The Deerfield pulse

Growing up in Western Massachusetts, Juliette Lowe ’21 has been involved with community meal programs addressing local food insecurity for a while. Inspired by these experiences, Juliette started an initiative called Nobody Goes Hungry. Recognizing that many food pantries and meal programs may have a greater need during this pandemic, she has collected donations to put together bags of long lasting, sustainable, and healthy food for those in need. Juliette is distributing these meals at 192-200 Main Street in Greenfield on Fridays. You can contribute to her efforts at https://www.gofundme.com/f/nobody-goes-hungry.

Deerfield students Mark Chung ’21, Gabriella Hu ’21, Harry Niles ’21, Angela Osei-Ampadu ’21, and Eric Wang ’21 have teamed up to form Shielding Our Defenders: an organization that is sourcing and suppling medical-grade masks to New York City hospitals. The students have solicited donations to purchase masks and donated them to various hospitals in the US. So far, they have shipped over 1,320 FDA-approved masks to Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx and NYU Langone. Their efforts were featured on Bronx News 12 yesterday. Bravo Mark, Gabriella, Harry, Angie, and Eric! 

Learn more and support this initiative at https://www.shieldingourdefenders.org and follow on Instagram @shieldingourdefenders.

Please watch this video announcement from Head of School Dr. John Austin regarding Spring Term.

In the face of the global health crisis, Bayard Winthrop '87, founder and CEO of U.S. textile and garment company American Giant, has pivoted manufacturing at two of the company's North Carolina plants to address the critical shortage of surgical masks.

American Giant is a San Francisco-based manufacturer of sportswear and casual clothing that sells directly to customers through its website. Its goods are all produced in the United States.

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At Deerfield, our students’ health and wellness are top priorities. Recently, Dr. Austin and members of Senior Staff have been monitoring updates, best practices, and recommendations from the CDC, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and the US Department of Health and Human Services regarding COVID-19. They have also been working to support our students and families who have […]

The February 23 edition of 60 Minutes will feature the last segment that Deerfield alumna and former Trustee Katy Textor Farmer '92 produced before her death on June 14, 2019: VISION OF MUSIC. The piece will be in the third slot on the broadcast and will be available online at 60Minutes.com. A digital companion piece will pay tribute to Katy and feature some behind-the-scenes footage of her and the production team on the shoot. Available on the 60 Minutes website and at 60MinutesOvertime.com.

On February  8, Joe Fernado ’15 signed as a shortstop with the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball and will report for the Padres training camp in Phoenix, AZ, next month. Read more on the Athletics homepage.»

Congratulations to Angela Osei-Ampadu ’21 who won the 2020 New England Girls Wrestling Championship to become the first female New England Champion in Deerfield history! Read the story from Head Coach Dan Houston on the Athletics homepage.»

The Deerfield community congratulates Dr. Mark Ott on being appointed as the new Headmaster of The Windsor School, a boarding and day school in the Bahamas.

While at Deerfield, Mark served as Chair of the English Department and coached football, alpine skiing, basketball, and track, while serving in a broad range of areas of school leadership initiatives in academic affairs, curriculum design, admissions, and the recruitment and evaluation of faculty. 

A life-long educator, Mark has taught across the world at several distinguished institutions, including Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. 

Kyra Kocis ’16, a senior at Georgetown University, has been awarded a Marshal Scholarship to study social research methods and urban planning in the United Kingdom this fall. She will pursue two master’s degrees in social science research and urban policy. Her research currently focuses on the social ramifications of technological modernization within the industrial textile cluster of hand block printers in Jaipur, India

Kocis worked as a research assistant for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s “Strengthening State Capacity to Deliver Public Goods for Health, Bihar, India” project, and has achieved several academic distinctions while at Georgetown, including the STIA Honors Thesis Program and the Krogh Honors Scholars program in partnership with the U.S. State Department’s Multilateral Moneyball project. She also received a SFS Improving Human Conditions Grant and was a Georgetown Social Innovation for Public Service Fund recipient.