News

Skiers & snowboarders gathered in Carrabassett Valley last week for CVA’s annual summer camp.  They had their choice of developing individual goals on the trampolines, in the skatepark, in the weight room or in the gym while enjoying a fun and supportive team environment with CVA’s world-class coaches. Over the four days, campers improved their strength, power, agility, endurance, balance and overall athleticism, the keys to long-term sporting success.  

Mornings were dedicated to skill development within a customized focus, and afternoons were spent exploring and playing in the area around Carrabassett Valley.  Afternoon activities included swimming, biking, hiking and field games including soccer, kick ball and disc golf.

View the camp photo album 

At Carrabassett Valley Academy, student-athletes spend the summer preparing for the year ahead, creating balance by challenging their fitness with dryland training, and challenging their minds with reading.

Summer reading assignments were sent via email in June from the Director of Academics, Karen Lanoue-Egan, which include instructions and contact information for the CVA English Teacher. Students will read, annotate, and reflect on their assigned novel, and then bring their completed work to the first day of class on August 29th. 

📚The books on the CVA summer reading list this year include:
📖Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt.  “The two-time Newbery Honor winner Gary D. Schmidt delivers the shattering story of Joseph, a father at thirteen, who has never seen his daughter, Jupiter. After spending time in a juvenile facility, he’s placed with a foster family on a farm in rural Maine. Here Joseph, damaged and withdrawn, meets twelve-year-old Jack, who narrates the account of the troubled, passionate teen who wants to find his baby at any cost. In this riveting novel, two boys discover the true meaning of family and the sacrifices it requires.”
📖Refugee by Alan Gratz, a New York Times bestselling author of young adult fiction. This historical novel follows the stories of three children from different times and places who are forced to flee their homelands: Josef, a Jewish boy in Nazi Germany; Isabel, a Cuban girl fleeing Castro’s regime; and Mahmoud, a Syrian boy seeking safety from his country’s current civil war. In this exciting tale, the characters battle against various kinds of conflict and danger in their search for refuge. While they are decades and continents apart, their stories ultimately intertwine by the end of the book.
📖Keiji Nakazawa’s Barefoot Gen: Volume I. “Barefoot Gen is the powerful, tragic, autobiographical story of the bombing of Hiroshima and its aftermath, seen through the eyes of the artist as a young boy growing up in Japan. The honest portrayal of emotions and experiences speaks to children and adults everywhere. Nakazawa's manga illustrates the true impact of nuclear weapons when used against a civilian population. It is vital reading for people of all ages, and especially for today's youth. By keeping this tragedy in our collective consciousness, we can strive to never repeat it and guide humanity towards a course of peace.”
📖Memory Wall by Anthony Doerr.  “Set on four continents, Anthony Doerr's new stories are about memory, the source of meaning and coherence in our lives, the fragile thread that connects us to ourselves and to others. Every hour, says Doerr, all over the globe, an infinite number of memories disappear. Yet at the same time children, surveying territory that is entirely new to them, push back the darkness, form fresh memories, and remake the world.”
📖Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer’s harrowing first-hand account of the 1996 Everest disaster. This is a classic work of mountaineering literature and has inspired several film adaptations, including 2015’s Everest.
📖Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah. Born during Apartheid to a white Swiss father and black Xhosa mother, Noah is the product of what was deemed a criminal act (interracial sex), hence the title of his book. Utilizing humor even amidst difficult and tragic events, his narrative outlines the complexity and repercussions of racial classification in South Africa and the many challenges he faced growing up.

📸 Cameron Arner '22 on the Murfey Hall patio

U14 Alpine athletes took their on-snow training indoors - yes indoors - during a recent summer session at Big Snow American Dream.  This facility is North America’s first and only indoor, real-snow, year-round ski and snow resort.
The focus of the 3-day session was to improve athletes timing of a slalom pole touch and develop the balance needed to make carved 1 ski turns. Due to the layout of the park, athletes were able to spend lots of time on-task on consistent snow surfaces, making about 20 runs in a 2 hour session, resulting in tremendous progress.  
When they weren’t in the snow park, coaches brought athletes outside for Rollerblade training and conditioning drills.  They also enjoyed the spectacle of the incredible American Dream complex.

The CVA Mogul crew had a super fun and productive camp in June in Mt. Hood, Oregon! The athletes showed real positive progress across the board, and hopefully had a great time with house games, team dinners, and many afternoons at the river. Among our successes on the trip, there were a good number of notable firsts to mention!

Kennedy Hicks ’25, First Backflip (Landed!)
Jack Egan ’25, First Cork 1080 (Landed!)
Trase Boudreau '25, First 720
Dory Michaud ’23, First Landed Flatspin 360 (!)
Lance Dolan ’22, First Back Full
Myles Mckenzie ’22, First Back Full

A huge thank you to our coaches Nate Mckenzie, Grace Holstein ’16, Jesse Lowell ’14, master jump builder Carter McQuinn, and builder/athlete/inspiration George McQuinn, for all their hard work and passion for freestyle skiing!

In this interview with WSKI TV 17, Head of School Kate Webber Punderson '89 explains the new Maine Boarding Schools alliance.  The alliance idea was born from the need to look at new ways to come together and strengthen partnerships during the COVID-19 pandemic, encouraging families from out of state to better understand what Maine offers.

From the press release:

There are a lot of reasons to love Maine—from its prized lobsters and blueberries to celebrated authors like Stephen King and a red-hot food scene. It’s also an amazing place to go to school.

Five of the state’s best boarding schools have collaborated to help spread the word about the advantages of living and learning Maine. Carrabassett Valley, Gould, Hebron, Hyde, and Kents Hill have formed the Maine Boarding Schools consortium and launched a new website where prospective students can learn more about the amazing opportunities available to them.

What makes Maine boarding schools different? Their incredible locations. And students at these schools make the most of them—with programs in marine science, geology, ski patrol, fly fishing, mountain biking, world-class ski and snowboarding, and so much more.

Maine abounds in natural assets—lakes, beaches, mountains, seacoast—including 436,064 acres of state and national parks, including the 92-mile Allagash Wilderness Waterway, Baxter State Park, and Acadia National Park. There are 17 million acres of forestland and 3,500 miles of indescribably beautiful coastline to enjoy as well as two internationally known ski resorts—Sugarloaf and Sunday River.

To learn more, visit their site at MaineBoardingSchools.org or follow them on social media https://www.facebook.com/MEboardingschools or https://www.instagram.com/maineboardingschools/

Includes recent updates about what's happening on campus with community activities, academics, and athletics.  Also alumni news, information about upcoming camps, reports from the Weekend Program, and other updates.  
Read it here

We were thrilled to induct seven new members to the Carrabassett Valley Academy chapter of the National Honor Society in the beginning of June.  The inductees include rising Seniors Dahlia Saifee, Summer Saifee, Drew Hooker and rising Juniors Sasha Jansujwicz, Dory Michaud, Kai Glidden, and Althea Noyes.  
These high-achieving student-athletes have pledged to uphold the ideals of the National Honor Society including scholarship, service, leadership, and character.  They are already respected role models in their community and will continue to develop their leadership skills through their NHS membership and time at CVA.  

The ceremony was hosted at the Begin Family Community Room at the Carrabassett Valley Library by Head of School Kate Punderson, faculty advisor Ainsley McClachrie, and current NHS members Arden Velenchik ’21, Noah Koenig ’21 and Eli Fournier ’22 and Cameron Arner ’22. 

Photo 1: (left to right) Althea Noyes, Dahlia Saifee, Summer Saifee, Kai Glidden, Sasha Jansujwicz, Drew Hooker, Dory Michaud
Photo 2: All CVA NHS members: (back row) Arden Velenchik, Kai Glidden, Eli Fournier, Cameron Arner, Dahlia Saifee, Noah Koenig.  (Front row) Drew Hooker, Summer Saifee, Dory Michaud, Sasha Jansujwicz, Althea Noyes
Photo 3: New members: (Back row) Drew Hooker, Kai Glidden, Dahlia Saifee, Althea Noyes. (Front row) Summer Saifee, Dory Michaud, Sasha Jansujwicz
Photo 4: Summer Saifee receives her certificate from Ainsley McClachrie

Last Saturday, six student-athletes graduated from Carrabassett Valley Academy at the Richard Bell Chapel, at the base of Sugarloaf Mountain. We also saluted our Winter Term Seniors Ben DiBiase, Oscar Horovitz and Gannon Stewart. Congratulations to the resilient and remarkable Class of 2021!
 
Head of School Kate Punderson remarked during the ceremony "While the road to getting here was not the path that we had expected, nonetheless, it was an extraordinary year. There were challenges. There were obstacles. There were many moments of triumph. Today we will celebrate all of the moments that have brought us here together, with a new sense of gratitude toward this special gathering. 
 
Thank you to the parents, grandparents, siblings, extended family and friends that have loved and supported these deserving student-athletes through their CVA journey, and especially through the difficult past year. And equally as important, I want to thank the remarkable CVA faculty and staff that have nurtured, taught, coached, and mentored all of our Big Dogs. You are all heroes in my book and I am eternally grateful.
 
But I save my most important thank you to the Class of 2021. Thank you for your perseverance – you made this happen. In true CVA fashion you never gave up, and your love for each other, and for CVA has brought us together today. Each of you so deserve the diploma you are about to receive. Soak in this moment and be proud of your accomplishments." 
 
The Valedictorian, Arden Velenchik and Salutatorian, Brighton Bradford addressed the class during the ceremony, along with Senior Class Choice speaker Sam Osgood and Faculty Choice speaker James Holahan.
 
Other award recipients recognized at the ceremony:

• Arden Velenchik, John Ritzo Headmaster's Award, for her leadership qualities and her notable contribution to the betterment of the school and the local community. 
• Sam Osgood, David Holmes Most Improved Student Award, for showing the most growth of any senior over the course of his time at CVA.
• Brighton Bradford, Benjamin Weisbein Award for best exemplifying those qualities that Ben possessed. He was a superb athlete and an exceptional student who always worked tirelessly to achieve his potential. Brighton, like Ben, truly represented the “CVA way:” outstanding athletics, serious scholarship, personal development and strength of character.
• Eli Fournier, CVA Alumni Association Award, for exhibiting a strong and steady character, reliability, consistently positive attitude, and respect for others. Eli has proven a commitment to “doing his best” academically, athletically and in the school community.  
• Drew Hooker, J. Keith Penninger Memorial Fund Award for representing CVA in terms of leadership and commitment to the CVA mission and community. 

 
The H. King Cummings Service Award was given to Steve Sitz, Director of Finance, in honor of his seventeen year career with CVA.
 
Benjamin Bisson ’09 inspired and celebrated the graduates as the key note speaker.

The following students are recognized for academic achievement in the 2020-2021 school year.

The 2020-21 CVA Art Show is open now for virtual viewing, and in-person viewing in the Webber Academic Center will be open on Friday, June 4th. Thank you to Art Teacher Waylon Wolfe and our many talented Big Dog artists!
Click here to view the Art Show online https://cvaartshow.myportfolio.com/ 

A well deserved honor for Mike Day, CVA Class of 1989!
Winning at the highest level requires attention to detail and anticipating every scenario. Under coach Mike Day’s leadership, Mikaela Shiffrin won four World Championship medals. Congratulations to Mike for being named Alpine Team Coach of the Year by U.S. Ski & Snowboard.

Congratulations to longtime U.S. Ski Team coach and CVA Alum Forest Carey ’94 on being promoted to the men's head coach role for the upcoming season.

From the article:  "The men's team is evolving in a positive direction with Forest Carey taking on the men's head coach role. He brings great operational expertise and coaching knowledge as well as respect from the current staff and athletes to the position. Filling in his footsteps as head tech coach will be his long-standing assistant Ian Garner. Forest and Ian have been the backbone of the World Cup tech side for many years, and their knowledge and experience will be embraced by the whole men's team."

Read the article online at https://usskiandsnowboard.org/news/us-alpine-ski-team-announces-additions-2021-22-staff?fbclid=IwAR19ZCdIum2UJb2lNmnA753iDUxFvYo9JKCwRuoMHfbjSfT6mi0gU6KXnIU 

CVA wishes to congratulate the Class of 2021 Inductees to the Maine Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame with a special shout out to Ginny Bousum and Scott Hoisington who both made a significant impact on the Academy's success over many years.

Read the full article online here

As published by Village Soup, Mark Haskell, Apr 14, 2021


-The entire article, along with photos and captions, can be found online at https://knox.villagesoup.com/p/jett-set-racing-down-mountains-snow-much-fun-for-lindelof-brothers/1887558

Watch Drew Hooker ’22 as she talks with WSKI about her experience at CVA, a summary of her competitive season, and what lies ahead. Well done Drew, we’re your biggest fans! 
Watch here

Participating in 'Mountain Work Day' has been a part of CVA's community service tradition for over 35 years. Academy students and coaches gathered to help clean up the mountain on Thursday, and the U12’s from the Weekend Program helped out last Sunday, too.  Here are the photos we took in a Google Photo album https://photos.app.goo.gl/9cHpsv9kRnzZC7Rx5 

Includes recent updates about what's happening on campus with community activities, academics, athletics (Alpine, Freestyle, Snowboard, Ski Cross, and Backcountry programs).  Also alumni news, information about upcoming camps, reports from the weekend program, and fundraising updates.  
Read it here

Includes recent updates about what's happening on campus with community activities, academics, athletics (Alpine, Freestyle, Snowboard, Ski Cross, and Backcountry programs).  Also alumni news, information about upcoming camps, reports from the weekend program, and fundraising updates.
Read it here

Alumni spotlight: Eli McDermott ’20 demos Winterstick’s Weasel snowboard at Copper Mountain. Thanks for keeping the stoke high Eli!
Watch the video on YouTube

Drew Hooker '22 recently competed in the Big Mountain West Futures Tour Park City, a regional competition in an open style format for ages 13 to adult.  Her freeski run consisted of a difficult rail section up top followed by a 540 to unnatural switch 540 to 360 tail to 720, earning her a 6th place finish! 

Dory Michaud '23 skied in her first FIS level mogul event at US Selections in Winter Park, CO. Coach Jesse Lowell '14 reported, “Her comp runs were both clean top to bottoms with a 360 on top air and big back X on bottom air (giving her near excellent scores), earning her a 21st and 29th place out of 56 women for the 2 comp days. Her 21st place finish meant she missed qualifying for finals by only 4 points! It is notable that this is a high level event, the top 5-7 athletes are US Ski Team members, and the event hosts the top 60(ish) male/female athletes in North America. Lots of talent there and Dory did great! Her results also qualified her for the NorAm events which is awesome!”

Program Director Patrick Scanlan reports a "Glorious trip to Saddleback today. They have done an amazing job at embracing the constantly growing ski touring community by cutting a dedicated, scenic uphill trail in the woods and have started running programs for guests who want to get into the sport. What an awesome place to start! ⁣Our hat is off to you all - we will be back!! For us, we enjoyed a well cut trail, got in a few thousand vert, and had some surprisingly good tree skiing."

Backcountry: The team recently enjoyed a great trip to the White Mountains. Program Director Patrick Scanlan says “Without much snow, we got creative and were able to have a crash course in ski mountaineering this week. We took lots of time to work on skills in some epic locations, and even got to accomplish some pretty big objectives. Kudos to the backcountry athletes who embraced the snow conditions and dove in head first to learning new skills and going the extra miles to find some snow.”