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Advanced Math/Science Research Update
by Dr. April Burch, Director of the AMSR program
January 15, 2013
Since our last update, Berkshire School hosted student researchers from Belmont Hill,  and all-boys prep school outside of Boston, for a 1-day mini-symposium on Student Biomedical Research. The goal was to foster collaboration, communication and community outreach with our students. AMSR students Liza Bernstein '13, Sissi Wang '13, Lars Robinson '13, Elsie Guevara '13, Ernest Yue '13, and Nate MacKenzie '14, gave short talks about their work in the new Bellas/Dixon Math and Science lecture hall. The talks were followed up by break-out sessions where Belmont Hill students described their research projects and students discussed commonalities between the projects and future goals.
The second semester of AMSR started with some terrific news. The AMSR program was awarded a grant from The Chinchester Dupont Foundation for the purchase of an EVOS fluorescence microscope. This piece of equipment will expand the types of experiments and analyses that can be done by AMSR students this and future years. The microscope should arrive shortly, and Dr. Burch has invited everyone to stop in for a look next time they are on campus.
One new, exciting project that is underway in the winter season of AMSR in the afternoons is being spearheaded by Elif Kesaf '14. Elif is from Turkey and seeks to identify novel viruses of non-pathogenic strains of Legionella bacterium from travertines in Pamukkale. In collaboration with Dr. Sunny Shin at the Perlman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, she will be working to isolate viruses of this bacterium with the hope of identifying new agents to combat Legionnaires' disease caused by a pathogenic form of Legionella.
Look for more news from Dr. Burch in the next issue!
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Posted Thursday, May 23, 2013
The Spring Arts Option group created a wonderful tribute to beloved French teacher Jean Erick Joassaint to honor his 11-year career at Berkshire and his impending retirement: a colorful portrait of his smiling face. Click here to learn more.
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Posted Wednesday, May 22, 2013
The recipients of spring athletic awards were announced at a recent School Meeting. Click here to view the list of Varsity and Junior Varsity honorees.
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Posted Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Cody Turner '13 tackled the philosophical questions surrounding free will in his year-long independent study with Philosophy teacher and Academic Dean Clay Splawn. His study of the phrase "could have done otherwise" informed his understanding of the free will debate. Click here to read more.
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Posted Monday, May 20, 2013
Berkshire School's spring edition of its journal of arts and literature is now available online. Click here to view.
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Posted Friday, May 17, 2013
The twenty-one students who presented their Independent Study projects on Thursday evening were an energetic and enthusiastic group. They were also masters of their topics, which ranged from philosophical questions about free will to scientific explorations of symbiotic relationships between hydroponic plants and goldfish. Click here to learn more.
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Posted Thursday, May 16, 2013
This Friday, Unyime Udoh '13 will present a senior solo concert in the dance studio. This is the culmination of Udoh's four years in the program, and will include her reprise of "So-Low" and "Bendable/Poseable." Click here for details.
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Posted Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Students in Linda Bellizzi's Advanced English IV class took their study of Jhumpa Lahiri's "Namesake" and the Indian immigrant experience to a delicious new level when Suzanne Mazzarelli, mother of Arwen Neski '15, treated the class to an early-morning feast.
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Posted Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Berkshire is the recipient of the National Athletic Trainers Association (NATA) Safe Sports School award, only the fourth secondary school in the nation to receive this distinction. The award reinforces the importance of providing the best level of care, injury prevention and treatment. Click here to learn more.
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Posted Tuesday, May 7, 2013
On Friday and Saturday, theater students will be staging three, short comic plays in the round. All three performances in large part riff on theater itself, according to Director Jesse Howard. Seating will be limited to the first 100 people and is on a first-come, first-served basis. Click here for details.
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Posted Monday, May 6, 2013
Berkshire was named a Green Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education recently for its efforts to reduce environmental impact and costs, improve health and offer environmental education. Berkshire is one of just 64 schools in the nation to receive the distinction. Click here to read more.
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Posted Thursday, May 2, 2013
The dynamic senior trio of Britt Brown, Sam Clougher and Sam Friedman took home top honors at the Sabin Entrepreneurial Prize Night recently for their business plan to connect musical artists with local venues. The event was the culmination of months of planning for students in the Advanced Economics class, and competition between teams was fierce. Click here to learn more or to watch the presentations.
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Posted Thursday, May 2, 2013
Join us this Friday for an evening of great classical music performed by members of the chamber emsemble and guest soloists. Original compositions by students in the Advanced Music Theory class will also be premiered. The event will be held at 7:30 PM in the atrium of Berkshire Hall.
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Posted Thursday, May 2, 2013
Seniors celebrated College Deposit Day by sporting their new collegiate colors. On May 1st, students must deposit at the school which they plan to attend in the fall. This celebratory day marked the culmination of the college process and, not surprisingly, the mood across campus was ebullient.
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Posted Monday, Apr 29, 2013
Students in two IV Form English classes made a sweet connection to Berkshire's history when they read "Sugar Weather" by legendary Berkshire teacher Art Chase, then wrote their own syrup-inspired poems after a visit to Chase Sugaring House to witness the process first-hand. Click here to read their poems.
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Posted Monday, Apr 29, 2013
Students in Ms. Loose-Brown's Advanced Biology class took advantage of a full moon recently and hiked trails behind campus without artificial lights as part of a field ecology unit. Click here to learn more.
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Posted Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013
New prefects for the 2013-14 school year were announced today.
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Posted Monday, Apr 22, 2013
Steve Norman, Chair of the Board of Trustees, announced today that Pieter Mulder has been named Interim Head of School following the resignation of Mike Maher. To learn more about Pieter, click here.
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Posted Saturday, Apr 20, 2013
Advanced Geometry students traveled to Mass MoCA recently to tour the Sol Lewitt exhibit. Renowned for separating concept from execution of his large-scale installations, Lewitt's instructions described different geometric forms to be interpreted and drawn by draftsmen. Click here to see a slideshow.
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Posted Friday, Apr 19, 2013
Please join the Berkshire community for the Spring Concert tonight, Friday, April 19, at 8 PM in Allen Theater. The event will feature the Jazz Ensembles, Chamber Music Ensemble, Community Orchestra, Chorus, Dance, Digital Music class selections, and our beloved Greensleeves and Ursa Minor a capella groups.
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Posted Friday, Apr 19, 2013
Eleven members of the Fly Fishing Club got an early start to the season on a recent trip to the New Hartford stretch of the Farmington River, well-known to anglers for its fish density and insect hatches. Though their prey was elusive, it was an opportunity to sharpen their technical skills and enjoy a day on the water.
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Posted Friday, Apr 12, 2013
Join the community for a night of song tonight in the atrium of Berkshire Hall. Six of Berkshire's finest singers will perform art songs, popular hits and selections from musicals at Vocal Cabaret. The event begins at 7:30 PM.
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Posted Thursday, Apr 11, 2013
Aviation Science students traveled to Bradley International Airport this week to tour the FAA Control Tower and TRACON, the regional Radar Approach Control facility. They also visited Bombardier Aerospace, the world's third largest civil aircraft manufacturer. Click here to learn more.
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Posted Tuesday, Apr 9, 2013
The Advanced Math/Science Research (AMSR) program was featured in the April 9 issue of the Litchfield County Times. Program Director Dr. April Burch talks extensively about Berkshire's cutting edge on-campus lab and the research students are conducting there currently. Click here to read the article.
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Posted Tuesday, Apr 9, 2013
Three members of the Berkshire community are representing their countries on the world stage in the sport of Women's Hockey: Kacey Bellamy '05, Kendall Coyne '11 and Jeanne Morin '13. Click here to learn more.
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Posted Friday, Apr 5, 2013
Top math students continue to rack up the accolades in recent competitions. Ji Won Ryoo '14 finished second in a field of 31,000 participants, and three students finished in the top 2% on the American Mathematics Exam and qualified for the Invitational. Finally, the math team is again the top boarding school with under 500 students in New England. Click here to learn more.
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Posted Wednesday, Apr 3, 2013
This Saturday, alumni and students join forces for a great cause: Berkshire's Philanthropy Society is hosting an inter-school dance to benefit the Afghan Youth Initiative, started by Mati Amin '08. His classmate, Jon Weinner, will be spinning the music. Click here for details.
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Posted Wednesday, Apr 3, 2013
This Sunday, as part of Writing Center's monthly seminar series, Mr. Clary will share clever tricks to identify and process great amounts of information on the Internet in the most efficient way possible. Working smart is also working less! Come learn how to save time AND get better grades. Click here to learn more.
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Posted Wednesday, Apr 3, 2013
There is exciting news to report about the Class of 2013 and their plans for next year. For the third consecutive year, nearly 90% of the Class has earned acceptances to the most selective and highly selective colleges in the country. Click here to see the list to date.
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Posted Monday, Apr 1, 2013
This Friday, the Center for Global Initiatives screens Girl Rising, an inspiring documentary about the power of education to overcome the traditional subjugation of women and girls in the developing world. The film will be shown in Allen Theater at 7:30 PM and is open to members of the extended Berkshire community.
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Posted Monday, Apr 1, 2013
Many history students participated in a day-long, highly interactive exercise called Axis of Hope recently that fostered effective global citizenship skills through an"intellectual Outward Bound" geo-political case study of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Click here to learn more.
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245 North Undermountain Road 
