St. George’s School P.O. Box 1910 Newport, RI 02840-0190
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S T. G E OR G E ’S 2011
summer Bulletin
St. George’s School 2011 summer Bulletin
In this issue: Merck-Horton: Behind the center, a shared vision for learning BY SUZANNE L. MCGRADY Unsettled in Senegal BY SUZANNE L. MCGRADY Chapel talks: The chance to have influence BY EVERETT MUZZY ’11 Keys to happiness BY ROSIE PUTNAM ’11 Casting away BY GRAHAM ANDERSON ’11
Prize Day 2011 Around our classrooms Stories from Geronimo Campus happenings Post Hilltop: Alumni/ae in the news Class Notes Left: The graduates celebrate on Prize Day 2011. PHOTO BY K ATHRYN W HITNEY L UCEY
C OVER
STORY
The renovated Nathaniel P. Hill Library: A building for 21 st century learning
St . G e o r g e ’ s S c h o o l M i s s i o n St a t e m e n t In 1896, the Rev. John Byron Diman, founder of St. George’s School, wrote in his “Purposes of the School” that “the specific objectives of St. George’s are to give its students the opportunity of developing to the fullest extent possible the particular gifts that are theirs and to encourage in them the desire to do so. Their immediate job after leaving school is to handle successfully the demands of college; later it is hoped that their lives will be ones of constructive service to the world and to God.” In the 21st century, we continue to teach young women and men the value of learning and achievement, service to others, and respect for the individual. We believe that these goals can best be accomplished by exposing students to a wide range of ideas and choices in the context of a rigorous curriculum and a supportive residential community. Therefore, we welcome students and teachers of various talents and backgrounds, and we encourage their dedication to a multiplicity of pursuits —intellectual, spiritual, and physical—that will enable them to succeed in and contribute to a complex, changing world.
Upcoming Events 2 0 11 Day Student Family Picnic
Tues., Sept. 6, 5:30 p.m.
Convocation Opening of the Nathaniel P. Hill Library Classes begin
Tues., Sept. 13, 8:30 a.m.
Alumni/ae of Color Conference
Fri., Oct. 7 - Sun., Oct. 9
Dedication of the Nathaniel P. Hill Library
Sat., Oct. 15, 12:30 p.m. Parents Weekend
Fri., Oct. 28 - Sat., Oct. 29 Lessons and Carols
Fri., Dec. 9, 7:30 p.m. Christmas Festival
Tues., Dec. 13, 7:30 p.m.
St . G e o r g e ’ s Po l i c y o n Non- Disc rimi nati on
2 0 12 Fifth-Form Parents Weekend
Fri., Feb. 17 - Sat. Feb. 18 St. George’s School admits male and female students of any religion, race, color, sexual orientation, and national or ethnic origin to all the programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of religion, gender, race, color, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, scholarship and loan programs, or athletic and other school-administered programs. In addition, the school welcomes visits from disabled applicants.
Reunion Weekend
Fri., May 18 - Sun., May 20 Prize Day
Mon., May 28
For information on additional events, visit the St. George’s School Facebook page, our web site www.stgeorges.edu or contact events coordinator Ann Weston at Ann_Weston@stgeorges.edu or 401.842.6731.
You’re invited: Regional Receptions Kennett Square, Pa. area At the home of Gretchen and George Wintersteen ’60 in West Grove, Pa.
Sun., Sept. 25, 2011
Boston, Mass. Gathering of Young Alumni/ae (classes 1996-2011) Eastern Standard Kitchen
Tues., Oct. 25, 2011
New York, N.Y. New York Yacht Club
Thurs., Nov. 3, 2011
Washington, D.C. Gathering of Young Alumni/ae (classes 1996-2011) The Hudson Restaurant
Tues., Nov. 15, 2011
New York, N.Y. Gathering of Young Alumni/ae (classes 1996-2011) The Public House
Wed., Feb. 15, 2012
Washington, D.C. At the home of Tucker and Susie Carlson ’87
Wed., April 18, 2012
St. George’s Bulletin The Alumni/ae Magazine of St. George’s School Newport, R.I.
Chair-elect of the Honor Board Joe Ma ck ’12 accepts the official gavel from outgoing chair Juli a Ca rre ll as ’11 on Prize Day 2011. PHOTO BY K ATHRYN W HITNEY L UCEY
On the cover: A dramatic glass-encased addition to the renovated Nathaniel P. Hill Library shimmers in the fading sunlight. PHOTO BY K ATHRYN W HITNEY L UCEY
Suzanne L. McGrady, editor Dianne Reed, communications associate Toni Ciany, editorial assistant Contributing photographers: Andrea Hansen, Kathryn Whitney Lucey, Rachel Ramos, Louis Walker, Ray Woishek ’89 The St. George’s Bulletin is published bi-annually. Send correspondence to Bulletin_Editor@stgeorges.edu.
This magazine is printed on paper that is certified by SmartWood to meet the Forest Stewardship Council standards. FSC sets high standards that ensure forestry is practiced in an environmentally responsible, socially beneficial, and economically viable way.
Contents From the editor’s desk ........................................................................................................................................2 Photo album: First look inside the renovated Nathaniel P. Hill Library ....................................................3 Merck-Horton: Life stories lead to a common ideal BY SUZANNE L. MCGRADY ........................................6 Unsettled in Senegal BY SUZANNE L. MCGRADY ................................................................................................11 Global outreach ..................................................................................................................................................13 In brief ..................................................................................................................................................................17 Chapel talks: The chance to have influence BY EVERETT MUZZY ’11 ............................................................................18 Keys to happiness BY ROSIE PUTNAM ’11 ..................................................................................................20 Casting away BY GRAHAM ANDERSON ’11 ..................................................................................................22 Prize Day: Graduation 2011 ............................................................................................................................24 On the web ..........................................................................................................................................................30 The gifts they gave us: Four veterans retire from St. George’s BY SOPHIE FLYNN ’11 ............................31 Highlights: Student achievements ................................................................................................................36 Next steps: News from the College Counseling office ............................................................................39 Classrooms ..........................................................................................................................................................40 Arts ........................................................................................................................................................................42 Geronimo ..............................................................................................................................................................44 SG Zone – Athletics ..........................................................................................................................................47 Campus happenings ..........................................................................................................................................56 New students ......................................................................................................................................................59 Community service ............................................................................................................................................60 Traditions..............................................................................................................................................................63 Development news ............................................................................................................................................64 Reunion Weekend ..............................................................................................................................................65 Board notes ..........................................................................................................................................................71 Around campus ..................................................................................................................................................73 Post hilltop: Former community members, alumni/ae in the news ....................................................78 In memoriam........................................................................................................................................................83 Class Notes ..........................................................................................................................................................87
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St. George’s From the editor’s desk I
My son Connor, 4, and I took a trip to Portland, Ore., this summer—and made an excursion to Multnomah Falls.
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t’s been a year of transformation and evolution on the Hilltop. As we embark on another school year, the campus itself has been rejuvenated with the renovation of the Nathaniel P. Hill Library. Completed in just one year, the refurbished and expanded building is a boon for students and teachers who will find within it creative new places to collaborate, research and study. For a storyteller, writing about places means writing about people. And on the eve of the library’s formal opening, we offer a story on the two people for whom one of the core elements of the new facility, the Merck-Horton Center for Teaching and Learning, is named: honorary trustee Al Merck ’39 and SG’s former longtime Head of Instructional Services, Beth Horton. Located on the ground floor of the renovated library, the center promises to provide space and resources for teachers to teach in new ways—collaboratively and with the latest technology tools—and for students to learn in new ways more tailored to their individual learning styles. And the story of how both Merck and Horton came to share a place on the center’s name plaque is most intriguing. Merck ’39 has been a longtime and generous supporter of the school. An heir to the pharmaceutical company, he is also an educational innovator who today, at age 91, continues to prod teachers and administrators into finding new ways to help students learn more efficiently and more cost effectively. He and Horton were only acquaintances when they met again over discussion of the new center. Today they share a common bond: a history of compassion and care for students and a vision of the better ways students can learn in the years
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ahead. (“Life stories lead to a common ideal,” p. 6). Students in the Global Studies class came back transformed by their experiences in Africa this spring, and many said they witnessed events and heard perspectives that changed their thinking about the global landscape (Unsettled in Senegal,” p. 11). As always, this edition of the Bulletin brings you chapel talks, a recap of events on the Hilltop, highlights of our students’ achievements, and news of our alums’ accomplishments. On the Hilltop, life paths continue to wind as well. This year we welcome 14 new faculty members and wish success to a number of teachers stepping into new administrative roles. We also say farewell to a number of veteran faculty members (“The gifts they gave us,” p. 31). My own experience here at St. George’s, however, leads me to a particularly personal goodbye. I know many of you have been touched in some way by the work of Joe Gould, former assistant head of school for external affairs. Joe, who retired in June, was many things to St. George’s: the lead fundraiser and cheerleader for the school for 20 years from 1991-2011; a welcoming liaison to the nearby community; an enthusiastic advocate for our Asian students and parents; a mentor; a compassionate, dedicated first-time teacher. Behind the career, however, Joe, the man, is something even more extraordinary. I know I share with a number of my colleagues the sentiment that we could not have had a better leader. The man always had our backs, picked us up after disappointments, both personal and professional, and reveled in our successes. Moreover, he is a man of true character and principle—a good guy with a really good heart, and we miss him and his extraordinary wife, Jennifer, already. Joe: Despite the library picture, you’ll always be my cover model.
Suzanne McGrady Bulletin Editor
PHOTOS BY
KATHRYN WHITNEY LUCEY
First look inside the new library
Above: The renovated main level of the library features a magnificent view of the chapel tower to the east. Left: A new glassencased stairwell offers views of the athletic fields and the Buell-Wheeler dormitory complex.
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KATHRYN WHITNEY LUCEY
Right: The new library addition, set against a late summer evening sky.
PHOTOS BY
Above: A blend of new and traditional architecture now marks the northwest campus.
KATHRYN WHITNEY LUCEY PHOTOS BY
Above: The new stairwell on the north side of the library now encloses a room for small-group study. Left: The east side of the main floor sports a welcoming arrangement of new furniture.
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Life stories
PHOTO BY
SUZANNE MCGRADY
lead to a common ideal
As namesakes of the new Merck-Horton Center, two educational visionaries share a commitment to better learning BY SUZANNE McGRADY
Former head of Instructional Services Beth Horton and honorary trustee Al Merck ’39.
W
hen the dedication of the newly renovated Nathaniel P. Hill Library takes place Oct. 15, 2011, the school will formally unveil the results of a remarkable 21st century architectural feat: a LEED-certified, state-of-the-art research center and archives with all the very best in technology and library services. But like most buildings, there are stories behind those glass walls and wires—
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and one remarkable account is the development of one of the facility’s key components: the Merck-Horton Center for Teaching and Learning. Housed on the library’s first floor, the center itself—a place where students and teachers can meet in flexible classrooms, reach out to the world from a multimedia conferencing facility, and collaborate on projects designed for individualized learn-
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ing—is poised to become St. George’s centerpiece of academic excellence and represents the school’s unwavering commitment to keep pace with the most current research on learning. However, for its namesakes—the venerable honorary trustee Albert W. Merck ’39, P’76 and the now retired longtime Head of Instructional Service Beth S. Horton P’79, ’85—the center is a legacy: The two, who’ve
THE L ANCE 1939 PHOTO COURTESY OF
BETH HORTON
It was a clear night in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, in 1951 that likely determined Beth Horton’s destiny. A junior at Waynflete School, a small independent all-girls (at the time) day school in Portland, Horton (then Beth Smith) and some of her friends had gathered for an evening of socializing at a sprawling oceanfront estate overlooking Zeb’s Cove. The party had just started when one of her classmates invited Horton to go for a walk. “See it’s a full moon rising out of the sea! Let’s go!” Horton remembered her saying. The two ambled out onto a narrow promontory, but with poor night vision, Horton didn’t see the edge of the cliff. “I don’t think she even heard me scream,” Horton said, recalling the incident. “I just fell 40 feet—and then it took them a half hour to come around from another ledge to get me off the rocks before the tide came in.” Horton would spend the next three months recovering from her injuries, convalescing in her bedroom at home, visited regularly by the local physician. But for the girl who for years had been one of her school’s academic standouts, the mental repercussions of the fall were far more severe than the physical ones. “I lost my ability to read,” she recalled. “I could only concentrate on a word at a time, and then I could gradually master a phrase … and finally I could read and remember a sentence.” Administrators wanted her to stay back a year in school, but Horton says she refused.
PHOTO COURTESY OF
both experienced their own personal struggles and remarkable successes, have spent their lives caring about and improving the way people learn.
Beth Horton, then Beth Smith, gets a congratulatory handshake from the headmaster upon graduation from Waynflete.
Among other extra-curriculars, Al Merck ’39 was a member of the highly successful rifle club at St. George’s.
She dropped the pre-calculus course she was doing on her own, but plowed forward with her five other courses. “When I returned to school, I had the first experience that everything was in Greek, like a dyslexic must have,” Horton said. “It was very humbling.”
In a speech at the Medical College of Virginia in 1950 that would later become fodder for the company’s motto, George Merck harkened back to the ethical ideals of his ancestors when he noted: “We try to remember that medicine is for the patient. We try never to forget that medicine is for the people. It is not for the profits. The profits follow, and if we have remembered that, they have never failed to appear.” In the 1950s, Merck licensed its patents on streptomycin—discovered by Merckfunded scientists at Rutgers and the first agent to treat tuberculosis successfully—to make the life-saving drug more available and more affordable. Al Merck said the company based its policy on the German philosophic idea from the Enlightenment, which said, “God gave you a brain to be used to benefit humanity. It’s a magnificent thing. And if you discover something that helps humanity, you have to tell other people how to make it and you have to make it available at the lowest possible price—and that’s how we run today. And to those who cannot afford it, you give it away.” But while his future had been neatly laid out for him at an early age, the younger Merck says his days at St. George’s weren’t so clean cut. In academics, he sometimes struggled. Of school, he admits, “I wasn’t very good at it. I was in a state of constant rebellion.”
In that same year, 1951, the Merck family of West Orange, N.J., was making headlines. George W. Merck, Al’s father and president of Merck and Co. Inc., was appointed to the board of the National Science Foundation by President Truman. The next year he would appear on the cover of Time magazine. Meanwhile, Al, Harvard University Class of 1943, was getting to know the ropes within the company. “The family had been in the business for 300 years,” Merck recalled of his entrée into the family enterprise, which began as an apothecary, owned by the Mercks’ ancestor, Friedrich Jacob Merck, in Darmstadt, Germany, in 1668. “If you were born into it, you were expected to accept the responsibility of its continuing prosperity, with the idea that your children and grandchildren would assume the same.” As a boy Merck had been instilled with a duty to give back and to help those less fortunate. And the decisions his father would make to determine the course of the company also dominated the family ethos.
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THE L ANCE 1987 PHOTO COURTESY OF
BETH HORTON PHOTO COURTESY OF
Horton (fourth from the right) graduates from Waynflete, a then all-girls independent school in Portland, Maine.
By the time Horton was back on her feet and able to study successfully again as a senior at Waynflete, a friend of hers was experiencing health problems of her own. Temporarily blinded from overexposure to a sun lamp, the girl needed a tutor, and Horton stepped right up to the job: the tutor she wished she’d had herself a year earlier. Helping the girl to learn, she said, cemented her career plans. “I either wanted to be a teacher or a tutor,” she said. “That supportive role got me going. There was no doubt about my vocation after that.” Back home in the afternoons, Horton would oblige a standing request from her mother to check in daily with an elderly aunt who was living with them at the time. Aunt Mame had suffered a stroke at the Thanksgiving dinner table when Beth was just 8. “My mother wanted my sister and me to call on Aunt Mame in her master bedroom—with the nurse bustling around— and to just talk to her for about 10 minutes a day,” Horton recalled. “I would go in and deliver my ‘Here’s my day, Aunt Mame’ speech.” That monologue continued for 10 years. And though her aunt’s speech after the
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stroke was garbled, Horton said, she felt she could understand what she was trying to say “I think better than anybody in the family— and that also sensitized me to some disabilities and differences.” Years later, after graduating from Wellesley in 1956, Horton says her experiences with learning differences and “individually tailored approaches” helped her immensely. She accepted a job at the Crystal Springs School for Girls (now Crystal Springs Uplands School) in Hillsborough, Calif., where she taught fifth and sixth grade. The students were exceptionally bright, she said, but not conventional. One had muscular dystrophy. Another was profoundly deaf. “It was a marvelous opportunity for recognizing giftedness in a whole population,” she recalled. A gifted student would also later introduce Horton to St. George’s. Susan E. Lyon ’75—the first and only blind student ever to attend and graduate from St. George’s—was in the buffet line accidentally being scalded by the hot chafing plates in Queen Hall when Horton first encountered her in 1974. Horton, after serving as head of the library at the Kent School in Connecticut, and then at the Foxcroft School in Middleburg, Va., had been hired by the state to be
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By 1987, Horton had been affiliated with St. George’s for 13 years. She retired in 1999.
Lyon’s reader. Each morning, she would read aloud and record assigned textbooks and novels for Sue and then deliver the audio to her by lunchtime. Horton recalls Lyon, who died after an accidental fall in her home in 1996, as the best student she ever had, “not only brilliant, but funny.” And another medical condition, which also necessitated bone replacements because of the drugs she was taking, never seemed to get her down. “She’d go out after each surgery and get a tattoo,” Horton said. “The girl’s spirit was incredible.” To honor Sue’s memory Horton started a collection of taped books in Hill Library. For years, as Horton’s position grew at St. George’s, she often told Sue Lyon’s inspiring story again and again. “Anytime one of my students complained to me about, ‘Oh, I can’t do this work. It’s so hard,’ I would mention, ‘Well, imagine being a blind student at this school!’” Horton was appointed a department head in 1977 and held that position until 1999, making her one of the longest-serving chairs in school history. Along with Linda Cari, with whom she worked so compatibly for two decades, Horton would change the landscape of Instructional Services at St. George’s.
R ACHEL R AMOS
C AP GEMINI
PHOTO BY
PHOTO COURTESY OF
Al Merck ’39 participates in a Strategic Planning session in Boston in 2006.
Charles Macaulay ’12 met Al Merck ’39, an honorary trustee, at the annual board meeting in June. Macaulay was reporting on an innovative collaboration between his A.P. physics class and the three-dimensional design class to build a model wind turbine.
After his father died in 1957 at age 62 of a cerebral hemorrhage, the younger Merck was elected to the Merck and Co. board of directors, freeing him from day-to-day operations of the company. The new position gave him time to pursue his true loves of teaching and public service. He voraciously pursued two masters’ degrees, one from Columbia University’s Teachers College and one from Rutgers University in the 1960s. It was an eye-opening, exuberant period for Merck. At Columbia, he met the man he called, “the most revered teacher of the American Revolution,” William B. Morris. “He was an inspiring professor,” Merck said. “What he did was make the 18th century come alive. And also, he did what [St. George’s] teaching is going to do more of: He insisted that we do most of the learning. He didn’t give us answers; he set the stage and then said, ‘Now find out.’” Merck himself would go on to teach courses at Union County College in New Jersey and in political science at Rutgers and Drew universities. He also served on the boards of several institutions, including Westminster Choir College, Drew and Newark State College. On the public service side, Merck got
involved in local politics in his hometown and was elected to the New Jersey Legislature as a Republican representative from Morris County in 1972. He was appointed to the New Jersey State Board of Higher Education and served for 11 years, three of which as chairman and during which time he was alerted by the board staff to the potential of computer-assisted learning. Learning, and how people do it, was at the center of his consciousness. “The fundamental reason we have the education system we have is because the Founding Fathers recognized that we couldn’t have a democracy with an ignorant populace,” he said. “Somehow the idea of education as critical to the life of a democracy has gotten separated from the citizens’ responsibility. I wanted to see it restored.”
When students arrived at St. George’s in the 1970s, they took an orientation test to determine basic skill levels. “It was really a school that hadn’t changed its traditional ways of teaching and learning for quite a while,” Horton said. From those first “assessment tests,” Horton said the school “picked up weak spellers, slow readers and enrolled them in a program called language training, a purist
Orton-Gillingham program.” Given the fact that academic course prep was not initially allowed to be part of tutorial content and despite the reality that the SG curriculum set rigorous expectations of performance, Horton wasn’t convinced the system was best serving the students’ needs. As a result, she promoted and expanded the department, renamed Instructional Services, offering a wider, more scholastically relevant “menu.” “Teachers, advisers, parents and eventually students themselves could request help,” she said. The focus turned to valuable diagnostic testing to evaluate how individual students learned best and what the school could do to aid them. Horton said she realized kids didn’t want to “go to someone who insulted their basic intelligence, including with Mickey Mouse workbooks,” so knowing students were motivated by the prospect of higher education, she began to use the College Board format and its standardized tests as a way to address reading comprehension, logical reasoning, critical thinking and writing and math skills. Dyslexic students, poor test takers, students with all kinds of learning differences and foreign students who needed extra help with English and TOEFL tests
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PHOTOS BY
SUZANNE MCGRADY
One student called her a “life coach.” “There was a lot of TLC in my office,” said Horton, the mother of Alison Zomb ’79 and Schuyler Horton ’85. “I would go to the end of the earth for those kids.” In 1986, when students dedicated the yearbook to her, she was deemed “an oasis of academic and emotional support.” And at her retirement, the Class of 1999’s Lance dedication cited that she had “transformed many kids’ lives.” During her last year, a further tribute was bestowed: The Beth Horton Teaching Chair for Instructional Services. The chair made Horton the first female at St. George’s to have a chair named after her and was initiated by the generous donation of Horton’s former studentturned-best-selling-author David Gilbert ’86 and other alumni, parents and friends. Income from the endowment is used to support the salaries of Instructional Services teachers or to support the program of Instructional Services in any other way, including financial support to ensure the availability of our program for needy students.
Top: Kate and Al Merck ’39 visit the new library in August. Above: Merck and Horton get their first look inside the new teaching and learning center named in their honor this summer. poured into Horton’s and Cari’s offices. Horton was instrumental in securing the first time-allowance waivers for testing and legitimate foreign-language waivers for students. She promoted proctored study hall—structured, supervised homework periods during the day—especially for those who could benefit from better time management. And she encouraged peer tutoring and collaborative group study. Among her other tasks, Horton listened.
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By the time Al Merck received the Diman Award—St. George’s highest alumni/ae honor—in 1992, he had begun his sponsorship of a number of programs promoting technology in learning. He donated St. George’s first computer lab in 1996, and soon thereafter, he and his wife, Kate, funded other programs at Harvard Graduate School of Education and Columbia University Teachers College. In 2003, the two gave $15 million to Harvard to strengthen teacher training and instructional technology. Presently they are sponsoring a new learning partnership at Lesley University with a public school in Cambridge, Mass. A constant and generous supporter of St. George’s, Merck has also made sure to
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remind his alma mater regularly that it needs to stay ahead of the curve, and of the value of creative teaching. When the school embarked on a strategic planning process in 2006, Merck— whose son, Wilhelm, graduated from SG in 1976 and whose uncle was the senior prefect in 1920—was tops on the list for participating. Months of research—discussion groups, surveys and self reflection about the future of the school—and one keystone planning session at Cap Gemini in Boston—led to seven published initiatives the school would undertake in the next years. Alongside goals like improving the science facilities, expanding global programs and revising the Honor Code (all now well under way or completed), was “creating a Center for Educational Innovation”—something Merck had been envisioning for years. Now, at age 91, Merck hasn’t stopped dreaming of a future in which more students learn on their own terms, and teachers are continuously reinvigorated with new methods and the ability to use new technology. Now, in St. George’s new Merck-Horton Center, he says he envisions “students who have different ways of learning different things, not being made to fit into a one-sizefits-all environment, and being listened to.” When Merck and Horton got together over lunch this summer on the brink of the new center being opened, the two—who until recently were casual acquaintances— shared a more intimate bond. “I think the world of him,” Horton said of Merck. “I’m so honored to be a part of his thrilling vision. “The teaching and learning center’s flexible learning spaces, the personal engagement, the collegial exchange, the cutting-edge innovation: It’s the dream come true.”
C AROLINE MILLER ’11
GOLDSTEIN
PHOTO COURTESY OF
PHOTO COURTESY OF J EREMY
Left: Members of the 2011 Global Studies class: (back row) seniors Rachel Sellstone, Magdalena Franz-Soeln, Anaise Kanimba, Hillary Wein, Mary O’Connor, Brittany Corso, Victoria Leonard, Katherine Wilkinson, Phoebe Manning, Polina Godz, Caroline Miller, and faculty chaperones Devon Ducharme and Dr. Kim Bullock. (Front row) Director of Global Studies Jeremy Goldstein and senior Tarleton Watkins. Right: Hillary Wein ’11 and Caroline Miller ’11 in Senegal.
Unsettled in Senegal
For students in the Global Studies class, a trip to Africa meant confronting cultural dynamics–and disparities–they’d never seen before
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or Tarleto n Watkins ’11 it was in Touba, the most holy city in Senegal, when the unease started to set in. Three thousand seven hundred miles from the Hilltop, he and his Global Studies classmates were standing near a sheltered plaza where the Senegalese—94 percent of whom are Muslim—pilgrimaged in the heat of the day to read the Koran and pray. “Touba was a place that made me intensely uncomfortable,” Watkins said. “I was looking at something that contrasted so sharply with my own beliefs, but also looking at something that people could derive comfort from. It was a weird conflict in my mind. It was very beautiful—but at the same time, I felt very uncomfortable.” For Rachel Sellstone ’11 it was 6 a.m. in the capital city of Dakar. The group had just gotten off the plane and there it was: The African Renaissance Monument. “It’s massive,” Sellstone recalled. But did it also represent misguided leadership? “Here was a
country with all these problems within the society—and then the government spends money on this statue.” There were many moments of joy, discovery—and discomfort—for the 12 students who along with three faculty members traveled to Western Africa this spring as part of St. George’s expanding Global Scholars Program, initiated with the 2006 Strategic Plan. Coming to terms with a society with many pockets of poverty, but where a genuine warmth and human spirit showed through in so many ways, was both eye opening and unsettling for some. Most in the group—seniors Britta ny Cor so, Magdalena Franz-Soeln, Polina Godz, Anaise K animba, V ic toria Leonard, Phoebe Ma nning, Ca roline Miller, Mar y O’Conno r, Sellstone, Watkins, Hillar y Wein and Katherine Wilkinson—said they experienced myriad emotions during the trip. But all agreed they came back with a heightened sense of awareness of the vast divide between the
developed—and developing—nations. At the heart of the Global Studies excursions (the last trip was to Poland and the 2012 trip will be to Iceland), is a quest for first-hand information for a research paper. This year, research topics included the rights of women, globalization and its importance for the soccer world, political corruption, agriculture policy, freedom of the press, medical care and education in Senegal. Hearing the opinions of the native people, along with getting help from a master tour guide, was essential. Along on the trip were their teacher, Director of Global Studies Jeremy Goldstein, and faculty chaperones and science teachers Dr. Kim Bullock and Devo n Ducharme. In the north of Senegal toward the desert of Lompoul, Miller was struck by a visit to a village of Mauratanian tents where the middays and post-dinner hours were spent drinking gunpowder tea—a supersweet concoction of Chinese green tea,
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PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA . ORG
CLAUS BRABRAND PHOTO BY
OCHIENG PHOTO BY
PHOTO COURTESY OF C AROLINE MILLER ’11
Top left: The African Renaissance Monument outside Dakar. Top middle: A slave house on Gorée Island. Top right: The Touba Mosque. Above: A Senegalese man pours gunpowder tea for his new acquaintances.
mint and sugar—and dancing and singing to the sounds of Djembe drums. Miller got into the experience so much, she now makes the tea at home. And then there was a visit to a fishing village near St. Louis. Wilkinson remembers arriving just as the fishing nets were being pulled in from the water. The boats, the nets, cutting up and selling the fish, were all a way of life for the men, women and children who lived there. “We were walking through fish blood in the streets,” Wilkinson said. 12
O’Connor wasn’t so comfortable getting pulled into the tents to come and dance. “I felt really overwhelmed there,” she said. “I was shy to begin with and no way was I going in there. But these women wanted me to come in. The kept pulling me. Of course Anaise and Polina jumped right in and started dancing, but I just felt like I was completely out. I felt like I was on the other side of things.” Another trip led the group to a military school, where a conference was being held with about 150 students from several local schools on “The Destiny of Africa.” Franz-Soeln was struck by how grateful the students were just to be there. “They want to be in class,” she said. “At school here in America, students are always like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to go to school!’ and ‘Why are the teachers being so mean?’” “In Senegal, the students said, ‘We want the teachers to teach us. We want to learn.’” Leonard added: “We could tell that those kids were so motivated and so intelligent. If those kids were here and had the same opportunities that we have, they would be doing amazing things. It’s just kind of striking how unfair the world is. We were born here and they were born there—and our lives are drastically different just because of that.” Sellstone said some of the students she talked to were suspicious of foreigners and their intentions about helping in Africa: “Do they do it because they really want to help, or because they want to stroke their own egos?” they asked. On Gorée Island, it hit Kanimba. “I remember thinking that here in America we learn about slavery from the perspective of the people here, but I never thought about slavery from the perspective of the African people. I was so surprised that it still affected them so greatly—that students our own age were still referring to that as a part of the problem of why they are behind in developing as a country compared to many others.” When Wein was with the group at a
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Catholic school in Dakar, she noticed there were tributes to world leaders, statues and quotes about world peace and leadership emblazoned on the walls. “It showed how encompassing the Senegalese culture was and how there was such a belief in peace, such a belief in coexistence.” “We have too many people who judge what’s the right way to live or what makes people happy or successful,” Leonard said. “That’s the biggest thing I took from that trip.” She was pondering what matters most. “A lot of people here see your worth as material: money, getting into a good college, getting a good job. When I was leaving Senegal I felt like the people there were rich— they love each other, they’re so welcoming. Back at home after the trip, many struggled with the disparities they encountered. “Yeah, it was really hard to deal with, especially coming back here,” Sellstone said. “Reverse culture shock.” O’Connor was supposed to visit her sister at college. “But I just didn’t have it in me,” she said. “I couldn’t do anything for the first few days I got back.” Leonard’s parents were on vacation when she returned from the trip to an empty house in Narragansett, R.I. “I was alone in my house on the water with a refrigerator filled with food. Three showers in my house, a car, anything that I wanted—and I was like, ‘Why do I deserve this and the people that I met there were so much more deserving of all these material things.’ It was just really painful to be there and have everything.” Above all, the people of Senegal will remain in their hearts and minds, the students said. “The way I remember Senegal: They were always caring,” said Franz-Soeln. “They were always willing to help. They were never thinking about themselves. They were always thinking about you first.”
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always had a difficult time speaking French,” DeLuca said, “and the internship is helping tremendously.” DeLuca also said she enjoyed immersing herself in Parisian life, noting “I have experienced everything from different foods to Jim Morrison’s grave.” The company Fowler worked at keeps a large electronic list of names and information about potential job candidates, and “anybody in positions of power within the worlds of fashion, luxury, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals or jewelry is likely to be on that list,” Fowler said. Most of her time was spent translating French paperwork into English and combing through newspapers, websites and business school alumni books for peoples’ titles, addresses, emails, phone numbers and degrees, to put into the company’s database. The first activity was her specialty, she said. “I am, essentially, the English expert—although there are still a few official terms that I’ve had to learn even in English. I’ve also learned many French words relating to the business world, as well as general information about the structure and ideology of large enterprises.” One memorable experience for Fowler was sitting in on an interview between Mrs. Lambert and a job candidate. “They both spoke in French,” Fowler said, “but I took notes on what I understood. Afterwards, Mrs. Lambert shared with me her notes and opinions of the interviewee. “Like the entire trip so far, her comments were interesting, surprising and educational.” Each of these students contributed to a blog at http://sggcip-paris.blogspot.com/. Check it out!
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Four talented French students participated in dynamic internships in Paris this summer coordinated by Head of the French Department Allison de Horsey. Heydi Ma lavé ’11 and Sadie Mc Quilkin ’12 interned at the Institut Curie with noted researchers Anne Houdusse (Structural Motility) and Silvia Fre (Notch Signaling). Ca sey DeLuca ’12 worked at Tg Communication, a PR firm that specializes in the luxury cosmetic sector, and Bethany Fowler ’13 had an internship in a small headhunting office, in the 16th arrondissement, called NLB Conseil. As Malavé shadowed a lab technician at the Curie, she said she was able to perform some techniques that she learned—and even some that she had practiced—in biology class at SG. “I got to do PCR (polymerase chain reaction), which is a technique that amplifies the amount of DNA you have available, as well as gel electrophoresis, which is a process used to separate DNA by size,” she said. “I’ve gotten to see how research is done, the problems that may arise, and the kind of ingenuity, skill and patience it takes to solve them.” McQuilkin was observing and aiding one of the team members in producing and isolating the Rab35 and Rab11 proteins when she wrote in July. “This process involves growing genetically engineered bacteria cultures, inducing protein production in those bacteria, and separating, purifying, condensing and freezing the protein.” The majority of the work was done in French, so McQuilkin said her vocabulary was expanding quite rapidly as she learned scientific terms in both French and English. Likewise with DeLuca, whose job it was to translate various makeup advertisements and descriptions from French to English. “At work, I arrive each morning at around 9:30 and begin many translations,” DeLuca reported. “I even translated their entire website from French to English to broaden their customer base.” Before the trip, DeLuca said she could understand, read and write in French pretty well. “But I
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H eyd i Ma lavé ’11, S ad ie M c Qui lk in ’12; French Department Chair Al liso n d e H or se y, Ca sey D eLu c a ’12 and B et ha ny Fo wl er ’13 sit in front of sculptor Auguste Rodin’s most famous work, “The Thinker,” during a Paris internship program this summer.
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Jul ia C arr el la s ’11 and An na Ca rr ’11 take a swim under a waterfall in El Yunque National Park in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.
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Head of the Spanish Department M af a lda Nul a and teacher Luc y H a milt on traveled with seven Ri ley M cCa b e ’12, Ann a C arr students—R ’11, Ju lia Ca rre lla s ’11, Ca lli e R ei s ’13, Kyle Pe a rso n ’12, V ivi a nne Reyn os o ’13 and To dd Gi lbe r t ’12—on Geronimo for a two-week language immersion trip to Puerto Rico in March. On board to greet them were Captain Mi ke Daw so n, first mate K are n M cD on al d and second mate St ua r t Si ddo ns. It was the fourth cruise of this program, which is offered every other spring. The students took charge of all of the facets of the boat but had the added challenge of doing it all in Spanish, reports Nula. The group went sightseeing in Old San Juan, had two beautiful days under sail, snorkeled in crystal clear water, visited a self-sustaining (with solar panels and reclaimed water) elementary school in Culebra, and spent an afternoon at the beach. Asked to recount their highlights from the trip, many cited the camaraderie among the group, the chance to meet welcoming native speakers and the natural scenery as most memorable:
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L ANGUAGE STUDENTS BOARD GERONIMO, BOUND FOR PUERTO RICO “On the last day we drove to El Yunque, a national rain forest. We hiked through one of the many trails and went swimming in a beautiful waterfall. After we went swimming, we hiked off the path and found a smaller isolated waterfall where we went swimming again. We then drove farther up the mountain and had lunch in the sun.” A nna Ca rr ’11 —A
“On the last day our crew took one final trip to the beach. It was sunny and beautiful, and Kyle found a sand dollar in the water. Captain Dawson was persistent in knocking a coconut out of a palm tree, and after countless attempts, finally succeeded. The whole beach clapped for him. When we finally returned to the boat for the last night, we saw two dolphins swimming around the marina. It was a great way to end our trip.” Ca ll ie Re is ’13 —C “On Friday we were anchored in Culebra and Julia and I decided to have ‘Elegant Night’ Geronimo. We all got dressed up and had dinner
on the deck as we listened to Latin music. We laughed, talked, shared memories and gazed at the brilliant stars. Culebra was beautiful and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. The night was absolutely amazing and unforgettable. V ivia n ne R eyno so ’13 —V
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The second day of the trip, our crew visited El Morro in Old San Juan. El Morro is the remains of a huge Spanish fort that guarded Puerto Rico. We toured the fort and learned its history. The fort was right on the water, and the view from the top was awesome. After El Morro, we were given time to explore the city of Old San Juan. We went to lots of good shops and restaurants. —TTo d d Gil ber t ’12
Tod d Gil be r t ’12, Spanish Department Chair Ma f al da Nula, Kyle Pe a rso n ’12, R iley M cC ab e ’12, Juli a Ca rre ll as ’11, V ivi an ne Reyn oso ’13, C al lie Re is ’13 and An na Ca rr ’11 visited Puerto Rico for a Spanish immersion trip aboard Geronimo.
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On Wednesday we went to the Island of Culebra. We headed to shore in search of the Ecological School. When we arrived at the school the students were very happy and ready to show us around. The children showed us what makes their school so ecofriendly including the solar panels on the roofs of the buildings and the rooms filled with huge batteries where the energy for the school is stored. We had to get over the language barrier quickly because these young kids did not know much English. But we still bonded, playing kickball, basketball, and even talking about hobbies back in the States. Everyone was sad to see us go and we were sad to be leaving. At the end of the day everyone wished we could have spent more time there. As a student I learned a lot from just speaking with these kids, and I believe they learned a lot from us. Kyl e P ea r so n ’12 —K
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One day in the morning we sailed to Tamarindo Beach, which was located on the other side of Culebra. At the beach we went snorkeling and swam with the fish. We saw a turtle and a barracuda and other exotic fish. It was my favorite day. —JJul ia Ca rrel la s ’11
The group visits an eco-friendly school in Culebra.
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Ca me ron Clu f f ’14 left his home in Middletown, R.I., in July to travel to Capetown, South Africa, where he attended the Bishops School for three weeks. The all-boys school and St. George’s have an ongoing student-exchange agreement. A student from Bishops, David Choi, shared part of the fall semester with our Ca me ro n Clu f f ’14 students in October 2010.
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The Global Studies program is expanding. Along with unveiling a new web page this summer (www.stgeorges.edu/school_life/academic_life/ global_studies) for the program, Director of Global Programs Jere my Go ldste in was in Iceland doing preparatory work for several students to visit next March. For the first time, St. George’s is offering two sections of the Global Studies Seminar this year. Latin students stage a chariot race on the Main Drive during SG’s Global Week in March.
Former Theater Department Chair Kevin He ld K at ie Desr osi er s ’12, led a group of four students—K Wi ll Si mpso n ’14, Ra hi l Fa ze lb oy ’13 and Jo e Gr ime h ’13—to England for an intense drama experience at the Felsted School during spring break in March. The visit marked another step in an ongoing relationship with the Essex school that prides itself on its theater productions. In April 2010, 32 students from Felsted visited and performed at St. George’s as part of a U.S. tour.
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Looking ahead: McKenzie Nagle ’13 heads to Vietnam for the 2011-12 year with the School Year Abroad Program. Meanwhile, SG will welcome back to the Hilltop in September Brice Berg ’12, who was enrolled in the SYA program in China; Soojin Kim ’12, who’s been in France with SYA; and Kelly Duggan ’13, who spent last semester at the Island School in The Bahamas.
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T E AC H E R S T R AV E L A B R OA D F OR E XCHANGE S The Hamblet Campus Center was transformed into a French café, courtesy of the French Department, during SG’s Global Week.
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Heads of the 20/20 Club, Gra ha m An de rs on ’11 and Se ton Ta lt y ’11, raise awareness of “the digital divide” in Assembly.
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In March 2011 English teacher Stua rt Titus participated in a Hong Kong teacher exchange with Chinese International School (CIS), and former Director of Academic Technology Charles T hompso n participated in a Korea teacher exchange with Taejon Christian International School (TCIS). This was the sixth year SG has participated in the programs.
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YE ARS L ATER, HISTO RY BO OK M A K E S I T S WAY B A C K T O T H E HILL LIBR ARY The title is “A Short History of American Democracy,” by John D. Hicks. It was due back at the Nathaniel P. Hill Library on Dec. 7, 1951. It’s a little late. This spring, former director of the Gilbert Y. Taverner Archives and school historian Jack Doll ’52 was in New Hampshire helping to clean out his mother’s home following her death at age 104. “The task that I drew was to clean out her library,” he said. “My mother was an avid reader and, since she so enjoyed rereading books that she enjoyed, the shelves in her library were rather loaded.” Doll was working on one shelf when he came across an old world history text, which he immediately figured had been one that had belonged to one of his sisters. “Much to my surprise, when I opened
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the back cover I discovered that it had been signed out of the St. George’e School library —back in December 1951. Chagrined, Doll called the school. “It will be returned just as soon as I can swing a long-term loan to pay the fine, or maybe by just sliding it under the door,” he said. We let him off easily.
YKPS IN CHINA AND ST. GE ORGE’S SIGN SISTE R SCHOOL AGRE EME NT On June 14, St. George’s entered into a sister-school relationship with YK Pao School in Shanghai, China. Head of School Eric Peter son and Chair of the Board Sk ip Branin ’65, P’06 visited the school and signed the agreement along with YK Pao’s Vice President of the Board of Governors Philip Sohmen and Headmaster Wu Zijian in a ceremony held in the YK Pao School library. Sohmen began the ceremony with
welcoming remarks. In his speech he emphasized St. George’s School’s philosophy of “Because the journey matters”: that education was about far more than merely gaining a certificate on graduation. He stressed each day that children spend in school is a part of their growth and development, and each day has significance. The task of an outstanding boarding school is exactly that: to pay attention to the development of each child each day. After the documents were signed, Peterson addressed an audience of parents, teachers, staff and students on the advantages of a boarding education. He stressed the “balance” a boarding school education provides students and how this balance helps them grow into well-rounded people. The sister-school agreement, he said. will lead to exchanges of teachers, students and ideas in the months and years to come. Last year former St. George’s Director of Global Programs Tony Jacc aci left SG to become the first executive principal of the Upper School at YK Pao.
S T. G E O R G E ’ S W I N S C A S E G O L D AWA R D St. George’s is the 2011 winner of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Best Articles of the Year Award for “Becoming Mary,” by Su zan ne Mc Gra dy, published in the school’s Winter 2010 Bulletin. The article, which chronicles the story of St. George’s School graduate M a r y Be ha n ’10, who was adopted from China into a local Irish Catholic family, won CASE’s gold award for best article in a magazine published by an independent school. The article may be of special note to anyone with an interest in international adoption, China, parenting issues and/or guiding teenagers to find their identity. This is the second year in a row St. George’s has won a gold award in the “Best Article” category. The 2009 award was for “A Dream to Succeed,” the story of V ia nc a M a suc c i’s rise
from a difficult childhood in Newark, N.J., and the early loss of her mother to becoming a 2009 SG graduate and now a student at Swarthmore College.
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Mary
The story of how Mary Katherine Behan came to the United States is not unlike that of many others. From 1985-2008, Americans adopted 67,842 children from China, according to the U.S. Department of State. Still, adoption, especially from a country as culturally unique and distant as China, has all the emotional intensity as most other life-altering events. And unless you’ve been on the inside, you may not really know the challenges and joys these families have experienced.
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Mary, at age 2, chases rabbits at the foster home where she lived in Fuzhou, China. Her foster mother, Mei Ling, looks on. PHOTOS COURTESY OF
MARY BEHAN ’10.
Here’s one mother’s story:
Adopted by an Irish-Catholic family, a girl born in China reconnects with her past BY SUZANNE MCGRADY St. George’s Bulletin Editor
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Tish Curtis Behan always wanted a big family. She is one of four children in her family, an Irish Catholic brood that settled in Newport and Portsmouth. Her husband, Mike, is one of 12. However some medical challenges were getting in the way. After nine pregnancies and the death of an infant daughter, the Behans were blessed with two boys: Michael and Garrett. Still, Tish and Mike couldn’t let go of their dream. “It came to us very easily that we wanted to adopt,” Tish recalls. In 1994, the couple decided to initiate the adoption process. At the time, their sons were 4-years old and 10 Continued on page 14
Following is a chapel talk delivered on Dec. 1, 2009. Four Irish-Americans and a Chinese girl walked into a restaurant. … If you are waiting for a punchline, that wasn’t a joke: It’s just my family whenever we go out to dinner. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Mary and I was adopted from China when I was two and a half. I’ve always wondered what people think when my family and I are out together. Do they see what I see—two parents and their three children? Or do they see two Americans, their two sons, and mentally check me off as my older or younger brother’s girlfriend? Do they even think about what they see, or am I just obsessing over the minor details? For a long time, I hoped I was just obsessing, because it was those sorts of questions that made me feel insecure about my place in my family. Those questions made me doubt myself, and, as cliché as it seems, they made me wonder about my identity. It began with exasperated sarcasm. “Wait, so, are you Japanese or Chinese?” “Neither,” I would say, “I’m Irish.” There would be a pause. And then, “Wait, really?” My general answer to The Question was, “No, not really,” but if I was feeling particularly irritated, I would say, “What—you couldn’t tell?” Eventually the sardonic remark, accompanied by a roll of the eyes and perfected deadpan, became my way of ignoring a question that, for some reason, bothered me. It bothered me because even though I was a Chinese girl adopted by an Irish-Catholic family, I did not want to be categorized as “Asian” by other people when, for the better part of my life, I did not even categorize myself as Asian. Friends’ lighthearted comments about my “Asianness” were actually funny, but when someone, in all seriousness, asked me about my nationality, I always felt offended on some level—I did not care what I was, so what gave other people the right to question? In the summer of 2007, after my freshman year, I traveled to Beijing to study with a Choate Rosemary Hall program. There, while all of my white American friends called me Fu Ping, my Continued on page 15
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or those of you who do not know much about my family: my parents’ names are Phoebe and Gray, and my two older sisters are Crispin and Leslie. Besides just being a Texan family with some rather strange first names followed by the equally strange “Muzzy,” there are many other factors about each member of my family. Take, for example, my father’s curly gray hair and mustache—a trait that many say makes him look especially “Texan.” There’s also my mother’s occasional inability to stop laughing, something that will force the rest of the family to wait patiently as she catches her breath. Crispin has blonde hair and blue eyes despite the fact that no one else in my family does. And lastly, as many seniors and faculty probably remember—Leslie has an uncommonly loud laugh which, at its highest volume, could supposedly
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be heard almost anywhere on campus. Every member of my family has something unique about them—and I am influenced enormously by them and their actions, opinions and behaviors. But perhaps one of the more influential family members of mine is the sister I never had the chance to meet. In 1987 my parents’ first child, named Phoebe, died of heart failure less than six months after she was born. When I was younger I knew about my oldest sister, but was only able to connect her existence with a small, framed picture next to my mother’s sink and the granite gravestone situated in our family’s cemetery plot. As the years progressed, however, I often found myself thinking about Phoebe. I asked myself the simplest questions about her, tiny details that I take for granted when I think about my family. Would she have curly hair like my father’s, or maybe blonde like Crispin’s? Would her laugh be a loud one like
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Leslie’s, or just a soft chuckle? I will never know the answers to these questions; I must suffice with only photographs from her few months of life and a bit of imagination in order to devise some sense of what she was like. Because I never knew Phoebe, this is not a talk about cherishing every moment with someone special, though that is an important message. Instead, the notion that I never did and never will meet Phoebe has taught me something more abstract about those whom we have never met. Every day we are presented with people whom we will never physically meet. We are confronted with these people through TV, newspapers, magazines, even daily stories and conversation. And yet, every person we haven’t met has the potential to heavily influence our life and contrarily be affected by our actions. Think about what is happening now in the Middle East—Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and other countries. Although the majority of us will probably never meet the people involved in these conflicts, the actions and words of those people will undoubtedly affect us all, maybe not immediately, but eventually. Phoebe influenced my sisters and me through how her death affected my parents. My sisters and I learned from my mother the importance of finding a silver lining in every misfortune, a lesson that she learned from her struggle to find what possibly could be that silver lining in the death of her and my father’s first child. Not only has Phoebe influenced her brother and sisters, three people she never had the opportunity to meet, but also she has influenced a far greater number of people who have had children with heart defects. Because of her death, Texas Children’s Hospital began extensive research on pediatric heart defects, which since 1987 has saved the lives of countless newborns. In this way she has influenced every parent of a child with a heart defect who has gone and who will go to Texas Children’s Hospital for guidance and help. Everything we do is important, influential—nothing can be written off as utterly inconsequential. We should not think that something we do is so small that it could never affect someone negatively. Additionally, never assume a good act is too small to benefit someone in the long run. Our actions, though immediately felt by those around us, also affect people we have never met—people elsewhere in Rhode Island, in New England, in America and overseas. At school our lives can oftentimes feel secluded in the infamous “bubble” of St. George’s. Within
this bubble we all, myself included, sometimes feel as though our actions extend purely to the edges of the Hilltop, and then vanish afterwards. What’s important to understand is that every action, both at St. George’s and in the years after, affect people whom we will never meet. It is hard to be conscious of our actions when they don’t seem to affect anyone—and I am not attempting to preach a constantly tedious awareness of every particular action. Instead, what is a more feasible goal is at the moment when we are presented with doubt about whether or not to do something, remember that the action, whether carried out or not, will end up impacting others either negatively or beneficially. On the other hand, it is important to realize that none of us are sustained purely by our own actions or by influences that are immediately perceptible. A few years ago while hiking in Wyoming our group reached the summit of a mountain where people who have been there previously leave notes for newcomers to read. While looking over a range of snow-covered landscape I read countless notes ranging from humorous stories, to insightful passages, and letters to lost loved ones. No doubt I will never meet the people who wrote these messages, but those messages led me to consider the influence that Phoebe has had on me. Her influence has taught me to understand that our actions don’t only affect immediately the people around us—but very well may greatly influence those whom we may never even meet. Everett Muzzy ’11 of Houston, Texas, was the winner of this year’s Dartmouth College Alumni Island History Prize, and co-winner of the Ramsing Prize, for excellence in marine and environmental biology. He heads to Davidson College in Davidson, N.C., this fall and can be reached at everett.muzzy@gmail.com.
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taking risks, appreciating the highpoints BY ROSIE PUTNAM ’11 Following is a chapel talk delivered on March 1, 2011.
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Rosie Putman ’11 prepares to receive her diploma on Prize Day.
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i everyone. For those of you who don’t know me: My name is Rosie Putnam, I am a senior and I am afraid of public speaking. I have never considered myself to be a natural public speaker, and in the past I have pretty successfully avoided the action, which I have always considered to be a dangerous plight. Anyone who remotely knows me knows that I have the tendency to turn rapidly red when nervous or uncomfortable, and having all eyes on me has never been a goal of mine. Upon entering St. George’s, I therefore had no desire to give a chapel talk. And yet here I am speaking to all of you. The point of my talk today, however, is not to confess to you my fear of public speaking. When I initially sat down to try to brainstorm a good topic for my chapel talk, I had trouble determining what would be the best thing to write about. I pondered any potential “defining” moments of my life, trying to come up with what it was that I could say that could have a real effect on my fellow St. George’s community members. I came to realize as the curser blinked on the blank page that St. George’s itself is the place where I have learned to truly define myself. First, I think it is important to know a bit about my choice in coming to St. George’s. I come from a St. Mark’s
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family, as my grandfather, father, and brother all attended the school. I always assumed that I would go to St. Mark’s because it was a place of familiarity and family. I ended up visiting a few other schools, St. George’s included, simply to go through the motions of the process. The moment I stepped onto the Hilltop I knew that St. Mark’s was no longer in the cards for me. My gut, intuition, instinct, whatever you want to call it, was telling me that this was the place I belonged. And so I arrived the next fall in Middletown, R.I., instead of Southborough, Mass. Here I am four years later, four years wiser (at least a little bit I hope). Now I could rant about lessons learned and experiences had here at SG forever, but instead I am going to narrow it down into the top three most important things that I have been able to take from my time here, that I also encourage every other student to try to learn to take away as well. Paint dribbled between my fingers as I attempted to scoop it out of the tin containers and throw it against the walls of Astor—Jackson Pollock style. I looked to my left and right to see my friends crying with laughter doing the same. Fast forward: There I was, sitting on the floor in the hallway of Auch, struggling to cut duct tape in an attempt to create homemade suspenders to add to my “geek” ensemble for the Saturday night dodge ball tournament. We all look incredibly stupid; yet somehow have no ques-
Rosie Putnam ’11 of Boston, Mass., heads to Harvard University this fall. She can be reached at putnam.rosie@gmail.com.
ROSIE PUTNAM ’11
what St. George’s has to offer and I promise you can all find some appreciations of your own. The last part of my talk that I want to address is a concept that I am sure everyone will see as an essay prompt in their college applications: taking risks. I realize that this idea has become excessively clichéd over the years, but I also strongly believe that St. George’s is the absolutely perfect environment in which everyone has the opportunity to try things they are initially nervous or unsure about. If you fail, who cares—we’ve all done it. Back to the beginning of this talk, my fear of public speaking, is a perfect example of how St. George’s has taught me to step out of my relative comfort zone and take a risk. I have to give some credit to Father Ned for this leap of faith of mine. Ever since he became the reverend for the church I attend at home I have been asked to do the reading on Christmas Eve, when my entire neighborhood attends. Inconveniently, there are no microphones and many screaming babies that I have had to quite literally yell over in order to be heard. Unbeknownst to Father Ned, I worried and stressed about this reading weeks before Christmas Eve. Yet I still did it and now I am up here speaking in front of all of you. Accomplishing something that I was initially scared of is one of my favorite feelings in the entire world, and being at St. George’s has allowed me to take risks in all shapes and sizes and in turn feel accomplished in many different areas. Take that AP class, try out for a varsity sport, run for prefect, it doesn’t matter what you do; but take some plunges. If you fail, then you just end up where you started, and when you succeed, it feels pretty awesome. So there are my top three nuggets of advice: enjoy yourself, appreciate, and take some risks. To the underclassmen, I know you probably can’t wait to be seniors and graduate. But try to put some of these viewpoints to use and you will learn to cherish the time that you spend here and those who have supported you along the way. It goes by fast—I promise.
PHOTO COURTESY OF
tions in our minds about venturing to the public arena of the field house. Fast forward yet again: I am tying my superhero mask onto my face in preparation for field hockey “Themed Thursday.” I am sure that my roommate and I will impress the team with our striking resemblance to the Incredibles. This is No. 1 for my top three: Build relationships and have fun. Do silly things just for the sake of doing them. Enjoy yourself and get excited about things. Don’t waste the time that you have here. I’ve already come to learn just from being a senior that what I am going to remember from my high school experience are these kinds of memories. I wouldn’t trade in the friends that I have made here at SG for anything in the world. They are my second family and have made my time here truly remarkable—there is just no other way to put it. No. 2 for my top three is more of a personal lesson than a word of advice. During my time here at St. George’s I have learned the beauty of appreciation. Though this concept can certainly be applied to many different areas of St. George’s, for me appreciation has really hit home with my family. I am so incredibly lucky to come from such a loving family, which has encouraged me to pursue what I want throughout my entire life. Their strength and own endeavors have inspired every sense of dedication and determination that I hold in my own disposition today. My mom in particular has been a pinnacle of strength in my eyes. One evening during my sophomore year I got a call from my dad during study hall. Thinking it was just a typical “how’s school” call, I ignored it and continued doing my homework. After two more missed calls I figured I should probably call him back. I learned that night that my mom’s sister took her own life. I left school the next day to attend the funeral with my family, and watched in awe of my mom’s composure and poise through the mess. I learned that day what real strength is, and have carried it with me throughout my SG career. Though this concept applies to everybody differently, my point is to simply appreciate. Whether it be that physics teacher who finally pushed you into understanding gravitational force, or perhaps the most delicious seven-layer bar at lunch, appreciate what others have done and it will have an effect on you as well. I’ve chosen to highlight just one of my appreciations today, but I could certainly name a hundred. Look around at
A younger Rosie shares some quality time with her mom.
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Different Takes C
H A P E L
T
A L K S
PHOTO COURTESY OF J ENNY J OHNSON
Casting away When it all gets too much, set the competitive spirit aside BY GRAHAM ANDERSON ’11 Following is a chapel talk delivered on March 29, 2011.
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Graham Anderson ’11 sets out for a day on the water off Jamestown, R.I.
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walked along the shoreline, pleasantly stepping from rock to rock, with my fishing rod in one hand, and my tackle box in the other. Even though the sun was barely hovering over the horizon, there was still an hour of good daylight left. As I looked for a place where I wanted to fish, I admired the orange reflection on the ocean. I stepped down off the big rocks, and continued on my path, stepping over seashells, bunches of seaweed, and the occasional washed-up buoy. Farther down the seashore, I finally found a spot with a big boulder that jutted out into the ocean from which I could fish. I made my way out to the tip of it and was soaked by a wave that had slammed up against the face of the rock. I tasted that distinct saltiness of ocean water, and rubbed the back of my hand against my lips in an attempt to get rid of the taste. I sat down, placed my equipment next to me, and took a deep breath. The serene ocean setting was a far cry from the busyness of life at school. The birds floated carelessly over the waves, and the harbor seals lay on rocks offshore in their attempt to catch the last light that the sun would offer them that day. For a moment, I envied those creatures’ simple and easy lives. I rigged a trusty lure to the end of my line, stood up, and cast it into the water. The intensity of the setting sun made me squint, and the cool afternoon breeze blew my hair from my face. I slowly reeled in my lure, and waited
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for the moment when a huge striped bass would snap it up. It didn’t happen this time. I cast again, and kept repeating the process. A good 45 minutes passed without my catching anything, but I kept at it. Even though I hadn’t yet experienced the exhilaration of reeling in a fish, I was certainly enjoying this refuge from my normal life’s routine. I continued casting and reeling in my lure as I stared at the ripples created by its movements in the water, and I listened to the powerful waves crashing against the rocks. This repetitive and carefree activity offered me an opportunity to reflect, and it helped me to clear my mind. My daydreaming was suddenly cut short when something bit my lure and pulled my line out at full speed, the reel screaming in protest. I increased the drag on the reel, and began to work the fish toward me. This bass was relentless, and it wasn’t going to be caught without giving a fight. My mind was so focused on getting this fish to shore, though, that I forgot everything that was going through my head. The whole fight, which must have taken about 10 minutes, seemed to last just a minute to me. I got the fish to my feet, scooped it out of the water, and removed the hook. I held up this creature of the sea at eye-level with both of my hands. It lay curiously still as I studied it, with only its rapidly fluttering gills showing any signs of life as they frantically gasped for air. Its camouflage was now on full display for me—the brown-green spotted back, a perfect blend of the sea floor, and the silver scales of its underbelly flashing crimson in the last rays of the dying sun. After a short time, I
At St. George’s, everything we take part in seems to have an eventual purpose or consequence. We train with the hopes of being the fastest sprinter on the track, the leading scorer in the ISL, and the best goalie in the Northeast. We study in order to try to earn the highest grade in the class, to score a 5 on the AP, and to get into the 99th percentile on the SAT. We join clubs and activities in order to become more well-rounded individuals, and we do unique projects in order to distinguish ourselves from our schoolmates. All of our activities seem to be centered on the premise of trying to outperform our peers. While I understand the need to perform well and to try hard at everything we do here at St. George’s, I do believe many of us should make a small adjustment in our routine in order to provide a much-needed change of pace in our lives. The one small piece of advice that I would like to offer all of you today is really quite simple. I would urge you to discover some activity whose only purpose is to provide you with enjoyment and deep relaxation. In a community where we are constantly running from one commitment to the next, I think finding something to take one’s mind off of the trials of our daily lives can prove to be incredibly valuable. Make it a point regularly to take part in this activity, even when you think you might not have the time to do so. It is especially important to clear your mind when life gets too busy and stressful, so be sure to find an opportunity during exam week, and at other busy times here on the Hilltop. When you decide on a time to pursue this activity, don’t choose instead to practice your spring sport, to exercise to get in shape, or to study in order to do well, because those activities are directed towards the specific goal of self-improvement and status. Being obsessed with success to the exclusion of any simple and relaxing diversion can lead to frustration and will be counterproductive in the long term. Instead, choose an activity that has no ultimate goal. I happen to love fishing. Back on the shoreline that afternoon, I watched the
shadow of the fish disappear into the vast ocean. After it was completely gone, I stared at the waves for a moment, then packed up my gear and headed back to my car. Nothing could bother me, not even the itchy feeling of the sand in my socks and shoes. I was now relaxed and ready to face the rest of the week. As I reached my car, I looked over my shoulder just as the sun slipped under the horizon. I unlocked the door, sat down, and pulled it closed behind me. The second I put the key into the ignition, the beach was gone, the fresh air was gone, and the carefree part of my day was gone, too. I drove out of the parking lot and headed back to the reality of schoolwork and the stress of college applications.
Those long, uneventful hours of casting my line along the shoreline provide me with a welcome hiatus. Those times, when I am simply waiting for a fish to strike are unlike any others on the Hilltop. So, go out and search for something you can do for yourself. Don’t worry about being the best at it, or impressing others—rather concern yourself only with clearing your mind and taking a break from your daily routine. Developing this skill, and mastering such an avocation, will give you a peace of mind and a spiritual tranquility that will help better to prepare you to cope more successfully with the many demands of the real world. I sincerely wish each and every one of you success in such a quest. Graham Anderson ’11 of Middletown, R.I., was this year’s co-winner of the Ramsing Prize for excellence in marine and environmental biology. He heads to Babson College this fall and can be reached at grahamthomasanderson@gmail.com.
PHOTO COURTESY OF J ENNY J OHNSON
carefully, almost reluctantly, lowered my prize back into the waters lapping at my feet and released it. With a powerful flick of its tail it was gone—suddenly and forever. The fleeting moment was over, and just as fast as it had come, it left, never to be recaptured.
A younger Graham (left) helps show off the latest catch with his brothers, Preston and Angus ’08.
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Prize Day G
R A D U A T I O N
2 011
PHOTO BY
KATHRYN WHITNEY LUCEY
Ready for the ‘battle of life’ BY ERIC F. PETERSON Krista, Sam ’11 and Eric Peterson on Prize Day. Following is the address delivered by the head of school to the graduating class on Prize Day, May 30, 2011.
T
o the members of the Class of 2011, we offer our heartfelt congratulations. You are a remarkably accomplished class, and you have led the school this year with grace and courage and a constructive, positive spirit that we all will miss. You are artists and athletes, scholars and activists. You have studied, competed and served the school and our community with great enthusiasm and great success. You should be very proud. We will certainly miss all of you next year, but we know that you will enliven your new collegiate communities with the same energy and character, intelligence and humor that you’ve shown in your time at St. George’s. In the meantime however, we have you as our own for a few minutes more, and I ask your indulgence in one last opportunity to offer the class some perspective.
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As you may have noticed, the world did not come to an end last Saturday. Despite the predictions of an apocalyptic religious group in California, some of whom sold everything they owned in preparation for the Last Judgment, we are all still here. The sun rises, the moon sets and the globe with all its creatures continues to spin on through space and time. This was not the first time such a prediction failed. Indeed, history is scattered with confident declarations that the world was coming to an end, every one of which was wrong. With this in mind, you’d think we’d be more skeptical about such claims, but perhaps they gain a bit of traction because we live in a time filled with such a deluge of lesser, but no less dire predictions and pronouncements about our imminent doom. We are bombarded by headlines, newsfeeds, and sound bites that screech about natural disasters, looming economic collapse, and crime, violence and horror of all sorts. Just this week the headlines included: “Genocide suspect to be
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extradited,” “Flooding spreads across northern U.S.,” and “Grim job prospects for recent grads.” This last story represents a whole subspecialty of doomsday predictions: those directed at or commenting on young people in general and your generation in particular. You may have already grown used to hearing that your generation is heading into a world in decline, that our problems have grown too large and complex to be solved and that your generation, the so-called Millenials or Echo Boomers, are too disengaged, distracted or indulged to save yourselves, much less the world. As a teacher, as your headmaster and as a father, I tell you that this claim is complete and utter nonsense. Pay no attention to those who discount your gifts or overlook your potential. For as long as civilization has existed, and across a wide range of cultures, every preceding generation has questioned the will, the intelligence and the capability of the generation that followed. I imagine each of you has heard stories from your parents
or grandparents about how much harder life was “back when.” I know I am guilty of this reflex when I reflect on the burden of having to get up and walk across the room to change the television channel among the three or four that were available. (The odd counterpoint to these stories is that there is often a companion sentiment that while things were so much harder, they were also somehow better in the “old days.” This makes no sense, but we believe it, and so will you someday.) In any case, there is a long history of hand-wringing and fretting about the general decline of young people and the consequently dim prospects for the future of the world. Buckminster Fuller, the famed thinker and designer, describes an inscription on a 6,000-year-old Egyptian tomb that reads, “We live in a decaying age. Young people no longer respect their parents. They are rude and impatient. They frequently inhabit taverns and have no self control.” In the 8th century BC, the Greek poet Hesiod noted, “When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly disrespectful and impatient of restraint.” Five hundred years later, in the 4th century BC, a thinker no less esteemed than Plato himself was observing, “What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders; they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?” Turns out that with enough time they in some manner became all of us. By the 1800s American newspapers fretted about teens’ behaviors “gnawing away at the foundations of society,” and from the mid-20th century on to today, there have been periodic and regular worries about youth behaviors of various sorts “eating at the heart” of society. Enough already. Looking at the question from a historical and logical perspective,
your presence here today demonstrates that these predictions from across time are just as wrongheaded as every one of the doomsday claims have been. More to the point, any such predictions do not and cannot take into account what we as your teachers and families know: you have been well prepared for the lives you will lead in the larger world, and far from being the cause of its end, in time, you and your generation will be the leaders and the shapers of the world. You will be the fresh ideas, the energy, the problem solvers, researchers, leaders that the world will need, not the cause of its demise. We know this because along with the contributions and support of your families, this school, this faculty, has trained you, and it is on the nature of this training that I want to reflect on for a moment. In the school prayer, we speak of our wish that you leave this school “well equipped for the battle of life.” As is so often the case in such inspirational language, we define the goal, but we fail to explain exactly what we mean by “well equipped.” Certainly you have mastered a great deal of academic content, some of which will be immediately useful to you, some of which you will call upon years from now in a yet unimagined context. You have striven and competed on and off the fields of play, and have learned lessons about teamwork, winning with grace, and losing with honor. You have expressed your creativity in music, dance, and in pen, pencil, clay and metal, and you have learned how to be active, participating citizens in a complex but intimate community. All of these achievements and skills are part of the great value of a St. George’s education, but I believe you have been most well equipped not just by the specific experiences you’ve had here, but by a handful of personal qualities these experiences have cultivated in you and that will transcend and inform all that you will do from here onward. In other words, the essence of your preparation lies
not so much in what you’ve learned as in who you have become. I am certain that each one of you in the class has found some measure of success here at St. George’s. Whether that success was very visible and highly public, or of the more quiet, personal sort, you should be proud of your accomplishments. At the same time, for all of your successes, I also hope that every single one of you has also failed in some way. I say that not to wish you pain, because failure certainly stings, but rather to reassure you that among the equipment you take from this school should be a degree of resilience, an ability to bounce back from hurt, disappointment or failure. As each of you has come to know, life is complicated. It isn’t easy, and there is no time to lie around, eating Donettes® and waiting for good things to happen. Instead, despite our best efforts and fondest hopes, sometimes things go wrong. Our calculations are off, the unexpected occurs and the plan unravels. What happens next is what defines you, sometimes in ways you never imagined. In my own experience, one of my watershed moments of failure was a savagely negative review of some work I had done while practicing law. As someone who’d done well in school, and was used to generally succeeding, it was a startling setback. It was also one of the best things to ever happen to me. The negative feedback I received caused me to take stock, and to look at myself and my performance more honestly and clearly. With some reflection, I came to realize that although harsh, the criticism was not inaccurate. My heart was not remotely in practicing law, and it showed in my work. Within a few weeks I had made up my mind to leave the law, and within a few months I had found my way back to the work I loved in education. I have never once regretted the change, and it might not have happened but for what felt at the time like a real setback. The automaker Henry Ford described
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Prize Day G
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failure as “the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” Since he had several companies go bankrupt before founding Ford Motor Co., he spoke from hard experience. What underpins his sentiment, however, is the second elemental quality I believe you will be taking from St. George’s. In order to want to begin again, you must have developed a fundamental measure of curiosity. You have to want to understand the problem, and to understand how you might better solve it the next time. Curiosity is a central element of human nature, and it is my hope that your time at this school has fostered and nurtured yours. As a kid, I liked to read. A lot. So much that I would read anything at hand, including the back of cereal boxes, the dictionary, the phone book (I was looking for people with funny names) and even the entire World Book Encyclopedia. Setting aside the cringeworthy dorkiness of reading a dictionary page by page, I realize now that I was feeding what was and still is a level of deep curiosity about the world. To this day, I still read as many newspapers, books, magazines and websites as I can manage. As for each of you, I hope that the breadth and depth of your experiences here, both inside and outside the classrooms, have stoked the fires of your own natural instincts to seek knowledge and understanding because even though the doom-saying descriptions of youth are inaccurate, the world faces legitimately complex problems, and it will require every ounce of your generation’s creativity to meet the challenges of the years ahead. Given the complexity of those issues and the uncertainty that pervades so much of the world, you will need every bit of the final element that your experiences here should have provided you. Courage is perhaps the prime quality you will need as you leave the shelter of this school to participate in the larger life of the world. Courage, of course, comes in many forms, from the
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physical to the moral, and while many claim it, genuine specimens or examples seem far too rare. Physical courage is easy enough to see and understand, but other forms of courage are, by definition, exceedingly hard to know. So while I have certainly done things that required varying degrees of physical courage, from bobsledding to bungee jumping to coming to the aid of a wrecking sailboat, moral courage is a trickier matter, because I believe it’s difficult for any of us to judge our own moral courage. Like a mountain on which we each stand, it is hard to discern the shape of that which is beneath our own feet. As with a sense of humor, or good taste in clothing, we’d all like to think we have it, but in the end that judgment may best lie with others. So, rather than point you to purely physical or moral courage as an element of your St. George’s equipment, the courage I hope you have found and cultivated here is what I would call “integral” or “whole” courage. Blending courage in all of its forms, this is the courage that acknowledges risk but presses ahead, that does the right thing despite the cost, and embraces triumph and failure, the good and the bad, as integral elements of the universe. Because this courage is a blend of so many elements, summoning it is difficult. But in the end, it is important that we embrace it as a conscious choice of our own, because in making this deliberate choice, we achieve our fullest humanity. This is free will in its most important and meaningful form. Mark Twain described this dynamic in writing, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear. Except a creature be part coward, it is not a compliment to say that he is brave.” In other words, we are most courageous when we acknowledge the opportunity not to be, and yet proceed anyway. It is my fondest hope that your experiences here have equipped you to understand yourself and the world in ways that will lead you to
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make courageous choices in your lives. In his book “Wind, Sand and Stars”, the French author Antoine de St. Exupery describes his adventures flying for the French mail service in North Africa in the early part of the 20th century. One night, he and his crew were forced to crash land in the middle of the Sahara Desert, where they had to spend a long night alone, waiting for rescue. Cobbling together a rough camp from their wrecked cargo, the men lit a handful of candles and waited. Beneath countless stars and surrounded by a nearly measureless expanse of sand, St. Exupery wrote, “So in the heart of the desert, on the naked rind of the planet, in an isolation like that of the beginnings of time, we built a village of men.” St. Exupery speaks not just of bravery in the face of danger, but of the common bonds that sustain us, of our collective connection to one another, especially in the face of challenging circumstances. As you leave the warmth and security of St. George’s to travel the deserts, forests and cities of the world, know that you are indeed well-equipped for what lies ahead. You have been well trained and well prepared, but most of all, I know that I speak for your families and the entire faculty in telling you that above all, you have been well loved. There will be great challenges ahead, but with the resilience, curiosity and courage you carry with you, know that any obstacles will be ever met with your enthusiasm, your intelligence and your devotion. Far from being the end of the world, you are each the luminous authors of its salvation. May the Lord watch over you all and keep you safe and happy, may you come to rely on all you have learned here, and may you know forever that some part of all of us leaves here with each of you. Eri c F. Pe ter so n has been the head of school at St. George’s since 2004. He can be reached at eric_peterson@stgeorges.edu.
Left: A le x E l ron ’12, senior prefect-elect, and Jo e M ac k ’12, honor board chairelect, lead the procession of underformers on Prize Day.
PHOTO BY
KATHRYN WHITNEY LUCEY
PHOTO BY
KATHRYN WHITNEY LUCEY
PHOTO BY
KATHRYN WHITNEY LUCEY
Below left: L ind sey Ma cNa ug ht ’11 and M ad die Lu ca s ’11 wait in line for the walk to the Front Circle.
The annual Prize Day chapel address this year was delivered on May 30, 2011, by Gray H . Mu zzy, a real estate lawyer from Houston, Texas, and the father of graduating senior Everett Muzzy ’11. Muzzy and his wife, former trustee Ph oe be Mu zzy, are also the parents of Cr isp in ’06 and Le slie ’09. The text of Mr. Muzzy’s speech, “Cowboy up,” is on the web at www.stgeorges.edu/MuzzyPrizeDayTalk.
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The Prizes 2 011
PRIZES AWARDED M A Y 3 0 , 2 0 11
L OGAN P RIZE
FOR
KATHRYN WHITNEY LUCEY
R A D U A T I O N
E NGLISH :
S o phi e C a r o l F ly n n
K ING M EDAL
AND M C C AGG P RIZE — for consistently outstanding performance in Latin.
PHOTO BY
G
Eve lyn Daw n M al do na do ’11 is awarded the Binney Prize.
K ING M EDAL : B INNEY P RIZE — For the highest scholarship in the Sixth Form:
L e i t e r C a m p b e l l C ol b u r n
E ve lyn D aw n Ma ld on ad o
M C C AGG P RIZE : Es i wa h o m i A m e n a O z e m e b oy a
D RURY P RIZE — For excellence in art: O l i v i a I s a b e l l a Be a t r i z G eb el e i n
C HOIR P RIZE :
A RCHITECTURE P RIZE :
L’Or ea l Mc Ke nn a L amp ley V i c t o r i a K at h r y n e L e o n a r d
D EAN S CHOL ARSHIP — In memory of Charles Maitland Dean, Senior Prefect 1968, killed in Laos in 1974. Given by his family and friends, and awarded for the sixth-form year to a boy or a girl who has demonstrated a concern for the community, the ability to lead, and a sense of civic responsibility: A n n e t t a O’ B i c h i O’ L er u
R a c h e l G r o s v e n or A s b e l
C AMER A P RIZE :
T HE R EAR A DMIR AL J OHN R EMEY W ADLEIGH M EMORIAL P RIZE —
I s ab e l l e R o s s D ov e
Awarded to a student whose enthusiasm for and interest in history and marine studies is worthy of special recognition:
T HE C L ASS
Ha l e y A n n e C o n g d o n
OF
1978 M USIC P RIZE —
Awarded to a student who through personal efforts has inspired the musical life of the school:
Ta rl eto n H a rvin Wat ki ns I II
W OOD D R AMATICS P RIZE — For the student whose abilities and efforts have contributed most to the theater at St. George’s:
E ve re tt R ic ha rd Gra y Muzz y
M ARY E USTIS Z ANE C UP — Awarded
T HE R AMSING P RIZE — For excellence
to a girl of the Sixth Form whose steady devotion to the high ideals of good sportsmanship has been an inspiration to her fellow students:
in marine and environmental biology:
J u l i a S t a n t on C a r r e l l a s
G r a h a m T h om a s A n d e r s o n Ev e r e t t R i c h a r d G r ay M u z z y
J ACOBY B IOLOG Y P RIZE : Ev e l y n D a wn M a l d o n a d o
S i m on A l i s t ai r Ha r d t
D ARTMOUTH C OLLEGE A LUMNI I SL AND H ISTORY P RIZE :
(The next four prizes in athletics are awarded by vote of the coaches.)
L IEUTENANT G OVERNOR E LIZABETH H. R OBERT S L EADERSHIP A WARD — In recognition of outstanding leadership and commitment to the local community:
T HAYER C UP — Awarded to a boy of the Sixth Form whose steady devotion to the high ideals of good sportsmanship has been an inspiration to his fellow students: C h r i s t o p h e r J o h n C h ew
L OUISE E LLIOT C UP — Awarded to a Sixth Form girl for excellence in athletics and for promoting the spirit of hard, clean play:
C h a r l e s B ay ar d L a r c om I V
M ar y El i z a b e t h Kl i m a s e w i s k i
S a r a h C o l l u m B u r d i ck
E DGAR P RIZE
R IVES F RENCH P RIZE :
O l i v i a I s ab e l l a B e at r i z G e b e l e i n Seb a stia n A le xan de r Bie rma n-Lyt le
S AMUEL P OWEL C UP — Awarded to a Sixth Form boy for excellence in athletics and for promoting the spirit of hard, clean play:
E VANS S PANISH P RIZE : IN
M ATHEMATICS :
E m i l W i l l i a m H en r y II I
V an e s s a K e a n e d e Ho r s e y
C HINESE P RIZE — Awarded to the student who has demonstrated consistently high performance in the study of Mandarin Chinese and shown a genuine interest in the Chinese language and culture while at St. George’s:
M a r t i n Ven t o s o
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G EORGE D. D ONNELLY A THLETIC A WARD — Awarded to a girl(s) and boy(s) who, in the opinion of the Head of School and the Athletic Directors, possess a passion for athletics and who demonstrate the dedication and the sportsmanship to succeed in a variety of athletic endeavors:
C ENTENNIAL P RIZE — Inaugurated during the school’s centennial year. Awarded to a boy and girl of the graduating class who have demonstrated extraordinary and inspirational efforts on behalf of the school community:
Pa t r i c k R i l e y M c G i n n i s Hi ll ar y Lo uise We in
L’ Ore a l Mc Ke nn a La mpl ey C ha rle s Ba ya rd L ar co m I V
S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 S U M M E R B U L L E T I N
KATHRYN WHITNEY LUCEY
H EAD ’ S C OMMENDATION A C ADEMIC E XCELLENCE
FOR
PHOTO BY
(Second Semester 2010 – 2011)
M ar t in Ven to so ’11 is awarded the Chinese Prize.
(The next prizes are awarded by vote of the faculty.)
A LLEN P RIZE — To a member of the Fourth Form who during the year has maintained a high standard in all departments of the life of the school:
O on a C ar o l e n a P r i t ch ar d
H ARVARD AND R ADCLIFFE C LUBS OF R HODE I SL AND P RIZE — For the student of the Fifth Form whom the Head of School and the faculty deem most worthy in scholarship, effort and character:
J o s e p h M at r on e M ac k
T HE J EFFERYS P RIZE — Given in memory of Cham Jefferys to the Sixth Former who in the opinion of the faculty has done the most to enhance the moral and intellectual climate of the school:
A na ise Umu bye yi K an imb a
P HELPS M ONTGOMERY F RISSELL P RIZE — Awarded to the member of the Sixth Form who, in the opinion of the faculty, has made the best use of his or her talents:
C h r i s t op h e r J oh n C h e w
H EADMASTER ’ S A WARD — To the Senior Prefect for his or her faithful devotion to the many duties of the past year. Given in memory of Henry W. Mitchell, Class of 1933:
H i l l a r y L o u i s e W ei n
S T . G EORGE ’ S M EDAL — Awarded to the member of the Sixth Form who through effort, character, athletics and scholarship during the year has best caught and expressed the ideals and spirit of St. George’s: Ju lia St a nto n C arr el la s
Grace George Alzaibak Rachel Grosvenor Asbel Sara h Collum Burdick Jo hn Garvo ille Co aty Rebecca Warren Cutler Emily Derecktor Mega n Ho pe Everett Bethany Lynn Fowler Olivia Isabella Beatriz Gebelein Olivia Louise Hoef t Jo hn Jongmin K im Cha rles B aya rd Larc om Heydi Malavé Evelyn Daw n Maldonado Hannah McCo rmack Allison Armstrong McLane Oona Caro lena Pritchard Sha rnell Chor y Robinson Margaret E lizabeth Schro eder Ian Oliver Schylling Veronic a Gabrielle Sc ott Ja e Young Shin William Eberlein Simpson V irginia Margaret Smith Han X u
H IGH D ISTINCTION : V ir gin ia Me r r il l Ada m s R ac h e l G r o s v e n o r A s b e l Se ba sti an Ale xa nde r B ier man -Lytl e S a r a h C o ll um B ur di c k Jul ia St a nto n Ca rre ll a s H a l e y A n n e C on g d o n S o p h i e C ar ol F l y n n O l i v i a I s a b e l l a B ea t r i z G eb el ei n Po l i n a V i c t o r i v n a G o d z O l i v i a L ou i s e Ho e f t C h ar l e s B ay a r d L a r c o m V i c t o r i a K a t h r y n e L e on ar d H e y d i M a l av é E v e l y n D aw n M a l d on a d o K a the r in e H um e Mc C o r m a c k E v e r e t t R i c h a r d G r ay M u z z y M a n on C am e r o n R i c h a r d s S h ar n e l l C h or y R o b i n s o n C a r o l y n C o o p e r U h l ei n K a t h e r i n e S t e el W i l ki n s o n
D ISTINCTION : E m i l y T h ay e r A d am s G r ah am T h o m a s A n d e r s on M a t t h e w E r i c A r ch e r A n n a E l i z a b et h C a r r M i c h a e l a G i a D av i e s I sa be ll e Ro ss Do ve C ar o l i n e L a u r e n G u m m o D an i e l A l an J oh n s o n A n h V i et L a M a de lin e W hi te Luc a s P h oe b e S a r an M a n n i n g Aver y Lynn M cD on al d G e o r g e G r ov e M e n c o f f C ar o l i n e H os m e r M i l l e r K a t h ar i n e R o s e P u t n a m V i r g i n i a R an d o l p h R e y n ol d s R a ch e l El i z a b e t h S e l l s t o n e M a r tin Ve nto so H i lla r y L ou ise Wei n Tayl or M ari o n Will ia ms
C UM L AUDE S OCIET Y Inducted September 2010:
V irginia Merrill Adams Matthew E ric Arc her Sebastian Alexander Bierman-Lytle Julia St anton Carrellas Sophie Carol Flynn Po lina Victorivna Godz Charles Bayard Larcom IV V ictoria Ka thr yne Leonard E velyn Dawn Maldonado Inducted May 30, 2011:
Ra chel Grosvenor Asbel Olivia Isabella Beatriz Gebelei Olivia Louise H oef t H eydi Malavé P ho ebe Saran Manning Aver y Lynn McDonald E verett Richard Gray Muzzy K atha rine Ro se Putnam Sharnell Cho ry Ro binson K atherine Steel Wilkinson
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On the web A
D D I T I O N A L
C O N T E N T
O N
T H E
I
N T E R N E T
s
ses i r urp
A BLEND OF NEW AND OLD Visit the Archival Miscellany page on our web site: www.stgeorges.edu/alumni_ae/archival_miscellany
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S T. G E O R G E ’ S 2 0 1 1 S U M M E R B U L L E T I N
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ANDREA HANSEN
Faculty/Staff notes
The gifts they gave us Four veterans—with 99 years’ combined service—retire from St. George’s BY SOPHIE FLYNN ’11 Red & White Editor-in-Chief
T
his year, four members of the faculty have concluded their professional lives by leaving the Hilltop and entering retirement. These faculty members are Mr. Stephen Leslie, Mr. Gary Cornog, Mr. Joseph Gould and Mr. Robert Larkin. These men have worked at St. George’s for a total of 99 years. Several members of the community expressed their impressions and memories of these respected members of the faculty. Mr. Stephen Leslie has been on the Hilltop since
1972, for 39 years. Mr. Leslie has had many roles in the school: co-founder of the Geronimo program, Head of the Science Department, Director of Marine Studies, Director of Camp Ramleh, sailing coach, Dean of Students, Dean of Faculty and teacher. Mr. Leslie said of his time at St. George’s, “I have been extremely fortunate to work in such a small, close classroom setting, with considerable independence to develop my own interest and style and manner of teaching, and with such a diverse group of engaged,
History teacher B o b La rki n, English teacher Ga r y Co rno g, Science teacher St eve L esl ie and former Assistant Head of School for External Affairs and history teacher Jo e Go ul d retired from St. George’s this year.
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PHOTO BY
KATHRYN WHITNEY LUCEY
PHOTO BY
ANDREA HANSEN
Faculty/Staff notes
Top: Sp en c er T hun e ’01, Ja ke Gra nd ’01, Ri ck Mo se ley ’71, former Assistant Head of School for External Affairs Joe Go uld and Will ia m Ba t tey ’71 reconnect at Reunion Weekend in 2006. Bottom: Former Director of College Counseling Gar y Co rno g became a passionate English teacher in later years.
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courteous, respectful and interesting students.” His students reciprocate the appreciation through their praise of him as a teacher. Julia Carrellas ’11 who took chemistry with Mr. Leslie said, “He taught me chemistry, but he also taught me how it all relates to the outside world. He connected everything we learned to an interesting fact, may it be a story about a World War II bomb shelter or the life cycle of a specific animal. He was so passionate about teaching and I will never forget his sticker that says ‘Have you thanked a hydrogen bond today?’ He will be greatly missed.” Chad Larcom ’11 who was in Mr. Leslie’s environmental science class said, “He has an honest love for science, and a huge amount of respect for the Earth. He embodies the ideal scientist.” Larcom
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added that his favorite part of being a student of Mr. Leslie’s was “the discussion-based classes. It wasn’t necessarily him teaching us—it was all of us exploring an issue.” Mr. Tim Richards, Assistant Head of School for Student Life, also spoke of his experience with Mr. Leslie: “He’ll get mad at me for saying this… but he reminds me a lot of my dad.” Mr. Richards elaborated, saying that Mr. Leslie is “not focused on himself or his own interests or needs, but the needs of his students and athletes and advisees.” Mr. Leslie’s wife, Mrs. Betsy Leslie, described Mr. Leslie’s desire to improve the life of the school when he was the dean of students. She said, “He’s such a person of ethical and moral commitment, and he sees issues so clearly for what they are.” Mr. Leslie’s science department colleague, Mrs. Holly Williams, said that he is “the heart and soul of St. George’s, who embodies everything that a teacher would want to be.” She also noted that for years, she would stumble upon Mr. Leslie in the science building early in the morning, reading scientific journals. She added that “he’s been the conscience of our school in a lot of ways,” most notably leading the charge in sustainability. Mr. Leslie said of his plans for retirement, “I need to rediscover my own pace, my own schedule and my own interests. Mrs. Leslie and I will surely continue our love of hiking and wildlife observation in the Rocky Mountains, including studying the conservation issues surrounding wolves, grizzly bears and bison. And who knows what else?” Mr. Leslie also has some parting words of wisdom for both faculty and students remaining at St. George’s: “Dare to engage fully and stretch to your limits, as [SG] will be one of the most supportive communities you will encounter.” Mr. Gary Cornog has been at St. George’s since 1990, for 21 years. He has served as a college counselor, Head of College Counseling, an English teacher, Head of the English Department, and overseer of community service. Mr. Cornog commented on his time as a teacher at St. George’s: “Teaching English has given meaning to my life since I started my career in the late 1960s, and my classroom experiences at St. George’s have been endlessly challenging and rewarding.” Two of his students spoke about their time in the classroom. Rachel Asbel ’11 highlighted Mr. Cornog’s passion for sharing his interests: “Mr. Cornog shows
that he really has a genuine interest in what he’s teaching us. A lot of the time, it felt like the movies we watched or the topics we discussed were chosen just because he enjoyed them and wanted to share them with us, not so that we could be graded on our responses to them.” Abi Moatz ’11, who was also in one of Mr. Cornog’s English classes, said, “My favorite part of Mr. Cornog’s classes has been the way he tries to help the students understand and enjoy the novels. If a student really pays attention in class, they will notice his truly hilarious and witty comments!” She added that with his retirement, the community will be losing “a very strong teacher in class, a knowledgeable and reliable college adviser, and a caring, witty and admirable soul.” Dr. Patricia Moss, Assistant Head of School for Academic Affairs, said that Mr. Cornog is “devoted to his students and his teaching in a way that is never flashy.” She added about his work in the College Counseling Office: “He did a wonderful job masterfully shepherding the school and the students through the ramp-up of hype about college.” Mr. Robert Weston, a colleague of Mr. Cornog’s in the English department said “I got to know him as a member of a department who was very smart and very funny in a quiet, sort of wry way.” He, too, commented on Mr. Cornog as a college counselor: “There is never any ego involved in his work; it’s always been about the students and families.” Ms. Elizabeth Bickford, another English teacher, said that Mr. Cornog’s greatest qualities are his “sense of humor, his passion for his work (both college counseling and English), and his attention to detail—he’s pretty unflappable in that way.” Mr. and Mrs. Cornog will be spending their retirement in Chapel Hill, N.C., said Mr. Cornog, “Since our daughter Megan ’99 attended undergraduate and graduate school at UNC, and through her we have a good start on a network of friends.” Mr. Joseph Gould began working at St. George’s in 1991, and has spent the last 20 years on the Hilltop. Mr. Gould served as Assistant Head of School for External Affairs, being responsible for the school’s fund-raising, alumni/ae and parent programs, and communications. He was also involved in the design processes for the school’s construction projects and was the assistant secretary of the board of trustees for several years. The past year, he has been a history
teacher, soccer coach and the Director of Global Programs. Mr. Gould said about his time at St. George’s, “I have had the opportunity to be creative, facilitate change and manage. I have met and worked with some remarkable people. And I have traveled around the world. There have been times when I’ve wondered how a boy from Brockton, Mass., got to do all these things and go to all these places.” Mr. Richards said about Mr. Gould, “He has totally dedicated his life for the last 20 years to improving St. George’s through not a particularly glamorous means …. He was almost singlehandedly responsible for raising our endowment from $25 million when he got here, to more than $100 million today. It happened with a lot of careful planning and attention to detail.” Mr. Richards added that Mr. Gould is “a tell-it like-it-is kind of guy. He’s also a wonderfully generous and kind person.” Mr. Richards believes that hallmarks of Mr. Gould’s legacy are “bringing the school to a point of fiscal strength and spearheading the charge to becoming a more global institution.” Referring to the fiscal strength that Mr. Gould brought to the school, Dr. Moss said, “He felt that it was his job in that office to help make dreams come true. And he really did.” Ms. Cindy Martin, who has worked alongside Mr. Gould in the development office for 19 years, said, “He wanted [SG] to be the best school in the country— not one of the best—THE best, and the school wouldn’t be what it is today without him. He empowered our development team to get things done… We have a difficult job to do here, but he made it fun, and I’m going to miss him a lot.” On the other hand, Mr. Gould was a valuable teacher during his last year at SG. Oona Pritchard ’13, one of his world history students, said, “We were always able to comment and express our opinions, and he created an environment where we could ask questions and admit when we were confused. I think he genuinely wanted every person in his classes to succeed, and he wanted everyone to really understand the content rather than just study it for a test or quiz. He definitely always had nothing but our best interests in mind.” Hannah McCormack ’13, another of his students, added, “My favorite part about [Mr. Gould’s] class is that it is driven by the students’ interests. After readings, we do blog entries. He never fails at reading
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Faculty/Staff notes
Top: Science teacher St eve Le sli e meets with former student La ney Ya ng ’10. Bottom: History and economics instructor Bo b L ar kin taught many students to care about the global economy, including To ri Nor t h ’07.
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them every morning, and class discussion is always based around what interested us in the reading.” Mr. Gould will be moving to Williamsburg, Va., with his wife, Jennifer, for his retirement, but may look for an opportunity abroad before settling down permanently. Mr. Robert Larkin arrived on the Hilltop in 1992 and has spent the last 19 years here. He has served as the Head of the History and Social Sciences depart-
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ments, a history teacher, an economics teacher, and lacrosse coach. He also coauthored the original AP Economics syllabus for the College Board. Dr. Moss characterized Mr. Larkin as having “passion, intellectual curiosity, a restless mind and tremendous energy in everything he does.” She said that he is “a true believer in the dignity of the teaching profession.” She spoke of his use of technology in the classroom; he has so many documents that he has his own server to store them. Dr. Moss also said, “He inspires kids to want to learn history. He is very charismatic in an idiosyncratic way.” She told of his morning rituals: he is an early riser, who “gets online and starts reading newspapers from all over the world.” Finally, she said, Mr. Larkin is “a passionate historian, an educational innovator, a fair and decent person and a gentleman of the old school.” Ms. Deborah Foppert, a colleague of Mr. Larkin’s in the history department, has known him for 18 years. She said that his main contribution to the community was “as a great teacher: enthusiastic and knowledgeable in his field, and engaging students in whatever class it is he’s teaching.” Ms. Foppert added that “his sense of humor and his inquisitive nature are two of his greatest attributes.” Mr. Larkin’s idiosyncrasies are apparent, she said, since “he walks across the table in his classroom, and certainly draws students’ attention.” Sebastian Bierman-Lytle ’11 and Graham Anderson ’11 are two students who took Mr. Larkin’s AP Economics class this year. Bierman-Lytle said that his favorite part of Mr. Larkin’s class was talking about current events. “We’d discuss world news in terms of the positive economics we were studying—it was really interesting to look at things with that perspective.” Anderson added, “With Mr. Larkin’s departure, the community will lose a brilliant and incredibly devoted faculty member who put his own students before himself. He was able to tie anything he may have been teaching to current events, and share with his students his love of the subjects he taught.” So phi e Flyn n ’11 wrote many stellar articles for the student newspaper, the Red & White, during her career at St. George’s. She heads to Brown University this fall and can be reached at Sophie_Flynn@brown.edu.
SUZANNE MCGRADY PHOTO BY
Science teacher Dr. K im B ull oc k participates in a faculty workshop this summer to examine data gathered in a year-long study of student engagement. A professional development opportunity, the workshop was designed to help teachers find ways to incorporate the findings of the engagement study into the pedagogy of existing courses. Overseeing the year-long study were Kurt Fischer, Charles Bigelow Professor of Education and director of the Mind, Brain and Education Program at Harvard University, along with his graduate students, Christina Hinton and Catherine Glennon.
PHOTO BY
R ACHEL R AMOS
During the St. George’s Board of Trustees meeting in June, members of the Education Committee got the chance to hear from physics teacher B o b Wei n, Art Department chair Mi ke H a nse l ’76 and student Cha rl es M a ca ul ey ’12 about a collaborative project between the Three-dimensional Design and Honors Physics classes. The goal: construct a small wind turbine that was both effective and aesthetically pleasing. Students earned points for both form (design and creativity) and function (ability to produce energy). The collaboration was funded by a grant from the Merck-Horton Center for Teaching and Learning.
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For the first time in 23 years, the St. George’s Math Team came in first place at the Rhode Island State Math Competition. A tip of the calculator to Joa nna Xu ’13, who had the highest score in her division in Rhode Island, Michae l K im ’12, Ja e Shin ’13, Mike Kong ’13, Tao Ouyang ’12 and William Kim ’12. And speaking of Michael Kim ’12: The math and science departments can’t keep his pencils sharp long enough before he’s off to another competition. For the second year in a row, Kim scored high enough on the state math test—among the top 25 in the U.S.—to win an invitation to compete for a spot on the U.S. Math Michael Kim ’12 Olympic Team—and he accomplished the same feat in physics. Optimi Discipuli: Results are in from the National Latin Exam and five of our stellar students earned Silver Maxima Cum Laude Awards: Lily Sanford ’14, Joanna Xu ’13, Michael Kim ’12, Esi Ozemebhoya ’11 and Sophie Layton ’12. Six students earned Magna Cum Laude distinction: Scott Allen ’12, Alex Hope ’12, Theresa Salud ’13, Miles Matule ’14, Josephine Cannell ’13 and Annetta O’Leru ’11. Huck Joon “Scott” Yang ’11, who heads to New York University this fall, received a Siemens Award for Advanced Placement Scholarship this spring for his performance on A.P. tests in math and science. Established in 1998, the program awards $2,000 college scholarships to students from each of the 50 states Scott Yang ’11 who have earned the greatest number of scores of 5 on exams in the following AP courses: Biology, Calculus BC, Chemistry, Computer Science A, Environmental Science, Statistics, Physics C Mechanics and Physics C Electricity and Magnetism.
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Yang, who also enjoys sailing, says his favorite A.P. course actually was in economics. He plans to study economics and robotics at NYU with the aspiration of becoming an entrepreneur in robotics. What sparked his interest in science and math? “Building remote controlled cars and planes.” Rahil Fazelboy ’13, Up Punyagupta ’13, Raleigh Silvia ’13, Maddie Parker ’13, Carine Kanimba ’12 and Caroline Thompson ’13 all won prizes in the Rhode Island Mathematics Contest this spring. Their projects will be on display at the 2011 Fall Conference for the Association of Teachers of Mathematics in New England (ATMNE). Helen Weston ’12 was the recipient of a special scholarship award from Centro Mundo Lengua to attend their Spanish immersion program in Cadiz, Spain, in July. The rigorous and specialized precollege high school Spanish program has collaborative arrangements with local Spanish high schools to use their facilities and was codesigned by the College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) Program to help students prepare for AP tests Helen Weston ’12 and improve language skills. For the second consecutive year a St. George’s student won the top prize in the local Redwood Library Student Poetry Contest. This year, the award went to Tao Ouyang ’12 for his poem “Mirror.” Tao and Julia Carrellas ’11, who heads to Brown University this fall, joined six students from other Aquidneck Island secondary Tao Ouyang ’12 schools in April at the library for a reading of their poems and a discussion of their work.
R ACHEL R AMOS PHOTO BY
Class of 2012 members Ann et ta “ Fre sh” O’L eru of Oklahoma City, Okla.; Ca sey De Lu ca of Bedford, N.Y.; Al ex E lro n of Charlottesville, Va.; Jac k Ba r th o let of North Kingstown, R.I.; and E va n R ea d of Manhasset, N.Y.; were elected school prefects for 2011-12. Elron won the vote for senior prefect. The event at the library was preceded by St. George’s own poetry contest, sponsored by the English Department, to determine the two students to participate in the public event. Department Chair Gary Cornog announced at assembly March 3 that Carrellas and Ouyang were co-winners of the school contest. Julia’s two winning poems were “The Meeting” and “Dust.” Tao’s two poems were “Hometown River” and “Mirror.” Sharnell Robinson ’11 received Honorable Mention recognition for her poem, “Nothing Good Happens After the Sun Sets.” Last year, Carrellas won third place honors in the Redwood contest with an untitled poem about nature. Winning 2010’s first-place prize was Caroline Miller ’11, for her poem, “Ode to Miami.”
power ups and other useful tools. It’s addicting, fast and fun to play!” Twenty-one members of the NADA (Not Advocating Drugs or Alcohol) club taught classes in the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program at Middletown’s Gaudet Middle School this spring. In order to teach, club members had to commit to not using drugs, alcohol or tobacco—and be able to talk about that in front of thegraders. The students all gave up free periods to teach the classes, which were about 40 minutes long.
Pursuing one of his many personal passions, S eba st ia n B ie rma n-Lytl e ’11 developed a new game called Bacterium this spring, available on the Android Market web site.
Sebastian Bierman-Lytle ’11 spent some special project time this spring developing a game for the Android mobile market called Bacterium. The game was published in April and is available for free at https://market.android.com. Bierman-Lytle describes the game as a fun, smart, physicsbased game with hundreds of levels and many different strategies. You destroy bacteSebastian Bierman- ria to earn money, and you can use that money to buy Lytle ’11
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Academic Honors for Second Semester 2010-11 Head of School Commendation for Academic Excellence The Head of School Commendation for Academic Excellence is St. George’s highest bi-annual honor. These students received no grade below an A- during the 2010-11 second semester: Grace George Alzaibak Rachel Grosvenor Asbel Sarah Collum Burdick John Garvoille Coaty Rebecca Warren Cutler
Emily Derecktor Megan Hope Everett Bethany Lynn Fowler Olivia Isabella Beatriz Gebelein Olivia Louise Hoeft
Honor Roll III Form Samuel Frederick Alofsin Katherine Elizabeth Bauer Camilla Pepperell Cabot Margaret Deane Cardwell Edward Hill Carter Yu Yao Cheng Woo Won Chun Cameron Roarke Cluff John Anthony DeLuca Ian Bowen Dickey Andrew James Duff Charlotte Rhucent Ytable Dulay Alexander James Maher Goodrich Elizabeth Lipton Grace Austin Webb Heye Mary Olivia Keith Margaret Peyton Kilvert John Jongmin Kim Thomas Edward Kits van Heyningen Hannah Marie Macaulay Peyton Emily MacNaught Samantha D. Maltais Jorge L. Melendez Virginia Casey Moylan Grace Connors Polk Callie Ireland Randall Virginia Tully Ross Aubrey Miles Fitzhugh Salmon Lily Joy Sanford Margaret Elizabeth Schroeder Ian Oliver Schylling Seung Hyouk Shin William Eberlein Simpson Andrea Suarez Hannah Frances Todd Brendan Peter Vischer Robert Loux Woodard Jieun Yoon
IV Form Katherine Alice Bienkowski Colby O’Neil Burdick Josephine Rose Cannell John Garvoille Coaty Richard Ryan Conlogue Keely Conway Rebecca Warren Cutler Nico Cyril DeLuca-Verley Sophia Elisabeth DenUyl Miriam Elhajli Rahil Karim Aliff Fazelbhoy William Russell Fleming Genevieve Barton Flynn Bethany Lynn Fowler
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John Jongmin Kim Charles Bayard Larcom Heydi Malavé Evelyn Dawn Maldonado Hannah McCormack
Hikari Hasegawa Anderson Hershey Ziye Hu Andrew Pierre Issa Edith Rose Kremer Efstathios Kyriakides Nicholas King Larson Shannon Marie Leonard Xingyan Li Hannah McCormack Allison Armstrong McLane Alana Claire McMahon Lisbeily Mena Jeremy Monk Andrew Walker Moreau McKenzie Nagle Chanjoon Park Daniel Perry, III Katarina Pesa Tyler Andrew Pesek Oona Carolena Pritchard Callie Victoria Reis Vivianne Renee Reynoso Kemigisha Maria Richardson Theresa Anne Salud Jae Young Shin Virginia Margaret Smith Caroline Claire Thompson Sienna Warriner Turecamo Han Xu
V Form Katherine Pond Adams Caroline Elizabeth Alexander Scott Ethan Allen Grace George Alzaibak Alexandra Elena Ballato Jack Ives Bartholet Honoria Newbury Berman Kendra Lindsay Bowers Joy Imani Bullock Claire Emily Chalifour Woo Sung Chun Robert Joseph Citrino, IV Caitlin Anne Connerney Calvin James Cotanche Eliza Duncan Cover Casey Elizabeth DeLuca Emily Derecktor Katherine Mitchell Desrosiers David Alexander Elron Megan Hope Everett James Anthony Ferretti Eric Oliver Fornell, Jr. Devon Elizabeth Fownes Emma Dane Garfield Matthew Field Gilbert
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Allison Armstrong McLane Oona Carolena Pritchard Sharnell Chory Robinson Margaret Elizabeth Schroeder Ian Oliver Schylling
William Todd Gilbert Samantha Evelyn Goldman Ellen Abigail Granoff William Hackney Greer Jamison Campbell Harrington Elizabeth Wynn Haskell Erin Sumi Hendrix Logan Yoshi Hendrix Alexander Rohn Hope Richard Camden Howe Halsey Clay Huth Trisha-Joy Jackson Justin Jaikissoon Kayla Marisa Jeffrey Michael J. Kim Sophie Barksdale Layton Stephanie Jimin Lee Emily Jeanne Lewis Lisa Heeyoung Lho Frederick Parker Little III Charles Webb Macaulay Sarah Auger MacDonnell Joseph Matrone Mack Arena Abena Manning Elizabeth Todd Manning Valdair Corsino Martins Lopes Alana Marie McCarthy Sadie Ruth McQuilkin Mark Huntington Nuytkens Annetta O'Bichi O'Leru Alexandra Rose Paindiris Yonghan Park Pearson Bahan Potts, Jr. Julia C. Rayhill Evan Parker Read Bettina Kauffmann Redway Emma Rossiter Scanlon Veronica Gabrielle Scott John Ingalls Snow, IV Rachel Charlene Sung Charlotte Anne von Meister Caroline Kurtz Welch Helen Elizabeth Weston Alexander Sheldon Whitehouse Anna Pierce Williams
VI Form Emily Thayer Adams Virginia Merrill Adams Graham Thomas Anderson Matthew Eric Archer Rachel Grosvenor Asbel Sebastian Alexander Bierman-Lytle Sarah Collum Burdick Brooke Beverley Burrowes Anna Elizabeth Carr Julia Stanton Carrellas
Veronica Gabrielle Scott Jae Young Shin William Eberlein Simpson Virginia Margaret Smith Han Xu Graham Dean Cochrane Leiter Campbell Colburn Haley Anne Congdon Brittany Noelle Corso Michaela Gia Davies James Howell Lynch Dean Vanessa Keane deHorsey Niall James Devaney Lukaia Cree Edward Dolbashian Isabelle Ross Dove Jonathan Leo Dunn Sophie Carol Flynn Magdalena Theresa Franze-Soeln Olivia Isabella Beatriz Gebelein Polina Victorivna Godz Caroline Lauren Gummo Olivia Louise Hoeft Daniel Alan Johnson Mary Elizabeth Klimasewiski Anh Viet La L'Oreal McKenna Lampley Charles Bayard Larcom Victoria Kathryne Leonard Madeline White Lucas Lindsey Miles MacNaught Jonathan Michael Maio Heydi Malavé Evelyn Dawn Maldonado Phoebe Saran Manning Zachary Charles Mastrodicasa Katherine Hume McCormack Avery Lynn McDonald George Grove Mencoff Caroline Hosmer Miller Kelly McPhillips Miller Abigail Moatz Erin Christine Monahan Maia Maude Monell Everett Richard Gray Muzzy Lilias Juanita Noesen Brett Lee Passemato Kyle Joseph Powers Katharine Rose Putnam Virginia Randolph Reynolds Manon Cameron Richards Taylor Anne Risley Sharnell Chory Robinson Katherine Marie Rodriguez Rachel Elizabeth Sellstone Seton Stabler Talty Carolyn Cooper Uhlein David J. Vasquez Martin Ventoso Hillary Louise Wein Katherine Steel Wilkinson Taylor Marion Williams Alexander Gove Wilsterman Harrison Peabody Wulsin
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And they’re off...
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Here’s where our graduates are heading:
Vanessa de Horsey ’11 is awarded the Rives French Prize.
Babson College (2) Baylor University (1) Bentley University (1) Boston College (5) Boston University (2) Brown University (4) Canterbury School (PG) (1) Carnegie Mellon University (2) Chapman University (1) Colby College (2) College of the Holy Cross (1) Colorado College (2) Connecticut College (2) Dartmouth College (3) Davidson College (1)
Eckerd College (1) Elon University (1) Franklin and Marshall College (2) George Washington University (1) Georgetown University (5) Hamilton College - NY (1) Harvard University (1) Hobart and William Smith Colleges (2) Johns Hopkins University (1) Kenyon College (1) King's University College (1) Lehigh University (2) Lewis & Clark College (1) Manhattanville College (1) Maryland Institute College of Art (1)
Middlebury College (2) New York University (3) Northeastern University (1) Rhode Island School of Design (1) Rhodes College (1) Rollins College (1) Rutgers University (1) Saint Anselm College (1) Scripps College (1) Southern Methodist University (1) Stanford University (2) Temple University (1) Tufts University (2) University of Alabama (1) University of Connecticut (1) University of Delaware (1) University of Iowa (1) University of New Hampshire (1) University of Oregon (1) University of Rhode Island (1) University of Southern California (1) University of St. Andrews (Scotland) (1) University of Vermont (2) University of Virginia (1) University of Wisconsin, Madison (1) Vanderbilt University (1) Vassar College (1) Wake Forest University (4) Washington and Jefferson College (1) Wentworth Institute of Technology (1) Westminster School (PG) (2)
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Fourth formers A l a n a M cM ah on , Be c ky Cu tle r and Jac k Co at y participate in an English class with teacher P at r i c i a L o t h r op .
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Kyl e P owe rs ’11 and Tayl or Ri sle y ’11 work on a lab project in H ea th C ap el lo’s new A.P. Environmental Science class.
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PHOTO BY
Visit our news archive at www.stgeorges.edu to read more about the new courses being offered in the 2011-12 school year.
R ACHEL R AMOS
te a d up
EVELYN MALDONADO ‘11 PHOTO BY
R ACHEL R AMOS
PHOTO COURTESY OF
During Reunion Weekend New York Times reporter and last year’s Diman Award winner K a te Ze rni ke ’86 (second from left) got the chance to spend some time with 2010-11 Red & White Editor-inChief So ph ie Fl ynn ’11, Journalism teacher and newspaper advisor Su zan ne Mc Gra dy and 2011-12 Red & White Editor-in-Chief Ja ck Ba r t ho le t ’12.
As part of their coursework in the DNA Science class, He ydi Ma lavé ’11, Head of the Science Department H o ll y Wi lli am s, Da vid Va sque z ’11, B ett ina Re dw ay ’12, Sc o tt Yan g ’11, Ca mde n H ow e ’12, L inn ie Gummo ’11, E ve lyn M al do na do ’11, and Z ac h M ast ro dic asa ’11 visited the Harvard Museum of Natural History (above) and a Cambridge biotech lab during a spring field trip.
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Right: The orchestra performs at the Music Guild in April.
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Below: I sa be ll e Dove ’11, winner of the Camera Prize, did a special project this spring working with a Wista Field camera, the style of which dates back to the 19th century.
ST. GEO RGE’ S CHA PEL C HO IR HITS A HIGH NOTE WITH PERFORMANCE O F F O R M E R LY S E C R E T M A S T E R P I E CE
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SOPHIE FLYNN ’11
The Good Friday chapel service April 22 featured an extraordinary performance by a small group of choir members, who sang the “Miserere” by Gregorio Allegri. According to Head of the Music Department and Choirmaster Cl are Ges ua ldo, the piece was written during the Renaissance period and was sung only on Good Friday and only in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. The church forbade any written copies Emily Derecktor ’12 of the piece so it went largely unknown and a secret for more than 100 years. In 1770, a 14-year-old Mozart attended the Good Friday service in the Sistine Chapel, heard the music, and wrote it down after the service. This was the first unauthorized copy. “Thanks to Mozart, we now know about this haunting piece. The unique feature is the high-C sung by the highest soprano. The soaring note harkens toward heaven above,” she added. The highest soprano in the St. George’s Choir is E mmy De rec k to r ’12, who hit the note perfectly.
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Clockwise from top left: a drawing by Emi ly Ada ms ’11; a drawing by V irg ini a Ada ms ’11; a sculpture by Le la Ba rc la y de To lly ’11; the Senior Art Show, May 2011; a painting by Mo lly R ic ha rds ’11.
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Steering for the stars BY JOSEPHINE CANNELL ’13
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PHOTO BY
What do I want to write about? It would be very easy for me to write one of those clichéd Geronimo entries. Like discussing turtling, and how I mastered the belly flop while racing against the speedy turtles in the blue Bahamian water. I would of course need to include the adrenaline rush that comes when you surface with the Green in your hands after the chase. And how Captain Hayes continuously calls me Stephanie, but in the rush of turtling I am afraid that the few seconds it will take to correct her might lose the turtle. So I’m JoJo instead. Along the lines of cliché, now would be a good time to mention how our crew has gotten so much closer. I suppose living in a space about the size of the average single back at school with six other people will do that to you. I remember the first dinner on board and how quiet we all were. The cab ride from the airport in San Juan was the same, but we had a long day of travel so that is justifiable. The silence quickly diminished after our first night in the bunkroom. But that’s a topic of a cliché entry. So what about
R ACHEL R AMOS
Following is a Geronimo student’s journal entry written on April 19, 2011.
maybe writing about all the lines hanging on the mast: candy cane striped lazy-jacks and the downhall, the “Cookie Monster” blue tack and preventer? How can I write enough on that? I love the way the reefing nettles swing gently back and forth across the mainsail and the bright blues and yellows of the spare main halyard. The furling line sports school colors and the reef one is like Christmas. The two sea-gasketed lines dance around the mast to the music of the boat swaying on the swells and rolling with the water. The best spot on the boat is easily at the helm when you are the only person on deck, preferably at
Docked at Goat Island Marina in Newport this spring, Geronimo shared the harbor with the famed luxury yacht, the Maltese Falcon, one of the largest privately owned sailboats in the world at 289 feet (in the background).
Clockwise from top left: The spring crew takes a dip: An drew Is sa ’13, Ja ck Co at y ’13, Sie nn a Ture c am o ’13, Ja mes D ’A ma rio ’13, E li za Co ve r ’12, Jo se phi ne Ca nne ll ’13 and Will Lea th er man ’13.
C APTAIN DEBORAH HAYES
Sie nn a Ture c am o ’13 and E li za Cover ’12 take measurements on a sea turtle.
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And rew Iss a ’13 takes pride in tagging a new turtle.
sunset or sunrise. And night sailing when the stars are just right; you have the perfect thing to steer for. Once I had two stars, measuring the distance away from the farthest star that the mast needed to be. I’m still on a hunt for any steering stars more perfect than that. There is something so peaceful about being there, just you, some of the only alone time you get. Alone time is something that I almost miss, and I don’t realize exactly how great personal time for my thoughts is until I get it. That’s like being on the foredeck at anchor, too. The staysail is “mine” for studying and it makes a great beanbag chair. On the full moon, I managed to find some time with my book up there to try and read in the moonlight only to realize that no, the light
is not good enough and I do need a headlamp to read. My starboard upper bunk is a good place too, cozy where the light is just right for reading, but the rocking of Geronimo has a tendency to put me to sleep. Being in the galley could be a whole focus too. It’s stressful, but extremely rewarding once you make that perfect meal. And eating everyone else’s perfect meals is of course a bonus, especially if they are “perfectly undercooked.” For baked goods at least. On the “Wheel of Fortune” dishes come the day after and the countdown until you are cook next begins. All the other chores are intermittent really… So what do I want to write about for my journal entry? Still not sure: Ask me again in two weeks.
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On board F R O M
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Top: A lis on Gl a ssie ’04 (right), who joins the English Department faculty this year, was the first teacher to take part in the new Sea Legs Program aboard Geronimo. The pre-orientation program for incoming students is designed to help students get to know a few members of the community before school starts, and to get to know Geronimo. The student crew for the first voyage were Em ma C oz ’13, Em ma T ho mps on ’15, K at hr yn Cou gh lin ’14, Se ren a B a nc ro f t ’15, Chri sti na Ma li n ’15, So ph ia Ba rke r ’15 and El iza be th Mil la r ’15. History instructor Jam es B ull o ck and Administrative Technology Coordinator E d Mc Gin nis served as guest teachers on the second and third trips. Right: Ja mes D ’A ma rio ’13 and Sie nn a Tur ec a mo ’13 on board Geronimo.
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SPRING ATHLETES MAKE THEIR MARK 2 0 11 S T . G E O R G E ’ S S P R I N G A T H L E T I C A W A R D S BASEBALL
BOYS TRACK
Twitchell Baseball Cup (M.V.P.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jake Dunn Reynolds Baseball Cup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sam Alofsin R.B.I. Cup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mike Reed All-ISL, first team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jake Dunn, Sam Alofsin All-ISL, honorable mention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eric Lowry
Holmes Track Trophy (M.V.P.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Martin Ejiaku Track Coaches’ Cup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris Chew Track M.I.P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tyshon Henderon All-ISL, first team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jaleel Wheeler All-ISL, honorable mention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeremy Phillips All-New England . . Mark Nuytkens, Jaleel Wheeler, Tao Ouyang All-County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hythem Al-Mulla, Chris Chew, Drew Boyd, Martin Ejiaku
GIRLS LACROSSE Lacrosse M.V.P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anna Carr Lacrosse Coaches’ Cup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Julia Carrellas Lacrosse M.I.P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Theresa Salud All-ISL, honorable mention . . Julia Carrellas, Mary Klimasewiski NEPSWLA All-Stars . . . . . . . . . Julia Carrellas, Mary Klimasewiski
SAILING Wood Sailing Bowl (M.V.P.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pearson Potts Leslie Sailing Bowl (Best Crew) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Olivia Gebelein Coaches’ Cup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Evan Read Sailing M.I.P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Max Simmons
SOFTBALL Softball M.V.P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Katie Rodriguez Holly Williams (Coaches’) Cup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Phoebe Manning Softball M.I.P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Caroline Thompson All-ISL, first team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Katie Rodriguez All-ISL, honorable mention . . . . . . . . . . Becky Cutler, Emily Lewis
BOYS TENNIS York Tennis Bowl (M.V.P.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stathi Kyriakides Trotter (Coach’s Cup) Bowl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emil Henry Tennis M.I.P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rich Higgins All-ISL, first team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stathi Kyriakides All-ISL, honorable mention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emil Henry
GIRLS TENNIS Tennis M.V.P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Victoria Leonard Tennis Coaches’ Cup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carrie Uhlein Tennis M.I.P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Erin Monahan All-ISL, honorable mention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Victoria Leonard
GIRLS TRACK Hubert C. Hersey Track Award (M.V.P.) . . . . . . . . . . . Hillary Wein Track Coaches’ Cup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Esi Ozemebhoya Track M.I.P. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D.J. Wilson All-New England . . . . . . . . . . . . Arena Manning, Hillary Wein (2) Mary O’Connor (2), Veronica Scott (2), Tully Ross Esi Ozemebhoya, D.J. Wilson All-ISL, first team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D.J. Wilson All-ISL, honorable mention . . . . . . . .Esi Ozemebhoya, Tully Ross, Mary O’Connor (2), Veronica Scott, Hillary Wein, Arena Manning All-County . . D.J. Wilson (2), Mary O’Connor (3), Emma Scanlon, Margaret Schroeder, Veronica Scott (2), Sharnell Robinson, Joy Bullock, Arena Manning (2), Hillary Wein
LETTER AWARDS Manager of the Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Graham Cochrane 8-Letter Awards . . . . . . . . Chris Chew, Jake Dunn, Martin Ejiaku, Olivia Gebelein, Mary Klimasewiski 9-Letter Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jordan St. Jean, Emil Henry, Kelly Miller, Leiter Colburn 10-Letter Awards . . . . . . . . . . . Julia Carrellas, Patrick McGinnis, David Vasquez 11-Letter Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mary O’Connor 12-Letter Award . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hillary Wein
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Alessi Lacrosse Bowl (M.V.P.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joe Mack Herter (Coaches’) Cup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Niall Devaney Hollins-Sheehan Lacrosse Cup (M.I.P.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dan Perry All-ISL, first team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joe Mack All-ISL, honorable mention . . . . . . . . . . Niall Devaney, Alex Elron
PHOTO BY LOUIS
BOYS LACROSSE
Jo e Ma c k ’12 was the M.V.P. of the boys’ lacrosse team.
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tudents with a passion for playing 18 have scored a hole-in-one now that the Athletic Department has completed its plan to reinstate a golf program at St. George’s. The co-ed team will consist of 10 players, with at least two boys or two girls, and will begin playing in the 2012 spring season in the Independent School League (ISL). The prestigious Newport Country Club, founded three years before St. George’s in 1893, and noted most recently for hosting the U.S. Women’s Open in 2006, will serve as St. George’s home course. Tryouts for the team will be held on successive Sundays in the fall, giving students the opportunity to prepare over the summer and so that practices can start up immediately in the spring. The Rev. Ned Mulligan, SG’s chaplain and a former golf coach at Salisbury School in Connecticut, will be the head coach, and art teacher Ted Sturtevant ’96 will be the assistant coach. All matches except the ISL championship match will be played on regular game days (Wednesdays and Saturdays).
SG athletic memories “I believe Peter Chester and I were two of the earliest (if not the first) players to be on a St. George’s golf team. It would have been in our senior year, 1968, and we played at the Newport Country Club. There were never more than four of us, and it was rather informal. The club was happy to have us because in those days, there was little play after 2 p.m. so we generally had the course to ourselves. We didn’t have matches because we knew of no other school that had a golf program. We just went out and had fun. It remains one of my favorite experiences at SG, and fostered an activity that I greatly enjoy to this day.”
Opposite page: The 1981 St. George’s golf team.
—Alfred “Chappy” Morris ’68 Above: A golf photo from the 1965 Lance.
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Right: A captain of the varsity girls track team, H il la r y We in ’11, shows off her skills in the pole vault.
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Above: Sta th i Kyr ia kid es ’13 had a 23-7 (sets won/lost) record in the Independent School League playing No. 1 most matches for the boys’ varsity tennis team.
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The Girls Varsity Track Team this year repeated as NEPSAC (New England Preparatory School Athletic Council) D-III Champions, piling up 141 points to second-place Kingswood-Oxford’s 91 points in the 20-team field of opponents on May 21. The boys finished in third place with an impressive 85 points. New England Meet records went to E si O ze meb hoya ’11 for a discus throw of 110 feet, 8 inches; and Ver on ic a Sc o tt ’12, Are na Ma nni ng ’12, Hi lla r y Wein ’11 and M ar y O’C on no r ’11, who ran the 4x400m relay in 4:16.79. School records were set by Ozemebhoya with her discus throw; D.J. Wi lso n ’12 in the shot put (35-0.5); Joy B ul lo ck ’12, Ma r y O ’Co nn or ’11, Sha rne ll R o bin so n ’11 and Ar en a Ma n nin g ’12 in the girls 4x100m relay (52.33); Just in Ja ik is soo n ’12, Mike Cas ey ’11, Je re my P hi lli ps ’11, and Ja so n P ark ’11 in the boys 4x100m Relay (44.49); and Ja le el Wh ee le r ’12 with a high jump of 6 feet, 6 inches. The Girls Varsity Squash team finished sixth overall at Nationals this year and fourth overall in New England. The team was undefeated in league play and won the Independent School League Cham-
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pionship. Three juniors on the team—SSa ski a P ow na ll -Gray ’12, Kei sha Je f frey ’12, and K ayla Je f frey ’12—played in the top four and are being highly pursued by colleges to play at the next level. PownallGray is from Weston, Conn. The Jeffrey twins are from Demgrara, Guyana.
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Me gan Leo nh a rd ’09, a rising junior at Trinity College, was named this spring to both the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division III All-American Team and the Synapse Sports Women’s Lacrosse Division III AllAmerican Team. Leonhard, a Synapse Sports National All-Rookie selection last season, played in all 19 games (all starts) in the midfield and finished with a team-high 54 goals (third in NESCAC) and nine assists for 63 points. Leonhard was selected as the NESCAC Player
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We’re on a roll: With victories in Varsity Girls Lacrosse, Varsity Girls Tennis and Varsity Boys Tennis April 18, St. George’s clinched its 13th consecutive Diman Cup (the varsity competition between Aquidneck Island rivals St. George’s and Portsmouth Abbey).
Above: K ayla Jef frey ’12 shows off her "nearly perfect backhand swing form," according to Varsity Girls Squash Coach Colin Mort. Left: The pitching skills of southpaw freshman Sa m Al o fs in were a welcome addition to the varsity baseball team.
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Right: O on a P ric ha rd ’13 won praise this year for her talents in the classroom and on the playing fields.
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Top: E mi l H en r y ’11, P at ric k H ol owe sko ’11, Mi ke Nuytke ns ’12 and P at ric k M c Ginni s ’11 formed a record-breaking relay team in the Hoyt Pool.
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of the Week once and to the Synapse Sports National Honor Roll twice this spring. A former all-league player at St. George’s, she is the daughter of Kelli and Mark Leonhard of Summit, N.J.
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Sarah Dic k ’07, who joins the faculty this year as an admission fellow, ended her career at Claremont McKenna College with a flourish on the lacrosse field. Along with earning All-American status, Dick was the recipient of several other honors for her athletic prowess. This from the college’s web site: “Dick led the Athenas this season in both goals and assists. In her final game against Gettysburg Dick scored her 200th goal of her career and will go down as one of the most decorated players in CMS lacrosse history. She is the all-time leader in career goals and goals per season. She also is the all-time leader in points per season and second in career points. This past season, Dick was named Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Player of the Year for the second year in a row and was just recently selected for the North/South Senior All Star game—a very esteemed honor. Dick has left an indelible mark on the program and will be remembered for years to come.”
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PHOTO COURTESY OF PHOTO COURTESY OF WWW. SWAMPHOCKEY. COM
Sydne y Ma s ’10 earned America East Rookie of the Week honors twice this spring and broke the freshman scoring record for the Women’s Lacrosse program at the University of Vermont. Check out photos and videos of Mas at http://uvmathletics.com/ index.aspx?path=wlax.
AMERICAEAST.COM
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One of SG Hockey’s most successful alums in recent years, S h e a Gu t hr i e ’05 was re-signed to the Utah Grizzlies this spring. Grizzlies Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations Kevin Colley made the announcement in March. Guthrie, a forward, played 22 games with Utah last year totaling seven goals and six assists before being traded to Florida in December for Simon Ferguson and Mike Morrison. He scored 24 points on 11 goals and 13 assists in 33 games with Florida during the regular season. He had one goal and three assists in eight playoff games for the Everblades. Now 23, Guthrie was drafted in the third round and 76th overall by the New York Islanders in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. He totaled 106 points in 137 games playing four years of college hockey at Clarkson University.
Top: Ma r ti n E ji a ku ’11 soars above the ground for another stellar long jump. Middle: Sh ea Gu thr ie ’05 was recently signed by the Utah Grizzlies after a stint with the Florida Everblades. Bottom: UVM freshman attack Syd ney Ma s ’10 won numerous accolades for her skills on the lacrosse field.
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SG Zone A
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D E P A R T M E N T
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Congratulations to the following athletes, who were deemed Spring All-Stars by the Providence Journal. GIRLS’ L ACROSSE SENIOR MIDFIELD Anna, from East Greenwich, R.I., earned the team’s MVP award this past spring. As a captain, she was one of the team’s leading scorers (on a team that scored 253 goals in 18 games) and ball distributors. Her defenAn na C arr ’11 sive talents also made her a key player in the midfield. She earned honorable mention All-ISL honors for her efforts. Anna will take her talents to the University of Vermont next year, where she’ll join former teammate Sydney Mas.
GIR LS’ TR ACK SENIOR Hillary led the Dragons to their second consecutive New England Division 3 Championship as well as to the Newport County Championship this past spring. The senior captain from Middletown, R.I., was an AllNew England, honorable mention All-ISL H ill ar y Wei n ’11 and All-County honors winner, as well as the Hersey (MVP) Cup winner for her performances as a key member of the school and New England record-setting 4x400 meter relay. She was also an All-New England pole-vaulter, and set a new school record in the 300 meter hurdles (50.7). Earning 12 varsity letters during her SG career (as well as being a two-time captain of both the swimming and track teams), Hillary also was awarded the Donnelly Athletic Prize at graduation.
SAILING JUNIOR SKIPPER Pearson, from Pass Christian, Miss., earned the Wood (MVP) Sailing Bowl for his efforts as a leading skipper in SG’s national program. He led the team to a 101 meet record and a ninth-place finish at the Mallory Cup (National Fleet Racing Pe a rso n P o tts ’12 Championships held in Austin, Texas). Pearson returns to lead a young but experienced squad in 2012.
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GIRL S’ TR ACK & FIELD SENIOR DISCUS Esi was a four-year member of the team. When she started with the program, she was blessed with speed and an incredible coachable spirit. After shattering a 1992 school record in the discus of 92 feet E si Oze me bhoya ’11 11 inches last year, she was crowned the New England Champion in the discus once again. She broke the New England meet record and raised the school record to an amazing 110 feet 8 inches (more than 17 feet from the 1992 record). She played an enormous part in helping the Lady Dragons win the New England Division III Championships in two of her four years in the program. In addition, she was the Coaches’ Cup winner. Esi takes her talents to Georgetown University this fall.
B OY S’ TE NNI S SOPHOMORE
St athi Kyriakides ’13
This sophomore from Portsmouth, R.I., playing most of his matches at the No.1 singles position, had a 23-7 (sets won/lost) record in the Independent School League and 26 -9 overall record. He had the fifth best point total in the ISL and was awarded a position on the All-ISL team.
BOYS’ L ACROSSE JUNIOR DEFENSE A junior defenseman from Bristol, R.I., Joe was captain of this past year’s team. He earned first team All-ISL honors, as well as the Alessi (MVP) Cup. Joe led the team in ground balls and directed a young and inexperienced Jo e M ac k ’12 team that showed improvement throughout the 2011 campaign. Joe plays throughout the summer and hopes to continue his lax career in college.
MARISA POTTS PHOTO BY
E si O zem ebh oya ’11 set a new New England meet record in the discus.
Antonio Diaz Go nza les Sala s ’08 (Trinity College), P hil Royer ’09 (Dartmouth College), Jesse P ache co ’10 (Cornell), and Co ur tney Jones ’10 (University of Pennsylvania) met at the Squash Individuals held at Dartmouth College in March.
WALKER PHOTOGRAPHY
Drew Duf f ’14, T im Ar ch er ’14, Jon at ha n Ma io ’11, Ge or ge M el en de z ’14, Drew B oyd ’12, Tysho n H en de r son ’13 and Chri s Che w ’11 catch up with former St. George’s faculty member Ted Hersey at the New England track meet in May.
PHOTO BY LOUIS
PHOTO BY
PHOTO BY
CHRISY JONES P’10
KIM BULLOCK P’07, ’09, ’12
K at ie Ro dri gue z ’11 won first-team All ISL honors as a pitcher for the varsity softball team.
PHOTO BY LOUIS
PHOTO BY LOUIS
WALKER PHOTOGRAPHY
WALKER PHOTOGRAPHY
In June, C ai tli n Co nn ern ey ’12 and Pe a rso n P o tts ’12 won second place in the 2 vs. 2 Rhode Island Team Racing event, in a V15.
Ca rri e Uh lei n ’11 was the winner of the Coaches’ Cup in varsity tennis.
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Campus happenings Conservative commentator brings wit, passion for journalism to campus
PHOTOS BY
R ACHEL R AMOS
Conservative commentator Tucker Ca rl son ’87 was a special guest speaker on campus March 4. Noting that his “Dancing with the Stars” debut is something he’s putting behind him, Carlson gave a humor-tinged talk on the value of the free press in American society and his passionate belief in quality journalism. Regaling the student crowd with stories from his past interviews of notable political figures and his stints on programs like CNN’s “Crossfire,” Carlson also gave props to the current crop of SG journalists. Holding up a recent copy of the Red & White, he congratulated Evelyn Mal don ado ’11 on her investigative piece on the beverage offerings in the SG Grill. Carlson’s son, B uc k ley ’15, joins the third form this year.
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Did you get to see any of the Glee-inspired performances from the Spring A Cappella Concert on our YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/sgdragon372)? Yes, we love Chris Colfer and Lea Michele and the cast, but our real hearts go out to the entire casts of the Hilltoppers and the Snapdragons. What a night! Special thanks to the senior members of the groups who graduated this year—LL’O re al La mple y, V ic to ria Le o na rd, L ind sey Ma c Na u ght, Tayl o r Ris ley, Ch ris Ch ew, P a tri ck H ol owe sko, Ti mo n Wa tk ins and S co tt Ya ng. We’ll miss your fabulous voices. Keep singing!
R ACHEL R AMOS
A CAPPELL A CONCERT M AY 20, 2011
“L I T T L E S H O P O F H O R R O R S ” F E B R UA R Y 25, 2011
PHOTOS BY
R ACHEL R AMOS
PHOTOS BY
R ACHEL R AMOS
Seb as tia n B ie rma n-Lytl e ’11 and Ziye H u ’13 (in photo below) got glowing reviews for their portrayals of a sadistic dentist and nerdy floral shop assistant, respectively, in the theater department’s production of “Little Shop of Horrors” just before Spring Break. Rounding out the stellar cast were Gra ce Al za iba k ’12, Fran ce s Ch amp io n ’12, So p hie Den Uyl ’13, El od ie Germa in ’12, D omi niq ue Sa mue l ’13, Nik k i You ng ’13, E mil y D ere c kto r ’12, Chri s Chew ’11, Jo sep h Gri meh ’13, Lu c as Ca mpb el l ’13, Ama nd a H a nse l ’12, Juli an Turn er ’14, Ma gg ie M a loy ’14 and No ra h H o gan ’14. Students raved about the musical in the Red & White. Tris ha -Joy Jac k s on ’12 added that it was a good selection by the theater faculty. “[The musical’s] message about success and the way you get it is a good one for SG students—especially during this time in the school year,” she said.
The Science Department’s Brown Bag Lunch Series recently included talks by (from top) Dr. C hris O tt ia no ’87; recent Carnegie Mellon grad and UNCF/Merck Scholar Xo c hi na E l H i la li ’07; and Dr. Frank Slack, professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology at Yale University .
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Campus happenings
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R AY WOISHEK ’89
B U R N E T T L E C T U R E • A P R I L 4, 2011
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Dr. Gonzalo Giribet, professor of organismic and evolutionary biology and curator of invertebrates in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, was the featured guest speaker for this year’s Burnett Lecture Series on April 4, 2011. Dr. Giribet, whose research focuses on the world of crustaceans, insects, snails, corals and arachnids, travels the world for his fieldwork. He spoke to the St. George’s community about biodiversity, conservation of habitats, and his research. “He is an engaging speaker, with a sense of humor, a love of discovery, and the ability to convey a sense of adventure about his research,” said Head of the Science Department H ol ly Will ia ms, who invited Giribet to talk. “Hopefully he will inspire some of our students to consider scientific research.”
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The Spring Dance Concerts May 27 and 28 featured some stunning performances—including two student-choreographed pieces—by six accomplished dancers who this year made up the SG Dance Troupe: the Class of 2011’s Ma gda le na Fra nz e-So e ln, P o lin a Go dz, Oli via Ho e f t, Abi M o at z, Ana is e K an imb a and Ra c he l Se llst on e. The main performance was a modern dance piece about recess on the elementary school playground. There were also two smaller pieces with three girls each, and a solo by Franz-Soeln (right).
R ACHEL R AMOS
S P R I N G D A N C E C O N C E R T • M AY 27, 2011
School Year 2011-12 START
S E P T. 13
AND
WE’LL
Michaela Ahern
Alexander Cramer
Qinwen Huang
S o u t h b u r y, C T
Rocky Hill, CT
Ningbo, China
Zurab Akirtava
Cameron Crowley
Cynthia Huyck
Mt. Kisco, NY
Kennebunk, ME
Amherst, NH
Hyunho An
William Davis
Conor Ingari
Seoul, S. Korea
Darien, CT
W i n c h e s t e r, M A
William Anderson
Reed deHorsey
Hunter Johnson
Por tsmouth, RI
Newpor t, RI
Boca Raton, FL
Victoria Arjoon
Avery Dodd
Emily Kallfelz
Georgetown, Guyana
Stonington, CT
Jamestown, RI
Giovanni Carlos Armonies-Assalone
Caroline Dunn-Packer
Jaewoo Kang
Jamestown, RI
Seoul, Korea
Joseph Esposito
Erin Keating
Shelton, CT
L o n g m e a d o w, M A
South Kingstown, RI
Joseph Asbel Newpor t, RI
Samara Ayvazian-Hancock Jamestown, RI
Miranda Bakos Prides Crossing, MA
Serena Bancroft N e w Yo r k , N Y
Sophia Barker Groton, MA
William Bemis St. Paul, MN
Nicolas Brackett We s t o n , M A
Sarah Braman We l l e s l e y, M A
Sloan Buhse Red Bank, NJ
Eugenia Bullock N e w Yo r k , N Y
Alexander Cannell Mattapoisett, MA
Buckley Carlson Wa s h i n g t o n , D C
Sarah Carnwath N e w Yo r k , N Y
Jaeyoung Choi South Korea
Bailey Clement S e w i c k l e y, PA
Kathryn Coughlin Cos Cob, CT
Emma Coz Ocean Ridge, FL
Sterling Etheridge
Michael Kelly
R o x b u r y, M A
Bronx, NY
Catherine Farmer
Yul Hee Kim
Kigali, Rwanda
Seoul, Korea
Chloe Farrick
Nomikos Klonaris
Newpor t, RI
Nassau, Bahamas
Christopher Fleming
Alexandra LaShelle
D u x b u r y, M A
New Canaan, CT
Nicolas Flores
Sang Min Lee
M a x i c o D F, M e x i c o
Jamaica Plain, MA
Blaise Foley
Eddie Liu
Concord, MA
Madison, WI
Garrett Fownes
Rolf Locher
D u x b u r y, M A
N e w Yo r k , N Y
Jeffrey Fralick
Chenglin Lu
We s t C h e s t e r, PA
Shanghai, China
Jing Gao
Jared J. Lucas
Shanghai, China
Jamaica, NY
Jillian Gates
Jonathan Lumley
Wa l p o l e , M A
Roslindale, MA
Amira Gomez
Irene Luperon
East Orange, NJ
New Bedford, MA
Alexandre Grahovac
John Luttrell
K e n n e t t S q u a r e , PA
Darien, CT
Oliver Green
Andrew Lynch
N e w Yo r k , N Y
Franklin, MA
Sung-Kook Guevara
Christina Malin
O k l a h o m a C i t y, O K
N e w Yo r k , N Y
WELCOME
Annika Hedlund
Charleen Martins Lopes
B e r r y v i l l e , VA
Providence, RI
THESE
NEW
STUDENTS
DIANNE REED
ASSES
PHOTO BY
CL
Gregory McKinnon
Elizabeth Scheibe
Q u i n c y, M A
Concord, MA
Anders McLeod
Merrill Scura
Madison, WI
Middletown, RI
Margaret Mead
Kristofer Shelton
Southboro, MA
Pointe-Claire Quebec, Canada
Robert Mey Middletown, RI
Paget Smith
Elizabeth Millar
C o l d S p r i n g H a r b o r, N Y
A n d o v e r, M A
Emma Thompson
Carter Morgan
Wa s h i n g t o n , D C
L o c u s t Va l l e y, N Y
Alexandra Tory
Emma Nash
Hong Kong, China
Marblehead, MA
Dian-Jung Tsai
William Nyamwange
Ta i p e i , Ta i w a n
J e r s e y C i t y, N J
Gage Walsh
Itohan Orobator
Providence, RI
Queens, NY
Jonathan Wang
Harrison Paige
Middletown, RI
Fa i r f i e l d , C T
Amanda Warren
Evan Paindiris
Winterpark, FL
Nor th Kingstown, RI
John Weston
Ji Young Park
Middletown, RI
Seoul, Korea
Allison Williams
Alden Pexton
Por tsmouth, RI
Middletown, RI
Joshua Winkler
Alexander Pfeiffer
Jamestown, RI
Coral Gables, FL
Katarina Wood
William Reed
N e w Yo r k , N Y
Por tsmouth, RI
Yimin Xie
Cameron Roy
Shenzhen
Ipswich, MA
Caroline Yerkes
Wilson Rubinoff
Bronxville, NY
Lan Zhang Natasha Zobel de Ayala
Serena Highley
Cecilia Masiello
Newpor t, RI
Providence, RI
To r o n t o , O n t a r i o , Canada
William Hill
James McClelland
Chestnut Hill, MA
South Hamilton, MA
Alexa Santry A r l i n g t o n , VA
Shanghai, China M a k a t i C i t y, P h i l i p p i n e s
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Community Service R
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Larcom-organized PMC ride helps fellow students reap the rewards of service BY GRACE ALZAIBAK ’12 Red & White Opinions Editor
O
n May 15, at Second Beach, Ch ad La rc om ’11 organized his third Pan-Massachusetts Challenge (PMC) children’s bike ride. At 8 a.m., more than 50 riders and 40 volunteers gathered in a parking lot in order to raise funds for the Jimmy Fund and cancer research at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Larcom’s family got involved with the PMC in 1998, after his mother was diagnosed with nonHodgkin’s lymphoma in the 1990s. About the ride, Larcom said, “Sometimes, people feel like they can’t make a difference. This is one place I know they absolutely do.” Many St. George’s students were counted among the volunteers, giving up their sleep-ins to help the cause. Ra c he l Se ll sto ne ’11 was a logistics volunteer, which meant, “I filled in wherever help was needed. I cheered on riders, helped run the trike pike, helped park bikes and direct people, etc.,” she said. Sellstone is a repeat volunteer from last year. She was also involved with the larger adult PMC last summer. “It was one of the most remarkable experiences of my life,” she said. “People who are involved with the PMC are extremely passionate about finding a cure, and it is so motivational, so I want to be as involved as possible with the organization.” Another repeat volunteer was Ale x El ro n ’12. “I
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remembered how fun the PMC was last year so I was really excited about participating in it again,” he explained. “There are few things that I can think of that are more fulfilling than gathering together and having a lot of fun with people who are all working towards a common goal.” There were several new volunteers as well. R a ch el Asbe l ’11 got involved through her friendship with Larcom and Sellstone. “I decided to do the PMC because I constantly heard Chad and Rachel talking about it, and it seemed like a fun way to raise money,” she said. “I decided I could spare one Sunday morning sleep in to help out with such a good cause that sounded fun anyways.” The morning of the event, Asbel remembered walking down to the beach at around 6:30, only to find Larcom’s family already at the beach setting up. “The effort that he and his family all put into the event was very impressive,” Asbel said. Asbel was assigned the job of directing arriving riders, and at 8 the riders took off. “All of the volunteers were enthusiastic and helped to get the riders even more excited. While the riders were off, the volunteers stayed behind to entertain the younger riders who stayed on the mini course in the parking lot,” she added. Another new volunteer was Ha nn a h M ac a ul ay ’14. “I felt like waking up early was not even a problem considering how much fun I had! I
A RUN FOR CHARIT Y
PHOTO BY
C ASEY DELUCA ’12
Ra c he l Se ll sto ne ’11 (right), pitched in to help run the PMC Kids Ride in Middletown this spring organized by Cha d L a rco m ’11 (left). The two attended the prom in May. worked at the arts and crafts tent, and I soon became the designated face painter, along with Si enn a Tu rec a mo ’13.” She added, “The whole experience did not feel like work; I had more fun than the kids. I recommend more people to volunteer next year! And if you are 15 or under, ride!” Sellstone and Asbel both also enjoyed their experience, and told the same story about a child they had seen at the finish line. Sellstone said, “A highlight was when Rachel Asbel and I were standing at the finish of the ride and a 4-year-old boy came in, having just ridden six miles. That in itself is a very impressive feat, especially on wheels as small as his, but when he finished, his mom gave him a huge hug and was tearing up, telling him that his aunt has cancer and that she would be so proud of him.” Asbel added, “It was one of the most adorable, heart-wrenching things I have ever seen, and it made me very glad that I had come out to support the cause. I think it’s great that these little kids are given an opportunity to help and make a real difference.”
PHOTO BY L UCY
GOLDSTEIN
A 5K run May 15 organized by H el en West on ’12 and A la na Mc Ca r thy ’12 did more than offer a good cardio workout: It raised almost $4,000 for Child & Family Services of Newport County. The run, for which the girls solicited sponsors and designed an SG course, was a spring special project combining athletics and community service. The top three runners to cross the finish line were An de rs on He r shey ’13 (20:03), Ja c k B a r tho l et ’12 (20:27) and History Department Chair Jim Co nn or (20: 35).
H E A R T F E LT F U N D - R A IS I N G Rac he l Se llsto ne ’11 organized a dress-down day held May 13 for a nonprofit organization close to her heart, charity: water. The group brings clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. It was the fourth year in a row Sellstone led the fund-raising effort. Indeed, several students showed their heartfelt connections to charities this spring with dress-down day efforts: Lin nie Gummo ’12 held another dress-down day for the Tanzania Children’s Fund after already raising $13,000 for the orphanage and a newly-built “St. George’s Café” meal pavilion for the children. Ha nn a h Mc Co rma c k ’13 raised money for the organization co-founded by her father with Dr. Paul Farmer, Partners in Health. Be ck y Cut le r ’12 was the organizer behind the dress-down day to raise money for the Atlanta-based Youth Pride organization in April. And Ma dd ie Pa rke r ’13, whose uncle was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease a couple of years ago, organized the May 20 dress-down day to support the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Parker says her whole family has been proactive in helping to find a cure, and this summer climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania as part of the fund-raising effort.
Above: Ala na Mc Ca r thy ’12 and He le n We sto n ’12 at work organizing a 5K run to benefit Child & Family Services of Newport County May 15.
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Community Service E A C H I N G
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O T H E R S
Meanwhile, A le x M ed ei ros ’14 collected warm-weather dresses and skirts from community members to donate to girls and women at the Silesian Sister orphanage in Haiti.
R ACHEL R AMOS
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A school-wide Day of Engagement, organized by Community Service Director Lu cy Go ld ste in and Director of Diversity Dr. Ki m Bu llo c k was held this year on April 4. Third- and fifth-form students participated in service projects, including helping to serve lunch at a local homeless shelter and singing at a local retirement home. Fourth- and sixth-form
PHOTO BY
DAY OF SER VICE Top right: Trish a Joy Jac k son ’12, Ama nd a H a nse l ’12 and An ai se K a nimb a ’11 help out at a local day care center during the SG Day of Engagement April 4.
students participated in workshops on a range of topics including homelessness, women’s rights, Native American culture, derogatory language, race in athletics and stereotypes.
APIARY A DVE NTURES
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PHOTO BY
St. George’s hosted one of the biggest yard sales on Aquidneck Island on Saturday, June 18, thanks to the generous donations of many of our students. Because of the sale, items such as gently worn clothing and no-longer-needed dorm room accessories and furniture make their way back into the local community rather than the dumpster—and all the proceeds go to Camp Ramleh, our summer camp for underprivileged children. Alumni/ae Office assistant and our goto counselor on all things “green,” Toni Ciany had the idea for the first sale in 2004 and has been overseeing it ever since. This year the 8th annual Camp Ramleh Benefit Yard Sale raised $7,040.42.
SADIE MCQUILKIN ’12
PHOTO BY
R ACHEL R AMOS
There was a distinctive buzz around campus this spring: Geo rge Me nc o f f ’11 and Z ac h M as tro dic as a ’11 raised enough money selling specially designed T-shirts to assemble five beehives. The two participated in special project in beekeeping with faculty adviser and Head of the Art Department Mi ke H a nse l ’76. It’s hoped the honey produced by the hives will be sold to help out Camp Ramleh and other charitable organizations.
Geo rg e Me nc o f f ’11 tends to the newly established SG apiary as part of a special project last spring.
PHOTO BY
R ACHEL R AMOS
Traditions
C ASEY DELUCA ’12
Above: Crucifer E mma Sc a nlo n ’12 and chapel prefect Ve ro nic a Sc o tt ’12 lead the graduating seniors into the chapel for the Baccalaureate service in May.
PHOTO BY
Right: Students this year established a new “tradition” at St. George’s when the first prom in the modern era took place in May for juniors and seniors. Er in Mo n ah an ’11 and Ge org e Me nc o f f ’11 were two of many to enjoy the evening.
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Development news N
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T H E
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F F I C E
To our Annual Fund donors: T H A N K YO U ! The 2010-11 Annual Fund closed on June 30 with a final total of $2,130,391. The year was highlighted by increased support from alumni/ae, who contributed more than $1,143,935 this year; 80 percent participation in the Annual Fund from current parents, and an amazing 94 percent participation from SG faculty. BILL DOUGLAS
In addition, this spring we received second gifts totaling more than $132,000 from a number of
PHOTOS BY
alumni/ae, parents and friends. Thank you again for helping to make the campaign a so successful, About 35 alums turned out for a swanky St. George’s reception at the Huntley Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif., in April hosted by trustee Ru dy Be th ea ’87. Pictured in the top photo are Sam B row n ’85, Bethea and Ilona Brown. In the bottom photo are Ch ris To la n ’07, Kyli e Wo lf ’07, Simrit Singh, Ma nu el Va le nc ia ’03 and Colleen Ferguson.
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for making a difference in the lives of our 350 students, and for helping to make St. George’s one of the finest schools in the country.
Reunion Weekend ’11 E C O N N E C T I N G
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Gaining a global perspective BY PETER WOICKE ’61 Following is the talk given by Mr. Woicke upon his acceptance of the John B. Diman Award, St. George’s highest alumni honor, on May 27, 2011.
I must admit, it is a strange, yet an exciting feeling to stand here in this place, in the chapel of St. George’s, being honored with the Diman Award. Mind you, a chapel where I took my seat right there each evening, Monday through Friday, and every Sunday morning for a whole year. It is indeed hard to believe
that 50 years have passed since Pete Bouker wrote in my yearbook: “You are the best Kraut I have ever known. I have only known two.” Having come from a well-structured life of a lower-middle-class German family into the New World, into a school that was so different from my German public school, this was exciting, but also at times intimidating. However, the hospitality of American friends made me quickly overcome any fears or insecurity. Whether it was the Eberharts who welcomed me into their home in New York;
Head of School E r i c P et er s o n presents the John B. Diman Award to Pe te r Wo ic ke ’61 during Reunion Weekend.
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Reunion Weekend ’11 R
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Tallulah Bankhead, who was a great host on the Eastern Shore in Maryland; the Woods who treated me as a son in their house in Greenwich; the Roberts, who made me feel at home in Pennsylvania; the Reynolds, who introduced me to life in Virginia and Florida; or the Soutters, who took me to their vacation home on the coast of South Carolina, I was simply overwhelmed by the ease and generosity of the parents of my classmates. But this was only the icing on the cake. One year at St. George’s—where Messrs. Schenck, Buell Jr., Rogers and Hoyt just to name a few, encouraged open class discussion, and fostered independent thinking while training us to keep an open eye for what is right and wrong—was for me a life-changing experience. Teachers were also our coaches and toughened us in sports. At the same time they remained available to help us deal with personal problems. St. George’s—where the headmaster and his wife treated us, the seniors, every Sunday night to a delicious dinner, while at the same time, albeit subtly, training us in the art of socializing with civility. All this made me a big fan of this country, even if my Krautness continued to shine through. The world in those years was still a far cry from what we call a globalized world today. U.S. companies and banks had just started to be interested in Germany and when I applied in 1966 to 12 banks in New York for a summer internship, 10 of them turned me flatly down, because they did not take “foreigners” as summer interns. JP Morgan did, though, and then tracked me down three years later—shortly before my finals at the University in Germany—and enticed me to join its management training in New York. Those three years had changed the outlook of American banks. Business had become much more international. While in 1966 I was the only foreign summer intern, foreigners represented already 40 percent of the management training class in 1970. JP Morgan was a highly principled firm where we were told that an error of judgment would be forgiven, but an error of principle was cause for dismissal. But it was also the classical “white shoe company” with
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no Jewish employees or people of color and where women in middle management, not to speak of senior management, were hard to find. The next 25 years brought fundamental change: rapid internationalization of business, expansion into new markets, financial engineering and innovation, driven by an explosion in new technologies, opened opportunities that we had hardly dreamed of at the beginning of our careers. Passport, color of skin, religious background and gender quickly became irrelevant as competition for talent in Wall Street became fierce. And for people with a partner like my wife, Hanna, who was adventurous and keen to explore new cultures, early leadership positions in places like Beirut, Brazil, London and Singapore opened up enormous career opportunities. Of course, not everything proved to be a positive experience. Getting caught in the Civil War in Lebanon and the disturbances resulting from the downfall of Suharto in Indonesia were more than we bargained for. On Wall Street in the meantime another shift, albeit a subtle one, was taking place. The principle of “clients come first” was more and more being replaced by the principle of “shareholder value” and with this a softening of the what once was regarded as an unshakable ethic principle: certain behavior, which only a few years ago would have been unacceptable, was now accepted—as long as the person was a big contributor to the bottom line. Thus, after 29 tremendously exciting years during which I was well rewarded and our family was exposed to fascinating cultures and made interesting friends, it was time to move on. Having worked the Middle East markets early in my career, and having had the opportunity to run Latin America and later Asia for JP Morgan, the offer from the World Bank in Washington, D.C., to run its private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), was too good to be true. The move from the private to the public sector—though challenging—was well worth it. But more than that, after having been global nomads for so many years, and not quite sure where we would eventually settle, Washington proved to be an attractive place to make our permanent home.
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My six years at the World Bank provided for an amazing experience. While at JP Morgan I had worked in developing countries and seen the blatant inequalities in some Latin American countries, in India and the Philippines, I had little knowledge of developmental practice. Over a billion people living on a dollar or less a day, 1.5 billion without access to clean water and sanitation, millions of children dying every year before the age of five of preventable diseases, African countries ravaged by HIV/AIDS and hence having to deal with large numbers of orphans—these problems seemed overwhelming for developing institutions like the World Bank Group. Although the World Bank has always enjoyed enormous convening power, it was often also confronted with broad criticism for actions it had taken or blamed for not having done enough. It was only 10 years ago when a debate raged about the role of the private sector in development: civil society, nongovernmental organizations, pointed to the environmental devastation left behind by natural-resource companies in places like the Niger Delta, Peru and Ecuador and anti-privatization activists fought battles with police around the perimeters of the World Bank in D.C. The initial skepticism, in some cases even hostility, toward the private-sector role in development eventually made room for a more practical approach. Private investors discovered the attractiveness of some of the emerging markets and started pouring capital into these markets, and management expertise, often lacking in traditional development institutions, made new players such as the Gates Foundations the new darlings in development. While development experts continued to debate how to best bring infrastructure to sub-Sahara Africa, the private sector had started quietly but aggressively, investing in mobile phone networks. Within a few years, millions of poor people, who until then had no access to information, became connected, more knowledgeable. And microfinance initiated and managed by a few NGOs grew exponentially when investors discovered its relative attractiveness. Still questions kept being raised as problems and issues with some private-sector investments
arose. Mining companies enlisted local police to enforce resettlement of villages and were hence accused of complicity in human-rights violations. Nike and the Gap had to reveal that their labor force in Asian countries, mostly consisting of young women 18-24, were underpaid, often mistreated and in a number of cases sexually harassed. At the IFC we had accepted early on the role of the private sector in development, but, partly driven by the harsh criticism of the NGOs, we also recognized that private investors in poor countries had to make investments environmentally more sustainable and more local-community friendly. The debate whether corporate social responsibility (CSR) was good for long-term profitability for companies or whether it was a temporary fad, lasted for just two to three years. We celebrated a big success at the IFC
The recipient of the 2011 John B. Diman Award, P ete r Wo ic ke ’61, signs in at the registration desk for Reunion Weekend.
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when most international banks adopted our environmental and social standards for their project finance procedures, which became known as the Equator principles. Today the need to be attentive to CSR is fully recognized by any serious company because the increasingly important role of civil society will not tolerate lapses in environmental behavior; local communities will not allow companies to operate in their neighborhood when there is no benefit for them. Of course, mistakes will continue to be made, and the lure to use shortcuts to enhance short-term profitability will always be there. But such shortcuts—as was so vividly obvious in the case of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico— can be massively expensive, even life threatening, for companies. Anglo American, a large mining company, on whose board I have the privilege to sit, has developed one of the most successful anti-HIV programs in South Africa. Not only because the management thinks it is the right thing to do, but also because its cost is less than the cost of losing so many miners to illness and ultimate death and then having to retrain new employees. Development experts also now accept the role of the private sector in education. Saying this here at St. George’s might surprise some people in the audience, but when I first suggested that the IFC get heavily involved in financing private schools and universities, particularly in Africa, I was told that the World Bank would not ever finance institutions for the elite in poor countries and must continue to focus on poverty reduction. Particularly for countries with weak institutions and low capacity this attitude was simply wrong, as elites had always sent their children to European or U.S. schools anyway because they could afford the cost. The ones that could not, the local middle class, either migrated or through self-help groups created their own private schools as the level of education in government schools was often unacceptable. When you enter the World Bank Building in Washington today you will see in big letters the Bank’s vision: “Our dream, a world without poverty.” Thus poverty reduction is still the Leitmo-
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tiv, but nobody disputes anymore that the creation and retention of a middle class in poor countries is essential because it is the foundation for entrepreneurship, job creation and progress. Therefore, the public sector, the private sector, as well as NGOs all play an important role in development. The public sector increasingly outsources the provisioning of services such as water, sanitation and health care to the private sector. NGOs have often adopted private-sector management expertise. And the private sector will have to make environmental and human rights issues an integral part of its investment decisions. Development has become more successful because the public sector, the private sector and civil society cooperate rather than oppose each other. Twenty-nine years of hard-nosed private-sector work at JP Morgan, six years’ exposure to development issues at the World Bank Group, two and a half years at the helm of Save the Children International, and now chairing the Ashesi Foundation, which supports one of the most innovative new universities in Ghana, Africa, have been and continue to be an incredible experience. They have allowed me to participate actively in bringing the public sector, private companies and NGOs together in development. For those of you who still have your career in front of you and who have an interest in development, it has also created exciting new opportunities. The one year at St. George’s—50 years ago— no question put the foundation in place for my international career. It opened my eyes to a whole different world; it taught me to think independently. I am thankful for this, and hence I am happy to be back here among my old classmates and this community, which has given me so much. Peter Woic ke ’61 was a managing director of the World Bank and CEO of the International Finance Corp. from 1999-2005. He served as an executive of JP Morgan for 29 years, working in Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, Asia and the U.S. Today, he serves on boards of organizations involved in education, banking, mining and renewable energy. He can be reached at pwoicke@yahoo.com.
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DE AN S ERV ICE AWAR DS G O TO E U N - J O O A N D N O R B E R T V O N B O O D E P ’ 01, ’ 0 5 , FRED S TET SO N ’61 AN D M ICH A EL WY NN E-W IL L S ON ’ 37
Fre d Stetso n ’61, H owa rd Dean ’66, Jimmy Dea n ’11, Jim Dea n ’72, P’11 and Mic hae l Wynne -Will son ’37, P’73 (sitting). uring Reunion Weekend in May, four longtime supporters of St. George’s were the recipients of How a rd B . D ea n Service Awards—named in memory of our former chair of the board of trustees and granted to volunteers for their exceptional service to the school. The awards were presented by Chair of the Board of Trustees Fra n ci s S. “S kip ” B ra nin II I ’65, along with Head of School Eri c F. Pe te r son; the late Dean’s sons H owa rd B . De a n II I ’66 and Ja mes H . De a n ’72, P’11; and his grandson, Jimmy De an ’11. E u n-Jo o and Nor be r t von Bo o de P’01, ’05, were granted the award for their service as intermediaries between the school and the enthusiastic and loyal group of South Korean families who yearly send their children to the Hilltop. A popular entertainer in the 1970s who once lived and worked in Las Vegas, Mr. von Boode lent his many communication skills and his charm to helping the school understand the unique cultural issues of students attending school in the U.S. from Asia, according to former Assistant Head of School for External Affairs Joe Gould. Eun-Joo was the couple’s chief organizer for many social events and gatherings centered upon St. George’s families in Seoul. Gould, who met the von Boodes on a trip to South Korea in 1996, the year before their son No rbe r t vo n B oo de Jr. ’01 enrolled at SG, says the couple “have served selflessly as the face of St. George’s in Korea, always supporting the school, never
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saying ‘no’ to the slightest request, forever a mainstay of school pride and friendship.” In his presentation of the awards, Branin called Fre de ri ck W. St et son ’61 “the epitome of the dedicated alumnus.” Stetson, a former senior prefect who went on to Middlebury College and later became a helicopter pilot and instructor in the U.S. Army and the Vermont Army National Guard, is a continuing contributor to SG causes and a dedicated volunteer fundraiser. He began working on the school’s behalf as a class agent in 1963 and since then has chaired reunion committees, been a member of the Centennial Campaign Committee, participated in phonathons and Dragon Weeks calling programs, helped induct his classmate, the late Bo b Sh an n ’61, into the Sports Hall of Fame, and attended numerous SG events. These days Stetson works as a writer, photographer and editor. M ic ha e l F. Wynn e-Wil lso n ’37, P’73 was granted the Dean “for a lifetime of involvement and support on behalf of the school that he loves.” The decades-long correspondent for the Class of 1937, Wynne-Willson was on the Annual Giving committee in 1990 and 1991, and returned to that post in 2008. He is a member of the Ogden Nash Society. He attends every major St. George’s event that he can, from reunions to special chapel services to phonathons to Hall of Fame ceremonies. “He is a loyal ambassador for St. George’s wherever he goes, championing the school at every opportunity,” Branin said.
Mi ch ae l Wyn ne -Wi llso n ’37, P’73 (center) accepts his award from Ski p B ra nin ’65, P’06 (at podium), Jimmy De an ’11 (second from right) and Jim De an ’72, P’11.
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SHARING THE MEMORIES:
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Clockwise from top left: • 2006 classmates Natalie Harrison, Stephanie Wein, Alec Brown, Ian Cook, Geoff Williams • Alumni/ae hear about current curriculum initiatives from art teacher Mike Hansel at the SG Today program. • A breakfast for Ogden Nash Society members in the head of school’s office. • Jody Martin ’76 and Bob Whittmore ’76 browse through past yearbook editions.
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he Board of Trustees welcomed two new members to its ranks this spring and thanked a number of retiring trustees for their dedicated service. Current parents Pam Layton P’09, ’12 and Anne McCormack P’09, ’11, ’13 joined the board officially during scheduled meetings in June. Layton is the CEO of Parcell Laboratories, a privately owned group of affiliated biotechnology companies, based in Newton, Mass. She resides with her family—husband, Jake, and Pam Layton P’09, children Al ex ’09, So ph ie ’12 ’12 and Margo—in Westwood, Mass. In October 2010, Layton was a featured speaker in the Science Department’s Brown Bag Lunch Series, presenting a talk on the release of PureGen™ Osteoprogenitor cell allograft and the developAnne McCormack ments in stem cell research P’09, ’11, ’13 that are being used to treat spinal disorders. Parcell Laboratories is focused on the discovery and development of adult stem cell
sources for therapeutic applications in the treatment of disorders including cardiovascular disease, spinal cord injuries, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and osteoporosis. Layton graduated from the Stoneleigh-Burnham School and Skidmore College. She and Jake, a partner and portfolio manager at Lee Munder Capital Corp. in Boston, have hosted admission receptions and served on the Parents Committee for two years. McCormack, a former teacher, currently serves on the Advisory Board of Partners in Health and is a former member of the Board of Overseers at Shady Hill School, where she was chair of the Education Committee. She graduated from Taft School and received her bachelor’s degree from Kenyon College, her master’s degree in education from Lesley College, and a master of arts from Middlebury College. Along with her husband, Todd, senior corporate vice president at IMG Media and one of the cofounders of Partners in Health, McCormack was instrumental in bringing Dr. Paul Farmer to St. George’s in October 2008 for an all-school event that included classroom visits, a private talk to the school community and a public talk to nearly 600 people. McCormack is the mother of Chri sto ph er ’09, Ka ti e ’11 and H an na h ’13.
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Retiring from the board this year were L isa M cC ar thy P’12; P ho e be M uzzy P’06, ’09, ’11; We ndy K a ufma n P’09; Bo b C ere s ’55, P’83 and Cha rli e Wa ts on ’50. McCarthy joined the board in 2008 and served on the Development and Student Life Committees. She and her husband, Brian, joined the Parents committee in 2006 and served as thirdLisa McCarthy P’12 form chairs in ’08-’09, fourth-form chairs in ’09-’10, and fifth-form chairs in ’10-’11. She is the mother of Matthew and A la na ’12. Muzzy joined the board in 2007 and served on the Education and Student Life Committees. She and her husband, Gray, have hosted several receptions in Houston for the school. Both have been members of the SG Parents committee since 2002 and served as third-form Phoebe Muzzy P’06, chairs in ’05-’06, fourth-form ’09, ’11 chairs in ’08-’09, fifth-form chairs in ’09-’10, and sixth-form chairs in ’10-’11. Muzzy is the daughter of the late Jo hn L. We lsh ’42, for whom the Welsh window in the Chapel is dedicated, and the Welsh Teaching Chair in English is named. She is the mother of Cri spi n ’06, Le slie ’09, and Eve ret t ’11. Ceres joined the board in 2005 and served on the Audit, Development, Operations, and Student Life committees. He began working for the development office in 1993, first as the Centennial CamBob Ceres ’55, P’83 paign Coordinator, later as
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the Director of Alumni/ae and Parent Relations, and then as the Aquatics Director for the Hoyt Pool. An all-America swimmer at the U.S. Naval Academy, Ceres has always been a strong proponent for SG’s swimming program and worked hard to help establish the new swimming facility, the Hoyt Pool. He was a recipient of the SG Philip Murray Reynolds Volunteer of the Year Award in 1994, the Annual Fund Chairman 2006-2009, and was inducted into the SG Sports Hall of Fame in 2004. He is the father of Larry, Mia ’83 and John. Kaufman joined the board in 2006 and served on the Development, Finance, and Student Life committees. She and her husband, Bob, served on the Parents committee from 2006-2009 and the two hosted dinners at their home in Denver, Colo. She is the mother of Me re di th Wendy Kaufman P’09 ’09, Mathew, William and John. And Watson, an SG trustee from 1972-1978 who rejoined the board in 1997, chaired the Trustee Awards Task Force Committee and served on the Development, Finance, Investment and Operations committees. He Charlie Watson ’50 and his wife, Nancy, have hosted many admission receptions at their home in New Canaan, Conn.
Around Campus
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SG gardener Lori Silvia P’13 worked with Perry Dean Rogers, architects for the renovation of the Hill Library, to create a 1,600-plus-squarefoot rain garden on the west side of the building. Rainwater from the library’s roof will provide the main hydration for the fourseason landscape. As SG seeks LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for the new library, the rain garden is also providing some key points in the quest.
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Right: The hill above Second Beach awakens with blooming wildflowers this spring.
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Above: Li sbe ily Me na ’13, D.J. Wils on ’12, K at e H amr ic k ’13 a nd K at e Pe sa ’13 study in the Hamblet Campus Center.
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Above: Students enjoy playing Frisbee on an unusual half-day Head’s holiday in May. Left: Religious Studies teacher and Assistant Chaplain Ve ro nic a Ti ern ey and former SG Chaplain and retired Bishop of Missouri, the Rt. Rev. Hay s R oc k we l l , participated in the Confirmation Chapel Service April 14. Eight students were confirmed.
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LONGTIME SUPPORTERS HONORED IN CHAPEL S TON E DE DI C AT IO NS Top: Henry Patton’s son, Rod Patton ’61, and his wife, Christine. Bottom: Tommy Chester’s son, Peter ’68, and daughter, Tracy.
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Memorial stones for two 70-year-long volunteers, H en r y H . Pa tt on ’31 and H aw le y T. Che ste r Jr. ’37 were dedicated on May 15 during Reunion Weekend. The two showed their lifelong devotion to the school in numerous and sometimes colorful ways throughout the years.
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Patton entered St. George’s as a third-former in 1927 and his involvement as a class volunteer dates back to the 1950s and includes serving as annual fund chairman from 1960-1962. He died May 31, 2003. Patton assumed leadership roles in the school’s capital fundraising efforts as well, and in honor of his 50th reunion, he led his class’s efforts in the creation of the Class of 1931 Scholarship, at the time the largest 50th reunion gift of its kind. During his tenure as a trustee from 1956-1971, he was known as a steady force who helped to provide continuity through times of transition at St. George’s, and he was a mentor to others who served on the board with him. Along with the red and white sport coat he wore to school events, his trademark was his gracious and warm personality. In 1981, he was named The Philip Murray Reynolds Volunteer of the Year for his tireless efforts; and in 2002, he was one of the inaugural recipients of the Howard B. Dean Service Award in recognition of his exceptional commitment and service to St. George’s. Chester, known to all as “Tommy,” entered school as a second-former in 1932 and excelled academically and athletically. Throughout his successful career in business, he also took on various roles within his class, and then constituency-wide when he served as a member of the St. George’s Board of Trustees from 1964-1976. It was during this era that two of the most important decisions in the history of the school were made: to integrate and to become coeducational. He dedicated himself to the school in whatever way was needed and led the charge for others to follow suit. Through his work on various fund-raising committees and the Alumni Council, his tireless efforts were instrumental in the financial health of St. George’s. In 1987, Chester received the Philip Murray Reynolds Volunteer of the Year Award. His service to the school was so exceptional that he, like Patton, was one of the inaugural recipients of the Howard B. Dean Service Award in 2002. In 2006, the faculty residence attached to East Dormitory was named in his honor. Chester died Sept. 28, 2008.
“Henry Harder cared deeply about education: education of both the mind and the body. He felt St. George’s was the perfect place for young adolescents to be challenged mentally, physically, spiritually and socially. He had fond memories of Rhode Island from the summers he spent in Watch Hill with his mother and family during the early 1940s. He believed SG could be the place he could only
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A memorial stone for Henry Harder P’79, ’83, who died at his home in Yarmouth, Maine, in 2004 after a battle with cancer, was dedicated during a student-attended chapel ceremony on May 3, 2011. Harder, who graduated from St. Mark’s School and Yale University and served as a naval aviator in World War II, served on the St. George’s Board of Trustees from 1977-86 and from 1990-97. He joined the insurance underwriting firm of Chubb & Son in 1945, became president in 1972, and was CEO from 1980 until his retirement in 1988. He also served on the boards of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Presbyterian Hospital (NYC), and Chubb & Son Inc. A lifelong love of all things mechanical fed Henry’s collection of high performance automobiles, airplanes, snow throwers, tractors and even flashlights much to the delight of his grandchildren. He was a generous supporter of St. George’s. The chapel address during the school day in May was given by Harder’s grandson Geo rg e B rigg s, who taught Latin at St. George’s from 2004-2011. Also in attendance at the service were Harder’s widow, Calista, his daughters, Trudy Briggs and H ol ly H ar der C at lin ’79, and his son, H a nk Ha rd er ’83, who wrote the following:
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wish for during his own boarding school years—a safe, caring environment where the teachers invest themselves in each and every student; an intimate learning setting where every faculty member knew the name of every student on campus and where the success of each student was a top priority. Henry had deep respect for the headmaster and his staff. He loved intellectual challenges and he felt St. George’s was the right place to challenge Holly ’79 and me (Hank ’83). Henry was a great sports booster: he loved to come watch Holly play field hockey, ice hockey and lacrosse and watch Hank play football, ice hockey and lacrosse. Sometimes he would even drive up from the family home in southwestern Connecticut, some three hours away, to surprise Holly and Hank and catch an afternoon sporting event. He would be an energetic fan and then return home that same night. His hearty yells and laughs could be heard throughout the playing fields on those days. Henry Harder intensely believed in the mission of St. George’s School and he worked diligently as a trustee to make sure SG had the resources well into the future to support its mission to educate young people. Henry was a fantastic trustee but more importantly he was a loyal friend to the faculty, staff and students of this school. He would have a wide smile and a ready hug for family and friends gathered today. And true to his nature, he would attempt to re-focus the attention of today back to the people who make St. George’s great: the students and teachers!”
Former faculty member and Harder’s grandson, George Briggs, daughter Trudy Briggs, wife Calista Harder, daughter Holly Catlin ’79 , and son Hank Harder ’83 pose with the Harder Memorial Stone, along with Head of School Eric Peterson.
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A compelling Sunday profile in the June 5, 2011, San Francisco Chronicle featured B J Mi ller ’89, new executive director of the Zen Hospice Project in San Francisco and a palliative care specialist at UCSF Medical Center. Miller suffered multiple, life-altering injuries in an accident during his sophomore year at Princeton University in November BJ Mi lle r ’89, whose left arm and two legs were 1990. He and a few friends amputated after an accident in 1990, is now a from his crew team had palliative care doctor in San Francisco. gotten together for a few drinks, he recalls. Around 3 a.m., they were walking to a convenience store when they decided to climb an electrified shuttle train parked on campus. “I jumped on top,” Miller told reporter Patricia Yollin. “I had a metal watch on and I was very close to the power source. The electricity just arced to the watch.” Nearly 11,000 volts of electricity charged through Miller’s body and he was transported by medical helicopter to a local burn unit. Doctors had to amputate his left arm below the elbow and both legs below the knees. These days, Miller is a dedicated doctor who works 70-80 hours a week. He is co-founder of the Tribute Tea Co. with SG roomie Justin Burke ’89 and is coming up on his first-year wedding anniversary to Jori Adler, 33, an associate television producer. Check out the full profile at www.sfgate.com. The distinguished career of Washington veteran Ri ch ar d Ke ssle r ’66, who now serves as minority staff director for the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was highlighted in the National Journal magazine’s June 18 edition. Kessler, the article notes, has served as staff director of five different committees or subcommittees during his 22 years on the Hill, and is now “known as a calming force as the minority staff director.” Kessler, a Ph.D.,
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served three years in the Army during the Vietnam War, and graduated from Colgate and from Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. No stranger to travel as an Army brat, he continues to travel the world to work on government policy issues around the globe. Bo b by E d en b a ch ’90, who works as a manager of web design and development for NPG Nature Asia-Pacific, was in Japan in March while the country was rocked by the earthquake and tsunami that caused at least 10,000 deaths and billions of dollars in damage. Edenbach, a former Portsmouth, R.I., resident who now works at the firm’s Tokyo headquarters, recounted his experiences to the Newport Daily News in a front-page feature story about two weeks after the earthquake. He told the paper that the destruction and the frequent power failures caused by the event forced NPG Nature Asia-Pacific to move out of Tokyo temporarily. “For a while, it changed my life dramatically,” he said. “The company moved to Hiroshima because it was too difficult to work with all the blackouts, but we’ll be returning back home soon. Society is definitely getting back to normal, and there’s still news coming in from everywhere about the cleanup.” Despite the chaos, the Japanese people responded admirably, he said. “The people here, how they reacted was really impressive,” Edenbach told the paper. “I can’t help but think what it would be like back in the States, and the looting and everything you’d probably see in some parts of the country. Here, people are working to get everything back to normal as soon as possible, working with each other for the most part. It’s pretty amazing to see.” Naiad Inflatables, owned by Ste vi e Co n net t ’86 and his father Captain of Geronimo, Marine Science and English Teacher emeritus Steve Co n ne tt P’86, ’87, was in the news again this spring after the Portsmouth, R.I.-based boatbuilder began production on a fleet of boats for the Coast Guard that could be worth as much as $24 million.
The firm was awarded the contract to build 40 rigid-hull inflatable boats a year and a half ago, and began sea trials in June. “This is a big deal for us,” Connett told the Newport Daily News, noting that “getting established in the system is a huge milestone.” Winning a lucrative contract with U.S. government “gives us the credibility and the legacy to get more military contracts,” he added. The 7.9-meter small cutter boats will serve with the Coast Guard’s new fleet of 154-foot fastresponse cutters. Naiad’s boat will be carried on the back of the larger cutter so it can be launched for rescue and other missions. It is equipped with enough communication equipment to allow the five crew members to have simultaneous transmissions from different radios. “The boat is designed for hostile boarding so it has a removable gun mount on the foredeck,” Connett added. The first boat likely will be mated with its mother ship in Lockport, La., in September.
PHOTO BY
SHANA SURECK FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES
What do Russell Brandt, the sometimes-outrageous British comedian; the eccentric film director David Lynch; and Mc Cre a Da viso n ’09 have in common? They were all a part of a March 18, 2011, New York Times article on transcendental meditation by reporter Irina Aleksander. Turns out TM, according to Aleksander, has
Mc Cre a D aviso n ’09 and her Trinity College squash teammates, who meditate daily, were part of a New York Times story on the recent rise in popularity of transcendental meditation.
experienced a new spike in popularity since its heyday in the hippie-dippy 1960s. Hollywood types like Brandt and Lynch swear by the practice, which “prescribes two 15- to 20-minute sessions a day of silently repeating a one-to-three syllable mantra, so that practitioners can access a state of what is known as transcendental consciousness.” And even sports teams are having a go at it. As a member of the Trinity College Women’s Squash League, Davison and her fellow players began meditating together after every practice last year. Maybe it’s just one of their secrets to success: This year the team ended the season with a 14-4 overall record and a host of accolades. And Davison, of Atlanta, Ga., along with fellow teammate and SG alum Sc huyle r L ivi ngsto n ’07 of Nahant, Mass., were both selected to the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Winter AllAcademic Team. Hamilton College announced in May that recent graduate Rem Myers I II ’07 was awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) to Indonesia. The Fulbright ETA Program places U.S. students as English teaching assistants in schools or universities overseas. ETAs may also pursue individual study/research plans in addition to their teaching responsibilities. Myers, a Dean’s List student who was a theatre and biochemistry/molecular biology major at Hamilton, received the college’s Calvin Leslie Lewis Prize Scholarship in the Dramatic Arts in 2010, sang in the college choir, had roles in productions of “The Merchant of Venice,” “Naomi in the Living Room,” and “Les Femmes,” and was director /co writer on “Antigen Pantigen,” an original musical. He said he “plans to bring his varied teaching experiences to the Indonesian classroom and teach students about American songwriting and American culture through classic Disney songs and the folksy songs of Sufjan Stevens.” Upon his return to the U.S., Myers, of Swampscott, Mass., hopes to teach science and theatre at the high school level and to continue his involvement in theatre through directing.
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Gerrit La nsing ’02 made waves in Washington again this June when he became the press secretary for U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (RWisc.), chairman of the House Budget Committee. Politicos credit Lansing—and his knowledge of the blogosphere and Twitter—for a large part of Ryan’s heightening visibility. He previously held posts as the Gerrit Lansing ’02 new media director for U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) and as the features Editor for the Heritage Foundation’s blog, The Foundry. A former journalism student at SG, the Lake Forest, Ill., native went on to graduate from the University of the South in Tennessee as a classical languages major. The Wall Street Journal added him to its “Why He Matters” feature on www.whorunsgov.com. Nic holas Pell ’95 was elected this past spring to the Newport Festivals Foundation and to the Board of Directors of the organization that produces the Newport Jazz and Folk festivals each summer. Pell, who was born and raised in Newport, is a director of acquisitions at W. P. Carey & Co. LLC, a real estate investment firm that owns or manages approximately $11 billion of assets. Prior to joining W. P. Carey, he spent three years as a director of business development at Sony Pictures Entertainment. Pell’s grandfather, the late U.S. S en . Cla ib orn e d e B ord a P el l ’36, was instrumental in founding the National Endowment for the Arts.
Al an a A he rn ’07 recently graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
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Eric Wiberg ’89 was the guest speaker at the International Yacht Restoration School here in Newport
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on March 29 to tell tales from his book “Round the World in the Wrong Season.” The book, “a selfdeprecating, humorous and adventurous first-person account of a young man circling the world in command of a yacht but not in command of his own emotions” was published by Island Books in 2010.
HOME JOURNAL
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Jul ie Bow en ’87 was featured in the August edition of Ladies Home Journal.
Br ia n Ch ee k ’88 became president of Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam, Wisc. on July 1, 2011. Wayland, an independent, coeducational, college-prep boarding school, has a current enrollment of 215, according to a Feb. 15 article in the local newspaper, the Beaver Dam Daily Citizen. “Cheek has served as Brian Cheek ’88 the director of development at Cardigan Mountain School, an independent, junior boarding and day school for boys in grades six through nine in Canaan, N.H., since 2008. During his tenure, he managed and was responsible for the school’s fundraising and alumni/parent relations, creating and launching a short-term $14 million capital initiative, as part of a longer-term capital campaign,” the article notes. “Prior to joining Cardigan Mountain School, Cheek worked as the regional development director and alumni director at The Hill School in Pottstown, Pa., where he developed a plan for a $25 million campaign. Previously, he also served as the director of the Hebron Annual Fund at Hebron Academy in Hebron, Maine.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF
which will take place next year. There are numerous historic images that are getting used as part of the celebration of Sa ra h and her father, Toby Co f f in ’73 Fenway Park. I loved being a part of this historic project and showing our fans about the history of Fenway Park.” Now that the St. George’s Archives are nearly back in place after the renovation of the Hill Library, Coffin urges today’s students to take advantage of the resources there. “The St. George’s Archives are an incredibly valuable resource to the students because they provide them a window into the past,” she said. And for Coffin, the Red Sox and Fenway Park are perfect places to witness what will long be remembered. “Archival work never ends because there is history being made every day,” she said.
PHOTO COURTESY OF SONSOFSAMHORN.NET
For Sarah Co ffin ’06, a lifelong fan of the Boston Red Sox, getting a job at Fenway Park was a dream come true. But it wasn’t just luck that got her hired as the team’s photo archival assistant: Like any good fielder, Coffin seems to have positioned herself perfectly for the post. Coffin started at Fenway in October 2010, only a few weeks after completing an internship at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., where she served as a photo archives intern for 10 weeks cataloging the 2009 Major League Baseball season for the Hall of Fame’s collections. “It was amazing to be around the most elite players of baseball in the most celebrated baseball town in America,” said Coffin, who graduated from The College of Wooster in 2010. “At the Hall of Fame, I realized how important it is to preserve the history of baseball for the next generation and how my love for the game of baseball could potentially be translated into a career.” Still, Sarah attributes much of her success to date in the pubic history field and her passion for history to St. George’s and her close association with Ja ck Doll ’52, school archivist and historian emeritus. “With Jack I learned how passionate I am about archival work and preserving the past for the next generation. If I had never done that special project at St. George’s my senior year, I honestly don’t think I would be where I am today,” she said. “My work with Jack showed me how important it is to preserve the past so that the next generation can learn about what life was like for those that came before them.” Coffin’s job with the Boston Red Sox gives her the opportunity to do a range of tasks with the photo collections. She digitizes images so that they are ready for the club to use in publications and video productions, and she organizes and catalogs the photo collections so that they are being well preserved for the future. “The most exciting thing I am working on right now is preparing for the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park,
SARAH COFFIN ’06
Sharing a passion for history—and the Sox
Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, opened in 1912.
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Dress goes viral
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BARBARA L AMONT
A model displays a dress made of balloons designed by Casey Hansel ’10 on Fifth Avenue in New York this spring.
The dress that Ca sey H an se l ’10 wore to the Baccalaureate Service last year went viral this spring when a New York photographer captured an unexpected publicity shoot on Fifth Avenue in New York and sold the photo to the AFP. And Hansel, a rising sophomore at Lehigh University, is just as surprised as anyone. “I make dresses similar to this one as a hobby but it was generally unnoticed until one of my friends posted pictures of them to a website,” she said. “I guess you could say from there the pictures kind of circulated the Internet and were picked up by a site called ‘Trendhunter.’ A woman named Sabine Beckert, who runs a German TV program called ‘ProSieban’, saw the pictures and contacted me. She was interested in featuring two of my dresses on her show for a segment about clothes made out of re-purposed materials. She is the one who hired the model. I met her in NYC and we filmed the segment.” At the same time a New York paparazzi walked by, took down Hansel’s name and walked away. Later, when the photos made it onto the Internet, Hansel, who makes the dresses as a hobby, says she was startled by the attention. “This is all kind of a shock to me. It has gone from a hobby to my being labeled as a ‘up and coming fashion designer.’ I am studying chemical engineering so this is barely true.” Still the “side projects” are a personal passion. “I have worn all of the dresses that I have made to some event—that is the reason that I make them.” At the time, Hansel was working on a few projects such as a prom dress for her sister, Ama nd a ’12, a dress made out of water bottle caps, and a coat made from Welch’s Fruit Snack wrappers.
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To m La mo nt ’79 (left), a faculty member at SG from 1991-1997 celebrates the graduation from the Fenn School of his son, Johnny (center), along with A my B a rc lay Stiga ’92 (right). Stiga, who was Lamont’s former student at SG, was a teacher at Fenn to Adam Lamont (second from the left) and Johnny. Lamont’s son, Ben, is second from the right.
In memoriam R E M E M B R A N C E S
BY CHARLES S. AHLGREN A brief obituary in the April 18 edition of The Newport Daily News noted that Lloyd “Mike” Rives ’40 of Boston passed away on April 14 at the age of 89. The article also noted that Mike was a World War II veteran and had been a U.S. diplomat for many years. In view of Mike’s deep connection with Newport, his character and his distinguished service to our country, his passing deserves greater recognition and his life greater honor. The Riveses were an old Virginia family. One of Mike’s ancestors, William Cabell Rives, studied law with Thomas Jefferson, served in the Senate and was U.S. Minister to France. His paternal grandfather was president of the Coaching Club of America for many years, and his grandfather on his mother’s side was Whitney Warren, a noted architect who built Grand Central Station. Mike was born in New York City, but attended St. George’s School here. His family had a summer “cottage” on Bellevue Avenue and was prominent in Newport society institutions such as the Clambake Club. Mike had barely begun his college days at Princeton when World War II broke out. He enlisted immediately in the Marines and served throughout the war in the
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE
‘Mike’ Rives ’40 saw history happen during diplomatic career
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Editor’s Note: Ll oyd Mi ch a el “ Mi ke” Rive s ’40, a World War II veteran, died April 14, 2011, in Boston after a short illness. He was 89. Rives was a graduate of Princeton University. After St. George’s he spent a distinguished career as a foreign-service specialist. Rives was a major benefactor of The H. Martin P. Davidson Chaplaincy Chair via a charitable remainder trust. He was a contributor to the Chapel Preservation Fund and a consistent and loyal supporter of the school. His good friend, Charles Ahlgren, wrote the following column, first published in the Newport Daily News.
Pacific theater with the First Marine Division. He landed in the Solomon Islands to liberate Tulagi, an island that was to be the base for John F. Kennedy’s PT-109, and fought throughout the Guadalcanal and New Britain campaigns. After the war, and after completing his studies at Princeton, he joined the U.S. Foreign Service. Mike’s 30-year diplomatic career spanned the globe. Although he spent four years in Paris, most of his assignments were in hardship posts in Africa and Southeast Asia. He served as charge d’affaires five times, largely in unpleasant and dangerous places. Perhaps Mike’s most notable assignment was to reopen the U.S embassy in Cambodia at the charge level in 1969, after a four-year hiatus. Time magazine profiled Mike’s service in Phnom Penh at this time, describing him as “cool and correct.” A senior Cambodian official stated: “America has finally learned to deal with Cambodia with politesse and patience.” Mike’s time in Cambodia embraced the secret U.S. bombings, the coup that removed Prince Sihanouk, and the famous American “incursion” which caused campus riots and the Kent State tragedy. (President Richard Nixon ordered an attack into Cambodia to capture a supposed Viet Cong headquarters; like weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the headquarters was never found and probably didn’t exist.)
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In memoriam R E M E M B R A N C E S
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WGBH MEDIA LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES
Mike was treated very shabbily by Washington during this period. He was kept in the dark about the secret bombings and not informed about the incursion. His tour of duty in Cambodia was abruptly terminated in December 1970, without explanation. One reason may have been that Mike believed the situation was best served by limiting the U.S. and CIA presence in the country, while Henry Kissinger and Nixon saw Cambodia as part of the same war being waged in Vietnam and requiring a more militant approach. On this and a few other occasions, Mike’s career was temporarily put on the shelf, but there were always senior people who appreciated his talents and brought him back in from the cold. Although disappointed in the State Department, Mike was never bitter that he hadn’t been given an ambassadorship. He had the classic diplomatic skills abroad—“politesse and patience”—but he understood also that it was not in his nature to polish apples or play games. Nor would he back off if he felt an important principle was at stake. Mike retired in 1981, after serving as consul general in Montreal, and finally got to enjoy his home on Bellevue Avenue. He was a great gentleman of the old school and I am honored to have been his friend. We badly need more people like him in public service. Charles S. Ahlgren of Cranston is president of Foreign Affairs Retirees of New England. Note: The Time magazine article Ahlgren refers to in this column is online at www.time.com/time/ magazine/article/0,9171,901648,00.html.
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The late Ll oyd “ Mike ” R ives ’40 is interviewed by WGBH public television in 1982 for “Vietnam: A Television History.”
Sa mue l Stro ud, who taught French and Sacred Studies at St. George’s from 1955-1961, died on March 1, 2011, following a brief illness. He was 83. Mr. Stroud’s son, Bill, who was born during the family’s time on the Hilltop, sent the following obituary: “Sam was raised in Villanova with his parents, Dr. William D. Stroud, his mother Agnes, and late siblings, William, Agnes, Charlotte and Margaret. After graduating from the Haverford School in 1945, he entered the U.S. Navy, serving in the Pacific at the end of World War II as a medical corpsman. Following his active service he enlisted in the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry in 1947. He earned bachelor’s (1950) and master’s (1959) degrees in history from the University of Pennsylvania. As an undergraduate he was a member of Mask and Wig and Delta Psi (St. Anthony’s Hall). “In 1954, Sam married Judith Macy Chamberlin. After a brief stint as assistant to the headmaster at Haverford, he taught and coached at St. George’s School in Newport, R.I. He and Judy were dorm proctors and children Bill, Susan, and Sam were born. “In 1961, Sam was appointed head of the lower school of Germantown Academy in Pennsylvania. That year, GA went co-educational and opened its new campus in Fort Washington, beginning with the lower school. Sam directed the opening of the new facility. He was later appointed assistant head and then headmaster of GA. He served in that capacity until 1970, when he
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Former teacher Stroud became head at Germantown
resigned to return to his passion: teaching children. “For the next 10 years he served his alma mater, The Haverford School, as middle school math teacher, upper school history teacher and director of admissions. The Class of 1980 dedicated their yearbook to him: ‘In addition to teaching, Mr. Stroud has always been extremely eager to advise us in any manner possible. He seems always to engage his work with a certain eagerness as well as unselfish willingness to help others.’ In 1980, he started his own consulting business for students seeking placement in independent schools. During this time he served on the board of trustees of the Agnes Irwin School. He was an active member of the Country Day School Headmasters Association. He retired from education in 1990 to enjoy his growing brood of grandchildren and travel with Judy.” Mr. Stroud’s son, Bill, can be reached at wdstroudii@gmail.com.
DAN NERNEY © 2006 PHOTO BY
TONY
DU
B O U R G 1929-2011
Rich in spirit, generosity and wit The student newspaper crew—led by Editor-inChief So phi e Flyn n ’11 and Managing Editor and Editor-in-Chief-elect Ja c k B a r th ol et ’12—put together a very special edition of the newspaper in memory of Brass Ensemble conductor To ny du B ou rg this spring. The group collected dozens of submissions and photos from the community. The 82-year-old du Bourg, who joined the St. George’s faculty in 2004, died peacefully in his sleep on May 12, 2011. The edition was distributed in print and online. Some excerpts: “Mr. du Bourg taught me friendship, selflessness, humility, humor, discipline and so much more. He knew how to make those around him greater and the world closer. What a great loss.” H yu n Seu ng K a ng ’07 —H
“Even though I joined brass just before Spring Break this year, I am glad that I got to know Tony before he passed away. He was so generous, and not to mention a genius. Besides helping me practice the trombone, Tony helped me with my French homework whenever I needed him. He was truly selfless.” K a th eri ne Bie nkow sk i ’13 —K “Tony handed me a small envelope two days before Prize Day of my senior year. In his insistent voice, he said, “I don’t want to die having any possessions.” Tony always made silly comments about death, so I dismissed it with a laugh. Not having any expectations for what was in the envelope, I opened it and found a gold pin encrusted with pearls; engraved on the back it said, “Antoine du Bourg.” At first glance I had no idea what the pin stood for, and then it dawned on me. Tony had promised to give
Tony du Bourg leads the St. George's School Band playing the Star Spangled Banner at the Commissioning of the New York Yacht Club at Harbour Court, Newport RI, May 13, 2006.
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In memoriam R E M E M B R A N C E S
The Red & White S e r v i n g t h e S t . G e o r g e ’s S c h o o l C o m m u n i ty
SPECIAL EDITION- TONY
DU
BOURG MEMORIAL
EDITOR’S NOTE: This special edition of The Red & White is dedicated entirely to Tony du Bourg. Inside, readers will find stories, memories, and pictures of Tony du Bourg that members of the SG Community have decided to share.
Statement by Headmaster Eric F. Peterson M “In my mind, Tony
epitomized the genteel eccentricity that
enlivens and enriches the fabric of a great school. He was brilliant, determined, and
Tony du Bourg, conductor of the Brass Ensemble and so much more, died peacefully in his sleep Thursday, May 12, 2011.
St. George’s School loses beloved brass conductor -
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DR. GESUALDO
Mark Nuytkens ’12 meets with Mr. du Bourg in his office.
On Thursday, May 12, 2011, students all over campus were alerted to come to an allschool meeting in Madeira Hall. Notices were hung all around campus, and during sports practices, coaches were approached by faculty members instructing them to notify their players about the meeting. The importance of the meeting was clearly conveyed to students. When they arrived at the assembly, Headmaster Eric F. Peterson solemnly informed students that their beloved brass instructor, Tony du Bourg, passed away peacefully in his sleep. Mr. du
Bourg, fondly referred to by all as simply “Tony,” will be known for his unwavering generosity towards and undying care for his students. Whether it was bringing doughnuts every morning to hungry students, paying out-of-pocket for students’ instruments, or driving students wherever they wanted at the drop of a dime, Tony’s selfless dedication to students will never be forgotten. The Red & White expresses its sincerest condolences and sadness towards Tony’s death. He will be dearly missed.
Editor’s note: The following obituary was published in The New York Times on May 14, 2011.
ANTOINE du BOURG
du BOURG--Antoine, of Newport, RI, died in his sleep on Thursday, May 12, at age 82. In collaboration with Clare Gesualdo, his dear friend and companion for over 40 years, Tony enabled thousands of high school students to profit from his contagious love of music. First for 46 years at the Pingry School in New Jersey, and then at St. George's School in Middletown, RI, he invigorated existing gleeclub and choir curricula. He also introduced Brass Choirs to each institution. Their performances reflected Tony's exceptional talent in generating adolescent enthusiasm. This was his all consuming focus in life. Nothing came in the way of his fierce loyalty to his students. They sang and played at celebrated concert halls in
irascible, but he was also witty, insightful, and highly amusing. Above all, he did
what all great teachers do—he found a
way, any way, to reach, inspire and motivate his students. We will all miss him more than we know." Mr. Eric F. Peterson Headmaster
M
England, Europe and the United States. They even toured behind the Iron Curtain in the 1970s. Through Tony's generosity, both Pingry and St. George's increased the quality and quantity of instruments available for student performances. Tony's second teaching discipline was physics, a lifelong interest. As was sailing, shared with Clare. With headquarters on Cape Cod or Martha's Vineyard, they were joined by friends and students on summer sailing adventures. Born in Paris, Tony came to the Untied States at age 11. He first attended the Buckley School in New York City and then the Harvey School. He was in the Class of 1947 at St. Paul's School, Concord, NH and in the Class of 1951 at Hamilton College. Tony served in the US Army before beginning his teaching career in the mid 1950s. His half brother Joseph McCrindle died some years ago. Donations may be made to Music at St. George's, St. George's School, P.O. Box 1910, Newport, RI 02840
me his Chi Psi fraternity pin from Hamilton when he met me in the fall of my sophomore year. My grandfather was in the same fraternity during the same years that Tony was there, and Tony felt that it was appropriate to give it to me. I later learned from my grandfather that Tony was quite the party animal in college, which came as no surprise to me. I thanked Tony for such a generous and meaningful gift as my eyes welled with tears of gratitude. Two days later, on the happiest day of my life, Tony came up to me and said something that continues to inspire me to this day: “You’re a good person, Paiger, and you will go far in life.” Besides my parents, no one had ever said something like that to me before. As crazy as he was, I knew I was going to miss Tony, but I promised myself to keep in touch as best as I could. A man as selfless and caring as Tony never goes without being recognized, and if I had it my way I would give him the title of a saint. There wasn’t an ounce of Tony that was selfish, unkind or greedy. His hand was never out for the taking; instead it was always out to give to others. I will be eternally grateful for everything Tony has taught and given me. I love you Mr. du Bourg, and Heaven is certainly a better place now that you’re up there too! You made the “journey matter” for me during my time at St. George’s, and I can’t thank you enough.” —PP a ige Eh ar t ’09
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“ ‘Quod enim munus rei publicae adferre maius meliusve possumus, quam si docemus atque erudimus iuventutem?’ —Cicero, De divinatione 2.4 ‘For what greater or better service can we bring to the state than if we teach and instruct the youth?’” Tony du Bourg was a great teacher, and I will never forget the life lessons he taught me. From practical matters like electricity 101 and sailing, to profound discussions on life’s deepest questions, Tony inspired me and helped me to grow. His passion for teaching and learning and his dedication to the students were unrivalled. I will miss his friendship, his companionship, and sharing the table with him. Kevi n H el d, former Latin teacher —K “Dan and I cherish the many genial evenings we passed in various Newport eateries with Tony and Dr. Clare Gesualdo. The food was always good, and the conversation hilarious, but the main feature that links those evenings in our minds was the perennial battle that Dan and Tony fought over who would pay the check. Tony, endlessly generous, wanted to pay for all the people all the time. Dan, equally a gentleman, felt strongly that he should have the opportunity to reciprocate Tony’s hospitality. Therefore, every time we went out together, when the waiter appeared with the bill an unseemly struggle ensued, Dan lunging for the check, Tony snatching it back, both of them waving their credit cards wildly at the waiter. Tony generally won these bouts, so Dan, to outflank him, decided that we would get to the restaurant early in order that Dan could tell the maitre d’ to give him the check. This ruse worked exactly once. When Dan tried it a second time, Tony outfoxed him by secretly telling the waiter and maitre d’ to pay no attention to Dan. Dr. G claims that she once saw Tony wrestle a man to the floor in order to get the check, and we Hollinses believe her. Tony was the most generous of men—open-hearted and open-handed in every aspect of his life. We will miss him terribly.” Dan and Betsy Hollins, former faculty members —D
St . G e o r g e ’ s S c h o o l M i s s i o n St a t e m e n t In 1896, the Rev. John Byron Diman, founder of St. George’s School, wrote in his “Purposes of the School” that “the specific objectives of St. George’s are to give its students the opportunity of developing to the fullest extent possible the particular gifts that are theirs and to encourage in them the desire to do so. Their immediate job after leaving school is to handle successfully the demands of college; later it is hoped that their lives will be ones of constructive service to the world and to God.” In the 21st century, we continue to teach young women and men the value of learning and achievement, service to others, and respect for the individual. We believe that these goals can best be accomplished by exposing students to a wide range of ideas and choices in the context of a rigorous curriculum and a supportive residential community. Therefore, we welcome students and teachers of various talents and backgrounds, and we encourage their dedication to a multiplicity of pursuits —intellectual, spiritual, and physical—that will enable them to succeed in and contribute to a complex, changing world.
Upcoming Events 2 0 11 Day Student Family Picnic
Tues., Sept. 6, 5:30 p.m.
Convocation Opening of the Nathaniel P. Hill Library Classes begin
Tues., Sept. 13, 8:30 a.m.
Alumni/ae of Color Conference
Fri., Oct. 7 - Sun., Oct. 9
Dedication of the Nathaniel P. Hill Library
Sat., Oct. 15, 12:30 p.m. Parents Weekend
Fri., Oct. 28 - Sat., Oct. 29 Lessons and Carols
Fri., Dec. 9, 7:30 p.m. Christmas Festival
Tues., Dec. 13, 7:30 p.m.
St . G e o r g e ’ s Po l i c y o n Non- Disc rimi nati on
2 0 12 Fifth-Form Parents Weekend
Fri., Feb. 17 - Sat. Feb. 18 St. George’s School admits male and female students of any religion, race, color, sexual orientation, and national or ethnic origin to all the programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of religion, gender, race, color, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, scholarship and loan programs, or athletic and other school-administered programs. In addition, the school welcomes visits from disabled applicants.
Reunion Weekend
Fri., May 18 - Sun., May 20 Prize Day
Mon., May 28
For information on additional events, visit the St. George’s School Facebook page, our web site www.stgeorges.edu or contact events coordinator Ann Weston at Ann_Weston@stgeorges.edu or 401.842.6731.
You’re invited: Regional Receptions Kennett Square, Pa. area At the home of Gretchen and George Wintersteen ’60 in West Grove, Pa.
Sun., Sept. 25, 2011
Boston, Mass. Gathering of Young Alumni/ae (classes 1996-2011) Eastern Standard Kitchen
Tues., Oct. 25, 2011
New York, N.Y. New York Yacht Club
Thurs., Nov. 3, 2011
Washington, D.C. Gathering of Young Alumni/ae (classes 1996-2011) The Hudson Restaurant
Tues., Nov. 15, 2011
New York, N.Y. Gathering of Young Alumni/ae (classes 1996-2011) The Public House
Wed., Feb. 15, 2012
Washington, D.C. At the home of Tucker and Susie Carlson ’87
Wed., April 18, 2012
St. George’s School P.O. Box 1910 Newport, RI 02840-0190
Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID St. George’s School
S T. G E OR G E ’S 2011
summer Bulletin
St. George’s School 2011 summer Bulletin
In this issue: Merck-Horton: Behind the center, a shared vision for learning BY SUZANNE L. MCGRADY Unsettled in Senegal BY SUZANNE L. MCGRADY Chapel talks: The chance to have influence BY EVERETT MUZZY ’11 Keys to happiness BY ROSIE PUTNAM ’11 Casting away BY GRAHAM ANDERSON ’11
Prize Day 2011 Around our classrooms Stories from Geronimo Campus happenings Post Hilltop: Alumni/ae in the news Class Notes Left: The graduates celebrate on Prize Day 2011. PHOTO BY K ATHRYN W HITNEY L UCEY
C OVER
STORY
The renovated Nathaniel P. Hill Library: A building for 21 st century learning