Community

Teaching Sustainability Through Art

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

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.

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

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

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.”

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.

“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.”

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

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

Ryan 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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

“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

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

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.”

HEAD’S EYE VIEW PODCAST

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.

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.

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.

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 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

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

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.

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 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* 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.

For 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

Berwick 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, independent 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

Anumber 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)