FENN: Summer 2016

Summer 2016

Becoming Global Citizens The 87th Annual Graduation Exercises

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FROM THE HEADMASTER

“I ha v e tr av e l l e d m uc h i n C o n c o rd , ”

asserted Henry David Thoreau over

one hundred and sixty years ago as he reflected on the intensive study of nature and consideration of the human condition that he conducted contentedly within the confines of his revered native town.

As we presented Fenn diplomas on June 10 to our sixty-five eighth and ninth grade graduates, it occurred to me that each of these promising young men who were setting off into the world of secondary school and beyond had indeed travelled much while here on Monument Street, within the white fences of Fenn’s twenty-seven acres. And beyond my being struck by the inspiring promise possessed by each of these young men, it was evident that the world for which they leave Fenn is ever-dynamic and complex, and the education that Fenn has provided them must stand the test of the future.

These new Fenn alumni, with all of the young citizens of the globe, especially those with the personal privilege and moral charge of having received a full and sound education, will be called upon to engage national and global issues in a world that is changing at a speed like that of no world before, with a technological connectedness and, arguably, a disconnectedness, that is beyond our limited imaginations.

As educators, we have a firm conviction that the strength and substance of a Fenn boy’s education rests in our ensuring his acquisition of a broad perspective across cultures, his knowledge of concrete and complicated national and global problems that demand his complex thinking and problem solving, his ability to technologically connect broadly and collaboratively with fellow national and global citizens across distance, and his possession of a humble confidence

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and optimism that he personally has a role and charge in improving the lot of humankind locally, nationally, and globally.

This charge is a tall and perhaps daunting order for teachers and students alike. Woodrow Wilson exhorted the students of Princeton University, boldly asserting, “You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.” While Wilson may be a complex historical figure as viewed in current times, his wisdom here is a timeless call.

In the pages of this edition of FENN, you will learn about how Fenn boys travel the world far and wide in Concord and are educated to heed Woodrow Wilson’s moral charge by answering and embracing the seminal question, “How is the world in our hands?”, a query derived, of course, from Fenn’s instructive motto, Sua Sponte. It is the portrait of a school for boys in the elementary and middle school years that has as a guiding premise that students’ awareness, knowledge, skills, and imaginations can be permanently awakened and directed to the larger matters of life at their young and impressionable age.

Thus it is our charge, as the community of Fenn, not to forget our own mandated errand of educating responsible and knowledgeable young men who will, indeed, invest themselves in using their many talents and extraordinary promise to enrich the world.

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volume

85

number

2

summer

2016

F E AT U R E S

DEPARTMENTS

Becoming Global Citizens

14 Around Campus

3 Editor Laurie O’Neill Photography Laurie O’Neill Tony Santos Joshua Touster Ellen Harasimowicz Design Dan Beard Design Editorial Board Derek Boonisar Anne Ames Boudreau Verónica Jorge-Curtis Bobby Nasson Jerry Ward Lorraine Ward cover Photo Laurie O’Neill

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Fruitvale is in Trouble

11 Alumni

Weigh in on Global Citizenry 12 “We

are all human.”

Graduation 2016 30 The

87th Annual Graduation Exercises 36 Awards

and Prizes

39 Hale—and

24 Athletic Report 28 Advancing Fenn 42 Alumni News 66 Reflections 68 In Memoriam

FENN is published twice a year for alumni, parents, and friends of the School. Letters and comments are welcomed and can be sent to Laurie O’Neill, The Fenn School, 516 Monument Street, Concord, MA 01742; loneill@fenn.org; 978-318-3583.

Farewell—to the Chiefs

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Fruitvale is in

tr uble.

Its groundwater is contaminated and its people and pets are sickening. The townspeople can use only bottled water and the children must stay away from the now bad-smelling creek where they have played for years.

What can be done to remediate the contamination?

Fenn fifth graders learned about the fictional town of Fruitvale, studied maps, conducted classroom and field research on groundwater—they even tested the water in campus buildings—did research on water contamination, and wrote reports and reflections. The activity culminated with a simulated town meeting during which the boys, playing residents and experts, debated options and voted on a way to proceed with remediating the problem: pump out and treat the contaminated water, which had its disadvantages but could be done quickly and with relatively little danger to the public.

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“Being a global citizen means you are a person who knows about the world, cares for it, and takes action to make it a better place.” – Sixth grade science student “We put ourselves in the shoes of the people in Fruitvale,” said Johnny, one of the boys involved in the activity.

Added Nick, who played the part of a lawyer at the town meeting, “I learned that finding a solution requires a lot of knowledge and that the cheaper ways to fix problems are often the ones that take the longest.”

Jeff Trotsky ’06, one of the three science teachers who planned the activity, said it was “an excellent hands-on and tangible way for the boys to understand issues with water like the ones plaguing Flint, MI.” He added, “I want my students to leave my class as ambassadors for the natural world and to understand that even in fifth grade they can do their part to keep our oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams clean for generations to come.”

Having students explore solutions for water contamination is just one way that Fenn boys are gaining the skills necessary to become successful and empathetic global citizens. Promoting “global citizenship” is a popular trend that is applied to helping students be aware of the world around them and engage in contemporary issues. And being more in touch with the natural world is considered a prerequisite for schools that wish, in the words of a recent New York Times opinion piece by Christy Wampole, “to restore the umbilical connection between children and Mother Earth.”

Without fanfare, Fenn teachers in classes from social studies and science to Spanish and English, and the leaders of programs such as service learning

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Helping with a Heading Home move

and student diversity committees have for years been increasingly guiding boys not only to be curious about other cultures and concerned about the world around them, but also to see themselves as responsible for helping solve global issues such as climate change, dwindling resources, and social injustice.

Fenn boys learn about other cultures not only through class study but through events such as the Cultural Arts Festival, where guest artists join faculty, parents, and students to present an array of workshops from Cambodian History and Culture to Indian Dance and Haitian Metal Arts. The Cultural Heritage Project is a highlight of the seventh grade year.

Students are asked to select a relative or ancestor to research or interview, and profile. Their subjects may be inventors, military veterans, Holocaust survivors, or immigrants who sought a better life

in America; they reflect a wide range of achievements and life experiences. The boys utilize resources including www. ancestry.com and each student writes a paper, creates a display, and prepares a presentation for an exhibit held each May. Student diversity committees meet to discuss world issues, build cultural connections, and help support organizations including schools for the blind in Ghana, the homeland of Diversity Director Tete Cobblah. An annual car wash not only raises money for the schools, but “it emphasizes the importance of taking action, using your hands, and exemplifying empathy,” said Kofi Obeng, teacher and diversity associate.

Last year, alumnus Andreas Sheikh ’12, who had been president of the Fenn Student Diversity Committee, traveled with Tete and others to a school in Ghana to meet the students and videotape the experience.

Members of the diversity committees value being part of one of these groups. Said one boy, “It has pushed me out of my comfort zone and made me see the world in a different way.” Said sixth grader McCliff, “It has taught me that everyone has a back story and we can’t make assumptions just by the way someone looks.” The boys make presentations in All School Meeting about upcoming programs or historical events such as the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot. The diversity program has brought guest speakers to Fenn including a member of the Little Rock Nine, the group of teenagers that desegregated a white high school in 1957, and

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an exonerated Death Row inmate and anti-death penalty activist, who spoke to the Middle and Upper Schools and met with committee members to continue the conversation.

Respecting Differences Day, held twice a year, provides opportunities for older students to hear speakers from local organizations such as Speak Out who talk about sexuality and gender concerns, and for younger boys to engage in discussions about different kinds of families.

Beyond the Textbook English classes are incorporating cross cultural reading materials and holding discussions on such topics as understanding the immigrant experience and respecting differences. Liz Wei’s fifth

grade class read A Long Walk to Water, which focuses on the Sudan, and then decided to raise money to help build a well in a developing country. When they read Inside Out and Back Again, which is set in Vietnam, Liz invited a student’s father to visit the class and talk about his experience as a Vietnamese refugee. Jen Waldeck spent considerable time this year on the topic of respecting differences. Jen’s students made family presentation boards that “led to great discussions,” she said, about ‘What makes a home?’ and ‘What is a family?’”

Kristen Fitzgerald’s fourth grade class engaged in a “Windows and Mirrors” unit on identities, beginning by having each boy self-identify by race, ethnicity, nationality, language, hobbies, family, and so on, and she shared her

own identifying facts. These lists were “a lens through which we found ‘windows and mirrors’ in a different picture book each day,” Kristen said, “and then we moved into independent reading and to thinking about those windows and mirrors there. For example, we talked about a protagonist’s self-identity vs. the identity his parents hoped for him.”

In Spanish, “we’re not learning the language in a vacuum,” declared Gisela Hernandez-Skayne. “We talk about the immigrant experience.” Gisela also wants her students to apply what they have learned when they travel so they won’t find the customs and manners strange in other cultures. An activity this spring involved each boy taking on a profession and explaining how it would impact his community. One chose a soccer player,

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“and he had to think a lot about what he

“the need to prepare

could do for others and not that he could

students to interact

simply be a hero who is an inspiration,”

with the dynamic ways

she said.

of the world,” said John Sharon, chair

Tackling Real World Issues

of the department,

A workshop that social studies teacher

which has been

Matt Ward ’00 attended this winter at a

working to retool the

high school in California inspired him

curriculum. The group

to launch a project with sixth graders

has developed three

in his and Elise Mott’s World Cultures

“essential questions”

and Geography classes. The activity,

which could apply to

a study of the history and economics

every year of social

from its members. It seeks to promote

of chocolate, was an example of “deep

studies: “Where have we come from?

the development of global citizens

project-based learning with design

Where are we now? Where are we

in independent schools and beyond

thinking as a focus,” and it “encouraged

going?” And, “How is the world in our

through global curriculum, experiences,

critical thinking and got the boys to take

hands? (Which is tied to Fenn’s motto,

and institutional support.

action,” said Matt. “Rather than just

Sua Sponte).”

looking at Africa, we decided to address a

In a Middle School diversity committee meeting

Elise’s class brainstormed ways to

and cultural competency applied to all

problem in that country. In six weeks the

alleviate different South American prob-

aspects of school life,” John declared.

boys became experts on the subject.”

lems such as water scarcity, poverty, oil

Three Fenn faculty members traveled

pollution, and waste management and

to China last summer as the guests of a

cocoa is produced on the Ivory Coast with

formed groups to focus on each issue. The

school there. They shared their teaching

the use of child labor and slavery. They

teams created posters, used social media

approaches with students and faculty.

discussed efforts to expose the truth and

creatively, and pitched their ideas to an

A few Fenn teachers are going to visit

to move to free trade chocolate and the

outside panel (of advancement office

the school this summer. “Wouldn’t it

difficulties involved. The boys designed

staff), which endorsed the poverty group

be amazing if we could bring Chinese

chocolate wrappers with the help of mak-

for its idea to develop construction proj-

students here and take some of our

erspace coordinator Pauline MacLellan,

ects that would hire unemployed workers.

students there?” John mused.

In the spring, students learned how

In ninth grade Global Studies

made chocolate in double boilers, and advocated for fair trade chocolate. The

Problem Solving as a Focus

classes “we do a deep dive into the

bars were displayed in an end-of-term

“We’ve globalized the curriculum,”

conflict between India and Pakistan and

exhibit for Lower School students and vis-

John said, noting changes that include

the contemporary issues vexing China,”

iting parents, and proceeds from the sale

covering a broader scope of ancient

John said. Each boy did a research

of the bars went to a charity that builds

civilizations and making connections

project on a problem in China and

orphanages for previously trafficked chil-

with the world today in the Lower

presented his work to his classmates

dren and provides them with other oppor-

School, creating the World Cultures

and parents at the end of the year. Sam

tunities. The project “gave boys a chance

and Geography class for sixth graders,

spoke about overpopulation and

to think in real world terms, as learners,

and discussing different ways to cover

Mark researched the labor crisis,

teachers, sellers, and producers,” Matt

U.S. History in seventh and eighth

pointing out that the minimum hourly

said. “They felt empowered to take action

grades. Fenn is a member of the Global

wage is $1.85.

in regards to a real world problem with no

Education Benchmark Group, an

easy solutions.”

organization that identifies specific

boys, but we also need to have them

practices in global education by

think of solutions,” John said. He

collecting, analyzing, and sharing data

also gave his students a sustainability

The chocolate project reflects work done by social studies teachers to address

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“We’d like to see global education

“Not only do we have to educate

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challenge, for which the boys, in small groups, chose a problem faced by another country and proposed solutions, debating the merits of each proposal and learning, as one boy said, “to make sacrifices and achieve consensus.”

The boys in Global Studies spoke excitedly about what they have learned this year. “I realized we have more in common with other religions than not, and I’ve learned about the assumptions we make of others and that others make of us,” said Ethan.

“Learning about the Middle East opened my eyes. You only see the bad stuff in the news.”

In class discussions and during their sustainability summit, “I realized you have to listen to others and not judge,” said Andrew. What Liam has learned reflects, he said, what his parents have always told him: “That

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I need to be understanding of others and to realize that the world doesn’t revolve around me.”

Sustainability Efforts Grow on Campus Sustainability efforts on campus have grown by leaps and bounds. “Intentionally we start with the Fenn community,” said program coordinator Cameren Cousins, “but what we do here involves the understanding that this is a problem all over the world.” The Green Team, comprised of Lower School boys, collects recycling in all campus buildings each week. A composting team does the decidedly unglamorous job of gathering waste from the dining hall, carting it to bins, and turning over the decomposing materials every so often as they break down into soil that is used in the Fenn garden.

In March, some boys remained at school for an hour after the others left for

spring break to make sure all computers, printers, and lights were turned off in areas that would not be used for two weeks. In October, boys logged miles on foot and bicycle in an effort to save gas and do their small part to reduce carbon emissions. In the spring, they played “Light Bulb Baseball,” earning points for turning off lights in unoccupied rooms.

“Creating competitive games [this one was a “Blue vs. Gold” event] is a great way to engage boys and educate them about sustainability,” Cameren said.

“We’ve begun backing this up in the curriculum,” she said of sustainability efforts, “so boys can make the connection to the world beyond Fenn.” A sixth grade climate change project is an example: boys in teams investigated issues such as extreme weather in other countries and created a display for an exhibit and presentation in the library.

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“Intentionally we start with the Fenn community, but what we do here involves the understanding that this is a problem all over the world.” – Cameren Cousins Design Thinking in the Makerspace

electrical circuitry and to work on

research on the topic of boys as global

The Fenn makerspace continues to enable boys to put their heads together, solve problems, and make a difference.

Most recently, a group of Middle School students built a mobile solar charger to address the energy consumption of some 330 iPads on campus. Cameren and Pauline guided the boys, who met twice a week after school. There was no kit, no firm picture of what the finished project would look like, and no plans or project descriptions they could consult, but the boys persevered.

The young engineers had to work on and employ many skills, from collaboration and communication to electrical, mechanical, and mathematical. On Grandparents’ Day, the team debuted the solar charger, created by assembling a yellow garden cart, adding a solar panel, and hooking up batteries with lots of intricate wiring, and described the process to a Ward Hall filled with visitors. Their enthusiasm and pride were palpable.

“Some people in our generation get an idea and they get all excited about it, but they don’t follow through with it to make a difference,” says seventh grader Will of the project. “But we did it! We made it happen!”

their collaboration skills, and the boys

citizens at their schools. This June she

competed in front of outside judges to

presented her paper, titled “Ecological

win an award in the categories of best

Apartheid: Building Connections and

engineered, fastest car, and most artistic/

a Changemaker Mindset with Service

creative. The activity was “chaotic, messy,

Learning,” at a conference in Vancouver.

and full of failure and resilience,” said

Michelle will continue her research in a

Pauline. The boys loved it. “Us building

Ph.D. program at Antioch University.

this car relates to the big world problem,’’

Her perspective, she explains, is that

said Alex. “People are using a lot of

“in order to help boys become global

electricity and that burns fossil fuels and

citizens, you have to engage them early

it goes into our atmosphere, creating

and locally.” Michelle cites the Fruitvale

global warming. Making a simple car and

town meeting and the fifth grade’s

learning how to use a solar panel might

study of the local ecosystem as “a better

lead us to turn this into our profession.”

and different approach to help boys

Michelle Heaton has made global

comprehend problems; it goes beyond

citizenry the focus not only for the work

the textbook and is experiential. We tend

she is doing with her students and with

to be more connected to the information

Fenn’s service learning program, but

than to the experience,” she adds.

also for a project she has completed

The participation of many Fenn

for the International Boys’ Schools

boys in the Up and Out moves organized

Coalition. Michelle is one of a group

by Heading Home, a non-profit that

of U.S. educators who conducted

seeks to end homelessness in Boston,

Climate change messages like this one are on napkin dispensers in the dining hall.

The Case for Experiential Learning Researching climate change and spreading the message of the importance of saving the world’s resources are the focus of many science classes. Pauline MacLellan had her seventh graders build solar cars to better understand

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and the volunteering they do at Open Table Pantry in Concord are examples of starting locally to be global citizens. “If you just jump into the world problems, it can be overwhelming and frightening,” Michelle says. “Climate change is a big scary thing, but when you are a younger student, turning off lights on campus is a way to make a difference.” Gradually the boys engage in larger issues that take them beyond their own backyards.

Sixth grade science classes completed a unit on climate change “to develop their ecological literacy, global citizenship, and identification as agents of change,” Michelle explains.

Meanwhile, for her own research project, she sought to determine the effect of coupling a service learning project with an inquiry-based unit on climate change.

Would it make a difference in how the boys learned and how they felt about themselves if they took action about an issue they were studying?

Her class participated in a schoolwide educational campaign that conveyed facts about climate change and offered suggestions about what the community could do to make a difference. The boys created informational cards on climate change that are displayed in napkin dispensers in the dining hall and projected digitally on the school’s video monitors. Pauline’s students conducted another project: researching climate change in other countries and creating a display for an exhibit and a presentation in the library, where the visitors included students in other grades, parents, and other faculty members.

Did the fifteen boys in Michelle’s class, her focus group, feel more empowered as agents of change once they had taken personal action? They did. In contrast to a survey she took before the service learning component of the project, the majority of boys now believed the actions they took could have a local or global impact.

One boy noted, “I learned that I could do stuff like teach people about climate change, something I never thought I could do.” Another wrote in a reflection about the project, “I think that being a global citizen means that you are a person who knows about the world, cares for the world, and takes action to make the world a better place.”

The Fenn solar iPad charger

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Alumni Weigh in on Global Citizenry “We want to try to better the lives of others around the world.”– Ben Lamont ’06 “Not every lion that went hunting caught a zebra, but every lion with a zebra went hunting.”

Mike Spiak ’03 paraphrased one of his favorite quotes, which he heard in South Africa, because he believes it is the “most fitting and concise way” to explain why encouraging young people to be global citizens is important. “Children have to be exposed to the idea of global citizenry in order for the next great global citizen to emerge,” he said.

Mike works for a non-profit in Washington, D.C. called CLASP. Its mission is to improve the environmental and energy performance of the appliances and related systems we use every day, lessening their impacts. He is on the Clean Energy Access team, which is working to improve the uptake of clean cook stoves and energy efficient appliances in developing countries.

“The pool of people—children and adults—with opportunities or ideas to tackle global challenges is small, and with a small pool, there’s a proportionally smaller chance of high-impact, successful people

finding solutions to global problems,” said Mike. “The case for encouraging children to be global citizens is equally compelling from the child’s perspective,” he added. “Kids can benefit from developing a habit of leaving their ‘bubble’ because it’s an adventure that exposes them to diverse ideas and realities and it offers them opportunities to find otherwise Mike Spiak ‘03 unrealized passions.”

Interactive activities such as the simulation of a town meeting that Fenn fifth graders held this year “can be incredibly valuable” in helping expand student perspectives, said Ben Lamont ’06. Ben works at a small nonprofit in Washington, D.C., that offers instruction on national security strategy issues and often uses simulations as a teaching tool. In his words, Ben is “the operations guy who enables the organization to put on programming, the main thrust of which is an executive education-style course for national security professionals.”

At Fenn, he wrote about his grandfather’s and great uncle’s World War II stories for his seventh grade Cultural Heritage Project. Learning more about his family history encouraged him to pursue a public service oriented career, he said, adding that, “Being forced to consider that history is a somber and serious matter made a big impact on me.”

Ben said he sees three reasons for Americans to care about the broader world: “Because we face serious threats and need to understand where they come from; because there are myriad opportunities for us around the world—places to see, trade to be had, people to befriend; and because as humans and Americans we want to try to better the lives of others around the world.”

“Kids can benefit from developing a habit of leaving their ‘bubble’ because it’s an adventure that exposes them to diverse ideas and realities and it offers them opportunities to find otherwise unrealized passions.” – Mike Spiak ’03 s u mmer

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“We are all human.”

Gabe Arnold ’10 Calls Semester in Vietnam “Humbling” Stu dying t he r oa d w a ys

and traffic patterns in Hanoi this past semester not only meant that Gabe Arnold ’10

had to take extreme care while crossing the street, linking arms with fellow students to avoid being hit by a swarm of speeding motorbikes. It also prompted a revelation that could describe his entire experience in Vietnam, where he spent the past semester.

After buying a bicycle and joining the throngs on the road, “I realized that what was once so foreign to me was in actuality a beautiful chaos that I initially did not understand,” he said. “If I learned anything at all during my time abroad it was that even though everything seemed so crazy and jumbled to me, what I was observing was still the human experience.”

The Vietnamese people, he continued,

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“are not aliens. They may speak a different language, eat different foods, and seemingly have a wholly different life than my own, but underneath it all we share the same core values; we have families, friends, and feelings, and we all just live our lives trying to get by. We are all human.”

Gabe, a government major at Connecticut College who is focusing on political international economies, chose to

spend four months in Vietnam because “I am wholly interested in how governments work and in the power dynamic that plays out between those in power and those out of power.” The program involved anthropological fieldwork and Gabe took classes with a Connecticut College professor and with local teachers. He lived in the Bàch Khoa district of Hanoi, and

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when he was not traveling around South and North Vietnam he made it his goal to fully immerse in the day-to-day life there, which included “eating street food and getting street shaves,” he said.

His experience in Southeast Asia has given Gabe the opportunity to broaden his perspective, to realize what all of the world’s people have in common, and to acknowledge his responsibility to become a concerned and successful global citizen.

Gabe said that his time in Vietnam “humbled me,” but not only because he realized how privileged he is. What really amazed him was the kindness and hospitality of the Vietnamese people, “who taught me that opening one’s home and one’s heart is a truly beautiful thing, and if you do this, the friends you will gain are endless.”

While spending a week in Saigon, the former Ho Chi Minh City, Gabe explored war monuments and museums and learned about the atrocities of the Vietnam War, even exploring the complex system of tunnels in which the Viet Cong used to hide. He recognized that “it all comes down to that war is hard, and both sides, regardless of whom they are fighting for, experience unimaginable horrors. And both sides, regardless of their political viewpoint or nationality, deserve recognition,” he said. “But what confused and amazed me is that there is no animosity geared towards us as Americans

or towards our soldiers who fought.” His experience in Saigon was so emotional that Gabe reached out to former Fenn faculty member Joe Hindle, a Vietnam veteran, and the two exchanged emails.

Gabe credits his Fenn teachers for inspiring him to learn more about other cultures by linking their own experiences with the curriculum. One of his teachers was Jim Carter ’54, who “not only made me want to go out into the world, but he also made me want to explore it, get lost in it, and make some stories of my own,” he said, adding that

Jim “would lace his lectures with the perfect amount of personal narrative. His stories about the world and his travels were not only completely relevant to what we were studying but they were also genuinely interesting and they often taught me more than the textbook ever could.”

With dreams of working for an NGO, for the Foreign Service, or for an international ad or marketing company after he graduates next spring, Gabe meanwhile plans to enjoy his last year of college, during which he will continue to pursue a religious studies minor, and see where life takes him. His continuing adventure includes helping out in the Fenn advancement office this summer through a funded Connecticut College intern program.

“Underneath it all we share the same core values; we have families, friends, and feelings, and we all just live our lives trying to get by.” – Gabe Arnold ’10

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Around Campus Boys reading in the library, running to All School Meeting, studying outdoors on a splendid spring day, speaking at assembly, acting on stage in Ward Hall, touring Washington, D.C., dissecting fish, visiting sheep at a local farm, researching their ancestors, even building a replica of Thoreau’s cabin—all were elements of Fenn life these last several months.

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14 Around Campus Photos 18 News from Around Campus 20 Faculty and Staff News 23 Donald Castor Retires

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Ninth Graders Build Replica of Thoreau’s Cabin From a site on the hill above the soccer field came the sounds of hammering and sawing this spring. Rising from the ground was a small building that replicates the tiny home “where I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in a house which I had built myself, on the shore of Walden Pond.”

The words are Henry David Thoreau’s. He lived in that 10 x 15-foot cabin on Walden Pond in Concord for two years in the mid-1840s. Some call the cabin a “wooden inkwell,” for from it flowed the words that filled Thoreau’s journals and became the American literary classic, Walden.

Constructing a slightly smaller replica of the cabin was this year’s Senior Project, overseen by John

Fitzsimmons. Ninth graders had explored Thoreau’s writing and philosophy last fall in their English classes. This led to a study of the “tiny house movement,” during which the boys were asked to ponder what it was to live “simply and deliberately,” which Thoreau exhorted his readers to do.

Most of the building, in which the majority of ninth graders participated, was done in the Fenn woodshop, in sections. Once the house was assembled outside, the group shingled the roof and walls, cut the rafters, and finished the interior, sometimes using early tools. John called the project “an epic odyssey of creation and community.” Ninth grader Tad said it was one of his most memorable experiences as

a student here. “Working on the roof shingles was the best part. Perched up there I could see the whole school and think about what an incredible experience my years at Fenn have been!”

Cultural Heritage Projects Profile Inventors, Veterans, Teachers, and More It was dangerous for Ana Martinez to walk to school. Her parents told her not to talk to anyone or she could be jailed or killed for what she said. Even whispering was dangerous.

Ana lived under Communism in Cuba and speaking against the government was forbidden. Soldiers carrying machine guns roamed the streets. She remembers their shoes going clack clack as they marched along the concrete sidewalks and she could hear the rumble of 18

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tanks in the distance. Gunshots would ring out, and Ana, who was only six, was terrified.

Ana Martinez Alemán, who immigrated to the U.S. (first Miami, then New York) in 1963, is the mother of Nico Martinez, a Fenn seventh grader. He chose to tell the story of his mom, professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Higher Education at Boston College, for his Cultural Heritage Project this spring. Standing in front of his display board in the gym, Nico told visitors about his mother’s life in Cuba under Fidel Castro.

At Fenn, the Cultural Heritage Project is a highlight of the seventh grade year. Students are asked to select a relative or ancestor to profile. They conduct research on these individuals, who may have worked hard at their trades to overcome challenges, served their countries with courage and distinction, published books, invented products, run businesses, or immigrated to America for a better life, among a wide range of achievements and life experiences.

Among their resources are the New England Genealogical Society and www. ancestry.com. Each boy writes a paper, creates a display, and prepares a presentation for the exhibit.

The boys do much of their work during their Integrated Studies classes, and their teachers say the project helps them practice important organizational skills such as managing a calendar and chipping away at a complex task and leads them to discover sometimes surprising facts about their subjects. Other individuals profiled this year include an artist, athlete, designer, inventor, and a 17th-century gem merchant. An exhibit of the projects on May 5 for family members continued the next day for students and faculty.

Godspell and Fiddler are 2016 Joint Fenn/Nashoba Brooks Musicals Ward Hall at Fenn resounded with “Day by Day” and other well-known melodies from the hit Broadway musical Godspell in early March. The production, directed by Tiffany Toner Culp, featured Fenn School boys and Nashoba Brooks School girls. The musical director was John Eldridge.

At Nashoba, the Tony-award winning musical Fiddler on the

Roof was performed that same week with a joint cast directed

by Rachelle Vachon; Christel Michaud was musical director.

This is the first year two joint winter musicals were staged by the schools; in prior years a single production alternated between the two venues. Both productions received rave reviews.

Ollie Cheever in Godspell

Greyson Kaye-Flemming in Fiddler on the Roof

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A R OUND C A M P US

Faculty and Staff News Professional Development Update Tete Cobblah, Dave Duane, and Jerry Ward presented a workshop titled “From Theory to Practice: How Professional Development Can Institutionalize Diversity Goals” at the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) annual conference in San Diego last February. Participants in the workshop learned how intentional planning of professional development can result in cultural shifts and that the responsibility for diversity initiatives moves from the individual to the institution by providing opportunities to all members of the community.

During the workshop the presenters traced the evolution of diversity work at Fenn from informal committee activity prior to 1997 through modification of the School’s mission statement in 2000 and trustee support for the establishment of a diversity office with a director, assistant director, and intern, in 2006, as well as the many diversity initiatives Fenn has made, including the FDI, Fenn Diversity Institute for faculty and staff, and the Multicultural Educators Forum, to which teachers from area schools are invited.

Managing Others: A Workshop for Beginning Administrators.” Nat’s favorite part of the experience was being able to address a number of case studies with administrators who ranged from new to very experienced and who represented a variety of boarding and day schools.

Steve Farley, Lisa Francine, Sam Kane, Pauline MacLellan, John Sharon, and Matt Ward ’00 attended the “Deeper Learning Conference” at High Tech High Graduate School of Education in San Diego. Their trip was made possible by a generous grant from The Sharpe Family Foundation. The conference is a gathering of educators focused on creating more opportunities for students to learn deeply. Dave Duane, Jon Byrd ’76, Winnie Smith, and Michelle Heaton

attended a Massachusetts Environmental Education Society conference on “The Language of Climate Change” at Holy Cross College in Worcester, where they gleaned ideas about educational approaches that connect children to nature, engage them in constructive activities, and provide the foundations for respectful environmental behavior.

Elizabeth Cobblah and PJ Libby participated in a conference titled “Reimagining Equity and Justice in the United States,” held in Philadelphia in May. Among the 2500 attendees were teachers, social workers, college students, and retirees.

Several good keynotes, interesting workshops, discussions, and films made for an inspiring experience, said Elizabeth, who added that she returned from the confer-

(l to r) Tete Cobblah, Jerry Ward, and Dave Duane at the NAIS conference

Peter Bradley attended a one-day conference in Dedham this spring on “Building Better Math Brains” hosted by the Learning and the Brain Society.

Participants explored how students develop skills and acquire deep conceptual understanding in math. Nat Carr ’97 attended a one-day Association of Independent Schools in New England (AISNE) workshop titled “Leading and

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ence thinking about what she could apply to her work at Fenn and phrasing her thoughts as a series of questions such as, “What am I doing to reduce any feeling of marginalization or disenfranchisement in my classes?” and “Am I looking for my own unconscious biases?”

Eden Dunckel attended the Massachusetts School Psychologists Association’s spring conference focused on supporting student behavior at school. The morning presentation, which Eden called “amazing,” offered

strategies for helping learners of differing abilities to be successful in the classroom.

Michelle Heaton was selected to receive the inaugural International Boys Schools Coalition Research Award in June for work she did on the topic of boys as global citizens at their schools. In June she presented her paper, titled “Ecological Apartheid: Building Connections and a Changemaker Mindset with Service Learning,” in Vancouver. She will continue her research at Antioch University in a

Michelle Heaton

Ph.D. program while she teaches science and coordinates the service learning program at Fenn.

Faculty and Staff Honored for Years of Service Sixteen faculty and staff members were honored for their years of service to Fenn at a dinner held in February, where they were toasted, and roasted good-naturedly, by their colleagues.

Lynn Duval and Jon Byrd have devoted three decades to Fenn. Kathy Starensier, who retired last year, returned to toast her former colleague in the Lower School, saying that Jon “sets out each

fall to know and understand each of his advisees, with earnestness, commitment, and wholeheartedness, and throughout each year builds a connection with each boy that engenders trust and hope.”

A group including Jim Carter ’54; Kirsten Gould; Mike Salvatore and his wife, Amy; John Sharon; Amy Stiga; and various students and faculty members noted that Lynn’s students describe

Jon Byrd and Lynn Duval have each taught for 30 years at Fenn

her as “caring” and “understanding,” acknowledged appreciatively her sense of humor and playful side, and said that when discussions are held about curriculum or schedule, Lynn’s central focus is always “How will this benefit the boys?”

Also honored were Steve Gasper, buildings and grounds staff member and wrestling coach. Steve has worked for twenty years at Fenn and was acknowledged by his supervisor, Dave DiPersio, for his dedication, dependability, hard work, and sense of humor. Derek Cribb, also at Fenn for twenty years, was toasted by Dave Duane for his “earnest approach to teaching, advising, and coaching… and to living out the Fenn core values.”

The other honorees were: Beth Shiffler and Jeff LaPlante (fifteen years); Sarah “Friddo” Gianfriddo, Pauline MacLellan, Winnie Smith, and Jenn Youk See (ten years); and Cesar Acosta, Tiffany Culp, Julie Genova, Michelle Heaton, John Sharon, and Carol Valchuis (five years).

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A R OUND C A M P US

ILP Teacher Facilitates Master Teaching Workshop Jen Waldeck has not only spent fourteen years at Fenn, currently teaching in the Lower School Intensive Literacy Program, and ten years teaching elsewhere before that, but she also has played key roles in workshops held by the International Boys’ Schools Coalition in New York City for teachers interested in the concept of mastery. Fenn chose Jen to represent the School at a workshop three years ago, where she and some forty other teachers from IBSC member schools shared their classroom experiences and practices. Their discussions became part of a research project conducted by the IBSC, which was working to identify what is important to master

teachers in their teaching practices.

At the time, Jen called the professional development opportunity “affirming and inspiring.” Sharing experiences in a small group “created a bond among us,” she said, adding that participants talked about topics ranging from encouraging boy writers and teaching resilience to using one’s intuition as a guide. This winter the IBSC report on master teaching was completed and Jen was invited by the IBSC to serve as one of five facilitators at the Aspiring Master Teacher Workshop held at The Buckley School in New York City. The workshop was geared to teachers who have been teaching for five or more years and Jen

Jen Waldeck (in dark sweater) at the IBSC workshop

worked with one group. The experience of talking with teachers who are on continued journeys to become master teachers, encouraging them to share their experiences, and offering the kind of affirmation that she had received when she had been a participant was “incredibly energizing,” Jen said.

Comings and Goings—and New Babies

Willa Lane Irwin

Lorelei Violet Culp

Nat Carr ’97, former director of secondary school counseling, has been named head of the Lower School. Dave Irwin, who will be returning to Fenn in an administrative capacity this fall, and his wife, Mandy, welcomed new daughter Willa Lane Irwin last August.

Tiffany Toner Culp, drama coordinator, and husband, Michael, welcomed a daughter, Lorelei Violet Culp, on May 5.

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Dyson Jeffrey Duncan Baird

says Tiffany, who is moving on to spend time with her daughter and pursue part-time work. Maeve Lien and Chris Baird were joined by Dyson Jeffrey Duncan Baird on April 20, the day after Maeve led the Fenn Marching Band in Concord’s Patriots’ Day Parade. What a trouper! Laurie Byron, Fenn’s English department chair, has accepted a teaching position at the Derryfield School and will co-direct its English department. Kofi Obeng, teacher and diversity associate, is

moving to Portland, OR. Anne Spitzer, advancement office manager, retired in February. Donald Castor retired after serving Fenn in the buildings and grounds department for 54 years. (See article p. 23) This will be FENN Editor Laurie O’Neill’s farewell issue. “I have loved representing Fenn through its publications and through outside media, conveying to the world beyond our campus the life of this special place,” she said.

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Donald “Ace” Castor Retires After 54 Years at Fenn “ It goes f a s t,”

said Donald Castor as he sat in an office below Thompson Hall, in his Fenn cap and sweatshirt

and wearing his trademark tortoise shell glasses. As Donald enjoyed coffee and muffins with his colleagues on the buildings and grounds crew during their morning break, he talked about the fifty-four years he has served Fenn, tackling everything from cleaning and moving chairs to mowing, shoveling, and making repairs. Donald rang the bell in Ward Hall in 2012 to herald the first graduation after the building’s construction.

Donald, who grew up in Concord and now lives in Ayer, has worked for four headmasters: Dave Edgar, who hired him (“I came in to see him on a Wednesday and he asked me to start on the following Monday without even filling out an application.”), Kim Smith, Walter Birge, and Jerry Ward. He has seen the school grow in leaps and bounds, with boys and buildings added over the years. Donald remembers well when Fenn was “a little country school” and when, during its years as a boarding school, resident families gathered for dinner in the dining hall.

“The highchairs, with bibs on them, were lined up at a few of the tables,” he said with a smile.

Donald had just left the W.R. Grace & Co. in Acton, which at the time produced materials used to make concrete, container sealing compounds, latex products, and paper and plastic battery separators, and was about to get married when a friend of his mother’s told him to “try at Fenn” for a job. His early colleagues on the crew included George

Allen, Ivan Smith, and Bill Clark. He remembers having snowball fights with students and teasing them about their love of the Beatles. “Back then I knew all of the boys’ names and sometimes they will come back to say hello,” he said.

Everyone seems to have a memory of Donald over his decades on campus.

Former teacher Mark Biscoe recalled that Donald’s high school nickname was “Ace” because of his speed in track, that he loves history and Country Western music, even though he “can’t sing,” (l to r) Sean Donnelly, Donald Castor, Don Scraggs, Steve Gasper, and Rich Miceli in 1997 that he enjoyed traveling around the country with his family in a camper, and that Donald and his father-in-law, Bob Phalon, who also worked at Fenn, were “an irreplaceable duo.” Jim Carter ’54 said Donald used to sing along with Tanya Tucker music when cleaning the School House each afternoon and added that straight-

ening the chairs in Robb Hall used to be Donald’s daily routine.

“I always look forward to Donald giving me the straight shot on Boston sports teams,” said Derek Boonisar.

“Sox, Bruins, Patriots—he has an insight on why each team won, why they lost, and how certain players are playing. No need to read the sports page or listen to sports radio when Donald is nearby.”

Donald, who turned 80 in April, said he looks forward to enjoying time with his wife, nicknamed Pepe (a prankster who once, decades ago, cut her husband’s hair into a Mohawk a few days before they were to attend a wedding), and his children and seven grandchildren. He will enjoy the harvest from Pepe’s vegetable garden, though he noted that his wife doesn’t let him do any planting because “she has a system.”

On Founder’s Day in April, Headmaster Jerry Ward acknowledged Donald’s long years of service, saying, “Your day isn’t complete here until you see him on one of the paths and he asks you, ‘How you makin’ it today?’,” his traditional response whenever someone greets him.

Donald served as Grand Marshal in the Founder’s Day parade that morning, as the community cheered. In June, he was awarded the Headmaster’s Sua Sponte Medal, which is presented at Prize Day in given years to honor a member of the school community for his or her exceptional service to Fenn. sw u mmer i n ter

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AT HL E T I C R E P O R T

Athletic Report From basketball and hockey to tennis and track and field, Fenn sports teams showed grit, perseverance, and good sportsmanship during the winter and spring seasons. Among their accomplishments, varsity basketball won its tournament for the second straight year, track and field athletes set school records, and varsity tennis posted a nearly perfect season.

Evening study hall c. 1953

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Winter Sports JV Hockey Showcases Strong Skills JV hockey, coached by Jason Rude and Dave Duane, played an eight-game schedule (2-1-5) that included victories against Shady Hill and Rectory. The team provides Upper School players who did not make varsity a chance to compete interscholastically and Middle School boys an opportunity to hone their skills. It plays a schedule largely composed of varsity teams from schools who would not be able to compete against Fenn’s varsity.

Varsity Basketball Wins Tournament For the second straight year, Fenn captured the championship at the 36th Fenn School Basketball Tournament, trouncing BB&N and Fay. The team (11-4) was coached by Peter Bradley and Matt Ward ’00 and captained by Lucas Lisman and Owen Johnson. The players “worked hard and made steady improvement,” said Coach Bradley.

“They came together and played some good basketball against some tough competition, progressing from being five individuals to one team.”

JV Basketball a “Talented Group” “Every player on the JV basketball team, from seventh to ninth graders, contributed to the season either by bringing a positive attitude to practice or playing his heart out until the last seconds,” said Coach Freemon Romero ’04. The season record (6-8) doesn’t reflect that “this was a very talented group of ball players who were always willing to work hard,” he added. Kofi Obeng assisted Coach Romero and the team captains were Ollie Cheever, Ben Carbeau, and Declan Smith.

Varsity Hockey Shows Grit Highlights of this year’s varsity hockey season (6-9) included wins over Fay, Rivers, and Catholic Memorial, said Coach Derek Boonisar. “We were young this year and did not have a lot of players with varsity level experience, but we played hard. Our goals,” he noted, “were to work hard, improve, never quit, and have fun. We accomplished all of that and more.” Assisting Derek were Jeff LaPlante, Ryan Miklusak, and Paul Heinze. The team’s captain was Ian Moore and assistant captains were Charlie Desmarais and Harrison Hill.

Wrestlers Place in Championships Despite a very young team, some of the wrestlers did well in the New England Junior Prep Championships at Fay School this year. Tommy Fitzsimmons won his weight class. Callan Fries took a third place and Colby Freeman took a fourth place. Andrew Metellus won a sportsmanship award. Coaches were John Fitzsimmons and Steve Gasper.

Spring Sports Track and Field Athletes Set Records This spring track and field team members set or tied several school records, including: the 200-meter event, Kyle Roshankish, 24.86 seconds; the 100meter, Abhinav Tadikonda, 11.9 seconds; and the 4 x 200 relay, Roshankish, Tadikonda, Owen Johnson, and Matt

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Sanders, 1 minute, 44.6 seconds. The overall team record in dual and trimeets was 15-3. Coaching the team were Dave Duane and Mike Potsaid, and captains were Matt Sanders, Max Ewing, Jimmy Allen, and Roshankish. Fenn placed fifth in the Hillside Jamboree, where bronze medals were awarded

to Roshankish in the 200 and long jump and to the 4 x 100 relay team of Tadikonda, Johnson, Sanders, and Roshankish. At the annual Fenn Relays, Fenn won the shuttle hurdles and placed second in the long jump relay, the high jump relay, the 4 x 10 relay, and the 4 x 20 relay.

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“instrumental in the success of the team with Lucas pitching, Colin in the outfield and base running, and Patrick at bat,” he said, adding that “another key player was eighth grade catcher Nick Beck, who caught the majority of the games this year, providing great talent and leadership behind the plate.”

Varsity Lacrosse Takes Third in Tourney Captains Patrick Lessard, Liam Tasker, Welles Hatch, Cole Pascucci, and Henry Peters and coaches—all of them alumni—Nat Carr ’97, Matt Ward ’00, Jeff Trotsky ’06, and Frank Crowley ’06 helped lead their team to a third place in the Fenn Lacrosse Tournament and a season record of 5-7. “We had a young team this year that worked incredibly hard and grew over the course of the season. As always, the highlight of the season was the tournament. The third place game was against a very strong Indian Mountain team and went to overtime, where we were able to pull out a victory,” said Coach Carr.

JV Baseball Effort Bodes Well for Future Teams Coaches Derek Cribb, Tony Santos, and Paul Heinze guided a strong group of seventh graders this spring. The team posted an 8-3-1 record, with the players “doing a good job of keeping their focus during games,” said Coach Cribb.

Varsity Baseball Fields Talented Players A win against Shore Country Day School in its final game of the year brought the varsity baseball team to a season record of 6-3. At the Fenn Baseball Tournament, Fenn’s defense played error-free baseball to take the consolation match and a third place finish. Bob Starensier, Jeff LaPlante, and Ryan Miklusak coached a team of players who improved throughout the season, said Coach LaPlante. The ninth grade captains, Colin Cunningham, Lucas Lisman, and Patrick Romeri, were

Varsity Tennis Posts Stellar 10-1 Season Coach Rob Morrison’s varsity tennis team finished its regular season with a convincing 7-0 sweep of Roxbury Latin. The team earned second place in the eight-team Fessenden Tennis Tournament, aided by Co-Captain Tad Scheibe, who won six straight games to defeat the Fay #1 player 6-3. The tourney capped the most successful season in the last two decades, said Coach Morrison.

Also captaining were Ethan Bondick, who played as the team’s #1 throughout the season and completed his fourth

year on the team, and Matt Kirkman.

“Due to our excellent senior leadership, the boys bonded as a true team as opposed to a collection of players,” said Coach Morrison, who added that the running of practices was turned over to the captains. “They routinely sacrificed their free time to watch a teammate’s match and preferred riding the minivan back to school as a team to taking a more direct route with their parents.”

Strong Play Characterizes Successful JV Tennis Season “A remarkably strong and deep singles lineup,” according to Coach Dave Sanborn, and effective doubles pairings led the junior varsity tennis team to an 8-1-3 season. Charles Brookby captained the team and headed the doubles corps, said Coach Sanborn, who was assisted by Kofi Obeng. Charles, “a seasoned, determined, calm tennis player and a consummate sportsman,” guided his teammates to “the classical Fenn season, one of unquestionable sportsmanship, steady improvement in targeted skills, determination in competition, and high spirits regardless of score,” he noted, adding that Peter Blau concluded his senior year of Fenn sports in exemplary manner as well, playing with “integrity and respect.”

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A D VANC I N G FENN

Jim Kitendaugh Named New Board Chair The Fenn Board of Trustees has unanimously and enthusiastically elected Jim Kitendaugh to be its next chair, succeeding Mary-Wren vanderWilden, who stepped down in June.

This will be Jim’s second stint on the Board. He served from 1999-2005 and then agreed to re-join the Board in 2015. Jim brings a wealth of experience around strategic planning. He helped write Fenn’s previous Strategic Plan, which guided Fenn so well from 2000 to 2010. More recently, as a consultant from The Wayland Group, Inc., he worked with the Board to craft the School’s current Strategic Plan.

Jim’s experience, knowledge, leadership skills, and good sense of humor are the perfect qualities to lead Fenn in this next phase of implementing the Strategic Plan, according to Mary-Wren. After graduating from Harvard College and receiving an M.A. in theater from Tufts University, Jim worked as a high school English and drama teacher. He then entered the

world of performing arts, serving as the first managing director of the Boston Shakespeare Company and then as general manager of the Boston Ballet.

In 1984 Jim founded The Wayland Group, Inc., a consulting firm advising non-profit organizations on fundraising, planning, and leadership development.

Jim is married to Lynne Cavanaugh and they are the proud parents of two Fenn graduates: David ’97, who serves on the Alumni Council, and Ben ’05.

“It has been a pleasure and an honor to serve as chair for the past three years,” said Mary-Wren, who is retiring from the Board after nine years that began with her term as an ex officio trustee while serving as Parents Association president. “The Board’s work ensures Fenn’s continued fulfillment of its mission and I have full confidence that Fenn will benefit from Jim’s excellent leadership and devotion to the School,” she said.

Mary-Wren “has had a distinct leadership role throughout her time

on the Board,” said Headmaster Jerry Ward, noting that she chaired the School’s Strategic Planning Committee beginning in 2010 and guided Fenn to the plan’s final approval in 2012. She was an active member of the Board’s Diversity Committee.

Mary-Wren is an educator who helped plan and taught at the Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School in Devens, MA. She is the mother of three Fenn alumni: Andrew ’09, Peter ’11, and Ethan ’13. “Mary-Wren has been among the most dedicated and loyal parents and trustees I have ever had the true pleasure of knowing,” said Jerry, adding that Mary-Wren demonstrated “transparency, courage, and warmth as a leader.” Her “leadership in crucial roles, particularly as Strategic Planning Committee chair and subsequently as chair of the Board of Trustees, has been marked by an instinctive understanding of Fenn’s mission as a boys’ school in the elementary and middle school years,” he said.

The Fenn community and Jerry in particular are deeply indebted to MaryWren for her service.

“The Board’s work ensures Fenn’s continued fulfillment of its mission and I have full confidence that Fenn will benefit from Jim’s excellent leadership and devotion to the School.” – Mary-Wren vanderWilden

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Challenge Gift Enabling Fenn to Build Financial Aid Program A very ex citi n g g if t opp or tu n i ty

is enabling Fenn to make significant advances in its vital financial aid

program. The Manton Foundation last summer offered a Challenge to build the School’s endowment for needbased financial aid. The Challenge came with an outright grant of $500,000 and a commitment to contribute an additional $500,000 if Fenn raises the matching funds.

The challenge comes “at a fortuitous time,” said Headmaster Jerry Ward. “One of the overarching goals of the School’s current Strategic Plan calls for Fenn to broaden and support the socio-economic diversity of its student body by providing for the necessary need-based financial aid funding to enroll well-matched boys of diverse backgrounds.”

The Manton Foundation was founded by the late Sir Edwin and Lady Manton, grandparents of Fenn parent Julia Krapf, a trustee of The Manton Foundation. The Foundation has supported art museums, libraries, education, medical research in the fields of biomedical engineering and genetics, historical preservation, land conservation, and equine causes, mostly in New England.

Among those who have benefitted from Manton Foundation gifts are The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Boston Children’s Hospital, and a number of area public and independent schools and colleges.

A long-term believer in Fenn as a parent and a trustee, Julia observes that a key strength of the School is that Fenn faculty work as a team to create a challenging curriculum. “It’s interesting to me how much our teachers understand boys, who can be so wiggly at this stage.

Our teachers like teaching boys, and that is important.” Julia said that she’s seen first-hand “what Fenn can do for its students and how they blossom here.” Her

sons Alaric and Conrad are Fenn alumni; Alaric ’12 just completed his freshman year at Yale and Conrad graduated in June and is headed to St. Mark’s School.

As steward of this gift for The Manton Foundation, Julia states, “In 2015, we decided to emphasize support for financial aid to a number of our core education partners, including Fenn. Access to high quality education is so important.” Jerry heartily agrees and stated, “I can’t conceive of a purpose more important and central to the advancement of Fenn’s mission and Fenn’s future as a school than endowing for financial aid. The gift from The Manton Foundation and the corresponding support of the Fenn community to meet the $500,000

matching challenge will help Fenn ensure that the School enrolls talented and deserving boys from a range of economic circumstances. The boys receiving funding will have their lives changed by Fenn and all Fenn boys will collectively benefit from their presence as they enrich the composition and talents of the entire student body. Fenn is deeply grateful to The Manton Foundation for its generosity and vision in advancing the School’s mission in this crucial way.”

If you would like to participate in this wonderful and important challenge, please contact Director of Advancement Verónica Jorge-Curtis at VjorgeCurtis@fenn.org.

Percentage of Fenn Students on Financial Aid Percentage of Students on Financial Aid 18.0% 16.0% 14.0% 12.0% 10.0% 8.0%

9.0%

10.0% 8.0%

15.5% 14.0% 13.0% 13.0% 12.0% 12.0% 12.0% 11.0% 11.0%

8.0%

6.0% 4.0% 2.0% 0.0%

2004 04 05 2006 06 07 2008 08 09 2010 10 11

2012 12 13

2014 14 15 2016 16

Of 30 Boston area elementary and middle schools reporting, the mean s u mmer

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G R A DU AT I O N

The 87 th Annual Graduation Exercises The 87th annual Fenn School graduation exercises on June 10 will be remembered in part for the exquisite weather that provided a backdrop of deep blue skies, frothy white clouds, and early fall-like temperatures. But it will also be recalled for a School President who continued to achieve his goal of “making someone laugh, or smile, at least once a day” and a Vice President who reflected his fellow graduates’ emotions by saying, “Fenn will always hold a significant spot in my heart; I may be leaving it in body, but not in spirit.”

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30 The 87th Annual Graduation Exercises 36 Awards and Prizes 39 Hail—and Farewell—to the Chiefs

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GRADUATI ON

“If Fenn has taught us anything, it’s that you should cherish everything.” – Ollie Cheever ’17 Tw e n t y -f o ur n i n t h

and forty-one eighth graders processed from

Ward Hall to the New Gym, filling their seats to the stirring notes of a regimental march from Handel’s “Il Scipione” before receiving their diplomas. At commencement and on Prize Day, held June 8, students were honored for achievement in academics, athletics, and the arts, as well as for their character and citizenship. During the ceremony, the Treble Chorus sang Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend” and the Fenn Concert Band performed “Air Force One” by Chris Bernotas.

Headmaster Jerry Ward offered a reflection on each eighth and ninth grade graduate, delivering the former during a special evening celebration of the class earlier that week and the latter at the June 10 exercises. Jerry singled each boy out for his unique qualities and contributions to the School, mentioning such details as one’s musical talent, another’s work for the Fenn Radio crew, and yet another’s friendliness and

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generous spirit, for example.

During graduation, outgoing School President Andrew Metellus and Vice President Colin Cunningham addressed the audience. Andrew credited his teachers and advisors for helping him through the “awkward” transitions from Lower to Middle School, for teaching him organizational skills, and for being supportive while Andrew grappled with “teenage

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problems,” he said, smiling. Andrew added that he will always treasure the brotherhood that developed among his peers and used as an example the time he and two other classmates taught a trusting Dan and Sam Pring, identical twins, how to swim while the class was at Camp Caribou.

“I want to thank Mr. Ward and Mr. Boonisar for believing in Colin and me,” Andrew said, and closed his comments by saying, “What I am taking away from Fenn is the knowledge that I am a global citizen, that I have made an impact on the School, and that I will stay in touch with my ‘brothers’ who are graduating with me.”

Colin spoke of how much he has learned, on many levels, during his time at Fenn. Once shy and hesitant to try new things, Colin received support from his very first advisor, Jon Byrd ’76, “who helped me belong.” His sixth and seventh grade advisors, Lynn Duval and Morgan Hall, “helped me to adjust to the more rigorous Middle School academic regimen.” Nat Carr ’97, Colin’s first Upper School advisor, science teacher, and football coach, “was

willing to answer any questions I had, which helped me to gain clarification and understand more.”

But Colin’s most memorable advisor group was guided by Peter Bradley, he said. “It was about being with all the advisees I know very well, the small and comfortable office we stayed in, and the generosity and humor of Mr. Bradley.” Colin said he “always tried my best to represent Fenn in a positive way everywhere I went, and to act as a role model for new or younger members of the community.” He closed by saying, “Every single one of my peers in the class of 2016 has positively influenced me as a person, and our cohesive community is one that none of us will ever forget.”

Following their speeches, Andrew and Colin installed their successors, handing to next year’s School President Ian Moore the cane given to Roger Fenn as a gift when he served as the marshal of the Patriots’ Day Parade and to next year’s Vice President, Nico Bowden, the gavel used to preside over the Fenn School Senate. Members of the class of 2016 announced the

“What I am taking away from Fenn is the knowledge that I am a global citizen.”

– Andrew Metellus ’16

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Senior Class Gift, a sturdy Harknessstyle table to be used when classes are conducted outside, “because we are a class who loved the outdoors,” said ninth grader Tad Scheibe.

Diplomas in hand, the sixtyfive graduates, some of them visibly emotional, walked out to the band’s rousing rendition of the “The Raiders March (Indiana Jones Theme)” by John Williams and to the cheering faculty and staff members who had lined up along the paths in front of Ward Hall to bid a personal farewell to the boys.

The week-long graduation festivities included a special celebration of the eighth grade on June 7 and a dinner for ninth graders and their parents on June 9. During the eighth grade event, four students, two who were to graduate and two who would become Fenn ninth graders, had been selected by their peers to speak to the class members and their families. Associate Head of School and Head of the Upper School Derek Boonisar introduced the speakers and offered his reflections on the class. He drew a metaphor

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between their final three years at Fenn and mountain climbing, saying that “Maybe sixth grade is like climbing Broad Peak, seventh is like climbing K2, and eighth is like Everest…each progression was more challenging but also more rewarding.”

Derek exhorted the class to “be kind—it’s a small thing that makes a big difference; be motivated— whatever you are doing, treat it as important and worthy of your best effort; and be resilient—you will get knocked down, but come back harder and better from each setback.” He closed his comments by quoting the late Mohammed Ali: “Don’t count the days; make the days count.”

Charles Brookby, an eighth grade graduate, delivered his speech in the form of a slam poem. It included the lines: “A Fenn boy has the courage to do what is respectfully right/And to stay out of trouble, even on the darkest of nights/With core values like these [Honesty, Respect, Empathy, and Courage], you’ll be at your height/ Because boys like you have already taken flight.”

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Fellow graduate Oliver “Ollie” Cheever recalled, sometimes with humor, special moments in the life of his class, such as the Windsor Mountain overnight in September, where the campers had to rescue a plastic swan by swimming out into the lake. “If Fenn has taught us anything, it’s that you should cherish everything,” Ollie declared. “It all goes by pretty quickly and there is no greater lesson that I am going to take away.”

Ben Carbeau, a rising senior, employed the school motto, Sua Sponte, as a theme in his remarks.

“It means ‘It’s in your hands,’” he explained to the audience, adding that “It’s up to you to do what’s right... there are a lot of opportunities here to make good choices.” Upper School, he added, “Is the icing on the cake. You have the trust of your teachers and more independence. That means there are a lot of opportunities to make good choices and bad.” He went on to provide an example of the latter: when a fellow eighth grader jumped off the rope swing too soon at Windsor Mountain and “face planted.” To his

departing classmates Ben said, “Fenn has given you an amazing foundation.

Now it is up to you to choose what you will do with it.”

Finally, Ian Moore, who will continue at Fenn, recalled “the moments that have defined us as a class,” including the D.C. trip. Entering Fenn as a sixth grader, Ian remembered being a “new boy in a room of returners. But I will never forget the way kids made me feel included and welcomed to this new environment.” To his fellow rising seniors he said, “I want us to be the class that steps up and takes risks. That is courageous in their daily lives. That helps each other through tough times.

That is empathetic. And that is willing to do the right thing no matter how hard that might be.”

“Our cohesive community is one that none of us will ever forget.”

– Colin Cunningham ’16

Congratulations to all of the Fenn graduates!

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Awards and Prizes Each year , b ef or e d ip lom a s a r e a w a rd e d

at graduation, the headmaster presents, on behalf of the faculty,

six prizes that recognize in different ways members of the eighth and ninth grade classes for their exceptional character, effort, achievement, and growth, all vital elements of a Fenn education. The recipients, below, are chosen on the basis of recommendations and votes of the Fenn School faculty.

Faculty Prize (Fenn’s highest honor, which recognizes ninth graders for their character and involvement in school life): Tyler E. Arle, Samuel J. Farley, and Thaddeus M. Scheibe Lovejoy Prize (created in 1998 by Trustee Emeritus Frederick H. Lovejoy, Jr. ’51 for exceptional character, effort, and achievement to a student or students in the eighth grade): Maxwell M. Byron, Oliver E. Cheever, and Lucian W. Sharpe

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Walter W. Birge III Prize for Philanthropy and Support of the Fenn Community (named for a former headmaster and recognizing ninth graders for their community service and helpfulness to teachers and peers): Samuel J. Farley Philip S. Burbank ’36 Prize (awarded to graduates who have distinguished themselves in athletics by the teachercoaches for generous and unselfish spirit that helped foster the success and self-esteem of their teammates): Colin J. Cunningham, Callan T. Fries, Lucas A. Lisman, and Andrew Metellus

Dr. Samuel C. Fleming Memorial Prize (established by the class of 1965 on the occasion of their 25th Fenn reunion in honor of their classmate and friend, for perseverance in meeting academic challenges): James J. Ewing, Callan T. Fries, and Matthew P. Kirkman Mark Biscoe Award (named for retired master teacher Mark Biscoe H ’95, P ’74, ’79 and given for personal growth and citizenship): Andrew Metellus, Samuel S. Pring, and Liam B.R. Tasker

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Other Awards and Honors Given on Prize Day and at Graduation Eleanor B. Fenn Modern Language Prize: Benjamin I. Faerman, Thaddeus M. Scheibe, and Maxwell K. Steinert

Alan S. Moats Mathematics Prize: James J. Ewing, Maxwell K. Steinert, and Abhinav K. Tadikonda

Lennox Lindsay Latin Prize: Nicklaus B. Beck and Nicholas M. Landman

Millar Brainard Science Prize:

William O. Travers Writing Contest:

Austen Fox Riggs Award (given in

Lower School winners were Avery Feather (poetry), Ben Ma (personal narrative), and Grayson Malitsky (fiction). Middle School winners were Samarth Agrawal (poetry), William Skelly (personal narrative), and Riaz Jamal (fiction). Upper School winners were Gray Hussey (poetry), Matthew Kirkman (personal narrative), and Samuel Pring (fiction)

memory of Austen, a Fenn student from the class of 1955, to a Lower School student/students who most resemble “Autie” in the helpful effort contributed in work and play): Charles G. Kessler and Aidan J. O’Connell

Thaddeus M. Scheibe and Maxwell K. Steinert

Joseph A. Hindle, Jr. Science Recognition Award: Nicklaus G. Beck,

P.G. Lee Memorial Prize (awarded to members of the graduating class for outstanding determination, hard work, positive spirit, and cheerfulness to their athletic teams): Lucas A. Lisman, Andrew Metellus, Thaddeus M. Scheibe, and Liam B.R. Tasker

Kirsten Gould Arts Awards: Tyler E. Arle (Drama), Peter B. Blau, Jr. (Music), and Thaddeus M. Scheibe (Visual Arts).

David S. Huston Band Award: Peter B. Blau, Jr., Samuel S. Pring, and Julian Yang

James J. Ewing, Nicholas M. Landman, Matthew B. Sanders, and Lucian W. Sharpe

James R. Carter III ’54 Prize for History and Social Studies: Oliver E. Cheever, Samuel J. Farley, Robert L. Renneker, Jr., Matthew B. Sanders, and Thaddeus M. Scheibe

Citizenship Prizes: Oliver O. Ali, Finn M. Hudson, Sean P. Leahy, and Grayson Malitsky (4th grade); Daniel L. Edelman, Garrett M. MacKenzie, Theodore R. Randall, and Edoardo G. Takacs (5th grade); Nicholas W. Allegretto, Joseph D. Doherty, Adam R. Ewing, Ryan H. Lewis, Noah J. Lippa, David J. Min, and Timothy J. Smith (6th grade); Alexander J. Brown, Jacob A. Czarnecki, William L. McCullen, Ethan P. Mullen, and Samuel L. Remondi (7th grade); Ian M. Moore, Eamon J. O’Malley, Kyle J. Roshankish, and Harrison S. Hill (8th grade); Matthew B. Sanders and Maxwell K. Steinert (9th grade)

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fenn

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grad u ating

class

of

2 0 1 6

Tyler Edward Arle

Matthew Peter Kirkman

Mark William Reiss

Peter Bowman Blau, Jr.

Thomas Bennet Kracz

Patrick Aidan Romeri

Ethan Pierce Bondick

Nicholas Manthala Landman

Matthew Brent Sanders

Colin James Cunningham

Patrick Wurth Lessard

Thaddeus Mixter Scheibe

Samuel Jacob Farley

Lucas Adam Lisman

Maxwell Kennedy Steinert

Callan Thomas Fries

Andrew Metellus

Liam Blair Ronald Tasker

James Kenneth Harvey

Daniel Darady Pring

Henry Sebastian Warzecha

Owen Laighton Johnson

Samuel Sarady Pring

Tyden Erik Wilson

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Hail—and Farewell—to the Chiefs “ Hel pi ng other p eop le

is a priority in my life,” declared Andrew Metellus, reflecting on his year spent as

School President. In June, Andrew was still marveling over having been elected to lead his peers. During his six years at Fenn he wasn’t always the outgoing guy who stood at the front of Ward Hall each Friday leading school meeting, announcing speakers and smiling as he called on boys and faculty who had announcements to make.

“It’s funny to think of myself back when I arrived at Fenn as a fourth grader,” Andrew said. “How awkward I was at first. I was so quiet.” As time went on, Andrew gained confidence and made friends. Elected a captain of the football team last fall, he also distinguished himself by reaching the finals in the W.W. Fenn Public Speaking Contest in eighth grade, for which he memorized “The Blues Don’t Change,” a poem by Al Young.

Andrew’s goal was to be agreeable and friendly with everyone. “We all have a choice: to be unsupportive of others or to be nice,” he explained. “I go down the path of niceness.” Faculty and students, including the Lower School boy to whom Andrew served as a Big Brother, were drawn to him due to his humble and warm personality and his infectious enthusiasm. “At least once each day I wanted to make someone smile, especially if they were having a bad day,” said Andrew.

For his Senior Reflection, Andrew executed a unique handshake (with hand gestures, chest bumps, and other variations) with each of his fellow ninth graders, calling them to the stage one by one.

The job of the school leaders is to set a positive, productive tone and to serve as a bridge between the student body and the administration. Associate Head of School and Head of the Upper School Derek Boonisar described Andrew as an “engaged, visible leader

on campus who has brought the community together with his spirit, humor, and kindness.” He noted the time Andrew provided support for a classmate who was nervous about delivering his Senior Reflection; Andrew sat on the stage steps only a few feet away from the other boy while the latter spoke.

Vice President Colin Cunningham declared that “Fenn has made me a better person.” Colin, who graduated with Honors in June, grew significantly during his five years at Fenn, he said. He arrived in fifth grade as someone “who didn’t get involved and didn’t embrace the culture” but he discovered his passions, among which are football and baseball. Colin was elected a varsity football captain last fall and he served as a Peer Advocate and as a Big Brother to a Lower School boy.

Colin said that being a school leader taught him “a lot about how much it takes to get things done,” and that the experience “helped me build self-confidence and be more comfortable in front of a crowd.” Colin, said Derek, was “an eminently reliable VP, supporting Andrew when needed and leading effective discussions in Senate meetings.”

Both boys “have taken seriously their responsibilities as the student leaders of the community and have responded well to the challenges and opportunities of their respective roles,” said Derek. The entire Fenn community thanks Andrew and Colin for their service to the School and wishes them good luck as they begin a new chapter of their educational career.

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grad u ates

of

the

class

of

2 0 1 7

James Richard Allen

Maxwell Custis Ewing

Eamon John O’Malley

Nicklaus Giovanni Beck

Benjamin Isaac Faerman

Henry Perkins Parker

Nicholas Scott Bettenhauser

Edward Whitfield Feather II

William Lukas Newell Parker

Charles Ingermann Brookby

John Edward Ferren V

Cole Frederick Pascucci

Maxwell Mazman Byron

Timothy Charles First

Henry Ortbals Patton

Nicolo Atkeson Carere

Colby Maxwell Freeman

Robert Logan Renneker, Jr.

Oliver Edward Cheever

Matthew Jacob Gainsboro

Lucian Wallace Sharpe

Charles Elipio Clark

Welles Chamberlain Hatch, Jr.

Declan Kelly Smith

Charles Wolcott Cribb

Harrison Shea Hill

Abhinav Kumar Tadikonda

Christopher Freeman Davis

James Ali Kaldi

Jefferson Arlevd Nathanael Veillard

Charles Michael Desmarais

Greyson O’Neill Kaye-Flemming

George Gage Von Weise

Carson Sean Detweiler

Conrad Paul Krapf

Andrew Robert Vona

David Aidan Dove

Jacob Andrew Magee

Julian Yang

James Jacob Ewing

Sean Uche-Chukwu Okpoebo

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Schools This Year’s Fenn Graduates Will Attend Acton-Boxborough High School 1 Arlington Catholic High School 1 Belmont High School 1 Belmont Hill School 1 Berkshire School 1 Brooks School 2 Boston University Academy 1 Buckingham Browne & Nichols 1 Cambridge School of Weston 1 Church Farm School 1 Concord Academy 5 Concord-Carlisle High School 11 Cushing Academy 1 Derryfield School 1 Gann Academy 1 Groton School 3 Hilton Head Preparatory School 1 Hotchkiss School 2 IMG Academy 1 Lawrence Academy 4 Lincoln-Sudbury High School 3 Lowell High School 2 Middlesex School 6 Noble and Greenough School 2 O’Bryant School of Math and Science 1 Phillips Academy, Andover 1 Phillips Exeter Academy 2 Reading High School 1 Rivers School 1 St. Andrew’s School 1 St. Mark’s School 3 Tabor Academy 1

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ALU M NI N E W S

Alumni News Many of you will recognize the gentleman in the photo, pictured more than sixty years ago as he directed the first Fenn band, with characteristic aplomb, in 1953. He is David S. Huston, and in these pages we pay tribute to the School’s “Music Man,” whom we lost this spring. You’ll learn that during the winter and spring we hosted alumni gatherings in Boston, New York City, and right here on campus, and you’ll get updates from alumni in classes from 1937 to our most recent graduates and from former faculty and staff members.

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44 Class Notes 56 Alumni Outreach 63 Former Faculty News 64 Tribute to David Huston

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Class Notes 1937

1954

1960

Neal Cox writes, “I started kindergarten with Cora Hayes in 1929. I went from grades one through seven in 1930-1937.

I was there from the beginning. I am 93 this year and have been contributing to the Annual Fund for years, a great school—well worth it!”

Jim Carter reports that he is still spending several days a week at Fenn despite having retired six years ago. “I am going through all the photos which have never been identified or organized, identifying them (most) and scanning them into the Fenn photo archives.

So far I have identified and scanned 8500 photos, couple of thousand more to go. It’s a great retirement job.” John Hall writes that his son Daniel, who has Down syndrome, is now doing his service in the Israel Defense Forces.

His twin sister, Naomi, finished A children’s book by John her two years Hutchinson ’54 in the Israel Air Force in April 2015. John Hutchinson writes that he and his wife moved from Salem to Chatham, MA, full time almost seven years ago. He has written his first book for children about a field mouse named Bertie and his first visit to the beach. “Over 160 copies have flown to other parts of the globe since its self-publication five weeks ago [early May]. Sales are described as ‘brisk.’ I’ve completed a second tale of Bertie’s further adventures at Skull Island—quite the adventurous creature...and author. This does not imply my painting career is at an end.”

Fenn’s condolences go out to Sandy Carstensen on the passing of his wife, Susanne, on April 4, 2016.

1949 Bill Pinkham writes, “Sue and I retired to Estes Park, CO, in 2000 after my 40 years with Weyerhaeuser in fine paper sales, marketing, and strategic planning. I just completed 12 years on the Estes Town Board, 8 years as mayor. We live in a spectacular place at 8,000 feet. We hike, ski, volunteer in town and the Rocky Mountain National Park, and keep in touch with kids and grandkids on both coasts. Life is good!”

1951 REUNION BANNER Congratulations to Fred Lovejoy, who has published The Transformation of Pediatrics: How a Pediatric Department and Its Residency Influenced American Pediatrics: A 125-Year History (18822007), which focuses on the history of the Residency Program at Children’s Hospital in Boston. “Medical residency is one of the most formative and impactful periods in a physician’s life,” according to the publisher, Science History Publications/USA. “Lovejoy captures the noble purpose, the triumphs and disappointments, the self-doubts, and, poignantly, the nostalgic memories of the residency years.” Russ Robb reports that his grandson, Justin Robb ’14, was elected co-captain of the Acton-Boxborough varsity soccer team for the fall of 2016. In the offseason, Justin also plays for the Blazers club soccer team, regional champions in 2015.

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1961 REUNION BANNERR We’d love to hear from you! Please email news to alumni@fenn.org or enter it online at www.fenn.org/classnotes.

1966 REUNION BANNERR We’d love to hear from you! Please email news to alumni@fenn.org or enter it online at www.fenn.org/classnotes.

1967 Tim Reynolds writes that he gets together monthly with Michael Sweney and his wife, Morgan Sloane, in their Los Feliz home.

Tim also reports that he is a soccer referee, and in March he officiated at the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) Western States Championships in Bullhead City, AZ. Tim is an AYSO national referee, a United States Soccer Federation Grade 7 referee, a referee instructor and assessor, and “for more challenging afternoons from November to February, a high school referee. It beats going to the gym!”

1970 Alumni Class Senator

1956 REUNION BANNER Win Sargent and wife, Bea, divide their time between their B&B on the island of Tobago and their home in New Bern, NC. Much of their summer is spent traveling to visit their children in Ottawa, Canada, and Tacoma, WA, or traveling with their children to Italy and Sweden.

Charlie Denault

cadenault@gmail.com

1971 REUNION BANNERR Alumni Class Senator Jamie Jones

jbjones@seamanpaper.com

John Sweney married his partner of 32 years, Mike Stargel, at their home in

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Houston before a small group of family and friends. John and Mike run a staffing and recruiting firm, squander savings on old cars, and (of course) spoil their dog.

1974 Mark Biscoe’s son Tim married Jenna Venturoso on September 19, 2015. The whole Biscoe clan was in attendance at the Cape Cod wedding—parents Mark and Jane, brother Andy ’79, sister Kate, and their families.

1976 REUNION BANNERR We’d love to hear from you! Please email

studying China,” said John Sharon, chair of the social studies department. Joe, who shared the Pulitzer Prize in 2006 (his second) for International Reporting, has lived and worked in China and was at Tiananmen Square as a graduate student when the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters took place in June of 1989.

“It was an amazing opportunity for us,” said John. “Joe is so knowledgeable about China and its place in the world. He is smart, well-versed, and fully accessible.

What an incredible experience!”

1980

news to alumni@fenn.org or enter it online

Alumni Class Senator

at www.fenn.org/classnotes.

Jon Cappetta

1979 Tom Asher reports, “All is well here.

Twelve-year-old son, Skyler, and my wife, Kirstin, are doing well. We’re happy to have our health and appreciate being able to live in such a sweet old town called Fairfax, about 25 miles north of San Francisco. I continue to stay in touch with Ron Townley. When we talk, we automatically regress to middle school trash talking, much to my delight. Over the past year, I’ve enjoyed two lengthy meals with Mike Spangler, who returned to the States after living in Asia for years.”

Joe Kahn, foreign editor for The New York Times, visited Fenn Global Studies classes via Skype in May, a “once-in-a-lifetime experience for our 9th graders, who are

Joe Ellis ’71 and family celebrate the Broncos’ February win over the Panthers in Super Bowl 50.

joncappetta215@comcast.net

writes, “I feel extremely fortunate to have both boys attend Fenn; it’s everything it ever was and then some! I’d love to reconnect with any contemporary alums in the area.”

1981 REUNION BANNERR We’d love to hear from you! Please email news to alumni@fenn.org or enter it online at www.fenn.org/classnotes.

1982 Following five years living in Switzerland, Kurt Redfield, his wife, Christine, and their two boys moved to Martha’s Vineyard in 2013. They spend the school year at the Vineyard and the summers in Burgundy, France, where they are restoring an 18th century farmhouse. Kurt says the project is “annoying and wonderful as you might expect. You ask for a certain project to be

Steve Hochman reports that he is married with two boys, ages 15 and 17. After spending a couple of years working for Nike in The Netherlands, Steve is Members of the Fenn Alumni Council’s Governance Committee took a break from their work to pose for a picture (l to r) Mark Biscoe H’95, Matt Boger now back at Nike headquarters, living in Portland, ’89, Brian Davidson ’89, and Jim Carter ’54.

OR, and firmly embedded in the Pacific Northwest.

“All are very healthy and happy here. Any Fenn ’80s are welcome to visit and stay with us if you happen to be passing through.”

Bob Jones has been living in Concord with his wife, LeeEllen, since 1993. They have four children: Katie (21), Charlotte (20), Timmy (17), and Peter (14). Bob

John Sweney ’71 and Mike Stargel on their wedding day

Tom Asher ’79 with wife, Keri, and son, Skyler

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ALU M NI N E W S

for $10K. The French craftsman’s genius is convincing you he did the right thing anyways…and with the great wine and food surrounding you, it’s all forgotten pretty quickly.” Kurt travels a good deal to Europe and Asia on business, working for a group of investors and being called in to restructure tech companies in their portfolio.

1983

Steve Janes ’83 and wife, Paula Bresnahan, with Olivia and Michael Janes

done, get a price, and two months later come back to find that instead of a new bathroom, you have a new stone and iron gate instead,

Peter Mottur has launched a new company called Greenfins which is focused on tuna aquaculture. Greenfins is run in conjunction with the University of Rhode Island’s College of Environmental Life Sciences and Graduate School of Oceanography. (Read more about Peter on p. 47.)

1985

Alumni Class Senator Scott Van Houten

1984

scott@vanhoutendesign.com

Steve Janes was married to Paula Bresnahan on September 19, 2015, in Boston. Paula is a physical therapist and regional director with ATI Physical Therapy. Steve is a senior business development manager at Agera Energy, a nationwide supplier of electricity and natural gas to commercial, industrial, and institutional customers. They live in Groton with children Olivia (16) and Michael (13).

Alumni Class Senator Nick Elfner

nelfner@hotmail.com

1986 REUNION BANNERR Derek Bingley and his wife, Samantha, welcomed Townes William Bingley to their family on May 27 at 8:31 a.m. in Santa Monica, CA. Townes, who weighed in at 8 lb 1 oz and 21 inches long, and his mother are both happy and healthy, and big brother Ezra is very excited to have a sibling. Nat

Tabor Coach Rob Hurd ’80 Receives Award for Dedication to Sailing Rob Hurd ’80, sailing coach at Tabor Academy, received the Jeff Spranger Award from the Interscholastic Sailing Association (ISSA), the national governing body of the sport of high school sailing, last fall. The award, which Rob said was “a big surprise,” is designed to “recognize extraordinary dedication and selflessness,” according to the ISSA website. Rob has been a coach at Tabor Academy for 29 years and during that time he has led the New England Sailing Association for the ISSA, organizing district regattas and volunteers. He has also been a member of the ISSA board for about Rob with team members ten years, serving as vice president and chairman of the Nominating Committee, and has helped reshape the ISSA into a powerhouse organization.

In April, Rob led the Tabor Seawolves to a New England Fleet Racing Championship (his 27th NE championship). In sailing there are three major disciplines. Match Racing, which is what the America’s Cup is, features one boat against another, winner take all.

Team Racing, which is a majority of the New England high school season, involves three boats from one school against three boats from

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another, Rob explained. “You race around a course and are awarded points based upon your finishing position.

To simplify the explanation, the team with the lowest total point wins the race and a meet is usually best of three or best of five races. Fleet racing involves one boat per school on a course with one boat from the other schools. Again, points are awarded equal to your finishing position and at the end of all the races, the lowest total wins.”

A home meet on May 11 marked Rob’s 400th win as head coach. With an overall record of 20-5 and a #4 ranking in the New England standings, Tabor is experiencing another banner year. In May the team qualified for nationals by finishing second at the New England’s and a week later placed seventh in the Team Racing nationals, returning to campus just hours before graduation. “A whirlwind weekend,” Rob said.

Next year, Rob’s 30th at Tabor, he will have earned a partial sabbatical, which he plans to enjoy, he said. While he will be on campus some of the time, he hopes to travel to college sailing venues, re-connecting with Tabor alums and talking to college coaches, and to spend time with his wife and two boys (11 and 6).

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Kessler vacationed with his brother Jamie ’87 and father, Jack, in Tulum, Mexico, this past winter. The Kesslers thank Jim Carter ’54 for his worldly knowledge and for providing the witty t-shirts (see photo p. 48).

Nat is looking forward to a large turnout for the 30th reunion of the Fenn Class of ’86 this fall. After almost 20 years working in boarding schools, Charlie Mitchell is working in the middle school at The Independent Day School (IDS), a small K-8

school in Middlefield, CT. He is an English and history teacher, soccer coach, advisor, and the director of secondary school placement. Charlie lives in Cheshire with his wife, Katie, and their two sons— Zander, a fifth grader, and Timmy, who is in the third grade. Charlie says, “I have found that the older I get, the more Fenn means to me. I’ve always known it was special, but as I raise my own two sons and am now a more experienced teacher, I find myself

consistently thinking back to those most formative years: Mr. Star on the field and around campus; Mr. Hyde and a trip to Mystic to spend the night on a boat; Mr. Albright always being there and coaching the ball team; making a toolbox in woodshop class; running around in the old gym; Blue and Gold games; playing step-ball outside the 4th grade classroom and roof ball in the court yard; meetings in Robb Hall—so many important things that I took

Developing Sustainable Tuna: Peter Mottur ’84 To be a successfu l entrepreneu r, you need “a great deal of passion, patience, and persistence,” says Peter Mottur ’84, echoing the advice he says he gives to other aspiring entrepreneurs.

In Peter’s case, you need also to have a healthy respect for the ocean’s power. His work as the founder and managing director of Greenfins Global LLC sometimes takes him offshore 100 nautical miles each way in an effort to collect yellowfin tuna that are used as brood stock for his aquaculture company.

Peter, a technology expert who first worked in TV production and a self-described “serial entrepreneur,” has always had a passion for fish, he says. He studied marine science at Tabor Academy and graduated from the University of Rhode Island, earning a B.S. in marine science that included studies in aquaculture.

Greenfins is a public-private partnership with URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography and College of Environmental Life Sciences.

Basically, the university is providing the space and a team of researchers led by Dr. Terry Bradley, a professor at URI for more than twenty years who focuses on the physiology, biology, and aquaculture of marine and freshwater fish species. And Peter is providing the funding for the project. Greenfins is currently in the research phase of development, and is working towards commercializing tuna aquaculture in land based tanks.

The inspiration to create Greenfins came from research Peter did on the tuna fishery and its rapid decline over the past twenty to thirty years. “I was shocked to learn about it but saw this as an opportunity to build a business that could develop sustainable tuna,” he says. He was also surprised to learn that there were no commercial tuna aquaculture operations in the U.S. “I believe that our approach could benefit the environment by decreasing pressure on the wild fishery and contribute to rebuilding the fishery through a juvenile restocking program that we hope to implement down the road.”

Greenfins’ objective, Peter says, is to develop an environmentally responsible project that meets the growing demand of sustainable sushi-grade tuna globally. As a “social entrepreneur,” he says, “I am focused on the company’s triple bottom line: social, environmental, and financial.”

Peter Mottur feeding tuna in a Greenfins tank

The Greenfins team collects fish using traditional rod and reel, places them in slings and into a 3000-gallon live well on the boat, and takes them to a tank at the URI Bay Campus in Narragansett.

The company is building a larger tank facility at URI and expects to have it operational this summer. Peter anticipates the breeding program will begin this fall or winter.

While at Fenn, Peter says he had “a great experience that helped me build confidence and key communication skills that have served me well as a serial entrepreneur.” He and his wife, Debbie, live in Portsmouth, RI, with their two children, Charlie (13) and Abigail (15). They are on—or in—the water as often as possible, sailing, fishing, and diving.

Pete’s older brother Tom, a 1980 graduate of Fenn, is senior project/product manager at Provant Health Solutions, a national wellness leader. He lives in Rumford, RI, with his wife, Jen, and their three sons: Nate (15), Andrew (13), and Ryan (8).

Besides serving as the founding managing director of Greenfins, Peter is the founder and CEO of Vizsafe, Inc., a leading crowdsourcing and communications platform connecting citizens, businesses, and governments to enable safer and smarter communities.

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(l to r) Nat ’86, father Jack, and Jamie Kessler ’87 on the beach in Tulum, Mexico, this winter. T-shirts courtesy of Jim Carter ’54 Townes William Bingley, son of Derek ’86

for granted for a long time and now cherish. I wish I lived closer so I could send my own boys. As a middle school teacher, I am inspired by the teachers I had at Fenn and hope that I can matter one day to others the way that they did to me. I appreciate what you have done for generations of boys and am proud to be one of them. Even though I left after 7th grade to attend Groton, in my heart I am still a Fenn boy. Every year I bring my 7th grade students on a three-day Boston trip that begins with an early morning in Concord at the Old Rude Bridge [the North Bridge]. As we walk down the path I make it a point to wander off the main part so that I can show my kids my old school and tell them how great a time I had ‘just over there.’ It is one of my favorite parts of the whole trip and the kids love telling their parents that they saw where Mr. Mitchell went to 7th grade.”

1987 Jim Lichoulas writes, “My wife, Shannon, gave birth to our third child last May. We are the proud parents of James (Mac) age 8, Hannah (5), and Allie, soon to be 1. We are living in New Hampshire, but I still work in the field of real estate development in Massachusetts.”

1988

(l to r) Jack and Eric Jastromb, sons of Ned ’88

Charlie Kessler was one of two boys to receive the Austin Fox Riggs Award at Prize Day this year. Here he is shown with his dad, Nat Kessler ’86, who was presented with the same award 34 years ago.

Ned Jastromb reports, “Having recently moved back to Boston, we’ve enjoyed getting reacquainted with family and friends while living in Waltham. Madina, Eric, and Jack were all disappointed by the mild winter, so I guess skiing will have to wait. Let us know if anyone is moving. (Ha!)”

1989 David Cohen was named a 2016 Coach of the Year by the Boston Globe. David guided the Concord-Carlisle High School Patriots varsity basketball team to a 22-2 record this year and their second Division 2 state championship appearance in three years. (Read more about David and his assistant coach, Aaron Joncas ’91, on p. 50.)

Jackson Achtmeyer Boger, son of Olivia and Andy Boger ’90

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Steve Gottleib ’90 and family

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1990 Alumni Class Senator Alex Zavorski

zavorski@gmail.com

Grayson Allen married Lorraine Hanley on April 18, 2015, in Warwick, RI. The couple is expecting their first child on April 4, 2016. Andy Boger and his wife, Olivia, celebrated the birth of their second son, Jackson Achtmeyer Boger, on December 22. Stuart’s baby brother weighed in at 7 lb 7 oz and measured 20 in. Steve Gottlieb and his wife, Jill, welcomed a second son to their family on April 28. Baby Theo, who was born at 9:31 a.m. and weighed 9 lb 15 oz, joins his two-and-a-half-year-old brother Miles.

1991 REUNION BANNERR Chris Gauthier, who teaches Introduction to Sociology at Concord-Carlisle High School, was the graduation speaker at this year’s June 4 ceremony.

1992 Alumni Class Senator James McNamara

jamers2000@gmail.com

Grafton Pease writes, “I am currently living in Natick, MA, with my wife, Julia, and our son, Emmett. When I’m not wrangling the three-year-old, I work as an account manager at Valleycrest Landscape. Cheers everybody!”

1993 In January, Nathan Kraft joined the UCLA faculty as an associate professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

1994 Alumni Class Senator Bremen Thuraisingham

breman_t@yahoo.com

Mark Hustvedt writes, “Happy to report that my wife, Carly, and I had our second child in January and now have two

bright and tireless little ones—Maverick (2) and Edie (4 months). We’re living in Manhattan Beach, CA, and trying as best we can to keep our family allegiances to Boston sports teams intact.” Eren Tasar is an assistant professor of history at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. His book, Soviet and Muslim: The Institutionalization of Islam in Central Asia 1943 to 1991, is being published by Oxford University Press and will come out next year. Eren and his wife, Lola, who is a social worker, have two children: Sitora (11) and Timmy (7).

1995 Alumni Class Senators Nat Heald

nhheald@yahoo.com

James Southern

jsouthern@halstead.com

In December, Cameron Fadjo launched his startup school, the Computing Innovation Center, in the San Francisco Bay Area. After developing large-scale computer science education programs at Google and the NYC Department of Education, he struck out on his own to create a tech-focused school that brings the entrepreneurial ethos of the high tech industry to local communities around the world. Cameron credits the opportunity to explore cutting edge technology at Fenn as a seminal experience that has fundamentally shaped how he views the role that computing and engineering play in the lives and minds of all young learners. He currently operates programs in California, with plans to bring centers to communities around the country (Texas, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire are currently on his company’s radar) in 2016 and 2017.

Bruce MacDowell reports, “I have taken over ownership of the family business, The MacDowell Company, a landscape architecture and construction company based in Weston.” In 2015, The MacDowell Company received Boston Magazine’s Best of Boston award for Best Landscaping, its third Best of Boston award to date.

1996 REUNION BANNERR Alumni Class Senators John Jenkinson Glenn Kasses

jfjenkinson@gmail.com gkasses@yahoo.com

Ben Thiong’o is living in Kenya and sent an update on his family (see photo below). “My daughter, Umaa Wanjiku Njoroge, is five years old and enjoying her second year of school. My son, Uhuru Thiong’o Njoroge, started his first year of pre-school in January and turned three years old in April. My fiancée, Teresa Wanjiku, is running her own non-profit called Clean Start, which gives women ex-inmates assistance after they come out of the prison system in Kenya. I have been editing commercials and writing films that I am working to produce locally and learning the languages slowly. My brother Una Njoroge ’99 is working in New York City

Bruce MacDowell ’95

NJ [Ben] Thiong’o ’96 and family

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Fenn Grads Coach Record-Setting CCHS Team “Even now, twenty-five years later, these coaches are on my mind, always,” said David Cohen ’89, head coach of the Concord-Carlisle High School varsity boys’ basketball team. The coaches to whom David is referring are those he was “blessed” to have at Fenn: Bob Starensier, Mark Biscoe, and Walter Birge.

“I loved my athletic experience at Fenn and it was my foundation for future success as an athlete, a coach, and in any job I have ever done that related to kids,” David declared.

David guided the CCHS Patriots to a 22-2 record this year and their second Division 2 state championship appearance in three years. He was named a 2016 Coach of the Year by the Boston Globe.

David’s assistant for the past eight years

has been Fenn alumnus Aaron Joncas ’91. Another alumnus, Austin Hoey ’13, co-captained the team, led in assists, averaging five per game, and was named a Dual County All-Star. The team set the school record for the most wins in a season and the longest winning streak in an eighteen-game season.

David and Aaron say they owe much of their success to their Fenn experience.

“We are both very grateful and proud to be Fenn alums,” said David, who played soccer, basketball, and baseball as a Fenn boy. David also notes that his teachers, as well as his coaches, were influential. Jim Carter ’54 “impacted me as a coach because he taught me that it was not only about working hard, but also about working smart,” he said.

David recalled that after playing a tough Fenn baseball game, Walter “showed up the next morning at a Little League game I was umpiring, to show support.” Bob coached David in all three sports and was “absolutely critical in my athletic and personal development from a young age. He was my driving force and mentor when I started my own camps after college.” In turn, Bob said that David was “a great competitor and probably the best point guard to ever play at Fenn. I am so proud,” he added, “that two of our ex-players have gone on to become such wonderful coaches.”

David’s Fenn basketball experience was special due in most part to Mark, he said, who “helped inspire my interest in becoming a coach and my drive to grow

(l to r) In maroon vests David Cohen ’89 and Aaron Joncas ’91

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David Cohen ’89 at a Fenn practice

and learn. I was amazed by his expertise and discipline in anything he did and to this day, he is a confidant and mentor for me through every game of our basketball season.” David said Mark and his wife, Jane, are “our biggest fans, which means so much to me.”

Aaron said he “cherishes” his athletic experiences with Bob, who served as an advisor for Aaron’s son, Jalen ’10, and for Mark; he recalled Fenn winning the Eaglebrook Soccer Tournament for the first time in the School’s history, and “how gratified I was to share that with Bob. I know it was a coaching highlight for him.” During Aaron’s ninth grade year, Coach Biscoe’s basketball team went undefeated and beat Fessenden to win the Fenn Tournament.

Mark was “unlike any teacher I’d had,” Aaron said. “He was so in tune

with everything going on in his classroom, and when my attention drifted or I did not submit my best work, I drove myself harder to meet his expectations.” Mark and Jane listen to the games from their Maine home on WIQH.com 88.3, Mark said, and they keep in touch with Aaron and David. “I have been working in education and athletics for my entire career and I am certain that would not have been the case without the tremendous impact Bob and Coach Biscoe had on my life,” said Aaron.

After Fenn, David attended CCHS, where he captained and played basketball and baseball.

He went on to do his undergraduate and graduate work at Boston University, where he captained the university baseball team.

He started as a varsity assistant coach at CCHS eighteen years ago and became head varsity coach nine years ago. Aaron attended Lawrence Academy for two years, graduating from West Potomac High School in Alexandria, VA, where his parents had relocated. He played soccer and basketball at Lawrence and basketball in Virginia. Aaron hoped to play Division 3 basketball in college, but he started his family earlier than expected, he said, and worked full-time while attending college.

Both men are devoted to coaching, calling it meaningful and rewarding work.

David, who also runs year-round sports programs for kids, is “tremendously grateful for the opportunity to build lasting relationships and collaboratively impact the lives of kids now and for the future.”

Aaron said that “coaching’s rewards lie in the relationships with the players. It is the camaraderie of being involved with a team that brings joy and satisfaction to the work.” He said that coaching is “a conduit...on a daily basis” for the administrative work he does [as the K-12 METCO program director for the Concord Public Schools and Concord-Carlisle Regional School District] as he can “communicate more effectively with students in general.”

David said of his assistant, “It has been a lot of fun and a key to our success to have a loyal friend and dedicated coach like Aaron on our staff.”

Many influential players and captains have come from Fenn,” noted David.

Besides Austin Hoey, they include Joey Crowley ’12, John Bumpus ’07, Drew Vanasse ’07, John B. (JB) Henderson ’06, and Eric Beaulieu ’05. He said this reflects the “leadership qualities and self-understanding that [Fenn graduates] have already acquired,” and that Fenn “shares and helps to teach the core values of our CCHS program: Commitment, Teamwork, Sportsmanship, and Growth.

It is a natural transition and kids from Fenn have the foundation to excel in our program.”

CONNECT W I TH F ENN Like us on Facebook Network with Alums on LinkedIn The Fenn School Alumni Follow us on Twitter @FennSchool

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for a Japanese bank, while Moe Njoroge ’04 has been visiting Kenya and spending time with his mother for the past two years.”

1997 Alumni Class Senator Nat Carr

ncarr@fenn.org

Josh Francois writes, “After two and a half years in sunny Tucson, my wife, Keri, and I are relocating back northeast where I will become the CFO of Raytheon ELCAN—and I mean way northeast up in Barrie, Ontario!

We bring with us our American Eskimo dog, Arnold “Red,” and our newest addition, Mr. James Emerald Francois (10 months).” Nick Powley became engaged to Jill Rector on April 8. Erik Tomberg and his wife, Samantha Carney, welcomed Theo John Tomberg to their family on January 28, 2016. This is their first child. Erik and Samantha live in Cambridge, and Erik is working as an attorney in Boston.

Theo John Tomberg, son of Erik ’97

1998 Alumni Class Senators Richard Connolly Patrick Jones

Josh Francois ’97 with son James Emerald Francois

Fred Williams (left) and Andy Sjogren ’98 met by chance at Logan Airport

Michael Larson Stratton, son of Lance ’00

Graham Ryan Davis, son of Pat ’01

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riconnolly@gmail.com

Patrick.jones.p@gmail.com

Adam Diorio reports that he has been married to his wife, Stefanie, for five years. They have a three-year-old son, Benjamin, with a daughter on the way in September. Adam has stayed in touch with Andrew Redmond, who is not only his closest friend but also godfather to Benjamin. Adam is a quality assurance engineer II at the Raytheon Company. Andrew Redmond received his M.B.A. from Columbia University in May. Andy Sjogren ran into Fred Williams, former head of the Fenn Upper School, at Logan Airport early one winter morning (see photo at left) on his way back to Dana Point, CA, after a family visit in Boston. On May 14, Andy married Candace Klein in Montebenichi, Italy. The newlyweds have quit their jobs and embarked on six months of travel.

“We’ll start by hiking the Camino in Spain, then travel through France for a few weeks, hike through Nepal, then live the ex-pat life in the South Pacific, and maybe South America, depending on our finances at that point.”

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1999 Alumni Class Senator Ryan Connolly

reconnolly@gmail.com

Harry Boileau writes, “I’ve been living in New Orleans since the beginning of 2014.

I married Lindsay Fox in September 2014.

We have one dog, Bobbie McGee, and no kids (yet). My parents are both doing well and are still in Massachusetts (Mom in Concord, Dad in Lowell). I’ve been working in software development as a project manager and also founded a company called Pupular.

Pupular is an app for dogs and their humans to connect, meet up, and socialize. We have a beta group in New Orleans using the app and giving us feedback.” An update from FENN: In March at New Orleans Entrepreneur Week, Pupular was one of 12 companies that participated in Demo Day, a fast-paced showcase event giving select New Orleans entrepreneurs a platform to deliver an informative presentation about their business to an audience of local angels and national VCs. Harry was also one of five startup founders who participated in the first ever Patriot Tank pitch competition in New Orleans on March 11, with Pupular winning the $15,000 prize in this Shark Tank-inspired event. Nate Swift and his wife, Lindsay, welcomed Gwendolyn “Wyn” Ray Swift into their family on January 18, 2016. After eight years in Boston, Sam Takvorian and his wife, Melina, are moving to Philadelphia this summer for fellowships in hematology-oncology. “More importantly, we’re expecting a baby girl in August!” Ben Thiong’o ’96 reports that his brother Una Thiong’o is working in New York City for a Japanese bank.

powder at the Yellowstone Club (YC) is in the books. I guess it’s time to hit the rivers of Montana as a fishing guide. My second season as a private outfitter (Sheep Mountain Anglers) is revving up as spring has arrived.

I’m still keeping busy with YC but growing my empire as a knowledgeable fishing outfitter. Putting my fly tying skills to use, something I first learned from Fitz in the wood shop during ‘study halls.’ Living the dream as always.”

2001 REUNION BANNERR Alumni Class Senator Jimmy Hall

jkhall4@gmail.com

Pat Davis and his wife, Emily, welcomed Graham Ryan Davis to their family on June 1 at 9:10 a.m. Born at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Graham weighed in at 8 lb 2 oz.

2002

Orleans. Aaron Colby, his brother Luke ’96, and good friend Tudor Foote still live together in Boston, though they are soon moving to Cambridgeport. Aaron keeps busy with his biotechnology startup, dancing in the evenings, and painting on the weekends.

On April 22, Mike Gannon and his band released their debut album If Only In A Song, following a live performance the night before at Carroll Place, in the heart of Greenwich Village. The Michael Gannon Band is described as “an organic blend of roots blues, funk, rock, and world music, harkening back to a time when musicianship, soul and originality were prized among music lovers and creators.” Tracks are available for download at http://www.michaelgannon.com/#music.

Check it out! In May, Paul Liebesny received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in bioengineering and biomedical engineering. Ivan Wu married Shikha Bista on May 13, 2016.

Alumni Class Senators

2003

Will Howerton

Alumni Class Senators

will.howerton@gmail.com

Graham Jenkins

grahamwjenkins@gmail.com

Davis Rosborough

davis.rosborough@gmail.com

Jack Carroll

je.carroll10@gmail.com

Bronson Kussin

bronson.kussin@gmail.com

Christian Manchester

Sam Berman has taken a new job as the executive vice president of Admiral Security and Admiral Enforcement, providing security guard services and parking enforcement services, respectively, to the Deep South and Gulf Coast regional areas, based out of New

Mike Spiak

manchech@gmail.com

mspiak06@gmail.com

Chris Fay married Katie Wostbrock on March 19, 2016, with a full contingent of Fenn classmates in attendance (see photo below). Stephen McCarthy, who

The Fenn Class of 2003 was well represented at the March 19 wedding of Chris Fay ’03: (l to r) Bronson Kussin, Jack Carroll, Tim Fay ’07, Jamie Atkins, Chris Fay, Kevin Connolly, Peter Stone, and Riley Corr.

2000 Alumni Class Senators George Carr Matt Ward

gcarr4@gmail.com mward@fenn.org

Vikram Rao married Deepthi Yeturu on December 20, 2015. Lance Stratton writes, “On Patriots’ Day 2016, my wife, Megan, and I welcomed our first son, Michael Larson Stratton, into our lives in Bozeman, MT. Another great season ski patrolling private

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was ordained as an Episcopal priest in December, returned to Groton School, his alma mater, to preach at the reunion service this spring. May was an eventful month for Charlie Wolff, who received his M.B.A. from Columbia University on May 14 and got engaged to Ashley Macauley the following day. Congratulations, Charlie!

2004 Alumni Class Senator BJ Moriarty

jmoriarty@jwcapitalpartners.com

In June, Scott Jones received his M.B.A. from Emory University as a proud member of the Beta Gamma Sigma honors graduate society.

According to his brother Ben Thiong’o ‘96, Moe Thiong’o has been visiting Kenya and spending time with his mother for the past two years.

2005 Alumni Class Senators Spencer Lovejoy Will Stone

slovejoy424@comcast.net

william.l.stone12@gmail.com

Pete Valhouli-Farb

pvalhoulifarb@gmail.com

Brad Mattison graduated from the doctorate program at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine in May. He will be practicing in Tyngsborough beginning in August.

Scott Jones ’04 and his mother, Karin, celebrate his graduation from Emory University’s business school.

2006 REUNION BANNERR Alumni Class Senators Tyler Davis

davist.boston@gmail.com

Luke Rogers

lucianrog@gmail.com

Andrew Craig got engaged to Anna Clair on April 30. Alden French writes, “I am living in Boston and enjoy running into Fenn classmates from time to time. I work for Progress Partners, a boutique investment bank in Kendall Square, with fellow Fenn grad Davis Rosborough ’02.” Max Swanson recently started a new position as a support analyst for Fidelity Capital Market’s International Trading Desk.

2007 Alumni Class Senators Will Joumas

wbjoumas@gmail.com

Joe Rinaldo

josepher715@gmail.com

It’s a small world. Gabe Arnold ’10 reports that he ran into Will McBride this spring on the streets of Chiang Mai, Thailand. “He was wearing Fenn shorts—truly a crazy and beautiful coincidence.”

2008 Alumni Class Senators Dan Giovacchini

giodan25@gmail.com

Chris Walker-Jacks christopherwjacks@gmail.com JC Winslow

jcwins16@g.holycross.edu

Scott DeSantis writes, “I recently graduated from Amherst College and began working full time at Northwestern Mutual after interning for two years. I became the youngest certified financial planner in the company shortly after graduating from college. I keep mostly in touch with Grant Parisi and Sameer Lal.” This spring Winston Pingeon interned for the Department of Homeland Security in the White House Liaison’s Office.

He graduated in May from American University with a B.A. in justice and law and a certificate in advanced leadership studies.

tore his ACL in early March. Sven Lerner took the spring semester off from college to work in Berlin, Germany.

2010 Alumni Class Senators Gabe Arnold

ggbbe3@gmail.com

Drew Coash

dcoash@middlebury.edu

Will Crowley

wcc2ab@virginia.edu

During his semester abroad in Vietnam this spring (read more about this on p.

12), Gabe Arnold made a side trip to Thailand and ran into Will McBride ’07 on the street. “He was wearing Fenn shorts—truly a crazy and beautiful coincidence.” Robert Barsamian, who is a junior at Union College, has been named a University Innovation Fellow. This highly-selective program, funded by the National Science Foundation and directed

by Stanford University and VentureWell, is designed to help foster entrepreneurship and innovation among students nationwide. Robert is among 155 students from 47 schools selected by the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation (Epicenter). The program empowers student leaders to increase campus engagement with entrepreneurship, innovation, creativity, design thinking, and venture creation. Gil Roddy helped the Bowdoin Polar Bears men’s tennis team clinch its first NCAA Division III Championship in an impressive 5-0 victory over rival Middlebury this May. The title match was played at Kalamazoo College. Bowdoin took a quick 3-0 lead in doubles play, but the Polar Bears seized control of the match thanks to a win at #3 from Gil and a teammate, who secured an important 8-4 triumph that gave Bowdoin a 3-0 edge heading into singles.

2011 REUNION BANNERR Alumni Class Senator Nathaniel Sintros

2009 Connor Frazier’s lacrosse season at Endicott College was temporarily curtailed when he

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nathaniel1756@gmail.com

Carter Reed spent a term abroad in Sydney, Australia. Nathaniel Sintros reports that he drove in the first ever Lucas Oil

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Racing School test days, and he will race in the first Lucas Oil Racing School Race Series this summer and fall, pursuing a career in formula car racing. He also coached the Lawrence Academy varsity squash team this past winter.

2012 Alumni Class Senators Will Baxter

will.baxter.1996@gmail.com

Andreas Sheikh

andsheikh21@gmail.com

Matt Azarela is headed to the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the fall to attend Washington College. Aneesh Ashutosh graduated from Phillips Academy last year and matriculated at New York University.

During this past academic year, he began working part time as an intern at Twitter NYC. Aneesh is also a founding member of Laminar Dynamics, a group of NYU and Columbia students who are fighting disease by using drones to deliver vaccine to children in Africa. Scott Correia has been accepted into the College of Engineering at Lehigh University and will head to Bethlehem, PA, in the fall. In December, Austin Dorsey was named an ISL All-Star in football. He followed that up with All-Star honors for basketball in May. Clayton Gilmour will attend the University of Denver in the fall. Jack Gustavson graduated from Berkshire School in May and will enroll at Michigan State University, where his grandfather was president of the Class of 1961. Carter Hochman is currently playing Division 1 soccer at UMass Lowell, majoring in journalism with a minor in digital media. The Boston Globe Metro West section in April named Jack Lyne one of “five boys’ lacrosse players who will make their mark this spring.”

Jack, who has been recruited by Johns Hopkins, captained Middlesex School’s lacrosse team, anchoring the defense after being sidelined one third of last season with a wrist injury. Ben McLean is headed to the University of Wisconsin Madison for college. In December, Jivan Purutyan was named an ISL All-Star for soccer.

Lucas Oil car driven by Nathaniel Sintros ’11

Aneesh Ashutosh ’12

Lawrence Academy students Luke Newman ’13 and his prom date, Sophia

Carter Hochman ’12 on the field for UMass Lowell

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Alumni Outreach Alumni Networking Event Held in Boston A conversation with Bob Reynolds P ’11, president and CEO of Putnam Investments, was the feature of an Alumni Networking Event held in February at Ropes & Gray in the Prudential Center in Boston. Some sixty alumni attended the event and heard Bob, who is also the president and CEO of Great-West Financial,

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one of the nation’s top providers of retirement savings products, answer questions posed by Headmaster Jerry Ward about his work in institutional and retail financial services.

Bob spoke about the role that luck, as well as determination and hard work, played in his career, how a series of mentors helped steer him

to success, and what key qualities he believes are necessary to succeed in the investment world. “I always worked for really good people and I learned that one never asks anyone to do what he wouldn’t do himself,” Bob said. “The key to success is having the right people; they are the name of the game.” Prior to joining Putnam in 2008, Bob was vice chairman and CEO of Fidelity Investments.

As for the recent roller coaster state of the financial markets, Bob conceded that “It’s stressful to manage people’s money,” but that “I don’t get too stirred up about the market; it will always come back. The more important thing is how we can play it better than anyone else.”

Alumni asked questions that ranged from Boston’s failed bid to host the 2024 Olympics (“It wasn’t baked; we weren’t ready; there should have been a lot more people involved.”) to the steps the next U.S. president should take (“It’s all about compromise; we are so polarized that it is an unmovable government.

Compromise is not losing; it’s getting to the right solution.”) When asked what he thought of Deflategate, Bob, a former Div. 1 college referee who at one time was considered for the position of NFL commissioner, smiled and said, “Ridiculous,” a remark that was greeted with applause.

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Alumni Celebrate Founder’s Day at Boston Reception “If I overhear someone saying he wishes he could go back to his middle school, there is a 99% chance that this person went to Fenn,” said Kojo Edzie ’13, addressing some 100 alumni, parents of alumni, and Fenn faculty who gathered at The Lenox Hotel in Boston on April 14 to celebrate Founder’s Day. Kojo (pictured below at right), who graduated from Middlesex School this spring, called Fenn “a paradise for boys of all ages,” and described it as a place “where love permeates the walls. It is a family.”

Kojo said that “Fenn manufactures not only boys who are positive presences in their communities, but who are leaders.” A Fenn diploma, he added, “is truly a passport to achieve anything you want in life if you work hard enough.” Kojo served as the Middlesex School president his senior year, acted in school productions, wrestled, headed the independent music club and the hip hop music club, and organized the school talent show.

Kojo noted in his remarks that a fellow Fenn graduate, Jake Goorno ’13, was in a run-off that day to succeed him as president; shortly after, Jake was named a co-president of the school.

The event was the second annual Founder’s Day reception to be held in Boston for alumni, their parents, and current and former faculty. Founder’s Day festivities were held on campus the next morning, with a parade for which Donald Castor, for fifty-four

years a member of the buildings and grounds crew, led the Marching Band as Grand Marshall, riding in a John Deere Gator. Donald retired in June.

During the evening Jerry Ward acknowledged outgoing Board of Visitors Chair Adam Winstanley ’82 and presented him with a gift.

“Just seeing my son [Tucker, a fifth grader] unafraid to run for Senate, to act on stage, and to dive into academics is gratifying,” Adam said.

“Fenn is helping him to build a good foundation.” Closing his remarks, Jerry said to the alumni, “The essence of Fenn is all of you. We have a school

that will endure, and it thrives because of people who care about it deeply.”

The Founder’s Day celebration is one that we hope will continue to grow for many years to come.

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New York City Reception Over thirty alumni spanning six decades attended a gathering at the University Club in New York City on April 28. Jerry Ward offered welcoming remarks and provided a school update, and Lorraine Garnett Ward spoke about how supportive Fenn boys are of each other. She related a story about the time a ninth grader was nervous about delivering his Senior Reflection and School President Andrew Metellus sat on the stage right behind him to literally “have his back.” Afterwards, the boy who presented told Lorraine, “I could have done better, but I feel great because it was like Andrew was a brother; Fenn encourages brotherhood, so this is a day I will remember.” Lower School teacher Ben Smith ’85 talked about his experience of teaching at Fenn and how thrilled he is to see his former

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students many years later. We are grateful for the support of the alumni who attended this event and always

look forward to our annual spring trip to NYC to reconnect with them.

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Young Alumni BBQ Representing the classes of 2011 to 2017, seventy young alumni gathered at Fenn on June 13 for an evening cookout that featured games, give-aways, and lots of time to reconnect.

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2013 Alumni Class Senators Jake Goorno

jbgoorno@gmail.com

Mitchell Groves Reid Shilling

mitchmgroves@gmail.com rshilling97@gmail.com

Billy Adie, Steven Anton, and Nate Winneg are all headed south to the College of William & Mary next year. Mark Benati will attend Purdue University next year, where he’s interested in studying aerospace engineering. He plans to complete his glider pilot license this summer and work on his engine pilot license while at Purdue. Jackson Boyle will enroll at Middlebury College in the fall. Dillon Cronin will enroll at Boston University in the fall. In December, Patrick Crowley and Austin Hoey were named Eastern Massachusetts Division 3 All-Stars for football. Patrick and Austin also shared the co-captain role for Concord-Carlisle High School’s lacrosse team this spring with two other students. The dynamic duo will split up next year, with Patrick going to

Bates College in the fall and Austin attending the University of New Hampshire. Fenn will be well represented in the Ivy League next year with Zahin Das at Columbia University, Mike Demsher at the University of Pennsylvania, and both Kojo Edzie and Conrad Meier at Dartmouth College. Leo Feininger will stay local, attending Boston University.

James Finneral will enroll at Syracuse University in the fall. EJ Fitzsimmons is taking a year off to restore the family’s 1970’s Bluebird motorhome, see the country and visit cool colleges, and travel to Europe to work on organic farms though the WWOOF (Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms) program. He eventually plans to study mechanical engineering. Ben Gainsboro was chosen to be one of Lawrence Academy’s two student commencement speakers at his June 3 graduation. In the fall, he’ll enter Roger Morris University outside of Pittsburgh, PA. Jake Goorno was elected student co-president of Middlesex School for his senior year. Jake was also selected by the Board of

Trustees of the Foundation for MetroWest for recognition of his “outstanding work and contribution to the Foundation’s Youth in Philanthropy program” while at Fenn and Middlesex. Formal recognition of his work took place in April at the Foundation’s 2016 Inspiration Breakfast in Wellesley. Thomas Gross will be attending Northeastern University in the fall and hopes to major in business and computer science. Andrew Hughes will join him there, enrolling in Northeastern’s engineering school. Robert Griffin and Aidan Long will matriculate at Washington and Lee University. Joining them in Virginia will be Jay O’Brien at the University of Virginia.

Gordon Hargraves and Mark Russell will both be attending Bates College next year, with Gordon rowing for their crew team and Mark pitching for their baseball team. Imdad Haque will be pursuing a B.A./B.S. degree over the next five years, spending three years at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA, studying economical engineering and then moving to Columbia University for two years studying

Who’s That in This Award-Winning Photo?

I t’ s W al k er Davey ’15, whose mother, Kirsta, not only took this photo but also entered it in Yankee Magazine’s 2016 photo contest and was awarded third place (a second photo she entered won an Honorable Mention). Kirsta grew up in Deerfield, where her parents still live, and her family was visiting them last summer.

The Yankee judge praised the composition of the photo, noted that the multiple dogs trick the reader into thinking that one dog is in perpetual motion, and called it a “truly delightful image.”

“It was a late August afternoon,” Kirsta said, “and we brought our three dogs to join my parents’ two dogs. The light and sky were perfect…and there are few things more joyous than a seemingly timeless afternoon with dogs, a ball, and a meandering river. This was also one of the last days before Walker began his high school career so for me I appreciated every moment watching him throw ball after ball to five persistent dogs.”

“I truly believe that the best photographs capture a story and create a connection for

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the observer,” Kirsta said. “Beyond the visual representation here, it is my hope that this photo resonates with viewers and thoughts linger with images from their own childhoods.”

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biomedical engineering. “I wanted to get an even balance between going to a liberal arts college and a trade school, so I have the best of both worlds!” Imdad will be working at LEGOLAND California this summer. Will Haslett heads west to Colorado College in the fall, while Christopher Healey will represent Fenn in the Midwest at Kenyon College. Joining Christopher in Ohio will be Kevin Rutledge, who will attend Oberlin College. Carter Hussey will matriculate at the University of South Carolina. Gavin Kennedy will attend Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business in Washington, DC. Closer to home, Alek Lyman and Gavin Tasker will be going to Tufts University in the fall. Also staying in New England are Marcus Mazzotti, who will be enrolling at UMass Amherst, and Teddy McCluskey, who will attend Quinnipiac University. Connor McAvoy is headed to Tulane University in the fall. In the dead of winter, Nick Moskow will also be warm and snowfree at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. Lucas Mundel, too, will escape winter’s freezing temperatures as he enrolls at Savannah College of Art and Design

in Georgia. Luke Newman will spend the summer working construction with a Concord-based firm before he heads to St. Michael’s College in Colchester, VT, in the fall. Odom Sam has chosen to stay in Rhode Island after graduating from St. George’s School and will matriculate at Salve Regina University in Newport. Daniel Simosa will enroll at Stonehill College in the fall. Jon Stasior will spend a post-graduate year at Loomis Chafee for additional studies and to play football. Nick Stone wins the prize for the most exotic post-graduate plans.

Accepted early decision to Hobart College, Nick will take a gap year and spend the fall traveling to Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia with a Rustic Pathways program. Pranav Tadikonda will be going to the University of Michigan in the fall. In December, Ethan vanderWilden was named an Eastern Massachusetts Division 3 All-Star for football.

He will be attending Colby College next year. Nick Walters is headed to Hamilton College. In December, Cole Winstanley was named a Dual County All-Star in cross country; he will be attending Stanford University in the fall.

Jerry Ward celebrated the June 4 graduation of Concord-Carlisle High School with (l to r) Titus Wilson ’14 and CCHS seniors Andrew Hughes, Ethan vanderWilden, Patrick Crowley, Austin Hoey, Aidan Long, and Jon Stasior, all members of the Fenn Class of 2013.

2014 Alumni Class Senators Chad Arle

chad.w.arle@gmail.com

Andrew Brown

abrown.17@pomfretschool.org

Ryan Ewing

ryanewing99@gmail.com

P.J. Lucchese

pjlucchese@gmail.com

Christopher Ruediger Cormac Zachar

chris.ruediger3@gmail.com

cormacz98@gmail.com

Dan Broun and his robotics team The Brainstormers were ranked #1 and held the World Record in match score going into the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) World Championship in the FIRST Tech Challenge division. Though the team lost the world championship during the quarter finals, during the last two seasons it has won 13 awards combined for their robot performance, outreach of STEM to disadvantaged urban kids, and programming prowess. Daniel Kramer will be rowing with the US Junior National Team this summer. He’ll be training in Oregon for three weeks and then racing with the team. Willie Page won a Gold Key award for painting in this year’s Boston Globe Scholastic Art Awards competition. In December, Duncan Umphrey was named an ISL All-Star for cross country. Justin Robb was elected co-captain of the Acton-Boxborough varsity soccer team for the fall of 2016.

2015 Alumni Class Senators Walker Davey

daveybolts28@gmail.com

Paul Michaud

paul.michaud13@gmail.com

Sid Modur

sidharth.modur@gmail.com

Nick Schoeller

nschoeller2@gmail.com

Max Solomon

max.solomon@comcast.net

Dylan Volman Ben Zide

dhvman@gmail.com

benjaminzide@gmail.com

David Nguyen (captain), Rob Brower, Mark Morton, and Dan Broun ’14 and their robotics team The Brainstormers were ranked #1 and held the World Record in match score going into the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) World Championship in the FIRST Tech Challenge division. Of 5200 teams worldwide, only 128 get to attend the World Champion-

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ship, held in St. Louis, MO, in April, and 24 participate in the eliminations. Though the team lost the world championship during the quarter finals, during the last two seasons it has won 13 awards combined for their robot performance, outreach of STEM to disadvantaged urban kids, and programming prowess.

Incredibly, three of the top 15 teams in the world are located in Lexington and Lincoln.

In this year’s Boston Globe Scholastic Art Awards competition, Jalen Winstanley won an Honorable Mention for painting.

There’s No Place Like Home!

Thomas Wolfe may have said that you can’t go home again, but eleven Fenn alumni would disagree. All of them are working in some capacity at the School: Jon Byrd ’76 has taught in the Lower School for thirty years; Nat Carr ’97, who teaches science and coaches football and lacrosse, will assume the position of head of the Lower School this fall, having served as director of secondary school counseling since 2009; Jim Carter ’54 can be found volunteering up in the archives room in Mulvany, scanning piles of photos from Fenn’s history and reaching out to former faculty and students for help in identifying alumni in the images; Geoffrey Cohane ’93 (not pictured) is the School’s consulting clinical psychologist; Frank Crowley ’06 (not pictured) joined the community a year ago as assistant athletic director; Alexei Doohovskoy ’91 teaches trombone and baritone horn and served as the Marching Band backup director this spring; Tory Hayes ’02 works as assistant director of admissions; Freemon Romero ’04 teaches Spanish and coaches; Ben Smith ’85 has been teaching in the Lower School for nineteen years; Jeff Trotsky ’06, is an assistant director of admissions and a science teacher; and Matt Ward ’00 is a social studies teacher and a coach.

Alux Tung ’16 playing at a Lexington High School ensemble

2016 Alumni Class Senators Owen Elton owen.elton@me.com Kevin Gao 666666kevingao@gmail.com William Locke wlocke2000@comcast.net

As a new Lexington High School freshman, Alex Tung auditioned for and was accepted into the LHS Jazz Combo and its larger Jazz Ensemble; he was the only freshman to be part of either of these groups this year. He was also accepted into the Wind Ensemble, LHS’s most advanced band. This winter Alex auditioned for the All-State Concert band and was selected as first chair trumpet; the week-long event included a performance at Symphony Hall. In February he performed with the Combo at the Charles Mingus Festival in NYC, where the group placed first in the competition. The Jazz Ensemble was selected to perform before celebrated jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis at the Essentially Ellington Festival in NYC in May, at Lincoln Center. Alex continues to play with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra and returns to Fenn on occasion to help with the band program.

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What are they up to? Former Faculty News David Okada reports that his wife Samantha and he met in medical school at Penn and are celebrating their third anniversary and the arrival of Augustine Robert Okada, aka Gus, on May 21. They are completing their training in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where one of their colleagues is Sam Takvorian ’99. In June David and Samantha headed down to Johns Hopkins to begin the process of sub-specializing—David in cardiology and Samantha in pulmonology. They will be moving to Baltimore soon.

Ike Fordyce resides with his wife, Jane, in Georgetown, TX, having moved there from Arizona; John O’Keefe and his wife, Toni Chute, live part of the year in Martha’s Vineyard and part in Dover, MA. Peter Keyes, who retired from Milton Academy, lives in Oxbow, VT. Jim Mitchell works as a lobbyist in Augusta, ME. Todd Nelson is principal of Brooksville High School and lives in Penobscot, ME, having been a Maine resident since 1998, except for a four-year stint as head of school at The School in Rose Valley in Philadelphia. He writes frequently for Maine publications. Mark and Jane Biscoe still live “very happily” in Brunswick, ME, and are busy volunteering in the community.

(See Mark’s reflections on his Fenn teaching career, p. 66.) They love visits from some of their “Fenn boys” from the ’50s through ’90s, including some Bowdoin alumni and their children currently attending the college. Last September, Mark’s grandson Timothy Biscoe (oldest son of Mark Jr. ’74) was married to Jenna Venturoso in Falmouth, MA. Kirsten Gould shared some exciting news about her daughter Vanessa’s documentary film called Obit, which was accepted to the prestigious TriBeCa Film Festival in New York City this year. Its national premiere was in April and its international premiere took place in early May, in Toronto. Obit is described by IMDb as “a first ever glimpse into the daily rituals, joys, and existential angst of The New York Times obit writers as they chronicle life after death on the front lines of history.” Kirsten, who directed the

Concord Players in a spring production of Amadeus, which garnered great reviews, covered Drama Coordinator Tiffany Culp’s maternity leave at Fenn this spring.

Virginia, where he was the associate head of school since 2003 and for one year, interim head. Since, he has worked nearly full-time building a tutoring service for students needing help in math, the sciences, English, and writing, with SAT/ACT and AP test preparation, the college search process, and college applications and essays. The work is varied, personal, and rewarding, he says.

Susan Lenane was appointed chair of the math department at Maret School in Washington, D.C., where Rob Achtmeyer was appointed advisor lead in the middle school. He also serves as chair of the City Muriel Minot and her of Rockville Historic District husband, Terry Beasor, Commission. Kirstin Hudson have been “fortunate,” Goldman lives in San Francisco she says, to realize their with her husband, Rob. She dream of becoming used to work at Teachscape but working actors. Most left a couple of years ago to be at recently Terry, who also home with daughters Annabel does voiceover work, (12) and Gaby (10). Robbyn was seen as the lovable Leventhal teaches first grade at but crafty grandpa in Le Jardin Academy on Oahu.

Muriel Minot and Terry Beasor a Kraft Mac & Cheese She and her family have been in spot, and this winter he shot an episode of Hawaii for more than two years, loving the “Angie Tribeca,” a TBS series created by weather and the outdoors. Robbyn and her Steve Carell ’77 and his wife, Nancy. He husband, who teaches at the medical school has appeared on “Scandal,” “The Grinder,” on Oahu, have two young daughters. and a couple of other shows, and turned 81 this winter. Muriel has been in episodes of Susan Kearney Nostrand and her husband “General Hospital” and plays a “blind, scary, live in Charlotte, VT. Sue Finney continues and spooky lady in the woods” in the new on the board of the historical society in film The Other. In 2012 she resumed studyWilmot, NH, travels when she can, spends ing opera and gave a solo classical recital in “great times” with her four grandchildren, 2015. She and her husband celebrated their and still works with watercolors; she had 47th anniversary last winter. three exhibitions last year. Sue has had her watercolors made into greeting cards and Curtis Singmaster chairs the visual arts sells these and her paintings. She looks fordepartment at Besant Hill School in southward to seeing more of Kathy Starensier; the ern California and works as an artist; he Starensiers have a home nearby. had a show last winter in Brooklyn, NY. He sometimes bumps into Ben Bishop ’03, who Liza Jones and her husband, Walker, concontacted him when Curtis moved to Ojai tinue to live in Jamaica Plain with their last year. Bill Purdy has retired as the head of seventh grade daughter and fifth grade son. student health services at Duke University. He They report as a “winter highlight” having divides his time between Durham, NC, and lunch at the Colonial Inn with Jim and Lakeside, MI, with an occasional trip to San Jean Carter and Lucia McMahon. Jean has Francisco to visit his daughters and grandchilbeen a board member of the Concord Art dren. He is often found on the golf course, no Association for many years, spends more matter where he is. Sylvie Brookby completed time on her art, and has sold several pieces. her term this year as Parents Association She also spends a lot of time with her eight president at Fenn. She is one of the very few grandchildren, all of whom live in Maynard. individuals in the School’s history to have Arthur Klingenberg retired a little early two been a teacher, parent, and trustee. summers ago from Middleburg Academy in

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David Straw Huston Fenn’s “Music Man”: 1926-2016 “I don’t know about you,” said Professor Harold Hill to Marian the librarian, “but I’d like to make today worth remembering.”

David Huston, Fenn’s own “Music Man,” made his 56 years of tutoring music and directing the Fenn Band worthy of recollection. Tributes from the Fenn community have flowed in after his passing in Concord on May 31 at the age of 90.

“David was a key figure in the history of our school. He inspired hundreds of Fenn boys, some of whom became professional musicians, to discover and hone their instrumental musical talents,” said Headmaster Jerry Ward. One of those Fenn boys who became a professional musician is Christopher “Kip” Wilkins ’70, a nationally known oboist who is the music director of the Boston Landmarks Orchestra and of the Akron Symphony.

He called David “the first role model I ever had. He was a great performer, extraordinarily versatile as a musician, teaching himself to play nearly every wind, brass, and percussion instrument.

“My brother Doug [’69] and I would often hear Mr. Huston playing his oboe, especially his Bach. It was the most beautiful thing imaginable… Mr. Huston’s passion,” he added, “changed the course of my life and he remains a central force in it.”

Walter Birge, former Fenn headmaster, said David “nurtured the Fenn program from its small inception to the band becoming a beloved Concord institution.” David led the Marching Band in Concord’s parades over many decades.

A graduate of the New England Conservatory who also earned an M.A.

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David Huston, on stage in blue blazer, during The Music Man in 1993

in music from Boston University, David was a company bugler in the U.S. Army during World War II in Europe. In a reflection he penned for the 75th anniversary of the School in 2004, he recalled when he was first hired to launch a music program in 1950: “Right from the beginning I enjoyed everything I saw and most important, all of the people I came in contact with.” And in Roger Remembers, a collection of essays about Fenn, David notes, “My memories, of course, include all of the broken reeds, missing pads, lost music, and sticking valves, plus many more items, but most of all the wonderful people who have made up this school.”

Jeff Connor, who served as band director after David and who plays trumpet with the Boston Brass, said David “left an incredible musical legacy for the Fenn community and the town

of Concord…He was truly a ‘Music Man’ and Fenn will benefit for future generations of students who can experience something truly special.”

Jamie Jones ’71 said his class was involved in the very first Fenn marching band. David encouraged him to be part of a Dixieland jazz band and a brass quartet while at Fenn. Jamie continued to play, performing at his Middlesex graduation with his former Fenn classmate, Kim Clark ’71. “Mr. Huston had a great spirit and sense of humor, and of course, patience. Who can forget those very first performances, starting with ‘Glow Worm,’ and then onto ‘Anchors Aweigh,’ and then to the theme song from ‘Hawaii Five-O’?” he asked.

David “is still my favorite teacher,” declared Jamie’s classmate, Tim Parson ’71, who remembered the day David

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Mr. Huston “changed the course of my life and remains a central force in it.” – Christopher “Kip” Wilkins ’70 William Travers, Fenn English teacher was assigning instruments to his stuand reserve Lieutenant Commander in dents and asked Tim what instrument the U.S. Navy. [Some say the song was he would like to play. The nine-year-old also one of Roger Fenn’s favorites; still boy shrugged and suggested the drums, others maintain David chose it simply “which I thought would be cool.” David because the boys were able to play it.] asked him to tap a drumstick to a metroMark’s wife, Jane, said that David’s nome rhythm and then declared, “Good, “finest hour” came in 1993, when The very good.” Then he went into a closet Music Man, the spring musical, was and pulled out a case. Inside was a shiny dedicated to him upon his retirement. new trumpet. Tim, who admits to having “No one who was in Robb Hall for those “very little natural musical ability,” said performances will ever forget the sheer the trumpet “was my constant companion for five years. I was never very good at it, but I can read music and I can still play the ‘Hawaii Five-O’ song.”

“I remember [David] so well from those days when I was a little squirt playing the trumpet and always looking forward to his music class and our quartet jazz band practices (if not those at home!!),” said Vinnie Lynch ’64. “He always led with a big smile, David Huston conducting the band in Robb Hall, c. 1993 lots of enthusiasm and encouragement, and a power of love and respect for Dave,” she perfect sound from his prized oboe.” declared. Staged by Kirsten Gould, the Andrew Biscoe ’79, who played the production featured the entire Marching flute under David’s tutelage, described Band, which marched down the aisles of him as “a great man with a passion for Robb Hall and took their places on stage music—he was an iconic musician and while playing “Seventy-Six Trombones.” music teacher. He was my friend, and David was called to the stage, where a long-time family friend.” Andrew’s “Professor Harold Hill” handed him dad, Mark Biscoe, a former faculty his baton “for a final, thrilling encore,” member, said that Headmaster David recalled Kirsten, who first met Dave Edgar “gave ‘Huey,’ as David was called, many years earlier at the First Parish free rein.” Mark said that David introChurch in Concord, where he was the duced the march “Anchors Aweigh,” music and choir director. in 1969, in part to honor his friend

“He struck an unforgettable image, so dapper and debonair,” said Kirsten. Chris Davies ’44, a former faculty member, agreed: “His charming manners could lift your spirits in a minute.” Chris added that he cherishes the times he and his wife, Susie, spent with David and his wife, Beverly. At Fenn, where David’s legacy is a lasting one, Mike Salvatore, chair of the arts department, recalled that David led the Marching Band for President Gerald Ford’s arrival on campus in April, 1975, when Ford’s helicopter landed on the soccer field before the president made his way to the Old North Bridge as part of America’s bicentennial celebration. The president inspected the band, but of course the musicians passed with flying colors.

“Dave had high standards and expectations,” said Mike.

“He was a formal person, a gentleman, but he also possessed genuine warmth.”

Maeve Lien, who wields the baton these days, leading the band in the Patriots’ Day Parade and at other Fenn events, said she misses David’s “boisterous laugh and smiling face” and added that the School “would not have a band program without David Huston. He put in years of hard work to lay the foundation we stand upon. I thank David for that and hope we carry on his tradition well into the future.”

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R E FL E C T I O N S

“What a lucky man I was—and am.”

Mark Biscoe H ’95 P ’74, ’79 Reflects on his Fenn Teaching Career: 1958-1995 On Ju l y 21 , 195 8 , I r ecei v ed a p os tca r d

from Roger Fenn. Hired by Roger that spring to teach English 6,

History 7, and Latin 8, I was not quite twenty-two years of age, single (though engaged), and totally and utterly inexperienced. And I didn’t have the textbooks for the courses! I wrote in a bit of a panic to my new boss about those books. His answer (in part): Dear Mark, I have you three new men in mind and intend to send specific details as to courses and books, as soon as Asst.

Headmaster Edgar gets the schedule finalized. Keep up your courage. You will find that your teaching will come out of much more than books with these young pupils (or should I call them students?)

For the next thirty-seven years, under Roger, David Edgar, Kim Smith, Walter Birge, and Jerry Ward, my five headmasters, and with dozens of very loyal and talented faculty and staff members and well over 1000 boys and their families, I listened to, worked at, and learned the Fenn culture. I arrived at Fenn totally inexperienced, so my first year was pretty much spent listening, watching, and learning from others. As Roger had predicted, comparatively little of my teaching education came out of books, and as a new teacher I would observe Dave and also Don Frothingham, Bill Travers, Tom Lanman, and Carl Ward. By my second and third years I was settled (also married and a parent) and my love of teaching continued to grow.

Don, a very wise school man, took me under his wing, helping me not so much with classroom teaching as with “school keeping,” such as his advice on how to run a study hall, which I have never forgotten: “Study hall means STUDY and not talk, read, fool, fart, or sleep.” At the end of study hall I would have everyone pick up ten pieces of paper from the floor to save the custodians trouble, and they could leave only when it was deathly quiet for twenty

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Mark Biscoe, right, on the field with Bob Starensier (c. 1991)

seconds. They learned fast, and after a while we could laugh about it.

Coaching seventh grade football (the keen Blue-Gold rivalry particularly with Read Albright as the opposing Gold coach), and taking A Squad or Varsity Basketball by myself and baseball at all levels, made my day. Fay soon became Fenn’s white hot hoops rival. Read and I often finished the day with a rousing one-on-one basketball game. I carried competition into the

classroom, playing “geography baseball” and “Latin football” and awarding M&M’s (one at a time!) as prizes.

I discovered some fifty-eight years ago that helping boys succeed really pleased me, whether it was their correct declination of a Latin noun (in fifteen seconds for an A), a fine oral report by a boy dressed as a Colonial Tradesman, or a successful basketball jump shot. I always felt absolutely free to develop my own style of

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presenting material to the boys. My greatest satisfaction often came when a boy would gradually and then suddenly, “get it.”

One of my everlasting recollections about teaching at Fenn was the overwhelming respect given to scholarly success and the recognition of it at All School Meeting with the presentation of Honor Cards. Equal to this was the respect given to effort in the form of Effort Honor Cards. It was so great to see that these honors were never disparaged by the boys. And public speaking, either formal or not, was always politely received and appreciated.

What dominates my memories is the constant sense of working together: putting up and taking down football goal posts; moving a piano in Arthur Davis’ pickup truck, with Don Frothingham playing jazz on it as we drove through Concord; shoveling snow; building an outdoor hockey rink and then painting it with “Welcome Mr. President” when Gerald Ford came to town; painting the interior of the old Gym; clearing land for the soccer field; singing with the boys in Kirsten Gould’s musicals; building a full-sized Roman catapult and firing it at graduation, with eighth grader Mark Ames as chief engineer; cleaning the school during vacations with Don Castor and crew; and attending the first game in the New Gym in 1976, when Fenn beat Fessenden before a crowd of 500.

Mark Biscoe wins his 2ooth game in 1989

Always emanating from each headmaster and from faculty and staff was an absolutely essential Fenn ingredient: laughter—with each other and with the boys (but only when my classroom order was firmly established). I remember John O’Keefe pinning a note to his shirt that read, “No, I don’t have the 7th grade final exams corrected yet,” and Read Albright, who launched his yearly campaign to kick off the scholarship raffle and had someone perch over the Robb Hall ceiling and drop hundreds of tickets, which floated down over everyone.

School Meeting in Robb Hall (called “Chapel” until about 1972) was not only for honoring scholarship, musicianship, athletic prowess, etc., but also for discussing publicly any wrong doings. Roger and Dave [Edgar] were particularly adept at referencing a mistake of judgment with a Biblical lesson. Minor infractions usually involved the reading of one’s name from the infamous Recess Recall Book, which meant that perhaps your lost books had been found “afloat in Robb Hall” and that maybe, if you had to stay in for recess, you would remember your books the next time.

Sometimes, particularly in the late 1960s, subjects such as hair length were talked about (endlessly!) and there were a few protests against the Vietnam War. One unforgettable incident took place in School Meeting when Dave publicly

fired a teacher, Bud Cross, for letting skaters onto a pond before Bud had tested the ice. Bud got up and walked slowly down the long aisle to absolute silence. However, no one except Dave and Bud knew that Bud had not really been fired!

During my years at Fenn, the School added female teachers and coaches who brought without question levity, softening, and competence. And I saw the advent of a ninth grade in 1975 during Kim Smith’s years, an extra year that continues to provide opportunities for leadership of a more mature sort.

Jane and I keep in relatively close contact with some of our “boys”— now men—from those very early years. And of course there are so many more, too many to mention: our students and now grownup friends from the ’50s through the ’90s.

We love the visits, the phone calls, the letters and emails, the hugs, and the news about careers and growing families. Now an Honorary Alumnus, class of ’95, I enjoy helping to plan alumni events with the Alumni Council. And when we attend or visit, everyone loves to see my Jane! What a lucky man I was—and am. When I look back at my Fenn years, I think, “Who could ask for anything more?”

Mark and Jane enjoy living in Brunswick, Maine, and they visit Fenn often.

Mark and Jane Biscoe at last fall’s Homecoming

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i n m e mo ri a m

in memoriam

We extend our heartfelt sympathy to the families of these Fenn graduates and friends.

Peter B. Adams March 4, 2016 Father of Charles Adams ’80 and Reid Adams ’92 Husband of Sherry Adams, Fenn Staff

Ann Blair Lyne June 11, 2016 Mother of Austin ’69, Blair ’75, and Michael Lyne ’79 Grandmother of Jack Lyne ’12

Elsie J. Apthorp May 12, 2016 Mother of Bob Apthorp ’62

Ronald M. Pickett February 8, 2016 Father of Ethan Pickett ’79

Dana A. Booth II ’80 October 24, 2015 Brother of Alex Booth ’99

James E. Prestridge III ’73 March 30, 2016

James M. Britt December 25, 2015 Father of Peter Britt ’80 Harriet Carell May 7, 2016 Mother of Steve Carell ’77 David S. Huston Fenn Faculty 1951-1993, Music Tutor 1993-2007 Father of Peter Huston ’70 John Lunt ’42 November 18, 2015 Brother of Larry Lunt ’37

Jeanne M. Soucy January 14, 2016 Mother of Paul Soucy ’00 John K. Spring, Sr. May 12, 2016 Father of John Spring ’62 and Bill Spring ’65 Grandfather of Tyler Spring ’88 and Will Spring ’04 Edward F. Sutherland ’45 March 28, 2016 Lester C. Thurow March 25, 2016 Father of Torben Thurow ’88

Lawrence K. Lunt, Jr. ’37 April 30, 2016 Brother of John Lunt ’42

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fenn magazine

7/5/16 11:21 AM

ALUMNI DINNER

Sa

ve

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Friday, September 23, 2016

Da

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Alumni classes ending in “1” and “6”—it’s time to celebrate your reunion! Make plans now to come back and reconnect with your classmates. Class Senators and alumni classes ending in “2” and “7”—why not join us so you can start thinking about your upcoming reunion?

HOMECOMING!

Sa

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Saturday, September 24, 2016

the

Da

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Festivities to include student and alumni sporting events, 5K run, musical performances, kids’ corner, BBQ lunch, alumni tailgate, and more! Please bring your family as all are welcome!

For more information, visit www.fenn.org/homecoming 7/1/16 1:04 PM

The Fenn School 516 Monument Street Concord, Massachusetts 01742-1894

NONPROFIT U.S. POSTAGE PAID N READING MA PERMIT NO. 121

Parents of Alumni If this publication is addressed to your son, and he no longer maintains a permanent address at your home, please notify the alumni office of his new mailing address (978-318-3525 or aboudreau@fenn.org).

Thank you!

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6/28/16 2:46 PM