Brooks Bulletin, Spring 2023

B BROOKS

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

President

John R. Barker ’87, P’21, P’23

Wellesley, Mass.

Vice Presidents

Cristina E. Antelo ’95

Washington, D.C.

Whitney Romoser Savignano ’87

Beverly Farms, Mass.

Secretary Craig J. Ziady ’85, P’18, P’20, P’22

Winchester, Mass.

Treasurer Valentine Hollingsworth ’72, P’17

Dover, Mass.

TRUSTEES

Iris Bonet ’90

Houston, Texas

Peter J. Caldwell

Providence, R.I.

Charles F. Cornish ’06

Sudbury, Mass.

Catalina Dib P’25, P’26

Boston, Mass.

Peter V. K. Doyle ’69

Sherborn, Mass.

Cheryl M. Duckworth P’22, P’23

Lynnfield, Mass.

Anthony H. Everets ’93

New York, N.Y.

Nancy C. Ferry P’21

West Newton, Mass.

Julia Saltonstall Haley ’88, P’25

South Hamilton, Mass.

Paul L. Hallingby ’65

New York, N.Y.

Booth D. Kyle ’89

Severna Park, Md.

Brian McCabe P’18

Meredith, N.H.

Diana Merriam P’08, P’11

Boxford, Mass.

Sally T. Milliken ’88, P’22, P’24

Byfield, Mass.

Ikenna U. Ndugba ’16 Boston, Mass.

John R. Packard Jr. P’18, P’21 Head of School North Andover, Mass.

Daniel J. Riccio P’17, P’20

Atherton, Calif.

Vivek Sharma P’24

Boston, Mass.

Juliane Gardner Spencer ’93

Rockport, Mass.

Alessandro F. Uzielli ’85

Beverly Hills, Calif.

Meredith M. Verdone ’81, P’19 Newton Center, Mass.

Christopher T. Wood ’85 Los Angeles, Calif.

ALUMNI TRUSTEES Alysa U. James ’11 Washington, D.C.

Sathvik R. Sudireddy ’15 Boston, Mass.

TRUSTEES EMERITI

William N. Booth ’67, P’05

Chestnut Hill, Mass.

Henry M. Buhl ’48

New York, N.Y.

Steve Forbes ’66, P’91 Bedminster, N.J.

Steven R. Gorham ’85, P’17, P’21 Ipswich, Mass.

H. Anthony Ittleson ’56, P’84, P’86 Green Pond, S.C.

Michael B. Keating ’58, P’97 Boston, Mass.

Frank A. Kissel ’69, P’96, P’99 Far Hills, N.J.

Peter A. Nadosy ’64 New York, N.Y.

Eleanor R. Seaman P’86, P’88, P’91, GP’18 Hobe Sound, Fla.

David R. Williams III ’67 Beverly Farms, Mass.

The Brooks crew program invited families and loved ones of its sixth-formers to a morning row on Lake Cochichewick on a gorgeous day in early May.

Head of School

John R. Packard Jr. P’18, P’21

Director of Institutional Advancement

Gage S. Dobbins P’22, P’23

Director of Alumni Programs

Lauri Coulter

Director of the Brooks Fund and Family Engagement

Mary Merrill

Director of Admission and Financial Aid

Bini W. Egertson P’12, P’15

Director of Communications and Marketing

Dan Callahan P’19, P’20, P’23

Director of Print Communications

Rebecca A. Binder

Design

Aldeia www.aldeia.design

Alumni Communications

Manager

Emily Williams

Director of Digital Communications

Jennifer O’Neill

FEATURES

22 Celebrating Girls’ Sports

Fifty years after the passage of Title IX, graduates from across the generations who played on girls sports teams at Brooks reflect on what the opportunity to play high school sports has meant to them over the years.

32 Beyond the Brooks Campus

Unsolicited manuscripts are welcome. Opinions expressed in the Bulletin are those of the authors and not necessarily of Brooks School.

Correspondence concerning the Bulletin should be sent to Editor Rebecca A. Binder:

mail

Editor, Brooks Bulletin 1160 Great Pond Road North Andover, MA 01845 email rbinder@brooksschool.org

phone

(978) 725-6326

© 2023 Brooks School

The Brooks Exchange Program came back strong from the COVID-19 pandemic this year, once again sending students abroad and hosting students at Brooks. This year’s participants learned about the world, themselves and each other as they immersed themselves in the experience.

40 I Love This Class Because

The Bulletin asked Brooks students about the classes they’ve taken here that they love, and why. Here, a glimpse into the special aspects of six classes that current students find meaningful, interesting and, more often than not, fun.

A MESSAGE FROM JOHN R. PACKARD JR. HEAD OF SCHOOL

Learning, Exploring and Belonging

On the first Friday in May, we welcomed to campus nearly 100 alums, parents, past parents and trustees for a day of sharing aspirations about what might still be ahead for our school. We are now just four years away from celebrating our centennial year, and it is exciting to be focusing on next steps aimed at ensuring the school begins its second century stronger than ever. This Summit, as we referred to it, allowed us an opportunity to both note all that we have achieved over time and to test a framework and set of priorities we believe will position the school to continue building and strengthening its ability to deliver the most meaningful educational experience our students will have in their lives.

We are proud of a vitally important wave of work that we have nearly completed since wrapping up The Campaign for Brooks in 2018. This work included a new main entrance to campus, a completed center campus master plan that has pedestrianized and transformed how Main Street feels and functions, a beautiful new admission and head of school office building, the preservation of the head of school’s residence as a stand-alone home and facility all in one, an expanded Keating Room for all sorts of school function purposes, construction of a new and spectacular boathouse, and three new faculty homes.

This work, of course, comes on the heels of comparable efforts spanning 96 years — all of it fortifying the school and the experience our students have had and continue to have here.

This past summer, as John R. Barker ’87, P’21, P’23 took the helm as president of the board of trustees, we engaged in a lot of generative thinking about how we want to build on the progress we have made. This look at our strengths and how we might leverage them more effectively extended

to additional consideration of the same questions at an administrative level, and ultimately led the board to a set of campaign pillars — a framework for what lies ahead. These pillars, immersive learning, culture of exploration and genuine belonging, are all strengths that have mattered to us over time. From here, what might we do to better ensure that a Brooks School education is one full of immersive learning opportunities, rich with scores of openings to explore passions and interests, and more successful than ever at ensuring all members of our increasingly diverse community feel and experience genuine belonging?

It was this question that we spent the day in early May contemplating, together with a theory that we can move to a more robust answer by addressing the quality and volume of campus housing for students and faculty, the state of our core academic building that has experienced very little improvement for a couple of generations, and the reality that our endowment lags in comparison to peers and is limited in its ability to ensure funding that gets more deeply at these campaign pillars. With these ends in mind, we are poised to build on the conversations we are having in ways that sharpen our plans and earn support from growing numbers.

To be clear, our current position of strength is due to the fact that so many have cared so much for Brooks School over all 96 of its years. As the school’s current stewards, we look to the future intent on doing our part to build on what has always been a culture of continuous improvement and to leverage this once-in-our-school’slifetime centennial year and celebration in ways that leave us as proud as we have ever been to be Brooksians. We look forward to being in touch and wish all of you a wonderful summer.

“ We are now just four years away from celebrating our centennial year, and it is exciting to be focusing on next steps aimed at ensuring the school begins its second century stronger than ever.”

A SHINIER DIAMOND

Through the generosity of a donor, Brooks made improvements to its softball diamond last fall that, head softball coach Andrea Heinze says, give the squad “the nicest clay infield and softball field in the Independent School League.” The school created a clay infield, upgraded the infield equipment, renovated the irrigation system and added a batting tunnel. Brooks also purchased infield grooming equipment.

Providing Faculty Housing

The school is taking steps to build more on-campus homes for Brooks faculty. This effort gives students an environment where their teachers live alongside them and know them fully, and helps attract and retain top-flight educators.

Earlier this year, the school began construction of three new faculty homes on the site of the property located at 1116 Great Pond Road. The large residence that previously inhabited the site was demolished. Currently, the demand for on-campus housing far exceeds the supply, and these three new homes will help drive the school’s continuing effort to attract, retain and house faculty, who have been devoted to living and working alongside Brooks students for generations.

Assistant Head of School Nina Hanlon sees the addition of on-campus housing stock as a priority for the school. She makes the case that it’s important for Brooks students to live alongside their

teachers. “It builds community, which is so important here,” she says. “We’re a small school, and we truly know our students at a 360-degree level. Most schools cannot say the same, nor are they able to see their students in all moments of their lives in the way that we do.” Hanlon also says that it’s important for Brooks students to see their teachers as more than just teachers. “Our students get to see us as real people who model self-care and meaningful lives side by side with them. It’s beneficial for students and adults to have those relationships.”

Given the high cost of living in North Andover, Hanlon explains, offering on-campus housing is also integral in recruiting and retaining outstanding educators. “This was planned long before I arrived, so it’s a project that I was fortunate to come into,” she explains. “The best part is being able to provide more housing to our faculty, who are already so committed to being here and being with our students. Being able to say we have additional housing is a morale booster. It allows faculty to come to campus and be even more engaged and immersed in our community; it’s a game changer.”

Hanlon notes that the three new houses create flexibility within the school’s entire housing stock. “There’s a domino effect,” she explains. “These new houses open up three other spaces on campus. Ultimately, we’ll be able to bring in three more people from off campus who have been commuting. I think it tells our faculty that we see you and acknowledge what you do each day. Additionally, it’s an immense support system in a local housing market that, right now, is challenging for educators. With more housing, we’re going to be able to retain and attract more people to work at Brooks.”

Expanding SFS Opportunities

The Students on the Forefront of Science program is expanding to include a larger breadth of interests this summer.

The school’s Students on the Forefront of Science program (SFS) uses connections with graduates and parents to give Brooks students opportunities in the real world. For years, SFS has placed Brooks students in experiences in local hospitals, where they get to learn more about working in the medical field. SFS has also traditionally placed students with the Quebec Labrador Foundation, a conservation organization. Recently, SFS also began to place students at the Engineering Technology Camp at Apple in Cupertino, California.

Now, SFS is expanding again, both in an effort to offer a greater number of placements and also to meet student interest in an expanding number of fields. At press time, students were set to enjoy the following SFS experiences this summer:

• The Coastal Restoration and Climate Resilience Lab at the University of New Hampshire

• The Science Health Education Center at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

• Clinical Rotations in Cardiology and General Surgery, Lawrence General Hospital

• Surgical Clinical Rotation, Massachusetts General Hospital

• Amyloidosis Laboratory Research, Boston Medical Center

• Orthopedic Medicine Rotation, Tufts Medical Center

• Internship in Communications and Science Writing, Quebec Labrador Foundation

• Psychiatric Neuroimaging Laboratory of Brigham and Women’s Hospital

• Engineering Technology Camp, Cupertino California (Apple)

• Medical Device Development and Testing, Globus Medical

<< THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT

The school is grateful to those who have supported the school’s faculty housing initiative, and hopes for that support to continue as plans for additional new on-campus faculty housing develop. If you would like to discuss ways in which you can support the school’s goals, or if you would like to discuss naming opportunities, please contact Director of Institutional Development Gage Dobbins at gdobbins@brooksschool.org or (978) 725-6288.

<< A rendering of the three new faculty homes that will occupy the site located at 1116 Great Pond Road.

Building the “Beloved Community”

Brooks celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 16 by welcoming Rosita Stevens-Holsey to campus. Stevens-Holsey, an educator, is the niece of the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray and author of “Pauli Murray: The Life of a Pioneering Feminist & Civil Rights Activist.” StevensHolsey shared the inspiring story of Murray’s life and legacy fighting for human rights, including efforts to push for the elimination of Jim Crow, for gender equality, and for what was at the time an innovative intersectional legal approach that included recognition of LGBTQ+ rights. Following a music-filled Chapel, students screened a documentary about Murray, participated in small-group discussions and enjoyed a Q&A session with Stevens-Holsey.

Model UN Shines in Boston

A polished and practiced group of Brooks students represented itself and its school well at the annual Boston Model UN Conference (BosMUN) this spring. Brooksians had a chance to model the negotiation skills they had practiced as some of the 1,400 delegates who spent a weekend working on global issues that ranged from access to healthcare to support for refugees to the status of women worldwide.

Model UN faculty advisor Michele Musto notes that BosMUN was back at its full size and force following the ebbing of the COVID-19 pandemic this year, and she says that she enjoyed watching her students experience interacting with the sheer number of schools and delegates in attendance. And, she adds, “it’s always a delight to see students fired up about researching international politics and debating it in their free time.”

Tvisha Devireddy ’23 drew special notice. She earned a Verbal Commendation Award for her work as Switzerland in the World Health Organization.

“It felt really great being recognized for my preparation and everything I’ve learned over four years in Model UN,” Devireddy says. “I absolutely loved getting to represent Switzerland in the WHO, and as someone interested in a career in the healthcare field, it was fascinating to approach public health from this lens.”

Rosita Stevens-Holsey, the niece of the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, addresses the Brooks community in Chapel on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

BARN BABIES The Health & Wellness Center hosted the annual stress-relief activity of welcoming Barn Babies, a traveling petting zoo of baby animals, at Brooks on February 7. The school’s Peer Advisors, a student group trained to help counsel peers in issues of mental health and wellness, announced the event in Chapel to an excited reception from their classmates. Pictured here with their new bunny friends are, from left to right, Mia Macklin-Dib ’26, Calista Tangney ’26 and Sydney Cohen ’26.

Tvisha Devireddy ’23 earned a Verbal Commendation at this year’s Model UN Conference.

Scholastic Awards

Ten Brooksians were honored with 16 Regional Scholastic Art Award recognitions this spring.

Taewon Moon ’23

Gold Key (2)

Individual and Portfolio: Sculpture

Honorable Mention

Individual and Portfolio: Sculpture

Kayla Gutkoski ’25

Silver Key

Drawing and Illustration

Noela Chung ’23

Honorable Mention

Individual and Portfolio: Fashion

Gold Key

Individual and Portfolio: Fashion

Junho Chung ’25

Honorable Mention

Drawing and Illustration

Gold Key

Architecture and Industrial Design

Maeve Gaffney ’23

Honorable Mention

Photography

Grant Moore ’24

Honorable Mention

Drawing and Illustration

Daniel Park ’23

Honorable Mention

Art Portfolio

Kerr Sjostrom ’23

Honorable Mention

Individual and Portfolio: Sculpture

Silver Key

Individual and Portfolio: Sculpture

Kaisi Xing ’23

Honorable Mention (2)

Individual and Portfolio: Painting

Deyi Zhu ’23

Honorable Mention

Individual and Portfolio: Drawing and Illustration “

<< ELENA AGOSTI ’23 (right), reciting a line from a Purim play performed by the Jewish Students Organization (JSO) in Chapel on March 6, 2023. The Jewish holiday of Purim, JSO members explained, celebrates the story of Queen Esther, who saved the Jews from destruction in ancient Persia by finding her courage to reveal herself as Jewish in the face of a genocide ordered by her husband, the king. The holiday, the students continued, “highlights ways in which we can all choose to speak truth to power, stand up against evil and hate and discrimination, and be a voice for those who don’t have one, even when we’re scared ourselves.”

Perhaps you were born for such a moment as this.”

HEARD IN CHAPEL

“The Release,” by Grant Moore ’24.

“Chicago” Wows at Brooks

Students brought the longestrunning musical in American musical theater history to life at Brooks this winter.

Brooksians met a three-night run of “Chicago: High School Edition” with thunderous applause in February, as the classic production featuring Bob Fosse choreography took over the main stage in the Center for the Arts. The musical gave more than 30 students a chance to showcase their talent as actors, dancers and technicians. Director of Theater Meghan Hill had nothing but praise for her cast and crew. Hill notes that “Chicago” offered each of the cast and crew opportunities for growth, and says that each student left the production having reached a new benchmark.

“This cast never backed down from a challenge,” Hill explains as an example. “During the first rehearsal, more than 50 percent of them shared their fears about tackling the choreography as non-dancers.” Six weeks later, she says, they took to the stage with noticeably increased levels of skills and confidence.

“Chicago: High School Edition” is an iconic Broadway showstopper set in 1920s Chicago. The tale follows two murderesses — Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart — as they seek fame, fortune and acquittal from behind bars. Hill is proud of the massive amount of behind-the-scenes technical work that went into the show, including the work a dozen members of the crew and designers spent constructing a scoop wall and the two weeks the crew spent perfecting the dynamic light cues that framed the performers and highlighted the musical shifts. “From a technical standpoint,” she says, “the lighting in this production really stands out.”

Hill says further that the show “explores themes that are important to high schoolers, such as the pursuit of dreams, fame, justice and power. The show also includes strong female characters who are fighting for their own agency and autonomy, making it a great opportunity for students to explore issues related to gender and power in a meaningful way.”

REMEMBERING

Patrick Curley ’69

Brooks School Trustee Emeritus W. J. Patrick Curley ’69 died on December 2, 2022. Here, the Bulletin remembers his life and begins to describe the impact Curley had on the school’s campus and the ways in which Brooksians continue to nurture community every day.

W. J. Patrick Curley ’69 had a palpable, tangible vision for Brooks, and over the course of his time on the school’s board of trustees, he made that vision real in a way that few of his fellow trustees ever have. Curley was an architect, and his expertise was instrumental on numerous construction projects in the center of campus. Perhaps the most seminal example of Curley’s influence on the school is something that hundreds of Brooksians point to as a simple act that speaks volumes about the strength and significance of the school community: Saying hello on a daily basis to friends, teachers and colleagues on Main Street. Curley’s vision of a fully pedestrianized Main Street, which allows for the free flow of Brooksians between the Academic Building and Wilder Dining Hall, cements a core piece of the Brooks experience and will for decades to come. The board of trustees voted to award Curley with a trustee emeritus distinction shortly before his passing. Only a handful of trustees in the school’s history have served on the board for as long as Curley’s 28 years.

OBITUARY

Walter Joseph Patrick Curley ’69 died peacefully at 71 years of age on December 2, 2022, at home in New York City. Curley was born in Chennai, India, in 1951 to Walter and Mary Curley of Pittsburgh and New York. After living in India and Italy, the family moved to New York where Curley attended Buckley School, followed by Brooks, Trinity College and the Yale School of Architecture. At Trinity, Curley met Jane Bayard, his wife of 43 years. He loved spending summers with Jane, and their sons Joe and Will, at the Onteora Club in Tannersville, New York, and visiting Canada and Western Ireland with family and friends.

Curley was a thoughtful collaborator, trusted adviser and master raconteur. Whether managing building projects, directing college campus designs, producing his “Patflix” home videos or uncannily recreating the sound of just about anything, Curley always enjoyed sharing his creativity, wit and warmth with others. Curley happily worked as an architect at Mayers & Schiff for more than 20 years. He was later a principal at the firms of EYP, Cannon Design and Fletcher Thompson.

“I don’t think there is any single trustee who had a more profound impact on how our school’s physical campus feels and functions than Patrick Curley. This is particularly true of Main Street. … For the past 28 years, his hand and feel for our campus has played a behind-the-scenes role in reshaping the school in ways that we all routinely enjoy day in and day out, more so now than ever. From Wilder Dining Hall to the science building to the Danforth Squash and Rowing Center to the Class of 2020 Quad to this Ashburn Chapel to the Center for the Arts and all the way to our new admission building, and the green space and quads we have added along Main Street over time, we have Mr. Curley to thank for his wisdom, expertise and, above all else, his love for and commitment to Brooks School.”

Head of School John Packard reflecting on the impact Trustee Emeritus W. J. Patrick Curley ’69 had on Brooks School, in Chapel on January 25, 2023.

Curley accrued more than 30 years of architectural experience with college and university projects. He worked on numerous campuses, including Columbia University, Fordham University and various campuses in the State University of New York system, as well as campuses abroad. Curley’s projects include virtually every type of campus facility, including academic, science, athletic, residential and student life buildings, as well as campus master planning.

Curley led the Robert Lehman Art Center committee for the past 26 years and also volunteered on several reunion committees. During his four years as a Brooks student, he was a member of the art association, the ski club, and the Bishop and the Shield staffs, in addition to being a dorm prefect and participating on the crew, football and wrestling teams.

Along with his 28 years of service on the Brooks School Board of Trustees, Curley served for many years on the boards of the Onteora Club, The Children’s Storefront, The Yale Club of New York and the Irish Heritage Trust, which is charged by the Irish government with renovating and operating historic Irish properties for the public benefit.

Curley is survived by Jane, his wife of 43 years, and their sons William and Joseph. He is predeceased by his brother, James Curley ’75, and cousin

Alexander Laughlin Jr. ’70. Curley was a member of a large extended Brooks family, with relatives Thomas Hitchcock III ’57, Peter Stephaich ’73, Joseph Walton ’74, David Laughlin ’77, P’08, Lisa Bottomley ’96 and Serena Laughlin ’08, all graduates of the school.

IN HIS OWN WORDS

“At Brooks I learned visual literacy. That really came to me through two particular people. One was Mike King in the studio arts world, and the other was Mark Shovan in Room M, in the realm of movies.

Mike King taught me that my proclivity for things that I did with my eyeballs was coordinated with what I did with my hands, and I found a lot of great support in the arts studio. That became crucial to my eventual career, although I didn’t know it at the time, of being an architect. Mark Shovan then took me into Room M, and I realized that my love of movies had to do with a two-dimensional medium that unfolded over time and became the same thing that happens in architecture: Spaces, experiences, lighting, points of view, also happening over the course of time. So, putting those two together, and problemsolving my eyes, my hands, my sense of time, my sense of three dimensions; both started here at Brooks in the arts department and in Room M, at the hands of Mike King and Mark Shovan.”

— Trustee Emeritus W. J. Patrick Curley ’69, speaking in 2017.

Trustee Emeritus Patrick Curley ’69 had a vision for Main Street that has fundamentally affected the way the Brooks campus looks and feels on a daily basis.

Fast 5 // Q+A

When he turned 17 years old, Private First Class Quinn Mullaney ’23 enlisted in the United States Army Reserve. Now, while he’s finishing out his time at Brooks, he’s also a combat medic. The Bulletin sat down with Mullaney to hear more about his reasons for enlisting in the military, his experiences with military training and his aspirations for the future.

What do you do as a member of the United States Army Reserve? Being in the reserve is similar to being on active duty, but reserve is only two days a month. So, I’m still able to have a normal life, but I spend two days a month drilling and training with my unit at my base in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I also went to boot camp last summer. I’m in the 454th medical detachment, and it’s part of a field hospital. My unit is in charge of supporting wounded people after surgeries or incidents. If we were to be deployed, the medics — like me — would go out with the infantry.

1

2

When you go to train, what sort of training do you do? It can vary. Sometimes it’s weapons training, vehicle training, medical training. A few months ago, we had a combat situation training: The lights were off and we had our helmets and rifles — we call it the full “battle rattle” — and we had to practice assessing injuries on dummies. My role, if we were actually going into battle, is to get wounded people off the front lines and get them back to the field hospital. So we learn a lot of drags; we learn how to properly load people onto a stretcher and run with them. We train with tourniquets a lot.

3

What was your experience at boot camp like? I was in basic training for 10 weeks at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. That was boot camp, and it’s what most people think boot camp’s like. That was drill sergeants yelling at you, making you do pushups. When I was in fifth grade, I dressed up as a combat medic for Halloween. So it’s definitely something that I’ve been looking forward to my whole life. There’s a lot of military in my family. My mom’s uncle was a colonel. He had seven kids, and six of

Quinn Mullaney ’23 on the Brooks campus, with the school flagpole in the background.

them became colonels. It’s definitely a lineage.

4

What are your plans for future military service?

Well, I plan to stay in the reserve. And, I’m attending College of the Holy Cross next year, where I’m also planning to enroll in their ROTC program under a simultaneous membership program. Being in both ROTC and the reserve means that when I’m with my reserve unit, I’ll be able to shadow officers instead of doing my normal duties.

IN THE LEHMAN

Celebrating 25 Years

The RLAC has enriched academic and community life at Brooks for more than two decades, and the school now looks forward to the future of meaningful arts.

The Robert Lehman Art Center passed its 25th year of existence in October 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak. As a result, the school celebrated the center’s anniversary last year, and now looks forward to the next 25 years of instilling the importance of art at Brooks.

“There’s always been an interest in the arts at Brooks,” says Director of the Robert Lehman Art Center and arts department chair Babs Wheelden. The Robert Lehman Art Center, which is housed inside Henry Luce III Library, includes gallery space, classroom space, storage space and a framing area. She explains that together, those spaces have historically allowed students to get a full picture of the arts, from a historical perspective through more contemporary artists.

Although evolving technology has changed methods of teaching, the center still allows for what Wheelden calls “power exhibitions that are really impactful. I want to make sure that this space isn’t just showing art; that it’s also for teaching about art.” She recalls several recent exhibits in the Lehman gallery that have touched on pressing international and social issues: “It’s cross-curricular,” Wheelden says. “We want students to see the art not just as art, but also as something else — as a source of information.”

5

How have you brought these skills back to Brooks? I’ve learned a lot about how to lead a team and how to get along with people. As a dorm prefect in Whitney House, that’s helped me a lot. I’ve been able to resolve situations, conflicts that inevitably come up when you’re living with other people. My training has also taught me to be more confident. And, boarding at Brooks has helped me adjust to living in a barracks with 80 other people. Knowing how to share a living space, and knowing how to communicate and be on that boat together, was really helpful.

Wheelden points to an exhibit by noted photographer Bill Ferris ’60, which ran in the Lehman this spring and in honor of Black History Month. Ferris is the Joel R. Williamson Eminent Professor of History Emeritus at the University of North Carolina. The exhibit included images from his recent book “I Am A Man: Civil Rights Photographs in the American South, 1960–1970.”

“It’s important that all of the exhibitions in the Lehman are mission-aligned,” she says. “That they’re meaningful to every member of the community, whether they actually make it into the gallery or not.”

May Eggleston ’24, who assisted Wheelden with creating and curating the Ferris exhibit, certainly finds meaning in it. She is from Memphis, Tennessee, she explains, and she recognizes the scenes she sees in the photographs of the Deep South. She’s learning, she says, about how certain pieces complement each other to convey different messages or themes. “And,” Eggleston says, “because it’s Black History Month, this has been very interesting. It’s been very valuable for me.”

Ferris took time to make a virtual visit with Brooks students to discuss his work and his path. He engaged with a large group of arts students and faculty over Zoom in the renovated Keating Room for a discussion with topics that ranged from his time at Brooks to his experiences working with other artists.

“When I was in fifth grade, I dressed up as a combat medic for Halloween. So it’s definitely something that I’ve been looking forward to my whole life.”

Daniel Reyes ’23 playing piano in the Center for the Arts. While at Brooks, Reyes became a prolific pianist.

An Exciting Winter Term

Winter Term was back in full force this January following two pandemic-restricted years, and Brooksians dove back into the experiential classes with excitement.

The Brooks campus buzzed vigorously in January, as Winter Term — a two-and-a-half week interlude in the academic year during which students and faculty engage in the deep study of one topic — took hold. This year, the school was able to return to a full slate of programming and possibilities, unhindered by the physical distancing and travel restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Brooks took full advantage: Classes enjoyed visiting speakers, regional and domestic field trips, and even international journeys. And, Brooks alumni and current and past parents pitched in to help also by volunteering their time and expertise, and in some cases, by welcoming classes into their professional and private spaces.

One of the reasons Winter Term was successful again this year was because of the support shown by parents and alumni. Many classes benefited from the knowledge, help and connections lent by our parents and alumni, and several even got to spend a day meeting with community members in their homes and offices. Below is a partial list of community members who worked with our Winter Term classes this year; we are grateful to all of those who lent a hand, and we look forward to further collaboration in the future.

“Passion to Pass it On” welcomed Lisa DiAntonio P’25 and former faculty Cliff Irons ’63 to serve as panelists for final student presentations in support of local nonprofits. The class also heard from invited speaker Jon Payson P’16.

Christopher Bassett ’97 and Joris Brinckerhoff ’76 each spoke to the “Farm to Table” class: Bassett spoke about fruit farming in New Mexico, and Brinckerhoff spoke about butterfly farming in Costa Rica.

“Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained” heard from two Brooksians about the Azores before embarking on its trip to Portugal. Felicia Cafua ’15 presented to the class on Azorean heritage and culture, and Diana Carreiro P’26 provided the class with Azorean drinks and pastries.

Head of School John Packard traveled to Washington, D.C., with his class, “Hawks and Doves.” While there, they met with Alysa James ’11, Cristina Antelo ’95, Hadley Sosnoff ’02, Robert Bonnie ’85 and Trevor Potter ’74. They also had a chance to Zoom with Richard Spencer ’72.

Laura Nichols, wife of Charlie Nichols ’70 and grandparent of three Brooks graduates — Nate Smith ’18, Tobey Smith ’20 and Laura Smith ’22 — taught the “Raku” pottery class for the third year in a row.

Alex Skinner ’08 met with the “Adventures in Professional Pathways” class to discuss his career path as the executive director of Serving Stars, a nonprofit organization that provides tennis, fitness and educational enrichment to students in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

The “Italian Art & Culture” class worked with artist Nella Lush P’95 over the course of Winter Term. Lush explained her process, exhibited her work and then spent time with students in the art studio as they engaged in their own creativity.

The “Going Viral: Marketing Winter Term” class worked with alumni Britt Hart ’09 and Zack McCabe ’15, who spoke about their experiences working in social media marketing. The class also met with Dana Tarlow P’25 and Ian Davis P’26, who served on an in-person “parent focus group” for the class, providing feedback on the students’ social media plans and offering advice.

Katie Taylor ’92 connected the “Learn to Snowboard” class with the Burton snowboard factory, which the class toured. Taylor joined the group for the tour and then dinner.

Vivek Sharma P’24 welcomed the “Walking Boston” class into his Commonwealth Avenue home. The group toured the Sharma home and enjoyed lunch.

1. The class “The Great Outdoors” reaches the summit of a winter adventure. 2. Students in the “Aviation” class experience the thrill of skydiving. 3. “Dairy Farm to Table: A Hands-On Exploration of Dairy Farms in New England” visits Hornstra Dairy Farm in Norwell, Massachusetts. 4. Several half-day Winter Term classes were introduced this year, including this yoga class. 5. “El Camino de Santiago” students traveled to Spain to hike on the famous network of pilgrims’ ways that lead to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in northwestern Spain. 6. The publicity poster for the live re-enactment of the movie “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” that was the subject of a Winter Term class. Cheng Zhuang ’25 designed the poster.

Maria Pierce ’23

Maria Pierce ’23 didn’t have long to make an impact at Brooks — she entered the school last year as a new fifth-former — but it’s safe to say that she’s made the most of her time on Great Pond Road. The North Reading, Massachusetts, native captains the girls 1st soccer, girls 1st ice hockey and softball teams, and she’s planning to play ice hockey at Colby College next year.

Pierce says she enrolled at Brooks as a day student after living away from home as a boarder at another independent school during the peak of the COVID19 pandemic. She wanted, she says, to be closer to home and to her family as a result of the pandemic. Following an enthusiastic conversation with the former coach of the Brooks ice hockey team, Pierce applied to Brooks — and only Brooks — was accepted, and enrolled in time to suit up in green for her fifthform year.

Pierce says she was drawn to Brooks because of its strong athletics programs, but also because of the ways in which the campus layout supports the idea of community. “The campus is beautiful,” Pierce says. “The way it overlooks the lake; the way it’s set up. I’m a huge fan of Main Street and seeing everyone every day. The way everyone says ‘hi’ to each other: I think that’s a really great part of our community.”

Pierce says that transitioning to Brooks as a new fifth-former immediately following the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic was, understandably, challenging. She credits, though, the supports she found at the school with helping her find her place. “I felt as soon as I got here that the community as a whole wanted me to succeed, which was really nice,” Pierce says. She points, for example, to her advisor, who helped her navigate her new school, and to administrators in the academic office who helped her switch between classes nimbly to find the correct fit.

A year later, Pierce reflects on leading the soccer, hockey and softball teams as a Brooksian. Pierce says that the soccer team, which reached the semifinal game of the New England championship tournament, capitalized on a lot of potential — it had lost only one

sixth-former to graduation and gained a slew of talented third-formers. “A lot of people stepped up,” she says. “And in terms of leadership, [my co-captains] and I worked really well together, and the whole team made it super easy.”

The ice hockey team, which ended just shy of a postseason berth this year, also has an exciting dynamic according to Pierce. It’s a team with a lot of different personalities, she says, and she’s learned to manage them well. “We have fun,” she says, while speaking of the team’s potential and young talent. “We’re a really close team.”

Pierce also captains the softball team. She chose softball last spring, she says, on the advice of a hockey teammate who also plays softball, and she never looked back. “We started with the trip to Orlando, Florida, over Spring Break,” she says. “That brought us all together, and the team as a whole was really fun. And also, going into the season and throughout the season, it was fun because we were winning. We rarely lost.”

After she plays her last game for Brooks, Pierce, who was also inducted into the Cum Laude Society this spring, looks forward to furthering her athletic career on the ice at Colby College, where she plans to matriculate in the fall. Once she decided to pursue opportunities at the NCAA Division III level, the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) attracted her for its strong focus on both academic and athletic excellence.

“I visited a bunch of schools, and they just weren’t my vibe,” Pierce says. “And then I went to Colby, and it just gave me this gut feeling that this is where I want to be. It gave me that Brooks vibe. When I was walking around the Colby campus, it felt like my first day walking down Main Street at Brooks. And then, it worked out from there.”

Pierce says she feels well-prepared to go to college after attending Brooks, both as a student and as an athlete. She credits her coaches with preparing her to play college hockey. Pierce also says that while she initially focused on math and science classes at Brooks,

A steady presence at Brooks, Maria Pierce led three programs as a way of preparing for the classroom and the rink in the NESCAC.

a recent history elective she took called “Race, Gender and Class” caused her to perform in-depth research on the makeup of the United States Supreme Court and the effect that’s had on its jurisprudence over time.

“I found that so interesting,” Pierce says. “That was an ‘a-ha’ moment for me, where I realized that I like doing that kind of research; I like learning about people rather than numbers.”

Pierce says that she’ll look back at Brooks as the place that “helped me become the person I thought I wanted to be since I was little.” She continues: “I think about myself last fall and my personality, who I was, and then I think about myself now,” she says.

“I think I’ve grown. I’ve matured a lot more than I think I would have at another school. Brooks has really helped me to find myself.”

“I felt as soon as I got here that the community as a whole wanted me to succeed, which was really nice.”

A Strong Winter Season

Brooks teams had a solid winter season, punctuated by three New England championship tournament appearances.

This winter, the Brooks girls basketball team made a storybook run into the NEPSAC championship game, the boys basketball team made noise into the New England semifinals, and the boys hockey team also punched a card to the postseason. The girls squash team, meanwhile, gained valuable experience at the U.S. High School Squash Championships.

Girls Basketball Tries for Three

The girls 1st basketball team, which lost key players Sam Dewey and Taina Mair to graduation last year, came up just short of notching a third consecutive New England championship title this year. Brooks entered the tournament as the seventh seed, but pulled together to knock off bracketbusting wins against second-seeded St. George’s School and third-seeded Beaver Country Day School to find itself in the championship game against top-seeded St. Luke’s School.

Brooks couldn’t pull off a third win from the underside of the bracket, and ceded the title to St. Luke’s School. As Head of School John Packard noted in Chapel when congratulating the team, though, winning two away tournament games to reach the championship

Girls 1st basketball captain Kendall Eddy ’23 (left) nails a three-pointer in front of a home crowd for her 1,000th career point this winter. Brooks made a run into the New England championship game by upsetting two higher-ranked teams along the way.

“is no small feat.” First-year head coach Ben Chase also applauds his team’s performance throughout the tournament. “Both games were terrific,” he says. “The girls never quit. I couldn’t be more proud of the way we played.”

Over the course of the year, sixth-former Kendall Eddy earned All-ISL honors. Sixth-former Maeve Gaffney and third-form headturner Summer Warren brought home All-ISL Honorable Mention honors. Eddy, Gaffney and fifth-former Jess Maina took home All-NEPSAC hardware, and fourth-former Sophie Broussard and Warren also earned All-NEPSAC Honorable Mention nods.

“This season was a whirlwind,” says Chase. “I can’t say enough positive things about the character of the girls on our team. They handled challenges with incredible maturity, and they worked hard and stayed focused on the process.”

Boys Basketball Plays to the Semifinals

The boys 1st basketball team played hard under first-year head coach Kenya Jones, earning a 14–9 record and a spot as the fifth seed in the NEPSAC championship tournament. Brooks beat fourth-seeded Kingswood Oxford School in a 57–55 quarterfinals win that saw Brooks mount a major comeback in the second half after falling behind 22–2. The squad couldn’t get past top seed and eventual champion The Rivers School in the semifinal game, though. Nonetheless, Head of School John Packard congratulated the team in Chapel on the following Monday. “The theme in all the games I saw this weekend was how incredibly hard our kids played,” Mr. Packard said. “It made me so proud.”

Jones had nothing but good things to say about his first year at the helm of the renowned program.

“We worked incredibly hard this past season, and it was inspiring to see how much we accomplished as a team,” says Jones. “It was great to see how we supported each other, on and off the court, to continue to maintain the successful Brooks basketball culture. We are losing six seniors, including our two captains, and they will be tough to replace, but we have a good group of young players ready to fill the void.”

Marcos Montiel ’23 earned All-ISL nods for his performance, and Nomar Tejada ’23 and Timmy Mulvey ’24 took home All-ISL Honorable Mention bids. Mulvey and Tejada also picked up AllNEPSAC spots, and Montiel and fourth-form newcomer Emersen Davis earned spots on the AllNEPSAC Honorable Mention team.

Boys Hockey Dances

The boys 1st hockey team fought through an impressive regular season to earn the seventh seed in

the NEPSAC Small School Piatelli/ Simmons tournament. Brooks traveled to Holderness School in the first round and fell, 3–1, and the students they left on campus appreciated their efforts. Students packed into the Keating Room to watch a livestream of the game — and also stay updated on the concurrent boys basketball and girls basketball games noted above — and fans kept rooting for Brooks until the final buzzer blew.

Mr. Packard also congratulated the team in Chapel, noting that the team “represented the school beautifully and competed from start to finish.” Sixth-formers Jeremy Emch, Jake Lipani and Will Rassier, along with fifth-former Ethan Simpson, earned All-ISL honors. Fifth-formers Tanner McFaul, Scotty Moritz and Cam Smith earned All-ISL Honorable Mention spots. Rassier and Emch were also named to the All-NEPSAC Honorable Mention team.

Squash at Nationals

Both the boys 1st and girls 1st

teams competed at U.S. High School

squash

Squash Championships this winter. The girls team, shown here with powerhouse squash graduate Seif Abou Eleinen ’14, found a cheering section in several alumni, including former players Eleinen, Dane Kim ’14, Melanie Pestana ’20 and Gabe Yu ’22.

Generations of Brooksians reflect on their time playing girls sports at Brooks, and on how the experience has helped them find success and confidence in their lives today.

Sports)

BY REBECC A A. BINDER

Celebrating Girls’

The 2022–2023 academic year marks the 50th anniversary of the passage of Title IX. At Brooks, students have taken advantage of opportunities to play girls sports since the fall of 1979. Here, the Bulletin gives space to graduates from across class years to share stories of their time playing girls sports at Brooks, and what their experience wearing the green and white has meant to them in their lives and careers.

The 1980s saw girls begin to play sports at Brooks as the school became coeducational. Students who were the first generation to benefit from equal access to athletic opportunities relished the newfound sense of strength, camaraderie and tangible accomplishment that sports offered them. As one of our contributors notes, “that is exactly what burgeoning equity looks like: You get to do what you want, without thinking too much about it, just because you can.”

The 1980s

be taken seriously, we had to take ourselves seriously.”

In the early days of Brooks girls athletics, we, the young women, learned quickly that to be taken seriously we had to take ourselves seriously. Bob Morahan, Polly Vanasse and Dusty Richard were all instrumental as coaches and mentors in this development, supporting, guiding and teaching us important life skills that moved beyond the classrooms. Of equal import was how we girls came together, forging friendships within and across teams that supported all aspects of learning. The range of skills we developed in leadership, teamwork and academics were the underpinning, from my perspective, to future success. — Circe Dunnell ’84

“To

The 1984 girls lacrosse team.

I have many memories from all three of my sports — field hockey, ice hockey and crew — of trips to and from away games in the green vans. Yes, we were going to compete and try to win the game or the race, but the time spent traveling to and from was time to just be silly, hang out with my closest friends and have no other worries in the world other than socializing with one another as well as with our coach. Trips in the vans were, for me at least, some of the best times in high school. I was with my friends, we were having a blast singing and telling jokes and listening to our 80's music. I learned much about reading, writing, math skills and many other academic things in the classroom at Brooks. But maybe the most meaningful learning experiences came from my time on athletic teams. Sports taught me how to work hard; how to try to be better every time I stepped on the ice or field, or sat down in a crew shell. I learned how to work with others, how to be a gracious winner and a gracious loser. I learned how to pick myself up off of the ground, literally, and keep going until the game was over no matter how tired I was or how poorly I felt I was playing. I had to, because I was part of something larger than myself, and that was my team.

I believe that it is fundamentally important for girls and women to play sports because a background in sports can improve a young woman’s leadership potential. Athletics empower females to be high school athletes, Division I college athletes and professional athletes, while at the same time being valued for doing so as much as men are valued for doing the same things. Equal access to athletics for girls and women is a reflection of how women are seen in society. The more chances girls have to be seen as competitors, the more empowered they become. Being an athlete does not just mean that one is physically strong or mentally strong. Being an athlete is about learning and passing on life skills that both men and women need to be successful in their lives. — Alison

V. Mastin ’89

Playing sports at Brooks was life-changing. I had previously played field hockey, but coming from a town where field hockey, softball and cheerleading were the only real options for girls, I never would have played another sport if it had not been required. I’m so thankful it was.

Don’t tell my teachers, but pre-season was always my favorite part of the school year, as an athlete in high school, college and a coach. The bonding with other

“I learned how to pick myself up off of the ground, literally, and keep going.”

“There was also a certain toughness and joy in our nascent team.”

The 1989 girls ice hockey team. >>

girls after returning from summer and before starting classes always grounded my school year with the closeknit friendships I made. I loved the empowering feeling of being back on campus, everyone with a common purpose, walking around with sore muscles. I enjoyed welcoming younger student-athletes into my tight field hockey family and identity, and now that I think back on it, I think it was the feminist in me trying to empower them as well. More than the wins and losses, it was always the camaraderie among teammates that made the experience meaningful.

I often wonder how it would be if I were playing sports today at Brooks. It’s a different sports scene with club sports so prevalent and almost necessary if you want to play in the ISL. I’m thankful I had the opportunity to try new sports, such as ice hockey and lacrosse, as a 14-year-old. I have only recently appreciated that when I joined the girls 1st ice hockey team in 1987 (because I could figure skate), it was only its third year in existence. While I have no doubt that girls today are stronger, more physical and certainly more skilled, there was also a certain toughness and joy in our nascent team, with us walking from the gym to the rink in full pads, as well as 6 a.m. practices (which the boys never had). Yet, at the time, we simply thought of it as us being a bunch of girls who enjoyed the brisk rink, the sweaty “On the blue line!” sprints, and the rough and tumble challenge of a new sport. And that is exactly what burgeoning equity looks like: You get to do what you want, without thinking too much about it, just because you can.

Since Brooks, I have played college field hockey, played in various adult field hockey leagues, coached

varsity field hockey and lacrosse (and, embarrassingly, some basketball and soccer, too), and currently play in the Women’s (Ice) Hockey League of Boston. From age 14, Brooks gave me confidence in my body, in my physical ability to move through the world. This cannot be understated, as it gives women confidence in their ability to tackle problems, get sweaty and use their strength to overcome adversity. — Stacey

The 1990s

My time at Brooks and playing soccer, basketball and lacrosse was unforgettable. I cherish the incredible wins the teams had during those years as much as the losses. Most of all, I cherish the support of my coaches throughout those years. My fifth- and sixth-form years at Brooks were difficult times personally for me, and my family and my sports were a healthy outlet to have fun and also to relieve stress, sadness and frustrations I had at that time. As the captain of these sports, I learned how to be a good leader and confide in my team because without each and every person on the team the victories would not have been possible. Back then, Brooks always recognized girls and boys sports equally, and I am proud to say that I didn't have the feeling that there was a difference or preference toward one or the

Smiar ’89

“There are more possibilities now than ever.”

“I loved the empowering feeling of being back on campus, everyone with a common purpose, walking around with sore muscles. I enjoyed welcoming younger student-athletes into my tight field hockey family and identity, and now that I think back on it, I think it was the feminist in me trying to empower them as well.”

— STACEY SMIAR ’89

The 1991 girls basketball team.

other during my time there. At this moment, I see how professional women’s sports have advanced over these years. Proof is seeing soccer teams like FC Barcelona here in my home city, and seeing their success on the field and the constant increase of their fan base. More and more fans are voicing and showing how passionate they are about women’s sports. I am proud to see that presently, if my daughter wants to take that leap into this world of women’s sports, there are more possibilities now than ever and the support for her to do so.

Kim Tombarelli ’90

Amy Broadhead ’94

“My time at Brooks was really special in that I learned so much about myself and my capabilities through sports,” says Amy Broadhead ’94, who went on to captain the soccer team and play basketball at Brown University. “It taught me a lot about my work ethic and how the work that I put in was very equal to the success I got out of it. It gave me a place for connection and belonging with people. I played team sports, so it taught me a lot about teamwork and collaboration.”

Playing sports of all kinds growing up, and in high school and college and even today was and is as essential to me as breathing. I was fortunate that my parents, and my father in particular, was supportive of my interest in sports. He always encouraged me to be the best “athlete” out there — notice I didn’t say “best girl athlete” — just “athlete.” So I sought the best competition from wherever it came, even if that meant constantly needing to establish myself in a game or on a team dominated by boys.

At Brooks, I was in awe of the beautiful playing fields and pristine courts and felt a sense of profound gratitude and pride every time I donned the beautiful green and black uniforms (and even the gray and green practice uniforms!). At Brooks, sports gave me an opportunity to contribute, to be my whole self, to strive for something bigger than me. Sports also gave me something to look forward to when I otherwise often felt profoundly out of place.

Students at Brooks in the 1990s and 2000s had a chance to play for established girls programs at a level that matched the expectations and opportunities given to boys teams. These experiences taught these athletes values and attributes that they took with them into their adult lives and careers: teamwork, leadership and resilience.

Broadhead says that leadership comes in all different forms in life. “Leadership can come from being a part of a family, it can be part of a work environment, it can be a part of a friend group,” she says. “What sports really gave me was this ability to not just worry about that one game. It's about your whole career, it's about your whole life, and having a positive attitude through it. Sports gave me a platform to learn how to fail a little bit and learn how to also celebrate wins. And so when things are tough in my life, sports builds that confidence to be able to make mistakes and learn from your mistakes. And I think a lot of people have looked to me for that and for that kind of attitude.”

Broadhead grew up on campus as the child of longtime Brooks faculty Ray Broadhead, and she remembers looking up to the Brooks girls sports teams that preceded her. She recalls, for example, being a ball girl for the girls soccer team. “I loved seeing these girls with all that confidence, the same confidence and the same level of determination as the boys,” Broadhead says. “That’s not gendered. I think we try to gender so much, and sports is a really great platform for it not to feel so gendered.”

Broadhead currently heads up merchandising for Puma and has worked in sports for more than 20 years, she says, and she remarks on what she calls the transformation of attitudes. “There’s been a lot of change in how things have been progressing over the last, say, five years,” she says. “I think that has been through male allies. It’s through LeBron James saying, ‘Hey, you know what? These girls can ball.’ You’re seeing support from male athletes, and that’s been very beneficial.”

“I sought the best competition from wherever it came.”

I was recently reflecting on why employers like to hire athletes as I’ve watched my teenage girls pursue their various sports interests. I see their sports friends peer-pressuring them to join in for an extra morning practice session, or try out for an elite club team, or sign up for a challenging event at an upcoming meet. I see my girls managing their time with school work, knowing it needs to be done before they can go to practice or games. I see my girls face disappointment and persevere. I see them cheering their teammates on and being more excited for a teammate's strong performance than their own. I see them have otherworldly performances because their teammates are counting on them. Discipline, perseverance, contribution, team first — yes, I’ll hire that and teach the rest.

— Kareen Bacinski ’91

Our coaches showed up day in and day out and held us to the same high standards on the field as they did in the classroom. We were coached to be competitive and taught to win and lose with respect. Our teachers and coaches modeled the behaviors they expected from their students. — Angela Chongris ’94

For me, playing sports at Brooks was as much about being competitive as it was being a part of the Brooks School culture we all know and love. We represented our school on the fields, courts and ice. At the time, I just loved being out there. I loved playing any and all sports. What I didn’t know then is how much my experiences on the fields and ice at Brooks actually shaped who I am today.

My athletic career at Brooks was one of the happiest and most meaningful periods of my life. Some of this is based in relationships; my best friends to this day are all women who were on my teams at Brooks. The bonds we formed on the playing fields, on bus rides and at team dinners are, in my case, lifelong. Some of it is sensory-based: I still live in New England and am fortunate to experience the beauty of the seasons, but there’s something about the Brooks campus that always makes me nostalgic for those colorful trees and those crisp, earthy smells. Brooks has always prioritized its landscape, which probably comes with a significant financial cost but creates significant value toward overall wellness.

I was a three-season athlete at Brooks before specialization became ubiquitous. I loved the transitions three times a year and always missed and longed for the off-season sports when they weren’t in session. It’s a feeling my own children rarely get to experience. I played on various club and AAU teams during my teenage years, but my experiences playing sports at Brooks taught me some of the most important values

“Our coaches held us to the same high standards on the field as they did in the classroom.”

“These values are behind every accomplishment I’ve achieved.”

The 1994 girls lacrosse team.

“At Brooks, sports gave me an opportunity to contribute, be my whole self, strive for something bigger than me. Sports also gave me something to look forward to when I otherwise often felt profoundly out of place.”

— KAREEN BACINSKI ’91

in my life: preparation, showing up, stamina, realizing you’re capable of hard work, focusing on the things you can control, playing to your strengths, understanding that everyone on your team has an important role to play — while I certainly didn’t have the maturity or foresight to know it at the time, these values are behind every accomplishment I’ve achieved in my work and in raising my children.

To me, Brooks was such a caring place. I look back at my coaches with amazement, realizing how challenging it must have been to teach classes during the day and find the energy to switch gears and run a good practice. If they were ever exhausted or burnt out, we never saw it.

The word “gratitude” has lost some of its heft these days; but even at its peak, I don’t think it was ever a strong enough word to encompass all the things I owe to Brooks athletics. Sarah Broadhead Baird ’99

The 2000s

Jen Russell ’06

“My time at Brooks has, and continues to have, a significant impact on my life,” says Jen Russell ’06, who learned to play lacrosse at Brooks before heading off to a stellar collegiate lacrosse career at the University of North Carolina and a 10-year tenure on the United States women’s national lacrosse team. Russell credits Brooks, and specifically her time playing sports at Brooks, with helping her solidify friendships and find the sport that’s carried her through her athletic career.

“Although I hadn’t played lacrosse before Brooks, the culture and camaraderie that permeated through the school and the athletic department allowed me to feel comfortable trying something new,” she says. “Now, the relationships that I built throughout those four years and the experiences that I had playing lacrosse at Brooks and beyond have been instrumental in shaping who I am today.”

“Brooks was also where I began to develop the confidence, which catapulted the rest of my career,” Russell explains. “I found individual success, but most importantly, the teams I was a part of were very special. I applied many of the lessons that I learned from my teammates and coaches at Brooks to the next level in order to continue to grow as a player and as a teammate.”

My participation in athletics had a transformational impact on my life. Playing sports taught me the importance of hard work and dedication, time management, how to deal with failure and, most importantly, teamwork. All of these skills are foundational tools that ultimately prepared me for life in the real world. Athletics enable people from a wide variety of backgrounds to unite around a common purpose and ultimately develop a differentiated bond. Early in my career I took advantage of this dynamic and created the Female Athlete Network at Goldman Sachs, which matched senior male leaders with junior female talent that played sports in college. The shared appreciation for athletics resulted in differentiated relationships and drove a notable increase in female employee retention in my division at the bank.

My favorite sports memory at Brooks was our girls 1st soccer 2002 New England championship season. I

Russell sees the impact that access to athletic opportunity has had on her life, and she thinks it’s vital to afford those opportunities to other women and girls as well. “I feel very strongly that sports has been one of the best things that’s ever happened to me,” she says. “I couldn’t imagine the younger generation not having that same opportunity. Sports allows for such unique experiences. There are always ups and downs, and so much is about learning to distill critical lessons while not dwelling too much on the losses. At the same time, it affords access to unique friendships and allows for the creation of lifelong bonds. I think it all is so important. I couldn’t imagine a world where it’s not a reality for everyone.”

“All of these skills are foundational tools that ultimately prepared me for life in the real world.”

played three sports at Brooks and soccer was my worst sport from an individual standpoint; but the team we had in 2002 was truly special. We all knew our roles and respected and appreciated one another, plus we had a lot of fun! This special dynamic translated into an undefeated season with lifelong friendships and memories I will never forget. —

Kaylan Alderson ’03

Being a part of sports teams was, without a doubt, the highlight of my time at Brooks. Each team fostered a unique sense of belonging, inclusion and fun both on and off the field. While I didn’t know it at the time, being a part of these teams of amazing women provided life lessons in teamwork and friendship that have served me well in both my work and personal life, far beyond my Brooks years. When I think back on my Brooks experience, my fondest memories are of the New England championship games, the team dinners, and the quirky traditions and superstitions each team held. These are the things I will always remember about Brooks.

Emily Schwarz Begen ’05

Sports have been an instrumental part of my life. Some of my fondest memories are from my time spent playing softball, basketball and soccer at Brooks. Through each of the teams I was on I was able to develop lifelong friendships and gain important

mentors who stayed with me after my Brooks career was over. Sports gave me the confidence I was lacking in other areas of my life and helped me develop my competitiveness and drive, which I now carry over into my career in marketing. I am so fortunate now to be able to give back to the sport that gave me so much. I love being back on the Brooks campus every day in the spring. I know how important my coaches were to me, and I hope that I can be that for the girls I coach. I am a huge advocate of women’s sports and believe that they help create a foundation for women to be successful in so many different areas. There are some lessons you learn on the field that can’t be taught anywhere else. — Brooks Softball Assistant Coach Britt

Hart ’09

The 2010s

(to the present)

Playing sports at Brooks was the majority of my Brooks experience. I am coming up on my 10-year reunion and some of my closest friends from Brooks are my former teammates. I was fortunate to win ISL and New England titles with different sports teams at Brooks and, although I look back on those memories fondly, I remember the memories from the day-to-day training and games more often. The Team Prep Camps for soccer were always an adventure. The holiday tournaments with the hockey team, staying in hotels and being together for New Year’s Eve, is something I will

“These are the things I will always remember about Brooks.”

—

“There are some lessons you learn on the field that can’t be taught anywhere else.”

“My love for Brooks wouldn’t be the same if I had not played sports.”

<< The 2003 girls basketball team.

The 2005 softball team.

always remember. Playing in the Big East tournament for softball and spending the entire weekend together in May when you never knew if it was going to be 70 degrees and sunny or 45 and rainy. I am still in contact with my former coaches, and I know if I ran into any of my former teammates in the professional world now we would still have each other’s backs like we did in high school. Playing sports at Brooks was not easy. Time management was a major skill that had to be learned when competing athletically and academically. Those are skills I brought with me to Bates College, where I played soccer, and now to law school. I never regretted playing soccer, hockey or softball at Brooks. I believe it not only made my Brooks experience, but it was my Brooks experience. My love for Brooks wouldn’t be the same if I had not played sports.

Emma Goff ’14

Recent athletes have grown up with the assumption and assurance of equality in their access to girls sports. They speak fondly of the ways their time in a Brooks uniform contributed to their sense of community on campus, and also of the tangible opportunities sports has given them as they looked toward college and beyond.

Taina Mair ’22

“Sports have opened up the door of opportunity for me,” says Taina Mair ’22. Mair spent this year as the starting point guard for the Boston College women’s basketball team. At press time, she planned to transfer to Duke University next year. Over the course of her rookie season for the Eagles, Mair turned heads as she led the team and the ACC freshman class in multiple stats. Mair was named to the ACC All-Freshman team.

At Brooks, Mair led the girls 1st basketball team to two New England championships and was named the 2022 Gatorade Massachusetts Player of the Year.

“Sports allowed me to access the education I’ve received,” Mair says. “I had the opportunity to attend Holderness School as a freshman and then Brooks for my last three years of high school. Being able to attend schools like that and meet people like my teachers at Brooks, and then, obviously, to get into B.C. and be able to play at B.C.: This education is top-notch, and I’m meeting people who are going to go on to do great things, and I never thought I’d be in this position.”

Mair says that being an athlete has prepared her for the mental and physical challenges of life. “Being on the court has definitely helped me mature off the court,” she says. She also credits her time at Brooks outside of basketball with helping her prepare for the rigors of college life. “Brooks holds you to a high standard, both in the classroom and as a human being,” Mair says. “Because of that, I hold myself to a high standard now as well. I know that I’m not just an athlete here. I know that I have to do well academically because that’s the expectation that was set for me at Brooks.”

Mair, who is from Roxbury, Massachusetts, wants to play basketball for as long as possible; she hopes to play overseas because she wants to travel the world and see new places. Once she leaves the court for the last time, she’s thinking of pursuing a career as a storm chaser, and imagines pursuing tornadoes to conduct meteorological research in the field. For now, though, she’s focused on her life as a star on the court — and as a budding role model for the young girls that flock to games.

“It's hard to see myself as a role model, because I'm so young also,” Mair says. “It's surreal sometimes when people ask me for my autograph. But people definitely tell me, ‘My daughter looks up to you.’ I don't see myself in that position yet. But it's a great feeling to know that I'm inspiring younger people, especially younger girls. It makes me feel good, obviously, and I’m grateful to be in that position.”

“Playing sports taught me the importance of hard work and dedication, time management, how to deal with failure and, most importantly, teamwork. All of these skills are foundational tools that ultimately prepared me for life in the real world.”

KAYLAN ALDERSON ’03

Playing three 1st-team sports at Brooks offered me a lot of variety in athletic experiences. Trying a new sport, field hockey, my third-form year was quite humbling. I was not a top contender, and found myself in a new position, a very important one — the bench. This particular experience helped me become a well-rounded captain. I was able to understand a perspective and challenge that I did not yield to in my other sports teams at Brooks, ice hockey and softball. I cherished every moment of every practice of every season. Practice is where you see progress. Routine is what drove me to do better academically; it forced me to plan out my time better and be more meaningful with the hours in my day. I would describe myself as painfully extroverted, and my three teams helped me to regulate that part of myself. When I was asked to be a school prefect my sixth-form year, I felt like Mr. Packard at the beginning of each school year trying to remember everyone’s names — I eventually got it down. Relationships are what drives Brooks, and meaningful connections drive that life-lasting, personal experience. —

Gabi Hillner ’17

“I cherished every moment of every practice of every season.”

“I had incredible female role models throughout my time at Brooks that continue to shape who I am, and I am forever grateful for my experience.

I think it's vital for girls to play sports growing up and to continue to have female role models in athletics. Sports teach confidence, life lessons and leadership in ways that can change your life.”

— JILL DOHERTY ’13

The 2009 softball team.

The 2014 girls soccer team.

Beyond the

The Exchange Program, a highlight of the Brooks educational experience, roared back to life this year following a pandemic-induced hiatus. Brooks welcomed students from Hungary, Morocco and Botswana to campus, and sent students abroad as well. Here, students reflect on their experiences traveling, their time abroad and the value of the Exchange Program to the school community.

the

STORY BY REBECCA A. BINDER

STORY BY REBECCA A. BINDER ALL

Brooks Campus

MOROCCO HUNGARY

Szeged, Hungary

Sarah Benjavitvilai ’23, Melanie Kaplan ’23, Philip Mwangi ’24 (Brooks hosted three students from Szeged in fall 2022)

BOTSWANA

Gaborone, Botswana

Abbie Duckworth ’23, Mollet Otieno ’23 (Brooks hosted two students from Gaborone in spring 2023)

Tangier, Morocco Laura Kahu ’23, Kat Thompson ’24 (Brooks hosted two students from Tangier in spring 2023)

Brooks students have always looked beyond the borders of their campus nestled on Great Pond Road. They’ve always looked to what’s next; to what’s out there; to what they can’t yet see. The school’s signature Exchange Program, which was founded in 1986 with an exchange to Kenya, has become a beacon for that sense of exploration, independence, self-realization and excitement that defines the Brooks student.

This year, that sense of wonderment and desire to experience the larger world came back to the fore as the COVID-19 pandemic waned and travel restrictions eased. For the first time since 2019, Brooks students were able to fully engage with the Exchange Program, including exchanges to Hungary, Botswana and Morocco that took place in four- to five-week periods coinciding with the school’s Spring Break. The entire Brooks community also welcomed students from those countries to North Andover, as exchange students from abroad spent time at Brooks in stints over the fall and spring semesters.

A New Experience

For Philip Mwangi ’24, going on Exchange to Deák Ferenc in Szeged, Hungary, meant trying new things almost immediately. “I’d never been out of the country before,” he says. “I’d never been on an airplane before. I’d never even been outside of New England before. I sat in the window seat of the airplane, and just being in the plane was amazing.” Mwangi points to his experience on Exchange and calls it a “very big out-ofthe-box opportunity. It definitely challenged me to be independent and find my way around the country in ways that I never thought I would have to do on my own, even in the United States. It helped me figure out where I stand as somebody who can take care of themselves and kind of be my own person.”

Melanie Kaplan ’23, who joined Mwangi on Exchange to Hungary along with Sarah Benjavitvilai ’23, recalls fondly a key aspect of the Exchange experience: navigating airports with other Exchange students, on their own, without the guidance or assistance of an adult. “We definitely relied on each other a lot,” she says, as she laughs over unheard announcements, struggles to find departure gates, confusion over whether water bottles needed to be drained during a layover in Paris, and the like.

Abbie Duckworth ’23 and Mollet Otieno ’23, who went on Exchange to Maru-a-Pula School in Gaborone, Botswana, also successfully made it through a long international journey on their own, a fact that they’re proud of. “Out of all the Exchange students, we had the longest trip to get to where we needed to be,”

Duckworth says. “We had to take three separate flights, many with long layovers. It was tiring. But once we got there, it was so nice and so rewarding to know that we had traveled 36 hours by ourselves over multiple airports that we were not familiar with at all. And, we got to where we needed to be with no problems.”

Kaplan and Mwangi agree that they were acquaintances, but not close friends, before going on Exchange together. “I think we’d had maybe one conversation the entire time we’d been at Brooks,” Kaplan says. Mwangi observes, though, that the experience of traveling together caused them to bond.

“Throughout the time we were there, we found similar things that we both liked that we didn't know the other had an interest in, which I thought was really cool,” Mwangi says. “And we had a lot of laughs, obviously. As much as Exchange brought me closer with the world, it brought me closer with Melanie and Sarah. That was a big part of it.”

Laura Kahu ’23 traveled to The American School of Tangier in Morocco with Kat Thompson ’24, and she also treasures the bonding opportunity that Exchange brought. “Kat’s so awesome,” Kahu enthuses. “I think that if you have a big schedule and you’re busy, and if you do different things at Brooks, it’s hard to interact. And, then, Kat and I were suddenly in Morocco together and we were doing basically the same thing. So we got to see each other 24-7 and then got to just talk. It was really nice because we have a lot of things in common.”

Duckworth left the Brooks campus with a different perspective than Mwangi. Duckworth explains

HUNGARY

that she grew up overseas and lived in Singapore for five years, and she looked forward to re-engaging with the world following the travel restrictions that the COVID-19 pandemic made necessary. “Being able to go somewhere and meet new people who had very different life experiences from me was very nice and very refreshing,” Duckworth says. “For me, it was really about meeting new people. When you're at Brooks, you're kind of in your own little world and it's hard to think of another place outside of campus. So going somewhere new, getting out of Brooks affirmed for me that there are other places I can go, and I can see and I can meet other people.”

Otieno is from Kenya, which is in northern Africa, and she traveled to Botswana, which is in southern Africa, to experience a different country and region of her own home continent. Otieno found freedom in the ability she had to branch out, to

Above, from left to right: Sarah Benjavitvilai ’23, Philip Mwangi ’24 and Melanie Kaplan ’23 represented Brooks while on Exchange in Hungary this spring. Left: Sarah Benjavitvilai ’23, Melanie Kaplan ’23, and Philip Mwangi ’24 while on Exchange in Hungary this spring.

“As much as Exchange brought me closer with the world, it brought me closer with Melanie and Sarah. That was a big part of it.”

PHILIP MWANGI ’24

go to a new place and to spread her wings. “It felt really good,” she says. “I learned from different people, I learned about a different culture, I learned about different foods.”

The Unscripted Moments

While on Exchange, students stay busy engaging in classes and day-today life at their host school and with their host students. They’re also asked to keep up with their assignments from Brooks while abroad. At the same time, though, the Brooksians find time to explore the nuances and quiet moments of their lives abroad, and these often lead

MOROCCO

to the most treasured memories of their time on Exchange.

Kaplan points to a two-day trip to Vienna, Austria, that the Hungary Exchange took from Szeged. “It was a really fun trip,” she says, describing an itinerary of no itinerary, in which the group went where they wanted to and “simply had fun.” “We played card games all night,” Kaplan says. “We sat around and listened to music.” Mwangi continues where Kaplan leaves off: “We went to a pizza shop, sat there, and had a great time. To us, that was Austria.”

Kaplan also recalls another trip to visit her host family’s extended relatives. She explains that it was the

first time she had spent an extended amount of time without another student from Brooks with her. The trip, Kaplan says, gave her a chance to bond with her host family, and get a slice of what life in Hungary is like without the familiar crutch of a Brooks classmate to lean on.

Mwangi, meanwhile, recalls the unscripted moments spent exploring Szeged after school with his classmates and new friends. “We went to Station East Square a lot, which is in the middle of Szeged,” he says. Kaplan describes the location as a downtown area with cafes to sample, as well as a Starbucks whose food and drink, Mwangi says, tasted better than the Starbucks at home. “I think all the food tastes better

Left: Laura Kahu ’23 (left) on Exchange to Tangier, Morocco, accompanied by Zaynah Almrasi, who then came on Exchange to Brooks this spring. Above: Laura Kahu ’23 (left) and Kat Thompson ’24 (right) while on exchange in Tangier, Morocco. They are pictured here with Moroccan students Sumin Lee and Zaynah Almrasi, who spent time at Brooks on Exchange this spring.

there,” Mwangi says. “Everything was good. I really liked it.”

“We went to the mall,” he says. “We went to eat. We simply went sightseeing. The town is beautiful. I think the kids who live there don’t think it’s that pretty, but we think it’s really beautiful.” Kaplan agrees. “It was gorgeous,” she says. “All the architecture is beautiful. It’s all these different pastels; it’s colorful and vibrant.”

From her time in Botswana, Duckworth remembers a trip to a rhinoceros sanctuary and a hike to a waterfall that is considered sacred. “That entire trip was really eye-opening,” she says. “There were so many beautiful parts of the country that I was able to see.” Duckworth also points to a musical salon that was held the Friday before she and Otieno headed back to North Andover, which was packed with students and in which she jubilantly participated and attempted to learn Botswanan dances, guided by her roommate and with her new friends.

“I failed miserably. I was totally awful,” Duckworth laughs. “I was switching my feet up. It was a lot, but it was still so fun to be a part of that community. I felt so easily accepted into that community that it was not awkward for us to dance together, and that was really nice.”

Going Abroad to Find Yourself

Mwangi and Kaplan agree that, by far, the most valuable discovery they each made while in Hungary was themselves. Kaplan, who does not speak Hungarian, explains that the language barrier she faced often left her unable to listen in on or participate in conversations with people around her in cafes or restaurants. “You get to spend a lot of time with yourself and just being with your own presence,” she says.

BOTSWANA

Above: Mollet Otieno ’23 (left) and Abbie Duckworth ’23 (right) while on an excursion on Exchange in Botswana. Right: A scene from a rhinoceros reserve in Botswana, where Abbie Duckworth ’23 and Mollet Otieno ’23 went on Exchange this spring.

“It gives you a moment to reflect on a lot of life experiences. I've definitely brought that back with me to Brooks.”

Mwangi appreciates the ways in which he learned to communicate despite the language barrier. He says he focused on using methods of nonverbal communication. “I appreciated being able to communicate in different ways to express how I'm feeling and what I want without using language, and trying to use different ways to do that,” he says. “Finding ways to talk to people and understand them without using language was a big part of my experience.”

Kahu expands on this point, and notes that in her experience, the Moroccan population tends to speak multiple languages. “In the United States, we’re really stuck on English,” she says. “We can speak

HUNGARY

English for everything, and it gets us where we need to go. We can learn French or Spanish, but it’s not necessary to know French or Spanish to communicate in America. In Morocco, though, there are a load of influences, so people speak French, along with Arabic and Spanish. It was really interesting to understand that I wasn’t going to be able to communicate with everybody. My roommate could speak five different languages.”

Kahu also became more aware of her intersectionality and the privileges she carries through her exchange. “In the United States, I know where I stand as a Black girl,” she says. “In Morocco, it was something similar but different. It was interesting and I was really aware of that.” Kahu’s host family claims a variety of ethnic backgrounds and identities, and she says that she was

aware of their differences as they went through their days. “Going through the markets, we were cognizant of the fact that we don’t necessarily look like everybody, but we can still be fully engrossed in and be a part of this community because of the experience that we share,” she says. She says that the family “definitely got a lot of looks when we were all together,” but continues that “it teaches you a lot about your place in the world, and how that’s reflected in other people just by who you are, how you speak; all of that.”

Duckworth applauds the opportunity the Exchange Program gives Brooks students to go on exchange while they’re still in high school. “Being able to go outside of the United States and see new people who have had very different life experiences than you is very eye-opening,” she says. “It humbles you. If you’re in high school and you get this opportunity, you should take it.”

From left to right: Hungarian Exchange student Hella Szarka, Melanie Kaplan ’23, Philip Mwangi ’24, Sarah Benjavitvilai ’23 and Hungarian Exchange student Igor Soti pause for a selfie in Szeged, Hungary, during the Brooks students’ time on Exchange.

Right: Sarah Benjavitvilai ’23 enjoys a day sightseeing while on Exchange in Hungary.

ABOUT THE EXCHANGE PROGRAM

The Exchange Program was founded in 1986 to promote the global education of Brooks students and students from partner schools abroad. Since its inception, the program has allowed more than 600 students from Brooks and partner schools to go on exchange. Former Brooks assistant headmaster Richard Holmes began the program with two boys’ boarding schools in Africa: The Alliance High School, outside of Nairobi, Kenya, and Diocesan College (Bishops), in Cape Town, South Africa.

By living abroad in other school communities for a few weeks, students get the chance to extend themselves and their comfort level as they adjust to a new place, a new culture and new people. They also welcome the opportunity to take these experiences with them back to Brooks and into their lives. This transformative experience, one of the enduring highlights of its participants’ Brooks experiences, makes our students more empathetic and engaged citizens of our increasingly diverse and global society.

While the expectations of the exchanges are the same across the program, the nuances vary according to the location. Depending on whether the partner school is a boarding school or a day school, students will live in dorms or with the families of students who come on exchange to Brooks. Students participate in their host school’s extracurricular activities and also pursue their individual interests. They attend classes daily and take the equivalent of four majors while also keeping up with their Brooks classes. And, they take time to travel in and around their host countries.

“Being able to go outside of the United States and see new people who have had very different life experiences than you is very eyeopening. It humbles you. If you’re in high school and you get this opportunity, you should take it.”

ABBIE

I Love This Class Because ... (Brooks)

j a

The Brooks faculty offers classes that range from poetry seminars to a course in zoology and animal behavior. Syllabi, course descriptions and assignments change across our academic departments, but one constant remains: The intellectual curiosity, drive to learn and excitement to engage that Brooks students bring to every class on campus. Here, the Bulletin showcases just a few of the classes that Brooks students love, and asks students what about the class draws them in.

Honors Chemistry

(taught

by Pete Moccia)

FROM THE COURSE CATALOG:

Designed with the belief that science is best learned through first-hand experience and discussion with peers, this course uses a theme-based curriculum designed to ground the study of chemistry in the natural world and everyday life. Guided inquiry promotes scientific reasoning, critical thinking and a greater understanding of concepts. The course consists of six possible units — alchemy, smells, weather, toxins, fire and show time — each organized around a specific body of chemistry content that students can relate to common life examples. The ultimate goal is to lead students to think like scientists and understand the nature of scientific discovery. The course promotes the development of the skills and scientific literacy that students need to become citizens who can make informed decisions about their health, the environment, energy use, nutrition and safety.

I like chemistry in general because it’s cool how elements combine to create something new. Mr. Moccia makes this class fun. We did a lab last semester where we heated up oxygen inside a balloon to the point where the balloon exploded. That was pretty cool, it helped us learn the concept well, and after that the entire class was asking for more explosions.

Yeejune Cho ’25 (pictured left) at work in a chemistry lab with classmate Sophie Broussard (right)

Introduction to Electromechanical Engineering

(taught by Rob Bauer)

FROM THE COURSE CATALOG: This semester-long course will introduce students to the engineering design cycle and real-world applications of engineering. The class will analyze great engineering designs of the past and will explore how to use engineering to solve problems, improve designs and innovate. We will review some of the concepts learned in physics, such as energy conservation, mechanical energy, electrical energy and electromagnetism (electric motors). Students will spend time understanding the internal combustion engine and its history, culminating with a thorough study of the science and engineering behind electric vehicles. Throughout the semester, students will work on an engineering challenge that will involve building a solar power electric race car and improving upon its design. By the end of the course, students will walk away with a complete understanding of today's electric vehicles as well as the economic, societal and political implications of the adoption of EVs in today's world.

Mr. Bauer teaches this class in such a relaxed way. He encourages us all to be as creative as possible and to have fun.

Luke

Dwyer ’23 (pictured here at work in his electromechanical engineering class)

Honors Spanish 3

(taught by Lillian Miller)

FROM THE COURSE CATALOG:

This course increases proficiency in listening and speaking in Spanish while building vocabulary. Students learn complex grammatical structures and writing skills in addition to the history, literature and culture of the Spanish-speaking world. Selected short stories are used as an introduction to literary analysis.

By the end of the year, I’ve become able to accurately translate my thoughts from English directly to Spanish. In regards to the class environment, it’s a small group, so I think our teacher is able to focus on us individually and more personally. It feels like we’re all there to actively learn and engage.

Jeffrey Pan ’24 in his Honors Spanish 3 class (pictured right), taught by Lillian Miller (left)

Geometry

(taught by Andrea Heinze)

FROM THE COURSE CATALOG:

The first semester introduces students to the terms, definitions, postulates and theorems that form the basis of Euclidean geometry. It also explores the notion of formal proofs. Topics covered include parallel lines, congruent triangles, similar triangles, right triangles and polygons. The second semester covers right triangle trigonometry, oblique triangle trigonometry, circles, area of planar figures, surface areas and volumes of three-dimensional objects, and an introduction to vectors and/or matrices.

We are always finding new ways to solve problems and bring joy to our environment. The best part about geometry is the class, because everyone in there is so genuine and they always have something valuable to add to the conversation.

Ese Ologbosele ’26 (PICTURED HERE in her geometry class)

Design Thinking

(taught by Shami Bery)

FROM THE COURSE CATALOG: Design thinking is a set of processes and principles that designers, businesses, corporations and artists all use to develop their ideas. In this course, you will learn the foundational principles of design thinking and will apply that knowledge to design solutions, products, structures and systems. We will combine digital fabrication with design thinking by utilizing the Makerspace technologies (which include a 3D printer, laser cutter, vinyl cutter and heat press). Students will engage with a series of themed design challenges, ranging from re-creating famous structures from history to developing solutions to daily challenges here at Brooks. Finally, you will work in teams to leverage your experience with the design thinking process and technical knowledge to develop and produce a capstone design project. If you consider yourself creatively inclined, interested in how ideas become reality, or want to experience what it feels like to produce, innovate, or invent something from scratch, this course is for you!

“Design Thinking” began as a Winter Term course two years ago. This year, the school offered it during the academic year. Beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, the class will be offered within the science curriculum.

I like the freedom this class gives me. We get to use our own ideas to create our own products using our own parameters, and it’s exciting to explore.

Kerr

Sjostrom ’23 (pictured left) works with design thinking teacher Shami Bery (right)

2D Studio Art

(taught by Babs Wheelden)

FROM THE COURSE CATALOG: Students work with a variety of media to explore processes, concepts and ideas to create drawings, paintings and collages. Students come away with a basic understanding of the principles and elements of art through the process of portraiture, still life, figure work, landscape, color theory and abstraction. Cultural art history and perspectives are shared in the bodies of the lessons.

I love this class because I enjoy being able to express myself through different forms of art and exploring my creativity.

I always look forward to new projects and the opportunity to learn new techniques and skills.

Mason Malouf ’25

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION TRIP TO ITALY!

Brooks alums Nic and Whitney Romoser Savignano ’87, who own the Italian inn, farm and vineyard Tenuta Santo Pietro along with Nic’s brother, Giuseppe, are offering a wonderful opportunity to travel to Tuscany this fall. A six-day, all-inclusive getaway will be filled with excursions, culinary classes and wine tastings while staying at the estate. The Savignanos will donate 10 percent of the trip’s proceeds back to the Brooks Fund. Interested in being a part of our 15-person group and available October 29 to November 4, 2023? Reach out to Director of Institutional Advancement Gage Dobbins at gdobbins@brooksschool.org for more details.

Brooksians In the News

Three Brooks graduates recently penned pieces for major outlets that continue to define their voices as resonant journalists.

THE POWER OF KEEPING QUIET

Dan Lyons ’78 excerpted a section from his recently published book titled “STFU: The Power of Keeping Your Mouth Shut in an Endlessly Noisy World” in Time magazine in January 2023. The magazine piece, titled “Talking Less Will Get You More,” describes Lyons’s realization of his “talkaholism,” a term coined by communications scholars to describe a form of extreme overtalking.

“It’s not entirely our fault,” Lyons writes. “We live in a world that doesn’t just encourage overtalking but practically demands it, where success is measured by how much attention we can attract … We’re tweeting for the sake of tweeting, talking for the sake of talking.” Lyons points out that, in fact, many powerful and successful people do the exact opposite. He points to Apple CEO Tim Cook, President of the United States Joe Biden, Albert Einstein and former United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as examples. “Instead of seeking attention, they hold back,” he writes. “When they do speak, they’re careful about what they say.”

“Most of us will not get appointed to the Supreme Court or become tech billionaires, but we can prevail in our own day-to-day battles,” Lyons writes.

EXPERIENCING NATURE FROM PRISON

Documentary filmmaker Merete Mueller ’02 published a short film for the New York Times in December 2022 that documented the experiences of people in prison who viewed nature imagery as part of an exploratory program. During scheduled downtime and while in high-stress situations, imprisoned people who were struggling emotionally could request to visit the “blue room” to watch nature videos.

“It was a privilege to be present with each person I filmed,” Mueller wrote for the Times. “I hoped their perspectives might shed light on our relationship to nature and the effects of being held in an environment that is, by design, largely cut off from it.”

UNCOVERING A MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR FRAUD

Alexander Clapp ’09 published a longform piece in The Guardian in December 2022 titled “The sludge king: how one man turned an industrial wasteland into his own El Dorado.” Clapp follows the story of Daniel Boldor, a Romanian businessman who hatched a plan to return his hometown to glory following decades of blight brought on by the mining industry, who was then accused of running a multimillion-dollar fraud. Clapp is an Athens-based journalist and fellow at St Antony’s College, Oxford University, who has written extensively on Europe, the Balkans and the Middle East.

A Successful Giving Day

The Brooks community showed up to do well and do good on the school’s eighth annual Giving Day.

Brooksians of all generations pulled together on February 9, 2023, to support the school by engaging in a Giving Day drive toward the school’s Brooks Fund. The 24-hour effort featured two matching challenges, a push by an NFL star, and the knowledge that every gift given to the Brooks Fund would trigger the donation of a supply to Bellesini Academy, a longtime partner of Brooks located in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

The day was, once again, a success. The school hoped to meet its goal of 750 gifts; over 24 hours, you made 888 gifts totaling $362,975. The class of 1975 topped the leaderboard with 63% participation, followed by the classes of 1985 and 1973. The Class of 1985 led in total donors.

HOW DID YOU PULL THAT OFF?

As donors and volunteers connected with the school around our February 9 Giving Day, this was one of the first questions posed to the school. How did the Giving Day video come together? The definition of a community effort, the video brought together students, teachers and staff as everyone gathered on Main Street after the first Chapel following Winter Term. Hundreds of people held signs and cheered on cross-country champion Kata Clark ’25 as she, along with this year’s school prefects, ran down Main Street proudly waving the Brooks School flag before passing it off to Giving Day volunteer and NFL player Pat Freiermuth ’18. The video captured the spirit of Giving Day, during which participants come together to celebrate Brooks and support one another. Go Brooks!

GIVING DAY BY THE NUMBERS

888

TOTAL GIFTS $362,975

TOTAL DOLLARS

Highest percentage participation

63%

The class of 1975

Highest number of donors: 44

The class of 1985

The Brooks Fund helps pay for every aspect of day-to-day life at Brooks. In the previous fiscal year, the Brooks Fund supported 10% of the school’s annual operating budget.

“The people at Brooks have done nothing but support me and make me a better person. My teachers are my biggest mentors, and I’ve met friends I know I’ll have long past Brooks.”

SHALINI NAVSARIA ’23

<< From left to right: Namya Bandi ’26, Sophia Codreanu ’26, Ella Phillips ’26 and Teegan Toto ’26 show off their Brooks pride before the school’s eighth annual Giving Day.

A Young Alumna on the National Stage

Lucy Adams ’22, who plays collegiate field hockey at Brown University following a stellar athletic and academic career at Brooks, has been named to the USA Field Hockey u21 Women’s National Team. Adams was a three-sport first-team athlete at Brooks; she received the Athletic Prize and the Faculty Prize at her Brooks graduation last spring.

Adams made the USA roster for the Junior Pan American Championship, which was held in Saint Michael, Barbados, in April.

Adams, a midfielder, started all 17 games for Brown in 2022. She ranked second on the team with five goals, and also second with 15 points. She ranked third in assists, with five. At Brooks, Adams was a perennial postseason honoree who led Brooks to two New England championships. Along with The Rivers School standout Ellie Todd, Adams is one of only two Massachusetts natives to make the national team.

Lucy Adams ’22 in action for Brooks.

“My parents were teachers … My dad taught languages and directed school plays at a boys boarding school in rural Massachusetts. He put me in a play when I was 6. It was magic — the boys treated me like their mascot, and I got to stay up late with my father for rehearsals and shows. That planted the seed.”

Noted actor SAM WATERSTON , in a recent interview with AARP The Magazine. Waterston, the child of bedrock Brooks faculty Chychele and Alicia Waterston, grew up on campus. Waterson is pictured above in 1972 with the American Shakespeare Festival.

AN INSPIRED CAREER

“REFUGE” Premiered in March

“REFUGE,” a documentary film directed and produced by Din Blankenship ’03, premiered in select theaters and on demand on March 24, 2023. “REFUGE,” which was heralded by USA Today as a “Must-See Film of 2023,” is a story about fear and love in the American South. A leader in a white nationalist hate group finds healing from the people he once hated — a Muslim heart doctor and his town of refugees. “REFUGE” illustrates the false promises of hate and reveals where real and lasting refuge is found.

“REFUGE” is set in the most diverse square mile in America — Clarkston, Georgia — and follows a Syrian Kurd, a former Klansman and a town of refugees who seek belonging in a country that blames them for its problems. Ultimately, “REFUGE” uncovers what is possible when we leave the security of our tribes and what is at stake for our country if we don’t.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

FLORIDA MEET UP

From left to right: Laurel Martin P’15, P’17, Isabella Timon ’92, P’26, Philip C. Timon, Zach Martin P’15, P’17 and Ham Potter ’74 at a reception for the greater Brooks community hosted by Philip and Isabella Timon at The Little Club in Delray Beach, Florida, in February. Please visit www.brooksschool.org/alumni/ events for up-to-date information on events

Brooks

Gives Back

A group of Brooks graduates took part in the school’s annual community service initiative Brooks Gives Back. This year, Brooksians spent time at Belle of the Ball in Boston, collecting trash in Charlestown, Massachusetts, organizing donations at Lazarus House in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and sorting clothing at Xavier Mission in New York.

On the recent request of Howland Davis ’61, Director of the Archives Lance Latham researched and labeled the identities of the Brooks faculty of 1938, as shown in this photograph. In the center is founding headmaster Frank Ashburn. He is surrounded by notable faculty who still have a presence at Brooks, including, but not limited to, Alicia and Chych Waterston, Fessenden Wilder and Oscar Root. If you are able to help us confirm our identification of this group of faculty, including the three who remain unidentified, please contact Latham at llatham@brooksschool.org.

09

BOSTON RECEPTION

Brooks community members gathered in Boston in February for a reception that featured a faculty panel, drinks and light bites, and a show-stopping performance by the student cast of “Chicago: High School Edition,” the winter musical.

01 English teacher Ian Speliotis ’14 (left) addresses an attendee query during a faculty panel as science department chair Laura Hajdukiewicz P’17, P’19 looks on.

02 Lloyd Dahmen ’92, P’25 (left) chats with former faculty Bob Morahan.

03 Emma Hendrickson P’24 (left) and Matt Mues ’04 at the Boston reception.

04 From left to right: Beth Poulo and Lou Poulo, parents to Rebecca Poulo ’90.

05 The assembled crowd applauding students performing a number from the musical “Chicago,” which was the winter musical at Brooks. The students performed marvelously and wowed the reception attendees.

06 Head of School John Packard P’18, P’21 addresses the crowd at the Boston Reception.

07 Christopher Perry P’23 (left) and Sylvia Perry ’87, P’23.

08 Head of School John Packard P’18, P’21 (left) greets Bill Weiss ’62, P’98, P’03.

09 Assistant Head of School Nina Hanlon speaks during a faculty panel that kicked off the Boston Reception.

10 Ronnie Dixon ’06 (center) catches up with Brooks friends at the Boston Reception.

BY BILL ENDICOTT ’63

A Heroic Effort

A Brooksian uses connections from his Olympic competition days to assist soldiers fighting in Ukraine.

Starting last summer I conceived of and then helped set in motion Operation Renew Prosthetics, a program to provide artificial legs and arms for Ukrainian soldiers with amputations. How it started is a pretty good story — it all had to do with the Olympics and the sport of whitewater canoeing and kayaking!

Back in 1988, I was the coach of the United States Olympic team in that sport, and I started a kayaking exchange program with the Soviet Union. We went to Moscow and then to Soviet Georgia, where there was a good whitewater river to train on.

While doing this I met coaches and athletes from Russia and Ukraine and I stayed in touch with them ever since, including now during the war in Ukraine. But by last summer I began to feel that just communicating with these folks wasn’t enough, and I needed to do something.

Also in 1988, an Irishman by the name of Mike Corcoran came to train with us because we had a number of world champions at the time and he thought training with them would enhance his chances of making his Irish Olympic team. That worked, and we all went to the 1992 Olympics together. My team was lucky enough to win gold and bronze medals — and two fourth places!

After his Olympic days were over, Mike went into the prosthetics business and now runs Medical Center Orthotics and Prosthetics (MCOP) in Silver Spring, Maryland. During the wars in Iraq and

Afghanistan, MCOP cared for 1,100 U.S. soldiers with amputations, so Mike has more experience dealing with blast injuries than just about anybody in the world.

Because of these things, I asked Mike, who’s a neighbor of mine, if he’d be willing to care for Ukrainian soldiers. And he immediately said yes, because he believes, as I do, that Ukraine is not only fighting for its liberty and independence, it’s fighting civilization’s battle of democracy against autocracy and we need to help them.

As a result, we created Operation Renew Prosthetics (ORP). We work

with about 10 partners now. Two of our partners, the Future for Ukraine Foundation and Revived Soldiers Ukraine, pay to fly the soldiers over here, and then another organization, United Help Ukraine, helps pay to house and feed them here.

MCOP also has an office in Malta, and in late January I was in Malta to help kick off ORP there because it costs only about half as much to care for a soldier there as it does in the Washington, D.C., area. We work with several partners in Malta.

Mike initially said he’d care for six soldiers for free and then we’d have to raise money to keep going. We’re

Abandoned apartment buildings in Borodyanka, just north of Kyiv, destroyed by Russian artillery fire.

now up to 14 soldiers at an expense of about $1 million, but we’ve raised about $250,000, with more fundraisers planned for the future.

Our ultimate goal is to create one or more state-of-the art prosthetic centers in Ukraine itself, and we are discussing this with Ukrainian officials now. In fact, from April 13–20, Mike and I were in Ukraine meeting officials in both Lviv and Kyiv, and I think we made good progress in both cases.

Our aim is to be able to not only care for Ukrainian soldiers (and possibly civilians, too) but also to train Ukrainians in the most up-to-date techniques for doing this and help them transition away from their antiquated Soviet prosthetics system.

We need to raise a ton of money to do all this, so we’re working on that.

People ask me what it’s like in Ukraine these days. You can’t fly there, so you either drive and risk getting held up at the border for hours, or you take the train (like President Biden did), which is what we did to get to Lviv.

In Lviv you wouldn’t know there’s a war going on at all. But it’s a bit scarier to go to Kyiv. We drove from Lviv and as we got to within about 40 miles from Kyiv approaching from the west, traversing an area that the Russians had occupied, we started to see a lot of war damage — flattened and abandoned houses.

Ukraine, however, has made tremendous efforts to get public services back to normal. For example, holes in the highway have all been repaired and all gas stations are running normally.

We visited a few towns to the north of Kyiv, including Bucha and Irpin, sites of Russian massacres. Local residents told me that during their occupation, the Russians instituted a curfew from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. and anybody out at the wrong

time would be shot — and many hundreds were.

Luckily, we happened to be in Kyiv during a lull in Russian drone and cruise missile attacks. We heard only one air raid siren. But only one hour after we took the night train out of Kyiv, a Ukrainian soldier we had cared for texted us that a drone attack was in progress. Since then, there has been a vast increase in cruise missile and drone attacks.

The Ukrainians are getting really good at shooting these things down because of the Patriot missile batteries the West has sent them. But Ukrainian friends tell me there is still significant damage to buildings and cars from falling rocket debris, albeit no deaths right now. It’s worse in other Ukrainian cities closer to Russia, though, where there are both no Patriot missiles and less time to react to drones and cruise missiles being sent only a short distance away in Russia.

Through it all, however, you’d be amazed at how resolute the Ukrainian people are during all this, both the soldiers we have cared for and the civilians. They’re determined to fight on to the end.

Working on this project has been even more exciting than winning the Olympics. That’s because now we’re dealing with people who have faced death, and we’re helping to give them a new life. Not only that, but many of our soldiers say they want to go back and help with the war again.

One of our soldiers has been a former U.S. Marine who lost his arm fighting for Ukraine. After we gave him a new one, he said he wanted to go back to the fighting.

Now, I was once a U.S. Marine myself, so I know about “Semper Fi” — “Always Faithful” — but this is really pushing it! Uuurahhh — I’m motivated!

About Operation Renew Prosthetics

Operation Renew Prosthetics (ORP) provides prosthetics for soldiers with amputations injured in the war in Ukraine. In its first three months of operation ORP provided prosthetics and rehabilitation services for 12 severely wounded soldiers, with many more expected. ORP’s goal is to continue to expand the program by creating a state-of-the-art prosthetics center in Ukraine.

A group of Ukrainian soldiers and volunteers involved with Operation Renew Prosthetics. Bill Endicott ’63 is second from the right. Mike Corcoran, mentioned in this piece, is on the left.

CHARLOTTE SAVE ’01

The Beauty Within

Charlotte Save ’01 made her home in London and built an impressive career in the beauty industry, which she promotes as a source of confidence for consumers.

Charlotte Save ’01 arrived at Brooks as an international student. Her family is Swedish and she grew up in Antwerp, Belgium, before her father’s work moved the family to the United States and Andover, Massachusetts.

Save enjoyed Brooks, especially as a boarding student. “I had a great time,” she says. “I loved my time at Brooks. I loved the independence that boarding allowed. It was a very welcoming community in that way.”

Save also speaks highly of the opportunities that Brooks opened up for her after she graduated. She says that, from an academic standpoint, she felt incredibly prepared for her university experience in the United Kingdom. “I had just lived away from home,” she says. “I was familiar with the style of the classes and the kind of work, since that’s what we had at Brooks, and I was very appreciative of that.” Save was also able to engage in advanced work in French even beyond the official curriculum at Brooks, a move that she says served her well at university, where she majored in both French and management. Save is appreciative of many of her teachers at Brooks, including faculty emeriti Skip Perkins ’56, P’81, P’83, GP’14, GP’18 and Michael McCahill.

Except for a year spent in Paris, Save has lived in London since she left Brooks. She received her undergraduate degree at Royal Holloway, University of London and her master’s degree from the London College of Fashion, University of the

Arts London. Since then, she has worked her way up the ladder and now heads up marketing for Mugler Fragrances in the U.K. and Ireland, one of L’Oreal’s fastest growing fragrance brands. L’Oreal, meanwhile, is the world’s largest cosmetics company.

Save began her career in a vastly different sphere than where she is now. She worked in financial services, handling public relations for a small company that fell victim to the 2008 economic crash. Then, she landed with a large public relations agency, which represented Proctor and Gamble Beauty. Save credits that tenure with starting her in the beauty industry and with pointing her on her current path. She eventually landed at Estée Lauder Companies, where she made the move to marketing. She then focused her work on driving the Boots own-brand expansion in Walgreens and developing them as a strong destination beauty retailer in the United States following Walgreens’s acquisition of Boots, the U.K’s largest beauty pharmacy chain.

Save had a global role for Boots, where she relaunched one of its most iconic brands in the United Kingdom (Botanics) in order to prepare it to launch in the United States and other global markets. Save found career success, she says, but she spent between five and six hours a day on her commute between Nottingham and London. So, she made one final push to land at L’Oreal, where she’s been for six years. She described her role heading up L’Oreal’s marketing for the Mugler fragrances as a local market role. “Our number one mission is brand awareness and ultimately driving strong brand growth,” she says.

Save’s followed her natural interest in beauty to this point. “I’ve always been passionate about fashion and beauty,” she says. “And I love being part of the industry.” Save notes that the beauty industry is not as glamorous as it may seem, but she calls it “interesting” and says it’s opened up a lot of opportunities. She speaks excitedly about the forward-thinking aspect of her role: of anticipating what consumers will want to purchase in five, six or seven years. “I love the side of anticipating, creating and delivering products to market that consumers don’t quite yet know that they’re going to depend on,” Save says. “I’m passionate about the consumer and find this side of the business thrilling.”

The Lipstick Phenomenon Save notes that, as is usually the case in economic recession, the beauty industry is currently doing very well. The cosmetics market in the U.K. is growing at a double-digit pace despite the recent economic challenges. Save says, “Women sit a little bit taller in the meeting; they enjoy things a little bit more when they feel good about themselves. If you’ve got the right skincare, you’ve bought a new shade of lipstick, you’ve got the right hair products — you exude confidence. And so to

work in an industry that allows women to feel better about themselves is really rewarding.”

Save likes working in an industry that helps instill confidence in consumers. “I think what powers me to keep going is the ability to deliver products to market in which I can see the true effect that it might have for women to feel better about themselves, whether it’s in their workplace or at home.”

Finally, Save points to the Look Good, Feel Better program, which L’Oreal is involved in. Look Good, Feel Better is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to improving the appearance and confidence of people undergoing cancer treatment by providing free beauty treatments and resources. “It’s all about giving back to women and men who have been affected by cancer, who see hair loss, for example,” Save says. “Again, we drive back confidence through beauty. So that might be helping them find the right shade of lipstick now, or teaching them how to apply false eyelashes or drawing on eyebrows if they’ve lost theirs. The strength that comes from beauty is incredible. It can be perceived as a fickle industry, but as you scratch the surface, we are so much more than that.”

“Women sit a little bit taller in the meeting; they enjoy things a little bit more when they feel good about themselves. If you’ve got the right skincare, you’ve bought a new shade of lipstick, you’ve got the right hair products — you exude confidence. And so to work in an industry that allows women to feel better about themselves is really rewarding.”

ALY ABOU ELEINEN ’18

A Career in Squash

Aly Abou Eleinen ’18 rose from Brooks to Penn to the professional squash world, and he’s loved every minute of it.

Aly Abou Eleinen ’18 has turned heads as a squash player since he was 10 years old, when he started traveling the world competing in squash tournaments. Now, following epic careers at Brooks and the University of Pennsylvania, Eleinen has started to make waves on the professional squash circuit.

Eleinen comes from a squash dynasty: His grandfather was a well-known squash player who served as vice president of the Egyptian Squash Federation. And, Eleinen’s brother, Seif Abou Eleinen ’14, preceded Aly Abou Eleinen at Brooks as a squash superstar before heading off to command the court at Harvard University.

“I grew up with a family that was really passionate about squash,” Eleinen says. “I grew up watching my brother’s practices and matches and how he prepares, and also my grandpa’s connection with the game, so it was only natural for me to fall in love with it too. It’s safe to say it was in my DNA.”

Eleinen had every opportunity to be drawn to squash, and he says he appreciates the game in and of itself, also. “It’s an individual sport,” he says. “You obviously have a coaching team and you work with your coaches. But at the end of the day, it’s just you. I love being on the court. It is just incredibly satisfying for me to move around the court and make split-second decisions and execute shots with precision. It’s a physical and a mental challenge, and it’s incredibly rewarding.”

Eleinen chose Brooks, in large part, because his brother also attended the school. “Seif’s always a big inspiration to me,” he says. “When he matriculated at Brooks as a fourth-former, I was only 11 years old, and I was just already in love with the idea of attending Brooks. My parents and I would visit him occasionally, and every time we did, I was more and more impressed with the campus, and I was really drawn to the close-knit community that Brooks had. And just the fact that students lived together on campus and formed strong bonds, that just really spoke to me. And when I visited my

brother, you could just tell right away that the friendships he made were going to be life-long. I was really eager to be a part of that.”

Meaningful Connections

Eleinen found more than just success on the court at Brooks. He also found, he says, individual people and groups that would carry him through his high school years and beyond.

He points, for example, to squash coach and faculty emeritus Doug Burbank. “Mr. Burbank is more than just a squash coach,” Eleinen says. “To this day he still gives me advice, and to this day he is one of my biggest supporters, and it was really special to have him not just as a squash coach, but also almost a family member away from home.”

Eleinen says that Burbank helped him not only with his squash, but also with his personal growth and development. “He pushed me to be my best and was always there to offer guidance and support,” Eleinen says. “Mr. Burbank’s influence really extends beyond just the court and the classroom. He was just a perfect mentor for me.”

Eleinen credits the lessons he learned inside and outside of the classroom at Brooks with preparing him to take on the academic and athletic expectations of scholar-athlete life at Penn. “The leap from a small boarding school in North Andover to a large Ivy League university was definitely a big one,” Eleinen says. “But looking back, I

was well-prepared. Brooks was academically challenging, and I was able to balance my time between joining teams, figuring out a social life away from home, and also working on my squash and playing at the highest level.”

Reaching New Heights

Eleinen says that when he began at Penn, he applied the same formula he had at Brooks: He worked on his squash, tried to make friends and have a social life, and really focused on his academics. “It felt like I had already been doing that,” he says. “Obviously it was on a higher and more challenging level, but it was also very, very rewarding.” Eleinen’s hard work paid off: He notes that as a senior captain at Penn he led the Quakers to an Ivy League championship for the first time in 40 years. He also racked up a laundry list of individual honors: In three full

seasons (excluding a fourth season that was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic), Eleinen was named the Penn Athletics Freshman Athlete of the Year; was named the squash program’s rookie of the year; was named the program’s most valuable player twice; and was named to the All-Ivy and first-team All-America teams three times. He captained the team to the national championship finals as a senior, before Penn ultimately fell to Harvard University. Individually Eleinen appeared in the final of the individual national championship, the first appearance for Penn since the mid-1980s.

Now, Eleinen plays on the professional squash circuit, something he calls “a lifelong dream.”

“I felt that I was at the level to play professionally, and not a lot of people get to do what they love every

day,” he says. “I just was not ready to give up the sport yet. I felt like I still have so much to learn and a lot of potential, and I’m glad that I made that decision.”

Eleinen calls his professional stint “an incredible journey so far. I’m just so grateful to be living a dream every day and playing the sport I love.” Eleinen won his first two professional tournaments, which he says feels surreal and validating of all the hard work he’s put in.

“Each new tournament provides me with opportunities to grow, both as a player and as a person,” he says. “I’m constantly learning and pushing myself to reach new heights.”

The Brooks campus in bloom in spring.

Vital Support in Challenging Times

While we are incredibly grateful to the many alumni, parents, grandparents and friends who have generously supported the Brooks Fund to date this year, we still strive to reach our $2.5 million goal by June 30. The Brooks Fund touches every aspect of our program, from faculty salaries and financial aid to classroom supplies and campus necessities. Every student benefits from the Brooks Fund.

BROOKS

SCHOOL

BROOKS FUND

In a year when we all have felt the pinch of inflation, Brooks is no different. When you think of your own trip to the grocery store, imagine feeding 350 high school students, the majority of whom we feed three meals a day, seven days a week. When you fill up your tank at the gas station, imagine the caravan of Brooks vans and bussettes that travel throughout New England for our athletic competitions. We budget for these costs every year, yet this year’s significant year-over-year increases are straining our operating budget.

Your contribution to the Brooks Fund will provide vital support to this budget and help alleviate the strain. We appreciate that times are challenging, but if you are in the position to support Brooks this year, please consider our request and know that you are making a difference.

Thank you.

Brooks Bulletin

Brooks School

1160 Great Pond Road

North Andover, MA 01845-1298

Address service requested

This spring, Director of Athletics Bobbie Crump-Burbank announced her retirement from Brooks, which will take effect this summer. Crump-Burbank and her husband, faculty emeritus Doug Burbank, have together dedicated their professional lives to Brooks to the benefit of generations of its students and faculty. The Bulletin will run a feature in tribute to Burbank and Crump-Burbank in a near future issue. If you would like to contribute thoughts for possible publication in this feature, please email Bulletin editor Rebecca A. Binder at rbinder@brooksschool.org.