1968 Summer 2018
Edmund Burke School Magazine
The Social Justice Issue Casting Consciously Using theater to talk about race in America
Student Insight Launching a student-run diversity magazine
Alumni Advocates Alumni in the District are making a difference
1 A Letter from the Head of School 2 The Year in Justice 4 Faculty Perspective: Casting Consciously 7 Student Perspective: #NeverAgain 8 Alumni Perspective: Alumni Advocates 10 Student Perspective: Insight 12 Anticipating 50: Burke Then and Now 16 Class Notes
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Women’s March 2018 by Jonah L. ‘21
\ FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL \
Dear Burke Community, I am thrilled to present to you the inaugural issue of “1968”, Edmund Burke School’s new magazine. For fifty years, Burke has been true to our mission of bringing together a diverse student body and equipping graduates with the tools and the mindset to make positive contributions to their communities and the wider world. We selected “Social Justice” as the theme of this first issue because of the importance we place on teaching and practicing it at Burke, as well as the role that it played in the founding of our school. We know that the social turmoil of the late sixties influenced our school’s founders, Dick Roth and Jean Mooskin, as they decided what kind of school to create. And we also know that today’s political climate makes the need for a school like Burke just as compelling as it was in 1968. As you read through this magazine you will see some of the ways that we weave social justice into our students’ experiences. In the classroom, on stage, and in assemblies and clubs, students learn to examine the world and question their assumptions. We teach them to identify and challenge behavior that demeans, marginalizes, or excludes others. Students who earn a Burke diploma have developed critical thinking skills, moral reasoning and social responsibility. They know how to advocate for positive change. While Burke’s core values have remained the same over the years, many things about the school have changed. As is fitting for a progressive school, we constantly reexamine our practices and make adjustments to reflect what young people will need for success in the modern world. As you can read in Nigel Hinshelwood’s article, Burke has matured since those early days. We are now ready to face the next 50 years, continuing our commitment to helping students from across the Washington, DC area to become better human beings. I invite you to celebrate Burke’s 50th anniversary during the 2018-19 school year, and I thank you for your continuing support of this remarkable school.
With warm regards,
Damian R. Jones Head of School
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THE
YEAR
IN
We work principles of equity and inclusion into every day at Burke, both in and out of the classroom. Here are some of the notable activities this year that helped students learn how to make positive contributions to the world beyond Burke. Steven Lee // Director of Equity & Inclusion
// E.E. FORD GRANT
// CONFERENCES
// RALLIES & PROTESTS
In June, Burke was awarded a grant from the E.E. Ford Foundation to support the integration of the Community Service & Civic Engagement, Leadership, and Equity & Inclusion programs, as well as the development of an interdisciplinary social justice pedagogy and curriculum unique to Burke. As part of this work, the entire faculty and staff read “’With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Privileged Students’ Conceptions of Justice-Oriented Citizenship” by Dr. Katy Swalwell which we discussed in meetings this fall. In December, Dr. Swalwell met with department chairs, grade deans, administrators and teachers to discuss the best ways to integrate social justice into classes. She returned in June to facilitate a two-day retreat with this same group. In addition, the grant also allowed several teachers to attend national meetings such as this year’s Conference on Teaching for Social Justice in Seattle.
Burke students participated in the Sexual Assault and Consent Summit at Georgetown Day School. The recent #metoo and #timesup movements made this meeting especially meaningful. Burke students and teachers also attended NAIS’s PoCC and Student Diversity Leadership Conference. Both conferences opened with a stunning joint keynote address by famed legal scholar, Professor Kimberle Crenshaw and closed with a moderated conversation with author (and independent school father) Ta-Nehisi Coates. We also sent students to the Middle School Diversity Conference, and Diversity in the DMV for high school students, both at St. Andrews Episcopal School.
This fall a group of high school students joined their peers in DC Public Schools to show their support for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). In the spring, students in grades 8-12 who chose to participate in the National School Walkout stood on Connecticut Avenue for 17 minutes of silence in memory of the 17 students and teachers killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas school in Florida. Several students also attended a rally for gun control at the US Capitol. Burke activists were interviewed by media outlets including NPR. (See more on page 7.)
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SOCIAL JUSTICE. As always, Burke students were engaged in service throughout the year, including the traditional book sale for Hope House, volunteering with Food & Friends, and tutoring with Higher Achievement. We strongly encourage students to contribute to their communities, from 6th grade through senior year. Christiane Connors // Director of Service & Civic Engagement
// INTERSCHOOL SEMINARS
// FOOD JUSTICE
// PROJECTS
// NAIS
On MLK Jr. Day Burke joined with Stoneridge School of the Sacred Heart and welcomed over 86 participants to Burke for a day of speakers and workshops to honor the legacy of Dr. King. Activists and artists shared personal stories, poems about social justice, and images created in response to racism. Our own music teacher Max Nolin led a “Secret Songs About Justice” workshop and students also created pieces of “artivism” that included music, dance, videos, zines, banners, poetry, and crafts.
The 9th grade engaged in a full day of learning and serving at the Capital Area Food Bank, kicking off a year-long exploration of hunger and food justice in DC. In February they sponsored an “Empty Bowls” event at Burke to raise funds for Martha’s Table. The students did an outstanding job of setting and cleaning up, checking people in, serving food, performing music, and sharing what they learned about hunger in DC and beyond.
In the fall our Visual Arts teachers organized a “Contemporary Injustice” exhibit, inviting students to create art in response to any present-day injustice.
Burke was one of six independent schools selected by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) to participate in the “Innovation Kitchen” at this year’s People of Color Conference (PoCC) in Anaheim, California. PoCC draws over 5,000 independent school educators from across the nation. We showcased our social justice pedagogy work with a special display.
This spring eight juniors did a great job as facilitators for a “Black Lives Matter” seminar at Burke. We hosted over 150 people (students and adults) for discussions, including free speech activist Mary Beth Tinker (of Tinker v. Des Moines) who told us how impressed she was with the level of discourse.
The 8th grade embarked on a months long project studying the legendary singer and activist Nina Simone. It culminated in a new mural in Hobbes, a chorus performance, and a trip to see “Nina Simone: Four Women” at Arena Stage.
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/ FACULTY PERSPECTIVE /
CASTING
Consciously
by Jim Gagne, Theater Teacher
As anyone at Burke will tell you, our school embraces diversity and welcomes challenging conversations. I feel incredibly fortunate to be part of this wonderful community. That said, when I became the school’s Theater Director in the fall of 2014, I was disheartened to find a lack of racial diversity in the students who were participating in our after-school drama program. Looking at data from the five years prior to my arrival, I found that students of color made up less than 10% of our casts on average. It was imperative that our theater program more closely reflect who we are as a school.
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After speaking with a few students informally, I set up a time to attend a Men and Women of Color affinity group meeting. Over lunch, the group (comprised of middle and high school students, faculty and staff members) made many thoughtful and insightful points, but it was the words of Sasha Adams ‘17 that really opened my eyes. Responding to a comment I made about how increasing participation from students of color would, in time, allow me to choose a show that featured more characters of color, Sasha said, “Why do we have to start showing up for you to do a more diverse play? Why can’t you pick a diverse show and we’ll start showing up?” I knew Sasha was right. White students were auditioning for plays because white students saw themselves represented in the stories we were telling on stage. It wasn’t up to Burke students of color to change things, it was up to the theater program to create a more inclusive environment.
Sharks and Jets struggle to find common ground in Burke’s 2017 production of West Side Story.
After considering a number of shows, I settled on West Side Story, a classic musical performed many years ago at Burke. At its core, West Side Story is a story about the destructive power of racism. Because of this, I felt it necessary to engage in color-conscious casting. We would cast students of color as the Sharks, one of the two rival gangs featured in the show whose members are comprised of first generation Puerto Rican immigrants. White students would play members of the Jets, a gang made up of second and third generation European immigrants. I recognized that the Puerto Rican immigration experience does not represent the heterogeneity of, or speak for all, people of color. That said, I wanted the Sharks’ story to be told by actors with a lived experience of being a person of color in America.
Recognizing that as a white, cisgender, heterosexual male, I have a number of blind spots, I reached out to students and adults of color in the building to provide me with guidance and context. Burke’s Director of Equity and Inclusion, Steven Lee, and Director of College Counseling, Veda Robinson, graciously gave their time and championed the production. Six months prior to auditions, the three of us began discussing everything from West Side Story production history, to student recruitment and community engagement. Additionally, students including Kelsey C. ‘19, Chris-Ann Burton ‘18 and Norman K. IV ‘19 promoted the production and recruited students of all races, ethnicities and backgrounds to audition. Athletic Director JD Sand worked with us to create a schedule that would allow winter athletes to participate - a common conflict that prevented many
Burke students from participation in the musical. Head of School, Damian Jones provided us with guidance on how best to educate our community on the production choices, and ensured that we had the all the necessary resources to produce this ambitious piece.
“West Side Story was truly a community effort, showcasing the collaboration that is a hallmark of progressive education.” Fifty seven students auditioned, making West Side Story the largest cast in Burke Theater history. Nearly 28 of those cast members were students of color. Another 24 students participated on the technical crew, and 9 students played in the (cont.)
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orchestra pit. Out of the 90 students involved with the production, 42 of them were participating in their first Burke musical. The entire run of the show sold out in two days. Every night parents, students and faculty members stood in the lobby hoping to score standby tickets. Seats were so hard to come by that the Head of School had to stand behind the lightboard in the catwalk to see the show. Students received standing ovations every night. West Side Story was a tremendous success! Veda, Steven and I did not want to miss the opportunity discuss the issues addressed in West Side Story with the community at large. We scheduled a “talkback” after one performance when the cast and crew discussed their experience with audience members. Here are a few highlights from the conversation:
“I think something that I was really aware of in this cast was when we did segregate for rehearsals and I looked around and asked myself, ‘Am I still with mostly my friends in real life?’ It gave me a chance to reflect personally. I don’t want to segregate myself, when you do that you lose the ability to connect with so many people. This show was an opportunity to connect.” Aviva Nemeth ‘17 (Fourth Burke Musical) “We bonded a lot as a cast. It’s a musical, so everyone loves singing and dancing together. We just had a lot of fun. I can say for myself that I have a lot of good friends here, and I love the people here.” Julian G. ‘19 (First) “Watching this musical when I was younger, the thing that always sticks out is the Sharks versus the Jets, and you don’t really remember the adults. Watching it today, now being aware of issues with police brutality and prejudice against people of color within the legal system, the adult story and their lack of accountability resonates with me a lot more.” Genevieve Dickinson ‘17 (Third) “The whole thing is a lot more relevant with the immigration issues that are happening right now. It’s sad that it doesn’t feel all that different now.” Jacob R. ‘21 (First)
Burke’s theater department remains dedicated to telling meaningful stories and facilitating thoughtful conversation. This past fall, in the wake of the tragic events in Charlottesville, we produced Fires In The Mirror, a play by Anna Deveare Smith about the 1991 Crown Heights riots. Veda and Steven hosted another talkback, this time centering around violent protests. Additionally, members of Burke’s Black Student Union and Jewish Culture Club hosted a joint meeting to examine the relationship between their two communities, then and now. This winter we produced “RENT,” and along with our now traditional talkback, members of SSASI, Burke’s LGBTQ affinity group, facilitated the creation of an AIDS quilt modeled after the famed AIDS Memorial Quilt from 1987. As part of the Grace Mann Speaker series, students heard from an expert on the AIDS crisis. This spring, high school students addressed social issues in our third annual Student One-Act Play Festival. Burke was founded in a time of social turmoil with hopes of giving every student a voice, and the tools to understand and combat inequity and injustice. I am proud to be part of Burke’s 50-year-old mission to address these issues in every aspect of school life. //
Top three pictures: Fires in the Mirror Bottom three pictures: RENT
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\ STUDENT PERSPECTIVE \
#NeverAgain
On March 14, 2018 students nationwide walked out of their schools to honor victims of gun violence.
“I will go to the polls this November and vote for politicians who value my life above money from the gun lobby.” Daniel Green ‘18
Amelie G. ‘22 and Christine J. ‘22 oustide of Burke during the National School Walkout on March 14.
Dylan A. ‘19 (right) and Jonah R. ‘19 and Anders Groeschel ‘18 (below) were among the 200+ Burke students and faculty that participated in the studentorganized demonstration.
Many Burke high schoolers chose to continue their protest gun violence outside of the White House and Capitol Building.
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/ ALUMNI PERSPECTIVE /
ALUMNI
advocates
Chris Dyer ‘88 I spent 15 years working for a variety of trade and professional associations before being appointed the Director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBT Affairs in 2007 by Mayor Adrian Fenty. After the Fenty administration, I worked as a consultant and am now currently administering the Private Security Camera Incentive Program for the DC government as an appointee by Mayor Muriel Bowser.
My advice to Burke students who want to make an impact is to just show up. Most volunteer organizations need the help and it is a great way to make a small but meaningful difference. I started showing up to help organize Capital pride events, and I soon became connected, and was inspired to start a pride event and become even more actively involved in the local LGBT community. Another way to get involved is to attend a community meeting. DC has several Advisory Neighborhood Commission meetings and civic associations. While these meetings can be dull, they are some of the grassiest of roots.
As a volunteer, I have been heavily active in organizing in the local LGBTQ community. In 1997, I founded the Youth Pride Alliance - it produces the annual Youth Pride Day. I helped organize the Capital Pride festival for 10 years and am the co-founder of the Wanda Alston Foundation which operates the first specific transitional housing program for homeless LGBT youth. I also recently had the honor of serving on the planning committee for the last LGBT Equality March. Burke was an oasis for me. The faculty and administration strived to create an environment where critical thinking flourished and students’ voices were heard. One incident stands out: the school was considering prohibiting students from wearing jeans with holes in them. One of my peers stood up in assembly and stated “Didn’t Edmund Burke once say that laws created under tyranny are not just laws?” There was no further attempt to change the dress code.
I also suggest volunteering for a political campaign. One of the reasons I got appointed by two DC mayors is because I did the less glamorous work of stuffing envelopes, going door-to-door and delivering yard signs. It is not only a great way to get in on the ground floor of a new administration, it also exposes you to residents from across the city. // You know you went to Burke if you can still hear Jean’s voice saying “Hey - A what are you doing” and mildly shudder. //
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Sarah Holway ‘91 I went to school in California, studied photography and then taught art at the elementary school level for 11 years, in all different kinds of schools - private, public, charter, rural, suburban, inner city - before leaving teaching to start DC Greens in 2010. DC Greens was established as a way to support the food education and access problems in DC. We call ourselves a food justice organization, and we’ve realized over the last eight years that the issues we are addressing are a direct result of social injustice. We try to approach problems from all angles. We help teachers talk about food justice, we support schools moving toward sustainable and fair procurement, we help DC residents to become advocates for changes, we push doctors to prescribe fruits and vegetables (and grocery stores to accept those prescriptions,) and we help farmers markets to create welcoming and culturally appropriate spaces. We also pressure the city council to create policies and designate funding to support these initiatives. Burke was where I learned to express myself with photography. My teacher fanned the spark of interest she saw, which led to me to study photography in California. Every school-based program we created at DC Greens was inspired by something I saw in California. While photography is only tangentially related to my current work, I think going deep into one thing often connects you to the right path, even of it’s not the path you originally had in mind. My advice for Burke students who want to make an impact in their community is to go deep into one aspect of the change you want to see, and see where that takes you. Model the changes you want to see. Everyone has their role, you can’t do everything. Find out where you fit the best, and push from there. My co-founder and Executive Director Lauren has amazing knack for never getting mired in the frustrations and always staying focused on what we are doing to help. In everything you do, big and small, think about how it helps the larger group, not about your needs. // You know you went to Burke if your high school years were among the best of your life. //
Kim Worthy ‘92 During my last semester at Spelman College, I took a course called Advocacy for Urban Schools. It was in this class that I discovered my passion for teaching. Since then, I have worked as a History and English teacher both overseas and across the US. Wherever I have taught, I have worked to empower youth with the skills and knowledge that Burke teachers instilled in me. Education is the heart of social justice. Most Americans are not taught the whole history of this country. I am committed to teaching students the “whys” behind racism, bias, discrimination, and sexism, and how our culture perpetuates inequity. Being named DC’s 2009 Teacher of the Year catapulted me into the universe of educational politics. Since then I have spoken both nationally and internationally about the inequities we still see in education and teaching practices that continue to disadvantage students of color. The demographic makeup of Burke’s first class demonstrated the founders’ commitment to social justice. Dick and Jen, who taught my father and my uncle before me, truly developed my values and inspired me to fight for social justice. I could go to them in the morning, tell them I was going to the White House to protest, and they encouraged me. My advice to Burke students who want to make an impact is to step out of your comfort zone. Make an effort to get to know and experience different cultures. It will help you develop empathy for others and open your eyes to the ways that injustice impacts other communities. // You know you went to Burke if you entered into a career serving humanity. // Summer 2018
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INSIGHT INSIGHT INSIGHT
INSIGHT is a youth-led and institutionally-backed platform for dialogue that explores cultures, lifts voices, and interrogates injustices. Contributors tell their own stories, shedding light on their experiences, customs, politics, and the social issues of their communities. We hope to expand the cultural lens of our readers, providing a shock to complacency and an antidote to intolerance. We strive to foment empathy and inspire action within our youth, across our schools and in our greater society.
REPRESENTATION by Jack D. ‘19 We are living in a fairly golden, although not perfect, age of media. Films and TV shows are slowly but surely becoming more diverse and addressing more serious topics than ever before. Yet there is an extreme problem lying just under the surface of popular media that is rarely addressed, especially in the field of casting. This is the problem of having cis actors playing trans characters of an opposite gender. To be clear, this is referring to cis men who are cast as trans women, and cis women who are cast as trans men. One example that immediately comes to mind is Jared Leto in the movie, Dallas Buyers Club, in which he plays a transgender woman by the name of Rayon. What is the problem with these casting choices? Well, for one thing, it is inaccurate and unrealistic acting. There is no possible way a cis person, even the most educated and well-meaning cis person, could begin to understand the average trans person's experience, which means that the cis portrayal of a trans person is riddled with misinformation and stereotypes. Trans people are individuals with a range of complex identities, backgrounds, and stories that cannot be fully understood by someone who has not lived them. On a heavier note, in an age where transgender identities are constantly in danger and scrutinized by cis people, there does not need to be any more content invalidating trans
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people as the gender they are. When you have a cisgender man playing a transgender woman, you are sending the message that trans women are actually men who play dress up as women, and it is vice versa for cisgender women playing transgender men. This is not only false and extremely hurtful, but it is extremely dangerous. That same type of reasoning that causes straight men to murder trans women because straight men think that trans women are secretly gay men who are “tricking� them, or threatening their masculinity in some way simply by existing. Murder statistics for trans people are higher than ever, as trans women of color have a one in twelve chance of being murdered, and the average life expectancy for a trans person is about thirty-four. Of course, these statistics vary depending on the person, but in general, this is nearly forty years shorter than their cis peers. It may not seem like the casting of trans women and trans murder rates are connected, but media is how people form their perceptions of people that are different than them. If that perception is wrong or harmful, it enables people to internalize these ideas. So, overall there are many more downsides to cis people playing trans characters than there are upsides. All that I request, Hollywood, is that you stop this trend altogether. //
\ STUDENT PERSPECTIVE \
IGNORANCE & FEAR
The Main Causes for the Lack of Progress in the Feminist Movement by Kyra L. ‘21 There are 48 members in Femco, our school’s feminist affinity group. Of those 48 individuals, five are female teachers, 35 are female students, and eight are male students. Having boys who are signed up for Femco denotes tremendous progress, although there is still considerable work to be done- I have attended nearly every meeting and have never once seen one of these boys. According to Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, feminism is a theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. When asked, “Should men and women be social, political, and economic equals?”, 80 percent of Americans answer “Yes.” So why do only 20 percent consider themselves feminists? For some reason, there is a stigma attached to the words “feminism” and “feminist”, and as a result, many people are trying to understand why people support the cause and not the label. John Legend declares, “I’m always suspicious of people who become feminists only when they have a daughter. I feel like you should have enough empathy for other people that you don’t need someone to be in your family to think they’re valuable.” He is correct - social change will not be achieved from only acting when something applies
to you. It takes everybody to make change. Although you may not feel like you are affected by the feminist movement now, you will be someday, and you’ll be glad you helped the cause. When my aunt asked my 11-yearold twin cousins what they knew about feminism, one guessed it had to do with being feminine, and the other did not know and joked that it possibly was related to fennel. When my aunt explained the meaning, they both looked stunned and stated: “Of course men and women are equal. Why would anyone think they weren’t?” Given another couple of years, I guarantee that they will say, “Of course men and women should be treated equally. Why does anyone think they shouldn’t be?” If my eleven-year-old cousins from a liberal family in a liberal state are not sure what feminism really is, how can they help make progress? How can anyone make progress if we live in an ignorant society? Why do some men find it incredibly easy to label themselves as feminists, while others cannot conceive of trying to support equality of the sexes? Some commentators argue that people are simply scared to denounce social standards. But why is it that
only some people have that fear? Everyone has something to say, whether it is as trivial as criticizing a rival sports team or as controversial as supporting gun control. So why do people shy away from the feminist label? There is something about the feminist label in particular that drives people away from using it as a compliment. My aunt and uncle had a baby a couple of months ago. During my recent visit, my uncle asked me repeatedly to join him in teaching his daughter to be a feminist. He has always considered himself a feminist and is consistently active in his efforts to promote equality. Why does he find it desirable to have the label of feminist, while others reject the idea that maybe they could be a feminist as well? Perhaps some people are not as concerned with their social position or what others may think of them. But it also has to do with being brave for the things that need brave supporters. In this current day where we are still struggling with simple equality, we need activists that work together to solve this issue, because it cannot be fixed by one person. If you support equality of the sexes, you are a feminist, so do not reject the label. Full Stop. //
Spring 2018
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Anticipating BURKE THEN & NOW by Nigel Hinshelwood
As Burke celebrates its 50th anniversary next year, there will be many opportunities for people to reflect on its history. What follows is a look back at some of the features of Burke life thirty years ago, when I started as a fulltime English teacher and member of the middle school team, which was led, and is still led, by Monica Miracky. Her leadership and trust from the start were responsible for much of whatever success I’ve enjoyed at Burke since those early days. The rest I attribute to Atomic Billiards and Vace’s pizza, but more on that later. I can’t compare Burke to any other schools, because I’ve never had (nor sought) the opportunity to work anywhere else. But I can compare some of what Burke was like then with what it has become today. After finishing graduate school at American University in the spring, I started my first year at Burke in the fall of 1987. When I walked into 2955 Upton Street (there was, of course, no other entrance) for the first time as a teacher that September…
Left: Upton Street entrance in 1979 & 2018 Right: Nigel in 1987 & 2017
!
Adults could smoke, during the school day, anywhere in the school. Perhaps even more startlingly, I didn’t really give it second thought; I don’t even remember any conversations about smokers and smoking among the faculty and staff. Hard as it may seem to believe now, the law in the District in 1987 went as follows: “All employers must adopt a policy consistent with the Act and notify the employees both orally and in writing. The smoking policy applies to all employees and others in the workplace, including visitors. The employer may prohibit smoking and/or allow it only in designated areas. When the employer allows smoking in designated areas, they must also provide floor to ceiling partitions and tight fitting doors to separate them from non-smoking areas..” Smoking in the building was just a fact of Burke life and life in the District at the time. It would be a number of years before smoking was restricted—to the faculty lounge!—before being altogether banned from the building. The other smell that permeated the lounge was the mimeo machine, which lived in the space now occupied by the servers. That little corner was where we lined
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Left to Right Burke students in 1983 & 2018 Teamwork in 2017 & 1988 Hanging out in 2017 & 1973
up to run off copies of assignment sheets, tests, and other handouts we used in the classroom. Well before the comfortable new furniture that we currently enjoy, and the copiers that can easily run off 35 copies of hole-punched, stapled, twosided, multi-page documents, in those days, there were rough wooden benches surrounding a plywood tabletop sitting on cement blocks. Okay, that part about the furniture isn’t true, but I can still smell the mimeo fluid to this day, commingled in a heady fog with the cigarette smoke in the faculty lounge. During my interview with Dick Roth the previous spring, he asked if I could teach a 7th grade language arts class called Linguistics. As a recent graduate with a degree in literature and literary theory, without another question, without looking at a curriculum or even a course description, I said, “Sure! Just what I was looking for!” It was all theoretical to me. The very notion of real full-time employment was the most theoretical
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thing of all. Emboldened no doubt by my charming guilelessness, his next question was whether I’d be able to be the faculty sponsor for the school newspaper. “Absolutely! Who cares about deconstruction and post-structuralist narrative analysis! I’ll do journalism! “ The first real glimpse I got into the whole of the Burke community was through the report cards, all handwritten on 5x8 inch sheets of paper onto which the comment and grade had to be written with enough force to create three more copies underneath to be torn off and, in addition to the copy to be mailed home, delivered to the advisor, stored as teacher’s own copy (for when you had to write your next set), and then another copy for...who knows? Honestly, I don’t remember. But the aching hands, those I remember all too well. If I had to pick one aspect of Burke life that demonstrates the difference between then and now, it would have to be the holiday party in December before the
Christmas break. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate and enjoy the holiday party in its current manifestation. There’s food for everyone, a pleasant crowd of Burke families, faculty, and staff, and a musical program that sends us out well before 8 p.m. on a school night. But in 1987, it was... epic. First, a disclaimer. I was new to Burke at the time, so my responsibilities for the party were limited to eating, drinking, and schmoozing. And my schmoozing was restricted because I didn’t really know anyone other than a few of my colleagues, mostly in the English department. So my nostalgia for the event might be very different if I had been responsible for any of the work required to bring it off. There was no Hobbes, so the space was limited to the two other buildings. Everyone came, and I mean everyone. This was a cross generational free for all in true holiday spirit. Fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, grandmothers, grandfathers, babies, toddlers, children generally everywhere underfoot for hours and hours.
What is now the biology lab was then the art studio, and it was converted for the night into the main room for food, all potluck all the time. But in no kind of way could that room hold all the food that parents brought, and especially not the desserts. The upstairs halls were crowded not only with people, but with extra tables laid out with cakes, pies, cookies, candies and every form of holiday treat you could imagine. In addition to all the food, folks were able to hoist a glass of wine and toast to each other, to the school, and to the holiday spirit as well. And toast we did. The event was warm, wild, convivial, festive, and loving. From a risk management perspective, however, it was the holiday party equivalent of an asphalt playground with iron swings, fifteen foot jungle gyms, and all the parents sitting on wooden benches swapping neighborhood stories. What else? There was no Green line on the metro (it did not open until 1991). There was no baseball team, at Burke or in DC. There was no faculty evaluation program, no 6th grade, no theater, no high school dean
of students, and no new teacher program. There were no personal computers, no email (but lots of little handwritten notes in the mailboxes where the college counseling office now resides), no Student Information System, no Burke website, and it was still a really big deal to watch a video in class. There was no professional development committee, no administrative team, and no Founders Day, obviously. Most tragically, perhaps, was that Atomic Billiards was not to open for another six years. No one is sure to this day how I survived those years, but I did. It took a lot of Vace slices to get me through. What there was, however, was a loving, dynamic community of adults and children who had been brought together in a culture dedicated to education in which everyone, different as they might be, as David Shapiro would put it many years later, was there to work hard, help out, be nice, and have fun. We may have fancier, and longer, ways to say it now, but that’s the basic formula. I loved it then, and I love it now. That is one other thing that hasn’t changed a bit in thirty years. //
Nigel isn’t the only one with a great story from Burke’s past. Share your Burke memories at www.burkeschool.org/50
And mark your calendars for these BIG events celebrating our 50th anniversary next year:
BURKE’S BLOCK PARTY Friday, September 7
ALUMNI WEEKEND
September 7 - September 9
BURKE’S 50TH BASH Saturday, April 13
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/ CLASS NOTES /
1980s
Tony Award winner Darko Tresnjak ‘83 has announced his departure from Hartford Stage as their Artistic Director after the company’s 2018-19 season. Darko has served as the theatre’s artistic leader since 2011. Laura (Williams) Curran ‘85 was elected as Nassau County’s first female County Executive on November 8, 2017. She is “truly humbled and honored for the great responsibility the people of Nassau County have trusted me with.” Laura is a former reporter and school board president. She currently lives with her family in Baldwin, NY.
2010s
Jonathan Goodell ‘11 recently moved back to DC after completing two years as a Water and Sanitation Health volunteer in the Peace Corps in Panama. He now works as an Outreach Community Coordinator for the Alice Ferguson Foundation for their Trash Free Potomac Watershed Initiative. Christian Logan ‘11 graduated from Marquette University in 2015 with B.A. in Spanish Literature and currently resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Erin Logan ‘13 graduated cum laude from McDaniel College in May of 2017 with a B.A. in Spanish. Nora Howard ‘14 is participating in Bike and Build this summer after her graduation from St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Starting in May, she will raise money and awareness for affordable housing and help with construction projects as she bikes from Jacksonville, FL to Santa Cruz, CA. Matthew Owens ‘16 and his band, Freedoms, have been touring throughout 2017 and released their first single, “Come a Little Closer.” Matthew is currently a student at Chapman University in Orange, CA.
2000s
David Warren ‘03 and his wife Courtney welcomed a daughter, Matilda, in October 2017. Eric Schlein ‘04 lives in New Orleans and works for United 4 Respect, an organization that works to ensure that Walmart employees are treated with respect and dignity. Eric Beu’ 07 and Greg Martin ‘07 live in Los Angeles and continue to work as screenwriting partners. Their recent script “Kill Shelter” earned its way onto the 2017 Hollywood Black List of buzzworthy scripts that have yet to be made into films.
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1968 Edmund Burke School Magazine
ALUMNI WEEKEND September 7-8
Welcoming all alumni and honoring reunion classes: 1973, 1979, 1983, 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003, 2008, 2013. Make sure we have your current email address so you don’t miss out on exciting event updates. www.burkeschool.org/update
Head of School Damian Jones
Board of Trustees 2017-2018
D. Britt Reynolds, President Janine Goodman, Vice President Richard Lane, Treasurer Meredith Jason, Secretary Emily Alexander Susannah Baruch Sydney Bath Joe Clark Wendy Cividanes Jennifer Danish Sharon Davis Norman Dong
Danielle Feuillan ‘87 Lucinda Eng Garcia Richard Gersten Suzanne Hudgens Charlene Drew Jarvis Sue Keisler Morgan Landy Brian McMaster Sean O’Donnell LaNilta Taylor Damian Jones, Head of School Sarah Schriber, Faculty Representative
Burke Parent Association 2017-2018 Angela Jaffee Deirdre Brown Annie Binder
Nora Wehmeyer Erik Whitlock
Office of Development and Alumni Affairs
Jennifer Kozak Rawlings, Director of Development and Alumni Affairs Gyra Chan, Assistant Director of Development, Annual Fund Susan Jones, Assistant Director of Development, Advancement Services Kate Maskarinec, Assistant Director of Development, Special Events
Office of Communications
Alison Merow, Director of Communications and Marketing Maggie McVicar, Assistant Director of Communications
Our Mission
Burke consciously brings together students who are different from one another in many ways, actively engages them in their own education, holds them to high expectations, gives them power and responsibility, and supports and advances their growth as skilled and independent thinkers who step forward to make positive contributions to the world in which they live.
Equity and Inclusion at Burke
Burke respects the dignity and humanity of our students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni and trustees, as well as our broader community. We embrace a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives. We strive to cultivate understanding and appreciation of diversity that includes, but is not limited to, age, ability, ethnicity, family structure, gender, gender identity, political perspectives, race, religion, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. We acknowledge and encourage differences of opinions, ideas, and interests, and we expect thoughtful discussion and civil engagement. Burke affirms the individual worth of all community members, and we challenge behaviors that demean, marginalize, or exclude others. Our goal is to maintain a diverse school community that exemplifies these values and to fulfill our commitment to equity and inclusion consistently in all areas of school and community life.
Address
4101 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
Website
www.burkeschool.org
Phone
202-362-8882
Alumni Email
alumni@burkeschool.org 1968: Edmund Burke School Magazine is produced by the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs and the Office of Communications and Marketing for alumni, parents and friends of the School. Letters and comments are welcome. The editors wish to express their appreciation to all contributing writers and photographers to the inaugural issue of 1968.
4101 Connecticut Avenue NW Washington, DC 20008
is
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BURKE’S BLOCK PARTY Friday, September 7
ALUMNI WEEKEND
September 7 - September 9
BURKE’S 50TH BASH Saturday, April 13