Holton Family Featured in Viral "Wee Wee the Pig" Story

Photo courtesy of The Washington Post.

The Washington Post. Huffington Post. Mashable. BBC News. All of these media outlets caught wind of the heart warming story of Wee Wee the Pig. Holton Lower School student Catherine Smith '22 and her family rescued a slaughter house piglet from the recent blizzard of 2016. According to The Washington Post article posted on January 27, the Smith family was traveling back from a day of skiing when Catherine spotted the piglet in the snow. The family immediately stopped the car to rescue the piglet from the harsh snowy conditions, and realized that the pig, covered in ice and snow, was in dire need of care as it was on the brink of death.

Miraculously, the Smith family nursed the piglet back to life with warmth and food. The newly adopted piglet soon after was named by the Smith's after their uncle's childhood imaginary friend, Wee Wee. After days of taking care of the pig, the responsibilities of keeping Wee Wee became too difficult and the family found a great long term home for Wee Wee at Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary in Poolesville, Maryland. Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary is a non-profit refuge for abandoned, neglected, and or abused farm animals.

Although we can all feel the sadness of Wee Wee's separation from the Smith's, this story has a happy ending knowing that Wee Wee has a forever safe home, which brings a warm smile out of all of us on these wintry, cold days. 

Authors, Margaret Peterson Haddix and James Riley, Visit Lower School Before the Blizzard of 2016

'Twas the day before the first blizzard of 2016 and Lower School was bustling with the presence of authors, Margaret Peterson Haddix and James Riley.

Margaret Peterson Haddix, author of over 37 books, featured her most recent book, Under Their Skin, to the enthusiastic Lower Schoolers. Haddix then proceeded to hypothesize with the audience about possible plot twists that could possibly happen in her book. She called upon three lucky students to share their answer with the audience and as a reward, the lucky students received puzzles with art work created by Haddix (what the girls didn't know was that each completed puzzle gave a clue to the mysterious story plot).

The second author, James Riley, author of the Story Thieves series, shared his creative process of writing and how he formulates the complex characters in his all of his books. Story Thieves uncovers the story of two kids on multiple missions inside the thrilling stories of actual books. The students continued to engage with the Riley as he shared snippets of his adventure-filled book and secret eternal love of cats.

Lower School later in the year will participate in a book club covering books both from visiting authors, Margaret Peterson Haddix and James Riley, so it was a great event to generate excitement for the reading challenge ahead.

The Best Way to De-Stress during Exam Week...

... take one of Holton's FREE Wellness Stress Buster Class Series. With two weeks of exam prep, studying, and test taking-- sometimes a break is needed to release all of the built up stress of exam week. Luckily, all of the Upper School can have their moment of zen starting this week with the listed wellness classes below: 

• Fitness Classes. For those who like to feel the burn...
• Yoga. For those who want to free their mind and get a good stretch at the same time. 
• Mediation class. Offered by the Yoga and Mediation Club and they are even bringing chocolate (automatic stress relief)

Now to leave you with an additional mediation moment: "We can't control the seas, but we can learn how to surf the waves." - Anonymous

[even this cat knows when to take a break]

Eat.Sleep.Swim...Holton's Swim Team Trains in Florida!

While some of us were watching Netflix and drinking hot chocolate over winter break, the swim team was intensively training during their seven day trip to Key Largo, Florida.

Mary Quirk Kline, Assistant Coach for the Swimming Team, wrote, "... these ladies swam more than 50,000 meters (long course), and they did some dry land training as well. This trip was a test of both physical and mental strength, and every day we were impressed with the many examples of fortitude and grit demonstrated by our swimmers."

Holton's swim team was also praised by other college coaches from Michigan and Vermont, since most high schools programs do not partake in such additional training. "Our girls represented Holton well... feel free to give them a pat on the back- they deserve it!" 

Christine Baca

Breyer Banfield

Olivia Barnello

Amber Batra

Delaney Bond

Charlotte Butz

Kate Chlopak

Erin Davis

Sydney Feyerick

Annie Gorman

Kate Gusek

Eden Halpert

Aleja Hertzler-McCain

Olivia Jubin

Emily Katz

Alexis LeMone

Elizabeth Marsh

Aisha Marston

Sydney Mathis

Abby McLaughlin

Ava Mendelson

Gabby Ostoyich

Ashvika Rao

Erica Robison

Sydney Ruder

Betsy Schugar

Andrea Sloter

Cayla Strong

Victoria Velasco

Anna von Pechmann

Allie Witt

Grace Wu

Ellie Yo