EMPLOYEE /TRUSTEE UPDATES
WELCOME NEW FACULTY!
T
his fall, we are excited to welcome a vibrant new class of faculty to the Holderness community. Our new arrivals this year include a new dean of students, several classroom teachers, an assistant athletic director, strength and conditioning coach, and an interim chaplain. Let’s take a minute to get to know our newest Holderness educators.
DEAN OF STUDENTS MB DUCKETT IRELAND After an extensive nationwide search, Holderness is happy to introduce Mb Duckett Ireland as the school’s new dean of students and English teacher. Mb comes to Holderness from Choate Rosemary Hall, where she spent 11 years as a Form Dean, English teacher, coach, and mentor to students and colleagues. A key aspect of her role at Choate was to foster diversity, equity, and inclusion on campus. A longtime advisor to Spectrum, Choate’s Sexuality and Gender Alliance, Mb helped guide students’ successful activism and leadership on campus, and organized the school’s annual LGBTQ conference for 14 peer schools. She also served as chair of Driving Equity at Choate, an interdepartmental team created to heighten cultural competency through training, curriculum review, admission work, and hiring practices. During her time as chair, Mb helped drive the strategic vision for equity and inclusion at Choate, planned faculty cultural competency workshops, and acted as a resource for colleagues to incorporate topics of diversity in their curriculum. Mb holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University and a Master’s Degree from the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College. She lives on campus with her wife, Sarah Duckett Ireland, and their two-year-old daughter, Livi.
INTERIM CHAPLAIN ABBY VANDERBRUG Rev. Abby VanderBrug, an Episcopal priest, brings a wealth of pastoral experience to campus this fall. She comes to Holderness from Christ Church Greenwich in Greenwich, CT, where she served as the associate rector for children and family ministries and preschool chaplain. In her role at Christ Church Greenwich, Rev. VanderBrug collaborated with multi-clergy staff to lead liturgy, preach, and provide pastoral care. She also taught confirmation and baptismal preparation, served as chaplain for the Royal School of Choral Music program, and co-directed the St. Nicholas Children’s Choir. Prior to her role at Christ Church Greenwich, she served as deacon and director of Christian formation for children and families at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Grand Rapids, MI. During her time in Michigan, she was also chaplain for Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo, MI, a Level 1 trauma center. Rev. VanderBrug earned her Master of Divinity from Emory University in 2017. As interim chaplain, she replaces Rev. Joshua Hill, who left Holderness this summer to become the rector of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Cape Elizabeth, ME.
ASSISTANT ATHLETIC DIRECTOR CAYLA LIPTAK With extensive experience as a physical education teacher, coach, and camp counselor, Cayla Liptak was a natural choice for assistant athletic director. Ms. Liptak comes to Holderness from The Bishop’s School in San Diego, where she was a physical education teacher and coach. Prior to her role in California, she spent several years as a physical education teacher and coach at Greenwich Academy in Greenwich, CT, and at The Chapin School in New York City. Ms. Liptak is also very active in the lacrosse world, having
30 | Holderness School Today
