Between March 2^nd and the 11^th, Northwood art teacher Ms. Ingrid Van Slyke hosted an exhibition of her paintings at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts (LPCA). The showcase featured 24 pieces, all with a central theme surrounding winter. This was Van Slyke’s thesis exhibition to advance towards completing her Master of Fine Arts from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD)—a journey four years in the making. She titled it “Wintering: The Nature of Resilience.”

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When asked about her favorite piece from the gallery, Ms. Van Slyke replied: “It’s called ‘The Road Home.’ It’s one of the smaller pieces and is painted in soft pastel. The painting depicts somebody’s driveway that I frequently walk by when I go for a walk on John Brown Rd.” The Road Home was displayed alongside the exhibition’s thesis at the gallery’s forefront. “I used it as a metaphor for a journey in life. There are snow tracks and bumpiness on the road, which contrasts everything else around. In that sense, it represents the uncertainties in our lives—at times, it can be bumpy, and other times it can go smoothly,” she added.

Four years ago, Ms. Van Slyke began her journey as a student pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree. Amongst the requirements for graduation were the inclusion of a thesis show exhibition and a thesis paper to complement it. After that, she invited three professors from her thesis committee to arrange a walkthrough of the gallery, where they would ultimately evaluate the exhibit.

Ms. Van Slyke spent three years creating the art gallery—an incredible feat considering her full-time job at Northwood.

The planning of the exhibition began a year ago when Ms. Van Slyke reached out to the LPCA to find a date for the show. After discussions, they agreed upon a date, which was the beginning of this March. Fast forward to a week before the opening reception, she brought over her now-completed artworks; and, with the help of Anya from the LPCA, set up the gallery. Everything was curated—works had to be level and in proper placements.

The exhibit was a success. The opening reception took place on the evening of Friday, March 3^rd, when around 80 people attended.

Ms. Van Slyke describes the theme behind her show: “I have been painting winter for three years—it’s an environment that I like to paint a lot. The term winter does not refer to snow. For me, it was a personal time. Last year, I lost my mom, my dad, and my mother-in-law, all in a short period of time. With loss like that, people go through what I call wintering: it’s a time where you delve into your conscience and try to figure out things in life.” Afterward, she explained its connection to the gallery: “I used the showcase as a metaphor for wintering because when we look out the window here, everything is blanketed in snow. Everything becomes much more still. Then, spring comes, and life goes on.”

Abby with the HIT Device (Photo: Hung Nguyen ‘25).

Advanced STEM Research is a unique, year-long course offered at Northwood. Students can pick their topic of interest, devise a plan of operation, conduct experiments, and ultimately present their findings at the Hub in the final weeks of school. This year, Abby Sinclair ‘23 is researching the effect of diets on fruit flies’ ability to withstand concussions.

The experiment begins by feeding two fruit flies with two different diets. One group is fed a controlled diet, primarily carbohydrates, while the other will be fed a keto diet with more protein. The flies will then be struck at different angles using the High Impact Trauma (HIT) device, and observation will be made within 24 hours. Noted details include mortality rates and aggressive behavioral patterns. According to Sinclair, Sinclair hopes to see whether the data results can translate to humans with a traumatic brain injury, given that humans and fruit flies share 75% of the disease-fighting genes.

Proceeding with the preliminary observation, Abby will run three additional treatments: the control diet group, the keto diet group before and after being concussed, and the keto diet group after being concussed with the control diet group before the concussion. The upcoming procedure will be for the control group. The flies will be concussed at four combinations of hits: one hit at 40°, two hits at 40°, one hit at 90°, and two hits at 90°, respectively. After that, Sinclair will monitor the flies for the following 48 hours instead of 24 hours to record the mortality rate in the period. As mentioned, she will note any behavioral changes resulting from diet and hit combinations.

Abby developed the basic experimental design over the summer. “Originally, I came up with this idea while talking to my cousin, who was experimenting with reducing mortality in fruit flies. It piqued my interest, and the materials were accessible, so I contacted Mrs. Walker in the summer to see how we could make this happen. Once the school year started, I talked with Mr. Roy for guidance in creating the HIT device,” Sinclair said.

“I decided to take this course because I wanted to be challenged in Biology and get a taste of lab work,” she said. “I’ve liked the independence of structuring my time and how the project will turn out, the ability to make my own decisions, working out the process of dealing with fruit flies and the process of trial and error. I’ve learned the patience needed to carry out the experiment. There have been obstacles throughout the project. One instance is trying to keep the fruit flies alive, especially during the past winter break. Ultimately, I’m enjoying the class because I have learned a lot and would encourage others to take it,” added Sinclair.

Sinclair will pursue a pre-med curriculum in college, where she will continue her studies in Biology. She aspires to one day become an anesthesiologist.

I grew up in Minnesota, in a neighborhood where kids just ran around and played and had fun. We were outside all the time, and I played many sports. I was a good student; I wasn’t a great student. Very early on, I learned that I loved math and science. I went to college to be a math major and then switched because I fell in love with biology. I originally thought I would be a math teacher since I loved working with people, and I didn’t like sitting still. So, I thought I’d be a teacher there and then.

I got involved in some scientific research, and I loved it. I received my master’s degree and was going for a Ph.D. and becoming a college professor, but I realized a large part of that was writing grants and looking for money and not really doing the hands-on stuff, which is what I liked. So, I went back, and after I got my master’s, I started teaching high school.

That’s been the last 24 years. I’ve been teaching high school for a long time and have taught at the university level. I taught for two years at the university and did research. Before I went to grad school, I worked at Outward Bound. I was an Outward Bound instructor for three years, where we took kids in the woods and taught them how to hike, whitewater, canoe, backpack, and camp. I did that for three years, and I loved it, but three years was long enough—I didn’t need to keep doing it. I went to graduate school after that. So chronologically, it was college, Outward Bound, graduate school, and I started teaching high school.

My husband and I lived in Rochester, NY, about four hours away. And every time we had time off, we would drive here to do outdoor activities like rock climbing and camping. I was teaching there, and my husband works for a publishing company so that he could work from home. He still works from home, so we decided to go to the Adirondacks because I can get a teaching job anywhere, and I taught at the public school here in town for a year. Then, I came to Northwood for one year to teach biology. It was a maternity leave job. As it turned out, the position became vacant after that year, so they reached out to me, and I continued working here. This is my 19^th year now.

My favorite cuisine is probably Indian food, but anything ethnic would do: Ethiopian, Korean, Chinese, or anything with many flavors. I do like spicy food also. I like to ride my mountain bike, cross-country ski, and canoe. My biggest hobby is my dog, who’s 16 now. I also like to read, cook and garden, so there’s a lot of them. My favorite movie is The Shawshank Redemption. It might be an older person kind of movie. I don’t know if it would resonate with a younger person, but it’s an excellent book.

One of the things people might not know about me is that I spent over a decade as a high-level rock climber. That was my sport; we, my husband and I, climbed all over the country, and I loved it. It was only when I got into teaching that I started running out of time for it. I don’t do it at all, mainly because I’ve hurt my feet doing it too much for so many years, but I’ve rock climbed all over the place.

My teaching philosophy is not that any student leaves my classroom remembering a detail. The number the bones in the body, etc.? Whatever. It’s that they have enjoyed the class or learning the material enough that when they leave, they might want to look more into it. I don’t have any goal for all my students to become biologists.

It’s more if you’ve learned something in my class that you thought was interesting or fun, then maybe ten years from now, you’re reading the newspaper, or you hear something, and you’re like, oh, that’s cool, so you read or listen to it. It’s just about igniting an interest in science in the world around us and making kids enjoy learning and learn how their brains work.

I think any kid can do whatever they want now. Maybe you’re not going to be an NHL player. Perhaps you’re not going to be a Yale University doctor. But I think you can do anything if you are passionate about something. If you want to be a doctor, you can be a doctor. What are you willing to give to it, though? Academically, if you find what you’re passionate about, you can do anything you want, and it’s just a matter of putting in the time and work. I hope I can help kids learn that they can do anything they put their minds to if they’re willing to put in the time to do it and that they shouldn’t be stopped by thinking they’re not smart enough.

As told to Hung Nguyen ’25. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.

“I am actually color blind – partial color blindness – mostly blues, purples, and violets. It’s pretty much 50/50; if you give me blue or purple, I will answer ‘… let’s go with purple.?’

“I’m from Bensalem, Pennsylvania, about 25 minutes outside of Philadelphia. I have a younger sister. I live in a very populated area, on a street where all the houses are connected. In my middle school days, I would always go out with the kids on the street, ride bikes, and then when it got dark, my dad would whistle, and we would come back in because you can hear it from anywhere on the street. It was so loud.

“My friend went here right before I came here and then left right after. His name was Andrew Centrella. He and I played [hockey] together our whole life; we were family friends. His dad liked how I played, so he reached out to Coach, and he ended up wanting me to come here. One thing I never told anyone: due to COVID, when I moved in last year, it was the first time I had ever stepped foot on campus.

“So far, I kind of like it [this year]. I take 3D Modeling, it’s probably my favorite class—so fun. Right now, I’m printing a Vince Lombardi trophy with the [Philadelphia] Eagles logo on it. I also take Adirondack Sciences, Data Science, and From Word to Essay. I am taking the next step in hockey, getting some college looks.

“I like fishing. I used to fish all the time when I was little, but I haven’t recently—a lot of traveling. Golf. I got into golf this spring; we played once a week with all my buddies.

“I want to play college hockey, go to a military academy, and pursue law after my service. It kind of happened recently. Over the summer, I visited campus, and I was like “Wow, I could see myself doing this.

“Hockey-wise, there’s a lot of new kids on the team, and at least by them, I want to be remembered as the guy that treated them like we’ve been friends forever: open arms, welcomed them in. I get what they went through last year, being homesick and all. For them, I wanted to be a bigger figure—a role model.”

As told to Hung Nguyen ’25. Photo by Mr. Michael Aldridge.