Foote Prints Winter/Spring 2015

Foote Prints THE FOOTE SCHOOL • NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT • WINTER/SPRING 2015 • VOL. 42, NO. 1

THE VALUE OF

DIVERSITY Get ready for Foote’s Centennial Celebration in 2016!

Details on inside back cover.

“

Foote gave me the confidence … … that I could learn anything I put my mind to. I could attempt anything,

however outside of my own experience it was. Foote teachers never discouraged our natural curiosity. They supported us by requiring a lot from us and by assuming that we would live up to their expectations.”

— a Foote School alum responding to a curriculum survey that asked, “How well did your Foote School experience prepare you for your next school?”

When you contribute to the Annual Fund, you help to sustain and share our commitment to a special school and support the work of remarkable teachers.

Make your gift today at www.footeschool.org/giving THANK YOU!

Foote Prints Contents Spotlight 2

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WINTER/SPRING 2015 Vol. 42, No. 1

From the Head of School: A Diverse Community Enriches Us All

Foote Prints is published twice a year for alumni, parents, grandparents and friends.

By Carol Maoz

Editor Andy Bromage

MOSAIC: Fostering an Accepting School Community

Class Notes Editor Cheryl Nadzam

The Value of Diversity

Design Thea A. Moritz Photography Judy Sirota Rosenthal, Stephanie Anestis, Andy Bromage

Around Campus 10

Yali Visit

For the latest in news and events visit us at www.footeschool.org

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Grandparents Day

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Community Service

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Foote Gets a Wigwam

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Theater

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Faculty Milestones

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Sports

Board of Directors Richard Bershtein, President Kim Bohen Kossouth Bradford ’87 Judith Chevalier, Co-Treasurer Constance ‘Cecie’ Clement ’62 James Farnam ’65 Christina Herrick, PTC Co-President Rosa Holler, PTC Co-President Suguru Imaeda Francie Irvine George Knight Nadine Koobatian Michael Krauss Richard Lee, Vice President Cindy Leffell, Vice President Glenn Levin Bruce Mandell Melissa Matthes Jennifer Milikowsky ’02 Stephen Murphy, Co-Treasurer Zehra Patwa, Secretary Kathy Priest Kiran Zaman

Alumni 24

Alumni Service Awards: Muffie Clement Green ’61 and Leland Torrence ’68

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Reunion Day 2015 Schedule

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Class of 2011: Where Are They Now?

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Class Notes

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Young Alums Day

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Why I Composed a Children’s Musical

By Alex Crowley ’83

Winter/Spring 2015

Ex-Officio Carol Maoz, Head of School Cover: First and second graders sing for the school during the annual Winter Assembly.

Teaching students to value and appreciate diversity is at the heart of The Foote School’s mission.

The Foote School does not discriminate in the administration of its admissions or educational policies or other schooladministered programs, and considers applicants for all positions without regard to race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, or non-job-related physical disability.

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FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

A Diverse Community Enriches Us All

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n January 29, the Foote community came together for Unite Through Understanding Day, a special event devoted to celebrating diversity in all its forms. In a Foote tradition that stretches back decades, we set aside a day for students in every grade to participate in thought-provoking workshops — from Bollywood Dancing to Understanding Islam — aimed at helping them develop a deeper understanding of other cultures, and an appreciation for people whose life experiences differ from their own.

At the end of the day, students at an all-school assembly saw a video of their peers reciting the phrase “May peace prevail on Earth” in 26 different languages — languages spoken in the homes of Foote families.

That phrase is emblazoned in the languages Foote teaches (English, French, Spanish, Chinese and Latin, as well as American sign language and braille) on a new “peace pole” in the school’s main courtyard.

As we approach our Centennial in 2015–16, The Foote School is more ethnically diverse today than at any time in our 100-year history. As you’ll read in this issue’s cover story, more than a third of our families identify as families of color, a three-fold increase from two decades ago.

Foote today is more ethnically diverse than at any time in our 100-year history.

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Head of School Carol Maoz with Kindergartners at Foote's newly planted peace pole.

More than ever, our school reflects the globalized world our students will inherit. In their homes, our students speak Arabic, Mandarin, Hebrew, Pashto, Tigrinya, German, Russian and so many other languages. Parents enliven our classrooms by sharing special traditions from their unique heritage. And at every grade level, our curriculum challenges students to understand the experiences of people much different from them — from the first and second graders’ study of eastern Native American tribes to the ninth grade’s Comparative Cultures course.

At least as important as ethnic diversity is socioeconomic diversity.

As an elementary school, Foote stands out for the amount of need-based financial aid we provide. Last year,

Foote awarded $1.65 million in aid to 111 students — almost a quarter of the student body — in amounts ranging from 5 percent of tuition to 99 percent of tuition. That crucial support provided by contributions from parents, alums and other donors is opening Foote’s doors to students and families who otherwise would never have the opportunity for this kind of education.

Foote is a mosaic of different religions, cultures, socioeconomic backgrounds and family structures.

Our students also bring an incredible diversity of thought. We all come from unique backgrounds that have shaped how we see the world. We view problems differently, and as more and more research shows, we can arrive at better solutions when

Foote Prints

MOSAIC: Fostering an Accepting School Community For decades, Foote had a Multicultural Affairs Committee composed of mostly faculty that served as a forum for discussion of issues and concerns related to diversity on campus. we bring our unique perspectives together. Working collaboratively with people from different backgrounds is a crucial skill in the 21st century.

Five years ago, Head of School Carol Maoz and a handful of parents and faculty set out to reinvigorate the group, making it more inclusive of the school’s increasingly diverse families, and hosting talks on a range of diversity-related topics for teachers, parents and, when appropriate, students.

I am continually impressed to see our dedicated faculty working together to create classrooms that are accepting of diverse viewpoints and provide safe environments for children to engage in important discussions around race, gender, religion and family background.

We support their work with professional development opportunities including presentations by the Anti-Defamation League and the chance to attend the People of Color Conference, an annual diversity forum presented by the National Association of Independent Schools.

The result was MOSAIC (which stands for Multicultural, Open-Minded, Supportive, Accepting, Inclusive Community). MOSAIC has hosted evening talks by an Iraqi refugee, Chinese language teachers, a mother who grew up Jewish in Iran and many more — all of them Foote parents, grandparents or people otherwise connected to the school.

Creating a diverse community comes with challenges and Foote still has work to do, particularly in building a faculty that more closely reflects our diverse student body. We embrace these challenges enthusiastically — today, tomorrow and into Foote’s next century.

As its name suggests, MOSAIC is a group effort of many parents, faculty and staff who volunteer their time and talents. But its main organizers are its cochairs: Zehra and Learning Support teacher Carol Poling. Kiran Zaman, also a Foote board member and mother of three students, signed on as a third co-chair in February.

Sincerely,

Carol Maoz Head of School

MOSAIC is also the driving force behind Unite Through Understanding Day, held this year on January 29, an enormous undertaking that draws from the rich cultural diversity of Foote parents and faculty members (and guests from Greater New Haven) to present dozens of stimulating workshops and activities to students.

“Within our immediate Foote community we are able to present so many different topics. That’s one of the wonderful things about our school,” says MOSAIC cochair Zehra Patwa, a parent of two Foote students and member of the board of directors. “We don’t have to go very far to find incredible stories. ”

“MOSAIC is important because it helps the dialogue remain ongoing,” says Kiran.

“It is because of initiatives like MOSAIC that I feel blessed to have my family be part of Foote, where diversity and acceptance are integral to the school’s belief system.”

Last school year, MOSAIC hosted two speaker events: one featuring ninth graders discussing a student diversity conference; and another on the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. More than 70 people attended that evening talk, a sign, Carol Poling says, that MOSAIC’s efforts are of broad interest to the Foote community.

This April, MOSAIC is presenting a talk by Jane Shipp, former head of school at Renbrook and a former Foote board member, who was a student at Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., when it was desegregated, and Yale professor Crystal Feimster, an expert on racial and sexual violence.

“Our goal is just to make everybody feel that they are included by showing the diversity that is at Foote,” says Zehra. “We are curious to learn more about our community. That leads to greater acceptance, and that’s what we want to teach our children.”

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SPOTLIGHT

The Value of

DIVERSITY

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t was cold and icy outside on January 29, but inside the sixth grade science classroom, the drumming was hot. Students had come for a special workshop on West African drumming and culture led by Tatchol Camara, a native of Guinea who runs the New Haven School of African Drum and Dance.

Dressed in traditional African garments, Tatchol explained the cultural history of drumming in West Africa — how, long ago, it was used for sending messages over long distances — and about his modest upbringing. Then he passed out 25 djembes and led the students in a lively drum circle.

Across campus in the Sandine Theater, seventh, eighth and ninth graders heard a gripping talk by Holocaust survivor Judith Altmann, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz and two other Nazi concentration camps before being liberated in 1945. In the Perrine Library another dark chapter of history came alive, as Vi Takahashi, the grandmother of two Foote graduates, recounted her imprisonment in a Japanese-American internment camp as a young girl during World War II.

Bollywood, Greek, Salsa and Irish dancing; cooked Chinese rice balls and Turkish treats; and made folk art in the style of Horace Pippin.

Back in Tatchol’s African drumming workshop, the students pushed the desks to the edge of the room to clear the floor for a dance lesson. With students and instructors drumming behind him, Tatchol led the group through West African dance steps — an energetic celebration that reverberated through the halls of the Jonathan Milikowsky Science and Technology Building.

Appreciating Differences The occasion for this international festival of food, music, dance and thought was Unite Through Understanding Day, a special event held every few years at Foote to celebrate diversity in all its forms. This year’s Unite Through Understanding

Day featured more than 30 activities and workshops led by Foote faculty, parents and local community leaders, all with a single goal: guiding students to appreciate other cultures and people who are different from them.

Unite Through Understanding Day is a concentrated version of the cultural explorations students engage in every day at Foote School. From the first week of Kindergarten through the ninth grade China program, learning to appreciate diversity — of race, religion, income levels, thought, learning approaches and family background — is infused in classroom learning, extracurricular activities and everyday interactions.

It begins in Kindergarten with learning to recognize differences — which starts with children learning about themselves. Two classroom projects, Body-Mapping and All About Me, help Kindergartners

“The first step is recognizing differences but the end goal is to help students realize what we all have in common, despite our different backgrounds.”

Elsewhere on campus were more eyeopening workshops. Yale University’s Muslim chaplain, Omer Bajwa, and Foote parent Sumiya Khan explained to a group of students the true meaning of their faith in a workshop called “Beyond the Headlines: Understanding Islam.” Learning Support Program director Cathy Pamelard shared with students her personal story of unexpected hearing loss.

Jack Ciccolo, the father of a Foote graduate, recalled growing up gay in the 1960s and ’70s and his journey to fatherhood and family. Science teacher Leslie Long led a body image workshop for girls about respecting natural diversity in shape, size and appearance.

And in various rooms, students learned Winter/Spring 2015

Students participated in an African Drumming workshop as part of Unite Through Understanding Day.

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SPOTLIGHT

understand themselves and their peers — from physical features like skin color to emotions, interests and family traditions. Parents become teachers too, visiting classrooms to share special customs from their family, religion or culture.

“The aim is to instill in children a sense that they are valued for what they possess as individuals, but with the end result being that they can become a successful member of the bigger community group,” says Kindergarten teacher Tricia Simon, who joined the faculty this year after teaching in Weston, CT and on Long Island.

In first and second grades, students learn about African and eastern Native American cultures as part of social studies. Using “here and there” and “then and now” as their lenses, students investigate how other cultures made homes, got food and developed unique traditions — and compare that to present day life in New Haven.

“The first step is recognizing differences but the end goal is to help students realize what we all have in common, despite our different backgrounds,” says Head of Lower School Beth Mello. “Students learn

that everyone has food, music or stories that are part of special traditions to them. It’s about coming together over common bonds.”

Fourth graders cap off their immigration unit with a simulation of Ellis Island circa 1907, with students assigned to the roles of either hopeful immigrant or customs agent. As part of the exercise, each student is given an identity card with a name, a nationality and a story — often involving hardships such as illness, language barriers or destitution. At the end, some students are admitted as citizens while others are deported back to their home countries.

“The kids are always surprised at how much waiting around and blatant unfairness these hopeful folks had to endure,” says fourth grade teacher John Climie.

Community service projects offer further opportunities to learn about — and volunteer alongside — people living in vastly different circumstances. As they have for years, sixth graders serve lunch each Monday at St. Ann’s Soup Kitchen in Hamden.

“Through the soup kitchen program, students get a sense that this is

For their unit on immigration, fourth graders reenacted Ellis Island circa 1907. Foreground: Matthew DeLaurentis (left) and Kyle Holler

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another person’s reality. They come to understand them as individuals and not just people they see at highway exit ramps,” says Leah Andelsmith, a Spanish teacher and sixth grade adviser in her first year at Foote.

“They start thinking about, ‘How can I know these people? How can I serve this community?’”

Key to fostering that sense of acceptance is starting the conversation when children are young, says Curriculum Coordinator Lauren Goldberg. “As adults the word diversity becomes code for talking about race. For kids, diversity just means ‘same and different.’ If you are open about that when kids are 5, you open the door to a whole new mindset — one that embraces differences.”

Celebrating Diversity More than ever, Foote reflects the diverse, 21st century world that students will enter. The school is more ethnically diverse today than at any time in its 100-year history. The number of children who identify as students of color has increased three-fold over the past two decades — from 12 percent in 1993 to 37 percent in the current school year. In their homes, Foote families speak 29 different languages.

Third graders Portia Chung (left) and Dylan Friedman learned Henna tattoo art during Unite Through Understanding Day.

Foote Prints

Another important goal at Foote is socioeconomic diversity, and in the last decade increasing financial aid has supported that goal. The amount of need-based financial aid awarded has increased from $950,000 a decade ago to $1.65 million today. Last year, 111 students received financial aid grants ranging from 5 percent of tuition to 99 percent.

Foote students also bring a multitude of perspectives, family backgrounds and learning abilities to the classroom, in effect becoming teachers to one another. Middle School Math Chair Megan Williams likes to pair up students with peers they don’t normally interact with during special projects such as Sixth Grade Math Night, when students work in groups to create casino-style games as part of a unit on probability. “I tell them, ‘Guys, this is part of life.’ We need to learn to work with others even when we don’t like the situation,” Williams says.

Williams, who is also a ninth grade adviser, sees great diversity of thought at Foote, even in math classes where students are all seeking the same “right” answer. “In Algebra, even though there is a specific answer, there is not just one path to get to that answer,” she says. “And that opens up really interesting discussions about the way students think.”

Cathy Pamelard, head of the Learning Support Program, agrees. With five full-time faculty, her department supports 83 students in grades K through 9 who have non-traditional learning profiles. A generation ago, those students might have been marginalized for their learning differences, Pamelard says, but today they are recognized as having something unique to contribute. In addition to receiving targeted skill instruction, they are supported with multi-modal instruction, responsive pacing and differentiation, Winter/Spring 2015

As part of Unite Though Understanding Day, Kindergartners and ninth graders had a “buddy lunch” together. From left, Zachary Huber, Victoria Fletcher, Giselle Johnson, Silas Kennedy, Poyraz Deniz, Laila Rivera Good and Dylan Sloan.

“Different kinds of learning makes for a richer community.” audio books, skeleton notes and other learning aids.

“As more research is done, we know there are incredible people who have learning differences,” says Pamelard.

“We understand learning differences better than ever. There is less interest in making everyone do everything in the same way. Teachers understand kids are starting in different places and they are meeting students where they are. Different kinds of learning makes for a richer community.”

Developing Global Citizens This approach to learning lays the groundwork for students to become global citizens, ready to lead and collaborate in a flattening world.

Solving the biggest problems will require students to work collaboratively with people from different cultures and backgrounds, says Head of Middle School John Turner.

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Foote by the Numbers

470 37% 29 4 First and second graders paraded in traditional lion costumes to celebrate Chinese New Year on Feb. 19.

“The China program helps kids start to understand that one individual cannot represent a full ethnic group or race.”

This year, Foote added a second Chinese language teacher, as Chinese moved into the Middle School for the first time since its introduction as a modern language in 2012. Turner notes that next school year, seventh graders will for the first time be studying Mandarin alongside Latin — two completely unrelated languages.

Turner notes that in the middle school years, students begin a deeper examination of their own identity and heritage. It starts in sixth grade when students randomly select a country to study for the Festival of the World, and carries through to the ninth grade China experience. Middle school students also consider questions of race, gender and sexual orientation in F-STAND (which stands for Foote Students Against Negativity and Discrimination), a group that meets weekly to discuss diversity-related topics in a nonjudgmental environment.

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As they become more attuned to the world around them, middle school students also encounter historical injustices — in history books and in literature. As Goldberg, the curriculum coordinator, puts it, “When you’re a young teen, you get really good at being indignant — and I don’t mean that in a flip way. This is a time when kids can understand outrage. We want to develop that with questions that get them to think about the impact of Jim Crow laws or slavery by considering — and writing from — the viewpoints of people alive at those times.”

Race in America is a key focus of eighth grade English and history, highlighted by the students’ organization of an all-school assembly honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. Guiding students’ study of the Civil Rights Movement, African-American literature and the Holocaust are essential questions such as, “How can we see and understand the world from multiple perspectives?” and “What

111 $1.65 million 30

Number of students Students of color Languages spoken in homes of Foote families Languages taught at Foote (French, Spanish, Chinese, Latin) Students receiving financial aid Financial aid awarded in 2014–15 Cities and towns Foote students come from

does it mean to be a compassionate person in the world?”

“At a time when kids are very social and thinking about themselves and friends, I want them to step outside of themselves and start opening up that lens and thinking about, ‘Well, this is who I am. Let’s look at other people outside of my bubble, outside the school’s bubble and outside the community’s bubble,” says eighth grade English teacher Susan Neitlich.

The same theme runs through Comparative Cultures, the ninth grade course Neitlich co-teaches with Humanities Co-Chair Debra Riding.

As part of that course, ninth graders write a monologue based on an interview with a member of the Foote community from a different race, religion or culture.

Foote Prints

“I’ve had kids say they gained such a new understanding of someone they had known for a long time from that project. It helps them get inside that person’s life a little bit,” says Neitlich.

“We hope the students will feel a connection and understand that there’s something about this person that is different but that we may share some fundamental values.”

Finding shared values across a cultural divide is the key goal of the FooteChina Program, says Riding. From the Chinese guest teacher and Yali students visiting Foote in the fall, to the ninth graders’ two-week China trip in the spring, the program provides many opportunities to build bridges and cross-cultural understanding.

“It bursts a bunch of stereotypes,” Riding says of the program. “The media-generated notions about what Chinese people are like just don’t hold up.

“Maybe most importantly, kids find out that there is a really wide range of personalities within a cultural group,” Riding adds. “It is hard to make sweeping comments about a particular group when you have met and come to appreciate so many individuals. The China program helps kids start to understand that one individual cannot represent a full ethnic group or race.”

Learning About Acceptance, and Themselves For the second year, Foote sent a group of ninth graders to the National Association of Independent Schools’ Student Diversity Leadership Conference. Students were selected based on essays describing what they hoped to gain from the three-day gathering in Indianapolis this past December. Six Foote students attended (four faculty Ninth graders attending the Student Diversity members participated in a Leadership Conference. From left, Tess Friedman, companion conference for Liza Diffley, Emily Zetterberg, Vincent Kenn de teachers) and each said the Balinthazy, William Wildridge and Zev York event was life changing, using words such as “stunning,” “exhilarating,” “powerful” and “thought-provoking” to describe the meeting of 1,620 high school students from around the country.

Head of School Carol Maoz sat down with the students — all of whom are members of F-STAND, the student diversity club that she co-advises — to hear about what they learned at the conference. Here, in their own words, is what the students had to say: “I realized that not everyone has a perfect life, and people sitting right beside you could be going through the hardest thing ever.” — Vincent Kenn de Balinthazy ’15 “We heard personal stories [about abuse, sexual harassment and suicide] that scarred us, but made us stronger in the end. We now know how to help people through those things. We understand that catastrophic things happen more often than we would have previously thought.” — Zev York ’15 “Everyone was uncomfortable — not the whole time, but a majority of it. But it was so interesting to be uncomfortable. It sounds weird because you always want to be comfortable. But when you were uncomfortable, you were learning more, you were open to more.” — William Wildridge ’15 “Everyone was so open and understanding, so you could say anything and people wouldn’t judge you in any way. Even though I was out of my comfort zone, it felt safe.” — Emily Zetterberg ’15 “It was all independent schools so you could think everyone there was well off and living a nice life with a happy family. Then you see they are going through some of the most intense and undeserved experiences.” — Tess Friedman ’15

Seventh graders Nahjae Petty and Emmanuel Candelo-Diaz learn Salsa dancing during Unite Through Understanding Day.

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“I’ve already started filtering my language [as a result of what I learned at the conference]. I’ve been watching what I say and making sure I don’t let things slip out that can be offensive, because everyone’s life matters.” — Liza Diffley ’15

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From China to New Haven, and Back Again This fall marked the seventh time a delegation of students and faculty traveled from Changsha to New Haven for four days of learning and teaching. The cultural exchange with Foote’s sister school Yali has become a highlight of autumn, in particular for ninth graders, who host the Yali students in their homes in October and reconnect as their guests during the March trip to China.

Yali students perform kung fu during an all-school assembly.

Yali and Foote students engaged in the traditional cultural exchange based on the school’s motto, “Gladly will I learn and gladly teach,” in which students teach each other something from their respective homelands.

Footies learned Chinese paper cutting, traditional cooking, and the history of the Chinese army, among other things.

In turn, they taught Yali visitors pumpkin carving, duck duck goose, four square, rock paper scissors, and how to make an ice cream sundae.

At an all-school assembly, the Chinese guests performed kung fu and traditional music and dance. Foote middle schoolers responded with a choreographed dance to Pharrell Williams’ “Happy,” which morphed into a spontaneous dance party when excited Yali students rushed the stage to join in.

With their ninth grade buddies, Yali students made apple pies from scratch and enjoyed a tour of the Thimble Islands in Branford. Before they departed, the Yali guests were asked to reflect on their experience and what they learned about American culture. “Americans are warm and kind,” one Yali student wrote. “They always be friendly to us and make us feel like home.”

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Seventh graders Aileen Cobb (left) and Lilah Garcia learn calligraphy from Yali student Zhang Yichi.

Yali and Foote students dance to Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” during an all-school assembly.

Foote Prints

Fourth grade teacher Toby Welch ’73 tags Yali student Li Shitian during a game of “Everyone Is It� on the Middle School recess field.

Yali student April Lou Yanchen examines a specimen collected from the West River during a field biology lesson, as science teacher Kim Birge-Liberman and ninth grader Zev York look on.

Yali student Jiang Beini teaches first and second graders a dance that mimics penguin movements.

Ninth graders gave a running farewell to their Yali pals as their bus left Loomis Place.

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Grandparents Day 2014 Foote students welcome many special guests to Loomis Place, but few as celebrated as the grandparents and special friends who visit on Grandparents Day in October. Visitors came from far and wide to join students in their classrooms and experience the excitement of learning at Foote. For some guests, it was their first Grandparents Day. For at least one, it was her 17th!

Head of School Carol Maoz welcomed visitors in the Hosley Gymnasium, remarking that rich traditions like Grandparents Day are one of the building blocks of learning at Foote.

“Your presence here today sends a strong message,” she said. “It says ‘we care about what you are doing.’

That home-school connection is crucial to what we do.”

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Proud students welcomed their grandparents and special friends to their classrooms to share books, math activities and art projects, and to greet friends and teachers. Later, guests participated in faculty-led minicourses to get a flavor of being a Foote student.

They learned to create art with craypas, play in a steel pan band, program an iPad using Scratch and make a French baguette from scratch!

At an all-school assembly, students showcased their musical studies, singing a traditional Chinese song, performing on hand bells, reading autumn-themed poetry and finishing with a toe-tapping rendition of “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”

First grader Veena Scholand with grandparents Chandra and NK Gupta.

Grandparents Day At a Glance

and special 446 Grandparents friends in attendance traveled from 20 States (including California, Washington and Tennessee)

countries 4 Foreign traveled from (Spain, Pakistan, China, Romania)

minicourses 15 Faculty-led attended by grandparents and special friends

Foote Prints

Kindergartner Elliot Geller with his grandfather, Dr. Jesse Geller

Third grader Yasin Ali with his grandmother, Faiz Ali

Seventh grader Jaleem Sayles with special friend James Nelson

Grandparents and special friends try their hands at Andy Warhol-inspired printing techniques during a faculty-led minicourse.

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Third grader Gabe Fasano with grandmother Nancy Becker

Fourth graders sing the Chinese song “Selling Rice Balls� at an all-school assembly.

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Community Service Helping other people — and the world — through community service is an important part of the learning experience at Foote. From Kindergarten through ninth grade, students participate in hands-on activities that teach tolerance, build empathy and broaden views. This year, students have taken part in numerous projects to assist people, pets and wildlife by supporting organizations such as Columbus House, St. Ann’s Soup Kitchen, and the Ocean Conservancy.

Right: Proceeds from the annual Halloween Fair, organized by eighth graders, are donated to Columbus House, which runs emergency shelters and support services for homeless individuals and families in New Haven and Middletown. This year’s fair raised $900.

Third graders sewed 55 fleece hats for guests at Columbus House shelters, and learned about the causes of homelessness during a visit from shelter representative Libby Protzman.

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Foote Prints

As one of its activities, the Community Service Club made homemade dog biscuits for the New Haven Animal Shelter using whole wheat flour and baby food. “I’ve really learned this year that it’s nice for the kids to have hands-on projects during community service, along with fundraising,” says co-adviser Leah Andelsmith, pictured with fifth grader Saraswathi Navaratnam-Tomayko (left) and fourth grader Robert Zyskowski.

Foote students, teachers and parents joined thousands across the globe in September for International Coastal Clean-Up Day. The Foote crew removed candy wrappers, cigarette butts and other trash from Sandy Point Beach in West Haven, a sensitive nesting habitat for piping plovers and other shoreline birds. Pictured are ninth graders Jared O’Hare (left) and Zach PineMaher, heads of the student club Environmental Action Group.

Left: Every Monday, sixth graders volunteer serving lunch at St. Ann’s Soup Kitchen in Hamden. For Thanksgiving, the students led a school-wide food drive for St. Ann’s that raised 1,140 canned goods and money for 27 turkeys. Front row, from left: Nelly Polak, Caroline Huber, Sylvie Moran and Phoebe Schechner. Back row from left, Shizah Mangi, Ting Li, Ian Haile, Austin Small, Casey Nadzam, Sabrina Carlier

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Going Native with a Real Wigwam Foote’s newest architectural feature is a real wigwam, plunked at the heart of campus in the Sacred Woods. A group of first and second grade teachers — with the help of brothers Pete and Jay Cox — built the Native American structure during professional development day in November. The team constructed it traditionally — collecting saplings, carefully bending them and tying them with cordage to form the frame. First and second graders are studying Eastern Native American cultures this year and the wigwam has served as a valuable and versatile teaching tool. Classes have used it for social studies (imagining how Native Americans built their homes, what tools they used and what their lives were like) science (how heat from a fire inside would have risen) and art (building miniature wigwams).

Book Fair Author Gets a Hero’s Welcome The guest author at this year’s fall Book Fair was truly super! Matthew Cody is a Connecticut Nutmeg Book Award nominee and the author of Powerless, Super, Villainous and other middle-grade fiction. Cody spent the morning speaking to students from New Haven’s MauroSheridan Interdistrict Magnet School, and each student took home a copy of Super courtesy of a Foote family. At Foote, Cody told students about his own evolution as a reader (he hated reading until he discovered fantasy fiction, a genre that excited him) and urged the children to seek out books that light a spark in them. The day-long visit ended with a pizza and ice cream social in the Hosley Gym, and a lively talk by Cody to parents and Lower School students in the Sandine Theater.

Lower School faculty building the wigwam. From left, Kim Yap, Cara Hames, Gabrielle Campagnano, Samantha Moore, Hilary Pearson, Emily Buckley, Susie Grimes, Margy Lamere (kneeling), Sue Delaney and Jay Cox.

The author signs a book for sixth grader Ramey Harper-Mangels in the Hosley Gym.

First and second grade teacher Sue Delaney in the wigwam with her class.

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Foote Prints

Native American Shields Combine Art and Poetry What’s your spirit animal? Seventh graders pondered that question as part of an interdisciplinary project making Native American shields.

Inspired by the Blackfeet Nation in Montana, where art teacher Karla Matheny spent a sabbatical last summer, the shields serve as self-portraits for the students. Each shield depicts an animal the student closely identified with, and three others that represent traits to which they aspire.

In Humanities class, the students then chose a name based on their central animal to serve as their Native American name (in the Cree tradition) and as the title for a poem about how the animals relate to the author.

Among the names chosen were “Playful Otter,” “Soaring Hawk,” and “Protective Mountain Lion.”

The shields were displayed in the main building hallway, where seventh graders gathered to read their poems aloud and offer positive critiques of their peers’ work. “The project was a great collaboration between art and Humanities that offered interdisciplinary connections, allowed for personal introspection and exhibited the creativity of our seventh grade students,” Matheny says.

Foote Art on Tour Student artwork transforms the Main Building hallway into an eye-catching, ever-changing gallery. But this fall, one student art project went on the road.

In honor of Veterans Day, an exhibit of fourth grade paintings based on “America the Beautiful” was displayed in the children’s section of the New Haven Free Public Library. For the month of December, the display moved to the Woodbridge Town Library. Art teacher Jennifer Youngblood had each fourth grader pick a line from the iconic Katharine Lee Bates’ poem and illustrate it. The result is a beautiful series of paintings that brightened the libraries and paid tribute to those who have served our country.

Winter/Spring 2015

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AROUND CAMPUS

Foote Students Score Big at Contests Foote School students compete in numerous academic contests throughout the course of the year that test their knowledge of geography, ancient poetry, paleontology and many other subjects. From chess to mathematics, students worked hard this fall and winter to sharpen their skills and represent Foote proudly at competitions with other New Haven area schools.

Nine students won medals in this year’s school competition for the Connecticut Council of Language Teachers’ poetry recitation contest, reciting poems chosen by faculty that challenge them and showcase their talents as language learners. Back row from left: Adelyn Garcia (Grade 9, Latin), Talya Braverman (Grade 7, Latin), Anjali Mangla (Grade 7, Spanish), Dylan Sloan (Grade 9, Spanish), Kyle Shin (Grade 7, French) and Zev York (Grade 9, French). Front row from left: Alex Wilkinson (Grade 8, Latin), Clara Li (Grade 8, Spanish) and Omid Azodi (Grade 8, French) Sixth graders reached the semi-finals at this year’s Paleo-Knowledge Bowl, held Nov. 16 at the Yale Peabody Museum.

Six students spent two weekends learning everything they could about pre-historic life. One group even held a “paleo-snore” sleepover, watching dinosaur documentaries. From left, Theo Curtis, Ian Haile and Sabrina Carlier

Sixth graders Olivia Mentz, Sophie Sonnenfeld and Julia Kosinski reached the semi-finals in the Paleo-Knowledge Bowl.

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Six student members of MathCounts, a problem-solving club that meets after school and on Saturday mornings, represented Foote at a MathCounts competition held at Yale on Feb. 7. As a team, Foote took second place in the New Haven chapter. At the state finals on March 14, Foote placed third out of 27 Connecticut middle school teams, and seventh grader David Metrick qualified to compete at the MathCounts National Competition in Boston this May. Back row from left: Alex Wilkinson, Anjali Mangla, Adin Jennings, Noah Lee, Ian Mentz and Grady Bohen. Front row from left: adviser Andrew Metrick, David Metrick, Ting Li, Clara Li, Kyle Shin, faculty adviser Megan Williams

Foote Prints

Hands-On Science

Foote's student chess team — composed of students in grades 2 through 5 — finished second in the 2014 Greater New Haven Open held in November at Hopkins School. From left, Kian Ahmadi, Rufus McCleery, Elia Ahmadi and Thaniel Illuzzi

WIND POWER LIGHTS UP CLASS How do wind turbines produce electricity? What are the variables that make a wind turbine either spin like a pinwheel, or just sit there motionless? Seventh graders in Tim Blauvelt’s Environmental Science class answered those questions by building miniature wind turbines that produce real energy. Using kits purchased this year, the students built free-standing turbines and used fans to produce wind. Working in teams, they experimented with different numbers of blades, various blade From left, Fenn Sutter, Mr. Blauvelt, Pablo deVos-Deak. angles, and different positions for the fan to find the combination that produced the most power, all while notating their trials in a lab book. One group’s turbine produced 24 volts of electricity — enough to power 12 LEDs! BIOLOGY, FROM THE RIVER TO THE LAB Ninth graders spend months studying aquatic life in New Haven’s West River as part of biology class. This winter, they took their investigation from the field to the lab, dissecting specimens to learn about their anatomy. Under the guidance of science teachers John Cunningham and Kim Birge-Liberman, students worked carefully in pairs to dissect an invertebrate (a southern crayfish) and a vertebrate (a white perch), both species that they have collected and studied in the West River.

The dissections introduced students first-hand to comparative fish anatomy, complementing their study of taxonomy, ecology and water chemistry. Mr. Cunningham says the lesson provides a hands-on experience for students and a valuable opportunity for those interested in pursuing a career in medicine or the sciences.

Seventh grader Kyle Shin (pictured with Humanities co-chair Debra Riding and Humanities teacher Trevor Rosenthal) won this year’s National Geographic Bee at Foote, besting 33 students in grades 4 through 8. At the state finals on March 27, Kyle finished seventh out of 99 middle school students.

From left, Liza Diffley, science teacher Kim Birge-Liberman, Victoria Fletcher and Jared O’Hare

Winter/Spring 2015

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AROUND CAMPUS

Early America Day Early America Day, celebrated on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, is an exciting event at Foote. Seventh graders dress as the historical figures they’ve spent months studying and recite carefully researched monologues for Lower School students, parents and faculty. Seventh graders spend the morning visiting classrooms in character and headline the all-school Thanksgiving Assembly, at which they speak in character and sing classic American songs.

Peggy Shippan Arnold (aka Mikayla Oko) at the all-school assembly

Squanto (aka Kartik Erodula) speaking at the all-school assembly

Noah Webster (aka Jerry Sun) speaking to a fourth grade class

Seventh grade early Americans in the Perrine Library

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Foote Prints

Foote Theater Foote theater presented two classic plays this season. In December, seventh and eighth graders performed Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, the longest running play in history. In February, ninth graders staged Ah, Wilderness!

by Eugene O’Neill, who is widely considered the founder of the modern American theater. The Mousetrap kept audiences on their edge of their seats, with its suspenseful (and sometimes hilarious) plot twists. Ninth graders capped their Foote drama experience with O’Neill’s coming-of-age story set in a simpler time. In his director’s note to the show, Drama Chair Julian Schlusberg paid tribute to the graduating ninth graders. “They light up our campus in many ways. They are learners and leaders; they are advocates and risk-takers. They make our school a better place.”

Ninth graders Charlie Shaw and Erin King in Ah, Wilderness!

The cast of The Mousetrap. From left, eighth grader Liam Podos, seventh grader Hilal Zoberi, and eighth graders Sebastian Shin, Richard Bershtein, Clara Li, Tony Lewis and Talya Braverman

Eighth graders Edie Conekin-Tooze (foreground) and Tony Lewis in The Mousetrap

The cast of Ah, Wilderness! From left, Jared O'Hare, Victoria Fletcher, Zev York, sixth grader Caleb Nyhart, Jackson Haile and Emily Zetterberg.

Winter/Spring 2015

From left, eighth grader Abby Cunningham, seventh grader Hilal Zoberi and eighth grader Liam Podos in The Mousetrap

Ninth graders Tess Friedman and Dylan Sloan in Ah, Wilderness!

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AROUND CAMPUS

Faculty Milestones Music Teacher Goes Platinum Twelve years ago, music teacher Sarah Heath recorded a track with her Heath Sisters trio for the kids album and book “Philadelphia Chickens.”

Written by author and illustrator Sandra Boynton and composer Michael Ford, the album featured Meryl Streep, The Bacon Brothers, Laura Linney and other artists and celebrities performing original children’s songs. Sarah and her sisters recorded “Belly Button (Round).” In November, Sarah received a letter from Boynton — a friend and fellow singer from their Yale days — informing her the album has gone platinum, meaning it had sold more than 1 million copies! All proceeds from album sales have gone to support a variety of children’s charities.

Paying Tribute to a Good Friend Third grade teacher Debbie Rhoads retired from a 10-year career at Foote School last year, but she returned this past fall to cover a maternity leave for third grade teacher Ashley Schnabel. With Ashley’s return, Debbie officially departed Foote for her next adventure. Before she did, however, faculty and staff gathered on the new Lower School playground to dedicate a “friendship bench” in her honor, for her deep commitment to Foote students and their families over the past decade.

Debbie Rhoads with third grade students on the Friendship Bench. From left, Marilee Ganter, Chace Corley, Nia Lampley, Helen Xiong, Ryan Diffley, Audrey Pamelard and Elia Ahmadi.

“I will cherish the friendships and time spent with the kiddos. This bench is a very special momento

A plaque on the bench reads, “In honor of Debbie Rhoads. Forever a teacher, colleague, friend.” In thanking her colleagues, Debbie said, “How blessed I am at Foote to know all of you. I will cherish the friendships and time spent with the kiddos. This bench is a very special momento to me.”

to me.”

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Foote Prints

Sports Foote student athletes showed sportsmanship, teamwork and perseverance in the fall and winter seasons. Every Foote student worked hard and developed — both individually and as part of a team. The boys’ soccer team achieved an extraordinary feat this fall: each player scored at least one goal. Other teams achieved few wins, but worked hard toward a greater goal. As physical education teacher and coach Eric Einbinder put it, “The skills and life lessons that were developed throughout the course of this season were ones that I think the students will hold onto for the rest of their lives.”

Eighth grader Nicola Sommers (foreground) and eighth grader Abby Mills drive to the hoop.

Eighth grader Damon Swift sprints to the finish line in a multi-school cross country meet.

Vincent Kenn de Balinthazy, Grade 9, dribbles past his opponent.

Christopher Gore-Grimes, Grade 7, swims hard for the Falcons.

Winter/Spring 2015

Seventh grader Hilal Zoberi (left) and sixth grader Poppy Hanson on the hockey field

Ninth grader Anli Raymond defends the net.

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ALUMNI

Alumni Service Award: Margaret “Muffie” Clement Green ’61

A

lmost every Monday for the past two years, Margaret “Muffie” Clement Green ’61 has driven more than an hour from her home in Washington, Connecticut to Loomis Place, where in a small conference room she sorts through a century of Foote School history.

In preparation for the school’s centennial in 2015–16, Muffie is cataloguing a mountain of old photos, yearbooks, yellowing copies of Foote Notes and other memorabilia for the school archives, recently named for alumna Anna Huntington Deming ’35. With hundreds of unidentified photographs, the task might seem daunting, but Muffie has tackled it with passion and curiosity.

Muffie’s Foote roots run deep, and so does her love for the school. Her parents — Prescott Clement and Harmony Twichell Clement, both Class of 1935 — met here as Kindergartners, and she has two siblings, five cousins and four aunts and uncles who attended Foote. In the archives, she has found childhood photos of her parents that she had never seen, and documents showing that her grandparents were original incorporators of the school — a bit of history she did not previously know.

You look back and see what people were able to accomplish without all the amenities we have today.”

“I don’t know what it is, I just love this sort of thing,” says Muffie.

“Some of it is about simpler times.

Muffie has extensive experience in school archiving. She spent years organizing the archives at Westover

Muffie in the Anna Huntington Deming ’35 Archives

About the Alumni Service Award Each year, Foote presents the Alumni Achievement Award to an alum who through their profession has made a difference in the lives of others. This year, we are presenting Alumni Service Awards to two individuals for their significant contributions to the school and the lasting impact they have made to Foote’s campus and the preservation of school history.

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School (her high school alma mater, and where she served as a trustee) for the school’s centennial in 2009 — all as a volunteer. When Ann Baker Pepe, Foote’s Director of Development and Alumni Programs, asked if Muffie would lend her talents to Foote, she happily volunteered.

Before Muffie arrived, the archives were in disarray, recalls Maria Granquist, who worked in the Alumni and Development Office for 14 years.

Photos were stuffed in manila folders, and a filing cabinet drawer was the repository for old banners, a vintage Foote sweater, slides, tapes, films and other archival material.

Foote Prints

“It’s not that we weren’t interested in everything, it’s just that we didn’t have the time or the knowledge to sort through, clear out and preserve what Foote had,” says Maria, who retired at the end of last year. “There’s still a lot to do, but Muffie’s progress is amazing.”

With a small team of volunteers and interns, Muffie has been sorting and identifying scores of photos by class year and digitizing everything she can in preparation for the centennial and for inclusion in a commemorative book that will celebrate Foote’s first 100 years.

Muffie has discovered some long-lost gems in those musty old boxes, including a photo of school founder Martha Babcock Foote from her Bryn Mawr College graduation in 1902, and a brochure showing that first grade tuition in the 1930s was $150. She has also found scores of photos taken by her father, who for years was Foote’s official school photographer.

“How great it would be to go back in time and be a fly on the wall when they were starting the school and building a faculty,” Muffie says. “It’s such a special school. It really has been since the beginning.”

Even with the obvious progress, Muffie says she’s only scratched the surface. She hasn’t even begun to catalogue minutes from board meetings, an unexcavated treasure trove of Foote history.

“That is the history of the school,” she says. “It’s where they voted to change faculty salaries, voted to build new buildings, where all the big decisions were made.”

Winter/Spring 2015

“Muffie is incredibly patient and meticulous. She treats the archival material not only with immense care, but with a deep sense of curiosity and a palpable passion for Foote’s history.”

Last summer, Muffie worked alongside two Foote interns: Kate Reilly Yurkovsky ’09 and Caroline Monahan ’08. “Muffie is incredibly patient and meticulous,” says Kate, a senior history major at Barnard College. “She treats the archival material not only with immense care, but with a deep sense of curiosity and a palpable passion for Foote’s history.”

Asked how long it will take to get the archives more or less sorted, Muffie answers, “It’s a lot of material, a lot of organizing and pulling loose ends together.”

But she adds, “I love the mystery of opening an unmarked box and discovering what’s inside. Just don’t come to my house. I do a better job here!”

REUNION DAY 2015 Saturday, May 9 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS 10 a.m.

Registration and refreshments in the Main Building

11 a.m.

Awards Assembly in the Hosley Gymnasium Remarks, Head of School Carol Maoz Presentation of the Alumni Service Awards to Margaret “Muffie” Clement Green ’61 and Leland Torrence ’68

Noon

Class photos

12:30 p.m.

Lunch in the Hosley Gym

2 p.m.

Open meeting of the Alumni Council to discuss the school’s Centennial celebrations in 2015–16

Evening

Individual class dinners

Registering is easy; just send back the reply in the invitation, mailed to all alums in late March, or register online at www.footeschool.org/alumni/reunions.

Complimentary child care is available on Reunion Day. Sign up for child care when you register online or on the RSVP card.

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ALUMNI

Alumni Service Award: Leland Torrence ’68

L

eland Torrence ’68’s contributions to Foote are significant — and can be found all over campus.

As the owner’s representative for the school on several large building projects, Leland helped facilitate the creation or renovation of the art and music rooms where students find creative expression; the black-box Sandine Theater where they bring dramatic works to life; the Highland athletic field where they learn sportsmanship and teamwork; and the state-of-the-art Jonathan Milikowsky Science and Technology Building.

Those who have worked with Leland say he is a natural leader who has brought know-how, humor and a deep commitment to Foote to each project.

“Leland is one of those rare individuals who can get people to work collaboratively to make troubles evaporate,” says architect Maryann Thompson, who designed the art/theater/gym renovation in 2001 and the Milikowsky building a decade later. “He is a master at bringing grace and joy to the everyday trials and tribulations of daily life.”

Leland speaks passionately about Foote — and the educational spaces he helped create — but he’s a bit uncomfortable in the spotlight.

“I want to be in the engine room,” he says. “That’s what I do best.”

Building projects didn’t always have owner’s reps, explains Foote Business Manager Jay Cox. But as construction has become increasingly complex — and costly — Foote decided it needed “another set of eyes” attending all job 26

Leland (left) with Business Manager Jay Cox outside the Jonathan Milikowsky Science and Technology Building

meetings, reviewing bids and bills, and generally looking out for the school’s interest.

“He’s got an incredible depth of knowledge about every building trade — from the mechanicals to the carpentry and the roofing,” says Jay, adding that Leland’s history with the school was a bonus. “To have an owner’s rep who understands the rhythm of the school and really appreciates it made a big difference.”

Leland cut his teeth in construction not long after graduating from Foote.

At age 15, he worked a summer job for a construction company that was renovating his family’s ski house in Londonderry, VT. After apprenticing in Vermont and California after college, he returned to Connecticut and founded Leland Torrence Enterprises in 1978. Over time, the company grew from a wood shop and restoration company into one specializing in construction management and owner’s representation, with a focus on preserving and restoring historic structures. In 1995, he founded THE GUILD of Fine Craftsmen Foote Prints

“Leland is one of those rare individuals who can get people to work collaboratively to make troubles evaporate.”

— Architect Maryann Thompson and Artisans to develop and promote the preservation of specialty skills in the building trades.

Leland’s first job with Foote was the art/gym/theater renovation in 2001.

Coming back to campus day after day, he was reminded of how much he loved the school, and decided he wanted the same experience for his children, Leland ’07 and Edward ’08.

“Seeing the artwork on the walls changing every week, seeing the energy of the teachers and the children learning, I said to myself, ‘What am I doing? I’ve got to send them here,’” Leland says. “Every teacher here wants to do their best and wants to get better, and that trickles down to the kids.”

Leland also represented Foote in its purchase of the St. Francis School property on Highland and Prospect streets in 2010, and its conversion into an athletic field. On that project, Leland worked with the school and the contractor to keep the project as green as possible — recycling 98 percent of all non-hazardous material from the demolished buildings on site.

“We ground everything up and put it in the subgrade for drainage,” he explains. “We saved 254 truckloads that would have been required to relocate the debris from the job site.”

The Milikowsky building was a big project with a lot of moving parts.

But Leland’s lasting impression is the vast amount of knowledge, passion

and commitment brought to the project by the board members overseeing construction.

“I got to sit with some of the smartest people on the planet on those building committees,” he says. “They were super-stars of the real estate, design and building worlds.”

Those super-stars are equally as complimentary of Leland’s contributions. Melanie Ginter, who co-chaired the Building Committee with David Moore through several construction projects, praises Leland for finding creative solutions to complex problems. Recalls Melanie, “Typically, Leland would listen carefully to a discussion, ask several questions, then pause, sometimes for quite a while. Finally he would say, ‘That’s interesting. Why don’t we …’ and outline a solution that addressed the complexities, often in the simplest way.”

Reunion Chairs and Contacts CLASS OF 1945 Dr. John Gardner jhgardner@earthlink.net CLASS OF 1950 Mary Pigott Johnsen jlmpjohnsen@west-point.org CLASS OF 1955 Lee Dunham ldunham@sandw.com CLASS OF 1960 For information regarding your class, contact Cheryl Nadzam in the Alumni and Development Office at cnadzam@footeschool.org CLASS OF 1965 Jim Farnam jf@farnamllc.com

Winter/Spring 2015

CLASS OF 1970 For information regarding your class, contact Cheryl Nadzam in the Alumni and Development Office at cnadzam@footeschool.org CLASS OF 1975 Susie Grimes sgrimes@footeschool.org Jonea Gurwit CLASS OF 1980 Liz Geller Brennan gelbren@aol.com CLASS OF 1985 Allyx Schiavone allyx.schiavone@gmail.com Annie Wareck anniepie@yorkfamily.net

CLASS OF 1990 Amy Cohn Crawford amycohncrawford@mac.com Katherine Altshul Darci katie_altshul@hotmail.com Abby Votto Belge abelge13@gmail.com CLASS OF 1995 CLASS OF 2000 Shannon Sweeney smsween@rutgers.edu Brianna Berkowitz brianna.berkowitz@gmail.com CLASS OF 2005 Gabriella Rhodeen gabriella.rhodeen@gmail.com

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ALUMNI

Legacies at Foote

Forty-one students attending Foote this year have parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles who went to the school — extending a tradition of legacies to a new generation.

Front row: Casey Eskridge, daughter of Elizabeth Broadus Eskridge ’88; Sophie and Julien Gangloff, children of Amy Caplan ’88; Garrett and Theo Curtis, step-cousins of Wendy Fischer Magnan ’82 and Brad Fischer ’80; Graham Possick, son of Jeff Possick ’89; Alaysia Kittrell, daughter of John Kittrell ’92; Nicholas Carpenter, son of Debbie Fong Carpenter ’82; Archer Fitton, son of Peter Fitton ’89; Elliot Geller, nephew of Liz Geller Brennan ’80; Charlie Sudmyer, son of Amy Stephens Sudmyer ’89; Sam Mason, son of Talbot Welles ’81 Second row: Stella and Anya Wareck, daughters of John Wareck ’84; Barrett and Marley Hansen, children of Christopher Hansen ’86; Wolf, Penelope and Kurt Boone, children of Sarah Netter Boone ’89; Sam Osborne, son of Seth Osborne ’85; Josie and Penn Cancro, children of Allyx Schiavone ’85; Emmanuel and Matias Candelo-Diaz, nephews of Yami Diaz Linhart ’99; Elsa Rose Farnam, daughter of Jim Farnam ’65 Third row: Zev York, son of Annie Wareck ’85; Neal and Rohan Shivakumar, sons of Claire Priest ’86; Abigail and Benjamin Kruger, children of Avery Grauer ’87; Clyde Luckey, son of Spencer Luckey ’85; Ella and Lucy Peterson, daughters of Owen Luckey ’83; Julia and George Kosinski, children of Peter Kosinski ’79; Nia Bradford, daughter of Kossouth Bradford ’87; Evie Pearson, niece of Julia Getman ’85; Sam Lovejoy, nephew of Laura Lovejoy ’84 (and cousin once-removed of Laura Kautz Baker ’62).

Absent from photo: Julia Grauer, daughter of Jonathan Grauer ’85 Levi and Malachai York, sons of Annie Wareck ’85 Ida and Miia Brooks, cousins of Preston Brooks ’79, Catherine Brooks Laing ’82 and Nathaniel Brooks ’87

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Foote Prints

Class of 2011: Where Are They Now?

Winnie Agnew unknown Bea Alexander Wheaton College Aidan Appleby University of Miami Nathaniel Barto Wesleyan University Peter Berger Culinary Institute of America Sangye Bhutia unknown Jack Bohen Choate Rosemary Hall ’15 Caitlin Brash Furman University Will Brennan Western Connecticut State University Aaron Brown-Ortiz George Washington University Max Burbank DePaul University Anna Camilleri Connecticut College Louisa Chua-Rubenfeld Harvard University Luke Clendenen Penn State Aidan Cobb Choate Rosemary Hall '15 Britney Dumas Ithaca College John Dunham Connecticut College Dylan Farrell Harvard University Francesca Ferr Connecticut College Erin Gallagher George Washington University Andrés González Oberlin College

Winter/Spring 2015

Max Groen Choate Rosemary Hall ’15 Uma Guarnacci New York University Clare Hall American University Mae Hanson University of Connecticut Isabelle Hashim Cornell University Olivia Hesse Johnson and Wales University Rachel Jones Williams College Ian Klin gap year to pursue music George Knight Westminster School ’15 Justin Lee Brown University Dahlia Leffell University of Chicago Zoe Loewenberg Yale College Mitra Mani Cornell University Samantha Maoz Elon University Miela Mayer Yale College Taylor Mayes University of Connecticut Dana Monz Colgate University Madison O'Leary Stanford University August Organschi Sewanee: The University of the South Paul Park New York University Jake Pescatore Connecticut College Thomas Pescatore Case Western Reserve University

Jesse Phillips Suffield Academy ’15 Sarah Reilly Connecticut College Zachary Riegelmann Sacred Heart University Rashad Saleh Choate Rosemary Hall ’15 Griffin Sandler Tulane University Bryan Schiavone New York University Lily Schneider Kenyon College Natalie Schultz Yale College David Schulz Stevens Inst. of Tech Abigail Shrader Reed College Alden Singley unknown Etana Solomon Georgetown University Elizabeth Stanley Princeton University Caleb Thomas Brown University Junno Tseng California Institute of Technology Lauren Valentine Boston College Robert Williams Muhlenberg College Owen Yale Northfield Mt. Hermon School Lianne Yun Wesleyan University Gabriel Zanuttin-Frank Choate Rosemary Hall ’15 Amy Zhao Yale College

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ALUMNI

Class Notes 1934 We are sad to report the death of Stuart Clement, Jr. on January 15, 2015. Stu was 94; he had celebrated his 80th Class Reunion at Foote last May! We send our condolences to his wife, Anne Campbell Clement ’39, to whom he was married for 70 years.

Numerous members of Stu’s extended family attended Foote from his siblings to nieces, nephews, and cousins.

1935 80th Reunion, May 9, 2015 We are sad to report the death of Margaret Foote Oppenheimer who passed away on December 7, 2014, just two weeks after the passing of her husband Franz Oppenheimer.

Margaret was the daughter of school founder Martha Babcock Foote, and an active member of the Class of ’35.

1936 Class Correspondent: Elizabeth Reeves Goodspeed 111 Hunter Avenue New Rochelle, NY 10801

1939 Class Correspondent: Anne Campbell Clement shclement@comcast.net

We extend our condolences to Anne Campbell Clement, whose husband Stuart Clement ’34 passed away on January 15, 2015.

1940 75th Reunion, May 9, 2015 Eugenie “Genie” Tyler Copp sends much gratitude to The Foote School where she “got a sense of the sequence of history, from the Sabertooth tiger to the American Revolution.” Sandol Stoddard writes, “Greetings to all who treasure the memory of Foote!

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“One of the biggest things I take from Foote School and try to bring here is that sense of authentic, genuine learning.”

Somewhat to my surprise, I am still here in my beloved Hawaiian village home of the past 33 years, under the shadow of Hualalai volcano, which is not the one erupting at the moment.

Admittedly, I am not as swift as I once was at chasing the wild beasties out of my gardens, but I am still a good shot with a pellet gun — that helps them to remember their manners. Also, I am still writing. The next will be my 27th book, a memoir not for publication, but for close friends and family members. The latter continually amaze me, they are so wise, intelligent and agreeable: four tall, handsome gentlemen who claim to be my sons, plus 10 grandchildren and six ‘great grands’ thus far, with more, no doubt, to come. I would be happy to hear from anyone with memories to share, at Sandol3@aol.com.”

1941 Class Correspondent: Nancy Redway Pugsley 88 Notch Hill Road Evergreen Woods, Apt. 355 North Branford, CT 06471 (203) 488-8312

We are sad to report the death of Ann Lane Marshman on November 21, 2014. We send our condolences to her husband, Don, and four children.

Ann loved The Foote School, attended for eight years, and walked to school each day with her close friends and neighbors, Joanie Campbell Lovett and Ellie Burns ’36.

1942 Class Correspondent: David Hitchcock, Jr. HitchDL@aol.com

G.P. Mellick Belshaw sadly reports that after 60 years of marriage, his beloved wife, Betsy, passed away in June. He continues to live in Princeton as a retired bishop of the Episcopal Church. His oldest son and family are

Joan Campbell Lovett (left) and Ann Lane Marshman, Class of 1941, strolling along Fifth Avenue, circa 1945.

in New Hampshire, daughter and family are in Princeton and youngest son and family are in Greenwich.

Mellick has happy memories of The Foote School. David Hitchcock is in touch with Harold Welch, Samuel Babbitt, Victor Tyler and Margie DeVane ’40. David retired from the Foreign Service after a 35-year career.

1944 We are sad to report that Ruth Watson Martin passed away on October 6, 2014 in Boulder, CO. William K. Healy still works two days at week at the library at Mystic Seaport and attended the memorial service for late classmate Ruth Watson Martin. Tim LaFarge retired from a career as a research forest geneticist and is now enjoying life in San Francisco with cultural events including the symphony and ballet.

Tim has had great fun on recent visits to Edinburgh, London and Port Isaac, where the TV series Doc Martin is filmed.

Foote Prints

1945 70th Reunion, May 9, 2015 Reunion Class Chair: Dr. John Gardner jhgardner@earthlink.net

We extend our condolences to Sally Lane Braman, whose sister Ann Lane Marshman ’41 passed away on November 21, 2014. Michael Buchanan writes that his son James is back at work as a writer/author after a second bout of “C”. His son John is busy with his medical practice and is chief of staff of the Nashua Hill Hospital in NH. Michael and his wife Phyllis are both octogenarians looking forward to golf season.

1946 Class Correspondent: Kent Healy Kent.Healy@verizon.net

Jennifer Griswold Hillhouse recently retired and is busy volunteering and fundraising at the New London Maritime Society, Old Lyme Historical Society, Old Lyme Library, and the Florence Griswold Museum. All seven “kids” and grandkids are doing well.

Jennifer would love to see her old Foote classmates.

1947 Class Correspondent: Gladys Bozyan Lavine GBLavine@gmail.com

Glady Bozyan Lavine writes, “Members of the class of ’47 are going strong and they keep in touch.

We are sad to report the death of Polly Pope Hirsch on January 28, 2015. She was a wonderful friend and supportive alumna, and the class sends condolences to her husband Don, her brother Henry Pope ’49, and sister Penelope Pope Doxan ’56. The Class of 1947 was the only class that had the benefit of a teacher named Foote: Margaret (Class of 1935), the Winter/Spring 2015

daughter of the school’s founder, was our fifth grade teacher in 1943–44, the only time she taught at Foote. At the end of the school year she invited the entire class to Dwight Chapel for her wedding to Franz Oppenheimer.

It was a marriage that lasted 70 years, and ended when they died nine days apart last fall, according to a double obituary in the Washington Post.

Sukie Bush and Gladys Bozyan Lavine traveled to Washington in January to visit Elizabeth Edminster, a too-short time that was much enjoyed.”

1948 Nancy Tuttle Adam is in email touch with Betsey Grobe but “wish I had a magic carpet which could fly me to Brunswick to see her.” Her son teaches at Oxford and her daughter is an independent organizer, decorator and fashion designer.

1949 The Class of 1949 needs a class correspondent. If you are willing to help collect news from your classmates, please contact Cheryl Nadzam in the alumni office at cnadzam@footeschool.org.

We extend our condolences to Henry Pope, whose sister Polly Pope Hirsh ’47 passed away on January 28, 2015.

1950 65th Reunion, May 9, 2015 Class Correspondent: Mary Pigott Johnsen jlmpjohnsen@west-point.org

Nancy Curtis waged a 22-month battle to free her son Theo Curtis, who is an American writer and freelance journalist held captive for nearly two years by Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria. Theo was released in August 2014. Mary Pigott Johnsen reflects: “Foote Class of ’50 — we numbered 23 back then, ready to take on the world, and we did. We made a

difference, positive of course. And now it is time to sit back a bit and reminisce. We number 13 now with two “lost” (Beach and Musselman).

We are quite accomplished and blaming much of that on our foundation laid at Foote. Advanced and just plain degrees hang on our names with many printed pages and lectures delivered from coast to coast.

We have been lifetime learners and teachers. Thus, some 65 years after we were turned loose, we are planning a two-day gathering of tall tales, pride in each other’s achievements, and lack thereof, and gratitude that we still are wiggling. We will come from CA, CT (only two), MA, ME, MD, MO, NY, TX and VT. The Class of 1950 summary put together by Meeks dated 18 June 2010 said it well and we who are able to attend this time will say it again. We will speak of Sturley, Hitchcock, Paul, Corbiere, Dentan, White and our first loves.

Some of us will be still blessed with hearing while all blessed with smiles, hugs and profound respect. So, this call goes out to Barbour, Curtis, Day, DeNoyen, Dentan, Griswold, Ilg, Meeks, Osterweis, Pigott, Salter, Tucker and Welch. See you in May!”

1951 Class Correspondent: Emily Mendillo Wood 118 Fifth Avenue Milford, CT 06460-5206 203-878-9963

1952 Class Correspondent: Harald Hille harald.hille@gmail.com

Nancy Osterweis Alderman continues to try to protect people from environmental harms, but states “It gets harder and harder as technology moves faster and faster, industry moves with the new technology, and the government exercises very little oversight.”

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ALUMNI Harald Hille ’52

Found in Translation s a United Nations translator, Harald Hille ’52 spent a career devoted to the idea that nations working together — and cooperating for the greater good — could improve conditions for millions of people around the world.

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For 25 years, Harald worked a series of jobs at U.N. headquarters in New York and in Geneva translating documents and meetings between foreign delegations. In more than one instance, he helped avert flare-ups between nations by clearing up linguistic misunderstandings. In one such instance, in the late 70s, Portugal took offense to a General Assembly floor speech by an official from a southern African country who railed against Portuguese colonialism in Africa — a full year after Portugal had left the continent. As it turned out, the official had “grabbed a speech from the wrong box — from last year instead of this year,” Harald says. So Harald suggested correcting the record by switching all references to colonialism in the speech to past tense, a solution that satisfied the Portuguese.

“One thing you have to watch out for are these little red herrings that creep up,” says Harald, now 75 and living in Riverside, CT. “There are plenty of good reasons for a quarrel, but that was a stupid reason.”

Harald specializes in French and Russian, but he speaks six languages with some level of proficiency. He learned Swedish (his father’s native tongue) and Norwegian (his mother’s) at home. French and German he picked up from spending a year each in French lycée and a German gymnasium. He majored in Russian at Yale and picked up Polish while serving in the Army and doing graduate studies abroad in Poland.

The memory of World War II and the Cold War provided the backdrop for his years at Foote, spent on the old campus on St. Ronan Street.

There were no air raid drills at school, but Harald recalls adults putting in a few hours a month manning lookout posts to spot enemy aircraft.

His first trip to the Soviet Union was a four-week tour in 1960 as a member of the Yale Russian Chorus. The students drove from Frankfurt to Moscow, stopping along the way to sing in parks and town squares and chat up local Russians, who asked the Americans probing questions about segregation and the cost of education and health care.

“Both sides were biased by what they read in their press about the other country,” Harald remembers. “The question was how do we get through this morass of biases and prejudices?”

That trip imparted a valuable lesson that stayed with Harald during his career: “Before you criticize another country, be sure you have your own in order.”

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“I felt very good about being part of a process that was trying to make a better world.”

Harald landed at the U.N. in 1975 after realizing his non-tenure-track teaching job at Yale would eventually end. While stationed at the U.N. office in Geneva, he joined the U.N.’s 1% For Development Fund, a group of staffers who pooled one percent of their salaries annually to make micro-grants to community projects in developing countries.

When he transferred back to New York in 1984, he established a New York chapter of the organization, which gives out roughly $40,000 a year to fund village libraries, day care center training, carpentry and other projects.

“We were mostly people who didn’t do development work,” Harald says of the fund’s 150 members. “So this was our chance to be a mini-U.N. on the development side and do something besides translating stuffy old documents.”

Since 2000, when Harald hit the U.N’s mandatory retirement age of 60, he’s been doing freelance translation for the U.N. and consulting work for a Microsoft contractor developing machine-translation software. He also remains active with the alumni of the Yale Russian Chorus, organizing reunions and concerts.

International diplomacy may have become less fashionable in recent years, but Harald remains committed to the founding ideals of the U.N. “I felt very good about being part of a process that was trying to make a better world,” he says. “Everybody has to concede a little bit of sovereignty and power and privilege to make that happen.”

Foote Prints

Her organization, Environment and Human Health, Inc., is made up of 10 physicians and public health professionals, and feels fortunate to be able to work with and understand the relevant issues of the day. Her husband Myles is auditing a course at Yale on the Vikings as he prepares to go to Iceland with their two sons in April.

Her two oldest grandchildren graduated from college last spring — both on the same weekend, but not from the same college. Nancy’s advice on how to choose a college — “Try to choose one near an airport.” Wilford Welch is happy to hear from and to see all those names of classmates, recalling everyone quite well. Wilford and his wife Carole live in Sausalito, CA, just five minutes from the Golden Gate Bridge, in a wonderful and very comfortable houseboat. They live in a lively community of people engaged in interesting endeavors in many walks of life. He and his wife are leading a trip to Iran in April through www.CrossCulturalJourneys.com.

Wilford wrote another book (R)evolution — Aim for Sustainability, Assure Resilience, focusing on the actions we all must take to address the consequences of the twin tsunamis bearing down on us, namely global climate change and limited resources being overwhelmed by the pressures of economic and population growth. Go to www.WilfordWelch.com to stay in touch. Serafina Kent Bathrick writes from Wisconsin “It is certain that our lives are more fragile and more precious these days. I am struck by how aging brings a different kind of energy — a kind that opens up inner spaces and time to explore them.” Her farmhouse burned down in November, right before she was set to go to Sicily for the cold months. Instead, she stayed in Wisconsin, nearby to the wreck, “waiting to learn from it and feeling the losses. I had too much stuff and not enough time to put it in order, and now I have no stuff, and some of that open-ended time I was Winter/Spring 2015

talking about.” She is writing a book about women, and plans to build a new house. “I wish we were scheduled for a reunion, because I have a lot to say and even more to ask. Love to my dear classmates.” Carol Stanwood lives in senior housing in Boulder, CO, close to family so they can see each other often. Carol works part-time as a contract therapist with a local agency that has a strong focus on understanding and healing early attachment issues and trauma, through which she has studied the work of Jeremy Nahum’s group in Boston. Carol has also been performing a concert of Irving Berlin songs with a pianist colleague, which has been “successful enough to earn us a little money. Life is good, although sometimes exhausting.” Lee Gaillard reported from chilly Saranac Lake, NY that this spring his threeessay series on astronomy as the new frontier will appear in Reflector, an astronomy magazine. Lee currently offers biweekly sessions on war poetry at the Merkel Center in Saranac Lake to help veterans cope with PTSD. Following up on a recent op-ed piece, Lee and a friend will be presenting a talk next month at the town library on UFOs. In addition, Lee’s article on the role of luck in the Battle of Midway has been included as Chapter 45 in The Naval Institute Guide to the Battle of Midway. From Riverside, CT, Harald Hille “wonders if New England has drifted up to Greenland — the climate does seem perturbed.” He adds, “A welcome development at Foote that would make Mrs. Hitchcock very proud: Beginning in June 2015, the Foote School will host Horizons at Foote consisting of a six-week educational and culturally enriching summer program for low-income New Haven public school students (grades K–8).

There are about 40 such programs in the Horizons network nationwide (www.horizonsnational.org), mostly in cities on the two coasts. In Connecticut, Horizons programs have been concentrated in Fairfield County

— Foote’s is the first in central Connecticut. I’m sure that support for the new program would be appreciated.” Harald offers some additional information about Diana Vilas Gladden: After struggling for the past 15 years or so with post-polio syndrome, she was diagnosed with a degenerative disorder several years ago that is presently incurable. She is being looked after in the Mary Wade Home, 118 Clinton Ave., New Haven, CT 06513. “She can’t take telephone calls or use a computer, but greeting cards and music CDs would, I’m sure, be welcome. Her partner, Richard Huie, participates in her care as much as possible.”

1953 Class Correspondent: Robert Wing wing@astronomy.ohio-state.edu

1954 The Class of 1954 needs a class correspondent. If you are willing to help collect news from your classmates, please contact Cheryl Nadzam in the alumni office at cnadzam@footeschool.org.

Edward Johnson and his wife are focusing on traveling more and volunteering less for 2015 while enjoying retirement.

1955 60th Reunion, May 9, 2015 Class Correspondents: Nawrie Meigs-Brown nawrie@comcast.net Lee Dunham LDunham@sandw.com

We extend our condolences to Barbara Currier Bell, whose brother David “Spike” Currier ’56 passed away on October 1, 2014 and to Penelope Pope Doxzon, whose sister, Polly Pope Hirsh ’47, passed away on January 28, 2015. Nawrie Meigs33

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Brown added a black lab puppy to their household. “He’s smart as a whip and brings in the paper every morning.” Nawrie cautions others about doing this in your 70s, as it’s a huge challenge! Phebe Thorne has lots to report. Granddaughter Phebe Elloie Thorne Grant was born to daughter Helena and Newell Grant on Sept. 16, 2014. Phebe moved to a new apartment in Florida, which will become her and Neil’s home when they can no longer ski. Phebe sold Fillis, the 1931 Ford that she owned for 64 years! Phebe and Neil still ski 80 to 100 days a year on “Baldy” and then return to the Adirondacks every summer to hike and row the lakes.

The Uplands is being transferred to her daughter Helena and her husband Newell Grant, Jr. She’s getting ready to write again — History of a Great Camp — coming soon. W. Lee Dunham celebrated his 55th reunion at Westminster last May. He continues to practice law at a leisurely pace and was just appointed to a five-year term on a court board, which reimburses clients whose lawyers have stolen from them. The best day of the week is Friday when Lee and his wife Nancy take care of their two young grandchildren. Albert “Bud” Conrad is chief economist for Casey Research LLC. He traveled to China in October and gave a keynote speech at a mining conference. Bob Dickie is just

returning from a trip to Bora Bora, New Zealand, and other places.

Michael Porter and his wife Barbara spent the winter in Leiden, Netherlands on the “Live-Anywhere” boat “Barbara” and predicts that in May they will be in the Baltic or perhaps in Helsinki. Check out their great photos and blog at www.mp-marine.com/Cruise14_8.html.

Betsy Stroman is preparing a biography of a Sausalito-based artist for publication. Linda Crawford Knight Shane received her PhD in Botany in 1976 from Kent State. Linda and her husband Orrin relocated from Ohio to Minnesota and spent 26 years there, where she worked as both a lab manager and senior research associate in the Department of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Minnesota. If you Google Linda C K Shane, you will find most of her publications. She began doing incometax prep in 2002 and works at it full time seasonally. Having moved to Maine in 2004, Linda also volunteers extensively at the Maine Medical Center in Portland. Linda and Orrin have two children: Kathy and her husband Mark live in Minneapolis (with their only grandchild), where Kathy is a development officer for the YWCA and Mark manages research medical data bases for the UMN Med School; and their son Steve and spouse Stephanie live off the grid in

California in the hills north of Santa Rosa, where they have their own computer-based company. Michael Stanwood writes, “Aging has its challenges, but I still stay active in the music and photography worlds and with several volunteer projects. Artist in residencies, working with students and teachers writing songs around what they are studying remain a favorite work. I feel very grateful for a long and eclectic life in the arts.” His favorite projects can be found at www.michaelstanwood.com as well as two youtube videos: The Many Rivers Ensemble-Upwelling 2013 and Oilin Group featuring Michael Stanwood.

1956 Class Correspondent: Will Amatruda willtam88@hotmail.com

We are sad to report the death of David “Spike” Currier, who passed away on October 1, 2014. Sally Jones Loeser writes, “I just turned 72, but given that I thought I already was 72, it was no big deal! I’m busy with the same old, same old … book club, the gym, sending Wendy and Hillary for getaways while I take care of the grandkids, who are now old enough to take care of themselves for the most part. I spoke with Will Amatruda in February, who was in Chicago with his wife for a library conference. Always fun to catch up with classmates.”

1957 Class Correspondent: Kevin Geenty kevin@geentygroup.com

Phoebe Thorne ’55 sold Fillis, the 1931 Ford that she owned for 64 years.

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Martha Haeseler is an art therapist and directs an outpatient psychiatry program at VA Connecticut Healthcare System. She is also an avid gardener and, together with the veterans in her program, has created eight gardens at the VA, the latest

Foote Prints

being a garden walking labyrinth, completed on Veterans Day. She has just returned from Vienna, where she was asked to present at a symposium honoring her art therapy mentor, Edith Kramer. She is reluctantly retiring, because she loves her job and the veterans, but she is almost 71, and enjoys her naps in the afternoon.

She is looking forward to having her own artistic renaissance, as well as enjoying her husband Rick (retired from Yale Medical School), her daughters, and her six grandchildren; expanding her business in jewelry and felted hats, scarves and bags; working in her own gardens; and continuing to write and give presentations in her field. Kevin Geenty is questioning why he is still working. Kevin and his wife Mikki’s recent river cruise experience on The Rhône and Saône was excellent but the pace was a little too slow. Bruce Reynolds has been reborn as a poet.

He has been writing a poem daily for several years and would love to swap poems with Foote schoolmates.

1958 Class Correspondent: Eric Berger ericberger@aol.com

1959 The Class of 1959 needs a class correspondent. If you are willing to help collect news from your classmates, please contact Cheryl Nadzam in the alumni office at cnadzam@footeschool.org.

We extend our condolences to Henry Hosley, whose brother David “Spike” Currier ’56 passed away on October 1, 2014.

1960 55th Reunion, May 9, 2015 Class Correspondent: Happy Clement Spongberg happyspongberg@earthlink.net

Winter/Spring 2015

Happy Clement Spongberg is making the best of the pummeling of persistent blizzards, record-breaking snow and frigid temps. With her Yaktrax, Happy is giving her muscles, ligaments and tendons a great workout since she can walk on icy roads, paths and driveways sans the worry about falling. P. K. McClelland just returned from Marquette, MI, where she watched the start of the UP 200 — a qualifying race for the Iditarod. Even though there was no Iditarod this year due to lack of snow, there was still a qualifying race, and all 14 teams completed the designated 240 miles. We extend our condolences to Margie Howe Emmons, whose father passed away on December 16, 2014. There was a memorial service in January attended by classmate Happy Spongberg. Margie’s constant involvements, other than family, are centered at Squam where she is President of the Chocorua Island Chapel, the historian for RockywoldDeephaven camps, and serves on a committee to put the Squam Lakes watershed into the National Historic Registry.

1961 Class Correspondent: Muffie Clement Green m_c_green@sbcglobal.net

Muffie Clement Green has been selected to receive the 2015 Alumni Service Award in recognition for her outstanding service in creating the Anna Huntington Deming ’35 Archives. (See article on page 24.)

1962 Class Correspondent: Donald O. Ross dross@winvcounsel.com

Tom Robbins is embarking on another start-up adventure, with Smilables Inc. The company will be offering a first-of-its-kind, wearable

computer for babies 1 to 24 months old, designed to provide parents with educational content via smartphone.

1963 Class Correspondent: Susan Stratton susan@strattonpartners.com

1964 Class Correspondent: Verdi DiSesa vdisesa@cchosp.com

1965 50th Reunion, May 9, 2015 Class Correspondent: Eric Triffin Eric_Triffin@aya.yale.edu

We extend our condolences to Charles Hosley, whose brother David “Spike” Currier ’56 passed away on October 1, 2014. Samuel Clement is a retired corporate travel agent and his wife Barbara is still a professional organizer. They travel whenever they can in a little RV named “The Cottage.” Sam is looking forward to the 50th Reunion — “Yikes!”

1966 Class Correspondent: John N. Deming, Jr. jndjr@yahoo.com

Henry Margenau is starting a new job at Orange Lakes in Kissimmee, FL, in off-property contract sales. He has retired from teaching and being a high school principal in Pennsylvania.

Grace Hammond Boss reports that the construction of her new home, “Shalom,” will be completed by late spring. In early January she enjoyed attending The Morris Cerullo 44th Annual World Conference at the Opryland Convention Center in Nashville. Grace’s children are both attending colleges in the Boston area.

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ALUMNI

1967 The Class of 1967 needs a class correspondent. If you are willing to help collect news from your classmates, please contact Cheryl Nadzam in the alumni office at cnadzam@footeschool.org.

1968 Class Correspondent: Liz Prelinger prelinge@georgetown.edu Leland Torrence lelandtorrence@optonline.com

George Holden just published a second edition of his book Parenting: A Dynamic Perspective, and is president of the U.S. Alliance to End the Hitting of Children. Visit the website at www.endhittingusa.org.

Leland Torrence will receive the 2015 Alumni Service Award in recognition of his dedicated work on various Foote School building committees and projects over the years. (See article on page 26.)

1969 Class Correspondent: Meg McDowell Smith megsmithvt@gmavt.net

1970 45th Reunion, May 9, 2015 The Class of 1970 needs a class correspondent. If you are willing to help collect news from your classmates, please contact Cheryl Nadzam in the alumni office at cnadzam@footeschool.org.

1972 Class Correspondents: Amy Estabrook heyamo@snet.net Cathy Hosley Vouwie chv79@hotmail.com

We extend our condolences to Catherine Vouwie, whose brother David “Spike” Currier ’56 passed 36

away on October 1, 2014. Tom Kligerman is traveling to beautiful places for work and fun — England, Argentina and Greece. Tom’s three girls are growing — one about to graduate from NYU, the second about to head off to college and just the little one will be home starting in August. Time is flying and Tom hopes everyone is well. Amy Estabrook takes classes in interior design, paints and works in book arts. She threw a 65th party for her husband, visited Cathy Hosley Vouwie, then her daughter in D.C. Emily (Freedman) Stollar and Polly Prelinger meet weekly for lunch. Emily’s children are married and grandson Oliver will be 2. Emily and Larry went to Italy to celebrate their 35th anniversary. For the past five years Greta Nettleton and Ruth Collins have spent a week together in Maine. Greta gave a talk to the Vassar Club of Boston about her book, The Quack's Daughter, published by the University of Iowa Press, and is working on a follow-up book, which will be about women physicians, traditional healing practices and the birth of modern medicine. Alexander graduated from SUNY Geneseo and is a junior architect at Lalire March Architects, and Luc will graduate from the University of Vermont with a degree in biology. Tom Kligerman reports Rebecca is at NYU, Katherine is heading to University of Texas at Austin, and Magdalen is home for a few more years. Tom has projects in Aspen, San Francisco, Maryland, the Caribbean, Martha's Vineyard and other fun places.

1973 Class Correspondent: Peter Hicks phicks@websterbank.com John Persse johnpersse@bhhsne.com

Standing from left to right are Joanie Bigwood, Susie Campbell, Jessie Drury; seated are Jonea Gurwitt, Cessy Bickel, Duby McDowell at the 1975 Foote mini reunion

1974 The Class of 1974 needs a class correspondent. If you are willing to help collect news from your classmates, please contact Cheryl Nadzam in the alumni office at cnadzam@footeschool.org.

Penelope Boling, with her husband Eli and two daughters, traveled to the south of France last spring; they enjoyed wonderful food and loved Caves de Lumières. Her eldest daughter is in college and her youngest is in high school. Penelope is still in touch with classmates Kate Loewald and Morellen MacLeish.

1975 40th Reunion, May 9, 2015 Class Correspondent: Jessica Drury sjsaz@optonline.net

Jessica Drury urges all classmates to attend their upcoming 40th reunion, Foote Prints

writing, “Delightful in concept, always great sport in execution, this call to gather is historically a terrific affair, worth the effort of travel and planning. But this reunion rides in on a saddle of bittersweet because it is our 40th Reunion. Bring your gray hair, your slipping memory, your arthritic knees and your years of gathered wisdom and come to the reunion on May 9. No judgments will be rendered unless you don’t show up.” Susie Campbell Grimes and daughter Hannah Grimes ’04 rode their bikes in Closer to Free: A Ride for Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven to raise money for cancer research. In the cheering section was Susie’s sister (and longtime Foote teacher) Margy Lamere, as well as Noah Nyhart ’14.

Jenny Dunning reports she moved back to New England, to North Adams, MA, and is near Katie Wolfgang, who lives in Williamstown.

Julian Chang is with the Schwarzman Scholars Program in Beijing, at Tsinghua University. Roger Smith had this reaction to Julian’s news: “You are providing us with another excellent example of the wonderfully influential and diverse work being done by our classmates in the arts, sciences, business, technology, law and education, accompanied by genuine kindness and integrity.” Jonea Gurwitt has worked for Consumer Reports for 15 years, though she recently switched from the editorial side to development. Jonea spent a few delightful days in Seoul in October, eating and walking miles.

Cessy Bickel is working to raise money to fund research for a cure for juvenile diabetes (her daughter has Type I).

Roger Smith, the classmate who delivered his folded-up homework in a Valentine’s Day envelope, has covered great professional distances. Roger is gradually becoming an expert in school governance, having started out as a board member of his children’s elementary school in the Boston area, crossing paths with many who knew Foote (including former heads of Winter/Spring 2015

Susie Campbell Grimes ’75 and daughter Hannah Grimes ’04 riding their bikes in Closer to Free: A Ride for Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven to raise money for cancer research.

Left to right are Bruce Conklin ’75, Kim Tetrault ’75 and Mark Conklin ’76 at Kim’s oyster farm/research center.

school Frank Perrine and Jean Lamont). Currently he is chair of the Hotchkiss Audit Committee. He notes that “school governance is a tricky matter” but is thankful he has a Foote School education! Bruce

Conklin sent along a photograph of his visit with Kim Tetrault at his Oyster Farm/Research Center.

Brother Mark Conklin ’76 came along. Kim’s reaction to the photo was to remember Bruce’s great sleepovers 37

ALUMNI

and the large snakes he kept as pets.

Kim lives in East Hampton with his partner Kim (referred to as Kim squared). He offers an open door as he has loads of room and a fine sailboat for anyone craving some salt air. Kim is also something of an accomplished bass player, eliciting from Joanie Bigwood a confession that she nearly married that “jazzman.” When questioned by Duby McDowell, Joanie admitted, “Well no, but he did send me notes rolled up into tight little scrolls, which he would hide in Bic pen tops and pass to me in class.

I mean that’s as good as a proposal in seventh grade.” When Joanie dropped her freshman Carly off at Wesleyan, she took a right turn to Hamden, where Cessy Bickel, Jessie Drury, Susie Grimes, Jonea Gurwitt and Duby McDowell all met at Susie’s home for a side-splitting mini-reunion.

It was catered by a noted chef from the San Francisco Bay Area: Joanie’s fiancé Jeff Osborn, who was ably assisted by Susie’s mensch of a hubby, Tim. “Minireunions are to the Loomis Place variety what crab soccer is to the World Cup, but you gotta start somewhere.”

1976 Class Correspondent: John Holder johnholder@comporium.net

1978 Class Correspondents: Nell DeVane Eleanor.devane@espn.com Stephen Fontana stevef1701@aol.com

1979 Class Correspondent: Bonnie Welch Bonniewelch@taftschool.org

1980 35th Reunion, May 9, 2015 Class Correspondent: Liz Geller Brennan gelbren@aol.com

1981 Class Correspondents: Jennifer LaVin jen2766@gmail.com Nicolas Crowley nyjcrowley@hotmail.com

1982 Class Correspondent: Bethany Schowalter Appleby bappleby@wiggin.com

Hyla Flaks Crane moved in February from Connecticut to Naples, FL, where she is now executive director of the Marco Island Center for the Arts.

1983 Class Correspondent: Brinley Ford Ehlers Brinleysf@aol.com

1977 Class Correspondent: Elizabeth Daley Draghi gdraghi@sbcglobal.net

We extend our condolences to Amanda Martin, whose mother Ruth Watson Martin ’44 passed away on October 6, 2014. Samuel Stebbins married Chris Frances Stacey on September 20, 2014, moved and got a new dog. His oldest child, Jonathan, is a freshman at Case Western Reserve University.

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We extend our condolences to Bill Martin, whose mother Ruth Watson Martin ’44 passed away on October 6, 2014. Clinton White will be Foote’s graduation speaker in June. Kate DeVane is buried in snow on Martha’s Vineyard. Her twins are 10 and life is a little calmer on the home front, so she is landscaping, serving on the up-island school committee and just started a capital campaign for The Island Autism Center, a retreat center for people with autism and their families.

Clark Thompson and his wife Laura Watt are still living in Philadelphia where Clark heads IT strategy and business architecture for Credit Suisse in New York. The past year he focused on private banking and wealth management strategy for the Americas.

Clark spoke on a regulatory reform panel at the Financial Information Management conference in New York and will be speaking at conferences in New York and Boston this spring.

Their son Gus, 20, started his sophomore year of college in Burlington, VT. Their daughter Lydia is waiting to hear about college applications. Last November Clark and his family added a new family member: Maverick, a rescued border collie/maybe lab that will be a year old in July. He joins their 3½-year-old adopted German Shepherd Roxy, and come spring, Clark will be training him for search and rescue.

1984 Class Correspondent: Ann Pschirrer Brandt apschirrer@aol.com

Stella Wareck ’19 and Anya Wareck ’16 welcome their baby sister Eliza Doft Wareck, newborn daughter of Rachel Doft and John Wareck ’84.

Congratulations to John Wareck ’84 and Rachel Doft who welcomed baby girl Eliza Doft Wareck on September 4, 2014. Eliza joins older sisters Stella, a fifth grader at Foote and Anya in grade 8.

Foote Prints

Mai Wu ’84

Creative By Design ai Wu ’84 doesn’t recall a eureka moment when she decided to pursue a career in architecture.

“There’s no story that ever since I was young I loved to draw,” says Mai, a senior associate at Apicella + Bunton Architects in New Haven. “My father was my inspiration. I have always enjoyed making things — from art projects to baking for friends and family.”

Mai’s father was King-lui Wu, who taught some of the 20th century’s most prominent designers over his four decades as a professor at Yale School of Architecture. Mai says her father never pushed her into architecture but was happy when she decided to pursue it on her own.

Over a two-decade career, Mai has made her own mark on the field, designing projects large and small and embracing each new job as a unique challenge. After earning a BA in architecture from Yale, she worked at the Urban Redevelopment Authority in Singapore before attending Yale’s graduate School of Architecture. Afterward, she worked for Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Architects on the restoration of Radio City Music Hall before starting at the prominent New Haven firm of Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects. Her portfolio included a biomedical research center at UCLA, the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison, Wisconsin, and the new Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School in New Haven.

Mai joined Apicella + Bunton in 2006, a small firm founded in 2004 by two Pelli Clarke Pelli alums. The firm occupies an inviting, light-filled office on Crown Street overlooking downtown New Haven, with drawings and intricate models spread throughout the studio. In her eight years there, Mai has worked on a myriad of projects, including a renovation of the Yale Daily News building on York Street and converting an underutilized outdoor passage at Choate Rosemary Hall (her alma mater) into a student courtyard with a stunning, 104-foot undulating bench.

Mai’s attention to detail is part of what makes her so good at her job, says firm partner John Apicella, who is also Mai’s husband (they married in 2013).

“Each project has a million moving parts but also a million moving personalities, and Mai navigates that as well as any of us,” he says.

“A lot of architecture becomes listening and explaining things, and if you get the listening and dialogue right in the beginning, you can avoid a lot of problems later on. Mai is very good at that.”

John also credits Mai with helping to shape the culture at Apicella + Bunton, which they both describe as like a family. She curates the

M

“A lot of architecture becomes listening and explaining things, and Mai is very good at that.”

office library with thought-provoking books and journals, organizes employee field trips and brings in outside experts to educate the staff.

For Mai, it’s a love of learning and seriousness of purpose that harkens back to her Foote days. She recalls fantastic Foote teachers like Carol Ross and Susan Bishop leading classes that were challenging but fun. As example, Mai vividly recalls Carol Ross, her Latin teacher, writing declensions on the board and erasing them one by one as her students repeated them, until the class had committed them all to memory.

Mai remains close with many of her classmates and says they reconnected “like it was yesterday” at their 30th reunion last May. “It was very inspiring,” Mai says of her Foote days, “a very nurturing environment.”

David La Spina/Esto

“Senior Spot,” with its 104-foot bench, at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford.

The Yale Daily News building on York Street in New Haven.

Winter/Spring 2015

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1989 Class Correspondent: Toya Hill Clark trose7@hotmail.com

Ai-jen Poo’s new book, The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elder Boom in a Changing America, was published in January. Congratulations to Peter Fitton and his wife Dempsey on the birth of their baby boy, Francis Farley, who arrived on September 16, 2014. Francis joins big brothers Archer and Keillor. Archer is in Kindergarten at Foote.

1990 Matt ’85, Georgia ’88 and son Theo Lieber; Sadie Lieber ’00; Jon Lieber ’88, Ethan Barlow ’88, Ben Barlow ’90 and son Lucas. Front: Charlotte and Alexandra Lieber (Jon’s daughters). The Liebers and Barlows were together this past summer in Vinalhaven, ME.

1985 30th Reunion, May 9, 2015 Class Correspondent: Carter LaPrade Serxner lapserx@gmail.com

Jonathan Grauer is doing well and proud to have his daughter Julia at Foote in Kindergarten this year. His younger daughter, Jemma, will be at Foote in the fall.

1986 The Class of 1986 needs a class correspondent. If you are willing to help collect news from your classmates, please contact Cheryl Nadzam in the alumni office at cnadzam@footeschool.org.

1987 Class Correspondents: Jonathan Levin jdlevin@stanford.edu

25th Reunion, May 9, 2015 The Class of 1990 needs a class correspondent. If you are willing to help collect news from your classmates, please contact Cheryl Nadzam in the alumni office at cnadzam@footeschool.org.

Christopher Selden continues to work and live in Norwich, CT. Patrick Weston is a physician and investor who founded Aria Health and Wellness Institute in St. Petersburg, FL. Sarah (Acheson) Rand lives in NY with husband David and sons Max (8) and Jack (4). Sarah teaches middle school art at Wooster School in

1988 The Class of 1988 needs a class correspondent. If you are willing to help collect news from your classmates, please contact Cheryl Nadzam in the alumni office at cnadzam@footeschool.org.

Campbell Nicholas Murrell, born February 2, 2015, to Andrea Campbell ’88 and her husband Anthony Murrell.

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Jonathan Lieber ran into Leslie Craft McGuire and reports that Leslie will be moving to Melbourne, Australia in February for a new job.

Congratulations to Andrea Campbell and her husband Anthony Murrell, on the birth of their son Campbell Nicholas Murrell on February 2, 2015.

Francis Farley Fitton, newest son of Peter Fitton ’89 and wife Dempsey, was born September 16, 2014.

Foote Prints

1996 Class Correspondents: Brett Nowak Nowak.Brett@gmail.com Katy Zandy Atlas katy91@gmail.com

Adam Leventhal ’89 and new wife Melissa Walton celebrate their marriage.

Danbury and is the Middle School Dean of Students. Five of her photographs were part of The Average Joe Photo Show at the Lori Warner Gallery in Chester, CT and her photo entitled “Nectarine” won an award.

1991 Class Correspondent: Bo Bradstreet ebradstr@gmail.com

1992 Class Correspondent: Katie Madden Kavanagh katieblee@hotmail.com

1993 Class Correspondent: Jenny Keul jennykeul@gmail.com

Cecelia Azhderian illustrated a children’s book titled Why is the Sea Salty?And Other Questions About Oceans, published in July 2014 by Sterling Publishing Company.

Winter/Spring 2015

1994 Class Correspondent: Arna Berke-Schlessel Zohlman arna.zohlman@gmail.com

Congratulations to Adam Leventhal and his bride Melissa Walton on their July 19, 2014 marriage. Arjuna Greist married Trystan Dean on September 13, 2014 at the Unitarian Universalist Society of New Haven in Hamden, CT. The day included singing, dancing, rainbow alien cake, and epic lightsaber battles; a queerly good time was had by all. They live with their dogs and chickens in a solar-powered house in Greenfield, MA.

Danny Giannella’s 2-year-old design company Bower got exciting news this past summer. The MoMA Design Store asked to carry a couple of its products and now sells two versions of Bower’s Shape Cutting Boards.

Check out the cutting boards and other products at bowernyc.com.

Ted Bailey and his company Dataminr were the subject of a recent New York Times article. Dataminr’s software tool analyzes billions of Twitter posts to indicate stories that could be breaking news. The tool has recently become commercially available to news organizations such as CNN and Gannett, who were participants in a testing stage. Ted De Barbieri joined the faculty of Brooklyn Law School as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Law. He works with the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship and coteaches the Community Development Clinic and Corporate/Real Estate

1995 20th Reunion, May 9, 2015 Class Correspondent: Jack Hill seaburyhill@aol.com Congratulations to Sam Sklaver and his wife Wendi on the birth of their third child, Benjamin Flower Sklaver, born on January 7, 2015. Benjamin joins big brother Redmond and sister Edie Jane. We extend our condolences to John Lee Downey, whose father Judge John T. Downey passed away on November 17, 2014.

Benjamin Flower Sklaver, son of Wendi and Sam Sklaver ’95, born January 7, 2015, cuddles with big brother Redmond and sister Edie Jane.

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ALUMNI

July! Al is an R.N. in the emergency room at Champlain Valley Plattsburgh Hospital in Plattsburgh, NY.

1999 Class Correspondent: Jeremy Zuidema jmzuidema@gmail.com

Joaquin Tomas Galo, son of Kathleen Murphy Galo ’98 and Carlos Galo, born February 4, 2015.

Clinic. Ted previously served as the senior staff attorney for the Urban Justice Center’s Community Development Project, where he advised nonprofit organizations and provided legal assistance to lowincome workers, tenants and homeowners in foreclosure.

1997 Class Correspondent: Eliza Sayward elizasayward@yahoo.com

1998

Emily Zeid Shimelman has been a fourth grade teacher at Hamden Hall for the past seven years. Congrats to Emily and husband Benjamin on the birth of their first child, Gabriel Sidney Schimelman, born on Sept. 26, 2014. Elliot Drucker married Nikole Rafter on May 31, 2014. They recently moved to Melrose, MA with their two huge puppies, Michael and Patrick. Elliot will be working with Accenture Consulting in the firm’s Boston office.

2000 15th Reunion, May 9, 2015 Class Correspondents: Alex Kleiner alex.m.kleiner@gmail.com Shannon Sweeney smsweeney07@gmail.com

Granquist is engaged! Pete is teaching music at Presido Knolls School, a Mandarin immersion school in San Francisco while continuing to make time to perform with his band Guy Fox. Brianna Berkowitz and husband Michael Ryan welcomed a son, Luke J. Ryan, on July 14, 2014. Bri continues to live in Brooklyn where she is “madly in love” with their newest family member. Spencer Gusberg is living in Boston doing data analytics and business development for an early stage startup. Eleanor Campisano just moved from Harlem to Astoria, Queens, a neighborhood populated with Polish, Greek and other nationalities, and filled with terrific ethnic restaurants to satisfy any foodie. She continues to work as a tutor and educational consultant and is now the proud owner of an adorable French bulldog. On March 21, 2015, Alex Kleiner married Alexandra Daum in San Francisco, CA. They met at Harvard Business School and live in San Francisco.

Alex works at a private equity firm that invests in technology companies and Alexandra is a management consultant at Bain & Company. Sid Nathan married Amy Difranco on

Caitlin Cahow, now a retired professional hockey player, was sworn in as a member of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition this past September. Pete

Class Correspondents: Andrew Lebov aklebov@gmail.com Elisabeth Sacco saccopotatoes@gmail.com

Kathleen Murphy Galo ’98 and husband Carlos Galo, welcomed a son, Joaquin Tomas Galo, on February 4, 2015. Congratulations to Al Drucker and his wife Jennifer who have a son, Lucas Wyatt Drucker, born December 25, 2013, and are expecting son number two in early

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Al Drucker ’98 (left) with wife Jennifer, brother Elliot Drucker ’99 (right) and wife Nikole Rafter.

Brianna Berkowitz ’00 and husband Michael Ryan with son, Luke J. Ryan, born on July 14, 2014.

Foote Prints

Chevaunne Breland ’01

Gladly Will She Teach hevaunne Breland ’01 might be the perfect poster child for Foote’s motto, “Gladly will I learn and gladly teach.” At age 28, she is a passionate and highly respected English teacher at James Hillhouse High School in New Haven. As a graduate of both Yale and Georgetown universities, she credits most the decade she spent as a Foote student with inspiring her career choice and success.

At times, Chevaunne struggled academically at Foote. The help she received from the Learning Support Program developed her confidence to a point where she could blossom as a scholar, she says.

“I really feel if I wasn’t in that private school environment and I was in public or larger school, I would have been pushed to the side,” she says during an interview in her classroom. “I wanted to help develop the students’ confidence here because I feel that’s a huge factor in any effective education.”

A graduate of Hillhouse, Chevaunne intimately understands the obstacles to learning that some of her students face — in school, at home and in their personal lives — and how easily they can become discouraged. “Many of my students are kids who have given up on themselves because they’ve just been so discouraged with regard to their academic abilities.”

The ability to relate to her students on a personal level is part of what makes her so effective as a teacher, says Jessica Zelenski, a fellow English teacher who started at Hillhouse the year Chevaunne entered as a student.

“I’ve never heard a kid say they didn’t like her,” says Zelenski.

“She’s smart, she’s personable, she’s a machine — and she makes us all look bad!”

More importantly, Zelenski says her sophomore students are coming to class better prepared after having had Chevaunne freshman year. “This is the first time I remember kids saying, ‘Oh yeah — we learned that last year,’” Zelenski says.

Chevaunne’s classroom is an inviting and colorful space plastered with student poems and inspirational quotes from Maya Angelou, LeBron James and others. In conversation, she has a composed, Zenlike quality, but she quickly becomes animated when discussing teaching and the path that led her there.

After 10 years on Loomis Place, Chevaunne wanted to experience a different type of school, one that would take her out of her comfort zone and encourage her to develop self-advocacy skills. She also wanted to be in an economically and racially diverse high school and was drawn to Hillhouse’s basketball program. She was co-captain of Hillhouse's 2004 State Championship Girls Basketball team. Still, the transition from Foote to New Haven’s largest public high school was anything but easy.

“It was like introducing a baby to the streets of New York!” she recalls. “There was so much stimulation going on.”

But Chevaunne excelled, finishing second in a class of 218 students. She then attended Georgetown University where she majored in English and double minored in studio arts and AfricanAmerican Studies. She decided to pursue a career in education after a series of experiences volunteering with third graders through DC Reads, with juveniles at a detention center, and with court-involved

C

Winter/Spring 2015

“One of the biggest things I take from Foote School and try to bring here is that sense of authentic, genuine learning.”

women. She witnessed the educational gap facing low-income students and decided she could help.

After earning a master’s degree from Yale’s Urban Education program she began teaching at Hillhouse in 2009. She now balances a teaching workload with being a full-time mom to 3-year-old Leila.

“One of the biggest things I take from Foote School and try to bring here is that sense of authentic, genuine learning and to give my students space to think,” she says.

Key to that, she says, is establishing an environment of mutual respect in the classroom, so students feel safe to take risks and participate in discussions. “We can’t facilitate any kind of learning if you are too afraid to learn and try,” she says.

“There are a lot of things I can’t control in the hallway in the school,” she adds, “but once they enter my classroom, establishing norms is something I can do.”

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ALUMNI

August 30, 2014. The wedding party included Spencer Gusberg, Johnny Oster and Bryan Warner. Other Footies in attendance were Ian Lebov and Brianna Berkowitz, past staff members Diane Williams and Karen Longa, and After School Program Director Dawn Walsh.

2001 Class Correspondents: Adam Jacobs 14 Tanglewood Lane Woodbridge, CT 06525 (203) 393-1760 Cassie Pagnam cassie.pagnam@gmail.com

Annie Rosen, a mezzo-soprano, just returned from Canada where she performed with Cantata Profana, an ensemble for vocal and instrumental chamber music, and is staging a full production of Kurtag’s KafkaFragments in New York City.

2002 Class Correspondent: Hope Fleming 47 Old Quarry Road Guilford, CT 06437 (203) 453-9400

Joining Sid Nathan ’00 at his wedding were three classmates: Bryan Warner (behind the bride), Spencer Gusberg (second from right) and Johnny Oster (far right) as well as his brother Manu ’97 (next to Sid).

Congratulations to Katie DeVito, who was married to Mohammad Al Seaidan on June 14, 2014 at Choate Rosemary Hall. Her wedding was attended by her brother Marc DeVito ’04, Lolly Berger and Erica Fortgang.

Katie is living in Boston with her husband. Johnny Stone is married and has a son, Silas, who is 21⁄2.

Johnny is currently in law school.

Jennifer Milikowsky is in grad school earning a joint degree from the Yale

School of Management and Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. She started up a company called Walden Hill, which produces organic, locally raised pork. She also provides her products to area restaurants. Kit Luckey started a vegetable CSA program on their farm in East Haven. The program runs for 18 weeks starting in June.

Information can be found at farmriverfarm.tumblr.com or by emailing farmriverfarm@gmail.com.

2003 Class Correspondents: Courtney Holmes msholmes@att.blackberry.net Adam Shapiro adamshapiro1488@gmail.com

Diane LaPosta is an associate producer for Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN. Ginger Cline received a master’s degree in International Relations and African Studies from the Universidad Autónoma in Madrid, Spain.

Marc DeVito ’04, Lolly Berger ’02, Katie DeVito ’04, and Erica Fortgang ’02 showing Foote pride at Katie’s wedding in June.

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Foote Prints

2004 Class Correspondents: Dillon Long know33@gmail.com Dana Schwartz Danaschwartz5@gmail.com

Daniel Broder lives in Washington, D.C., and is working for the Teamsters Union. Daniel is also helping longtime girlfriend Yamin with her eco-friendly jewelry business.

2005 10th Reunion, May 9, 2015 Class Correspondent: Gabriella Rhodeen gabriella.rhodeen@gmail.com

Willie Stone is in Nevada, where he works as an investigative reporter at an NPR station.

2006 Class Correspondents: Audrey Logan logan.audrey@gmail.com Adam Gabbard adamdgabbard@yahoo.com

Martin Hebel is graduating in May from UConn’s undergraduate Music Composition program. He has written three complete symphonies and a wide variety of chamber music. After years of musical study, he has been invited to record his Symphony No. 3 with the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra in the Czech Republic in June 2015.

Read more about Martin at www.martinhebel.com. Austin Coleman earned a degree in Criminal Justice, interned with the Yale Police Department and is planning to become a police officer. In the meantime, he is tutoring small groups of first and second graders in reading comprehension at Davis Street Arts & Academics School in New Haven.

EJ Nisbeth graduated from Amherst College a couple of years ago and has Winter/Spring 2015

Fifteen members of the Class of 2010 gathered for pizza and a holiday reunion on Dec. 22.

Front row: Paola Perez, Aliza Van Leesten, Brandi Fullwood, Alex Sernyak, Rachel Wishnie-Edwards, Julia Vlock, Zoe Dobuler, Maggie Peard Back row: Sam Dunning, Richard Soper, Clay Pepe, Nat Warner, Cameron Swift, Jonathan Nazario, Silas Newman

been working in stem cell research in Houston. He is looking at graduate schools and hopes to get a joint law degree and MBA.

2007 Class Correspondents: Kenny Kregling kkregling@snet.net Symphony Spell symphony.spell@gmail.com

2008 Class Correspondents: Michael Milazzo michaelmilazzo@comcast.net Kate Reilly Yurkovsky ker2140@barnard.edu

Jimmy LaPosta is a senior at Hamilton College and last year studied abroad in Stockholm. Shay Nisbeth is now a senior at Bentley University in Waltham MA and will graduate in May. She is currently doing an internship in social media marketing with a firm in Waltham and loves it!

2009 Class Correspondents: Chris Blackwood cblackwood@andover.edu Eva Kerman edk2123@barnard.edu

2010 Class Correspondents: Brandi Fullwood brandi.n.fullwood@gmail.com Clay Pepe cppepe@rollins.edu

Jonathan Nazario is studying music education at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ. Over winter break, 15 members of the class gathered for a small reunion at Clay Pepe’s home and enjoyed seeing familiar faces.

2011 Class Correspondents: Nate Barton natebarton95@gmail.com Britney Dumas bdumas13@gmail.com

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ALUMNI

2012 Class Correspondents: Harrison Lapides yalehockey20@comcast.net Cassidy McCarns cassidymccarns22@gmail.com

Max Sbriglio became an EMT this past summer. Max Hauser is going to Union College in the fall. Ramsey Tomasi-Carr hopes to major in mechanical engineering at Olin College in the fall. He’s working on a remotely operated underwater vehicle for this year’s MATE ROV competition for his high school engineering team. Peyton Swift is a tri-captain of Taft’s girls varsity soccer team, was selected to the WWNEPSA All-Star Team and awarded the 1976 Girls Soccer Award presented to a player who shows the most dedication and love for soccer.

2013 Class Correspondents: Lawson Buhl Lbuhl17@choate.edu Anika Zetterberg wxyzberg@comcast.net azetterberg16@choate.edu

Anika Zetterberg is in the Arts Concentration Program at Choate, where every day she can work on her art projects in lieu of doing a sport.

This works out great since there aren’t many sports that she likes to play!

Anika remembers her fourth grade teacher Mrs. Visser.

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FORMER FACULTY NEWS Lee Anne Hicks recently made a trip to the Clelian Center in Hamden with fifth graders from Hamden Hall. She ran into Henry Farley, who she says is “94 and looking great.”

How special of the eighth and ninth grades to select our good friend Mrs. Zuccon for this year’s year book dedication! I can’t think of anyone who better represents the spirit of the school than this devoted, cheerful, delightful person. From administering first aid, to teaching typing and German, to knowing every child by name and making ever caller or visitor feel welcome, this wonderful lady has a radiance and warmth that enriches all of our lives.

Thus wrote Headmaster Frank Perrine of our beloved Mrs. Zuccon in 1980. It is with considerable sorrow we report that Margarete, a good friend to so many for so long, died on January 29, 2015, in Vienna. She was 91.

Margarete came to America by herself in 1949, and after meeting and marrying her husband, Milan, eventually settled down in the New Haven area. Milan taught at Hopkins and Margarete accepted the job of receptionist at Foote offered by Mrs. Churchill in early 1967.

For the next 20 years, Mrs. Zuccon’s was generally the first voice and smile to greet people at the front desk. With her gracious manner, she delivered countless intercom messages in her distinctive voice, applied Band-Aids, taught typing to hundreds of students and taught a German language class. On special days, like May Day and graduation, Margarete wore beguiling Austrian dirndls, and colleagues loved her homemade vanilla kipferi cookies at Christmastime.

We will forever cherish Margarete in our memories as an exceptionally devoted member of the Foote community who stood for all the right things that Foote promotes.

Margarete Zuccon, left, and her twin sister, Charlotte Frieber, savoring their lunch.

In Memoriam Renze Wilshire Johnston ’33 November 9, 2014 Stuart H. Clement ’34 January 15, 2015 Margaret Foote Oppenheimer ’35 December 7, 2014 Elisabeth Simonds Burns ’36 September 10, 2012 Ann Lane Marshman ’41 November 21, 2014 Ruth Watson Martin ’44 October 6, 2014 Dr. Peter Hathaway ’45 February 4, 2014 Mary Pope “Polly” Hirsh ’47 January 28, 2015 David “Spike” Currier ’56 October 1, 2014

Foote Prints

Young Alums Day Every year on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, young alumni are invited back to campus to reconnect with classmates and teachers. This year, 69 youthful grads from the classes of 2012 through 2014 came home to Foote to catch up over bagels in the Twichell Room, find their favorite teachers and attend the annual Thanksgiving Assembly in the Hosley Gym.

Members of the class of 2014. From left, Sarah Volk, Holden Turner, Will Raccio, Kyle Gelzinis, Tim Tompkins, Daniel Kuriakose and Ben Barton

Middle School Humanities co-chair Deb Riding gets a hug from Kyle Gelzinis ’14.

Leila Sachner ‘13 catches up with Anika Zetterberg ’13

Members of the class of 2014 reunite. From left, Chase Douglas, Nathan Chang, Aaron Baxter, Anees Patwa, Morgan Curtis, Nico Kenn de Balinthazy, Henry Jacob, Thor Illick, Tyler Brown Ortiz, Patrick Gallagher, Noah Nyhart, Kyle Gelzinis, Declan Colberg, Tim Tompkins, Matt Diemand, Ben Barton.

Winter/Spring 2015

Neal Sarin ’14

Members of the class of 2015 watch a slideshow of old photos. From left, JJ Hellerman, Adelyn Garcia, Lauren Tompkins, Madison Mandell, Hannah Price and Helen Ruger.

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ALUMNI

Why I Composed A Children’s Musical

By Alex Crowley ’83 Much has been written about the deterioration of the American diet, especially among children. Studies linking our increased consumption of junk food and accelerating rates of obesity and diabetes have spurred national programs such as First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” initiative and the USDA’s recently released “Smart Snacks In School” guidelines.

But try telling that to a 6-year-old.

Given the choice between a Snickers bar or a handful of celery, most kids…well, I don’t think I need to finish that sentence. Suffice to say, the Crowley children are no different and my wife, Erin, and I spend a tremendous amount of energy attempting to instill good eating habits in our household — often to no avail.

So I was thrilled last fall when Cardinal Stage Company, the professional theater in my hometown of Bloomington, Indiana, asked me to compose the music for its first commissioned show, a musical for young audiences called The Birthday Feast. Not only would I have the opportunity to collaborate with celebrated author Scott Russell Sanders, but also to develop a show for children about the importance of nutritious and sustainable food in our lives.

The Birthday Feast is the story of 10year-old Maddie, her dog Mutt, and her friends Isabella and “Junk Food” Jack, and their attempts to make Maddie’s mom a perfect birthday feast. Their adventures take them to a farmer’s market (where they engage in a musical showdown), a neighbor’s seemingly magical vegetable garden — even on a big game hunt for an elusive backyard turkey. The show serves up a generous portion of 48

Alex Crowley (left) with Scott Russell Sanders

whimsy and silliness while also hitting on important messages of nutrition, sustainability and healthy food choices.

As I began my research for the score, I immediately thought of Jean Shepler, Foote’s longtime music teacher and one of the most significant musical influences in my life. I attribute much of my interest in musical theater to Mrs. Shepler. In fact, I thought regularly about her influence on my knowledge of the Great American Songbook as I wrote the music for The Birthday Feast. My love of, and reliance on, a more traditional musical form, which I used in the show, was largely thanks to her.

At a time when it would have been easier for Mrs. Shepler to have us sing the popular music of our day, she relentlessly and effectively taught us the great songs of Richard Rodgers, Frank Loesser, Cole Porter and so many others. And they stuck. I would be willing to bet everyone in the Foote Class of 1983 can still sing every lyric to Oklahoma!

It has now been three years since Mrs. Shepler passed away, but her influence lives on and is manifesting itself across the country in a new generation of composers and audiences. It speaks to the quality of Foote’s arts curriculum and to the lasting effect Foote’s arts programs have on all of us fortunate enough to have benefitted from them.

We are now preparing the show for distribution to theater companies nationwide. We hope our little musical will encourage the national discussion about good food choices while leaving kids and audiences cheering Maddie and her pals, singing the songs (which are very catchy) and snorting with laughter at the show’s silly antics.

For more information about The Birthday Feast, check out www.cardinalstage.org or email Alex at pajcrowley@gmail.com.

Buy the CD at CDBaby.com.

Foote Prints

Foote’s 75th birthday celebration in 1991

Foote is turning !

SAVE THE DATE FOR OUR CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION: May 13, 14 & 15, 2016 We are throwing a big party for our 100th birthday and want you to help us celebrate. Come home to Foote and reconnect with old friends and teachers, learn what’s new at school, and relive you Foote experience with a mini-May Day, mini-Field Day and other festivities.

Watch for details in the mail and on our website, www.footeschool.org/centennial.

We are looking for the old photos and memorabilia from your Foote days. If you can loan us items for the centennial or donate them to the Anna Huntington Deming ’35 Archives, please contact Cheryl Nadzam in the Alumni and Development Office at cnadzam@footeschool.org.

Foote Prints

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID New Haven, CT Permit No. 181

The Foote School 50 Loomis Place New Haven, CT 06511 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Notice: Postal regulations require the school to pay 75 cents for every copy not deliverable as addressed. Please help us contain costs by notifying us of any change of address, giving both the old and new addresses.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Reunion 2015

Saturday, May 9, 2015 (See page 25) www.footeschool.org/alumni/reunions

Summer at Foote

Early Summer Adventures (June 15–26) Late Summer Adventures (August 10–21) Summer Theater Program (June 22–July 31) personalized instruction in acting, singing, dance, costuming and set construction

Learn more at www.footeschool.org/summer

Grandparents Day Friday, October 9, 2015

Centennial Celebration May 13, 14 & 15 2016

www.footeschool.org/centennial Questions about any of these events? Contact Cheryl Nadzam in the Alumni and Development Office (cnadzam@footeschool.org, or 203-777-3464).