Thornton Academy Postscripts Alumni Magazine Winter 2008 | Page 23

www.thorntonacademy.org Celebrating 10 Years: Alumni Connect at TA Dance Company Reunion Dance Company alumni celebrated more than 10 years of dance at Thornton Academy last August. The festivities began with coffee and a social hour at the dance studio in the Emery Building. Everyone celebrated by participating in workshops throughout the day, led by Maine dance teachers MaryEllen Schaper, Sasha Randall and Carl Rudman. That evening, Dance Company alumni continued the fun with dinner and more dancing. The reunion recognized the 10th anniversary of the Dance Company at Thornton. Kathy Nolan leads the group as well as TA’s dance program. It’s just one way that TA offers high school students—and graduates—an outlet for their creativity. Above, alumni warm up for dance workshops. From left to right: Maria Ann Kindelan ‘06, Angela Presby Hilton ‘01, Tina Phillips ‘04, Hannah Fluet ‘06, Tessa Albee ‘04 and Karen Dyer DiCenso ‘97. At left, dance teacher Kathy Nolan hugs graduate Rachael Visconti ‘98. At right: Autumn Welt ‘04 is all smiles as she stretches at the alumni event. Photos by Shawn Patrick Ouellette ‘89. From Spotlight story on back page living somewhere with four seasons, Bovill has grown to enjoy the warmer desert climate. And his work has certainly been rewarding. Bovill said that initially, he was excited if also a little overwhelmed to be recruited for his job. A graduate school friend was working on the mission, and that contact—coupled with his determination to make a contribution to the project—ultimately paid off. “The first couple of weeks on the job were tough,” he admits. “There’s a steep learning curve. But after a little while, I started to catch on and pick up what I needed to. From there I was able to help run test after test.” Perhaps the most exciting experience Bovill has had so far was watching the Phoenix launch last fall. “I was standing out about 5 miles away from the launch pad,” he says. “There was a PA system set up so we could listen to launch control during the countdown. As the clock got down to zero, we’re all looking off to the distance and this giant ball of white appears. It’s amazing how big and bright everything gets when those rockets are on. We saw it just speeding through the sky and everyone was cheering.” Bovill adds that there is a lot of apprehension about the landing, the most dangerous aspect of the mission. Mars lacks an atmosphere as dense as the Earth’s, so adequate deceleration of the spacecraft is one concern. Another is the landing site itself. Temperatures in the polar region dip to 100 degrees below zero even in the summer, and the region is rife with craters and boulders that could endanger the mission. For these and other reasons, Bovill explains, a barrage of tests on instruments and landing gear were conducted prior to the launch and will continue up until the day the spacecraft lands. Assuming the Phoenix makes it to Mars unharmed, Bovill will work another 90 to 180 days thereafter on the mission. He’s not sure what might come next, but two options are to return to his graduate studies or to continue working on space missions in either the public or private sector. To learn more about the Phoenix Mars Mission, go to http:// phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu. To read Bovill’s blog, go to http:// pressherald.mainetoday.com/blogs/marsmission/. POSTSCRIPTS * WINTER 2008 23