The Peak – Fall 2023

Students in Dr. Skelton’s Modern World History Class worked on group projects writing scripts and creating music videos to illustrate either the “Drakean” (started from the bottom, now we’re here) or “Swiftian” (used to be mad love, now we got bad blood) trajectory of history for individuals in the Early Modern world (1500-1750). Students were charged with building their understanding of change over time and the impact of European colonization in the Americas — both on European colonists and the rest of the world.

Students in Mr. Karlin’s Chemistry Class observed a complex series of changes in a Closed System. Observations included temperature changes, color changes, and changes in state. The students then performed a series of experiments to determine which combinations of chemicals were responsible for each observed change.

In Mr. Brown’s Stage Combat class, students choreographed their own broadsword scenes. Incorporating safety and storytelling techniques into their works, they created a story based on an open-ended script. Through combat elements of their scenes, they worked on both their technical and theatric skills.

En Español … Dr. Mackler is a new Spanish teacher at Williams.

• B.A. in Foreign Language Teaching and Education, Instituto Superior en Lenguas Vivas “Juán Ramón Fernández,” Buenos Aires, Argentina
• M.A. in Latin American Studies, University of Connecticut
• Ph.D. in Spanish, University of Connecticut

“I am delighted to have joined The Williams community. I have felt warmly welcomed by colleagues and students. After a life-long career in education, teaching at both the college and upper school levels, I have found an educational home where values resonate with what I have always pursued as a teacher. I grew up in Buenos Aires surrounded by languages and different cultures. I was always intrigued by intercultural interaction and language acquisition. After completing a program in second language teaching and education, I started my teaching career in my home city in bilingual schools. Life took me to graduate school in the US, where I had the opportunity to grow professionally and look further into languages from the point of view of translation and literature.I love spending my free time with my daughter, reading, translating and swimming.”

Mr. Shea is a new English teacher at Williams.

• BA English, Providence College
• M. ED in Secondary Education, Providence College

Mrs. Keane’s Honors Precalculus class held its annual Probability Carnival in October. Students came up with an idea for a carnival game and calculated the theoretical probability of a person winning their game. A great time was had by all when students, faculty, and staff attended the carnival to play the games that the Precalculus students created.

As our Juniors were reading Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible in English class and learning about Puritan America in U.S. History, English Teachers (and Deans of Students) Mr. Cote and Mrs. Rallis and History Teacher Mrs. Marvel provided their students with an exploration day in Salem, MA, Known for the infamous Salem Witch Trials of 1692, students explored the sites and history of this historical coastal city located in Essex County, MA.

Students were provided with learning objectives as they prepped for the Day in Salem self-guided walking tour:

Pickering Wharf

• Friendship of Salem – A replica of the original ship Friendship which was headed to Salem when the war of 1812 began; it was captured by the British and sold at auction in 1813.
• Custom House – Nathaniel Hawthorne served here for three years and his time in the Custom House inspired his writing of The Scarlet Letter.

The House of the Seven Gables Site

• Nathaniel Hawthorne would often visit a cousin who lived here. The house, originally built in 1668, was the inspiration for his gothic novel The House of the Seven Gables.

Salem Witch Trials Memorial

• The locust trees are believed to be the type of tree used for the hangings.
• In the Old Burying Point Cemetery are interred John Hathorne and Bartholomew Gedney, two magistrates of the witch trials.
• The benches display the names of and execution dates of each of the victims of the trials.
• On the ground by the entrance to the memorial are inscribed the pleas of innocence of the victims prior to execution, but here they are interrupted mid-sentence to symbolize the oppressive indifference of their innocence by society.

The Middle School Production this year was The One-Act Play Disaster, and the entire Middle School worked together to bring the show to life. Students performed, built sets and props, designed costumes, and helped manage the media and box office for the production, which was about a middle school putting on an unauthorized adaptation of Ocean’s Eleven and doing a very bad job at it. The students did a great job with the comedic elements of the show especially the many planned mishaps.

Almost, Maine, is a magical realism play set in Northern Maine. Each scene is a separate story tied together by the theme of love. Our talented thespians  did a great job taking on these challenging scenes, with some playing multiple characters.

Skye Nugent ’23 placed 3rd overall in the Girls U17 Irish Step Dancing at the Southern Connecticut State Championships in November. Congratulations, Skye, we look forward to seeing your Irish Step Dancing talent in Compchorea ’24!

Young alumni Aaron Davis ’10 and Dan Fisher ’09 were welcomed back to campus to speak with students about their career paths since graduating from Williams and their current projects. They provided an engaging morning assembly with inspiring information and talented performances.

Aaron Samuel Davis (he, him, they, them) is a human who choreographs, performs, and teaches. His work is a combination of contemporary dance and theater. Davis currently performs in the immersive off-broadway hit Sleep No More by Punchdrunk, and is a collaborator with company Unusual Symptoms at the Theater Bremen.

Dan Fisher (he, him) is an audio engineer and musician based in New York City, working in both live sound and recording environments. In that role, he is grateful to have worked with artists such as The Roots, Tedeschi Trucks Band, and Alanis Morissette. Having written his first song for Williams’ Compchorea in 2006, songwriting and performing continues to play a pivotal role in his life.

Winterfest is a wonderful Williams tradition that brings our community together before the holiday break at the Harkness Chapel at Connecticut College. This year’s event included amazing performances by the Middle School Chorus, Voice Lab Chorus, Jazz Band, and over 25 dancers performing the candlelight dance – Winter Lights. Music teacher Mr. Cregeur and Photography teacher Miss Griswold also performed pieces that were enjoyed by all.

Thank you to to everyone who attended, it was great to see the Harkness Chapel filled to capacity to support our students and our growing Performing Arts program at Williams.

Congratulations to the Girls Varsity Soccer team!

A great season for this powerful team, they won the 2023 HVAL (Housatonic Valley Athletic League) Championship and qualified for the NEPSAC (New England Prep School Athletic Council) tournament.

Individual Accolades

WNEPSSA (Western New England Prep School Soccer Association) All-star team

• Skylar Frost ’24
• Katelyn Harvey ’24

Williams Awards

• MVP: Katelyn Harvey ’24
• Offensive MVP: Skylar Frost ’24
• Offensive MVP: Marlee Anselmi ’25
• Defensive MVP: Skylar Raymond ’25
• Coaches Award: Brooke McLoughlin ’25

Boys Varsity Soccer had some tough losses and strong wins, never losing their positive drive and spirit. After a tough last-minute tie during Senior Day that would leave any team feeling frustrated, this team rallied for senior speeches—taking the microphone and sharing heartfelt words about their eight seniors–minutes after a frustrating conclusion to a game considered won. The speeches were sincere, joyful, and admirable.

Individual Accolades

WNEPSSA (Western New England Prep School Soccer Association) All-Star team and All HVAL Team

• Tyler Gagliardi ’24
• Dylan Polidori ’24

Williams Awards

• MVP: Lukas Lucht ’25
• Offensive MVP: Tyler Gagliardi ’24
• Defensive MVP: Dylan Polidori ’24
• Coaches Award: Aarav Patidar ’24

Our Varsity Cross Country team experienced challenges, successes, and support this season. With runners eager to compete on their home course on Fall Sports Day, the coaching staff was forced to cancel the meet due to torrential downpours. Challenges of this sort did not get in the way of this team — with some runners not finishing a race at the beginning of the season to every runner improving their personal times (some by 10 minutes) at the HVAL finals. Throughout the season, the team’s fans were great and at the HVAL finals, showed up with posters, food stops, and of course a loud and much appreciated cheering section.

Individual Accolades

Jadiel Thomas ’26 had a first-place finish at CISAC! Continuing his success, Jadiel placed 15th out of 156 runners at the Boys D4 New England Championship race, qualifying for the NEPSTA (New England Preparatory Schools Track Association) Cross Country All-Star Meet.

• Girls MVP: Helen Godshall ’24
• Boys MVP: Jadiel Thomas ’26
• Coaches Award: Calvin LaFrance ’26

There were many joyful moments throughout the season for this talented and growing young team. A highlight was coining a new term – “The Bella Hat Trick” – discovered during a game against The Country School. Girls Soccer at Williams has a lot to look forward to with these young athletes moving forward in the program.

Individual Accolades

• MVP: Gabrielle Ivy ’28
• Offensive MVP: Isabella Pepas ’28
• Defensive MVP: Claire Xenelis ’29
• Coaches Award: Lilie Lavergne ’28

As with the JV Girls Soccer program, Williams soccer has a great future in store with many talented young athletes moving forward in the program. Highlights of the Boys JV season included growth in each player and the team being supported in several games by 9th grade leaders helping this younger developing team.

Individual Accolades

• MVP: Jake Gjonaj ’30
• Offensive MVP: Marek Soboleski ’28
• Defensive MVP: Nanak Patel ’30
• Coaches Award: Thomas Taylor ’29

Small but mighty is the best way to describe this team. The JV Cross Country team practiced with the Varsity team, which paid off in their meets, as they worked hard and experienced much personal and team growth.

Individual Accolades

• Girls MVP: Alexa Pesarik ’28
• Boys MVP: Finn Pesarik ’30
• Coaches Award: Max Rommily ’28

Welcoming nearly 150 guests to campus for our annual Grandparents and Special Persons Day in October, everyone enjoyed a welcome gathering with an address from Head of School Mark Fader on the state of the School, the opportunity to attend classes with students, a lovely luncheon in the Student Center, and finally the Fall Spirit Week Pep Rally.

Several Williams Student Ambassadors brought joy and community spirit to Grossman’s Chevrolet Nissan’s Touch-a-Truck event in November. Supporting a meaningful cause — the Terri Brodeur Breast Cancer Foundation — Williams students provided face painting, collected donations, served popcorn, and distributed raffle tickets. Thank you to Linda Grossman P ’24 for providing this opportunity for Williams to support a great charitable initiative.

Williams students, faculty, and staff sprung into action during November and December to collect food, hats & mittens, toys, and gifts for those in need.

Recognized by WFSB Channel 3 News on an early morning in December, the Coats for Connecticut drive is made possible by Best Cleaners, which cleans and then delivers donated coats to the Salvation Army. Thank you to Jenn and Shawn McCann P ‘25, owners of Best Cleaners, for getting Williams involved in this important service project that benefits those in need. Thank you to the Williams community for your generous contributions to this great cause.

On Williams’ annual Day of Exploration, our sixth and seventh grade students toured the Hempsted House in New London. Prior to their visit, Assistant Head for Teaching & Learning Mrs. Hannon and History Teacher Mrs. Marvel introduced students to the lives of Joshua Hempsted and Adam Jackson, an enslaved person of the Hempsted family. These two middle school history classes will be working with Juniors in the U.S. History Advanced sections to research Adam Jackson’s life, through the Witness Stones Project. In early May, students will take part in a stone laying ceremony to honor Adam Jackson. They will share the biography they compiled and their creative pieces on his life.

Our inaugural GivingBluesDay, on November 28th, exceeded all expectations thanks to the incredible generosity of over 150 members of the Williams community. Together we raised close to $80,000! This accomplishment goes a long way toward reaching the School’s Annual Fund goal of $500,000 and helping us Reach New Heights at Williams.

Head of School Mark Fader and Director of Development and Alumni Engagement Brian Mezzi continue to travel around the country to meet with Williams’ amazing alumni. From Washington D.C. to Boulder, CO to Brooklyn, NY, Mark and Brian look forward to many more opportunities to bring alumni together to connect and learn about all the great happenings  at Williams.

For the first time in 11 years, the PLP Golf Tournament was rescheduled due to rain in September yielding a beautiful day for Golf in October. A full field of golfers came out to support Williams and the Pamela Lancaster Pettinari ’87 Scholarship Fund. It was a bittersweet day, as the Lancaster Family Patriarch Spencer Lancaster, Sr. passed away days prior to the tournament, but the enthusiasm of the family and the perfect weather conveyed that Spencer was with us in spirit. Our thoughts, prayers, and thankfulness go out to the very special Pettinari family.

On the day after Thanksgiving, we welcomed back alumni and spectators for our annual Alumni Soccer Game at Williams Athletic Complex on the Turf! Nearly two dozen alumni joined current students for a beautiful day of catching up, connecting, and playing a friendly but fierce soccer game. It was great to welcome back those alumni who show up every year, as well as those who joined us for the first time this year!