News - February 2012 Archives
02.21.12
Recently we caught up with Sari Rauscher, the College Counseling Director (and Upper School Community Service Advisor) at Waterford. Sari spends her days overseeing essays, helping to coordinate and advise on applications, and soothing frazzled students, when she isn’t off at a conference or visiting colleges. Sari has been a long-time fixture at Waterford: she has been here since 1998, and has worked as Ski Coach and English, History, and PE Teacher. Following are excerpts of our conversation with her. We are lucky to have her.
So what was your own college experience like? Weren’t you at Dartmouth?
Yes!
What was it like being out in the middle of nowhere? [Dartmouth is in Hanover, a small town in southern New Hampshire.]
Well, being from a small Maine town, I loved it; to me, Hanover was a sort of mecca — there was so much going on, art, culture — and so many smart kids from all over, and great discussions, and, of course, the outdoors: rock climbing, hiking, skiing. And I got to race on the Alpine Ski Team.
How was that?
Being an athlete gives you an automatic family at college, though the way I did it made the experience disjointed in a way. I took winter terms off in my first couple of years to train and race on the national level, and then finished my last two years in a more normal fashion. I graduated two years behind my class, so I lost some of the sense of having a class that is so precious at a small college.
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02.21.12
By Nancy Heuston, Head of School
Many describe February as the grimmest of months. Instead, I choose to attribute a bit more weariness to flu symptoms, confident this condition will dissipate with the arrival of spring or our first cleansing snow storm — whichever comes first.
I enjoy this time of year when the days lengthen and the sun shoots through the crisp air with warmth and promise. We begin planning for the coming school year, we observe our students growing taller, and we resonate with our parents’ excitement as they attend their children’s activities. The community of Waterford is pulsing with energy. What a perfectly wonderful time, for us all.
The cornerstones that support this community have never been stronger: the academic and arts programs, the stretching of students as they grow, and the support for faculty as professional educators. Consonant with this is the effect of parents as they assume leadership among their friends and fellow parents. This latter condition, firmly in place, allows us to strengthen and sustain the former.
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02.21.12
Waterford visual arts students recently received impressive recognition in several different venues.
Congratulations to our talented students for another outstanding showing at the Regional level of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards — the oldest and most prestigious program in the country. Our region includes most or all of AZ, CO, ID, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA, and WY. Of the 50 regional awards received by Utah visual artists, 32 were won by Waterford students. This included 14 Gold Key Awards, 9 Silver Key Awards, and 9 Honorable Mentions. Additionally, 3 of our Gold Key winning pieces were chosen as American Visions Nominees (considered the “best in show” award — out of 5 nominees total from the entire region!). All Gold Key winners advance to the National competition; we are now eagerly awaiting these results, which will be announced in mid-March. Please click here to see a gallery of the work that was recognized.
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02.22.12
This year’s Waterford Auction was a great success, bringing people together as a community and raising money to further Waterford’s programs. The evening event was held 4 February at the new and uniquely beautiful Utah Museum of Natural History. It was an evening illuminated with friends, food, engaging speakers, and lively bidding. Thanks to all of those who participated in any part of this spectacular event.
Some highlights of the auction include …
- 242 guests at the auction
- 30 volunteers the night of the auction
- 50+ volunteers served on the auction committees
- 600+ tickets sold to various parties & events
- 2 separate online auctions that raised over $45,000 – and reached our community and beyond
- $2400 raised for fund-a-wish, including enough funds for the LS PE Dept to purchase pedometers, LS Music to purchase an audio recorder, AP Art to purchase a color photo printer, Theatre Dept to purchase a lighting bar, and enough funds for 2 wood benches in the MS/US
- $7500 raised by the sale of 7 amazing Lower School class projects
- Just over $50,000 raised for technology at Waterford, which will help fund new computers for the LS lab and other upgrades in the MS/US
- 290 items donated for the auction
- $194,000 raised from the sale of those items. These funds will be used to support programs at Waterford
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02.22.12
A selection of recent images from the Waterford community:
LS students team up with MS/US students to put on a bake sale to benefit Rafiki students at the Ngala School for the Deaf in Kenya. Photo: Andrew Patteson
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02.22.12
By Deanna Williams, Lower Schools Director
When I was a young girl my mother would put the finishing touches on a tasty meal while she listened to me read. Her job was to create a well-balanced and delectable meal before 5:00. My job was to read as fluently as possible with great inflection. She wasn’t afraid to ask me to reread a passage several times to meet her criteria. At 5:00, like clockwork, the family would gather. It seems now like such an old-fashioned habit but we all loved sitting around the dinner table. We had interesting discussions, heated political conversations, and updates on the newest and latest traveling tips. We would be asked to share our school days, something valuable we had learned, and maybe even a difficulty we had encountered. I have the fondest memories of these conversations.
Our backyard was the neighborhood gathering spot for my friends. My mother and father had prize-winning roses and vegetable gardens in a small, quarantined area of the yard but beyond that fence line was a wonderland of opportunity. This vast arena was my favorite location, known simply as “the field,” where treasure hunts, pirate quests, and private journaling were common occurrences. As children we couldn’t wait to take large boxes, tarps, rope, and plenty of snacks to create the newest living spaces for our field. Parents didn’t venture into this wonderland unless invited to see our innovations. We were creators, imaginative and resourceful, with time on our hands to spend in pure unadulterated play.
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