Calhoun Chronicle, Spring 2020

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Math in Early Childhood

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New Academic Leadership

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Cougar Homecoming

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Alumni Class Notes

2019-2020

The Calhoun Chronicle is created by the Communications Office:

Alumni news by Bart Hale ‘00 Director of Alumni Relations

Michelle Kiefer Director of Communications

Editorial assistance by Amy Edelman

Nahuel Fanjul-Arguijo Digital Communications & Website Manager Candace Silva Communications Coordinator

Design by Christine Zamora ’81, CZ Design

Thank you to all of the community members who shared their stories, lent a hand, and helped bring the Chronicle to life.

Contents 20 1 9 –2020

F E AT U R E S Community Celebrates First-Ever Cougar Homecoming

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Making Mathematicians: Calhoun’s Approach to Math in Early Childhood

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SCHOOL NEWS Head Lines from Steve

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Calhoun Welcomes New Academic Leadership

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Winter Fair Showcases Calhoun Creatives

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Curriculum

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Onstage

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Sports

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ALUMNI NEWS

CALHOUN’S MISSION: To inspire a passion

for learning through a progressive approach to education that values intellectual pursuit, creativity, diversity and community involvement.

Class Notes

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Alumni Profile: Fred Taverna ’80

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ON THE COVER: A kindergarten student

practices math with Cuisenaire rods.

Photo: Nahuel Fanjul-Arguijo ON THIS PAGE: Celebrating the first day of school

Photo: Candace Silva

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SCHOOL NEWS

Head Lines F ROM ST EVE SO L N ICK , HE A D OF SC HOOL

Developing a Culture of Dignity

ON STEVE’S BOOKSHELF Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World

by David Epstein “ I’m looking forward to reading the author’s case against settling on a specialization prematurely.”

Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World

by Mark Miodownik “ As a former physics major, I loved [the author’s] ability to blend a tour d’horizon of modern material science with excursions in history, literature and art.”

Read more from Steve at calhoun.org/head-lines

CALHOUN CHRONICLE

This school year, for the first time in six years, I went back to the classroom. I taught an elective in the Upper School called The American Political System—a sort of introductory civics class. Fortunately, I chose a calm political moment in which to offer the course, with just an impeachment trial and a presidential campaign to distract us from the Federalist Papers.

During our first class, we all introduced ourselves, following the time-honored first-day ritual. However, this time was a bit different for me, because it was the first time in a class setting that I included my own gender pronouns (he/him/his) as part of my introduction and asked the students to share theirs. This seems like a small thing now, but when I last taught—a college seminar on democracy—the practice of sharing pronouns was not yet universal, at least not in higher ed. And I will confess that while I’ve done this in workshops through the years, it felt a bit awkward to do it in class, because it was a change to a routine I’d grown used to over prior decades of teaching.

To my students, however, it was second nature. They showed not a trace of awkwardness or self-consciousness, because this has become habitual for them. And afterward, I thought that this was what progress looks like—a small effort to create a new routine that underscores how each of us has control over our own identities.

I thought of a small shift I made when—almost 20 years ago—I joined the Ford Foundation and moved to Moscow. In my work I got to know leaders of LGBTQ communities combating rampant gender-based and sexuality-based discrimination in Russia. And yet, I realized that part of my routine for meeting people who had just moved to Russia included asking about their wives (or husbands). Recognizing the assumptions I was making about sexual orientation, I shifted my language and began asking instead whether they had made the move alone or with others. That small shift didn’t take a lot of effort on my part, but I know it saved a number of people a moment of awkwardness or discomfort. And that made it important.

Recently, in a review of a book that attacked “political correctness” as “the artificial dialect devised by leftist activists and spread by university and corporate bureaucrats,” reviewer Anand Giridharadas wrote: “I, for one, am grateful for all the thinking and doing that have changed how Americans navigate one another’s identities, and I do not have the luxury of dismissing the improvement in the dignity I am accorded daily as an ‘artificial dialect.’”

Dignity is not a zero-sum game. According dignity to others need not diminish our own—in fact, it elevates it. At Calhoun, we seek to treat each student as an individual, with an identity they are still forming and to which each is unconditionally entitled.

Young people have an innate sense of dignity and fairness, but they need guidance and support as they learn to express their authentic selves and relate to those around them.

As they grow and test boundaries, our students will make mistakes, or they may mistreat one another, because they are still young. Unlike many other schools, our focus is not on punishment and the restoration of order, but on healing and the restoration of community. This is harder, because it is inexact. And yet I cannot help but believe it plays an integral part in producing the students we are so proud of—confident, caring and attuned to the nuances of concepts like dignity, identity and justice. That’s not their “dialect”—it’s part of their moral compass.

SCHOOL NEWS

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Calhoun Welcomes New Academic Leadership Debra Jeffreys-Glass Named Director of Lower School—Elementary This year Calhoun defined grades three to five as their own division, Lower School—Elementary, a move that allows us to focus and enhance programming for third-to-fifth-grade students during one of the most exciting developmental stages of their lives. Under this new divisional structure, Alison Rothschild ’85 is focusing her energies at 74th Street as Director of Lower School—Early Childhood, and we welcomed Debra Jeffreys-Glass as Director of Lower School—Elementary.

Debra joins us from Little Red School House & Elizabeth Irwin High School (LREI), where she served as assistant principal of the lower school. Previously, she taught kindergarten and fourth grades and held a range of other roles at Ethical Culture Fieldston School in Manhattan. Debra has a master’s in early childhood and elementary education from Bank Street Graduate School of Education, and a master’s in private school leadership from Teachers College. Debra’s first career was in the film industry, and she has a BA in radio, television and film from Temple University.

Julie Torres joined Calhoun this fall as Academic Dean, Grades 6–12.

In this new position, Julie coordinates the implementation and alignment of our academic program in the Middle and Upper School divisions. Julie has more than two decades of experience in education. She has a BA in political science from Barnard, a master’s in secondary science education from Teachers College, and an Ed.D in education leadership from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to Calhoun, Julie was the assistant principal at Paul D. Schreiber High School in Port Washington, NY.

Q&A WITH DEBRA By fifth graders Simone Adusei and Amaya Offor Amaya: What made you want to work at Calhoun?

Debra: I know a lot of teachers who got their start here, and they are some of the most amazing educators that I know.

Simone: What do you like about Calhoun?

Debra: The families, teachers and students are really welcoming.

Amaya: What was your favorite class in school?

Debra: English. I love writing, and I had a teacher in high school who told me that I could be a writer if I wanted to because I enjoyed it and did it well.

Simone: What was your favorite part of your job before you came here?

Debra: My favorite part was working with people. I like helping people get to their “aha” moments and learn something new, whether that’s students or grown-ups.

Simone: What is your favorite lunch at Calhoun so far?

Debra: I’m hoping that it’s today’s fish tacos because I love fish.

Nayantara Mhatre is Calhoun’s new Middle School Dean of Students, responsible for administering, developing and supervising all aspects of student life in the Middle School division. Prior to Calhoun, Nayantara served as diversity and social studies coordinator at Ethical Culture Fieldston School. She has a master’s in educational leadership and museum education from the Bank Street Graduate School of Education and a BA in art history from Tufts University.

Katy Saintil joined Calhoun this fall as Director of Administrative Services and Auxiliary Programs.

Katy comes to us from the School at Columbia University, where she served as director of external programs. Katy is a graduate of Columbia College and holds a master’s in nonprofit management from its School of Professional Studies.

In this new role, Katy provides strategic leadership to our after-school and summer programming, serves as the primary contact point for individuals or organizations interested in renting Calhoun’s facilities and oversees the 81st Street library, nurse and school office.

2019–2020

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Remembering Three Cherished Calhouners

Pem McCurdy Former Head of School Philip (Pem) McCurdy, who served as Calhoun’s sixth Head of School, from 1969 to 1973, passed away on August 20, 2019, at the age of 84.

Pem led Calhoun during a pivotal time in our history, guiding the school’s transformation from an all-girls’ to coeducational environment. During his tenure, he mapped the plans to relocate to our current 81st Street building, evolved our educational program, doubled enrollment and launched initiatives to involve Calhoun more in the broader community.

Pem was born in Boston and spent much of his early life in Brookline and Wellesley, MA. He earned an AB (cum laude) from Harvard College in 1956 and an MA in teaching from Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1957. His career included work in both public and private schools, as a biology teacher, science department head and science education specialist. Throughout, Pem remained dedicated to the educational and social development of young learners. He believed that “young people want help, trust and humanizing love to get on with the task of independent growth.” Pem retired in 1999 and moved with his wife, Marla, to Maine.

In addition to Marla, he is survived by two daughters, Lisa and Kristina, and three grandchildren.

THE CALHOUN CHRONICLE

Jolly Uhry Former Lower School Teacher Longtime and beloved former teacher Jolly Uhry passed away on August 26, 2019. Jolly joined Calhoun in 1973 as a Lower School art teacher, and later transitioned to teaching Lower School English. She had a passion for early childhood and connected with students in a way that brought learning to life.

Alums who were fortunate to be in her classroom often reflect on her nurturing warmth, dedication to each child’s growth, and commitment to the community.

Though she departed Calhoun in 1988, the Uhry-Thompson Award still carries her name; it is presented annually to a Calhoun teacher who demonstrates excellence in the classroom.

Jolly earned two master’s degrees and an Ed.D in education at Columbia University. She served as a member of the faculty at Teachers College until joining Fordham University, where she was a leader in preparing teachers at the Graduate School of Education for more than 20 years. She became an expert in dyslexia, with her primary research focusing on literacy education. She was named a professor emeritus at Fordham after her retirement. Jolly is survived by her husband, Alfred Uhry, who also taught at Calhoun; four daughters, all Calhoun graduates, (Emily Uhry ‘79, Elizabeth Uhry MacCurrach ‘81, Kate Uhry ‘84 and Nell Uhry Burdett ‘87); two sisters and eight grandchildren.

Glee Zusi Former Lower School Teacher We are saddened to report the death of Glee Zusi, who spent 16 years as a first and second grade teacher at Calhoun from 1986 to 2001. Glee passed away on October 3 at age 89. A graduate of SUNY Geneseo, Glee was a true Calhoun icon.

If you passed through elementary school at Calhoun in the 80s or 90s, it’s likely your path went through Glee’s classroom.

She had incredible patience and passion for teaching young minds how to read and write, focusing each child on the books that would excite them and build on their early development. Those who were fortunate to sit in her classroom circle also recall her great sense of humor and infectious laughter. In all, she prepared hundreds of kids for success in their future academic journeys. Even upon her retirement, she continued to return to Calhoun for several years in a substitute teaching role. Glee’s two children are both Calhoun alums as well. Jane Zusi Flanders ’81, who lives in Brooklyn, is a creative partner for Pentango; her son, Peter Zusi ’84, is a professor of Czech and German literature at the University College London. She also leaves behind two granddaughters, Clara (17) and Daisy (15).

SCHOOL NEWS

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Winter Fair Showcases Calhoun Creatives Liza Garrin ’08 & Stephanie Butta Bijou Sweets (dark chocolate–covered pretzels) Kate Davis ’10 Knockout (geometric rings with a self-defense edge) Denisse Jerez ’11 Holiday cookies Zach Wiener ’14 Thanks Alot NYC (clothing and embroidery) Current Parents Doris Cassar (P ’18, ’21) Retro-inspired holiday items Melissa Honore (P ’26) Made From Heaven (homemade cookies) Pamela Christman (P ’23) Seashell sculptures and shadow boxes The creativity of our community was on display at the Calhoun Winter Artists and Creatives Fair, held December 13 and 14 at 81st Street. The event featured unique handmade goods—from ceramics to jewelry, baked goods to clothing—all created by Calhoun faculty, staff, alumni, parents, students and friends.

It was a meaningful time to not only celebrate the talent of Calhouners, but also connect as a community. “The opportunity to share ideas with alums, families and colleagues was one of the most affirming experiences I’ve had at Calhoun,” says Upper School art teacher Auguste Elder, who was among the vendors at the fair.

“It was a joy to ’talk shop’ with former students who are daring to bring their ideas into the world. Many [of these] concepts began as independent study projects at Calhoun. [The winter fair] made me feel proud of our school in ways that are difficult to put into words.”

WINTER ARTISTS AND CREATIVES FAIR VENDORS Faculty & Staff Auguste Elder, Upper School art teacher Cha Bay Fine Teas & Rough Wares (wood-fired ceramics and tea ware) Amy Konen, Middle School art teacher Monolo Monkees (whimsical sock monkeys)

Angela Boswell (P ’27) Knitty & Knice (decorative knit cacti) Lisa Fireman Dorhout (P ’24) Sadie Design (custom floral and interior styling) Students Violet Clinton, fourth grade Magic wands

Francesca Canin, Upper School counselor Ceramics

Kamille Brewster ’23 and Mireia Rosenblum-Martín ’23 Shirts and lip gloss

Francesco Filiaci, Upper School science teacher Ceramics

Parents of Alumni and Friends Julia Parish, P ‘14 Julia Parish Jewelry

Katy Saintil, Director of Administrative Services and Auxiliary Programs Paintings and handmade clothing

Angelique Sub, P ‘09 ‘14 Holy Cowl (winter accessories)

Alumni Mary Engel ’79 Orkin/Engel Film and Photo Archive Ronit Segal ’85 Tinor Lages (artisan glass and jewelry) Emily Capkanis ’07 Silk hand-painted clothing and scarves

Claire Surovell, partner of alum Quilts Michele Gold, friend of Calhoun Rodan + Fields (anti-aging skincare) Jenny Lieberman, friend of Calhoun Saucey and Wubs (wire-wrapped gemstone jewelry) Angela Hopkins, friend of Calhoun Dresses and accessories made in Rwanda

2019–2020

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CURRICULUM

The Anatomy of a Classroom

By Candace Silva

For Calhoun’s youngest learners, it’s not only the curriculum but the physical space in which they learn that supports their academic development. The organization of the classroom and all of the materials that fill it nurture students’ emerging skills in unique ways, allowing Little Calhouners to stretch their thinking, make new discoveries and apply their knowledge. That’s why, when setting up their spaces, teachers make intentional choices, identifying and creating learning opportunities in every corner.

Kindergarten teacher Heather Jupiter ‘92 sheds light on the makeup of her classroom and how it supports rich learning, community-building and engagement.

“ The classroom tells a story—the story of who the kids are, what they’re interested in and the learning they’re experiencing.”

—Heather Jupiter ‘92, Kindergarten teacher

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CURRICULUM

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[1] Building Foundational Skills A space for free exploration sets the stage for learning through play. “ The block area is a place where a lot of social and emotional growth happens.

Problem-solving, collaborating, math and physics work all take place through the process of engaging with differentsize blocks and figuring out how to make something. We think about what materials we can put here to make sure that the block area is fruitful and inspiring.”

Classroom materials give students opportunities to engage in math thinking throughout the day in organic ways. “ Our math area contains manipulatives that support mathematical exploration.

For example, kids will build staircases with Cuisenaire rods, noticing along the way that the rods represent different values.”

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“ I try to think of materials for the dramatic play area that will invite the kids to explore. For example, something like the fabric net will naturally invite them to cordon off a certain space. Or maybe they’ll make a pattern while setting a table.

A lot of natural sorting, arranging and observation happens here, which supports continued mathematical thinking.”

[2] Nurturing Young Readers The deliberate display of text and the labeling of objects in the classroom support emergent literacy skills. “ The labels that we have are very functional. Some labeling also includes images so that it is accessible to our emerging readers. Manipulatives such as small wooden discs featuring sight words are available as resources for any students who want to add words to their drawings or the books that they’re writing.”

“ We also make sure to have a library full of books that reflect a variety of different identities and experiences.”

[3] Promoting Independence Students learn how to be responsible for the space around them by being entrusted with classroom objects made of natural materials. “ It’s important to entrust kids with real materials. By being given the opportunity to handle something like a teapot or a glass jar, they learn how to be respectful of materials.” “ Materials are organized in a functional way. Everything has its place and the kids are able to maintain the order of the space themselves, which further promotes independence.”

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CURRICULUM

Teacher Talks Teacher Talks is a series spotlighting the educators of Calhoun and their approach to progressive education. Read the full-length conversations and more interviews at calhoun.org/blog.

AUSTIN APPLEGATE, FOURTH GRADE MATH TEACHER In addition to teaching the foundational skills of multiplication and division, Austin Applegate equips students with the tools to form a conceptual understanding of math, fostering their ability to be confident and flexible problem-solvers.

Math fluency is not just the ability to know facts; it’s also about being creative and able to look for different kinds of solutions. You can show students a procedure and have them practice it enough so that they get it right nine out of ten times, but math is so much more than that—it’s understanding why you’re doing what you’re doing. We as a culture equate being good at math with being fast at it.

But if you don’t have an understanding of what you’re doing, at a certain point you’ll hit mathematics that you can’t do because you don’t have a conceptual knowledge of why what you’re doing works.

My goal has always been to make sure that every single learner finds the tools to master the material we’re studying in class.

CALHOUN CHRONICLE

Math is not a subject where there’s a single toolbox that we all use in the same way. When kids tell me something is hard, sometimes I’ll push back and say, “It’s just new. You haven’t done it enough to really know if it’s hard or not.” The idea of viewing struggle as a positive is tough to get kids to buy into initially, so I try to be consistent in delivering that message.

The journey of getting through struggle is going to be way more powerful than the thing that you were able to do the first time with no effort.

ELLEN KWON, UPPER SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHER Ellen Kwon wants her students to see themselves in literature. Through the analysis of complex themes like race, gender and class, Ellen introduces students to a variety of diverse authors and characters, giving them the opportunity to connect with the text in a personal way.

My goal is to teach literary analysis.

I want students to have the confidence in themselves to know that they have

something to say about a piece of literature. I want them to see themselves as writers, to be able to sit with a piece of literature, a painting or a film and form an argument, and develop confidence in their analytical writing.

Juniors read American literature, so we start with a broader discussion of the concept of the American Dream—who is included in that dream and who is not.

Then we look at the themes of coming of age, beauty, race, class and gender, reading texts such as The Bluest Eye, The Catcher in the Rye and A Streetcar Named Desire.

I want students to see themselves in the material. I want them to see each other in it, as well as their parents’ stories or those of other people they know. I think it’s important for the kids to see different voices and people on the page. We read a graphic novel called American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. The character is Chinese-American, but the issues he is facing can apply to anyone. As I move forward, it will remain important for me to continue to find works that represent different voices.

CURRICULUM

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From the Course Catalog History and Warning by Timothy Snyder; The Drowned and the Saved by Primo Levi “A theme of this course is scholarly debate,” says Jason. “We read rival interpretations and discuss how historians often disagree on how to interpret history.”

UPPER SCHOOL: UNDERSTANDING NAZI GERMANY Jason Tebbe, Upper School history teacher This social studies elective examines the history of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, challenging students to grapple with the central questions of how and why people chose to participate in this notorious regime.

Educational goals “A main goal of the course is for my students to understand that history is a process of interpretation, and for them to gain the confidence to become scholars,” says Jason. “I also want them to see the Holocaust and Nazi regime not as products of the past, but occurrences that are still relevant today.”

On the reading list I Will Bear Witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years by Victor Klemperer; Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland by Christopher R. Browning; A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary by Anonymous Excerpts from The “Hitler Myth”: Image and Reality in the Third Reich by Ian Kershaw; From Nurturing the Nation to Purifying the Volk: Weimar and Nazi Family Policy, 1918–1945 by Michelle Mouton; Black Earth: The Holocaust as

Key projects Group project: Students use primarysource research to highlight a specific aspect of the Nazi regime used to control society, such as the Hitler Youth, the Gestapo or the Ministry of Propaganda, and then educate their classmates on the topic using an engaging format, ranging from formal presentations to podcasts or zines.

Final project: Each student conducts research on an area of historical debate, such as the role of women in Nazi Germany, the concept of totalitarianism, or the human capacity toward evil.

Additional assignments include essays based on the readings, and analysis of films, Nazi art and propaganda.

surface of a work of art and consider the artist’s intent and [the work’s] cultural implications.”

On the reading list Each week students report on a current event taking place in the arts by reading news sites such as the arts section of The New York Times, Colossal, ARTnews and Artsy.

Key activities Students are involved in planning some of the visits. They must choose a location, research the cost and logistics and, with support, contact the institutions to organize the trip from beginning to end. Excursions this year included those to the Birds on Broadway sculptures on the Broadway malls, a pop-up exhibition by photographer Richard Corman, the Chuck Close subway mosaics, the Guggenheim, the Brant Foundation Art Study Center and Anna Walinska: Return to the Riverside at The Master Gallery.

MIDDLE SCHOOL: ART IN THE CITY Amy Konen, Middle School art teacher This new course leads students on an exploration of art around New York City, through visits to galleries, artists’ studios and public works. Along the way, students gain an understanding of the wide scope of art applications in the world and learn about what it means to be a working artist today.

Educational goals “My goal is for students to develop a deeper art appreciation and awareness of how much art influences our city,” says Amy. “I want students to develop their critical-thinking and interpretational skills, the ability to look beyond the

2019–2020

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CURRICULUM

Beyond Walls: Experiential Learning Across Divisions The learning our students experience reaches beyond the walls of our school buildings.

Through field trips and visits from guest speakers, the wider community becomes our students’ extended classroom. Here are some recent examples.

At the Delacorte Theater, home to the annual Shakespeare in the Park plays, Middle Schoolers in the Theater Tech class learned about what it takes to put on an elaborate production.

Upper Schoolers in Introduction to Anthropology visited museums around New York City to examine the ways in which indigenous cultures and materials are represented.

Schuyler Bailar, the first transgender athlete to compete on an NCAA Division 1 men’s team, came to Calhoun to share his personal journey with Middle and Upper School students.

At the Green Chimneys Clearpool outdoor education center in Carmel, New York, fifth graders enjoyed two days of adventure and learning in the great outdoors.

CALHOUN CHRONICLE

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Don Oshima visited an eleventh grade English class to share his experience as a child living in a Japanese internment camp during World War II.

Upper School students in Active Physics hit the streets to calculate the speed of passing cars.

Interactive activities at the National Museum of Math helped Cameras in hand, 4’s students documented the shapes they found around the neighborhood.

After learning about circuits and simple motors, second graders visited the Brooklyn Robot Foundry to make their own simple robots.

During a field trip to Bowne & Co., Stationers, Upper Schoolers in Graphic Design learned about printmaking and practiced using a letterpress.

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SCHOOL NEWS

Onstage

UPPER SCHOOL THEATER

The Laramie Project This fall the Upper School theater program staged The Laramie Project, a documentary-style play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project. The Laramie Project tells the story of twenty-one-year-old Matthew Shepard, who in 1998 was murdered near Laramie, Wyoming, because he was gay. The talent of Calhoun thespians was evident in the performance, which helped spark deeper conversations with the community.

“The issues raised by this play are important ones and worth exploring as individuals, as families and as a Calhoun community,” says Lee Kasper, Upper School theater-production teacher. With that in mind, the production team spearheaded a number of initiatives to facilitate dialogue with the audience. Before opening night, Calhoun families were emailed a copy of The Laramie Project Study Guide, created by the Brooklyn Academy of Music for their 2013 production of the play, which provided context and guiding questions for conversation.

The theater program also organized a talk-back after Calhoun’s Saturday-matinee performance with the student-actors and Grant Varjas, a member of the Tectonic Theater Project who helped conduct the interviews with Laramie residents that formed the basis of the script. Grant gave insight into the challenges experienced by the original cast and shared that he was impressed by the heights of compassion demonstrated by our students in telling the story. Indeed, the empathy displayed by our Upper School actors in tackling this heavy topic—and the reflections inspired by their performance—was a moving reminder to all of the power of theater.

CALHOUN CHRONICLE

SCHOOL NEWS

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MIDDLE SCHOOL THEATER

The Blind Date Project 1. Middle School theater students staged a production of The Blind Date Project: Scenes About First Dates, comprised of scenes from Check Please and Check Please: Take 2, by Jonathan Rand, as well as additional scenes written by Calhoun eighth graders.

The student-actors performed hilarious variations of two-person scenes highlighting the hopes and anxieties faced by couples brave enough—or desperate enough—to risk the pitfalls of going on a blind date.

MIDDLE AND UPPER SCHOOL STRINGS CONCERT

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2. Middle and Upper School strings players, along with the Upper School Percussion Ensemble, filled the theater with cheery holiday tunes during the annual Winter Concert. Senior Cashel Day-Lewis conducted Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, and then the musicians turned up the heat with performances of rock-‘n’-roll classics like Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” and Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

LOWER SCHOOL—ELEMENTARY WINTER SING 3. The Lower School Winter Sing, the season’s perpetual hit concert, once again did not disappoint! Third-through-fifth-grade students sang modern pop songs, childhood favorites, and a standout rendition of “My Shot” from the Broadway musical Hamilton, during which fifth graders took the mic to rap verses!

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4. Students from the Upper School Chorus and Vocal Workshop classes, along with the Upper School Strings Ensemble, displayed their talents with songs in Spanish, English and French.

The audience was treated to a variety of musical styles, including bachata, musical theater, pop and a cappella.

UPPER SCHOOL JAZZ NIGHT CONCERT 5. Calhoun’s jazz ensembles performed to a packed theater at the first Jazz Night of the year. Nine ensembles, featuring more than 50 student musicians, shared tunes from jazz legends Thelonious Monk, Herbie Hancock, John Coltrane and more. It truly was a wonderful evening of music for all!

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SPORTS

A Standout Season for Cougar Sports The Cougars celebrated a momentous fall season, setting the bar high for the future of Calhoun sports!

Scoreboard success came early, including the Varsity Cross Country team’s first–place finish at an early season meet, and a tremendous 2–2 tie by the Boys’ Varsity Soccer team in their first league game against rival Columbia Prep. Both the Girls’ and Boys’ Varsity Soccer teams continually earned crucial points against opponents, and the Girls’ Varsity Volleyball team won their first games without dropping a single set—a streak that continued all season long!

This fall was also the first-ever Cougar Homecoming, an event that helped keep spirits high as athletes turned toward the last half of the season. The Cougars ultimately finished strong, with every fall team earning a spot in the NYCAL post-season championship tournaments.

CALHOUN CHRONICLE

For the first time in program history, the Girls’ Varsity Soccer team made it to the NYCAL tournament, and the Boys’ Varsity Soccer team did so for the first time in more than 10 years.

The Varsity Cross Country team won third place at the NYCAL Championship Meet, and six runners went on to compete in the state championships.

The Girls’ Varsity Volleyball team won the NYCAL Tournament Championship, marking the twelfth year in a row that they’ve won either the league or tournament championship. Then, in another historic moment for Cougar sports, the team made it all the way to the finals of the NYSAIS State Tournament!

Congratulations to all our athletes for their remarkable efforts this season, which are no doubt paving the way for many more successes to come.

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Fall Season Highlights The undefeated Girls’ Varsity Volleyball team won both the NYCAL regular-season and postseason championships. The team also made it to the finals of the NYSAIS State Tournament for the first time in program history!

The Girls’ JV Volleyball team celebrated an undefeated run for the third year in a row. The team won the regular-season NYCAL Championship as well as the post-season NYCAL Tournament Championship.

The Girls’ Varsity Soccer team finished in third place in NYCAL, and made program history with a first-time appearance in the post-season playoffs. The team ultimately achieved a second-place finish in the NYCAL Tournament.

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The Boys’ Varsity Soccer team ended the season in third place in the league. The team showed grit and resilience as they secured a spot in the playoffs for the first time in more than 10 years.

The Varsity Cross Country team showed consistent growth all season long, achieving personal records meet after meet. The team finished second place in the NYCAL regular season and third place at the NYCAL Championship Meet.

Winter Season Highlights At the Blackout Calhoun Spirit Game, the Girls’ and Boys’ Varsity Basketball teams battled in front of a packed crowd to earn big wins on our home court. Both teams finished the season strong and headed to the NYCAL playoffs to fight for the championship.

At press time, the winter season was ongoing. To see results for the post-season Varsity and JV NYCAL basketball playoffs, as well as the firstever NYCAL Indoor Track Championship Meet, go to www.calhoun.org/teams.

SUMMER 2018

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HOMECOMING

Community Celebrates First-Ever Cougar Homecoming The Calhoun community came together this past fall for the first-ever Cougar Homecoming.

The week included an exciting roster of games and special events, offering students, families, faculty and alumni the chance to celebrate school pride. Throughout the week, community members cheered for the Cougars at games and meets, showing their support of the soccer, volleyball and cross-country teams. Calhouners big and small donned green and gray for energetic spirit assemblies at both the 74th and the 81st Street buildings. Upper School athletes also led special sports clinics for Lower School students, providing another chance for Cougars to connect across divisions. Beyond sports, the week provided myriad other opportunities for connection.

Upper School students had a ball at the Homecoming Dance, while alumni and faculty gathered at the Homecoming ’80s & ’90s Throwback Party. Homecoming proved to be a celebration that touched every corner of the community, with Cougar pride front and center.

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HOMECOMING

“ Homecoming was more than just a dance or a big game; it was an event that strengthened our community and was something we could all share as one.”

— Gabi Levy ‘20, Upper School student

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HOMECOMING

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“ We were glad to participate in Calhoun’s inaugural Homecoming, because these events embodied school spirit in a new and refreshing way.”

— Leslie Lewis, P ‘24, ‘24

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FEATURE

Making Mathematicians: Calhoun’s Approach to Math in Early Childhood

by Michelle Kiefer

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It’s a familiar scene in childhood: kids building a tower of blocks, carefully placing each one, until, through trial and error, their construction stands tall and secure. But there’s a lot happening below the surface of this common activity—more than mere child’s play, it’s actually the beginning of mathematical thinking and problem-solving. Through their everyday exploration, children naturally “mathematize” the world around them (studies show that even babies recognize number groupings), and it’s our job as educators to harness their natural inquisitiveness and lead them to greater discoveries.

This view of learning—in which children are actively constructing knowledge from their experiences—is known in ed-speak as “constructivism,” and it’s the framework Calhoun educators use to teach math in early childhood. Calhoun teachers focus on creating learning experiences that actively engage students and help them make important mental connections. Math teaching in our early-childhood classrooms isn’t restricted to worksheets; children investigate puzzles, ask a lot of questions and are given the space to come to their own “aha” moments. Research shows that this is the type of learning children hold on to for the rest of their lives.

“Math is an abstract language,” says Anthony Yacobellis, Lower School—Early Childhood Math Coordinator. “In order to make sense of that language, children need to have experiences behind the curtain.” The math curriculum in our early-childhood program is very hands-on, in order to give children concrete encounters with abstract ideas. For example, Lower School teachers frequently organize activities with Cuisenaire rods, colored bars that represent numbers, to illustrate concepts such as addition, subtraction or place value.

Being able to touch, see and manipulate these types of objects provides children with a tangible frame of reference, an essential foundation for the higher-level math that is to come.

The way our youngest students learn math is akin to learning a foreign language by becoming immersed in a country, rather than just memorizing a list of vocabulary.

We create lessons that put the language of math in context.

First graders recently learned about the fictional “Masloppy Family,” who needed help organizing their house. The story inspired the students to take an inventory of the objects in their classroom. They quickly realized that counting by ones was an inefficient strategy, and so they started to bundle items in groups of five or ten. Through this hands-on activity, children explored concepts of place value and multiplication in a way that connected to their lives and was ultimately much more powerful than if a teacher had simply stood in front of the room and told them how to skip-count.

When math is put in context for kids, it becomes an important part of their worlds, and they start to feel a real

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FEATURE

sense of ownership over the subject. When teachers find ways to put math into what children are already doing, children will do more math, have more fun doing it and begin to think of themselves as mathematicians. It’s no wonder, then, that Little Calhouners are unmistakably excited about doing math.

“Everyone here feels like a mathematician,” observes Alison Rothschild ’85, Director of Lower School—Early Childhood.

Little Calhouners are also learning a very important aspect of what it means to be a mathematician—it’s not always easy. “Challenge is an important part of the early-childhood math experience,” says Alison. “We want students to learn to work through difficult problems and understand that being a mathematician means trying things multiple times until you find a solution.” Calhoun teachers deliberately lead kids outside of their comfort zones to help them build resilience and confidence as problem-solvers. We create an environment in which struggle and mistakes are normalized, combating the idea that only certain students are “math people,” and further diminishing math anxiety.

The most important way we create challenge for kids is by helping them delve deeper into the concepts they’re studying.

We want children to be able to understand the “why” of math

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beyond just the execution of a series of steps. “Kids might be able to mimic what you’re doing, but it doesn’t mean they understand the concept,” says Anthony. “Memorization is not learning; it’s regurgitation.” We continually challenge students to articulate why they know what they know, to think critically and to develop new and efficient strategies for tackling problems. This focus on articulation of understanding over the memorization of procedure helps kids gain a fundamental grasp of the relationships between numbers. They become agile mathematical thinkers who can apply their knowledge to unstructured or unfamiliar problems. They can even begin to invent things that haven’t been seen before.

When you talk to Calhoun teachers, they are full of stories about students making big discoveries in math: a third grader who figured out a quicker way to do three-digit subtraction, a fourth grader who found a new way to multiply by six. Calhoun students are embracing their identities as mathematicians, thanks to the foundation they’re receiving in early childhood.

One teacher recalls that one of his students loves to exclaim, “I have a theory!” Indeed, Calhoun math classrooms are places where students can have theories and pursue them, so there’s ultimately no limit to what they can discover next.

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MATH IN ACTION: CUISENAIRE RODS Cuisenaire rods are one example of tools used by Calhoun teachers to help bring math to life for young learners. Each rod has a different color and length, turning abstract values into something that children can see and feel. Because of the tool’s effectiveness in helping students construct understanding, even college professors have been known to use Cuisenaire rods to illustrate advanced mathematical concepts. Here are a few examples of Cuisenaire rod activities from our early childhood classrooms.

Staircases (kindergarten, shown at top) Children first build a staircase with five rods, each representing a value from one to five. Next, the teacher challenges them to continue their staircase up to ten steps, while only using rods one through five and without placing two of the same rods next to each other within a single step. The teacher might also ask students to construct each sequential step using one more rod than they used on the previous step (two numbers that come together to make six, three numbers that come together to make seven, etc.). Through this activity children practice addition while exploring the different ways numbers can be composed and decomposed.

Mystery Train (first grade, shown at middle) The teacher provides a series of clues about a “train” (a horizontal line of Cuisenaire rods placed end to end) and challenges students to determine the value of the mystery train. A teacher might say, “One of my rods is two more than the other rod,” and children then build their own trains that fit the description. Through this activity, children practice addition and discover the various ways to make a number. It also promotes the idea that there can be multiple answers to a given problem. Students develop flexibility as problem-solvers through the process of continuously searching for viable solutions, looking for evidence and checking their work.

How Long, How Many? (second grade, shown at bottom) In this game, students make four-sided, solid shapes with Cuisenaire rods and place them on a 10-by-10 grid until no more space is available. To play, children roll a die to determine which rods to take—the first roll determines what size rod, and the second roll determines how many of those rods. The activity can serve as an early introduction to multiplication as students observe the different ways to form rectangles. As they calculate the area of shapes, students are exploring the big ideas of equivalency and part/whole relationships. They also practice addition, subtraction and strategic thinking by keeping track of how many spaces are covered and how many remain on the board.

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CLASS NOTES

Alumni News MARRIAGES

IN MEMORIAM

John Lakos ’77 to Elyse Upbin Lakos ’84 (2018)

Natalie Coplan Whisler ’41

Ben Seldon ’00 to Stacey Plain

Betty Leventhal Cramer ’42 (2011)

Dan Mantas ’02 to Caitlin Smith Eric Kolleger ’03 to Juliet Hitchner

Amy Gross Shimberg ’42

Roey Mizrahi ’03 to David Tenenholtz

Frances Florea Berg ’47

Blake Brie ’04 to Tom Creamer Hannah Scarritt-Selman ’05 to Kieran Delaney David Katz ’06 to Liza Young Matthew Sommer ’08 to Alyssa Greengrass

Nancy Furst Winston ’45

Patricia Wolf King ’47 Gail Shepard Bokor ’49 Judith Conrad Etkind ’53 Susan Cohen Morgan ’53 (2018) Ina Feinstone Ramras ’63 Barbara Schwartz Annis ’64 Vivian Engel Stein ’66

BIRTHS

Lynda Dunn ’70 (2016)

To Gavi Bogin-Farber ’01 and Max Bodoin, a girl, Margaux Nina

Jon Kaufmann ’78

To Josh Raeben ’01 and Sarah Raeben, a girl, Hayden

NOTE: Though many updates shared in Class Notes come directly from alumni themselves, not every item is self-submitted.

In cases where information is published elsewhere or obtained from a classmate, parent or other third party, every effort is made to contact the alum to confirm accuracy. We apologize for any errors and welcome corrections for our records. Submissions for an upcoming issue can be directed to alumni@calhoun.org.

To Lizzy Tepper ’01 and Mike Hutansel, a girl, Mollie To David Tunick ’01 and Kristina Bittner, a boy, Miles To Paloma Woo ’01 and Sam Farhi, a girl, Eliza To David Kramer ’02 and Liz Garrett, a boy, Silas Orion To Kendra Vizcaino ’02 and Marc Lico, a boy, Julian (2018) To Jack Hale ’03 and Erin Hale, a girl, Molly To Julie Otton Simpson ’04 and Jake Simpson, a girl, Annabel Rose

1940s

Natalie Jaglom Gardner ’42

s Patricia Miller Schoenfeld ’46 has had a busy year in the film industry, working as executive producer for a new documentary film, On Broadway. The film, which premiered at the Hamptons Film Festival in October and had its New York premiere at DOC NYC on November 11, traces the development of Broadway theater and features interviews with Helen Mirren, Alec Baldwin, Christine Baranski, Hugh Jackman, James Cordon and more.

Lyn Paris Dipkin ’49 lives in Bayside, NY, and is a former gallery educator at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, a living memorial to the Holocaust. She is currently on the community council at the Kupferberg Holocaust Center at Queensborough Community College, and is the proud greatgrandma of Lily Margaret Wolff, born on August 11, 2018, in Champaign, IL.

1950s

Sheryl Abrams Romanoff ’54: “After raising three children in New Rochelle, NY, I founded an executive search firm specializing in telecommunications engineers.

My husband, Jerry, and I moved to the Upper East Side and bought a

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house on the ocean in Long Beach. Sadly, Jerry passed away four years ago after 55 years of marriage, during which time we were blessed with eight grandchildren and three greatgrandchildren (with a fourth on the way). I am still close with Joan Wolf Schneeweiss ’54, and our daughters are like sisters to one another. Looking back, I believe that my Calhoun education provided a very beneficial foundation for the rest of my life. I would love to hear from anyone who shares my memories, and send best wishes to all my classmates.”

Barbara Berlan Green ’57 has retired to Boynton Beach, FL, where she writes a column, “From Where I Sit,” and contributes op-eds for her local paper. She has two daughters and four grandchildren in New York.

1960s

Maxine Margolis ’60 is the author of Women in Fundamentalism: Modesty, Marriage, and Motherhood, which was published

by Rowman & Littlefield in 2019.

She is professor emerita of anthropology at the University of Florida as well as an adjunct senior research scholar for the Institute of Latin American Studies at Columbia University. Her research has focused on Brazilian culture and society, international migration, Brazilian emigration and cross-cultural gender roles.

In 2014, she received a lifetime contribution award by the Brazilian Studies Association.

Stephanie Rose ’60 launched a website, stephanierose-arts.com, featuring an overview of her artwork from 1963 to the present.

CLASS NOTES

She recently relocated to a new apartment on the Upper East Side.

areas of food, eating and body image.

Susan Brown ’62 retired in 2019 and is enjoying traveling with friends—to the Norwegian fjords, Scottish Highlands, South America, Cuba and Southeast Asia—and doing volunteer work with the immigrant community in New York City.

Caren Rabinowitz ’68 moved to Greensboro, NC, in August 2019.

She spent her career as a librarian and researcher, which included 13 years as a reference librarian for the law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP. She is also a volunteer with the ASPCA.

Marilyn Allman Maye ’65 just released a new memoir with co-authors from her undergraduate days. The book, Seven Sisters and a Brother: Friendship, Resistance, and Untold Truths Behind Black Student Activism in the 1960s, documents the authors’ experience in a predominantly white educational institution, Swarthmore College, in the 1960s, chronicling challenges and victories that are still relevant today. See more at sevensistersandabrother.com

Merri Weinger ’68 relocated from Washington, D.C., to Berkeley, CA, in 2018, following her retirement from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

During her 11 years in that job, she managed the Bureau for Global Health’s environmental health program.

Marian Kornicki ’66, who lives in Roslyn Heights, NY, traveled to Birmingham, AL, in April on a civil rights trip that was organized by Central Synagogue in Manhattan. Marian is licensed in psychotherapy, with more than 20 years of experience treating individuals and groups in the

t Belle Adler ’69, who joined a Calhoun On-the-Road lunch gathering in Berkeley, CA, in April 2019, is an admissions evaluator for the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley.

She was previously a professor at the Northeastern University School of Journalism, and also spent nine years as a producer for CNN. She now lives just north of Berkeley with her son Jack, a junior in high school. She welcomes any Calhoun alum in the neighborhood to get in touch!

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Spring Reunions ALUMNAE REUNION Friday, May 29, 2020 10:30am – Tour & Class Visit 12:30pm – Luncheon Celebrating the classes of 1945, 1950, 1955, 1960, 1965, 1970 calhoun.org/reunionluncheon

ALUMNI REUNION Alumni Reunion Friday, June 5, 2020 6:30–9pm Celebrating the classes of 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 calhoun.org/alumreunion

On-the-Road lunch in San Francisco: (L-R) Bart Hale ’00, Marco Aurelio ’80, Lis McKinley ’77, Laura Milvy ’79, Belle Adler ’69

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CLASS NOTES

Monica Bernier ’69 had a solo exhibition of recent paintings at the Bowery Gallery in New York City in April and May 2019.

She also showed her work at BCK Fine Arts in Montauk, NY, in September 2019.

Candy Kugel ’69 was honored in April 2018 by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which held a mini-retrospective of Candy’s work and premiered her latest animated short, I, Candy, at an event titled An Evening with Candy Kugel. Candy has been running her animation company, Buzzco Associates, for 35 years.

She won an Emmy award in 2008 for Outstanding Writing for a Children’s Series for Buzzco’s contribution to the series Between the Lions. Candy celebrated her 50th Reunion at Calhoun last June.

Roberta Lindenbaum Ende ’69 has the new title of Calhoun grandparent! Her daughter, Melanie, enrolled Sasha, age three, in Calhoun this past fall.

Roberta and her husband, Michael, live in Great Neck, NY. Diane Winston ’69 met up with Calhoun during our On-the-Road visit to Los Angeles in April 2019.

Diane is the Knight Chair in Media and Religion for the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Her area of expertise includes religion, politics and the media. She is the author of RedHot and Righteous: The Urban Religion of the Salvation Army (1999), Faith in the Market: Religion and the Rise of Urban Commercial Culture (2003) and Small Screen, Big Picture: Television and Lived Religion (2009). She received a bachelor’s

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degree from Brandeis University, a master’s in theological studies from Harvard Divinity School, a master’s in journalism from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in religion from Princeton University.

1970s

moving-management company, Let’s Make Room, Lis offered practical advice on managing space. Lis was at Calhoun’s On-the-Road lunch in Berkeley, CA, in April 2019. See more at letsmakeroom.com

Betsy Kulkin Bailey ’71 retired in June 2019 after 40 wonderful years in education, as a teacher (five of those at Calhoun, in the Middle and Upper Schools), dean of students and principal. She loves the leisurely pace of life without an alarm clock and enjoys reading, cooking, exploring the Oregon coast and mountains, and spending time with family.

s Susan Gans ’71 reunited with Karen Schatz ’72 and Betsy Burr ’73 at the Calhoun On-the-Road reception in Los Angeles in April 2019. Susan, who holds a JD from Columbia University Law School, specializes in entertainment law, and has worked in that capacity for Twentieth Century–Fox, Turner Broadcasting and ABC Studios.

Karen works as VP of sales and business development for S&W Communications, while Betsy is an esthetician, specializing in skin care.

Lis McKinley ’77 was featured in an article in Business Insider, “How to Declutter Your Home, from People Who Know.” As the owner of a home-organizing and

s John Lakos ’77 and Elyse Upbin Lakos ’84 were married on November 20, 2018. The couple married in NYC and then enjoyed a honeymoon in Greece. John relocated from New Jersey to live with Elyse in Frisco, TX, and is approaching his 20-year mark as a senior software architect for Bloomberg. Meanwhile, Elyse continues her 25-year career as a psychotherapist and is the executive director of a private group counseling practice, New Perspectives Counseling Services.

Alex Schwartz ’77 served as co-producer for the hit 2019 film The Addams Family. She worked alongside Maggie Jakobson Wheeler ’77, who voiced the role of Trudy Pickering. Last April, Maggie was also the speaker for a Calhoun On-the-Road alumni reception in Beverly Hills, where she spoke about her own career path and current work directing the Golden Bridge Community Choir in Hollywood.

Jon Kaufmann ’78 tragically passed away on March 26, 2019,

at the age of 58. He had a career in publishing, working for Kaufman Proofing Services in New York.

Among those he leaves behind include his wife, Amy Kaufmann, his parents, Carole and Mark Kaufmann, and his sister, Susan.

Susan Eisenstein Batterton ’79 met up with classmates for their 40th Reunion last year, joined by her husband, Kevin. The couple lives in Larchmont, NY, where Susan has been a real estate salesperson for the past six years, a licensed agent with Compass since 2018. As a student at Calhoun, Susan received the “Most Involved Volunteer Award,” so it is not surprising that she continues to give back as a board member for the town of Mamaroneck, where she is on the Drug Culture Committee.

Sloan Schickler ’79: “I have been living with my family two blocks from Calhoun for almost 22 years. I am a commercial attorney concentrating in finance and asset-based lending. I have— two daughters at Vanderbilt University, one a freshman and one a senior. My husband is a physician, and we travel often, including skiing in Switzerland last year. Teddie Weyr ’79 and I are still close friends.”

1980s

Yvette Malcioln ’80 visited Calhoun in June with classmate Laura Rubenstein ’80 to tour the facilities and reconnect. Yvette works for the U.S. Agency for International Development and has been living in Ghana, but she was stateside to tour colleges with her daughter. Laura lives in Chicago, where she is a social worker with the Chicago public school system.

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Alumni Profile Constructing His Own Path: Fred Taverna ’80

By Michelle Kiefer and Bart Hale ‘00

Calhoun was in the throes of innovation when Fred was a student here. Head of School Gene Ruth had just opened the 81st Street building with a cutting-edge open floor plan and an interdisciplinary, learner-centered program. Fred thrived in this progressive environment, which he said helped fan the flames of his entrepreneurial interests. “I found the [open space at Calhoun] exciting, useful and collaborative,” he recalls. “[My time at Calhoun] definitely translated to how I think about work now— you set your own goals, your own pace and your own learning.”

“[My time at Calhoun] definitely translated to how I think about work now—you set your own goals, your own pace and your own learning.”

Fred Taverna ’80 has built a career around his passion. This year marks Fred’s 40th Calhoun reunion, and as he reflects back on his journey from graduation to now, he has a lot to be proud of. Fresh out of Calhoun, he founded a construction business, which has since grown from a one-man show to three successful companies. And after decades in the industry, he finds that his work only continues to evolve and expand.

Since he was a child, Fred always loved building things.

He constructed robots at a young age, and begged his mother for his first drill when he was in elementary school. At Calhoun, where he started in eighth grade, he gravitated toward the sciences. He intended to major in physics in college, but by the time graduation rolled around, Fred had been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug, and took a year off to start his own company.

He enrolled at Pace University, where he majored in real estate and insurance and juggled a full-time course load—all while establishing his construction business.

Fred, who lives with his wife in Pelham, NY, has two daughters and two sons—one of whom is already working alongside Fred in the family business. Currently, Fred is the president of NY Interior Construction and DaVinci Kitchen & Stone Works, and the managing partner of 7Haus Kitchens. Despite running three different companies, Fred shows no signs of slowing down. His drive and passion were obvious as he walked us through his modern showroom recently, talking animatedly about the current trends in space utilization. “Everyone wants open space and kitchens that can connect to the rest of their home, but those spaces need to be designed efficiently in cities like New York,” he noted, while opening cabinets and sharing design features.

He also described an upcoming project to transform an abandoned waterfront mill into a complex of residential and business spaces, one of many ventures Fred is excited to pursue next.

When asked what he would tell a current Calhoun student interested in starting a business, Fred doesn’t hesitate: “Go for it,” he says. “There’s a lot of fulfillment in working for yourself.”

His best advice to aspiring entrepreneurs? “Work for someone else first, find a mentor and learn from both their mistakes and their successes.” Fred has certainly learned a lot during his years in business, but like all great entrepreneurs, he’s not done exploring—and there’s no telling what he will build next.

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CLASS NOTES

Dana Pollan ’80 is back at Calhoun in a new role; she and her husband, Mitchell, are parents to Cameron ’23, who began ninth grade this past fall.

and she lives with her family in New York. She has also written several young adult novels; her book Crunch Time was nominated for an Edgar Award in 2007.

Richard Serling ’80 celebrated the graduation of his daughter, Ali, from Syracuse University in May 2019. Aunt Lori Serling Sklar ’75 and cousins Andrew Sklar ’07 and Robin Sklar ’14 joined the celebration. Ali is now working toward a master’s in social work from Fordham University.

Alicia Rosenthal Bohn ’86 and her husband, Robert, became new Calhoun parents this past fall when their son, Callum, entered the Upper School as a ninth grader. Alicia has been a real estate agent for Halstead Property for the past five years. In 2019 she started her own interior design practice, DNAHomestyling LLC.

s Mark Fowler ’81 will assume the role of chief executive officer at the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding on June 1, 2020. Tanenbaum is a secular, nonsectarian nonprofit whose work is to combat religious prejudice. Mark has been with Tanenbaum for 13 years and is excited to continue to fulfill the center’s mission.

Matthew Pearl ’82 is now a published author. His first book, Bad Baby (A Guide to Living Your Life, Regardless) came out in September. Matthew lives in Bonn, Germany, and is a writer, producer and coach.

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(L-R) Patty Goldstick ’83, Kriss Roebling ’83, Michael McCormick ’84 and Rama Wiener Dunayevich ’84 on the Brooklyn Bridge

s Patty Goldstick ’83 stopped by Calhoun in November with Rama Wiener Dunayevich ’84 to visit and show the school to their kids.

Rama and her daughter, Kika, were in town from Mill Valley, CA, where Rama is senior manager of brand for Autodesk. Patty is director of the Early Childhood Center at Temple Shaaray Tefila in Bedford, NY, a position she assumed last July after eight years as a nursery school director in White Plains.

She was excited to show Calhoun to her son, Max. They went on to meet Michael McCormick ’84 and his wife, Susan, for a private tour of the Brooklyn Bridge, led by Kriss Roebling ’83.

Fredric Miggins ’83 continues his career in nonprofit marketing and communications, but he made a move from New Jersey to Washington, D.C., last spring to take on a new role. After eight years at Eye to Eye, a national nonprofit that mentors students with learning differences, he is now senior manager of marketing and communications for NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Kriss Roebling ’83 brought the Calhoun eighties band Capital

Punishment back together for a reunion show in February 2019.

The band, which features Kriss on vocals and guitar, Ben Stiller ’83 on drums, Peter Swann ’83 on bass and Peter Zusi ’84 on guitar, played to a packed audience of Calhoun classmates and friends at Le Poisson Rouge in New York. The group showcased music from their re-released album Roadkill, along with material from their new EP, This Is Capital Punishment. The spotlight on the band continued this past summer, when Pitchfork Media released a documentary film, Roadkill: The Story of Ben Stiller’s Teenage Punk Band Capital Punishment, complete with rare photos and video, band interviews and even appearances by science teacher John Roeder and former English teacher David Wasser!

The band has also been featured in Rolling Stone and Newsweek, and they’ve received an offer to record new material at Abbey Road Studios in London.

Mariah Fredericks ’84 published a new novel in February 2019, Death of a New American, a followup to her 2018 novel, A Death of No Importance. Mariah is a graduate of Vassar College with a BA in history,

1990s

Bill Surkis ’90 took on a new position last July as associate chief academic officer for the Main Line Health System, a health care system in suburban Philadelphia. He will continue in his previous roles as internal medicine program director and vice chairman of medicine. Bill’s career as a physician spans nearly 20 years since he earned his MD from Drexel University’s MCPHahnemann School of Medicine.

He, his wife, Nicole, and their four children live in Swarthmore, PA, and he caught up with Calhoun at a regional gathering in Philadelphia in early 2019.

Brian Taylor ’91 celebrated his one-year wedding anniversary on December 15 to Rea Abaniel, a certified physician assistant who practices at the National Research Institute. Brian helped to plan the April 2019 Calhoun Onthe-Road reception in Los Angeles, where he and Rea live. Brian also created a number of short films in 2019 (in addition to his active voice-over career), including Sh*t Filipino Parents Actually Say, a comedy available on YouTube

CLASS NOTES

about a Filipina girlfriend who leaves her white Jewish boyfriend alone with her family.

Petersen Harris ’93 joined Temple Hill Entertainment as head of publishing in 2015, where he was brought on to create adult and children’s fiction, and has played a role in publishing more than 10 novels, several now set up as film and TV projects. Petersen previously worked at Penguin Random House, where he was part of Random House Films and ran the Penguin Development Group. He lives in Santa Monica, CA, with his wife, Breda, and their two children, Scarlett (nine) and Oliver (six).

Lauren Perry McVicker ’93 and her husband, Mike, live in Laguna Beach, CA. Lauren is a practitioner of Brennan Healing Science, a system that combines hands-on energy healing techniques with spiritual and psychological awareness. She also serves as a board member for the Extraordinary Lives Foundation.

Mike works as an insurance agent for State Farm. See more at: soulyforyou.com

s Imani Walker ’93 was featured on the Bravo network reality-TV show Married to Medicine: Los Angeles in 2019. Imani is a licensed forensic psychiatrist and chief medical officer at Gateways

Hospital and Mental Health Center in L.A. She earned her undergraduate degree at Xavier University of Louisiana, a master’s of science in public health from Tulane University and her medical degree from the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine. In a feature story in Essence magazine on March 22, 2019, Imani explains that she went on the show “to empower little girls to know that they, too, can pursue medicine and psychiatry and to show Black people—Black women especially— that there are Black psychiatrists out there.” See more at: doctor-imani.com Lisandra Canales ’94: “I gave birth to my daughter, Lily Belle, on December 17, 2018. In March 2019, I decided to quit my job to become a stay-at-home mom. I also moved to New Jersey from the Bronx two years ago. Through all of my life’s big moments, my wonderful friends Jody Weinstein ’94, Gwen Munson ’94, Kate Niven ’94, Alejandra Navarro-Benbow ’94 and Allyson Kamins ’94 have been a part of it all. In addition to [getting] a great education [there], the friendships I created at Calhoun with all of these women are priceless.”

Alejandra Navarro-Benbow ’94 is living in West Chester, PA, where she works at the Westtown School, balancing many roles: middle school diversity coordinator, middle school world language teacher, and track and field coach. Last June, she helped to organize her class’s 25th Reunion at Calhoun.

Katherine Ovalle ’94 marks her 10th year as an attorney for the Social Security Administration this May. She received her JD from

The Catholic University of America and lives in Burke, VA, with her husband, Billy. She was back at Calhoun last year, reconnecting with classmates at her 25th Reunion.

Nora Zelevansky ’95 published a cover story in The New York Times style section on November 20 titled “The Big Business of Unconscious Bias.” The story looks at the booming diversity, equity and inclusion industry, with a look at how companies are adding resources to address inequities within their firms. Nora is also the author of several novels and she works as a freelance journalist and brand strategist. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.

Kilolo Strobert ’96 is pursuing her passion as a wine specialist.

She has a culinary arts and marketing degree from Johnson & Wales University and diverse experience in wholesale, retail and restaurant wine sales and marketing. Kilolo has spent the past two years as a wine specialist for FreshDirect and also leads independent wine seminars, consultations, tastings and events.

Elie Gamburg ’97 has had another trailblazing year as an architect, now in his 12th year with the design firm KPF. Several of his projects have been credited with awards: Royal Atlantis was a World Architecture Forum finalist for best hotel; NYU Shanghai won an award for excellence in planning a new campus from the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP); and Peking University School of Transnational Law won an honor award among all new academic buildings in Asia at the AIA Hong Kong Design Awards.

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Rebecca Tunick Gotlieb ’97 changed careers last summer after 13 years working in compliance for BNP Paribas. Teaming up with her husband, Dan, she is now chief operating officer for Digs Realty, a residential real estate brokerage that operates in NYC. In her role, which includes strategy and business development, Rebecca is expanding Digs to other areas, including Westchester and Long Island. “The platform is unique in that it offers rebates and discounts to clients, making home ownership more affordable,” Rebecca explains.

Jeremy Basescu ’98 recently moved to the Philadelphia area with his wife, Rachael, and their two daughters, Gabby (nine) and Sadie (five). After 12 years at the arts-education organization Story Pirates, he took on a position as manager of volunteer services with the Middle States Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools, where he facilitates evaluation visits for schools seeking accreditation and provides support to principals and teachers.

Katya Tepelyan ’98 may be our lone alum who lives in Hawaii!

“I run a completely remote business with people all over the world,” explains Kat, a software engineer who runs a digital agency for a wide range of clients.

See more at: igotkat.com Joey Gothelf ’99 was the “farthest traveled” for his 20th Reunion last June, making the trip cross-country from Covelo, CA. He is co-owner at WildLand, a 10-acre cannabis farm in Mendocino County, where he oversees sales and collaboration with dispensaries.

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ALUMNI EVENTS

F RIDAY, DEC EMBE R 20

Alumni Holiday Luncheon

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A record turnout of alums gathered back at Calhoun in December for the annual holiday lunch, which welcomes grads home from college.

The classes of 2016 to 2019 were all well represented, along with seniors and their teachers.

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1. Oliver Rauch ’19 2. (L-R) Oscar Llodra ‘20, Matthew Glimcher ’19, Jesse Fields ’19 and Theo Dolan ‘20

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3. Tibarek Vexler ’19 and Grace Peters ’20 4. (L-R) Kochan Kleps ’19, Fernando Rueda ’19, Michelle Chubaryov ’19, Ethan Quigley ’19 and JB Denamiel ’19

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5. Jeff Metheney ’19 and Nate Fingeret ’18 6. (L-R) Tallulah Hunt ‘18, Eugene Padayogdog ‘18, Gianna Stock ‘18 and Becca Horowitz ‘18

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ALUMNI CLASSEVENTS NOTES

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M O R E P HOTOS O NLINE calhoun.org/alummedia STU NT NEWSMAKE TH UDE RSDAY, NOVEMBERRS 2 1

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Alumni Pub Night Alums spanning two decades packed into Jake’s Dilemma last November to kick off the Thanksgiving season at our annual Pub Night. They were joined by former teachers and Head of School Steve Solnick for this long-standing, festive celebration.

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1. Hannah Klingenstein ’13 and Lily McMillan ’13 2. (L-R) Sophie Harris ’06, US counselor Francesca Canin, Samara Savino Antolini ’06 and Athletics Director Sabrina Spiegel Zurkuhlen ’06

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3. US English teacher Ellen Kwon and Adam Horowitz ’14.

4. (L-R) Clio Sherman ‘13, Antonio Robayo ‘12, Carson Rey ‘12, Jana Gharzeddine ’13

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5. (L-R) David Honick ’02, Audrey Black ’02 and Martin Chapman ’02 6. (L-R) Michael Leavitt ’15, Director of Alumni Relations Bart Hale ’00 and Zeus Rocancourt ’15

WINTER 2015 2019–2020

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CLASS NOTES

2000s

s Ben Seldon ’00 celebrated his marriage to Stacey Plain on June 29, 2019, at Fresh Meadow Country Club in Lake Success, NY. They were joined by Calhoun classmates Steve Feldman ’00, Gabe Marks-Mulcahy ’00 and Mark Rentschler ’00. The couple honeymooned in South Africa. Ben holds his MBA in entrepreneurship from Babson College and spends his time running his companies, Seldon Real Estate Development and Seldon Marketing.

18, the Moon New York City travel guide. Chris shared the book with the Calhoun community at the Cougar Homecoming this past fall. The guide is now available on Amazon.

Yugo Nakamura ’01 has returned to school to pursue his passion in film, working toward an MFA in screenwriting at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.

He previously worked in postdistribution and digital cinema, most recently for Paramount Pictures and Legendary Entertainment.

s Josh Raeben ’01 and his wife, Sarah, had a baby girl, Hayden, on June 26. “She’s doing great!” says Josh. Hayden’s big brother, Emmett, turned three in March.

Josh, who is a NYC firefighter, lives with his family in Larchmont, NY. (L-R) Gavi Bogin-Farber ‘01 and Paloma Woo ‘01

s Gavi Bogin-Farber ’01 celebrated the arrival on November 25 of a baby girl, Margaux Nina, who joined older brother Remi Nicholas, age three.

Gavi lives with her children and husband, Max Bodoin, in Boston, where she is a senior associate in the law firm of Messing, Rudavsky & Weliky, P.C., which specializes in plaintiffs’ employment law.

Christopher Kompanek ’01 had his first book published on June

CALHOUN CHRONICLE

t Lizzy Tepper ’01 is a proud new mom to a baby girl, Mollie, born on August 14. Lizzy and her husband, Mike, live on the Upper West Side,

where she is a special education teacher focusing on early childhood. For the last three years, she has been a head teacher at the JCC Manhattan nursery school.

his wife, Liz, live in Brooklyn, and David is now in his 13th year with Morgan Stanley Private Bank.

Paloma Woo ’01 brought a baby girl, Eliza, into the world on December 18. Paloma and her husband, Sam, live in Brooklyn.

Paloma has served as senior manager for crisis services at The Trevor Project for the past three years.

Carlos-Antonio Quintana ’02 returned to Calhoun on May 30 for a panel and workshop on the bail reform movement led by the Upper School Empowered Citizens Club. Carlos is the director of college access for the John Jay College Prisoner Reentry Institute.

He was joined by fellow panelist Sophia Morel ’98, director of education and employment services for the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services (CASES).

David Honick ’02 graduated with his MBA in 2018 from ESADE business and law school in Barcelona, Spain. He returned to New York and began a consulting job in sales and marketing at Corporate Citizenship, a boutique sustainability consulting firm.

s David Kramer ’02 celebrated the arrival of a baby boy, Silas Orion, on April 30, 2019. David and

s Daniel Mantas ’02 married Caitlin Smith on July 5 at a ceremony and reception held at the Music Box in Cleveland, OH. The wedding was packed with Calhouners, including best man Jack Carroll ’02, Dan’s sister Jessica Mantas Leaver ’02, David Kramer ’02, Carlos Quintana ’02, Danny Eddy ’02, Basil Wajdowicz ’02 and Roberto Soto Carrion ’03. Dan and Caitlin live in New York. Since 2018 he has worked in financial services for MassMutual. t Kendra Vizcaino ’02 and her husband, Marc Lico, celebrated the first birthday of their son, Julian, on November 29. “Marc is an

CLASS NOTES

assistant general manager for The Smith restaurant, and I’ve been working as a freelance food writer/ editor for the Today show for the past three years,” Kendra shares.

They live on the Upper East Side.

s Jack Hale ’03 and his wife, Erin, welcomed their second daughter, Molly, on September 11.

Their older daughter, Eliza, is now three and already loving the big-sister role, and Calhoun’s Director of Alumni Relations, Bart Hale ’00, is their very proud uncle! Jack, Erin and the two girls live in Rochester, NY. Eric Kolleger ’03 and Juliet Hitchner were married on October 2 at Spillian, an 1880s Gilded Age mansion in the Catskills. Eric proposed in Ravello, Italy, and the couple honeymooned in Iceland.

They are living in Forest Hills, NY.

by 85 of their closest friends and family, including fellow Calhoun alums Emily English Dimon ’03, Jessica Mantas Leaver ’02, Marcsi Mysak ’03, and Basil Wajdowicz ’02 and their partners.

Ali Green ’03 was the officiant and conducted a memorable ceremony.

s Blake Brie ’04 started working for Abbott Nutrition as the pediatric clinical specialist for New York and New Jersey in November 2018. On April 6, 2019, she married Tom Creamer at a wedding in Mexico. Calhoun classmates Katie Slade ’04, Rosanna Volchok ’04, Ella Glaser ’04, Victoria Miller ’04 and Emily Deutchman ’04 were in attendance. t Duval Culpepper ’04 is a comedian and writer who authored

s Roey Mizrahi ’03 was married in March 2019 at the Ace Hotel & Swim Club in Palm Springs, CA, to David Tenenholtz, surrounded

a new book in 2019, How to Manage Your Girlfriend’s White Guilt: And Other Horrifying Tales of Rich White Liberals. Much of Duval’s journalism and other writings can be found on his blog, culpeppercontent.com.

s Julie Otton Simpson ’04 and her husband, Jake, celebrated the arrival of their daughter, Annabel Rose, on June 14, 2019. Julie is the business development manager for the Project Finance Group at Allen & Overy. The family lives on the Upper West Side.

Justin Kruger ’05 has been working for video game company Ubisoft for more than six years, and moved with the company to Montreal in 2016. His work centers around digital marketing campaigns on social media platforms.

Nat Prinzi ’05 lives in Los Angeles, where he continues to be an entrepreneurial force in the entertainment industry. Since 2011 his production company, Betterdays Media (co-founded with Owen Rosenblum ’05), has been creating and producing commercials, branded content, music videos, short films, docuseries and television episodes. Among these projects, Nat co-created, executiveproduced and directed the

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seven-episode docuseries The Machine (alongside executive producer LeBron James), as well as executive-produced and directed NFL Network’s Football Town: Calabasas. His recent short film It’s A Mess, starring Vincent D’onofrio and Lucia Prinzi ’19, has received 60 official selections globally, with 20-plus wins.

s Hannah Scarritt-Selman ’05 married Kieran Delaney on October 12, 2019, in a celebration at Bayberry Beer Hall in Providence, RI. Calhoun friends in attendance included Nina Kompanek Leksin ’05 and Jackie Liotta ’05 as well as faculty Jema Asia, Andrea Solomon-Gutierrez, Fernanda Couto, Jessica Nelson and Alison Levosky. Hannah’s brother, Sam Scarritt-Selman ’08, served as one of the best people and walked down the aisle with Tillie Scarritt. Hannah has been working at Calhoun for the past 10 years, currently serving as Middle School Coordinator.

Samara Savino Antolini ’06 has been working in college counseling in New York since 2013.

She transitioned last summer to the role of college counselor at The Dalton School after six years at The Chapin School.

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CLASS NOTES

continues to build a community of fellow art lovers who value and support film. She is also a writer (mainly of plays and poetry) and avid traveler (17 countries, 26 states!).

in prime brokerage and wealth management. In July, she joined tZERO Group as senior client relationship manager. tZERO seeks to revolutionize capital markets through tokenizing assets and facilitates trading through blockchain.

s David Katz ’06 married Liza Young on May 4, 2019, in a ceremony and celebration at The Montauk Club in Brooklyn. In attendance were Evan Peters ’06 as groomsman, and cousin Debbie Havas Aronson ’79, while David’s aunt Pat Havas (former Assistant to Head of School at Calhoun) celebrated with them in spirit from her home. For the past year, David has been working as senior director of renewable energy for G&S Solar, while Liza is a senior librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library. They live in Brooklyn with their scruffy mutt, Callie.

Patrick Solomon ’07 works as a content producer at production company Rota6 Films, which is producing a feature-length documentary about inclusive education, tentatively titled Forget Me Not. “Our main intent for the project is to show how an increase in public inclusive education around the world would be a progressive step toward giving all children the best opportunity to lead fulfilling lives,” Patrick shares. See more at: forgetmenotdocumentary.com Nicole Cahill-Yi ’08 departed Morgan Stanley in June, after nearly five years where she worked as an account manager

CALHOUN CHRONICLE

Molly O’Steen ’08 has rejoined the Calhoun community as the theater teacher in Lower School— Elementary. She received her BA in theater education from Emerson College, and a dual MS and certification in childhood education and special education from Hunter College. Prior to Calhoun, Molly worked as a third and fourth grade teacher at the Rodeph Sholom School. t Matthew Sommer ’08 married Alyssa Greengrass on October 13, 2018, at the Fresh Meadow Country Club in Lake Success, NY. In attendance were his mother, Elizabeth Masket Sommer ’76, father, Jonathan Sommer, sister, Allison Sommer ’11, grandmother (and Calhoun Honorary Trustee) Joan Masket, aunt Mary-Ellen Masket Stein ’74, Sheryl Presser ’76, Andrew Ronan ’07, Ryan Green ’08 and Rachel LippinFoster ’11. Matthew is an associate at the law firm Latham & Watkins in New York.

s Daria Di Lello ’09 spoke to Upper School students at the ninth annual Cougar Career Symposium last year, sharing her experience at Condé Nast as a photo research editor for Vogue.com, where she managed a team responsible for visually manifesting Vogue’s identity online. Last September, she transitioned to GQ, where her responsibilities have expanded to include producing and commissioning original photo shoots for print and web.

Caroline Cantone ’10 just returned to NYC in fall 2019 after completing her master’s in media and communications at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Willy Kane ’11 started his own not-for-profit, Wasteless, which was incorporated in January 2019. The organization’s mission is to create a world without waste through education, working with young people and their communities to plan and implement sustainability projects.

See more at: wearewasteless.com

2010s =

Amanda Bogacz Montero ’10 is a development systems associate at Film at Lincoln Center; she started working there as an usher after graduating college. “I get to spend every day working in the arts, which has been a lifelong passion,” she reflects. Outside of her day job, she works on film festivals and

(L-R) Allison Sommer ‘11, Honorary Trustee Joan Masket, Matthew Sommer ‘08, Alyssa Greengrass, Elizabeth Masket Sommer ‘76 and Jonathan Sommer

s Claire Baum ’12 completed the New York City marathon last November. While not on the run, she is senior growth analyst for Ampush. “I’ve helped grow user bases for companies such as Squarespace, Airbnb, StubHub and Esurance,” she explained to Calhoun students last year as a panelist at the ninth annual Cougar Career Symposium.

Simon Gilbert ’12 left his job as a physics teacher at Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn and began graduate school at

CLASS NOTES

Boston University in September, pursuing a master of science degree in electrical engineering.

Sam Sasson ’12 lives in California and joined Calhoun’s On-the-Road reception in Los Angeles last April. He continues to work in the evolving cannabis industry, and in January 2019 began working for Integrated Farms (CaliGreenGold/ the Truth), where he is an account executive, brand ambassador and social media marketing manager.

Alex Tritto ’12 started a new job as a sales assistant at Penguin Random House in September 2019.

Her transition comes after two years as an editorial assistant at Rosen Publishing. “It is incredibly exciting to champion authors and narratives that possess the power to foster a lifelong love of reading,” Alex reflects. She holds a BA in English language and literature from Connecticut College.

Saskia Fleishman ’13 has continued to pursue her passion in painting and ceramics since her graduation from Rhode Island School of Design in 2017. Based in Brooklyn, Saskia has been engaged in multiple residencies, and her work has appeared in exhibits from Miami to Rome to Lisbon. Much of her artwork is generated from landscape photographs taken around the Chesapeake Bay area and recomposed as geometric abstractions or color studies.

See more at: saskiafleishman.com Sam Ohiomah ’13 is an equity research associate, with experience in the consumer packaged foods and software sectors. He spent a year at Wells Fargo Securities, and in September

2019 began a new job with William Blair, where he covers capital goods in the global industrial infrastructure sector.

Jake Wegweiser ’13 moved back to New York from Boston last summer after two years with the customer data company BlueConic, and has joined his family’s business, Horticultural Creations, as VP of strategy.

Horticultural Creations provides custom plant, floral, holiday and lighting decor to bring spaces to life in hotels, restaurants, management companies, commercial buildings and more.

See more at: hcinc.org Kazumi Fish ’15 is spending the year in Aomori, Japan, where she is an assistant language teacher for the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program. Kazumi’s work overseas follows her graduation last May from Wesleyan University, where she majored in English with a minor in East Asian Studies and served as an editorial assistant for the Wesleyan University Press as well as an editor for the Ankh, Wesleyan’s publication for students, faculty and staff of color.

s Zeus Rocancourt ’15 is back on the court at Calhoun as a coach

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Alums Return for Blackout Calhoun Spirit Day and Alumni Basketball Game

Our recent grads were back in full force on Friday, January 10, as Calhoun celebrated its Blackout Spirit Day. (Above) Former Girls’ Varsity Basketball players reunited with the current team to cheer on their game against UNIS. (Below) Alums from the classes 2015–2019 challenged 80s and 90s grads in the Alumni Basketball Game.

for the Boys’ Middle School Basketball team. As a Calhoun student, Zeus had a 1,000-point career on the Varsity Boys’ Basketball team and helped lead them to the NYSAIS tournament. He attended Syracuse University, graduating with a BS in entrepreneurial studies in retail last May. Zeus is also co-founder of the entertainment and hospitality company Ambrosia LSZ.

Dalas Zeichner ’15 is working toward an MPH at the Boston University School of Public Health, with an interest in training in mental health and substance abuse. “I also remain active as an EMT in Boston and teaching EMT classes at Boston University,” Dalas writes. “In the long run, I want to be able to connect my clinical work in EMS with my public health practice to impact the greater public.”

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CLASS NOTES

Calhoun Summer Camps (L-R) Director of Alumni Relations Bart Hale ‘00 visited Nick Potoker ‘17, Eli Fortunato ‘18 and Stef Sarantis ‘18 on the Tulane University campus in March 2019.

Isaac Bale ’16 released a new film, Selves/Separate Selves, which was nominated for the university award for both Best Cinematography and Best Experimental Film at the Rough Cut Film Festival in 2019. Isaac is a senior at Ithaca College with a major in cinema production.

He made his short-film debut in 2017 with the release of his passion project, Happy Boy, which he starred in as well.

s Tania Calle ’16 was named a Truman Scholar in April!

This highly competitive award is given to students demonstrating exceptional leadership potential who are committed to careers in

CALHOUN CHRONICLE

public service. Now in her senior year at Williams College, Tania plans to pursue graduate studies to develop clinical and political analysis skills in preparation for a career as a physician, public health specialist and immigrant rights advocate. At Williams, Tania has served as the vice president of community and diversity on the College Council, is a member of the Berkshire Doula Project and is a student liaison for the Political Science Advisory Committee.

She is also the co-chair for Vista, the Latinx student union, and the Coalition for Immigrant Student Advancement. Last summer, she participated in a National Institute of Health program in Quito, Ecuador, to identify the social determinants of adolescent pregnancy.

Jackson Lundy ’16 released a hit single last summer titled “9 to 5,” collaborating with the group Brasstracks. His music has nearly 100,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and can also be found on Apple Music and Amazon Music.

Jackson is in his senior year at Berklee College of Music.

s Emma Griffith ’17 had a milestone volleyball season at the University of Chicago, where she is now a junior. Last November, the American Volleyball Coaches Association named her a First Team All-American, and she was the first in the university’s volleyball program to be named an Academic All-American. Emma gained acclaim as one of the top setters in the country, averaging 11.01 assists per set for a total of 1,222. Emma’s game also featured 3.17 digs and 0.41 blocks per set.

She led the team in aces with 57, and she has the second-most career assists in the university’s history (3,723). A law, letters and society major, Emma was also selected for the second straight year for the 2019 Academic All-District Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

2020 Programs: Animation Calhoun Cooks Math Camp Movie-Making Sports & Arts Story Pirates Camp Summer Jazz Summer Music Volleyball Join us! calhoun.org/camps

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Fifth graders created sculptures inspired by the artist Alberto Giacometti.