Community and Collaboration

Peter (NCS 86) and Isaac (NCS 16) Newcomb

PETER NEWCOMB LEARNED a lot during his first year at NCS, but the most surprising thing, for him, was discovering a love of nature. Peter spent a good portion of his childhood in Tallahassee, Florida, being homeschooled and staying indoors. A self-professed computer geek, he was prone to heat exhaustion, and team sports—popular entertainment in the region— didn’t click with him. His parents were looking for a summer camp when they saw Camp Treetops in a magazine, and through that they discovered North Country School and the region’s dramatic mountains, cool evenings, and four distinct seasons. All it took was one visit and Peter and his sister, Victoria Newcomb Podmajersky (NCS 84–87), were hooked. They begged their parents to send them.

“NCS opened up a whole new world for me, it introduced me to hiking and the Adirondacks,” Peter said. “It was a revelation that I could spend time outside and be happy.”

The nonathletic boy from Tallahassee quickly fell in love with hiking and skiing. He also learned about community, about the noncompetitive nature of collaboration, and about the importance of fostering creativity. It made perfect sense that Peter and his wife, Chris, would one day settle down in Lake Placid and send their son, Isaac, to the same school that shaped Peter.

The Newcomb family was living in San Francisco when Isaac first attended North Country School. Like his father, Isaac fell in love with the Adirondacks’ natural beauty—and the hiking and skiing that goes along with it. Isaac was also able to sharpen his building skills, and he fondly remembers making kinetic sculptures with Larry. He even returned after graduation to help make the frog sculpture near Rock-E House & Basecamp.

“I’ve always been a builder,” Isaac said. “Prior to going to NCS I was homeschooled, which basically meant playing with Legos all the time.”

Isaac attended nearby Northwood School after graduating from NCS, and he just finished his freshman year at Cornell University. He isn’t making sculptures anymore, but the love of building has persevered—Isaac has yet to declare a major, but he is following the mechanical engineering track at Cornell.

As was the case for many students, the COVID-19 pandemic hit around the time of Isaac’s spring break. After Isaac was approached by the Innovation Hub at Northwood School, Isaac and his father collaborated on a project to make 3D face masks for local healthcare providers. Isaac did the design and got production going, and when school started back up Peter kept production going and made repairs to the printer as needed.

“Part of the North Country School experience is really about respect. Respect for the members of the community, respect for who people really are, and I think that’s particularly apropos now,” Peter said. “In a way, COVID has been a leveler. Around the world, people are in the same boat. It’s a unifying force and we all need to have respect for one another, our first responders, caregivers, and so on.”