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Priya Phillips '20 In August of 2018, the NCS community received a letter from the Governing Board Chair Alice Hill ’74 announcing that Elizabeth English had been chosen to succeed Kathleen O’Neill Jamieson as the 11th Head of School. Ms. Jamieson, or KOJ as many NCS students affectionately call her, notified the Upper School community of her retirement during a homily she was delivering amid an otherwise typical chapel service. While recounting her many fond memories of her time on the close, Ms. Jamieson explained that her time on the close was coming to an end so that she could pursue her other scholastic interests and passions. While the students were all happy to hear about how Ms. Jamieson plans to spend her retirement, this news was undeniably bitter-sweet, especially for the Class of 2020. For the Classes of 2018 and 2019, the news of a new Head of School’s appointment starting in the 2019-2020 school year was outside of their realm of concerns. For the Class of 2020, however, the idea of having to say goodbye to the only Head of School they’ve ever known, and right before the start of their final year on the close, was especially emotional. Though, as students began their summers, all thoughts of school fled from their heads and, among those thoughts, the concern of who would be the next Head of School.
When news was relayed over the summer regarding the search committee’s pick for Head, all of the Class of 2020’s prior concerns melted away. Elizabeth English has an impressive and extensive history in girl’s education under her belt. With a BA in English from Skidmore college, an MAT from Tufts University, and an EdM from Harvard University, Ms. English clearly spouts some very impressive educational accomplishments. Her career in education began with a teaching position in the English department at the Emma Willard School in New York and other administrative positions in the Massachusetts public school system. Later in her career, Ms. English went on to be the Upper School director at Atlanta Girls’ School and following that she became the Head of School at The Archer School for Girls, a position she has held since 2008. Ms. English’s accomplishments during her tenure at Archer are numerous and every one of them ushered the school towards becoming an exceptionally inclusive, well-rounded, and all-around impressive institution. Ms. English’s long career of being a champion for girls’ education, especially the need for diversity and energy in said education, makes her a perfect fit for the Close. While the idea of such a large change affecting the close is still a little intimidating, Elizabeth English’s accomplishments and her passion for education have done a more than adequate job of soothing any and all anxieties on the Close regarding the transition. As a junior, I can now say that my only regret regarding Ms. English starting her career at NCS during my senior year is that I will not get to bear witness to all of the great improvements she will make to our community.
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by Kristine Schwartz '22 This past weekend, while the rest of the Upper School settled into the new school year, the NCS freshman class headed over to the Bishop Claggett Retreat Center in Adamstown, MD.
We arrived on Friday around noon, after an hour-long bus ride filled by belting old Taylor Swift songs. Our first afternoon of the retreat was dedicated to outdoor activities, including some where we had to (literally) lean on our classmates and trust that they would support us. One of the highlights of these activities was towards the end of the afternoon when we all got to experience a long zipline through the woods. At the end of the day we ate dinner, with every person sitting at a table designated to their homeroom. That night there was a thunderstorm, which unexpectedly moved our evening activities indoors. However, we didn’t let the rain stop us from having a great time. We got to know Dr. Brown-Allen, the Head of the Upper School, and spent a lot of time brainstorming (and arguing about) our class Spirit Day skit. When the time came for us to settle in for the night, we ran through the rain back to the building we would be sleeping in. By the time we got back to our rooms everyone was soaked from the rain and sweaty from being in the heat all day. Despite our general grossness, we still all poured into the hallway for an impromptu dance party to "Mr. Brightside." It wasn’t long before the teachers told us to stop or we’d break the floor, and honestly, I was surprised we hadn’t already broken it. Lights out was at ten thirty but, as you can probably imagine, very few people actually went to sleep then. Our long, long night consisted of truth circles, running through the hallways, complaining about being hungry and thirsty, and a 2 a.m. yoga/zumba/pilates class led by someone who had never actually done any of those activities. This retreat brought all the girls in our grade closer together, whether they had been at NCS since fourth grade, or were new this year. We got to know and trust each other through planned bonding activities, such as having to get 14 girls through one normal-sized hula hoop as fast as possible (our record was 4 seconds), and unplanned activities such as the biggest game of “Never Have I Ever” I’ve ever seen. Coming into this school year, I had no idea how our class dynamic would change with so many new additions. After this retreat I realized that even though there are new girls and our class has grown in size, we are still going to be the tight-knit class that trusts and counts on each other constantly. by Kate Mabus '19 While I was sitting at lunch during the last week of my junior year, one of 2019’s student government representatives recounted to me the events of the school year’s last student government meeting. She told me how Mr. Harger, NCS’s former Assistant Dean of Upper School student life, ended his final student government meeting ever (I’m not crying, you are) with one last message to the class of 2019. He said, “I am so excited for you guys as seniors. You’re going to do it right.”
The members of the class of 2019 pride ourselves on our ability to get hyped for legitimately any and every school event during the year. We never falter on our Halloween costumes, most notably our infamous junior year Shrek trio, our Spirit Week costumes produce the majority of Amazon’s September gross income, and we’re down to start a dance party almost anywhere—even when Dr. DiQuinzio begs us to stop playing our music in the cafeteria. But, our spirit runs so much deeper than just dressing up for Spirit Week. Whether it’s supporting our classmates in the classroom, on the field and stage, or anywhere in between, the Class of 2019 always shows up. The lesson we want to pass on as seniors this year is the importance in the ability to love where you are, what you’re doing, and who you’re with. This is motto that we came up with on our senior retreat and it is what’s made our grade so much closer and our spirits so much higher. High school passes by faster than you think, so this Spirit Week we want everyone to dress up (duh!), plan some group costumes, and just have fun with your classmates. by Matthew Bruning '20 and Chris Sosnik '20 Fantasy football. From September 6th to December 30th, you will be hard-pressed to walk through the halls of St. Albans and not hear trade talk, waiver-wire pickups, injury reports, or depth charts. People go so far as to buy services like FantasyPros, spend free periods haggling trades, and customize alerts on phones for specific players’ news. Here are some numbers from Forbes showing how addicting fantasy football can be:
Usually completed the week before school, drafts leave some with confidence and some with dread. There’s good reason for concern: league punishments are as severe as shaving heads and league buy-ins often deplete Sam’s Bar reserves (not that we still go there, anyway). Furthermore, in twelve- or fourteen- man leagues, the limited ability to pick up players off of the waiver wire means that early-round choices will carry your team for the rest of the season and that drafting a sleeper rookie or undervalued vet could be the difference between winning and losing on any given week. With these thoughts in mind, league members watched football Sunday waiting to see how their team would shape up. The first regular season games came at the end of the first week of school, perhaps bringing with them more anxiety than school itself. Odds are frustration and pain came for losing teams while winning squads just pushed that torment to another Sunday later this year. No matter whether you rejoiced or suffered last Sunday, many questions still remain for the rest of the season. When will the Le’Veon Bell hold-out end? Can I ever trust Matthew Berry again? Is it worth adding Jay Cutler as a deep sleeper stash? As some managers watched their teams sink, worries like these heralded in the first trades this season (like my team, which sank with 72.5 PPR points this past week). Hastily-made and often regretted, trades have been known to completely change the course of a season (just ask Henry New ‘20). Teams that started out 6-0 then fell to 6-10 because of poor management and misleading FantasyPros advice. However, bad trades aren’t necessarily that way from the start; sometimes players just get hurt. In fact, these injuries are a constant source of uncertainty throughout the season (unless you have Jordan Reed, in which case there is no question). While draft day ultimately sets the framework for most teams at the start of the season, by the end of the year injuries leave new benches and hobbled starters. Most times the deepest teams become the playoff-bound folk—rookie breakouts and surprising veteran comebacks continually march teams to scores above 150 points. In that case, I guess only time will tell which teams will go down in the annals of history as embodying greatness and which ones will make their owners regret having spent countless hours on the ESPN app. Maybe Bell will come back before Week 9 and demote James Conner. Maybe Matthew Berry will earn his title as a fantasy analyst. Maybe, just maybe, Jay Cutler will come back from retirement again and win his first MVP. And with any luck, the Giants will win the NFC East. Thankfully, four months still lie ahead to appreciate fantasy football. The season is just beginning. |