FOCUS SUMMER 2013

FOCUS THE AMERICAN SCHOOL FOUNDATION, A.C | SUMMER / FALL 2013

ONWARD

CLASS OF 2013 A fond farewell... and an exciting future PLANTING THE SEED

The promise of ASF’s new green roofs

MORE THAN ACADEMIC SUCCESS

Celebrating an ASF special ed pioneer

ROLL CALL

Thank you to ASF’s loyal donors

A magazine for alumni, parents, students, faculty & friends

Contents

Summer / Fall 2013 02From the Executive Director 02Contributors 03From the Editor 04From the Board of Trustees 05News & Events Introducing some of our writers

ASF’s accomplishments and goals for the year

The Sound of Music, the use of bottle caps, the gift of clothing, the planning of cities and other goings-on

GRADUATION 2013

18 20 22 23 24

THE HEROES OF THE CLASS OF ’13

32 34

ON HAND FOR OBAMA

By ROBERT BAUDOUIN

A BIG BOOST FOR ASF ATHLETICS The revival of the Bear Boosters

BY KELLY ARTHUR GARRETT

36 38 39 40 42

INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENT

“GREAT MINDS NEED GREAT SPACES” A decade of unprecedented achievements

IN HIS OWN WORDS: JOSÉ ANTONIO ALONSO IN HER OWN WORDS: ELODIA SOFÍA DE LANDA DE JENKINS GREAT NEWS ... About the 2012-2013 Annual Giving Program

DONORS 2012-2013 With a big thank you to all

Alumni

YOU CAN CHANGE (YOUR WILD AND PRECIOUS LIFE) The Commencement Address By Bret Sikkink

44Profile

“YOUR SUPERHERO IS THAT PERSON YOU DREAM TO BECOME” The Valedictory Address By NADIN EL-YABROUDI (’13)

45Events 46From the Mailroom 47Class Notes 48Reunions

“LEARN FROM EVEN THE MOST CASUAL SITUATIONS” The Salutatory Address By Rodrigo A. Hernández Ponce (’13) THE GRADUATING CLASS OF 2013

JASON GROSSMAN (’98) A Tony Award-winning Broadway producer

BY CINDY TANAKA (’91)

Time capsule, running for education, spirit awards

Plus Milestones and In Memoriam

Keeping in touch with the ASF family, far and wide

Who got together ... and what they did

26 29

FEATURES

SO MUCH MORE Maru Gutiérrez looks back on her 28 years as ASF’s special education coordinator By KELLY ARTHUR GARRETT

49

kids’ corner

THE MAGIC SCHOOL BUS, 3H STYLE

VIEW FROM THE TOP Green roofs and ASF’s drive to sustainability

By SHARMILA SACHDEV

Summer / fall 2013 | 1

from the executive director

| contributors

Sharmila Sachdev (“View From the Top,” page 29) A former employee of the Lower School, Sharmila Sachdev is an educator and certified speechlanguage specialist. Originally from New Jersey, she has been living in Mexico City since 2008 and has three children who attend ASF. In her spare time, she enjoys swimming and playing piano.

By the nature of its mission and its international character, ASF has always been a diverse place. As a secular, coeducational, dual-language International Baccalaureate World School, we could hardly be any other way!

Time and again, those of you who are alumni comment on the value you obtained from having classmates from different countries, religions, cultures and language backgrounds.

In those terms, ASF is as diverse as ever, with more than 40 different nationalities represented in our student body. At graduation in June, Old Timers stood shoulder-to-shoulder with ex-pat and diplomats’ kids, with plenty of dual (or more) citizens to go around in both groups. Although the numbers may fluctuate, that’s just who we are as a school community — and who we have been since the first kindergarten class in 1888.

Having said that, over the past couple of years, a group of dedicated volunteers and ASF employees have been working on an initiative to increase diversity on campus in some very specific ways. The values singled out by this Board task force for special attention are: arts, academics, athletics, community service and entrepreneurship. Therefore, ASF will place special focus on — and allocate specific aid towards — recruiting families and students with diverse pursuits in these areas.

What does all this mean for you? Any changes will be gradual and subtle, but you will be hearing a lot more mentions of these diversity areas in the coming months and years — not only in terms of recruitment and statistics, but also in terms of the values of our institution in general. These values are not new, but our emphasis on them is renewed and more deliberate than ever. We hope this effort will make the ASF community a more robust learning environment for all its members: students, families, faculty, staff, alumni and friends.

Nadin El-Yabroudi (’13) (“Your Superhero is That Person You Dream to Become,” page 22) Nadin, who is entering Stanford University this fall, was chosen to be the valedictorian speaker for the 2013 graduating class. Her article on a Student Voices page in the Graduation section of this issue is based on her address at the graduation ceremony.

Rodrigo A. Hernández Ponce (’13) (“Learn From Even the Most Casual Situations,” page 23) Rodrigo’s article in this issue is adapted from the salutatorian address he delivered at the Senior Awards Ceremony in May. He will be attending the University of Western Ontario.

Armando Martínez (“The Magic School Bus, 3H-Style,” page 49) Armando, now in the fourth grade, participated in a third grade class assignment last semester that asked students to write and illustrate their own version of a book in the “Magic School Bus” series. He really took the task to heart, as you can see from the excerpts of his work in Kids’ Corner.

As we get a new school year underway, I wish you a year of diverse experiences and enriching involvement in our unique and constantly improving community.

Paul Williams Executive Director

On the cover: ASF Graduation 2013 Photo by: Marisela Sanabria

2 | Summer / fall 2013

from the editor

FOCUS A magazine for ASF Alumni, Parents, Students, Faculty & Friends Summer / Fall 2013 Vol. XII | No. 2 | Mexico City Paul Williams Executive Director Susan Olivo Head of Early Childhood Center Tara Fitzgerald Head of Lower School Rebecca Crutchfield Head of Middle School Amy Gallie Head of Upper School Robert Wilson Head of Athletics & Extended Learning

Welcome to 2013-2014 and welcome to Focus! After a

summer of major physical improvements and without the sounds of our usual summer programs (canceled due to construction), our campus is beginning to hum again with the activities of a new school year, as faculty members prepare their classrooms and their lesson plans, and students pick up supplies and wonder about their new teachers. Families get ready to get back to old routines and staff members prepare to support all of these activities.

But — someone is missing. The Class of 2013.

We don’t usually “dedicate” the magazine, but if we were to dedicate this issue to anyone, it would be to those Class of 2013 graduates, now likely getting ready for that first day of classes at the university — perhaps moving into a dorm, picking courses, saying goodbye to summer fun — or in the case of others, traveling, volunteering or working through a gap year or gap semester.

We miss you. You’re probably consumed with dreams of the future, but you’re still on our minds.

We hope this magazine will have a place among the memorabilia of your youth, to remind you of the day when you donned a maroon cap and gown and said goodbye to ASF, full of hope and excitement about the future. You can come back again and again and leaf through the pictures, or read the speeches you may have been too nervous and excited to internalize at the time. You can check the list of names and wonder — “Whatever happened to so-and-so?”

You may no longer wear the cap and gown you put on for graduation day, but you will always wear a little piece of ASF as you make your way through life. Wear it with confidence! It may be invisible, but it will make itself extremely obvious at times as it helps you connect with other alumni or find the skills and attitudes you need to navigate university and professional life. That’s not to mention the moments you feel filled with nostalgia for your school days. We don’t have to tell you to remember you’re a Bear for life — 125 years of experience show those bonds are not easily broken.

There will be many more volumes of Focus in your future, whatever form it takes, to help you stay connected with the school and see how it’s growing and evolving.

Congratulations again, and we’ll see you back in these pages next time. To you and everyone else, best wishes for a successful year!

Board of Trustees Rosa Pisinger (’87), Chair Thurston F. Hamer (’81), 1st Vice Chair Jeffrey Scott McElfresh, 2nd Vice Chair Carla Ormsbee, Secretary Joan Liechty, Treasurer Catharine Austin (’78) Aliki Botton de Elías (’85) César Buenrostro (’85) Sebastián Fernández Steve Finley Fernando Franco Fernando Gutiérrez Ochoa Frances Huttanus Antonio Rallo John Santa Maria Otazúa (’78) Editorial Staff Violeta Ayala, Director of Communications Sloane Starke, Editor-in-Chief Kelly Arthur Garrett, Editorial Consultant Daniela Graniel, Art Director Marisela Sanabria, Photography Alumni Relations alumni@asf.edu.mx Parent Association Adriana Ramos, President Marissa Russell (’92), Vice President Advertising Sales: 5227 4900 ext. 4191 FOCUS es una publicación cuatrimestral editada por The American School Foundation, A.C., Sur 136 #135, Col. Las Américas, México, D.F., C.P. 01120. Editora Responsable: Sloane Alexandria Starke. Derechos de Autor: Licitud de Título y de Contenido 16220. Reserva de Derecho: 04-2008-111212240200102. Distribuido por The American School Foundation, A.C. Sur 136 #135, Col. Las Américas, México, D.F., C.P. 01120. Se prohibe la reproducción total o parcial de los textos de esta revista sin previa autorización escrita de The American School Foundation, A.C.

Sloane Starke Editor-in-Chief Summer / fall 2013 | 3

from the board of trustees

Members of The American School Foundation held their annual meeting last May. One order of business was to elect (or reelect) Board of Trustees members; the results are on page 6. But most of the meeting was taken up with a review of the previous year’s accomplishments, and I’d like to share with you some of the highlights.

I’ve categorized them by how they relate to the “five pillars” that guide the school’s long-term strategic plan.

“An inclusive community made up of a caring and diverse student body.” A Diversity Task Force, led by Cathy Austin, analyzed the ASF community and made recommendations for distributing financial aid in order to increase diversity at ASF, as well as new policies, enrollment guidelines and a recruitment plan. The Board has set the ambitious goal of increasing the percentage of ASF students receiving financial aid from 14% to 20%.

“Academic excellence.” School professionals participated in committees to explore improvements in such varied areas as curricular alignment, policy review and wellness culture. Curriculum reviews took place in the areas of physical education and languages other than English. Results of the IB Diploma and MYP Self Study evaluations have helped ASF to focus on areas of improvement. Testing data aided sustained improvement. The connected learning community was put in place, and faculty training and tools were provided.

“Talented teachers and leadership.” A new graduate program toward a master’s degree in educational administration is now offered at school. Four members of the faculty were chosen to participate in the Apple Distinguished Educator program. A goal is to improve teacher retention and recruitment through mentor programs, graduate programs and the range of professional development opportunities we offer.

“Modern infrastructure.” The Board’s Building and Grounds Committee, chaired by César Buenrostro, reached two very important milestones — the completion of the first phase of the Jenkins Foundation Wellness Center and the Ángeles Espinosa Yglesias Fine Arts Center, two magnificent venues that enrich the learning experience. LEED certification for both buildings is in process. The administration continued to establish and implement procedures to improve energy efficiency on the campus. Recycling programs have also been implemented throughout the school. Scheduled for the summer of 2013 were a remodeling of the “ramp” building, where the performing and visual arts classrooms will now be located, and a major overhaul of the school’s hydraulic and drainage infrastructure.

In terms of maintenance, the Upper Field’s drainage system was fixed, new grates were put in and the turf and track were also repaired. Periodic preventive maintenance in the Transportation Center continued. Campus safety and security being a top priority, emergency plans were reviewed, drills were carried out and community members were trained in emergency procedures.

Modern infrastructure requires technological capacities, and the Technology Committee, chaired by Trustee Tony Rallo, worked to develop partnerships with technology-related companies to make sure the school has the resources, expertise and strategies to fulfill its mission and vision. A new data center was equipped, and wireless network coverage was expanded across campus. To support the Bring Your Own Device initiative, the Internet bandwidth was increased by 150% and a fault-tolerant and load-balanced network architecture implemented. Mechanisms were set in place in the telephone system to avoid losing communications capability in case of hardware or software failures.

Other tech improvements implemented in 2012 and early 2013 were an online application management system, an electronic payroll receipt system, a pre-implementation service for ERP management software and a redesign of the public and community web site.

“Sound financials.” The Finance Committee is charged with working to ensure the fiscal health of the school, making sure funds are available for the execution of the school’s mission. Finance Committee Chair Joan Liechty reported that a healthy financial position allowed the institution to improve academic programs, execute campus renovations, implement technology, and attract and retain faculty. ASF remains a financially solid institution.

Also involved with the school’s sound financials is the Institutional Advancement Committee, chaired

by Frances Huttanus, which develops fundraising strategies. The goal is to create conditions for community trust and broad support that ensure the fiscal well-being of the institution and create an environment of goodwill within the community through outreach efforts. School groups that worked with the fundraising and communications efforts included the Parent Association, Bear Boosters, the school divisions, the Alumni Council and the Communications and Institutional Advancement Offices.

The “Great Minds Need Great Spaces” Capital Campaign raised a significant amount of money in 2012 (see page 36), as did the Annual Scholarship Drive, the Art Fair and the 5K-10K Run for Education, among many others.

The Foundation meeting confirmed that 2012 was a very constructive and positive year for ASF. It is an honor for me to be part of it.

Rosa Marentes de Pisinger (’87) Chair of the ASF Board of Trustees 4 | Summer / fall 2013

&

News EVENTS

Clockwise from above: Tara Fitzgerald, Kirk Holderman, David Kitchin, Matthew MacInnis, Lucinda Wiser, Virginia Solórzano, Alejandra Naranjo and Martin Thomas.

Welcoming the New Members of ASF’s Leadership Team

A

s each school year begins, ASF welcomes several new members to its Leadership Team, which consists of the division and department heads, school deans, top administrators and other key leaders who shoulder the responsibility of maintaining ASF’s high standards. This year’s new members include familiar faces as well as arrivals from far and wide.

Tara Fitzgerald, Head of Lower School Tara Fitzgerald joins ASF from John F. Kennedy, The American School of Querétaro, where she was the middle school principal for six years and the elementary English coordinator for four years. She has more than 16 years of experience in the field of education, plus an undergraduate degree in elementary education and two master’s degrees, in educational administration and reading. She originally hails from Albany, New York. She has two children at ASF, entering 3rd grade and 7th grade.

Kirk Holderman, Upper School Dean of Students Coming to ASF after a six-year stint as dean of students at an international school in Cairo, Kirk Holderman calls Texas his home state.

He has a bachelor’s in religious studies, a master’s in religious education and another master’s in administration.

David Kitchin, Upper School Academic Dean David Kitchin is already familiar to Upper School students and families, as head of the Upper School mathematics department. He has more than nine years of experience in education, a bachelor’s degree, a degree as an education specialist and a master’s in secondary math instruction. ASF is a family affair for David, whose brother James Kitchin and sister-in-law Lauren Morgan also work at the school.

Matthew MacInnes, Coordinator of Extended Learning ASF parents and students already know Matt MacInnes from his role as a coach and PE teacher. He has been at ASF in the Athletics and Extended Learning division for two years, and is probably best known as the head of the soccer program. Before that, he was at an international school in Malaysia, although he is originally from Scotland. He has a bachelor’s in physical education.

Martin Thomas, Middle School Dean of Students The Middle School’s new dean of students comes to ASF from Torreón in the state of Coahuila, where he was principal of the K-12 Colegio Alemán de Torreón. A Canadian, Martin Thomas has more than 13 years of experience in education at the K-12 and university levels. He holds a bachelor’s in education, a master’s in educational technology and is currently taking a master’s in international school leadership.

Alejandra Naranjo, Director of Institutional Advancement Alejandra Naranjo first came to know ASF as a parent. Now she’s leading the school’s advancement efforts. She is from Mexico City and recently returned after 11 years living in New York City, where she most recently served as senior director of major giving and strategic campaigns for the New York Women’s Foundation. She has also worked for the Centro Fox and several other non-profit organizations. She has an undergraduate degree from ITAM and a master’s in public administration from Baruch College. She has two children at ASF, in ECC and Lower School.

Virginia Solórzano, Coordinator of Services for Academic Success By no means a new arrival to ASF, Virginia Solórzano, usually called Vicky, has been working in ASF’s special education unit, Services for Academic Success, for 11 years, supporting Middle and Upper School students with learning disabilities and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. She graduated from the Universidad de las Américas in Mexico City and earned her master’s in learning disabilities from Northwestern University in Illinois. She has three children at ASF. Lucinda Wiser, Coordinator of the Center for Teaching Excellence Lucinda Wiser comes to ASF from the state of Washington, where she was working as an instructional coach in a public school district.

Before that, she worked in schools abroad for many years, including time in Guatemala, Venezuela, Pakistan and Syria. She has worked as an elementary principal both overseas and in the United States.

Lucinda has a bachelor’s degree in social studies and a master’s in education, plus a credential in administration.

Summer / fall 2013 | 5

News & EVENTS

The Sound of Talent ASF’s spring drama production was a full-length performance of “The Sound of Music,” Rodgers and Hammerstein’s last and most popular stage musical. The event used the talents of more than 47 ASF students across the divisions, and included two casts, many off-stage contributors, elaborate set designs and near-professional level performers who thrilled the audiences that packed the Ángeles Espinosa Yglesias Fine Arts Center for multiple performances.

Daniela DeWinter (’13), who was treasurer of the Drama Club before graduating last June, said of the production, “It brought a lot of students together through a creative and challenging learning environment.”

The Drama Club thanks the following sponsors for their support:

Thurston Hamer, a Longtime ASF Supporter, Has Been Elected to the Board of Trustees ASF’s newest Trustee is Thurston Hamer (’81), elected at the May 2013 Foundation meeting. His involvement with the Board is just his newest role in a lifetime of involvement with the school. Born in Mexico City, Thurston attended The American School through 9th grade before graduating from high school in the U.S. He graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1986 with a bachelor’s in advertising.

His professional career has encompassed roles in business planning and development, marketing and general management. He is currently chief operations officer for Distribuidora de Impresos S de LR de CV (Dimsa), a national periodical distribution company.

Thurston has been active on the boards of important associations in Mexico. He is currently serving as secretary and president of the Image Committee for Fomento Educacional AC. He has also participated as a director-at-large of The American Society of Mexico (2005-2007) and a member of the Communications Advisory Board of the American Chamber of Commerce (2003-2005). He currently serves on the ASF Governance Committee.

Thurston and his wife Angelina have one child, a sixth grader and third-generation ASF student.

“As an ASF alumnus, a longtime resident of Mexico, a father of a student and someone who has been thoroughly impressed with how the school has evolved and improved over the years, I consider my participation as a Trustee an opportunity to give something back to the school, and hopefully contribute to its continued success,” Hamer told Focus.

Also at the May Foundation meeting, members reelected Trustees Rosa Marentes de Pisinger (’87), Frances Huttanus, Antonio Rallo, Francisco Demesa and Sebastián Fernández.

6 | Summer / fall 2013

A Week for the Environment ASF’s 2013 edition of Environment Week in April offered a multitude of activities for students, faculty, staff and even teachers from other schools. Environment Week at ASF is a combination of Earth Week and Screen Time Awareness Week, when members of the community are encouraged to think about and care for their physical and their mental environments. The Parent Association and the Sustainability Committee planned several special events, including tours of the green roof atop the Ángeles Espinosa Yglesias Fine Arts Center (see page 29).

There was also a special recycling project, and a conference organized through the non-profit REEDUCA (Red de Escuelas por la Educación y la Conciencia Ambiental, or the Network of Schools for Environmental Education and Consciousness), which brought teachers from public and private schools to campus to learn about improving environmental education at their institutions.

ASF Scouts in Kingly Company

Adrián Mendoza appears with his family and Executive Director Paul Willams as he celebrates 40 years of service to ASF at the Staff Appreciation Celebration.

Staff Appreciation Faculty and staff members were recognized for reaching these milestones at the spring Staff Appreciation Celebration, held on the ASF campus on May 8: 5 Years of Service: Fleur Montes de Oca, Erin Trautman, Lety Zamora, Tania Baram, Lisa Keeler, Vidal Ruiz, Paulina Hernández, Ivette Orijel, Marina Beckman, Brenda Sens, Violeta Álvarez, Trish Arzani, Ángel Martínez, Mariana Sosa, Evan Hunt, Malu Molano, Jovany Báez, Kelley Brooks, Kristen Dixie, Katherine Lamberton, Margaret Nash, Solomon Rotstein, Jason Schell, Cristina Alcalá, Ana Casco, Liliana Domínguez, Lorena Tolumes, Susana Goldschmied, Juan Antonio Mireles, Dean Goldsworthy 10 Years: Rocío Salas, Rosana Cesarman, Graciela Miranda, Alejandra Reyes, Cindy Tanaka, Gabino Ramírez, Juan De Luca, Armando Arechavala, Benito Martínez, Gerardo Mata, Argentina Rodríguez, Lety Dávalos, Tulio Lugo, Jesús Morales 15 Years: Martha Ochoa, Luz Eugenia Segura, Araceli Becerra, Federico Parga, Gabriela García, María del Carmen Álvarez, Leonardo Alva, Renee Olper, Carmen Pavón 20 Years: Ileana Garciatardiff, Juan Carlos Rodríguez, Esteban Alva

Erick Silva and Stefan Waller of ASF’s Boy Scouts of America Troop 3, which has been registered in Mexico for more than half a century, were in kingly company last April 27. Along with some 700 others from the Asociación de Scouts de México, they accompanied His Majesty Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden, who was celebrating his 67th birthday at the Colegio Cristóbal Colón in Naucalpan, State of Mexico.

One of Scouting’s staunchest supporters, the king joined members of the World ASF Scout Erick Silva presents a Scout Fund and top leaders from the Boy Troop 3 neckerchief to Sweden’s King Gustav.

Scouts of America in Mexico to drum up support for world Scouting. The King toured the Scout demonstrations and displays, talked with Scouts of all ages, received funds, presented awards, enjoyed some birthday cake and came close to breaking the piñata, with mariachis playing “Las Mañanitas.”

Running for Education ASF’s annual Run for Education, whose fourth edition took place last May 19, has quickly become a major community event. This year, 1,500 runners participated in the 5K, 10K and children’s races — 375 more than last year. The course took runners from the ASF campus to the second section of the Bosque de Chapultepec and back, with a challenging uphill segment near the end. The children’s races held later in the morning gave ASF students and other kids, some as little as age 3, a chance to participate, right on the track of Coach Colman Field.

Here are the top finishers in the 5K and 10K events, with their times: 10K Female: Aurora León Bayona 40:47; Sugey Pérez Corona 42:42; Karen Sánchez Abbott 44:47 10K Male: Wilbert Mondragón Limón 34:15; Luis Jiménez Vázquez 35:13; Gustavo Ramírez Muñoz 37:01 5K Female: Ilse Anaís Juárez Herrera 23:31; Chiyong Carolina Kim Vázquez 23:45; Mariana Gómez Pimienta Milmo 23:46 5K Male: Ernesto Bustamante Becirril 17:19; Mario Salazar Valdez 17:29; Omar Rodríguez Arango 18:09

25 Years: Guadalupe Gutiérrez, Sharon Wojciechowski, Hilda Esparza, Miguel Ángel Sánchez, Elda De León, Tom Janota 35 Years: Georgina Hernández 40 Years: Adrián Mendoza 50 Years: Lupita Torroella Retirement: Tom Janota, Tracy Miller, Paty Tovar, Aurea González, Carmen Narváez, Maru Gutiérrez, Consuelo Novoa, Argentina Rodríguez, Michele Beltrán, Lucienne Ziman, Lupita Torroella Summer / fall 2013 | 7

News & EVENTS

From Fifth Grade to Middle School: Stepping Up, But “Forever Young” Fifth graders officially became Middle School students at their Stepping Up ceremony on June 14. The formal event, held for the first time in the Ángeles Espinosa Yglesias Fine Arts Center, included remarks from two students, a teacher and then-head Evan Hunt, who borrowed from the choir’s musical selection, Rod Stewart’s “Forever Young,” for the theme of his speech. “Be courageous and be brave,” he quoted, continuing: “If you live life without regret or excuses, even if you are not always successful, you will be loved and feel satisfied.” The ceremony, held on the last day of school, was followed by a reception for the newly minted sixth graders, their families and friends.

The Class of 2017 Steps Up, And They Do It Their Way Eighth graders filled the Fine Arts Center stage on Wednesday, June 12, as they marked their transition to Upper School in a moving Stepping Up ceremony before a capacity audience of family members and other well wishers. The graduating class showed its creativity in several ways, including the choice of the song. “Don’t You Worry Child” by Swedish House Mafia may have been a non-traditional choice, but its call to face the future calmly was echoed by Executive Director Paul Williams, who assured the steppers-up that whatever uncertainties they may feel about Upper School life now will soon give way to a sense of achievement. The address delivered by Isabel Contreras was written collaboratively by all the top students in the class. And the speech by Head of Middle School Rebecca Crutchfield was more of a casual, intimate chat, during which she singled out students, seemingly at random, for words of encouragement that ended up inspiring all.

8 | Summer / fall 2013

News & EVENTS | Early childhood center

The Bottle Cap Project ECC students take helping others very seriously, and last spring they proved it. K3 teacher Erin Lamont organized a community service project for her classroom. She challenged students to collect a thousand bottle caps that could be used to create learning games for children. The caps would go to six classrooms in marginalized schools in the state of Veracruz. “The classrooms there are incredibly sparse and have little educational material,” said Ms. Erin, who had visited the same community, Tempoal, two years earlier on another community service trip.

The kindergarteners’ enthusiasm was so great that Ms. Erin soon changed the goal to 5,000 bottle caps, which the students proceeded to collect, tally, clean and sort. Other classrooms pitched in, too. In fact, the entire ECC helped gather the caps, and a small group of teachers came to school on a Saturday to make them into literacy and numeracy games. ECC students were happy to give the games a test drive. “We had so much fun playing the games and it is important because it helps children learn,” said then-K3 student Emily Kosina. “The games we made help them learn to read,” added Santiago Ruiz.

And Carolina Peñamoros summed it up: “We helped the friends in Veracruz that don’t have toys. It made me feel happy.”

Ms. Erin delivered the donations in late spring as part of a delegation from Encuentros Médicos, which has been the ECC’s partner in community service for several years. “When we went to the community, the teachers and students were excited about the games,” she said. “We taught them how to play them and they said that this is a project that they can continue on their own.”

Bright Lights, ECC City At the outset of the IB Unit called “My City,” K3 students rode the Turibus to see Mexico City’s landmarks and patterns, noting similarities and differences among them. Taking their newly acquired knowledge about cities, students then set out to create an original city of their own in art class by developing a collaborative plan. Each class designed a city block in which they included green areas, public art, fountains, sidewalks, streets, skyscrapers and many more elements that make up a city.

Throughout the project, students worked in small groups to construct models of trees, people, bridges and other three-dimensional elements to make their city as vibrant and full as Mexico City itself. Finally, the city blocks were united to create one large “K3 City” full of color, creativity and life, and emblematic of the value of cooperative learning.

— Danielle Schnell, ECC Art Teacher Summer / fall 2013 | 9

News & EVENTS | lower school

Creating an “Us” Through Opera The Fourth Grade Operas, the annual theater arts project in which fourth graders create and produce their own operas, took on a special excitement late in the spring when the performances were held for the first time in the new Ángeles Espinosa Yglesias Fine Arts Center. The young students took control of every aspect of their creations – brainstorming the plot, writing the music and lyrics, controlling the lighting, providing the costuming and promoting the event, not to mention the performances themselves.

Opera season is always a special time of year for students to grow and to create lasting memories and friendships.

“Children learn to appreciate everyone’s effort,” said teacher Mariceci Rojas. “They create an ‘us’ in the classroom.”

Skills on Display ASF’s fifth graders put their most professional faces forward last May for the Fifth Grade Exhibition, the culminating project that gives them the opportunity to exercise the skills they have acquired throughout the IB Primary Years Programme.

These skills, which IB calls the Transdisciplinary Skills, are: Thinking, Social, Communication, Self-Management and Research. The students, their mentors and their teachers worked for months on projects covering everything from animal rights to drug trafficking. (This year’s theme was “Sharing the Planet.”) Family, friends, teachers, staff and fellow students attended the Exhibition, in which the fifth graders explained what they had learned using videos, PowerPoint presentations, posters and other multimedia materials produced by the young researchers.

Culture and History, Urban and Rural

First graders get to work as they learn first-hand about composting, farming, building dams, trout farming and how bricks are made with clay from the earth.

10 | Summer / fall 2013

First and third graders experienced very different kinds of curriculum-based school trips (camps) during the spring. The third grade class visited the cradle of Mexican independence during an excursion that included the cities of San Miguel de Allende, Dolores Hidalgo and Querétaro. They visited churches, museums and historic sites, heard stories of early 19th-century Mexican heroes and played games at a small school where the children clean the grounds themselves. The trip opened the students’ eyes to the lives of the local people — including artisans, vendors, children and teachers.

The first graders, meanwhile, spent three days and two nights at Rancho Mateos in the green hills of Valle de Bravo, where they exercised social and academic skills in a rural setting. Part of the “From Field to Factory”PYP unit, the first graders’ camp offered a chance to learn about the rural way of life, while also having fun with camp activities such as playing soccer, writing in journals, singing songs and roasting marshmallows. They slept in dorm-like settings and enjoyed their meals on a patio that overlooked the fields, cows, sheep and chickens.

News & EVENTS | middle school

Washington Week Accompanied by 11 teachers, 113 ASF eighth graders spent a week in Washington, D.C. in May, learning about United States history by visiting many of its most important sites, including the White House, the Capitol Building, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress and the National Gallery of Art. They also saw the memorials to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King and those who lost their lives in the Vietnam and Korean Wars, as well as the iconic Washington Monument. Because they stayed in or near the U.S. capital for the entire week, the students were able to take in additional learning experiences, such as visiting the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the National Museum of the American Indian, hearing some of the backstories at Arlington National Cemetery, touring George Washington’s home (Mt. Vernon), seeing the homes of Frederick Douglass and Clara Barton and enjoying a production of “Hello Dolly” at Ford’s Theatre, where President Lincoln was fatally shot in 1865.

The Washington trip was optional, although the majority of the class chose to go. The other members of the class did Capital Cities Week at home with daily field trips in and around Mexico City.

Thinking Globally in Costa Rica

Behind the Scenes at the UN The floor of the United Nations General Assembly — the real one in New York — was the starting point of the USAUNA Global Classrooms Middle School Model United Nations Conference attended by 15 ASF Middle Schoolers last April. The bulk of the event took place over three days in midtown Manhattan, with the ASF students conferencing and creating resolutions with other middle school students from 13 U.S. states and eight other countries, including Korea, Argentina, Ghana and Israel. The ASF students represented Venezuela and Afghanistan in the conference and had to research their countries’ positions on various topics.

The MUN conference offered a valuable learning experience in networking, public speaking and the preparation and presentation of a position. One ASF student, Isabel Contreras, received an award for the best position paper in her committee. All the ASF students were privileged to meet a former ambassador for Bosnia, the uncle of a fellow student, which allowed them to sit in the Security Council and take a behind-the-scenes tour of the UN. They were able to see some of the sights of New York City, including Central Park, Wall Street, the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and the Museum of Natural History. Students attending were Andrea Carasso, Isabel Contreras, María del Río, Aldo Díaz, Isabella Edmonds, Ali Estrada, Nicole Grossman, Diego Hauser, Sofia Izunza, Isabella Molano, Roberta Luque, Fabiana Peñaloza, Rodrigo Peralta, Javier Robles and Mercedes Sánchez

GIN stands for the Global Issues Network, and the 12 ASF seventh graders who attended the GIN conference in San José, Costa Rica, last April spent a week deeply involved in that very subject. Having been involved with the Middle School’s greenhouse project and recycling efforts, the students presented their own experiences, listened to other presentations, heard keynote speakers and attended smaller workshop sessions to discuss global issues. During the interchanges, the students were challenged to think about ways to change their daily habits and to motivate others to do the same. They also brought back with them ideas from other students at the conference, including ways to reduce the use of plastics and to encourage better treatment of animals in large agribusiness. With all the work, there was still time to enjoy the natural beauty of Costa Rica, including rafting on the Sarapiquí River and ziplining through the rainforest canopy. Students who attended were: Alinka Cervantes, Daniela Paullada, Isabel Ríos, Dalia Zuckermann, Jerónimo Serna, Pablo Guarneros, Natalie Velarde, Alison Steele, Valeria Ramos, Ana Valeria Chávez, Thomas Márquez and Mariano Franco.

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News & EVENTS | UPPER school

For the festival, the PTA Plaza was renamed the Cheshire Moon Stage, after the lunar phase in which the tips of the crescent moon point up at an angle away from the horizon, making the moon’s crescent resemble a bowl or a smile. For one night, the Fine Arts Center stage was known as Wolf Moon Stage, referring to the popular Native American belief that during certain full moons, hungry wolf packs could be heard howling outside villages.

Repentino Redux Two years into its existence as the latest incarnation of ASF’s student literary magazine tradition, Repentino has grown in more ways than even its young staff members had anticipated. The premier issue won a silver medal award after being presented to Columbia University, the staff itself has grown from a core of six to 16, typical attendance at the Repentinosponsored Open Mic Nights in the Upper School Library has soared from 16 to 65, and submissions of text and art are now being received from around the world, including Cambodia, Japan and Denmark.

Now it’s almost time for the second issue of Repentino to be released, preceded by an exhibit in the Ángeles Espinosa Yglesias Fine Arts Center displaying the history and the contents of both the new magazine and ASF’s literary magazine tradition.

That event will run from August 27 to September 28, with the final day providing an opportunity for visitors to talk with the Repentino staff and contributors, meet local and international writers such as David Lida and get information on obtaining the new issue, whose cover is shown here.

“The support we have received from the ASF administration, the Parent Association, the Bear Boosters and the Art Department shows the trust that exists in art as a common language,” said ASF Upper School Librarian Harry Brake, Repentino’s faculty sponsor. More information about the magazine is available on Facebook (search for the magazine “Repentino”), Twitter (@RepentinoMag) and Tumblr (repentinomagazine.tumblr.com.)

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Once in a Blue Moon If last year’s event was any indication, Upper School students can look forward to the next Blue Moon Music and Arts Festival, a one-night on-campus event featuring local talents from ASF and other schools with live music, a photography exhibition and a film festival of student submissions. In 2013, top film honors went to Ximena Gabilondo and Mario Herbe for “9:10 a.m.,” Alia Suhaimi for “Bad Habits” and Pablo García for “The Giving Tree.”

The music event started before dark outdoors in the PTA Plaza in up-closeand-personal fashion, with singers such as Mario Aksiyote, Alessandro Niro, Ana Duclaud, Alex de Winter, Clau Robles-Gil, Andrés Martínez and Luis Bonilla, Eva Salazar and Natalia Quintanilla, the De Winters and the trio Tres Bes singing soft ballads to a happy crowd while short films were presented between acts.

Later that night on the FAC stage, a lively crowd eager to dance and sing along heard headliners Little Ethiopia and student bands such as Monday Morning, Bohemian Flats, Blue Steele, Copy Paste and Debbie Simons and her City Boyz.

A Rewarding Experience Hard work, talent and community spirit have their rewards. Some outstanding achievers from the Upper School were recognized shortly before the end of the 2012-2013 school year at the Leadership Awards and Senior Awards Ceremonies. Salutatorian Rodrigo Hernández spoke, and Nadin El-Yabroudi was officially named as valedictorian of the Class of 2013. (You can read Rodrigo’s speech from the awards ceremony and Nadin’s speech from commencement on pages 22 and 23.)

Academic departments named the best senior students from the different disciplines, the National Honor Society welcomed its newest members and students were recognized for their service to the school and the community, their artistic and athletic skills, their school spirit and more.

News & EVENTS | arts

Design-Wise AP 2-D Design is an intense, college-like commercial art class taught at ASF by Jason Schell. Over the course of a year, students create a portfolio comprised of 24 art pieces. Half of them must show a range of artistic skill as it relates to design, and the other 12 are focused on a single theme. Once finished, the portfolios are externally judged by AP central. This class is a great opportunity for students who are serious about graphic design, photography, or who want to study marketing. And it gives students an outstanding portfolio to use for college entry. Shown here are two examples of such work from last semester — by Guillermo Toscano (left) and Héctor Ibarzabal (right).

Art Exam The 2013 IB Visual Arts Examination Exhibition took place last semester in the Fine Arts Center and featured 14 student artists, all of whom happened to be young women. With a record attendance of more than 100 visitors for the March 7 opening, the students enjoyed substantial community support and positive feedback for their work, which ranged from highly personal creations to specific comments on society and culture (as in the example shown here).

In addition to the exhibition, new exam requirements included a 30-minute interview of each student and digital submissions of photographs of the artwork and the research that went into it.

— Pat Patterson, K-12 Visual Arts Coordinator

Final chords A performance in late April combining ASF’s Classical Guitar Ensemble and the English Handbell Troupe had a bittersweet quality to it. It was the final concert in the old Music Room, an intimate space that so many ASF performers have come to know and love over the years. A major renovation of the building it occupied — known by many names over the decades, including the Ramp and Freshman Hall — began over the summer of 2013 to better integrate it with the adjoining Ángeles Espinosa Yglesias Fine Arts Center. The result will be better arts-oriented educational spaces, with direct access to the theater side of the complex.

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News & EVENTS | Athletics & extended learning

Assume the Position The ASF Athletics and Extended Learning division recognizes yoga as a physical and mental discipline that teaches students how to breathe and relax in order to stabilize their heartbeat and diminish stress. Therefore, yoga has now been made available to all age groups, from ECC to adults, as part of the A&EL program.

For the youngest children, classes focus on postures that allude to geometric shapes and other elements in their surroundings. Though yoga is usually an individual pursuit, there are activities where younger children cooperate as a team to create postures. Teenagers and adults, including seniors, will benefit from better sleep, higher energy levels, more muscle strength, welcome pain relief, better blood circulation and a general sense of well-being. Information on yoga and other A&EL offerings is available through the ASF web site at www.asf.edu.mx.

Manuel García-Lascurain

David Graham Goslin

Manuel García-Lascurain, Graham Goslin Share ASF’s Athlete of the Year Award With 2012-2013 being such a strong year for ASF sports teams, it’s perhaps fitting that the Athlete of the Year award went to two graduating seniors instead of the usual one: Manuel Gerardo García-Lascurain and David Graham Goslin. Both exemplified the ASF athletics ideal of being “good people, good students and good athletes — always in that order.”

Manuel was a varsity swimmer who ranked fourth in Mexico in the butterfly. An outstanding IB and AP student, he holds 23 school records and 10 state records. He will attend St. Peter’s University this fall on a full athletic scholarship.

Graham was a two-sport letterman and high level performer in football and basketball who helped lead the Bears to the championship in April at the ASOMEX basketball tournament.

Boys Varsity Hoops: ASOMEX Champions The new Jenkins Foundation Wellness Center was on full display last April 19 through 23 as ASF hosted the annual basketball tournament of schools belonging to ASOMEX, the Association of American Schools of Mexico. Also on display were the talents of the ASF varsity boys team, which took the gold medal in front of a capacity crowd of more than 1,200 spectators.

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ASF Swimmers Shine at the National Swimming Olympiad Since 2008, the ASF varsity swimming team has been producing premier swimmers who earn the right to compete in Mexico’s National Swimming Olympiad.

Manuel García-Lascurain, Valeria Watson, Tomás Bravo, Alejandra Sánchez and Paulina Watson earned this great honor for 2013 by placing in the top 16 in their age groups at the Mexican Swimming Federation’s (FMN) Short Course National Championship in Monterrey, Nuevo León, in December of 2012.

The National Swimming Olympiad itself took place over a week in May at the Centro de Alto Rendimiento de Baja California, located in Tijuana. Morning heats determined the top eight, who competed in the evening for medals in each event. In a wonderful surprise, Manuel, Valeria, Paulina, Alejandra and Tomás all earned top eight morning rankings.

Some meet highlights for ASF: • Manuel’s times in both his 50-meter and 100-meter butterfly events were good enough to secure him several athletic scholarship offers.

• Tomás set a school record in the 400-meter individual medley.

• Valeria achieved a personal best and a bronze medal in the 200-meter backstroke.

• Alejandra also achieved a personal best and a fourth-place finish in the 200-meter backstroke.

• Paulina’s silver medal in the 1500-meter freestyle earned her a spot on the Mexican national team, competing against the United States and Canada in an August 2013 meet in California. The youngest member of the team, Paulina also won a bronze medal and several fourth-place finishes in other swims.

News & EVENTS | parent association

Meet New PA President Adriana Ramos The Parent Association’s new president as of this new school year is Adriana Ramos, mother of an ASF 2009 graduate and a current ASF junior. A former homeroom parent and organizer of the Art Fair, Adriana says she wants to be more involved in the school community during her daughter’s last two years as an ASF student.

“The thing I look forward to most is the Art Fair,” she says. “I’ll do the best that I can!” She also says she’s eager to learn new skills as PA president. When she’s not attending to her PA and parenting duties, Adriana is a musician and orchestra director, with an arts space where she provides art and music classes.

In addition to Adriana, the new PA Executive Board includes: Marissa Russell (’92), vice president; Ana Elena Pérez Lemus, treasurer; Martha Sosa, assistant treasurer; Christina Moguel, secretary and Anaisa Abad, parliamentarian.

Coming Up: The 2013 ASF Art Fair The theme for the 2013 Art Fair, set for Saturday, November 9, is... prints. Two major artists, both octogenarian and foreign-born but long established in Mexico, have signed on – Roger von Gunter and Gustavo Arias Murueta. The garden artists spaces are open and filling quickly. The Museo Nacional de la Estampa, Museo Dolores Olmedo and Museo Tamayo are all coming to organize activities.

And the student art promises to be spectacular as always.

The Artist of the Year is Natalia García Clark (‘13), shown here, whose work reflects an almost anthropological exploration of contemporary youth attitudes. “Transferring those features to a work of art is a lot of work,” she says.

“It can take years.”

The new PA Executive Board, left to right: Marissa Russell (’92), Martha Sosa, Cristina Moguel, Ana Elena Pérez Lemus, Adriana Ramos and Anaisa Abad.

Dining on Their Day Faculty and staff enjoyed a delicious celebration of Teachers Day on May 15. For the first time, the PA’s celebration of teachers took place in the new Jenkins Foundation Wellness Center. A buffet of donated dishes and a special catered pasta station awaited employees who came by for breakfast, lunch or both.

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News & EVENTS | people

Farewell, Lupita, After Half a Century

Tom Janota’s Retirement Present to Us: A Humboldt Biography for Young People Tom Janota, the ASF Middle School science teacher who retired at the end of the 20122013 school year, has dedicated much of his research in recent years to Alexander von Humboldt, the Prussian scientist/explorer whose 1799-1804 journey through South America and Mexico has been called the “scientific discovery of America.”

Aware that Humboldt’s life of adventurous travel and exacting scientific observation makes him an exemplary subject for teenage readers, Mr. Janota lamented the lack of a good recent biography of him for young people. So he wrote one. Alexander von Humboldt: A Scientific Explorer in the Americas, has been published and is expected to be available in the fall.

Tom’s interest in Humboldt, which took shape during his ASF sabbatical year in 2004-2005, has led to a number of results in addition to the new biography. One is the garden of native Mexican plants now located behind the Middle School Learning Center. This garden serves as a land laboratory for students and an example of a typical upland landscape.

Another is an academic article that he wrote for a 2009 Humboldt conference in Berlin, which he attended. The article, “Did Alexander von Humboldt Change his Exploration Paradigm in Mexico?,” will be included in an upcoming publication of selected presentations from that conference.

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At the spring Staff Appreciation Celebration (see page 17), one soon-to-be retiree got an extra special send-off. Lupita Torroella, inventory head, was leaving ASF after 50 years of service — the most veteran employee on campus.

At the staff party, ASF presented Lupita with a Lupita Torroella (center) poses with her husband Luis Martínez and Director of Finance Silvia Núñez. special retirement gift of a plane ticket to Korea to visit her son (Alejandro Martínez, who graduated from ASF in 2003 and also worked as a teacher here) and daughter-in-law (former ASF student activities coordinator Helen Kang), with a special video message from them included. What a way to kick off retirement!

Lupita came to ASF in 1963 through Mr. Farley, then a teacher at the school and a patient of Lupita’s uncle. What kept her at ASF for so many years? “First of all, because it was a nice place to work,” Lupita said. “I also had the opportunity to move up and then later, I was interested in having my son study here.”

She says many things changed while she worked at ASF. For her personally, she got married and had her son. She also held several different positions in the school: as a secretary, accounting assistant, accounts receivable manager and, finally, inventory head.

But she says one thing didn’t change. “During all my time at the school, my immediate supervisors have always supported me and recognized my work,” she said.

“The school has been part of my life and I will always be thankful for everything it’s given me and I am also thankful to my bosses, coworkers and friends for their caring and support.”

Ms. De St. Aubin — Still Inspiring After All These Years Mercedes de St. Aubin, who teaches in the Upper School’s Humanities Department and is ASF’s most veteran teacher, came to the school in 1981 because she was drawn to its uniqueness and the chance it offered to grow professionally and as a person. Since that time, she has seen the school community strive to continue improving academically and helping its members develop in other Ms. St. Aubin’s personal touch with her students was on ways as well. “Throughout all display at the 2013 Capping Ceremony, when four graduating these years, I keep on perceiving senior boys kneeled to receive their caps from the diminutive teacher. This tradition, in which each student is capped by how concerned, strong, solid and the teacher who inspired him or her the most, is one of her caring the ASF family is,” she says. favorite and most memorable moments each year.

She says some of the biggest changes she has seen have been in the areas of technology, academic programs, ecology and extracurriculars. One thing, though, has remained the same. “For the last 30 years my — our — classroom has been an international forum, where every day, we participate actively,” she says. “I get to observe students as they grow and achieve success.”

After 32 years, she continues to inspire.

News & EVENTS | community service

From ASF to the Sierra Tarahumara: Clothing for Children Who Need It If you’re traveling through the Sierra Tarahumara in the state of Chihuahua some day, don’t be surprised to see children wearing gray ASF uniforms. They are probably part of the clothing drive that ASF ran over the last academic year as the focus of the school’s annual support project for the Tarahumara community.

Here’s how it worked: The message went out to K-12 families for students to bring in donations of clothing — which they did, little by little. After maintenance workers moved the heavy boxes of clothing from the parking lot to the warehouse, students involved with CAS (Community Action and Service) stayed after school to sort and pack the items.

The next task was to get the clothes to the Rarámuri people in the Tarahumara mountains more than 1,300 kilometers away. This is where the invaluable help of María Teresa Olavarrieta, a beloved former ASF employee, came in. Ms. Olavarrieta arranged for the boxes to be sent to Parral, the nearest city, where they were transferred to trucks that delivered the cargo to the Vegel community on Lake Juanota. She made the four-hour trip over rocky dirt roads herself, and hand delivered the clothing items to some very happy children and their families.

María Teresa Olavarrieta (center) delivers some of the boxes of clothing items donated

by ASF students to Rarámuri families by Lake Juanota in the Sierra Tarahumara.

Children’s Day at the ECC: Community Service on Display Generosity and community service are strong ASF values, and the school’s youngest students in the ECC practice both throughout the school year in a number of ways. One of those ways is through a special relationship with Lomas de Capula, a small school in a nearby low-income neighborhood. “Instead of having a Christmas party here, the children take some of their own toys in good condition, wrap them and bring them to Lomas de Capula,” says Glynis Frenkel, the K2 teacher who has organized the project for the last eight years.

“It’s really one of the most heartwarming things we do.”

The ECC children make a similar visit for Valentine’s Day. But the highlight of the program may be when the ECC hosts the Capula kids (ages 4-6) for a Children’s Day party at the end of April. “We send a bus for them and about 50 come to the school,” Ms. Frenkel says. “It’s like Disneyland for them. They really love our gardens. It’s wonderful.” The photos here, taken at the Children’s Day get-together last April, give an idea of the atmosphere.

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graduation | 2013

The Heroes of the Class of ’13

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F

rom “Pomp and Circumstance” to a mariachi serenade, the Class of 2013’s commencement respected all the traditions and added in a few special touches. With a walk across the stage and a swish of a tassel, 175 seniors became ASF alumni on June 1, 2013.

To say it was the end of an era is an understatement — more than 40% of the graduates were Old Timers, meaning they’d been at ASF since first grade or before.

Speaking to Old Timers and later arrivals alike, along with their families, Head of Upper School Amy Gallie invited them to “dwell in possibility.” She told graduates they were moving “from certainty to uncertainty,” or, based on the words of Emily Dickinson, “from prose to possibility.” She cautioned them against the

defeating messages of “I can’t” and “You have to,” and urged them to become their own selves, and to become “heroes.”

The heroes of the Class of 2013, like so many ASF graduates before them, were jubilant as they tossed their caps in the air and processed out into the arms of their family and friends.

A special Mexican touch this year — a mariachi serenade — awaited the new graduates.

This fall, 36% of the recent graduates will attend U.S. universities, 41% will attend Mexican universities, 7% will go to other countries ranging from South Korea to Canada, 15% will take a gap semester or gap year and 1% are undecided. For a complete list of the 2013 graduates’ plans for next year and beyond, see page 24.

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graduation | 2013

“You Can Change

(Your Wild and Precious Life)” Upper School economics teacher Bret Sikkink delivered the commencement address at the 2013 graduation exercises. At once amiably self-effacing and pointedly frank, Mr. Sikkink’s remarks drove home the need for new graduates to take charge of their own lives — not so much by “discovering” themselves as by creating themselves. Following is the text of his address, very slightly edited for print publication.

I

am humbled to be here. As Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said, “A practitioner, like me, of the dismal science of economics — and it is even more dismal than usual these days — is not usually the first choice for providing inspiration and uplift.”

But it turns out that if you read the lit on grad speeches — in this case you can follow my research by carefully googling “grad speeches” — there are basically two threads that reflect on the class and its chosen speaker.

One is the impressive, serious scholar who gives an erudite yet rousing speech about the world grads will face. Lots of these things begin like the cartoon you may have seen, with an old man in an academic hood saying, “I know so much I don’t know where to begin.”

The other has titles like “The Chumbawamba Principle.” They reflect poorly on the lowbrow tastes of the audience and the incongruence of the speaker, who is awkwardly wearing a tie and gown. If they weren’t funny we’d all prefer to be in bed.

Since this is obviously the second kind of graduation address, I’m going to use an extended theme that’s easy to remember and has the added bonus of sounding like Baz Luhrmann is going to turn it into a music video: “You Can Change (Your Wild and Precious Life).”

All right, maybe it’s not as pithy as if Jimmy Fallon or Amy Poehler had written it. When I was asked a month ago to prepare a speech for today, I decided to do so with the same general strategy that many of you use for important term papers and research projects. So late last night, I began…

The time after high school is a chance to experiment. It’s up to you to decide if that experimentation is with new ideas, new habits and new types of people. Importantly, college is a chance to pick your learning. Take that seriously, and really 20 | Summer / fall 2013

learn. Learn broadly and think flexibly.

For some, college is about nothing more than what economist Bryan Caplan calls the signaling model of education. He notes that when class is cancelled, some students rejoice. “Why cheer?” he asks.

There are large opportunity costs to being in college, and you’re paying them to learn, according to the human capital model of education, which is also known as your parents’ and teachers’ model of education.

This doesn’t pass Caplan’s cost-benefit test: If what you’re looking for is a party, there are lots of ways to find people to party with and still use your time productively. As poet Mary Oliver questions in “The Summer Day”: Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

Time is precious; so don’t plan to spend it all on Twitter and hangover cures and Super Stickman Golf... The filmmaker Stanley Kubrick phrased it more eloquently than I could on my own. He said, “The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile, but that it is indifferent; but if we can come to terms with this indifference, then our existence as a species can have genuine meaning.

However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light.”

Our own light! That’s your responsibility. Learn what your options are for supplying your own light. That’s the best kind of experimentation. You can change your own wild and precious life.

Let’s keep it focused on you. As (the late author) David Foster Wallace put it in his famous commencement speech, “Think about it: there is no experience you have had that you are not the absolute center of. Other people’s thoughts and feelings have to be communicated to you somehow, but your own are so immediate, urgent, real.”

There is a cliché you hear this time of year — “be true to yourself.” I think it skips over a bigger issue. Who is this self that you should be true to?

According to neuroscience research, your pre-frontal cortex is still strengthening the neural connections that calculate the consequences of your actions, and will be for a few years. In the meantime, the limbic system, a far more primitive and emotional part of the brain, seems to take the reins from time to time. Since the levels of dopamine in your brain are also much higher than those of us up here on the stage, everything you do seems a little more intense. Combine those two effects — you don’t rationally calculate costs very well, and life is permanently lived in the fast lane — well, I think that explains the tattoos…

So. Are you true to your ASF persona? Are you true to your amygdala, your

tattoo? Or are you true to your newly about the deepest questions we can ashardening neurons, experimenting with certain.” new things but with an eye to the future?

Life isn’t about finding yourself; it’s Only you can change you. (The cognitive about inventing yourself. Who you will scientist) Steven Pinker writes about be is not fated, it’s not accidental, not a just these impulses mistake. It’s a reand their consesult of your choicquences, saying, es: Courses we Life isn’t about finding “Our bodies are exstudy, and those yourself; it’s about inventing we choose not to traordinarily improbable arrangetake. Misunderyourself. Who you will be is ments of matter, not fated, it’s not accidental, standings we corwith many ways rect through ardunot a mistake. It’s a result for things to go ous education, and wrong and only a folk mythologies of your choices. few ways for things we sally through to go right. We are life still believing. certain to die, and smart enough to know Friends we make, and acquaintances we it. Our minds are adapted to a world that choose not to be friends with. The books no longer exists, prone to misunder- we read. The video games we play when standings correctable only by arduous we decide not to read books. education, and condemned to perplexity You’re not going to get any of these

choices handed to you; everything in your life is a reflection of you. Don’t wait for help, do it yourself.

I can tell you the story of how I changed, in my one wild and precious life.

I tried being a dark-suit-wearing academic economist running regressions in the basement of the library when I finished college, but it wasn’t for me. Then I tried being a glue-and-construction-paper, can-you-tie-my-shoes schoolteacher.

That wasn’t perfect either.

But when I combined the two ideas and shook them all up by moving to Mexico — when I changed — I found something that I really enjoy doing and that gave me an opportunity to connect deeply with a few of you, educate some more of you and be inspired by all of you. You are young, smart, talented and ready for whatever is thrown at you by life, the university and everything. Thank you.

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graduation | 2013

“Your Superhero is That Person You Dream to Become”

H

Nadin El-Yabroudi (’13), Valedictorian

ow do I say farewell to my 174 classmates about to choose where their lives will go? Well, a farewell is a commemoration of the past, an acknowledgement that a time in our lives is ending. Time — that is what really conflicts us. Time forms a part of our everyday lives whether we want it to or not. Time is on the wall of every classroom, on the lock screen of your phone, and in our everyday language (we pass time, waste time, kill time, lose time, save time, keep time). Some people even wear time on their wrists.

But time, more than anything else, is really about change.

Through time we grow up, we change our views and we learn new things. Time also dictates our opportunities: the ones we didn’t take, the ones we have and the ones we will have. Let me explain.

Try to remember your 6-year-old self. Perhaps you were obsessed with a superhero, or you dressed up as a Disney princess every day. As kids we aspired to be like our TV heroes and idols.

We dressed up as them, learned to imitate their unique characteristics and even began speaking like them. We gave in to consumerism, buying every possible object engraved with our hero’s face: cups, balloons, posters, dolls and even bed covers.

But as quickly as we became obsessed with our heroes, we became disenchanted. We soon learned of the strict line between “the real world” and “the world of our imagination.” We learned to laugh at those who still believed in superheroes and to call them “babies.” Witches, ogres, ghosts, monsters, along with superheroes, noble princesses and G.I. Joes, became a thing of the past, tales for little kids.

The problem is that the process of growing up didn’t end there. We grew up to realize that our dream of becoming a soccer player, a famous singer or an astronaut were part of that “world of imagination.” These cute career dreams were replaced with careers from “the real world” with more complicated names.

We were told that we should be lawyers, doctors, analysts, accountants, engineers or economists. The more complicated the name, the better. Somehow growing up became a synonym for forgetting our dreams and following one of the “successful” career paths.

Today I want to propose a different point of view on growing up. Growing up is more than simply following the path of those before you. It’s harder than that. It’s about being true to yourself and learning who you are. True growth is discovering what you are passionate about. It’s seeing beyond the conventional box of success and realizing that true success is simply happiness.

Growing up means knowing that not being the most gifted soccer player doesn’t mean you can’t make it. It’s being committed to your dreams and willing to work hard at them, because becoming the next Rafael Nadal or the next Albert Einstein takes more than just talent. Growing up is becoming who you want to be and not who others think you should become.

The hurtful truth about time is that it limits our options regarding what we can do with our lives. You’ve already made lifechanging decisions: what classes to take and where to attend 22 | Summer / fall 2013

college. Soon you’ll be deciding what to major in. So how can you make sure that your choices reflect your dreams and who you really are? Perhaps it’s about having a superhero that you can admire as though you were six years old again. A superhero that you create based on your dreams and your world of imagination.

Maybe your superhero, instead of being able to fly, has the superpower of not being afraid to fail. Or perhaps your superhero doesn’t have super strength anymore, but has the courage to follow the dream of becoming a ballet dancer.

Your superhero is that person you dream to become. The more idealistic your superhero is, the more likely that you will have to strive every day to become that superhero. When you want to make the right decision, think of what your superhero would do. Embrace the “world of imagination” as a guide to success in the “real world.”

Dear Class of 2013, if you take away anything from your graduation ceremony, let it be to dream big before it’s too late.

“Learn From Even the Most Casual Situations” Rodrigo A. Hernández Ponce (’13), Salutatorian

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lbert Einstein, who was salutatorian for his high school graduating class, once said that the only source of knowledge is experience. I would like to share with you teachings and advice I have acquired through experience.

My first piece of advice is to always try to learn something from any situation, person or event. A couple of years ago Ms. Gallie told us in one of her welcoming speeches to “shut up.” I had never really digested these words until this last year of high school. Whether it is a hardworking member of the maintenance crew at ASF or a teacher, any individual has something valuable to teach us. All we need to do is “shut up,” for once, and listen.

For the past couple of years, I have had the privilege to have as a teacher, mentor and friend a man whose knowledge surpasses the simplicity of a whiteboard and a binder. Though most us who were in his class did learn valuable information regarding centripetal acceleration and how to impress a girl with physics, this man also taught me that finding happiness goes beyond any material benefit. He told me the story of one of his professors in university.

His teacher, let’s call him Professor X, had been an assistant of a Nobel laureate in physics. Later on, his brilliance and experience

allowed him to occupy a top executive position at IBM. Despite having a fast-lane lifestyle, Professor X did not enjoy his routine. So he decided to resign from his job at IBM and do what made him the happiest: enlightening young, keen minds with his knowledge. He applied to become a professor at different universities — Harvard, Stanford, Yale.

But those institutions did not hire Professor X. Instead, a state college signed him up to teach. Since the pay was not as great as at IBM, he had to sell his multiple cars and houses. But despite losing his comfortable routine, he was happy.

I remember my teacher telling me this story. I couldn’t get that parable out of my mind. I realized that nothing we do not enjoy doing, despite the benefit, should deprive us from finding joy. Don’t misinterpret this as advice to not do your homework, or drop out of school, but rather take in the thought that we must strive for happiness. Who knew that one day I would walk out of a physics class with the key to happiness?

So face all circumstances with an open mind, and learn something from even the most casual situation.

The second piece of advice I want to give the graduating Class of 2013 is to trust your gut feeling when you’re uncertain about a decision. Whether it’s on a Mexican history multiple-choice exam, or choosing which university to attend, there’s always that inner voice that somehow leads us to the right path.

A couple of months ago, Coach Powell held tryouts for the basketball team that would compete in the ASOMEX tournament. I knew IB exams were underway, and joining the team meant I might not have enough time to prepare for these tests. Deep down, however, something told me to join the team. As much as I needed to study for my IBs, I decided to listen to this inner voice. After three weeks of learning the offensive and defensive plays, we went on to win ASOMEX with an undefeated record. Had I not listened to this inner voice, I would not have been part of that honorable moment that I shared with my good friends and teammates.

The thing is, our gut is usually right. Yet way too often we don’t listen to it.

If you concentrate on what your sixth sense has to say, you might find yourself saved from a life-threatening situation — like failing your AP Chemistry exam.

Finally, I would like to express the importance of being thankful to those who have helped you throughout. Several weeks ago, during an advisory session, we were asked to list a hundred things we are grateful for. I realized then that often we take for granted simple actions, like having someone pack a lunch for us or having our clothes cleaned.

(This is a reminder that we will have to do our laundry soon.) Like our bus drivers and misses waking up at hours when many of us are just going to sleep. Like the police officers at the main entrance staying overnight and during holidays to make sure the school grounds are kept safe. Like the dedicated maintenance crew who have to clean up the mess on the blacktop that is left behind after lunch or brunch.

All these people should be thanked for they are as much a part of our ASF community as the administrators, teachers and students. Even if the bus miss tells you to fasten your seatbelt, or the police officer won’t let you out of school at 2:30 because you forgot your ID, thank them for the service they bring to ASF. So remember to keep thanking all those who deserve thanks, all who have helped you along your way. Thank your family. Thank your friends. Thank teachers. Thank your fellow classmates. You wouldn’t be the same person without them.

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graduation | 2013

Congratulations and Best O H O H

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IB IB IB IB IB O O IB O

H H, IB O

H, IB O O O O

IB, O

Jerónimo Aguilar Chávez Peón Christian Alexis Aguilar Piña Germán Ahumada Lomelín Mario Aksiyote Alexia Alcocer Olivares Omar Anwar Martínez Isabel Aparicio Alexa Ares Nicole Austin Paola Balmaceda Ana Cristina Barajas Báez Vitoria Barquín Roberto Barroso Luque Karla Barrutieta Maya Bayram Aranxa Bello Alejandro Rafael Berho Suárez Valeria Berlfein Ana Berón Julio Berrio Alana Berry Camila Beteta Romero Nicolás Bodek Rivera Torres Luis Bonilla Luis Bosoms Marcela Bretón Orrala Joaquín Brockmann Alejandra Calvo Boullosa Mariana Calvo Boullosa Elizabeth Anne Camp Alejandro Caraco Cristina Carlberg Sandra Carvajal Camila Caso Rodrigo Castañón Nicole Jane Castro Ricardo Charvel Daniel Chávez Jad Chebaro Javier Curiel Patricio Dávila Daniel Sebastián de Gennaro Ambrosino Ariel de la Garza Camila de la Parra María Fernanda de la Selva

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Universidad Iberoamericana Universidad Iberoamericana Universidad Iberoamericana University of Pennsylvania Gap semester in France, Universidad Iberoamericana Lynn University Marist College Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe George Mason University Drexel University University of British Columbia Universidad Iberoamericana Boston University Chapman University Fordham University Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Gap semester in Europe, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Drexel University Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Lynn University Universidad Iberoamericana Gap semester in France, Universidad Iberoamericana Gap semester in Europe, ITESM, Campus Santa Fe Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Universidad Iberoamericana Gap year in performing arts training Universidad Iberoamericana Georgetown University Duke University Gettysburg College Pennsylvania State University Universidad Iberoamericana Universidad Iberoamericana Undecided Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Universidad Anáhuac Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Gap semester in Paris, Universidad Iberoamericana Gap semester in Europe, ITESM, Campus Santa Fe Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Universidad Iberoamericana Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México New York University Universidad de las Américas Puebla

Mariana de la Selva IB, O Daniela de Winter O Nicole Debler Christopher Dickson Fernanda Diez O Dominic Dithurbide Pablo Domette IB Manuel Domínguez O Liam Dubson O María Echeverría O Jaime Edid H, IB, O Nadin El-Yabroudi Pablo Estévez Katie Ann Fasciani David Favila H, IB Mauricio Gandara O Alexa Gantous María García Manuel García-Lascurain Ángel García-Lascurain H, IB Ana Gargollo O Giuliana Gentili Besa Santiago Gil IB Max Ginsburg O Álvaro Gómez Tena O Alejandro González Diego González Estefania González O Rodrigo González O Rubén González H, IB Sofía González O Patricia González Ramírez David Goslin O Alejandro Grossman O Johnny Guindi H María Gutiérrez Tyler Henrie Carolina Hernández o Rodrigo Hernández o Sarah Herrera Kelman o Alberto Hoffman IB Bridget Humphrey o David Hurtado Francisco Ibarra García-Alonso o Sofía Israel

Universidad de las Américas Puebla Savannah College of Art and Design Gap semester, School of the Art Institute of Chicago George Mason University Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Universidad Iberoamericana Universidad Iberoamericana Universidad Iberoamericana Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Gap semester, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Stanford University Universidad Iberoamericana Elmira College Conservatorio Nacional de Música University of Pennsylvania Interning at the Kurimanzutto Art Gallery California Institute of the Arts St. Peter’s University Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México University of British Columbia The University of Texas at Austin Gap semester in Europe, ITESM, Campus Santa Fe The University of Texas at Austin The Ohio State University Gap year to play competitive polo Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Universidad Iberoamericana Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México James Madison University University of California at Berkeley Universidad Iberoamericana Elon University University of Southern California University in Mexico Stanford University Brigham Young University, Idaho Semester-at-Sea, Universidad Iberoamericana University of Western Ontario Gap year in Israel, save the world Gap semester Michigan State University McNally Smith College of Music University of British Columbia American University

Wishes to the Class of 2013 O IB, O O IB, O

IB H, IB O O O O O

H, IB, O IB, O O IB

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IB, O

H, IB O O O IB

Min Soo Jeong Michelle Kalach José Keenan Dou Yeun Kim Miqueas Kim Esther Kook Rosario Lebrija Rassvetaieff Miguel Elías Litchi Paola López Rodrigo López Pablo Madero Joaquín Mancera Andrés Ignacio Martínez Klaus Matrajt Sánchez Ana McCausland Cheyenn Mejía Alejandro Mena Diana Meneses Michelle Mestre Julio Meyer Isaac Michan Daniel Mines Ji Moon Seo Ho (Sofía) Moon Ikram Navia Franco Niro Samanta Obando Ximena Olivares Verónica Orellán Roberto Ortiz María Fernanda Parga Hong Geon Park Sebastián Patiño Regina Peralta Diego Perezcano Alejandro Perusquia Diego Perusquia Lorea Peterson Arturo Podoswa José María Poo Marcos Ramírez Bruno Riquelme Kevin Risheim Rodrigo Riviello Andrea Rodríguez González

University of British Columbia Gap semester in Israel, ITESM, Campus Santa Fe Hofstra University University in South Korea University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University in South Korea or Australia University of Southampton Gap semester in Europe and Israel, Universidad Iberoamericana School of the Art Institute of Chicago University of British Columbia Regents Business School London Emory and Henry College Georgia Institute of Technology Full Sail University Northeastern University Gap semester in France, Universidad Iberoamericana Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe American University Universidad Iberoamericana SUNY Maritime College University in South Korea University of California at Berkeley University of Southern California Berklee College of Music Brigham Young University, Idaho Carnegie Mellon University Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Universidad Nacional Autonóma de México University in South Korea University of Central Florida Universidad Iberoamericana Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Gap semester in Europe, Universidad Iberoamericana Gap semester in France, Universidad Panamericana University of California at San Diego Universidad Iberoamericana Universidad Iberoamericana Universidad Iberoamericana Escuela Libre de Derecho Palm Beach State College Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Edo. Mex. Loyola Marymount University

O Jimena Rodríguez Lebrija IB Alejandro Roemer O David Roemer Sofía Rojas Coello H, IB, O Rafael Romero Mariana Rosales Natan Rosengaus Ximena Magali Rosillo Cevallos O Ariela Rudy H, O Paulina Ruiz O Mariana Sabanero Zarauela O César Salas H, IB, O Sofía Sánchez Eduardo Sandoval IB María José Sanguino IB, O Julián Serra O Ana Karime Sierra Samantha Silberstein Lerner O Salomón Smeke Juan Pablo Solórzano O Jeffrey Sorsby O Jimena Souza IB Pablo Spinola O Alexandro Struck Bernardo Suárez O Adrián Tame Verónica Tavares O Alejandro Terminel IB, O Cristina Trejo Morales O Sofía Treviño H, O Alejandra Trueba O Julián Urrutia Sofía Varela IB Miriam Vela Carlos Villanueva Chávez O Armando Viveros H Stephanie Vondell Miguel A. Webber O Michelle Wellman IB Daniel Zatarain

H - Honor Society

Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México University of Miami Gap year in Israel, Emerson College Gap semester in Paris, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Cd. de Mex. Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México LIM College Claremont McKenna College Art school in California Universidad Iberoamericana Loyola University Chicago Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Santa Fe Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Universidad Anáhuac Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Universidad Iberoamericana Universidad Iberoamericana Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México Gap semester, ITESM, Campus Santa Fe Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México University of British Columbia Savannah College of Art and Design Boston University Loyola University Chicago Universidad Iberoamericana Tisch School of the Arts at New York University Oklahoma City CC Universidad Iberoamericana University of Illinois at Chicago Trinity University Universidad Iberoamericana College of Charleston

IB - IB Diploma Programme

O - Old Timers

Summer / fall 2013 | 25

FEATURE

Members of the SAS community and others gathered for a farewell party last May for the SAS coordinator, Maru Gutiérrez, standing front row center. Directly behind her is Frances Huttanus, a former ASF parent and current Trustee who was instrumental in getting the special education program started.

So Much More

Maru Gutiérrez, who helped students with learning disabilities to achieve academic success, looks back on her 28 years as ASF’s special education coordinator.

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Kelly Arthur Garrett, ASF Parent

n a sunny spring day just before the rainy season last May, Maru Gutiérrez was enjoying the greenery of Founders Garden through the window of the office she would soon be vacating after 28 years as coordinator of The American School’s special education service. It was not your typical school administrator’s office.

The meeting table was an old circular student desk complete with space underneath for stowing books and backpacks.

Her own desk was more like a table. The chairs, which she describes as “gifts, because I never really asked for anything physical,” were hardly standard-issue institutional office furniture.

The walls were painted in bright colors.

The room was pleasingly cluttered with photos, flowers, pictures, cards and letters, and a vast assortment of small three-dimensional student artwork — a collection of presents nearly three decades in the making.

26 | Summer / fall 2013

“When people ask me why my office is so joyful, so upbeat, I say it’s because it needs to be,” she told a visitor that day.

“Every parent who crosses that door comes in with a pain of some sort, and also with a hope.”

The parents she was referring to had a child or children with a learning disorder that would have prevented them from receiving an ASF education were it not for Maru’s efforts. And it seemed that every item in that upbeat office spoke of a success story.

“See that egg with the pointed head?” she said, referring to a student creation among the gifts. “That came from one of the kids I worked with. Now she’s a general manager at a major restaurant chain and has been involved with its expansion.”

She turned her attention to the flowers, and remembered how a former student who was virtually adopted by the special ed staff after his mother was transferred

overseas had sent a flower arrangement with the note: “If I could put all the flowers in the world together to say thank you, they would not be enough.”

Then there’s the mother who had come into Maru’s upbeat office a few weeks earlier, in a decidedly unjoyful mood. That seemed surprising, since her son, who had entered ASF as a ninth grader with learning disorders, cerebral palsy and almost no English, was about to graduate and attend college — a cause for celebration if there ever was one. Still, the boy’s mother was upset. “I don’t like your sign,” she said. “I don’t like the name of the department.”

“Services for Academic Success” — abbreviated SAS, which Maru and other staffers often pronounced acronymically as “sass” — describes the department’s primary purpose more accurately than the accepted but vague term “special education.” The most recent in an evolution

of names, it was the result of a selection process that included the students themselves. So Maru asked the mom why the name bothered her so much.

“Because,” she said, “you do so much more than that.”

“Thank You for Believing in Me”

Almost every retiring educator will rightly feel that he or she has touched the lives of young people. Maru Gutiérrez has that, plus a legacy that leaves in place the means for countless other learning disabled young people to achieve academic success at ASF. Few would argue that for 28 years, SAS was Maru and Maru was SAS. That association won’t fade any time soon.

Special education at ASF is based on the conviction that all students can learn, along with an awareness that some students cannot learn in the same way that most others do. Typical SAS students have the intelligence to excel at an academically rigorous school such as ASF — otherwise they would not be eligible for the program — but are set apart by a disability such as ADHD, serious reading problems or more likely a set of less easily pinpointed learning disorders.

That kind of disconnect between intelligence and learning ability may seem counterintuitive, but it’s exactly what special education addresses. “One of our first graduates was a brilliant kid, IQ of 140, but he graduated with a third-grade reading level,” Maru said. Did special ed help? “He now has a Ph.D. in international relations.” Case closed.

The methodology of the SAS staff is to discover the child’s special strengths and weaknesses, determine which alternative learning strategies will work for that student and provide supplementary teaching and a stress-free learning environment to fill in the gaps that are preventing him or her from getting out of regular class sessions what other students are getting.

Those analytical and pedagogical challenges require solid special ed training. But there’s another prerequisite for any SAS staffer — rapport with the kids.

“Often these students have a history of frustration; they don’t understand why they can’t do things that the child sitting next to them can do,” says Virginia Solórzano, a veteran SAS teacher who was tapped to succeed Maru as coordinator.

“Some just aren’t willing to try anymore.

We have to let them know that we believe

Members of the SAS staff.

they can do it so that they themselves will believe they can do it.”

Maru’s rapport with her SAS students is legendary. It’s certainly what that youdo-so-much-more mom had in mind.

“You didn’t just help my kid academically,” she told Maru, who was surely feeling better about the conversation at this point. “He came in trying to hide from the world and you showed him what he’s capable of doing. You raised his spirit, his self-esteem.”

One former SAS student, who went on to get a master’s degree, put it this way to Maru: “I don’t know if you or the program ever taught me much math or writing or if I improved my reading that much. But you always believed in me, and you gave me the certainty that I was going to be able to do something in life.”

Beyond Disabilities

Maru is as articulate in English as any native speaker, but it’s not originally school-learned. She skipped English classes in favor of therapy sessions for her severe polio.

Barely in her teens, a doctor condemned her to life in a wheelchair. But her father would have none of it. Though working class, he managed to get her to Boston Children’s Hospital for two surgeries and a year and a half of recovery in a body cast.

As a result, a wheelchair was to be an occasional convenience; braces and crutches have sufficed as locomotion aids.

And she used the recuperation time to pick up English from the people around her.

Trained as a school psychologist, she went to work for DIF, the Mexican federal government’s family services agency.

Then, bitten by the special ed bug, she enrolled in the educational psychology master’s program at UNAM. It didn’t work out.

“UNAM was a very unfriendly place for a handicapped person,” she recalled.

“There were no facilities at all there. After a year I realized I was concentrating more on surviving in that environment than on my studies. So I left.”

She ended up getting her master’s at Central Michigan University, as well as a glimpse of what life could be like in an institution less insensitive to the needs of the disabled.

Back in Mexico, she was offered a teaching position with the University of the Americas. She accepted.

Meanwhile, a group of ASF parents was pushing for a special education department on campus. The idea was unprecedented at ASF and virtually unheard of across Mexico. But the parents, with future Trustee Frances Huttanus counted among them, knew it well from the States. They knew what it could do for learning disabled children. They prevailed.

In September of 1983, ASF’s special education department was born, and christened the Center for Educational Development. It was a seminal moment for the school — the special needs of learning disabled students had been recognized — but the timing could not have been worse. Mexico’s economic crisis of the 1980s hit ASF hard, shrinking enrollment to under 900 and by 1985 pretty much devastating the nascent special ed program, which then, as now, was required to be financially self-sustaining.

Looking back, many agree that the program was saved in a large part by the Summer / fall 2013 | 27

FEATURE

Maru’s easy rapport with members of the community — especially young people — was legendary.

efforts of an ASF employee named Eloisa Orizaga. Herself the mother of a learning-disabled child, she successfully rallied the parents to urge the administration to reinvest in the special ed program through a restructuring to be carried out by a new, highly qualified coordinator.

But who? Somebody suggested the coordinator of the learning disabilities area at the University of the Americas.

So the call went out to one María Eugenia Gutiérrez.

The Advocate

The record shows that over the next 28 years, Maru became one of the most respected and beloved administrators in ASF history, the consummate professional who created, virtually from scratch, a model special education program whose success is measured in young lives given a chance.

It wasn’t easy at first. She took over in the middle of a school year, and was given only until the end of it to show results.

“We had nothing,” she said. “No materials, no testing in place, no qualified personnel. My secretary would grab things from the recycling boxes just to give the kids something to do.”

What she did have was a supportive superintendent, the fondly remembered Floyd Travis. When Maru presented him with a long list of materials needed, he approved it. He moved the special ed classes down from the third floor of the Lower School so Maru, with her physical disability, could visit them more easily.

He even gave her his parking space.

The hardest task was convincing 28 | Summer / fall 2013

teachers and others that her work with what’s sometimes called “the invisible handicap” was legitimate. “They wanted to know why a kid can play Nintendo all afternoon but can’t concentrate in class for a half hour,” she said. “Well, because that’s what attention deficit disorder is! I had to prove that we weren’t making it all up.”

She found an early ally in a high school social studies teacher, also fairly new to the school at the time, with whom she worked to help a student with problems in the classroom. “He was very cooperative and we always worked together beautifully,” Maru said.

That teacher’s name was Paul Williams, now ASF’s executive director. “I’ve never had a top administrator who was against the program, but there have been a few who just tolerated us,” Maru said.

“The most supportive were the first one, Dr. Travis, and the last one, Paul.”

Given Maru’s engaging personality, her rapport with young people and the benevolence of her work, one might assume she is passive by nature. One would be sadly mistaken.

Her students found that out early. “I’m very strict with them,” she said. “Nobody gets a free ride. In fact I tell them that because they have a handicap, whatever it may be, invisible or not, they have to be better than most people around them in order to be successful.”

Her peers got the message as well.

Not all that long ago she had a student who was assigned dance as an elective, even though he’d be in a wheelchair for the school year. When she called attention to what she assumed was a mistake,

she was told it couldn’t be changed. “You have a sixth grader who’s already feeling bad about being in a wheelchair at an age when he’s sensitive to anything different,” Maru was thinking at the time. “And they’re going to put him in a dance class?

No!” Then, turning to hardball, she said, “You either change him in the next hour or I’m going to be talking to the Board about you.” It was changed.

When Maru finished that story, she smiled, “Sometimes you have to talk like that.”

“Maru is a great advocate for her students,” said Ms. Solórzano. “I think that is a lot of the basis of her success.”

A case in point: special ed kids usually take major exams in a SAS room to make sure that extraneous factors don’t prevent them from showing what they know. For many years, some teachers considered this practice unfair to the other 25 or so students in the classroom.

Once Maru had to negotiate the stairs to the top floor of the Upper School (in the pre-third floor/pre-elevator days) and actually pull her kids out of the room after a math teacher refused to let them take the test under SAS supervision.

The incident prompted a meeting, which Maru was able to get changed from the math teachers’ lounge on the top floor to neutral territory in the principal’s ground floor office. Chidingly, the same math teacher remarked that the special ed coordinator seemed to be perfectly capable of getting up to the second floor to take students away, but not for a meeting.

The venue change actually had nothing to do with the stairs, but Maru let that slide. Instead, she said, “Yes, to defend the rights of my kids I would climb the Pyramid of the Sun.” And that’s how she’ll be remembered.

But as she moves into a happy and active retirement, her former students, their parents and her colleagues will also remember that she did so much more than that.

Maru created, virtually from scratch, a model special education program whose success is measured in young lives given a chance.

FEATURE

View from the Top

ASF’s green roofs are pleasant places of high educational value. They’re also key elements in the school’s drive toward sustainability.

BY Sharmila Sachdev, ASF Parent

Summer / fall 2013 | 29

FEATURE

Jerónimo Reyes, the UNAM professor who played a major role in planning the green roof atop the Ángeles Espinosa Yglesias Fine Arts Center, explains his creation during Environment Week at ASF.

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here are garden spaces on the ASF campus that provide a home to some four dozen native plant species and that cover 1,400 square meters. Yet many students, parents, staff members and visitors, going about their normal routine on campus, may never see these impressive green areas.

That’s because these garden delights are up on the roofs — some atop the Jenkins Foundation Wellness Center but most adorning the recently (April 23) opened “green roof” of the Ángeles Espinosa Yglesias Fine Arts Center.

These rooftop green spaces are lovely, tranquil and welcoming. In neatly arranged plots of random shapes, the lowlying plants are outlined by smooth stones in various shades of gray, beige and white.

Gravel walkways encompass the gardens, which are easily accessible by elevator or stairs. The Wellness Center green roof, with much space taken up by tennis courts, lends itself more for casual viewing or to sit down on a bench, while the Fine Arts 30 | Summer / fall 2013

Center green roof offers more to ponder and can be used for many purposes.

One of those purposes is didactic. The Fine Arts Center green roof is a botanical garden of native Mexican plants worth learning about. The two genera most represented are Echeveria, including the largest species, Echeveria gigantea, which resembles a large rose, and Opuntia, which includes the nopal species that we see in Mexico’s coat of arms. There is also the golden ball cactus, which is endangered in the wild. A special section includes succulents native only to the unique Pedregal de San Ángel section of Mexico City.

There is also an area for students to grow crops such as corn, radishes and assorted greens for human consumption.

Taking the LEED

There’s much more to ASF’s green roofs than planting a couple of educational gardens on top of newly constructed buildings. Several years ago, ASF embarked on

an initiative to bring its infrastructure in line with “green building” and “green spaces” standards. The requirements to do so are demanding, and the certification process is complex. The green roofs are part of this effort.

What does “green” really mean in the context of infrastructure? It means that ASF has committed itself to ensuring that all new construction and other campus improvements have a minimum negative impact on the environment and a maximum positive impact on the health of students and employees.

Determining if those goals are met is a body called the U.S. Green Building Council, or USGBC. It grants the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, almost always called the LEED certification. It is one of the most prestigious certifications in building planning, design and construction.

And the degree of difficulty in obtaining this certification is exceedingly high.

Few are more aware of that than César

Buenrostro (’85), the ASF Board of Trustees member who chairs the Buildings and Grounds Committee. “The USGBC is one of the world’s most highly regarded organizations,” he said. “LEED certification enforces integral, sustainable policy beginning with the planning process, which may include meeting criteria for site selection.”

That means that where the construction takes place can be very important.

For example, local pollution can be a negative factor, while having access to public transport close by is a positive factor.

A long list of criteria is examined, down to very specific details such as orientation for sunlight entry and sound and lighting intensities within the building structures. Construction materials are looked at, as are processes for the processing and disposal of waste.

Those criteria and many more are evaluated in their aggregate. “Points are earned based on measures taken for sustainability and positive environmental impact,” Mr. Buenrostro said.

ASF’s implementation of its sustainability initiative began with the renovation of the Upper School Building and Sheila Rafferty Ahumada Administration Building that was completed in 2009, its first “green” building. It earned LEED certification — the first known school building in Latin America to do so. The effort was further rewarded in 2012 when the office of then-President Felipe Calderón presented ASF with the Eco CIHAC Award for sustainable reconversion.

A few examples of the sustainability efforts that ASF makes to meet the strict LEED guidelines include energy efficient lighting, water conservation through such measures as high efficiency urinals and toilets, on-campus sewage treatment and rainwater collection tanks, recycling opportunities and much more.

Now we can add green roofs to the list.

The Role of the Roofs

ASF’s new green roofs show how a seed of an idea can branch into a larger sustainability strategy. How exactly do they fit into ASF’s green building initiative?

One way, clearly, is how they replenish green space taken away during construction processes. There are however, many more benefits to these gardens found up high. They help to: • Decrease the effect of urban heat islands in the city. Rooftop vegetation naturally absorbs heat.

• Regulate temperature inside the

building. Again, this is accomplished by absorbing radiation from the sun that would otherwise penetrate the building.

• Reduce degradation caused by rainfall on structures. Rainwater can erode both roof and ground surfaces. The plants and absorb most of the water through high particulate, permeable soil.

• Attract beneficial local wildlife such as insects and birds.

• Provide for cross-pollination. This beneficial effect takes place both within and outside of the ASF grounds through the distribution of pollen and seeds.

• Lower maintenance and care. The rooftop vegetation requires little care, because the plants are indigenous and therefore already adapted to such environmental factors as rain cycles, air quality and seasonal weather changes.

In addition to all this, Mexico City offers property tax discounts for properties with green roofs — an added, very quantifiable, bonus.

One person closely involved from the start with the ASF green roof project is José Carlos Alaniz, an Upper School biology teacher and head of the school’s Sustainability Committee. He worked in conjunction with UNAM biologist Jerónimo Reyes and José Moyao, the architect who designed the Fine Arts Center and Wellness Center, to plan the green roofs.

“ASF is the only educational institution to have implemented this type of project in Mexico,” said Mr. Alaniz of the green roofs on new buildings in the process of gaining LEED certification.

“As part of strict LEED guidelines, these gardens reduce the ecological footprint, increase the amount of natural sunlight, improve ventilation so as to reduce energy consumption, and are designed with recyclable materials.”

Upper School biology students also played a role in the green roofs, with roughly 80 of them researching and learning to identify the native succulents that are now growing on the roofs. During a taxonomy unit in class last spring, the students created a web site with information on many of the species.

“This project allows us to learn more about Mexican biodiversity and witness how some plants in the Mexican ecosystem work and breed,” said one student.

“Once we know about these plants we can learn how to take care of them.”

Rooftop Residents Here are three of the succulent species found atop the Ángeles Espinosa Yglesias Fine Arts Center green roof and described in the green roof web site created by ASF biology students at http://goo.gl/yL1JG

From top to bottom: Nopal (Opuntia sp.) is often called prickly pear cactus in English.

Several species from the Echeveria genus grow on the green roof. The golden ball cactus (Echinocactus grusonii) is often known by its Náhuatl name biznaga.

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FEATURE

On Hand for President Obama

ASF students were invited to attend an address delivered by U.S. President Barack Obama on May 3 during his visit to Mexico City. Their presence was especially fitting, as the president focused much of his speech on the role of young people in Mexico’s future and the future of U.S.-Mexico relations. Robert Baudouin, an ASF sophomore at the time of the event, contributed the following report to Focus.

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n a beautiful, sunny Friday morning, ASF students attended a speech given by U.S. President Barack Obama at Mexico City’s Anthropology Museum. Eighth, eleventh and twelfth graders, as well as Middle School and Upper School Class Council members, joined students from some other Mexico City schools, the press and other invitees to hear the president cover such topics as U.S.-Mexico relations, gun control laws, the value of youth and the future that depends on them, and the worldwide impact of social media (“I think I see some of you tweeting and WhatsApping right now,” he wisecracked).

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Applauded lovingly by the crowd, the U.S. president occasionally sprinkled in Spanish words and phrases — “Es un placer estar entre amigos,” “México, lindo y querido,” “Juntos, podemos lograr más,” among others. He declared early in his speech that the United States cares deeply about its bonds with its Mexican neighbors, and that the last thing he would want to do is seclude the U.S. by closing off the border.

The idea of U.S.-Mexico cooperation set the tone for the majority of President Obama’s speech, in which he proposed that the people of both countries move on from whatever stereotypical images they may have about each other.

“You Are the Dream” Much of U.S. President Barack Obama’s speech seemed to be aimed at ASF students and other students in the audience, with its emphasis on the role of education and young people. He also touched on a number of themes that are ASF priorities, such as international understanding, strong U.S.-Mexico ties, sustainability, creative entrepreneurship, technology as a tool for progress and innovative education. Following are some highlights of the president’s speech.

“You honor your heritage, thousands of years old, but you are also part of something new, a nation remaking itself. And as our modern world changes around us, it is the spirit of young people, your optimism and idealism, that will drive the world forward.”

“You see the difference between the world as it is and the world as it ought to be; between old attitudes that can stifle progress and the new thinking that allows us to connect and collaborate across cultures. That includes how we think about the relationship between our two nations.”

“Some Americans only see the Mexico depicted in sensational headlines of violence and border crossings.

Some Mexicans may think America disrespects Mexico, that we seek to impose ourselves on Mexican sovereignty, or, alternatively, wish to wall ourselves off. And in both countries, such distortions can breed myths and misunderstanding that only make it harder to make progress together.”

“In you, Mexico’s youth, I see a generation empowered by technology. I think I see some of you tweeting and WhatsApping right now. And whether it’s harnessing social media to preserve indigenous languages, or speaking up for the future you want, you’re making it clear that your voice will be heard.”

“Let’s empower our young entrepreneurs as they create the startups that can transform how we live.”

“Let’s not just sell more things to each other, let’s build more things together.”

“Let’s keep building new clean energy partnerships by harnessing wind and solar and the good jobs that come with them. Let’s keep investing in green buildings and smart grid technologies so we’re making our planet cleaner and safer for future generations.”

“We want 100,000 students from the United States studying in Latin America, including Mexico. And we want 100,000 Latin American students — including Mexicans like you — to come study in the United States.”

Despite ongoing violence, the president said, investment in Mexico is up, leading to increased economic prosperity and somewhat stable incomes. Though many Mexicans struggle with informal jobs, Obama was hopeful that President Enrique Peña Nieto’s approach to the economy can lead to improvement. Obama recognized Mexico’s economic growth and he expressed support for Mexico’s economic potential for the future, which he said would strengthen the bonds that the two countries already share.

But is was his admiration of Mexico’s youth, and the promise for a greater future that they represent, that inspired the most cheers from the audience. The dreams of many of the attendees were clearly inspired by President Obama’s words.

“You are the dream — the generation that can stand up for justice and human rights and human dignity, here at home and around the world. You are the creators, the builders, the climbers, the strivers who can deliver progress and prosperity that will lift up the Mexican people for generations to come.”

“As you reach for the future you know is possible, always remember that your greatest partner — the nation rooting for your success more than anyone else—is your closest neighbor and strongest friend, the United States of America.”

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FEATURE

The first Athletic Excellence and Sportsmanship Award Gala, in the Jenkins Foundation Wellness Center.

A Big Boost for ASF Athletics The revival of the Bear Boosters

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round 400 people. Attendance at the formal-attire first Athletic Excellence and Sportsmanship Award Gala last May 2 exceeded all expectations. The success of the gala, which celebrated ASF varsity and junior varsity athletic teams, was all the more remarkable because it was the first event of its kind.

That speaks to two realities about The American School today, one longstanding, one new. The longstanding one is that there is a high level of enthusiasm among parents and others in the ASF community for the school’s sports teams, the Bears, and the young competitors who participate on them.

The new one is that there is now a group of volunteers capable of channeling that enthusiasm to provide support for ASF athletes, boost school spirit and get more people out to the games and tournaments — and help them enjoy it more when they do. It is the group that organized the gala.

Its name is the Bear Boosters, and it’s made up of ASF parents who love sports 34 | Summer / fall 2013

Kelly Arthur Garrett, ASF Parent

and recognize the positive impact sports has on the development of young people and on family and campus life in general.

In truth, the Bear Boosters date back at least as far as the early 1970s, when some alumni banded together to help support ASF sports and bring about improvements such as an early swimming pool, lights on the football field and other projects.

But in recent years, the group had been dormant. Perhaps not coincidentally, many alumni and parents were lamenting that the very concept of school spirit, at least as it applies to sports, was lying semi-dormant on campus as well.

Then some energetic ASF parents — notably Benjamín Gómez, Lynnette Rivera and Kristal Alley, but others as well — decided to breathe new life into the Bear Boosters. In May they elected new officers, with Sven Wallsten (’91), a former ASF second-generation football player, serving as president; Lynnette Rivera, also an ASF alum, as vice president; Kristal Alley as treasurer and Jackie Trainor as secretary.

Besides the kids themselves, the prime

beneficiaries of the renewed Bear Boosters efforts are the families of the student athletes.

“One of our aims is to help parents get involved with what their kids are doing,” says Kristal Alley, who serves as the organization’s treasurer. “What’s driving this is the idea that parents want to help create the best experience for their kids while they’re in school. They want to be a partner.”

The new Bear Boosters are involved with ASF sports at all levels, including offering coffee and donuts at the MS and LS soccer matches, which can start quite early on Saturday mornings.

But their efforts are especially significant at the varsity and junior varsity levels; that’s when parental support of a student athlete takes on a different hue. “High school students join the team because they truly love the sport,” Kristal says. “It’s no longer just because their parents signed them up for it. So this is when parents can engage with their kids as they’re doing something they love. That’s important.”

The Bear Boosters have already made an impact on campus life — and even on campus fashion. Along with the introduction of a halftime raffle at the homecoming football game last October, the group’s most successful project has been the sale of ASF “spirit wear.” For much of the last school year, you’d see gray ASF sweatshirts all over the place, even on ECC kids.

Just in the last year or so, the Bear Boosters’ presence on campus has advanced from non-existent to ubiquitous. You name the event — the Art Fair, the ASOMEX basketball tournament, the Holiday Bazaar — and there are the Bear Booster volunteers, selling spirit wear and snacks, and reminding everybody that sports matters.

Most of the money raised goes directly back to the student athletes.

For example, the Bear Boosters have outfitted ASF squads heading to tournaments with travel wear, such as matching black sweatshirts and sweatpants. That kind of spirit booster can give the team an edge over the competition.

The Bear Boosters don’t see themselves at this point as a major fundraising arm, like the Parent Association, but they do want to emulate the PA in other ways. “The PA does a great job of community building,” says Kristal. “We want to do what they do, but for sports.”

Their early moves to achieve that are mostly about creating a network of parent volunteers. They’re looking for parents of student athletes to act as liaisons with each sport, and other parents, not necessarily of athletes, to link the booster club with the each of the four divisions.

Being a Bear Booster volunteer does not necessarily mean a major time commitment. “If you don’t have enough time to even come out to the games, you can still help,” Kristal says. “For example, maybe you know a potential sponsor you can connect us to.”

Sponsors, by the way, have been key to the early success of the new Bear Boosters. Sponsors donated the prizes for the Homecoming raffle, as well as souvenir t-shirts and bags for the ASOMEX basketball tournament and the food and awards for the May gala. Those sponsors include New Balance, Ikuk catering, Dominion Corporate Housing, Gatorade, Microsoft and many others.

Another key is communication. For parents, fellow students and other ASF community members to come out to the games, they need to know when and where those games are. Here the current Bear Boosters have an edge over their predecessors — digital media. “Our Facebook site has more than 600 members already,” Kristal says. “We have people from the United States coming on and asking us to send them our ASF spirit wear.”

The broader mission of Bear Boosters is to foster school spirit at ASF. Here’s where semantics comes into play, because for some the term “school spirit” has taken on a connotation of shallowness. But in the context we’re talking about here, school spirit is no less than a means of expressing ASF’s powerful sense of community through sports.

“For students, it’s a feeling that this school is a home away from home, not just a place to put in time between 8 and 2:30,” is how Kristal explains it. “It is a focal point of their friendship networks, and their athletics networks. School spirit is about kids feeling proud of what they’re doing.”

It’s also about bringing the diverse elements of the school together. A great example: During Spirit Week in the last school year, the Bear Boosters arranged for team captains and other key members of varsity squads to talk to Lower School kids about what they do. The younger kids were of course enthralled, but so were the Upper Schoolers.

“We were surprised to see how much the team members enjoyed it,” Kristal says. “They were really being leaders there.”

That spirit-enhancing event, simple as it was, would never have happened in the normal course of a school day, even during Spirit Week. It required the spark of an organization dedicated to the uplifting impact of sports on young people. That’s why the Bear Boosters exists again.

You can contact the Bear Boosters at bearboosters@asf.edu.mx or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bearboosters.

The Bear Booster Awards This newly launched Athletic Excellence and Sportsmanship Award Gala last May brought together ASF varsity and junior varsity athletes and their families for an end-of-the-year celebration. At the event, the accomplishments of ASF’s student athletes were recognized.

The Bear Boosters Athletic Excellence and Sportsmanship Award was given to a player on each team who “displayed the values of leadership, integrity and character through athletic excellence and sportsmanship.” In addition, all players were given a lapel pin – a symbol of their status as ASF athletes, much like “letters” back in the day. Also, seniors were recognized and given a sweatshirt.

The special awardees for the 2012-2013 school year were: BASKETBALL Varsity Girls: Cristina Rodero Varsity Boys: Graham Goslin JV Boys: Robert Baudouin FOOTBALL Varsity: Julio Berrio JV: Juan Thompson SOCCER Varsity Girls: Alejandra Trueba JV Girls: Katerina Waller Varsity Boys: Daniel Chavez JV Boys: Derek Kryzda SWIMMING Varsity: Paulina Watson JV: Sara Betancourt TENNIS Varsity: Ricardo Cortez Casados The following Upper School students received Bear Boosters Spirit Awards for their volunteer work with the Bear Boosters during the school year: Arik Eichner, Payton Alley, Kiley Diffen, Victoria Colby, Cora Laudato, Mailee Dunn, Conrad Frey, Benja Gómez, José Hanhausen, Lucas Sauberli Quatorze.

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ASF’s “Great Minds Need Great Spaces” Capital Campaign Closes After a Decade of Unprecedented Achievements

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n 2003, a campaign was launched to support a renovation of the ASF campus. Over the past 10 years, the “Great Minds Need Great Spaces” Capital Campaign has brought in funds totaling more than $200 million pesos, which have been invested in building projects to create a 21st century learning environment for our students.

While our founders may not recognize the school’s campus today, their philosophy lives on through these improvements. Throughout its long history, The American School Foundation has been known for excellence in cutting-edge bilingual, multicultural education in the tradition of the American system. These new capital improvements are already helping propel that vision forward.

Through the hard work of the campaign Steering Committees and volunteers and through the generous gifts of 580 donors who supported the Capital Campaign, ASF has been able to make architectural changes and

The Lipu Transportation Center

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technological enhancements that will provide generations of students with opportunities to develop their talents. Among the projects completed through Capital Campaign funds have been: • The Upper Field renovation • Construction of the Lipu Transportation Center • The Upper School renovation • Construction of the Ángeles Espinosa Yglesias Fine Arts Center • Installation of seating in the theater • Construction of the Jenkins Foundation Wellness Center The Great Minds Need Great Spaces campaign brought together students, alumni, parents, employees, community leaders and corporations to achieve the goal of reaching for and sustaining a world-class standard of education. It is this state-of-the-art approach that will keep our students in a leadership position in the future of Mexico and the rest of the world.

Many thanks to all!

Thank You,

Capital Campaign Volunteers The buildings and other improvements you see on these two pages would not exist without the extraordinary efforts of those who volunteered their time and effort to make them happen.

Here’s a list of these cherished supporters of The American School. Those who served on Capital Campaign committees are indicated in bold.

Carlos Aiza (’86) Roberto Albarrán José Antonio Alonso Sonia Arakelian (’76) Jorge Arce Pablo Aspe Pedro Aspe Cathy Austin (’78) José Carlos Azcárraga Roberto Baldizón Juan Pablo & María Ballesteros Javier Barrios Estrella Baz Francisco Berrondo José Berruecos Connie Brown (’76) Audley Burford Irma Camarena Bertha Cea Juan Antonio Cortina Diego Cosio Paulina Cosio Arturo D’Acosta Marilyn Dana Alfonso de Angoitia (’80) Mercedes de Azcárraga Mónica de la Rosa Jorge de la Vega Marcos de Oliveira Julio de Quesada John Donnelly Aliki Elías (’85)

The Ángeles Espinosa Yglesias Fine Arts Center

José Ramón Elizondo Jorge Esteve Marivi Esteve Nadine Estrada Adolfo Fastlicht (’84) Enrique Fernández Julie Fernández Óscar Fitch Flora Fons Peter Foyo Alexandra Franco Fernando Franco Vicky Fuentevilla Ramiro Garza Antonio O. Garza Jr. Luis Gaxiola Jerónimo Gerard Neal Goins Karen Gojman Viviana Gómez Claudio X. González Rodrigo González Calvillo Carlos Gutiérrez Fernando Gutiérrez Ricardo Haneine Thomas Heather Julie Hellmund Laura Herman Marilú Hernández Pedro Herrán John Hogan (’77) Mark Hojel (’87) Arleen Holden (’84) David Hubp Frances Huttanus Robert Kaech Gerardo Legorreta Luz de Lourdes Madero Horacio McCoy (’57) Karen Méndez de León Martha Miller (’66) José Gómez Obregón Ma. Teresa Olavarrieta

Guillermo Ordorica Carla Ormsbee Carlos Padilla (’82) Cynthia Pelini Violet Pérez Rosa Marentes de Pisinger (’87) Javier Prado José Octavio Reyes Antonio Rihan Eugenio Riquelme Mauricio Rivera Torres Vicky Rogers Manuel Rubiralta † Susan Rucker Cecilia Saba Mariana Saenz (’89) Luis Felipe Sánchez Armando Santacruz Blanca Santacruz John Santa Maria (’75) Janet Segura Niccolo Spataro Karen Stephens Hector Sulaimán Jorge Tame Margo Torres Édgar Valderrama Alex Van Tienhoven César Verdes Gordon Viberg Tito Vidaurri Priscila Viglietti Guillermo Vogel Claudia Walls Peter Weigant Martin Werner Carlos Williamson Ali Hamid Yahya Karim Miriam Zajarias Juerg Zimmermann

The Upper School

The Upper Field

Fine Arts Center theater seating

The Jenkins Foundation Wellness Center

institutional advancement

José Antonio Alonso speaks at the 2012 celebration of the Ángeles Espinosa Yglesias Fine Arts Center, which is named for his late mother.

In His Own Words: José Antonio Alonso

José Antonio Alonso is an ASF parent, a former member of the Board of Trustees and the past president of the Fundación Amparo, created by his grandfather, Manuel Espinosa Yglesias, who named the new philanthropic undertaking for his wife. Manuel and Amparo’s daughter, Ángeles Espinosa Yglesias, was José Antonio’s mother. She was a major supporter of Mexican art and culture, especially that of her home state of Puebla.

It is for her that ASF’s new Ángeles Espinosa Yglesias Fine Arts Center was named, after a major gift from the Amparo Foundation made its construction possible. Mr. Alonso, who continues to be active in philanthropic and community service endeavors in Puebla and Mexico City, spoke recently with ASF Institutional Advancement Director Alejandra Naranjo. Here’s what he had to say.

What do you wish others knew about the school?

I think the slogan of the school, the mission and the vision tell you a lot. Here they prepare kids to be global citizens. That’s very important today. As you know, when you’re looking for a job, or in the businesses I have had, you have people who are applying for that job from Germany, from Italy. Today, competition is global. If you’re not prepared to be a global citizen, then you have a handicap.

What are some skills or characteristics of ASF students and alumni that make them stand out from those in other schools?

In most of the schools in Mexico, the way they teach you is, they give you a book, and they tell you, “Memorize the book and we’re going to ask you about the book.”

At ASF, they say, “Read the book and question the book. Don’t just memorize it — question the facts.” And that’s a big difference in the way you look at things.

It’s a whole different approach to living.

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own conclusions. That’s what leaders are made of.

What would your mother say about the Ángeles Espinosa Yglesias Fine Arts Center and your involvement in it?

My mother promoted the arts throughout Mexico and the world. She made the first gift for the Ángeles Espinosa Yglesias Fine Arts Center 15 years ago. Later on, through the Amparo Foundation and its board of trustees we decided to support the Fine Arts Center. She would be very happy to see that this building is going to inspire many kids for many generations to come.

How do you want to be remembered?

I don’t think of how I want to be remembered. But when you do things in life, they speak for themselves and it doesn’t matter who did them, but that they’re there.

I learned a story from my grandfather in 1979. My family paid for the whole excavation of the Templo Mayor. Very few people know about it. There’s not a single

recognition of us. We weren’t even invited to the inauguration. I asked my grandfather if he wasn’t sad he received no recognition. He said that the important thing was that the project was done. It doesn’t matter, he said, who did it. But look at what people are learning. I remember that every day. I don’t think you do things to be remembered. I do them because it comes from the heart. There’s a commitment and you don’t think in those terms. I think people are going to remember you from the way you behave every day, not just because you made a building.

What can others do to make a difference?

I think it’s important for the community to get involved in the development of ASF and to support this school. A lot of the leaders of Mexico and the world are going to come from ASF. Those who can contribute with money should do it. Those who can contribute with time, they should, and those who can contribute with ideas and work, should. This is not just a project for the kids. It’s a project for parents and the country, as well.

In Her Own Words: Elodia Sofía de Landa de Jenkins Elodia Sofía de Landa de Jenkins is vice president of the Mary Street Jenkins Foundation, which is headed by her husband Guillermo Jenkins Anstead. William O. Jenkins, Guillermo Jenkins Anstead’s grandfather and an American businessman who built his fortune in Puebla, created the foundation and named it for his wife. Despite never having attended The American School or sending their children there, the Jenkins have had a long relationship with the school, including supporting scholarships. Most recently, it was their foundation that provided the major gift for the construction of The American School’s Jenkins Foundation Wellness Center. Mrs. Jenkins recently spoke with Alejandra Naranjo, ASF’s director of Institutional Advancement, and shared her thoughts about The American School, the Wellness Center and her family’s support for this important capital project.

What was was your first impression of The American School?

I first came to know about the school when it was on Insurgentes, in Colonia Roma, more than 60 years ago. The American School was always in my mind since I was a little girl. I never had the opportunity to attend to the school, but I wanted my children to.

Many of my friends are graduates of The American School, and they were the best students of that era. Graduating from The American School was really a big deal, especially in the 50s, when women didn’t often consider getting a university education. But they graduated from The American School with a background that would enable them to get into any university.

Why did you and Don Guillermo give your gift to ASF? The foundation provided scholarships for ASF students for many years. We were approached to support a sports center that would in turn be used by the surrounding community. Mr. Jenkins, the grandfather of my husband Guillermo, always liked sports; he thought that if you provide kids with a recreational center you get them off the streets. That is why he started supporting recreational centers, some of them in Puebla under the

name of Clubs Alpha. The idea was exactly that — to get kids off the streets.

What do you wish others knew about ASF? I see a sense of camaraderie among my friends who went to The American School. After one’s school days, lots of times everybody goes their separate way. But I saw how those who went to ASF got together year after year. And after 50 years, they still get together. Every year! I see that unity among those who went to The American School — they support each other in different ways after leaving the school. It’s an excellent school!

What would Mr. Jenkins say about the Jenkins Wellness Center and your involvement?

He would be very proud. Whenever the foundation makes a donation, we always ask ourselves, “What would Mr. Jenkins say?

What would his wife Doña Mary say? Would they like for us to give this donation?” And I think Mr. Jenkins would have said, “Yes! Make this donation, immediately!” The campus facilities are the best. The American School is not just about academics, but also sports. Academics and sports go hand in hand.

Elodia Sofía de Landa de Jenkins is flanked by ASF Board of Trustees Chair Rosa Marentes de Pisinger (’87) and Margarita Jenkins de Landa (left) during the 2013 ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Jenkins Foundation Wellness Center’s rooftop tennis courts.

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Great News About the 2012-2013 Annual Giving Program The Annual Giving Program, “7 Pillars of Support,” aimed to address the greatest needs of the school as identified by our faculty and administration in the areas of athletics, arts, ECC, Lower School, Middle School and Upper School, as well as scholarships. The 7 Pillars initiative for 2012-2013 was a great success, as shown by the following results: Scholarships Pillar: Surpassed the goal of $2 million pesos.

Athletics Pillar: One elliptical machine to be purchased; 13 donors.

Arts Pillar: A piano has been acquired for the theater in the Fine Arts Center; 13 donors and special thanks to Alan Jaet and his family.

Thank You, Parent Association On Wednesday, May 29, the Parent Association’s then-president Alma Rosa Rodríguez presented two checks to Executive Director Paul Williams. One (shown here) was for $574,750 pesos, to support scholarships and the ECC pillar of the Annual Giving Program.

The other was for $425,000 pesos, toward the Capital Building Campaign (specifically the Jenkins Foundation Wellness Center).

ECC Pillar: New flooring for Turtle Patio and educational blocks were both funded; 100% participation of parents, students, faculty and staff.

Lower School Pillar: Surpassed the goal, with 96 iPads funded; 14 donors and special thanks to Randy, Celine and Stephanie Nelson.

Middle School Pillar: A greenhouse will be built on the third floor; nine donors plus student participation.

Upper School Pillar: Implementation of an additional recycling program on campus; 16 donors plus student participation.

Thank you to all who stepped up! The 2013-2014 Annual Fund will focus on scholarships, so stay tuned for giving opportunities.

Thank You, Bear Boosters Kristal Alley, treasurer of the Bear Boosters, presented a check last May for $4,000 pesos to Executive Director Paul Williams and Robert Wilson, director of Athletics and Extended Learning. This donation went to benefit the Athletics pillar of the 2012-2013 Annual Giving Program.

Thank You, Senior Class Recruiters Senior Class Gift Recruiters Ana Gargollo, Sofía González and Daniela de Winter presented a check to Executive Director Paul Williams during the commencement exercises on June 1, 2013. With the support of their fellow graduates and the Student Council, the recruiters were able to leave a legacy to ASF of $25,300 pesos to support the Upper School pillar.

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ASF’s Global Citizens Award ASF honored six community members with its Global Citizens Award, against the fitting backdrop of the official residence of the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, Earl Anthony Wayne. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Laura Dogu hosted the event on April 16.

The Global Citizens Award has become a tradition for major anniversary years, as of 2008. It goes to community members who have made a significant contribution to the well-being of the ASF community, and who maintain an international outlook on people as members of multiple, diverse, local and non-local networks.

The awardees were: • José Antonio Alonso, ASF parent and former Trustee • Alfonso de Angoitia (’80), ASF alumnus and former Trustee • Laura Diez Barroso de Laviada, former ASF parent, current grandparent and longtime ASF volunteer and advisor • María Eugenia Gutiérrez, former ASF parent and retired coordinator of Services for Academic Success • Martin Werner, ASF parent and former Trustee • Carlos Schon (’57) (posthumous), ASF alumnus, former parent and founding member of ASF’s endowment fund.

José Antonio Alonso

Trustee César Buenrostro (’85), Board Chair Rosa Marentes de Pisinger (’87) and Executive Director Paul Williams

Trustee Frances Huttanus (left) and Horacio McCoy (’57), with Maru Gutiérrez

Martin Werner

Students Show Their Generosity With school pride and the spirit of giving holding prominent places in the ASF philosophy, it was fitting that over the 2012-2013 school year students in classrooms from all divisions donated generously to help meet the school’s needs. The example shown here is a donation to the Take a Seat campaign presented to thenDirector of Institutional Advancement Michele Beltrán by the Class of 2020 during their Stepping Up ceremony last June. The graduating class of 2013 also gave to the Take a Seat Campaign.

For the Annual Giving Campaign, students and classrooms from all levels helped support their divisions’ “pillars.” Special thanks go out to ECC students (100% participation), Lower School rooms 3E, 4E, 5G and 1E, Middle School students, Spanish Club and Upper School students.

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institutional advancement

Thank you to our 2012-2013 Donors and Sponsors for the Annual Scholarship Drive, Capital Campaign and Special Events ALUMNI Anonymous Austin Cathy (’78) Austin Jameson (’12) Buenrostro César (’85) Campomanes Torres Víctor (’02) Cannell Vaudrecourt Valentina (’48) Cárdenas Amin (’01) Casseres Kendall (’67) Castro Laura (’04) Cervantes Pablo (’00) Chaltelt Arturo (’00) Church George (’44) Contreras Fernández Rubén (’07) Cravioto Nathalia (’12) Cueto Bosch Santiago (’04) Danner Ledwith Louise (’56) Darszon Enrique (’04) Davis Arakelian Blake (’04) Davis Arakelian Jonathan (’04) de la Llata Rolando (’67) Dysart Samuel Jr. (’46) Escalante N. Daniela (’02) Escobar Amalio (’70) Fernández Toribio (’52) Foarde John J. III (’71) Franco Ramses (’05) García Cacho Diego (’04) García González Gerardo (’05) Gómez Alberto (’07) Gómez Becerra Arturo (’00) Grover Margaret (’80) Guillén José (’98) Gwynn James and Mary Louise (’46) Hunter Barbara (’53) Hussein Pérez-Palacios Farid (’93) Jowett Paul (’02) Kurfess Novi Cassandra (’73) Lee Seung Cheol (’10) Madrazo Fernando (’02) Martínez de Mask Concepción (’67) Maus Marlon (’77) Merikanskas León (’93) Mersh Patricia (’70) Montemayor Woods Margarita (’59) Nacif Vannessa (’91) Pérez Greg (’96) Quintana Mauricio (’00) Ransom Roberto “Larry” (’78) Salomon Claude (’47) Salomon Jonathan (’03) Sánchez Yeskett David (’94) Schmidt Anne A. (’40) Shaw (Gesler) Conna (’55) Siman Alfredo (’10) Sobel DuToit Andrew (’76) St. Aubin Stephanie (’01) Suárez Romo José Juan (’10) Suárez Romo Víctor (’09) Tabares Juárez Sonny (’07) Tarrab David (’99) Weingarten Phillips David (’09) Zepeda Navarrete José Alejandro (’96) 42 | Summer / fall 2013

foundations & corporations ABC Hospital Aeroméxico American Benevolent Society Anonymous AON Banamex Bestel Bosque Real Brother Casa Herradura Chevrolet Círculo K Cisco Coolsculpting Corppi Daxis Destino GPS Devlyn Editorial Televisa Energy Fitness Epura ESPN Run Gatorade Gifan Goldman Sachs Grupo Presidente Habanero Films Haciendas Mundo Maya Hard Candy La Cava de los Amigos LG Lorant MMS Marinter MEI Microsoft New Balance PepsiCo PricewaterhouseCoopers Quaker Roath School Scotiabank Tecnolomet Telcel Televisa Toyota Transportes Lipu UBS Grant Volaris Warranty Group Friends Anonymous Baker Allan Bilbao Ugalde Itziar Case Murray Gamboa Fran Huttanus Frances Pérez Violet Rianhard Davis Sullivan Tom and Dari

Grandparents Anonymous Chedraui Antonio Goldschmied Adele Laviada Laura and Carlos Loizaga Barquín Armando McCoy Horacio (’57) Liechty Douglas Phillips Olmedo de José Irene (’55) Primelles José Salinas de Gortari Raúl Wallsten Linda in memory of Anonymous Salinas Price Roberto (’54) Sánchez Yeskett David (’94) Schon Carlos (’57) Schon Gloria (’61) Venado Manuel (’94) in honor of Austin Cathy (’78) Ayala Violeta Beja Mateo Jeanette and Daniel Beltrán Michele Berdichevsky Sandra Bierzwinski Daniel and Family Botton Dolly and Julio Botton Melina (’83) Buenrostro César (’85) Case Murray Cazes Alan, Norma and Regina Cazes Betty and Dany Ciklik Susy and Freddy Craig Sara Dantus Family de Jesús Breene Juan Demesa Francisco Dubson Family Elías Alejandro Elías Botton Family (’85) Elías Diana Elías Enrique Ellstein Sharon and Family (’89) Epelstein Family Fernández Sebastián Finley Steve Franco Fernando Gojman Mauricio and Tanya (’96) Gutiérrez Fernando Haber Family Halkin Fernando, Ceci and Sharon Hananel Alberto Herman Family Hubp Patsy Huttanus Frances Kupersimt Family Langenauer Roberto, Marion, Carlos, Jorge and Alejandro Lask Enrique, Shifra and Family Liechty Joan McElfresh Jeff

Nadelsticher Laura, Galia and Alan Núñez Silvia Ormsbee Carla Pawlik Chuck Penela Elisa Perelman Family Pisinger Diego, Rosa, Jaime and Mateo (’84/’87) Pisinger Nelly and Fabio Pisinger Reyes-Varela Family Rallo Tony Riesenfeld Ronald and Paola Rozenbaum Isaac, Tania and Family Rubinstein Isaac, Lilian, Gabriel, Mijael and Jonathan Santa Maria John (’75) Segura Janet Tarrab David Tia Nene Valle Axel Valner Sandor, Monica, Daniel and Michelle Vázquez Lupita Wilson Robert Woroszylski Ellstein Family (’84/’85) ParentS Aboumrad Victor Agiss Goudinoff Family Aguilar Medina Martha Angélica Alvarado Aglot Family Álvarez Anaisa Álvarez García Family Álvarez Morphy Alonso Family Álvarez Varea Family Anonymous Arce Jorge Arreola de la Peña Family Arreola Trainer Family ASF Parent Association Barberena Yuste Family Barnard Family Bayo Carlos Bear Boosters Becerra Franco Family Bosoms Hernández Family (’13/’11) Brockman Family Casasus Family Cazes Family Cervantes Trejo Family Cervera Pizaña Family Contreras Rivera Family (’89) Costemalle Alemán Family (’93) Craig Sara Dadoo Ricardo (’76) De Icaza Montalvo Family Domit del Valle Family Doporto Family Duque González Family ECC Parents Elías Botton Family (’85)

Enríquez Gorozpe Family Escalante de la Roca Family Farah Castillo Family Farrell Olvera Family Flores Bringas Family Franco Fernando Gallo de la Rocha Family García-Lascurain Fernández Family Gil Anav Gil Gallardo Family Gómez Jones Family González Gaxiola Roberta and Emilia Gutiérrez Fernando and Adriana Herman Family Hernández David Innes-Hanes Izunza Barba Family Jaet Alan and Family José Phillips Lola (’82) Koller Carl Kuri Manzutto Family Levin Santangelo Family Loaizaga Armando Magaña Family Mancera Autrique Family Marcos Ordóñez Family Marein-Efron Capon Family (’85) Maugeri Andrade Family McCoy Omar (’92) Mendoza García-Villegas Family Moguel Family Moya Antonio Nagame Tetsu Nelson Stephanie, Celine and Randy Obregón Alonso Family Olvera Liechty Family Ormsbee Carla Palomino Blanch Olivia Payro Katthain Family Pilliod Family Pisinger Marentes Family (’84/’87) Popovits Rene and Verónica Rendón Russell Family (’92) Rivera Castañeda Family Rodríguez Escobedo Family Rodríguez García Jorge Rojo Carlos (’89) Saba Cecilia Salas Harms Family Salinas Vergara Family Sánchez-Arriola Luna Pablo Sánchez-Arriola Rodolfo Santa Maria Family (’75) Santoyo Geijo-Pino Family Serra Wright Brothers Sebastián, Daniel and Julián (’07/’10) Shkurovich Del Bosque Family Simón Leycegui Verónica Spinola Ricardo Swerdlin Mario Tarrab Maczka Family Barnard Family Torres Arce Family UBS Grant Valdes Haines Family Werner Martin Williamson Carlos Ytuarte Naranjo Family Zúñiga Tello Family Staff & faculty Abarca Trujillo Miriam Abreu López María Mercedes Aguilar Clemen Aguirre Tovar Elisa Del Socorro

Ajuria G. Alicia Ma. Alaniz Estrada José Carlos Alcalá Iztchel Álvarez González Mónica Álvarez Nancy Annas Torrey Anonymous Arriola Urrutia Carlos Eduardo Austin Garrett William Ayala Mexicano Violeta Barnhizer Leslie Anne Beltrán Elisa Benavides Verónica Berentsen Heger Ivette (’90) Blum Grundyson Suzanne Marie Brik Sakina Brown Autumn Angelic Bryan Heinl Tracey Lynn Caballero Juárez Alma Lilia Caloca Starke Family Campa Robledo Mónica Canizal Alva Cárdenas Ponce Gustavo Tonatiuh Carlstrom Shaylyn Vic Carrera Maru Castelpietra Janet Kay Cheney Guy Frederick Clark Benjamin Ambrister Clay Carlos James Coleman Tapia Ilana Cox William Edward Crutchfield Rebecca Dawson Kenneth de Ávila Muñoz Adriana de Icaza Montalvo Family de Jesús Breene Juan Díaz (Falcón) Verónica Dickson Lauren Marie Dillon Rachel Ellen Drury Martha Dora Duque Peláez Isabel Arline ECC Faculty and Staff Escobar Rojo Adriana Espinosa Sampedro María del Carmen Fernández Isabel Galán Rangel Yolanda (’65) Gallie Amy García Paty García Muñoz Maricela Goldschmied Harrison Susana (’91) González Burciaga Aurea Lilia Hananel Alberto Nessim Isaac Hanes Twyla Jan Hernández Franyutti Paulina Heusinger Kristen Marie Hill Ruy Sánchez Laura Mariana Hinojosa Infante Tania Hubp Patsy Hunt Anne C. Hunt Evan Dawson Hyman Staci Ann Ireson Valois Julien Isaacs Roy Samuel Jackson Daniel John Janota Tom Jessel Sagra Jiménez Grant Elisa Kassam Adams Rabiya Keeler Keenan Lisa Ann (’83) Kelman Desatnik Anna Sarah Kenzler Jessica Sadie Leis Magda Lemmon Gabriel David Lemmon Tanya Delise Leutheuser Kristen Lynn

List Rebekah Jane Loaiza Mateos Claudia Roberta LS Teachers Mankoch Medel Antonieta María Ludmila Markus Miljan Márquez Aguirre Ilya Karina Marshall Nena Martinez Jennifer Alicia Martínez Rubén McGowan Ricca Rocqael Michael Mansour Mary Michele Miller Danielle Elizabeth Miranda Graciela Montes de Oca Fleur Montes Merelles Laura Patricia (’92) Moodie Justin Bennett Morales Álvarez Laura Patricia Mulder Annelise Augusta Muller Christopher Michael Murra Rodríguez Jaime Alberto Newell Locke Tatiana Alexandra Ochoa Delgado Marcela Olper Benuzillo Renee (’85) Olson Amy Christine Ortiz Rodríguez Luis Alejandro Oseguera Amy Marie Susan Parcells Trent Pawlik Charles William Pawlik Naomi Michele Payne McDerment Susan Marion Piccaluga Gutiérrez María Elena Ramón Verdín Lorena Rodríguez Ángeles Roffiel Sánchez Othiana (’11) Rojas Aguilar María Cecilia Rueb David Daniel Salamoun Charbel Nadim Salas Valencia María del Rocío Salazar Alejandra Salcedo Hugo Salcedo Jessica Sánchez González Patricia Schell Jason Andrew Schendel Matthew Timothy Schupack Lara Anne Segura Quintanilla Luz Eugenia Seibel Susan Ann Short Catherine Emma Sikkink Bret Alan Solorio Enríquez Ana María Solórzano Bejar Silva Virginia St. Aubin Mercedes Tagle Memri Tapia Araceli Thomsen Bernal Claudia Beatriz Tolumes Villafaña Lorena Judith Trautman Erin Michelle

Van Heest Winter Debra Wynn Vázquez Bustamante Canek (’07) Vega Plasencia Jessica Vélez Romero David José Ver Duin Megan Leigh Victor Susan Jacquelyn Westholm Michelle Meredith Williams Paul Wilson Robert Wolpert Kuri Janet Woroszylski Yoselevitz Helen (’93) Zamora Castro Ana Patricia (’82) Students Alanis Jorge Álvarez Álvarez Román and Ana Sofía Anonymous Arellano Aguilar Diego and Alec Cassab Aminah Charvel Mauricio Class of 2013 Class of 2020 ECC Students (100% participation) Elías Enrique LS Classroom 3E 2011-2012 LS Classrooms 2011-2012 LS Classroom 1E LS Classroom 4A LS Classroom 5G Macotela Verdes Sebastián Martínez Velasco Inés MS Club de Español MS Students Pisinger Mateo Sacal Alice and Karen

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alumni | profile

Staging Success

Jason Grossman (’98) is a Tony Award-Winning Broadway Producer

BY Cindy Tanaka (’91), ASF Alumni Coordinator

J

ason Grossman was involved with the arts throughout his eight-year tenure at ASF, and especially with drama. Those years clearly had an impact on him, because while still in his early 30s he has become an award-winning theatrical producer.

One of his recent stage productions, “Peter and the Starcatcher,” was nominated for nine Tony Awards — theater’s highest honor — and won five. This year, his “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” starring Sigourney Weaver and David Hyde Pierce, won the Tony Award for Best Play.

“ASF always provides its students with a supportive environment to express themselves and their passions,” Jason says.

One of his biggest influences at ASF was Angela Florio, the former ASF drama teacher, who he recalls as providing him with an outlet to discover the different aspects of theater. “My primary focus was always acting, but throughout my involvement with theater I was able to assistant direct, work backstage and help organize 44 | Summer / fall 2013

Jason Grossman was also part of the producing team of the recent West End revival of the musical comedy “Lend Me a Tenor.”

shows,” he recalls. “Everyone who participated in our school musicals and plays always had one objective, to put on a great show, and we all worked hard to achieve this goal,” he remembered.

After ASF, Jason enrolled at Emerson College, a Boston-area college oriented toward communications and the performing arts. He was all set to study acting, but soon found himself involved with the Emerson Comedy Workshop, where he discovered that producing came naturally to him. He worked at the New Repertory Theater in Watertown, Massachusetts, upon graduating from college and then made the leap to New York City, introducing himself to the Broadway world.

Jason credits the work ethic nurtured during his ASF days with guiding him through college and into his professional career. “I always knew I wanted to work on Broadway, but while I was at ASF, I never imagined it was going to be as a producer,” he says. “But now, looking back, it makes sense. I’m involved in all aspects of theater when I produce: choosing or creatively developing the show, raising investments

from individuals, promoting and advertising, and managing the overall project.”

With his business partner M. Kilburg Reedy, he founded Radio Mouse Entertainment (www.radiomouse.com). That company has produced three Broadway shows (“The Pee-Wee Herman Show on Broadway,” is the other one), and a West End musical, with a new Broadway musical based on a romantic comedy in the works.

Jason said, “Theater has the ability to have a huge impact on people,” Jason says. “I really love taking an idea and bringing it to a big stage. If you do your job right, the product you’ve created is the star of the show.”

There’s little danger that Jason will forget his ASF roots in the face of so much success. Just last May, he was in Los Cabos with his Class of 1998 friends, enjoying their 15-year reunion (see page 48). “It was wonderful to reminisce about our time at ASF, and to reconnect with friends who have also been having remarkable journeys since we graduated together,” he says.

alumni | events

Buried Treasure On May 25, a Saturday, members of the Class of 1988, former teachers and special guests came to the ASF campus to dig out a time capsule that was buried 25 years ago during the festivities of the 100-year anniversary. Memories literally appeared before their eyes.

Adding to the emotion was another nostalgic event. To commemorate the centennial, those who attended that celebration made circular clay tiles in the art room of now-retired teacher Adele Goldschmied. The tiles found a home on a wall of the old Upper School Gym. After its 2010 demolition, Ms. Goldschmied went to work restoring them. The unveiling of these born-again tiles took place the same day as the time capsule unearthing.

at Event! on Was a Gre ti ca u d E r fo n u R ade It Possible The M o h W y d o b ry Thanks to Eve

The ASF Alumni Office would like to acknowledge the effort and commitment of all community members of who participated in last May’s 5K and 10K Run for Education.

Thanks to the following sponsors: Banamex, Chevrolet, ESPN Run, Gatorade, PepsiCo, Quaker, Epura, Energy Fitness, Hard Candy, Círculo K, Transportes Lipu, New Balance, Brother, Gifán, Destino GPS and Editorial Televisa.

Thanks to the Run for Education Organizing Committee: Leon Merikanskas (’93), Mauricio Quintana (’00), Janet Huerta (’03), Santiago Kneeland (’98), Samantha Teuscher (’91), Aliki Elías (’85), Rosa Marentes de Pisinger (’87), Lynnette Rivera (’88) and Viviana Alcocer.

And a special thanks to the ASF Bear Boosters, the Office of Operations, Athletics & Extended Learning and especially the PE teachers, coaches and staff who helped promote the event.

For more on the race, see page 7.

That’s the Spirit!

Alejandra Trueba (’13) and Andrés Martínez (’13) received the Alumni Spirit Award that ASF’s Alumni Council presents each year to graduating seniors who best exemplify school spirit. The two honorees were presented their awards during the Senior Awards Ceremony on May 21. With the award came the traditional ASF jacket, so they can continue to show their Bear pride in the years to come. Ale will be going to Boston University and Andres to Georgia Tech. In the picture: ASF Alumni Coordinator Cindy Tanaka (‘91) stands between Spirit Award honorees Alejandra Trueba (’13) and Andrés Martínez (’13).

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alumni | milestones, in memoriam & mailroom

FROM THE MAILROOM

Alumnus David Lopez-León (’88) kindly shared with Focus the following letter from a former ASF principal.

milestones

From the desk of Ms. Monteverde, May 31, 2013 It’s hard to believe 25 years have passed since the time capsule was sealed and buried there at the ASF front gate during Arts Festival ‘88. That the contents have endured in identifiable, readable shape is even more remarkable! (Anyone think of putting them back in another box, for another dig in the future?

Artifacts in the walls at Pompeii come to mind.)

I have fond memories of the students, my classes and the activities I sponsored while at ASF. Almost daily, I read that the active, inquiry-based approach fostered by the school back then seems to be returning to education today. (I think it never really left ASF.) When I moved to The University of Texas at Austin and began work in the city schools, I believed that ASF was ahead of the times. The rage then in Texas was memorization, recall and testing. It was hard to convince my UT students that education and learning could be as much fun for both teachers and students as I had experienced in Mexico.

(What did I know? They had to contend with rigid-minded politicos to keep their jobs.)

But in addition to academic freedom, the magical ingredient at ASF was the student body: curious, creative, open-minded kids who would take on all manner of intellectual challenges that we threw at them. At the time, we wondered if we weren’t cheating the students by not requiring more traditional fare — I remember the discussions with fellow teachers and administrators. Now I am convinced it was the best way to go. I have three spirited grandchildren, as well as 50+ years of hindsight to make comparisons.

By the time I finally retired from the university in spring 2011, my students in the College of Education fairly chomped at the bit to get out from under the scourge of testing. They wanted to develop classes that meant something to their students. The ship of state in Texas seems to be turning around, if the recent legislature is any sign. They’ve reduced the mandated tests from 15 to five and they are increasing the possibility of more charter schools in the state. (That may open the way for more experimentation.) My daughter, Dani (a teacher of bilingual ed), tells me that “project learning” may be on the upswing again, at least for the summer school session. She is elated. But I hesitate to cantar victoria, knowing these kinds of changes take time.

I hope that all who attended ASF have benefited from that approach, as adults adapting to this crazy, fast-paced world and as parents navigating the possibilities for their own children, and dare I say, grandchildren, someday.

About me... I celebrated my 75th birthday with my three kids in Paris in November 2012. I live in Austin, tinker around in my garden and try to swim at the YMCA regularly. Although I have joined the ranks of the Severely Hearing-Impaired, the latest digital devices keep my life full and rich. Vision is still A-OK and I finally have time to read all the delicious books that I had to pass up while grading papers. I’ve just joined a group of writers who encourage me to start blogging some of my memoirs and commentaries. We shall see.

All the best to the Stomping Bears among us. A little maroon, maroon; a little white, white; Come on Bears, fight fight — or whatever.

Franki Monteverde, Former High School Principal

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Stephen Albarrán (‘03) and his wife Anya proudly present Mila Michelle Albarrán, born on March 18, 2013, in New York City.

Viviana Vázquez (’89) and her husband Leonardo Rosas are so proud to announce the birth of their precious son, Nikolas Rosas Vázquez, who was born at the Hospital Ángeles of Querétaro on March 13, 2013, at 8:03 a.m. He weighed 2.85 kg.

In memoriam

Gloria Schon (’61) passed away after a long illness on March 31, 2013, in San Diego, California. She is survived by her daughters Frances Liberberg Schon (’86) and Liza Liberberg Schon (’87).

Susannah Glusker (’57) passed away on May 17, 2013, in Mexico City. A much beloved alumna, Susie taught Mexican art history and authored a biography of her mother, the Mexican culture chronicler Anita Brenner.

She was an energetic promoter of a number of causes, including Democrats Abroad, and remained active to her final days, when she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

She will be greatly missed.

Where Are You?

If you ever attended ASF, we’re looking for you!

Please update your information by sending an e-mail to alumni@asf.edu.mx right away.

We want to keep you up to date on all the ASF news as well as informed about upcoming alumni events. Keep in touch!

alumni | class notes

’93

The Class of 1993 is holding a 20-year reunion in Mexico City on Saturday, August 31. For more information or to confirm your attendance, e-mail angiealemanh@ hotmail.com. Spread the word and thank you for coming!

’95

Mauricio Serrano presented his new jewelry collection, “Urbania,” on the first web platform dedicated to fashion in Mexico. It is a virtual space in which Mauricio can interact with his public, no matter the distance. For more information please visit: www.googlefashionplus.com.

’67

Rolando de la Llata and Kendall Casseres, along with Kendall’s son, came to visit ASF on June 13. They were impressed with the changes and improvements the school has undergone since they graduated. It was great to have them back home.

’78

David Booker writes from Plymouth, Michigan: “I attended ASF in Mexico City from 1971 to 77. Played football and basketball.

Had the school record for most carries and yards gained in a single football game, but I doubt that still stands. Played football and graduated from Purdue University with a BS in economics in 1982. Currently live in Plymouth, Michigan, with my wife of 30 years. Have one son. Work as an author. My Second Chance series is based on my experiences in Mexico City. A lot of it takes place at ASF. Visit my web site: www.bookernovels.com.”

’86

Alex Pérez came to visit ASF on June 17, 2013. The Alumni Office was glad to have him back home and show him the changes that have occurred on campus since Alex graduated.

’87

Outstanding alumnus Jaime González Aguadé was named by President Enrique Peña Nieto last December as president of the CNBV, Mexico’s National Banking and Securities Commission.

’99

Entrepreneurs Mois Cherem, Raúl Maldonado and Jorge Camil are bringing technology-based learning to the poorest urban parts of Mexico. They founded a company in 2007, Enova, in which they design, build and operate small cost-effective educational centers known as RIA (Red de Innovación y Aprendizaje), targeting the population in marginalized neighborhoods in Mexico. Mois is general director of the company, and has been selected by the Schwab Foundation in New York City as one of the 24 Social Entrepreneurs of the Year.

All Class Years: A “Maya Little League” reunion in Mexico City is being planned. We are looking for baseball players, coaches, umpires, volunteer moms and dads and any others who were involved. If you were a player or would like to be listed for further reunion information, please contact Nena Gottfried Wiley (‘65) via e-mail at CoyoteArz@aol.com so your name can be added to the info list. Marc Debler and former Governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson are spearheading the event, scheduled to be held at San Angel Inn later this year.

All Class Years. This year’s traditional Alumni Bowl football game will take place August 24 on the ASF campus. Alumni from all generations are invited to participate and join our dream team...

For more information, please e-mail alumni@asf.edu.mx.

All Class Years. If you are interested in helping out and giving Upper School students the opportunity to learn more about the careers that interest them, we are looking for you! This year, Career Day will take place on October 5 at ASF campus. Please contact the Alumni Office at alumni@asf.edu.mx or call (55) 5227-4966 if you would like to participate in this experience.

SAVE THE DATE

All ASF alumni are invited to our annual Alumni Breakfast, October 26 on the ASF campus. E-mail alumni@asf.edu.mx for details.

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alumni | reunions

1983: Remembering Friends, Teachers and Travesuras The Class of 1983’s 30-year reunion took place at the Secrets Maroma Resort along the Riviera Maya. We had a wonderful time eating, dancing and drinking, but the best part was remembering our days at ASF. We reminisced about teachers such as Mr. Goud, Ms. Candy Michaels, Ms. Domínguez, Ms. McGrath, Mr. Lapadat and others.

We also laughed remembering our different travesuras like skipping school to go to Wings de Bosques and then to the Go Karts. Many other memories came up that we put together with our different versions from those days.

It was amazing to see so many friends and to remember those who could not make it to the reunion. We are planning a 30-year class reunion “Part II” in Mexico City for this fall. Stay tuned to see how that goes.

1998:

15 Years Later, in Cabo

The Class of 1998 spent a great memorial weekend in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, for its 15-year reunion. Classmates from the States and Mexico got together to remember the good old days, spend time in the sun, have a couple of parties and tour Cabo.

The photos here tell the story.

48 | Summer / fall 2013

Seated, left to right: Enrique Amieva, Alex Gutiérrez and Helen Yakin.

Standing, left to right: Gloria Caballero, Regina Velasco, Danny Seidel, Ana Luisa Valle, Martha Domínguez, Viviana Díaz, Henrik Hesselman, Marcie Wellman, Cristina Comartín, Mickey Hernandez, Margarita Cornejo, Mimi Constantino, Karlo Flores, Ricardo Ganem, Margarita Garaitonandia (‘84) Abraham Farca and George Fernández.

kids’ corner

The Magic School Bus, 3H-Style

Last year’s students of 3H were fans of the Magic School Bus books, a children’s series covering topics in science. So when their teacher, Ms. Lauren Morgan, asked them to make their own, some of them really put all their energy into the assignment. The challenge was to make their own version of a Magic School Bus book demonstrating knowledge of one of the major body systems. One of the best books came from Armando Martínez (pictured here), based on the circulatory system. You can see an excerpt below. To see the rest, go to http://goo.gl/FD877 or scan the QR code.

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