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On November 24 and 25, the Boys Varsity Hockey team became closer than anyone could have imagined when Jeff Levin, a sports psychologist out of Boston and New Hampshire, visited campus and led a team-bonding workshop. The idea behind Levin’s program was to create an environment where everybody felt completely comfortable making mistakes in front...

Swim season has started off strong. Our swim team has been NEPSAC champions in Division 2 three times in a row, and this season’s crop of athletes is poised to keep the streak strong. The Williston girls swimming team consists of 37 girls lead by senior captains Sally Alrutz, Sydney Joyce, and Sabrina Shao. The...

The girls varsity basketball team has started off the season with an incredible record of 3-0, and even though half the team is new, they’re winning like they’ve been playing together for years. The team boasts a 3-0 record after victories against Kingswood-Oxford, St. Mark’s, and Suffield. The varsity team consists of six new players:...

Jess Ekstrom’s road to business and personal success was unpaved, full of roadblocks, potholes, dead ends, and a devastating $10,000 swindle. But to hear her tell her story, it couldn’t have been any other way. Ekstrom, the founder and CEO of Headbands of Hope, a Raleigh, North Carolina-based company which for every headband sold donates...

Congratulations to the following students who made honor roll during the first trimester of the 2018-19 school year. Grade 9 I Hang U, Honors Julia Borden, High Honors Tevah Rose, High Honors Jackson Frechette, Honors Adeline Hume, Honors Sofia Michalski, High Honors Cristina Negron, High Honors Raymond Toth, High Honors Michael Toth, Honors Tucker Motyka,...

Imagine our delight when a thickly padded package, postmarked Kenosha, Wisconsin, recently arrived at the Homestead. Among the gems contained within: a 1951 edition of the Northampton School for Girls’ yearbook; a pair of neatly-filled-out dance cards; a senior prom photo; and a class ring inscribed on the inner band to E.A.K. ’51. The initials...

Maddy Scott ’16 and former trustee Diane Yelle Spence ’68 may have graduated a half century apart, but when they met at Reunion last spring, they quickly discovered much in common—from a passion for their schools to similar career choices. Spence, a Smith College graduate, worked as fundraiser for educational institutions, including several independent schools....

On paper, Shaun Chapman ’98 and Michael George ’98 seem like polar opposites. Shaun is a gregarious showman who can own a room. Michael is reserved, content to run the show from behind the scenes. Yet the two friends share a thoughtful, curious way of approaching the world that unites them. And there’s one other...

How Planning and persistence—and the work of a phantom—helped the class of ’68 set a new bar for Reunion success   Ask Reunion Committee Chair Chip Keeney to explain why a record 44 percent of his class attended their 50th Reunion, and he notes that the class of 1968 is extremely tight-knit. “It wasn’t hard...

A revealing look at Williston’s state-of-the-art new dormitory, John Hazen White House, the centerpiece of our evolving Residential Quad   It’s a crisp October afternoon and the energy outside Williston’s newest dorm is starting to build. A buzzing throng of students and faculty gather on the lawn of the new Residential Quad as Head of...

Catherine McGraw shares how her office is bringing new approaches to the college application process.   When Williston seniors learn of their acceptance to colleges and universities this spring, the news will be the culmination of a process that—for better or worse—has been a central focus of their lives for years. To provide support during...

The amazing work of photographer Jim Hollander ’68   The list of what Jim Hollander ’68 has photographed is mind-boggling. The Olympics. The running of the bulls in Pamplona. Conflicts in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Somalia, Ethiopia, and the Middle East. Three different pope’s visits to the Holy Land. And that’s just for starters. An award-winning photojournalist,...

Naturalist and boat captain Sarah McCullagh ’10 educates visitors about the orcas of the Pacific Northwest.   At the age of 3, Sarah McCullagh ’10 watched Free Willy, the 1993 film that introduced a generation of children to the power, intelligence, and social sophistication of orcas. Now, as a lead naturalist, vessel coordinator, and whale...

New trustee Susan Jackson ’80 brought a corporate background to the Bermudian Parliament.   It was 131 years ago that the great-grandfather of Susan Jackson ’80 was elected to the Bermuda Parliament, only the second black Bermudian to be elected to the body. Her father and mother both held seats in the legislature. And in...

Exploring light in the darkness, Neil Grayson creates mesmerizing works that change before your eyes.   For a recent exhibition at New York’s prestigious Eykyn Maclean gallery, Neil Grayson ’85 produced a series of paintings he calls Industrial Melanism. Executed in oil and metal on canvas in a trademark style the artist developed through years...

Sefik Kabas ’81 was born into a family of artisans in Turkey, but his jewelry is distinctly his own. His mythologically inspired Taru pieces—handcrafted from silver, gold, and precious stones—are intended to “preserve ancient tradition and to creatively celebrate the connection of the human and animal worlds,” he notes on his website. After Williston, Kabas...

Jon Lappin ’88 keeps his father’s legacy alive with a musical mentoring foundation.   In 2013, the Palm Beach Pops, an orchestra dedicated to the Great American Songbook for more than two decades, was at a crossroads. Its founder, Bob Lappin—a successful businessman, talented conductor, and pianist, who performed with and welcomed such stars as...

The beautiful food of chef and entrepreneur Laura Bowman ’13 makes us very, very hungry.   When Laura Bowman ’13 arrived at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) straight out of Williston, she already had exactly what she needed to succeed at the highly regarded cooking school in Hyde Park, New York. Not the knife...

Trust, empathy, and a little street Arabic: Robert Grenier ’72 talks about what it takes to be a CIA agent.   During his 27-year career in the Central Intelligence Agency, Robert Grenier ’72 has seen the rise of global terrorism and served on the front lines in the war against it. On September 11, 2001,...

Maddy Cardaci ‘20 – Girls Varsity Hockey Maddy had a great start to the season for the Wildcats this week. She played strong in the jamboree on Wednesday and exceptional in the team’s first game vs. St. Pauls on the road.  She was composed, played tough and scored the game winning goal with 1.2 seconds...