FOXCROFTVolume No. XXVII Fall/Winter 2004 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: A Code of Ethics for Faculty and Students p. 1 Jackson Laboratory Offers Opportunity for Staff and Students p. 2 Alumni Weekend p. 8-9 Class Notes p. 10 ....and more! A PUBLICATION OF FOXCROFT ACADEMY for ALUMNI & FRIENDS Dear Friends of Foxcroft Academy: his September I looked forward to the first morning of school when I, along with faculty and staff, welcomed new and return- T ing families and their students to our campus at Foxcroft Academy. This year, my second at Foxcroft Academy, it was a pleasure to greet 370 local day students as well as 61 students whose fam- ilies or towns pay tuition directly to the Academy, among which Foxcroft Academy are 26 boarding students, both domestic and international. Board of Trustees I would like to say to our families: thank you for the privilege of educating your children. As an independent school we understand President, Vandy E. Hewett ’75 that we must earn the right to educate the students who attend Vice President, Peter W. Culley ’61 Foxcroft Academy. While historically Foxcroft, and then Dover, and more Secretary, Lois W. Reynolds ’54 recently, Monson, Charleston, and Sebec have chosen to send their students Treasurer, Donna L. Hathaway ’66 to the Academy, we never take for granted this tremendous privilege given to us by the Susan M. Almy families and towns who have Foxcroft Academy as their school of choice. William C. Bisbee Others too have recognized the quality of education provided by the Academy because Rebecca R. Engdahl ’52 Edgar E. Gammon ’47 in recent years a number of families and students from neighboring towns with their own H. Thomas Gerrish ’52 public high school have expressed an interest in attending Foxcroft Academy. Students and Kenneth A. Hews '65 families are attracted to the Academy in large measure due to the breadth of our academic Jane Hibbard-Merrill program, including our Advanced Placement courses. Unfortunately, many of these parents Wayne O. Huff Frank T. Knaut ’70 can't afford tuition payments. Recognizing this need, Paul and Genie Dillon created the Azure David R. Perkins Dillon Academic Aspirations Scholarship Fund in memory of their daughter who was killed Glenda B. Smith in a tragic automobile accident in her senior year. The fund awarded its first scholarship this Richard B. Swett year to assist a family with tuition payments so that their child could attend Foxcroft Acad- John E. Wentworth emy. Recently, alumna Barbara Livermore Morrison '36 left a portion of her estate as a bequest John E. Wiles ’51 to the Academy to establish the Barbara Livermore Morrison Academic Aspirations Scholar- Honorary Trustees ship Fund. We are grateful for these friends and alumni of Foxcroft Academy who are helping to Doris G. Coy ’64 make it possible for more young men and women to experience a Foxcroft Academy education. William C. Forbes III With other educational options available nearby, the Academy is held to the highest level Elizabeth H. Harvey of accountability as it is evaluated in the marketplace every day. Families keenly perceive the Louis O. Hilton Frederick E. Hutchinson ’48 value in a Foxcroft Academy education, for which we are grateful. As you read this issue of Woodrow E. Page the Foxcroft, you will learn of the wonderful work of our faculty and students in implement- Martha G. Rollins ’37 ing a school-wide code of ethics, our developing relationship with Jackson Laboratory, and Douglas M. Smith, Esq. '65 various students' achievements in the classroom as well as on the athletic fields. Murray M. Stanhope ’37 My thanks to all supporters, past and present, whose charitable gifts continue to make Helen D. Stitham Kevin L. Stitham ’70 the Academy a school of distinction. A special thanks to the classes of 1937, 1952, and 1954, Muriel P. Watson ’25 for their newly established class endowment funds. With leadership and vision like this, our future is filled with optimistic hopes and dreams. Foxcroft Volume No. XXVII Sincerely, Fall/Winter 2004 Allen Adriance, Headmaster Editor: Jay Brennan Associate Headmaster Associate Editor: Cathy Hall The Foxcroft is published two times each year for Pictured on Cover: Upstairs (l-r); Rachel Surette, Mr. Adriance, Hannah Knowlton, alumni and friends of Foxcroft Academy. Mitch Sawyer, Brad Bellemare If you are receiving duplicate copies of the Foxcroft or have a change of address, please contact the Downstairs (l-r): Ian Imbert, Lindsay Chase, Julie Earnest, Mary Faith Duncan Foxcroft Academy Alumni Office at 975 W. Main St., Dover-Foxcroft, ME 04426. You may read the Foxcroft online at: www.foxcrofta- cademy.org/magazine.html Foxcroft Academy News A Code of Ethics for Faculty and Students hile Foxcroft Academy has been on the cutting edge in tion and individuals say we believe. These 45 student leaders in turn Maine and New England in developing a standards-based have had the opportunity to lead the entire Academy student body, W curriculum that raises academic standards for all students, divided up into 28 small groups, through the ethical problem solving the standards now being talked about among faculty, students, admin- model over a six-week period. The work will continue this year and cul- istration and Trustees are not strictly academic in nature. minate in students proposing the adoption of a student code of ethics. Over the past five years, beginning in 1999, the administration The ethics training, as one staff member observed, “Caused stu- and faculty have been working at developing their own code of ethics dent leaders to do some soul searching and self-examination. Like all as professionals. This work was in part supported by a collaborative of us, they are not perfect and perhaps don’t always act in harmony relationship with the Institute of Global Ethics located in Camden, with their values. But they have had the determination, the strength Maine. While the work is ongoing, a written code of ethics was adopted of character to persevere, and the responsibility to follow through. in 2002 and today is part of the school handbook which governs how They deserve recognition for their service to our school and for lead- faculty, staff and administrators are to conduct themselves with each ing the way and taking a risk in helping to make Foxcroft Academy a other, students and others with whom they serve. better place for all students.” In the spring of 2004 Foxcroft Academy took the next significant step forward in providing students an opportunity to begin the pro- cess of defining a code of ethics which will guide their conduct as students and community members. Staff members conducting the training have explained to students, “When we think about schools and what should be taught in them, of course we think that academ- ics should be the main focus. But it is hard to learn in a place without a common core of values that makes it a safe place and one that en- sures equal treatment for all students. Although teachers and admin- istrators should be the model for such behavior, they alone are not responsible for making schools such a place. Students have an obliga- tion to each other to uphold treatment that delivers respect.” From a historical perspective, the Academy has always viewed its educational mission very “holistically”, in fact, as recently as 1972 Foxcroft Academy had as a part of its mission statement phrases such as “social consciousness” and “moral obligations” and the student handbook even included the statement, “promotion of literature, science, morality, and piety….based on the teaching of Jesus Christ.” While today Foxcroft serves as a non-sectarian independent school, the Academy remains true to its historic mission as it focuses on the development of a common code of ethics which can guide the conduct and behavior of administration, faculty, and students. Toward this end, staff members have provided 45 students with training over a period of several months in an ethical problem solving model which has taught them to examine their own personal values, think before they act, and act in harmony with what we as an institu- Colleen Grover leading ethics workshop for Trustees FALL/WINTER 2004 1 Foxcroft News Jackson Laboratory Offers Opportunity for Staff and Students his past summer, as part of the Academy’s continuing relation- One of the projects that Foxcroft Academy is preparing to part- ship with The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Ms. Jessica ner with Jackson Lab on is under the direction of Dr. David Harrison, TWentworth, a science instructor at Foxcroft Academy, partici- whose area of research at the lab has been genetic and endocrine pated in an eight-week intensive project involving animal stem cell mechanisms of aging. The specific research project for which Academy research. The Jackson Laboratory is internationally recognized as one students would prepare and collect data on tissue cultures is known the world’s leading mammalian genetic research facilities. as: Pluripotency of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Derived from Adult Mouse Ms. Wentworth’s summer research under the sponsorship of Marrow. Ms. Wentworth’s training this summer was in preparation Dr. David Harrison is in preparation for a research project for her leadership with Aca- that Academy students will participate in during the demy students in next few years at the Academy. Her project collecting data for included work with mice embryon- this research. ic stem cells (ES cells). According to To put this re- Ms. Wentworth, “The goal of my work was to have the ES cells differ- search piece in place, Fox- entiate to become hematopoietic stem cells, which are cells that can croft Academy will need to replicate indefinitely and can differentiate into other cells; specifically, create a sterile environment into the formation of blood or blood cells.” Ms.