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Housatonic Valley Regional High School’s varsity swim team hosted a meet against Shepaug Valley High School on Wednesday, Jan. 21. Shepaug’s team was notably larger, putting forth four relay teams to Housatonic’s one relay team.
Riley Klein
Part of the difference in involvement comes down to location and the nature of the sports themselves. “It’s much easier to walk into the gym than it is to walk onto a ski course,” athletic director Anne MacNeil said. Basketball is a team oriented sport played in the school gym, making attendance easy. New traditions like rival night and themed games also increase excitement. MacNeil explained that when the ice hockey team used to compete at Hotchkiss, the games were widely attended. Many winter sports are also more individual based, making it harder to build hype around one race or run than a team competition.
Beyond the challenge of drawing spectators, the teams themselves are also limited in size. Housatonic’s small enrollment contributes to smaller rosters, especially in nontraditional sports. Cost and access also make some winter sports harder for students to become involved with. “You have to be introduced to skiing. You have to be introduced to hockey,” MacNeil said. “If you look at what it takes to play those sports, there’s a money factor involved.”
For the swim team, the difference in team culture is notable. Senior Katie Crane played basketball her freshman year before fully committing to the swim team. “When I played basketball, we weren’t just showing up for our team, we were showing up for the student section too,” she said. “For swim, what fueled our energy was just the team itself.”
Riley Klein
Swim meets rarely draw big crowds, but some competitors said that reduced the pressure. “I love swim because there isn’t that competitiveness and pressure,” Crane said. “I just showed up and I would race, but I was racing for myself.” Swimmers said their teammates and coaches were supportive, even if a big audience wasn’t there to cheer them on.
The lack of visibility can also be frustrating. “It definitely feels like I put up big performances without it getting noticed because I made Berkshire League first team and no one knows,” freshman Phoebe Conklin said. “For basketball and soccer, it’s this huge deal when you make first team.”
The ski team faces similar struggles. “It’s actually a fun spectator sport,” said junior Danny Lesch. Because races are largely individual, standout performances don’t always translate into team wins, even though the team has many accomplished athletes. Lesch said the individual athletes then get less recognition despite high levels of personal success. “What a lot of people don’t realize is that probably the most successful students we have at their sport have been our best skiers,” Lesch said.
dWinter Cheney sports three gold medals after a victorious performance in the Berkshire Hills Ski League championships Wednesday, Feb. 18.
Despite the recognition gap between basketball and other winter sports, athletes and community members have recently made larger efforts to improve visibility. “That’s always been an area that I have struggled to do better in,” MacNeil said. “In the last two years, I’ve really focused on our Instagram account and trying to spotlight people.” While trying her best to equally represent each sport, MacNeil also relies on athletes themselves to send photos and stats. “I can’t be everywhere at once,” she said.
Looking ahead, the future of other sports at Housatonic may depend on overcoming challenges tied to the school’s small enrollment. “I just had to cancel girls’ lacrosse,” MacNeil said. Increasing visibility and community support can help keep teams active and competitive. Greater recognition can help spark student interest, increasing participation and reminding the community that success exists across sports with less publicity. For members of the ski team, even small efforts can help make a difference. “What we hope for is one of the races next year, we get a crowd, get people to come, just one race,” Lesch said.
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A dish with ornate circular designs.
Shanay Duprey
The new class gives students opportunities to work with clay and ceramics in school for the first time since elementary school for many students. “I noticed that while ceramics was taught in the elementary schools, there was a major curricular gap once students reached high school,” Rand said “I worked closely with the administration to bridge that gap and build the program back up so students could continue developing those skills.”
The ceramics class is taught next to the school barn in the Science and Technology Center, a space the class shares with many diverse other courses. Rand said the space had its benefits and its drawbacks.
“An advantage to using the STC is that it gets foot traffic so that students who may not have known what the ceramics class was can now look over and see what we are doing,” Rand said. “Because we are sharing the STC, all of our materials and projects have to be meticulously put away to keep them safe, and tools that would normally be stationed in one spot have to be moved into the pottery ‘cage’ at the end of every day. The students have to be incredibly organized and plan ahead when moving projects and materials back and forth.”
“Pinch bowls” created by Lilly Rand’s ceramics class. Shanay Duprey
While there are struggles that come with the space, the class seems to be a favorite amongst students. Tenzing Sherpa, a senior who took the class during its first semester last fall, speaks highly of it. “I wish it was a full year course because it is a great way to relax and enjoy your time in the school building and a full year would allow for more experience and experimentation,” Sherpa said.
The class’s popularity is shown in the numbers as well. “The student interest is clearly there, as 68 students signed up for ceramics this year, and seeing the work they are producing is proof that this program was a missing piece of our curriculum.” Rand said.
The class focuses on the basics of ceramics, a historic art form. “I try to balance foundational hand-building skills,” Rand said. “I believe in the philosophy often attributed to Pablo Picasso: ‘Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.’”
This class serves as an opportunity to experiment, and especially to learn ceramics skills. Rand said she rediscovered a passion for ceramics after college and learns more about the art form even today.
“My journey with clay started in college. . . About 15 years later, while teaching at Sharon Center, I rediscovered that passion.” said Rand. “I am currently using a new clay body and mixing all of my own glazes from raw materials. It’s been a significant learning curve, but I’ve actually discovered a fascination with the chemistry behind glaze mixing and I’m eager to dive deeper into that science.”
Even students with past experience still learn from Rand’s instruction. “I had done ceramics previously so I knew most of the fundamentals we learned in class,” Sherpa said. “I think the most valuable thing that I learned in the class was how the glaze we had available to us worked and how to apply it so it didn’t end up a mess.”
Rand said it was challenging to encourage original creations from students. “A big challenge right now is encouraging original thought; many students immediately look to Pinterest or their phones for inspiration,” Rand said. “My goal is to teach them how to look at the world around them—or their own experiences—for ideas.” Sherpa echoed that sentiment. “The biggest struggle for me was figuring out what I even wanted to make.” Sherpa said.
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