BB&N Bulletin Summer 2017

Summer 2017

bulletin

SENIOR SPRING PROJECT M AT H W H I Z a A r o n K a u f e r ’ 1 7, One of Many S e n i o r s Tac k l i n g Problems During Se n ior Spri ng Proj ect

Inside this issue:

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Esteemed Faculty Bid Adieu

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Graduation 2017

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Strawberry Weekend Highlights

bulletin Events Calendar Se pte m be r

September 15 Welcome to the City Reception New York September 15-16 Alumni/ae Art Weekend with Rob Leith New York September 26 Welcome to the City Reception Boston

Oc tobe r

October 12 1974 Leadership Society Reception Cambridge October 14 Saturday Knight Lights Fall Festival & Football Cambridge October 18 Golden Alumni/ae Luncheon (classes of 1967 and earlier) Cambridge October 22 Head of the Charles Regatta Reception Cambridge

No v e m be r November 22 Young Alumni/ae Coffee Cambridge November 24 Young Alumni/ae Pub Night Boston For a complete listing of School events including athletic games, exhibitions, and performances 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

Summer 2017

Letter From the Head

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Director of Communications Joe Clifford, Editor

Head of School Rebecca T. Upham’s graduation remarks to the Class of 2017

Associate Director of Communications Andrew Fletcher, Senior Editor

Community News 4 Spring Sports Wrap-Up, Closing

Communications and Website Coordinator Hadley Kyle, Editor

Ceremonies, Collaborative Music Video, BB&N Circus, Student Honors, and more

Contributing Writers Joe Clifford Cecily Craighill Whitney Dayton Brunet Peter DeMarco Carol Fine Andrew Fletcher Bev Malone Bill Rogers Janet Rosen Rebecca T. Upham Audrey Wallace

Features 16 Four Esteemed BB&N Faculty

Bid Farewell

Faculty 23 Departing and Milestones

Tributes to Margaret Hardy ’61, Beth Thiemann, Shera Selzer, and Elaine McGovern

24 Graduation 2017

The Class of 2017 moves on, prizes awarded, and more

34 Senior Spring Project

Problem solving with Senior Spring Project: Aaron Kaufer seeks clarity within arcane and perplexing mathematical proofs, Ellie Clapp travels to Italy to assist in refugee aid, and 36 seniors bone up on some of life’s most commonplace, yet essential skills.

Advancing Our Mission 42 BB&N Fund Highlights, Senior Class and

Senior Parents’ Gifts, and Sixth Grade Parents’ Gift

Alumni/ae News & Notes 45 Alumni/ae News and Notes 62 Strawberry Night/Reunion

Weekend Highlights

74 BB&N in New York 83 Milestones

Contributing Editors Cecily Craighill Sherwood C. Haskins, Jr. Kate Radlauer Janet Rosen Tracy Rosette Katie Small Alumni/ae News & Notes Cecily Craighill Kate Radlauer Tracy Rosette Design & Production Nanci Booth www.nancibooth.com 781-301-1733 Photography/Artwork/Design Pierre Chiha Andrew Fletcher Amelia Margolis Eric Nordberg ’88 Kate Radlauer Shawn Read Adam Richins Joshua Touster

Board of Trustees, 2017-2018 Officers Bracebridge H. Young, Jr., Chair Charles A. Brizius, Vice Chair Erica Gervais Pappendick, Vice Chair/Secretary Bob Higgins, Vice Chair/Treasurer Members Leslie Ahlstrand ’08 Jeffrey Barber James T. Berylson ’00 Agnes Bundy Scanlan Tim Cohen Karen Donovan Diala Ezzeddine Mary Beth Gordon Christine Gross-Loh Jason P. Hafler ’00 Kathryn Kargman Holden ’01 Freddie Jacobs Kenneth W. Lang Peter K. Levitt ’84 Bridget Terry Long Tristin Mannion Stevie Olson Leslie Riedel Emma Sagan ’10 Matthew Sidman ’90 Stephen Spaloss Janet M. Storella ’74 David J. Thompson ’85 Charlotte Wagner Fan Wu ’98 Head of School Rebecca T. Upham Front Cover:

Aaron Kaufer ’17 at the white board during the number theory class he conceptualized and taught to other students during Senior Spring Project (Photography by Joshua Touster— http://www.joshuatousterphotography.com.)

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

2017 Commencement Remarks by Head of School Rebecca T. Upham integrity, genuine concern for others, and respect for dialogue. Our Community Dialogues have been filled with personal honesty and have been characterized by kindness. We have worked to listen, not shout.

Carolina, for his work to encourage an understanding and acceptance of climate change and promote market-based innovations to address the challenges it poses.

silent and voices that have been silenced. I hope you will continue to find and exercise the courage that celebrates inclusion and shuns isolationism.

The goodness that is the hallmark of your class has set the tone for the rest of the Upper School. I want you to hold onto it tightly: it is a quality that will be greatly needed—and greatly tested—in the years ahead.

2005 – Shirley Franklin, who, as Mayor of Atlanta, took on a city budget with a staggering deficit. To deal with this crisis she slashed city services and eliminated jobs, increased taxes, and cut her own staff and salary, and imposed a strict code of ethics for public employees.

As you get ready to leave, I ask that you live by the habits of mind you learned here. And in these contentious times, I ask something more of you: that you take your counter-cultural appreciation of the values and a community code of conduct in a community and live by it. And that you exercise the courage to talk about it: Spread it to your communities. Spread it to your college campuses.

Spread it among friends, and practice it with kindness and respect toward those you might think of as adversaries. Marry your intellect and your kindness with courageous conviction.

You—the Class of 2017—have come of age at a tumultuous and challenging time. As I think about you and your future, you and our future, I cannot help but reflect on events of the last few weeks. The world has been shaken and the geopolitical landscape changed: Syria has been positioned as an ally of the U.S.; our country has backed out of the Paris Accord. There have been domestic attacks on people standing up to racism, and terrorist attacks in London, Kabul, and Tehran.

This is anything but a rosy picture. And it’s why we need your resolve.

Your commitment to heal, to change the world.

Today is an important day for the Class of 2017. This graduation and the diplomas these students will soon receive mark the end of one journey and the beginning of another. It marks an important moment for all the faculty, family, and friends assembled here. This is a moment when students are suspended between the terra firma of BB&N and the world of new adventures.

The other evening, the Senior Class Dean Ms. Makrauer remarked on this class and the wonderfully warm tone they have set for our School. The group that sits before you is very, very talented. They are very accomplished.

And they’ve also modeled fun. I have particularly enjoyed their lawn games and the way they jump in and enjoy each other’s talents. In the middle of May, arriving back on campus at lunchtime, I walked into my office while one of our seniors entertained lunch-goers with a violin serenade. And on the other side of my office, out the back door, a pick-up volleyball game was in progress. What a luscious stress reliever on our first day of real spring.

But they have also embodied our motto “Honor Scholarship Kindness.” What is it, though, that makes the Class of 2017 special? It is their goodness. Ms. Makrauer had it right: This is a good group filled with good people.

There are things I see which you may not. Our School has come through a very divisive election cycle modeling 2

I offer you two insights. This first is about perspective: It is a reminder that BB&N is not the larger world; that we—that you—have chosen actively to create a community and environment that is safe, that values deep thought, and that respects the perspectives of others. A community and environment that is inclusive, and that believes it is important to look beyond our borders. In the short time you have graced the halls of the Upper School, however, these values have moved out of the mainstream in our country and are on their way to becoming counter-cultural.

So, be part of that counter-culture. Embrace it. You have felt the difference it makes in a community: you have thrived here.

The other reflection I share with you is along the lines of a concern.

It’s the concern of a Head of School looking back on all you’ve accomplished and wondering if we’ve missed something. And here it is: I don’t know that we’ve done enough to focus on or celebrate courage. Courage can be about bravery and physical hardship. It can also be about ethical stands and integrity. I refer to the latter.

In 1957, President John F. Kennedy won the Pulitzer Prize for the book, Profiles in Courage. The book profiles 8 U.S. Senators for acts of political bravery and integrity. Their acts were really acts of conscience and often at odds with the stands of their respective parties and the opinion in their electorate.

Every year, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Museum and Library announces a recipient of the Profile in Courage Award. Some recent citations include: 2016 – Dannel Malloy, Governor of Connecticut, for his unwavering commitment to those fleeing persecution in search of freedom.

2015 – Bob Inglis, former Republican Congressman from South

2011 – shared by two people: Wael Ghonim, a Google executive living and working in Dubai, in honor of all Egyptians who stood up, at great personal risk, for the principles of democracy and self-governance.

Elizabeth Redenbaugh, a volunteer serving on a school board in North Carolina, for her efforts to oppose a redistricting bill that was likely to result in increased socio-economic and racial segregation.

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Class of 2017, it is with a great deal of pride that I join the faculty, your families and friends, in sending our heartfelt congratulations, best wishes, and our affection always.

Godspeed.

In a recent acceptance speech, an awardee reflected on the characteristics of political courage, on those public servants who, in the face of opposition, hold onto their principles and somehow keep alive their resolve. Here’s what he said they have: “…a reputation for integrity that is stronger than a desire to maintain office; a conscience, personal standard of ethics, integrity, morality that is stronger than the pressures of public disapproval or party disapproval, a faith that the right course would ultimately be vindicated, a faith that overcame fear of public reprisal.”

It’s a powerful statement, and one that describes beautifully the principles that inspire courageous people and courageous acts.

Class of 2017, you too have practiced courage at BB&N in small but important ways. You’ve exercised your voice in and out of our classrooms, and in and out of our community.

You’ve stood up for what is right. Now it’s time to do it on a larger scale and a larger stage.

So, as you leave us today, I would like to share what I hope for you.

I hope you will continue to find and exercise the courage to push back on ideas, to insist on fact-checking, to speak for voices that are 3

Community News Collaborative Music Video Addresses Technology Balance When BB&N’s Director of Information Technology Demetri Orlando used the phrase “Apples Up” at a faculty meeting earlier this year, Ethan Rossiter ’93 was inspired. The Middle School English teacher, who is also a children’s music practitioner, immediately began marinating the concept for musical treatment.

“I thought it was a super-catchy phrase,” Rossiter says. “That’s when the idea for a song started.”

The saying “Apples Up” is a verbal signal used by teachers when their students’ attention is being diverted by laptops and smartphones. When students close their MacBooks, the Apple logo on the lid is pointed up towards the sky. The same logic applies to phones; putting the phone down on the table with the Apple logo up means that the screen is down, so it is no longer in use.

Given the pervasive presence of technology in the classroom, the concept is a highly relevant one for teachers, and Rossiter eventually landed on the idea of creating a collaborative music video with students across all three of BB&N’s campuses.

“I had never made a music video before, and it was definitely envisioned as just a fun, creative project,” Rossiter says. “But I guess my hope is that schools and families could use the song and video as an entry point into a discussion about technology.”

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After an afternoon of filming and many hours of editing, the final result was a fun, extremely catchy, and thought-provoking pastiche about the intersection of technology and student life.

Although Rossiter wrote and performed most of the music, he leaned on the various talents of BB&N students to bring the video to fruition, including drummer Callie Heppner ‘27, the daughter of Ethan’s Middle School colleague, Christa Crewdson.

“Aaron Kaufer ’17 did all the shooting and editing, and the success of the video was really because of his editing,” Rossiter says. “Charlie Heveran ’17 and Thomas Mandile ’17 were also very involved in the acting—they were in every shoot. And two eighth graders, Katie Gould and Jessie Scheer, choreographed the dance.”

Festivity and Fun Abound at 66th Annual Circus Games, rides, bouncy houses, music, food, and laughter marked BB&N’s annual circus again this May. The Buckingham campus was transformed into a carnival as students and hundreds of BB&N community members from all three campuses joined in the festivities. As usual, the event was a roaring success, and made for an afternoon that won’t soon be forgotten.

See the video at https://vimeo.com/217842148

Students from all three campuses pose for a picture with Middle School English Teacher Ethan Rossiter ‘93 during the filming of “Apples Up.”

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Fourth Annual Harvest Festival Enlivens Lower School In what has become a harbinger of summer, the Lower School campus hosted its annual Harvest Festival this spring, a day-long celebration centered on the harvesting of the Lower School gardens. The day featured myriad activities for every class, such as field games, Zumba, freeze dance, mad science experiments, and the creation of a giant chalk mural outside of the Morse building.

In addition to the fun activities and a delicious lunch—comprised mostly of greens grown by the students themselves—the day offered numerous opportunities for cross-grade collaboration. Older students relished the chance to help their younger counterparts with the various activities, and the younger grades learned that mentoring can be fun.

The day culminated with the annual faculty vs. sixth grade kickball game. This year’s match was hotly contested and umpire/K-South teacher Ben Goldhaber found himself embroiled in several humorous exchanges with sixth graders vociferously arguing calls. Despite a serious challenge, the teachers prevailed by the slimmest of margins, eking out a 6-5 victory.

PICTURED x 1 x Charlotte Goodman ’23 boots a hit in the annual Sixth Grade versus faculty kickball game. x 2 x Lower School students prepare a homegrown lunch at the Harvest Festival.

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Community News Girls Crew Rows at Henley Royal Regatta

Fourth Graders Champion Renewable Energy

Established in 1839, the Henley Royal Regatta attracts more than 300,000 spectators each year and is one of the most prestigious sporting events in the world. Imagine, then, the excitement for BB&N’s girls’ crew team when they took to the water to participate in the historic happening.

Leena Wong ’25 and Mina Feldman ’25 have spent the past five minutes pedaling furiously on bikes, but they haven’t moved an inch. It might seem an exercise in futility if the bikes weren’t mounted on wooden stands, attached to a generator with the express purpose of illuminating a light bulb. As the incandescent filaments slowly flicker to a bright glow, the students cheer. “We did it!”

During the trip, the girls raced in the junior’s 18 double, and in an eight-person shell ¼ mile race. Facing stiff international competition, highlights included the eights’ second round victory over a composite crew from the Grange and King Chester schools. Despite a heroic effort, that boat would eventually lose a hard-fought battle to the eventual winners, who later established a new course record.

Beyond the rowing itself, highlights abounded: a reception for the girls in Boston, a BBQ at Georgina Steel’s aunt and uncle’s house, coming together on the iconic Henley course, and proving themselves worthy with some very good racing.

The hope is to provide alternate, clean energy sources, such as bikes, to charge electronic devices on campus. The bike generators, conceived and built by the students, are a big first step.

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It’s a physical manifestation of a yearlong study in renewable energy, and the accomplishment underscores hours and hours of work. Through research, inviting experts to speak to their class, and diligent work in the Lower School makerspace, students in Christina DelloRusso’s fourth grade classroom are now self-professed “experts” in hydropower, solar power, fuel cell technology, and wind power.

“We wanted to spread the word about what we’ve done this year, and how clean energy can help our school and the world,” wrote Feldman and Wong in a letter to School administrators this spring. “We hope parents and faculty will understand the importance of climate change…and we feel like everyone should know this information.”

To that end, the fourth graders built a website highlighting their findings. To learn more, visit: https://cdellorusso1.wixsite. com/4drgreenandclean

From L to R: Head of School Rebecca T. Upham holds the racing shell at the Henley Royal Regatta for Sammy Wong ’17, Lucia Winton ’17, Georgina Steel ’17, Leandra Klein ’17, Audrey O’Neil ’17, Katie McKinley ’18, Ellie Clapp ’17, Eve Grimshaw ’18, and Kat Capossela ’17 (in front)

Four Students Excel as National Merit Scholars The National Merit Scholarships are awarded annually to students demonstrating significant academic achievement.

More than 1.5 million students take the PSAT each year, and of those, approximately 16,000 are named semifinalists. Then, to compete for the National Merit Scholarships, semifinalists have to advance to a finalist round through an application process.

This year, two students were recognized as finalists in the 2017 competition, Andrew Kellogg-Peeler ’17 and Alex Lichtenberger ’17.

Vishnu Murale ’17 (L) and Ari Benkler ’17 (R) receive their National Merit Scholarships from Upper School Assistant Director Katrina Fuller.

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In addition, two students, Ari Benkler ’17 and Vishnu Murale ’17, won National Merit Scholarships to be used at the college of their choice. These students were selected because they were deemed to have the strongest combination of academic skills and achievements, extracurricular accomplishments, and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

PICTURED

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x 1 x Leena Wong ’25 and Mina Feldman ’25 championed their class’ renewable energy studies with some bright thinking. x 2 x Fourth Grade students work on transforming a bicycle into a power generator.

Henry Marshall ’18 Dominates National Sailing Competitions Congratulations to Henry Marshall ’18 who added several highlights to an already impressive sailing career at BB&N. Last summer Marshall was named to the training squad of the 2016 Olympic team, and this year he represented BB&N at the ISSA National Championship regatta and won the High School Singlehanded National Championship. This follows up his thrilling victory in Ireland last summer where Marshall beat out a strong national field of 58 other sailors en route to becoming the youngest-ever winner of the Laser Radial Youth World Championship. Happy sailing, Henry!

Henry Marshall ’18 celebrates his victory in the Laser Radial Youth World Championship.

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Community News 1

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Spring Sports Wrap-Up Girls Lacrosse (Record: 14-3-1) • This team pulled off the stuff of miracles when they entered the ISL Tournament as a six seed and proceeded to knock off the number three, two, and one seeds in succession to claim the championship.

• Jules Kennedy dominated all season and was rewarded with ISL MVP honors.

Cup Winner: Maia Noyes ’17 All League: Jules Kennedy ’17, Maia Noyes ’17, and Lexi Schmalz ’19 Honorable Mention: Becky Kendall ’18, Maya Mangiafico ’20, and Julia Noyes ’20 ISL MVP: Jules Kennedy ’17

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Softball (Record: 13-3) • Led by the battery of Rowan Park ’20 and Haley Douglas ’19, this team finished second in the ISL. • Senior Shannon Griffin continued to set the pace for this squad, playing every position in her four years with the varsity team, and playing on an impressive 14 varsity sports teams in her time at BB&N. Cup Winner: Shannon Griffin ’17 All League: Halley Douglas ’19, Rowan Park ’20, and Emma Tomlins ’19 Honorable Mention: Molly Griffin ’20, Shannon Griffin ’17, and Jenna Hallice ’20

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Cup Winners: Lucia Winton ’17 and Samantha Wong ’17

Sailing (Record: 10-4) • This competitive and smart squad out-thought their opponents all season long, leading to a 12th place ranking out of 86 teams by the end of the year.

• Highlights included an impressive 2nd place finish at the Mass Bay Championship. (See page 7 for highlights from BB&N sailor Henry Marshall’s impressive year.)

Cup Winner: Max Gudwin ’17

Girls Tennis (Record: 2-12) • This close-knit team battled hard all year with a spirit that belied their final record.

Cup Winners: Lauryn Jacobs ’17 and Brita Mackey ’17 All League: Lauryn Jacobs ’17

Boys Tennis (Record: 17-2) • Finishing with only one loss in the ISL, this gifted team qualified for the New Englands for a record fifth consecutive year.

• Highlights included big wins over powerhouse Groton and perennially strong squads Milton and Nobles.

Cup Winner: Tristan Young ’17

• The golf team finished third in the league with an 11-2-1 record, falling only four points shy of a second consecutive championship.

All League: Tristan Young ’17

• Finished an impressive second in the stroke play championship, losing by only four strokes to the undefeated winning team.

All League: Andrew DiPetrillo ’18 and Harry Theodore ’17

Track

Honorable Mention: Max Haigney ’18 and Gary Rasin ’17

Baseball (Record: 13-8) • BB&N baseball enjoyed continued success posting a 22nd consecutive winning season.

• Led by seniors Jeff Costello, Will Hurley, and Nate Wolf, this squad had a chance to secure the victory in every game they played.

• In a triumphant return as an intramural sport, the boys and girls track teams saw fifty students join its ranks.

Cup Winner: James Lamphier ’17

• The girls’ squad outscored 15 of the 17 teams they faced this season, led by Whitney Janes ’20 who was undefeated in sprints and Isabella Kennedy ’18 who won every distance event she participated in.

Honorable Mention: Will Hurley ’17, Brett McAllister ’18, and Nate Wolf ’17

Boys Crew

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• This impressive squad saw all four boats earn first place victories in numerous races, securing themselves an invite to the prestigious Henley Regatta in London, England in June.

(See page 6 for more about the Henley Regatta.)

Golf (Record: 11-2-1)

Cup Winner: Harry Theodore ’17

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Girls Crew

• This young squad improved all year long and looks to a strong future in years to come.

• Highlights included strong performances against Middlesex and Brooks, and an impressive effort at the DuPont Cup.

All League: Chris Attisani ’18 and Jeff Costello ’17

Boys Lacrosse (Record: 2-11) • A long, challenging season saw this squad fall prey to some unfortunate injuries, but the team persevered and showed up with their best effort every game.

Cup Winners: Michael Bulman ’18 and Mark Synnott ’18 All League: Mark Synnott ’18

Cup Winner: Alex Evenchik ’17

PICTURED x 1 x The ISL Champion Varsity Girls Lacrosse team. x 2 x Owen Gideon-Murphy ’17 slaps a tag on a would-be base stealer. x 3 x Rowan Park ’20 connects on a deep one at the plate. x 4 x The Boys Varsity Tennis Team put together another impressive season. x 5 x Harry Theodore ’17 studies a putt. x 6 x L to R : Coach John Cotter, Kat Capossela ’17, Eve Grimshaw ’18, Sammy Wong ’17, Lucia Winton ’17, and Ellie Clapp ’17 x 7 x TJ Maley ’19 blows past an opposing defenseman. x 8 x Alex Evenchik ’17, Henry Ross ’18, Malcolm Zuckerman ’18, Ian McJohn ’18, and 8

Catie Blair ’17 on the river

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Community News Upper School Spring Play

Second Graders Take to the Street with Bike Study

Upper School actors flexed their thespian muscles this spring with a wonderful production of Beth Henley’s Pulitzer Prize winning drama, Crimes of the Heart. The tragic comedy tells the story of three sisters from a dysfunctional family who reunite in their grandfather’s home to deal with the recent shooting of one of their husbands.

Directed by Upper School math teacher Janna Kerpelman, the play trolled emotional depths of characters coming to terms with who they were and who they have become.

Motorists traveling throughout Cambridge on Friday, April 28, encountered quite the sight as 38 BB&N second graders on bikes and scooters shut down traffic on their way to Longfellow Park. Accompanied by a police escort seven bicycle cops strong, the excursion put a cherry atop what was a fun and educational piece of the Grade Two social studies curriculum: a month-long bike study.

Caroline Scheer ’18, Lucy Lyman ’18, and Alice O’Neill ’19

“It was really fun because you usually never get to bike with your whole class,” noted Amelia Perkins ’27.

“At the start of April, the second grade received a letter from Craig Kelley, a City Councilperson from Cambridge,” said teacher Susan Kinksy. “He asked for suggestions on how to make cycling safer and more fun for young people. We all agreed that in order to make informed, thoughtful suggestions, we needed to research.” And research, they did.

Students read books by bike historians and mechanics, learned how bikes work, and were able to meet with a handful of guests ranging from Head of School Rebecca T. Upham (whose pink bicycle is a near daily sight on any of the School’s three campuses), to a bike advocate, and even a bicycle cop.

The month of research was capped by an exciting day for the students in April, as the entire class brought their personal bikes and scooters to school. The campus looked like an Olympic velodrome during recess as the students whirred around the turf field and foot paths. And the grand finale, of course, was the ride through Cambridge, where they were able to apply all that they had learned and work as a team.

The students were thankful for the police officers, who ensured that they followed all of the rules they had learned and lent a hand where required.

“When there was a turn onto another street, the police were saying which way to turn and making sure that the cars didn’t go,” said Patrick Leyden ’27. “They made me feel safe.”

Middle School “Rocks” in Spring Musical

And when Antonio Santos ’27 realized that his bike chain had broken, he didn’t panic. Knowing how bikes worked, he just hopped off and waited. “The police officer helped me put the chain back on and it was super helpful.”

Harnessing their inner rock stars, BB&N middle schoolers took to the stage this spring for a rollicking performance of the play, School of Rock the Musical. The production, adapted from the 2003 movie, tells the tale of a struggling guitarist who takes up substitute teaching and discovers a trove of rock ‘n’ roll talent among his students. Together, they form a band in hopes of winning an epic “battle of the bands” contest.

After compiling their results, students wrote to Cambridge City Council member Jan Devereux P’09, ’12 with some helpful suggestion regarding bike safety.

The humorous story featured wonderful acting and musical talent, including many students brandishing live instruments to bring a tenacious authenticity to the performance.

Chloe Atkinson ’21 (in background), Abigail Rabieh ’21, Colin McNamara-Bordewick ’21

Second Graders queue up for their ride while Cambridge police clear the street.

Letters from the students to the Cambridge City Council

Middle Schoolers Tackle Tough Questions at Science Knight Why is spider silk so strong? Why does chocolate taste so good to humans but is toxic to dogs? How are coral reefs changing due to rising ocean temperatures? How can you genetically modify a plant’s DNA to make it more nutritious? How can hair be used to solve crimes? Can beet juice be used to melt ice on your driveway? What sustainable development goals will the CRER-7000 or Isotopic Hairtron 500 help achieve?

Cast members from Honk!

Sixth Grade Musical: Honk!

BB&N Sixth Graders impressed all in attendance with their spring rendition of the musical, Honk! Based on the famous Ugly Ducking story, the play tells the story of a family of ducks, one whom at birth looks very different from his siblings, and can’t even quack. Featuring colorful costumes and sets, the performance entertained and taught one of life’s most precious lessons: differences are what make us special.

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Jonah Levis ’21 expounds on nuclear fusion at Middle School Science Knight.

This year’s Science Knight, on Friday, April 21, was billed as an evening of chemistry.

Transforming the Middle School Big Room into a symposium of discovery, students in eighth grade science classes presented the answers to the above questions and more.

Visitors in attendance learned about the chemistry connections behind each question, engaged with hands on demonstrations, and gained a glimpse into the future with ideas of how to use chemistry to tackle the UN’s sustainable development goals.

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Class Notes Mark Fidler Honored with Barrows Family Master Teacher Chair

Gabby Mbeki Named Recipient of Edgar H. Nichols Future Leader Instructorship

Congratulations to Upper School Math and Computer Science Teacher Mark Fidler, who earlier this year was named the Barrows Family Master Teacher Chair.

Congratulations to Fifth Grade Teacher Gabby Mbeki, who earlier this year was awarded the Edgar H. Nichols Future Leader Instructorship.

Fidler is the second recipient of the Barrows Family Master Teacher Chair, which honors an Upper School senior faculty member for excellence in teaching and faculty leadership.

Mbeki is the third recipient of this honor, which recognizes the special contributions that promising early and mid-career faculty make to the School community. In only her third year as part of the Lower School campus, Mbeki has made a profound impact in a short time.

Head of School Rebecca T. Upham wrote the following about Fidler in her announcement to the faculty community earlier this year: “Master Teacher describes Mark to a T. A member of the Upper School faculty since 1980, he has taught Algebra 1 through Calculus and Statistics, as well as AP Computer Science since the School began offering it 32 years ago. He is incredibly thoughtful about his students, their experience, and helping them grow into responsible adults. Mark brings to his classes not only academic rigor but also a sense of fun, with his now-famous ‘tag quizzes’ being just one example.

“When I think of Mark, what comes to mind is a mentor extraordinaire. And that applies not only to his students but also to his faculty colleagues. He takes great joy in coaching his fellow teachers. Here is one of my favorite facts about Mark: He was chair of the Mathematics Department for 14 years. When he began, there was one woman teaching in the department. When he ended his tenure, half of the department was female.

“The well-known term ‘Renaissance Man’ sells Mark a bit short. He has also coached JV Girls Hockey and the Cycling Club, in addition to being a transcontinental bicyclist himself. He has been a Bivouac guide for the past 15 years. He is the author of children’s books and is a Scrabble champion, as well as having run Scrabble Clubs here at school. Most meaningful to Mark, he is also the father of BB&N alums Bailey ’03, Leland ’06, and Ross ’11.

“He has served on more BB&N committees than he can probably remember. Most importantly, Mark has enriched the lives of countless BB&N students and faculty colleagues over these past 37 years.”

"The well-known term 'Renaissance Man' sells Mark a bit short."

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In a letter to the faculty community earlier this year, Head of School Rebecca T. Upham wrote the following of Mbeki: “Part of the instructorship’s title, of course, are the words: Future Leader. And Gabby is certainly the type of teacher whom we all expect to do wonderful things in the future as a leader. Everyone sees this potential in her, including the Klingenstein Center, which awarded her a fellowship to attend their Summer Institute in 2015.

“But ‘future leader’ is only half the story. The fact about Gabby is that her leadership is happening very much in the present tense, as well.

“This has been particularly evident in the work she has done leading the Diversity Steering Committee at the Lower School. The committee is a group of faculty and staff who gather together regularly to discuss and support diversity initiatives at the Lower School. In Gabby’s own words: ‘It was created to supplement a need to have a dialogue around diversity and inclusion, and how it impacts our students, our families, and our community.’ Gabby’s gift for fostering dialogue—even around difficult issues—and her passion for inclusion have helped establish a warm, welcoming atmosphere for our faculty to participate in these conversations.

“Not surprisingly, though, Gabby’s most important contribution to our community is in her classroom. She goes above and beyond in her curriculum planning, and does a stellar job of creating an anti-bias classroom. She builds terrific rapport with her students, and at the same time, she sets high expectations for them. It is a combination that has produced wonderful results these past three years.”

"Gabby’s most important contribution to our community is in her classroom."

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Community News Lower School Closing Ceremony Marks Transition for Sixth Graders

Eighth Graders Embark on a New Journey at Middle School Closing

Gathering together for the last time as sixth graders, the Class of 2023 marked the end of their Lower School tenure at this year’s closing ceremony. Head of School Rebecca T. Upham began the proceedings by noting the importance in “moments of transition and growth.” Upham then lauded the students on their adherence to the School’s motto, and wished them each a good book, an ice cream cone, and perhaps the chance to hone their kickball skills—a remark that drew laughter given the class’ shocking loss to the faculty in the annual student-faculty kickball game the previous week.

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Marking the end of her own tenure as the Lower School Director, Shera Selzer addressed the students with some poignant remarks of her own. “I have had the privilege over the years to watch you grow and evolve through the various stages of childhood, witnessing the inner, core character of each child come more and more into focus with each grade” Selzer said. “I think that there is nothing more beautiful than finding out who you are as a human being and who you are capable of becoming. It is a lifelong journey.”

Head of School Rebecca T. Upham noted the importance of how the school’s motto—Honor Scholarship Kindness—has encompassed the student experience at the Middle School, and her hope that “regardless of where you find yourselves next September, that motto is something you will carry with you.”

Following an impressive performance by the Lower School Orchestra, and a rousing student version of Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling,” the now former sixth graders disappeared out of the gym and into the summer.

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The BB&N Middle School Closing Ceremony, held on June 7th at the Nicholas Athletic Center, marked an important milestone for the 88 eighth graders making the transition to high school.

Middle School Director Mary Dolbear celebrated the successes of this unique class: “This is not typical June weather, but then again, this class is not typical. Each student has been on a journey and accomplished so much this year.”

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PICTURED x 1 x Lower School Director Shera Selzer and and Alisa Ishii ’23 x 2 x Ava Wade-Currie ’23, Jack West ’23, and Pablo Segovia ’23 x 3 x Simon Baron ’23 and Noé Aubanel-Battilana ’23 x 4 x Head of School Rebecca T. Upham x 5 x Madison Allen ’23, Clara Noyes ’23, and

In recognition and appreciation of her 38 years of service to BB&N, Margaret Hardy ’61 was selected as the faculty speaker and she delivered a heartfelt address to the students. Reflecting on the class’ start at the “small and intimate” 46 Belmont building, she highlighted the students’ ability to adapt to change and “work for the good of the whole group without grandstanding and never complaining.” Hardy credited her long tenure at the Middle School to the opportunities she has had to try new things, and encouraged the students to take risks and remember four important things as they move on to high school: “school is about learning, not just about succeeding; try new things; work together for the good of the group; and take the time to have some fun while you work and always be kind.”

Student speakers Chloe Atkinson ’21 and Daniel Gross-Loh ’21 also shared their thoughts with fellow classmates. Gross-Loh spoke on the idea that striving for good is better than striving for perfection, and Atkinson stressed the importance of community and how it has impacted her 10 years at BB&N: “Without every single one of you, I, or we, would not be here today.”

Juliet Bijesse ’23

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5 PICTURED x 1 x Middle School Director Mary Dolbear congratulates Yau-Meng Wong ’21 x 2 x Caroline Knox ’21, Grace Russell ’21, and Anna Garvey ’21 were all smiles following the closing ceremony. x 3 x 2017 Banner Recipients Abigail Marisa Rabieh ’21 (behind Assistant Middle School Director Tony Breen), Mehdi Epee-Bounya ’21, Ava Elizabeth Long ’21, and Walker Hobbes Oberg ’21 x 4 x Margaret Hardy ’61 addresses the Class of 2021 with sage words gleaned from her 38 years of teaching at BB&N. x 5 x Will Friedman ’21, Anderson Fabbri ’21, and John Cassedy ’21 share a laugh at one of the speaker’s remarks.

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D E PA RT I N G FAC U LT Y b y B i l l Ro g e r s , M i d d l e S c h o o l H i s t o r y H e a d

Margaret Hardy ’61

Middle School World Languages Department Head: 1979-2017

Bev Malone and I have a running joke about which of us will win the endurance award for being at BB&N the longest. It involves questioning each other’s health and fitness, and proving that neither of us has hobbies to fall back on in retirement. The real joke is on us, as the person with the most history at BB&N is Margaret Hardy. Margaret has taught in the Middle School for 38 years, but she attended Buckingham in the 1950s. Her husband Jack, son Alex, and daughter Wren also went to either B&N or BB&N. Adding up the years, Margaret has almost 70 years of associative experience at B, B&N, and BB&N.

Margaret first arrived here to teach two French classes in 1979, but she learned Latin and also replaced a departing Latin instructor. Fifteen years later, she picked up Spanish. Now over half of Middle Schoolers learn Spanish, and she teaches three languages, depending on what is needed. If we kept her one more year, I’m sure she would nail Arabic. Margaret has also written the textbooks for all three of our Middle School languages.

She retires as the longest serving Department Head in the history of the Middle School.

Margaret has run a homeroom since Jimmy Carter’s administration, advising inhabitants with the crucial information to successfully survive eighth grade. Back in the Mesozoic era, she began working on seventh grade groups and co-wrote our first co-curriculum, the foundation of our present day Advisory Program. In 1983, Margaret joined the first BB&N group ever trained to teach Sexuality and Relationships. I was lucky enough to partner with her for the next 15 years, and I have never had a better experience team teaching. The laughter and fun was endless. I think Margaret and I shared a vision of a better adolescence than what we had survived, and this perhaps became the glue of our personal friendship.

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Margaret became an expert in scheduling, and for many years she quietly took on that most unspeakable task in the Middle School treasure chest. Margaret was also Assistant Director of the Middle School for years, but typically, she refused the title, and it was years before most realized all the work and counsel she was providing behind the scenes. Like our present Assistant Director, Tony Breen, she did a brilliant job accomplishing things that only get noticed when they don’t work. Margaret also served on the Middle School Admissions Committee for nearly 20 years, and I have never seen a more thorough and perceptive folder reader. She made the rest of us work harder to try to look competent. Margaret has been the voice of wisdom and insight in EPC, Department Heads’ and Faculty Meetings. I see her as a younger and more attractive Ben Franklin, offering sage advice at the Constitutional Convention, just when a deadlock seems inescapable. We all know the value of that voice!

Buckingham student. Perhaps this explains her unfailing good humor with adults and students alike. Dozens of students have told me that she is the best teacher they ever had. It was no surprise that in 2009, Margaret was awarded the Jeannette Markham Master Teacher Chair, the first ever presented in BB&N history. It was wonderful to see her recognized for what colleagues and students have always known. In a recent issue of the Middle School newspaper several students spoke of Margaret:

In all of Margaret’s gifts, her watchword is kindness. It pervades her relationships with faculty and kids. She has spent hours before school tutoring kids pro bono to raise their self-esteem. Margaret fondly remembers Betty Stowe, the Head of Buckingham at the merger, who gave Margaret so much support and guidance while she was a

Walker declared, “She was the best teacher I ever had, and I will remember her forever.”

Colin said, “She’s super nice, had a super fun class, and was a really great teacher.”

Henry testified, “Thank you so much for having been an amazing Latin teacher. You always believed in me even when I was struggling, and that meant a lot to me.”

Nick stated, “You are wicked cool.”

But now comes the hardest part of goodbye. I have three important Margarets in my own life: my wife, my sister, and the woman who has been the closest friend I have

ever made in teaching. Over the last 40 years I have spent more days with this Margaret than either of the other two.

I have taught, coached, and advised at least one of her children. She was my zen master for raising my own two older boys. I have shared offices, classrooms, committees, and partnered with her for almost every volunteer student group we have joined. When we worked together, we seldom failed. When we talked together, I always learned.

When I listened to her suggestions, I always felt I became a better person.

As Kelsey, a current ninth grader, said, “Thank you for all the love, beauty, and grace that you bring to this world and into my life. I had so much fun being your advisee last year and your Spanish student in 7th grade! Thank you for being so supportive and caring! I still remember the phrase you taught me, ‘How you feel and where you are, always use the verb estar!’ Laugh, smile and make the most out of each moment, and enjoy the new episode of your life! BB&N really did lose a great teacher this time!”

Margaret Hardy has meant—and will always mean—so much to all of us, for all that she has taught us.

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D E PA RT I N G FAC U LT Y b y C a ro l F i n e , L o w e r S c h o o l S c i e n c e Te a c h e r, a n d B e v e r l y M a l o n e , Te a c h e r Tra i n i n g I n s t i t u t e D i re c t o r a n d F o r m e r L o w e r S c h o o l D i re c t o r

Beth Thiemann

Lower School Math Teacher: 1986-2017

During her tenure at the Lower School, Beth Thiemann has taught math to first through fifth graders, parented two BB&N graduates (Sarah ’90 and Laura ’93), been the Math Department Head, and for decades has taught the three-credit graduate course called Teaching Elementary School Mathematics to Lesley University/BB&N graduate students. A disparate and impressive resume indeed, all of which she accomplished with trademark aplomb and skill.

Beth is passionate about math and math education. She meets with students at the start of school to provide enrichment and remediation. She is patient, caring, and creative. For many of her years at BB&N, Beth had a second, highly secretive means of earning extra cash. In addition to being a math teacher extraordinaire, she was also the owner and sole operator of a high-end grocery store. Each winter, she would open her store in her classroom and sell empty containers of food and other essential household items. During class, students would carefully shop and calculate cost. In the process, they practiced and honed addition, subtraction, and estimation skills. At the end of the class, Beth somehow convinced the students to return their precious purchases to the shelves so other students could buy the same items. It was a classic Beth example of making learning interesting and fun.

Second Grade Teacher Sylvia Elmer is quick to note Beth’s effect on her students: “First and foremost, I should point out that my students don’t think math is math without Beth. On those rare days Beth misses math, usually because she is teaching the graduate interns, my students demand, ‘Where’s Ms. Thiemann?’ She has magically developed an inside joke, of sorts, with the students about her ‘favorite numbers.’ Her favorites are always those that are mathematically significant (to a second grader), such as 123, 246, 369, etc. Beth loves to embed her favorite numbers in math problems and the students enjoy discovering them.

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Each Monday,” Elmer continues, “Beth sends home a family math activity, which the students eagerly complete and return by the end of the week. They love receiving her praise for their hard work and effort, and seek out challenges she offers. Similarly, they devour her weekly morning math activities and look forward to Wednesday mornings when they know she’ll be there with a new challenge.

“One day at lunch the second graders and I were talking about next year when they would be third graders. We talked about things they were looking forward to and changes they were not so happy about. The students were all disappointed that Ms. Thiemann would not be returning to BB&N in the fall. ‘I love making game boards with her,’ said one student. Another remarked, ‘I like it when she helped us with our quilting squares.’ And another said, ‘I think Ms.Thiemann is very nice. She always took the time to explain things. She is patient and caring.’”

The theme of patient and caring runs through everything that Beth does. For many at BB&N, Beth is more than a great teacher, she is a loyal friend.

Former Curriculum Coordinator Deborah Maher said, “When I arrived at BB&N in 1998, Beth was warm and welcoming to me as a professional colleague. After nine years of working closely with her in her roles as Math Department Head and teacher, I learned how her characteristic consistent, calm, thoughtful, and reasoned approach to each and every task, and toward all students, families, and colleagues, emanated from her genuine,

wonderful self. Beth is the consummate professional colleague and I am pleased and proud to call her my friend.”

Another teacher commented on how Beth always checks in with how her colleagues are doing or feeling. She is well-connected to her Lower School community, and eager to catch up and chat with anyone who sits with her at lunch or passes her in the hallway. She is upbeat, cheerful, and always welcoming.

This past fall, Beth had a significant birthday, one of those birthdays with a zero at the end. Let’s call it forty for simplicity’s sake. Many of her former and current colleagues gathered to celebrate her. Each had a story of how Beth seamlessly saved the day—there were too many tales to repeat, but here is one.

“When I was pregnant with my son,” says Carol Fine. “Beth decided to throw a surprise baby shower. Unfortunately, I was in the hospital with preterm labor on the chosen date.

Beth called all the guests and rescheduled the shower for later in the spring. Again, the date was canceled as I was back in the hospital, this time giving birth to my son.

Many would have given up, but not Beth. She selected a third date and threw a lovely shower.”

Just this spring, Beth helped host the interns' graduation luncheon, provided a former colleague with child care during a funeral, and watched her grandchildren while their parents completed a triathlon. (By the way—she is a super “grannie.”)

And, she did all of this on the same weekend.

Beth Thiemann is filled with grace, with strength, and with faith in everything that she does—as a teacher, parent, grandmother, colleague, and friend. She is elegant and genteel. Of course, you might not think this if you saw her with her chainsaw pruning her shrubs or scooping out frogs from her swimming pool.

We finish with a quote by famous journalist, and Buckingham graduate, Ellen Goodman ’59, from her essay The Graceful Exit.

“There’s a trick to the graceful exit. It begins with the vision to recognize when a job, a life stage…is over—and to let go. It means leaving what’s over without denying its validity or its past importance in our lives. It involves a sense of future, a belief that every exit line is an entry that we are moving on rather than out. The trick of retiring well may be the trick of living well. It’s hard to recognize that life isn’t a holding action, but a process.

It’s hard to learn that we don’t leave the best parts of ourselves behind, back in the dugout or the office. We own what we learned back then. The experiences and the growth are grafted onto our lives. And when we exit, we take ourselves along—quite gracefully.”

Beth is definitely moving on, not out. We envision her volunteering more, climbing more mountains with her family, lending her helping hand to more and more people, and still spreading the word that math is fun.

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D E PA RT I N G FAC U LT Y

Shera Selzer

Lower School Director and Former Beginners Teacher: 2003-2017

After a 14-year journey at BB&N’s Lower School, Lower School Director Shera Selzer announced her well-earned retirement earlier this year.

Selzer was known for her principled, caring demeanor, and her student-centered administrative style. She spent eight years as a beloved Beginners teacher and six as a Lower School administrator, the last four as Director.

In a letter to the community this January, Head of School Rebecca T. Upham spoke to the innate qualities that Selzer brought to BB&N during her tenure.

“Of Shera’s many accomplishments as Lower School Director, I consider the most significant to be the culture that she has instilled here—one that emphasizes the process of helping students connect meaningfully with their learning,” Upham wrote. “Shera has always modeled this beautifully in the way she engages with children, from four years old to twelve, on this campus. You notice that she’s always right at their level, looking them in the eyes, honoring their curiosity, listening closely, and guiding the conversation with questions that start to turn on the light switch in their eyes.”

successful and beloved pre-K teacher is because she truly understood the impulsivity of that age. I refer directly to the box incident. Shera decided to welcome the new students into BB&N by hiding in a large box and leaping out at them when they entered the room. To top it off, she also wore a large hat decorated with fruit. Now, in retrospect, this turned out to be a relatively unsuccessful way of greeting four-year-olds, but it remains a favorite example of why Shera’s classroom was always overflowing with joy, creativity, and humor.

Throughout her time at the Buckingham Street campus, Selzer dramatically impacted the learning environment for the hundreds of students who passed through the gates, both as a teacher and in the director’s role. Below, several of her colleagues weigh in to pay tribute to Shera as she embarks on the next step in her journey.

Shera is passionate about her beliefs, and many of my memories are of her advocating for her students with great courage and determination. She also believed that children themselves should be activists, and have their voices heard. Who could forget Shera leading a crowd of four-year-olds into a November assembly, holding signs above their heads as they demanded rights for turkeys? Or when she guided her students through a superhero study, and they each discovered their own true superpower? These were powerful moments for her students, and it is wonderful to watch children who are now teenagers recall their experiences as four-year-olds.

Christina DelloRusso, Grade Four Teacher It would be impossible to talk about Shera’s time at BB&N without going back to the early years, with her as a Beginners teacher. Many people know her solely as an administrator, but I was lucky enough to teach Beginners in the class next door to her, and what a time it was! Her classroom was always bursting with new ideas, creative approaches to projects, and general merriment. Perhaps one of the reasons Shera was such a

Deanne Peterson, Former Grade Two & Four Teacher At one of the first faculty meetings I ever attended at the Lower School, I found myself sitting next to Shera Selzer. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Shera was intently taking notes.

Following her lead, I leaned over to ask if she had an extra pen. That’s when I noticed that Shera’s “notes” weren’t words at all—ever the artist, she had sketched an intricate and detailed black-line design!

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Shera’s note-taking skills may not have been exemplary that day, but she was a wonderful teacher. She put her artistic skills to work by creating beautiful classroom materials and displays.

Her love of young children was plain to see, and she had an amazing ability to understand and communicate with all of her students.

Over the years, Shera and I became close friends. On any given Friday afternoon, Shera, Sharon Cumberbatch, and I could likely be found at the Foundry in Davis Square, solving some of the world’s most daunting problems. Shera and I enjoyed occasional “educational field trips”—to the Brimfield Flea Markets in search of interesting classroom artifacts, or to Maine to investigate a section of a state park where children had built elaborate “fairy homes”—an idea we brought back to the Outdoor Classroom behind the Morse Building.

sations regarding how to best serve all children while supporting dynamic, meaningful programming. While Shera will be missed, her impact at BB&N will be felt for years to come.

Anthony Reppuci, Lower School Director What many know and some do not is that I have had the wonderful opportunity to work with Shera both as a Beginners teacher and as an administrator. Within my partnership with Shera I have witnessed her navigate each of these positions with integrity, kindness, and great care regarding the curriculum.

Shera’s wonderful creative spirit will serve her well as she moves to the Hudson River Valley to begin the next chapter of her life. I know I speak for all of us in wishing Shera the very best!

As a teacher, Shera took great care of her classroom community.

She believed that the way children and teachers interacted with each other was the foundation to creating a positive classroom climate in which students could thrive. In the same way that Shera thought student interactions with other students and teachers were foundational to a positive climate, she also felt this was equally important for adults in our community in order to create a positive school climate so everyone could feel safe and comfortable.

Stevie Olson, Grade Six Homeroom Teacher & Trustee After making their way through the Lower School, Shera’s students as sixth graders still talk about how she fostered a classroom led by her passionate spirit and infinite creativity. She offered students the most beautiful start to their time in schools: a welcoming and safe community, and a fun place to grow as a young person. Leaving the classroom must have been difficult for Shera, but, guided by a conviction to compassion, she pushed the eight grade levels of our campus to lean into difficult conver-

On the curriculum side, as a teacher, Shera had a passion for the visual arts and had a strong conviction that the arts were central to a child’s understanding of the world. Day in and out she created opportunities for children to engage with open-ended materials. The deep engagement, joy, and stamina in working with these provocations was remarkable to witness. As an administrator she held to her belief about the arts and expanded her engagement in many areas of our curriculum in the pursuit of honest, child-centered improvement.

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D E PA RT I N G FAC U LT Y

Departures Randi Currier Middle School Math Caitlin Drechsler Lower School Science Brett Fuhrman Chief Financial Officer Huihong Hao Upper School Chinese

E la i ne McG ove r n Assistant to the Middle School Director: 2000-2017

Joseph Heitzman Lower School Technology

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Deejay Robinson Lower School Music Kelley Schulteis Middle School Science Jane Segale Controller

After seventeen years of service to the Middle School as the assistant to the Middle School Director, Elaine McGovern took her leave of BB&N this year. From her spot at the front desk of 80 Sparks Street, McGovern’s fingerprints could be found on every crevice of the old mansion that serves as the hub of the Middle School. Rain or shine, McGovern kept the pulse of the campus with a trademark laugh and sense of humor.

In a tribute given earlier this year, Middle School Music Teacher Kathi Gellar made the following comments, summing up the essential role that McGovern filled for so long.

“It has been an honor to work alongside Elaine for the last 17 years. Daily, she has pulled irons out of the fire that saved our bacon, corrected spelling disasters or miscommunications that otherwise would leave us looking ridiculous, made sure we had snacks for faculty meetings to keep our heads in the game when we otherwise would long have checked out, supplied us with copier paper, new ink cartridges and cleared endless paper jams literally keeping us sane, dispensed advice and wisdom when things were a little shaky, been the steady rock when the roof was caving in, and performed endless other miracles we never knew a single thing about.

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“Rain or shine, McGovern kept the pulse of the campus with a trademark laugh and sense of humor.”

Susannah Walker Upper School History

PICTURED x 1 x Caitlin Drechsler, Lower School Science x 2 x Brett Fuhrman, CFO x 3 x Kelley Schulteis, Middle School Science x 4 x Jane Segale, Controller

Milestones 35 YEARS OF SERVICE Mark Lindberg Upper School Theater

“We are a happier faculty and stronger teachers for her support, but more importantly, we are better people for her care, her attention, and her love…. Thank you does not seem sufficient in exchange for seventeen years of dedication to us.”

Thank you, Elaine. You will be missed!

David Strodel Upper School Science

30 YEARS OF SERVICE

Brian Reasoner Upper School Chamber Music and Orchestra

25 YEARS OF SERVICE Tony Aruda Lower School Maintenance

Betsy Canaday Middle School English

Tony Breen Middle School Assistant Director/Latin

Lynda Dugas Lower School Librarian/Former Classroom Teacher

Kelley Kingman Lower School Physical Education/Health

20 YEARS OF SERVICE Leah Cataldo Upper School Science Jeff McGann Athletics Office Manager Carrie Rose Upper School Spanish Janet Rosen Director of Stewardship and OEA Communications Yinong Yang Upper School Chinese 23

BB&N GRADUATION 2017 On June 9th, friends and family of BB&N’s 127 seniors gathered in the Nicholas Athletic Center to celebrate the graduation of the Class of 2017.

Bucking threats of rain, summer sun streamed through the windows illuminating a ceremony that featured celebration, sage advice, and the culmination of years of hard work for a spirited and impressive class.

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Student speaker Sophie Smyke ’17 explored the essence of her fellow classmates through a series of photographs taken during her time at the Upper School. As a passionate photographer, Smyke described some favorite shots, describing in eloquent detail what each still frame revealed about the “crazy smart…active…and exceptional,” Class of 2017. “We have so much to celebrate…and we should be proud of our work…,” said Smyke. “But we can’t feel satisfied. We must feel inspired and motivated and supported by our time here as we step outside this afternoon.”

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In her remarks to the graduating class, the Honorable Roanne Sragow Licht (mother of Jacob Licht ’17) lauded the class on their tight-knit and caring nature. “You have always been there for one another in the tough times, and you have delighted in each other’s successes.” But Sragow Licht also stressed the importance of using their well-earned skill sets to better the world. Drawing off her own hard-fought experience as a female attorney and then judge in an historically male-dominated field, Licht noted that some of her proudest moments involved court reform, and improving the system within which she works. “With privilege comes responsibility,” said Sragow Licht. “The responsibility to give back, to use your education and talents for good, to work to repair the world.”

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x 1 x Taylor Nadherny ’17 and Georgina Steel ’17 x 2 x Charlie Heveran ’17, Menelik Epee-Bounya ’17, Guatam Mitra ’17, and Kian Golshan ’17 x 3 x Lauryn Jacobs ’17 receives her diploma from Head of School Rebecca T. Upham. x 4 x Sophie Smyke ’17 addresses the Senior Class during the ceremony. x 5 x David Nazemi ’17, Max Gudwin ’17, and Carter Liou ’17 x 6 x Charlie Ablon ’17, Lexie Massa ’17, Mary DeVellis ’17, and Thomas Mandile ’17 x 7 x Orly Levi ’17, Tatum Driscoll ’17, Lillian Gifford ’17, Audrey O’Neil ’17, Sophie Wang ’17, Natalie Madden ’17, Mary DeVellis ’17, Katherine Nicholas ’17, and Charlotte Foote ’17

Following a musical interlude, Head of School Rebecca T. Upham took the podium to address the Class of 2017 for the final time. Upham focused her remarks on the “goodness” that was a hallmark of the class, asking the seniors “to hold onto it tightly.”

Noting the “less than rosy” picture that recent geo-political events have borne in the world at large, Upham charged the soon-to-be graduates to exercise courage in attempting to forge a community and environment that is safe and inclusive. “I hope that you will continue to find and exercise the courage to push back on ideas, to insist on fact-checking, and to speak for voices that are silent and voices that have been silenced,” said Upham. “Marry your intellect and your kindness with courageous conviction.”

Moments later, as they processed down the aisle behind the traditional bag piper, the newly-minted graduates seemed more than ready to take on that challenge.

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GRADUATION 2017

Seniors Reminisce at Lifer Party For the 21 seniors returning to the Lower School campus, it was a bittersweet occasion: the chance to revisit the classrooms, playgrounds, and teachers who first shepherded them during early years at BB&N. The annual Lifer Party offered students who began their BB&N journey in the Morse Building a joyous and reflective afternoon, one that underscored just how far they’ve come in more than a dozen years at the School.

Harold Ian Ainsworth • Elizabeth Brooks Clapp • Abigail Zonalia Cozier • Alexander Laurence Evenchik • Josette Honora Fitzgerald • Charlotte Stevenson Foote • Ross McChord Crothers Harrison • Cassandra Jai-lei Kane • Lukas Warren Kauth • James Alexander Kilzer • Leandra O’Neill Klein • Alexander Josef Lichtenberger • Jackson Loeb Lifford • Thomas William Mandile • Maia Frances Noyes • Gary Alexander Rasin • Emma Catherine Gapud Voligny • Maximilian Sebastian Wiegand • Lucia Chase Winton • Tristan Robert Young

Class of 2017 Matriculation List College Amherst College Babson College Bard College Barnard College Bates College Boston College Boston University Bowdoin College Brandeis University Brown University Bucknell University Colby College Colorado College Connecticut College Cornell University Dartmouth College Duke University Florida Institute of Technology Georgetown University Hamilton College - NY Harvard University Hobart and William Smith Colleges Lehigh University

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College

Students Attending

Lesley University Loyola University New Orleans Massachusetts College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences Massachusetts Institute of Technology McGill University Merrimack College Middlebury College New York University Northeastern University Northwestern University Pepperdine University Princeton University Providence College Rice University Skidmore College St. John’s University - Queens Campus St. Thomas University Stanford University Stonehill College Swarthmore College The George Washington University Trinity College

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College

Students Attending

Tufts University Union College (New York) University of California, San Diego University of California, Santa Cruz University of Chicago University of Colorado at Boulder University of Maryland, College Park University of Massachusetts, Lowell University of Miami University of Michigan University of Notre Dame University of Pennsylvania University of Rhode Island University of Rochester University of Southern California University of St Andrews University of Virginia Vanderbilt University Wake Forest University Washington University in St. Louis Wellesley College Yale University

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Colleges that also offered admission to BB&N students

Presenting the Class of 2017 Charles Thomas Ablon Harold Ian Ainsworth Guillermo Alvarez Kaley Greene Arnof Oakes Orlando Austin Jacob Yousef Ayyub Ari Eliezer Benkler* Catherine Allen Blair Ava LeVine Boudreau Adam John Buchanan Katherine Elizabeth Capossela Jennifer Esmeralda Carbonel Estepan Alec Whitcomb Chapman Elizabeth Brooks Clapp Peter Kimmett Clark Genevieve Margaret Cohen Emma Roxanne Condie Jeffrey Edward Costello Abigail Zonalia Cozier Nicholas John Daglio Alexander James Campbell Daly Graeme Hill Davis Mary Elizabeth DeVellis* Christine Tatum Driscoll Angela Duong Menelik Epee-Bounya* Bayard Alexander Eton Alexander Laurence Evenchik* Josette Honora Fitzgerald Timothy Sumner Fitzpatrick John Connor Flahive* Charlotte Stevenson Foote

Lucas Alexander Fried* Eleanore Brown Fusco* Marki Lockery Gaffey Cecelia Courtney Galligan Matthew Paul Galvin Owen Gideon-Murphy Lillian Constance Gifford Joseph Justin Gilbert Elizabeth Sarah Goldman Kian Golshan Ellie Laird Gozigian Brooke Noel Graves Shannon Ashton Griffin Ryan Min Guan* Max Bernard Gudwin Ross McChord Crothers Harrison Danychell Hernandez Jennifer Lisseth Herrera Charles Edward Heveran Sean Chan Hunt William John Hurley Tucker Anthony Impemba Emma Victoria Jacobs* Lauryn Nichole Jacobs Erica Michele Jarrell Cassandra Jai-Lei Kane* Eptisam Maftouh Kassim Aaron Sidney Kaufer* Lukas Warren Kauth* Andrew Woodruff Kellogg Peeler* Julianna Rikki Kennedy James Alexander Kilzer

Leandra O’Neill Klein James O’Mara Lamphier Orly Levy Jacob Adam Licht* Alexander Josef Lichtenberger Jackson Loeb Lifford Carter Lee Liou Brita Anne Mackey Natalie Lain Madden Thomas William Mandile Olivia Grace Manganella Peter Gregory Mankiw Alexandra Martinez Massa* Bernard Henry McGovern, III Rose Silka Meier* Michelle Lorraine Meredith Gautam Mitra Matthew Monsalve Daniel Munch Vishnu Murale* Tatum Marie Nadherny Matías Navarro* David Reza Nazemi Caroline Marie Nelson William Whitfield Nemirovsky Katherine Shannon Nicholas Joseph Baruch Nissenbaum Maia Frances Noyes Audrey Elizabeth O’Neil Olivia Ema O’Regan Samuel Mason Olmsted Anna Paola Pandolfi

Marcus Alexander Patalano Julie Geng Peng* Joshua Eric Pérez Kate Angelina Piacenza Nicholas Yue Ting Piccirillo Worthy B Rae Emma Rachel Rashes Gary Alexander Rasin* Andrew Jacob Rasnick Gianna Forlano Shin Josiah Benjamin Priest Siegel* Andrew Harrison Siff Matthew Samuel Siff* Sophie Adeline Smyke Matthew Frederick Solomont Georgina Iona Campbell Steel Lea Daer Steinberg Sofia Raquel Sulikowski* Harry Michael Theodore Kingsley Emenike Umemba Emma Catherine Gapud Voligny Claire Cramer Wagner Sophie May Wang Maximilian Sebastian Wiegand Justin Ryan Winschel Lucia Chase Winton* Nathaniel Byron Wolf Samantha Ariel Wong* Jeffrey Guangxi Yao* Tristan Robert Young Erica Qwenyu Yuen *cum laude

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American University Barry University Bentley University Bowling Green State University Bryn Mawr College Carleton College Carnegie Mellon University Case Western Reserve University Centre College Claremont McKenna College Clark University Clarkson University Clemson University Colgate University College of Charleston College of the Holy Cross College of William and Mary Columbia University Davidson College Denison University Dickinson College Drew University Drexel University Eckerd College Elon University Emmanuel College Emory University Fairfield University Flagler College Florida International University Fordham University Franklin & Marshall College George Mason University Georgia Institute of Technology Goucher College Harvey Mudd College Hofstra University Howard University Indiana University at Bloomington John Cabot University Johns Hopkins University Kalamazoo College

Kenyon College Lafayette College Long Island University, Brooklyn Loyola Marymount University Loyola University Maryland Lynn University Macalester College Manhattanville College Marymount Manhattan College Miami University, Oxford Michigan State University Monmouth University Mount Holyoke College Muhlenberg College Norwich University Nova Southeastern University Oberlin College of Arts and Sciences Occidental College Old Dominion University Pennsylvania State University Pitzer College Pomona College Quinnipiac University Regis College Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rhodes College Richmond, The American International University in London Salve Regina University Santa Clara University Sarah Lawrence College Scripps College Seattle University Seton Hall University Sewanee: The University of the South Simmons College Smith College Spelman College St. Andrews University St. John’s University - Manhattan Campus Suffolk University Syracuse University

Temple University The New School - All Divisions The University of Arizona The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of Texas, Austin The University of Texas, Dallas Trinity University Tulane University United States Air Force Academy University of California, Berkeley University of California, Davis University of California, Irvine University of California, Los Angeles University of California, Santa Barbara University of Connecticut University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University of Maryland, Baltimore County University of Massachusetts, Amherst University of Massachusetts, Boston University of New England University of New Hampshire at Durham University of New Haven University of North Carolina at Greensboro University of North Carolina at Wilmington University of Redlands University of Richmond University of San Diego University of San Francisco University of South Carolina University of Southampton University of Vermont University of Wisconsin, Madison University of York Vassar College Villanova University Wentworth Institute of Technology Wesleyan University Wheaton College MA Williams College Worcester Polytechnic Institute

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PRESENTING THE CL ASS OF 2017

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GRADUATION 2017

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GRADUATION 2017

PRIZES AWARDED Arts

THE ARTS DEPARTMENT PRIZE The Arts Department has chosen to recognize the following seniors who have challenged themselves and who have shared their passion for their chosen art form with the school community.

Guillermo Alvarez ’17 Bayard Alexander Eton ’17 Lukas Warren Kauth ’17 Sophie Adeline Smyke ’17 THE JOHN B. PETROPOULOS ART EXHIBITION commemorates a great teacher and friend. The following students were chosen to exhibit in this year’s Petropoulos show: Oakes Orlando Austin ’17 Olivia Grace Manganella ’17 Elizabeth Brooks Clapp ’17 Joseph Baruch Nissenbaum ’17 Isabella M. Collins ’18 Daniel Joseph Noenickx ’18 Abigail Zonalia Cozier ’17 Samuel Mason Olmsted ’17 Bayard Alexander Eton ’17 Julie Geng Peng ’17 Alexander Laurence Evenchik ’17 Emma Rachel Rashes ’17 Lukas Warren Kauth ’17 Sophie Adeline Smyke ’17 Natalie Lain Madden ’17 Emma Catherine Alexandra Martinez Massa ’17 Gapud Voligny ’17

THE DESIREE ROGERS KING FUND was created by Sherwood King in memory of his wife, a member of the Buckingham Class of 1936, who had a life-long interest in the arts. The income from the fund is to be awarded annually to a promising student of the arts at BB&N. This award may be applied to scholarship assistance, or to after-school or summer study in the arts.

Taylor Elijah Davis ’18

Athletics

given to that member of Grade 10 who has shown outstanding skill in debating.

Sophie Anela Collins Arroyo ’19

History

THE HISTORY/SOCIAL SCIENCE TEACHERS’ PRIZE is awarded annually to the senior who has demonstrated exemplary achievement, commitment, and potential in the study of history and social science.

Julie Geng Peng ’17 THE HISTORY PRIZE is given by the Class of 1959 at Buckingham for a specific piece of distinguished work in the field of history—in this case an outstanding American history research paper.

Julie Geng Peng ’17

Mathematics

THE HARRY DAVIS GAYLORD PRIZE is given in memory of the former mathematics teacher to a deserving senior for outstanding work in the field of mathematics.

Cassandra Jai-Lei Kane ’17 Aaron Sidney Kaufer ’17

Sciences

THE JEAN GORDON CAIRNIE CASTLES SCIENCE PRIZE was established in 1982 through a bequest from Mrs. Gordon C. Cairnie in honor of her daughter, Jean Gordon Cairnie Castles ’54, and is given to a graduating student who has demonstrated exceptional scientific ability in biological science.

Samantha Ariel Wong ’17

THE PATRICIA H. BIGGAR PRIZE is awarded to students who have achieved a standard of excellence in performance, spirit, and leadership by example throughout their athletic careers.

William John Hurley ’17 Kate Angelina Piacenza ’17

THE JOHN H. WALTERS SCIENCE PRIZE is named in memory of John H. (Doc) Walters, who taught science from 1949 through 1989, and is given in recognition of sustained enthusiasm and effort in physical science.

Alexander Laurence Evenchik ’17

THE CLASS OF 1933 ATHLETIC AWARD was established by the Class of 1933 and is awarded to the best all-around boy and girl athletes in the graduating class, faithful in practice, skillful in play and, winning or losing, true to the highest ideals of good sportsmanship.

Jeffrey Edward Costello ’17 Shannon Ashton Griffin ’17

THE NICHOLS PRIZE is given in memory of former Headmaster Edgar Hamilton Nichols to the girl and boy athletes in the upper classes who, throughout the year, attain the highest distinction jointly in scholarship and athletics.

Adam John Buchanan ’17 Maia Frances Noyes ’17 Eleanore Brown Fusco ’17

World Languages

THE SPANISH PRIZE is given to the student in the upper grades who excels in the Spanish language and who demonstrates interest and enthusiasm for Hispanic literature and culture.

Aaron Sidney Kaufer ’17

**** THE MARINA KEEGAN ’08 SUMMER FELLOWSHIP was established in the spring of 2012 by family, alumni/ae, faculty and friends to honor the memory of Marina Keegan, BB&N class of ’08.

In multiple arenas, Marina stood out as a kind, intelligent, invested young woman known for her quick wit and irrepressible energy.

This fellowship is awarded annually to one or more BB&N students pursuing projects focusing on either artistic pursuits or activist causes that reflect Marina’s spirit, talents and ideals.

Taylor Elijah Davis ’18 Sophia Katherine Scanlan ’18 John Emory Sabatini ’18

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THE CRAIG B. STONESTREET ’49 PRIZE was established in 1991 by family, friends, alumni/ae, and parents to honor the memory of BB&N’s respected alumnus, teacher, administrator and coach.

The prize is awarded to a student of the junior class in recognition of high scholarship, excellence in athletics, constructive influence within the School, and is to be used for travel or other personal enrichment of an educational nature.

Desmond Patrick O’Mahony ’18

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THE ARABIC PRIZE is presented to a student who has proven to be mutahamis/mutahamisa (intensely enthusiastic) for Arabic language and cultures.

Lukas Warren Kauth ’17 THE CHINESE PRIZE is given to the student who excels in the study of Chinese.

Gautam Mitra ’17

THE HELENE HERZOG FRENCH PRIZE PRIZE is funded by faculty and friends of the former French teacher, and is presented for excellence in French and for consistent commitment to the study of French and French civilization.

English Ari Eliezer Benkler ’17 Sofia Raquel Sulikowski ’17 THE GEORGE HENRY BROWNE ENGLISH PRIZE commemorates

one of our School’s founders. A friend of Robert Frost, whom he several times invited to speak at the School, Mr. Browne was a high- THE JAMES ARTHUR REEVES LATIN PRIZE is presented for excellence in translation and comprehension. ly esteemed English teacher, the writer of several books, and the Alexander Laurence Evenchik ’17 headmaster of Browne & Nichols from 1883 until 1928.

Andrew Kellogg-Peeler ’17 Vishnu Murale ’17 THE GEORGE DEPTULA RUSSIAN PRIZE is presented in honor of the founder of BB&N’s Russian program in 1956 and is given to a THE PAUL M. JACOBS PRIZE was established by Mrs. Emilie K. student who has distinguished him/herself by excellent academic Jacobs to honor the memory of her late husband, a former performance in the Russian language and who has demonstrated a Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Buckingham. The award is 30

continuous passion for Russia and its people.

Josiah Benjamin Priest Siegel ’17

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PICTURED x 1 x Arts Department Chair Laura Tangusso and Arts Department Awards recipients Sophie Smyke ’17, Guillermo Alvarez ’17, Bayard Eton ’17, and Lukas Kauth ’17 x 2 x World Languages Department Chair Cécile Roucher-Greenberg with Chinese Prize winner Gautam Mitra ’17. x 3 x Interim Director of Athletics Charles Richard with Nichols Prize winners Adam Buchanan ’17, Eleanore Fusco ’17, and Maia Noyes ’17 x 4 x Science Department Chair Rachel Riemer with John H. Walters Science Prize winner Alexander Evenchik ’17 31

GRADUATION 2017

PRIZES AWARDED Citizenship

THE PETER K. GUNNESS PRIZE, established by the Board of Trustees, honors the founding Head of the School. Peter K. Gunness came to Browne & Nichols as Headmaster in 1969. He worked with Elizabeth Stowe, Headmistress of the Buckingham School, to create BB&N in 1974. With this prize the Trustees honor him by honoring a student with high ethical standards, whose voice has made a significant difference in bringing important issues to the attention of our community.

Respected by all, and willing to work for the greater good, this smart, warm, and powerful young woman is not afraid to address difficult topics. She is an activist and humanitarian. Leading with courage and conscience, she has greatly enriched our community.

Eptisam Maftouh Kassim ’17 Inclusive, humble, kind, and empathetic, this award winner has been a voice and an advocate for those whose voices may not be heard.

At the helm of SHADES and as a Peer Counselor, he has worked to bring the School to a new place of awareness and understanding.

Matthew Monsalve ’17 THE BARRETT HOYT AWARD was established in 1972 in memory of a student and is awarded to a senior who acts responsibly and represents his or her classmates and the School with honor.

An artist, athlete, eco rep, musician, peer counselor, and classroom leader, this prizewinner is a role model whose integrity and kindness know no bounds. Compassionate, responsible, generous and resilient, his genuine kindness touches all. This fine young man serves, leads, and unites.

Bayard Alexander Eton ’17 This year’s recipient has served her community faithfully as a photographer, as a Peer Counselor, and as head of FemCo. Compassionate towards others and passionate about making a difference, she has been a powerful voice for social justice, a sympathetic listener, and a force for good in the school community.

Olivia Grace Manganella ’17 THE ANNETTE JOHNSON PRIZE honors the memory of a student whose life exemplified courage and commitment to scholarship.

The prize recognizes optimism, perseverance, and dedication to the community and its ideals.

With his great spirit and sense of fun, this young man has consistently put others before himself. Whether in Grade Council, class meeting, or on the Boston Marathon course, he has led his peers and the school community with compassion and integrity. Genuine, friendly, and caring, he has made BB&N a better place.

Lucas Alexander Fried ’17 Dedicated, persistent, and engaged, this prizewinner has demonstrated exceptional leadership in SHADES and the Asian Cultural Society and in the development of Community Day. A courageous young woman, she has broadened our community by sharing her experiences and beliefs with respect and integrity.

Emma Catherine Gapud Voligny ’17

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THE MERIWETHER OTIS KIMBALL PRIZE, established in memory of a long-ago Browne & Nichols student, honors a senior who has used his or her talents to enrich the intellectual and extracurricular life of the School.

to make a difference. As a classmate, peer counselor and team member, she has fully embraced BB&N as her school, always brightening everyone’s day with her positive spirit and cheer.

Olivia Ema O’Regan ’17

Thoughtful, sincere and kind, this recipient has contributed to school life in powerful and meaningful ways. Modest about his own many personal achievements, he always helps others find the best in themselves. The embodiment of BB&N’s motto of honor, scholarship and kindness, he provides an inspiring model for how best to live a full and rewarding school life.

Jacob Adam Licht ’17

THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN PRIZE was established by George Deptula, a former member of the faculty, to recognize strength of character, sensitivity to the needs of others, and willingness to use her or his education, talent, and time to assist those in need.

Thoroughly committed to her studies and highly supportive of her peers, this prizewinner has contributed in myriad ways in the classroom and beyond. Whether in the library or the admission office or a Spectator meeting, she has made a difference in the community in her mature, grounded, gracious, and kind way.

Rose Silka Meier ’17 THE LUBETS PRIZE was established by Richard I. Lubets, Browne & Nichols class of ’51, in memory of his parents, to honor a student who has made an outstanding contribution during her or his senior year.

Conscientious, levelheaded, and strong, this young woman has challenged herself in and out of the classroom and has given her time and steadfast empathy to many areas of school life. She has contributed her spirit and energy to the larger community as School Co-President, soccer captain, and dedicated Best Buddies volunteer.

Mary Elizabeth DeVellis ’17 At assembly, on the stage, or in the classroom, this award winner has worked to help all students have a voice and to find their niche in the school community. He is involved not for recognition but for the genuine desire to see his community grow stronger. Funny, dedicated, unassuming, and genuine, he has given much to BB&N. Charles Edward Heveran ’17 THE DAVID R. POKROSS PRIZE was established by the Pokross children and grandchildren to honor their father and grandfather, a former trustee at Buckingham Browne & Nichols. It is awarded to the student whose commitment to people in need best embodies the ideals expressed in the Community Service Program of the Upper School.

Since the tenth grade, this quiet, dedicated leader has headed the School’s community service program. Whether leading the Jewish Cultural Club, organizing the class’s social events, or managing a food drive, she has demonstrated hard work, thoughtfulness, and integrity in all her efforts.

Emma Rachel Rashes ’17 THE APRIL TERUEL PRIZE, given in memory of a former student, is awarded this year to a senior who is kind and understanding to his or her peers and has been an active participant in the life of the School.

Praised for her leadership and work ethic in academic and athletic pursuits, this young woman is always smiling and ready to get involved

This prizewinner is kind, empathetic and selfless. Junior Guide, peer counselor, and team player, he has spent his years here leading, helping, and working with others to build a positive, spirited community. Whether on the field or cheering on the sidelines for one of our teams, he brings maturity, humor, and support to the school community.

James O’Mara Lamphier ’17

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This year’s recipient consistently puts the needs of others before her own and leads with honesty and strength. Whether she is helping out in the library, managing or directing players on the stage, implementing the goals of the Peer Counselors, or assisting refugees in Calais, she works behind the scenes to make our community and our world a better place.

Sophie Adeline Smyke ’17 THE HEAD’S PRIZE is awarded to those students in the graduating class who, in addition to fine scholarship, have contributed generously to friends, the school community, and whose lives exemplify the School’s motto: Honor, Scholarship, Kindness.

This year’s winner combines a rigorous intellect with an open heart, genuine warmth, and generous good humor. His wit embodies the best of BB&N: incisive, inclusive, questioning, confident. In myriad activities, in and out of the classroom, his quiet, commanding leadership and his passionate commitment to working to get things done have enriched our community.

Andrew Woodruff Kellogg-Peeler ’17

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A superb scholar and a fine athlete, a caring and supportive peer counselor, and a leader in social service, this young woman embodies excellence, wisdom, and kindness. In the classroom, on the river, or in concert, treating all with kindness and a smile, she has enhanced every aspect of the school community.

Samantha Ariel Wong ’17

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PICTURED x 5 x Grade 9 Dean David Strodel presents The April Teruel Prize to Olivia O’Regan ’17 x 6 x Head of School Rebecca T. Upham and Head’s Prize winners Andrew Kellogg-Peeler ’17 and Samantha Wong ’17 x 7 x Director of Multicultural Services Lewis Bryant and Peter K. Gunness Prize recipients Matthew Monsalve ’17 and Eptisam Kassim ’17

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SENIOR SPRING PROJECT RUNS THE GAMUT

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ach year as the weather warms, BB&N seniors begin the unique and rewarding experience that is Senior Spring Project. The trimester-long curriculum piece allows students the chance to explore interesting opportunities they missed out on during their high school careers.

This year's projects ran the gamut from international community service (Ellie Clapp ’17), to joining the faculty ranks to teach an advanced math course to other students (Aaron Kaufer ’17), to earning essential skills for living that can slip through the cracks during a rigorous academic schedule (see the 36 seniors who enrolled in “Life Skills.”)

And then there’s Bayard Eton ’17, who took it upon himself to spend part of his Senior Spring writing individual letters to each member of his class, thanking them for making his BB&N journey so rewarding. While not an “official” Spring Project, Eton’s reflections on the facing page drill to the core of what it means to call one’s self a BB&N graduate. Through his words, and the stories of other seniors over the following pages, join us to drill deeper still into the talented class of 2017.

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Reflections

By Bayard Eton ’17

Something that I think I’ve done really well in these past few months is make people cry. It was never my goal to have classmates and teachers shed tears after reading a letter I wrote or saying goodbye, but it’s just a testament to how tightly knit and loving our class is. In football this year, we won the ISL championship and the Ken O’Keefe Bowl Game. This was my first “goodbye” of the year, as I had to leave a team, a brotherhood, in my rearview mirror. I wasn’t the biggest kid on the team, nor was I the most athletic, strongest, or anything of that sort. I barely even played. Being on that team, though, was still a major building block for turning me into who I am today. The camaraderie, the fact that we all had each other’s backs no matter what, the fact that we battled together day in and day out, inspired me to write the ten other seniors on the team a letter thanking them for what they did for me.

After I finished those, I realized something. This class, this group of 127 seniors, is one of the most special groups of people that I’ve ever met. I’ve always said that I consider myself extremely lucky to be able to be a part of such an incredible class. We try all the time through speeches, essays, conversations, to show people that are outside of this class what it feels like to be a member of such an incredible group, but it just doesn’t work. What inspired me to write a letter to the rest of my class was just that. The people around me throughout my seven years at BB&N have stunned me with their incredibly genuine kindness,

FOR 2017’S TALENTED CLASS

respect for others, ability to have fun, and success in whatever they do. It was not an act of kindness on my part, simply observation. And people should not be talking about the fact that I wrote them, but instead what was in the letters. The craziest part is that everyone had done something in the past seven years that I remembered because of how respectable or kind it was.

Every single person in the class of 2017 has done something spectacular, and I simply noticed it and thought it should be recognized somehow.

My time at BB&N has been nothing short of life-changing. That phrase has been so overused that it’s turned into a cliché and has lost its meaning.

But my time here really has changed my life. Starting in 6th grade, I was a chubby kid, I had zero confidence, and I had lost hope that there were good people in this world. I hadn’t had the best experience at my previous schools, and I would have never dreamed that I would ever be proud of who I am. But thanks to my teachers, my coaches, the faculty and staff, and most importantly, my classmates and my friends, I can say that I am proud of the man that BB&N has helped me build. Whether it was Coach Willey and Coach Bunton respecting me as much as they respected the D1 athletes, or Ms. Payne pushing me to do things I was afraid to do, or Coach Kaeghan Kelly telling me to apply to be a Peer Counselor, or Mr. Neuman and Ms. Vollmann showing me how to really help people, or Mr. Tonsgard becoming one of my closest friends through our Ceramics class, or something that another teacher did for me over the years, they’ve all changed my life.

Looking towards the future and my years in college and beyond, everything that I’ve learned from BB&N will be incredibly valuable. No, maybe not learning about thermodynamics, but learning how to learn, learning how to make friends, learning why people do the things they do, or, most importantly, learning that there are good people in this world. Living in today’s world, the

Buckingham Browne & Nichols Class of 2017 is a refreshing sight. Ms. Upham said it best in her speech at graduation: if we keep being good people, and if we keep spreading this to where we go in the future, the world just might become a slightly better place.

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Aaron Kaufer, ’17, drops his backpack and slouches into a chair in math teacher Chip Rollinson’s classroom one day after school. Behind him, a whiteboard is filled with a fairly insane-looking algebraic equation—college-level material for all but the most gifted of high school students.

Did Mr. Rollinson teach that in class today, you ask?

“Actually,” Kaufer says, “that’s my equation. Number Theory.

I taught it.”

He flashes a smile, but not in jest. Kaufer really did teach the class, his third that week, and 13th of the semester, possibly becoming the first BB&N student ever to join the faculty as his Senior Spring Project.

Technically, of course, Kaufer was still a student this spring, taking Spanish, computer science, and the like. But his math lessons were anything but average.

Aaron Kaufer:

A dva n c e d Problem Child

by Peter DeMarco

Having consumed all the math BB&N could offer him by the time he was a junior, Kaufer enrolled in Harvard Extension School, where he got an A in the mid-level college course “Linear Algebra and Real Analysis I.” He also spent his senior year meeting weekly with an MIT graduate student in an effort to write a complex mathematical proof, which Kaufer presented to a college auditorium filled with math enthusiasts in May. He might even publish his calculations, which, at last check, were 23-pages long.

Then there was Kaufer’s own lecture class, called Number Theory, the one he created and taught to as many as 10 fellow BB&N math whizzes each week, spending hours on lesson plans and typing detailed handouts. You know, as any 18-year-old professor would.

“Kaufer’s a math god,” explains Vishnu Murale, a fellow senior who took Kaufer’s elective, pass/fail class. “He’s just so natural when he’s up there teaching. Of course he’s your friend, so you want to listen. But he has a great presence.

You never find yourself drifting off—he’s very eloquent.

“If he could teach my college classes,” adds Murale, who, like Kaufer, also skipped ahead two levels in math, “I’d be very happy.”

That Kaufer, who will attend Stanford University, would grow up to become very, very, very good at math was no surprise.

At age 4, he wowed his babysitter by counting to 100. By third grade, he was tackling algebra.

His interest in subjects such as Gaussian integers, commutative properties, and “superalgebra” seems to have no bounds. He and Murale text each other, with fanboy zeal, about complex math quandaries. Throughout the school year, it was common to see Kaufer sidled up to a student in the library, explaining, with verve, a new math discovery.

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“He’s one of those guys who makes you passionate because he’s so passionate,” says Murale.

Indeed, give Kaufer an opening to explain a challenging math concept, and there’s almost no stopping him. “Provocative, eh?” he concludes, a triumphant eyebrow raised.

The past two years, Kaufer wrote a column for BB&N’s Vanguard student newspaper under the heading, “Numbers Ninja.” In each issue, he delved into a mathematical theory, using humor and conversational prose far more understandable, one might argue, than what’s found in some textbooks.

“Kids can be like, ‘Yeah, I learned that.’ But you ask Aaron something, and he knows it backwards and forwards,” says Rollinson, math department chair, and Kaufer’s academic advisor.

Normally, elite high school students who participate in MIT’s “PRIMES” math program, whose entrance exam is a nightmarish problem set that takes days to complete, spend the last few months of their senior year working on a mathematical proof. Kaufer showed such proficiency that he started his proof work as a junior, ramping up his efforts to about four hours a day last summer.

“I was a camp counselor. Ten-year-old boys go to bed about 8:30, so I’d work on PRIMES until I fell asleep,” he says.

His parents—Lisa, a nurse practitioner, and Steve, a corporate executive—bought him a giant whiteboard for his Newton bedroom, which Kaufer would fill up nightly with equations. Of course, the deeper he got into his MIT proof set—his goal was to discover whether common rules of algebra still hold true when applied to a few, particular sets of what are known as “d-algebras”—the harder it got.

He’d spend about 20 minutes writing the next line of his equation, then the next hour “staring at the whiteboard,” trying to figure out his next move.

“Honestly,” he says, regarding his ability to concentrate in excess of 100 hours on a single question, “I just really want to know the answer.”

Such insatiable curiosity will serve Kaufer no matter what he pursues, says Rollinson, who adds that won’t necessarily be math. Kaufer has loved his senior writing project (he interviewed a fortune teller), took both Spanish and Chinese, was class president for a year, won BB&N’s Scrabble club competition, and excelled on the debate club.

He and junior Elisa Tabor, an extremely gifted math student herself, are also an item.

Though they don’t bring up math on date nights, Kaufer swears.

“No,” he chuckles. “Only when we’re hanging out.” b

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Ellie Clapp’s hands were bleeding, covered in cuts and scrapes from handling planks of raw wood. But having spent weeks in a strange land willing herself through one difficult situation after another, the BB&N senior was not about to ask the men of the village, who chuckled when she asked to join their construction crew, for a pair of work gloves.

“I took woodworking at BB&N,” Clapp recalled. “They were giving me a hard time. I had to prove them wrong.”

That Clapp did: by the end of a long day, thanks in large part to her efforts, the village’s thrift shop finally had walls of shelving for organizing clothing donations—donations that had been just piled on the floor for a year.

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ELLIE CLAPP: I n t e r n at i o n a l A i d, T h e S e l f - Ta u g h t Way

by Peter DeMarco

Tests of will weren’t exactly what Clapp had in mind when she signed up for Projects Abroad’s “Refugee Aid Project” of Camini, Italy as her Senior Spring Project. Clapp wanted to make a difference in the lives of Syrian refugees resettled in small towns along Italy’s famous boot, having learned of their plight during last fall’s election coverage. For the most part, Clapp assumed she’d be put to work teaching children, introducing refugee women to Western ways, or helping out in a community center.

The majority of the refugees she met, however, spoke no English. (And she, no Italian or Arabic.) Their children, lacking stability in their lives, were quick to lash out: when Clapp tried to instill order, they sometimes spit in her face.

Volunteers from the village, native Italians, didn’t necessarily have the training or skills needed to help newcomers assimilate. Aside from a fellow American 18-year-old named Emma Hagle, Clapp was the only foreign volunteer in her remote village of about 300 people, half of whom were refugees of either African or Middle-Eastern descent.

“We tried telling the staff at the project that we needed someone there who spoke Italian, and they were like, “Oh, you’re fine. You’re fine,’” Clapp remembers, one of her first clues as to how tough volunteering abroad would be. “The parents were also very hands off. They wouldn’t pick up their kids from the daycare. We’d walk around at 9 p.m. at night and we’d see the kids in the street.

“It was very frustrating and sad. Your instinct is, ‘Oh, these kids are so badly behaved.’ But think about what they’ve been through. And they’re like five years old.”

Clapp and Hagle, lacking instructions, had to decide on their own how to make a difference in the village, a remote, hillside town in Italy’s boot with just one passable road and a communal public well for drinking water.

Their first move was to commandeer a village pony named Bella. Clapp had worked at a horse camp before, so she

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and Hagle gave riding lessons to refugee children who had special learning needs. In the afternoons, they led their own arts and crafts sessions, drumming up interest by posting notices at the village school.

“There wasn’t much to do in the town, so the kids would get super excited,” Clapp said. “Sometimes there were like 50 kids who would come. We invited local kids as well. Part of what we were doing was lessening the divide between local kids and the refugees.”

They focused on small victories. Teaching a child to put his play dough away, instead of throwing it on the ground and running off. Gaining the confidence to tell village leaders they should spend more of their state-allotted funding on refugee homes, as opposed to things like the village school or soccer field. Building shelves for the thrift store.

“When we first arrived they were giving us a tour of the place and saying things like, ‘Yep, here are the donations.’ Nobody thought it was weird that nothing was being done,” Clapp said. “We sorted through all the clothes and did it by gender and age, so…that all the kids I worked with, and all the adults I worked with, can all go in when they need a winter coat or (anything else).”

Clapp has no idea how the refugees of Camini will fare.

While they’ve been provided their own homes—making them far better off than those refugees in settlement camps—jobs in the village are scarce, no one can afford a car, and there’s little training or education to help adults advance.

Clapp, who will attend Notre Dame to study biology, left Italy wanting to have done more. A month, she said, is so little time to be an international aid worker—just long enough to start making bonds, but not long enough to maintain them. She intends to volunteer again, either in Italy, or elsewhere where people are in need.

At the same time, Clapp did connect with the people she met: two sweet little girls from Africa named Blessing and Precious Marvelous Bobbi; a few refugees who spoke English who invited her to their homes for hot chocolate; and yes, the village carpenters.

By establishing programs for children, and by really systematizing their local volunteer office, she and Hagle laid groundwork for dozens of other student volunteers to follow them to Camini.

“Leaving, I was really proud of what I’d done. Other volunteers…now they can run the thrift shop,” Clapp said. “We organized all these different things for when other volunteers come. Eventually it will make a huge change.”

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LIFE SKILLS 101: S E N I O R S A P P LY L E A R N I N G T O T H E E V E RY DAY

Upper School English Teacher Alda Farlow tells a funny story about a former student of hers. While driving home one afternoon, this alumna and her father noticed that their car was listing to one side and making a strange noise. The culprit? A flat tire. Chagrined, the father pulled out his triple A card to call for help, but before he could dial the number, his daughter calmly pulled his hand from the phone. “Don’t worry, Dad. I got this. I took Life Skills.” Then, stepping from the car, she promptly jacked up one side, and together they loosened the lug nuts and changed the tire.

Of the many proud teaching moments in her career, Farlow really enjoys this one, as it was a direct result of the auto maintenance section of “Life Skills,” the Senior Spring Project course she co-teaches and conceptualized with Upper School Science Teacher and Football Coach, Mike Willey.

“Changing a tire isn’t a huge deal,” Farlow admits. “But having a basic understanding of some of the common problems you’ll confront in life can go a long way. It seems like most students don’t know about anything outside of simply being a student… that’s a generalization, but there is truth in it.”

The idea for the course originated three years ago when Willey and Farlow were joking with an advisee of Farlow’s. “This student was a bright, lovely human being,” Farlow says, but one who seemed to live in a slightly different version of reality.

“Mike and I were telling him jokingly, ‘we’re worried about you next year on your own!’ And he shot back, ‘Well then, teach

by Andrew Fletcher

“When we talk about simple things,” says Farlow. “Like how to do laundry, how to set up a basic kitchen for your first apartment, how to balance a checkbook/online bank account, or what to do when the electricity goes out…the students always ask, ‘how was I supposed to learn this?’ Being an adult, no one is going to pick up after you or get your car fixed for you—it’s a realization that hits the students hard, and we think these are valuable conversations to have that they aren’t necessarily having.”

me about life.’ Mike and I looked at each other and said, ‘Done.’”

That spring, Farlow and Willey created the Life Skills course for seniors, a comprehensive guide to surviving in a postBB&N world through seven installments: Car Maintenance, Financial Know-How, Etiquette and Networking, Emergency Preparedness, Home Maintenance/Cleanliness, Applying/ Interviewing for a Job, and Cooking 101. The first, year ten seniors enrolled. This year, their class boasted 36 students.

And then there’s the ever-increasing cultural norm of looking to the smart phone as the answer to all of life’s questions. To that end, the course is a lesson in accountability and selfsufficiency.

The two teachers have numerous stories of students who returned to inform them of instances when the course paid dividends. One student was able to impress on a date by using the forks in the correct order, another aced a job interview, and one alum even stopped by Willey’s office to excitedly announce that he had opened a savings account.

“As teachers, we work really hard to give students the tools to take our concepts in class and apply them for themselves. They learn the material, but they also learn how to learn,” Willey says. “I think that certainly happens in an academic setting, but this course takes that same mindset and applies it to other places in their life.”

“The budgeting class always blows the kids away,” laughs Willey. “When we illustrate the cost of living, how you need to plan, you can almost hear their jaws hit the floor.”

Watching Willey frame up a wall and wire an outlet and light switch in front of his students is a lesson in that concept.

Initially, terrified squeals go up when he fires on the circular saw, and some students struggle with simply nailing in a two by four straight. But by the end, the students are coaching each other on where to drill a hole for the wiring, and how to make certain the wall is square.

“I would have been bankrupt within a year out of college” jokes senior Jacob Ayyub when asked about the most useful thing he learned.

It’s a bit of a case of everything old is new again. Home economics and shop classes used to be a norm in the educational system, but those disciplines have shifted further to the back burner, typically offered as elective courses, if at all.

“I don’t expect anyone to build a house,” Willey notes. “But at least they know enough to pull together a decent tool belt,

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and have the basic things they need to maintain a house or apartment. We’re giving them the agency to solve everyday problems by themselves.”

Farlow and Willey pull in other faculty and staff members to cover areas they are not expert in. For example, Science Teacher Melissa Courtmanche is an etiquette expert, who teaches thank-you note practices, handshakes, appropriate greetings and condolences, how to dress for different occasions, and even conversation starters to help negotiate “the adult world” students will soon be navigating.

Upper School Facilities Manager Brian Sands teaches the emergency preparedness section. Drawing off of his military experience and knowledge as a survival specialist, Sands helps students understand how to survive and wayfind if lost in the wilderness, how to create an emergency kit for all occasions, and how to manage survival scenarios such as power outages or natural disasters.

The value and popularity of the class has led to discussions of broadening it to a seminar-type course, mandatory for all seniors. But for now, Farlow and Willey are just happy that they have been able to help so many students feel more confident as they leave BB&N. “My favorite part of Life Skills is just watching that moment when the kids figure something out that they hadn’t even considered they could,” Farlow muses. “And these are typically simple things, but they can make a big difference later on.”

1. Jacob Ayyub ’17 pounds a nail home during the home maintenance section of the Life Skills course while teacher Mike Willey looks on.

2. Upper School English Teacher Alda Farlow provides a rudimentary overview of cooking for outgoing seniors.

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Advancing Our Mission

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100% Senior Class Participation—and Dunk Tank!

Continuing a 21-year senior class gift tradition, the BB&N Senior Class Ambassador Committee and the Class of 2017 raised $2093.84 and achieved 100% participation this year. The class voted to designate its gift in support of financial aid. Throughout the year Senior Ambassadors educated their peers about the BB&N Fund, the Alumni/ae Programs Office, and the impact of the Senior Class Gift. Educational resources included a Kahoot interactive online quiz at a senior class meeting, a “100 Knights Until Graduation” celebration, a Senior Class Gift video highlighting student perspectives on the BB&N Fund’s active impact on different areas of campus, and more. The hard work of the Senior Ambassadors meant that the Senior Class Gift became more than just a gift. It symbolized the inclusive, thoughtful generosity of spirit of the entire class.

Parents of the Class of 2017 Raise Record-Setting $1.14 million!

For more than 25 years, the BB&N Senior Parents’ Gift program—an opportunity for senior parents to celebrate their children’s BB&N experiences—has inspired meaningful support for the School’s highest priorities.

This year, the 2017 Senior Parents’ Gift Committee enthusiastically endorsed financial aid and global education as the designations of its class gift, resulting in the establishment of two funds: The Class of 2017 Financial Aid Fund and the Class of 2017 Global Education Fund.

The Class of 2017 Financial Aid Fund will provide both tuition and supplemental aid for BB&N’s financial aid program; and the Class of 2017 Global Education Program Fund will help launch an emerging initiative that will enhance the global breadth and depth of our curriculum across all three campuses. Thank you to the parents of the Class of 2017!

This year the seniors had an extra incentive to achieve 100% participation. Senior Grade team member and Academic Coordinator Ross Clark and Dean of Students Rory Morton ’81 volunteered for a potential dunking if, and only if, the entire senior class hit the 100% mark. Inspired by such a tempting offer the senior class pulled together and met its participation goal. On May 26, 2017 the class all gathered in the Upper School courtyard to watch Mr. Clark and Mr. Morton experience the accurate aim of the seniors and the fate of the dunk tank!

97% of Sixth Grade Families Raise $62,330 to Establish the Shera Selzer Lower School Faculty Innovation Fund Through their Sixth Grade Gift, parents of the Class of 2023 honored Lower School Director Shera Selzer upon her retirement from BB&N following an esteemed 14-year career as a Beginner and Kindergarten teacher and administrator, culminating in her service as Lower School Director.

Throughout her time at BB&N, Shera had a deep commitment to her students and to the personal and professional growth of Lower School faculty and staff. She was also a passionate supporter of a diverse program in the visual and performing arts.

To provide a lasting legacy that honors Shera’s dedication to BB&N, the Class of 2023 Sixth Grade Gift established the Shera Selzer Lower School Faculty Innovation Fund. This fund will provide resources for one or more grants to Lower School faculty. The Selzer Innovation Grants will be used to encourage faculty and staff to develop new initiatives that sustain the spirit of Shera’s passions and priorities.

Examples include programs that encourage innovative approaches to teaching, inspire student creativity, enhance integrated arts education, or promote meaningful collaboration among teachers in pursuit of these goals.

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Parents of the Class of 2023, thank you for celebrating Shera’s legacy in such a meaningful way!

PICTURED x 1 x Academic Coordinator Ross Clark pays up on his promise to brave the dunk tank. x 2 x 2023 Sixth Grade Parents’ Gift Co-Chairs Jess Baron ’93 and Pam Baker with Shera Selzer

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2023 Sixth Grade Parents’ Gift Committee Co-Chairs: Pam Baker P’23,’25,’28 Jess Baron ’93, P’23,’25,’28

Members: Angela Allen P’23 Christina Cohen P’18,’23 Rose Cornet-Mathieu P’20,’23 Janet Costello Worthington ’93, P’21,’23 Karen Fabbri P’21,’23 Domenica Karavitaki P’23 Ping Lee P’23 Michelle Lev P’23 Marjorie Lichtenberger P’17,’19,’21,’23 Christine Markarian P’23 Corinne Noyes P’17,’20,’23 Preeti Patel P’23,’25 Allison Wade P’15,’23

2017 Senior Parents’ Gift Committee

2016-2017 BB&N Fund Highlights:

More than Co-Chairs: John and Diane Chapman P’17 alumni/ae, current and past parents, Charlie and Betsey Gifford P’17,’19 grandparents, faculty, staff, and Freddie and Nikki Jacobs P’15,’17 friends supported the 2016-2017

BB&N Fund.

Members: Yuriko Anton P’14,’14,’17 Classes in the 2s and 7s, celebrating Ian Arnof and Sunshine Greene P’17 their reunions this year, raised more Todd and Melissa Boudreau P’17,’19 than Paula Buchanan P’17 Dom Capossela P’85,’87,’17 Joan Cromwell P’11,’14,’17 in support of The BB&N Fund.

Jim DeVellis ’84, P’15,’17,’19 Karen Eton P’14,’17 The Class of 1997 celebrated its John and Susan Flahive P’12,’17 20th Reunion by surpassing their Willy and Gina Foote P’17,’22,’25 15th Reunion participation record Dan and Diana Goldman P’12,’13,’17 with Mehra Golshan and Parisa Lotfi P’17,’19 Joe and Laura Impemba P’17,’20 participation in The BB&N Fund Jeff Nadherny P’14,’17 this year.

Ofer and Shelly Nemirovsky P’16,’17 JK Nicholas ’85 and Virginia Shannon P’17,’19 More than Ken and Vicky O’Regan P’16,’17 Randy Peeler and Kate Kellogg P’15,’17 engaged parent and alumni/ae Amy Rae P’17 volunteers worked on behalf of Robert Rae P’17 The BB&N Fund.

Torsten and Beebe Wiegand P’17,’20,’25 Nick and Tricia Winton P’13,’15,’17,’21

1,850

$100,000

46% 90

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6 Things About BB&N:

Our Faculty Recommend Some Summer Reading

[4] Chuck Richard, Interim Director of Athletics: Moondust, by Andrew Smitha I was always a space geek growing up, and this book was recommended to me by my neighbor, Al Sacco, an actual astronaut who went up in the space shuttle. The book spans from 1969-1972 and describes the Apollo lunar missions, specifically the 12 men involved, and their journey to the moon. A great read!

[1] ) Kathy Dorkin, Former Middle School Math Teacher and Faculty Emerita: Redeployment, by Phil Klay In these days of, at the very best, uncertainty, it is helpful to be reminded that there is much good in the lives we live. The quote on the back cover from Steven Pinker sort of says it all: “A delightful and fascinating book that will make you think twice and cheer up.”

[2] David Strodel ’78, Upper School Science Teacher and Grade 9 Dean: London: The Biography, by Peter Ackroyd Having spent four days in London this March at museums, a concert, in parks on the Thames, and dining in a few pubs, I needed a way to keep learning about this amazing city. This book has filled the bill. With added chapters written about the terrorist attacks since we were there, it’s a historical account with a very present life of its own.

[3] Louisa Connaughton, Grade Five Homeroom Teacher: Truly, Madly, Guilty; The Husband’s Secret; Big Little Lies; and What Alice Forgot, by Liane Moriarty I have always been an author devotee—if I read and like one book, I’ll aim to read them all. This summer’s author is Liane Moriarty. Moriatry’s books certainly follow a formula, but that makes them comfortable and familiar, and therefore great bedtime reads; I know what I am looking forward to each night and they’re exciting enough to keep me awake for a chapter or two.

[5] Stephanie Moon, Middle School Art Teacher: The Thing Around Your Neck, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie To celebrate the end of the school year, I treated myself to The Thing Around Your Neck. It’s a perfect read because, like The Interpreter of Maladies, it’s a collection of short stories about life in-between cultures, and each story is deep and gripping (and short!)—hard to put down.

BUCKINGHAM ALUMNAE TIES REMAIN STRONG For nearly 130 years, the Buckingham School legacy has provided a strong foundation for the BB&N of today, helping to shape its commitment to academic excellence and launching many traditions that continue to this day.

Alumnae who attended Buckingham prior to the merger with Browne & Nichols in 1974 remain an important part of the BB&N family and have been loyal and committed donors and volunteers, lending their support to the School’s annual, capital, and planned giving programs. Three Buckingham alumnae who have remained deeply connected to BB&N over the years and who have included the School in their estate plans share their reflections on why they have chosen to make this lasting commitment.

NANCY HOADLEY FRYBERGER ’54: “BB&N is blessed with forward-thinking leadership—whether it is focused on academics, social and personal responsibility, or awareness of an individual’s impact on others and the world. These are challenging times, and we must adapt as well as remain true to our values.

“The faculty and staff were, and are, strong supporters of the students—proud of their achievements and aware of their challenges.

Their commitment to the formation of future generations of well-prepared citizens, and our support as beneficiaries of this exciting educational environment—which was also a lot of fun—will help ensure the School’s existence for years to come.”

NANCY MORSE TORTI ’60: “BB&N is a member of my family. The Lower School was in my neighborhood and very much a part of my life, as it still is today. I am grateful to the School for who I am today.

“BB&N trains leaders for tomorrow to advance and reform both their communities and our world. The School's emphasis on scholarship, financial aid, and diversity is crucial to the education of young people. The core of the School is about shaping future leaders, and creating a culturally enriching environment that represents the world around us. I hope that my support will help to ensure the School's continuation of this important mission.”

PAMELA HARDEE JACKSON ’62: “As for so many fellow alumnae, Buckingham was absolutely integral to my education and development as an individual. I am forever grateful for the teaching, forward-looking curriculum, and commitment of the faculty to all their students.

[6] Andrew Fletcher, Associate Director of Communications: The Long Goodbye, by Raymond Chandler If you could script the perfect detective novel, this might be it. With all due respect to Dashiell Hammett and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, this is the book that turned pulp into literature; writing muscle meets addictive dialogue, action, plot twists, and character study.

Once opened, it dares anyone to set it down.

“I chose to join The Almy Society by making a testamentary gift to the School to ensure, in a small way, that the legacy of the faculty from my era can be sustained in the next generation of students and faculty at BB&N. We are all fortunate to call ourselves Buckingham alumnae.”

For more information about BB&N’s Gift Planning Program and membership in The Almy Society (recognizing those who have made provisions for BB&N in their estate plans), visit giftplanning.bbns.org/almy or contact Janet Rosen at jrosen@bbns.org or 617-800-2729.

Pictured Above: Nancy Hoadley Fryberger ’54, Pamela Hardee Jackson ’62, and Nancy Morse Torti ’60 at the Buckingham Tea, held at the Middle School campus on March 8, 2017

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

THE BB&N FUND Funds

Academic Excellence Collaborations in Cambridge and beyond Extraordinary Faculty at BB&N The BB&N Fund would like to thank the more than 1,850 donors and more than 130 volunteers who supported BB&N in 2016-2017.

Your participation as a BB&N Fund donor not only supports a critical 7% of the annual budget, but also fosters an educational journey like no other school.

Thank you for making this possible!

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