Georgian, Summer 2001

G

Higher Education

Decision Making

Learn about where students are going to college and why, page 3.

College counselor teaches prisoners to make responsible decisions, page 4.

eorgian

A Publication of George School, Newtown, Pennsylvania

Volume 73

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Number 2

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Summer 2001

Chimp Researcher Chooses Her Path to Success

By Ayeola G. Elias

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ike her fellow George School graduates, Sarah Dunphy-Lelii ’96 was faced with important and sometimes difficult decisions after high school. She had to choose what college to attend, what courses to take and what occupation to pursue. Now one year out of college, Sarah has the satisfaction of knowing that she achieved her current success by having confidence in herself, in her capabilities and in her decisions.

Last year, Sarah earned a B.A. in psychology from Pennsylvania State University while enrolled in the Schreyer honors program. Within the same year of graduating from college, Sarah was awarded a five-year doctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan, a program that will earn her a Ph.D. in neuroscience. But before beginning her doctorate studies this fall, Sarah decided to take a year off from school to study primate mind development at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette).

During college, when Sarah was contacting primate facilities throughout the country in search of a summer internship, one of her Penn State professors suggested she contact Dr. Povinelli, a well-known scientist in the field of cognitive evolution research at UL Lafayette. They began corresponding and eventually, he offered Sarah her current job. “I just got really lucky,” Sarah said.

But luck is not what helped Sarah obtain the position of study review coordinator for the Cognitive Evolution Group at UL Lafayette. Sarah’s tenacity and knowledge are what helped her gain invaluable experiences. The (Turn to page 2 to read more)

FPO

Education After George School (Chimp Researcher, continued from page 1)

best part about her current experience, she admitted, “is working with the chimps.”

“I love my job,” Sarah said. “My typical day might entail arriving at 7:30 a.m. and working on graphing and tabling results for data collected from either the chimpanzee or child labs,” Sarah explained. “Then I might climb on top of the chimpanzee cages outside to record live data from the afternoon testing session.”

“She has the mind of a scholar and the heart of a child,” said George School English teacher Ralph Lelii about his daughter. “She can work for hours on some small problem in her field. She loves the truth of things, the rightness of things.”

One truth Sarah learned is that like human beings, every chimp is unique.

“Each one is entirely different, and each has its own rules,” Sarah explained. “Never turn your back to Brandy; never get close to Mindy without carrying along a hose; don’t give Candy or Megan food when Apollo is around.”

Sarah’s work at UL Lafayette is excellent preparation for her Ph.D. studies. Comparative cognition, one of the topics being investigated at the UL Lafayette lab, happens to be directly related to the topic Sarah plans to study for her Ph.D. “At Michigan, I would like to work on the topic of theory of mind,” she explained. “I will create experiments, which can be run here with the chimpanzees, to investigate the similarities and differences between the ways chimps and children think,” she explained.

As a senior at George School, Sarah applied to William and Mary, Boston College, Penn State, and Georgetown University. All schools, except for Georgetown, sent her a letter of acceptance.

But Sarah was persistent and reapplied to Georgetown during her first year at Penn State. The second time around, Georgetown wanted her. After rethinking the characteristics she sought in a George School

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The average person might find it difficult to tell each of the chimps apart. In fact, at first, Sarah did as well. But with time, she learned the chimps’ various nuances and distinct characteristics making it easy for her to tell them apart.

The best part about her current experience, she admitted, “is working with the chimps.” ing foreign languages, culture, travel, and of course science, Sarah plans on learning for the rest of her life. But after graduate school, Sarah said she wants to begin sharing her knowledge. Someday, Sarah explained, “I’d like to be a teacher.”

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college, however, Sarah decided to continue studying at Penn State.

“Penn State is an excellent university,” Sarah said proudly. “I wanted to have access to as many labs and courses as possible, and the honors program gave me the small, personal environment that I needed.” She also pointed out that Penn State gives its students a superb education at one-third the cost of some more prestigious schools.

Sarah is looking forward to reentering the educational community as a student. With a long list of interests includ-

Three doors down from Sarah’s office at UL Lafayette is the office of Dr. Todd Preuss ’74, the director of another research facility. Not only is he the head of the Laboratory of Comparative Neuroscience, but coincidentally, he is also a George School

graduate. Todd and his researchers are comparing brain evolution of chimps, monkeys and humans. ❈ Note: According to the latest alumni survey, Sarah is not alone in feeling successful. Ninety-four percent of the 100-respondent sample also feel they have reached their idea of professional success. Turn to page 5 for more survey results.

Vo l u m e 7 3

Georgian

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Number 2

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Summer 2001

College Quest Becomes More Elusive

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igh school graduates are facing greater challenges than they had in previous years with their search for the right college.

Getting high scores on SAT’s and having straight A’s in an honor class do not guarantee entrance to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or Brown universities. Graduating from the best private secondary schools doesn’t secure a spot at either Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, or the University of Pennsylvania.

The “U.S. News & World Report 2001” edition of America’s Best Colleges noted that among the 1,976 high school graduates who attended highly selective and moderately selective colleges, those who attended the latter were actually earning slightly more than those who studied at the top schools—an average of $91,200 versus $90,100 in 1995.

According to this report, a school’s reputation and rank should be considered less significant in a student’s analysis of where to go than the details of what a school has to offer that student. Top tier, very entrant-selective colleges are not the only schools with world-class programs. Many lower-tier schools have developed excellent departments and have added eminent professors to teach subjects that have been eliminated by Ivy League schools.

Ezra Rosser, a GS graduate of the Class of ’96 and who presently attends Yale University, agrees that the university’s reputation isn’t as important as the students who attend it. “I don’t think I experienced the very best education because I was at Yale. I think I have had that experience because I chose to have it. There were people who didn’t really learn that much at Yale, and I have friends who have learned a tremendous amount at large state schools. Going to an Ivy League university certainly facilitates an intellectual and personal education, but it can be found anywhere and everywhere.”

Having a son or daughter graduate from a well-known college is a dream for many parents. It may even be more important to some international students since international name recognition

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might help a student when seeking employment abroad.

Nancy Culleton, director of College Guidance at George School, said “The international students tend to focus on colleges with well-known names such as Boston University, NYU, the University of Michigan, as well as the Ivies.”

Francine Block, president of American College Admissions Consultants, based in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, said, “Some of the admission counselors with whom I’ve been working… have told me this is the toughest year ever.”

Francine has found that even those colleges that normally accept the majority of their applicants have developed entrant wait lists this year. Although no one is certain there is any one factor contributing to this problem, both Nancy and Francine seem to think that the use of the Internet for fast and easy application submission and the steady economy contribute to competitive acceptance ratios.

“Demographics are playing a part in much of this,” said Nancy. Schools are seeking out the best students from many corners of the country with the intent to broaden their diversity, both ethnically and demographically.” This means that schools aren’t pulling as many students from the same geographic areas and from private schools where they have recruited in past years. “Being perfect isn’t good enough anymore,” Nancy said.

A silver lining is that the second- and third-tier schools are getting better because the pool of students from which they are selecting is better filled with students and these schools are successfully working to meet those students’ desire for challenges. Introductory classes are being taught by professors, not teaching assistants as is the norm in Ivy League schools. And professors have a better chance to get to know students, affording them more detailed and impressive recommendations for internships and graduate schools.

Perhaps the best of all the news for student applicants is that graduate schools and company recruiters are looking for people who excelled in

Director of College Guidance Nancy Culleton (center) helped each of these seniors make college decisions. In September, (from left to right) Nicholas Perez will attend St. Louis University; Honoka Takei will attend American University; Tiffany Vaughan will attend Bryn Mawr College; and J.C. Stephenson will attend Lafayette College.

“Demographics is playing the part in much of this,” said Culleton. “Schools are seeking out the best students from many corners of the country with the intent to broaden their diversity, both ethnically and demographically.” whatever college they attended, rather than those in the middle of the class at highly selective schools. The message sent is that it is not necessarily the school one attends, but the level of effort a student exhibits that is a measure of his or her true success. ■

Note: The list of graduates including the colleges they will attend is available on the Web (www.georgeschool.org/admission/ collist.html) and will appear in the fall Georgian.

George School

Summer 2001

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Georgian

Photo by Ayeola G. Elias

By Marie Duess

C College Counselor Guides Prisoners

A M P U S

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P D A T E

Horticulture Class Breeds Gardeners

By Marie Duess

By Diane Labas

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I

had to learn to be non-judgmental,” said Associate Director of College Guidance Peggy Anderson.

“It is hard for me not to suggest solutions or to try to fix things. I’ve learned to resist saying ‘that’s good’ or ‘are you really sure you want to do that?’ I’ve learned to listen and to encourage my clients to express their own ideas.”

Peggy isn’t talking about George School students. She’s summarizing her experience of working with Bucks County prisoners through the Volunteers in Teaching Alternatives (VITA) program.

Peggy has worked with 11 inmates since 1995, but it wasn’t until she was the faculty recipient of the Andrew Bourns Social Justice Endowment in 2001 that she was able to dedicate the time to teach them a decision making course. The Bourns endowment paid a percentage of Peggy’s salary so she could receive some release time from her guidance counselor job.

Some of Peggy’s clients have not completed high school and have accumulated several adult convictions in addition to having prior juvenile arrest records. Drug and alcohol addiction, difficulties in holding jobs, and trouble obeying authority are some problems many prisoners face that prevent them from leading satisfying, productive lives.

Founded by Milton Burglass—a Harvard graduate who once served time for check fraud—the VITA program Peggy teaches helps participants learn to break the cycle of destructive behavior that disables them from making rational decisions in their lives.

“The course we work on together helps them define the situations, map out consequences, make thoughtful choices, and not give in to hasty or expedient options,” said Peggy.

Peggy works with an inmate one evening each week in an individual session. The program lasts between 8 and 15 weeks. “No conversation is ‘off sub-

George School

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ject,’” Peggy explains, adding, “It’s a real luxury to have unlimited time. All conversations are confidential, unless the prisoner tells me he plans to escape, hurt himself, or hurt others.”

One lesson she has taken to heart is the impact people’s attitudes can have on their lives. “One of the themes of the course is ‘life is 10 percent situation and 90 percent attitude.’ You can’t change anyone but yourself, so start with your own attitude. In an environment as regulated as prison, your attitude may be your only control or power,” she said.

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Although the course requires a huge

best classes I’ve taken at George School. We

amount of reading on horticulture—with

planted our own gardens here and went on

many term papers to produce—Mark Wiley’s

field trips to a farm where we helped plant

horticulture class is mostly experiential. It

crops. We’ve learned a lot about biology from

begins in the passive solar greenhouse

this class, too,” Ben said.

in the alternative en-

Now in its eighth year, the Andrew Bourns Social Justice Endowment supports George School faculty and students who choose to volunteer for service in inner cities. The endowment gives each participant funds to pay for their time, materials, transportation and other items they may need to carry out this service. Last summer, Katherine Camp ’01 and Tiffany Vaughan ’01 were the student grant recipients.

Now an enthusias-

ergy center where stu-

tic

horticulturist,

dents begin the pro-

Alcora Walden ’01 de-

cess of growing veg-

clared, “I just finished

etables for faculty

planting a garden for

members’ gardens.

one of the faculty

The students plant

members with beef-

the seeds or cuttings

steak tomatoes and

and tend to them until

cilantro, things I

they are planted in

hadn’t really heard of

manageable 4- by 20-

before. I had a feeling

foot raised beds be-

of accomplishment

hind the energy center

when I finished.”

near the windmill. All the gardens are organically grown using

Horticulture student, Zoe Bouloux ’01, started her garden by lining its perimeter with hay to prevent weed growth.

compost and mulch

Always looking for new things to introduce to the class which he has been

that the students create. Horticulture stu-

teaching for over a dozen years, Mark bought

dents tend the gardens until graduation day

six gosling and four young geese because he

when faculty and staff members “adopt” the

read that Chinese geese were good for weed-

gardens and tend them through the summer.

ing. The flock’s boarding days at George

“We grow tomatoes, eggplants, herbs,

School were, short lived, however. “The Chi-

peppers, whatever was requested by the staff

nese geese were good weeders,” said Mark,

and faculty members who signed up for a gar-

“but they also like to eat the vegetables.”

den,” Mark said. Students raise money for

They were taken to a local petting zoo, and

gardening supplies by growing about 10,000

no tears were shed by the students when the

impatiens that they sell in the spring.

geese were expelled. According to Mark, a

Ben Phillips ’01, one of Mark’s students this year, said, “I think it’s been one of the

lot of barbecue recipes were being exchanged for a while.

Associate Director of College Guidance Peggy Anderson counsels prisoners on responsible decision making through the Volunteers in Teaching Alternatives (VITA) program.

Volume 73

Georgian

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Number 2

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Summer 2001

NOTE: Pages removed from this document to protect the privacy of GS alumni.

Alumni may login to the alumni community at http://alumni.georgeschool.org to view the full version of this issue.

Smith and Sexton Retire

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standards for herself and her students.

Sam Smith retired from George School after completing his 30th year of teaching mathematics. His eclectic interests include math, physics, philosophy, religion, history, politics, classical music, and baseball. His colleagues described him as sweet, smart, funny, honest, and sincere. Throughout his career, Sam was dedicated to helping his students understand that mathematics is exciting and beautiful.

Photo by Ayeola G. Elias

hyllis Sexton served as a pillar in the science department before her retirement this June after 39 years of teaching at George School. Outside the classroom, Phyllis has spent hundreds of hours working to help the school improve faculty salaries and provide better pay for coaches. Colleagues described Phyllis as being unusually wise, keeping in mind the larger picture and being steady, patient, and committed. As the chair of the science department, Phyllis set high

Georgian Wins Gold Award George School is pleased to announce that the Georgian received the Gold Award in the District II Accolades 2001 CASE competition in the category of Independent School Periodicals. CASE, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, recognizes “models of excellence” for publication content, layout and design. Your interesting class notes and continued input help us produce this prize-winning publication.

Georgian

Advancement Office George School Box 4000 Newtown, PA 18940-0962 www.georgeschool.org

Volume 73 • Number 2 • Summer 2001

I N THIS ISSUE Education ..................... 2 College Decisions.......... 3 eQuiz Results ................ 5 Class Notes ................... 5 Retirees ....................... 16

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Ayeola G. Elias, Editor E-mail: Ayeola_Elias@georgeschool.org (215) 579-6568

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