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2 - The Bell October 2005 Editorials Community Growth Through This Fall’s Drama: “The Laramie Project” We’ve all heard about The Laramie Project as Suffield’s fall play this year, but are we all ready for it? There won’t be hilarious backstage scenes like in Noises Off; there won’t be crazy fight scenes like in Macbeth; and there won’t be energetic musical numbers like in Grease. However, The Laramie Project will give us plenty to think about, and will hopefully have an extensive and lasting impact on our community. The powerful subject matter of The Laramie Project is the reaction of the town of Laramie, Wyoming to the hate crime committed against teenaged Matthew Shepard. He was brutally murdered, likely because of his homosexuality. This kind of act seems to be something so hateful and cruel that many of us do not want to think that it could happen. However, the death of Matthew Shepard is very real and it isn’t something that we can ignore because of the difficulty of dealing with it. This destructive act raises a great host of issues to think about globally, but by performing The Laramie Project, Mr. Galvez and the actors in the play look to bring these issues to focus on a community level. The Laramie Project will hopefully spark a higher level of awareness and understanding at Suffield with respect to not only sexuality, but also all kinds of marginalization. As Mr. Galvez stated, “This is a modern Chapel: Back for Another Season Sarah Brislin ’06 The students and faculty of Suffield Academy meet for Chapel most Wednesdays to listen to speakers and recognize achievements. The Chapel Committee, a group of students that works with Headmaster Cahn, has been working hard to find interesting programs and speakers for the Suffield Academy community. The first meeting for Chapel was for Underclass Prize Day. The awards honored the academic achievements of the past year. The prizes, which were voted on by faculty before the end of school last year, were given from every department and recognized feats from most improved in freshman English student to achievement in advanced Mathematics. The second Chapel was completely different. Mr. Gotwals talked with the community about the history of This September, 145 new students were welcomed on Orientation Weekend. Teaching assistants and dorm proctors orchestrated the ceremonies under the direction of Suffield’s new Director of Student Affairs, Mr. Eckhardt. These junior and senior leaders, festooned in bright orange “Need Directions?” t-shirts, kicked off the weekend with the traditional singing of the school song. From there, the TAs and proctors performed skits about Suffield Academy traditions, the bell and the seal. On Saturday morning, Orientation continued with more group activities aimed at getting new students to get to Another Year at Orientation Cole Archambault ’06 Kristen LaPlante ’06 day tragedy from which I see many hopeful things emerging.” Among other things, Suffield should emerge from the performance as both a tighter and a more open community. Due to the power and magnitude of The Laramie Project and the issues it raises, it is an event that no person in this community should miss. However, this play is different from those we all might be used to. Before seeing the play, we need to prepare ourselves with certain knowledge and understanding. The GSA and other students have formed the Laramie Organization that is working hard to bring awareness to the community about the issue of how the world today deals with homosexuality. The more information we have before the play, the more powerful the experience will be, and, trumpets and treated us to a performance. He brought in his collection of trumpets, ranging from one made out a sheep’s horn to a piccolo, to show just how much they can vary in size, shape, and sound. There were also guest faculty trumpet players including Mr. Krasemann, Mrs. Vianney, Ms. Smith, and Mr. Sullivan. We have five more chapels before Thanksgiving ranging in topic from a performance from Yale University’s improvisational comedy troupe to a preview of the fall production of The Laramie Project. Other speakers include Rich Drorbaugh, who will speak about using emotional energy to have a positive influence and his work fighting cancer, and Jamie Binnall, who will talk about his encounter with drunk driving. All of these Chapels promise to be interesting and to spark discussions about important topics. know one another. “It was really nerveracking,” said freshman Liz Monty, adding, “Starting classes helped me meet more people than Orientation did.” While some students believe that the Orientation activities are humdrum and ineffective in acclimating new students to the school, some returning students disagree. “Orientation is such a valuable tradition for Suffield. Every student here has gone through it, and the activities welcome new students to the Suffield culture,” says Sarah Brislin who is one of the senior TAs who ran the weekend’s events. For this reason, Orientation, in the way we have all been through it, is presumably here to stay. hopefully, the more lasting its effects. Things that we should all be prepared for include mature themes, some mature language, and an intense and emotional experience. Returning students may remember a chapel toward the end of last year when former drama teacher Mr. Dimond shouted out a series of different kinds of slurs, which was very hard to listen to. The experience of The Laramie Project will have moments of this intensity and difficulty. However, all this contributes greatly to the overall importance of the play and its themes. Mr. Galvez declared, “No one should feel frightened or uneasy because of the subject matter. This is a great play. It’s serious, but entertaining. It’s a performance, not a lecture.” The Laramie Project is unlike any production Suffield has ever seen. It is daring and controversial, but the fact that it was chosen as the fall play shows a trust in the maturity of this community. We will get to know the people of Laramie, Wyoming as they truly reacted to this tragedy. We will likely understand a greater sense of harmful things that we do and say here at school, and through this become a more accepting and understanding place. In the words of Mr. Cahn, “It is great that we are pursuing this event. It is a very powerful statement about the level of tolerance at school today.” Join the Laramie Project Discussion Group! Email Chelsea Lessard Editors In Chief Cole Archambault ’06 Kristen LaPlante ’06 Layout Editors Yiannis Gazis ’07 Navid Obahi ’06 Andrew Teich ’06 Photography Editors Brooke Beatt ’06 Caitlin Cahill ’06 Erin Meehan ’06 Jill Furman ’06 Art & Poetry Editors Jane Fuller ’06 Nancy Fuller ’06 Features Editors Ned Booth ’06 Rob Logan ’06 Luke McComb ’06 News Editors Brie Beaudette ’07 Bianca Molta ’07 The Letter from the Editors Cole Archambault 06 and Kristen LaPlante ’06 As the fall season sets in around us, we welcome the foliage and relief from the heat. It really is a time for transition for most of the Suffield Community. For many, the experience is that of a new school. For returning students and faculty, it is a transition to new classes and new students. For the Bell, the fall has brought an almost completely new staff. This new staff is enthusiastic and hardworking. We are proud of their work thus far and think that you will be too. Just as we are happy about all the new changes of the new school year, we also have taken this opportunity to say goodbye to an old friend, Mr. Fred George. We hope you all have taken the chance to read the emotional contributions of Ron Bathrick, Mr. Brissette, and Melissa Carey. Their writing, based on their unique experiences with Mr. George, gives all of us an understanding for how much Suffield meant to Mr. George as well as how Suffield Academy will never be the same without him. The Suffield Bell A Member of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association Sports Editors Kristen Bautz ’06 Sarah Ellerton ’06 Meara McCarthy ’07 Faculty Advisor Elizabeth Stowe Contributors Chris Bae ’07 Ron Bathrick ’06 Sarah Brislin ’06 Bryan Brissette Aubrey Butcher ’06 Melissa Carey ’06 Matt Doup ’07 Hannah Frank ’09 Christina Fraziero ’07 Tsuneko Jarris ’09 Kay Kim ’06 Monica Markowski ’07 Serena Reynolds ’06 Josh Scheinblum ’07 Ana Santos ’07 Kaitlin Thomas Hae Rin Yoon ’08 photo Anonymous Suffield Academy does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship, physical attributes, disability, age, or sexual orientation. We administer our admissions, financial aid, educational, athletic, extra-curricular, and other policies so that each student is equally accorded all rights, privileges, programs and facilities made available by the school.
Features 3 - The Bell October 2005 Imagine being stuffed onto the bleachers in an auditorium on a nearly 90-degree day with 100 other kids you have never met. A scary set up for a 16 year old entering a new school. The people surrounding me were either just as skeptical as I was or stunned by the heat. I sat back and waited for the older, experienced, and intimidating proctors to begin their introductory show. My nerves calmed down a bit when the proctors came gallivanting onto the gym floor dressed in bright orange and singing a cheer about tigers. Their enthusiasm and willingness to act goofy made me think to myself, “Hey, maybe they don’t bite!” After this show of spirit, I was ready to show a little of my own. We were split up into groups of around ten people, and went out onto the lawn. My orientation group consisted of three proctors and a few kids who looked just as out of place as I felt. Our first impressions were probably all the same; wondering which of these strangers HOT New Student Orientation Tsuneko Jarris ’08 Marginalization Matt Doup ’07 & Ana Santos ’07 Have you ever witnessed someone being treated unjustly due to how they look, act, or what they believe? Have you ever been the victim of such discriminatory behavior? It is a stereotype of independent schools that everyone comes from similar racial, financial, and ethnic backgrounds; this is a common misconception. At Suffield Academy, there are a number of differences among both students and faculty alike: as our mission statement notes, we serve “a diverse student body of day and boarding students from across the United States and from many foreign countries.” Headmaster Cahn observes that outside the school, “People are excluded from the mainstream in both overt and subtle ways.” He wants our community to tolerate differences. Our theme this year, marginalization, was chosen in order to bring sensitivity to these differences and to make the community more aware of common behavior that can be offensive. Many of the events throughout the school year will be focused on this central theme. Over the summer, students, faculty, administrators, and staff read the community text A Lesson Before Dying by Earnest J. Gaines. It focused on aspects of racial discrimination, which Jefferson, an African American man on death row, The First Rule About Fight Club Is.. Cool Eyes Skunking Weeks of Six Risk Terry Schiavo Going to the Brook The Luau Being a Senior Still Mario Kart Hurricanes would turn out to be our closest friends and what the year had in store for us. As the day went on, we played a series of get-to-know-you games such as swapping shoes with group members, figuring out what we have in common by shouting out interests, and, of course, the classic Name Game. By the time our hour was up, we knew each other’s names and hobbies and were comforted by the fact that we had something in common with each member of this group. (At the very least another kid in my group also loved the color pink.) My proctors turned out to be human, not just The Big Scary Older kids. We joked around, got familiar with one another, and laughed quite a bit. As impossible as it seemed at the beginning of the day, all this talk about Suffield Academy being a community was becoming a bit clearer. The day ended on a high note, with a scavenger hunt that may or may not have been fulfilled and a bunch of friendly faces to get to know. encounters. A number of other summer reading books also tied to this theme and created a way to begin the school year already immersed in the topic. Other events, such as chapels, the money from school charities such as the Dance-athon, and a senior English Elective (Literature From the Margin) will focus on the idea of increased awareness. The Laramie Project, this year’s fall play, is about a young man named Matthew Shepherd who was victimized and killed because of his sexual orientation. It is hoped that the accumulation of all of these events and additional activities will help raise awareness about the things that are done intentionally to offend. Additionally, the objective is to bring attention to the way in which people are marginalized through unintentional acts. Mr. Cahn emphasizes that “the leadership of our school is not telling people what to think, but rather helping them figure out what it is that they think and being more aware of things.” Additionally, he feels strongly that, “exposure to forms of difference is a great source of strength for our school.” Marginalization: it’s not a butter substitute, it can’t be found on the periodic table, and it doesn’t grow on trees. However, it is important to realize that it occurs on a daily basis – maybe even to you. HOT or NOT by Ned Booth ’06 and Rob Logan ’06 NOT Not many high school s t u d e n t s can say that they have published, or even written, a book, but C h e l s e a Lessard ’06 has done both. She completed a young adult novel, entitled Old Mann Rock, at age thirteen and published it two years later. At a recent book signing for local authors at the Enfield Barnes & Noble, Lessard spoke modestly about her book. The story, which takes place during the 1870s in Vermont, is mainly a love story, although various events such as murder, deceit, and a trip down the Connecticut River to Enfield add excitement and suspense to the story. While a thirteen-year old might take this on challenge only due to a class assignment, Lessard had been writing plays and books on her own from a young age. She had Fozzie Welcome Back! Now that we’re settled in, let’s talk about this year’s theme: marginalization. I’ve been musing about it, and have decided that SA is ready to take on this serious and controversial subject. In fact, we can grow from exploring own responsibilities toward others. When I first heard about it, I wondered how could we handle such a serious theme? The word “marginalization” reminds me of all of the various hate crimes, phrases, and acts I have seen in movies and in real life. What could one school do to stop it? I was also skeptical about the fall play, The Laramie Project. The play presents interviews performed by a theater group to the population of Laramie, Wyoming, the town where 21-year-old Matthew Shephard was beaten and left for dead on October 6th, 1998. I was unenthused hearing about the subject matter; then I learned Matthew Shephard was a homosexual. This level of controversy isn’t Robert Paulson College Blowouts Week of B Monopoly Helen Keller Going to Morocco Not getting your song played Knowing youʼll be a freshman next year. Still having college applications Terrorism Published Author at Suffield Academy Sarah Brislin ’06 always loved thinking up new stories and characters. While there was no specific place from which L e s s a r d r e c e i v e d inspiration for Old Mann Rock, she was largely influenced by the music she would listen to while photo Sarah Brislin ’06 w r i t i n g . She found meaning behind the lyrics of the songs, whether it was a country ballad or ‘80s rock. Writing was only half the challenge, though. “I ended up sending it to about forty publishers before I found one that wanted to publish it,” Lessard recalled. The process took two years but was worth the wait. A senior now, Lessard plans to write more books and plays when she is older. For now she is focusing more on the performance aspect of theater and hopes to major in theater in college. You can see her in the fall play The Laramie Project or performing in Chamber Singers. illustration: Christina Frazerio ’07 something I’m accustomed to facing at SA. Now that my mind was opened to the possibilities of the theme of marginalization, many ideas came into my head. By thinking in terms of how marginalization affects a community, I realized that it is more involved in our school’s life than I thought. For example, what right do seniors have to enact their power upon the new students? I, myself, am a four year senior, but I do not feel it is necessary to degrade students by banning them from the senior corner, by cutting them in the snack bar line, or merely calling them “freshman” in a derogatory way. As seniors, we should not simply walk around with our heads held high. New students need guidance more than anything else in their first months at Suffield. Without becoming comfortable in their environment, how will they cope in the next four years? Being a senior does give us some power in the community, but it should ultimately give us the right to be the best citizens Suffield has. Remember when you were a freshman and were treated unfairly; it wasn’t a good feeling. So I leave you all with this: Being a senior has its benefits, but you should be mostly concerned with your new responsibilities. New students of all ages need our guidance, and just because we get to leave early to get food at the hot bar or that we get our own little room to hang out in, we should not push them away. We only have eight months, but they have four years. Our time is almost over, but theirs has just begun. Let’s have a good year, and let’s be seniors, with class. Fozzie
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