FAIS T H E M A G A Z I N E O F T H E F R E N C H A M E R I C A N I N T E R N A T I O N A L S C H O O L │ S P R I N G 2 01 6
CONTENTS IN THIS ISSUE
01 FAIS in ACTION...................................................................................................................02 The Bergstr รถms: FAIS Legacy Family.........................................................................04 36 Years of International Education..........................................................................06 Gala Auction & Special Appeal Celebrate 28 Years................................................08 Special Appeal 2016 to Support Playground Renovation......................................10 Campus Cooking Flourishing in New, Expanded Kitchen........................................11 FAIS Grads Win Big on Soccer Field.............................................................................12 Alumni Profile: Maggie Weirich....................................................................................14 Alumni Updates.................................................................................................................16 From the Head of School................................................................................................
THE FRENCH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL CULTIVATES INTELLECT AND CHARACTER THROUGH RIGOROUS MULTILINGUAL ACADEMIC PROGRAMS IN AN ENVIRONMENT THAT PROMOTES APPRECIATION OF DIVERSE CULTURES AND EXPERIENCES. Head of School: Pam Dreisin Address: 8500 NW Johnson Street, Portland, OR 97229 Telephone: 503-292-7776 | Fax: 503-292-7444 Email: fais@faispdx.org | www.faispdx.org Editor: Helen Townes Photography credit: Laszlo Bencze and Andrea Corradini Graphic design: Penelope Babst
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CHANGES AND GROWTH Dear FAIS Family and Friends,
“My husband Bob and I first enrolled our two sons …at FAIS in1990, eleven years after it was founded.”
My, how time flies! My husband Bob and I first enrolled our two sons, Alex and David, at FAIS in 1990, eleven years after it was founded. Little did we imagine that 26 years later I would be in my eighth year leading FAIS — a school that has experienced tremendous growth yet has stayed committed to the original essence of the School’s founders. Through the vision, leadership, and hard work of many individuals, the School is thriving. FAIS’ legacy of intellectual engagement, respectful citizenship, and global awareness has consistently developed well-educated graduates with a clear vision, multicultural awareness, and committed passion to make the world a better place. The changes and growth FAIS has gone through since its founding in 1979 have included several campus moves; hundreds of students graduating as fluent French speakers and well on their way with a third language; the hard work of many volunteer leaders; tireless dedication of the School’s talented faculty (many of whom now have tenures of 15 years plus); the heartfelt commitment of families; and the strength of our administration and Board of Trustees. This is the School’s 36th year, and in this issue of the FAIS Magazine we reflect on its rich history—from its beginnings in the basement of a church with five students, to its status today, with a 15-acre campus and full enrollment of 560 students in grades preschool through 8. I hope you’ll enjoy the timeline of some of the landmarks of the School’s rich history included in this issue. One of our first students in that church basement, Josh Bergström, is now an FAIS parent with two children at the School. The Bergström family profile in this issue celebrates FAIS’ first legacy family, and certainly puts our relatively short—but substantial—history in perspective. In the very near future, our community will have the opportunity to support a new stage of growth as it has so many times over the past 36 years. After 18 years on our permanent campus at the corner of NW Miller and NW Cornell Roads, the School is headed towards the first of several phases of building out its campus. FAIS is an exciting school with a global vision. As we begin our 37th year in September, the School will naturally move into a new phase of institutional development. Much like the intellectual and social development of students, schools also have their development cycles. FAIS is poised and ready for its next phase of maturation. I look forward to continuing the journey with you. Sincerely,
Pam Dreisin, Head of School
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FAIS IN ACTION
Fifth Grade Exchange Welcomes Paris Students for Eighth Year Students from L'Ecole des Francs-Bourgeois in Paris joined our school and our families' homes this past fall for the eighth year, a perfect complement to our students' immersion experience. FAIS students and 32 French students worked side-by-side in the classroom, sharing poetry during a PYP unit, creating clay masks on campus and then doing a workshop on masks at the Portland Art Museum, and studying Oregon's geography, culture, and "personality." They also enjoyed many excursions together, including a visit to Multnomah Falls and Fort Vancouver, and a field trip to the Evergreen Space Museum. Cédric Strapart, 5th grade teacher, says the exchange "is really more than just this group of kids visiting from another country—it's a human exchange, a bridge between cultures."
Sixth Grader in Video Promoting Climate Change Awareness at COP21 Sixth grader Jacob Root spent this past fall’s Arts Week with his family in New York City, where they were able to participate in a video project for French artist JR, working with famed director Darren Aronofsky. The video was featured as part of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference in December (COP21). Jacob, his father Dan, and his mother Julie were all featured in the video, which was presented in dramatic fashion on the facades of both the Assemblée Nationale and Musée du Louvre.
FAIS Reaccredited by Northwest Association of Independent Schools After months of preparation and several days of meetings with NWAIS officials during their visit in November, Head of School Pam Dreisin recently received word from the Association that the School has been reaccredited. The Accreditation Committee noted with appreciation the quality of the FAIS' Self Study, and the open reception of the visiting committee. The School will be accredited by NWAIS for the next seven years, before undergoing the next Self Study process. "Accreditation is important to the health of any school," says Pam. "It assures accountability, forces us to assess how well we are fulfilling our mission, and helps us identify areas for growth."
FAIS IN ACTION
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Working Together to Achieve More: Volunteering at FAIS In every corner of our campus, volunteer work by students and parents is evident and valued. Every Middle School student completes at least two Community Service mornings each year, doing things like packing lunches for Portland’s Backpack Lunch Program, reading to Maternelle students, working on the FAIS Nature Trail, helping out at Oregon Food Bank, and other service projects. This past fall, two dozen volunteers—students, parents, and staff—helped dig holes for new plants on the Nature Trail. For the past several years, our Lower School students have collected toys during November and December and proudly delivered them to the Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue Station 60 for the annual Toy & Joy Drive. At each grade level, unique volunteer efforts are worked into the curriculum.
Students Travel the World, All in One Day While nothing replaces the experience of standing next to a world-famous monument, the pioneer program of Google Expeditions recently gave our students the chance to take virtual field trips around the world. Our students visited the Great Wall of China, saw the pyramids of Egypt, and went deep under the sea, led by teachers equipped with an abundance of information about the places they were "visiting." The trips are collections of virtual reality panoramas—360° photo spheres, 3-D images and video, and ambient sounds—annotated with details, points of interest, and questions that make them easy to integrate into curriculum already used by our teachers. The Rose Préau Commons, where the Google Expeditions took place, was full of exclamations: "So cool!" "Wow!" "Did you see that?"
The Hour of Code Learning to code has been shown to support problem-solving, logic, and creativity, and 3rd and 5th grade classes and some middle school classes recently participated in the Hour of Code, an annual, week-long, global event to promote and teach coding to students of all ages. This year millions of students in over 180 countries were included; FAIS classes have been participating in the Hour of Code since it was first launched in December 2013. Second graders worked in pairs on iPads, programming in Scratch Jr. In this program, students snap together graphical programming blocks to make characters move.
The Bergstrรถms FAIS LEGACY FAMILY
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FAIS LEGACY FAMILY
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f there’s such a thing as a “founding family” at FAIS, the Bergströms fit the bill. When FAIS first opened 36 years ago, in 1979, Josh Bergström was one of just five students in a church basement, learning to speak French. Now he and his wife Caroline have their two sons, Batiste and Etienne, at the School in 8th and 4th grade. Batiste is learning his third language, Spanish, at Gilkey International Middle School. “My father is a Swedish immigrant, and he really wanted his children to be bilingual but knew that Swedish might not be the most useful language to pursue,” Josh explains. “When (my parents) heard about the pilot program of the French American School, they were excited about the possibilities of having bilingual children.” After Josh started that inaugural year, 1979, the School slowly grew, grade by grade, and eventually moved to the Sylvan Elementary building. Josh later attended Chapman Elementary, West Sylvan Middle School, and Lincoln, keeping up with his French all along. And the French language, introduced to Josh at this early age, almost certainly contributed to the Bergströms' future. At the same time they were pursuing bilingualism for their children, Josh’s parents were also pursuing a niche in the growing Oregon wine industry. Josh’s parents Dr. John and Karen Bergström had the vision to plant a vineyard when they moved out to Dundee from Portland in 1996. Josh was a business student at the time, at the University of Oregon, and they asked him to join them. They would plant the first vineyard and Josh would get the education and experience in winemaking to someday run the business alongside them. Josh spent his junior year abroad in Lyon, France at the Université Jean Moulin III, which was a business/law school. “I returned and worked two harvests in the Willamette Valley before moving to Beaune, France to do my postgraduate work in this field,” Josh remembers. And that is where he met Caroline, a French woman who was studying at the Lycée Viticole, next to Josh’s university. “She was studying wine and spirits marketing as well as viticulture and oenology and we met through mutual friends, and the rest is history!” Josh says. “We have run the Bergström Wines business side by side ever since.” Josh and Caroline were married a week before the first Bergström harvest in the fall of 1999. And when they started their own family, they always knew they would send them to FAIS. Batiste and Etienne have been enrolled since Maternelle. The family splits
From left: Batiste (8th grade), Josh, Caroline, and Etienne (4th grade)
its time between the vineyard in Newberg and their home in Portland, not wanting the boys to spend a long time commuting to school each day. It’s a busy life, Josh admits. “I give Caroline most of the credit,” he says. “Most years I am harvesting grapes and working at the winery seven days a week during the fall season, so I really never meet the boys’ teachers or see where their classrooms are until the first parent-teacher conferences.” Their hard work has paid off, however. After 15 years, Bergström Wines is now recognized by many of the global wine critics as well as other wineries to be one of the top producers of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay—in the world. Just this past year Bergström wines made the Top 100 wines in the world lists from four major wine publications. And will their boys Batiste and Etienne be the third generation of Bergström vintners? “There are so many possibilities available to children with a bilingual education, and we want Batiste and Etienne to go out and do all of it before coming back home and the winery,” he says. “If they are passionate about winemaking, grape-growing and sales or administration then we will train them and they will take over." “We always really imagined our winery being multi-generational,” Josh says. And who knows? Perhaps another generation of Bergströms will be on their way to FAIS, a few years down the road. “I'm sure if the opportunity presents itself some day we would be thrilled!” enthuses Caroline.
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Celebrating 36 Years of I 1979
French American International School is founded by Jean-Claude and Maarja Paris and a group of parents who recognized the value of bilingual education. The first class included five students and was housed in the basement of St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church on the Oregon Episcopal School campus. The first teachers were Marie France and Bernard Feuillebois.
1998
1983
The School moves to a new home at Sylvan Elementary School, leased to FAIS by Portland Public Schools. The French Ministry of Education officially accredits FAIS.
FAIS opens for the first fall of classes on its new, permanent campus in NW Portland.
1993 1999 Jean-François Genay is named Head of School.
FAIS celebrates its 20th anniversary.
2001
First 8th grade class graduates from Gilkey International Middle School. The eastern section of Satellite IV is added.
1995
2003
The search for a permanent home for the School begins.
1980
The fall term starts with 16 students; by the end of the academic year there are 32.
1985
FAIS’ first class of 5th graders graduates in the spring.
2000 1996
FAIS makes its first land purchase, purchasing 10 acres at the corner of NW Miller and NW Cornell. Construction begins.
Jean-François Genay retires as Head of School, and John F. Larner is named Head. The School receives donations from many generous families and the western section of Satellite IV is installed. FAIS receives its official accreditation from the Northwest Association of Independent Schools (NWAIS); it is also a member of NAIS, the National Association of Independent Schools.
The School receives a $500,000 award grant from the Annenberg Foundation for capital expenses on the FAIS campus.
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International Education! 2004
FAIS celebrates its 25th anniversary, with 460 student enrollment and 90 staff. Several generous donors make it possible for the School to purchase a parcel of land where the School’s upper parking lot and current nature trail stands today.
2011
2008
Pam Dreisin is named Head of School. The Rose Préau Commons is built and new classrooms are added to the lower floor of Satellite 4.
The School purchases an additional piece of land along NW Cornell Road, bordering the campus, including a house and large field space (complete with sheep). The Gala Special Appeal raises money to install a campus-wide wireless network.
2013
FAIS is named an official International Baccalaureate World School. The new Center for the Arts opens for classes on the first day of school.
Opening Day welcomes 560 students for preschool through 8th grade, the School’s maximum enrollment.
2015
2005
Jean-François Genay comes out of retirement to lead the School again as Head.
2014
2006 2010 2012 Generosity from the FAIS community of parents, grandparents, and friends again raise enough funds to build a wonderful new playground.
FAIS hires a nationally recognized consultant firm, Ian Symmonds & Associates, to assist the School with a branding review and logo creation, and the new FAIS "look" and logo are launched.
Contributions to the Gala Special Appeal paddle raise make it possible for the sheep field on SW Cornell Road to be transformed into Discovery Park, an outdoor play space for exploration, creativity, and scientific discovery. The FAIS community again makes it possible to expand our campus with additional classrooms, by donating an additional $450,000 to renovate the SW Cornell Road house for a new space for arts, music, and movement. The School’s nature trail is officially named the Doug Miller Nature Trail, to memorialize the life and contributions of parent Doug Miller.
Donors raise their paddles at the Gala Special Appeal, raising enough money to allow FAIS to remodel and expand its campus kitchen, used for year-round cooking classes and camps and daily snack preparation. Board of Trustees and Head Pam Dreisin unveil a very exciting vision for the FAIS campus; it is anticipated that phases of building out the campus will take place over several years, with construction of a new Middle School building as the first stage.
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GALA AUCTION & SPECIAL APPEAL CELEBRATE 28 YEARS
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2015
GALA AUCTION & SPECIAL APPEAL Celebrating 28 Years The FAIS Gala Auction: a highly anticipated occasion to gather for a really great party while supporting our wonderful school. Every year, volunteers work countless hours to organize the event, produce class baskets and wonderful class art projects, and rally their friends to attend, and each year, the proceeds raised by the generous attendees support our academic programs and allow us to undertake new, exciting initiatives. The Gala also features a Special Appeal, which is a paddle raise opportunity that funds a specifically designated project each year. Over the past several years, the Special Appeal has funded the following projects: 2015
REMODEL OF THE FAIS KITCHEN
2014
CHROMEBOOKS AND IPADS FOR STUDENTS
2013
OUTFITTING THE CENTER FOR THE ARTS
2012
DISCOVERY PARK, AN INTERACTIVE, MULTI-SENSORY PLAY SPACE
2011
WIRELESS NETWORK AND LAPTOP COMPUTERS FOR TEACHERS
2010
CLASSROOM TECHNOLOGY AND THE PERFORMING ARTS PROGRAM
2009
THE SCHOOL'S ENDOWMENT FUND
2008
A PORTION OF THE PRÉAU RENOVATION AND THREE ADDITIONAL CLASSROOMS
Discovery Park under construction, 2012
2007
NEW CLASSROOM CEILINGMOUNTED PROJECTORS AND AUDIO VISUAL EQUIPMENT
2006
NEW PLAY STRUCTURES AND ARTIFICIAL TURF
2005
PAVILION (COVERED PLAY AREA)
Le Tour du Monde: April 9, 2016 We are very grateful to co-chair parents Grayson Dempsey and Kristin Wellenstein Kilshaw for leading our committee for this year's 28th Annual Gala, with the theme le Tour du Monde! The 2016 live Gala line-up is truly spectacular, filled with amazing travel opportunities—Paris, Hawaii, and Australia, to name just a few; sumptuous dinners; a Polo Party; and salon parties to suit every interest. The event at the Sentinel Hotel will be highlighted by cocktails, a fabulous dinner, and dancing after the momentous live auction and Special Appeal paddle raise, this year to refurbish our campus playground.
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SPECIAL APPEAL 2016 TO SUPPORT PLAYGROUND RENOVATION
Playing leapfrog, bouncing balls, climbing, and other kinds of “free play” that can only happen on our school playground (or in Discovery Park), are as important to our academic program as time in the classroom. A Canadian researcher, Sergio Pellis (cited below), is just one of numerous scientists who points out that play, especially outdoors and non-prescriptive (no coaches, no rule books), is crucial for schoolwork, and also helps the brain navigate complex social interactions. “The experience of play changes the connections of the neurons at the front end of your brain,” says Pellis, who conducts research at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. “And without play experience, those neurons aren’t changed,” he says. Since moving to its permanent campus in 1998, FAIS has made outdoor experiences and play a priority for its students. This year, the Gala Special Appeal paddle raise will support the necessary transformation of our playground and field area, which after 18 years and benefitting hundreds of students, is showing signs of wear. The upgrades will include: •
Replacing the playground turf
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Upgrading the play structure with new features
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Expanding the Plaza area, which will feature quiet sitting areas and chessboards
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Improving drainage for our rainy winter months
Hamilton, Jon. “Scientists Say Child's Play Helps Build A Better Brain.” NPR Ed: How Learning Happens. 6 August 2014. Web. 24 February 2016.
Preliminary renderings of the proposed new playground.
CAMPUS COOKING FLOURISHING IN NEW, EXPANDED KITCHEN
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Cooking classes, Arts Week camps featuring pie and tart-making, macarons, and sushi, and daily snack preparation for all our students have recently benefitted from last fall’s kitchen renovation, funded by our community’s generous donations to the 2015 Special Appeal paddle raise. The new kitchen, which had not been renovated since its initial installation in 1998, features ample island prep space, double ovens, additional sinks and a commercial refrigerator, and a heavy-duty dishwasher. Bon appétit, and merci to our 2015 Special Appeal donors!
Visiting Chinese students learned how to make American desserts in the new FAIS kitchen.
Edible masterpieces created by middle schoolers in "The Art of Sushi," a popular Arts Week workshop.
Prekindergarteners are exposed to mathematical concepts while making mini-pizzas.
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FAIS GRADS WIN BIG ON SOCCER FIELD
Joey Resnick
Cameron Bennet
Max Rougier
Ari Gertzen
Benito Marcus
Oregon State 4A Boys Soccer Champions
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FAIS GRADS WIN BIG ON SOCCER FIELD
Many of this year's Oregon State champion boys' soccer team posing during their 2011 championship year as Gilkey students.
Longevity and friendship may have been key ingredients for the success of Lincoln High School’s varsity boys’ soccer team this school year. Six FAIS/Gilkey alumni, Joey Resnick, Max Rougier, Ari Gertzen, Reed Bright, Benito Marcus, and Cameron Bennett, were part of the talented team which won the Oregon State 4A Boys Soccer Championship this past fall. Their 8th grade year at Gilkey had also been marked by victory; they won that year’s MCL championship and Joey Resnick scored the winning goal.
ten minutes to go, we stuck with it and played for each other.”
Not only did the Lincoln team take home the state championship trophy, but two of its members (again, FAIS/ Gilkey graduates) were picked from hundreds of high school soccer players for the penultimate honors: Player of the Year and Goalie of the Year, which went to Joey Resnick and Cameron Bennett, respectively.
Lincoln High School head coach Facundo Dipascuale agrees, and adds that the group was not only close but had the right attitude.
“I think that the closeness of our entire team is the main reason why we were so successful. Many teams that we faced had a lot of talent, but at the end of the day, we were the strongest team and were always on the same page,” points out Joey Resnick, who played center back. “Even when it looked like we might lose, like when we were down 2-0 with
“We knew each other’s strengths really intuitively,” echoes goalie Cameron Bennett. “We knew the situations when we could trust each other to do our jobs and when we would need to cover for each other.”
“These boys love soccer. They are not just players but fans of the game. And they were able to put everything together to get Lincoln High School their first-ever boys’ soccer state championship title,” Dipascuale points out. “This group of seniors has left a great mark on our program,” he says. “This year will forever be the standard of what our team atmosphere and training sessions should be like.”
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ALUMNI PROFILE:
MAGGIE WEIRICH Age: 21 Years attended FAIS: 1996-2009 High School: Catlin Gabel School College Acceptances: Stanford University, Princeton University, New York University at Tisch Employer: San Francisco Ballet Job Title: Corps de Ballet Member In what ways did your experience at FAIS prepare you for what you’re doing today? I think FAIS taught me to find something I loved and encouraged me to pursue it. As a child FAIS allowed me to explore the unknown, challenge my curiosities, and discover genuine passions—whether that meant diving deeper into a subject I was passionate about or taking a project in a different direction. I remember asking my teacher in kindergarten if I could teach everyone to make paper volcanoes, so she gave me a whole morning to be the “teacher”. Again in 3rd grade I remember asking if I could write a whole book for my French project instead of an essay and I was given the blank book to work in. I think the freedom and encouragement I received from teachers at FAIS pushed me to follow my dreams. I took my first ballet class at FAIS with my best friend and remember the exhilaration of performing in the gym in front of our parents. FAIS gave me the confidence and freedom to choose what I wanted to do and go for it no matter the challenges. What is your dance background prior to the San Francisco Ballet? I danced in Portland throughout elementary, middle, and high school with the School of Oregon Ballet Theatre. I grew up and developed into the dancer I am today because of the teachers at that school. How did you balance ballet and school throughout middle and high school? The quality of work expected at Gilkey set me up for success at Catlin—I learned how to effectively manage my time while dedicating myself to academics and ballet. I was dancing three or four times a week in middle school, while participating in Gilkey sports and seasonal performances with the ballet. I always expected the best out of myself and I strived for excellence in every assignment given to me.
That hardly stopped when I entered Catlin Gabel and started dancing six days a week. However, the beauty of a liberal arts education is the communication between teachers and students and their genuine care for their students’ well-being. I started to realize this at Gilkey, but in high school I developed a sincere relationship with my teachers. I could talk about my schedule and my difficulties and I realized that they understood and were willing to work with me individually on material. It was definitely a balancing act that kept my parents on their toes, but I knew with the support of my teachers that I could manage it. Tell us more about your decision to (at least temporarily) pursue dance over college. Do you see any downsides? When you envision going to college, how and when do you think that will be? Would it be possible to attend college AND dance? My senior year at Catlin, I was already transitioning into the professional world of ballet, and I’m not sure I knew it. I became part of the pre-professional division at SOBT my senior year which entailed somewhere close to 40 hours of dance a week. I worked out a schedule with Catlin where I could dance in the mornings, go to school for the second half of the day, and return to ballet until 8 o’clock at night. Only to come home and finally start my homework and make up work for the classes I had missed while dancing. My decision ultimately stemmed from the offer of the San Francisco Ballet School to be a part of their highest level. I applied to colleges along with the rest of my senior class and looked at schools with dance programs, but I never wanted to dance in school. I knew a ballet career was a big dream, but I thought now was the time to go for it. So when acceptances came I knew I had to choose a school that would allow me to defer (or take an extended leave of absence)—Stanford let me take two.
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After my year in the school I was noticed by San Francisco Ballet’s artistic director Helgi Tomasson and was offered a contract with the company as an apprentice. The next year I was promoted to the corps de ballet. The downside of course is putting my education on hold, but for now I’m okay reading books to keep my mind occupied. I think being part of the San Francisco Ballet is almost a dream come true and I’m happy to pursue it as long as I can. What languages do you speak, and are you using them in your current position with the SFB? I speak French and Spanish. My first summer as an apprentice with SFB I travelled with them to Paris where we took part in a three-week festival “Les étés de la danse”. As one of the few French speakers in the company, I acted as a sort of “tour guide” or “translator” for a lot of my fellow dancers. What do you see in your future? What are your hopes for your dance career, and a potential career beyond dance? I fell in love with ballet, not only because I like the technical aspect of learning to make my body do something beautiful, but also because I love the exhilarating feeling of performing for an audience. I think as long as I love performing and my body allows me to, I’ll keep dancing. Of course I miss academics as I have a genuine interest in science and medicine, but I know I’ll go to college someday. Right now I believe that I can go to school later, this amazing opportunity presented itself to me and this is the only time I have to take advantage of it. Is there anything else about your FAIS experience that you would like to share? I think the arts programs that FAIS offers are invaluable and were crucial to my development as a student and artist. They helped me not only express myself creatively, but taught me how to express myself in my schoolwork—write a creative essay or go about a math problem differently. I think the variety of art classes at FAIS are amazing and whether I knew it or not as I child, they encouraged me to continue pursuing ballet as an outlet for my creativity.
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ALUMNI UPDATES Alan Krajbich (’99) is currently living in Japan teaching English at AEON English school in Tokyo.
For the past four years, Allegra Palmer (’02) has been working in New York City at Women’s World Banking, the global non-profit dedicated to providing financial services in developing countries. In her position as a senior associate, she has put her French language skills to use working with local partners in Benin, Burundi, and Morocco to build financial products that meet the needs of women. Allegra is heading to business school at Duke University in the fall and looks forward to learning how to harness the power of private enterprise to improve lives.
Katie Rosenheim Aaberg (’03) attended the Oregon Culinary Institute, completed an externship at Bakeshop, in Portland, and received her diploma this past fall. Her dream is to open a cupcake and cookie shop and to start a catering business. In September 2015, Katie was married to Chris Aaberg, a pilot in the airline industry; they are enjoying married life with their Australian Shepherd Sammie, and will travel to Disney World for their honeymoon this spring.
Coltrane Liu (’06) was cast as the Nutcracker Prince in this past winter’s Columbia Dance Studios (Vancouver, WA) production of the Nutcracker.
FAIS alumna Elizabeth Matteri (‘07) was recently awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to teach in Germany, following her graduation from Kenyon College with degrees in German literature and biology. While in Germany, Elizabeth plans to interview a variety of people to better understand the country’s effective environmental policies. She hopes to use this research in her graduate studies in zoology and conservation, to design improved outreach programs to keep young people engaged in environmental issues.
Alumna Maddy Nicoloff (‘11) is a freshman at McGill University in Montreal, and was recently named Staffer of the Week by the McGill International Review, which featured her article on the European refugee crisis.
Savannah Corradini ('15) was recently named Athlete of the Week by the Portland Tribune, and also made the 2nd Team All-City for Portland Interscholastic League (PIL), as a freshman varsity basketball player for Lincoln High School.
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SAVE THE DATE April 9: Annual Gala Auction May 19: Annual Meeting May 27: Grandparents and Special Friends’ Day June 3: 5th Grade Celebration June 10: 8th Grade Graduation July 11 - August 19: FAIS Summer Programs September 6: Opening Day 2016-17