Letter of Student Concerns

from Hebron Review Fall 2022

Never Let Me Go and Its Relation to Our Society

By Beatrice Money ’23 in collaboration with others

When the students found out we might not be going to Sunday River for the 2022-2023 ski season, we were devastated. However, we did not let this initial sadness get to us, and wanted to do everything in our power to change the minds of the administrators that made this decision. We wanted them to see our perspective on the issue. We did this through a letter. The letter states our distress, the reasons we should go to Sunday River, and a solution that would work for everyone. After reading the letter and taking our ideas into account, the administration decided that we would go to Sunday River. We could not be more pleased with our hard work, as it truly shows the power that students’ voices can have. Below is that letter. - Bea Money

To Whom it May Concern,

Hebron has always been a community that values student voices and perspectives. We relish the relationships with teachers and administrators at this school. Together we have overcome all sorts of obstacles and challenges by working together. In addition Hebron education empowers students to use their voice to implement positive change. We are grateful for the independence and problem solving skills we have learned here and to that end we would like to unite our voices to try to invoke change. Finally we have grown to love this part of Maine. Hebron has taught us to value the outdoors and the competitive atmospheres we surround ourselves with.

Skiing has always been a critical part of the Hebron Academy experience. It is a winter sport that around a hundred students enjoy every year. Of that group of kids, several competitively ski and snowboard for Hebron. In past years we have seen kids ski at both the regional and national level. We believe that the administration and faculty at Hebron should be supporting these athletes to the best of their abilities, which we don’t think would occur if we skied at Pleasant Mountain. We understand the argument that it will be challenging to adjust the schedule and provide transportation to and from the mountain; however, the benefits of skiing at Sunday River vastly outweigh the negatives.

To begin, Sunday River and Pleasant Mountain are incomparable in terms of size. Pleasant Mountain has just one peak, six lifts, and a mere forty-four trails. Sunday River, on the other hand, has eight peaks, eighteen lifts, and 135 trails. In this way the mountains are incredibly different, and Sunday River would offer more terrain for both advanced skiers and beginners. For example, Pleasant Mountain only has four double-black diamonds (the most advanced trail), while Sunday River has twenty-three. Advanced skiers and snowboarders need this type of terrain in order to improve, and Pleasant Mountain will not provide this. Pleasant Mountain has three terrain parks, Sunday River has seven. Snowboarders and skiers who enjoy parks will not be fulfilled by Pleasant Mountain, especially if they are working towards bigger features. Sunday River even has an Olympic-sized park, which would allow snowboarders to improve and learn how to ride larger features. Sunday River also has a boardercross feature. Boardercross is a pump-track style feature primarily used for snowboarding, but also skiing. One of our representatives planned to compete in this event this coming season, due to past successes.

35 Taking into account the shift to Pleasant Mountain, students hoping to compete in these events may be forced to pay for lift tickets to a completely separate mountain, which could be a huge obstacle.

We understand that making the switch to Sunday River from Pleasant Mountain is very last minute, but as students we will do anything possible to make it happen. Scheduling is one issue that has to be addressed. The current schedule would only allow us forty-five minutes at Sunday River, which is obviously not enough time. However, based on schedules from previous years, we have several ideas as to how daily and weekly schedules would work, while still making it to the mountain on time. For example, on a Wednesday and Friday, we could start classes at eight. That would allow us to fit five fifty minute classes into the day, and still end our academic day by 12:30. With this schedule we would have plenty of time to eat and get on the bus, allowing us to arrive at Sunday River by 2-2:30. The day would run like so:

A Block: 8-8:50

B Block: 8:55-9:45

C Block: 9:50-10:30

D Block: 10:35-11:25

E Block: 11:30-12:20

Depart for Sunday River: 1:00

It is clear that the day would be busy, but definitely not overwhelming as many students have freeblock to compensate. Learning how to work through a vigorous schedule will be an important lesson for students before college and careers after college. Another point being brought up by administrators is that this schedule would not benefit non-skiing students. But in actuality, it absolutely would. Many athletes on the Varsity Hockey and Basketball teams have games that are very far away. For example, several teams play Northfield Mount Hermon, which is over three hours away. With the day ending sooner on Wednesdays and Fridays, it would allow these students to miss fewer classes and be more academically successful.

Another reason we should go to Sunday River is the unhappiness surrounding the decision. After sending out a petition to the whole school, we found out that ninety students wanted to go to Sunday River rather than Pleasant Mountain, which is a vast majority of the students planning to participate in the Hebron ski program. This statistic shows where the student body wants to ski, and their disappointment at the change.

36 After morning meeting last week, the idea of traveling to Sunday River and other, larger ski mountains was presented. While we understand and appreciate that compromise, we also believe that that suggestion is not feasible in the long run. While purchasing a season pass to Sunday River pays off in the long run, especially because of the amount of time we have spent on the mountain in past years, lift tickets on their own are incredibly expensive. For many people, buying a single ticket is not worth it, and is not necessarily financially feasible. After looking into it, we found that the prices for a season pass at Pleasant Mountain, with Hebron’s deal, are not significantly cheaper than the price would be for a pass at Sunday River. Therefore, paying extra for weekend tickets, when we could be skiing at Sunday River every week for a similar price, not only does not make sense, but is a serious additional cost for students hoping to improve their skills.

As a student body we are not asking for immediate change, as we know it does not work that easily. However, we would like to have a reconsideration meeting, as many students have not had a proper voice in the decision process, especially considering the decision is going to severely impact our season. We would like this meeting to have two or three students and Ms. Stokes present. She is our current Alpine Race Coach and has been a part of the greater snow-sport industry for thirty years, she would provide unbiased and relevant information to our conversation.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely, The Student Body