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Siga Pouye ’23 may describe herself as “the opposite of an athlete,” but that certainly hasn’t stopped her from becoming an all-star. The 91���� arena where Siga excels? The ceramics studio.

“Kids are in awe of her talent,” observed visual and performing arts teacher Wendy Staples in The 91����ian. “They pick up on her work ethic. They understand if they put in that time, they will also be that good.”

Indeed, since her arrival at 91���� Northampton for her sophomore year, Siga has helped inspire something of a clay renaissance at the school, bringing a revitalizing energy—and fresh visibility—to the studio space and drawing new students to pottery classes. “Ceramics definitely blew up,” says Siga, whose three years at 91���� were supported by the school’s financial aid program. “So many people are in the studio now. It’s really exciting.”

That enthusiasm contrasts sharply with Siga’s outlook prior to her arrival at 91����. Struggling academically and emotionally at her local high school, she realized she was depressed and in need of a change. Her mother, Liza Katz, a psychotherapist and clinical social worker, and her partner, Liz Gallinaro, had heard positive things about 91���� from their former colleagues at Amherst College. 91����’s financial aid award was a key factor in the family’s decision.

“We were committed to finding her a different school environment,” recalls Katz, who now lives in Boston with her partner. “I don’t know where we would have found the funding, but we probably would have used every resource possible.”

Even in a new school environment, however, Siga’s adjustment took time.

“If you talk to any of the adults who were around me when I first got here, they would say I was just a really angry kid in the beginning,” she says. There were new rules, new people, and shared living spaces. “I’m an only child,” Siga quips, “and that was something that I had to get used to.”
It didn’t help that Siga arrived in the middle of the pandemic, when social activity on campus was dramatically restricted. Gradually, however, things began to turn around. She found a friend group, became the manager of the girls’ varsity hockey team, learned sewing in costume shop, and started to find her place in the broader school community.

“Once I joined the community, I started taking advantage of the academics as well,” she notes. Her grades improved when she began to see the school’s schedule and rules as positives. She enrolled in AP Art and completed a 91���� Scholars project examining connections between Nazi Germany and the Jim Crow-era South. Emotionally, she was helped by having adults in her life not just as teachers, but as mentors and counselors. “They know everything that’s going on with you,” she says. “So I got support 24/7.”

And, above all, she flourished in the ceramics studio. At her former high school she had enjoyed working with clay, and prior to that had taken pottery classes in Northampton, but having daily access to 91����’s studio—and just as importantly the mentorship of Wendy Staples—fueled her passion at a new level. “Ms. Staples has made all of my dreams come true,” she says. “Whenever I need supplies, she’ll order them for me. And the school has supported me as an artist. If I didn’t have all this clay, if I didn’t have all these glazes, if they didn’t have the wheels, I couldn’t do this. I’ve had the incredible opportunity to explore my passion and I will be forever grateful for the support and spaces 91���� provided.”

Indeed, Siga sees her development as an artist as testimony to the benefits that financial aid programs can bring to independent schools. In addition to improving socio-economic and cultural diversity on campus, financial aid students bring what might be seen as diversity of ambition. “You meet people here who are really motivated to use every resource that’s on campus,” says Siga, who was also an active advocate for social justice issues and part of the Black Student Union. “You have students who are like, ‘This is something that I never had before,’ so they really use it to the fullest. That’s great to see.”

As she looks ahead to continuing her study of art at New York University next fall (where financial aid again played a role), Siga is appreciative of her time at 91���� and the change it brought to her life. “It got me back on track and it reminded me that I loved learning,” she says. “My grades before would not have gotten me into any school like NYU. 91���� actually made it possible.”