News

A dispatch from the desk of Gould Athletic Director Ben Kamilewicz ’95

Huskies—Charge!!!!

Our pack went out hard-charging last week—and we're not about to stop. We are all so proud of what you accomplished this week! Keep having fun, being resilient, and being your best. Read on for a review of last week's competitions.

And congratulations to the ten staff members who have stepped up into new roles:

Back to School Coffee Chat
Recording from August 23rd
Access Passcode: HuskyPride!2022

The first 10 minutes are spent introducing the staff members on the call, then the remaining time is spent introducing parents and answering questions from parents about new student orientation trips, ordering textbooks, shipping items to school, COVID guidelines, and more.

Information about the upcoming session on 9/7 can be found here
(MyGould login required)

Back to School Coffee Chat
Recording from August 18th
Access Passcode: HuskyPride!2022

The first 10 minutes are spent introducing the staff members on the call, then the remaining time is spent introducing parents and answering questions from parents about orientation trips, packing lists, ordering textbooks, shipping items to school, when to bring skis, and more.

Information about the upcoming session on 8/23 can be found here
(MyGould login required)

Back to School Coffee Chat
Recording from August 17th

Access Passcode: HuskyPride!2022

The first 15 minutes are spent introducing the staff members on the call, then the remaining time is spent answering questions from parents about orientation trips, packing lists, registering for classes, ordering textbooks, and showing where to find online resources.

Information about upcoming sessions on 8/18 and 8/23 can be found here
(MyGould login required)

Dear Gould Students, Parents and Employees:

I hope you are all enjoying your summers!  Even with students on vacation, Gould has been a busy place with teachers getting ready for the upcoming school year.  In the Health Center, I have been keeping track of the latest COVID  guidance from the Maine CDC, and I am excited to share our plan to start the fall term.  Although we will continue to need to be aware of COVID’s presence in our community, I am hoping that these guidelines will keep Gould safe  and minimize disruptions to all of the wonderful things planned for the school year.

Here is a link to our updated COVID website with updated guidelines, but a summary of the biggest guideline changes can be found below.

Masking 

Thank you, and I’ll see you all in a few short weeks.  Enjoy the rest of your summer!

Joanna Brown, RN, P'23, '25

Health Services Director

Gould is thrilled and excited that our 8th grade program is growing!  We are projecting that our enrollment will double this coming year. Gould is increasing our commitment to 8th graders and winter term student-athletes by formalizing learning spaces, growing the faculty, and providing unique age specific programming. Led again this year by Middle School Coordinator and teacher Nancy Barstow, what was once held in one large classroom has expanded to several classrooms occupying the entire first floor of Park Mason. Additional boarding space in Gehring and Davidson are now committed to this group. Several new faculty members have been hired to support the program, including additional humanities, math, science and language teachers. New age-specific programming is being added, especially related to GPS, orientation, and advisory.

 

If you’re the parent of an incoming 8th grade student, feel free to reach out to Nancy Barstow with any questions. Or speak with Greg or Marcy in Admissions if you know any students who are thinking about becoming Huskies in the future!

We are planning for a transition in our Director of College Counseling position next year. Our Director of College Counseling Brooke Libby is moving on to a new position in college advising. We will be posting the Director of College Counseling position nationwide in the fall and we hope to have a new Director join us by the spring term to start to work with the junior class. To aid in the transition in the office, Brooke will continue to work in person in a more limited capacity at Gould through the end of December and then will be working remotely to support her seniors in the college process through the end of February. Brooke will actively help us network the search process for a new Director in the fall, work directly with her seniors in the college process, and continue to support and lead her team of Maggie Davis and Dan Pfistner.

Assistant Head of School for Teaching and Learning Brad Clarke says "I am very excited about Brooke’s opportunity and the next steps in her career. The College Counseling office has made remarkable strides in the breadth and depth of its programming under her leadership since 2008. Furthermore, Brooke has been a staunch advocate at Gould for diversity, equity and inclusion, for Gould's academic integrity and reputation, for the arts, and for Gould’s mission to fully support all students here at school. She has been both a mentor and close friend to me in my time here at Gould, and I know she will do great things to connect young people and their dreams in higher education in the future. Her future students will be very lucky to have her in their life! Please join me in congratulating Brooke and know that she will help us steer Gould through this important transition."

As part of a commitment to continually improving the student experience, Gould has promoted Beth Garfield P'20, '22, '26 to the role of Dean of Students. 

 

Over the past three years, she has served in a variety of roles within the Development and Admission departments at Gould, where she focused on attracting prospective families and connecting with alumni. With her previous experience working as a school counselor in New Hampshire and Vermont, she is skilled in learning styles and adolescent behavior. She previously worked at Dothan Brook Elementary School in White River Junction, Vermont, where she was instrumental in designing and implementing a nationally recognized comprehensive school counseling program to improve achievement, attendance, and discipline and close achievement and opportunity gaps. She has worked as a Positive Behavioral Instructional Practice (PBIS) coach, high school counselor, class advisor, teacher mentor, kindergarten teacher, and Yogakids instructor. She also holds a Vermont Level II Professional Educator’s License Endorsement for K-12 School Counselors. This experience, along with her role as a parent of three past and present Gould students, stands to serve the Gould community well.

 

Along with the promotion of Beth Garfield, the Dean of Students role has been redefined to oversee a team of people including the newly created positions of Director of Residential Life (now filled by Abbey Quinn ’09) and Assistant Dean of Students (now filled by Marya Vincent). In addition to incorporating restorative approaches in response to student behavior, the team will focus on developing a process for continually evaluating and improving the student experience. This year they will focus on finding additional ways to incorporate restorative practices and principles by working with the community to revise the Community Guide and review Gould’s Code of Conduct and Policies, and school-wide norms and expectations. They will also lead the creation of a new student center in Bingham with an area dedicated to day students, as well as an additional common area for all students.

Gould is proud to announce the promotion of Ben Kamilewicz ’95 to Athletic Director. An alum with a unique set of interests and skills, he brings both passion and technical expertise to the role.

He has previously worked at Gould as the registrar, English, history & IDEAS Center teacher, dorm parent, nordic ski director, and high-performance coach, as well as assisting with the implementation of a new school-wide database system last year. 
 
Ben’s previous experiences in leadership and business will help Gould continue to drive its athletic programming. He served as an Infantry Team Leader in the Vermont Army National Guard from 2001-2009 with the 3-172nd Mountain Infantry, including a combat tour in Ramadi, Iraq in 2005-2006. He skied on the National Guard Biathlon Team and USBA (Europa Cup Team) where he met his wife Sarah who earned positions on the U.S. National Team, the World Championship Team, and was named the alternate for the 2006 United States Olympic Team for Torino. In addition, Ben’s business experience includes managing information systems and large teams for international retailers.
 
As Athletic Director, he will oversee Gould’s athletic strategy, philosophy, facilities, and coaching staff. He will also further local partnerships with Sunday River, Mt. Abram, Bethel Inn, Mahoosuc Kids, Maine West Project Play and others while engaging and establishing new partnerships throughout New England. Ben’s knowledge of high-level sport, athlete development, high-performance programming, and Gould’s culture will help our athletics program reach new heights. 

Directed by Tamara Poddubnaya, The Music Without Borders Piano Festival is back at Gould! This year we are joined by student pianists from the U.S., Canada, and Europe. 🎹

For additional information and special program announcements visit musicwoborders.com

 

Gould juniors recently returned from a two-week exchange with the Lycée Marguerite de Valois school in Angoulême, France. Students lived with families for a week and attended classes, then explored the country with Mr. Adam Leff and Madame Lolo Leff P'15, '17. Looking forward to next January when the French students visit the U.S.! #GouldLife 🇫🇷

Gould Academy held its annual Underclass Awards ceremony on Wednesday, May 18 in Bingham Auditorium. Assistant Head of School for Teaching and Learning Dr. Brad Clarke presided over the evening.

The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team’s Snowboard Team nominations for the 2022-2023 season include an unprecedented two current Gould student-athletes, senior Tyler Hamel ’22 will continue his term joined by sophomore Brianna “Bri” Schnorrbusch ’24. Schnorrbusch is one of the latest additions to the U.S. Snowboard Team, announced on May 13 in Park City, Utah. Schnorrbush will join the U.S. Snowboard Development Group for Snowboardcross (SBX) and take the next step in what she hopes will be a bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, Italy.

Thanks for joining our first in-person Spring Concert in 2 years! Visit the SmugMug album to view more photos from this evening spent with Gould Performing Arts 🎤🎷🎺🎸🎻 🎹

It is again that time of year when we select student leaders for next year. There are four leadership opportunities available:

 

 

Students opt-in to the selection process using a letter of intent and writing prompts. Information needs to be submitted to Mrs. Quinn by May 6th. Selections are made using a hybrid of students, constituency groups, and faculty input.

Another Spring Family Weekend in the books! Photos are available at gouldacademy1836.smugmug.com/Photos-2021-22/Spring-Family-Weekend-2022/ 
Thank you to all who visited campus and supported the Gould Huskies!🐺

Big thank you to Coaching Fellow Megan Ahearn for capturing these moments! 📷

Happy Earth Day 🌎🌍🌏

Today students rolled up their sleeves and got to work! Programming included opportunities to:

🌲 Plant trees for new growth in the Bethel Community Forest with Inland Woods + Trails and One Tree Planted

🌱 Transplant seedlings

🪴 Build raised beds for the campus garden

🌾 Visit to Morning Glory Farm and Flat Road Farm

🛶 Explore the Sunday River Watershed

🍃 Tour Spruce Mountain wind turbines

🌻 Learn about + help install solar panels on the Admission’s Barn roof

🌳 Explore the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum

🔋 Campus Energy Tour

♻️ Tour the UMaine 4-H Camp & Learning Center at Bryant Pond

🚛 Tour Bethel’s Wastewater Facility

🥬 Visit the Alan Day Community Garden in Norway

🌿Climate Justice workshops

💧Thank you to Keynote Guest Speaker Luke Sekera Flanders, Co-founder of Community Water Justice

💚 And a special thank you to all those involved in making today possible!

Gould is the only Maine school and 1 of just 4 in New England competing! Good luck in Chicago Huskies!

Maxim Epstein '22

Peyton Hadfield '22

Quade Walls '22

Mark Brown '23

Matthew Eggert '23

Kyra Shankar '23

Jack Wellehan '23

Baylen Williams '23

 

As promised, this past Monday Gould’s COVID strategy moved to mask optional and test optional based on the current CDC county categorization. This important milestone marked a transition as our community learns to live with a terrible disease that appears will be with us for a long while.

During the March Head of School Coffee Chat on Wednesday, Mr. Smith introduced Karen Burns, our new Director of Development, and also presented updates on things the school is currently working on. The recording of Wednesday's session will be available for 30 days

The next Head of School chat will be hosted on April 6th. We usually host a Faculty Coffee Chat on the second Wednesday of the month but there won’t be one in March due to vacation.

A new option is now being offered in our dining hall. The station is labeled “BeWell” and offers options that are trans-fat free, are made with minimally-processed ingredients, mindful of added sodium and portion size, and may also be made with plant-based ingredients, healthy fat, lean or plant-based protein, limited added sugar, and high fiber or probiotic ingredients.

From our food service provider: “Food is a powerful influence on student success in and out of the classroom, but regularly making the right food choices can be a challenge. By bringing nutritious food to the table and shaping the dining environment to influence the healthy choice, our BeWell wellness approach will help your students make the best food decisions to fuel them throughout the day and build lifelong, healthy eating habits.”

We are so excited for each of you to get to know Karen Burns, Gould’s new Director of Development. She joins Gould with a terrific background in fundraising, nonprofit management, and teaching. In addition to her outstanding skill set, she is personable, thoughtful, and has an inspiring “can-do” attitude. 

Karen’s most recent position was Chief Leadership Officer at the Island Institute and she lived with her family on Vinalhaven. Karen and her husband Bruce have a son named Brandon in the 8th grade and a daughter named Natalie in the 5th grade - they will be relocating to Bethel at the end of the school year. Karen is a graduate of Amherst College and has a Master’s in Teaching from the University of Maine. She taught English for six years, served on several nonprofit boards, and has extensive experience managing a portfolio of major gifts prospects. 

Bethel, Gould, and Sunday River are not new to the Burns Family - they have a condo at the mountain. As avid skiers, her family, like so many, began to transition from “a ski family” to a “Sunday River Family” to a “Bethel Family” and we are absolutely thrilled they are now a “Gould Family”. 

Karen has so much to offer our community and we are so excited to have her on the team to help us grow the future of our school. 

 

On Friday night, Gould honored the seniors on the varsity basketball team before their home game versus Hebron. Gould engineered an exciting comeback in the second half and held on for a big win. Lots of families and students in attendance made for an awesome evening of Husky spirit! Congrats, seniors!  

Not pictured with the seniors but sorely missed were Caroline ’22 and Todd Siekman!

“Thank you very much, and I hope I don't see you on the mountain!” - Zack Schmolka ’22 as he addressed the school after being awarded with his jacket ⛷⛑

Doug Alford presented Zack with his ski patrol jacket yesterday at assembly to a standing ovation. We are so proud of Zack for this accomplishment and for taking full advantage of every opportunity that came his way during his four years at Gould. From rescuing baby owls to his strong leadership in Davidson. He welcomes every challenge with enthusiasm.

You're a Husky at heart, and we're grateful that you will be representing Gould everywhere you go. Congrats, Zack!

As seen in the Winter 21-22 issue of The GAzette magazine:

When College Guidance Counselor Maggie Davis undertook the role of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Task Force Coordinator in the spring of 2020, she had already heard certain stories from Gould’s past. But Davis rightly suspected these stories were only the tip of a much larger iceberg.

May 2020 had become an inflection point. George Floyd’s death and the Black Lives Matter movement were prompting Gould alumni to share long-suppressed sentiments and relate painful, formative experiences. Davis determined that she would embark on a “listening tour,” intended to provide a platform for these stories. From them, the Gould community could learn and begin to understand.

Read more here

This coming spring, tenth graders will spend four weeks meeting with the college counselors -- Ms. Davis, Mr. Pfistner, and Ms. Libby -- beginning to build vocabulary and understanding about the college process, developing resumes, and taking some practice tests.

As part of this education, an online discussion was held Wednesday evening on the topic of "Assessing Academic Fit" in college research. Jon Boeckenstedt, an admissions veteran and data wiz who oversees admission and enrollment at Oregon State University, offered helpful advice and tips to families. The recording is available here

If you're interested in learning more, please check out Jon's blogs and amazing data visualization on Higher Ed Data Stories and Admitting Things.

“Being a Bethel native, I have wanted to work at Gould since moving back home after living in Vermont for seven years. It has been a staple of this town my whole life. I wanted to be able to work in and give back to my community in a meaningful way and I enjoy interacting with students on a daily basis. Everyone here has been welcoming, friendly, and willing to help in any way needed! Plus, now I don't have to sneak into Formal Dinner!” - Marya Vincent