The student-run newspaper of Northwood School in Lake Placid.
Northwood School will offer an Aviation Science program beginning the second trimester. Students enrolled will learn to fly single-engine airplanes. The course will prepare students for the Ground School Certification and Private Pilot’s License Exam.
Students will learn to fly single-engine planes like this one (Photo: Adirondack Flying Service)
On this election day in the United States, President Donald Trump and the Republicans have the support of less than twenty-five percent of the Northwood School community, while more than forty percent prefers Democrats and former President Barack Obama. Support for Trump and the Republicans equaled those who say they “Don’t know and/or don’t care.” [Read more…]
In a letter to the Northwood School Community, Head of School Mr. Michael Maher today announced that necessary funds have been raised to open Northwood on Main at the beginning of the 2019-20 school year. The announcement comes following the fall Board of Trustees meeting in Lake Placid October 26-27, 2018.
This rendering of Northwood on Main was included in today’s announcement.
The iconic downtown Lake Placid building, most recently occupied by With Pipe and Book, was purchased by Northwood School late in 2015 and was originally projected to open in the 2016-17 school year. The building has sat vacant since the school purchased it.
What follows is Mr. Maher’s letter to the community:
Dear Alumni, Families, and Friends of Northwood School,
I write to you today with exciting news about Northwood’s continued commitment to the growth and education of young people.
In the fall of 2016, Northwood School announced the Campaign for Northwood School on Main, an aspirational investment in Northwood’s future, our students, and the residents of the Adirondacks. Phase one of the campaign launched with a goal of raising $2.5 million for the renovation of a state-of-the-art facility, anchored in the heart of Main Street, Lake Placid.
Today, I am proud to announce the successful completion of phase one of our campaign and the Northwood School Board of Trustees’ approval to begin immediate construction on the facility.
Pre-construction planning and work is well underway and the Board has approved a timeline that projects major construction activity in the spring and summer of 2019, with the goal of opening the facility in the early part of the 2019-2020 academic year.
Northwood on Main, modeled after nationally acclaimed programs such as the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy, MIT’s Media Lab, and Stanford’s D School, symbolizes Northwood’s commitment to educational leadership in the 21st century. The facility will be home to Northwood’s new Department of Innovation, Engineering, and Entrepreneurship, offering hands-on, project-based learning in emerging fields of study and occupation such as innovation with design thinking, 3-D modeling, robotics, and entrepreneurship, to name a few.
The combination of Northwood on Main’s facilities and academic programming will provide a collaborative and creative environment for young people to explore a broad range of interests that share the focus of real-world application. The mission of Northwood on Main is to prepare young people to be leaders in fields that innovate solutions to the challenges of our global community.
I wish to express our sincerest gratitude to the Northwood School trustees, alumni, families, and friends who, through their extraordinary vision and generosity, have made Northwood on Main a reality.
In the coming months we look forward to updating you on the progress of Northwood on Main and sharing the multitude of opportunities that our students, faculty, alumni, families, and members of the Adirondack community will have to partner with Northwood School in innovation and creative learning.
Best Regards,
Michael Maher
Head of School
The Halloween season has the Northwood School community reflecting on whether or not the school is haunted. This article, written by Khaly Barry ’16, was produced for the Making Radio Spring Program in May 2014. See more content from Making Radio. It first ran in The MIrror on October 28, 2016.
Mr. Tom Broderick
Are there ghosts at Northwood School? Lots of people, including students, faculty, and alumni who have lived on campus, say the school is haunted. Mr. Tom “Brody” Broderick, longtime history teacher, Assistant Headmaster and Dean of Students, is the school’s unofficial scholar of all things supernatural. Correspondent Khaly Barry ask Brody and a few students to share ghost stories.
“Do I think Bergamini is haunted? Yes.”
“There’s a belief that this girl’s ghost is walking around the attic.”
“Is that ghost roaming around? Who knows?”
Gusikoff: Faces of ghosts appeared in our pictures.
Sophomore Stephen Gilligan has also seen the photo, and he saw a ghost at 4am one morning on freshman hall.
Evidence of a ghost? The photo that Gilly and Travis refer to has convinced some, but it has left others with doubts.
Matthew Headland also saw the ghost on freshman hall: “It made me widen my horizons to the idea of ghosts.”
“It was really creepy”
“That’s what he told me, and it’s pretty scary.”
Twent-six members of the Northwood ski team traveled to Austria for a pre-season training camp. Since October 13th, the ski team has been skiing at the Stubai Glacier. The conditions have not been optimal for the team but have made the skiers more skilled on icy conditions, which will serve them well during the Eastern race season. [Read more…]
Northwood students are frustrated that the school’s student WiFi network shuts down at 10:30 pm from Sunday to Thursday every week after study hall.
Students Voice Concern About Late Night WiFi Access (Photo: Kevin Quinn ’19)
Seniors Chelsea Smith and Sarah Coombs, who are members of the Headmaster’s Council, recently proposed to fix this WiFi issue. “The proposal outlines three key reasons why the student WiFi should stay on: to complete school work, to contact family in different time zones, especially for international students, and to gain more independence,” said Smith. “Our goal is to keep the WiFi on until midnight,” added Coombs.
However, some students think that late night WiFi access will have negative impacts on the academic lives of students. Rintaro Akasaka ‘20 said, “I think that a lot of people want the WiFi on at night to play games [rather than to do homework]. These people need to learn to be more responsible. If they are late on assignments or are not getting enough sleep because of gaming, they should be held accountable for their actions.”
On the other hand, many boarding students support the idea of having WiFi on at night. Grey Pfefferkorn ‘19 said, “I have times when I work on my homework or college essay after 10:30. In these cases, I have to use my personal hotspot on my phone to complete work.” He added, “I understand that the school is worried that the kids might play video games all night, but I don’t think that all students should suffer from that,” he said.
Dean of Academic Affairs, Dr. Laura Finnerty Paul has a conservative opinion on the matter. Dr. LFP commented, “The younger students with full-on freedom, I don’t think they could handle it, yet. It’s a legacy policy. I don’t know who developed it, but it’s been in place for a long time. The intention behind it is to get students to go to sleep. Students have found a way around it [by using multiple personal hotspots]. I don’t know how the school could realistically manage access for older students only. I would be open to it becoming one of the privileges for students who are performing well academically or working diligently.”
Update (October 29, 2018): six days after the publication of this article, Mr. Broderick announced at school meeting that student WiFi will remain on until midnight. He said the change is temporary and will be reversed if students are found to use the extra WiFi time irresponsibly.
The school year is underway and already people are falling to Northwood’s newest pestilence. Cold season is here. For those people who haven’t gotten sick yet, having good hygiene is a simple yet effective way to stay healthy. Make sure to wash your hands often and to stay away from those who are sick.
At school meeting on Wednesday, October 3, Mr. Don Mellor ’71, talked about pessimism. Mellor’s talk was part of “Ask Me Anything,” Northwood’s weekly speaker series for students and faculty, presented Mr. Martinez and the Office of Multicultural Affairs each Wednesday. This year’s theme is “Gaining Perspective. The Mirror staff writer Sarah Bennett ‘19 sat down with Mellor to discuss his talk and how it came about.
Mr. Don Mellor at his school meeting talk. (Photo: Ms. Christine Ashe)
Mr. Mike Maher (Photo: Mr. Michael Aldridge)
Mr. Mike Maher is Northwood’s Head of School. He may be the most recognizable member of our community, but how much do you know about him? Here are 10 things about Mr. Maher you may not know. [Read more…]
It’s sweeping the school. Many parents, teachers, and administrators are concerned about its effect on the academic and athletic performance of students. And yet many Northwood students do it because it’s “cool” and “something fun to do.” No, this article is not about juuling, drugs or alcohol. It’s about Fortnite. [Read more…]
