The 2024-2025 school year marks the 100th anniversary of the Northampton School for Girls (NSFG), and Williston has a new, inspiring tradition to commemorate this momentous milestone.
Williston’s campus is buzzing with excitement surrounding celebrations for the centennial as the community reconnects with alumnae of the NSFG and girls dorms plan activities. Isabel Baxter-Paris, a six-year senior and Student Body President, delivered an empowering speech during the convocation ceremony on Friday, September 6, in which she touched on the legacy of the women who founded the NSFG.
The Williston Northampton School has an interesting history, starting with longstanding ties between Williston Academy and the Northampton School for Girls, which led to the merging of the two in 1971 to become a private coeducational institution. The NSFG was founded in 1924 by Sarah Whittaker and Dorothy Bement, and it had many traditions which, over the years, have been left in the past.
Isabel’s speech briefly outlined the NSFG’s history, including the revolutionary nature of their intellectually-rigorous curriculum and the focus they placed on community outreach.
“When women’s education was mainly focused on typing and home economics, not intellectual rigor, the students at the Northampton Schools for Girls rose to meet every challenge–for example, seniors completed summer reading assignments that often exceeded thirty books,” she said. “During World War II, worker shortages on local farms created a need for additional potato farmers. Northampton School girls answered the call, and woke up at dawn each morning to harvest potatoes and asparagus before arriving to English class.”
The incredible accomplishments of the alumnae of the NSFG are not to be overlooked or forgotten. Students and faculty believe it is important to preserve the pillars on which the school was founded, and continue to leave the legacy Whitaker and Bement would have wanted.
Josh Rilla, Dorm Head in Hathaway House, an all girls dorm, believes it is the responsibility of all members of our community to preserve the history of the school.
“In the conversations we’ve been having about celebrating this 100th anniversary, it’s actually really important to me that it is not just girls who are preserving this history,” he said. “I think it is a responsibility for all people on campus to preserve it, because we have all benefited from the fact that the Northampton School for Girls joined Williston.”
Annika Stackmann, a proctor in Hathaway House and two-year boarder from Guatemala, is excited to revive many parts of the original foundation of the school.
“It’s important to explore how the school has evolved over time, recognize the ways it has remained true to its roots, and find meaningful moments to celebrate its long history and accomplishments,” she said.
One way the school is celebrating the centennial is by bringing back traditions. On Friday, Sept. 13, 2024 at 9:30 p.m., all dorms were invited to the residential quad for a celebration called Phoenix Night. The turnout was much bigger than expected.
On Phoenix Night, members of the community wrote on a piece of paper something from their past that they want to let go of, such as a regret, an old belief, or a rough period in their lives. Then, while gathered around a fire, they burned the papers and symbolically let go of their problems of the past.
Proctors in the girls’ dorms decided to add their own touches to the tradition. In order to get everyone’s attention, they used kitchen utensils, pots, and pans to make noise. They then organized the crowd into two lines; each person went down the center before throwing their paper into the fire. As people went down the alley made up of members of the community, they were cheered on and encouraged.
Rilla also emphasizes the importance of traditions in educational settings, noting their lasting impact on students.
“Those kinds of traditions, I find that they stick with you even more deeply than the classroom experiences,” he said. “Even though you’re learning great things, that’s what you will remember, that’s what you’ll want to recreate in the years to come.”
Phoenix Night is only one of many traditions Williston looks forward to bringing back this year. They not only honor the legacy of the NSFG, but they also build stronger connections within the community.