The Bears' Den | 10.12.24 A newsletter designed to keep our Berkshire community connected and engaged.

Crop Walk to End Hunger

Last Friday, students and faculty gathered in their advisory groups to take part in the 40th annual Northwest Connecticut CROP Hunger Walk by doing a campus loop together. Throughout Northwest Connecticut and surrounding towns in Massachusetts and New York, communities came together to walk and raise money to help end hunger both in our neighboring communities and around the world.

Thank you to Community Service for organizing this event!

Next Weekend! October 17-19, 2024

* Don't miss the Fall Concert! Thursday, October 17 at 7:30 p.m. in Allen Theater *

Join us under the Mountain next weekend! We’re looking forward to welcoming families for the Fall Concert, class visits, athletic contests, and more.

Cheer on the Bears Friday afternoon and stay for the food trucks, starting at 5:00 p.m. The line-up of vendors includes Roberto's Pizza, Taco Loco, Ben & Jerry's, and more! It's another full evening of entertainment as Varsity Football faces Canterbury at 7 p.m. in one of the Sheehan Cup match-ups of the weekend. Each Bears vs. Saints contest counts toward the overall tally, and the winning school takes home the Cup. Go Bears!

Pro Vita Saturday

Bears gathered in Allen Theater for the first Pro Vita Programming event of the school year on September 28 for "Real Talk," a workshop run by Kent Lenci from Middle Ground School Solutions.

Lenci specializes in teaching students about political polarization with a lens on United States politics, and a message that extends far beyond this country's upcoming presidential election. He shared experiential listening and thought exercises to encourage openmindedness and strategies to break down ideological silos.

After Lenci's presentation, students broke into small groups by grade to hold discussions across viewpoints in principled and respectful ways. Topics ranged from lighthearted to nuanced to more complex debates. The full community then reconvened in Allen Theater to hear about the experience from different groups and share successful strategies and takeaways.

Classroom Spotlight

Physics

Dan Cooper

In Mr. Cooper's Physics class, students put their skills to the test this week. As part of their unit on 2D motion, the class worked together to precisely calculate the timing of dropping an egg and having it land directly on Mr. Cooper's head as he passed underneath them on the first floor of Morgan-Bellas-Dixon.

Egg Drop

Many measurements that were taken into consideration for the timing of the egg drop: The speed Mr. Cooper was walking, the length of half the tarp, and the distance the egg had to fall, all factored into the calculations students incorporated into their experiment.

Watch the video below for the exciting result of the Physics 2D motion experiment!

With thanks to Mr. Meehan for capturing the official video.

Bears on the Air: WBSL 91.7 FM

The radio station is up and running for the school year! A 232-watt, federally licensed radio station, WBSL 91.7 FM offers students and faculty the opportunity to explore a variety of radio platforms, live on the FM radio dial.

There are student- and faculty-hosted radio programs each week in the evening starting at 7:00 p.m., including talk shows, themed-music hours, and much more! Check back regularly as new shows and time slots may be added throughout the year.

Set Build: The Fall Play

Opening Weekend: November 1st and 2nd at 7:30 pm in Allen Theater

Mark your calendars for the Theater Department's fall production of The Memo by Vaclav Havel. The absurdist comedy examines language, bureaucracy, and power to hilarious results. The cast and crew are hard at work this week on building the set, and with just about three weeks until showtime, we can’t wait for the curtain to open!

Student Recital Series

Students looking to hone their musical performances for the college audition process, have the opportunity to perform in the fall Student Recital Series, a night of music in the Berkshire Hall atrium.

This year, the audience was treated to classical violin performances by Toby Huang '25 and Hannah Hwang '25. Both of these selections are from the Bach Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor. Hannah is playing the Gigue and Toby is playing the Chaconne. Bravo Bears!

Athletics Scores and Recaps on Threads

Be sure to follow @BerkshireSchoolAthletics on Threads for game day scores and highlights!

The latest Threads updates are also posted on our website: Visit Athletics > Schedule & Scores > Scores & Highlights

The Bears Host the Southern Berkshire Eagles

Last week, Girls Varsity Soccer held a training clinic for the Southern Berkshire Eagles U10 & U12 girls teams. The Bears led the Eagles through warmups and drills, and the two squads scrimmaged together, while bonding over their mutual love of the game.

It felt great to give back to the community. I used to play on the Southern Berkshire Eagles in elementary school, so it felt like a full-circle moment for me."–Katy Gappa '25
I think my favorite drill with the girls was scrimmaging with them. It was really fun to get to motivate the girls on my team and build their competitive spirit."–Maddie Jenks '25

In the latest episode of The Campus Loop, Lisa Marshall walks and talks with Senior Faculty Member, Spanish teacher, and soccer coach, Jesús Ibáñez!

Green Key Shoutout!

October is here and the Admissions Office is humming in high season! Twenty-seven Green Key Heads lead over 200 Green Key members in the campus-wide effort of organizing tours and welcoming so many prospective families to campus. From favorite spot on campus to most cherished Berkshire memory, our Green Key Heads tell a bit about themselves and why they love sharing their school community with visitors below.

Right: Just a few of the friendly faces that make up Green Key.

Calling all Seniors

Interested in a class ring?

Class of 2025

Samuel Shapiro '08 will be on campus to share class ring samples and sizing.

Stop by his table in the Jack on Friday, November 1 from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. to order.

Questions? Contact Samuel Shapiro at hello@trustinsam.com or call 914.200.4584.

Fall Photo Day is THIS TUESDAY, October 15. Photographers from Highpoint Pictures will join us on campus to capture photos of ALL students! No pre-ordering is required. Parents or guardians will receive email proofs prior to purchasing.

Students: Please check your email for a fall photo day schedule.

Don't forget: Grab some cider donuts and hot chocolate after the photo!

Alumni Spotlight: Johnson Cheng '05

Johnson Cheng '05 is the founder and CEO of Voyager Education, a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education firm in Hong Kong that offers courses in space science, physics, the programming language Python, and Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Learn how one volunteer opportunity grew into a business that incorporated Cheng's interest in the sciences, and especially AI.

Sneak Peek: The Student Center 👀

We are so excited about the progress on the new student center. Here are a few of the latest behind-the-scenes photos!