What’s Happening at Bement
This past Friday, Bement students enjoyed their first “Buddy Time” of 2025. The “Reading Buddy” program has been around Bement for decades, pairing grades across the upper and lower school divisions for regular activities together. Sometimes older buddies simply read to their lower school friends, sharing the joy of the written word that is such an integral part of the Bement experience, but other times–like this past Friday–there is other fun to be had! All around school, buddy groups gathered around board games, card games, mazes, and puzzles to share some time together playing on a wet winter morning. From throwback board game classics like Clue and Mousetrap to the next generation of games like Apples to Apples and Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza (yes, that’s a thing), Bement students “buddied up” and started their Friday on a fun, relaxing note.
What I’m Reading, and/or Watching, and/or Listening To
This was a week of starting new books & shows. With Christine and American Primeval in my rearview mirror, it was time for some new “content.” On the book front, I picked up 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People by David Yeager. Billed as a data-informed discussion of how to help adolescents and young adults reach their full potential amid a sea of ever-changing distractions, 10 to 25 seems right up my alley. I am planning to dive in this week; if anyone wants to read along with me and discuss what we find, please drop me a line!
Late to the party alert: over the weekend I watched the first two episodes of Season 1 of Severance. With all the buzz surrounding Season 2, I figured I had better figure out what all the fuss was about. So far, so good – I am hooked and have so many thoughts and questions about the show, what it says/reveals about how we treat work in the 21st century, and what truths, questions, and secrets about modern humanity it may be sparking among viewers. (It is also tough to watch, at times, as an employer!) I can’t wait to keep watching, but I am a slow series watcher, so please no spoilers and proceed with caution if you want to chat me up about Severance.
What Else Is on My Mind
February is Black History Month, and at Bement we are proud to celebrate this important heritage month together with students, faculty, staff, and families. Teachers will be weaving opportunities to include Black history in their classrooms throughout the month, and all-school meetings will feature additional highlights for the entire community.
Deerfield is home to a rich and complicated chapter in the story of Black history in the United States. Like many New England colonial villages, Deerfield was home to a number of enslaved people in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Among those enslaved people in Deerfield was Lucy Terry (sometimes referred to as Lucy Terry Prince), who was freed from her enslavement when she married a free Black man and settled in Vermont. While living in Deerfield, Terry wrote a poem, “Bars Fight,” about a raid on white residents of Deerfield by indigenous Americans, which you can read here. Though Terry’s poem was not published until well after her death, it is considered by many experts in the field to be the oldest known work of literature penned by an African-American. (The “bars” of Terry’s poem is a section of Deerfield located about two miles south of Bement along the Deerfield River and Mill Village Road.)