Winter 2019 Brooks Bulletin

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BROOKS

BULLETIN • WINTER 2019

BOA R D O F T RU ST EES President Steven R. Gorham ’85, P’17, P’21 Andover, Mass.

Vice Presidents John R. Barker ’87, P’21 Wellesley, Mass.

Shawn Gorman ’84 Falmouth, Maine

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

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

Paul L. Hallingby ’65 New York, N.Y.

ALUM N I TRUSTE E S Ronald P. Dixon ’06 Newmarket, N.H.

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

Robert W. Hughes P’16, P’19 Andover, Mass.

Whitney Romoser Savignano ’87 Manchester, Mass.

Booth D. Kyle ’89 Seattle, Wash.

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

Zachary S. Martin P’15, P’17 Wellesley, Mass.

Treasurer Valentine Hollingsworth III ’72, P’17 Dover, Mass.

T RU ST E ES Pamela W. Albright P’10, P’16 Topsfield, Mass.

Cristina E. Antelo ’95 Washington, D.C. Peter J. Caldwell Morristown, N.J. W. J. Patrick Curley III ’69 New York, N.Y. Peter V. K. Doyle ’69 Sherborn, Mass.

Anthony H. Everets ’93 New York, N.Y. Nancy Ferry P’21 West Newton, Mass.

Jonathan F. Gibbons ’92 Needham, Mass.

A serene scene on Lake Cochichewick.

Brian McCabe P’18 Meredith, N.H. Timothy H. McCoy ’81, P’14, P’15, P’18 Boston, Mass.

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

Daniel J. Riccio P’17, P’20 Los Gatos, Calif.

Belisario A. Rosas P’15, P’21 Andover, Mass.

Juliane Gardner Spencer ’93 New York, N.Y. Ramakrishna R. Sudireddy P’15 Andover, Mass.

Isabella Speakman Timon ’92 Chadds Ford, Pa. Alessandro F. Uzielli ’85 Beverly Hills, Calif.

Caroline E. Trustey ’13 Wenham, Mass.

TRUSTE E S E M E RITI 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. James G. Hellmuth P’78 Lawrence, N.Y. H. Anthony Ittleson ’56, P’84, P’86 Green Pond, S.C.

Peter A. Nadosy ’64 New York, N.Y. Peter W. Nash ’51, P’81, P’89 Nantucket, Mass.

Cera B. Robbins P’85, P’90 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.

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

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Director of Institutional Advancement Gage S. Dobbins P’22 Associate Director of Alumni and Parent Programs Nicole Mallen Jackson ’95 Associate Director of Alumni Relations Carly Churchill ’10

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Director of Admission and Financial Aid Bini W. Egertson P’12, P’15

Director of Communications and Marketing Dan Callahan P’19, P’20 Director of Publications Rebecca A. Binder Design Aldeia www.aldeia.design Alumni Communications Manager Emily Williams Assistant Director of Communications Jennifer O’Neill

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 © 2018 Brooks School

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D E PA RT M E N TS

20 Along Right Pathways

02 M essage from the Head of School

Janine Padmore Stegall ’83 escaped a coup d’etat in her native Liberia and made a home at Brooks and in America. Now, after weathering family tragedy and pursuing a meaningful career in education, she’s returning to Liberia to do her part to heal a fractured country.

03 News + Notes 43 Brooks Connections 50 Class Notes

28 T he Things They’ll Never Forget

Brooks inducted a stellar class of alumni athletes into the Athletics Hall of Fame over Homecoming.

The group has won Olympic gold medals, spent time on national teams and set records, but the afternoon focused on the impact their time at Brooks had on their careers.

36 R emembering Mr. Aitken

Former headmaster H. Peter Aitken H’49, H’86 stepped into the shoes of founding headmaster Frank Ashburn. Over the course of his tenure, he moved Brooks forward in significant ways. The Bulletin looks back at Mr. Aitken’s career following his death in August.

ON THE COVER: Brooksians, led by Director of Choral and Chamber Music Kenneth E. Griffith II (right), perform to a full house on the main stage of the new Center for the Arts on November 13. The concert was the first one held in the new facility.

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

A Grand Opening As I think back four years or so and con-

“ I could not overstate the degree to which our extraordinary Center for the Arts was the product of an equally extraordinary group effort.”

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template all we were hoping for in The Campaign for Brooks, I cannot help but also recall how I felt about the prospects of realizing the centerpiece of the effort.

The early successes we had with renovating Ashburn Chapel and constructing Anna K. Trustey Memorial Field had gotten us off to a great start. We were making a Brooks School education more accessible to the many who need financial aid to attend. We were working on deepening our ability to support professional development aspirations for our faculty. We were continuing to improve the pedestrian experience in the center of our campus. We had some wind at our backs. Yet, the prospect of thoughtfully designing, fully funding and carefully constructing this centerpiece, a 44,000-square foot Center for the Arts, left me occasionally wondering how all of this could possibly come together. It was such an enormous undertaking.

Thus, when we gathered the whole school community outside the Main Street entrance to the facility before entering for the first time in late October, I found myself thinking about how far we had come. I was overcome with gratitude for scores of people who contributed in so many ways to making the day possible. I wished everyone who played a role in getting us to that moment could have joined us to take it all in. I thought about the architects who designed such a beautiful facility and helped us reimagine and transform this part of our campus. I thanked the donors, without whom these architectural plans would have remained intriguing ideas never to be realized. I recalled the many skilled hands that put the building and surrounding area together through the better part of 17 months. I could not

overstate the degree to which our extraordinary Center for the Arts was the product of an equally extraordinary group effort.

When I concluded my remarks, which were far less interesting to the group than the building and the donuts waiting inside, we poured into the space to explore, and reveled in a facility that we are right to be proud of. If you were there, or took a look at some of the pictures we posted, you found smiling and curious faces, and looks of amazement and awe. As we have leaned into the building since taking up occupancy, we have already had just a few of the “firsts” we will experience in the Center for the Arts over the balance of the year.

Our chamber and choral groups performed in front of a full house in what has to be as fine a secondary school theater as you will find anywhere. We have had our first few School Meetings in this same theater and are beginning to get the hang of working with a balcony level. Arts classes of all kinds are making the space home, and are beginning to experience the potential for collaboration and new pursuits in space conducive to just that. We are thriving in all the ways we imagined we would with so much more still to come. What a thrill.

There are moments when I wonder how the school will find its way through a particular challenge. Yet, as I made my way around our new Center for the Arts observing students and colleagues experiencing it for the first time, I was reminded that our school matters too much to too many people to ever come up short of realizing what it needs to become a continuously better version of itself over time. This felt so good and reminded me again of how privileged I am to do what I do at Brooks. I wish all of you a wonderful holiday season and beginning to 2019.

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NEWS + NOTES IN THIS SECTION 04 N ews from Campus 10 Campus Scene 16 Athlete Spotlight 18 Athletics News

A familiar sight — the weathervane from the top of the old Brooks auditorium — greets visitors to the Center for the Arts. The school’s newest building opened to students in October.

NEWS + NOTES

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A Worthy Challenge John Packard spurs an all-school effort to recognize the beauty of the Brooks campus and contribute to environmental stewardship efforts.

Following a dire October report on the speed with which climate change is advancing, Head of School John Packard took the podium in Chapel with a challenge: Groups of Brooks students and faculty were invited to visit and photograph Mr. Packard’s five favorite places on campus, visit and photograph their own favorite places on campus, and come up with an idea or recommendation to make Brooksians better environmental stewards. Mr. Packard pledged to share these ideas or recommendations with the school’s board of trustees later in the academic year, and also rewarded all participants with a dinner catered by Chipotle Mexican Grill, a burrito restaurant chain popular with students.

Students and faculty took up the challenge with gusto. Entire classes trooped down the fire trail; groups of students clambered up the hill to the observatory; one student even completed the entire challenge via drone, recording his trip over, through and around campus in a dizzying three-minute video. All told, one dozen groups participated.

TOP 5

Mr. Packard’s favorite places on campus

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The beginning of the fire trail by the boathouses, where the stone memorial honoring Peter Nicholson ’79 is located.

The campus observatory, located on the hill to the south of the Classroom Building.

The southernmost end of campus, which stretches along the lakefront and provides the campus with several beautiful vistas.

A point on the fire trail that Mr. Packard describes as “a point well above the water, leaving you seeing and feeling the lake all around you.”

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The corner of the girls 2nd soccer field closest to the stone wall, which features a majestic view of Lake Cochichewick.

The stone memorial dedicated to Peter Nicholson ’79 that marks the beginning of the fire trail near the boathouses. This location is one of Head of School John Packard’s favorite places on campus.

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To see the photos submitted as part of this challenge, as well as other photos of day-to-day life at Brooks, please visit www. brooksschoolphotos.com.

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Groups of students and faculty traversed the campus to complete Mr. Packard’s challenge.

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NEWS + NOTES

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Responding to Disaster The Brooks community acts in the face of emergency.

I Haven’t … #YET The bulletin board by the Deans’ Den saw some fresh action this fall. Students were asked to adopt a growth mindset by writing a goal they were working on but had not yet achieved on an index card and posting it on the board with the hashtag #YET. The simple addition of the hashtag changed a student’s mindset from failure to one of growth and opportunity.

The responses were numerous and varied.

“Doing a cartwheel … #YET.” “Finishing all my homework by 10 p.m. … #YET.” “Being brave enough to take big chances … #YET.” “Running a 10k … #YET.” Some were also attempts at humor: “Getting better at spelling … #YEET.” “I initiated the interactive bulletin board display to help shift our school culture around failure and reframe it as a necessary step on the road to success,” explains Academic Dean Susanna Waters. “Undoubtedly, every member of our school community is a work in progress regarding some element of their education, adults included! My hope was that making our goal-setting visible would encourage a greater willingness to take risks and also help foster support of one another.”

AND THE WINNER IS…

brou.ha .ha

(noun) a noisy and overexcited reaction or response to something.

Brooks’s favorite word, as determined by a contest organized by Chair of the English Department Dean Charpentier in November. The contest, which was administered in tournament bracket fashion, began with 64 Brooksian-submitted words that were voted on in head-to-head contests over the course of two weeks.

“Brouhaha,” the eventual champion, narrowly beat out “poppycock” in the championship round.

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On the evening of Thursday, September 13, the towns of North Andover, Massachusetts, Andover, Massachusetts, and Lawrence, Massachusetts, suffered a disaster when excessive pressure in natural gas lines caused a series of explosions and fires in as many as 40 homes and businesses across the region.

According to local media, more than 80 individual fires were reported in the span of a few hours; one person was killed, and 30,000 were forced to evacuate their homes. All told, more than 8,400 residences and businesses lost heat and hot water following the explosions.

Brooks responded immediately to the possible danger when the explosions occurred, evacuating all people from campus buildings while the main gas line to campus was shut off. Only after buildings were inspected were Brooksians allowed to reenter campus buildings. The gas was turned back on the following day after the school received clearance from officials.

Once normalcy returned to Brooks, the school turned its attention to efforts to help its neighbors. Director of Community Service Ashley Johnston immediately organized campus clothing and food drives to benefit Lazarus House Ministries and Bread and Roses, respectively. Both organizations are based in Lawrence, a city that has a population that struggles socioeconomically, and that has arguably felt the brunt of the disaster.

Johnston points out that the community service team focused its efforts on working with organizations it already has relationships with. “I wanted to be intentional about continuing to work with our partners, because we have really strong relationships with them, and they needed help,” she says. “We wanted to be there for them and help them in this time.”

Johnston says that the Brooksians focused on immediate relief. For example, she says, the boarders donated the budget allocation for “dorm food” — the food usually provided by dorm parents following Saturday night check-in — to relief efforts.

The community service team used that money to buy food to take to the Lawrence Senior Center, one of the major shelters that had opened.

“We brought dinner for them that first Monday night,” Johnston says, “two hundred fifty sandwiches or so. And when the kids showed up, they were surprised that people were waiting for us. I think many of them realized that there’s not always someone there, that there’s not always a safety net in life. There was no other option for them except for the food that we brought. I think that put things into context for our students, to see this immediate impact of the food we donated and brought over.”

Relief efforts throughout the Merrimack Valley are ongoing.

If you would like to assist Brooks in its community service effort, please contact Johnston at ajohnston@brooksschool.org.

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FAL L PLAY

Child’s Play The Brooks theater troupe spent the fall developing and performing a set of children’s fables from around the world.

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A group of 17 actors and two stagehands spent the fall engaged in a unique theater project. They brought together a group of fables from their own cultural backgrounds and interpreted them as short plays for elementary-aged children. The group then traveled to several local venues to perform the show for children, including Kittredge School in North Andover — the public elementary school most local to Brooks — and the Haverhill Public Library. The troupe returned to campus just in time to open the black box theater in the school’s new Center for the Arts with the space’s debut performance.

The actors created the show from start to finish: They wrote the script themselves over the course of a month, editing and tweaking it to ensure it would appeal to a young audience. The final product, “Stories From Afar,” showcases traditional stories from the Congo, China, Japan and Poland, and takes nearly 30 minutes to perform in full.

Audience participation was a large part of the equation, also — volunteers were recruited to play townspeople and animals, and to supply sound effects throughout the show.

Cast and company members include: Amolina Bhat ’19, Amma Boamah-Appiah ’21, Hongru Chen ’22, Emily Choe ’20, Jeff Feng ’20, Maryna Hajdukiewicz ’19, Nicole Jin ’22, Eleonore Kiriza ’22, Zoe Maver ’21, Omolade Mebude ’21, Jennifer Mills ’20, Tri Nguyen ’22, Katie O’Brien ’19, Caroline Samoluk ’21, Stella Si ’19, Xiu Stuart ’19, Tyler Whitney-Sidney ’21, Erika Wilson ’20 and Harry Zhu '21.

Eleonore Kiriza ’22 recruits a volunteer from the audience.

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NEWS FRO M CAMPUS

PHOTO COURTESY OF MISTI O’CONNELL P’19, P’21

NEWS + NOTES

Jack O’Connell ’19 is an elite competitor in Obstacle Course Racing.

Fast 5 // Q+A 1 Jack O’Connell ’19 has the busy life of every Brooksian. His days seem full with academics, afternoon activities and hanging out with friends, but he has even more going on than meets the eye. O’Connell is an elite obstacle course racer with an eye toward international competition.

The Bulletin sat down with O’Connell to talk determination, humility, and favorite and least favorite obstacles.

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What is Obstacle Course Racing? Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) is a race that has a series of obstacles. The obstacles range from monkey bars to swimming through ice-cold water and under walls. I’ve done Spartan Races, Savage Races, terrain races, and I’ve also competed at the North American Championships and qualified for the World Championships.

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What’s your favorite obstacle? My favorite obstacle is probably the one called Sawtooth. In the Savage Races, which are eight miles long, that one’s always at the seventh mile. So you’ve already completed 20 or 25 obstacles, and you’re spent. It’s a monkey bar that

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goes up, down, up again and down again, like a sawtooth. That’s the obstacle that I thought I wouldn’t be able to do the first time I saw it, but I eventually did it.

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And, what’s your least favorite obstacle? My least favorite obstacle is probably the one where you have to jump into a tank of icecold water — they start pouring ice into it four hours in advance — and swim under a wall that’s in the middle of the tank.

That’s usually a mile or so in, so you’re still feeling pretty good and there will still be a big pack of runners. You can make a lot of moves on that obstacle; the cold water hits your lungs and it gets tough for a lot of people. That’s where the pack will start to break up.

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How do you train for OCR? I do a lot of running and upper-body and bodyweight work. I have a rig in my back yard. I’ve also joined an American Ninja Warrior gym. That’s my next goal — I’m working on the Warped Wall, but I haven’t mastered it yet. At Brooks, I row crew, which has a similar mentality: You can either quit and give up, or you can persevere. Having crew season in the spring definitely transitions me well to the summer racing season.

OCR is a good test of the mind. You’re in the woods a lot of the time, and you can go miles without seeing anyone else. There’s nobody cheering you on, and you have to have the self-motivation to keep going.

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What’s the OCR community like when you’re not racing? Even though we do compete with a lot of intensity, it’s also about camaraderie.

At the end we come together. I’ve definitely found my niche: I have three brothers who each play their own sports, so this is my thing. I’ve learned never to give up, but I’ve also learned that it’s okay to not be good at everything. I’ve found OCR, but there are going to be other areas of my life that I’m not going to be as good at.

I’ve learned that it’s okay to step back and let someone else have that other thing.

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OVERHEARD ON CAMPUS

“ No one is ‘normal.’

We’re all different …

You have the power to change situations by the choices you make.”

ROSEANN SDOIA, a survivor of the Boston Marathon Bombing, captivated an earlyOctober Ashburn Chapel audience with her tale of survival, determination and optimism.

The former real estate executive was positioned just feet away from one of the two bombs that detonated on Boylston Street on April 15, 2013. She lost her right leg, which was amputated following the attack.

Reading as a Community This year’s All-Community Read will take advantage of the Brooks academic calendar.

This year’s All-Community Read is “Outliers: The Story of Success” by Malcolm Gladwell. The book takes the reader into the world of “outliers” — the best, brightest, most famous and most successful. It asks how high achievers are different, and holds a light up to the experiences that shape them: culture, family, generation and upbringing. The book is full of anecdotes and real-life examples, and it is an entertaining and informative read.

The All-Community Read program asks every Brooks student and faculty member to read the same book at the same time. Previously assigned over the summer, this year is the first year the All-Community Read will take place during Winter Term. Staff, alumni, parents and friends are encouraged to read along.

The mathematics department is spearheading this year’s read. Department chair Dave Price explains the move to Winter Term as a chance to reposition the book as something students can read together when they actually are together. He calls Winter Term “a time when the AllCommunity Read can be more of a focus of engagement. As students transition from fall finals into Winter Term, the community can really dive into something new to consider.”

Price calls the author, Malcolm Gladwell, “thought-provoking,” and says that “his unique perspective, coupled with thorough research, results in hidden truths found in data. It’s the hope of the All-Community Read committee that ‘Outliers’ will engage our community in valuable discussions about how hard work, access to opportunity and luck all interact with success. We feel that our community will not only enjoy the read, but will struggle to put it down!”

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NEWS + NOTES

CAMPUS SCMENE NEWS FRO CAMPUS

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Head of School John Packard (center, speaking to the crowd) welcomed the Brooks community into the completed Center for the Arts on October 30. The building, which houses the musical, performing and visual arts together in the center of campus, was bustling with classes and afternoon activities immediately.

NEWS + NOTES

NEWS FRO M CAMPUS

A student admires a piece by sculptor Marco Palli.

His exhibit, “Cuts, Cutouts and Offcuts,” took up residence in the Lehman gallery in November.

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In the Lehman A diverse slate of artists took time to show their talents and creativity in the Lehman gallery this fall.

The Robert Lehman Art Center welcomed a dynamic array of artists to its exhibit space this fall. First, a group of artists with personal connections to Brooks opened the year with the collaborative exhibit “Friends and Family.” Then, in November, sculptor Marco Palli took over the space with his exhibit “Cuts, Cutouts and Offcuts.”

December brought documentary filmmaker Hank Rogerson to Brooks.

The “Friends and Family” exhibit, which featured artists with a connection to Brooks, was a unique way to begin the Lehman’s exhibit schedule. It included a wide array of media and artistic forms, and showcased a number of voices and perspectives. The goal of the show was to reach new audiences, and Director of the Robert Lehman Art Center Amy Graham says it succeeded. She calls the opening “lively,” and says “the turnout was wonderful, and everyone was excited.”

“We wanted the exhibit to be accessible, warm and inviting for the community,” says Graham.

She notes that students seemed to connect well to the art when they realized it was created by someone whose name they recognized.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the “Friends and Family” exhibit was a performance art piece. Jean Dancewicz, grandmother to Kathryn Delaney ’18 and Madeline Delaney ’20, sang a cabaret show with her singing partner Christine Corbett that took on the Frank Sinatra songbook.

“I wanted that performance element as part of this exhibit,” says Graham. “The space is an arts center, and that’s an important piece that we can showcase here as well.”

“Woman in Orange Woods,” oil on canvas by Beth Dacey, from the “Friends and Family” exhibit. Dacey is a relative of a current faculty member and two current students.

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Students enjoy a new common space in Whitney House.

New Year, New Spaces Students came back to a campus with some small renovations that make a big difference.

When compared to the construction of the Center for the Arts, the renovations that took place in Whitney House and the Athletic Center this summer might not feel profound.

However, these few small construction projects make a large difference to students who inhabit the new spaces.

First, Whitney House came away with new and expanded bathroom facilities and two new common spaces. Whitney residents and dorm parents enjoy the new footprint because it allows them space to congregate, socialize and bond. “The recent renovations have transformed the experience of Whitney residents,” says dorm parent and English faculty Steph Holmes. “The new common spaces increase our ability to engage with the residents and the residents’ ability to engage with each other. This helps dorm parents build community in both formal and informal ways.”

Second, the Athletic Center gained an all-gender changing space and bathroom. This addition, Head of School John Packard wrote in an August letter to current parents, “will better equip the school to support transgender students and visitors getting dressed for athletic events. This important step will ensure that both access to and use of our facilities are equitable for all community members and guests.”

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NEWS + NOTES

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Welcoming New Faculty Brooks welcomed 11 new members of the faculty this fall. The group will make its mark on every aspect of the Brooks experience.

Assistant Director of Athletics and girls 1st soccer coach Kerry Baldwin comes to Brooks from Harvard University, where she was an assistant women’s soccer coach and helped to win Ivy League titles in 2016 and 2013. Baldwin has 10 years combined experience coaching collegiately at Harvard, Brandeis University and her alma mater, St. Bonaventure University. She has also coached at the club soccer level, winning the 2014 U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships with NEFC/ Breakers. Born in Western Massachusetts, Baldwin was a high school All-American and the Massachusetts Player of the Year at Longmeadow High School. She is a 2007 graduate of St. Bonaventure, where she was a two-time captain and an All-Atlantic 10 selection. She is a resident dorm parent in P.B.A. Hall.

Previously a member of the staff at Brooks, Rebecca Binder is the director of publications and the editor of the Bulletin. She also teaches English and is a dorm parent in Peabody House, where she lives with her family. Originally from Scarsdale, New York, Binder received her bachelor’s

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degree from Amherst College, where she captained the softball team, and her J.D. from Boston University School of Law. She is a member of the Massachusetts and New York State bars. Before arriving at Brooks, Binder worked as a litigator in Boston for almost a decade, and also volunteered at two prominent legal advocacy organizations while maintaining a robust freelance magazine-writing career.

The Reverend James D. Chapman joins the Brooks community to share the school minister role with Shrestha Singh and to teach English. He is a deacon at All Saints Episcopal Church in Danvers, Massachusetts. A graduate of The Lawrenceville School, Harvard College and the University of California at Berkeley, Chapman was a writer and elementary school teacher before moving on to Houghton Mifflin Company, where he worked for 23 years in a range of editorial roles, including developing reading and language arts curriculum in both English and Spanish.

Chapman and his wife live in Amesbury, Massachusetts.

Brittany Fredette teaches history, provides support in the Learning Center and leads an afternoon study hall. Prior to Brooks, the southern New Hampshire native worked as a language arts, reading and speech teacher at the Landmark School, where she lived on campus for two years as a residential staff member in a girls dormitory. Fredette received her bachelor’s degree in history and English from St. Lawrence University, and her master’s in education from Simmons College.

Assistant Director of Athletics Jimmy Kelley came to Brooks as the equipment room manager in 2017 after spending four years in the communications and development office at The Rivers School.

At Rivers, Kelley managed all athletic communications, coached soccer, basketball and lacrosse, and served as an advisor to students.

An independent school “lifer,” he attended Bancroft School, where his father was the longtime athletic director, from kindergarten to graduation. Kelley holds a bachelor’s in communications from Springfield College and a master’s in sports management from Southern New

Hampshire University. He is a registered athletic administrator with the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.

Science faculty Elena Mandzhukova arrives at Brooks following a three-year stint teaching science at Kents Hill School in Maine, where she also served as co-director of the international student program, boys varsity tennis coach and dormitory head.

Mandzhukova graduated in 2015 from Bates College, where she double-majored in biochemistry and Russian studies and literature. At Bates, Mandzhukova was a member of the tennis team, playing predominantly in the number-one singles and doubles position for four years.

She earned an NCAA tournament berth in doubles in 2012, the first national tournament appearance in the history of Bates women’s tennis.

Born in Bulgaria and raised in Portugal, Mandzhukova has an extensive background in tennis on an international level, as well. At Brooks, she coaches girls 1st tennis and resides in Merriman Dormitory.

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Left to right: Kerry Baldwin, Rebecca Binder, James D. Chapman, Brittany Fredette, Jimmy Kelley, Elena Mandzhukova, Tess O’Brien, Mari Powell, Shrestha Singh, Michael Veit.

Tess O’Brien begins as a Spanish teacher at Brooks after two summers working as a faculty member at Taft Summer School teaching conversational English to E.S.L. students. While at the University of Vermont (UVM) — from which she graduated with a bachelor’s in secondary education with a concentration in Spanish — she completed field placements and substitute-taught in Spanish classrooms at South Burlington High School in Burlington, Vermont. During her time at UVM, O’Brien played four years of varsity field hockey, one year of club ice hockey and co-chaired the Student Athlete Advisory Council, which advocates for student wellness and promotes community outreach within the athletic community. The Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, native also played field hockey, ice hockey and lacrosse, and founded and performed on the competitive dance team, while attending high school at The Holderness School.

Mari Powell joins Brooks to coordinate standardized tests and also assist the Learning Center team. Prior to Brooks, Powell served as a

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College Board test coordinator and AP supervisor, as well as an administrator of the school-based ACT. A Boston University graduate, Powell previously worked for an environmental engineering firm before she transitioned to being a stayat-home mom. After rejoining the workforce, she worked in the community service office at Phillips Academy and in the college counseling office at Cate School.

Shrestha Singh hails from Fremont, California, and joins Brooks to share the role of school minister with James Chapman. The daughter of Hindu Indian immigrants, she was raised in a multicultural and multifaith community and spent much of her childhood between two worlds, navigating her dual identities as Indian and American. Singh brings this creative tension and her passion for being of service to others to her work of providing spiritual care to students.

Singh graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in global health and creative writing, and also received her master’s degree from Harvard Divinity School.

In college, Singh’s love of stories and growing awareness

Dean of Equity and Inclusion Jose Powell is a native Bostonian who returns to the East Coast after spending six years at Cate School in Carpinteria, California. At Cate, Powell served as the director of multiculturalism and inclusion, as well as associate director of admission. Prior to his family’s move to California, Powell was the director of student of color recruitment at Phillips Academy. He attended Northeastern University, where he majored in African American studies. In addition, he lettered on the men’s basketball team and eventually earned all-conference academic honors. Powell continued his graduate studies at Antioch University Santa Barbara, where he focused on socioeconomics within independent boarding schools. He and his wife, Mari, reside on campus with their family.

of social injustices led her to leave her pre-med track and explore other routes to being a part of the serving and healing of the world. She worked at a mental health center, then on a farm, and ended up in divinity school. Singh has been involved in racial justice work throughout the years and is particularly interested in that intersection between the “inner” spiritual life and the work of engaging in the sacred and beautiful mess that is community and the “outer” world. She lives in Arlington, Massachusetts, with her husband.

most recent teaching post was in Macao, where he taught high school students topics including world history, the history of science and philosophy. Prior to teaching abroad, Veit received his master’s degree in social science from The University of Chicago, and his bachelor’s degree in history and philosophy from Marquette University.

An American Youth Soccer Organization player, he made his soccer-coaching debut at Brooks, where he is an assistant coach for boys 3rd soccer.

A classically trained historian with teaching and research interests in global and intellectual history, Michael Veit was born and raised in Southern California. He spent the last five years teaching in and traveling the major cities of China’s Pearl River Delta region, including Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macao. His

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NEWS + NOTES

AT H L E T E S POT L I G H T

Anthony Burnett ’19 A three-sport captain came to Brooks in search of academic rigor. He’ll leave as a star athlete, a community leader and a student who does his best to show kindness to everyone he comes into contact with.

Anthony Burnett ’19 (No. 72) plays left guard for the football team, a challenge he enjoys.

Anthony Burnett ’19 loves a challenge. He came to Brooks

from Malden, Massachusetts, as a fifth-former in search of a rigorous academic experience. Since then, he’s made his mark on three Brooks teams through his gregarious nature, determined attitude and sheer athleticism: One year after arriving at the school, Burnett has been named a captain of the football, wrestling and baseball teams, an accomplishment that he says “really surprised” him.

He’s also a student leader who seems to know everybody by name, and he says he wants to leave his mark on the school he’s come to see as a home.

Burnett plays left guard on the Brooks football team, and he says he wouldn’t have it any other way. He likes the challenge of playing on the offensive line, a group that he says is often overlooked. The offensive line is the group of players that lines up directly in front of the quarterback: They protect the passer from a barrage, and inevitably have to struggle to literally keep their balance and push back against an onslaught of defensive players salivating for a sack.

“I switched from right tackle to left tackle this year, and then to left guard to protect [sixth-form quarterback Connor Silva’s] blind side,” Burnett says. “I live by the saying ‘Always in the trenches, never in the spotlight.’ I even have a shirt that says that. I’m there, driving kids and putting in the work, and there’s not a lot of recognition. But I’m really okay with that, because I recognize that it’s all for the team.”

Burnett enjoys playing offensive line because, as he puts it with a smile, “that’s really the dirty work. I always keep reminding the boys that we just have to work harder than everyone else. We have to physically go out there and move other people around, and everyone else just has to catch a football.” Burnett’s hard work paid off this year,

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and he got noticed despite his unglamorous position: He was named to the All-ISL team and received the football team’s Coaches Award.

Burnett finds himself much more in the spotlight in the winter, once wrestling season begins. He wrestles in the 285-pound weight class and has made an immediate impact. After being cut from the boys 2nd basketball team, Burnett found the wrestling room and pinned his first opponent in 19 seconds.

“I liked it,” he says. “Winning is amazing, and winning in wrestling is better than winning in any other sport. You’ve just outmanned another person, and that feels really good.”

Wrestling coach Pat Hitschler appreciates Burnett’s presence in the lineup. “We needed a heavyweight, so we knew he’d be out there right away. It was great to have him. He went out there every day and was ready to go. He would get to the match, go out there and give it his best.”

Come spring, Burnett suits up for the Brooks baseball team. Consider this: He’s set to be a team captain this year, despite not starting last year and serving as the team’s backup first baseman. “I think a lot of people take to who I am as a person,” he explains.

“Even though I didn’t play a lot last year, I was heavily engaged in the sport, and I coached first base. I really embraced my role as backup.”

Burnett doesn’t just embrace his role on Brooks teams; he also embraces the role he’s made for himself at Brooks School. He’s a dorm prefect in Whitney House and a Chapel prefect, and he’s found ways to make Brooks his home despite his short tenure on campus. In making Brooks his home, he’s made it a more welcoming place for other students.

“Brooks is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me,” Burnett says. “I like being on campus on the weekends. I want other kids to have as much fun on the weekends as I do. I also come from a very religious background, and I want to help make Chapel an inviting community space for everyone. I also love living in Whitney, and I want the kids in there to know how good the dorm is and how great our dorm community is.

Whitney is a family.”

As he looks toward the end of his Brooks career, Burnett wants to make sure he leaves his mark on the school. “I’ve done a lot here,” he says, “and I think I just want to have an effect on as many people as I can before I leave here. At Brooks, I’ve learned to be kind and helpful where you can, whenever you can. The people here have always been kind and helpful to me, and they’ve changed my life.”

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NEWS + NOTES

NEWS FRO CAMPUS AT HLET I CSMNEWS

The 1st field hockey team put up a season for the ages, with an undefeated season, an ISL title and a NEPSAC Class B championship.

A Bountiful Harvest The fall season saw Brooks teams break new ground, from the 1st field hockey team’s ethereal, undefeated championship-title run to the pioneer season for the school’s new volleyball team.

FIELD HOCKEY WINS IT ALL

The Brooks field hockey team powered through a thoroughly dominant fall season to win the New England Championship.

Throughout, the team went undefeated and showed a massive defensive effort that only allowed eight goals against all year and that posted 12 shutout wins, a nice complement to a well-balanced offense that notched 64 goals in 19 games.

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The season marked the first undefeated season in program history, the first ISL title for the program in 13 years and the first New England championship since 2006. And, postseason recognition was plentiful: Four players nabbed spots on the All-ISL team; three received All-ISL Honorable Mention honors; four received AllNEPSAC accolades; and another four were named to the All-NEPSAC Honorable Mention squad.

Head coach Ali Mattison says that the squad’s emphasis on teamwork carried the day for Brooks.

“The girls relied on one another each and every day,” she says.

“There wasn’t just one standout on the field; rather, each member contributed to the team’s success.” She calls the team “focused and driven,” and cites the strong leadership of her 11-member sixth-form class.

But, she says, success didn’t come only from the top. “While this was

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a banner year led by strong upperclassmen,” she says, “the underclassmen contributed in goals, defensive saves and shutouts.” That bodes well for next year: Mattison will graduate a strong class, but she’ll also return a fifth-form goalie and 12 strong veteran players.

One of the season’s most dramatic moments came in the first round of the NEPSAC tournament, when top-seeded Brooks eked past eighth-seeded Pomfret School thanks to a 2-1 overtime win. From there, Brooks cruised past St. Mark’s School in the semifinal, 3-0, and made a 3-0 finals win against second-seeded The Rivers School look routine.

Mattison says that her team had a simple goal this season, and it wasn’t to storm through a rigorous schedule and come out champions.

“Each of our players has a common goal,” she says. “They want to have fun. And when they’re having fun, they do really well.” Mattison reports that the team was excited about every game it won, and title hopes didn’t drive its ambition until the end of the season.

This year’s balanced lineup gives Mattison confidence for next year’s season. She points to “the diversity of who can put the ball in the net,” and says that the members of her team trust each other.

“They’re just willing to do what needs to be done for the success of the team,” she concludes.

BOYS SOCCER MAKES NOISE

Despite graduating 10 sixthformers last year, many of whom went on to play soccer at competitive NCAA Division I programs, the boys 1st soccer team notched another winning year, posting a 10-2-4 record and a postseason appearance as the third seed in the NEPSAC tournament. Head coach

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Willie Waters ’02 calls the year a VOLLEYBALL success, and says that the squad MAKES ITS DEBUT was able to maintain its strong A team of 21 female athletes presence in New England while made its debut as Brooks’s first also transitioning to a new identity. volleyball team this year, and the “I think we really exceeded team quickly found its footing. others’ expectations,” Waters says.

The squad, head coach Chelsea “We did a great job bringing the Clater reports, “played very comnew players in without losing our petitively against some strong, tradition and culture. Some veterestablished 2nd and 3rd level ans who didn’t get many minutes in programs like St. Paul’s School the past really stepped up, and we and Phillips Exeter Academy, also had a strong third-form class.” and also played well against Waters credits team captain Groton School’s 1st team.” She Mitch Nenninger ’19 as a strong, reports that the Brooks players competitive leader who deftly hanquickly learned to communicate, dled the different personalto cover the court and to ities on this year’s team. He W MORE ONLINE: set each other up, and also calls out several other Please visit the Brooks success followed. Next athletics website at sixth-formers, including year, Brooks plans to field www.brooksschool. org/athletics for more a 1st team and a 2nd team. keeper Andrew Kempe, information on your who Waters says “won some favorite Brooks team, The inaugural captains games by himself.” Forward including schedules, — Taylor Berberian ’19, game recaps and upDuncan Sutherland ’19 had to-date news.

Elizabeth Desimone ’20, a powerful final Brooks Caitlin Pierce ’19 and season: He was named to the Sydney Robinson ’20 — led a group All-ISL team with Nenninger and that rose to the occasion of forming Kempe; the All-NEPSAC team with a new program. “Everyone helped Nenninger; and picked up Boston each other because there was a Globe All-Scholastic, Boston sense that we’re all in this together, Herald All-Scholastic, All-State, and a rising tide raises all ships,” All-New England and ISL offensive Clater says. “There was a desire for MVP honors. everyone to learn and do well, and Brooks will be a younger team the team became really close over next year, but Waters looks forward the season because of that. Also, to the season. “Our third-formers just sharing the experience of being scored 15 goals for us this year,” he the first-ever Brooks volleyball says. “Next year, they’ll be a year team feels special, and the girls bigger and a year older, and they’ve recognize that.” already had a taste of what winning looks like at Brooks.”

SUCCESS ON THE BIG STAGE

Pat Freiermuth ’18, who launched himself from the Brooks football team to the Pennsylvania State University Nittany Lions, turned heads as a true freshman in Happy Valley. The imposing tight end appeared in nine games and made five starts, en route to hauling in 24 catches for 330 yards and a team-high seven receiving touchdowns. Freiermuth was named All-Big Ten Honorable Mention.

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Along Right Pathways

As a child, Janine Padmore Stegall ’83 arrived at Brooks after narrowly escaping the violence of a coup d’etat in her native Liberia. After battling displacement, family tragedy and some sharp twists and turns in life, she’s laid the groundwork to return home. Her goal: to help repair Liberia’s faltering education system, which she believes is critical to the success of Liberia’s youngest generation and the war-torn nation’s future development.

BY R E BECCA A . BI ND E R

P H OT O G R A P H Y CO U RT ESY O F JA NI NE PA D M O R E ST EGA LL ’83

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he 1983 Brooks yearbook tells the story of a school, of an academic year and of a chorus of wins, losses, performances and relationships. It also tells the story of many of that year’s sixth-formers, who contributed personalized pages of photos, quotes, memories, and hopes and dreams for the future.

The page Janine Stegall ’83 put together to mark her time at Brooks doesn’t look all that remarkable at first glance. There’s a portrait of Stegall, who sits smiling, with her back resting against a tree and her legs folded beneath her. Phrases of text dot the page: a callout to a best friend, to softball teammates, a translation of “Victuri Te Salutamus,” the Latin phrase that traditionally rests under the Brooks shield (“We greet thee, we, about to live,” Stegall proclaims).

One phrase on the page, though, might stand out: “He revives my soul and guides me along right pathways, for his Name’s sake.” Stegall is quoting the Christian Psalm 23, which praises God as a protector and provider, the shepherd of a flock.

“I think maybe the sense of healing, the sense of renewed hope,” Stegall muses more than 30 years later, when asked why she included those lines from Psalm 23 on her yearbook page. “There had been a lot of loss, you know? My grandparents had done a lot to get me to that point. So maybe it was just me knowing that whatever the future held, I would be okay. When I left Brooks, I felt very empowered, and I felt strong enough to be able to do whatever was necessary to move on.”

Getting through Brooks was a major accomplishment.

But, there’s much more to Stegall’s story than what’s on the surface of that yearbook page. The story of how Stegall got through Brooks pales in comparison to the story of how Stegall got to Brooks in the first place.

A childhood portrait of Janine Stegall ’83. →

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A Dangerous Escape Stegall grew up in a well-to-do family in Monrovia, the capital of Liberia. She is a descendant of freed American slaves who colonized Liberia, and she speaks proudly of her ancestors, some of whom, she says, helped found and establish the country. She attended an international school alongside the children of diplomats and other wealthy Liberians, and lived a privileged, unworried life. Suddenly, though, in 1980, when Stegall was 16 years old, a government plan to increase the price of rice led to protests, police firing into a crowd, riots and, literally overnight, a military coup d’etat that changed Liberia’s story and Stegall’s life (see “The Politics of Power,” pg. 25).

Deposed former president William R. Tolbert Jr. and more than 20 members of his administration were killed during the coup, and a new government, led by indigenous Liberians, was installed. Instability and unrest reigned, and Liberia sank into two successive civil wars between 1989 and 2003.

“That experience,” Stegall says.

“It was just like, you go to sleep one day and then the next day you wake up and everything’s changed.”

The violence of the coup filtered through the Liberian citizenry quickly. Within days, Stegall remembers, soldiers roamed the streets, in search of, she says, those previously in power and their families.

Stegall says that, even if she didn’t at the time understand the larger political and social ramifications of the coup, she understood that her life was in danger.

“I understood that I was being threatened,” she says. “I needed to be mindful that many of my family members were in hiding. The violence felt random, but also focused.

It was hard to figure out what would happen next, and all I knew was

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“ It was just like, you go to sleep one day and then the next day you wake up and everything’s changed.”

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the upheaval her life had just gone through. “I was pulled out of my comfort zone, out of my family, out of my support system, out of my country, and I was transitioned to the United States,” she says. “It was very much a moment of realization, of understanding that wow, this is really happening.”

This is the history Stegall’s childhood portrait was born into: She beams through the camera, carefree and privileged, innocently secure in her place in the world and blissfully unaware of the looming storm.

A 1983 Brooks yearbook photo of Janine Stegall ’83. ↓

that there were plans being made to try to get my siblings and me out of the country.”

Stegall recalls a perilous drive to the airport with her siblings (she is the oldest of four children). “My father got us all ready and got us to the airport,” she says. “All along the way, he was bribing people. Not just to get us to the airport, but also to get us on the plane.”

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The plane took off, and Stegall was finally safe. The United States seemed an obvious destination: Stegall’s mother is American, Stegall had spent summers in New York as a child, and her grandparents, who were in the United States at the time of the coup, were there to meet her as she disembarked in America. Still, though, Stegall realized the enormity of

A Home Across the World When Stegall stepped onto the Brooks campus for the first time, she was a girl in need of a home, a community and a sense of stability.

She needed, she explains, stable ground on which she could escape the turbulence that defined her sudden evacuation from Liberia.

She found a sense of the familiar at Brooks — a place more than 4,000 miles and the Atlantic Ocean away from her home in Monrovia — and particularly in her dormitory, P.B.A. Hall.

“I grew up around family,” she says. “My home was always the central location where we gathered.

Having that sense of community in my dorm, which had dorm parents and families living on either side of the building, made it feel like home. There was a support system already in place at Brooks, and that was a big deal for me because I was stepping into something that hadn’t really been planned. When the rest of my world was so chaotic, that was very impactful in my life.”

In P.B.A., Stegall found her anchor, and she credits the close relationships she formed with fellow residents and dorm parents with allowing her to find the grounding she needed to move forward and transition to her new

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life. She also dove into her classes at Brooks, and found a figure who would, years later, influence her career as an educator.

“I took AP Biology with Nick Evangelos,” Stegall recalls. “It was a challenging course for me. It was a topic that I just was never going to fully be comfortable with. But I appreciated the way Mr. Evangelos opened up my understanding of the sciences. He focused on the process of learning, and that approach grabbed my attention. As I started to learn about teaching and teaching strategies, I remembered my experience with him and how to get students to engage with their own learning.

Mr. Evangelos truly treated us as individuals. He expected different things from each of his students, and he helped students work from their strengths. I think that’s what’s stuck with me.”

This is the history Stegall’s yearbook page was born into: the confident portrait; the acknowledgment of family and community; the expression of healing, of renewed hope, of confidence that a higher power was guiding her through the darkness and along right pathways. Stegall had seen upheaval, violence and national fracture; she had travelled across the world to seek home; she wasn’t certain of the tack her life would take, but she had the confidence to face the changing winds.

A Pathway Revealed Almost immediately, the winds of Stegall’s life turned to the south.

Although she had been accepted to Smith College, Stegall struggled to meet the tuition. “Coming out of Brooks, it wasn’t really clear how I was going to manage college financially,” she says. “It had become obvious that the situation in Liberia wasn’t a temporary situation; it was a long-term situation.”

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THE POLITICS OF POWER

The story of Liberian politics is the story of a country that has battled its own past. Indigenous people have lived in modern-day Liberia since at least the 12th century, but the region came into American consciousness in the early 19th century when American abolitionists launched a proposal to relocate freed former American slaves to a colony in West Africa. The first boat of American colonists — which included 86 former slaves — reached Liberia in 1821. By 1847, Liberia had declared its independence from the United States.

The indigenous tribes who already occupied the area put up spats of resistance against the colonizers through the early 20th century, but their efforts were in vain: Although the colonists and their descendants were vastly outnumbered by indigenous Liberians, the colonists dominated Liberian politics, the Liberian economy and Liberian society for more than 130 years.

Over that period of time, and especially in the years following World War II, Liberian cities saw an influx of indigenous Liberians migrate from rural areas in search of jobs; they became increasingly frustrated by what they saw as a corrupt government and growing economic disparity. The coup d’etat that Stegall experienced occurred in 1980.

“ There was a support system already in place at Brooks, and that was a big deal for me because I was stepping into something that hadn’t really been planned. When the rest of my world was so chaotic, that was very impactful in my life.”

Stegall put off enrolling at Smith to live in Virginia with an aunt. She lived there, she worked there, she started supporting herself. Stegall got married and had a son, and received her undergraduate degree in psychology from George Mason University in 1993, 10 years after she graduated from Brooks. Her husband was a police officer; they were looking into purchasing their first home; “things seemed to be moving toward the American Dream,” Stegall says.

When she became pregnant again in 1995, this time with twins, Stegall and her husband were overjoyed and excited.

As it had so many other times, though, life had a different pathway planned for Stegall. Tragic complications in her pregnancy, she says, caused her twins to be born early.

One child died at birth; the other, daughter Janelle, survived, but suffered severe complications. Stegall, as she had so many times before, transitioned. “She was a special

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“ There could be a ripple effect for future generations. I know that tapping into the early years is going to change the outcomes for that future generation if it’s done in a way that’s caring, that’s purposeful, that’s intentional.” needs child,” Stegall says. “And so, I went from working to staying home to care for her and give her 24-hour support. We, as a family, we did what we had to do.”

Janelle was medically fragile, a reality that her doctors had made very clear. She lived to be 2 1/2 years old. During her life, Janelle had received support services, including educational support at home and through the local school district. Stegall still speaks of Janelle’s teachers with reverence.

“Her teacher in the home was great, and the teacher that received her in the school system was also amazing,” she says. The teacher that had worked with Janelle in the Stegall home recommended to Stegall a degree program in special education offered by The George Washington University. Inspired, Stegall applied, was accepted, and within a year, was working as a special education teacher at a school in Fairfax County, Virginia. Stegall immediately felt at home, immediately found a skill as an educator and in supporting students, and her student placement turned into a 12-year stint in the Fairfax schools.

“That’s where my journey in education began,” she says. “I was like, wow, this is amazing. My first class was full of kids just like Janelle,

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with varying physical needs. With the mentoring and support that was in place, it was a fantastic placement because that’s where I grew, and that’s where I learned. It was just all-encompassing in terms of what I had lived through, and also all-encompassing in terms of filling that void in my own life.”

A Return Home In 2008, more than a decade after turning to a career in education and almost three decades after fleeing Liberia, Stegall’s life changed direction again. She started, she says, to feel a tug for home. She had not returned to Liberia, save for a brief visit in 1989. Her father had passed away, she says, and she wanted to take his ashes back to Liberia; she sought, she says, a return to something familiar.

The Liberia she returned to though, Stegall says, was not the same Liberia she had left behind.

Since her evacuation in 1980, the country had suffered years of conflict, civil war and an infamous president, Charles Taylor, who has been convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“The lay of the land looked different in 2008,” Stegall says. “First, I was seeing things that I had seen as a child as an adult for the first

time. Even down to the physical structures: It’s like when you’re in a house as a child and it seems big, and then you go back as an adult and you’re surprised at how small it is. It felt so different, and everything suddenly felt so compact.”

Another reason Liberia looked different had nothing to do with scale: Years of conflict had brought high, fortress-like walls surrounding homes as residents sought to protect themselves and their property. Mismanagement and a lack of services had left most people, Stegall remembers, without electricity or potable water. And, Stegall says, “what really struck me was the children. There were just so many children that seemed to have no structure.” The culture, she says, had changed, not for the better, and she didn’t recognize vast portions of it.

What Stegall did recognize, though, was the severe need for widespread and accessible high-quality education. She explains that in the face of disruption, violence and systemic failings, the educational system in Liberia had deteriorated. A 2017 Financial Times piece bore Stegall’s observations out. According to that piece, the country’s education ministry reported that fewer than 60 percent of school-aged Liberian children are in school. Unpaid volunteers make up teacher shortfalls in a drastically underfunded system. Only one in five adult Liberian women who reached the fifth grade can read a sentence.

And strikingly, in 2013, 25,000 Liberian high school graduates took the entrance exam for the University of Liberia. None of those 25,000 test-takers passed.

“This was not the Liberia that I wanted to be connected to,” Stegall says. “It’s been a generation since the coup, and now we’re dealing with a generation of children

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and adults who have lost a lot of information. And these are the people who are voting. These are the people who are in leadership positions.”

“So, if this was not the Liberia that I wanted to be connected to,” she remembers asking herself, “then what was I going to do about it?”

A New Generation Stegall says that she felt compelled to try to help improve education in Liberia — a country she had to flee from — because of her experience in the world outside of Liberia.

“It’s because of what I’ve seen everywhere else in the world,” she says. “It’s because I know that it’s not going to be great everywhere in the world, but things can always improve. Even if it’s initially for just a few people: There could be a ripple effect for future generations. I know that tapping into the early years is going to change the outcomes for that future generation if it’s done in a way that’s caring, that’s purposeful, that’s intentional.”

Stegall returned to Liberia twice more, in 2010 and 2012, and then made the decision to leave America and work overseas. Her first stop (an Ebola virus outbreak was one factor that prevented her immediate return to Liberia) was Côte d’Ivoire, a West African country that shares part of its western border with Liberia. Stegall works as a curriculum coordinator at International Community School of Abidjan. “I came over, and it all just fit,” she says. The terrain, the greenery and the people of Côte d’Ivoire, she says, remind her of Liberia, and of her ultimate goal.

Through continued coursework and education, most recently focused on servant leadership, Stegall’s view and ultimate vision are becoming clearer. She’s been

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working with a close friend for three years. They’ve established an educational consulting group that focuses on being a resource clearance center to connect educators in Liberia to other groups, services and agencies that could help provide Liberian children with a high-quality education. She wants, she says, to serve as a facilitator for other educators as they try to do their best work in Liberia.

“I want to give Liberian children access to the best education we can offer them,” she says. “I want to establish a culture where groups and people choose to come to Liberia to work with our student population there. I want to serve as a conduit and connector, and I want to make their stay worthwhile and meaningful.”

This is the history Stegall’s current-day portrait is born into: still confident, she looks into the camera with a determined gaze that belies her weathered smile.

The turbulence, the tests, the tragedy — these have all contributed to her determination to PHOTO: FIEMAH N’DRY heal her homeland.

“You go into places that, on the outside, look chaotic,” she says.

“Where the poorest of the poor live, and it seems broken. But when you get into that community, you meet people, you learn about what’s really going on. You find things happening that are positive. We need to capitalize on that aspect of the community, to appreciate what is going well and do more of it. Now is the time; it’s time to go and do it.” ↑ Janine Stegall ’83 on the campus of International Community School of Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire.

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THE THINGS THEY’LL NEVER FORGET 2018 Athletics Hall of Fame Inductees

This year’s class of inductees into the Brooks Athletics Hall of Fame. Front row, from left to right: Ellie Logan ’06, Chelsey Feole ’06, Charlie Davies ’04, Jen Russell ’06, former faculty and girls 1st soccer head coach Bob Morahan. The back two rows consist of members of the 2002 girls 1st soccer team, which was inducted as a group. >>

B During Homecoming in September, Brooks inducted arguably its most accomplished set of inductees into the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame. The 80 alumni who returned to Great Pond Road for Homecoming Weekend festivities got to witness an Olympic medal winner, United States national team players and members of an iconic Brooks team take the podium to accept their place in school history. The inductees spoke about varied experience with sport and life at and after Brooks. Portions of their acceptance speeches are printed here. Together, the speeches were wide-ranging, diverse and carried a variety of perspective, but one constant rang true throughout: Despite the memories of championships, the big wins and the postseason honors, the inductees took time to speak more about the relationships they had formed with teammates, coaches and teachers at Brooks, and reflected on how that bedrock laid the foundation for their future successes.

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“ [Brooks] set me on a path where there were lots of highs and lows, but it’s a path that I would never change.

Brooks is more than just athletics. I think that’s what I learned coming here. It’s the relationships that you make that will last a lifetime.”

Charlie Davies ’04 Retired professional soccer player and member of the 2008 men’s national soccer team that participated in the Beijing Olympics, Charlie Davies ’04 has logged a stellar playing career. The seeds of that career were planted at Brooks: Davies was named to the All-ISL team three times and received the league’s Most Valuable Player award as a sixth-former. While Davies played at Brooks, the boys 1st soccer team won the ISL title and the New England Championship.

Davies set single-season and career scoring records that still stand. He was also a three-time ISL-champion wrestler and three-time New England wrestling champion. After Brooks, Davies played soccer at Boston College and then professionally for the Philadelphia Union and the New England Revolution.

Charlie Davies ’04 in his Brooks days.

Inset: Davies, pictured here with one of his children, accepting his induction into the hall of fame.

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“ We were an eclectic mix of boarding and day students. We were a hardworking bunch that also loved to have fun. And most of all, the friendships created on this team have been long-lasting.

That’s one of the best parts of being a part of this team.”

—CO - CA PTA I N K AT E LOM BARD ’03

The 2002 Girls 1st Soccer Team The 2002 girls 1st soccer team dominated its season from wire to wire.

Brooks posted a 17-0 record on its way to becoming ISL champions and New England Class A champions. The team consisted of the following Brooksians: captains Delia Rissmiller ’03 and Kate Lombard ’03, Kaylan Tildsley Alderson ’03, Emily Schwarz Begen ’05, Cailly A. Carroll ’06, Lauren Young Fink ’04, former girls 1st soccer coach Jaime A. Gilbert ’04, Nicole E. Lonero ’05, Alexandra J. Manning ’04, Katherine A. Nickerson ’04, Casey J. O’Donnell ’06, Laura H. Phelan ’04, Vanessa R. Rathbone ’04, Jennifer A. Russell ’06, who was also inducted individually, Megan E. Russell ’03, Kristin Homer Small ’04, manager Jason A. Berman ’06 and head coach Bob Morahan, who is a former Brooks faculty member.

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The 2002 girls 1st soccer team in action.

Inset: Members of the 2002 girls 1st soccer team at the hall of fame induction ceremony.

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“ Our teams won championships because of the precedent set by our coaches, the leadership exhibited by teammates and the camaraderie felt across all sports. Throughout my athletic experience at Brooks, I learned the importance of teamwork, a strong work ethic and leadership.”

Jen Russell ’06

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Jen Russell ’06 in action for Brooks.

Inset: Russell credited the supportive environment at Brooks for her initial foray into lacrosse.

A three-sport 1st team player and four-time captain in soccer, basketball and lacrosse, Jen Russell ’06 was awarded the sixth-form Athletic Prize and the Frank D. Ashburn Athletic award alongside fellow inductee Chelsey Feole ’06 at their Prize Day. Russell went on to play lacrosse at the University of North Carolina before picking up a 10-year run on the United States women’s national lacrosse team. However, even in her Brooks days, her unparalleled dominance and talent in each of her three sports drew notice.

In addition to being a member of the 2002 girls 1st soccer team that was also inducted, Russell was individually recognized with three ISL All-League team selections. She was a member of two NEPSAC championship basketball teams, including the 2003 girls 1st basketball team with fellow inductees Ellie Logan ’06 and Feole.

Russell was also a three-time ISL All-League pick in basketball and was named to the NEPSAC All-Star team three times. In lacrosse — a sport she played for the first time at Brooks — Russell earned ISL All-League honors three times on three championship teams, was named ISL League MVP and became a two-time first-team All American.

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Chelsey Feole ’06 was named the ISL’s Most Valuable Player as a fifth-former.

Inset: As she accepted her hall of fame induction, Feole thanked the coaches, teammates and faculty who had an impact on her life at Brooks.

“ I’m not shy at all when I express my love for Brooks and my sincere gratitude for my time at this school.

Brooks truly was the most meaningful experience of my life. I came to Brooks blindingly unaware that my life would be so impacted by this incredible school.”

Chelsey Feole ’06

Currently the founder and director of NorthEast Elite Field Hockey, Chelsey Feole ’06 earned ISL All-League honors for the three years she played field hockey at Brooks.

As a fifth-former, Feole was also the ISL’s most valuable player and led Brooks to its first New England Championship. As a sixth-former, Feole followed up with New England Tournament MVP honors en route to a second championship. Feole went on to play field hockey at Boston College, where she continued to rack up accolades: She was a two-time captain and a two-time All-America pick, she was named the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Northeast Player of the Year as a senior, and she was tapped repeatedly for the NFHCA Northeast Region All-America Team, the All-ACC Team, the All-ACC Academic Team, the ECAC Division I First Team and the All-ACC Tournament Team. When Feole left B.C., she took the program record for single-season goals and points with her, and she currently sits in second place on both lists.

Beyond field hockey, Feole also stood apart at Brooks for her performance in basketball and softball. All told, Feole earned six championships in nine seasons: she helped lead her teams to three New England Championships, two ISL Championships and one Big East Softball Invitational title.

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Remembering

Mr. Aitken H. Peter Aitken H’49, H’86 passed away on August 1, 2018, following a battle with cancer. As Brooks’s second headmaster, Mr. Aitken commandeered the school at a crucial point: He helped Brooks find its footing as an institution following the inaugural administration of beloved founding headmaster Frank D. Ashburn, and he steered Brooks onto its course into the future, a course that is still felt today. Mr. Aitken came to Brooks determined to provide stability in a time of change; he presided over the move to coeducation, a firming up of the school’s finances and a forward-looking facilities expansion plan from which the Brooks community continues to benefit.

BY REBECCA A. B IN DER PHOTO GR A PHY COU RT ESY OF B RO OKS SCH O O L A RCH IV ES

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Mr. Aitken strolls the Brooks campus.

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W

hen H. Peter Aitken H’49, H’86 accepted the role of headmaster of Brooks in 1973, he took on the unenviable job of following a legend.

Founding headmaster Frank D. Ashburn had spent 46 years at the helm of the school, incubating it from its beginnings, nurturing it through the economic challenges of the Great Depression and growing it through World War II, the 1950s and the 1960s. A short turn through the pages of the class notes section of any issue of the Bulletin will prove the profound influence that Mr. Ashburn had and continues to have on his students.

Mr. Aitken had graduated from Oxford University, and had taught at Eton College and Beaver Country Day School. His wife, Adelaide, known as Lolly, attended Westover School, Wellesley College and the London School of Economics, and had taught at Concord Academy and Milton Academy. Mr. Aitken entered the role of headmaster at Brooks with a different perspective and a new approach: As a young teacher who had spent time living abroad and working at other schools, Mr. Aitken saw areas of the school that could be modernized and provide more long-term flexibility and opportunity.

The Aitkens took up residence at Brooks for 13 years, and when Mr. Aitken stepped down, thenboard president Stephen C. Eyre listed Mr. Aitken’s successful initiatives in a letter to Bulletin readers.

Mr. Eyre first noted the school’s transition to coeducation under Mr. Aitken’s administration. Mr. Aitken’s tenure also saw the school’s endowment triple, thanks to the school’s 50th anniversary capital campaign, and also saw faculty salaries begin to be increased to levels more in line with real-world indicators. And, Mr. Aitken directed substantial renovations and improvements to many facilities

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Mr. Aitken came to Brooks determined to provide stability in a time of change; he presided over the move to coeducation, a firming up of the school’s finances and a forward-looking facilities expansion plan from which the Brooks community continues to benefit.

on campus, including space for athletics, music, dance, the arts, faculty housing and office space.

[Ed Note: see summer 1986 Bulletin, pg. 4.]

“All of us who have been privileged to work with Lolly and Peter closely over these years owe them a tremendous amount for all they have done for our school during their time at the helm,” Eyre concluded. “Brooks is better and stronger thanks to their efforts.”

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The Ashburns (left) pose with the Aitkens (right) in front of Ashburn Chapel.

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The Aitken family in fall 1980, including Mr. Aitken (left), Lolly (right) and their children.

“ Peter had a pretty unshakable confidence that he could do this, and that he wanted to do it. He never lost that, and I think that got him through … he was very strong in his feeling that our job was to get the school to a place that would be resilient in the face of change.”

— ADELAIDE MACMURRAY-COOPER H’86 (KNOWN AS “LOLLY”)

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Remembrance Adelaide MacMurray-Cooper H’86, known as “Lolly,” Mr. Aitken’s former wife, was by his side before and during Mr. Aitken’s years at Brooks. The Bulletin spoke with Ms. MacMurray-Cooper this fall, and she revealed a more personal side of Mr. Aitken’s tenure at Brooks. The following narrative has been edited for brevity, style and content.

On the process of being considered for headmaster: “The fact that our name was mentioned was sort of by chance. We were living in this country on leave from Peter’s job at Eton College. He wanted some further teaching experience before we decided whether we wanted to live in England or the United States. So we got permission to come over here, and I got a job at Milton Academy and he at Beaver Country Day School. In 1971, we went to Thanksgiving at my great aunt’s house.

Her son, who was there, had been to Brooks, and we were talking about various things. After we had left, I gather that he and my aunt decided to put Peter’s name forward for Brooks.

We got an invitation to be interviewed. We considered it an honor, but we thought there was no conceivable way they would choose a 35-yearold. I remember for one meeting, we went to the home of the head of the search committee, [former school trustee] George B. Blake ’35, who from then and for the rest of his life was a dear friend and a huge positive force at Brooks. We had a really nice conversation, and when it came to pass, it was a huge surprise. It was amazing, but equally frightening.”

On Mr. Aitken’s determination to serve the school well: “Peter had a pretty unshakable confidence that he could do this, and that he wanted to do it. He never lost that, and I think that

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got him through. In following Frank Ashburn, who was such an icon and was so beloved, Peter wanted to provide stability. We had to weather a lot of difficulty as people got used to a different person sitting in that chair, but he was very strong in his feeling that our job was to get the school to a place that would be resilient in the face of change.

It was incredibly clear in Peter’s mind that we had a job to do. The trustees had put their faith in us, were very supportive and were always there for good advice. They backed us, and we felt strong in that sense. The Ashburns were also very kind and welcoming to us. They gave us the impression that, in many ways, they were happy with the choice, and they wanted us to do a good job and flourish at the school.”

On her own role at Brooks: “The trustees, from the very beginning, made it clear that they really wanted the two of us working together. I think that goes back to the way in which the first Mrs. Ashburn was an integral part of the way the school ran and the feel of the school, the sense of hospitality of the school. The trustees were very clear that they wanted that from whomever they hired next. In the early years, before our family grew to include James as well as Alex, I worked in admissions and taught history, as I had at Milton. I also traveled with Peter for alumni events and fundraising. I was deeply involved in the decision process

about possible coeducation, which was very thorough. I arranged the roster of speakers and performers who visited the school, and made it possible for kids to go to Boston for cultural events.

I was also aware that in many respects I was the face of the school. I met an awful lot of visitors, and I knew, particularly in the early years, that a friendly female face was relatively unusual in that setting. I took a big interest in welcoming kids to the house. We used to lay out some ice cream, cookies or cocoa from the kitchen, and we would invite a particular form to come in on a particular night and play games and read to our kids. In some of the letters I got after Peter died, it was clear that had been important to some students.”

On the decision to step down as headmaster: “In the academic year of 1982–1983, I got quite ill, and it took me a month or two to get over it. And the trustees, primarily Steve Forbes ’66, generously offered to give us a year’s sabbatical. We decided to spend a year in England, because we both have family ties there, and because at Oxford, Peter could continue some of the studies he’d begun at Harvard. We went from January 1984 to January 1985, so that we wouldn’t have to be away for a complete school year. It was wonderful.

We drove all over Europe, and it left a deep impression on my boys.

When we came back to Brooks, of course, we were very glad to see a whole lot of people. But it was hard to get back into the routine again after such a year of freedom and stimulation, and the more we thought about it, the more we realized that we had done what we had come to do. We had steadied the ship and won the battles that could be won, and we decided it was probably time for someone else. It was a natural evolution of an administration. It had been a great privilege, but it was also time for Peter and me, and for our family, to move on. By the time we left, it felt as though we had really made a difference.”

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Obituary Former Brooks headmaster Harold Peter Aitken H’49, H’86 (he preferred “Peter”) was born in London on October 8, 1937. In June 1940, as World War II escalated, considerable numbers of British children were being evacuated to the United States and other countries for safety, and Mr. Aitken’s parents decided that he, along with his sister Marjorie, and his mother, Madge, expecting her third child, should go too. A friend in the United States had agreed to welcome and sponsor them, but in the confusion on arrival in New York, they were looked after by a representative of Sylvia Warren’s committee for refugees, taken to Boston and very generously cared for there. They lived first in a house in Milton, Massachusetts, with three other families, and then in an apartment in Brookline, Massachusetts. In 1944, return became possible. The Aitkens sailed to Liverpool then traveled to Aberdeen.

Mr. Aitken’s father and mother were both born in New Zealand and grew up there. In 1948, Mr. Aitken’s father was invited to become the Vice Chancellor of Otago University. Thus, Mr. Aitken lived in New Zealand from age 11 to age 16.

In 1953, Mr. Aitken’s father, Dr. Robert Stevenson Aitken, was invited to become the vice-chancellor of Birmingham University in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Aitken was therefore enrolled in school in Birmingham, where he distinguished himself as a record-breaking swimmer. He was accepted at Balliol College, Oxford University, where he studied mathematics and physics and enjoyed swimming, mountain climbing, tennis and Scottish country dancing, among his many pastimes. Upon graduation in 1959, Mr. Aitken became a teacher at Eton College, where he remained for 11 years. He was in charge of the Eton Territorial Army and embarked on many adventures with his 300 cadets, organizing annual camps in Norway and the Hebrides.

In 1969, Mr. Aitken was married to Adelaide VanAntwerp MacMurray (known as “Lolly”) at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and in 1971 they moved from Eton to Massachusetts where Mr. Aitken spent two years as head of physics at Beaver Country Day School before being appointed headmaster of Brooks in the spring of 1973. Two sons were born — Alexander in 1974 and James in 1980. A few years later, the family spent a year in Oxford on sabbatical from Brooks, and during that year, Mr. Aitken obtained a doctorate in learning development from

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Mr. Aitken took the headmaster position when he was only 35 years old.

Harvard University. In 1986, Mr. Aitken retired his position as the school’s headmaster. After a short stint in consulting and head-hunting, he set up his own consulting and research enterprise, Benchmark Research, evolving a management tool to assist school governors and heads in more than 100 independent schools across the United States and in several other countries.

Mr. Aitken and Lolly owned property in New Hampshire where he loved to hike, ski and work the land. In 2001 Mr. Aitken became a United States citizen, but never lost his strong ties to New Zealand, England and Scotland. He took flying lessons and loved the freedom of the skies. He was an overseer of New England Conservatory, and he established the U.S. branch of the very successful NGO then called Student Partnerships Worldwide (now Restless Development).

He was an active member of the Tavern Club, participating in many theatricals. Following a previous divorce from Ms. MacMurray, in 2007 he married Anne Carter, and they moved to Cape Cod. Mr. Aitken was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme in 2015 and fought it valiantly, finally passing away peacefully at his home in Sandwich, Massachusetts, on August 1, 2018, supported by his wife and closest friends, and with his sons at his side. He is remembered with love by his wife, Anne; by his partner of 36 years and while at Brooks, Adelaide MacMurrayCooper (“Lolly”); by son Alex and Naomi and their children Maxwell, Gavin and Emily; by son James and Sara and their children Gabriel, Russell and Colette; by stepdaughter Emily, Neal and children Nettle and James; and by stepson David.

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BROOKS CONNECTIONS IN THIS SECTION 44 Alumni News 50 Class Notes 82 In Memoriam

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Former Brooks football coach Steve Perocchi, pictured here, passed away on June 2 at 89 years old. A native of Lawrence, Mass., Perocchi was a lifelong educator who coached high school football in the Merrimack Valley for more than 30 years, including a several-year stint at Brooks in the 1960s. Perocchi was handed a Brooks program that had gone winless the previous year and transformed it into a juggernaut.

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At the Head of the Charles A large contingent of Brooks alumni rowed at this year’s Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, and the group turned in notable performances across the board.

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Alumni Authors Two alumni have books on the shelves now.

Clockwise from left: A Masters 8 boat, which included Jon Gibbons ’92 and Peter Sharis ’86 (second from right and right, respectively) came in second place. (Photo courtesy of Jon Gibbons ’92) ■ Jameson Lehrer ’18 rowed in the three seat for the Boston College Collegiate 8 boat. ■ Carlo Zezza ’53, who always seems to make a mark at the Head of the Charles, did so again this year. Zezza won gold in the Grand Masters Single. (Photo courtesy of Carlo Zezza ’53) ■ Clare Naughton ’18 (second from right) picked up a gold for Yale University in the Women’s Club 8 event. ■ Henry Hollingsworth ’17 (center, brown ball cap), meanwhile, rowed for the Brown University boat that won bronze in the Championship 8 event. Hollingsworth’s crew was bested by only two others, one of which was the United States national team.

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Two Brooks authors have new books out this fall.

Folwell Dunbar ’84 recently wrote “He Falls Well: A Memoir of Survival,” a collection of short stories and vignettes recounting the ups, downs and in-betweens of Dunbar, a New Orleans-based educator and writer.

From the Seven Hills of Rome to the Volcán de Fuego in Mexico, from the deck of a German U-boat to the mosh pit of a kindergarten classroom, from close encounters with other species to perfectly planned dates gone terribly awry, Dunbar takes us on an odyssey of misadventures and neardeath experiences. He probes (and usually gets stung by) the age-old adage, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” He treks into the quagmire of despair, and somehow, miraculously comes out standing — and smiling on the other side. Dunbar thanked former faculty Bill Poirot in the book’s acknowledgments.

Dan Lyons ’78, meanwhile, penned the book “Lab Rats: How Silicon Valley Made Work Miserable for the Rest of Us.” The bestselling author exposes how the “new oligarchs” of Silicon Valley have turned technology into a tool for oppressing workers. Early reviews have called the book a “passionate” and “darkly funny” examination of workplace culture. Lyons spent two years researching the book, immersing himself in what is described as the “half-baked and frequently lucrative world of what passes for management science today.” Lyons posits that the new business models and workplace practices championed by the tech world have “shattered the social contract that once existed between companies and their employees.”

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AN IMPORTANT VOIC E

We’re trying to identify the Brooksians pictured here. Can you help?

INSTITUT ION AL ME MO R I ES

A Request from the Archives As the Brooks school archives become more institutionalized, more standardized and more organized, we need your help to fill in our records. In this new recurring column, we’ll ask you for your memories, photographs and other documents related to a particular moment in Brooks history.

If you have information, please contact Director of the Archives Deanna Stuart at (978) 725-3292 or dstuart@brooksschool.org.

Currently, we are trying to identify the Brooksians pictured in the above photograph, who are clustered under the campus’s ginkgo tree to catch the leaves as they fall — an annual tradition at Brooks that occurred on November 12 this year. Unlike most trees, which lose leaves gradually with the onset of fall, ginkgo trees slough their leaves all at once following the first hard frost. We don’t know for sure when this photograph was taken, but the hair styles lead us to believe it was in the 1980s.

We are also looking for memories of and stories about longtime mathematics faculty and boys soccer coach Dusty Richard. If you have a story or memory of him in class, on campus or on the pitch that you want to share, please do so!

Omarina Cabrera ’16 and her mentor, Catherine Miller, were recognized with the 2018 Bill Russell Champion Mentoring Award on September 20. The award was presented at “A Night of Unity,” an event hosted by The Players Tribune and MENTOR, a national mentoring partnership whose “mission is to fuel the quantity and quality of mentoring relationships for America’s young people and to close the mentoring gap.” Miller, a teacher in the Bronx, New York, middle school that Cabrera attended before matriculating to Brooks, has been lauded as a positive, guiding force in Cabrera’s early life.

Cabrera currently attends The George Washington University, which Melany Blanco ’18 and Nalia Medina ’18 also attend.

The three Brooksians recently organized a panel on gun violence in AfricanAmerican communities. They report that more than 100 people attended the panel, and a livestream garnered more than 16,000 views.

Omarina Cabrera ’16 (right) accepting the Trustees Prize from Head of School John Packard (left) on Prize Day in 2016.

Brooksians wait to catch falling ginkgo leaves on November 12, 2018.

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NEW YORK

REGIONAL RECEPTION

A hearty group of Brooksians congregated at Doyle in New York City in November. The crowd enjoyed hors d’oeuvres, a speech from Head of School John Packard, and a night filled with conversation and friendship.

01 Dean of Equity and Inclusion Jose Powell (center). 02 Josh Leavitt ’05 (right) and Chaya Abelow (center) mingle with other guests. 03 Lindsay Wagner ’06 (left) and Ninna Denny P’06 at the New York Reception.

04 Mathematics faculty Dusty Richard P’99 (left) shares a laugh with Hamdi Cavusoglu ’05. 05 Associate Director of Admission Alex Skinner ’08 (center). 06 Head of School John Packard P’18, P’21 addresses the crowd at Doyle in New York. 07 Gardner Crary ’16 (right) catches up with an old friend. 08 From left to right: Sam Grant ’14 and Ellie McCoy ’15 chat with Associate Head for Student Affairs Andrea Heinze P’19.

09 Wendy Arriz P’21 (center). 10 Tony Milbank ’59 (left) and Patrick Curley ’69. 11 Christophe Desmaison P’22 (center) and Jennifer Griffin P’22 (right) chat with Major Gifts Officer Emily French Breakey ’03 (left).

12 Sonja Wilson P’16, P’20 (left) and Stanley Wilson P’16, P’20 (right) catch up with mathematics faculty Doug Burbank P’11 (center).

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A LUMNI T R I BUT E

Esmond Bradley Martin Jr. ’59

Esmond Bradley Martin Jr. ’59, who spent decades working to expose the illegal ivory and rhinoceros horn trade in Africa and Asia, was found stabbed to death in his home in Nairobi, Kenya, on February 4, 2018. At press time, the investigation into his death was ongoing. The Washington Post and the BBC reported that Martin had recently returned home from a trip to Myanmar and was about to publish a report on the burgeoning ivory trade there.

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A former United Nations special envoy for rhinoceros conservation, Martin was known for his dangerous work uncovering global trafficking networks. He would often work undercover to expose these illegal sales. The Los Angeles Times, for example, reported that Martin would infiltrate wildlife trafficking dens across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, count the number of ivory and rhinoceros horn items on sale, determine the market price of the items, and try to gain insight on the reasons why these items were in demand. He would also pose as a buyer to learn their secrets.

He took detailed notes and photos to document what he witnessed — from ivory shops to illegal carvings — and meticulously tracked an international market that has severely depleted the population of elephants and rhinoceroses. The Los Angeles Times quoted the chief executive officer of Save the Elephants as crediting Martin’s work with helping to foster the ivory trade ban. In a statement, the United States ambassador to Kenya called Martin’s death “a tragedy for Kenya and the world.”

“Esmond was a true giant of conservation and a champion for African elephants and rhinos,” Ambassador Robert F. Godec continued. “His extraordinary research had a profound impact and advanced efforts to combat illegal wildlife trafficking across the planet.”

Martin became involved in conservation and research efforts

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A younger Esmond Bradley Martin ’59 (right) and his wife, Chryssee, with the family pet.

in the 1970s. While working on his doctoral thesis in geography at a seaside resort in East Africa in 1970, Martin learned that the dhows — ancient wooden sailing ships — that traversed the Indian Ocean were used for smuggling goods. [Ed. Note: see spring 2000 Bulletin, pg. 11.] That realization led to the publication of two books in 1978: “Cargoes of the East,” and “Zanzibar: Tradition and Revolution.” Martin went on to publish a third book in 1983, “Run, Rhino, Run,” which focuses on the rhinoceros horn trade.

Brooks and its legendary faculty, Martin told the Bulletin in 2000, gave him the grounding and inspiration that was necessary for his research. Martin’s previous Bulletin profile reports that when he entered the school as a thirdformer, he was a highly skilled tennis player who was projected to play as a top seed for Brooks.

It was widely expected that he would go on to play collegiate and then professional tennis. Martin also came to Brooks with dreams of exploring Africa, thanks to an intrepid, traveling father who brought home tales of the jungle.

Martin’s Brooks coursework in geography, history and government carried a deep enough influence to convince the budding tennis star to put aside his tennis aspirations and take up a career in academia.

Choosing what at the time may have looked like the less glamorous path of books over racquets, Martin reflected in 2000, was a good decision. “I’m now 59 years old, and I’m going full-blast in my present

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occupation,” he said. “I would never have been in the top of my field in tennis as I am now. In professional sports, you’re finished by the time you’re 40, anyway.”

Shortly after his graduation from Brooks, Martin and his brother went on safari to Africa, a surprise present from their traveller father. “We were there about six weeks,” he told the Bulletin in 2000. “Obviously, the trip had an extremely strong and powerful impact on both of us.” Martin went on to study economics and agriculture at the University of Arizona, from which he also later received his master’s in geography.

He concluded his studies with a doctorate in geography from the University of Liverpool.

“What I enjoy most is going into a country and doing original field work that nobody else has done and then writing it up in both popular format for magazines and academic format as well,” Martin told the Bulletin. His field work was revolutionary: He was often

the first person to study a topic, including the wildlife trade in Myanmar and the Japanese ivory trade in the early 1980s. He also collected a bevy of appointments over the course of his life. In 1992, for example, Martin was named Special Envoy for Rhino Conservation by the executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, which he noted was “the first and only time that the U. N. employed someone to look after [the interests of] animals.” His duties asked him to travel throughout Africa and Asia highlighting the necessity of government funds in support of rhino conversation and of legislation combating the rhino horn trade. As a result, the Bulletin reported, the two largest rhino horn markets in the world modified their practices: China banned internal trade in rhino products, and Taiwan began enforcing its domestic ban.

Martin is survived by his wife, Chryssee.

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A LUMNI PROF I LE

P E TE R SHAR I S ’8 6

Coincidence or Fate Brooks brought Peter Sharis ’86 to science, and a teacher’s influence pushed him to take up rowing during his college years at Harvard University. Three decades later, Sharis is an accomplished doctor, an Olympics veteran and the coach of a rowing club that rivals East and West Coast powerhouses from its perch on the Mississippi River.

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The Two Rivers YMCA in Moline, Illinois, services a largely rural community nestled between four small Midwestern cities: Moline, Rock Island, Illinois, Bettendorf, Iowa, and Davenport, Iowa. Like many other YMCA associations across the country, Two Rivers YMCA offers swimming lessons, childcare and a fitness room. It also has a learn to row program: Part of the mission of the YMCA, after all, is to provide programming that benefits the local community, and a 2011 merger with the local, historic Quad Cities Rowing Club furthered that goal. Dr. Peter Sharis ’86, a local cardiologist who had rowed in the 1992 Olympics and for Harry Parker at Harvard University, is the volunteer head coach of Y Quad Cities Rowing.

That’s the routine description of the learn-to-row program at Two Rivers YMCA. Here’s the description that makes one wonder whether coincidence or fate is at work on the Midwestern plains: Y Quad Cities Rowing isn’t like most beginner rowing programs. Sharis’s program welcomes children who have never laid eyes on an oar to step into a boathouse for the first time, and it turns them into determined champions. Every year, Junior and Master rowers compete nationally and internationally.

This year, Y Quad Cities Rowing entered four boats in the sculling events at youth nationals; three won gold and one won silver. The past few years have seen six Head of the Charles wins, 10 youth national championship titles and more than 20 club nationals wins. In July, a Y Quad Cities Rowing women’s junior

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If one follows the trajectory of Sharis’s life, two intertwined themes appear: A love of science and a push to pick up an oar, both of which stretch back to his days on Great Pond Road. quad won the Diamond Jubilee Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta — the first international crew to win the event.

If one follows the trajectory of Sharis’s life, two intertwined themes appear: A love of science and a push to pick up an oar, both of which stretch back to his days on Great Pond Road.

“I had some wonderful science teachers at Brooks,” Sharis says.

“Nick Evangelos was a great mentor and really got me extremely interested in science. Once I got into rowing at Harvard, I got even more interested in the physiology and the cardiac system, so not surprisingly, when I went on to medical school, cardiology was the area I ended up focusing on.” Sharis also credits Brooks with prompting him to experiment with rowing at Harvard: Although Sharis didn’t row at Brooks (he was a three-sport athlete, though, with baseball as his spring sport), his advisor and

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math teacher David Swift was the crew coach. “He was always suggesting that I should try out rowing,” Sharis says.

Swift continued to encourage Sharis to try crew at Harvard, and Sharis finally made his way to the Harvard boathouse on his former teacher’s advice. “He told me that being tall and having good strength and endurance are the big, key elements to being successful,” Sharis remembers. “He knew I worked hard in the sports I played, and in the classroom, and being persistent and working hard gets good results.” Sharis, who is 6’4” tall, made the crew at Harvard, and ended up rowing for two national championship crews, in 1988 and 1989.

Then, after walking on to a twotime national championship crew, the man who had never touched an oar at Brooks took it a step further: He made the United States Olympic team five years after beginning the sport, and rowed in the men’s coxless pair event at the 1992 Olympic games in Barcelona.

Sharis acknowledges that the process of going from novice to Olympic athlete in five years was a “pretty amazing process,” but his explanation shows his modest, workmanlike attitude. “I was tall, I had the right height,” he says.

“Rowing’s a lot of hard work, and you want to have a good endurance base, which I had from all the years I played sports at Brooks. And then I was also the type of person who was willing to constantly grind it out and work hard.”

That ethos of working hard and grinding it out translates

back to Sharis’s work as coach at Y Quad Cities Rowing. Although it’s a volunteer position, Sharis devotes much of his time to the club. He explains that because of the long Midwestern winters, his rowers are inside from fall through the end of March. Sharis makes the most of the long indoor training season by harvesting data from the rowing machines his team uses. He treats rowing as a science, and constructs individualized training programs for juniors that, one assistant coach has claimed, rival the workouts assigned at the top collegiate rowing programs in the country. Sharis records, breaks down and analyzes every workout, measuring each against national records and tracking the progress of each athlete. When the crew is on the water, the gathering of data continues: Sharis’s rowers use GPS-enabled stroke coaches and oarlocks that measure power output.

“I’m pretty systematic about it,” Sharis says. “There’s a lot of data now that you can get with rowing.

Ultimately, the kids have to be fit and row really well technically, but the objective data part of it has really changed a lot since when I was doing it.”

Between coaching, poring over data and maintaining his cardiology career, Sharis has what he calls “long weeks.” But, he says, his packed schedule is a labor of love. “I really love both things,” he says, referring to rowing and cardiology. “To me, it doesn’t really feel like I’m working as hard as I am, or like I’m putting in as many hours as I am.”

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BRO O KS CONNECTI O NS

A LUMNI PROF I LE

E L IZA L L EW E L LY N ’ 95

A Lifelong Pursuit

In order to find her home, Eliza Llewellyn ’95 needed to leave her home. Since she was young, a passion for dance ignited her, and it seems almost fated that she would become a prominent, internationally touring flamenco dancer.

But, her path to the heights of her profession led out of her native New Orleans, through North Andover, and on to Santa Fe, Mexico, San Francisco and Spain.

“I really can’t remember a time when I didn’t love dance,” says Llewellyn, “and the periods of time that I have studied it have become the absolute center of my life.” Her parents — a mother who worked as a dealer of contemporary LatinAmerican art and a father who worked as a neurosurgeon — both loved art, dance and flamenco, but limited opportunities for flamenco existed in New Orleans when Llewellyn was young. When she was 3 years old, Llewellyn’s parents enrolled her in a ballet class instead, and Llewellyn “fell in love with ballet from day one.”

Llewellyn says she studied ballet intensively until she was 12 years old. “Ballet was all I wanted to do and all I could think of,” she says. “It was my dream.” Her dreams of dancing as a professional ballerina were dashed, though, when her instructors told her that her body type was not a body type traditionally

associated with a ballerina. “To be told that I had the talent but not the body type,” she says. “I was discouraged. I was also bi-cultural and there weren’t a lot of Latinos in my particular world. So, you know, it just … it broke my heart. I stepped away from dance very reluctantly, feeling like there wasn’t a future for me.”

The sense of isolation Llewellyn felt extended to her private school in New Orleans, which she says had small numbers of Latino students enrolled. Then, her world expanded: A friend of Llewellyn’s left New Orleans to attend The Groton School, and would routinely regale Llewellyn with stories of “field hockey, squash and lacrosse, and all these sports I’d never heard of,” she laughs. “It sounded very exotic, and I felt like I wanted to discover more than where I was in New Orleans.” Llewellyn traveled north to visit Brooks, and was immediately won over by what she remembers as a beautiful campus and a kind tour guide. She enrolled, she says, because “I felt like this was the right place for me. In hindsight, it really was.”

Llewellyn’s time in North Andover reconnected her with her family’s love of flamenco in a surprising context. “I took AP Spanish at Brooks,” Llewellyn says. “Ms. Muto-Graves had us do presentations in Spanish, and a girl in my class, Chica Mori

’93, did a flamenco demonstration.

She had studied. I remember clearly her dancing that day in the class, and I will never forget the sensation I had: a tickling sensation in my hands and feet, goosebumps. I was profoundly moved, and I called my mom that night and told her I wanted to study flamenco. I was 14 years old.”

The following summer, Llewellyn began taking classes at the New Mexico Institute for Spanish Arts in Santa Fe, directed by Maria Benitez, a pioneer of flamenco in North America. Llewellyn flourished as the youngest student at the school (she recalls dancing so much that she lost her toenails, and then kept on dancing), and instructors recognized her burgeoning talent. “It was such a great feeling” she says. “I felt like I’d finally found the art form that was for me. And, I fit in. In fact, they kept saying that I really had the look. I felt like I had finally found my home, and I remember working really hard.”

Llewellyn continued her studies at Brooks and then Dickinson College, interspersed with summer and other trips to Santa Fe. After college, Llewellyn moved to Mexico, and immediately took up flamenco classes while working as a freelance writer and journalist. Within two years, she says, she had improved enough to audition in Spain for

PHOTO: JOAQUIN ALARCON

As a child, Eliza Llewellyn ’95 was a talented dancer who felt out of place in a ballet world mired in tradition. She struck out from her native New Orleans to Brooks, where she discovered flamenco. Now, she is a renowned flamenco dancer who has reached the heights of the profession, and who tours and educates to spread and maintain the cultural art form.

B RO O KS CONNECTIONS

flamenco legend Mario Maya, and she was one of 42 students — and, she says, one of only a few students from outside Spain — to be selected to enter Maya’s prestigious Centro de Estudios Escenicos Mario Maya in Granada, Spain. She lived and studied in Granada and Seville, Spain, for two years before returning to America to take up a position with the Theater Flamenco of San Francisco and then Juan Siddi Flamenco Santa Fe, an opportunity she calls “a dream come true.”

Over the past decade, Llewellyn has worked with the most prominent flamenco companies in the United States. She’s been touring on a heavy schedule, but she also makes time for educational outreach and demonstrations, and has begun working with Flamenco Rouge, a Louisiana-based organization that nurtures interest in the art. “When I finally saw somebody my age perform as a teenager at Brooks, it brought it home for me and made flamenco feel like something I could do,” she says. “So, I’m very passionate about offering these first opportunities to kids, but also to adults and the elderly.”

Llewellyn says that flamenco is not just an art form. “It’s an expression of culture and a way of life,” she explains. “Being from New Orleans, I liken it a lot to blues or jazz or the whole experience of the second line and Mardi Gras. We just do things differently, and we channel those experiences into an expression of music.”

Llewellyn, who tours under the artistic name Eliza Gonzalez (her mother’s maiden name, which she points out is easier to pronounce in Spanish than “Llewellyn”), plans to continue dancing far into the future. “Even when I can’t walk, I’ll dance with my hands,” she promises. “I have to do it. I love it. It’s a part of me.”

“ I will never forget the sensation I had: a tickling sensation in my hands and feet, goosebumps. I was profoundly moved, and I called my mom that night and told her I wanted to study flamenco. I was 14 years old.”

— E LI Z A LLEW E LLYN ’ 95

PARTING SHOT

Brooks students make themselves at home during the official opening ceremony of the Center for the Arts on October 30. This seating area, on the eastern end of the building, overlooks the swimming pools, the tennis courts and the hill across Great Pond Road.

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B RO O KS BUL L E TI N

On page 9 of this issue, you learned about the school’s latest All-Community Read and its purposeful engagement of the Brooks community. On page 18, you read about our 1st field hockey team’s tenacious pursuit of an undefeated season and New England championship. On the front cover, you saw our student musicians and arts faculty open the new Center for the Arts with a memorable concert. The Brooks Fund, which supplies nearly 12 percent of the school’s annual operating budget, helped make those defining Brooks moments possible. The Brooks Fund raised critical funds for the purchase of the copies of the book our community will read together, the jerseys that our student-athletes wore with pride and the sheet music that our musicians performed on an historic night.

The Brooks Fund makes our community’s aspirations possible, and it allows us to provide our students with an experience that is meaningful. Your support of the Brooks Fund continues to afford us these and other possibilities.

B RO O KS S CH O O L BROOKS FUND

Three easy ways to give: Credit Card — Check — Stock. Visit www.brooksschool.org to make your gift.

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CHAMPS!

The Brooks 1st field hockey team stormed through its 2018 schedule, posting a 17-0-2 record, an ISL title and a New England championship.

Read more about the fall athletics season on page 18.