Join the discussion.

Inklings News

Join the discussion.

Inklings News

Join the discussion.

Inklings News

The Transition from Boarding School to Staples

The+Transition+from+Boarding+School+to+Staples
Graphic by Nate Rosen

Few students at Staples have had the opportunity to experience both a public school environment and a boarding school environment. According to those interviewed, boarding school is drastically different from Staples in a variety of ways.

Grant Heller ’14 attended Canterbury School in New Milford. According to Heller, the structure of boarding school is what differentiated the most. “Boarding school is almost like a tease of college because you’re away from home and living in a dorm with all of your friends,” said Heller.

Students who have never attended boarding school would most likely believe boarding school equals freedom. However, according to those interviewed boarding school took away freedom. Andres Refvik ’14 who attended Canterbury school noted that at his boarding school students were required to wear uniforms, had a set bedtime and on weekends students had to stay on campus. “Boarding school took away a lot of my freedoms and that is why I came back to Staples,” said Refvik.

Boarding school sports programs are also very different from a public school’s sport program. According to those interviewed, boarding school sports are very similar to college. Coaches can recruit students to play for their team.
Meg Fay ’15 played ice hockey, field hockey and lacrosse at Williston Northampton School. According to Fay, all of the seasons were very intense. Boarding school sports also tends to have a closer team. At boarding school, “The team basically lived together; we had team workouts most days, practice everyday, team dinners most nights and team study halls,” said Fay.

Boarding school is obviously tremendously different from Staples. “I think both schools are good in different ways. Boarding school is definitely a smaller, tight-knit community but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better,” said Fay.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover
About the Contributor
Gabrielle Feinsmith, Sports Editor

Gabrielle Feinsmith is neither a star athlete nor fan of a specific sports team but she loves her position as Sports Editor of Inklings. "I love the positive vibes that sports create,” she explains. “Whether it be bringing people together to support a team or the teamwork and strong work ethic that is taught to an athlete, sports have an effect on people that nothing else can compare to."   Feinsmith is one of three sisters and the only sports fan of the three. Gabrielle acknowledges that her individual love for sports came without a push from her dad who  is a major sports fan. She got the bug at the beginning of her freshman year when she started attending Staples sports events.

By sophomore year Gabrielle joined Inklings and being the sports editor was her first choice position. Though she has written articles other than sports, such as her favorite piece about the conflict in Gaza last November, she   values sports news because of the broad array of topics it offers and their impact. Sports articles run the gamut from a biography of an athlete, to a recap piece on a game, to a breaking news alert about an athlete’s injury.

As Gabrielle goes into her junior year, she is a determined sports journalist, always looking to improve her craft. Her goals for this year are getting more quality action photography to accompany articles as well as getting more of the Inklings staff to attend sporting events and produce content for the Sports section.

Comments (0)

All Inklings News Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *