G A R R I SON F OR E S T 2013
MAGAZINE
From the Head of School BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2013-2014 OFFICERS OF THE BOARD
David M. DiPietro, President Carroll Dawbarn ’64, Vice President Amabel Boyce James ’70, Treasurer Timothy T. Weglicki, Secretary BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Emily Gardner Baratta ’88 Sara N. Bleich ’96 Frank A. Bonsal III Robert S. Brennen Cassandra Naylor Brooks ’85 Kimberly Hubbard Cashman ’85 Diana Warfield Daly ’74 Timothy F. Daniels Mathias J. DeVito Stacy Garrett-Ray ’92 Kimberly W. Gordon Molly Mundy Hathaway ’61 Timothy W. Hathaway Sarah LeBrun Ingram ’84 Catherine Y. Jackson ’83 Lila Boyce Lohr ’63 Mark W. Mullin C. Ashton Newhall Gregory C. Pinkard Karan H. Powell Frances Russell Rockwell ’68 R. Todd Ruppert Sarah Crosby Schweizer ’84 Elizabeth B. Searle ’74 Helen Zinreich Shafer ’93 William B. Spire Caroline Rinehart Stewart ’66 William L. Yerman EX-OFFICIO
Kathleen W. Baughman Karen M. Blair William S. Hodgetts Eleanor Shriver Magee ’89 G. Peter O’Neill, Jr. Gillian Willard Shafer ’91 TRUSTEES EMERITI
Frank A. Bonsal, Jr. H. Grant Hathaway Henry H. Hopkins Douglas A. McGregor Elinor Purves McLennan ’56 Francis G. Riggs Clare H. Springs ’62 Frederick W. Whitridge Katherine R. Williams
WHAT PREDICTS A STUDENT’S SUCCESS IN SCHOOL AND LIFE? Test scores? Grades? Recent research is revealing that the answer is far from what we, as parents and as educators, have assumed. However, the answer has been at the heart of a Garrison Forest education for over a century. Last fall, I read one of the most important books on education and raising children I have read in years: How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character by Paul Tough. In this book, Tough, author and writer for New York Times Magazine and The New Yorker, among others, compiles and examines numerous empirical research studies and school programs. One of the studies he explores is that of Dr. Angela L. Duckworth, psychology professor at the University of Pennsylvania, who is conducting research with our 7th and 9th grade students. Tough’s resulting premise? It’s not scores or grades that best predict success. “What matters, instead,” he writes, “is whether we are able to help [a child] develop a very different set of qualities, a list that includes persistence, self-control, curiosity, conscientiousness, grit, and self-confidence.” Scores and grades remain important, but they are not the only way to predict a student’s success. When I read Mr. Tough’s list of non-cognitive success indicators, or character traits, I was particularly struck by the word “grit.” Garrison Forest has always valued this trait—“Garrison Grit,” as I have come to refer to it. We give our students the confidence and safety to risk failure and learn from mistakes. We continue to offer support and resources, put bandages on scraped knees and soothe bruised egos, but fixing a student’s mistake is not a short-cut. In fact, Tough’s research shows that it may go a long way to fostering an unintended short-coming. This September marks my 43rd year in education and my 20th and final year at Garrison Forest. The single, most important truth I have learned as a teacher, coach and head of school is that teaching resilience in the face of adversity is one of the most profound lessons we can give our children. In our feature article, “What’s the Big Idea?” (page 14), we drill down into curiosity, one of Tough’s success indicators. We ask alumnae, faculty and students to explore that instant when innovation—that most sought-after of 21st-century skills—ignites a new idea and to examine the role of creativity in their work. At the heart of each answer is a hefty dose of grit gleaned by navigating frustration to foster resourcefulness, problem-solving skills and, ultimately, success. Enjoy the 2013 Garrison Forest Magazine, and I strongly encourage you to read How Children Succeed. This summer, the faculty and staff chose it as the faculty/staff summer read, and the Board of Trustees is joining us in this assignment. (The summer reading test will be optional for you in September.) I look forward to the discussions that will ensue—and to witnessing the remarkable intelligence, resilience, joy and curiosity our students bring to every day at Garrison Forest. I cannot imagine a more rewarding way or place to complete my career, which I have been privileged and honored to share with Garrison Forest for nearly two decades.
G. Peter O’Neill, Jr.
GARRISON FOREST 2013
MAGAZINE
www.gfs.org
14 What’s the Big Idea?
Students, alumnae and faculty get to the root of creativity and innovation
22 Home Sweet Dorm
Students give readers a peek into their rooms and lives as boarders at Garrison Forest
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118 Mascot Menagerie A fun look at the history of the Garrison Forest mascot
DEPARTMENTS
2 Newsmakers Alumnae, students and faculty make headlines
8 Farewell to the Forest 22
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10 Faculty at the Forest Celebrating faculty and staff honors and retirees
> ON THE COVER “Hydrangea” by Megan McCulloh ‘14 Megan McCulloh finds inspiration everywhere. She paints a variety of subjects—her preferred medium is oil painting—and acknowledges several artists, particularly Georgia O’Keefe, among her favorites. A big source of creativity is B.J. McElderry’s Drawing Portfolio class and the different media she and her fellow artists use. In addition to art classes, Megan, who has been at GFS since the Threes program, enjoys math and history classes. “With history, I love learning about different periods in time,” she says. “I also like to work with numbers and solve problems.” George Mason University recruited Megan to play lacrosse next fall; she plans to study art in college.
26 Spirit of Giving The Fund for Garrison Forest, Senior Class Gift, Class of 2013 college attendance list, Leadership at the Forest, the MarshallOffutt Circle, Head of School Search and 2013 Hall of Excellence Inductees
34 Class News 120 End Note > GO ONLINE to read Garrison Forest Magazine at www.gfs.org/magazine.
EDITOR AND WRITER
DESIGN
Sarah Achenbach Director of Communications sarahachenbach@gfs.org
Cortney Geare, Art Director Jamie Conway, Designer Jeni Mann, Director Clipper City Custom Media www.clippercitymedia.com
CLASS NEWS EDITOR AND WRITER
Aja Jackson Assistant Director of Communications ajajackson@gfs.org
PHOTOGRAPHY
Armand Ali, F. Paul Galeone Photographers, Alicia Gonzalez, David Stuck, Sarah Spire ‘16, Justin Tsucalas
Garrison Forest Magazine is published once a year. The opinions expressed in the magazine and Class News are those of the authors and not necessarily of Garrison Forest School. Garrison Forest makes every effort to include all submitted text for Class News, but reserves the right to edit for clarity, length and content. Alumnae Class News agents are responsible for accuracy in their class news.
SEND ADDRESS CORRECTIONS TO:
Alumnae Office Garrison Forest School 300 Garrison Forest Road Owings Mills, MD 21117 gfs_alum@gfs.org www.gfs.org/alumnae 410-559-3136
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NEWSMAKERS
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NATIONAL LEADERS IN SERVICE: SARAH HILL ’13 AND GABI SORRENTINO ‘16
When I was growing up, people always asked if I wanted to be a doctor. My dad’s a doctor, and I’ve been around medicine my whole life. I always said, ‘No, I want to do something completely different.’ That was the mentality I had up until Jenkins [GFS Jenkins Fellowship] when I was able to experience being around people who don’t have the privilege of the kind of medical care that I’ve had my whole life. It didn’t seem fair to me that they wouldn’t have the same kind of medical care that I did. That’s also something that I’ve learned through KURE. I meet kids from all over the United States and internationally whose experience has been so different from mine. I’ve learned through KURE, Jenkins and the clinic how different it is, and it’s something I want to change. Sarah Hill ’13 received her Outstanding Youth Fundraiser Award on National Philanthropy Day, November 16, 2012, from Janet and Frank Kelly, who are current Garrison Forest grandparents.
ARAH HILL ‘13 knows what it means to make a difference. In 2012, she was recognized with not one, but two awards for her philanthropic work: an AmeriCorps Education Award for her 300 hours of volunteer service at Baltimore’s Charm City Clinic and a 2012 Outstanding Youth Fundraiser Award for her national healthcare advocacy work as founder of the Kids Uveitis Research and Education (KURE) Foundation (www.kure4eyes.org). At age 10, Sarah started KURE, a foundation helping children with Idiopathic Arthritis and associated Uveitis and glaucoma, conditions that she was diagnosed with as a child. In the summer of 2011, she followed her interest in service to the Dominican Republic where she worked as a public health volunteer as part of a Garrison Forest Jenkins Fellowship. Last summer, Sarah became the first high school student to intern at Charm City Clinic, a healthcare clinic assisting underserved city residents with healthcare access, weekly health screenings and home visits. As a full-time intern, she created a database to chart the successes and failures of the clinic’s 750 patients in gaining access to needed healthcare and insurance and became the clinic’s first Americorps Award recipient. (See page 18 for more on Sarah Hill.)
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> Get all of the latest GFS news online at www.gfs.org
KURE has been a part of my life since I was 10. It is really important to me, but it’s definitely something I can’t do every day. It depends on what project we’re doing and how much money we have to raise. It fluctuates depending on how much time I have and what’s going on in my life. It’s a challenge, but it’s definitely worth it. I definitely got a whole look into healthcare. At the clinic, I learned how difficult it is [to get healthcare] and all the hoops people have to go through. The Dominican Republic doesn’t have as much of an established healthcare program as we do in the United States. But even though we are far more advanced in the way we treat people and their access to healthcare, it’s still really tough even for people who live a block away from Hopkins. It was an amazing experience and reaffirmed that this is what I want to do later on. I want to work in health care policy, not just in America but around the world. I think there are things to learn from each nation in how they handle healthcare. The most important thing is to believe in it yourself. If you have something you’re really passionate about, whether it’s healthcare or education or politics, you should speak up and find people who can help you realize your goals. Educate people the best you can and find creative ways to get people interested. It only takes one person to make a difference.
NEWSMAKERS
EW HIGH SCHOOL FRESHMEN spend their weekends helping wrap sore knees, handing out medicine and soothing blisters, but in 2012, Gabi Sorrentino ’16 did just that as the first-ever youth member of the volunteer medical team for a Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure three-day event. Alongside her father, Dr. Mark Sorrentino, and 29 other clinicians, Gabi worked at the three-day, 60-mile Washington, D.C. Komen walk in October, helping provide medical care to race participants. In the three years prior, Gabi volunteered with her father for the Global Race for the Cure, a one-day breast cancer run/walk on the National Mall. Dr. Sorrentino has been the medical director for all of the D.C. Komen events for the past eight years. His mother—Gabi’s grandmother—is a 20-year breast cancer survivor. In her first experience at the three-day event, Gabi proved herself invaluable to the team, spending the three days wrapping walkers’ legs, applying knee braces and charting (taking precise medical histories for clinicians to use for treatment) as the team helped walkers along the route from before five in the morning until after 10 at night. Gabi volunteered again with the Global Race in May 2013, and she plans to continue to support Komen as part of the medical teams for events.
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Meeting some of the survivors, talking to people and hearing their stories were experiences that I can’t explain. I got to talk to a lot of people, especially if I was charting, because I got their names and had to ask a lot of questions about them. I got to know so many people. I met a friend there, and I met her mom. I still keep in touch with her. I would like to become involved with the Komen youth corps. They do not have a medical youth corps yet, but bringing that to the attention of the organization would be a great thing to do. I see myself keeping with the volunteer work throughout college. Even if it’s not with the medical team, even if it’s raising money, I really want to help the foundation for my whole life.
I actually was kind of nervous that I wasn’t going to know what to do. I haven’t gotten much practice in the medical field, so I was nervous that if someone came up to me and asked me a question, I wouldn’t know the answer. I know I had my dad and other workers, but I was still nervous. I worried that people would think ‘she’s young, she’s not going to be able to help us.’ At first the workers were kind of like that. They didn’t want to ask for my help at first, but then they started getting to know me. I really look up to my dad. I think what he does with Komen is fantastic. I followed him everywhere. He would give me lessons while popping people’s blisters or wrapping people’s tendons and, when we had down time, he would teach me new things. It was really cool having my dad as my teacher for those three days.
Gabi Sorrentino ’16 and her father, Dr. Mark Sorrentino, at the 2012 Komen Race for the Cure three-day event in Washington, D.C.
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NEWSMAKERS
Melissa Kemlitz Guion ‘89
Picture Perfect Beginning FIRST-TIME children’s book author and illustrator Melissa Kemlitz Guion ’89 made quite a splash last December with Baby Penguins Everywhere! (Penguin Books, 2012). The delightful picture book about a penguin who discovers a magic hat from which scores of little penguins tumble was featured in the New York Times Sunday Book Review and selected by Amazon as its December 2012 “Picture-Book-of-theMonth.” And a watercolor illustration was chosen for the prestigious 2012 Original Art show exhibit featuring 100 of the year’s best children’s book illustrations—not bad for a woman whose career has taken her from Wall Street and Off-Broadway theater to children’s publishing. Shortly after graduating from Yale University in 1993 with a degree in English, Melissa moved to New York City with dreams of a publishing and magazine career. Entry-level jobs in these fields didn’t pay the rent, so she took a temporary mailroom job at the hedge fund, D. E. Shaw & Co. Six years later, she had risen to vice president of strategic development and was traveling
internationally and overseeing creative capital-raising, but her own creative dreams remained on hold. In 1999, Melissa left the hedge fund Melissa Kemlitz Guion ’89 with Pre-Kindergarten friends during her author’s and began a circuitous visit to GFS in February 2013. path to making books. when she started sending promotional She worked as a still and fine art postcards of her illustrations to editors, photographer, managed a SoHo yoga studio penguins were just something to draw. An and performed in downtown theater. But editor at Penguin loved her drawings and, she never stopped sketching. To get some together, they created the story of a happy, formal training, she took several studio art slightly frazzled mama penguin, a narrative classes at the National Academy School Melissa knows a thing or two about. and the School of Visual Arts. In 2009, Daughter Holly was a preschooler while she received an artist's grant from JP Melissa worked to complete her first book Morgan Chase and the Northern Manhattan of a three-book deal with Penguin. Arts Alliance to support creating her Her penguins continue to make waves. first book. This past summer, she was part of a line-up “It’s a very whole experience to make of award-winning authors presenting at a picture book, and my careers leading up to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum Summer this have all played a role,” Melissa explains. Penguin Young Readers series, and in “With writing and illustrating, there’s pacing, October, Penguin publishes the board book drama, story and a lot of trial and error. To edition of Baby Penguins Everywhere! Her make it interesting on the page, it has to get second book, Baby Penguins Love Their out of control.” The subject of her first book Mama! hits stores on January 2, 2014. is now, naturally, her favorite animal, but For more on Melissa’s work, visit www.melissaguion.com.
Roll on, Blue! Congratulations, Garrison Forest Athletics on another terrific year! In 2012–13, the Grizzly student-athletes and teams earned four championships, numerous All-Stars honors and other awards. Middle School teams were undefeated in basketball and lacrosse, and seven senior athletes—the most ever in GFS history—signed National Letters of Intent.
> Get all of the latest GFS news online at www.gfs.org
> 3rd straight IAAM A Conference Championship in Field Hockey > IAAM Singles Championship in Tennis > Cross Country’s first-ever IAAM Championship > Indoor Soccer’s 5th straight IAAM Championship and its first in the team’s first year in the A conference
NEWSMAKERS
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Kylie Sheehan ‘09
Selected for Polo’s Prestigious Team USPA KYLIE SHEEHAN ‘09 has been a stand-out player on the national polo scene since her days on the Garrison Forest team. In 2012, her profile and honors leaped to the international level with her selection as one of eight players on the prestigious United States Polo Association’s Team USPA for 2013 and the inaugural U.S. collegiate team, which played a match on January 12, 2013 against the best of Great Britain’s collegiate players just prior to the historic Townsend Cup, a polo match between Great Britain and the U.S. Kylie was selected for Team USPA from a national pool of talented players. Since Team USPA’s inception four years ago, only 45 players have been chosen. Only six of the former and current team members are female and 50 percent are GFS alumnae: Kylie; Cristina Fernandez ’05, who played at University of Virginia; and Meghan Shader ’08, who played for University of Kentucky. “It’s a new challenge to play with male teammates,” Kylie says. “With both Team USPA and the U.S. team during the Townsend Cup, though, I already knew a lot of the players, and they respect my playing. As a woman, I love showing them how competitive I can be with mostly all-male teams.” At GFS, Kylie was an all-star player and co-captain of the 2009 national championship team, the same year the Polo Training Foundation named her Interscholastic Player of the Year. Her love of the game took her to the University of Virginia, where, in addition to four years on the dean’s list, she was a four-year starter for UVA’s women’s team and captain for three years. She garnered numerous all-star awards and was integral in the team’s 2012 national intercollegiate championship. Kylie also played with the UVA Polo Club and served as president her senior year. “I was at the barn three to four hours a day, but I wouldn’t have it any other way” admits Kylie, who was very involved in TriDelta sorority service activities and was advertising director of Virginia Polo
Magazine. “I figured I could sleep after college,” she says with a laugh. Probably not, given the full schedule of playing, training and mentoring required by Team USPA members. She’s excited about all of it: the opportunities, home and abroad, to Kylie Sheehan ’09 playing play in higher levels of in Malaysia in 2012 competition to which she otherwise would not have access; the rigorous training program to become a certified polo umpire; and especially coaching younger players in the sport she loves. With her newly minted B.A. in Foreign Affairs with a concentration in Latin America and the Middle East, she’s also looking forward to more international playing and hopes her year with Team USPA can evolve into an eventual foreign affairs career. Kylie got a taste of international polo travel in summer 2012 when she traveled to Southeast Asia to play in the Royal Malaysian Polo Association Ladies Championships. “There is no mastery of polo,” she explains. “It’s a very humbling sport. I have a very long road of improvements ahead of me.” Kylie began riding in 3rd grade—in fact, she begged her parents to let her switch from Calvert School to Garrison Forest because she could ride at GFS. Her love of horses hasn’t abated one bit: “In polo, I love the combination of the partnership between you and your horse. You have to be good teammates.”
IAAM All-Stars: > Several Indoor Track athletes qualified for the IAAM Championship meet > Badminton Doubles won the IAAM Consolation Round > Golf had its best finish yet in the history of the sport at GFS with Runner-Up status in the IAAM tournament
Badminton: Hope Zhang ‘13 Basketball: Aliyah Smith ’15 Cross Country: Katey Smith ‘14 Field Hockey: Brooke Adler ‘13, Claire Forbes ‘13, Kendall Kuntz ‘13, Erica Marshall ‘13, Garland Mooney ‘13 Golf: Ellen Kirk Jarosinski ‘14
Indoor Soccer: Jena Lafferty ’13, Madison McCann ’14, Kamber Parker ‘13 Lacrosse: Julie LeGar ‘14 Soccer: Jena Lafferty ‘13, Kamber Parker ‘13 Softball: Charmaine Oden ’13, MacKenzie Wilson ‘13 Tennis: Hannah Belsinger ‘15
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NEWSMAKERS
Broadway Baby: Cricket Hooper-Jiranek ‘77 CRICKET HOOPER-JIRANEK ’77 doesn’t recall the two lines she had in a 10th grade production of Alice in Wonderland. She does, however, vividly remember her stage fright. “I played a card and was scared to death,” she recalls. “I have tremendous appreciation for anyone who can get on a stage.” Today, Cricket’s behind-the-scenes career on Broadway as a Tony-award-winning producer has earned her several Tonys, including the 2013 Tony for Best Play, Christopher Durang’s comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. The rollicking story of three siblings during a weekend visit from sister and movie star Masha (Sigourney Weaver) and her much-younger boyfriend garnered six Tony nominations and several other awards. It took a village to get the critically and financially successful show to the Broadway stage—Cricket is one of 20 co-producers for the production—but the effort is well worth the risk. “One of my co-producers from The Best Man [2012 Tony-nominated play] wanted to move it to Broadway for a commercial run and was looking for partners,” she recalls. “I fell in love with the play and jumped on board. It was a leap of faith. Raising money for this Cricket Hooper-Jiranek ’77 with her 2013 Tony Award show was very difficult.” This kind of high-risk producing career is not what she The next year, they followed up their first play/first Tony with envisioned following college (B.S. in Psychology, University of several nominations for the musical It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues. In Virginia). In 1985, living in New York City, fresh from a financial sector job, Cricket landed a position at Creative Theatre Marketing, 2003, they produced Bill Maher: Victory Begins at Home, which was nominated for a Tony for Special Theatrical Event. a new company promoting Broadway to the tourist market. A year After David’s death, Cricket continued with both companies. later, she married co-worker and company founder David Jiranek. In 2006, CTM Productions co-produced Ring of Fire, a musical For 17 years, she and David, who died in 2003, grew the company about Johnny Cash’s life and music. Two years later, Cricket and and their family (daughters Cat, 17, and Sailor, 14). Today, her partners produced Cricket is executive vice Gore Vidal’s The Best president of sales and “You can feel the electricity in the air when Man, receiving several marketing for CTM Media the audience is having a great time and so are Tony nominations. Group Inc. with 15 offices She still loves her “day and 170 employees. the cast and crew. That’s when you take a job” with CTM Media Producing was never far deep breath and really appreciate the gift of Group, but admits that “the from their thoughts. “We production game is really knew the business, and the live theatre.” —CRICKET HOOPER-JIRANEK ’77 where all the drama and Broadway community was fun take place.” The biggest challenge, she says, is raising the money intricately entwined with our marketing company,” says Cricket, for a play. “The business model for Broadway makes absolutely no whose family has three generations of “Garrison Girls”: mother sense unless you have Tom Hanks or Hugh Jackman as part of your Carrington Dame Hooper ’54, sister Brent Hooper Moore ’80 and cast,” Cricket explains. “The chances of recouping all or actually nieces Rixey Moore ’12 and Emma Moore ’16. “You could look at it any of your investment are highly unlikely.” She loves standing in as giving back. Being on the producing end was all new to me, but the back of the theatre watching her show and seeing an audience I loved the people and the industry and figured we had as good a respond and fully engage. “You can feel the electricity in the air shot as anyone else to be successful.” In 1998, they formed CTM when the audience is having a great time and so are the cast and Productions, LLC as partners, the same year they produced their crew. That’s when you take a deep breath and really appreciate the first Broadway production, Fool Moon with Bill Irwin and David Shiner, which won the Tony Award for Special Theatrical Event. gift of live theatre.”
> Get all of the latest GFS news online at www.gfs.org
Quintuple Threat: Music Teacher Cedric D. Lyles CEDRIC D. LYLES does it all. He sings, acts, dances, teaches and composes. In January, a reading of Delilah, his fourth original musical, was presented at Washington, D.C.’s Atlas Performing Arts Center. This October, D.C.’s Next Stop Theater will perform a reading, which will ultimately lead to a full stage production. He wrote the music—Kevin S. McAllister wrote the lyrics, as he did for their collaboration The Black Nativity—but for his other original works, Mr. Lyles penned words and music. His artistic style is gaining a national audience: 7:32 the musical, a collaboration with K.T. Peterson, won first place in the 2009 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival National Competition and was featured in the summer 2012 New York Musical Theater Festival. In addition to teaching Upper School music and directing the Upper School choral programs, Mr. Lyles is CEO and executive director of ArtsCentric, LLC, a Mid-Atlantic arts troupe. My teaching and artistic collaboration definitely infuse one another. It all comes from the same place. I’m an artistic chameleon. Who I am depends on the artistic need for the moment, but I don’t think there is ever a time when I am not teaching. There is always something I am trying to say, always a message going on. Kevin and I didn’t set out to do a period piece—we set out to create art. Just as Romeo and Juliet changes hands, this is not the first time that the Samson and Delilah story has
been told. Something had to have happened with her. In our story, Delilah betrays Samson but not as cold-heartedly as I remember. It was really important to us that each person in this show represents the good and the bad qualities of humanity. Delilah loves Samson, but she realizes if she doesn't act, he will destroy everything else she also loves. People today aren’t that much different from the characters in our story. We’ve remained true to the time period, language and style of the time period, but acknowledge modern times. If in 100 years, someone can look back on this work and get an idea of who we were and what we thought and felt, then it’s lasting. It’s the same conversation I had with my 9th grade music class this fall when we were studying La Bohème. We talked about the politics and art of the time and traced it to Rent [the Broadway musical inspired by La Bohème]. For me, creation is the energy in the air. Inspiration is always there, and depending on what I am feeling at the moment will dictate my direction musically. Sometimes I compose
the lyrics or music first, but it always springs from what I am feeling. Communicating an emotional message that people understand is more important than following any one school of thought or musical style. Sometimes I have no idea where stuff comes from. I have a different idea every day and have notes everywhere, handwritten and digital. Thankfully all my electronic devices sync!
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FA R E W E L L T O T H E F O R E S T
> Get all of the latest GFS news online at www.gfs.org
FA R E W E L L T O T H E F O R E S T
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Now it’s up to you. The world needs you. It has never needed you more. Take this freedom, this preparation, this life of yours and do something with it. Do something amazing.
Denise Koch, 2013 Baccalaureate speaker Mother of Jo and Meg Phippin ‘13 Emmy-winning news anchor, WJZ
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FA C U LT Y
Faculty at the Forest GREAT teaching is the core of the Garrison Forest experience and mission. Each year,
we honor individuals for their devotion to students, commitment to their profession and dedication to the GFS community. Butch Darrell with students
RETIREES
Charles C. “Butch” Darrell Middle School History
A man of character. A storyteller. Inspirational. A compassionate educator. Many heartfelt words describe Butch Darrell’s 37-year service to Garrison Forest. In 1976, Butch, a West Point graduate, joined GFS after serving as a decorated Army officer in Vietnam, Germany and Panama. His first job at the school—and his first outside of military life—was business manager. By 1978, he was coaching the varsity lacrosse team to an undefeated season and would go on to coach every level of lacrosse, field hockey and basketball. To commemorate his GFS athletics legacy, the courts in the Elizabeth B. Searle ’74 Athletic Center are named in his honor. In 1982, after receiving his M.B.A. from Loyola College, fate intervened when a spot on the history faculty opened up and he moved to the Middle School to teach ancient and U.S.
> Get all of the latest GFS news online at www.gfs.org
history. Waving his “prkotchka” (Russian for plunger) Mr. Darrell has led thousands of “Garrison Girls” on adventures in history, from the ruins of Pompeii to the green hills of Gettysburg. Lessons learned in his classroom last a lifetime. “Mr. Darrell was and always will be the greatest teacher and coach I have ever had,” says GFS trustee Emily Gardner Baratta ’88, who was among his Paula Ferris Einaudi
first students and was coached by and coached with him. “He taught me what it means to adore a teacher, to want to do anything for that teacher and to happily work incredibly hard. My deep love for and loyalty to GFS began in his classroom.” In 2005, following Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Darrell, who holds a M.L.A. from Johns Hopkins, inspired and led the faculty and staff ’s partnership with Baltimore’s Sandtown Habitat for Humanity, now in its eighth year. He was awarded the Distinguished Faculty Award in 1987, has had many yearbooks dedicated to him and has been the class-selected Baccalaureate speaker in 1988, 1996 and 2006. He always deflects praise with humility, reserving his pride for daughter Beth Darrell ’84 and granddaughters Anna ’23 and Sally ’18 Pfeiffer and for every student he has ever coached or taught. Read his reflections on Esse Quam Videri on page 120.
FA C U LT Y
dean for development and alumni affairs for The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and later for Hopkins’ Krieger School of Arts & Sciences. She serves as a trustee of her alma mater, Smith College.
Tina Moran Lower School
Tina Moran
Paula Ferris Einaudi Development
Since 2005, when she joined the Development office as director of gift planning, Paula Ferris Einaudi has met with hundreds of alumnae on behalf of Garrison Forest. Whether stewarding the Marshall-Offutt Circle, the school’s planned giving society, organizing the 50th and 60th reunions or encouraging alumnae and friends to consider supporting their school, Ms. Einaudi brings an inexhaustible enthusiasm for GFS and single-sex education. Her drive, devotion and infectious charm are appreciated by the countless volunteers and her fellow volunteers on the GFS faculty/staff Habitat for Humanity work crew. After a successful career teaching Italian at Cornell and the University of Toronto, and after completing her doctorate in linguistics, she taught linguistics, Italian and English as a Second Language at Georgia Tech before changing careers in 1988 to educational fundraising. Prior to joining GFS, she served as associate
In her 28 years at Garrison Forest, Tina Moran has held a number of positions. Throughout each role and responsibility, her dependability, warmth and steady-as-she goes personality have ably served the school. Ms. Moran joined GFS in 1985 as an admission administrative assistant. Seven years later, she began teaching technology in the Lower School and Middle School and was a driving force when GFS introduced its 1:1 laptop
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program. In 2007, she shifted back to the critical administrative assistant position, bringing her tech expertise, boundless patience and friendly disposition to the Lower School. “Tina is a team player in every sense of the word,” says Steve Song, head of the Lower School. “She steps in and lends a hand whenever and wherever needed.” An award-winning professional dog trainer, Ms. Moran also trained many of the dogs of the GFS faculty. In all her work, she recognized that true discipline comes from maintaining high standards and expectations balanced by a loving spirit.
Clover “Kitty” Roulette School Store
Kitty Roulette began her career at Garrison Forest as School Store manager in 1982. Her headquarters have grown from what was essentially a closet in Marshall-Offutt to an expanded space in Manor House, the heart of the campus. An appropriate move since, for 31 years, Kitty has been a part of the spirit and soul of GFS with her delightful humor and grounded faith. She has kept the
Kitty Roulette
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FA C U LT Y
2013 IRVIN D. McGREGOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD The annual Irvin D. McGregor Distinguished Service Award honors full-time staff members who have distinguished themselves based on exemplary tenure, service and dedication to Garrison Forest School.
Margery Feit Library
Peter O’Neill presents Natalie Froman with the 2013 Distinguished Teacher Award.
community well stocked in textbooks and t-shirts, sweatshirts and spirit gear, and everything in between. In her role, she hears everything and serves as a wise counsel to many regarding important issues within the school. Her duties as the wife of a rector—husband Philip is retired from St. John’s Episcopal Church—served her equally well at Garrison Forest. She made the School Store a welcoming place for everyone, treating each patron with equal professionalism, elegance, kindness and grace. Fittingly, during the school’s Centennial year in 2010, Mrs. Roulette received the Irvin D. McGregor Distinguished Service Award.
2013 DISTINGUISHED TEACHER AWARD In 1980, Elinor Purves McLennan ’56 and Courtney McLennan Myhrum ’79 established the Distinguished Teacher Award to recognize excellence in teaching at Garrison Forest. Each year’s recipient is chosen by a committee of parents, students and faculty.
Natalie Froman Upper School English
Natalie Froman combines a boundless passion for language
> Get all of the latest GFS news online at www.gfs.org
and literature with deep devotion and selfless service to her students. In the 2013 Ragged Robin yearbook dedication, the students dubbed her classroom a “learning lover’s paradise,” describing a place “where she offers accessible brilliance … teaches genuine curiosity … [and] has shown students the compromise and complements of labor and love.” Ms. Froman—“Fro” as she is called by her colleagues and students alike—has taught 9th, 11th, 12th and Advanced Placement English. Throughout her eight years at the school, she has embraced the community with the same spirit, humor and joy that she brings to the classroom. Ms. Froman has lived on campus, coached 4th and 5th grade lacrosse, co-led the Upper School Peer Education program, served as faculty advisor to the literary magazine Callisto and as Upper School representative to the GFS Diversity Council, and has been a 9th grade class advisor. She has done all of this while getting a master’s in school counseling from Johns Hopkins University. In July, she began a new role as Upper School director of studies.
Since 1979, Margery Feit has been a dedicated member of the library staff, offering students and colleagues her exacting attention to detail and delightfully dry wit. Her devotion to the GFS libraries and their contents is meticulous. From placing each barcode in an absolutely straight line to nabbing the stink bug meandering across the circulation desk, she notices everything. For the past 34 years, Ms. Feit has applied these qualities to every GFS research project. “Margery has done the Supreme Court project so many times that during October and November she is sometimes referred to as ‘Justice Feit,’ ” quipped Peter O’Neill when he presented her with the award. “Margery gets each student started Margery Feit, 2013 Irvin D. McGregor Award Recipient
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on her topic and sends her off with a reference book or database. But she does not stop there. Long after the student has left the library, she continues to look for books and articles on the student’s topic.” Her calm demeanor and penchant for order—two qualities, perhaps, from her English upbringing—extend well beyond the Elinor Purves McLennan ’56 Library and the Lower School Library for the younger students. For years, she voluntarily sorted the mail of resident faculty, and year in and year out, has been willing to bring her indomitable spirit to any task, big or small. In June, Ms. Feit embarked on the next chapter of her life: a well-deserved retirement.
TWENTY-YEAR SERVICE PIN In 1992, Garrison Forest established the tradition of honoring faculty and staff who have attained 20 years of service to the school. The outstanding loyalty and commitment of so many GFS faculty and staff is one of the true hallmarks of Garrison Forest.
Carl Wolfson received his Twenty-Year Service Pin at Commencement.
Carl Wolfson Facilities
“If you are a believer in Ernest Hemingway’s definition of courage as
grace under pressure, then Carl Wolfson is far and away the most courageous person on the Garrison Forest campus,” stated Peter O’Neill, when he awarded Mr. Wolfson a Twenty-Year Service Pin at the 2013 Commencement. As assistant director of facilities, Mr. Wolfson oversees the day-to-day workings of the GFS maintenance crews and numerous campus events with a legendary eye for detail and an even-handedness and even-headedness that makes the extraordinary seem ordinary. “He performs all of these duties with utmost integrity and a quiet depth of character that is palpable,” noted Mr. O’Neill. “The mantra of every administrator, faculty member and
staff member is ‘Carl will take care of it.’” Mr. Wolfson, who received the 2012 Irvin D. McGregor Distinguished Service Award, is deeply respected by the entire GFS community. He fosters an incredible sense of collegiality and a high morale for those who serve in roles behind the scenes.
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What’s the
Big Idea?
Innovation and creativity. Everybody wants it: technology, medicine, business, politics and certainly classrooms in every school across the country. But how do we cultivate innovation? How do we grow creativity?
the 2012 National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) national convention, the since-retired NAIS President, Pat Bassett, noted Garrison Forest’s reputation as an innovative school. This inspired us to explore a few of the ways we are inculcating innovation in our students and how our alumnae are using creativity to lead lives of purpose across an array of fields.
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! Changing the Way Teachers Teach and Students Learn SHAFER INNOVATION GRANTS:
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t’s amazing how an idea can blossom when given the opportunity to grow. In 2012, Garrison Forest faculty received an exciting opportunity to dig deeper into the “big ideas” in education through the competitive Shafer Innovation Grants program. Generously funded by trustee Helen Zinreich Shafer ’93 and husband P.J., parents of Serena ’19, the Shafer Grant program brings together GFS faculty in creative collaboration to identify today’s pressing educational challenges and opportunities. The goal is to explore and develop innovative, transformative ideas on how faculty might create the best possible educational environment for Garrison Forest students, but that isn’t necessarily the expected outcome. “We wanted to give our faculty opportunities to explore out-of-the-box concepts in a supportive environment,” Helen explains. “Innovation and success don’t happen by accident. In education, sometimes people are afraid to step out of the box. If we are committed to pushing our students to be more creative and innovative, we need to put that same process in place for our faculty. The Shafer Innovation Grants are about the journey—what have you learned that has made you a better teacher? Not everything
has to be big. Even the smallest changes in pedagogy and process can have a huge impact on a student.” The first “class” of Shafer Fellows, as the grant recipients are called, and the second group for summer 2013, represent an array of projects and ideas. Recipients conduct their research in the summer, creating evaluation and implementation plans for Center, left to right: Shafer Fellows Amy Welling, David Berdan and Louise Moran with a few Lower School gardeners their pilot programs, if applicable, to present Moran, Lower School teacher, who worked to colleagues and board members and use with colleagues David Berdan and Amy the lessons learned from their in-depth Welling to create a GFS garden. “We used experience to infuse their teaching and to have a garden in the Preschool, and the learning in impactful ways. children loved it.” Over summer 2012, they “These grants are a great way for faculty visited area schools with gardens and planned to think beyond the everyday curriculum. We how to build, plant and tend their patch planned a cross-disciplinary experience for behind Manor House and where to focus our students that would give them another their curricular efforts for the first year. avenue for learning, to think collaboratively Through the garden, the Kindergarten, and problem-solve creatively,” explains Louise Pre-First and 4th grade classes became
ALICE McINTYRE Garrison Forest Latin Teacher 2012 Shafer Innovation Fellow Creativity isn’t the rare talent of the select few. As a designer of lessons and maker of meanings, I employ creative thinking every day. My students, learners of Latin, employ creative thinking to build their vocabularies, to understand the structure of the language and to read Latin with greater ease. The Shafer Innovation Grant enabled LouAnne Smith, Chair of the Latin department, and me to help our students to become innovators and to be comfortable with experimentation. By exploring our own creativity and using the newest in digital resources, we reshaped the Latin I class to be a more studentcentered, deeper-thinking experience. Creativity and rigorous thinking are intertwined. Experiencing the joys and frustrations inherent in the creative process with another person has been an important step for me in that direction. Alice McIntyre joined the Garrison Forest School faculty in 2007 and teaches Middle and Upper School Latin. An honors graduate of Swarthmore College, she earned a B.A. in Latin and Greek. During the summer, she teaches in The Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth program, and was recently selected as a Fellow for Columbia University’s Klingenstein Summer Institute for Early Career Teachers.
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> Get all of the latest GFS news online at www.gfs.org
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botanists, environmentalists and engineers. They tested soil, learned about growth cycles and composting, researched crops to plant, brainstormed on how to water the garden and keep animals away and, of course, harvested and ate the fruits (rather, veggies) of their year-long labor. In September, the 5th grade will harvest the summer tomatoes and peppers they planted. Mr. Berdan, Ms. Moran and Ms. Welling are planning to have year two include collaboration with Upper School science and math classes to design more beds and devise a water-collection system. The Shafer Innovation Grants are the newest facet of Garrison Forest’s deep commitment to faculty professional development. From endowed and annual funding for conferences and workshops, annual sabbaticals, tuition reimbursement, awards
for curricular development, research grants and more, 68 percent of all full-time faculty are engaged in professional development activities for summer 2013 and the 2013–14 academic year. In addition, the majority attended the third annual GFS Summer Institute, two full days of on-campus training for GFS faculty. The topic in June 2013 was differentiated learning, while past peerdeveloped and –taught workshops have focused on digital teaching and learning. Beginning this September, all faculty members will be engaged in weekly, collaborative professional development, time set aside every Thursday morning to work in small groups in their departments, divisions and across the school, on curricular topics, teacher training and other areas of faculty development.
SUMMER 2012 SHAFER FELLOWS • Creating a Blended Latin I Course: Alice McIntyre (Middle School and Upper School Latin) and LouAnne Smith (Latin department chair) • “Flipping” Science/Math classes by bringing homework online: Reema Khanchandani (Upper School science), Jesse Sugar Moore (Upper School mathematics) and Stacie Muñoz (Upper School technology) • Addressing the Needs of Highly Able Students: Katie Baughman (Upper School academic resources coordinator), Rachel Herlein (academic development director), Gail Hutton (1st grade teacher and early childhood chair), Debbie Oleisky (science department chair) and Faith Ward (Preschool and Lower School librarian) • Expanding the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) curriculum: Renee Hawkins (director of instructional technology), Andrea Perry (dean of special programs and director, James Center), Lisa Rein (science and WISE coordinator) and the flipped science/math group [see above] • Creating a Garrison Forest Community Garden: David Berdan (Lower School and Middle School science), Louise Moran (Kindergarten) and Amy Welling (Pre-First in 2012–13; now 2nd grade) SUMMER 2013 SHAFER FELLOWS • Increasing Critical Literacy and Comprehension in our Youngest Students: Gail Hutton (1st grade teacher and early childhood chair), Lisa Jenkins (1st grade) and Amy Welling (2nd grade teacher) • Reporting and Assessment: Katie Baughman (Upper School academic resources coordinator), Natalie Froman (Upper School director of studies), Rachel Herlein (academic development director), Lindsay Kelland (Middle School technology), Deb Fusting Lynn ’75 (3rd grade teacher), Stacie Muñoz (Upper School technology) and Jackie Serino (Lower School academic resource coordinator) • Developing 21st-Century Research Literacies: Dante Beretta, Ph.D. (Middle School Latin and archivist), Renee Hawkins (director of instructional technology), Reema Khanchandani (Upper School science), Siobhan O’Boyle (Middle School and Upper School librarian), Peter Sun, Ph.D. (history department chair) and Faith Ward (Preschool and Lower School librarian)
MELISSA NORTH GRANT ’97 Marine Ecologist, Horn Point Oyster Hatchery University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Creativity plays an enormous role in our efforts to produce oyster larvae and spat for restoration, research and educational purposes. Since we cannot control Mother Nature or the animal with which we work, we must be willing to tailor our methods to suit them and ‘think outside of the box’ to solve a problem. I rarely have to go looking for research topics. Rather, they come straight to me during day-to-day hatchery operations. Each idea is born out of curiosity: Why am I seeing this trend? What will change if this happens? Would this enhance our efforts? Could this be the answer to a long-term global problem? My ideas start big, and I then work backward to arrive at a reasonable starting point for a new research project. Scientific research is always more complex than expected; I must be flexible and creative to tailor my experimental design as it develops. The details are critically important, but it is the overarching goal to provide answers and solutions that drives my investigative process. Garrison Forest shaped me as a scholar and independent thinker more than any other educational experience. Melissa North Grant ’97 did not deviate far from her GFS classmates’ yearbook prediction that she would be most likely to save Shamu. She received a B.S. in biology and an Elementary Teaching Certification from St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and an M.S. in marine ecology from the University of Maryland. A marine ecologist, she researches methods to enhance oyster reef restoration and educates the public on the importance of oyster reefs in the Chesapeake Bay. Her most recent work was published in the journal Aquaculture.
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!
THE INAUGURAL WISE CLASSICS INTERDISCIPINARY RESEARCH SCHOLARS: Using Innovation to Explore the Past
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CATIE CORBIN ’00 Technical Manager, Education for Development Division, Creative Associates International We work in some of the most remote places on earth, trying to deliver education services to those in most need of it. It is a difficult task and something we need to accomplish with limited resources. Innovation plays a large role in the work we do. For example, in South Sudan, one aspect of our program is to improve the English language skills and confidence of teachers. English is the language of instruction, but many teachers working there are returning to the new country after being displaced for years, and speak Arabic. We need to find ways to quickly bring these teachers up to speed without the resources of stable electricity and Internet. Our company has to come up with approaches to help these teachers practice their English skills in ways that are possible. Our innovative solution is to upload classroom content, language training and recording functions onto weatherproof, solar-powered MP3 players. Garrison Forest inspired me to be curious. If curiosity is developed, so too are critical thinking skills, creativity and dedication. Catie Corbin ’00 works for Creative Associates International, an international development organization in Washington, D.C. working predominantly in conflict-affected countries to support the positive change people seek. After earning her B.A. in history at the University of Virginia, she taught history before earning an M.Ed. in international education policy at Harvard University and has worked for several international development organizations living in Uganda and Pakistan. [See page 52 for more.]
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aley Gonzalez ’13 and Sarah Hill ’13 have always loved the classics. Passionate about their Latin studies and pushing themselves intellectually, in spring 2012, they approached Andrea Perry, Garrison Forest’s dean of special programs, James Center director and coordinator of the GFS/Johns Hopkins University partnership, Women in Science and Engineering (WISE), about a research opportunity. Since WISE’s founding in 2005, the majority of WISE students have worked at JHU in engineering and public health, but Ms. Perry and GFS Latin teacher, Dante Beretta, Ph.D.—a product of the JHU classics department—knew there were exciting possibilities. Dr. Beretta approached the curator of the newly renovated Johns Hopkins Archeological Museum about hosting Kaley and Sarah for a semester to work with museum objects. JHU agreed, and the rest is (ancient) history. Initially, Kaley and Sarah, who were inducted into Cum Laude Society as juniors, found it challenging to shift from translating Latin texts to Latin inscriptions but quickly became adept at analyzing repeating patterns. Last fall, they spent one afternoon each week at the museum, poring over ancient artifacts under the guidance of WISE mentor and Hopkins classics
department graduate student Elizabeth Schwinge and with help from the latest in technology. Kaley and Sarah focused on the field of epigraphy, the study of ancient inscriptions, specifically three Roman funerary tablets from the museum’s collection. On one inscription, they found a perplexing phrase—ex horreis Faenianis—that referred to a granary. Why was this granary mentioned? Scholars had long believed that the phrase was vocational in nature, but Kaley and Sarah wondered if it might refer to the place where the deceased lived or worked. After four months of intensive study and searching for parallels in other inscriptions, they confirmed their hypothesis: the phrase signifies the region that an individual inhabited in proximity to the closest granary, and not a vocation. In February, they presented their original research to family, friends and classics faculty members from GFS and JHU. In April, theirs was the only high school research project selected for inclusion in the prestigious 2013 Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum
Margot Childs Cheel ’63 Fine aerial art photographer Facilitator, Creativity Workshops
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Creativity and innovation are not really taught but a process into exploration and discovery. Creativity and innovation do not have to be grand. They can be small things—improvising with a recipe, playing with a child—but every day is an opportunity to learn anew and awaken to new possibilities. We are all creative, and the fact that we express it in so many, many ways is a testament to the endless possibilities that creativity offers. Creativity brings something into being that wasn't there before—a painting from a blank canvas, a building constructed on an empty lot, a music score with words and sounds that hadn't blended before, etc. I see innovation as something that already exists and which is changed, augmented or transformed. Typically, it takes some form of creativity to make it happen.
> Get all of the latest GFS news online at www.gfs.org
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CAROL GRAHAM ’80, PH.D. Leo Pasvolsky Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution College Park Professor, School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland Research Fellow, Institute for the Study of Labor When we first began looking at measures of well-being, we were using much blunter surveys and didn’t look at the nuances. A lot of early attention was on the role of income, and we had not thought much about the role that creativity and innovation play in well-being. Income and education matter to well-being, of course, but not as much as you think. Our research showed that once you have enough of both to meet your basic needs, other areas of your life matter as much if not more to well-being. Through the data from the Gallup World Poll, we have begun examining this. It may well be that higher levels of well being are associated with the ability to be creative. It’s a virtuous circle; innovation is positively correlated to well-being, as are learning and doing meaningful work. Are happier people more likely to choose their passions and be more creative? It turns out that the happiest people value income the least and learning the most. Thus, is the direction from happiness to creativity? Causality often runs in both directions, and my hunch is that there is a strong channel and feedback in both directions. Economist Carol Graham is one of the original scholars in the new science of well-being measurement. She is the author of The Pursuit of Happiness: Toward an Economy of Well-Being (Brookings, 2011), Happiness around the World: The Paradox of Happy Peasants and Miserable Millionaires (Oxford University Press, 2009), other scholarly books and articles in journals, the Wall Street Journal, The Christian Science Monitor, the Financial Times and The Washington Post. She has appeared on NBC News, National Public Radio, the Newshour with Jim Lehrer, CNN and other outlets. Dr. Graham is an associate editor at The Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. She currently serves on a National Academy of Sciences panel, which is assessing the relevance of well-being metrics for policy, and has served on the board or as a consultant for the United Nations Development Program and the Harvard Institute for International Development, among other organizations. Dr. Graham has an A.B. from Princeton University, an M.A. from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a Ph.D. from Oxford University.
‘‘ Sarah Hill ’13 (center) and Kaley Gonzalez ’13 (right), with WISE mentor Elizabeth Schwinge, prepare for a research presentation.
Symposium, which highlights undergraduate and graduate research. Both Kaley, who is at Davidson, and Sarah, who is at Hopkins, are continuing their studies in the classics. This year, the WISE program will place more Garrison Forest students interested in the intersection of the classics, research and state-of-the-art archaeological research at Johns Hopkins. The WISE program is part of Garrison Forest’s James Center, which coordinates the school’s many, hands-on learning opportunities. For more, visit www.gfs.org/jamescenter.
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After earning her B.A. in Art History at Middlebury College, Margot Childs Cheel ’63 worked for several years in production at WGBH-TV in Boston. She then moved to Ontario, Canada where she co-founded Twin Willows Craft Center. A decade later, she returned to Boston and directed cross-cultural programs and volunteered. Her “empty-nest” phase includes facilitating the creativity course at the Creative Workshops, which she has taught for 15 years, and making a name for herself as a pilot and a fine art aerial photographer. Her photographs have been exhibited throughout New England, Florida and Canada. In 2012, she published a coffee table photo book, Sea & Sand from the Sky: Aerial Photography (www.book.margotcheel.com). She is a member and has served on the boards of the ASMP-NE American Society of Media Photographers, the national Photography Society, and the 99s, the International Women Pilots Organization, which was founded by Amelia Earhart. This past spring, Margot served as co-chair of her class’ 50th reunion. In June 2013, she raced in the 37th Air Race Classic for female pilots, flying 2,200 nautical miles from Pasco, Wash. to Fayetteville, Ark.
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Middle School digital thinking teacher and technology coordinator Lindsay Kelland with 7th grade ePortfolio designers
! ePORTFOLIOS: Documenting the Digital Generation
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arrison Forest’s youngest students have been using technology since before they could read, and the Upper School students, like the rest of the “digital native” generation, live their lives online. Teaching students to understand and develop a strong digital footprint is as critical to Garrison Forest’s technology program as is teaching them to use the latest in digital learning
tools. In 2012–13, the school’s technology coordinators created an ePortfolio program to allow students in grades 1–12 to share academic outcomes, digitally curate and promote their best work and, ultimately, gain insight into their learning process. ePortfolio is a new concept in studentcentered learning. Underscoring Garrison Forest’s reputation as an innovative school,
the GFS technology coordinators were invited in February 2013 to present their pilot program to a national audience of educators at the annual National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) conference, and the program will be published in the winter 2014 NAIS Independent School Magazine. Far more than a digital collection of a student’s papers, multimedia projects and writing samples, an ePortfolio allows a student to curate her work over time to create a better understanding of her own learning style, discover intellectual interests and become an active, authentic partner with teachers in her academic growth. “Reflection is the linchpin of the ePortfolio process,” notes Renee Hawkins, director of instructional technology at GFS. “When students think about their learning and can identify their own academic strengths as well as areas that need work, they become empowered. ePortfolios
ATHENIA JONES ’14 Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Student Researcher, Spring 2012 Gerecht Lab, Biomolecular Engineering Department Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University When I began my WISE project, I suspected that innovation would have a crucial role in STEM research, and I was right. Research is about trying out new things, and through trial and error, finding a method that works best. Science can be a little of both. Sometimes after a lot of repetition and trial and error, there’s an ‘Aha!’ moment when the hypothesis you’ve been trying to prove finally comes true, or you discover something you can change to get the answers you want. WISE has taught me that innovation is necessary for progress. The main purpose of research is to find new ways to efficiently complete tasks and to creatively use the data gathered to find solutions—principles I can use outside of the lab. This past spring, Athenia spent two afternoons a week at Johns Hopkins University. Under the guidance of her WISE mentor, Abigail Hielscher, Ph.D., Athenia studied the effect of the protein fibronectin on breast cancer tumor development and metastasis. She worked in the lab over the summer, elaborating on her WISE research. The WISE program is part of the hands-on learning opportunities offered through the GFS James Center. Athenia plans to study biology or biomedical engineering in college and to pursue a career in medicine. A day student from Pikesville, Athenia was selected to participate in the summer 2012 Outward Bound Youth Leadership Corps. At GFS, she writes for the student newspaper, competes with the Upper School Robotics team, is a member of the Equitation team and enjoys the Games Club.
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> Get all of the latest GFS news online at www.gfs.org
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encourage students to identify not only their best work, but why it’s their best work. The ePortfolio acts as a vault for learning artifacts that might otherwise disappear into a backpack or locker.” The Lower School ePortfolio pilot included two classes: 1st grade, taught by Gail Hutton; and 3rd grade, taught by Katie Cooch. Their initial work has focused on teacher assessment, documentation for parent conferences and early development of a student’s metacognition. Teachers chose and uploaded examples of student work and guided each student to reflect on her own learning. This year, plans include rolling the ePortfolio program into other Lower School grades and using this communication tool with parents to create a richer, individualized learning program tailored to each student’s needs and strengths. The Middle School ePortfolio pilot program encouraged student ownership by allowing the student to choose her content and design her ePortfolio site. Self-reflection also was part of the process, further enhancing metacognitive growth and developing self-advocacy skills for her individual learning style and goals. In their twice-weekly Digital Thinking class, 6th and 7th grade students used Google Sites to create their ePortfolio; 8th grade students worked on their ePortfolios in English class, advisory period and study hall. The Middle School chose to categorize ePortfolios not by assignment but across five areas essential to 21st-century skills: self-directed learning, critical thinking, collaboration, curiosity and
creativity. Students assess themselves on these qualities as part of annual goal setting and conferences. “Through working with ePortfolios and categorizing class work into skills, our students have developed a higher level of understanding about these categories and are more articulate in expressing their reflections both verbally and in writing,” notes Lindsay Kelland, Middle School digital thinking teacher and technology coordinator. An important “digital footprint” exercise for the Middle School was sharing their ePorfolios with each other, parents and teachers for feedback. In April, students used their ePortfolios during the Middle School’s student-led parent conferences. In 2013–14, ePortfolios move into the Upper School with the entire 9th grade. Incoming 9th grade students will continue to practice the skills learned in 8th grade. This past summer, members of the Class of 2017 who are new to Garrison Forest began initial work on their Upper School ePortfolio with Lindsay Kelland and Stacie Muñoz, Upper School technology coordinator, via an online mini-course. Upper School ePortfolios will highlight learning “outside the classroom” through photos, videos, audio clips, writing, etc., while exercising important dispositions like critical-thinking skills, collaboration, creativity, curiosity and self-direction.
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“Brain Scanning” by YoungMin Lee ’13 (page 14) Youngmin Lee created this colored pencil drawing for her Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) application portfolio. RISD requires each applicant to create a work of art depicting both the inside and outside concurrently. Her creative solution was to imagine a brain scanner. “Because we cannot read the bad thoughts of people who intend to commit acts of injustice, we are helpless when it comes to preventing crimes,” she explains. “However, through the brain scanning system in this piece, we can prevent them. When a person begins thinking of a negative thought intended for criminal acts, the scanner indicates a need for a switch to a new brain with a new, positive thought process.” Youngmin, a boarder who is equally talented with a paintbrush, was accepted to RISD but chose to study art at Washington University in St. Louis.
Mandy Cabot ’72 CEO and Co-founder, Dansko, Inc. Often innovation is about recognizing when something extraordinary crosses your path and seizing the opportunity. We didn’t invent a new mousetrap; we made something special accessible. My husband [Peter Kjellerup] and I already had a successful career importing and training European show horses. We were in Denmark, and I saw a shoe I’d never seen before: a closed-back clog. I discovered it was the perfect barn shoe. We started selling them out of our trunk at U.S. horse shows, and the demand created an opportunity for us. We tracked down the manufacturer, got exclusive North American distribution rights and, in 1990, founded Dansko. For us, innovation has evolved into creating a business that has the power to do real and lasting good in the world. For the majority of our customers, we are their everyday shoe, but we want to be our stakeholders’ favorite company, whether they are customers, retailers or employees. In 2012, Dansko became 100% employee owned, and we are the first and only footwear company to be certified as a B corporation, a new class of hybrid, for-profit companies that care for their employees, community and the environment. In 2012, Mandy Cabot ’72 was honored as a “Woman of Distinction” by the Philadelphia Business Journal and named to the Footwear News Power 100 list for the second consecutive year. She is a graduate of Harvard, where she studied anthropology. She received her M.Ed. from the University of Virginia. Dansko, a founding B corporation with LEED Certified headquarters and a distribution center in Chester County, Pa., sells its iconic shoes at over 2,500 U.S. and international retailers. [See pages 84-85 for more.]
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HOME SWEET DORM
Room decorations, posters, fashion and furniture may have changed since boarders first lived at Garrison Forest in 1910, but the fun, friendship and life skills learned have not. Here, we profile six GFS boarders to find out what they love about their “home away from home.”
Cornelia Dorr ’16 Boarder since 9th grade
Hometown: Manchester By-the-Sea, Massachusetts Dorm: Meadowood Activities at GFS: Eventing (three-phase equestrian competition of dressage, cross-country and show jumping) Favorite thing in her room: Her bedding and pillows and her wall of photos of family, friends, pets and favorite animals.
Forest was always at the top of my list. When I visited, there was “ Garrison something here that I can’t pinpoint, but I felt it right away and still feel it. Everyone is friends with each other. At first I was nervous, but my horse is here with me, so it’s a safety net. During frees [free periods during the academic day], I can hang out in my room. I do a lot with the day students too, going off-campus with them to their homes, on trips to Chincoteague or into Baltimore for dinner. I never thought that I was very independent, but this year I learned that I am. I can manage on my own and take care of my horse and handle all his transportation. Boarding is definitely giving me a head-start for college.“
> Get all of the latest GFS news online at www.gfs.org
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“It’s fun to have all
your friends around you as a boarder. You’re much closer to friends when you are living with them. I have really gotten to know people from around the world. Tianqi also is from Shanghai, but we were not close until we became roommates. She’s fun and she’ll be my friend forever. I love the weekend activities, from trips to cooking in Senior House and going to Starbucks.”
Yiliu Zhang ’14 Boarder since 9th grade
Hometown: Jiangsu, China; now lives in Shanghai Dorm: Meadowood Activities at GFS: Women in Science and Engineering (WISE); Varsity Golf; inducted into Cum Laude; Middle School math tutor Favorite thing in her room: Roommate Tianqi Tao ’15 and the heart-shaped photo collage Tianqi made her. Yiliu (right) is pictured with her roommate, Tianqi (left).
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Yeon Ji Kim ’14 Boarder since 9th grade
Hometown: Seoul, South Korea Dorm: Residential Life Student Leader (RLSL) in Meadowood Activities at GFS: Editor-in-Chief, Callisto literary magazine; Women in Science and Engineering (WISE); Rebuilding Baltimore volunteer; worked at a rural school in the Hunan Province, China as a Jenkins Fellow Favorite thing in her room: As an RLSL, she gets a single room if she chooses. Yeon Ji, who prefers a sparse room, loves to spread out homework on the extra bed and desk, but her favorite is the extra closet for her anything-but-sparse shoe collection.
“My sister [Yeon Woo Kim
’12, Johns Hopkins ‘16] and I have lived abroad since 2007. When we applied to American boarding schools, we chose Garrison Forest because of its friendly atmosphere and gorgeous campus. I came here already independent, but at GFS, I have developed into a more mature and accepting person. As an RLSL, I have learned a lot about leadership, and I love contributing to the community. If I am in a meeting, I would rather be the leader than the listener. Of course, having a single is always a bonus, especially if you are using a double room as a single!”
> Get all of the latest GFS news online at www.gfs.org
Grace Booth ’15 Boarder since 9th grade Alumnae Legacy Scholar, mom is Heide Cory Ruegg ’85
Hometown: Annapolis, Maryland Dorm: Shriver Activities at GFS: Lower School tutor; Peer Educator; manager for soccer and field hockey teams Favorite things in her room: Her bedspread, the Chesapeake Bay print she received for her 16th birthday that reminds her of home and her mother’s Hobart sweatshirt.
“My mom always talked about
her boarding experience at Garrison Forest. She really liked it, and some of her best friends from GFS are still her best friends. You learn a lot about yourself when you board. You make connections with people that are lasting. My first year I was so excited to meet new people, and I learned a lot of things like not to let my laundry pile up. My roommate last year was from Mexico, and it’s great to meet people who aren’t from your city, state or country. I love Shriver. It’s small, fun, low-key and laid back. We’re all close because of it.”
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Tarriya Carter ’13 Boarder since 9th grade
Hometown: Burlington, New Jersey Dorm: Residential Life Student Leader (RLSL) in Senior House Activities at GFS: Head of GFS Service League’s Soup Kitchen outreach; tour guide; Lower School tutor; GFS Spain trip; Captain, Indoor Track, 2013 Favorite thing in her room: Her “Keep Calm and Carry On” poster helped her “take a deep breath and keep going” during college applications.
INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT BOARDING AT GFS? Schedule an overnight visit tailored to your interests by calling (410) 559-3111 or visiting www.gfs.org/admission. Garrison Getaway is Thursday–Friday, November 7–8, 2013.
“I had applied to
other coed boarding schools, but when I walked on campus, I felt that this was where I belonged. I am so happy I came to Garrison Forest. I don’t know who I would be if I hadn’t come here. Garrison Forest is confidence and kindness. Everyone is so nice here without any drama. My favorite thing about Senior House is that it’s quiet in a good way. Having roommates has taught me to be more tolerant of everyone’s style of doing things. You can’t really prepare to board. You just have to do it. The first time I got a demerit for being late to dinner, I called my mom crying. Now I take things in stride, and I never get demerits. The rules are second nature now.”
THE ALUMNAE LEGACY SCHOLARSHIP OFFERS two merit-based legacy scholarships for any new student or current day student entering Grades 8–12 to board at Garrison Forest. Alumnae daughters, granddaughters and nieces are eligible. Scholarships are renewable each year with good academic standing. The scholarship covers the cost difference between day and boarding tuition. Eligible families may also apply for additional need-based financial aid.
G ARRISON F OREST S CHOOL 2013
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SPIRIT OF GIVING
EACH YEAR, THE GFS COMMUNITY comes together to celebrate the school through giving to The Fund for Garrison Forest. As a critical part of the operating budget, The Fund helps cover expenses such as financial aid, teacher salaries and benefits, classroom and athletic equipment and cherished traditions like Service League and student government. This crucial support directly affects our students and faculty and enriches the life of the school.
2012–13 FUND BY THE NUMBERS $1,424,771 raised
$2,192 raised per student
Over 1,400 alumnae, parents, faculty and friends gave
THE FUND FOR GARR ISON FOR EST 6 % END OWMENT 5 % A UX ILIA RY 5 %
FINANC IA L AID 1 3 % S ALAR IES A ND B ENEFITS 5 8 %
OTH ER 7 %
GENER A L OPER ATING C OS TS 2 9 %
TUITION A ND FEES 7 7 %
All figures for fiscal year July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013.
THE 2013–14 FISCAL YEAR BEGAN JULY 1. PLEASE JOIN US IN SUPPORTING GARRISON FOREST THIS YEAR. Give or pledge online at www.gfs.org/give.
>
Sign up for monthly installments. A Shriver Society gift of $1,000 over 12 months is about $84/month.
> Get all of the latest GFS news online at www.gfs.org
>
Check out the online 2012–13 Donor Report beginning September 1 at www.gfs.org/donorreport (use password: thankyou).
SPIRIT OF GIVING
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THANK YOU TO THE 2012–13 FUND FOR GARRISON FOREST VOLUNTEERS Eleanor Shriver Magee ’89, Overall Chair Kellie McGowan, Parent Fund Chair 2013 Senior Class Gift Co-Chairs Bob and Betsy Brennen with daughters Annie ’13 and Kit ’12
SENIOR CLASS GIFT Co-Chaired by Betsy and Bob Brennen, the Class of 2013 Senior Class Gift effort has raised funds from the senior parents and grandparents to name the plaza in front of Marshall-Offutt in honor of the class.
Edward E. Ford Foundation Renews Support The Edward E. Ford Foundation $50,000 grant, to be matched on a one-to-one basis, will create a new public health initiative under the GFS Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Academy, a natural progression of the ground-breaking GFS/Johns Hopkins University WISE partnership. Increasing numbers of GFS students are interested in public health. In 2008, the E.E. Ford Foundation selected GFS as one of five independent schools nationwide as an inaugural grantee to establish an experiential learning program. With the 2008 grant, the school created The James Center. The newest grant will expand curricular and co-curricular offerings in public health and all science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) areas, fund a JHU graduate student to live on campus and mentor GFS students and faculty, increase experiential opportunities at Hopkins and create a social entrepreneurship training leading to a certificate. For more information, please contact Deanna Gamber Urner ’85, Director of Development, deannaurner@gfs.org.
Reunion Giving Cup This year, the tradition of the Reunion Giving Cup continued at Garrison Forest. The winner of the cup is the reunion class with the greatest increase in participation in The Fund for Garrison Forest during their reunion year. The Class of 1953 (above), led by gift chair Susie Stinson Deering, won the 2013 Reunion Giving Cup.
Dawn Dias-Bulls, Parent Fund Vice-Chair Helen Zinreich Shafer ’93, Leadership Chair Sarah Herbert Albritton ’78, Overall Reunion Chair Chris Shriver, Faculty Fund Chair Linda and Nick Penniman, Grandparents’ Fund Chairs PARENT FUND VOLUNTEERS Dirck Bartlett Dawn Dias-Bulls Stephen Goldstein John Harroun Geoff Hengerer Ellen Ivey Jay Jarrett Sorrel King Peter Korzenewski Brent Matthews Kellie McGowan Chris Newman Steve Sarigianis Josh Scheinker Laura Schuebel Neal Shapiro Chris Shriver Marcelle Simon Nicole Smith Robert Smith Brian Singer Gretchen Townsend Morry Zolet FACULTY FUND VOLUNTEERS Barb Ackerman Ginny Berrier Gail Hutton Karen Meyers
ALUMNAE VOLUNTEERS S. Dorsey Smith ’65 Mimi Haentjens Stone ’66 Ann Carroll Harris ’67 Margie Garland Whitman ’75 Sana Naylor Brooks ’85 Rebecca Ferrell Smith ’87 Susan McCormick Scarborough ’89 Beth Fenwick Garner ’91 Julie Martin McAllister ’92 Ashley Ingraham ’95 Kristina Kassolis O’Keefe ’00 Anne Deady ’01 Erica Chan Day ’02 Laura Waters ’04 Amber Rehman ’05 Abigail Malis ’06 Charlotte Pinkard ’07 Holly Rocha ’09 Dani DiPietro ’10 Haley Austin ’12 CLASS OF 2013 SENIOR CLASS GIFT COMMITTEE Betsy and Bob Brennen, Chairs Ann and Rusty Forbes Kathilynch and Brian Martin Kellie and Gregory McGowan Megan and Steve Schuler Missy and J.D. Wells Laurie and David Wingate REUNION GIFT CHAIRS 1948 Virginia Gaillard Chew 1953 Susie Stinson Deering 1958 Deedee Morss Decker 1963 Polly Thayer Miller 1968 Jody Burchenal Nycum 1973 Anda Bigham Hutchins 1978 Sealy Hathaway Hopkinson 1983 Mary Guest Looney 1988 Elizabeth Piper Amanda Karrh 1993 Nicole Kokolakis Borden Kate Schroeder O’Neill 1998 Natalie Litz Bissonnette Courtenay Fisher Clark 2003 Colleen Hodgetts 2008 Courtney Smith
G ARRISON F OREST S CHOOL 2013
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SPIRIT OF GIVING
THE FUND FOR GARRISON FOREST IN ACTION: CLASS OF 2013 This fall, the Class of 2013 has happily and successfully embarked on the next exciting part of their educational journey. The Fund for Garrison Forest has made a difference for each member of this class. Annual gifts to The Fund make a daily difference in students’ lives by helping cover expenses such as financial aid, technology, teacher salaries and benefits, athletic equipment, field trips and cherished GFS traditions including Service League, Forum, spirit days and more.
The Class of 2013 will be attending the following colleges and universities: Barnard College
Johns Hopkins University (3)
The Art Institute of Pittsburgh
University of South Carolina
Boston University
Loyola University Maryland (2)
The University of Alabama
University of Virginia (2)
Bucknell University (2)
McDaniel College
The University of Texas, Austin
Villanova University
College of Charleston (3)
Miami University, Oxford
Towson University
Colorado State University
Mills College
Tufts University
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (2)
Columbia University (2)
Northwestern University
Tulane University
Davidson College
Oberlin College
Dickinson College (2)
Pennsylvania State University, University Park
Elon University Fordham University Franklin and Marshall College
Rollins College Saint Francis University
University of California at San Diego
Washington College
University of Connecticut
Washington University in St. Louis
University of Delaware (Honors Program)
West Virginia University, Institute of Technology
Saint Joseph's University
University of Delaware
Georgetown University
Savannah College of Art and Design
University of Maryland, College Park (University Scholars)
Gettysburg College
Seton Hall University
Hamilton College (NY)
Sewanee: The University of the South
University of Maryland, College Park (4) University of Michigan
Smith College
University of Mississippi
Furman University
Hampshire College Hobart and William Smith Colleges John Cabot University
South Carolina State University Temple University
> Get all of the latest GFS news online at www.gfs.org
Wagner College Wake Forest University (2)
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Go to gfs.org/magazine for a list of the colleges and universities where the members of the Class of 2013 were accepted. Check out the podcast links of the GFS college counseling office sharing advice and wisdom on the myths and realities of today’s college admissions climate.
SPIRIT OF GIVING
PLANNED GIVING Where there’s a will, there’s a way… More than 200 people, ages 23 to 94, are members of the Marshall-Offutt Circle, Garrison Forest’s legacy society. Each had a different reason for joining. Here, we highlight two alumnae who made bequest intentions to Garrison Forest in 2012–13. They were at GFS almost a half-century apart, but they are united in their love of the school and their desire to make a lasting difference.
BETH FENWICK GARNER ’91 A new baby inspired her to think long-term.
COURTNEY GARLAND IGLEHART ‘48 Her reunion made her think back … and ahead.
When Beth Fenwick Garner’s second child was born in 2012, she knew she wanted to rewrite her will. “It was the perfect time to think about what was really important in my life,” says Beth, “so my husband and I made a special provision for Garrison Forest in it.” Beth has loved Garrison ever since she arrived in 1985. An enthusiastic athlete, she was a member of the field hockey, soccer, and lacrosse teams, a member of the Ski Club, and captain of the Darks. She has been helping Garrison Forest as her class’ fund agent, but last year started thinking about how she could make a long-term difference. Says Beth, “I was pleased to give back to the place that gave me so much, and now I am a proud member of the Marshall-Offutt Circle.” “It was easy to rewrite my will,” says Beth, who works in Alumnae Relations at St. Paul’s School for Girls. “We met with our lawyer, told him what we wanted to do, and asked him to draw up the papers. Within days, we had a new will, and it gave me peace of mind to have it taken care of and to have GFS included.”
Courtney Garland Iglehart has been a proud member of the Class of 1948 since she arrived on campus as a 10th grader. “We have always been a close and loyal bunch,” she says of her classmates, 14 of whom came back for their 65th reunion in May. GFS became home for numerous members of her family, including daughters Courtney Iglehart d’Alessio ’72 and Alice Iglehart Schwarz ’79, sister Relie Garland Bolton ’53, and nieces and grand-nieces. As her reunion drew near, Courtney decided to make a legacy gift as part of her 65th reunion gift: “Why wouldn’t I want to bequeath a gift to the school? My two daughters and I love GFS!” As the chair of her class’ 65th reunion, Courtney attended virtually every program during Reunion Weekend 2013. “Because of the opportunity to mix in with students and faculty, I came away with a powerfully impressive understanding of today’s curriculum and teaching methods,” she says. “Garrison Girls are truly being prepared to live and work in the competitive and international world of today.”
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✒ While we strongly recommend that you seek professional advice in drawing up your will, the following is an option to share with your estate planner: I give and devise to Garrison Forest School, located in Owings Mills, Md., the sum of $_______________(or __________percent of the rest, residue, and remainder of my estate, both real and personal) to be used for its general support (or for the support of a specific fund or program).
Have you already remembered GFS in your will? If so, please let us know so we can include you in the Marshall-Offutt Circle. To see a list of all Marshall-Offutt Circle members, visit gfs.org/plannedgiving/ members.
For more information about remembering Garrison Forest in your will or other types of planned gifts, including trusts, contact Deanna Gamber Urner ’85, Director of Development: deannaurner@gfs.org or 410-559-3135.
M O
Ma rsha l l- Offutt C irc le
The top classes for MarshallOffutt Circle membership: 1958: 1948: 1978: 1966: Beth Fenwick Garner ’91 and family
8 7 7 6
1945: 1946: 1960: 1971:
5 5 5 5
Courtney Garland Iglehart ’48
G ARRISON F OREST S CHOOL 2013
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SPIRIT OF GIVING
Leadership at the Forest NEW TRUSTEES
PETER O’NEILL ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT ON JUNE 30, 2014, G. Peter O’Neill, Jr., the ninth Head of School, will retire after 20 years of exceptional service to Garrison Forest School. Beginning in 2014, Garrison Forest will celebrate his tenure and accomplishments at the helm. Since early 2013, Garrison Forest has been actively engaged in seeking a new Head of School. Co-chaired by trustees and past board chairs Lila Boyce Lohr ’63 and Molly Mundy Hathaway ’61, the Search Committee, which represents alumnae, day and boarding parents and faculty, is working closely with Independent Thinking, a highly regarded national search firm. The committee and the search process underscore Garrison Forest’s mission and philosophy, and the utmost confidentiality of applicants will be upheld throughout every step of the process. Go to www.gfs.org/head-ofschool-search for a list of committee members and search updates. Questions to the committee may be directed confidentially to headsearch@gfs.org.
> Get all of the latest GFS news online at www.gfs.org
Sana Naylor Brooks ’85 A long-time Garrison Forest volunteer, Sana has served as chair of The Fund for Garrison Forest, overseen her class’ reunions and currently chairs the Calvert School Capital Campaign. A former Calvert teacher, Sana is a graduate of Hobart and William Smith Colleges and holds an M.Ed. in education administration and supervision from Johns Hopkins. She recently completed her tenure on the Odyssey School board.
Kimberly Hubbard Cashman ’85 Parent: Hadley ‘18 and Amanda ‘24
A graduate of the University of Vermont (B.S.) with an M.S. in technology for educators from Johns Hopkins, Kimberly worked in the field of technology for education at an educational software company in Baltimore and at a California company providing technology training for K–12 teachers. Her extensive volunteer leadership includes serving on the Baltimore Educational Scholarship Trust board and co-chairing its trusteeship committee, serving on the Brown Memorial Weekday School board and volunteering for Gilman School. At GFS, she devotes her volunteer efforts to reunions and parent activities.
2012 DISTINGUISHED ALUMNA AWARD WINNER
Lila Boyce Lohr ‘63 At the September 2012 Leadership Recognition Dinner, an annual event to honor Garrison Forest’s volunteer and donor leadership, Lila Boyce Lohr ’63 received the 2012 Distinguished Alumna Award. Her volunteer leadership of her alma mater is impressive: trustee, Career Day panelist, Marshall-Offutt Circle member and reunion volunteer. Lila is the current co-chair of the search committee for the Head of School. During her tenure as GFS board president (2005–2011), GFS built its first green building, the SilverLEED-certified Middle School, created the Trustee Strategic Initiatives Committee and formally
From left: Lila Boyce Lohr’s husband, Bobby Ittmann, Lila, Peter O’Neill and Peggy O’Neill
launched the successful $25 million Centennial Campaign. She is equally respected nationwide as an educator and head of school. “Lila emerged in the 1980s among a group of women as national leaders in independent
SPIRIT OF GIVING
Lila Boyce Lohr ’63 Recognized among the nation’s independent schools for her experienced leadership as a head or interim head for numerous schools, Lila is a noted educator, author and exceptional Garrison Forest volunteer. She first joined the GFS Board of Trustees in 1996, served as president (2005–11) and is co-chairing the Head of School Search. Last fall, she received the Distinguished Alumna Award (see below for details on her award and a full bio). A graduate of Vassar, Lila holds an M.Ed. from Goucher College and studied business administration at Johns Hopkins.
C. Ashton Newhall Parent: Brantley Newhall ’26, Sydney Newhall ‘25 and Alex King ‘19
Ashton co-founded Montagu Newhall Associates, now Greenspring Associates, in 2000. A third-generation venture capitalist, he is among a handful of venture-only fund-of-funds managers in the industry today. He previously worked at T. Rowe Price. A graduate and trustee of Elon University, he was Elon’s 2007 Young Alumnus of the Year. He also serves on the boards of Bessemer Venture Partners,
education,” remarked Peter O’Neill. “She has been one of the leading lights for independent schools for over 30 years.” A Vassar graduate who spent her senior year at Yale before it officially went coed, Lila began her teaching career in New Haven before returning to Baltimore to teach at Bryn Mawr School. Her first headship was St. Paul’s School for Girls. In 1995, she became the first female head at Princeton Day School, returning in 2007 as interim. She also served as interim head at Friends School of Baltimore, Indian Creek School in Annapolis, San Francisco’s Katherine Delmar Burke School, and most recently, St. Paul’s School for Girls. She has written extensively in national publications and professional journals. In 2000, she authored a Peterson’s Guide entitled Game Plan for Getting into Private School. Lila served as president of the Board of the Association of Independent Maryland Schools and as vice president of the National Association of Principals of Schools
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Domain Associates, Pelion Venture Partners, the Limited Partner Advisory Board for QuestMark Partners, as well as the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association selection committee.
Bill Spire Parent: Sarah ‘16 (boarding)
A graduate of St. Andrews School and McDaniel College, Bill specializes in finance, venture capital and philanthropy. He currently is involved with multiple companies worldwide that range from unique recycling technologies to advanced artificial intelligence software. His board memberships include St. Andrew’s Alumni Corporation Board, Franklin and Marshall’s President’s Council, Dynamic Intelligence System for Financial Analysis (DISFA) Global and acting director and financial advisor to the Seraph Foundation, Inc. He is a past trustee of Lancaster Country Day School. THANK YOU to out-going trustees Bill Parrish, M.D., Betsy Garland Wilmerding ’78 and Fred Whitridge, who returns to his role as emeritus trustee. Your service and wise counsel to Garrison Forest School are deeply appreciated.
for Girls, and has served on the boards of numerous Baltimore-area organizations. 2012 H. BRIAN DEADY AWARD RECIPIENT
Chris Newman The H. Brian Deady Award, established in 2001 in memory of extraordinary parent volunteer Brian Deady by his wife Pat and daughter Anne ’01, is awarded annually to the parent volunteer who best exemplifies Brian’s devoted level of service to GFS. Chris Newman has volunteered since 2005 when daughter Nicole ’19, joined GFS. Chris began as a parent fund agent, and was vice chair and chair of the Parent Fund. He has served on the development committee of the Board of Trustees and is currently a member of the finance committee. A member of the T. Rowe Price firm since 1989, Chris is a senior U.S. institutional sales executive for Global Investment Services. He is a McDaniel
From left: Pat Deady, Chris Newman and Anne Deady ’01
College trustee and represents the College on the Independent Colleges of Maryland Board.
G ARRISON F OREST S CHOOL 2013
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SPIRIT OF GIVING
2013 Hall of Excellence Inductees THE GARRISON FOREST SCHOOL Hall of Excellence was created to recognize extraordinary
members of the GFS community who have made significant contributions to the school and to the broader, global community. The first class was inducted in 2007, and another class is added every two years. The Hall of Excellence was established through a gift from the parents and grandparents of the Class of 2000. The 2013 honorees will be celebrated at a luncheon on September 20, 2013.
Gretta Gordy Gardner ’86 For two decades, attorney Gretta Gordy Gardner has helped shape regional and national guidelines, policies and procedures to end violence against women. Her career as a legal advisor for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault was inspired by her early work in the Domestic Violence Unit of the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office. She is the family violence director for the Travis County Counseling and Education Services in Austin, Texas, chair of the Austin/Travis County Family Violence Task Force and a member of the Travis County Fatality Review Team. Her experience includes serving as director of the National Domestic Violence Hotline, project manager for the Allstate Domestic Violence Program with the National Network to End Domestic Violence, and managing attorney for the Washington, D.C. office of the Legal Department of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence where she oversaw national advocacy programs. A former board member for Women Empowered Against Violence, Inc. and the National Organization of Sisters of Color Ending Sexual Assault, Gretta, who is the sister of Tracey Gordy Prothro ’94, spoke at the 2012 GFS Career Day. She holds a B.A. in psychology from Vassar and J.D. from University of Maryland School of Law.
Flo Smith Stone ’56 Film festival pioneer Flo Smith Stone has two “firsts” in national film festivals to her credit. In 1977, while working at the American Museum of Natural History, she created the museum’s Margaret Mead Film Festival, the
> Get all of the latest GFS news online at www.gfs.org
first documentary film festival in the U.S. In 1993, following a move to Washington, D.C. and after working for Earthwatch, she founded the “Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital,” the world’s first comprehensive film festival about the environment. Today, as president and founder of the festival, she helps plan the event, which screens upward of 150 films from 30 countries each spring for 31,000 annual viewers. At GFS, she was active in athletics, the newspaper, choir and Ragged Robins and was the 1956 class president. A 1960 Vassar graduate, Flo also received a certificate in arts administration from Harvard. She is a past GFS trustee and 50th reunion co-chair, former board member of the Textile Museum, currently serves on the Trees for Georgetown Committee and serves on juries for other film festivals worldwide. Her sister is Mimi Smith Cooper ’61.
Anne Van Ingen ’73 Historic preservationist Anne Van Ingen has enjoyed an impactful, 30-plus year career in private and public sector preservation, low-income housing advocacy and arts management for the State of New York. Following Garrison Forest, where she was a boarder and legacy—mother Evelyn Harris Van Ingen ’49, sister Mary Van Ingen Courtemanche ’76 and several aunts and cousins attended GFS— Anne received her B.A. in art and architectural history from Middlebury College and her M.S. in historic preservation from Columbia University. She currently teaches non-profit management at Columbia as adjunct assistant professor of historic preservation. From 1983 to 2010, Anne was director of the Architecture, Planning and Design program and Capital Projects at the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) where she led funding programs totaling $3 million and served as agency spokesperson for historic preservation, design, planning and
SPIRIT OF GIVING
capital issues to the public and New York State governor and legislature. Previously, she ran a historic preservation consulting business. She is a founding partner of 5516 Dauphine LLC, an affordable housing company working in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, and a director of Charles Pratt and Co. LLC, a financial service company in New York City. Board memberships include president, St. Regis Foundation; secretary, James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation; board chairman, Preservation League of New York State; board member, the Adirondack Museum; advisor, National Trust for Historic Preservation; founding director, Lower Manhattan Emergency Preservation Fund; director, Preservation Action; and trustee, Pratt Institute. A former Garrison Forest trustee and alumnae board president, Anne received the 1994 GFS Distinguished Alumna Award, as well as numerous awards in recognition of her distinguished service. Among them are the New York Landmarks Conservancy’s Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award for Public Leadership; the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation’s New York State Historic Preservation Award for Individual Achievement; and the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s President’s Medal.
Wendy Watriss ’60 Award-winning photojournalist and artistic director of FOTOFEST, Wendy Watriss ’60 plays a seminal role in the field of photography and arts advocacy leadership. In 1983, she co-founded with husband and photographer Frederick C. Baldwin the Houston-based FOTOFEST, a photographic arts and educational organization which hosts the highly regarded Biennial. As curator and artistic director, she has organized photography exhibits from Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa and the U.S. In 2011, The Center for Photography at Woodstock bestowed its 2011 Vision of Excellence Award on Wendy and Frederick. A childhood spent in Madrid, Greece and San Francisco and boarding at Garrison Forest inspired her observational talents and a love for documenting various cultures. She studied her freshman year at the University of Madrid before completing her English degree with Honors at New York University. In the early 1970s, funded by a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship, she covered political upheavals in Europe, civil wars in Central America, the effects of Agent Orange on Vietnam veterans, and the cultural, racial and political frontiers in rural Texas.
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A recipient of the prestigious World Press and Oskar Barnack awards, Wendy’s publications include IMAGE and MEMORY, Photography from Latin America 1866–1994 (University of Texas Press, 1998) and Looking at the U.S. 1957–1986 (Schlit Publishing, 2010).
HALL OF EXCELLENCE INDUCTEES Class of 2011 Clinton L. Arrowood* Donald S. Elliott* Sandra Shettle King ’56 The Reverend Martha Overall ’65 Helen Whitney ’61 Class of 2009 Beth Botsford ’99 Sheila Eaton Isham ’46 Miss Jean Marshall* Miss Nancy Offutt* Louise Larocque Serpa ’43* The Reverend Caroline Rinehart Stewart ’66 Michelle Trudeau ’69 Class of 2007 Elizabeth Brown* Charles “Butch” Darrell Molly Mundy Hathaway ’61 Sarah LeBrun Ingram ’84 Catherine “Kitty” Coolidge Lastavica ’49 Cassandra Stewart Naylor ’54 Adele Smith Simmons ’59 Margaret Gould Tyson ’39* 1978 Lacrosse Team Nominations are being accepted for the 2015 Hall of Excellence. Visit www.gfs.org/alumnae to nominate an alumna, a member of the faculty or staff (current or past) or a coach (current or past). Nominee must reflect Garrison Forest’s motto, mission and spirit. *deceased
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MASCOT MENAGERIE BY DANTE BERETTA, PH.D., GFS ARCHIVIST AND MIDDLE SCHOOL LATIN TEACHER
“GO GRIZZLIES!” reverberates through the stands at every Garrison Forest sporting event. Likewise, ubiquitous paw prints and snarling Grizzlies on uniforms and banners invoke the proud spirit of the noble bear, the GFS mascot. But it was not always thus. For the first 30 years of GFS history, there is no record of any animal associated with a team or the school as a whole, until 1940 when Bambi, a live donkey, burst onto the scene and sidelines. Since, each generation of Garrison Girls has put its stamp on the evolution of the school’s mascot identity. And like hemlines, change is the rule not the exception. DRIBBLES, a small stuffed monkey, made her
appearance as the new mascot for the hockey team in the early 1950s. Shortly thereafter, the basketball team appropriated Dribbles as their mascot. Dribbles has lived through several incarnations. Today, she boasts all the bling befitting an A-list athlete. Though Dribbles has had the longest run of all GFS mascots, she has never enjoyed the distinction of being a symbol for the entire school. 1. The 1955 Basketball team with Dribbles. 2. Dribbles’ 1974 yearbook photo. Note her custom GFS tunic. 3. (L. to r.) Traci Davis, athletic director and varsity field hockey co-coach, and Leigh McDonald Hall ’81, physical education teacher and varsity field hockey co-coach, hold the Hockey team’s modern-era Dribbles.
In 1940, BAMBI the donkey, with her
light and dark blue blanket emblazoned with G-F-S, brayed her asinine call to
victory from the sidelines of the hockey
field. Hockey was GFS’s only field sport at the time and for two decades to come. It
also remained the only team with its own mascot until the 1950s.
1. 2.
3.
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claimed for several years by the GFS lacrosse team. In 1978, art history and music teacher Clinton Arrowood designed this team patch.
The honor of first-ever school mascot was bestowed on the UNICORN, an elusive beast of the forest first coaxed into view by the Orpheus-like flute playing of Mr. Arrowood in 1978. After a few students caught sight of the mythical creature (teacher Butch Darrell in disguise), word spread, and the Unicorn was ultimately chosen by acclamation as the school mascot in 1982, enjoying a four-year run. (Photo above from 1982 Ragged Robin yearbook.)
The first costumed GRIZZLY to
appear on the GFS athletic sidelines was less intimidating than it was
depressing, with its expression of
a little girl who had just dropped her ice-cream cone. The current Grizzly captures the requisite ferocity of today’s athletic warrior and is a
frequent presence at athletic, spirit and GFS events.
Archives: Mascots
THE ALLIGATOR, the mascot chosen by
St. Paul’s School for Girls in the ’70s, was also
Feeling that their mascot did not accurately represent the edgy post-Breakfast Club Garrison Girl, students called for a referendum on the mascot matter in 1986. An all-school ballot presented four candidates: Unicorn, Fox, Forester and GRIZZLY. Garnering a strong majority, the Grizzly carried the day. This early prototype drawn by Mr. Arrowood had all the accoutrements of its human counterpart. The Grizzly Girl made a flop rather than a splash, though, mainly because of the hairy legs.
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END NOTE
Words We Live By IN SUMMER 1976, fresh
from two tours of duty in Vietnam, I interviewed for the job of business manager at Garrison Forest School. I fell in love with the place the minute I set foot on campus. Every student and adult I met was confident, cheerful, helpful and kind. They knew who they were and that they were valuable and respected members of the community. I saw right away that people here were given the chance to discover and to be themselves. They lived the Garrison Forest motto, Esse Quam Videri —To Be Rather Than To Seem. The motto gives us more than words to live by. It shapes the character of our school and everybody in it. A creative genius like Clinton Arrowood [art history and music teacher]—who in most organizations would have driven his boss crazy, failed every assessment and gotten himself fired— was instead celebrated at GFS. In return, he left us art and memories that will last as long as there is a Garrison Forest School. He was a free spirit, always up for madcap adventure and naturally himself. On the first beautiful day of spring, he would throw open all the windows of Moncrieffe and blast classical music that you could hear all the way to Garrison Forest Road. During long faculty meetings, he wouldn’t say a word except for “I move that this meeting be adjourned.” It quickly would be seconded and the meeting was over. For a long time, faculty would invoke the “Arrowood Motion.” Another example is my own abject failure as business manager. To be fair, in the mid-1970s, nobody would have succeeded in that role. The buildings were a mess, the budget was unbalanced, and GFS, like numerous girls’ schools across the country, was experiencing tough times as many all-boys’ boarding and day schools went coed. I had no business experience, but I felt the spirit of the school right away and knew it was worth my best. When I came close to balancing the budget, I felt like I’d won the Super Bowl. What saved Garrison Forest was our incredible Board of Trustees, an excellent example of Esse Quam Videri. What saved me was the vision of Headmistress Aggie Underwood who knew I wanted to teach, even though my only experience was teaching Sunday school. She agreed to let me teach world geography to 6th grade. During each class, I would give demerits, and at the end
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of each class, the girls would talk me out of them. I must have threatened hundreds of demerits but only sent one in. I told that particular student that I wouldn’t get rid of it. She said that I was only doing it to prove that I could, which was the truth. I never gave another demerit again. Since 1976, Garrison Forest has progressed from run-down buildings held together by baling wire and duct tape to state-of-the-art facilities. Our faculty, students and staff are now a diverse group in age, race, gender, sexual orientation and probably several other ways I haven't thought of, but we are still close-knit, and we still live by our motto. And I am confident that we will continue to do so. We will continue to allow students and faculty the time and freedom to pursue their own interests, learn from their mistakes and develop their own character. The life skills we acquire by modeling ourselves after good examples (and maybe a few unlikely role models), playing sports on a team, participating in a play, working in a soup kitchen, just hanging with friends, or having the guts to try a new path, are as beneficial as anything we pick up in a classroom. They are the things that enable us to find out who we are and to be that person, to truly be and not to seem.
Charles C. “Butch” Darrell continues the Garrison Forest Magazine tradition of a guest columnist’s reflections on the school motto. Throughout his 37 years at GFS, Mr. Darrell has embodied Esse Quam Videri (see page 10). Plungers have been a key part of his classroom. His Middle School colleague and close friend, the late Joan McDonald, would often leave her orderly Latin classroom to tell him to get his students under control. He knew it was in good fun, but one of his students, terrified, asked what he needed to restore order. “A plunger,” he joked, “so I can pull off your noses when you misbehave.” The next morning, a new plunger appeared on his desk. For nearly three decades, Mr. Darrell taught, plunger in hand. Students used them as props for ancient history plays—Caesar was “stabbed” annually in his class with dozens of plungers —and he received just as many as gifts. Granddaughter Sally Pfeiffer ’18 now owns the plunger, left.
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ABOUT THE ARTWORK In Michele Shepherd’s 3D class, boarder Michelle Chen ’15 created a tree depicting all four seasons. The assignment is designed to introduce students to the formal elements and principles of sculpture: balance, weight/counterweight, numbers in form, pattern, asymmetry and texture. Students create a cube or multiple cubes from task board to form one sculpture. Michelle, who is also an accomplished pianist, solved this creative challenge by pushing the assignment as far as she could to explore materials, structural restrictions and concepts in depth. “I chose to depict the four seasons on one tree because I am fascinated by nature, and I feel the seasons make trees become more expressive,” Michelle explains. “The four seasons show us the ‘samsara’ [or journey] of the tree, thus completing the tree.”
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CLASS NEWS
Alumnae Class News Keep in touch with GFS alumnae through the secure GFS Alumnae Center at www.gfs.org/alumnae. The following was compiled by May 2013. For additional Class News photos, please visit www.gfs.org/alumnae/gallery.
Light Blue/Dark Blue Spirit captains in 1978
The Class News section of the magazine is not included in the online version. If you did not receive your 2013 Garrison Forest Magazine, please send your updated address to: Alumnae Office Garrison Forest School 300 Garrison Forest Road Owings Mills, MD 21117 gfs_alum@gfs.org You may also email magazine@gfs.org to receive the Class News section as a PDF.
CLASS OF 2013 COMMENCEMENT AWARD WINNERS
FACULTY AWARD
ALUMNAE AWARD
SHRIVER AWARD
PHILIP J. JENSEN AWARD
PHILIP J. JENSEN AWARD
Madison Farley ’13
Garland Mooney ’13
Amanda Selsky ’13
Kaley Gonzalez ’13
Kamber Parker ’13
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