Students from elementary through senior high school grades will compete before a panel of judges made up of professional concert artists and teachers. The state-level competition seeks to recognize and reward excellence in performance by the best young pianists in Maine, many of whom will continue on to college-level conservatory study and eventual careers as concert artists and teachers.

Shu Jing Lian ’14 performs on one of Gould Academy’s Steinway Pianos.

Gould Academy’s Shu Jing Lian ’14 of Mechanic Falls will compete in the senior division at this year’s competition. Two years ago she won the junior division.

The general public is invited to attend the day’s events at no charge. The competition begins at 10:00 a.m. in two venues on the Gould campus. The elementary and senior-level pianists will appear in Bingham Auditorium; middle school-level competitors will be heard in McLaughlin Science Center’s Trustees Auditorium.

All will assemble later in the afternoon at 4:00 p.m. in Bingham Auditorium for the announcement of awards and the Winners’ Recital.

Gould Academy, located at the eastern edge of the White Mountains, is on the list of “All-Steinway Schools,” an honor shared by other distinguished educational institutions, including Oberlin College Conservatory, Yale School of Music, and The Juilliard School.

Steinway and Steinway-designed pianos are exclusively used in the school’s performance and practice spaces, affording students, teachers, and visiting artists the best facilities possible for music study and performance.

The Maine Music Teachers Association (MMTA) encourages excellence in music education by offering professional development opportunities for music teachers, and performance opportunities for music students on all levels. It nurtures the next generation of musicians and music lovers by supporting musical activities in schools and communities throughout the state.

Visit the MMTA website, www.mainemusicteachers.org, for more information on the Pine Tree Piano Festival.

Bouchard was one of 30, sixteen year-old male alpine skiers along with 30 female skiers invited to participate in the U16 National Assessment Project held at the USSA Center of Excellence in Park City, UT.

Zach Bouchard ’15

“I am excited to see and compete against my peers from all over the country. The week is demanding but it’s important to me to be evaluated among the best kids in the country to see where I stand,” said Bouchard before the trip.

Based on his results in the 2012 Junior Championships, Bouchard was selected to participate in the inaugural project last April in Park City.

While there he finished second overall among boys in GS, dual race and slalom. That finish led to an invitation to train for two weeks in Austria with the U.S. Ski Team’s Development Team this past winter.

The purpose behind the U16 National Assessment Project is to gauge the current athletic condition of American Ski Racing in the U16 age group through competitions, skills tests, and physical conditioning. It also acquaints the U.S. Ski Team’s development staff with these elite young skiers.

Bouchard finished 12 out of 30 skiers this year based on coach assessments as well as finishes in giant slalom, slalom and parallel races.

“Zach has had a very busy season between racing in the U.S. and in Europe. He’s worked hard to earn this honor, and we’re all very proud that he represented Gould at the National Assessment Project,” said Head Alpine Coach Kurt Simard.

The U16 National Assessment Project ran from March 31 to April 5.

Gould Academy Competition Program student-athletes benefit from a traditional New England boarding school education, while focusing on their passion for winter sports. Student-athletes work with a full-time, world-class coaching staff and train year round on campus and at Sunday River Ski Resort only six miles away.

Riley McDonough ’15

BETHEL, Maine – Gould Academy sophomore and freestyle skier Riley McDonough (16) of York, ME will compete among the best in the world at the 2013 FIS Freestyle Junior World Championships in Valmalenco, Italy March 26 – 31.

McDonough is one of four U.S. skiers selected by the U.S Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) to compete in slopestyle at the event. The team boasts 35 of the best junior athletes competing in moguls, aerials, halfpipe and slopestyle.

“I am honored and super stoked to travel and compete with the US Junior Freestyle Team in Valmalenco, Italy,” said McDonough. “My coaches have really helped me progress throughout the year and have motivated me to do my best every step of the way.”

McDonough put himself in good position for his selection to the US Junior Team this year, finishing in the eighth spot on the USSA Revolution Tour. Earlier in March at the 2013 USSA Marriott Freestyle Junior Nationals in Park City, Utah, he placed 12th overall, fourth in his age bracket of 15 and 16 year olds.

Riley McDonough training at Sunday River Ski Resort

“This trip is the perfect next step for Riley,” said Gould Slopestyle Coach Rory Flynn. “He’s naturally competitive and always rises to the occasion. I’m confident that he will ski well.”

McDonough’s ski career began in the fifth grade when and he and his family would hit the slopes with the help of the WinterKids Passport Program. While skiing at Sunday River Ski Resort, he discovered the Gould Academy Competition Program (GACP) and began training with Gould coaches on the weekends.

By the eighth grade, he was ready to dedicate more time and energy to freestyle and spent November through March in Gould Academy’s Winter Term Program, where he trained six days a week before enrolling at Gould as a full-time student and GACP athlete.

“Riley is a very high energy and talented athlete with a true passion for the sport,” said Gould Academy Head Freestyle Coach John Kimble. “It has been very exciting and rewarding to watch him develop into the skier he has become.”

Gould Academy Competition Program student-athletes benefit from a traditional New England boarding school education, while focusing on their passion for winter sports. Student-athletes work with a full-time, world-class coaching staff and train year round on campus and at Sunday River Ski Resort only six miles away.

“We are very excited to announce and welcome Beth to Gould Academy,” said Head of School Matt Ruby. “With more than 13 years of experience in managing complex organizational finances in private schools, Beth has a keen and inherent understanding of a school like Gould. She will be a good fit for the Gould community.”

McWilliams will leave the Hillside School, a junior boarding school in Marlborough, MA, where she has spent the last four years leading their business office. Her independent school experience includes business management roles at Tesseract School in Arizona and Sewickley Academy in Pennsylvania.

Prior to the Hillside School, McWilliams worked as chief financial officer for Gallup Financial LLC, an independent investment consulting start-up in Scottsdale, Arizona.

“During my visit to Gould, I met with numerous colleagues from different disciplines, and I am excited to work with them to foster a culture of continuous improvement and operational and educational excellence,” said McWilliams.

She is a graduate of Gannon University where she received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting in 1990. In 2000 she earned her Master of Business Administration from Robert Morris University.

She and her family, wife Elisabeth, twins Logan and Gabriella, and dodger the dog, look forward to moving to Bethel and being part of the Gould community. They enjoy the outdoors and will be looking for recommendations about everything from great hiking trails to a good place to eat.

McWilliams will succeed Peter Rackliffe who has provided over three decades of exemplary service to Gould Academy as a teacher, advisor, coach, and chief financial officer.

Richard Blanco

Before the 2013 Presidential Inauguration, people in his home town of Bethel, Maine did not realize Richard Blanco was a poet.

“I’ve never come out of the poetry closet in Bethel for some reason,” quipped Richard Blanco to members of the community. “I was waiting for the right time, and, boy, what a way to come out. So, here we are.”

Blanco spoke before a full Bingham Auditorium at Gould Academy, where the Bethel community welcomed the poet home after a busy couple of months of writing, interviews and more interviews.

He was launched into the public spotlight in January when chosen by President Barack Obama as the 2013 Inaugural Poet, a distinction he now shares with Maya Angelou and Robert Frost.

(A quick Google search of Richard Blanco Inaugural Poet will give you an idea of just how busy he’s been.)

The town of Bethel, its businesses, organizations and members quickly pulled together an event that celebrated Blanco upon his homecoming.

In return he treated us with a generous reading of poems from his last three books, complete with introductions, anecdotes, a Q&A session, and a book signing.

The result was a memorable evening of laughter, phenomenal and accessible poetry, community, and the collective understanding that just about anything can happen in Bethel, Maine.

Please enjoy his opening remarks and a few poems from the evening below.

We do winter well here and therefore do it right, which makes it an exciting but again, very busy trimester for us.
We wouldn’t have it any other way.

However, it’s important to take a moment to pause and reflect this time of year and even more important to take that time on Martin Luther King Day.

Each year MLK Day at Gould is devoted to student led workshops, guest speakers, and an all school formal lunch. It’s a day devoted to MLK’s principles in relationship to today’s Gould community and our greater global community. And always, it’s a poignant and powerful day.

Here’s what is planned this year.

9:30 a.m.
Leading off at assembly will be two dynamic keynote speakers Juliana Montgomery ’00 and Ade Arowolo.

Alumna Juliana Montgomery ’00 is  world traveler and lover of storytelling. For over a decade, she has produced work across the mediums of film, video, television and advertising. She was a 2006-2007 Fulbright Fellow to the Czech Republic and a 2010-2011 Henry Luce Scholar to Singapore as part of a cultural immersion fellowship program. Her credits include an Emmy Award as associate agency producer for the 2009 Coca-Cola commercial titled ‘Heist’. Currently, Juliana is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia producing the media launch of a project co-sponsored by the Nike Foundation.

Ade Arowolo was born in Montgomery County, Maryland to Nigerian pharmacists. He spent his formative years in Nigeria and returned to the U.S. at the age of eighteen to attend university. He received his bachelor’s degree in Finance and Management with a minor in Political Science from the City University of New York (CUNY). Ade has extensive experience in the finance industry and has worked with such investment firms as Citigroup and Merrill Lynch/Bank of America. He is compelled by the fields of private equity, agriculture and education in Sub-Saharan Africa and is co-founder of the Creative Vision Educational Initiative in Nigeria. Ade currently resides in the greater New York City area.

11:15 a.m.
Lunch will follow assembly where the Gould community will watch the 57th Presidential Inauguration on the big screen.

12:45 p.m. – 2:20 p.m.
Students will lead workshops throughout the afternoon. Titles include:

• Egypt’s New Government and Human Rights
• Nelson Mandela: South Africa’s MLK
• Has President Obama Lived Up to MLK’s Dream?
• Rwanda: A Decade After Genocide
• Narrowing Africa’s Education Deficit
• Was Dr. King the Single Most Important African-American in American History?

2:20p.m.
The school will reassemble where the Gould Academy Chorus will perform,  and where the community will participate in a reading of Martin Luther King’s “I Had A Dream” speech and share reflections on the day.

Prior to Monday, January 21, movies in honor of MLK Day will be shown on campus throughout the weekend.

• 4 Little Girls
• Freedom Writers
• Invictus
• The Power of One
• Remember the Titans
• The Rosa Parks Story
• Tsotsi

Here is a glimpse into our program last year.

Gould Academy help centers provide a perfect resource and opportunity for students to get custom help in core subjects. They are organized by teachers from each department, and involve volunteer peer tutors.

The help centers develop a sense of community throughout the student body. The tutors volunteer because they care about helping their peers be successful.

“Students are able to get help just about every night of the week in a variety of subjects, and they get to work with other students who have an interest in helping other students and also have a strength in that subject area,” said Holly Tornrose, English teacher and Writing Center director. “It’s a really great opportunity for basically the whole community to help one another, and to become even more successful in their studies.”

Emma working on her French homework with a peer tutor.

The students can use the help centers for any type of extra help they could need. Each student gets to work with one peer tutor, and focus on what they struggle with. Zee ’13 is in his third year as a writing center tutor. He helps with any stage of the writing process a student is in, from rough draft to a thesis statement.

“I think that the help centers, math, writing, language and science center, are really important at Gould because it gives a chance for students to connect with one another, especially for students who need help in certain areas,” said Zee. “It’s a perfect outlet for students to receive help on anything they are struggling with, and since it’s one-on-one students really get the help they need.”

The help centers focus on what each individual student requires. Emma ’16,  uses the language center to get extra help on her french homework.

“I like going to the help centers because it helps with my french, working on writing sentences and knowing the vocabulary. It also puts you on a one-to-one level during study hall, which makes it really easy to get extra help,” she said.

Dave Watermen, senior prevention specialist for FCD Educational Services spent three days at Gould to speak with the community on chemical  substances and addiction. According to Watermen, awareness happens best through an open dialogue.

Watermen talking with a group of juniors

“FCD is a non-user support program, from the very beginning we did not want to be a search and destroy, or a just say no type program. We are a health based organization, and we really encourage and support non-users as a healthy choice. But, what we want is to open up the opportunity to get the community talking about addiction,” said Watermen.

FCD is an international non-profit organization that provides substance abuse prevention education to high school students of international and independent schools all over the world. FCD clears up mis-information through media and literacy programs, and conversations about pop-culture as it relates to the true risks of substances.

Then prevention specialists like Watermen can answer questions based on their addiction experiences.
Watermen spent his time working with students in small groups, one-on-ones and also addressed the school during an assembly. While working with students his personal stories stood out, making the workshops relatable and comfortable.

Madison ’14 and Nika ’14 cooking pasta and sauce

Monika ’14, uses the kitchen on a daily basis. She loves to cook, and more importantly share her creations. Many students feel it works because it isn’t coordinated, often times the dinners are completely spontaneous.

“Sometimes we just don’t plan on cooking with people, but when there are others down there, we all work together, and we actually kind of like bond over making the food.” said Monika. “For example one time I came down to the kitchen, and two people were making food and talking, so I just kind of jumped into the conversation and cooked with them and we all ate together. We just started talking about food. I mean everyone likes food. It was really awesome.”

Gehring Hall is home to all Gould Academy boarding girls who represent different places from all around the world. Gehring has a complete kitchen, stocked with all the necessary appliances and utensils. This space could be used to make something as simple as ramen and microwave popcorn, to a Thanksgiving dinner.

Madison ’14, often uses the kitchen to relax and make dinner. The kitchen is the perfect place to hang out, eat food, unwind, and maybe even try something new.

“One time I was down here cooking pasta and an international student was down here also, and she was making something I’ve never tried before. Over the course of cooking next to each other, we also ate together. It was awesome because we never really talked much before, and we shared food. It was really cool trying something completely new,” said Madison ’14.

Even after the meal, the idea of connectivity with your peers continues.

“I think (the kitchen) helps create a sense of community within the dorm because once everyone is done cooking with each other, they all clean up. It doesn’t matter if it is your stuff to clean, it’s just all about helping and being with one another. Everyone really appreciates having this space for just girls, it’s really nice.” said Madison ’14.

Change, symbolized by water, is a fundamental part of this modern retelling of Ovid’s traditional myths, and the show features a pool on stage. The play features some strong language, and may not be suitable for young children.