BCD Today 2015

SPRING 2015

2014-2015 Board of Trustees Paige Smith Orloff PRESIDENT

Theodore Glockner ’82 VICE PRESIDENT

SPRING 2015

Christopher Ferrone TREASURER

Marianna Poutasse SECRETARY

Paul Lindenmaier EX-OFFICIO

B. Stephen Boyd Nancy Kalodner Lisa Kantor Daniel Lipson Colin Mathews Tom O’Neil Andrea Patel Ellen Perry Sarah Pitcher-Hoffman Alli Sheehan Mark Smith Cara Vermeulen Koethi Zan

Administration Paul Lindenmaier HEAD OF SCHOOL

Carmen Dockery Perkins

Upper School Arts Block students Rachel Kantor, Mimi Lipson, Clem Keats, and Max Kittredge demonstrate their creativity, concentration, and centering abilities, while throwing dinnerware in Ben Evan’s Ceramics class.

ASSOCIATE HEAD OF SCHOOL

Gwen Connolly DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

Alicia Rossie DIRECTOR OF ADMISSION & FINANCIAL AID

Editor: Joanne DelCarpine Design: John Neiner, 9’er Creative Printer: Quality Printing Company, Inc. Photography: John Dolan, Dennis Barron, Paul Lindenmaier, Sasha Sicurella, Alicia Rossie, Amanda Kane, Kevin Sprague ’81

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Contents Campus News BCD Arts Program Campus Renovations Alumni Events Alumni News & Profiles In Memoriam Class of 2015

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A Message from the Head of School Seven core values — originality, quality, respect, sustainability, community, wellness, and citizenship — provide clear guidance for everyone at BCD, as we engage in the shared responsibility of fostering each student’s growth while supporting his or her individual talents and passions. Two of these values frame much of the good work that has been occurring at BCD this year.

Originality: We provide learning activities that inspire creativity and thoughtful reflection in an environment where each student is nurtured, celebrated, and encouraged to take risks.

Quality: We promote academic excellence and scholarship so that each student can flourish and succeed through a vigorous curriculum and an extensive offering of arts and athletics.

In this issue of BCD Today, we share stories about our vibrant, expanded, and enhanced Arts program, with special emphasis on our new studios and a cadre of talented artist/ educators. We are also pleased to present the vision of the faculty, in collaboration with Board leadership and Flansburgh Architects, as we imagine a new library and learning commons; new music, performance, and band rooms; and the renovation of the first floor of Albright Hall. This work was framed by the clear and intentional direction provided by the 2009 Strategic Plan and the 2011 Master Facilities Plan. This year, by focusing on the quality and depth of our program, we are supporting teachers in their work to increase the scope of the writing program for our students. These stories reflect the expression of our values and speak to the relevance of our mission, the strength of our faculty and community, and our goals for the future of BCD. They demonstrate the passion with which we seek to advance the very best in each student, developing their skills, habits of mind, and creativity along the way.

I am proud of BCD and our amazing students, talented teachers, and engaged community members. With dedication and intention, we seek to build upon the legacies of those before us, committed to our mission and the future health and vitality of the school. If you have not returned to BCD in some time, I invite you to reconnect. Please share your stories, visit the campus, go to our website, and imagine how you may want to join us in our future endeavors.

In gratitude,

Paul Lindenmaier Head of School berkshirecountryday.org 1

Campus News Pathways Project Walkways, courtyards, and play spaces are essential to the quality of students’ daily experiences. Come rain, snow, or sunshine, BCD students are constantly moving around our campus. In the summer of 2014, a cacophony of jackhammers filled the air on campus as the Pathways Project was completed. The new courtyards, walkways, and green spaces were created by hardscapes designers Triad Associates Inc. of Haverhill, MA. These updates improve the School’s outdoor spaces both aesthetically and functionally. By better managing water runoff, they reduce the environmental impact of our campus on surrounding properties and the Stockbridge Bowl. Plus they simply look beautiful!

Boiler In the fall of 2014, a long overdue update to our campus was realized. Thanks to a generous donor BCD’s ancient and enormous main boilers, which ran on oil and served Oakes, Ryan, Peseckis, Furey, and Peterson Halls, have been replaced. Our new system consists of two small, high-efficiency (97%!) Viessmann propane boilers. BCD has already realized a savings from this new equipment. Comparing the costs from midOctober through mid-December, which had a comparable temperature range, BCD spent over $11,000 on oil in 2013, compared to $6,000 for gas in 2014.

Vertical 1-2 Classroom The Vertical 1-2 classroom is off to a wonderful start. The class consistently responds with enthusiasm to opportunities for cooperative learning, and each student is making meaningful connections to all aspects of the curriculum at their respective levels. Recent science presentations on our Rocks, Sand and Soil unit provided the students with a challenging forum

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to exhibit their mastery of the subject with confidence. The whole class has also demonstrated great motivation to write both prose and poetry and to share their work, with poise and mutual encouragement, with each other, their parents, and the school community. The students in this multi-age Vertical 1-2 class have set high expectations for their own learning and intellectual growth.

Each day, from the morning message to the closing circle, the children continue to support, learn from, and enjoy each other.

Festival of Trees Learning is like a safari because learning is a journey. It can be hard, and as you go on, it can get harder, like hiking a mountain achieving higher levels of success. If you stick with the journey, you will see and learn some new things.—Grade 3 students.

In December, BCD participated in the Berkshire Museum’s Festival of Trees.

This year’s theme was “On Safari,” and Sasha Sicurella involved multiple grades in producing a tree that highlights the journey of learning and discovery. As part of the process, student and faculty were asked to write a few sentences about how students are “explorers,” classes are “safaris,” and what in life has been an “exciting find.” The end result was a collaborative effort of writings, sound bites, and photographs describing how the quest for knowledge and discovery is like a safari.

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Writing Program Update

Theater Arts Program BCD’s new theater director, forging a new partnership When Sara Katzoff joined the faculty to lead the Theater Program for Grades 1 through 9, a new creative partnership with BCD was forged. Sara is the co-artistic director of Bazaar Productions and The Berkshire Fringe, which are dedicated to shifting the cultural landscape of the Berkshires and championing a new generation of theater artists through high quality original performances and live events.

The Berkshire Fringe is a summer festival of new performances that increase opportunity and provides both recognition and resources to emerging artists and ensembles from across the globe, throughout the United States and right here in the Berkshires. Since its inception in 2005, Bazaar Productions and The Berkshire Fringe have produced

and presented over 130 original works of theater, dance, new music, contemporary opera, and multi-media performances.

A theater maker, writer, and performer, Sara has spent the last decade devising, developing, and curating new work for the stage. Off campus, her recent projects include: Everywoman (University at Albany), This Generation, My Generation (Barrington Stage’s Playwright Mentorship Program), and WAM Theater’s 10X10on10 (in collaboration with the Upstreet Arts Festival). Under her leadership at BCD, the Upper School Theater Ensemble adapted her original play The Stalk: A Climbing Tale inspired by Jack the Giant Slayer and Other Lore; the Grades 5 & 6 Co-Curricular Theater Workshop participants adapted The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; Grade 3 presented PAPAGAYO, an original workshop production inspired by Gerald McDermott’s book; and students in the Music Writing for Performance arts block course collaborated with the Upper School Theater Ensemble to create an original theater piece titled OffMap. This spring, we are looking forward to a Grade 4 theater workshop, a Grades 1 & 2 theater workshop, and an Upper School Theater Ensemble production of The Tempest by William Shakespeare.

Sara has worked with students of all ages, elementary through college. A graduate of the Dell’Arte International, Sara holds a B.A in performance studies from Bard College at Simon’s Rock, and she is a member of the Actor’s Equity Association.

In the spring of 2014, the Board of Trustees, in conjunction with BCD’s administration, put forth several strategic initiatives including the following: Improve BCD’s core curriculum, with an initial focus on the humanities and writing mastery.

In the planning of the 2014-2015 academic year, several program enhancements were made to support this initiative.

Additional instructional periods focusing exclusively on the writing process were added to the middle and upper school Humanities curricula. The breadth and depth of the curriculum tie directly with the faculty’s expectation that BCD students will become both critical thinkers and strong writers. The two to three supplementary writing periods per week are devoted to supporting the refinement of students’ compositions. This time has allowed our faculty to delve more deeply into the writing process, fostering their students’ creativity and honing their skills. From research papers to persuasive essays, students are deft in their ability to construct and defend an argument.

Their creative writing is equally adroit, as they are frequently charged to stretch themselves and write from different points of view and experiences.

The ultimate goal is for all disciplines to embrace writing across the curriculum.

Currently, students are writing persuasive essays in science classes, research papers in history class, investigative articles in world language classes, and creative writing, critical text analysis, and expository compositions in their English courses. This detailed study helps students develop an understanding and appreciation of the nuances of different types of writing.

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BCD’s Arts Program

In Phil Knoll’s Upper School drawing class, Ruby and Michelle, two 9th grade students, are turning an in-class drawing assignment into a full body activity. The girls sprawl across enormous sheets of paper on opposite sides of a long, low table. They make marks with soft pencils, occasionally using their fingers or the heel of their hand to soften the texture of a line. Class has just begun, and an oil painting class (taught by Tom O’Neil) is still cleaning up, but despite the hubbub, the students’ focus never wanes.

Meanwhile, across the hall, Ben Evans is teaching an Upper School ceramics class; his students are examining glaze tests for the tableware they’re building. Next door in the mixed media studio, Max Spitzer is displaying the design projects just completed by his sculpture students.

Evans, Spitzer, O’Neil, and Knoll are four of BCD’s newest art teachers. Evans is a local ceramicist and educator, who is drawn to geometry and structure; Spitzer, a recent RISD graduate and Hudson-based sculptor, luthier and teacher, is experienced in a variety of media and processes, from mold making to oil painting to ceramics to woodworking; O’Neil is an internationally-exhibited abstract painter, whose colorful work often arises from the tension between intention and chance; and Knoll creates humorous

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figurative drawings and paintings—some included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. While two of the four happen to be current parents, it’s their lives as full-time professional artists, and their ability and willingness to examine their own artistic processes alongside students, which make them perfect prototypes for teachers in BCD’s new studio-based arts program.

Head of School Paul Lindenmaier, at the Board of Trustees’ direction, created the program last spring, hoping to

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Editor’s note: For more on the transformation of the art studios, see “More than Time and Space” on page 7. *Examples of independent studies referred to in this article can be found at:

www.aep-arts.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/AEP-Wire-catterall.pdf www.nasaa-arts.org/Publications/critical-evidence.pdf

expand opportunities for student creativity and enhance what program coordinator Sasha Sicurella describes as their “artistic toolkit.”

Research backs up the school’s decision to examine and refocus its art education. A multitude of independent studies* indicates that studying both fine and performing arts positively affects everything from cognitive reasoning to confidence and character. Participation in art education in the elementary years has even been shown to correlate to higher performance on the SAT test later.

Sicurella is eager to explain the purposeful design of the new program. “It was really important that our faculty were working artists. The students form a different relationship with an artist who’s working alongside them,” as opposed to a more traditional art teacher. It’s also critical that students have agency in shaping their creative projects. One of the ways Sicurella judges the success of the program is to encourage students to create their own assignments. “If they jump to do that, I know it’s working,” she asserts.

Phil Knoll embraces this way of teaching. In his Upper School drawing classes, he offers students a range of techniques such as tracing, sketching basic shapes, and drawing with charcoal and water, and then encourages them to apply this “creative toolkit” to any subjects that engage them. As a result, on one recent winter afternoon students were drawing everything from abstract patterns, to optical illusions, to large-scale portraits of familiar cartoon characters. One seventh grader, tackling a particularly complex drawing, sought Mr. Knoll’s counsel.

At BCD, says Head of School Paul Lindenmaier, “The goal was to expand the culture of creativity by connecting our program to art and artists in the larger community, and to allow our students to create in well-appointed and materials-rich spaces. Art is a critical tool in achieving BCD’s philosophy of encouraging excellence, creativity, and strong character, while supporting the School’s values of quality, originality, and citizenship.”

To these ends, Lindenmaier spent much of last spring meeting with local artists and leaders of arts organizations.

After selecting local artist and arts educator Sicurella to coordinate the program, Lindenmaier began working with her and facilities director Dan Lee to turn the two art classrooms on the second floor of Furey Hall into three medium-specific studio spaces. On the west side of the building, the old Lower School art room has been converted into a fully-functioning Ceramics Studio, and the larger space on the east side of the building now houses a Drawing & Painting studio and an adjoining Sculpture & Mixed Media studio.

“I’ll help you sketch out the basic shapes,” he offered, and then leaned over next to the student to discuss what those shapes should be.

What about the younger students? Their curriculum has also been redesigned to allow deep engagement with different ways of making, viewing, and understanding art through working with teaching artists. Ben Evans’ berkshirecountryday.org 5

kindergarten students are constructing ceramic houses, which they design, assemble, and glaze with his counsel and support. Sculptor Max Spitzer’s fifth grade students are preparing for an upcoming field to trip MassMOCA by collaborating on their own version of a Sol Lewitt wall drawing. When the fourth graders asked to learn digital animation, Spitzer designed a project that allows the children to work both collaboratively and individually to create characters and backgrounds for the project.

The collaborative, hands-on approach to teaching art reflects Sicurella’s commitment to giving students the tools they need to have a confident relationship with “both the experimental and technical aspects” of making art. “When kids leave after 9th grade at BCD,” she says, “they’ll leave knowing they can problem solve, visualize, and articulate things creatively. They can be engineers or artists!” she exclaims. Eventually, she says, she hopes the curriculum will expand to allow students deeper exploration and integration of multiple media—to make films out of their drawings or design sets for performances, for example.

Ingenuity on display in the upper school drawing class seems to support Sicurella’s prediction, and her hopes.

While Michelle continues to refine her complex abstract drawing, Ruby is constructing a masking tape truss to hold her smart phone; she wants to shoot a time lapse video of the large scale portrait she’s creating. “Whatever they draw,” says Knoll, “I tell them to make it theirs. I’m giving them tools I use every day in my own studio.” What 6 Spring 2015

will they make with them? That’s their decision. “Draw whatever you want!” he exults. “But whatever you draw— make it your own!”

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More Than Time & Space

In discussions with Paul Lindenmaier about revising the curriculum for the Visual Art studios in the 2014-15 school year, our goal was to create a program rooted, both conceptually and structurally, in the practices and processes of a working Art Studio.

It was important to recognize the relationship between the physical space and this philosophy. As such, three distinct spaces, the Ceramics Studio, the Drawing and Painting Studio, and the Mixed Media Studio, were created to function as laboratories for cumulative learning of specific art disciplines.

Our Kindergarten through Grade 6 students make the rounds of these studios over the course of the year, concentrating on a different medium and engaging with a different teaching artist each trimester.

For Upper School students, Arts Block offerings provide advanced instruction by locally and nationally renowned working artists in Drawing, Painting, Sculpture, and Ceramics. Our students have unique opportunities to hone their craft alongside these experienced teachers.

One of the most exciting spacial transformations was the conversion of Furey Hall’s small art room into a fullyequipped Ceramics Studio. A trap sink, kiln ventilation, slab roller, ware cart, wedging table, and other accessories were added to BCD’s eight pottery wheels and two kilns.

This new space allows students to explore a wide variety of processes and techniques such as hand-building, wheel throwing, surface decoration, traditional glazing, and smoke firing.

Creative possibilities were also expanded in the Drawing & Painting Studio. This

open-concept atelier for two-dimensional media houses an array of materials and tools for both traditional and experimental drawing, painting, printmaking, and collage. A ‘still life corner’ contains a cabinet of inspirational curiosities, while the addition of wooden stand-up easels, table-top easels, and nine new ‘drawing horses’ allow for broadened physical approaches to art making.

Finally, the Mixed Media Studio is an ideal area for large, messy work. Stocked with found, collected, and accumulated materials, the space encourages threedimensional experimentation in a safe and accessible way. This studio was created by sectioning off an area of the large art room.

The revised floorplan permits two classes to occur simultaneously in this space.

Visual Art at BCD is alive with fresh ideas, open minds, and passionate young artists

who are able to explore art making in an inspiring environment. We invite visitors to stop by and see our dynamic program in action!

Sasha Sicurella Visual Arts Program Coordinator

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Campus Renovations

The Kevin Hirt Library & Learning Commons: View from Entry

BCD’s Master Facilities Plan of 2011 outlined a fifteen-year strategy to preserve and upgrade the School’s physical plant. In June of 2014, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to hire Boston-based Flansburgh Architects to complete the initial phases of design for some of the School’s priority facilities projects. These include the new Library and Learning Commons, the new Music and Band Rooms, and a repurposing of Albright Hall’s first floor to accommodate Reception, Admission, and the Nurse’s Office.

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FUREY HALL RENOVATIONS

The Kevin Hirt Library and Learning Commons To prepare for our changing world, every BCD student develops proficiencies in core subject areas while expanding his or her knowledge and skills in global awareness and civic competence; information management and media literacy; communications and collaboration; and creativity and critical thinking. In order to support the development of these critical skills, a new Library and Learning Commons will be created to establish a central resource for all of our students and faculty.

Designed to occupy what is currently the music room and stage in Furey Hall, the Library and Learning Commons will be multi-level and provide dedicated areas for all age groups– a reading area for younger children, a central open floor plan which can double as a meeting space, and a glass-enclosed Distance Learning classroom. Portions of the ceiling may be opened to a newly glazed wall in the Art Studios above, allowing for a visual connection between the two spaces.

Music and Band Rooms BCD’s music program is exemplary in its breadth for students at every grade level. From Preschool through Middle School, all students participate in a general music program designed to cultivate their abilities and basic skills. Beginning in Grade 1, students participate in the Lower or Middle School Chorus, and have the opportunity to pursue private music instruction; Grades 4 through 6 may elect to join the Middle School Band.

Upper School students select from a range of elective courses such as digital music composition, guitar ensemble, vocal ensemble, Jazz Band, and more.

The Music and Performance Room, housed in the existing band room at the east end of Furey Hall, will feature a stage and enough column-free floor space to seat up to 100 people for performances. The east wall will feature windows looking out to our iconic pond and pines.

The proposed Band Building and Gallery are freestanding structures connected to the Music room. This is the only new construction in the design. The gallery would be a flexible space in its own right, allowing for its use as a reception area. If completed during this first phase, the Music Room, Gallery and Band Building could be offered for public performances, expanding and enhancing our connection to the Berkshire community.

visitors and current families in a spacious Reception room that includes a waiting area. The Admission Office and the Nurse’s Office would be adjacent to Reception, with generous glazed openings facing the south playing fields and Route 183. With their proximity to the main entrance, classrooms, and playing fields, the design of these three components ties them directly to the life of the school.

Reception, Admission, School Nurse The plans for the ground floor of Albright Hall include removing the existing library and repurposing this space for Reception and Administration areas. The storage area that currently looks out onto the playing fields and Route 183 would be renovated to house the Admission and the Nurse’s offices. The design would also allow the exterior of the structure to echo the original look of Brook Farm, with its south-facing porch on the front of the building.

The process by which the architects and the school arrived at the current design solutions involved a period of workshops and meetings this past fall and winter. Several groups were involved in these workshops including the Buildings & Grounds Committee, faculty representatives from each division, staff members, and a student group. Flansburgh’s principal-in-charge Kelley Banks, and project architect Madeleine Le, have been on campus for workshops with these groups, and have presented their work to the entire staff. The architects have also led field trips to other schools with similar programs.

For continuing updates on these proposed improvements and other BCD stories, please see Paul Lindenmaier’s blog. http://berkshirecountryday.org/category/head-of-school/ Architect, BCD Trustee, and Building & Grounds committee chair Mark Smith contributed to this article.

ALBRIGHT HALL RENOVATION:

Albright Hall is the gateway to the School. The layout of the building would be reorganized after the library is moved to Furey Hall. The ultimate goal is to bring Reception, Admission, and the Nurse down to the main level of the building, and create a more clearly defined entry sequence.

A large opening facing the entry foyer would welcome

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The Preschool Program The Reggio Approach

BCD’s preschool program is inspired by the renowned and innovative approach of early childhood schools in the city of Reggio Emilia, Italy. The highlights of our approach are child-centered learning, symbolic and transformational thinking, recognizing and supporting the many languages of the child, relationships, and the environment as a teacher. BCD’s preschool students construct meaning through play and discovery.

My teaching partner, Vicky Sideropoulos, and I support child-centered learning, thinking, and transformative, innovative behaviors with a rich environment of natural, multi-sensory materials. We help children to organize and plan their play, and we generate ideas for themes to extend their learning. We also model discovery strategies through intentional queries. “What if…?” kinds of question starters encourage divergent, open-ended thinking.

Children develop socially and emotionally through emerging relationships with one another and with our environment. The natural world also supports concept and skills development in math and language

arts. BCD’s wonderful campus encourages learning in boundless ways by providing stimulation of all the senses and multiple opportunities to see relationships in our world.

Young children naturally communicate in many different ways, using the languages of words, the visual arts, music, movement and dance. Vicky and I guide the children as they find their many voices; using words to describe the texture of bark; transforming bird song to lines, patterns and colors in art; recreating the ripples of pebbles in the pond through movement and dance; practicing multiple ways to communicate feelings and to resolve conflicts; and using open-ended toys to encourage transformative, adaptive, creative thinking.

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The Reggio approach sees children as capable, competent, and able to construct meaning in their world. It is an attitude that promotes active learning. It values unstructured time to allow discoveries to unfold at the child’s pace. It is a physical environment that invites queries and exploration. It is what we want for our children.

Amanda Kane Reggio Specialist

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Oral Interpretation GREEK

1st Place . Alex Lederman ’15 INTERMEDIATE POETRY

1st Place . Sam Ferrone ’16 NOVICE POETRY

3rd Place . Fiona Ferrone ’17 Certamen LATIN 2

1st Place . BCD Team: Sam Ferrone ’16, Alex Lederman ’15, Julian Lindenmaier ’15, & Evan Sylbert ’15 LATIN 1

1st Place . BCD Team: Alex Currie ’17, Ria Kedia ’17, Finn Mathews ’16, & Toby Van Schaick ’16 MYTH

1st Place . BCD Team: Sam Ferrone ’16, Finn Mathews ’16, Tibor Lazar ’16, & Taylor Slonaker ’16

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CLASSICS DAY 2015 AWARD WINNERS

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Classics Day

According to her students, Mrs. Fawcett enjoys “Rock-Star status” and the reputation of “The Teacher to Beat” at the annual Classics Day at Mount Holyoke College.

This event, organized by the Pioneer Valley Classics Association, celebrates all things Greek and Roman. Every middle school and high school student present must attend a workshop and enter one of the contests, which are conducted

by Classics professors and graduate students. Individuals memorize and recite specific Latin passages for the Oral Interpretation Contest, make and wear a costume for the Costume Contest, or create a Greek or Roman themed painting, mosaic, sculpture or model for the Art Contest. Schools may also enter teams of four in the Latin and mythology certamina, which are run like quiz bowls.

Year after year, Mrs. Fawcett’s 7th, 8th, and 9th grade Latin students come away with a long list of winning entries, presentations, and teams; 2015 was no exception. We congratulate each of our participating students, and say “Congratulationes, Mrs. Fawcett!”

Art Contest MOSAICS

1st Place . Fiona Ferrone ’17 2nd Place . Alex Currie ’17 MODEL

2nd Place . Isis Hoag ’17 3rd Place . Hayley Syrette ’16 PAINTING/DRAWING

3rd Place . Nina Renkert ’17

Annual Fund Donations Support: Teacher Salaries • Arts • Athletics Campus Facilities • Advanced Curriculum Music • Field Trips • Technology • Assemblies

Costume Contest 2nd Place . Diba De ’17 (as Vesta)

Every student benefits from your Annual Fund donation.

Please consider giving online at www.berkshirecountryday.org/giving

by June 30, 2015.

Give every year. Make a difference every day. berkshirecountryday.org 11

Alumni Panel Fond memories and life lessons This year, as in years past, a group of BCD alumni gathered in Fitzpatrick Hall for Thanksgiving Soup to visit and celebrate the day and the common bond that connects them. Earlier in the day, four alumni spent time with our Upper School students to reflect on their experience at BCD and share how being a member of the BCD community has shaped their lives.

Noah Elkin attended BCD for 11 years, PreschoolGrade 9. He attended Columbia University in NYC for college, and graduate school at Rutgers University.

Noah holds a PhD in Latin American History. He lived abroad in Italy in high school, and in Brazil during graduate school. After graduating from Rutgers, Noah went to work NOAH ELKIN ’84 for an internet publishing BCD is a touchstone of company, and then for a our lives. number of different digital marketing companies. Now he works for a NYC based company that focuses on digital marketing research. He researches, writes and presents about how people all around the world are using the internet. Noah lives locally with his wife and two children; his son, Max and daughter, Zora attend BCD.

FINAL THOUGHT: “Whatever you go on to do as adults, things that you did here will always be something you share with your friends from BCD.”

LIFE LESSONS: “At BCD I learned that you never stop learning. I think the ability to question is something that is fundamentally important the older you get. I also think the emphasis at BCD to write and to organize your ideas, to think in a structured way, and to be able to analyze and question your sources is very important.”

FOND MEMORIES: “Listening to stories in Mr. Fawcett’s class. And in Mrs. Meyer’s 5th grade history class we mummified chickens and then floated them down the little stream that runs through campus! That was the funniest and best memory I have.”

FOND MEMORIES: “I have so many memories of my 11 years at BCD. Many of my classmates are still my friends today. I am so incredibly fortunate to have been at a place that fostered those kinds of relationships.”

FINAL THOUGHT: “In general, BCD is the foundation from which you can build a monument of yourself.”

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Emily Yeager attended BCD for 4 years, Grades 5-8. She is currently a sophomore at the Williston Northampton School. She is co-president of the community services club, plays 3 varsity sports, and is taking 6 courses including 2 sciences. She is meeting a lot of great people, and will be traveling to Montreal later this year on a trip that is part EMILY YEAGER ’13 of her French program.

LIFE LESSONS: “Work hard and enjoy every moment of your life. Focus on the present.”

BCD is the building blocks. It’s the foundation of your life and your education.

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LIFE LESSONS: “My love of reading and the ability to write - that opened doors for me. Also the value of honesty and the importance of persistence. Being honest sounds easy, but in life you are going to be faced with ethical problems and challenges where it is difficult to make the right choice. You are going to be happier in the long run if you are honest.”

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across to students.

Hunter McCormick was at BCD 2S for four years.

Then he went on to Stone Hill College. While in college he started a parttime job with the Boy Scouts national office in their retail sales division.

Shortly before graduating from college, he was promoted to the National Executive staff based out of Texas and he worked in Boston. In 2010 he came back to service Berkshire County and now covers Western Massachusetts as the Assistant Chief Operations Officer.

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Charlie Starks attended BCD Grades 1-8. He went to public high school and then attended college. In 1990 he became a postal inspector, which is the law enforcement arm of the postal service.

They investigate all crimes involving mail. After 16 years as a postal inspector Charlie transferred to the office of HUNTER CHARLIE STARKS ’69 the inspector general and MCCORMICK ’05 2S was a special agent for six I had a lot of great teachers at BCD. Mr. years. He was a specialist in I spent the first nine embezzlement investigations, years at public school.

Bemis was excellent I came to BCD for at getting that love of and a national trainer in his specialty for six years. high school, and the literature & reading

academic expectations were significantly greater. I’m convinced that was a major factor LIFE LESSONS: “While I was at BCD I really developed in me being prepared a greater sense of creative for college.

problem solving. I learned a lot about the whole process of compromise and working with lots of different individuals and personalities. I work in human services, FOND MEMORIES: “My favorite English teacher, Mr. mostly with volunteers. I try to develop a relationship Bemis, and my best friend, Sam Barrett. Also, my love of with each person so as to give them a feeling of selfreading. I still remember that box of color-coded stories.” worth, that they are making a contribution.”

FINAL THOUGHT: “Be open, try new stuff. Take the opportunity to explore and say ‘WOW! I really like that. I’m going to figure out a way to make that a part of my life.’ ”

FOND MEMORIES: “When we were seniors at the BCD high school we could go into town in our free periods.

I went with my good friend Tarsi to the Lenox roasting house, and then we decided to play Ping-Pong. Tarsi didn’t do well with caffeine and wasn’t a very good Ping-Pong player so I trounced her.”

FINAL THOUGHT: “Cherish the friendships and the connections that you make while you are here at BCD. They’ll stay with you for the rest of your life.”

Thanks to Deb Jaferian for her work on this article.

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Alumni Traditions Thanksgiving Soup and Alumni Master Classes BCD has been carrying on our unique tradition of Thanksgiving Soup since 1980. Begun as one classroom’s version of the classic story Stone Soup, the event has grown into an all-school celebration of sharing and community, as well as an annual reunion of alumni. Ingredients are donated by students, parents prepare the soup, and the entire community of students, faculty and staff, parent volunteers, and visiting alumni share the meal on the day before Thanksgiving Break. This year, more than 75 former students joined us.

Alumni were invited to campus the morning of Soup to reexperience two of BCD’s beloved teachers in our first annual Alumni Master Classes Series. English teacher Jim Fawcett offered a discussion of The Parsley Garden by William Saroyan, and History teacher Ned Douglas considered NY Times Op-Ed columnist Nicholas Kristof’s article When Whites Just Don’t Get It. Afterwards, Mr. Douglas said, “The discussion was rich, and

I really enjoyed the opportunity to hear from adults about the issue.” Mr. Fawcett and Mr. Douglas were both thrilled to have the opportunity to engage with their former students.

Our next Alumni Master Classes and Thanksgiving Soup are scheduled for Tuesday, November 24, 2015. Look for an e-invitation, and an announcement on Facebook, in late October.

Homecoming Weekend 2014 at Brook Farm and Bousquet In September, BCD hosted our second annual Homecoming Weekend. We began the festivities on Saturday with a morning walkabout of campus for alumni and their families. BCD’s nature enrichment teacher Aimee Gelinas led our group through a series of activities exploring life in and around the pond. Afterwards, we had a tour of campus and walk down memory lane as our former students fondly recalled their time here. The evening cocktail party in the library had 25 attendees from the classes of 1965 through 1986, some parents of alums, and faculty. Mr. and Mrs. Zeif told wonderful stories about the year they ran the Spring Fair, Noah Elkin and Suzannah Van Schaick were thrilled to see Nick Macioge, and Charlie Starks’ wife Karen got a kick out of seeing his 8th grade yearbook photos.

Alumni celebrating ‘big’ reunion years (10th, 15th, 20th, etc.) were encouraged to

14 Spring 2015

plan a special gathering for the weekend of Homecoming, and Barbara Sandick ’64 O’Kane wrote back right away asking if Bousquet was an option. The ski area was happy to oblige, reminding us that BCD has been using their slopes for Ski Fridays since the school opened nearly 70 years ago. Barbara, Elizabeth Beautyman, Frank McGruer, Charlie Starks and Judith Collins enjoyed a lunch buffet in the lodge, laughed over their yearbook photos, recalled other classmates and teachers, shared many “Remember when…” conversations, and finally took a ride on Bousquet’s scenic chairlift, reveling in the spectacular view of the foliage.

Mark your calendar for this year’s Homecoming, scheduled for the weekend of September 26. Classes celebrating ‘big’ reunions (we’ll call them 5’s and 0’s, for the last numeral of their graduation year) are encouraged to contact the alumni desk to plan your special gathering. Email: alumni@berkshirecountryday.org

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Alumni News

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While the main purpose of BCD Today is to spotlight what is happening at the School here and now, the updates and memories of our alumni remind us that our history shapes who we are today. If you have updates or memories you would like to share, please email alumni@berkshirecountryday.org.

1950 Class Agent: Lila Wilde Berle

James Hart writes, “I live on the west coast, Oceanside, CA.”

1951 Class Agent Needed

Fran Colt Schneidau says, “Now heading into my 38th year with WCBS Newsradio 880 NYC! Lordy! 5 years prior to that, with WICC in Bridgeport, CT- and before that, 5 years as a stockbroker working on Wall Street.

Some life. I love radio, and working at WCBS is wonderful beyond belief.

Proud to be among the first graduates of BCD. Back then the school merged the 7th and 8th grades. I was the sole 8th grader! I loved this school, and remember so dearly 5th grade teacher Mrs. Cowhig who taught me and everyone else in the class so very, very well. She was one of a kind....Best to all....Fran”

1957 Class Agent: Susan Bisacca McNinch

1960 Class Agent: Donald Gulick

1961 Class Agent: William Barrett

1962 Class Agent Needed

Betsy Cassel Randall writes, “I’m married for 45 years to Keith, who makes me laugh every day. We live nearby to our 3 delightful adult children, and 2 adorable grandchildren. I retired 3 years ago after a 38-year career as a social worker at the VA Boston Healthcare System. I am thoroughly enjoying each day of good health, and hoping all my former BCD classmates are doing well.”

Peter Wheelwright says, “Still Associate Professor at Parsons School of Design in NYC, still working on the newest novel, and still keeping in touch with classmate pals Geoff Clifford, Church Davis, Sally Underwood plus a few stragglers from other classes...and still missing Johnny Rowland, BCD’s fireballing lefty from ’62.”

1963 Class Agents: Churchward Davis, Jr., Paul Denzel

1964 Class Agents: Elizabeth Beautyman, Frank MacGruer

1965 Class Agent: William Campbell

1966 Class Agent: Tom Rich

1968 Class Agents: Jonathan R. Aronoff, Dale Pinkham Cavanaugh, Renee Rutkowski Junewicz

1969 Class Agents: Molly Kapteyn Boxer, Paula Leuchs Moats, Cynthia P. Spencer

Cynthia Spencer shares, “My husband and I continue our westward migration which began in Boston with stops in Madison, WI and Scottsdale, AZ. Our next stop is Palo Alto, as he will be an Associate Dean at Stanford Medical School and Chief Medical Officer at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital there. We have really enjoyed life among the cactus and coyotes, but are looking forward to this next adventure.

I have been doing fundraising as an independent consultant, and hope to continue with that work in Palo Alto.

Our 24-year-old son is living and working in Minneapolis, our 23-year-old son is working at Beaver Creek for the winter and will be working on Cape Cod for the summer. Our daughter is a junior at Union College in Schenectady, NY, and will also be working in Wellfleet, MA this summer. Needless to say, we log many air and land miles staying in touch with them and other family and friends. I feel lucky to be able to spend a week or two each summer in the Berkshires where my siblings and their families still live.”

1970 Class Agents: Lisa Alberti, Barbara J. Cooperman, Jonathan A. Fletcher, Ada Seyffer Patterson

Lisa Alberti says, “In December, I had a wonderful visit from Amanda Aldrich O’Bannon. We have been friends since fifth grade at BCD! She and her

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daughter Lucy came and visited us in NYC. Old friendships are the best!”

Jim Brooke writes, “In July, I wound up 4 years as Russia Bureau Chief for Voice of America and moved from Moscow to Cambodia. After 8 Russian winters, the climate change was welcome. But also the mood change. For the last year, Putin has been dragging his country down an increasingly xenophobic, anti-Western, authoritarian path. In contrast Cambodia, “the Kingdom of Wonder,” was recently rated by users of the Rough Travel Guide as the friendliest country in the world.

Here I edit the Khmer Times, Cambodia’s youngest and fastest growing newspaper.

In the last five months, I have taken the newspaper from weekly to three times a week, added a Khmer language insert, and brought to Cambodia the comic strips Garfield and Calvin. Banner headline: “The Cat Prowls Angkor Wat!” If classmates come to Cambodia — river trips up the Mekong to Angkor are popular — drop anchor in Phnom Penh and let’s catch up! jimbrookecambodia@gmail.com I also get to the Berkshires regularly — next trip: Feb. 1 for my twin sons’ Middlebury graduation.”

seniors with Alzheimer’s disease to stay communicative and interactive, and to help them prepare to die in peace. Stacey works both with individual seniors and their families, as well as on a consulting basis with nursing and rehab facilities.

Mark Arienti says, “My wife Anna Louise Englund and I have a new son, named Anders Englund Arienti, who was born on March 23, 2014. Anders and his big sister Caitlyn and big brother Teddy live in Portland, Maine with our dog Blue.”

Curt Buttenheim relocated to Las Vegas where he’s worked for the past 25 years.

1976

Jane Whittlesey Winn says, “I am an environmental activist with Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT) working to protect the environment for wildlife, in support of the natural world that sustains us all. Currently working to stop the fracked gas pipeline proposed to run across the Berkshires and hill towns of western MA.”

Class Agents: Timolin Cole Augustus, Ben Barrett, Dan Braun, Josh Braun, Kelton Burbank, Patricia M Buttenheim, Virginia Deely Halstrom, Gregg Petricca, Mary Potter See

1973 Class Agent: Byron Walker

Lowell Paddock is now living in Singapore, and his daughter Lucy is a freshman at Hotchkiss.

Patty Buttenheim recently summited Mount Kilimanjaro (19,341 ft.) in Tanzania with four friends. She is on to her next adventure in 2015!

1971 Class Agents: Daniel Gibson, Frank Kittredge, Jr.

1977

Aurelia C. Scott is, “still loving life in Portland, Maine. It’s a great little city. I’m plugging away on a new novel, set in a slightly altered 19th century. More on this next time, I hope. Meanwhile, a group of us master gardeners were honored with a proclamation by the Portland mayor for a shoreline organic garden we maintain that demonstrates what can be achieved without herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers. Photo with the mayor and all the ceremony was a kick. And the gardens really are beautiful.”

1972 Class Agents: Nina L. Aronoff, Sue Cooperman Cox, Fredi Steven-Hubbard Hungate, Nina Ryan

Stacey Brown Hand was recently certified as a Level 1 Validation Worker (see vfvalidation.org). This is a method, which was developed by Naomi Feil, using empathy and respect to maintain dignity and health among elders with dementia.

It enables workers to help very old

16 Spring 2015

Ben Barrett shares, “My business, Berkshire Veneer, has just finished installing a 15 kW photovoltaic array on the roof of my building here in Egremont, which will supply the electric needs for my business as well as our residence in totality. And last year, we applied for and received a grant from the state of Massachusetts to upgrade our wood boiler to a high efficiency, wood burning gasification unit that heats my business exclusively with wood. The new system burns much less wood and is keeping us warmer, so my back is very happy!”

Class Agents: Catherine Clucas, Eric Hudson, Christopher J. Kittredge, Julia Lord

1978 Class Agents: Kate Kapteyn Baldwin, Holly Harwood Ellerton, Elizabeth England, John Fawcett, Mark McInerney

1979 Class Agents: Elisa Blanchard, Carolyn Butler, Jennifer Greenfield, Matthew Wohl

John Kittredge ’73 with his family. Both of John’s sons are “BCD lifers.”

1974 Class Agents: Adam Begley, Alan Cooperman, Mitchell Nash, Hannah Toffey Peters

1975 Class Agents: Thomas Jendrock, Kimberly Defino Mattoon

1980 Class Agents: Martha Capers Pavao, Liza White Turley

Anni Crofut writes, “I am living with my husband and our 2 sons in Housatonic MA. Kaylo, my younger son, is at BCD in the seventh grade this term, however our family is living in Bali. My husband is Indonesian, and we decided we wanted the boys to know more about their father’s

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involved with some of the exciting changes at the school.”

visits. I am happy to see BCD flourishing; it is a great school.

Wendy Panchy shares, “I was happy to talk to the people at the booth for BCD at the Harvest Festival this year. Bumped into Neil Beckerman and Jared Green (for the first time since graduating) and Cara (Petricca) Carnevale while there with my family and my sister, Jennie Panchy ’85’s family. It was so much fun to catch up! Cannot believe how much larger the festival has gotten since the last time I went!” Here is a picture of my boys, Ben, 13 and Peter, 10. We live now on the north shore of Massachusetts. Both Michael, my husband, and I are educators, continuing the family tradition.

Linda Pollard Azzara shares, “All is well in the Boston area. This fall I was busy coaching both Ryan (3rd grade) and Alexandra’s (4th grade) travel soccer teams. We had Christmas dinner with Amy Burkhart Irose’s family, amazing how BCD roots last a lifetime! We are now focused on cheering/supporting Vince (my husband) as he trains for running the Boston Marathon for Dana Farber in April. Class of 83, we should try again for a summer gathering. All my best, Linda”

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roots. They are learning Indonesian and attending the Bali International School. I am a jewelry designer (www.annimaliki. com) and my small team of silversmiths is also here in Bali. Normally we come back to Bali every year for 2 weeks to design, but this is a true design sabbatical for which I am very grateful. Speaking of gratitude, the boys are truly recognizing the strength of their BCD education now as they compare their skills, habits and knowledge to what they are receiving here in Bali.

1984 Class Agents: Dani Beckerman, Melanie Frager Griffith

Suzanne Hayne says, “I have been in the Bay Area for almost 20 years, I am a marriage & family therapist, and I have 12-year-old twin boys, a dog, cat, lizard, and new dog adoption on the way! Over the past few years I have visited with Daisy Rockwell, Dani Beckerman, Katie Berryhill, and enjoyed keeping up with BCD classmates on Facebook.”

Wendy Panchy’s boys: Ben, 13 and Peter, 10.

1983 Class Agents: Linda Pollard Azzara, Hilary Stritch Beadell, Amelia Burkhart Irose Anni Crofut’s boys, off to school in Bali.

1981 Class Agent: Jessica Ryan Lapinski

1982 Class Agents: Ted Glockner, H. Davis Nadig, Steve Zuckerman

Ted Glockner writes, “The Glockners (Ted, Jen, Sam and Ben) are doing well and enjoying life in the Berkshires. I am coming up on my 10th year as an in house attorney with The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America/Berkshire Life. My wife Jennifer is enjoying her new job as Director of Cultural Development for the City of Pittsfield. I am also enjoying my 7th year on BCD’s board and am glad to be

Amelia C. Burkhart writes, “I attended BCD as a 5th grader in 1978. The school had a major impact on my life and made a lasting impression along with lifelong friendships. I currently I live on the North Shore of Boston with my husband Mark Irose, and our two boys. I am a global communications and brand strategist with extensive experience in PR. I am the Founder of b.brand agency, a strategic communications consulting business. I love social media and can be found on Twitter as @AmeliaBTS. My most recent endeavor Noah Elkin ’84 and his family. His children are and passion is the launch of Namatstayz, current students at BCD. chic and simple accessories for yoga and life. My brother, John Burkhart ’87, lives with his wife Alessandra Rinna and my Class Agent: Joel Kalodner two nephews in Oslo, Norway, so we are sharing our lives across time zones and in bouts of activity-filled, memory-making

1986

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Ken Lefkowitz ’84 A Few Heroes of our Time at Brook Farm Perhaps my most vivid and abiding memory of BCD is Mme Grad handing back the dictées — if you had any wrong or missing accents, she would slash an accent grave on the back of your hand with her pen and bark “accent!” in her German-accented French. Since no 8th grader is perfect in such matters, handing back the dictées resulted in an assembly-line reprimand as she made her way along the row of desks: Accent! (slash, grimace) Accent! (slash, grimace) Accent! Accent!... She made even the toughest guy in our class cry over the quality of his homework.

This was admittedly very old school — Mme Grad was a Holocaust survivor and was over 70 when we had her as our teacher.

I don’t think you could teach that way these days. But it served a purpose — to wit: my boys are enrolled in the Lycée Français de Sofia since maternelle, thus speak with impeccable native accents.

They cringe when I attempt to parle in the Québequois twang picked up, I believe, from our 7th-grade French teacher whose name now eludes me. When it comes to reviewing written homework though, I am the unchallenged master of the accents and deem to brook no nonsense, let alone mistakes, from the little twerps* (as Mr. Fawcett might tag them). *Editor’s note: Mr. Fawcett says this word is “questionable.”

No account of BCD days would be complete without a reverential bow to the Fawcetts, Mr. and Mrs. A good part of the reason I’ve stuck it out in the Balkans is down to a love of classics, for which Mrs. Fawcett laid the base. My first impressions of Sofia included the walls of ancient Serdica still visible underneath the central largo, as well as the ruins of the agora in the courtyard of Hotel Balkan. That hooked me. Gibbon wrote that Illyria, more or less Albania and the territories of former Yugoslavia today, was the one province of the Empire that the Romans never really got under full control.

Somehow I read that as a challenge, one

18 Spring 2015

that continues to keep me hooked, as my work involves integrating some of the same wild territory into the global economy.

That love of the classics has afforded me an appreciation of the region’s languages: I feel right at home with a language such as Bulgarian where sum means “I am.” The verbs go together just like Latin verbs – take a prefix and a root and presto! - you’ve got a new meaning, only the building blocks are Slavic. As I have picked up a smattering of Albanian over the last few years, I’ve understood that the Latin influence is quite strong there, for obvious reasons. Romanian is one of

those languages that you can understand intuitively if you’ve had the BCD curriculum of French and Latin plus the basics of a Slavic language. My favorite Romanian word on this point is panificatie – bakery – the bien connu ‘pain’ plus the Slavic ending connoting a production process.

Mr. Fawcett comes in for the books we read with him. First, no traveler is complete without Huck Finn. For my life in a post-communist country in the shadow of resurgent Putinism, Animal Farm and 1984 are hugely relevant. A word to current students: the Snowden leaks and the abuses of power in the name of protecting us from the putative threat of Islamist terrorism show us just how prophetic Orwell was, not just for the East.

Lermontov’s Hero of our Time and Tolstoy’s Cossacks are my lifelines when dinner-party chatter turns to Russian literature. The ethos of Lermontov’s Caucasian Hero translates well in the Albanian-speaking world, where blood feuds still linger on. My wife Galina, who attended the Russian-language Kalinin High School in Sofia, looks down her nose

at the gaps in my knowledge of Russian literature and film, but I can always recover a point for having read Solzhenitsyn, whose works were banned when she was in school, while A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch was required reading for Mr. Fawcett.

Mr. Fawcett’s teaching style was rich in anecdotes. One that has stuck with me concerned a British expat in colonial Africa who kept himself from “going native” by donning full dinner dress in the middle of the bush once a week. I muse on that when I cook my Thanksgiving turkey, and when my values and assumptions clash with local mores. Galina finds it infuriating that Mr. Fawcett encouraged us to underline passages in books and make notes in the margins. From her perspective, books are a scarce and precious resource to be treated with utmost reverence. Even dog-earing the pages is a no-no, but I keep doing it. Another Fawcett-esce tic of mine is to remind my boys, ages 5 and 8, to “keep it down to a dull roar” when they wax vociferous.

In such a short piece I necessarily risk offending many beloved and influential teachers and fellow students by omission – the pantheon includes Mr. Buttenheim, Mrs. Capers, Mrs. New, Mr. Douglas (who taught us about Balkanization), Gary Miller, and the list goes on. I have to give short shrift to a time that burgeons with memories. With another 4 or 5 thousand words I might cover the shoe-throwing incident and other mischief, or the trips to Hulbert, Montreal, or Monument Mountain, and still be short on space. Suffice it to say that the heroes of this story and their quest retain enduring relevance for me half a lifetime and half a world away.

Ken Lefkowitz ’84 attended BCD for Grades 7-9, and went on to Hotchkiss and Wesleyan. He moved to Sofia in 1995 to take part in the post-communist transition. He runs a financial advisory boutique, New Europe Corporate Advisory, covering 5 countries in southeast Europe.

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1989

1998

Class Agents: Sheela Siegel Clary, Laurie Bemis de Ris, Rachel Masters

Class Agents: Jay Crosby , Sara Monsonis

Class Agents: Anthony Hao Belanger, Molly Cosel, Anna Pouls

Lauren Yarmosky Ballinger shares, “Met husband Matt Ballinger while attending University of Maryland School of Dental Surgery. After receiving my DDS in 2000, I lived in Germany with Matt while he was a US Army Dental Officer and I worked as a civilian dentist for the Army in Darmstadt.

After returning to live in Maryland in 2003, I completed my Pediatric Dental Specialty Residency in 2006 at the University of Maryland, and worked in a wonderful Pediatric Dental practice until deciding to move back to the Berkshires with our children and join my family’s dental practice, Yarmosky Pediatric Dentistry, in 2009. After working for a couple years at CHP in Great Barrington, Matt opened his own general and cosmetic Dental Practice on the first floor of our building at 200 Elm St. Our 2 wonderful children, Jack and Libby, started attending BCD last year, and are presently in 1st and 4th grade. I am so pleased to report that they are both as happy and joyful about their school experiences as I fondly remember being while attending BCD.

Catherine Klebl is living in Portland, Oregon with her 10-year-old daughter, Viridian. She recently returned from a month in India studying ancient healing practices and visiting temples.

Cara Petricca writes, “I’m currently living in Cheshire, MA, with my husband Marc and two sons Nicholas (15) and Tyler (13). I’m running an animal sanctuary and wildlife rehab called Bluebird Farm. I provide homes for over 100 animals rescued from abuse, slaughter, or abandonment, and rehabilitate and release hundreds of orphaned or injured wild animals. I’m still creating art part time and enjoying life in the Berkshires.

I’m in contact with many BCD friends on Facebook and in real life.”

1990 Class Agents: Zoe Suzette Alsop, Taj Mongiardo

1991 Class Agents: Kit Crosby, Jenny Macioge, Casey Meade Rothstein-Fitzpatrick

1992 Class Agents: Marc Mandel, Sara Munson

Lila Kanner recently moved from Somerville to Lincoln, MA with her husband and 2 daughters. She works at the Harvard Art Museums, where she is the Director of Major Gifts and Strategic Initiatives

1993 Class Agents: Benjamin Alsop, Sage Calamari

Lauren Yarmosky Ballinger with her children.

1988 Class Agents: Courtney Smith MacDonald, Joni Guerette Olsen, Jennifer Ballen Riccards, Rachel Sagalyn

1994 Class Agents: Valentina Clark, Danielle Gulick

1995 Class Agents: Gabrielle Cosel, Eva Jaffe, Timur Pakay

1996

Shannon Quinn and her husband Dan welcome son Luke Quinn Ambrogi on July 7, Class Agents: Rebecca Geehr, Joanna Munson 2014. They currently reside in Fairfield CT.

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1987

Rachel King Berlin writes, “I graduated from the University of Massachusetts Medical School in June and am now a first year resident in Adult Psychiatry at Cambridge Health Alliance. (For those of you who know my parents, yes, I’m totally going into the family business!)

My husband and I love living in Boston, but also enjoy escaping to the Berkshires whenever we can.”

Molly Cosel says, “My husband and I are expecting a baby boy this February.”

1999 Class Agents: Laura Burton, Brynne Kennedy, Zachary Snyder, Emily Zwerner

Pip Deely is a member of NEW INC, the startup incubator for entrepreneurs working at the intersection of art, design, and technology based at the New Museum for Contemporary Art in New York City.

Ashli Heady Staszko is now a special Education teacher at Chesterfield Public School, Chesterfield, NH. She lives with her husband Pete, and daughters Merritt 3, and Molli born December 24th, 2014 in Westmoreland, NH. Ashli is still teaching after her maternity leave.

2005 Class Agents: Janet Butterworth, Emily Ryan

Megan Krentsa stayed in Washington, DC following graduation from George Washington University and is working in the training department of George Washington University Hospital. In addition to working full time, she was also a full time student this past year, earning her Paramedic Degree. She still volunteers on the ambulance several nights per month and is back taking courses at GW.

2006 Class Agent: Allie Epstein

Emily Harrigan lives in Boston and is in her last year of law school at Boston University. She is engaged to be married in the summer of 2016.

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2008

2009

Class Agent Needed

Class Agents: Roya Daemi, Claire M. Meyer

John Frelinghuysen is a Senior Communications Major at Rollins College in Winter Park, FL. He is interning at a local Orlando TV station and is active in his fraternity, TKE. He just switched out of Roman Art History, saying Mrs. Fawcett had already covered what was in the syllabus.

Gregory Horth is a junior at the University of Alabama. He is majoring in Marketing.

Kerry Krentsa is finishing her fourth year at the University of Stirling in Scotland and will graduate with a degree in film and media in June. This semester she will be working on her dissertation, which will consist of producing a documentary film with a small group of students. She is the head of AirTV, which is the on-campus television station, and very involved in planning their meetings and events Thomas and Michael Harrigan are juniors at Syracuse University. Michael is a History major and Thomas is an Engineering major. They still come to Thanksgiving Soup and enjoy seeing their old classmates.

Tobias Patel is in his final semester at Skidmore College, finishing his degree in Psychology with a minor in Computer Science. Last year, he spent a semester in Australia, studying at the University of Melbourne. Tobias is completing his 4th season on the varsity rowing team, and is currently serving as the public relations officer for Skidmore College EMS. After graduating, he plans to move to Boston to pursue a career in the medical field.

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Byron Hutchison is a junior at NYU Stern School of Business in New York City.

Last spring, he traveled to Shanghai for a semester abroad. While in China, he traveled every weekend to explore the country, from Harbin to Shenzen. He spent the summer as an au pair for a family in Beijing and was hired as a writer for a “maker space” in the city. Spring 2015 will take him to Lisbon, Portugal, and in the fall back to China! He is active with his business fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi at NYU.

2010 Class Agents: Darby Bailey, Dylan ColeKink, Joshua Shapiro, Isaak van der Meulen, Benjamin Wheeler

Avery Hutchison is a freshman at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and is loving it! He plays lacrosse, is active on the social committee in his dorm and is looking forward to skiing in France and golf on the Old Course in the spring. In spring 2014, he spent four months on the Picton Castle as a sailing trainee. They traveled through French Polynesia and many other islands in the South Seas.

Harry Rich — After graduating from Pittsfield High School, Harry spent the fall in Oregon at his Uncle’s winery, Andrew Rich Wines, working as an intern during

“crush” season. He then traveled to Paris to assist in establishing El Sistema Paris, (a strings program for underprivileged children) and worked as a violin teacher in the program. He is currently a sophomore at Middlebury College in Vermont.

2011 Class Agents: Camilla Norris, Quintin James Pollart, Grace Rossman, Harley Waller

2012 Class Agents: Hallie Yong Novak, Peyton John Schiff, Bryce Schuler, Estevan Velez

2013 Class Agents: Samuel Capeless, Elise Ghitman, Samuel Kittredge, Nicholas Roszkowski

Sam Kittredge is keeping busy with four AP classes, band, and acting with the Pittsfield High School Drama Society (Proteus). In 2014, he became a certified SCUBA diver. He is interested in the fields of microbiology and marine biology.

Jacob Lezberg says, “I am currently a junior at Pittsfield High School. I am the president of the Robotics club, a multimedal winner for the Academic Decathlon, and a member of the R/C Helicopter club, Quiz Team, Latin Club, and Junior Class Council. I work as a TA for the Computer Tech class at PHS and attend Hebrew High School at my synagogue. A big recent achievement of mine was my promotion to Nidan (second degree black belt) in Uechi Ryu Karate. I earned the rank in November of 2014. This spring and summer I will

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I graduated from BCD in 1969. The school had recently added the 9th grade, and I was one of the lucky 1st classes to enjoy an extra year at Brook Farm. I began BCD as a first grader at the old house on Walker Street. I can still picture my classrooms and teachers from those years, especially Mrs. Church whom I had in 2nd grade. She was wise and warm and wonderful but also firm.

She sent me to Mr. Oakes, my first and only trip to the principal. She said I was talking too much, and I am sure she was right.

At Brook Farm, I had my first male teacher, Mr. Marks. He would swing us around on the playground and made learning and recess magical. I was challenged in middle school English, reading classics like A Tale of Two Cities, Antigone, and The Crucible.

Little did I know that I would teach all of these books later in my own classroom.

Mrs. Jones taught us to look backwards and forwards in social studies, and Madame Grad made French a true adventure. I remember reading The Little Prince in French, a book of exquisite beauty, and I remember being riveted by her tales of Europe during World War II. So often I have wished I had written her to tell her how much she inspired me in my own teaching of the Holocaust with my own 8th graders. I remember Mrs. Potter who taught us how to run track and play field hockey. She helped us learn to play fairly and how to win and lose with grace, certainly lifelong lessons.

I went on the St. Margaret’s, a boarding school in Waterbury, CT, where my sister had gone, and graduated from the State University of New York at Albany with a BA in English. I later earned an MEd from Tennessee State University. My husband and I moved to North Palm Beach, Florida, where he had been offered a job teaching history at The Benjamin School. We were up for a tropical adventure, but the real adventure came when I was offered a job teaching 8th and 9th grade English. I had never intended to teach but saw it as a great opportunity. BCD did not so much influence my choices as it did prepare me for anything. It instilled confidence.

After 9 years in Florida, we longed for 4 seasons and a place with a greater sense of community for our 2 boys. We found a wonderful new home in Nashville, Tennessee, at the Ensworth School. As my grandparents were both Nashvillians, I even had cousins there, and the hills reminded us of the Berkshires. My husband

became the Assistant Head of School, and I taught 7th and 8th grade English. The school gave me the freedom to choose the books I loved and ones I felt could help my kids navigate the tricky years of adolescence. Much like BCD, it offered a warm and supportive environment, and I felt so lucky to spend my days with 13 and 14-year-olds, with all their heart, their humor, their angst, and their open minds.

Ensworth felt strongly about continuing education and sent its teachers all over the world. I was lucky enough to travel to England, Italy, Austria, Poland, and the Czech Republic in connection with my teaching. I was able to take photographs at Auschwitz, Mauthausen, and Theresienstadt to share with my students and give them a more personal sense of these places as we read Night by Elie Wiesel, Hitler Youth

by Susan Bartoletti, and a great young adult novel, Gentlehands by M.E. Kerr. I was also able to visit many art museums which helped me in our term papers done in conjunction with the art department.

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Frannie Johnson ’69 Terwilliger

I remember how I had learned best at BCD and used those memories in my own classroom. It was a tough 1st year, but I knew I had found a job I loved.

Books and kids – what a combination!

Each 8th grader chose a painting at the National Gallery and then wrote a biography of the artist and a critique of the painting. When we would visit the National Gallery on our annual DC visit, the students would find their subjects. My fondest memory is the students running up to me, excitedly saying things like, “Mrs. T, I found my painting and it is huge and beautiful!”

The art had become theirs, and I loved that.

After 24 years in Nashville, we have come home. We are living in a small town called New London, NH. It is so heavenly being

back in New England, and much like I did when I was at BCD, I pray daily for snow. I am about to teach a class with my husband; we will be teaching adults through the local college in town. It is a little scary, but it will be fun to try something new, and BCD really did teach me that learning is discovery.

At BCD, I learned so many lessons. I learned that laughter plays such a crucial role in the classroom and in daily life. I learned that friendships really can last a lifetime, and that a solid academic foundation is a gift forever. To current students, I would say that BCD is an exceptional school. Revel in it! Ask questions because you will never be in an environment more open to them.

Savor your days there because they really will fly by. Take a few risks because you’re in a safe and nurturing place. Look around you and appreciate the incredible beauty of your surroundings. Finally, be grateful for what your teachers and parents are offering you. BCD is something special.

berkshirecountryday.org 21

What is a Class Agent?

Class Agents volunteer to represent their class to the current BCD administration. As we tell our graduating 9th graders each year, the people who run BCD will change in the years to come, but your classmates will always be your classmates. Class Agents assist BCD once or twice a year by communicating with their classmates about alumni events via social media, email, phone calls, and even snail mail. They also lend a hand in keeping BCD’s alumni contact information current. If you notice your class doesn’t have a Class Agent and would like to volunteer, please send an email to alumni@berkshirecountryday.org. return as a volunteer to Hancock Shaker Village in the Machine Shop, where I give talks on the history and demonstrations of the water turbine and tools.”

Emma Lezberg shares, “I am very busy with my junior year at Pittsfield High School. Now a second degree black belt in Uechi Ryu Karate (earned November 2014), I have begun volunteering to help younger students in their karate class.

I am a member of the PHS Junior Class Council, Robotics Club, Remote Control Helicopter Club, Latin Club, Academic Decathlon, and Quiz Team, attend Hebrew High School at Congregation Knesset Israel, and work as a math tutor for a current 7th grade student. I am currently taking 4 AP classes and am a TA for a 10th grade Honors English class. Having volunteered in the barn at Hancock Shaker Village for the past 4 years, I will continue there and will also begin raising my own backyard chickens this spring! I have begun my college search and am looking at small, liberal arts colleges with an interest in writing, classics, and language.”

2014 Class Agents: Jesse Yates Cassuto, Jackson Rich

Jackson Rich is currently a sophomore at Pittsfield High School where he

22 Spring 2015

has been a starter on the Varsity soccer team for 2 years. This season he was selected to the “All Berkshire County” 1st team as a mid-fielder.

2015 Class Agent: Bella Currie

Matt Sprague writes, “Since I switched schools after 6th grade, I’ve gone to Monument, moved to California, and gone to high school at San Clemente High School. I look forward to seeing all my friend’s in BCD’s current 9th grade class at Thanksgiving Soup.”

BCD 2S

2001 2S Class Agent: Rita Lanoue Toombs

2002 2S Class Agent: John Curtis Kowalski

2003 2S Class Agent: Richard Brooke Gilder

a leadership committee that helped plan a December 10th anniversary celebration for the Roosevelt Institute | Campus Network, a student policy organization she’s been involved with since 2005 as a freshman at Middlebury College. This fall she traveled to Europe and the UK to visit friends from her study abroad year and her extended family, including Dunlop relatives in Ireland who own a home and estate that has been in the family since the 1600’s. In the early part of 2015, Tarsi is recommitting to her yoga practice as she begins her second annual challenge: 90 classes in 90 days. She continues to appreciate her rich and busy life in the nation’s capital.

2006 2S Class Agent: Ariel Kaphan

Mollie Berman — As of this fall, Mollie is living her passion of teaching Latin at Pine Cobble School in Williamstown, MA. She is applying to Graduate School to get her MAT. Caitlin Charbonneau and her husband Nino welcomed their first child, a daughter, Alluria Skye on August 22, 2014. The family lives in Williamstown, MA.

Richard Gilder — After a year and a half spreading aloha with Hawaiian Airlines, Richard is now a Customer Service Manager at Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, at JFK Airport in New York.

Thomas Frelinghuysen is still modeling and acting in NYC. He appeared in a Nautica Holiday TV commercial and the lead in My Crazy Love on the Oxygen network. He does wear his “Today is another day I have not used Algebra” t-shirt quite often.

2004 2S

2007 2S

Class Agent: Alexis D Picheny

Noah Berman is currently as a chef in Vieques, P.R. and is loving island living.

He lives with his girlfriend and 7 rescue dogs. He invites visitors to come and explore paradise.

2005 2S Class Agents: Jane B Clausen, Hunter McCormick

Tarsi Dunlop lives in Arlington, VA and continues her work as Program and Operations Manager at the Learning First Alliance, a partnership of national education associations committed to strengthening and supporting public education for all students. She serves on

Class Agent: Arielle Mara Picheny

Carlos Kaufman is now Senior Analyst at Sabic Innovative Plastics in Thornwood, PA. He lives in Phoenixville, PA near Philadelphia, enjoys the area, and is busy with work, friends and wedding plans.

Carlos and Kate Holland will be married in October 2015!

2008 2S Carina Kaufman recently was promoted to Director of Residency Programs at Flux Factory in Long Island City. She is also working/cooking at Marlow and taking a class on Conflict Resolution at Columbia.

In her spare time, she’s planning a vacation

um Al

If you belong to one of these

1950

65 yrs

Rosie Taylor went from 4th grade11th grade at BCD. She graduated in Medieval Studies from Smith College in Northampton, MA in 2012, and this past September began a six year Masters/PhD program at UC Berkeley in CA.

1955

60 yrs

1960

55 yrs

1965

50 yrs

1970

45 yrs

2009 2S

1975

40 yrs

1980

35 yrs

Class Agents: Ben Tobin, Olivia Weinstein

1985

30 yrs

2010 2S

1990

25 yrs

1995

20 yrs*

2000

15 yrs

2005 (BF & 2S)

10 yrs

Alumni Faculty

Reunion

s ew

Class Agent: Jamila Mariam Benkhoud

Classes

Then it’s time for your

N ni

trip with friends to California, a large art installation in the fall, and a potential residency in North Carolina late in the year.

She is enjoying all that NYC has to offer!

T h e BU ha s b e Z Z gun!

On the day after Homecoming 2014, the classes of 1964 & 1969 enjoyed a luncheon, complete with a ride on the scenic chairlift, at Bousquet Ski Area. Yes, it was great!

The Alumni Office is happy to assist you in planning your reunion and communicating with your classmates. Email alumni@berkshirecountryday.org with your ideas. _______________________________________________________________________

After a forty-year career in education, which included teaching at Berkshire Country Day Secondary School from September 2001 to June 2007, Liz and Les Clifford retired in June 2014. As the reality of their retirement settled in, they both have reflected, with gratitude, on the rewards of a very fulfilling lifetime spent teaching English and Math to so many students. Additionally, Les looks back on his time spent coaching basketball and soccer at BCD2S as having been very important parts of his career, while Liz points to many positive experiences with her literary magazine and Chairing the Academic Affairs Committee as important to her career. They will continue to reside in their current home at 140 Partridge Road, Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Their only specific plans to date are to remove the alarm clock from their bedroom and go on a vacation for the middle two weeks of September.

*Calling all members of the class of ’95: Would you like to plan your 20th reunion? Your class agent would like to set a date in 2015. How does July 31 sound? Or, maybe an additional event during Homecoming Weekend —September 26 & 27? How about inviting the classes of 1994 and 1996? Please email alumni@berkshirecountryday.org with your thoughts.

berkshirecountryday.org 23

Eliza Fairbrother ’09 with Winston Boney, Bean Crane, and Liz Butler I spent 11 years at BCD, which at this point is just over half my lifetime. BCD shaped who I am today in ways that I’m still discovering. It’s difficult, even after 7 years away from the school, to reflect upon those years with any clarity—I still feel too close. One reason for this is that my 3 best friends to this day, Winston Boney, Bean Crane and Liz Butler, are BCD classmates of mine.

Though we shared many years together in BCD classrooms, shared cabins during stays at Mr. Gore’s Camp Najerog, and bus rides to Butternut and Bousquet, our friendship really solidified during our 8th grade year when we all participated in a transformative Jesse Howard theater production called Nerds Eye View. The entire play was based on improvisation and brainstorm sessions with the 11-person ensemble cast of 8th and 9th graders. The final product was a beautifully colorful collage made up of pieces of all of us. The premise, a satirical portrayal of the high school social hierarchy, came out of our collective anxiety about moving on from our safe haven at BCD to the intimidating world of high school. Our self-constructed characters displayed our dreams and insecurities. And, the moral of the story—that being a “nerd” means being self-loving and unabashedly passionate about what you do—helped us all recognize the futility of trying to fit into any prescribed notion of being cool or successful. I think this is a lesson that BCD was quietly instilling in us all along. The incredible people who taught us over the years at BCD—Mr. Fawcett, Mr. Ashworth, Mrs. Meyer, and Mr. Douglas, to name a few—always inspired us to think outside the box.

They pushed us to create rather than to reproduce; something I still strive to achieve in my academic life at Kenyon College, where I am now a Junior International Studies major.

After 8th grade, all 4 of us took off in different directions: I went to Groton (a boarding school in Eastern MA), Bean went to Hotchkiss, Winston to Millbrook, and Liz to the Opera school at Walnut Hill and then the Berkshire School. Throughout high school and college we’ve remained close friends: managing to get together during any holiday breaks, meeting 24 Spring 2015

up whenever we happen to be in the same region or city (most recently Paris), seeing each other perform in talent shows and play productions at our respective schools, and calling each other whenever we’ve needed words of encouragement or just a good laugh. Our paths have taken us to vastly different and faraway places, but our childhood connection has only brought us closer over time. We’ve all embraced our inner “nerd” and I’m proud to say that because of this, we’ve all grown into passionate, interesting, and unique people: Winston’s passion for art and service has taken her from the Savannah College of Art and Design, to Ghana where she and Bean worked on behalf of a non-profit to raise money for the construction of a Library and IT center in Kumasi, and finally to UC Boulder where she is a sculpture major.

After their trip to Ghana, Bean sprouted an idea for a non-profit organization called ArtXChange, which is an online platform that connects nonprofits with local artists to auction art, the profits of which benefit both parties. She is now in the 2nd stage of funding for this project, working with a startup incubator called DALI, which stands for Digital Arts Leadership and Innovation lab. This year she won the Stamps Scholar Award for $10,000, which will go towards the website’s launch.

le s ofi w Pr N e ni us um p ACl am

Somehow, her entrepreneurship has not gotten in the way of her college career at Dartmouth, where she is active in a variety of clubs and intellectual pursuits. She just returned from a semester abroad in Copenhagen where she studied sustainable city development.

Liz, who was voted “Most Likely to Brighten Your Day” in our 8th grade yearbook, is still brightening people’s lives as an improv and sketch comedy star at Denver University. In January she filmed a comedy sketch with film star Warren Miller and professional skier Chris Anthony. She has also continued to improve French language skills as a French and Theater major at DU, and will be studying abroad in France next semester.

Now, I know this piece was meant to be a profile about me, but these 3 women have been an integral part of my life throughout my time at BCD, and ever since. They have inspired me over the years to follow my inner nerd, create rather than reproduce, and love myself as much as the people around me. My passion for knowledge and people has taken me from Ohio, where I worked as a research assistant for my professor this past summer in the John S. Adams Summer Legal Scholars program, to Morocco, where I spent 3 months studying Arabic and migration and 1 month researching the sustainability of women’s argan oil cooperatives in the southern region of the country. Upon my return from Morocco, I visited BCD

with my college a cappella group, the Kenyon College Chasers, as a part of a weeklong national tour. I’ve been singing with them for the past 3 years and have found with them a sense of community reminiscent of the close-knit BCD community that I loved so much.

Seeing the new generation of BCD students, who listened attentively and applauded enthusiastically at our performance, reminded me that BCD truly made me, and my best friends, into the kind of people who find joy in all aspects of life, ask questions that push the boundaries of what is known, and are able to follow the nerd in ourselves and love the nerds who surround us. My wish for all current BCD students is that their passions take them to amazing places and bring them into contact with people as nerdy and amazing as my BCD classmates.

Come back to the Berkshires for

Homecoming 2015

Reconnect with classmates, faculty, and the campus.

Bring your family.

Mark your calendar for the weekend of September 26.

berkshirecountryday.org 25

or ia m In

M em

Aline (Bunny) Drescher: Marcia was a very close friend of mine during our years together at BCD and beyond. She was an extraordinary person and was part of what made BCD the great school it is.

Marcia Jones BCD is saddened to report that Marcia V. Jones, 82, passed away on December 11, 2014. Mrs. Jones was an educator at BCD for 37 years, 1963–1975, and 1983–2008.

Marcia taught Latin, Math, and History during her tenure. She was one of the first teachers here to integrate technology into her teaching. She designed a software program with a playful format to introduce her young Latin students to correct verb tenses. Mrs. Jones was beloved by generations of young scholars, and her love of children and understanding of learning styles are hallmarks of her legacy at BCD. Her obituary adds: ‘From 1975–1980, she taught at Miss Hall’s School in Pittsfield and briefly held the position of Dean of Students…

She was in charge of the Visitors’ Center at Tanglewood Music Center for many years; she was also a confirmed Lay Eucharistic Minister in the Episcopal Church. She was a member of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Pittsfield, and then became a member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Lenox. She leaves one son, Kent W. Jones, of New York City, two grandsons, Ethan Jones and Andrèzj Jones, and many devoted cousins, friends, and former students. She will be remembered fondly by many.’

Many people have written to share their memories of Mrs. Jones.

We have collected these memories in a book for Kent, and have printed a few below.

Ellie Atwater: Marcia was an incredibly intuitive person.

My sense is that she applied this gift to her craft as a teacher with students, as she worked with parents, and as she worked with her colleagues. I feel very fortunate to have gotten to know her during my time at BCD. We shared some very special moments.

William Campbell: Mrs. Jones is a star in my life.

Vivian Caputo: Marcia loved teaching and loved her students. She lives on in all the lives she touched.

Carmen Dockery Perkins: Marcia was a firecracker—a terrific mentor and a gifted teacher to hundreds of BCD students. Students and colleagues alike loved Marcia. Her unwavering commitment to her practice and her students, along with her profound sense of integrity made Marcia Jones a very, very special person whom I miss dearly.

26 Spring 2015

Samuel Greer: Ms. Jones was a truly inspirational teacher and genuinely kind individual. Her excitement and joy in teaching Latin was contagious and I am fortunate to be able to say that from 5th to 9th grade Ms. Jones taught me how to learn, excel in, and love a language.

Gail Heady: Marcia used to love to tell the children if they did not behave, she would drop kick them over Kripalu.

William & Susan Knight: The Knight family is very saddened at the passing of Marcia Jones. She was a wonderful person, outstanding teacher, and great friend.

Rebecca Lord: Did I watch Monday night football? Is the Pope Catholic? Does a bear s**t in the woods? Yup, she really said it! She was a great lady, teacher and mentor.

Christopher Mangiardi: Marcia kept learning fun and interesting while always keeping a smile on her face and, in turn, putting one on each of her students’ faces as well. I will never forget her kindness and passion for teaching her students.

Timur Pakay: Mrs. Jones was a dedicated teacher who encouraged us to participate in community service and taught us the value of etymology. Thanks to her remarkable teaching methodology and occasional subtle humor, I excelled in Latin.

Kay Sadighi: It was always a treat to have the same free periods between classes as Marcia when we taught at BCD. She truly loved her students and teaching, and would share excellent insights as well as invariably injecting a humorous note into discussions of challenges. I can still conjure up a vivid image of her chuckle, slight eye-roll and the phrase “Quelle surprise” in response to unsurprising unwelcome news. She also commiserated with me on pervasive 80s music like Motley Crüe, but said Bon Jovi at least had a name that sounded like a string quartet. She was a fierce scrabble player. She was smart and fun and I am so glad I knew her.

Charles Seyffer: Marcia has loved her way into and resonated within the hearts of so many people. Her energy, her humor, her generosity of spirit, all that she gave us will continue to warm us long after she’s gone.

A celebration of the life of Marcia Jones life will be held at 2 pm on Sunday, April 12, 2015 in Fitzpatrick Hall at Berkshire Country Day School. To RSVP go to http://bit.ly/mrsjones, call 413-637-0755, or email alumni@berkshirecountryday.org. You may contribute comments or memories to be included in a book for her family at http://bit.ly/mrsjones.

In

Wendy A. Rabinowitz: Marcia is a memorable person who was always vital, interesting, interested, skilled, funny, delightful and supportive.

Nick Arienti: The connection that she was able to make with me, and with so many of us, was what initiated and drove my desire not only to learn, but to not want to disappoint her. To me, this would have been far worse than simply getting a bad grade.

1990 Yearbook Dedication: Throughout our years at BCD we seem to have been blessed by Mrs. Jones’ cheery presence. Mrs. Jones and her sense of humor, her Lifesavers, her blueberry coat, her bridge lessons…this list never ends. These are things this class will never forget, and Mrs. Jones is someone we’ll always appreciate and love.

painstaking work that glorified the beauty of a black line on white paper to bold, brilliant colors bursting from the page. Besides being an artist, you were a poet who saw the fascinating details of every-day-life and who wrote with rage, tenderness, grief, love, and humor. For one of your poems that encapsulates all those qualities I think of “Love from a Burning House” from your book Inclusion. I love that poem so much that I have copied it into my computer so I could print it out and carry it around with me. (I shall be glad to email the poem to anyone who would like it. My email is steffifletcher@roadrunner. com). You always wrote with keen observation and with humor, never with self-pity.

m ia or

Nina Ryan: Feisty and challenging and funny and tough and warm hearted and knowledgeable… and deeply intelligent…She was one of those lifetime teachers for me - the few who stick with you throughout your life.

em M

Christine Witker: Marcia had the most wonderful laugh, a brilliant mind, and was a multi-talented, caring person. She will be remembered always by those who had the good fortune to know her.

Because you were such a gifted artist and poet, you were also a gifted teacher who saw and encouraged the individuality of your students. When I was producing the school magazine, “The Sampler,” I could always count on receiving wonderful poems from each 3rd grader. You never forced their writing into a mold; you inspired them to trust their own visions, to become poets themselves.

Susan Carol Hartung Susan Carol Hartung, who taught English and Grade 3 at BCD from 1994 –2000, passed away on September 6, 2014 with her children, Anna Milkowski ’90 and Stefan Milkowski ’93, at her side.

Her obituary in the Berkshire Eagle read, in part, “(Susan’s) artwork has been exhibited widely in the Berkshires, Columbia County, and New York City….her poetry was an exploration of the joy, complexity, and sadness of life. She found beauty in everyday things and meaning in even unpleasant things. Hartung also found joy in music, playing piano with friends and singing for many years with Berkshire Bach and other choruses. (Susan) was curious and engaged….she was funny, loving, and strong…. she deeply valued the friendships she had, some of which lasted more than 50 years, and continued to make new friends until her death…. she added much to the lives of many.” Former faculty member Steffi Fletcher wrote the following Letter to My Friend Susan Hartung: Dear Susan, I know you cannot read this letter, cannot receive any message, but even though you are out of our reach forever, I cannot bear to write about you in the third person. I must write to you directly just as I have continued these last sad months to speak to you directly in my mind.

I suspect I am not the only one who has felt and continues to feel such a strong connection with you, that your many friends feel that same strong connection. What was it about you that bound so many of us to you?

You were one of the most talented, complex people I have known, a sensitive and successful artist whose art ranged from delicate,

Dear Susan, your poem “Inclusion” from the book of the same name tells us why so many of us felt bound to you. It tells us that you were someone who included everything and everybody, someone who did not separate nor categorize but who united.

You were able to express your feelings, your thoughts and your many talents, but were also fascinated by the people and the world around you. In your friendships and your life you combined strength and tenderness. We shall always miss you. ­— Steffi Fletcher Inclusion —Susan C. Hartung Are you a man or a woman?

Yes. Is the moon waxing or waning?

Yes. Are we coming or going?

Yes.

berkshirecountryday.org 27

Class of 2015

The members of the class of 2015 are proving to be both strong individuals and caring, supportive community members. From day one in September, advisors Mrs. Benner and Mr. Douglas have really enjoyed working with these 9th graders.

The year began with a retreat to Camp Marion White, a Girl Scout camp on the shores of Richmond Pond. The students were given a series of challenges before and during the trip. They decided what meals they wanted to eat while they were at the camp, made a grocery list, went shopping, and took turns cooking for the group.

The students were forced to really rough it. To get to the camp, they had to direct the drivers using an ancient technology - paper maps. Once at Camp Marion White, the weather was excellent, and everyone was able to play on boats, swim, and enjoy a campfire.

After the retreat, the 9th graders planned their European adventure. In preparation, French teacher Grace Barlow and Spanish teacher Cristina Velez spent the first portion of trimester 1 delving deeply into the trip’s itinerary. Students crafted their day-to-day activities, mapped out their transport routes (learning the metro system in detail), and previewed the cultural and historic highlights they were to see. Mrs. Benner and Mrs. Dockery Perkins chaperoned the group in Paris and Barcelona.

Mrs. Benner said, “It was wonderful to see how comfortable they were with their language skills. Our French students even tried to speak in Spanish and vice-versa. They ventured into openair markets to buy their own food, and were able to do some shopping on the Champs Elysée. A highlight of the trip was the afternoon spent at the Barcelona Beach where they played a pickup game of soccer with some French students. C’était fantastique!

Thank you to our world language department for preparing them so well.”

In the late fall, the 9th graders faced the challenges of SSAT prep and applying to secondary schools. During their visits

28 Spring 2015

to prospective high schools, they each realized just how well prepared they are for this next step in their educational journey.

The class of 2015 has several more undertakings to look forward to this spring. First is a week-long intensive study called Writing Across Curriculum, when they will write several types of sample papers for an assortment of course subjects. Following this, they are planning a fundraiser for Charlie’s Fund, and then they will prepare for their final exams and graduation.

Any class that lays claim to all these accomplishments certainly deserves our respect and admiration. However, this class is extraordinary—they have done all these things and so much more. Members of this class are leaders on our soccer, lacrosse, and cross-country skiing teams, and with their leadership these teams have been stellar. Some have triumphed in our theater productions. Ninth graders have performed community service by serving at St. Stephen’s table. They have shared lunch and recess with the preschool and lower school children. Every member of the 9th grade is on our Student Council. In addition to all of this, many members of our class are involved in activities outside of BCD. We have downhill ski racers and instructors; accomplished musicians; students involved with ice hockey leagues, off campus lacrosse leagues, singing in choirs, and one student is even studying Greek. As they excel in their academics at BCD, they do all these other things with grace and remember to have fun.

The BCD class of 2015 celebrate each’s other joys and successes, and they support one another through stressful times. Mrs. Benner and Mr. Douglas are enjoying the ride, and wish each of them success in the future.

ts Ar In t Ac n io berkshirecountryday.org 29

Change service requested

Mission

Philosophy

Berkshire Country Day School exists to inspire the individual promise of every student, that each may become an exemplary citizen of the world.

Berkshire Country Day School is dedicated to encouraging academic excellence at the highest level and to realizing each student’s potential for wellrounded development. We provide a stimulating and challenging education in a supportive and nurturing environment. In the spirit of inquiry and discovery, students learn to be resourceful and responsible. In an atmosphere of mutual respect, students learn about community and caring for others. Berkshire Country Day School is a place where each student can meet success as a 21st century learner.

Vision Distinct in program, adventurous in spirit, engaged in a changing world

Values Originality, Quality, Respect, Sustainability, Community, Wellness, Citizenship

Every effort was made to present the information in this edition of BCD Today as accurately as possible. If you notice any errors, omissions or misrepresentations please contact the Development Office.

30  Spring 2015