Launched in 2005, WellesleyWeston Magazine is a quarterly publication tailored to Wellesley and Weston residents and edited to enrich the experience of living in two of Massachusetts' most desirable communities.
Issue link: https://wellesleywestonmagazine.epubxp.com/i/78488
Katz has created a means to push back against a phenomenon called "ageism," which is really no more than a tendency to stereotype seniors as out of touch and marginal. Not necessarily a total formula for stopping an apocalypse, but every little bit helps, right? By the time I concluded my conversation with Katz, we both agreed that, despite my being one year shy of eligibility, I was a candidate for the program. This past spring, Katz ran one of her Sages & Seekers programs at the Rivers School in Weston with the assistance of English teacher Mary Mertsch. Having no idea what to expect, I settled somewhat uneasily into the group. The program, I discovered, had already been success- fully introduced at other area private schools besides Rivers, including Walnut Hill, Dana Hall, Concord Academy, and Noble and Greenough. Who Am I? So why would a school like Rivers take precious instructional time to introduce its students to a guy like me and fourteen of my peers? "Our learning process addresses two central questions for ninth and tenth graders in their English studies," says Mary Mertsch, whose youthful appearance and nurturing style is accompanied by a no-non- sense approach to teaching and learning. "'Who am I and how do the 118 WellesleyWeston Magazine | fall 2012