NMH Summer Family Newsletter | July 19, 2024
Greetings from NMH Summer!
Our five-week students reached their halfway mark on Wednesday and many have been engaged in a range of mid-term projects, presentations and assessments this week. This weekend we host a “So Long, Farewell” party to bid adieu to our 3-week students Thank you so much for engaging with
our successful NMH Summer 2024. We will miss you and hope to see you and your friends next summer! This weekend also is “Welcome Aboard” to our 2-week students and faculty members We have saved up plenty of exciting learning and activities both inside and outside of the NMH Summer classroom for the next two weeks!
What busy weeks! Many of our high school students explored New York City last Sunday and our middle school students will experience an old-time baseball game together at the NECBL Swamp Bats Game in Keene this weekend. The NMH Summer dance class surprised us with belly dancing performance at the MidSummer Dance, and NMH Summer “Spirit Week” began with a lively all-campus meeting featuring a choreographed dance by the girls from Hayden Hall as well as the annual Summer Color Run The farm class, while learning about food systems, farming and sustainability, harvested local blueberries for NMH Summer muffins and made homemade tabbouleh for their classmates with locally picked farm ingredients One of our ELI classes visited a local diner to practice English skills for ordering food in a real world setting And there has been so much more!
Earlier this week, NMH’s Director of Admission Naomi Levine invited interested NMH Summer students to an expert seminar on applying to NMH and to independent schools in general Should you have questions, please reach out to Naomi at nlevine@nmhschool org or admissions@nmhschool org
Below we shout out to NMH Dining – great colleagues and collaborators with all of us at NMH Summer Alumni Hall highlights so far have included hearty breakfasts and Sunday brunches, the 30 foot-long salad bar at lunch, “Sundaes on Sunday”, and of course the NMH Summer soft-serve machine (the homemade coffee soft-serve this week was superb!) Evening Pop-Up Cafe events continued with Walking Tacos this past Thursday, Fenway Franks on Fridays, NMH Summer’s World Famous Doughnuts on Saturday and Bubble Tea Night this coming week.
Athletics – soccer and home matches vs Cushing
We have been connecting the shady spots this week given the heat. All NMH Summer students are reminded regularly to hydrate throughout each day With the high heat index numbers, we temporarily shifted evening study hall hours to our campus buildings with air conditioning and we opened the campus indoor pool for refreshing, post-study hall swimming.
Please follow us on social media!
Charlie Tierney, NMH Summer Director for the NMH Summer Team #NMHSummer, #NMHSummer24
NMH Summer Scorecard
NMH Summer’s popular Student vs.Faculty Soccer Match-Up continued this week on Thursday evening with our 9-12 grade students notching a 5-2 win over their older opponents The Faculty enjoyed a more respectable match against the NMH Summer 7-8 grade squad this week with a 5-0 victory.. Two more contests to go this summer!
This Tuesday, NMH Summer hosted Cushing’s summer teams for a friendly set of afternoon competitions on our home campus Two NMH squads were victorious and the rest of NMH Summer teams are fired up for a rematch! NMH Summer has another opportunity to face Cushing athletes on their campus next Tuesday.
Huzzah for NMH Dining Services!
A big THANK YOU to our friends in NMH Dining Services (several pictured below) who source, prepare and serve such excellent meals each day for NMH Summer. From the in-house baked goods and the daily sliced fresh fruit, to the salad/deli/cereal bars and the hot entries catering to many tastes and dietary restrictions, NMH Dining colleagues contribute to NMH Summer student success and happiness in so many ways Thank you, friends!
NMH Summer Activity Programming and Excursions
Check out NMH Summer’s on-campus and off-campus excursions and activities from this past week AND for the week ahead Additional on-campus activities include open gym, swimming, pickleball, sand volleyball, outdoor basketball, hiking, and more. This coming week’s list will be shared with your students on Sunday Please encourage them to sign up for this coming week’s programming by the Monday afternoon at 1:00 pm deadline. Some excursions and activities require parental waivers and additional fees
NMH Summer Spirit Week Themes
Monday - Dress in One Color Day
Tuesday - Twin Day
Wednesday - NMH Gear Day
Thursday - Inside Out Day
Friday - Hat and Sunglasses Day
MIDSUMMER DANCE
WHITEWATER RAFTING
NMH Summer Activities Enjoyed July 15 - July 21
Monday, July 15
Wednesday, July 17
Campus-Wide: Color Walk/Jog/Run
On-Campus Community Game: Basketball/Volleyball
Escape Room
Yankee Candle
Montague Bookmill
Despicable Me 4 at Greenfield Garden Cinemas
On-Campus: Tie Dye and Ice Cream
Campus-Wide: NMH Summer Photo
Whitewater Rafting
Saturday, July 20
College Visit: University Massachusetts Amherst
Archery
Roller Skating
Local Blueberry Picking
College Prep and Y.O.U. Programming
NMH Summer World Famous Doughnuts
On-campus: Movie and Popcorn
Kobe Hibachi, Greenfield
Ingleside Mall
Laser Tag
Local Town Tour: Shelburne Falls
Go Karting
Sunday, July 21
On-Campus: Morning Cartoons
On-Campus: Ultimate Frisbee
Lee (MA) Outlets
Circus Smirkus
Vernon Pool
Creamie / Cornerstore Run
NMH Summer Activities Planned for July 22 - July 28
Monday, July 22
Wednesday, July 24
Friday, July 25
Saturday, July 27
On-Campus Community Game: Ultimate Frisbee
On-Campus: Cookie Decorating and Spikeball
Whitewater Rafting
College Visit: Smith College
Ingleside Mall
Greenfield Movie: Twisters
Mini-Golf
Middle School: Keene Swamp Bats Baseball GAME
“So Long, Farewell” Party FOR 3-Week Students
College Prep and Y O U Programming
NMH Summer World Famous Doughnuts
On-Campus: Movie and Popcorn
Sunday, July 28
Local Town Tour: Brattleboro
Paintball
FunZ Trampoline Park
Ice Skating
On-Campus: Mentalist and Talent Show
On-Campus: Morning Cartoons
Trip to Boston
Laurel Lake
Creamie / Cornerstore Run
NMH Summer Faculty Spotlights
yal member of the NMH Class of 1977. He has omics at NMH Summer for a number of years and ht at independent schools in the U S and in East earned his degrees at Syracuse University, New Hampshire and Harvard University. A thor, David’s books Off Nevers (2017) and Minot’s ) are good reads set at New England boarding id sails whenever he can and in the past he was an d coxswain for several rowing programs.
worth
soned history teacher from Stony Brook School in Long Island, New York This is his first year at NMH He is teaching the U.S. History credit course, living in Crossley Hall and displaying his lightning wheels on the soccer pitch every Thursday evening for the Faculty Team Lars earned a history and philosophy degree from Houghton College in New York and his M.A. in Humanities and Classical Education from Eastern University in Philadelphia. Lars and his wife Catherine and their children Thomas, Ellertsen, and Emily thoroughly enjoy their visits to Alumni Hall
om Hogenkamp
om started teaching at NMH Summer in 2017. Over the years, e has taught Medieval History, Heroes and Villains, and now nglish Language Immersion, in addition to coaching asketball and teaching Public Speaking During the school ar, he teaches 7th grade English and History at New Canaan ountry School in Connecticut, and he coaches flag football and asketball. He earned a B.A. in English Literature and Russian anguage at Wake Forest University, before going on to earn s M A in the Teaching of English at Columbia University’s Teachers College Outside the classroom, he loves trivia, reading, watching sports, and building his extensive movie collection.
Allie Itzi
Allie is an NMH Summer veteran teaching here since 2017. She has taught Creative Writing and, as of last year, joined the ELI team and loves it! During the school year, Allie teaches writing courses at UMass Amherst Allie studied American and British Literature as an undergrad in New Mexico and earned an MA in English and an MA of Fine Arts Writing Creative Fiction She admits to a raging video game addiction and she loves reading anything – fantasy, mystery and horror. Allie also is obsessed with her dog Charlie who is a handsome and proud Corgi
Mark Koyama
Mark, an ordained minister, has taught as an adjunct in the Religious Studies and English Departments at NMH since 2016 He is teaching Creative Writing for NMH Summer. He attended Bates College and also earned degrees from UMass, Union Theological Seminary and Yale Divinity School When asked to introduce himself, Mark wrote this poem Spring Peepers Red peppers Lily, lily, Rose.
Act justly. Raised beds. Early winter snows
Love mercy. Saltwater. Number 7 train. Walk humbly.
Chopin nocturnes
“Don’t forget your cane ” Kettle song. Mandolin. A child’s goodnight kiss -gestures telling of a life, my prayer: only this
Nina Krasnoff
Nina is back for her third year teaching math at NMH Summer and this summer she is teaching Precalculus She loves exploring outdoors, especially in the Pioneer Valley, and regularly hikes and swims at regional state parks. Nina graduated from nearby Amherst College with a double major in Mathematics and Philosophy while she captained the Amherst women ’ s crew team. Last year Nina taught math and coached cross country, swimming and rowing at Groton School. This fall she moves north to St Paul’s School in New Hampshire as a math teacher, coach and UPenn Fellow
Atta Kurzmann
Atta is excited to teach Psychology again this summer. This is her 12th year teaching at NMH Summer Having retired from NMH after 23 years teaching Psychology, Ethics, Eastern Religions, Ceramics, Yoga and Community Service, Atta has been teaching at Greenfield Community College and as an adjunct at NMH. Atta also has co-led multiple service learning programs to India She and Jim Volinger have multiple children, including several NMH alumni
Lauren Menjivar
Lauren hails from New Jersey and has served as a second grade assistant teacher for the past two years in Princeton. This fall, she will be an apprentice teacher for 6th grade mathematics in Connecticut At NMH Summer she is teaching and coaching students in ELI, basketball, and soccer Lauren attended Williams College and graduated with a degree in Psychology An avid K-drama and K-pop fan, Lauren loves traveling, having visited Costa Rica, Chile, Spain, France, Italy, Iceland, and South Korea
Jake Ritz
This is Jake’s second year at NMH Summer He is teaching Algebra II in addition to coaching swimming and volleyball Jake just finished his first year teaching math and coaching swimming at Western Reserve Academy in Ohio and will be doing the same in Rhode Island at St George’s School next year Jake attended Kenyon College, was a 4-year varsity swimmer, and graduated with a degree in Mathematics and Statistics and Chinese.
Jim Volinger
Jim has taught the “Volinger Method” for Algebra 1 and 2 at NMH Summer for 12 years Heretired after 38 years of teaching and coaching all levels of mathematics soccer and hockey. Jim earned degrees in Economics and Physical Education from University of Massachusetts. He has co-led several service learning trips to India Jim and Atta Kurzmann have multiple children, including several NMH
NMH Summer Wise-Words-of-the-Week Posted Daily
“A frog in a well does not know the great sea.”
–Japanese Proverb
“He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question is a fool for life.
“Dig the well before you are thirsty”
–Chinese proverbs
“There are no shortcuts to any places worth going.”
–Beverly Sills
“Teamwork makes the dream work.”
–clergyman John C. Maxwell (used by Loubna Boumghait)
“Nothing great was achieved without enthusiasm.”
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
“It is our choices…that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
–Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore
“A well-educated mind will always have more questions than answers.”
–Helen Keller
NMH Summer Weather on Campus – Past Week-At-A-Glance
Check out current NMH Summer campus weather conditions here
Our NMH Summer team is always ready to assist you:
Louisa Edwards
(Assistant to the Director) ledwards@nmhschool org 413.498.3290
(general questions - travel, courses, and so on)
Loubna Boumghait (Assistant Director - English Language Immersion) lboumghait@nmhschool org 413.498.3083
Rebecca Ramos (Assistant Director - Campus Life & Enrichment) bramos-s@nmhschool.org - 413.498.3270
Charlie Tierney (Director) ctierney@nmhschool org 413.498.3290
Please note that your first contact point should always be your student’s advisor.
The NMH O’Connor Health Center team is available for all your medical questions at nurses@nmhschool org or call (413) 498-3555 between 8:00 am - 8:00 pm EST
Should you need to contact us for emergencies outside of office hours you may call the NMH Summer Duty Dean at 413 498 3326
