Two Sant Bani Seniors. Class of 2013, Honored with Scholar Athlete Awards

Concord, NH: The New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association and New Hampshire Athletic Directors Association held its Annual NHIAA and NHADA Scholar Athlete Awards Ceremony on Monday, March 18. The ceremony was held at Capital Center for the Arts in Concord. This is the 16th year for females and the 15th year for males to receive this highly distinguished award. Sant Bani School was represented at the ceremony by Athletic Director Brittney Peterson and award recipients Obie Dancewicz Helmers and Isabel Bogacz.

NHIAA high school student athletes from throughout New Hampshire were recognized for achieving academic and athletic excellence. Award recipients are nominated each year by their school principals based on criteria which requires that the high school seniors have a B+ grade point average, be currently active in at least two NHIAA varsity sports, participate in community service activities, and serve as role models to their peers. At the awards ceremony each student athlete was awarded a certificate. Governor Maggie Hassan addressed the group and presented a proclamation.

Past Honorees

In March of 2012, four Sant Bani Seniors were honored as winners of the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association Scholar Athlete awards.

Micaela Brand [SBS’12], Adison Lintner [SBS’12], Caleb Jaster [SBS’12], and Andrés Orr [SBS’12] were recognized as NHIAA Scholar Athletes.

Adison Lintner was additionally surprised and honored at the ceremony by receiving an NHIAA Athlete Scholarship, awarded to the top boy and girl for their outstanding achievements and leadership.





Micaela is a three-season athlete who has captained the soccer team, is on high honors, and has volunteered at child-care centers and homeless shelters, as well as participated in the annual Walk for Haiti sponsored by Partners in Health. Adison has also been a team captain in cross-country, and raced in the Meet of Champions this fall. An honors student throughout high school, Adison is a talented musician-performer who has used his skills to raise money for the homeless. Caleb runs cross-country and track and is an honors student who has represented Sant Bani on Granite State Challenge. He has had major roles in many plays, is an accomplished pianist, and has been involved in a number of service projects. Andrés Orr, a dual citizen of the US and Spain, has been a dynamic contributor to the cross-country and track teams, and currently holds the school record for the 1500m. Like the other three, Andrés is an honors student who has shared his knowledge with others, including tutoring children in Spanish at a center in Manchester.

College acceptances so far include University of Michigan and New England College for Micaela; University of New Hampshire, University of Vermont, and Bennington College for Addison; Bennington and Bard College for Caleb. Andrés awaits word from colleges in Spain and the US.

full Bhutan Article Here

“Schooling for Happiness” describes a Bhutanese education system that stands as a beacon, schooling that builds up a country on the foundation of ethics, joy, compassion, and awareness.
~Paul Hawken, visionary environmentalist, entrepreneur, and author

This wonderful article captures many schools and areas absolutely faithfully. What a treat it is to see Bhutan celebrated in a well-know magazine.
~Honourable Thakur S. Powdyel, Minister of Education, Royal Govt. of Bhutan

Reading the article I feel you know our journey from the past, you know our dreams, and, most wonderful of all, you share those dreams.
~Madam Karma Zangmo, Principal, Motithang Higher Secondary School

Read the original NAIS Article: Schooling for Happiness: Bhutan’s Big Dream

Read the full edition of the Spring 2012 NAIS Magazine

New York Times article on The U.N. Happiness Project and U.N. Resolution 65/309

Below - Kent’s Talk at Motithang HSS, Thimphu, Bhutan on 11th March, 2011

Principal Karma Zangmo: Good morning. On behalf of the Motithang Family I would like to welcome Dr Kent Bicknell and Madame Karma Wangmo to our school. We had a short meeting the day-before-yesterday, and after listening to Dr Kent talk about his experiences and the values he holds closest to his heart – and about his school – we felt it would be nice if he could share with the whole school here today. We are about 1255 students and 75 teaching and non-teaching staff. The school was established in 1975. Welcome Dr Kent.

Kent Bicknell: Good morning everyone.

Students: Good morning Sir.

Kent: I have had a wonderful time visiting during my second trip to Bhutan. I arrived a week ago, and was very fortunate to meet with your Minister of Education, Lyonpo Thakur S. Powdyel, at four in the afternoon. The Minister kindly invited me to come to dinner at his home in the Ministers’ Enclave so he and his lovely wife and Karma and I had a wonderful conversation for several hours. Over the next few days I visited several schools at all levels, and I was thrilled to be invited to address you all today.

As I said to the small group of students and faculty when I visited on Wednesday, teaching is about heart connecting to heart. One of the wonderful things I see here in your country is that many people are becoming more interested in learning as something to do with the heart, not just with the mind.

I started off as a very normal American child. My father taught in a private boarding school, so I went to that school and then off to a prestigious American University. The adults around me were wonderful people, but it seemed like everything was about getting “better” – and better often meant bigger: a bigger car, a bigger house, more things. I was part of that generation that started to question this, and we kept asking: what is the real value of life? It is the kind of question that your very wise kings, particularly the Fourth King, asked: what should a country, what should a people really be looking for in life? Clearly it should be more than possessions.

In my second year in college I took a seminar in modern Hinduism where we studied four people: Sri Ramakrishna and Ramana Maharshi, two great saints from India; Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel Prize winning poet; and then Mahatma Gandhi. As an American youth studying these enlightened souls, my eyes were opened; my heart was opened. I suddenly decided that, for the moment, university life was not for me, so I left school and went searching for something else. In my travels around the country I met Karen, a wonderful person, and we are still happily married after forty plus years. As we searched together we found a great teacher from India named Sant Kirpal Singh Ji, and in 1968 we became followers of a spiritual path. We continue on that path, and I was up at four o’clock this morning doing my pujas, sitting for meditation. Let me add that I am not recommending for any of you to leave school, as I went back and finished at the university, then got my master’s degree and finally my doctorate, which is why I am being referred to as “Dr Kent.“

In 1973 Karen and I helped start Sant Bani School in the small state of New Hampshire. One of the things that we wanted was a commitment to a reverence for all life. We feel that it is a good thing to live your life in such a way you cause as little harm as possible. That meant we were vegetarian. And to be a vegetarian in America in the 1970s was not easy, as it was mostly unfamiliar to people at that time. We also wanted the school to have a strong commitment to service, because Sant Kirpal Singh Ji always taught that the end of all your learning should be service to others. Otherwise what is the point of learning?
So we began with six students in our home. We grew and grew and grew – but of course we are not as big as you are! We are a K-12 school with 175 students, and for almost 40 years we have been sending our graduates off into the world to great colleges and universities. I continue to be the principal and I believe strongly that in order for me to do a good job I need to continue teaching. As I do not have all the knowledge in my head I need to continue to learn from you, the students.

I was very happy to be part of the GNH (Gross National Happiness) in Education Workshop in December of 2009. As your Minister of Education himself noted, I was invited because the school I run has been operating on GNH principles since we began. So in our own small way we have been doing this for a long time, and therefore I was delighted to come and share as well as to learn from all of you.

In our small group meeting on Wednesday I heard how the student government group was asking questions and making suggestions while the faculty, the teachers, and the principal were all listening to you. That is a huge step forward, and it is about heart resonating with heart. None of us has all the answers; we all need to be learning from each other. Sant Kirpal Singh Ji said,

“There is a divine purpose behind the life of everyone who comes into the world. No one has been created for nothing. We have
something to learn from everyone, and this is the mystery of humility.”

A great hero of mine was a 19th century thinker named Henry Thoreau, born in the state next to mine. 160 years ago he wrote one of the great classics of world literature, Walden, which some of you may read when you go on to university. When he was your age he started having experiences like he was meditating, but those happened without any purposeful meditation. He started to become what he called intoxicated, but he wasn’t taking alcohol or anything like that. He was feeling very happy for days on end. He asked people, “What is going on? What is happening to me?” But no one could explain it to him. Then he discovered the Bhagavad Gita. And in that holy book from India he found the answers he was seeking. 75 years later Mahatma Gandhi, India’s famous leader, read Thoreau’s ideas about changing government policies through non-violent resistance and was inspired by his thinking. So we all can learn from each other.

I wish I had more time as there is so much that I want to share with you. My advice is that you should be bold. Be bold and be brave. The graduates of Sant Bani School go off to universities and if they have any questions in class, they raise their hand, and the university teachers are very happy to respond. But many of the other students say to our graduates afterwards, “How do you dare raise your hand?” But that is what you should do. Be bold. Ask questions.
I want to close with a moment of quiet, but before we do, here is something that the Buddha said. Think about this as you are being mindful, as you cast your eyes down or close your eyes and are quiet for a minute. Just watch your mind become like a playground, with your thoughts jumping all around. The Buddha said:

I know of no other single thing so conducive to misery as this uncultivated, untrained mind.
I know of no other single thing so conducive to well-being as this cultivated, well-trained mind.

So let us sit quietly for one minute. [we do…]

May we find peace and joy throughout the day and I will say mil gracias, which is a thousand thanks in Spanish, and I will say dhanyavad and I will also say tashi delek! Thank you.

Principal Karma Zangmo: Thank you Dr. Kent. This gratitude is from the bottom of my heart. I have listened to you, and everyone here will agree that what you said is very true. I would like to take you all back to the first assembly we had here. I asked you a question about the purpose of your being here. I hope you will again think about this, and after listening to Dr Kent, now you will get more insights in trying to find out your purpose. The other thing that I have been telling you all is similar to service to others. And if you cannot be of service to others, at least do not do harm.

I hope that you will take some time to think about whatever Dr Kent said here today. I hope, and I know, that you would have gained some insights which would lead you towards finding your purpose of life. With this, thank you so much.

Contact: Kent Bicknell, EdD.

Vocal Artist Philip Hamilton performs for students at Sant Bani School

Note: This is information on a past event at Sant Bani School!

The school is pleased to announce that Philip Hamilton performed for the students and staff at the Sant Bani School.

Called “An…inventive vocalist” by the Washington Post, Hamilton latest CD is inspired by the lineage of Blues and R&B, evoking the sounds of worksongs, Muddy Waters, Louis Jordan, Marvin Gaye, Jimi Hendrix and creating a musical gem with special guests.

Performing with Philip at Sant Bani were local artists Paul Bourgelais (guitar, bass), Jared Steer (drums) and Sant Bani’s own Craig Jaster on keyboards, who are all are joining Hamilton for his local northern New England touring dates.

With a rich voice that conveys a “warrior’s strength, a blues man’s soul and a romantic’s heart,” Philip Hamilton is a true original who has performed or recorded with Pat Metheny, Spyro Gyra, Steely Dan’s Donald Fagan, Greg Osby, John Medeski, Bill Evans, Richard Bona, Mike Stern, John Cage, and Living Colour’s Vernon Reid. The New York Times called Hamilton’s innovative singing and composing style “contemporary and cutting edge” while the Village Voice has celebrated his music as simply “masterful.”

Note: This is information on a past event at Sant Bani School

The 2012 Sant Bani School Chamber Series
Presents Katie Lansdale, Violin; Wei-Yi Yang, Piano
Open to All! Please Join Us!

SBS Senior Andrew Mahn part of the team that takes Science to New Heights

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — High school students, including Sant Bani School senior Andrew Mahn, participating in a University of New Hampshire summer program launched a simulated satellite, and possibly their careers, when they sent a cardboard and foam vehicle to the edge of outer space this past summer.

Project SMART is a four-week residential program at UNH for high school students interested in careers in science and mathematics. Students work with faculty in three areas: space science, marine and environmental science, and bio- and nanotechnology. Students who have been studying space science traveled to the Vermont Agricultural Business Education Center in Brattleboro to launch a vehicle they built that is designed to gather data on cosmic rays. Though past participants also have built such vehicles, this year’s version is the first designed without a parachute, making for a more streamlined design. The team predicted that when the eight-sided “flying saucer,” which is 3 feet in diameter, reaches 100,000 feet, the balloon carrying it will burst, and the vehicle will waft safely down to the ground.

Lou Broad, a high school physics teacher from Timberlane, has been working with the students along with UNH faculty, said he has never seen or heard of such a design. “This is somewhat of a first,” he said. “Enough so that if it’s successful, I’m going to write an article about it.”
During its roughly two-hour trip, the vehicle will collect GPS data and information about pressure, temperature and radiation. During a tethered test launch, there was a problem with a mechanism designed to separate the balloon from the vehicle early if it wanders off course during the launch and the mission needs to be aborted, but the group expected to fix it by launch time but abandoned that aspect at the last moment before the successful launch and recovery, said Andrew Mahn of Hill, one of the three students participating in the experiment.

“It’s definitely exceeded my expectations,” said Mahn, 17, an aspiring aerospace engineer. “The different components, such as the balloon launch we’ve been working on, and then working in the afternoons on research projects, have given me a small taste of what college will actually be like for me if I choose this career.”

Broad, who has been part of the program since it started in 1992, said it attracts a range of students. While all have deep interests in one of the three focus areas, some arrive with some experience while others are just starting to explore those fields, he said.
“The balloon experiment is only a small part of it. The students come on campus and work on real space research projects with professors,” he said. “That’s a very valuable experience.”

Students enrolled in the marine and environmental sciences program have traveled to the White Mountains and the Isles of Shoals off the coast of New Hampshire to study climate change and issues related to aquatic and terrestrial systems. The third group has focused on genetic engineering, cloning and the patenting of living organisms.

Project SMART is sponsored by the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences and the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture, with funding from the NH Space Grant Consortium and donations from biotechnology companies and other groups.

Sant Bani School Hosts College Counseling and Financial Aid Night

This is information on a past event.
Direct any questions on this topic to Susan Dyment, at the school.

Where: Sant Bani School Library, Santbornton, NH
When: November 14, 2012; 6pm
Who: Guest Clint Hanson, NHASFAA, NHHEAF
For: Open to the public; Parents of High School Students
Other: Free

Sant Bani School invites the public to attend its annual College Counseling and Financial Aid Night on Tuesday, Nov. 14, at 6 p.m. Director of College Counseling, Susan Dyment, a 30- plus year veteran of college guidance,will be available to answer questions about college choices and the application process. Dyment will be available from 6 until 7 p.m. to help any local families that would like assistance with this often confusing process.

At 7 p.m., guest speaker Clint Hanson of Thomas More College will help unravel the mysteries of College Financial Aid. Hanson has over 30 years of experience in higher education, serving as Director of Financial Aid for several educational institutions including Franklin Pierce Law Center, New Hampshire College, and Nathaniel Hawthorne College. Mr. Hanson is Past President of the New Hampshire Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NHASFAA),Trustee for the NHHEAF Network Educational Foundation, and a Trustee for the New Hampshire Higher Education Loan Corporation.

This meeting is helpful for parents of seniors who will request financial aid. In addition, we extend our invitation to anyone who has children in grades nine, 10 and 11. The public is welcome, and there is no admission fee. While the actual filling out of most of the financial aid forms will not take place until after January 1 of the student’s senior year, understanding the complexities and rewards of the system, and making plans well in advance are very helpful factors.

If you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact
Susan Dyment at susan@santbani.org
or at the school 603 934-4240 x147

2012 Sant Bani School Chamber Series Presents Benjamin Hochman, Piano

Note: This is information on a past event at Sant Bani School

Annual Sant Bani XC Meet at Den Brae

Here are the results for the meet at Den Brae Golf Course held Monday Sept. 10th. A wide field of over 330 runners faced near perfect New Hampshire running weather – sunny and clear with a hint of the start of fall.

The event was a harrier’s delight: a beautiful course, team colors, and exciting cordial sportsmanship.

Thanks go to Den Brae Golf Course for making their facility available to all these hard running students, Sant Bani AD Brittney Peterson, scorer Gary Shannon, race director Coach Scott Clark, coaches who assisted the race, and all the school coaches and runners whose camaraderie make this early season event a strong and true runners’ contest.

2012 Girls Results!

2012 Boys Results!

Check the Athletics page for the rest of the fall season events!

Thank you and direct your questions or comments to:

Senior Class 2012

Sant Bani School is pleased to enjoy a 100% college acceptance rate. We are proud of the many accomplishments in all walks of life that our students achieve. The Class of 2012 have chosen the following schools:

Some of the many colleges and universities our alums have graduated from include:

Sports: A Not-So-Traditional Soccer Game at Sant Bani School

Notice: This year’s Alum Soccer Game is cancelled because of pending thunderstorms and weather!
Practice your skills, and we’ll see you next year.. thanks to all!

Date: August 11, 2012
Time: Game Time – 3:00pm
Where: At the School on the Allen Field
Who: Current Soccer Team, Alums, Faculty
Who Else: School Community Family and Friends
More: Pizza for all after the game

Soccer has been a longstanding traditional sport at Sant Bani School. Each year the school’s co-ed team competes against many surrounding area secondary schools. Under Coach Todd Schongalla the Sant Bani School soccer team of freshman through seniors, male and female, national and international, builds a unique camaraderie that thrives on exemplary sportsmanship, inclusiveness, and tough training.

On Saturday August 11, the School’s Allen Field entertains the first of many games this season; however, this game is far from traditional. Alumni, faculty and current students join together to hone their skills and enjoy an afternoon of competition. Parents, grandparents and families come to enjoy the day as spectators.

This August tradition now it its twelfth year, gives past and current students a chance to reunite, playing a game near and dear to their hearts. Although we can never go back and get a “do-over,” alumni from Sant Bani get to return to their Alma Mater each summer and once again be students for a day, playing soccer with faculty from their past and forming friendships with the current soccer players of today.

Save the Date! Sant Bani Homecoming Sat Sept 29, 2012

Where: Sant Bani School
When: Saturday September 29, 2012
Time: 12:00 noon to 5:00pm
Who: The Entire Sant Bani School Community!
5K Race: Register below on this page!

Come celebrate the start of our 40th year with the first ever Sant Bani School Homecoming for current students and families as well as all Alumni and their families.

There will be home games for the soccer and field hockey teams, a dedication ceremony for the Upper Building and plenty of fun and school spirit for all!






Here is the schedule for the day:

T-shirt for sale($7)at Homecoming.
Register for the 5k and get one free!

Snacks and SBS gear will be available for purchase throughout the afternoon.

New event added to Homecoming morning—5K Fun Run! Start training now! Registration is here. Who is ready for the challenge?

Check our Facebook Event page here.

Call for aspiring young filmmakers: Swede Fest New England held at Sant Bani School in Sanbornton

The first ever Swede Fest Film Festival in New England was held on the campus of Sant Bani School May 2012 to a full house in the Sant Bani Studio. The Swede Fest Committee sought submissions from young filmmakers in grades 7-12 to participate in this one-of-a-kind film festival.

Swede Fest is the only film festival dedicated to “sweded” films. A sweded film is a summarized, low-budget recreation of a popular movie, starring you! The term comes from the 2008 film “Be Kind Rewind” directed by Michel Gondry, and in his words “[Your film] doesn’t have to be good, it’s not a competition. It’s for people to make a movie and watch it.” That’s Swede Fest. The festival started in California, and has grown to receive submissions from as far as the UK, France, Spain and Australia. Swede Fest happens every six months in Fresno, California, and Tampa, Florida and now, for the first time, in New Hampshire.

In cooperation with the officials at Swede Fest in California, Sant Bani School hosted the event for filmmakers in grades 7 – 12, along with family and friends, on Saturday, May 19, 2012

Film entries were under five minutes and follow the guidelines for a sweded film (see right); entrants kept their films low-budget and just as importantly, to have fun.

Check back for dates and times of the 2012-13 Swede Fest. Contact Rose Marie Marinace for more information.

Written inquiries to:

Swede Fest New England
Att: Rose Marie Marinace
Sant Bani School
19 Ashram Rd.
Sanbornton, NH 03269

If you tried driving up Osgood Road in Sanbornton last Friday morning, you would have encountered quite a sight: inspired by two Sant Bani seniors, all 200+ students, faculty and staff “walked to school” to kick off the School’s day-long Earth Day celebration.

It started last winter when Seniors Adison Lintner and Max Duncanson decided to walk to school from their homes in Franklin rather than drive their cars, in order to minimize their impact on the Earth. They had to leave in the dark early morning hours in order to make it to school by 8 a.m. Along the route teachers and classmates offered rides, but they declined, determined to make the trip on foot.

As Earth Day approached this year, Sant Bani staff decided their idea could be carried over to the entire school community. At 8 a.m. on Friday, April 20, students and staff gathered at the School’s Lower Field on Osgood Road to begin their walk and decrease their impact on the Earth. The crowd of over 200 walked and rode their bikes, visiting with friends as the wound their way up the long dirt road. At the end they gathered on the School’s athletic field to enjoy a moment of celebration together before breaking into groups for Earth Day related activities.

Multi-aged groups of students and staff spent the rest of the day watching and discussing the National Geographic documentary “The Human Footprint,” repairing stone walls, clearing cross-country trails, gardening and landscaping, planting flowers in the traffic island on Route 127 and fanning out across town for the School’s annual roadside cleanup effort.

An idea that started with two concerned high school students in the cold of winter culminated on a warm spring morning with a school full of students reducing their carbon footprint on the earth by making lots of real footprints in the dirt on their walk to school.

The students in Sam Conkling’s third grade class were visited by representatives from Harmony Grange #99. Vicki Hussman and Elizabeth Cotsibas came to the school to present each third grader with a gift of a dictionary as part of the Dictionary Project being held by granges throughout the state.

The New Hampshire Project originated with the Pemigewasset Valley Grange and is supported by many local Granges. Throughout the years the Grange has donated hundreds of dictionaries to many schools in the local area including Tilton, Belmont, and New Hampton. Private schools are also among their recipients. The Dictionary Project has expanded to include all fifty states and the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, nine Canadian provinces, and more than fifteen other countries around the world.

Harmony Grange #99 purchases the dictionaries by holding fundraisers. By giving the gift of a dictionary to every third grader, the Grange hopes to promote literacy through reading and further promote a successful educational experience for all children. To date, over 17 million dictionaries have been distributed with close to 2.5 million in 2011 alone.
to students in 2011

The Government Inspector

A Play by Nilokai Gogol
~ Directed by Craig Jaster, Costuming by Mary Randall
performed April 19-21, 2012 in the Sant Bani School Studio Theater

Greedy, self-serving small-town politicians. A corrupt bureaucracy. Bribes. And in the title role, a complete slacker, a morally deficient anti-hero. Welcome to the hilariously self-centered world of The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol, in an up-to-date, new translation by Alistair Beaton and directed by Craig Jaster.

The play revolves around a classic case of mistaken identity, when a shabby young civil servant named Khlestakov (played by senior Andrés Orr) is mistaken for, yes, a Government Inspector “traveling incognito.” The local mayor (senior Adison Lintner) is determined to prevent him from seeing how awful conditions are in his backwater provincial town; and if that task proves impossible, well, perhaps he and his cronies could persuade the gentleman through kid glove treatment…and cash?

Meanwhile, the Inspector’s arrival excites the imagination of the whole town, especially the Mayor’s excitable wife (freshman Sophia Gilberto) and pitifully naïve daughter (junior Emily Monfet), a situation Khlestakov wastes no time in enjoying to his advantage—before leaving town with a pocketful of cash and, it would seem, not a jot of remorse.

Hopefully conditions have improved since the massive and thoroughly corrupt bureaucracy under Russia’s Tsar Nicholas I, who is said to have made the observation that the play ridiculed everyone, most of all himself, yet to his credit did not punish Gogol, but rather intervened on his behalf so the play could be produced in 1836.

The great gap in status between the educated and the working classes is also closing (culture wars? what culture wars?), but audiences are bound to appreciate the classic comedy of status differences as observed through Gogol’s jaundiced eyes. The only characters unimpressed by Khlestakov are the various servants, particularly his own servant Osip (played by freshman Chai Kim), who comes closest to being a voice of reason in the play, urging his master to get out while the going is still good.

Featuring a cast of 19 high school and four junior high students, with costumes by Mary Randall, The Government Inspector is a rollicking comedy loaded with outrageous characters and deliciously cynical observations of humanity at its flawed best. Worst, that is.

The Government Inspector was performed for the public April 19, 20 & 21 at 7 pm, in the studio theater. For information on other upcoming arts performances please contact the school at 603 934-4240.

The Final Competition of the All-School Geography Bee was held on Tuesday, January 10, 2012 in the Studio. A total of ten students from grades 4-8 participated in the event.

The following students represented their classes in the Final Round: Sophia Marinace and Chandra Bouchard from eighth grade; Halsey Redman and Gretchen Dancewicz Helmers from seventh grade; Shane McNamara and Josie Scarponi from sixth grade; Luca Demian and Kirpal Demian from fifth grade; and Laura Swain and Bridget Conkling from fourth grade.

The result of the Final Round was Third place winner Kirpal Demian and finalists, Gretchen Dancewicz Helmers and Shane McNamara. For the Championship Round, Gretchen and Shane received three of the same questions and Shane ended up winning the round.

Congratulations to all participants! Shane went on to take the written test, which is evaluated by the Geographic Society, to see if he qualifies for the New Hampshire State Geography Bee. The results of the test will be known in February. Good luck, Shane!

Existing students: Re-enrollment form for 2012-2013 school year here.

Applying for Financial Aid
A new application for financial aid must be filed in a timely manner each year along with the required tax documents. To do so, each parent must complete the following steps:

New Process Please take note of a procedural change for families applying for financial aid for 2012-2013 school year. As last year, The Parent Financial Statement (PFS) and fee is due March 1st to the School and Student Service for Financial Aid (SSS) at www.nais.org/financialaid/sss. However, this year all required tax documentation will be required to be sent to the SSS instead of Sant Bani School by April 15, 2012. Please take note of this change and submit all documentation to the School and Student Service for Financial Aid (SSS) using school code #7125. Remember no determination of award can be made without proper documentation on file. Any questions, give Joann a call at School!

Step 1. No later than March 1, complete and submit the Parent Financial Statement (PFS) online, along with payment of the processing fee, to the School and Student Service for Financial Aid (SSS) at www.nais.org/financialaid/sss. Paper forms are available at the School if you need them. It is essential that each family requests that Sant Bani School receive a copy of the PFS by entering School Code #7125 when completing the PFS form. Fee waivers are available if you qualify.
NOTE: An important question on this application asks you to judge how much your family can provide toward the student’s education. Please DO NOT include transportation and activity fees in this amount. We encourage you to attach a personal statement if you feel the School needs additional information not addressed by the PFS.

Step 2. No later than April 15, submit required tax documents (1040 tax returns, attached IRS schedules, W-2 forms) to the School as soon as they are available. If you have asked the IRS for an extension for your tax filing, please contact the School immediately.

Step 3. No later than May 15, signed contracts are due back to SBS. Financial aid awards will be communicated through the contracts that are mailed to families on May 1st. If a family wishes to appeal a financial aid decision, an appeal must be made in writing to the Financial Aid Committee no later than May 15th.

If you need help with any of the steps in this process, or you have questions about the forms, please call JoAnn Malinowski at 934-4240.

Grades 3-5 to move into Upper Building after Winter Break

Holiday Service: Collection Toys and Non-perishable vegetarian food items

December 1 – December 15

Once again we will be collecting new, unwrapped toys for local children (including teenagers) and non-perishable, vegetarian food items. Toys will be collected until December 14 in the Front Office and given to families locally (no toy weapons, please). This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to remember how fortunate they are and to be able to help other children their age.

The fifth grade organizes the food donations for the local Cash and Cans project. They make the signs, put out the boxes, make the announcements to the staff and students and get to meet local DJs from 94.1FM when they come to pick up our donations.

Thank you all for your support—we will be able to touch many families this holiday season with your generous donations.

Get Ready! Sant Bani School is going has gone

Staff and High School Students Sign In Here

Starting this coming school year, all staff and upper level student emails will benefit from using Google’s interface for email, online applications, create surveys and forms, and much, much more! As we move to Google Apps, we hope every Sant Bani family will be able to have a santbani.org account and be able to enjoy the communications tools for school related matters, too. Read more about it here:

~Questions: Richard Danahy, Tech Dept.

Pursuing quest for personal truths

Photos and article by
VICTORIA GUAY at the Laconia Citizen.

SANBORNTON — The 11 members of Sant Bani School’s Class of 2011 graduated Friday afternoon during an intimate outdoor ceremony during which each student addressed the crowd.

“One of our founders, Kirpal Singh, said that the best education is that which teaches that the end of knowledge is service,” said Todd Schongalla, service coordinator for grades 7-12 and an elementary and environmental science teacher at the school, during his invocation.

He added that, through service to others, he’s watched the members of the class make tremendous growth, intellectually and spiritually.

He said that, while reading their senior service project reports, he was impressed by how much of life’s important lessons they have already learned, so he read excerpts from those reports.

“So, on this, your graduation day, your own words prove you have become wise and eloquent beyond your years,” Schongalla said.

During his address, Principal Kent Bicknell said he read a May 30 column in the New York Times by David Brooks called, “It’s Not About You,” in which he scoffed at most graduation metaphors.

Bicknell quoted Brooks’ words: “Many graduates are told to: Follow your passion, chart your own course, march to the beat of your own drummer, follow your dreams and find yourself. This is the litany of expressive individualism, which is still the dominant note in American culture. But, of course, this mantra misleads on nearly every front.”

Bicknell said he disagrees with Brooks and would much rather believe in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who addressed students at Dartmouth College in 1838, urging them not to give up their quest of truth and beauty in favor of material gain.

Bicknell said Emerson urged the students to “bend to the persuasion which is flowing to you from every object in nature.”

Bicknell said when people give up their quest for personal truth and for what makes them happy, “Then dies the man in you; then once more perish the buds of art, and poetry, and science, as they have died already in a thousand men.”

Each student got to address the class, sharing memories, giving thanks to teachers, family members and friends and even sharing some parting advice for classmates and others.

Erik Braconier, 17, of Hebron said during his address that, while he hears from graduates from other schools that they have no idea what they want to do with the rest of their life, he feels Sant Bani has prepared him well for the future.

He said personal goals are something Sant Bani encourages everyone to develop, while allowing them to explore their own interests.

“I have taken so many of the little things I’ve learned and turned them into something to look forward to,” Braconier said.

Before the ceremony, Braconier said leaving Sant Bani is like leaving a second home, since he’s been attending the private school since the third grade.

“I pretty much grew up here and spent more than half my life with some of teachers,” Bracnonier said. “It’s going to be like leaving another home to me.

He said with the school being small, “you get to know everyone in your class very well.” Braconier said he also developed strong relationships with teachers at the school.

Braconier, who follows his sister and fellow Sant Bani alum, Emily, to the University of New Hampshire, said he wants to focus on chemical or mechanical engineering.

Also before the ceremony, Doran Timm, 18, of Chichester said what he would miss most about the school is the student-teacher relationships and small class sizes at the school.

Timm, who spent his four high school years at Sant Bani, said that, initially, he came to the school because his parents made him go.

“But I decided to stay because of the size of the school and because I have made some really good friends,” Timm said. “I remember how open everyone was and how willing to help.”

Saran Savane, 20, of Cote d’Ivorie, said her sister, who attended Sant Bani a few years ago, encouraged Savane to apply.

“She thought it would be a good fit for me and I really liked it, so I stayed for two years,” Savane said.

Savane said that, when she came to Sant Bani, she didn’t know a single word of English.

During the graduation ceremony, Savane cried a few times, recalling her time at Sant Bani and the kindness everyone showed her.

She joked, “At Sant Bani, I learned that it takes a whole village to raise an African child,” after which the crowd erupted into laughter.

Sant Bani Class of 2011

Dayana Aleksandrova, daughter of Anzhela Aleksandrova, of Bulgaria, hosted by Elizabeth Sweeney and Gregg McCarthy of Gilford, will be attending Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

Erik Braconier, son of Kellie and Karl Braconier, of Hebron, will be attending the University of New Hampshire in Durham.

Taylar Clark, daughter of Scott and Jamie Clark, of Gilmanton, will be attending the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine, where she will study occupational therapy.

Dylan Dinger, son of Christine Dinger and Steven Dinger both of Campton, will be attending Plymouth State University and Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Ga.

Marc Gonzalez, son of Meg Petersen of Plymouth and Carlos Gonzalez of Manchester, will attend Ithaca (NY) College.

Luke Kalvaitis, son of Linas and Teresa Kalvaitis of New London, will attend Colby-Sawyer College in New London.

Ethan McQueen, son of William McQueen and Darline O’Connor of Ashland, will attend the University of New Hampshire in Durham.

Saran Savane, daughter of Madoussou Konate and Sindou Savane of Côte d’Ivoire, hosted by Elizabeth Sweeney and Gregg McCarthy of Gilford, will attend Colby-Sawyer College in New London.

Doran Timm, son of Gil and Trili Timm of Chichester, will attend Merrimack College in Andover, Mass.

Henry Trachy, son of Stuart Trachy and Kerry Rainville of Franklin, will attend the Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay, Mass.

Rafael Zanete, son of Marcelo and Adriana Zanete of Brazil, hosted by Kellie and Karl Braconier, of Hebron, will be returning to Brazil to attend college there.

Reprinted here with permission from the Laconia Citizen.
© 2011 citizen.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

SANBORNTON, NH. On Thursday, June 2, 2011, Sant Bani School students and staff celebrated the annual Awards Ceremony during the school’s Morning Session. Principal Kent Bicknell and many department heads handed out a wide variety of awards.

Franklin Savings Bank representative Eileen Pucci awarded senior Ethan McQueen a scholarship.

Seniors Saran Savané and Taylar Clark received Tilton Rotary Scholarships from Betty Arsenault. Saran also received a Girl Corps scholarship award from representative Lori Fasshauer, and Taylar received a scholarship from the Lakes Region Scholarship Foundation.

Senior Doran Timm received a commendation from Linda Surowiec, Health Services Coordinator and EMT-I, for obtaining certification as an Emergency Medical Technician, Basic Level.

English Department Chair Karen Bicknell gave the Middlebury Book Award to junior Adison Lintner, and the Smith Book Award to junior Emily Benton. The Junior Award for Excellence in English went to Micaela Brand. Senior Awards for Excellence in English went to Luke Kalvaitis, Dylan Dinger, and Ethan McQueen. The award for Excellence in English as a Second Language went to senior Dee Dee Aleksandrova.

Science Department Chair Robert Schongalla recognized the keen interest in science, the outstanding effort, and noteworthy achievement of seniors Erik Braconier and Dylan Dinger, and juniors Emily Benton, Micaela Brand, and Andres Orr.

NHIAA recognition for three-sport participation was given to Taylar Clark by Athletic Director Chris Demian. Granite State Conference athletic awards were given to Joyce Hamel, Colby Clark, and Dylan Dinger.

Foreign Language teacher Jen Schongalla presented Dee Dee Aleksandrova with an award for her deep commitment to immersing herself in the studies of a foreign language.

Sant Bani School Hits the Roads

Twenty-five miles of Sanbornton roads received special attention last Friday, Earth Day 2011. 210 students, teachers and parents from the Sant Bani School carefully inspected 18 different roads and collected two pickup truck loads of trash. Sanbornton’s Transfer Station extended the day to receive mounds of aluminum cans along with thousands of cigarette butts, hubcaps, rusted buckets, broken toys, wrappings, bottles, shoes, broken glass, tires and more. The nineteen mixed-age groups moved in carefully synchronized routes to collect the debris that the snow banks had been hiding all winter. It took just over two hours for the swarm of children and adults to make Sanbornton’s roads even more scenic.

Roadside clean up was just part of the Sant Bani’s Earth Day celebration. The day began with a presentation by Principal Kent Bicknell who had recently returned from The Kingdom of Bhutan. He video-interviewed the head of a school half a world away about how sixth grade students chose to tackle the problem of trash on their campus and solved it by assigning themselves theme days which limited packaged food to one day a week. She explained that by raising awareness the students worked from within their school to eliminate a long-standing problem.

Other Earth Day projects included landscaping in front of the new front entrance way and planting flowers at the intersection of Prescott and New Hampton Roads. Todd Schongalla, a former County Extension Agent and current Sant Bani teacher and service coordinator, and his environmental studies class working with professional landscaper and Sant Bani parent Jonathan Marchant. They planted shrubbery in a difficult area on the north side on the building in ground that had recently been a construction site. The results were rewarding. Also gratifying was the improvement of a tiny traffic island, made more beautiful by a team who planted dozens of pansies donated by Hillside Meadow Agway in Tilton.

The Earth Day was planned by a teacher committee which worked with town officials to assure the safety of all. Nothing was neglected during this richly worthwhile day. As the big buses pulled out at 3:30 p.m. students had the pleasure of driving down town roads and feeling that they each played a part keeping the earth a little cleaner.

Project Linus

Hillary Pincoske & Kirsten Wilkinson

We have been making blankets for Project Linus which is a non-profit organization which provides “love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized or otherwise in need.” The art block has been making fleece knotted blankets, quilts or afghans.

If you have any blankets or talents to donate towards this organization contact Hillary Pincoske.

When the earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan last month, students and teachers at Sant Bani School immediately began asking, “How can we help.” One answer came in the form of small paper symbols of hope that can help clothe those left with nothing.

Students met as a group this week to practice the art of origami by working to create paper cranes during their daily morning session. Service Coordinator Hillary Pincoske projected the instructions onto a screen, and along with the help of teachers, the students worked their way through the steps needed to create multi-colored cranes.

The beautiful paper cranes are being collected by Osh Kosh B’gosh. For each crane donated, Osh Kosh is donating an article of clothing to help the people of Japan. As Pincoske explained, “Our goal is to create 1000 cranes, a traditional Japanese symbol of hope for world peace and a long life. Although we are hoping everyone will be successful in making at least one crane, it is much more about all of us working together and being part of a larger group effort to help others and that everyone will feel good about their effort.” Judging by the overflowing box of over 489 paper cranes prepared in just one day the children should feel very good and are well on their way to reaching their goal.