According to Kristin Loftus, who supervises the program, peers counselors act both as supportive listeners and as a “vital link” to the services provided by the Health Center. The training the counselors receive enables them to help their Deerfield classmates to talk about a variety of issues, including homesickness, stress, relationship troubles, family problems, depression, substance abuse, or eating disorders. Although no records are kept, Mrs. Loftus estimates that about 25 to 30 percent of students seek out the support of a peer counselor at some point during their time at Deerfield. Not surprisingly, counselors find their services in highest demand during exams, team formation, and transition time between vacation and school.

Students can find a peer counselor on duty in the peer counseling office in the basement of the Health Center from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. The counselors also maintain a website where students can seek and receive support anonymously. Peer counselors make themselves available to meet with students individually or in groups if requested to do so, and they also serve as a referral for faculty as needed. Juniors and seniors can find a peer counselor “down the hall” in their dorms, as all counselors commit to live in, or, in the case of day students, be affiliated with, an upper class dorm. This gives older students access to the same type of support that proctors provide in freshman/sophomore dorms. Freshmen, however, also meet with peer counselors twice a month in small group sessions that take place in the dorms during the fall and winter term. These meetings buttress the work of the proctors, and serve as an introduction to the Deerfield health education program, which continues into sophomore year with the Health Issues course requirement.

While peer counselors commit to respect the privacy and confidentiality of their fellow students, they are not allowed to promise that they will not share information with the Health Center staff should a student pose a threat to themselves or others. According to Dr. Stuart Bicknell, Coordinator of Counseling at Deerfield, the term peer “counselor” might be better termed peer “listener” as peer counselors are not expected to provide professional counseling, but to be good listeners, to let students know that their concerns are being heard, and to refer students to the appropriate resources when needed. To this end, Mrs. Loftus notes that the peer counselors have proven to be very good at sensing when a student is at risk and at getting that student to an appropriate adult.

The selection and training process for peer counselors is quite rigorous. Students must submit an application form in March of their sophomore year, and then participate in group interviews with current peer counselors during the first week of the spring term. Faculty, staff, and peers from the sophomore class contribute to the application process, but the current peer counselors make the final decision as to who will join their ranks.

Training is also demanding. Peer counselors train for two hours per night for six weeks during the spring term of their sophomore year, and again during the spring of their junior year. Despite the demands of training, and the tremendous time commitment, a graduate who had been a peer counselor while at Deerfield found it to have been an extremely rewarding experience.

Both stressed that our job as parents and educators is to inspire our children to discover what they love. Expose them to a variety of courses and extra-curriculars. Provide a safe and supportive environment within which to experiment and even fail. Encourage our kids to push outside their comfort zones while always following their internal compass. It is the journey that is important. That being said, there are many “pathways” students can follow on their passage to higher education. 

1. Academics. Deerfield believes students must find the proper balance between rigor and performance by taking the most advanced classes they can be successful in. “Success” is defined as a student who is healthy, happy and productive. DA also encourages advanced study in at least one subject.
2. Athletics. Approximately 20% of students at DA are recruited athletes, and many are post-graduates. Should your child have this talent and passion, contact Vita Thiel, who is the NCAA coordinator at Deerfield.
3. Arts. Students should pursue a cohesive program of study. For example, an advanced instrumentalist should consider studying Music Theory and Composition; or an accomplished visual artist would do well to take AP Studio Art, AP Photography, and/or AP Art History. Students may compile a portfolio or a video with highlights of their work/performance for submission to colleges. A little known fact is that students can get co-curricular exemptions to pursue their art passions from the moment they enter DA, allowing students to use afternoons to develop their craft.
4. Global Citizen. Opportunities abound at DA to pursue this pathway with RoundSquare, which is a global association of schools, summer language trips and study abroad. DA can help your child find the right program. Being an active global citizen requires both grit and poise and, in order to stand out in the college admissions process, something more than a single summer camp-like program.
5. Community Service. The best advice to students is DIVE DEEP! This is a richly rewarding passion that requires much time and effort. DA offers Cambiando Vidas with Sheryl Cabral, faculty member, building houses in underdeveloped nations over school vacations, and RoundSquare trips. There are also a host of opportunities with non-governmental organizations your child can explore.
6. Leadership. Time is tight at DA, but students wishing to pursue this pathway have a range of options from student council to Scroll editor to concertmaster.

Let’s not forget that the main job of a Deerfield student is to simply grow up. Deerfield prides itself on creating an individual who is self-reliant, authentic, distinct, and a person of integrity. Moreover, Deerfield wants its students to be confident in life, prose (having a distinct voice in their work), and in presentation (in personal conversations).

And finally, some interesting facts: Most DA students graduate having taken only four Advanced Placement examinations, realizing that Deerfield doesn’t rely as heavily on the “AP Track” as other schools. Deerfield has a detailed departmental course map  that color-codes classes by what they prepare students for. Did you know that every English course offered junior year prepares students for the SAT II and AP exams? For more on AP exams and course selection, see Course Selection 101 from The Link’s Spring issue. Speaking of the SAT II, most colleges ask for two but many students take more to find the two subjects they are best in (and only submit those). These are important exams and require additional study. And just in case you and your child are wondering how they will find the time to prepare for these exams, DA offers free test prep for SAT and ACT each term. The online Academic Approach materials are available to all students, free of charge, for their entire DA careers.

Peter Warsaw began the talk by introducing the story of Riley Ennis. While still in high school, and shortly after watching a NOVA research special on horseshoe crabs and how their immune systems work, Riley read an article on cancer immunology. With his mind drifting between these two very different topics, it occurred to Ennis that it might be possible to generate a vaccine for cancer based on the horseshoe crab immune system. This out-of-the box approach to research allowed him to discover a never-thought-of-before way that allows the human immune system to recognize and combat cancer and other diseased cells in the body. 

If we want to encourage this kind of cancer-curing creativity, the first step is to find out what is currently known about it. For example, is creativity more prevalent in a market-driven environment, or non-market? Is it more likely to occur when an individual works alone, or in a group? Steve Johnson describes four quadrants of the marketplace that include the individual, the networked group and both market-driven and non-market driven motives. He then suggests that creativity is more prevalent in a non-market, networked environment.

University of Chicago psychology professor, founder and co-director of the Quality of Life Research Center (QLRC), Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, believes that the ideal place where creativity will occur changes during the creative lifecycle. For example, complex, stimulating environments are best for insight, and isolated, focused, distraction-free environments are best for the evaluation and elaboration that follows.

These both suggest that bouncing ideas around a large group encourages creative ideas, and working in smaller teams helps to refine them. Once we begin to understand the Creative Place, we then look at the creative process. Creative Systems Theory defines five states of creativity, called Pre-Axis (incubation), Early-Axis (inspiration), Middle-Axis (perspiration), Late-Axis (finishing & polishing) and Integration (contextualization).

Returning to the focus of this talk, we are then asked how we currently engage in technology and how this can influence creativity like the kind shown by Riley Ennis. Technology is all around us–from our mobile devices to our desktops and from our home to our business or school. It is used to enhance productivity, as a social medium and for our entertainment. We’ve learned that a stimulating environment can encourage creative insight, and an isolated environment can help refine ideas. We’ve also defined the “Creative Process” as beginning at incubation and continuing through to contextualization. With this in mind, we look at the amount of technology that seems to increase around us every day. The question then becomes: How does this technology benefit and/or threaten creativity?

This question was put to the audience, and left for parents to think about. Groups were encouraged to suggest ways they think Deerfield can help to encourage creativity in our students. But, we were also asked how we, as parents, can encourage creativity in our own children.

Once the students head home, the Deerfield community gathers for its traditional Jingle Mingle holiday party on December 21. This year, the DPN is organizing a “free raffle” to show our appreciation to them. 

We are inviting all DA parents to join by donating gifts or services. Potential ideas are: restaurant gift certificates, visits to museums, theater, movies or local spas, frequent flier miles, Visa/American Express gift cards, or the use of a vacation home. However, as a parent-run organization, we want to ensure that any participation in this effort does not impact the Annual Fund, which is crucial to the school’s mission.

Equally important, the DA students are participating and have offered to donate their time to faculty/staff families for free babysitting, dog-walking, ice skating and hot chocolate, and lessons in skating, swimming and squash.

If you think your son or daughter would like to participate in this way, he or she can email us at the address below. No one has signed up to build a snowman with faculty kids–yet!

If you would like to contribute, any gift would be welcome, no matter how big or small. If you are interested or have questions, please email us at DPNteacherstaffappreciation@gmail.com or contact any of the following parents:

Penny Ashford, Nadine Alexandre, Serena Bowman, Missy DeCamp, Kathy Gahagan, Wendy Henderson, Page Growney, Stephanie Ingrassia, Suzy Kjorlien, Ros L’Esperance, Sally Morris, Jennie Murphy, Liz O’Connor, Phyllis Powers, Betsy Swindell, Dana Tananbaum, Margie Ughetta, Kate Upson, Karen Wood.

Left to right: Dr. Tom Hagamen, Kate Rolland, Dr. Sheila Fritz, Patricia Haggerty-Rahn, Sarah Brooks, Nancy Burniske, Susan LaScala, Kristin Loftus, Dr. Stuart Bicknell

A team of professionals provides Deerfield students with comprehensive health care and counseling services at the Health Center, an accredited hospital facility. To reach the Health Center directly, 24/7, call (413) 774-1600. See a full list of services.

The following is a listing of the Health Center Team:

Medical Director
Tom Hagamen, MD

Nurse Practitioner
Susan LaScala, RN-C, FNP

Administrative
Nancy Burniske, Health Center Office Manager
Sarah Brooks, Health Center Assistant & Medical Chaperone
Desiree Bellor, Medical Chaperone
Dee Dee Pielock, Medical Chaperone

Health Education/Peer Counseling
Kristin Loftus

Counselors
Stuart Bicknell, EdD, Coordinator of Counseling
Sheila Fritz, PsyD 

Psychiatrist
John Swanson, MD

Nurses
Kate Rolland, RN, Director of Nursing*; Health Issues teacher
Caryn Gardner, RN, Assistant Director of Nursing and Medication Nurse*
Jen Curtis, RN
Karen DeJoy, RN
Roxanne Dunn, RN
Deborah Haas, RN
Patricia Haggerty-Rahn, RN
Katherine Harris, RN
Kathy Hart, RN
Susan Killeen, RN
Virginia Kolakoshi, RN
Suzanne Martino, RN
Doreen McConley, RN
Karin McDonald, RN
Christine O’Neil, RN
Danielle Perry, RN*
Susan Van Oot, RN
Jean Wanczyk, RN*
*Full-time Nurses 

Orthopedic Clinic
Tom Echeverria, MD

The Deerfield Parents Network has been a rewarding way to be involved with the Academy in a way that improves the collective experience of families at the school. The message of this note is simple: we need your help! As I’ll explain below, the school has asked the DPN to take on a broader role, and to move from the “low hanging fruit” we could easily reach a few years ago to more complex challenges faced by the school. 

One of the most important of those initiatives is working with Deerfield to identify families who could take an international student into their homes during holidays. Issues of both cost and/or travel logistics make it impractical for many of them to return to their own homes for the holidays. If you are able to host a very appreciative student or would like more information, please see Seeking Host Families for International Students in this issue or contact Lynne Robbins.

Another article in this edition highlights the DPN’s new effort to help furnish an array of raffle prizes for teachers and staff at their Dec. 21^st holiday party.  If you would like information on how to get involved (and it can be as easy as a gift card for dinner for two at a local restaurant!), check out DPN Launches New Faculty/Staff Appreciation Effort  or email DPNteacherstaffappreciation@gmail.com.

As we enter 2013, it won’t be long before we renew our signature initiative, the First Link, connecting next fall’s “new” families with current DA families. The feedback on that has been very positive from both groups, and it provides a mechanism to answer the wide range of questions newcomers to Deerfield have—both at the student and the parental levels. We’ll also be reaching out for volunteers on campus beautification initiatives as the weather gets more inviting in the spring! Finally, if you have interest in helping Kate Upson prepare articles for The Link, we have a list of topics that need exploring in future issues. Writing those is a great way to learn about the school and to share that learning experience with other parents.

Enjoy the Holidays!

Jim Alexandre

Deerfield asks parents of the freshman, sophomore, and junior classes to consider making gifts to the Parent Annual Fund. These gifts represent resources that directly affect the quality and depth of Deerfield’s programs, faculty and facilities. Specifically, money provided by parent giving supports professional growth opportunities for faculty, an improved faculty to student ratio and enhanced student support services. This year a special initiative of the DPN is to provide support for those parents of full scholarship students who find it financially difficult to travel to Deerfield for Parents Weekends. This year’s overall Parent Annual Fund target is $1.5 million.

Senior parents are asked to give collectively towards a capital project or endowment in honor of the graduating class. For the Class of 2013, that project is a new Center for the Arts in the Memorial Building. The core elements of the project include the complete renovation and expansion of the large auditorium and lobby, the construction of a 1,210 square-foot art gallery on the west side of the building, and a new 160-seat concert hall on the east side. In combination with past Senior Class Gifts that have funded the Greer Store, new fitness center, and an upgraded and expanded dining hall, this project represents the completion of a seven-year program to upgrade the Academy’s core community spaces. We hope that contributions from senior families will approach $2.5 million.

It is our sincere hope that all parents consider making a gift to one of these funds. Deerfield is fortunate to have a strong tradition of family participation — ranking high among its peer schools. While some families contribute $100,000 or more, most give $250 or less. The Academy is grateful for all levels of support.

Two funds. Two incredibly important ways for parents to play a vital role in Deerfield’s current and future development. Please contact Scott, Marc or Bill Barry if we can provide additional information.