www.suffieldacademy.org
Esse Quam Videri
The Suffield Bell Volume LXXXIII, NO. 4
Established 1835
February 2017
New Dorm Construction: Working Within Suffield’s Historic District
Photo from Suffield Academy Website
Caleigh Horrigan ’18
Suffield Academy is currently undergoing a major campus construction project which will eventually result in the complete renovation of Memorial. However, one of the less talked about aspects of the project is a new dorm that will replace the barn behind Montgomery Dorm. I was able to learn more about the intricacies of this project with the help of Mr. Booth. Suffield Academy is located within Suffield’s Historic District and the school has worked closely with the town in order to have Suffield’s plans for Memorial and the barn approved. Construction work on buildings within 400 feet of Main Street requires the school to obtain a certificate of appropriateness from the Town of Suffield Historic Commission, a commission comprised of town of residents who provide guidance and approvals on renovations and construction projects within
the district. Suffield Academy worked with the commission over a fourmonth period to review how the barn, because of its historical significance, could be restored, rather than destroyed. Unfortunately, the building did not meet current codes. Consequently, after approval, it was demolished. However, it will be rebuilt in the exact same space with the same materials and volumes in order to preserve its historic integrity and, while doing so, create a spectacular new dorm. Mr. Booth says that he has received an abundance of positive feedback and so far no negative commentary has been brought to him directly. Though Suffield Academy had to be mindful of the strict guidelines of the historic district, they ultimately were able to agree and move forward with a project of which both the Suffield Academy community and the town of Suffield can be proud.
On Campus
2 | The Bell February 2017
New Year Charity Update Sarah Swanson ’18
Editors Editors-in-Chief Devina Bhalla ’18 Sarah Swanson ’18 Layout Aashi Patel ’19 Hattie Bauchiero ’18
Contributors Writers Isabella Attianese ’18 Devina Bhalla ’18 Caleigh Horrigan ’18 Kate Rookey ’18 Sarah Swanson ’18 Nick Vardakas ’18 Pat Cordes ’18 Photographers Amber McKenzie ’18
Faculty Advisors Tanya Andrysiak Molly Gotwals P’09 Design & Layout Tobye Cook Seck ’88, P’16
Photo by Hillary Rockwell Cahn ’88, P’18
The Bell Staff
As Suffield Academy rounds the corner into a new year, it is important to remember our commitment to making a lasting impact on the lives of young students in India through the Akshaya Patra charity. Student Council found that the community appreciated the improvements Max Toczydlowski ’17, Yash Patel ’17, and Aashi Patel ’19 all made to the color course this year in order to increase its organization and efficiency. Yash recalled that students “rallied around the fact that each bag of paint provided 85 meals” and that “their shirts fed a child in India for year.” The nearly $5,000 raised between the color course and coin collection challenge week can be accredited to increased advertisement and the other methods of raising awareness Student Council has developed to make Akshaya Patra relevant to the entire Suffield Academy community. Suffield Academy’s marketing office has worked with Yash and the head of layout and design at Akshaya Patra to create a donation page on the school website that will provide an accessible method for donating throughout the entire year. The live donation tracker on the webpage will serve as the official progress thermometer and be utilized during telethon. Yash has already reached out to the Indian community to raise awareness for telethon and encourage them to donate during the event, but he is still counting on the
Suffield Academy community to stay passionate about our cause between now and our upcoming fundraisers. One way students can stay involved is by following the charity’s social media pages including the twitter account @SA_Fundraiser and the instagram account @askshayapatra.sa which Julia Murphy and Aashi Patel have worked hard to organize. Students can look forward to participating in several upcoming challenge weeks following the coin collection and bottle drive. According to Yash, we can also expect “a little surprise from the charity” during telethon including polished video streaming and an Indian theme. Finally, as the first Suffield Academy music festival draws nearer, student council looks forward to featuring student performers in addition to a popular artist or band. Students are encouraged to reach out to Max Toczydlowski with any connections for the event! Yash has made it clear that it is important to remember our goal throughout the remainder of the year: raising $60,000. Of this fundraising goal, $40,000 would go towards providing 800,000 meals and $20,000 would fund a distribution vehicle, which would ensure our efforts will remain sustainable. He continues to emphasize his vision, “Whether by buying tons of paint, putting coins into the jar, or performing at the telethon, I want all students and faculty to participate in some way this year.”
3 | The Bell February 2017
Editorial
History of Holiday Dinners Devina Bhalla ’18 2004
1988
Photos from the Suffield Academy archives
1977
Suffield prides itself for its community, a community that has been fostered and grown over 150 years. School wide traditions continually bring our community together, traditions like holiday dinners. Although these dinners have been a Suffield tradition for a while, the traditions within the dinners themselves continue to change. Brett Vianney ’70 and David Rockwell are two members of our community who have truly witnessed how much Suffield and our traditions have changed. Both Mr. Vianney and Mr. Rockwell reflected on how Thanksgiving Dinner used to be a true family style meal where each table got their own turkey and there was no buffet line as we have now. Mr. Vianney reminisced
about how the faculty members would have to carve the turkey for their table; similar to how the faculty member would again have to carve the standing prime rib roast for his or her table at Holiday Dinner in December. Holiday Dinner, which used to be titled Christmas Dinner and was followed by a musical performance, called Candlelight Service, in the Congregational Church. Holiday Dinner has always been a time of year where the students dress formally and take a lot of pictures, a time of year everyone is excited for. In years past, however, the musical performance at the Congregational Church, filled with carols, hymns, and other seasonal songs, was followed by coffee and tea for the faculty
and seniors in Cone Lounge. Even Santa used to make an appearance, bringing gifts and candy for the faculty kids and taking pictures with students. Mr. Vianney continued to comment on how Holiday Dinner has always been a “very social affair,” but he does miss everyone sitting down together because by the time the last 450 people go through a buffet line many are done eating. However, he also remarked that having a buffet greatly cuts down the amount of wasted food. Though many aspects of these dinners themselves have changed, they continue to be a staple for our community and to represent the many blessings of the Academy.
PDA at SA Caleigh Horrigan ’18
PDA on campus, from couples holding Cian Beaulieu ’18 and India Shay ’18, and hands on the way to class to sitting on each India’s rule of thumb when it comes to other’s laps in the union, is everywhere you determining the appropriateness of PDA is, look. You see it so often you’ve probably “If you wouldn’t do it in front of your parents, become immune to it. However, occasionally don’t do it in the union.” I also interviewed you may still cringe at the sight of your peers Suffield students who are not in relationships entwined with each other and kissing in the to see what their views on PDA are. Speaking union. The question is: where do you draw about appropriate settings for PDA, Natalie the line between appropriate public displays Castonguay ’19 added that, “It depends of affection and inappropriate displays where you are, on the couches is more of a of affection? I asked Suffield Academy group setting, but at the tables in the union students, both single and in relationships, is better for PDA.” Laura Pires ’19 made a this same question and the answers varied great point about the way PDA makes other greatly. Couple Brooklyn Hayes ’17 and people feel, specifically those who are not in Photo via Google Images Jack Godfrey ’18 have somewhat differing a relationship. She commented that, “There opinions on the topic themselves. Brooklyn are people that don’t have someone, so it’s says, “I don’t mind other people showing PDA, but personally I don’t fine to cuddle and stuff, but when you’re in a group and sitting with other like showing that.” Jack, who’s more open to PDA, says, “I don’t really people don’t kiss. It makes others feel sad and uncomfortable.” The overall care, just do your own thing and set your own boundaries. If other people consensus of Suffield students is that PDA is a personal choice that is up to are affected, that’s their problem.” There is also the question of what is the couples themselves; however, it is important to be aware of the setting, the appropriate for a school setting, such as in the union. I interviewed couple people around you, how your actions make other people feel.
Editorial
4 | The Bell February 2017
Time is of the Essence When chatting to students about some of the common struggles in a Suffield student’s day, a reoccurring theme emerged. From finding time to do your homework to practicing and competing in varsity sports, time management can be a real pain as we all enter adulthood. I asked Kirsti Kokko ’17 what her favorite activity to do on our only day off, Sunday, was, and she said, “Normally lie in bed and watch Netflix.” It is safe to say that we all enjoy our scarce down-time as we march into the busy next week. I also spoke with students about an everyday concern, homework management. As the years go by, the amount of homework increases exponentially. We are left with too much homework and too little time to do it. Some students find the decision between making time for relaxing and getting every piece of work done challenging. RJ Mhoon ’18 commented, “Honestly, I find it hard managing my time between deciding to do homework assignments or watching the next episode of the Vampire Diaries.” Many would agree with RJ on this statement, as many of us find ourselves struggling to find a balance between leisure and academic responsibilities. Some would argue that it is easier for boarders than it is for day students to find time to relax in their day. While many might find study hall a pain, it really is a blessing. It teaches boarders how to manage their time. Day students, on the otherhand, are left to figure it out on their own. Speaking from a day student’s point of view, I realize how hard it is to put homework first. Whether it’s the long drive home, eating dinner with the family, or
Photo by Amber McKenzie ’18
Pat Cordes ’18
spending time with outside friends, work seems to be pushed to the end of a long list of “to-dos.” In order to survive highschool, it is wise to develop a time management schedule early on in one’s life. This skill will is good preparation for whatever comes your way and will be extremely beneficial in the next phases of life. Suffield teaches us to make these decisions now, before we head off to college and, subsequently, to the real world.
Budgeting for Afternoon Activities
Photo by Amber McKenzie ’18
Kate Rookey’18
Whether it is athletics or the arts, everyone at Suffield takes part in extracurricular activities. As students we normally go to practice without much thought of what it truly takes to maintain the facilities around us. The annual maintenance and operating costs of the fields, field house, courts, theater, track, and pool, however, are estimated by Mr. Booth to be about $2.2 million a year, roughly 10% of the schools overall budget.
Please Recycle!
Please Recycle!
Overall, 80% of the athletic department’s budget is fixed, meaning it rarely changes from year to year. Mr. Patterson and Mr. Booth shared that although it is rare, there are gifts and endowments that are specific to a certain sport. These funds are often what teams use for equipment, team dinners, and even for team bonding activities. When asked if there were a difference between the amount of money that girls’ and boys’ sports receive as well as between JV and varsity programs, Mr. Booth stated that, “We do not have specific budgets set for any specific teams—we try to allocate the budget to best support everyone.” An example of this is how the athletic department purchases new uniforms for each team every 3 to 4 years. Not only does the $2.2 million fund athletics, but it also goes towards Suffield’s art and music programs. The most recent investments to the Arts were the hiring of new staff in both the visual and performing arts as well as renovations to the theater. Although the difference in funding between the athletics and the arts was not disclosed, Mr. Booth expressed that it is consistent. Understanding how the athletic department’s budget works is much more complicated than it seems because money is not spent in the same place every year. The athletic department does its best to ensure that every team receives the equipment that they need and that their faciliaties are properly maintained. The main goal of Suffield’s afternoon activities, according to Mr. Booth, is to ensure that each student is receiving “great coaching and [having] great experiences in our programs.”
Please Recycle!
Please Recycle!
Please Recycle!