Newsletter summer 2018
Alumni Survey We need your feedback! Please take a few moments to complete our short online survey about reunion timing, alumni engagement and opportunities within the Alumni Association. We are at an exciting crossroads and look forward building alumni programming to best suit your needs. The survey, which can be found at www.aw.org/alumni, is open until August 15.
Beautiful Architectural Digest named Annie Wright the most beautiful private school in the state of Washington! See more highlights of your alma mater inside.
Congratulations Red Tie Class of 2018 Congratulations to our newest alumnae, the Red Tie Class of ’18. These amazing young women are award-winning scholars, elite athletes, talented artists and performers, service leaders and entrepreneurs. Most importantly, they are curious, confident and caring young women who will go on to make a profound contribution in the world. See inside for a list of their colleges.
In this issue
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Snapshot of a thriving school Alumni-student connections Remembering an iconic teacher Reunion weekend festivities The Class of ’18 goes to college Campus highlights Opportunities to engage
YOUR SCHOOL IS THRIVING!
In Remembrance Beverley Brown ’41, iconic teacher of English, religious studies and most notably the arts at Annie Wright Schools 1959-86, died on May 2 at the age of 94. Known for her dedication, wit, sincerity, grace, irreverence, high standards and passion for art and travel, Bev inspired nearly three decades of students to explore history and world cultures through the study of art. “I was astonished to learn that Bev Brown was only five years older that those of us she was teaching,” said fellow Alumni Award winner Marie (Dodge) Eaton ’68. “We all thought she was so sophisticated, worldly wise and brilliant. My whole life I have been grateful that she brought an interdisciplinary lens to our learning, weaving history, arts and literature together so we could see the interconnectedness of everything! She shaped my own teaching and learning. And she was the person who first introduced me to the avocado!”
Beverley Brown holds a card with her photo from 1969 at a reception honoring her for winning the Alumni Achievement Award in 2015.
Read a full obituary in the next issue of Strength magazine, and find memories and well wishes on the occasion of Bev’s Alumni Achievement Award in 2015 from former students and faculty at www.aw.org/bev.
ALUMNI CONNECT WITH STUDENTS Throughout the year alumni share their passions, expertise and love of Annie Wright with current students. These connections are invaluable, as young people dream of future opportunities and begin to understand that they are part of something much larger than themselves. Here are some examples:
Betty Lou Broderick ’53 had dinner with members of the
Geneva Goldwood ’10 returned to Annie Wright to speak to
Upper School for Girls’ Model UN/Global Action activity group in Anchorage, where she related first-hand stories of the early development of the city from a town of a few thousand to the now bustling commercial center of Alaska.
Upper School students about her experience as an engineer for an international non-profit focused on global health innovations, including traveling to Kenya to implement some of the tools she worked on.
Rev. Elizabeth Appling ’63, who joined Annie Wright’s Board
Amy (Anton) Loehrer ’97MS, a recruiter for Google,
of Trustees this month as the bishop’s representative, visited Annie Wright in May to reconnect and learn about the current role of chapel and the spiritual life at school. After meeting with administrators and staff members, she shared stories from her student days in the early 60s with two students and heard their perspectives on Annie Wright today. She returned in June for her 55th reunion.
took students from the Upper School Girls’ Business & Entrepreneurship Program on an extensive tour of the Google campus in Silicon Valley.
Laura Bales ’85, Jennifer Haley ’89, Adrienne (Ottum) Peterson ’04 and Amy Anderson ’08 officially welcomed the graduating Red Tie Class of ’18 to the alumni community with insights, laughter and words of encouragement during the week preceding May Day.
Kate Dorr ’96 spoke at all-school Chapel about her new book about 21 of Tacoma’s seminal social justice and civil rights champions.
Zachary White ’09MS, Evan Bird ’05MS, Christopher Peterson ’06MS and John Tinsley ’01MS returned to Annie Wright on May Day morning to have lunch and share memories, experiences and perspectives with Upper School boys at their downtown campus on Broadway.
Nicole Comforto ’00 spoke to Upper School students about her worldwide travel and work for World Possible, a non-profit that aims to improve learning for the 4 billion people who lack access to the Internet by providing them with accessible content and educational resources to close the knowledge gap.
Interested in connecting with current students? Alumni relations coordinator Jennifer Shafer would love to help. Contact her at jennifer_shafer@aw.org or 253.284.8611.
May Day Reunion Weekend Eight decades of alumni gathered for May Day reunion weekend June 1-2. Special shoutout to the fabulous 50th reunion Class of '68 and to the two delightful attendees from the Class of '38 celebrating their 80th (yes, 80th!) reunion. Welcome also to our newest alumnae, the Red Tie Class of '18. As Mr. Sullivan pointed out in his commencement remarks, hopefully many of these young women will gather for their 80th reunion…in 2098! Photos of reunion weekend, May Day and commencement are available at www.aw.org/mayday.
Clockwise from left: Class of ‘38 alumnae Lois (Parker) Simonson and Anne (Murray) Barbey; Class of ‘08 alumnae (front row) Priya Manion, Claire Fallat and Amy Anderson, and (back row) Director of Upper School for Girls Jake Guadnola ‘90MS, Karissa Keiter, Kaitlyn Ugelstad, Assistant Head & Director of Upper School for Boys Susan Bauska, Hannah Graf and Upper School for Girls math teacher Emily Weston; Class of ‘73 alumnae Janice Jepsen and Mary (Rector) McCool; and Class of ‘68 alumnae (front row) Leanne (Moldwan) Benjamin, Candice (Andresen) Jennings holding photo of recently deceased classmate Barbara Lile-Duzsik and Deborah (Kass) Hubbard, and (back row) Helena (Barbey) Lankton, Stephanie (Smith) Christensen, Toni (Wolfe) Chambers, Pamela McClary, Nancy (Haumerson) Alpers, Lisa Poole and Patricia Talbott
Clockwise from left: Class of ‘63 alumnae Catharine Talbot-Lawson, Dee (Cragin) Hanich, Elizabeth Appling and Gillian King Coyne; Class of 1958 alumnae Sylvia Haase and Kathleen (Earley) Murray; Class of ‘68 alumnae Lisa Poole and Candice (Andresen) Jennings; Helena (Barbey) Lankton ‘68, her mother Anne (Murray) Barbey ‘38, and her sister Anita Murray Barbey ‘66
Seventeen members of the Middle School class of 2014 gathered in Kyle Price’s classroom to catch up and reminisce ahead of graduation. Front row: Chanel Crawford, Casey Kim, Rachel Wasyluka, Anna Andrade and Grace Hanly. Back row: Rachel Holland, Sophie Rockne, Kelsey Reunanen, Molly Bryant, Ashley Nelson, Caitlin Farrell, Zyaire Cheatham, Libby Kendig, Kieran Coumou, Jonathan Pelster, Max Bessler and Hannah Pukis
Congratulations Red Tie Class of 2018 Yuulin An Coe College
Megan Doody Pacific Lutheran University
Mayako Matsuno University of California, Irvine
Mariella Beaurpere Santa Clara University
Carter Eveskcige Whittier College
Kalina Mccoy Skidmore College
Caitlyn Bell Mills College
Clare Farley University of Redlands
Amber Moody Lewis & Clark College
Raquel Berman California Lutheran University
Marilyn Fisher University of Oregon
Ashley Nelson Seattle University
Phoebe Brown Middlebury College
Rachel Annette Holland Bryn Mawr College
Rachel Cayla Piatok Emerson College
Molly Rose Bryant University of San Francisco
Sungmin Hong School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Kelsey Reunanen University of La Verne
Vicky Cai Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Amy Hou New York University
Sophia Marie Rockne University of Redlands
Sasha Chang Reed College
Jin Huang University of Chicago
Tianyun (Emily) Shu University of Washington
Zyaire Cheatham Seattle University
Sofia Ann Huboly Pacific Northwest College of Art
Emellia Treece Washington State University
Tsai Shan (Ariel) Chiang University of Washington
Amethyst Akutisha Sekhmet Kettrell Suffolk University
Addie Weeks University of Vermont
Ho-Yu (Elena) Chung New York University
Minsu Kim The University of Utah Asia Campus
Rayna Wolff Tulane University
Maddie Cook Whitworth University
Mai Kondo University of Toronto
Yujia (Serafina) Xie University of California, Irvine
Keyariee Cooks-Nixon University of Hawaii
Blair Li Tsinghua University
Xu (Aimee) Xu University of California, Davis
Chanel Crawford University of Redlands
Yuqiu Li Emory University
Poplar Yang Lehigh University
Olivia Katharine Dahl Oregon State University
Pin-Yu (Nerissa) Lien University of California, Berkeley
Xiang (Idea) Zheng University of Washington
Harmeet Kaur Dhami Trinity College
Yiran (Zoe) Zheng Boston University
CAMPUS HIGHLIGHTS WE MEAN BUSINESS The Girls’ Business and Entrepreneurship Program visited The Gates Foundation, Amazon, Costco, Google, Facebook, Levi’s, Pixar and more this year, interacting with dozens of incredible women (and a few men) at all levels of these organizations.
EMPATHY & ACTION The Upper School for Boys finished their tiny house, which traveled by flatbed truck to a homeless community in Seattle in June, by painting the door yellow to honor their Yellow Tie class. Another innovative aspect of their curriculum this year was the LIVERESPECT program, which educates boys on healthy, respectful manhood and preventing violence against women. Gloria Steinem called the work of this organization “the basis of world peace.”
GO GATORS! Nearly two-thirds of all Annie Wright students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 participated in a competitive sport last spring. The Upper School for Girls golf team placed 2nd and Grade 11 runner Anna Haddad placed third in the 800m for their respective state competitions.
SPARKING A PASSION FOR SCIENCE Thanks to this year’s auction Fund-A-Need, the Middle School science lab is being completely gutted this summer to create university-level facilities, including a wet lab for hands-on chemical experiments and a dry lab for technology, computation and analysis. Most importantly, this new interactive lab will spark a passion for science and become a hub of excitement and wonder.
The new 25-yard swimming pool will serve students of all ages, accommodate competitions and serve families in the community outside of school hours who would otherwise not have access to swim lessons.
BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE Construction began in June for an additional gym with a new swimming pool to accommodate the school’s growing athletics programs and a new Upper School for Boys building to accommodate this separate academic division. Learn more about these projects at www.aw.org/building-projects.
ANNIE WRIGHT SCHOOLS ANNIE WRIGHT SCHOOLS 827 North Tacoma Avenue Tacoma, Washington 98403
We're here for you! Alumni Relations Coordinator Jennifer Shafer would love to hear from you. She can connect you to other alumni, provide information about Annie Wright’s current programs, host you and your family for a tour of campus, share opportunities to make a positive impact for current Annie Wright students and more. Contact her at jennifer_shafer@aw.org or 253.284.8611. You can also stay up to date with alumni news and events by sending your email address to alumni@aw.org.
Submit a class note to Strength magazine. Visit www.aw.org/connect or fill out the form below and send it to the Alumni Relations Office, Annie Wright Schools, 827 North Tacoma Avenue, Tacoma, WA 98403.
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