Miss Hall's School Graduates 42

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Forty-two graduates, including nine students from Berkshire County, graduated on Sunday, May 31, during Miss Hall's School's 128th Commencement.

The ceremony took place under a large tent behind the Elizabeth Gatchell Klein Arts Center on the School's Holmes Road campus and was broadcast worldwide via Zoom.

Hosted by Miss Hall's Head of School Julia Heaton, the ceremony included remarks from School President Idia Enoma, of Chester, N.Y.; Senior Class President Pimpisa Jongjaroonrungson, of Bangkok, Thailand; School Vice President Akshara Muthavarapu, of Pittsfield; and MHS Board of Trustees President Nancy Gustafson Ault, Miss Hall's School Class of 1973.

This year's Commencement Remarks were delivered by Her Excellency Madam Rulan Samara, Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the Republic of Kenya. Ambassador Samara was introduced by her niece, Class of 2026 graduate Noya Samara, of Amman, Jordan.

Local graduates in the class of 2026 are Eva Sopia Allen Vargas, of Richmond; Emersyn Bray, of Dalton; Madelyn Craig, of Williamstown; Beatrix Gilb, of Pittsfield; Fiona Gordon, of Lenox; Kara Kisselbrock, of Dalton; Simma Krantz, of Pittsfield; Akshara Muthavarapu, of Pittsfield; and Mea Richardson, of Cheshire.

The following awards were also bestowed on members of the Class of 2026:

• Joseph F. Buerger Memorial School Spirit Cup: Akshara Muthavarapu, of Pittsfield

• Faculty Commendation Award: Rafi Hernandez Unger, of New York, N.Y.

• Christine Fuller Holland '33 Service Prize: Fabiana Romero, of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

• Meus Honor Stat Keys Awarded for MHS Core Competencies: 

  • Vision: Noya Samara, of Amman, Jordan
  • Voice: Idia Enoma, of Chester, N.Y.
  • Interpersonal Efficacy: Nguyen Yen Phuong, of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; and Mea Richardson, of Cheshire
  • Gumption: Rebecca Kitonga, of Nairobi, Kenya

• Margaret Witherspoon Award: Xingru Chen, of Shanghai, China, and Hyeon Jung, of Seoul, South Korea

• Engineering and Technology Innovation Award: Jaimie Corpuz, of Stamford, Conn.

• Doris E. Pitman English Prize: Idia Enoma, of Chester, N.Y.

• Virginia Breene Wickwire '67 Reading Prize: Rafaela Romanini, of Campo Grande, Brazil

• Elizabeth Gatchell Klein Studio Art Prize: Pimpisa Jongjaroonrungson, of Bangkok, Thailand

• Angela Kalischer Theater Prize: Isabella Aponte, of Bronx, N.Y.

• Susanna McCreath Music Prize: Trinity Ren, of Beijing, China

• Paul C. Cabot, Jr. History Prize: Mea Richardson, of Cheshire

• Horizons Award: Xinyue Ren, of Shanghai, China

• Monique Jalbert French Prize: Nefertiti Williiams-Jack, of Brooklyn, N.Y.

• Spanish Award: Kara Kisselbrock, of Dalton

• English for Speakers of Other Languages Award: Nguyen Yen Phuong, of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

• James K. Ervin Mathematics Prize: Akshara Muthavarapu, of Pittsfield

• Iive Rouse Science Award: Xingru Chen, of Shanghai, China

• Sylvia "Rusty" Shethar Everdell '38 Prize: Simma Krantz, of Pittsfield

 


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EPA, GE Conducting Vernal Pool Study on Housatonic River

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A pilot study will determine the best way to remediate PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, from vernal pools in the Housatonic River. 

Last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and General Electric held an open house for the Vernal Pool Pilot Study on Reach 5A, a five-mile stretch between the river's confluence and Lenox border.  Despite the rain, several people attended the event at the Berkshire Athenaeum. 

EPA project manager Josh Fontaine explained that it is an evaluation of which remediation method to use for the remaining vernal pools in Reach 5A. 

"We're going to be testing two different methods. One is an excavation method, which we already know has been very successful with another vernal pool cleaned up much earlier in the project," he said. 

"And then the other is the application of two different carbon amendments. It would be the application of powdered activated carbon and the application of granulated activated carbon." 

Ten vernal pools will be cleaned using these methods: five with excavation and five with active carbon; seven additional vernal pools will be monitored as controls. Construction will be complete around October, but the pools will be left to their natural processes and monitored with surveys and sampling for three years. 

Fontaine said there is no frontrunner for methodology. 

"We know the excavation method is effective, but we would like to see if the less invasive method of using the amendment will be as effective for potential use," he said. 

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