Registration Day A Whirlwind of Nerves and Excitement - 

On Saturday, August 27th, Bridgton Academy welcomed 187 new students to campus representing over twenty states and three foreign countries. A line of families was already formed in front of the Humanities Center by 8:00 AM that morning, and the crowds did not let up until well into the afternoon. Headmaster Grady Vigneau gave two parent presentations throughout the day, answering questions while settling some parent nerves.

The dorms were soon full of activity, as Residence Hall directors helped students and parents find their way to their assigned rooms. Our Res. Hall faculty and even their pets got into the activity, as Mr. Bishop's colossal Great Dane, Ronan, could be heard barking a welcome down in Cleaves Hall.

As parents began to depart, the students participating in sports at BA spent the afternoon completing testing and having early team meetings. The evening capped off with a BBQ dinner on the football field for students, faculty, and staff. Unfortunately, the 27th was truly the calm before the storm, as a short 24 hours after moving onto campus, Hurricane Irene moved through North Bridgton, bringing heavy winds, rain, and a 28+ hour power outage.  

With the arrival of Hurricane Irene, BA went into emergency mode, running generators in both the Memorial Gymnasium and Goldsmith Dining Hall. After just one night in the dorms, students found themselves literally bumbling their way through darkened dorms on their second night. After the Headmaster was almost hit by a falling brick, it was determined that the young men would be in their dormitories for the remainder of Hurricane Irene's landfall. Everyone took the black-out in stride, even those nervous about the Mass. Hall Ghost. One student remarked that, "I would have never have gotten to know the kids in my dorm as well if the power had been on."  The young men of the Class of 2012 handled this power outage and untraditional start to school remarkably, yet everyone was glad when the power returned a day and a half later!

BA Celebrates 35 Year Vets at Start of School Party - Bridgton Academy was proud to honor both Peter Gately and Phil Goepel '66 at our recent opening of school celebration. Both Mr. Gately and Mr. Goepel have been dedicated teachers to over thirty classes of Bridgton Academy graduates. Congratulations to both Mr. Gately and Mr. Goepel!

Coach Joe Ehrmann Speaks to BA Faculty, Staff, and Coaches -

As part of Bridgton Academy's 2011-2012 staff training, we were honored to welcome renowned teacher and coach Mr. Joe Ehrmann to campus. A former NFL star, Mr. Ehrmann now travels throughout the United States to share his message about being a transformational teacher and coach including how we can more effectively work with young men, provide them the tools they need to

change their lives, and grow their understanding of "what it means to be a man".    

After spending two days on campus, Mr. Ehrmann shared this message with Bridgton Academy: "As someone who spends a lot of time on campuses and educational institutions throughout America, I was so impressed with the vision and commitment of the coaches, faculty and administration of Bridgton Academy. What a unique and important mission BA has to prepare student-athletes for college and to change the arc of young post-graduates lives. Their commitment to holistically develop men of character and substance through academics and athletics is impressive. As someone who did a post-graduate year myself, it was one of the most significant years of my life and foundational to latter success in college and life. I am thrilled to see other families and students have the same opportunity!" (Pictured are L-R Kevin Jones '81, Grady Vigneau, Joe Ehrmann, and Bob Bogan '83, Board of Trustees President.)

Ray Orio joins the BA faculty as a science intern, assistant football coach, and res life assistant in Walker Hall.  Ray earned his BS in Biology from Lebanon Valley College this past June; in addition, he minored in History and played for four years on the Dutchmen football team.

Soccer Wins in Soggy Home Opener - In their first game of the season, the BA soccer team took to the field for a rainy home opener and beat Southern Maine Community College 3-1. Although the conditions weren't ideal, the team was determined to play through it. For the first few minutes of the game the play was back and forth until Eddie Demoya (Salem, MA) was able to dodge SMCC's defense and beat the goalie for the Wolverines first goal of the season. It didn't take long before Demoya added a second goal to put the Wolverines up 2-0. The poor conditions worked against Bridgton as a defender slipped pulling down an opposing SMCC player with him and awarding SMCC a penalty kick. They slipped the shot past BA goaltender Garrett Madden (Bath, ME) for their only point of the game. With the Wolverines fired up after the penalty kick, they came out hard in the second half and secured the win with one last goal from Aidan Harrison (Medfield, MA). Coach Ashenfelter was happy with the day saying, "I was very proud of our first performance. We communicated very well and our work rate was first class. " 
 

Later in the week when the team hit the road, they had their first loss of the season as Northfield Mount Hermon overtook the Wolverines 4-0. Although the team worked hard, Northfield proved to be the better team. Coach Ashenfelter stated after the game, "on that day they were simply better- better focused, organized, and more determined to get a result.  We will learn from our mistakes and move forward."

The team then traveled to Springfield, MA to take on the Pride of Springfield College. With little rest in between games, the Wolverines rebounded well with what Coach Ashenfelter felt was the team's best 90 minute performance to date. On defense, the team played together and enjoyed a lot of possession throughout the game.  After the game Coach Ashenfelter mention it was "Some unlucky breaks and a lack of the finishing touch that prevented us from getting the game winner," but that he was "Confident that the goals are just around the corner."    

BA Football Roasts Springfield in Home Opener - The football team started their season this Sunday with a physical 54-6 win against the Pride of Springfield College. Though working out some opening game jitters the Wolverines came out firing and continued for the entire game. Six different players scored for a total of seven touchdowns for Bridgton Academy. Derek Beck (Martinsville, MA), Robert Kaslander (Verona, NJ), and Austin Harrington (Chanhassen, MN) combined for four BA passing touchdowns. Stephan Cronan (Hampton, NH) also had a five yard run count for six points. Even the defense was involved in the scoring with an interception return for a touchdown by Taren Collier (Hartford, CT) and a fumble, forced by Connor McAleney (Cape Elizabeth, ME), created a return for a touchdown by Karlos Locke (Owings Mills, MD).   The defense was solid all game forcing consistent pressure in the backfield and creating great coverage in the secondary. In all, 12 different offensive players made receptions or ran the ball and every player on the BA squad got playing time. Though excited for his team, Coach Marcella kept his eyes forward with his comments after the game. He simply said "A great way to start, but a long way to go."  

In the coming week the Wolverines will have a busy schedule. The baseball team will travel to the University of New Hampshire to play this Friday at 7:30 P.M. They will continue their travels as they face off against Merrimack College on Saturday at 12:00 P.M. followed by the Northeast Showcase on Sunday beginning at 8:00 A.M. The soccer team will head to Thayer Academy on Saturday to play at 1:00 P.M.   The football team will also be on the road as they head to Curry College on Sunday to play at 1:00 P.M. 

Bridgton Academy Featured In Huffington Post -If you didn't get a chance to read the Huffington Post article that makes mention of Bridgton Academy, please be sure to check it out! So far, this article has been syndicated to over a hundred media outlets, including USA Today! To read the article, which features the story of 2010 alumnus Trey Rasmussen, please click here.

Teaching Bridgton With "Ched" Chapels - We would like to take this opportunity to invite you participate in a special program we are rolling out this fall for our current students. Known as Chapel Educational Discussions (Cheds), these are designed for our students to hear speakers who can share stories and experiences that engage our students in thought, and later discussion, of values, personal narratives and our mission.

We strongly encourage you to contact us about participating. Modeled after the Ted Talks, these presentations are designed to be approximately 20 minutes in length with an optional 10 minute question and answer period to follow. Speakers will be welcome to also participate in smaller group discussions with classes later in the day. Consider coming back to BA to share stories about your work, life, values, and lessons learned. Ultimately we would like to tie all Ched discussions back to our principal values - Intellectual Vitality, Community, Sportsmanship, Personal & Institutional Accountability, and Excellence.

Our Ched chapels will occur on Mondays throughout the semester, and each week an advisor group will have the responsibility for assisting in the "leg work" needed to put the Chapels together.

If you would like to learn more about coming to Bridgton to present at our Cheds, please contact Dean of Students, Rich MacDonald at rmacdonald@bridgtonacademy.org or call (207) 647-3322, ext. 253.