Chess Club founders Nathaniel Wright ’25 (left) and Trey Frantz ’25. Photo provided.

Chess Club is the newest addition to the Northwood extra-curricular catalog. The Chess Club was founded by Nathaniel Wright ‘25 and Trey Frantz ‘25, who said, “We wanted to start this club because chess has become a new passion for us both. We thought it would be a great way to be more inclusive in school and get some new bonds going.”

Chess is a game of strategy and patience; Nate and Trey have clearly mastered that as their 2-week-old club has over 50 members. Northwood School strives for unity and interdependence. Creating a new club shows the true spirit of Northwood. Nate and Trey spoke about starting a club for the educational purposes of the students at Northwood. They strive for excellence and thought that an addition of an extra-curricular that focuses on everybody talking and bonding is just what the school needs.

Members of the Chess Club play in the library. Photo provided.

“The Chess Club has gotten to an almighty start. We are holding a tournament, and I cannot be more excited. I honestly cannot believe how successful this club is, it is one of the greatest decisions I made.”

Chess Club participants are driven to get a higher rating so they can receive more prestige and a “Chess Club Instagram edit.” Some of the Instagram edit stars include Noah Moodey ‘25 and Jacob Brunton ‘25. The balance between socializing and getting better at a world-renowned game keeps bringing people to the chess board. Founders Trey and Nate are overjoyed with what has happened with the club so far and are excited for the future.

Kate Broderick ’22 (foreground) at the Pink the Rink game in October 2021 (Photo: Northwood School/Facebook).

The “Pink the Rink” event took place at the Lake Placid Olympic Center on Saturday, November 4. Pink the Rink is a student-led event that was created to spread awareness and raise money to fight breast cancer. Halle Mules ’24 and Owen Flynn ’24 came up with the idea and coordinated the successful event.

Throughout the school day, students were given opportunities to donate money to help the cause. The organizers also did a fantastic job marketing the games, and with the soccer teams in Lake Placid for the weekend, large crowds came to support the cause, all wearing pink.  

Ritter Coombs ’25 said, “It was a great experience playing for a great cause. It was also fun looking at the crowd and seeing everyone united.”

Halle Mules, the captain of the Girls’ Hockey team, is a key student-leader at Northwood. “We did Pink the Rink to hopefully make this event a student-led tradition at Northwood,” Mules said. “We wanted to play for something bigger than ourselves. We also wanted to correlate this idea to this year’s theme of unity,” she added.

Unity is something that is very important to the culture at Northwood and is something leaders at this school are trying to achieve. Diego Green ’25 expressed, “It was a great idea. Seeing everyone come together to support something that is bigger than sport is beautiful. Even [soccer Head] Coach Moodey and his family came to support.”

Halle and Owen would not have been able to produce this event without the help of several teammates, teachers, and students. The community didn’t only come together during the event but also during the process of creating the event. 

The event was one to remember and is something that will most certainly continue to be a tradition at Northwood. “The event went really well,” Mules said. “Everyone being able to come out and support something bigger than us shows the school culture is alive and well. A lot of kids donated, and a lot of kids learned more about breast cancer,” Mules added. 

As the community continues to grow, more and more leaders are trying to stimulate change. Northwood encourages these students to do what Owen and Halle did because it only brings positivity to the community. 

How would you feel if you became a person who organized and operated a business and took on greater financial risk? Wouldn’t it feel exciting and inspirational? That’s how Northwood Entrepreneurship students feel every day. Entrepreneurship is a Peak Pathway led by Mr. Thomas ”Brody” Broderick.

What really is Entrepreneurship? Why do students enjoy this class so much? What made me so captivated by this class? For this, I needed to write down my thoughts because I couldn’t find the exact little thing that made me excited to go to class every day.

Brody at the Hub. Photo: Lea Lambert ’24.

Students at work. Photo: Lea Lambert ’24.

Teegan Wardlaw ’25 at work. Photo: Lea Lambert ’24.

The Northwood School Innovation Hub on Main Street. Photo: Lea Lambert ’24.

After some reflection, I’ve concluded that it challenges me. In my life, never have I had the task to either create a project on my own, build a brand, or start something that could make the world better. The idea that we can change something gives me a purpose to keep my ideas going further. I was having a challenging time finding an idea at first. I tried creating an avalanche rescue kit but failed. I then tried cut-proof speed suits for racers, but it still wasn’t the one. When I went back home for Family Weekend, I had a Thanksgiving dinner with my family. We brought the subject up and that’s when I realized, I found my idea, and ever since, nothing has changed my mind about it.

In the first week of school, Brody asked us a question. I asked Teegan Wardlaw ’25 what challenges her the most in the entrepreneurship class, she said, “Thinking of an idea and sticking to it is hard because I often don’t have enough self-discipline.” Wardlaw also mentioned that the independent class felt different than a teacher-led class. Teegan is one of only two girls in this class with me, but that doesn’t bother her. She knew she would be out of her comfort zone, but most of the time, that’s a good thing.

I think this class only brings benefits for students. It will help students develop their entrepreneurship knowledge and, who knows, maybe one day we will be following the story of a Northwood entrepreneur.

Wissler on trombone at Lake Placid Center for the Arts on December 13, 2022 (Photo: Mr. Michael Aldridge).

Jazz Band was created five years ago by music teacher Adam Stewart and former student Bella Wissler ‘23. Bella had loads of musical talent but was frustrated that Northwood didn’t have any extracurricular activities for music.  Mr. Stewart asked her what they could do to get her to stay with the music “program.” She said her old school had a jazz band, and it would mean the world to her if they could add one to Northwood.

This is how Bella and Stewart came to form the jazz band. Today, there are five people in jazz band, each with a colorful personality. Band members include Alex Randall ’25 on trombone, Bella, currently on a gap semester before attending Middlebury, who also plays trombone, Sergio Neto ‘24 on drums, and Ivan Favreau ’26 on saxophone.

This band is casual and meant for the members’ personal development and enjoyment. Jazz band also has the opportunity to perform, but they haven’t played before an audience yet, and there is never any pressure put on the students to perform.

“We usually create the music that we perform,” Stewart said. “And if we want to perform it, then we can. But if we don’t, then we don’t.” Stewart says that the motto of jazz band is “if you play a wrong note, you play it twice, so then it becomes part of the music.” The jazz band is looking for more members to add to their ensemble.

Members understand that people have very big commitments at Northwood, so this is why the band is completely casual, but the jazz band is always open to new members. The group gets together most Mondays at 6:30 p.m., and anyone is welcome to join and jam.

If you are interested, chat or email Adam Stewart.

Northwood School is making advancements in the curriculum. This school year, four courses are dual-enrollment courses that earn college credit through Paul Smith’s College. These new opportunities are going to give students more of an advantage when they graduate high school and enter college. Students who pay the modest fee and pass the class will earn college credit.

The four dual credit courses are Advanced Psychology of Sports Performance, Advanced Biology, Advanced STEM Research, and Advanced Humanities Research. These courses have existed in previous years, but only this year have they been enhanced with the college credit option. This exciting advancement for Northwood may help students stand out in the college application process.

Dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs Ms. Noel Carmichael says the college-credit courses will boost Northwood’s academic profile.

“Dual credit courses allow us to focus on offering the classes designed by our own teachers rather than an external body. The syllabi are created by Northwood faculty and then undergo a review process with Paul Smith’s College to get approval. This allows us to offer more unique courses than the standard AP fare,” Carmichael said. “They also allow us to recognize students who do our research-intensive courses with college credit for their work. I think the ability to enter college with some credits already squared away is very attractive to families, both from a cost perspective and ensuring more academic rigor,” she added.

Balancing college work for collegiate athletes is a challenging task. During their season, student-athletes often try to lighten their load and stack their load in the off-season. Thus, being able to knock off credits in high school can go a long way. Getting those extra credits in high school may mean that students might not have such a tough time balancing academics in the future.

Students are excited about the opportunity to earn college credits while at Northwood.

“I think it’s a cool opportunity. If it is implemented more in the future that would be cool,” said Wyatt Wardlaw ’24, who is taking both Advanced Humanities and Advanced Biology.

Emma Hathaway ’24 is taking Advanced Psychology. “I think it’s good because it will be easier to do in high school than in college,” Hathaway said.

“I think it’s very beneficial because I want to pursue STEM in college and it’s good to get the credit out of the way,” said Jenny Tran ’25, who is taking Advanced Biology and Advanced STEM.

Teachers are also excited about the partnership with Paul Smith’s College.

“I think the dual credit courses are a great opportunity for students. It allows them to take a college-level class while still in high school. Hopefully, it’ll allow students to stand out in the college application process,” Advanced Psychology teacher Mr. John Spear said.

Ms. Jill Walker taught AP Biology for years. She also started the Advanced STEM research program at Northwood, so she’s familiar with challenging students with rigorous course offerings in high school. She said the dual-credit courses are “something that students can use while applying to college. Even seniors can use it because AP exams do not come out until later. For me personally, instead of teaching AP Biology, I get to teach the topics that I think are more important instead of teaching to the AP exam,” Walker said. “A large portion of taking an AP course is learning how to take the test,” she added.

Walker also appreciates independence from the College Board and AP. “It gives me more freedom to teach and engage in more productive learning. The bonus is that the kids automatically get college credit and a GPA boost. Not all schools are going to accept the credit, but some schools will. It is also important how it appears on a student’s transcript because it shows like an AP course does,” Walker said.

The consensus is this is a good opportunity for students. Everybody is excited about it and looking forward to the new school year.