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Right off the bat you should note that I’m biased against athletics. I don’t watch sports and I don’t play sports. I believe, as a proud non-athlete, that the whole concept of a preseason isn’t fair to new students. I can see why it’s a nice idea: kids with similar interests come together, teams can get some practice time in, and new athletes have a few more days to adjust before they truly begin their lives at Deerfield. It sounds great, it really does. But look at it from the perspective of a freshman who doesn’t play sports. You arrive on campus, and you’re nervous because you don’t know anyone, but that’s expected when you’re new. You pass by the hall common room and are surprised to see a group of girls laughing together about some inside joke you don’t understand. You’re confused. How are they already so comfortable here? How are they already friends? Did you miss something? It doesn’t take long before you realize that the reason for their camaraderie is that they’ve already been on campus for half a week. These freshman athletes had a three-day head start, and the most awkward part of their introduction to Deerfield is over, while yours is only beginning. For the next two days, while you unpack your boxes, they’re in the Greer socializing, and while you shyly wait in your room for your Green Key, they’re chatting with teammates. I realize that this scenario is a bit of an oversimplification. There are many people who go to preseason and still feel out of place when the first official day rolls around, and three days don’t actually make or break anyone’s experience at Deerfield. But the first couple of people you bond with when you’re in that vulnerable-new-kid-looking-for-a-friend phase are significant. These connections often develop into friendships. And more significantly, once that window of vulnerability is closed, it’s hard to re-establish the same desperate need to be outgoing and to bond with new people. I have been a new kid six major times in my life, and I can say that when you’re new, it is deeply comforting to find someone else who is as clueless as you. This is why it was so unsettling for me when I found out that I was even newer than some of my fellow “newbies.” The school puts so much effort into making the beginning of the school year as easy as possible for new students, with Green Keys, sit-down breakfasts, and Dorm Olympics. However, preseason undermines those efforts and separates the school into cliques before most students have even arrived. We establish the “Jocks” from the “non- Jocks” without giving everyone a fair chance. And all of this for what? For a few extra days of practice? Does that benefit sports teams as much as it hurts the majority of new students? I can’t imagine it does. My friend Shelbi said to me, “Caitlin, you’re being ridiculous. We had six hours of practice last Wednesday. That’s equivalent to an entire week’s running. We can’t give that practice time up.” I am not ignorant of this. I understand why coaches would want that extra time. I just don’t think that new kids should be asked to participate. I do not blame the students who go to preseason, because it is not their fault. But the more I think about it, the more the message behind it seems to say: there is a VIP group on campus that many students don’t belong to. Most new kids will not even know it exists until after their arrival. They were not asked to be part of this group, because they aren’t good enough, and their exclusion from this group will leave them feeling alienated from the community before classes have even begun.

We are often reminded that Deerfield is a community built upon respect and tradition. This year, however, there has been a lack of respect for certain traditions that are as much a part of Deerfield as the buildings, the students, the staff and the faculty. A reminder of these “unwritten” traditions seems necessary. One unwritten rule is lovingly referred to by returners as “you kill it, you fill it,” meaning if you take the last of the water or food at a sit- down meal, it is your duty to refill it for the rest of the table. It is also expected that you know your class cheer and do it along with the rest of your class at school meeting. This is an opportunity to show class pride. You should cheer enthusiastically every time, not just stand silently until you are able to sit down again. The same applies when singing school songs. Other rules of respect surround senior privileges. When seniors are dismissed from the auditorium, all underclassmen, including sophomores and first waiters, should remain in their seats until every senior has left the room. Many underclassmen have also been seen walking on senior grass this year. Senior grass is all of the grass in front of the Main School Building, and only seniors are allowed to walk on it. The seal on the floor in the trophy room symbolizes Deerfield values. We do not walk on it. Encourage visitors to respect this rule and to step around the seal. These traditions are as much a part of Deerfield life as our written rules, so this year, let’s work our hardest to be respectful of them and keep the traditions alive.

With one of their biggest games of the season coming up against Exeter, always a big contender in the New England Championship tournament, the water polo team will prepare intensely, both physically and mentally. As Coach Mark Scandling said, “Winning a championship is hard, but defending one is even harder.” To gain insight as to the details of this arduous preparation, The Scroll sat down with starters and fellow swim team members Chris Miao ’12 and Oscar Miao ’13. Both Miaos listed great chemistry as an important factor in the team’s success. “I’m really excited about the strong core group we have that has gotten better together, as well as some new outside talent, including PG Will Grant ’12, who fits well on our team as we needed a talented hole set,” Chris Miao explained. All fun aside, there have been some brutal moments as well. “I think the worst was losing to Loomis Chaffee. We just lost our focus after being up 5 to 1,” Chris Miao commented. More difficult moments can be expected in the upcoming St. John’s and Exeter games. “St. John’s Prep will be challenging because our starters are going to be playing [a different game at the same time in] Greenwich, and we need the new players to win the St. John’s game for us,” said a confident Oscar Miao. The team had an early start with preseason this past fall at Brown University, with several college coaches there to help. The team received some great insight into different aspects of the game that will help them this season. Mr. Scandling’s rigorous conditioning drills also help prepare the team for the tough road ahead. Mr. Scandling continuously stresses the 3D’s— Dedication, Determination, and Defense—which is what the team will need this season to defend their title. Their strenuous work has already led to huge wins over Andover and Choate, highly competitive teams in the New England league. Coming off a New England championship and the loss of key players the team has high standards to live up to. But when asked about their goals for the season, both Miaos instantly replied, “To win.”

The 19 th film adaptation of the Charlotte Bronte’s classic Jane Eyre was released this March to wide acclaim. Headed by the 21-year-old Mia Wasikowska, star of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and the Oscar-nominated The Kids Are All Right , Cary Joji Fukunaga’s version of Jane Eyre may well be the best out of all the adaptations of the famous novel. As Karen D’Souza of San Jose Mercury News said, “It’s impossible not to fall in love with this Jane.” However, Fukunaga’s casting choice of Michael Fassbender as Rochester has been challenged. Recently cast with the role of Magneto in X-Men: First Class , Fassbender has been criticized for his role as Rochester mostly because it strays from the original description in the book: when Jane Eyre describes Rochester, she says, “Had he been a handsome, heroic-looking young gentleman, I should not have dared to stand thus questioning him.” In the film, Rochester is portrayed as the dashing master of the house, dissimilar to the illustration in the book. Fukunaga’s rendition has also been criticized for its omission of important events of the storyline and use of flashbacks instead of a chronological timeline. Despite the differences between the films and the book, this Jane Eyre has become a favorite for many because of Wasikowska’s phenomenal portrayal of Jane Eyre as a plain young girl, and the remarkable chemistry between her character and that of Fassbender. As Fassbender commented, “I don’t think chemistry is something that you can really create. There was a big respect there, and I think that there was the same coming from her end, and it just worked. I don’t really know how you develop something like that.” With the exceptional cast of Wasikowska, Fassbender, Judi Dench and Jamie Bell, Jane Eyre is a film that not only meets the high expectations of the well-acclaimed book, but also creates a whole new perspective on one of the most unforgettable stories.

While it may seem easy to become trapped in the Deerfield bubble, seven current students studied abroad last year. Daniel Rivera ’13 went to Switzerland, Zoe Perot ’12 traveled to the Netherlands, Annie Klink ’13 visited Jordan, while seniors Megan Foster, Veronica Houk, Emma McGrath, and Christina Sheehan went to China. Sheehan traveled to Beijing where she stayed with a host family, experiencing Chinese home life and culture. At school, she took regular classes such as math and English. The Chinese classes, however, were particularly difficult, since her teacher was not lenient on speaking English. “The teachers were very strict about speaking Chinese. Even when asking how to say a word, we had to ask in Chinese [except for the word],” added Sheehan. Outside of school, Sheehan immersed herself in the culture, bargaining at markets, creating a badminton club at her public high school, and spending Friday afternoons with her local Chinese schoolmates to talk about life in America. “The whole year’s journey was such a great change from the Western perspective I had. I definitely recommend studying abroad to anyone, whether they speak the language or not,” Sheehan reflected. Meanwhile, Rivera traveled to Switzerland and, although his class schedule was similar to that of Deerfield’s, his day included many outdoor activities such as hiking or skiing in the afternoon. “Multilingual is definitely one word I would use to describe Switzerland,” he remarked. “I heard so many languages, from German to French to Italian. It really showed me how big the world is, and how much of it we are missing.” One teacher had the eye- opening experience of studying abroad too. English teacher Heather Liske went to France for SYA in her senior year of high school. “The year definitely made me fluent in French. When I lived in Morocco two years ago, I spoke French all year and I have SYA to thank for that,” remembered Ms. Liske. While delving into uncertain and adjusting to a different home may seem intimidating and frightening, those who have studied abroad say the experience is completely worthwhile. Ms. Liske explained, “I would recommend the program for many reasons, one being that when you are studying abroad, you are pushing yourself to the unknown. You learn the most when you’re in the most uncomfortable situations.”

The playing fields are full of athletes and coaches once again, and this year, four new coaches join our returners. Danielle Chagnon, a new math teacher and soccer coach, studied math at Bowdoin College, where she played soccer and softball. Ms. Chagnon spent five years coaching soccer and softball at Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, MA. “I loved the experience in a small school community,” Ms. Chagnon reflected. “To me, both teaching and coaching are vehicles with the similar goal of personal character growth. It’s satisfying to try to help other students have an affirming growth experience as well!” Water polo is a new sport for Assistant Director of Admissions Dave Irwin, who spent the last five years at the Fenn School in Concord, MA. “A lot of the strategies I’ve learned as a basketball coach translate fairly well to the pool,” Mr. Irwin explained. Miriam Singer, a new math Teaching Fellow and volleyball coach, was a four-year member of the varsity volleyball team and a captain during her senior year at her high school. She played for a Junior Olympic club team and planned on trying out for volleyball at Connecticut College, but ended up rowing for four years instead, missing the volleyball court dearly in the process. Ms. Singer conveyed her enthusiasm, saying, “I’m most looking forward to being part of a volleyball team again and working with such a motivated group of athletes! I’m also looking to crush Choate!” Lou Kinder, who graduated from Deerfield in 2005 and went on to row at Berkeley and will coach girls’ varsity rowing, is now an English Teaching Fellow and thirds field hockey coach. “We’ve got a great group of thirds field hockey players this fall. No matter what gets thrown their way, they stay positive and have a good time. I’m looking forward to watching them improve as the season progresses,” she commented. With such a great group of new coaches, in addition to our fabulous returners, this season is shaping to be a great one for Deerfield athletics.

The teachers file one by one into the auditorium. The student body stands, and the bagpipes play. At convocation, graduation, and varsity lacrosse games, the tradition of the distinct harmonic drone of a bagpipe weaves into the tradition of the green and white. But who is the man behind the kilt? Music instructor Eric Goodchild has been “playing the pipes” since he was 14 years old. “When I was young I listened to a record of the 1972 Royal Scots Dragoon Guards play ‘Amazing Grace’ and couldn’t get enough of it,” Mr. Goodchild explained. From then on, he continued playing the bagpipes, until after “selling cars for a number of years, I realized there had to be an easier way to starve.” In 1991 Mr. Goodchild started teaching his first student how to play the bagpipes. Finally, offered a job in the music department because of student interest in the bagpipes, Mr. Goodchild became involved on campus. “The bagpipes are pretty hard to play. You have to combine breath, pressure with your elbows, and then hitting the right notes on the chanter (which is kind of like a recorder), but I really enjoy lessons. Mr. Goodchild is a really nice man,” commented bagpipe student Woodson Miles ’13. Mr. Goodchild enjoys teaching students. “We all strive for some form of immortality,” he answered when asked about the most rewarding aspect of teaching, “to feel like we’re fitting into a bigger picture. For me it is the realization that…in 100 years, there may be someone playing bagpipes because I was teaching.” Apart from caring for his garden and sheep in Shelburne Falls, Mr. Goodchild plans to continue his role as a carrier of a vessel of tradition and pass his knowledge of the bagpipes on to generations to come for “as long as the Lord gives me breath and allows me to wiggle my fingers!”

If I’m honest, my comfort zone is in sweatpants and a t-shirt, but I wear blazers because they’re part of our dress code, and, to me, the dress code is one of the things that make Deerfield, Deerfield. Comfort zones and a willingness to step outside them are important. A lot of growth happens when we’re challenged or uncomfortable. It’s never easy, and for this to happen most successfully at Deerfield, communication is critical. In my estimation, this is where the summer’s angst over dress code and housing lies. With the dress code, our literal comfort zone, students felt blind sided. Many were unaware of the Dress Code Committee’s formation and the months of work that went into the revisions that were mailed in August. The changes felt imposed and aggressive because students did not feel consulted. We fell short in communication. I’m confident that an understanding of that mistake will guide any subsequent revision process. Dress code always presents a fair challenge, but housing, our figurative comfort zone, is more difficult still. Over the course of last year, faculty and trustees repeatedly shared their apprehension over growing homogeneity in dorms. Students, they said, were missing one of the unique opportunities Deerfield offers: to live with classmates from different states, countries, backgrounds, and perspectives. Responding to these concerns, we developed a hybrid process that used lottery picks as a guide while introducing enough oversight to ensure that each corridor accurately represented Deerfield’s increasingly diverse population. In this particular instance, communication did take place. Mr. Emerson shared the details of the process via e-mail, and we deans had countless conversations with students. The results, though, saw mixed reactions. Some were thrilled. Others were devastated. A perfect balance may be impossible, but, in my estimation, the configuration of this year’s dorms has moved solidly in the right direction. If diversity and heterogeneity are, indeed, guiding principles, we’ve made significant progress. How, then, do we begin to bridge the gap that a discussion of these “comfort” matters can produce? Let’s start by saying that we’re going to continue to communicate with one another. Let’s agree that these topics warrant conversation, and let’s set aside time for it. Let’s then move into what we love about this school. What’s on our lists of the things that make Deerfield Deerfield? Is a dress code there? How about being out of our comfort zones (be they literal or figurative)? Should we at Deerfield be nudging one another in that direction? Into two layers and a blazer, even if it’s a little stiff? Into a diverse corridor and out of friend enclaves, even if it makes us feel “other”? Into the new and out of the familiar? Though we may not agree on all of the ideas and practices that make Deerfield unique, an open conversation moves us in the right direction.

Tropical Storm Irene’s waters demolished several surrounding farms, leaving fields laden with silt and the crops deemed unfit for sale. North of campus, the Williams Farm lost 60 acres of sweet corn and most of their pumpkin and squash crops, amounting to $200,000 in losses according to Chip Williams. Unfortunately, because the Williams family harvested more than half of their corn crop before Irene hit, their agricultural insurance policy will not cover damages, nor will it pay the $50,000 required to replace the irrigation structure that the storm washed downstream and tore apart. The Savage family farm faces similar losses in money as did the Melnik family’s Bar-Way Farm dairy cattle grazing area. “Although this is the worst flooding I’ve ever seen, and even the worst my father has seen, we will rally from it,” said Mr. Williams. “But it will certainly take money and time.”

Floodwater filled four cellars in the museum houses of Historic Deerfield, and due to severe flooding of its basement, ground floor and corridors, the Deerfield Inn will remain closed until spring. “We have received hundreds of emails from people who have stayed with us in the past expressing concern and offering their help,” said Innkeeper Karl Sabo. “It’s absolutely overwhelming.” Aside from a set of furnaces and boilers, the Historic Deerfield collections remain unscathed. However, Peerless Insurance, the flood insurance company, proposed settlements covering a portion of at least $1.5 million in damage repair and business interruption costs. The Inn, which is accepting reservations for post-June, will reopen with additional rooms, an upgraded kitchen, more tavern and less dining space, and a multi-use terrace café. Among other casualties, the flood wiped out the Inn’s ATM. A new machine will be installed near the side entrance of the Inn in less than two weeks.

Out of students’ sight, new Director of Finances Keith Finan is working with Director of Facilities Chuck Williams to analyze the destruction caused by Irene and calculate its cost. “At this point, I can only give an estimate of between $1 million and $1.25 million as the cost to recover from the flood,” said Mr. Finan. Athletic Director Chip Davis stated, “We’ll spend over $100,000 on bleacher and scoreboard replacement alone.” The south fields and the tennis courts suffered the most damage. The tennis courts were heavily flooded but not badly damaged. “Last week when I spoke with [Building and Grounds Director] Mr. Williams, we were not expecting to find serious damage to the courts surfaces,” said Mr. Finan. The major challenge is to get the silt and debris off of the surface. “We are focused on getting the fields and courts back into shape while keeping a careful eye on the costs of each component and overall spending,” said Mr. Finan.

Tropical Storm Irene’s heavy rainfall caused several of the ten dams along the Deerfield River to overflow. The water level rose from five to 24 feet in less than one hour, leaving silt and river sand all over the lower level fields and tennis courts. “This is my thirtieth year working here,” said Groundsperson Jeff Gonyer. “I’ve seen the river flood before, but never like this.” Manager of Grounds & Infrastructure Construction Brett Gewanter explained, “Before we could even begin to think about the grass, we had to remove all the silt. After that, it was a long process of taking out the irrigation system and re-grading the field using our own equipment as well as the help of outside contractors. We then had to put back the irrigation before beginning the long process of laying sod.” Mr. Gewanter and the Grounds Department have replaced the sod on the six fields closest to the gym. “If we finish the sodding process in the next few weeks, then the fields ought to be ready by Saturday, October 22. This is all weather dependent, though,” said Mr. Gewanter. Mr. Gonyer is responsible for maintenance of the sprinkler system. It took him years to fine tune the hundreds of sprinklers on the lower level fields. Now he will have to start over. “It will definitely be a while before things get back to normal down here at Grounds,” said Mr. Gonyer.