Foote Prints Winter/Spring 2012 by The Foote School

Foote Prints THE FOOTE SCHOOL • NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT • WINTER/SPRING 2012 • VOL. 39, NO. 1

The Mysteries and Magic of Books Foote retains its love of libraries and literature

“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.”

— Booker T. Washington

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Visit a classroom or a laboratory, an athletic practice, or a student arts event to see your gifts at work. The Annual Fund supports the dedicated teachers who make Foote unique. It also supports the school’s financial aid program, enriching our community by extending the opportunity for a Foote education to children for whom it would not otherwise be possible.

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Foote Prints Contents Spotlight 2 4 Around Campus 8 10 12 13 14 16 Alumni Pages 18 19 20 21 22 41 43 44

From the Head of School: A Special Kind of Magic A Love of Books and Reading Grandparents Day 2011 An Ambitious Effort To Promote Understanding This Year’s Yali Visit A New Building Rises The Arts at Foote Fall and Winter Sports Alumnus Achievement Award: Massimo Calabresi ’82 Reunion Day 2012 Preview Legacies at Foote Where Are They Now? Class of 2008 Class Notes In Memoriam — Jean Shepler Miller Why I Love Music by Garrett English ’85 Young Alums Return to Campus

WINTER/SPRING 2012 VOL. 39, NO. 1 Foote Prints is published twice a year for alumni, parents, grandparents, and friends. Editor Jane Gordon Class Notes Editor Amy Caplan ’88 Design Thea A. Moritz Contributors Ann Baker Pepe, Maria Granquist, Julie Moore Photography Laura Altshul, Ângela Giannella, Jane Gordon, Margy Lamere, Judy Sirota Rosenthal For the latest in news and events visit us at www.footeschool.org Board of Directors Melinda Agsten, President Richard Bershtein Sidney Bogardus Kim Bohen Judith Chevalier, Treasurer James Farnam ’65 Melanie Ginter, Vice President Joanne Goldblum Heidi Hamilton Mary Hu, Vice President George Knight Nadine Koobatian, PTC Co-President Cindy Leffell Glenn Levin, Secretary Bruce Mandell David Moore Cheryl Nadzam, PTC Co-President Zehra Patwa, Member-at-Large Libby Peard, Past President Robert Sandine Jane Shipp David Soper Annie Wareck ’85 Ex-Officio Carol Maoz, Head of School

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.

Spring 2012

Cover: Reading remains a favorite pastime at Foote.

SPOTLIGHT

A Special Kind of Magic At Foote, Reading Takes Center Stage Many of you have had my experience of walking into the beautiful and wonderful Frank Perrine library here at Foote. Here and there you will see a young child reading a picture book, a clump of children enjoying the simple pleasure of reading, or a group doing collaborative research using primary documents. You might hear the expressive voice of a librarian carrying the Lower School children to another universe through a readaloud, or witness a class learning how 2

to use the tremendous resources of The Foote School library. One of the most remarkable aspects of our library is that the librarians know the individual interests and reading preferences of each student, so at any time you might see a child or a parent guided toward a particular book. Reading is a magical skill, and print books are a special kind of treasure — but there is logic and planning afoot: an engineered magic that is as subtle as it is powerful.

Our cover story this issue discusses Foote’s philosophy regarding reading, from the importance of our library to the fun of our ‘Get Caught Reading’ days, when everyone at school stops what they are doing for a half hour and picks up a book (and maybe for some of you or your children it is a Kindle or a Nook that is lifted). There is so much that happens in the library and beyond that supports and reinforces reading. It is a culture of the mind. Many in this community Foote Prints

Teachers forge an environment that is supportive, our librarians create a space that reinforces the classroom, and our campus itself echoes a message of caring. So when a child sits down in the library, his or her mind is already resonating with a pattern that makes opening a book the next step, or the continuation, of a journey in learning and imagination. study the wonders of the brain, and one of the more instructive findings concerns the brain’s mirror neurons. They provide the ability to create a representation in our mind of the mind of another. For example, if you are a tennis player and you sit in the stands to watch a tennis match and the ball is lobbed up for a serve — the neurons that prepare your own body to strike the ball activate in your brain as though you and the server were both hitting the shot.

encourage that child to interpret what the picture is saying. There are few pleasures more profound than curling up with a good book; we want our children to read books because we know full well how much pleasure we derive from them. Without books, which contribute so much to understanding all that the world offers, our children will miss the meaning of flowers, the full moon, the expressions on people’s faces.

The concepts behind creating positive behavioral intentions are very much alive here at Foote. Thinking about the library and the concept of mirror neurons and how they work, we can see why our library and our culture of reading work so well. Teachers forge an environment that is supportive, our librarians create a space that reinforces the classroom, and our campus itself echoes a message of caring. When a child sits down in the library, his or her mind is already resonating with a pattern that makes opening a book the next step, or the continuation, of a journey in learning and imagination.

Our library is filled with 47,000 volumes. But yes, we also have computers in our library, strategically placed between the main library desk and the desk where one of our librarians works, to keep an eye on how those computers are being used. Computers are marvelous tools for research, schoolwork organization, quick reference, and soon enough, reading textbooks. We certainly won’t be downsizing our library in lieu of the computer, but textbooks on computer: you bet! We’re finally going in that direction, and I believe it is a good one. We embrace the print book and computers too, because it makes sense to have both.

Here at Foote, we talk often about balance. We have always believed in the fact that individual children learn differently. If reading from a Kindle works for a student, fine. I do believe there’s something very satisfying — from a tactile point of view — about reading from a print book, particularly when reading to a child. Pictures allow the imagination to move in different directions, to

We have a book swap every winter, and the Parent Teacher Council runs two annual book fairs; you can see the pleasure and excitement with which the students discuss the books and the care with which they hold the brand-new books in their hands. For Foote students, the incredible array of wonder-filled books in print is truly a wonderful gift. Our classrooms are filled with books related to students’

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studies, and promote reading in dozens of intelligent ways. Foote is well known for its energetic encouragement of reading of all genres, in all kinds of publications… read where and when you may, we say. Connecticut’s own Mark Twain said, “The man who does not read books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.” As part of this year’s reaccreditation process, teachers reviewed and discussed our mission statement and educational philosophy. The newest version of each articulates the belief that our approach to education defines who we are as a school. “The Foote School nurtures a lifelong love of learning and teaching and fosters a commitment to excellence in its students and faculty,” the mission statement reads. “Teachers lead children to ask questions and discover connections; to think and work independently, collaboratively, and creatively; and to learn by doing. Our community values each child, appreciates differences, and challenges prejudice while giving our students the skills to explore the world with joy and purpose.” Books profoundly help us toward these goals. As time passes, new buildings are added, such as the Jonathan Milikowsky Science and Technology Building, set to open this summer. New languages are too: Chinese is becoming a part of our curriculum for the 2012–13 academic year. But some parts of Foote will never change. Our whole-hearted embrace of reading — and books — is one of them.

Carol Maoz Head of School 3

SPOTLIGHT

A LOVE OF BOOKS AND READING Blooms Early at Foote

The door to the library at Foote School is, for a rare moment, still. Peer through the glass, and see a marriage of tradition — stacks upon stacks of print books — and technology. The computers sit directly in the line of sight of the entryway, and a sprinkling of teachers and students are using them to work on school projects. Turn a corner, and two students are sitting on the carpet, reading. Then the door opens, and a line of students file in with their class.

visit to read a picture book with a parent or by themselves. And, of course, students come in throughout the day to find a book with the help of Foote’s librarians, who know their individual preferences and guide them to what’s new and interesting.

On any given day at the library, teachers drop by to work on projects. The younger siblings of Foote students

Reading at The Foote School has a long and happy history, built upon each day by the teachers and

administrators who have worked here through the decades. It is a hub with the library at its center, reaching out to every classroom to touch the imaginations of generations of Foote students. From the kindergarten classrooms, where picture books are widely displayed, to the middle school, where students are often reading books related to specific class themes such as Foote Prints

Roman myths, students at Foote are immersed in reading. In the lower school, “children are read to a lot,” says Lower School Head Patty Chamberlain. “There are books everywhere in the classrooms, and a practice of giving children opportunities to read aloud to each other, to listen to books on tape as a choice — or free-time — activity, and to write stories and read them to each other to enhance both their reading and writing skills.” Foote connects with the Yale Center for British Art for a program, “Visual Literacy,” in which Foote students work with docents at the center to learn to ‘read’ a painting. “They are developing their eye for details and making predictions about what happens next,” Patty says. “Those skills are a jumping-off point for writing.” Students at the middle school level are always reading too. In addition to the books that teachers assign during the year, students choose books related to themes. For example, before Early America Day in the fall, each seventh grader selects a biography to read. In sixth grade, students join with their parents to read “The Giver” by Lois Lowry over the holiday break. Parents are then invited to school for a student/parent book talk. The book sharing between parent and student sometimes happens during spring and summer breaks as well, says Humanities Co-Chair Debra Riding. Foote sets aside a half hour several times each year for “Get Caught Reading,” during which everyone in the school stops what they are doing and picks up a book. On a Wednesday morning in January, as school nurse Maryanne Peterson, aka ‘Nursie,’ sat reading her Kindle and the maintenance staff opened their newspapers in the faculty room, students throughout campus pulled Spring 2012

Lynda S. Johnson Head Librarian Lynda Stoller Johnson began working in the Foote School Library when its small size meant many of the books were stacked on the floor and only one class could be there at a time. Starting as a volunteer on the same day her son started kindergarten in the fall of 1986 — because she promised him she would — she then became library associate the following year, and librarian the year the library was in the old theater space while the current space was constructed. “And when it was ready the whole community helped to move the books onto the shelves in the new Frank Perrine Library — each child or adult carrying a pile of books along the footprint marks in the hallway — a memorable day indeed,” she says. Lynda had been an elementary teacher earlier in her career and finished her master’s degree in library science, with a specialty in school libraries, shortly after coming to Foote. “My husband Peter encouraged me to get that degree, because he knew I loved teaching, but also loved children's literature,” she says. “This was a way to bring the two together — and that is still why I love my job so much. There is nothing better than being able to match a child with the right book because you know both of them well.” The new library and that background in the classroom has allowed Lynda — with much help from Karen Longa and many colleagues — to take the library in new directions since becoming head librarian in 1997. "We are able to make sure our students are exposed to wonderful literature in the library — reading aloud is still one of my favorite times of the day — and also to help kids find books they would love to take home to read on their own or with a parent,” she says. The summer reading lists and the idea of a summer book for each grade also began about this time. “I was able to create and implement a curriculum, as much as possible in collaboration with my classroom colleagues, to ensure that our students are also information literate — not only know how to use a library, but how to find, evaluate, and make use of information in any form (book, web, database) that they need, for a research project or just because they are curious about something,” she says. “This is more important than ever in today's world with its flood of information." Things are changing more quickly than ever in the library world. “We have already built a large audiobook collection,” she says. “We are considering if the time is right to greatly increase our e-book collection, which now comprises mainly reference books. Because the arrangements between e-book providers and libraries are still very much in flux, this decision is still in the future. But one thing I do believe is that so far picture books, which should have a role in all the grades at Foote (yes, even the Middle School!) are not able to be properly appreciated on a screen — too much is lost in translation.”

SPOTLIGHT

out blankets and curled up with books. During that half hour, the flipping of pages was the only audible sound at Foote. “Foote is known for kids who love to read,” says Head of School Carol Maoz. New Foote parent Ellen Smith, mother of first grader Mia and third grader Zoe, seconds that notion. “When we chose Foote, everyone told us ‘you’ll love the library’,” she says, as Mia sits beside her in the Perrine Library, reading one of three books she is steadying on her lap. “I love that they have some of the books set out from the stacks and accessible. And the librarians know my daughters’ names and what they like to read.” The library doesn’t miss a chance to promote reading. Each year in June, when kindergarten through sixth grade students enjoy their last library visit of the academic year, Foote librarian Lynda Johnson gives each one a book to begin their summer reading. The program began more than a decade ago, and is paid for by the Parent Teacher Council (PTC). “The idea was to keep parents reading to their children, even after the children can read on their own,” Lynda says. Middle school students are able to choose their own books

Karen Longa, Librarian Karen Longa fell for Foote School when she visited with her 5-year old son in 1985. He started kindergarten in September of that year and Karen has been a part of the Foote family ever since. A few years later, she enrolled in the master’s program in library science at Southern Connecticut State University with the goal of becoming a law librarian, an idea she had when she “retired” from the practice of tax law in 1984. When her daughter started at Foote, Karen became a library volunteer. “Back in those days, we had a lot of volunteers,” she says. “Pre-automation there was more work for volunteers — filing catalog and circulation cards — along with shelving, which is a job that will never be eliminated by automation.” In 1990, Karen was asked to fill in for the associate librarian for a year. Two years later, when the associate position opened up on a permanent basis, Karen took that position. “My kids were here; I had gotten to know the faculty and the families,” she says. “It felt right.” As a self-described computer and grammar geek, Karen’s experience with Apple computers since the early 1980s came in handy when, in 1996, she was instrumental in choosing the online catalog Alexandria for the library. She maintains Alexandria as well as the library website/blog, which she initiated. In 1997, Karen moved from associate to librarian. Her favorite part of the job? “I love just being there for people,” she says. After being in the library for 25 years, she knows the collection very well and is always available to help people with what they need — finding books or online resources, computer or blogging help, or homework help after-school. She is always on call. Says Karen, “They know where to find me.”

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from several selected by librarians and humanities teachers. The PTC runs two book fairs, one in the spring, the other in fall. The past few years the PTC has also sponsored author visits, including this year a talk by former Foote parent Deborah Freedman, an author and illustrator, whose newest work is “Blue Chicken” (Viking, 2011). A book swap in February, in which children bring in books they no longer want or need, allows them in return to choose a book that is new to them. Extra books are donated to local reading programs such as Read to Grow and New Haven Reads. Lynda compiles reading and readaloud lists for each grade, available on the Perrine Library website for anyone seeking an ageappropriate book for a child (visit http://blogs.footeschool.org/library). The librarians work daily with students on resources for projects, school trips, and reports, and encourage parents to take books out as well. “Many families come before and after school to read,” Lynda says. “And we work with teachers, especially in kindergarten and MAG, to set the children up with picture books, which they can have read to them or read themselves. It’s another way to promote literacy and reading here at Foote.”

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Jennifer Friedman Library Associate Jennifer Friedman was getting a second master’s degree, in American Studies at Trinity College in Hartford, when she came to truly appreciate librarians. “They were my heroes,” she says. “I always would find someone who could help me, and I began to think, ‘you know what? I’m getting my degree in library science’.” She already had a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, and a master’s in English from DePaul University in Chicago. Having received her master’s from Trinity, she soon enrolled at Southern Connecticut State for a third master’s. About that time, she was seeking a full-day kindergarten for her daughter, and turned to a friend who had a daughter at Foote. “I never saw a child so excited about school,” she says. “We looked at Foote, and we loved it.” Her daughter Tess is now in sixth grade, her daughter Dylan in kindergarten. In 2009, an associate position opened up in the library, and Jennifer was offered the job. “I didn’t hesitate,” she says. “I love it here. I love reading with the kids. I love the range of responsibilities, and that I’m up and down and moving around. I love that I’m exposed to all the children’s literature that is coming out; I fall in love with these books and get to share them with the kids and hear their thoughts, their connections.” She has found a career in which she delights, and a place where her passion for literature blooms each day. “It is my hope,” she says, “that there will always be a place for great books — and a way to get them into the hands of children.”

AROUND CAMPUS

Grandparents Day 2011

Rainy weather couldn’t dampen the spirits of grandparents and special friends as Foote welcomed more than 400 visitors to campus for Grandparents Day in October. The festivities began with a welcome from

Head of School Carol Maoz and honorary Grandparents Day chairs Hattie and Willard Allen. After spending time in their grandchildren’s classrooms, grandparents enjoyed minicourses of their own, giving them a taste of the inspired teaching students enjoy every day at Foote. The morning concluded with an allschool assembly based on a garden theme. Paintings of fruits and vegetables by fifth graders and bugs and butterflies by the third grade decorated the gym, and students regaled their visitors with useful garden facts and songs. Did you know that a cucumber is really a fruit or that each piece of silk fertilized by pollen will become a corn kernel? As the event came to a close, strains of “Inch by Inch,” “Row by Row” and “You are My Sunshine” provided a fitting end to a fun-filled day.

Foote Prints

Third graders hold up their Chinese signs at the Assembly.

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AROUND CAMPUS

A Day That Helped Us To Learn About — and Understand — Others Judith Altmann stood at the lectern in the Sandine Theater on a rainy day in February and spoke of another time, when Dr. Joseph Mengele, a Nazi SS officer known as the Angel of Death, strolled along a line of Jewish captives at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland during World War II, pointing out the individuals who would be his next victims. He never got around to Judith. Her fear, resolve, and gratitude for life were evident to the crowd that day; dry eyes, particularly among the adults, were in short supply. Students peppered her with question after question. Then they honored her with a standing ovation. She spoke as part of Unite Through Understanding Day, an ambitious, one-day undertaking of 32 workshops that exposed students to individuals who have lived considerably different lives than they have: AfricanAmerican grandmothers who lived in the pre-civil-rights South, a JapaneseAmerican woman who saw friends and relatives lose their homes and livelihoods while interned at U.S. camps during World War II, people who have faced significant physical

Students show the henna painting they learned about in a class taught by Foote parents.

challenges. Students heard about those who are homeless, about adoption, about refugees. They learned about Leonardo DaVinci and his inventions, what it’s like to be a gay couple with a baby (and two dogs), hip hop culture, yoga, the art of paper cutting, and how to resolve conflicts through mediation. Later on, students reflected on the day. Here are some of their thoughts: On the workshop, “How to Make Sushi (While Also Saving the Earth),” taught by award-winning chef and Foote alum Bun Lai ’84, owner of Miya’s Sushi, a sustainable seafood restaurant in New Haven: “It’s hard to make sushi! The part that is hardest for me is the rolling part. I learned a lot, like how you can make sushi while saving the earth.” — A fourth grader

Government-posted notices to Japanese and Japanese-American U.S. citizens during World War II

On the workshop, “The Civil Rights Movement: A Firsthand Account,” in which Foote science teacher Tim Blauvelt talked about his involvement

A speaker shows a photo of her parents from “Sit-In: A Grandmothers’ Story.”

with the Students for a Democratic Society and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and his travels with college friends to Mississippi to register voters: “Thank you for the truly moving and inspirational talk about your firsthand experiences. Having already heard the story in sixth grade, I knew the basic facts, but the newly included details were horrific. It was interesting to hear of the unsung heroes, not just Martin Luther King.” — A seventh grader Foote Prints

On the workshop, “Sit-In: A Grandmothers’ Story,” in which five African-American grandmothers from the Greater New Haven area told of growing up in the pre-civilrights-era South: “Thank you for coming to Foote School and sharing stories about your lives growing up down South. One of my favorites was when one of you told about your mother working in a restaurant and you were in the kitchen and peeked through the door. You saw a white couple having a soda together. Later in your life, you and your husband sat in the same restaurant and had a soda. One of your dreams had come true! Even though some blacks in our country and other countries in the world are not all treated with respect, I think Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream is trying to be realized.” — A sixth grader

Steel drummer Kenneth Joseph from Trinidad and Tobago

General commentary: “This was the best day I’ve ever had at Foote School, and I’ve been here a long time!” — A third grader

Students sang together and learned about gospel music in a workshop led by Foote parent Stephanie Tompkins.

Third graders during a dance workshop

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AROUND CAMPUS

From China to Connecticut, Gladly Will I Learn and Gladly Teach When they first stepped off the bus on Loomis Place in late September, students from Yali Middle School were bursting with enthusiasm — mixed with a touch of trepidation. One week later, they were hugging their newfound Foote friends and bidding them sentimental farewells with promises of ‘see you in March!’ The Yali students packed a month’s worth of learning and teaching into a week, spending time in Foote classrooms, touring New Haven and the region, and taking a biology field trip to West River. The 2011 guest teacher, Wang Manchun, who had arrived at Foote at the beginning of the school year, shepherded the Yali students and faculty members throughout the Foote campus. On one of the final days of their stay, several Yali students commented — in fluent English — on their visit. “I liked the biology

Walter Siracuse, left, a member of the school’s maintenance crew, picked up Yali guest teacher Wang Manchun at the airport in New York City.

class,” said one. “It was different from China because it’s outdoors. We never have outdoor biology class in China.” Said another, “I had a lot of fun and learned a lot from it. All the Americans I have met have been very friendly.”

The Yali faculty members chimed in too. “The students got to learn something and to teach too,” said Wang Xu, a former biology teacher who is now principal of Yali Middle School. “We have spent the most incredible days and nights with our host families, and we will continue this friendship forever and ever.”

Luo Meng (American name Jessica) shows students the location of her school in Changsha, China.

Foote Prints

A New Building Rises The Jonathan Milikowsky Science and Technology Building is on schedule â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and on budget! â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to open in fall 2012!

Students from Yali gather around Falco, the Foote mascot.

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AROUND CAMPUS

A Christmas Chestnut Renowned drama teacher Julian Schlusberg, who directs all of Foote’s theatrical productions, worked from the beloved Charles Dickens’ story to create an original script for Foote’s version of “A Christmas Carol.” Performed by seventh and eighth grade students just days before the holidays, the play remained true to the original story. One special twist: the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future were elaborately detailed life-sized puppets controlled by students.

Festivities at the Fezziwig home

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A Ninth Grade Tour de Force This year’s annual ninth grade play, the 1936 Pulitzer Prize-winning “You Can’t Take It With You,” by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, resurrected a beloved and critically acclaimed but under-acknowledged comedy created during the Great Depression. Foote ninth graders deftly performed the play, delighting students and families throughout one week in February.

Annie Rosen ’01, a graduate student in the Yale Opera Studio, returns to Foote to share her love of opera.

Laughter Hits a High Note

opera “Cosi fan tutte” for third, fourth and fifth graders Fri., Jan. 27, in the Sandine Theater.

The singing was magnificent, the comic antics delightful, and the explanations illuminating as Annie Rosen ’01, and Cameron McPhail, graduate students in the Yale Opera Studio, performed excerpts from Mozart’s

The two performers explained the opera in detail, drawing laughter and applause for their efforts. Rosen, who attended Choate, then Yale for her undergraduate degree, is also a graduate of the Mannes College in the New School for Music in Manhattan. Although she had not been back to visit Foote since watching her younger sister Sarah ’05 perform in a play, “all of these memories came flooding back when I arrived today,” she said. “Foote is such a beautiful place.” Rosen’s return was the first time a Foote alumna has performed opera on campus, and the response was positive. Grins abounded. Said one student as he was leaving the theater after the performance, “That was pretty fun.”

Annie and fellow Yale graduate student Cameron McPhail

Spring 2012

Rosen and McPhail performed in “Cosi fan tutte” at the Shubert Theater Feb. 10–12.

AROUND CAMPUS

Sports

The swim team rallies before a meet.

Students at the Middle School learned the value of teamwork and camaraderie this past fall and winter. Fall competition included girls soccer and field hockey and boys varsity and junior varsity soccer. Winter sports, which could just as well have been played outdoors due to the unseasonably warm weather, included boys and girls varsity and junior varsity basketball teams and the swim team, which continues to grow each season.

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Coach Brad McGuire outlines a play for his team.

Spring 2012

ALUMNI

Massimo Calabresi ’82 2012 Alumnus Achievement Award Recipient Equipped with a philosophy degree from Yale, a backpack and no particular plans for a career, Massimo Calabresi left the United States after college and spent the next year and a half wandering through Africa and Asia. Luck followed him. He arrived in Moscow in 1991, soon after the August Coup, which pitted Soviet hardliners against President Mikhail Gorbachev’s reform efforts. The coup ended in just a couple of days, but many historians pin the beginning of the Soviet Union’s dissolution to that time. There he was, in a city caught in an historic moment, with a philosopher’s mind, a penchant for writing and the need for a career - any career. He wrote a few stories, sold them to the New Haven Register, the National

Reunion Chairs CLASS OF 1942 David Hitchcock hitchdl@aol.com CLASS OF 1947 Susan Hilles Bush busuqi@aol.com

Review, Harper’s, and anyone else who would pay him to write. He was good at it, making a (meager) living, learning and having fun. He had found his life’s calling. Returning to the United States in 1993, he found steady freelance work in the New York bureau of Time magazine. “It was very exhilarating,” he says. “Being a freelancer is a challenge especially when you’re not directly associated with one place. With the work I had been doing overseas, I spent a lot of time pitching and trying to sell stories and less time reporting and writing.” Time magazine eventually hired him. He was sent to the Balkans in early

CLASS OF 1962 Laura Kautz Baker lbaker2@optonline.net

Wick Chambers Brian Drutman wick.chambers@winnicklaw.com brian.drutman@umusic.com Cecie Clement constance.clement@yale.edu

Elizabeth Roth LaFarge lizzieroth@gmail.com

David Gross d.gross200@comcast.net

CLASS OF 1982 Bethany Schowalter Appleby bappleby@wiggin.com

Elizabeth DeVane Edminster edminstr@ix.netcom.com

Don Ross dross@winvcounsel.com

Gladys Bozyan Lavine gblavine@gmail.com

Susie Swords Stevens sfxstevens@comcast.net

Harriet Tuttle Noyes htnoyes@comcast.net

CLASS OF 1972 Amy Estabrook Ross heyamo@snet.net

Jane Karlsruher Shedlin janekshedlin@aol.com CLASS OF 1952 Harald Hille harald.hille@gmail.com

Rob Gurwitt robg@valley.net Cathy Hosley Vouwie chv79@hotmail.com Louise Preston Werden lw6240@gmail.com

CLASS OF 1977 Elizabeth Daley Draghi gdraghi@sbcglobal.net

Deborah Fong Carpenter carpjnd@sbcglobal.net CLASS OF 1987 Elizabeth Caputo Bashawaty caputoliz@aol.com Timothy Daniels tdaniels@dwwind.com CLASS OF 1992 Douglas Cuthbertson douglas.cuthbertson@gmail.com

1995 to report on wars in BosniaHerzegovina and Croatia, then on to the conflict in Kosovo. He returned home in 1999, initially covering national security and diplomacy, then politics, Congress and the White House. “I had a great time covering Congress,” he says. “It really is the country in microcosm up there; it is still functionally the body that represents the American people, and you get a flavor of the geographical and cultural differences and interests and needs of people from every corner of the country.” He has his favorite stories, including a recent one with veteran Time Washington reporter Michael Weisskopf about the last days of the Bush administration and the dispute over whether Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby, merited a presidential pardon. Libby was convicted of a felony in relation to the investigation of the leaking of the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame, the wife of Joseph Wilson, an outspoken critic of the Iraq War. He also collaborated with Weisskopf on a story about the rise and fall of the Obama administration’s first White House counsel, Greg Craig, with the larger intent of documenting the president’s move from a left of center position to one more in the middle of the road. “That was in some ways harder than the Bush story,” he says “It was getting inside an administration that was still in power.” But the story that stays with him to this day is an older one, from when he was reporting in Sarajevo in the former Yugoslavia, now Bosnia-Herzegovina. With that article, he learned more about journalism and its challenges, than many stories before or since. Foote Prints

REUNION DAY 2012 Saturday, May 5 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS 10 a.m.

Registration, Main Building Coffee and Catching Up with Friends in the Perrine Library

11 a.m.

Award Ceremony, Hosley Gymnasium Remarks, Head of School Carol Maoz

Massimo Calabresi ’82 during an interview

He was writing about a man from Central Europe and a woman who was Muslim, who found themselves caught on the Serbian side of Sarajevo during the war. “They had suffered badly at the hands of some Serbs, but had been protected by others during that period,” he says. “The Muslims took over that side of the city, and the couple was attempting to help some of their Serb neighbors. The conflict was hard to describe because there were religious differences but not ethnic differences. It was a hard story to tell.”

It is a challenge he faces with each story, then and now, as he focuses on investigative reporting and general feature writing at Time. The magazine, having successfully weathered a downturn in the print market, continues to thrive, as does he, professionally and personally. He is married to Margaret Emery, a nonprofit lawyer who helps people who are underprivileged with legal issues. The couple has a son, Adam, 8.

The couple became friends with Massimo, so much so that he showed them the story once he was finished. Their disappointment was evident. “They didn’t feel the story had captured how bad things had been during the war, and how difficult the transition had been,” he says. His elation at completing the story dissolved in his own disappointment. But he is thoughtful and yes, philosophical, about the outcome.

“I consider myself pretty lucky,” he says. “It’s been a great and fascinating and interesting run. Every now and then I wonder what would have happened if I had taken a few more math courses or done something else, but I’m still having a great time and learning a lot. Even with print media in disarray, I can happily suggest that if someone is adventurous and not worried about financial security for a few years, it’s a good profession to look at.”

“A lot of what one does in journalism is make sure one’s facts are right,” he says. “It’s a much bigger challenge to get your facts right and somehow capture in microcosm the full extent of the lives you’re trying to represent.”

Massimo Calabresi will return to Foote School on May 5, 2012 to accept the Alumnus Achievement Award for his role in documenting history through his exemplary journalistic work at Time magazine.

Spring 2012

Presentation of Alumnus Achievement Award to Massimo Calabresi ’82, Washington Correspondent for Time magazine Noon

Class Photographs Courtyard

12:30 p.m. Luncheon Hosley Gymnasium 2 p.m

Culinary Walking Tour of New Haven with Foote Alum Colin Caplan ’94

4:30 p.m.

Tea Honoring Retired and Retiring Faculty, Perrine Library

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/registration. Complimentary childcare is available. You can sign up for that when you register online.

ALUMNI

A New Generation

Currently, 43 students have parents, grandparents, aunts, or uncles who attended Foote, carrying the Foote tradition into another generation. Front row, from left: Wolfie and Kurt Boone, sons of Sarah Netter Boone ’89; Stella Wareck, daughter of John Wareck ’84; Marley Hansen, daughter of Chris Hansen ’86; Julien and Sophie Gangloff, son and daughter of Amy Caplan ’88; Lucy Peterson, daughter of Owen Luckey ’83, Abigail Kruger, daughter of Avery Grauer ’87 Second row, from left: Sam and Charlie Mason, sons of Talbot Welles ’81; Sam and Sydney Osborne, son and daughter of Seth Osborne ’85; Isabella and Ava Noor Sadik, daughters of Wendy Cohen Sadik ’81; Ciara Ortiz-Diaz and Emmanuel Candelo-Diaz, niece and nephew of Yami Diaz ’99; Theo and Garrett Curtis, step-cousins of Wendy Fischer Magnan ’82 and Brad Fischer ’80; Rohan and Neal Shivakumar, sons of Claire Priest ’86 Third row, from left: Malachai York, son of Annie Wareck ’85, Julia and George Kosinski, daughter and son of Peter ’79; Casey Eskridge, daughter of Elizabeth Broadus Eskridge ’88; Caroline Berberian, daughter of Aram ’76; Coral Ortiz-Diaz, niece of Yami Diaz ’99; Teddy Vlock and Mira Vlock Arbonies, nephew and daughter of Sandra Vlock ’70; Rachel Brennan, daughter of Elizabeth Geller Brennan ’80; Evie and Henry Pearson, niece and nephew of Julia Getman ’85 Back row, from left: Josie and Penn Cancro, daughter and son of Allyx Schiavone ’85; Zev York, son of Annie Wareck ’85; Anya Wareck, daughter of John Wareck ’84; Elsa Rose Farnam, daughter of James Farnam ’65; Nathaniel Bogardus and Nicholas Palumbo, nephew and son of Jonathan Palumbo ’80; Sam Burbank, son of Elizabeth Burbank ’80; Katie and Eddie Martin, daughter and son of Catherine Petraiuolo ’83 Missing from photo: Nicholas Carpenter, son of Deborah Fong Carpenter ’82; Ella Peterson, daughter of Owen Luckey ’83

Foote Prints

Class of 2008: Where Are They Now?

The Class of 2008 in sixth grade Diego Barnes Bard College Daniel Berman Ithaca College Margaret Bogardus Amherst College Anahita Bradberry American University Jeannette Brent Bard College Emma Broder University of Chicago Paul Bucala Georgetown University Amanda Buhl Georgetown University Tiffany Chen Yale University Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld Harvard University David Copel High Point University Connor Davidson Quinnipiac University Olivia Dickey Washington & Lee University James Doss-Gollin Yale University Charles Ecker Franklin & Marshall College Julia Eisen Barnard College Spencer Evans Conestoga High School Nathan Flanders Colby College John Gallalee Lewis & Clark College Ryan Galloway Dartmouth College Kristin Gibble Pennsylvania State University ZoĂŤ Goetzmann Hamden Hall Country Day School Lisa Hansmann Yale University Andrew Haskell Emmanuel College Michael Hoeksema Amherst College Evan Horwitz Bowdoin College

Spring 2012

Nathaniel Huether Brown University Rebecca Jean-Baptiste Emerson College Zoe Kauder Nalebuff University of Chicago John Kerin Georgetown University Yon Sei Kim Unknown Nitin Kumar University of Pittsburgh Natalie Lapides Yale University James LaPosta Hamilton College Lucie Ledbetter Yale University Isabelle Levin New York University Nicholas Lima Massachusetts Institute of Technology Edmund Link Colorado College Susanna Lustbader University of Pennsylvania Tatiana Lyga Unknown Abigail Maciejewski Duke University Tiffany MacKinnel University of Rhode Island Miles Margulies Macalester College Lily McCarthy Barnard College Kelsey McCray University of Scranton Rachel Meyers University of the Redlands Michael Milazzo Hofstra University Jordan Miron Hampshire College Louise Newman Boston College Shalice Nisbeth Bentley University Gabriel Nudel Bates College Briana Ohnesorge Gateway Community College

Hanna Organschi Maxwell Patton

Brown University University of Southern California Bowen Peard Princeton University Mary Reidy Franklin & Marshall College Kathryn Reilly Yurkovsky Barnard College Jesse Rosenblatt Sound School Shelley Saggar Unknown Michael Schulz University of Connecticut Jennifer Seibyl Skidmore College Jackson Shaw Dickinson College Andrew Shin Unknown Derek Snetro Providence College Greg Spector New York University Corrine Sterling Southern Connecticut State University AndrĂŠ Sutton Unknown Nicolas Talbott Brown University David Tam Yale University Grace Thomas Bennington College Edward Torrence Newbury College Lanya Tseng Carnegie Mellon University Kelly Udelsman Bucknell University Nicholas Vassallo Gap year Benjamin Velardi Southern Connecticut State University Alexandra Zoreiqi Unknown

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Class Notes 1931 Martha Knight Clyde writes that she just welcomed her 10th greatgrandchild!

1934 Class Correspondent: Stuart Clement shclement@comcast.net

1935 Class Correspondent: Anna Huntington Deming anitademingo@hotmail.com

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

1937 75th Reunion, May 5, 2012

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

Our sincere condolences to Joan Venter Linn whose brother, Josiah (Josh) Venter ’59, died Oct. 2, 2011. David Russell writes, “My sister, Florence ’36, was here for Christmas. California winter, here, is quite dry and daytime warm. You are lucky with snow in other regions. New Haven seems a long way off but it is mentioned in many histories and autobiographies, etc. Hope Waters Thomas sends news from Hillsboro, NH, “My family gave me a marvelous 85th birthday celebration. All five children were here and five grandchildren — California, Texas and London couldn’t make it! I have a wonderful picture puzzle with several pictures of everybody including dogs and cats and musical instruments. It was such fun to put together and see 22

everybody and remember the occasion of the different pictures.”

1940 Our deep sympathy to Eugenia Tyler Copp whose husband, Belton Copp, died Sept. 27, 2011. They had been married 63 years. Sandol Stoddard writes, “I’m still in my house in Holualoa, Hawaii, the longest (30 years) that I’ve ever been able to stay in one place. It’s beautiful, comfortable, convenient, and surrounded by trees that give me all sorts of healthy, delicious things to eat. A book I wrote in 1962 (I Like You) is selling well enough these days so that Amazon now gives me more space, and some of the others are perking up, too. I’m 180 pages into a memoir at this point, hoping to finish it this year so I can get back to work on a long, unfinished novel about Hawaii. A third great-grandchild was born this March — a girl for a change, named Giana Sandol. My four sons are all thriving and six grandsons and four granddaughters are spread from Virginia to San Francisco and Hobart, Tasmania, several of them embarked on programs to save the world — or at least, our dearly loved planet and its creatures.”

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

1942 70th Reunion, May 5, 2012 Class Correspondent: David Hitchcock, Jr. HitchDL@aol.com

We are sad to report the death of Thomas “Skip” Brainerd who died Sept. 10, 2011. We extend our sympathy to his companion, Joseph Hines, and brothers, Peter Brainerd ’47 and

Charles Brainerd. Sam Babbitt played Polonius in The Gamm Theatre’s production of Hamlet in late 2011. David Hitchcock writes, “Lee and I enjoyed 10 days in Provence last May. We enjoyed Harry Welch, Victor Tyler, Milt DeVane and Sam Babbitt in Branford, CT for a few summer days. Vic and Milt have been less well since then.”

1943 Ruth Healy is working as an Episcopal priest in a small church in Covington, GA. She reports that she is well and happy.

1944 Class Correspondent: Ruth Watson Martin 55 Loomis Place New Haven, CT 06511 203-777-3822

Our sincere condolences to Phyllis Venter Powell whose brother, Josiah (Josh) Venter ’59, died Oct. 2, 2011.

1945 Class Correspondent: Elinor Bozyan Warburg ebwarburg@yahoo.com

Pamela Pond Goss writes “Son David, mate aboard around-the-world [boat] Macy, arrived in Jamestown, RI, in May 2011, after four years of sailing. Other family advances and grows and explores and travels: in Feb., I will be a GREAT-grandmother. How cool is that?! All well, happy, and ‘doing.’” Michael Buchanan reports, “Although we were fortunate and were not seriously affected by Hurricane Irene, others in our hamlet of Keene and Keene Valley were not. Many had their lives altered forever. The destructive force took away houses and even the land they were on. Belongings and winter heating essentials disappeared down our many streams. Recovery is slow, but many have contributed Foote Prints

“Being exposed to music at Foote was wonderful, no different from all the other experiences I had at Foote, but so distinct, and linked — just like those other experiences — to great teachers.” money and physical effort. We are fortunate.” Edith Cook Smith writes that Joanna Parks Husovsky lost her husband, Ivan, on Christmas Day. We extend our sincere condolences to her and her family. Edith adds that she continues to be active in politics, and went on a Democratic cruise to Mexico in December. Four of her sonin-law’s relatives visited from Spain for Christmas. They had an interesting bilingual meal!

1946 Class Correspondents: Kent Healy Kent.Healy@verizon.net Karen Wylie Pryor karenpryor@comcast.net

1947 65th Reunion, May 5, 2012 Class Correspondent: Gladys Bozyan Lavine GBLavine@gmail.com

Our deepest sympathy to Peter Brainerd whose brother, Thomas “Skip” Brainerd ’42, died Sept. 10, 2011.

1948 Nancy Adam writes, “I’m proud to announce that my oldest grandson, Nate, and his new wife, Laura, moved to New Haven in January, where Laura has accepted the position of Director of Education for the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. Nate is a PhD music theorist and plays piano and organ, sings bass, and will be looking for local jobs.”

1949 Class Correspondent: Sallie Farrel Brown salliebb7435@msn.com

Diane Johnson writes, “29 years of innkeeping (Nauset House Inn, Cape Cod), and still going strong. Love livSpring 2012

ing here — the beach at the end of my road. Hobbies: still art — 9 years with Left Bank Gallery, Orleans; my dog, Ginger; gardening; reading; love old movies.”

1950 Class Correspondent: Mary Pigott Johnsen jlmpjohnsen@west-point.org

The ’50 class scribe, Mary Pigott Johnsen, asked for 12 words per classmate since this is 2012. She started off with: No real snow yet — few bears — too many funerals. Too many calories! Sally Osterweis Kopman reports: I am too talkative for 12 words- so: Hi- from the land of Mark Twain, George Caleb Bingham, and the three bean salad. The weather has been beautiful in St. Louis, often up into the 60s. Kids were all home for the holidays, our health is good, so far, age 75 is going well. Happy and healthy 2012 to all. Foote School is still the best education I ever had. John Grant: Under the weather? Yes, it’s snowing. Quite a bit actually. Busy! (Well, that’s 11, but hardly worth printing.) Tordis Ilg Isselhardt: Publisher: three new books; reprints, e-books pending-Grandparent-Elder Caregiver-UU. (Then), Hope those of us who didn’t write holiday letters will get a chance to flesh out the bare bones description of our lives in person again soon — before 2015! Onward. Nancy Curtis: Still here, still working, rich in family and a few old friends. John Dollard: Still employed (Vice Provost, Forecasting, Institutional Research, and ModelingUniversity of Texas), Wife pursuing encaustic painting. Friend has brain cancer. Five dogs. Perry Welch: Doing some traveling this year; so, my news next time. Larry Barbour: We continue to survive the Maine winter. In a month we can allow ourselves to think (just a little) of spring, but we dare not do that yet. We play bridge, read, and watch old movies. We have

recently adopted two youngish cats who are settling into our family ways. Their greatest problem is our crazy poodle who wants to love them more than they can tolerate. I may not be much of a communicator but you are all an important part of my life. Vicki Meeks Blair-Smith let MPJ choose 12 words from her lengthy holiday letter, so: Bear (husband) genealogy, photo sorting, sled dogs, grands, kayaking, swimming, travel, Cape Cod. Margot DeNoyon Saadeh writes, “Still traveling back and forth to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, visiting family in both countries. I look forward to singing in two concerts this spring, one here in Avon CT, and one at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center New York City. LOVE spending time with local grandchildren, and when I go to Bahrain, the ones there. My next trip there is to be in April, God willing.” Marcia Tucker Boogaard is in touch, too, so 10 out of 15 this time. John Berry, Rob Dentan, Matt Griswold, Frances Salter McElheny will be subject to made up (Scribe) reports next time if they do not respond soon.

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

1952 60th Reunion, May 5, 2012 Class Correspondent: Harald Hille harald.hille@gmail.com

I must first remind members of the Class of 1952 that we will have our 60th Reunion (!) this year at Foote on Saturday, May 5, starting at 10 o’clock or so in the morning in the Main Building (more details to follow — check www.footeschool.org/reunion). I am looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible there. Serafina Kent Bathrick sent word from her 23

ALUMNI

Where a Chance Encounter Can Take Us: A Life in Chinese Art Susan Hilles Bush ’47 At Radcliffe in 1955, Susan Hilles Bush had assumed she would step into the field of comparative literature, except that she had tired of writing ideas about ideas. She took a Chinese painting course to shake off her intellectual fatigue, and one spring day, said to a friend, ‘Let’s go to the Boston Museum and look at the paintings we were shown in class.’ It was a simple sojourn, a change in course, but those sorts of right turns are what make the difference in life, and that happened for Susan. “We were going crazy trying to memorize the names of the Chinese painters, and we knocked on the door of the Adriatic Research Bureau at the museum, two little Radcliffe girls, and asked if we could see some of the paintings we had seen in class that were not out on display,” she says. “The curator was showing paintings to a visiting scholar and included us. That was it. I wanted to study Chinese art.” The literature-to-art switch made sense: her father was a professor of English at Yale, her mother an avid art collector. The move to Chinese art history was another story, born of providence and a chance encounter. She completed her master’s at Harvard and her PhD while giving birth to three children, taking care of her home and family, and fighting the fight that women faced then, when they were stymied at every turn by a bias against women receiving advanced degrees. “I was not deterred,” she says, when her thesis was not well-received by her professors. She pressed on, and the thesis, “The Chinese Literati on Painting,” was published through the Harvard-Yenching Institute in 1972, and then with some corrections in 1978. Another work was forthcoming, “Early Chinese Texts on Painting,” written with Hsi-yen Shih, the first female director of the National Gallery of Canada, also through Harvard University Press by way of the Harvard-Yenching Institute. And another, from the Princeton University Press, co-edited with Christian Murck in 1983, “Theories of the Arts in China.” A teacher as well as an author, Susan has given seminars and courses at Harvard, Columbia, Bryn Mawr, the University of Massachusetts, the University of Michigan, Brandeis, and more. She remembers well her days at Foote, after moving often during World War II and her father’s service in Air Force intelligence. She moved from New Haven to her grandparents’ home in Cambridge and a stint at the Shady Hill School, to the decidedly southern flavor of the Madeira School outside Washington, D.C. “At Madeira, I spent a lot of time wandering in the landscape, and I tended to be late for things — I still am — and would get a lot of demerits,” says Susan, who was known as Sukie in her youth. “I decided after a while to go back to my friends at Foote, and I was back in a much happier environment.” She was back with her friends, her hometown and her favorite teachers, including her English teacher, Mrs. Hitchcock, known as ‘Hitchy,’ who wrote poems for all her students upon graduation. Susan still remembers every word of the poem that was written for her (as do all her classmates when they reunite to sing and recite): “On wings of fancy can she rise and ably can she theorize but Sukie, mind your Qs and Ps and dot your Is and cross your Ts.” At 78, she is humble about her accomplishments, and credits Foote with giving her the idea that “even if I didn’t understand something, I could somehow manage,” she says. “Everyone was smart at Foote, and I guess there’s something about being with a whole lot of interested students, and being exposed to really dedicated teachers, that you carry with you for the rest of your life, even if you don’t understand at the time all the things they are telling you.”

Foote Prints

winter home in Siracusa, Sicily, where she paints and luxuriates in the Mediterranean light and climate (http://www.picturesicily.com), while her farm/restaurant Lightyears in southern Wisconsin hibernates (http://www.highbeam.com/doc/ 1G1-149878651.html). She has very charming postcards for sale on her Siracusa website with views of houses and squares in the town and surrounding area. She also offered some reflections on her years at Foote: “I have had many months to think about my experience at Foote. Leaving Foote when I did, after 7th grade, was excruciating. A real wrench from friends and the familiar. My father left teaching and Yale to work in Washington for one of the government agencies and became a much less accessible parent, often traveling. So, leaving Foote was leaving a gentler, more communicative place, a different world. Washington was never home and always seemed kind of cold.” Lee Gaillard writes from Saranac Lake, NY, where wife Ann is rector at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, that he handles the vacuuming and the laundry at home and brings in the firewood. He told Ann that he’d take care of the house if she’d take care of their spiritual well-being. He says that he got the better deal. He continues writing, with articles on Pearl Harbor (70th anniversary last year) and on the connection between John James Audubon and John Keats. Work in the pipeline includes an essay on Hemingway, on James Dickey’s Deliverance and some of his related poetry and on Kaiser Wilhelm II’s personal responsibility for inciting World War I. Last summer he and Ann traveled to Québec City and in November to Italy (harvest season with beautiful sunny weather). Through the grapevine I have learned that Dr. Stan Morris, after getting his degree in behavior disorders and a career teaching special education teachers and doing therapy with adolescents in a Spring 2012

residential treatment facility, retired several years ago and returned to school (West. Illinois Univ.) to study theatre lighting and this past September designed the lighting, for the Lake Charles Community Theatre’s production of Moss Hart’s Light Up The Sky in Lake Charles, LA. Stephanie Dunham Howell reports from Atlanta, GA, that 2011 was a difficult year health-wise, but a new grandchild in June and a family outing to spend a happy Christmas on Kiawah Island, SC, made up for the downside. Her doctors are pleased with her progress, and she feels stronger each day. Ted Hilles writes from Windsor, VT: “Jane and I had a nice time several weeks ago visiting with Peter Cooper and Diana at their place in Bethany. Jane and I have become very interested in competitive croquet, the six-wicket variety with cast iron wickets and one central stake. We are playing in a tournament in Florida next week and also played in a tournament last fall in Central Park in NYC — a great experience for us. It is hard to believe that our 60th reunion is approaching. Hope to catch up with all of you then.” Your Class Secretary can add a few lines about himself and the family. A third grandchild (all granddaughters!) was born last fall, this time to younger son Christophe, who opened a little restaurant (www.northernspyfoodco.com) two years ago in the East Village of NYC (East 12th Street at Avenue A); it can be described as “locovore”, “farm-to-table” or “serving quality seasonal food” (rather like Serafina’s restaurant in Avoca WI). I urge you to try Northern Spy (named after a NY state apple) if you’re in NYC. It is, for one thing, very affordable. It has had very good press, but it’s been a slow uphill struggle in a very competitive town. I published a pocket-sized Swedish-English dictionary last year with a small local publisher who specializes in foreign-language dictionaries and cookbooks. My mathematician

father was Swedish, and I’ve kept the language up through reading and travel to Sweden. I have also been returning to do language work at the UN every fall during their General Assembly. Fun to work with old friends again and see if the soufflé can rise again. I hope you are mostly well and that we’ll see a number of you this May 5 at our 60th reunion. Best for 2012! — HH

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

Our sincere sympathy to Mary Lou Venter Briggs whose brother, Josiah (Josh) Venter ’59, died Oct. 2, 2011. In anticipation of our 60th reunion a year from now, Bob Wing and Mary Lou attended Reunion Day last year to witness the 60th reunion of the Class of 1951, at which Bob’s sister Cathya Wing Stephenson ’51 received the Distinguished Alumna award. Subsequently, in his seldom-used role as class correspondent, Bob has collected news from several classmates. Eligio Petrelli reports, “This fall I visited Foote classmate Wil Aaron, a Welshman I hadn’t seen since the eighth grade. A great reunion and tour of the dramatically beautiful Welsh countryside. Now we’re trying to get Wil and family to return to New Haven for a Foote reunion.” Wil, who has devoted many years to documenting all aspects of Welsh life, past and present, has been in America as recently as last summer, studying the history of Welsh pioneers. He travelled the Mormon Trail (although not by covered wagon) from St. Louis to Utah, reading the diaries written (often in Welsh) by Mormon pioneers as they worked their way westward during the 1840–69 period. We can expect to see Wil’s book on the subject some day, but for now he’s “just enjoying the research.” Nancy Gaylord, although 25

ALUMNI

retired from Channel 8 Television (WTNH-TV), keeps busy with volunteer work for Branford Community Television, the Historical Society, and programs associated with her church. She has also been conducting weddings as a Justice of the Peace. Brenda Sweeney Filley continues to live in an enlarged house in Guilford with her younger son, his wife, and their five children, ages 6 through 14. As if running after grandkids weren’t enough to keep her fit, she plays tennis five days a week plus USTA matches every other weekend around the state. Celestine La Farge Nicolas writes from the Netherlands that she has another way of keeping fit by putting serious time and energy into Irish step dancing. She has been competing and teaching and will do an exam in Dublin in May. Cathleen Greaves Rowlette has been bouncing back and forth between Vancouver, where she and her daughter live, and Tortola in the Virgin Islands where her son lives; she has grandchildren in both places. As her fitness regimen, she has taken on the presidency of a lawn bowling club in Vancouver. Katherine Tiernan O’Connor is on sabbatical this spring prior to her retirement from Boston University. Her translations of two Chekhov stories will appear in a forthcoming Norton edition of his stories. Sarah Willard Penegar sent a synopsis of her past 59 years. After living in Chapel Hill, Washington DC, and New Delhi, and settling in Knoxville TN, she went back to school at age 36 and got a PhD in Clinical Psychology. Since 1983 she has been in private practice focusing on individual psychotherapy. She has two children: David, who is seriously into bicycling, and Elizabeth, who is a psychiatric social worker in Knoxville. Bob Wing continues his research in astronomy, attending conferences and traveling to Chile twice a year to collect data. During the past year he edited the proceedings of a conference held in Vienna in 2010, and currently he is 26

preparing for conferences in Barcelona and Beijing. Rick Fabian, who missed our 50th due to an apparent heart problem, writes that it was a false alarm and that he’ll try again for our 60th. Let’s see everyone there!

1954 The Class of 1954 needs a class correspondent. If you are willing to take on the job, please contact Amy Caplan in the alumni office at acaplan@footeschool.org.

Ed Johnson reports that he is now retired and gets to sleep late.

1955 Class Correspondents: Nawrie Meigs-Brown nawrie@comcast.net Lee Dunham LDunham@sandw.com

1956 Class Correspondent: Will Amatruda

1957 55th Reunion, May 5, 2012 Class Correspondent: Kevin Geenty kevin@geentygroup.com

Rives Fowlkes Carroll writes, “We’ve just been evacuated from Rehoboth Beach and now await the winds and rains of Hurricane Irene in the safety of our DC home. Being only half way through our vacation with the entire family, we were reluctant to leave the compatibility of our three generations and entertainment by the children. Days earlier our porch swayed and shook in the earthquake, so this has been an exciting week that included my 68th birthday. I’m now welcoming every birthday! Dickson and I continue to study French, speak our Carrollese Français, and practice with our long-suffering friends. Last fall we returned to France where we enrolled

in a language institute in Bordeaux, were warmly hosted by a marvelous family for two weeks, followed by time in the Dordogne Valley and SW France. Bordeaux has been ‘renewed’ and is well worth a visit.” Kevin Geenty writes, “I recently saw and visited with a large number of Footies at the unhappy occasion of a memorial service at Trinity Church on the Green for Charlie Bradley, a New Haven icon.”

1958 Class Correspondent: Eric Berger ericberger@aol.com

1959 We report with deep sadness the death of Josiah (Josh) Venter on Oct. 2, 2011. We extend our sympathy to his wife Martha, children Josh and Molly, sister Mary Lou Venter Briggs ’53, brother Peter Venter ’66, and sisters Joan Venter Linn ’39 and Phyllis Venter Powell ’44.

1960 Class Correspondent: Happy Clement Spongberg happyspongberg@earthlink.net

Happy Spongberg and husband Steve celebrated the marriage of their daughter Nia to Mollie McDermott on May 29, 2011 in Shelburne, VT.

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

1962 50th Reunion, May 5, 2012 Class Correspondent: Donald O. Ross dross@winvcounsel.com

Donald Ross writes, “It has been a while since I have written to Foote Foote Prints

This May, I celebrate my 60th birthday by cruising in Alaska.”

1967 45th Reunion, May 5, 2012 Class Correspondent: Nina Anderson tropickat@verizon.net

1968 Class Correspondent: Liz Prelinger prelinge@georgetown.edu From left, Kevin and Leslie McDermott, Mollie McDermott, Nia Spongberg, Happy Spongberg ’60, and Steve Spongberg

Prints. Susan and I have been living full time in Newport, RI for eight years in our house we used to use part time. I am now a grandfather to three small ones all under 3 years old, courtesy of both my son, Jamie, and my daughter, Fraser. Still in the investment business with my firm, Wainwright Investment Counsel.”

1963 Class Correspondent: Susan Stratton susan@strattonpartners.com

Katharine Walker sees Kathy Arnstein regularly and has occasional “sightings” of Ann Miller Finicane in the summer. Katharine sends greetings to all her classmates!

1964 Class Correspondent: Verdi DiSesa vdisesa@cchosp.com

We extend our sympathy to Norman Harrower whose father, Norman Harrower, Jr., died Nov. 21, 2011. We also send our condolences to Catharine (Kitty) Barclay Fender who lost husband Michael on Dec. 28, 2011, after a long illness. Besides his Spring 2012

devoted wife, he leaves two children, Patrick and Emily.

1965 Class Correspondent: Eric Triffin Eric_Triffin@aya.yale.edu

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

Our sincere condolences to Peter Venter, whose brother, Josiah (Josh) Venter ’59, died Oct. 2, 2011. Eliza Twichell writes, “Moved to Santa Fe this fall — time for a change! Wonderful music, art, culture, food! Feels like a foreign land. Worth a visit if you’ve never been. The last 10 years I’ve been closely associated with Hospice (back East) and hope to continue here.” Grace Hammond Boss reports, “I am still working on completing Sanctuary, a building on my farm in Hill (NH). Soon I travel to Cuba with a group focusing on the art and architecture of Cuba. Photography is my favorite hobby. Many interests — especially my two children — one a freshman in college, the other a sophomore in high school. God is faithful; it has been a year of many challenges.

Our deepest sympathy to Bill Wolfgang whose mother, Anne Wolfgang, died Aug. 27, 2011.

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

Our deepest sympathy to Michael Wolfgang whose mother, Anne Wolfgang, died Aug. 27, 2011. Grier Torrence writes, “I just had a reception for my exhibition of paintings, drawings, and prints at Bowery Gallery in NYC and was deeply touched to have attending the event Foote School classmates Riley Brewster, Geb Byers and Patricia Chao.” John Kebabian, Jr., fourth generation owner of Kebabian’s Oriental Rugs, is pleased to announce the 130th anniversary of America’s oldest Oriental rug importers. The family business is still in downtown New Haven and sells the finest handknotted Oriental rugs and carpets (new and antique) all over the country. He adds, “We are very grateful for our customers’ continued patronage.”

1970 The Class of 1970 needs a class correspondent. If you are willing to take on the job, please contact Amy Caplan in the alumni office at acaplan@footeschool.org.

ALUMNI

Mastering the Art in Medicine Katherine Hicks ’67 Katie Hicks earned a degree from Brown University in art history in 1975. But as anyone who has known an art history major will tell you, few actually move into that realm. They become doctors, lawyers, celebrated chefs, actors. Art history has its diverse uses, and for Katie, a Massachusetts obstetrician-gynecologist, the skills required for pattern recognition in art were the same ones she needed to recognize visual patterns in histology and pathology. “It’s actually been an enrichment in my overall life,” says Katie, 58, who has been practicing medicine in Massachusetts for almost 30 years. Her embrace of the narrative — in art, in medicine — through her studies and through her early introduction at Foote to Latin, French and writing — has made a difference in the way she looks at medicine, and at life. “It was the grounding of the education at Foote that was a tremendous thing for me,” she says. “I was lucky to start languages, especially Latin, so early, and to a great extent Foote taught me the basics of writing, which was critical to success in education in general.” Katie moved to Massachusetts when her husband, Henry Rosenberg, a family practitioner, assumed ownership of a practice there. She joined a large health maintenance organization initially. “But it doesn’t take long to learn that when you’re in a big practice, one of the disadvantages is that I might do nine deliveries in a weekend yet have never met any of those patients until they walked into the hospital,” she says. The lack of intimacy was not for her. She soon joined a small practice. “It was just the two of us, but we got to know the patients a lot better and I was more in charge of what happened under the roof of the practice,” she says. “I like to call the shots, and I like to order people around, so it fit with my personality.” But she has seen the tides turn, and bigger practices are back in vogue, thanks to independent third-party control and huge malpractice premiums that were crippling many independent practices. “It is moving inexorably in one direction, away from those small practices we remember,” she says. Her two children are grown, she sees retirement on the far horizon, and so she will soon move off the obstetrics rotation to limit her practice primarily to gynecology. Although her revenues will decrease, so will her malpractice premiums. It is a trend that is being seen throughout the nation, and Hicks is grateful that it is only happening now, after she has had the privilege of a career serving patients she knew, and whose babies she herself delivered. “Taking stock, we’re all trained to limit the degree to which we pat ourselves on the back on a daily basis,” she says. “But I had an experience the other day with a patient who had been with me for a very long time, through the smaller practice to a bigger practice, through new employees and a new office, and she said to me, ‘Look at what you’ve built!’ It was a very moving thing, and it showed me that I should look back, I should take stock. “And I’m doing that. I’m imagining a different stage in my life, where work occupies a lesser share of my moments. It’s a developmental stage that people of my age can relate to.”

Foote Prints

1972 40th Reunion, May 5, 2012 Class Correspondents: Amy Estabrook heyamo@snet.net Cathy Hosley Vouwie chv79@hotmail.com

1973 Class Correspondent: Peter Hicks phicks@websterbank.com John Persse john921@juno.com

We extend our sympathy to Mary Harrower Whyte whose father, Norman Harrower, Jr., died Nov. 21, 2011. Peter Bigwood began a job in Seattle, though he continues to live in Northampton, MA. Lots of travel! His daughter, Annie, is headed off to the Peace Corps.

1974 The Class of 1974 needs a class correspondent. If you are willing to take on the job, please contact Amy Caplan in the alumni office at acaplan@footeschool.org.

We extend our sympathy to John Wellington whose father, Harry Wellington, former dean of Yale Law School, died Aug. 8, 2011.

1975

Wellington, former dean of Yale Law School, died Aug. 8, 2011. Helen Hammond writes, “I am caring for my 93-year-old dad and settling in to life in Charlottesville, VA. I enjoy singing as a soloist at church, taking a gardening course, being involved in a Precept Bible Study, and helping my sister, Jane Hammond McKinney ’73, market her cashmere wool. Check out our website (www.nantucketharborrental.com), and let me know if you would like to rent our Nantucket home.” Ken Yanagisawa MD and wife, Julia Shi, MD, remain busy with work and kids. Ken currently serves as the Section Chief of Otolaryngology at the Hospital of Saint Raphael, the President of the UConn Medical Alumni Association, the President of the CT ENT Society, and the President Elect for the New England Otolaryngological Society. Their daughter just graduated from college, two sons are in college, one son in high school (10th grade), and “baby” son in grade school (6th grade). Ken and Julia are active organizing and officiating USA Swimming meets.

1977 35th Reunion, May 5, 2012 Class Correspondent: Elizabeth Daley Draghi gdraghi@sbcglobal.net

1978

Class Correspondent: Jessica Drury sjsaz@optonline.net

Class Correspondents: Nell DeVane Eleanor.S.DeVane@espn.com

Our deepest sympathy to Katherine Wolfgang whose mother, Anne Wolfgang, died Aug. 27, 2011.

Stephen Fontana SAFontana@aol.com

1979 1976 Class Correspondent: Hyla Flaks Crane hyla@steppingstonesmuseum.org

We extend our sympathy to Tom Wellington whose father, Harry Spring 2012

Class Correspondent: Bonnie Welch Bonniewelch@taftschool.org

Raphael Sbarge is currently on a new ABC show, “Once Upon a Time,” playing Jiminy Cricket, Sundays at 8

p.m. He has two children, Gracie (9) and Django (7).

1980 Class Correspondent: Liz Geller Brennan gelbren@aol.com

Our condolences to Brad Fischer, whose father, James J. Fischer, died on Feb. 23, 2012.

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

Hilary Fayen Higgins writes, “We have some news to report: I have put my freelance translation business on hold and moved my family back to Germany for the next year or two to work as an in-house translator for Wacker Chemie AG, a German chemicals company that produces highly pure silicon for the semiconductor and photovoltaic industry, among other things. Anyway, we are living in Burghausen, Germany (near Munich) and are enjoying visiting old friends and making new ones. Son Ronan is in a German school and starting to get the hang of it. We love visitors if any Foote alums are in the area.” Nicolas Crowley is coming up on 13 years living in Paris, 11 of them living in front of the Hotel de Ville. He recently traveled to India for 10 days where he visited Goa (17th century Portuguese churches, etc.) and stayed at a nice resort in Karnataka with friends. He visited with Holly Johnson over the holidays in Madison, CT, and enjoyed playing with her son who was just discovering the joy of Lincoln Logs! Jonathan Hymer checked in after a long absence and had lots of news to share. He’s been living in Colorado for eight years now and is currently in a graduate program at the University of Colorado, Denver, called Sustainable 29

ALUMNI

An Acting Devotee Heeds a Higher Calling, Plenty of Drama Attached Katherine Bingham Moorehead ’85 Katherine Bingham Moorehead began Foote School in sixth grade with Mrs. Johnson, and it was there, she remembers, that she began to love language and learning. She took drama, which led her to want to become an actress, so much so that she attended Vassar College, actress Meryl Streep’s alma mater, solely because it was Meryl Streep’s alma mater. “I wanted to be Meryl Streep,” she says. She took Latin, too, which led her to study ancient scripture. Her home life was steeped in music — her mother was the composer and concert pianist Susan Bingham — and law, which her father practiced. Perhaps best known to the world at large, her great grandfather Hiram Bingham was a Yale academic who discovered the lost city of Macchu Picchu. He was the child of missionaries, which plays a part in what his great-granddaughter chose to do with her life. For Katherine, the best career for a life of drama, music, scripture, legal issues, intellectual stimulation, and yes, discovery, was the ministry. And it is there she finds herself today, after Yale Divinity School, then as head minister in churches in Kansas and South Carolina. She has risen to become the dean, or head priest, of St. John’s Cathedral Episcopal Church in Jacksonville, Fla. “All of the theater work I did was training for the priesthood,” she says, laughing. “I was being trained for something I didn’t realize at the time; I do an enormous amount of public speaking.” Her warmth, humility, intelligence, and drive have helped the region in a variety of ways; her efforts and those of the cathedral have spawned numerous non-profit organizations helping the poor and homeless in a city with an abundance of them. “Many homeless move toward the warmer climates, and right now we have about 4,000 people here who are homeless,” she says. Down the street from St. John’s is a shelter, built by the church, which houses 350. Still, it has not been enough. “A few times a year it gets below freezing, and we have to open the churches,” she says. “People sleep on the floors.” She supports the other Episcopal churches in the region, is vice president of five non-profit boards the Cathedral created, helps coordinate the numerous ministries, counsels the poor and the sick, runs the cathedral, holds services, and is raising three sons with her husband, J.D. Moorehead, a Yale Law School graduate who teaches at Florida Coastal School of Law. “It’s a big job, and I’m learning to delegate,” she says. “And my three boys — completely unique, individual guys — keep me humble. When you are at a cathedral, there are all these fancy robes and beautiful things and people treat you as if you’re important, and the children treat me as mom, and that’s very good for me. And my husband … I couldn’t do this life without him.” Her life has come full circle since Foote, in more ways than just her career. One day recently, during a church retreat in Palm Coast, Fla., a woman walked up to Katherine and said, “Do you remember me?” It was her Foote sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Johnson, the teacher who had set her on her path to learning. “I look at Foote School as a pivotal time in my life,” Katherine says. “It was the best money my parents ever spent on me. It was the best education I could have had.”

Foote Prints

Urban Infrastructure, focusing on energy planning and policy. He writes: “I love it and am getting plenty of exposure to real-world, policy-type applications in the region, the state, and municipalities. I am happy to say that I am on my way to getting funded to do an alternative (natural) building project through a Denver sustainability program. On another note, looking at the breathtaking world events that have been marching along over the last three decades (the breakup of the Soviet Union, the rise of the Chinese economy, awareness about climate change and fossil fuel emissions, 9/11, etc.) has often brought me back to Bob O’s [Robert Osborne’s] history class…I was sorry to hear of Margaret Brooks’ passing. I will never forget le français that she drilled into us, well most of it anyway… I wish everyone from that Foote nexus well.” Jennifer LaVin reports that she finally married her long-time boyfriend, Geoff Payson, in a beautiful outdoor ceremony in Kingston, MA, on 9/10/11. She is proud to officially now be step-mom to Geoff’s two children, Miles, 8, and Neva, 11. Jen and Geoff live in Somerville, MA, where Jen continues work as an independent communications consultant to the life science industry. Brian Liburd, who left after 6th grade, has been located! He is living in West Hartford and works as a

producer at ESPN. Monica Osborn writes that her oldest son graduated from Sacred Heart University in 2011 and that her second and third sons will graduate in 2012 from Southern Connecticut and Johnson and Wales, respectively. She is left with her busy 9year old son and says, “My nest is slowly clearing out. What a good feeling!” She is still working at Yale, is traveling a bit, and really enjoying life. Paud Roche also checked in. He is living in Los Angeles with wife Sue and their two children, Kitty and Harmony.

1982 30th Reunion, May 5, 2012 Class Correspondent: Bethany Schowalter Appleby bappleby@wiggin.com

Our condolences to Wendy Fischer Magnan whose father, James J. Fischer, died on Feb. 23, 2012. Congratulations to Ben Allison, who made his Carnegie Hall debut on Feb. 3 and will appear at the New Haven Festival of Arts & Ideas in June. For more info on his music, visit benallison.com. Sarah Smith Gerritz writes, “I have been living in Guilford [CT] with my husband and two kids (12 and 9) for about 10 years. I am working as a family doctor in an office a mile from our home.”

Alexia Prichard’s documentary, “Soma Girls,” has been airing on PBS stations throughout the country. The film explores the lives of girls growing up in a hostel in Kolkata, India. For more information, visit www.somagirls.org. Clinton White sends news that “Things are going fine in Egypt. We are praying the one-year anniversary after the revolution will be uneventful. I am planning to attend the reunion. 30 years — Oh Boy. I hope there is a strong turnout.” Clinton was honored in remarks made by USAID administrator Rajiv Shah during a USAID town hall visit by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Shah said of him, “he’s now working directly with 18 local organizations, helping people realize the aspirations of the Arab Spring that, of course, is changing the world and has been so much the focus of this Administration and of Secretary Clinton.”

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

Lisa Sandine Schuba, principal of Animas Valley Elementary School (in Durango, CO), sent word that her school received the Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Award for 2011, showing exceptional student growth. Last year, Lisa was the winner of the 2011 Rookie of the Year award for her work as a first-year principal.

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

Beth Ferholt ’86, far right, with, from left, son Saul, partner Rachel Kahn, and newborn son Judah on Rachel’s lap

Spring 2012

Our sincere condolences to Jay Lender, whose father, Murray Lender, died on March 21, 2012. Congratulations to Nate Tyler who married Lauren Goodman in New York City on April 29, 2011. He and Lauren welcomed a son, Nathan Goodman Tyler, on Nov. 14, 2011. 31

ALUMNI

Helping Others Live Better Lives Kossouth Bradford ’87 Kossouth Bradford was the child of parents who valued education. They sent him to Foote in fifth grade, leaving the Wallingford public schools. On the combined incomes of his father, a teacher at Choate, and his mother, a social worker, the Bradfords managed the expense of private school, and it wasn’t easy. Kossouth remembers the anxiety he felt the night before it was his mother’s turn to drive the Foote car pool. “We had a beat-up Chevy, and it seemed to me that everyone else’s car was a Volvo and Mercedes Benz,” he says. “I saw my first mansion when I went over for a play date on a Friday. Yet I was accepted unconditionally for who I was, and how I was dealt with depended on how I treated people. I was surprised by that. I thought it would be more elitist.” He was given a perspective few others have the opportunity to obtain: he was a boy who had little in the way of material wealth, but he had parents who saw the impact he could have on society. They showed him by doing. His father ran a camp for children who were underprivileged in Wallingford, along with overseeing the first African-American student union at Choate. His mother worked at battered women’s shelters, and brought Kossouth along. “No men were allowed, but because I was younger than 7 they let me in,” he says. “I saw that the kids were displaced and didn’t have the things we had, even though we didn’t have a lot.” After college at the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree from the University of California-Berkeley and several years working for California’s Department of Children and Families, then Casey Family Services in Connecticut, he became a mental health consultant for Connecticut’s Department of Children and Families. He also has a part-time private practice in which he works with children, adults and families. Kossouth lives in New Haven with his wife, Michelle, an artist, and their daughter, Nia, 4. His warm personality, kindly spirit and strong listening skills benefit him in a challenging job, although he’s no hero, he says. “It’s an interesting job, and a little bit removed from the madness of working as a child protective services worker,” he says. “But there’s still plenty of room for growth.” His knowledge of what it is like to feel different — he was one of the few African-American students at Foote in his years at the school — and what it takes to determine one’s own good fortune has helped him in many ways, he says. “Foote allowed me a well-roundedness in terms of what I was exposed to,” he says. “It definitely gave me a different kind of insight, from a socioeconomic perspective and a little insight in terms of the desire for wealth and goods. Having been at Foote with folks who have those things, it made me see the realities of wealth and opportunity, the benefits and the drawbacks. “ It is a perspective he often uses in his social work and in therapy sessions with his clients, enabling him to speak to clients about what they are searching for based on his own experience. He values his family, and his good fortune, and he’s glad he gets to give back a little every day. “I’ve been given a lot of opportunities in life, nurturing and support and love,” he says. “And if there is some way to assist those who haven’t been given those opportunities, I want to.”

Foote Prints

1985 Class Correspondent: Carter LaPrade Serxner lapserx@gmail.com

Our deep sympathy to Amy Mulligan Wilson whose father, Harry Mulligan, died Oct. 1, 2011.

1986 Class Correspondent: Ellen Prokop prokop@frick.org

Beth Ferholt writes, “We — me, partner Rachel Kahn, and big brother Saul — are so happy to welcome Judah, born Sept. 6, 2011, into our family! This fall we also moved closer to cousins Raya and Asher (of my sister Sarah Ferholt ’90), and Judah is lucky enough to be well-dressed in Emily Freed’s daughter, Cloe’s, hand-medowns.” [Photo on page 31].

1987 25th Reunion, May 5, 2012 Class Correspondents: Jonathan Levin jdlevin@stanford.edu

EB James began as executive director of the Squam Lakes Association (SLA) in October 2011. He, wife Lisetta, and son Edu moved to New Hampshire

Juliet Kerr Avelin ’88 with husband Brett Avelin and sons, Eamonn, 4, and Miles, born May 4, 2011.

Spring 2012

Klaus, Ruthie James ’91, Ed, former faculty member Bonnie James, EB James ’87, Lisetta and Edu James

from their previous home in Maryland. As EB enthused in the announcement of his new position, “Finding an opportunity at a place like the SLA, where all my professional experience and all my personal passions come together in an exciting nexus, is truly a wonderful thing.” Congratulations to Elyse Buxbaum and husband Scott Stringer who welcomed son Maxwell Elliot on Dec. 9, 2011.

1988 Interim Class Correspondent: Amy Caplan acaplan@footeschool.org

Our deep sympathy to Sara Mulligan whose father, Harry Mulligan, died Oct. 1, 2011. Lisa Moore has been working with Ai-Jen Poo ’89 and the National Domestic Workers Alliance on a campaign to end deportations of immigrants with U.S.-citizen children. For more information on this cause, please visit www.webelongtogether.org. Juliet Kerr Avelin writes, “I still live in Putney, Vermont, with my husband and two sons, Eamonn, who just turned four, and Miles who is nine months old. Attached is a recent photo taken outside our home while we actually had some snow on the ground this winter. I am currently taking time off from work, but my background is in the performing arts, non-profit arts

administration, and education. Funny story: Last spring I attended the funeral of the sister of my grandmother and who should be there but [Foote business manager and former teacher] Jay Cox! It turns out my 5th grade math teacher and I were related all these years and didn’t know it (by marriage not by blood)!” Amy Caplan reports, “I’ve been back in New Haven for almost 6 years after living in Paris, San Francisco and NYC after college. My twins, Sophie and Julien, are now 6 — and in kindergarten at Foote! We’re excited to bring them back to France for another visit this summer.”

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

Ai-jen Poo, director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, was named in Newsweek's March 5 issue as one of the “150 Fearless Women in the World.”

1990 Class Correspondent: Rachel Batsford rachelb1357@gmail.com

Congratulations to Katie Altshul who is engaged to Eric Darci. Dave Holley writes, “Ended 2011 with a new job 33

ALUMNI

Pursuing — and Finding — Creativity through Computing Adam Leventhal ’94 Computers had a gravitational pull for Adam Leventhal, starting when his father bought the family’s first computer. (Do you remember the year you bought your first computer? Adam does.) It was 1986, he was about to be 7, and already he was spending hours in Foote’s computer lab, playing games such as Lemonade Stand and Oregon Trail. He brought that same eagerness to the classroom. “Foote did a really good job of teaching math and encouraging math,” says Adam, 32, now a noted software engineer. “My interest in math led to my dabbling in computer science in high school at Choate, then focusing on it at Brown, where I majored in Math and Computer Science.” An independent thinker from early on, Adam made a name for himself at Sun Microsystems in the Silicon Valley, where he had interned during college. He and two other engineers created DTrace, an analysis tool that can be used to observe all aspects in unmatched detail of a running computer system. DTrace has solved some of the toughest and most expensive problems affecting critical computer systems. Originally available on Sun’s Solaris operating systems, it has since been adopted by Apple, FreeBSD, QNX, and Sony’s Playstation. The efforts of Adam and his colleagues drew international acclaim, including a gold medal in the Wall Street Journal’s Technology Innovation Awards contest in 2006. But Sun Microsystems was acquired by another company, and the culture of creativity that Adam held so dear was lost. “One of the things I really loved about Sun was the engineers were very much in charge and had a lot of autonomy,” he says. “Oracle was a very different culture, where managers rather than individual contributors were in control.” So he quit. He joined Delphix in Menlo Park, Calif., a much smaller but highly innovative company, a year and a half ago. Delphix built on technology (including DTrace) he knew as well as technology with which he was unfamiliar. It had market opportunities, a unique idea, and a strong team. “Since I joined Delphix, I’ve pulled in a bunch of colleagues from Sun and Brown, and we’re having a blast,” he says. “The work is interesting, and we’re starting to see some success in the market. In a bigger company, we’re much more insulated from the individual deals. Now we’re doing smaller numbers, but I feel we have a noticeable influence. At a startup, doing an individual deal worth $100,000 is really moving the needle for the business.” He’s living in San Francisco and loving it, much to the chagrin of his parents, who live in New Haven. “San Francisco is a great town for great produce, great meats, and culinary culture,” says the now-accomplished cook. “From my mom’s perspective, I’m too happy here.” And he isn’t going anywhere soon — “I’m going to be happy at Delphix for a while,” he says. “It’s fun to be at the place that’s at the knee of the curve, to have a front row seat is really exciting,” he says. “I’d love to start a company of my own, and now I’m learning a ton of lessons to help me eventually do that.”

Foote Prints

1993 Class Correspondent: Jenny Keul jennykeul@gmail.com

Congratulations to Alex Ullman and wife Meredith, who welcomed son Tyler Lincoln Ullman, born on Nov. 19. Margaret Sledge is an architect with Lake Flato in San Antonio, TX. She was married on Sept. 10, 2011, on Block Island. Her husband, Kevin Peckham, is a digital producer for a small advertising and media firm. Barbara Gahbauer Olmer ’91 and Scott Olmer were married Sept. 17, 2011.

as a virtual events manager with ON24.com. Enjoyed a week in Cabo San Lucas with Nikki Hamlett. Looking forward to new beginnings in 2012!”

1991 Class Correspondent: Bo Bradstreet ebradstr@gmail.com

Barbara Gahbauer Olmer writes that 2011 was a big year. She was engaged in February, married in September, promoted in May. Highlight of the year was her and husband Scott Olmer’s three-week honeymoon in Patagonia (Chile and Argentina).

1994 Class Correspondent: Arna Berke-Schlessel Zohlman arnie250@hotmail.com

Jeffrey Einhorn is practicing criminal defense in Manhattan and “fighting the good fight!”

1995

1996

Class Correspondent: Jack Hill seaburyhill@aol.com

We extend our sympathy to Leonard Campbell whose father, Leonard Campbell, Sr., died on Jan. 10, 2012. Congratulations to Aleagia MercerFalkoff who married Ben Barnes on

Katy Zandy Atlas katy91@gmail.com

20th Reunion, May 5, 2012 Class Correspondent: Katie Madden Kavanagh katieblee@hotmail.com

Spring 2012

Aug. 20, 2011, in Branford, CT. Derek Nowak was married to Kate O’Brien Sept. 17, 2011, in Portland, Maine. [See photo, page 37]

Class Correspondent: Brett Nowak Nowak.Brett@gmail.com

1992

Our deep sympathy to Bob Mulligan whose father, Harry Mulligan, died Oct. 1, 2011. Alyssa Chen Walker and husband Hal welcomed their second child, Northrup “Nick” Miles Walker, on Aug. 30, 2011. Jeremy Angoff and wife Kate welcomed son Oliver Michael Angoff on March 13, 2012.

Aleagia Mercer-Falkoff MD ’95, was married to Dr. Benjamin Barnes on Aug. 20, 2011 in Branford, CT

The children of Alyssa Chen Walker ’92: Halliway, 2, and Nick, born Aug. 30, 2011

Rebecca Stern married Brendan Schulte on Sept. 10, 2011, by the ocean in South Thomaston, ME. They met in 2004 in Jackson, WY, where they currently reside. Rebecca’s brother, Jeffrey Stern ’01, was her Man of Honor! [See photo, page 38) The couple honeymooned on the island of Bequia in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Rebecca is the owner and creator of RS Photography (www.rs-photography.com). Katy Zandy recently published an e-book, available on Amazon: “Moving Neutral” is a young adult novel that tells the story of Casey Snow, a normal girl who gets to live out her wildest fantasy when she accidentally meets the lead guitarist for her favorite band. Dalton Cox McCurdy has started a new blog called “Eat. Make. Play.” 35

ALUMNI

A Vocation, An Avocation, and a Passion for Both Manu Nathan ’97 In 2008, Manu Nathan was working at Heller Ehrman, an internationally known law firm that had survived the Great Depression, wars, and some seriously bad weather, including earthquakes in its San Francisco office. He was delighted to have landed the job, after taking a year off between college and law school, being a personal assistant in New York City, bartending, and even managing a hookah lounge — owned by Foote alums. Raised in Woodbridge, where his parents still reside, he had graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in psychology and neuroscience, and Brooklyn Law School, where one of his internships was providing legal services for patients at Kingsborough Psychiatric Hospital in Brooklyn. “I compare it to “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” he says. “It was an eye-opening, incredible experience.” He used his health science background to advance his law career; Heller Ehrman had many clients in the life sciences industry. Then the recession struck, the firm imploded, and Manu lost his job. “That was a turning point for me,” he says. “Being unemployed is up there as one of the most disheartening periods of my life.” But he kept going, and with support from family, friends, and the occasional Foote alum, Manu’s community offered him the support he needed. Tenacity, and a sense of humor, helped. “Through meeting somebody who knew somebody whose mom knew somebody’s girlfriend’s mother’s dog’s influential uncle, I got an interview at IMG,” he says. He landed the job at IMG, which specializes in sports and fashion, splitting his time between sports and entertainment law and corporate law. And he’s happy, and settled, and prospering. That would be the end of his story for the time being, except that working his way out of unemployment gave Manu some entrepreneurial skills that have helped him — and others — far beyond his position at IMG. When he was without a job, he realized he needed to take more risks. At the same time, his best friend from his high school days at Choate, Alfredo Axtmayer, was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. After treatment, Alfredo wanted to move back to Manhattan, and Manu offered to live with him. The two ran the 2010 NYC Marathon together and began raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Manu was already on the national bone marrow registry, having signed on after a former girlfriend lost a sister to leukemia. Then a childhood friend and neighbor was diagnosed with leukemia, and Manu participated in a national effort to find a bone marrow match. It all seemed like a sign. “I’m really enjoying my time at IMG, in the sports and entertainment biz,” Manu says, “but getting people registered on the national marrow registry and fundraising for the LLS has filled a void. It feels great, to do it.” Because of his involvement, the Society nominated Manu to be a candidate for its Man and Woman of the Year campaign, which runs from March 8 to May 17. He has been spending weeks raising money. (Find out more by visiting http://nyc.mwoy.llsevent.org/manu). The candidate that raises the most funds wins the title of Man or Woman of the Year. “It’s kind of an over-the-top title, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to actually win,” he admits. “Still, as we say, ‘Whoever wins, cancer loses.’” To raise awareness for his campaign, he ran the New York City half marathon in March and plans to compete in the New York City triathlon in July and run the New York City marathon in November. What drives him? “Honestly, this all started at Foote, this idea of giving back, that there’s something greater than ourselves, and just generally being community-minded” he says. “I really credit the school for understanding that education isn’t just academics — it’s so much more.”

Foote Prints

which offers crafty, healthy, and fun ideas for new mothers. Visit the site at http://eatmakeplay.blogspot.com. Brett Nowak and Melinda Jelin were married Aug. 26, 2011, in Manchester, VT.

1997 15th Reunion, May 5, 2012 Class Correspondent: Eliza Sayward elizasayward@yahoo.com

Tera Zarra reports that she is making an album of original music, trying to learn a one-handed handstand, teaching acrobatics and aerial dance, and saving up to visit Montreal. Christopher Yardan graduated from Boston College and Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine and is finishing a three-year surgical residency at Westside Regional Hospital in Plantation, FL. He will be in Mike Petrelli’s wedding in July.

1998 Class Correspondents Andrew Lebov alebov@gmail.com Elisabeth Sacco saccopotatoes@yahoo.com

Congratulations to Al Drucker who was married to Jennifer Yaeger on July 10, 2011 in Lake Placid, NY.

1999 Class Correspondents: Chelsea Rittchen 139 Fountain St. Apt. A9 New Haven, CT 06515-1926 203-387-8493 Jeremy Zuidema jmzuidema@gmail.com

Congratulations to Annie Sklaver who married Aaron Orenstein on March 3, 2012. Annie is an artist in Brooklyn who creates “unique paper-cut portraits using a collage of patterns, colors, and shapes and shadows to evoke a particular moment in time.” For more information or to commission a cut-out, visit her website at www.anniesklaver.com. Yaminette Diaz Linhart gave birth to her second child, a girl, Nihka, 8 lbs. 12 oz., on March 6, 2012, little sister to 4-yearold brother Nahum (see photo, page 38). Yami graduated from a dual degree master’s program at Boston University Schools of Social Work and Public Health in May 2011 and regu-

From left, Heather Nowak ’01, Kate O’Brien Nowak and Derek Nowak ’95, Brett ’96 and Melinda Nowak

Spring 2012

larly sees Melanie Gelfand ’98 who is at Boston University Medical School. She had a wonderful time when she visited Foote in December 2011 to see A Christmas Carol in which her nephew, Emmanuel Candelo-Diaz ’17, and niece Coral Ortiz ’14.

2000 Class Correspondents: Alex Kleiner alex.m.kleiner@gmail.com Shannon Sweeney smsweeney07@gmail.com

Congratulations to Pete Duncan who married Elisa Jorgensen on December 10, 2011. Both Pete and Elisa are medical students at Yale. Congratulations also to Libba Cox who is engaged to Sam Burke. Eleanor Campisano writes, “I’m loving Tanzania, a fascinating country with a rich history and much potential. I’ve traveled to the agricultural university and to rural villages in addition to my work in the main market of Kariakoo in Dar es Salaam, exploring opportunities for increasing food security in my project with 2Seeds Foundation. Read more on my blog:

Melinda Jelin Nowak and Brett Nowak ‘96

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http://theadventuresofellie.wordpress. com.” Stephen Abbott is enjoying his time in Hanover, NH, at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business where he will receive his MBA in Spring 2013. Sarah Pickard graduated from the Stanford School of Medicine in June 2011, and is now enjoying her pediatrics residency at Children’s Hospital Boston (Harvard University).

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

Annie Rosen, who is getting her master’s in voice from Yale, was one of four local winners at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She advances to the next level, the New England Regional Finals on March 18. John Murphy is currently based with the U.S. Marines in

Rebecca Stern ’96, her parents, husband Brendan Schulte, and brother Jeffrey Stern ’01

Okinawa, Japan. This year he has traveled to Bangladesh, Thailand, and the Philippines.

2002 10th Reunion, May 5, 2012 Class Correspondents: Hope Fleming 47 Old Quarry Road Guilford, CT 06437 203-453-9400 Eric Mayer fmayer2010@gmail.com

Michael Wiles has embarked on a new venture called Go Tortuga. He and a business partner have a store that sells athletic clothing and gear, while also promoting sea turtle advocacy. Michael is excited to offer a discount to the Foote community. Follow him on twitter @Gotortuga.

May 2012. Last summer she traveled to Egypt, Italy and Greece.

2004 Class Correspondents: Dillon Long know33@gmail.com Dana Schwartz dana.schwartz5@gmail.com

Our sincere condolences to Adam Stempel whose mother, Ann Lindbeck, died Sept. 5, 2011. Ronald Coleman is teaching 6th grade math and science at Roberto Clemente Leadership Academy in New Haven. After graduating from Tufts, Ronald joined Teach For America “to inspire my students to push for opportunities

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

Katy Zandy Atlas ’96 is the author of Moving Neutral, a young adult novel

Courtney Holmes will graduate with a master’s degree in occupational therapy from Tuskegee University in

Yaminette Diaz Linhart ’99 and family

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outside of their community and travel the world. By being a corps member, I can empower my students not to settle for mediocrity and instead find their dreams attainable.” Dana Schwartz graduated from Mount Holyoke College and now works for the Michael J. Fox Foundation in New York City. Daniel Broder works as director of government relations for Solar Roadways, Inc. and also does political consulting in Washington, D.C. Samantha Mashaw celebrated the New Year with Scout Sanders. Samantha graduated from Kenyon last May and planned to move to Santa Monica, CA, to pursue a career in the visual arts. Hannah Grimes is teaching for the academic year 2011–12 in South Korea.

2005 Class Correspondents: Gabriella Rhodeen gabriella.rhodeen@gmail.com Dan Tebes tebesd@kenyon.edu

2008 Class Correspondents: Michael Milazzo mmilaz3@pride.hofstra.edu Kate Reilly Yurkovsky K_R_Y7@yahoo.com

Kelly Udelsman is majoring in early childhood education at Bucknell University. Natalie Lapides is a freshman at Yale University where she is happily rowing on the varsity women’s crew team and playing club water polo. Kate Reilly Yurkovsky is loving Barnard College where two other members of the class of ’08, Julia Eisen and Lily McCarthy, are also first years.

2009 Class Correspondents: Chris Blackwood cblackwood@andover.edu Eva Kerman ekerman12@choate.edu

Victor Joshua, a senior at Hamden Hall, was selected as the New Haven

Register’s Male Athlete of the Week in early January 2012 for his role on the Hornets’ basketball team. Kela Caldwell completed college applications and is looking forward to her last year of high school. This spring she is captain of the Hopkins girls’ water polo team.

2010 Class Correspondents: Brandi Fullwood brandi.n.fullwood@gmail.com Clay Pepe cpepe13@choate.edu

Danny Smooke played Hermia in a Westover School production of “A Midsummer’s Night Dream.” Brandi Fullwood is working on a mini film festival at her school. Biweekly she goes to an architecture mentoring program, and every week she attends Hemispheres, the Yale model UN mentoring program. This past December she planned to assist in filming a theater performance with hopes of future work.

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

Yuri Sakurabayashi planned to attend VIA’s Exploring Health Care Program at Stanford University this March. Yuri is currently a medical student at Tokyo Women’s Medical University.

2007 Class Correspondents: Kenny Kregling kkregling@snet.net Symphony Spell symphony.spell@gmail.com Hannah Grimes ’04 and her class in Seoul, South Korea

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

Will Brennan asks classmates to check out and ‘Like’ his new band, SAWFISH, on Facebook: www.facebook.com/sawfishmusic. Band members include Zac Reigelmann and Lamar Smith ’10. Jesse Phillips spent six weeks in Russia and Sweden last summer. He attends Suffield Academy and was starting goalie on the boys’ varsity soccer team last fall. Taylor Mayes writes, “I worked during the summer at Yale Sports Camp, and as far as my studies, I’m still at Hamden High, and my favorite class is AP U.S. Government. I played volleyball in the fall. I love to read, draw, and play volleyball.”

FACULTY NEWS Congratulations to Colleen Murphy (Physical Education, Athletics) who gave birth to daughter Madeline on Sept. 8, 2011. Maddie joins big brother Ryan. And congratulations also to Becky McGuire (Registrar/Admin. Assistant to Division Heads) and Brad McGuire (Physical Education, Athletics) who welcomed son Grady on Nov. 1, 2011. Even more congratulations to Lucy McClure (Art Associate) who gave birth to Claire Maria McClure on Jan. 30, 2012.

FORMER FACULTY NEWS Penny Lovely Farrel (K and Grade 3, 1975–86) writes from Florida, “I still hear from some of my old students. Some are parents with kids in school. One just returned from Afghanistan, safely thank the Lord.” We send our deep sympathy to Marian Spiro (middle school math, science department chair, director of computer education, 1970–89) whose husband, Dr. Howard Spiro, died on March 11, 2012. We are sad to report the death of Anne Wolfgang (Crafts and Art Department, 1961–62, 1969–72) who died Aug. 27, 2011. Our sympathy to her family including children Bill Wolfgang ’68, Michael Wolfgang ’69, and Katherine Wolfgang ’75.

Foote is approaching its 100th birthday!

David Tam ’08, a freshman at Yale, spoke to Foote ninth graders as they were preparing to depart for their China trip in March. David’s family moved to Hong Kong after he graduated from Foote, and he attended an international school there. He shared with Foote students some of the differences between Hong Kong and the mainland, chief among them that Hong Kong is far more cosmopolitan than anywhere on the mainland.

Help us celebrate. We are seeking archival materials related to Foote for a centennial collection and exhibition. If you have materials you are willing to share, please send an Email to mgranquist@footeschool.org or call 203-777-3464 and ask for Maria Granquist. Watch future alumni magazines for news on the centennial celebration.

Yan Ke (American name: Coco), our 2008 Yali guest teacher, gave birth to a son, Rufus, in 2011. Please keep her in your thoughts: she is recovering from surgery for gastric cancer, which was diagnosed in January, and has started chemotherapy.

Congratulations to Ben Fussiner (After School Program and 3rd grade associate, 1990–99) and wife Sondra Lender who welcomed son Ezekiel (Ziggy) Everit Lender on Jan. 30, 2012.

In Memoriam Thomas Brainerd ’42 September 10, 2011 Josiah Venter ’59 October 2, 2011 Norman Harrower, Jr., Board of Directors, 1967–70 November 21, 2011 Jean Shepler Miller, Music, 1953–90 October 30, 2011 Harry L. Mulligan, Jr., Board of Directors, 1985–90 October 1, 2011 Anne Wolfgang, Crafts and Art Department, 1961–62, 1969–72 August 27, 2011 Foote Prints

In Memory of Jean Shepler Miller For decades, Jean Shepler was a musical fixture at Foote, a teacher whose optimism, gentle and encouraging nature, resourcefulness and boundless enthusiasm moved generations of Foote students to enjoy music daily. On Sun., Oct. 30, 2011, she died at the age of 86 in Murrieta, Calif., where she had been living with her son, Glen Shepler, Jr. ’73. “She kept all of us in line, and I don’t remember her ever having to ask us more than once because we all loved her and wanted to please her,” recalls Debbie Fong Carpenter ’82, who was a soprano in the 8th Notes, the Foote Chorus back then. “She praised us often.” Managing the Foote music program was not without its challenges: Jean taught music, conducted the Foote orchestra and Glee Club, taught fourth graders to play the recorder, choreographed May Day, organized the seventh grade opera trip, gave piano and violin lessons, and staged Gilbert and Sullivan musicals. She lived in the same house in Hamden for decades and regularly returned to Foote after retirement to lead former students in singing favorites from “The Fireside Book of Songs.”

She was born in Nottingham, England, on April 3, 1925. Her family was poor, and she never knew her biological father. When she was just 15, in 1940 — the year the Germans began an eight-month bombing blitz of London — she began to teach piano to other children, including numerous Jewish children who had been saved from the hands of the Nazis. “She would have been close to their age,” her son Glen says. “Music catapulted her out of poverty and all the other conditions of her life at the time.” During the war, she attended the Royal Academy of Music in London, graduating as an Associated Board Scholar. She also received a degree from the Royal College of Music in London, whose graduates have included Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Benjamin Britten, and Andrew Lloyd Webber. In 1946, soon after the war ended, she left London for the United States. She was married for a time to Rudolph Schaap, an Army paratrooper who had landed at Normandy. They had one son, Rudy, and subsequently divorced. She taught at the Hartt School of Music, at that time in

Hartford, and arrived at Foote in 1953, where she remained until 1990. She was married to Glen Shepler, who for a time was assistant to the head and then Foote’s business manager. After Mr. Shepler died, she married the professor and noted psychologist Neal E. Miller, a pioneer in brain and behavior research. Professor Miller died in 2002; her son Rudy ’62, died in 2008. She leaves her son Glen, daughter-inlaw Elizabeth Shepler, and three grandchildren, Glen Michael, Kevin Anthony, and Maria Elizabeth. A Fine Arts Prize in her name was established in 1990, given annually to Foote students who excel in music, art, and drama. In 2010, Foote alumni who had studied under Mrs. Shepler established the Jean Shepler Miller Music Fund to provide support for the music department. Contributions in her memory may be made to the Foote School, 50 Loomis Place, New Haven, CT 06511.

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Memories of a Musically Happy Time, With Thanks to Jean Shepler The news of Jean Shepler’s death awakened in Foote alumni a flood of reminiscences. We share just a sampling of them, in edited form, here. The Class of ’55 took Music from Mrs. Cowles for several years, but at the end had Mrs. Shepler. I vividly recall the difference, as Mrs. Cowles was older, reserved, and Mrs. Shepler was younger, uninhibited. Music is half musical skill, half performance skill. We liked Mrs. Cowles because she protected us from embarrassment while we were learning how to read music and get a foothold with basic musical skill. Mrs. Shepler ripped off that shield and encouraged us to go for it, using whatever modicum of skill we had, and not to worry unduly about the consequences. She modeled not being fearful and shy, and was unfailingly optimistic about the results. — Babs Currier Bell ’55 I remember her gentleness and thoughtfulness, her commitment to music and teaching us music. I learned a great deal from her and am sorry that she’s gone. — Raphael Allison ’85 I often have thought of Mrs. Shepler when I see Lifesavers as she gave them out as rewards for good work. One day (when I guess I was paying attention!) I remember getting an entire pack! I believe this became her trademark in my mind! Although I never developed a true musical edge (thus the career in orthodontics….) I feel that Mrs. Shepler was instrumental in opening my world to what music can be. — David H. Seligman ’84, DMD I have a great memory from playing in the Foote School Orchestra in fifth grade in 1968. The orchestra had been invited to play a joint concert with a band at the Worthington Hooker elementary school, and we arrived there on a beautiful fall day to set up our music stands to play outdoors on their asphalt basketball court. A beat-up old 42

upright piano had been wheeled outside for Mrs. Shepler to accompany us during two concert pieces we had been working on for several months. She soon realized the piano was terribly out of tune — in fact the entire keyboard had slipped south one or two half-steps worth. "No problem!" she declared with a grin, so as we launched into our piece in a simple key like G major, she accompanied us in the key of F sharp (with six sharps) without a single mistake. She transposed the whole thing in her head, on the spot! The concert went beautifully, and our hosts were never made to feel embarrassed about their piano. It was a triumph of courteous finesse! — Greta Nettleton ’72 Who can forget the Foote School Orchestra, the Orff Instruments, the Fun Song Assembly, May Day, the Fireside Songbook, Cole Porter and Yale songs, and on and on. I loved being across the hall from her and hearing the singing and recorders, operas, instruments and all the happy sounds of lively students and a truly wonderful teacher and friend. — Frank Perrine I went to Foote in the ’80’s and early ’90’s, and confess that one of the strongest sensations I had about Mrs. Shepler back then was that she already seemed ancient, with her pastel wool suits, dangling pearl-drop earrings surrounded by delicate gold cages, and thick sensible-heeled shoes that announced her arrival in the classroom. I remember finding her fascinating as she painstakingly taught us to read music, learn a box step, or appreciate Glen Miller and Cole Porter. I can still see her putting on one of her innumerable, scratchy records with the raucous music and announcer calling out square dancing commands. She was responsible for pulling together a chaotic mass of distracted kids and churning out one smashing holiday concert after the other, to the delight of proud parents

and grandparents. And that was nothing compared to May Day… how she even managed to find that eclectic variety of folk-dances and get hundreds of kids, reluctantly at first and then proudly, to perform their assigned dances was nothing short of a miracle. It was she who taught me to distinguish the sound of a flute from a clarinet, a French horn from a trombone, and a cello from a violin by carefully listening to Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. — Jenny Keul ’93 She taught my father, purchased her first piano in America from my great uncle, and introduced my daughter to Foote when she hosted alumni day in 2005. During my first music class at Foote, she asked me if I was Jack Mettler’s son. I confirmed that I was, and she said that she hoped I was a better singer than he was. — Kirk Mettler ’85 I have a vivid memory of being in Jean Shepler’s classroom as a first or second grader, with portraits of famous composers arranged chronologically on the wall. She played us a recording of Rossini’s unmistakable “William Tell Overture” and asked, a twinkle in her eye, if anyone recognized the piece. Several of us (mostly boys) called out enthusiastically, “It’s The Lone Ranger!” The old Western serial was broadcast in syndication at the time. We were so excited to recognize a piece of classical music. At this, Mrs. Shepler shook her head vigorously and reprimanded us. “No, no, no,” she said in her delightful accent, “It’s the William Tell Overture. Please don’t call it The Lone Ranger.” At this point one of my classmates was heard to whisper, “Wow, it sounds just like The Lone Ranger. “But Mrs. Shepler’s gentle insistence that we appreciate and respect classical music in its original form made a deep impression on me. She did it all with kindness and evident love for both music and children. — Jeff Brand ’84 Foote Prints

FOOTE NOTES

Why I Love Music By Garrett English ’85 Jean Shepler was and continues to be a wonderful influence on my personal and professional life. I came from a musical family to begin with, so I suppose I had an inclination from the beginning that music would be a passion for me. Of course, while at Foote this manifested itself in an obsession with popular music (The Police, U2, Rush, and Van Halen mostly, but embarrassingly, a bit of Huey Lewis and the News and Corey Hart as well), an affliction that I bear even today in my professional life, although replaced with the likes of Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and Kanye West. I was a drummer while at Foote, playing in the school orchestra and, to the annoyance of administrative staff whose offices were across the hall from Mrs. Shepler’s classroom, in an upstart rock trio during recess. Jon Fay, Todd Billingsley (both truly talented musicians) and I would hammer away at Rush’s Distant Early Warning over and over again at inappropriate decibel levels. At the first note, teachers and administrators would come running red-faced to the classroom intent on silencing the horrific racket, only to be met by Mrs. Shepler patiently seated in the corner correcting papers. She would wave them off with a patient smile as we decimated her one quiet respite from the cacophony of the day. She was a treasure. Although her fostering of our love of music (even if it was Rush...) was fundamental, Mrs. Shepler used this passion to open the door to music of every variety. She would take time in her class to play us a piece of music each week so we could simply absorb it. This is where I met Puccini, Vivaldi, Mozart, Jessye Norman, Benny Goodman… Mrs. Shepler taught me that my love of Spring 2012

The author as a student at Foote in 1985, next to his 1985 yearbook entry

contemporary music was in fact a fundamental love of music in all its forms, that a musical phrase or lyric could transcend, that the exploration of music could feed one’s soul. At our 20th reunion, we were lucky enough to have Mrs. Shepler in attendance. Just as we had every week in grade school, she played us a piece of music that had touched her: Paul Robeson’s version of Shenandoah. She walked us through its significance both musically and lyrically, and then played it for us. It was, as she was, inspiring. Since leaving Foote, I have ventured through life with music as my constant, successes and failures blunted and bolstered by the love of music that began within my family

but took root in Jean Shepler’s orchestra. Through much of my early post-graduate life, music played its familiar supporting role, although during the past 15 years I have been fortunate to have music as the center of my professional life as well. I often think back to that classroom, to the lessons learned and the doors opened. Mrs. Shepler was, and remains to all she touched, an inspiring teacher. Garrett English is MTV senior vice president, executive in charge, music production. He leads strategic management and execution of production, development, talent, budgeting and negotiation of production talent deals for the MTV Movie Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, mtvU Woodie Awards, and other live broadcast events.

We invite other alumni to write about Foote’s impact on their lives — career choice or otherwise! We will post submissions on the alumni website and in this magazine. Contact alum@footeschool.org to submit an essay.

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Young Alums Drop by for a Special Visit Foote graduates still in high school flocked to Young Alums Day in November, yelping with glee at seeing old friends, chatting with former teachers, sharing stories, and posing for photos that promise to be cherished in the years to come.

Alums gather outside the Hosley Gymnasium

Cameron Swift ’10 and Danny Smooke ’10

Elizabeth Stanley ’11, Taylor Mayes ’11, and JuJu Camizzi-DePalma ’11

Tiara Tompkins ’09, Silas Newman ’10, and Victor Joshua ’09

A group of young alumni with French teacher Jenny Byers ’65

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COME BACK FOR REUNION DAY 2012 Saturday, May 5 “I am not a big person for reunions … but our Foote reunion somehow seems different, maybe because Foote was such a wonderful place to be young and to learn, or maybe because the school was smaller than our high schools or colleges, which allowed us to really get to know each other.” These words from a recent alum reflect the joyful sense of recollection and reconnection that pervades reunions at Foote. We hope you’ll return to gather with classmates, friends and former teachers to celebrate your years together at this “wonderful place.”

To check out the Reunion Day schedule please go to page 19.

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

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Parent Teacher Council Spring Auction and Fundraiser “Feast for Foote” April 28

(visit https://footeschoolauction.dojiggy.com)

Reunion 2012 Saturday, May 5 (See page 18)

Summer 2012

Early and Late Summer Adventures — 10 days of programming in June: June 18–22 / June 25–29 and 10 more in August: August 13–17 / August 20–24 Summertime Fun — June 25–August 3 Foote Summer Theater — June 25 – August 3 Including the Young Actors Workshop — July 2–13 And a new Playwriting workshop! — June 25–July 13 Learn more at www.footeschool.org/summer or call Dawn Walsh at 203-777-3464

Grandparents Day 2012 Friday, October 12

Contact the Alumni and Development Office (mgranquist@footeschool.org or 203-777-3464) to add a grandparent or special friend to the list.

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