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A Lesson in American Civics

Brad Bigelow, TWS ’21 stood in New England Sports Center in Marlborough, MA where he was set to begin filming an interview with new Director of TWS Hockey Development and Head Girls Hockey Coach, Jeff Pellegrini and three Winchendon players, and checked his email. The summer marketing intern looked up and nonchalantly said, “Oh, I got a 5 on my AP Government and Politics exam.”

The College Board AP Exam scores became available on Wednesday, July 21st, and Brad, just like the other 261,000 students who took the US Government and Politics exam received his score by email.

“Doc (Dr. Jason Friedman) made sure we were ready.”

Brad Bigelow ’21

At The Winchendon School, Advanced Placement (AP) course work begins over the summer. While students start to build out a college application starting their first year with ColLABs, service-learning, and internships, all of which set them apart in the hyper-competitive college application process, some students challenge themselves with college-level course work and take one or more AP courses. The Winchendon School’s AP score distribution was almost double the national average of 11% for students taking the AP Government and Politics exam. At Winchendon, 20% of the students received a score of 5 out of a possible 5.

“I like to put my students in a position to succeed.”

Dr. Jason Friedman

Throughout his four years at Winchendon, Brad demonstrated a deep understanding and appreciation of American civics; he placed wreaths in the Massachusetts Veterans’ Cemetery, worked as a service-learning leader for Veterans Outreach, and earned recognition from the School with the John S. Delaney Award which “Recognizes a student who has passion for civics, citizenship, and the perpetuation of democracy.”

Wreaths-across-America Student placing wreath in Massachusetts Veterans' Cemetery

Brad, who will be attending American University as an International Relations major, hopes to work for the State Department or Foreign Service.

A Tale of Two Sophies

Amazing students doing amazing things!

The Tale of Two Sophies!  They were both quiet, both shy, and at least one was pretty anxious about school and lacking self-confidence. But each found a place at The Winchendon School where they were not only supported but encouraged to explore their curiosity. Both built confidence and pretty exciting resumes for their college applications – and wow, have things changed since they graduated from TWS just a few years ago!  Two of our young alumnae named Sophie are having a pretty incredible 2021. 

  • Just before graduating from Boston College, Sophie Frushell ‘17 was named a Fulbright Scholar. This Sophie will be heading to the Dominican Republic this fall where she will be studying how to develop better educational opportunities for underrepresented students.
  • In the three years since her high school graduation, Sophie Jamison ‘18 made news when she was named Chief TikTok Officer, an industry first for Hasbro’s Nerf unit. This Sophie was named this week to Adweek’s prestigious “Women Trailblazers: 35 Inspirational Leaders”, placing her in company with such other leaders as Kamala Harris, Rashida Jones, and Justine Bateman. We’re not sure, but we think she may be the youngest trailblazer on the list. 

Welcome to TWS

Welcome to The Winchendon School! We cannot wait to meet you in the fall. Please enjoy this message from our co-presidents for the academic year of 2021-22!

https://vimeo.com/561057573

A Proposed Memorial Day Pledge

By John Kerney, Executive Director

Memorial Day – a day that we reflect on and honor the millions who have given their lives in service to our country.   We show our gratitude and respect to the many men and women from diverse backgrounds who were unified in fighting and ultimately dying to protect our liberties, our freedom, and against injustice, oppression and hate.

I have spent a lot of time reflecting on the service and loss of lives coming into Memorial Day 2021, and I have come to the following conclusions.   First – we now have to honor the loss of thousands of lives of a new class of warriors – those many health care workers and first responders who gave their lives over the last fifteen months trying to protect Americans from a new menace – a pandemic.  We owe our gratitude to them and their colleagues who continue to struggle and battle on across the country.   As challenging and sad this year was, their work and sacrifices have protected us from enduring an even worse outcome.   My thoughts today are also with those families who lost these caring and committed people.

And, it feels that COVID has almost blurred our vision and other senses, distracting us and preoccupying us from fully grappling with and making progress against more sinister and invasive enemies – hate, injustice and racism.  The one year mark of the murder of George Floyd – who has unwittingly and unnecessarily become an important warrior against racism, ignorance and hate – reminds of how much work is left to be done on this critical battlefield.   Recent hate crimes and racism against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are an ugly reminder that on this day – the centennial of the Tulsa Massacre – that we still have a lot of hard work ahead.       

These enemies, the despicable forces of oppression, hate and racism, are what so many that we honor on Memorial Day gave their lives to defeat.   Wouldn’t we be doing a better job of honoring those more than a million American warriors who lost their lives if we were to commit ourselves to fighting much harder to defeat these forces?    

The good news is that unlike prior generations, the new enemy is not a country or an alliance, and that evil does not need to be fought with guns from foxholes in ungodly conditions.   This enemy is amongst us, and it can be fought largely with our voices and our actions.  

On this Memorial Day, let’s pledge and rededicate ourselves to the millions of Americans who have lost their lives defending us and our values over the last three centuries – and the families that they have left behind – by fighting on – against injustice and racism, speaking out and acting against hate and inequity against anyone of any background, color, religion, ethnicity, race or gender –  never turning a blind eye.   Too many have already lost their lives or suffered undue hardship due to unlawful arrest, wrongful incarceration, and violence and hate at the hands of would-be oppressors.  This most important war can be won and injustices ended with sacrifices far less than loss of life and the hardship suffered by those that we honor on this day.  We can each be a peaceful warrior by educating about and fighting injustice, pushing for inclusivity and equity, stepping in to stop racism and hate – and always being kind, inclusive and respectful.

This would be the respectful, purposeful, and enduring way to honor over a million Americans who have lost their lives protecting us and our freedom.  I  hope that all of us in The Winchendon School will make this Memorial Day Pledge in our shared commitment to ending racism, inequity, and injustice and our continuing to thrive to be the most inclusive, fair, and welcoming community.  

May 31, 2021

Jeff Pellegrini Named as Director of Hockey Development and Head Girls’ Hockey Coach

WINCHENDON, MA: The Winchendon School has named Jeff Pellegrini as Director of Hockey Development and Head Girls’ Coach Hockey. Coach Pellegrini will be joining The Winchendon School community over the summer.

Jeff Pellegrini will arrive at The Winchendon School from Shattuck-St. Mary’s where he has been coaching since the fall of 2018. Previously, Pellegrini racked up 15 years of NCAA Division I and Division III collegiate coaching experience. His experience includes six years coaching women’s hockey at Northeastern University and guiding the Huskies to the program’s first-ever Hockey East Championship (2018). His experience developing players means he will not just take the reins of the varsity girls program, but he will also help drive broad program development, including recruiting and development of all players across The Winchendon School’s teams. He will also be responsible for guiding the mentorship of our hockey coaches.  With Jeff, we expect The Winchendon School’s programs will be consistently ranked among prep school programs, especially for those student-athletes who are seeking both Winchendon’s style of highly personalized and fully immersive learning and the opportunity to play and be recruited at the highest levels.

In discussing the announcement, The Winchendon School’s Executive Director, John Kerney said, “Jeff brings terrific experience and a great reputation to Winchendon.” 

In a joint statement, Director of Athletics, Dan Chretien, Head of School Laurie Lambert, and Dean of Enrollment Management, John Toffey wrote, “One of the most amazing aspects of this search was the very strong references that came in for Jeff – often unsolicited.  We heard from legendary college coaches and heads of top high school programs about how fortunate Winchendon and our students would be if we could “nab” Jeff.   We are thrilled that Jeff, his wife Tiffany, and their two children will be returning to New England and joining the Winchendon community this summer. “

You can follow Jeff Pellegrini on Twitter at @JeffPellegrini. To learn more about The Winchendon School and our approach to education, contact John Toffey, Dean of Enrollment Management at 978-297-4476 or at [email protected]

#GoWinch!

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