brooklyn Friends School Newsletter
Vol. 9, No. 2 Winter 2013
Tony Robbins Meets Public Speaking 101
The Strength of Ideas, Presentation, and Persuasion by Jeffrey Stanley
“H
ow many used car salesmen does it take to screw in a light bulb? I’m not sure but I’m running some numbers on my calculator and I think you’ll be pleased with the results.”
“Knock knock. Who’s there? Charlotta. Charlotta who? Charlotta bad jokes in here.” Ouch. There’s an old pearl in public speaking about opening with a joke to warm up the crowd. Upper School Public Speaking teacher Larry Williams gave it a twist in a recent class by having students come to the front of the room and read aloud some bad knock-knock and light bulb jokes. They were the kind of jokes that are lame on purpose so they still achieve the intended result of eliciting a laugh. This type of warm-up exercise was clearly welcomed by energetic 15- and 16-year-olds with somewhat short attention spans. Larry has a great rapport with his students and an avuncular demeanor. That’s due in part to his work as a BFS librarian for ten years — he has watched most of these kids grow up and has taught them their research skills. After warm-ups were over, students took turns fulfilling an
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earlier assignment to speak on which five people — living, dead, fictional, nonfictional — with whom they would like to have lunch, and why. The answers were surprising, clever, and made clear that these were sharp kids with a variety of unique passions. Maya Kaul spoke about her plan to invite Dr. Who because he could time travel in his phone booth time machine, the Tardis, and the character Fletcher from the magical Skulduggery Pleasant book series because he can teleport anywhere. He would be in charge of gathering the lunch items from Maya’s favorite restaurants spanning from Montreal to Belgium. She and her two guests would picnic in Prospect Park. What about her other three guests? That’s where the Tardis comes in, to transport Maya first to ancient Rome so she could meet philosopher and poet Lucretius, so she could quiz him about his epic philosophical poem De rerum natura, or On the Nature of Things. Next it
would be back into the Tardis to drop in on Aristotle in ancient Greece, and so on. Jesse Slade D’Addona spoke of his lifelong obsession with television; not just with watching it but with how TV shows are produced. He spoke of his particular fascination with extras. “If it’s done well you don’t really notice the people in the background, but if there are a hundred people that’s a hundred costumes.” His interest has already led him to professional work as a day player on the hit shows Gossip Girl and The Carrie Diaries. The mature Bianca Rhea, only 15 but with a comportment beyond her years, completed a different assignment in which she described in captivating terms one of her passions. She began by explaining that she could have talked about her love of movies, or her passion for Motown, because the music reminds her of her father, but she figured movies and music would be lots of her peers’ favorite passions so
To learn more about the Upper School curriculum, go to brooklynfriends.org/upperschool
she chose something different. She spoke with with great selfassurance about the fact that she has been a self-defense instructor since age 12, teaching young girls at a local center for nonviolence. Her students have come from as far away as Philadelphia to learn techniques such as how to get out of a choke hold. “It’s not about how to win a fight, it’s about how to get out of a fight,” she stressed. After each presentation, Larry led the class in a group critique using eight points of successful public speaking: presence, posture, breathing, eye contact, gestures, volume, vocal quality, articulateness. He concluded the
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Bianca Rhea and Larry Williams in Public Speaking class.
Message from Head of School Dr. Larry Weiss
The International Baccalaureate at BFS: YEAR 6
O
ne of my most enjoyable activities at this time of the academic year is meeting with each individual 10th grade student, and his or her parents, to review their first three high school semesters.
Together with Dr. Bob Bowman, our Head of Upper School; Trefor Davies, Director of our International Baccalaureate (IB) Program; and either Lindsey Berns or Tiffany Huggins of the BFS College Counseling Office, I ask students to identify and discuss in some detail the academic and extra-curricular work that they most enjoy, to evaluate areas in which they hope to improve in the coming years, and to discuss the choices that are available to them in the IB Diploma Program, which is now a central element in the 11th and 12th grade BFS course offerings. At its heart, the IB Diploma Program is made up of two-year courses in each academic discipline, (English, History, Science, Mathematics, World Language, and Fine Arts) that present their subjects with a depth and breadth that is missing in even the most demanding Advanced Placement or Honors courses at other schools. Beyond academic challenge and ambitious curricular range, the IB courses cohere to an overall design – a product of more than 40 years of program development at more than 1,000 schools around the world – that combines many of the best of British, European and American practices in secondary education. As described in a superb article in the Winter 2013 edition of Independent School magazine by BFS’ own Upper School English teacher, Jenna Goodman, “The
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In addition to being knowledgeable thinkers and inquirers, the ideal IB learner is principled, openminded, a risktaker, balanced, and reflective. nature of the IB program lends itself to a vigorous, humanistic and dynamic culture of learning. The program is carefully designed to establish a model of instruction that nurtures a balanced person. It is academically challenging but far from bookish. [Its learning design] emphasizes cross curricular connections… and affirms the centrality of experiential learning and service and helps
students recognize their impact on the world.” In a manner that is remarkably consistent with the Quaker values that have informed BFS for almost 150 years, the IB program emphasizes qualities of mind, intention, and action that stretch well beyond the classroom environment and the Upper School culture. As Jenna points out in her article, “It may surprise some that a program that is, justifiably, widely and highly regarded as being academically rigorous highlights a learner profile… that emphasizes many humanistic qualities of character. In addition to being knowledgeable thinkers and inquirers, the ideal IB learner is principled, openminded, a risk-taker, balanced, and reflective.” The growth of the IB Program at BFS fulfills, in a most meaningful way, the vision of former Head of School Dr. Michael Nill when he led the IB’s launch here in 2007. Since 2009, when the first high school students completed their two years of IB coursework, 40 BFS graduates have earned the IB Diploma. Successful attainment of the diploma requires a high level of achievement in the six IB classes in addition to: completion of a three-semester course called Theory of Knowledge; writing a major research paper on a topic of the student’s choice mentored by an individual faculty member chosen by the student (Extended
Essay); and completing a experiential service learning project that combines elements of creativity, action, and service (CAS). The 40 IB diplomates represent approximately 25% of the total BFS graduates over the past four years. It is important to note, however, that the remaining 75% of the student body of the Classes of 2009-2012 all participated in the IB program in deep and meaningful ways. The average number of two-year IB classes completed by each of these graduates increased from over three in 2009 to nearly four in 2012. That number will rise to well over five for the Class of 2014. The significance of BFS’ increasingly successful engagement with the IB Program, and our school’s deepening identification with this prestigious, global educational initiative, can be found not only in the attainments of our students and graduates but also in the continuous re-energizing of the faculty who bring this program alive to our students each day. Jenna Goodman concludes her article, entitled “Drinking from a Running Stream,” with the following observation: “As an IB teacher, I do feel that I am part of a current – something fluid and forward moving, vast but channeled… I know I am still learning, and passing that learning on to my students before they leave my classroom and venture out as citizens of the world.” In friendship,
bfs on the road This year Larry will be traveling to Chicago and Florida to visit with members of the BFS community. For more information contact Deborah Weinstein ’84 at dweinstein@brooklynfriends.org
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around the school FAMILY CENTER
On Friday mornings at around 11 am, something very special happens in the Family Center. The 7th and 8th grade buddies come to visit. Accompanied by teachers John Hay and Tony Soll, these middle school students have chosen to spend their weekly activity period with BFS’s youngest students. Before their visits begin, the middle schoolers get a briefing from John and Tony about child development and the life of a two year-old; the students also discuss their roles as classroom helpers and buddies. Each classroom has a group of four to five Middle Schoolers with them each week for the semester. From a two-year-old perspective these big kids are here to play with them. Over time they develop friendships and their concept of our school community expands. Learning that a commu-
nity is made up of many different people is an important goal. Some of the Family Center visits take place in the classroom where children are building blocks, doing puzzles, drawing, and reading books. One class is in the Play Room (our gym equivalent) and the big kids really have to think about how to move through space carefully with the constant activity of the younger children. One tall 8th grade boy, folds his body down to their level so they can work with the big blocks together. What is equally wonderful is what the older students gain from this experience. They come to understand children this age from many perspectives. They learn to help guide the Family Center children in age appropriate ways to solve problems and resolve conflicts by watching the teachers. A deeper sense of the importance of how to use language develops. On their walk back to Pearl Street it’s not uncommon to hear one student ask another, “Did you see what my kid did today?” They are proud and aware of the development and achievements of their younger friends. Some of the Middle Schoolers started in our Preschool and it is a joy for those of us who
All preschool children took part in a Civil-Rights era march to commemorate the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. national holiday. Carrying signs and banners, they marched from the second floor to the lobby, singing the songs, “Dr. King” and “This Little Light of Mine.” Teacher Sharon Carter (top right photo) organized the observance and taught the children the “Dr. King” song, which she learned in her childhood.
taught them and knew them then to see them and the other students so successfully take on this helping role. – Sara Soll Director of Family Center
PRESCHOOL
Everyone in the Family Center looks forward to Fridays when the “big kids” visit.
Walk through the halls of our Preschool and you see children deeply involved in their play. The projects and artwork displayed in the classrooms and throughout the halls are the expressions of their imaginations. Their work reflects hands on, highly engaged, creative and collaborative learning – the kind of learning that builds skills for the future. What you may not see as obvious is that academic learning is deeply embedded in our curriculum. Students in one of our Threes classes are working together to
build a jungle. They have taken over a corner of the classroom and are hanging vines of yarn, building trees and inhabiting them with handmade paper animals. They are researching and drawing from photographs and discussing issues such as the cutting down of trees in the rain forest. A few children initiated the project and then the idea spread throughout the class. Teachers supported and encouraged the students’ exploration and collaboration. They intentionally encouraged the children to try new ideas and found ways to support them as they made their world of imagination come to life. In a Fours Classroom the students are creating seasonal poems. They are figuring out what a poem is and coming to the conclusion that poems may
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WINTER 2013 Brooklyn Friends School Newsletter 3
around the school continued from page 3
not always rhyme. Together they generated adjectives that came to mind when they thought of their favorite season and created a word collage that was constructed together like a puzzle. They created poetry that was authored by as many as nine children at a time. This seemingly simple activity provided a rich opportunity to “play” with language. It required thoughtful cooperation, listening and creative thinking. The end result of this joint effort is poetry that they are very proud of. The seasonal collages and poems are currently displayed on the Preschool board outside the Green Room. Here is one example: Spring IS Flowers, Rain, Cherry Blossoms, Clouds The animals start to come out again Birds, Squirrels, Bears, Butterflies, The leaves start to grow out again Flowers and grass grows too the snow melts, the sun comes out Spring is fun because there’s puddles of mud! Rain coats, rain boots and umbrellas We love Spring! - Maura Eden Head of Preschool
lower school
What is it about three pigs, a red hen, and a boy who climbs a beanstalk into the sky (among other savory characters) that Kindergarteners just relish with delight? Could it be the predictable story arc? The irresistible lure of good guys outwitting the bad guys? The campy illustrations? In short, all of the above. Current research suggests emerging and new readers benefit from multiple readings of either the same story or different versions of the same story. Repetition offers children opportunities to gain fluency with the vocabulary presented, the context of the story, the concept of character and traits, story arc and, ultimately, comprehension. With its unique genre characteristics, the folktale unit is fertile ground for
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Middle School students handling a snake at Frost Valley.
growing strong readers. In Kindergarten, we read as many versions as are available of the folktale presented. Our students delight in hunting for the similarities and differences between the versions, connecting the experiences of the characters to their own lives, and unpacking the moral of the
Kindergartners enjoying the story of “Jack and the Beanstalk”
story. To fortify the readings, small troupes act out the story ‘on stage’, create models of settings, illustrate a favorite part, or test out the moral of the story by bringing it forward into real, five- and six-year old life experiences. Furthermore, in Spanish, teacher Sachi Feris reads the folktale in Spanish and, again, the children dramatize the story with Spanish lines. In Dance, the characters and narrative arc are explored via movement. It is a multi-modal, multi-sensory literacy experience. Kindergarteners are a lively bunch. They are excited to share personal anecdotes, independently accomplish tasks, adore a good read-aloud, and are eager to engage with school in play, paired with an increasingly academic focus. Building strong readers begins with a strong, engaging foundation. Folktales are a rich and natural entry point and offer an unparalleled literature experience for our students. Christina Karvounis Kindergarten Assistant Teacher
middle SCHOOL
Like all of our middle school educators, science teachers must not only be experts in their fields; they must also be skillful with developing lessons that will engage pre-adolescent and adolescent minds. Fifth grade science students learned about ecology and adaptation prior to their winter trip to Frost Valley. They designed imaginary animals that are adapted to a place (real or imaginary) of their choice. They’ve also been learning about food chains and food webs, emphasizing the ideas that everything in nature, living and nonliving, is connected, and that each part of nature has an important role. Frost Valley connections were plentiful: n There was a winter ecology hike to explore local plants and animals and their adaptations. n There was a night hike to learn about adaptations for nocturnal animals, which included activities related to hunting at night and night vision. n Students studied composting
and were challenged to have zero waste at each meal. Energy has been the focus of sixth grade science class this winter. Students designed roller coasters and skateboard parks using online simulators and watched avatars ride their virtual creations. They also built straw rockets and discussed how Katniss (from The Hunger Games) applied her understanding of potential energy when she used her bow and arrow to hunt. Next up is a unit on engineering and design where students will create cars, modify and improve their designs and have a derby race at the end. Life Science students in 7th grade undertook an investigation of the nutritional value found in a McDonald’s Happy Meal and the drinks served in the BFS cafeteria. The two weeklong series of experimental tests was intended as an application of information on biological molecules and nutrients in our diets that impact our health. Students each composed a formal lab report detailing their results on known samples of simple and complex carbohydrates, proteins and lipids (fats). The tests were next applied to a sample of McMush, a concoction of a Happy Meal blended together. Each student’s report contained background research about fast food “nutrition,” her/his experimental procedure, tables and graphical representations of observations, and an analysis of their results that also included acknowledgements of weak design or errors in collecting data. Not too surprisingly, most students found that a Happy Meal contained very high levels of carbohydrates and lipids and virtually no protein. Eighth grade scientists completed an astronomy unit and are now studying geology. Their work included an in-depth study of the causes and effects of tidal surges caused by the combination of the moon and
hurricanes, in light of Hurricane Sandy. They will soon be turning their attention to environmental issues and individual projects for their virtual science fair. – Martha Haakmat Head of Middle School
upper SCHOOL
Banging lockers, windmilling arms, hugging students, and cackling laughter are but a few of the sights and sounds during any given class changeover at the 55 Willoughby building – home of the Upper School. This cacophonic chaos is never as out of control as it might appear; in places both conspicuous and out-of-the-way stand our deans: Vanessa Aird, 9th and 10th grades, and Julien Remy, 11th and 12th grades. These dedicated administrators, through subtle looks, gentle reminders, and more pointed vocal instructions, keep the peace and solve problems on the fly. Yet this is just the easily visible part of their jobs; in actuality, this dynamic duo does so much more. Vanessa and Julien are not the old-school “Deans of Mean,” only concerned with discipline; they actually support almost every aspect of high school student life. In concert with our amazing faculty, they make the Upper School tick. On a typical day our Deans meet with students in numerous capacities; these often include a slow walk to the cafeteria to remind students to respect our dress code; an impromptu meet-
Upper School Deans, Vanessa Aird and Julien Remy.
ing in a classroom to listen to, and when appropriate to offer advice to, a student with personal struggles; and a serious discussion in their office with an adolescent who has made a poor choice and failed to adhere to expectations. In each of these situations, the Deans successfully find the right combination of firmness, compassion and humor to get their message across to the students. Vanessa and Julien move through these vicissitudes with our students during each and every day, and do so with great aplomb. Their work also extends to the adults in the BFS community. They interact with parents and guardians to give updates and support, and to help them understand how the Upper School is working with their children to get the most out of their high school experience. Vanessa and Julien partner with advisors to create our advisory curriculum; help craft meaningful programs that address current issues and concerns that affect our students. In addition, the Deans collaborate with faculty and other adults in our community to review student progress and generate support plans for students in all of their efforts both academic and extracurricular. Vanessa and Julien do all this and so much more (they are also classroom teachers!) with passion and verve. On any given day, whether as mentor, disciplinarian, consultant, trusted adult, or friendly ear, our Deans will be in the halls, classrooms and offices of Willoughby working their magic. And the Upper School is the better for their efforts. – Bob Bowman Head of Upper School
Student Jacob Swindell-Sakoor and Larry Williams public speaking continued from page 1
class by taking a seat on the edge of his desk to speak frankly and do his own bit of extemporaneous public speaking. “You kids are really smart. You always amaze me. In some ways you’re beyond me. I am above average in intelligence. But you, my students, all have a natural genius. It is my duty to bring that genius out. We’re learning from each other.” He tipped his hand about his real reasons for wanting to teach public speaking to teenagers: he’s not teaching them presentation skills but something more important. He told them how impressed he was that nobody gave a talk about how much money they wanted to make, or that they wanted to have lunch with someone because they’re rich. “I talk to a lot of old people, and I’ve never met someone who at 95 and about to die told me they wished they’d stayed at the office longer and made more money. It was all about the connections they’d made with people throughout their lives.” His final lesson for the day was clear. These 15- and 16-yearolds seem to be ahead of the game if they’ve already learned that lesson. “If nothing else I hope that you and I make connections as human beings. That’s what life is about.”
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alumni/ae class notes by Deborah Rosenbluth Weinstein ’84 Would you like to be listed in the next edition Class Notes? We would love to hear from you! Feel free to call, write or stop by the alumni office. How are you doing in school? What accomplishments have you achieved? Where are you working? Have you gotten married? Any children? What is new in your life? We can be reached at 718-852-1029, ext. 208, dweinstein@brooklynfriends.org, Brooklyn Friends School, 375 Pearl Street, Brooklyn, New York 11201
Alap Vora ’03
Lexi Carlson ’09, currently attending Clark University, is one of 46 students to be selected to serve as a LEEP Project Pioneer. (LEEP stands for Liberal Education and Effective Practice). Lexi completed research sponsored by the National Science Foundation focusing on the taxonomy of a genus of a mushroom-forming fungi called Trametes. She presented her research at the annual meeting of the Mycological Society of America this summer. Lexi is one of ten undergraduates who received funding through the Steinbrecher Fellowship program this spring to support her research. She is on Clark’s Dean’s list and the recipient of a leadership scholarship.
stand the laws they need to follow. Alap is owner and manager of Concord Market, a grocer focused on healthy, delicious, reasonably priced food that offers catering as well. Alap opened the market in 2009 after graduating from George Wash-
Molly Altreuter ’10 is in her sophomore year at Earlham and is playing in her second season of soccer for the Quakers. Earlham is No. 5 in the National Soccer Coaches of America Association/ Continental Tire NCAA Division III Great Lakes Poll.
From his longtime home in Botswana, Sheldon Weeks ’49 writes “This has been a year of aging and loss, a year of sadness and confusion. Man’s inhumanity to man only seems to escalate and solutions to our unending problems receded further away.” Sheldon and his wife continue their missionary work in Africa. Anahita Razavi-Crevits ’83 writes to announce that her husband Rik Crevits has written and published a book entitled Money Toward Happiness: Capitalism for a New Age. Anahita owns and manages her own architect and design company Colorworks.com. Anahita and her husband reside in Reston, Virginia.
ington University’s undergraduate business program. Concord Market is located at 91 Tillary Street in Brooklyn (concordmarket.com).
Lexi Carlson ’09
Zoe Babian ’11 is currently attending Ithaca College. Zoe is on the college crew team and made the group racing in the regatta at Saratoga Springs. She plans to return to soccer at Ithaca next year. Madeleyn Valenzuela ’11 attends Clark University and is playing recreational soccer.
In Memoriam Virginia Mayer Valentine ’36 Dorothea Anderson, BFS Faculty 1966 -1985 and mother of Bradford Anderson ’62 and Cynthea Anderson Dohse ’66.
Sara Erde ’88 is currently working as an assistant director at the Metropolitan Opera on a production of Les Troyens. Ben Feldman ’93 is a math and computer science teacher at a charter school near his home in Amherst, Massachusetts. He is married to Aurea Laboy, formerly of Ponce, Puerto Rico, and they have five children. Alap Vora ’03 is everywhere. His photograph is in subways, bus shelters, phone kiosks, and even on the front page of the New York Metro newspaper, all to promote nyc.gov’s Business Toolbox site. Developed by the Department of Consumer Affairs, the toolbox makes it easier for businesses to under-
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Young Alumni Day 2013
On January 9, 2013 twenty-nine young alumni representing the classes of 2009 through 2012 returned
to BFS for a series of events. They met together for lunch with current students, faculty and staff followed by an informative and lively discussion with BFS senior class led by Lindsey S. Berns, Director of College Counseling. Topics covered included everything from college admissions, student life, freshman year, college majors, and roomate issues. The remainder of the afternoon was spent visiting with BFS students, teachers, and faculty.
Upcoming
Alum Events
March 22 and 23, 2013 BFS is coming to Florida On Friday March 22, 2013 BFS will be hosting a regional gathering at SideBern’s in Tampa, Florida at 6:00 p.m. Then, on Saturday March 23, 2013, Margaret Fink Fisher ’78 will graciously host a gathering at her home in Delray Beach. RSVP to Deborah Rosenbluth Weinstein ’84 at 718-852-1029 ext . 208 or dweinstein@brooklynfriends.org May 5, 2013 BFS is coming to Chicago BFS will be holding a regional gathering in Chicago on May 5. Details to be announced. May 31, 2013 1950s Reunion On May 31, 2013 we are having a special reunion for the Classes of 1950 through 1961. We will be gathering at 375 Pearl Street for a tour of the school, a social hour, and dinner. Stay for Saturday’s Alum Day! June 1, 2013 Alum Day All members of all classes are invited to join us on June 1, 2013 for the BFS Alum Day. We’ll be planning special “after-parties” for the 25th (Class of 1988) and 50th (Class of 1963) reunions, as well as a special party for Classes of 1981-1984. Keep an eye out for details!
Support BFS
Please remember the Brooklyn Friends Fund in your charitable giving plans. To learn more about giving at Brooklyn Friends, visit brooklynfriends.org/donate
An archival photo of Jenny Batlay
Helping Hands at BFS – 65 Years Later, Never Forgotten by Susan Price ’86
B
FS has a long history of helping those in need, always with the hope that such efforts will aid even one person. Once in a great while, we learn that those efforts were indeed successful. For millions, the years after World War II were filled with large-scale suffering and starvation. Every class at BFS, from kindergarten through 12th grade, worked to address that great need. Like some classes at BFS during the late 1940s, our Class of 1957, then in 3rd grade in the 1947-48 school year, sent care packages to families overseas. One of those families lived in Montpellier in the south of France, and was the family of Jenny Batlay. For Jenny, those late-1940s care packages from BFS changed her life. Dr. Jenny Batlay, now in her early 70s and living in New York City, reconnected with BFS over a year ago, when she found an article from the May 1957 edition of the BFS newspaper The Life at the online BFS Archives. The article, about BFS French Teacher John R. Roach’s year in France, mentions his visit with Jenny
Batlay in Montpellier. Jenny, who has lived in the U.S. since the 1960s, fondly recalls that visit with Mr. Roach. Yet she recalls, with even greater fondness, those care packages her family received from BFS 3rd graders ten years earlier and their deep impact on her path. After World War II, rationing was in effect for over ten years in some countries. The arrival of those packages sent to the Batlays by BFS 3rd graders was deeply appreciated: “It was an event, the mailman delivering a package,” Jenny reminisced. “The neighbors would come out when they heard the truck... We would invite (them) all to come to our home and enjoy the feast with us. I remember a little of what was in the packages: I believe canned food, clothing and blankets, cookies, and I certainly remember large, round, yellow candies, which I later learned are butterscotch. But for me, it was the crayons! I don’t think I ever ate anything in the packages, because once I saw there were crayons, I grabbed them and ran, took my father’s stationery and drew and drew. I never learned to have the candy first. I ‘feasted’ on the crayons. Those crayons started me on my first career as an artist.” Within a few years of receiving those crayons from BFS, Jenny was a budding artist working in watercolors and oils. At age 12, Jenny’s artwork caught the eye of a local framer and he held her first exhibition in his shop to much acclaim. Jenny’s artwork included indoor and outdoor scenes, with her focus primarily on people through portraits and vignettes of daily life in Montpellier. She reflected, “There was no entertainment as we know it now. Children would play outside then, and so I drew outside — mothers
pushing baby carriages with the baby popping its head out; children playing; a family taking a walk; I was creating village scenes.” By 1957, when Mr. Roach visited the Batlays, Jenny was exhibiting at local museums. Soon thereafter, the Batlay family moved to Paris and Jenny was painting portraits of France’s luminaries like Maurice Chevalier and Yehudi Menuhin. Several years later, Jenny switched streams, deciding to pursue her love of French literature. She moved to the United States, and she received her Ph.D. from Columbia in 1977. Her book, Rousseau’s Les Rêveries Du Promeneur Solitaire: A Reading grew out of her dissertation. Soon, Jenny was teaching French literature at Princeton and other colleges, then working part-time after she became a mother. Jenny continues her work, still writing at her home in Manhattan. Speaking with members of the Class of 1957 from that 3rd grade class, many recalled the school’s emphasis on helping the world rebuild, that “collections” were happening constantly for overseas communities both during and after “The War.” Bob Dawson recalls the butterscotch candies and canned goods being sent in the package the Batlays received, and Judy Candib Larkin remembers including drawing materials in “the Care Box.” Every member of the Class of 1957 was delighted to learn of the impact of their 3rd grade efforts. Judy’s sentiment that she “never expected that such a small deed would really have an effect on anyone” was echoed by all. Yet it did have great impact, and as Jenny Batlay reflected, “The idea that anyone would have thought to include crayons, so clearly meant for children, it still amazes me.”
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Class Agents Needed Would you like to be a class agent? Reconnect with your class, assist in planning alumni activities, be the voice for your class, inspire alumni to participate in BFS happenings. Contact Deborah Rosenbluth Weinstein ’ 84 Director of Alumni at 718-852-1029 ext. 208 or dweinstein@brooklynfriends.org for more information or to sign up.
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alum
} colin cowley ’07
profile
by Jeffrey Stanley
H
e holds a degree in film from Emerson College and got his foot in the door at National Geographic and The Food Network, but four months ago Colin Cowley ’07 took a detour and launched a new clothing line, OneFish Clothing Co. The enterprising young alum entered BFS as a ninth grader but wasn’t a stranger to Quaker education. “I grew up in the West Village and started out at Friends Seminary,” he explained. “I went there until 6th grade and then to a school in Connecticut that wasn’t Quaker. When I came back to BFS it was a bit of a culture shock. I had been used to wearing loafers and a button down shirt. BFS was much freer. I felt welcomed from the first day. I never had a struggle fitting in.” Colin had always been visually inclined and liked to draw but had no specific plan to work in film and television, much less fashion. “It kind of happened accidentally,” he recalled. “A bunch of friends were making these home videos. I wanted to make one and Andy helped me develop my media skills,” he said, referring to Andy Cohen, teacher of video and animation, and founder of the Bridge Film Festival. “I took his video class and we ended up working on the BFS and Ramallah Friends project,” he added, referring to the 12-minute documentary Two Students, Two Schools, which compared the
8 Brooklyn Friends School Newsletter WINTER 2013
lives of two Muslim students—one at BFS and the other at Friends School of Ramallah. “We entered it in the Bridge Film Festival. Andy was very inspirational in that aspect. I had someone to talk to about film. He definitely shaped my experience.” After BFS, Colin majored in film at Emerson College. “I was an editor and a director for the Emerson Sports Network, which was like ESPN but on minor scale.” After he graduated he worked in television briefly, “only to be discouraged,” he recounted. “I pictured myself as an editor. I learned that an editor is someone with technical skills and not someone who works on the creative side.” That didn’t sit well with Colin. “I realized I was kind of a big picture guy.” That directorial spirit and innate need to express a singular creative vision to the world led him out of a television career track and to an unexpected place. The move seems less surprising when Colin explains more of his background. “I’ve drawn for as long as I can remember. I remember drawing my first character in 2nd grade. I took one or two art classes in 3rd or 4th grade. I was into graffiti in middle school, the bubble letters.” In the dorm where he lived at Emerson, each floor had a bulletin board in the hallway for announcements. “An RA [Resident Advisor] asked me to draw a mural for him. I
said, “Sure, if you buy me the markers.” He did, so I drew this big mural eight feet long by three or four feet high. People started coming by just to check it out. There were a few characters on it including a fish. It was only two square inches of the whole mural but it was one of the main things people noticed.” Overnight that one little fish turned into a whale. “The whole fashion thing started when a friend made me draw it on her tshirt. I didn’t want to, but I did, and people kept coming wanting more. By the end of a week I had made 80 t-shirts.” His charitable contribution to student morale by doodling on t-shirts was taking its toll on his studies, not to mention his wrist, so he soon hung up his pen. “I had to put it on pause while I went to school.” The appropriately-named OneFish Clothing Co., (onefishclothing.com) which he describes as “an up-and-coming urban graphic t-shirt company,” is only four months out of the chute. It sells several of Colin’s original, whimsical designs printed on t-shirts. For now he operates from his West Village home but his wheels are turning. “To me the sky’s the limit. I’d love to have a full line that includes sneakers, jeans, hoodies, sweaters. Within three years I’d love to have a storefront – that’s my main goal.” Colin stresses that he is a proud New Yorker and infuses his hometown into his artwork. “To me, this company embodies 24 years of city living. I’ve grown up here and it shaped me as an artist. I want everything I sell to be unique, new, original.” Not surprisingly his website features a hip promotional video. “My friend shot it. I wrote, directed and edited it.” He intends to continue working in the motion picture medium in other ways along with growing his clothing line. “I’m in the process of launching something called OneFish TV,” he explained. “It’ll be two or three minute segments once a month in which I interview a born-and-raised New York artist about their work.” Does BFS’ Quaker ethos still have an impact on Colin today? “I’m not a Quaker, but what I remember the most is the accepting, warm environment. In other settings I wouldn’t have been able to explore the interests that I had. Going to BFS allowed me to have this creative freedom that a lot of other high schools didn’t have. That’s something I want to share with other people.”
BFS Photo Album 3
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The Upper School winter play, called “Southern Gothic,� was a masterful presentation of five short plays by Tennessee Williams. 1. Sayeed Joseph and Giovanna Molina in The Long Goodbye. 2. Bronwyn Edwards, Eloise Seda, and Louisa Grenham in A Perfect Analysis Given by a Parrot. 3. Amara Granderson and Bianca Rhea in The Lady of Larkspur Lotion. 4. Julian Smith De Niro and Mimi Goldstein in Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen. 5. Jose Umana and Maya Kaul in This Property Is Condemned. 6. Athletic Director David Gardella congratulates senior Janna Joassainte on scoring 1,000 basketball points in her high school career, an exceptional achievement. Janna is only the second student athlete to reach this milestone in the past 20 years at BFS. 7. More than 120 lower school children and their parents happily participated in the 2013 Family Folk Dance, an annual activity sponsored by the Parents and Teachers Association and the Performing Arts Department.
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WINTER 2013 Brooklyn Friends School Newsletter 9
Our Teachers as LifeK
Professional development is a way of life at Brooklyn Friends. Our teachers attend seminars
and institutes all over the world, in addition to a variety of in-school workshops. The school
awards Curriculum Development Grants every year, sponsors courses for college credit, and encourages faculty to participate in – and lead – workshops at local, state, and national education conferences. Middle and Upper School Science teacher Kristen Baldiga has been named a Fellow in the National Science Teacher Association’s New Teacher Academy. The NSTA, based in Arlington, VA, publishes journals for science faculty from kindergarten through college, and also hosts science education conferences throughout the year. The New Teachers Academy was established to help reduce the high attrition rate in the science teaching profession by providing professional development and mentoring support to early-career science teachers. As a fellow, Kristen participates in professional development webinars and online courses as a prelude to the annual national conference held this spring in San Antonio, Texas. Her trip will be fully funded by the organization. Selected from hundreds of applicants nationwide, Kristen is a graduate of Williams College and has a Master’s degree from Harvard. “I really appreciate the support I’ve received from BFS throughout this process,” said Kristen. “I know that I, and my students, will greatly benefit from this experience.” Visual Arts Department Chair Yuval Ortiz-Quiroga used a BFS Curriculum Development Grant to create curricula related to social justice through visual arts. He researched adding new social justice content to the school’s existing art courses and creating a course exploring art as activism, and “the artist as truth teller in society.”
10 Brooklyn Friends School Newsletter WINTER 2013
His research included visits to other schools, interviews with external art faculty, and exploration of bibliographical content. “The new curricula is being piloted through an Upper School After Three at Willoughby course,” explained Yuval. “This has a similar amount of contact hours as a non-IB Visual Arts course.” He eventually plans to add the new course content to the Middle and Upper School’s required Visual Arts course offerings. First Grade Head Teacher Hannah Williams used a BFS Curriculum Development Grant to create a digital supplement to the first grade math, reading, and social studies curricula. “This took several forms,” explained Hannah, who holds an MS in Education from Bank Street College. “Digitizing old material such as charts, poems, and songs; creating new presentation platforms for lessons, most notably for our classroom eno boards using Keynote software; curating a list of useful online resources such as Youtube, databases, and blogs; and finally, searching for iPad apps to complement our classroom teaching.” Hannah has shared the information she compiled with all Lower School faculty, but stresses that adding bells and whistles to course content doesn’t replace good teaching. “I found myself thinking deeply about the ways technology intersects with our classroom life,” she said, “and the value in its use as a teaching tool. I created a list of 10 questions teachers can ask themselves before implementing a new technology in the classroom in order to ensure that our philosophy of hands-on, experiential education is not lost.”
Erin Mansur attended the Gilder Lerman Institute Seminar studying Jim Crow Law – Segregation and the Fight for American Citizenship, at Yale University. “It was an honor to be selected for the seminar since spaces are limited and the selection very competitive,” said Erin. “At first, I was intimidated by the prospect of reading under noted professor Jonathan Holloway since I have long admired his work as an author, an external fellow of the W.E.B Du Bois Institute at Harvard University and the first AfricanAmerican master of Calhoun College at Yale.” Erin explained that the seminar was not only a history course, but a course on curriculum-building, brainstorming and exploring different ways to approach the subject with our students. “The seminar organizers were incredible,” she said. “They showed us an impressive volume of resources that were available to augment our lesson plans. Over the course of the week as we delved into the heated, often bloody battle by African-Americans to be accepted as citizens of our country – a battle that has continued to this day.” Jesse Klausz studied the Great Depres-
sion and World War II with Professor David M. Kennedy at Stanford University as part of a Gilder Lerman Institute seminar. Dr. Kennedy is among the world’s leading historians. In fact, he wrote the textbook that BFS uses for IB HOTA (International Baccalaureate History of the Americas), The American Pageant. Dr. Kennedy also wrote a Pulitzer-Prize winning book, Freedom from Fear used in the World Wars class. “It was quite a thrill to study with a man whose scholarship is so impressive and whose
-Long Learners knowledge is so pervasive,” Jesse said. “It was wonderful to meet and learn with many other teachers from around the world. We spent a week studying topics such as the Great Depression, the New Deal, and World War II. After the seminar, I felt energized and armed with new material to bring back to my history classes.”
Lower School Spanish teacher Myriam Juarbe and Second Grade Assistant Teacher Ryan Thornton received a BFS Curriculum Development Grant to record a CD of Spanish songs now used as a teaching tool at BFS. The songbook came about as an answer to unexpected student demand. When Myriam visited classes to teach Spanish she brought along song lyrics written on large paper that she would hang on the wall while she taught the kids to sing. The songs included a variety of traditional Latin American songs and some that Myriam sang herself as a child in Puerto Rico. “At times teachers would say that their students wanted to sing our Spanish songs when I was not there but the teachers didn’t know the songs well enough to feel comfortable singing,” she explained. “Then, last year Ryan joined BFS as an assistant teacher and whenever I was singing with his class, he would take out his drum and accompany us. It gave the songs a depth and rhythm that had everyone happy and inspired.” Ryan suggested that they record the songs. Myriam loved the idea, and thought to turn the large lyric sheets into an accompanying songbook. Ryan assembled the band, including himself on drums. “I recorded ten songs a capella, sent them to Ryan’s composer and guitar player, and he wrote all ten arrangements,” said Myriam. The team recorded the songs in a Greenpoint studio along with Preschool teacher and
BFS alum Jazelyn Montanez ’98 and two young girls, one of whom, Verónica, is a BFS Middle Schooler. The CD, entitled Amigos del Corazon, and the accompanying songbook have been distributed to the Family Center, Preschool, and Lower School.
Lower School Learing Specialist Laura Hulbert has been writing books since she was ten-years-old. Her first book – a 60 page “novel” about a girl named Missy and her farm animal friends – was not her claim to fame. It may have had something to do with the fact that (according to her) nothing actually happens in the story. Still, she continued to write. Later in life, she spent some time writing “little eight-page concept books” with limited text for struggling readers. Laura continued to revise her work and develop stories. At last, she found her niche as a writer and is now a published author of not one, but two books for young readers. Her books Who Has These Feet? and Who Has This Tail? are presented in a guessing game format that allows readers to discover how animals have physical characteristics that are perfectly adapted to their habitats. For the last two years, after each book was published Laura visited the BFS Pre and Lower Schools to talk about her process as a writer and read her books. She now enjoys “celebrity status” around the school and has been very touched that her former students, now 3rd and 4th graders, continue to check in with her about the books and what she’s writing next. Third Grade Head Teacher Sarah Gordon and Second Grade Head Teacher Denise Parks used a BFS Curriculum Development Grant “to assemble an accessible, well-curated and useful set of resources that can be used to plan and implement activities and followup discussions around identity- and race-based affinity group work.” The project took shape after a series of ongoing discussions held last year by the Lower School Affinity Group Committee. Implemented this school year, Denise and Sarah’s project facilitates student exploration and discussion about definitions of identity, family, names, gender, hair, and racial identity versus skin color. “Classroom teachers and learning specialists will be involved
in designing and implementing these activities for general ‘identity groups’ and race-based affinity groups,” the duo explained. “It is essential that all teachers have ready access to high quality, helpful materials to ensure the program’s success.” To this end the teachers have gathered articles and plans in an easily accessible Google Docs folder. They also created a well-organized bookshelf in the Curriculum Coordinator’s office that they hope will continue to grow. (Sarah, top photo; Denise, below.)
Mark Buenzle, who has taught art, his-
tory, and psychology courses at the school for more than a decade, has graduated from the Center for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies after 13 long years of study and has been granted his license to practice in New York State, qualifying him to open a private practice as a certified psychoanalyst. Mark has also become a fellow at the Center and advises four advanced students along with supervising the clinic one evening per week. His final research paper, “Standing Where the Towers Fell: A Study of Psychic and Physical Collapse and Reconstruction,” received the Center’s prestigious Phyllis W. Meadow Award for best paper of his graduating class, and the 2012 Gradiva Award for best student paper of the year from the National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis.
WINTER 2013 Brooklyn Friends School Newsletter 11
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Address Service Requested Vol. 9, No. 2, WINTER 2013 The Newsletter is published four times a year for BFS families, faculty, alumni/ae and friends. Joan Martin, Editor 718.852.1029 brooklynfriends.org
What’s Old Is New Again
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From the late 1980’s: Greg George, longtime BFS computer teacher and currently Director of Technology, with one of his students, Jesse Phillips-Fein, our current middle and upper school dance teacher
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pers from 1945 through the present and class photo albums from 1950 to 1999. The photos can be viewed at the BFS Alumni/ae Facebook group. Future additions will include earlier newspapers, literary magazines, and more photographs. Also at the new archives site is The Blue and Gray*, our blog detailing BFS history, from the school’s earliest days to more recent events. Posts range from the school’s songs, to its early playground and athletic field at Grace Court in Brooklyn Heights (now the site of those huge apartment buildings built in the 1920s), to the 1981 Academy Award® winning short film Close Harmony about the Intergenerational Choir of BFS students and Brooklyn senior citizens. We also feature the 1942 history of our school, Seventy Five Years of Brooklyn Friends School by Edgerton Grant North ’18. With a million stories at BFS, The Blue and Gray focuses on recent archives discoveries and items of enduring interest from our school’s rich history.
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arry Truman once said, “The only thing new in the world is the history you don’t know” and it’s just as true at BFS. So, brand new to the BFS website is a section devoted to our school’s archives and history. Curated by Susan Price ’86, the school’s historian and archivist, the site consists of a “discoveries” blog and features digital materials selected from the school’s larger archive. Browse the collection at brooklynfriends.org/history. Historic BFS materials now online at the new archives site are student newspa-
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* Why the Blue and Gray? Adopted in the 1930’s as the official school colors, blue and gray represented the unification of the North and South after the Civil War.
celebrate!
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From the 1920’s: Members of the Class of 1927 pose for a picture during their sophomore year of high school
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BROOKLYN FRIENDS SCHOOL’S ANNUAL SPRING GALA FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2013 STAGE 6 AT STEINER STUDIOS