At the end of the month, Mr. Nemitz will be sending the donations in to the organization, as well as highlighting and celebrating our soon-to-be hirsute participants. Students are encouraged to pursue any variety of facial hairstyle that they wish. In the meantime, if a student approaches you with the unsettling sounding statement of “I need you to sponsor my facial hair,” don’t be alarmed- get involved!  

   In fact, ending up in Burkina Faso was something of a surprise to Janet, who had originally been told she would be sent to Mongolia. She began studying up on Mongolian and received lots of warm clothing and gear from her family in anticipation of the cold climate. Then, she discovered that she would instead be sent to West Africa- so much for the winter clothing!

   Since arriving in Burkina Faso a year and a half ago, Janet has been working primarily on empowering the female population of her village through education. She’s also been part of practical village projects, such as installing a water pump in the well.

   When Jesse and his family arrived in the country to visit his grandmother for the holidays, he was surprised from the moment he got off the plane: “The first thing that I noticed when we got there, after we went down the airplane steps onto the tarmac, was that the air quality was so dusty and smoky- I remember thinking, ‘There must be a lot of forest fires here.’” Soon after, he and his family ran into their first instance of the language barriers: “We had to go through customs, and we didn’t have the address for the village we were heading to, so we just wrote ‘traveling’ on our forms. The customs official didn’t speak English at all, so it was really interesting figuring out how to communicate with him! It wasn’t funny at the time, but now it is.”  Once they finally got through Customs and out of the airport, the family went to the village where Jesse’s grandmother was living. After spending time there, they also explored the capital, Ouagadougou, as well as visiting the “Sacred Crocodiles”- “many people there believe that the spirits of their ancestors reside in the crocodiles, having been reincarnated. We got to touch them. Some people hug them, but I was okay with just touching it!”

 On Christmas in the village

   “They have a totally different approach to Christmas. There are a bunch of Muslims and Christians and animists, and they all live in the same village- there’s no tension, it’s amazing. For Christmas, my grandma wanted to make brownies, so my family and I brought 10 boxes of instant brownie mix and American candy over from the States. On Christmas Eve, I went out and played soccer with some of the kids, and my grandma told them to come back the next day for treats, which they did! We started passing them out. It turned out to be a little chaotic, because the same kids kept coming back for more. We were trying to create some order so that everyone could have a fair share, but it didn’t exactly work out that way.”

 On the language barrier

   “Since I don’t speak Mòoré, I couldn’t talk to anyone, so it definitely was hard to get to know people, but when I was playing soccer, I got to know some of the kids. We hired a driver, and he spoke a little bit of English, and my grandma translated too, so we got to know him. But even not speaking the language, there were a lot of times you interacted with the people there. Driving along on the roads, whenever you were going through a town, you would see little kids running along next to your car, always smiling and waving at you. It was really awesome.”

 On What I Learned

 “Seeing how poor people could be, but how happy they are with what they have; that was something I took away. Also, how strong the sense of community was in the village; everyone knows everyone else and they’re very connected.”

Many thanks to our parent volunteers for their help, and to all students, faculty and families who participated in the Spirit Days with great energy, adaptability, humor  and creativity. 

Before speaking to the entire School, she had dinner with the AP Environmental Science students (below), to address some of their questions individually.

She started her presentation in the Recital Hall by stating: “I love what I do. I feel like I can make a difference. I get to transform research results into practice ” She then described her own path into science; the turning point for her was her junior year in college, when she was at a Cornell lab at the Isles of Shoals, and found “there were fun things to learn. I thought it was exciting to study Marine Science.” Despite some initial doubt in her ability to enter into the field, she did so at the insistence of one of her professors, who told her “You can do it if you want to.” This launched her into obtaining both an M.S. and Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of New Hampshire.

Dr. Kinner dedicated a portion of her presentation to describing how she personally assisted in the clean-up of the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. This touched on the role that politics play in responses to natural disasters. She gave the example of how the decisions we make which animals to protect and try to rescue during these disasters depends on several political factors. There is often a big trade-off in choosing to act in this way, she explained; for the species you do decide to save, many others may suffer significantly. “You are the generation that can help change that,” she told the students. “Don’t let politics dictate how we respond to disasters.”

Dr. Kinner also noted the importance of building up our understanding of scientific terms, as we have a largely scientifically illiterate population in this country, making it difficult for people to understand what is taking place and what is at stake in some of these crises. Moreover, oil spills will continue to be an issue for our nation, she says: “There will certainly be another major oil spill in the USA…most likely in Antarctica.” 

Dr. Kinner’s visit  gave our students a model of a successful career in science, and left us contemplating the role of science in our lives and in the natural world.

By William L. Farrell

“In the winter of ’55, the Dublin School ski team threw a scare into the hot shot skiing prep schools at the eastern prep school championships held at Norwich University. At the conclusion of the cross-country race, Dublin School led the pack; Ed Allis won the whole thing, Norm Kitching was 5th, Bourne Knowles was 8th, I was 14th and Norris Nims was 16th.”

Each time I read this passage by Peter W. Floyd from my well-worn copy of Paul W. Lehmann’s Dublin School, I can actually picture that euphoric group of joyous Dublin students as they were embraced by their beaming coach, Norm “Pro” Wight. Experiences like this inspire others and can last forever. I firmly believe that this joy will once again be relived by a group of Dublin Nordic skiers. However, this will require a ton of hard work and a commitment to rebuild the Nordic skiing culture of Dublin School. We must also  allow our kids to become believers.

Considerable time and resources have been invested into rebuilding our Nordic skiing culture and facilities recently. The Nordic ski house built by Carl Von Mertens has been relocated (thanks to a Saturday morning work gang) to Alumni field. The new Nordic Center houses the dozens of skis and boots, along with the grooming equipment that was donated by Buddy Bates ’53. The Nordic Center has a fire pit, and 1000-watt halogen lights to keep our local Bill Koch Youth Ski League children skiing well after sunset.

Dublin School is blessed with bounteous physical, geographical and topographical resources that are perfectly matched for developing a Nordic skiing culture. At over 1600 feet in elevation, Dublin School is located in the highest village in New England. We sit high on the ridge that separates the Merrimack and Connecticut River drainage systems. When other New England schools were hill bounding and running on pavement, we were actually skiing on perfectly groomed trails before Halloween! We continued to train and ski each day on machine-made snow at the nearby Granite Gorge ski area. Now we are back skiing on our trails and fields.

Modern day Nordic ski racing is a dynamic sport that requires a balance of power and endurance. More importantly, it requires an understanding of one’s personal health and wellness as well as a commitment to year-round training. Meaningful work and training are inherent to a Nordic skiing culture and they reinforce Dublin’s core values. Dublin School is now nurturing a group of new Nordic ski racers who are displaying the necessary courage to embrace this Nordic skiing culture and go well outside of their comfort zone.

Most members of our Nordic team are new to the sport; and many are rank beginners who are just learning the fundamentals of gliding over snow. However, they are also the believers, the kids who have placed their trust in our program. Because of the nature of inclusion, there is a place for every member of the Nordic team to learn, train and compete to their highest level of aspiration. Nordic skiing has no benches. One thing I’ve come to understand from my thirty years of teaching and coaching is that if you dream big and allow your kids believe in themselves, great moments will come. You need to become a believer!

A week ago, Tyson Laa’13 of South Sudan decided to abandon his snowboard and join the Nordic team. Because we had the necessary equipment, Tyson was able to begin Nordic skiing immediately. Within moments, it became apparent that this was a kid who had a unique feel and sense of movement. By the end of his first day, he was able to easily climb and descend on classic skis.

A few days later, we drove down into the valley to compete in our first classic race in Gunstock, NH. I had previously submitted our team roster of Will Utzschneider ’15, Patrick Nichols ’13, Spencer Hicks ’15, Valerie Williams ’13 and Olivia Rau ’13. Because of their lack of experience, I asked Alexis Andrus ’13, Julia Varon ’13 and Tyson to observe this first race. I felt that it was a prudent request to reduce their anxiety and to better prepare them for their upcoming debut as Nordic ski racers.

Tyson, however had other ideas. As far as he was concerned, he was ready.

“Coach, can you get me a bib? I really want to race, I’m ready.”

“No Tyson, I can’t do that. It is against my better judgment. I don’t want you to have a bad experience.” I responded.

“C’mon coach, let me borrow your team jacket and get me a racing bib!”

As far as I was concerned, this conversation was through, done, finished! And suddenly, in the back of my head I began hearing John Fogerty’s song “Centerfield:” “Put Me in Coach- I'm ready to play today; Put me in, Coach - I'm ready to play today; Look at me, I can be Centerfield.”

I went to pick up the bibs and told the Holderness coach that I had this half-crazy kid from South Sudan with only two days of skiing and he wanted to race.

“Why not, here, give the kid bib number 32 and tell him to have some fun.”

After a careful warm-up lap the Dublin kids threw their heart into this race and gave their best effort. Will finished less than a minute out at 7th place; Olivia and Valerie were 9th and 16th respectively for the girls. Patrick was 22nd and Spencer 28th.

And as for number 32 from Dublin School and South Sudan, well, he had some serious fun. On each lap we were thrilled to see Tyson barreling down the classic tracks holding his own against some of the better skiers. Judging from his wide grin, I sensed a kid who had just been given an all day pass on the Coney Island roller coaster. In the end, he placed 24th beating out several other skiers.

Another believer!

The Believers: Will Utzschneider, Valerie Williams, Julia Varon, Spencer Hicks, Patrick Nichols, Olivia Rau, Tyson Laa-Deng, Coach Shelly Farrell, Coach Bill Farrell

As part of the morning meeting presentation on the challenge, Min Young discussed the immediate benefits of reducing our waste on campus: the School has to pay $212 every time the dumpster gets emptied, which is twice a week. If we can reach the students’ goal of reducing it to once a week, it would save the School a lot of money that could go towards student-centered activities and trips. The first “weigh ins” took place last Sunday and Wednesday; results from Sunday are displayed in the graph below.

Yet another challenge is fast approaching our campus; Mrs. Jackson explains: “Starting next week, on the 18th, we’re taking part in the Green-Cup challenge, in which hundreds of schools compete to be the school that conserves the most energy. Andy Hungerford and I had to go through and look at the last three years of electricity use– that was our baseline for how many kilowatts we use. The idea is to chart and then find ways to decrease how many we use now. Right now, the students are researching different ways to generate electricity, so we’ll be educating the school about coal, nuclear energy, and other related topics in morning meetings. More to come next week!” 

FIRST^® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a not-for-profit organization founded by Dean Kamen to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology by engaging students in innovative robotics competitions. Our robotics team, FIRST^® team # 1729, will spend six intense weeks designing and building an original robot for the FIRST Regional Competition scheduled for March 1-3,2011 in Manchester, NH.

This year FIRST^® team # 1729 is one of 900 high school teams being sponsored by JCPenny.  Thank you JCPenny!  However, that only covers the basics, and to be a winning robot, additional funds are often needed.  We don’t all have to be building the robot to support the team.  I encourage everyone to find out more about the program and join the excitement by talking with a member of this year’s team– Cole Rogers ’13,Greg Antonellis ’12, Marc Krumbein ’12, Jeffrey Brathwaite ’13, Rachel Coutant ’13, Tai Cheng Song ’14, Aron Cowen-Luehrmann ’12, Brendan Palmer ’13, Grant Holliday ’15, and Myles Spencer ’15 - and see how you can help.   Good luck Team #1729! Sign me up to drive the Fan bus to the competition in March! -Erika Rogers

Robotics coach Jason Cox adds: “We have a lot of new team members this year, many are Dublin School 9th graders.  This is really exciting for the team because they will be able to keep building on the skills we practice here all throughout their high school career.  This year we are hoping for an Engineering award because we have a really cool drive system as well as an innovative approach to handling data processing on the robot.”

Above picture: Greg Antonellis '12 and Marc Krumbein '12 with Governor John Lynch. Photo courtesy of Brighid Wood