Highlights A MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNAE, PARENTS AND FRIENDS OF LAUREL SCHOOL
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WINTER 2017 | Cover Story: Laurel School Immersion Weeks • Annual Report
Dream. Dare. Do.
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LAUREL SCHOOL
The private school that knows girls best. Highlights | WINTER 2017
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IN THIS ISSUE Telling Our Story, A message from Ann V. Klotz . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Alumnae Portrait: Emma Brandt ’10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Immersion Weeks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Capstone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Laurel School Alumnae Weekend 2016 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 2015-2016 LAUREL SCHOOL ANNUAL REPORT . . . . . . . . . . . 28
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MISSION STATEMENT
To inspire each girl to fulfill her promise and to better the world. Highlights | WINTER 2017 HEAD OF SCHOOL Ann V. Klotz DIRECTOR OF ADVANCEMENT Benjamin Light EDITORS Venta Cantwell and Julie Donahue ’79 DESIGN AND LAYOUT Laurel School PHOTOGRAPHY Kimberly Dailey, Julie Donahue ’79, Downie Photography, Inc., Binnie Kurtzner, Neal McDaniel, Renee Psiakis PRESIDENT, ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION Kathy Perris Torgerson ’65 CHAIR, BOARD OF TRUSTEES Beth Embrescia ’88 Highlights is published by Laurel School for alumnae, parents and friends. Submit address changes to the Development Office at 216.455.3096 or bGreen@LaurelSchool.org Laurel School is an independent day school for girls, Kindergarten through Grade 12, with coeducational programs for two-, three- and four-year-olds. We are proud to be an inclusive and equitable school community, and we actively seek a diverse student body and faculty without regard to race, color, sex, national origin, handicap or disability, or sexual orientation. LAUREL VALUES STATEMENT: Committed to building a just and inclusive world, Laurel girls are courageous, creative, ethical and compassionate. LAURELSCHOOL.ORG
Dream. Dare. Do.
Downie Photography
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A MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL, ANN V. KLOTZ
TELLING OUR STORY
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s a little girl, I sat cheerfully in the way back of our station wagon, folding and unfolding the map of Pennsylvania. I loved trailing my finger along a route, trying out the names of unfamiliar towns and cities on my tongue. Maps felt full of possibility, full of stories. Behind each town’s name was a constellation of people, a host of tales; and I loved imagining them all. In my work in theatre, I have spent decades breathing life into a script, bringing to life a story—a plot and characters involved in a set of circumstances, the script serving as a map. As an English teacher, the new landscape of a novel and the characters guide my understanding. We remember stories; they shape us, influence the people we become. Now, I am grateful for my Google Maps app, but I don’t regret those hours spent wondering and wandering—the occasional wrong turn that got us lost in rural Pennsylvania, the spirit of adventure my mother summoned when we drove from one place to another.
We have reclaimed a similar spirit of adventure at Laurel as we immersed ourselves in the strategic road mapping process at Laurel, a process that has been a journey full of twists and turns over the past eighteen months. First, we gathered survey data, conducted market research and analyzed Laurel’s position
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in Northeastern Ohio. Data helped us to steer forward and look thoughtfully at every aspect of the Laurel experience. Anecdote or tradition supported by data helps us to chart our course. How do we tell our story? How are we perceived? In the competitive world of independent schools in our local market, we must
both insist on excellence and claim that which makes Laurel distinct. We must choose how best to allocate our resources. It is exhilarating to consider our school’s future, to reflect on what we have always done well and to be deliberate about what we will continue to do, to be intentional about the innovations we continue to design for 21st century girls. Interwoven in our strategic road mapping conversations are compelling questions: Who are our graduates? How do they live our mission and values long after they have left these dear walls? We are preparing girls for careers we cannot even imagine in 2017, so we must consider how best to equip them in terms of navigating the future. Academic excellence continues to be essential, a non-negotiable aspect of this school whose 120-year legacy depends on superb outcomes—college placement, awards, accolades. Yet, increasingly, as I think with prospective families about the investment in a Laurel education, I find myself explaining that superb college outcomes are simply a given at Laurel; the real value and benefit of a Laurel education serves a woman long into her future, past college and graduate school—into her career, into her adult life. The courage and confidence and
LAUREL GIRLS ARE CURIOUS ABOUT PEOPLE AND TOPICS AND QUESTIONS AND MULTIPLE POINTS OF VIEW. THEY CULTIVATE RESILIENCE.
empathy and resilience and flexibility a girl grows up practicing at Laurel are qualities she will draw on throughout her life; the real impact of a Laurel education is how a woman will choose to live her life. Skills and competencies forged at Laurel endure. The value of their Laurel years spools out for decades for our alumnae. Our young graduates report that they are extremely well prepared for college in terms of managing a demanding workload, writing fluently, speaking eloquently, participating fully in the life of the undergraduate community. Our confident, competent girls manage a host of obligations, run organizations, serve their communities, are leaders in many ways. But it’s also the quality of their relationships, their generosity towards other younger Laurel girls, their care for teachers whom they return to visit that sets Laurel apart. Laurel girls are curious about people and topics and questions and multiple points of view. They cultivate resilience. Not every chapter is easy, but Laurel girls grow into Laurel women who do not give up; they rally, draw on the support of old friends, on lessons learned. They test new strategies and persevere, creative and tenacious. We are fortunate to use the stories of our illustrious past to help chart our course into an innovative future. In our Spring issue of Highlights, we will share more details about our Strategic Roadmap. In this issue, you may see your own friends as you read about Alumnae Weekend; you will hear from Emma Brandt, ’10, who has been in Serbia on a Fulbright Fellowship writing
her own remarkable story. And, we will share more about the school today—immersion weeks at Butler and the launch of the Capstone Experience—signature programs at Laurel in 2017. Sharing stories has been, for thousands of years, the way a culture keeps alive its values, its history. My work as Headmistress is to lead the school in a way that allows our school’s story to shine, to glow, to inspire the girls we educate today and all the children that will come after them. Jennie Prentiss and Sarah Lyman were risk-takers, bravely blazing a trail for girls. Now, 120 years later, their stories continue to reverberate in the walls of our School, even as our walls expand onto the Butler Campus, into Cleveland and to the shores of Lake Erie and far beyond Northeast Ohio through global experiences. It’s important to me that the girls know the stories we tell about Miss Prentiss, Mrs. Lyman, Miss Lake, about older girls who have triumphed, who have overcome obstacles, who have forged a path. I want them to know stories of inspirational teachers—their own and those who came before this generation of faculty. I want them to know the stories of those people who have cared enough about our school to support us with their generous philanthropy, some for more than thirty consecutive years. The culture of giving back is woven through Laurel, and we, today, are the lucky recipients of so many who went before us. Stories about the varied members of our community illuminate the Laurel journey and speak to our mission statement “to inspire each girl to fulfill her promise and to better the world.” L
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ALUMNAE PORTRAITS PORTRAIT OF AN ALUMNA
Emma Brandt ’10
by Julie Donahue ’79, Director of Alumnae and Communications
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mma Brandt ’10 is in good company as one of the over 1,900 U.S. citizens spending the year abroad on a Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant. Recipients are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields, and Fulbright alumni, from 12 different countries, include 53 Nobel Prize winners and 82 Pulitzer Prize winners. Emma earned her bachelor’s degree from Brown University before spending a year with the AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) program. She left for Serbia in late summer. We caught up with her via email.
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Q: Emma, congratulations on the Fulbright! Tell us about Serbia and what a typical day looks like for you? My mom’s side of the family emigrated from Serbia during World War II—something I first learned more about through projects in Laurel’s Primary School!—and I still have family here, so I was interested in exploring it. I had never been to Serbia, nor have I lived anywhere in Europe, though I did travel during college and studied abroad in Indonesia. I live in Kragujevac, which is the fourth largest city in Serbia (but probably smaller than Cleveland), and I live by myself in an apartment in the center. People here are very friendly, welcoming, and straightforward compared to the U.S., which can cause its own form of culture shock! I teach English conversation at the University of Kragujevac. I usually have anywhere from one to four classes in a day. My students are quite good at English—much, much better than my Serbian, which is still very basic—and we hold class entirely in English. Usually we will read an article or short piece of
PORTRAIT OF AN ALUMNA
literature together, going over new vocabulary and checking for comprehension, before opening up the floor to discussion. We’ve discussed everything from how to fix environmental problems to what it means to break the fourth wall. Q: Did your year as an AmeriCorps VISTA teacher in Pawtucket, RI, prepare you for this experience? Definitely. I worked at an amazing charter high school, Blackstone Academy Charter School, improving the college access program—so not teaching per se. Regardless, it taught me a lot about how to work with students and navigate an organizational culture. And, there is a four-day orientation in D.C. before all the Fulbrights leave to give some basics on the country/region one is traveling to, and the rudiments of English teaching. Q: How are the Serbian students like and unlike the students at Blackstone Charter? My Serbian students are college students, while my Blackstone students were high school students—in both cases, keeping the attention of a large group can be difficult! But, both sets of students are curious and eager to express their opinions— if you can provide the setting for students to explore their thoughts on things, teaching becomes quite fun. Q: What one thing from home did you pack because you just couldn’t imagine being without it? Definitely physical books—it can be difficult to find literature in English here. I have a copy of The World’s Wife by Carol Ann Duffy that I try to take most everywhere I go—there’s something about having poetry around that re-orients me to who I am. Q: If someone had only 24 hours to spend in Serbia, what would you tell her to do with her time? Take a hike somewhere in the beautiful hills, maybe to a monastery; visit a church and take in the gilded iconography and dozens of flickering candles, and make time to visit a kafana (tavern), have some cevapi (a type of sausage) and bread, and talk to some locals—people are usually very eager to speak to foreigners.
When I think about Laurel, I think about all the times we were given space to explore ideas and culture in a way that is rare for girls worldwide. in your classroom. I have so much respect for all the teachers who poured their time and love into teaching me over the years, and I do my best to imitate them to push my students farther in their thinking and language skills. Q: What has been the biggest surprise? Nothing in Serbia works the way you might expect it to as an American—buses listed online don’t exist when you get to the station, getting a visa requires several trips to the police station while mysterious transactions happen in Serbian and various papers are stamped, etc. I’ve had to learn to go with the process a little more and trust that things will happen as they should— almost always, they do. Q: Is there something you learned at Laurel or at Brown that has helped make a difference in how you approach teaching? I’ve learned the most about teaching from my work in theater and directing, which was a big part of my life at Brown, and from all of the wonderful teachers I’ve had. I always think of Mr. Kawolics taking the time, when I was researching Jean-Paul Sartre for the Tenth Grade history Round Table project, to sit with me and answer all of my questions as I tried to understand existentialism. Teachers like him showed me that sitting and giving students your time and attention—and asking the right questions—is the biggest gift you can give as a teacher, and the best way to facilitate the students’ learning.
Q: What has been the biggest challenge—besides a language barrier?
Q: What do you miss most about home?
The biggest challenge has been learning how to teach. It is not easy to make plans both to engage students’ minds and to react authentically in the moment to whatever may happen
Fixed showerheads and peppermint mochas. Skype, email, and even snail mail are all godsends when it comes to keeping in touch. Highlights
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...Fulbright is as much a cultural exchange program
as a teaching program. I am an informal, unofficial cultural ambassador of the U.S. government.
Q: How would you describe yourself on your graduation day from Laurel vs. now?
Q: You are stranded on a desert island and can have only three books or items with you . . . what would they be?
On graduation day, I remember wanting to have certain experiences, or adventures, but having next to no idea how to get there. That’s still true to a certain extent, but I’ve been able to make some of those adventures start to happen, which feels incredible. I hope I’m making my highschool-self proud.
Assuming I’m going to be there for a while, I’ll take the complete works of Shakespeare, some spices for the fish I’ll undoubtedly be cooking a lot of, and some writing paper and a pen for all the messages in a bottle I’ll be sending to friends and family.
Q: In 140 characters, what piece of advice would you give a Laurel Upper School Girl?
Jenny Sherman ‘10 and I are planning to move somewhere totally different together, which is really exciting because we haven’t lived in the same city since high school. Other than that, the plan is open; I’m just excited to explore a new place with my best friend (since Seventh Grade at Laurel!).
A great poet, Alastair Reid, first read in Laurel English class said: “Only the curious have, if they live, a tale worth telling at all.” Q: Why do you think it is important to study/travel/live abroad? It sounds cliché, but it will forever transform your point of view. Being able to live and work somewhere else, as opposed to reading about it, is an extraordinary opportunity that challenges what you thought was normal, universal, basic. For example, I always thought that a daily family meal united cultures worldwide—in Bali, people prefer to take their plates and go somewhere in the compound to eat, often by themselves. Ideally, travel will make you kinder, more flexible, and wiser. If you are lucky enough to have the opportunity to go, I can’t think of many better things to do while you are young (or at any age). I think traveling helps you learn what parts of your own culture are most important to you. For me, it’s organization and optimism!
Q: What are your plans post Fulbright year?
Other than this, the only thing I would want to add is that the Fulbright is as much a cultural exchange program as a teaching program. I am an informal, unofficial cultural ambassador of the U.S. government. This role is especially fraught, and important, in a country with historic tensions with the U.S. A lot of my work as someone in this program is simply running the movie nights and discussion every other week at the American Corner in Kragujevac, speaking English with people I meet, and providing a more nuanced representation of American culture than people might get from Hollywood, pop culture, or reality TV. That part has been fascinating as a social scientist, and simultaneously one of the most challenging and most natural L parts of the role to fulfill.
Q: Favorite Laurel memory? Green or White? When I think about Laurel, I think about all the times we were given space to explore ideas and culture in a way that is rare for girls worldwide. Poring over Catullus in Ms. Vitullo’s class, arguing over Thomas Hardy in Ms. Stephens, and trying to figure out how to embody Lorca with Delo (Ms. Delorenzo), we were absolutely free to roam around in the works of great writers and thinkers, and to engage with them and with each other without self-consciousness. I’m so grateful for that. And the Green Team, of course.
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Editors’ note: Emma Brandt is currently spending her second year teaching at the University of Kragujevac in Serbia. Last year she co-directed a Shakespeare Scenes Festival with her students as well as coached the actors for their production of The Great Gatsby, and hopes to continue to mentor them onstage and in the classroom in the spring.
LEARNING AT LAUREL
IMMERSION WEEKS AT THE BUTLER CAMPUS Hope Ford Murphy ’73, Director of the Middle School
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he Laurel bus bumps along Fairmount Boulevard transporting girls from the neat and orderly neighborhood of Shaker Heights to the expansive woods, fields and valley etched by the Chagrin River. As yards turn into farmland where alpacas graze, girls chat at the back of the bus while anticipating an immersion week at the Butler Campus. Experiential learning inspires faculty to design units that challenge girls to think in sophisticated ways about the concepts they acquire through interdisciplinary activities. As early as Kindergarten, girls know there will be special days ahead for them to
engage in hands-on learning. Each year from Kindergarten through Eighth Grade, students enjoy an immersion experience tied to their classes at the Lyman Campus but not limited by the confines of four walls in a classroom. At the Butler Campus, girls’ learning expands to fill meadows, ponds, and the woods. A hallmark of a Laurel education, experiential learning is both innovative but also a different interpretation of a long-standing tradition growing out of Jennie Prentiss’s commitment to progressive education as defined by John Dewey more than a hundred years ago.
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IMMERSION WEEKS AT THE BUTLER CAMPUS
As educational philosophers puzzled over the need for effective ways to educate the increasingly diverse population at the turn of the last century when immigrants flooded the schools, Dewey and others urged educators to adopt new teaching strategies. For a unit on industry, Dewey recommended that students discover the stages of weaving by gathering the wool, carding and spinning it, making a simple handloom and then weaving. How much more memorable for them such a project would be than learning about the industry through a lecture or rote learning. Based on Laurel’s curricular philosophy, immersion weeks have grown in recent years to capture the girls’ imaginations, to consider challenging concepts, to build bridges between disciplines, and to instill in girls a deep love of the outdoors. Each week has its own purpose and special character. Some weeks enhance academic concepts while others address social-emotional development by strengthening resilience in light of research from Laurel’s Center for Research on Girls (LCRG). In First Grade, girls spend a week honing their superpowers. They work on growth mindset and creativity on the challenge course. They make videos about their purpose at home and at school. They explore self-care and positive relationships through conversation and art. These five superpowers are the formula to building resilience in girls.. In addition to a month-long Shaker study set at Butler, the Third Grade discovers courage by doing a pond study, going
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for walks in the woods, completing elements on the Project Adventure Course, and participating in a design challenge to create an object that would ease someone else’s fear. The Fourth Grade initiates the year with Connect Four, a week for bonding that includes interviewing classmates and writing exercises, a construction project, and time in the woods. These girls build relationships with classmates and their teachers as they prepare for their year as leaders of the Primary School. The Second Grade week is more academic in focus. The girls begin their Native American unit through outdoor activities designed to highlight the importance of living in harmony with nature. Searching for food and materials for tools in the woods and making models of canoes to float in the creek, the girls develop an appreciation for a way of life dependent upon the wilderness. At the end of the week, using stone tools and saplings, girls erect a replica of a tipi, a source of great pride. In Middle School, immersion weeks are also characterized by experiential, interdisciplinary learning. These weeks are closely tied to the curriculum on the Lyman Campus. The Fifth Grade travels the world through social studies. Exploring Africa, Europe, and Asia, girls question how geography affects the way people in other regions live. Through Girls for the World, the Fifth Graders discover village life in remote communities in India and Peru where girls struggle to find their voices. Students discover their similarities to these girls and consider how they can make their own community welcoming and inclusive. Sixth
To view a video about the Grade 7 Archaeological Dig visit LaurelSchool.org/Dig. A video about the Grade 2 Native American History Week can be found at LaurelSchool.org/NA.
Graders explore the concept of tinkering during their week in the spring. Scheduled prior to the rehearsals of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, they tinker with language as Shakespeare did, build electrified mini scenes using Hummingbird Robotics technology, and adjust traditional cookie recipes by changing the amount of key ingredients. Girls delight in the fun of baking in the industrial kitchen in the Butler Center! The experimentation encourages girls to take appropriate risks. This week highlights the elements of resilience including creativity and growth mindset, strengthening girls’ ability to handle the challenges of adolescence. Seventh Graders return to the Butler Campus in the spring for the Archaeological Dig. Trained to dig as archaeologists do, they honor the grid lines defining the dig site by carefully scraping away layers of dirt to uncover buried artifacts: charred corn, flint flakes, pottery chards, post holes, and animal bones. Girls measure the location of each artifact, record the details, identify the materials, and eventually graph the location of each item to present to the class. They debate the ethics of digging at some sites, simulate the way of life of the Whittlesey people by selecting an appropriate location for settlement, plant three sisters plants, build shelters of natural materials, and trade beads and other materials to replicate exchanges between tribes. Arts classes include reconstructing broken pottery and practicing lithic illustration as well as making atlatls, throwing spears used for hunting. The Eighth Grade Nation Creation week caps off the Middle School immersion weeks. It simulates the creation of the
British colonies, including the selection of a site in the woods, mapping the location, creating an inventory of the natural resources, writing a bill of rights, composing an anthem, and setting up an economy. The most open-ended of the weeks, Nation Creation calls on colonists to go out into the woods for hours at a time to complete tasks designed by the queen. Regular reports assure the queen that her subjects are making good progress in the completion of tasks and reveal to the girls their success in their collaborative efforts. Immersion weeks change both students and teachers. Girls gain confidence from competence they earn through accomplishing tasks possible only on the rural campus. Girls express delight at being able to share hours with classmates of unstructured time in the woods. Students and teachers enjoy a feeling of camaraderie developed when teachers serve as coaches rather than instructors. As everyone packs up to leave the campus, they carry with them new understanding of who they are and what they can do. Teachers treasure the restoration of the girls’ imaginary play. Traces of the girls’ presence remain long after they return to the Lyman Campus. Students who follow discover paths through the woods, brushed clean and lined with fallen sticks revealing the creativity these weeks encourage. Hidden in a glen, the tipi offers shelter to Pre-Primary students ambling through the woods. As John Dewey predicted, experiential learning builds L powerful memories of deep learning that endures.
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PURPOSE. RELATIONSHIPS. LEADERSHIP. By Trey Wilson, Director of Strategic Partnerships
Purpose. Relationships. Leadership. These words—and the powerful meanings affixed to them—are not new to the Laurel School community or to the Laurel experience. “To inspire each girl to fulfill her promise and to better the world” expresses far more
than simply a pursuit of a high gradepoint average or admission to a choice college; it’s a continuing aspiration for an entire community to lift its students as each new generation leads in the creation of a better future. And, as Laurel’s Center for Research on Girls (LCRG) has documented, a feeling of purpose and powerful relationships are important building blocks for students. 12
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With these considerations very much in mind, Laurel School proudly debuted the Capstone Experience to students and families in the Upper School in January of 2016, with a total of 44 Upper School students entering the program. Supported by a generous matching grant from the Edward E. Ford Foundation in Brooklyn, New York, Capstone is a three-and-a-half-year program that interested students apply to in January of the Grade 9 year. Accepted students enter one of four different categories or cohorts: Civic Engagement (led by long-time faculty member Tim Connell); Entrepreneurship (led by faculty member Taylor Kaar); Global Studies (led by Bella Patel, the Director of Global Programming and the Associate Director of the Primary School); STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics, led by Karen Galloway, the Director of Design Thinking, and by Jessie Sun, Ph.D., faculty member). The four cohort themes were chosen very intentionally. They not only are relevant in the “real world” today, but they also were relevant yesterday and will remain relevant into the foreseeable future. By including areas where women are underrepresented, particularly in entrepreneurship and STEAM, we ensure students have the exposure and support to pursue interest in these areas. Finally, these themes are built on existent programming at Laurel: namely the Passport Global Program, the Entrepreneurship Club, the community service program, STEAM, Design thinking and engineering initiatives.
CAPSTONE EXPERIENCE
Regardless of the Capstone category chosen by a student, collaboration and initiative define the first half of her Capstone Experience. During Grades 9 and 10, she participates in Harkness discussions (conversations controlled and owned by the students, with faculty as observers) around topics relevant to her category, helping to build a solid background in her particular category lens. In Grade 9, students help plan Cleveland-specific activities for their Capstone MayTerm experience. In addition to camping out at Butler for three days and two nights during MayTerm 2016, all students in Capstone met with Rick Jackson from ideastream® and Laurel School parent and Trustee Diane Downing, the Chief Operating Officer for the Cleveland 2016 Host Committee for the Republican National Convention. Together they explored the experiences of the homeless, immigrant, and refugee populations in Cleveland, and considered the rewards and challenges of being a small business owner in Coventry. In Grade 10, Capstone students currently are planning category-specific trips (Civic Engagement to Washington, D.C.; Entrepreneurship to San Francisco; Global Studies to New York City; STEAM to Chicago) for the first four days and three nights of Spring Break. The students in each cohort control the budget and all trip-related decisions, from location of the hotel, to daily schedule, to in-city travel logistics. In a collaborative effort that requires initiative and leadership, students control every piece of Capstone: the Harkness discussions, MayTerm planning, and all of the details of exploratory trips to cities of their choice in March. The students in the program love this level of ownership and agency. During the second half of the Capstone Experience, this collaborative ownership becomes more individualized, as each student chooses a Research Focus. Using the lens of her Capstone category and the guidance of a Capstone Mentor, a student designs a research-based project that she works to complete from the end of Grade 10 through graduation in Grade 12. A Research Focus could take a number of forms: a photography portfolio, a 20-page white paper, a business plan, a mobile application or website. Importantly, the Capstone Mentor, an individual (usually not on Laurel School’s faculty or staff) who has some expertise in the student’s chosen topic, helps guide the student as she progresses through her designed Focus. After completing a full draft of her Research Focus by September 1 of her Grade 12 year, a student uses her final semester at Laurel to finalize her draft and present an oral defense to her Mentor and the Capstone staff. The program culminates with a student’s recognition as a Capstone Scholar at graduation. We look forward to celebrating the culmination of the first round of Research Focus projects with Capstone students!
The Capstone Experience builds a sense of purpose, as well as valuable relationships and leadership skills, in a number of ways. While it places demands on a student’s time and demands initiative, it also provides a structured support system for the student through peer-to-peer and student-to-mentor collaboration. A grade or ranking is not given—a student either does or does not complete the benchmarks of the program. The reward and focus becomes the perseverance to complete a unique, self-driven and, hopefully, self-fulfilling project. This requires the student to build and maintain ownership of each component of the experience. Importantly, Capstone, by design, provides the requisite time (three-and-a-half years) to establish meaningful peer and mentor relationships, as well a Research Focus grounded by long-term consideration, expert guidance and research, and self-driven initiative and motivation. The Capstone Experience takes powerful findings we have learned about girls from LCRG and uses the components of purpose, relationships and leadership to propel our girls towards pursuing a passion. The experience has already proven to be meaningful in the pursuit, and we now look forward to the projects that will result, and the long-term L trajectory these young women will take beyond Laurel.
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Mountain Laurel — kalmia latifolia
FOREVER GREEN AND WHITE Alumnae Weekend 2016 | May 19-22, 2016
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ALUMNAE WEEKEND ’16
Laurel School Alumnae Weekend ’16 By Julie Donahue ’79, Director of Alumnae and Communications
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ost colors fade with time, but Laurel is Forever Green and White! Hundreds of alumnae returned to Laurel for a fun-filled reunion weekend, planned by a committee led by Sarah Johnson Morath ’94 and Amanda Royan ’04, with assistance by Cindy Cohn Polster ’77, Gausia Chowdhury ’02, Kathy Perris Torgerson ’65, Maegan Ruhlman ’03 and Julie Donahue ’79.
There were events that encouraged alumnae to meet, mingle and reconnect; to explore the Butler Campus; to wander the halls of One Lyman Circle, as well as opportunities to socialize with former teachers and to learn more about Laurel today from current students. If you missed the fun last year, we hope to see you this spring for Alumnae Weekend 2017: Glad for the Plaid, May 18-21, 2017. Highlights
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FOREVER GREEN AND WHITE
Thursday, May 19, 2016 Distinguished Alumnae Reception and Dinner The festivities kicked off with a special dinner honoring the weekend’s award recipients. Distinguished Alumna
HOLLY GLEASON ’81 Writer, songwriter, music journalist, critic and publicist Writer and songwriter, Holly’s work as a music journalist and critic stretches across genres, and she often is called upon by some of the biggest publications, including Rolling Stone, to add her distinctive voice to the lexicon of today’s music culture. Her chart-topping song “Better as a Memory” earned a Top 50 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and was voted one of “10 Songs I Wish I Had Written” by the Nashville Songwriters’ Association International. As a publicist, she has helped some of the music industry’s top artists identify their own stories. As one of her nominators noted: “Holly embodies much of what makes her an inspiration for Laurel girls: her personal bravery, her willingness to forge ahead in a mostly maledominated industry . . . and the strength to go a different direction than the rest.”
Young Alumna of Distinction
NICHELLE MC CALL ’01 Tech Entrepreneur A start-up strategist and tech entrepreneur, Nichelle developed and raised the capital to launch the software company BOLD Guidance, designed to bridge the digital divide and provide high school students with easier access and lower barriers to the college application process through the use of a mobile app. A sought-after speaker, Nichelle coaches aspiring and emerging entrepreneurs on how to create investment-ready tech or online startups. She has appeared in INC Magazine, FORTUNE, ESSENCE and the Huffington Post and has been recognized as a Black Woman Tech Founder to Watch and one of Crain’s Forty Under 40 professionals.
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ALUMNAE WEEKEND ’16
Thursday, May 19 – Distinguished Alumnae Dinner
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7. 1. Young Alumna of Distinction Nichelle McCall ’01 with her parents, Lucretia BellMcCall and David McCall 2. Head of School Ann V. Klotz and Distinguished Alumna Holly Gleason ’81 3. Alumnae Association President Kathy Perris Torgerson ’65 and Distinguished Alumna Committee Chair Kristi Anderson Horner ’80 4. Holly Gleason ’81 and singer/songwriter Alex Bevan 5. Nancy AuWerter Cockley ’62 catches up with faculty emeritae Jan Thomas and Claudia Boatright.
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8. 6. Millie Price Nygren ’56 and Wendy Lang ’56 7. Sydney Saffold ’04, Nichelle McCall ’01 and Nicole Brown ’04 8. Sara Ismail-Beigi Bartlett ’03, Sarah Royan ’01 and Upper School English teacher Jeanne Stephens 9. Chaundra King Monday ’95 and Maia Hunt-Ledford Rucker ’97
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10. The Plain Dealer’s “Minister of Culture” columnist Michael Heaton and Bridget Bowden McWilliams ’81 Highlights
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FOREVER GREEN AND WHITE
Friday, May 20 – Legacy Breakfast
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1. Three generations of Laurel girls: Hazel ’27, Leslie ’95 and Lulu Segal ’29, Kathy Perris Torgerson ’65 and Pearl Segal ’31 2. Nichelle Dickerson Shaw ’86 and Aleena Brown ’16 3. Jennifer Herbruck Klie ’87, Taylor Klie ’22, the Laurel Gator, Sydney Rucker ’22 and Maia Hunt-Ledford Rucker ’97 4. Nina Ross ’20, Cari Richer Ross ’85, the Gator, Janet Abbey ’83 and Caroline Abbey ’19 5. Lynn Delar Ernst ’86, Kaitlyn Ernst ’24, Ann V. Klotz and the Laurel Gator, Meredith Havre ’25 and Heather Diemer Havre ’86
Friday, May 20
6. Paige Perry ’23 with her new BFF
6. 18 LaurelSchool.org
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7. Honorees Nichelle McCall ’01 and Holly Gleason ’81 spoke to the Upper School on Friday and then shared their trailblazing journeys with alums at a coffee on Saturday.
ALUMNAE WEEKEND ’16
Friday, May 20 – Mosaic Student Panel Lunch
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1. Autumn Faithwalker ’17, Ashli Pratt ’18, Taraneh Tabib-Azar ’17, Amanda Howard ’18, Natalie Thomas ’17 and Mimi Thompson ’17 spoke about equity and inclusion in the Upper School at the Mosaic Lunch in the Conway Pavilion at the Butler Campus. 2. John and Alice Lehmann Butler ’49 3. Leslie Smith Troutman ’66, Judith Bishop ’66 and Trish Beall ’66
Friday, May 20 – Alum/Faculty/Faculty Emeriti Happy Hour
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4. Faculty emeriti Jan Thomas, Marilyn Kent, Joan Daley, Bob Klitz and Claudia Boatright 5. Emma Hill Adlam ’06 and Liz Bendycki daSilva ’06 6. Alison Leddy ’11 and Maddy Leddy ’14 7. Susie Walter Cargile ’60 and Heather Cargile Lakefish ’91 8. Alumnae Association President Kathy Perris Torgerson ’65 and Laurel Trustee Sandhia Varyani ’91
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FOREVER GREEN AND WHITE
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Friday, May 20 – Alum/Faculty/Faculty Emeriti Happy Hour
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1. Alison Lee Streiff ’03, Upper School Spanish teacher Marti Hardy and Andrea Lee Lai ’06 2. Becky Greismer ’11 and Molly Farkas ’11 3. Anne Norwick Warfel ’81, Laura Kottler Egerter ’81 and Amy Scott Gilchrist ’81 4. Caroline Oestermeyer Todd ’86, Alumnae Association Vice President Cindy Cohn Polster ’77, Betsy Sweeney Backes ’78 and Alumnae Weekend Chair Sarah Johnson Morath ’94 5. Valerie Raines’78 and Ann V. Klotz 6. Alice Lehmann Butler ’49
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ALUMNAE WEEKEND ’16
Saturday, May 21 – 50th Reunion Breakfast
1. Ginny Harrison Knight ’66, Nancy Harper ’66 and Kitty Wick Thomas ’66
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2. The Class of 1966 enjoys breakfast with Ann V. Klotz in the Crile Library
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Saturday, May 21 – Mimosa Reception
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3. Alumnae Weekend Co-chair Amanda Royan ’04 and Emma Royan ’06 4. Trish Beall ’66 and Kathy Perris Torgerson ’65 5. Alumnae Assoc. Board Members Gausia Chowdhury ’02 and Nancy Wykoff Sharp ’43 6. Pris Gilliam Moore ’60 and Lisa Moore Mercado ’82 7. Trustee Michael Anne Johnson ’64 and Susie Miller Forbes ’64 8. Melanie Terwoord ’06 and Emily Mervis ’06
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Saturday, May 21 – Mimosa Reception
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1. Jill Barry ’86, Elizabeth Johnson Brewer ’86 and Lynne Rossen Feighan ’55 2. Class of 1986 members: Sally Jagelman, Stephanie Lenzo Wigginton, Susie Ford Durning and Hilary Brown Santoni 3. Gloria Aponte Clark ’87 and Binnie Kurtzner ’87
Saturday, May 21 – Alumnae Luncheon
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4. The Class of 1956: (Standing) Ginny Taylor Young, Sally Reddig Schulze, Carol King Buchold and Jean Curtiss Britt; (Seated) Margy Steck Carpenter, Millie Price Nygren, Barbara Hawk Pildner and Wendy Lang 5. The Class of 1971: (Standing) Kim Kovel, Connie Rann Overton and Ann Steel; (Seated) Martha Walter Royan, Barbara Peterson Champion, Tracy Yeomans, Kathy Martien MacMillan and Debbie Eaton Stirling 6. Representing the Class of 1976: Debbie Trefts, Janice Kaplan and Kaki Thomas Taylor. On Friday, Janice spoke to the Middle School about her documentary on The Annotated Phantom Tollbooth. 22 LaurelSchool.org
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7. The Class of 1981: (Standing) Marla Kirsh Crawford and Anne Norwick Warfel; (Seated) Cyndie Benjamin, Katie Gerber Doonan and Jennifer Coleman Fluker 8. The Class of 1986: (Back row) Rachel Kirsh, Elizabeth Johnson Brewer, Stephanie Lenzo Wigginton, Nicole Hosler Twells, Nichelle Dickerson Shaw and Sally Jagelman; (Middle row) Missy Fox, Hilary Brown Santoni, Deb Reed Hopkins, Jill Barry and Lisa Pim Peterson; (Front row) Caroline Oestermeyer Todd, Heather Muir Sutton, Susie Ford Durning, Kelly Nash Quinn, Eve Haserot Semenoro, Kate LaPine and Cathy Croft Schiefflin
ALUMNAE WEEKEND ’16
Saturday, May 21 – Alumnae Luncheon
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5. 1. The Class of 1991: (Standing) Hattie Fletcher, Margo Karipides, Heather Cargile Lakefish, Christen Doering Boone, faculty emerita Claudia Boatright, Anita Tarar, Michelle Grdina, Jen Lynch, Erika Embry, Kathryn Holzheimer Purcell, Tanya Walter and CC Halloran; (Seated) Rini Santiago Grover, Sandhia Varyani and Emily Carr Moore 2. The Class of 1996: Jen Jackson, Maressa Smith Kuszewski, Sarah Wolfe Hobbs, Kate Bondi Floyd and Audrey Aponte 3. The Class of 2006: (Back row) Abbey Jones, Eleanor Celeste, Noelle Bonner and Kate Spectorsky; (Middle row) Stephanie Gautem Trzaska, Lauren Klein, Sam Halstead, Andrea Lee Lai and Rosie Lipman; (Seated) Emily Mervis, Amy Novak, Melanie Terwoord, Emma Royan and Natalie Linsalata
4. Ann V. Klotz accepts a check for the 50th Reunion Class’s Gift from Judith Bishop ’66 5. The Class of 1966 celebrates its 50th: (Back row) Trish Beall, Cokie Hollis Perry, Virginia Resseger, Victoria Ford Jetton, Judith Bishop and Judy Hare Pilessi; (Middle row) Kitty Wick Thomas, Liz Lee Chiego, Nancy Harper, Ann Briggs Mason, Kathy Longfeld Maresco, Missy Moffat Randolph and Muffy Hoge Miller; (Front row) Leslie Smith Troutman, Terry Stotzer Blackwelder, Alice Barber Lundgren and Ginny Harrison Knight L
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WAYS TO GIVE Thank you for exploring the opportunity to support Laurel School. We recognize that contributions come in many shapes and sizes. Your interest in supporting Laurel reflects a deep commitment to the educational excellence provided for more than 118 years. And, we couldn’t have done it without you! Every year the Laurel Fund increases the value added of a Laurel education. Classroom materials, faculty salaries, athletics, the arts, technology and more – all are enhanced through annual giving.
Benjamin Light Director of Advancement bLight@LaurelSchool.org 216.455.3027
Since the beginning, every dollar invested in Laurel’s $50 million endowment was a gift dollar from someone who cared deeply about Laurel School. Thanks to an amazing investment team, the endowment continues to grow and grow!
Venta Cantwell Associate Director of Advancement vCantwell@LaurelSchool.org 216.455.3033
We appreciate the work of our volunteers each year; some serve as class agents and organize reunions; others volunteer through the Alumnae Association and Alumnae Board and work on committees; we recruit yet another group each year to assist with the work of the Laurel Fund. All are important and welcome; each one of our volunteers is an excellent ambassador for Laurel School. Over the years, gift dollars have touched every aspect of life at Laurel, and we couldn’t be more grateful. Don’t hesitate to call if you have questions or want to help!
Maegan Ruhlman Director of the Laurel Fund mRuhlman@LaurelSchool.org 216.455.3031 Beth Green Development Office Administrative Assistant bGreen@LaurelSchool.org 216.455.3096
LEGACY FOR LAUREL
MARTHA BEALL BAREND ’64 A “lifer,” Martha Beall Barend ’64, was the oldest of three sisters to graduate from Laurel. After earning a bachelor’s degree in art history from Lake Forest College, Martha worked for a New York art book publisher and The Cleveland Museum of Art before fulfilling a longtime dream to move to Maine. It was there that she made her home and explored her entrepreneurial spirit by starting a successful fabric store. She sold the fabric store in the late 1970s and subsequently worked for a charter yacht company for a number of years. She and her husband built their house in Maine where they pampered two successive Brittany spaniels. Martha loved the beach, art museums, travel and playing mahjong and scrabble with friends. On the occasion of her 50th Reunion at Laurel, she wrote about her favorite Laurel memories including teachers Mary Hotchkiss, Dorothy Jordan and Mary Lawyer; the poems she memorized in Fifth Grade; and the trip to Europe she and other classmates took with Miss Gerfen the summer after their Senior year. Martha enjoyed her 50th Reunion at Laurel in May 2014, but just months later, was diagnosed with cancer and sadly passed away the following spring. She took care to leave bequests in her will for the places and institutions, including Laurel, which held special meaning for her. Martha valued her years at Laurel and the lifelong friendships she made at Lyman Circle. Those very friends loved her for her loyalty and sense of humor. We are grateful that Martha’s loyalty extended to her alma mater and that her foresight will benefit future generations of Laurel girls. Membership in Legacy for Laurel is extended to all alumnae, parents, faculty and friends who make a provision in their estate plans to benefit the School.
For more information about joining Legacy for Laurel or on making a planned gift to Laurel School, contact Julie Donahue, Director of Alumnae, at 216.455.3028 or jDonahue@LaurelSchool.org
LAUREL SCHOOL | est. 1896 Laurel School One Lyman Circle Shaker Heights, Ohio 44122
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Glad for the Plaid LAUREL SCHOOL ALUMNAE WEEKEND 2017 | MAY 18 -21, 2017