Students were greeted on opening day with an unwelcome surprise. As they were unpacking and settling into their new rooms, they discovered surprise bunkmates: bed bugs. Three dorm rooms were discovered to have the pests. Those rooms, along with the surrounding rooms and hallways, were promptly disinfected by professional exterminators. Even though eradicating bed bugs can sometimes take weeks or months, depending on the extent of the infestation, there is no evidence at this point that bed bugs are in any other spaces at school.

Mr. Tom Broderick in protective clothing during the bed bug outbreak in September 2018. (Photo: Mr. Joey Burnah)

The bed bug outbreak displaced a total of four students from their rooms in Bergamini for less than a day. Two of the displaced students had beds infested with bed bugs, while the other two were hall RAs who helped move the infested bedding. The RAs rooms were treated to ensure the outbreak didn’t spread.

Assistant Head of School Mr. Tom Broderick supervised the cleanup. “The insects were found in the wood frames of the affected beds, somewhere that the school had missed to check in the run-up to school,” explained Broderick. “As soon as we became aware of the situation, we sprayed a plant-based toxin, which only harms bed bugs and not humans, in common areas around the campus including hallways and the student center as a precautionary measure,” he said.

Northwood had a similar incident about ten years ago when a student found bed bugs in her bed after returning to school from vacation. Since then, the school has purchased bed bug-proof mattresses to prevent the infestation of beds in dorms, but they are not 100% effective. However, with as many as 1,500 people using the beds on campus every summer and students who travel extensively, it is difficult to conclude from where the bugs originated.

“Bed bugs are a reality in modern world. We have students from 24 countries and 21 states who have been traveling. It wasn’t really surprising that the outbreak happened. I think what’s more surprising is that this didn’t happen sooner,” commented Mr. Broderick.

“We’re fortunate that we have experts here in our town that deal with bed bugs on a regular basis, like local hotels. Though these bugs are resilient and hard to eradicate, we’re fairly confident that we’ve got the situation covered,” Mr. Broderick said. As a preventative measure, the school has been installing bed bug monitors that use heat and CO2 to attract, trap, and kill bed bugs under beds. The school is also looking into the possibility of treating all student rooms with intense heat during the next school break. The procedure raises ambient room temperature to 130℉, a lethal temperature for bed bugs.

Since most humans do not react to bed bug bites, it is not uncommon for people to have bed bugs and not know. Therefore, it is important to educate our students on how to spot bed bugs to allow timely intervention. See more about bed bugs here.

This is the second in a series of articles to explore the arts at Northwood. Here we look at music and performing arts, while the previous story features visual arts.

The student and faculty talent showcase held on April 25th represented a variety of interests of the Northwood community from singing and dancing to stand-up comedy and improvisational theater. Fourteen acts, consisting of students and teachers, captivated the packed auditorium crowd. Event organizers hope that the talent showcase is a successful start to a series of annual performing arts shows.

Scenes from the performing arts program at Northwood. (Photo: Ms. Noel Carmichael)

Scenes from the performing arts program at Northwood. (Photo: Su Hae Jang ’20)

Scenes from the performing arts program at Northwood. (Photo: Su Hae Jang ’20)

Scenes from the performing arts program at Northwood. (Photo: Su Hae Jang ’20)

Scenes from the performing arts program at Northwood. (Photo: Su Hae Jang ’20)

“Ms. Sanford and I initially wanted to organize [the showcase] for students who weren’t in music classes,” commented Mr. Michael Portal, a music teacher at Northwood. “But then we also figured that it would be nice to add some variety to our band and guitar classes. I think that this event was a great opportunity for those who performed and for the audience as well,” said Portal. “Everyone seemed to enjoy the acts.”

Owen Pierce ‘21 played the violin in the talent show as a part of the band class. “I used to play the violin in an orchestra back when I lived in Baltimore,” said Pierce. “I’ve been in county showcases before, and the student talent showcase at Northwood was a very unique experience for me. [The performance] was on a much smaller scale than what I am used to, but at the same time, I did feel kind of uncomfortable because I’ve always played my violin with other people in the orchestra,” he said. “Overall, it was really fun, and I can’t wait to experiment with more songs and play them in front of people,” said Pierce.

Northwood tends to have a competitive culture, and the talent showcase featured prizes for the top acts. “Northwood kids tend to be competitive, and it was great to see how they competed against each other in arts,” said Ms. Noël Carmichael, the Ninth Grade Class Dean who also helped organize the event. “Next year, the art department is looking forward to expanding the talent showcase to also incorporate visual arts so that it can be more of a mixed media presentation rather than just music,” added Carmichael.

At Northwood, students develop their abilities to communicate their artistic visions not only through performances open to all levels, such as the Northwood Cafe open-mic events and the talent showcase but also through daily practices. The school offers a total of five music classes — Band, Guitar, Advanced Guitar, Music Recording, and Vocal Performance — and students are welcome to tap into the knowledge and skills of the Northwood performing arts faculty to learn new instruments, create their own music, sing, and so on. The courses explore various musical techniques, including classical and contemporary repertoires, and teach students to apply them to different genres like jazz, soul, rock, and pop.

Northwood School requires students to three trimesters (or one full year) of art, but many choose to take many more than the minimum graduation requirement.

Many students learn to play the guitar for the first time in Mr. Portal’s guitar classes. “Growing up, I’d always jump around and play the air guitar, even when I was raking leaves in my backyard,” said Mr. Portal. “I think that it’s great how my passion for playing the guitar influences my students,” he said. “Learning to play the guitar can be physically hard in the beginning, but it’s one of those instruments that are easily accessible. For a beginner, guitars are a great starting point because once you know a few chords, you start picking up really quickly,” he added.

“What I like most about guitar classes here is that I can learn to play the songs I like,” said sophomore Courtney Fairchild. “The first time I took Guitar in my freshman year, Mr. Portal taught me how to play ‘Seven Nation Army’ and ‘Simple Man,’” she recalled. “I instantly fell in love with the guitar. Starting from guitar classes, I’ve challenged myself to take Music Recording, and now, I’m taking Band,” Fairchild added. “In Music Recording, I had no idea what I was doing, but I managed to make a pretty good heavy metal song. Band classes give me a break from academics. Also, my band is just a pretty fun group,” added Fairchild.

Zach Zientko ‘21 currently plays the bass in Band. “In band class, there is more variety in what we can do,” said Zientko. “We can have a lot more fun because we can choose what songs we want to play as a group. You wouldn’t really expect a traditional instrument, like Owen’s violin, to go well with a band of electric guitars and a drum, but we were surprised to find out that they make a shockingly good mix,” Zientko added.

In recent years, students have been permitted to use the co-curricular time each day, once reserved exclusively for athletics, to pursue other interests, like art, music, robotics and community service.

“I think that co-curricular music is a good place to start if you don’t really know what instrument you’re interested in playing yet,” said junior Isaac Newcomb. “I did it last year, and I liked how I was able to make music individually, at my own pace.” Twice this year Newcomb has successfully performed the music he has composed: in the Winter Carnival talent show and the Northwood talent showcase. Each of Newcomb’s performances received a fervent response from the audience. “The most important thing when making music is being able to gain comfort and confidence,” said Newcomb.

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This year, the Northwood community has also collaborated in producing theatrical productions. What is Love? was directed by Ms. Carmichael and included 21 students who participated in the co-curricular drama offering that culminated in the performance following the Valentine’s Day formal dinner. Carmichael and her students put together numerous acts, ranging from spoken word to dancing, all under the theme of love. “I was really pleasantly surprised by the number and variety of people who wanted to participate in our show this year. We had students doing backstage work as well,” commented Carmichael. “Next year, we are going to have two shows — one in the fall, which will probably be a small-cast musical, and one in the spring. We will be having auditions for the fall show the week after LEAP so that during the summer, the cast can memorize their lines and practice for the performance that will be held two months after school starts. One of the main reasons I’ve decided to have another show early is because I want people who are dedicated to their winter sports to have a chance in participating in school theater,” she said.

Carmichael is excited about a new course offering next school year. “Approaches in Acting is a new one-trimester elective course next year. For those who are interested in taking the course for an entire year, I am willing to make it progressively intense,” Carmichael said. “I encourage students who don’t necessarily think of themselves as ‘theater’ kids to join because we will not only learn about the history and techniques of acting but also how to gain self-confidence and project our voices when we are on stage,” she added.

In the coming days and weeks, students will be making course selections for next year. Art teachers and student artists encourage students to add art classes to their schedules, even if they’ve met the minimum requirement. Art courses available to students next year include:

• Fundamentals of Art
• Drawing (and Advanced Drawing)
• Painting (and Advanced Painting)
• Print Making
• Ceramics
• Raku (Advanced Ceramics)
• Sculpture
• Digital Imaging (Photography)
• Advanced Studio Art (Honors)
• Innovation with Design Thinking
• Approaches in Acting
• Band (and Advanced Band)
• Guitar (and Advanced Guitar)
• Vocal Performance
• Music Recording

At the height of the outbreak students and staff used surgical masks to prevent the spread of the illness.

Northwood School and the surrounding community of Lake Placid were recently stricken with outbreaks of influenza and the virulent stomach illness. The school’s nurses, dorm parents, staff, and faculty members took every measure to provide comfort to all students and teachers who were sick.

The entire Northwood population was engaged in efforts to curb the spread of the diseases as well as to mitigate the severity of symptoms, which included nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, body aches and chills. The kitchen crew restricted the use of utensils and prepared separate tables for sick students while the maintenance staff regularly disinfected all public spaces, door handles, and banister railings. Students whose roommates were ill were required to sleep in another room to reduce exposure to the epidemic.

Tables in the dining room reserved for ill students were disinfected regularly.

Influenza and numerous other viruses spread rapidly during winter due to close physical networks and the lack of humidity. Viruses of airborne diseases can linger in the air longer in drier conditions than they can in more humid conditions. “In humid conditions, water droplets in the air, which tend to contain viruses, drop to the floor, preventing people from breathing in the viruses,” explained Chris Pierce, a mathematics teacher at Northwood School who previously worked as an epidemiology researcher at Johns Hopkins University. “This is why making sure that people are vaccinated is important during wintertime,” said Pierce. “Influenza vaccine shots create a system called herd immunity, where people who are vaccinated essentially become a force field against others who are not protected. We, as a community, have a moral obligation to protect vulnerable people who are unable to get vaccinated for different reasons.”

Nurse P checked a student’s temperature in the living room.

Regarding the stomach bug outbreak, “The stomach flu was probably a school-wide norovirus infection,” he said. “Norovirus is highly contagious because it can survive on a surface for a long time,” Pierce continued. “It can survive on railings, silverware, or toilet seats for days or weeks. The dining room is probably the epicenter at Northwood because that is where most of the communal living here happens. The virus usually spreads quickly in enclosed places like nursing homes, schools, and cruise ships.”

Meanwhile, as reported in a school-wide email from Tom Broderick, the Assistant Head of Northwood School, the local public high school had approximately one-fifth of the student body sick with the stomach bug last week, and the local emergency rooms and hospitals were inundated with similar cases.

Due to a high volume of sick students within the campus, all students were welcome to take a long Winter Weekend off campus with parental permission. Because there are no vaccines or drugs to prevent and treat the stomach illness, Northwood has used all-campus emails and school meeting announcements to remind the student body to practice good hand hygiene and be conscious of infection control measures when interacting with ill students.

The nursing staff was unavailable to provide detailed statistics for this story, as they were occupied with taking care of sick students. It is estimated that about 30 to 40 students were ill simultaneously at the height of the epidemic, and as many as 93 students and 27 staff succumbed to the outbreak from January 3 to 15.

Holli Edgley, one of Northwood’s two school nurses, expressed gratitude to all who helped during the outbreak. “A heartfelt thank you to all of the faculty, staff, and students who helped to assist the nursing staff in their efforts to care for all those affected by this recent wave of illness. Additionally, a special thank you to Joey Burnah and his staff for their hard work cleaning the school and to Colin Miller and his staff for their extra efforts in the kitchen this past week,” said Edgley.

The “bomb cyclone” Grayson had plastered the Northeast with blizzards and potentially damaging winds, according to the National Weather Service. Northwood School accumulated a massive amount of snow. Wind gusts as high as 30 mph that range from 30 to 45 below zero are impacting how the school’s population deals with the cold.

The reinforcing shot of Arctic air has recently been affecting the facilities of Northwood. Over the winter break, the bitter cold froze and damaged pipes, such as the plumbing in the bathroom of the Second East. Sub-zero temperatures also affect the heating system of the school. Most of the heaters on campus blast on high all day long. This causes depletion of the moisture content of the air within the building, harming people’s sensitive skin and nasal passages. [Read more…]

Power outages in educational facilities are disruptive, more so than in residential areas. They can cripple schools with impacts on fire alarms, phone systems, lighting, and class schedules, as well as the potential for data loss and equipment damage. Consequently, schools need a source of accessible power at all times, especially during school hours.

Contractor pour concrete behind the Allyn (main) building last week.

Northwood School has been constructing an emergency power generator since the first week of November and is expected to finish before the end of January 2018. When completely set up, the diesel backup generator will supply power to the school campus, with the exception of Bergamini and the House, within three to five seconds of a power loss.

[Read more…]