FRIDAY, MAY 24 | 11:30 AM
We are excited to celebrate the Class of 2024 at Berkshire's 117th Commencement ceremony held at the Jackman L. Stewart Athletic Center.
Retiring faculty member, Mike Dalton will deliver this year’s commencement address. After 25 years at Berkshire, serving in various roles in the Science Department, as Director of the Ritt Kellogg Mountain Program, Dean of Students, running Berkshire’s Maple Syrup Corporation, as a champion of place-based learning, and founder of “Kilt Friday,” Mr. Dalton has been an inspiring teacher, trusted mentor, and a beloved member of our community who has impacted students in so many ways.
Following the event, graduates and their families are invited to a special luncheon under the tent.
Photographers from Highpoint Pictures will be on campus to capture Commencement. They will be taking photos of the graduates before the ceremony, images of them with their diplomas, and family photos on the lawn afterwards.
Celebrate your Berkshire 2024 graduate with our collection of memorabilia! From grad party accessories and lawn signs, to apparel and gifts, the Berkshire School Store has everything you need to commemorate this significant milestone. 🐻 💚
Classroom Spotlight
Literature & Writing Elective: Mystery and Thriller
Students in Sarah Pitcher’s English elective, “Mystery and Thriller,” recently entered work in a contest sponsored by Young Writers, an organization based in Peabody, Mass. that encourages young writers to read, write, and enjoy poetry and creative writing.
The contest, “SOS: Sagas Missing,” required that students write a “mini saga,” or a short mystery featuring the theme, “missing.” In just 100 words, students had to build tension and suspense, introduce a character, and devise a clever ending. Winning entries are published in a collection by Young Writers.
I believe that writing is something you need to practice—just like any sport. The more you practice, the better you get. I want students to see the value in writing and to realize that the skills they learn when analyzing a book are skills they will use throughout life."—Ms. Pitcher, English Department
Congratulations to Team HempFlex—Kyle Kirby ’24, Dylan Gage ’24, Kelsey Plumb ’24, Drew Bogardus ’24—the 2024 winners of the Sabin Entrepreneurial Prize! HempFlex’s proposed business is to combat the sustainability and performance issues associated with the athletic tape industry by the use of hemp, CBD, and PLCL to create a biodegradable athletic tape that provides anti-inflammatory benefits. ♻️
The Sabin Entrepreneurial Prize is an initiative created with the generous support of the Andrew Sabin Family Foundation to educate and expose Berkshire students enrolled in Advanced Economics to entrepreneurship and sustainability. The prize is awarded to the best business plan for a product, service, project, or program that not only could be financially feasible, but could contribute to living in more sustainable communities.
A special thank you to our panel of judges: Matthew Cortes ’17, Sabra Krock P’27, and Tony Saxton ’89
AAFC Conference
Sixteen Berkshire students attended the Asian American Footsteps Conference held this year on April 14 at Governor’s Academy. The conference celebrates and acknowledges the unique experiences of Asian American and Asian international students studying in independent schools across New England. Students explored identity, culture, and ways to make an impact within their communities through the theme “Creating Our Narrative.”
Congratulations to our five students who presented workshops: Maggie Ding '25, Angel Fu '25, Jenny Lee '25, Lily Truong '26, and Catherine Yan '24, and to Akari Ikeda '25 and Lily Truong '26 who led student affinity spaces at the conference.
The AAFC conference was a source of empowerment. It’s easy to feel isolated as an Asian student at boarding school, however, at AAFC I witnessed the strength of the Asian/Asian American community among New England boarding schools. We are a family, ready to reach out, form connections, and guide each other along a path of understanding and shared experiences." –Jenny Lee ’25
The Asian and Asian American diaspora is often considered to be a monolith within the United States. However, each group has a distinct and rich cultural identity, and international conflicts within Asia have contributed a further level of complexity to our shared story. Because such divisions are often generational, I believe that it is up to us as young students to build connections and create spaces like AAFC where we can understand the past to change the present.”–Akari Ikeda ’25
The 2024 A.P. Student Art Exhibit is on display at The Warren Family Gallery through May 18. Ten advanced art students have been developing portfolios of their work in a variety of media, including drawing & painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, and digital art. In early May, they submitted their final portfolios to The College Board for review and evaluation as part of the AP 2-D Art & Design and AP 3-D Art & Design programs.
Capriccio
On May 3, the Berkshire Hall Atrium was filled with classical music and solo performances at the annual Capriccio concert. The evening concluded with the premiere of original compositions by Jo Brinkerhoff '24, Stella Howard '24, Luke Matthews '25, and Morgan Murphy '24, written in their Advanced Music Theory class and performed by the Chamber Ensemble.
Congratulations to all the performers!
Closing Night!
Saturday, May 11 at 7:30 pm in Allen Theater
Spring Shorts is an annual spring tradition of short plays performed in an intimate "black box" setting. This year's collection of (mostly humorous) plays includes, The Devil and the DMV by Nora Louise Syran, How The Orcas Play by Matthew Moore, Bev by Gina Femia, Left to Write by Steven Dietz, and Post-Its: Notes on a Marriage by Paul Dooley and Winnie Holzmann.
The final play of the night is by Josaphina Brinkerhoff ’24, written over the course of a yearlong Independent Study with Theater Director Jesse Howard. Howard describes the play as “a unique blend of comedy and drama which focuses on a pair of sisters, the older of which always seems to be packing a suitcase to run off on her next adventure . . . while the younger one stays behind at home. It's funny, relatable, and moving.”
Don’t miss the rare chance to be up close and personal with the actors in this “black box” style performance, tonight in Allen Theater! The evening runs 90 minutes with a short intermission.
The Spring Dance concert will be performed in the Dance Studio and will feature a variety of styles including ballet, jazz, contemporary, and tap. In transforming the studio into a performance space, the dancers focused on navigating staging and choreography on a smaller stage, learning how to maximize space, and adjusting transitions throughout routines.
Thursday, May 16, at 7:30 PM (ET) in the Dance Studio
With this new setting, we were able to create an environment that catered to the solo and duet routines. The choreography this season emphasized the dancer's musicality and technical skills. Each routine showcases the dancers ability to adapt to different styles of dance, while sharing their personality and passion for dance."—Madison Bagby, Dance Program Director
Spring Team Photos Are Here!
Come cheer on our Bears! For the athletic schedule, click here. And, don’t forget to follow @BerkshireSchoolAthletics on Instagram and Threads for athletic scores, news, and more!
Mic'd Up with Coach Simmons
Go behind the scenes with Girls Varsity Lacrosse Coach Katherine Simmons as the Bears prepare for game day. Watch the video below.
A big thank you to Head Coach Simmons for her dedicated leadership and unwavering commitment to the Girls Varsity Lacrosse team throughout the past eight seasons.
Making History: Bears Bring Home the Founder's Day Regatta Cup
Congratulations to our Boys Varsity 1st Boat on winning the Founder's Day Regatta Grand Finals at Lake Waramaug on May 5. This is the first time in the race's storied 65-year history that the Bears will add their names to the cup!
Passover Seder
On Monday night of Passover, the Jewish affinity group hosted nearly 80 community members for its annual Passover Seder, the largest one in memory. The group introduced the Berkshire School Haggadah, a guide to the Seder, and shared the story of Passover, or Pesach, the Jewish holiday recounting the Biblical story of the “Exodus” of the Jews from Egypt, a story that is integral to Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions, alike.
Passover is enjoyed by people of various faiths because freedom is at the core of each of our stories.”–Berkshire School Haggadah
Alumni Spotlight
Teresa Liu ’09
As a reliability engineer at Apple, Teresa Liu works on all new generations of products—from the iPhone to the Apple Watch to the recently released Vision Pro—ensuring that they perform reliably. Originally from China, Berkshire “became the starting point of [her] American adventure.” Learn more about why the school motto is a guiding principle in her life and the joy of sharing Apple’s products with the world.
Tuesday, May 14 at 7 PM (EST)
Do you know someone who's interested in becoming a Bear? Our admission team invites prospective families to our Virtual Spring Open House to hear from some of our rising student leaders and learn more about what makes Berkshire, Berkshire!
For questions about the event, please email admission@berkshireschool.org or call (413) 229-1003.