A MAGAZINE OF GLEN URQUHART SCHOOL
FALL 2018
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SCHOOL
Contents Message from the Head of School........................................... 1 GUS Celebrates 40 Years.......................................................... 2 Meeting of the Minds - Part Two............................................... 4 News + Notes ........................................................................... 8 Carol Stewart Bids Aloha ’Oe.................................................... 9 Graduation 2018 ...................................................................... 10 Leslie Marchesseault Scholarship ......................................... 12 Alumni Profiles The Furse Family.................................................................. 13 The Brothers Jermain .......................................................... 14 Lexie Freedberg ................................................................... 16
2018–2019 BOARD OF TRUSTEES Carl Graves P ’19, ’20, President David Patch P ’16, ’19, ’23, Vice President Lisa Sandouk-Romanelli P ’13, ’19, Vice President Steve Todd P ’20, ’24, Treasurer Lise Carrigg P ’19, ’26, Clerk David Liebmann, Head of School, Ex-Officio George Balich P ’92, ’96 Andrew Brown P ’21 Brooke Carroll P ’17, ’20 Daryl Colden P ’17, ’19 Melanie D'Orio P ’20 Susan Tsao Esty P ’18 Philip Furse P ’16, ’17, ’18, ’20 Kenneth Grant P ’13, ’20 Jodi Llacera Klein P ’19
Trish Landgren P ’14, ’17, ’24 Peter Mason Zara-Marie Spooner Jackie Swansburg Paulino ’98 Alen Yen P ’22 Tamah French P ’17, ’20, ’26, Parents Association Representative Lynne Warren, Life Trustee, Founder
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We are excited to launch our new preschool program this fall! Our youngest learners, ages 3 to 5, have joined us for a full-day Monday through Friday experience that will nurture their natural curiosity by providing an inspiring, supportive, and stimulating learning environment. Learn more at gus.org/pre-k
The Tartan Editor: Judith Klein P ’95, ’00, ’04 Director of Marketing + Communications: Joanna Murphy Scott Director of Advancement: Martha Delay Design: Graphic Details, Inc. Printing: Cummings Printing Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in The Tartan is accurate. Please direct errors to jmscott@gus.org. The Tartan is published for alumni, parents, and friends of Glen Urquhart School. Please send address changes and other communications to: Alumni Relations, Office of Advancement Glen Urquhart School 74 Hart Street Beverly Farms, MA 01915 978-927-1064 ext. 117 mdelay@gus.org Glen Urquhart School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, disability, mental illness, military status, genetics or sex or any other classification protected under applicable law.
Message from the Head of School On a perfect weekend in early June, we welcomed back to Beverly Farms founder and life trustee Lynne Warren, former Heads of School Don Grace and Raymond Nance, past and current faculty, alumni, alumni parents, and current students and friends. We gathered to celebrate all that Glen Urquhart School has become since our founding in 1977 and all that the future holds for GUS. I’d like to offer some reflections on GUS at 40. The experiment that started as the North Shore Middle School, with eight students in a single church classroom, has shaped the lives of hundreds of you. Alumni returned to this “green and shady place” to reconnect with old friends and teachers, to marvel at how small the desks are in your former classrooms, to walk familiar hallways, or to remember some moment, triumphant, or maybe embarrassing. You were all molded by this school in ways subtle and profound, conscious and unconscious, and no matter if you were here for nine or ten years or perhaps just one, it is here you probably began to define yourself, your goals, and the way you like to learn. In fact, if you think about the teachers you remember best and admire most, I’d wager it’s the ones who not only taught well, but also cared about you and how you were maturing. They treated you with respect, and they shared the passion of their subjects. I can tell you that still happens every day at GUS. Besides being wonderfully theme and place-based, our school and our teachers care about developing kids into people that “mean well, speak well, and do well.” That’s our real mission, and we still happily and vigorously pursue it. At 40, we are still child-centered, we still roll up our sleeves and pitch in to “get the job done,” we still work tirelessly to ensure kids explore their intellects and develop their imaginations in an effort to live purposeful lives. We still take lots of field trips and learn through hands-on experiences. Thanks to the founding vision of the school and the good fortune of being in a place so rich in natural and human history, GUS still aspires to specific ideals: an ideal of childhood; of play and patient discovery, balancing head and hands; of individual and collective effort; of developing a responsibility for something larger than self. I want to thank the many former students, our proud GUS alumni, and their families who have helped make the school the extraordinary place it is. We want to engage you to share your stories as classroom guests and school speakers. We welcome you to join us as future GUS parents. We ask those of you who love to swing a hammer or wield a wrench to come back October 24 to 28 as we replace the beloved but 30-year-old playground. We invite the golfers among you to join us on October 22 for the Wild Boar Classic Golf Tournament. As a small but mighty school, we need your support in any way; it helps us continue to make memorable and meaningful experiences for children.
READ PART TWO OF
MEETING OF THE MINDS A Conversation Between GUS Head of School and Founder on page 4
David Liebmann, Head of School Fall 2018 The Tartan 1
Glen Urquhart School Celebrates 40 Years gathers Alumni, Faculty, and Families
Former faculty member Penny Randolph, Andrew Smith ’90, and Evan Cross ’90
Many gifts, many memory moments, much pride, much gratitude, much love. –Penny Randolph, former faculty
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Glen Urquhart School celebrated its fortieth year with a “40 + Forward” All-School Reunion and Celebration on June 8 and 9. The two-day event kicked off with a reception on Friday evening and was followed by a gathering on Saturday that featured historical walking tours, reflections from Head of School David Liebmann, an update on campus “green” initiatives, reminiscences with school founder Lynne Warren and past educators, and entertainment by award-winning performer “The Yo-Yo Guy.” Alumni gathered with current and former families and faculty to share memories and reconnect. “Glen Urquhart School has much to celebrate as we turn 40,” David Liebmann noted during the festivities. “From humble beginnings in a single classroom to a 23-acre campus in Beverly Farms, we are now a community celebrating 40 years of theme and place-based learning as we chart a course into a future filled with excitement and challenge for our students. Glen Urquhart School is a diverse community with families from all around the North Shore who choose our school because they believe in the spirit of learning and personal development we’ve provided for four decades.”
We are a community celebrating 40 years of theme and place-based learning as we chart a course into a future filled with excitement and challenge for our students. –David Liebmann, Head of School
The love I have for GUS and for these people is beyond words! Glen Urquhart School, I will always come back to you! #classof2004 #reunited #myfavoriteplace #GUS #reunion #middleschool #makeamemory – Katherine Goodwin Marshall ’04
Top Left: Founder Lynne Warren and former faculty member Linda Bowden; Top right: Head of School David Liebmann was joined by former Heads Raymond Nance P’99 and Don Grace P’94, ’96; Middle Left: Former faculty member, Susan Coolidge P’00, former Head of School Raymond Nance P’99, and Dylan Comb ’03; Middle Right: Ryan Donovan, Matt Gubbins, and Sarah Romanelli from the Class of 2013; Bottom: Director of Athletics Bruce Emerson, with Ella DiFillippo ’12, Shauna Swansburg ’12, Bailey Patterson ‘12, and Libby Forsyth ’25.
Visit gus.org/40-forward to view more reunion photos
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Meeting of the Minds A Conversation Between GUS Head of School and Founder Part Two
Head of School David Liebmann sat down with Glen Urquhart School Founder Lynne Warren for a long conversation on the eve of the school’s 40th anniversary of providing children with an education like none other on the North Shore. Mrs. Warren recalled coming to the North Shore as a young mother and an educator full of creative ideas developed as a student at the Wheeler School in Rhode Island and then at Wheelock College in Boston. She was happy to find Notre Dame Children’s Class in Wenham offered an interdisciplinary, inventive program for young children, but only through second grade. After that, area schools seemed woefully traditional, unexciting, and lacking a relationship to the rich, natural environment. Her solution? Start her own. North Shore Middle School was born in 1977 in the former St. Margaret’s School, expanding grade by grade until it moved to its present location and included grades kindergarten through nine. In its new home, the school was renamed Glen Urquhart—“Glen” to denote the green shady place of the land, “Urquhart” to honor the ancestral clan of her husband David Warren’s family.
What follows are more excerpts from Lynne and David’s conversation. The first part of their conversation appeared in the Fall 2017 issue of The Tartan. You can view it online at gus.org/tartan-alumni-magazine.
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GUS Founder Lynne Warren
Q: Finding the right school for your child is about finding the right fit. Who is a GUS kid? DL: There are lots of kinds of GUS kids. One of the things I noticed when I first visited the school was the range of types of children and families here. I think the qualities GUS students share are curiosity, passion for whatever excites them in the world, and an eagerness to learn. Artistic and environmental interests—some children come with those interests. Some kids develop them while they’re here. But I think intellectual curiosity and a sort of intellectual spirit is really what defines GUS students—and GUS alums, too. LW: I agree with you. I think most children would do well here because our program provides for individualized as well as group instruction, and because we address learning styles and
Fourth grade celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a community collage.
believe in Howard Gardner’s seven intelligences, and because our teaching methods reflect that. Our alumni represent a remarkably broad spectrum of professions. We count real estate developers, lawyers, architects, hedge fund managers, journalists, novelists, artists, educators, entrepreneurs, documentary filmmakers, computer whizzes, physicists, and many more among our graduates. I like to think we contributed to both the success and variety in their lives. Q: Can you talk about why, particularly now, the GUS emphasis on social justice and global citizenship is so important? DL: I think the challenges that this group of children will face as they go into young adulthood and adulthood compel us as educators to make sure they’re really prepared for a very diverse world and a world that is increasingly globalized. Part of the emphasis on social justice, and you can talk about it as embodied in community service or connections to the community—has always been important to our school. Our connections with Beverly Bootstraps and with The Food Project are examples of ways that we see children at a very early stage learning about social justice, about economic challenges and economic inequities, and about how they can make a difference in the world. That’s always been a part of the spirit of the school. When I talk to older alums and parents, they’ll often say that not only did GUS get kids out on trips to learn about the living laboratory around them but also to the people around them. That sense of being sensitive to and having empathy with
Eighth Grade Service Week takes students to the Dominican Republic.
the needs of others has always been part of the culture of the school. The trips may change and the destinations may change and the service itself may change, but a sense of a school with a public purpose that’s educating children not only to be creative, talented leaders, but really contributors to their communities has always been part of the way I understand the history of Glen Urquhart School. Affirmations shared by second graders.
LW: David has presented the school’s dedication to developing both student global as well as “at home in Essex County” perspectives, and, in turn, ways students embrace ideals of social justice and social service, taking into account their ages and, thus, appropriate ways for them to participate and make a difference. Since the founding of Glen Urquhart, students have participated in social service activities, with the goal of empowering them to develop leadership skills they can take with them to use for good. I always felt it was important for these experiences to be in nearby communities so the work could be hands-on and students could see the results of their efforts, whether it is delivering bags of food to the Food Pantry, visiting the house they are outfitting for a family through the Plow Shares Project, or using their Spanish skills to help recent immigrants fill out forms at Bootstraps. Students are inspired by these experiences and find them rewarding. In contrast, I worry that telling young children about dire circumstances in faraway places can frighten them and make them feel powerless. In terms of global citizenship, our youngest students begin developing their sense of the world and other countries in kindergarten. It is then they begin their study of a second language, Spanish, spoken in many countries in our hemisphere, in Spain, and, of course, by many immigrants in our own country. Kindergarteners start to learn about the
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countries where everyone speaks Spanish, what they like to eat there, how their music sounds, what holidays they celebrate, and what the weather is like. But they also learn how they are just like the children in these countries. They all like to spend time with their families, play with their friends and do other everyday activities. After kindergarten, students continue to learn about other cultures, ethnicities, belief systems, and nationalities in the world and in our own country. Since we live in a country of immigrants, they are encouraged to learn their own families’ immigrant stories. On our annual Bread Day, families are encouraged to bake a bread from their own culture or heritage so we can witness and celebrate the diversity in our school community. That is emblematic of how GUS develops world citizens—with admiration, respect, and wonder for the diverse people on the earth and in our own community. This readies our students to become active citizens of the world. Q: You’ve mentioned the themes quite a bit. Could you talk about the spiraling curriculum? LW: The GUS spiraling curriculum serves three important functions: one for the school, one for the faculty, and, most importantly, one for the students. For the school, the spiraling curriculum, wherein concepts and skills are built each year on those that were learned previously, serves to document and organize the academic program and, in The natural landscape of the doing so, provides a necessary North Shore inspires GUS artists. template to evaluate the efficacy of the program each year. For the faculty, since what one teaches must build on what was taught the year before and prepare students for what they will learn the next year, teachers have clear expectations for themselves and from the institution of what must be achieved each year. As for the students, the following anecdote illustrates our belief in Jerome Bruner’s theory that curriculum should be organized in a spiral manner so that students continually build upon what they have already learned as they revisit prior learning at higher levels and in more complexity. Retired Assistant Head of School Donna Staller told me that when she was teaching the Native American unit in second grade, she and former teacher Susan Coolidge took the young people to the school woods, quite close to the freshwater marsh, and they sat them down out there, and they said, now, if
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this was where you lived, what would you make your house out of? How would you do it? They thought about it, and eventually they decided they would use branches and then get some of the marsh hay to plait and put on the top, and then they might use animal skins. They thought it all through. And then she said it was amazing—when she moved into third grade and they were studying the desert—she asked the same question about the Hopi. And these young people that she’d taught the year before immediately said, well, what was around? What could they use? So they’d taken the concept, synthesized it, and now they were ready to use it. That’s the benefit of our spiral. When we use the spiral with meaningful experiences such as on-site field trips that encourage students to collaborate in developing ideas and to read the environmental materials firsthand, the level of learning rises. Educators refer to this as giving students time “to process to arrive at product.” GUS has always embraced concrete, place-based learning and it is this level of application that requires time and is difficult to find replicated at other schools. DL: It grows out of, as you’ve often said, Lynne, their understanding and experience of the world, and it is developmentally aligned with how far they see around themselves. When they’re really young, they see five feet, 10 feet. Then they see farther and farther and farther, and then they come back into themselves. Which, to me, is the brilliance of the spiral: that it revisits and it replicates that moving out and moving back in process. It’s almost like an accordion. I think it’s really important that the children understand and appreciate what’s right around them instead of some abstraction that’s too big for them to really fathom at that particular age. They’ll get to that, certainly in college. But even high school kids—I think they do better when they can set their hands on something. Q: What are two or three enhancements to the GUS campus or program that you would each like to see in the next five years, if money were no object? DL: One thing that will become important in the next five years is renovating the lower school building. It’s 40 years old. It’s
served the school really well. But I don’t want it to become a liability for the school. That’s an important enhancement that I would say we need to be attentive to. Likewise, I think the building with the temple at the end—the bones of the stone part of the building are great, but the wooden bump off the back is a bit of an eyesore. We could do a lot more with it. LW: I mentioned in our first conversation that I would like to see the vestiges of the formal gardens, the cedar allee, the classic temples (which both need restoration), and the woodland spaces be developed in such a manner so as to enhance the art and beauty present on our campus...spaces for a poetry garden, outdoor dance, and musical performance spaces, a bosquet of daffodils, a Roman garden near the allee temple. We’ve developed a nature trail and outdoor classroom, athletic spaces, and climbing opportunities, and I commend the recent focus on the Chubb Brook Watershed, of which our campus is a part, and the research of the property’s history, and I now envision Students observing rock a commitment to affirming formations at Pole Hill in Gloucester. the affective and aesthetic experiences possible on the school grounds. When we first toured the property to consider it for Glen Urquhart’s campus, it was the horticultural history and its lingering presence—the pergolas, the masonry, the temples, and the allee, the water elements, and the scale of the arched buildings that inspired our purchase of the place. A second enhancement which I’ve been thinking about and researching for several years is a bioshelter, which I mentioned in the last issue, and which I have shared the architectural plans for with David. And my third enhancement wish is for an innovative new library. I have always loved libraries and been interested in their history from the ancients on. Recently, I have researched the new concept of Learning Commons that combine traditional library functions with information technology, areas for collaborative work, tutoring, and even online education. The impact and influence of technology on information gathering and dissemination, as we all know, is constantly expanding and changing, and our school needs to keep abreast of these advances.
Q: Anecdotes and overheard conversations from young students often reflect best what’s happening in an institution. Do you each have a favorite anecdote about GUS? DL: I was on the upper school retreat, and I was in charge of a cabin of sixth grade boys for the night. And they were hilarious. They were just laughing and telling jokes and telling each other why they love the school. Not in direct ways—they were just saying, I like this thing at school. Do you like that thing? And it was a genuine, honest sharing. The lights were out and I had disappeared as far as they were concerned. And they also thought it was about 1:00 in the morning, and it was about 9:30 at night, which was great. I have lots of favorite GUS anecdotes. What I enjoy a lot is talking to older alums and hearing that they’re 10, 15, 20, 30 years out and that this place still sticks with them and has made an impact on them. LW: I have a favorite one, which I think is the essence of what we try to do at Glen Urquhart. It involves a founding student, Jed Dickman. It was the second year of the school, and we were studying the land. We were looking at a glacial groove on a rock. The students had put their compasses down so they could see which way the glacier was moving. Then afterwards, they ran their hands over the groove. I saw Jed a number of years later—he was at Syracuse University—and he told me that he was taking a geology course. He was disappointed that the professor just showed slides in the classroom. But he said, when they show something like a glacial groove, I can say I’ve run my hand over one of those. And that’s the essence of what we’re trying to do—give students those experiential data banks, so abstract information later on has meaning for them.
DL: I’d also love to disconnect from the commercial electric grid if we could, which, I believe, is very doable.
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News + Notes 18th Annual
WILD BOAR CLASSIC Alumni, parents (past and present), and friends are invited to participate in the 18th Annual Wild Boar Classic Golf Tournament on Monday, October 22, 2018 at the renowned Myopia Hunt Club in Hamilton, MA.
Proceeds from the Wild Boar tournament support Glen Urquhart School’s hands-on, theme-based curriculum, our talented faculty, as well as our diversity and inclusion initiatives. Of course, the real beneficiaries of the tournament are the children. The day begins at 11:00 a.m. with lunch and a noon shotgun start. Non-golfers are welcome to join us for the awards ceremony and reception. To sponsor the event or to register, visit gus.org/alumni/wild-boar-classic-golf.
Tadler Internship Summer 2019 Thanks to the generosity of Richard and Donna Tadler P’05, ’09, one GUS alum, a rising college junior in the summer of 2019, will receive a six-week paid internship in the Admission, Advancement, or Marketing + Communication offices at GUS. The intern will receive a hands-on learning experience in the vital functions those offices play in supporting the success of Glen Urquhart School. Interested? Contact Head of School David Liebmann at dliebmann@gus.org to obtain information about the application process.
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GAIN@GUS “It was another wonderful season,” reports Pamela McCoy, GAIN@GUS director, looking back on the eighth summer of Glen Urquhart’s program offering academic enrichment and new experiences to students from Beverly and Lynn. Thirty-one students, aged 6 to 13, spent five weeks in June and July improving their math and language arts skills and building their confidence during recreational activities on and off campus. “With half of our students returning for another session and the other half new to GAIN, I am always amazed at how quickly they come together as a group,” she adds. “They are so kind to Class of 2014 alum were GAIN@GUS each other and after interns this summer: Maddy Harvey, McKenzie Perkins, and Maeve Corbett. a very short time you do not remember they come from different cities, different schools, or speak eight different languages at home. These inquisitive learners seize the opportunities that we give them, whether in a classroom, during activity block, or on a field trip. I watch them ‘GAIN’ confidence as they realize that it is a place where they can take chances. We end tired... but are already looking forward to next year.” GAIN@GUS also welcomed interns from the Class of 2014, Maddy Harvey, McKenzie Perkins, and Maeve Corbett. Shared McKenzie, “I think of the word transformative when I think of GAIN… kids come in as one student at the beginning of the summer and leave totally changed from the experience.” Thank you to the generosity of donors from the GUS community for sponsoring the 2018 season. Learn more about GAIN@GUS at gus.org/mean-well-speak-well-do-well/gaingus.
Carol Stewart Bids Aloha ’Oe After 31 years teaching at Glen Urquhart, Carol Stewart retired in June. As a first grade teacher and then as director of the school’s resource room, Carol made a meaningful impact on the academic and emotional development of hundreds of GUS kids. Parents, teachers, and trustees celebrated Carol and her accomplishments at this year’s Annual Meeting when her friend and colleague Sandy Thoms presented her with a scrapbook of memories, letters, and photographs from co-workers, students, and families, along with a traditional lei made by students, as a nod to Carol’s connection to Hawaii. Here are a few snippets from the scrapbook:
What has struck me most about you as a teacher is your love for ALL the GUS kids— the precocious, the rambunctious, the shy, the outgoing, the LOUD, the quiet, the athletic, the intellectual, the artistic, and the sometimes quirky. Smart, creative, mathematically minded, and funny are words that first come to my mind when I think about you.
...what I loved about Carol was how she responded to the answers the kids gave, mostly when the answer was incorrect. She always understood the child’s thinking and would point out what was correct or interesting or otherwise noteworthy about the answer; there was always value.
Carol, you touched the lives of so many children and their families and we are all the better for it! Students [in your classroom] were always engaged in such profound learning, and visitors were always amazed that first graders could learn such things. It’s hard to imagine Glen Urquhart without Carol. I have always appreciated and found comfort in her warmth, her calm, and her unfaltering focus on what is best for the kids.
Carol had her own words for those assembled at the Annual Meeting. She said that she had expected to stay at GUS for only a few years and then move on “to the next adventure. But GUS grabbed me and held me.” She recalled that “I’ve pursued escaping class rabbits and mice down the halls, reassured anxious parents, cleaned up many bodily fluids, empathized with families dealing with emotional or financial turmoil, and I’ve gone to bat for kids with learning issues.” Often, she said, she wished she had gone to a school like GUS, but “I’m thrilled that my own kids benefitted from a GUS education.” She concluded with a valediction from her native Hawaii: “Mahalo nui loa i aloha ’oe—Thank you so very much...with love until we meet again.” Thank you, Carol, for the gifts you have shared with the GUS community for so many years. We wish you health, happiness, and sweet memories of a career that always focused, as so many of your admirers noted, on what matters most—the children.
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GRADUATION 2018 The “Passing of the Tartan,” a time-honored tradition at the “Evening with the Graduates” ceremony, transfers leadership from graduating students to rising eighth graders.
Mean well, speak well, do well, together on our way Trust and go forward Glen Urquhart School Trust and go forward out into the world.
Lyrics and music by Georgia Bills
– Glen Urquhart School Song
Graduation speakers Jacob Fucci and Hannah Becker ’10
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In life’s future moments, I urge you to embrace the uncomfortable and the challenging. –Hannah Becker ’10
Congratulations to the GUS Class of 2018! The GUS Class of 2018 received their diplomas on June 13 during the school’s thirty-sixth commencement exercises. Decorated with bagpipe playing, processionals, hand-crafted floral “tussie mussies,” and choral arrangements, the event brought families, friends, and faculty together in celebration of the newest Glen Urquhart School alumni. Head of School David Liebmann honored each graduating student with words of encouragement and shared anecdotes gathered by Gretchen Forsyth, then director of upper school. These personal tributes combined observations from upper school teachers and even referenced kindergarten reports from Sandy Thoms and Christy Doxsee. GUS Class of 2010 alumni, Hannah Becker and Jacob Fucci, delivered addresses encouraging the new grads to “be uncomfortable and seek opportunities for growth,” and remember “you are academically and emotionally well-prepared.” “I salute you all,” Mr. Liebmann concluded, “and I thank you for for your dedication. Thank you for all that you have done and continue to do, even as you prepare to move on to other adventures.”
The night before graduation, eighth graders shared their personal “This I Believe” reflective narratives with an audience of family and faculty at the annual “Evening With the Graduates” ceremony. Musical selections and the “Passing of the Tartan” welcomed seventh graders to their new grade. Congratulations to the 27 GUS graduates who will be attending the following secondary schools in the fall: Beverly High School, Boston University Academy, Brooks School, Dana Hall School, Gloucester High School, The Governor’s Academy, Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School, Kimball Union Academy, Manchester Essex Regional High School, Phillips Academy Andover, Pingree School, The Pingry School, St. John’s Preparatory School, Shore Country Day School, Waring School, and Waynflete School.
What is important, however, is that you keep exploring your interests, find something that really drives you, and do that; the rest will fall into place.
–Jacob Fucci ’10 Fall 2018 The Tartan 11
The Leslie Marchesseault Scholarship for Access + Inclusion In recognition of a quarter-century of dedicated service to Glen Urquhart School children and their families, GUS has established a scholarship in honor of Leslie Marchesseault. Leslie’s commitment to children’s education and discovery of their full learning potential enriched our community for the 25 years she taught and later served as Director of Admission at our school. In her words, deeds, and actions, Leslie dedicated herself to maintaining and enhancing the school’s socio-economic diversity, intentionally building the welcoming community we know and love today. Her dedication to equity and justice at GUS also extended beyond the school year to the dozens of Beverly and Lynn public school children who have benefitted from the GAIN@GUS summer program that Leslie founded in 2008. This academic and recreational enrichment program supports our commitment to being an independent school with a public purpose.
Maria Freedberg P ’92, ’95 and Babette Loring P ’92, ’94, ’97 announced the establishment of the scholarship, in Leslie’s honor, at the 40 + Forward Reunion.
With the creation of the Leslie Marchesseault Scholarship for Access + Inclusion, we will honor Leslie’s many contributions to our school while supporting and expanding our commitment to socioeconomic diversity among our students and families.
To learn more or make a gift to honor Leslie Marchesseault, please contact Martha Delay, Director of Advancement, at 978-927-1064 or mdelay@gus.org. 12 The Tartan Fall 2018
In eight seasons, the GAIN@GUS program has welcomed more than 160 young scholars.
Family Profile
The Furse Family:
Fervent Fans of the GUS Way Glen Urquhart has always considered itself a family school, a place where parents are not only involved but also feel they belong. Time after time, when asked why they chose GUS for their children, parents respond that they felt it was the right place for their family. Parents will usually explain that this means knowing the children their children will befriend will share a love of learning and a joy in imaginative play. But, in addition, for many families, belonging to the GUS community means being class parents, chaperones on trips, parents association volunteers, or perhaps even trustees. For the Furse family of Manchesterby-the-Sea, it means all of the above. Donna has been a class parent for all of the 12 years Kellen ’16, Alexander ’17, Shea ’18, and Cade ’20 have attended GUS. She also joins Parents Association meetings, volunteers for class trips and in the library, and steps in whenever an extra hand is needed. Her husband Phil is a trustee and on the finance committee. “It is a way to give back for everything the school has done for our family,” Donna explains. Donna recalls her first visit to Glen Urquhart School. She loved the experiential learning and the opportunity for children to be outside in the environment and bring their outside learning into the classroom. But what almost brought her to tears was watching then Director of Admission Leslie Marchesseault interact with the children as the two of them walked around the school. “She knew every student, even their favorite color,” Donna recalls. Donna and her husband Phil visited the other independent schools in the area, but “the only fit for us was Glen Urquhart.”
The Furse family celebrates another GUS graduation! From left, Alex ’17, Phil, Shea ’18, Cade ’20, Kellen ’16, and Donna.
Donna and Phil loved from the start that their children were “not doing a lot of sitting around,” as Donna puts it. They were outside, making maple syrup, working in the garden, going on field trips, and relating those experiences to what they do in the classroom. “So many people seem to judge the worth of education on the amount of work assigned to the students,” Donna says. “We wanted our kids to realize that school is more than about paper and pen. We value the experiential learning at Glen Urquhart. Bringing a fish from the ocean and dissecting it in class is more valuable than watching a video or reading a book. For us, it’s about the loving and nurturing but also the different kind of learning.” To Donna, “Fourth grade is the be all and end all. I don’t know how anyone can’t do fourth grade at GUS.” The rave reviews for eighth grade come in a close second, according to the whole family. In fact, three of the children would say the eighth grade trip to New York City was the best thing they ever did. “Going to Ellis Island, seeing the 9/11 site, the museums, the Broadway show, each child still talks about it,” Donna says. And don’t get her started about the (service) trip to the Dominican Republic! “My kids got to do down there and make a
difference! My son was mixing cement and building a house, and planting vegetables; my daughter and other son wrote lesson plans and taught little children. They were not vacationing. It is incredible for a school to provide that kind of experience!” Donna and Phil have chosen to send their children to their neighborhood high school, Manchester Essex Regional. “We want to invest in our community just as we have invested in the GUS community,” Donna says, “to get our kids involved locally. We are seeing the positive effects of what they developed in kindergarten through grade eight. They are confident learners, independent learners who have a step up from most. GUS gave them that.” Donna reiterates what so many GUS parents say. “Glen Urquhart is more than a school. It’s a family.” Recently, her 16-year-old son, who is happily ensconced in high school life at Manchester Essex said to her, “I really miss GUS. My teachers really cared about me. They were invested in me as a person.” “That’s huge. For a teenager to say that!” says Donna. “So why have we chosen to send our children there? Because they are invested in our children.”
Fall 2018 The Tartan 13
Alumni Profile
The Brothers Jermain Forging Uncommon Paths
before college. At UMass Amherst, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Sustainable Food and Farming and developed some impressive skills in the use of hand tools. He even constructed a forge on campus. Since then, Aaron has built (and lived in) a yurt made from discarded materials and constructed a sound tube for children in Nepal, among other creative pursuits.
(L-R) Colin ’03, Nate ’07, and Aaron ’00
Many families have schooled multiple children at GUS over the past 40 years and then watched their progeny choose often divergent paths for their futures. We caught up with one family of three sons, the Jermain boys, now men—Aaron ’00, Colin ’03, and Nate ’07—to learn about their interesting endeavors post-Glen Urquhart. Aaron, who spent seventh and eighth grade at GUS, attended St. John’s Prep and Hamilton-Wenham Regional High School
You three brothers have all done some interesting things since leaving Glen Urquhart. Can you talk a little about what you are doing now. Nate: I am a graduate student at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, associated with the University of Southern Mississippi. My Master’s work focuses on developing a simulation model to evaluate the efficacy of releasing hatchery-raised fish into the wild. I still enjoy fishing and sailing in my free time and have taken up kiteboarding as a new challenge.
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Colin, who came to GUS in sixth grade, graduated from Manchester Essex Regional High School before attending Cornell University where he earned Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees in Physics. For a while, he was president of the school’s Entrepreneurial Society and created a startup company with a friend from the business school while studying for his doctorate. Nate also came to GUS in sixth grade and graduated from Manchester Essex Regional High School. At the University of Vermont he studied in the Rubenstein School of Environmental and Natural Resources. He is now in graduate school studying fisheries biology. Word has it no one who knew Nate will be surprised since he apparently brought hand tied flies for Bread Day one year, explaining that Father’s Day was coming up and he thought they would sell as well as the bread.
Colin: I am starting a new Data Scientist role at a startup company in the cybersecurity space. We build machine learning algorithms to detect hackers in corporate networks. In my free time, I am getting back into sailing after moving back to the Boston area. Aaron: So the short of it is that the past decade I’ve been travelling to small communities around the world, WWOOFing, farming, eating wild foods, living in interesting shelters, creating minimalist life systems and, above all, exploring health and wellness. Got a
degree, taught both kindergarten and university level, at different times. Fell in love with my now wife, but also fell in love with hand tools, and mud, and handspun fibers. Never quite found health or wellness though, so eventually I needed things to get slower, more restful, and we ended up where we live now, quietly nurturing my body, no big plans, no bustling career. Just incubating a dream of wellness, and accepting the weight of incarnation.
Did you always know that you would be following different paths of study and work? What experiences encouraged you find your own paths? Colin: I think Aaron, Nate, and I have many similar interests, but our focuses have always been different. I think we have always been comfortable going our own way, which is perhaps a family trait. Aaron: The older we get, the more I see our activities diverge. Like Colin says, it’s probably that we were brought up to seek our own independence. However I can’t help seeing all our similarities, and sometimes, as the oldest, I forget that we each need the time and space to find our own answers to life’s questions. Aaron and Nate, you both have done some work in fields concerned with the future of our natural resources. What are you biggest fears for our planet? Please explain why. Nate: My education is based on managing the harvest of natural resources; if anything, my experience has made me less fearful, and more analytical in how I think about the natural world. I do think being conscious of the sustainability of one’s lifestyle has become way too commercialized. Aaron: Fears are a very personal, very human thing. It seems arrogant to pretend that my fears are for the planet. Change is the only constant, and thus our planet is changing. As a result of innovations in science, chemicals that were previously scarce or non-existent are now prevalent in the environment. Life as we know it is struggling, sometimes adapting, sometimes failing to adapt; and this includes us humans! It would be a mistake to assume that all things can get better; like it would be a mistake to assume that all things have gotten worse. Now we have industry, and we have pollution. Now we have huge
communities, and we have oligarchies. There is no viable future where we maintain the benefits of modernity, and avoid the costs of those privileges. What were the major influences from the various school experiences you had? What stands out as being turning points for you in your learning or maturation? Nate: The rigor of upper level classes in high school was the biggest influence for me in school. I learned I was capable of tackling more that I ever thought I could or ever plan to take on ever again. Learning to manage my time to complete mountains of homework was a valuable lesson. Colin: Athletics were a major part of my school experience, and they kept me focused and allowed me to build strong friendships. I started running crosscountry at Glen Urquhart, and kept running in high school. I then rowed crew in college. My coaches at each stage, like Janda Ricci-Munn, helped shape my sense of what I could accomplish. Aaron: I love the “campus” aspect of schools: the resources, the library, and the interesting people. I hate the obligatory busywork, the scheduling, and the test taking. Discovering that I learn very quickly on my own and have my own goals and ambitions, inspired
me to create independent studies for myself in the later years of college; these were my best experiences in school. In fact, my independent studies led me to create a unique hand tool curriculum for university students, which I then taught the year following my graduation. Of course, I never gave my students homework or tests! What is the last book each of you read? Last movie you saw? What did you like about them?
Colin ’03
Nate: The last movie I saw was Incredibles 2; it’s definitely worth a watch. I did not think I would genuinely find humor in an animated “kids movie,” but I was pleasantly surprised. Colin: The last book I read was a textbook on deep learning, and the last movie I saw was the latest Star Wars movie. I like the older Star Wars better, but it’s always fun to see the new movies. Aaron: The last book I read was The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, by Mark Manson. Now I’m reading some books on gene mutations, relative to supporting the methylation cycle in our bodies. I’m also listening to Dan Simmon’s epic science-fiction Olympos. I was rewatching old movies recently; The Fifth Element (1997) is probably my all-time favorite film, mostly because of the creative set designs. Media, especially fictional books and movies, is an easy way for me to travel without leaving home.
Nate ’07
> Continued on page 17
Fall 2018 The Tartan 15
Alumni Profile
Lexie Freedberg ’92 A Career of Care
Sisters Amy ’95 and Lexie Freedberg ’92
Lexi Freedberg and her daughter
Her classmates at GUS probably most remember that Lexie Freedberg was whip smart and played the piano masterfully. If you’d asked them then what Lexie might grow up to be, they probably would have answered, “Anything she wants.” In fact, Lexie grew up to be a geriatric psychiatrist and says she couldn’t imagine doing anything else. “A lot goes back to having had really close relationships with my grandparents,” she says. “I have always felt comfortable in the company of old people.” At Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Medford, she works exclusively with the in-patient population of older adults with an average age of 77 and coping with a wide range of issues. She sees “physical and psychological changes complicating each other, creating a vicious cycle.” To her, older people too often constitute a “misunderstood population,” and their issues need to be considered in context. It is “such a privilege to be able to partner with patients at some of their most vulnerable moments; to be let into their lives at such challenging times; to be able to provide some comfort and some problem solving to let them
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get to some better place in their lives—or at least get them and their loved ones to understand their situation,” says Lexie. “The reality is that there are so many hardships, and people develop so many emotional and psychological disturbances. There are some things we can’t help, but we can provide a framework and some strategies and make things make some sense.”
I credit GUS with finding ways to make learning enjoyable... Creativity was really fostered from an early age...Being seen and valued as an individual. The average stay for patients on the geriatric in-patient unit where Lexie works is 12 days. Twenty percent are there due to depression; 20 percent for issues related to bipolar and psychosis; and 20 percent for dementia with a behavior dimension. While they are hospitalized, Lexie and the rest of the staff “provide a lot of psychotherapy, support therapy, and a lot of coordination of care. Medications play a role, ECT [electroconvulsive therapy] plays a role for some people as well. It remains one of the safest and most effective treatments for depression especially for older adults and, in many cases, is life saving.” After their stay, according to Lexie, many will go to a more structured environment such as assisted living, nursing homes, or rehabilitation hospitals.
When Lexie is not busy making the lives of troubled geriatric patients better, she is happily married to a doctor she met in medical school at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine (her undergraduate degree is from Yale). They spend time with their little girl riding bikes, traveling, cooking, and visiting with extended family. “I still have two grandmothers in their 90s and I enjoy spending time with them,” says Lexie. She also continues to enjoy music and singing in small choral ensembles. “I found that some of my favorite music is sung in Episcopal churches,” she says. “I have sung off and on with an Episcopal church choir in Boston, perhaps a half dozen times a year. And, now, I sing to my daughter.”
Aaron ’00 with wife Allison > Continued from page 15
Do you laugh at each other’s jokes? Who is the funniest one among you? Colin: I don’t think any of us stand out as being the funniest, but we certainly laugh at each other’s jokes. Aaron: Yes, both my brothers can be very funny. I think we share our father’s goofy humor and our mother’s sharp critique. If someone gave you a million dollars and the only restriction was that you needed to spend it to make the world a better place, what would you do with it? Aaron: Just off the top of my head, I’d want to build a playground for adults.
Lexie with her husband and daughter
Lexie’s memories of GUS are fond. She recounts them in almost a stream of consciousness. “I credit GUS with finding ways to make learning enjoyable. Some attentiveness to social justice issues and some acceptance of differences of opinion and thought...Creativity was really fostered from an early age...Being seen and valued as an individual...Lifelong love of the arts...Spanish was really good, thanks to Rosa Rogers...Love of words...My perverse love of diagramming sentences.”
Do you have a favorite memory or a favorite teacher from Glen Urquhart that you’d like to share? Nate: Janda Ricci-Munn was an important influence for me when I was at Glen Urquhart. He showed me the importance of mental toughness and that we are always capable of doing more than we think we can. Aaron: Mr. Herman was not particularly hip, but he was very kind and levelheaded and, in hindsight, that meant a lot to me as a kid. He created a very safe and consistent homeroom environment, and this safety and consistency was a hallmark of my experience at GUS.
Fall 2018 The Tartan 17
Glen Urquhart School 74 Hart Street Beverly Farms, MA 01915 978-927-1064 | gus.org
Don’t Let the Kids Have All the Fun! The funds were raised at this year’s Parents Association GUSfest 2018. Our young student designers created drawings to inspire the final plans. Now we are looking for everyone who can swing a hammer or wield a wrench to join the effort! We also need tools to borrow and donations of building materials and equipment. Pounding nails not your thing? Come help organize materials, pass out lunch, and cheer on the team!
Calling all Current Parents, Alumni Parents, Alumni, and Friends! Get your hands dirty at our Community Build Days as we construct our new play structure on campus. Wednesday through Sunday
October 24 to 28, 2018 For more information on how to get involved, contact Martha Delay, Director of Advancement, at mdelay@gus.org or 978-927-1064, ext. 117. Learn more at gus.org/alumni/community-playground-build
See inside to catch up on the
40+ FORWARD
REUNION, GRADUATION, and new ALUMNI PROFILES !
