Durham Academy Magazine - Summer 2015 by Durham Academy

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Turn up the volume!

From Motorco to The Voice, DA musicians belt out a blockbuster year

ALSO I N THI S I SS U E : Commencement | New Preschool director | DA in China | $1 million gift

F ROM THE HEAD OF SC HOOL

Nathan Clendenin

equipping students to live lives of virtue, impact and joy. As you’ll see in our 2015 Strategic Plan (which is inserted in this his winter, just as we were finalizing magazine), we have kept that task squarely a strategic plan to carry us bravely into the at the center. Our plan’s No. 1 goal: crafting future, we learned of the passing of Bob a faculty full of “life-changers” — genuine, Johnston, headmaster of Durham Academy curious, passionate, striving, generous and from 1969 to 1977. Then and since, I have accountable teacher/learners who nurture, learned quite a bit about one of the most inspire, engage and challenge students as principled and generous educators in our they model the path to moral, happy and school’s history. productive lives. I never met Bob Johnston, but his Elsewhere in the 2015 Strategic Plan, reputation and legacy make me proud to strands of Bob Johnston’s legacy are serve Durham Academy and eager to cover plainly visible: some ground with the baton I now carry. • An energetic recommitment to Consider Bob’s immense impact in community engagement. Immediately after just eight years in Durham. He was at the arriving, Johnston made sure DA was not helm when DA launched our Upper School aligned with the segregationist schools program, built our Ridge Road campus, founded in the 1960s. He knew that DA graduated our first senior class, established could play an active role in building mutually The Hill Center and funded our first beneficial relationships in all sectors of scholarships. Durham. Hundreds of Durham Academy • An expansion of need-based graduates point to Bob as “that one special financial aid. Johnston understood that teacher” who changed their lives, the mentor academic excellence and socioeconomic whose standards of excellence made them diversity were intertwined. He sought stand a little taller on campus and work a passionately to bridge gaps where little harder once they graduated. As alumna economic need kept bright, capable Valerie Kennedy Miller ’81 told me, “Mr. J. youngsters from attending DA. kept in touch with me for decades. He sent • A celebration of individual learning presents for each of my milestone birthdays styles and distinct teaching methods. and advised me on several job transitions.” Johnston established The Hill Center, Valerie’s stories of “Mr. J.” sound eerily knowing that not all children learned the similar to those I’ve heard about Dennis same way. He also championed bold Cullen, Tim Dahlgren, Debbie Suggs, Lou teaching, off-campus experiences and Parry, Margarita Throop, Jordan Adair, Gail extracurricular enrichment. Walker, Dave Gould, Teresa Engebretsen, The passage below, posted on Sheppy Vann and so many other veteran DA Facebook, ends with words that capture teachers whose vocation calls them to go the personality and impact of a man of above and beyond the conventional bounds integrity — one who changed the course of of classroom instruction. several schools and many thousand lives. Durham Academy teachers strive not My dad, Robert D. Johnston, passed merely to deliver curricular content, lift test away peacefully yesterday at the age of scores or shuttle students to fancy colleges. 83. ... All the expressions of admiration Our task is at once simple and immense: and appreciation for this great man, who

impactfully led four schools as headmaster (Durham Academy, University School of Milwaukee, Charlotte Country Day School and Rabun Gap Nacoochee School), are much appreciated. My sister, brother and I, along with his seven grandchildren, miss him immensely, and are grateful that so many of you do too. He felt your love in his dying days. He passed in contentment, the embodiment of the life well-lived. I miss you, Dad. He was a good man. — Tim Johnston It is tempting to imagine that excellence in 21st century schools derives from efficiency, technology, globalization and the like. To be sure, Durham Academy’s new strategic plan will accelerate many of our future-focused programs — from flipped classrooms to the robotics team, from a new science center to partnerships with Chinese schools. But all these innovations must grow from roots of character and purpose. Such roots are embodied in fundamentally moral, happy and productive human beings like Bob Johnston and the pantheon of life-changing DA teachers. As Valerie Kennedy Miller put it in a recent email, “DA is an anchor that has held a community of super smart and aspirational people together through the decades. We are all bound by that thread of connection and the history that surrounds it.” I hope you’ll read the 2015 Strategic Plan with this thread in mind. Having worked for 10 months to gather opinions, clarify aspirations and prioritize our goals, we are focused and fueled to push Durham Academy toward greatness. In so doing, we will never forget that the deepest root of true greatness is goodness.

Michael Ulku-Steiner, Head of School @ MrUlkuSteiner

CONTENTS

6 F EATURES

Photo courtesy NBC The Voice

6 | COMMENCEMENT Duke football coach David Cutcliffe shares quarterback wisdom with DA’s Class of 2015 12 | DA MUSIC STUDENTS STEP INTO THE SPOTLIGHT TO FIND THEIR VOICE, FUEL THEIR PASSION AND FORGE A FAMILY ‘A gift I will have for life’ | Page 14 XIV Hours, In The Pocket’s national audiences | Page 14 Lowell Oakley ’14 makes The Voice top 20 | Page 15 18 | DENNIS CULLEN HANGS UP HIS TIMER AND WHISTLE Protégés and colleagues say the veteran coach is ‘just extraordinary’ 22 | EAST MEETS WEST IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC #DAinChina trip cements new student exchange program

FRONT COVER: Vocalists Marie Li ’15, Ralitsa Kalfas ’15, Andrés Rosa ’15 and Brooke Joynes ’15 were part of the amazing display of talent when In The Pocket, DA’s jazz-rock ensemble, played Motorco Music Hall in downtown Durham in March.

P H OTO B Y M E LO DY G U Y TO N B U T T S

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Eric Ward

Jared Lazarus

CON TENTS

DA ON THE GO Read the Durham Academy magazine on your tablet. Visit www. da.org/ magazine for links to the current and previous issues. •

SUMMER 2015

VOLUME 42, NO. 2

DURHAM ACADEMY Michael Ulku-Steiner, Head of School

DURHAM ACADEMY RECORD • WINTER • 2015

Anne Lloyd ’82, Chair, Board of Trustees Seth Jernigan ’96, President, Alumni Board

THE MAGAZINE OF DURHAM ACADEMY

THE RECORD Kathy McPherson, Editor Linda Noble, Designer COMMUNICATIONS Leslie King, Director of Communications leslie.king@da.org EBOLA FIGHTER Dr. Billy Fischer ’94 takes a break from his work in Guéckédou, Guinea

Kathy McPherson, Associate Director of Communications kathy.mcpherson@da.org Melody Butts, Assistant Director of Communications melody.butts@da.org Send news and story ideas to communications@da.org.

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DEVELOPMENT AND ALUMNI AFFAIRS Leslie Holdsworth, Director of Development leslie.holdsworth@da.org Tim McKenna, Associate Director of Alumni Affairs tim.mckenna@da.org DURHAM ACADEMY MISSION STATEMENT: The purpose of Durham Academy is to provide each student an education that will enable him or her to live a moral, happy and productive life. The development of intellect is central to such a life and thus, intellectual endeavor and growth are the primary work of the school. The acquisition of knowledge; the development of skills, critical judgment and intellectual curiosity; and increased understanding are the goals of the school’s academic program.

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CO NT ENTS A D D I T I O N A L F E ATU R E S

10 | SENIORS REFLECT ON THEIR DA EXPERIENCE ‘What separates DA from the rest are the people’

Melody Guyton Butts

16 | PRESCHOOL WELCOMES A NEW DIRECTOR Christian Hairston-Randleman tapped after a 15-month international search

17 | NEW FACULTY AND STAFF APPOINTMENTS 18 new faces join four school divisions and admissions office 20 | STUDENTS CREATE NEW GARDEN AT MIDDLE SCHOOL’S ‘FRONT DOOR’ A lush garden of native plants greets visitors to Middle School 26 | THE CASE OF THE BORROWED BEAR If you want to know ‘whodunit,’ you’ll have to ask a second-grader 28 | HERSHEY AWARD HONORS OWEN BRYANT ‘A super teacher who is sensitive to the needs of all of his students’ 29 | KENAN TRUST DONATES $125,000 TO ‘SHEPPY FUND’ Scholarship fund will assist students entering Preschool this fall 29 | $1 MILLION GIFT TO ENDOWMENT Anonymous donor makes largest unrestricted endowed gift in school history 30 | STUDENTS LAUNCH NEW DIVERSITY INITIATIVE ‘What Matters to Me’ series is a safe space to talk about important topics

Kathy McPherson

31 | NEW TRUSTEES Jimbo Huckabee, Caroline Rogers, Jean Spaulding, Karen Triplett, Kara Turner

32 | THE ROAD TO RECOVERY Sense of community and connection help student Ryan Hester recover from serious brain injury 34 | LOWER SCHOOL LINKS UP WITH LEMURS Guest author/wildlife photographer helps Lower School students learn how to tell the story of an endangered species 36 | 2015 STRATEGIC PLAN A look back at what DA accomplished from the 2006 and 2011 strategic plans, and defining DA’s future in the 2015 strategic plan 38 | ‘I DON’T SAY’ PROJECT ENCOURAGES THOUGHTFUL LANGUAGE ‘If we can avoid language that makes other people hurt, that should be our goal’ back cover | 2015 COLLEGE LIST

Nathan Clendenin

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Kathy McPherson

T HE BIG P ICTUR E

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Jumping for joy Forget high-tech toys and glitzy games, competing in old-fashioned sack races grabbed the attention of waves of kids at Lower School field day, and it really didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t matter who got to the finish line first!

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Cutcliffe urges DA graduates to leave

At www.da.org/graduation: • Watch graduates’ reflections on their time at DA. • View a video of the commencement exercises. • Learn more about the Class of 2015’s accomplishments.

Jared Lazarus

isn’t really a conclusion, she said. The characters will move on and star in new plotlines separate from one another. “Not having a neat ending is, in its own way, a really, really great thing. We get to keep going,” Wechsler said. “We get to reinvent ourselves in college, or start a new project, or keep going just the way you are if the way you are makes you happy. The chance to start over and over and over again, and to make beginnings out of such endings, is a gift that that we are given as people that live in a very complicated and not-neat world.” As the graduates move on to those new beginnings and face challenges, it’s important that they look to the people who have supported them — family, friends and teachers — for a helping hand, advised Wang, who will attend Duke. “The knowledge that someone is there pulling, trying their best to understand and help, that is an invaluable comfort,” she said. In the throes of the inevitable “hardships beyond our comprehension,” it’s important that the Class of 2015 remember “each one of us is capable of amazing things,” Wang advised. “There have been, and will be so many good and happy things in the future that I strongly urge everyone not to lose hope,” she said. “Even though hope is a liability, and it is the repression of what seems to be inevitable disappointment, it is also possibility. And possibility is what makes life worth living.”

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nder a canopy of towering oak trees in an Alabama park, Duke University football coach David Cutcliffe learned a valuable lesson as a child, he said at Durham Academy’s 41st commencement exercises on May 22. After an afternoon of playing, he and his five siblings had sprinted back to the family’s 1952 Chevrolet upon hearing their father’s whistle, ready to go home — but they were stopped in their tracks by their father as he surveyed the landscape. “We are not leaving here until every piece of trash is picked up,” Cutcliffe recalled his father saying. So the family stayed to clean the park, one piece of litter at a time. When they finally all piled into the car, they’d amassed enough trash to fill three 55-gallon World War II surplus oil drums. The lesson — always leaving a place better than he found it — is one that he’s carried forward and passed on to each Duke recruit, and he shared it with the 101 members of DA’s Class of 2015 at UNC’s Memorial Hall. “As you go forward, don’t expect or think that you’re going to receive. You’ve been taught service, I know you have,” said Cutcliffe, parent of a DA student. “Leave wherever you go and whomever you’re with, better than you found it. That’s what our role is on this earth.” DA’s 101 graduates plan to continue their education at 55 colleges and universities across the country, ranging from Spelman College and Stanford University, to closer to home at Duke and UNC. Cutcliffe was introduced by salutatorian Dana Rowe and followed by co-valedictorians Caroline Wechsler and Elayne Wang. Wechsler, who will attend Harvard University in the fall, said this time of transition has her thinking about beginnings and endings. In the movie version of her high school life, the ending would be neat and tidy, but this story’s conclusion

Jared Lazarus

By Melody Guyton Butts, Assistant Director of Communications

TOP ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT: Duke football coach David Cutcliffe tells the graduates that service to others is “our role on this earth.” • The Class of 2015 lines up for a group photo before commencement. • Following with tradition, student body president James Daubert passes the school banner to incoming president Abe Dunderdale. MIDDLE ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT: Head of School Michael Ulku-Steiner presents a diploma to Justin Chang. • Andrés Rosa gets a big hug post graduation. • Alumni parents and their graduating seniors include (first row) Holly Caudle and

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the world better than they found it

Jared Lazarus

Melody Guyton Butts Jared Lazarus

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“Leave wherever you go and whomever you’re with, better than you found it. That’s what our role is on this earth.”

Jenny Wainwright ’82, Claire Burdick and Lily Burdick with Sarah Warner Burdick ’84, Lily Anderson with Mark Anderson ’81, (second row) Matt McDonald ’79 and Morgan McDonald, Will Beischer and David Beischer ’85, Connor Leech and Drew Leech ’85 and Jackson Dellinger and Hampton Dellinger ’85. BOTTOM ROW, LEFT TO RIGHT: One hundred and one seniors filled the stage at Memorial Hall. • Faith Couch gets congratulations from friends and family. • Alston Thompson is all smiles as the class begins the procession into Memorial Hall.

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The Class of 2015 at a Glance BY THE NUMBERS • 101 graduates (56 females, 45 males) • Enrolling in 55 different colleges and universities • Attending institutions in 21 states and the District of Columbia • 626 applications to colleges and universities • 6.2 average applications per student • 97 percent submitted at least one early action/early decision application • 34 percent enrolling at their single choice, early decision college or university • 79 attending private institutions • 22 attending public institutions • 41 will attend college and universities in N.C., 13 at public institutions and 28 at private institutions • 60 will attend colleges and universities outside N.C., 9 at public institutions and 51 at private institutions • 54 will attend colleges and universities in the South • 15 will attend colleges and universities in the Mid-Atlantic • 14 will attend colleges and universities in New England • 7 will attend colleges and universities in the Midwest • 11 will attend colleges and universities in the West

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SCHOOLS WITH THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF DA STUDENTS ATTENDING: • 16 Duke University • 6 UNC at Chapel Hill • 4 Elon University • 4 Southern Methodist University • 4 Wake Forest University • 3 Boston College • 3 Columbia University • 3 Harvard University

FUN FACTS ABOUT MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF 2015 • Seniors contributed 3,251 hours of community service with organizations like: SECU Family House at UNC Hospital, Durham Teen Court, Book Harvest, Ronald McDonald House, The Chordoma Foundation, Duke Hospital, Special Olympics, Urban Ministries of Durham, KidzNotes, Habitat for Humanity, Independent Animal Rescue, Durham Rescue Mission, Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, El Centro Hispano, Durham Nativity School, Interfaith Homeless Shelter • 3 Mayor’s Award and 7 Hard Corps outstanding service award recipients • Members of the Class of 2015 include: - 18 Augustine Project tutors - Members of national All-Academic teams for lacrosse, field hockey, soccer and volleyball - A first-team All-American lacrosse team member - Two-time Semester-at-Sea attendee (Mediterranean and around the world) - A FEMA-certified ham radio communication provider - A White House Innovation Scholar - A regional poetry slam winner and national competitor - An award-winning photographer - An accomplished horsewoman - A prolific gardener - An avid TerraCycler - A state and regionally recognized concert pianist - 6 open water swimmers (completed mile and two-mile races)

MIDDLE 50% SAT SCORES • Critical Reading: 610-730 • Math: 610-720 • Writing: 610-720 • Total (out of 1600): 1230-1420 • Total (out of 2400): 1860-2130

DISTINGUISHED HONORS AND PROGRAMS • 1 Morehead-Cain Scholarship winner at UNC-CH • 2 Angier B. Duke Memorial Scholarship recipients at Duke University • 1 Goodnight Scholar at N.C. State University DURHAM ACADEMY

• George Watts Hill Community Service Award – Claire Burdick • Frank Hawkins Kenan Medal – Ralitsa Kalfas • Elizabeth Adams Old Award – Marie Li • Scott Jameson Filston Award – Elizabeth Hall • Head of School’s Award – Will Beischer and Annabella Gong

THE FOLLOWING SCHOOLS AWARDED SCHOLARSHIPS TO MATRICULATING STUDENTS: • College of Charleston • University of Connecticut • Duke University • Eckerd College • Guilford College • New York University • N.C. State University • University of Oregon • Southern Methodist University • Stanford University • Wake Forest University

APPLICATION AND MATRICULATION DETAILS • 9 enrolling at Ivy League institutions • 4 recruited to play D-1 sports • 4 attending women’s colleges • 1 attending a historically black college • 1 attending a fine arts program • 15 attending small liberal arts colleges • 14 attending flagship public institutions

• 2 Presidential Scholar semifinalists • 1 Georgetown University School of Foreign Service • 1 School of Hotel Management at Cornell University • 1 Bonner Scholar at Guilford College • 1 ROTC United States Army scholarship • 1 L. B. Cebik, W4RNL, and Jean Cebik, N4TZP, Memorial Scholarship

SENIOR SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARDS • Co-Valedictorians – Elayne Wang and Caroline Wechsler • Salutatorian – Dana Rowe • Ginny Buckner Award – Ariana Sheeks

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SENIOR BUCKET LIST E

• Take a huge risk. A huge one. • TerraCycle every week. • Go to the Student Diversity Leadership Conference. • Challenge Mr. Hark to a tennis match.

• Take a dance class with Mrs. McDonald. • Be best friends with Mr. Cullen. • Take BC Calculus with Mr. Jenzano. • Take Mr. Spatola’s Cuba class. • Take Late Great 1968 with Mr. Speir. • Take Mr. Adair’s war literature class → life. changing. • Take a class/do an activity with Mr. Meyer. • Attend the Zumbathon in the spring. • Attend an ITP concert. • Audition and participate in the musical. • Attend a dance – luau, formal in the fall or prom in the spring. • Eat everything on International Day. • Go to the CavDome for at least one

basketball game. • Take an elective in a subject you’ve never spent much time in. • Take Art or make a work of art in the art room. • Take Photography. • Play Kan Jam on the quad – a new tradition! • Participate in Spirit Week and attend a homecoming game. • Participate in a club. • Go to the top of the physics tower (with special permission, of course). • You know that person you really, really, really like? You’re too nervous to ask them out, aren’t you? You’re afraid it will be awkward. DO IT! ASK THEM OUT!

- A singer who performed the national anthem at Duke basketball and Carolina Hurricanes games - An Eagle Scout and a Girl Scout Bronze, Silver and Gold Award winner - A participant in an Operation Smile medical mission to Panama - A certified mahout (elephant trainer, 1st class)

- A marathon bike-rider who logged 175 miles to raise over $1,000 for the National MS Society - The creator of online support forum COPECancer.org, for children with parents diagnosed with cancer - Athletes who are members of a traveling AAU basketball team, State Cup champion girls soccer team and

Region III East premier league soccer team - A classically trained Indian dancer (Bharatanatyam, Arangetram and Kathak) - A USAG-certified gymnastics coach in trampoline and tumbling - A senior dual-enrolled at DA and Duke during his junior and senior years

veryone has his or her own favorite Durham Academy tradition. But what quintessential experiences are a must before you leave the hallowed halls of DA? We asked the Class of 2015 to help create the inaugural DA Bucket List so underclassmen can take their senior year by storm! Seniors have set the standard. These are the top 25 DA experiences they say make you a Cav for life.

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Piera Varela topped her mortarboard with a playful array of dinosaurs.

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What stands out about your DA experience? Dina Guilak

Will Beischer

Breanna Byrd

Whether they began Durham Academy as a Preschooler or came in Upper School, Durham Academy has left an indelible mark on these nine members of the Class of 2015.

came to Durham Academy in ninth grade, transferring from a large public school, and was immediately shocked at the strength of the community that greeted me. Since my first day of school, I knew that I had teachers and fellow students looking out for me. Everyone I’ve encountered, from my advisor and college counselor to my AP Chemistry teacher, really and truly wants me to be the best that I can be. Having these enthusiastic and caring leaders has profoundly shaped who I am, given me more confidence in myself, and influenced my future academic interests. As I leave DA, I’m so glad that I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of such a supportive and caring community like this one.” “

— Dina Guilak

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hile I have been a member of the Durham Academy community since pre-k, the last four years have certainly been the most memorable. One of the people I attribute this to is my advisor, Mr. Ebert. Perhaps one of the more eccentric faculty members, he taught me how to think and learn for the sake of understanding and conceptualizing, rather than simply repetition and memorization. He inspired me to take a completely different approach toward my education. I began to learn things not just so that I could apply them to the next test, but so that I under10

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stood them and could relate them to both past and future concepts. Despite only having Mr. Ebert for freshman year geometry, the way that he has helped me think has had a lasting effect on me and is one of the many reasons why I so thoroughly enjoyed my time at Durham Academy.” — Will Beischer

“ hen looking back over my time here at Durham Academy, I realize I have learned a great deal about myself and the people in this community as well. In that process of learning I have grown and pushed myself in ways I do not think I would have the opportunity to do elsewhere. DA has taught me that when it comes to the things I am passionate about, there is always a way to pursue it along with my academics. The strongest memory of DA that I will take with me for the rest of my life is the genuine care and compassion I was shown sophomore year. Experiencing that firsthand has given me the courage to continue to follow my dreams, and to fight for the things I know are right because I know I will be supported by this community. I don’t think Durham Academy has changed me, but I do think it has reinforced in me the best qualities I have always possessed and to see if I can bring those out in other people.” — Breanna Byrd

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urham Academy has fostered a transformation, a transformation that manifested itself on the stages, fields, classrooms and hallways throughout campus. It is a transformation that, had it not occurred, my current existence would be unfathomable. Durham Academy has helped me become Andrés Rosa. There is no other way to express who I’ve become other than to say that this school has helped me get here. Durham Academy has music, it has sports and it has classes, but what make these all exceptional is the love and passion surrounding each one. Our faculty is made up of strong role models. Of those, Mr. Meyer has had the biggest effect on me. He has taught me to love and be immensely delighted in music, a mere component of my transformation.” “

— Andrés Rosa

“ he greatest aspect of DA is that it is an incubator of passion and exploration. If you have a plan, DA will find a way to make it happen. You can start a club, or a sports team, or an assembly. This can happen at DA because the teachers and administration are approachable; there is a thinner line between student and teacher. Our head of school respects us enough to shake all of our hands before morning meeting. They also make it possible for us to take a variety of classes that

Photos by Mary Moore McLean

Andrés Rosa

Sabrina Hardin

Jackson Dellinger

Collette Patel

Justin Chang

would intrigue us. You can take extra classes in science, or take a class about Cuba, or modern global issues. DA gives you the freedom to peruse your interests.”

Alex Bassil unconquerably happy as my classmates has defined my DA experience. These are the people who can make hiking the wrong path the right choice.”

— Collette Patel

“ lston, Andrés and the rest of my Senior Challenge group had walked a couple miles down the wrong path and a couple miles back. Sweltering in the heat and besieged by flies, I’d have sworn it was uphill both ways. But Alston had a knack for rhyming, I had a mental repository of poetry and Andrés is the virtuosic lovechild of Mozart and One Direction. We composed a ballad for the girls in our group as we walked those extra miles. The (in my opinion) prodigal talents of my classmates transformed a less than ideal situation into a good time. … I’ve walked through DA and, in a single tour around campus, stumbled upon friends discussing philosophy over lunch in Chinese, making music with plastic buckets and garbage cans and launching rockets 6,000 feet in the air. The privilege of interacting with people as talented, creative and

— Jackson Dellinger

“ ne of my favorite classes at DA was Mr. Adair’s Literary and Artistic Response to War. The subject was something I knew little about beforehand, but with Mr. Adair’s passion and enthusiasm, it was impossible not to become interested in the topic. The culminating project was an interview conducted by the students for the Veterans History Project, and every veteran appreciated the chance to tell their story. What will always stick with me about this class was the confidence that Mr. Adair had in his students and the opportunity to do work in a class that felt more important and lasting than writing a paper or analyzing a book.”

— Sabrina Hardin

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hat separates DA from the rest are the people. The teachers and faculty here DURHAM ACADEMY

are dedicated to make sure each and every student gets the personalized attention they need to succeed, and their care for students extends far beyond the classroom. Over the years, I have become close with so many of my teachers. Despite the size of the school, the students at DA cover a wide variety of interests. No matter what you’re into, you will find your niche here. Competing on the Science Olympiad team, writing for the school newspaper, being involved in student government and running for the track team have been some of my highlights here at DA. Through activities such as these and just being myself, I have built a plethora of lifelong friendships. When I first stepped on DA’s campus four years ago as a freshman, I immediately felt that I was a part of a tight-knit community. While I am excited for college, leaving this community will definitely be one of the most bittersweet moments of my life.”

— Justin Chang

“ y most valuable experiences at Durham Academy have all involved being a part of a team. Whether it was as a varsity lacrosse player for four years, as a peer educator during senior year, or as a member of Team Hark for the week of Senior Challenge, I learned how to become the best team player I could be. At certain times, I learned my contributions were vital, but on countless occasions, I relied heavily on the strengths of my teammates. It was through these valuable team experiences that Durham Academy has allowed me to become a better and more confident person.”

— Alex Bassil

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Standing room only

DA music students step into the spotlight to find their voice, fuel their passion and forge a family By Lanis Wilson, Upper School English Teacher and Dean of Boys

“The answer to all my problems was standing out, and I found that through music.”

— LO W E L L OA K L E Y ’14

he moment Lowell Oakley stepped onto the stage of the hit NBC singing competition The Voice and belted out his rendition of Duke Ellington’s Don’t Get Around Much Anymore, a national audience was afforded a glimpse of the talent that the Durham Academy community witnesses on a regular basis. Lowell’s performance brought national attention to something we experience daily in the Upper School. Be it our jazz/rock band In The Pocket, our a cappella group XIV Hours, the winter musical, the various lunch time music groups, the concert band or chorus, the music scene at DA is vibrant and pervasive. It is inspirational for audiences and performers alike. When I was asked to write an article about the music scene at DA, I thought somebody had made a mistake. I do not have a musical bone in my body. I like to sing around the house but am frequently asked to stop by my wife and children. I promise you will not see me on The Voice anytime soon. I can play 3½ chords on the guitar — just enough to butcher Ring of Fire if the mood strikes me. My musical talent resides principally in the “appreciation” realm. I read music blogs, I listen to new bands, I attend shows regularly. I admire talent where I have none. My “voice” is much more prosaic. I write, and I feel lucky that I met a teacher in high school who inspired me to study literature and become a teacher. Every time I pen something for the DA 12

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community, I am grateful for that early inspiration. My teacher’s encouragement helped shape the adult I have become. I hear a similar story about inspiration when I talk to students about their experiences in the DA music program. During his time at Durham Academy, Lowell found his voice. As a Middle Schooler, he was encouraged by chorus teacher Melody Zentner to pursue his talent. When Lowell explains how he came to be on the stage performing in prime time, he is quick to give credit to his DA experience: “I would not have that if it were not for Mrs. Zentner. She’s the one that initially pushed me to sing.” Once in the Upper School, Lowell spread his wings, participating in musicals, a cappella groups, jazz band … “My junior year of high school, I joined an a cappella group, and it just brought a new life to me.” Lowell’s story is one part of the larger DA story. His response to the inspiration and support he found at DA is echoed by all the students I spoke to about the music scene here. As rising senior MacKenzi Simpson put it, “Basically I didn’t really know who I was until I became involved in the music program at DA.” As I was contemplating the best way to explain how music shapes our school and its student body, the idea of inspiration kept coming up. I was reminded of a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Aeolian Harp. I often open my Romantic poetry unit in sophomore English by introducing students to Coleridge’s poem. An Aeolian harp is basically a string version of a wind chime. The harp is placed in a window, and air moving through the instrument vibrates the strings and produces sound. Coleridge uses the harp as a metaphor for humanity. Just as the harp is able to call |

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forth the music from the air, we are capable of pulling poetry from the world around us. If we calm our minds and see the beauty of the natural world, our thoughts will begin to resonate with nature … “And what if all of animated nature Be but organic Harps diversely framed, That tremble into thought, as o’er them sweeps Plastic and vast, one intellectual breeze”

Like Coleridge’s “organic Harps,” so many of the students at DA are musical instruments waiting to find that inspiration, the breath that brings their songs to life. The music is in the air all around us, but it takes the right environment to coax the talent to the fore, to feed the passion, to encourage the students to find their voices. And if we are searching for the source of this inspiration, we should look beyond the stage of Kenan Auditorium to a more unassuming place: the basement. As Andrés Rosa ’15 notes, “This love, this passion for music manifested itself in Mr. Meyer’s classroom.” You cannot get to the music room from the stage of Kenan without leaving the building. There is a metaphor here, but I am not sure of its deeper meaning. Like most of our campus, you must go outside before you can enter a classroom. If you find your way down the stairs outside the stage door and turn left into a dark alcove, you will discover the wellspring of the DA music scene. A grand piano fills the center of the room. Drums and xylophones form an arc around the back. The white board is covered with song lists and musical notation and posters from past and future performances. This is where all the hard work takes place: countless hours of sharing

Kathy McPherson

ABOVE: In The Pocket, DA’s jazz-pop-rock band, wows the crowd at every performance in Kenan Auditorium.

and brainstorming and arranging and rehearsing. Drop by at lunch on any day, and you will encounter students making music. At the center of this musical maelstrom is Michael Meyer. Five classes a day. Five lunches a week. Endless rehearsals. You feed passion with passion, and Michael Meyer is the musical nuclear reactor that drives the DA music scene. When asked about Lowell’s appearance on The Voice, Meyer is quick to place his influence in the larger context of the music program. “I’d like to take credit for it, but I’m not sure how much I can take,” Meyer said with a laugh. “I think what we were able to give him at Durham Academy was the opportunities to do what he did … He was able to have that opportunity to try out a bunch of different genres in front of the whole band that he was working with.” Despite his modesty, what Meyer does not acknowledge is the hours and hours of work, time spent away from home and family, to give our students opportunities

to discover their passion. His love of music is infectious. His passion and dedication spread beyond the classroom and far beyond the stage of Kenan or Durham’s Motorco or the Carolina Theatre. What makes the music scene at DA so special is the generosity of spirit that nurtures it. What happens in that music room is a kind of magic, for Meyer’s commitment resonates deeply with his students. He is the inspiration that feeds the musical passion at DA. Like Michael Meyer, inspiration and passion are at the core of the Upper School music program, but the other word that crops up when talking about our music program is family. As MacKenzi Simpson makes clear, “Thanks to the music program at DA, I have learned how to be confident, strong and brave. I have found families outside of my own that mean the world to me.” The music scene at DA builds character; it builds relationships. Lowell had to take the stage alone when he performed on The Voice, but at DA he was DURHAM ACADEMY

surrounded by caring, talented peers who shared his love of music. The music family here is close-knit. Alums return to perform with former classmates. Teachers perform alongside students. Parents perform with their children. Ian Kirven ‘15 sums it up nicely: “Music at Durham Academy has given me a gift I will have for life. It has made me strive for excellence at being a musician, a friend and a collaborator.” The air at the Upper School is filled with music just waiting for students. They need only step into the basement of Kenan and discover their inspiration, their voice, their family. Coleridge’s words echo this sentiment: “Methinks, it should have been impossible Not to love all things in a world so filled; Where the breeze warbles, and the mute still air Is Music slumbering on her instrument.”

At DA, the breeze warbles and the music never slumbers. |

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Kathy McPherson

Melody Guyton Butts

• LEFT: MacKenzi Simpson is a member of the a cappella group XIV Hours. RIGHT: Ian Kirven plays guitar with In The Pocket.

Music at DA: ‘A gift I wil have for life’ M

“ usic at Durham Academy has given me a gift I will have for life. It has made me strive for excellence at being a musician, a friend and a collaborator. Music has kept me sane, music has helped me through the hardest of times. Some ITPers were old friends, some strangers, but I feel like a shared love of music brought me much closer to all of them. Durham Academy has been in large part responsible for making guitar not just a hobby to me, but a lifestyle and an integral part of my self identity. When times get tough, I find immense comfort in the fact that I can find some quiet place to play and sing and enjoy the gift of music. Music has taught me to love and enjoy things in a different way than I could have thought possible.” — Ian Kirven ’15

“ asically I didn't really know who I was until I became involved in the music program at DA. I decided to audition for the musical and I cannot explain the impact that decision had on me. Thanks to the music program at DA, I have learned how to be confident, strong and brave. I have found families outside of my own that mean the world to me, especially our director Michael Meyer, who is like a father to everyone in the music program.

XIV Hours and ITP reach national audience

his year was an especially exciting one for XIV Hours, Durham Academy’s auditioned a cappella group, and for In The Pocket, DA’s jazz-rock band. In The Pocket traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, in October to perform for the largest national conference of music educators at the National Association for Music Education’s National In-Service Conference. The invitation to the conference was a first for DA, and was an opportunity to present In The Pocket as a curricular model for music education. In The Pocket also performed on the main stage at First Night, downtown Raleigh’s New Year's Eve celebration. XIV Hours gave a powerful performance at the International Championship of High School A Cappella (ICHSA) South Semifinal 14

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He pushes me to achieve my very best, both in music and my life. Thanks to music, I have found a way to express myself. Just this past year, I dedicated my solo of I Won't Let Go to Ryan, Cam and Alston and their recovery from their accident. That is the kind of performing that the environment in the music world of DA inspires: music where pain and hardship can turn into something beautiful and pull people together to make it through. Music at DA touches people's lives.” — MacKenzi Simpson, rising senior

“ y relationship with music is a priority. There is nothing I have loved more than the musical opportunities I have been given here. The exploration I have partaken in and the discovery of my talent and ability have been integral to who I’ve become. What is a relationship without passion? My passion for music is almost too intense for my own good. I would rather sit in my room and be a singer-songwriter for an hour, thinking about the rhyme scheme of the song I’m writing rather than fretting over APs. Music is part of who I am. This love, this passion for music manifested itself in Mr. Meyer’s classroom. That is where it begins. And it does not begin in ITP. It begins with chorus and band.” — Andrés Rosa ’15

in Tampa, Florida, on Feb. 21. Their performance drew positive attention, not only for its professional polish, but also for its unique theme — critically exploring the glamorization of unhealthy romantic and sexual relationships. "Music today, it seems, celebrates an unsustainable definition of what it means to be in a relationship," said XIV Hours tenor MacKenzi Simpson. In Florida, they performed a set that was divided into three acts featuring a mashup of pop songs, each exploring relationship expectations through a different lens. The group is working to release a music video version of the set this summer.

At www.da.org/magazine: • Watch the XIV Hours performance at the February ICHSA competition that one judge called “breathtaking” and “courageous.”

Photo courtesy NBC The Voice

Lowell Oakley performs on The Voice

Lowell Oakley ’14 croons his way to the top 20 on NBC’s The Voice

“Life after The Voice is very hard. It’s not that I got used to all of the attention of being on the show, it’s just this huge thing happened in my life and I’m still trying to figure out what exactly I can do with it.” — LO W E L L OA K L E Y ’14

ust one month after graduating from DA in May 2014, Lowell started keeping a whopper of a secret. It was one that was ultimately revealed to family, friends and an audience of nearly 14 million nationwide during the Feb. 23 premiere of NBC’s The Voice. Oakley had crooned his way past 45,000 contestants to earn a spot on the hit vocal competition show. And in just four minutes, Oakley convinced two of the most successful pop stars in the world that he had the potential to join their ranks, based on the power of his vocal performance alone. Oakley made it all the way to the top 20 competition, mentored by the mega-producer Pharrell Williams who dubbed him not regular, not the same, but “other.” After a return trip to the show that included featured performances during the finale, Oakley is back in Durham, where he’s trying to adjust to life after experiencing extreme celebrity, balance what he hopes is a blossoming professional music career and college, and build Team Lowell. “Life after The Voice is very hard,” Oakley says. “It’s not that I got used to all of the attention of being on the show, it’s just this huge thing happened in my life and I’m still trying to figure out what exactly I can do with it. There are different opportunities that I have. I’ve been talking to my mentors to try and figure out what the right decision is.” Oakley has already made his first decision. He’s headed to Music City, USA — that’s Nashville, Tennessee, also home to fellow contestant and finalist Meghan Linsey — to find his signature sound, try his hand at songwriting and book some studio time. “I would be very, very happy if I got one song out of this summer and I loved it to death and it was completely me,” Oakley says. “If I could have that by the end of the summer, then it will be a successful summer.“

Oakley’s fall plans include more time on center stage building up his experience performing in front of live audiences. That means this fall he’ll be stacking his class schedule at Elon University toward the middle of the week so he can potentially tour or perform on weekends. And thanks to The Voice, he’ll probably see a few familiar faces in the crowd rooting for him. “The nature of the show that I didn’t understand until the end of the show is that this is a family. The mindset I had for a while was ‘this is a competition,’ and I treated it as such. I was there to kick some [butt], and in order to do that I was a little bit reclusive at first. Now I’m really close with Sawyer, Meghan, Koryn [the winner and two finalists of the show] — I never would have expected that.” Oakley says the whirlwind experience also taught him a valuable life lesson — one that Pharrell tried to impress upon him during the competition — but one that took time to resonate. Now that Lowell isn’t consumed with the breakneck pace of the show and has had time to reflect, it has. Be yourself. “I think what it took was an actual real-life scenario to finally drive that into my head. It took my own faltering to finally learn. I think I tried so hard and overthought things so much, and I knew that, but I think it finally resonated with me that the only way that I’m going to be successful is if I truly stick to my guns and do what I have been born to do and I should do because that’s what makes me feel alive the most.” At www.da.org/magazine: • Watch all of Oakley’s performances on The Voice. • Check out Oakley’s surprise return to DA during the competition.

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Christian Hairston-Randleman named Preschool director C

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Kathy McPherson

hristian alive at every division, Hairston-Randleman the Preschool epitobegan her tenure as mizes this connection. Durham Academy’s Here, children are Preschool director on gently pulled into the July 1. The appointment DA fold and nurtured of Hairston-Randleman, into moral, happy, who will also serve as productive individuals. a kindergarten teacher, As the new Preschool comes after a 15-month director, I am commitinternational search ted to the rich tradition precipitated by the 2014 of community and look retirement of Sheppy forward to building Vann, who served as relationships with all Preschool director for 24 of our families!” years and a kindergarten HairstonChristian Hairston-Randleman teacher for three decades. Randleman has Pre-k teacher Sheri-lyn Carrow served as distinguished herself as an extraordinary interim Preschool director for the 2014teacher at the kindergarten level and 2015 school year. a rising star as principal of Durham’s “I am honored to have been selected Club Boulevard Humanities Elementary as the next Preschool director and feel Magnet School, Andrews Elementary privileged to be in a position to work School in Burlington and Central with such a talented group of educators,” Elementary School in Hillsborough. Hairston-Randleman said. “This position She earned a B.A. in Child Development provides a brilliant balance of teaching and Family Studies, an M.Ed. in Early and leadership responsibility that promotes Childhood Intervention and Family deep relationships with students, families Support and an M.S.A. as a North and staff.” Carolina Principal Fellow — all from Hairston-Randleman already has a UNC-Chapel Hill. She also earned an connection to DA Preschool: her son, Ed.S. in Curriculum and Instruction Brett Randleman, attended kindergarten from Liberty University. at DA this past school year. “Christian emerged as the clear “As I reflect on this year, as a choice of the Preschool faculty, the Preschool parent, and look forward to my administrative team and the search tenure as the Preschool director, a few committee,” said Head of School words resonate with me — DA Family,” Michael Ulku-Steiner. “Her deep said Hairston-Randleman. “Our family has expertise, poised professionalism, been privileged to experience the genuine warm personality and abundant care care and support of DA. We have been for children were as impressive to us afforded countless opportunities to engage as they have been to her colleagues in in Brett’s earliest educational experiences Burlington, Hillsborough and Durham.” and to share in the magic of the Preschool. Hairston-Randleman’s insider As equally important as the rigorous perspective on DA spans three school academic foundation provided in the divisions — her older sons, Bryant and Preschool are the nurturing relationships Brent Randleman, were students this forged between the staff and families. past year, respectively, in the Upper “While the notion of DA Family is School and Middle School. |

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CHRISTIAN HAIRSTONRANDLEMAN — 15 THINGS ABOUT ME • 1. I am a die-hard Tar Heel living in a house full of Dookies! We are truly a house divided! • 2. I am a North Carolina native and grew up in Lexington. I’ve had barbecue from all over the East Coast, and I don’t think anything compares to barbecue from Lexington. • 3. I spend countless hours in gyms watching a sport that I love but never played (basketball)! I ran track and cheered but couldn’t make a free throw if you paid me. • 4. The first class of kindergartners that I taught will graduate next year! • 5. My husband and I are high school swvethearts! We met during our junior year. • 6. What I’m reading: I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb and How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character by Paul Tough. • 7. I love to bake. • 8. Last summer, I enjoyed an amazing girls trip to Jamaica with one of my best friends, my mother! • 9. Brett, our youngest, is the only son who did not have to deal with me as his elementary school principal. • 10. One of my favorite quotes pertaining to children: “Every child is gifted — they just unwrap their packages at different times!” • 11. I have four degrees in education, and nothing prepared me for my career more than my first day as a kindergarten teacher. • 12. I am an only child. • 13. I love to sing but only in the presence of 4-, 5- and 6-year-olds. • 14. My sons are three of my favorite people in the world! • 15. I am honored to be in a position to work with such an amazing community of educators! As a parent, I have enjoyed the “magic” of the Preschool and I am beyond excited to transition into a role where I can provide other families with the same experience.

New faculty and staff appointments, June 2015 • Jeff Boyd, Middle School, language arts/science – Boyd is a graduate of Brown University and earned an Ed.M. from Harvard Graduate School of Education. He has taught and coached at Greenhill School in Addison, Texas. • Teresa Evans, administrative assistant to Upper School director – Evans earned an associate’s degree from Central Virginia Community College. She has been executive assistant to the director of athletics at N.C. State University. • Fabrice Fortin, Middle School, math – Fortin graduated from The College of Staten Island (CUNY) with a B.S. in physics and a B.S. in math. He has taught at The Rudolf Steiner School in New York City. • Lauren Garrett, Upper School, English – Garrett is a graduate of Millsaps College and earned an M.A. and Ph.D. from UNC-Chapel Hill. She has been a teaching fellow in the department of English and comparative literature at UNC-Chapel Hill. • Christian Hairston-Randleman, Preschool, director/teacher – HairstonRandleman earned B.A., M.Ed. and M.S.A. degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill and an Ed.S. from Liberty University. She has served as principal of Durham’s Club Boulevard School and schools in Alamance and Orange Counties. • Ashley Hinton, Lower School, second grade – Hinton is a cum laude graduate of N.C. State University and graduated summa cum laude with an M.A.T. from American University. She taught at North Star Academy in Newark, New Jersey, where she also was dean of curriculum and instruction. • Gretchen Houghton, Lower School, science teaching assistant – Houghton earned a B.F.A. from St. Mary’s College and an M.S. in interior architecture from Pratt Institute. She has worked with Ward Design Group. • Chip Lupa, Lower School, fourth grade – Lupa earned a B.A. from Canisius College and an M.S.Ed. from State University of New York at Oswego. He was a substitute teacher at St. Thomas More Catholic School and taught fourth grade at Adams Elementary School in Cary.

• Melissa Mack, Middle School, science (interim) – Mack earned a B.S. from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and an M.Ed. from Benedictine University. She has taught at Herget Middle School in Aurora, Illinois, and at the International School of Beijing in China. • Holly McKenna, Admissions Office, administrative assistant – McKenna is a graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania and earned a master’s degree in school counseling from Marymount University. She has been a teaching assistant at DA Lower School and The Hill Center. • Julie Morris, Middle School, math – Morris earned a B.S. from the University of Dayton. She has been a substitute math teacher at Durham Academy and has taught at Cary Academy and Seven Hills School in Cincinnati, Ohio. • Karen Richardson, Middle School, chorus – Richardson earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of Western Ontario and elementary and primary diplomas from Toronto Montessori Institute for Teacher Training. She has been a music specialist at Montessori Community School in Durham. • Isabel Ríos-Torres, Upper School, Spanish – Ríos-Torres earned a B.A. from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez and an M.A. from Duke University, where she is a Ph.D. candidate. She has taught in the Spanish language program at Duke. • Josh Ross, Upper School, math – Ross was a National Merit Scholar at Emory University, where he earned B.A. and M.A.T. degrees. He has taught at The Weber School in Atlanta. • Kevin Schroedter, Upper School, French – Schroedter graduated from Duke University and earned an M.A. from Middlebury College. He has taught at Stevenson School in Pebble Beach, California. • Jazmin Garcia Smith, Upper School, associate director of college counseling – Smith graduated from the University of Notre Dame and earned a J.D. from DePaul University College of Law. She has served as senior assistant director of undergraduate admissions at UNC-Chapel Hill. DURHAM ACADEMY

• Bonnie Wang, Upper School, Chinese – Wang earned undergraduate degrees from Portland State University and Northeast Normal University in Changchun, China, and holds an M.A. degree from UNCChapel Hill. She has taught Chinese at UNCChapel Hill. • Amanda Zhu, Middle School, Chinese – Zhu earned a B.A. from Southeast University in Nanjing, China, and an M.A.T. from Duke University. She has taught at New Oriental English Summer School in Zengzhou, China, and has been a teaching assistant at Southeast University.

DEPARTING FACULTY AND STAFF, JUNE 2015

• Anna Bland Costello – Admissions Office, administrative assistant • Stephanie Derfeuil – Upper School, French • Dot Doyle – Upper School, math • Jim Ebert – Upper School, math • Elizabeth Everett – Upper School, college counseling • Abby Finkel – Middle and Upper School, Chinese • Susie Hoercher – Middle School, math • Pat Isbell – Upper School, administrative assistant • Anna Karol – Lower School, fourth grade • Jim McGivney – Middle School, math • Anna Mesen – Lower School, second grade • Lorena Ochoa – Upper School, Spanish • Deb Shadduck – Preschool, teaching assistant • Robert Sheard – Middle School, language arts • Taylor Smith – Upper School, Chinese and English • Cindy Sundy – Lower School, teaching assistant • Jill Stafford – Preschool, teaching assistant and drama • Tanya Tanhehco – Preschool, teaching assistant • Melody Zentner – Middle School, choral music |

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Eric Ward

‘He’s just extraordinary’

Coach Dennis Cullen is known for his emotional investment in athletes.

Dennis Cullen leaves a rich legacy on DA’s track and trail By Melody Guyton Butts, Assistant Director of Communications

n Dennis Cullen’s 39 years as Durham Academy’s varsity track and cross country coach, the programs notched 39 state team championships, and 196 individual state champions wore the Cavalier uniform. But while Cullen loves to see athletes win, that’s not what drives him, say those who competed under his tutelage — rather, he’s most interested in the journey that gets students to the finish line, and where they go afterward. With the conclusion of the 2015 track and field season in May, Cullen hung up his timer and whistle, retiring from his coaching duties. “It’s been fun,” Cullen said of his 42 years coaching — at DA since 1976 and for three years before that at Blair Academy, in his native New Jersey. “I think some people want to go out and play golf or play tennis or something like that in their free time, and I’d rather spend an hour with some kids doing intervals on a Saturday afternoon. It’s just fun.” Cullen’s retirement from coaching — he continues in his role as chair of Durham Academy’s math department — leaves many in the DA athletics community feeling a sense of loss. That includes Costen 18

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Irons ‘98, who begins his tenure as head coach of the varsity track and cross country programs with the 2015-2016 school year. Irons ran under Cullen for eight seasons and began his involvement with coaching in the JV programs 12 years ago, when he was a student at UNC-Chapel Hill. “His faith in me in high school meant so much. He looked at you as a whole person,” said Irons, who now teaches physical education in the Lower and Middle Schools. “And his belief in me throughout my life, it’s been something that I fall back on. I have a wonderful dad and a wonderful mom, but he’s been my other parent.” Fifth-grade history teacher and JV cross country coach Virginia Hall ‘91 also ran track and cross country under Cullen as a DA student. His dedication to his dual passions — his subject matter and his sport — inspired her to follow in his footsteps as a teacher-coach: “The reason why I do what I do is him. He is my role model.” Cullen, who is by far the longest tenured coach in DA history and was among the DA Athletic Hall of Fame’s inaugural class of inductees, is the embodiment of what is right about DA |

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athletics, said Athletic Director Steve Engebretsen. “Durham Academy has always tried to value and seek teachers who can coach, and Dennis is a perfect model for that,” Engebretsen said. “He’s been one of our top teachers for 40 years, he’s a department chairman, he’s served on every committee there is to serve on, and he coaches excellently two seasons out of every three seasons of the year. He’s just extraordinary.” On the windows of Cullen’s Upper School math classroom are taped photos and records from nearly four decades of track and cross country seasons — student-athletes’ accomplishments plain for all visitors to see. What’s harder to see are all of “the little things” that the legendary coach has done that have earned him the respect of students, parents, alumni and coaches around the state, Irons said. Cullen has always made a point to congratulate junior varsity runners on their accomplishments after meets. He mowed the grass by the road, readying the path for runners before cross country meets. He’s sent parents kudos for marathon finishes. At alumni reunion meets, Cullen is legendary for his ability to rattle off the top times and

finishes of each alumnus, whether he or she ran five years or two decades ago. “He cares about his athletes as people, and he can balance it in a way that most people are not able to genuinely balance it,” Irons said. “He values the process more than anything. He loves winning, but he truly is out for people as people before athletes.” A runner might finish a cross country race toward the back of the pack, “but Dennis knows that they beat their personal time by 20 seconds, and he’s so happy he’s almost in tears for them,” Engebretsen said. “He just really, really cares about the kids at a level that’s hard to do every day consistently, whether you’re teaching or coaching.”

Cullen described Irons as having a similar dedication to student-athletes. “His rapport with the kids is extraordinary, very unusual,” he said of Irons. “He cares a great deal about them, he cares a great deal about the sport, and that comes through in his practices every day. I think he will do a much better job getting the kids motivated to train hard, to do well. I think the kids will take a step up with him as coach. I respect and admire him as a coach tremendously.” For Irons, the opportunity to coach the varsity teams is bittersweet. “It’s something that I will love to do. It will be my vocation and aside from building my life around a family, I’ll build

my life around it,” he said. “But to be honest, I’m kind of sad. I enjoy that process of working with [Cullen] every day. I enjoy that process of talking about the runners.” For Hall, it will be strange to drive by the Upper School track late in the afternoon and not see Cullen chatting with students after practice. And she may have to take in races in a more conventional way going forward. “Sometimes, I’ll just watch him instead of watching the runner at the end of a race, because I can just tell how they did by his reaction,” she said. “You can tell when someone is having a good race, because he is just overcome. That shows that care, that love he has for the team.”

A handshake and ‘Good job’ from Mr. Cullen is better than any medal or ribbon

already knew. I subtly compared leg muscles with the other runners and found myself sadly lacking, and I finished the warm-up panting and out of breath. Mr. Cullen came over and asked me questions about the cross country practices at my other school, amiably cracking jokes, but I didn’t understand his humor. I was ready to go home and tell my mom that I quit, that I was never going back again. But then the workout started: four 1200s, a distance I had never encountered. Mr. Cullen read off some times and asked me to place myself where I thought I might go, so I joined a group with a girl who immediately introduced herself and told me that she also was a newcomer to cross country that year, after playing soccer for most of her life. We ran those intervals together. By the end of practice, Coach Cullen was looking at me a little differently. When I crossed the finish line on the last 1200, he studied his timer for a moment, then came over and shook my hand. “I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.” I went home that evening already excited for the next day. I have never experienced a team more welcoming and amazing than the cross country team at DA. Your “rank” on the team, whether it be No. 1 or 15, is irrelevant. Formerly, I would arrive at practice full of complaints, already dreading the upcoming runs. Now, I’m always eager, if only to be

with my teammates and share their energy. We warm up together and stretch together and suffer through the ab workouts together, and after practice we stretch out on the grass, sweaty, unable to move our legs, relishing the burn of a good workout. That’s the thing about my team. We run with each other, not against each other. When Mr. Cullen is standing on the sidelines during a meet, he’s always saying, “Hey, go catch your teammate up there. Stay with her. Work together.” There’s something comforting about hearing someone’s footsteps right behind you, knowing that she’s there to push you faster, as well as to push herself. In the post-race euphoria, we eat bagels and drink Gatorade and cheer on the boys. And Mr. Cullen is always there, with his smile and his ubiquitous hat. You can ask anyone on the team. Getting a handshake and a “Good job” from Mr. Cullen after a meet is better than any ribbon or medal. It’s the best feeling in the world. For all its individualism, cross country is truly a team sport. In 2013 and 2014, the DA girls’ cross country team won the Durham City-County championship for the first times in 15 years. On the starting line, our captains told us, “Win it for Mr. Cullen. Make him cry.” He handed us the trophy twice, both times in tears.

By Veronica Kim ’16

joined Durham Academy’s cross country team the same year that I joined the school. I was a sophomore, and turned up at my first practice more than a little apprehensive; as a freshman, I had run at a school whose cross country team ranked in the top five of the state, which meant I lingered around the 25th-runner mark, certainly not fast enough to gain any praise or acknowledgment of my speed. DA practices would be similar to the practices of freshman year at my previous school, I thought: competitive and unrewarding, the top seven disappearing off into the woods to run their own, more challenging workouts, while the rest of us struggled through intervals and sprints. When I showed up at the DA track with my water bottle in hand, I warily studied the team. Tall seniors in Nike shirts and sneakers, blonde girls with ponytails slung over their shoulders, and a coach wearing a wide-brimmed hat and carrying a green duffel bag. I talked to exactly one person and almost hid behind a tree when the coach, a sprightly, grandfatherly man by the name of Mr. Dennis Cullen, asked me for my name. Practice was going to be terrible. That I

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Students create new garden at Middle School’s ‘front door’

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here there was once a ho-hum patch of grass at the

raised beds by measuring with square feet (quite literally) and

entrance to the Middle School, there is now a lush garden of

constructing the beds and walkways, to preparing the soil and

native plants â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a rainbow of deep violet inkberry fruits, creamy

planting the new vegetation.

Annabelle hydrangea blooms, lush green ferns and showy pink

As the new plants began to spread their roots and stretch

rhododendron flowers. The garden, which is the vision of a

their stems, the Middle School community celebrated the fruits of

group of students taught by science teacher Barb Kanoy years

their labor with a ribbon-cutting on May 19. The ceremony was

ago, is the product of many months of hard work by students,

highlighted by the re-dedication of the maple at the center of the

parents, faculty and staff. Students were at the center of every

garden to the memory of legendary teacher Gail Walker and the

stage of the garden's creation over the course of the school

planting of a nearby dogwood in memory of former maintenance

year, from measuring the amount of materials needed for the

foreman Charlie Piekaar. DURHAM ACADEMY

P H OTO S B Y M E LO DY G U Y TO N B U T T S

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#DAinChina

Visit paves path for student exchange program

By Lee Hark, Assistant Head of School and Upper School Director (with Michael Ulku-Steiner, Head of School)

ecently, Michael and I spent a week in China (April 26 to May 2). The whirlwind trip to Beijing and Shanghai was generously sponsored by Dr. Jianli Wang and his wife, Huaiying Kang, co-founders of the Center for Chinese Education and Culture, a nonprofit organization that funds a variety of scholarships and programs to facilitate connections between American and Chinese students. The seeds for our trip were planted back in October 2014, when Dr. Wang and his wife visited Durham Academy, described their work at Duke and Duke TIP, and expressed their desire to partner with DA. We traveled to China in part to reinforce our new student exchange partnership with the Experimental High School at Beijing Normal University. In January, DA Upper Schoolers hosted 13 Chinese students from Experimental High School for three weeks; the pilot educational and cultural exchange included everything from attending local sporting events to a boot camp on applying to U.S. colleges. Experimental High School will be one of several schools hosting DA Upper School students in 2016. I’m happy to provide a firsthand account of our trip to the People’s Republic, which for your convenience is arranged as a daily travelogue. • SUNDAY/MONDAY We arrive at RDU, fresh faced and ready — but for what, I’m not completely sure. I quickly remember how intimidating it is to travel with Michael. He is always thinking, working. If he’s answering emails, I feel like I have to be answering emails. I think to myself, Not only is he answering emails, but he’s probably doing so in a really thoughtful way. [Note to self: Seek empathy training upon return from China.] Michael has lived abroad and traveled all over the world. I have been to France, 22

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Germany and the Bahamas. I fear he is keeping important information from me (like how to speak Chinese). We fly from RDU to Chicago. A long layover in O’Hare includes a quick trip to the Nuts on Clark kiosk for some chocolate-

the vain attempt to log more work hours. Technology is seeming less amazing at this point. We land in Beijing and are soon met by Tim, or as we come to know him, “The Lifeline.” He is one of Jianli’s employees and will soon prove to be patient, kind and generous. Tim drops us at our hotel, where we meet Jianli for dinner. He orders almost everything on the menu for us, including Peking duck. It’s an amazing meal and great to reconnect with Jianli, whose ideas for a partnership among DA, NCSSM, Duke TIP and several Chinese schools are as ambitious as they are intriguing. covered almonds (me) and more thoughtful emailing (Michael). We also find an empty gate to Skype an interview with a faculty candidate. Technology is amazing. The flight to Beijing takes 13 hours. After the third viewing of Guardians of the Galaxy, reality is starting to blur around the edges. [Why does the movie now seem like a morality play?] Around hour nine, I start thinking of ways to prank Michael (asleep in the row behind me), but instead I answer a few emails in |

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• TUESDAY I spend most of Sunday/Monday night (I never figure out what day it is, actually) with fever, chills and nausea. In the morning, I email Michael to let him know that “I don’t think I can do” our first school visit, a trip to Experimental High School at Beijing Normal University, the source of our exchange students this year, and the school our students will visit next summer. Michael swings by post-workout to proffer some sort of immune-booster pill, which I feebly accept. He takes one look at me and

Michael thought about it for a minute and said, “Really, there is no East or West when it comes to education. There is just right.”

TOP: Lee Hark and Michael Ulku-Steiner met up with jazz trombonist Terry Hsieh ’07, who gave them copies of his new CD. BOTTOM: Like most visitors to Beijing, Lee and Michael toured the Forbidden City.

says, “Ooh!” and then slowly backs away from the door. As he recedes, I hear him mutter something about “dengue fever.” I suspect he’s plotting to leave me here in this hotel room to die. I eye the immunebooster pill suspiciously. I connect with my wife Marianne and note that I look the same on FaceTime with dengue fever as I do when I am well. At 11 a.m., Michael calls to check in and lets me know that the school visit was stellar. While there, he shared notes

and video clips from our students, who genuinely connected with their Chinese counterparts during the exchange. They were especially impressed by Olivia Hall’s Chinese writing. “Can I rally for a trip to the Forbidden City?,” Michael wonders. I’m in a pool of sweat, but my fever is broken and I’m (mostly) ready to roll. The notorious Chinese smog lives up to its billing. Beijing swims in a yellow fog. On the way there, we stop for a quick lunch at … KFC. (The Colonel is everywhere in China.) I am in no mood for food. Michael foolishly orders a barbecue sandwich. I opt for a Pepsi. In the taxi outside the Forbidden City, Michael regrets the barbecue sandwich. I now recall the Forbidden City as one long fever dream. Our guide (Lulu, from Mongolia) is as earnest as she is obsessed with providing salacious details about the Emperor’s many concubines. Perhaps this is what western tourists are most interested DURHAM ACADEMY

in? The Forbidden City is beautiful and massive — it seems to go on forever. I hear Lulu say the complex covers 700,000 hectares. I use that statistic for several days until Michael says, “I think it’s 700 hectares. 700,000 hectares is, like, the size of Delaware.” We then visit a public 7-12 school affiliated with Peking University, one of the top universities in China. The curriculum is diverse and thoughtful, the students confident and comfortable thinking critically with their teachers and talking to interested strangers. Where are all the students seated in rows, dutifully responding to their teachers’ questions? Where are the gaokao-obsessed stress cases? The experience is inspiring and confounding and feels positively Western. Our hosts provide a wonderful banquet at the school, but I’m still feeling dicey and stick to rice. Later that night, we meet up with DA alumnus Terry Hsieh ’07, Jianli and our new friends from The Experimental School. It’s great to see Terry and hear a few stories from his years as (China’s only?) professional jazz trombonist. Michael and I score copies of the Terry Hsieh Collective’s new CD Multiplicity. • WEDNESDAY At dawn, we travel to Harrow International School — a school struggling to expand its enrollment due to Beijing’s shrinking number of international expats (whose population peaked 15 years ago, before the Chinese began leading multinational corporations themselves). continued on the next page

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Harrow has a beautiful facility (though no one seems to know how many hectares) and some outstanding teachers. The art room and student works are extraordinary. Harrow provides an interesting counterpoint to the schools we have seen thus far. That afternoon, ever-faithful Tim takes us to the Great Wall. Along the way, we stopped for some “authentic” Chinese food (what had we been eating up to this point?, I wonder.) When Tim washes our plates and cups with hot water to sanitize them before we start, I begin wishing for a little less authenticity. It is a delicious meal regardless. As we leave, Michael snaps a photo of the sign out front, which reads (I am not making this up): “Donkey meat reservoir.” The Great Wall lives up to its billing. It’s incredible. There is something about its iconic ubiquity that is even more impressive than its engineering or longevity. Michael spends most of our time there trying to determine weak spots in the Wall’s defenses. (“With a vaulting pole and a grappling hook, I think we get over it here.”) Also, Tim almost dies of heat exhaustion. A few miles from where we enter the wall, up a steep climb, large Chinese characters etched into the side of the mountain say something like “Obey Mao.” Tim is seized with a desire to touch them on behalf of his wife, a self-professed “big fan of Mao.” There is no way this is physically possible (or legal, probably), but he goes for it, and Michael and I will follow anyone willing to tackle the Great Wall of China in dress slacks and loafers. After nearly two hours of climbing, Tim 24

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LEFT: Lee and Michael said the Great Wall lived up to its billing, and there is something about its iconic ubiquity that is even more impressive than its engineering or longevity. ABOVE: Michael met with young students at Star River School, which is situated in the midst of a massive luxury high-rise complex in Shanghai. FACING PAGE: Duke Kunshan University was impressive but empty when Michael and Lee visited; all the students had left for the weekend.

collapses in a heap. We stumble back down the mountain in a gondola occupied by the FLOTUS on her last trip to China. I then spend way too much for trinkets for my children and feel judged by Michael. We pack it in and fly to Shanghai that night, but not before a trip to what Tim calls “the best restaurant in the airport,” Pizza Hut. Tim tries his first slice of pizza — ever. The walls between our cultures continue to tumble down. • THURSDAY Where have you been all my life, Shanghai? What an amazing city. The air is clean. There are trees everywhere. It’s beautiful. We’ve got three school visits today. We start with Star River School, a private K-12 founded by Principal Tang, an educator revered throughout China who carries the title of “Grand Master.” Star |

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River is situated in the midst of a massive luxury high-rise complex. The school was given by the developers to the state government, which then brought in Grand Master Tang to head the school. We tour the building and meet with students and teachers, who are delightful, and then later enjoy lunch with various local educational leaders. Grand Master Tang, who visited DA last fall, lives up to his title. His views on education — especially on the need to make global connections through futurefocused curricula — are nuanced and fascinating. Next, we head to Shanghai High School (grades 10-12), arguably the best school in China. The campus is incredible — tropical, lush and manicured. It’s easy to pretend we’re in Maui. The facilities are just as impressive. We visit a few labs — spotless and brimming with high-tech equipment. The students show inspiring ownership of their experiments and research. A camera and video crew follows us everywhere we go. I enjoy my role, nodding sententiously at what we’re told and elbowing Michael out of the way for

and thriving in China! We say a fond farewell to Marshall and his girlfriend and hoof it back to the hotel as night falls.

photo ops. I ask him to call me “Assistant Grand Master Hark” for the rest of the trip. Next, we visit Hauyu Middle School, founded by Principal Tang and considered the best middle school in Shanghai. On several occasions, Michael and I remark about how important it seems for these schools to claim that they are “the #1” or “top” school. Competition for reputation among these best schools is fierce. Among the highlights of this school visit: listening to Principal Tang tickle the ivories and getting a view of the faculty lounge, which I can only describe as “well appointed.” I send a picture to the Upper School faculty and instantly regret it. Exhausted and over-full with school stories and images, we decompress with Jianli over a delicious Thai dinner. Jianli’s biography is fascinating. He has been a fantastic host throughout, and I’m sorry our trip is nearing its end. • FRIDAY Today is Labor Day, an important Chinese holiday. We take the high-speed train to Kunshan to see Duke’s new $800 million campus there. It’s impressive, but empty — all the students have left for the weekend. We bump into a faculty member who gives us a brief history of DKU and allows us to eat lunch with him. Then we try to look official while skulking around the campus. DKU feels like an immensely ambitious risk for Duke; I wonder if it will seem prescient or foolish in five years.

When we return to the train station, it feels like all 24 million people in Shanghai have invited everyone they know from the rest of China for a visit. I have never seen this many people in one place at one time in my life. We meet Jianli and DA alumnus Marshall Friedman ’05 (in charge of Alibaba’s e-commerce in Australia and New Zealand). Marshall purchases what I am sure are fake subway tickets (they’re not) and steers us through the masses, onto a crowded subway train, and then up and out and into the streets of Shanghai and toward dinner. We land at Ting Tai Fung for dumplings, which are amazing. It’s Marshall’s girlfriend’s birthday, and I slowly get the message that hanging with the Receding Hairline Twins isn’t what she had in mind for a celebration. She moves from attentive to polite to checking her WeChat and ignoring the rest of us. I am reminded of my English class. Marshall is an inspiration. It’s amazing to watch him move with such ease and confidence through a culture that is so foreign to us. At one point I am literally grabbing onto his shirttail as we navigate the crowds (in my defense, I thought it was Michael’s shirttail). It turns out that Marshall is one of only a handful of Westerners among the 20,000 employees at Alibaba’s Googleplex-like campus. Happy, moral and productive, DURHAM ACADEMY

• SATURDAY We’ve got a few hours before we head home, so we head to the Dongtai Road antique market. I could’ve spent all day there. Each stall is crammed full of treasures. Each vendor represents an opportunity to try out my finely honed negotiating skills. No one bests Michael, though; at one point, I hear a vendor say to him, “OK. You can have the scarf for five renminbi. BUT YOU ARE NOT A NICE PERSON!” The flight home is uneventful and seems shorter than the trip out. I am left with a sense of gratitude for our hosts and a new layer of respect for Michael — he was never not “on” and represented the school with grace and vigor during every interaction we had. And I am left with a thought that still lingers with me. During one of our many processing sessions, Michael and I wrestled with the notion that the schools we visited felt so familiar. They represented the best parts of western education – teacher autonomy, programmatic flexibility and abundant creativity; student motivation and curiosity; and administrative drive to push a school to be the best it can be. Looking for a hook for an article we might one day write, I said, “You know, we came to the East and found the West.” I smiled with clever satisfaction. Michael thought about it for a minute and said, “Really, there is no East or West when it comes to education. There is just right.” Out-Confuciused by Grand Master Ulku-Steiner. |

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Secondgrade sleuths solve the Case of the Borrowed Bear S

econd-graders discover yellow

“crime scene” tape when they walk into the Lower School science lab. Something has happened to Mr. Bear, who was borrowed without permission and returned soaking wet, covered with threads and powder. It’s up to second-graders to solve the mystery of the Case of the Borrowed Bear by carefully observing the crime scene, collecting evidence, conducting lab tests with finger-printing and chromatography, analyzing their results, then using logic and reasoning to determine what happened. DA kids call it the Teddy Bear Crime Scene, and it’s a favorite part of second grade, turning kids into forensic scientists for the three-day lab. So whodunit? You’ll have to ask a second-grader. P H OTO S B Y K AT H Y M c P H E R S O N

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F. ROBERTSON HERSHEY DISTINGUISHED FACULTY AWARD

Hershey Award Winner Owen Bryant embodies the best of us Nathan Clendenin

By Lyn Streck, Lower School Science Teacher LEFT: History teacher Owen Bryant is a favorite of students and colleagues.

wen Bryant, this year’s recipient of the F. Robertson Hershey Excellence in Teaching Award, brings attributes of tenderness, compassion, empathy, fairness and tolerance into his daily engagement with the entire Durham Academy community. He is a life-changing teacher. In the 14 years since he arrived at Durham Academy, Owen has consistently made his mark among our faculty and students. In his duties as chair of the History Department, he demonstrates leadership to his colleagues by positive example. “He walks the walk," always interested in what other teachers are doing in their classrooms, and he makes sure that his fellow history instructors have materials that instill excitement into their classrooms, helping lessons to virtually come alive to capture students' inquisitive nature. It is a common occurrence to find Owen being approached for advice in his daily routine. He is generous in lending words of wisdom and solutions, always encouraging his colleagues to expand their horizons by attending a conference or a lecture in the areas they have shown a repeated academic interest. Owen’s peers regard him as “a super teacher who is sensitive to the needs of all of his students, while challenging them in appropriate ways,” as one colleague put it. Another colleague remarks, “He understands that each student learns differently, and his lessons offer a variety of approaches and perspectives. He uses technology effectively, and his students have produced multimedia projects that have been excellent.” Whether it’s encouraging students to watch CNN Student News reports, pushing them to excel by going beyond project curriculum requirements, or always seeking students' feedback on the effectiveness of any new assignments he creates — it’s clear to any observer of Owen’s actions that creating a collaborative learning environment is of utmost importance. Each year, Owen organizes and leads a Civil Rights tour for juniors, who study American history. “Lean into discomfort,” he advises everyone as they embark on a uniquely constructed trip through the South. The trip is designed to encourage students to 28

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reflect on some of the best and worst times in American history. For someone to grow, they need to see all aspects of history. For many students as “pilgrims” on this tour, the lengthy bus ride becomes a time for reflection and conversation, an immersive experience to better understand race and culture in our country by standing on the same ground as people who risked their lives in the name of equality and freedom. As with the tour, Owen’s American Social History class fosters a safe environment in which students can voice their opinions and leave class each day feeling enriched and whole. How better to learn than when your opinions are heard and respected? “I love his class and look forward to it each day,” a student revealed. His students understand he has high expectations of them, but that he is fair in his grading and evaluations. One colleague reminds us “it takes a very talented teacher to accomplish that.” How life-changing a teacher is Owen Bryant, a humble and unassuming scholar and who is a black belt in taekwondo? The unequivocal answer is seen in the product of his work, his students. His quiet, gentle manner makes him approachable, yet below lies an influential, dedicated, driven, principled educator focused on championing his students personally as well as in the classroom. One former student simply stated, “Mr. Bryant saved me.” Another young man, going through a rough patch, was mentored by Owen and in sharing their love of taekwondo, they returned together to the Middle School for a presentation. A recent DA graduate shared, “Mr. Bryant’s huge grin, funny laugh and care to make his classroom a happy and comfortable place to learn was so comforting to me when I first arrived on the Upper School campus as a freshman.” For teaching us all about humility, compassion, empathy, fairness and tolerance while enriching our knowledge of history and changing so many lives in positive and progressive ways, Owen embodies the best of us, as one colleague wrote. He is indeed worthy of this award. EDITOR’S NOTE: Lyn Streck was the 2014 recipient of the F. Robertson Hershey Distinguished Faculty Award.

Christine Nguyen

Kenan Trust gift of $125,000 helps ‘Sheppy Fund’ grow to $380,000

urham Academy has successfully claimed a $125,000 challenge gift from the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust by raising more than $250,000 for the Sheppy Vann Preschool Scholarship Fund. The $125,000 gift has been directed to this fund, bringing its current value to more than $380,000. The first recipients of aid from the fund will enter the Preschool this fall. The Sheppy Vann Preschool Scholarship Fund was established in 2014 as a tribute to retiring Preschool Director Sheppy Vann, whose commitment to welcome and support students of all backgrounds helped make the Preschool an extraordinary place for DA’s youngest students to thrive and learn. The fund will provide need-based financial aid to students entering pre-kindergarten and kindergarten and will help to make the Preschool accessible to a wider range of students. The Kenan family has been a longtime, generous supporter of Durham Academy. Frank Hawkins Kenan served on the DA Board of Trustees twice before being named a lifetime trustee in 1984. During the 1970s, Kenan and his family contributed nearly $3 million to help build the Upper School campus and to establish the school’s endowment. In recognition of the Kenan family’s longtime support, the Upper School auditorium was named Kenan Auditorium in 1994. After Kenan’s death in 1996, members of the Kenan family have continued his legacy, providing generous gifts to capital campaigns and the annual fund in the 1990s and 2000s. This most recent gift from the Kenan Trust was made possible through the stewardship of Tom Kenan ’55, who attended Calvert Method School and is a Durham Academy Distinguished Alumni Award recipient. One of the top goals identified in the 2015 Strategic Plan is to continue to increase student diversity in regards to race, religion, national origin and socio-economic status. Increasing the amount of financial aid available to Preschool families, the largest entry point into the school, is essential to reaching this goal. The Sheppy Vann Preschool Scholarship Fund will help in this effort immediately. The Kenan Trust gift has enabled the fund to grow dramatically, through the dollars it provided as well as the gifts that were given in response to the challenge. LEFT: Sheppy Vann is surrounded by well-wishers at a farewell ice cream social last spring.

DA receives historic $1 million endowment gift D urham Academy has received a $1 million gift to its general unrestricted endowment fund, the largest unrestricted endowed gift in school history. The gift was contributed by an anonymous donor, who issued the following statement: “This gift was made by a family who loves Durham Academy and who wishes to remain completely anonymous. We chose to make this gift to the DA endowment because we believe that the endowment is the foundation of a school. A strong endowment will allow DA to meet the changes and challenges of 21st century learning. A healthy endowment signifies that the community is truly invested in the mission of the

school to build the hearts and minds of young people. We hope this gift will inspire others to follow.” Durham Academy has a relatively small endowment when compared with many peer schools, and growth of the endowment through charitable giving and investment return is a key action step in the newly approved 2015 Strategic Plan. With the addition of this generous gift, the DA endowment has now grown to $12.8 million. Durham Academy’s endowment, like endowments at most independent schools, is a collection of various restricted and unrestricted endowment and scholarship funds. As an aggregate, the funds generate annual income

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for DA that flows into the operation of the school and primarily supports faculty development, financial aid and facility maintenance. An endowment is a permanent, self-sustaining source of funding for the school because its assets are invested. Between 2 and 4.5 percent of the previous 12 quarter rolling average is spent each year from the endowment. The anonymous endowment gift is “a forever gift,” because the principal will never be spent, only a portion of the income that is generated each year. This generous gift provides a permanent legacy of support that will support the people and programs of Durham Academy in perpetuity.

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Carolyn Ronco

Upper School students met with Lower School faculty to share their insights about diversity work after attending the People of Color Conference.

‘What Matters to Me’

Students launch peer-to-peer diversity initiative By Naa-Norley Adom, Diversity Coordinator and Upper School English Teacher

very year in December, six members of the Durham Academy faculty and staff and six Upper School students attend the National Association of Independent School’s Student Diversity Leadership Conference and the People of Color Conference (PoCC). This year, more than 3,000 people who are committed to social justice and equity work converged in Indianapolis. In the six years I’ve attended, PoCC has always felt like another home. Faculty and staff members from schools across the country are generous with their resources and experiences. There are screenings of illuminating and provocative films (two of which have been brought to the DA community by Kemi Nonez, DA's director of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs.) The atmosphere of the conference is usually celebratory and affirming. This year felt markedly different. While we attended the conference, the national debate about police brutality and racial profiling loomed large. Decisions were made about indictments in both the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases, and our DA cohort was dealing with the emotional fallout. During the conference, educators were moved into action by creating impromptu sessions on how to discuss and address the national conversation on race and violence in 30

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America in our home institutions. As we sat on the plane on our way home, we discussed how we would take what we learned back to DA. Our Upper School students wanted to share their feelings about the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases in a non-confrontational way. They wanted to discuss their own experiences with law enforcement, how they saw themselves and people who looked like them portrayed in the media, social media activism and more. Our students felt that if they could share their stories in an informal setting, they could raise awareness about these issues among members of the student body. Their idea sounded similar to a series that was hosted at my alma mater, Goucher College, called “What Matters to Me and Why," where faculty and staff members would discuss their "vocations, dreams, challenges and values.” Here at DA, students are often inundated with information that adults in the community think is important. With the “What Matters to Me” series, we wanted to create more opportunities for student leaders to make presentations about social justice issues that are relevant to them. We thought about how a “What Matters to Me” series would be different from the diversity programming we already have. While instructive, assemblies usually |

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have limited interaction. Mix-It-Up Day is a largely student-led diversity conference, but it is a one-day event. With “What Matters to Me,” students can get used to discussing issues in a small, informal setting where they know that their peers and teachers have chosen to be there. Because of the title of the series, it isn’t intended to be a debate. It is meant to be a safe space to talk about topics of emotional, societal and intellectual importance. The first in the series, “Media Representation in Ferguson,” was very successful, and the second in the series, “Learning About Underrepresented Faiths at DA,” revealed a need for us to take religion into more consideration when planning programs. Students who present during the series are given a framework and are supervised, but they have the responsibility of planning the entire process: reserving the space, creating the agenda, generating discussion questions and leading the sessions. Our Diversity Club student leadership for next year is excited about continuing the series and we can’t wait to see what they come up with! At www.da.org/magazine:

• Watch senior Brad Hodgin’s student film about the Student Diversity Leadership Conference.

Five join DA Board of Trustees The Durham

of Duke University

Academy Board of Trustees welcomes five new members: Jimbo Huckabee, Caroline Rogers, Jean Spaulding, Karen Triplett and Kara Turner.

Medical School and Health System. A graduate of Duke University School of Medicine, she received her undergraduate degree from Barnard College, Columbia University. Spaulding is

• Jimbo Huckabee ’91

a former trustee of Duke

is managing director and a wealth management

University and Durham Academy. She is the

Karen Triplett

Jimbo Huckabee

advisor with Northwestern

mother of Chandler

Mutual, and he is a board

Spaulding ’87 and

member of DurhamCares.

Courtney Spaulding

He is a graduate of

’96 and grandmother

UNC-Chapel Hill and is a

of Eden Stacia, a rising

Certified Financial Planner.

first-grader.

Huckabee is a member of the DA Development

• Karen Triplett has

Committee, and is the

been a middle school

father of Boyce, a rising

teacher and a Schools

eighth-grader, Quin, a

Attuned trainer, and

rising fourth-grader, and

is currently a stay-at-

Sam, a rising first-grader.

home mom. She is Kara Turner

Caroline Rogers

a graduate of UNC-

• Caroline Rogers is a director of Carolina

Chapel Hill. She is president of Parents

Biological Supply Company and a graduate

Association and has previously served

of UNC-Chapel Hill. She is treasurer of

as Parents Association treasurer and a

Parents Association, a member of DA’s

room parent. She is the mother of Luke,

Development Committee, a member of

a rising eighth-grader, and Noah, a rising

the benefit auction steering committee,

fifth-grader.

and is a former co-chair of the Used Book Sale, member of the Evergreen Campaign

• Kara Turner is an entrepreneur and

Committee and Lower School room parent.

owner of Primary Colors Early Learning

Rogers is the mother of Henry, a rising ninth-

Centers. She is a graduate of UNC-

grader, and Edward, a rising sixth-grader.

Chapel Hill. She serves as a Lower School

• Jean Spaulding is senior advisor to the Duke-National University of Singapore School

parent representative and co-chair of the Lower School Diversity Committee, and Jean Spaulding

was a member of the Preschool Search

of Medicine, a member of the board of Merryck & Company,

Committee. Turner is the mother of Kennedy, a rising fifth-

a trustee of The Duke Endowment and the ombudsman

grader, and Kendall, a rising third-grader. DURHAM ACADEMY

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#DAFamily

The road to T

he DA community learned a new term this winter: Ohana. The complex Hawaiian term means family — a definition that includes both biological relatives, but also extends beyond that core to describe a network of relationships (blood-relatives, adoptive, friendships, work or social groups) that represent a larger supportive community. Disney’s Hawaii-based animated feature Lilo & Stitch probably said it best: “Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind — or forgotten.” That refrain echoed through the days, weeks and months following a January car accident that left Cam Brown ’16 and Alston Thompson ’15 injured and Ryan Hester ’16 hospitalized with a severe brain injury. The DA community rallied around its injured students — turning out to support their varsity boys basketball team upon their emotional return to the court followed by an electrifying win, organizing meals and donations for the injured students’ families, visiting the hospital, designing cards and posters, dedicating songs and creating healing works of art to support them. For Ryan, that sense of community and connection became critical, as the extent of his injuries necessitated specialized rehabilitation at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta. After more than a month of intensive therapy, Ryan returned to Durham, where we caught up with him and his family to talk about his progress so far, and what lies ahead.

week, but now it’s two days a week. The sessions are about three to four hours each with physical therapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy during each visit. They’re working on his arm mobility, he walks on a treadmill to stretch out his legs, they work on his speech. His vision is getting better since he got glasses last week — they said he wasn’t going to be able to see out of his left eye, but he can.”

Q: What is Ryan’s daily schedule like?

Reggie Hester: “Being a teenager, he feels like he’s supposed to be like everybody else. With this recovery, I think he’s doing great. He’s not really down on himself, and he just wants to get better. On tough days I just tell

Reggie Hester (dad): “Usually we get up in the mornings and go to physical therapy at WakeMed. It used to be four days a

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Q: What has the road to recovery been like since the accident? Ryan Hester: “It’s been hard. There have been times when I wanted to just give up and accept that I’m going to be like this forever, but I’ve gotten a ton of support from really good friends that I talk to every day and I fight through and keep my head up and keep working hard. I’ve come so far and stopping now will disappoint myself and my friends and family and all this recovering will be for nothing.” Andie Minor (mom): “It’s hard because he’s still trying to understand that he’s not the person he used to be, that he’s not really at full capacity yet. I didn’t know what to expect and so just seeing how fast he’s progressed has been amazing. Every day when I see him and I talk to him and I see all the things he’s able to do, I’m ecstatic. I’m so glad that he’s been able to recover and is happy with his recovery.”

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“I’ve learned that I’m very strong-willed and very determined. I’ve learned my drive to be the best hasn’t changed a bit.”

recovery LEFT: Ryan Hester returned to school for a visit this spring, including time with basketball coach Tim McKenna.

him you know, Ryan you had a severe brain injury, and to recover this fast is amazing, because most people wouldn’t recover after something like this. With you recovering this fast, it’s amazing. You just have to take it day by day to be able to heal. And thank God you’re here, that’s the main thing.”

Q: What was it like to experience the support of the DA community? Andie Minor: “I can’t even begin to describe how much DA really helped us. We really didn’t know what was going to happen, how to proceed, what to do about school — we didn’t know anything. They don’t have manual for this. Everybody was bringing food and always checking on us, coming in to sit with Ryan so we could leave sometimes. I think back on it and I wonder, God, would we even have made it through the way that we did without Durham Academy? The support was phenomenal. And was more than anything I had ever expected.” Reggie Hester: “The whole support system of the school was amazing. They were there the whole entire time. I can’t express the feelings that I have for the people at the school because the parents, the students, everybody came together. They gave a lot of encouragement and support — it was amazing.” Q: Ryan was able to make a surprise visit to reconnect with friends and teachers at DA recently. Do you all talk about long-term plans?

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Ryan Hester: “I want to play basketball again for sure and I want to be able to perform in school well. Hopefully I’ll be a senior after I catch up some and I’ll be back in school full time again. That’s my plan.” Reggie Hester: “He’s ready to be back at 100 percent, but it’s a journey that we take one day at a time. It’s challenging to see him go through it and talk about it and having him say he just wants to be like everybody else and try to do the things he used to do. It’s going to take time for him to be back to where he was.” Andie Minor: “It’s hard to describe. This is something you can never be prepared for. It has really changed our path, his path, everything that we had in the cards for him. It really kind of put everything in a holding pattern for a while. I would just hope that he’s able to be successful by his own standards. I want him to be able to get through this and not be too terribly affected by this accident and the recovery. To continue to strive to be the best that he can be and not just settle for being OK because he’s OK.”

Q: Ryan, what have you learned about yourself throughout this journey? Ryan Hester: “I’ve learned that I’m very strong-willed and very determined. I watched the story on the news last night and I saw the car upside down. I can say it kinda broke me down but it also gave me the strength to do better and shock the world. I’ve learned my drive to be the best hasn’t changed a bit.”

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Year-long partnership with guest author produces Lower School tales about local lemurs By Michelle Rosen, Lower School Librarian

ascots say a lot about the school they represent. The swashbuckling Durham Academy Cavalier is both gallant and chivalrous while also fierce and bold — the perfect melding of character and competition. If students and faculty ever feel the need for a change, however, Lower Schoolers have a suggestion at the ready. Their choice would be just as fierce, somewhat smaller and a little more loveable — the endangered lemur. Fourth-graders Allison Preble and Olivia Kohn said lemurs have what it takes to represent Durham Academy. “They are athletic because they play all day and some of them [like the Coquerel’s sifaka] can jump 30 feet,” Kohn said. Preble added, “And [the red ruffed lemurs] are really loud so they can show lots of school spirit.” Why do these students know so much about lemurs? It has to do with this year’s Lower School guest author, Richard Sobol, an endangered wildlife photographer who came to visit students in February. To prepare for his visit, all Lower School students took a field trip to the Duke Lemur Center, which houses the world’s largest and most diverse population of lemurs outside of their native Madagascar. The Lemur Center’s goal is to raise awareness for these animals, which are the most endangered group of mammals in the world. Sobol, a former photojournalist who has covered four presidential campaigns, has visited 45 countries during his career and written 14 books, mostly for children — including stories on humpback whales in Cape Cod, elephant twins in Thailand and a town run by monkeys! Sobol first Skyped with students in September 2014 in an attempt to get them to “think like a photographer” when they visited the Lemur Center. “When I’m looking at information, I can decide how I want to tell the story,” he told students. “So think about that when you go to visit the animals that are near you and how you might want to tell that story,” he said. The visit itself was somewhat complicated to plan, as the 34

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center only allows 40 to 45 visitors at a time. It took eight bus trips to get all the students there, but dedicated physical education teachers (and bus drivers) Judy Chandler, Eric Block, Costen Irons and Beth Roberts kept their excitement level high. “It was a great experience to be able to see these animals — and I didn’t even know they are right down the street!” Roberts said. “We have this endangered species right in our backyard, and that is so important for our students to see.”

OPPOSITE PAGE, TOP: Guest author Richard Sobol answers questions from first-graders. OPPOSITE PAGE, BOTTOM: Each Lower School student toured the Duke Lemur Center, which houses the largest and most diverse population of lemurs outside of their native Madagascar. FAR LEFT: As students looked at the lemurs, they were encouraged to think about telling a story. LEFT: Each fourth-

Photos by Kathy McPherson

grader created an entire book jacket.

After the visit, students returned to try to decide exactly what story they wanted to tell. Second-grader Merritt Schulz said watching lemurs paint was his favorite activity on the tour. “It was fun to watch them create art and fight over the paint and paper space,” he said. His teacher, Libby Lang, said many of her students took note of the fact that lemurs act just like they do. “They dance, they paint, they play, they fight over things — kind of like how children behave sometimes, too!” Reflecting on their visit, many students decided that nonfiction was their genre of choice, with stories reflecting the mission of the center or facts about the different type of lemurs. Others, like third-graders from Jeff Burch’s class, decided that an all-class Halloween story about the feared aye-aye lemur was the way to go. Once students decided the type of story they wanted to work on, they created covers for their work using photos from the Duke Lemur Center photo database. This meant finding just the right photo to represent the message of their work — including knowing which lemur was which! The project was scaffolded by grade level, with first-graders creating a title and choosing a photo; second-graders creating a title, subtitle and choosing a photo; third-graders creating titles, choosing a photo and writing a story teaser; and fourth-graders creating an entire book jacket. Fourth-grader Maris James found the book cover creation interesting. “I loved everything about the lemur unit, but if I had to pick one thing it would be the book jacket,” she said. “One of my favorite facts about one of the lemurs is the aye-aye and how people used to think if he looks you in the eye or sticks his [very long] middle finger at you, you’re cursed.” When Sobol visited Durham Academy in February, he was impressed with the creativity of the LS students and the variety of book titles, among them Ringtails on the Run; The Lemur of the Opera (based on Phantom of the Opera); Species In Need;

Red Ruffed Lemur, Private Eye; Project Runway 2: A Lemur Fashion Show; and Star Wars Lemur: The Clone Wars. Lower School Director Carolyn Ronco agreed and said the lemur projects showed a direct connection with the author. “Our students were able to experience what it is like to tell a story and use photographs to support their stories using the subject of endangered species,” Ronco said. “The fact that Richard Sobol could conference with our kids prior to their visits to share his expert advice was icing on the cake. Our students were essentially mentored by an expert as they experimented with a specific writing craft. I loved that our kids had this opportunity!” In addition to their library work on book covers, students used their newly acquired lemur knowledge for other projects. Art teacher Pamela McKenney led third-graders in the making of lemur prints. “After visiting the Duke Lemur Center and studying lemurs in the library, the third grade created sketches from different lemur images,” McKenney said. “Once each student had a successful image, we used a charcoal transfer process to trace the sketch onto a piece of linoleum. We then used our linoleum cutters to carve out our image and were finally ready for the printing process. “ First-graders created lemurs out of clay, adding texture to the material as well as attaching ears, tails and other details while practicing such techniques as scoring and slipping. The year-long lemur study also found its way into this year’s Unity Day Service Drive. Lemur Center officials kicked off the drive with a presentation about the center and its needs, after which students brought in supplies for two weeks. The school was able to provide the center with items including laundry baskets, plastic milk crates, fleece blankets, pet toys and denim jean pockets (for the smaller lemurs). “It was important for us to donate supplies for the Lemur Center,” second-grader Stephanie Krieger said. “The lemurs are almost extinct, and the donations will help them to survive.” So move over, Cavalier. There may just be another mascot ready to take its place on the Durham Academy fields — that is, if Lower Schoolers have anything to say about it! DURHAM ACADEMY

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STRATEGIC P LA N

A TRACK RECORD OF STRATEGIC PLAN SUCCESS STRATEGIC PLANNING HAS LONG BEEN IMPORTANT TO DURHAM ACADEMY. GOALS OF THE 2006 AND 2011 STRATEGIC PLANS HAVE LED TO THESE ACCOMPLISHMENTS: • Renovation and expansion of the Upper School gymnasium and construction of the Learning Commons. • Completion of The Evergreen Campaign to support these Upper School projects. • Creation of three key administrative positions and the subsequent growth and integration of their programs: Directors of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, Technology, and Communications. • Successful Head of School search and transition. • Growth in median faculty salary by 21.5 percent since 2006, outpacing peer school median of 10 percent. • Increased diversity of the student body and faculty. The percentage of students of color has increased every year since 2006 to the current year’s percentage of 32 percent, the highest percentage of all K-12 independent schools in North Carolina. The percentage of faculty of color has increased from 9 percent in 2006 to 17 percent in 2015. • Continued increase in financial aid ($1.8 million awarded for 2015-2016 school year, up from $1 million in 2005-2006). • Dramatic growth of Extended Day program. The number of students enrolled has grown from 65 in 2006 to 155 in 2014-2015, and enrollment in the afternoon enrichment programs has grown from 319 in 2006 to 815 in 2014-2015. Revenue generated from the Extended Day program has increased to more than six times its 2006 level. • Addition of Chinese to the foreign language curriculum. • Membership in the Global Online Academy, a nonprofit consortium of 50 highperforming independent schools from around the world that offers DA Upper School students a high-caliber digital learning experience. • Comprehensive assessment of faculty evaluation practices in each division and implementation of a cohesive standards-based evaluation program across the entire school. • Continued management of bond debt and capital reserve account, with renewed commitment by the Board of Trustees to retire bond debt in 2024 and convert capital reserve into quasi-endowment. 36

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Les Todd

Kathy McPherson

Melody Guyton Butts

Kathy McPherson

Melody Guyton Butts Nathan Clendenin

‘I DON'T SAY’ PROJECT ENCOURAGES THOUGHTFUL LANGUAGE By Melody Guyton Butts, Assistant Director of Communications

“If we can avoid language that makes other people hurt, that should be our goal” — L ANIS WILSON

reanna Byrd has a way with words, delivering passionate spoken word poetry performances on a national stage. So it’s no surprise that even in her everyday life, she chooses her language — both what she says and what she doesn’t say — carefully. “I don’t say ‘don’t be a sissy,’ just because — I mean, look at me. I’m kind of awesome, like tough right there,” she said as she pointed to a photo of her — overlaid with the words she chooses to not say — projected on the stage of Kenan Auditorium at a recent assembly. Associating femininity with weakness “is not something that should be said or joked about,” she said. Byrd is among nine Upper School students, recent graduates and faculty who participated in DA’s “I Don’t Say” project, which aims to draw attention to commonly used language that can be marginalizing to groups of people. The project was inspired by the “You Don’t Say?” campaign at Duke University, which drew worldwide interest for highlighting the impact of hurtful slang. The DA project — a collaboration of the Upper School’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA), Diversity Club and Advanced Photography class — followed the format of the original Duke campaign, with black-and-white images of participants overlaid with text describing what they choose to not say, as well as 38

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an explanation of why they don’t say it. Issues highlighted by the “I Don’t Say” images include sexuality, mental health, gender, socio-economic status, intellectual differences and nationality. The year-long process included a presentation from and discussion with the founders of Duke’s “You Don’t Say?” campaign in the fall; collecting “I Don’t Say” submissions from the DA community; faculty and students winnowing the submissions to nine; and photography students shooting and editing the photos. The completed images were unveiled during an Upper School assembly in Kenan Auditorium in late May. “We wanted to be sure [the statements] were representative of different groups and that they were words that students hear a lot but might not realize the impact that they have on their classmates,” said Naa-Norley Adom, Upper School English teacher and Diversity Club advisor. For photography teacher Harrison Haynes, the collaboration across disciplines, social groups and grade levels was exciting: “It was just a really wonderfully freeing and kind of fluid activity that everyone was in just purely for the enthusiasm and their interest in the project.” English teacher Dr. Harry Thomas, advisor for the GSA, said it’s important to note that, like the Duke campaign, DA’s project doesn’t encourage censorship or |

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attempt to forbid others from saying the highlighted words. Rather, “it’s saying that as thoughtful, caring and empathetic people, we’ve thought it through and decided not to say these words, not to say these pieces of language in our day-to-day lives,” he said. Daniel Kort, a 2015 graduate of Duke, is one of three people who launched the original “You Don’t Say?” campaign as students in early 2014. “The ‘You Don’t Say?’ campaign was originally targeted toward college students at Duke University, but we are especially thrilled to see Durham Academy pick up the project,” he said. “Marginalizing language and bullying start at a much younger age, so it is very impactful to see high schoolers taking such a powerful stance in the name of equity.” DA Dean of Boys Lanis Wilson’s “I Don’t Say” image focuses on the impact of the word “retard.” It doesn’t matter whether you say a hurtful word to someone who is directly affected by it or not, he said, addressing the assembled students in Kenan. “It’s about being aware that there’s a world around you of people who are dealing with things and struggling and trying to be the best people they can be,” Wilson said. “And it’s part of our obligation of being members of the human race, to support each other. If we can avoid using language that makes other people hurt, that should be our goal.”

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F ROM THE GREE N

Battle of the Bands, UK-Ireland trip, K-1 chess competes at Nationals DA faculty and alumni to perform in Triangle Battle of the Bands If anyone tells you that Durham Academy faculty don’t rock, they clearly haven’t met computer science teacher Julian Cochran and his guitar, or photography teacher Harrison Haynes and his drum set. And they certainly haven’t encountered music/drama teacher Elizabeth South’s powerhouse voice. These multitalented educators are just a few members of DA’s first-ever Triangle Corporate Battle of the Bands group, set to perform at the Sept. 19 event benefiting Book Harvest. For DA parents Ann Leininger and Kirsten Bushick — who serve as the event’s logistics chair and sponsorship committee chair, respectively — the idea for DA to field a band was a no-brainer. “Since Book Harvest is a DA community partner, and since we have such a talented musical community, it also made sense that DA should field a band,” Leininger said. DA’s lineup of faculty, staff and recent alumni includes the following: • Ritzi Chirinos ’14 – vocals • Julian Cochran, Upper School computer science teacher – guitar • Harrison Haynes, Upper School photography teacher – drums • Daniel Holt ’13 – bass • Trevor Hoyt, director of technology – guitar Mike Meyer, Upper School music teacher – keyboards • Elizabeth South, Preschool music and Lower School drama teacher – vocals • Jeff Zentner, Middle School band director – horns Hoyt has played in a few previous Battles with a band representing Bank of North Carolina. One year, that band placed second, and another year, Hoyt won the best individual performance honor, “but we never won the whole thing. This year, however, with all the talent in our 40

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DA group, I think we’ve got a great shot. Beyond competing with the other bands, it’s a special opportunity to help raise money and awareness for a worthy cause.” College counselor Kathy Cleaver returns from UK-Ireland trip with suitcase full of insights for applicants After nine days in the United Kingdom and Ireland spent touring some of the world’s oldest and most prestigious universities, Director of College Counseling Kathy Cleaver is eager to share her experiences and insights with students who have an eye on higher education across the pond. Cleaver spent time at 10 British and Irish universities on the May 11-20 tour: Hult International Business School, London School of Economics and Political Science, Kings College, University College London, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University of Edinburgh, University of St. Andrews, University College Dublin and Trinity College Dublin. In addition, Cleaver and the 17 other participating independent school college counselors met with officers from UCAS (Undergraduate Courses at University and College) — which Cleaver described as the UK’s version of the Common Application, allowing students access to more 37,000 undergraduate courses at over 370 providers in the UK. Describing the trip as “absolutely fabulous,” she shared these key takeaways: • Applicants to universities in the UK must apply through UCAS (the “Common Application” for UK universities). • In the UK, there is no such thing as applying to 15-20 colleges. Instead, students have a hard limit of five universities, which forces students to do a great deal of research ahead of time to assess their chances of admission. |

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In addition, students may not apply to both Cambridge and Oxford — they must choose one of those two institutions. • At most UK institutions, students apply directly to a college and a specific course of study. Most applicants choose up to five similar courses to increase their chances of getting a place. There is no “liberal arts” curriculum available. • Most UK institutions offer a threeyear degree; in Scotland, students who want to study abroad for year three will take a fourth year to complete their degree. • Irish universities offer a four-year degree with a bit more flexibility in the curricular structure. • Even in the current economy, it can be less expensive for U.S. students to study in the UK and Ireland (including costs for tuition, room and board). K-1 chess team places sixth at ‘most prestigious’ national championship Durham Academy’s K-1 chess team competed in the 2015 National Elementary Chess Championships May 8-10 in Nashville, Tennessee, placing sixth overall and finishing just two team points away from a national championship. DA chess coach Craig Jones described the tournament as the most prestigious of all American scholastic chess events. “Our K-1 team was in contention for a national championship in the last round of competition,” Jones said. “No North Carolina team has won a national championship in a Championship Division since 1992, to put into perspective the difficulty of the competition.” Competing on DA’s K-1 Nationals team were pre-kindergartner Matthew Onaitis; kindergartners Arav Goldstein and Mary Elisabeth Tracy; and first-graders Tate Duensing, Shriya Dharmapurikar, Samuel Fengler-Rodriguez, Kai Forbach and Jamie Onaitis.

DURHAM ACADEMYAlumni email: alumni@da.org

SAVE THE DATE

2015 REUNION WEEKEND

•

OCT. 2 AND 3

FRIDAY, OCT. 2 Homecoming Events • 5 p.m. — Alumni Pregame Social and BBQ

Sponsored by Big Boss Brewery

Varsity Athletic Events • 4:30 p.m. — Field Hockey vs. Cary Academy • 5:15 p.m. — Volleyball vs. St. Mary’s School • 6 p.m. — Soccer vs. Ravenscroft

SATURDAY, OCT. 3 • 11 a.m. — Cross Country and

Track Alumni Fun Run/Picnic • 7 p.m. — Reunion Parties Tobacco Road Café, Durham For Classes Ending in 5s and 0s For more information and to register for the reunion parties, visit www.da.org/fallalumniweekend.

CONNECT WITH DA • DA on Facebook: www.facebook.com/DurhamAcademy • DA Alumni on Facebook: www.facebook.com/DACavsAlumni • DA on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DurhamAcademy • DA Alumni on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DurhamAcademyAl • DA on YouTube: www.youtube.com/DurhamAcademyComm • DA on LinkedIn: www.bit.ly/LinkedInDA • DA on Instagram: www.instagram.com/DurhamAcademy • DA on Flickr: www.flickr.com/DurhamAcademy

website: www.da.org/alumni

CALENDAR 2015-2016

Sept. 2 • 5:30 p.m.

Business After-Hours Social

Sept. 22 • 5:30 p.m. Alumni Board Meeting Oct. 2 • 5 p.m.

Fall Reunion Weekend BBQ and Social Sponsored by Big Boss Brewery

Oct. 3 • 11 a.m.

Cross Country/Track Reunion Event

Oct. 3 • 7 p.m.

Reunion Parties at Tobacco Road Café, Durham (Classes ending in 5s and 0s)

Oct. 28 • 7 p.m.

Book Club Meeting

Nov. 10 • 5:30 p.m.

Alumni Board Meeting

Nov. 25 • 8:30 p.m.

DA Alumni Night at Alivia’s Bistro, Durham

Dec. 4 • 7 p.m.

Athletic Hall of Fame Ceremony

Jan. 19 • 5:30 p.m.

Alumni Board Meeting

Feb. 25 • 6 p.m.

Alumni Networking Social in San Francisco

March 3 • 6 p.m.

Alumni Networking Social in Charlotte

March 22 • 5:30 p.m. Alumni Board Meeting April 9 • 6:30 p.m.

Durham Academy Benefit Auction

April 15 • 6 p.m.

Spring Alumni Reception

April 21 • 7 p.m.

Alumni Networking Social in New York City

April 28 • 6 p.m.

Alumni Networking Social in Washington

Visit www.da.org/alumni for updates on venues and additional alumni information. DURHAM ACADEMY

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DA ALUMNI

At www.da.org/magazine: • Watch Dahlgren’s speech from the Spring Alumni Reception. 42

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Melody Guyton Butts Kathy McPherson Melody Guyton Butts

im Dahlgren was honored with the 2015 DA Alumni Faculty and Staff Legacy Award at the Spring Alumni Reception — and in Dahlgren’s case, it could have been called the Legend Award. He’s taught at DA since 1976, and when alumni recall their time at the Middle School, Tim Dahlgren is likely part of those memories. “Loyalty, passion, leadership and a legendary sense of humor” are words that are consistently used to describe Dahlgren, said Libby Lang, a former student of Dahlgren’s and a faculty colleague for the last 20 years, who presented the award. “Tim is respected for willingly and thoughtfully voicing his opinion, always thinking about what is best for our DA community — particularly for our students — his voice of reason and kind perspective is invaluable,” Lang continued. Dahlgren was DA’s Middle School director for 19 years, launching initiatives like the advisory system, community service days and division-wide morning meetings that remain part of the Middle School today. “Mr. Dahlgren has always been there for his students. When I was a student in his history class, he was always there… for extra help to review material taught, to help edit essays to find ways to make my writing better, and to remind me to have confidence in myself,” Lang said. “Tim is always present … he’s a constant figure on campus who continuously goes beyond his duties as an eighth grade history teacher and advisor. Tim is always there to drive a mini-bus for a team he no longer coaches, he’s always there to chaperone a school dance, he’s the scorekeeper and timer during many sporting events, and he volunteers to cover colleagues’ classes in times of need. Tim is often the first to arrive to campus in the morning and one of the last to leave at the end of the day. Tim’s high standards for himself naturally influence others to excel.” But it’s Dahlgren’s sense humor that often stands out. Lang said her mother recalled a Middle School Parent Night many years ago when Dahlgren was talking about how challenging Middle Schoolers can be, at an awkward age when their maturity levels and hormones tend to waver. And then Dahlgren said, “This is why alligators eat their young.” Dahlgren kept the alumni crowd laughing, revealing that as he entered his fifth decade at DA, his tenure reached back to a time when he actually coached the school’s football team. “Some people say I’ve grown up at Durham Academy,” Dahlgren quipped, “and people that know me say, ‘No you haven’t — you’re just older!’” DA has played a key role for both Dahlgren and wife Bobbie (pre-k assistant teacher), who both grew up military brats, attending a combined 20 schools between them. They put down roots at DA, watched their two sons graduate from the school and have amassed nearly 90 years at DA together as a family. “I really do feel like this is home to me,” Dahlgren said, “and I do feel that Durham Academy is embedded in my soul.”

Kathy McPherson

Alumni honor DA legend Tim Dahlgren T

ABOVE: A large group turned out to honor Tim Dahlgren, recipient of the DA Alumni Faculty and Staff Legacy Award, including (from top) Garrett Putman ’94, Ben Swain ’94, David Wilcox ’94, Betsy Hage ’90 and Mary Putman Hartman.

DA ALUM NI

Dr. Billy Fischer ’94 receives Distinguished Alumni Award, captivates students with stories from Ebola front lines I

Kathy McPherson

Melody Guyton Butts

f you could boil Dr. Billy Fischer’s professional and personal mission down to one word, it would be “survival.” Fischer ’94 returned to Durham Academy to be honored as the recipient of DA’s 2015 Distinguished Alumni award on April 17. During an Upper School assembly earlier that day, Fischer held an audience of students and faculty spellbound as he

described the challenges and risks he faced daily as a critical care physician fighting on the front lines against the largest and deadliest Ebola outbreak in history. He credits two Durham Academy teachers with preparing him for life and the path that would lead him to West Africa and into the epicenter of the outbreak: Upper School physics teacher Lou Parry and nowretired history teacher Dave Gould. “The knowledge we learn today is not for a specific situation, but it allows you to think critically and apply that knowledge to any situation you’re in,” Fischer said. “And so these guys … provided me with critical thinking skills so I could think rationally in times of stress and in uncertain environments so that I could play a role in impacting people’s lives.” Since his initial trip to Guéckedou, Guinea, in June 2014, Fischer has been laser-focused on containing and treating one of the deadliest viral hemorrhagic fevers ever known, as well as protecting health care workers who have fallen victim to the virus in record numbers. He has developed critical care TOP: Upper School science teacher Trish Whiting, Billy Fischer ’94 and his son, Graham. BOTTOM: Fischer said DA teachers Dave Gould and Lou Parry inspired him to keep learning, keep adapting and keep pushing for answers, even in the face of insurmountable odds.

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protocols for patients and transmission prevention protocols for health care workers, and he is part of a consortium of Triangle physicians who launched the first Ebola clinical trial (funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) in Liberia in December. Fischer says Gould and Parry inspired him to keep learning, keep adapting and keep pushing for answers, even in the face of insurmountable odds. The drive Fischer developed at DA prompted him to return to West Africa, so that one of Fischer’s most gut-wrenching fatalities, a 9-year-old little boy, wouldn’t be in vain. “It’s easy to say how Tomas died. He died of Ebola. He had a bad viral infection and he was in one of the most resource-constrained environments,” Fischer said. “But then Dave Gould would say it’s not enough to know the answer, we have to know why. Because only in the why can you understand how to fix the problem. And so we went back. Watching Tomas die was enough to send me home. But not understanding why he died was enough to bring me back.” At www.da.org/magazine: • Listen to an audio recording of Fischer’s entire assembly speech. • Watch his remarks from the Spring Alumni Reception.

2015-2016 ALUMNI BOARD • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Seth Jernigan ’96 – President John Lindsey ’08 – Vice President Neal Ellis ’88 Corey Mansfield ’02 Billy Fischer ’94 Ashley Horton Freedman ’97 Betsy Hage ’90 Virginia Reves Hall ’91 Xandy Peete Jones ’78 Geoff Lamb ’86 Rosemary Nye ’93 Kelly Smoke ’00 Chandler Spaulding ’87 Morgan Edwards Whaley ’97

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DA ALUMNI

SPRING 2015

REGIONAL EVENTS Charlotte, New York and Washington, D.C. This spring, Durham Academyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s alumni office hosted regional networking events in Charlotte, New York City and Washington, D.C. It was a great opportunity to catch up with old friends, make new ones and hear about all the exciting new happenings at DA.

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DA ALUM NI

Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Friday, Dec. 4, 2015 • 7 p.m. in Kirby Gymnasium 2015 INDUCTEES: • Millie Long Barritt ’94 • Judy Chandler

• Steve Engebretsen • Brock Hilpert ’97

• Pat Biggs Porcelli ’84 • Joey Seivold

• Kelly Smoke ’00 • David Spach ’78

The induction ceremony will take place at halftime of the boys varsity basketball game. There will be a reception in the Upper School Learning Commons at the conclusion of the game. For more information or to RSVP for the reception, please contact Tim McKenna at tim.mckenna@da.org.

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CLASS NOTES 1961-1974 Katherine White ’67 kwhite10@mindspring.com

Elizabeth Kramer Helsinger ’61 has officially retired from the University of Chicago, where she began teaching in 1972. She continues to teach a course at the university each year. Helsinger has a new book coming out in September from the University of Virginia Press, Poetry and the Thought of Song. According to Beth, “The book considers romantic and especially later Victorian lyric poetry and its continuing relations with song as both form and idea, particularly as a way of considering whether poems can be said to ‘think.’” She also has three grandchildren — two 9-year-old twins, a girl and a boy, and a 3-year-old girl. Both of her sons and their families live in Somerville, Massachusetts, and she and her husband, Howard, try to visit as often as possible. Catharine Calloway Stirewalt ’64 has sold her Hillsborough store that featured her jewelry design and creations for 22 years. She is now semi-retired. Stirewalt does occasional shows, but also focuses on other things she loves: gardening, reading, friends and dogs. She is a widow and has three stepdaughters. Big news from Robert “Judge” Carr ’67 at Duke. He graduated from the university with a civil engineering degree in 1971.

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1976

Robert D. (Bob) Johnston, sending deep sympathies to Tim Johnston ’79, Jennifer Shea ’80 and Dan Johnston ’84. The Sharon Fridovich Freeman updates below are arranged in continues to work at Duke, where alphabetical order by last name of she is Chief each respondent. As in 1978, the of Pediatric Rolling Stones are on tour — Class of 1975 Ophthalmology. come to think of it, they’ve been After 18 years Reunion She and her touring all our lives! John working in the husband, Neil, Anderson: “I am still a DURHAM ACADEMY construction FALL ALUMNI WEEKEND have two commercial banker with Wells business, he OCT. 2 & 3, 2015 children in Fargo in Chapel Hill, covering returned to his Spread the word. medical school middle market companies in the alma mater as Register at www.da.org/alumni. and celebrated eastern half of North Carolina. assistant director the marriage of Our older son, Scott, lives in of development Carrboro and is in sales with and took charge of the engineering their daughter last summer. Jeff Hamill continues with Hearst Luxfer Cylinders. He is now school’s annual fund, which magazines as the executive vice engaged and plans to be married raised roughly $500,000 per president of advertising, sales in May 2016. Our younger son, year at the time. Twenty-five and marketing. He and his wife, Will, is an independent filmmaker years later, the annual fund now Susan, have three children, two of in L.A. primarily working on exceeds $3.4 million in gifts whom followed him in college at commercials and music videos. per year, and Judge continues to Washington and Lee and a third Last summer he directed and build the program. His dedication child who is a junior in high school. filmed a promotional video for attracted the attention of Suzie Richard Young, who left us after Duke Women’s Health. He would W. and Fred M. Fehsenfeld Jr., the 10th grade, is an emergency like to do more in the medical who made a generous gift to fund room physician who also earned field, so if anyone needs a medical the Robert W. Carr Jr. Professor his MBA and consults on process video, please let me know!” of Biomedical Engineering at improvement for emergency rooms. Gordon Battle: “We still live in Duke University’s Pratt School He has an 8-year-old granddaughter Fort Mill, South Carolina (near of Engineering. Judge said, “It and visits North Carolina annually Charlotte). The kids are all was a shock and a surprise … I for a family reunion. I ran into growing up. Dylan is 23, lives in had no idea what he was doing Ria O’Foghludha in Durham. Colorado Springs, works as a until after he’d done it. Truthfully, She is an associate professor of supervisor at Costco, and goes to I was speechless and humbled.” art history at Whittier College in school at Pikes Peak Community During the investiture ceremony, California. We were lamenting that College. Looks like he will be Fehsenfeld said: “My family has they just don’t make students like engaged soon. Noah is 20 and is a a passion to recognize people we we were anymore. As for me, Ruth junior at College of Charleston. He refer to as unsung heroes, and Ann Greenfield, I am a clinical hopes to study abroad next year. Judge is the heart and soul of electrophysiologist at Duke and Livi is 16 and driving … help! Duke engineering for so many enjoy traveling, with recent trips to Kaylee is 13 and plays volleyball. alumni. This recognition is richly Russia and Spain. Her passion, though, is horseback deserved.” Connie Hackel Katz riding, so we got her a quarter ’68 is basking in the glow of horse named Babe recently whom being a new grandparent. In May, she loves and rides almost daily. James Aaron Katz was 9 months Erik Donald France Chanee stays busy with church old and Asa Prentise Smith was Efrance23@gmail.com choir and is a substitute school 5 months old. Connie says both nurse. I still work as the CFO for grandchildren live in Philadelphia, Collectively this year, we mourn Venture Group, and as a rep for where she and husband Sam can the death and celebrate the life of Legalshield. I just got to spend my be doting grandparents.

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Ruth Ann Greenfield ruth.greenfield@duke.edu

1978

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55th birthday weekend playing poker in Cherokee in a big World Series of Poker circuit event. We are all looking forward to our family reunion beach trip to Holden Beach in June.” Mark Bozymski: “So sorry about Mr. Johnston. How fortunate we were to have him and his family involved in our lives. That is cool about the Stones!! I’ve spoken with and seen James (McWhorter) and his family a few times of late.” Liza Cohen: “I am still living in Malibu with my husband and 15year old twins.” Anne Dykers: “I’m alive and well in Silver Spring, Maryland, practicing bodycentered psychotherapy, movement education and writing. My piece The Whisper Galleries was recently included in a project pairing poets and visual artists at the Foundry Gallery near Dupont Circle. www.annedykersfolio. com.” Evan Farris: “Susan and I are still in the Washington area, where I’m a VP at a defense contractor. We’ve got our hands full with our kids right now, with our oldest starting high school this fall and our youngest in kindergarten.” Sherry Bartholomew Holtzclaw: “Next year we will be emptynesters, as our youngest will be a Gamecock along with her sister! That makes it easy for me! We had a great trip to Paris and Greece last summer with a group of Duke orthopedists and their families, including Bobbie Hardaker and her husband, Bill. It will be hard to top that this summer!” Camille Izlar: “Still working for UNC Diabetes Care. I still have my horse and am riding regularly. I had a couple of hand surgeries that have left my right hand pretty disabled but, oh well, I have one finger to type with. I guess the biggest news

is that I am finally getting remarried in October, to Paul Enquist. Planning a wedding takes a lot of work, but Jennifer Cobb Wells is helping me!” Xandy Jones: “I have been at DA 15 years now and joined the Alumni Board this year. My son, Jeff ’07, is living and working in D.C. James McWhorter has moved back to the area and is looking forward to being a DA parent this fall. It’s been fun reconnecting with him!” Nick Morrow: “Greetings from NYC — home since 1978 (counting college, of course). One of my fondest memories of high school soccer/PE is doing Stan Coble’s 12-minute run tests with the goal of covering two miles in that time frame. Oddly enough, even though I turned 55 this year, I can still easily do that, and actually keep going for about another mile. When I’m on my game I can do three miles at a touch better than six minutes a mile (the equivalent of about 10 mph on a treadmill). For two miles I am substantially under that, say somewhere around 5:50/mile (the equivalent of about 10.3 mph on a treadmill). This indoor track season on the master’s circuit I actually wound up with a top-10 national ranking in my age group for the 3,000 meter event, and have competed in several USATF-sanctioned national championship masters track and road race events. I’ll probably never reach a ranking deep into the top 10 — those guys at the top just have way more talent than I do. But I do enjoy getting on the track with them from time to time. Dennis Cullen really got me onto this when in 2008 at our 30th reunion he had me on the track running quartermile repeats with his cross

country team at a 5-minute/mile pace. It about killed me (I did half the workout the kids did), but I did it! He has asked me what my secret was. I think we’ve decided it has to do with virtually never getting injured — despite doing a long, slow 12- to 14-mile run 3 or 4 weekends a month (over many years). And by the way, I don’t run marathons. Those guys are nuts! And my wife would probably threaten to change the locks — so why rock the boat after 31 years of marriage! Hope all are well — and I look forward to the NYC Alumni reunion in May.” Jim Murray: “Things are very good here, still in Durham, working as a Distinguished Engineer at IBM, and Linda and I are excited that our youngest daughter Christine is getting married this summer. Also proud of my baby sister Anne (Murray Lloyd ’82) who is chair of the board of trustees at DA this year!” Ken (Kenny) Randall: “I was selected for a juried art show, and exhibited my photographs at the Buckham Gallery in Flint, Michigan. This is the third museum to exhibit my photography. Most of the ‘fine art photography’ is centered on desert landscapes and north woods wildlife. In addition to photography and lawyering, I’m enjoying coaching my son Cameron’s T-ball team, being a soccer parent and teaching Cameron to fish. Cameron is going crazy over fishing these days — one of his favorite shows is the Animal Planet’s River Monsters.” Leif Roll: “I am married to my best friend of 27 years, Ginia. She’s from Chapel Hill. We have three wonderful children: Jensen, Giles and Georgi. Jensen and Giles attend Elon University. Jensen is a junior

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(studying in Cape Town for the semester). Giles is a freshman. Georgi is a sophomore in high school, playing soccer and enjoying every day with her loving parents. We live in Bloomington, located in central Illinois, which is definitely part of the breadbasket of our country, but I’m not a farmer! For the past 15 years I’ve been working at State Farm, where I head up our marketing department. Life is great: super wife, great kids, two dogs, one cat and many fish … what more could I ask for? One thing: being back in the South! And that’s where we plan to retire. Just a few more winters and we’ll be back. In the meantime, stay healthy.” Steed Rollins: “I am now a residential real estate agent here in Durham and have been doing this for about a year. Thankfully, the Durham market is booming. Downtown Durham, once neglected, is now the hot spot of the entire Triangle area, and this boom is being fueled by dozens of awesome local restaurants, breweries and a vibrant downtown nightlife; especially the success of the DPAC. Louise (Few Rollins ’82) and I had the pleasure of tailgating before a couple of Duke football games last fall with Peter Myers and it was a treat to reflect and catch up. It was also great to see Mike Murray (’77) after many years and his brother Jim (Murray ’78) at a combined 50th birthday party for Louise and Anne Murray Lloyd.” As for yours truly, I continue working in Fort Worth, Texas, in library services, this year in remembrance of the 150th anniversary of the Johnston-Sherman meeting in Durham, and the end of the American Civil War soon thereafter.

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1984

1985

Class of 1985 Reunion

son, Will, will attend Williams DURHAM ACADEMY College in FALL ALUMNI WEEKEND OCT. 2 & 3, 2015 the fall. Karl To ring in 2015, Jody Maxwell Miller recently Spread the word. Register at www.da.org/alumni. reunited with his band, Sex Police, Yow, it’s our visited Bill for a one-night show at Cat’s 30th year Bernard and Cradle in Chapel Hill. Pat Biggs since graduating from DA! I his wife and 7-year-old son in Porcelli has been selected for the have enjoyed catching up with Minnesota — in the winter! Karl Durham Academy Sports Hall of fellow classmates from around lives in Chapel Hill. Cheryl Ann Fame. The induction ceremony the country. Starting in North Welsh is back in Durham and will be held on Dec. 4. Chris Han Carolina, Lynne Harder reports has been bitten by the bicycling is currently living in Park City, that she is living in Wilmington, bug (welcome to the club!) and Utah, with his better half, Kristine. where she settled after earning a enjoys riding to the Durham For the past 15 years, he has been master’s degree in environmental Farmers Market. She loves her part of the Park City Masters ski management and policy. She job with the Susan G. Komen team, specializing in Super G enjoys sailing around the state Foundation. Also in Durham are crashes of epic proportion. Chris and paddle boarding around Duncan Isley, his wife, Vicki, plans to move back to the Triangle Wrightsville Beach, which and their son, Angus. Duncan in the next year, while launching sounds pretty fantastic to me. has celebrated 25 years with the his third and new senior care Durham is home to several Duke Health System in business platform in Texas. Toby Falk and notable classmates, among them intelligence for the PDC (I won’t his wife are proud parents of three David Kong, who is still at Duke pretend to know what that means). sons. In August 2014, Hugo Falk Medical Center and spends half Vicki teaches AIG students joined his two older brothers. Toby his time at the Duke Clinical at Forest View Elementary in writes that Hugo is a very sweet Research Institute investigating Durham, and Angus is a 10th and smiley 8-month-old, who will new cardiovascular devices and grader at Trinity School in hopefully learn to sleep through the informatics methods. David and Durham, where he carries on the night one day. Anne Harrison and his wife, Amy, enjoy scuba diving. Isley traditions of basketball and her husband recently welcomed son She marvels at the pretty fish golf. On the other coast, Dug Asher De La Cruz to their family, while Dave remains intrigued by Stanat is working independently which also includes their daughter, the real-time physics lesson. Many in California, creating sculpture Helen. Tom Liverance traveled to of you may remember David’s and hanging out with his family Germany to attend the wedding of white German shepherd, Angel, since he left PDI/Dreamworks Gene Clarke. Best wishes to Gene from our 20th reunion. David over a year ago. Dug and his wife and his new bride. Andrea Mia reports, “Angel passed peacefully homeschool their kids, providing is the owner of a thriving business to God last May, to roam the plenty of family time. You can see called Creative Coaching, which Elysian Fields unhindered by Dug’s work at www.dugosaurus. specializes in helping creatives get arthritis.” On a brighter note, com. Diana Landers Hodge on a successful and fulfilling path. son Wesley David Kong is now wrote from Scottsdale, Arizona, Earlier this year, she was featured a charming 2-year-old and likes where she and her husband and on a local NPR station discussing his 1974-vintage Fisher Price three golden retrievers have lived the benefits of coaching. For more hospital play set (something in 120-degree summer heat for details, check out her website, tells me that play set was a very about two years. Diana visits www.andreamiasolutions.com. good investment back in the Durham and Chapel Hill as often Shade Sanford and his wife, Tip, day), and enjoys pitching balls as she can and toured DA — and have been living in Abu Dhabi for to the family’s mutt. Also in was quite impressed — last the past three years. This year they Durham is David Beischer, who year. Sara Levin Washburn moved to Singapore, where Shade is concluding his term on the DA has her hands full down in will help Booz Allen Hamilton board of trustees and works in Jacksonville, Florida, where she launch its business in Asia. real estate development. His oldest has started working part-time as Durann Williams Archer Durann.williams@gmail.com

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Juliellen Sarver juliellens@ yahoo.com

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a development associate with the Jacksonville Children’s Chorus. You might remember her amazing voice, so it’s so nice to learn that she’s back in the business after raising five beautiful and talented children over the last 20 years. Sara’s oldest daughter, Claire, has just completed her freshman year at the University of Florida as a cello performance major, is a ZTA sister and dreams of law school. The college preparation hustle-and-bustle continues for daughter Jane, who will be a senior in high school in the fall, draws and paints beautifully, and aspires to be a physical therapist or a midwife. Susannah is going into ninth grade and continues the family musical talent as a pianist. David is in third grade and adores Minecraft, tennis and his go-cart. Finally, the youngest, Aiden, is in kindergarten and delights his mom with sweet hugs and kisses in between playing with zombies, toy guns and cars. Sara’s husband of 24 years, Mark, continues his work as a programmer. The family travels to Asheville as often as possible to visit Mark’s parents, and Sara misses Chapel Hill. Sara and Mark welcome any travelers on their way to Orlando! Maria Deknatel lives in New York City with her husband and daughters. She recently relayed a conversation with her daughters in which she reminisced about the time when I lent her two albums — The Clash and David Bowie — thus introducing her to “cool” music. I think they rolled their eyes, but Maria and I agreed that coolness has no expiration date! As for me — Juliellen Sarver — I still find myself in Richmond, Virginia, and I’m actually liking it. After a 25-year career in urban planning and real estate development in various locales, I’m

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taking a hard left turn and doing something completely different. I am the community relations manager for Richmond/East Coast for Stone Brewing Co., the 10th largest craft brewery in the country and headquartered in San Diego. Stone is locating its East Coast brewery and World Bistro and Gardens in Richmond — right down the street from where I live — and is also establishing the first American craft brewery in Europe in Berlin, Germany. It’s an exciting change for me, and really good beer! I’ve also taken up playing the fiddle. I continue to ride my bike everywhere I can, and thoroughly enjoyed my latest bike trip in Morocco, Spain and Portugal in December and January. As a lifelong cyclist and cycling fan, I’m terribly excited that Richmond will be hosting the UCI World Cycling Championships in September 2015 (I can see the course from my house!). So come visit — lots of fun going on here!

1986

Rob Everett rob@teamapartments.com Jon Avery jravery@ravenscroft.org After last year’s challenging fill-in-the-blanks format, we’re returning to the bread and butter of the class notes section, the straightforward yearly update with a slight geographical bent. A lot of catching up took place last fall, when several members of our class crashed the 4’s and 9’s reunion and crossed paths with our idols — those seniors we looked up to as sophomores. Attending the festivities were also such faculty luminaries as Mr.

Cullen and Mr. Dahlgren, which took some of us back a long way to the times of Senior Challenge and the seventh/eighth/ninth grade basketball team. After a spate of texts and emails, several classmates are back on the class notes map, while others have never left. Erstwhile classmate Geoff Lamb starts the ball rolling by boasting that he is “a more effective member of the Alumni Board than Everett ever was,” and also claiming that he won a bet and that “drinks are on Everett this summer if anyone is around.” The comical brewer is also finishing up construction of his new home, “thank goodness,” even as he continues running Big Boss Brewing Co. Esteemed classmate Mike Loehr keeps the ball rolling with this serene summary: “I’m enjoying life in the Pacific Northwest with my wife, Dorann, and black lab, Raven. Lots of sea kayaking, mountain biking and hiking. I’m working with the state health department in Olympia (that’s in Washington for those like [classmate Tony] Han who never learned geography) leading our disaster response program. Business is booming, unfortunately.” Ever the friendly fatalist, Loehr extends this genuine invitation: “Would love to connect with folks who find themselves in the Seattle-Tacoma area.” Soon to be moving northwest(erly), but hopefully avoiding all disasters, is Emma McCartney. Emma and her family are leaving Louisiana after 15 years and heading to Boulder, Colorado. She reports: “It is a work-related change for my husband, Dave, but it probably is going to be a better fit for us. That said, we have really enjoyed Louisiana. We took the girls (Jacqueline 13, Audrey 10) on their last family trip to New Orleans

and went to Jazz Fest. After 10 years of making the trip, I finally realized a lot of the DA gang makes that trip a regular event. We saw John Keller (’83) there last year and hope to see Lisa Bradford there next year.” Emma reveals that, while she might be a Louisiana transplant, she makes a mean gumbo! She also points out that even though she keeps moving farther away from Durham, her daughter still goes to camp every summer in the North Carolina mountains, so she stays connected to her home state. This is already shaping up to be a year of big changes for Rob Phay and his family. Rob started a new job in March as the global head of risk and compliance for Mercer Investments. Rob writes that, “after nearly 15 years at Commonfund, it was time to try something new and different — not only in terms of a new company but also in a new place.” Rob has moved up to Boston for the new position while returning to his family every weekend in Yonkers, NY. Meanwhile, Rob’s daughter, Sofia, is just weeks away from her own big change in the form of high school graduation and then off to college. Holding all of the pieces together is Rob’s spouse, Siu, who must prepare their only child for moving out and onwards, sell the house in Yonkers, and, most challenging of all, figure out how a dedicated Yankees fan can learn to live in Beantown. Concludes our former class president: “We’re not sure how that last one will work out, but hey, two out of three ain’t bad.” Teddy “Floy” Oldham still resides in Houston, Texas, and is still coaching Lamb remotely. Like Emma, Teddy stays connected to North Carolina in the summers, making his way back to the

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family retreat at the beach. He has extended an open invitation to folks to drop by (which works out well since Han will be at a nearby beach around that time). So there is plenty of room to crash! Still a loyal Tar Heel, Teddy begrudgingly applauds the Blue Devils on championship No. 5, but confesses he is relieved Duke star Justise Winslow is “one and done at Duke so I won’t have to see this sign at my daughter’s school (Justise’s alma mater) every March for the next three years…” On the subject of sports teams, Tony Han admits that he still likes the Vikings, which is pretty big of him. Continues Han: “Living the dream here in Napa, starting to bootleg water into California from Oregon every time I go on biz trips (think Newman and Kramer on their bottle deposit scheme). Was displeased to discover my proximity to the West Napa fault line when it erupted last year.” Han reports that, in homage to retiring coach and legend Dennis Cullen who “may laugh at this one,” Tony is “coaching track and field for eighth grade and girls soccer in town, and may try to take in a few U.S. women’s matches at the World Cup in Vancouver this summer.” Han concludes with this poignant high school memory, of “King trying to prove to Loehr that he really can hit 60 in Saab second gear ... Loehr, like so many of his previous attempts, lost the bet.” Speaking of Andrew King, our loyal and royal classmate updates his current status as “Continuing to try to take over the world via Beer & Technology (Big Boss & IBM respectively), considering going offgrid and growing a new endeavor ‘Stalk-King’: information gathering services.” Andrew keeps people off his tracks by watching Aaron and Brandon play recreational soccer

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on Saturdays in the spring and fall, and also chasing Brandon around as he plays travel/all-star soccer the rest of the year. One classmate we think King might sign up for his new information services is Joe Kalo, who remains mysteriously aloof in his fancy Burlington, North Carolina, law firm, amusedly watching all classmate conversations scroll across his desk. However, Joe does stop working long enough to placate Andrew and Geoff by writing: “Bad Penny is my favorite beer.” Phil Oldham writes while sitting in RDU, on “a quick visit to my dad during a quick trip down while my mom was in Asheville visiting my sister Val (’87). My short story is that after 20 years in international relief and development (Russia, Croatia, Bosnia, Albania, Eritrea, Congo, Ghana, Haiti) I dialed back the pace of life and moved back to Vermont with my wife, Jen (colleague of many years), and kids Fiona (14) and son Jess (12), all very happy in Vermont.” Phil is now in development for his college alma mater, Middlebury, for which he covers Colorado, California and Texas, “so if anyone else is in those locales, let’s meet up.” Both Han and Coach Cullen will be unsurprised to hear that Phil is running: “Did a half marathon Sunday in Vermont before coming down here, which will hopefully set me up for a sub-3 hour marathon in 19 days.” Since Phil is now a professional keep-up-with-him guy, we expect to see more of him as he travels, as correspondent Rob Everett and Maura Moylan Sullivan got to recently. True to his role in development, Phil is pledging to be back for the 30th. Christopher Charles Bennett

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writes that he has “no news” … by which he means that he is building companies, traveling to AAU games (son Brian), dance contests (daughter Taylor) and crazy busy.” Fortunately, Chris found time in his busy business-building schedule to meet with elusive classmate Tommy Hoke before the Oregon vs. Michigan State game in Eugene, Oregon, last fall. Chris reports that classmate Fred Wilson also attended this same sporting event, adding: “Fred and I had a good time at that game and were sitting about 10 rows above the esteemed strength and conditioning coach (Hoke) and his team.” Continues Chris in dramatic fashion: “Mariota was just too much that day, but MSU will get revenge in Lansing this year.” Chris also eloquently expressed some degree of satisfaction that Duke won its fifth national championship in men’s basketball. As for your correspondents … Jonathan Avery enjoys perturbing his students at DA’s North Raleigh rival with his green DA cup, acquired at last fall’s reunion and once — but sadly no longer — full of Big Boss suds. Rob Everett is still dabbling in real estate and, like Geoff Lamb, still a DA parent of two. “I would love to see everyone back in Durham, but it’s also fun to hear of all the exotic locales where our class has transplanted. Just make sure you find Avery and me when you’re in town, so we can all have free drinks on Geoff’s dime.” Finally, if you are reading this and we did not contact you for news, please contact us — we’d love to catch up with you! And get fired up to join us for our 30th reunion in Fall 2016.

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1987

Craig Powell craigp6891@yahoo.com Another year has passed, and I hope that the last 12 months have been good to all in the Class of ’87! Now, without further ado … the first to check in was Ian Patrick: “Got a chance to meet up with fellow Cav John Lowman and his wife, Leigh, and sons William and Thomas in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, which was equidistant for both of us, and it was good to share DA stories and memories. It is also fun to watch our kids getting to know one another. The Patricks will head to Yosemite to celebrate my mom’s 80th, and it will be nice to spend time together. I plan to call Tom Beischer as we land in the Bay Area. Also, small world connection: I met up with former Headmaster Rob Hershey on a trip to D.C. We had a mutual connection, and Rob ended up giving me a tour of Episcopal High School — a really neat place. I wanted to pass along that he said his time at DA was one of his fondest times in his career. Hope everyone from ’87 is doing well.” Deb Howe Markland checked in from Atlanta: “Doing the parenting thing in Atlanta … our oldest is a rising senior, so we are about to dive into the college hunting; our middle is a rising sophomore, he rows for AJRA and loves it! Our youngest is a rising seventh-grader, still all about soccer and more soccer, with an occasional other sport thrown in the mix. I am still teaching preschool and keeping track of those three I just mentioned. My husband, Keith, is working hard at KHA — approaching 20 years with the same company.” Staying

in the South, Jen Phillips reports: “Still enjoying family life in Charleston. My son Chris (’10) graduated from ECU last May and is now working for his dad’s company, PRM, as a mechanical engineer. My son, Will (’13), is a rising junior at Appalachian State and is a videographer for the football team. Life in Charleston is great. We try to spend as much time as possible on the water. Kirsten Gardner, with an update from Chapel Hill: “Just finished my 21st year teaching. Taking the summer off and hopefully traveling a little. Recently, I’ve had the chance to work a bit with Chris Rosati’s (‘89) Inspire Media and the BIGG (Big Ideas for the Greater Good) projects. Kirsten Vollmer and I had a chance to support Inspire Media along with WTVD in an event organized by Laura Zimmerman (Whayne ’88)!” From Jaci Staunton Pergerson: “Still doing the nursing home pharmacist gig. Raising my 9-year-old with my parents. Same old, same old! Nothing new here.” And from across the pond from Lawrence Warner: “Mortgaged till I’m 64. Older kid obsessed with Arsenal. Younger one with My Little Pony. Was sad to hear that Beisch’s mom died this year. I’ve found myself thinking back also to days of running the ‘Animal Farm’ route to the Primate Center with John Vernon. He was a good guy, and I can’t believe he’s gone. But good things this year too: Read some good books, like The Son by Philipp Meyer. Have tickets to Dylan at Royal Albert Hall for November. Learned how to make a mean mushroom burger with too much garlic. My niece Claire Burdick (’14) won DA’s George Watts Hill Community

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TOP: Kristen Stallings Jupena ’88, Shannon Griffin Blake ’88 and Laura Zimmerman Whayne ’88 enjoyed getting together over Thanksgiving.

Service Award!” As for myself, last summer I accepted a job as a contracting officer with the Department of Veterans Affairs in Hampton, Virginia. It lets Anne and me stay in Virginia Beach and allows me to work to help veterans. My oldest daughter just finished her freshman year at Kansas State and is thriving in Manhattan (the Little Apple). My youngest daughter just finished her first year of high school and will be coming to Virginia Beach for the summer. Also, planning a trip in late November to Nashville to watch my Aggies play Vandy in football.

1988

Laura Zimmerman Whayne laurazimmermanwhayne @gmail.com Joseph Williams joseph.williams @indevcapital.com Hello, all! Every year seems to fly by faster. Love that most of us are connected with our DA alumni friends from many classes on Facebook. So … these are notes from those who sent them to me! I have had the pleasure of being able

to see a bunch of our 1988-ers (and other class members) this year. I was able to see Lee Huskins, Kristen Stallings Jupena, Shannon Griffin Blake, Melissa Brodie Hanenburger, Thomas Stallings ’97 and Tyler Brodie ’92 over Thanksgiving! It was fantastic to get together and see them all. Shannon Griffin Blake wrote, “Changed jobs in CDC after 10 years. Working now to improve the lives of people with disabilities by improving accessibility in communities across the U.S. Still coaching basketball, but now have an AAU team. Really enjoying working with middle school girls, including my daughter, Andie. Am using time to build their confidence and sports IQ while preparing them for trying out for high school teams. Busy with both Austin and Andie with school and sports. Austin is a rising sophomore in high school playing football and basketball for his high school and Andie is a rising seventh grader busy playing basketball and school chorus.” Lee Huskins wrote, “Ronie, Jordan and I are still in Lafayette, California. We are doing well and enjoying the Northern California way of life (skiing, good wine,

outdoors, etc). I still work at John Muir and serve as the chief administrative officer and president of the physician network. Ronie is busy with activities related to school and Jordan. Additional updates: Headed to The Grateful Dead show in Santa Clara on 6/27, so if any folks are headed out for that, look me up!” Kristen Jupena is still loving life in Wilmington: “I am making a huge change in my career by taking the plunge from the public school system to the private school sector. I will be teaching first grade at New Horizons Elementary School next year. My family and I are very excited! I am also renewing my national boards at the present time. Jake is 14 and is so ready for high school! Catherine is 12 and loves everything but schoolwork! My big brother, Jay Stallings ’87, is doing great in Raleigh! Look him up on Facebook! My little brother, Thomas Stallings ’97, is getting married (finally!) this October to a wonderful woman, Laura. We are all very happy! I have to give a shout out to the National Champs — the Duke Blue Devils! Melissa, Henry, etc., remember the fun we had in Dallas in ’86? I’m not on Facebook but am looking forward to seeing everyone at the next reunion!” Lucy Hochman Corin wrote, “I’m full professor at UC Davis where I direct the program in creative writing. I live at the top of a hill in San Francisco with partner and poodle. So you can guess about my life from that, right? Jesse Walker and I have compared literary notes. My sister, Emily (Hochman ’94), who went to DA for a little longer than I did and finished a few years after us, lives with her husband in Berlin.” Speaking of Jesse Walker, he

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wrote: “I’m still living the bourgeois suburban lifestyle in Towson [Maryland] with Rona and our two daughters: Maya, who is now 9, and Lila, who is now 3.” Alex Marks: “It’s been years since I reported in so I figured now that I have something to report, it was a good time. I am living in Manhattan Beach, California, and thoroughly enjoying life with my wife, Liz, and our 22-month-old daughter, Lillian. Working as an environmental planner at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Do miss North Carolina from time to time, but this place is pretty great, too.” David Pearsall: “Life is good! Busy, but good. Still living in Orange County, working in Chapel Hill, trying to raise my three boys who continue to pay me back each day for all the headaches I’m sure I put my parents through. But, they are awesome, and we are blessed. Looking forward to teeing it up with Daddy Bunders (Dan, I tried to get you to give us updates!) in a couple of weeks down at Wilmington Municipal GC and hope to do the same with Mr. Snider later in June out in Oakland.” Henry Pye continues to lead a consulting group at Real Page, Inc. In the little free time that he has, he is an assistant coach for Kenneth and Jack’s rugby team, The Highlanders. Amy Crill Malone wrote: “I’m doing well here in Atlanta. Little Robert is a rising ninth-grader, William rising sixth-grader and Reeves rising fourth-grader. They’re all so busy, it’s insane!” Keith Wittgenstein and I keep up regularly on FB. He wrote, “I live in Brooklyn. I’m working for CrossFit traveling the world. And

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most importantly, I have a new son: Jett Bodhi Wittgenstein. Life is great, and I couldn’t be happier.” Congrats, Keith! Jett is ADORABLE! Edwin Bryson: “Not much new to report here. Still in Charlotte. Boys are 9 and 11, third and fifth grade. Playing soccer and flag football currently. Keeping busy with sports and their homework projects. This summer, have another Disney trip planned, and another trip to celebrate my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. They are doing well and still live in Durham. Wife and I are both still working, but plan to retire soon as I win the Powerball lottery.” Colclough Sanders Gomez: “It’s been almost two years now since Jeff, Jasper and I moved out to the San Francisco Bay Area from NYC, and we are loving it more and more every day. I especially love taking advantage of the beautiful weather here in Oakland for gardening and walks in our lovely neighborhood. While we don’t miss the northeast winters, we do wish for more rain out here. We didn’t let a lack of snow prevent us from enjoying a wonderful ski weekend at Lake Tahoe with Jason Stone, and his husband, Eric, and kids Stella and Xavier at the end of January. It was my best birthday in years and a great way to celebrate turning 45. Stella and Jasper had so much fun together both on and off the slopes, and I feel so lucky to have Jason and his family so near us in San Fran. The same goes for Elise Effman, her husband, Matt, and their son, Dashiell, who also live in Oakland. We’ve got a good percentage of the “Fun Bunch” out here in the SF area, and Jasper, Stella and Dashiell are set to carry on the tradition to the next

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generation.” Another classmate in California, Ben Kalayjian, wrote: “I am living in Big Sur. I teach bakery and pastry arts at the Esalen Institute, and I am a massage therapist at the Post Ranch Inn. I was recently married to a beautiful artist and healer named Seema, and we live in a little cabin. We regularly go to Vietnam and Cambodia to work with HIV/AIDS orphans doing pediatric massage and spend as much time in Maui and Kauai as possible for our R&R. Life is good. Still trying to make it to the Bay Area to visit the many DA folks calling it home.” Marc Lieberman wrote: “I haven’t written in a long while, so I have a fair amount to report. After 16 wonderful years in Los Angeles — where I got married to my wife, Carrie, and we welcomed sons Grant (9) and Eli (4) — I packed up the family and moved to New York last summer. My new job lured us east. I’m now a producer at 60 Minutes for my longtime collaborator Bill Whitaker. Bill is the newest regular correspondent on 60 Minutes, and he was kind enough to bring me along with him. The New York winter was a tough adjustment, but it’s great being back on the East Coast. The kids loved sledding, we caught Coach K’s 1,000th win at Madison Square Garden and we made a long-overdue visit to Durham in the spring. I drove the family to DA and I couldn’t believe how much it has grown. I look forward to our next trip to Durham and catching up with East Coast friends I haven’t seen in far too long.” John Ross wrote, “Just received a PepsiCo Global Marketing Maven award for my work with Buffalo Wild Wings and nominated for a second award

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for the event I created hosting an annual Digital Summit in Silicon Valley for our top volume global customers. Other than that, still volunteering managing New Orleans Jazz Fest social media and planning big summer at various European Summer festivals, practicing my former Cavs mascot dance skills.” On a more personal note to me, which leads me next to Webb Roberts and then my notes, John wrote, “Love all your Rosati updates, it takes a lot of love to help him get through a most challenging daily life that he faces. Learning a lot from that guy.” Well said, JDR … Webb recently attended an event in Raleigh that I helped pull together. Was nice to catch up with Webb at the “City of Oaks and Hope ALS Gala.” Webb wrote, “… I appreciate you making me feel welcome at the event. Seeing Chris in person, you could just feel the goodness and everything that’s coming from him. He’s a buddha, and showing the rest of us the right path. As for notes … I really don’t have much exciting news. It’s a quiet life up here, but maybe: I enjoy the outdoors in Roanoke, Virginia, and working with my brother, Bennett, at Matrix Brokerage.” As for me (Laura Zimmerman Whayne), a quick update. I moved to a home in Chapel Hill much like my house on Somerset that most of you all visited for my pool parties. A one-story ranch with a pool, of course! I tore two ligaments and a tendon while running last summer and underwent extensive and awful reconstructive surgery on my ankle in October. Did not walk from August until New Year’s! It was pretty rough. But gained tons of support from many of you … family, friends, etc., and learned to

walk again in January! I’m back to doing aerobics, working out every day. … I may not run again. But, that’s okay! Was engaged as you all probably saw on FB, but called it off knowing it just wasn’t “right.” Still smiling here! Selling real estate with my mother at RE/ Max Winning Edge. Still designing jewelry although mainly for children at UNC Hospital for a charity I formed called Project Sparkle. My son, Hayden, is graduating from East Chapel Hill High School in June and attending VA Tech in the fall. I am grappling with him going to college! My daughter, Lew Lew, is 13, in seventh grade and leading the world! Saw Steve Snider, William Burnette and Ferrell Carpenter in January, which was such a fun treat! And most importantly, have spent much of my time trying very hard to spread the word of all that Chris Rosati ’89 is trying to do. If you have not been following his story, please do so. Google his name, and you will find inspiring stories everywhere. Most recently his story was covered by CBS’ Steve Hartman regarding Chris’ butterfly effect. I am planning a BIGG event in Chapel Hill in October or November, similar to the event that Webb, Kirsten Vollmer ’87, Kirsten Gardner Venema ’87 and I attended. However, this event will be for Chris Rosati’s Inspire Media Network. Will get the word out on the dates. John Ross, I may want to get your help on this one! I have been a part of watching the magic that happens when Chris speaks. I have experienced the kindness and energy he spreads first hand. My daughter and my niece, Alida Zimmerman ’12, have been deeply moved by Chris Rosati and are both making things happen in

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different ways. you are terrible Reunion Thank you, at math like DURHAM ACADEMY Chris Rosati, for I am and you FALL ALUMNI WEEKEND well … just OCT. 2 & 3, 2015 still don’t feel being you. I was that old … I Spread the word. able to see David Register at www.da.org/alumni. still need to Ravin ’89, remind you of Mandy Ravin Turvey ’89, Besty something big! Our 25th reunion Hage ’90 (thank you for walking is coming up! (I know, I cannot on my ALS “For Rosati” team, believe it either.) I would really like Betsy), Charlie Wilson ’89, Jory to ‘strongly encourage’ everybody Berson ’88, Chris Porter ’88, to consider making the effort to Torsie Judkins ’91, etc. at an come back to DA/Durham. I event for Chris in November. DA crashed last year’s 25th and 20th … what a wonderful school we reunions, and it was fantastic. I attended. We are family. And, would love to see everybody! PS: we certainly know how to pull Answer your phones when I call together when needed! Much love to stalk you to come! And do not to you all! try to un-friend me on Facebook.” Carol Brinkhous Wertz and her husband, Phill, will celebrate their 20th anniversary this year and Les Evans will take a 10-night Scandinavian Les.evans@gmail.com and Russian cruise this summer. Their sixth-grade daughter Wow folks, it’ll be our 25th was in the school production of anniversary this year — truly Peter Pan, and Carol re-entered amazing. I plan on making as the drama world by becoming much of the reunion weekend as the costume chair with 36 lost possible and certainly hope to children, 17 Indians and seven see lots of you all there as well. pirates to costume! The show Things in Raleigh are well — our was a huge success. Carol and daughters are growing up fast, Phill also ran the Dublin Ireland now 10 and 6. I’ve seen a few ’90 Rock and Roll Half marathon classmates throughout the year. I last August — wow! Durward ran into Betsy Hage in Kinston, of Williams writes that he regularly all places, and we joined Whitby bumps into Whitby, the mayor Joyner at a KISS concert this past of Meadowmont in Chapel Hill, fall at Walnut Creek; and Will he’s looking forward to our 25th Worth and Stacey King at another reunion and is expecting a big concert in May. We also just saw turn out. He said, “Katie Little Leigh Kramer LaFalce’s nieces’ (Moylan) wants to bring us and nephews’ band, Delta Rae, back 25 years and have a Jenn in concert before they headed to Webb (Crowder) style throw Europe … (I like live music). I down to get the weekend started. was also privy to one of our all too Cheers!” Mark Simpson eats infrequent Bojangles’ luncheons too much pizza. Oh yeah, and with Lance Daniels, Bobby he got married to a wonderful Croom, John Markham and girl this January in San Diego. Robin Williams ’89. Speaking Jess is a nurse, originally from of Betsy — “Hey class of 1990! If Baltimore, and they couldn’t be

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happier. Guy Foulks writes in that “Deb and I enjoyed attending the DA alumni reunion in D.C. this spring. It was nice to see Mr. (Steve) Engebretsen after such a long time. Meanwhile, we are now one-year-moved-into a new house that we are loving a lot. We have a great yard with lots of native plants and have been seeing exciting migratory birds passing through. Hoping that we can start to attract more as our garden grows.” Cyndy Allen is still living in Charlotte and is consulting for Bank of America. She enjoys traveling as much she can. Cyndy also stays actively involved in the Charlotte community with volunteering, supporting the Carolina Panthers (she lives blocks away from stadium) and boating on Lake Norman. Cooking and trying fun culinary places in the Queen City are always a must on the social agenda. Japa Kahlsa (Sarah Weaver) has been busy: “Our son is now 4½ and already showing his athletic zeal through jumping, climbing and terrifying me with his fearless moves. I am about to publish a book called “Enlightened Bodies” and connected with Adele Levine ’88, author of Run Don’t Walk: The Curious and Courageous Life Inside Walter Reed Medical Center about my publishing questions. It’s a book for yoga people and yoga teachers — I am still enjoying my practice of Kundalini Yoga and have added Vinyasa Flow to my practice. I enjoy seeing everyone’s posts and pics on Facebook and send blessings to my classmates from the mountaintop. If you are in Albuquerque or Santa Fe, mi casa es su casa so give us a call!” Hope to see many of you at the reunion this October!

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1991

Torsie Judkins tjudkins@TownSchool.org Doug Dicconson and his wife, Kimberly, are enjoying their second child, Jackson Philip Dicconson, who recently turned 1 and along with older brother Parker loves rolling cars and playing ball, just like we all did back in ’91 really. Doug started a company with a group of filmmakers and producers, including Morgan Spurlock, that has been doing well and recently won a few awards, including a News & Politics: Series Webby Award for a film series he did with Paul Allen called WE THE ECONOMY — 20 Short Films You Can’t Afford to Miss. www. wetheeconomy.com. He’s having a blast attacking content marketing and short film through working with world-class filmmakers and storytellers. Doug still lives in Westport, Connecticut, and enjoys seeing his sister Edith ’89 as often as possible. Doug recently got to spend some quality time with Johnny Rosenthal ’90 and Bryson Brodie ’96. Torsie Judkins is working in New York City as a senior administrator at the Town School on the Upper East Side. He commutes from Tarrytown, New York, where he lives with his wife, Bria, and twin girls, Ella and Arlee. Bria is wrapping up her sixth year as the head librarian at the Hackley School, and they are enjoying living on Hackley’s beautiful campus overlooking the Hudson River. Their twins will be applying to kindergarten this fall, and they are ready to take on the stress of kindergarten admissions in New York. Torsie is excited about being accepted to the NAIS

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Fellowship for Aspiring Heads of School. He’s looking forward to potentially being a head of school within the next five years. Allison McWilliams reports that she is in her fifth year at Wake Forest University, as director of mentoring and alumni personal and career development. She gets to travel and enjoys engaging with current students, faculty and staff, and alumni of her alma mater. Allison is also serving as Wake Forest’s United Way campaign chair and is on the steering committee of the Forsyth County United Way Women’s Leadership Council. She also serves on the board of the International Mentoring Association. She enjoys getting back over to Durham to see family as often as possible. Laura Horton Virkler and her family moved to Singapore and are loving the adventure. Their children attend an international school and love living in the city. They don’t have a car and live in a condo that’s a quarter the size of their home back in North Carolina. Asia has become their backyard, and so far they have traveled to Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, China and Australia. Japan, Vietnam, India, the Maldives and Sri Lanka are on the calendar for the next year. Their kids have been able to see so many things that they’ve studied about in history classes and it’s just an amazing experience for them. They are looking forward to coming back to the States this summer and seeing family and friends. It’s been a long time since we have heard from Cory Johnston. He’s a general surgeon in Hood River, a small town in northwest Oregon near Portland. Although he’s busy, he seems to find time to ski and climb, run,

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ride bikes and sail. His wife is a liver cancer surgeon, working in Portland. They have a 1-year-old son named Rocky, and a border collie named Suli. Cory says: “It’s a quaint little life, and if anyone finds themselves in the Northwest, please look us up. We have lots of extra beds for old friends.” Paul Rockwell reports that he is still working at Diversified Foods and Seasonings. His son, William, is just finishing fourth grade and they plan to spend some quality time together this summer.

1994

Bev Foulks bev@stanfordalumni.org The Class of ’94 had an amazing turnout in the fall for our 20th reunion! It was wonderful catching up with everyone in person. This year, we have many different types of announcements — new jobs, births, weddings, moves and book publications! Last spring, David McCoy switched jobs from Bank of America to Merrill Lynch, where he is the senior ecomm product manager. Alycia Levy and her husband, Fabrice Fortin, welcomed a son, Avery Maxwell Fortin, on Oct. 14, 2014. They are currently residing in Long Island City, Queens, and are loving being parents so far! Elizabeth Connor Jones welcomed baby No. 5 on April 12, 2015. Archer Patrick was born at home in the water and came so fast that Elizabeth’s midwife didn’t even make it until he was 20 minutes old! Elizabeth still keeps busy with birth photography and teaching ballet, but for now she is enjoying kissing baby cheeks. Carson Harkrader married Gary Kueber at Max Patch, in the North Carolina

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mountains west associate Reunion of Asheville, in professor DURHAM ACADEMY September 2014. with tenure at FALL ALUMNI WEEKEND Gary is from OCT. 2 & 3, 2015 UNCW, so I am New Orleans looking forward Spread the word. and manages Register at www.da.org/alumni. to some down Scientific time this Properties, which owns Golden summer! Hope that you all are Belt and other Durham properties. doing well — email me with Carson has been working with announcements anytime. her father at Carolina Solar Energy since moving back to Durham in the fall 2012. Carson and Gary are renovating a Martha Rundles Palmer house in Hillsborough and plan Marthapalmer76@yahoo.com to move there later this year. She’d love to keep in touch with As we approach our (gulp!) 20th everyone — she can be reached at reunion this October, here is carsonharkrader@gmail.com. some news from our classmates: Kathy Sanders Bekedam and Elizabeth Wahl lives in San her family are doing well and Francisco with her husband have settled into their life in Jake — a second-year medicine Montana. They have been there resident at UCSF — and nearly for nine months, and they have 2-year-old daughter, Nora, who is only scratched the surface of all a “blonde blur of hair and words.” the hiking, skiing, fishing in their Having finished her training in area, but they enjoy being among rheumatology, Elizabeth is now in low-key, creative people who like a quality improvement fellowship to do their own thing and choose at the San Francisco VA hospital, to live in a state that has nine which she describes as “probably months of winter! Her husband, the most beautiful VA in the Steven, is a botanist liaison for the country since it overlooks the northern Rockies network, based Marin headlands.” On a trip back in Yellowstone National Park, and east this spring, Elizabeth saw Kathy has been volunteering for a Rheanna Platt and Elizabeth local arts center called The Shane Bast. Rheanna works as a child Center for the Arts. It reminds psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins her a lot of the Durham Arts and continues to run after her Council when she was growing son, Paul, now 2½. Elizabeth up. Grace Barada Bell and her lives just outside of Washington, family will be moving back to the D.C., with her husband, Steve; Triangle soon, and I am looking 3-year-old son, Silas; and forward to seeing them when 13-year-old stepson, Mika. they come down to Wrightsville She writes, “Steve and I run a Beach! As for me, when I am not nonprofit environmental advocacy teaching, I am busy chasing after organization called Oil Change my 1-year-old son and 3-year-old International (www.priceofoil. daughter. Last fall I had a book org), which is celebrating its 10th published by Columbia University year in 2015.” Liz Kay is living in Press titled Living Karma, and Worthington, Massachusetts, and this spring I was promoted to gained three new family members

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LEFT: When the moms get together, kids have fun, too! Silas is the son of Elizabeth Bast ’95 and Nora is the daughter of Elizabeth Wahl ’95. RIGHT: Jenny Cadwallader Bernard ’95 and husband David are the proud parents of Tate, Madison, Oliver and Rose.

this year — a dog, Cooper, and two cats, Tater and Tot! She is teaching high school science at The Williston-Northampton School. Liz recently took over the Wahconah High School girls’ varsity basketball team, who had a very good year. She writes, “My little brother Adam Kay ’16 is finishing up his junior year at DA this year — I can’t believe he will be a senior!” Meral KaranDelhaye joined the U.S. Agency for International Development as a Foreign Service Officer about three years ago. She reports, “I moved to Malawi back in August to manage USAID’s democracy and governance programs. Overall my family has adjusted well to life in Africa, and we’re putting our 20-year-old camper van to good use. We’ll be here for four years and always open to visitors!” Kristin Hughey Bowie is living on the North Shore of Chicago with her husband, Ryan, and their three children Lily, 9, Grace, 7, and Liam, 5. Jenny Cadwallader Bernard and her family kick-

started 2015 with a move to Charleston, South Carolina! She reports, “After a short year-anda-half in Miami and 13 years in Boston, it is nice to be in the Carolinas again!” The family welcomed their fourth child, Rose Adeline, on April 2. Rose joined big brothers Tate, 7, and Oliver, 3, and a sister, Madison, 9. “I love being a stay-at-home mom and balancing my time as a Baptiste yogi,” Jenny writes. “I’m a 200hour certified yoga teacher — that will be my next venture when the time is right. I hope to see many friends at our reunion in the fall.” In other baby news, Teresa Alden Stevenson gave birth to a baby girl, Lily, on Oct. 17, 2014. Sweet Lily suffers from a rare genetic disorder that makes producing cholesterol very difficult. Teresa recently celebrated Lily’s half birthday with great fanfare and loves every moment she can spend with her daughter. I, Martha Rundles Palmer, returned to work at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center this May as a writer

and editor in development. Our daughter, Caroline, is turning 5 in June and has been counting the minutes until her Frozen-themed birthday. Our son, Alex, is all boy, playing with anything with sirens and wheels. Save the date for the reunion this fall — Oct. 2 and 3! Stay tuned for more information from the Alumni Office this summer.

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William vonReichbauer William@williamvonr.com Hello, Class of 1996! It is always great to hear from you! Aga Worniallo ChenFu writes, “We made the big move to LA last year! The whole family is enjoying a much more balanced life with lots of outdoor activities. I am still in the fitness field, working at a boutique studio, and the kids are growing fast! If anyone is out here, please reach out! Would love to connect.” Loren Clemens is designing socks and

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riding bikes in Winston-Salem. Christon Halkiotis writes, “I’m in my 11th year as an assistant district attorney in the Guilford County District Attorney’s Office. I work in our High Point office prosecuting felonies, many of which are domestic violence or child sex abuse-related. This past November, after passing the exam and fulfilling the other requirements, I was certified by the North Carolina State Bar’s Board of Legal Specialization as a board-certified specialist in state criminal law. Achieving the specialist designation was important to me to let the victims I work with know that there are lawyers working for the state who are just as knowledgeable, qualified and highly trained as private attorneys hired to represent defendants. In the past few years, I have done some things that I always wanted to but hadn’t gotten around to yet: I got my motorcycle endorsement, learned how to knit and ran three full marathons, including one for charity.”

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Heather Foulks Kolakowski writes, “After seven years teaching at The Culinary Institute of America, I am now a lecturer of food and beverage at the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. I am very excited to be back at my undergraduate alma mater and contributing to the department that I love. In addition to this career change, my husband Jeremy and I welcomed our first child, Nathaniel Alexander, to our family on Sept. 29, 2014. He is a happy little baby and we are delighted! I am attaching a recent picture of him (see p. 71) at the dresslike-your-family day at daycare — since my husband is a chef and I am a dining room manager, the

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outfit is rather fitting.” Badger Koon is directing independent films and commercials on both the East and West Coasts. After joining the Directors Guild, Badger plans to focus on comedic network television. He is grateful for his two nephews, Cosmos and Meta Macleod, sons of Darrin and Kelly Koon Macleod ’98. Doug MacIntyre writes, “The past year has brought quite the change for the MacIntyre clan with the addition of twins! Malcolm Quintin and Helen Britton were born on Sept. 30, 2014 and have turned our world upside down — in a great way. I continue to fly for NOAA as a Hurricane Hunter (flightscience.noaa.gov), although the forecast is for another

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Charlotte Wannop Simons ’96 and husband Paul (not pictured) live in Sydney, Australia, with daughters Mackenzie, Lucinda and Arabella. • Aga Worniallo ChenFu ’96 and her family have moved to Los Angeles, where they are enjoying “a much more balanced life with lots of outdoor activities.” • Mike Dolan ’99, wife Natasha and son Grant live in Davenport, Iowa, where Mike works for John Deere. • William vonReichbauer ’96 and Heather were married Nov. 1 at Hanover Park Vineyards in Yadkin County.

quiet season in the Atlantic. That is fine with me; more time at home with the little ones!” Charlotte Wannop Simons is still living in Sydney, Australia, with her husband, Paul, and her three daughters, Arabella (nearly 7), Mackenzie (4) and Lucinda (nearly 2). She writes, “Looking forward to coming back to visit North Carolina this summer for the first time in four years! Will attach a few pics from our recent holiday up in Queensland.” As for me, William vonReichbauer, I married my beautiful wife, Heather, on Nov. 1 of last year at Hanover Park Vineyards in Yadkin County. It was especially awesome to have Loren Clemens in my wedding party. In addition to keeping me sane in the weeks leading up to the wedding, she provided exceptional backup vocals at the reception when I sang my wife a zombie-themed love song I wrote on the occasion of our marriage. I recently finished my second season with the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra as Director of Production and Operations, and I continue to stay busy teaching and performing in the Houston, Texas, music and dance scenes. Until next year, best wishes everyone!

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Kadi Thompson kadithompson@gmail.com Ashley Horton Freedman is really enjoying living in Durham again. Her daughter, Logan, will be in second grade at DA next year, and her son, Hunter, will be in pre-k. Ashley and her husband, Andy, welcomed a son in April named Grayson Price Freedman. Morgan Edwards

ABOVE: Bradley Hardy ’98, left, lives in the D.C. area and enjoys getting to see his brother Allan Hardy ’91, who lives not so far away in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

Bradley Hardy ’98

Educating young minds in the nation’s capital Since finishing Durham Academy in 1998, I’ve lived in Atlanta, Georgia, the Washington,

D.C., metro area, and Lexington, Kentucky, where I became a Wildcats basketball fan. This has tested friendships in and around Durham and North Carolina understandably. After finishing undergrad at Morehouse, I spent a few years working off Capitol Hill in D.C. and earning a master’s degree. Since 2011, I’ve worked as a professor at American University in Washington, D.C., and live in nearby Montgomery County, Maryland. The work is interesting, and I frankly could not have predicted that I would eventually get into research and teaching — though it turns out I’m just following the family profession. My research and teaching are focused on poverty and related public policies, and I teach graduate courses in microeconomics to students pursuing the master of public policy degree as well as the master of public administration degree. As it turns out, calculus with Mr. Cullen has proved quite useful, but frankly the full array of DA courses did as well! Much of my day-to-day work involves research and consulting projects on economic well-being and inequality with the U.S. Census Bureau, the District of Columbia Government, as well as some nonprofit think tanks in the D.C. area. Outside of work, I explore the growing D.C.-area food scene, and I’m also something of an intermediate cyclist. I say intermediate in that I’ve purchased the cool cycling equipment and gear, but I’m actually not particularly fast on the bicycle. In my research, many of the questions I ask relate to employment, health and educational outcomes in adulthood. This work ultimately relates back to the full range of events and resources received during childhood, inclusive of the characteristics of one’s neighborhood, family and school. Reflecting back on my time growing up in Durham and at DA, we really did have the best teachers and coaches, and a great learning culture. Like others in the class of ’98, I know it helped to propel me to the things I’m doing today. I’ve enjoyed hearing about the improvements on campus and at the “Cav Dome,” though it is hard to imagine a renovated and air-conditioned gym. I think the lack of A/C was probably a major component of the strength and conditioning, and helped to offset pre-practice Bojangle’s meals. Most of you would still recognize me, though the main development is that I’m growing more hair on my beard than on my head — a sign of the times, age and genetics. My brother Allan, who, despite being older, has a very full head of hair … but I digress … also attended DA for many years and would have been in the graduating class of ’91. He’s recently married and living in nearby Fredericksburg, Virginia. Both he and his wife are practicing physicians, and he specializes in gastroenterology. We hang out in D.C. whenever we can, and have become Wizards fans in the process. Best wishes to all the current and soon-to-be DA alums. I hope you are doing well, and I miss seeing my former classmates.

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Whaley lives with her husband, John, and two sons, Charlie (7) and Jackson (5), who attend Durham Academy. She works in the finance department at The Hill Center. Meredith White Howell has been living in Atlanta since 2012, when her husband started working for Georgia Tech. They have two daughters, Lena and Lillian, both of whom are big Yellow Jacket fans. They get to spend a lot of time with their neighbor and DA alumna Natalie Lowe Raab ’99 and her family. However, they are looking forward to escaping the Hotlanta summer and spending some time in Durham while her oldest daughter attends DA summer camp! Our world traveler, Brooke Staton, is finishing up her fifth year in Jakarta, Indonesia, and is excited to be moving to Vienna, Austria, in August, where she has accepted a kindergarten teaching position at the American International School. August will mark the start of her tenth year living abroad and her third continent! Charlie Hart just moved back to NYC after five years in London, and he’s expecting a baby this September. Meghan Hansing MacNabb and her husband are living in Garner. She works at BB&T in downtown Raleigh and is a team leader for a group of analysts that administers corporate retirement plans. Her daughter, Olivia, turned 4 in April and her 15-year-old step-daughter, Zoe, is about to close out her sophomore year in high school and loves to remind Meghan how old she is! Matt MacKelcan released a new album “From Where I Stand” in late fall, and it is available on iTunes/Spotify. It was nominated by Indie Music

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Digest as Album of the Year 2014. Matt will be going on a tour throughout the East Coast in July/August and would love to see some DA friends. He ran into Bob Brownlee briefly at MUSC in Charleston, South Carolina. I, Kadi Thompson, moved to Los Angeles last summer and commute to San Francisco every other week for work (still in merchandise planning at Sephora). When I’m not soaking up the sun in LA, I’m getting to enjoy time with my beautiful niece and nephew in the Bay Area, so life couldn’t be better!

1998

Kate Lessey Laine Kathryn.laine@gmail.com Molly Shaw is still living in Charlotte and working for Communities In Schools, a nonprofit student support and dropout prevention organization. Together with her husband, Dave, she welcomed Maxwell (Max) Shaw Webb into the world on Oct. 29 of last year. Max is a digital native and enjoys FaceTiming with Betsy Fox, who writes that she is still loving San Francisco and Google and doing lots of traveling. Anna Rogers Pfeiffer writes, “This year was a big one for me, as my husband Zach and I welcomed our own little boy into the world on 4/28/14! The year has just flown by though — he’s walking now and getting into everything. He loves our little mini-farm, especially watching the goats and chickens. We got to travel a lot this past year as well, which has been fun if not a little different with a baby :) Just living life and watching this little

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one grow; it’s everything I could ask for!” Nick Torrey is happy to report that his son, James, will be starting kindergarten at DA this fall. Alison Sexton Salvatori is enjoying being a stay-at-home mom in St. Louis with her four kids (Molly, 7, Adele, 6, Penelope, 3 and Joe, 1). She’s staying busy with carpool, gymnastics, Girl Scouts, swimming and bike riding, and still slowly publishing her graduate schoolwork on the side (check out American Journal of Physiology for those interested). Natalie Kaplowitz Hutchinson is enjoying motherhood immensely and writes that her daughter, Hannah Culver, will turn 1 on July 9. “My position as dean of students at Charlotte Country Day School keeps me on my toes and has been incredibly rewarding. Each day is different, both at home and at work!” Jon Enberg and Anne are living in San Francisco and have added a furry member to the family — their dog, Sisu. Cheryl Stephens Meyer writes, “In 2013, I finished a master’s in library science and started working as a children’s librarian in Asheboro. Our daughter, Corinne, is already looking forward to turning 4 and becoming a big sister in November! When we are not hanging out at the [N.C.] Zoo with the polar bears, we are usually traveling to visit friends and family all along the East Coast.” Wylie Carhartt is completing residency in internal medicine and pediatrics and has accepted a position with Mountain Park Health Center in Phoenix, Arizona. He ends his update with some especially happy news, “My wife, Lauren

Carhartt, and I are expecting our first child in October.” Brad Hardy writes that he still makes it back to Durham frequently to see his parents. “These days, I live in the D.C. metro area and work as a professor at American University in the School of Public Affairs. Hoping everyone in ’98 is doing well …” And lastly, I (Kate Lessey Laine) am still living in the Helsinki area, working for Philips Healthcare and trying to keep up with my sons, Gabriel, 6, and Benjamin, 3. I get together with Ulla Ryynänen when our schedules allow — she’s focused on finishing her Ph.D. While I don’t get the chance to visit the States very often, by a stroke of blind luck, I did happen to find myself in downtown Durham on the night of Duke’s NCAA championship win!

1999

Nina Jacobi Nina.jacobi@gmail.com Molly Prentis Richey and her husband, Brent, moved to Chicago last August and welcomed a baby girl, Elizabeth (Ellie) Nixon Richey, in December. After graduating with her master’s in educational administration last May, Molly has decided to put a hold on her career for a bit to stay home with her daughter. “It has been a whirlwind with a new baby in a new city,” says Molly — but they are loving it so far. Tess Tabor Day is living in Seattle with her husband, Ryan, and two sons: Jack, age 2, and Liam, born May 1. In her “free time,” Tess is a senior stylist for Stella & Dot and an area director for AuPairCare. Mike Dolan and his family are living in Davenport,

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Iowa, where Mike continues to work for John Deere, and his wife Natasha recently finished her graduate degree in education. Their son Grant turned 1 in April, and they are expecting a second boy in September. Daniel Raimi will be moving to Ann Arbor, Michigan, this summer with his wife, Kaitlin, who has accepted a faculty position at the University of Michigan. Daniel will continue his work on energy policy with Duke University while taking on additional teaching and research roles at the University of Michigan. Daniel and Kaitlin are excited about the new opportunity — and hoping to stay warm. Mary Guiteras has moved down to New Orleans to work with The New Movement Theater and The New Orleans Shakespeare Festival. Visitors are welcome! Lindsay McCrory Monti continues to practice corporate law and mergers and acquisitions, mostly related to buying or selling tech companies or physician practice groups. Lindsay’s husband, Christopher Monti, is a JAG attorney with the Joint Special Operations Command and splits his time between Fort Bragg and Washington, D.C., so they get to spend quite a bit of time back in North Carolina. “It was wonderful to see a handful of our classmates this past fall at the 15th reunion,” Lindsay says. Erika Estrada Boden and her husband are about to celebrate the first birthday of their daughter, Aria Harper Boden. They recently sold their townhouse and bought a house in Palmetto Bay, a suburban village just south of Miami proper. Erika is still working as an in-house attorney at Fox

International Channels Latin America, where she has been for 5½ years and counting. Tanner Hock is living in Chapel Hill with his wife and three kids and has been working to develop an educational web application, ReadTheory.org. After finishing up a physical medicine and rehabilitation residency in June, Margaret Jones will be driving cross-country to live in northern New Jersey, 30 minutes outside of NYC, to complete a fellowship in spinal cord injury medicine at the Kessler Institute of Rehabilitation. After this one-year fellowship, her official training will finally be complete and she’ll be looking for a job! Margaret has continued to enjoy life in Seattle and the beauty of Pacific Northwest. Matt Crawford is living in Durham and finishing his second year of orthopedic residency at Duke. Several of our classmates are also in medicine at Duke, including Josh Boyd and Colleen Stack. Charlie McIntyre recently completed his first year at Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine and will also be at Duke this summer with the Department of Anesthesiology. Before med school, Charlie was working with Duke and UNC as a research coordinator in Kenya and Chapel Hill. He is now living in downtown Durham and taking his lab pup Cameron to any body of water in the state that he can find. As for me — I’m living in Washington, D.C., where I continue to work in consulting. I’ve recently been doing a lot of work with state governments on new models for paying for healthcare. As always, it is awesome to hear from everyone. Please keep in touch!

2000

Class of 2000 Reunion

that pre-20th reunion nipDURHAM ACADEMY tuck! Tyler and FALL ALUMNI WEEKEND OCT. 2 & 3, 2015 his boys often collect with the Spread the word. Register at www.da.org/alumni. I am very glad Berchucks and to assume the the Pattersons post of recorder for the Class for play-dates with their children. 2000 again after a brief hiatus — Fellow Durham resident Alex from the updates sent, it sounds Massengale is married with two like everybody has been busy! children; he went to graduate Since we last spoke, I graduated school at Wake Forest graduate from Duke University with a school and teaches high school pair of graduate degrees and social studies at Woods Charter moved to Seoul, South Korea, to School in Chapel Hill. Since DA, work for the Samsung Group in Alex has traveled to 25 countries energy development. I have since and spent considerable time in returned to my beloved New York New Zealand. Caroline Kibsey City to work in a small family (Amy Simms) and husband Mike office based in Greenwich, CT. Kibsey welcomed their second This spring, fellow ’00s Ben child, Veronika Leigh, last fall. Berchuck, Dave Proctor and Her first child, Michael Alexander, Matthew Potter and I collected 7, is enjoying being a big brother. in Indianapolis to root the Duke The Kibseys reside in Herndon, Blue Devils to their fifth NCAA Virginia, and Caroline works for men’s basketball title. the Department of Defense as an Ben Berchuck lives in Durham, East Asia regional analyst after not far from where we collected six years of service. In Denver, every day at 8:15 a.m., and works Colorado, Sam Califf is working for the Wasserman Media Group on his Ph.D., studying aerospace in Raleigh as global media engineering and magnetospheric director. He and his wife, Kelleny, physics. Sam and his team welcomed their second child, measure charged particles and Jack, into the world last year. Lee electromagnetic fields in space to Patterson also lives in Durham understand how the sun impacts with his wife, Lucy, daughter the near-earth environment of Lila, 3, and son Davis, 1. He is a space. I will look to Mr. Parry to corporate and securities attorney verify the validity of the last cut/ at Morningstar Law Group and paste sentence. On April 18, Sam is very glad that I drafted this got his first hole-in-one at the update for your enjoyment and the Wellshire Golf Course (140 yards enjoyment of our mothers. Tyler / 8 iron) — it’s the little things, Elkins-Williams lives in Chapel you know? In the past two years, Hill with his wife, Priti, a graduate Wes Crill has “defended a Ph.D., of rival Forsyth Country Day gotten married, adopted a second School, and their sons Walker, 3, dog and had identical twin girls. and Sutton, 1. He has completed Other than that, it’s been pretty his general surgery residency at uneventful period for me.” I enjoy UNC and is currently there in Wes’ updates thoroughly. “Life fellowship for plastic surgery — is good,” says Emily Ballard so keep his contact info handy for Williams. After getting her Robert Allen robertfallenii@ gmail.com

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M.B.A. from the “unmentionable light-blue-colored school in Chapel Hill,” she and her family picked up and moved to Istanbul, Turkey, for three years. Last summer they moved back to the U.S. and now live at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas. In El Paso, she has been working as a career transition workshop facilitator for recent military vets; she assists soldiers in transitioning (back) into the civilian marketplace with job preparation skills (e.g., résumé writing, interview prep, etc.). When she’s not assisting her military family, she is tending to her own — a 3-year-old boy, a 15-month-old girl and a third on the way! Sarah Graham Motsinger is in her 10th year working for Durham Academy in the alumni and development office. She welcomed her second child, Jack, this past December. Big sister Lilly is thrilled about her new little brother and will be starting her DA journey in pre-k this fall. Jessica Crowe Whilden, who married fellow Cav Guy Whilden, has a beautiful 18-month-old daughter, Caroline. She teaches kindergarten at DA and often sees classmates Sarah Graham Motsinger and Jamie Krzyzewski Spatola around campus. Jamie’s son, John David, was in pre-k this year. Mela Kirkpatrick, after four years of teaching Upper School English at Charlotte Country Day School, is headed on a new adventure to West Hartford, Connecticut, after getting married on upcoming July 4! She is currently on the lookout for teaching positions in the West Hartford area and a warm winter coat, so please reach out if you have contacts in either. Clare Norwood lives and works in Cincinnati, Ohio, after receiving a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of

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Cincinnati. She works for a small, neighborhood-based development company, and for fun on the weekends she cooks for a local restaurant and catering service. She, like the rest of us, relies upon Facebook (hi Joey Selim!) to keep in touch with folks. Josh Hertz is “gainfully employed” in St. Louis, Missouri, where he builds flight simulators. Josh got married last fall — congrats to him and his wife. Anna Allen lives in Raleigh, where she works for the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. She is having a “blast” with her son Samuel, born this past October. Christina Bejan lives in Washington, D.C., where her plays are being performed at the Capital Fringe Festival. Her play Districtland is being made into a TV show and is currently in production. She works in research at the Holocaust Museum and manages a new arts and culture collective, Bucharest Inside the Beltway.

2001

Allison Kirkland Allison.kirkland@gmail.com Amelia Ashton Thorn Amelia.ashton@gmail.com Notice a familiar face recently appearing on your TV? That’s Brendan Bradley, who made his primetime debut as the national spokesperson for Staples (if you haven’t caught these amazing spots yet, check them out on YouTube). This year Brendan will star in their monthly commercials, radio spots and print ads — essentially becoming the “Flo” of Staples. Shopping for office supplies will never be the same. We are pleased to report that more adorable babies have joined our

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ranks. Molly Kane Frommer and her husband, Scott, welcomed their second child, a baby boy named Wesley Harrison Frommer. Born March 11 of this year, he gave new meaning to March Madness! Molly reports that Lucy has taken on the role of “big sister” quite easily and loves giving her little brother lots of hugs. Molly is enjoying her work as a school counselor at Phillips Middle School in Chapel Hill. Lucy often has play dates with Caroline Mage’s daughter Nora, who is walking and talking. Caroline lives in Trinity Park with her husband, Josh Schoedler, and continues her work at MDRC, evaluating the effectiveness of social programs. Down the road, another adorable baby is sure to join in on the Durham play dates soon: Orla Buckley O’Hannaidh and husband Dara O’Hannaidh welcomed a little boy, Conor Séamus O’Hannaidh, in January. Orla is an intellectual property attorney at Womble Carlyle in RTP. Laura Kasson Fiss and her husband, Andy Fiss, also recently welcomed a baby, Sebastian Kasson Fiss, on June 18, 2014. At the time of his birth, they were living in Davidson and both teaching at Davidson College. Since then, they have moved to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where they are both teaching at Michigan Technological University. Laura reports that Sebastian is growing up to be a “Yooper,” although this year the Upper Peninsula had a relatively low snowfall — a season total of only 182 inches! Expecting a little one soon is Jennie Cheesborough. She and her husband, Kyle, will welcome a baby girl in August. Jennie will begin her chief resident year at Northwestern in plastic

and reconstructive surgery, and is applying for microsurgery fellowships (because seven years just wasn’t enough, she says!). Mike Munson and his wife, Sophia, back to Chapel Hill recently. He now practices estate planning and small business law as an associate with the firm of Higgins, Frankstone, Graves & Morris, P.A. Also on the move is Maggie McPherson Weir, who recently relocated from Manhattan to Brooklyn with her husband, Chard. Anne Lacy Gialanella moved to a new home in Washington, D.C., with her husband Matt, with a bit more space for their son Logan, age 1, to walk around in. Amelia Ashton Thorn and her new husband, Evan Thorn, often hang out with the Gialanella family. Amelia and Evan, who are both lawyers at firms in D.C., were married at Duke Chapel in April, a few days after the Duke University basketball team brought home the NCAA trophy. Amelia is still trying to decide which event was more exciting. At a rival institution, Jessica Streck Ortolano graduated from the master’s program at UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Information and Library Science. She was recently inducted into the Beta Phi Mu Honor Society for International Graduate Honor Society in Library and Information Science! Jessica works as a media specialist at Phillips Middle School in Chapel Hill. Holding down the fort in the Bull City is Nick Lehman, who says he’s enjoying watching our hometown gradually evolve into a hipper version of itself. Nick works as a beer deliveryman for Fullsteam Brewery, cruising to restaurants, bars and stores throughout the Triangle. Just a few minutes down the road is Beth

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Brendan Bradley ’01

Meet the ‘Staples Guy’ O

Photo courtesy Staples

ne of the little known quirks of being a professional actor is offering a verbal résumé every time someone asks, “What have I seen you in?” Hmmm ... did you catch a lot of regional theater in North Carolina in the late ’90s? Are you familiar with what the kids call The YouTube? Are you the person who didn’t blink during my appearances on shows like NCIS and Wizards of Waverly Place? Until recently, I haven’t always had an answer. When I was 15, I fell in love with acting. I took Eric Singdahlsen’s improvisation class my freshman year, and for our final exam I had to memorize a long list of ABOVE: If you’ve seen a Staples random, assorted words and a commercial this spring, you may have Shakespeare monologue. The spotted a familiar face in Brendan latter got me my first acting Bradley ’01, the “Staples Guy.” jobs at Raleigh Little Theater and led me to study at New York University, The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and pursue a career in entertainment. Who knew the former would come in handy as well? As an actor, your job is pretty much to be unemployed and available for same- and next-day auditions. The rest of your time is spent at a side job and trying not to obsess about everything you did wrong at your last audition. Think of the last time you were job hunting; that’s the perpetual state of an actor. My personal goal is to always book the room, not the job. The casting directors will have other roles in the future, just make a positive impression on everyone you meet and occasionally it’ll go your way. So it was pretty much just another day when I got the first audition for Staples’ new “Make More Happen” campaign. I got the call, snuck away from work, quickly memorized the lines and gave it my best shot. Unfortunately, I mistakenly thought I was auditioning for the customer and not the employee so I memorized all the wrong lines! Needless to say I was pretty sure I had blown it! A week later, I was filming another project in Phoenix when my phone rang. I had a callback for Staples at 10 the next morning in Santa Monica. So when the film released me after midnight, I immediately got in the car and drove more than six hours back to

Los Angeles, arriving with enough time to caffeinate and buy a red polo shirt to look the part. I walking into a waiting room of people who look exactly like me, wearing exactly what I was wearing and many of whom I imagined have not just driven hundreds of miles. I had an advantage though: The scripts were a funny, rapid-fire list of random products to help solve a customer’s problems. Sound familiar? Once I was in the room, I did the old song and dance (no, literally, they asked me to sing and dance on the spot) and rattled off my lists. I got some laughs, we chatted briefly and I went home and finally slept. After the callback, five of us were put “on hold” for a December shoot. This is the industry standard to ensure the actors can commit to the job dates and terms, and the brand has options before they are locked into a contract. The downside is you don’t have the job yet and the odds are one of the other guys will get it. So I waited nervously to hear if I would get the job or be released. A couple of weeks later, the list was cut down to the top three and I was placed on hold for new shoot dates in January. A week later, I was asked to attend a second callback where an actor from Chicago, an actor from New York and I rotated through six scripts with several dozen actors being considered for various “Customers.” It was a marathon casting session and then a few more weeks without the official word until a few days before Christmas ... I got the call: I was the “Guy.” Originally, we shot six commercials in two days, did a photo shoot of me holding every product you can imagine, and a series of radio commercials. A month later, I shot another five scripts in one day and now we’re gearing up for several more and a round of public appearances. It’s the hardest and most fulfilling work I’ve had the honor of performing yet. Literally every facet of my talent, training and experience are tested and pushed to the limit, which is the creative balance every performer seeks. I get to go to work with some of the brightest and funniest creative and business professionals. And I have a steady paycheck for a while, which makes my parents happy. If this story were like every other commercial I’ve auditioned for in the last decade, it would be the same drive, the same roller coaster, the same hustle, but no job. That’s show business and I’m grateful every morning that this time, it went my way. And it’s allowed my “day job” to be my acting jobs. So, what have you seen me in? Right now, I have an answer: I’m the Staples Guy. I hope you’ll keep watching. At www.da.org/magazine: • Watch Bradley’s Staples commercials.

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Matteson Bechard, who lives with her husband in Hillsborough and works as a self-described “professional hippie”— serving as a research coordinator and health coach at Duke Integrative Medicine. She also keeps a private coaching, yoga and essential oils business on the side, and is in the process of training to become an instructor in Duke’s health coaching program. Meredith Bradley Sharpe is enjoying newly married life in New Orleans, where she maintains a private music therapy practice. Meredith reports that her venture is growing and is extremely rewarding work. Her parents, sister (Erika Bradley Wray ’93), brother-in-law and nephews recently moved to New Orleans, and the reunion in the Big Easy has been a treat. We know you all will continue to thrive! Keep us posted about future moments big and small.

2003

Andrea Fjeld andreafjeld@gmail.com There have been some big life changes this year, as the class of 2003 closes its third decade. Promotions, moves out of state, houses purchased and engagement, wedding and baby announcements are popping up in our Facebook newsfeeds daily. And my cat and I are doing just fine, too … Let’s kick things off on the West Coast, where Kirk Kirkland lives in San Francisco with his fiancée, Jamie (his wife, come September) and Rorie, their Cavalier King Charles. He cofounded the venture-backed scholarship company Raise.me and currently serves as its CEO. Monika Lind is also planning a wedding, having recently gotten

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engaged to “the handsomest man on Earth.” In the fall, she’s heading to grad school to study clinical psychology. (Can I get a few sessions on the house?) Moving east: Steven Suggs plans to spend another three years in Cleveland as his wife, Amanda, completes her dermatology residency. In July, he’ll graduate from his emergency medicine residency program at Case Western and become an attending physician. “This past year was great for us,” Steven says. The two are fervent athletes whose recent racing highlights include two Ironman events: Ironman Coeur d’Alene and Ironman Maryland. Steven also qualified and raced in this year’s Boston Marathon, where he caught up with Mark Chandler’s wife. Steven has a lot to report on his former DA peers — and I’m going to print it whether they like it or not. He saw Graydon Goodman at ACEP in Chicago. They both landed in the same medical specialty and are chief residents at their respective programs. And when he’s not running or saving lives? “Yes, I still play Magic: The Gathering,” he tells me. He and Bart Bressler got into a few games over the holidays. And “Josh Considine had a beautiful wedding that I was honored to be at,” Steven says. He concludes: “It’s awesome to be able to go through life with such great friends I made at DA. I feel truly blessed that I was able to go there.” Emily Luger has called Detroit home for the past two years. She works in advertising for Ford and enjoys exploring the growing food and music scene downtown with her fiancé and dog. By the time this is published, Emily will have already tied the knot, as the couple is getting married Memorial Day weekend in Hurdle Mills, North

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Carolina. A few years ago, Kyle Black made the jump across the pond. He’s finishing his work establishing the GlaxoSmithKline business in Cambodia. Next up is London, where he’ll work for GSK’s in-house biotech venture fund for the next year. Somewhat closer to home, Julia Lacy Gaylord and her husband, Jesse, are expecting their first child at the end of May. She is a teacher and administrator at The Field School in Washington, D.C. Among the many DA alumni who choose to stay in North Carolina are Rebekah Brenner Mark and Ben Mark. During a belated honeymoon in California last April, they found out they were pregnant, and the couple welcomed their first child, Elijah, on January 4, 2015. Amidst all of this excitement, Ben is getting his executive Master’s of Business Administration at Purdue in Indiana. Leann Widmark Jocius welcomed her second daughter on Nov. 14, 2014. Jett Elizabeth joins her older sister, Lyra Amber, born Oct. 19, 2011, to make them a family of four. They live in a newly purchased home in Durham’s Forest Hills neighborhood, where we and several other DA graduates grew up. Over in Raleigh, Stephen Dauchert and his wife, Leigh, are expecting their first child this fall. He works for the Redwoods Group and still finds the time to hang out with high school friends. Erik Knelson “just graduated the 24th grade” after completing his M.D./ Ph.D. program at Duke University. He is making the big move up north to Brookline, Massachusetts, where he’s slated to start his residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. His wife, Lauren, accepted a

clinical research position at nearby Boston Children’s. Just a few hours south in New York City, Allie Maxfield teaches Spanish, physics and chemistry to NYC public school kids — which she’s been doing the past six years. She credits her own teachers: “The lessons I learned from my teachers at DA continue to inspire me every single day of my career. The impact of their work has a ripple effect on the youth of NYC today.” On August 2, 2014, she married James Carmichael. Now, back to me and that cat I mentioned earlier. Since January 2014, we’ve lived in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, after hopping around the same borough and Queens for a year. In April, I left my reporting job at Euromoney Institutional Investor for one at the tech company LivePerson, where I am a copywriter and content producer. I work with a talented group of designers, marketing specialists, product managers and engineers, which makes going into the office actually enjoyable. Plus, the free coffee is much better than I’ve had at previous gigs. When you live in this city, I’ve learned that’s absolutely crucial. Good luck to my class as we enter our 30s and face the new and exciting adventures this decade will hold.

2004

Stephen Barlow Barlow.stephen@gmail.com Brittany Bussian Birch moved back to Durham in July 2014 with her husband, Tyler, who is attending Duke Business School. Shortly thereafter, she passed the North Carolina Bar and took a job at the North Carolina Supreme Court as a law clerk for Justice

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LEFT: Theo makes his home in New York City with Jenn Tanaka ’05, a corporate attorney, and her husband, Andrew. RIGHT: Tanyss Knowles ’05 has moved back to Vancouver, Canada, after four years of living in the Yukon. She drove the spectacular 2,400 kilometers of wilderness highway from Whitehorse to the southern coast of British Columbia.

Barbara Jackson. Emerich Gutter and his wife, Cate, are living in Chicago with their son, Mark Timmins. Mark will (already!) be 2 years old in July, and their second child, a boy named Wallace Rowe, is due in mid-May. Emerich continues to practice mergers and acquisitions law and recently joined Sidley Austin LLP as an associate in its corporate group. In other Durham Academyrelated news, Emerich is also looking forward to the wedding of his little brother Jamie ’07, to his fiancée, Sam Lamere, this fall. Don Sailer is working as library digital projects manager at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Heather Whaley O’Dell and her husband, Jason, welcomed Lillian Mae O’Dell on March 10, 2015. She was born at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, where Heather works as a liver transplant nurse practitioner. Jenn Tanaka

Class of 2005

left her job as Ransohoff Reunion an associate at is graduating DURHAM ACADEMY Cravath, Swaine from Stanford’s FALL ALUMNI WEEKEND OCT. 2 & 3, 2015 & Moore LLP, Graduate and is now School of Spread the word. Register at www.da.org/alumni. an associate Business and at Gunderson getting married Dettmer LLP, where she works in California this summer, after as a corporate attorney serving which she’ll be moving to San technology startups and venture Francisco to work in the tech capital firms. She lives in New sector. As Nan leaves Stanford’s York City with her husband, business school, classmate Andrew, (married three years May Catherine Harrell will step in 19!) and their dog, Theo. there this coming fall. Catherine has been living and working in Seattle, leading an interface design team at Amazon Web Andrew Weinhold Services. She will be spending Andrew.weinhold@gmail.com the spring teaching a design course at the University of As the Class of 2005 approaches Washington before moving to its 10-year reunion, its members Palo Alto to pursue her graduate are still doing big things from degree in business. The game of coast to coast and overseas in musical chairs continues with fields ranging from business to the medical crew, as Jake Stein medicine, law, environmental will be moving to Seattle over the education and social work. Nan summer to begin his residency in

2005

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internal medicine at the University of Washington. Jake got married in April on the scenic grounds of his grandfather’s farm in Chapel Hill. Several weeks later, he graduated from medical school at UNC-Chapel Hill with a joint M.D./M.P.H. and an induction into the AOA Honor Society. As if that isn’t exciting enough, he and his wife will be traveling to Japan and Malta over the summer before embarking on a road trip from Carrboro to Seattle. About a thousand miles south of Jake’s destination, Mandy Maas is living in LA and finishing up her intern year in a General Surgery residency at UCLA. She graduated from medical school at Emory last year, and has admittedly jumped the East Coast ship for now. Speaking of the East Coast, Jenny Drucker recently graduated from Boston University with a master of science in medical sciences. She

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ABOVE: Phoebe Oldach and Claire Burridge were track and cross country teammates at Durham Academy, and this past year they were teammates once more, rowing for Sidney Sussex Boat Club while studying at the University of Cambridge in England. They managed to excel at studies, socializing and rowing, claiming a division win at the Cambridge City Sprints.

Claire Burridge ’09 and Phoebe Oldach ’09

Moving up the Boat Club ranks, rowing on the River Cam Durham Academy alums Claire Burridge and Phoebe pair proudly took on their new roles as “bow” and “two.” With the

Oldach, Class of 2009, found themselves again sharing an alma mater this year as they pursued master’s degrees in medieval history and computational biology, respectively, at the University of Cambridge. In an even bigger stroke of luck, out of the vast university system of 31 constituent colleges, Claire and Phoebe both ended up in Sidney Sussex College. Back in North Carolina, Claire and Phoebe had bonded over afternoons spent running around Durham in cross country and track practices under Mr. Cullen’s excellent coaching. Meeting up at Cambridge in October, the pair decided to have a go at an endurance sport with absolutely no chance of shin splints, and went to a 500m erg trial to express interest in the college’s rowing team. No doubt thanks to the impressive fitness residual from high school track and cross country, they both did well enough to place into the top novice women’s boat, and enjoyed an incredible term of coursework, talks and formal dinners interspersed with gut-wrenching erg sessions and early morning outings spent weaving between swans and houseboats on the River Cam in their eight-women crew. Another amazing DA coincidence? Julia Kelsoe ’10, is doing a master’s at Cambridge and is rowing for Clare College. Although they are technically competitors, a lot of friendly waving goes back and forth between the Sidney and Clare boats. After Michaelmas term ended, Claire and Phoebe continued their Cullen-instilled training discipline over the Christmas holidays, and ended up being the only two ex-novices bumped straight into Sidney’s women’s first boat (W1) at the start of Lent term. The 64

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promotion up the boat club rankings came a larger-than-expected increase in time commitment and training intensity, and while notably shin-splint free, Claire and Phoebe greatly enjoyed learning about the truly vast range of possibilities in the world of athletic injuries. In their time with W1, Claire and Phoebe have built up an impressive record, including bumping twice in Lent Bumps (a fourday tournament where the goal is to actually bump into the boat in front of you), racing 7k on the Thames in the Women’s Head of the River race and collecting pint glasses for a division win at the Cambridge City Sprints. Somehow, they also managed to continue to excel in studies and socializing, despite an unreasonable amount of time spent in Lycra on the water and in the gym. Claire plans to continue at Cambridge for her Ph.D., and has been elected as the women’s vice captain of the Boat Club. The position involves recruiting and coaching novice rowers, and the Herculean task of organizing eight rowers, a cox and a coach for the women’s first boat in the midst of the frenzy of Cambridge exam term. Phoebe is one of the troublemakers whom Claire has to battle to organize, as she spent a considerable portion of the spring months flying back and forth across the Atlantic for graduate interviews in the States. She will begin a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology at Columbia in the fall and will be greatly missed by all of the Sidney Sussex Boat Club and especially Claire. After a few more weeks of racing, culminating in four days May Bumps, they plan to spend much of the summer learning to scull and occasionally working on their dissertations.

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will return home to Durham to begin medical school at Duke in August, before marrying her fiancé, Luke, in October in Atlanta. Jenny’s time at Duke will overlap with Katherine Brazer, who just finished her first year at the Fuqua School of Business. Katherine is spending the first part of her summer traveling in China and Thailand, then will complete an internship in product management and marketing for IBM in RTP. Bethany Walters is finishing her one-year internship at Red Bank Veterinary Hospital in New Jersey. Although she says that it has been a great learning experience, she can’t wait to get back to North Carolina. The jury is still out on what Bethany will be doing next year, but it will definitely involve working with zoo and/or exotic animals in some way. Other classmates have taken time to experience and enjoy the outdoors, whether as a break from work or as a part of the work itself. Whitney Zimmerman recently passed the three-year mark in Munich, Germany, having opted in late 2014 to switch from an expat to a local contract at the BMW Group so he can stay indefinitely. In June he will begin an executive M.B.A. based in London with the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He continues to enjoy mountain climbing in the Alps and drinking beer in his lederhosen, though normally not at the same time. Tanyss Knowles has been doing less yodeling than Whitney, but did see her fair share of beautiful mountains this spring. She just moved back to Vancouver after four years living in the Yukon of Canada, and along the way drove the spectacular 2,400 kilometers of wilderness

highway from Whitehorse to the southern coast of British Columbia. Tanyss is transitioning south so that she can begin her master’s of social work at the University of British Columbia in September. Meanwhile, Jeff Speir, another West Coast nature-phile, graduated from Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon, in May. He will sit for the Oregon bar exam in July and plans to practice environmental law, focusing on the areas of air pollution and species protection. Rich Preyer has also made a commitment to environmental work (and all the little animals), as he just finished the first year of his master’s program in environmental studies at Antioch University in New Hampshire. This summer, he will be designing environmental education programs for the City of Asheville, where he lived for several years before beginning graduate school. As the degrees, weddings and frequent flyer miles continue to roll in, the Class of 2005 looks forward to catching up in person to share stories both old and new in the fall. The DA family may be spread thin geographically, but there are still plenty of common threads that keep us together as we build some amazing lives around the country and around the world.

2006

Imani Hamilton Imani.hamilton@gmail.com Hello from the Taipei airport! As I write this, I’m on an overnight layover awaiting my flight to Bangkok for a three-month tour of Southeast Asia! After working for four years, I’ve decided it’s time to

switch careers and return to more project-based design work, so I’ve ended my job and I’ll be taking the rare seam between careers to explore and take a real vacation. And I’m excited that I will be joined by LaQuesa Gaillard the last two months! I was lucky enough to see a few friendly DA faces this year — beyond seeing my dear friends Jordan Schiff and Tarun Wadhwa all the time in the Bay Area and many more in North Carolina, I had the pleasure of visiting with Logan Roberts in New Orleans, and Nick Thomas, Nick Gallo and Caroline Stubbs on their visits to San Francisco. Caroline got engaged in Paris last fall to Seth Jones, whom she met in dental school at UNC. The two are getting married in the North Carolina mountains next year. Heather Hoffman is currently living in NYC, finishing her first year of a two-year pediatric dental residency at NYU/Bellevue. She spends most weekends in D.C., visiting her newlywed husband as he works in an oral surgery residency at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. Nick Gallo reports that he’s still having fun traveling and working for the Oklahoma City Thunder — and that it’s always great to see DA friends in different cities around the country! Jake Engebretsen is the assistant athletic director at Asheville School in Asheville, North Carolina. Jake just finished his first full year there (after starting in January 2014), and he is also the head varsity boys basketball and varsity girls lacrosse coach. This summer, he’ll run a Nike Basketball Camp at Asheville School. Michael Hutchings is enjoying living and working in New York. Sean

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Taylor finished law school at University of Minnesota this spring, and will be working in Minneapolis. It sounds as though he will also be weaving around Thailand and Vietnam with his girlfriend this summer! Also on the Asian continent, Camilla Kelsoe wrote from the Hubei Province in China, about to start on her dissertation research for the next two months: “I am at the University of Pittsburgh for a Ph.D. in archaeology. Specifically, I’m studying the emergence of social inequalities (ranked social classes) in southern China during the late Neolithic, roughly 7,000 to 5,000 years ago. I’ll be doing my dissertation research in the first half of the summer, then in the second half I’ll be returning to Pittsburgh where I’m getting married!” Meredith Hall writes: “One month ago I married the best guy on the planet, Geoffrey Gummerson, and I am now officially Meredith Hall Gummerson! My sister Rachel ’10 was the maid of honor at our wedding. Our little family of three (with our dog Fletcher) is in the process of buying a house, assuming inspections go as planned, and I have accepted a new position as an ECGC Teacher at Quail Hollow Middle School next year. I am planning to begin my master’s work this summer. Geoffrey and I also completed two more half marathons this year, doing one of them with Rachel. I guess a lot has happened, but it all has fallen into place so well that it seems completely normal.” More wedding bells! Kyle Sloate will graduate from Duke’s Physician’s Assistant Program in August and will marry Rob Kirkland ’07 in October! I’m looking

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forward to coming back to the States for her bachelorette in August. Despite squeezing this in on a layover, I have to say how happy it makes me to watch us all grow up and grow into the people we want to become. It’s quite cool to see how the essential traits I remember most about many people have translated into their adult/professional lives. This year I’m all about zeroing in my own. That’s enough zen for now!

2007

Brooke Hartley allisonbrookehartley@gmail.com The Class of 2007 enjoyed a year of tremendous accomplishments, major changes and ongoing success. They’ve made the Durham Academy community proud. After a few years living in New Jersey and working for Bloomberg, Robert Brazer will be starting business school at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Robert also passed the challenging CFA certification process this year. He’ll be enjoying some welldeserved time off over the next few months before classes begin, hopefully getting the opportunity to travel. Sarah Ransohoff remains in the New York area, living in Brooklyn and working as a software engineer for Venmo. In her spare time, she performs improv around the city, no surprise to DA alumni familiar with her great sense of humor. Christine Hardman has become a D.C. insider and continues to work on Capitol Hill. She recently started a new position as the communications director for Congresswoman Mimi Walters, representing Southern California’s

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45th district. Also in D.C., Adam Marshall recently graduated from George Washington University Law School and passed the bar. He’s currently a legal fellow at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in D.C., where he focuses on open government work. Always the eternal globetrotter, Tricia Chesson will begin her second year in Yangon, Myanmar, with a new job at a local women’s organization, Akhaya Women. She’ll be managing a gender-based violence prevention and response program. The program will create the city’s first survivor services referral network, strengthen prevention practices and support community mobilization. When not trying to save the world, Tricia looks forward to traveling around Asia with Myanmar as her home base. Since starting with Teach for America upon graduating from college, Jamie Gutter remains committed to education. He’s now working at a brand-new charter school in Nashville and was a finalist for teacher of the year in Tennessee! He got engaged last August, and will be getting married this October. Since graduating from Stanford, Alison Dame-Boyle has been living in San Francisco, working for the Electronic Frontier Foundation — a digital civil liberties nonprofit. She’ll be staying in the Bay Area to attend Berkeley Law School this fall, and points out that she’ll “still be in school when our 10-year reunion rolls around.” She’s had the chance to see Tricia Chesson, Cathy Bryson, Anne Hart and Kendall Bradley on different visits to the city, keeping in touch with the DA crew. This summer, Becki Feinglos will be making the

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move from Dallas to Chicago to study for her master’s at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. Before she leaves for school, she’ll be finishing up her work as a manager for teacher development at Teach for America. In addition, Becki will be tying the knot in Montreal, Quebec, Canada this July! After graduating from Duke in 2011 with a B.S. in psych/ neuroscience, Ashley Greenleaf worked in project management for the pharmaceutical industry. She recently took a career shift and is head of operations for Triangle Cellular Repair, a company owned by Nick Wisner ’06. She’s helped the company grow from just one location in Raleigh to stores in Chapel Hill and at Southpoint Mall, with a fourth on the way. The store has been feeling the DA love and she gives a shout out to, “Caroline Wisner, Zach Mark and Ken Greenleaf ’04 for help with the graphic design and marketing, and to John Lindsey ’08, Cameron Vann, Cathy Bryson, Liz Sloan and other DA alumni for letting us fix your phones!” When she’s not managing a flourishing business, Ashley has enjoyed traveling all over the world, learning high performance driving at Virginia International Raceway, pursuing her passion for photography, partaking in two Duke national basketball championships and looking forward to whatever comes next. There have been a number of Class of 2007 engagements over the past year, including Cathy Bryson, Cameron Vann, Rachel Spritzer and Vytas Degesys. Congrats to all! I, Brooke Hartley, also got engaged last October and will

be getting married this August in Chicago. I recently started a new job as a director of account management for a tech startup and look forward to finally enjoying some warm weather this summer. Wishing the class of 2007 and the rest of the DA community an amazing rest of 2015!

2008

Samantha Leder Leder.samantha@gmail.com My classmates continue to inspire me with their accomplishments, and this year was no exception. Will Ramsey started his second year at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in Washington, D.C., managing and marketing jazz education, performance and outreach programs aimed at underserved students and communities in the U.S. and around the world. The Institute works closely with UNESCO to organize the annual International Jazz Day celebration, which promotes jazz as a tool for peacebuilding and dialogue. Ashley Brasier moved from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco in February for a six-month externship with a tech start-up called Thumbtack. She has enjoyed reuniting with West Coast DA alums. Michael Conners is now a second year law student at the University of Chicago after leaving work as a commodities trader for a large hedge fund. He will be moving back to North Carolina after graduating to work at a large law firm in Charlotte doing finance and banking work. Brennan Vail is enjoying her third year of medical school at The University of California-San Francisco. She

is excited to be recently engaged to Chris Higgins. Peter Larson is currently living in Windermere, Florida, where he works with the outside operations team at Disney’s Lake Buena Vista Golf Course. He is also excited to be marrying Hillary Rosen ’09 in spring 2016! Thomas Davidson continues to live and work in New York City, working at Morgan Stanley in the private wealth management division. His team focuses on international ultra high net worth clients in jurisdictions such as Israel, Latin America, Canada and Europe. He is currently studying to take the CFA Level 1 exam in December. John Lindsey lives in Raleigh with Zac Allison and stays extremely busy by serving as senator of the National Self Storage Association Young Leaders Group, president of the SC Self Storage Association, and vice president of the DA Alumni Board. He also sits on the board of directors for Caring House and NC Self Storage Association. Leslie Ogden is the assistant vice president at a boutique government relations firm in Washington, D.C. She will also start her M.B.A. at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business in the fall. She will attend Georgetown’s evening program while working full time. Her expected graduation date is 2018. Elsa Ohman is finishing up her time at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers before heading off the Europe for the summer. She will attend Washington and Lee University School of Law this fall. Catherine Donatucci continues to work in Arlington, Virginia, as a government contractor providing business

Q&A with Kylie Reeves ’10

From the Mets to McCann Erickson • Since graduating from Durham Academy in 2010, what have you been up to? After graduating from DA, I attended Haverford College in Pennsylvania and received my degree in economics last spring. While at Haverford, I played soccer for two years (student assistant for the remaining two), served as a student liaison for alumni affairs and studied abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland, for a semester. After graduating from Haverford, I moved to New York City for a job with the New York Mets in the ticket ABOVE: Kylie Reeves’ DA Senior Project piqued sales department. As of March of this year, her interest for working in sports. I am with McCann Erickson, an advertising agency also located in NYC. • Tell us about your job responsibilities with both the Mets and at McCann. Out of the two post-grad jobs I’ve had, my roles within each organization could not be more different. With the Mets, I was in an inside sales training program in which my main responsibilities were creating and maintaining relationships with prospects and selling fullseason, partial-season and group tickets to Mets games. It is definitely an experience I’m glad I had — and, of course, nothing quite compares to going to work every day at a professional baseball stadium. With McCann, I’m on the account team for Merck. My day-to-day consists of the successful delivery of advertising tactics for two allergy medications. It’s a lot of fun being behind the scenes and learning the ins and outs of the advertising industry. There’s a lot of history here at McCann, and I’m thrilled I’ve been able to learn so much and work with such great people. • How did you get interested in working in the professional sports field and how did that morph into advertising? I actually first got my interest in working in sports with my Senior Project at DA. I spent the two weeks of the program as a trainee in the Durham Bulls Sponsorship Services Department, which, luckily for me, turned into a job for the next three summers. After my time with the Bulls, I was given an opportunity to work with Hill Carrow at Sports and Properties, Inc., where I learned even more about the sports and entertainment business. While I’ve deviated from the career in sports, I’ve always been interested in and would eventually like to get back into it. Being able to learn at a large and successful agency in New York City is an amazing opportunity and something that I know will help me thrive farther down the road in my career. • When not working, what do you do like to do with your free time? I’ve loved living in New York over the past year and have really enjoyed exploring the city. I’ve seen Shakespeare in the Park; saw the Rockettes’ Christmas show with my sister Paige when she visited last winter; have, of course, made it to a few baseball games; and even ran my first half marathon in Brooklyn last weekend. I’ve definitely kept up with friends from DA, which has allowed me to travel all along the East Coast to visit them and catch up.

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financial management support to several programs at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. New projects she will be supporting include the Positioning System for Deep Ocean Navigation (POSYDON) and the Squad X Core Technologies (SXCT) programs. She traveled around Peru with Leslie Ogden, Caitlin Crawford and Lauren Bronec last summer and recently traveled to New Orleans with several other DA alumni for Mardi Gras and Katherine Hodges’ debutante ball. Isaac Uhlenberg taught at several dance studios in the Triangle area during this past year, working with children to adults. This past October he moved to North Hollywood, California, in order to continue training and to work with choreographers heavily involved in the entertainment industry. With the North Carolina dance scene being so young, his goals center around representing the NC community in Los Angeles, and bringing his experiences back to N.C. to facilitate its growth and access to the dance industry. Wei Leong is preparing to apply to medical school this summer, and living in NYC after graduating with a master’s in biomedical sciences last May. She is currently working in a biomedical engineering lab at the Columbia Medical Center. She also recently completed her 14th half marathon! Sean Sketch recently earned his master’s degree in mechanical engineering at Stanford. He loves the sun and warmth so much that he is staying to complete a Ph.D. He will be working to improve robotbased rehabilitation for stroke patients. When not in the lab or teaching/taking class, you can find

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him running through the hills around campus. Sean wants to say thank you to Mr. Ebert and Mr. Cullen for their teaching and mentorship throughout his time in the Upper School. He wishes them well as they move onto life post-DA and post-track. Emilia Sotolongo graduated from East Carolina with a Master of Arts in Reading Education this May, and was recently inducted into Phi Kappa Phi honor society. Emilia spent her final year designing and implementing research on how to develop orthographic knowledge (knowledge about spelling patterns and sounds) among students labeled limited English proficient, thus receiving ESL services. She presented her research at the North Carolina Reading Association conference in Raleigh and hopes to get it published. After graduating, Emilia will be moving to the Greensboro area and hopes to work as either a middle school teacher or a literacy specialist. Lauren Bronec is celebrating three years with Accenture this June and is now a supply chain strategy consultant within the operations practice. This past summer she hiked Machu Picchu with Leslie Ogden, Catherine Donatucci and Caitlin Crawford and continued her goal to see the entire world with travels to Chile, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. In her free time, she completed her first half marathon in Savannah (hoping to break two hours at a second in Vancouver in August!), joined the young professionals board for New Hope Housing in D.C. and served as a strategic adviser to the National Foundation on Fitness Sport and Nutrition as a part of her pro-bono consulting work. Gabrielle La Force has

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been working at Gemalto in Philadelphia since graduation and recently took a new job with the company in December, which led her to relocate to Austin, Texas. She is currently preparing for the GMAT in hopes of going to business school in the next few years. And finally, Samantha Leder continues to pursue her master’s degree at UNC and enjoys visits from alumni back to the area. Until next year …

2009

Collin Burks Collin.burks@gmail.com Worth Newman Hi from the class of ’09! We are happy to share exciting updates from our class. In Durham, Kyle Mumma is working for Duke football as the coordinator of football operations. He handles logistics associated with travel, meals and facilities on the operations side, and he handles initial recruiting evaluations in addition to being the primary recruiting assistant for the head coach. Laurel Burk graduated summa cum laude from Duke in 2013 and returned to her alma mater for a master’s in teaching degree in the 2013-2014 school year. She is now a first-year English teacher at Northern High School in Durham and is recently engaged to Laura Neubauer, also Duke Class of 2013. Noah Katz is still hard at work in the 3D printing industry. He recently built and installed DA’s own 3D printer in the Upper School Learning Commons. Aside from his work with DA, he constructs 3D printers and does technology consulting for individuals and small

businesses around the country. Also in the area, Gate Jones is currently working as a financial representative at Northwestern Mutual in Durham. Katie Giduz is looking forward to beginning her third year as the Orange County Teen Court coordinator. In addition to working with courtinvolved youth, Katie volunteers with paws4prisons, through which she socializes puppies before they move to a correctional facility where inmates train them to become service dogs. Katie is also a proud board member of various organizations that support at-risk and court-involved individuals in the community. Bekah Pea graduated from the UNC School of Social Work with a master’s in social work and a North Carolina school social work license. She is working toward earning her clinical social work license and has accepted an offer to work as an adolescent therapist at a private boarding school next year. After graduating from Columbia University in May, Chris Pearman will be earning a master’s in organizational psychology. He plans to work at a boutique human capital consulting firm. Outside of work and school, he is continuing to explore New York City and attempting to master the ukulele. Also in New York City, Andrew Herington is working at an architecture firm, Matiz Architecture & Design, and escaping the city to Brooklyn by night. Since graduating from Northeastern University last fall with a degree in electrical engineering and physics, Tristan Swedish has been working for Professor Ramesh Raskar’s group at the MIT Media Lab. Tristan will join the group in the fall as a full-time graduate student,

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exploring how low-cost retinal imaging at scale can inform population health status and improve the quality of care in the emerging world. This summer Tristan will be mentoring his second “MIT Health Technology REDx Camp” in Hyderabad, India. Natalie Gallo is still in her professional counseling master’s program at the University of Oklahoma, working in their athletic department. She is about to begin her practicum internship at the child trauma services department of the OU Health Science Center. Moving across the country, Kevin Ji is heading to the Bay Area to inspire our nation’s youth via Algebra II. Old classmates Phoebe Oldach and Claire Burridge have reconnected at Cambridge in England. While they are both loving studying at Cambridge, you can usually find them on the river — they’ve joined the rowing world and make up the bow pair in Sidney’s women’s first boat. Next year, Claire is staying in Cambridge for her Ph.D., while Phoebe is heading to Columbia to pursue her Ph.D. Your editors, Collin Burks and Worth Newman, enjoyed catching up with our classmates. While Collin is finishing up her first year at medical school at UNC, Worth is still enjoying his work in New York City.

2010

Caitlin Cleaver caitlinhcleaver@gmail.com Ben Preston graduated from UNC Greensboro with a degree in physics and math, and is headed to N.C. State for grad school in aerospace propulsion. He plans

Class of 2010

to spend the performance Reunion time between once she DURHAM ACADEMY graduation completes FALL ALUMNI WEEKEND and the start the program OCT. 2 & 3, 2015 of grad school next year. Spread the word. traveling around This summer, Register at www.da.org/alumni. Europe. Nick she will be Marek had a great senior year at attending the Brevard Music Arizona State. He helped launch Center in Brevard, North Carolina, a sports broadcasting degree for as a member of the Janiec Opera aspiring journalists at ASU’s Company, and she will sing several Cronkite School, experienced small roles with them while she Arizona State hockey elevating continues her training. Tevin to Division I status and won a Wilson just finished his first year student Emmy! Nick moved to of graduate school. He is pursuing the Dallas area after graduating to a master’s degree in political work with the Lone Star Brahmas hockey team as their play-by-play announcer and media relations coordinator. After graduating Lauren Blazing ’11 from UNC last May, Oliver Short lives in Raleigh and works as an IT applications recruiter with TEKsystems. Oliver works with enterprise software companies like Red Hat and LexisNexis to help recruit consultants for various development teams. Sam Jones finished Carolina in May 2014 and joined the Dallas office of the Boston Consulting Group, where he specializes in retail and consumer product strategy. After exploring Texas for a few years, Sam will be pursuing an M.B.A. at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Ansilta De Luca-Westrate graduated North Carolina State University as a Park Scholar ‘14 with a B.S. in sustainable agriculture. She spent the last year teaching business English in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and has recently accepted a teaching position in Shanghai, China. Maggie Ramsey recently completed her first year of graduate school as a member of the University of Tennessee Opera Theatre in Knoxville. She will earn her master’s degree in vocal

science and international affairs at the University of Georgia. His research is focused on nuclear security and congressional influence on national security. For his work as an Intro to American Government Teaching Assistant, Tevin was awarded an Excellence in Teaching Award by the Department of Political Science. This summer he will return to North Carolina to work with a nonprofit organization, Project Hope for Juvenile Arthritis. Since graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in May, Julia

ACC Field Hockey Scholar-Athlete of the Year If earning All-ACC recognition as goalie on Duke

University’s field hockey team weren’t impressive enough, Lauren Blazing ’11 was honored as ACC Field Hockey ScholarAthlete of the Year. She is now one of only two Duke field hockey players in the program’s history to earn the distinction. A cultural anthropology and political science major, this was the third time Blazing has been named to the All-ACC Academic team. The junior goalkeeper has been on the dean’s list every semester at Duke and was a Capital One Academic All-American and a National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) Scholar of Distinction last year. On the field, the Duke junior was a second team NFHCA All-America pick and garnered first team All-South Region and All-ACC accolades during the 2014 campaign. Blazing’s .786 save percentage in the cage led all ACC goalkeepers for the season, while her 1.19 goals against average ranked second in the league. The ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year is awarded annually to the top junior or senior student-athlete in their respective sports. Candidates must have maintained a 3.0 grade-point average for their career as well as a 3.0 for each of the last two semesters. At www.da.org/magazine: • What’s next for Lauren Blazing? Check out her interview with Duke Forward.

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RIGHT: Mairead Horton ’13 curated an exhibit of British artist Thomas Rowlandson during her internship at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens.

Mairead Horton ’13

AP Art History inspires career as curator Last summer, I spent 10 weeks interning at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and

Botanical Gardens in Pasadena, California. It was a big summer for me: my first time living completely on my own — over 2,000 miles from home — and my first time working a 9-to-5 job. Most importantly, my internship was in the Art Collections of the Huntington, where I worked with the curators of the Huntington’s European and American galleries. The Huntington, aside from being a world-renowned research institution, is also incredibly warm and welcoming. While I was there, I was made to feel like a member of the regular staff, helping everyone in the art collections with a variety of projects, attending meetings and eating lunch with everyone every day. Best of all, I got to curate an exhibit on my own, with the support of the Huntington’s wonderful curators. “Working Women: Images of Female Labor in the Art of Thomas Rowlandson” was about the late 18th to early 19th century British satirical draughtsman and printmaker Thomas Rowlandson, focusing on his drawings of Georgian–era women. I was incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to curate the exhibit from the ground up, coming up with the idea, researching it, choosing the drawings (from the Huntington’s extensive collection) and writing all the labels. Over winter break, I went back to the Huntington, this time with my family and boyfriend in tow, in order to help hang the exhibit, which was on display December through April. Seeing an exhibit that I had made hanging on a wall for other people to see was a bit surreal, but overall a very fulfilling experience. I loved working at the Huntington, and it confirmed to me that I want to make my career in museums. I decided I wanted to be a curator in an art museum in 10th grade at Durham Academy, when I took AP Art History with Mr. Adair. I’d never really thought seriously about art before; I liked art museums, but they were just places to go with pretty things to look at. Art History opened my eyes to a whole new way of seeing the world and thinking about it, and truly changed my life. Four years later, I’ve just finished my sophomore year at Princeton, and I’m officially a member of the art and archeology department. I intend to go to grad school for a Ph.D. in art history before going into curating. This summer I’ll be working in the archives and art library here at Princeton, as well as doing independent research. At www.da.org/magazine: • Learn more about the exhibition Horton curated, and see some of Rowlandson’s drawings.

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Kelsoe has moved across the pond to pursue an M.Phil. degree in legal history at Cambridge University. When she is not researching, translating and transcribing sixteenth-century manuscripts on arbitration and contract law, she enjoys rowing for her college’s boat club. It has been particularly great to catch up with two other Durham Academy alums, Clarie Burridge ’09 and Phoebe Oldach ’09, who are also studying at Cambridge. Julia often sees them on the Cam River as they, too, row for their college. Julia hopes to continue her studies and pursue a Ph.D. at Cambridge. Michelle Corea graduated from UNCChapel Hill last August with a B.S. in mathematics and is currently working as a software engineer at IBM in Research Triangle Park. After graduating from Duke in 2014, I, Caitlin Cleaver, moved to Washington, D.C., to work with the firm I have been interning with for the past two summers, a digital strategy firm called Chong + Koster. I have really enjoyed living in D.C. and reconnecting with other DA alums in the area. Rachel Hall graduated magna cum laude from Lenoir-Rhyne University in May 2014 with a bachelor of arts in elementary education and a minor in psychology. She got her teaching license in both elementary education and special education and moved to Charlotte to teach first grade at Tuckaseegee Elementary. She was the maid of honor in her sister Meredith’s (’06) wedding in April. Tatum Pottenger is working with Teach for America in Warren County, North Carolina. She has been teaching 70 third-graders science and social studies and looks forward to another exciting year with her students.

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ALUMNI WEDDINGS

1. Amelia Ashton ’01 and Evan Thorn, April 11, 2015, Durham, N.C. 2. Heather Hoffman ’06 and Mohamed Abdelhakim, Aug. 23, 2014, Chapel Hill, N.C. 3. Meredith Williams ’00 and Matt Chilausky, Nov. 23, 2014, Durham, N.C. Not pictured: Meredith Bradley ’01 and Matt Sharpe, July 26, 2014, New Orleans, La.

ALUMNI BABIES

1. Archer, son of Elizabeth Connor Jones ’94. 2. Heather and Malcolm, daughter and son of Doug MacIntyre ’96 and Kalyn. 3. Nathaniel, son of Heather Foulks Kolokowski ’96. 4. Ellie, daughter of Molly Prentis Richey ’99. 5. Sebastian, son of Laura Kasson Fiss ’01. 6. Lillian Mae, daughter of Heather Whaley O’Dell ’04.

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in memoriam • Robert D. “Bob” Johnston died Jan. 26, 2015, in Southern Pines. He served as headmaster of Durham Academy 1969-1977, where he helped establish the Upper School program, build the Ridge Road campus, graduate the first senior class and fund the school’s first scholarships. He was the founding president of the North Carolina Association of Independent Schools. After leaving DA, he served as headmaster of University School of Milwaukee, Charlotte Country Day School and Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School in Georgia. Survivors include sons Tim Johnston ’79 of Beaufort, South Carolina, and Dan Johnston ’84 of Black Mountain; daughter Jennifer Johnston Shea ’80 of Richmond, Virginia; and seven grandchildren. • Franc Alexander “Andy” Barada, Jr. died Feb. 8, 2015, at UNC Memorial Hospital after a courageous year-long battle with multiple myeloma, amyloidosis and end-stage renal disease. He was a member of the Durham Academy Board of Trustees 1989-1995. A graduate of Wesleyan University and University of Virginia Medical School, he served the Durham community as a rheumatologist for over 30 years. He is survived by his wife of 46 years, Placide Noell Barada; son Taylor Alexander Barada ’90 of Los Altos, California; daughter Grace Barada Bell ’94 of Alexandria, Virginia; and four grandchildren. • Livingston Morehead “Link” Wily ’59 died Feb. 9, 2015, in Pinehurst. He attended St. Andrews Presbyterian University and spent his career in real estate. He especially enjoyed sales and marketing golf course communities. Survivors include Kinsey Wily of Pinehurst; son Fleming Wily of Atlanta; brother John F. Wily, III ’57 of Durham, and sister Margaret Wily Noisworthy ’63 of Aiken, South Carolina. • Cynthia Coote “Cyndy” Blackburn died May 15, 2015, at UNC Memorial Hospital. She was a member of the Durham Academy faculty 1978-1992, teaching drama in the Lower School. Cyndy then founded Act One, Act Now, a youth theater company, which would be her professional passion until her retirement in 2012. Survivors include daughters Sarah Blackburn Brincefield ’99 of Chapel Hill and Natalie Blackburn of Atlanta; son James Blackburn IV ’03 of Washington, D.C.; and five grandchildren.

honored for collective 690 years of service to DA and Hill Center

Thirty-five Durham Academy and Hill Center faculty, administrators and staff were recognized for their years of service on June 4 at the closing faculty/staff meeting. All together, they have been a part of the DA-Hill Center family for 690 years! Lisa Ferrari, president of Parents Association, presented each of them with a book to commemorate their 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 or 35 years of employment at DA or Hill. Honored for 35 years of service were Teresa Engebretsen (Middle School); Edith Keene (Upper School); Lou Parry (Upper School); Sarah Parry (Middle School); and E.C. Taylor (Maintenance). Pete Blackwell (Maintenance); Jan Lamb (Hill Center); and Kathy McPherson (Communications) were recognized for 30 years of service. Judy Chandler (Lower School); Bonnie Cheek (Hill); and Robert Wilson (Middle School) were recognized for 25 years of service. Jordan Adair (Upper School); Tina Bessias (Upper School); Sheri-lyn Carrow (Preschool); Daniela Harrell (Middle School); and Debbie Suggs (Lower School) were honored for 20 years of service. Jerry Benson (Business Office); Betsy Brown (Middle School); Pam Hoggard (Hill); Leslie Holdsworth (Development); Jarrod Jenzano (Upper School); Xandy Jones (Head of School Office); Paula Marr (Upper School); Kari Newman (Upper School); Geraldine Pesacreta (Hill); Antoinette Qutami (Hill); Jill Stafford (Preschool); and Michael Ulku-Steiner (Head of School) were recognized for 15 years of service. Anne Benson (Tech Support); Teri Epsten (Lower School); Chad MacKenzie (Maintenance); Lori Reade (Admissions); Michael Smith (Maintenance); Scott Stancil (Maintenance); and Julie Williams (Middle School) were recognized for 10 years of service.

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Headed for the far-flung edges of the galaxy

Zack Kuo readies his spaceship for a mission at DA Summer Programsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Jedi Engineering Camp. Nearly 1,200 campers will attend 186 enrichment and 22 academic offerings from June 8 to July 24. Approximately 35 percent of campers attend DA, with other campers coming from area schools and as far away as Asia and South America. P H OTO B Y K AT H Y M C P H E R S O N

DURHAM ACADEMY 3601 RIDGE ROAD DURHAM, NC 27705-5599

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Seniors posed for a class photo on May 1, College Signing Day, decked out in T-shirts representing the colleges they will attend in the fall. P H OTO B Y M E LO DY G U Y TO N B U T T S

Congratulations, Durham Academy Class of 2015! We wish you continued success at the following colleges: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

American University Appalachian State University Averett University Barnard College Belmont University Boston College Boston University Carnegie Mellon University Colgate University College of Charleston Columbia University Cornell University Dartmouth College Davidson College Duke University Eckerd College Elon University Emory University Furman University

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Georgetown University Guilford College Harvard University Haverford College High Point University Maryland Institute College of Art New York University North Carolina State University Northeastern University Princeton University Purdue University Quinnipiac University Santa Clara University Smith College Southern Methodist University Spelman College St. John’s College Stanford University University of Chicago

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

University of Colorado at Boulder University of Connecticut University of Michigan University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University of North Carolina at Charlotte University of North Carolina at Wilmington University of Oregon University of Richmond University of South Carolina University of Southern California University of Texas at Austin University of Virginia Vanderbilt University Wake Forest University Washington University in St. Louis Wellesley College Williams College