of 2026 at the Grade 8 Baccalaureate Ceremony. Students, faculty, staff, and families gathered for the culminating event of the Berwick Middle School experience.

In its 50 years of existence, the Clement Middle School has ushered thousands of students through the important developmental phases of learning, both academically and socially. Excitement, anxiety, and nostalgia were the primary feelings under the tent as the rising ninth graders took their seats for the welcoming remarks from Assistant Head of School and Director of Middle School Ryan Feeley. Several students were honored with distinctions that included Departmental Awards, The Hilltop Award, and The Cogswell Book Prize.

Eesha Saksena ’26 and Liam Quinn ’26 were selected to share remarks at the event. Saksena urged classmates to bring the community-building skills they learned in Middle School to their high school experience.

“I realized that Berwick was the thing that has brought us all together,” she said. “Despite all of our differences, we have created a beautiful community together.”

Quinn echoed Saksena, reminding his classmates that they are all a permanent part of the Berwick community.

As each student crossed the stage to receive their certificates, families cheered with pride, signifying the final moment of the Middle School journey.

Grade 4 Closing Assembly

On the morning of June 2, 2022, students, faculty, staff, and families gathered in the Patricia Baldwin Whipple Arts Center to celebrate the end of the year for the Lower School community.

The Lower School Closing Assembly, which this year honored the Class of 2030, is the first major academic recognition event for many Berwick students, as it marks the transition to Middle School.

As the rising fifth graders crossed the stage one by one, their teachers reflected on their growth over the last nine months and the positive attributes they have brought to the Berwick community.

Among the accomplishments of the fourth grade graduates were exceptional projects, standout attitudes, and Passion Projects (Lower School’s version of Innovation Pursuits ®). The ceremony closed with a slideshow of memories from the past year.

Bulldogs for Justice

By Cassie Warnick, Middle School Wellness and Humanities Teacher

Bulldogs for Justice is a collaborative Middle School group in support of equity on the Hilltop.

The club began meeting biweekly in October of 2020, with interested students from grades five through eight invited to attend.

During the first year of meetings, up to 40 students attended consistently. They came with a desire to learn more about social justice, identity, and equity and how they could affect change at Berwick.

During the first few sessions, a group of Middle School teachers introduced key vocabulary and other concepts to the students in attendance. This ensured that all students, regardless of their familiarity with social justice, began with the same tools to carry them throughout the school year. Beyond those initial informational sessions, additional topics and activities were based on student interest.

For the remainder of the 2020-21 school year, two groups met separately, one exploring gender while the other learned about racial equity. In their meetings, students learned about different ways to address sexism, racism, or other instances of bias. They discussed case studies and had the opportunity to practice upstander skills through role-play exercises.

Other highlights included a collaboration with the Upper School Alliance in March and April, culminating in a Middle School presentation on how to be an upstander and ally to the LGBTQ+ community. In the winter months, students honored Martin Luther King, Jr. by investigating his six principles of nonviolence and creating a quilt that creatively represents those principles. The quilt will be installed in the stairwell of the Middle School’s Great Room, demonstrating Berwick’s commitment to living out these principles each and every day.

Making His Mark

NOAH ROBIE ’22 TURNED HIS CLASSROOM EXPERIENCE INTO A LASTING LANDMARK.

By Kendra L. Bates

Noah Robie ’22 isn’t one to stand on the sidelines of any experience. An avid thespian, skilled musician, gifted scholar, and compassionate individual, he had a hand in almost every component of the Berwick experience over his four years in the Upper School. With a passion for knowledge and community, Robie has already begun to extend his impact beyond the Hilltop by drawing national attention to his hometown of North Hampton, New Hampshire.

The spark of inspiration first struck in the fall of 2021, as Robie considered an assignment for his Hamilton-Musical & History class, taught by Brad Fletcher. He chose to focus his project on Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, a military officer and a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789. More than 40 years later, Lafayette was invited by President James Monroe and Congress, as the last surviving major general of the Revolutionary War, to visit the then 24-state Union for what would become his farewell tour in the U.S.

After already completing research on Lafayette for another assignment, Robie located additional historical documents that referenced Lafayette’s stop in South Berwick. After completing the assignment, Robie remained curious and had a sense of duty to uncover more information that had previously remained elusive to local historical societies. Town lore was that Lafayette had made a stop in North Hampton during his 1824-1825 farewell tour, but the details were unclear. Seeing a gap in his town’s local record, Robie went to work filling in the blanks.

Without a clear paper trail to follow, Robie sought individuals who might be

interested in helping him connect the missing pieces. One of those individuals was Julien Icher, a French graduate of Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon and founder and president of The Lafayette Trail, Inc., whose mission is to document the locations of Lafayette’s farewell tour and increase mutual understanding between citizens of the United States and France. Ahead of the bicentennial anniversary of Lafayette’s tour, The Lafayette Trail has been working diligently to gather and archive all pertinent information.

Icher responded almost immediately with great interest in helping Robie with his research. The pair teamed up to scour 200-year-old town meeting minutes, archived documents, and letters. They also traced property deeds to pinpoint where Lafayette stopped on his way from Newburyport to Portsmouth on September 1, 1824. Robie and Icher were rewarded when the location was determined to be Leavitt Tavern in North Hampton, which closed in the 1830s.

Mystery solved, Robie and Icher set out to formally commemorate their historical discovery. To date, the Lafayette Trail has donated 65 markers (10 in New Hampshire) around

the country to recognize stops made on Lafayette’s farewell tour. With solid research in hand, Icher believed there was a strong case for an eleventh New Hampshire marker to be erected in North Hampton. To make that happen, Robie drafted a formal proposal to present to the North Hampton Select Board.

When addressing the board from Virginia via Zoom, Icher explained the process used to formally confirm the location of the trail marker using GPS. With credit to Robie’s presentation and with Icher’s support, the motion to erect a sign was approved 3-0 by the board.

“It was so great to see the youth of North Hampton rising to the occasion to celebrate our history,” Select Board Chairman Jim Maggiore said.

To Robie, the entire experience was a bit outside his wheelhouse but he chose to follow his sense of curiosity, which paid off for him personally and for his community.

“I don’t consider myself to be a history buff — but the right kind of history inspires me,” he says. “This class was incredible and I was so excited to uncover more and more of its local relevance.”

Recently unveiled, the marker reads: “LAFAYETTE’S TOUR: On September 1, 1824 General Lafayette stopped at Leavitt’s Tavern on his way from Newburyport to Portsmouth.” Robie, now in his first year at Williams College, will surely continue to make a lasting impact on his community.

Credit: North Hampton Community Media

Innovation Celebration

THE CULMINATION OF YEAR-LONG STUDENT-DRIVEN PROJECTS.

Innovation is woven into the culture at Berwick. Creativity factors into the curriculum, how students are taught in the classroom, and how facilities and spaces are utilized on a day-to-day basis.

The most tangible example of this mission comes in the form of the Innovation Pursuit® program. Each year, students are given an opportunity to explore an area of interest outside their classroom experience. The program involves an application process, grant writing, mentorship collaboration, original research, and student-directed learning. The Innovation Pursuit learning experience helps develop skills to prepare students for their future, culminating in an annual Innovation Celebration, where students present their endeavors to the Berwick community.

In 2022, 73 students ranging from Grades 4 to 12 presented 65 projects to peers, family, and guest panelists, including alumni, local leaders, and former faculty, on subjects that may not otherwise have been explored during the academic year.

Aidan Rothkegel ’23 shared that he has always been interested in things that go. His presentation —“Bus Transportation: Keeping Communities Moving” — unraveled the intricacies of the American public transportation system and its important impact. Caleb Weinstein ’22 explored his passion for glassblowing, while Julia Michaud ’23 advocated for the environment by breaking down the complex sustainability issues related to what we eat.

Twenty Middle School students took part in this year’s Innovation Pursuit program, tackling projects such as groundbreaking

“Every year, I’m blown away by the fascinating projects our students undertake as well as their poise in front of an audience,” Director of Middle School Ryan Feeley said. “This opportunity to demonstrate creativity, innovation, strong research skills, and professionalism is always a great treat.”

In the Lower School, nine fourth graders explored subjects ranging from the Titanic to hip-hop dance to the NBA playoffs. Director of Lower School Joel Hawes said that the students’ confidence and presentation skills were “testaments to our supportive programming across all Lower School grade levels, creating the foundation for these impressive projects.”

women in government, the profitability of sustainable tree farms, and robotic pool skimmers.

The Innovation Pursuit program and culminating Innovation Celebration would not be possible without the support of Director of Innovation and Upper School Librarian Darcy Coffta, who reads proposals and approves projects, coordinates mentors both on and off campus, and organizes the year-end event.

“[Darcy] continues to do tremendous work on behalf of our students every year,” Director of Upper School Ted Smith said. “It is not often you can say that a high school program is truly one-of-a-kind — but this one is. We are lucky to have Darcy leading the way with her unmatched energy and enthusiasm for innovation.”

Behind the Wheel

Melody LaMore joined the Berwick Academy transportation team one year ago and already is a key member of the community. Between her sunny disposition and 29 years of busdriving experience, LaMore is part of a highly qualified professional team of drivers that families can trust to transport their children to and from school each day. A Georgetown, Massachusetts, native, she has spent the last 33 years living with her husband on the coast of New Hampshire. LaMore sat down with the Communications team to answer a few questions about her work.

What does a typical morning routine include?

Arriving at about 5:30 a.m. to pre-trip a bus, which means inspecting it from front to back, the first step is standing in the engine compartment checking items that usually only a mechanic truly understands. However, a bus driver needs to know those parts well, from oil levels, belts, and clamps that should all be secured. A prepared driver needs to ask themselves, ‘Do I see anything different from the day before that may cause a problem?’

What unexpected challenges do you need to be prepared for?

That can be anything from a bus that is unable to perform the route and needing to secure a new one to traffic backed up or even blocked for hours on the highway. It could mean a student feeling ill or just having a bad day. Weather and road conditions are also something to prepare for.

Knowing you are the first Berwick Academy commu nity member students see in the morning, how does that influence your demeanor?

As I sit in the driver’s seat, it’s hard not to smile while watching the expressions and behaviors of the different students as they step onto the bus. The greetings I receive from Berwick Academy students are always upbeat, which they receive in return from me.

What would people be surprised to hear about the experience of a school bus driver?

Not only do you have to obtain a CDL class B license but also School Bus endorsement, Air Brake endorsements, and Passenger endorsements, which means a lot of tests and retesting every time you renew your license. There is also the DOT medical card, which has to be done to ensure you are healthy enough to drive the bus safely.

How do you like to spend your summers?

My summers are spent with my husband and daughter in Northern Maine at our lake home, where we enjoy fly fishing, boating, kayaking, berry picking, and gardening. As a woman who loves to dabble in cooking, having fresh produce available from various local farms and fresh fish right there is a dream come true.

What does it mean to you to be part of the Berwick community?

I cannot express enough how welcoming the community has been to me. Off campus, when I am still in my uniform and someone says, ‘Oh, you work for Berwick Academy?’ I smile and say ‘I sure do!’ I love it here.

Q&A WITH BUS DRIVER MELODY LAMORE

Berwick Academy bus routes.

A Fond Farewell to Longtime Faculty

THREE FACULTY STALWARTS GIVE NEARLY A CENTURY OF COMBINED SERVICE TO BERWICK.

By Ted Smith, Director of Upper School

SUE MADDOCK

After teaching at Berwick for 38 years, Sue Maddock retired at the end of the academic year. A Jimmy Dean “Good School Person” award recipient, Sue was the School’s most tenured faculty member, and one of the longest-serving teachers in the 230-year history of Berwick Academy.

Inspired by our mentors, each of us has adapted to the ethos of this community — and we all have inherited a little piece of Sue’s joy of teaching and learning. She has done it all at Berwick as a Lower School and Upper School teacher, soccer coach, department chair, mom, friend, mentor, club leader, class advisor, and so much more. Along the way, Sue has impacted countless students and colleagues.

Never satisfied resting on traditional teaching methods, Sue has evolved along with the best practices in education. She was ahead of her time with modern terms

Pass the Bell

Sue Maddock, who retired after 38 years at Berwick, bequeathed a bell to John Downey, Upper School Latin teacher and Grade 12 class dean, at the closing faculty/staff reception. The bell signifies that Downey now holds the distinction as the longesttenured faculty member, with 37 years of service. According to Brad Fletcher, history teacher and archivist, the earliest reference to this tradition is tied to Bill Matthews, Sr., who taught at the school in the 1970s and 80s.

such as “student-centered learning” and in incorporating empathy into her teaching practices. Sue’s quiet exterior belies her fierce support of young women in math and computer science. Hundreds of women across this country learned from Sue that these subjects are within their scope, and she has inspired them to reach great heights in those disciplines in their collegiate and professional careers. This may be her greatest legacy.

TED SHERBAHN

After four decades in education, including the last 33 years at Berwick, Ted Sherbahn has retired. During his three decades at the School, he has served as an English teacher, chair of the English Department and Honor Committee, varsity coach, Dorothy Green Award recipient, and director of Upper School.

While Ted succeeded in many administrative roles, his classroom has always been his home and where his influence has made the greatest impact on generations of Berwick students. Ted is often cited by alumni as the teacher who made them believe in themselves. His mastery of teaching writing and literary analysis made him a superb facilitator who summoned the best from his students, even those most reluctant to share their voices. In that regard, Ted has always led by example through his ability to articulate what many of us are too uneasy to say out loud. That will remain a significant part of his legacy on the Berwick campus.

CHIP HARDING

Chip Harding stepped away from his teaching role during the 2021-22 school year after 25 years of service, but continued to oversee the Applied Music program. This year, Chip officially announced his retirement. His impact on Berwick musicians is difficult to measure.

Chip is someone who has always led by example and could be found with a throng of kids following him around campus, hanging on his every word or guitar note. I had the incredible honor and good fortune to teach with Chip, but what made him so unique was his ability to make every single student feel like they were the most important kid in the world. He remembered everything about each one, from their musical interests to the names of their siblings. The importance of taking the time to get to know and celebrate a student is something I learned from Chip. He has made a tremendous impact on students, faculty, and everyone he has met in his tenure.

We stand on the shoulders of giants who come before us, and we are blessed that our time at Berwick has overlapped with this giant in the long history of the School.

BETSY RICHBURG

Berwick also recognizes Betsy Richburg, controller, who retired at the end of the school year after 29 years in the Business Office. Spanning three heads of school and five CFOs over her tenure, Betsy has left an indelible mark on the school.

“Her meticulous work was matched only by her kindness and gentle good humor,” said CFO Jon Douglas. “Berwick is grateful for her innumerable contributions, most of which have occurred out of sight to even the most scrutinous observer, and thanks her for her extraordinary service to Berwick Academy.”

Boardwalks for the Bog

By John Ibsen, Innovation Center Coordinator

JULIAN VANDERPOOL ’23 USES SKILLS HE LEARNED IN CLASS TO HELP THE BERWICK COMMUNITY.

One of the most invaluable assets of Berwick Academy’s 80-acre campus is the heavily wooded area behind the athletic fields. Offering a diverse range of habitats well suited for research and study, it is also home to the Lower School Outdoor Classroom and a network of recreational trails.

This past spring, Julian Vanderpool ’23 spent the final weeks of his eleventh grade year making the forest more accessible for the Berwick community. Vanderpool observed that several sections of the trails were difficult to traverse due to wet, muddy ground. In particular, Middle School students who used the trails on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons for their Outdoor Ed extracurricular were returning from the trails with shoes covered in mud. Vanderpool saw this as an opportunity to put the skills he learned in Humanitarian Design and the Fabrication Studio to good use, hoping to make a positive difference in a way that would preserve and protect nearby sensitive habitats.

Over the course of a week, he built four sections of boardwalk to help students traverse the boggy sections of trails. On May 26, Vanderpool and Middle School students from the Outdoor Ed group worked together to place the newly constructed footbridges in position. His work not only ensures that the forest is more accessible, but also reduces the impact of foot traffic on nearby wetlands. Vanderpool’s work is an outstanding example of taking the lessons learned in the classroom and applying them to realworld situations. The Berwick community will benefit from his efforts for years to come.

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

THE CLASS OF 2022 WAS BUSY IN THE FINAL DAYS OF THE SCHOOL YEAR

The end of the school year is an exciting time for the Berwick Academy community. But for twelfth graders, it serves as a transition toward college, careers, and new ventures as young adults.

Spring on The Hilltop is typically abuzz with special events, class celebrations, and year-end recognitions. From final assemblies to Woofstock, a celebration of music on the Burleigh-Davidson lawn, there are multiple opportunities for the Berwick community to gather together to celebrate the wind-down of the academic year. In a Baccalaureate address, Tyler Hall ’22 expressed how he and others in his graduating class have spent time looking back on their years at Berwick.

“By taking legitimate time to reflect on your past experiences, you can recall a lot of the experiences that have shaped who you are,” Hall said. “Remember, a reflection depends on the time and materials expended to make it. The materials or the experiences have already been expended. It’s up to you to put the time in to reflect on those experiences.”

SENIOR PROJECTS

One celebration that begins as early as January and comes to fruition for one week in May is Senior Projects. Students not only select their subject of choice, but also determine the best way to present their findings in the spring. From podcasts to rock climbing to lawn mower restoration, students engage in solo or group study and prepare their findings to share with the Berwick community. In the week following the last day of classes for twelfth graders, students spread far and wide to tackle their chosen projects. Ruby Leonard ’22 created a mini-documentary focusing on street art culture in San Francisco. Sasha Hoven ’22 took their interest in electric rock and roll to a new level by creating their own synthesizer. Seniors returned to campus during the week leading to Commencement to share their findings with the Berwick community.

SENIOR WALK

Another rite of passage is the annual Senior Walk. This year, class members gathered in The Commons lobby on May 13, ready to take the ceremonious stroll through campus to the bell tower. As they waited, younger students from all three divisions lined the walkway to cheer them on. Faculty clapped as the seniors emerged from The Commons and began their walk. Many students wore shirts revealing their college destination. As students ascended into the Fogg bell tower, they added their signatures to

the stone walls and aged wooden rafters. For more than an hour, the bell rang to congratulate each senior. As they exited through the front entrance of Fogg, students had the opportunity to draw with sidewalk chalk. By the end of the afternoon, the pavement was covered with college emblems, messages to friends, and the final physical marks of the Class of 2022.

ALUMNI INDUCTION

The annual Alumni Induction Ceremony invites new graduates to commemorate their change in status from students to alumni. Alumni Advisory Board president Natalee Martin ’01 greeted the newest alumni at the ceremony, encouraging them to wear their Alumni Association pins with pride. “[At Commencement] you will flip your tassel from one side to the other, and I want you to know that the alumni network is ready to welcome you,” Martin explained. “The opportunity to not only stay connected to Berwick, but to each other, is right here in front of you and we want to help you, we want to know you. Our alumni network is only as good as what you put into it — the more you care and contribute, the richer it becomes.”

With goodbyes then imminent and the end of the normality these young adults have known for the last several years, a new circle of support was presented through the ceremony.

BACCALAUREATE

On the eve of Commencement, the Class of 2022 gathered together for one more event of celebration and recognition. The Baccalaureate ceremony is an event for the departing class to be recognized for their many accomplishments. Students donned their regalia in front of friends and family. Praise and reflection for the Class of 2022 were offered by faculty, administration, and student speakers. Caleb Weinstein ’22 addressed his peers with words of inspiration, optimism, and an invitation to continue to seek the rigor and challenge they have encountered so far.

“Find the field of study, hobby, or interest you love,” Weinstein said. “Try to learn as much as you can about it — and…always push yourself.”

CELEBRATING THE

CLASS OF 2022

Commencement 2022

On the morning of June 4, 2022, the Berwick Academy community gathered for Commencement. Days of setup, months of planning, and years of hard work and dedication led up to the bittersweet event. The tent pitched between the Athletic Center and Jackson Library was overflowing with faculty, staff, community members, and families as members of the Class of 2022 processed to their seats. Head of School Jim Hamilton greeted the graduating class with great pride and urged them to keep the memory of their Hilltop community alive as they spread out across the globe in their many endeavors. He offered the class seven key pieces of advice, derived from the plot of the new film Top Gun: Maverick , from “always rely on your training” to “find a good mentor.” Hamilton closed his address with a spark of wisdom.

“Each of you in the Class of 2022 has the skills and training necessary to achieve great things,” he said. “You are more than ready…and we are so proud to call you our own. Believe in yourself, trust your instincts, and the world will be yours.”

AT THIS YEAR’S COMMENCEMENT, GRADUATES WERE ENCOURAGED TO MAKE HASTE SLOWLY AND GET INTO “GOOD TROUBLE.”

Dean of Community and Upper School teacher Lucy Pollard, who will be moving on from Berwick as her family relocates to Washington, D.C., delivered a heartfelt address. On the verge of a major life change herself, Pollard urged the Class of 2022 to take risks and get into “good trouble” as often as possible.

“Let’s collectively make a pledge to get into good trouble for the causes we care about,” she said. “Even if it is through small steps, I challenge you to demonstrate courage, persistence, action, and love. Make use of your youthful energy.”

As the graduates crossed the stage to receive their diplomas, many grinned with joy, while others shed nostalgic tears, and some pumped their fists in the air in victory. After the presentation of diplomas, Noah Robie ’22, winner of this year’s Cogswell Award for exemplary academic achievement and intellectual exploration and challenge in the classroom and beyond, eloquently addressed his class.

“Although the timepiece of the mind might run faster than we’d like, and although our days may be divided so much that it seems like free moments are impossible,” Robie said, “let us also slow down, be aware, and move with intention.”

With one final congratulation from Mr. Hamilton, the Class of 2022 rejoiced by throwing their caps before the departing recessional. The graduates followed the faculty and administration outside of the tent, where they were greeted by family, friends, and alumni in a rousing reception and celebration.

Laude

CLASS OF 2022

PARKER DOUGLAS

Hometown: Greenland, New Hampshire

Grades Attended: 6-12

Chosen College: U.S. Air Force Academy

Intended Major: Computer Science and Cyber Science

RYAN HALL

Hometown: Newmarket, New Hampshire

Grades Attended: 7-12

Chosen College: Villanova University Intended Major: Mechanical Engineering

TYLER HALL

Hometown: Newmarket, New Hampshire

Grades Attended: 7-12

Chosen College: College of the Holy Cross Intended Major: Psychology

NICHOLAS LEAVITT

Hometown: Eliot, Maine

Grades Attended: 9-12

Chosen College: Honors College at UMaine

Intended Major: Electrical Engineering

RUBY LEONARD

Hometown: South Berwick, Maine

Grades Attended: 9-12

Chosen College: George Washington University Intended Major: Undecided

LILY MANSFIELD

Hometown: South Berwick, Maine

Grades Attended: Kindergarten-12

Chosen College: Barnard College Intended Major: Biochemistry

HARRISON NIGRIN

Hometown: Hampton Falls, New Hampshire Grades Attended: 4-12

Chosen College: Northeastern University Intended Major: Undecided

NOAH ROBIE

Hometown: North Hampton, New Hampshire

Grades Attended: 9-12

Chosen College: Williams College

Intended Major: English and Math

SHIVANI VORA

Hometown: Dover, New Hampshire Grades Attended: 9-12

Chosen College: Georgia Institute of Technology

Intended Major: Computer Science

JULIA WAGNER

Hometown: Hampton Falls, New Hampshire

Grades Attended: 9-12

Chosen College: Villanova University Intended Major: Psychology or Communications

PETER WOJDAK

Hometown: West Newbury, Massachusetts

Grades Attended: 7-12

Chosen College: Boston College Intended Major: Finance

OF 2022

College Acceptances

Adelphi University

Alfred University* Allegheny College* Arizona State University* Barnard College* Barry University Bates College*

Berklee College of Music (2)* Boston College (2)* Boston University (2) Bucknell University

California Polytechnic – Humbolt California State University – San Marcos

Carleton College

Case Western Reserve University Castleton University* Centre College Champlain College Clemson University Coastal Carolina University (3)* Colgate University* College of Charleston (6)* College of the Holy Cross (3)* Colorado State University Connecticut College* CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice*

Curry College

Dean College

Drexel University (2)* Elon University (4)*

Endicott College (6)

Fairfield University (5)* Fitchburg State University

Florida Gulf Coast University Florida Southern College George Washington University (3)* Georgia Tech (2)* Gettysburg College (2) Goucher College* Hampshire College* High Point University (3)*

Hobart & William Smith Colleges (5)* Hofstra University* Ithaca College (3) Jacksonville University James Madison University (2) John Jay College* Lasell University (2)* Lehigh University (3)* Lesley University

Loyola University Maryland (2) Loyola University Chicago (3) Loyola University New Orleans Mass College of Art & Design (2) Merrimack College (3) Miami University Ohio Michigan State University (2)* Montana State University (3) New England College Nichols College

North Carolina State University (2)* Northeastern University (5)* Ohio State University Paul Smith’s College

Pennsylvania State University (4)* Providence College (7)* Quinnipiac University (4) Regis College

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (3) Rhodes College * Rochester Inst. of Technology (3) Rollins College Rutgers University (2) Sacred Heart University (3) Saint Anselm College Santa Clara University Seattle University St. Joseph’s University (2) St. Lawrence University (7)* St. Michael’s College* Southern New Hampshire University Stevens Inst. of Technology (2) Suffolk University (3)

Syracuse University (4)* Union College (5) United States Air Force Academy* Univ. of Arizona (3)* Univ. of California - Santa Cruz Univ. of Colorado - Boulder (2) Univ. of Connecticut (4)* Univ. of Denver (5)* Univ. of Hartford Univ. of Hawaii Maui College Univ. of La Verne Univ. of Maine - Orono (6)* Univ. of Maryland (3) Univ. of Massachusetts – Amherst (5)* Univ. of Massachusetts – Boston (2) Univ. of Massachusetts – Dartmouth Univ. of Massachusetts – Lowell (3) Univ. of Miami Univ. of New Hampshire (20)* Univ. of New Hampshire – Manchester* Univ. of North Carolina – Greensboro Univ. of Pittsburgh (2) Univ. of Puget Sound Univ. of Rhode Island (4)* Univ. of Richmond (2)* Univ. of Rochester (2) Univ. of South Carolina* Univ. of Southern Maine (3)* Univ. of Tampa Univ. of Utah (2) Univ. of Vermont (10)* Univ. of Wisconsin – Madison (2) Villanova University (4)* Virginia Commonwealth University (2) Virginia Tech* Wentworth Inst. of Technology Worcester Polytechnic Inst. (2)* Williams College* Wittenberg University Xavier University (2)

* Student chose to attend.

By Rob Quinn, Director of Athletics

The 2022 spring season was highlighted by playoff runs by the boys and girls lacrosse and baseball teams, and boys tennis going 8-2 during the regular season with team MVP Gabe Naftoly ’22 playing his way to a semifinal appearance in the Maine State Singles Championships. Girls tennis finished sixth over in the EIL, and rowing returned to the water for a full slate of regattas this season. Three studentathletes represented Berwick on the Marshwood Co-Op varsity softball team, making an impact with impressive statistics from the circle and at the plate. Seven members of the Class of 2022 will be playing at the collegiate level this fall.

BERWICK

The girls varsity tennis team finished sixth in the EIL with an overall record of 3-6. Highlights included a 5-0 win over Brewster Academy early in the season and 3-2 victories over Bancroft and Beaver Country Day School. No. 1 Becca Naftoly ’24 earned a three-set tiebreaker win over the top player from Concord Academy, while No. 2 Eliza Naftoly ’24 scored a pair of three-set tiebreaker wins over her opponents from Portsmouth Abbey and Concord. Caroline Johnson ’24 and Megan Pound ’23 tallied an epic No. 1 doubles win over Pingree. Other strong contributors were captains Sophia Snaith ’22 at No. 2 doubles and Reese Murphy ’22 at No. 3 singles, Graziella Pavona ’26 at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, and Dewey Cannella Matthews ’25 at No. 2 doubles.

GIRLS TENNIS

BERWICK ATHLETICS

The boys varsity tennis team finished with an impressive 8-2 record. Team MVP Gabe Naftoly ’22 led the way with only one loss to the EIL Player of the Year from league champion Concord Academy. Naftoly was runner-up for Player of the Year in the EIL and made it to the semifinals of the Maine State Singles Championships. Hayden McGovern ’22 earned an honorable mention in the EIL for his contributions to playing singles and doubles this year. The team graduates Naftoly, McGovern, Alex Penfold ’22, Jonah Friedman ’22, Kia Jimenez ’22, Ian MacLeod ’22, Peter Wodjak ’22, and Garret Lincoln ’22, who all exhibited strength and leadership and laid the groundwork for the future.

BOYS LACROSSE

Uncertain of what the season might bring, the boys varsity lacrosse squad took on the spring with an open mind and a desire to succeed. After spending a week in Florida for spring training, the team opened the season with three straight wins. After a disappointing loss to Holderness School, the players made adjustments and continued to progress throughout the season, putting up competitive scores against the strongest opponents. The final test came against Dexter Southfield, where Berwick found itself down 6-1 at halftime. Though the Bulldogs came up just short (9-7), it was a season milestone. With an experienced group returning and a wave of younger talent coming up the ranks, Berwick will look to continue on its path toward competing with the best programs in the region. Impact players in 2022 included Eli Chilicki ’24, Shea Green ’22, Nick McSorley ’22, and Albert Allen ’23, who helped to elevate the level of play of their teammates. On defense, Jared Swisher ’22, Josh Felton ’23, and goalies Connor Hohn ’22 and Topher Peracci ’24 played key roles all season long, highlighted by a tremendous effort holding the high-scoring Dexter team to only nine goals in the season finale.

BOYS TENNIS

GIRLS LACROSSE

The girls varsity lacrosse team (9-4) completed a strong season, finishing third in the EIL and earning a spot in the league tournament. The Bulldogs were led by captains Phoebe Clark ’22, Charlotte Vatcher ’22, and Julia Wagner ’22, who set an incredible tone of camaraderie, sportsmanship, and phenomenal play. The team was also bolstered by Alex Kingsland ’22 and Natalie Simonds ’22, who stepped up as offensive leaders. Clark, Cameron Hamilton ’23, and Vatcher earned EIL AllLeague recognition, while Ellie Del Sesto ’23 and Jessica Wojdak ’24 received honorable mentions.

BASEBALL The Berwick varsity baseball team (9-7) demonstrated significant growth this season, finishing third in the EIL after losing close games to Pingree (4-5) and Portsmouth Abbey (4-6). The Bulldogs were still able to advance to the championship game of the New England Small School Invitational. Although the team fell short against King’s-Edgehill School, the players gained valuable experience for the future. Led by Zach Hawrylciw ’24, the Bulldog pitching staff kept opposing hitters off-balance, which helped set the tone for the season. Catcher Ian Kula ’23 led the team with a .393 batting average, while Jake McGonagle ’23 (.370) and Tucker Boys ’24 (.342, 10 RBI) were also leaders on offense. The team says goodbye to its only graduating player, Finn Garside ’22, who contributed with key RBI hits and played solid defense at first base. Overall, the players were able to come together as a team, support one another, and learn the importance of having a competitive mindset for each pitch.

ROWING

The Berwick crew program demonstrated phenomenal growth and determination this season. Of the 30 athletes, only four had more than a year’s experience in the sport. The team graduated five athletes, two of whom were new to the team this year but nonetheless made a profound impact in terms of leadership and performance. The regatta schedule this season was challenging with some very tough competitors. Berwick athletes braved strong winds, rain, and hail and enjoyed some sunny race days as well. Throughout the season, the Bulldogs raced four boys 4+ boats and two girls 4+ boats. Each of the crews were able to experience close races with other crews. On the boys side, Jishnu Dey ’23 was named team MVP, Nicholas Leavitt ’22 received the Coaches Award, and Griffin Nedeka ’25 earned the Novice Award. For the girls, Noel Grube ’23 earned team MVP, Pavaani Ganeshkumar ’24 received the Coaches Award, and Daisy Helm ’22 received the Coxswain Award.

SOFTBALL

Three student-athletes played varsity softball for the Berwick/ Marshwood Co-op team. Bella Pomarico ’23, Lyndsay Bennett ’24, and Louise Roper ’24 were three starting impact players for the Hawks, responsible for 63% of the team’s total runs. Bennett pitched nine of the first 10 games (47 innings) striking out 62% of batters before going down with a season-ending hip injury. Offensively, she led the team with two three-run home runs, in slugging percentage (.680) and on-base percentage(.485), and registered the second highest RBI (7). Pomarico held the top slot for highest batting average (.391), tied for second highest on-base percentage (.417), and was third in slugging percentage (.522). Roper finished second on the team in stolen bases and was a leader in QAB% (quality at-bats).

College Commitments

Mitchel Varley Providence College Men’s Soccer

Asa Forbes Castleton University Men’s Lacrosse

Nick McSorley Lasell University Men’s Lacrosse

Gabriel Naftoly Goucher College Men’s Tennis

Lily Pleau St. Lawrence University Women’s Soccer

Natalie Simonds John Jay College Women’s Basketball

Jared Swisher Allegheny College Men’s Lacrosse

ARTS UPDATE

By Raegan Russell, Director of Visual & Performing Arts

The spring trimester wrapped up a full year of live performances in the Patricia Baldwin Whipple Arts Center, including the Upper School Musical, My Fair Lady, the Middle School production, A Wrinkle in Time, and dance concerts for KindergartenGrade 12 students and the dance company, Dance Through Moments. The Spring Concert Series featured the strings, choral, and band ensembles as well as guitar classes, and pri vate music lesson recitals took place in late April. Twenty-seven students were inducted into honor societies this spring.

DANCE

Spring dance at Berwick included a surprise performance by Middle School dancers on April 8 in honor of visiting Poet-in-Residence Meg Day. The dance was repeated at the Upper School assembly on April 22 and again in May during a Berwick concert series. Meanwhile, the Upper School Company Blue performed at the Earth Day assembly. From May 20 to 21, dancers in all divisions performed in front of a live audience for the first time in almost three years at the Kindergarten-Grade 12 Dance Concert and Company Dance Concert. The concert series, entitled Dance Through Moments, featured movements from different eras and moments in time, and incorporated jazz, ballet, tap, contemporary/ modern, and student choreography. Company dancers also debuted their production of Wonderland, an original take on the classic tale of Alice in Wonderland — all told through dance and movement.

Performing Arts

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THEATER

On March 25 and 26, Berwick’s theater students performed a stunning version of My Fair Lady, directed by Hevia Paxson, with Chel Illingworth as music director. The production featured a talented cast, a student tech crew, select student choreography, set designers, and student musicians playing from the pit orchestra. Noah Robie ’22 (Henry Higgins), Lily Mansfield ’22 (Colonel Pickering), Gabe Naftoly ’22 (Alfred P. Doolittle), Zhuowei Che ’22 (Lord Tarrington), Sasha Hoven ’22 (percussion, orchestra) and Parker Douglas ’22 (lighting design/tech leader) graced and lit the Berwick stage for the final time in their Upper School careers.

This year’s Middle School production of A Wrinkle in Time, based on the Madeleine L’Engle classic and adapted for the stage by Morgan Gould, took place on April 9. Directed by Stella Ridolfi ’23, it followed Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin as they traveled through time and space to save Meg’s father from IT. The show was filled with beloved characters from the book, bits of laughter, and great excitement.

Teaching Sustainability Through Art

As Berwick embraces its location on the Seacoast, it also understands and embraces the obligation to care for the environment through daily actions and institutional decisions. In doing so, Berwick invests in the world in which its students will live when they leave the Hilltop.

In April, the School welcomed visiting artist and environmentalist Kim Bernard to campus. She arrived from Rockland, Maine, with several machines stored in her PopUpCycler, a one-of-a-kind enclosed trailer (and a work of art itself). Bernard specializes in sustainable art and spent several days working with students across all three divisions to create an installation using 100% recycled materials.

BERWICK IS WORKING TO BUILD A CULTURE OF SUSTAINABILITY THAT EMPOWERS ITS COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO BE STEWARDS OF THE ENVIRONMENT.

Bernard’s artistic talents have been widely recognized across New England. She is a recipient of the Piscataqua Region Artist Advancement Grant, Kindling Fund Grant, NEFA grant, and multiple Maine Arts Commission Grants, and was an artistin-residence at Harvard University in 2016 and the University of New England in 2017. Her love for creativity and passion for community-building is what inspired her to expand her reach to art centers, museums, and schools.

“Being a visiting artist on the Berwick campus was an absolute joy,” Bernard said. “The students dove right into our upcycling endeavor and were 100% engaged. They were thoughtful, reflective, and asked the most genuine questions. They all seem so proud to see our installation go up in Jeppesen.”

When she arrived on campus, Bernard immediately got to work setting up her

hand-built electric machine that grinds and heats recyclable plastic with dyes to create malleable colored tubes that harden into various shapes when cured. She demonstrated the machine in action with small groups of students before allowing volunteers to shape their own pieces.

With each group that took a turn on the machine, the pile of plastic “squiggles” grew larger. Before her departure, Bernard arranged the individual pieces into a vertical hanging sculpture.

“Bringing visiting artists to Berwick impacts our students dynamically,” said Director of Visual and Performing Arts Raegan Russell, who is always looking for ways to involve local artists in the curriculum. “Working with artists like Kim Bernard, our students see how they create in the real world and how art can bring awareness and understanding to complex topics. Her visit sparked student interest in

what they can do to live more sustainably.”

Many hands helped create the sustainable art installation that now hangs in the entryway of the Jeppesen Math and Science Center. By teaching students the importance of sustainable practices and how to create works of art with responsibly sourced materials, Bernard and other artists and teachers are helping to change the way students think about design, manufacturing, and consumerism.

“During her workshops, Kim does more than just create art with students,” said Sustainability Coordinator Sarah Jeanne Shimer. “She speaks with students about forming sustainable habits and showing them how sustainability can inform their daily decisions. The location of the art installation showcases the intersectionality of science and art in a space where students in Grades 5-12 come to learn.”

Fight Your Fearz

By Kendra L. Bates

Open conversations about mental health often lead to meaningful and possibly life-saving connections. Young first researched teen mental health issues when he found himself experiencing an increased level of stress and anxiety and discovered that what he was feeling was not uncommon.

Mental health awareness is an important issue for educators, who often act as the first line of defense for their students.

In recent years, education professionals have begun to more fully recognize the impact that a student’s mental health can have on learning and achievement; they also realize there’s a great deal that can be done to help students deal with these challenges.

In the spring, Remi Young ’23 helped to raise mental health awareness on campus by sharing his own experiences. As part of his Innovation Pursuit, Young founded Fight Your Fearz, a movement intended to initiate difficult conversations around mental health and offer resources to those who may be struggling in silence.

“I knew there was a stigma around mental health,” Young explains. “People don’t really like talking about it. It’s a very personal struggle, and because [talking about mental health] has helped me so much to understand that I wasn’t alone, I wondered how much it might help others. Just talking about it in our small community here at Berwick has been very impactful.”

“It took a kid in a community to come out about a mental health struggle, and people really started connecting with it,” he said. “When I first came to Berwick, I never realized how many connections people might have to this issue. But I soon learned that most people, even in the smallest case of anxiety, deal with something. They deal with depression, anxiety, and other mental health struggles. Everyone is dealing with something and going through something that we might not see.”

As Fight Your Fearz continued to grow in support, Young was able to invite professionals and guest speakers to campus to discuss mental health awareness with Upper School students. He also began selling T-shirts bearing the organization’s logo to show support, with proceeds donated to Seacoast Mental Health Center.

Young plans to continue his good work in his final year at Berwick, while serving as an advocate for those who need him. By helping others with their struggles, he says he feels a sense of fulfillment and also more in control of his own anxiety.

“What I didn’t know,” he said, “is that through helping other people I was also going to be helping myself.”

REMI YOUNG ’23 IS BREAKING THE STIGMA AROUND MENTAL ILLNESS.

Earth Day

As Berwick continues its focus on sustainability and understanding the School’s impact on the environment, students in all three divisions came together on the morning of April 22 to celebrate Earth Day.

Assembled on Fogg Field, the community listened as Lower School students reflected on recently completed recycling projects; Middle School students shared some background on the Indigenous people who founded the land on which Berwick is located; and Upper Schoolers danced and sang to express the significance of the Earth Day celebration.

In the week leading up to Earth Day, Sustainability Coordinator Sarah Jeanne Shimer provided a wide range of opportunities for all divisions to consider. Upper School students were challenged to take classes outside, join a lunch discussion with the Diversity Club around racial discrimination in environmental policies, go paperless for a day, and carpool to school.

Middle Schoolers were encouraged to participate in a beach cleanup, minimize the use of electricity, and consider locally sourced food choices. Lower School students learned about the impact humans have on nature and the importance of composting, recycling, or reusing materials to reduce the human footprint.

Earth Day is one of a handful of special days during the year when the whole community comes together for an impactful learning experience.

Perseverance and Perspective

By Jamie Reynolds

R yan Walters ’11 never imagined he would one day be speaking to students, nestled tightly in the very same bleacher seats of the Athletic Center’s Wood Gym in which he once sat for similar assemblies. A decade removed from his time on the Hilltop, Walters returned this spring to share his story — one of tragedy, miraculous recovery, and a determined spirit.

Upon graduating from Berwick, Walters enrolled at The College of William & Mary. In March 2012, he traveled to Cancun, Mexico, for spring break. On the first morning of the trip, Walters recalls having a sales meeting to discuss the resort’s excursion practices.

“We grabbed breakfast; it was just another day in paradise,” he said. “After a few hours of swimming, I looked up and

saw the restrooms on the opposite side of the pool. The last memory I have of that day is me bounding over an arched wooden bridge, sailing above that pool. As I hit the top of the bridge, heading toward the restrooms, everything faded to darkness.”

Walters shared that he had fallen six stories onto his back and sustained severe head and spinal injuries. In his hometown of Rye, New Hampshire, word spread quickly about the accident, and his family and friends began to create a “playbook for a miracle.” A family friend who was also a doctor helped advise on medical treatments; a reporter with whom Walters’s mother had gone to grad school had deep experience with brain trauma and helped advise on ways to protect his brain; and a contact with the

RYAN WALTERS ’11 CAPTIVATED STUDENTS, ADMINISTRATORS, AND GUESTS DURING A SPRING ASSEMBLY.

U.S. Navy even offered to help transport Walters back home from Mexico.

Walters was soon flown by Medevac to Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas, one of the largest hospitals in the United States. He talked about spending the next 22 days in ICU, where a team of 10 doctors assessed his condition. Walters eventually had surgery to stabilize his vertebrae with titanium rods and was transferred to a rehab facility that April. Placed in the same room in which U.S. Congresswoman Gabby Giffords had recovered after being shot in the head at a campaign event in Arizona in 2011, dubbed “The Room of Miracles,” the team at the rehab facility began the

process of helping Walters’s brain make a full recovery, helping him adapt to life in a wheelchair, and supporting his mental health at every turn.

That spring, the Berwick varsity baseball team made a run to the NEPSAC championship, its first title in more than 20 years. Inspired by Walters, a teammate of many on the squad the previous year, the team hung his No. 9 jersey in the dugout for every game.

“There are times when athletic teams capture the hearts and imagination of an entire community. Such was the case here in the spring of 2012.,” Walters said.

His unexpected journey has propelled Walters into a career of purpose-driven work. At Deloitte, a global consulting firm, he is heavily involved in disability and inclusion initiatives. He also serves on the board of directors for Disability:IN, a nonprofit that provides business resources focused on inclusive practices. Walters has advised Silicon Valley companies and the federal government on accessibility. He has worked with Marriott hotels to design accessible rooms, which are currently being implemented in more than 7,000 hotels worldwide. As a result of his own life-changing accident, Walters has discovered an opportunity to create meaningful change for the one in four adults living in the U.S. with a disability.

“Ask yourself, ‘What impact do I want to make?’ Ask yourself that question today and keep asking it as you grow older,” he told the Berwick community. “Pursue your passions, use them to find purpose in life, and turn that purpose, whatever it is, into an impact on those around you.”

29 Mainers

By Jana F. Brown

In the summer of 2019 current Berwick parents Erin Moore and her husband, Jermaine, a member of Berwick’s Board of Trustees, were wandering through the exhibits at Maine’s Portland Museum of Art when they made an observation.

“There was not one person of color on the wall,” says Erin Moore, who lives with her family in Eliot, Maine. “I left that day and I was like, this is crazy. They should be able to have some people of color represented; it’s not like they don’t have the space.”

That December, Moore was further intrigued by an empty frame at the San Diego Museum of Art, which acknowledged the same diversity gap she had noticed in Maine. It had been nearly a decade at that point since Moore had left her full-time job in human resources and turned to a career as a portrait photographer. In 2011, she opened Mercy Street Studio in South Berwick, which is now the largest photography studio on the Seacoast. With an arsenal of experience in capturing the essence of her subjects, Moore set out to create a body of work to represent the Black faces of Maine.

As soon as Moore put out the word that she was looking for people to sit for portraits at Mercy Street, she had no trouble finding volunteers. They ranged in age from 4 to 74 and included 16 females and 13 males, among them Berwick’s Head of School, Jim Hamilton.

“Many of the models who came in joked, ‘Are there even 29 of us?’” Moore says. “I laughed, but it was also rooted in seriousness. And enough people said it

that I thought about how isolating it can be [to be in the minority]. So it was one of those projects that hit my heart.”

Moore was intentional, she says, about making sure her fine art portraiture captured Black faces to represent people of color from a variety of backgrounds. The series includes Nigerians, Cubans, and Haitians as well as Mainers representing other cultures from the African diaspora. “I wanted to show that Maine is filled with all kinds of Black people,” Moore says.

A big part of the inspiration for Moore’s work comes from her family. She and Jermaine, who is Black, have four children: Avery, 23; Amelle, 21; 16-yearold Amaya, an eleventh grader at Berwick; and Biruk, 25, who the family adopted as a teenager from an orphanage in Ethiopia. To raise money for adoption expenses, Erin began taking portraits on the side, and rediscovered a love of photography. Once he arrived, helping Biruk adjust to life in America made Erin realize she needed more time at home.

“He was 15, a freshman in high school, learning a different language, learning a different world, so I asked my company for some time off,” recalls Moore. “People were still contacting me for pictures, so I chose to keep doing that and eventually transitioned out of HR and into the studio.”

In 2018, Moore was named the Photographer of the Year for portraits by the Maine Professional Photography Association. At the start of 2020, she determined that she would post a portrait of one Black Maine resident on social media for every day of February in honor of Black History Month (because 2020 was a leap year, that ended up being 29

days). While the mission of the series is to create an awareness of the lack of representation of Black faces overall, it is particularly pertinent in the State of Maine. With a population that is 95.4% white, Maine stands behind only neighboring Vermont as the least diverse state in America.

Her portraits, explains Moore, depict one dimension of her subjects and are meant to represent — not define — them. To help with that, Moore asked each volunteer to bring an object to highlight something important to them. In his portrait, Jim Hamilton is holding a bell to represent the Fogg Memorial bell, with the articles from “Brown v. Board of Education” superimposed behind him. Moore says she was struck by the poignance of Hamilton representing education at the oldest private learning

THROUGH HER CAPTIVATING PORTRAIT SERIES, PHOTOGRAPHER ERIN MOORE P’24 IS MAKING SURE THE FACES OF BLACK MAINE RESIDENTS ARE REPRESENTED.

institution in Maine, while Hamilton shares that he was happy to be included.

“It was an honor for me to be asked by Erin to be part of the 29 Mainers exhibit,” Hamilton says. “When I heard about it, I was excited to participate. It’s critically important that we have Black representation, not only for our local community, but for the greater community to know that there are Black people in Maine who are making a difference. I’m so thankful to Erin for helping us with this representation.”

For her daughter Amaya ’24, Moore recreated an iconic Black Panther Party poster featuring Huey P. Newton and the quote: “The revolution has always been in the hands of the young. The young always inherit the revolution.” Amaya has been a voice for youth in the state, and has testified before the Maine legislature

about the importance of teaching Black history in public schools. She currently serves on the Maine Department of Education’s Student Cabinet.

“She should have been playing basketball when she was involved in proposing laws for the State of Maine,” Moore says. “It’s not who she is, but it’s a dimension of who she is.”

The 29 Mainers exhibit made its debut in May at the Morgan Gallery at the Kittery Community Center. It will next be on display in the Jackson Library Gallery at Berwick. A panel discussion is scheduled for September 24, during Blue and White Homecoming Weekend, and an artist’s reception in the gallery is planned for October 25 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. In addition to Jim Hamilton and Amaya Moore, the portrait series also features one other Berwick Upper

School student, as well as two Lower School students, whose family by “happy coincidence” already was a client of Mercy Street Studio. The girls’ mother brought their Halloween costumes for their sessions — one a superhero and one an astronaut.

“Throughout the whole project, you’ll see a theme with children being superheroes,” Moore says, “because Black people are often portrayed as criminals and we want to portray them in a positive way. That’s one of the goals [of 29 Mainers], this idea of normalizing Black people through positive representations of those who live in Maine. They are your neighbors, they are part of our community, and they’re not much different than you are.”

All-Inclusive

By Jana F. Brown

Ever since he saw the raw prototype for a robotic mobility device in the mid-1990s, Lucas Merrow ’81 has been fascinated with revolutionizing the field of personalized transportation — particularly for people with disabilities.

He was introduced to the device’s inventor, Dean Kamen, by a mutual friend from MIT, where Merrow earned a degree in electrical engineering. Merrow remembers the prototype as a rudimentary device with a bare metal plate for a seat flanked by spare gyroscopes from Kamen’s airplane, electric motors from his mother’s sewing machine, a pair of bike chains, the guts of an IBM computer, lots of wires, and a “processor shoved under it. It wasn’t safe or ready for consumer use, but it was clearly proof of concept.”

Under Merrow’s leadership, that model was eventually developed into the iBOT, an innovative medical device that provides new levels of mobility for people with disabilities. In describing it, Merrow insists the iBOT is not a wheelchair, but a robot that its users “happen to sit on” to operate.

The motivation behind the iBOT, explains Merrow, who served as the product’s program manager for research and development until 2001, is to offer increased independence and dignity to people with disabilities, people who are often left out of conversations about innovation, design, and technology. With its gyroscopic technology, iBOTs allow users to elevate to standing height, climb stairs, and navigate rough terrain. The iBOT gives users the freedom to experience life at eye-level height, whether interacting with friends or doing something as ordinary as paying at a cash register. With the help of funding from Johnson & Johnson, iBOTs were put into service in the early 2000s, but because Medicare and private insurance limit medical mobility device coverage to daily activities inside the home, the cost proved prohibitive for many potential users. Between 2001 and 2010, J&J produced about 1,000 iBOTs, but insurance reimbursement limited their reach.

It is interesting to note that when Kamen introduced the two-wheeled Segway human transporter to the public in 2001, the self-balancing technology was unlike anything that had previously come to market. But what few people know is that the Segway was a happy accident, a product created after engineers testing the iBOT suggested a recreational version of the technology.

IN HIS WORK AS CEO OF MOBIUS MOBILITY, LUCAS MERROW ’81 IS HELPING TO BRING ACCESSIBLE TECHNOLOGY TO PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES.

“At the time, I ran the iBOT development team for Dean in a big lab in a mill building in Manchester,” Merrow recalls. “One of the engineers on the team came to me and said, ‘If we didn’t have a seat and just lowered the axle, we’d have a cool compact scooter.’”

After 17 years away from the iBOT, during which time he started his own digital health technology company — Eliza Corporation, Merrow returned at Kamen’s request to serve as CEO of Mobius Mobility, a new company established to relaunch the iBOT. A major objective at Mobius is to help change the outdated Medicare regulations from the 1960s that limit coverage. During that same period, Merrow served for a decade as a trustee at Berwick (he is also the parent of Sophia ’11, Jane ’13, and Martha ’17), where he helped establish a student laptop program and was instrumental in initiating both the Innovation Center and the Innovation Pursuit program.

Merrow explains that the Innovation Center is as much about exploring engineering as it is about taking students out of their comfort zone, offering support, and letting them challenge themselves in a safe space. “We wanted it to be not just for kids who would do these projects on their own organically,” he says, “but also have a space to encourage those who might not be as confident in their skills. It’s about making technology more approachable.”

Merrow shared his own experiences in engineering and technology with Berwick’s STEAM Pathways and Humanitarian Design class students when they visited the Manchester offices of Mobius last spring. There, each student was able to test the iBOT, climbing stairs and navigating challenging terrain. Merrow shared his current work and explained what it has taken over the last three decades to get the iBOT ready for its intended users. That has included trial and error — and failure, which Merrow is careful to note should not be expected, but rather accepted as part of the process.

“One of the main things I’m working on now is getting these Medicare regulations changed,” Merrow says, noting that the iBOT has earned FDA clearance. “J&J tried for many years to get a special reimbursement code from Medicare, but they couldn’t get it approved. To their credit, after a huge investment, they sold the rights back to us for $1 so we could keep trying. We’re trying to do what J&J was trying to do — get these outdated

policies modified to reflect the current state of technology. It’s absurd that the government thinks they can keep someone with a disability in their home because of outdated regulatory language.”

To keep up with advancing technology, the iBOT went through a complete redesign under Mobius in 2019, with Merrow as CEO. The first device in the new fleet was acquired by the Veterans Administration (with whom Mobius has a contract) and delivered to a retired F-18 pilot. The company is currently shipping between 10 and 20 units per month and doubling its sales year to year. Merrow also negotiated a deal with Service Credit Union to offer affordable loans to iBOT users. That partnership helps to achieve the Mobius missions of accessibility and inclusivity by making the technology available to more users.

The goal within the next three to five years, Merrow says, is to make the iBOT available to anyone with a disability who would benefit from the revolutionary technology. And while a higher percentage of users tend to be older, that means young people as well. Merrow was present at Berwick Academy in the spring when teenager Sadie MacCallum spoke to the community about how the iBOT has changed her life as a disabled person.

“When young people are developing socially, sometimes kids can be exclusive,” Merrow says. “Having a piece of technology can help them be included, to get around where they want to go. Sadie took her iBOT to her first high school dance. The iBOT moves with you, so she was able to dance with it.”

In addition to working on insurance reimbursement, Merrow and his team are busy finding ways to make iBOTs available around the world. The devices are currently being sold in Europe, including the UK, Netherlands, and Norway, with plans to expand to Canada, Mexico, and Australia. Merrow expects “world domination” of the iBOT within the next decade.

“For an engineer, working on a product like the iBOT is a dream come true,” Merrow says of his work. “To see the smile on the faces of those using the product you worked on, there is nothing like it. I know Berwick does a lot of work on inclusivity and diversity. For me, this is the engineer’s take on those issues. People with disabilities are left out of a lot of conversations, and I am just happy to include them in this one.

Moments in Time

In an interview for Head of School Jim Hamilton’s podcast, Head’s Eye View , photojournalists Patrick Patterson P’31, of Newington, New Hampshire, and Anastasiia Zazuliak of Wroclaw, Poland, discussed their important work photographing Ukrainian refugees at the country’s border with Poland.

Patterson was eager to share his experiences with the Hilltop community in an in-depth conversation. “I have an interest in how our world responds to refugees, and why we respond differently in certain situations,” Patterson explained. He shared a story of how an American might be eager to welcome a Ukrainian refugee into their home, but might turn away someone fleeing from Mexico. He continued, “I use my camera as a tool to start a conversation about why we have these responses.”

Though they gained their professional experience worlds apart, the two

photographers shared a common goal of creating awareness of the trauma suffered by ordinary citizens. “You meet one person who will steer you to another story,” Patterson said. “By helping someone, you’re allowed into this personal experience, you’re kind of living through them in that short time you’re spending with them.”

Patterson and Zazuliak initially connected with one another through social media and decided to collaborate, though they would soon discover that difficult scenes awaited them. “I didn’t want to acknowledge that it was hard for me to go there and [take photographs],” said Zazuliak, who is originally from Ternopil, Ukraine. “I had the privilege of being safe along with a feeling of guilt that people were very vulnerable.”

Their photography exhibit, “Dispatches From the Border,” was on display at the 3S Artspace in Portsmouth in May. The images, some of which were shared at an Upper School assembly on the day of their campus visit, showcase the real people most impacted by the war in Ukraine. “At the opening, there was a woman walking in front of the photographs and she was very emotional,” Patterson recalled. “She was reliving her experience crossing that border [a few weeks prior]. Her daughter

lives here, and she had made that same journey as the people in our photographs.”

It was an emotional experience for both Patterson and Zazuliak, but capturing the photographs and telling the stories of the refugees in those difficult moments was important.

“I realized that photography is my tool,” Zazuliak said, “and a way I could help.”

EYE VIEW

The Head’s Eye View podcast with Jim Hamilton invites Berwick community members to share conversations on topics relating to the Hilltop and beyond. If you have an interesting story to tell, please contact Director of Communications Jamie Reynolds at communications@ berwickacademy.org.

Episodes are available on Soundcloud or by scanning the QR code.

PHOTOGRAPHER AND BERWICK PARENT PATRICK PATTERSON TRAVELED TO THE UKRAINIAN BORDER TO DOCUMENT THE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS.

New Trustees

KEVIN BREEN

Kevin Breen is the Head of School at Worcester Academy where he is in his second year. Prior to Worcester Academy, Kevin was the Head of School at the Marshall School in Minnesota for eight years. He also worked as a teacher, coach, and administrator at University Liggett School in Michigan and at the Brooks School in Massachusetts. In his 32 years in independent schools, he has served on the advisory board for two community foundations and a charter school; he is a past President of the Minnesota Association of Independent Schools; and he has led several accreditation teams for Midwestern schools. Kevin’s wife Dana is also an educator, and they are the proud parents of two independent school graduates, Caitlin and Matthew.

years, served on the Board of New England Basset Hound Rescue, a non-profit dog rescue, and volunteered at a crisis center for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking before shifting her focus to raising her family. She can be found weekly on the Berwick campus, volunteering in the admission office and Jackson Library, and has served as a class representative for the class of 2030, as well as president, vice president, and Lower School co-coordinator of the Berwick Parent Community (BPC).

MARY ERVIN

The Chadbourne-Thompson Society recognizes donors who make planned estate gifts. Planned gifts are an essential part of Berwick’s long-term financial future and have helped shape the Berwick of today. For more information, contact Director of Leadership Giving and Philanthropy Stephanie Caswell at 207-384-6396 or scaswell@berwickacademy.org.

CHADBOURNE-THOMPSON SOCIETY MEMBERS

Ms. Deborah K. Blouin 1959

KENNETH LAFLER ’82

Ken Lafler is a musician and retired higher education administrator living in Cambridge, MA. After graduating from Williams College in 1986, he worked at Harvard Law School in a variety of positions from 1987 to 2019, becoming Director of Student Financial Services in 2004 and Assistant Dean in 2010. In that role, he was responsible for the annual distribution of over $30M in institutional financial aid, and $70M in federal and private aid. He has also been a professional musician and songwriter for over 35 years and has performed on more than a dozen albums by a variety of groups. He currently plays in bands based in Boston and New York. Besides music, he enjoys basketball, tennis, hiking, books and movies, and has served as a mentor in youth development and career development programs both at Harvard and in the Boston area.

Mary Ervin is a Vice President at iptiQ, a division of Swiss Re, focusing on strategy in the insure tech space. Prior to her current role, she has worked in social services, municipal finance, and college consulting. Mary graduated from Hamilton College before earning her MBA in finance from the University of Albany. She has served on the board of several non-profits and was a founding member of the Catamount Womenade, providing community grants to New Hampshire families in need. She is a BPC past-president and lives in Stratham, NH with her two sons, Jack ’23 and Liam ’24 who have attended Berwick since Lower School.

SETH KASSELS

Mr. James B. Cook USN 1963 and Mrs. Paula R. Cook

Mr. Bradley M. Damon 1963*

Ms. Marie A. Donahue 1937*

Ms. Aurora F. Dube 1925*

Mr. Preston N. Eames 1965

Dr. Dennis Fink 1944

Mrs. Nancy B. Fort,* former parent

Mr. Adolph L. Geyer 1931*

Mr. Russell H. Grant 1945* and Mrs. Martha A. Grant*

Mrs. Doris Dixon Griffith 1939*

Rev. Seth A. Lamont Hurd 1990

Mr. George E. Janetos,* former advisor Mrs. Alberta Morrill Johnson 1928* Kennett and Patricia Kendall, trustee, former parents

Mrs. Mary Jacobs Kennedy 1908*

Mr. Stuart Kerr, son of former headmaster Mrs. Natalee Ohayon Martin 2001 and Mr. Eric Martin

Mr. Lawrence A. Martineau, Jr. 1964 and Mrs. Karen L. Martineau

Mr. Perley D. Monroe 1948*

REBECCA THOMPSON

Rebecca Thompson is a current Berwick parent (Noah ’30) living in Stratham, NH. She earned her bachelor’s degree from LeMoyne College and J.D. from Albany Law School of Union University. Thompson practiced law for seven

Seth Kassels is the Executive Director of Camp Belknap, an all-boys nonprofit overnight summer camp in Tuftonboro, NH. Kassels co-leads the organization with his wife, Stephanie, and finds joy in continually strengthening Belknap’s nationally recognized leadership development program and providing an atmosphere where nearly 1,200 boys each summer gain the opportunity to unplug, be present, and ground themselves in nature. Prior to his role at Belknap, Kassels spent a decade working in the renewable energy field both in the U.S. and Latin America. He is excited to support Berwick with his various non-profit board experiences and focus on youth development and sustainability. Seth, Stephanie, their two boys Noah ’27 and Tobin ’29 and their dog Rio live in Tuftonboro, NH, where they enjoy the local natural landscape through a variety of activities.

Ms. Olive F. Purington Moulton 1922* Mr. Victor Perreault 1933* and Mrs. Helen Hasty Perreault*

Ms. Nancy E. Pindrus 1969

Ms. Wendy Pirsig, former trustee, parent Mrs. Mary Byrd Platt,* former grandparent

Mr. Robert E. Richard* and Ms. Carole Auger-Richard, former trustee, parents

Mr. & Mrs. Hap and Susan* Ridgway, former headmaster, parents

Mrs. A. May Flynn Smith 1931*

Mr. William R. Spaulding,* former parent, grandparent

Dr. Owen R. Stevens, DVM 1948* and Mrs. Margaret S. M. Stevens Mrs. Ella Estelle Geyer Stonebraker 1929*

Mr. Mark H. Tay, trustee emeritus, former parent

The Roger R. Thompson Endowment* Ms. Anne C. Willkomm 1983

* = deceased

Honoring Faculty and Staff

Peter Lassey

DOROTHY GREEN TEACHER OF THE YEAR

Named for Dorothy Green, the valedictorian of the class of 1925, and Berwick teacher for many years, this award recognizes a faculty member who has demonstrated an unyielding commitment to the profession of teaching. Faculty members are nominated and selected by the School administration.

In preparing to speak about this year’s Dorothy Green Teacher of the Year, Head of School Jim Hamilton pulled out the longtime history teacher’s employment file. A 2007 letter of recommendation written by the academic dean at Brewster Academy pointed to Lassey’s student-centered thinking and the respect his students had for him. Lassey always has been an inspiration in the classroom, and that has extended to his time at Berwick. As a dean of students, Lassey tackled disciplinary issues with a fair and measured approach. He also has brought that sense of fairness to his work as a coach for soccer and lacrosse. More recently, as a department chair, Lassey has inspired both the History Department and the Curriculum Council to think beyond what traditional classrooms should look and sound like. He also serves as Berwick’s Upper School “schedule czar” — an unsung but extremely important job.

Lucy Pollard

JIMMY DEAN AWARD

The Jimmy Dean Award is named in honor of the former long-term faculty member. It recognizes a faculty or staff member who lives their commitment to the School each and every day.

F or the past nine years, Lucy Pollard has lived her commitment to Berwick every day; she doesn’t just teach, she inspires. With a rare combination of enthusiasm, good humor, and a sense of purpose, she inspires students to become better writers, thinkers, and advocates. Among her many contributions, Pollard established the Lesley University equitable classroom course at Berwick in 2013 and is one of the founding faculty members for Berwick’s SEED program. She also served as co-advisor to the Alliance and is one of the founding advisors of the Diversity Club. Pollard has been the Upper School JEDI coordinator since 2016. Though she will leave Berwick to serve as the dean of teaching and learning at the Madeira School near Washington, D.C., Pollard’s impact is a lasting one.

“From my very first meeting with her in the summer of 2018, it was clear to me that Lucy was destined for leadership,” Head of School Jim Hamilton said. “Since then, we have had so many great conversations, and I have always appreciated how thoughtfully she approached her career.”

Jason Murray & Mary Condon

RUTH RIOUX AWARD

The Ruth Rioux Award was established to recognize the extraordinary dedication of individual Berwick faculty and staff members who have selflessly given their heart and soul to Berwick Academy, as Ruth has done for so many years. The award winner(s) are voted on by Berwick employees.

Jason Murray and Mary Condon are this year’s recipients of the Ruth Rioux Award. Murray, the director of facilities management, has done an amazing job over the past few years helping the community remain safely on campus. From plexiglass to PPE, to managing tent placement and removal, he is the ultimate partner in planning. Condon, the Upper School academic support coordinator, is another true professional who works tirelessly in support of Berwick students. Her idea for the Cogswell Center, the primary space for academic support on the third floor of Fogg, has benefited the entire community. One advisee described her as, “very open, smart, and calming. An empathetic problem-solver.”

NEACAC Professional of the Year

B erwick Associate Director of College Counseling Lynne O’Shaughnessy was named New England Association of College Admission Counseling (NEACAC) Professional of the Year for the state of Maine. NEACAC identifies individuals from all six New England states whose contributions to the field of college admission and counseling deserve such recognition. The awards honor NEACAC members across the profession, including those affiliated with colleges and universities, high schools, indepen dent counselors, and community-based organizations. Award recipients are strong and ethical advocates for students and/or their institutions and have a proven record of accomplishment throughout their careers. They demonstrate honesty, patience, thoroughness, and sensitivity in their work with students, parents, and colleagues. Along with her responsibilities in College Counseling, O’Shaughnessy has taught Upper School English for nine years.

GRANTS/PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

A number of Berwick faculty members were awarded grants this summer to engage in curricular work that supports the mission of the School and advances key strategic initiatives, including wellness, sustainability, JEDI, and divisional transitions. As part of the systems work outlined in the Courage to Climb Strategic Plan, grants were awarded to:

• Noah Berman (for creating a Hands-On Music class)

• Darcy Coffta (for analyzing the Upper School library nonfiction section related to history taught in the Grade 9 World Civilization class)

• Eloise Willemsen (for building a robust sustainability curriculum in grades 3, 4, and 6 classes and for incorporating more JEDI into sixth grade science)

• Sarah Feldman, Kelsey Guziak, and Naomi Ellsworth (for studying a universal format for Lower School classroom behavior management)

• Ginny Vatcher and Jim Maldonis (for their Integrated Biology & Chemistry curriculum work)

• Krysta Ibsen (for incorporating drone technology into Middle School science)

• Kelly Martin and Meghan Kenter (for identity and JEDI work in Grades 2 and 3)

• Mary Condon (for developing workshops for faculty to better understand how learning differences and mental health challenges impact student performance)

• Sarah Jeanne Shimer (for creating a Farm to Fork elective curriculum and developing a plan for the new sustainability garden)

• Cassie Warnick and Nicole Derr (for their work on the Grade 6 humanities curriculum)

Science Centered: From Space Satellites to Botany

By Jana F. Brown

TOM KENT ’72 KEEPS HIMSELF BUSY CREATING SOFTWARE FOR SATELLITES, CATALOGING PLANTS, AND HELPING PLAN HIS 50TH BERWICK REUNION THIS FALL.

I n the years since he left Berwick Academy, Tom Kent ’72 has made contributions to space, while also focusing on life on Earth.

During a career spent mostly developing scientific software applications, Kent has worked on a variety of large-scale projects in areas ranging from machine vision to aviation navigation systems. In 2006, Kent began collaborating on an X-ray telescope for a mission called Hinode (“sunrise” in Japanese), a satellite that allows near-continuous observation of the sun. The project, a joint venture between the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the satellite as part of a mission to explore the magnetic fields of the sun.

“It was designed to have a three-year mission lifetime,” says Kent, who is currently developing a spectrographic analysis software package for the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, “but 16 years later it’s still producing good science and I’m still making modifications to the software.”

For the Harvard project, Kent is developing ATSAL, software that lets astrophysicists perform spectral analysis — a method of determining measurements like temperature, density, magnetic field, and speed of an element in space — much more productively, allowing them to keep pace with the flood of observations from astronomical telescopes.

As a boarding student at Berwick out of Falmouth, Maine, Kent says he was free to explore his budding interest in science. He particularly enjoyed physics with Bob Hamilton and chemistry with Philip Carlisle, and recalled one independent study project when a putrid-smelling gas accidentally seeped out of the basement chemistry lab into a third-floor study hall. During his time on the Hilltop, Kent says he may have been “among the few who were

breaking into Fogg Memorial” to get additional time on a computer terminal the School rented from the University of New Hampshire.

“[At Berwick], I was able to do the things that interested me,” Kent recalls, “and what I mean by that is nobody was worried that I really should be working on something else.”

Kent’s interest in science and technology continued in college, where he majored in computer science at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He worked at Digital Corp. before starting his own company, Accessible Software, around the time Apple released the revolutionary Macintosh computer.

When he’s not helping earthlings gather data from outer space, Kent enjoys exploring plant life as an amateur botanist. It’s a hobby he picked up when he started taking long daily walks aimed at improving his health and began to notice the variety of flowers and greenery along his path. He has continued his pursuit on frequent hikes with his wife, Susan.

On his website (florafinder.org), Kent has so far photographed and cataloged more than 2,700 plant species, searchable by categories of plants (mosses, lichens, trees and shrubs, etc.), colors, and climates in which different species grow. While most are local to New England, Kent has ventured to the Florida Everglades, the Southwest, and the Pacific Northwest to explore other plant biomes. While Indian cucumber-root is one of his favorites, one of the earliest plants Kent discovered turned out to be a rare Hartford fern, a species once reported by Henry David Thoreau.

“Other people had been trying for a century to locate it again,” Kent explains. “Coincidentally, it’s one of the very first plants I came across when I started getting interested in this, so that was very special for me.”

Kent will continue his work both in software (the ATSAL project may have a 15- to 30-year lifespan) and on cataloging as many plants as possible on FloraFinder. In the meantime, he is building a specialized camera for botanical photography and helping to plan his 50th Berwick reunion this September.

“I’m looking forward to seeing everybody,” Kent says. “There’s a close group of friends and we try to get together every year. When you make friendships at boarding school, they stick with you.”

Social Impact

By Jana F. Brown

Some may not see the connection between social justice and sustainability, but the two are inextricably linked and Tatiana Bradley ’15 has made it the focus of her career.

“A lot of the impacts we’re seeing on the environment — pollution, flooding, and disaster scenarios,” Bradley says, “are happening because of climate change. And they more often directly impact minority communities. That just fuels social inequities.”

As an associate in corporate sustainability at Environmental Resources Management (ERM) in Manhattan, Bradley helps Fortune 500 and privately held companies create strategies for making positive social or environmental change. She is a member of a team at ERM that consults with these industry giants to integrate sustainability and DEI into their corporate practices and employee cultures.

“Companies want to show their investors and stakeholders that they’re doing positive things,” Bradley explains.

“It’s great to see that companies are really starting to care about things like climate change and social inequities. Being able to help them do that is really gratifying and something I’m passionate about.”

Though she majored in sociology (with minors in communications and art) at Hamilton College, Bradley’s interest in the environment pre-dates her schooling. Her family runs Old Stone Farm, a small organic farm in West Newbury, Massachusetts, where they grow a wide variety of vegetables and berries. The farm connects with local residents through a communitysupported agriculture program that offers fresh produce to participating customers weekly via a farm share program.

“Growing up around that and also just the relationship with food and the environment, I was interested in learning more about it,” says Bradley, who earned a graduate certificate in environmental studies from Tufts University in 2021.

Taking classes at Tufts was the most recent stop in Bradley’s educational journey. She enrolled at Berwick as a seventh grader and was a three-sport athlete on the Hilltop, playing field hockey, ice hockey, and lacrosse. Bradley also thrived in the fine arts, and enjoyed the opportunity to take classes in metal and ceramics while at Berwick. She looks back with fond memories of those art courses and on learning algebra from Charlene Hoyt and making interdisciplinary connections in a humanities class co-taught by history teacher Brad Fletcher and English teacher Ted Sherbahn.

“I was definitely well prepared going into Hamilton,” says Bradley, who earned her B.A. in 2019. “I was very comfortable with the community and the academics. I think there were a lot of other students who had a bit more of a difficult transition to college, but when I got to Hamilton, I knew how to write a paper, I knew how to study for a test.”

Bradley also found that she had already read some of the same books at Berwick that were assigned at Hamilton, and was grateful for the foundation she received from her Upper School instructors. She also felt well prepared for the transition from interscholastic to collegiate sports as a member of Hamilton’s field hockey and lacrosse teams. Though she didn’t study sustainability in college, Bradley’s interdisciplinary approach and critical thinking skills allowed her to make connections between what she was learning in sociology and the social responsibility required for humans to care for the environment.

“It was thinking about how people operate, why people make certain decisions,” she says of her major. “[In my work now], just being a young person and caring about the future generation, knowing that these companies are the organizations that have the biggest impact on the planet and being able to guide them in this process is really exciting.”

THROUGH HER WORK IN CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY, TATIANA BRADLEY ’15 IS MAKING A DIFFERENCE.

Team Building

By Jana F. Brown

Many jobs come with perks — travel, the chance to meet new people and accept new challenges. Jed Mettee ’94 has done all of that, and his occupation comes with an additional benefit: the opportunity to watch his favorite sport live each week alongside thousands of devoted fans.

“People say, ‘You’re working on Saturday?’” says Mettee, who serves as chief operating officer for Major League Soccer’s (MLS) San Jose Earthquakes. “But to me, Saturday is the reward for working. You get to go to the stadium, see the fans, watch the team play, and hopefully they win.”

WORKING IN THE FRONT OFFICE FOR A MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER TEAM IS A DREAM JOB FOR JED METTEE ’94.

A lifelong soccer player and fan himself, Mettee is enjoying an extended tour of duty with the MLS club. From 2001 to 2006, he served as the director of communications for the “Quakes.” After two years as the director of athletic media relations at Santa Clara University, he rejoined San Jose in March 2008 as senior director of marketing and communications. Before recently becoming COO, Mettee was the Quakes’ executive VP for marketing and communications. In his current role, he oversees everything from community outreach to broadcasting to social media in addition to managing operations at PayPal Park, the team’s home stadium.

“There’s always a lot of activity,” Mettee says. “It could be anything from creating a content plan around a player, coordinating interviews, or booking outside events. We had a rugby event last week, and next week we are hosting a Culture Night Market in partnership with PayPal.”

Mettee credits his Berwick experience for teaching him to multitask and develop close relationships with peers and mentors. He came to the School from Dover, New Hampshire (following brother Zach ’91), and says history teachers Jim Sullivan and Brad Fletcher “opened my mind to a new way of looking at the world.” Mettee went on to study history and play soccer at Bowdoin College. He then spent a year in Spain, where he coached soccer while learning Spanish to facilitate his communication skills with many in the sport. He returned to Berwick briefly in 1999 as an assistant soccer coach, and an internship with Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution followed. That led to Mettee’s first stint with the Quakes — at the time, both teams were owned by the Kraft family, which also owns the New England Patriots.

Proud of the role he has played in helping to build the franchise, Mettee is also pleased with the growth of MLS over the last two decades. When he first started, the Quakes were one of 10 original teams; in 2023, with the addition of the St. Louis City, the league will boast 29 franchises.

“It’s been amazing to see the growth of MLS from when I went to the first-ever Revolution game in 1996,” Mettee says.

While he admits soccer — the most popular sport in much of the world — still has a lot of competition for fans in America, Mettee shares that MLS average attendance now ranks behind only the NFL and MLB among major U.S. sports leagues. The Quakes fill their 18,000-seat stadium on most game days, and have a turbo-boost in attendance to 50,000 for their annual rivalry game against the LA Galaxy at Stanford Stadium.

The league’s reach is starting to go global, too, with players hailing from the U.S. to South America to the Caribbean and elsewhere (one of Mettee’s earlier jobs involved helping

foreign players acclimate to San Jose, find housing, and enroll their children in local schools). In 2018, Mettee negotiated a broadcast contract with Telemundo to show three Quakes games on the Spanish-language station. More recently, the MLS signed a deal with AppleTV to broadcast all league matches in 2023.

Another way Mettee and others in MLS are helping the league grow is through community outreach and philanthropy. The Quakes host youth soccer clinics and also spearhead an initiative — Get Earthquakes Fit — to promote health and fitness for underserved youth. And, the team is a co-sponsor of Pledge 74, which partners with local organizations to reduce food insecurity in the San Jose area.

While he has done a great deal in his tenure, Mettee is particularly proud of those service initiatives and of helping the franchise shatter a Guinness World Record in 2012 by recruiting 6,226 volunteers armed with shovels to break the record for the biggest-ever groundbreaking ceremony (for PayPal Park). He also led a major logo and branding overhaul in 2014.

“Our goal here is to create authentic connections with people through the way we do our work,” he says. “That’s related to my Berwick experience, where I learned that having those one-on-one conversations between teachers and students was so important.”

High Voltage Career

By Jana F. Brown

ast summer, when Astra Space announced the successful ignition of its electric propulsion thruster on board the Spaceflight Sherpa-LTE1 orbital transfer vehicle (OTV), the milestone came with a Berwick Academy connection.

That’s because Alex Zannos ’11 is an electrical engineer at Astra who worked with a 15-person team to make the soda-can-sized thruster operational. The thruster itself is a small engine that uses electric propulsion to transport a satellite in space. An added note is that the Sherpa-LTE1 with the Astra thruster is the first fully functional electric propulsion OTV.

“The Spaceflight LTE mission was our first thruster in space,” says Zannos, who has been with Astra for almost three years. “It went into orbit last year and it has been working up in space ever

since. I worked on the electronics that control the thruster system.”

The thruster system, Zannos explains, is the element that creates the propulsion for the satellite, and the propulsion then creates the thrust required for the satellite to move. The system is composed of three main parts — the thruster, which is the actual engine; the electronics that run the thruster; and the feed system, which controls the fuel. All three must work in tandem for the system to operate properly.

“How electric propulsion works is you apply different high voltages at different points and then you flow the propellant, which is the gas, and using both the particles and the high voltage, a plasma forms between the high voltage nodes. What I work on is the part that creates the high voltage and is also the brain of the system.”

In addition to breaking new ground in space, Zannos is helping to break the glass ceiling for women in STEM fields. She is one of only four women — and the only female engineer — on the 15-person thruster system team at Astra.

L“The field is pretty dominated by men, which is unfortunate,” Zannos says. “It’s definitely palpable. But I came into this field because I really like solving interesting problems, and it’s fun to be able to do that every day.”

Zannos’ extensive knowledge comes by way of her education at Berwick and Stanford. She arrived on the Hilltop as a ninth grader and took on the demanding curriculum, particularly enjoying high-level calculus and physics classes.

“The academics at Berwick were super rigorous,” she says. “It felt like every teacher cared about what they taught — and cared about every student.”

Zannos went on to major in physics at Stanford, where she also minored in computer science, before earning her master’s in electrical engineering from the University. She was attracted

AS AN ELECTRICAL ENGINEER, ALEX ZANNOS ’11 IS BREAKING GROUND FOR WOMEN AND ALSO HELPING TO PROPEL SATELLITES INTO OUTER SPACE.

to the field because of the opportunities it presented to work on projects with tangible, hands-on results and a fairly rapid timetable. In graduate school, Zannos completed an internship in power electronics at Tesla, where she first had a chance to apply her education to finding real-world solutions. She got another opportunity while preparing the electronics system for Spaceflight. After a detailed research and development phase, the Astra thruster was in space six months later.

“It was a little intense,” Zannos says, “but really exciting to see.” The next step for Zannos and her Astra team is building and delivering thrusters for additional satellites.

IN MEMORIAM

William I. West ’57 May 28, 2022

Dr. James C. Frangos ’67 July 17, 2022

John ‘Jack’ T. Fogarty, USA, Retired ’53 February 20, 2022

K. Stedman ’54 May 16, 2022

JOHN ‘JACK’ T. FOGARTY ’53

Major John “Jack” T. Fogarty, USA, Retired, 86, of South Berwick, Maine, died peacefully at his home surrounded by family on February 20, 2022.

Jack was a lifelong learner and member of Berwick Academy’s Class of 1953. He went on to earn his BA from the College of the Holy Cross (1957) as well as a master’s from Boston University (1977). His 20-year military career in the U.S. Army included a tour of duty in Vietnam and brought him to many corners of the world. Upon returning to South Berwick after his Army retirement, Jack continued on to many other careers, including real estate, tax assessing/code enforcement for the town of South Berwick, contract supervisor for the National Passport Center, and as an H&R Block tax preparer.

Jack was a member of VFW Post 5744, Knights of Columbus Council #140, and a communicant of St. Mary Parish in Rollinsford, New Hampshire.

Jack was an active member of the Berwick alumni community, serving on the Alumni Council, participating as a panelist for the Innovation Celebration several times, and attending numerous events on campus throughout the years, most notably the Veterans Day celebration each November, where Jack proudly shared stories of his time serving in the military.

Jack is survived by his loving wife, Heidi; daughter, Sharon ‘82, a member of Berwick’s Alumni Advisory Board; son Brian, daughter-in-law Debbie, and grandson Andrew; as well as brothers and sisters-inlaw, nieces, nephews, and cousins.