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The Early Learning Center and the Out of School Center (OSC) are places for the children of Deerfield faculty and staff members to go during the day while their parents are at work. The Early Learning Center is for kids from around 15-month-olds to kindergarten and is held off-campus, near  Richardson’s Candy Kitchen. The OSC, meanwhile, is for those who are already in elementary school, and is stationed inside the Athletic Complex. The program was launched this year as several local elementary schools chose to have a hybrid schedule, which requires students to stay online for half of the week.  The new hybrid schedule posed a challenge for many of Deerfield’s faculty and staff members, who still have to work full-time and do not have the availability to stay home and look after their kids. For them, the daycare system has relieved much of the stress these changes created.  While children are at OSC for remote learning, teachers there help them to log into Zoom, finish their assignments, and stay organized. The situation is strange and unexpected for both the children and the teachers at OSC, but they are doing their best to adjust.  College advisor and Chair of the Philosophy and Religion Department Jamie Frank has a son at OSC. Ms. Frank said that OSC has made her life a lot easier. “I have friends in other industries who find it challenging because kids are not at school full-day…Teachers at OSC really provide a lot of support and fun for the kids,” she explained.  Unlike OSC, which is new this year, the Early Learning Center has been a long-standing institution at Deerfield. The center also had to adapt to many changes this year due to COVID-19. In years prior, the center was open to the local community, but now, it is only an option for children of Deerfield faculty and staff members. The center has also adopted new health protocols, including mask-wearing, daily screening, more hand-washing, and disinfecting.  Despite their young age, many children in the program have been very compliant to the new rules and changes. “Kids are doing a really good job keeping their masks on for most of the day, which is amazing,” said Lisa Buck, the Director of the Early Learning Center. In the future, Ms. Buck’s hope is that the distance between the Early Learning Center and the Deerfield community can be shortened. She believes this will help the kids feel more involved in the community, which is more important than ever this year, as there are much fewer kids at the Early Learning Center.  “We would love to be on campus someday like the OSC…we feel a little isolated now,” said Ms. Buck. The Early Learning Center and the OSC are truly a welfare for the Deerfield employees that helps them to grapple with the new norms during the pandemic.

Dr. Roland Davis will be working with the Deerfield community for the 2020-21 school year as a consultant for the Office of Inclusion and Community Life (OICL) and will help with the revision of Deerfield’s disciplinary procedures. Davis was temporarily hired during the summer, but due to the departure of Director of Inclusion Marjorie Young, he has extended his stay for the entire year. On campus, he will serve as a presence of guidance and advocacy for students.   Co-Chair of the OICL Task Force and Dean of Faculty John Taylor said that Davis’s impressive resume and promising work for other institutions was what initially attracted the Task Force to hire him. Davis received his Doctorate in Education from the University of New Hampshire, Masters in Social Work from Boston College, and Bachelor of Arts in History and Sociology from Bates College. He has previously led the Stanley H. King Institute for 18 years, a reputable counseling and training program for teachers and administrators of independent schools in promoting listening skills and empathy. He also served as Director of the Office of Intercultural Education at Bates, as well as the Harvard Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion.  Since his introduction to the Deerfield community, Davis has met with members of the Deerfield Black Student Alliance and the Asian Student Alliance to hear about personal experiences of different demographics on campus.  “Hearing [students’] stories was incredibly disheartening to me,” said Davis. “There’s a lot that’s being talked about nationally with regards to experiences of students of color at predominantly white institutions like Deerfield, and conveying their stories to the adults within this community is something I feel is needed.” His role as consultant consists of reporting back to the Inclusion Task Force to help them make  informed decisions about cultural competency and inclusion on campus.   In addition to working with alliance leaders, Davis also met with focus groups composed of randomly selected students. This helped him  garner an understanding of what students already know about the disciplinary procedures that currently exist at Deerfield, and where and how this information has been broadcasted to them. As part of his work with the Inclusion Action Plan Committee, he is exploring the future of the Discipline Education Empowerment Reconciliation (DEER) proposal along with other questions addressing the disciplinary review process. Davis plans to return to campus again in January to further work with alliance leaders and the various task forces. He explained that his goal for future visits is to simply hear more from Deerfield students themselves.  Davis said, “I’ve been in the game of the field of education long enough to know that there are two kinds of experiences: the experiences that schools tell themselves that students have, and the actual lived experiences of those students, and rarely do the two ever line up. I have a goal of creating a better community for them, whatever that community may be. That’s what gives me joy.”

Dear Reader, Over the past few months, the Deerfield Scroll ’s 95th board has combed through past publications to find articles to reprint for our election issue. Some articles were quite amusing, others worrisome. Some showed that Deerfield was striving to make progress, others showed how much work there is to be done.  The times we spent delving into each issue were my highlights for this term. We would gaze in amusement at images of old Deerfield dances, analyze political polls that the Scroll conducted in the 80s, and read interviews that startled us with their lack of political correctness. It was then that I truly realized how important the Scroll will become.  In the 2020 May issue, I wrote to you all about how our publication serves as a time capsule for future generations. In my letter, I mentioned murder hornets, the Australian wild fires, a global pandemic, and many more events that mark 2020 as an infamous year. I wrote about how students in 20, 30 years will look back to see how Deerfield students reacted to these global issues.  But little did I know how much would change on our very own campus. Little did I realize that this year will be marked as a stark difference to the traditionality that has existed for the past 95 years.  From a drastically revised schedule to a lack of sit down meals, Deerfield has had to drastically progress. We are making leaps and bounds compared to the change that has been reported on by students in the last 100 years. As a community, we have had to react to events that exist outside of the Deerfield Bubble. If you had asked members of our community in the 1900s to rid the traditions they hold so dear for the greater good, I would be surprised to hear a compliance, a peaceful removal of said traditions. Deerfield, as an institution, has and continues to hold so tightly to our traditions, and this year, we had to give many of them up.  Right on top of a pandemic causing our community to evolve, we witnessed one of our nation’s biggest elections. Communities around the world were split based on their opinions, and Deerfield was not exempt from this divide. Our campus began to learn what it means to delve into political discourse and disagree with one another.  Not only these two events, but we are in the midst of a Civil Rights Movement. Deerfield has had to completely reconsider what it means to be a modern day institution, especially an institution with a history of racism, sexism, homophobia, and much more. For years, students have faced issues on our campus, and this year these testimonies were brought to light.  With the growing prevalence of social media, Deerfield has had to redefine our current disciplinary process. As a community, we have had to create new boundaries for what is acceptable, maneuvering the definition of right and wrong as a group of teenagers. Yes, 2020 has been a major year for so many different reasons, and that is why it is vital that the Scroll continues to produce high quality, prevalent stories for you all.  It only feels fitting that the name of our publication is the Scroll , as that is what we are. The Scroll was created not to share our thoughts and views to those in our community, we all, for the most part, engage with these ideas on a daily basis, but it was founded and continues to exist for history. It continues to exist so that our writing, our words, or journalism will continue to tell a story long after our time at Deerfield has ended. We are shaping Deerfield’s story. To all the historians out there, on our campus, who have ever questioned writing for the Scroll , I urge you to do so. Stop by our board room and look at the primary sources that exist to show you what Deerfield was once like. When campus buildings were first built. When dances, like Semi-formal, were first announced. When Deerfield championed the pool deck.  In May, I told you all to write a daily journal entry, no matter how boring your day may have been. I remind you all of that possibility. But at the same time, our nation is questioning our past, and while you may be writing your present, question that past with the Scroll . The only way we can truly write about our present is if we first reflect upon our past. This was the Scroll’s goal for the fall term. To reflect upon our past, and have our community do the same.  Over the break, question your very own ancestry. Find new ways to engage in America’s controversial past. Deerfield asks us to “Be Worthy of your Heritage.” Let’s each find out what that heritage truly is to ourselves and to Deerfield’s campus.  Word hard, be kind, get smart, Harry Niles

This fall, COVID-19 precautions challenged the Deerfield Arts department with finding a way to still hold its cherished arts showcases amidst inevitable limitations. In response to these restrictions, the Arts department created the Deerfield Arts Extravaganza: a compilation of fall work completed by the Visual and Performing Arts programs, including theater, music, studio art, and dance. The event was launched through a broad platform of viewing alternatives, with video options and viewing stations set up around campus.  The theater department presented the radio play version of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, offering both audio and visual options. Theatre Director Catriona Hynds, who directed the performance, said, “[The project] gave actors more time to focus on voice and text, while the technical team built a sound studio and worked on Foley, the creation of sound effects made from ordinary objects. It was a blast!” The music department, led by Orchestra and Chamber Music Director Thomas Bergeron and Chorus Director Thomas Pousont, prepared a version of A Carnival of the Animals with selections by Camille Saint-Saëns​, Aaron Copland, and Franz Schubert. It featured piano soloists Forrest Gao ’23 and Ben Wolfson ’24, a string orchestra, and vocal soloists Christopher Gergis ’22 and Stephen Morris ’23.  Mr. Bergeron described the pieces as ten short musical vignettes inspired by various animals culminating in their parade. Dr. Pousont added, “Mr. Bergeron and I found pieces to challenge and showcase the students’ talents and the animal theme seemed like a comforting one during these times of isolation.”  The Dance Program prepared a site-specific dance video project. Describing her source of inspiration, Director of Dance Jennifer Whitcomb said, “It came about when I found I had only intro level kids in the academic program, so I started figuring out as many outdoor site specific things we could do. The piece is titled Emergence and is a story about students being stuck in zoom boxes and emerging out of them.”  Deerfield brought an alumna, Sofia Taylor ’13 onto the project. She said her role involved “discussing with Ms. Whitcomb how to translate the dance projects into film, make each piece stand out, and portray the narrative.” Taylor emphasized the collaborative effort embedded in this project since the end of October,  in addition to the smooth, efficient outcome achieved. The new perspective this film view offered, Taylor added, “would give the audience a unique viewing experience, different from that of the auditorium.”  The largest challenge for Taylor was capturing “the breaking out of internet mode” while attempting to find a clean transition between the pre-recorded zoom dances to the filmed ones. Nevertheless, with the help of her editor and dance friend Jayvee, they were able to create a unique final product.  Dancers Elizabeth Richards ’24 and Antonia Forero ’22 both expressed excitement for the upcoming showcase. Forero signified the importance of the event for dancers, saying, “It gives us an opportunity to perform and have something to work for. It’s also nice for the Deerfield community,” she said, “because it’s one of those traditions people value.”  Richards said, “I am very excited and think [the event] is important because it allows the community to get a sense for what the arts are about, both performing and visual.” She continued, “ With the many different dance styles and art mediums, it will hopefully inspire the community to further explore the arts, finding something they’re passionate about.” She also enjoyed collaborating with multiple dance levels, finding it to be a motivational experience. With the dedication of the students, excitement of members of the Visual and Performing Arts Departments, and the technical assistance of Taylor, this unique project has created special bonding performances for the Deerfield community to enjoy. Ms. Whitcomb said, “It’s turned out to be a wonderful extravaganza!”

After almost ten weeks on campus, our fall term is coming to an end. For some this might be welcomed with open arms, while others are savoring every minute they have left on campus. In a normal year, we would leave for Thanksgiving break and return for the start of winter term, but alas, this is no normal year. With a pandemic on our hands, there are many new normals in place, one being D-Term.  With this being said, seeing our friends will be much harder during our time away. While there might be anywhere from five to thousands of miles between you and your closest friends, there are ways to stay connected, all thanks to the help of an application that we have all grown quite familiar with this year: Zoom.  After frequently being on Zoom over the past 8 months, most of us are sick of these video calls. Yet, there are still new ways to have fun with the trusty video chat application.  First, have a Zoom movie night! Invite as many people as you would like, grab some popcorn, screen share an agreed upon movie, and enjoy! While you might be in different states or countries, you can still watch the same movie and have a great time.  Another great option is a Zoom slideshow party. Each person decides on a slideshow presentation they want to make and share them with the group over zoom. This is a funny way to stay laughing with those closest to you despite the distance.  Two great holiday ideas are a Zoom Friendsgiving and Zoom Secret Santa. You can still celebrate these holiday traditions with your favorite people all thanks to video conferencing. For Friendsgiving, everyone would prepare their own meal. Reminiscing about times together and looking forward to the next time you will be in person, you will enjoy chatting about what is new in each others’ lives. With Secret Santa, everyone has their designated person, ships their gift to their assigned individual, and zooms in to open and enjoy their presents! These are hard times and have been quite the adjustment for everyone on campus and around the world. The most important thing for you to do during D-Term is to stay optimistic. You might be apart from your friends, classmates, and peers, but you will be reunited together again. Cheers to another great term.

As fall term comes to an end, teachers are reflecting on their classes and the accommodations they made to make their curriculums engaging and balanced during this unusual academic year. One of the biggest changes made this year was the new block schedule, where students only take two courses each trimester.  Assistant Head of School for Academic Affairs Dr. Ivory Hills explained, “Our primary rationale for the schedule was to limit the number of close contacts in the event of positive COVID tests.”  Some teachers have responded very enthusiastically to the change. Science Teacher Rich Calhoun said, “I actually really like the block schedule. I had the double block with AP before, so it’s not that big of a change.”  He explained that student work quality has greatly improved as they have fewer classes to focus on. “The work that they are doing on projects in group work is like a different group of students than in past years. The project work is so much better because they have the ability to focus,” Calhoun said.  However, other teachers have had trouble with making such substantial changes to their curriculum and teaching styles. French Teacher Yanik Nichols said, “There is no way we can cover the same amount of material in the same way, so we’ve had to pick and choose what we want to cover. That was a huge adjustment.”  She also explained how in past years, she took students to different areas on campus such as the iLab, Greenhouse, and von Auersperg Gallery to conduct projects. However, she was unable to do so this year with how short the term is. “All of that is very different,” she said.  As well as adjusting to a new academic schedule, teachers have had to grapple with teaching both remote and in-person students. Having experienced many methods of instruction in the last nine months, many teachers feel that teaching all online or all in-person is much easier than teaching a hybrid model.  English Teacher Andy Stallings said, “The most difficult adjustment is having one student remote at just about any given time. Having only one student remote feels like a struggle to make things equitable for everybody. So even though I am aware of it and trying to adjust for it, there is no way to make it so that the person remote is having the same experience as the people in the classroom.” Nichols agreed. She said, “Having students online and in-class at the same time I find quite tricky. It’s almost easier to have everyone online or everyone in class rather than half and half.”  Beginning in the spring of the last academic year, teachers received training on how to use a variety of online platforms and mechanisms such as Zoom, Padlet, Loom, and Swivl. Teachers have tried to take full advantage of the new resources Deerfield has provided them, but sometimes face challenges navigating the new technology.  Nichols, who has had all but one of her students remote at one point or another since in-person teaching resumed, said, “I have gotten a lot of support from people like Ms. Hayes-Golding and Ms. Otterson next door, who comes and helps me.”  Nichols added, “I think the kids have been great with me as well, and I’ve learned a ton. For example, when I can’t get something to someone, students get their peers up on Facetime or on the telephone.”  While teachers have expressed their gratitude to the resources and support the Deerfield community provided, many agree that online classes or even a hybrid model cannot fully replace in-person teaching.  Although teachers faced various technological difficulties, increased use of certain technologies has been beneficial to student learning in some classes.  Stallings said, “It’s actually been really great and positive in terms of consistency of when people hand things in, but also it has been great for asynchronous discussions which have let me build conversations about process into the assignments and it has helped the students grow so much more quickly as writers.”  At the beginning of the term, all teachers started in-person teaching outside of the classroom, following the Healthy Deerfield Guidelines for students’ return to campus. Stallings said, “It was really easy for me to adjust outside.”  Even after teachers were allowed to return to the classroom for instruction, many embraced the outdoors as a teaching space throughout the term. Calhoun, who teaches AP Environmental Science, said, “We are spending the same amount of time outdoors as we have in the past, however, the work that we’re doing outdoors has a narrative element to it beyond just collecting data.”  Science teachers are not the only teachers still taking advantage of outdoor spaces while they can. Stallings has continued to regularly hold his poetry class outdoors. He said, “It has been remarkably easy as it helps students have more space to do their writing; they can find their own spot.” The outdoor spaces Deerfield has provided to students and teachers is, as Stallings stated, “Pedagogically useful as well as simply just nice.” Dr. Hills said that the Deerfield administration plans to communicate with teachers to get their overall opinion of the term. “We intend to conduct focus groups and surveys over December to learn more,” he explained. He added that he will also be sending surveys to the student body in order to understand their perspective better.  The circumstances of COVID-19 have required teachers to adjust their methods of teaching in unimaginable ways. Teaching a course in one term, moving to a hybrid model, and having to teach outdoors are just some of the changes teachers have made this year. With winter term around the corner, only time will tell if teachers need to make further adjustments.

During a tumultuous fall, Deerfield Academy welcomed over a hundred new students to its campus. Each has had varying experiences with the new schedule, quarantining, and adjusting to the school during such a strange time.  Lucy Guo ’23, a new sophomore this year, said that two hour long classes  can become tiring. “It’s kind of hard, because I have two language classes,” she explained. “It’s a lot of heavy reading.” Rufus Mahoney ’24, on the other hand, enjoys the two class block system. “I think it makes me work and learn better, and it balances out with having to rush through a yearlong course in just a term,” he said. A similar sentiment was voiced by Heidi Nam’23, a new sophomore. “We can go more in depth,” she said. “I’m satisfied with it as a whole.”  Despite different experiences with the new schedule, most students have enjoyed having free time during X-block. Mahoney said, “It’s good having a time in the middle of the day after lunch to decompress and be with friends and occasionally get work done.” Nam agreed, saying, “I like the X-block because it definitely gives me a lot of free time. And I can even sleep when I’m super, super tired.”  Quarantining was a new experience for all Deerfield students, but was especially difficult to adjust to during the first few days on campus for new students.  Nam explained that quarantine prevented her from fully exploring Deerfield. “It was definitely frustrating, because at first I couldn’t get a full walk of the school,” she said. “It’s been doable so far, but I’m not looking forward to coming back in the winter and having meals in the dorms.” Guo agreed. “Quarantine was not the best,” she said. “It was really secluded, but it’s inevitable—you have to do it.”  Coming into Deerfield, students had different expectations regarding school life and co-curriculars. “I came to Deerfield over the summer, so I had an idea of what a normal school year would be like,” Guo said. “I expected a little bit more freedom, like more interactions between halls.” For Nam, her experience falls pretty close to what she had expected. “Even with limited contact and all, I’m finally meeting the people I’ve just contacted through instagram, which is exciting,” she said. “And just being on campus is really gratifying.”  This year, proctors have also been working very hard to help their proctees assimilate into the Deerfield community. Angela Osei-Ampadu’21, a proctor on Johnson 1, helps her proctees better adjust by encouraging them to “branch out and meet new people.”  “I also try to introduce my senior friends to my 9th graders so the 9th graders feel like they have other people they can look up to and say hi to when I’m not around,” she added.  Many of the 9th graders and new sophomores are looking forward to interacting with more members of the community. Guo said, “I’m really looking forward to dances and more social events.” Mahoney agreed, saying, “I’m looking forward to any social gathering of almost any kind. I don’t even know what that list includes, but I want to meet people.”

Want to make a podcast? One that you can listen to on long car rides or listen to like a meditation? Want to make something that people can hear and relate to, and one where stories can be shared in a safe setting? Well, you’ve come to the right place.  Step one: Figure out what you want to talk about! What makes you unique, or what is something you’re passionate about? Some podcasts are geared towards certain topics, but you don’t have to follow that route if you don’t want to. Kate and Lauren Stenger ’22 run a podcast called “Double Take.” What makes them unique? Lauren says, “Being identical twins, Kate and I have a very close relationship. We work well together, and our ideas and questions bounce off of each other.” However, you don’t have to search for that “unique-ness” or set of topics if you feel you’ve hit an idea roadblock. Just talk, ease into conversations – how was your day? what did you do yesterday? what are you doing after this? – and most likely you and whoever you’re interviewing will have something in common. Chase Mathis ’21 runs a podcast called “Voices of Deerfield,” geared at getting to know the Deerfield community better. He  says, “Doing the podcast, to be frank, was all for me and the guest.”  Step two: Map out how you hope to run your podcasts! How are you going to interview people? How are you going to record, edit, and produce the podcast? Evaluating the pros and cons within podcasts is an important step in figuring out your plan. “To someone who wants to start their own podcast, my advice would be to have a focus,” Lauren Stenger recommends, “For Kate and me, we are interested in business, community service, and wellness.” Having a rubric will help keep you in line when you are recording, and will also help you figure out who you want to interview and what you want to talk about. In regards to the recording process, Mathis recommends, “I just use the Apple headphones and they seem to work as well as I need them to.” Sometimes simple tech is best.  Step three: Have fun! Podcasts do not have to be stressful; they are simply an open space to share ideas. Mathis says, “I love making podcasts. I’ve done two where the things we’ve discussed were not meant to be put on air, and therefore both of us just have these shared private conversations.” Enjoy yourself and enjoy what comes out of them! Editing can be a hassle, but as Kate Stenger adds, “Although it is a lot of work, it is super rewarding when the podcast is up and running.” If anyone is looking to learn about podcasts or to create their own, this list can be a good place to start!

As of November 16 th , Deerfield Academy had administered 14,565 COVID-19 tests to members of the community. Throughout the fall term, Deerfield reported nine positive test results. Of these nine, the school has confirmed at least three as false positives after subsequent testing. With the number of tests Deerfield has conducted and the lack of a COVID-19 test with one-hundred percent accuracy, false-positive test results are expected. Students who receive a positive test result and their close contacts are safely isolated in the newly renovated Dewey Health Center.  Kathrine Margulis ’24 received a false-positive test result for COVID-19 on September 23 rd . She shared her experience as the first student on campus to receive a positive test result for the coronavirus.  “Everything happened very quickly,” Margulis said. “I had no idea why my test came back positive because I was fine; I had no symptoms. It was just a normal day, and I was told so abruptly that I didn’t have enough time to process it before I was taken out of my room.”  Margulis also recalled not having enough time to pack before leaving to be quarantined in Dewey. Additionally, despite taking multiple saliva tests, she was not given a rapid onsite test. Margulis and her close contacts were mandated to return home for quarantine.  Deerfield has since modified its positive test protocol and now administers rapid tests immediately after a positive case is identified. “Deerfield’s system right now is so much better,” said Margulis. “Kids can actually quarantine on campus and for a much shorter period of time while determining if it’s a false positive.” Heather Brown, the Associate Director of the Center for Service and Global Citizenship and a Health Teacher, said that Deerfield’s top priority for students staying in Dewey is their ability to participate fully in their courses. She also added that keeping students well-fed is important, stating that the school works to provide “Good food, comfort, and support from the students’ advisors and other administrators to make sure that they have everything they need.” Elle Stearns ’23 was quarantined in Dewey after being identified as a close contact of a student who received a positive test result. Stearns shared her experience quarantining in Dewey. “Everyday that I was there, I was woken up by the nurses who would take my temperature. The rooms are not very lived in; they’re very institutional.” Despite her initial shock at the news, she received support from those around her. She said, “A lot of people reached out asking if I wanted to go on walks.” Stearns said her favorite part about the entire experience was the food and said, “Deerfield paid for our takeout every single night.” Taryn Boonpongmanee ’24 was also a close contact to a student who tested positive. Boonpongmanee indicated that although she knew she had stayed masked the entire time she had been around other students, she was still somewhat scared about the prospect of having COVID-19. She shared that she received puzzles to help pass the time and that the nurses would take her on a few socially distanced walks per day. Boonpongmanee was also grateful for the support her teachers provided. She said, “Everyone was really supportive and kind about it. My math teacher offered to bring me board games, and my history teacher offered to bring me extra reading.” Statistically speaking, false positives are bound to happen, especially with the high number of tests Deerfield has been administering. While the country continues to experience a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases, the Deerfield community can rest assured that the school administration is doing its best to keep everyone safe and provide comfort even within Dewey’s walls.

On October 2, 2020, Head of School John Austin announced to Deerfield faculty, and, later, the entire community, the resignation of Director of Inclusion and Community Life Marjorie Young. Her resignation leaves the one-person Office of Inclusion and Community Life (OICL) vacant. As the school searches for an official replacement for this significant position, the Inclusion Task Force, directed by Dean of Students Amie Creagh, Dean of Faculty John Taylor, and Dean of Academics and Strategic Planning Ivory Hills, will be filling in for Ms. Young’s work of inclusion on campus. Deerfield looks to not only fill the position of Ms. Young but also to extend the reach of promoting inclusion on campus. Mr. Taylor and his colleagues hope to achieve this by hiring an associate Dean of Faculty as well as new admission officers to look to further diversify campus, an initiative Ms. Young started during her tenure at Deerfield. While there are potential hires underway, there are currently no concrete plans on replacing the vacancy in the OICL.  Ms. Young’s encouragement of  difficult discussions led, as Ms. Creagh noted, “our school population to feel or recognize the need for inclusion work on campus, broadly defined. That all of us can plug into inclusion either because of its worth or because we have felt on the margins from time to time.” Mr. Taylor, who was deeply involved in the hiring of Ms. Young, said, “If [Ms. Young] hadn’t been here we’d have even a longer road to climb.” Ms. Young’s impact on Deerfield inclusion is nothing short of significant, and any work done by the Inclusion Task Force will be built upon her pioneering achievements. The Task Force is currently working closely with Dr. Roland Davis who assists the Disciplinary Committee Task Force, various alliances, cultural competency advocates, and the planning of events such as Martin Luther King Day. Dr. Austin listed many more plans for future promotion of inclusion, including increased engagement with Deerfield alumni of color. Deerfield is partnering with a firm to interview alumni of color and their families to hear their voices and experiences of attending the school. “We want to reaffirm access and equity,” said Dr. Austin. “We want to ensure that a Deerfield education is available to all interested students regardless of financial means.” Whether the Inclusion Task Force will bring all their plans to fruition is left to time, though administrators remain optimistic. Transparency to the community may prove to be a vital step in creating a more inclusive Deerfield. Ms. Young used to say that “inclusion is everybody’s job.” Future changes to the OICL and campus as a whole will work to ensure that everyone at Deerfield is dedicated to fostering an environment of such inclusion and celebration of differences, furthering Ms. Young’s vision of a culturally competent Deerfield.

What’s the coolest part about your job this year? Getting to know new people and living on the hall with eleven awesome sauce girls. Who inspires you?  My sister, whose name is Lindsey.  She is an amazing mom, an incredible powerhouse, and my best friend. What was the best gift you have ever received? The day after Christmas I got engaged to Mr. Brown, and it felt like the best gift ever.   Any advice for your previous self? Don’t care about what other people think.  If you could be any animal in the world, what animal would you be and why? I would be a penguin because I love the water and I love my crew of people and my family. What’s your favorite 90s band? Backstreet Boys or Spice Girls. Describe the color yellow to someone who  is blind. Bright, sunshiney, and happy. What are three adjectives that would describe you as a teenager? Rule follower, enthusiastic, and loyal. If you were to get rid of one state in the U.S., which would it be and why?  North Dakota because I have no interest in going there.   If you had a full day off, what would you do? I would binge-watch Netflix, go on a walk with Hatch, and go out to dinner. If you were not a health teacher, what would you do with your life? Working at Disney World as a Disney princess,  I would either be Cinderella or Tinkerbell. What would you do if you won the lottery? I would buy a private jet and travel the world.  What’s the most interesting thing about you that we wouldn’t learn from your resume alone? I have sailed thousands of miles.  I’ve been to every continent except Australia; and I love being an aunt. What do you think of garden gnomes? Cute but #creepy. A penguin walks through that door right now wearing a sombrero. What does he say and why is he here? He says “what’s up” and is here to have a meeting with Angie about recommendations he has about Deerfield Student Council.

Before March 2020, wearing masks was an unfamiliar concept. Now, however, it has become our new norm as all Deerfield community members work together to protect the community from the spread of the virus. Indeed, COVID-19 has changed and will continue to change our lives for some time to come. Ever optimistic, Deerfield students have not only adapted to mask-wearing, but also have sought creative ways to use masks. By keeping a positive attitude toward masking, Deerfield students have found ways to engage in acts of service. From starting student-led organizations such as Shielding Our Defenders, to sewing masks and using social media to provide fashion-related advice for mask wearers, Deerfield students have extended their initiatives beyond campus.  At the start of the pandemic in March, Angie Osei-Ampadu ’21 and Eric Wang ’21 co-founded Shielding Our Defenders (S.O.D.), an organization that donates masks and PPE to hospitals and health care workers. Angie shared that they came up with the idea while discussing the dramatic impact of the pandemic on New York City. She had explained the situation at the hospital where her mother was employed: “The nurses and doctors didn’t have enough masks. The PPE was really short.” Eric then told her that he had extra masks that his dad had been sending over from Hong Kong and that he would arrange for some masks to be shipped to her mom. Soon, Osei-Ampadu and Wang realized that this could be implemented on a larger scale to support multiple hospitals around the country. When asked about the fundraising success of S.O.D., Osei-Ampadu attributed it to wide-spread support from fellow Deerfield students. “[The success was] very much due to the Deerfield network and people’s willingness to help and get involved,” she said.   S.O.D. recruited Deerfield students to join its efforts by sharing about the organization through Instagram and promoting their GoFundMe page. She also noted that one of the most difficult things about the project was continuing the momentum. “I started reaching out to all the news channels that I could, and finally, News 12 got us on for the Bronx, but it was also broadcast on all the News 12 news channels, covering places from the five boroughs all the way to New Jersey,” she said. “A lot of people saw us and then helped us raise money.” Approximately thirty-seven Deerfield students are now part of SOD. Collectively, they have currently donated 21,678 masks and raised $40,569 to protect healthcare workers. Liv Del Sarto ’21, one of  S.O.D’s members, shared her work with S.O.D. as well as projects to provide cloth masks for her community.  “I was making masks for my family members and friends, and then later in the summer I started making them for my local homeless shelters and places that I knew needed them,” she said. “I’ve always been a crafter, so that was just something that appealed to me as a way to help.” Del Sarto was not the only Deerfield student who worked with S.O.D. Lilly Berry ’21 worked as the Head of Communications and the Head of the West Coast Branch, as well as  collaborating with the New Jersey team. She shared that, surprisingly, one of their biggest struggles was finding hospitals to donate masks to. “There were times where we had masks sitting in our houses and could not find a place to donate them. Besides that, we were fortunate not to face any big struggles,” she said.  When asked about her favorite aspect of S.O.D., Berry shared that it was being able to use their resources to help those in need. “We received a picture from some of the staff at a California hospital that had just received a shipment from us,” she recounted. “Even though they were wearing masks, you could see that they were smiling!” In regards to staying safe on campus, Director of Medical and Health Services Dr. Bryant Benson shared that, “We want to keep multiple layers of protection in place to operate in the best and safest way we can. To keep our community, our employees, and our students safe, and to stay open. We want to have this in person experience which makes Deerfield so Deerfield.” He also noted that during the months spent preparing for students’ return in the fall, “It was very concerning to our crew in the health center, trying to find PPE, especially because it dried up in the first few months of the pandemic. But luckily in the summer, we found alternative vendors collaboratively through alumni, collaboratively through peer schools, and we worked collectively trying to find gear, so we were in good shape PPE wise when the school year started. Much better shape than I had initially thought we would be in.” Thanks to these students’ efforts to make mask-wearing an opportunity for service and fun,  the Deerfield community can be assured that what’s really under people’s masks are smiles.