TOOLS TO EMPOWER How NYA has given three students the support to take their passion to the next level NYA Middle School science teacher Danielle Barschdorf had a student once who asked to go back to the Royal River to conduct additional experiments. She took the student and a classmate during a free period, and these students, and their entire class, took the study a few steps further. “The entire class benefited from this one student’s curiosity. It’s why I love it here. If we have a student with a particular interest, we can try to give them the tools they need to take it to the next level.” The tools may be just that — tools, like a green screen, a robot, or a canvas — or they may simply be inspiration, opportunity, and acceptance.
NYA “weather geek” Jack Sillin ’18 learns the math behind the forecast and steps in front of the camera. Jack Sillin is fascinated by the weather. When he was in seventh grade, his dad, NYA history department chair Peter Sillin, encouraged him to set up a Twitter account, and “Forecaster Jack” was born. His Twitter feed began to attract attention, eventually enabling him to make connections with professional forecasters. Before he knew it, he was speaking with The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore, National Weather Service staffers, NECN meteorologist Tim Kelley, and CEO of The Weather Channel, David Clark, who invited him to tour the station in Atlanta.
Last year, Jack did an independent study in broadcast meteorology in NYA’s Innovation Lab with information technology director, Christopher Mazzurco. There, he developed the tools he needed to do television-quality weather forecasts.
PHOTO, PREVIOUS PAGE Jack Sillin using green screen technology and graphics to report the weather.
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Justin Guo ’18 tunes into his talent for music and theater.
“It was awesome. I learned how to design all the graphics and present in front of the green screen,” he said. “The second semester I did a deep dive into some of the math behind meteorology with [math department chair] Mr. Austin. He was great. We’d go through quasi-geostrophic theory and isotropic analysis, all these things that he could explain the math behind in a way that I could understand,” Jack said.
This year, he is taking online meteorology courses that have been developed by college professors. Austin explains, “In his ongoing pursuit to better understand such concepts of synoptic meteorology, Jack absolutely relishes his independent work at NYA, knowing that this education improves his own ability to model, forecast, and clearly articulate what is happening in the skies above us each day.”
Sillin is currently juggling school, sports, Forecaster Jack, and a job at Weather OK, where he is in charge of promoting the company’s forecasting products. He landed the job because the owner saw his green screen forecast on Twitter, and he was recommended by NECN’s Kelley. He credits NYA with teaching him writing and communication skills. “From a science perspective, the skills I learned in the lab, data analysis, and scientific writing are skills I’ve been able to apply to the weather,” explained Sillin.
An avid hiker, Jack recently climbed Mt. Washington on a trip organized by his advisor, Ian Ramsey, and met with the staff at the Mt. Washington Observatory. When asked if he has free time, Jack responds, “Sometimes. When we have a big ridge of high pressure over the entire U.S.” He plans to attend college for meteorology next fall.
Anyone who has attended an all-school Friday Forum over the past four years probably knows Justin Guo as the enthusiastic cross country runner who makes entertaining announcements about upcoming meets. Guo, who is from China, is also an opera singer and an actor in musical theater. He didn’t come to NYA as either of those, however. Guo’s parents, both singers themselves, discouraged him from singing. “They told me I was off tune,” he said. “I was never brave enough to sing in China.” In his freshmen year at NYA, Justin attended the Mid-Autumn Festival on campus where participants sang a Chinese song. “A couple of my fellow students and some of my teachers encouraged me to join the choir,” he said. “I don’t think they were being totally serious, but I did.” That was just the beginning. He spent a lot of time with NYA vocal music and theater teacher Nora Krainis, who encouraged his singing and urged him to try musical theater. He landed a few side roles in “Annie” that year. “Justin is passionate, friendly, inquisitive, determined, and has a great sense of humor, which helps him succeed in his music and theatre endeavors,” said Krainis. He has since attended Districts, States, and All-Eastern music festivals; and was invited to participate in the Honors Performance Series at Carnegie Hall his sophomore year. “That boosted my confidence,” he explained. As a sophomore, he played the role of Gomez in “The Addams Family,” and last year, he was Horton in “Seussical.” He hopes to land a role in this winter’s production of “Beauty and the Beast.”
I was never brave enough to sing in China. JUSTIN GUO ’18
Aside from music and theater, Justin enjoys reading, and he is a member of the golf team. He takes opera lessons both in Portland and in China. He considers singing a lifelong hobby and would like to continue to sing in college where he plans to study history or sociology.
PHOTOS THIS SPREAD, CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Jack Sillin working on forecast graphics in the NYA Innovation Lab. Jack, on location with Dr. Eric Kelsey, director of research at the Mount Washington Observatory. Justin Guo as Horton in “Seussical” in February 2017. Guo performing at the 2017 spring chorus concert.
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Charlotte Collins ’18 blends her love of art with her passion for science. To me, science is a creative adventure, and being able to incorporate my artwork with my interest in science expands my mind and creates a bridge between the two. CHARLOTTE COLLINS ’18
Senior Charlotte Collins is passionate about science. She spent last summer at the MDI Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor as a research fellow. She is also an accomplished artist. At NYA, art and science happily coexist, and Collins is a good example. She is working on a series of drawings for AP studio art that combine her love of science and art by approaching science from a new perspective. Her project is about discovery, and as in science, each of her pieces examines a particular part of one landscape in the set. “By honing in to a single aspect of a piece, I discover more about that landscape and the science behind every broad, zoomed out image,” she explains. Upper School studio art teacher Colby Myer said, “Charlotte’s AP concentration does a wonderful job of highlighting the complex curiosities of the modern American teenager.” For Collins, who grew up in Woolwich, this is an opportunity to fully explore the world around her, specifically the wonders of the Maine coast. “Through art, I am able to investigate parts of the Maine coast and the human body in a crucially different way than I do in a lab. To me, science is a creative adventure, and being able to incorporate my artwork with my interest in science expands my mind and creates a bridge between the two,” she said.
EAGER EYE PHOTOGRAPHY/MDI BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY
Collins looks forward to a future as a scientist. “While I may not be able to make art as I forge ahead as a scientist, I still feel as if the artist in me allows me to understand the science just a little better. I can look at a landscape, a person, or a challenge and comprehend more about it than what is visible at the surface, and to me, that is the most important thing,” she explained.
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What the three of these students demonstrate is how the culture at NYA enables them to dig deeper into a particular subject, take a risk and try something new, or combine two subjects that don’t seem to go together. The teachers at NYA encourage students to explore their interests and are always willing to go that extra mile to support these pursuits.
Charlotte Collins at MDI Biological Laboratory in Bar Harbor last summer. “Monument Cove,” charcoal on paper by Charlotte Collins. “Peering into the Bay,” charcoal on paper by Charlotte Collins.
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