Kent Place Magazine - Winter/Spring 2021

Kent Place

WINTER/SPRING 2021

26

WHAT I LEARNED DURING THE PANDEMIC

36

THE KENT PLACE STRATEGIC PLAN: A CRASH COURSE As school reopened for in-person learning this fall, Anna Peterson ’21 works in one of the art studios in the Center for Innovation.

CONTENTS

“ The spirit in which the Kent Place community embraces and responds to challenge has a proud, 126-year history.

We take this spirit with us whether we’re on campus or off. It’s part of our fabric: to learn together, to lead with bravery, and to empower ourselves and one another.”

—HEAD OF SCHOOL JENNIFER C. GALAMBOS, IN A COVID-19 VIDEO TO PARENTS AND STUDENTS

Outdoor lunch was a big part of returning to in-person learning.

See page 7 to learn more.

2

From Mabie House

3

In Her View

4

Commons Room

26

What I Learned During the Pandemic

36

The Kent Place Strategic Plan: A Crash Course

40

Keeping Pace

47

Class Notes

56

With Wisdom

FROM MABIE HOUSE

Kent Place Good-bye 2020, Hello Bright, Brilliant Tomorrow The year 2020 presented many challenges, and the pandemic has required Kent Place to rethink how we deliver education — and quickly. Our faculty and staff learned new technologies to enhance their teaching as students learned remotely, we embarked on new routines as we returned to campus this fall, and we offered a new hybrid-learning environment. Education is known to change at a glacial pace, but the past 11 months disproved that axiom. I’m inordinately proud of our faculty, staff, students, and families.

Before the pandemic, the Board of Trustees and the Leadership Team were well into establishing the school’s strategic direction for the next five years. We solicited input from faculty, alumnae, parents, and students and incorporated what we discovered in our planning. Our updated mission statement — Kent Place empowers girls to be confident, intellectual, and ethical leaders who advance the world — crystalized in late winter and the four main themes of our strategic plan took shape. And then the lockdown occurred, and we devoted ourselves to the immediate needs of operating the school.

When we returned to campus for in-person instruction in September, we also returned to strategic planning. The four themes we had identified withstood the test of the pandemic. As we support intellectual vigor, we’ll be Learning with Purpose. As we expand our Ethics Institute and leadership program to become nationally recognized, we’ll be Leading with Ethics. Our spotlight on well-being will enable us to be Thriving in Community. And our focus on philanthropy and stewardship means that by Investing in One Another, we’ll be paving the way for the next generation of girls to enjoy the Kent Place experience.

For 126 years, our school has provided a superior education for girls. It’s an honor to be a part of our legacy, and to lead Kent Place toward its bright tomorrows.

Jennifer C. Galambos Head of School

2 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021

EDITOR Rachel Naggar P ’25 Director of Communications ADVANCEMENT EDITOR Coral Butler Brooks P ’25 Director of Advancement ALUMNAE EDITOR Aimee Bousquet Singer ’88 Special Projects CONTRIBUTORS Lori L. Ferguson Julie Gentile Abrina Hyatt ’11 Alison Odze Erin Peterson Lainey Segear Doris Troy, Copy Editor Julia Breen Wall P ’23 ’27 CREATIVE DIRECTION & DESIGN 2COMMUNIQUÉ PHOTOGRAPHY Vinny Carchietta Will Hauser John O’Boyle Michael Rubenstein Mark Wyville PRINTING J.S. McCarthy Printers Kent Place is the official magazine of Kent Place School and is published twice a year by the Communications Office, in partnership with the Advancement Office, for alumnae, parents, students, faculty, staff, and friends of the school.

Kent Place School 42 Norwood Avenue Summit, NJ 07901 (908) 273-0900 kentplace.org We welcome your input: communications@kentplace.org

IN HER VIEW

WHAT SKILL LEARNED AT KPS HELPED YOU THE MOST IN LIFE? “ Kent Place taught me to raise my hand and advocate for myself. I’ve used this skill in college classrooms, at internships, and throughout my professional career. Whether it be championing my desire for a specific

“ I had the good fortune to work with English faculty who invited me to create beyond what I thought possible, showing me that writing was a place I could exercise my mind . . . Now, as a writing teacher, I’m thankful for the tremendous influence the Kent Place English faculty had on my path to obtaining a PhD, and am humbled when I’m able to share it with my students.”

—CARLY SUSSER ’07

“ I started at KPS in the fourth grade as a boarder and was there for nine years. What did I learn?

Everything! I learned how to get along with everyone and anyone. When to speak up.

When to be an advocate. When to remain silent.

And strangely enough: independence.”

—MARNIE (FOLLINGER) DAVIES ’48

project or asking for assistance when I most need it, I’m never afraid to use my voice.”

—LIZZY MIGGINS ’11

“ What helped me out the most has been confidence.

I didn’t realize that it was unique not to count myself out for leadership roles, participation in music groups, theater, clubs, activities, and even the coveted morning-moderator position . . . I’m tremendously grateful for the opportunity to have attended a school like Kent Place, especially at such a fundamentally important time in the formation of my sense of self.”

—AMY ALLEN ’91

“ KPS was where I learned to think and to write . . . I’ve always believed KPS gave me the foundation and skills for a life of learning.”

—CAROLINE (PRICE) HEMMINGS ’48

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 3

COMMONS ROOM NEWS AND VIEWS FROM KENT PLACE

A BRAVE AND BRILLIANT SPIRIT

KENT PLACE, PANDEMIC-STYLE 5,088 reusable face masks. 5,000 feet of plexiglass barriers. 90 DTEN videoconference units for hybrid learning. 5 outdoor tents. Thousands of COVID-19 tests. 340 gallons of hand sanitizer. These are just a few of the many items necessary for us to hold on-campus classes and activities during a pandemic.

Flexibility and creativity were the watchwords as teaching and learning, health and wellness, the performing arts, athletic and physical education programs, and the daily and milestone community events required significant reimagining. After countless Zoom meetings, numerous educational-technology trainings, and much time spent measuring spaces to be retrofitted for optimum physical distancing (whew!), Kent Place began the new academic year with 105 new students and more than 90 percent of our returning students for on-campus learning.

What a testament to our continued commitment to provide an engaging, challenging curriculum while keeping a strong sense of community and connection.

It’s clear that Kent Place School remains as strong and vibrant as ever.

4 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021

“ These tough times remind me of all the lessons Kent Place has taught me. There’s a saying I discovered that really helped me.

Some people grumble that ‘roses have thorns,’ but I’m grateful that thorns have roses. Even though we’ve had some thorns this year, we had plenty of roses to be thankful for.”

—ANGELINA GE ’28, IN HER VIRTUAL THANKSGIVING ASSEMBLY SPEECH

Plexiglass attached to her desk helps Ali Melchiorre ’29 work safely in class.

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 5

COMMONS ROOM

Aya Mtume ’21

BRAVE & BRILLIANT

Aya Mtume ’21 For Aya Mtume, personal joy comes in educating others . . . about issues big and small. As president of the Diversity Council, she helps fellow KPS students grapple with issues of race. As a junior counselor at the South Orange–Maplewood YMCA summer camp, she taught kindergartners the importance of sharing. No matter the situation, this effervescent young woman delights in leading people to common ground.

“I believe I have a certain responsibility to educate others, but it’s also a lot of fun,” Aya says, a smile in her voice. “I enjoy setting up meetings, doing research, arranging presentations — I like introducing people to new ideas.”

Aya has sought collaborative opportunities throughout her time at KPS and is a familiar face in the school’s leadership circles. In addition to her work with the Diversity Council, she’s co-president of the BCA (Black Cultural Association), co-captain of the Pep Squad, and captain of the Varsity Volleyball team.

Aya’s work with the Diversity Council is especially close to her heart. “My senior sisters brought me into the council as a freshman,” she says. “I was immediately taken with the variety of topics the council addresses — if we’re not talking about something related to my identity, we’re talking about an identity issue that’s important to my friends.”

As a council member, Aya is committed to

help Kent Place become an anti-racist institution and constantly seeks ways to engage her peers through education and conversation.

This year, for example, she and other BCA leaders organized two lunch discussions about issues of race in the United States. “I want to make sure we’re not placing an undue burden on students to come up with answers to these difficult questions, but I also want to give them a voice,” she says.

“Aya is extraordinarily thoughtful,” says her advisor, Carol Gordon. “She’ll carefully consider all the angles of a complex situation before she responds. She steps back and lets other voices come forward . . . I believe that sends a powerful message to the community.”

And her achievements aren’t confined to extracurricular activities: Aya also excels academically; in her junior year, she was named to the Kent Place Cum Laude Society.

A member of the KPS community since Kindergarten — “I’m a lifer,” she says with a laugh — Aya credits her 13 years at KPS for preparing her to lead effectively. “I remember participating in leadership workshops in the fifth grade,” she says. “They start teaching us the skills we need early on.”

Aya characterizes the school as her second home. “I know it sounds like a cliché, but I love the closeness of our community. I really feel the sisterhood here,” she says, “especially in the Upper School. We’re there for each other. I don’t know who I’d be if it weren’t for Kent Place. Everyone here has given me an extra boost of confidence and consistently encouraged me to step outside my comfort zone. My time here has solidified my confidence and sense of self.

Kent Place has set me up for success in life.”

MORNING MEETING

THE E IN STEM. The Primary

Bioethics class will present and

Ruth Bader Ginsburg and raising

from around the world. IDENTITY

School launched a new engineering

discuss its research on the topic

money for causes related to girls

WORK. Our seventh- and eighth-

curriculum through Engineering

“Vision of Justice: Preserving

and women, such as the Foundation

grade students are continuing to

Is Elementary, developed by the

Human Dignity.” CROSSING THE

for Women’s Cancer and Girls Who

develop a common understanding

Boston Museum of Science. THINK-

FINISH LINE. The Middle School

Code. YOU CAN’T STOP THE BEAT.

and shared vocabulary of and

ING ETHICALLY. After a successful

Cross-Country team ended its

This fall, our Junior Pre-K through

around race, racial identity, and

virtual 2020 Bioethics Symposium,

season by running a virtual 5K Run

first-grade children built their own

explicit vs. implicit bias as a commu-

this year our Ethics Institute’s

for Ruth, honoring the late justice

drums and learned about drums

nity and within

6 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021

[continued on p. 8]

FRESH AIR

THE GREAT OUTDOORS As much as we long for the days when we can meet as a grade in the Great Room or huddle together to watch a science experiment in one of our labs, a silver lining to life in a pandemic is how much we were able to utilize our 26-acre campus during the fall and early winter.

Each student on campus received a waterproof blanket to use outdoors during lunchtime or just to get some fresh air between classes.

Even though our annual Latinx Night Expo couldn’t take place in person, a live DJ was brought in to play tunes during Primary, Middle, and Upper School lunch, creating a big community fiesta!

Our amphitheater played host to multiple physically distanced performances, such as the Upper School’s fall play, Offerings.

Five tents were constructed around campus for additional classroom space and meetings. They also made it possible for us to continue outdoor lunch when it rained.

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 7

COMMONS ROOM

A Leadership Marathon The arrival of COVID-19 didn’t daunt Alayo Oloko ’21.

On learning that her Genius project — an in-person Hackathon — couldn’t take place as she had envisioned it, Alayo took measures to ensure its success as a virtual event. On November 21, the Kent Place Hackathon welcomed students and guests onto Zoom for a true tech-centered display of STEM leadership. From 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., guests spoke, workshops were held on Tinkercad and website design, and students worked individually and collaboratively to develop their programming skills.

Teams, formed before or during the event, were asked to create software programs that prioritized the users’ needs. With this approach, students experienced the collaboration necessary in all real-world STEM careers. Ultimately, their time-sensitive efforts at brainstorming, designing, developing, testing, and troubleshooting led to the shared accomplishment of fully functioning programs.

Thanks to Alayo and the other young leaders, the day was an inspirational success.

Alayo Oloko ’21 and Dr. Evelyn Hanna P ’30, STEM Innovation, Computer Science and Engineering Chair in the Innovation Lab

STORIES OF SISTERHOOD

Cami Bloom ’30 connects with Alex Sinins ’22 for a bedtime story.

Back in March, when lockdown began, no one expected cross-divisional sisterhood to flourish, but flourish it did. When Alex Sinins ’22 began reading bedtime stories to Cami Bloom ’30, neither of the girls imagined that their once-a-week meetings would become a program connecting 53 Primary School families with 53 Middle and Upper School students.

“Kent Place sisterhood means a community that will be there for me no matter what,” said Alex.

“Throughout the pandemic, there was a disconnect of this sisterhood and I thought it was really important to preserve this specific aspect of Kent Place.”

Older students got together (virtually or by telephone) with Primary School families after training with Primary School Librarian Deborah Afir, and what started with bedtime stories became much more than that: The girls would spend an hour or so chatting, reading, playing games, baking brownies, or making friendship bracelets.

“My favorite part of the program was giggling on the phone with my new little buddy. Not only did we read to each other, but we also became friends,” says Nedd Kirsch ’22. “I feel fortunate to have met her. In fact, even though we’re back on campus, I still read to my buddy every week.”

smaller affinity groups. DOLLARS

for Humane Technology, to speak

division in an eight-week discussion

Center. A SUPER PERFORMANCE.

AND SENSE. The Investment

to parents and students in grades

series on the election and issues

The fourth-grade music and theater

Club published its first Kent Place

6–12 about the effects of social me-

that were important to our students.

classes joined forces to put on the

e-newsletter to help keep the com-

dia on teenagers and how we can

FROM THE COMFORT OF THE

musical Super Happy Awesome

munity financially informed.

realign technology with humanity’s

DTEN. Human Anatomy and Phys-

News. It was rehearsed in school,

SOCIAL CUES. KPS virtually

best interests. ALL ABOUT THE

iology students watched a live kid-

filmed at home, and edited to

welcomed Max Stossel, youth and

ISSUES. Upper School Academic

ney transplant during a virtual field

create a new, virtual theater

education advisor for the Center

Dean Dr. Lydia Barovero led the

trip through the Liberty Science

experience.

8 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021

[continued on p. 10]

FIVE THINGS ABOUT . . .

MESA The KPS Multicultural Education Best Practices: A Self-Assessment (MESA) tool is a catalyst for curricular change that moves us further toward inclusive education. This instrument invites reflection about six core areas of the classroom experience: Classroom Environment and Delivery, Content and Perspective, Teaching and Learning Materials, Critical Inclusivity, Social and Civic Responsibility, and Assessment. The work of MESA connects with our strategic priorities — the health and well-being of our students, the upholding of academic excellence, and the development of informed and ethical leaders.

1

A team of Kent Place educators across all divisions came together five years ago to design the MESA tool. Our SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) faculty and staff were key members of this initiative.

5

r ou e e y hon e s U rtp th nt a w e sm vie 21 K A to 0– MES t.

2 n 20 lace me P ocu d

This year, Upper School students will be asked to thoughtfully consider their classroom experiences by utilizing the guiding questions of the MESA document. They will identify strengths as well as areas for growth.

This feedback loop recognizes the value of student voices and will contribute to a more inclusive experience for all members of our community.

4

The MESA document is one of the components of course proposals.

New (and recent) courses such as Women’s Studies, Medicinal Chemistry, Black Studies, Photography and Digital Design, and the Engineering electives adhere to the ideals of MESA. All Kent Place courses undergo ongoing assessment to meet MESA guidelines.

2

In 2020–2021, faculty in each division have been collaborating in support of MESA goals.

Colleagues identify objectives, visit one another’s classrooms, and debrief observations and feedback. In this way, we are assessing curriculum and teaching practices for completeness, accuracy, and bias, with many perspectives to illuminate any blind spots.

3

MESA helped to inform the structure of this year’s Upper School Election Series with the directive to bring the viewpoints and experiences of the students to the center of learning and encourage them to ask critical questions. For this reason, the series opened with the question “What are the issues that matter to you?” and closed with an appeal to practice one of our Community Conversation Norms — “listening to understand others.”

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 9

COMMONS ROOM

REIMAGINING TEACHING AND LEARNING

Curricular Innovations in the Visual Arts In 2018, members of the KPS Visual Arts Department began a comprehensive assessment of the structure and content of the program, with an eye to enriching students’ experiences. “We realized we had more courses on paper than we could run in a given year and that these offerings were technique- and medium dependent,” says Department Chair Carey Gates. “We decided to reimagine the curriculum in a way that better responds to students’ interests and leverages the diversity of teaching talent here at KPS. Our goal is to engage students as individuals to help them build skills, express ideas, and become visually literate and aesthetically aware.”

ROOTING COURSES IN DESIGN RATHER THAN MEDIUM

As faculty assessed course offerings, the impracticality of organizing classes around techniques and media such as painting, drawing, and printmaking quickly became apparent. “Our talented teachers have introduced many wonderful electives to the course catalog, which necessitates that we strike a balance between faculty availability and student enrollment,” says Mr. Gates, who teaches in the Upper School. “For example, we may be able to offer printmaking and sculpture only every other year, which means a student might not be able to pursue a passion from year to year, or perhaps take a course at all.”

Faculty responded by moving to a curriculum rooted in design rather than a specific medium. “We’re now offering 2-D

Design Parts 1 and 2,” Mr. Gates says, “so a student could learn about drawing and painting in the same class. And next year, the department plans to redefine sculpture as 3-D design to align curriculum to design principles and respond to student interest.”

In the Middle School, this assessment has manifested in a reconsideration of arts requirements and electives, with the understanding that arts must remain a cornerstone of the Middle School experience. “We feel strongly that girls in this age range benefit greatly when they’re able to find their voices within the arts,” says Middle School Director Kooheli Chatterji.

As a result, the curriculum in this division has shifted from two hours of music each week to a series of six arts courses, offered in trimesters, that constitute the seventh- and eighth-grade requirements. Students can now choose to do six trimesters of one course — orchestral music, for example — or pursue a sampling of music, dance, theater, and visual arts classes. “We want to make sure they find ways to express themselves within their art of choice,” Ms. Chatterji says.

In the Primary School, the curriculum continues to concentrate on habits of artistic behavior — where do artists get their ideas, how do they maintain engagement, how do they plan projects, how do they remain flexible and open to change — as well as assessment of progress and the finished work, says art teacher Melissa Wood. “We encourage the children to look at elements of design and composition and think about how artists develop their skills and create

community with others.” In support of this goal, Ms. Wood photographs every work that students create and saves it to a personal digital portfolio. As a student progresses through the Middle and Upper Schools, she adds work to her portfolio, thereby creating a record of her progress and development.

PLAYING TO TEACHERS’ STRENGTHS

KPS is blessed with gifted faculty across divisions, yet in years past, visual arts faculty have typically taught courses only in their division, says Mr. Gates. When the Upper School decided to offer a ceramics course, he realized that the only teacher with experience in the medium was a member of the Middle School faculty, so he asked her to pilot the new course. The experiment paid off and has spawned other courses, among them a digital art class that Mr. Gates is now offering to Middle School students. Photography classes have long enjoyed popularity in the Upper School, he says, and a new, two-level filmmaking course has been well received, too.

Offering Middle School students the chance to begin exploring such media seemed right. “We decided it made no sense to silo teachers within divisions,” Mr. Gates says.

“Our goal is to use the expertise of our teachers to benefit students across the curriculum.

Why not let them play to their strengths?”

FLIPPING THE CLASSROOM

“I’ve been wanting to flip my classrooms for a long time, and the pandemic forced my hand,” says Mr. Gates. With the move to remote learning, the ability to demonstrate

THANK YOU, PARENTS. This fall,

the Alumnae Office is once again

a classroom this year, but it kicked

campus, so the Diversity and Parent

the Parents’ Association installed

inviting seniors to be matched with

off the season with works made by

Equity Group produced three video

snack stations on campus to provide

a Kent Place alumna who graduated

a range of faculty and staff from all

messages to highlight the many

180+ faculty and staff with portable

from a college they’re considering.

across campus who had been explor-

cultures of our community: “I Am

refreshments to refuel on the go

KPS alumnae are eager to chat

ing creativity before and during the

Latinx,” “How I Celebrate Diwali,”

during their busy days. SISTER-

about their experiences and answer

pandemic lockdown. CELEBRATING

and “What Hanukkah Means to Me.”

HOOD CONNECTIONS. Building on

questions. WE’VE GOT TALENT.

COMMUNITY. We weren’t able

We look forward to more videos in

the success of last spring’s initiative,

The KP Gallery may be doubling as

to host our fall cultural events on

the winter and spring.

10 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021

new techniques or media became more challenging, he says, so he turned to videos.

Over time, he has created a library of demo videos on various media that students can watch and refer to at their leisure: “Now,” he says, “students come into class having already been introduced to the subject matter and ready to begin working with a new medium or technique.” The videos also provide students with a readily accessible reference library should they need to refresh their memory.

Students love the approach, Mr. Gates says: “It makes it easier for them to engage with the material on their own terms, and because KPS teachers in other departments have been using this approach for some time, it’s completely in line with our teaching philosophy.”

Fourth-grader Joy Williams creates a landscape inspired by painter David Hockney.

Lauren Pence ’25, Sumari Fox ’26, and Ella Culligan ’26 (at rear) begin their still life drawing project.

Students work from Julia Gerbino ’21 works on the concentration section of her AP Portfolio.

photos they have taken during the “Egg Project” for Portfolio class.

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 11

COMMONS ROOM

Juniors Sadie Zeiner-Morrish, Ellie Hegeman, and Gabriella DePlasco enjoy some time outside between classes.

Health and Wellness Rebooted This year, the Health and Wellness Team debuted the launch of the Learn. Live. program. After almost two years of hard work, the Health and Wellness Task Force — an expansive group of faculty, staff, and administrators from all three divisions — began implementing ideas initially discussed in fall 2018.

The first year’s work centralized study of the prior Health and Wellness programs at KPS, with in-depth research that identified core priorities and made some immediate recommendations for improvement. These findings were then taken up in fall 2019 as the committee discussed how to best prioritize and develop a schoolwide rollout plan.

Task-force members worked on a program that would establish consistency of learning and wellness support — philosophically and

12 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021

procedurally — across all divisions. This generated a universal ethos that students would Wonder in the Primary School; Grow in the Middle School; and Lead in the Upper School. Considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Health and Wellness Team made sure to incorporate curricular elements that would be immediately practical for students.

In the Primary School, Learn. Live. Wonder. students from ages 3 to 11 are encouraged in resilience, healthy relationships with family and peers, and overall emotional growth. This includes themes related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as learning styles and strategies. In the Middle School, Learn. Live.

Grow. puts an emphasis on overcoming internal realities, such as the fluctuating emotions of adolescence, and external realities affecting

society and individual lives, such as racism and sexism. A range of topics along these lines are covered over the course of the year in varying degrees of depth, depending on grade level. In the Upper School, Learn. Live. Lead. is structured to include student voices in the delivery of health literacy and life-skills topics at each grade level.

The timing and number of sessions reflects the needs and schedule-related changes in workload throughout the school year for each grade level. The themes are “Self-Awareness” in grade 9, “Goal-Setting” in grade 10, “Leading Others” in grade 11, and “Modeling and Balance” in grade 12.

The program has been a success so far, and the hope is that its new priorities will strengthen KPS students to lead mentally, physically, and emotionally healthy lives.

“ My goal when founding ‘Current Talks’ was to create a space to unify the Upper School students by freely discussing current events. By informally analyzing controversial or sometimes overlooked topics, in ‘Current Talks’ we can meet new people and learn from our friends. After the isolated year we all had, I wanted to be sure that we had a group on campus that could just meet and talk so no one would feel alone in these times of staying apart.”

—NEDD KIRSCH ’22 NEDD, A JUNIOR, INITIATED A SERIES OF OPEN-FORUM DISCUSSIONS DURING THE ELECTION SEASON AND COLLABORATED CLOSELY WITH STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS THE KP DEMOCRATS, THE KP REPUBLICANS, AND JUNIOR STATE OF AMERICA.

CONSCIENTIOUS CREATIVITY

As part of a spoken-word workshop with Jasmin Roberts, Ella Culligan ’26 explored how poetry can communicate our internal experiences of the world

Ethics in the Arts was a one-week virtual summer program for middle schoolers. From July 13 to July 17, students explored ethical issues in the arts by way of art making, art viewing, and ethics discussion. Monday’s topic was “Exploring Ethics and Values in Art”; Tuesday’s was “Authenticity in Art”; on Wednesday, it was “Representation and Respect in Portraiture”; Thursday’s was “Empathy and Responsibility in Photography”; on Friday it was “Exploring Ethical Issues Through Art.” With encouragement from the program’s facilitators, Karen Rezach, Ariel Sykes, and Marie Micchelli, and support from expert visiting artists, students, such as Ella Culligan ‘26, explored various forms of art from photography to spoken word to portraiture and used their unique voices to examine ethical issues through art. At the end of the week, participants curated a virtual art gallery and engaged visitors in ethical dialogue around the central ethical questions raised by their art. The conscientious attitude nurtured during this week of activity is sure to produce empathic artists as these students continue to grow and learn as ethical leaders.

Registration for Ethics in the Arts and other 2021 summer ethics programs is now open, at www.kentplace.org/ethics.

to others as a way to promote understanding and empathy.

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 13

COMMONS ROOM SCORECARD

Ryenn Engles ’21 and Pilar Torres ’22

RUNNING IN A NEW DIRECTION Thanks to the pandemic, the Upper School’s Athletic Association leaders, Pilar Torres ’22 and Ryenn Engles ’21, switched up many of the events they had planned for this year. Instead of setting off on the route they’d chosen, they forged a new one, with greater attention to inclusivity.

Inclusivity meant forming stronger connections among the Upper, Middle, and Primary Schools. The youngest girls are working with members of the Athletic Association to create an “athletic pen pal” program that would have Upper School students help their “little sisters” learn skills and become more informed about the accomplishments of influential female athletes. In the Middle and Upper Schools, Ryenn and Pilar set a different pace: They invited representatives from the Middle School to work with them in generating bonding ideas such as Zoom sports lessons and at-home workout competitions between the two divisions.

Further along the lines of inclusivity, Pilar and Ryenn are also inviting non-classical athletes to go the distance. They worked with the Upper School’s Social Committee to create something new — the Fitness and Self-care Challenge, which features activities for a broad range of interests and athletic abilities.

Although COVID-19’s impact has certainly been felt, these two leaders have gone the extra mile to make sure all students feel connected and supported.

FALL SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS Varsity Tennis won its fifth-consecutive Union Country Championship.

14 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021

Connecting through Sport Despite the challenges of COVID-19, junior Claire Bugliari has been working hard to bring the Lacrosse the Nations program to Kent Place. With programs in Colombia, Nicaragua, Panama, and the United States, Lacrosse the Nations uses the sport to teach students valuable life skills, improve education through fundraising, and bring joy to new and experienced players alike.

The program will include clinics for both younger Kent Place students and underserved children within the community as well as fundraisers for Lacrosse the Nations’ projects across the globe. “Lacrosse the Nations will be available to all students, whether or not they play lacrosse,” says Claire.

“I think it’s a great way not only to be a part of something that’s much bigger than our school, but also to help Upper School students develop leadership skills.” Claire began hosting meetings in December, and plans to begin formal programming within the community in the spring.

“Claire is a true leader,” Athletic Director Bobbi Moran says. “She embodies all that we’re looking to build in our athletic programs as she takes her work with the organization to a greater audience.”

Claire Bugliari ’22

Varsity Field Hockey won its first Union County Conference Championship and made it to the finals in the NJ State Sectionals.

Varsity Soccer made it to the quarterfinals in the NJ State Sectionals.

Lindsay Hausman ’23 was the very first KPS athlete to win the NJ State Sectionals cross-country meet.

PROUD TO BE A DRAGON

CHRISTIANA NWACHUKU ’22 What’s your favorite thing about the sports you play?

I know it should probably be playing the actual sports themselves, but I’d have to say that my favorite thing is the energy surrounding them. I love the anticipation of a game while I’m warming up with my teammates, and I crave the excitement and adrenaline rush that it brings. There’s no feeling compared to the nervous jitters we collectively get before a race or a game, and in the moment, it’s honestly electrifying.

How has playing sports at KPS shaped you?

Playing sports has helped me become an advocate for myself.

Although I’m never one to shy away from talking in general, I’ve found that sports at KPS have fostered an environment that encourages athletes to always speak up, and I’m eternally grateful for that. KPS Athletics has enabled me to take the skills of speaking up for myself and apply them elsewhere, such as in the classroom and in social settings.

I believe I’ve become an even more outgoing person because of the skills I’ve learned playing sports here.

Junior Christiana is a three-sport athlete playing Varsity Soccer, Winter Track, and Spring Track and Field. She’s a great example of the power and importance of athletics as an integral part of a well-rounded academic experience.

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 15

COMMONS ROOM SCORECARD

THIS SPORTING LIFE

Student Athletes Play On with Grit “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, to unite people in a way that little else does. . . . Sport can create hope where once there was only despair.”

—nelson mandela, 2000 As I write, Governor Murphy has just pushed the winter sports season back to January 2021. My inbox has been filled with email from student athletes and parents asking when, where, and how we can compete. Can we get together just to practice or play? It feels as if we’ve been on a roller coaster since March, with each day bringing new questions, new concerns, new policies, new protocols. Is anyone else ready to get off the ride?

Then I think of the words of Nelson Mandela. Even as COVID-19 has threatened our ability to come together as athletes and as spectators, even as it has brought worry and even fear, I think of a trait we have in common with the great leader — resilience.

One of the lessons to be learned through sport is the power of resilience. Teamwork, fair play, and tenacity are all components of sport, but I just keep going back to the

Senior Samara Grannum celebrates Soccer’s Senior Day with her dad, Roger.

16 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 2020

importance of resilience. In March, our “two-week hiatus” morphed into a spring of virtual workouts. Over the summer, we worked with a new group of student athletes who took part in our first ever Athletics Leadership Institute, an initiative the KPS Athletic Department created to help our athletes learn to respectfully stand in their power, speak from the heart, and ask for what they need.

July and August brought more mandates, more protocols, and more hand sanitizer than I ever want to see again. We masked up, learned to quickly identify a six-foot distance, and took to the fields and courts with renewed fervor. We bought outdoor nets so that our volleyball team, whose indoor season was moved to February, could play. Nothing was taken for granted, every day was a gift, and the sound of laughter, the joy on the faces of our student athletes, and the hope that emanated from the fields and courts — all were palpable. And so was the resilience.

Mother Nature seemed to smile as hot late-summer days turned to mild fall afternoons. The weather held out and our student athletes thrived. Our Middle Schoolers

played inter-squad games with hired officials, and our JV and Varsity teams were able to play through the end of October, something no one would have thought possible back in June. The Varsity Tennis team brought home its fifth-consecutive Union County Conference Championship and the Varsity Field Hockey team won the Union County Divisional Championship for the first time in many years. The Cross-Country team was for the first time New Jersey State Sectional Champion as, on a chilly November Sunday, Lindsay Hausman ’23 crossed the finish line well ahead of the number two runner; and the Soccer, Field Hockey, Tennis, and Cross-Country teams all participated in State Sectional tournaments, capping off a season undeterred by a pandemic.

Nelson Mandela talked about the inspirational qualities of sport. What we’ve discovered is that we can tackle whatever comes our way. Our collective passion for sport will inform our perspective on life and learning. Sport will continue to unite our community. We’re resilient.

Bobbi Moran has been Director of Athletics for five years.

Anna Aggarwal ’24

Emaan Jan ’22

Ariel Alleyne ’22

Senior Audrey Alix, running through the Field Hockey tunnel, is honored on Senior Day.

KENT KENT PLACE PLACE WINTER/SPRING WINTER/SPRING 2020 17 2021 17

COMMONS ROOM SCORECARD

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY DECONSTRUCTED Knowing we would start the school year still deep in the pandemic, the Athletics Department teamed up with the resourceful minds in our Physical Education Department and spent the summer developing a health-and-wellness tool kit for every student in grades JPK–12. Keeping equity and access top of mind, these kits would enable all students to participate in physical activity and physical education, both in person and via remote learning, during the school year and beyond to cultivate a sense of ownership of their well-being.

FITstep Pro Pedometer Vinyl Beanbag, 5” square Mesh Storage Bag

Versa CoatedFoam Ball, 7” AirMaster Plastic Disc, 10”

PaddlePro Ball

PerfectPaddle, Jr.

QuickTurn Speed Rope

Juggling Scarves

Resistance Loops Students in JPK–Grade 5 received a PE/Physical Activity Pack, which contained a personalized sling-back bag and the above items.

18 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 2020

Crayola Washable Sidewalk Chalk

Kent Place was thrilled to be able to provide students in grades 6–12 personally monogrammed Under Armour Bags, which have assisted our coaching staff and physical education teachers in delivering uninterrupted excellence in athletic and physical education programming.

These bags contained:

QuickTurn Speed Rope

ExerFit Yoga Mat ProStretch Resistance Tubing

Tremor Slam Ball, 8 lb.

Resistance Loops Kettlebell (4 kg) or 3–5-lb. hand weight

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 19

COMMONS ROOM

Sophie Bauhs ’21

BRAVE & BRILLIANT

Sophie Bauhs ’21 Senior Sophie Bauhs doesn’t wait for opportunities to present themselves — when she lands on an interest, she pursues it with gusto. A member of the Kent Place community since sixth grade, Sophie is a passionate science student with a keen interest in public health and an athlete with a host of awards to her name. “When I think of Sophie, determined and enterprising are the words that come to mind,” says her advisor, Carey Gates.

A self-starter, Sophie cites her mother, Laura Stern, as an important role model: “She’s the cofounder and co-CEO of Nautilus Solar Energy, and I’ve watched her

great success in business for years,” Sophie says. “In fact, I did an internship with her company last summer.”

Sophie traces her interest in science to a freshman biology class with Ms. Woodring and says her fascination with the subject has only continued to grow. In addition to taking numerous AP courses in the sciences, she has participated in many summer programs and internships over the past four years, among them the Waksman Institute Summer Experience and the Partners in Science Program at Liberty Science Center. She’s also an active member of the Summit Volunteer First Aid Squad, the Chatham Township Volunteer Fire

Department, and the Overlook Foundation Junior Board, which supports health initiatives at Summit’s Overlook Medical Center.

This summer, with COVID-19 persistent, Sophie completed her national EMT certification. And this year, she cofounded the KPS First Aid Club with classmate Ruby Pollack.

Sophie says she’s grown quite a bit since entering the Upper School. “When I started high school, I was more focused on independent pursuits like pole vaulting [she’s the school pole-vault record holder at 10'1"] and scientific research,” she says, “but as time went by, my concentration shifted to my work with the EMS squad, the fire department, and the Overlook board. Now I’m more interested in exploring real-world applications for the skills I’ve learned in high school. I’m thinking a lot more about the impact I could have on my community in the future.”

Community is a powerful motivator for Sophie and a critical component of her seven years at KPS. “Our community is very united and supportive,” she says.

And that support has readied her for the next chapter, she says. “Throughout my time at KPS, I’ve constantly been encouraged to develop new interests and engage with new experiences and ideas,” she says.

“I have a wonderful feeling of preparation and optimism for the future.”

Sophie plans to enter some aspect of public health. “Working on the EMS squad,” she says, “I’ve seen firsthand how people are disproportionately affected by health issues like mental illness and conditions associated with poverty, and I’ve seen opportunities to effect change, which is exciting.”

Growing with SEED Since 2013, SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) has had a home on Kent Place’s campus.

The professional-development group focuses on community conversation and understanding of race to drive personal, organiza-

20 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021

tional, and societal change regarding social justice. Led by fifth-grade teacher Sally Snyder and Health and Wellness Chair Michelle Stevenson, the 27-member group meets monthly.

“The goal of SEED is to create

the most effective and inclusive learning environment possible,” says Mrs. Stevenson. “We need curriculum, teaching methods, and workplace practices that are gender fair, multiculturally equitable, socioeconomically aware, and

globally informed.”

In the past seven years, SEED has integrated student mentors into the Primary School Kaleidoscopes program, cocreated and introduced the Multicultural Education Curriculum Self-Assessment (MESA; see

Happy Birthday, Kaleidoscopes!

This year, Kaleidoscopes celebrates 15 years as a support for the Primary School’s students of color. In addition to those who are Asian/Asian American, Black/African American/Caribbean, Native American/First Nation, Latina/Chicana/Hispanic American, and multiracial, membership is open to any student who is supportive of Kaleidoscopes’ mission. The affinity group provides a safe space for students to share, be empowered, and have fun with others at school who look like them.

Dora Gragg, the Primary School Diversity Liaison and Spanish teacher, coordinates most of Kaleidoscopes’ activities, and despite the pandemic, the youngsters have been meeting with one another and with their Upper School mentors monthly. Part of this year’s celebration entails remaining socially aware, ensuring that students feel heard, and giving them the confidence to challenge prejudice and bias in their lives with dignity. This year’s celebration has been great for the entire community, says Sra. Gragg, “in displaying Kent Place School’s commitment to racial justice, equity, and learning from each other.”

Kaleidoscopes students share a moment of connection during an event last year.

page 9 for more information), and completed the I’m Not Racist, Am I? workshops. In early 2020, the group read and discussed White Fragility,

by Robin DiAngelo. Now, members are turning their attention to facilitating conversations within the wider

Kent Place community “The hope,” says Mrs. Stevenson, “is that SEED participants develop the tools to make connections to one another and to society at large by acknowledging systems of power, oppression, and privilege.”

BRAVA, DR. ANDERSON! It was an honor and a privilege to work alongside Dr. Adunni Anderson during her final year at Kent Place School, her tenth of service as our Primary School Director. Warm, compassionate, and thoughtful, Adunni was a beloved leader, colleague, and friend to hundreds of students, parents, faculty, and staff.

Meeting Adunni during my own interview process felt as if I’d come across a kindred spirit.

The opportunity to work with and learn from such a gifted administrator was one I didn’t want to pass up, and in our time together she quickly became a source of inspiration — indeed, she was a pillar of strength as we navigated the uncharted territory of a global pandemic.

Adunni’s extraordinary career was fueled by her desire to help children become their best selves in every aspect of their lives. Whether guiding teachers in honing their craft, growing innovative programs like Kaleidoscopes, or sharing her insights with parents in her wellknown “What’s Up Wednesdays” series, Adunni remained unwaveringly focused on what was best for the children in her care. And as all the students who have walked the halls of our Primary School will attest, she also took the time to celebrate them as individuals, always letting them know they were seen, valued, and treasured.

A lifelong learner and accomplished scholar, Adunni modeled for the rest of us what it means to live a life of curiosity, compassion, and purpose. We who were touched by her will carry with us the gifts she bestowed. Thank you, dear Adunni, for your wisdom and humor, your grace and courage, and for helping of us become our best selves.

—Kooheli Chatterji, Director of the Middle School

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 21

COMMONS ROOM

TRANSITIONS

A Conversation with Nicole Hager and Nathan Lutz Middle School Director Kooheli Chatterji sat down — physically distanced — with Upper School Director Nicole Hager, who came to us from Northfield Mount Hermon School, in Massachusetts, and Interim Director of the Primary School Nathan Lutz, who has taken on the role after serving as the Global Learning Coordinator and teaching French at KPS for some seven years, to talk about, well, everything. Here’s some of what they had to say.

Kooheli Chatterji. Long before you became a school leader, you were a student. Think back to what you were like when you were the age of one of the girls in your division. What aspects of your own experience have stayed with you?

Nicole Hager. I loved high school, and I think that’s why I’ve devoted my entire career to working with this age group. I was a pretty confident, accomplished kid but also had a lot going on that many people didn’t know about. I loved my teachers and administrators and drew a lot of support from them. What have stayed with me are the relationships (all these years later!). My high school friends are still my closest.

Nathan Lutz. As a little boy in primary school, I beamed with excitement when thinking about starting a new school year. I loved all the new supplies (pencil sharpeners!), the new books and workbooks, seeing old friends and making new ones, and meeting my new teacher. As a classic type-A kid, I did all my work perfectly, in record time, and craved more. As a teacher, and now as an administrator, I strive to always do my best, which often comes across as being a type-A personality.

K.C. Tell me about a mentor who has been particularly inspirational or influential for you as a leader.

N.H. Can I mention two? Holly Sateia was the dean of student life at Dartmouth while I was there. She was the first (and really only) female school administrator who was also raising small children. I knew of so few female leaders in any profession who balanced career ambitions and a family, which

22 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021

was a future I wanted for myself. Holly also inspired me as a white person to engage in equity and justice work.

Anika Nailah came into my life about five years ago as a consultant for Northfield Mount Hermon. She worked with white faculty who wanted to become more actively anti-racist. Anika transformed my life. In many ways, she’s the reason I left rural Massachusetts. She inspired me to bring my anti-racist lens to my work as a school leader and also to live a more socially just life.

N.L. When I was an undergraduate, at Louisiana State University, one of my professors was my mentor. Kate Jensen, who was in the French department and the women’s and gender studies departments, was an inspiration. Not only was she approachable, but she also actively drew me into cerebral discussions about literature and women’s roles in literature and society, and she challenged me to do some high-level work.

I appreciate that she was the first teacher I ever had who really let us go off and pursue the topics that interested us . . . and she was able to support those projects no matter how far out there they were.

K.C. In our hyper-connected world, we’re often working long days and nights without much separation between that and home. How do you practice self-care? What brings you joy outside of your world of work?

N.H. Moving to a day school after almost 30 years in a boarding school may have been the biggest step for me toward better self-care. I no longer work 24/7, which is a schedule required of boarding school faculty.

My wife and kids bring me the most joy. We

love being together, although that’s a little less now that the children are off at school.

In addition, I love to go for hikes, play tennis, and do yardwork (mowing the lawn brings me more joy than it should!).

N.L. I have two dogs who remind me to bring balance to my life. They need to be walked and doted on. Gucci, my goldendoodle, will come between me and my computer in order to get his chin or his ears scratched. Ghislaine, my toy poodle, will bark at me to throw her favorite toy for an endless game of fetch. When you look at their sweet, smiling eyes, you have to take a break from work and indulge them.

K.C. What’s your favorite spot on campus?

N.H. I’m not sure I’ve found one spot just yet because I haven’t really been able to experience life at KPS under normal circumstances. I guess I’ll say the Great Room, because I have such incredibly fond memories of my time with the students there during my interview with them. Building community is very important to me, and this space is amazing for that (or will be soon).

N.L. My favorite spot on campus is the area between the log cabin and the garden. I’ve spent many recess periods there monitoring the Natural Playground and watching our Primary School students enjoy themselves playing chase, collecting acorns, playing Gaga, or playing in the log cabin. This lovely, shady spot also has great views of much of the campus.

K.C. What has surprised you most about your first months in your new role?

N.H. Just about everything, as so much of my life and my work is new . . . and we’re in a pandemic, which presents newness — and plenty of surprises — to everyone. I can’t think of any one thing; I was so impressed during my interview process, and in every way the students and faculty and staff and program have gone beyond my expectations and hopes.

N.L. The thing that has surprised me the most this year is how much we’ve had to restructure because of COVID19. Almost every system we had in place needed to be rethought and reconfigured to maximize student, faculty, and staff safety. And on the flip side of that, we’ve had to work hard to recapture or reinvent the joy of the many things we’ve had to put on pause.

Kooheli Chatterji

K.C. Your choice: If you were an animal, what would you be? or If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

N.H. I was asked the superpower question by a student during my interview! I said then and it’s still true that if I could have a superpower, it would be the ability to be invisible at times. I’m actually an introvert by nature but my job often calls for me to be “out there,” in large groups of people, speaking or socializing. I like this part of the job but I also sometimes just want to be a fly on the wall — observing, quiet, taking things in without being noticed or called on to speak.

N.L. I’d want the ability to teleport to other locations, possibly even at the same time. There are always so many good things happening in different places and all at once, and I’d love to be able to move easily from one to another and be able to enjoy every one of them.

K.C. Thank you for allowing me to interview you. I feel tremendous gratitude at this opportunity to work with two people for whom I feel such affection and admiration.

Onward to 2021!

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 23

COMMONS ROOM MARQUEE

Gracen Hill ’27

ARTS AT THE CORE

Art-making Takes Center Stage What an exciting world it is to be working in the arts in educating our students!

Creating art — whether it be in music (singing, playing an instrument), dance (performing, choreographing), theater (directing, acting, set designing), or the fine arts (painting, printmaking) — is about connections. For example, students learn new music and make a connection with the composer; whether it’s in comedy or drama, actors connect with their characters.

One of the great advantages of our arts program is the diversity of possibilities for every interest and every skill level. All students learn perseverance and find their unique expression, and they develop and follow their passions.

We’re constantly amazed at how Primary School students flourish in our programs: They discover their creativity, learn to work together, and connect with how making art makes them feel. In Middle School, to honor their individual voices, we encourage independence and the girls really begin to shine.

By the time students reach the Upper School, they have autonomy over their artistic pursuits. At any age, though, from our youngest children to our seniors completing their

24 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021

portfolio, students are making connections.

My beloved former colleague Bob Pridham always spoke with great reverence about “lighting a fire” in students, standing back, and watching it take hold. For me, there’s a miraculous sense of wonder that comes from witnessing our students making sense of their world. When life is unquiet or even in disarray, they revel in creating a new order and new possibilities.

I recently had a wonderful chat with two of our seniors, Riley Wagner ’21 and Julia Gerbino ’21, as we prepared for an Open House. Riley, who sings the alto part in Chamber Singers, is also highly respected as the lighting wizard behind all the theater and dance productions — she’s designed the lighting for more than 20 Upper School shows. Julia, a talented visual artist who spent all of her Middle School years performing in shows, is now the set designer for all Upper School productions. So how did these young women find these niches for themselves? After all, neither lighting nor set design is offered as an actual course.

Connections.

On stage, beyond acting or singing, they connected with backstage aspects of

stagecraft. Because our program has an inbuilt flexibility for students to create their own pathway, Julia and Riley have extended themselves in ways only they could imagine. With artistic guidance, mentoring, and permission for messiness, our students embody the essence of being creative. And they revel in it!

As performing artists, when we work to hone our craft, often enduring hours in isolation to, say, master a solo, we may miss out on what we need most: the exchange of ideas along with empathy and encouragement for the hard work. In fact, our talented musicians are most alive and creative when they’re connected to peers or teachers who challenge them to be even better performers.

Georgia Post-Lipnick ’22, a member of Chamber Singers and an exciting young violist who also studies at Juilliard Pre-College, understands how important connection is.

“I love that I get the opportunity to perform in varying formats and be a part of several ensembles,” she says. “I’ve learned how to collaborate in all sorts of musical circumstances.”

And Nupur Ballal ’23, a member of the Upper School Orchestra, has also sought out opportunities that expand her abilities to grow and develop. As a pianist who studies at the Manhattan School of Music, she has stretched herself to play jazz and became the bedrock of one of our ensembles in that genre. Ensemble playing is very much about connection, and her newly acquired jazz improvisation skills rocked the lobby of the Center for Innovation pre-pandemic when her group performed “Bésame Mucho.”

“Jazz is a style of music that I don’t normally get to play,” she says, “and learning that piece was very engaging and fun.”

Our performers and visual artists have a way of being open to new experiences.

They also thrive on the sense of accomplishment that comes from persevering along an unsignposted path. They know how to resist an institutional or cultural force that could be restrictive. They trust their intuition but equally listen to others. They problem-solve, they encourage, they collaborate, they create.

Isn’t that all pretty terrific?

Edel Thomas, Chair of the Performing Arts Department, has worked at KPS for 29 years.

Katie Markley ’24

Sadie Zeiner-Morrish ’22

THE PLAY MUST GO ON. The Upper School performed Alan Haehnel’s Offerings, about a group of students who gather in a mysterious location, each carrying a personal artifact to present as an offering to an ominous voice. The 40-minute show took place, physically distanced and masked, in our outdoor amphitheater. The play, performed by 11 students, explored issues of belonging, acceptance, death, divorce, and how one handles the uncertainties of life. In these real times of uncertainty, Offerings was a reminder that we have a choice in how face we what comes our way. These talented students certainly handled performing during a pandemic with finesse and resilience.

DANCING (AND ACTING AND SINGING AND PAINTING) IN THE NEW YEAR This year, we reorganized and enhanced our arts programs in the Middle School, prioritizing dedicated times within the schedule. As a result, all Middle School students have access to meaningful experiences in dance, music, theater, and the visual arts.

By the time the girls reach sixth grade, they’ve learned the basics in most of the arts. In the Middle School, we rotate the girls through more sophisticated opportunities to make and create. By seventh grade, students have usually found their strengths and passions in a specific area. Others may still want to experiment. To respect all levels of interest, in the seventh and eighth grades, students have the freedom to make decisions on what they’d like to pursue. This enables them to delve into their individual preferences or to have more time to feel a spark.

It’s been exciting to see the changes play out in their first year, especially in the Middle School dance program: We have two full classes, each at a different, clearly defined skill level. Members of our ensembles will develop their talent in modern dance, ballet, and dance composition. They learn to co-choreograph duets and small-group pieces set to a diverse repertoire of music. The more experienced and committed students join Dance Makers, a performance-based class.

Tanseem Arampulikan ’25 (first row), Lauren Herman ’26 (second), and Jessica Choy ’26 (third) rehearse for their Dance Makers’ virtual Open Class.

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 25

I’ve had to let go of control.

Hope is something you can cling to when you’re confused and scared.

I remind my student athletes to remain optimistic, and that we’re living history.

“What I Lear During the

I’m by myself for large chunks of time.

Our children have been able to find so many silver linings.

26 KENT PLACE FALL 2019

As a family, we started to do more outreach.

The COVID-19 crisis has led members of the Kent Place community to reflect on their values and priorities.

Everyone is working so hard.

In March, when the novel coronavirus reached the United States, it did not yet even have an official name.

Soon enough, though, it became COVID-19 and the country was on the verge of a pandemic on a scale not experienced in a century.

As the months wore on, the virus’s impact on individuals widened and splintered. “We’re facing the same storm,” said Sutapa Sahay P ’26 ’30, who works in health care, “but all of us are not in the same boat.”

We asked more than two dozen people — students, faculty, staff, parents, and alumnae — to talk about their experiences during the pandemic. Although everyone, even those who have felt the impact most, expressed gratitude for their relative privilege, they also talked about the hardships, the surprises, and the unexpected light.

Here, in their own words, they discuss what these past months have been like from their perspective — and what they’ve learned.

ned Pandemic” One day, we’ll share stories of resilience, flexibility, and positivity.

Now more than ever, I count my blessings.

PORTRAITS BY BETH PERKINS

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 27

“ I HAVE ADDED SOME NEW ‘TRADITIONS’ IN MY ZOOM CLASS MEETINGS.” —KEN WEATHERSBY, UPPER SCHOOL VISUAL ARTS TEACHER

“I generally start every Zoom meeting with my students with a brief thing I call the ‘Art Shelf.’ During our very first remote classes last spring, I was on Zoom and right behind me on the wall was a shelf with a small artwork on it by a friend. I spontaneously took a few minutes to show the work and talk about the formal and narrative qualities of it and also my relationship with it. Even though I don’t sit in front of that particular shelf anymore when I do Zoom meetings, I still have this practice at the beginning of classes, and still call it the Art Shelf.”

Mr. Weathersby is holding a portrait of himself painted

by Jenny Ellis ’09, a former student in his Portfolio Art class. It was an object on his “Art Shelf.”

28 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021

FACULTY AND STAFF

“My parents both had COVID.” —ANA CASAS, UPPER SCHOOL SPANISH TEACHER

“The toughest part of this pandemic has been not being able to visit my family, including my parents, who live in Puerto Rico and Florida. But I’ve learned the importance of gratitude and the benefit of focusing on the goodness and beauty that is present in every situation, even during a pandemic.”

“I look forward to getting back to in-person gatherings.

I miss being at my desk. I would greet all of the visiting families as they began the KPS admission process. Every morning, I would happily open the door to excited, and sometimes very anxious, students and their parents. The conversations that ensued would warm my heart and make me so very honored to be a part of their wondrous journey.

I also miss not being able to see and hug my children and grandchildren. That has left me feeling very empty.”

—JENEANE WILLYARD, RECEPTIONIST IN MABIE HOUSE

“ Everyone is working so hard. I’m proud of everyone who’s working above and beyond to get our educational system back on track, although some days I feel like I attend way too many Zoom meetings. I look forward to better days when we can cook and eat together, gather in a huddle to strategize, and spend time in close proximity with others.”

—NATHAN LUTZ, INTERIM DIRECTOR OF THE PRIMARY SCHOOL

Ms. Willyard’s desk in Mabie House

“ On our toughest days, I remind my student athletes to remain optimistic, and that we’re living history. One of the biggest challenges since the pandemic is remaining emotionally open and available for my student athletes.

It’s like riding an ocean wave across the surface of the sea — ebbing and flowing with the rise and fall of emotion while absorbing some of its force. One day, we’ll share stories of resilience, flexibility, and positivity.”

—ASHLEY QUINN P ’24 ’26 ’28, HEAD VARSITY LACROSSE COACH

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 29

STUDENTS

“I’m a freshman this year, so I don’t know what ‘regular’ school was like in the Upper School.”

—CASSIE MILLER, NINTH-GRADER

“I like seeing everyone wearing a mask, because it shows the level of respect we all have for each other. What mask do I wear? A plain blue disposable surgical mask. It may not be cute, but it’s functional.

That’s how I like things.”

“I miss being able to stop by my teachers’ rooms. In my Supernatural Literature class, Dr. Schwartz had us read a short story called The Masque of the Red Death, which mirrored aspects of today’s pandemic. We’ve also been talking about current events in my Government and Politics class, such as the court cases about COVID restrictions.”

—ELIZA LOX, SENIOR

“ My teacher told us things would get better.”

—SOPHIA IVY, FOURTH-GRADER

“It was kind of scary during the spring, and a lot of things were changing quickly. My third-grade teacher showed us an article about COVID. She wanted to make sure we were informed about what was happening.

“During lockdown, I had a lot of positive people around me, so I had hope that things would go back to normal. A neighbor who is my friend lives just behind me. We can see and hear each other, even from our own backyards. Sometimes we did talent-show acts to entertain each other.

“Before the pandemic, I had never been through something that forced me to use the power of hope. Hope is something you can cling to when you’re confused and scared and you aren’t sure what will happen next.”

30 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021

“ I miss seeing my friends in other classes. But being able to have lunch outside is really cool.”

—JANE FITZSIMMONS, FOURTH-GRADER

“ I MISS SEEING EVERYONE’S FACES IN REAL LIFE.” —JESSICA CHOY, SEVENTH-GRADER

“Right now, I have to sit in the same chair every day. My only communication is with my family and my stuffed animals. But you should never give up. If your phone went down the toilet? Oh well! You can spend your free time reading a book or playing outside. The best part? I get to sleep in.”

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 31

“ AS A FAMILY, WE’VE BEEN VERY OPEN WITH OUR GIRLS ABOUT THIS PANDEMIC.” —SUTAPA SAHAY P ’26 ’30

“They are very aware of the toll it has taken on people around the world. I work in the healthcare industry. I’ve had some firsthand experience of this pandemic and have seen lives lost. Now more than ever, I count my blessings.”

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PARENTS

“ The struggle is not ever really knowing what’s around the corner. The hardest part is the unknown. Hoping your child wakes up without the sniffles or a fever. The hope that you, as a parent, make the right choices to keep your children engaged without exposing them to personal risk. I’ve had to let go of control.”

—STEPHANIE WILSON P ’32 ’34

“I went through SARS in Singapore in 2003.”

—HUI BOON QUEK P ’21 ’22

“Everything came to a screeching halt. All four girls play travel ice hockey, and we were just coming off a seven-month season when quarantine began.

In the absence of in-person learning and their after-school activities, they were left struggling to fill the time.

“While each girl required a different level of academic support, their

“I was a teacher in 2003, pregnant with Francesca ’22. I knew firsthand how difficult and important it would be to stay home and be vigilant wearing masks, keeping a distance, and washing hands. We believe it’s important to let our children know what’s actually happening and involve them in making decisions. As a family, we started to do more outreach, making masks and scrubs for the frontline workers, friends, and families. We packed lunches for Bridges and made cards. We can see our kids growing up to be compassionate and mindful people.”

emotional needs were surprisingly similar. Being separated from their peers, teachers, and the KPS community created a huge void for them. I noticed that I was getting a lot more hugs throughout the day from my older girls and quickly became a substitute classmate to my six-year-old, who loved to chat while she was working during remote learning.

“The quality of our girls’ lives improved dramatically when they stepped back onto campus this fall. My gratitude for the Kent Place teachers, faculty, staff, and administration, who made and continue to make this possible for all of us, is endless. This year at our Thanksgiving table, this sentiment was echoed by each of our girls. They recognize and appreciate the gift we’ve all been given this year.”

—KAREN BUILIONE P ’24 ’26 ’28 ’32

“Our children have been able to find so many silver linings.”

“Screen-time limits and cell-phone bans went out the window. I’m so appreciative that by working remotely, I’ve been

—JESSICA GLATT P ’28

able to see and overhear the classes that my daughter is taking and is excited about. Like most parents, I typically get one-word answers during school pickup, but we’ve been able to have more in-depth conversations about her classes, likes, passions. We’ve been able to explore further opportunities for research while home.”

—NICOLE EPPS P ’27

“It’s comforting to know that our children will look back on this past year with memories of spending more time together as a family, exploring the outdoors, and simply having time to ‘stop and smell the roses.’ Our lives and theirs were so busy and so overscheduled before the pandemic struck. Even when things normalize, we’ll be making a concerted effort to not go back to our old ways.”

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 33

“ THE MOST CHALLENGING THING? THE DEATH OF MY FATHER.” —JOAN WILSON ’93 P ’25, MIDDLE SCHOOL SOCIAL WORKER AND HEALTH EDUCATION TEACHER AT KPS

“Although my father was blessed with 95 years, it’s been difficult to accept that he died of complications from COVID. Unfortunately, like many other nursing homes across the country, the facility where my father resided also succumbed to the devastating effects of the pandemic.

Unable to visit him in the hospital, I struggle with the fact that I was not at his side comforting him during those last hours. I believe that God doesn’t give us more than we can bear. Perhaps seeing my father lying helpless in that hospital bed was more than I could bear. I welcome the day when it’s safe to gather with friends and family to fully pay our respects and celebrate my father’s life.”

34 KENT PLACE WINTER 2021 2020

ALUMNAE

“ I wrote about the emergence of the virus in China in December 2019.”

—LISA KRIEGER ’73, A SCIENCE WRITER FOR THE SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

“I knew the United States was so vulnerable. I felt such helplessness. But COVID has created professional and personal focus. It has tightened my relationships with the experts on the front lines of the San Francisco Bay Area’s infectious-disease and public-health communities. I’m in awe of their brilliance and dedication. In turn, they’ve been grateful for my role in communicating the urgency of this crisis. I’ve given this pandemic 150 percent of my mental and emotional energy. When it’s finally over, I’ll feel proud of my small but important contribution.”

“ I miss hugging my grandparents.”

—KEILI MURPHY ’20, A STUDENT AT GETTYSBURG COLLEGE

“People ask ‘How are you?’ and really want to know. Many

“The pandemic made me realize how important relationships are in my life. These relationships deserve more effort than I may have realized before.”

of the conversations I’ve had through work have been a surprising but welcome source of warmth. Empathy is something that our country has lacked desperately for the last four years, and its reemergence as a result of the pandemic has given me hope. I hope we’ll be able to interact with each other with more humility, honesty, and understanding as our nation heals from this virus.”

—DANIELA QUINTANILLA ’10, VICE PRESIDENT OF INSTITUTIONAL SALES AT BLACKROCK

“I’m by myself for large chunks of time.”

—DANIELLE V. AURIEMMA ’06, DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT AT HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL

“My husband goes into his office, and I’ve experienced an increase in loneliness. I also miss traveling to visit friends and family. Yet I feel I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge those who’ve dealt with the many direct impacts and challenges related to COVID. My challenges pale in comparison to theirs.”

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 35

A Crash Course

The Kent Place Strategic Plan Empower Girls. Advance the World.

Creating and implementing an ambitious strategic plan takes serious, sustained commitment, and Kent Place has been up to the task. Over the course of more than two years, members of our community dug into the institution’s history.

They talked to hundreds of teachers, alumnae, students, and families. And they dreamed bigger than ever before. The result is an ambitious strategic plan that will carry the school through the next five years. Take our crash course to learn (in minutes, not years!) exactly what it means. ILLUSTRATIONS BY ABBEY LOSSING

KENT PLACE SCHOOL MISSION (AN ANNOTATED GUIDE)

Kent Place School empowers girls to be confident, intellectual, and ethical leaders who advance the world.

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1

“Data informs us that as girls move through adolescence, their self-confidence can wane. We aim to buck that trend by having a strong emphasis on developing leaders. We also know that self-confidence can be the key to success and happiness in life,” says Head of School Jennifer Galambos.

2 3

“We want students to be able to analyze data, synthesize information across disciplines, and see how what they’re learning has real-world applications,” says Assistant Head of School for Teaching and Learning Julie Gentile.

“We have a prominent ethics program, but it’s not just about teaching. We want to create a climate of ethical decision-making and skills: to think about any issue broadly, listen generously, and understand the ethical implications to make decisions in life,” says Karen Rezach, Founding Director of the Ethics Institute.

4

“At Kent Place, we want to create leaders who are cognizant that they are part of a larger world — and we want to position them to serve it,” says Assistant Head of School for Enrollment and Strategy Julia Breen Wall P ’23 ’27.

Four Strategic Priorities To be effective, focus

PRIORITY 1

Learning with purpose What it says: Transform

academic structures and practices to further develop intellectual leaders who think critically and ethically.

is essential. Here are the four strategic priorities that Kent Place will pursue with vigor — turning lofty goals into real action.

What it means: Kent Place is known for its academically robust, dynamic education. But aiming toward high test scores or grades is never the goal.

Increased emphasis on problem-based learning as well as anti-bias and culturally responsive learning will help students see their education as something that connects them to the world outside the classroom and prepares them to lead empathically and critically.

Priorities in action: A recent Middle School project had students come together to solve a real problem:

our old water fountains. They analyzed the problem, crafted a solution, and presented ideas to the school leadership for environmentally friendly new fountains to replace the old ones. The students succeeded in their task. Julie Gentile, Assistant Head of School for Teaching and Learning, says the lesson was simple but powerful: “Students can make change if they do their research and apply it.”

Other projects have woven together Spanish, environmental studies, and community engagement as well as history, art, and English. Whereas these types of initiatives are happening across the school “in small bubbles,” said Ms. Gentile, the strategic plan will open up more opportunities for silo-busting collaboration and meaningful, joyful learning.

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 37

PRIORITY 2

Leading with ethics What it says: Advance the Ethics Institute and Girls’ Leadership Institute to become renowned K–12 community incubators for developing ethical leaders who take action.

Kent Place has long been known for both its ethics and its leadership programs and initiatives. This priority will support efforts that more directly meld these two strengths. “This is a moment in time that calls for the KPS brand of ethical leaders,” says Ms. Breen Wall.

What it means:

Priorities in action: Kent

Place will expand and improve its ethicalcitizenship and leadership-development curriculum, which includes the development of a robust Be Ethical Everywhere (BEE) Primary School program. It will broaden access to a significant portion of its leadership and ethics programming to give other schools and classrooms around the world the chance to benefit from Kent Place’s distinctive work.

It will also build on unique programs such as the Bioethics Project, which is produced under the guidance of Georgetown University’s Kennedy Institute of Ethics. The school will augment its work with extracurricular events and programs such as the Middle School Ethics Bowl, Ethics in the Arts, and Ethical Entrepreneurship.

“This is about incorporating ethics into every aspect of life,” says Dr. Rezach. “How do we give students real-life situations so they can think about what they value most and how they apply those values?” Kent Place will bring many of these initiatives beyond campus borders, helping the school become a nationally recognized voice on ethics in K–12 education.

PRIORITY 3

Thriving in community Prioritize a healthy and balanced school climate in which each member of our community can thrive.

What it says:

What it means: Kate DeOssie ’04, a Trustee and cochair of the Strategic Design Team and Mission and Vision Committee, believes Kent Place’s community has always been the institution’s key to success.

“Kent Place is a community of ambitious, high-achieving, awesome girls who take their education and endeavors very seriously,” she says.

At the same time, she says, “the atmosphere is entirely collaborative and supportive — a sisterhood in which people lift each other up.”

Kent Place wants students to pursue many things — from biochemistry to modern dance, from athletics to the arts — at a high level, but not at the expense of their health. In coming years, Kent Place will improve its current wellness programs for all of its students and build on its expertise linked to emotional health for girls. It will aim to meet an array of diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. “We believe that focusing on the balance of academics, ethics, leadership, and empowerment will enable us to raise girls who have a strong sense of well-being and centeredness in the world,” says Dr. Galambos.

Priorities in action:

38 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021

Tough question

PRIORITY 4

Investing in one another

You spent years developing a strategic plan. Months before its public rollout, COVID-19 struck. Is the plan still relevant?

Invest in an enduring culture of philanthropy and stewardship with all constituencies to achieve Kent Place’s strategic priorities now and ensure a bright future for generations to come.

What it says:

What it means: The strength of the Kent Place experience lies in the relationships built within the community. Kent Place was founded by local families joining together and meeting a need for their own daughters and all other girls in the area. This spirit of vision and community remains a hallmark of KPS well into its second century.

This priority will ensure that the school continues to partner with alumnae, parents, grandparents, and friends in sustaining an exceptional education for current students and for generations to come.

Jennifer Galambos: Over the summer, we took a few months off from our strategic-planning process to concentrate on preparing the campus for this academic year. But when we came back to it, in September, we marveled at how relevant it remained. We didn’t want to create a “COVID strategic plan” because a vaccine would mean that we’d be able to see the coronavirus in the rearview mirror. I do believe the strategic plan will hold up to the test of time. I also think the pandemic may make us willing to think even more broadly about the ways we might be able to carry it out.

In recent years, we have welcomed a tremendous number of alumnae into meaningful engagement in the life of the school. This has had a wide impact, ranging from assistance in college selection, to participation in ethics, leadership, and entrepreneurial programs, to providing an inside look at vocations that didn’t exist a decade ago — in technology, medicine, and international diplomacy, for example. “The women of Kent Place are changing the world in every arena,” says Coral Butler Brooks P ’25, Director of Advancement. “The leaders of industry whom I’ve met in my tenure continue to inspire and humble me. Our alumnae are vibrant, thoughtful, empathic leaders whose generosity of time and resources is second to none. We hope to continue to connect these remarkable women with our students in meaningful ways.”

Kent Place has also experienced strong growth in financial support, which enables the school to expand curriculum, increase financial aid, and achieve even higher levels of excellence in recruiting the best faculty and staff in their fields. All of these critical areas of growth are the direct result of donors who believe that girls and young women prepared with a world-class education will be the change-makers for a bright and more just future for us all. “Further fundraising opportunities will come naturally from the aspirations of the strategic plan, which in turn will equip Kent Place with the resources and facilities needed to fulfill our mission,” says Ms. Brooks.

Priorities in action:

WANT TO LEARN MORE?

Visit kpsempower.org.

As Kent Place looks ahead, the strategic plan serves as both a reminder and a road map. It’s a touchstone for the values that have made Kent Place what it is today. And it’s a guide to becoming an even better version of itself in the years to come. “We incorporated the best of tradition, innovation, and flexibility,” says Dr. Galambos, “and it crystallizes what the next few years are going to look like.”

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 39

KEEPING PACE CONNECTING THE KENT PLACE FAMILY

Campus walk early 1980s

KEEPING PACE SINCE LAST TIME

Director of Advancement Coral Butler Brooks with her daughter, KPS eighth-grader Maeve, Class of 2025

Dear Kent Place Alumnae, Last year was one of tremendous upheaval and heartbreak amid one of the greatest trials of the century. We also witnessed, however, many small joys as people reacted in hope and care for one another.

One of the joys that brought light into my remote world was the virtual programs with Kent Place alumnae from all over this country and other nations as well. One that immediately comes to mind is reading Mrs. Caliban, by Rachel Ingalls, for the first KPS alumnae virtual book club. Women from different ages and a variety of vocations took part in a stimulating discussion led by Kent Place faculty member Lisa Cohen. New faces from far-off places seemed as close as graduates who live in New Jersey.

The Kent Place Sisterhood Pen Pal program has been immensely rewarding.

Students and alumnae forged intergenerational friendships and still write back and forth. This has been such a success that we’ll pair students with you indefinitely. (If you’d like to participate, to impart your own Kent Place story, life lessons, or even a Netflix recommendation, please contact Lainey Segear, Director of Alumnae Engagement, at segearl@kentplace.org or (908) 273-0900, ext. 335.

42 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021

In 2019–20, Kent Place began its milestone 125th year in a flurry of excitement for the dozens of programs and events designed to celebrate the school and its amazing alumnae. Of course, the coronavirus had a dramatic impact, and we couldn’t have the community-wide festivities on campus in May. Before the lockdown began, though, we held 22 events across the country. It was lovely to spend that time with you, and looking back, I relish it all the more because we haven’t been able to meet in person since then.

As 2021 begins, we can see a path beyond hardship and isolation. Under discussion among leaders in every discipline is how operating remotely can continue with increased productivity and at less cost.

At your alma mater, virtual programming is here to stay, and we will build more programs to keep KPS sisters in touch with one another.

But because nothing will replace the warm embrace of friends new and old, we’ll be back to your cities and towns to chat with you and help make connections that will last through good times and bad — this year has demonstrated just how very important they are.

During the 22 events before COVID-19, you gave me advice about where to spend time in London (written on a napkin in Dallas!) and recommended books to read, podcasts to listen to, and movies to watch.

These enriched the dark days for me.

Until we meet again, please let me know: How did you spend 2020? I’m eager to hear of the wisdom, resilience, and creativity, as well as the challenges, of Kent Place women as they faced what the year brought and still made the world better — just as they’ve done for more than 125 years.

I miss you — I celebrate you — and I can’t wait to see you in 2021!

Warmest wishes for a healthy new year,

Coral Butler Brooks P ’25 Director of Advancement

“ I’m proud of how the alumnae community came together during this unprecedented time. We challenged and supported one another as we did when we were in school — and we’re the better for it.”

—KATHERINE (O’DONNELL) LYNCH ’06, ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION BOARD PRESIDENT

Kemba Dunham ’90

April C. Bauknight, Esq. ’95

New Council Gives Another Voice to Alumnae Kent Place is committed to providing a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment for every member of our community. To that end, Director of Advancement Coral Butler Brooks P ’25, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Walidah Justice, and Head of School Jennifer Galambos made the decision to create a committee dedicated to supporting our alumnae: It’s called the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Alum Council.

The DEI Alum Council is now a permanent committee under the bylaws of the Alumnae Association, and the chair holds a seat on the Alumnae Association Board.

April C. Bauknight, Esq. ’95 and Kemba Dunham ’90 are leading the council during this inaugural year. Heather Budd ’95, Linda Chang ’08, Nya Earrusso ’12, Collins Hilton ’13, Aneela Kanhai ’18, Alex Krupp ’06, Katherine (O’Donnell) Lynch ’06, Ashley Pinakiewicz ’00, and Dawn (Palmer) Quaife ’97 round out the committee.

The council’s mission is to provide alumnae of underrepresented groups with meaningful opportunities to contribute to the KPS community and also to support them in their own anti-racist efforts.

The council will keep the alumnae community informed of the school’s progress in developing and implementing an anti-racism and diversity action plan.

DEI Alum Council Goals

RESILIENCE THEN & RESILIENCE NOW

A little more than a century ago, then senior Fay Elizabeth Wiess detailed in the 1919 publication The Log important events that occurred during the school year. In what seemed like a normal high school brief, she mentioned that the school was closed for three weeks on account of influenza. “I do not want to leave the impression that classes stood still during this time,” she wrote. “The day-pupils received their assignments by mail and the boarders went right on. We had shorter periods and many long walks and picnics.”

• Alumnae-to-Alumnae. Engage and educate alumnae around DEI issues through multiple channels.

• A lumnae–to–KPS Community. Utilize the strengths and talents of alumnae to benefit the Kent Place community.

• A lumnae–to–Current Students. Provide support, mentorship, and connection for students of underrepresented groups.

The DEI Alum Council has already held numerous events and looks forward to engaging our alumnae in the future.

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 43

KEEPING PACE

Dr. Galambos facilitates a virtual interview session with alumna, Monica Giannone ’06.

Portrait of a Graduate Comes to Life in the Middle School Classroom Leadership is at the core of what Kent Place instills in its brave and brilliant girls. This year, Head of School Jennifer Galambos — for the first time — twice a week for nine weeks led a leadership seminar, modeled on NPR’s How I Built This, for a group of eighth-graders. She invited nine alumnae, from a variety of backgrounds, to enter the classroom virtually and discuss their journeys to leadership.

During the Tuesday meetings, students learned about the upcoming alumna speaker and developed a list of questions to ask her. Every Thursday, an alumna would join the class, via Zoom, for 45 minutes. Each student would ask thought-provoking questions about her career and the challenges she faced. All of the alumnae had a unique story to tell: Some were just beginning their path to leadership; others had been leaders several times over.

The Middle Schoolers learned about political volunteering and innovation from Adrienne Wolff ’15. Adrienne graduated from Brown University in 2020 and went on to cofound the GAP (Get

44 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021

Acting, People) Project. GAP is an initiative to make campaign volunteering easy and accessible for Generation Z students.

Four-time Emmy Award–winner Brooke (Jacobsen) Lessinger ’05 spoke to the girls about her more than 10 years’ experience developing, producing, and writing for talk shows, news outlets, and digital platforms and answered questions about her work with the Dr. Oz Show. “I was so impressed by the eighth-graders’ thoughtful and insightful questions, their confidence, and their genuine thirst for information,” she said later.

Students were introduced to the world of entrepreneurship and fashion by Schuanne Cappel ’03. Schuanne left her career in finance because she wanted to explore her love for fashion. She began blogging and dressing private clients — professional women ages 25–45 — for special events and career changes, for example, and producing, art-directing, and styling photoshoots for magazines, such as Vogue Italia. At the end of 2014, she decided to travel for a year through Asia and Europe, then returned to found Uncoverd, an

online store and pop-up boutique catering to women ages 30 to 60.

Schuanne’s message: Take a risk and follow your dreams.

Beth Oliva ’97 spoke about the law and her experience as a partner in the New York office of Fox Rothschild LLP, representing manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and trade associations in regulatory, litigation, and legislative matters at both the state and the local level.

She also explained the value of pro bono work, and talked about Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), for which she offers representation to immigrant and refugee children facing deportation.

The students learned about negotiation from Monica Giannone ’06.

Monica — a trainer, consultant, and mediator specializing in negotiation, coalition management, and multi-stakeholder disputes — directs the Kennedy School Negotiation Project at Harvard Kennedy School and is an adjunct lecturer at Babson College, teaching courses on negotiation in the MBA program. She is also a founder of Resistance School, a free practical training program that sharpens the tools needed to harness the power of collective action at the federal, state, and local levels.

Andi Ruda ’09 taught the students about perseverance as a young, female CFO of the multimillion-dollar company Alex and Ani and what she learned about leadership, gender, and age discrimination in this role. Talking with the girls, says Andi, “was a really special experience for me . . . I was so impressed by the questions the students asked and the follow-ups they prompted me” to elaborate on.

Jachele Vélez ’07, an attorney at Covington and Burlington LLP, in Washington, D.C., and former White House intern, spoke to the girls about how to lead at the beginning of your career. Jachele says she was particularly impressed by the students’ sense of belonging.

“None of the students felt like they didn’t belong in that virtual classroom, being taught by the Head of School, talking to whomever their special guest was, and it was refreshing to see in young women, particularly young women of color.”

Nancy Schieffelin ’63, a retired social worker, an activist for civil rights, and a founding member of collegiate women’s ice hockey at Brown University, talked to the girls about the impact of being the first to do something. She says she was impressed with the girls’ challenging questions and their interest in what it was like to play hockey with boys. “I had only played with boys/ men,’’ she says, “as in my day there was no ice hockey for girls. It highlighted for me how much Title IX has changed the opportunities for girls.”

The final speaker was Porscha Dobson ’03, the first African American woman to be director of both a men’s and a women’s track-and-field program and cross-country at an Ivy League school, and one of only a handful in the NCAA. Porscha was inducted into the inaugural class of the Kent Place Athletic Hall of Fame, in October 2019, for her accomplishments running track.

Brooke (Jacobsen) Lessinger ’05 summed up her participation: “I walked away from the seminar wishing I were still a student here,” she says. “To have the ability to study leadership before entering high school and to be taught by the leader of our school, no less, is yet another remarkable and unique experience to have as a Kent Place student.”

CHEERS TO THE YEARS! VIRTUAL ALUMNAE WEEKEND CELEBRATION APRIL 29 AND 30 Special gatherings are being planned for all alumnae with graduation years ending in 0, 1, 5, and 6.

THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 6:30–8:00 P.M. Women of Wisdom Alumnae Panel Inspiring alumnae share stories of resilience, grit, and the power of being bold on their journey beyond Kent Place.

FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 10:45–11:45 A.M. Chat with the Head of School Make a hot cup of coffee and join Head of School Dr. Jennifer C. Galambos for an intimate conversation and celebration with the Classes of 1970 and 1971 in honor of their 50th reunion. Make sure to register to receive a special gift to enjoy during the get-together.

FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 6:30–8:30 P.M. Reunion Virtual Cocktail Party for Alumnae Alumnae will gather as a group before spending time with their class in breakout rooms. The evening will end with everyone back together, with special faculty guests. Please keep an eye out for more information, as registration is requested. Registrants will receive a special package to use during the event.

For questions or to be involved in the planning, please contact Lainey Segear, Director of Alumnae Engagement and Special Gifts, at segearl@kentplace.org or (908) 273-0900, ext. 335.

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 45

KEEPING PACE IN HER WORDS

Dr. McGhee Smith was a participant in the Pfizer vaccine trial.

Dr. Vicky McGhee Smith ’86 Victoria McGhee Smith is a family physician and the associate medical director for St. Charles Parish Hospital and primary care for the River Region at Ochsner Health System, serving patients in Louisiana and Mississippi. She graduated from Yale and from Harvard Medical School, and completed a family medicine residency at LSU Health Sciences Center–New Orleans/Kenner Regional Medical Center. Dr. McGhee Smith has been awarded many honors, among them New Orleans CityBusiness Woman of the Year in 2018.

Since March, I’ve been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic, watching patients become ill and then die. Even from the beginning, it was clear that Afri-

46 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021

can Americans and other people of color were disproportionately affected by the coronavirus, and longstanding healthcare disparities were unveiled. Based on my

Buddhist practice of 31 years, I recognize that all people are interconnected and that a change in the life of an individual can transform the world. Tired of feeling a victim of the pandemic, I decided to be a protagonist in the fight. With no cure on the horizon, I knew the end would come only through a vaccine.

On July 30, I enrolled in the Phase 2/3 Pfizer trial; I had my second injection on August 19. When I joined the trial, I was featured on national news networks and programs including ABC, CBS, NBC, Nightline, BBC, and CNN as a black female participant who is also a physician.

I wanted to be a role model for people of color who have an understandable distrust of the healthcare system and research, the result of experimentation on African American men in Tuskegee, for example, and sterilization of Puerto Rican women without their knowledge.

December 14, 2020, was a historic date as healthcare workers in the United States began to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. During a meeting of the Board of Ochsner Health, on the sixth floor of our cancer center, Gov. John Bel Edwards was two floors down participating in a Facebook Live with our chief medical officer as Ochsner healthcare workers were being vaccinated, which we all hope will be the beginning of the end of the pandemic. That night, I was featured in a special on 20/20 called “The Shot: Race for the Vaccine,” detailing the path to developing a vaccine against COVID-19, which by then had killed more than 300,000 Americans.

I shed tears of joy and relief that we now had a weapon against this scourge.

However, that same night I learned that one of my patients, a 90-year-old Latino man, died at home of COVID-19 and that his 89-year-old wife was being rushed to the hospital with low oxygen levels.

I’m filled with hope that with widespread immunization, we’ll be able to return to normalcy while balancing the reality of more cases and more deaths.

Please protect one another by wearing masks, social distancing, and washing your hands.

KEEPING PACE CLASS NOTES

1942

Emily (Churchill) Wood emily_wood46@hotmail.com

1947

Anne (Campbell) Dowell annedowell@triad.rr.com

What a difficult and stressful year it’s been with COVID-19, but most of us are doing okay.

Joan (Skelton) Holmes is all right but walks with a cane due to arthritis.

She’s waiting to get her driver’s license back after a minor traffic problem, so she makes arrangements or has friends take her places. On nice days she goes out front to read. Son Ryder lives in Greensboro, NC, and son Blair lives in Chicago with his wife and three children. Daughter Trilby is a nurse and lives in Ridgefield, CT. Evelyn (France) Kalagher fell and broke her leg and has a splint and will be in a wheelchair for six to eight weeks. Then awhile ago she broke her other leg. She’s glad she doesn’t have a third leg! The bus driver at her retirement home gets groceries for her. Her niece lives nearby, in Brattleboro, and comes once a week to clean and change the sheets.

Helen (Preus) Mairs has two daughters, both of whom live near her in St. Paul, and they went to the family cabin on Lake Superior this summer for a short visit. Her son, Rob, and his wife live close by. They have one son at Middlebury and one in high school.

Preusy can get her dinners as “grab & go.” She goes to the pool or exercises five days a week, and she’s in a group that shakes bells to play on Zoom.

Giovanna (Mancusi-Ungaro) Breu and her husband, Joe, are

fine.

They take many walks and shop for groceries. Their 6- and 7-year-old granddaughters live in Texas with their mother, Eugenia. She’s getting her RN and has been working at the Texas State Guard, helping people after tornadoes and aiding those who came to Texas when they fled Louisiana hurricanes.

Nancy Purdy is doing fine and still has her little spaniel, Henrietta. She goes to the dining room for meals and enjoys seeing people there. She thinks Kent Place is doing well and enjoyed her last visit there, when she met with Head of School Jennifer Galambos.

Bobbie (MacWhinney) Schneidewind says, “All is well with my

family. My big news is that I have a 3-month-old great-granddaughter,

Ivy, who joins brother Henry (3).

Both are healthy and wonderful. I’m lucky to get together with my family on Sundays at my daughter’s. We have supper in their backyard while Henry runs and the birds have their dinner at the feeders. Hectic but fun.”

Nancy (Vreeland) Waits and her husband, Richmond, have apartments close to each other, and they usually eat together. Nancy goes to exercise classes. Both their daughters live nearby and they have twin great-grandsons, 11, and another who is 1½.

Kathy (Harter) Webster enjoys her retirement home. She has meals delivered and still has her car to drive where she wants. She lives close to Wellesley and is vice president of her class there. She has a daughter who lives near her and three who live in Europe but do come to the United States to visit.

Sue (Savage) Speers was so glad she could spend the summer at her house in Center Sandwich, NH. Her oldest son lives near and shopped for her. Sue is expecting her great-granddaughter in April. She keeps up with her family on Zoom. She uses machines for exercise and can pick up meals in the dining room.

Sad news: Nancy (Koebel) Watters died August 18, 2020, in Denver. She is survived by her five children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She will certainly be missed.

I’m doing okay. Still like my cottage at my retirement home in Winston-Salem, NC. I often take walks with my friends and my little dog, Rascal. I have dinner delivered although our dining room is open.

Most days, I go to our pool and exercise classes. Our new activity director is offering fun things like archery, Jeopardy!, and painting. I’m so lucky to have two daughters nearby who help me a lot.

Samuel Scudder McKeown was his brother’s best man. In 2021, Thomas and Kristin hope the pandemic will be behind all of us and they may repeat their vows in the church and enjoy a reception with their complete wedding parties, families, and friends worldwide.

Classmates, the KPS property looks fabulous; it’s beautifully maintained and has been updated in keeping with all necessary implementations for campuses today.

KPS continues to offer exceptional academic courses for students from Kindergarten through 12th grade with outstanding leadership and staff. We should each remain proud to be a KPS graduate.

Please send me your family updates and news that I may include in the next issue: Just email me at the above address or drop me a note to 7C Canterbury Road, Chatham, NJ 07928. Best wishes for a happy, healthy 2021.

1950

Phyllis (Tilson) Piotrow: New Hamp-

shire is a good and a relatively safe and healthy place to be retired, hiking around, and worrying about the state of the rest of the world. I keep in touch with Karla (Hofmeister) Williams in New York and Anne (Waterson) Gordon in Pittsburgh. I write a column every other week for our local paper, in which I try to apply all the lessons I learned about writing from Miss Wolfe. A recent column, which may be out of date soon, has a

message that is relevant now: “Should we be more motivated to wear a mask and practice the 3W’s (Wear a mask.

Watch your distance. Wash your hands.) because it’s the ethical thing to do to protect others from disease or because it provides an economic benefit and helps boost the stock market?”

1951

Mary-Carey (Bachmann) Churchill mcchurchill@gmail.com Greetings all! Joyce (Cudlipp) Wiggin

has done a wonderful job as class scribe for more years than we can remember, and that’s saying something, as remembering anything is a big challenge these days, isn’t it? She welcomed my offer to step in as our new scribe. Thank you, Joyce!

Hennie [now Henri] (Simler) Buch writes from Missouri that she is doing well.

I was so pleased to speak with Joan (Marshall) Caldwell, who always brought some of that Rio de Janeiro spirit to our class. She reports from Coral Gables that she lived for 20 years in Northern California, then moved back to Florida and loves her condo near her daughter.

A lovely note from Becky (Kincaid) Mathewson from California says she and family are all well. The pandemic has cramped her usual RV trip to Alaska, where she has gone to fish for 20 years. Now, that’s enterprise!

A voice from upstate New York: Mary (Kler) Heisinger reports that she’s still very active in the community as director of the library and runs

1949

Joan (Lanston) McKeown jlmckeown@icloud.com

I’m enjoying 10 grandchildren, seven girls between the ages of 15 and 21 and three men, ages 25, 27, and 28.

My oldest grandson, Thomas Carrier McKeown, married Kristin Elizabeth Wright on December 5, 2020, in a civil ceremony in Glencoe, IL, in the presence of only their immediate families thanks to this pandemic.

THEN & NOW: THE MABIE HOUSE LOBBY

In 1946, Mabie House, home away from home to the school’s boarding students, had a quite expansive drawing room — a space to entertain, play music, or wait for visitors that was accessed from the foyer through its iconic door. Over the years, the drawing room had many lives: It became a dormitory, then administrative offices, then a conference room, and is now the Head of School’s office. At right is the current Mabie House lobby, which welcomes all admission and advancement guests and leads right through the drawing room doors into Dr. Galambos’s office. We’d love to learn more about this space; please email your special story to communications@kentplace.org.

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 47

KEEPING PACE CLASS NOTES

a study group on the Civil War and two book clubs.

MJ (Cabrera) Shaw enjoys playing golf in the summer in Vermont. Go MJ! Most winters she spends managing her Stowe, VT, house, which has become the ski center for her numerous grandchildren and friends.

Also loved talking to Sally (Needles) Toffey. She and Jim just celebrated their birthdays.

Alvene (Farrell) Carpenter and Larry are sheltering in place, like all the rest of us.

Joyce (Cudlipp) Wiggin says the pandemic is spiking there three days from Thanksgiving. She and Mitch moved to Frederick, MD, last fall, and she’s looking forward to getting to know the residents and the area.

They’re very comfortable. Darby is only 10 miles away; Dorian is still in Short Hills, NJ. Ladies, we’re 70 years out of KP! Let’s go to Reunion! By the time you read this, I hope we’re all vaccinated.

I’ll be there dead or alive, preferably the latter. If not, then in spirit.

I want to tell the story of putting the hot-water bottle and roses on Miss Sampson’s chair, but that’s for another time.

1954

Marianna (Ruprecht) Mitchell mariannarmitchell@gmail.com

1955

Kent Place heard from Debbie Stollery, the stepdaughter of June (Minder) Wilmot, that June passed away on October 18, 2020. “Thank you for the role you played in making June the woman she was,” Debbie wrote.

“She loved Kent Place.” Our condolences to June’s family.

Martha (Van Horn) Allegaert: Moving from Auburn, CA, to Palm Springs to be near my three sons and grandchildren. Yet another adventure.

1957

Virginia (Tansey) Wilkinson: Lucy (Gale) Gaven, our senior class president,

continues to lead our class. When the pandemic arrived, last spring, Lucy created a social-media network of virtual reunions — a way to keep in touch about notable developments in our lives, milestones crossed (e.g., our 80th birthdays!), and anecdotes that kept us communicating, joking, sometimes singing, sometimes lamenting.

For a time, we posted vigorous political commentaries until Lucy, realizing

that there was some opposition to the views expressed, blew the whistle on such cheers and fears. We lost five notable members in the last five years, but 25 of our 35 living members have joined this ongoing virtual reunion.

(We were 50 when we graduated.)

Looking back at our time at Kent Place, it’s remarkable how many of us recall our class song, which compared those years to an oak tree growing tall and strong deep in the woods, with branches reaching toward the sky in search of the light, a symbol of hope as we struggled ahead and a safe and comforting shelter when we felt weary. How different and marvelously strong that tree looks today, even for those of us who have not been there to see it.

1958

Cathy (Howe) Grosfils: Mary (Waterman) Moore passed away June 10,

2020. She and I were best friends forever, through thick and thin, since elementary school. We went through the preteen and teen years together, shared secrets, and took trips; Williamsburg (where I live now), Florida, and Cape Cod were special favorites.

We were in each other’s weddings and

enjoyed many visits as our children grew up. Recently we shared a decade of Virginia Garden Week, along with her beloved husband, David. In later years, we loved keeping in touch, via email and phone, and more recently Zoom, when we were unable to be together. She passed away quickly, totally unexpectedly, which was a blessing for her but so difficult for those she left behind, who will always love and miss her. Mary and I will always be “best friends forever!” See the photo section for two pictures of us, one from our 1958 KPS graduation and one taken last year while sharing one of many wonderful meals.

1959

Kent Place thanks Elizabeth (Budd) Bugliari for her efforts as Class Secretary over the years. If you’re interested in taking over the role, please contact Aimee (Bousquet) Singer ’88, at singera@kentplace.org.

1960

Anne (Sonnekalb) Iskrant anne@iskrant.com

By the time you read this, I anticipate that we’ll be into a new political era and a new medical one, as well. I hope

Janet (Hostetter) Wilson ’51 Tribute Janet (Hostetter) Wilson passed away on March 14, 2020, after a long battle with cancer.

Janet was a leader, admired and respected by all who knew her, and all of us send our sympathy to her loving family.

In 1951, Janet Hostetter’s considerable talents were already in full view. President of our class, she displayed her outstand1951 classmates MJ (Cabrera) Shaw, Mary-Carey (Bachmann) Churchill, ing ability to lead, to excel acaand Janet (Hostetter) Wilson demically and athletically, and to connect with many friends. She was also lots of fun. She led the initiative to have our class mascot, Liederkranz the mouse, installed as the model for both inspiration and fun. Leiderkranz was a unifying class symbol and the subject of much conversation and laughter (he was so ugly that he was cute!).

Janet loved Kent Place. The school nurtured her talents and character and provided the springboard for her lifelong interest in education. She went on to Wellesley College and graduated Phi Beta

48 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021

Kappa. While there, she met her husband, Thomas Henry Wilson, Jr., who was from a prominent furniture family in western North Carolina, where Janet would live for the rest of her life. Their three children, Henry, Amy, and David, and later her grandchildren, were her pride and joy.

Always generous and caring, Janet became active in education advocacy and management, serving on the North Carolina School Boards Association and influencing public policy through participation in the North Carolina General Assembly’s Public Education Policy Council and other county and statewide organizations. A strong supporter of early childhood education, she established a fund and strategy to help provide Pre-K education for elementary schools in her county.

After Henry’s death, in 2002, Janet moved to the campus of Davidson, where she took a great interest in college affairs and became a trustee. Her generosity and caring also manifested as being a great supporter of Caldwell Hospice and Palliative Care, Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina, the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum, and many other organizations.

Janet’s life earned great respect for her kindness, generosity, warmth, and wit.

—Mary-Carey (Bachmann) Churchill ’51

the upcoming year will make us more positive and less polarized. Here’s to resurgence and renewal in 2021!

Sue Hand: It has, sadly, been a very bad spring and summer for me, though by now I’m faring better.

Jack, my husband, died of a stroke at the end of May. He was 89 and we had 28 years together, which isn’t bad for a second marriage when the groom is 61. He was my soulmate and I’m grateful for every year we had together. My grandson, Theo (15 months), is in Brooklyn. I see him on FaceTime, but I can’t wait until COVID is under control so I can see him again in the flesh. I’m over the moon about him, as he’s my only grandchild. I had no idea being a grandparent involved such a quantity of almost unbearable love.

their home in San Francisco. The night before, we celebrated with a lobster bake and beach bonfire with daughter Tenley and her husband, Geoff Chepiga. I loved planning a garden wedding and worked for the past year on the plantings. But with each wedding cancellation, the sun moved farther west in the garden, necessitating constant tweaks. Gardens are never finished, are they?

Betsy (Busch) Crosby: The highlight of John’s and my summer was that our son, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren (Coco, 3, and Julian, newborn) spent five weeks with us in Rhode Island. We would never have had the opportunity for that much time together under nonCOVID circumstances. I relished every moment!

1961

1967

Marianne (Schwarz) Bentley m.s.bentley@comcast.net

1963

Louise (Hall) Grauer louise.a.grauer@gmail.com

1964

Gail (Giblin) Flynn gailgiblin29@gmail.com

1965

Dr. Janet B. W. Williams jbwwny@gmail.com

Kent Place heard from Martin Miller, the husband of Sara (Kidwell) Miller: “I’m very sorry to tell you that Sara passed away on May 28, 2020. She often spoke to me with fondness about Kent Place,” he said.

1966

Linda “Lindy” (Burns) Jones finallylbj@gmail.com

Greetings, ’66ers! As 2020 has been a year like no other, I reflect on just how much you all mean to me, and how fortunate we are to have been gifted with a fabulous secondary education at KPS. Our alma mater needs our ongoing loyalty and support. Stay well, savor the good times, and keep in touch. It’s such an honor to be your Class Secretary, and to attempt to strengthen our already strong ties.

Fran (Griffith) Laserson: After two canceled summer weddings, my daughter, Galen, married Matthew Bussmann in an intimate family ceremony in my garden in Quogue on August 21, 2020. They’ll make

Lisa Wilson-Hetman lisahetman.wilson@gmail.com Kent Place thanks Lisa Wilson-Hetman for her efforts on behalf of the

Class of 1967. If you’re interested in taking over the role of Class Secretary, please contact Aimee (Bousquet) Singer ’88, at singera@kentplace.org.

Condolences to Dorrit (Pfeiffer) Castle on the death of her sister, Beth Pfeiffer ’69, who passed away on December 4, 2020.

1968

Barbara Wiss barbarawiss@gmail.com

1969

Gay (Garth) Legg gaylegg@gmail.com

Dear KP Class of 69: What a challenging season! I wrote to Lucy Weiger back in September to check in when images of devastating fires north of San Francisco were filling the news. She responded, “The fires are close but we’re okay, just very bad air quality. And we’ve had about 40 spare-the-air days this summer, which indicates bad air quality. But in between, it’s wonderful to live here. We feel relatively safe with the pandemic, as there is outside dining and people wear masks and stay six feet apart. I’m swimming an hour a day in an outside pool. My last indoor restaurant meal was on March 9 in San Francisco, at a KP alumna event with Head of School Jennifer Galambos on a West Coast tour that was cut short.”

I’m sure there were other class members affected as well . . .

I had the luck and pleasure to spend most of the summer and early fall at my house on Cape Cod with one daughter quarantining there from Brooklyn and occasional visits from my other kids and my grandkids. Playing with my little garden helpers was such fun. I was blessed with another granddaughter, born in the Boston area at the beginning of the first lockdown, in March. A reminder of how long this horrendous pandemic has affected all of us is that Charlotte is now standing up and saying “Da-da.” At one point I remember thinking if we can just get through the election, things will be better — I should have known that it would be another challenge. Best wishes to all, with fond remembrances at this time of year of practicing for The Star. I have much to be thankful for.

Kent Place heard from other members of the Class of 1969.

Leigh (Campbell) Saulsbury: As the pandemic began, I was lazing on the beach in Costa Rica, oblivious to what awaited us as when we landed in Denver. I’ve been so thankful for those lovely tropical memories during the past months. So far, my family has been well. My sister Gail drove out from California for a very welcome visit in October. Counseling work has been satisfying and rewarding. Good health, love, and peace to all of us.

Mary Robinson: When COVID assaulted the Boston metro area last spring, we fled to our summer home in rural Blue Hill, ME, which overlooks the sea. Soon our older daughter and her boyfriend joined us from New York City, and we were able to spend the summer together. Yes, I baked bread and tended my vegetable garden, but also got to meet bears, foxes, porcupines, eagles, deer, and moose while walking on our dirt road. I’m now back in Brookline, enjoying three elder classes at Harvard and engaged in our church’s shelter and feeding program for the homeless in Cambridge.

Beth Pfeiffer passed away on December 4, 2020, at home in Southwest Harbor, Maine.

Following her year at Kent Place, 1966–1967, Beth returned to Ojai, CA, and graduated from the Ojai

Valley School. She continued her education at Wellesley College (’73) and Harvard Business School (’78).

Beth used her immense artistic talent and business and organizational skills to inspire others to seek beauty and goodness and to live purposeful lives. Beth served on multiple boards, such as those for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Wellesley College, and the Southwest Harbor Public Library.

She will be greatly missed by her family and friends.

1970

Harty (Platt) du Pont hartleydupont@aol.com Lisa Schmucki lisaschmucki@gmail.com I (Harty) continue to be

an ambassador for the School of the Arts at Columbia University, where I also serve on the Alumni Relations Committee and as chair of the Arts for Honorary Degrees. I ride my horse daily and happily keep up with Hallie, Lynn, Buff, and Caroline, as well as Lis and Chrys, and still write poetry. I now have both a granddaughter and an infant grandson in California, where my older son, Paul, lives with his family. My son August works for Chase remotely from New Jersey.

Lis Bensley: This year, I’ll become a grandmother again and my long-labor-of-love novel will be out sometime in early spring. The future

In Memoriam Nancy (Koebel) Watters ’47

August 18, 2020

Janet (Hostetter) Wilson ’51

March 14, 2020

June (Minder) Wilmot ’55

October 18, 2020

Mary (Waterman) Moore ’58

June 10, 2020

Sara (Kidwell) Miller ’65

May 28, 2020

Beth (Kennedy) Pfeiffer ’69

December 4, 2020

Tammi (Moore) Georgi ’97

November 9, 2020

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 49

KEEPING PACE CLASS NOTES

THEN & NOW: LIBRARY

The archives hold many historical pictures, among them this one (top) of students in the library in the early 1950s. We know there was a main library in the classroom building but we’ve also read that Mabie House had its own library for boarding students. In 2018, the Center for Innovation opened with a bright and airy library (bottom) for Middle and Upper School students. It offers a wide range of seating choices, an atmosphere that’s conducive to reading and quiet study, three study rooms for group work, book stacks to hide in, and a wonderful view of the campus. We’d love to hear about what this image recalls for you; please email communications@kentplace.org.

is brighter in many ways. Sure look forward to seeing everyone.

Tricia Tunstall: I was ill with COVID-19 for seven weeks last spring. On the bright side, I married my partner of 11 years, Eric Booth — a family-only outdoor wedding in the Hudson Valley on October 3.

We’ll continue to maintain our two houses, in Maplewood, NJ, and the Hudson Valley. Life is very busy; I teach all 30 of my piano students on FaceTime, and continue to run newsletters for the El Sistema movement around the world.

Emily (Perina) Katz: My big news is that COVID-19 has arrived in my town and the whole county. We enjoyed almost nine months without the virus. Bruce and I were able to keep our normal routine of hiking and gardening. The coronavirus certainly changed a lot of plans, such as our 50th-reunion celebration at KPS, visiting family in other states, and adventure travel. It was a good idea that our class was able to get together on Zoom. Stay healthy!

1971

Deborah Besch debvettx@gmail.com

Dear Class of 1971: I hope you’re all well and that we can meet in person for our 50th reunion in spring 2021.

It’s been a hard year for us, as for many others, but we’re thankful to be retired and have a secure income. Our son-in-law had a stroke in May and is slowly recovering. I broke my toe in October but am trying to maintain perspective. Best wishes to all!

Jeanne (Pettit) Ferris: I retired from my “day job” at Health Affairs at the end of April, so I now have just one job: freelance editing of university-press books. So far the work has been fairly steady. Naturally, with the pandemic, retirement isn’t what I’d hoped, a situation I trust will change one day. In any case, I’m very glad to have said farewell to the day job. Stay safe, everyone!

1972

Lili (White) Durling lilidurling@gmail.com

1973

Lisa Krieger:

Before the pandemic, I took a four-month sabbatical and traveled to Namibia, Botswana, Rwanda, and Zambia. I cherished the chance to get to know the

50 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021

continent better and share part of the adventure with my daughter, Laura. Highlights were trekking to find mountain gorillas and hiking through the wondrous Sossusvlei dunes. Since my return, I’ve been back to full-time daily reporting for the San Jose Mercury News/Bay Area News Group about COVID-19 and California’s historic wildland fires — and feeling a bit weary of disasters.

Ann Mounce: No news these days is good news. We’ve been hunkering down, which gave us the most wonderful opportunity to attend a mindfulness and meditation class led by Kent Place Athletic Director Bobbi Moran via Zoom. I guess you could say that I was again in school . . .

It really made me miss all my friends from KPS. We’re hoping that 2021 will allow us to get back to traveling.

1974

Cathy Slichter cathy.slichter@gmail.com

1975

Patti Neale-Schulz pattischulz1919@gmail.com

1978

Patricia (Friedman) Marcus balibliss@yahoo.com

1981

Kathryn (McDaniel) Nenning kathryn@nenning.com

1982

Tracey (San Filippo) Henick tahenick@aol.com

1983

Clara A. Porter claraportermaine@gmail.com

1984

Jennifer Thomas meezertee@gmail.com

1985

Karen Little rucr8tive@aol.com

1986

Lauren J. Harrison omlauren@gmail.com

1987

Ginny (Boyer) Losito glosito@me.com Lisa Marie Cramp: We moved from

Asbury Park, NJ, to Las Cruces, NM.

I was working as a social worker at a migrant shelter and with asylum seekers, but the Trump administration changed the laws so folks can no longer seek asylum from inside the United States. I still work with immigrants in New Mexico and Palomas, Mexico. We’re in the middle of moving to Silver City to join the team of Big Brothers Big Sisters, as program directors. I love New Mexico, although I miss the beach and

ocean. COVID has made moving to a new state difficult, but we’re doing our best to embrace the experience.

1988

Melissa (McCarthy) Madden melissamccarthy@me.com Mercer Reeves: All well here

in Virginia. I decided to take advantage of time at home and am pursuing an online degree in clinical mental health counseling at William &

Mary. So far so good. Otherwise, just enjoying my two delightful sons, ages 16 and 14. Hoping to see all of my KPS classmates again soon. Hugs to everyone!

Hannah Sweets: I’ve been working for the past year at LamontDoherty Earth Observatory as the curator/data manager for the Petrological Database, which catalogs geochemical metadata for a digital science library. Basically, I’m a rock

star (geology joke)! After being diagnosed with Graves’ disease, I realized that field research is probably no longer a viable option at my age, but I can still work in geochemistry, and am happily working from home. Thank goodness for the digital age!

1989

Vanessa E. King squamlake@gmail.com

Tammi (Moore) Georgi ’97 Tribute Members of the Class of 1997 pay tribute to Tammi (Moore) Georgi, who passed away on November 9, 2020.

Aimee (Pickett) Bailey: This year has been a colossally difficult one, and having Tammi pass away brings a level of sorrow that’s hard to digest. Tammi was one of those rare people who you might be lucky enough to 1997 classmates Tammi (Moore) come across in your life and Georgi and Sabine Kullman even be so lucky to call a friend.

Her authenticity and self-awareness were beyond her years. She radiated love, strength, joy, and courage all at once, and her smile left an indelible mark on your soul. I’ll always remember her hugs, her laugh, and her ability to light up a room. Though the Class of ’97 lives far and wide, I know that every single one of my classmates is deeply affected by the loss of Tammi.

Liz (Sobel) Sudler: I first became friends with Tammi more than three decades ago, when I joined the fourth grade at Peck School.

I was instantly drawn to her and her hilarious, contagious chipmunk laugh. She was a bright and beautiful sun around whom we constantly gathered. I grew to love horses in Tammi’s backyard. She would lend me her trusty plump gray pony Sprite while she bombed around on her deft and daring Firecracker. We would spend hours in her backyard playing tag on the ponies and giggling over who we thought was the cutest New Kid on the Block or the dreamiest 90210 star. We attended riding camp in Vermont and it was one of the best summers of my life. We danced on top of our beds as we belted out Red Hot Chili Peppers and Cat Stevens. I can still see her so vividly standing across from me on the tetherball court — her normally white-blond hair tinged green from countless hours swimming in the chlorine pool and perfect, freckled nose scrunched with anticipation and concentration. I find myself returning to that crystal-clear memory of Tammi often these past few weeks. I’m so

grateful to have had the chance to spend four bonus years with her when we both decided to attend Kent Place for high school. I could write forever about the impact she had on my life. She was a oncein-a-lifetime friend. We’re all better for having known Tammi, and for having felt the warmth of her light. I’ll think of her constantly and cherish the memories always.

Tara (Kullman) Millman: Tammi had a way of living in the moment and having fun. She wasn’t easily embarrassed and was her true self all the time. This enabled her to live a full life filled with strong friendships; you could talk with her about anything. It took her on many adventures around the world, and helped her follow her heart into many hobbies. Each thing she added to her life made her an even more wonderful woman. Tammi and I sang a lot together, starting at Kent Place and then in cars and bars, on trains, and in the streets. Since her passing, I find myself wanting to, needing to, belt out one song in particular, “These Are the Days,” by 10,000 Maniacs. Maybe you have a song that helps bring you back to a time with your KPS sisters. Maybe it’s even this song, which we all sang at the top of our lungs crying, laughing, loving each other.

Those were the days at KPS. There were many more days that I’m so grateful I got to spend with her. On one of our last walks together, Tammi was reflecting and said take the trip, make the phone call, go out and have fun, live now, don’t wait. Tammi lived her days to the fullest and she loved them all.

Lisa Dughi: I have so many wonderful memories of Tammi. From how much of our Kent Place experience we spent together, to summer in Bay Head, to randomly running into each other in Italy, to ordinary nights in New York City bars, every single memory contains Tammi’s smile, laugh, and the infectious joy she brought to everything she did. In our yearbook senior year, Tammi included a picture of us with the quote: “Maybe nothing lasts forever, not the mountains or the sea, but the times we had together . . . they will always be with me.” It seems so prescient now and all I can think is “Same, my sweet friend . . . always!”

Sabine Kullman: Tammi was a dear friend to all of us at KPS and was an especially close friend of mine. I miss her dearly.

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 51

KEEPING PACE CLASS NOTES

1990

Maren (Eisenstat) Vitali mevitali@comcast.net Sarah Bunting: Need a fluffy

distraction? The book I wrote with Tara Ariano, A Very Special 90210 Book, is out and the only “vote” you’ll have to worry about is Brandon vs. Dylan!

1991

Andrea (Carson) Tanner acarsontanner@gmail.com Amy Allen: I’ve been lucky

in that the editing and college essay assistance business (www.allofthewritewords.com) I started just over a year ago has proved to be “pandemic-proof.”

In fact, many more high school seniors from all over the country and abroad have hired me to help with college essays, supplemental essays, and guidance on the entire college process, as both remote and hybrid learning seem to leave little time for direct help from school counselors.

And bonus time at home with my family has been incredibly rewarding.

Bayne Gibby: During the pandemic, I continue to find more drawers to clean out and cabinets to organize. I still work as an actor and writer and look forward to acting within six feet of another human as soon as it’s safe to do so.

1992

Kathy O’Connell mko320@gmail.com

1993

Courtney (Mead) Nagle courtney.a.mead@gmail.com

What a year 2020 has been. All is well with me in New Jersey. I’ve been working from home since quarantine started, in March 2020, and don’t know when I’ll be heading back to the office. Work remains busy, but I’ve also caught up on a lot of movies, bad TV, and many, many video calls. I hope everyone is safe and healthy.

Kris Juncker: I’m in my third year as special assistant to the director at the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. Before COVID-19, for two years in a row we hosted visits from KPS. The museum is expanding online programming but I very much look forward to having everyone down here again.

1994

Christina (Dughi) Tonzola ctonzola@gmail.com Shannon Barry O’Grady: Greetings

from Lehigh Valley, PA. I hope this finds all my KPS friends safe and well during this crazy time. Despite quarantine and all the changes,

the O’Gradys are doing well and enjoying lots of time outdoors. My husband, Chris, and I welcomed a third dog to our “pack.” Our puppy, Star, was born in November and joined our family in April 2020. Our kids, Riggins (11) and Teagan (9), as well as our older dogs, Johnny Cash (15) and David Byrne (2), are happy to have her . . . as are we!

1995

Santhi Yarlagadda:

The year 2020 was a rough one for a lot of reasons.

We were lucky enough to quarantine with my parents in New Jersey for three months, close to my sister, Kranthi Yarlagadda ’90, and other family as well. We fell in love with the Princeton area and moved out of New York City after living there for 20 years. We now live within five minutes of downtown Princeton and still go to see our city friends often.

The best of both worlds!

1996

Rachel Platt racheldplatt@gmail.com Amy (Zucker) Kohen amykohen@gmail.com

1997

See page 51 for a tribute to Tammi (Moore) Georgi by her 1997 classmates.

1998 Marriages

Births

Tricia Tunstall ’70

Lauren (Bouffard) Young ’00

Cindy Keenan ’99

Liz (Graham) Woolcock ’04

to Eric Booth October 3, 2020 to Ben Maljevec October 9, 2020

a daughter, Frances Addison Young November 6, 2020 a son, Charles Baxter Woolcock August 23, 2020

Maggie Skinner ’05

Bess (Hammitt) Finora ’05

Kerry Reilly ’06

Courtney (Shanney) Kingsbery ’05

to Slaton Whatley October 10, 2020

to Robert Bennett August 22, 2020

a son, Joey Finora October 2020

a son, James Brady Kingsbery May 6, 2020

Samantha (Cohen) Kaczmarek ’07

a daughter, Hailey Serena Kaczmarek May 9, 2020 Taylor (Worthington) Williams ’07

a daughter, Emerson Williams June 24, 2020

52 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021

KC (Anthony) Artemenko kcartemenko@gmail.com

1999

Iris Blasi iris.blasi@gmail.com Cynthia Keenan cindy.keenan@gmail.com Cindy Keenan: After two

postponements because of the pandemic, on October 9 I finally got to marry my best friend, Ben Maljevec. We worked really hard to create a safe, outdoor celebration and it was wonderful. In an otherwise challenging year, this day was pure joy. And Ben and I had the best officiant ever: our very own gem, Iris Blasi! Iris did an absolutely beautiful job and we’re forever grateful.

Barbara Mellen: With my divorce finalized, I’m happily back to my maiden name. I’m still very involved as a volunteer with the Girl Scouts and working with the local domestic violence agency. Bummed about a work trip to Italy being canceled due

to COVID, but hope to win again next year by being one of the top sales reps in the country. It’s also been a fun year as my son started a dual language immersion kindergarten and is learning half the day in Spanish.

2000

Christine Ryan ceryan@gmail.com Lauren (Bouffard) Young:

My daughter was born on November 6, 2020.

Her name is Frances Addison Young and we’re calling her Francie. She weighed 6 lb. 2 oz. and was 19 inches long. Everyone is happy and healthy and we’re so excited. She’s amazing. I really missed seeing everyone at what was supposed to be our 20th reunion this past May. I hope we don’t have to wait five more years for a do-over.

It was nice, though, to see a number of faces on our “Zoom-union” in May, when we exchanged pandemic horror stories and also bright spots.

Mostly everyone is thankful for more time with family, and at the same time needing a vacation.

2001

Kimberly (Frye) Alula kfrye05@gmail.com Sara Pickett-Tucker saralizpickett@gmail.com

2002

Erin Sauchelli e.sauchelli@gmail.com

2003

Gina Ferraioli ginaferraioli@gmail.com

2004

Laura Kleinbaum lkkleinbaum@gmail.com Liz (Graham) Woolcock:

My husband and I welcomed our first child, Charles (Charlie) Baxter Woolcock.

Lauren Fakhoury: Setting more permanent roots in the Bay Area after purchasing a condo in Oakland this month.

2005

Cara Manket cara.manket@gmail.com Maggie (Skinner) Whatley:

I married Slaton Whatley on October 10, 2020, in his hometown of Cuthbert, GA. Christina Esquivel was there and Meredith Shih and Emily Brock attended virtually. I’m the director of client experience for Upside Business

Alison O’Brien ’06 (right), a commercial helicopter pilot, with medics Lisa Kettunen and Rebecca Akers on the roof of the Albany Medical Center

Travel. I’m a member of Upside’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and am seeking to learn best practices and better educate myself and my team on these important topics. I would love to talk to KPS grads and students about working at a start-up, working in tech, and investing in inclusion at the team and company level.

Courtney (Shanney) Kingsbery: My husband, Paul, and I welcomed our second son, James Brady, in May. Big brother Henry and Aunts Logan Shanney ’09 and Caroline Kingsbery ’09 are thrilled, too!

Bess (Hammitt) Finora: My husband, Joe, and I welcomed a baby boy, Joey, in October and are moving to the North Fork of Long Island at the end of 2020.

Emily Zimmerman: I got engaged on August 30. My fiancé, Corey, and I met playing kickball in New York, and he proposed after a sailboat cruise around the city. We’ll be getting married in November 2021.

After college, I went to medical school at Case Western Reserve and completed a dual degree to earn an MA in bioethics and my MD. I did residency training in psychiatry at the University of Kentucky, in the heart of the opioid epidemic, and fellowship training in consultation-liaison psychiatry at the Cleveland Clinic.

I started as clinical faculty at the University of Pennsylvania in the Department of Psychiatry and I research equitable access to lifesaving surgery for patients with opioid addiction.

Kerry (Reilly) Bennett: I married Robert Bennett on August 22, 2020, in an intimate ceremony at my family’s home in Beach Haven, NJ. Courtney (Reilly) Stafford ’00 was my matron of honor, Christina Ring was by my side for the special day, and Michelle Manket and Alison Lyness joined in celebrations along the way.

I look forward to celebrating with all my KPS friends when things settle down.

2006

2007

Danielle Auriemma dvauriemma@gmail.com Lydia Deutsch lydia.deutsch@gmail.com Alison O’Brien is a commercial

helicopter pilot for LifeNet of New York (part of Air Methods) in upstate New York. Working in medical evacuation, she recently had an all-female crew.

Tara (Frankel) Leavitt: My husband, Jared, and I went back to my Jersey roots and moved to Jersey City in February. I also started a job as director of marketing for Urby in June.

Samantha Zwiebel:

Nida Abdulla nida.11.abdulla@gmail.com Caitlin Black cblack@fandm.edu Sara Santos sarajosantos@gmail.com Carly Susser: I’m a PhD candidate

at the University of North Texas, where I teach writing and literature.

My research centers on depictions of mental health in Young Adult novels.

I’m at work on my own novel.

Taylor (Worthington) Williams: My husband, Tyler, and I welcomed our beautiful daughter, Emerson,

on June 24. Emily (Doto) Ord-Hume is her amazing godmother. Emerson joins her five cousins (the children of Brooke ’00 and Lauren ’98); we’re so happy that they live close by.

Samantha (Cohen) Kaczmarek: Alex and I had our first baby in May. Hailey Serena was born during peak COVID times. The silver lining is getting to spend quality time with her, as we’re home full time. In other news, I’m coming up on three years at Invesco, working in media relations, and we moved back to New Jersey.

2012

2008

2015

Allison Oberlander oberlander.allison@gmail.com

2009

Courtney (Alpaugh) Simmons courtney.simmons513@gmail.com Allison Goldberg afg813@gmail.com

2010

Sara Firkser (973) 379-5347 Rachel Landau rachelroselandau@gmail.com Daniela Quintanilla: I’m a vice

president at BlackRock, and in 2020, I returned to Columbia to begin an executive MBA program, for which I’m a class representative for Columbia Women in Business. I’m excited to join the Kent Place Alumnae Association Board this year to lead diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts to support KPS reforms and initiatives to become an anti-racist home for all students.

2011

Lizzy Miggins lizzymiggins@gmail.com Malina Welman malinawelman@gmail.com

Victoria Criscione victoriaacriscione@gmail.com

2013

Janeen Browne jb4628@nyu.edu Jordan Cobb cobbj395@hotmail.com

2014

Caroline Lewis caroline.lewis915@gmail.com Isabella Smith Isabella.smith411@gmail.com

Sarah Pavlak scp61@georgetown.edu Catie Owen: After living

at home for just about a year since graduating from Lehigh in 2019, I moved into an apartment in New York City in September. Shortly after that, I got promoted to campaign manager at Unified, a social media advertising company. And after many years of taking the train, in August I finally got my driver’s license!

Monika Paliwoda: I received a promotion with Grainger and will be moving to Louisville for three years. I’ll be part of a regional office rotation program beginning in April 2021.

2016

Claire Eckles cmeckles7@gmail.com Bailey Mikytuck bmikytuc@skidmore.edu

2017

Julia McKay mckayjj11@gmail.com

2018

Deanna Hanchuk dchanchuk@gmail.com

CLASS NOTES DETAILS

•N otes will be collected via Google Form. You will receive a link to this form from your Class Secretary or, if your class doesn’t have a secretary, directly from the school.

•D igital photos should be a high-resolution JPEG image with a caption. We request that photos include alumnae (with the exception of newborn photos).

•E ditorial staff will edit, format, and select all content based on space constraints and will work to incorporate as many notes and photos as possible.

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 53

KEEPING PACE CLASS NOTES

MOMENTS

1.

1. 1958 classmates Cathy

13. Hannah Sweets ’88 saying

(Howe) Grosfils and Mary (Wa-

good-bye to the lab and hello

terman) Moore at their KPS

to working from home

2.

graduation 14. Amy Allen ’91 with hus2. Cathy (Howe) Grosfils ’58

band Martin and their blend-

and Mary (Waterman) Moore

ed family at Peaks Island, ME,

’58 last year while visiting

in July 2020

each other 15. Cindy Keenen ’99 and Ben 3. Theo Robinson (15 months),

Maljevec were married by

grandson of Sue Hand ’60

classmate Iris Blasi.

3.

4. Betsy (Busch) Crosby ’66

16. Frances Addison Young,

P ’93 and family celebrating

daughter of Lauren (Bouffard)

John’s 75th birthday and

Young ’00 and Ward Young

4.

the couple’s 50th wedding anniversary

17. Liz (Graham) Woolcock ’04 with husband Owen and

5. Fran (Griffith) Laserson

their new son, Charles, in

’66 with Geoff and Tenley

Cambridge, MA

Chepiga and Galen and Matt Bussmann

18. Maggie (Skinner) Whatley ’05 married Slaton Whatley

6. Grandchildren of Gay

on October 10, 2020.

(Garth) Legg ’69 helping her in the garden

19. James Brady Kingsbery

5.

6.

was born in May 2020 to 7. Lis Bensley ’70, with Jamie,

Courtney (Shanney)

her first grandchild

Kingsbery ’05 and Paul Kingsbery.

8. Tricia Tunstall ’70 taking her wedding vows, with the

20. Kerry (Reilly) Bennett ’06

groom’s sister officiating

with classmate Christina Ring at Kerry’s wedding to Robert

9. Deborah Besch ’71 and her

Bennett

husband, Tyler Anderson, enjoying the mountains of

21. Tyler, Emerson, and Taylor

West Texas

(Worthington) Williams ’07 7.

10. Lisa Krieger ’73 and

22. Samantha (Cohen)

daughter Laura in Sossusvlei,

Kaczmarek ’07 and Alex with

a salt pan in Namibia’s Namib

Baby Yoda on Hailey’s first

National Park

Halloween

11. Lisa Marie Cramp ’87 12. Michael, Christopher, and Buckle, the family of Mercer Reeves ’88

54 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021

8.

9.

13.

10.

14.

11.

12.

15.

17.

18.

20.

21.

16.

19.

22.

KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021 55

WITH WISDOM

15 MINUTES WITH

AMANDA TAYLOR ’02 Amanda Taylor is cofounder and CEO of DanceOn, the leading digital publisher for dance and music entertainment. From viral dance trends to original series, DanceOn collaborates with top artists to offer popular, multi-platform programming that influences global music discovery. In 2015, she was named one of the top 50 women in digital by Cynopsis Media and Digital LA. The most fulfilling aspect of my career . . . is working with creative people to generate trends that have an impact on the world. DanceOn has fueled major dance trends on YouTube and Tik Tok, such as “Watch Me Whip/Nae Nae,” “Hit the Quan,” and “Trap Queen.” One of our routines is in the video game Fortnite. Others were featured on The Ellen Show.

We’ve been fortunate to collaborate with some of today’s most popular music artists, from Katy Perry and Justin Bieber to Pharrell, John Legend, Sia, Jason Derulo, and Keith Urban.

I chose my career path . . . because I always wanted to be in entertainment. Social media radically disrupted entertainment and created for the first time the opportunity to reach a global audience in an instant. Launching DanceOn was my answer to that paradigm shift. We speak to an audience of millions from around the world and through our programming introduce new music, artists, stories, and ideas on the biggest stage there is.

The advice I would give my 15-year-old self is to . . . pursue your passions and use this time to think about how to turn them into a career. Get creative about how to align your skills and interests with your financial plan.

My favorite KPS memory . . . is listening to Upper School girls rehearse Ceremony of Carols and then eventually performing in it myself as a member of Chamber Singers. I loved every performance I was a part of. What other school could offer a more eclectic collection of productions: Sweet Charity, Candide, Hair, On the Verge (by Eric Overmyer), and a semi-musical set in the nuclear-test zone in Yucca Flat?

My favorite movie is . . . A League of Their Own, directed

by Penny Marshall. It’s a fictional story about the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, which was launched in 1943 to keep baseball relevant while most male athletes were serving in WWII. The film stars my cofounder, Madonna, along with Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, and Rosie O’Donnell. If you haven’t seen it, you’ve probably at least heard a line from it: “There’s no crying in baseball.”

Words to live by.

56 KENT PLACE WINTER/SPRING 2021

THE KENT PLACE FUND:

Learning Happens

EVERYWHERE

How Can I Support Kent Place?

• Mail a check payable to Kent Place School to: Kent Place, Office of Advancement, 42 Norwood Avenue, Summit, NJ 07901

• Make a gift online at www.kentplace.org/give

• Make a pledge, due June 30, 2021

• Give via Venmo to @KentPlaceSchool

• Make a gift of securities

For more information, please contact the Advancement Office at (908) 273-0900, ext. 212 or kpsgiving@kentplace.org.

www.kentplace.org

42 NORWOOD AVENUE SUMMIT, NJ 07901 KENTPLACE.ORG Please forward any address changes to the Kent Place School Advancement Office updateinfo@kentplace.org

THE KENT PLACE SCHOOL COMMUNITY CAN BE DEFINED IN ONE WORD:

RESILIENT.

—ASHLEY QUINN P ’24 ’26 ’28, HEAD VARSITY LACROSSE COACH

What lessons have members of our community learned from this past difficult year? Turn to page 26 to read the stories of students, faculty, staff, parents, and alumnae in “What I Learned During the Pandemic.”