Foote Prints THE FOOTE SCHOOL • NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT • WINTER/SPRING 2013 • VOL. 40, NO. 1
A Glowing Report
Association of Independent Schools Praises Foote’s Approach to Education
A special time…
learning… with people who make a difference. —————
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Foote Prints Contents WINTER/SPRING 2013 Vol. 40, No. 1
Spotlight 2
From the Head of School: Foote is a Very Special Place by Carol Maoz
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Accreditation Report: A School That Lives Its Mission
Around Campus
Foote Prints is published twice a year for alumni, parents, grandparents, and friends. Editor Jane Gordon jgordon@footeschool.org Class Notes Editor Danielle Plante dplante@footeschool.org
Grandparents Day 2012
Design Thea A. Moritz
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News and Notes
Contributors Maria Granquist, Ann Baker Pepe
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Fall/Winter Sports
Photography Laura Altshul, Amy Caplan, Cara Given, Margy Lamere, Melissa McCormack, Danielle Plante, Kelly Small
Alumni Achievement Award: Lisa Sandine Schuba ’83
For the latest in news and events visit us at www.footeschool.org
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Alumni 18 19
Reunion Day 2013 Preview
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Legacies at Foote
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Where Are They Now?
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Class Notes
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Young Alums Return to Campus
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Why I Believe You Can Go Home Again
An Update on the Jonathan Milikowsky Building Railing
We’re sorry about the delay, but excited that the names have been sent to the engraver. Our best guess is that the railing will be completed this summer. As soon as we are certain of the completion date, we’ll let you know!
Board of Directors Melinda Agsten, Past President Richard Bershtein, President Kim Bohen Judith Chevalier, Treasurer Jamie Cole, PTC Co-President James Farnam ’65 Joanne Goldblum George Knight Nadine Koobatian, PTC Co-President Richard Lee Cindy Leffell, Vice President Glenn Levin, Secretary Bruce Mandell David Moore, Vice President Zehra Patwa, Member-at-Large Robert Sandine Jane Shipp David Soper Annie Wareck ’85 Yanyun Wu Kiran Zaman Ex-Officio Carol Maoz, Head of School Cover: A Foote hallmark: its strong focus on students
The Foote School does not discriminate in the administration of its admissions or educational policies or other school-administered 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.
Winter/Spring 2013
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A WORD FROM THE HEAD
Foote Evolves, But the Core Remains the Same Commendations for a Caring, Intellectually Curious Community As you’ll read in the following pages, Foote was officially re-accredited by the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) in January. The process of assessing the school and its programs involved every member of the faculty and staff, along with the Board, alumni, and parents. The reaction of the Visiting Team was overwhelmingly positive and reaffirming. They told us they “had never seen a school that lives its mission as deeply and authentically.” Schools really do “feel” different from one another, even schools that share many programs and policies. Those differences are surely a reflection of a school’s history. What is it that sets Foote apart? I hear from former students — the youngest, who are still in high school, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, left, visited Foote this winter to talk to students about her and those in retirement — that experience as one of the first two African-American students at the University of Georgia particular experiences and special and about her career as a journalist. Speakers such as Ms. Hunter-Gault bring their teachers influenced them to become unique perspectives and their stories to Foote, one of many ways our students learn about the people they are today. Different the world around them. alumni, of course, cherish different experiences. For some it was the value carries the influences of many students to approach challenges with placed on intellectual curiosity. For teachers, students, parent volunteers, spirit and confidence and her teachers others, it was the central role the arts Board members, and nine Heads of to make the most of the natural played in their School. But the curiosity and creativity of their education. And soul of the place students. A great deal has changed in Schools really do “feel” different yet for others, — the focus on the past century — it seems unlikely from one another, even schools that children and the sense of that Mrs. Foote considered the idea of community and what works best Foote students studying Chinese or share many programs and policies. the joy of for them — using iPads in their classrooms for Those differences are surely a learning have remains. Martha example! — but the core that makes remained with Babcock Foote, Foote work so well for children is reflection of a school’s history. them for years a Bryn Mawr unchanged. Recent research confirms What is it that sets Foote apart? and decades. graduate and what Mrs. Foote knew: the powerful progressive impact of a devoted and skillful Just as each student changes and educational thinker, created a childteacher, the importance of a caring grows, the school itself evolves. It centered program. She encouraged her and supportive relationship between 2
Foote Prints
children and the adults in their school, and the benefits of the K–8 (or 9) model in which students attend a single school for nine or 10 years. Perhaps the single most important change at Foote since Mrs. Foote’s day has been the increasing diversity of the families who join this school community. We have students whose families have lived in New Haven for many generations and others who are newly arrived from countries throughout the world. Within Foote’s student body are native speakers of more than 25 different languages. More than 30 percent are students of color. The extraordinary diversity of Foote families allows every student the opportunity to understand, share, appreciate, and value the differences that enrich our community and our world. Each child develops knowledge of himself as well as respect for the differences that make others unique. Foote’s remarkable diversity provides the best possible environment in which to prepare for life in the 21st century. I hope you share my sense of pride in our wonderful school. Some of the many commendations from the CAIS Accreditation Visiting Team are included on the following pages. They praise teachers’ work at every grade level and in every academic discipline. I am very happy to share them with you!
After Sandy Hook Families across the United States and especially in Connecticut were deeply affected by the horrific and tragic events that took place at the Sandy Hook School in Newtown. At Foote, we were thoughtful yet decisive in our response. We began by communicating with parents in a timely and supportive manner. Our first communication to parents went out via email within an hour of the shootings, reassuring parents that their children were safe and that we were in contact with the authorities regarding safety measures. The following day, another communication went to parents. Recognizing that Foote is so much more than just a school that their children attend, the message offered guidance as to how they could best speak to their children about this tragedy as well as an explanation of how we were going to respond when the children returned to school after the weekend. We were careful about responding in developmentally appropriate ways based on the children’s ages. The faculty met with our consulting psychiatrist before the children arrived so that we could gain guidance and support on that all-important day. Over the course of the next few months, a number of security updates were sent to parents and the school conducted a live lockdown drill, which had been planned prior to the tragedy. Security issues are always on our minds, and being prepared is essential. Just days before Sandy Hook, Foote’s crisis team met with an alumna who runs a crisis communications firm to be sure we were as ready as we could be if we ever encountered a crisis of significant proportions. After Sandy Hook, Business Manager Jay Cox and I attended a security summit sponsored by the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools, then met with the New Haven chief of police for advice. As a result, we recently reviewed and adjusted our on-campus security procedures to further ensure the safety of our students and our staff. It is important for all schools to continually evaluate the security of their campuses. As we make our decisions, we take into account both the safety and security of our children as well as the special culture of our school. Foote’s campus is a learning laboratory, a hive of activity that allows children to move beyond the classroom to explore and discover nature and the outdoors. As one student serving on a recent admissions panel told prospective Foote parents, “Foote is my second home.” We are doing our utmost to keep it that way. Sincerely, Carol
Carol Maoz Head of School
Winter/Spring 2013
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SPOTLIGHT
Accreditation Report: Foote is a School That Lives Its Mission A Visiting Committee from the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools spent three days at Foote in October as part of the reaccreditation process. The following quotes illustrate the Committee’s impression of Foote in its final report, which was highly complimentary regarding all aspects of Foote’s approach to learning.
“Foote is a family-oriented school that recognizes the importance of the partnership between the home and school. Faculty members get to know all of the children in their classrooms and their families. This focus on family is apparent in the admissions process, community events, and the priority given to open communication.”
“The Visiting Committee observed a well-balanced climate and culture at Foote. The School consciously balances tradition, innovation, academic rigor and a true opportunity for play. This vibrant culture reflects the School’s commitment to its mission and its observable passion for life-long learning.”
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Foote Prints
“The Visiting Committee commends the Foote School community for the development of a mission, which has been completely embraced by the entire Foote family. Evidence that Foote is living its mission was visible everywhere on the Foote campus throughout the entire visit of the Visiting Committee.”
“The Visiting Committee observed a creative and caring faculty very clearly dedicated to the well-being of their students.”
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SPOTLIGHT
“The School demonstrates a strong commitment to each student’s physical growth with a physical education program that begins in kindergarten and ends with the ninth grade.”
“From kindergarten, where the students learn about the culture and heritage of their families, to the Foote-China Exchange Program with its sister school, Yali Middle School, Foote demonstrates a strong commitment to helping children experience and understand their diverse and multicultural world. Of note is the exceptional scope of the Foote-China exchange, which includes a trip to China each March for all ninth grade students.” 6
Foote Prints
A Letter from the Chair of the Accreditation Committee “We are grateful to the entire Foote community for their extraordinary efforts in crafting an excellent Self-Study and welcoming us so warmly. We would like to thank the students at Foote for their hospitality. They were so helpful in getting us to where we needed to be on campus and only too eager to talk in glowing terms about their experiences at Foote. We thank the faculty and staff who welcomed us into their classrooms and offices with notable expertise, boundless enthusiasm, and an eagerness that impressed each Committee member. Those visits afforded the Committee a robustly deep understanding of Foote that can only occur when you see a school through its everyday life of classrooms, athletic fields, labs and offices. Administrators, parents, and trustees were generous with their time and helpful with their good insights and perspectives on the School. Finally we thank Head of School Carol Maoz for hosting a warm, informal, and very informative opening reception and dinner at the School. We also thank her for her openness, availability and collegiality both before and during our stay at Foote. Carol's strong leadership, expertise and tireless commitment are readily apparent throughout the life of the school.” Mark Griffin, Chair of the Visiting Committee This letter has been condensed from the original version.
Major Commendations 1. The Visiting Committee commends the Board of Trustees for their vision and steadfast leadership during the recently completed substantial building project and their support for both the administration and faculty to embark on a major academic review of the School’s curriculum and a comprehensive curriculum mapping initiative. 2. The Visiting Committee commends the Board of Trustees for their strong support of the Head of School and Administrative team. It also commends the Board’s demonstration of a true balance of governance and managerial autonomy for the school’s administrative leadership. 3. The Visiting Committee commends the administration and faculty of the School for their role in continuing the excellence of the program for children, while a number of notable transitions and challenges were faced and resolved by the Foote School leadership and community. 4. The Visiting Committee commends the School for designing a comprehensive and challenging program that flows from and in turn supports its mission and motto “Gladly will I learn and gladly teach.” 5. The Visiting Committee commends the School for its comprehensive “Reflections” section of the Self-Study. 6. The Visiting Committee commends the Head of School for her visionary leadership, commitment, “Open Door” policy and clear role as the School’s instructional leader.
Major Recommendations 1. The Visiting Committee recommends that the School continue its initial, strong effort on both the curricular review and curriculum mapping initiatives. These efforts are pivotal in meeting the goals of the School’s master academic planning and philosophical beliefs. 2. The Visiting Committee recommends that the substantial stability measures designated and implemented by the Board of Directors and Administrative Team be sustained and enhanced. The faculty is visibly appreciative of the recent, positive, and predictable conditions at the School, and are hopeful that they will continue to remain this way.
Winter/Spring 2013
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AROUND CAMPUS
Grandparents Day 2012
MAG student Zainab Khokha with her sister and grandparents at the end of a great day.
Head of School Carol Maoz and Grandparents Day Chairs Beverly and Richard Chevalier began this much–anticipated annual event by welcoming more than 400 grand-
Head of School Carol Maoz starts off the Beatles-themed assembly with a bang.
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parents and special friends to Foote in October. Visitors spent the morning enjoying classes with their grandchildren and friends, and the new facilities on our expanded campus were as big a hit with grandparents as they have proven to be with the students since they opened in the fall. Our visitors had an opportunity to test out the cutting–edge equipment in the Jonathan Milikowsky Science and Technology Building while they enjoyed physics, biology and environmental sciences with their grandchildren. These labs, as well as the newly adapted lower school science and language classrooms, were highlighted in mini courses especially designed for our guests.
Aydin ’22 and Hagan ’15 Gasimov help each other say “I love you,” in one of the many languages Foote students speak.
The occasion ended with an All School Assembly full of music and poetry. Students, grandparents, and special friends reveled in the music of the Beatles (whose 50th anniversary took place in 2012), and it was clear from the expressions of all involved that “all you need is love!”
Foote Prints
Grandparents enjoy ‘modeling adaptation’ in a new science lab.
Huey-Ting Li and Rose Marie Rebeschi discuss a problem in fourth grade.
Grandparents take part in a steel drums mini course. Karun Srihari and his grandfather study their concoction in kindergarten.
Art Brody and granddaughter Julia Davis ’18 work out a probability puzzle.
Winter/Spring 2013
The essence of Grandparents Day
AROUND CAMPUS
A Special Visit from China Yali students, teachers, and the principal of Yali’s Beiya campus in Hunan Province, China, arrived in September for a five-day visit and immediately were drawn into a whirlwind of activity. Classes, field trips, tours of Greater New Haven, an All School Assembly, and a lunch visit to the famed Pepe’s Pizza on Wooster Street were just some of the group’s adventures with Foote’s ninth graders. The ninth graders traveled to China to visit their newfound friends during March break.
Yali students perform at an All School Assembly during their visit.
An interactive lesson in the classroom
Ninth grader Carson McCarns playing guitar with two students from Yali
Science teacher John Cunningham lends a hand to one of the Yali students as she climbs out of the West River during a field trip.
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Visiting Chinese teachers gather with Foote Humanities teacher Deb Riding, second from left, to make apple pie. From left, Liu Youlian, guest teacher Gao Jun, Wang Tingguang, and Xu Chunyang, principal of Beiya School.
Foote Prints
Discoveries that Linger a Lifetime The three-day, two-night fifth grade trip in October to the Deer Lake Scout Reservation in Killingworth is a truly memorable event for students in the last year of lower school. The reservation’s 253 acres serve as a laboratory and learning center for the fifth graders, whose excitement was audible one sunny day during the trip. “Oh my gosh I found a newt!,” exclaimed one, grasping a net with one hand and hurrying toward a group crowded around containers holding their respective finds. As the group watched the goings-on in the containers, one student noticed a certain behavior: “The big spider is eating the little spider,” she cried. Everyone crowded around for a look. “It’s all part of the circle of life,” teacher Jim Adams said to the students. Rock climbing, archery, canoeing, hiking, fishing, night walks, making outdoor survival kits, and a campfire are just some of the activities enjoyed by the campers. “This is the capstone event for the lower school,” said teacher Adam Solomon. “It brings everyone together for a shared experience.”
Fifth graders gather at the shore of Deer Lake, nets in hand, to see what they can find.
Winter/Spring 2013
Fifth grade teacher Jim Adams scans the catch with his students at Deer Lake.
A New Club Researches Robotics Several students in Tim Blauvelt’s seventh grade science class decided they wanted to continue the robotics work they were doing once they began eighth grade. One particularly enterprising student, John Koobatian, successfully lobbied Tim to start an Applied Sciences Club open to eighth and ninth graders. Tim agreed, and with the help of Latin teacher Andrew Sweet, the club has been meeting on Tuesdays with a group of devoted science students. “My goal for the club is simple: to have fun with science,” Tim says. “Certainly there is a learning component — you can’t build a robot without learning a great deal — but mainly I want the students to see how incredibly enjoyable science activities can be.”
Co-advisors Tim Blauvelt and Drew Sweet with members of the new Applied Sciences Club
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AROUND CAMPUS
Recreating the Experience of American Immigrants In December, fourth graders donned period costume and stepped into character for an Immigration Simulation, a relatively new Foote undertaking that is in its fourth year. The exercise is the final event for a semester-long unit on immigration, and mimics the experience of American immigrants in the early part of the 20th Century, many of whom spoke little or no English and carried with them very few possessions on their journey to a new life. “We hope each child gains a greater appreciation for what these people had to go through once they came to Ellis Island,” says fourth grade teacher John Climie. The students filled the roles of the hopeful immigrants along with Ellis Island personnel that included immigration processors and workers responsible for handling appeals. Once the exercise began, the actors were asked to speak in their characters’ native languages (or at least not in English) to add to an atmosphere of authenticity. In the early part of the semester, students learn about Chinese
Immigration Day processors, from left, Ting Li, Casey Nadzam, Hunter Bershtein, and Kieran Haug
immigration and read a short novel about the Chinese contribution to the building of America’s transcontinental railroad. They read about European and Russian immigration, their journey in steerage, and impoverished conditions in the tenements. “The kids have a huge bank of knowledge when we finish in early December,” John says. Add to that a trip to the Tenement Museum in Manhattan, a walking tour of New York’s Lower East Side, and a trip to a preserved tenement. “It’s a fascinating unit,” he says. “And it keeps getting better.”
Foote Mentoring Program Nurtures New Teachers Foote’s teacher mentoring program matches experienced teachers with new ones, meeting once a month to discuss challenges, share ideas, and offer professional development. Seminars, mentorship meetings, and observations are all important parts of the mentoring program, designed to provide new teachers with constant and consistent feedback and learning opportunities. The program was developed by Foote teachers. In the fall, teachers gathered in the Perrine Library to learn about Alexandria researcher, an online catalog that allows classroom teachers and students to check the availability of resources within the library. Mentors sat with their mentees, snacking on cider, apples, and chocolates. “This program works as an introduction of the culture of Foote School,” says Deb Rhoads, a third grade teacher who is a co-coordinator of the program.
Hopeful immigrants, from left, Theo Curtis, Drin Mackeen-Shapiro, Kit Illick, Austin Small
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Foote Prints
Living History Seventh graders dressed as American colonists, Native Americans, soldiers, and spies told their stories to students throughout Foote on Wed., Nov. 21, as part of Early America Day. Seventh grade students studied their characters for weeks before the event and impressed listeners with their mastery of their subjects. Third graders marked their Early America Day a month later, wearing period costume and enjoying lessons about the history of the American colonies. The exercise provides a foundation for their more advanced work in seventh grade.
Author Adam Gidwitz with students from New Haven’s Mauro-Sheridan School. Gidwitz’s appearance was sponsored by the Foote School Parent-Teacher Council.
A Book Fair That Flowed Beyond Foote’s Borders
Seventh grader Jackson Haile as Eli Whitney
Seventh graders, standing from left, Victoria Fletcher, Adelyn Garcia, and Nandini Erodula. Seated, Anli Raymond.
Winter/Spring 2013
The wonders of the Parent-Teacher Council book fair spread beyond Foote’s campus this year, aided by the organizers of the fair, Foote parents Sue Wildridge, Christin Sandweiss, and Angie Hurlbut. In addition to presentations for Foote’s lower school, students at a New Haven magnet school, Mauro-Sheridan, were treated to an appearance by Adam Gidwitz, author of “A Tale Dark and Grimm.” Mauro-Sheridan’s students created a spooky backdrop for Adam’s presentation, and they all read his book before the visit. Foote parents who attended the event at Mauro-Sheridan reported back that Gidwitz was treated like a rock star — awestruck children gingerly touching his jacket as if they were committing the very act to memory. The effort was part of Read to Grow, a literacy nonprofit organization headquartered in Branford that the Foote Book Fair supports.
Students at Mauro-Sheridan participate in Gidwitz’s presentation about his bestselling book, “A Tale Dark & Grimm,” which the students read in preparation for Gidwitz’s visit.
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ALUMNI
Making a Difference in the Community Students throughout Foote were actively involved in numerous Community Service efforts through the fall and winter. Eighth graders ran the annual Halloween Fair, with proceeds going to Community Service. The sixth grade, with the help of families, faculty and staff, collected 1,030 cans and boxes of food — from pasta to tuna to rice and soup to canned fruits and vegetables. Each grade helped fill the shelves at St. Ann’s Soup Kitchen, which serves more than 4,000 meals every month to those in need. Sixth graders gathered the food, tracked what had been gathered, carted it to the van and stacked it for delivery to St. Ann’s. The Community Service group also organized a school-wide effort to collect $1 from every Foote family to give to the American Red Cross to aid victims of Hurricane Sandy, amassing $1,000 with help from the Student Council. Students were asked to perform a chore at home to support the family’s donation, which was
Students hanging up notice of their completed chores on The Hurricane Sandy Relief tree
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Smiling sixth graders, after loading the van for delivery to St. Ann’s Soup Kitchen
written on a leaf each student hung on a Sandy Relief tree by the front desk. Various classes made smaller but equally significant gestures; for example, in Janet Cassarino’s Spanish classes, students created holiday greeting cards for residents of Casa
Otonal, a housing facility for seniors in New Haven. Ninth graders also tutor New Haven students at the Celentano School, and the sixth grade serves lunch at St. Ann’s Soup Kitchen each Monday.
An eighth grade Spanish class created holiday cards for residents of Casa Otoñal, from left, Holden Turner, Noah Nyhart, Tommy Craft, Nate Bogardus, Klaudia Horvath-Diano, Alyssa Zhou, and Sofie Weiss.
Foote Prints
Homage to a Prolific Playwright It was a year to celebrate the playwright and author J.M. Barrie, who in 1904 created the now legendary “Peter Pan,” which was presented by the seventh and eighth grades in early December to sold-out and clearly enthusiastic audiences. At the end of February into early March, ninth graders performed Barrie’s “The Admirable Crichton,” a play about the unraveling of class distinctions among an aristocratic family in Britain when they are shipwrecked with their servants.
Reacting in “Peter Pan,” from left, eighth graders Tim Tompkins, Kyle Gelzinis, James Deakin, and Holden Turner, and seventh grader Eddie Martin
Eighth grader Lily James as Wendy and Middle School Mathematics Chair Megan Williams as Mrs. Darling
Eighth grader Noah Nyhart as Peter Pan
Stranded on a desert island, back row, Caitlin Chiocchio as a maid, George Wildridge as the Hon. Ernest Woolley, Lawson Buhl as the Rev. John Treherne, Sasha Cadariu as Crichton. Front row, Justine Hooks, N’dasia Smith, and Rachel Brennan surround Ella Cowan de Wolf as Lady Loam, the matriarch of the household. Ninth graders Justine Hooks, standing, Rachel Brennan, and N’dasia Smith, playing the to-the-manner-born Lasenby sisters, surround Caitlin Chiocchio, playing Eliza, a ‘between maid’ in “The Admirable Crichton”
Winter/Spring 2013
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AROUND CAMPUS
Sports Organized sports encouraged Foote school spirit and taught participants the value of teamwork and camaraderie this fall and winter. Students took part in field hockey, cross country, boys and girls soccer, swimming and girls and boys basketball.
Henry Jacob held his lead in the 2.3 mile Connecticut Middle School State Cross Country Championships at Wickham Park in Manchester Nov. 3, beating a runner from Sedgwick Middle School in West Hartford by one second to win the race.
Sixth grader Nicola Sommers shows good form as she springs for a lay-up.
From left representing Foote, seventh grader Madison Sakheim, ninth grader Leila Sachner, and sixth grader Anya Wareck
Eighth grader Natalie Muskin stretches for the save.
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Sixth grader Andrew Gee sweeps through the waters.
Foote Prints
THE FOOTE SCHOOL
Join us for A FOOTE SUMMER! A renowned theater program; cartoon, outdoor and mural art; the basics — and more! — of jazz; soccer; creative dance; amazing science; lacrosse; SLAM poetry; story writing and telling; LEGOs; smart — and smarter — chess playing; Chinese; and so much more! Open to the public. Tell your kids! Tell them to tell their friends! Find more information at www.footeschool.org/summer or drop by for a summer brochure. The Foote School • 50 Loomis Place, New Haven, CT • 203-777-3464
Winter/Spring 2013
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ALUMNI
Lisa Sandine Schuba ’83 2013 Alumni Achievement Award Recipient Growing — vegetables, programs, and particularly children — is a passion for Lisa Sandine Schuba ’83, a longtime and award-winning educator whose positive karma would sprout any seedling. Yet when Lisa graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University and moved back home to Connecticut, she had no plan to pursue teaching. Teaching ran in her family, certainly: her father, Bob Sandine, is a former Foote teacher and administrator. And she needed a job, some kind of job, so she accepted a position working with Foote’s mixed-age group, biding her time until she could figure out what she really wanted to do. One year in, she had fallen in love with teaching. Twenty-three years later, it is a love affair that is still blooming. Lisa also understands the essence of nurturing growth, even in the presence of what seem like insurmountable challenges. She was diagnosed with dyslexia when she was very young, and credits her family for regularly reminding her of her worth
and teachers at Foote for using savvy instructional strategies and shovelfuls of encouragement to overcome her disability. She won Foote’s Margaret B. Hitchcock Prize in ninth grade, given to students who overcome academic challenges through diligence and effort. That same motivation led to her being selected to the Liberty School’s Dyslexia Hall of Fame in 2009. “Because of this,” Lisa says, “I have always been sensitive to students and families who struggle with learning differences.” Lisa sees that teaching children is similar to growing a garden, and she is literal in her translation of that philosophy. While at Foote, she applied for entry into a master’s program through the Shady Hill School and Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass., and earned her master’s certificate in elementary education. She took a job in New Haven teaching third and fourth grade at the Barnard School on Derby Avenue, where she acquired enough
Reunion Chairs CLASS OF 1953 Robert Wing CLASS OF 1958 Eric Berger Barry Stratton Kerry Triffin CLASS OF 1963 Kathy Arnstein Judith Hull George Reigeluth Rusty Tunnard
CLASS OF 1968 Rob Clark Cathy Smith Cuthell Doug Davie Elizabeth Prelinger Leland Torrence
CLASS OF 1988 Amy Caplan Georgia Crowley Lieber
CLASS OF 1973 Peter Hicks John Persse
CLASS OF 1998 Kathleen Murphy Galo Elisabeth Sacco
CLASS OF 1978 Anne Brownstein Nell DeVane CLASS OF 1983 Brinley Ford Ehlers
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CLASS OF 1993 Abbie Paine
Lisa Sandine Schuba ’83
grant money to start an organic gardening program. The program took off, so much so that Barnard grew to become an environmental magnet school, with a greenhouse on every floor. She kept going. After teaching every grade but fifth in schools in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Colorado, she was promoted to principal of Animas Valley Elementary School in Durango, Colo. in 2008. There, she encouraged healthy eating — challenging when the number of students qualifying for free and reduced-priced lunch was increasing each year — by starting a food backpack program. She wanted to combat food insecurity, brought on typically by poverty — by filling up backpacks with good food and sending them home with the students who needed them. The program required hours of extra paperwork and checking in on the families, but Lisa knew it was helping. Foote Prints
REUNION DAY 2013 Saturday, May 4 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS “She is such an energetic and passionate person,” says one of Lisa’s co-workers. “She has amazing people skills and does a great job of recognizing employees and giving them positive feedback.” Again, she pushed on. Her school already had an outdoor organic garden; she applied for grants to build a greenhouse there too. Her wishes were granted when the Colorado Department of Education named Animas Valley as one of just five schools in the state recognized as a Healthy School Champion, and awarded it a $5,000 grant. The money wasn’t quite enough to finish the greenhouse, and the community stepped in, raising the remainder of the $20,000 needed. “It teaches the kids where their food comes from,” Lisa says. Her innovative nature and her strength of character combine to create opportunities for her students and her community. In recognition of her accomplishments, the Colorado Association of Elementary School Principals in 2011 awarded Lisa its coveted Reba Ferguson Memorial Rookie of the Year, named for a longtime administrator who died in a traffic accident while on her way to school. Perhaps most meaningful to Lisa was that her colleagues had nominated her for the award. A story in the Durango (Colo.) Herald that year quoted one of her co-workers as saying, “She is such an energetic and passionate person. She has amazing people skills and does a great job of recognizing employees and giving them positive feedback.” She is still moving, still innovating, still growing scholars every day. Her school recently applied for International Baccalaureate authorization after adopting the IB model, to encourage a greater Winter/Spring 2013
sense of global mindedness. She also hired a full-time English as a Second Language teacher, to accommodate the growing number of Spanish-speaking students at Animas Valley. When detailing the two initiatives to her board of education, she told board members proudly, “We’re celebrating our growing diversity.” She sees a need, she fills it. It is a philosophy she says she honed as a student at Foote, and from growing up with a parent who was a beloved teacher. “As a principal, I am often asked how I decided to become a teacher, and then an administrator,” she says. “One half of the answer is evident: my father was a longtime Foote drama and English teacher (he was also the assistant head of school and a number of other things!) But the other part, the one that is less obvious but possibly more important, is that the quality of instruction I received during my 10 years at Foote inspired me to become an educational leader committed to bringing the same level of excellence and innovation to the public school setting.” There is one other aspect of her Foote experience that was central, she says, to her growth as an individual. “The friendships I made at Foote still prove to be my strongest bonds,” she says. “No matter how far I am from New Haven, those relationships are a central part of who I am and who I have become.”
10 a.m.
Registration and refreshments in the new Jonathan Milikowsky Science and Technology Building
11 a.m.
Special mini courses of your choice with current faculty
Noon
Awards Assembly Hosley Gymnasium Remarks, Head of School Carol Maoz Presentation of the Alumni Achievement Award to Lisa Sandine Schuba '83 Recognition of retiring faculty members Laura Osborne Altshul and Ted Willis
12:45 p.m. Class Photographs Courtyard 1 p.m.
Luncheon Hosley Gymnasium
2 p.m.
Fun in the Foote Archives and Brainstorming for the Centennial OR “Foote from the Carriage House to Loomis Place” A Walking Tour
5 p.m.
Wine and Cheese in the Outdoor Classroom
Evening
Individual Class Dinners
Registering is easy; just send back the reply card in the invitation (mailed to all alums in early April), or register online at www.footeschool.org/alumnae/ reunion.shtml. Complimentary childcare is available. Sign up for childcare when you register online.
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ALUMNI
Legacies at Foote
Forty-six students attending Foote this year have parents, grandparents, aunts, or uncles who attended, heralding another generation of family legacies. Front row, from left: Casey Eskridge, daughter of Elizabeth Broadus Eskridge ’88; Clyde Luckey, son of Spencer Luckey ’85; Benjamin and Abigail Kruger, son and daughter of Avery Grauer ’87; Matias and Emmanuel Candelo-Diaz, nephews of Yami Diaz ’99; Nia Bradford, daughter of Kossouth Bradford ’87; Ava Noor Sadik, daughter of Wendy Cohen Sadik ’81; Marley Hansen, daughter of Chris Hansen ’86; Sophie and Julien Gangloff, daughter and son of Amy Caplan ’88 Second row, from left: Charlie and Sam Mason, sons of Talbot Welles ’81; Mira Vlock Arbonies, daughter of Sandra Vlock ’70; Sydney and Sam Osborne, daughter and son of Seth Osborne ’85; Garrett and Theo Curtis, step-cousins of Wendy Fischer Magnan ’82; Josie and Penn Cancro, daughter and son of Allyx Schiavone ’85; Wolf and Kurt Boone, sons of Sarah Boone ’89; Nicholas Carpenter, son of Deborah Fong Carpenter ’82 Third row, from left: Malachai York, son of Annie Wareck ’85; Neal and Rohan Shivakumar, sons of Claire Priest ’86; Isabella Sadik, daughter of Wendy Cohen Sadik ’81; Anya and Stella Wareck, daughters of John Wareck ’84; George and Julia Kosinski, son and daughter of Peter Kosinski ’79; Ella and Lucy Peterson, daughters of Owen Luckey; Caleb and Ciara Ortiz-Diaz, nephew and niece of Yami Diaz ’99 Fourth row, from left: Evie and Henry Pearson, niece and nephew of Julia Getman ’85; Zev York, son of Annie Wareck ’85; Eddie and Katie Martin, son and daughter of Catherine Petraiuolo ’83; Rachel Brennan, daughter of Elizabeth Geller Brennan ’80; Nicholas Palumbo and Nathaniel Bogardus, son and nephew of Jonathan Palumbo ’80; Caroline Berberian, daughter of Aram Berberian ’76; Elsa Rose Farnam, daughter of James Farnam ’65; Coral Ortiz-Diaz, niece of Yami Diaz ’99
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Foote Prints
Class of 2009: Where Are They Now?
The Class of 2009 in fifth grade Adam Arbonies Charlotte Armour Katharine Berberian
DePaul University Dickinson College University of Rhode Island Christopher Blackwood Phillips Academy Andover ’13 Gordon Bogardus Hamilton College Madeline Buhl Miami University of Ohio Mary Bundy Franklin and Marshall College Kela Caldwell Scripps College Julia Callahan St. Lawrence University Emma Church Seton Hall University Nathaniel Coffey Skidmore College Ruby Conton Wellesley College Emily Crocco Mount Holyoke College Benjamin Della Rocca Yale University Hayden Dunham Berkshire School ’13, Hobart College Garrett Farrell Yale University Kathryn Farrell Georgetown University Natasha Flath McGill University Anne Fowler Boston University
Winter/Spring 2013
Liam Garrity-Rokous St. Paul’s School ’13 Giuliana Gearty University of Chicago Loren Ginty Roger Williams College Mollie Goldblum Earlham College Thomas Goodman Westminster School UK Semaj Haley Virginia State University Brendan Healey Holy Cross College Dennis Hicks Gettysburg College Andrew Hogan Tufts University Summer Irving Connecticut College Anna Isenstadt Unknown Chase Johnson Colgate University Victor Joshua Saint Anselm College Danielle Kain Stanford University Sarah Kaufman George Washington University Kiley Kennedy Wesleyan University Eva Kerman Barnard College Austen Kim Kenyon College Toby Knisely Yale University John LaViola III Choate Rosemary Hall ’13
Alexandra Lee George Washington University Alexander Leffell gap year, then Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sheilagh Lichtenfels Sacred Heart Academy Jamal Lifschultz University of Southern California Brett McGwire Tabor Academy ’13 Audrey Milazzo Choate Rosemary Hall ’13 Caroline Monahan Trinity College (Dublin) Lauren Monz Northwestern University Miguel Pittman Unknown William Pottenger Occidental College Luca Powell Connecticut College Benjamin Rosenbluth Yale University Kayla Sanders University of Connecticut Andrew Segraves Pitzer College Tara Seibold Middlebury College Andrew Stone Boston College Timothy Swensen Dartmouth College Kai Takahashi Yale University Tiara Tompkins Southern Connecticut State University
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Class Notes
“The friendships I made at Foote still prove to be my strongest bonds. No matter how far I am from New Haven, those relationships are a central part of who I am and who I have become.” go to Foote — of course). Had estate sales, repairs, painting and packing … it was daunting.” Ruth adds that she was sorry to hear of the passing of Amanda Stenson Davis and Ruth Hunt Wetherilt and says that they will both be missed.
1933 We report with sadness the death of William Wallace Cowles on Dec. 22, 2012.
1934 Class Correspondent: Stuart Clement shclement@comcast.net
We are sad to report the death of Dr. Herbert Spencer Harned Jr. who passed away on January 7, 2012.
1935 Class Correspondent: Anna Huntington Deming anitademingo@hotmail.com
1936 Class Correspondent: Elizabeth Reeves Goodspeed 111 Hunter Avenue New Rochelle, NY 10801
1938 75th Reunion, May 4, 2013
1939 Class Correspondent: Anne Campbell Clement shclement@comcast.net
Edie Rose Hopkins writes that she and her sisters, Anne Hilliard ’35 and Gertrude Rose Prescott ’33, are doing well. She is still painting and selling her work here and there! Hope Walters Thomas writes “I have been nominated for the town conservation award for this year since I have put an easement on some of my land.”
1941 Class Correspondent: Nancy Redway Pugsley 88 Notch Hill Road Evergreen Woods, Apt. 355 N. Branford, CT 06471 203-488-8312
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1945 Class Correspondent: Elinor Bozyan Warburg ebwarburg@yahoo.com Language teacher Angela Giannella holds a photographic timeline of the construction of the Eiffel Tower, given to Foote by Ruth Martin '44 as a parting gift before she moved to Colorado from Loomis Place.
We report with sadness the death of Anna Miles Jones, recipient of the 1996 Alumni Achievement Award. She will be missed greatly by her many Foote friends.
1942 Class Correspondent: David Hitchcock, Jr. HitchDL@aol.com
David Hitchcock, Jr. has recently traveled to Costa Rica and plans to visit Cuba. He still spends the summers in New Hampshire and has seen Sam Babbitt and Harry Welch.
1943 70th Reunion, May 4, 2013
1944 Class Correspondent: Ruth Watson Martin The Carillon 2525 Taft Drive, Apt. 706 Boulder, Colo. 80302
We extend our sympathy to the family of Amanda Stenson Davis who passed away in May 2012. Ruth Martin writes “Your class secretary has really moved! From Connecticut to Colorado! Sold the house (to a nice family who have a daughter who will
Pamela Pond Goss is enjoying being a great-grandmother to her 1-year-old great-granddaughter Audry, and reports that she and her family are moving well and smoothly. Michael Buchanan would like to thank his aunt (Mrs. Sturley) for providing him the foundation and inspiration in math to go on to teach math and physics at the Friends School for 37 years. Michael has served as dean, department head, and coach (baseball, soccer, basketball, tennis) all at various times in his career and remarks that he “wouldn’t change a thing.”
1946 Class Correspondents: Kent Healy Kent.Healy@verizon.net Karen Wylie Pryor karenpryor@comcast.net
1947 Class Correspondent: Gladys Bozyan Lavine GBLavine@gmail.com Gladys Bozyan Lavine reports that she had a “splendid lunch” last November with Lavinia Schrade Bruneau, who was visiting from France, Harriet Tuttle Noyes, and Sukie Hilles Bush, hosted by Sukie in Cambridge. Gladys says that Lavinia continued traveling to Washington to visit her son and family, and was able to see a lot of Elizabeth Edminster while she was there. Harriet Foote Prints
From Teaching Kindergarten to Running Admissions and Embracing the Letterland Lady, She Embodies the Mission of Foote Laura Altshul The exuberant voice, the ‘hi!’ laden with excitement, precede the appearance of Foote’s Admissions director, Laura Altshul, rounding a corner as she heads to her windowed office overlooking Loomis Place. Her title is wildly insufficient, hiding years of teaching kindergarten, directing the summer program, and creating community collaborations. She is a jack-of-all-Foote-trades, possibly as capable of snaking a drain in the faculty room as she is making pizza with 5-year-olds or dressing up to teach phonics as the ‘Letterland Lady.’ She retires this year with the satisfaction of having achieved a personal goal — in a career filled with happy achievements — of diversifying Foote from 15 percent students of color when she first became admissions director in 1993, to 36 percent today. “I wanted to get to one third,” she says, and true to form, surpassed the goal. With a bachelor’s degree in English and a minor in history and philosophy from Vassar College and a master’s in literature from New York University, she kneaded Foote kindergartners into well-rounded girls and boys as best she could in less than a year’s time — and without the benefit of a kindergarten education of her own. “I really loved teaching kindergarten,” she says. “Parents would come in and share recipes, grandparents would visit, a father came in and built a loft in my classroom,” she says. “We cooked a different recipe every Friday, we did a lot of hands-on projects and took many field trips, we had turtles and salamanders, mice and guinea pigs. I wanted kids to feel respected and safe so they could take risks and grow; that was very important to me. It was a humming, happy classroom.” Laura worked often with Foote’s admissions director at the time, Betsy Welch, and would join parent tours to answer questions about kindergarten. She became the assistant admissions director, and also took on the title of summer program director in 1971, expanding it to include hiking, bicycling, drama, and art. But it was when she became admissions director that she saw an opportunity to share the benefits of Foote with others outside the Foote community. “I really feel that what we have at Foote should be available for every child, and when I came into admissions I wanted collaborative programs,” she says. In 1994, she founded STARS, or Schools Together for Arts Resources, Saturday morning cooking, crafts, multi-media and cultural collaborations with neighborhood public schools. Two years later she co-founded Footebridge, which combined training for New Haven public school teachers and high school interns with a five-week summer literacy program for kindergartners and first graders from the New Haven school system. As she was reaching out to embrace others outside the campus, she was also striving to diversify Foote’s own family. “I am really proud of Foote’s socio-economic diversity,” she says. “We live the mission everyday; we learn from each other and our diversity enriches us all. It’s an exciting place to be and teach, and it’s an exciting place for kids to be.” “That’s what school is all about.”
Winter/Spring 2013
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Tuttle Noyes writes “I try to see every day as a gift, and remind myself to take pleasure in all the little things — birds flocking to the feeder, Sophie breaking into a run when I unleash her at the park, a grandchild’s drawing that slips out of the book I am reading. And what a pleasure it is to be singing in a chorus, seeing plays with friends at the Huntington, or listening to the Boston Symphony with its ‘Good evening, Madams’ and the glorious sound of the orchestra. I am still involved with Parents Helping Parents, and Friends Meeting at Cambridge. Have just helped to settle sister Nancy in Sunrise of Arlington, an assisted living facility, where I see her almost daily.” Sukie Hilles Bush is planning a trip to Hawaii with two granddaughters, 11 years old, and two parents. Now that her books have been reprinted by the HKU Press, she reports to be “struggling with my Blackwell essay and with a paper on 12th century joint handscroll, Song Dynasty.” Jim Boorsch writes “I continue to travel while I can, and I’m responding now from Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, on the island of Borneo. Interesting place but strict on liquor (none), recreational drugs (death penalty) and other no-nos. But nice and warm.” Jane Karlsruher Shedlin is in Florida playing golf and keeping active while undergoing chemotherapy. She will be back in Greenwich in late April or early May and would really love to have some sort of reunion. She writes that she thinks back on our wonderful past and misses you all.
1948 65th Reunion, May 4, 2013
1949 Class Correspondent: Sallie Farrel Brown salliebb7435@msn.com Ginny Torrance Owen writes “I am living at a ‘senior residence’ and liking 24
it well enough. I read a lot, play bridge and chess, walk, use exercise machines and volunteer as a mentor with parolees. Go to lots of concerts and theater also.”
1950 Class Correspondent: Mary Pigott Johnsen jlmpjohnsen@west-point.org
Nancy Curtis is still employed as editor of the members’ magazine at Historic New England (www.HistoricNewEngland.com) and is finding work and colleagues challenging and enjoyable. Nancy is also enjoying the family that she has nearby. Margot DeNoyen travels to Saudi Arabia every six months to maintain her residence permit and to check up on her husband who is talking about retiring in the United States. Victoria Meeks buried herself in online genealogical research and found records of her great-grandfather Sigmund Silberstein coming from Moravia to Austria. Mary Pigott writes that she is “carrying a sword to get the Social Security Administration to verify deaths before publishing same to avoid pitfalls of erroneously reported deaths as happened with her husband John, still asleep on the couch.” Perry Welch traveled with his wife, Cathie, for their 24th time to Anguilla and celebrated their 50th anniversary aboard a Queen Mary 2 cruise, missing the Verrazano bridge by 6 feet, with a week spent in the Cotswolds. They finished off their annual travels with a jaunt to their fishing camp in the Rangeley Lakes of northwest Maine accompanied by a Newfoundland and a golden retriever puppy. Tordis Ilg Isselhardt finished two years as treasurer for the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Bennington, Vermont, in June and on January 1 became the president of Independent Publishers of New England, of which she had served as treasurer for the past two years. Tordis states that both groups are important in her life, along
with her seven kinfolk. Tordis’ 18-year-old publishing company’s books are now to be found at http:// applewoodbooks.com/index.php/ catalogs/images-from-the-past/. John Dollard writes that he, a former dean, is back to teaching at the University of Texas, calculus and probability, resulting in increasing thoughts of retirement. His wife, Rae, threatens to increase their livestock number from their four dogs and one cat to include goats, miniature donkeys, and various other critters. John states that “Aside from this I will (a) write the definitive book on the Meaning of Life, (b) solve the world’s energy problems, or (c) neither of the above.
1951 Class Correspondent: Emily Mendillo Wood 118 Fifth Avenue Milford, CT 06460-5206 203-878-9963
We are sad to report the death of Richard Warren who died October 7, 2012. Diana Long reports that she and her husband Tom have moved to Bolinas, Calif., the hometown of his kids and grandkids, and they are enjoying the warm and supportive environment.
1952 Class Correspondent: Harald Hille harald.hille@gmail.com
1953 60th Reunion, May 4, 2013 Class Correspondent: Robert Wing wing@astronomy.ohio-state.edu
Our deepest condolences to Elizabeth Warren Buss whose brother, Richard Warren ’51, died October 7, 2012. Eligio Petrelli writes that he spent time in Rome last fall. Bob Wing had an interesting year, with trips to Foote Prints
Landing Where She Took Off — Smoothly and With Success Barcelona and Beijing, as well as to the more familiar mountains of Chile. He is also working on plans for the Class of 1953 60th Reunion and hopes to see you there!
1954 The Class of 1954 needs a class correspondent. If you are willing to take on the job, please contact Danielle Plante in the alumni office at dplante@footeschool.org.
Herrick Jackson writes “In June, Elaine and I are going to Eastern Europe for a choir tour with the Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra. We will sing the Dvorak Requiem Mass.”
1955 Class Correspondents: Nawrie Meigs-Brown nawrie@comcast.net Lee Dunham LDunham@sandw.com
We send our deepest sympathy to Lee Dunham on the death of his sister, Stephanie Dunham Howell ’52, and our blessings to him on the birth of his first granddaughter, Kenley. Lee is enjoying having his three sons near him in the Boston area and taking care of his grandson Liam once a week. When he is not involved in family activities, he continues his law practice and related pro bono and Bar Overseers activities. Sherwood Willard writes that he is enjoying his retirement with lots of volunteer work, principally as a fact finder and arbitrator for the Superior Court in Hartford and as a Board member of The Hartford Stage Company. He and his wife, Maggie, have two grandchildren, ages 7 and 5. Barbara Bell continues to write an environmental column called “Hot Air” for the local newspaper in Milford, Conn., where she lives and is still a member of the Connecticut Siting Council, a state agency responsible for siting energy and telecom facilities. Barbara’s daughter still lives in Rockport, Maine, and now works for a Winter/Spring 2013
Jenny Byers ’65 Jenny Byers started kindergarten at Foote School on St. Ronan Street, and remembers ‘the big move up the hill’ when she was in fourth grade. Subsequently, she’s traveled the world, lived in Europe and Manhattan, yet landed right back where she started — at Foote. This year she will celebrate her 27th year at Foote as a teacher. After attending the Westover School, then Wheelock College in Boston, she moved to Switzerland and her first job, teaching at an international school in Lausanne. She then moved to Paris and taught at the Lycée International, a French public school for bilingual children, and worked on a master’s degree in French Literature. In the midst of graduate work, she returned to the United States and taught French at New York University. Eventually, she accepted a position at the Chapin School, a private K–12 school for girls in upper Manhattan. During a visit to New Haven, Jenny stopped by to see Frank Perrine, Foote’s then-headmaster, who gave her a tour of the school. “I loved what I saw in the classrooms at Foote,” she says. “As an educator, I liked project-based education, which seemed to me to be a creative and pedagogically sound approach to educating young children. Plus, of course, I loved Frank.” He offered her a job. “It felt so familiar and nice to come home,” she says. “When I saw the signs on the telephone poles ‘New Haven — Paris of the 90’s!’ I knew I was in the right place!” She is the consummate French teacher, sophisticated yet self-effacing, exuberant yet thoughtful. Confidence helps: she was president of the student body in college, was the chair of Foote’s Modern Language department for 13 years, is the first female president of the Doolittle Lake Company in Norfolk, Conn., and is involved with a number of New Haven-area organizations. “I think all teachers should be involved in and contribute to their community,” she says. “The best teachers are those who have interests outside the classroom. Their knowledge of other areas informs and enhances their teaching.” At Foote, she met fellow teacher Jenifer Grant, whose parents, Gwen and Larry Mellon, had founded the Schweitzer Hospital In Haiti. Over a spring break, she volunteered as a play therapist in the hospital’s pediatric ward and came to know the Mellons. They asked if she would be interested in translating the correspondence between Albert Schweitzer and Larry Mellon — written in French — into English. She jumped at the opportunity. In 1996 those letters became the book, now in its second printing, “Brothers in Spirit: The Correspondence of Albert Schweitzer and William Larimer Mellon.” It was nominated for a Christopher Award, which encourages excellence in creative areas that may influence mass audiences, and which, according to Christopher founder the Rev. James Keller, “affirm the highest values of the human spirit.” Jenny is passionate about teaching languages, passionate about learning, and passionate about life. “Knowing a second language is one of the keys to the future,” she says. “It’s like gymnastics for your brain — it dramatically expands your world view, and your sense of empathy, not to mention your neural connections! Speaking French has allowed me to travel the world, connecting with people in Europe, Africa, and Haiti in ways that would be impossible otherwise. It’s something I hope my students will be able to do, too. The bottom line: teaching is not something ‘I do.’ It’s who I am.”
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new shipyard called Front Street that opened for business at a large plant built during 2011–12 along an old waterfront in Belfast, Maine. Lee Gaillard is busy with Rotary activities and is serving on the advisory council to Homeward Bound Adirondacks (a group focusing on Veterans’ pre-deployment resiliency and post-deployment re-integration) and the advisory board for the Adirondack Public Observatory. Fred Liebert continues to enjoy retirement and life in Hilton Head. He spends his time enjoying golf, travel, and volunteering. He and his wife spent five days in Washington, D.C. with their two children and four grandchildren to celebrate his 70th birthday, and visited them again in June at their homes in Massachusetts. They have also taken trips to Spain, Portugal, and southern France. He and his wife volunteer at an animal rescue and adoption center and he has recently been asked to join the Board. Fred writes “If anyone happens to be in the Hilton Head area, we would love to say hello.”
1956 Class Correspondent: Will Amatruda
Ursula Goodenough reports that “all is going very well.” She has five children and five grandchildren with more likely to come. She spends nine months of the year in St. Louis at Washington University, where she is having a wonderful time in the lab coaxing algae to make oils as transportation fuels. She spends three months of the year writing grant proposals and papers and hanging out with family and friends. She sends her best wishes to all.
1957 Class Correspondent: Kevin Geenty kevin@geentygroup.com
Kevin Geenty writes that he is still working full time at Geenty Group Realtors, hunting, fishing (with 26
daughter Kristin), motorcycling (two Harleys), and is hoping to go on a river cruise in southern France in October 2013. Tim Tilney is designing and developing software packages for his “Next Generation Computer,” the Quantitive Computer System — www.home.comcast.net/~timctilney.
1958 55th Reunion, May 4, 2013 Class Correspondent: Eric Berger ericberger@aol.com
We extend our sympathy to the family of Morgan Henning Stebbins who passed away on November 12, 2012 in Providence.
1960 Class Correspondent: Happy Clement Spongberg happyspongberg@earthlink.net
Our condolences go out to William Henning whose sister, Morgan Henning Stebbins’58, died November 12, 2012. Happy Spongberg and her sister Muffie Clement Green ’61 will travel to Little St. Simon’s Island, a Nature Conservancy site off the coast of Florida and Georgia, during the first week of May.
1961 Class Correspondent: Muffie Clement Green m_c_green@sbcglobal.net
Muffie Clement Green and her sister Happy Spongberg ’60 will travel to Little St. Simon’s Island, a Nature Conservancy site off the coast of Florida and Georgia, during the first week of May. Muffie sees Emily Barclay fairly often and says Emily is into quilting and does beautiful work. She also ran into Gretchen Bronson Lytle and her sister Ann Bronson Brueckner ’56 in Rhinebeck, N.Y. at a holiday craft show. Gretchen weaves
lovely chenille scarves and knits fabulous hats. We send our condolences to Kate Setlow O’Brien on the death of her brother, Charles Setlow ’63.
1962 Class Correspondent: Donald O. Ross dross@winvcounsel.com
Our deep sympathy to Eleanor Warren Faller whose brother, Richard Warren ‘51, died October 7, 2012.
1963 50th Reunion, May 4, 2013 Class Correspondent: Susan Stratton susan@strattonpartners.com
We report with great sadness the death of Charles Setlow on Jan. 19, 2013.
1964 Class Correspondent: Verdi DiSesa vdisesa@cchosp.com
Congratulations to Alexander W. Vietor whose daughter Anna Vietor was married to Andrew McLaughlin on Sept. 15, 2012 in Middletown, R.I.
1965 Class Correspondent: Eric Triffin Eric_Triffin@aya.yale.edu
Our condolences go out to Cameron Henning whose sister, Morgan Henning Stebbins ’58, died on November 12, 2012. Eric Triffin writes “Since leaving the Health Department last year, I have been creating my persona as a public health activist for good food and exercise. I have been highlighted in Yale’s Public Health magazine as Snappy the Peace Pod and in the New Journal profile ‘Feed a Fever’ on my work ‘infecting’ people with good food and exercise.”
Foote Prints
1966 Class Correspondent: John N. Deming, Jr. johndeming@yahoo.com
Susan Love is enjoying her work as a Registered Nurse and being a grandmother. Her daughter and two grandchildren live close by, and her other daughter just had a son and lives in Los Angeles. Henry Margenau has retired from teaching and is a manager/buyer at Gold and Silver Refinery in St. Cloud, Fla. He writes that they just moved to Winter Park, Fla. and they love it! Grace Hammond Boss writes “For the last few years I have been overseeing a construction project on my New Hampshire farm, using the power of the pen to take a stand against issues and for issues, traveled on an Arts of Cuba trip and fulfilled a 35-year-old dream of mine to go to Alaska in addition to being a full-time Mom to my two teenage children.”
1967 Class Correspondent: Nina Anderson tropickat@verizon.net
1968 45th Reunion, May 4, 2013 Class Correspondent: Liz Prelinger prelinge@georgetown.edu
Congratulations to Robert Golia who welcomed new grandson Samuel on Dec. 10, 2012. Leland Torrence is principal of Leland Torrence Enterprises and The Guild, Conservation–Restoration–Management.
1969 Class Correspondent: Meg McDowell Smith megsmithvt@gmavt.net
Our condolences go out to Robert Bork who recently suffered the loss of Winter/Spring 2013
The cover of “The Quack's Daughter: A True Story About the Private Life of a Victorian College Girl,” a recently published book by Greta Nettleton ’72
his father. Grier Torrence is a painter and visual arts director at Miss Porter’s School.
1970 The Class of 1970 needs a class correspondent. If you are willing to take on the job, please contact Danielle Plante in the alumni office at dplante@footeschool.org.
1972 Class Correspondents: Amy Estabrook heyamo@snet.net Cathy Hosley Vouwie chv79@hotmail.com
Greta Nettleton’s recently published “The Quack’s Daughter: A True Story About the Private Life of a Victorian College Girl” is a re-creation of her great grandmother’s life as the daughter of a high-powered working mother and a student of the School of Music at Vassar. Greta’s work is touted by various critics, including the Huffington Post, which wrote “readers hit the jackpot.” The book can be purchased in paperback on www.gretanettleton.com,
or as a Kindle e-book from Amazon.com. Carol Ann Celella is the Chaplain at the Connecticut Dept. of Veterans’ Affairs Home and Health Care Center in Rocky Hill, Conn. and her husband is the COO of JCJ Architecture in Hartford. They both love their work and are also enjoying their family. Eldest son Christopher was married to Mary Bruce Bowler and is teaching music and fine arts at the Miller’s School in Charlottesville, Virginia. Younger son Andrew was married to Caitlin Seadale and is an APRN/nursing student at Yale University School of Nursing, specializing in critical care. Carol Ann writes that she “seek(s) to live in a spirit of gratitude and mend the broken-hearted, and am truly thankful for the friends I keep in contact with from Foote School.”
1973 40th Reunion, May 4, 2013 Class Correspondent: Peter Hicks phicks@websterbank.com John Persse john921@juno.com
1974 The Class of 1974 needs a class correspondent. If you are willing to take on the job, please contact Danielle Plante in the alumni office at dplante@footeschool.org.
1975 Class Correspondent: Jessica Drury sjsaz@optonline.net
Bo Sandine is the board chairman of the Durango Independent Film Festival (www.durangofilm.org), and senior partner program manager at Mercury (www.mercurypay.com). Bruce Conklin writes “My father, Hal Conklin, did have open heart surgery to replace a heart valve (mitral valve), and is doing amazingly well for a spry 27
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A Legacy of Athletic Excellence, Coupled with a Willingness to Do What It Takes to Get the Game Going Ted Willis Come twilight, a solitary figure may often be seen on the fields along Highland Street, taking down a soccer goal, packing up a base, or re-marking a field. It is Ted Willis, Foote’s longtime director of Athletics, closing up for the night. Even as times have changed at Foote for athletics — 11 sports now compared to five when he first started teaching in 1970, 475 students compared to 200 back then — Ted still walks his silent walk through the fields, ensuring all is well. But in June that will all change. Ted is retiring, leaving the fields to future athletic directors. His proprietary feeling about Foote and his resourcefulness in finding space for sports as offerings expanded over the years are just two of the attributes that endeared him to faculty and students alike. “When they were building the addition to the gym about 10 years ago, we had no gym space in the winter and I had to shop around for basketball courts for practices and games,” he remembers. “One of our parents owned Healthworks in Wallingford, and he let us use his facility.” Ted scrambled for other space as well — in spring some years, Celentano School for lacrosse, Yale Divinity School for tennis. Now he has a home for each Foote sport, from the expanded gym to the Albertus Magnus pool to Yale tennis courts. Ted has loved athletics since he was a young boy, a passion that landed him in the Cheshire Academy Sports Hall of Fame. Physical education was both a vocation and an avocation to him, and after earning his associate’s degree in Physical Education from Dean Junior College, where he played football, hockey, and lacrosse and was president of the Physical Education majors club (and hockey team MVP and varsity lacrosse co-captain), he went on to Ithaca College. There, he earned his bachelor’s degree in Physical Education, Recreation, and Health, playing soccer, hockey, and becoming a co-captain of the lacrosse team. During his senior year at Ithaca, his family heard from friends about an opening at Foote. “Frank Perrine trusted his gut feeling about people, which was great about him,” Ted says. “He took a chance on me, and I’ve been here ever since.” A year after landing the job, he enrolled at Southern Connecticut State University for a master’s degree in Physical Education and Recreation for the Handicapped to maintain his Connecticut teaching certification. While there, he also became certified in driver’s education, just in case. Thinking ahead again, he earned his six-year certificate in educational leadership from Southern. He helped run Foote’s summer program for soccer in the 1970s, before the soccer bug had bit most of Connecticut. He also started teaching driver’s ed at Hamden High School in 1985, “to earn a little extra money,” he says. “I had my own pedal, and I could always grab the wheel if I had to, which I did, a couple of times.” But now, at 66, after working for five heads of school and alongside seven colleagues in the PE Department, when a sunny day dawns, he is ready to leave the Foote fields for other pastures. “I’m going to miss the kids, and I’ll miss the faculty,” he says. “But I look outside some days and say to myself, ‘Today is so nice, I could be fishing.”
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Foote Prints
86. Yes he still travels, and goes to the Philippines on occasion. My son Dylan is a sophomore at the University of Southern California, where he is doing remarkably well, despite the misgivings of his Berkeley grad parents. He is putting together an independent major on “Disruptive Innovation in Asia” and looking for summer internships in China where he can improve his Mandarin. In the Fall of 2013, daughter Claire will be a freshman at the Pitzer, one of the Claremont colleges. Bonnie is working for the federal government, helping implement Obama Care. I am still enjoying studying human genetics at Gladstone/UCSF. (Editor’s note: Stopped by to see Hal while visiting my mother and the man truly looks marvelous, with great spirit and a sense of mission to get back on his feet. He was wearing bright red fuzzy socks at our visit.) From the depths of Boston Harbor where he does a fund-raising dip every winter, David Coffin writes of a project of personal importance. “I will shamelessly take this opportunity to let you know about a Kickstarter campaign I’m in the middle of right now (21 days left). I’m attempting to digitize all of my father’s 330 sermons from Riverside Church, where he was senior minister after leaving Yale. The Kickstarter campaign http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ 1733108390/the-william-sloanecoffin-sermon-archive-project.” As of this printing, David met his goal. Sarah Blake has been transplanted to Berlin where she is living for the year. “Josh won a fellowship whose only stipulation was to leave North America, and so we chose Berlin. And may I say, it is cold! The most important news is that at our 35th reunion lunch, Bruce Conklin said something so riveting to me that I had to put it directly into the novel I am working on. Which I have done. And I won’t say what it is, but Dr. Conklin appears, yes he does.” Jonea Gurwitt Winter/Spring 2013
has this to say “OK. I am somehow still (happily) employed in journalism, though hard to say how long the industry will survive. The last few summers included multiple trips around New England as a circus groupie, watching my niece (an aerialist) and nephew (a clown) perform, with all-too-short visits to London and Montreal. And in New Haven, this summer my family will celebrate 50 years in the house on Edgehill Road. It was a gem of a home to grow up in and share with so many friends (and at least one ghost).” Katharine Swibold has a lot going on. Her son Jordan graduated from Skidmore in 2012 and is now gainfully employed at Yelp although his heart lies with music. He continues to play guitar and sing and go to as many live concerts as his calendar and wallet will allow! Hannah is a sophomore at Smith, majoring in Spanish but with an expanded interest in Arabic as well as Portuguese. For fun, Hannah is president of the Smithereens, one of Smith’s a capella groups, and also does some solo singing with her guitar when given the opportunity to perform. Katharine continues to work at Barnard College in New York and is serving in her second three-year term on the Tarrytown Board of Education. She had a blast working with Jonea and Joanie on their Smith class’s 30th reunion in May and is already looking forward to our 35th! Roger Smith is always up to something fascinating and writes “My start-up company is slowly turning into a success. Our cool music effects products are used by artists ranging from Aerosmith to Phish to Wilco to Victor Wooten to Ellie Goulding. It has been exciting and really interesting. I get to geek out with circuits and stuff too! At our recent industry tradeshow we announced a new product for DJ’s and Electronic Dance musicians that looks like it might take that market by storm and distract thousands of
kids from doing their homework. I hope I am not sent to go sit in the green chair again. Know that place all too well.” Corbett Torrence is an archaeologist who teaches part time at the University of Vermont and at Johnson State College and who also teaches skiing at Smuggler's Notch.
1976 The class of 1976 needs a class correspondent. If you are willing to take on the job, please contact Danielle Plante in the alumni office at dplante@footeschool.org
1977 Class Correspondent: Elizabeth Daley Draghi gdraghi@sbcglobal.net
1978 35th Reunion, May 4, 2013 Class Correspondents: Nell DeVane Eleanor.S.DeVane@espn.com Stephen Fontana SAFontana@aol.com
Serena Torrence Fox is a principal in Serena Fox Design, and also is a farmer.
1979 Class Correspondent: Bonnie Welch Bonniewelch@taftschool.org
1980 Class Correspondent: Liz Geller Brennan gelbren@aol.com
Julian Harris has transformed family letters from World War II into works of art and opened the exhibit “Love Letters” at One Art Space in New York City in November. Our condolences to Elicia Pegues Spearman, whose father, Elbert “PG” Pegues, died on Jan. 30, 2013.
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1981 Class Correspondents: Jennifer LaVin jen2766@gmail.com Nicolas Crowley nyjcrowley@hotmail.com
Nicolas Crowley writes that he has started a new job and moved to Dubai! The company provides camps and logistics services for the military and for the oil, gas and mining industries. He’s finding it a bit of an adjustment after living so long in Paris. Jonathan Hymer is most of the way through a master’s degree in sustainable development and urban/regional planning through the public administration program at the University of Colorado, Denver. He is also involved with an eco and adventure travel company, One World Travel, and recently spent time in Quintana Roo in Mexico. Jay Kleeman is still working as an orthopedic surgeon in the Norwalk area, living with his wife Courtney and their two sons Jackson, 15, and Aaron, 11. They recently returned from a two-week vacation/ medical mission trip to Ethiopia. Jay says it is an “amazing country. Wonderful people. Great experience for the kids to see something other than the Fairfield County lifestyle. We worked part of the time in a school in Addis Ababa and met some of the poorest but happiest, well-adjusted children I’ve ever seen. Good to see kids at play using their imaginations rather than
Zoë Yum Zimmerman, daughter of Kent Zimmerman ’87, was born on December 5, 2012.
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relying on the constant entertainment and texting from their iPhones.” Monica Osborn is doing well, reporting that she is relieved that her three older sons have now graduated from college and are all working! But she’s still busy at home, taking care of her 9-year-old, and at work, with the many changes since Yale-New Haven Hospital acquired St. Raphael’s Hospital. She sends her regards to her classmates! Michael Prichard started a new job at a San Francisco-based start-up called Miselu, designing musical instruments and accessories for the iPad and Android. He sang in his first opera, as Coline in Puccini’s “La Bohème” last spring, and had his bass solo debut at Tanglewood last summer.
1982 Class Correspondent: Bethany Schowalter Appleby bappleby@wiggin.com
Bethany Appleby states that all is well — she and her husband are still working in New Haven, their son Killian just transferred to SUNY Purchase, their daughter Leana is at Penn State, and their son Aidan is finishing his junior year of high school at Salisbury. Clinton White writes “My family and I are still working and living in Egypt. During the holiday season we had a chance to explore two more locations in the country. On our first trip, we flew to a small town along the southern coast on the Red Sea called Marsa Alam. It is famous for the long barrier coral reefs that protect some of the most exotic marine life. The kids and I were able to go snorkeling in the clear blue sea and had a chance to see clown fish among other sea life. During our second trip, we drove from Cairo through the western desert to a place called Wadi Al-Hitan (Valley of the Whales). This place is famous for the whale fossils dating back millions of years, which are spread across the desert sands in different locations. Standing out under the sun, and on the
Builders broke ground in New Haven in December for the Friends Center for Children, which provides year-round early childhood education to children from 3 months to five years. Allyx Schiavone ’85, the center’s executive director, in purple, with Gov. Dannel Malloy to her left, was instrumental in winning approvals and State Bond Commission funding for the new building.
sand dunes, it’s fascinating to think about how these whales evolved from land to water.” Clark Thompson is pleased to report that his daughter Lydia, 16, will be attending Jesus College at Cambridge (UK) for a summer program studying zoology. She is currently a sophomore at the George School. His son Gus, 18, is currently in the throes of college applications. Clark is still living in Philadelphia and working at Credit Suisse, heading Business Architecture for the Americas, working with IT and the business to define target operating models for the new world of investment banking.
1983 30th Reunion, May 4, 2013 Class Correspondent: Brinley Ford Ehlers Brinleysf@aol.com
1984 Class Correspondent: Ann Pschirrer Brandt apschirrer@aol.com
Our deep sympathy to the family of Andrew Littell who passed away on Dec. 17, 2012. Many Foote classmates attended the memorial service held on Sat., Jan. 19, in Concord, Mass. Foote Prints
1985 Class Correspondent: Carter LaPrade Serxner lapserx@gmail.com
Alexandra Fayen is in her 11th year as a middle school social worker in the Madison, Wisc. public schools. She is enjoying having grown children. Her son Roland lives close by, is married, and is the father of a cherubic little boy, James. Her stepson, Torsten, graduated from college and is a working actor.
1986 Class Correspondent: Ellen Prokop prokop@frick.org
The award-winning children’s book author Elisha Cooper ’86, spoke to an audience of more than 100 students, faculty, and community members at Skidmore College about what serves as inspiration for him, and how he refuses to talk down to children in his books. Elisha’s book, “Homer,” was recently named one of the best children’s picture books of the year by Kirkus Book Reviews.
1987 Class Correspondents: Jonathan Levin jdlevin@stanford.edu
Congratulations to Kent Zimmerman and his wife Grace Yum Zimmerman on the birth of their daughter Zoë Yum Zimmerman on December 5, 2012.
Ripley Schiavone, son of Josie Schiavone '90, was born on September 28, 2012.
takes place every August. Carrie visited the Foote campus with her daughters Maya, 7, and Tess, 4, last summer!
1989 Class Correspondent: Toya Hill Clark trose7@hotmail.com
1990 Class Correspondent: Rachel Batsford rachelb1357@gmail.com
Congratulations to Josie Schiavone who welcomed son Ripley Schiavone on Sept. 28, 2012. Sarah Acheson Rand reports that she is still living in Mount Kisco, N.Y. with her husband David and their two sons, Max, 6, and Jack, 2. Aside from her love of photography, she teaches middle and upper school art and is the sixth grade
dean of students at Wooster School, an independent day school in Danbury, Conn. Sarah writes “I had the pleasure of spending a Professional Growth Day this fall visiting Foote and reconnecting with the campus, the faculty and staff. My education at Foote taught me about the importance of community, creativity, compassion, collaboration, and tradition… and reconnecting with my roots affirmed why Wooster is such a good fit for me, both personally and professionally. Foote has a beautiful new art facility and it was so inspiring to see such a beautiful use of space. It was a day not only making new connections, but also reconnecting and learning more about why I am who I am and why I do what I do.
1991 Class Correspondent: Bo Bradstreet ebradstr@gmail.com
1992 Class Correspondent: Katie Madden Kavanagh katieblee@hotmail.com
Douglas Cuthbertson is working as a plantiff’s attorney in New York City. He and his wife have a 1-year-old son, Eliot. Aimee DeBarbieri Poirier is enjoying being a mother to her 16-month-old son Sebastian. This
1988 25th Reunion, May 4, 2013 Carrie James Lightner lives in Ketchum, Idaho, where she produces and edits custom book projects, does freelance writing for several magazines and web sites, and also does some work with the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference that Winter/Spring 2013
Enjoying time together over the holiday season are, from left to right, Emily Zandy ’00, Liz Petrelli, Katy Zandy Atlas, and Susan Canny, all ’96.
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A Simple Phone Call Leads to a Momentous Discovery Adam Solomon
1994 Class Correspondent: Arna Berke-Schlessel Zohlman arnie250@hotmail.com
Adam Solomon was finishing his graduate degree in history at Boston University — after acquiring an undergraduate degree in history from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn. — and had just applied for a job at a museum when the phone call came.
1995 Class Correspondent: Jack Hill seaburyhill@aol.com
On the other end of the line was a friend who was working as an assistant principal at St. Procopius, a Jesuit elementary school in Adam’s hometown of Chicago, one of the thousands of Catholic schools struggling to stay afloat as archdioceses throughout the country slashed budgets and closed school doors forever.
1996 Class Correspondent: Brett Nowak Nowak.Brett@gmail.com
“He asked me if I wanted a job teaching first or fourth grade, and I told him I would call him back,” Adam says. “I just didn’t know if I could do it.” He finally said yes, and he and his wife, Brenda Carter, threw their belongings into a U-Haul and drove back to Chicago. After two weeks of teacher training, Adam was in front of a fourth grade class. “First grade was too scary,” he says. He learned two important lessons in his first real job: “I realized that I didn't know anything, and that I loved it.” His two years at St. Procopius, a school whose philosophy he likens to Foote's, became the foundation for his teaching career. Known as a teacher who never takes himself too seriously, he has developed a reputation for creativity, resourcefulness, and kindliness. A runner, jazz fan, and father of Myles, 4, he also works in Foote's summer program, teaching baseball to children or planning field trips often centered on history. He fit right in at Foote when he moved back to New Haven once his wife was accepted to graduate school at Yale in the late 1990s. “I feel supported at Foote, I like the freedom we have here, and I like the kids and that they get along,” he says. “After all these years, it's still fun.”
summer, she will take a break from her busy acupuncture practice to travel to Italy to visit family and introduce her son to his cousins.
1993 20th Reunion, May 4, 2013 Class Correspondent: Jenny Keul jennykeul@gmail.com
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Congratulations to Matthew Cuthbertson and his wife EJ on the birth of their daughter, Gemma, born November 14, 2012. Matthew is currently working as a public defender in San Francisco. Michael Fertik was featured on the front page of The New York Times Sunday Business Section on Dec. 9, 2012, for his work at Reputation.com, a company he founded to help people manage their online reputations.
Katy Zandy Atlas katy91@gmail.com
Katy Atlas, Liz Petrelli, and Susan Canny got together over Christmas this year. Katy writes that everyone bonded over the exciting news that all three of them had just bought houses (Katy’s in Texas, Susan’s in St. Louis, and Liz’s in Manhattan). Ted Bailey’s company Dataminr, a Twitter monitoring firm, worked with the Presidential Inauguration Committee during President Obama’s inauguration this past January. Dataminr was able to detect potential security threats by monitoring Twitter activity in a predetermined geographic area.
1997 Class Correspondent: Eliza Sayward elizasayward@yahoo.com
1998 15th Reunion, May 4, 2013 Class Correspondents Andrew Lebov alebov@gmail.com Elisabeth Sacco saccopotatoes@gmail.com
Congratulations to Katy Clark-Spohn Botta and her husband Robbie Botta on the birth of their son, Wilder Gustav Botta, on Feb. 19, 2013. Foote Prints
2001 Class Correspondents: Adam Jacobs 14 Tanglewood Lane Woodbridge, CT 06525 203-393-1760 Cassie Pagnam cassie.pagnam@gmail.com Wilder Gustav Botta, newborn son of Katy Clark-Spohn Botta ’98
1999 Class Correspondents: Chelsea Rittchen 139 Fountain St., Apt. A9 New Haven, CT 06515-1926 203-387-8493 Jeremy Zuidema jmzuidema@gmail.com
Megan Hislop is the co-founder of SisOnke Circus, a program for children in South Africa that provides training in the circus arts and aims to promote physical health, personal development, and is instrumental in building bridges between children and communities from different socioeconomic backgrounds.
2000 Class Correspondents: Alex Kleiner alex.m.kleiner@gmail.com
2002 Class Correspondents: Hope Fleming 47 Old Quarry Road Guilford, CT 06437 203-453-9400 Eric Mayer fmayer2010@gmail.com
Eric Mayer is living and working in Chicago.
2003 10th Reunion, May 4, 2013 Class Correspondents: Courtney Holmes msholmes@att.blackberry.net Adam Shapiro adamshapiro1488@gmail.com
Rachel Jacobs graduated from Carnegie Mellon and is enrolled in the veterinary medicine program at Tufts.
Shannon Sweeney smsweeney07@gmail.com
Congratulations to Rob Madden who was married to Kara Zarchin on June 23, 2012 in Shelter Heights Island, N.Y. Congratulations also to Brianna Berkowitz who was married to Michael Ryan on July 21, 2012 in Vermont. Her brothers Ben Berkowitz ’94 and John Berkowitz ’98, along with Phoebe Woerner were in the wedding party. Pete Duncan joined Sarah Pickard as a resident at Children’s Hospital in Boston. Winter/Spring 2013
Brianna Berkowitz '00 and her husband Michael Ryan on their wedding day in Vermont
Lucy Lavely attended Notre Dame, won the Katharine Hicks award for best student in the Film/Theater/TV department and is enrolled in the MFA program at Florida State. In May she will travel to Stratford-onAvon to study Shakespeare. Christopher Mayer graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Texas and started work at Drill Quip in Houston — a worldwide under-sea oil and gas equipment manufacturer.
2004 Class Correspondents: Dillon Long know33@gmail.com Dana Schwartz schwa20d@mtholyoke.edu
2005 Class Correspondents: Gabriella Rhodeen gabriella.rhodeen@gmail.com Dan Tebes tebesd@kenyon.edu
Aaron Green is working as a freelance scenic designer in New York City after graduating from Vassar College with honors in drama last May. You may view his work online at www. aaronethangreen.com. Rachel KauderNalebuff debuted her new play, “The Givers,” with a public reading on
Lucy Lavely ’03 performs in the “Diversity Chorus Christmas Concert” at the Sarasota Opera House.
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March 3 at Yale’s Off Broadway Theater.
2009
2012
Class Correspondents: Chris Blackwood cblackwood@andover.edu
Class Correspondents: Harrison Lapides yalehockey20@comcast.net
Class Correspondents: Audrey Logan logan.audrey@gmail.com
Eva Kerman edk2123@barnard.edu
Cassidy McCarns cassidymccarns22@gmail.com
Adam Gabbard adamdgabbard@yahoo.com
Anne Fowler was named to the dean’s list with distinction for her first semester at Boston University.
Nick Duval and his band Eyeshock Swelter just released its first EP. Mia Reid is enjoying her first year at CoOp Arts & Humanities High School. In the past year, she has traveled to New York City, Long Island, and Baltimore.
2006
Heather Mayer is finishing her last year at Oxford, reading classics. Jack Dickey, a student at Columbia and writer for Deadspin.com, helped break the Manti Te’O hoax story and was featured in an article regarding the matter on www.thepostgame.com.
2007 Class Correspondents: Kenny Kregling kkregling@snet.net Symphony Spell symphony.spell@gmail.com
Gaelen and Lucca Markese are spending the semester in Copenhagen studying global economics. Leland R.G. Torrence is taking a year off and currently farming in Argentina.
2008 Class Correspondents: Michael Milazzo milazzom@avonoldfarms.com Kate Reilly Yurkovsky K_R_Y7@yahoo.com
Nick Lima is a sophomore at MIT where he was trained and licensed to operate their research nuclear reactor over the summer. He is also on the crew team. Danny Berman and his family hosted a fifth reunion party over this past holiday break. Kathryn Reilly Yurkovsky and Mike Milazzo were in attendance and had a great time catching up with old classmates. Edward Torrence is taking a year off and researching his future. 34
2010 Class Correspondents: Brandi Fullwood brandi.n.fullwood@gmail.com Clay Pepe cpepe13@choate.edu
Joseph Camilleri was selected as captain of the 2012–13 Choate Varsity Archery team, and is also a sports broadcaster for Choate’s radio network.
2011 Class Correspondents: Nate Barton natebarton95@gmail.com Britney Dumas bdumas13@gmail.com
Will Brennan writes that he is “working on a new music video for a song on my upcoming CD.” Dahlia Leffell spent the first semester of her junior year in Washington, D.C. at the School for Ethics and Global Leadership.
FACULTY NEWS Congratulations to Katy Clark-Spohn Botta and her husband Robbie Botta on the birth of their son, Wilder Gustav Botta, born on February 19, 2013.
In Memoriam William Wallace Cowles ’33 December 22, 2012 Dr. Herbert Spencer Harned, Jr. ’34 January 7, 2013 Anna Miles Jones ‘41 1996 Alumni Achievement Award Recipient March 22, 2013 Amanda Stenson Davis ’44 May 2012 Richard Warren ’51 October 7, 2012 Morgan Henning Stebbins ’58 November 12, 2012 Charles Setlow ’63 January 19, 2013 Andrew Littell ’84 December 17, 2012
The Class of 2008 celebrates its fifth year reunion.
Brooks Kelley, Board of Directors 1972–80 February 14, 2013 Foote Prints
Young Alums Return to Campus
Class of 2010: Julia Vlock, Noble Spell, Brandi Fullwood, Aliza Van Leesten, Silas Newman The Class of 2011 reunites: Justin Lee, Gabe Zanuttini-Frank, Jack Bohen, Aidan Cobb, Sangye Bhutia, Peter Berger, Caleb Thomas
Kyra Goldstein ’12 hugs a classmate.
Dahlia Leffell ’11, left, and Dana Monz ’11, with drama teacher Julian Schlusberg
The Class of 2012 reunites. From left, Caleb Bishop, Harrison Lapides, Bryan Zhou, Max Sbriglio, and Nick Duval
Members of the class of 2013, back row: Shelby Olivieri, Teddy Kennedy, and Emma Weiss, with other members of their class in the front row, from left, Izzy Lent, Healy Knight, Rachel Brennan, Helena Butler, Sandy Rokhlin, Anna Diffley, and a Class of 2012 alum, Meera Dhodapkar
Winter/Spring 2013
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Why I Believe You Can Go Home Again By Leland Torrence ’68 Crikey. There it is. A postcard on my desk. Save the date, class of 1968, 45th reunion. I get to see most of my 23 original friends turning 60. The phone rings. It is Jane Gordon of the Alumni Office asking if I would be so kind as to write something for Foote Prints explaining “Why it is I do what I do” and per chance, does it have anything to do with Foote. “In how many installments?,” I should have answered. It actually went something like: “Yes, of course, I’d be glad to do it, if it would be of help.” There you have the Foote part: Gladly I’ll help, and, of course I can. In 1968, Bobby Seale was soon to be on trial in New Haven and the Black Panthers would be on the Green. Much of downtown was blighted with storefronts boarded up along College and Chapel Streets. Frank Perrine was our new headmaster. Bob Sandine was the new kid on the block. Mrs. Rider, Mrs. Shanksy, Mrs. Salowitz, Mrs. Silk, Mrs. Shepler, and Mr. Edwards ruled. Lee Torrence, Liz Prelinger ’68 and George (Pa) Holden ’68 led the Student Council. Robbie Clark ’68 and Lee were starting guards on the basketball team. (Lee had five baskets and Robbie two … for the season.) The boys initiated a self-imposed tie and jacket dress code to show solidarity to the new head of school. Lee and Geb Byers ’69 proudly unfolded and raised the flag every morning. There were a lot of options for a Foote graduate: go to boarding school, go to Yale, and then become an academic, a lawyer, or go to Wall Street. In my case, it was made clear that if these events were not consecutive, the associated costs would no longer be paid by others. My father’s advice, “You should be a lawyer, but when the world goes to hell in a handbasket, you will need to know a trade.” The summer of ’67, I took a job with a con36
Leland Torrence struction company in Vermont at $1.60 an hour. With overtime, after taxes, I made nearly $60 dollars a week. I was hooked. After college, I went on a “walk about.” Two years were spent driving around the country with my tools in hand looking for a place to settle. When I was broke, I would post a sign in the local grocery store, “Carpenter from Vermont for Hire.” I worked in a cafeteria washing pots. I went sky diving and hot air ballooning, and got my pilot’s license in Ann Arbor. I sold trinkets and mirrors on Telegraph Avenue. I wandered in the woods to find the right stones for the Zen gardens I designed and built for professors at Stanford. My family was curious as to whether I would ever return. While recently archiving black-andwhite family photos, I found pictures of me playing with wooden blocks, building villages and towns in the sand, making, documenting, and organizing stuff. That is pretty much what I am doing today. In the photos my brother Grier ’69 is drawing, painting, playing
music, Corbett ’75 is playing music, and playing in the dirt, and Serena ’78 is dancing, singing, playing music, and designing things. Despite the fact that they all have professions, that is pretty much what they are doing today. In 1961, we walked hand in hand from St. Ronan Street to the new Granburydesigned campus on Loomis Place. In 2012, we sat in the courtyard admiring the new Jonathan Milikowsky Science and Technology Building. In between, a lot has happened to Foote: a gym and theater, organic gardens, a new sports field, a ninth grade, and many community activities. My boys, Leland ’07 and Edward ’08 had the opportunity to attend. New Haven is my home, and I do what we do: build consensus, build relationships, and build community. It is a great thing to leave New Haven, but please come back to visit for a while and share with us what you have learned.
Foote Prints
REUNION DAY 2013 Saturday, May 4
FIND A FRIEND AT FOOTE! Re-establish old friendships, create new ones, and see how Foote is changing as much as it stays the same. We look forward to seeing you! See page 19 for more information.
Foote Prints The Foote School 50 Loomis Place New Haven, CT 06511
Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID New Haven, CT Permit No. 181
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
Be sure to attend:
Reunion Day
Saturday, May 4, 2013 (see page 19)
Grandparents Day Friday, October 11, 2013
Questions about any of these events? Contact Maria Granquist in the Alumni and Development Office (mgranquist@footeschool.org or 203-777-3464).
Summer at Foote
Exciting New Programs this Summer! (see page 17) Explore & Discover (for students ages 5–16) including Chinese language and culture, poetry workshops, cartooning, chess, dance, flight, jazz, simple machines with LEGO, soccer, lacrosse, and more! PLUS: • Foote Summer Theater for Middle & High School Students • Young Actors Workshop for Students Entering Grades 2–5 • Early & Late Summer Adventures Ages 5 and older
Learn more at www.footeschool.org/summer or call Dawn Walsh at 203-777-3464. Pick up a brochure at our Front Desk!
Join us Sat., May 4, at Reunion 2013 as we celebrate the retirements of Athletic Director Ted Willis and Director of Admissions Laura Altshul. SAVE THE DATE!