When Ann Pickrell retired from her full-time position at Williston Northampton School, she didn’t slow down. Instead, she picked up her golf clubs.
“I knew after I retired that I was going to miss the students,” she said. “So I decided that I’d like to keep coaching golf.”
For Pickrell, coaching the Girls Golf team is just the latest chapter in a decades-long story of mentorship and leadership at Williston. She first arrived on campus in 1982, after teaching at Cushing Academy. At the time, she was newly engaged and searching for a school located in an area with better career opportunities for her fiancé. Williston had an opening in the Admission Office—and Pickrell quickly stepped into more roles than most could imagine.
“I was teaching physical education and science in the middle school. I was the assistant athletic director, the head field hockey coach, the head lacrosse coach, and I helped with skiing,” she recalled, laughing.
Over the next 40 years, Pickrell’s resume expanded and shifted. She became Director of Admission in 1992 and held that role for two decades, before serving as Assistant Head of School for her final 10 years. Throughout it all, the one constant was her deep commitment to students.
“I think the thing I enjoyed the most was being an advisor,” she said. “Some of my advisees feel like they’re my own children. I’ve been to a lot of their weddings.”
Though she officially stepped down from full-time duties, Pickrell still leads the Girls Golf program, which she founded in 2003 after recognizing a need.
“There were two really talented female golfers on the boys’ team, but they weren’t always treated with the respect they deserved,” she said. “I thought, ‘There should be a girls’ team.’ So I volunteered to start one.”
From seven players that first year to 20 in 2024, including a full JV squad, the program has grown immensely under her leadership. Pickrell brings the same philosophy to the course that she did to the admissions process: listen closely, create opportunity, and help students discover their potential.
In admissions, that meant finding the right fit for families—not pushing Williston as the only option. “You’re helping students so that when they come to Williston, they’ll be happy, and they’ll grow in ways they didn’t expect,” she said.
Over the years, she’s watched the admissions landscape change, but her core values never wavered. Williston, she believes, looks for more than strong academics. “It’s about balance,” she said. “You want students who are engaged outside the classroom—and most importantly, who are kind and accepting.”
Today, Pickrell enjoys a life that’s a little slower paced. She reads two to three books a week, works out regularly, and finally gets enough sleep. But her connection to campus remains strong.
“I was probably at Williston more than I was ever at home,” she said. “People used to joke that I lived upstairs in the Homestead!”
If she has one piece of advice for anyone joining the Williston community—student or staff—it’s simple: “Get involved. Take some risks. Try something new. You’ll find out things about yourself that you never knew.”
And with Ann Pickrell around, there’s a good chance someone will be there to cheer you on—whether it’s in the admissions office, across the dinner table, or on the ninth green.
