Spring 2017
COMPOUND MACHINES What kind of compound machine would you design to move a Lego minifigure from one place to another? Second graders from AIS and The Haverford School joined forces to solve this design challenge in February: brainstorming, designing, and building compound machines that combined 2-5 simple machines (ramps, inclined planes, pulleys, wheels and axles, screws, wedges). The classes met at Haverford to combine their designs, and the following week, modified, retested, and presented them at AIS.
AMANDA MAHNKE
Teacher Julie Haines proposed the idea of a second grade science collaboration last fall, as part of a larger discussion with Haverford and Agnes Irwin teachers. Haines, a Haverford mom herself, designed the project with input from Lower School Director Donna Lindner, Science Department Chair Rosann Westmeyer, the iTeam, and Haverford second grade science teacher Bill Palmer.Â
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| FEATURES |
Igniting Curiosity and Creativity Lighting a Flame A key initiative of the new Strategic Plan, independent learning empowers girls to pursue their intellectual interests and curate their educational journey.
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Energizing Our Educators
Contents
| DEPARTMENTS | 5 6 9 16 18 22 24 26 28 42 63 65
What’s Online Big Picture Digest Inquiry l Faculty Focus
Limelight l Student Profiles Visual & Performing Arts Athletics Center for the Advancement of Girls Timeline Class Notes Milestones From the Archives
Voice, Choice, and Time Ample professional development opportunities empower faculty to explore, create, and collaborate.
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Enriching Our Community CommUnity In Action More than 40 Agnes Irwin teachers, parents, faculty and staff led sessions at a daylong experiential learning session for Upper Schoolers on January 11.
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Securing Our Future A Legacy in Laurels Twenty years ago, Agnes Irwin began exploring ways to launch a planned giving organization, known today as The Laurel Society.
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HAPPILY EVER AFTER How well do you really know the story of The Princess and the Pea? Our 7th and 8th graders told the real version of this fairy tale in March, when they performed the classic musical Once Upon A Mattress. Pictured here is Caroline Freiwald ’21 as Princess Winnifred the Woebegone, the play’s stereotype-thwarting heroine, singing "Shy."
From the Head of School
Perspective EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Amanda Mahnke Assistant Director of Marketing & Communications
CONTRIBUTORS Tracy Curvan Director of Marketing & Communications
Mariandl Hufford Assistant Head of School and Director of the Center for the Advancement of Girls
Alison Monzo CAG Program Manager
Brooke Norrett Corr ’95 Director of Alumnae Relations
Megan Boyle Flinn ’87 Contributing Writer
OPPOSITE AND RIGHT: KAREN MOSIMANN LIFESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHY
DESIGN Melodee Dill Stephens PHOTOGRAPHY Douglas Benedict, Academic Images; Bowstring Media; Amanda Mahnke; Donna Meyer; Karen Mosimann Lifestyle Photography; Jim Roese Photography THE AGNES IRWIN SCHOOL Ithan Avenue and Conestoga Road Rosemont, PA 19010-1042 agnesirwin.org Grades PreK–4 Tel: 610-525-7600 Grades 5–12 Tel: 610-525-8400 Fax: 610-525-8908 FRONT COVER The Agnes Irwin owl got a makeover this fall as part of the launch of the school’s new Strategic Plan. Learn more about our choice of cover on Page 4.
As the Head of School, I feel privileged to have relationships with the vibrant members of the Agnes Irwin community: parents, alumnae, faculty, staff, administration, trustees, and most especially, our current students. With the myriad of exciting Strategic Plan initiatives underway and the unceasing efforts of The Center for the Advancement of Girls that enable us to be at the forefront of what is best for girls, I thought it was a good time to pause and immerse ourselves in the Agnes Irwin experience by walking alongside our students and viewing our School from their distinct perspective. In February, I, along with several of my colleagues, participated in the Shadow a Student Challenge, where educators across all 50 states and over 50 countries follow a day in the life of a student to gain deeper insight into their current experiences and draw from this perspective to ideate for the future. With supplies in our backpacks and a twinkle of nostalgia, the team embarked on our journey — and found the interplay between faculty and students exhilarating. In science class, we wrote about force and ergonomics from the subsystems we built to move water bottles from the floor to countertop, engaged in a creative writing critique of a student’s screenplay, applied engineering concepts to create improved traffic flow scenarios for the West-Wike Theatre, took off our shoes to participate in yoga and relaxation exercises as part of our social-emotional curriculum, and learned a few traditional dance steps in anticipation of our annual Medieval Night celebration. We found it is truly invigorating to be an Agnes Irwin girl. In a time when gender stereotypes on brilliance formed at a young age are still prevalent in our society, it is more important than ever to empower our girls to follow their own path by igniting their curiosity and creativity through a diversity of experience, thought, and viewpoints. Our collective experience in shadowing our students validated the foundation of the Strategic Plan with all of its goals and aspirations. Every choice we make, every path we choose, is filtered through the lens of what is best for our girls. Our goal as educators is to inspire each girl to dig deep within to discover her own brilliance and foster it along her Agnes Irwin journey. From my perspective, there is no greater quest.
Wendy L. Hill, Ph.D.
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About This Issue The Strategic Plan 4 Key Initiatives
COMMUNITY
Leading Girls’ Education
W
hen Agnes Irwin launched its new Strategic Plan in December 2016, it did so after considering the input of well over a thousand stakeholders. Parents, alumnae, students, faculty, staff, board members and administrators were all invited to offer their insights on the school and its future, and the information gathered ultimately helped direct Leading Girls’ Education: The Strategic Plan of The Agnes Irwin School 2016-2021. The four strategic initiatives outlined in Agnes Irwin’s new Strategic Plan “are our most important priorities and compelling opportunities,” explain Head of School Dr. Wendy Hill, Board of Trustees Chair Ann Laupheimer Sonnenfeld ’77, and Strategic Planning Committee Chair Jennifer Kinkead ’84 in the Plan’s opening letter. “These goals will serve as beacons to lead the way forward for our faculty and administration, for our parent and alumnae communities, and — most important — for the current and next generations of Agnes Irwin girls.” The Plan will guide Agnes Irwin for the next five years. Likewise, it guided our staff as we began to build the Spring 2017 magazine. Each of the four feature stories — with their focuses on independent learning at Agnes Irwin, faculty enrichment, a community-led workshop day, and the important work of our Laurel Society — correspond to one of the Plan’s four key initiatives (listed at right). A more detailed timeline of the Plan’s development can be found on Page 28. The collage of community scenes on the magazine cover is a departure from our typical style — and reflects the fact that this issue, at its core, is a celebration of community in all of its manifestations. So, too, is the Plan itself. The implementation of its goals, like the strategic planning process, will be a collaborative effort that requires the commitment and contributions of many. “This plan belongs to all of us,” the letter continues. “We hope every member of our community feels ownership and pride, as the Plan is a product of our community’s opinions, reflections, suggestions, and aspirations gathered over the last year. We are inspired by the strong engagement and deep commitment evidenced by our community’s input and insights. We offer deepest thanks for the efforts of so many.” —Amanda Mahnke, Editor-in-Chief
Ignite Curiosity and Creativity We commit that our girls will remain steeped in vigorous learning that engages their curiosity, their intellect, and their hearts. Our program will: • Focus on high-impact experiential learning. • Empower girls to pursue their intellectual passions. • Encourage civic and global engagement. • Cultivate leaders. • Be grounded in research.
Energize Our Educators We commit to employ, retain, and recognize exceptional faculty and staff and create a vibrant learning environment where they can flourish. Our faculty will: • Be empowered to explore and grow. • Be intellectual role models. • Be rewarded and honored.
Enrich Our Community We commit to being a truly inclusive, diverse, and equitable community by honoring the individuality of all our students and families, teachers, and staff. We will: • Help each girl develop a positive sense of self. • Actively recruit and retain families, faculty, administrators and staff of diverse backgrounds. • Demonstrate the value we place on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Secure Our Future We commit to responsible management and growth of our financial resources to realize our goals and ensure our long-term financial sustainability. We will: • Demonstrate our advantage. • Thoughtfully manage our financial operations. • Grow our endowment. • Strengthen our tuition assistance program. • Expand and enrich our community. • Develop a comprehensive master facilities plan. Read more detail on each of these initiatives in the full Strategic Plan: agnesirwin.org/strategicplan
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What’s Online “The brain, I know, is a malleable organ. ... One way to inoculate girls against the stereotypes with which they will be inundated ... is to let them benefit from an environment where their brilliance will be a matter of course.” DR. WENDY HILL, THE WASHINGTON POST
BIRD’S EYE VIEW
In the News A study published in the journal Science in January found that by the age of 6, girls are less likely than boys to think they can be brilliant. The study, titled “Gender stereotypes about intellectual ability emerge early and influence children’s interests,” says that girls at age 6 begin to avoid certain activities that they believe are only for the “really, really smart” children — boys. Head of School Dr. Wendy Hill’s response to this study was published in The Washington Post on February 14, as part of a larger article by Post education reporter Valerie Strauss. Dr. Hill writes as a neuroscientist and head of an all-girls school, arguing that one way for girls to counter these “boys=brilliance” stereotypes is to go to school where a girl’s brilliance will be a matter of course — like AIS! VIEW THE ARTICLE, “IT’S 2017, AND GIRLS STILL DON’T THINK THEY ARE AS SMART AS BOYS, RESEARCH SHOWS,” ONLINE AT washingtonpost.com.
There’s never a dull moment at Agnes Irwin. See more of what we’ve been up to this year by following us on Instagram at @AgnesIrwinSchool. VIEW ONLINE
instagram.com/ agnesirwinschool
READ MORE
facebook.com/ AgnesIrwinSchool
FIND MORE TWEETS LIKE THESE ON TWITTER @AgnesIrwin,
twitter.com/AgnesIrwin
@CAG_Director, @AISowls, @AISarts, and @DrWendyHill
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Big Picture STUDENT ARTWORK
Big Sky Country
KATHRYN HALL ’17
Each fall, a small group of art students have the unique opportunity to travel to Hobble Diamond Ranch in Big Timber, Montana for a four-day art-intensive retreat. The Big Timber Arts Roundup brings Agnes Irwin students together with students from The Haverford School, Episcopal Academy, The Boys Latin School and several local Montana schools to study with professional artists in their fields of interest. This October marked the 15th year that local students have traveled to the ranch of Bob and Susan Burch (T, P’09, ’10, ’30) in “big sky country.” Kathryn Hall ’17, one of 10 Agnes Irwin students who participated in Big Timber in October, captured this shot. In February, it was featured in “4x4,” a pop-up exhibition at Philadelphia’s Da Vinci Art Alliance, organized by Sydney Cohn ’17, that highlighted the work of Agnes Irwin’s four Honors Photography IV students: Kathryn, Sydney, Maya Brown-Hunt ’17 and Annie McConnon ’17. “I have always been interested in nature photography, but climbing the hills and strolling along the Yellowstone River opened my eyes to a new and exciting part of our country,” said Kathryn, who will attend Dartmouth College in the fall, and is considering pursuing a minor in photography. “My curiosity for the world beyond the fences of the ranch took me up to the tallest hill, where I took this picture, capturing the amazing beauty of Montana.” “This photo symbolizes that there is in fact a world, beyond what our eyes can see, that’s just waiting to be explored.”
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They matter. It all starts with your support of The Agnes Irwin Fund! WHY IT ALL MATTERS When Agnes Irwin was founded, Miss Irwin strove to
couldn’t operate without the support of our alumnae,
offer a rigorous curriculum tailored for girls and young
parents and friends.
women. Today, we strive to do the same for our intelligent, creative and confident students.
Call 610.526.1674 or visit agnesirwin.org/giving to learn more about the different ways you can help support
Your contribution to the Agnes Irwin Fund directly
Agnes Irwin’s mission to empower girls to learn, to lead,
improves the quality of the educational experience
and to live a legacy. Please note, the 2016-17 fiscal
that we are able to offer our girls. Agnes Irwin
year ends on June 30, 2017.
Spring 2017
Digest LOWER SCHOOL
| MIDDLE SCHOOL
| UPPER SCHOOL
TECHNOLOGY
Life in the Digital Age Is social media ruining kids? How much internet activity is too much? Agnes Irwin administrators touched on these topics February 8 in an evening discussion with parents, centered on the book Media Moms & Digital Dads: A Fact-Not-Fear Approach to Parenting in the Digital Age. Supported by academic research focused on technology, the book explains the impact that media might be having on young minds, and offers quick takeaways, tips and guidance for parents. The fireside chat was sponsored by The Center for the Advancement of Girls. Informed by her background as a neuroscientist, Head of School Dr. Wendy Hill spoke to parents about the impact digital technology can have on the developing brain — including how more “likes” on a social media post can trigger the release of dopamine. In smaller group discussions, Lower School Director Donna Lindner shared with parents the results of a survey of third and fourth graders on their access to technology, and Dean of Students Jenn Fiorini ’97 spoke with Middle and Upper School parents about technology use. Technology’s effect on the brain, navigating the digital
world, and learning in the digital age are ongoing topics of discussion at Agnes Irwin. In October, The Center for the Advancement of Girls hosted a screening of the documentary Screenagers: Growing Up In The Digital Age, which reveals how tech time impacts development. Fiorini is currently working with Upper School Student Government leaders to develop a guiding statement for technology and social media use, focused on honesty, respect, and wellness. Student leaders have held a series of conversations with middle schoolers around these topics, and plan to facilitate a conversation with Middle School parents on technology use.
Technology’s effect on the brain, navigating the digital world, and learning in the digital age are ongoing topics of discussion at Agnes Irwin.
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Digest | LOWER SCHOOL
DESIGN THINKING SCIENCE
Problem-solving for Bo Peep Throughout the year, PreK students memorize poems as part of their study of rhyme, cadence, and syntax. This winter, each girl illustrated, memorized, and recited a chosen nursery rhyme — and took the project a step further by collaborating in groups to design a solution to the problem their nursery rhyme character encounters. The PreK prototypes included a bubblewrap dress for Little Miss Muffet — ensuring that no spider could sit down beside her — and a sheep catcher for Little Bo Peep.
Detective Skills In science class, fourth graders recently learned about physical and chemical properties. As one of their experiments for this unit, girls examined five powders (salt, cornstarch, baking soda, alum, and talcum powders), and recorded the physical properties in their science notebooks. Later, students had to identify two “mystery powders” — salt and talcum powder — using their notes to identify each.
SCIENCE
And Now, The Weather Second graders became weather reporters this winter as the culmination of their study of the science of weather. The reports, filmed on the green screen in the STEAM Studio, include types of clouds they learned about, seasonal information, the use of weather instruments, and other important factors related to weather. Students selected their own locations, background images, and props!
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LOWER SCHOOL | Digest
LANGUAGE ARTS
ART
Animal Origins
Float On
In connection with their Social Studies unit on Africa, third graders crafted their own stories this spring based on two common genres of African folklore: trickster tales and pourquoi stories. Pourquoi stories, or origin stories, are fictional narratives common in African folklore that explain why something is the way it is. Anna Tobia’s class read and dissected the pourquoi tale Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears, then penned their own stories about an African animal. Some of the girls’ tales include “Why Golden Eagles Aren’t Golden” (they bragged too much) and “Why Cheetahs Run Fast” (a lightning strike gave the first cheetah her speed). A compilation of the student tales will be published for families this spring!
WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT
Celebrating International Women’s Day Lower School celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8, donning purple and holding an assembly on leadership, equality, and women’s empowerment. “When people try to treat you differently because you’re a girl, you have the power to speak out and make a difference,” Lower School Director Donna Lindner told students. The Center for the Advancement of Girls also distributed purple carnations to all students and female faculty members, an International Women’s Day tradition in countries around the globe.
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This November, second graders worked in teams to design giant Macy’sstyle balloon floats with art teacher Trish Siembora and their classroom teachers. Girls brainstormed ideas, created patterns on paper, and cut out the shapes on vinyl tablecloths. Then, Ms. Siembora ironed the pieces together to seal them, installed battery-operated fans inside each balloon, and attached wooden handles. Students proudly paraded their finished pieces down the halls before Thanksgiving Break for the whole Lower School to enjoy! (Check out a video on Instagram.)
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Digest | MIDDLE SCHOOL
COMPUTER SCIENCE
Coding For All To celebrate international Computer Science Education Week in December, the entire Middle School engaged in the initiative Hour of Code. In 5th and 6th grade science, students deepened their understanding of how to break problems into individual steps and follow a specific sequence when solving challenges on code.org. Seventh graders in Digital Citizenship Class used code.org to create their own games and video effects with code. Meanwhile, 8th graders used computational thinking to instruct partners on how to screenprint or draw artistic patterns. Some students created their own musical compositions with code.
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PERFORMING ARTS
Performance Assembly Several times a year, middle schoolers summon the courage to sing, dance, play an instrument, or even try stand-up comedy at the Middle School Performance Assembly. These assemblies are open to any middle schooler who wants to show off her talents to the entire Middle School. On January 27, students watched as their peers sang, played the piano, and danced, including Logan Short ’21 and Maya Messick ’24, pictured here. Brava to all of our talented performers! Shredded wheat, toothpicks, Fiber One and pine shavings: four of the unusual materials used by sixth graders to build medieval manors in history class as part of their study of feudal Europe. Students had to create an authentic replica while creatively using supplies from home — no purchased materials allowed.
3D PRINTING
New & Improved As part of a muscular/skeletal unit in science class, sixth graders identified an injury to the bones, muscles, joints, or connective tissue that girls commonly incur in a sport they play, and designed an improved body part that makes the area less vulnerable to the injury. In past years, teams have created a prototype of the body part using repurposed materials; this year, students used TinkerCAD to create prototypes on a 3D printer. The pictured design aims to prevent an an Achilles tendon rupture by, among other strategies, using cartilage from the ear to act as a cushion along the calcaneus and metatarsals, and strengthening the Plantar Fascia ligament with stronger, more flexible tissue.
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MIDDLE SCHOOL | Digest
SUSTAINABILITY
Aquaponic Adventures
ART
Eighth graders are growing garden herbs and raising goldfish in science class as part of their study of aquaponics, a method of cultivating plants in water that combines hydroponics and aquaculture and is much more sustainable than traditional soil-based farming. Students explored the potential of this crop growing method in March and April, in preparation for their research for Beyond the Grid, an environmental sustainability project, later in the spring.
Easy As 1, 2, 3 Sixth graders created their own illuminated letters this spring, as part of their study of medieval craft in art class in preparation for Medieval Night.
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Meals packed for Rise Against Hunger with peers from Haverford and Baldwin on January 15 for Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. Rise Against Hunger is an international hunger relief non-profit organization that coordinates the packaging and distribution of food and other life-saving aid to people in developing nations. Since 1998, the organization has shipped 224,000,000 meals to 71 countries.
LANGUAGE LEARNING
Programación en Español It’s hard enough learning a new language, but how about coding in it? Students in middle school Spanish classes took on this challenge, using the programming language Scratch to create vocabulary games and build basic programming dialogues. Scratch, an MIT project for kids ages 8 to 16, allows students to create their own interactive stories, games and animations while thinking creatively and reasoning systematically. Using Scratch, 5th and 7th graders programmed characters to speak Spanish by recording themselves and their friends — and learned to use the interface in Spanish, too.
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Digest | UPPER SCHOOL
MATHEMATICS
Scholar in Residence This winter, Agnes Irwin’s Mathematics Department introduced its 20162017 Mathematics Scholar in Residence, Dr. Rhonda Hughes. Dr. Hughes earned her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Illinois at Chicago and was both professor and Department Chair at Bryn Mawr College from 1980-2011. She most recently served as a consultant to Khan Academy, helping to revise their SAT-preparation content. At Agnes Irwin, Dr. Hughes works with the math faculty to review and revitalize curriculum and instruction. Each week, she also works with Upper School students in classes, small groups, and one-on-one in a mentoring capacity, as well as advising on college-level studies in mathematics.
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ROBOTICS
Dōmo Arigatō Our Upper School Robotics team, Femme Tech Fatale, made it to the quarterfinals at their first competition of the year! The team placed 8th out of 36 teams at the FIRST Mid-Atlantic Robotics competition at HatboroHorsham High School in March — a stellar finish against fierce competition, including several teams who have qualified for the FIRST Robotics World Championship in 2015 and 2016. Femme Tech Fatale was the only all-female team to compete in this event — and this is our best finish in eight years.
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INDEPENDENT RESEARCH
Students Published In Science Journal Anna Kramer ’16 and Gabby D’Arcangelo ’17 are co-authors of “Electrokinetic Transport of Methanol and Lithium Ions Through a 2.25-nm-Diameter Carbon Nanotube Nanopore,” a paper published in January in The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, an American Chemical Society publication. The students worked with Dr. Mark Ellison in the chemistry department at Ursinus College during Summer 2015 on his carbon nanotube research as part of their Independent Science Research elective.
CIVIL ENGINEERING
Solving Traffic Jams This semester’s Engineering for the Future students applied civil engineering skills to real-life traffic problems around Agnes Irwin. Teams of students were asked to identify a place around campus where there are congestion issues, study traffic flow in those locations, and devise a potential solution. The teams chose to investigate congestion outside the West-Wike Theatre as students exit Upper School assembly, as well as how to mitigate traffic concerns during afternoon pick-up.
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UPPER SCHOOL | Digest
ENGLISH
Shakespeare On Campus
HISTORY
Junior Muckrakers
Members of the Philadelphia Shakespeare Theater visited campus on January 24 to collaborate with 9th and 10th graders in English I Honors and English II on their study of Macbeth. Students worked in groups with one of four visiting actors, and discussed how to stage Act III, Scene IV, where Macbeth sees (or thinks he sees) Banquo’s ghost at the banquet. Each group made directorial decisions — including whether there really is a ghost, and other aspects of the scene that vary by interpretation and production. Afterwards, the groups presented and critiqued their scenes in the West-Wike Theatre.
Juniors took on the role of muckrakers — 19th-century journalists who aimed to expose societal ills in a variety of media — in Sarah Leonard’s U.S. History class this semester. Students took photos, wrote newspaper articles, and drew political cartoons.
ARTS
Arts Week Arts Week in Upper School, an annual week of arts speakers, workshops, and activities, was held March 13-17. With the theme Making It: Careers in the Arts, activities included an indigo dying workshop and lunchtime conversation with Emily Carris, owner of artdept.philly; a jewelry-making workshop; and a cupcake-decorating workshop with Aly Debbas of The Createrie. After an assembly led by Lilly Pulitzer Creative Services Manager Jenna Burnip on Friday, the student Arts Board surprised Upper Schoolers by announcing that the rest of the afternoon would be devoted to arts-themed workshops and activities at “Arts Fest.”
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Inquiry
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Faculty Focus
Questions with Jenn Fiorini
Q: What’s something you’re doing right now that excites you? Fiorini: I’ve really become immersed in learning about
Dean of Students Jenn Emmi Fiorini ’97 has particular insight into life as an Agnes Irwin student, for good reason: She was one. Jenn enrolled at AIS in first grade, and will celebrate her 20th Reunion in May. It was “fate” that brought her back as a teacher, she says: As she neared the end of her student teaching experience, Jenn ran into longtime AIS teacher Mrs. Gormley, who asked if she would consider interviewing at her alma mater. She joined the school in Fall 2005 as an English teacher and lacrosse coach, serving in a variety of roles before becoming Upper School Dean of Students in January 2014. As Dean, Jenn oversees all aspects of Student Life — including the advisory program, clubs, discipline, and peer mentorship — and works closely with the Upper School Director and Class Deans to develop programming centered on student leadership development and fostering a positive Upper School community. —Amanda Mahnke
social media and the world that teenage girls are navigating on a daily basis. I’ve been working with Student Government and the Student Life team to create a wellness-based approach to technology usage at AIS. I love how much I am learning from the experts — the students — about social media, and their views on feminism and female empowerment are really fascinating and inspiring.
Q: Tell us about the experience of working at your alma mater. Was it odd transitioning to the “adult” role here? Fiorini: It was sometimes odd, but mostly a dream come
true. At first I had a tough time calling some of my former teachers by their first names, but I loved getting to know them as professionals and having the opportunity to learn from the best. I remember admitting to Louisa Mygatt that without her teaching for our 8th grade Civil Rights paper, I never would have understood how to develop an argument. But I loved getting to know Cathy Lynch well enough to become running buddies with her — “6th grade me” would have been way too intimidated to do that! And, of course, I still wander into Mr. Frank’s room to ask for life advice, just as I did in 1997.
Q: How is life at AIS the same as it was when you were in school? Different? Fiorini: AIS is still, and always will be, the kind of school
that creates a “home” for each individual girl. My Irwin’s friends ask me this question a lot, and I usually answer by Q: You began your career in advertising. Why did you decide asking, “What’s your best memory?” Alumnae almost always to pursue teaching? answer with a memory about friends, teachers, or bonding Fiorini: While I found advertising to be fun and interesting, I felt a pull toward a career that moments in their formative years. That feeling of being fully would help shape the world for the better. For me, working with young people in a school setting known is, I think, the essence of AIS. seemed like a clear path to do so. My mom and grandmother were both teachers, and educators There are many things that are different, and for the better. have always been honored in our family. Teaching English was an easy call — I have loved Recently my friend Alana Salvucci ’97 came to campus and literature since Mrs. Goppelt’s 11th grade English class, and majored in Literature and Literary was stunned by the new facilities: the Athletics Center, the History at Georgetown. Student Life Center, and the STEM spaces. Q: Why the switch from teaching to administration? From a student perspective, AIS in 2017 ROLES AT AIS Fiorini: The longer I’ve worked in schools, the more I’ve become is mindful about creating a school that • Middle and Upper School interested in the systems of schools: the way that students, teachers, and enriches our community by embracing English Teacher & Advisor administrators all work together to create a culture of learning. While I diversity in thought and background, a fact (2005-2014) • Middle School Lacrosse was teaching, I found that my favorite parts of the day were working with for which I am immensely grateful and Coach (2005-2013) students on figuring out a leadership path, or working on a personal growth proud. • Middle School Discipline problem, or helping a family support their daughter.
Q: What do you enjoy most about the work you do? Fiorini: Hands down, the best part of my job is watching a student have
an “aha” moment. I have found that the biggest breakthrough moments come when students are faced with something that really scares them — everything from belaying off a cliff to failing a test — and realize that they can become stronger as they move through those scary moments. My favorite phrase is, “Don’t you wish you had a time machine so you could tell your 10th grade self that this is where you’d be in your senior year?”
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Committee (2007-2010) • Upper School Class Dean (2007-2014) • Assistant Director, Community Service & SSP (2007-2009) • Upper School Director of Service Learning (2009-2012) • Chair, Curriculum, Culture, Community Committee (2011-2014)
Q: What’s something about you that might surprise us? Fiorini: I think it’s probably surprising
to some of my AIS classmates that I’m in charge of discipline and uniform in the Upper School… But maybe people would be surprised to know that my favorite relaxation activity is to experiment in the kitchen: I’ve recently been making my own kombucha.
“The student-teacher relationships are so special here; rarely have I seen in other schools the kind of mutual admiration that students and teachers at AIS share.” Dean of Students Jenn Fiorini ’97
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Limelight
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Student Profiles
Cora Hung ’26 LOWER SCHOOL
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KAREN MOSIMANN LIFESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHY
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hird grader Cora Hung loves reading, singing and performing, and she’s pretty sure she wants to be a music teacher or an artist when she grows up. Or, on second thought: “maybe a wind tunnel instructor.” Without skipping a beat, she launches into a description of one of her favorite family pastimes: indoor skydiving. “You have to wear a big suit, a helmet, goggles, and earplugs. Then you get into this tunnel, and a dude — or dudette — tells you how to fly,” Cora explains. “The first time I did it, I was really scared: But now it’s just really, really fun.” Given that particular professional aspiration, one might mistake this talkative third-grader for an adrenaline junkie — but Cora appreciates quiet, serene moments too. In her free time, fishing and yoga are two favorite activities — along with being big sister to brother Evan, a first grader at The Haverford School. She caught her first fish at age four, and says patience is one of the biggest keys to being a successful angler (and maybe a big sister, too). Cora appreciates yoga for its relaxing effects, and loves sitting in on classes with her mom, who teaches children’s yoga. “There’s a million ways, or more, to calm yourself down” — including, Cora says, meditating on the seven chakras and trying different breathing methods. Now in her third year at Agnes Irwin, Cora “goes quietly out of her way to live the example of leadership we set forth in the Lower School,” said Lower School Director Donna Lindner. Earlier this year, both Cora and her friend Nova Steinberg met with Donna about kindness and politeness in the Lower School, and offered up a number of ideas for how to promote a more positive atmosphere. “Cora is an active participant and engaged learner,” said Audrey Sikdar, Cora’s third grade teacher. “She always wants to make sure her classmates are taken care of and feeling cheery. She is resilient and a problem-solver.” Cora loves science, music, and especially art class, because it’s such a calming subject. She loves how “you can go to a teacher — or really, anybody at the school — and they can help you with your problems,” noting that Mrs. Sikdar really supports and roots for her. “But really, I just love everything here.”
Aaliyah Gauthney ’22 MIDDLE SCHOOL
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aliyah Gauthney ’22 enrolled at Agnes Irwin in kindergarten — and was, self-admittedly, painfully shy as a six-year-old. “I was pretty much too scared to say anything to anyone,” she recalls. Seven years later, Aaliyah has come into her own. The self-proclaimed sci-fi nerd is an excellent student, plays on the middle school varsity softball team, ran tech for this year’s production of Once Upon a Mattress, and “is a very good citizen,” according to 5th and 6th Grade Dean Cathy Lynch. Two years ago, a unit in Jennifer White’s fifth grade science class sparked Aaliyah’s interest in STEM, and in particular, engineering. She recalls one challenge that required students to build a bridge out of everyday materials like paper clips, straws, tape and Popsicle sticks that could both hold weight and support a toy car as it traveled from one side to the other. “I really like that it’s an area where there’s no right or wrong way to do it, so there’s lots of room for creativity.” Now, Aaliyah is interested in pursuing engineering as a career. “I’m torn between biomedical engineering and civil engineering,” she says — a good problem to have as a 13-year-old. “The idea of biomedical engineering in general excites me. I like the idea of working towards the betterment of a patient” — but not so much the hands-on medical side of things. “I’d rather work with the machines.” As a result, she spent a week studying electrical engineering at Purdue University’s Summer Engineering Workshop last year. This summer, she’ll spend five weeks studying research statistics and basic laboratory science techniques, experiments, and procedures in a summer classroom-based internship at the University of Washington in Seattle. One of the qualities Aaliyah most appreciates about Agnes Irwin is how deeply teachers care for their students, she says. She recalls specifically that fourth grade teacher Pedie Hill really took the time to assess each student’s needs, and says that all of her teachers willingly go above and beyond to support her peers. “With all the teachers I’ve had — it’s really obvious that they care about their students and our learning.”
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Sydney Cohn ’17 UPPER SCHOOL
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ost seniors would say that delivering their senior assembly on stage in the West-Wike Theatre, in front of more than 200 peers, was more than a little nerve-wracking. Sydney Cohn ’17 has lectured in front of a thousand medical students at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, lobbied Congress, met former president Barack Obama, and spoken at Fund-A-Cure, the premier gala for the Philadelphia chapter of JDRF, a nonprofit that funds type 1 diabetes research. Speaking to friends at her senior assembly about one of her favorite subjects — Hamilton: An American Musical — was, comparatively, a piece of cake. Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 7, Sydney is a vocal advocate and fundraiser for diabetes research. She regularly organizes teams for the JDRF Walk, and over the past 10 years, she and her sister have raised more than $3 million for diabetes research. She has participated in two clinical trials, including the first adolescent trial for an artificial pancreas. “There wasn’t a thought in my mind not to do it,” she says. Sydney has attended Agnes Irwin since kindergarten — and both her mom and aunt (Lea Morrison Cohn ’89 and Meade Morrison-Hslett ’00) are alumnae, too. She has participated in 14 theater productions, and recently pursued her first acting role in Oliver at The Haverford School. A talented photographer, her photo of Antarctic wildlife was selected as a finalist out of more than 17,000 entries in a nationwide photography contest two years ago; in February, she organized a photography show for her Honors Photo IV class at the Da Vinci Art Alliance in Philadelphia. She credits Agnes Irwin with helping her hone those passions. “This place has completely made me who I am,” she says. “My Class talks about this all the time: Agnes Irwin has given us a platform to be so expressive of who we are.” Next year, Sydney heads to New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts — her dream school since freshman year. She plans to study both theater and photography, and says that preparing to enter a male-dominated field doesn’t worry her. “I’m so sure of what I want to do, as are a lot of my friends here — and I’m so confident being a woman in the field I’ve chosen,” she says. “I’m able to formulate my own ideas, and articulate them well; I’ve become such a confident person because of Agnes Irwin.”
The Teaching and Learning Committee
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s Agnes Irwin’s new Strategic Plan began to take shape in Fall 2015, Head of School Dr. Wendy Hill recognized the need for a standing committee of educators to ensure that the school remained at the forefront of all-girls’ education. The Teaching and Learning Committee, established later that fall, is chaired by Assistant Head of School and Director of the Center for the Advancement of Girls Mariandl Hufford, and comprised of the Lower, Middle and Upper School division directors; department chairs; the Director of Equity and Inclusion; and two teachers from each division, on a two-year rotating basis. The group studies trends in education, curriculum, and pedagogy, identifies directions to further investigate including interdivisional academic schedules, and makes recommendations to the Head of School for changes and innovations to Agnes Irwin’s academic program. Those proposals include potential changes in teaching practices, cross-disciplinary curriculum development, professional development strategies, and academic schedule changes that might better support high-impact learning. “By dedicating time and space to come together cross-divisionally to think both strategically and specifically about how we implement our vision for the best learning environment for girls,” Hufford said, “who knows what possibilities for innovative learning might open up?”
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Visual & Performing Arts
MUSIC
| THEATER | STUDIO
STUDIO ART
Print and Repeat Students in Studio Art II and III have spent the better part of the year designing their own repeat patterns and tile mosaics — prompted, oddly enough, by a home renovation project art teacher Terri Saulin Frock took on this summer. A ceramics artist, Frock built her own backsplash this summer from custom tiles she fired and glazed. Realizing that the singular project encapsulated many of the skills she taught in Studio Art — graphic design, composition, color, printmaking, painting, and ceramics — she decided to introduce a similar project to classes in November. Students began by researching the history of pattern and design, then sketching concepts for their piece. Frock’s original project — a set of 150 cerulean tiles with a repeating poppy pattern — was inspired by her garden, and she asked students to think about what inspired them personally as they began to ideate. After settling on a design, students used a simple formula to turn the design into a
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repeat pattern. From there, students in Studio Art II printed their final patterns on vellum, transferred them onto a safety-kut printmaking block, and using the transferred pattern as a guide, carved the pattern into the block. After rolling out clay slabs to a designated thickness, students “printed” the pattern by firmly tamping the safety-kut block into the clay. The tiles were then fired, glazed, arranged, and grouted to form a cohesive unit. In Studio Art III, students explored repeat patterns in a different medium: making paintings from their repeat pattern designs. Both classes later printed a color version of the pattern on fabric. Frock has also spent the last year preparing for a major exhibition at The Philadelphia International Airport. Invisible Cities Encountered on the Road to the Garden of Forking Paths, a series of architectural vessels, is on display in Terminal A-West through early fall.
Mixed Media Kindergarteners reinforced their classroom study of hibernation, migration, and adaption in art class by talking about the ways animals acclimate in colder weather. Girls molded an animal of their choice out of clay, glazed them, then created imaginary “adaptive” houses for their animals out of all recycled material.
PERFORMING ARTS
Bel Cantos Take the Stage The members of Agnes Irwin’s a cappella group, the Bel Cantos, are used to performing for large audiences. Each year, they sing at school assemblies and concerts, Agnes Irwin’s Commencement Ceremony, and the joint “InterAccapella” Concert featuring singers from The Haverford School, Episcopal Academy, The Hill School, The Shipley School, and The Baldwin School. The Bels take to the streets in Center City during their annual December flashmob, serenading passersby — including, serendipitously, Philadelphia Orchestra conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin in 2015, who even posed with them for a selfie. On December 14, the Bel Cantos took the stage at an even larger venue, performing for two thousand people alongside The Orpheus Club at The Academy of Music. One of the oldest men’s choral societies in the United States, The Orpheus Club invites a different guest group to perform at their Christmas concert each year. The Bel Cantos have sung with the Club several times in the group’s history, including in the 1970s and 1990s. “We’ve been on their radar for a while,” said Agnes Irwin music coordinator Murray Savar, noting that the club was especially impressed with a selection of Hungarian songs the girls performed at last year’s InterAccapella concert. In August, the Club formally invited both the Bel Cantos and the Fairmount Brass, who perform at Agnes Irwin’s Commencement Ceremony, to join them at The Academy of Music. On December 14, The Bels joined The Orpheus Club on stage in front of a packed concert hall for pieces such as Silent Night, Greenwillow Christmas, and Sleigh Ride, as well as a medley of three traditional European carols featuring solos by Olivia Freiwald ’17, Laura Tobar ’17 and Joanna Wickersham ’17. The Bels also performed a set of their own, which included S’vivon (a Hanukkah song), The Angels and the Shepherds, All I Want for Christmas (featuring a solo by Alexis Short ’18), and — a perennial favorite — Carol of the Bells. One of the more unique numbers of the night was the Bels’ rendition of the Fleet Foxes’ White Winter Hymnal, in which five seated singers (as pictured above) performed a series of perfectly-timed snaps, claps, and slaps to punctuate the song — an impressive choreographic feat. “Singing with the Orpheus Club was a great honor for us as a choir, a school, and for me personally as a musician,” said Savar, who has directed the Bels since 1995. “I was delighted that the Bel Cantos could have the unforgettable experience of facing a full house in this most elegant, world-famous concert hall. … I feel so honored to have conducted on the same stage as so many legendary maestros before me.”
Stop-Motion The Fifth Grade Opera is an annual feat. Students in Keri Farrow’s art class worked in groups to storyboard, design, and film stopanimation scenes that will be incorporated into the May 11 performance, which is based on the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio.
Selfie Sculpting Each month, 4th graders celebrate the birthday of a female artist and learn about her work. In February, students studied Augusta Savage, an African-American sculptor associated with the Harlem Renaissance. After learning some basic sculpting techniques, students crafted their own self-portraits in clay.
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Athletics
SWIMMING
One for the Record Books rewarding aspect of coaching, Mackrell says. “You Agnes Irwin’s Varsity swim team is fast. Like, really fast. don’t have to be number one; you can be successful This season, the team broke 13 school records. Together with the five records because you worked hard, mastered your flip turns, or broken in 2016, and one record broken each in 2015 and 2014, Agnes Irwin’s current contributed to the team on a relay.” Varsity swimmers hold 20 of the school’s 23 swimming records — including all of Working hard includes physical training: In season, the records set in the last decade. This winter, in a sport where school records are the team practices for two hours every school day, often broken by two- or three-tenths of a second, three relays broke the former including a “dry land” training — either kickboxing or fastest time by more than 4 seconds. Fitness Center workouts — twice a week, with an “That’s outrageous,” said Head Coach Becky Mackrell. “These girls are swimming optional practice on Sundays. out of their brains.” Dedication to the physical aspect of the sport is Mackrell, now in her 20th year at Agnes Irwin, says this is the fastest Agnes Irwin important, but mental toughness is equally essential. team she’s ever coached. “This particular group of girls have a seriousness about Swimmers need to develop the ability to talk them. They mess around, they joke, they have fun — but when it’s time to swim, it’s themselves into a race instead of out of it. As a time to swim,” Mackrell says. swimmer herself — Mackrell swam at Radnor High Mackrell joined AIS 20 years ago. At the time, she was working at Radnor High School and for four years at Albright College — she School as an assistant coach for boys’ swimming — but as a swimmer herself, her knows just how emotionally draining the sport can be. passion for girls’ swim programs inspired her to apply. Runners can try a new course or train under different Swimming has evolved at AIS since then, Mackrell says. She has more serious conditions, but in swimming, it’s the same length, and swimmers now, including nine who swim year-round. Seven swimmers hold the 20 the same wall, every time. “Regardless of whether records (spanning both yard and meter distances) set since 2014: Riley Flick ’17, you’re tired, or you’re having a bad Myka Thomas ’18, Emma Boratto ’19, Maddie Aguirre ’19, Lily day, the clock doesn’t lie. You’re Flick ’19, Riley Pujadas ’21, and Reilly Brennan ’22. constantly assessing,” she said. While seeing her swimmers set records is rewarding, Mackrell’s Part of Mackrell’s work as coach is favorite part about coaching isn’t record-setting, but seeing to train her team to walk away from a progress: watching non-swimmers grow to love the sport, “summer bad swim and ask, “What can we swimmers” turn into year-round swimmers, and team members learn from this?” “It’s really easy to try something new or beat personal bests. “As a coach, it’s compare yourself to others, and That includes sometimes competing in a new event, despite convince yourself that another doubts. “If a swimmer tells me she only swims one event, or a important to me swimmer is too fast to beat. But the freshman tells me she can’t swim a certain distance, my response that they great part about swimming is that is usually, ‘Well, you swim what I tell you to swim. I think you can understand that every race is your own.” compete in this event — let’s give it a shot.’” More often than not, This year’s team is good at keeping they realize it wasn’t so bad, and now they’re ready to try something you don’t get things in perspective, Mackrell said. new, Mackrell says. “We’re strong women: we try things, we put better unless you “They know it’s not always going to be ourselves out there for each other and the team. As a coach, it’s push the limits.” their best day, but they keep their eye important to me that they understand that you don’t get better BECKY MACKRELL on the goal. When push comes to unless you push the limits.” SWIM TEAM HEAD COACH shove, they get up and they swim.” Seeing the sense of accomplishment on a swimmer’s face when she improves a 120-second swim to a 109-second swim is the most —Amanda Mahnke 24
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CHAMPIONSHIPS
Squash Finishes Strong Middle and Upper School Varsity Squash had stellar seasons this winter, both finishing in the top five teams for their levels in some of the nation’s most competitive tournaments. The Agnes Irwin middle school squash team traveled to Yale University in New Haven, CT, for the 10th annual U.S. Middle School Team Squash Championships in January. Agnes Irwin placed third overall in the January 27-29 championship, behind Greenwich Country Day School and defending champion The Baldwin School. The team had a great tournament, with players showing great effort and potential on the courts. Agnes Irwin beat Eastern Middle School in their opening round, and Baldwin B Team 4-1 in the quarterfinals. The run was halted with a
heartbreaking 3-2 loss in the semifinals to Greenwich Country Day School. The girls rallied and roared back to the consolations to face Greenwich Academy, a team AIS has never defeated. With wins by eighth graders Virginia Lawrence, Nina Flinn and Grace Flaherty, Agnes Irwin beat Greenwich Academy 3-2. “The girls’ sportsmanship and on-court manner was of the highest level and the girls made everyone proud to be associated with AIS,” said Director of Squash Alex Stait. Agnes Irwin’s season ended with a second place finish at the Mid-Atlantic Squash Association Championships on February 5. The Upper School team also boasted a stellar season this year, with both its first and second teams placing in the Top 20 nationally at HEAD U.S. High School Team Squash Championships, the largest squash tournament in the world. Nearly 1,500 players competed in the tournament. On February 13, Varsity Squash beat Episcopal Academy to finish 5th. Agnes Irwin’s B Team placed 19th — its highest Nationals finish in school history, and the first time that AIS has had two squash teams in the top 20 of National rankings. The team also placed third overall at the MidAtlantic Squash Association Championships.
Fourteen Agnes Irwin seniors have committed to continuing their sports in college next year, representing more than 20 percent of the Class of 2017. Top row left to right: Alicia O’Neil — Cornell University, lacrosse; Kathryn Hall — Dartmouth College, sailing; Julianna Tornetta — Princeton University, field hockey; Kendall Shein — Pomona College, soccer; Camaryn Walsh — Wofford College, lacrosse; Emmie Kiely — Brown University, lacrosse; Daniela Wright — Arizona State University, lacrosse; Middle left to right: Lila Barker — University of Virginia, lacrosse; Jacqueline Van der Veen — Georgetown University, field hockey; Bottom left to right: Annie McConnon — Providence College, soccer; Alexis Capers — Lafayette College, volleyball; Michala Maciolek — Syracuse University, softball; Hailey Andress — Cornell University, lacrosse; Olivia Carey — Davidson College, lacrosse
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Center for the Advancement of Girls and imagine what they would want their program to look and be like, absent any restrictions. After dinner, teachers share these dreams — and then, in pairs, start to create a vision for the future of their discipline. “The members of our department — including those who teach social studies in Lower School — welcomed the opportunity to share ideas at our recent Deep Dive Retreat,” History Department Chair Wigs Frank commented. “While ours is an excellent department with dynamic, passionate teachers, we are always seeking ways to be even better at what we do. As a result of the retreat, we have begun a process of re-imagining our departmental vision statement for the coming years, to identify even more ways to deliver our program most specifically with girls in mind at every grade level.” The department will also evaluate the FOUNDATIONS existing curriculum and teaching methodology to ensure that research and new innovations are incorporated, Frank said. So far, teachers in Mathematics, Science, the Visual and Performing Arts, Social Studies and History, as Girls, and how they learn best, have always remained at the center of Agnes Irwin’s well as English and Language Arts, have participated in teaching model. this process, which is intended to be a springboard for “It is a hallmark of the program we deliver to our students that our pedagogy is continued work in subsequent meetings run by shaped by the research for what’s best in teaching girls,” said Mariandl Hufford, department chairs. At the end of the academic year, Director of the Center for the Advancement of Girls and Assistant Head of School. teachers are asked to reflect on the work they have Part of Hufford’s work as CAG Director is to help shape and steer Agnes Irwin’s done, as well as on how they have refined their teaching philosophy through departmental retreats. This year, CAG classroom practices as a result of is leading a series of three-hour evening retreats for all teachers, these conversations. PreK to Grade 12, who teach a particular content area — with a focus In preparation for leading each “Given what we on answering one central question: “How do we best teach our retreat, Hufford engages in focused know works for subject to girls?” Including teachers across divisions is integral to observations: in a two-week period, girls, how do creating the best environment, Hufford says. she aims to visit at least one class at The retreats aim to discuss the most relevant research on girleach grade level in the relevant we envision a centered pedagogy and ask teachers to envision, based on this content area — an important program that is research, the most advantageous academic program in their component of the work, she says. even more discipline. “We start with the research, then ground our practice in “When I visit classes across the what we have learned,” Hufford explained. “Then, we start to dream divisions, I see how the delivery of the robust and big and think, ‘Given what we know works for girls, how do we program connects. I see how one effective?” envision a program that is even more robust and effective?’” piece builds on another.” MARIANDL HUFFORD Topics of discussion vary, Hufford said. Math teachers had a robust For example: “I see how girls learn and lively discussion about how a “growth mindset,” according to the to make text-to-self connections in research of Stanford professor Carol Dweck, positively impacts girls’ first grade language arts, and how that persistence in that content area. Social studies and history teachers explored the is expanded upon in fifth grade English class, and then, relationships that, according to research, girls crave in the classroom — both with their how in 11th grade, girls start to cast those connections peers, as well as their teachers — and thought about how to use this research finding through the lens of the author and the author’s intended in their teaching. impact on the reader,” she said. “It is truly amazing to Each retreat urges teachers to reflect on their professional practice by asking see how our teachers know our girls, stretch them to questions, such as: “Think of a particularly effective lesson or unit you taught. What think and speak up beyond what is immediately made it so effective?” Teachers then connect these insights to the research on girlcomfortable. I see evidence of girl-centered pedagogy centered pedagogy. Over dinner, they gather in cross-divisional groups to dream big in every classroom I enter.”
Girl-Centered Pedagogy
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WORKSHOPS
STEM Leaders Blossom in Middle School Research tells us that there are many challenges in retaining girls in science, technology, engineering and math fields — one of which is that girls often internalize negative societal messages about their skills and abilities in these areas. The Center for the Advancement of Girls is committed to addressing this existing gender gap through a variety of programs, including its Sharing Solutions: Advancing Girls in STEM conference, held for the third time this March. This spring, CAG partnered with two respected nonprofit organizations to present two events specifically geared toward middle school girls — both open to the public, and rooted in the simple but powerful philosophy that if a girl can see it, she can be it. In February, we showed girls that the role models they seek are just around the hallway corner. CAG partnered with the nonprofit group Tech Girlz, which hosts free STEM workshops in the Philadelphia area, to give girls the chance to explore their choice of three interactive workshops. Sixty participants learned to tinker with a 3D printer, make a website, or build electronic funny faces alongside their peers. All three offerings were led by Agnes Irwin Upper School student leaders. “I hope the girls left the workshop with a new or refreshed excitement for STEM and an increased confidence in their abilities,” said Annie Ulichney ’18, one of the Tech Girlz facilitators. “Hopefully this is a jumping off point to the deepening of their STEM experience that is fueled by their own enthusiasm.” CAG also forged a partnership with the American Association for University Women (AAUW). On
April 29, Agnes Irwin will be the first and only K-12 school in the country to host Tech Savvy, one of AAUW’s most distinguished programs. This robust full-day STEM career conference includes two parallel tracks: one for girls in grades 6-9 and one for their families. In the morning, girls will engage in hands-on STEM sessions led by field professionals to learn about computer science, engineering and DNA analysis, among many other topics. In the afternoon, girls will enter “savvy” sessions where they will learn about financial literacy, conflict resolution, negotiation, and other pertinent life skills. Meanwhile, parents will learn about the benefits of a STEM education and learn how to encourage their daughters to pursue their goals in these growing fields. (Visit agnesirwin.org/techsavvy to learn more about this event.) We believe that these two platforms to learn from near-peers and experts will inspire girls to cultivate their own passions. —Alison Monzo, CAG Program Manager
Cultures of Dignity Best-selling author, educator and social activist Rosalind Wiseman visited Agnes Irwin January 11-12 to talk with hundreds of parents and students about creating “cultures of dignity” in their communities. After talking with parents on January 11 about the ways cultural norms and social group dynamics influence interactions and relationships among youth, Wiseman met with Agnes Irwin girls in grades 6-8 on January 12 for a down-to-earth conversation about social conflicts, cliques, social media and power struggles between friends. Wiseman’s visit was a Radnor Speaker Series event, a collaboration between Agnes Irwin’s Center for the Advancement of Girls and The Radnor Township School District.
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Timeline BEHIND THE SCENES
Crafting The Strategic Plan: A Community Effort This past December, The Agnes Irwin School launched a new Strategic Plan: a 23-page document laying out the school’s most important priorities for the next five years, and charting “a forward-looking course for the school’s future.” The crafting of the Plan was a yearlong process for the Board of Trustees, but not one done in isolation: Input from the Agnes Irwin community — including teachers, alumnae, parents, administrators, staff, and current students — helped inform the Board’s work, inviting the whole community into “the room where it happens.” Read on to learn more about the work that went into the creation and ongoing implementation of Leading Girls’ Education.
2014
A small working committee, the Strategic Plan Steering Committee, is formed. The group’s responsibility is primarily to make logistical and scheduling decisions, and assist with the early collection of data and designing of surveys. • Jennifer Kinkead ’84, Chair (Trustee, Alumna, Parent) • Susan Burch (Trustee, Parent) • Pat Coyne (Trustee, Parent) • Alison Hastings (Parent, President of Parent’s Council) • Mariandl Hufford (Assistant Head of School, Director of CAG, Parent) • Cathy Lynch (Faculty) • David Marshall (Faculty) • Susan Hirtle McEvoy ’00 (Alumna) • Anita McMullin ’81 (Trustee, Alumna) • Donna Page (Staff Member) • Kristin Schinella (Trustee, Past Parent) • Kim Walker (Faculty) • Ex-officio: Dr. Wendy Hill (Head of School, Parent) and Ann Laupheimer Sonnenfeld ’77 (Board Chair, Alumna, Past Parent)
EARLY DECEMBER Over a four-day period, 256 members of the community, including students, participate in one of 13 hour-long focus-group sessions with Triangle Associates to offer additional anonymous feedback.
2015
Agnes Irwin introduces its new Mission Statement, which will help guide the focus of the Strategic Plan.
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NOVEMBER 2
The Board of Trustees engages two consultants from Triangle Associates in St. Louis, MS, to facilitate the Strategic Planning process. The consultants advised on the process the School used, facilitated focus groups on campus, and led the weekend-long strategic planning workshop.
An online survey is distributed to parents, administrators, alumnae, teachers and staff, asking them to assess the state of the school and offer input on what they perceive to be top concerns and priorities for the school as it plans for the future. A total of 1,348 community members responded, including 488 parents and board members, 190 faculty and staff, and 678 alumnae.
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SUMMER 2015
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Fall — The Teaching and Learning Committee is formed.The group, comprised of administrators and teachers from all three divisions, studies trends in education and makes recommendations on pedagogy, curriculum, and professional development.
DECEMBER 11-12
DECEMBER 1
At a two-day Strategic Thinking Workshop, 75 community members, including students and alumnae, participate in 12 hours of visioning exercises and strategic discussion sessions. The workshop resulted in more than 80 pages of comments, recorded in flip charts and Google Docs.
Agnes Irwin officially launches the Strategic Plan, with fanfare: The administrative team greets families in morning carline with car magnets featuring a redesigned school monogram; new school banners are hung; pins are distributed to staff and students; and a hard copy of the full Strategic Plan is mailed home to families and alumnae.
SEPTEMBER 17 The Board of Trustees officially votes on and unanimously passes the new Strategic Plan.
2016 FEBRUARY A small committee, made up of trustees Ann Laupheimer Sonnenfeld ’77, Jenny Kinkead ’84 and Kristin Schinella, along with Dr. Wendy Hill and Mariandl Hufford, develop a first draft of the Strategic Plan — which is then revised and tweaked throughout the spring and summer.
DECEMBER 2 The school hosts a school-wide town hall, during which community members brainstormed answers to questions such as “What differentiates Agnes Irwin?” and “What is an innovative school? How would you know it if you saw it?”
Spring — The Innovation Team is established. The three-person team is part of a school-wide initiative to further promote an environment of curiosity, innovation and enthusiasm for learning at AIS.
Leading Girls’ Education Strategic Plan | 2016-2021
The Agnes Irwin School
DECEMBER 2016 AND BEYOND The work of implementing the Strategic Plan continues in earnest, as action steps are taken to expand opportunities and secure Agnes Irwin’s standing as a premier independent school for girls and a nationally-recognized leader in girls’ education.
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Lighting a Flame IGNITING CURIOSITY AND CREATIVITY IN STUDENTS – A KEY INITIATIVE OF THE NEW STRATEGIC PLAN – EMPOWERS GIRLS TO FOLLOW THEIR INTELLECTUAL INTERESTS AND CURATE THEIR EDUCATIONAL JOURNEY. BY AMANDA MAHNKE
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tanding at a table in the Lower School’s iWonder Lab, Heaven is making a mess: a ball is rolling around on a white piece of paper inside a cardboard box, which is increasingly becoming covered in red, black and yellow acrylic paint. She’s programming its movements via Sphero Robots’ SPRK Lightning Lab app. Meanwhile, Sammie and Blair are taking turns rearranging bright tangram puzzle pieces to match patterns generated on an iPad screen. Linley and Elizabeth are molding playfoam into balls, squashing and twisting different colors together to create a marbled effect. This is what “Genius Hour” looks like in kindergarten. The unstructured playtime, also built into the PreKindergarten and first grade curricula, gives girls the space and ability to explore what interests them — and find new interests along the way. Examples of this kind of self-guided learning, in which girls are free to discover what excites them, abound in Lower School — from the Kindergarten Invention Convention to 4th grade’s Women in Wax project — and lay the foundation for the larger freedom girls have in Middle and Upper School to direct the trajectory of their own learning. “We want girls not to be afraid of coming up with big ideas, asking questions, and trying to figure out the answers,” says Lower School Director Donna Lindner. “We want them to know that as adults in the building, we’re here to help them do that, but not tell them what to do; instead, we help give them the means to get where they want to go.” Giving students the freedom and tools to pursue their intellectual interests is a constant consideration throughout the Agnes Irwin experience. The Fifth Grade Opera — a four-month annual project in which students collaborate to write the script, compose the music, stage manage, and perform their own opera — is one of the first middle school experiences in which students are given creative license on such a large scale. Projects like 7th Grade Culture Week
“We want girls not to be afraid of coming up with big ideas, asking questions, and trying to figure out the answers.” DONNA LINDNER, LOWER SCHOOL DIRECTOR
During Culture Week, seventh graders work in small groups to develop their own society, complete with norms, traditions, and cultural artifacts, then present those to students and parents at a culminating Culture Fair.
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Michelle Lu ’17 Michelle Lu ’17 is only 17, but she already has one successful startup under her belt and is working on a second. Her first, iChina, was the result of a yearlong course at the business incubator Young Entrepreneur Academy, and creates opportunities for American and Chinese students to study abroad. In her first year of running the business as a 14-year-old, Michelle was able to donate $1,000 back to YEA. Now, Michelle is working on Salus, a steering wheel cover with pulse monitors and a retina scanner that she hopes will prevent drowsy driving accidents on the road. Michelle has been interested in data analysis and business since eighth grade, but says that “taking Computer Science my sophomore year really cemented my interest.” Now, she’s working with teacher Dr. Steve Grabania to redesign the final project for that course, which involves students designing their own video game. Science Department Chair Rosann Westmeyer sat down with Michelle early in high school and introduced her to the idea of independent science research. “She helped me talk it through and design my own curriculum for my areas of interest,” Michelle said. Westmeyer and Grabania recommended her for work at the Ursinus College Computer Science and Mathematics Research Lab, where Michelle was accepted the summer after her sophomore year. As the only high school programming intern, Michelle worked on the development of a structural similarity algorithm to analyze the political leanings of Twitter users who followed any of the 2016 presidential candidates. The following summer, based on her work at Ursinus, Michelle was accepted to the Penn Social Media and Health Innovation Lab Summer Research Internship. There, she worked on two projects: using Instagram to track Zika virus outbreaks, and integrating a database of Philadelphia-area automated external defibrillators into Apple Maps and Google Maps — “so that you can ask Siri where the nearest AED is,” Michelle explained. “My life goal is to bring healthcare fully into the digital age,” she says.
Katelin Hamilton ’18 and India Dixon ’18 When Katelin Hamilton ’18 came to Agnes Irwin freshman year, she was hesitant to dive into the world of high school theater, despite being a self-professed “theater kid” since 3rd grade. She began by taking Theatre I, “but there were so many opportunities that I wanted to pursue — the play, choir, the select a capella group, and the new theatre classes available,” she recalled. Now, she and Theatre III classmate India Dixon ’18 are writing a script that will premiere this summer at the largest arts festival in the world. Katelin and India are adapting the one-act play Everyman, which Agnes Irwin theatre students will perform this summer at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The morality play is one that India studied with Agnes Irwin classmates in sixth grade theater class. Like Katelin, India has loved theater since an early age; she says the 5th Grade Opera and 6th Grade Medieval Night are two of her fondest memories from middle school, and she also loved performing in the middle school musicals. “When I started high school, I knew I wanted to take theater and am planning on continuing with theater in college,” she says. “The courses and teachers at Agnes Irwin nurture the love of theatre that exists in the school, and it has inspired me to step out of my comfort zone and try new things in the arts,” Katelin says. Both she and India plan to continue their theater coursework senior year in Advanced Theatre Production, a class in which they will write and direct their own plays. “I am very grateful to the teachers and school for opening the doors of theater to me, and creating a passion that I will carry with me through life.”
igniting curiosity and creativity in students Annie Ulichney ’18 Annie Ulichney ’18 loves math and science, especially biology, and is enthusiastic about pursuing a career in STEM, she says. “I have focused my experiences so far on biological sciences, but I’m also interested in applying these sciences creatively in a field of engineering.” The junior interned at the Jefferson Translational Medicine lab last summer, working with Dr. Raymond Penn and Dr. Adelina Gavrila on experimental treatments for asthma that will eliminate many negative side effects of the current methods. This year at Agnes Irwin, Annie is pursuing an independent study project with the aim of innovating a system or model that addresses climate change in a way that simulates nature. “My design will mimic the mechanisms that the lungs use to remove carbon from the bloodstream to remove carbon from the atmosphere,” she explains. “This project is fascinating to me because it combines many of the classes I have taken in unexpected ways. I find myself using concepts from environmental science, chemistry, biology, and more simultaneously. I have found it so meaningful and valuable to apply knowledge while also being creative.” Her advisor is art teacher Sophie Miller, whom she worked with in the fall to learn the design-thinking process through similar, smaller projects. Annie, who has attended AIS since kindergarten, says, “I think learning and developing in an all-girls environment has been so critical for me. We are taught and shown that as girls and students we can do anything. The teachers challenge us to realize our potential and take risks and support us on every step of the process. My independent project has required the expertise of a lot of my former and current teachers, and they have all been so willing to help, whether that be receiving feedback from the environmental science class or getting advice from graduate students at a design institute.”
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For their honors credit, senior history students develop their own yearlong research project in an area of interest, supported by Director of Libraries and Humanities Innovation Julie Diana.
and the 8th Grade Civil Rights research paper build upon this theme and teach students essential skills like time management and research analysis — preparing them, bit by bit, for Upper School, where the independent learning skills honed in Lower and Middle School can flourish through opportunities such as independent science research, history thesis projects, and self-designed curricula for senior art students. The goal is for students to ultimately curate their own learning, and in doing so, to empower girls to pursue their intellectual passions — a goal outlined in Agnes Irwin’s new Strategic Plan. To that end, the History Department expanded its course offerings for seniors this year to include: African and African American History; International Relations; Middle Eastern History;
The Third Reich and the Holocaust; History Through Fiction; Women in Antiquity; Film as History — all of which offer an optional Honors designation, which carries with it a yearlong independent research component guided by Director of Libraries and Humanities Innovation Julie Diana and Upper School Librarian Sara Webb. Research topics chosen by honors students range from Daniela Wright ’17’s study of the impact of the transatlantic slave trade on African cultures, to Nichole Heller ’17’s examination of how crime portrayed in film through the decades reflects the political and social values of its time. The new History options serve as frontrunners for a larger set of curricular changes coming in September 2017, offering new, specialized courses in virtually every department. The new curriculum is the result of a deep re-examination of the Upper School’s overall academic program, conducted over the course of
Eleni Rengepes ’29 demonstrates her Robot Book Reader at the annual Kindergarten Invention Convention.
Jada Ackley ’17, Caroline Richardson ’17, and Paige Stewart ’17 Seniors Jada Ackley, Caroline Richardson, and Paige Stewart are all immensely talented artists. This year in Honors Studio Art IV, each student designed her own course and final project based on a particular artistic focus. The students discussed artists they admired with teacher Terri Saulin-Frock, researched a specific area of study, and submitted proposals to Frock for how they would structure their course and final thesis project. During class, each student is fully engaged in her own independent work: Jada on sculpture; Caroline on etching and printmaking; and Paige Stewart on large-scale self-portraits in pencil. Each girl plans to pursue a studio art minor next year in college. “I like people — I like trying to capture emotional expressions, which is very difficult in pencil. It has taken a lot of work trying to get the look in someone’s eyes right,” Paige explained. She says the class’s freedom to explore has helped her pinpoint an artistic focus — and also prepared her to be a successful artist in college and beyond. “The time table is up to you: you have to manage your time well to get it done.” Caroline agreed. “I feel like this experience at Agnes Irwin has really helped prepare us to be artists in the world.”
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Joanna Wickersham ’17 Joanna Wickersham ’17 grew up playing with LEGOs — and when she discovered in middle school that Agnes Irwin had a LEGO robotics team, she immediately decided to join. “While at first I was interested in just trying something new, middle school robotics introduced me to a whole new world of innovation,” said the senior. Through Agnes Irwin’s Computer Science and Advanced Computer Science courses and her experience coding the robotics team’s robot, Joanna has learned four computer languages in three years. “AIS has helped me apply my knowledge to a multitude of situations, from app and website building to machine programming,” Joanna said. “Having this background in school helped me get an internship at a tech incubator and discover my passion: computer engineering.” Agnes Irwin’s science department offers students the opportunity to pursue independent science research projects for credit, which Joanna did this year. “I knew I wanted to do an independent research project during my senior year because I thought it would be a shame to waste such a unique and cool opportunity,” she explained. After some research, she decided to create an electric skateboard, with Director of Technology Dr. Tom Weissert as her faculty mentor. “I started with a plain deck, wheels, and trucks. Putting them together was the easy part. The electric part of the skateboard involves wiring together two lithium batteries, a speed controller, a transmitter, and a motor that is mounted to the back wheels. The transmitter connects wirelessly to a hand-held remote control. Once you become familiar with the purpose of the different components, wiring them together is fairly simple. There is very little soldering and 3D printing involved. If you’re interested in learning some basic electronic/engineering skills, it’s a very cool project to take on. The board goes pretty fast as well, so it’ll be nice to get around campus on it in college.” Joanna, who plans to study computer engineering in college, wants to pursue a career in artificial intelligence. “The idea of sentient robots scares many people, but I want to be part of making them a reality,” she said. “I can’t even put to words how excited I get thinking about inventing a new species.”
igniting curiosity and creativity in students two years, with the goal of creating a learning environment that would be responsive to the needs of students in an increasingly complex world — and focused especially on the ways in which girls learn best, said Upper School Director Joanne Hoffman. The new curriculum was enhanced by the Center for the Advancement of Girls’ research, conclusions reached in departmental retreats, and recent findings of the school’s Teaching and Learning Committee. In science, Bioethics and Global Health and the Girl Child classes will be joined by new courses, including Astrophysics; Emerging
Fifth graders work to craft the screenplay for this year’s opera, based on Wonder by R.J. Palacio.
Infectious Disease; Human Anatomy and Physiology; Neuropsychology; Modern Conservation; and Environmental Sustainability. In Art, new offerings include Architectural Ceramics; Anatomy and Structure; Experimental Drawing; Artist as Entrepreneur; and Mixed Media Book Making. Also new to the curriculum are French IV Honors: Tolerance; Respect et Justice; Honors Calculus II: Series; Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra; English IV: Examining the Nobel Prize; Economics; and Art and Society; among others. These tailored courses afford girls the time to delve more deeply into topics that interest them — and through engagement with that content, to develop stronger critical thinking skills than they might in a survey course, said Mariandl Hufford, Assistant Head of School and Director of the Center for the Advancement of Girls. The newly-revised Upper School curriculum is one early step in advancing the multifaceted goal laid out in Agnes Irwin’s new Strategic Plan of “igniting curiosity and creativity” in our students — a goal Hufford says is best done through those areas students feel passionately about. “Ruminating on that content, really becoming experts in it, enables the girls to evaluate it, ask questions, and draw their own conclusions,” Hufford explained. “It’s giving them ways to approach scholarship in a more deliberate way, and one that will better prepare them for a college setting.”
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VOICE, CHOICE AND TIME AMPLE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES EMPOWER FACULTY TO EXPLORE, CREATE, AND COLLABORATE
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s administrators reviewed the input that more than 1,300 Agnes Irwin community members provided for the development of the Strategic Plan, there was a clear consensus: a majority of respondents said they wanted support for faculty growth to remain a key focus for the school. The reason is simple, said Mariandl Hufford, Assistant Head of School and Director of the Center for the Advancement of Girls. “Teachers are the heart of the school; they’re the ones that most shape the development of our students. Without great teachers, we can’t have a vibrant learning community.” That development, of course, occurs largely through classroom teaching. But teachers also shape students “by inspiring them with their own passion for learning, and modeling for students what it means to be creative and curious,” Hufford said. “One of the goals of our Strategic Plan is to ignite curiosity and creativity in our girls. We can’t do that without energized educators.” One way Agnes Irwin seeks to support teachers is by offering them self-directed opportunities for professional growth. The school has a longstanding tradition of supporting faculty and staff through opportunities to attend conferences or lectures and subsidizing the cost of ongoing professional degrees. For more than seven years, a professional growth grant program has funded select extra-scholastic research and projects to bring innovative ideas to the school — whether it be a new class project, the development of a new course, or the overhaul of a school process. “The idea is to investigate or create something that is an innovation for our school,” Hufford explained. Last summer, for example, kindergarten and PreKindergarten teachers, under the leadership of The Center for the Advancement of Girls, created a shared, research-based philosophy of early childhood education, which has become the lens through which all curricular decisions are made. In previous years, the Classics Department has written a Latin textbook series specifically designed to engage and challenge girls. Members of the Science Department have reimagined a fifth grade science curriculum that is rooted in engineering, 36
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challenging girls to tackle real-world problems while nurturing an early interest in STEM fields. Inservice days have also been reimagined: this school year, Agnes Irwin dedicated both its fall and spring inservice days to tailored professional development opportunities that meet teachers where they are. At the first of these days, held November 28, faculty devised their own schedules, choosing from a series of peer-led workshops — varying from demonstrations of new classroom technology to course creation brainstorming sessions, teaching methods, computer science, mindfulness, and organizational tools. “We’re a community of learners. Professionals, yes — but learners too,” Hufford explained. “We want to give teachers and staff a voice in what that learning looks like, choice in what they engage in, and enough time to do it well. We essentially asked teachers to build the day themselves and offer ideas for collaborating and co-learning with their peers.” Hufford planned the day with the Teaching and Learning Committee and the school’s Innovation Team (known as the iTeam), the scope of whose work includes creating and implementing professional development opportunities for faculty. Another professional development inservice day took place in mid-April. In addition to these extended sessions, the iTeam — comprised of Lower School Director of Technology Integration and Innovation Kim Walker, MS/US Director of STEAM Innovation Maggie Powers, and Director of Libraries and Humanities Innovation Julie Diana — hosts pop-up professional development sessions each month, focused both on wellness and learning new skills.
“WE WANT TO GIVE TEACHERS AND STAFF A VOICE IN WHAT THAT LEARNING LOOKS LIKE, CHOICE IN WHAT THEY ENGAGE IN, AND ENOUGH TIME TO DO IT WELL.” MARIANDL HUFFORD
“Sabbatical is a great time to explore your passion, rejuvenate your love of teaching, and find new ideas that you can’t wait to present to your students in the classroom,” second grade teacher Joe Flood shared at November 28’s inservice day. During sabbatical last spring, he wrote “A Great Place to Visit: Exploring the Delaware Valley with Your Daughter,” a Delaware County guidebook for students and parents focused on place-based education.
PEER-LED WORKSHOPS AT NOVEMBER’S PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DAY INCLUDED: DREAM COURSE MARKETPLACE Have you ever had an idea for a course you wanted to teach if only you had the time? Come with your best, most creative, and most outrageous ideas! Share with like-minded colleagues and see what develops!
USING SEESAW TO DOCUMENT STUDENT REFLECTIONS Seesaw is a simple way to empower students to document their learning in different ways, allowing for parent and teacher interaction, and encouraging student reflection, leading to more authentic growth. Come and hear how colleagues have used Seesaw in their classrooms.
MINDFULNESS Research has found that meditation and mindfulness are powerful tools to use in the classroom. This “paying attention to the present” is not just for students, but for adults as well. Come and learn from colleagues who have introduced the practice in our Lower School classrooms, and find out how you (and your students) might benefit also.
STUDENT-LED CONFERENCES What happens when students take the lead in describing their own learning? Explore the increasingly popular practice of including students in what was traditionally a conversation between parents and teachers only.
THE HARKNESS METHOD Conceived in the 1930s at Phillips Exeter Academy, the Harkness Method is an early and well-established form of student-centered learning. Find out how this method can transform your classroom.
LEARN TO CODE WITH SWIFT PLAYGROUNDS! Swift is a programming language created by Apple and used to build many of the apps available for use on Apple products. Regardless of your skill level, Swift Playgrounds is a great app for exploring the world of code!
LS/MS INNOVATION This workshop is designed to help you discover innovative classroom practices and provide time for you to explore and design plans for implementing those practices in meaningful and purposeful ways in your classroom.
POP-UP DESIGN THINKING WORKSHOP Engage in a quick, hands-on introduction to design thinking and a discussion of the mindsets and process involved when tackling problems from this unique lens. Next, dive deeper into one or more of the steps of design thinking by reviewing interactive resources and engaging in some fun, small group activities.
Top: Middle School history teacher Corey Willingham shared the results of a 7th grade interdisciplinary project on November 28. “I love that I work at a school that celebrates and wholly supports innovation in the classroom,” Willingham later tweeted. Center: Lower School teachers talk innovation during a professional development workshop. Lower: Six administrators, including Head of School Dr. Wendy Hill, took on the role of students in February as part of the nationwide “Shadow a Student” challenge, an exercise intended to explore the student experience through a close-up look at what the student day is like. Here, Lower School Director Donna Lindner works on some new skills in P.E. during her day in kindergarten.
The 90-minute, casual sessions invite teachers to the school’s innovation spaces (the iWonder Lab and the STEAM Studio) to enjoy coffee or a snack and try out new pedagogical tools, such as magnetic tiles or Google Cardboard. Teachers might also talk through how to apply a new concept, such as prototyping, to a specific age group. PreKindergarten teacher Kathy Seaton recently explored that idea with the iTeam, then brought it back to her classroom, asking students to create prototypes that would solve a problem experienced by a nursery rhyme character (flip to page 10 to see the results). Sixth grade history teacher Cathy Lynch took her students on a virtual tour of Mecca during their study of the five pillars of Islam, after trying out a similar idea in a pop-up session with the iTeam. “I think about it like browsing in a library,” said Director of Humanities Innovation Julie Diana. “You don’t know what you’re looking for, but you might see something you didn’t know you needed until that moment.”
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CommUnity in Action
he sense of community at Agnes Irwin is built through our shared common experience: rigorous classroom instruction, athletic endeavors, artistic expression, and service-based learning — to name just a few. But what about the diverse backgrounds, experiences, and viewpoints that each member of our community brings with them to school every day? To what extent do we understand and acknowledge the unique perspective of each girl who wears the Agnes Irwin uniform? To spark meaningful conversations on this topic, Upper School students engaged in a daylong experiential program this winter, hearing from peers, teachers, parents and community members in a wide-ranging set of workshops on CommUnity in Action Day. “CommUnity in Action was a day to promote all types of understanding — racial, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, culture and family structure,” said English Department Chair Sharon Rudnicki, who developed the program with Director of Equity and Inclusion Dr. Charesse Ford. “The thought was, if we got to know each other on a deeper level, we’d understand why someone has a specific point of view. We do not all have to agree with one another, but we need to respect differences, learn to ask questions, and be open to listening, understanding and respecting the diverse viewpoints found within our own community.”
Ford and Rudnicki created CommUnity in Action Day in response to requests from students and faculty for programs that brought the community together to engage in meaningful discussions — with the aim of helping students better appreciate what it means to live and act within a diverse AIS community. In the months leading up to the January 11 event, the pair tapped into the school’s greatest resources — students, alumnae, teachers, and parents — inviting them to propose workshops they would be interested in leading. The response was enthusiastic. Parents, students, community members, staff and faculty presented more than 20 workshops on topics ranging from the global refugee crisis to dance, mental illness, “how to say no,” and women’s equality in the workplace. From that list, students built their individual programming schedule, selecting five sessions to attend throughout the day. Arya Bedi ’19 and Tait Lamb ’19 teamed up with Arya’s mother Paula Bedi to enable classmates to experience aspects of refugee life during The Global Refugee and Displaced Population Crisis. The team developed stations that allowed workshop participants to put themselves in a raft and tent, and carry a nine-gallon container of water, the daily allocation of water for a family of four. The simulation also showcased some basic medical tools, such as a MUAC (Middle Upper Arm Circumference) tool, which can rapidly diagnose malnutrition.
“CommUnity in Action was a day to promote all types of understanding — racial, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, culture and family structure.”
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Coordinator Murray Savar discussed the many different After hearing feedback on the workshop from students, history teacher Mary Higgins invited Arya and Tait to present the simulation neighborhoods in which we live, how to co-exist with each other to her International Relations class. “It was an honor, but most and how to manifest our ‘neighborhoods’ in daily life. importantly, it gave life to a really important issue,” Arya said. “This was, by far, the best workshop. Mr. Savar did an amazing job and I loved hearing about people breaking through the confines of their Jill Juda Marshall ’85 and Leigh Marshall ’18 were another of five neighborhood block.” mother-daughter teams to lead a CommUnity in Action Day workshop. Their session, entitled Gender Parity: Women in Western Influences on Eastern Practices Leadership, discussed how women can empower ADDITIONAL Mother and daughter duo Ajoa Abrokwa and Asiyah COMMUNITY IN ACTION themselves as leaders and engage male colleagues as Ball ’20 led a discussion on how Western culture has PROGRAMMING INCLUDED: allies while also looking at the cultural blind spots influenced Eastern cultural practices and beliefs and Dream Flag Workshop that impede diversity and inclusion. the effects on mental health. Dance Workshop “We have never done anything like this before,” “This was eye-opening. I learned new things about Combating Islamophobia said Jill. During the discussion, Jill and Leigh shared different cultures!” The Paperclip Project tips from LeanIn.org on how to speak confidently Alcohol and Drug Insight: China — such as not beginning a question with an apology: Addiction Awareness “I’m sorry, I just wanted to ask…” and avoiding International exchange students Lingdian Kong ’18 Secrets of InterPlay ending a sentence with a higher tone, known as and Lisa Huang ’17 shared the culture of their native How to Say No… up-speak. Hearing students share how they would homeland, China, with their peers. Lingdian and Lisa Honor Yourself and Others use those tips in the future was gratifying, Jill said. focused on the current Chinese government structure Resiliency Workshop “Leigh and I were glad to have the opportunity to of today and how it has changed over time. Are You a Cultural Bridge? co-lead a session on a topic we both care about.” “The instructors were amazing! I learned many Gender Parity: “These workshops were created to build and deepen fascinating things about China that I never knew!” Women in Leadership community interrelationships and foster crossMental Health Q&A: The Only Woman at the Boardroom Table: Diagnosis and Treatment cultural understanding, respect, and engagement,” Empowerment and Equality in the Workplace of Mental Illnesses said Dr. Ford. “The collaborative skills used by our Lower School parent Tien-Yueh Bosma Kubach, Stereotypes and Their Effects students, faculty, staff and parents culminated in an Co-founder and Principal at Resonance Advisors, Feminism – Why It engaging day of programming that allowed for open Should Matter to shared her personal experience working in the malediscourse within our community and gave light to Young Women Today dominated construction industry and how to lead multiple voices, perspectives, and traditions. We are Equity vs. Equality when you are the only female at the table. in Education incorporating all of the feedback from CommUnity in “I really liked hearing about the troubles women can Underrepresented Action Day into our important work of equity and still face in the workforce and how she handled all of Identities at AIS inclusion at Agnes Irwin and can’t wait to begin the challenges that have happened in her life.” The American Dream working on next year’s event!” Board Game Challenge Understanding Mental Illness Appropriation vs. HIGHLIGHTS AND STUDENT Student Wren Francis ’19 discussed mental illness Appreciation FEEDBACK FROM THE DAY INCLUDED: stereotypes and helped dispel myths about what it is Body Wellness The Neighborhoods in Which We Live: like to live with depression, mood, anxiety, attention, Women’s Sexual Wellness My “Aha” Moment bipolar, or other disorders and how casual phrases, Documented and Undocumented – such as “I’m so ADD today,” are harmful to people Based on a video highlighting segregated An Interactive Game of living with mental illness. neighborhoods post-World War II and using his Unsettling Vulnerabilities “Wren did a great job at delivering a tough message observations from living in the 1960s during the era in a way that was understandable and engaging.” of school integration and “white flight,” Music
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A Legacy in Laurels Laurel Society Helps Secure Agnes Irwin’s Future
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Annabelle’s barn; the moniker chosen by those gathered as a nod to hen alumnae gather, the conversation often turns times when sprigs of laurel in crowns marked honor and distinction; to remembrances of beloved faculty and and 30 members joining the effort. The “Laurel” was born. administrators: Lent, Bartol, Lenox, Sands, These founding members joined a tradition of philanthropic Barnett, Moss... the list goes on. Less visible, but support begun by the school’s founding family. According to Joanne perhaps of equal import to Agnes Irwin’s ability Neel’s book Miss Irwin’s of Philadelphia, in December 1914, with the to fulfill its mission, are the names of the individuals who have deaths of both Agnes and Sophy Irwin within a month of one helped to secure the school’s future through the Laurel Society. another, there was talk that the school Some names are synonymous with would close. In January 1915, a letter awards or scholarships; others appear from the sisters’ executor announced on plaques in cherished spots on that arrangements had been made for campus; all have had a tremendous the continuance of The Agnes Irwin impact on the school. School: the school’s first endowed gift. In 1997, AIS was exploring ways to Today, more than a century later, launch a planned giving society when planned gifts have contributed almost Cecily Geyelin Clark ’39 notified Agnes $12 million to the school. Eve Bullitt Irwin of her intent to include the Pierce ’72, former co-chair, remarked, school in her estate plans. Her gift “Seemingly disparate groups all meet prompted the school to gather in one place through the Laurel Society. feedback from alumnae on the idea of It is where you’ll find alumnae, parents, planned giving, and an initial meeting past parents, grandparents, staff, was held with Annabelle Pierson Irey former staff… all friends of the school.” ’53, who called her classmate and Joined in their commitment, friend Pat McPherson to discuss the Cecily Geyelin Clark ’39 and generosity and vision, each individual endeavor. The rest is Laurel Society Annabelle Pierson Irey ’53 is uniquely motivated. Grateful for the history: a series of meetings in 40
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impact her own Agnes Irwin education had on her life and career in higher education, Pat McPherson ’53 relays, “I have been privileged to establish an endowed scholarship fund to honor my education and my mother, an Agnes Irwin teacher, to support a student in the Middle School. [Gifts to] the Laurel Society will enable the Agnes Irwin endowment to grow and ultimately support more students.” Others give to preserve and advance women’s education. Joan Carrigan Forester ’57 commented, “The Laurel
“The Laurel Society member appreciates what Agnes Irwin has done and continues to do for young women — and we want to nurture it, the way it nurtured us or people we care about.” ANNABELLE PIERSON IREY ’53
LAUREL SOCIETY SPOTLIGHT
J. Mahlon Buck, Jr. (1925-2011) Jim Buck was deeply respected throughout the Philadelphia area, and beloved by his family. “To every organization, he brought his clear-sighted business acumen, and his quiet passion and unwavering generosity.” (Main Line Media News, March 23, 2011)
A lifelong resident of the Philadelphia area, Jim was a graduate of The Haverford School and Princeton University. He interrupted his college term to serve in the 91st Artillery Division in Europe during World War II. (He returned to complete his studies once the war was over.) He and his wife, Elia, have had a tremendous impact on organizations that touched their lives, and the lives of their children and grandchildren, including Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, The Haverford School, Bryn Mawr Hospital, Shipley School, Princeton University, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. With three granddaughters at Agnes Irwin, Nora ’13, Charlotte ’15, and Caroline ’17, Jim and Elia included the school in their estate planning. The Bucks established a Charitable Remainder Trust to benefit several organizations, including AIS; upon Jim’s death in March 2011, the school received a portion of that trust. Having included Irwin’s along with a number of other charities in his will, Jim Buck helped secure the future of Agnes Irwin for future generations of students. He chose to direct the gift to the school’s endowment, where it provides financial support to the operating budget for campus facilities, faculty salaries, and tuition assistance.
Society gives me a chance to say, ‘Thank you.’ I can now be a part of the future of the School.” Current students are reminded of this confluence of past and future on a daily basis, with the word “legacy” in the school’s mission statement, as well as throughout the physical campus, where the names of alumnae are a testament of the meaningful impact individuals have chosen to make on the school that had such an impact on them. One such space is the Suzanne Wallworth Schellenger ’49 Entrance, the
Middle/Upper School building’s main entrance. In 2011, Sue’s family wanted to honor her life and memory by supporting an organization that was important to her. “Agnes Irwin did a lot for her,” Sue’s husband Bill and their family said. “The ability to set goals and work to achieve them, the importance of meaningful relationships, honesty and enthusiasm for everything she did were the values that Sue learned at Agnes Irwin and relied on personally and professionally.” A 2000 alumna recently shared the powerful feeling she had as a student of knowing she “was a part of something” — something bigger than one class, or even one era, it encompasses the whole community: the alumnae, past parents, past faculty, and all of those who have preceded today’s Agnes Irwin. Just as Annabelle Pierson Irey ’53 remarked, “the Laurel Society member appreciates what Agnes Irwin has done and continues to do for young women — and we want to nurture it, the way it nurtured us or people we care about.”
The Laurel Society recognizes all those who establish a planned gift arrangement with The Agnes Irwin School. Planned gifts include bequest intentions, charitable remainder trusts, gift annuities, the school’s pooled income fund, and other forms of deferred support. Laurel Society members receive a gold laurel leaf pin and are invited to the annual Laurel Society breakfast and other special events. As of May 2017, the Society’s co-chairs are Laura Wheeler Golding ’64 and Cynthia D. Rugart ’73; honorary chairs are Annabelle Pierson Irey ’53 and Pat McPherson ’53.
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Alumnae CLASS NOTES
| PROFILES
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1940-49
Thelma Austin Fry ’43 writes, “After marrying an Episcopal priest, I lived in Texas, Louisiana, and New Orleans. In New Orleans, Janine Daudon Hawkes ’43, daughter of our French teacher, Madame Daudon, went to the same church that we did. After my husband retired, we lived in Colorado Springs for 30 years. I am now a widow and living in Allen, TX, near my daughter. I have two children, six grandchildren, and 13 great grandchildren (the oldest is 8 years old). Nine of them live right around me, and four live in Colorado. I have great memories of Agnes Irwin!” Barbara Penrose Tarbell ’49 shares, “Lately I’ve been thinking about AIS, especially the Class of 1949. Unfortunately, I’ve lost all contact with my classmates as I’ve lived in New Hampshire for many years. I’m doing fine; busy with daily artwork, reading, and walking my rescue hound dog from Georgia. I keep busy. Best wishes to my classmates!”
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1. Leslie Hardy ’55 visited Washington, D.C. with her oldest daughter, Leslie, while attending granddaughter Bailey’s graduation from Georgetown University in May 2016. 2. Langdon “Langie” Manley Mannion ’57 and her husband, Bill. 3. Polly Rightmire Scoville ’57 with cousin Emily Wilson Cunningham ’63. 4. Sally Latimer Withers ’57 and husband, Bill 5. Alix Rockwell Jacobs ’59 with local trusty friend and guide on a mountainside above her house in Costa Rica. 6. Leslie Liversidge Tozier ’59. 7. Mary Knox Tatnall ’55, with her daughter Pegge Nelson ’85, at the 2016 AIS Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Dinner in November. 8. Renny Parke Wood ’57 and her niece in Washington, D.C. at the march on January 21. 9. Sally L. Saunders ’58.
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CLASS NOTES | Alumnae
1950-59
Elizabeth Coles Umstattd ’51 says, “Still alive and kicking — I would like to be 70 again!” Mary Knox Tatnall ’55 celebrated her induction into the 2016 AIS Athletic Hall of Fame this fall with family and friends. Her daughter, Pegge Nelson ’85, flew in for the ceremony and dinner from Seattle, WA. “It was a great evening and I was thrilled to be honored, and to have Pegge here for the event.” Ann Bishop Riney ’57 writes, “This year has found us pretty much confined to Austin, TX. My cousin, Suzanne, did come for a short visit and I was able to get away and have some respite. In November our granddaughter, Jennifer, married her fiancé Justin. She planned the wedding and reception and did a wonderful job. It was beautiful and we are so proud of her. The rest of the family is doing well and we saw them over the holidays. John has Parkinson’s and, unfortunately, is not doing well. We now have help 11 hours per day, seven days a week. He is no longer able to do anything for himself and requires assistance in everything he does. We are blessed with wonderful caregivers. We don’t know what we would do without them. We have caring family and friends that have made all the difference this year.”
Polly Rightmire Scoville ’57 says, “My oldest son’s family is still living with me by the Blue Ridge Mountains in western Virginia, which is a happy arrangement for all of us. Two other children and some grandkids live fairly nearby, and my youngest son and family are in southern California. I now have 20 grandchildren, ages 2-23, including four adopted from Ethiopia. Our reunions in the summer are very lively! I have been taking some wonderful memoir writing classes out here and am in the process of writing my life’s story, illustrated by photos, to share with family. I come back to Bryn Mawr several times a year to visit a friend, and I see my brother, cousin, and AIS classmates whenever possible during those visits. What a treat! We are aging well! I’m really looking forward to May and our 60th Reunion.” Sally Latimer Withers ’57 and her husband, Bill, closely follow the high school basketball achievements of their granddaughter, Halley Miklos, who recently made the front page of the Fort Collins Coloradoan’s sports section. Of all the high school teams in Colorado, Halley has the highest average points scored per game (27). “We think this redheaded senior is taking after her red-headed grandmother, Sally, who captained her AIS basketball team 60
years ago! Halley will enroll at Cornell University in August, and we’ll really miss attending her home games here in Fort Collins.” Renny Parke Wood ’57 and her husband, Larry, moved to Crosslands Retirement Community in July and they love it. “On January 21, I went to the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. As my niece, Kathryn Wood, and I walked from RFK Stadium to the march area, we saw tons of wonderful signs put up by people in the neighborhood along the route. Residents in D.C. said they had never seen crowds like this, ever. There were people, old and young, in wheelchairs, all colors, all religious and ethnic backgrounds. They were all smiling while standing for hours, smiling in onehour porta-potty lines, smiling while hungry, thirsty, sore, backaching, and smiling while hugging strangers and learning their stories. People were smiling until their faces hurt. It was a day to remember.” Sally L. Saunders ’58 says, “I’m still getting a lot of mileage out of the poetry classes we had with Miss Wynne in 3rd grade! She taught me to love poetry, and that it was easy to do. I’m living in San Francisco, reading my poetry, running poetry festivals, and enjoying this beautiful city. I will be in Philadelphia in April and hope to see some of you then!”
Ann Lahens Ashton ’59 shares, “As I write this in early February, Charlie and I are in Antigua, Guatemala for the whole month enjoying fun in the sun. Almost five years ago, Charlie and I moved into my carriage house in Berwyn. I still own my house in Chester Springs and have been renting it; now it is for sale. I now have four grandchildren, including Thomas, 7, and Davis, 6, who live in Haverford. Thomas goes to Shipley and Davis has just been accepted to AIS; she will make it the third generation in my family to go. My late husband’s two older sisters also went to Irwin’s but went on to graduate from Foxcroft. My daughter and her husband live in Bend, OR, and have Olivia, 5, and Owen, 2. All four of my grands are blonde. Charlie and I will go to Castine, ME, just before Memorial Day and stay until September. Sandy Trimble Enck and Sara Wetherill Wilds, I will try to call you in June to come sailing. Sandy, we have plenty of guest rooms for you to stay over. Anyone else in our class planning a trip to Maine, please come visit. Castine is on Penobscot Bay midway between Camden and Bar Harbor. Our 60th Reunion is only two years away!” Eleanora Patterson Faison ’59 lives in southern Vermont with her husband, Gordon Faison. “Happily, we are healthy enough for Gordon to continue his psychotherapy practice
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and for me to write, exercise, garden, and grandmother (yes, a verb). We both treasure having our daughter and grandson (Lexi and Aiden) nearby, traveling to warm places during the cold, gray stretch of Vermont’s long winter, and supporting, plus volunteering for, a local, vibrant museum.” Peggy Page Fox Houghton ’59 says, “Big changes: Arthur and I separated last fall and now I’m getting ready to sell my house of 50 years and find something smaller. Spending time in my studio is solace; mucking out the house something else entirely. I am so grateful for the world I saw in our travels. Now it’s time to stay home and plant a new garden. I am thinking of starting a new chapter of the Gray Panthers. Thinking also of my AIS classmates.” Alix Rockwell Jacobs ’59 writes, “Having not known one single thing I wanted to be when I grew up, my life may have been inspired by the 1969 movie If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium, which illustrated the whirlwind nature of European bus tour schedules. (And if you recall, “career counseling” and “college advising” were not terms we encountered at our alma mater. College application advice was “Pick three choices and make sure they are not alike.”) Work for me is mostly managing weddings and parties/
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Alumnae | CLASS NOTES
CLASS OF 1962
Margaretta Lovell Margaretta Lovell attended Agnes Irwin from kindergarten through 12th grade, with a twoyear hiatus for 1st and 2nd grade — making her as close to being a lifer as almost anyone. Because she graduated in 1962, she e x p e r i e n c e d A I S o n b ot h Wynnewood and Rosemont campuses. She credits English teacher Miss Lent with a lifetime love of writing, recalling: “…Miss sense, the same job I have had for four decades — Lent, whose advanced age, engagement ring, and namely teaching, research, and service as a lapel poppy on Armistice Day fueled our schoolgirl university professor. What makes this the best of all fantasies of a love lost on the fields of Flanders in possible jobs is that I can teach any course(s) for WWI. She was a no-nonsense formidable woman which I see a need and opportunity, and for which I with a beautiful smile. Her in-class writing can develop the competence. Further, I can research assignments (“Design and Describe a Utopia,” and publish on any topic that I decide is important, “What is the Value of Truth?”) and her meticulous and I can serve my department, my university, marginalia on our efforts taught me how to be (and many nonprofits, and government agencies with enjoy being) a writer.” service of all kinds. There is tremendous freedom Equipped with an Agnes Irwin education, in this profession to develop pedagogy, shape Margaretta matriculated to Smith College, research programs, and effect public policy. I enjoy continuing her educational curiosity with a B.A. in all this work.” English Language and Literature, completing Margaretta is happiest when she’s writing (thanks coursework at Oxford University in drawing, design, to Miss Lent!), which is why teaching is so gratifying. and English paleography, earning a Master’s degree She “tries to not only teach specific subjects, but also in the University of Delaware/Winterthur Museum give (her) students the toolbox to conceptualize, Early American Culture Program, and a Ph.D. at research, analyze, and write in ways that Yale in American Studies. will give them a lifelong sense of While teaching and researching, creativity and persuasive power.” Margaretta published countless books Margaretta While much her life is consumed with and catalogues, receiving fellowships teaching and writing, Margaretta has and grants from places such as the is happiest pursued woodworking and vegetable American Philosophical Society, The when she’s gardening, following in the footsteps of National Endowment for the Arts, the writing her farming grandparents. She is lucky G u g g e n h e i m Fo u n d a t i o n , a n d (thanks enough to live in a three-generation Winterthur, to name just a few. house with her physician daughter and Currently the Jay D. McEvoy, Jr. to Miss three small grandchildren, teaching Professor of the History of Art at the Lent!). them sewing, knitting, how to read music, University of California, Berkeley, and how to grow and repair things. Margaretta says, “My current job is, in a 44
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events, staging houses for realtors, and running a decorative paint and design business (murals, faux finishes, painted floors, ceilings, etc.). I am married to Peter Jacobs, and live in Haverford.” Joan Schoettle ’59 says, “I am fine, loving Florida, golf, my dog, friends, and weather. I am very healthy, playing a decent game of golf with a 11.5 handicap, and generally enjoying life. If anyone gets down here, please call me. Would love to catch up with the past 64 years. Wowzer!” Leslie Liversidge Tozier ’59 lives in Surry, England. She is a competitive eventing and dressage rider, and founded her own company which markets horse- and rider-related merchandise. “The Chinese Year of the Monkey has just ended — with all its monkey business. Much of which was dumped on me! The good bit is that my double knee replacement has been a grand success. It will be two years at the end of March. It took 18 months to feel like my old knees. Thing is, I was a little exuberant in the first year. Started jumping the horses too soon and, of course, had a fall and did in my shoulders. Off the horses for another few weeks. Back on board now. I still have the two. They are great fun. Two and a half years ago, my husband moved back to
CLASS NOTES | Alumnae
New York City for medical reasons. He has a rather unfortunate disease called PSP. Won’t go into that but he now needs 24/7 care. So I do much travelling to spend as much time as I can with him and also keep the place together here in Surrey. My cottage here in the country is a very special place for me. The girls help with going over to keep him company in New York. Will also visit a friend in Los Angeles this spring and perhaps make a trip to New Zealand. I have lost quite a few friends this past year. Sad. That monkey again. The children and grandchildren continue to thrive. The eldest granddaughter is 21 and at university in Bristol, the middle boy is training for the next Olympics, triathlete, and the youngest boy, now 17, the one who used to sell the gourmet lunches his mother packed for him at school, will most likely aim for some job in finance. They are all good kids and fun to be around. My other grandchildren: one shops and the other is a geek. Ages 16 and 12, respectively. They love visiting New York and in the summer, East Hampton where we have a house for two months every year. Residing with me at the cottage are two dogs (not mine), two cats, and in the area cows, goats, free range chickens and turkeys.”
CLASS OF 1967
“Middy” Irwin Dorrance “Middy” Irwin Dorrance ’67 has Agnes Irwin in her blood. Not only does she bleed blue and yellow, she is also a distant relative of Agnes and Sophy Dallas Irwin. In addition to her ties to the founders of AIS, Middy’s list of relatives who have attended the school seems almost endless: her grandmother, mother, aunt, cousins and nieces also call Irwin’s their alma mater. It is no wonder she has been a dedicated ambassador for the school and volunteer, serving as both a Class Representative for close to 50 years and a member of the Alumnae Board. Irwin’s has a very special place in her heart, and for Middy, it’s all about focusing on the “importance of the Class” and keeping those Each Reunion, Middy proudly dons her AIS bonds of friendship strong. Thinking back to when uniform and, along with fellow classmates, plans she assumed the role of Class Representative, she special activities that recall cherished memories and recalled a moment sometime around the Class of highlight life updates for her and her classmates. In 1967’s 10th Reunion when she recognized the need past years, she’s distributed fun-filled questionnaires for a spark to bring the class back together. Middy and made up “lunch tickets” for dinner to replicate proved to be more than a spark: she’s dynamite. their AIS cafeteria experience. “I raised my hand to become a Class Rep,” Middy When asked what motivates her to continue to recalled. “Something needed to be done, so I did it.” serve as Class Representative, Middy emphasized Middy describes herself as strong-willed and the importance of keeping people together and distinctly remembers her history teacher Mrs. Neil bringing people back. With around 30 or more (out echoing this sentiment, saying to Middy at an early of a class total of 51) returning for Reunions every age, “I like your fortitude, Ms. Dorrance.” five years, it’s safe to say that she has succeeded. “We Middy is a natural connector with the continue the gatherings and celebrate memory of an elephant. When reaching our class on non-Reunion years — every out to her classmates, Middy makes an chance we can to get together,” Middy “Middy effort to connect with them all on a says. personal level. She remembers significant “Middy has always been the best and has always things like birthdays, children’s names, most unfailing supporter of AIS and has been the been the glue that has bound our class or vacation destinations, as well as glue that together all these years,” said Middy’s memorable moments of her classmates’ has bound classmate Mel Bonder. It’s Middy’s gift to AIS experience. It also doesn’t hurt that us — and I believe to herself as well. I am as a natural event planner (and former our class so grateful to Middy for making sure we professional caterer) she knows that it’s together.” never lost sight of how special we all are important to “continue to remember the to each other.” fun we had together and to keep it going!”
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Alumnae | CLASS NOTES
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Sara Wetherill Wilds ’59 is living in Maine with her husband, Peter. Sara reports, “We are struggling through the work of having a new puppy. Puppyhood is not easy with our now four-month-old black lab, Hinckley, but she does make us laugh.”
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1. Christiane Jung-Kallfass ’66. 2. Debbie Aikens Laverell ’67 and her family. 3. The Class of 1967 celebrating their 45th Reunion in 2012. 4. Beth Liversidge Fluke ’62 and granddaughter Marlis Woodward ’17 retraced the Harry Potter filming locations in Scotland and England. 5. Beau Sinkler ’63 submitted this tea-themed postcard at one of her recent mail art swaps. 6. Helen “Nell” McIlhenny Heslop ’67 and Anne Grauer ’67 met at Fortnum & Masons for tea in February. 7. Katharine Brown Grala ’67 and her grandson, Thomas.
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Charlotte Colket Weber ’61 writes, “I have had a quiet year, but that is not a complaint. The cows are still mooing, the grass is still growing, and the horses are still running — hopefully they will run faster (faster, faster please!). I have my health, which you all know, is truly your wealth at the end of the day. I am so proud of Peyton ’19, carrying on the family tradition of being an AIS girl! She took her fall semester at Zermatt in Switzerland, and showed great maturity and independence of spirit upon her return. All nine grandchildren are flourishing, though signs of today’s privileges still shock me. The older ones are driving and have boyfriends and girlfriends, never mind that they are attending college and beginning careers.” Mary Liversidge Fluke ’62 says, “Fifty years ago I opened a retail store called Dandelion. The business has expanded to five stores and has now been bought by our two daughters. One of our
daughters, Leslie Woodward, is the mother of Marlis Woodward ’17, who is graduating from AIS this June. Since retirement from Dandelion, I have become president of The U.S. Delegation for Friendship Among Women. The Delegation is a non-political organization that nurtures friendship between women of countries where formal relations with the U.S. are often in transition. It is usually an eyeopening experience for all participants. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to participate on many extraordinary missions such as Libya, Rwanda, North Korea, Cuba and Mongolia.” Suzy Pitman O’Kane ’62 is growing accustomed to living on the West Coast and loving Seattle. “We are also adjusting to retirement. It’s a lot of adjusting. We are now able to spend a month and a half in our happy place: Cancun, Mexico. We play a lot more golf, as courses in Seattle are open all year. Love being with our son and two teenaged grandchildren. One is a national team prospect soccer player and the other is an actor and singer. The only sad point in a very happy life is being 3,000 miles away from our daughter and two grandchildren in Vermont. We also left lifelong friends and family on the East Coast. But our new friends in Seattle are
CLASS NOTES | Alumnae
amazing and Facebook and airplanes keep us close to the East Coast.” Jill Berguido Gill ’63 says, “It has been almost two years since my breast cancer diagnosis, and I am still cancer free. The chemotherapy did a number on my immune system, which is slowly recovering, but life goes on. I have had a few requests for tutoring in recent months, and I may even resume my tutoring practice later in the year. As director of the Harriton Association, Bruce has continued to add wonderful events for all ages to his Harriton House activities “menu.” He continues to care for the retired race horse, two calves, two sheep, and five laying hens that live in the barn on the Harriton Estate. Tim is now policy director of the Kennedy Forum, sponsored by the Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation in Philadelphia. The foundation frequently sends him to various cities around the U.S. to speak about parity. ParityTrack is a collaborative forum that works to promote fairness for individuals who suffer from mental health issues and addiction. I still get together, at least every other week, to eat lunch at a local restaurant with my old classmates, Cynthia Neel and Mary Megargee Anderson.” Blair Bartol MacInnes ’63 writes, “The big
news in my life is that my novel was published (by me). It is called A Collection of Hours and available on Amazon. It is loosely based on the life of my great grandmother, Mary Blair, who was an internationallyrecognized art collector from Chicago in the late 19th century. I can vouch for its historical accuracy and, while I know it is not the great American novel, people have found it a good read. I am doing a lot of speaking at book parties and book groups, which has been wonderfully entertaining. People love to talk about books! I travel if you have a book group that might be interested in hearing about the process. All the kids seem well and the grandchildren are still a delight. Three of the nine are teenagers and yet I can still say that!” Louisa Stephenson Sandvig ’63 says, “We’ve had lots of snow this winter in Jackson Hole, WY. I’ve been skiing a lot, playing bridge, doing volunteer work and having fun. Same ole, same ole!” Beau Sinkler ’63 shares, “On December 28, 2016, I moved to Danvers, MA to live with my son and his wife in their new house. It’s been quite an adjustment going from 22 years of being independent after my husband died to living with two other people, but so far it’s working
out very well. I am very active in a fantastic mail art group and spend every day creating and entering weekly exchanges of original art postcards, artist trading cards (the size of baseball cards) or Rolodex cards. One person hosts each swap and picks a theme and many of the members paint, draw or collage original scenes on up to four postcards (or other format) in that theme and those, in turn, get distributed to other contributing members. In the two years I have been doing this, I have amassed almost two big shoeboxes full of fantastic original art! I am so grateful to all the creative and inspirational art teachers I had at AIS. If anyone is interested in learning more about the world of mail artists, feel free to email me!” Linda J. Golden ’66 says, “I can’t believe that my store turned 25 years old in February! I’m busy working and updating the store and I am traveling later in the year with my dear Richard who is busy with his new photography career. Oliver (our Maltese) will keep us both in line! Still thinking about our great Reunion last year!” Gretchen D. Hasse ’66 had a great time at the 50th Reunion last April. “It was so good to see so many classmates and friends, to tour the school and see all the changes, and to meet and chat with Dr. Wendy
Hill. Many thanks to AIS, Joe and Lindsay McCown DuBarry for hosting our class party, Lee McIlvane Manonian and the rest of the Reunion committee! Carolyn Koelle Webber ’67 says, “We are the Class of 1967 and are celebrating our 50th Reunion this year. We were a class of firsts: First yearbook to have its own logo and our class color (red) for the cover. First to wear red blazers senior year. I think everyone will agree we have remained a close knit group. Thanks to Middy Dorrance ’67 for keeping us connected all these years. We have many classmates with successful careers including lawyers, coaches, teachers, and financial planners, etc. We have many children, some of whom have attended AIS as well. Our Reunion yearbook will tell our individual stories. We have many traveling to the Reunion this year, and we have fun things planned. Looking forward to seeing everyone in May!” Katharine Brown Grala ’67 says, “Last year was a big year for me. I became a grandma to Thomas and I retired after 38 years of lawyering at various financial institutions. Retirement has included spending the summer at our house in Maine, babysitting for Thomas, and watching one son herb farming in California and another swimming, biking and
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running through several Ironman competitions. My husband and I also took a cross-country road trip with our retirement dog, Zoe. I love our National Parks, even if they are not dogfriendly. I salute all my fellow classmates, especially Middy Dorrance, who has done so much to keep us all together over the years. I hope all will come to our 50th Reunion and see how Irwin’s has grown and prospered. We are all proud to be AIS graduates!” Deborah Aikens Laverell ’67 writes, “As always, Jud and I had a busy year — traveling a lot, spending time with family and friends, committee work, tennis, golf, etc. — but what we love is to be at home with our kitty, Charlie, sitting by a roaring fire, and watching a good movie. The very best is being with our daughters and their families. Brooke Laverell Gilbert ’96 lives in Virginia and Paige Laverell Goll ’00 lives in Florida. We just celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary. Travels this year included Cuba, a Danube river cruise from Bucharest to Budapest, a Royal Clipper cruise from Rome, through the Mediterranean to Morocco and then Lisbon, and a visit out west to Colorado and Montana to see family. I attended two fabulous photography workshops, one in Vermont and the other
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Alumnae | CLASS NOTES
CLASS OF 1972
Kristen C. Umstadtt As Mayor of Leesburg, VA, Kristen C. Umstadtt ’72 knew she was helping alter cultural assumptions when she was asked by a little boy if men were also allowed to be mayors. After all, her 14-year tenure ranks the third longest in Leesburg history before she left to run for higher office in 2015. Currently serving on the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors representing the Leesburg District, Kristen is involved with setting policy in almost all her education. In addition to serving on Student areas of local government, including public school Government, she was the editor of the literary funding, social services, land use, and the public magazine and the newspaper, opportunities that, safety system. She says her favorite part of the job is she says, “taught me the importance of fully visiting Leesburg ’s 14 schools and talking to understanding every job, big or small, that every students about local government. individual does in every organization or endeavor. After graduating from Agnes Irwin, Kristen went AIS also taught me to work collaboratively with on to graduate magna cum laude and Phi Beta other women.” She is grateful for two teachers at Kappa from Yale University with a B.A. in Russian AIS who had a special impact on her: Mrs. Trickey, and East European Studies. She holds a J.D. from who taught English, and Señora Bonetti, who Yale Law School and a Certificate in Chinese Studies taught Spanish. Kristen has used the lessons from Cheng-chi University in Taiwan. In addition to learned from both teachers — the writing skills and Russian and Chinese, she has studied Spanish, the Spanish language skills — throughout her French, German, and Arabic. career. Kristen entered the U.S. Naval Reserve after Kristen and her husband have a daughter, graduating from law school, and moved to Virginia Kendrick, who is currently a student at Yale while on active duty as a Lieutenant. After her University, where she is majoring in Electrical honorable discharge from active duty, she continued Engineering & Computer Science. Kendrick serves with the U.S. Naval Reserves, translating on the editorial board of Yale Scientific Soviet naval documents from Russian Magazine and works in the Yale Social into English for the U.S. intelligence Robotics Lab. Kristen credits AIS with Kristen community. She then joined the Central teaching her that women can accomplish credits Intelligence Agency as a Soviet Naval great things, which she was then able to AIS with analyst. She has served as an adjunct pass on to her daughter, sharing that “the professor of employment law at fact that Kendrick was always first in her teaching Marymount University, and in addition class and got into Yale’s engineering and her that to her role as County Supervisor, Kristen applied science program was mostly due women can and her husband, Chuck Moss, have a to her hard work — but partly due to the accomplish law practice in Leesburg. approach to teaching that I remembered Kristen describes the leadership great things. from my years at AIS. AIS had lasting opportunities at Agnes Irwin as vital to value for me and my daughter.” 48
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at Longwood Gardens. I sold my art-show tent last year so I didn’t have to go to any arts and crafts festivals this year, which was wonderful — selling at those shows is too much work! So, you could say that I am retired from the photography business —but I am still very passionate about photography, and I am always working on improving my skills. I am still selling work on a special order basis, becoming a photography judge for the Garden Club of America and have entered a number of juried photography shows where I have had good success.”
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Mary Schimminger Hinds ’72 shares, “I enjoyed my first year of retirement from Ernst & Young more than I could have imagined. I have been very active in the Junior League of Philadelphia, helped plan my Smith Reunion, taken several knitting classes, and attended a series of lectures at Swarthmore College. With no time pressures, we took the train from Philadelphia to Portland, Oregon (three days!) to visit family. The train trip was wonderful and we’re looking at other train trips for the future. My goal of sorting through the accumulation of 31 years in our house wasn’t so successful, so that is on my 2017 to-do list. See you in May!”
CLASS NOTES | Alumnae
Linda C. McKoy ’73 writes, “Our middle son, Mike Maruca, married his Peace Corps sweetheart, Krista Jorstad, on Martha’s Vineyard on May 29, 2016. Our oldest son, Tony, married Jen Vail on March, 24, 2017 in NYC. Sam and I are thrilled! One side benefit of the wedding gatherings is that they lure our youngest son, Andy, home from China, where he has been living for the last year and a half. We are really enjoying watching our family circle expand. We feel very, very lucky!” Susan Hastings Lohmann ’77 and her husband, Rich (Haverford ’77), live on a 23-acre farm just outside of Bordentown, NJ, where she is still raising sheep and teaching riding. “I judge horse shows all over the East Coast and hope to phase out training and teaching and do more judging as my retirement job! Our three biological children, two foster children, and four grandchildren love to visit the farm and come regularly, although most live far out of state. I see Tandy Hartshorn Hufford ’77 occasionally at horse functions!”
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Paige L. Andersen ’82 writes, “Starting this June, there will be two AIS alumnae in our house when my daughter, Gigi Gardner, graduates with the Class of 2017! Andre
CLASS OF 1977
Sandy Crockett In this day and age, career pivots are the norm, not the exception: Currently, an American professional will average 12 job changes in their lifetime, with less than five years at each job. This is quite a drastic change from the not-so-recent past, when people spent 25-30 years in a chosen profession, often with the same employer. Sandy Crockett is no exception to this trend, but her experience is still unique. A member of the Class of 1977, Sandy spent the majority of her professional career in the finance industry — and while considering retirement, she made a life-altering decision: “When contemplating my retirement with family members, and thinking of all the golf to be played or travel destinations to be added to the list, I recognized this was not me. I need my independence. I need to keep my brain engaged.” And with that, Sandy invested the next two-and-a“Going back to school is exhausting and the half years in becoming a veterinary nurse. technology is astounding, but age gives one focus Sandy recently completed her coursework in the and organizational skills.” Veterinary Tech Program at Harcum College, in Sandy said that her experiences at Agnes Irwin conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania, laid the foundation for her confidence in making and is currently studying for the board certification this shift. “Irwin’s taught me to read and write, how examination. Through her studies and practicum to question and research answers. Because of these experiences, Sandy has developed a specialized skills and the reinforcement I received, I feel knowledge of animal behavior and care. With her empowered to try anything.” degree in Veterinary Medicine, Sandy explains, she “will be able to take both well and sick visits, provide Sandy has already had some fascinating and onceanesthesia, and perform simple surgeries on both in-a-lifetime experiences. “I was so proud to recently small and large animals.” When asked be involved with the intake and treatment why she decided to pursue this specific of a foal named Tamara Rose. Born six field of study, Sandy responded, “I love weeks early, the foal’s cartilage in her legs animals and I was looking for something had not yet turned to bone. Members of “I was that was exciting and different. I love the the staff at the University of Pennsylvania looking for fact that you never know what you’re Veterinary School’s New Bolton Center going to get from day to day.” helped her survive against all odds!” something With this change in direction, the road When she has finished with a visit or a that was has not been easy. Long days, the procedure, Sandy relayed, “I often say to exciting and myself, ‘Wow! That was awesome! I’ve required acquisition and retention of different.” large amounts of information, and the done something good — and most times, incorporation of new technology are just learned something new.’ What more a few of the hills Sandy regularly climbs. could anyone ask for in their profession?”
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therapies can be used to treat symptoms. I am excited to report that after eight years and 7,000 patients, my gynecology practice in Princeton, NJ, Women’s Healthcare of Princeton (princetongyn.com) is adding a location on the Main Line! I miss my home turf and hope that being in Paoli a bit will give me an opportunity to reconnect with Irwin’s classmates. On a personal note, I am married to Alex Martin and we have four children: Alex, 20; Thomas, 18; Christian, 16; and Katherine, 13. We love to travel and visited five continents in 2016.”
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1. Grandsons of Winkie Collins Park ’71 — all five grandchildren are under 5 years old! 2. Linda McKoy ’73’s daughter on her wedding day on Martha’s Vineyard, May 29, 2016. 3. Linda Krause Hill ’79, Shelley Oakes Swindell ’79, and Nancy Krause Copeland ’76 on their annual trip to Tortola.
and I are thrilled that she has received such a fantastic education, had so many wonderful experiences and met so many fabulous people during her nine years at AIS. We can’t thank the school enough for all they have done for Gigi and how they have helped guide her to become such a wonderful young woman. We know that she is well-prepared for college and are excited for what her future holds! Andre and I are so proud of the young woman she has become, all that she has
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accomplished and that she will forever be able to say, ‘I am an Agnes Irwin girl!’” Hadley Harper Witcher ’82 is finishing her thesis in dramatic writing and will receive her MFA in Creative Writing from Rosemont College in May. The Witchers recently bought ’82 alumna Kate Elliot van Liere’s childhood home and have agreed to let her have her room back when she comes to visit for Reunion. “Can’t wait to see everyone in May!”
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Maria E. Sophocles ’83 shares, “In early 2015, I pioneered the use of a technology which has been very well received. It uses laser light to stimulate vaginal tissue and regenerate it. As one of the first gynecologists in the country to adopt this technology, I am fortunate to be able to travel around the U.S. and to other countries and continents to teach both clinicians and the public about menopause-related problems of the genitourinary tract and how laser and other
Leigh Morrissett Foltz ’85 says, “Hi everyone! I love to see all the posts on Facebook about you and your families! I am doing well and have secured a position with a startup company in Chicago after being at home raising a family for 21 years. It took a while, but I did it. The kids are doing well. Sydney is finishing up her junior year at Columbia College in Chicago, after completing a semester at Second City for her comedy major (voiceover minor). Cam is loving Duke University and is pledging K Sig and is still pursuing a major in physics. I miss having them home, but I’m so happy they are happy. My baby, Charlie, 16, is a sophomore in high school and our athlete (lacrosse and football), and I am sure
he is ready to leave for college as he has been stuck at home with me since Cam left. My term on the Board of Education ends in April after four years, and it has been rewarding for sure, but time for some new blood. Please get in touch if you are ever in town!” Elizabeth A. Jackson ’86 is working as an art therapist at Fairmount Behavioral Health System. She is working with teens and young women dealing with trauma. She has been married to Craig Peale for 10 years. Gwyneth Child Arrison ’87 is living in Freeport, ME, with her husband, Jamie, and thoroughly enjoying their new waterfront home. In September 2016, she began serving as pastor of the Bath United Methodist Church, a wonderful congregation full of vitality and passion for mission. Their children, Micah, 16; Dena, 13; and Alex, 10, are involved in sports outside school, including competitive fencing, rock climbing, and skiing, and the family races their Sonar sailboat together throughout the summer. They are also hosting an exchange student this school year — Dianella, from Santiago, Chile — which has been a wonderful experience. In addition to their Samoyed, Niko, the kids care for their own pet corn snakes! Gwyneth continues to play bassoon in the
CLASS NOTES | Alumnae
Coastal Winds, and recently joined the Windswept Quintet and the Mid-Coast Symphony. Gwyneth would love to hear from classmates, and if you are ever in Freeport, please stop in for a visit! Sydney Brown Clarke ’87 lives with her husband, Shaun, and their children in Hamilton, MA. “I got back to AIS last November for a fantastic visit. I loved watching my goddaughter, Nina Flinn ’21, race cross country, and it seemed like every field hockey player was the spitting image of their mothers from AIS a few decades past! The new additions looked great, and what visit is complete without trying to muster together a few French phrases for Madame Davis?! Also spotted were Wigs Frank, Mrs. Randolph, Mrs. White, Ms. Anthony, and Mr. Savar. I loved it! I’ve been a social media hold out, so I rely on magazine notes and Christmas cards. I miss the ’87 buddies and I’ll be sorry to skip our big Reunion this May. Instead, I will be hiking in the White Mountains with my seventh grade class, including my daughter!” Keri Bennett Edwards ’87 writes, “I am in my 12th year as the director of The Footsteps Academy Preschool in King of Prussia. I oversee 16 staff members and 100 children ages 2 to 5 years old, and LOVE my
CLASS OF 1982
Georganna Lenssen
Georganna Lenssen was a “lifer” at Agnes Irwin, graduating in 1982. Recalling the cafeteria’s chocolate chip cookies, Mayfair (with the lemon sticks, of course!) and shopping at the book fairs, some of her fondest memories are in the Lower School, she says. Georganna developed her love of art in the Lower School with Miss Yoder, but it wasn’t until after Agnes Irwin that she decided to dedicate her life to studying, creating, and teaching art. In 1998, Georganna enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where she studied painting. Now a prolific artist, Georganna’s work has been featured in numerous publications. In 2013, she was selected as Fordham University’s Artist of the Year. She is currently showing at the Stanek Gallery in Georganna’s greatest personal achievement is Philadelphia. painting and teaching, she says. Her studio is located “I find magic in the beginnings of a painting,” at The Chester Springs Studio, a vibrant arts center Georganna writes. “This, for me, is the origin of a at Historic Yellow Springs in Chester Springs, PA. story. I start with an idea as a springboard, or point of Serving on the faculty of The Wayne Art Center, departure, and begin my paintings with organic marks Georganna has developed a loyal following. and pools of transparent color upon a She is fulfilled by the possibility that brilliant white ground. From there the every new day brings, and is grateful to paint and the marks guide the path of the be surrounded by great friends and a “I find painting. I work loosely, intuitively and wonderful husband. She has developed organically, embracing an experimental, long-standing relationships with her magic searching and risk-taking approach. All students as they develop their skills in the stages of the form and content make up and learn together how to translate beginnings the story and the life of the painting. their personal vision into a piece to be of a Ambiguity and open-endedness allow the shared with others. Her passion and viewer to establish his or her own personal commitment to art has earned her painting.” rapport with my work. This is when the various awards while exhibiting in both life of the piece begins.” solo and group exhibitions.
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CLASS OF 1987
job! I have taught ever since leaving Agnes Irwin, which probably does not surprise many people who knew how much I loved children. I have been married for 22 years to my husband, Dave, and I have three children: Kailey is 19 and a freshman at DeSales University (how did that happen?), Tyler is 17 and a junior in high school, and Lindsey is 15 and a freshman in high school. Kailey is majoring in musical theatre and English and is carrying on my love for music and theatre that I received at Irwin’s! I am so excited to see many of you at Reunion!”
Lakshmi Reddy Lakshmi Reddy ’87 is all about improving and enriching her community. Eight years ago, Lakshmi moved to Long Island City the same week that the community’s first grocery store opened. Since that day, Long Island City has grown by leaps and bounds and Lakshmi has enjoyed being a part of the action. Now, when she isn’t busy with her day job as a strategy consultant for the ad agency Epsilon, Lakshmi finds time to serve on the community board, the school leadership team, and, as a representative for the Speaker of the City Council, to serve on the board of the Queens Museum, an art museum and educational center. Becoming a mother inspired Lakshmi to become even more involved in her community, she says: “Having my daughters made me realize that life isn’t about later, it’s about making things as good as possible here and now.” Out of all the projects she’s a part of, Lakshmi is most passionate about improving Long Island City’s public schools — a cause she first began championing when she discovered that the city was planning to close one of the public schools just as the local population was starting to surge. “I am very involved in helping the children of our community get the type of education that can help them thrive as they grow older,” Lakshmi said. Recently, $200 million was allocated to Long Island City to build new schools — a major victory. Lakshmi says she has always wanted her daughters Annika and Lily to have an “Life isn’t Agnes Irwin-like experience in school, about later, and says that every so often, she toys it’s about with the idea of moving back. Once in a making blue moon, “I’ll check what homes are available in the area — just in case.” But things as after all of her efforts to improve the good as local public schools for neighborhood possible here children, it was important to Lakshmi and now.” that her daughters experienced them, she said. 52
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Lakshmi credits Agnes Irwin with giving her the tools to speak out for her community. “When people ask me how I’m able to be so assertive and vocal in championing my neighborhood, I always tell them about Agnes Irwin,” she said. “I remember that while preparing for my senior assembly, the thought of getting on the stage made me so nervous — but it really gave me the confidence to speak out, and to believe that my voice deserved to be heard.”
Megan Boyle Flinn ’87 and her husband, Mason, have three children: Rex, 14; Nina, 14; and Wells, 12. Nina ’21 is a student at AIS and her brothers attend The Haverford School. “Since I am local and involved with AIS, I enjoy interacting with alumnae on a regular basis. May, however, will bring the opportunity to see the great Class of 1987, and I can’t wait! This past fall, I had the privilege of introducing Sydney Brown Clarke into the AIS Athletic Hall of Fame. It was made even more special that our children (minus my son Rex) were able to be there — version 2.0 of our friendship!” Kristen Keen Olson ’87 and her husband, Rev. Daniel Olson, celebrated 25 years of marriage in August with a family vacation to London and
CLASS NOTES | Alumnae
Paris. Kristen is a homemaker raising two children: Gordon, 16, and Katherine, 12. She is very active in New Hope Church, a nondenominational church that her husband started five years ago. She also helps to facilitate a support group for The Lupus Foundation of Long Island/Queens. K. Gage Parr ’87 and her family recently moved to the Washington, D.C. area, where she is working as an anesthesiologist in the Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine at George Washington University Hospital. “I’m enjoying the return to academic medicine and doing some teaching. My husband, Robin, my son Xander, 5, and I are all settling into life in northern Virginia. We remain Baltimore Orioles fans and head to Baltimore once or twice a month in the summer to check out the O’s. We also have a new puppy, Fairfax, a golden doodle who keeps us on our toes. Sorry to be missing Reunion. We have had longstanding plans to visit my parents in Florida that weekend and sun and sand wins!” Nina Hutchinson Pruitt ’87 writes, “As an empty nester now, my husband, Matt, and I continue to run full throttle despite our two favorites at college. Both Hunter ’15 and Carly ’16 were super-
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1. Leigh Morrissett Foltz ’85 and her children. 2. Sydney Brown Clarke ’87 and her family. 3. Max Clarke, Wells Flinn, Nina Flinn ’21, and Riley Clarke, children of Megan Boyle Flinn ’87 and Sydney Brown Clarke ’87, at the AIS Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Dinner in November. 4. Jody Hemingway ’87 and Keri Bennett Edwards ’87 in California, Summer 2016. 5. Hunter and Carly Pruitt, children of Nina Hutchinson Pruitt ’87. 6. Gwyneth Child Arrison ’87 with her youngest son, Alex, sailing around Monhegan Island. 7. K. Gage Parr ’87 and her family. 8. Kit Lohmann Ripley ’89 with a New Life Center graduate. 9. Keri Bennett Edwards ’87 on vacation with her family.
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1. Lynn Martin Danner ’94 and Andrew Danner on their wedding day. 2. Lee Lee Brown ’94 celebrates her 40th birthday in Bay Head, NJ with lots of AIS friends! From left to right (back row): Lee Lee Brown ’94, Marcy Carpenter Brown ’69, Amanda Cannon Goldworm ’94, Danielle Davis Trucksess ’94, Robin Wood Sailer ’94, Kari Tank-Nielsen Richards ’94, Quincy Brown McCoy ’92, Sandy Brown ’71. Front Row: Hallsie McCoy ’28 and Sage McCoy ’26. 3. Charlotte Elizabeth, daughter of John and Courtney Miles Mulholland ’92. 4. Stacey Siles Solomon ’96. 5. Sadie Lauren Gendelman, daughter of Joseph and Tara Glenn Gendelman ’98, born January 7, 2017. 6. Tracy Otley Viola ’95 celebrates her 40th birthday with classmates. From left to right: Karen Teetor Atkins, Laura Kling Baffico, Tracy Otley Viola, Brooke Norrett Corr, Maggie Poulos, Cornelia Marshall Toothaker. 7. Sunday with the girls! Daughters of Melanie Gaspari Albahary ’92, Lauren Schaffer Campbell ’92 and Susan Schaffer Reiser ’97 spend the afternoon at the home of Courtney Miles Mulholland ’92 to meet sweet baby Charlotte Mulholland. 8. Michael Blair, son of Anne Carson Blair ’99, at 6 weeks old. 9. Oliver Keen Vassilli, son of Allie Keen Vassalli ’95. 10. Erica Daniels ’92 and her son Leo. 11. Julianna and Luke, children of Bernadette Spina Tiso ’95. 12. Bobby and Max Goldworm, sons of Amanda Cannon Goldworm ’94. 13. Children of Carrie Fanelli Santoro ’92. Left to right: Jake, 9; Callie, 3 months; Maddie, 7.
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CLASS NOTES | Alumnae
lifers at Germantown Academy, which set the stage well for academic, athletic, creative, and social competence. Hunter is in his second year at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where he is majoring in business management and international relations. He is on a variety of business and social committees and enjoys the ease of EU travel. Most recently he enjoyed a high-profile role working for the Philadelphia DNC Host Committee. He also develops charity based art shows and hosts a weekly radio program with a close college friend from Australia. Carly is in her first year at Hobart and William Smith College, where she is exploring various career options. She too is active in a variety of extracurricular pursuits and learning more about the school and community resources available to her. Carly is exceptionally athletic and her inclusive and welcoming disposition have drawn together a fabulous group of new friends. She will be, once again, my partner in crime this summer at Tenacre, our Burt Lake, MI home where she will work at the golf club and enjoy time with lifelong friends and my mother Margaret O’Malley, who lost her husband last June. Carly is also the godsister to Elisabeth Henry, daughter of Megan Henry ’87, which is a wonderfully special relationship we all
CLASS OF 1992
Cecily Tyler
Cecily Tyler ’92 cites middle school teacher Cathy Lynch as someone who really knew how to reach her. “She [Cathy] taught me that I was stronger than I thought and that I could embrace life even when I was scared. She taught me to look at myself with truth and understanding.” For Cecily, a film consultant, producer, and a Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, truth and understanding are life’s work. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence, Cecily has been in the communications field for over 20 years, and earned her M.P.A from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in 2016. about solutions,” Cecily says. “If you’re just reporting the problems, people only know how to speak about Cecily has told a lot of stories: of inmates at the problems. If you offer language as a problem-solving Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola; a forensic tool, people will begin to talk about the solution, pathologist; young practitioners of the Brazilian people will begin to act in the solution.” martial art of capoeira; and the makeover subjects in What Not to Wear. She has taught, produced, and Cecily ’s Harvard fellowship involves the directed in the fields of documentary, independent development and co-authoring of a videographic filmmaking, theater, and animation design, working essay tutorial (and accompanying teaching manual) with a variety of networks and independent to be used as a pedagogical tool to enhance cognition productions including the Discovery network; Public and inquiry, and to deepen empathy among masters’ Broadcasting System (PBS/WGBH); the NBC News candidates coming from various schools at Harvard. educational website NBC News Learn, and BBC Her goals are to support social entrepreneurship and NYC. In 2010, the Department of Labor funded a sixsustainability for the arts, and to continue to produce year “Teach the Teachers” initiative that videos and interactive media that inspire she developed for YouthBuild USA. It social good. looks at gang-transition, post-program Cecily credits the teachers and placement, construction training, community at Agnes Irwin “with not apprenticeship readiness, sustainability, only teaching me, but showing me how “I want and other pertinent topics for the staff, to face my fears… Today I can say that to be able educators, and youth in the YouthBuild occasionally through failure and also to talk USA community. success, it has been incredibly rewarding about to learn how to listen to my instincts, to As the Founder and Executive be a compassionate and a grateful part of Director of Docutribe, a nonprofit solutions.” a team, and all while staying dedicated to the transformative power of professionally focused. That is my filmmaking and technology to create experience of the AIS legacy.” social good, “I want to be able to talk
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enjoy. Matt is weathering the market fluctuation quite well as a financial advisor and first vice-president at Morgan Stanley’s Doylestown office. He is actively involved in the community with a devotion to the Travis Manion Foundation — a fabulous organization dedicated to promoting the idea that “character does matter.” In addition to his civic and family duties, Matt is pursuing his scuba instructor certification. He has achieved master diver and is looking forward to achieving the next level. We will celebrate 23 years of marriage this June! I keep quite busy as the domestic CEO who works in a demanding full time global marketing role. My work travel often takes me places near family and friends (especially AIS chums). So don’t be surprised if you get a call, text or email invite for dinner or drinks. I love what I do and live a charmed life with an awesome family (including three dogs), amazing friends and fulfilling work.”
Samantha Sawin Brennan
Samantha “Sam” Sawin Brennan ’92 says it was her experience at Agnes Irwin that “instilled a confidence in me that I could do or be anything that I wanted. This was never said explicitly to us, or at least not that I remember, but I received the message that my future was not limited by gender or ability.” Now, as the Assistant Head of School and Dean of Faculty at St. Mark’s School in Southborough, MA, she realizes what a tremendous gift this was. “Throughout my career as an educator, I have set out to create school environments that foster community, self-efficacy, and excellence. Prior to coming to St. Mark’s School, my 15 years as the School Counselor and Dean of Students at The Rivers School (Weston, MA) were incredibly influential for me and allowed me to develop my vision of an ideal educational institution. Ironically, I realized that much of what I aim to create existed in my Agnes Irwin experience.” The teachers Sam had in high school greatly influenced her as both a student and an educator. She credits Ms. Bartuska for igniting her passion for teaching and biology. After graduating from Agnes Irwin, Sam went on to Georgetown University, where she earned a degree in Biology. She then earned her Masters in Education from Harvard University. “Agnes Irwin Sam also credits Mr. Frank for being a “instilled a “lifelong influence.” “While in high confidence school, Mr. Frank was my ‘go to’ adult in me that other than my parents. His genuine interest in each of us and his sincere I could do or desire to help us each develop into be anything strong, smart women modeled for me that I what it means to be a teacher.” He wanted.” continues to be a role model and inspiration to her every day. 56
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Sam says she doesn’t have much time for hobbies between work and raising her four-year-old twins. Her family and her work bring her tremendous satisfaction and joy, and it’s the passion she has for her career that helps her balance the family-life challenge, she says. Her greatest hope is that she is available to her children and enables them to always feel supported by her, while also continuing to make a difference in the lives of her students — as Sam’s Agnes Irwin teachers made in hers.
Catherine “Kit” Lohmann Ripley ’89 has been working to empower tribal minority girls and young women who are survivors of trauma at the New Life Center Foundation (newlifecenter foundation.org) in Chiang Mai, Thailand, since 2003.
CLASS NOTES | Alumnae
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Noel Spahr Cappillo ’92 lives in Wellesley, MA with her husband, Dave, and their three kids: Maddie, 15; Kaitlyn, 11; and Chris, 9. 2016 marked 15 years as a chiropractor for Noel at her practice in Wellesley (cappillo chiropractic.com). Noel and her family enjoy skiing together, visiting Harbour Island, Bahamas, and a few weeks a summer on MDI in Maine. On occasion, Noel enjoys dinner out with Amanda Craven Cavanaugh ’92 and Samantha Sawin Brennan ’92. Erica Daniels ’92 is the author of Cooking with Leo: An AllergenFree Autism Family Cookbook, an autism advocate, and a public speaker. Erica is the single mother of Leo, who has autism and chronic health issues. Her life changed and gained new purpose after her son was diagnosed with autism in 2007. Erica founded Autism Advisors LLC and the 501c3 #hope4Leo after years of struggling to treat her son’s autism using conventional and biomedical treatments with little or no success. Eating a healthy allergen-free diet and using natural medicines have greatly improved Leo’s health and autism symptoms. Amy Gregg Maher ’92 writes, “Since our last big reunion in 2012, I had a baby girl, Audra,
CLASS OF 1997
Kimberly Russell Jordan Kimberly Russell Jordan ’97’s junior year Special Studies Program at the New Bolton Center solidified her childhood dream of veterinary medicine. A competitive horseback rider, Kim had wanted to be a vet “as long as I could remember,” she says. “I think we had a career day in first grade at Irwin’s and I came dressed as a vet.” For her SSP during sophomore year, Kim traveled to Yorkshire, England, to pursue her passion for riding, but it was during her junior year at the New Bolton Center that she recalls her first actual medical experience. “It was the first time I saw real surgery, and it made me decide I wanted to go to Penn for veterinary school.” Critical Care at the Rutherford Memorial Hospital Kim was awarded both the Mathematics and of the Pennsylvania SPCA and the lead forensic Science departmental awards at her Agnes Irwin veterinarian for the PSPCA. She has also testified graduation, after which she attended Washington throughout Pennsylvania as a veterinary expert and and Lee University. At Washington and Lee, Kim was featured on the television show Animal Cops competed on the Varsity Riding Team, and Philadelphia. graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude with a Bachelors of Science. She graduated magna Although she has found her passion in emergency cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania medicine and surgery, Kim’s first work experience School of Veterinary Medicine, earning the 1930 was in equine care, including racetrack work, sport Class Prize in Surgery and an induction into the Phi horse work, reproductive services, and wellness care. Zeta National Veterinary Honor Society. She continues to work with a handful of long-time Kim is now a veterinarian who specializes in horse clients, and compete in three-day eventing. emergency medicine and surgery. She owns two Kim serves on the board of a local animal rescue, practices: Keystone Veterinary Emergency and and also gives back through her work as a volunteer Referral in Havertown, PA, and Keystone Veterinary veterinarian with the HSUS Remote Area Veterinary Emergency East in the Manayunk Service, which brings veterinary care to section of Philadelphia. She and a underserved rural communities. partner founded Keystone Veterinary Additionally, Kim has run an externship Emergency and Referral in 2011. It veterinary students, and says the Kim credits for provides 24-hour emergency care, and community of teachers at Agnes Irwin the Agnes specialty services in surgery, cardiology, inspired her to pursue teaching. and radiology. They currently have She credits the Agnes Irwin faculty Irwin seven full-time doctors, four part-time for where she is now: “Mr. Gardner faculty doctors, six specialists, and around 20 inspired my love of math. Ms. Lewis, Ms. for where technicians. The satellite facility in Bartuska, and Ms. Pepper inspired my she is now. Manayunk opened in August 2015. love of science. I fondly remember Prior to opening her own practice, history and current events with Mr. Kim was the Director of Emergency and Frank.”
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finished grad school, and started doing advancement/ development consulting for higher education/ nonprofits with Langley Innovations. We also moved down to North Carolina for better weather and family. I look forward to seeing everyone in May, and if you are ever in the Charlotte area, please reach out.” Carrie Fanelli Santoro ’92 writes, “It’s hard to believe it has been 25 years! Wow, it feels like maybe 10 at the most. I can’t wait to see everyone at Reunion in May. Since our last Reunion, our family grew through an amazing adoption journey! With the help of A Baby Step Adoption (owned by Barbara Casey, mother of Annie Casey Milligan ’95 and Shannon Casey Zimolong ’00), I, my husband, Joe, our son Jake, 9, and daughter Madelyn, 7, welcomed Caroline Molly, “Callie,” into our family. Callie was born on September 16, 2016, in Nashville, TN, five weeks early. She is the sweetest baby and is a little peanut with a huge smile and personality. We are all in love and now feel our family is complete!” Courtney Miles Mulholland ’92 and her husband, John, welcomed daughter Charlotte Elizabeth on December 8, 2016. “She is a healthy and happy baby! We live in Malvern and love getting
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together with local AIS friends. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at our 25th Reunion!”
you’re never too old to do something totally irrational (per my husband, Mike). Best. Time. Ever.”
July 10, 2016. “We and his older sister, Caroline, are thrilled.”
Lynn Martin Danner ’94 married Andrew Danner on April 2, 2016. “The ceremony took place at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church and we had our reception at Pomme in Radnor. It was a wonderful day and we are so happy together!”
Stacey Siles Solomon ’96 says, “I have been excited this year, volunteering at Agnes Irwin with my daughter, Jordan Williams ’20, who joined the 9th grade this year. I love being back in the building and seeing some of the wonderful teachers and staff that had such a wonderful impact on my life.”
Jodi Housman Rives ’00 and her husband, Graham Burton Rives, welcomed their first child, Everett Astor Rives, on January 14, 2017. Everett was born at 12:15 a.m., weighing 9 pounds, 8 ounces, and was 19 inches long. Everett, Jodi, Graham, and dog, Gerry, are enjoying their new family life together in New York City!
Amanda Cannon Goldworm ’94 and her husband, Sam, welcomed another baby boy, Maxwell Campbell Goldworm (“Max”), on December 22, 2016. Sandra Moser ’94 welcomed her daughter Sloane in March 2016, joining big brother Holden, 2. In addition to Sloane’s first birthday, Sandra celebrated her own wedding in March! Allie Keen Vassalli ’95 welcomed a new addition to her family this winter. Oliver Keen Vassalli was born on January 19, 2017. “Big sister Emily is very proud! We are all doing well as a family of four!” Tracy Otley Viola ’95 shares, “I celebrated my 40th (yes, 40th — ouch!) birthday 80s-style on April 29, 2016, partying it up with over 100 guests dressed in their 80s best and dancing the night away with the NYC-based 80s cover band, Jessie’s Girl! I also surprised the guests by drumming with the band, proving
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Kristin Chadderton Faatz ’97 wrote a musically-inspired debut novel, To Love a Stranger, which will be released May 23, 2017, by Blue Moon Publishers (Toronto). The novel was a finalist for the 2016 Schaffner Press Music in Literature Award, and has been praised as a novel “written with the harmony of humanity in mind... a song,” and “a page-turner, a story that will resonate with the reader for a long time to come.” Visit Kris’s website, krisfaatz.com, to learn more, and for information on ordering and launch events. Tara Glenn Gendelman ’98 and her husband, Joseph, welcomed daughter Sadie Lauren Gendelman on January 7, 2017, in New York City. “We are in love!” Anne Carson Blair ’99 and her husband, Andrew, welcomed a baby boy, Michael Duffy Blair, into the world on
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Elise Gelinas Attridge ’02 lives in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, D.C. and works as an attorney at Morgan Lewis. Last May, she and her husband welcomed their first child, Dalton Wye Attridge. Justine M. Parks ’02 writes, “I recently bought a house with my boyfriend, Aaron, in Collingswood, NJ. We live there with my son, Fox, and Aaron’s daughter, Avery. Aaron and I also have a physical theatre company called Ethos (ethosphysical theatreco.org). We are currently casting for next year’s Fringe Festival show while teaching workshops on circus aerials, writing, and mask-making.” Emily Rowland ’02 and her husband, Matthew McKeever, welcomed their first child, son Grayson Chin McKeever, on March 24, 2016.
Anastasia Dorrance Grillo ’03 and her husband, Robert, welcomed their daughter, George Grace Grillo, into the world on July 4, 2016. George Grace is named in memory of Anastasia’s father, George M. Dorrance III, and her grandfather. George Grace cannot wait to be a member of the Agnes Irwin Class of 2035! Caitlin Devlin Ferry ’04 married David Joseph Ferry III on June 18, 2016. The ceremony was held at the childhood home of Honor Jones Coates ’04 with a reception following at Aronimink Golf Club. Both Honor and Laura Mackay ’04 were bridesmaids. Sandra J. HeneinStradi ’05 says, “My big news is that I got married in October to my husband, Gavin Stradi, whom I met in Dubai while working there. We got married in a beautiful venue overlooking the Mediterranean along the southern coastline of Athens, Greece.” Elizabeth A. Kovich ’05 left the Art Conservation Department at the Barnes Foundation and is presently employed at Scientific Analysis of Fine Art, LLC (SAFA), a private art conservation firm specializing in the growing need for objective material assessment of objects in the art market. Elizabeth’s work at SAFA allows her to assist collectors,
CLASS NOTES | Alumnae
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1. Carley Razzi Mack ’05 and her husband, Eric, welcomed daughter Olivia on May 27, 2016. Hopefully a future Irwinian! 2. Andi Lucas ’07 and AIS alumnae at her wedding to Ben Schmerin on October 8, 2016. 3. Emmy Shea ’06 at her art show in Fall 2016. 4. Matthew McKeever and Emily Rowland ’02 with their son, Grayson (pictured when Grayson was 6 months old). 5. Sarah Sorenson ’09 with AIS bridesmaids Sophie Rudolph ’09, Julia Pierce ’09, Maddy Armstrong ’09 and Eliza Hasting ’09. 6. Pamela Bunten Maffett ’09 married Bret N. Maffett in Wayne, PA, on September 24, 2016. The bridal party included Amanda S. Bunten ’11, Julie D. Bunten ’13, and Lexi M. Tocci ’09. 7. Kristen Bunten ’18, Julie Bunten ’13, Pamela Bunten Maffett ’09, Amanda Bunten ’11, and Danielle Bunten ’15 celebrate Pamela and Bret Maffett’s wedding. 8. Lilibet and Charlotte, daughters of Joanna Johnston Stott ’03. 9. Alexandra Greco ’07 at her graduation from Columbia College of Dental Medicine in May of 2016. 10. Sandra Henein ’05 and Gavin Stradi on their wedding day 11. Everett Astor Rives, son of Graham and Jodi Housman Rives ’00. 12. Charlotte Hamilton ’05 married Paul Marshall at Rosecliff Mansion in Newport, RI, on December 10, 2016. 13. Caitlin Devlin Ferry ’04 on her wedding day with bridesmaids Honor Jones Coates ’04 and Laura Mackay ’04. 14. Joanna Kovalski ’06 and Matthew Sakumoto at their wedding with classmates Christie Clothier, Tori Johnston, Ashely Stewardson, Whitney Roller, Kate Beers, Lexy Pierce, Janet Bartholdson Fry, Sarah Jenkins, Emma Bazilian, Eleanor West, and Alice Van Horne.
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CLASS OF 2002
Mica Wilson Mica Wilson ’02 finds herself constantly drawing on the values she learned at Agnes Irwin — selfconfidence, problem-solving, a serious work ethic, and a commitment to excellence — for all of her achievements. A development project manager for the New York City Housing Development Corporation, Mica states that as long as she can remember, she has been interested in cities and urban development. “It is inspiring to work at an organization that makes a two-fold impact,” she explains. “I enjoy knowing that I help to create and preserve affordable housing for New York City’s individuals and families, while also contributing to equitable neighborhood 2013 Award improvement through quality design.” Winning Mica earned her B.A. from Columbia Submission by University in African American Studies Mica Wilson ’02 and a Master in Urban Planning from and two classmates, the Harvard University Graduate School Harvard Graduate of Design. While a graduate student at School of Design Harvard, Mica was part of a team that won the Connect Historic Boston Design Competition sponsored by the City of Boston and the National Park Service. The Along with the academics and values she learned contest sought ideas for celebrating historic sites at AIS, Mica remembers the camaraderie. “With 13 and public transportation through public art. Mica years of memories at AIS, I can’t pick just one!... The and her teammates were honored for their Senior Lounge was a really special place. As a senior, submission, entitled System Performance, which I remember a room full of random conversations, activated historic sites throughout the city with college application angst, singing, and an enormous spontaneous performances by local arts group. amount of support and openness.” Proposed interventions included a flash Mica also thanks Mr. Frank, who symphony by the Boston Youth “inspired me to do well in class, but also Symphony Orchestra at North and South encouraged me to examine how history stations, revisionist history improv relates to the present.” She continues, “With 13 comedy at Paul Revere’s House and the “His influence was also practicalyears of USS Constitution, and short a cappella throughout senior year he would share concerts by local university groups in vignettes of his time at college and later as memories downtown alleys. a young adult, indirectly easing some of at AIS, Now a resident of New York City, Mica our anxieties about leaving home, I can’t pick takes full advantage of all of the arts and entering a completely different world, and just one!” cultural opportunities the city offers, making (and re-making) career choices. both as a spectator and a performer. In fact, I use his advice on navigating the “Much love to Dance Motion!” she quips. NYC subway system to this day!” 60
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dealers, auction houses, and private art conservation firms in addressing questions of authenticity, preservation, and provenance. When not working, she and her husband are busy renovating a house in St. Davids, PA, with their two foxhounds. Joanna R. Kovalski ’06 married Matthew Sakumoto on June 25, 2016 at St. Ann’s Church in Phoenixville, PA. The bridal party members included classmates Katherine Beers (maid of honor) and Sarah Jenkins (bridesmaid), with many other Irwin’s classmates joining in the celebration. On top of that, Joanna recently graduated from Stanford University with a Ph.D. in Cancer Biology and will be continuing scientific research when she joins Matt in San Diego, CA, where he is an internal medicine resident. Andi Lucas Schmerin ’07 married Ben Schmerin on October 8, 2016 at The Hyatt at the Bellevue in Philadelphia. She graduated from Drexel’s Physician Assistant School in December and moved to a new home in Wayne. Ludmila I. Crowther ’07 resigned her position as senior account manager at Havas Lynx, a leading global healthcare communications company in the UK, as she was accepted to complete a full-time MBA at the University of
CLASS NOTES | Alumnae
Manchester’s Business School starting in September 2016. The MBA course is an 18-month program that follows the “Manchester method,” a learn-bydoing program where courses are completed while working on projects for clients around the world. During the past year at Havas Lynx, she traveled and successfully implemented corporate healthcare strategies, product launches, and digital best practice workshops on site in Brazil, Vietnam, Australia, China, the U.S., and the Netherlands — something she will truly miss when she starts her program. She continues to captain the local women’s lacrosse team, Heaton Mersey, which competes against other teams in major cities around the UK. Ludmila is also the Secretary of North of England Women’s Lacrosse Association (NWLA). Outside of lacrosse, her other main passion is being an active board member of Born to Thrive (born-to-thrive. org), a charitable trust dedicated to ensuring that regardless of race, sex, religion, and circumstance, all children receive the opportunity to develop, educate, and empower themselves. This charity operates primarily in Rwanda and Kenya. Havas Lynx recently agreed to make Born To Thrive their main international charity and will continue to support Ludmila and the organization.
Alexandra “Danda” Greco ’07 graduated from Columbia College of Dental Medicine in May 2016 and moved back to Philadelphia to begin specialty training in orthodontics at the University of Pennsylvania. She will complete her education in Spring 2018 and intends to practice orthodontics with her father, Dr. Peter Greco, in Center City and Suburban Square. She has been keeping up with her fellow Owls, but can’t wait to see all of her classmates at their 10th Reunion! Mary Catherine O’Reilly-Gindhart ’08 is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Moral Theology at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. Mary Catherine has received the Nostra Aetate Scholarship from the Conforti Institute for her studies and is currently working for The Bishops’ Conference of Scotland in interfaith dialogue. Sarah Sorenson Foster ’09 married Robert Foster of San Antonio, TX, on October 15, 2016. “We met at Washington and Lee University and are now living in San Antonio, TX. I had four of my best Irwin’s friends in the wedding as bridesmaids!”
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Chloe Carabasi ’10 played in the Women’s Sunset Polo Match at the Bentley Polo Championship in
Scottsdale, AZ, this past fall — the largest annual polo event in the U.S. with over 12,000 spectators. Carabasi was the MVP of the game, scoring seven goals. Erinn Corbett-Wright ’10 and husband, Mu’min Islam, welcomed their son, Yaseen Mu’min Islam, on November 11, 2016 at 12:02 a.m. Yaseen was 21 inches long and weighed 7 pounds, 9 ounces. Currently, Yaseen enjoys his rattle, tummy time, and playing in his baby gym! Amanda Bunten ’11 says, “I hope this finds you all wandering equally aimlessly through (toward?) adulthood. This past year was eventful to say the least! Four years of fooling around down in Nashville wasn’t quite enough, so I stuck around to pick up a graduate degree in Special Education at Vanderbilt. I moved to Columbus, OH, in August and teach 3rd grade at an all-girls school (yes — it’s Irwin’s reincarnate). In September 2016, I earned the award for most incompetent maid of honor when Pamela Bunten Maffet ’09 got married. I hope to see some of you when I’m back in town over the summer (cheers to always having a summer break!)”
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1. Chloe Carabasi ’10 at the Women’s Sunset Polo Match at the Bentley Polo Championship in Scottsdale, AZ. 2. Mary O’Neill ’04 and Elee O’Neill ’10 pose with “Pookie” on their recent visit to Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand. 3. Yaseen Mu’min Islam, son of Erinn Corbett-Wright ’10.
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CLASS OF 2007
Neveen “Veenie” Mahmoud Neveen “Veenie” Mahmoud ’07 recalls that being elected lacrosse captain her senior year was a defining leadership experience for her. “It taught me how to fall down and get up — again and again — until you cross the finish line. There is something magical about learning how to be physically intense and gritty while maintaining a level of mental poise and focus in pursuit of a goal,” she says. “It was on the lacrosse field that I came to value and understand the imperfection inherent in the process of creation and achievement.” A soccer and lacrosse player throughout Upper School, Veenie says that athletics at Irwin’s “really made me a more powerful, capable, and resilient person.” She fondly recalls the many unique relationships she formed at AIS, and credits middle school history teacher Cathy Lynch with nurturing and challenging her. “She was the strongest disciplinarian and most encouraging mentor all Veenie considers building, launching, and growing wrapped into one.” Young Vets into the organization that it is today her Veenie went on to study at Stanford University, greatest achievement, and says that Agnes Irwin was where she earned a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in instrumental in her success. Arabic Language. Two years later, she co-founded the “Getting any venture off the ground is difficult social impact startup Young Vets, which offers a sixwork that requires much resilience. On a personal week leadership development program for lowlevel, AIS taught me how to be bold and unapologetic income basketball players who are rising juniors in in my pursuits. I sincerely doubt that I would even be high school. Young Vets’ first summer was such a an entrepreneur today without the confidence and success that Veenie and the other founders worked sense of open-ended possibility that I got out of my for a year to secure nonprofit status so that they could Irwin’s education,” Veenie remarked. expand the program. Soon after, Veenie “Aside from helping me to cultivate the turned her focus to Young Vets full-time, audacity necessary to start something, and she now serves as the nonprofit’s “AIS taught Irwin’s gave me the most amazing Chief Operating Officer. network of women to draw support from. The program accepts 10 studentme how Friends from Agnes Irwin have stepped athletes from around the country each to be up as funders, mentors, volunteers, year, with the goal of creating a better bold and connectors, and cheerleaders, together future for the group of young men who unapologetic contributing a great deal of value to participate — focusing not only on Young Vets. Many moments of progress cultivating athletic talent, but also on in my have been made possible through the professional and leadership development pursuits.” women of Agnes Irwin — and for them, I and teaching necessary life skills such as am eternally grateful.” finance and nutrition. 62
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Samantha Lucas ’11 moved to southern Alabama in March to begin 15 months of training to become a helicopter pilot for the U.S. Army. Alexandra Magnani ’12 graduated from Tufts University with a degree in Archaeology and Ancient Greek & Latin, and a minor in History. Alex is now a graduate student at the University of Oxford in England, pursuing a career in classical archaeology. She has worked abroad on various projects for the past four years at archaeological sites from Bulgaria to Greece and France, and now specializes in gender in Bronze Age Greece. Following a love for the ancient world that was sparked in an Irwin’s Ancient Greek class, she is endeavoring to become a “trowelblazer” in researching the women of the past and how they can impact the women of the present. Brooke Sutherland ’13 is a senior at the University of Virginia, majoring in Biomedical Engineering and minoring in Foreign Affairs. She plays on the UVA women’s tennis team, and will graduate in May.
MILESTONES | Alumnae
MILESTONES MARRIAGES
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Caitlin Devlin to David Joseph Ferry III June 18, 2016
Lynn Martin to Andrew Danner April 2, 2016 Sandra Moser to Jacob Skeeters March 10, 2017
Joanna Kovalski to Matthew Sakumoto June 25, 2016
Charlotte Hamilton to Paul Marshall December 10, 2016
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Andi Lucas to Benjamin Schmerin October 8, 2016
Sandra J. Henein to Gavin Stradi October 8, 2016
Tara Malloy to Brian Fletcher March 10, 2017
Katharine Panarese to Kyle Wharton September 17, 2016 Pamela Bunten to Bret Maffett September 24, 2016 Sarah Sorenson to Robert Foster October 15, 2016
BIRTHS
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To Michael and Page Callaghan Pisapia, a boy, Crozer “Crow” Daniel January 15, 2017
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To John and Courtney Miles Mulholland, a girl, Charlotte Elizabeth December 8, 2016
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To Emanuele and Alice Keen Vassalli, a boy, Oliver Keen January 19, 2017
To David and Katie Alburger Christopher, a boy, Peter Thomas March 4, 2017
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To Andrew and Lynn Martin Danner, a boy, Theodore Robert January 3, 2017 To Jacob Skeeters and Sandra Moser, a girl, Sloane Galloway March 6, 2016
To Joseph and Tara Glenn Gendelman, a girl, Sadie Lauren January 7, 2017
To Andrew and Anne Carson Blair, a boy, Michael Duffy July 10, 2016
To Joshua and Elizabeth Sall Ott, a girl, India Grace November 29, 2016
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To Nathaniel and Shaina Flynn Hamilton, a boy, Nathaniel Peter III October 11, 2016
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To Kevin and Elise Gelinas Attridge, a boy, Dalton Wye May 15, 2016 To Matthew McKeever and Emily Rowland, a boy, Grayson Chin March 24, 2016
To Graham and Jodi Housman Rives, a boy, Everett Astor January 14, 2017
To Sam and Amanda Cannon Goldworm, a boy, Maxwell “Max” Campbell December 22, 2016
IN MEMORIUM
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Louise Roberts Stengel February 18, 2017
Emily Cresson Satterthwaite November 20, 2016
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Caroline Rodenbaugh Nassau March 24, 2016
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Susan Jackson Garrett January 2, 2016
Earlier this year, several businesses and corporations supported the AIS community through sponsorship of our Athletics Department. We want to extend a special thank you to our AIS/EA Day Corporate Banner Sponsors: Armstrong, Doyle & Carroll, Bryn Mawr Beverage, Culinart, Dandelion Jewelry, Excel Physical Therapy, Foote Orthodontics, Hammer Strength/Life Fitness, Lindsey F. Marshall, DMD, PC, MigraneReliefCoach.com, Paragon Landscaping Corporation, Pediatric & Adolescent Dentistry of the Main Line, and The Rothman Institute. Additionally, we’d like to recognize David Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram as our 2016-2017 Athletics Title Sponsor.
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Regional Events 1. Alumnae gather with Dr. Wendy Hill at the Chevy Chase Club in Washington, D.C. 2. Lynne Fort Reynolds ’64, Ann Laupheimer Sonnenfeld ’77, Joan Carlisle ’64, Joan Burden Litle ’60, Lori Bernstein Weitzman ’92, Anne Frichtman Hamilton ’74, and Laura Wheeler Golding ’64 in Palm Beach, FL.
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3. Susan Burch (T, P’09, ’10, ’30), Ann Laupheimer Sonnenfeld ’77, Edith Dixon Robb ’50, Dr. Wendy L. Hill, and Connie Anne Phillips ’83 at a luncheon hosted by Edith Robb Dixon ’50 in Palm Beach, FL. 4. AIS Athletic Hall of Fame inductees, November 2016. Back row (left to right): Sydney Brown Clarke ’87, Erin Olivier Bacon ’93, Libby Berlacher Bush ’00, Debbie Coonley Rand ’90. Front row (left to right): Mary Knox Tatnall ’55, Donna Schlingmann Heckscher ’68.
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5. Alumnae reconnect at a reception in NYC. 6. Members of the Alumnae Board celebrate at 100th Night with the Class of 2017. 7. New York City area alumnae gather at a reception at Carroll Place in March 2017.
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From the Archives
TRADITIONS
Hats Off For more than 30 years, Agnes Irwin Upper Schoolers arrived at Class Night in style, sporting beanies like this one in their class color of red, orange, green, or purple. The caps also bore the class’s graduating year in stitched white felt — a common mid-century tradition at preparatory schools and colleges alike. Today, Class Night no longer involves beanies — or the sizeable supply of bobby pins some alumnae employed to keep them affixed — but the class color remains an integral part of the evening. At the start of the ceremony, each class files into the Laura Thomas Buck ’49 Pavilion, bearing shirts in their color, with a leader waving a matching flag.
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There’s nothing like the feeling of summer. Summer at AIS campers are empowered to build their own itineraries, sampling a variety of activities or focusing on a particular area of interest. Full-day, half-day, and partial-day schedules can be created for boys and girls PreK through Grade 12. Choose from a variety of courses, camps, and clinics: academics, arts, athletics, STEM, and much more led by talented Agnes Irwin faculty/staff! Summer at AIS is proud to partner with a number of highly experienced industry leaders to develop the most innovative camps in the area:
• Villanova University College of Engineering • The Philadelphia Zoo • Chanel Summers, Virtual World Building • Greener Partners • Drobots Company Drone Camps • Future Design School • BSD Code + Design Academy
June 12 – July 28, 2017 Boys and Girls PreK – Grade 12 Visit SummerAtAIS.org to view course offerings, and sign up online!