List of 15 news stories.

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  Both, And: Meg Kenny and the Art of Being More than One Thing

  9/13/2024
  I am sitting with Meg Kenny, and for a moment we are not in her Founders Hall office any longer. We are in Arlington, Massachusetts, and it is the 1970s. We are in a finished basement playroom that is outfitted as a schoolhouse—desks, books, chalkboard, paper, pens and pencils—and Meg and her sisters are completely immersed in playing school. She and her sisters take turns being teacher and student, creating lessons and activities. Taking after their mother and grandmother, who both spent time as teachers, the sisters embrace the culture of teaching and learning.

  
  

  Then we are outside on a street, lined with sidewalks, dotted with houses, and Meg and dozens of other kids are out playing street hockey, wiffle ball, kick the can. Meg plays hard, and loves going to Red Sox games with all the neighborhood kids. 

  
  

  “Growing up, I was comfortable in both worlds; I loved school, and playing school . . . and I loved being out in our neighborhood.”

  
  

  Like so many of us, Meg Kenny was more than one thing for as long as she can remember. The goldenrod and lime tint of the ’70s recedes, and the slate gray and navy present comes back into focus, and Meg is sitting across from me as Burr and Burton’s first woman Associate Head of School. She is headed into her 27th school year at BBA. 
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  Place and Purpose: the Magic of Mildred Orton '28

  9/12/2024
  By any measure, it could be said that Burr and Burton alumna Mildred Ellen Orton ’28 spent her life judiciously and prudently, as any true Vermonter might strive to. Yet, at every turn, with every story, there is an undercurrent of enjoyment and outright fun that speaks to an enviable fullness of her days. Arguably, one of her most public accomplishments is her role in co-founding the Vermont Country Store with her husband, Vrest Orton in 1946. But if we started there, the picture of Mildred’s life would certainly be less than complete. 

   

  Mildred died on May 6, 2010, just nine months shy of her 100th birthday. Throughout her near century of life, Mildred’s influence spanned generations and reached around the world - courtesy of her role at The Vermont Country Store. Yet, so much of her lasting legacy is enjoyed by those of us right here in the Northshire - in her deeply seeded Vermont roots and sense of place. 

   

  This year, we celebrate 175 years of women at Burr and Burton, commemorating the intrepid 16 women who joined the ranks of the male students at Burr Seminary in 1849, building the foundation of Burr and Burton for the generations of women to come. 
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  Sarah Cleghorn, Class of 1895; an Interview with Frederica Templeton

  9/11/2024
   

  “Here is what our town can do: this glorious old school. We have maintained it against changing educational fashions; against the cost of living; against the universal vicissitudes of all experience, for a hundred years as it was founded to serve the children of this valley.”

  
  

  When Sarah Cleghorn,1895 passed away at age 83 in 1959, her New York Times obituary mentions her great friendship with fellow writer Robert Frost, who called her “saintly.” The obituary goes on to say, “Miss Cleghorn would never have thought of herself as a saint, but she was ready at all times to accept the burdens that go with a life built on principles.”

  
  

  Cleghorn’s principles guided her to become active in many causes: she wrote passionately about social justice, women’s suffrage, and in opposition to child labor. She balanced her activism with both writing about and engaging in daily life—many of her poems are portraits of New England country life, and Cleghorn herself was deeply connected to the daily goings on of life in Manchester for more than 30 years.
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  The Intrepid Forty-Niners

  9/10/2024
  The Forty-Niners were 16 intrepid women who entered Burr Seminary in 1849 with the radical goal of accessing a college-preparatory high school diploma. 

  
  

  The idea of educating women to prepare them for college was groundbreaking at the time, maybe even a little bit scandalous. But, the tide was turning, and between 1836 and 1875, 50 women’s colleges opened in the United States, which catalyzed eager women to prepare themselves to enter college courses of study. Sixteen of those women turned their attention toward attending Burr Seminary with an eye on college and beyond.

  
  

  One of the Forty-Niners, Lucy Barrett, approached the Assistant Principal William Burnham to ask him for private instruction, so she could prepare to enter Mount Holyoke College. Burnham responded that he didn’t have the time to tutor her privately, but he encouraged her to come and join the existing classes… classes consisting of all men. 

  
  

  The rest, as they say, is history.
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  Sally Baldwin Utiger '48

  9/9/2024
  Once you are part of the Burr and Burton family, it is an association that can, and often does, permeate a lifetime and span generations. In the 193 years of its existence, Burr and Burton has been fortunate to count many dedicated and illustrious alumni and friends as part of its community. Names like Burr, Wickham, Burton, Henry, and Orvis pepper the archives, forming the basis and rhythm of the school’s history. These industrious pioneers built the school on the hill to elevate and educate the young men and women of southern Vermont. 

  
  

  Burr and Burton Academy continues to seep into the local DNA, sending generations of families through the Seminary hallways. One such family belongs to Sally Baldwin Utiger, Burr and Burton Seminary Class of 1948. 
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  Alumni Interview: Five Things That Matter with Marcia MacDonald Neugebauer '50

  9/8/2024
  It’s hard to find a more celebrated moment in U.S. history than NASA during the early days of the space race. And Hollywood most certainly agrees, having churned out scores of biopics elevating and celebrating the brilliant minds who first placed Armstrong on the moon. Before that “one small step for man” in 1969, there were countless hours of scientific theory, space instrument creation, and many other spacecraft sent up to observe and report on the great beyond. 
  
  Those chosen few who took part in the race for space discovery in the 1950s and 1960s might not have known at the time the part they’d play in making history. One such pioneer (though she disputes the label) is Marcia MacDonald Neugebauer ’50. Marcia was a research scientist with Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) from 1956 until her retirement in 1996. She and her team were the first to successfully measure the existence and properties of the solar wind with their tool, a curved plate analyzer (CPA), which was launched on the Mariner 2 spacecraft in 1962. 
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  Judy McCormick Taylor '57

  9/7/2024
  As one of the first two women—and the first alumna—appointed to Burr and Burton’s Board of Trustees in 1975, Judy McCormick Taylor '57 was a trailblazer known for her tireless volunteerism and her love of her high school.

  
  

  As a student, Judy sang in the Glee Club, helped produce the Burtonian (yearbook), and served as both a cheerleader and a member of the BBS ski team. Her school spirit, empathy, and can-do attitude were the stuff of legend, and after getting her degree at Colby-Sawyer and studying and working in New York City, she returned to Manchester, where she and her husband Derry Taylor bought the Johnny Appleseed Bookstore and raised their two children. Over the decades, she and Derry became self-proclaimed “superfans” of Green and Gold sports teams, cheering on hundreds of Bulldogs and Middlebury Panthers. 
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  Alumni Interview: Five Things That Matter with Kathi Bierwirth '81

  9/6/2024
  At the end of this year, Kathi (Frost) Bierwirth ’81 will retire from Burr and Burton Academy after nearly 40 years of teaching, coaching, leading and supporting students. Kathi has the rare gift of being a person who always knew that she wanted to make Burr and Burton her life’s work. 

  
  

   
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  Alumni Interview: Five Things That Matter with Betsy Shaw '83

  9/5/2024
  It can be rare for someone to match her talents with a life filled with purpose and achievement. It is rarer still when that life leads to the very top of her field on the world stage. As a Burr and Burton student, Betsy Shaw ’83 couldn’t envision that her athleticism and competitive spirit would lead her to represent the United States at the first-ever Winter Olympic Games for the sport of snowboarding - a sport that didn’t even exist when she grew up.
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  Charity Clark '93 on being first

  9/4/2024
  Charity Clark ’93 is no stranger to being first. When she ran for Vermont Attorney General in 2022, she was the first Democratic woman in Vermont’s history to even run for that office. And, when she won the election, she became the first woman elected to the position of Attorney General. 

  
  

  In her campaign video, Charity’s voiceover takes us through her lengthy resume and qualifications and her near decade of working in the Vermont Attorney General’s office as Assistant Attorney General and Chief of Staff. After listing several of her most salient accomplishments, including her support of small businesses, criminal justice reform, and privacy protections, the video gets to what many women in Vermont saw as the thing that simply needs to be said. 

  
  

  “Twenty-five men and zero women have been elected Vermont Attorney General,” Charity states over a cascade of portraits of men who have served in the office she now holds as its first elected woman. “This August 9, you can vote for experience. You can vote for someone who knows how to fight for you. You can vote to shatter the glass ceiling.”
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  Alumni Interview: Five Things That Matter with Rhoni Basden ’04

  9/3/2024
  Rhoni Midden Basden ’04 is adept at crafting her surroundings into powerful teaching tools, a skill she learned, in part, at Burr and Burton. Rhoni is the Executive Director of Vermont Works for Women, a nonprofit based in Winooski that “promotes economic justice by advancing gender equity and supporting women and youth at every stage of their career journeys.”
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  Alumni Interview: Five Things That Matter with Grace Pinkus '20

  9/1/2024
  
  It’s finals week at UMass Amherst, and Grace Pinkus ’20 is eagerly awaiting what will essentially be her first traditional graduation on May 18, where she will earn a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology. As with all 2020 high school graduates, Covid restrictions derailed her high-school graduation experience. Ironically, our meeting was on Zoom - a platform, Grace said, with which she was very familiar.
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  Alumni Interview: Five Things that Matter with Ashley Ihasz Austin '01

  9/1/2024
  Ashley Ihasz Austin '01 was inspired by music at a young age, and turned her love of music into a thriving career in the music industry. In this Five Things that Matter, Austin sits down with Advancement's Meredith Morin to discuss her business, her path to Los Angeles and back again, and what she loved most about BBA.
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  Alumni Interview: Five Things That Matter with Meg Chandler '13

  9/1/2024
  Work in international development felt as natural to Meg Chandler ’13 as going to work for the family business. Born in Bangkok, and spending her early years in Burma, Meg and her brother James ’10 moved with their family to Dorset in 1999. After watching her parents dedicate their careers to international service, Meg said she always knew that she would spend her career in a similar way. 
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  Alumni Interview: Five Things that Matter with Megan Beattie-Cassan '99

  9/1/2024
  Megan Beattie-Cassan ‘99 knows Burr and Burton from multiple angles: She’s an alum, she’s the current school nurse, and she’s also a BBA parent. As the school nurse in during the Covid-19 global pandemic, Beattie-Cassan’s expertise  was critical to both BBA’s reopening in the fall of 2020 and the successful prevention of the spread of Covid on campus.  We caught up with Beattie-Cassan in 2021 to learn more about her many connections to BBA.