Colby Erin Halligan, alumna of the Burr and Burton Class of 2011 and recent graduate of Elon University, will be the speaker at Burr and Burton’s 183rd Commencement.

“Colby is an extraordinary alumnus, she is highly accomplished and can serve as an inspiration not only to this current crop of seniors, but to all of us. She is a shining example of how to live BBA’s mission of responsibility, integrity, and service,” said Headmaster Mark Tashjian. “We greatly look forward to welcoming her home to Burr and Burton on Commencement Day.” Colby will be the youngest BBA Commencement speaker in Burr and Burton history.

Colby Halligan graduated from Elon University with a dual B.S. Degree in Environmental Science and Public Health concentrating in Socio-Cultural Health and Illness. While at Elon University, she spent two years living abroad in Vietnam, Nicaragua, Kenya, Tanzania, and Italy studying sustainable agriculture, community development, and maternal nutrition. She also competed in cross-country mountain bike racing and acted as her Elon’s Farm Manager for four years.

As a sophomore at Elon, Colby interned with Grow Biointensive, a non-profit international organization dedicated to creating diet-plot farm designs, specializing in a complete diet design for pregnant and lactating women. When she returned, she applied for a semester abroad with Boston University to Kenya and Tanzania where she examined how land-use practices can be managed sustainably to promote environmental conservation and cultivation. This inspired her to return to the United States to pursue sustainable agriculture and methods of mitigating food insecurity, leading her to volunteer at Elon University’s Environmental Science Teaching site and applying for the Udall Environmental Fellowship. After securing the Udall Environmental Fellowship, she met with former Vice President Al Gore to discuss food policy and sustainable agriculture.

Colby’s many honors include Elon University’s Susan Scholarship, the Spannocchia Farm Internship in Northern Tuscany in 2013, the Ward Family Learning in Action Award in 2014, the Iris Holt Community Award in 2014, and the Rhodes Scholarship semi-finalist in 2015. These collective experiences led her to pursue a career supplying communities with nutrition plans that yield 100% of an individual’s diet, incorporating her passion for environmental and community work.

Currently, Colby works as a Research Assistant and Biointensive Farmer with Ecology Action in Northern California, an international non-profit dedicated to creating farm designs that yield a complete closed-loop diet, feeding both soil and communities. Colby functions as a full-time farmer and teacher trainer specializing in soil chemistry, dryland farming, and nutrition. Since moving to California, Colby enjoys competitive running, snowboarding, and practicing yoga, all passions which she first cultivated in the Green Mountains.

Headmaster Tashjian added “With young people like Colby moving our world forward, the future is in good hands.” Burr and Burton Commencement will be held on Friday, June 3 at 5:30 pm with a change of venue this year to Frelinghuysen Field (the upper field hockey field) on the Manchester campus.

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Ken Bartolo, former Janesville-Dewitt lacrosse and football player who has struggled with drug and alcohol addiction talked to BBA students about the dangers of substance abuse.

Wellness Week focused on the dangers of distracted driving, exercising regularly, and eating healthy. Students participated in a texting while driving simulation brought to them by Bennington Police Station. Hiking, dodge ball, bingo, and zumba were just some of the fun activities students had the opportunity to participate in throughout the week. Friday a group of students put on white t-shirts with statistics on distracted driving accidents in honor of ghost out day, to discourage students from driving while distracted. At the all school assembly Ken Bartolo spoke about his struggle with addiction. Bartolo was an up and coming varsity athlete, with many D1 scholarships, until he fell victim to substance use by sharing his story on becoming clean and sober he hopes to inspire young people to stay sober too. “Remember the most valuable asset you have is the affect you have on other people,” Bartolo leaves the youth with this message.

Burr and Burton Academy partnered with The Collaborative to host these events. The Collaborative is a substance abuse prevention nonprofit promoting the development of a healthy, involved community, supporting substance free youth in a caring environment serving the Manchester and Mountain communities. The Collaborative provides afterschool care, organizes Refuse To Use, mentoring program, youth leadership groups and provides substance free youth events. For more information contact The Collaborative at http://thecollaborative.us or call 824 – 4200.

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Lauren Silver’s desire is to help bring a Global Citizenship Program to Burr and Burton Academy. Having traveled widely herself and having taken BBA students on multiple international trips over the years, she knows full well of the impact and benefit of travel. Her goal would be to help enlarge student understanding of what it means to be citizens not only of the school community but of an interdependent world through an increased emphasis on a global education. She thinks a global curriculum would reflect our belief that today’s students must be fully conversant with other peoples, cultures, and languages. This initiative would complement the existing Rowland Scholarship Fund for student travel, as well as the many Global Studies classes, programs and opportunities that already exist at Burr and Burton Academy.

The Bigelow Award allows Lauren to visit schools, both in the U.S. and internationally, that have already incorporated a Global Citizens Program into their curriculum. The David S. Bigelow Fund for Excellence, established in 1998 in memory of distinguished alumnus and devoted trustee Dave Bigelow ‘49, provides selected teaching faculty of the school with the financial resources necessary to further their professional development in a profound way.

Lauren will begin by traveling to The Netherlands to visit the high school UWC (United World College) in Maastricht to gather information and get ideas. UWC’s goal is to make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures. UWC delivers a challenging and transformative educational experience to a diverse cross section of students, inspiring them to create a more peaceful and sustainable future. She will also visit the Leiden University College The Hague, (LUC) an international honors college of Leiden University where students from all over the world engage in socially and globally responsible education. She will also attend a Summit Leadership Conference in The Hague joining other teachers and students for a two-day leadership conference hearing from world-renowned keynote speakers, attend expert-led workshops, and gain valuable insight into the challenges surrounding human rights issues around the globe.

Lauren considers this as an investigative visit to gather information for a possible Global Studies class trip for BBA students as well as setting up a Global Studies Club here at Burr and Burton.

“The ultimate goal of a Global Citizenship Program (GCP) would be to promote global competence, a key twenty-first century skill, and be open to all Burr and Burton students.” says Lauren. “Through interdisciplinary academic study, community service, international travel, and a capstone project, participants could increase their global awareness, heighten their appreciation of diversity, and enlarge their capacity to work and contribute in an increasingly interconnected world.”

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