Today at Breck
Spring 2014
READY, SET, READ! Literacy at Breck starts young / PG. 30
CLASS OF 2014 FUTURE PLANS alumni news WINTER Sports
Thank you!
Thank you.
Together, alumni, parents, grandparents, faculty, and friends of the school pledged more than $1.76 million to Breck’s Annual Fund in 2013-14! Thank you for the field trips, athletic equipment, sheet music, periodical subscriptions, scholarships, service projects, ice cream socials, and EVERYTHING you did for Breck this year! Visit breckschool.org to make a secure gift online. Questions? Please contact Laura McCarty Tufano at 763.381.8296 or laura.mccarty@breckschool.org.
contents
Spring 2014
Today at Breck
FEATURES 18 / Rolling out the Welcome Mat Breck families play host to international students, and everyone benefits.
20 / Photos from a Splendid Spring We’ve got great photos of spring activities, including Applause, the Middle School Musical, May Program, Closings, Commencement and more.
30 / Early Literacy at Breck cover story It’s been called a curricular building block so fundamental that
18
it’s at “the core of all we do.” Learn how Breck approaches reading, writing and the development of basic skills in our youngest students — turning them into lifelong readers and confident writers along the way.
36 / Making Summer Reading More Meaningful A new Upper School program expands the choices and adds opportunities for discussion of summer reading.
On the cover: Second grader Niya Shaul and her class take advantage of a beautiful spring day to read outside. Photo by Sara Rubinstein
20
30
29
Today at Breck Spring 2014 Today at Breck is a publication of Breck School, 123 Ottawa Avenue North, Golden Valley, MN 55422 email: communications@ breckschool.org
Head of School
5
4 / 20 Questions
34 / Alumni News
We asked, and they answered: Ingrid
Awards, strategic planning and more
Thyr ’16, Jonny Nicholson and Charlie
40 / C lass Notes
Hicks ’77
7 / 123
Director of Advancement
Activities, accomplishments, awards,
Editor and Chief Writer
from spring at Breck.
Design
7 / Who Knew?
Jill Field
Brenda Janisch-Hoban
Writers Michelle Geo Olmstead
Photographers Lois Fruen, Michael Goh, Lauren Kiesel, Matthias Orfield, Karyl Rice, Sara Rubinstein
24
Departments
Edward Kim
Meredith Cook VanDuyne
46
announcements: here are some items
Fun facts, both current and historical (no, there won’t be a quiz!)
12 / Ten Things You Didn’t Know About…
Alumni share recent news.
46 / Sports News We’ve got all the highlights of the winter season for the Mustangs.
48 / In Their Own Words Middle School Chaplain Alexis Kent heads the effort to give Breck a new fight song.
While students get a summer break a lot goes on at school.
Printing
Bolger Vision Beyond Print
MISSION
Breck is an Episcopal, coeducational, college-preparatory day school enrolling students of diverse backgrounds in grades preschool through twelve. Breck’s Mission is to:
Prepare each student for a college whose culture is compatible with the individual’s needs, interests and abilities. Help develop each student’s unique talents and potential to excel by nurturing independence and self-worth. Instill in each student a deep sense of social responsibility.
Breck School is committed to environmental stewardship. This publication is printed on paper manufactured with electricity in the form of renewable energy (wind, hydro, biogas) and a minimum of 30% postconsumer recovered fiber.
/3 Have you ever heard someone refer to the “Breck bubble”? If that means that Breck has a profound commitment to protecting the safety and security of the students in our care, it’s an apt term. But if it means that Breck students are sheltered from interaction with the wider world, it’s a case of perception not matching reality. The truth is that Breck, as it strives to create active global citizens, is increasingly engaged with the world outside our campus. The inviting, light-filled architecture of our newest space, the Upper School, literally provides wide windows and an expansive outlook just as our curriculum opens gateways ranging from our neighborhood to the world. With the opening of the Melrose Family Center for Servant Leadership, we have a firm foundation for community involvement in addition to our service curriculum in each division and Parents Association activities such as the fall leaf rake and Special Olympics events. During the 2013-14 school year, Breck welcomed 15 international students into our community and sent students to Spain, France and Thailand. A record number of research students worked in educational institutions and nonprofits and then presented their findings at numerous local, statewide, national and international competitions. Visual artists, performing artists, athletes and participants in mock trial were also among those who traveled to national competitions, and student groups explored issues of diversity, inclusivity and leadership with their counterparts. We welcomed student teachers from South Korea and teachers and students from Colombia, sent faculty members to observe and learn from other independent schools, had faculty and staff host and attend conferences, workshops and meetings with affinity groups in Minnesota and beyond. And our constant search for curricular opportunities reflective of our mission led to projects such as the eighth grade’s multidisciplinary genocide project that attracted local media attention and opened many eyes. You’ll read about some of these things in this (and every) issue of Today at Breck. But for those of us who are fortunate enough to be here every day, it’s clear that a culture of engagement is part of the Breck DNA. It may be a bubble, but it’s an awfully big one. Enjoy the summer.
EdWARD Kim Head of school
Today at Breck
Fall 2013
Questions 4/
Ingrid Thyr ’16: breck student and daughter OF BRIAN THYR ’83 1
What music are you
9
What do you remember from
16
Three people, living or dead,
listening to lately?
kindergarten?
you’d have over to dinner?
The Head and the Heart and Of
Putting. a. period. after. every. single.
Jennifer Lawrence, J.K. Rowling, and
Monsters and Men
word. I. wrote.
Julia Child so she could cook for us
2
What’s your favorite
10
What’s your favorite place on
17
If you could read anyone’s
time of year?
the Breck campus?
mind, whose would it be?
Winter, because there’s snow
The Chapel Green when it’s sunny
My brother’s, so I could ace all of
and beautiful
my tests.
3
What’s the most thrilling/
adventurous thing you’ve ever done? Going downhill skiing on my crosscountry skis 4
What’s your favorite
Breck lunch? Pizza 5
Who is your personal hero
11
Favorite comfort food?
Annie’s mac and cheese 12
Favorite treat: salty or sweet?
Sweet: my mom’s caramel layer bars 13
If you had a theme song,
what would it be? “Daylight” by Matt and Kim
(and why)? My dog, Gertie, because she’s always so excited to meet everyone and seems content with life no matter what gets thrown at her 6
Dream job?
Professional Nordic skier 7
Best decision?
Going to Camp Widjiwagan 8
14
Favorite line from a movie? “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around every once in a while, you could miss it.” —Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
What advice would you give
to yourself 10 years ago? Just because it’s green doesn’t mean it’s inedible.
15
Favorite website?
Jessie Diggins’ blog: http://jessiediggins.com/
18
If you could travel anywhere,
where would you go? Patagonia 19
Unfulfilled wish?
Having a pet goat 20
What keeps you up at night?
Nothing. I sleep like a log.
Questions /5
Jonny Nicholson: director of college counseling and breck parent 1
What music are you
listening to lately? Lots of kid songs. Sans kids, Mumford and Sons, Marshall Chapman and Sun Volt 2
What’s one of the last
books you read? Worst Hard Times, a terrific book about life in the Dust Bowl 3
What’s your favorite time
of year? Spring: time to root for the Mustangs, Red Sox, Nationals and anyone who plays the Yankees 4
What’s the most thrilling/
adventurous thing you’ve ever done? Becoming a parent. Three kids later I still am not sure what I’m doing. 5
What’s your favorite Breck
lunch? The pancake and bacon breakfast Mr. Miles and staff hosted for our seniors May 1 6
Who is your personal hero
(and why)? John Anderson. So great I worked for him twice—at Kenyon College and Phillips Academy.
7
Dream job? Breck College Counselor! Though I would say I’ve always imagined returning to Gambier, OH, to close my career at my alma mater in the Kenyon College admission office. 8
Best decision? To propose to my wife. It has never been so easy to make such a big decision. 9
What advice would you give to yourself 10 years ago? Learn to ice skate. You’ll soon be living in Minnesota. 10
What’s your favorite place on the Breck campus? I love sitting in the audience and watching our students succeed: in the gym, Chapel, theater, you name it. 11
Favorite comfort food? Sushi 12
Favorite treat: salty or sweet? Salty. Not a huge sweets person, except for Cheerwine 13
If you had a theme song, what would it be? “Son of a Preacher Man” 14
Favorite line from a movie? “I’m your Huckleberry,” from Tombstone
15
Best trophy/award you
ever won? Bragging rights from sumo wrestling a friend at a minor league baseball park in Nashville 16
If you could read anyone’s mind,
whose would it be? Mr. Bergene’s or Ms. McCann’s. They just seem to know something the rest of us don’t. 17
If you could travel anywhere,
where would you go? Right now, dinner outside, under the stars, at Pearl’s in Sewanee, TN
18
Pet peeve? When there is an opportunity to achieve more, but someone settles for something less 19
Unfulfilled wish?
A hole-in-one (and not in mini-golf) 20
What keeps you up at night?
January through March? College admission decisions! Now? A newborn
Today at Breck
Spring 2014
Questions 6/
Charlie Hicks ’77: son of C. CArroll “spike” hicks ’47 and grandson of breck housemother kathryn hicks moody 1
What music are you
6
Dream job?
13
If you had a theme song,
listening to lately?
Work in the music archives of Concord
what would it be?
Tina Brooks, Magic Sam’s West Side
Records (presently the owner of
“I’m a Hog For You Baby.” A Leiber/
Soul, Brad Meldau, Rail Road Earth,
Fantasy Records containing all kinds of
Stoller tune I first heard on a Chifton
Keith Jarrett, Lefty Frizzell and my
small boutique jazz and blues labels)
Chenier record
comfort food, The Grateful Dead 2
What’s your favorite time
of year?
7
Best decision?
“You can’t handle the truth” from
likely was not hers)
A Few Good Men
8
backpacking and football What’s the most thrilling/
adventurous thing you’ve ever done? Climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in the fall of 2013. Everyone in the group summited. 4
What advice would you give yourself 10 years ago? Work less, experience more out of the office.
15
Favorite website?
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 16
Three people, living or dead,
you’d have over to dinner? Jerry Garcia, Milton Friedman and David McCullough
What’s your favorite
Breck lunch? Back in the seventies, none (and I am being polite). The kitchen serves very good pizza today. 5
Favorite line from a movie?
The woman I married (though it most
Fall for hunting, camping, road biking, 3
14
Who is your personal hero
(and why)? My late dad. Spike was a measure of integrity, humor, focus, intelligence and grace along with an unending desire to succeed.
9
What is the most important
17
If you could read anyone’s mind,
room in your home?
whose would it be?
My sound room where all my gear is
The Fed Chairwoman, Janet Yellen
10
What’s your favorite place on
18
If you could travel anywhere,
the Breck campus?
where would you go?
I like that courtyard in the back.
China’s Great Wall and its countryside
11
Favorite comfort food?
Grateful Dead (see above) and gourmet meatloaf 12
Favorite treat: salty or sweet?
Salt, baby!
19
Pet peeve?
Littering! 20
What keeps you up at night?
The nation’s aggregate debt position and its effect on the Generation Xers, Millennials, and Boomlets
/7
New Board President Andrew Turner looks ahead.
Today at 123 Ottawa Avenue North
Andrew Turner Elected President of Board of Trustees At its end-of-year meeting in late June, the Breck Board of Trustees elected Andrew Turner to a two-year term as president, succeeding Tim Clark. Turner, father of Mac ’16 and Ben ’17, has served on the board since 2009 and was most recently chair of the development committee. He says, “I’m delighted to serve a place that I’ve really grown to love.” In turning over the reins, Clark observes, “I am very confident
Simpson Wins National Merit Scholarship Claire Simpson ’14, co-valedictorian of the graduating class, was awarded a National Merit Scholarship from the National Merit Scholarship Foundation.
that Andrew is a leader who can best guide the board and Breck, and I’m excited to see the possibilities of where Breck will continue to grow under his leadership.” Among Turner’s biggest projects is shepherding a strategic planning process that will chart Breck’s course for the future.
At the same meeting, the board thanked four members whose terms have expired: Mark Evenstad ’87, O.P. Portu, Woody
“The school has had fantastic direction under Ed and Tim’s
Rash ‘88 and Bob Sheehy.
leadership,” he says. “I’m looking forward to my chance to
And five new members were welcomed to the board as of
work with so many wonderful people helping the school to
July 1: Drew Gaillard ’88, Rob Holt, Joan Rex, Susan Bass
fulfill its mission.”
Roberts and Jill Schurtz.
Who Knew?
4,461 YouTube views (so far) of Ruskin Li ’14’s “Happy” video featuring Breck students and faculty
Today at Breck
Spring 2014
Today at 123 Ottawa Avenue North
8/ Dr. Jacob Miller, center, celebrates with family and a good friend.
School Year’s End Brings Recognition for Faculty and Staff In annual recognition ceremonies, there were special awards for members of the faculty and staff.
• Joyce McCann, preschool, received the Lee and Penny
Anderson Family Breck Faculty Chair.
• Katie Scherer, eighth grade English, received the Carl
and Eloise Pohlad Family Breck Faculty Chair.
• Dallas Crow, Upper School English, received the
Wigley Award for Excellence in Teaching.
• Dr. Jacob Miller, Upper School science, was the
faculty’s choice for the Ernest Campbell Award for “self-giving love to Breck.”
• Margaret Wong, Upper School Chinese and director of
Breck Students Recognized as Scholars of Distinction 38 students in Minnesota have been honored for exemplary academic performance, and 12 of them are from Breck. Congratulations to our Scholars of Distinction: Claire Simpson (Leadership), Elliot Weiler (Mathematics), Madison Ernst (Science), Sofie Kim (Science), Jacob Levy (Science), Patricia Zhao (Science), and Meritorious Performance winners Wolfgang Ofstedal (Science), Nath Samaratunga (Science), Darartu Gamada (STEM), Luis Guzman (STEM), Julia Joern (STEM), and Rustam Kosherbay (STEM).
In Memoriam The Breck community notes with sadness the deaths of two current parents and a former trustee and sends heartfelt condolences to their families. Christopher Curry ’83, father of Aidan ’20 and former
international education, was the Class of 2014’s choice
Breck students Rowan ’21 and Bronach ’23, and husband
for the yearbook dedication.
of Cate, died suddenly and unexpectedly on May 11 at the
age of 49.
• Robin Fondow, Jil Franke, Tom Hegg and Dulcenee
Walsh were recognized for 30 years of service.
Thomas Carpenter, who served on the Breck board of
trustees from 1974-1980, died in Buffalo, Wyoming, at the
• Gary Marlow and Derek Yang were recognized for 20
years of service.
age of 81.
Tyrone Kindle, father of Zarkari, Takina ’14 and Nehemiah
• And Donald Bell, Rob Johnson ’90, Stacey Koehler,
Mark Nolan, John LaRotonda and Gordon Tennis
’18, and husband of Kathy, died of an illness on June 19.
were recognized for ten years of service.
He was 53.
Who Knew?
420 attendees at this year’s Pancake BreckFest celebration of service
/9
Mock Trial Places Twelfth at Nationals The Mustang Mock Trial team captured the Minnesota state championship and headed to national competition in early May.
Lower School Families “Get in Gear”
At nationals, held this year in Madison, Wisconsin, the
Over 115 Lower School students participated in the Get in
team amassed a record of 3-1 and ended up in twelfth
Gear 2K fun run event in late April. The Breck group won a
place overall.
$250 award for being the largest in the category.
Anderson
Flotten ’85
Mendes
Schafer
Schoenborn
Faculty Receive Grants for Summer Study, Travel Five faculty members have been awarded for study and travel this summer:
• Melita Anderson, Lower School music, will travel to Ghana to study African drumming, music and singing and work
at a local school that welcomes volunteer teachers.
• Sarah Flotten ’85, Middle School history, will attend a workshop led by the Santa Fe Leadership Institute focusing
on school leadership and how it can foster a learning-centered culture.
• Matthew Mendes, Middle School English/history, will attend the University of Rhode Island’s summer institute in
digital literacy.
• Kim Schafer and Liz Schoenborn, Lower School, will attend the Teachers College Writing Project Institute at Columbia
University in New York City.
$1,200 raised at February’s used uniform sale, with proceeds benefiting sustainability efforts at Breck
Today at Breck
Spring 2014
Today at 123 Ottawa Avenue North
Nineteen Inducted Into Cum Laude Society At the annual induction celebration in April, nine seniors and ten juniors joined Breck’s chapter of the Cum Laude Society.
• From the Class of 2014: Blaze Beecher, Luke LeBlanc,
Guohao (Ruskin) Li, Anjali Madhok, Lucas McCormick, Peter Metzger, Carter Roland, Sunny 10 /
Tang and Derek Wiitala
• From the Class of 2015: Maria Bell, Peter Kiesel,
Sofie Kim, Grace Kirkpatrick, Edward Kuhns, Jacob Levy, Madison Lommen, Parsa Najmaie, Andrew Stuempfig and Eve Zelickson
• They join the following members of the Class of 2014
who were inducted as juniors: Eileen Bayer, Claire Drysdale, Adria Duncan, Madison Ernst, Leslie Hayes, Julia Joern, Trevor Larsen, John Sheehy, Claire Simpson and Patricia Zhao
Lower School Students Score in National WordMasters Competition
Advanced Science Research Students Garner Awards Easton McChesney, Wolfgang Ofstedal, and Elisa Villafana won silver medals at the International Sustainable World Engineering, Energy, Environment Project Olympiad (I-SWEEEP). Sofie Kim, Jacob Levy and Claire Simpson were finalists at the International Science and Engineering Fair. Darartu Gamada and Rustam Kosherbay, Madison Ernst and Patricia Zhao, Julia Joern and Luis Guzman, and Easton McChesney and Wolfgang Ofstedal were all
Lower School students had a very impressive showing in this
national semifinalists in the 2014 ExploraVision
year’s WordMasters, a national vocabulary competition that
competition.
involves nearly 150,000 students nationwide.
Madison Ernst and Patricia Zhao, Claire Drysdale, Claire
Top scorers in third grade — which finished ninth in the
Simpson and Elisa Villafana won grand gold awards at
nation in the Blue Division competition — were Diego
the Minnesota State Science Fair; Sofie Kim and Jacob
Jennings (who also received the medal for the highest
Levy won grand silver awards; and Zach Donahue and
cumulative score in third grade), Lily Ahluwalia, Olivia
Evelyn McChesney, Easton McChesney and Wolfgang
Benson, Yvonne Frerichs, Natol Nejo and B. J. Wesley.
Ofstedal, and Trevor Larsen and Nath Samaratunga
Other top scorers from Breck were Will Walkley, who
won grand bronze awards.
also received the medal for the highest cumulative score
Darartu Gamada and Julia Joern were state runner-ups
in fourth grade, and third graders Gus Culligan, Tira
in the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing,
Gutema, Mia Mathieu, Sydney McDaniel, Romy Peterson
and they were two of 14 students from Minnesota
and Ella Saklad.
recognized in an event at General Mills. Both were given
The WordMasters Challenge is an exercise in critical
a Wheaties box with their picture on it.
thinking that first encourages students to become familiar
For a complete list, see the news section of the Breck
with a set of interesting new words and then challenges
website.
them to use words to complete analogies expressing various kinds of logical relationships.
Who Knew?
78.24 Percentage of Upper School students who participated in athletics in 2013-14
Spanish Students Earn Recognition in National Spanish Examination Spanish students won 14 medals and 40 honorable mentions on the 2014 National Spanish Examination. More than 154,000 students nationwide take the exam, which is sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese.
• Plata (Silver) medals went to Morgan Richter (MS) (Spanish I); Sung-Wan Huh and Reina Markert (Spanish II); Emma
Senner, Ingrid Thyr and Samuel Rex (Spanish IV) and Julia Florey (Spanish VI).
• Bronce (Bronze) medals went to Lily Moen (Spanish I); Maddie Sargent (Spanish II); Meg Keiser, Maddie McCue, Andrew
Stuempfig and Gloriana Wolf (Spanish III); and Sara Carle (Spanish IV).
• Honorable mentions went to Lacey Budniewski, Marcus Gutierrez (MS), Adrianna Keller, Amanda Navratil, Sara Rex
(MS) and Arhan Salunke (MS) in Spanish I; Ethan Boyer (MS), Carter Breitenfeldt, Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman, Demetrius Compton, Marianne Drysdale, Samuel Fernandez, Madeleine Guell, Austin Heidemann, Kajsa Johansson, Charles Prest (MS), Darlene Radichel (MS), Talia Saklad (MS), Soren Salveson, Gabriella Scarpa, Dalton Weigel in Spanish II; Melanie Blazar, Tiara Burton, Ivy Flemmer, Amanda Gillen, Prashant Godishala, Sina Hakim-Hashemi, Davis Harrington, Isabella Jennings, Garrett Opperman, Katie Schmoker, Brian Song (MS) and Seamus Walsh (Spanish III); Grace Carle, Henry Louris, Emily Ratner, Olivia Richards, Lewis White and Sarah Gunderson (Spanish IV); and Ed Kuhns (Spanish V).
Visual Artists Receive Recognition Congratulations to the following students who have won awards in the recent Minnesota State Visual Art Exhibition: Katherine Schmidt, whose sculpture won the Superior Award Judges Choice, Excellent Award winners Sarah Webb (ceramics) and Ivy Flemmer (drawing), and Achievement Award winners Danny Reiling (drawing) Evie Mackenzie (drawing), Lexie Wanninger (ceramics) and Emma Luten (sculpture).
Second Graders Publish iBook Second grade students in the class of Ty Thayer ’90 completed a book on biomes that is now available on iBooks. The book, called Let’s Learn About Biomes, includes photos taken during Thayer’s world travels, funded in part by his grant from the Lee and Penny Anderson Family Breck Faculty Chair. Research and writing was done by the second graders, with Upper School students in Chelen Johnson’s Environmental Studies class helping with the editing.
One ton Amount of logo apparel being recycled each year at Breck
/ 11
Today at Breck
Spring 2014
Middle School Spanish Students Fare Well
Today at 123 Ottawa Avenue North
Academic Awards Are an End-of-Year Highlight The Upper School Awards Program, held this year on June 3, provided our annual opportunity to recognize significant accomplishments and achievements by Upper School students. A complete list of awards is on the Breck website, with highlights as follows: 12 /
At the annual Festival Quijote arts competition, Breck Middle School students won a large number of awards: Crafts/Art 1st place—Una escena de Don Quijote: Kennedy Schweibert and Talia Saklad 3rd place—Los Taínos y los Españoles: Deirdre O’Neill
Children’s Literature
English Book Award: Julia Florey
1st place—Alberto y los extranjeros: Jacob Johnson 1st place—La Razón porque los jaguares son negros: Morgan Richter 2nd place—Rosie-Caroline Hogan: Lizzy Pfohl 3rd place—La Mariposa: Wihinape Hunt
Colonel Porter T. Wiggins History Award: Foley Simons John Nelson Mathematics Award: Trevor Larsen Modern Language Book Award: Edward Kuhns Performing Arts Excellence Award: Atlas Finch Mrs. Reuben L. Anderson Sacred Studies Award: Brian
Commercial Video
Bolles Science Leadership and Achievement Award: Luis Guzman, Claire Simpson Charles Krenz Visual Arts Award: Claire Drysdale,
1st place—La magica remota: Hunter Boyd, John Gunsbury 3rd place—Viaja a Argentina: Jack Schauer, Marcus Gutierrez
Demonstration Video
Madeline Youngdale Allen Dunn Trophy: Anna Zumwinkle, Kwaku Bodom Scholarship Grade 9: Archana Murali, Samuel Rex, Catherine Schmoker, Seyade Tadele, Genevieve Weiler; Grade 10: Charles Gamer, Tait Helgaas, Ingrid Thyr, Anna Zumwinkle;
1st place—Provetores de Puerto Rico: Patrick Liss, Peter Mesna, Sean Dougherty 2nd place—Comida del Tubo: Charlie Helm, Elijah Zackery 3rd place—Mofongo: Josh Taylor
Grade 11: Jacob Levy; Grade 12: Claire Drysdale, Claire
Dramatic Video
Simpson
1st place—La Computadora Rota: Christiana Wilke, Isabella Denzer, Sara Rex, Taylor Bjerke 2nd place—Banana Book: Elliot Guzman, Zane Severt 3rd place—Yo amo Messi: Caroline McCue, Gabriela Sampsell, Iberayo Olagbaju
Citizenship Grade 9: Sarah Gunderson; Grade 10: Shivani Nookala; Grade 11: Madison Lommen; Grade 12: Anjali Madhok Christin M. Mead ’90 Memorial Award: Leslie Hayes
Essay
Breck Alumni Award: Edward Kuhns
3rd—Rico’s Essay: Liam Gunsbury
Robert J. Aarthun Award: Allison Cole, David Caruso McCall Academic Award: Claire Drysdale, Claire Simpson
Map
Haupt Cup: Leslie Hayes
1st place—El Caribe: Jack Weinstein
Instrumental Music
Middle School Awards
2nd place—Don Quijote: Cory Jameson
Effort: Ayanna Platt, Dante Baza
3rd place—La Playa: Darlene Radichel
Sportsmanship: Paige Olowu, Alex McFarland Leadership: Terrina White, Isaac Luten Academic Excellence: Maya Czeneszew, Hyunsoo Song
Poetry Powerpoint Presentation 2nd place—Puerto Rico: Emi Martel, Ellie Holt
Be a Mustang: Britt Helgaas, Joseph Purvis, Grace Kelm,
Recitation
Dominic Frerichs
2nd place—¡A Volar!: Elizabeth Berman
Who Knew?
130 attendees at the Parents Association’s annual multicultural film festival
The Breck Multi
and the Bre
The
Mul Film
Saturd 6 Samue
We’ll start the hors d’oeuvres the Salas Com
View one of th
• Searching fo • The Central • Intouchable
Also Noted Three Upper School students were invited to take the
Our Middle School Academic Triathlon team of Jack Wein-
American Invitational Math Exam based on their scores
stein, David Pearce, James Clinton, Jacob Johnson, Patrick
on the national math exam. It’s the first time in several
Liss, Roberta Ayana and alternates Elizabeth Berman,
years that a Breck student has qualified. Congratulations
Ethan Miandrisoa and Cassidy Roland won second place in
to SungRim Huh ’15, SungWan Huh ’17 and Maxwell
regional competition.
Zhang ’15.
Breck was awarded 25 boxes of books to share with commu-
Sixth grader Morgan Richter received a scholarship award
nity partners, under a program sponsored by the NPEA
based on an essay she submitted about her experience
(National Partnership for Educational Access). The books
volunteering at St. Therese, one of our Middle School service
were distributed to service sites by Upper School advisory
partners.
groups on their final site visits of the year on April 23, World Book Night.
Seventh grader Jack Weinstein, who was Breck’s 2014 spelling champion, was one of 45 students who competed
Teacher Carol Grams’ work was chosen to be in a juried show
at the Minnesota Seven County Metro Area Spelling Bee in
at the Minnetonka Center for the Arts.
mid March.
Breck’s primary chess team took fifth place in the state at the
Eighth grader Maya Czeneszew placed fourth in the state in
Minnesota SCA tourney over spring break.
the Geography Bee. The competition included only the top 100 students in Minnesota.
Senior Jacob Duxbury designed the t-shirt worn by all participants in the University of Minnesota’s China Day.
Senior Claire Drysdale won a Gold Key award from
At the same event, junior Sofie Kim won the Chinese
National Scholastic for her oil painting, “Figure in Motion.”
Language Olympiad.
Only the top 1% of almost 255,000 entries nationwide achieve this level of recognition. In addition, Claire’s entry for a poster contest at the Guthrie Theater received an
Three students were involved in national snowboard competitions this winter. Junior Ford Brandau competed at the USASA national championship for snowboarding at
honorable mention.
Copper Mountain, Colorado, finishing 23rd in Half Pipe and
Just before spring break, WCCO-TV aired a story about the
33rd in Slopestyle. Fifth grader Luke Paster was awarded 8th
interdisciplinary eighth-grade genocide project, focusing on
place overall championship for his age group. placed 26th in
the students’ interactions with Holocaust survivor Joe
Slopestyle, 35th in Half Pipe, 12th in Boardercross, 5th in
Grosknacht. Reporter Angela Davis and her cameraman had
Giant Slalom and 16th in Slalom. Third grader Truman
great video of student projects and interviews with three
Urness took 19th place in Slalom.
eighth graders: Jacob Foster, Olivia Vang and Terrina White. The unit was coordinated by history teacher Sarah Flotten ’85 and English teacher Katie Scherer. The video is posted on the Breck website. Baseball player Tyler Lindstrom was a Star Tribune athlete of the week April 15 after catching all 21 innings and helping the team win two of three games over the preceding
Upper School Director Thomas Taylor welcomed a second child, daughter Elsie Gray, on April 21. Michal Sagar, Visual Arts department head, had two oil paintings chosen for a show at the Linus Galleries in Los Angeles and was a guest artist presenter at this year’s Women’s Art Institute at St. Catherine University.
weekend.
15 pages about Breck in a new book called What Schools Teach Us About Religious Life by the Rev. Daniel R. Heischman, D.D.
/ 13
Today at Breck
Spring 2014
14 /
Class of 2014 Future Plans
Mardryka Adzick
Bennington College
Anjali Madhok
Wellesley College
Rebecca Albrecht
Lawrence University
Lucas McCormick
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Christopher Anderson
Tufts University
Matthew McMillan
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Austin Andrle
Trinity College
Peter Metzger
Georgetown University
Lucas Audette
University of Washington
Ingrid Miller
University of Puget Sound
Eileen Bayer
Washington University in St. Louis
Sophie Mirviss
Johns Hopkins University
Blaze Beecher
Macalester College
Parker Montgomery
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Camila Bernaldez
University of Denver
Lydia Moran Oberlin College
Jackson Bigley
Hamline University
Angela Myers
Barnard College
Alexa Bigos
The American University of Paris
Elle Olson
University of Puget Sound
Brian Bolles
New York University
Michael Orke
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Grace Carle
Connecticut College
Cameron Peterson
Union College (NY)
David Caruso
Wesleyan University
Duncan Phelps
Colorado College
Allison Cole Oberlin College
Henry Phelps
Trinity College
Emily Colwell
The College of Wooster
Hannah Price
The George Washington University
Alexander Crawford
University of Kentucky
Alyssa Quast
Baylor University
Nicholas DeMaris
Rhodes College
Natalie Roberts
College of Saint Benedict
Madisen Diehl
Villanova University
Jack Robertson
University of St. Thomas
Zachary Donahue Stevens Institute of Technology
Carter Roland
New York University
* Claire Drysdale
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Megan Russell
College of Saint Benedict
** Adria Duncan
Washington University in St. Louis
Jacob Duxbury
Hamline University
Dylon Eggert St. Olaf College Madison Ernst
Northwestern University
Kristina Genau
Texas Christian University
Anton Gougeon
University of Colorado at Boulder
Caroline Grothe Occidental College Luis Guzman
Purdue University
Otto Haeg Sewanee: The University of the South Alexander Hasselbring
University of St. Thomas
Leslie Hayes Duke University Niara Hill
University of Miami (FL)
Julia Joern
Columbia University
Henry Johnson
Gustavus Adolphus College
Katharine Jundt
Washington University in St. Louis
Theadora Karos
Loyola University Chicago
Takina Kindle
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Tiffany Kleber
University of Colorado at Boulder
Lorelei Lange
Miami University, Oxford
Trevor Larsen
Washington University in St. Louis
Luke LeBlanc
Macalester College
Nicole Lee
Illinois Wesleyan University
Taylor Lee
University of Minnesota, Duluth
Guohao Li
University of Southern California
Kevin Linehan
University of Michigan
Kelsey Mackenzie
Cornell University
Maya Maddaus
Boston College * Danforth Scholarship recipient
Jorgen Salveson St. Olaf College Nath Samaratunga
Tufts University
Makayla Samountry
The College of Wooster
Sophia Schonwetter
Northeastern University
Maxwell Schwartzman
University of Denver
Elizabeth Searls
Trinity College
Mark Sharp
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
John Sheehy
University of Notre Dame
Foley Simons
Hamilton College - NY
Claire Simpson
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Hadley Slocum
Bucknell University
Ramsey Sorrells Saint John’s University (MN) Kaitlyn Stanton
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Jillian Stately
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Lesharo Subendran
Coe College
Sunny Tang
New York University
Elisa Villafana
University of Notre Dame
Manuela Villafana
Miami University, Oxford
Hunter Wang
Regis University
Elliott Weiler California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo Emily Wiens
Boston University
Derek Wiitala
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Charles Wilgers
University of Kansas
James Wille
Wake Forest University
Madeline Youngdale St. Olaf College Amanda Zeidner Occidental College Patricia Zhao ** Morehead Cain Scholar
Georgetown University
/ 15
10 Today at Breck
Spring 2014
Ten Things You Didn’t Know About…
16 /
what goes on over the summer at breck
Sure, you know about Breck Summer Programs. But a lot more goes on—even when you’re not here every day to watch 1
Summer is the time for deep cleaning, painting, upgrading and repairing facilities. This year’s most
significant big project is a major facelift for the preschool, kindergarten and extended day rooms on the first floor.
2
It’s also the time when participants in our Advanced Research programs in science, history and math-
ematics pursue their projects in locations all over the Twin Cities. When school reconvenes in the fall, the students will work on analyzing, presenting and sharing the results of their research experiences.
3
afternoons throughout June and August so that
students have plenty of summer reading materials.
7
The Breck Alumni Association will be making plans for Homecoming 2014, which will take place on
September 18-20. They’ll also sponsor a reunion and the annual summer celebration, held this year at Loring Kitchen.
8
The Breck Parents Association won’t have formal meetings over the summer, but they will be
involved in making sure that every Lower School classroom and Middle and Upper School grade has parent coordinators
gearing up for a new season in 2014-15. They’ll be
to help arrange for volunteers and other tasks during the
admissions process and meeting as a group to plan next year’s events, assisted by student intern Libbey Castle ’12.
school year.
9
Parent mentors and new families will be meeting and talking over the next few months to answer
The communications team will give the website a
questions, introduce new students to current ones, and
top-to-bottom update and will be busy preparing
provide a good welcome to the community before school
publications such as the student handbook, calendar and student directory for the new school year (so here’s a gentle reminder to keep us updated on any change of address, phone number or email).
5
The Lower School library is open on Wednesday
The admissions office will have a brief respite before
surveying new families about their experiences with the
4
6
The business office will be getting ready for the school’s annual audit.
starts again.
10
Upper School athletes will be meeting for a variety of camps, captains practices and regular practices, as
most fall sports begin right away — or even before the start of school.
17 / 17
Grounds crews lay new sod in front of the building.
18 /
International Students and Their Host Families Share Much More Than an Address As Breck’s international student program continues to
can culture. While Breck is the perfect environment for them
thrive and grow, so does the need for host families. Says
to expand their formal knowledge of the English language
International Education Program Director Margaret Wong,
and continue with their high school studies, a host family is
“The responsibility of a host family can be stated very simply:
the only and the ideal environment for them to practice their
they provide an environment for the international student to
English and to experience American culture on a deep,
live as part of their family, while he or she attends Breck
personal and meaningful basis.”
School as a full-time student.”
And the connection doesn’t necessarily stop when the
It’s a formula that has worked well for decades. Observes
international student leaves Breck. Dr. Duane and Karen Orn
Wong, “Believe me, not all international programs are this
and their son Charlie ‘02, who hosted both Are Hansen ’92
well integrated into the host school. Host families make it all
and Murisiku Raifu ’93 in consecutive years, remain close to
possible.”
both to this day, managing to have annual visits, receiving
Says Breck parent Gabrielle Parish, whose family hosted a
holiday, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day phone calls, and more.
student from China in 2013-14, “Maxwell has been a delight
“They have been terrific additions to our life and continue to
to have as part of our family. He has opened our eyes to a
be big brothers for Charlie,” say the Orns. “The experience far
culture that is impossible to learn in any way other than by
exceeded our initial expectations. We’ve received so much
living with someone. I can’t recommend the experience
more from them than the reverse.”
highly enough.”
Kathy Roland, whose family hosted Ruskin Li ’14, puts it this
Wong observes, “Our international students come to Breck
way: “Having Ruskin here for the past two years was a great
because they want to be fluent in English and learn Ameri-
experience for our family. I think we were all fortunate to
Ruskin Li ’14 (Beijing, China) and Carter Roland ’14
Simon Parish ’15 and Maxwell Zhang ’15 (Beijing, China)
Photos by Sara Rubinstein
make lasting connections with someone from another
Adds Parish, “Max brought to our home and our understand-
culture. Through the process everyone has learned so much.
ing the best of China, which is not only interesting but also
We had to think about and communicate our family goals
critically important to our own children’s future. Correspond-
and rules — and that helped our two children as much as it
ingly, he has brought us the delight and honor of recognizing
helped Ruskin.”
and adopting the best that he sees in American culture and in our American family life. It is humbling and so rewarding
As Breck’s international student program continues to thrive and grow, so does the need for host families.
to play a role in the development of a future outside of one’s own children.” Breck will welcome 15 international students from China, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan and South Korea to the Upper School in 2014-15, and Wong is still searching for families who can host and help provide entertainment and other American cultural experiences for the students.
Roland also says, “For a family considering hosting an exchange student I think it is most important to understand that the student will be an independent member of the
Anyone interested in learning more can contact her at 763-381-8352 or margaret.wong@breckschool.org. JF
family—more like a sibling than a best friend. Our kids
We acknowledge with gratitude the philanthropic support
enjoyed doing some things with Ruskin, but all three also had
of the George Family, which has long helped to support the
their own activities. I think it was helpful for everyone to
international student program at Breck.
maintain their individuality.”
Today at Breck
Spring 2014
Applause, held this year at Muse in downtown
Applause_25.0
Minneapolis, was a grand celebration of “geek chic� in support of academic technology at Breck.
TO DATE
AS RAIS ED SE H U A
$7 Million
ER OV
TO DATE: 2014
Co-chairs Sarah Hanlon and Kim Walker
TO DATE
TODAY
Re ited! serve Y o Lim
t Spo ur
Teresa and Ron Sit
seats available
only
350
space is limited reserve your spot today
Celebrating
Board President Tim Clark, Beth Ford, Jill Schurtz and Andrew Turner Spac ei s
25 YEARS of technology
AP PL
Applause_25.0
20 20//
Joanna Curry, Annalee and Brett Habstritt
/ 21 Hanne and Head of School Edward Kim
Masters of Ceremonies Sky Fauver and Charlie Grossman
Julie Spangler, Tara Clark, Adrienne Oesterle and Maya Tester ’81
Phil and Sherry Jaffe
Robert Birdsong, Sarah and Joe Huss, and Megan Gaillard
Today at Breck
Spring 2014
h p e s Jo
echnicolor D T g n i z reamcoat Ama
e h t and Middle School performers had the chance 22 /
to go, go, go, go as Joseph lit up the Cargill Theater stage. Right: seventh grader Brett Schoppert as Joseph and eighth grader Sam Pacala as Pharoah.
Photos by Karyl Rice
/ 23
24 / 24 /
May Program 2014
Today at Breck
Spring 2014
Upper School students wrapped up the school year with traditional May Program activities, including internships, classes and (new this year) major projects. Those major projects included a student who wrote a business plan for a summer business and created a website to go along with it, a student who created her own music EP, complete with writing, recording and producing, and a several students working on documentary films, creative and screenwriting projects, poetry and artwork.
The ever-popular Beatles with Mr. Rosenfield
Anajali Madhok ’14 wrote, recorded and released an EP called “Apostrophes” as a May Program major project. You can download it at anjali-and-the-tunes.bandcamp.com/releases
/ 25 / 25
Mr. Bell’s battleships in Military History
Photos by Sara Rubinstein
Ms. Wong cooks potstickers.
Today at Breck
Spring 2014
26 /
Middle School Closing
At Middle School Closing, eighth graders Reuben Stately and Cole Maxwell spoke, and the class was presented to Upper School Director Thomas Taylor as incoming ninth graders. For a list of Middle School award winners, see page 12. Lower School closing featured rousing musical performances with a pirate theme.
Photos by Karyl Rice
Lower School Closing / 27
Spring 2014
Baccalaureate
Today at Breck
28 /
Toby Piper LaBelle ’90 spoke to seniors and their families at Baccalaureate on June 1. Commencement featured co-valedictorians Claire Drysdale ’14 and Claire Simpson ’14, faculty speaker Frank Eustis and the traditional ringing of the Wilder Bell.
Commencement
/ 29
Photos by Karyl Rice
Today at Breck
Spring 2014
30 / 30 /
“The Core of All We Do” “You can really get into the book and you’re in the story. And you can read the same book again and can get really attached to the characters — like in Harry Potter.” Acacia Johnstone, grade 4
Early Literacy at Breck by Jill Field photos by Sara Rubinstein
Fourth grader Jack Gaillard says he especially likes reading because, “You can sit down or lie down and get lost in a book — anywhere. And then you finish the book and you can pick up another one and do it again!” His classmate Christina Radichel says reading “takes you on a good adventure in your mind.” For second grader Piper Crosby, it’s something that “helps you and you learn stories you can tell to your family and friends.” And fourth grader Ingrid Wilson says her favorite part is, “I like it when I get to bed and reading calms me down.” So how does Breck encourage a love of reading in our youngest students? Experts say that beginning reading and writing, or early literacy development, encompasses several phases of learning through which children about five to eight years old typically progress — at their own pace and in their own way. Stages are generally called emergent, early, early fluent and fluent, but there’s huge latitude for individual development along the way. But no matter how it comes about, or at what age, reading, writing, vocabulary and comprehension are the most fundamental of curricular building blocks. Says Lower School Dean Alice Wright, “PK1 literacy is at the core of all we do.” Early literacy has been a particular area of study and selfreflection among Lower School faculty members for the past two years as part of a special task force with teachers from every grade taking part.
components children need to master written and oral communication. “It starts with teaching decoding [figuring out the meaning of a not previously encountered word],” she explains. “Then come comprehension strategies, phonics, writing forms and skills, spelling and grammar skills. But it all begins with creating a genuine appreciation for good literature.” Language Resource instructor Maura Roby, who has been working with early readers for her entire career including more than 20 years at Breck, says, “In a nutshell, Breck’s approach is child centered and balanced,” moving from explicit instruction through guided instruction, then the children’s own independent and partner work. Jenny Bennett, who teaches first grade, observes that success in teaching early literacy has everything to do with getting to know each child well. “Children grow at their own pace and in their own ways,” she says, “and we get to know each one
English Department Head Frank Eustis says the task force,
as a person: who they are, how they learn, what they’re most
under the leadership of Lower School Director Peg Bailey
interested in. Kids know that it feels real to them, and they
and Dean Cathy Preissing, has spent significant time,
respond in turn.”
including meetings both over the summers and during the school year, “reading, sharing, doing a wide canvass for information and discussing how to apply best practices to what we do at Breck.”
It’s a far cry from Lower School students’ parents’ and grandparents’ experience with Dick, Jane, Baby Sally and other basal reading materials. “Our approach is fairly eclectic,” says Preissing, who serves as facilitator of the early literacy
A Balanced Approach to Literacy
task force. “We’ve been able to take the best from a variety of
Kindergarten instructor Marcy Wegner says Breck’s approach
methods, best practices, current research and teacher
to early literacy is a very balanced one, and it includes all the
observations of what’s worked well over the years.”
/ 31
Today at Breck
Spring 2014
32 / For preschool teacher Kelly McCool, building foundational
And kindergartners are paired with third-grade “reading bud-
skills for reading and writing success is a matter of making
dies” throughout the year, reinforcing the notion of reading
the learning “fun, engaging and hands-on. We use every
as a social, not just individual, activity.
means at hand: poetry, reading aloud, book discussions, art materials, letter sound games and books. We read a lot in preschool, and it’s always fun — and sometimes surprising — to hear the students’ thoughts.”
A Book-Rich Environment
Jones cautions that when choosing materials it’s important not to focus too much on the type of book or the advertised reading level. “Picture books are not necessarily babyish,” she says. “They often have very sophisticated language and content that can be discussed and retold in a variety of ways.
All the teachers say that the Lower School’s resources are
We want kids to make their own choices about what looks
especially conducive to early literacy instruction.
interesting.”
Says Bennett, “Our collection of literature includes so many
She adds that traditional methods of judging the appropri-
real, authentic works of readers and writers. And kids know
ateness of reading materials such as the “five-finger test”
that it feels real.”
(when a child holds up a finger every time he or she encoun-
And besides each classroom’s “book-rich environment,” the Lower School library’s sizable collection provides a great deal of support. Library/Media Department Head Emily Jones ’94 says the Lower School collection alone is more than 30,000 items. “We want students to find literature that interests
ters an unfamiliar word and is expected to choose something else if he or she gets to five) are sufficiently unscientific to be relied upon. “And being read to by parents — even when a child is reading well on his or her own — is always a wonderful thing.”
them, and we want parents to come in to avail themselves of
Stages of Early Literacy Instruction
the collection as well.”
Preissing says that it all begins with sounds. Children move
“The resources available here are really amazing,” observes McCool. “Young children love printed books, and we concentrate on them. But we also have iPads in the classroom, and they’re very helpful for letter formation, word building and letter sound activities. That can be very engaging and motivating, too.” Roby points out that Breck’s collection is deep enough to
from identifying sounds to associating those sounds with the symbol of a letter. “Our brains are wired for sound, and letters become something to hang those sounds on.” Roby remarks, “Until the twentieth century, most of humanity wasn’t literate. Brain research shows us how critical it is to develop neural pathways from sounds to reading and writing.”
“There is a lot of rhythm and rhyme in our materials for
And Breck’s approach generally follows the following stages:
preschool and kindergarten students, which encourages
• Reading aloud, when the teacher reads to the class
them to use their bodies and participate in storytelling
• Shared reading, where children chime in and help read
support every student at the appropriate level for him or her.
activities. Oral language is the springboard to literacy: how we tell stories and how we hear them. And it’s overlaid by a culture that is full of books.”
the story together with the teacher • Guided reading, where children work in a small group,
/ 33 each with his/her own copy of the same book — very
Bennett observes that the buddy work has been especially
important for decoding and comprehension skills
exciting to see. “There’s often no better teacher for a child
• Modeled writing, where the teacher models a specific writing/spelling skill and the children may help • Shared writing, where children work together with the teacher to write a piece
than another child. It’s a great way for children of different ability and skill levels to work together in a very mutually beneficial way.” At every grade level, the teachers get the joy of seeing marked progression. Says Wegner, “It is thrilling to see the progress that each child makes in a year. I have had scores of kinder-
“I like that it’s always interesting.” Chaske Weston, grade 2
gartners who arrive in my classroom in September being able to write little more than their name, who leave in May having published a three or five page personal narrative. This fall one of my students was initially such a hesitant writer that he need encouragement to simply put pencil to paper.
Roby describes it as a move from explicit instruction to more guided work, then independent work and finally partner work. “Individual practice helps children develop confidence
By November he was writing complete sentences and in May he published a lengthy, cohesive, humorous piece of fiction that delighted us all!”
and ownership,” she says, “but partner work is important, too. Literacy is very social. When we talk about books — even those we’ve read alone — we learn from each other and our impressions become more complex.”
“You learn from it. It takes you to a different world.” Samantha Dvorak, grade 1
Throughout the Lower School curriculum is the workshop model developed by the Columbia Teachers College Reading and Writing Project, an approach with which Breck teachers are extremely familiar (see page 34). In the workshop method of instruction, says Wegner, “each lesson begins with the teacher modeling a concept to the whole group. This is followed by the group practicing the concept together. Students apply this skill during independent reading and writing and buddy reading and writing
The Fundamental Role of Writing “Something we’ve come to learn over the years is actually a little counterintuitive,” says Eustis, “but it turns out that writing has a very prominent role in teaching reading. That idea has really changed some of the ways we deliver instruction.”
time. Teachers meet with individuals and/or small groups at
Preissing puts it this way: “For many kids, the best way to
this time. The workshop concludes with a whole group share
break into reading is through writing. They learn to read by
where students have the opportunity to share what they
accessing what they wrote, which helps develop the brain
read or wrote and any new understandings they’ve learned.”
connection.”
Today at Breck
Spring 2014
The Effects of Professional Development Multiplied Breck’s adoption of the reading and writing workshop instructional method pioneered by educator Lucy Calkins and the Columbia University Teachers College started when first-grade teacher Bobbie Tonkin used her funds from her Lee and Penny Anderson Family Breck Faculty Chair to take the entire first-grade team to a weeklong workshop in New York City. 34 / 34 /
Since then, other Lower School teachers and teams have used professional development funds to attend both the reading and writing workshop, and the effects have made for a real curricular transformation at Breck. It’s a model of perpetually learning that has served both students and teachers well. “There is something magical about actually attending the courses,” says Marcy Wegner. “Being in the company of so many fine educators, engaging in reflective, dynamic conversations and seeing thousands of teachers acting like groupies at a rock concert when Lucy Calkins is in the house… It’s had a ripple effect amongst our teams and our division. I firmly believe that the workshop model for teaching reading and writing has transformed the way many of us teach — most definitely it has for me.”
The writing workshop model gives students the chance to work in a wide variety of genres such as fiction, nonfiction, opinion, persuasion, procedural, lab reports, poetry and songwriting. “The variety of genres is so important for building children’s confidence,” says Bennett. Preissing observes, “There’s truly something for everyone. Students who may not feel good as a fiction writer might be extremely accomplished at procedural writing or lab reports. And we get to focus on the craft of writing and teaching lifelong skills in a way that meets each child exactly where he or she is.”
“You learn stuff while reading that can help with your writing and learning words.” Peyton Berman, grade 4
From School to Home: How Families Can Support Early Literacy All the teachers say that parents can play a crucial role by reading to their children, discussing what they’ve read, and modeling reading behavior on their own. “There’s so much research that shows that reading aloud to children — even well past the age when they are reading on their own — makes a difference,” says Jones. Adds Roby, “So much goes on when you read together. It’s affective, emotional intimacy as well, and a chance to take
Adds Jenny Bennett, “Having the opportunity to attend the institutes together has given us a common, aligned place to approach our teaching. It’s made for great collaboration. I’m convinced that any personal success I’ve had is due to the work of the whole team.” Cathy Preissing observes, “The continued benefit of the professional development investment Breck has made has been phenomenal. It has given such a powerful structure to our teaching of reading and writing. And it’s also provided a huge network for us to share our questions, observations and successes with teachers all over the country. We’re reaping benefits way beyond anything we could possibly have imagined.”
advantage of opportunities to find out what your child is thinking as he or she analyzes the stories you’ve read.” Of course, families can create a culture that values reading by going to libraries and bookstores together, meeting authors, talking about books and ideas, and making time for reading and writing at home. “Send a loud and clear message that books, words and stories matter,” advises Roby. “Make it fun!” suggests McCool. “Think of reading and writing as a natural part of life,” says Bennett. “Today’s parents really want to know why,” says Preissing. “Aside from the pure enjoyment of reading, parents can lead children in discussions and such important discoveries when they talk about books together. You can ask a question like, ‘I wonder why the author chose that word?’ Or you can show your child that you’re learning, too. ‘Oh, my goodness. I didn’t know that!’ It’s all part of wanting what’s best for our kids — and we’re all partners in that.”
Tips for Summer Reading Here are some tips for accelerating reading growth over the summer: • Visit your local library and help your child find “right fit” books. • Allow your child to choose her/ his own reading material in addition to the suggested summer reading list. • Encourage 30 minutes of reading each day.
/ 35 / 35
• Read for various purposes. Following a recipe or reading directions for assembling a toy are fun ways to incorporate reading into everyday activities. • Ask lots of open-ended questions about stories. • Read aloud and read together. • Try audio books or e-books. Contact the Lower School Library or check its website for suggestions. • Set a good example. When your child sees you enjoying a book or a magazine, he or she gets the message that reading is important and valuable.
Although generations of Breck alumni will remember these kindergarten staples, the letterbooks are no longer in use.
Today at Breck
Spring 2014
36 / 36 /
Upper School Debuts New Summer Reading Program In a move designed to deepen the culture of reading in the Upper School and to provide more choice to students, a new program has begun. During the first week of school in 2014-15, students will gather in cross-grade groups to discuss a book selected by an Upper School faculty member, who will guide the session.
Says Upper School Director Thomas Taylor, “I’m excited that this program will promote reading and thinking, not just checking off a box of a requirement.”
Adds English Department Head Frank Eustis, “It’s really
It’s a great opportunity for student buy-in, because there’s really something for just about everyone.”
He also observes that having students grouped together by
interest in a particular book and not just by grade or academic discipline should be an especially welcoming introduction to
the Upper School for incoming ninth graders and new students in every grade.
learning for its own sake, and it provides a great model for
The idea was first suggested by former Upper School Division
for enjoyment.”
now heads, has a similar program in place and she thought it
students to see that educated people like their teachers read Eustis notes that each faculty member chose a book and the end result was almost evenly split between fiction and
nonfiction. What’s more, the book selections were often
unexpected. “We had math teachers choosing fiction, English
teachers choosing nonfiction — a really wide range of choices.
Head Melissa Soderberg. Columbus Academy, the school she
might be a good idea to try here. Eustis says he brought up the idea at an Upper School division meeting and got overwhelm-
ingly positive response from the faculty. “We spent a lot of time figuring out how to make it work at Breck,” he explains, “and we’re all really looking forward to seeing how it goes.” JF
Great Summer Reads Fiction Adler, Leslie & Meryll Page. Jewish Luck Allende, Isabel. House of the Spirits Axline Virginia. Dibs in Search of Self Barrie, J. M. Peter Pan Boulle, Pierre. Planet of the Apes Bradley, Marion Zimmer. The Mists of Avalon Chabon, Michael. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay Foer, Jonathan Safran. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Green, John. The Fault in Our Stars Several Modern Plays: August: Osage County, The Accidental Death of an Anarchist, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf Guest, Judith. Ordinary People
Bugliosi, Vincent and Curt Gentry. Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders Diamond, Jared. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Dutton, Judy. Science Fair Season: Twelve Kids, a Robot Named Scorch . . . and What It Takes to Win Epstein, David. The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance Galbraith, John Kenneth. The Great Crash: 1929 Kean, Sam. The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements Kennedy, Kostya. Pete Rose: An American Dilemma King, Gilbert. Devil in the Grove
Hurston, Zora Neale. Dust Tracks on the Road
Koerner, Brendan. The Skies Belonged To Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking
Ishiguro, Kazuo. Never Let Me Go
Krakauer, Jon. Into The Wild
Kingsolver, Barbara. The Poisonwood Bible
Lewis, Michael. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
Lewis, C.S. Till We Have Faces Lee, Tosca. Havah: The Story of Eve Rosen, Leonard. All Cry Chaos Rosoff, Meg. How I Live Now Shaara, Michael. The Killer Angels Tartt, Donna. The Goldfinch Welch, James. Fools Crow Williams, Terry Tempest. Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place
Nonfiction Braun, Adam. The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls
McGinniss, Joe. The Miracle of Castel di Sangro Millard, Candice. River of Doubt Moore, Wes. The Other Wes Moore: One Name. Two Fates Roach, Mary. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers Seagrave, Sterling. The Soong Dynasty Sheinkin, Steve. Bomb: The Race to Build — and Steal — the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon Silverstein, Ken. The Radioactive Boy Scout Sotomayor, Sonia. My Beloved World Williams, Terry Tempest. Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place
/ 37 / 37
Today at Breck
Spring 2014
38 /
Alumni Honored at Annual Meeting During the annual meeting of the Breck Alumni Association
Michelle Geo Olmstead in expressing appreciation for the
in early May, Alumni Council President Brad Searl ’95
Council’s increasingly meaningful involvement in the school.
presented honors to a number of alumni who have been active at Breck:
New president Welsh says he’s delighted to be in a position to be able to give back to Breck, particularly now that his
• Alumni of the Year honors went to Michael Proman ’99
perspective has broadened from alumnus to parent (daughter
and Matt Bartel ’02, who are about to chair the alumni
Sophie is a rising second grader). “It’s a real pleasure to serve,”
portion of the Breck Annual Fund for an unprecedented
he states, adding that he’s struck both by how things have
third consecutive year.
changed since he was a student as well as how they’ve stayed
• Tony Jewett ’94 was given Director Emeritus status.
• Chris Welsh ’90 was named president for a two-
year term. The group also welcomed five new members to the Alumni Council: Baillie Parker ’95, Sara Marsh ’98, Alicia Luther ’99, Meredith Blank ’06, and Matt Cosgriff ‘07, and thanked M.E. Head Kirwan’01 and David White ’01, whose terms have ended. Head of School Edward Kim provided some highlights of the 2013-14 school year and joined Director of Alumni Relations
the same. “Breck has the same values, the same traditions, the same welcoming feel,” he says, “but at the same time the school has progressed so far. The new Upper School facility and all the opportunities available to students really makes it feel more like college than high school. I’m happy to play a role in supporting it all.”
Alumni Faculty Members, Coaches Serve Breck in 2013-14 In the 2013-14 school year, Breck was fortunate to have seven alumni members of the faculty: Elizabeth Powers-Dempsey ’82, Sarah Flotten ’85, Evan Jones ’86, Deb Mixon ’87, Rob
Save the Date
Johnson ’90, Ty Thayer ’90 and Emily Gibson Jones ’94.
Homecoming
coaches for Breck sports teams in the past year: Sarah
September 20, 2014
Shaitberger ’88, Rob Johnson ’90, Jack Cavanaugh ’91,
And a group of 16 alumni served as coaches and assistant Flotten ’85, Evan Jones ’86, Glen Weaver-Lang ’86, Charlie Jessica Meuwissen ’01, Neal Busdicker ‘02, Alex Clark ’02, Susannah Brokl ’03, Marin McCarthy ’04, Andy McCullough ’06, Tom Smolenski ’07, Brooks Byrd ’08, Riley Conlin ’08, and Madison Styrbicki ’09.
Alumni Council Looks Forward to New Strategic Plan New Alumni Council President Chris Welsh ’90 says the
The new plan calls for streamlining processes, aligning
recently completed strategic planning process has been an
committees and subcommittees with the overall Breck
excellent opportunity to “take a step back, think about what
mission, providing more opportunities for alumni busy with
we want to accomplish and then think about how those
careers and families to be involved in a significant if not
things align with the goals of the school. We want to support
time-consuming way.
Edward Kim and the Board of Trustees and make sure that alumni are a helpful contributing presence at Breck.”
“Even though we’re giving some activities more structure, the effect will actually be to make things more flexible,”
Director of Alumni Relations Michelle Geo Olmstead says the
Welsh says. “It’s been a great process, and I really appreciate
Council goes through a strategic planning process about
all the work that [Past President] Brad and Michelle have put
every five years, and that it’s always a good time to look at
into it.”
/ 39
ways to increase the visibility of graduates both within the school and within the alumni community itself.
Are you LinkedIn?
Over 740 Breck alumni and parents are LinkedIn. Are you? Visit breckschool.org to connect.
Check out our new colorful gym store items
VISIT THE BRECK ONLINE GYMSTORE Apparel · SPIRIT GEAR breckschool.org (find it in the Athletics section of the website)
Today at Breck
40 /
Spring 2014
class notes 1981
acting and modeling, and generally
Maya Tester is currently serving on
hoods. Tim Woodland and family
the Breck Board of Trustees. Maya
recently visited and broke bread —
and her husband, Peter, recently
and cheese — with them. Pictured is
attended the college graduations of
a re-enactment of their senior prom
their daughters, Annalisa ’10 and
photo (Kazz is standing on a chair).
Kristina ’10.
And, also, a picture of three of their children together, though Tim’s
With deep apologies, we are delighted
1983
to pass along the following: “Actually,
The Class has a memorial in this issue.
being in it.
and contrary to my appearance, I am yet vertical and mobile (although not
1985
very) and somewhat cogent.”
Kazz Regelman is currently writing a
1964
blog called “A Year in Fromage” in
Dick Myers and Rusty Nelson are
cheeses and pairing one a day with a
planning a fun weekend for the Class
story about life in France. Check it out
of 1964 in celebration of the 50-year
at www.ayearinfromage.com. As of this
reunion. Reunion is set for Homecom-
publication she has tasted and
ing weekend, September 18-20.
photographed about 200. Her favorites
reunion year
1945 Al France wrote from Duluth, courteously and humorously noting that there was an asterisk indicating that he was deceased next to his name in the listing of Distinguished Alumni in the previous issue of Today at Breck.
1974 Vicky Sandberg has worked in biotechnology patent law for the past twenty years. She recently has taken on a new role of teaching and tutoring high school level science and English composition. She says her work has allowed her to help a number of international students — so much so that she recently got certified to teach English as a foreign language. She loves teaching!
living out Kazz’s own fantasy child-
teenage daughter managed to avoid
which she is tasting 365 French
are the moldy goats. She is inviting any Breckies passing through Paris to contact her, because there’s only so much cheese her husband, Anthony and two girls can eat. Kazz and her family are living in Paris for a few years with Anthony’s job at Ubisoft. writing for the Wall Street Journal and
1988
has been dancing and performing hula
Nan Bress Ferri continues to make
(yes, even in Paris) for nearly eight
ethnographic documentary films and
years. Gigi (sixth grade) and Pippa
as a side business, she, her husband
(fourth) are in French schools, fully
and daughter will open a bed and
bilingual, doing gymnastics, dancing,
breakfast/Steiff toy museum in the
She has been doing some freelance
Hudson Valley of New York called
She does still occasionally commute
on March 10. Her two older brothers
“The Den of Marbletown.” She would
to LA for acting work, most notably
are quite taken with their new baby
love visitors!
for episodes of Family Guy. However,
sister. Braden continues to catch up
her design business has allowed her
with friends in NYC and around the
to stay put in beautiful Ojai and be
world — she just saw Peter Vantine,
a mom.
Christina Baker, and Andrea Bennett.
Toby Piper LaBelle served as the
1993
Drew Gaillard has joined the Breck Board of Trustees. Drew is currently Vice President of Global Marketing Healthcare at Ecolab in St. Paul. Breck Trustee Kathy Anderson Groethe
speaker for 2014 Baccalaureate.
presented the Lee and Penny Anderson
Chris Welsh was named president of
Breck Faculty Chair to Lower School
the Alumni Council at the Annual
teacher Joyce McCann on April 28.
Meeting on May 5. He will serve from 2014-2016. Chris also presented the Christin Mead ’90 Award at the Upper School Awards ceremony on June 3.
Holly Hecker and boyfriend Andrew Barborak are proud to announce the birth of son Cody Drew Barborak born September 11, 2013, weighing 6 pounds and 19 inches long. Cody is surrounded by lots of love and laughter from his big brother Austin and sisters Ellie and Emma. Angus Worthing is celebrating five years of private practice at Arthritis & Rheumatism Associates PC in Washington, DC. Angus is also an active
Woody Rash is stepping down after
volunteer with committees for the
ten years on the Breck Board of
American College of Rheumatology
Trustees. Woody was the Board’s chaired the Investment Committee.
1992
Prior to joining the Board, Woody
Marisa Coughlan is featured in the
served on Breck’s Alumni Council for
July issue of the West End Compass, a
ten years.
publication for the residents, shoppers
liaison to the Alumni Council and
Jazz musician Craig Taborn was featured in the cover story of Down-
and hotel and restaurant guests at the popular St. Louis Park complex.
beat, the premier jazz magazine with
After seven years in Switzerland and
other notables in the world of Jazz.
Germany, Jeff George is moving back
Kirstin Erickson Wilson was named as vice president of the Alumni Council at the Annual Meeting on May 5.
1989
to the US. As of May 1 he became president and CEO of Alcon, the global leader in eye care. Jeff, his wife Renee and daughters Dylan and Stella live in Dallas.
He recently had the honor of teaching fellow Breck alum Ginny Dines ’07 during her rotation at his rheumatology clinic.
1994 The Class of 1994 made Breck history when it became the first class to celebrate a reunion with an out-ofstate gathering. Classmates joined planner Tony Jewett for a weekend of fun in Las Vegas on May 5-3. A fun time was had by all! The second part of the festivities in celebration of the 20-year reunion for
The Class of 1989 will celebrate its
the Class of 1994 will happen on
25-year reunion over Homecoming
Saturday, August 2, thanks to Twin
Weekend. Planners Allison O’Toole
Cities planners Chris Neher, Emily
and Heidi Humphrey are planning a
Gibson Jones, Annie Swanson
fun evening for their classmates.
1990
and is an instructor at Georgetown.
Albiston and Majka Burkardt. At the end of June, Jonathan George Braden Rhetts just welcomed a new
Lila Glasoe Francese still lives in Ojai,
will have completed a fellowship in
member of her family — daughter
California, with her husband Dines
head and neck cancer surgery at MD
Marin Ellis Rhetts Mundigo was born
Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
and her 10-year-old daughter Fliss.
/ 41
Today at Breck
Spring 2014
He has accepted a position as a head
Alumni Council members Molly
Chas Simcox is serving on the Alumni
and neck surgeon at UCSF in San
Varecka and Mike McKeon were on
Council as the executive chair of Service
Francisco, where his wife Jeannette
campus on June 3 to help present at the
on the Executive Committee.
will also be working, as an ob/gyn. The
Upper School Awards ceremony. Sara Marsh is serving her first term on
2001
Tony Jewett was named emeritus direc-
the Alumni Council. She also returned to
Laura Andrews and her wife Melissa
tor of the Alumni Council on May 5.
Breck to present an award at the Upper
Houghtaling were featured on the cover
1995
School Awards ceremony on June 3.
of Lavender magazine in the March/
Baillie Parker joined the Alumni
1999
April 2014 edition. The couple was
Council.
Andrea Colianni Knabe and her
M.E. Head Kirwan and David White
husband Kristopher are very excited to
were both honored for their service on
announce the arrival of their second
the Alumni Council at the Annual
daughter, Gemma Aurora Knabe! She
Meeting on May 5. M.E. and David both
was born on April 15.
served from 2008-2014.
Council vice president on volunteer
Jeffrey Kemnitz and his wife Marin are
recruitment. Brad also helped to
proud to announce the birth of Rowan
2002
present awards at the Upper School
Amias Kemnitz on January 21.
Alumni Co-Chairs of Annual Fund Matt
family will live in Tiburon.
42 /
Alumni Council President 2012-2014 Brad Searl ended his term in May and will now serve as past president. The past president works with the Alumni
Awards ceremony on June 3.
Alicia Luther is serving her first term on the Alumni Council. Alumni Co-Chairs of Annual Fund
married in September of 2013.
Bartel and Michael Proman ‘99 were honored with the Alumni of the Year Award at the Annual Meeting on May 5.
Michael Proman and Matt Bartel ’02 were honored with the Alumni of the Year Award at the Annual Meeting on May 5. Michael will also be serving as secretary of the Alumni Council as part
1997
of the leadership team. Michael and his
Eric and Jillian Anderson had their
second child, Zachary Jacob Proman.
first baby, Dean William Anderson,
Big sister Kayla is thrilled to have a
on December 27, 2013.
baby brother!
wife Jaime celebrated the birth of their
Colin Brooks is serving on the Alumni
Alumni Council member Leah Lussier
Council as the executive chair of
Sixkiller presented an award at the
recognition on the Executive Committee.
Upper School Awards ceremony on
1998
June 3.
Tom Pohlad joined his brother Joe ’00 and aunt Michelle Pohlad to present the Carl and Eloise Pohlad Family Breck Faculty Chair to Middle School teacher Katie Scherer on April 28.
2003
2000 Alumni Council member Joe and Tom ’98 Pohlad were back on campus to present the Carl and Eloise Pohlad Family Breck Faculty Chair to Middle School teacher Katie Scherer on April 28.
2004
2006
law review at Columbia for next year.
Katie Hektner was married to Parag
Meredith Blank recently moved back to
Singhal in Delhi, India on February 2,
Minnesota from Washington, DC, and
that will have an article published in
2014.
joined the Alumni Council. Emily Neal is currently in medical school at Wake Forest University. She says that North Carolina has been wonderful, but school is really busy! She writes, “There’s an immense amount of information we are learning and trying to absorb and retain in a very short amount of time.” Coffee has become a new food group for her. Matt Trusheim is first author of a paper
He was also one of only three students the journal next year.
2008 Nick Derrico will start medical school at the University of Minnesota in August 2014. After completing two years of medical research at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, he plans to pursue a career in academic medicine. Marge Riazi recently caught up with Addie Gorlin ’07 in Santa Barbara.
published in Nano Letters (2014) titled Christy Piotrowski welcomed the newest members of the Breck Alumni Community, the Class of 2014, at Commencement. She is also serving on the Alumni Council as executive chair of Events.
“Scalable Fabrication of High Purity Diamond Nanocrystals with Long-SpinCoherence Nitrogen Vacancy Centers.” And Matt’s paper was referenced in a paper published in Nature (2014) titled “Flawed to Perfection: Ultra-pure synthetic diamonds offer advances in fields from quantum computing to cancer diagnostics.”
2007
publication of the Northwestern
Matt Cosgriff joined the Alumni
where she is a physicians’ assistant
Council.
degree candidate due to graduate next
Ginny Dines just wrapped up her third
spring. The article focused on her found-
year at Georgetown University School of Medicine. Fellow alum Angus Worthing ‘93 recently taught her as she did a rotation at his rheumatology clinic. Alumni Council member Elizabeth Dunlap presented an award at the Upper School awards ceremony.
2005
Addie Gorlin recently caught up with
Andrew Kitzenberg has launched a
photo in Class of 2008).
Kickstarter program for his new product
Shelby Rubin was featured in a
Marge Riazi ’08 in Santa Barbara (see
University Feinberg School of Medicine,
ing and running Camp Kesem, a free summer camp in Madison, Wisconsin, for children aged six-16 whose lives have been affected by a parent’s cancer. This summer, Shelby is beginning the second year of her PA program and starting clinical rotations.
2009 Alumni Class Representatives Mary Goetz and Anne Whiting are busy making plans for the first reunion for
Marcus Hill will be an assistant coach
their class. A save the date for fall 2014
for boys basketball at Breck in 2014-15.
will go out soon. Anne graduated with
creature designs. You can check out the
Giselle Ugarte is featured in a recent
honors from Boston University last
project at https://www.kickstarter.com/
Pro-Activ commercial.
May, and is interning with the Interna-
projects/1351542058/speaker-creatures-
Matthew Weiss was named managing
bluetooth-shower-speakers
editor of the science and technology
line — Speaker Creatures. They’re Bluetooth shower speakers with fun sea
tional New York Times bureau in Paris, before returning to finish graduate
/ 43
Today at Breck
Spring 2014
studies in fashion marketing at Parsons
campus and community life. Gabby
started a business called Icarus Aerial
School of Design in New York City. Mary
was honored for completing three
Imaging, which uses a drone for aerial
graduated from Boston College and is
internships in the finance industry,
still and video photography. Look for an
now living in New York working at the
serving as co-president of two organiza-
example of his work on the Breck
Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
tions, being treasurer of Manitou
website later this summer.
Messenger, and the being the financial
2012
After graduating in December, Nathan Hunt backpacked Europe (23 countries in 100 days). Upon returning home, he
Association.
Libbey Castle, a rising junior at Colby, is
moved to Houston to start work for
Michael Mooney played two years of
interning with Breck Admissions for the
ExxonMobil.
juniors and will be an upcoming junior
summer.
Meghan Kiesel is wrapping up her first 44 /
officer of the Student Government
year with Deloitte Consulting in
at Miami University playing Division 1 hockey.
Georgia Horstman is interning at Medtronic’s office in Beijing, China.
Chicago while preparing for a transfer
Katherine Paulsen, along with the
She will work with Corporate Commu-
to an international project, which will
Whim ‘n Rhythm singing group at Yale,
nications and Public Relations, focusing
allow her the chance to spend months
sang the National Anthem at a Twins
on bilingual communication tasks/
at a time living and working in
game this spring.
projects.
Shenzhen, China. She’d love to meet up
Tyler Hudson had a very solid baseball
with any alums in the area!
season playing for Division 1 Lafayette.
2010
You can watch him in action vs. Navy
Callan Dodge deBruyn graduated cum
run at 5:53 on YouTube: http://youtu.
laude from the D’Amare-McKim School
be/F6vD1kaEZls
(a two RBI single at 3:12 and solo home
of Business at Northeastern University
Christian Lawrence presented the Yale
in Boston. She will continue to live in
book award at the Upper School Awards
Boston and start her career with
ceremony on June 3. Christian, a rising
Meltwater Group, an online media monitoring and public relations company.
2011 A senior at Trinity College, Daniel Carpenter received NESCAC All
junior at Yale, is currently interning as a summer analyst in the Healthcare Investment Banking Group at Piper Jaffray.
Conference honorable mention for tennis and one of the NESCAC Sportsmanship Awards this season. Tom Erdmann has an engineering internship at Apple. In February, the Nashville Tennessean ran a story on the front page about the Vanderbilt baseball team’s student managers, one of whom is Michael Portu. Michael and his co-manager This spring, Gabby Keller was recog-
were interviewed by ESPNU reporters,
nized as an “Established Leader” at the
This fall Josh Luger will be a junior at
and you can see a video of the story on
recent Outstanding Leadership Awards
Brandeis University. He is currently
YouTube: http://youtu.be/JNXoijq4jOU
participating in the Religious Action
Will Smith has completed his junior
Center of Reform Judaism’s Machon
year at Georgetown, where he is an
Kaplan Summer Internship program,
economics major and member of the
which teaches college students how to
varsity sailing team that won second
use Judaism for social justice and pairs
place in fleet racing nationals. He has
students with social justice related
Program at St. Olaf College. The award is given to three junior and three senior students who have demonstrated outstanding personal growth through leadership and involvement in both
internships. He is interning at the
in a North Minneapolis elementary
Nicholas Thyr finished the Boston
National Religious Campaign Against
school. Daniel and Eden are excited
Marathon in 2:59!
Torture, primarily working on their
about their research on ACME’s
efforts to end the use of solitary
inaugural year being available to inspire
confinement in U.S. prisons as well as
other El Sistema núcleos.
their efforts to close Guantanamo Bay
Katie Kiesel returned to campus on
Prison Camp.
June 3 to help present the David
2013
Hancock Yearbook Award at the Upper
Daniel Bergerson and Eden Motto
helped her mom, photographer Lauren,
recently had their research, Assessing
take pictures of the 2014 graduates
the Power of Music, featured in El
during the Commencement on June 4.
School Awards ceremony. Katie also
Sistema and Sistema-Inspired Programmes: A Literature Review of research, evaluation, and critical debates. (http://sistemaglobal.org/ litreview/) Bergerson and Motto’s research was done as part of Breck’s Advanced Mathematics Research program, now known as CommunityBased Research in Mathematics. As consulting mathematicians, they worked with their client, Advocates for Community through Musical Excellence (ACME), to explore whether participating in an orchestra increased empathy and creativity in first graders
In Memoriam 1983
Chris Curry died tragically on May 11, 2014, at age 49, of a heart attack at South Beach on Lake Harriet
while running. He was dearly loved and will be profoundly missed. Chris graduated from Breck School
in 1983. He was conferred the highest Boy Scout award of Eagle Scout and Order of the Arrow. He studied
abroad in Switzerland in 1984 and then graduated from University of MN, Phi Beta Kappa, in 1988. Chris
went on to receive his law degree from William Mitchell in 1992 and received his MBA from the Carlson
School of Management in 2014. Chris was employed as Vice President and General Counsel at Gage Marketing in Plymouth. Chris was a devoted husband and loving father to his three dearly-loved children, and friend to so many.
Former Faculty and Staff Lyndon “Mac” McMurtry died on June 7 at the age of 86. Mac served as Breck’s business manager from 1980 to 1998 after a career in finance at corporations including ADM and Ashland Oil. He is survived by his wife Barbara, four children and seven grandchildren.
/ 45
Today at Breck
Spring 2014
46 /
Winter Sports: Boys Swim and Dive Takes Second at State, Gymnastics Takes Seventh; Individual skiers and Gymnastics Represent Breck at State as Well Boys Basketball The Mustangs finished second in the conference, fueled by strong performances by players who will return for what should be an exciting season in 2014-15. Will Culliton and Mohammed Lawal both earned All-Conference honors, with honorable mentions for Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman. The MIP was Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman, MVP was Will Culliton and Kwaku Bodom the Mustanger.
Girls Basketball It was a tough season for the team, which looks forward to improvement thanks to a core group of returning players next year. Raven Dubois was named All-Conference, and Cecily Hibbs and Sophie O’Bryan got honorable mention. Jazz Robinson was the team’s MIP, Raven Dubois the MVP, and Cecily Hibbs the Mustanger.
Gymnastics The Breck girls won sections and finished seventh as a team at the state tournament, with Nicole Lee,
Alpine Ski Team numbers were up this year, involvement was good and
Niara Hill and
we look forward to an improved season next year for this
Marianne
young team. Peter Kiesel and Louis Weiner skied at the state
Drysdale
meet. Peter Kiesel, Erik Horstman, Liam O’Neill and Deirdre
qualifying for
O’Neill all earned All-Conference honors, with honorable
state as individu-
mentions for Mary Beringause, Ella Hogan, Alan Horstman
als. At state,
and Louis Weiner. John Dempsey and Katie Clark were MIPs,
Nicole finished 20th in All-Around, and Niara finished 21st.
Peter Kiesel and Mary Beringause the MVPs, and Julian
One highlight of the season was the return of the Breck Luau,
Bieganski and Madison Rudnick the Mustangers.
back after the year of construction.
Girls Hockey The girls finished second in the conference, falling in the final to the eventual state champions from Blake. With only two players graduating, 2014-15 should be a successful year from the team, which has a return to the state tournament firmly in sight. All-Conference honors went to Grace Zumwinkle, Jenna Brenneman, Claire Mancheski, Leah Schwartzman and Kendall Williamson, with honorable mentions for Cheyenne Harris and Sydney Scobee. Abby Riskevich was the MIP, Grace Zumwinkle the MVP, and Izzy Gleekel the Mustanger.
Nordic Ski There was great improvement in the Nordic program, with the girls finishing third in the conference and the boys finishing fourth this year. Ingrid Thyr qualified for state with a twelfth-place finish at sections. All-Conference honors went to Ingrid Thyr and Lewis White, with
Boys Hockey The team had an excellent year, ranked first or second in the state for much of the season, before falling to Orono in a heartbreaking section final. They were conference champions and had a final record of 19-5-1. A large number of
honorable mentions for Claire Drysdale and Gigi Gunderson, Julia Joern and Jon Ekberg were named MIP, Ingrid Thyr and Lewis White MVP, and Jake Levy and Claire Drysdale the Mustangers.
seniors, who had been great members of the program and
Boys Swim and Dive
the Breck community, will surely be missed next year.
The section champion Bearstangs took second place at the
All-Conference honors went to Michael Orke, Chase Elling-
state meet after three consecutive third-place finishes. At
son, Henry Johnson, Mark Sharp, Derek Wiitala and Tyler
state, highlights included a third-place finish in the 200
Lindstrom, with honorable mentions for Lucas McCormick,
medley relay and third in the 400 free relay. With only two
Dalton Weigle, Tyler Scott and Will Blake. Charlie Gamer was
seniors graduating, the team is well positioned for success in
the team’s MIP, Michael Orke the MVP, Parker Montgomery
2014-15. Chris Walker was the MVP, Dylan Brown the MIP,
the Mustanger, and Otto Haeg the Polly Cavanaugh award
and Evan Stafford the Mustanger.
winner.
Breck’s Online Photo Gallery
Visit our online Zenfolio Gallery to see what we’ve been up to so far this year. Browse, download, print, enjoy! breckschool.zenfolio.com
/ 47
“
Today at Breck
48 /
Spring 2014
In Their Own Words
”
A New Fight Song for Breck by Alexis Kent, Middle School Chaplain and 2010 Wigley Award Winner When I was discerning what project to pursue in honor of the
The songs were edited, merged, and fine-tuned in a series
Wigley award, I inquired about Jean Wigley’s life and legacy.
of discussion and singing demonstrations with a variety of
Jean never formally served as a teacher, but is described as
age groups throughout the year. By the end, we had a real
being a remarkable leader who embodied excellence by
fight song that truly embodies the spirit of our school. We
modeling qualities like perseverance, care, and resiliency.
ended up keeping a more modern rock number as well, to
To add to her charm, Jean played piano and sang songs as a
be a sort of Breck anthem. You’ll hear more about this other
lovely alto accompanied by her Welsh tenor husband, using
song in the future.
music as a way to honor special moments and connect with her loved ones. The role music played in Jean’s life, as well as in my own, got me thinking about incorporating music somehow into my Wigley project.
What Gary did for us was put to melody and words the care that we already have for Breck. I couldn’t be happier with the result of the project and hope that our community is excited to learn this song and begin singing it as a new tradition for
It has always seemed strange to me that Breck does not have
our school. So many people helped along the way from
a fight song. I have such fond memories of singing my high
singing the songs, to editing the words, to making announce-
school and college fight songs. As my Middle School students
ments, and even designing a silly faculty music video. But
know, I can sing either tune from heart on a moment’s notice
most of all, I want to thank the Wigley family. This award
and both still serve as a powerful reminder of the communi-
provides teachers the opportunity to dream up lofty projects
ties I am proud to have been a part of. Fight songs are
that inspire us to be better educators. From what I have
intended to empower the crowd. When the fans sing the fight
learned about Jean Wigley, the award is exactly what she
song at a game, it is to inspire the team that is playing. It is
would have wanted. On behalf of all of us, thank you.
meant to fire up both the participants and the spectators. It is a way to be in unity at the event. Given the intense pride our community has in our school, it seemed to me that not having a fight song was a void in our ability to share our enthusiasm at games, events, and special occasions. Therefore, I decided that getting the school a fight song would be a meaningful way to use the award. I had the privilege of inviting Gary Louris, Breck parent and singer/songwriter, to write Breck a fight song. I have to confess that I found the task of asking a real rock star to write a fight song rather intimidating. Nervously I explained my lofty idea and true to Gary’s care for our school he replied,
Breck Fight Song Breck we fight for the honor of thee Marching onward the victors we’ll be Hearts rejoice when we raise our voice For gold and blue Boldly Breck we will carry the flame Proud and brave we will honor thy name Breck united and undivided Strong and true
Gary didn’t write just one, but three songs; two traditional
Blazing bright as the Mustangs fight For gold and blue
sounding, and one much more modern. After a series of
To watch a video of the song, visit
listening sessions with students, faculty, administrators,
breckschool.org/breck-fight-song
“It would be an honor.” When charged with this unique task,
and alumni, every word, note, and phrase were critiqued.
Inviting you to join over 60 alumni, parents, faculty/staff and friends in helping secure Breck’s future by including the school in your estate planning
Think a legacy gift isn’t for someone like you? Think again! “I’m still young.” In fact, 65% of charitable bequests are made by people ages 18-64.
“We’re not that wealthy.” 58% of legacy gifts are established by people with incomes under $75,000.
“I don’t have a complicated estate plan.” 80% of legacy gifts are made by listing an organization as a beneficiary of a will, retirement plan or insurance policy. “We don’t really see the need.” 97% of people establish legacy gifts because they love an organization and want to be sure its work continues.
“My family won’t approve.” 72% of family members surveyed say sharing their inheritance with their loved ones’ gifts to a charitable organization is a reasonable choice.
Sources: Partnership for Philanthropic Planning, Stelter Donor Insight Report
To join those in our community who had made a commitment to Breck now and in the future, who have named Breck in their will, or as a beneficiary of their retirement plan, insurance
policy or trust, please contact the advancement office at 763.381.8129.
Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage
123 Ottawa Avenue North Golden Valley, MN 55422
PAID
Permit No. 2995 Twin Cities, MN
Parents of Alumni: Please forward this publication. If your daughter or son no longer maintains a permanent address at your home, please notify us (763.381.8278 or alumni@breckschool.org) of the new mailing address.
Photo by Sara Rubinstein
Flying high in May Program Hans Lundgaard ‘17 enjoys a spring day and a kite.
photo by Karyl Rice