Many things have changed over the past forty years, but Junior Four Point at Gould Academy is not one of them. Every March, like clockwork, Gould Academy eleventh graders strap on their issued snowshoes and backpacks and trek into the mountains of Western Maine and the White Mountain National Forest for a nine-day, eight-night winter camping expedition. It’s nine days away from technology in the students’ pockets. Nine days away from academic pressure and fully-packed daily schedules. Nine days that will change their lives.

English teacher Courtney Eichacker’s Banned Books and Films elective invites seniors to explore censorship, identity, and empathy through literature that has been challenged or banned. The course asks students to think critically about why stories are silenced—and why they matter.

Anyone who skis or rides at Sunday River Resort is likely familiar with the Gould Competition Program. They have seen our snowflake logos racing gates and boardercross courses and in terrain parks sliding on rails and doing mind-blowing aerials off massive jumps.

What they might not realize is that of the 90 percent of Gould students who spend their winter mornings engaged in snow sports, almost half of those are in non-competitive programs that really set Gould apart.