Winter/Spring 2023 BB&N Bulletin

Letter From the Head

Head of School Dr. Jennifer Price shares highlights from her State of the School presentation and other important developments at BB&N

Community News

MLK Brunch, MS Faith Traditions Study, US Community Day, Sports Wrap-Up, Arts Wrap-Up, and more

Features

BB&N Cuts the Ribbon on Grove Street Athletic Campus

Highlighting the grand opening of the school’s newest campus.

Margaret Low ’76 Returns

Home to WBUR

A journey in journalism brings class of 1976 alumna back to Boston as CEO of one of the nation’s largest public radio stations.

Spanning Borders Through Art

Middle School ceramics teacher Sasha Bergmann’s collaboration with a Tanzanian school yields beautiful art and meaningful connections.

Former Faculty Profile:

Rob Leith

Advancing Our Mission

BB&N Welcomes Mike O’Brien as Director of Development, The BB&N Fund, Class of 2023 Senior Parents’ Gift, Parents Share Gratitude for Faculty and Staff

Alumni/ae News & Notes

Alumni/ae News and Notes

Special Events Recap Section

Milestones

Director of Communications

Joe Clifford, Editor

Associate Director of Communications

Andrew Fletcher, Senior Editor

Contributing Writers

Morgan Baker ’76

Whitney Dayton Brunet

Joe Clifford

Andrew Fletcher

Roger Fussa

Hannah Garcia

Sharon Krauss

Dr. Jennifer Price

Esme Rabin

Janet Rosen

Al Rossiter (faculty emeritus)

Contributing Editors

Janet Rosen

Brianna Smith ’10

Alumni/ae News & Notes

Brianna Smith ’10

Design & Production

Nanci Booth www.nancibooth.com 781-301-1733

Photography/Artwork/Design

Lisa Abitbol

Andrew Fletcher

Hannah Garcia

Amie Margolis Haddad

Eric Nordberg ’88

Ric Pontes

Shawn Read

Adam Richins

Josh Touster

Board of Trustees, 2022-2023

Officers

Charles A. Brizius, Chair

Jason Hafler ’00, Vice Chair

Pam Baker, Vice Chair/Secretary

Jimmy Berylson ’00, Vice Chair/ Treasurer

Members

Jake Anderson-Bialis ’98

Eliza Appleton ’09

Carmen Arce-Bowen

Jennifer Winn Aronson ’92

Tamara Ashford ‘86

Abby Fung Band

Alexi Conine

David Deming

Alexis Boyle Egan ’93

Alexandra Epee-Bounya

Leslie Ahlstrand Fitzgerald ’08

Christine Gross-Loh

Rachel Kroner Hanselman ’89

Lionel Harris

Jeff Hawkins

Freddie Jacobs

Joelinda Coichy Johnson ‘07

Young Lee

Marjorie Lichtenberger

Tristin Mannion

JK Nicholas ’85

Shep Perkins

Leslie Riedel

Amy Selinger

Ila Shah

Gillien Todd

Darin Vest ’86

Adam Zalisk ’03

Head of School

Dr. Jennifer Price

Front cover:

BB&N’s new Grove Street Athletic Campus

(photo courtesy of Activitas Inc.)

Letter from Head of School Jennifer Price

I’ve come to realize that a head of school can sometimes learn the most interesting things about our BB&N community not from an office, or at a board meeting, or a senior leadership retreat, but rather while dressed head-to-toe as Bucky, our mascot. Several weeks ago, our Trivia Club members traveled to the WGBH studios in Brighton to compete in the statewide High School Quiz Show and I accompanied them incognito. Seeing the way our students competed—passionately and proudly for sure, but also with an unmistakable sense of excitement and joy at being engaged in this enterprise with each other—it struck me that this day encapsulated the mindset and attitude of our entire community this school year. Post-pandemic, BB&N has its familiar zip back in its step. And I’m thrilled to be along for the ride

In early March, I delivered my annual State of the School presentation to the BB&N community. Our school truly is in a good place, with a lot of important and exciting work going on. In my presentation, I shared these various developments

Elevating the Student Experience

Spaces and wellness are the two dominant themes of this strategic objective, and substantial progress has been made in both areas. The standout moment this year was the opening in October of our stunning new athletic campus on Grove Street in Watertown (see story on Page 20)—a pivotal moment not only for our student-athletes, but also in support of well-being, community building, and principled engagement with our neighboring communities.

The next major project on the horizon will be equally transformative: a renovation of our Lower School campus whose last significant change occurred more than two decades ago. Currently in design phase, this project includes the construction of a new multi-purpose community space, modernized and expanded learning environments across all grades, and enhanced outdoor spaces for play and learning.

through a strategic lens, specifically the five pillars of the Strategic Plan, which we developed together as a community four years ago. Let me share a few highlights with you here (and you can view the whole presentation here: bbns.org/stateofschool).

Four years ago, our committee identified the need for us to reimagine our health and wellness program from B-12. I am excited to announce that next year we will launch a consistent, cohesive, and comprehensive program across grades 4 to 12, led by trained educators. It’s my belief that this sort of high-quality programming will make an enormous difference in the lifelong health and well-being of our students.

BB&N Quiz Show competitors with #1 fan Bucky

A rendering of the new LS Meeting House

Empowering Our Educators & Broadening Our Academic Experience

Innovation is the north star shaping the work across these two strategic objectives. Professional development for our faculty and staff has never been firing on more cylinders. It starts with a wide array of workshops, seminars, and conferences, including the upcoming “Artificial Intelligence in K-12 Education: Demystifying the Technology and Exploring its Potential” conference that BB&N will host on April 29 th for educators across New England. In addition, the office sponsors an extraordinary array of opportunities for our teachers, such as curriculum development grants, global education opportunities, BB&N summer institutes, and travel grants— all with the goal of disrupting, evolving, transforming, and enhancing teaching and learning at BB&N.

We’re also already seeing tangible results emerge from our Innovation Grant program, which launched just two years ago. The first round of grants have generated a new pollinator garden being built at the Upper School, the start of an elective ethics course and student-led conference, the development of a “Bivouac and beyond” vision for Camp Marienfeld, and a successful first campaign of the Maker Break program for Middle School students. New initiatives already underway in round two of the I-Grants include an Upper School serenity room, the BB&N Arts Fest, and a student history symposium.

Promoting a Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Community

Being on the other side of the pandemic means the return of a fully flourishing global education program. In September eight students attended the Round Square International Conference in the UK. One of my favorite reports from the trip came from Nnema Epee-Bounya ’24: “I have never experienced the feeling of being a part of a group of people who are from different nations who are all excited to get to know each other. My favorite experience was walking around Oxford with friends we made from Argentina or bonding with a student from South Africa during a scavenger hunt.” These are the sort of boundary-breaking opportunities that I’m so happy to see return for our students. They’ll have plenty of opportunities this spring with trips to locales such as Greece, the Adriatic Coast, Morocco, France, and Spain.

A date all of us in the BB&N community have circled on our calendar is May 20 when we will hold our One School One World event for the first time in three years. This event, first held in 2008, is an occasion for all of us—students, families, alumni/ae, faculty, and staff—to come together and celebrate the richness of our diverse, global community. I always love how this celebration serves as both a showcase and an appreciation for the unique contributions each person brings to our school. I hope to see you there!

Leveraging the Power of Our Community

The BB&N community is simply extraordinary, as showcased in part by our Parents’ Association who lifts our community in so many ways, from their appreciation effort in which 439 families contributed to a fund that ultimately provided each faculty and staff member with a $450 holiday bonus; to events commemorating occasions such as Diwali, Lunar New Year, and Black History Month; to the establishment of “Team Parent” roles to assist our athletic teams. We are a happier, more connected community due to their insatiable work, and I am very grateful for them!

The life of our school is so much richer when our alums stay connected to us, and when we stay connected to them. It’s a big reason why BB&N recently held its inaugural Alumni/ae Pitch Competition. Sponsored by the Alumni/ae Council, the competition sought proposals from BB&N’s young alumni/ae who are living our school’s mission of principled engagement around the world. From 14 proposals on early-stage business ideas or social ventures, three finalists were selected to present to a panel of BB&N alumni/ae and faculty. Winners were awarded funding, mentoring, and one-on-one business development support. It was so inspiring to see all these young graduates committed to leave the spaces they move in better than they found them.

So far it has been an inspirational, exciting, and connected year. Thank you for being a part of this uKnighted community—one that I grow to appreciate more and more each year. Wishing you all a healthy and wonderful spring,

Attendees of the Round Square International Conference in the UK

A Triumphant In-Person Return for MLK Brunch at Upper School

After a 3-year hiatus of an in-person Martin Luther King Day Brunch, the BB&N community once again gathered to listen to keynote speakers and enjoy good food with good company. The day featured personal reflections on Dr. King’s legacy and beliefs by BB&N’s Head of School Jen Price, and members of the DEIG department—Leila Bailey-Stewart, and Candie Sanderson—as well as a presentation from keynote speaker Oneda Horne.

Price and Bailey-Stewart discussed Dr. King’s dedication to service and love and how as a community and as individuals, we can learn and serve the greater good. Bailey-Stewart talked about her “beloved community,” a term used and popularized by MLK, to encourage people to band together against poverty and inequity. These introductions with themes of love, service, and education were an appropriate segue to the keynote presentation.

Oneda Horne, the Boston Executive Director at Room to Grow, detailed how her upbringing ignited a passion for learning and advancing equity in the earliest years of life, an ideal match for the mission of both MLK and Room to Grow. The not-for-profit focuses on early childhood care, beginning in the third trimester of pregnancy and providing resources in a wrap-around approach until the child’s third birthday. The first few years of a child’s development are critical, and deficits can leave a lasting impact throughout the child’s education. Room to Grow seeks to bridge gaps in equity across all aspects of early childhood development and currently aids more than 400 families in the Boston area.

Seeing smiling faces back together, in person, bolstered the spirit of the day and reinforced Dr. King’s legacy as the BB&N community came together.

x 1 x BB&N Diveristy, Equity, Inclusion, and Global Education Officer Leila Bailey-Stewart x 2 x BB&N parent and trustee

Pam Baker at the MLK luncheon x 3 x Suzie Talukdar White P’27 and keynote speaker Oneda Horne x 4 x Head of School Jennifer Price x 5 x Keynote speaker Oneda Horne x 6 x Amran Adam ’35 x 7 x Julia Argudelo ’28, Sarah Baker ’28, and Katja Rankel ’28 x 8 x Mekhai Bailey-Stewart ’35 x 9 x Jonathan White ’27, Suzie Talukdar White P’27, and Aiden Holness ’27

Exploring Multi-Cultural Traditions at the Middle School

As part of BB&N’s ongoing mission to DEIG, multiple faculty members organized “Faith Traditions,” a program that introduces students to beliefs and practices in various religions. The program—now in its sixth year—included lunch talks with leaders from a multitude of faiths, followed by group discussions and field trips to the First Church in Cambridge, the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center (ISBCC), and Temple Beth Zion. Students then reflected on their experiences through art the following week.

The month-long project aimed to help students grasp customs and traditions across worldwide religions while connecting them to their local community in the greater Cambridge area. Students spent a day visiting places of worship in Boston to learn and ask questions about those faiths’ practices and historic spaces. Some of the discussions focused on what students had learned through lunch talks, while others centered on the physical space and the extra information provided by local leaders.

Organizer and Middle School English teacher Betsy Canaday discussed the importance of this program, saying, “The Faith Traditions program is designed to give students windows and mirrors into an aspect of our diversity here at the Middle School and beyond. Through lunch Q and A sessions with practitioners of Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Humanism, students are exposed to a wide range of belief systems and are asked to think about the commonalities and differences between them.”

Canaday also emphasized the importance of emphasizing diversity and understanding, noting that “students learn from windows into other people’s perspectives and may experience mirrors in the validation of their own ideas reflected back to them. Our field trips to a synagogue, church, and mosque deepen this exploration by giving students an opportunity to actually experience these diverse places of worship.”

Echoing the sentiments of his teacher, eighth-grade student Zachary Kesselheim ’27 remarked that “it was interesting to see

by Hannah Garcia

places of worship that I was unfamiliar with, and to compare and contrast them to ones I was familiar with.” The experience exposed him and his peers to the multitude of ways and places where people practice worship, right in his backyard.

Similarly, Kai Veson ’27 commented that “the best part was visiting the mosque and the temple because I got to see how passionate they were and all the things they have to do to keep the mosque running.” Veson also mentioned that it was interesting to see all the different traditions, especially as he visited around one o’clock when there were people actively praying—it was a “window” into other people’s communities and faiths.

Visiting three places of worship and the pre-field trip discussions were integral to comprehending the similarities and differences between faiths. The thing that stood out most to Veson was “the variety of when each faith was practiced…at the mosque, they practice five times a day but on the Zoom call talking about Buddhism, they talked about how they practice it throughout the day…it is a thing you take with you.” From these virtual and in-person experiences, Veson and his peers were able to see where traditions differ, but also the “small key differences” that unite us all in a shared practice.

The program concluded on February 6, when students synthesized what they learned from the experience into an art project. Each student created a unique rendering of how they interpreted each discussion and aspect of the field trip, summing up their experience into a piece of art and written reflection for their peers and teachers to enjoy.

The efforts of Middle School teachers and faculty members Betsy Canaday, Youssef Talha, Sasha Bergmann, Tiffany Rice, Christa Crewdson, and Nathalia Jimenez were invaluable in making sure the program ran smoothly. A special thanks to the First Church in Cambridge, the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center (ISBCC), and Temple Beth Zion for hosting the students and sharing their culture and customs.

PICTURED

x 1 x Students examine a Torah at Temple Beth Zion. x 2 x Eighth graders learn about the First Church in Cambridge. x 3 x Grade 8 students outside of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center x 4 & 5 x Sample drafts of student reflections.

Students Spearhead Community Day at the Upper School

Upper School students celebrated a different kind of love on Valentine’s Day this year: they marked the day by strengthening their community. Aptly named Community Day, the students kicked off the day with an opening speech by Jason Talbot, co-founder of Artists for Humanity, then launched into an art workshop creating squares for a shared mural based on the work of local artist Rob “ProBlak” Gibbs. The crux of the day came when students and faculty members broke out into conversations with affinity groups and interest groups to tackle one of the objectives for the day: did you feel seen and heard?

The day was a rousing success, and students cited all parts of the day as their favorite activity. One student spoke about the impact of the keynote speaker, saying, “Jason’s speech at the beginning was definitely the highlight. Not only did I learn more about his passion for art, but also the ways in which art has impacted/shaped multiple communities.” Another peer echoed one of the goals of the day, noting, “my favorite part of the day was the first conversation I had about athletics and academics because it was a great time to be surrounded by people like me, so I felt comfortable and my voice was truly heard.”

The idea for this event came from a student over the summer and transformed into a reality through the tireless efforts of faculty and students. The morning focused on coming together and discussing individual and group identities which transitioned into team-building games and assembling the community mural in the afternoon. Particular kudos go out to the student leaders for the day: Fatmata Sesay ’23 and Jaiden Douglin ’25!

Fall Sports Wrap-Up

ALL ISL HONORS

Girls Volleyball: Madera Longstreet-Lipson ’23, Sofia Khoury ’23, Sherry Ren ’24

Football: Bo MacCormack ’25, Brett Elliot ’24, Brian Brennan ’24, Isaiah Kacyvenski ’23, Leo Sarzana ’23

Boys Soccer: Thomas Angelone ’24

Field Hockey: Clara Noyes ’23 (First-team, All-NEPSAC), Hannah Weyerhaeuser ’25 (First-team, All-NEPSAC)

Girls Soccer: Caitlin Mara ’24 (first-team ISL and NEPSAC), Francesca Valverde ’23 (NEPSAC Player of the Year, All-NEPSAC, first-team ISL and NEPSAC) Maeve Theobald ’25 (first-team ISL and NEPSAC)

Girls Cross Country: Caroline Kovacs ’26, Naomi Hammerschlag ’25

ISL MVP

Girls Volleyball: Kate Jiang ’23

Girls Soccer: Caitlin Mara ’24 (Co-MVP)

ISL HONORABLE MENTIONS

Girls Volleyball: Corinne Holness ’25 (All NEPSAC), Avery Hart ’25 (All NEPSAC Honorable Mention)

Football: Isaiah Ohuabunwa ’23, Jake Berglund ’23, Henry Machnik ’24

Boys Soccer: Kellan Fournelle ’23, Oliver McNamara ’24, Mason Sullivan ’25

Field Hockey: Emily Huehn ’24 (All-NEPSAC Honorable Mention), Alexsa Caron ’24 (All-NEPSAC Honorable Mention)

Girls Soccer: Sophia Recupero ’24 (second team), Samantha Mahoney ’24 (second team), Ava Venuti ’23 (second team)

Girls Cross Country: Alana Kramer-Gomez ’23, Sylvia Brennan ’24 Boys Cross Country: Joshua Curhan ’25

COACHES CUP WINNERS

Football: Leo Sarzana ’23

Boys Soccer: Christian Pineda ’23

Field Hockey: Clara Noyes ’23

Girls Soccer: Ava Venuti ’23

Girls Cross Country: Sylvia Brennan ’24

Boys Cross Country: Ford Legg ’23

PICTURED

x 1 x Maeve Theobald ’25 surveys the pitch to start an attack. x 2 x Henry Machnik ’24 cuts up the field. x 3 x Avery Hart ’25 elevates for a spike. x 4 x Elsa Barclay ’23 accelerates away from a defender. x 5 x Marc Kim ’23 clears the ball away from danger. x 6 x The Boys Cross Country team mid-race. x 7 x Girls Cross Country show solidarity following a meet.

BB&N Girls Varsity Soccer Team Wins Championship, Again!

Building on their recent history of excellence, the BB&N’s Girls Varsity Soccer Team took home the NEPSAC Class A Championship this fall with a 4-0 victory over Westminster School. The resounding win secured the team an incredible third consecutive NEPSAC Class A Championship. Astoundingly, in the past two years, the Knights have navigated their schedule without a single loss—a remarkable accomplishment considering the strong quality of their opponents. Way to go, girls!

PICTURED

x 1 x 1. Fab Salvant ’23 brings the ball up the court.

x 2 x Melissa Bulman ’23 breaks up ice. x 3 x BB&N wrestling represents after a meet: Kitson Paulson ’24, Presley Jacobson ’25, Max Crafter ’24

x 4 x Anjali Reddy ’23 reaches for a shot on the squash court. x 5 x David Mallio ’23 is steely calm as a shot comes inbound. x 6 x Madeline Egan ’25 blows by a defender. x 7 x Graham Lee ’24 sets up a forehand.

Community News

BB&N Welcomes New Trustees

are parents to Andrew Band-Fung ’30 and Allison Band-Fung ’33.

David Deming P’27

David is the Isabelle and Scott Black Professor of Political Economy and Academic Dean at the Harvard Kennedy School. He is also a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and the Faculty Dean of Kirkland House at Harvard College. He is an economist whose research focuses broadly on education, inequality, and labor markets. At BB&N, David has served on the Grade 2 Advisory Committee, and he and his wife, Janine Santimauro, are parents of Maia ’27.

Young Lee P’24

Young is currently a Senior Managing Director for Audax Private Equity, based in Boston. Prior to joining Audax, Young was with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc. (Merchant Banking Partners) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (M&A). Young is currently a member of the Trustee Advisory Board at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Advisory Board for the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra. Young is also actively involved with Harvard University on several committees. At BB&N, Young is a member of BB&N’s Parent Campaign Committee. He resides in Boston with his spouse, Young Ju and children, Graham ’24, Grayson, Griffin, and Gemma.

countries. Prior to ELC, he was Head of the Real Estate Center of Excellence at WeWork, has led real estate in the Americas for L’Oreal, and was previously responsible for global real estate deal-making for Tiffany & Co. Darin was a two-sport athlete in college, and has degrees from Columbia School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation, Georgetown Law, and Brown University, where his son is a member of the Class of 2022. He resides in Providence, RI with his wife Kelly and twin daughters Elisa and Sabrina.

Abby Fung P’30, ’33

Abby is the Managing Director at Root Cause, a public interest consulting firm. She began her career as an investment analyst and has more than 20 years’ experience advising private, public, nonprofit, and philanthropic sector organizations and their leaders. Abby is currently on the 2022-2023 BB&N Parent Association Executive Board as the All School Treasurer, and serves as an Admission Volunteer. In prior years, Abby served as the Lower School Treasurer, Circus Co-Chair, and a Parent Class Representative. She and Alexander Band

Darin Vest ’86

Darin is the global Head of Real Estate at Estee Lauder Companies, responsible for ELC’s office and industrial portfolio of 10 million square feet across 50

Gillien Todd, P’20, ’25, ’25 Parents’ Association President

Gillien is President of the BB&N Parents’ Association and will be the Parents’ Association Representative to the BB&N Board of Trustees for a one-year term. She has served as Executive Vice President of the Parents’ Association, Middle School Vice President, and as a Grade Representative for grades 4 and 6. She ran the Building Diverse Bookshelves program for several years, served on the school-wide sustainability committee, volunteered for the Circus, and was a team parent for Boys Varsity Hockey. Gillien is a Lecturer at Harvard Law School and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she teaches negotiation and managing difficult conversations. In her private practice, she is an executive coach to senior leaders and works with leadership

Arts Wrap-Up

BB&N artists, musicians, and actors have been busy spinning the usual gold across all three campuses this school year. See below for a taste of the action.

PICTURED

x 1 x Princess Adeoye ’27 and Amory Forman ’27 in the Middle School musical “School of Rock” x 2 x Middle School students perform at Winterfest. x 3 x The Upper School Chorale performs at the Winter Concert x 4 x BB&N Beginners perform at the Lower School. x 5 x The Upper School Orchestra in action x 6 x Artwork by Lucas Liu ’23 x 7 x Upper School students perform in the fall Upper School play The Mouse That Roared x 8 x Just another spectacular day in the Upper School art gallery x 9 x Lower School art by Damilola Adekore ’32 x 10 x The Ninth Grade Jazz Ensemble performs “All Of Me” featuring (from L. to R.): Gus Inada ’26, Jack Li ’26, Sydney Francis ’26, Vince Snoonian ’26, and Ryan Clay ’26.

Scenes From Bivouac, Going Strong at 69!

The BB&N tradition that many alums point to as an indelible memory from their time at the school is still going strong. And now, the intrepid students in the Class of 2026 have joined the ranks of that company after completing their own Bivouac experience earlier this fall.

The annual rite of passage sends ninth grade students into a 12-day wilderness immersion where they form bonds and glean lifelong lessons from “nature’s classroom” in the New Hampshire woods. See below for a taste of Bivouac in its 69 th year.

x 1 x Ellery Olson ’26, Ryan Figlioli ’26, Ellis Barnes ’26, and James Ferreira ’26 x 2 x Meeka Toure ’26 on the ropes course x 3 x Eleni Stowell ’26, Scarlett Chan-MacRae ’26, and Elizabeth Velander ’26 x 4 x Hope McMillin’26, Jack Rossiter ’26, and Ben Friend ’26 x 5 x Sam Kelley ’26 and Jack DeMarco ’26

Wendy Svatek Awarded Jeanette Markham Master Teacher Chair

BB&N is proud to announce that Middle School Science Teacher Wendy Svatek has been named Jeanette Markham Master Teacher Chair.

Since she first arrived in 2001, Svatek has been a bedrock member of the Middle School and its science department. Her work ethic and her student-centered approach define the phrase “Master Teacher.” Svatek is a teacher gifted with the rare ability to set high expectations and challenge her students, while always finding the spark to engage and support all types of learners. As one colleague notes, “She forms connections with students that last lifetimes because her care is so genuine.”

Svatek has headed the MS Science Department since her arrival 21 years ago, and has further enhanced an already strong program with an unmistakable culture of excellence and engagement. The department under her leadership is renowned for its innovative units, from the roller coaster project, to Science Knight, to a study of water and water access that wove in beautifully with the History Department’s exploration of UN Sustainability Goals.

Svatek is also an important leader in BB&N’s overall community. She is especially worthy of note for having been one of BB&N’s early pioneers in seeking ways to center inclusion and equity in her teaching practices.

In addition to all of these qualities, Svatek is highly regarded as a stellar coach, including at the varsity level with Girls Crew. (She was also a stellar rower and a skier at Harvard.) And true to her character, she also finds the time to serve as the Middle School’s scheduler, and to be both a tireless mentor and a shoulder to lean on for her co-workers. One of her colleagues puts it best: “Wendy is an all-star teacher, leader and person—without her the Middle School would be a different place.”

Svatek joins former Upper School history teacher Leigh Hogan, current Lower School teacher Bill Hritz, and former Middle School teacher Margaret Hardy as Markham Chair recipients.

Lauren Hoyt ’08 Honored with Marian W. Vaillant Future Leader Instructorship

Congratulations to Middle School History Teacher Lauren Hoyt ’08 on receiving the Marian W. Vaillant Future Leader Instructorship.

Since joining the Middle School as a history teacher in 2019, Hoyt has been a distinguished contributor to the campus’s curriculum, programs, and faculty. No stranger to BB&N as a Class of 2008 alumna, Hoyt has chosen to give back to the school she loved so much as a student. In addition to stellar teaching, Lauren has built an impressive track record as she enters the fourth year of her tenure at BB&N.

She has spearheaded the Model UN club at the Middle School, made a tremendous impact on the athletics program as a coach of the Middle School girls basketball team, served as mentor to the Middle School’s Knight Corps members during the pandemic, and in the summertime, she also runs the Welcome Event for new 7th Graders and the English Language Arts Program for 6th and 7th Graders.

Colleagues are quick to praise Lauren and the role she plays for students and colleagues at the Middle School:

“Lauren is the epitome of student-centered. When I mention her to my classes, they are ALWAYS like, ‘I love Ms. Hoyt! She’s the best!’ She cares about her students and her colleagues and ensures that everyone feels seen and known… And her passion for the teaching profession and the education of our future generations is apparent in everything she does—it is the core of who she is.”

Lauren joins previous recipients Caitlin Drechsler and Ben Goldhaber at the Lower School, Christa Crewdson at the Middle School, and Alda Farlow at the Upper School as Marian Vaillant Future Leader Instructors.

Looking Forward to Celebrating BB&N’s 50-Year Anniversary!

In January 1974, the Buckingham School and Browne & Nichols came together to create BB&N. In January 2024, our school will begin celebrating 50 years as a “uKnighted” community. As we look forward to the merger’s anniversary next year, the BB&N Archives is asking you to join us in gathering memories of this past half century, as well as the pre-merger years and traditions that helped shape the BB&N of today.

Share Your Memories

Calling all alumni/ae and former faculty! Whether you attended one of the two schools pre-merger, studied at BB&N after its unification, were here for the transition years, or taught or worked at BB&N, we’d love to hear from you!

Do you have stories from your time as a student or teacher that you’d like to share? Do you have photos you took with your friends on campus, or copies of a student periodical you staffed? Are there even old syllabi and assignments hidden away in file cabinets? Share it all with the school Archives through our new Memory Portal site. Any type of file can be uploaded and sent to us, whether it’s a written or recorded story or a scanned copy of a photo or document. Your experiences and stories are what makes BB&N a community — help us document that history!

Join The Planning Process

Interested in getting more involved with the upcoming 50th anniversary celebration? Reach out to Janet Rosen. Director of Stewardship and Advancement Communications, at jrosen@bbns.org or Esme Rabin, BB&N Archivist, at erabin@ bbns.org if you’re interested in helping us in a more official capacity.

Stay tuned for more exciting updates as we approach the 50 th anniversary!

And now…

The BB&N Archives will be relocating from its current location at 46 Belmont Street to a new, larger home this spring near the Upper School campus. We look forward to welcoming visitors to our expanded space when we are settled in.

Bob Whitman ‘43 (second from right) and his wife Marina (right) present a plaque to Archivist Esme Rabin (center) for the newly created Robert Ganz ‘43 Archives Program Fund, which was established in honor of Robert N. Ganz ‘43 (left) and his long service to the school.

Former Heads of School Peter Gunness and Elizabeth Stowe unveil the new BB&N sign following the 1974 merger.

Don Your Detective Hat and Help Solve These Mystery Photos!

We have a number of photos in the Archives that have not been identified. If you know anything about the stories behind any of the below photos or recognize any faces, please reach out! Communications can be directed to Esme Rabin, BB&N Archivist, at erabin@bbns.org.

BB&N THE RIBBON ON GROVE STREET ATHLETIC CAMPUS

Looking at the hundreds of spectators lining BB&N’s beautiful, new Grove Street playing fields at Homecoming this year, Upper School grade nine dean David Strodel ’78 was struck by a thought. “Jack Etter would be thrilled,” he commented to some colleagues standing alongside him. “He was always searching the surrounding neighborhoods for more field space.”

Etter, the late, legendary former Athletic Director indeed made a near hobby out of seeking expansion opportunities for the school, and now thanks to the tireless efforts of so many people in the BB&N and surrounding community, that dream has become a reality.

Aided by trustees, colleagues, and partners from the town of Watertown, Head of School Jennifer Price led the ribbon cutting ceremony that marked the official opening of the new complex on Grove Street in Watertown on October 8 at BB&N’s Homecoming celebration.

Just a brief jaunt from the Upper School, the new campus features two turf playing fields, equipment sheds, bathrooms, and parking for expanded flexibility in athletics programming with the aim of improving the student experience at the school.

“To our BB&N students and the kids of Watertown, you are the reason we did all of this,” Price said at the ceremony. “The lessons you learn on these fields about working hard, getting up when you fall down, and the importance of teamwork are lessons that you will carry for the rest of your life.”

But even more exciting to Price is the dramatic impact the new athletic campus will have on the well-being of students.

With more field space available for practices and games, BB&N can better accommodate student athletes’ busy schedules and focus on the whole student—getting kids home in time for dinner and fewer late nights of homework. The Grove Street campus will help the school abide by its strategic plan, particularly elevating the student experience with an emphasis on physical, social, and emotional health.

Early reactions have been enthusiastic, according to athletic director Chuck Richard. “The Grove Street fields will be transformative for the BB&N student

experience for years to come,” Richard said. “Our new fields combined with access to adjacent fields at Filippello Park are such a benefit to the athletics program—it helps us really improve the daily logistic challenges that kids and their families have to deal with.”

A COLLABORATIVE COMMUNITY EFFORT

The idea for the project came into form when a six-acre lot used for leased parking next to Watertown’s Filippello Park became available from the Mount Auburn Cemetery. In January of 2021, BB&N completed the purchase and moved quickly to transform the parcel of land. It took some vision to imagine the cracked concrete landscape as a green space for students, but with the cooperation of many people—from facilities personnel, to trustees, to school administrators, to Watertown officials—a partnership was reached that will benefit the town and school alike. When the fields are not in use for the school, Watertown will have access to the space as well.

“From the onset of the proposal for the athletic complex, I repeatedly stated that the field sharing concept would be a ‘win-win’ for the city of Watertown and BB&N,” says retired Watertown city councilor Angeline Kounelis. “Through the efforts of many, we were able to see the complex come to fruition. I am proud to have been given the opportunity to lend my support to the project. In my opinion, the athletic complex adds great value and benefit to the East End of Watertown and community-at-large.”

Made possible in part through generous support by many constituents, notably Jimmy Berylson ’00 and the Class of 2022 Parents (whose names adorn the two scoreboards), the space was a true joint community effort for the betterment of the school.

With its fourth campus now in play, BB&N is more equipped than ever to cultivate community spirit schoolwide and help prepare its graduates for lives well lived.

PICTURED:

1: Ribbon Cutting: Head of School Jennifer Price leads the community in the ribbon cutting ceremony at Homecoming.

2: Ronan Hanafin ‘23 clears his mind pre-game.

3: Spectators take in the action at Homecoming.

A BB&N JOURNEY COMES FULL CIRCLE

As a student at BB&N in the ’90s, Dan Bronson ’96 likely never imagined he’d be an integral part of his alma mater’s strategic plan nearly 30 years later. But when his company, Bronson Drilling, was contracted to investigate an old retaining wall on the Grove Street site, Dan found himself in that exact situation. His below account of the project would be of particular interest to any science students at the school.

My business, which I've been doing since 2002, is drilling exploratory cores, soil borings, and wells for environmental and geotechnical assessments. My work at BB&N would fall under the geotechnical category, which is basically assessing site characteristics such as soil, bedrock, and groundwater to answer various questions about a site prior to construction (such as loadbearing capacity of soil, etc.).

In this case, I was contracted by McPhail Associates, the engineering firm contracted to BB&N, to determine two things:

1. Whether the 3-foot- and 4-foot-thick concrete blocks in the very tall retaining wall surrounding the site were stacked one-deep, or two-deep.

2. Whether the soil on the opposite side of the retaining wall was decent load-bearing soil, or if it was just a bunch of garbage, old shoes, ash, beer cans, dead bodies, etc.

They wanted to know this because they were planning on removing the wall, so they needed to know what they were getting into prior to taking it apart.

I drilled horizontally through the concrete and collected concrete cores in two locations. At one spot the concrete was three feet thick, at the other it was four feet thick. Once I was through the concrete, I collected a four-foot horizontal soil boring at each location for McPhail to be able to analyze.

PICTURED: At left: Dan Bronson ’96 drills a core sample at the Grove Street site. Above: One of the core samples drilled by Dan, consisting of four feet of lightly reinforced concrete followed by four feet of clean sand.

MARGARET LOW IS HOME

CLASS OF

’76

BY MORGAN BAKER ’76

Margaret Low ’76 has returned home, after 44 years. “I left when I was 17, and I was 61 when I came back,” she says. Now, as CEO of Boston’s WBUR , one of the nation’s largest public radio stations, Low works just a few miles from where she grew up in Belmont.

“It felt like an incredible homecoming. Everything about it feels like home, even the weather,” she says. “I’m probably one of the few people who enjoy shoveling snow.”

Low started her new role in January 2020, at a critical time for our country and journalism. The job combines her experience as a senior producer of All Things Considered, and as Senior VP of news at NPR, and then as Senior VP at The Atlantic and President of AtlanticLIVE, overseeing more than 100 live events across the country.

Like journalism in general, WBUR is changing with the times, which made the job even more appealing. “It’s more than a station. It’s a modern media organization,” says Low sitting in an armchair in her spacious office at WBUR’s building in the midst of Boston University.

WBUR still offers its strong local news programming, in addition to their national shows, On Point and Here and Now. With a staff of 200, 120 of whom are editorial, WBUR has one of the largest newsrooms in New England. That size has allowed it to expand into podcasts such as Endless Thread, Circle Round, and Anything for Selina, covering topics about the internet’s vast and curious ecosystem, a show for children based on a series of books, and a podcast investigating the life and death of Selena Quintanilla.

WBUR also hosts live events such as The Moth, author readings, chef visits, musical acts, and more at CitySpace, a 270-seat theater on Commonwealth Ave.

“It’s a breath-taking space that allows us to express ourselves on stage. I am a big believer that gathering in one room to grapple with life is beneficial,” she says.

Cognoscenti, another arm of WBUR, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Some of the best writing from head and heart can be found here by local writers on topics of today’s concern.

And finally, WBUR has added ten newsletters on topics including cooking, beach books, and a news quiz.

“We have to be digital,” she says. “That’s the huge transformation that’s underway.”

That wasn’t the only transformation Low oversaw. When she started, she didn’t know that six weeks later, she’d send a memo to staffers telling them about this thing, Coronavirus. Well, we all know how that played out.

Even with the pandemic, the organization is soaring, says Low.

“It was a global trauma. People felt it profoundly, but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. We're still trying to figure a lot of it out, both in terms of how we live and how we work,” she says. Not everyone is in the office at the same time, and looking out over the large newsroom with black computer screens dotting the room, you can see just how few people are actually working in the office at the same time.

WBUR has been around for 75 years, and Low says it’s her responsibility to ensure its sustainability. She is quick to add, “One of the things that’s extraordinary about BUR is the quality of the people who are drawn to work here…It’s a small and mighty station deeply embedded in our lives,” she says.

Low says she is leading WBUR’s transformation within the context of the pandemic. “Navigating the transformation from a legacy organization to a modern media organization is not a simple or uncomplicated task,” she says.

“I’ve spent my life in national news organizations. I loved every minute in both places (NPR and The Atlantic) but it’s very different to be running a local, trusted, beloved institution where you actually really matter in a personal way in people’s lives,” she says.

“We’re a news organization, but,” she says, “we are a source of real comfort and connection. Our vision is to be a daily habit for everyone in Boston and beyond, who want to engage with the most consequential issues of our time.”

Low was struck with how supportive the public is and was during the worst of the pandemic, people continued to give, and if they couldn’t at that moment, they committed to giving later.

Low is taking WBUR and launching it into something even bigger and better with Catapault, the name of the new

“IT’S MORE THAN A STATION. IT’S A MODERN MEDIA ORGANIZATION.”

initiative, which will look at modernizing the infrastructure, understanding the customers, defining and amplifying the WBUR brand, and building their expertise. That’s a lot, but is doable.

Just as Low wants WBUR to be welcoming and a part of listeners’ lives, she says Boston has become more welcoming also.

“I love the architecture. I love the quality of life here. I love the connection to ocean and city and country and mountains. It feels like it's the perfect spot in the universe. It's relatively small, but it feels urban. It's a much richer, more interesting, more diverse, more conscious city than it was in the city I grew up in. It also feels like a much more alive and vibrant and interesting city... and a much more welcoming city.”

Low credits BB&N with much of her success. While she didn’t work on school papers or magazines at either BB&N or the University of Michigan, she says teachers and professors at both schools influenced the direction her life would go.

“BB&N was an awakening for me. I had been in public school, hanging out, having fun, not terribly interested in academics or intellectual life, even though I came from a family that was all about that.” Her father was a physicist, her mother was a psychologist, and her older siblings had gone to Buckingham and Browne & Nichols prior to the merger. She arrived as a junior and was welcomed by the students, and loved her two years.

“The classes were small, the teachers were engaged,” she says. “Wyn Kelley was my English teacher, and I woke up in that class. She taught me how to think and how to pursue ideas, and it was just like this sort of thrilling ride. She pushed and I'd never been pushed before.”

Other influential teachers include her math teacher, Ellen Eisen, who had gone to the University of Michigan, and history teacher Charlotte Waterlow. Eisen told Low she should go to University of Michigan. “I did what she told me. I wasn't even into math, but I was into her,” says Low.

She remembers Waterlow as dancing with excitement while talking about history.

That enthusiasm infected Low.

In her 2017 commencement address to the undergraduates at the College of Communications at University of Michigan, Low told the graduating class about her “aha” moment. For the final in a class called The Film Experience that studied the styles and themes of Soviet and East European Cinema, taught by Herb Eagle, he allowed Low to make a documentary film about the emerging fitness craze. “I think I just wanted out of writing a paper,” she said to the students. Looking back, she realized that was the beginning of something important, the first glint of a potential career telling stories.

After graduation, she landed in New York where she met a woman who was making oral history documentaries for NPR. Low worked in a restaurant to pay the bills and worked on the documentaries for free. The end result was a half hour program about the labor history of New York and the birth of the AFL-CIO.

“I just fell in love with the sort of the craft. I discovered journalism and reporting through sort of documentary and oral history,” she says.

Low then got a three-week temp job at NPR which turned into a lifetime, she says. After moving to DC, she became a PA at the 1 am slot, and as they say, the rest is history. She raised her two sons, now 34 and 29, outside of DC. Her first marriage ended in 2014, and in 2021 she married Kinsey Wilson and joyfully added two stepdaughters, 34 and 28, to her family.

As CEO at WBUR she works a lot, but she understands and appreciates taking time for herself and her family and hopes to be a role model for those who work with her. She swims daily — something she’s been doing for years — skis when she can and enjoys family time.

Back in her office where she looks at home and comfortable, her phone pings, and it’s time for her to jump to the next meeting. But busy is good, and there's no place she'd rather be than where she is: home.

“BB&N WAS AN AWAKENING FOR ME.”

1: Low has relished her professional journey which has seen her come full circle to the place where it all began. 2: One of many notable moments from her career in journalism, Margaret Low with President Obama at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner in 2013 3: Margaret Low (far right on the phone) and President Clinton on the day the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke. Low, as producer of All Things Considered, and her colleagues arrived for a scheduled interview they were going to tape record. Instead, after waiting for six hours, they went live as President Clinton looked Robert Siegel in the eyes and denied having an affair with Lewinsky. Low was responsible for hitting their marks and getting on and off the air at the right time. But, she lost contact with NPR, and watched the minutes tick by on her watch to know when to end the interview.

Middle School ceramics teacher Sasha Bergmann and St. Constantine’s International School head of creative arts Geoffrey Namulala

SPANNING BORDERS THROUGH ART

Ceramics Teacher

Sasha Bergmann Gets Global

BYSHARONKRAUSS

Walking among the jacaranda and flame trees at St. Constantine’s International School in Arusha, Tanzania, Middle School art teacher Sasha Bergmann felt completely out of her element. Beyond sprawling coffee plantations edging the campus, majestic Mount Meru—second highest in the country only to Kilimanjaro—provided a stunning backdrop, and nearby, female facilities-crew workers carried huge baskets on their heads. Voices chattered in Swahili, while monkeys peered down from rooftops and scampered across her path. There, just south of the Equator, on a chilly day in June 2022, she was acutely aware that she wasn’t in Cambridge anymore. Then a student voice familiarly called, “Hi, Ms. Bergmann,” momentarily confounding her and blurring her sense of otherness with a sense of belonging.

That friendly student recognized Bergmann from Zoom calls she and her BB&N students had for more than two years with the Tanzanian students and their teacher, St. Constantine’s head of creative arts Geoffrey Namulala. Now that she was finally on campus and meeting them in person, Bergmann felt the world had become headspinningly smaller.

expert guidance. “There was a lot that I didn't know,” he says, “and I got to learn it from Sasha, so it was a very rich experience for me.” Furthermore, they envisioned his students making tile murals to be installed at St. Constantine’s, a project they would plan over Zoom before Bergmann flew in to help with final steps in the summer of 2020. Well, that was the plan, anyway. “Then, boom! COVID happens,” Bergmann explains. “But instead of throwing in the towel, we thought, what can we do with this?”

So, Bergmann and Namulala performed an inspired pandemic pivot; they expanded their teacher collaboration to include their students, and over the next two and a half years, they held joint seventh- and eighth-grade classes on Zoom. “We thought that we could bring these students together,” says Namulala, “and make Round Square come alive, break the distance and the barriers, and have these students collaborate and share ideas.” Despite the eight-hour time difference—the Tanzanians generously participated in the evening—the students met once a week for several eight-week-long sessions to play icebreaker games, talk in breakout rooms, and discuss photos of their artwork with one another. Bergmann’s students worked in clay, Namulala’s in paint and collage, “but they were still doing the same thing,” says Namulala. “We wanted them to think they are part of one big class. And, for me, that was very, very important.”

As hoped, it was for the students, too. “I think it was important for my whole class,” says Aubrielle Amaral ’26, “because we kind of live in this bubble, and it was cool to talk with kids outside that bubble and learn more about not just the world but about kids our age and what they're doing in different parts of the world. Normally when you learn most stuff like that, it’s from an article or an adult, so it was cool to meet with just the kids [in Zoom breakout rooms] and talk with them.”

Introduced online in January 2020 through their respectives schools’ memberships in Round Square, a global consortium of like-minded and -valued schools that connects teachers interested in collaborating, the two art educators immediately hit it off. “It was easy,” Bergmann says. “Geoffrey is a lovely human who wanted to collaborate, to lean in, to learn about clay, which is my specialty.” In the process of adding ceramics to his department’s offerings, Namulala sought Bergmann’s

Meeting additionally by themselves once a week, Bergmann and Namulala crafted a curriculum to amplify the structure and purpose of their combined classes. In those planning sessions, Namulala greatly appreciated not only Bergmann’s “love for art but also her rich experience in working with students for a very long time; she is very focused and very organized, so that really helped,” he says. At first they used the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals broadly as a framework for art projects and discussions; then in the second year they focused on two Goals pertaining to water, which also became the topic of the Tanzanians’ tile murals.

“Because pollution is very close to most of my students, they looked at the problem of dumping plastic in the oceans and how it affects marine life,” Namulala says. “Sasha’s students told us about the U.S. pollution problem and the legislations in place to control the dumping of plastics in the oceans. On this side, the government has banned the use of one-way [singleuse] plastics; even when you come in at the airport, if you have things wrapped in plastic, they’re confiscated,” he explains. “The ideas and the information that the students shared informed the art that they created.”

For instance, Lauren Pond ’26 made a bowl, divided by a painted line into two scenes: one depicted “a clean ocean with thriving animals and the other half was polluted with trash,” she says.

“We would ask the students to give each other feedback on their pottery projects or paintings,” Bergmann says, “with such prompts as, ‘What is it communicating? What aspect of sustainability and water and cleanliness? How does this relate to your culture and my culture? What are the commonalities, the differences?’”

To further facilitate connection among their students, Bergmann and Namulala also had them post photos of foods and heritage objects representing their family cultures or religions, which provided more fodder for

both discussion and stereotype-dispelling. Bergmann says that, defying some expectations, “We saw Jewish, Italian, Korean food among the American posts, Chinese and Indian and Kenyan foods in the Tanzanian posts.” During another cultural exchange, students from both continents posted photos of Muslim prayer rugs, “so we talked about windows and mirrors in our lives,” continues Bergmann. With those “mirrors,” “students saw that we are similar even though we’re across the whole entire globe from one another.”

Her student Aubrielle confesses, “When we first heard we were going to talk with kids from Tanzania, we thought we were going to be really different and it would be hard to connect over things, but we found that that actually wasn’t true.” She notes, among other commonalities, that they all liked to play sports and enjoyed their art classes.

“It opened up my eyes, my understanding of the world— that something so far away can also be so similar,” agrees Lauren, who enjoyed learning, too, about the differences in the Tanzanian students’ lives. “On their walk to school, for example, they had to watch out for monkeys because monkeys had stolen their lunches before. I thought that was funny,” she says with a smile.

Careful not to project her bias about the experience onto her students, Bergmann interviewed each of them following one season of combined classes and found that “their reaction was even more positive than I imagined,” she says.

3

St. Constantine’s student Debbie Laiser displays her ceramic animals.

2 Namulala at work in his studio.

A completed, collaborative tile mural

4 Bergmann in Tanzania helping St. Constantine’s students with their tile murals.

The students were well on their way to fulfilling her hopes for the collaboration. “I want my students to feel the same way I do—that there’s somebody I know in Africa who’s real, that I have a connection with, that I care about.” She would like this experience to spark students’ interest in African current events, in traveling, in making further alliances. “I want them to go out into the world thinking globally,” she says.

Bergmann speaks with the passion of her own experience, finally realized in June 2022, when, with COVID restrictions easing, she was able to make the delayed journey, get through Customs with the paints and glazes needed to complete the original murals project, and meet the people she had come to know in little Zoom boxes. She went bearing gifts—some ceramic vases she had made for Namulala, as well as clay rattles, in the shapes of New England birds, made by her students for their Tanzanian classmates. When she suggested to Namulala that his students then reciprocate by making birds of Tanzania, “he looked at me like I was crazy,” she says, laughing. “He said that they have wild animals here; why would we make birds? Of course, I said. Why would you make birds?” Instead, she returned to her students with clay rattles in the forms of the Tanzanians’ indigenous elephants, giraffes, and campus-sharing monkeys.

The far more significant gift for Bergmann, of course, was having her perspective on culture and identity shift in the eye-opening light of a foreign land. Aware of her whiteness in a way she never had been before, she enjoyed being in a place where she was in the minority—in more ways than one. “Geoffrey and his family had never met a Jew, but they got a small window into being Jewish through Sasha, and they shared their experience as Christians,” she says. “Basically, we met with our hearts, and it was beautiful.” While she had a living space and her own little kitchen at the school, she ate dinner at the Namulalas’ campus house every night of the four weeks she was there. “I think the best part was that Geoffrey and his whole family—his wife, Sylvia, and their three daughters— completely embraced me. I found my second family on the other side of the world,” she says.

Also lasting, Namulala feels, was the statement they made with the murals just as he was leaving St. Constantine’s for a new position at Morogoro International School, a ten-hours’ drive south. “Sasha came in, and we installed the murals,” says Namulala, “the culmination of what we’d been doing for over two years. It was very, very special. Looking at the

outcome, we felt that we really helped this generation to understand that it’s their responsibility to take care of their environment and their water resource.” Now, he sees the murals in photos on the distant school’s website, “and, you know,” he says, “I feel so good.”

As Namulala settles into his new job, establishes relationships with his students, and builds yet another ceramics program, he can still rely on his now very good friend in their biweekly Zoom calls. Unsurprisingly, the two are plotting again—for Namulala’s visit to BB&N sometime in the future and, more immediately, for a spring resumption of their combined online classes. “Now that we’ve met and worked so well together in person, we’re choosing to go back to the Zoom,” Bergmann says with a smile. "I can't wait to see what happens this time."

While discussing the United Nations Global Goals with their students, Bergmann and Namulala also produced two books in a collaboration spearheaded by former LS art teacher Saskia Van Vactor. Taking the Earth into Our Own Hands, published in 2021, addresses the UN Goals through students’ artwork and their statements printed in English, Swahili, Navajo, and Haitian Creole. Teachers and students at the Rock Point Community School in the Navajo Nation in Rock Point, Arizona, and The Matenwa Community Learning Center in Haiti also participated via Zoom in this project. In 2022, Bergmann’s and Van Vactor’s MS and LS students, as well as Lizzie Rosenberger’s LS science students, Namulala’s Tanzanian students, and Mary Rodriquez’s Navajo students collaborated to produce a companion volume—Global Voices, Global Goals: Tó Water Maji—focused on two Goals pertaining to clean-water access and marine life.

5

Charley Perkins ’27 displays a ceramic chickadee she sculpted.

6, 7, 8, and 9

The final results of ceramic sculptures by BB&N and St. Constantine’s students based off of local wildlife.

FORMER FACULTY PROFILE

Rob Leith, Retired in Name Only

by Al Rossiter, Faculty Emeritus

Thomas Hislop ’13, on being both a student and an advisee of Rob Leith: “Mr. Leith was someone who really, really believed in us, something that is so important when you are a teenager trying to figure out whether you even believe in yourself.”

Isabel Ruehl ’16: “Mr. Leith really cared in a way that inspired us to be curious and to work as hard as he does. He had high expectations—hefty reading assignments and infamous weekend papers…”

Ali Trustman ’03: “Rob Leith taught me how to think critically. He taught me how to analyze a text, whether it be a piece of literature, a film, or a painting. In my writing, he pushed me to think more deeply about my observations.”

During our interview, I asked Rob about the qualities of a good teacher. Without a moment’s hesitation: “Good teachers love what they teach and love whom they teach,” The students above capture what made this tall, soft-spoken, gentle, and intellectually curious man memorable, one of those teachers you carry with you long after you have graduated. Compassion and scholarship. IQ and EQ. To be a “Leith student” was to be nourished emotionally and intellectually, to be inspired to do better work, to write lots of papers, and to have them promptly returned with his astute comments, neatly penned in that distinguishable Leith handwriting.

He loved and still loves books, and loved sharing that passion, whether guiding seniors through Middlemarch or All the King’s Men, or helping 9th graders appreciate Odysseus’ long journey home. He created popular senior electives: Pilgrim Souls, The Victorians, Portraits of a Lady, Things Are Seldom What They Seem. He designed and taught a film course. Elleree Erdos ’08 wrote that his AP Art History course “rivalled several of my graduate level art history classes both in rigor and depth.”

Rob has been the recipient of ten teaching awards, both from BB&N and from colleges attended by former students. While at Harvard, he wrote an honors thesis on the metaphysical poet, George Herbert. In his art classes at BB&N, he was able to rattle off relevant information about a painter or a painting from memory. Smart, yes. Intellectually curious, yes. But through it all was his ongoing concern for both the academic and emotional well-being of his students.,

So, what would one expect from a man like this in his retirement? First would be his interest in the humanities—books, art, music. “I

would not have been too happy in the STEM world,” he says, with that tenor chuckle. He became an accomplished art history scholar by researching, writing, and lecturing. His list of publications in art magazines is impressive. While he was teaching at BB&N, he wrote a definitive work on the American Pre-Raphaelite painter Henry Roderick Newman, gave a lecture at the Harvard Art Museum on Ruskin and the American Pre-Raphaelites, and presented art history lectures both in Florence and in London. Since retirement, he has co-authored a book on John Leslie Breck, American Impressionist, and is in the process of putting together a publication on the early photographs of Giverny. Bringing previously not well-known artists to the public has been one of his goals. He is one of six members, and the only non-museum professional, of the Harvard Art Museum’s Art of the America’s Think Tank.

As a Harvard graduate, he is able to audit courses. So far, this is the list: Reading War and Peace (a course where, as he says, he “joins with 20-year-olds discussing Tolstoy”—what fun, both for him and for them!); The Roman Empire in Transition; Japanese Cinema from 1950-1979; Northern European Art of the Renaissance; and The Art of Goya.

In retirement he keeps his body as well as his mind in tip-top shape. Once or twice a week he’s up at 5:00 a.m. walking to Harvard Stadium and then running up and down all those steps. He’ s reading a work on the composers of the 19th century. He has lunch with former advisees—he said he enjoyed being an advisor because he could be with a group of students for three years and watch them grow. He is still, these many years later, enjoying their company. Three of the 9th grade members of his very last class at BB&N asked him to lead them in a book group, which met during the pandemic.

Another comment from Ali Trustman ’03: “I remember having advisor meetings with him, and telling him my dreams of getting to Los Angeles and working on set and in movies. I remember thinking that while Boston felt so small to me, talking with Mr. Leith about the possibilities of my life felt so big.”

He applied for a teaching position at BB&N right after the blizzard of 1978 so his wife could commute from Cambridge to Stonehill College, where she taught, rather than from Ipswich, where they previously lived. That memorable storm gave us a born teacher, a scholar, a kind man who had chosen teaching as his vocation and avocation, and who has shared his gifts with hundreds of students.

In crafting a piece about my friend and former colleague Rob Leith, it seemed prudent to begin with what mattered most to him, his students. In Rob’s case, having taught English and art history for 40 years at BB&N before retiring in 2019, there was quite a pool to choose from.

Advancing Our Mission

BB&N Welcomes Mike O’Brien as Director of Development

BB&N is delighted to welcome Mike O’Brien who joined the Advancement Office in January as Director of Development, where he oversees the school’s alumni/ae engagement program, parent programs, and The BB&N Fund.

Mike comes to BB&N from Boston College High School where he served as Senior Director of Alumni and Family Engagement and Annual Giving for the past four years; and played a pivotal role in reshaping BC High’s alumni framework and securing transformational gifts for BC High’s $135 million campaign.

Prior to working in development, Mike held positions in admissions, college counseling, and teaching at independent schools in Philadelphia and southeastern Virginia. Mike has degrees from Boston College’s Lynch School of Education and Hobart and William Smith Colleges where he was a four-year member and team captain of Hobart’s lacrosse team.

Mike writes, “BB&N’s leadership in Head of School Dr. Jennifer Price, combined with its mission and history as being a pioneer in inclusive education where access and affordability is prioritized in its day-to-day work, was extremely attractive to me and my family at this stage of my career. I look forward to working with all members of the community to create meaningful engagement opportunities that deepen the connection our students, graduates, parents, and caregivers have with BB&N.”

The BB&N Fund: Supporting BB&N Students, Faculty, Staff, and Programs

Every Day!

The BB&N Fund is the school’s primary giving priority and the generosity of our current and past parents, alumni/ae, grandparents, faculty, staff, and friends helps us bridge the gap between the operating budget and income from tuition and endowment income.

All students, faculty, and staff benefit from The BB&N Fund, which supports the school’s academic, arts, and athletic programs, keeps tuition increases to a minimum, and provides flexible resources each year to engage the community in fulfilling our mission.

Last year, more than 1,600 donors came together to raise $3.4 million for The BB&N Fund. Did you know that gifts of $500 and less added up to $237, 218? Every gift, no matter what size, makes a difference!

Thank you to the 2022-2023 BB&N Fund Parent Committee who help ensure the success of this year’s BB&N Fund program by reaching out to other parents to encourage their support:

Cynthia Harney Becker P’29

Todd Case P’30

Kristin Casey P’29, ’34

Kate Coyne P’23

Dan Hart P’31

Christa Hawkins P’27

Charles Kekeh P’34

Maureen Lally P’28, ’28

Mary Lewis-Pierce P’24, ’28

Melody Mak-Jurkauskas P’30, ’33

Faiza Riaz P’25, ’28

Inge Rocker P’25

Virginia Song P’29

Prashanthi Sylada P’29, ‘31

Felicia Sullivan P’29

Ryan Sullivan P’29

Class of 2023 Senior Parents’ Gift

The Senior Parents’ Gift is a longstanding tradition at BB&N in which senior parents come together in their support to leave a gift to the school. It is a way to celebrate their children’s BB&N experience and to say thank you to the faculty and staff.

This year’s Senior Parents’ Gift offers a special opportunity. If the parents of the Class of 2023 raise a total of $1.5 million, The Class of 2023 Visiting Innovator Program will be established and named for the class. The Visiting Innovator will lead workshops and community and professional development sessions during the academic year. Members of the Class of 2023 will have the opportunity to be part of the annual selection process for the visiting innovators, providing a chance to stay engaged with their classmates, the school, and the program. Additionally, the generosity of the Class of 2023 parents in establishing the Visiting Innovator Program will be recognized with a plaque at the Upper School.

SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY

$1.5 million

ESTABLISHES THE CLASS OF 2023 VISITING INNOVATOR PROGRAM

WE ARE GRATEFUL TO THE FOLLOWING SENIOR PARENTS FOR THEIR SERVICE ON THE CLASS OF 2023 SENIOR PARENTS’ GIFT COMMITTEE:

Co-Chairs

Michelle and Eric Lev

Committee

Pratima Abichandani

Radha Badani

Pam Baker

Corey Bialow

Kate Coyne

Allison and Andrew Hirsch

Christine and Avak Kahvejian

Maria and Jake Khoury

Ilyse Greenberg and Charles Rudnick

Ping Lee

JK Nicholas ’85

Sabrina and Bob Nicholson

Liz Silverman

Allison Walton

Elizabeth and Ogden White

Angela Zhu

Advancing Our Mission

BB&N Parents Share their Gratitude for Faculty and Staff

For the third consecutive year, BB&N parents demonstrated their deep appreciation to faculty and staff through the year-end Parents’ Association Faculty and Staff Appreciation Fund. More than 440 families generously contributed a total of $138,000 in gifts to the Appreciation Fund which enabled all full-time employees to receive a bonus of $450 in their final paycheck of 2022.

As noted by Head of School Jennifer Price when she shared this news with faculty and staff in December, “I am so grateful not only for the generosity of BB&N parents, but also for the care and respect they show in making sure their gift is equitably distributed among all of you.

“This is a powerful testament to the amazing dedication of each and every one of you. Parents make the important decision to place their children in our care, and YOU are the biggest reason why they do that…. It is a privilege to work with each and every one of you.”

We’re delighted to share a few of the many expressions of gratitude posted by families on a Kudoboard as part of this gift initiative.

“Thank you for the hard work and patience you put in every day to provide our children with such a wonderful education. Each of our boys is very different, but all three are thriving at BB&N because of you. We are extremely grateful that they have the opportunity to learn and grow at BB&N.”

- JARED AND DANA KESSELHEIM P’27, ’29, ’32

“Thank you for being a supportive, approachable, and exciting environment for our daughter and for us as parents. BB&N is an alive and stimulating community and we enjoy being part of it tremendously.”

-

KARAMEH

KUEMMERLE P’19, ’28

“BB&N faculty and staff are amazing at supporting and encouraging students. My children have really found themselves and come out of their shells due to the safe space created by this wonderful community.”

- MICHAEL AND NAZMA ROSADO P’25, ’26

“Thank you for everything that you do to make this a kind and welcoming community for each one of us. Special thanks to those of you—coaches and teachers—who guide and mentor our children. And a huge shout out to everyone behind the scenes—facilities and dining services and administrators— who make this place run so smoothly.”

- KINGSLEY TAFT AND GILLIEN TODD P’20, ’25, ’25

“With endless thanks for all you do to meet the academic and social-emotional needs of our middle school students. We truly appreciate your commitment to inspiring a love of learning, as well as the time you take to get to know each student you serve.”

-

SUZIE TALUKDAR WHITE P’27

“Again this year, we send our heartfelt thanks to the incredible teachers, staff, and administrators at BB&N. The people are what make the school special. Each day, you show our kids what it means to be good citizens who care about each other and the world around them. We feel grateful to be part of a community that values compassion, curiosity, and creativity, and that finds so much joy in learning! Thank you!”

- THE CORNWALL/FARBSTEIN FAMILY

“Thank you, teachers and staff, for making BB&N a home away from home for our son as a new Knight this year. We are grateful for the everyday inspiration, challenge, encouragement, and of course, the fun toward greatness!”

- THE SHEN FAMILY

“Thank you to the wonderful teachers, staff, coaches and counseling office at BB&N. We are grateful for the fantastic learning, coaching, and life skills that our boys learn each day. We know how hard you work to make a difference every day.”

- ROBERT SCHERFKE AND JUHI DHAWAN P’23, ’25

“We are so grateful for everything you do in making BB&N such a fun, safe, and enriching space for the children to learn and grow. Your gentle touch in bringing out the best in our kids is a great gift.”

- THE CHETTY FAMILY

EVENTS RECAP SPECIAL SECTION

HOMECOMING

October 7-8, 2022

School spirit was on full display at Homecoming Weekend October 7 and 8. This year marked the first time that many Homecoming events took place at the new Grove Street Athletic Campus. Games against Governor’s Academy began on Friday with most of the games taking place on Saturday, including field hockey, volleyball, boys soccer, and football. Families and alumni/ae enjoyed beautiful weather, food trucks, and a spiritwear sale run by the Parents’ Association.

Henry Kasdon ’98 works the wheels of steel at Homecoming.

Natalie Rudnick ’23, Elizabeth Chin ’23, Preeya Patel ’23, Sophia Kahvejian ’23, Elsa Barclay ’23, Edlawit Zewde ’24, Nnema Epee-Bounya ’24, and Ja’Niya Ellcock-Crayton ’23

Avery Hart ’25 and Leena Wong ’25

The Varsity Football team in a huddle at Homecoming

Charlie Zarrow ’28 and family

Grey Locke ‘35 and Dustin Locke display some Knight spirit!

Students cheering on the games at Grove Street campus.

Christine Kahvejian P’23, ’26 and Princess Adeoye ’27

EVENTS RECAP SPECIAL SECTION

GOLDEN ALUMNI/AE LUNCHEON

46 Belmont Campus

October 20, 2022

The 2022 Golden Alumni/ae Luncheon was held in person for the first time since 2019. We welcomed back alumni/ae from the class years of 1943-1972 who had already celebrated their 50th reunion. BB&N Chief Learning Officer Jed Lippard spoke to the group about his role at the school. Lifelong friends and classmates Bob Ganz ‘43 and Bob Whitman ’43 were also honored for their work in creating and endowing the Archives Program Fund which covers the annual expenses of the BB&N Archives. Finally, Stephen Holmes ’55 offered a special blessing which included gratitude for the school’s “heritage of freedom and justice.”

Helen Chen ‘64, Harriet Foss Koch ‘45, Persis Gleason Laverack ‘45, Nancy Morse Torti ‘60, Lucy Robinson ‘64, and Basia Dziewanowski ‘66

Bob Ganz ‘43 and Bob Whitman ‘43

Photos by Josh Touster

Fred Good ‘64, Joseph McKeigue ‘64, Robert Franklin ‘64, Charles Dermenjian ‘64, and Stephen Holmes ‘55

Peter Henderson Smith ‘59, Mark DeVoto ‘57, and Dick Chalfan ‘60

Harriet Foss Koch ‘45 and Persis Gleason Laverack ‘45

Gordan Lunn ‘52, Alumni/ae Council, chatting with Bob Ganz ‘43 at the Golden Alumni/ae Luncheon.

Robert Truslow ‘54, Stephen Holmes ‘55, and David Murphy ‘72

EVENTS RECAP SPECIAL SECTION

HEAD OF SCHOOL ALUMNI/AE STOPS

Dr. Jennifer Price has been out and about visiting alumni/ae and hosting small gatherings near and far. Dr. Price enjoyed catching up with recent graduates at colleges in the Northeast as well as alumni/ae in Texas where she was attending an education conference. BB&N also hosted a reception in London on January 5 in connection with a Round Square Head of School Symposium.

ALUMNI/AE SPORTS REUNION

December 27, 2022

More than 35 alumni/ae arrived at the Nicholas Athletic Center with their skates and sticks on December 27, 2022 to take part in the Alumni/ae Hockey Game. Girls ice hockey coach Ed Bourget ’96 continues to keep this wonderful tradition alive. The alumni/ae in attendance ranged in class years from 1977-2022.

Abigail Rabeih ’21, Dr. Jennifer Price, Head of School, Dylan Higgins ’22, Jack Lichtenberger ’21, Daniel Wang ’22, and Kelsey Ji ’20 at the Princeton alumni/ae dinner

Jayden Personnat ’21, Gerson Personnat ’21, Christina Chaperon ’20, Andrew Zhao ’21, Dr. Jennifer Price, Head of School, Julia Shepard ’22, Maddie Huang ’22, Kira Tian ’22, and Siena Lerner-Gill ’21 at the Harvard alumni/ae dinner

Dr. Jennifer Price, Head of School, Jay Rourke ‘94, Jay Myers ‘03, Andrew Benson ‘03, and Natalie Zervas ‘01 at the 1974 Leadership Society Reception in Boston.

Leland Fidler ‘06, Dr. Price, Head of School, and Jake Kalick ‘06

Alex Hoder ’05, Dino Shiatis, Katherine Shiatis ’87, David Aserkoff ’88, Thor Nagel ’13, Dr. Jennifer Price, Head of School, Lucy Appleton ’82, Andrew Barraclough, Francesca Santucci ’12, and Brianna Smith ’10, Associate Director of Alumni/ae Engagement and Giving in London 2023

EVENTS RECAP SPECIAL SECTION

HEAD OF THE CHARLES

October 22-23, 2022

Four BB&N boats rowed in the Head of the Charles Regatta on October 23, and hundreds of parents, faculty and staff, friends, and alumni/ae came out to cheer them on. Dressed in BB&N sweatshirts and holding signs, the crowd cheered the boats on from the Boathouse. The Alumni/ae Programs Office also gave out cowbells and the fans used them to encourage the rowers as they came past the Eliot Bridge. The Women’s U17 four placed in the top half of their race and have qualified for next year’s regatta.

Boys Varsity Head Coach Adam Holland emphasized that the race is more about the experience and effort involved, not the results. “I want them to come off the water saying, ‘that was great.’ If they thought that was their best race then it was their best race.” No matter the results, racing in the Head of the Charles is a cornerstone memory for students rowing crew.

On Saturday evening, alumni/ae gathered at the BB&N Boathouse for the popular Head of the Charles Reception. Alumni/ae from a wide range of graduation years enjoyed appetizers and drinks while catching up with old friends, and former teachers and coaches.

Photos by Shawn Read

Arden Corine ‘22, Katherine White ‘22, Connie Yang ‘22, and Wendy Svatek, MS Science & Crew Coach

Ariane Schwartz ‘01, Alumni/ae Council Vice Chair, Jeannie Privitera ‘82, and Joelinda Coichy Johnson ‘07, Trustee and Alumni/ae Council Chair

Sophia Kahvejian ‘23, Enrica Parmigiani ‘24, Charlotte Trodden ‘24, Elizabeth Chin ‘23, and Emmy Lev ‘23

Jeff Emenaker, Volleyball Coach, Chris Flount-Barnes, Volleyball Coach, Michael Wyman P’05, Ellen Wyman ’72, P’05, David Wyman ’05, and Ethan Melone ’85

Klara Kuemmerle ‘18, Alex Evenchik ‘17, Jackson Lifford ‘17, and Owen Hakim ‘18

Brianna Smith ’10, Associate Director of Alumni/ae Engagement and Giving, Chuck Richard, Director of Athletics, Derek Papagianopoulos ’10, Taylor Richard ’14, Meredith Coburn ’03, and Kaeghan Kelly ’10, US Admissions

Richmond Holden III ‘01, Len Golden ‘68, Kathryn Kargman Holden ‘01, Che Edouard ‘10, and Linda Li ‘09

Lea Freiin von Hilgers ‘25, Ava Elliott ‘24, Lucy Forman ‘25, Annabelle Najarian ‘24

Max Conine ’24, Adrien Tabor ’24, Ali Gonzalez ’24, Elliot Johnson ’24, and Ben Surenian ’23

BB&N Community members at the Boathouse cheering on our rowers.

EVENTS RECAP SPECIAL SECTION

YOUNG ALUMNI/AE COFFEE

November 23, 2022

More than 60 recent graduates returned to campus for the Young Alumni/ae Coffee held in the Upper School Commons on November 23. Alumni/ae caught up with friends and faculty/staff.

Abigail Rabieh ’21 and Elliot Cless ’01, US Music

Brianna Smith ‘10, Associate Director of Alumni/ae Engagement and Giving, with Eli Waisburg ‘22

Dunia Sarkis ‘22, Paige Kemezis, US Science, and Sanya Goenka ‘22

Saffy Patel ‘22 and Steele Sternberg, US History

Ines Levy ’21, Ilsa Weinert ’21, and Abigail Rabieh ’21

Ja’Niya Ellcock-Crayton ‘23, Kate Furey ‘24, Maddie Hung ‘22, Kindyll Dorsey, US Associate Director of Athletics, Patricia Halliday ‘21, Madeline Egan ‘25

Julia Maimonis ’21 and Patricia Halliday ‘21

Nick Hayre-Perez ‘21 and Jean Klinger, US English

Michael Chapman, US Dean of Teaching and Learning, Nick Hayre-Perez ‘21, Priya Devavaram ‘21

Maddie Hung ‘22 with Sharon Krauss., US English.

CONGRATS ON 50, ANDREW!

With this issue, we pay tribute to Andrew Fletcher, associate director of communications at BB&N, for the fact that this represents the mind-blowing 50th under his editorship!

A colossal amount of work goes into each issue, working with many partners across the community, and Andrew always manages the process with great poise and humor. He instills

a wonderfully engaging voice and an intrinsic understanding of what makes BB&N tick into every single one of the 3,656 pages that make up these 50 issues.

Thanks for all your great work, Andrew—we in the BB&N community look forward to all the stories you’ll continue to share with us!

JOHN CROCKER, BROWNE & NICHOLS ’73: Lessons Learned Inside and Outside the Classroom Walls

by Roger Fussa

Finance professional John Crocker ’73 has a deep understanding of many things. That includes how planned gifts can allow donors to make charitable contributions while receiving immediate tax deductions and ongoing income. John knows about these gifts because he has had one at Harvard University, where he earned his B.A. in economics and an MBA. Recently, John established a charitable gift annuity (CGA) at BB&N, a type of a planned gift that provides him with fixed income for the rest of his life.

John has made outright gifts to BB&N for 23 consecutive years and now, 100% of his CGA’s face value counts toward his 50th reunion class gift. John will also give by serving on the reunion committee, work he knows from previous reunions. John attributes his loyalty to what he learned at B&N from teachers and mentors, classmates and friends. Contributing to his learning, he explains, were students with “a unique mix of backgrounds, attitudes, and experiences” relative to other independent schools.

In explaining his giving, John also mentions rowing, discipline, and legendary athletic director Jack Etter ’49. Tall, lanky, and long limbed, John left B&N with an oarsman’s build. That was providential because he characterizes himself in high school as athletically incompetent with zero ball skills. Laughing, John offers this: “I always say just throw a ball at a person, and if they can’t catch it, they should be a rower if they’re over a certain height.”

Added to his physique, John had the affable, team-oriented temperament highly suited for rowing. What he lacked entering the 9th grade—discipline—Mr. Etter readily provided. Mr. Etter “would tell you if he thought you were underperforming,” John recalls, adding: “Good coaches do that and they hold you accountable, but they also encourage you.” And at Bivouac, John received a life lesson in toughing it out as hurricane weather created a sea of mud worthy of a WWI battlefield. Without fires, the students ate out of cans, but, as John says, “when you’re with a group of people, you figure it out, and you get through it.”

At Harvard, a severe inner ear disease might have ended his rowing if not for this well-developed resilience and discipline. Along with that grit, John navigated Harvard with a keen appreciation of relationships. He made many friends and recalls one of them complaining, “I hate to walk through Harvard Yard with you because it takes 45 minutes, and it should take five.”

After graduation, John interned at Cambridge Associates where he learned about private equity, which became a lifelong avocation. John describes his career as a “zigzag roller coaster,” and stops have included managing directorships at Fortune 500 financial services firms, managing money, and co-founding a private funds advisory. While John would have plenty to share about finance in a talk with BB&N students, he might emphasize this: “Always be friendly to everybody and anybody because you can learn from them, and, hopefully, they will learn a little bit from you.”

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