T h e C u r ren t
December 2015 Vol. 15, No. 2
The Newsletter of The North Branch School
We Leave Ideas About Eutopia Among the Leaves of Moosalamoo
By Meredith Kimble
Our red Volvo pulled into an empty
gravel parking lot. We were the first
ones to get the trailhead of the
Moosalamoo hike! I sat in front in my
snowflake leggings and blue sweatshirt
shivering and hoping I would be warm
enough. When more cars pulled in we
all excitedly, but somewhat nervously,
hopped out of the warm car and into the
chilly fall air.
Immediately little groups of huddled humans a dotted the parking lot.
Maxine pulled out her phone with a
strange clip on camera and began to take
pictures of everyone.
Finally when everyone was there, Tal
gathered us to give us our pre-hike pumpus-up speech. He announced that the annual leaf competition would be held and all
entries were accepted, so we had better be
looking for the prettiest leaf.
As Eric stepped in to explain the
Geocache that we were embarking on and
how to go the bathroom in the woods, a car
pulled into the driveway. It was Rosemary!
She looked a little befuddled as she hopped
out and just in time too, for minutes later
we were off and ready to hike.
A few minutes in, Sam announced he
had found the prettiest leaf and no one
would ever beat him. He was met with a
chorus of grumbling. All around us a
Vermont fall raged in all its glory. Red,
orange, yellow, and green leaves clung
desperately to the thick oak and spindly
beech trees while a light yellowy-brown
carpet covered the forest floor. All around
us a chilly air hovered but together we
seemed to be able to beat it with warm
breath and hot cocoa.
The longer I hiked the easier the trail
seemed to become until I felt like I could
walk on forever. One of the great things
about the hike is that when you’re caught
walking with someone you’ve never talked
much to before, conversation seems to be
lunch. I sat with Griffin, Owen, and
Kelsey. We talked about the school
systems and the schools we would one
day go to after North Branch. We headed down after that. It was a
lot easier than the way up. I have always
wondered why people will say “they’re
going downhill” when they are getting
old and haggard, because for me, uphill
has always been the hard and strenuous
part and downhill has always been the
best. Soon we saw landmarks from the
beginning of the hike. Right before we
finished we stopped next to a river and
just enjoyed the last moments of the day.
Eden and Anika lay on a large rock
with their eyes closed and looked downright peaceful. Leeya, Wren and I sat on a
rock and sung our favorite songs in our
various off-key voices. Juliette and Sydney
even swam a little! As we finally filed into
the parking lot everyone plopped into their
cars, ready to go home after a long day.
Tal never did announce the winner of
the leaf competition.
easier when your doing something rather
then just sitting and staring at each other.
About half way through Eric led us to
an intersection where he stopped and told
us the geocache was near by. He gave us
the maps and compasses and finally the
coordinates and told us to go. But after half
and hour of searching with no success he
let us use the electronic GPS.
Suddenly Will started to scream, “Here
it is! I found it!” Everyone ran to the spot
and sure enough there was a red fishing
tackle box with a couple things inside it,
like Pokémon cards and a whistle. Together
we filled out a
booklet with
our truths
inside. I
wrote, “My
truth is that no
one will find
Eutopia in this
life, but we
should still
keep searching.”
Then we
hiked and
hiked some
more until we
flopped in a
little ravine
and Tal said it
Maxine and Merry display their cool winter wear on the trail
was time for
The Currentpage 2
Walking That Sharp Knife Edge
By Lena Sandler
At the end of the summer we received
a list of items we needed for the following
school year. Tal said we needed a binder
and a notebook (boring). Rose told us we
would need graph paper (boring). Eric’s list
said to have a section in your binder for
science (boring).
But then my eyes fell on the words
“pocket knife.” Eric was telling us we
needed to bring a knife to school. We
needed to bring a pocket knife to school on
the first day? I thought. What other school
in the whole entire universe would tell you
bring a pocket knife to school?
It was the first week of school. We
were at Lake Pleiad. I was sitting on the
rocky surface facing the lake. I could see
the greenish water below with Marina and
Eden were swimming in it. I was looking at
the water when I heard a voice.
“Who has their pocket knife?” called
out Tal. Almost everyone’s hand shot up
straight into the air.
“If you want to sharpen a pencil, come
get one,” Tal shouted. Everyone raced
towards Tal. All but two pencils were handed out—those were saved for Tal and Rose.
They had knives in their hands, Rose with
her serrated knife that she brought to cut
cheese, and Tal with my Swiss army knife.
(What a slacker) (ed. note: Tal had loaned
out his own knife to someone else!)
Tal said, “It’s a competition.” Then he
yelled, “On your mark, get set, go!”
Tal and Rose started fiercely carving
away at their pencils; five seconds went by,
silence. Then ten seconds, then fifteen, and
we finally heard a voice.
“Done!” Tal exclaimed, clearly enjoying his victory. Everyone gave Tal back
their sharpened pencils, and with that, the
pencil sharpening was done for the day.
So that was a story about our crazy
teachers, and how they used pocket knives
the “safe way.” (Don’t try that at home,
kids, only at school).
Now I’ll tell you how we learned skills
with the knives that are actually good to
know. It was science class and I tilted my
head back, looking up at the screen on the
wall to see the movie, Longitude, a film
about navigation.
I glanced back down to the wet-stone
I was using to sharpen my knife, when I
heard, “It’s bloody perfect, sir,” said by
Will Harrison in his British accent. He was
referring to the clock his father, John
Harrison, had made.
I looked at my knife going up and
down, over and over again, on the orange
stone, getting sharper with each stroke. I
took my knife and tested to see if it was
sharp by cutting the newspaper up into
pieces—nobody was ever going to read
that article again anyway.
After doing that, I decided it was so
much fun I didn’t want to stop.
“Eric, Eric do you have any other
knives I can sharpen?” He gave me not just
one more but two more. I slowly repeated
the process, sharpening away. I looked over
at Sydney who was very carefully cutting
one word at a time out of the newspaper. It
looked like fun so I started doing it too,
until we had a bunch of random words
scattered on the cutting board, including
“cider,” “what,” “they,” “cider donuts” and
so on.
Before I knew it, class was up and
Eric was pausing the movie. “Until next
time,” he said, and then we headed off to
lunch. Not only did I learn the skill of
sharpening a knife, but also that it’s a good
way to pass the time while you’re doing
something else.
I interviewed some classmates to learn
their thoughts on pocket knives.
How do you use your pocket knife?
Sydney: In the woods and for cutting
apples.
Catherine: Sharpening pencils and
cutting birch bark off a tree.
Wren: I don’t use it because I lost mine.
Will: I use it to make spears, chop down
trees, sharpen pencils, and chop food.
Eric: I use it to sharpen pencils and cut
string and wire, to pry things off and
unscrew things, and to trim my mustache
when I had one.
Any annoying qualities about your knife?
Merry: When your knife is dull and no
matter how long you sharpen it, it still
feels dull.
Wren: They are so hard to hold on to.
Griffin: They are easy to lose.
Has anything bad happened because of
having knives in class?
Rosemary: No.
Rose: They’re great, except when people
don’t use trash cans and the shavings get
all over the floor.
What have you learned about your knife?
Rosemary: How to close it.
Catherine: How to keep track of it.
Will: How to sharpen it.
Griffin: It’s sharp.
page 3
The Current
Food Wars, Bake Sales, and the Wholesome Hot Lunch Program
By Juliette Snell
At NBS we have many clubs and activities:
Math Counts, Music Group, After School
Clay, Ultimate Frisbee, Cross-Country
Skiing, soccer. Lately, we’ve added two new
activities: Monday Cooking Competitions
and the Hot Lunch Program.
North Branch has been doing many
activities relating to food. We’ve done
school lunch every Tuesday and Thursday,
food competitions every Monday. We lately
we have had a bake sale every Friday to
fundraise for MathCounts to buy shirts and
dinners for the whole team.
Usually people bring in their lunches
from home. Eric has figured out a way
where we can learn to cook, and save
money and time for parents. Of course it is
not free all together because of the cost the
ingredients. In order to have hot lunch or
school lunch, you have to bring in one of
the ingredients from home. Some people
forget, some kids bring more food than the
others. When that occurs it is okay. But the
kids who never bring anything, we highly
suggest you bring something to give the
ones who do a break.
How do we make it in such short time?
Well to start of with, the earlier carpool
arrives the quicker the food is organized
and made. Eric usually the day before asks
us kids for ideas. He picks the quickest and
most delicious one. We only have about 3
hours to make it. Eric has to teach too!
Whoever has class those two mornings
of that week, gets to participate in the
cooking. Eric usually makes time in our
class for the hands-on activity. The smells
coming through the school are the best, and
food does spread positivity. For the beginning stages of this schedule, we have
already made curry and rice, roasted veggies and meat (tofu for the vegetarian
option), stew, and kale, chicken and rice,
Cheesy potato soup and naan.
We have been using our resources as
well, using the outside bread oven for
roasted veggies. You do not have to eat
school lunch; you can actually bring your
lunch. We are just making an easier eating
option in school. Although Eric is a big part
of this, we kids, are trying to participate as
well. The thing is Eric shouldn’t be running
it, we should, and that is our goal.
We also have a food competition every
Monday. Tal picks a food, and we all compete against each other and Tal and Rose.
I think this began with Maxine and Tal getting in a fight of who had the best butternut
squash soup. They went up against each
other, with Eric in between, being the tastetester. Tal won (though he did not make it,
Rose did!)
Others wanted to participate as well.
So we started making the plan for next
Monday and it went on from there. We
have only done this competition two times
so far, with the amount of competitors
growing the second time. One competition
was based on molasses cookies with only
two competitors (Rose and Maxine).
Maxine won.
Then a six people competed the next
week, (Syd, Rose, Hannah, Will, Wyatt,
Lena) in a salad dressing competition. Syd
won the second week with her creamy
lime vinaigrette.
In the muffin competition, I entered
moist pumpkin muffins, running against my
biggest competitor, Rose, who ended up
winning. Then there was the applesauce
competition, won by Sydney, and finally,
coming soon, the Mac and Cheese contest.
All of this brings excitement and smiles to
Monday mornings.
I am ending this food passage with
Mathcounts bake sale! The team is:
Catherine, Merry, Rosemary, Anika, and me
(Juliette). Every Friday the Mathcounts
team has a bake sale to save up for shirts
and dinners. Each week two of us are chosen to bake something sweet that can feed
the whole school (about 25) and bring it to
school Friday morning. We sell at break
and lunch time (we don’t want to interfere
with work time). We have been doing this
for about three weeks now, baking cookies,
gluten free cake, “slutty” brownies, and
more brownies. We have been putting a lot
of time into this, (at least for me.) All bake
sale items are usually finished by the end
of the day. Parents, feel free to come in the
morning to buy a yummy sweet treat.
We want to give a big thank you to
Bill, Angus’ dad, for the bread he had been
making us, every Friday mornings. Bill
gives us two loaves which he gets up early
to make. These loaves are delicious and
bring excitement to Friday mornings and
put a smile on our faces!
The 2015 NBS Prunes Soccer Team
L-R (standing): Tal, Sam, Jack, Catherine, Will, Angus,
Maxine, Eden, Althea, Aiden
(front row): Kelsey, Anika, Merry, Wyatt, Sydney, Henry
The Currentpage 4
Here at NBS we are. . .
• breaking down walls and using the rubble to build a temple
• eating Angus’s bread
• we do 15 minute mediation walks on the Moosalamoo hike
• we learn a hundred things every day
• I feel the most involved
• reading banned books
• we bake bread
• looking at everything through a magnifying glass to find what
nobody else can see
• we run through the woods plotting the next point on our maps
• we learn why we are scared
• westering towards answers, diving for truths, mining the finest
of human gold
• we make portraits and masks of ourselves
• questioning ourselves, walking out of here and seeing miracles
• I can discover what I struggle with
• writing letters to ourselves
• we write sentences that have never been written, create things
no one has ever created,
• face to face and telling only the truth
• do things you never dared to do before
• making a zen garden in our bare feet, and getting sidetracked
for important things
• we get yelled at and keep on going
• climbing every tree in the woods
• looking at a backwards clock to find the time
• building Picasso sculptures out of scrap wood
• listening to “Strange Fruit” by Billy Holiday
• I learned how to write a speech
• I learned to share my work and not be isolated
• we learn to love the people we are with
I have learned. . .
• singing Christmas carols on the streets of Boston
• if you don’t like something new or different, change what you like
• sitting in silence, listening to the singing bowl
• it’s better to say what your are thinking than keeping it inside
• free to run bare foot through the open woods
• cliched imagery should be used sparingly, if ever
• putting what we love into what we make and then letting it go
• there are ways of crying that are not weak
• learning to connect to raw inner truths that we may have
pushed away
• a utopian world is where we can still be happy even when there
is sadness
• taking things apart in the shop
• there are bad people who were never given puppies
• pasting everything onto the walls
• I have flaws that I can fix; and how to do that
• not praying, but meditating
• if someone is your friend, they will love you even if everyone
else doesn’t
• sticking up for those who feel hurt
• building something from nothing
• flying kites
• stopping for the dead beetle in the path
School is where. . .
• how to spell Gandhi
• to edit myself, not beat myself up
• to close my eyes, stay still, and listen
• that growing up is a lot harder than they said it would be
• I have 650,000 hours to live
• you live deliberately
• I have learned to make stained glass by watching others do it
• you get poked and prodded and always come out knowing more
• what a linear equation is
• I learn to speak
• to ask if I have made good use of the day
• I find what I love, I do what love, I see those that I love
• to eat food I have never eaten
• we not only learn but teach
• that my love and approval of my own work is more important
than my teacher’s love and approval of my work
• we have morning meeting
• I became me and where I am becoming the next me
• I go to be loved
• you can be yourself and no one will judge you
• no one ever sits alone at lunch
• I learn to say the truth, not just what I want to be the truth
• I need be aware and unaware at the same time, to be careful
and precise and knowledgeable, then just do it
• there are billions of billions of atoms in a single sugar cube
• perfection can only be reached by way of imperfection
• that there are more helpers in the world than haters
page 5
I am learning. . .
• I like math and writing is three dimensional
• to look at everything through a magnifying glass
• discipline, forgiveness, and faith
• things aren’t so dangerous or difficult once you get started
• music has multiple personalities and at least one of those
comes from the performer
The Current
• the board of the school, who learn all the names of the kids
• joking with our teachers
• Rose in Math-letes
• Catherine bringing her leftover Halloween candy
• Will wearing orange
• we have dogs here
• my cubby is splatter painted
• I don’t want to be a role model, but a human being who makes
mistakes
• we have no cafeteria
• it takes a while to come up with an answer to the question
• how hard the teachers work for us kids
• to write a Eutopian document
• crazy treks in the woods to find longitude and latitude points
• to not be afraid of the future
• the poems that end our meetings
• how to lose things and how to give things
• the Mockingbirds in our lit book
• you have to belly up to the bar and you can’t be half-assed
• you have to do well even when no one is watching
• rainy soccer practice, old boots in the Canoodling Room, the
morning light in the clay room
• how to get all the juice out of a chapter of reading
• pajama days at school
• the only way I can be better is by screwing up a lot
• our bread oven and the labyrinth
• to see more
• Donna and Mia and their endless supply of pencils
• to grow into a greater self
• silent moments in meeting that force me to be better
• how to wash dishes
• teachers who know when I have only given 50% on something
• how to have a sense of urgency while staying calm
• the teachers who do most activities with us
• how to handle and take charge of a small group of people
• Tal for putting up with a bunch of teenagers
• about how much this school is a part of my life and how much
I will miss it when it is gone
• Rose for answering every kids’ question
• to run, and to run without the limits of “beating others”
• Eric’s gurgling laughter
• to sink and swim
• the bird feeders in the maple tree
• to ignore my appearance and focus on how I am living my life
• to be more careful
• the piano at lunch, the slack line, the woods, the books on the
shelves, the heated floor, the tiles that we made
• to keep going even though the end is not in sight
• people who are honest with me
• to let go and stop worrying about what will come next
• the flags over the big room, the badminton court, the friend
who will sit down next to me when I am alone in the basement
• patience
I am thankful for. . .
• the eye that looks over the big room
• the bread that Angus brings on Fridays
• long lunches
• the open ceiling
• Donna
• good art teachers
• morning carpool
• the opportunity to seek what interests me
• the days when we ditch the plan
• there are flowers on the table
• Jasper the new Love Dog
• the wiffleball games in the fall
• the backwards clock, the nails stuck in the shop counters,
oriental rugs, in the math room, the bumper stickers on the
stairwell walls, each one with a story and a person behind it
• people who care about me at this school and that feeling of
family
• Tal’s forgiveness and correcting of every piece of writing I
have written over the last year
• the big room table and it’s sturdiness
• being outside during lunch
• people who listen when I talk
• being taught that it is important to leave a mark
• a school like this
The Currentpage 6
NBS Heads to Boston to See the Sights, Some Art, and a Few Ducks
The Institute of Contemporary Art has a cantilevered Zen
observation deck. Althea looks out over the beautiful
but dystopically polluted Boston Harbor.
Above is a Rauschenberg mixed-media painting we saw.
We met some descendants of the real
Mr. and Mrs. Mallard.
Angus taught us that the heads of the drakes (the males)
only turn green after they mature.
Leeya sits on “Mrs. Mallard” at the Duck Pond
in the Public Garden, where we watched and fed
the ducks after Tal read us
Robert McCloskey’s Make Way for Ducklings
While visiting Walden Pond, a few of us were brave enough
to swim. The water was icy cold.
In Thoreau’s cabin, we all stood inside together and had
morning meeting. Juliette read us a Thoreau quote from
Walden that began: “I went to the woods because I wished
to live deliberately...”
The cabin was warm and there was a wood stove burning.
Tal got in trouble with the park ranger because he put a log
in the stove and she told him he wasn’t supposed to touch it.
page 7
The Current
Introducing the newest NBS member,
Wise King Jasper the Love Dog
A Very “Merry”
Proposal
ALUMNI NEWS
Calder Birdsey is taking a gap year, and is traveling all over
Europe with Rio McCarty. At the time of this writing we think
Calder and Rio are in Switzerland. They were in Paris two days
before the bombings there, but Calder says everything about
their travels is “grand.” He is going to Middlebury College in
the fall.
Henry Birdsey is majoring in composition and electro-acoustic
music at Bard College. He works as a sound technician at the
Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. Over vacations he has
been making giant sets (six-foot pipes) of oddly quarter-tuned
wind chimes out of recycled metals found at salvage yards
throughout Addison County.
Anna Wolfdactyl Levine (aka) Annie Holland-Levine says:
I live in Juneau, Alaska, where I work for the Department of
Fish and Game Division of Commercial Fisheries, doing
administrative and licensing stuff. I want to be in the field and
I need a new job, so if you know anybody ... I’m applying to
graduate programs in Ecology, where I want to investigate
coupled human/environment systems in order to develop more
sustainable management practices. When I’m not working,
I hike and enjoy the incredible scenery and wildlife here, lift
weights, strive to be led by my passion and not my fear, and
of course think deep thoughts. I keep having these dreams that
I return to NBS!”
Bianca Messner has taken a job in Madison Wisconsin, where
she is doing computer programing for Epic, one of the largest
Health Care information systems.
Chase Messner is a senior at Middlebury High School. He
was a three-year member of the football team, which went 32-1
over three years. Chase played both defensive back and wide
receiver, and scored Middlebury’s touchdown in the state
championship game against Rutland.
Reed Messner is a junior at University of Vermont, where he
is majoring in computer science, and also taking courses in the
history of film.
Students Vanquish NBS Board in The Golden Game
The North Branch School, founded in
2001, is a non-profit independent
school serving middle school age children (grades 7-9). The school is officially recognized by the State of
Vermont and meets or exceeds all
licensing standards. The school is a
501(c)3 tax-exempt entity.
PO Box 209
Ripton VT 05766
802.388.3269
email: [email protected]
“All right y’all we need tight fielding. If you’re covering a
base you need to be able to catch. These old coots aren’t skilled in
the outfield, so just hit the ball and they’ll fumble around while we
get people home, all right?” Tal commanded, as he wore a black
beret, which was part of his Halloween costume “And don’t let
them psych you out.”
I looked around at my new friends, all of them dressed in
different personalities for Halloween. We marched out of the room
chattering like a flock of seagulls into the autumn air.
I was in my Day-of-the-Dead costume and make-up. I felt a
nervousness creep up my spine as I watched the first inning start.
The board commanded the outfield as the first of the five
North Branch teams came put to bat. Why are you even nervous,
I thought to myself. It’s just a stupid wiffleball game, I mean the
ball has holes in it! As soon as this thought walked through my
mind, I somehow knew it was more than a dumb ball game.
I turned back to the game, hearing the sharp whack of ball on
bat, a blur of Angus passing us as he ran to first base. “Go Angus!”
I whooped.
I walked along the sideline of the field, confused about where
I should stand, where I would fit in. I flitted around cheering, not
really staying anywhere. The game went by in a whirl of wiffleball
mistakes, fumbling around with the ball, falling on our butts, and
runs scored. Each of the NBS teams took a turn, and the score was
really close.
Finally it was the ninth graders inning. “Group huddle,” Aidan
called out confidently. The ninth graders smushed together, and I
was surprised not to feel awkward as I was the new ninth grader. “All right guys,” Aiden said, volunteering himself as the
captain. “We’re going to fight hard and we’re gonna crush this
wiffleball game like no one has ever crushed it before. Ninth
graders on three.”
“NINTH GRADERS!” we whooped, ready to kick some
serious tush.
We took up the bat, hitting that little ball, getting each other
home, yelling “good hit” or “it’s all right!” We scored a few runs
and then took the outfield. Aiden pitched, and you could see the
seriousness and focus etched in his face as he threw each ball.
Down to the last out, Aidan tossed a final strike. The ball
passed Mia and hit the plastic lawn chair with a satisfying smack. “Yes!” My voice joined the chorus of the yells of the North
Branch School as we all sprinted to the mound where Aidan stood,
victorious. We collided in a bunch of limbs and laughter. A giant
pile of champs, hugging, girls, boys, Calvin and Hobbes, Netflix
and Chill, a groom and a bride, and a Day-of-the-Dead painted face
of a girl who belonged.
The golden bat didn’t matter to that girl so much. The love
she felt for the people around her, and the smiles, was all she cared
about. She had never really understood sports even though she had
played them all of her life. But if they could make her glow and
create a pig pile of smiles and laughter and cheers, sports were all
right with her. She wished that moment would never end.
Non-Discrimination Policy
In hiring, admissions and administr
ation, The North Branch School does
not discriminate on the basis of
physical ability, gender, race, national
or ethnic origin, creed, socio-economic
status, sexual orientation or
religious affiliation.
By Eden Ginsberg