BB&N Bulletin Fall 2014

Fall/Winter 2014

bulletin Jamie Henn ’02: People’s Climate March Organizer

Inside this issue:

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Alumnae Reminisce at Buckingham Tea

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Lydia Vagts ’81: Preserving Classic Art at the MFA

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Chip Malt ’06 and Otto Magdanz ’06 Rally Against Breast Cancer

Events Calendar 2015 Ja n ua r y Monday, January 19 Girls and Boys Varsity Basketball New England Prep School Showcase TD Garden, Boston More details to follow

Monday, February 2 BB&N in Los Angeles Wednesday, February 4 BB&N in Palo Alto Thursday, February 5 BB&N in San Francisco

Ma rc h Tuesday, March 10 BB&N in Washington, D.C.

April Tuesday, April 14 BB&N in New York City

Ma y Saturday, May 2 BB&N Circus, Lower School Campus Friday, May 8 – Saturday, May 9 Strawberry Night/Reunion Weekend BB&N Upper School See www.bbns.org/strawberry for more details.

For a complete listing of School events including athletic games, performances, and exhibitions on campus, please visit the events calendar at: www.bbns.org/calendar.

NOTE TO PARENTS OF ALUMNI/AE: If this Bulletin was sent to your daughter or son and they have updated contact information, please send us their new address and email. Thank you!

Please send updates to: alumni_programs@bbns.org or Alumni/ae Programs Buckingham Browne & Nichols School 80 Gerry’s Landing Road Cambridge, MA 02138

Fall/Winter 2014

Fe b r u a r y

bulletin

Saturday, January 31 Alumni/ae Winter Games and All-School Spirit Day Nicholas Athletic Center, BB&N Upper School

Letter From the Head 2 Head of School Rebecca T. Upham on the

Director of Communications Joe Clifford, Editor

exciting restlessness of fall at BB&N

Associate Director of Communications Andrew Fletcher, Senior Editor

Community News 4 Fall Sports Wrap-Up, Buckingham Tea,

Communications Assistant Bridget Malachowski, Editor

Homecoming at BB&N, New Trustees, Spotlight on the Arts, and more

Features 16 Jamie Henn ’02

The People’s Climate March organizer hopes to change the climate one page hit, post, and tweet at a time

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Lydia Vagts ’81 Preserving classic paintings for the next generation at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts

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Chip Malt ’06 and Otto Magdanz ’06

Contributing Editors Sherwood C. Haskins Jr. Janet Rosen Alumni/ae News & Notes Andrea Martinez Mary McMahon Natalie Ralston Tracy Rosette Katie Small

Rallying to beat breast cancer with the adventure of a lifetime

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Contributing Writers Joe Clifford Peter DeMarco Jack Denny-Brown Andrew Fletcher Sharon Krauss Andrea Martinez Natalie Ralston Janet Rosen Nancy Morse Torti ’60

Former Former Faculty Profile: Elaine Dunn

Advancing Our Mission 32 The BB&N Fund, Senior Parents set to kick off new faculty professional development fund, BB&N 1974 Leadership Academy Celebration

Alumni/ae News & Notes 40 Golden Alumni/ae Luncheon 49 Homecoming at BB&N 54 Head of the Charles 60 Milestones

Design & Production Nanci Booth www.nancibooth.com 781-301-1733 Photography/Artwork/Design Lisa Abitbol Charles Benton (courtesy of the Proxy Gallery) Peter DeMarco Andrew Fletcher Tynan Friend ’15 Michael J Lee Eric Nordberg ’88 Shawn Read Joshua Touster Vaughn Winchell Shadia Fayne Wood (courtesy of Survival Media Agency)

Board of Trustees, 2014-2015 Officers Bracebridge H. Young, Jr., Chair Shelly Nemirovsky, Vice Chair/Secretary Charles A. Brizius, Vice Chair David Randolph Peeler, Vice Chair/ Treasurer Members J. Stuart Ablon ’88 Leslie Ahlstrand ’08 Beth Myers Azano ’95 Jeffrey Barber James T. Berylson Agnes Bundy Scanlan Joseph Chung Gregory Clark Thomas Dingman Diala Ezzeddine Katie Gayman Mary Beth Gordon Jason P. Hafler ’00 Bob Higgins James P. Honan Andre John ’83 Ken Lang Philip H. Loughlin Erica Gervais Pappendick Janet M. Storella ’74 Jocelyn Sand Clay Stites David J. Thompson ’85 Frederica C. Turner ’91 David Williams ’78 Head of School Rebecca T. Upham Front Cover:

Some of the more than 400,000 people who partook in the September 21st People’s Climate March in New York City— a march organized by Jamie Henn ’02.

(Photo by Shadia Fayne Wood, courtesy of the Survival Media Agency.)

Correction:

On page 26 of the Summer 2014 Bulletin, longtime Upper School French teacher Mireille Ciana was incorrectly identified as a member of the Lower School music department.

Correspondence may be sent to: Office of Alumni/ae Programs (alumni_programs@bbns.org or 617-800-2721) or the Office of Communications (communications@bbns.org or 617-800-2403), 80 Gerry’s Landing Road Cambridge, MA 02138-5512

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT

www.bbns.org

A Letter from Head of School Rebecca T. Upham Restless.

our Outdoor Classroom has literally opened up a new world for our beginners, kindergartners, and first graders to explore.

As Lower School teacher Susan Kinsky explains, “The Outdoor Classroom offers a space for students in the Morse Building to investigate, explore, and experience nature. It is an extension of the classrooms, whether students are studying butterfly habitats or reading. It also offers a place for creative play in the mud kitchen and in the ‘woods.’” A mud kitchen? Doesn’t it just make you smile?

It’s not just the itch I feel in late August right before school starts; it is, I think, a defining characteristic of all truly great schools.

In mid-September I gathered with BB&N’s Board of Trustees to talk about that very topic: What are the fundamental ingredients of great schools? Our facilitator for this discussion was Sarah Daignault, a faculty member of the Klingenstein Center at Columbia University, who has consulted with schools all over the world. As Sarah described notable qualities of great independent schools, I recognized a common thread. It was a trait that has long been an abundant part of BB&N’s personality—something I call a shared restlessness, a sense that everyone at the school is leaning toward how best to address the same, ever-present question: What can we do to become better?

Another way we’ve worked to be better is linked to the rhythms of the day for our students. On our Lower, Middle, and Upper School campuses we’ve been refining and tinkering with how we use the most precious of resources available to us—time. These improvements may not convey the same sense of wonder as the bridge to the Outdoor Classroom, but their impact has been profound.

The Lower School focused on creating fewer and calmer transitions between classes, resulting in better pacing to the day and more effective use of classroom time. The Middle School initiated a revised Blue/Gold week schedule last year that allows seventh and eighth graders to participate in an electives block or drop in to writing labs, diversity discussion groups, or teachers/advisor meetings. The feedback students offered after the debut year has been outstanding. The Upper School similarly modified its schedule in recent years, quadrupling the number of “X block” periods so as to expand and diversify opportunities for students and teachers to interact with each other outside the classroom in clubs, activities, and other programming. The shift also instilled a saner tempo to the day for students—an essential component in our ongoing efforts to best balance the “rigorous” and “healthy” strands of the BB&N DNA. This sort of work put in by so many people at our three campuses is intricate, painstaking, and not exactly suffused with glory. But in the building and sustaining of a great school, the attention we pay to these matters makes a huge difference in the quality of education, health, and well-being of every child who studies here.

You don’t have to look far at BB&N to find a quintessential example of that restless drive in action—it’s on tireless display in the energy and focus our teachers dedicate to professional growth. Every year, teachers rethink and refine their courses, projects, class activities, and even book lists.

They attend workshops and seminars.

They pursue advanced degrees. And this year, twelve faculty members have stepped up to participate in a year-long course led by Global Online Academy on blended learning, a topic to which we devoted our opening faculty meetings this year.

Blended learning is the thoughtful integration of technology into the learning experience. It is gratifying to see the way our teachers are exploring the possibilities of blended learning, not because it’s trendy but because their passion is to push— restlessly—to make sure they’re engaging the minds and hearts of BB&N students as well as preparing them for the future.

This urge to be better, to bring the best out of our students is a constant at BB&N. It can take us in exciting directions. The brand-new Outdoor Classroom at the Lower School (see page 9) is a terrific example of where a collectively restless, thoughtful spirit can lead. With its stump seats and enchanting bridge,

At the Upper School we’ve been thrilled to begin our first fall as a member of Global Online Academy, a consortium of 53 leading independent schools throughout the U.S. and abroad that offers

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our students the opportunity to learn alongside peers spanning 12 different time zones. Ten seniors have enrolled in GOA courses this fall, in courses ranging from Medical Problem Solving to Applying Philosophy to Global Issues. Our students are excited to partner with a global community of other motivated, curious learners.

I recently heard someone describe our students’ involvement with GOA as “BB&N Without Borders.” I like that a lot, especially as I reflect on how well it connects with the second sentence of the BB&N mission statement: The School prepares students for lives of principled engagement in their communities and the world.

Another aspect of BB&N’s restless spirit surfaces in how we think about our future. We’re looking forward to launching a Financial Aid Summit in December. Financial aid is just one of the ways—but a crucially important one—that we think about opportunity and about the students, all students, who know BB&N as their school.

Earlier this fall I had the honor of attending a celebration of Beacon Academy’s 10th-year anniversary. BB&N alumnus Kyle Umemba ’11 was the featured speaker. Kyle is certainly one of our superstars; he’s also one of our financial aid graduates. In his remarks, Kyle gave credit to the opportunities—Beacon, BB&N, now George Washington University—that have played such a influential role in helping to carve his path. That wonderful voice of Kyle’s boomed out lines from Henley’s Invictus: “I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul.” His message was a powerful one. But there is an equally powerful story that went unspoken during the evening: which is, as much as BB&N helped shape Kyle, he in turn influenced us just as compellingly. Kyle was a leader at BB&N—a uniting force in his classes, clubs, community service, and sports. His voice, his story, and his perspective had a positive and lasting impact on those around him. That’s magical stuff. At BB&N, we’re in the restless business of changing lives.

Financial aid helps us do just that.

With warm regards,

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PICTURED [ 1 [ Ann Sussman ‘72 and Erica Lenk Emmet ‘72 [ 2 [ Jane Willard White ‘68 and Nancy Scannell Moncton ‘68 [ 3 [ Erica Reitmayer ‘68 and Barbara Daitch Cary ‘68 [ 4 [ Suzanne Johannet ‘75 and Anne Brisbois Denna ‘72 [ 5 [ Sisters Jane Gair Prairie ‘74 and Nancy Gair ‘77 [ 6 [ Helen Chen ‘64 and Sheila Malone King ‘50 [ 7 [ Margaret Hardy ‘61, Middle School World Languages Chair, looks at a Latin book with Janet Imlah Collett ‘55 [ 8 [ Cynthia Chase ‘70, Roz Gorin ‘62, and Nancy Morse Torti ‘60 [ 9 [ Removing the bricks from the old pathway at 80 Sparks Street, 1954

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Community News “Oh look, there’s Minnie Belle Brewer, digging up bricks, and Mlle.

Herzog, passing them along the line, and isn’t that Mrs. Matt, off in the back with the younger girls?” The poster size photo at the entrance of 80 Sparks instantly transported me back to a spring day in 1954 when I was in the sixth grade at the same building, which then housed the Buckingham middle and upper schools. At that time, preparations for renovation of 80 Sparks St. mobilized the efforts of every student and faculty member with the demolition of a brick patio. On the designated day several teachers carefully excavated the bricks, carefully passing them along a line of students and teachers that extended to a storage area behind the old carriage house. Sixty years later, at the advent of the next renovation of this building, I find myself hoping that those original patio bricks are now part of the 1954 addition that housed additional classrooms and the study hall. After all, the entire Middle and Upper Schools worked hard to that end.

Buckingham Alumnae Gather to Reminisce on the Cusp of a New Era at

Buckingham Tea

On a recent sunny October afternoon, about 40 Buckingham alumnae gathered at the Middle School building at 80 Sparks St. to learn more about plans for its future and to view a spectacular architectural plan. We discussed old ideas and new, what needed to be preserved and enhanced, and important current needs, such as accessibility, newly defined spaces, lighting. We savored tea, old friendships, and memories; we even burst into song: “A soul, a soul, a soul cake...,” “And did those feet in ancient times....” What a joy to know that many of these traditions continue to enrich this thriving educational community; and how exciting not only to witness the continuing evolution of our school and its buildings, but also to participate, albeit a bit differently.

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NANCY MORSE TORTI ’60

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Community News BB&N Celebrates Biggest Homecoming Ever Students, faculty, parents, and alumni/ae who attended Homecoming this fall were treated to a fall spectacular. Featuring a full slate of fall athletic events, food stands, carnival-like attractions, and community-wide fun for everyone, the day was a huge success. Check out some of the action!

Football vs. Belmont Hill Loss: 17-14

Field Hockey vs. Southfield School Win: 6-1

Boys Varsity Soccer vs. Belmont Hill Loss: 2-1

Boys JV Soccer vs. Belmont Hill Win: 5-3

Varsity Volleyball vs. Nobles Loss: 3-0

JV Volleyball vs. Nobles Loss: 2-0

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Girls Varsity Cross-Country Loss: BB&N 35 – Milton 24 Win: BB&N 24 – Governor’s 31

Girls JV Cross-Country Loss: BB&N 50 – Milton 15 Win: BB&N 15 – Governor’s 50

Boys Varsity Cross-Country Loss: BB&N 37 – Milton 20 Win: BB&N 27 – Governor’s 29 Win: BB&N 23 – Saint Sebastian’s 34

Boys JV Cross-Country Loss: BB&N 32 – Milton 25 Win: BB&N 17 – Governor’s 38 Win: BB&N 17 – Saint Sebastian’s 43

PICTURED [ 1 [ Cammi Fitzgerald ’15 paints the face of Gemma Friend ’28. [ 2 [ BB&N Lower Schoolers form a rally tunnel as Eben Moulton ’15 takes the field. [ 3 [ Lower School students enjoy the festivities. [ 4 [ Lily Santonelli ’16 uncorks a shot. [ 5 [ Margaret Hardigg ’18, Elisa Tabor ’18, Amanda Buchan ’18, and Rabia Kassim ’18 display their School spirit. [ 6 [ The crowd was raucous as they cheered on their teams. [ 7 [ ????? ??????? and ???????? ???????? display their School spirit.

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Bivouac Brings Freshmen Together For the 62nd consecutive year, BB&N ninth graders packed their bags and headed north for Bivouac this fall. The 11-day nature immersion program in the New Hampshire woods fosters class unity and allows students to learn lifelong lessons as they cut firewood, cook food, dig latrines and garbage pits, and set up their own shelter.

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[ 1 [ Emory Sabatini ’18 executes a daring move on the ropes course. [ 2 [ Sophia Scanlan ’18 and Emily McKinley ’18 split wood for the camp fire.

BB&N Debaters Take First Place in Hong Kong BB&N student debaters Molly Murphy ’15, Zack Boughner ’15, and Michael Goldfine ’16 recently won first place in the U.S. team division at the International Independent Schools’ Speaking Championship.

The competition, which took place in Hong Kong, China, includes independent schools from all parts of the world and U.S., and features various categories of public speaking.

In addition to the team win, Murphy won the top U.S. speaker award, which qualifies her to travel back to Hong Kong in April (along with Goldfine, who qualified in September) to the World Individual Debate and Public Speaking Championships.

“We worked many hours to prepare the students for the tournament… and the work paid off!” says Upper School English teacher Christian Gregory.

Molly Murphy ’15, Zack Boughner ’15, and Michael Goldfine ’16 pose with their winning spoils.

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Community News Jorge Arce Brings Afro-Cuban History to Middle School with Percussive Flair Middle School X-Block literally shook the walls of Sparks street this fall when internationally renowned percussionist and cultural activist Jorge Arce visited the campus to illuminate Afro-Cuban culture. Toting more than 30 percussion instruments with him from all parts of South America, Arce demonstrated the commonality of world cultures through their music, specifically percussive beats.

In an engaging and energetic presentation, Arce traced the background of Afro-Cuban history using his instruments as the unifying theme. Using the tool of music, more specifically a certain beat that can be found in nearly all music—from Salsa, to Bomba, to Rock ‘n’ Roll—Arce demonstrated the universal back beat that unknowingly ties so many cultures together.

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In addition to learning the history, students and teachers alike were able to join Arce in a performance of percussive glee, culminating in everyone dancing, singing, and forming a conga line which looped the Middle School big room.

PICTURED [ 1 [ Prince Loney-Baily ’??, Middle School Director Mary Dolbear, Talia Belz ’??, and ?????? ??????? [ 2 [ 2. Jorge Arce lays down the rhythm

1 Lower School Expands Learning with Outdoor Classroom

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BB&N’s youngest learners returned to campus this fall to an exciting new discovery outside of the Morse Building—an outdoor classroom replete with tree stump seats, a bamboo fort, and a fun wooden bridge.

The space had been a welcome addition for group activities, nature studies (such as raising and releasing monarch butterflies), and of course, making the occasional mud pie during recess!

PICTURED [ 1 [ (Left to right) Arce, math teacher Gus Means, Director of Multicultural Services Lewis Bryant, Prince Loney-Bailey ’19, Middle School Director Mary Dolbear, Talia Belz ’19, and ????????? ???????. [ 2 [ (Clockwise from left) Thomas Bressler ’27, Molly McDonald ’27, Charley Perkins ’27, and Maia Deming ’27. [ 3 [ Lucia Lipson ’27, Charley Perkins ’27, and Callie Heppner ’27 on the bridge.

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Community News

(Clockwise from top left) Jocelyn Sand, Clay Stites, Jimmy Berylson ’00, Leslie Ahlstrand ’08, Keng Lang, and Greg Clark.

New Trustees Named for 2014-15 BB&N welcomes six new trustees to the board this year Leslie Ahlstrand ’08 s Leslie graduated from Trinity College in 2012 with a degree in English and public policy. s She is currently a Consulting Associate with Cambridge Associates. s Leslie served as Senior Class President at BB&N and as a volunteer for her fifth reunion.

Jimmy Berylson ’00 s Jimmy graduated from Harvard University in 2004. s He is a Managing Partner/Director at Berylson Capital Partners in Boston. He previously worked in private equity at Goldman Sachs, and as an investment analyst with Serengeti Asset Management LP. s Jimmy is a distinguished benefactor at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, a board member at Unlocking Potential, an advisory board member at The Resolution Project, and a non-executive director at Millwall Holdings Football Club.

Greg Clark P’15 s Greg and his wife Terry live in Weston with their four children. s He is President and Owner of Alexandra Construction, Inc., a firm which provides conceptual estimating, design-build partnering, fast-tracking of complex projects, and construction management. s Greg’s daughter Victoria is a senior at BB&N. Ken Lang P’16, ’18, ’20 s Ken lives in Weston with his wife Vicky and their five children, three of whom attend BB&N: daughter Marin ’16, son Chris ’18, and daughter Julia ’20.

s He is a Founding Partner at Northbay Capital Management LP, an investment management firm and Thomas H. Lee’s hedge fund affiliate. s Ken is currently Chair of The BB&N Parent Fund.

Jocelyn Sand P’16 s Jocelyn and her husband David live in Brookline. Their son Paul is a junior at BB&N, and children Ted and Naomi also attended the School. s She is currently serving as President of the BB&N Parents’ Association. s Jocelyn has been closely involved with the School in various volunteer roles including The BB&N Fund, phonathon volunteer, sitting on the LS head search steering committee, chairing the parent advisory committee, and serving as a parent representative for several years.

Clay Stites s Clay is currently a consultant with RG175, assisting schools in head searches and governance work. He has an extensive list of clients that includes many of BB&N’s peer schools as well as other highly ranked institutions. s He is a previous head of school at the Curtis School in Los Angeles (’92-’97), Friends Academy in North Dartmouth (’77-’92), and served as head of the Middle School of the Wheeler School in Providence, RI (’70-’77). s Clay has previously served on several other educational boards.

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BB&N Fall Athletic Snapshots BB&N athletes put on a show as usual this fall season. See below for a taste of the action.

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PICTURED [ 1 [ Boys Soccer: Michael LaCava ’16 calmly controls the play. [ 2 [ Girls Soccer: Alexandra Massa ’17 controls the ball. [ 3 [ Football: Cole O'Connor ’15 targets a receiver down the field. [ 4 [ Field Hockey: Eleanore Fusco ’17 dribbles by a defender. [ 5 [ Boys Cross Country: Ethan O'Reilly ’16 sets the pace. [ 6 [ Girls Cross Country: The girls’ team looks to start fast in a recent meet. [ 7 [ Volleyball: Fiona McCarey ’15 gets up for a spike.

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Alumni/ae Spotlight on the Arts Film s Video s Theater s Photography s Books s Ceramics s Music s Design s Sculpture s Drawing s Painting s Architecture

Jeremy Kaplan ‘03, Filmmaker [ 1&2 [ Currently Jeremy is a filmmaker and has been since college.

He has worked on a number of feature and documentary films, mostly documentaries. His documentary work has brought him across the globe to Costa Rica, Egypt, and South Korea with topics ranging from the environmental impact of American corporations in Costa Rica to a short documentary portrait of a progressive New York orthodox Jewish community. His most recent work, his first feature documentary that he has directed, is titled A Will for the Woods, about the Green Burial movement and a man’s journey to prepare for his own green burial. The documentary has been playing all over the U.S. and several countries in film festivals and won awards over the last year at prestigious festivals like Full Frame, New Orleans, Virginia, San Francisco Indiefest, Kansas City Filmfest and others. The film’s theatrical run started in NYC in late summer and recently had a Boston premiere at the MFA in October and is scheduled to continue across the country and overseas throughout late fall and winter. The film will be online and VOD in early 2015.

Jeremy just returned recently to campus during the week of the screening at the MFA to talk with several BB&N film classes about his film and the process of making it. www.awillforthewoods.com Bayne Peterson ‘02, Artist [ 3&4 [ Lately, research and travel have become important elements of my artwork. Last year, in my final year in the Masters of Fine Arts Sculpture program at the Rhode Island School of Design, I received a grant to research Inuit Art in Canada. That summer, I traveled to Ottawa to study a selection of miniature carvings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the special collections at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. These tiny sculptures, all hand-carved in walrus ivory, depict objects from daily life such as saws, pots and pans, rifles, and pocketknives.

Most compelling to me was a two and a half inch tall carving of a Swedish-made Primus camping stove. I am interested in the virtuosic ability demonstrated in this intricate sculpture, as well as the subtle surface fluidity that resulted from the nature of the material and the actions of the unidentified carver’s hand. I am also fascinated by the cultural exchange that this sculpture represents, of a Scandinavian object overlaid with an Arctic material and artistic tradition.

After my time at the museum, I flew to Baffin Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut to learn more about contemporary Inuit art. I lived in Pangnirtung, a small village filled with artists, with a centrally located arts and crafts center and printmaking studio. With the help of a translator, I spoke with artists of all ages, who work mostly with stone. Inuit artists today use a variety of power tools, often in outdoor studios, and the sound of tools grinding on stone is a nearconstant backdrop. Traditional subject matter predominates, with carvings often depicting figures from Inuit legends as well as animal and human forms, and the importance of upholding traditions and stories through art was a recurring topic. One of 14

the most interesting moments in Pangnirtung was my visit with master carver Norman Qumortuk, who collects antique Primus stoves that he finds on long walks in the tundra. Battered, tarnished, and missing many of their components, these relics had taken on a fascinating mysteriousness, and formed a serendipitous connection to my research in the museum.

I returned to my studio compelled to incorporate these experiences into my work. I made a new series of wooden sculptures based on the Primus stove sculpture that I studied in Ottawa, as well as Norman’s primus stove collection. This series culminated in my recent solo show, Myst, at Proxy gallery in downtown Providence, RI. Jill Litner Kaplan ’82, Interior Design [ 5 [ My story starts with a piece of dark chocolate and a crusty piece of baguette in Madame Kennedy’s 4th grade Lower School classroom. That is when my passion for all things French was born, and subsequently my interest in art, fashion, merchandising and antiques. I recall the daily climb up a narrow set of creaky steps to Madame Kennedy’s classroom, when in her desire to cultivate a spark of interest in French culture, she would begin every class by handing out delicious morsels of chocolate wrapped in a slice of bread to her young, impressionable students. As a new student at BB&N, this was my first exposure to learning French, and I was officially hooked. What I didn’t know at the time was how much that initial exposure to France would profoundly affect my life as a student at BB&N and after high school—one that took me from Barnard College of Columbia University in New York City and Paris straight into a world of retailing, luxury goods, manufacturing and marketing, back to Harvard Business School to earn my MBA, and ultimately to running my own interior design business today.

After spending nearly 12 years living in New York City after graduation from college working first as a buyer for Macy’s Clubhouse, then moving on to Saks 5th Avenue’s Women’s Designer Sportswear Department, I ultimately became a Product Marketing Manager for Burlington Industries running two of their home furnishings consumer products businesses.

I returned to Boston to attend Harvard Business School, and after graduation in 1998, my husband Benjamin and I moved permanently back to Boston where he started practicing law at Hale and Dorr, and I started an independent retail consulting practice called JK Creative Retail Solutions. In addition to launching a start-up called “MyMaison.com,” I advised art galleries and home furnishings retailers on how to run their businesses. After my two boys Graham and Ian were born, now ages 14 and 12 years and attending The Fessenden School, I found myself increasingly advising friends and neighbors on how to decorate their homes, and subsequently converted my retail consulting practice into one focused exclusively on interior design. Employing virtually everything I ever learned about how to merchandise, manage people, projects and

Please send submissions to alumni_programs@bbns.org or mail to BB&N Alumni/ae Programs Office, 80 Gerry’s Landing Road, Cambridge, MA 02138

expectations, manufacture finished product and market our services, I have transformed that business into Jill Litner Kaplan Interiors. Working hand in hand with my two design assistants on both residential and commercial design projects all over the New England area and Florida, my firm has been very fortunate to be published by every major design magazine in the Northeast, HGTV, national design blogs, The Boston Globe and been covered by NECN.

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Needless to say, I never could have predicted this career path when I was a student at BB&N, but am very thankful for all of the wonderful lessons and unique opportunities I was given while there that helped shape me.

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Jamie Henn ’02:

CHANGING

THE CLIMATE

one page hit, post, and tweet at a time

By Peter DeMarco The marchers began taking their places around 9 a.m., with Central Park to their left, the luxurious Trump Hotel to their right, and just ahead, New York City’s fountain-laden Columbus Circle. Before you knew it, tens of thousands of people had crammed the street for the People’s Climate March— everyone from environmentalists in polar bear costumes to parents pushing baby strollers, with workers’ unions, neighborhood associations, and a few dozen marching bands in between.

With kick-off time fast approaching, Jamie Henn ’02, glanced at the crowd. As co-founder of 350.org, a worldwide movement to reduce carbon emissions, Henn had organized hundreds of marches in his career. But nothing he’d worked on before could compare to this, the biggest march for climate change ever held, an event that would see some 400,000 activists course through the urban canyons of New York City on a clear September day.

This was no time for Henn to be in awe, though. Lisa Foderaro, a New York Times reporter, was tapping his shoulder, wanting to know about crowd security. Shihab Rattansi, the debonaire Al Jazeera news anchor, needed Henn’s advice for setting up a live shot. Text messages and emails from Los Angeles to London were øooding Henn’s phone. Was the protest under control" Was the mayor going to speak" Was .anye West really there" Every media outlet on the planet, it seemed, wanted the march’s 30-year-old communications director for something that very moment.

And Henn couldn’t have been more exhilarated.

Flashing a wide smile, and shaking hands at every turn, he dove into a mosh pit of reporters, photographers, bloggers, celebrities and climate change leaders amassed in front of the march’s starting line—Henn’s impromptu of÷ce for the day.

He rambled off 30-second soundbites for podcast reporters, told a German news crew where to set up their cameras, and made certain NBC had the latest press release. Spotting the Sierra Club president in the scrum, Henn ducked under a sound boom, and scooted over for a hug.

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Jamie Henn ’02 on the move in NYC as he leads the charge on organizing the People’s Climate March.

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If Henn wasn’t talking to a reporter, he was tweeting an update about the march—or raising a ÷st-pump to an activist holding a sunøower. If he wasn’t checking his e-mail, he was speed-walking a block to 61st Street to welcome Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders to the parade.

ents, a pair of Cambridge lawyers who share a passion for First Amendment rights, also helped foster.

When reporters were having trouble getting past police of÷cers who’d cordoned off the block, it was Henn who jumped to their rescue.

He joined various activist movements at Middlebury College, but it was a class on climate change that changed everything for him.

“So Mark Ruffalo, the Incredible Hulk, is here. Right before the start of the rally, he’s going to come bursting through these gates!” Henn told security workers gathered at the checkpoint.

“It really sparked me and others to ask what else could we be doing at Middlebury College, and how else could we connect with students at other colleges,” he says.

Within a year, Henn was leading 130 students to Montreal for the United Nations Climate Change Conference. By the time he was a senior, he was organizing global warming demonstrations in all 50 states.

They looked back in dismay.

“Actually, I’m just kidding,” Henn quickly added. “That’s not going to happen.”

Laughter ensued, and soon, Henn was in charge of the gate, waving in media members at his discretion.

Ruffalo, a climate activist, was indeed at the march. And when the actor spotted Henn, who he’d met once during a White House protest, he put his arm around him.

“Jamie knows everyone,” said Lindsay Meiman, Henn’s co-worker at 350.org, who spent the day, in large part, trying to keep up with her nonstop boss.

“They instilled in me a sense that the system isn’t static, and that it can change,” Henn says.

His senior year, 2007, was also when 350.org was born.

In the beginning, it was just Henn, ÷ve of his friends, and their advisor, internationally-known environment writer Bill McKibben, a scholar-in-residence at the college.

Today, 350.org is a worldwide organization, with as much clout, some say, as the Sierra Club.

Using Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and the Internet as recruiting tools, 350.org has helped organize more than 20,000 climate demonstrations in 190 countries, and has been the impetus for fossil fuel divestment campaigns at more than 500 colleges.

As a student at BB&N, Henn won a seat on the student council by promising voters a change—speci÷cally, a new, frozen yogurt machine in the cafeteria. “The school put the machine in—my ÷rst political win,” says Henn, chuckling, while at his Brooklyn of÷ce.

The group’s name—or speci÷cally, the number 350—represents a climate tipping point. As the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere continues to rise above 350 parts per million, the planet’s temperature increases, ice caps melt, and, in time, thousands of miles of coastal lands on every continent will øood, some scientists say. Recent measurements have CO2 concentrations beyond 400 ppm.

BB&N was also where Henn became interested in volunteerism—for his senior spring project, he assisted AIDS victims at a shelter. It was also where he started to think seriously about social justice issues, ideas that his par-

If mankind can lower carbon dioxide to under 350 parts per million by moving away from fossil fuels and cutting its collective carbon footprint, the planet may be able to regain its equilibrium.

Working a crowd, indeed, has always been Henn’s speciality. Even before he made saving the planet his life’s work.

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“Climate change threatens everything we love,” Henn says.

“I don't want to be the type of person who just sits back and lets something terrible happen without putting up a ÷ght.”

from the Guardian to the LA Times wanted to know" How was 350.org counting the masses" Could organizers be sure their number was right"

Henn has worn several hats for 350.org, doing everything from fundraising to rally coordination to building a climate movement in East Asia. But his positive, easy-going nature, his gift for gab, and boundless energy make him a natural at communications.

For nearly two hours, Henn and his staffers debated what estimate to go with.

“He’s the most remarkable person in the country at the particular thing he does,” McKibben says. “He’s someone who can communicate a message by thinking quickly, crisply, and poetically…and he’s very, very fast. And communication is really what makes something like this work.”

“You don’t think that sounds low"” said Nell Greenberg, one of Henn’s co-organizers.

For Henn, there may have been no bigger opportunity to get the word out than Sept. 21, the day of the People’s Climate March.

Back and forth they went until, a few minutes before 3 p.m., Henn approved 310,000, based on the actual square footage of the 50+ block march route, and the average number of square feet a single marcher takes up in a procession. Almost as soon as he tweeted the number, stories quoting the ÷gure began popping up around the world.

In many ways, Henn, who’d spent months with his staff preparing for event, was every bit the media maestro, pumping out press releases, ÷elding questions from the world’s mightiest news outlets, and greeting dignitaries such as Ruffalo and Van Jones, the former White House “green jobs” advisor.

All the while, he remained plugged into the march’s online reach, with constant updates from a room of staffers glued to their computers back at the of÷ce.

“We’re the No. 1 story on Google News!” Henn chirped triumphantly before the march even began.

Henn was also the person everyone was turning to for the estimated number of people participating in the march. Which, it turned out, wasn’t so easy to answer.

Organizers had hoped for 100,000 marchers, which would have doubled the record for a climate-change march. But early on, it became apparent that New York’s march was in a league of its own. Were there 200,000, 300,000, or half a million people in the streets, everyone

“I think 285,000 is a super-strong number,” Henn announced early on.

“If you round it to 300,000, it starts to sound like you’re making it up,” he said. “Let’s wait a little longer.”

For Henn, that all-important crowd statistic, which Time Magazine eventually revised to 400,000, was key to measuring the march’s success. So, too, was the sheer volume of publicity the march received. More than 5,000 published stories were written that week, along with innumerable television spots, with everyone from CNN to the Colbert Report to The View airing footage.

“There are still 173 tweets a minute about the #PeoplesClimate march, and it ended 2 hours ago,” Henn himself tweeted that night. “I think we’re breaking the Internet.”

But facts and ÷gures weren’t Henn’s only rewards that day.

Amidst all the interviews and phone calls and social media updates, there were scattered moments when he grabbed a sip of water, or munched on a Cliff Bar, and stopped to take in the amazing array of people and posters and horn blowers marching by—all there, in some small way, because of his effort.

FAR LEFT: Over 400,000 people lined up for the Climate March on September, 21. LEFT: Henn is interviewed by the media during the walkout at the Warsaw COP19 Climate Change Talks. Numerous activists left the global summit in protest of its lack of focus.

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Look, he’d say—there’s an environmental group he used to coordinate rallies with in Oakland, California. Hey, the Central Park Carriage Drivers Union made it, he’d note, nodding in approval.

“Nobody told me we were going to have people on stilts show up! We’d put these things in the press release,” he joked as a half-dozen men on stilts strode by. “I don’t know what that is,” Henn said, upon seeing a 10-foot tall statue of a funky nature god. “But I love it!”

When members of the Service Employees International Union of New York came into view, holding aloft purple and yellow union banners, Henn darted into the parade to shake hands with the group’s leader.

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“Her name is Mary Rosario,” Henn said, upon his return.

“She was one of the people at the ÷rst press conference we had in Times Square months ago. She’s a custodial worker at Madison Square Garden. We had like three media outlets show up that day, when no one thought this was possible. To see her marching now, with hundreds of thousands of people in the streets, it’s just amazing.”

That night, as Henn closed up the of÷ce, and marchers scattered across the city to return home, he posted a ÷nal thought on his historic day.

“Thank you, #PeoplesClimate. Dreams do come true.” Y

1. Arron Juang '15, Alicia Juang ’13, Upper School art teacher Laura Tangusso, and Upper School science teacher Karina Baum.

2. Katie Massie ’16 takes in the crowd during the march.

1 2 BB&N AT THE MARCH For the discerning, eagle-eyed observer, the BB&N name might have stood out among the 400,000 participants in the September 21st People’s Climate March. Numerous alumina/e, faculty, and students made the trek to New York City to partake, including Upper School teachers Karina Baum, Parrish Dobson, and Laura Tangusso, students Katie Massie ’16, Arron Juang ’15, Brita Mackey ’17, and Georgina Steel ’17, and alums Elaine Forbush ’13, Alicia Juang ’13, Ellie Moriearty ’13, Elana Sulakshana ’13, along with, of course, march organizer Jamie Henn ’02.

For those who attended, the issue of climate change ran deep. In an interview with NPR News’ White House correspondent Scott Horsley, Sulakshana was able to share some of her thoughts on the march. “It was really exciting. I’ve never seen so much energy around an issue,” Sulakshana said. “People just seem ready to take on the world leaders who haven’t been doing anything on climate change.”

As a passionate advocate for environmental issues, and as a ground-zero participant in the day’s events, BB&N junior Katie Massie also checked in with her own feelings from the day and why she chose to march.

I marched because to me, there was no other option. Because I didn’t see how I could be so close to New York City and not do my part. I couldn’t fathom knowing about the movement of our time, being a train ride away, and not going.

I marched because the only thing that we all share is our Earth. There nothing of higher priority, or of more importance, than the planet, and yet it falls down at the bottom of our lists. And it falls even lower on the priority lists of politicians.

I marched because this was my chance to make my voice and my generation’s voice heard. I marched because of the extraordinary injustice that is placed on my generation’s shoulders, that we have to clean up the mess that people before us made, and I marched because I don’t want to create a greater injustice for generations to come.

The march itself was powerful. There is no other way to describe 400,000 people moving through the streets of New York City. I’ll never look at those streets the same way again.

400,000 may sound like a lot to you, or it may just sound like a Justin Bieber concert audience.

But let me tell you—400,000 people moving together with a common goal" It’s a force to be reckoned with. People surged through the streets of New York waving banners and signs all saying different things, highlighting different causes, all brought there by different things, but marching for the same reason. And it was stupendous.

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Vagts ’81 in her studio at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts 22

By Sharon Krauss, English Department Chair

WHAT LIES W

BENEATH THE SURFACE: Paintings Conservator Lydia Vagts ’81 Preserves Fine Art for the Next Generation /ydia 9agts ĹŞ recently retXrned from cKaperoning a danceŧnot yoXr average family aĆ‚air at tKe /oZer 6cKool ZKere Ker daXgKters are in Ćƒrst and si[tK gradesŧEXt the dance in tKe Zorld of )rencK ,mpressionism 5enoirĹŞs Dance at Bougival. $ccompanying tKe iconic life-si]e painting of a ZKirling coXple at an oXtdoor cafÂŤ to an e[KiEition at tKe 0XsÂŞe de /X[emEoXrg in 3aris 9agts a paintings conservator at %ostonĹŞs 0XseXm of )ine $rts 0)$ Zas doing a roXtine part of Ker MoE EXt never Eefore Kad sKe made sXcK a dramatic entrance. :Kile a police escort is standard practice ZKen traveling ZitK valXaEle paintingsŧtypically one state trooper migKt discreetly folloZ tKe trXcNŧ9agts Zas met in 3aris sKe says Ĺ­Ey tZelve 6:$7-team memEers foXr on motorcycles tKe rest in tZo cars. , Zas really Xnprepared for tKat. ,t Zas so over tKe topŧMXst nXts ĹŽ :itK 9agts riding oEligatory sKotgXn in tKe trXcN transporting tKe 5enoir and 0onetĹŞs The Road at la CavĂŠe, Pourville and ZitK macKine gXns protrXding from tKe veKicles fXlly loaded ZitK oĆ…cers tKe caravan Zent screaming tKroXgK tKe streets of 3aris.

1oZ in an endoZed position as tKe &XnningKam $ssociate &onservator of 3aintings 9agts is one of seven ZKo ZorN on :estern paintings and tKe occasional contemporary $sian painting. :Ken sKeĹŞs not organi]ing traveling e[KiEitions and escorting ZorNs of art or doing all tKe painstaNing preparations on ZorNs leaving tKe mXseXm or Kelping to install or de-install e[KiEitions ZitKin tKe 0)$ sKe is cleaning and retoXcKing tKree or foXr paintings at a time in a top-Ć&#x201E;oor stXdio aEove tKe galleries. 2n Ker Ć&#x192;rst visit to sXcK a stXdio 9agts tKen a 6tXdio $rt maMor at <ale discovered ZKat sKe Zanted to do ZitK tKat degree. $s a sXmmer intern Kelping to teacK cKildrenĹŞs art classes in tKe 0)$ĹŞs (dXcation 'epartment sKe Zas taNen on a toXr of 3ainting &onservation. Ĺ­7Ke Kead of tKe laE at tKe time ĹŽ 9agts recalls Ĺ­Zas sitting in front of -oKn 6inger 6argentĹŞs The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit ZitK a little tiny paintErXsK and , tKoXgKt ĹŠtKat man is toXcKing my favorite painting in tKe Zorld. +eĹŞs touching it 2KKK , ZoXld really liNe to do tKat. That ZoXld Ee good ĹŞĹŽ 7Kese days 9agts Kerself Kas clocNed coXntless Kands-on KoXrs ZitK many of tKe 6argents in tKe 0)$ĹŞs collection inclXding tKe cleaning of Kis KXge mXrals in tKe 5otXnda. Ĺ­,ĹŞm very very selĆ&#x192;sK ĹŽ 9agts gleefXlly admits. Ĺ­:Ken tKe 6argents come Xp to tKe laE tKeyĹŞre mineĹ´. and ZKen ,ĹŞm not Kogging tKose , liNe to ZorN on ,talian tKings. :e donĹŞt alZays get to stay ZitKin oXr area of interest EXt ZKen Ze do get tKat cKance itĹŞs really satisfying.ĹŽ &ontemporary art for instance 9agts Ć&#x192;nds Ĺ­Nind of terrifying to treat. , donĹŞt Zant to treat magic marNer paintings on EXEEle Zrap donĹŞt maNe me do tKat ĹŽ sKe says ZitK a laXgK. Ĺ­*ive me a nice ,talian 2ld 0aster on a nice tKicN piece of Zood.ĹŽ ,n addition to paintings Ey 7itian 7intoretto 9eronese %otticelli sKe Kas ZorNed on a 5enoir some 0onets and many -oKn 6ingleton &opleys. Ĺ­, love getting to toXcK tKe art tKe sensation of laying my Kands on it feeling ZKetKer itĹŞs smootK or EXmpy ĹŽ says 9agts. /acNing tKat liEerty as a mere visitor in otKer mXseXms sKe is often frXstratedŧand freTXently in troXEle ZitK gXards. Ĺ­,ĹŞm constantly Eeing yelled at to ĹŠstep aZay from tKe art ĹŞĹŽ sKe says laXgKing. Ĺ­,t maNes me aZare of KoZ incrediEly privileged Ze conservators are to Kave tKat Nind of relationsKip ZitK it. ,tĹŞs MXst so e[citing so intimate.ĹŽ 9agts liNens seeing paintings ZitKoXt tKeir frames to Ĺ­seeing people ZitKoXt tKeir clotKes on tKey looN more vXlneraEle.ĹŽ )ree of frames tKe edges and EacNs of paintings sometimes reveal to conservatorsĹŞ deligKt tKat tKere Zas more of tKe painting tKan pXElicly presented or tKat a diĆ&#x201A;erent painting altogetKer e[isted XnderneatK tKe sXrface layer evidence of a common canvas-recycling practice among materials-starved artists.

7ecKnology of coXrse Kas greatly advanced tKe types of discoveries made ZitK tKe naNed eye. 'igital [-rays infrared and Xltraviolet imaging and pigment and oil analysis Kave led to e[citing discoveries at tKe 0)$. 9agtsĹŞ col23 21

leagXe 0eta &Kavannes discovered a lost 9an *ogK tKe XnaccoXnted-for painting from a Zell-docXmented series ZKen sKe [-rayed Kis Ravine and found under-painting details identifying it as that long-missing landscape. Vagts Zas thrilled Zhen she too had an [-ray reveal something funNy in 7intorettoĹŞs Portrait of a Man. Ĺ­,t had these odd shapes at the Eottom ĹŽ Vagts says Ĺ­and then , reali]ed if you looNed at it upside-doZn thereĹŞs another portrait underneath it of an odd-looNing Eig-nosed ZomanŧMudging from the [-ray anyZay.ĹŽ ,n moments liNe these the conservator as artist and historian also Eecomes scientist and sleuth. Ĺ­,tĹŞs Must so e[citing to see the artistic mind at ZorN to see hoZ their lifeĹŞs circumstances inĆ&#x201E;uence Zhat they do.ĹŽ )inding evidence of changes in a handĹŞs position or the removal of a hat for instance Ĺ­alloZs you to see the struggles that the artist Zent through ĹŽ says Vagts. Ĺ­,tĹŞs easy to looN at a Eeautiful painting and mistaNenly thinN that it Must popped out of the artistĹŞs head fully formed. 7his is as close as Ze can get to understanding hoZ the artists made the art.ĹŽ )or Vagts Eearing Zitness at this pro[imity feels nearly sacred. Ĺ­:eĹŞre painting vicariously thinNing through the creative process Zith the artists in a Zay.ĹŽ $s e[hilarating as these discoveries are to Vagts they enrich the vieZing for the layperson as Zell and Vagts is eager to see more of these Ć&#x192;ndings shared through the museum ZeEsite and other means. Ĺ­1ot that Ze Zant anyone to see the conservator in the art ĹŽ she says Ĺ­Eut Ze do Zant to add anything Ze can to the understanding and appreciation of the ZorN of art.ĹŽ (ssentially a conservatorĹŞs MoE Zell done means the condition of the painting does not interfere Zith vieZersĹŞ appreciation of it theyĹŞre not Zondering Zhy itĹŞs yelloZ or cracNed or has that Zeird EloE in the corner. %ecause of conservatorsĹŞ usual anonymity Vagts found the 0)$ĹŞs &onservation in $ction program Eegun in a gratifying opportunity to educate people aEout Zhat they do Eehind the scenes. )or nearly tZo years she Zas puElicly center stage Zhile ZorNing in a glass Eo[ on The Triumph of the Winter Queen: Allegory of the Just Ey 'utch master *errit van +onthorst. /iNe a serial 7V drama alEeit a sloZ-moving one she even attracted some regulars folloZing the treatmentĹŞs progress. :hile Vagts loves Ć&#x192;nding an artistĹŞs Ć&#x192;ngerprint in the paintŧapparently they used their Ć&#x192;ngers freTuentlyŧshe Zants to leave no visiEle imprint on the ZorN Eut that anonymity Zas not alZays the deĆ&#x192;ning trait of conservation treatments. 0odern conservationĹŞs guiding principles are to preserve a painting in its most natural state and as much as possiEle do reversiEle ZorN. *one are the days of perilously cleaning canvases Zith potatoes onions and lye no longer are restorers as they Zere tellingly called Ĺ­in dingy EacN rooms doing suspect thingsŧtarting up paintings maNing them looN pretty and covering their Ć&#x201E;aZs.ĹŽ 7echnological advances have contriEuted to Eoth the evolution from restoration to conservation and to the professionali]ing of their Ć&#x192;eld. Ĺ­8sing more science has helped us to Eecome more legitimate and to prove that Ze do ethical things the right things in treatments ĹŽ says Vagts.

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7he th-century Venetian altarpiece Vagts is currently ZorNing on provides a good e[ample of hoZ conservation philosophy changed along Zith technological advances during the th century. ,n Ĺ­the Ead old days ĹŽ as Vagts calls them the VirginĹŞs pinN roEe Zould have Eeen repainted to match the original much more intense pigment. Ĺ­, could do that Eut , ZonĹŞt ĹŽ she says. ,nstead she Zill use 3hotoshop to shoZ Zhat the original Zould have looNed liNe and the vieZer can still appreciate the painting noZ for Zhat it is a product of time. $nd as time goes on Vagts Zill liNely comEat threats not even imagined yet to the paintings she cares for. 6he currently repairs damage caused Ey tZo common culpritsŧ the gesticulating pencil and the Erandished Erochureŧas people Zave at canvases. Ĺ­7hereĹŞs a lot of controversy right noZ ĹŽ Vagts says Ĺ­aEout aEout the taNing of selĆ&#x192;es in museumsĹŽ Eecause people are not paying attention to their handEags or EacNpacNs poNing at the artZorN Zhile snapping aZay. 3erhaps the oddest ha]ard to the 0)$ĹŞs ZorNs comes from Ć&#x201E;ying in cargo holds out of /ogan. %oston of course ships an enormous amount of seafood pacNed on ice around the Zorld. Ĺ­,f our crates are stoZed ne[t to a leaNing Eo[ of loEsters the art could get Zet so Ze never Zant our artZorN to travel Zith the seafood ĹŽ Vagts herself has traveled far since her days at %% 1 Zhere she thought she Zas going to Ee an actress and almost failed physics. Ĺ­,t tooN a long time to get over my science phoEia ĹŽ she says Eut determined to get through the science reTuired for application to a graduate program in art conservation she found that organic chemistry came alive and made sense Eecause it Zas science in the service of Zhat she is fervently interested inŧthe aesthetics and history of art and art maNing.

7hat passion sparNing palpaEly as she speaNs aEout her ZorN Vagts feels very fortunate to have landed in one of the Ć&#x192;rst modern conservation laEs in a Zorld-class museum Zith the *ardner and +arvardĹŞs museums oĆ&#x201A;ering nearEy opportunities to collaEorate Zith other e[perts and to share resources. Ĺ­/orem ipsum dolor sit amet vim Tuas ferri cu.

5eEum Ć&#x192;erent accommodare at vi[ ea saepe intellegam has ĹŽ Vagts says. Ĺ­&u modo tractatos ius persecuti vituperata ut Tuo.ĹŽ 6omeZhere in the (lysian gallery of great painters 6argent and company must Ee grateful that their lifeĹŞs ZorN has ended up in such accomplished hands. D

VAGTSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; INSIDER GUIDE

1 2 3 4 5

Vagts at work on an 18th-century Venetian altarpiece

by Francesco Cappella. The painting, which has been in storage since its acquisition in the â&#x20AC;&#x2122;50s, is being restored for an upcoming collaboration with the Nagoya Museum in Japan.

/ittle-.noZn 0)$ )acts

Ĺ­$t the risN of upsetting the guards in the room looN as closely as possiEle at Van *oghĹŞs Ravine Eecause you can see pentimentiŧtraces of the Eright yelloZs and pinNs of the Ć&#x201E;oZers that Zere part of the original painting underneath.ĹŽ Ĺ­:hen , Zas cleaning the 6argent murals , left a sTuare uncleanedŧpartly as an homage to my ,talian training thatĹŞs Zhat they do ŧto shoZ hoZ unEelievaEly dirty those murals Zere. 6tand at the top of the stairs in the 5otunda facing the +untington entrance and looN up at the Ć&#x192;rst mural called The Winds. $t the upper right edge youĹŞll see it in the pinN clouds.ĹŽ Ĺ­2ne of my all-time favorite pictures in the museum is Young Woman Ironing Ey /ouis-/ÂŤopold %oilly ca. . :e Neep glass on it Eecause people are alZays poNing at and snee]ing on it. $lthough invisiEle to the naNed eye Zith instrumentation you can see that there Zas at one point either a dog or a cat underneath the chair.ĹŽ ,n the 0)$ĹŞs recently installed room called the .unstNammer Ĺ­thereĹŞs a motori]ed Zind-up drinNing apparatus the Diana and Stag Automaton.ĹŽ 7he heads of the stag and largest hunting dog come oĆ&#x201A; and each can Ee Ć&#x192;lled Zith Zine. ,t rides around the taEle and Zhomever it stops Eefore has to drinN it dry. Ĺ­7hereĹŞs a little Ć&#x192;lm of it in action on an i3ad in the gallery for visitors to see. ,tĹŞs the most astonishing frat party game ever.ĹŽ Ĺ­, love this installation Ey 7ara 'onovan in the gallery on the second Ć&#x201E;oor of the /inde )amily :ing.ĹŽ 7he untitled sculpture is a Eunch of styrofoam cups held together Zith string and glue. Ĺ­,t tooN a Zhole army to install it on the ceiling. , love the fact that you can maNe ama]ing shapes and forms out of something so mundane Zhich to me says someone can maNe art out of anything.ĹŽ

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Driving over 10,000 miles through 19 different countries in 30 days makes for a lot of memories. Below is the route Malt, Magdanz, and the 0 1 START Breast Friends traveled, along with some notable occurrences from the adventure which has raised $26,652 to date for Dana Farber breast cancer research.

1

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2

NOTCHES IN THE PASSPORT UK France Switzerland Italy Slovenia Croatia Bosnia Montenegro Albania Greece

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Turkey Georgia Azerbaijan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Kyrgyzstan Kazakhstan Russia Mongolia

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4

BY THE NUMBERS Days on the road

30

19

10,000

Countries explored Number of miles travelled

10

8

6 7

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PICTURED: 1) France: Off to a rough start at the first filling station when the the Galoob is mistakenly filled with diesel by Jafar.

2) Slovenia: The Breast Friends partake in a cave tour in full costumes to “highly amused” tourists and cave guide, Mary.

3) Croatia: In what was a common occurrence, the gang is detained by customs specialists for four hours at the Croatian/Bosnian border.

4) Georgia: Slow going for another common occurrence—cows in the road. 5) Azerbaijan: Border guards signing the Galoob, just a few of the many well-wishers who lent their signatures to the cause.

6) Uzbekistan: Buying bootleg petrol in a milk jug from the side of the road, a saving grace given a government decreed shutdown of all gas stations. 7) Kyrgyzstan: Malt learns to ride a donkey from a local boy—a favor later returned when the boy was allowed to drive the Galoob. 8) Kazakhstan: Magdanz “surfing” in squirrel costume as a whimsical diversion from a monotonous 24-hour stretch of driving.

9) Mongolia: Stuck in mud on a “highway.” 10) Ulan Bator, Mongolia: Success at the finish line! After rolling off of the finishing podium, the Galoob stalls, never to run again.

FINISH

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F O R M E R FAC U LT Y P R O F I L E

Anyone who attended or taught in the Lower School at BB&N between the years 1980 and 2001 will remember Elaine Dunn. Elaine taught kindergarten, then third grade, and finally, in her last year, fourth grade, before retiring in 2001. By the time I arrived, in 1987, Elaine was already established as one of the cornerstones of the culture of the Lower School. As I recall, Elaine was feisty, funny, and rooted in reality. She was not afraid to tell it like it is. She had her own way of doing things, but she was a team player. When I think of Elaine, I picture her laughing. She had an enormous enjoyment of life—a great teacher. When I was asked to interview Elaine for an article for The Bulletin, I leapt at the chance to see her again and find out about life after teaching.

We met in her condo in Cambridge for lunch and the conversation flowed seamlessly the way it does with old colleagues and friends.

Her apartment is a converted warehouse with high ceilings, exposed brick walls, exposed beams, and heating vents running across the ceiling, more what you might expect to be an artist’s residence than a retired schoolteacher. “I love it here,” she told me. “They allow dogs, and I’m within walking distance of Fresh Pond, the Mount Auburn Cemetery, the Star Market, and I have access to two bus lines heading all directions in the city.”

Elaine served up a delicious grilled panini sandwich and we ate and talked all afternoon. She told me of her entry into teaching in 1964 as a third grade homeroom teacher in the Lincoln public schools. She remembered her first day, palms sweating, having no idea what to do with the lunch money which was piling up, untallied, upon her desk. About her marriage to Charles, and the birth of her son Alexander, now 38 years of age. About her work as the head of Early Childhood Education at Simmons College and the founder and director of the Day Care program there. And about her re-entry to the classroom, first at Shady Hill School, and then, finally, at BB&N as a teacher of kindergarten in 1980.

What was it about BB&N that kept you here for so long? I wondered.

It was the children. And my colleagues, the camaraderie. The Lower School is its own village. You’d see the children grow from one year to the next and then it would come to the end of the year and there would be the Lifer Party, and to see them…all grown up! But then I would look at them and I can still see the same smile, the same twinkle in the eye, you know, and I can remember them…but as they were at eight years old. It’s surprising…I just take a deep breath. We are indeed lucky to teach at a school which allows us to have that experience.

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T he A rt of Teac hing: E laine Du nn

By Jack Denny-Brown, Faculty Emeritus

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1

PICTURED: 1. Elaine Dunn, present day 2. Dunn, circa 1990

Is there any one particular thing that stands out in your memories of the Lower School?

When I was division head for the New Wing…it must have been something like 1996…I wanted to mix things up a bit. So together all the New Wing teachers created a group project…the kids in the second, third, and fourth grades intermingled and we built a rainforest in the hallway. This was important, because it seemed unfortunate to me that they could be so cheek by jowl and yet…they didn’t know each other. I thought this might sort of mix it up a little more. It was really quite something. We had things going from the upstairs bannisters to form a canopy…and (former grade four teacher)Mary Sheehan!...she did an activity where the kids used old panty hose to make snakes. We had such a good time!

Is there life after teaching? I asked her. What have you been doing?

“I loved my years at BB&N,” she said. “I left when Charles became ill in 2001. Once I left BB&N I started tutoring right away, and I’ve been tutoring ever since…although I’m not in the classroom, I’m doing what I love the most, which is working with children.

Do you have a philosophy of teaching? Any words of wisdom for young teachers?

As a teacher I think you do want to be the magician somehow. You just want to make it exciting and interesting. I think…that’s the whole ballgame, isn’t it? That’s the art of teaching…to help the child find that place where suddenly it makes sense.

But how does a teacher do that? I wonder.

It’s more an art than a science. I think a teacher should see the positive in the child. If a child is doing good work I tell them that, but I do try to tell them specifically what it is that they are doing right. Then they know what it is they can count on within themselves. They can put that in their toolbox and say, “I know how to do this.” The point is that the teacher has to find a way to help the child. I feel it’s my responsibility…that’s the art of teaching.

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Advancing Our Mission

The BB&N Fund—Every Gift Counts!

When you contribute to The BB&N Fund, you are participating in a powerful philanthropic tradition: annual giving. Because tuition covers only 82% of the cost of a BB&N education, the balance must be provided from other sources such as income generated from the endowment and annual gifts to The BB&N Fund from alumni/ae, parents, past parents, grandparents, faculty, staff, and friends. Every gift counts!

The BB&N Fund provides day-to-day support for every aspect of the School. These annual gifts directly sustain the student experience, supporting financial aid, faculty and academic programs, athletics, and cultural and community activities. Not many schools in the Boston area can boast that they offer six foreign languages, wonderfully dedicated and creative teachers (85% of whom hold advanced degrees), 62 years of offering a program such as Bivouac, and other long-standing traditions such as Circus, One School One World, Maypole, and the Senior Spring Project.

Last year, The BB&N Fund raised $2.86 million and we are looking forward to working with our community this year to help meet our goal of $3 million. Last year, 30% of the Fund was raised by volunteers and more than 2,000 donors answered their calls, took action, and gave back! Thank you for your dedication to BB&N!

PICTURED [ 1 [ The BB&N Fund fuels smiles like these! [ 2 [ Alumni/ae parents of the Class of 2015 gathered with their senior sons and daughters at the Senior Dinner in September. [ 3 [ Senior Parents’ Gift Co-Chairs Cherise Bransfield and Kate DeNormandie McCarey ‘81 at the Senior Dinner

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Alumni/ae Senior Parents 2015

Class of 2015 Senior Parents’ Gift to Raise Funds for Faculty Professional Development Fund

Marina Hatsopoulos Bornhorst ’83 Mother of Natasha and Zoe Bornhorst Richard Brudnick ’74 Father of Jon Brudnick Joel Cutler ’77 Father of Mallory Cutler Jim DeVellis ’84 Father of Sarah DeVellis Lou Ferraro ’78 Father of Peter Ferraro Catherine Brosens Francis ’81 Mother of Katie Francis Kevyn Barbera Fusco ’83 Mother of Bradley Fusco Lisa Gianelly ’81 Mother of Will Levinson Nora Ghillany ‘80 Mother of Pippa Ghillany-Lehar Brenda Herschbach Jarrell ’85 Mother of Becca Jarrell Josh Klein ’80 Father of Jordan Klein Joseph Lehar ’81 Father of Pippa Ghillany-Lehar Jack Lifford ’84 Father of Amanda Lifford Kate DeNormandie McCarey ’81 Mother of Fiona McCarey Kate Champion Murphy ’81 Mother of Molly Murphy Mark Roberts ‘63 Father of Amy Roberts

The Senior Dinner in September marking the start of senior year for Class of 2015 students and their parents was also the official launch of BB&N’s traditional Senior Parents’ Gift campaign. A large and dedicated committee of parent volunteers, chaired by Cherise Bransfield (mother of Audrey ’15) and Kate DeNormandie McCarey ’81 (mother of Fiona ’15), has been reaching out to senior parents this fall to seek their financial support for a special class gift that will serve as a permanent legacy at BB&N after their children graduate.

Upon the recommendation of the School and the enthusiastic support of the gift committee, this year’s Senior Parents’ Gift will be used to create the Class of 2015 Faculty Opportunity Fund that will provide supplemental funding for BB&N’s professional development budget. This Fund will enable BB&N faculty to take advantage of exciting new collaborative team-learning opportunities, both across the country and internationally, beyond what the School is currently able to offer through our professional development budget. This could include attending conferences as a team, visiting U.S. schools with innovative programs and approaches to learning, or traveling to other countries to gain a global perspective on education.

While Class of 2015 parents hope to meet or exceed previous class fundraising records, the 129 parents in the class have already set a record in the number who are also BB&N alumni/ae—sixteen, including one couple in which both parents are alumni/ae!

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Advancing Our Mission

The 1974 Leadership Society Fall Gathering— Celebrating Our Annual Fundraising Success More than 125 members of the 1974 Leadership Society gathered on October 6 at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge to celebrate a very successful year of fundraising for the School. It was a beautiful evening in an historic setting brought together alumni/ae, current parents, past parents, grandparents, faculty, staff, which and friends.

The program included remarks from Head of School Rebecca T. Upham, Board of Trustees Chair Brace Young P’14, ’14, ’17, and Trustee and Parent Chair of The BB&N Fund Ken Lang P’16, ’18, ’20. All three speakers thanked Society members for their leadership support of BB&N and shared fundraising highlights of the past school year. Gifts to the 1974 Leadership Society provided 90% of the $2.86 million raised for annual giving last year.

These funds are critical in helping to offset the actual cost of a BB&N education. The School is grateful to these donors for their strong philanthropic support.

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The 1974 Leadership Society Gift Levels Renaissance Associates: $100,000 and above Cantabrigian Associates: $50,000 - $99,999 Comitas Associates: $25,000 - $49,999 Litterae Associates: $10,000 - $24,999 Honestas Associates: $5,000 - $9,999 Founders: $2,500 - $4,999 Young Alumni/ae Leadership Society College Years: $50 5th Reunion - 9th year out: $100 10th Reunion - 14th year out: $250 15th reunion - 19th year out: $500 20th Reunion: $1,000

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3 PICTURED [ 1 [ Ken and Vicky Lang P’16, ‘18, ‘20, and Terry and Greg Clark P’15 [ 2 [ Carl and Bridget Long P’26, ‘28 [ 3 [ Robert and Cherise Bransfield P’15, and Kay and Dave Kane P’14, ‘17 [ 4 [ Leadership Society Cocktail Reception at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences [ 5 [ Niels and Meredith Peetz-Larsen P’26, Alexi Conine P’22, ‘24, ‘27 [ 6 [ Brace Young P’14, ‘14, ‘17, Board Chair [ 7 [ Carl DeFranco P’15, Karen Kalina ‘81, and Denise DeFranco P’15 [ 8 [ Dave and Mariana Egan P’26, ‘28 and Alejandro Heyworth and Frederica Turner ‘91, P’25 [ 9 [ Kristine and Bob Higgins P’26, ‘26, Carl Long P’26, ‘28, Pam Baker P’23, ‘25, ‘28, and Rebecca T. Upham

6 T hings About BB&N:

Remembering the Merger 40 Years Later

[ ONE ] Technically, Browne & Nichols merged into The Buckingham School because of numerous bond holdings by the latter which would have necessitated repayment had Buckingham dissolved as an institution. As for why Buckingham became the first name in the combined schools’ title? According to those who were there at the time, “It just sounded better!”

[ TWO ] At the time, Buckingham’s calling card was a highly intellectual culture in academics and the arts, whereas B&N was considered strong in math, science, and sports. Some Buckingham faculty and alumnae viewed the merger as a “marrying down” of sorts, a sentiment that has happily proven unfounded.

[ THREE ] Sixty-one-year-old Buckingham Headmistress Betty Stowe graciously pulled herself from consideration of who should head the merged school by citing an archaic bylaw from the U.S. Headmistresses Association.

The bylaw stipulated that no headmistress should stay on after the age of 62, and so paved the way for B&N headmaster Peter Gunness (with whom Stowe had a respectful and strong friendship) to take the reins.

[ FIVE ] Even before the official merger in 1974, coeducational teaching was occurring between the two schools. Owing in large part to the friendship between Stowe and Gunness and the close proximity of the two schools’ campuses, students from Buckingham and B&N were participating in some classes together from as early as 1969.

[ FOUR ] At the time of the merger, both schools were very close to broke! Business manager Andy Leighton spent nearly a year trying to organize and track down the finances of both institutions leading up to and following the merger. Leighton even surmised that during headmistress Marian Vaillant’s tenure, all of The Buckingham School’s records were perhaps kept in her pocketbook and had long since disappeared.

[ SIX ] Determining the future course of the Bivouac program (a B&N tradition) was an especially difficult part of the merger given the social climate of the time. After much discussion, it was decided that boys and girls would travel to Bivouac during separate weeks, a practice that continued until full integration began in 1980.

These facts are excerpted from a roundtable discussion about the merger recorded at BB&N, October 16, 2013. Participants included: Lotte Bailyn P’77, Buckingham/BB&N Trustee, 1973-1976 Peter Gunness P’82, ’83, ’85; Head of School, B&N/BB&N, 1969-1992 Bill King, Buckingham/BB&N Trustee, 1973-1976 Andy Leighton, Business Manager, 1972-1996 Richard (Dick) Light P’89, ’91, GP’24; BB&N Trustee, 1977-1992 Edward Merrill P’74, ’77; Buckingham Trustee, 1970-1974 Michael Moskow ’51 P’79, ’79, ’85; B&N/BB&N Trustee, 1971-1986

ANDREA KUSKO ’66: A Woman Ahead of Her Time Though only a student at Buckingham for three years, having entered in the tenth grade, Andrea Kusko ’66 had fond memories of her time at Buckingham. She gravitated toward math, perhaps influenced by her father, who was an electrical engineer at MIT. She entered the University of Pennsylvania as a math major but switched to economics at the end of her junior year.

After receiving a Ph.D. in economics from Stanford, Andrea came to Washington, DC, in 1976 to work at the Senate Banking Committee before spending 35 years at the Federal Reserve Board as an economist, one of the first women to hold such a position. As a Senior Economist, Andrea researched fiscal policy for the Fed, especially in health care, and worked closely with Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, including writing many of his speeches and policy statements. Following Greenspan’s retirement, Andrea worked for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke before retiring in 2013.

As Fred recalls, “I asked

Throughout much of her life, Andrea was a consistent and loyal donor to the BB&N Annual Fund out of gratitude “for what the school did for me and what it’s doing for a new generation of students.” Sadly, she passed away in 2013 following a brief illness. Shortly before her death, Andrea shared with her husband, Fred Humphreys, her desire to make a significant gift to BB&N through her estate. As Fred recalls, “I asked Andrea what educational experience had the biggest impact on her. I expected her to say Stanford where she got her Ph.D. Without giving it a second thought, she said BB&N. I asked her why. She said, ‘BB&N taught me how to think and write.’ She added, ‘With those skills I became truly a professional economist.’”

her Ph.D. Without giving it

Andrea what educational experience had the biggest impact on her. I expected her to say Stanford where she got a second thought, she said BB&N. I asked her why. She said, ‘BB&N taught me how to think and write.’”

Andrea’s generous bequest has been designated for the Middle School Renovation Project as part of a pool of funds from other Buckingham alumnae that will provide a permanent named space honoring the Buckingham legacy on the Sparks Street campus.

For more information about making a gift to BB&N through your estate, or about supporting the Middle School renovation through an outright or deferred gift, contact Janet Rosen at jrosen@bbns.org or 617-800-2729.

The late Andrea Kusko ’66, her father Dr. Alexander Kusko, and husband Frederick Humphreys

Non-Profit Org. US Postage PAID Worcester, MA Permit No. 2

Buckingham Browne & Nichols School 80 Gerry’s Landing Road Cambridge, MA 02138-5512 www.bbns.org

2015

Strawberry Night/ Reunion Weekend Friday, May 8 — Sunday, May 10 Save the date to join classmates and friends to celebrate the BB&N community of today at Strawberry Night and Reunion Weekend!