When a groundswell of concern for the environment in America resulted in the first Earth Day in 1970, Exeter students were there, cleaning up roadside litter and trash around town, handing out material on pollution to local residents, and canvassing for signatures to install an incinerator and sewage treatment plant in town.

More than a half-century later, Exeter students remain at the vanguard of environmental activism, launching a new effort to raise awareness on campus of the planet’s plight and what can be done locally to respond.

With “Big Red Goes Green,” the student-led Environmental Action Committee hopes to reignite a commitment to sustainability that largely was smothered by the pandemic and the measures required to cope with it. The club’s co-heads laid out their intentions at assembly Tuesday.

“With Exeter’s busyness, environmental sustainability is often pushed to the side in favor of convenience,” Ophelia Bentley ’23 said, “and thanks to COVID, we’ve been using more plastic and producing more waste than ever.

“While climate change is far too big to be solved by any one of us alone, small actions add up and make a big difference.”

The EAC’s multi-pronged effort includes working with the Academy’s Environmental Stewardship Committee to infuse sustainability into the school’s curriculum “in an interdisciplinary way so we can give credence to the ubiquitous nature of the climate crisis” said Alia Bonanno ’23, “and to appeal to students’ every interest and background so it’s not always so ‘science-y’ and is more accessible.”

Other elements of the initiative are hosting assembly speakers focused on the environment; holding open forums to discuss issues related to climate change; the return of dorm-based E-proctors to promote sustainable measures in the dorms; and a dorm sustainability competition that features a March Madness-style tournament bracket.

The club’s co-heads — who also include Alysha Lai ’23 and Safira Schiowitz ’23 — are all seniors, but their aim is to make a lasting mark on the institution with this latest effort. “Our hope is the work we do now lasts long into the Academy’s future,” Schiowitz said. “That’s why we’re calling it a pillar instead of a theme, because we’re hoping that it will become part of Exeter’s primary values and be more at the forefront of everyone’s mind.”

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Exeter returns to the 'front lines' of climate change

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Green app fills gap in environmental literacy

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How green is Exeter?

In Assembly Hall on Tuesday, Exeter students got some practical tips on how to deal with various types of harassment not only when it happens to them, but also when they witness it happening to someone else.

“Our mission today is to empower y’all as individuals and as a community to stop the harassment that is happening in Exeter,” said Heidi Lersch, a trainer from Right To Be, a nonprofit group with a mission to end harassment in all forms. Lersch added that they had received many anonymous submissions prior to the training from students sharing information about some of the harassment they had experienced in the community. 

Launched in 2005 as Hollaback!, a grassroots organization that helped support people who had experienced street harassment, Right To Be trains individuals and communities in conflict prevention and de-escalation. Their trainings teach bystanders how to intervene when they see harassment happening, and they operate an online platform, HeartMob, where people facing online harassment can seek support. 

In an illustration of the power that bystanders can wield, Lersch shared research showing that only 25% percent of people who have experienced harassment said someone had helped them. But when people did step in, 79% of those being harassed said that the intervention improved the situation. After sharing those stats, Lersch and their co-trainer, Dax Valdes, spoke about the origins of harassment — which can range from catcalling to racist micro-aggressions to more explicit physical threats — in bias, both explicit and implicit. They also stressed how people’s identities affect how they move through public spaces and how they deal with harassment they might experience or witness.

The bulk of the presentation covered practical advice, as Lersch and Valdes laid out a set of tactics they called the “Five Ds” (Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay and Direct) that can help bystanders intervene when they see harassment happening either online or in in-person interactions.

Valdes and Lersch urged students to trust their guts and prioritize their own safety when considering how to address harassment as a bystander. “You don’t have to intervene directly,” Lersch said. “You don’t have to be the big superhero that has the wittiest comeback. That’s not what bystander intervention looks like. You can do something as simple as just checking on the person who was harassed and making sure that they’re OK.”

Throughout the interactive training, students responded to several anonymous polls using the Slido app, answering questions such as “What examples of harassment have you witnessed or experienced?” and “What are the impacts of harassment?” They reported impacts ranging from psychological fallout (anxiety, depression and PTSD) to social and economic costs (missing school or work, limiting mobility), making it clear the heavy toll such experiences are taking on many current Exonians.

Near the end of their presentation, the Right To Be trainers challenged the audience to think about how Exonians can work together as a community to prevent such harassment. “We are providing some resources and knowledge and then it’s also up to you to carry this forth,” Valdes said. “It’s not just the students in the Assembly Hall but it’s also the faculty who are hearing this information…and thinking about what can we do to keep each other safe.”

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Alumna: ‘Show up with your whole authentic self’

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How to be better sexual citizens

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Principal Rawson shares his priorities at assembly

“I know of no poet that embodies the disembodied, enfranchises the disenfranchised, [and] epitomizes that promise of love and freedom more than Martín Espada,” Instructor in English Willie Perdomo said by way of introduction on Friday, as Exeter welcomed the celebrated poet to the Assembly Hall stage as part of the community’s celebration of Latinx Heritage Month.

Over the next half-hour, Espada’s sonorous voice rose and fell, at times quavering with emotion or approaching musical incantation, as he read four poems from his most recent book, Floaters. Named for the derogatory term used by some U.S. Border Patrol agents to describe migrants who drown trying to cross the Río Grande from Mexico to the United States, the collection won the 2021 National Book Award for Poetry.

“This poem started with a photograph,” Espada said of the title poem in his book, referring to an image of the drowned bodies of a Salvadoran father and his young daughter in the Río Grande that went viral in the summer of 2019. He wrote “Floaters” in response to the photograph, as well as to questions that emerged in a particular Border Patrol Facebook group about its veracity.

For another poem, “Jumping Off the Mystic Tobin Bridge,” Espada drew on his experience working as a tenant lawyer in the Boston area some 30 years ago, when he represented many low-income Spanish-speaking immigrants who faced eviction or exploitation by landlords. In the poem, he recalls his own experience with racism, as a taxi driver warns him about the many “Josés” in the neighborhood where he worked:

“He could hear the sawing of my breath as I leaned into his ear, past the bulletproof
barricade somehow missing, and said: I’m a José. I could see the 40-watt
squint in his rearview mirror. I’m Puerto Rican, I said. It was exactly
5 PM, and we were stuck in traffic on the Mystic Tobin Bridge.”   

Espada rounded out the Assembly reading with two even more personal selections: a tender poem inspired by his wife — “I firmly believe that times of hate call for poems of love,” he said — and a poignant yet searing missive responding to the devastation of his late father’s native town, along with much of Puerto Rico, by Hurricane Maria in 2017. He closed by thanking the appreciative crowd, many of whom rose to their feet to applaud.

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Terrance Hayes pens love letters to his 'Assassin'

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Alvarez professes the power of poetry

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Finding common ground

Principal Rawson ’71 shared with Exeter students a long and ambitious list of priorities for the Academy during a question-and-answer assembly Friday with the school’s Student Council officers.

The list includes work already underway or soon to be, including the building of a new dining hall to replace Wetherell and the adoption of a climate action plan that will establish goals for drastically cutting the school’s carbon emissions over the next 10 years.

Student Council President Ale Murat ’23, Vice President Grace Puchalski ’23 and Kevin Treehan ’24 and Nate Puchalski ’23, co-secretaries, joined Principal Rawson on the Assembly Hall stage. Rawson told the students he hopes the senior class can enjoy their final year at Exeter, noting that members of the class were preps when the COVID-19 pandemic forced spring term to be held remotely in 2020 and continued to disrupt campus life over the past two school years.

“Whether you were here or elsewhere, the pandemic has taken a lot out of your education,” Rawson said. “I just want this year, for all of us, to be a great year, and I think we’re off to a good start.”

He told the students he hoped to leverage student-faculty collaboration to confront issues of common concern and vowed to visit their classes more often.

Asked how he spends his days, the principal replied, “my days are long, just like yours, and they’re not all the same, but I’m lucky to be here; it’s an exciting place to be.

“I want to spend as much time as I can with you, understanding your experience and observing your activities and accomplishments and, in some cases, just cheering you on.”

Watch the full Q+A with Principal Rawson.

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Customs old and new fill Opening Assembly

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Student leaders reflect on impact of orientation program

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Alumna: ‘Show up with your whole authentic self’

The Exeter Athletics Department has announced Alexa Caldwell as the next head coach of the girls lacrosse program. Caldwell, who is no stranger to being on the Big Red sidelines, takes over for renowned coach Christina Breen, who is stepping down after helping build the program to be one of the best in New England and the country.

“Alexa is a pillar in our community,” said Director of Athletics Jason Baseden. “She has proven to be an outstanding coach who connects with her team and loves the work and challenges that coaching brings. She is a strong mentor and a role model for all our students in our community and we are thrilled to have her lead the girls lacrosse program.”

Caldwell takes the reigns from Breen, who was with the program since 2011, including the last decade as head coach. Breen led Exeter to a 96-44-5 overall record during her 10 years at the helm of the program while matriculating dozens of players to the college ranks.

Caldwell, an instructor in history since 2015, has served as an assistant coach with the girls varsity lacrosse program for the past two seasons, helping lead Big Red to a 24-5-1 record over that span. Prior to joining the varsity coaching staff, she spent four years as the head coach of the girls JV program. She has also served as the head coach of the girls varsity soccer program since 2017.

“The girls lacrosse program has historically been a successful and competitive program and I am excited to help continue that legacy,” said Caldwell. “We all learn so many life skills from athletics and to have the opportunity to work with such a competitive team is really exciting. It is a great group of students. I feel really lucky to get to coach them.”

Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Caldwell was a standout lacrosse player at Brown University. A four-year starter with the Bears, Caldwell was named to the All-Ivy League team, Academic All-Ivy team, and Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association All-Academic team while serving as captain during her senior year. Caldwell earned her bachelor’s degree from Brown before attaining her master’s degree at Vanderbilt University.

When Veronica Juarez ’00 first arrived on Exeter’s campus in the fall of 1996, she remembers feeling like she didn’t belong.

“I was doubled over in anxiety…wailing out loud that maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” she told a rapt audience in the Assembly Hall on Friday, one week after the opening of a new school year. “If you don’t feel like you belong here, for whatever reason…I am here to remind you that you do — otherwise, you wouldn’t be here.”

>> Watch the assembly address from Veronica Juarez ’00

A fifth-generation Mexican American from Houston, Texas, Juarez graduated from Exeter in 2000 and became the first in her family to attend college. After graduating from Stanford University, she launched a career in politics, working for a California congressman, Houston mayor and Texas state senator. In 2013, she made a crucial career pivot, joining the ride-sharing company Lyft as only its 62^nd employee.

“After so many years in the public sector, I understood that access to transportation is an enormous equalizer for communities in need,” Juarez said. Over seven years with the company, she rose to become vice president of social enterprise, a position in which she brokered contracts with government agencies to provide rides to people in need in communities all over the country.

Though she had grown disconnected from Exeter while she was building her career, Juarez said, that all changed after George Floyd’s murder in 2020, when “our country was awakened with a newfound reckoning of racial and social injustice.” She spoke with emotion about discovering the @BlackatExeter Instagram account and being moved to tears by its reports of ongoing racial discrimination at the Academy. She realized that every organization, every institution — just like every human being — is fallible, and that if she wanted Exeter to change, she needed to be part of that change.

As a result, Juarez has increased her involvement with the Academy, and was recently elected as a director of the General Alumni Association (GAA). Her Assembly talk coincided with Exeter Leadership Weekend, an annual gathering of alumni and parent volunteers.

Since leaving Lyft in 2021, Juarez has been investing on her own and working as a scout for Lightspeed Venture Partners. In her Assembly talk, she shared the breaking news that she is launching a venture capital firm alongside Claudia Romo Edelman S’72, which will invest in Latino founders. She then closed with some heartfelt advice to Exeter students, encouraging them to “find the work that sets your soul on fire.”

“You may not know what that is today, and that’s OK,” Juarez said. “But don’t be afraid to take that journey inward and discover what really lights you up….If you show up with your whole authentic self, you’re 95 percent of the way there.”

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Customs old and new fill Opening Assembly

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Emery N. Brown ’74 receives the John and Elizabeth Phillips Award

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Andy Hertig '57 receives Founders' Day Award

For the past two years, a reimagined Equitable Exeter Experience program has greeted dozens of new students arriving on campus from less-traditional backgrounds than many of their classmates. In the days leading up to the official start of school, students of color, students who identify as high financial need, students who are the first in their families to attend college, and students who are members of the LGBTQ+ community are provided with information on the resources available to them at the Academy, practice Harkness discussions and take field trips to various Seacoast attractions.

In 2021, Director of Equity and Inclusion Stephanie Bramlett and Assistant Director of Equity and Inclusion Kevin Pajaro-Mariñez revived the program after a three-year hiatus.

“For some students, this is the most diverse place they’ve ever been,” Bramlett said. “For other students this is the least diverse place they’ve ever been. So, what does it feel like to sit around the table and have the conversations about identity, which we’re asking them to do all the time, at a school like Exeter?”

Participants are also paired with returning student mentors, giving them an outlet for questions during the program and the weeks that follow.

“This program is for the mentors as much as it is for the mentees,” Bramlett said. “This is the beauty of Exeter — everything that we do, we are growing together. So as mentors are leading, they are also learning,”

Two such mentors, Kodi Lopez ’23 and Alexander Luna ’24 provided reflections on their experiences as mentors during this year’s program:

I believe so heavily in the E³ program because my one piece of advice that I preach to new students is to find people on campus that remind them of home, and E³ allows this to happen as soon as their first day on campus. My first group of mentees grew to be very close with one another, and I have watched them accomplish great things in their first year here while leaning on each other for support. In my second year as a mentor, I was able to facilitate a low-income affinity group. I heard new students express their relief knowing that there were other students like them on campus, something that I only felt late into my lower fall, when I attended my first Association of Low-Income Exonians meeting. I could only imagine how much fuller my Exeter experience could have been if I had attended the E³ program. During my prep fall, I felt overwhelmed and lost. Exeter was so different from my hometown. While I was used to everyone in East Los Angeles being Mexican like me, I rarely saw Mexicans at Exeter. I was struggling with housing while classmates talked about visiting their many vacation homes during the summer. I felt like no-one shared the same story as me. Then, an amazing senior entered my life during early Winter term. I expressed to Giovanna Romero that I missed home, and one evening she welcomed me to hang in her room. Gio was also Mexican. She grew up in California and experienced familiar financial struggles like me. She gathered other Mexican students in her room and offered us familiar and spicy Mexican candy. We spoke in our Chicano accents, and for the first time I felt a sense of home at Exeter. She continued to be an amazing support system my prep Winter, introducing me to the OMA office and encouraging me to attend my affinity groups, places that I now love and cherish. Although I eventually found my place at Exeter, I always wished I had found it sooner. E³ participants get to meet supportive upperclassmen much sooner, hear similar stories from peers and mentors who share their identity, and most importantly would not have wasted months feeling alone in their experiences and identities like I once was. I believe so heavily in the E³ program because it bridges new students like I once was to amazing mentors like Giovanna Romero, enabling success at Exeter early on, and bringing a sense of home to new minority Exonians.

— Kodi Lopez ‘23

Being a student of E³ as a lower was probably one of my favorite experiences at Exeter. It was a great way for me to acclimate to being at Exeter, coming from a year of online schooling beforehand. I was introduced to tons of new people through the activities. The experience as a mentee led me to want to become a mentor. I thought it would be cool if I could impart some of the things I learned during my two years at Exeter to the mentees to help them with the transition. What I didn’t realize was how impactful the new students would be on me. I got to meet dozens of new people, even some that shared a similar background. I even met someone who lives near where I live and who was a part of the same program that introduced me to Exeter. No matter who you meet, I truly believe that the bonds made in E³ last throughout your time at Exeter. The activities that were planned by Dr. Bramlett, Mr. Pajaro-Mariñez, and the other faculty aided in this process a lot. Aside from the orientation, there were no lecture-based events. This allowed a flow between the mentees and even the mentors, as regularly the activities brought the two groups together. This year’s group of students truly shined in these activities. They didn’t shy away from tackling tough questions and talking about identity. I also enjoyed the time when we got to interact on our own. The Hilltop Fun Center was a great way to start the program. Even though it rained, and we couldn’t do any of the outdoor activities, the arcade machines were just as fun. You would see groups of students cheering for one another as they watched people playing the crane machines or the punching machine. Through my interactions with all the mentees, I know that they will be able to exceed at Exeter. I look forward to seeing all the participants of E³, both mentors and mentees, on the path and saying hello!

— Alexander Luna ‘24

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A shared experience

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Athletes for Racial Justice champion social change

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Exploring identity through theater

As summer break began, Exeter students and staff postponed their well-earned vacation to take part in a service trip to New Orleans in collaboration with the Exeter Student Service Organization. The purpose of this trip was to provide a domestic hands-on service project while learning about New Orleans culture and the lasting effects of Hurricane Katrina on its infrastructure.

After the trip, some students and a trip chaperone offered reflections:

“My favorite part of the trip was getting to learn and surround myself in a new and different culture from a less touristy position. We were able to travel around New Orleans and see all different areas including the 9th ward, where we stayed. My favorite volunteer work was when we helped build part of a house. I also was interested to learn about the affect Hurricane Katrina had on the city and all the hardships the people have faced even 15 years later. Overall, I had a great experience meeting new people from Exeter and NOLA, trying new cuisine, learning about the culture, and helping out communities in need.” — Gigi Lannon ‘24

“The highlights of this program for me were the aspect of community I found in our group and exploring a city that was completely different than anything I’ve seen before. I learned about how drastic the impacts of hurricanes are on places that the government does a bad job of funding. I also learned that volunteerism can be very fun when you are around great people, and you are thoroughly knowledgeable on the cause. My most valuable takeaway is that even though you are not reminded on the daily that people in other places are in need, it does not mean you aren’t responsible for reminding yourself to take action.” — Leta Griffin ‘25

“The New Orleans trip was fun, and I met so many new people that I have not met during the school year. I learned so much about the culture in New Orleans, as it was my first time going to a state in the south. I tried new cuisines and experienced new storm weather. I learned that anything can be enjoyable with people working together under any circumstance. I think that this service trip helped me appreciate the many resources I have available.” — Jessica Chen ‘24

“My favorite part of the trip was being able to connect with small businesses and residents in NOLA. I’m thankful they offered to share parts of their stories and culture with us, because it all told a bigger story steeped in history. One place I was moved by was the art studio, Studio Be, the exhibitions were not only stunning, but they featured art from a variety of perspectives and commented on many different topics. The vulnerability and presentation of the pieces are something I will never forget. After my experiences in NOLA, I will continue to be inspired by the memory and lives of those I met, and continue to be grateful for the experience.” — Rowan Flanagan ‘24

“As a chaperone, this is my first time traveling with students. I am amazed at how engaged and hardworking are our students participating those projects. They help each other, collaborate and bond throughout the trip. I also got to work with two other amazing colleagues for the trip. It was a memorable and meaningful experience for us all. The New Orleans Service Learning Trip provides students opportunities to conduct various hands on community service projects, including building the houses, gardening on a farm, cleaning city storm drains and sorting beads for a local organization. They also get the chance to learn more about New Orleans culture and the deep impact of Hurricane Katrina. Students had a great time working collaboratively and built strong friendship through the trip. They also learned to give back to the community, exemplifying non sibi values, and gain a new perspective of themselves.” — Ning Zhou, instructor in Modern Languages and chaperone

Principal William Rawson ’71; P’08 and Phillips Exeter Academy formally rang in the institution’s 242^nd year Friday morning, embracing its most hallowed customs and introducing a new one at Opening Assembly.

Beginning with a student procession of the flags of the 37 countries from which the student body hails and closing with the traditional dismissal of “Senior class,” the ceremony played to students, faculty and faculty emeriti in Love Gym and to a livestream audience beyond. 

Principal Rawson cited the Academy’s Deed of Gift and the school’s mission and core values throughout his address, punctuating his remarks with themes the founders introduced in 1781 and that still permeate life on campus today: Goodness and knowledge; non sibi; academic excellence; and serving youth from every quarter.

Everyone can use a bit of support, it’s just a natural part of growing up. Exeter’s Director of Counseling Szu-Hui Lee wants to make sure every student learns how to ask for it. “It’s really a life skill to know how to get help for yourself, how to pick up that phone and how to look for resources,” Lee says.

As a board-certified clinical psychologist who specializes in the treatment of anxiety disorders, cross-cultural adjustment, issues of first-generation students, identity development and relationships, Lee brings a deep understanding of adolescence to the table. We caught up with her, just as she completed her first year as director of the counseling department, to learn more about what her team does in the community and the importance of teaching students to talk about their feelings.

Q: What are some of the things you help with at the start of the school year?

Lee: When a student comes to campus for the very first time, there is a lot to adjust to. First time being away from home, having to make new friends, getting used to a new environment, it’s normal to be anxious. They might ask themselves, “Do I belong?” and “Do I have what it takes to be here?” Or they might miss their mom and dad and friends from home. I say, let’s talk about it. Let us teach you ways to not only set in place connections back home, but also how to adjust to your new home away from home. Let us help you learn ways to approach the dining hall, to engage with your teachers and classmates in class, or how to practice healthy self-care habits like sleeping, eating and exercising. Adjustment is a process but before you know it, you’ll find your groove at PEA.

Q: You just named all of the things that every teenager everywhere wrestles with.

Lee: Yes, it’s just a part of growing up. These are a very developmentally appropriate questions and life skills to obtain.  “Who am I?” Who am I in relation to my parents, to my peers, to the person I aspire to be. Our hope is that after talking with us they’re standing stronger and taller and having a firmer sense of who they are, of all of their identities, and of how they’re going to walk in the world. That’s what counselors try to help with — that journey of finding and being in touch with our authentic selves.

Q: How has the counseling department changed since you started here in 2014?

Lee: I think the counseling department has been very intentional about evolving and growing right along with the PEA community at large. As the school is increasing its attention on mental health and wellness of the whole child, as the students are asking for more support, we were very quick to respond to that. Students wanted more diversity within the counseling staff. Students wanted more choices. Our team grew from three to now five full-time counselors within just a few years. We now represent a variety of identities and a solid foundation of clinical expertise. Similarly, adults were asking for more support and more resources and more programming so with increased staffing we’re able to provide  more outreaches services.

Q: When do you first introduce the counseling team to students?

Lee: We get in front of students the minute school starts. We participate in the International Student Orientation Program, new student orientation, and we meet all new students in their Health Education classes. We are there introducing ourselves and informing students about who we are and our services. Then we make sure that we are in front of the students at different points throughout the year when they might need extra support.

Q: Do lots of students take advantage of your services?

Lee: Yes, we see about a third of the students at PEA and demands for our services have been on a steady increase the last five years. In collaboration with all the members of our community — the students and the adults — we have really fought hard to de-stigmatize mental health and make seeking a counselor is something that you do as part of preventative and healthy self-care, not just crisis intervention. It’s wonderful that we’re seeing more people coming forward and saying, ‘Gosh, can I talk about this with you?

Q: What are some examples of self-care skills you help with?

Lee: We want students to learn lots of good life skills at this stage of their lives. Things like, ‘How do I manage my emotions? How do I navigate peer relationships? How do I shift the way I talk to my parents now that I’m more of a young adult and not a kid?’

Q: Do they learn these things through individual sessions or in groups?

Lee: We do both. We offer one-on-one individual psychotherapy sessions where students will meet with a counselor typically once a week or every other week. There are also students that meet with a counselor at the beginning of the term, the middle of the term and at the end of the term. Those are more like check-ins. Some kids will also just come in with a particular issue in mind and once that issue is resolved, we don’t see them again until perhaps they want to meet again. No matter the frequency, students know they can come meet with us and we will help them with whatever may be going on.  We also offer different skills based workshops on campus and our support groups are in development.

Q: How do the group sessions work?

Lee: We offer lots of different workshops on campus. I’ve done a five-week group workshop on perfectionism and how to manage that, for example. I’ve also done a workshop on anxiety management and a group for those who identify as female that speaks to issues of women empowerment, loving our body and positive self-talk. This was in collaboration with faculty members Ms. Lim and Ms. Marshall. Dr. Chris Thurber has run workshops on homesickness and Ms. Connie Morse has led mindfulness workshops. We do these time-limited workshops throughout the year to, again, make sure the kids can have access to us outside of individual therapy sessions. We also do outreaches in the community. We recently launched a new program where counselors are working with dorm faculty to support them with the great work they do with students in their dorms.

Q: What about privacy?

Lee: All of our services are confidential and private. It is really important that students have a safe place that they can go to on campus, we are glad to be one of those spaces.  We go over confidentiality with students when they first begin their work with us. We remind students that we are able to keep all contents private unless there are risks of harm involved. If safety of a student is in question, we obviously would need to involve other adults. Other than safety concerns, students really can utilize our time together to discuss whatever may be on their minds.

Q: How large is your team?

Lee: Our department size is comparable to, if not better than, most of our sister schools. There are five of us who work fulltime and we also have one psychiatrist and one psychiatric nurse practitioner — Marina Vijayakanthan and Jean Banville — who come in one day a week to provide psychiatric evaluations and medication management. We are really proud of our team and the comprehensive services we are able to provide out of Lamont Health & Wellness Center.

Q: How long does a student have to wait to get the care they need?

Lee: One of the reasons that our team has grown is because the demand is there. We want to make sure students have access to a counselor as soon as they need the support. In the outside world, it might take a month or two before one can schedule an appointment with a therapist and even longer to see a provider for psychiatric evaluation. Here at Exeter a student can be seen usually within a week and certainly if there’s an emergency, we can get people in the same day

Q: You’ve added new faces to the department, Marco Thompson and Johanna Mautz. What are you looking for when hiring a new team member?

Lee: We are so thrilled Mr. Thompson and Mrs. Mautz joined our team. When we hire, we always look for strong clinicians who are experts in providing evidence based treatment and who share the passion for working with adolescents. We were also very intentional about listening to what the students were asking for – to see themselves reflected in those who help them. Students really wanted to have options and choices when it comes to counselors. I was the first person of color in this department when I started in 2014. When I was hired, the school was very intentional about having more diversity on the staff to better reflect the student body. It wasn’t just to check the box of this is a person of color, but this is a person who’s interested and trained and well-versed in areas of diversity and multiculturalism. And our effort continued. I’m very proud to say that in our team, there is diversity that are represented by identities of race, sex, culture, gender, religious affiliations, to just name a few.

Q: How do students get matched with a counselor?

Lee: All of us are trained as generalists and are all able to provide evidence-based treatments to address adolescent mental health concerns. And each of us also has areas of special interest and our own styles of working with students. I’m really interested in anxiety and anxiety disorders; Marco is trained in drug and alcohol counseling; Chris specializes in adjustment and homesickness; Connie is really great at mindfulness and meditation. Jo is wonderful with family and relationships. Everything depends on what the student’s preferences are and sometimes it also comes down to scheduling. And with our team, we can offer lots of choices. And with our team, you can be certain that whoever you work with will provide you with top-notch counseling support. I should also say students are free to switch counselors during their time at PEA. It’s all about fit so perhaps students’ preferences change and that is totally fine.

Q: Do you work with other departments on campus?

Lee: We at Lamont Health & Wellness Center really believe in the integration of mental, emotional, physical health and health of the whole child. We work closely with the medical team, dietitian, and athletic training to make sure we are supporting the various needs of a student at any one time. We also work closely with Health Education & Human Development Department because their curriculum is about the health and wellness. We meet regularly with these various departments and groups to discuss campus wide initiatives, address trends we might be seeing, and also how to support individual students. We also work with deans, dorms, academic departments, and individual advisors whenever necessary as we all share the mission of supporting students.

There’s a team of us, eager and happy to help, and we’re all in the business of helping young people thrive. We often say, we can’t do this work alone, and at PEA, we don’t have to. And that feels really, really nice.