ON THEHilltop

Over the Board

Chess is all anyone is talking about these days. Whether the buzz is about Netflix’s show The Queen’s Gambit cheating accusations surrounding American grandmaster Hans Niemann, or the report of chess games in NFL locker rooms, the number of people talking about and playing chess is on the rise. Tournaments are being held worldwide — including right here on the Hilltop, in Chess Club.

Seb Lutts ’25 and Magnus Read ’25 have reinvigorated Pomfret’s Chess Club and are sharing their love of the game with their peers. More than fifteen students turned out for the first meeting of the year, and many more have signed up since. Students and faculty go head-to-head, playing over the board and online.

“I love the intellectual aspect of chess,” shares Magnus. “It gets your brain going and requires you to think ten steps ahead.”

Chess Club plans to play against members within t club in mini-tournaments and offer tutorials to teach more students how to play. They have also set up a chess.com page where students can play online games with one another between club meetings. After honing their skills, they hope to take the game on the road and compete against other prep schools.

One for the Books

Family Weekend brought loved ones to the Hilltop for an amazing, fun-filled weekend. There were opportunities to attend classes, enjoy delicious meals, take in lectures and art performances, and cheer for the Griffins under cloudless blue skies. It was one for the books. Classes were filled with families brushing up on their Spanish and French, working through math problems, and painting masterpieces in the Chick Cole Studio. At the Harvest Dinner, they watched music and dance performances and took in the student art on display. The learning continued on Saturday morning with the State of the School update and college counseling, academic, and mental health presentations. Families rounded out the weekend by watching their student-athletes compete in home games and meets.

She’s Got Grit

Delia Bousquet ’24 has grit. Whether training for a national triathlon — something she’s been doing since she was five — or writing a book, she will do whatever it takes to achieve her dreams.

Last March, Delia published her first book, Grit. What started as a Humanities II: English assignment — to write a book inspired by Claudia Rankine’s Citizen — resulted in a book available for purchase. “I went into the project intending to get my book published. It’s something I always dreamed of,” she explained.

While training and competing in triathlons takes a lot of grit, it also takes a lot of grit to self-publish a book. Delia’s submission was rejected more than ten times because it did not match the exact formatting specifications. Each time it was sent back, she made revisions. “There were times during the process when my frame of mind resembled competing in a triathlon. I thought, am I going to be able to do this? But the moments when you cross the finish line and when you finish a book are very similar.”

Delia has not had much time to market and promote her book. She devotes her free time to training. Not even the toxic algae could stop her from achieving her goal. When the swimming component of the USA Triathlon Long Course National Championship race was canceled, she quickly pivoted to the traditional run-bike-run duathlon format. Despite the last-minute change, she won the sixteen- to seventeen-year-old age group and accomplished her second dream.

Pomfret’s Social Dilemma

Facebook was launched before most of our current students were even born. It is just one of the plethora of platforms they use to “connect” with one another. With Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter, they are constantly fed curated content that reinforces — or misinforms and challenges — their views and opinions. They have grown up in an online world, hyper-focused on likes, views, snapstreaks, comments, notifications, and viral posts, which can have a negative impact on their mental health and self-esteem.

“The way we learn and interact with one another has changed,” said Head of School Tim Richards. “As a society, we have become disconnected from in-person interactions and turned to connecting online. It is the issue of our time and an issue for our school.” Knowing all of these things and in alignment with our vision of inspiring the next generation of change makers and problem solvers, Pomfret is doing something about it.

In September, the School watched the 2020 Netflix docu-drama

The Social Dilemma, which explores the consequences of our growing dependence on social media. After viewing the documentary, the community discussed misinformation, engagement, utilization, and anxiety related to global issues, Pomfret, and their personal lives. In October, the School continued the discussion on technology use and held a challenge to reduce cell phone usage. The conversations about social media and technology have continued throughout the academic year.