Berkshire Country Day School Announces Teacher for New 2-Year-Old Program

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STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — Julia Kreilkamp will join the Berkshire Country Day School faculty as the lead preschool teacher for its Reggio-Emilia-inspired 2-year-old class for the program's inaugural year in Fall 2017.

Kreilkamp has more than 20 years of teaching experience, most recently for 10 years as the pre-kindergarten teacher at the Middletown Springs School in Vermont, where she developed several new programs. She received a B.A. from Macalester College and a M.A. in Elementary Education from College of St. Joseph. Of special note, Kreilkamp received the University of Vermont's Outstanding Teacher Award in 2010.

Ms. Kreilkamps's strengths as an educator and communicator will be fundamental to establishing the program, which has been added for the 2017-2018 year in response to growing demand, expanding the school's current 3- and 4-year-old early education. Kreilkamp has been designing the new 2-year-olds classroom and planning for the "investigation stations" that are a hallmark of the Reggio Emilia approach.


"I love getting to know each child individually and presenting opportunities to stretch them in their exploration, play, and learning. They never fail to impress me with how boldly they meet new challenges, and with each step, their confidence and abilities grow," she said.

Berkshire Country Day School is the only preschool in the area currently offering the Reggio Emilia style of early childhood education, which embraces children's natural intellectual inclinations and innate abilities and fosters these dispositions and talents. Today, the core beliefs of Reggio Emilia have been embraced worldwide, and the approach is considered by many to be one of the best and most innovative, and one that is most consistent with how young children learn.

The new program at BCD will expand current offerings and enroll up to 10 children aged 24-35 months, who will be fully incorporated into the school’s intentional, independent, and inspired community of learners. The preschoolers will also enjoy ready access to the many resources of BCD's historic 27-acre campus — from an adjacent playground to the new Kevin Hirt Library and Learning Commons and Kim and James Taylor Music/Performance Space. For more information, visit the website.


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New Bedford Installing Sculpture of Melville Based on 'Moby-Dick'

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — New Bedford's installing a statue of Herman Melville based on his epic "Moby-Dick," the story of a whaling captain and his nemesis the white whale, inspired by Mount Greylock. 
 
An illustration of the statue titled "Melville and Jonah's Journey" was unveiled on Friday morning at the Seaman's Bethel in New Bedford, where it will be installed on the grounds. 
 
The work by sculptor Stefanie Rocknak shows Melville amidst waves and three whale ribs "representing Melville's own journey into and out of the whale. Yet, Melville rises above them, his mouth open, as though beginning to speak — to tell the story of Moby Dick, this truth," the artist wrote in her proposal
 
"Melville, like Jonah, was on a journey of transformation. Just as Jonah was cast back to shore to fulfill his divine purpose, Melville returned from his own voyages to write 'Moby-Dick' — a novel that immortalized not only his personal journey but also New Bedford's whaling heritage." 
 
The elements of the statue come from the sermon in Chapter 9 about Jonah and the whale, and the hymn that begins "The ribs and terrors in the whale, arched over me a dismal gloom, while all God’s sun-lit waves rolled by, and lift me deepening down to doom."
 
"Moby-Dick" was the story of Melville's experiences in whaling but was written in Pittsfield during the 13 years he and his family lived on Holmes Road. He could see Mount Greylock, the state's tallest summit, from his window and it was said to have inspired his concept of Moby Dick the whale. The house that he dubbed "Arrowhead" is now the headquarters of the Berkshire County Historical Society.  
 
A New Bedford committee comprised of artists and city planners selected Rocknak's proposal out of 41 submitted by American and international artists. Mayor Jon Mitchell unveiled the design and introduced Rocknak on Friday at Seamen's Bethel, which is the inspiration for Melville's Whaleman's Chapel in the novel.
 
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