A Fond Farewell

KATIE RITZ

By Noelle Becker

After five years teaching art at Harbor Day, we bid Mrs. Katie Ritz a fond farewell. As Mrs. Ritz moved from an associate to lead middle school art teacher last year, she brought so many imaginative and amusing art projects to her students. Some standout art creations were seventh grade graffiti art, fifth grade stamp art, and metal art shaping. Mrs. Ritz also coached Harbor Day’s cross-country team. We are pleased to learn that she is teaching art to grades six through eight at Guajome Park Academy in Vista, California. She is very familiar with the campus as she attended middle school and high school there! The Harbor Day community wishes Mrs. Ritz the best in her new position. n Katie was one of the first teachers I met when I joined the Harbor Day staff, and we have become close friends over the years. What began as conversations during afternoon carpool express later moved to lunches and breaks together as mutual support systems. “ Katie is a dedicated and hardworking teacher who always puts such care and consideration into everything she does. It’s easy to see her love of art, and she is always excited to share that with her students. Last year was one of my favorite years working with Katie, as I watched her take over as lead art teacher for Middle School. Katie not only created a great curriculum for our students, but she also provided a safe, fun, and creative learning environment for them to develop their skills. She built great relationships with her students “ and is their biggest supporter. Anytime I visited her room, she always had student projects she wanted to show me, and she consistently displayed everyone’s projects around the room. I always enjoyed her excitement and loved seeing her students’ work. I am going to miss seeing Katie here at Harbor Day, and I wish her all the best at her new school! — Lauren Buth, SPANISH TEACHER

YUNGA WEBB

By Noelle Becker

Ms. Webb joined Harbor Day in 2014 and immediately made numerous contributions to The School. Her experience as a vocal performance teacher and professional singer came into play when she founded the Show Choir program in 2016. This group, dubbed “The Harbor Day Singers,” is a group of middle school students who aspire to sing and act. These students perform at various school events, at graduation, and even offcampus at places like the Oasis Senior Center. Ms. Webb also put her heart and soul into producing annual performances like the Eighth Grade Musical, holiday concert, and Grandparents’ Day show. Ms. Webb also had a passion for work in the field of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Ms. Webb led the School’s DEI Committee, and she worked tirelessly to help make this work a top priority for The School. She guided DEI conversations during faculty meetings and hosted DEI events, including parent book clubs. Within the faculty and staff, she started a group called Critical Conversations. Critical Conversations meetings were hosted by other faculty members at their homes as a way for school personnel to discuss current events and hot topics in the world today. In 2021, Ms. Webb was named Diversity Lead at Harbor Day and helped continue to spearhead the work on being a diverse, equitable and inclusive institution. It is fitting that she leaves Harbor Day to become the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the North Country School in New York. We wish her all the best at her new school. n I met Yunga when I came to Harbor Day four years ago. We chatted about music, singing, Broadway, and how bad Sapphire Grill was for lunch that day. It seemed like we had known each other for years. Yunga helped me with my first Thanksgiving Program. She helped me to learn the ins-and-outs of the school. She would stay late with me after school as I decorated the theater—not because I asked her to, but because she “ wanted to. She did this for all the lower school programs and even came to watch the informal mini musicals

I put on in my classroom. She gave me the confidence and freedom to make the lower school music program my own. She was a wonderful department chair, and a great mentor. When I joined the then DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) Steering committee, I saw Yunga’s passion for

DEI work at Harbor Day. It was through seeing Yunga pioneer this work that our friendship moved from music teacher colleagues to something deeper. Like all good things, our time together as Team Music at Harbor Day has come to an end. We have made many great memories together and put on incredible musicals—including one you brilliantly moved to virtual, and two outdoors. You have elevated this program and our students to new heights! I could not be more excited for this next chapter for you. Although it is bittersweet, I know it is exactly where you are meant to be. Your new school is lucky to have you. — Mr. Joel Maki, LOWER SCHOOL MUSIC TEACHER “

DEBRA DEVINE´81 LEE

By Noelle Becker

Mrs. Lee bids the alumni office a fond farewell after 10 years working in alumni relations. Mrs. Lee’s history at Harbor Day School spans many years as she started her HDS career as a student, became a

Spanish teacher, and then a parent. In her alumni position, she helped keep the alumni community connected. Mrs. Lee hosted many alumni events from local meetups to gatherings in San Francisco and New York City. Mrs. Lee will continue her Spanish tutoring business and looks forward to continuing to travel and see her HDS friends at alumni events or around town. n When Deb Lee shared her plans after a decade of serving the development office with Harbor Day as our alumni relations go-to, it is with the certainty of 'we'll see you again' and not 'goodbye' that we accepted her wishes. Deb has been a valued and spirited member of the development team “ seeing some of the greatest changes in HDS history take shape. She was often the first welcoming face at an event or name tag table and could be heard laughing nearby with many of her peers, friends, and family. She has always had the heart of an alumna and past parent top of mind, and she cares deeply about our graduate community. 'Pay it forward' is a tagline you may recall from her, and she emphasized this for our 8th grade students when she discussed concepts of giving back to Harbor Day, staying connected, and making sure to thank their teachers. She is the originator of our 8th grade “ 'Thank you' breakfast, debuting in 2018 and happily becoming a tradition in our new campus. The daughter of past Trustees, Alumna of the Year honoree, and beloved colleague, we know we will be seeing her again. Thank you, Deb Lee, for your many contributions to Harbor Day. — Olivia Baumgartner, DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT