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developmentMarilyn Tailor, a video and televisionproducer, to create a series called IncredibleMaine. “The show reveals to peoplewhat they don’t know about Maine,”says Wilkinson, who has received tworegional Emmy nominations for hiswork. Incredible Maine has producednearly 50 shows, and Wilkinson, an avidphotographer, does all the filming for theprogram. A classically trained musician,Wilkinson played with the Reveliers, aBoston band that had a Billboard top-100hit in 1962, during his junior year atNobles. Today, he writes 20 minutes oforiginal music for each show. “It’s wonderfulto be in show business. The wholeprocess of telling a story through film isterrific. Plus, everyone wants to be on TV,even in a rinky-dink market like Maine!”Bursting with creative energy, Wilkinsonacknowledges, “I have absolutely nobusiness sense whatsoever. Thankfully, Ihave Marilyn, who believes in my talentand gives me focus.” He laughs at whathe originally thought was going to be alucrative venture in television. “Whenwe signed on to do 13 episodes, I thought,‘Wow, this is going to make us a lot ofmoney!’ Then the economy went south.The contract from Maine Public Televisionthat I thought was going to be thegoose that laid the golden egg turned outto be an ugly duckling. But I’m having funjust the same.”At Nobles, Wilkinson wrote poetryand short stories, but it was not untilmuch later that he began to commit himselfto writing more seriously. In 1991,11-year-old Crystal Grendell of Searsport,Maine, a student in the local DAREprogram, unwittingly reported herparents’ alleged use of marijuana to thepolice. When her parents were arrested,an investigation revealed apparentcoercion on the part of the police. Thestory landed on the front page of TheWall Street Journal, and Wilkinson’s“eyes were opened” to what he viewedas social injustices perpetrated by lawenforcement in the name of the war ondrugs. “It was an awakening to a hiddentruth to which I had been ignorant formany years. I began to feel a closeness topeople who are not in my social set.…Youget a sense of rural Appalachia in Maine.As a result, my first big act of writingjust came spilling out.” The result wasWitchgrass: A Pipedream, published in2010. Wilkinson’s other novels includeThe Aspirant and Mr. Hemphill, whichwas released in February of this year.—Peter Hamilton,development officeAnd the Survey Says…In fall 2012, Nobles engaged Edge Researchto explore internal and external perceptionsof the school. Those surveyed includedparents, faculty, staff graduates, currentprospective families and families who areconsidering independent schools in theBoston market.“Periodically, it’s important to conductresearch both to test our perceptions ofhow our school is succeeding and to understandif adjustments in the program mightfurther strengthen expression of our mission,”says Bob Henderson, head of school.The study aimed to understand Noblesrelative to other top-tier schools in theBoston area and to gather insight into howbest to serve members of the community.The research findings included data from12 focus groups, many one-on-one interviewsand more than 800 completedonline surveys.A few points of interest in the findings:■■■■■■■■The survey looked at attributes thatare highly valued, as well as those thatdistinguish Nobles: No surprise thatrespondents value academic qualityand excellent college counseling. Butthe biggest differentiator for Nobles isthe meaningful experiential learningprograms, which include service learningtrips and required community service.Thirty-three percent of active prospects(for fall 2013 admission) considerNobles “the best” independent schoolin the Boston market.The top-three sources of information,in order, for determining “the best”schools: word of mouth from students,talking with parents, and meetinggraduates.■■■■A majority of respondents in all segmentsbelieve that Nobles is both“athletic” and “academic.” Those whoknow Nobles less well (the Boston independentschool market without a directconnection to Nobles) thought so theleast often, at 56 percent.Seventy-three percent of graduates feelconnected to Nobles, and 69 percentfeel well-informed.The top-four schools that respondentsranked as being higher in cost than otherindependent schools: Phillips AcademyAndover, Nobles, Milton Academy andPhillips Exeter Academy. (The perceivedcost of Roxbury Latin was lowest, withjust 4 percent of those in the independentschool market believing its cost tobe relatively higher.)22 Nobles spring 2013