Laurel School's Highlights Magazine: Spring-Summer 2011

A MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNAE, PARENTS AND FRIENDS OF LAUREL SCHOOL

SPRING • SUMMER 2011

SAVE THE DATE!

MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2011 MAYFIELD COUNTRY CLUB

Please join us for the fifth annual Laurel Athletic Booster “Gator Golf Outing.” The proceeds from this exciting event will directly benefit Laurel’s scholar athletes, both in Middle and Upper School.

Our field is limited, so please secure your spot by sending in your check as soon as possible.

Your check is your confirmation.

For further information about the Golf Outing, please contact Seth Kushkin at 216.455.3049, or email Seth at sKushkin@LaurelSchool.org or contact John Velotta at 216.581.7444, extension 17, or email John at jvelotta@dyoinc.com.

Win two tickets to the 2012

Masters

Winner will be chosen on Monday, October 3, 2011, at the Laurel School Athletic Booster Golf Outing. Winner need not be present to win.

TO PURCHASE RAFFLE TICKETS: Contact Seth Kushkin at 216.455.3049 or email Seth at sKushkin@LaurelSchool.org

$100.00 per raffle ticket

Choose to attend either

Friday, Saturday or Sunday

[ April 6, 7 OR 8, 2012 ] ONLY 150 RAFFLE TICKETS WILL BE SOLD!

v

Calling

all Mountain

v

Laurel

W

e welcome the opportunity to enhance the gardens surrounding the main building at Lyman Circle. If your plans include a visit to the garden center, perhaps you might add an item from the following list to your order. If you’re willing to do so, and willing to donate it to Laurel, we’ll pick it up and plant it with loving care as a part of the School’s master landscaping plan.

The most important aspect of the landscape design plan for the Lyman Campus is to create a reflection of the Laurel girls, their activities and their spirit. The master plan includes flowering shrubs that predominantly bloom in the spring and fall. In addition, there are plants and trees that create winter interest, raised vegetable garden beds, perennial cutting gardens, an herb garden, outdoor classroom spaces and several greenhouses.

2011 Landscape Design Wish List # NEEDED

$15 for 16 oz.

$15 for 16 oz.

$15 for 16 oz.

$12 for 2 x 4 oz.

GO TO www.phoenixcoffee.com/laurelschool TO PLACE YOUR ORDER.

v

10% OF PROFITS GO TO BENEFIT THE LSPA

TYPE & SIZE

1 Eastern Dogwood • 7ʹ Ilex atlenucita • 5 gal 30ʹʹ 1 1 Purple Filbert • 5 gal 3 Magnolia Virginiana • 6ʹ 5 Blue Prince Holly • 36ʹʹ 5 Viburnum • 36ʹʹ 9 Mountain Laurel • 5 gal 18ʹʹ 11 French Lace Wegelia • 5 gal 11 Oakleaf Hydrangea • 5 gal 12 Green Wave Taxus • 24ʹʹ 14 Mountain Fire Pierus • 5 gal 24ʹʹ-30ʹʹ 16 Potentilla fruticosa (white) • 3 gal 18ʹʹ For more information, or to arrange for a pick-up, please call Deborah Farquhar Jones, Director of Development & External Affairs, at 216-455-3027 or contact via email at dFarquharJones@LaurelSchool.org.

With your help, we’ll beautify Lyman Circle, one Oakleaf Hydrangea at a time!

Contents 12

16

22

MESSAGE FROM ANN V. KLOTZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

ALUMNAE NEWS .

At Laurel, we have long been interested in cultivating girls’ voices. This issue of Highlights is dedicated to Finding One’s Voice.

CLASS NEWS .

LIFE AT LAUREL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

From the classrooms to the basketball court, get caught up on the happenings at One Lyman Circle and beyond through early April.

Laurel’s commitment to global communication begins in the Primary.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

32

IN MEMORIAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Forquer with Third Graders Emily Nicholls and Camille Kovach [ NEW LOOK, SAME GREAT CONTENT ] Yes,

BEYOND THE CLASSROOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Five Upper School girls share the invaluable lessons learned through their Protégé projects. . . . . . .

26

[ ON THE COVER ] Chinese teacher Emma

PASSPORT TO THE WORLD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

VOICES RAISED IN SPEECH AND DEBATE .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

22

Highlights has a new look and size. We hope you like it. This issue covers events and activities through early April. Look for extensive coverage on Alumnae Weekend, Commencement and other end-of-the-year celebrations in the Annual Report edition which will publish in early fall.

Finding one’s voice pays off for Laurel’s forensics program.

Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011 1

Highlights A MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNAE, PARENTS AND FRIENDS OF LAUREL SCHOOL

HEAD OF SCHOOL Ann V. Klotz DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT AND EXTERNAL AFFAIRS Deborah Farquhar Jones EDITOR Julie Donahue ’79, Director of Alumnae and Communications ASSISTANT EDITOR Caroline Kruse, Director of Community Relations CLASS NEWS EDITOR Maegan Ruhlman ’03 DESIGN AND LAYOUT Kimberly Torda PHOTOGRAPHY Julie Donahue Stephen Crompton Roger Mastroianni Kimberly Torda PRESIDENT, ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION Lynnette Jackson ’93 CHAIR, BOARD OF TRUSTEES Anne Conway Juster ’80 SUBMIT CLASS NEWS UPDATES AND ADDRESS CHANGES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OFFICE: 866.277.3182 e-mail: classnews@LaurelSchool.org Highlights is published two times a year by Laurel School for its alumnae, parents and friends. We are interested in your opinions and welcome letters to the editor. E-mail jDonahue@LaurelSchool.org or send letters to:

Julie Donahue Laurel School One Lyman Circle Shaker Heights, Ohio 44122

Laurel School is an independent day school for girls, Kindergarten through Grade 12, with coeducational programs for 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.

MISSION STATEMENT To inspire each girl to fulfill her promise and to better the world CORE VALUES In a community of learners, Laurel girls are courageous, ethical and compassionate, ready for the complicated world they will inherit.

WWW.LAURELSCHOOL.ORG All photos are identified left to right unless specified.

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Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011

“A Comedy Tonight” for Cordelia Orbach ’13, Katie Norchi ’12, Abby Veres ’14, and Pauline Varley ’11 in the spring musical A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum.

Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011 3

PHOTO BY ERIC MULL

A MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL, ANN V. KLOTZ

finding your voice AT FIRE DRILLS, I AM KNOWN AS A FEROCIOUS ENFORCER OF SILENCE, GLARING AT THE GIRLS AS THEY COME DOWN THE STAIRS, DEMANDING QUIET. IT IS THE ONLY TIME THAT I DO NOT WISH TO HEAR THEIR VOICES. AT ALL OTHER TIMES, I AM DEEPLY INTERESTED IN HEARING FROM THEM, URGING THEM TO GIVE VOICE TO THEIR FEELINGS, THOUGHTS, OPINIONS, QUESTIONS.

I love walking through the Dining Room and hearing what’s on the minds of the Primary or touching base with Middle Schoolers as they line up outside my office before a field trip (I’m not sure they are supposed to talk when they are lining up, but I am always happy to see them and chat with them a bit). In the corridor of the Upper School, there are always girls ready to fill me in on the details of their lives and lessons or to ask or answer a question.

The rise and fall of conversation, laughter and ideas animate the halls at Laurel. I connect the contemporary voices of girls I know back through the generations: young women reciting Browning’s “My Last Duchess,” or acting in the Senior Play or rehearsing for Song Contest; girls conjugating verbs and solving equations and offering solutions to problems. In my own work in drama and English, I am interested not only in what my students say but also in what they omit or choose not to say and why. Writing in 1927, the year Mrs. Lyman broke ground for the school building here in Shaker Heights, Virginia Woolf suggests that women need money and a room of their own in order to create works of art. I would add that girls and women also need to believe that what they want to say has value and that someone will be listening.

The audience and the speaker are two sides of a seesaw, ideally balanced. I speak, you listen. Your listening makes 4

Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011

my speaking public, forces me to stand and deliver, moving from the comfort of my bedroom to the public forum of the classroom or the Chapel. Perhaps you, too, saw this year’s Oscar-winning film The King’s Speech and felt, vicariously, Lionel Logue’s pleasure in helping King George speak with more confidence. The King’s stammer diminished because Logue listened intently, valuing the monarch’s feelings, memories, and frustrations, and because Logue offered technical help—breathing, slowing down the rate of speech, tongue twisters that increased flexibility—in a supportive but demanding way. Logue was a wonderful teacher; his expectations were high, his ego not part of the equation. The King, unaccustomed to mere mortals, finally trusted Logue and himself enough to commit to the work and get better at delivering the speeches he loathed but his role required.

At Laurel, we have long been interested in cultivating girls’ voices. Carol Gilligan’s earliest work, In a Different Voice, focused our attention on voice in girls and urged us to attend to the phenomenon of Middle School-age girls losing their voices. Faculty emerita Rosaneil Schenk built a drama and speech program on articulate speech.

Laurel, in many ways, is shaped around this concept that young women must use their voices in order to fulfill their promise and to better the world. Purpose makes us braver, particularly if it is our job to persuade someone else of our convictions.

Our recent triumphs in speech and debate suggest that, for many girls, bold and articulate statements come, after practice, with ease. Yet, recently, when I asked my Ninth Graders to memorize a poem by heart and stand and say it with expression and fluency, many were tense, anxious about performing in public, nervous about memorizing the lines and reluctant to be too expressive for fear of looking weird. What a contrast to the Primary School girls who delivered the poetry and music of the Harlem Renaissance with total commitment earlier this spring. Why is it that the older we grow, the more self-conscious and fearful of judgment we become, even in the safe space of this remarkable school?

Perhaps before we can leave a trail of pebbles, we have to be courageous enough to identify the contradictions we face—as girls, women, teachers.

There may be no straight path through the woods; there will certainly be twists and turns and obstacles. There is a time to speak and a time to keep silent, and part of growing up is learning the difference. Perhaps that is why,

At Laurel, girls know we value their thoughts and opinions and feelings, that we want them to speak their minds, that we are committed to helping them ask questions, frame debates, argue with passion and conviction.

Perhaps we send an array of confusing messages: use your voices, but be careful not to be too loud, too strident. Know when to modulate, when to squelch your own desire to participate so that another student might have a chance to offer her opinion. Have your voice, but be respectful.

Collaborate, but don’t dominate the conversation. Disagree but do so respectfully, civilly. Learn the rules of civil discourse. Don’t give voice to gossip or spread rumor. Tell the truth but be tactful. Remember the power of words. Don’t talk during Chapel or during Fire Drills.

Speak up. Keep silent. Be brave.

Be quiet.

The dissonant cacophony reminds me of being lost in an enchanted forest with no clear path to follow. Language and contradictory cultural norms lead us deeper into the woods but, paradoxically, only clear thinking and well-chosen words can help us find our way out once again.

though I love the frequent conversations I have with girls of all ages, I am relentless at fire drills. I want our girls to understand that some situations require us to move away from what is natural and assume a decorum we may not feel, to practice behavior that runs counter to our inclination. It is in those instances when we feel least like ourselves that we may more deeply appreciate a world in which a child’s duty to be seen and not heard is no longer the prevailing view.

At Laurel, girls know we value their thoughts and opinions and feelings, that we want them to speak their minds, that we are committed to helping them ask questions, frame debates, argue with passion and conviction. To cultivate voice is to nurture confidence and competence, to foster in a girl the belief in her own power, to teach that using her voice on her own behalf or on behalf of others, she has the opportunity to change the world, one word and action at a time.

In this issue of Highlights, we give voice to faculty, students, alumnae. I thank them for sharing their stories with us. By listening, we learn as much as we learn by speaking.

Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011 5

excellence in action

LIFE AT LAUREL Student Artists Shine at the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers recognized 17 talented students from Laurel’s sophisticated visual arts program. The Herb Ascherman Award for Photography was given to two students—both Laurel girls! A panel of local professional artists and art educators selected winners from over 1,000 entries from schools throughout the region. It is remarkable for a school and arts program of Laurel’s size to be recognized with 28 awards. Laurel winning artists are:

Rebecca Griesmer ’11: Gold Key and Herb Ascherman Award for Photography; Miranda Orbach ’11: Herb Ascherman Award for Photography, CIA Recognition Award, Portfolio Gold Key Award, two Gold Keys; Lauren Hipple ’11: Portfolio Gold Key Award, Silver Key, two Honorable Mentions; Jenna Bailey ’12: Gold Key; Honorable Mention; Alyssa Holznagel ’11: Gold Key; Sophie Schwartz ’13: Gold Key; Emily Chamberlin ’12: Silver Key; Tiffany Els ’11: two Silver Keys; Molly Farkas ’11: Silver Key; Delaney Feighan ’14: Silver Key;

primary school

Some of the Scholastic Art Award recipients: (Back row) Tiffany Els ’11, Alyssa Holznagel ’11, Jenna Bailey ’12, and Rebecca Griesmer ’11 (Front row) Lauren Hipple ’11 and Miranda Orbach ‘11

6

Laurel Third Graders Create Museum The Third Grade Museum of Art and Children’s Concerns showcased the work of 27 student artists, and included a life-size façade painting taken from one of the girls’ original scale drawings. The museum opening was a culmination of the first trimester’s focus on individuals, institutions and groups in which the girls interviewed community members to gather information on institutions in our area, including Laurel School, brought in weekly news articles about museums and other institutions to discuss, and used nonfiction books and the Internet to research institutions and their museum topics.

Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011

Megan Opatrny ’11: Silver Key, Honorable Mention; Emily Richards ’11: Silver Key; Madeleine Balogh ’12: Honorable Mention; Melissa Chieffe ’11: Honorable Mention; Anna Orlando ’12: Honorable Mention; Grace Robbins ’12: Honorable Mention; Danielle Slater ’11: Honorable Mention.

The Alliance also recognized writer Abby Napoli ’12 with a Silver Medal for a short story.

Four Head to Speech and Debate Nationals For the first time in Laurel School history, the Speech & Debate Team sent qualifiers to the National Forensic League Finals in three different events! Congratulations to national qualifiers Ann Dunn ’11 and Alex Kruse ’11–Public Forum Debate, Sarah Kuczmarski ’11–Congressional Debate and Anne Meeker ’12–Original Oratory.

excellence in action

LIFE AT LAUREL

The National Tournament took place in Dallas, June 13-18.

In addition, Laurel claimed first alternate slots in three events: Congratulations to Kiran Kawolics ’11–Original Oratory, Tannaz Rowshanbakhtfardian ’11– International Extemp, Rachel Anderson ’13–United States Extemp. We also had one second alternate: Congratulations to Anne Jordan ’11– Original Oratory.

In other Speech and Debate news, Laurel Seniors Kiran Kawolics, Sarah Kuczmarski and Sonja Postak have been named Academic All-Americans by the National Forensic League (NFL). To be named an Academic All-American, a student must have earned a minimum of 750 NFL credit points through participation in interscholastic speech and debate competition, must maintain a GPA of at least 3.7 on a 4.0 scale, and must have received an ACT score of 27 or higher or an SAT score of 2000 or higher. Students also must demonstrate outstanding personal character and leadership and must be recommended both by their school and their speech and debate coach. Fewer than one percent of students competing in speech and debate nationwide are named Academic All-Americans.

SEE PAGE 24

BREAKING NEWS FROM NATIONALS:

Anne Meeker finished in the top 30 in the nation with her original oratory “Sincerely Yours”! Way to go, Annie!

Future Diplomats Dominate Junior Model UN Competition Twenty-two Seventh and Eighth Grade Laurel students were among more than

NEOSEF Award Winners included (Back row) Rebecca Brichacek ’16, Allison Dorogi ’11, Clea Newman ’12 (Front row): Anna Zipp ’16, Kristen Nemeth ’12, Sam Basch ’12 and Anamika Veeramani ‘14

200 local students who participated in the Fifth Annual Junior Model United Nations Competition at John Carroll University.

The Laurel girls crafted position papers, honed oral speaking skills and plotted competition strategy in the weeks leading up to the competition. And their preparation paid off ! During the Junior Model UN, Laurel girls competed in teams of two on seven United Nations Committees, which were responsible for pushing their delegations to pass resolutions by collaborating with other countries in a real-world simulation of actual United Nations’ issues.

Not only did Laurel garner 18 out of 30 of the total honors awarded, five Laurel girls, including Sloane Hammerman ’16, Rebecca Brichacek ’16, Amy Sinnenberg ’16, Marisa Ippolito ’15 and Hannah Lauster ’16, received the coveted “Gavel” award, presented to the top participant in each of the seven delegations.

In addition to individual awards, Laurel dominated the team awards. Receiving excellent commendations—Marisa Ippolito ’15, Veronica Jones ’16, Hannah Lauster ’16, Raegan Burke ’16, Ivy Kasper ’15 , Amy Sinnenberg ’16; excellent designation—Emily Moore ’15, Rebecca Brichacek ’16; superior award— Jayne O’Dwyer ’15, Grace Murray ’16,

Hayley Donohue ’16, Julianne Beg ’16, Elizabeth Murphy ’15, Sabrina Downey ’15, Kaleigh Shupp ’16, Sloane Hammerman ’16; honorable mention—Misbah Lokhandwala ’15, Michelle Delaney ’15.

Nine Win Awards at Northeast Ohio Science and Engineering Fair Six Upper School and three Middle School students were among the 614 participants in the Northeast Ohio Science and Engineering Fair (NEOSEF). Congratulations to the following Laurel students for their hard work and performance: UPPER SCHOOL: Sam Peachey ’13: Honorable Mention in Chemistry Grades 9/10 for Blue Bottle Chemistry Demonstration; Anamika Veeramani ’14: Honorable Mention in Health/Medicine Grades 9/10 for Combating Bioterrorism: Determination of Minimum Pathogen concentration for Rapid, Accurate, and Efficient Detection of Bioterror Agents; Samantha Basch ’12: 3rd Place in Behavioral Science 11/12 for Eat Your Veggies: A Nutrition Study using Statistics and Behavioral Economics; Clea Newman ’12: 2nd Place in Math/Computer Science 11/12 for A Model for Optimizing Wind Power Utilization under Electric Utility Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011 7

excellence in action

Deregulation; special award from American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Allison Dorogi ’11: 2nd Place in Health/Medicine 11/12 for Correlation Between Donor Heart Weight and Patient Survival Rate; special awards from American Statistical Association and Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute; Kristen Nemeth ’12: 2nd Place in Physics 11/12 for Behavior of Oobleck and Silly Putty: Household NonNewtonian Fluids: How do these fluids affect the impulse an object endures on impact?; special award from Cleveland State University Dept of Physics.

applause, applause

LIFE AT LAUREL

Spelling Bee Champ Honored by Congress

8

MIDDLE SCHOOL: Anna Zipp ’16: 3rd Place in

Physics; Rebecca Brichacek ’16: 2nd Place in Engineering; special award from An-

tique Automobile Association; Leigh Ann Fairley ’15: 1st Place in Chemistry; special awards from American Chemical Society, Cleveland Chemical Association, Iota Sigma Pi, William R. Sweet Family, and invitation to participate in a further competition based on a written paper.

Power of the Pen This just in… our Middle School Power of the Pen program continues to garner results!

Laurel’s Seventh Grade team won the 2nd place trophy (out of 37 schools participating) at the regional writing tournament held at Hudson Middle School. Laurel was the only school to have all six writers on its Seventh Grade team qualify for the regional tournament. Eighth Graders

U.S. Representative Betty Sutton introduced a resolution on the floor of the House of Representatives, honoring students who participated in the 2010 Scripps National Spelling Bee and congratulating the 83rd National Spelling Bee Champion, Anamika Veeramani ’14. The resolution recognized the importance of education and was introduced and voted on in a House Session that aired live on C-SPAN.

Head of School Named Claes Nobel Educator of Distinction Ann V. Klotz was selected as a Claes Nobel Educator of Distinction by The National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS). A role model to pupils, Ms. Klotz was nominated

by Junior Samantha Basch for outstanding dedication and commitment to excellence in the classroom. Student members of NSHSS have the opportunity to nominate the educator who has made the most significant contribution to their academic career. The Claes Nobel Educator of Distinction award recognizes

Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011

Sabrina Downey and Elizabeth Murphy won 3rd and 5th place trophies respectively.

Elizabeth also won a Best of Round 2 award (meaning she was judged as having written the best paper out of 120 written in a given round) and won an honorable mention for Round 3. The two teams took 2nd place in the overall sweepstakes.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Seventh Graders Caroline

Werner and Hannah Lauster and Eighth Graders Elizabeth Murphy and Sabrina Downey competed in the state tournament.

As Highlights was going to press we learned that Hannah Lauster was recognized as one of the top 50 writers in the state and Sabrina Downey was Third in the state!

Great job ladies!

teacher role models who have made a lasting difference in their classroom by encouraging students to strive for excellence.

Cum Laude Each year, up to 5% of the Junior Class and up to 10% of the Senior Class (5% of whom can be elected their Junior year) are inducted into the Cum Laude Society based on their grade point average. Longtime Upper School history teacher Tim Connell was the guest speaker at the induction ceremony held this spring for the honorees and their families. Congratulations to new inductees: Angel Chen ’11, Melissa Chieffe, ’11, Martha Gilchrist ’11, Alison Leddy ’11, Miranda Orbach ’11, Sarah Ridge ’11, Carolyn Weltman ’11, Denise Zou ’11, Sam Basch ’12, Emma Freer ’12, Tabitha Gillombardo ’12, Charlotte Austen Hartwell ’12, Kristen Nemeth ’12, Emily Orr ’12, and Rory O’Shaughnessy ’12. Members of the Class of ’11 who were inducted as Juniors are: Amanda Block, Allison Dorogi, Sarah Immerman, Megan Opatrny, Emily Richards, Greta Riebe, Ellen Rogers and Pauline Varley. Pauline also was recognized as our Phi Beta Kappa Award recipient.

LIFE AT LAUREL

Laurel in the news

Jenna Bailey ’12 (left) and a Girl Up friend at The White House

Kindergarteners with their Valentine trees

Junior Meets First Lady at White House — News at Eleven!

Junior Jenna Bailey was invited to the White House to celebrate International Women’s Day thanks to her role as a teen advisor to the United Nation Foundation Girl Up campaign. Jenna became involved with Girl Up as a result of her trip last summer to the Olevolos Village in Tanzania. The Olevolos Project is a partnership with Passport, Laurel’s Global Education Initiative that encompasses semester-away and exchange partnerships with schools and communities around the world, as well as curriculum grounded in global awareness.

While at the White House, Jenna had the opportunity to tour 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and to listen to inspiring speakers. But the highlight of her visit was greeting and hugging First Lady Michelle Obama! Jenna’s story was featured locally on FOX-8 News and in the Sun Newspaper.

Ann V. Klotz Takes to the Airwaves!

Head of School Ann V. Klotz shared

her thoughts about Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn on “Around Noon” on WCPN 90.3, Cleveland’s NPR station. Having previously been a guest expert on To Kill A Mockingbird, Ms. Klotz was invited back for another edition of the “Around Noon” book club and joined host Dee Perry, Case Western Reserve University’s Rhonda Williams and Cleveland State University’s Lolita Buckner Inniss to discuss a controversial new edition of Mark Twain’s classic.

Laurel STEM Program Featured in Cleveland Magazine An article on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) programs in the March issue of Cleveland Magazine featured Licia Kovach, Chair of the Science Department, Larry Goodman, Director of Strategic Programming, and Junior Kristen Nemeth. Also featured were Laurel’s Passport Program to Tanzania and our students’ engineering project building a playground for the children of the Olevolos Village.

Greta Riebe ’11, one of 10 Exceptional Scholarship Athletes is honored by AT&T

Kindergarten Students Get Ink and Photo Op! In lieu of traditional valentines this year, Julie Haylor’s kindergarten class made trees as a service project to benefit the oncology floor at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital. The story and photo were featured in the Sun Press.

Two NewsChannel5 McDonald Student Athletes of the Week!

Senior Greta Riebe and Junior Alexis Guy were each named McDonald Student Athlete of the Week on WEWS NewsChannel5 this winter. NewsChannel5 (the ABC affiliate) honors athletes each week who set examples in the classroom, on their team and in the community.

Greta recently was honored as one of 10 Exceptional Scholar Athletes at the 2011 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Alexis, a team captain of the varsity basketball team, averaged 23.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.

Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011 9

spotlight on Laurel Gators

Laurel Girls Skate to a 3rd Place Finish

Katherine S. B. Mills Photo Exhibit

LIFE AT LAUREL

by Maureen Harrington

The Laurel High School Figure Skating Team competed for a state title in the 2011 Ohio High School Team Figure Skating Championships at Thornton Park Arena, finishing in 3rd place. In the six years that Laurel has competed in this State Championship, the team has come in third place five times and finished first in 2007.

Two Swim Team Juniors Compete at States For the third time in as many years, swimmer Sarah Litt ’12 represented Laurel School at States! Sarah swam the 100-yard

butterfly in the 2011 State Division II finals held in Canton, Ohio, on February 25 and finished 14th in the State, after finishing 4th in districts. Fellow Junior and diver Emily Matoh’s 8th place finish in the districts led her to the State Division II diving finals in Canton on February 23 where she finished 23rd.

Emily Liptow ’11, Sarah Ridge ’11 and Greta Riebe ’11. In field hockey— Martha Gilchrist ’11, Tabitha Gillombardo ’12, Chelsea Jackson ’12, Katherine Gilkeson ’12, Maureen Mentrek ’12, Victoria Mintz ’12 and Nina Mastroianni ’13.

Hoop Action—Gator style!

Academic All-Ohio Athletes Congratulations to the thirteen Laurel Athletes who were named Academic All-Ohio, an honor bestowed on Varsity return players who carry a 3.5 GPA or higher. In golf—Emily Ettinger ’11, Lauren Hipple ’11, Alison Leddy ’11,

The Laurel Gators ended their season with a fantastic 14-7 record and were the sectional champs—the first time in a decade that they have captured this honor!

Team captain and Junior Alexis Guy was elected to the third-team in Division III for the all-Ohio team.

The Katherine S. B. Mills Grant for the Study of Photography was established in memory of Katie Mills ’97, who in 1999, while on a college semester-abroad program in Chile, was the victim of carbon-monoxide poisoning. Mourned by all who knew her, the subsequent outpouring of gifts to Laurel led to the establishment of a generous fund in her memory. This year’s grant recipient was Lauren Hipple ’11. She notes: “Perception is one of the many things that differentiate people…. Photography allows me to emphasize what I believe is important and to share my perceptions with others. I am able to express the emotions I feel by angles, lighting, filters, or zooming, focusing in on what I see, whether I am in Honduras, working with North Star girls…, traveling with my family, or simply taking a portrait of my friends….

My camera is a looking glass into how I see the world, and it freezes my emotional perception at a decisive moment.”

Lauren attended Advanced Young Digital Photographers at Maine Media Workshops in Rockport, Maine. The 10th annual Mills Photography Exhibition was held on March 16.

Special thanks to Katie’s family for their continued support and to Renee Psiakis, Fine Arts Department Co-Chair and Upper School Photography teacher.

10 Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011

Renee Psiakis, Ayla Peacock ’11, Mills recipient Lauren Hipple ’11, Ann V. Klotz and proud father Richard Hipple

Laurel School 2011 Gator Bash

LIFE AT LAUREL

Gator Bash: Forever Plaid!

The Cleveland Clinic Lyndhurst Campus, formerly the site of the world headquarters of TRW and the grounds of the original Bolton-Blossom estate, proved a perfect setting for the 5th Annual Gator Bash, Forever Plaid.

Guests—parents, alumnae, parents of alumnae, faculty, staff and friends—strolled through vignettes of Laurel through the decades, browsed the many outstanding silent and live auction items and savored delicious food by Sammy’s Catering.

Capping off the evening was live music and dancing with Afterthought & TheNuSoul Band.

Thanks to all its supporters, this year’s event, co-chaired by Jamie Belkin ’83 and Mebby Klein Brown ’65, raised more than $80,000 for the Laurel community.

ROW ONE (L TO R): Co-chairs Mebby Klein Brown

’65 and Jamie Belkin ’83 with Head of School Ann V. Klotz; Cari Richer Ross ’85 (background) checks out the plethora of silent auction items; ROW TWO (L TO R): Jim and Vicki Bell; Katerina and David MacGregor; ROW THREE (L TO R): Abby, Maegan ’03 and Rob Ruhlman; The Atrium was aglow; ROW FOUR (L TO R): In the spirit of the evening are Henry and Sally Weaver Chisholm ’54 and Mebby Klein Brown ’65; Heather Diemer Havre ’86 and her husband, John; Cathy Dwyer LoPresti ’65 with Jeff and Ce Sinclair.

Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011

11

Third Graders Emily Nicholls, Camille Kovach and Lia Snyder in Chinese class with Emma Forquer

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Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011

Passport

to the

World

LAUREL’S PRIMARY WORLD LANGUAGES PROGRAM

By Christina Crouch ’99

Soñar. Osar. Hacer.

Rêver. Oser. Faire.

Dream. Dare. Do.

Y

oung Learners Discover, Explore and Experience. As

the world becomes a global village, the ability to communicate with one another increasingly is essential. And whether it is in Spanish, French, Chinese or English, Laurel girls are ready. Empowering girls to be global citizens begins in the Primary where students gain exposure to and comfort interacting in three world languages: Chinese, French and Spanish. The World Languages Program allows students to engage in language study that is meaningful, contextualized and rich in cultural relevance.

What makes the Primary World Language program at Laurel distinctive? The basic framework for starters as it immerses students in Kindergarten through Second Grade in the three languages (once a week for each language) in an integrated curriculum that is tied to social studies. For example, when Kindergarten students learn about the rainforest in their Primary classroom, the Chinese class will focus on the rainforest in China, the French class will look at the Congo River Basin and the Spanish class will explore animals of the Iguazu region of South America.

This emphasis on immersing the students in the target language develops both a familiarity with and a confidence in functioning in the target language. As Second Grader Maggie Hatch explains: “It feels like we’re actually in that country. It’s not our classroom; it’s the country. Our classroom is France. Everybody is speaking that language…. This is France…or Spain or the country of whatever language we’re learning.”

Third Grader Elizabeth Thompson agrees, “I feel like I’m actually learning a language that I can speak.”

During the Third Grade year, students, having had significant exposure to all three, choose either Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011 13

Chinese, French or Spanish for a longer sequence of study through the rest of Primary and Middle Schools. They have the option to add Latin in Seventh Grade, as well as another language in Upper School.

These results indicate that learning another language enhances a student’s understanding of English and her other academic skills (The College Board SAT, 2003; Curtain & Dahlberg, 2004).

WHY LEARN ANOTHER LANGUAGE?

•

And, students who speak more than one language may have greater career opportunities down the road.

Certainly bilingualism and multilingualism promote richer cultural understanding but they likely will prove to be economically advantageous, as well. When these students enter the workforce, they will be able to communicate effectively and to display higher degrees of flexibility and acceptance of other viewpoints. Not only will this allow them to promote multiculturalism in the United States, but the girls will find themselves better prepared to work in social, economic or political spheres abroad. (Carreira & Armengol, 2001).

The answers are quite simple and backed by research.

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Research indicates that learning a second language early on helps students develop critical-thinking skills, enabling them to think more creatively and to have better problem-solving abilities (e.g., Bamford and Mizokawa, 1991).

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Studies further suggest that students who receive regular instruction in a second language outperform their monolingual peers on standardized tests.

Christina Crouch ’99 teaches French to Eliza Schwarz ’23 and Veda Palomo ’23 and their classmates.

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“[By being able to speak another language] We can help others and that’s kind of helping the world.

Everybody will help everybody and that’s helping the world; helping the environment; teaching somebody. If we teach somebody, she can teach other people.”

— Maggie Hatch ’21

FULFILLING MY PROMISE: CONVERSATIONS WITH LAUREL GIRLS Laurel’s mission statement —“to inspire each girl to fulfill her promise and to better the world”— fuels everything we do. If learning another language helps reinforce the School’s commitment to service learning and encourages students to engage in interactions beyond Lyman Circle, Primary girls realize the significance of having more than one language in one’s academic arsenal. “[By being able to speak another language] We can help others and that’s kind of helping the world,” notes Maggie Hatch ’21.

“Everybody will help everybody and that’s helping the world; helping the environment; teaching somebody. If we teach somebody, she can teach other people.” And, U.S. State Department take note! Budding diplomat Elizabeth Thomas ’20 adds, “It helps make peace…if we were doing something (in a crisis), we would be able to keep everything calm by speaking the other language.”

From Emily Nicholl’s ’20 perspective the benefit extends beyond work-related opportunities: “We can be friends with people from other countries, because when I think of friends, I think of people I can communicate with.”

While the recent wake of national budget woes has led to cuts in many foreign language programs, Laurel remains firmly committed to World Languages, so much so that it has added additional resources to create the Primary World Language curriculum.

Through a well-articulated K-12 model, each student has the opportunity to obtain mastery and fluency in at least one world language by the time she graduates.

For Maggie, Elizabeth, Emily and all other Primary students, language proficiency translates into flexible thinking and a broader worldview. Laurel School recognizes that one critical component of preparing students for the 21st Century is helping each girl develop the skills she needs to engage in a fully global society and encouraging every student to find her voice, whether in Chinese, French or Spanish.

WORKS CITED: “Benefits of Early Language Learning.” Ñandutí (Foreign Language Learning Grades PreK-8, Center for Applied Linguistics). Aug, 27, 2010. Web. 8 Dec. 2010.

Christina S. Crouch ’99 teaches Primary French and Spanish and is the Pre-Primary and Primary World Languages Coordinator.

Her favorite word in French is gribouiller (to scribble) and in Spanish is golondrina (a swallow, as in bird.) n Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011 15

Beyond

Classroom

Amanda

the

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We know that making connections and constructing knowledge within a global context is vitally important to girls. Laurel’s curriculum is made more robust by the many learning opportunities beyond the classroom. Protégé is Laurel’s signature Upper School program that links a student’s interests and passions with real-world experience through internships, research assistantships in medical science labs or social science research facilities or independent research projects where a student designs her own research and is mentored by a professional. We asked five of the many girls who have participated in Protégé to share how it has enhanced their Laurel experience.

Arts Management: The Cleveland Museum of Art

an interview. By the end of the interview, I learned that CMA had decided to give me a position as an intern! Without Laurel’s support, I would not have had the opportunity to intern at CMA last summer.

AMANDA BLOCK ’11 I worked in the Department of Performing Arts, Music and Film, and my responsibilities involved office work, outreach, archihave always known that there was something different about val work, meetings, and assisting with the “VIVA! & Gala Series,” the arts. My parents enriched my sister, Ali ’08, and me from and the museum’s annual Solstice Party, an extravaganza attended by thousands. Over the course of my internship, I learned so much a young age, by taking us to the theater and museums and about arts management—I never realized how much organization by enrolling us in ballet and music classes. I also began playing the goes into one performance because I was usually the one performflute at the age of seven and have always been extremely involved ing or attending, not planning, the event! in the performing arts, but it was not until my Sophomore year, I especially enjoyed the archival work because I was able to learn during my World History II course, that I truly discovered my great a lot about CMA’s history. I also had the incredible opportunity to appreciation of the visual arts world.

Our teacher, Mr. Connell, integrated artwork from the periods take a full tour of CMA—I saw where paintings are stored in the we studied. It was then that I felt a greater connection to the visual Museum when not on display. I even stood right next to a Monet! In addition to learning about arts management, I learned about a typical arts and a desire to learn more about the field. I learned about the different styles and forms of art and the way artwork is a reflection office’s needs, event coordination, troubleshooting, behavior in the of the historical events and values of each era. We studied hundreds workplace, and the general “behind-the-scenes” life of a museum.

Having known forever that I want to be involved in the arts, I have of painters and sculptors and their works. I found myself drawn considered professional careers in both music and dance; however, into art history, wanting to pursue more. until recently, I had not considered a career in art history and museum Inspired to learn more about each artist and his or her work and work. Thanks to Laurel’s Protégé program, I was able to explore this time period, I decided to research internship opportunities at the career possibility. I now know that I am passionate about art history, Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA); however, I was disappointed to and I am dedicated to the arts community and its prosperity. learn that CMA allowed only college students to become interns. I

contacted Dr. Larry Goodman, Director of Strategic Programming, Amanda Block has played the flute since the age of seven and was to see if he knew of any other Cleveland-area opportunities for me awarded one of the top three prizes in the Northeastern Ohio Flute in the field of art history. In just a few weeks, Dr. Goodman had contacted CMA, and despite my age, the Museum allowed me to ap- Association Young Artist Competition last fall. She will attend the ply for the internship. After completing the application process, I had University of Chicago in the fall where she will continue to play the flute.

I

Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011 17

Mauree Sleep on it: The Cleveland Clinic Sleep Disorder Center MAUREEN MENTREK ’12

I

take three AP courses. I play two sports. I am active in Model UN, student government and Green Key. My cross-town commute starts every morning at 6:27 a.m. sharp. I am a Junior at Laurel, and my life is hectic, to say the least. Like many other Laurel girls, I was surviving on only four hours of sleep per night. So it was surprising to neither my friends nor my family when I told them that I had approached Dr. Goodman and Mrs. Melissa Rogers about designing a summer research internship to study sleep at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation Sleep Disorder Center as part of the Protégé Program.

When I began my project last July, all I knew about sleep was that I personally did not get enough of it. I reported to work on the same day that a group of doctors were scheduled to begin their fellowships (and I am sure that many of them were a bit confused when they encountered what appeared to be a 16-year-old fellow in their midst). Since sleep medicine is a rather obscure medical sub-specialty, I felt surprisingly comfortable because they appeared to be nearly as uninformed as I was.

However, let’s just say that after a month and a half of immersion in my Protégé project, I was anything but uninformed. In fact, had you seen me during the summer months, odds are I diagnosed you with some obscure, scary-sounding sleep disorder. My transformation from a relatively ignorant-about-sleep teenager to what is tantamount to a female Doogie Howser, began with a two-week series of didactic lectures on everything from major sleep disorders such as sleep apnea and narcolepsy, to common

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treatments of those disorders, to Clinic billing protocols.

Throughout my experience, I was offered a first-hand opportunity to observe every aspect of the professional life of a specialist at the Sleep Disorder Center. Not only did I attend lectures, but I learned how to score and interoperate the electric firings of brain neurons with PSGs, worked on the Quality of Life Epilepsy Study, went on both sleep and neurological clinical rounds, and even participated in a sleep study of my own when I was invited to test the Clinic’s newest sleep “toy,” the Watch PAT. My Protégé project culminated in a presentation of my research to a group of my own peers and Laurel faculty. Following my presentation, I even met with Dr. Lisa Damour, Laurel’s consulting psychologist and Co-Director of the Center for Research on Girls, regarding the possible integration of my research into a sleep hygiene unit in our Lifeskills course.

All in all, my opportunity to work through Protégé resulted in one of the most meaningful experiences of my life. I learned so much not only about sleep, but also about myself. My internship inspired me so much that I am now interested in pursuing a career as a doctor. I want to be the person to whom a patient’s trust is given in order to improve her quality of life. Whether those problems arise from issues with sleep, epilepsy, or medicine in general, I want to be the person who changes lives—who saves lives. Protégé opened my eyes to the fascinating word of medicine. But perhaps most importantly, I learned that regardless of the amount of time I must commit to my activities, or the amount of homework I have due the next day, sleep is important and is not to be forgone. I am still a Laurel girl. But now I’m a Laurel girl who gets a healthy amount of sleep!

Maureen Mentrek looks forward to her Senior year at Laurel and a good night’s sleep!

KATIE NAYMON ’11

D

uring the summer of 2009, I drove to a house tucked away in a development in Chesterland.

I spent several hours a day working… in the basement.

The basement of the house contained the office spaces of Toby and Melanie Maloney, two vice-presidents of mental_ floss magazine. I spent my weeks learning the ins and outs of the magazine, both the print and online components. mental_ floss is a bi-monthly national magazine that was founded in 2001 by two Duke University graduates. I’ve been very passionate about journalism throughout high school, so I looked for Protégé projects that would help me learn more about magazine journalism.

Throughout that July, I watched as the hectic magazine production schedule unfolded. I contacted each editor on staff, including the two founders, so I could better understand how a magazine is created. I worked primarily with the business side of the publication, as Mr. Maloney

was the Vice President of Business Development. I helped him seek out potential advertisers with the magazine, and I also assisted with putting mental_ floss onto Facebook.

I did research for the magazine, helped with subscriptions, created a spreadsheet for magazine demographics and assisted with choosing the next month’s magazine cover. I also folded a lot of T-shirts—mental_floss has a complete line of hilarious shirts and books to complement the magazine and website. I took several home!

As part of my internship, I also wrote an article for mental_floss’s website about crazy college essay prompts, which eventually got syndicated to CNN.com’s Living section. It was really cool to see my byline on a national website!

My Protégé project was a great experience, and I was able to apply a lot of my mental_floss experience to my work on The Gator Byte, Laurel’s online magazine that I founded as a freshman. From learning about customer service to meticulous fact-checking, my internship cemented my desire to become a journalist.

Katie Naymon is the founder and editor of Gator Byte, Laurel’s online magazine. She will attend Johns Hopkins University in the fall.

atie

the

Beyond Classroom

Journalism: mental_floss

Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011 19

The Survey Says: Cleveland State University ABBY ROSENBLUM ’11

D

Abby

uring the winter of my Junior year, I knew I wanted to take part in a Protégé project in order to gain some experience in the workforce and explore one of my passions, but I was not sure what area I wanted to study. After considering my love of mathematics and analyzing information, I decided to pursue a project in political science.

Last summer I worked at Cleveland State University in the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs. I was given the assignment to construct a survey instrument that would measure CEO confidence in the economy and to build several different panels of questions that probe different areas of public policy concern as it related to American manufacturing: capital access, labor quality, and issues related to international competition and supply chain management.

In order to complete this task, I had to first do much research.

This included reading books on information graphics and looking at previous online business surveys. I then created many drafts to eventually produce a final version. After the final version of the

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survey had been created, I dedicated a great deal of time to using an online survey tool in order to correctly format the questions to create a design that would be straightforward and user-friendly.

At that point, my time at Cleveland State ended, though the survey would eventually be sent to the head of the Ohio Manufacturing Association (OMA) and distributed to its members. The answers were analyzed in the College of Urban Affairs to determine what types of businesses were successful and why they were succeeding. This information is useful in helping Ohio create thriving companies that would be able to help our economy prosper.

Not only did I thoroughly enjoy this experience, but also I learned more than I could have ever imagined. I was exposed to so much information about our economy that cannot solely be learned from reading the news. I also learned the best way to effectively ask questions, because if the survey was in any way unclear, it would not be successful. In addition, I learned how to use a survey tool.

Through this internship, I not only gained a wealth of knowledge from the project, but also from mentors who were there to guide me.

Abby Rosenblum, a member of the Laurel figure skating team, received silver level recognition from the United Figure Skating Association this spring. She will attend Brandeis University in the fall.

the

Beyond Classroom

Tanna Knocking Out Cancer with (Timp3) Knock-Out Mice TANNAZ ROWSHANBAKHTFARDIAN ’11

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or my Protégé project I worked at the Cleveland Clinic Cole Eye Institute. My lab director, Bela Anand-Apte, had been working on a project she was looking to publish. The main objective of the project was to determine if Ephrin A2, a peptide ligand that serves as a receptor for specific proteins in the body, was increased in Timp3 knock-out mice. These are mice that are genetically altered so that their bodies do not produce Timp3, an inhibitor for angiogenesis which is new blood vessel growth from pre-existing blood vessels. Timp3 prevents new blood vessel growth and genetically altering the mice so that they do not produce Timp3 means that tumors and blood vessels grow more rapidly in the mice.

If we can track the levels of Timp3 in the body and control those levels, that could lead to further development in finding treatment for tumor growth and cancers.

I was asked to run the major tests for this project and report the results at weekly lab meetings. I also got the opportunity to plate cells as well as observe the surgeries that my lab mentors performed.

During my time in the lab, I was taught to run protein lysates in order to prepare the tissue samples that would be tested. I then prepared the samples and was taught to use them in running westerns, which is a technique used to detect proteins in a tissue sample through a process known as gel electrophoresis. The rest of the westerns were run, washed, and developed by another intern and me in the lab. During the washes of the western plates, the

protein was covered in Ephrin A2, which would show the amount of protein in each organ that was tested. Once the washes were complete, the westerns were developed on film. The films were checked to make sure equal amounts of protein were used in each blot. Once they were confirmed to be equal, they were then presented to Dr. Anand-Apte at weekly lab meetings.

Often times, the westerns had to be re-run due to measurement errors or malfunctions of the western gels.

This could be frustrating since each western took about three days to complete. However, the frustrations and complications of the process allowed me to understand the persistence and patience that is needed to work in a lab. I truly learned to appreciate the amount of work and thought that goes into completing a research project.

Overall, I enjoyed the time I spent working in the lab and am thankful that they allowed me to do much of the work on my own. Not only did I gain experience with lab technique, but I could perform and understand the reasoning behind the tests that were run.

Luckily, the results found were accurate and corresponded to those that we were expected to find. Therefore, after some more tests that I will run during my Senior project, Dr. Anand-Apte will be ready to publish our findings. My fellow intern and I will be co-authors on her published work! Our findings will allow other researchers and doctors to make further progress in understanding the body’s response to angiogenesis.

Tannaz Rowshanbakhtfardian is enrolled in a six-year undergraduate and medical school program at Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine.

She begins classes this summer. n Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011 21

by Caroline Kruse, Director of Community Relations

It’s a typical Saturday morning for Laurel Senior Alex Kruse— she rolls out of the warmth of her bed at 6 a.m., slips on a skirt and button-down shirt, runs out the door with her heels and an overstuffed binder in hand. There is hardly anyone on the road. As she drives to her destination, she repeats arguments and obscure facts aloud. She arrives at the tournament site where a sea of familiar faces greets her.

These are her comrades and her competition, and each Saturday from October to March this is her weekend ritual as a member of Laurel’s Speech and Debate team.

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O

nce the tournament begins, Alex and her Public Forum partner, Senior Ann Dunn, who are both National qualifiers, join two other debaters from another school and a judge in a small classroom. The students cordially shake hands and take their seats on opposite ends of the room. For thirty minutes they argue both sides of an issue and try to convince the judge that they have the winning argument. This debate dance will go on for four, five sometimes six rounds, each time facing new opponents. Alex proudly proclaims she wouldn’t want to spend her weekends any other way: “The adrenaline rush, nervous energy, and power that comes from knowing both sides of a controversial issue so thoroughly excites me—whether the issue be affirmative action, political lobbying or cyberbullying.”

For Junior Anne Meeker, also a National qualifier, it’s the weekly opportunity to meet and eventually befriend students from other schools that keeps her engaged. “At speech, you’re thrown together with the kind of kids who get up at ridiculous hours on their Saturdays to be a part of an academic team—crazy, certainly, but really awesome kids,” she explains. “It’s very, very rarely that I ever met someone at speech whom I didn’t like; actually, I can honestly say that I met most of my best friends there. Especially in Original Oratory, my event for

The adrenaline rush, nervous energy, and power that comes from knowing both sides of a controversial issue so thoroughly excites me... two years, friendships form so quickly because we show a side of ourselves that we would usually keep hidden in other kinds of competition, through writing a speech on a topic we care about and presenting it to almost complete strangers. To really do it well, you have to be totally, openly, nakedly sincere, which is something we don’t do often.”

Laurel’s Speech and Debate program is considered one of the best and brightest in the country—having earned membership in The National Forensic League’s (NFL) 100 club, placing in the top 10% of NFL chapters nationwide.

This year the team sent 17 girls to the State Tournament and four girls qualified in three different events for the National Tournament, taking place in Dallas, Texas, in June. So it’s hard to believe that the program was started a mere seven years ago by Speech & Debate Head Coach and Laurel Science teacher Rich Kawolics.

“When I began teaching at Laurel, I was struck by the brilliance of the Senior Speech concept, but also realized that speech at Laurel could be so much more,” he explains. “I was aware that speech and debate could be an extracurricular, and

Eleanor Werner ’14 and partner Jane Morris ’12 practice the finer points of Public Forum debating with national qualifiers Ann Dunn ’11 and Alex Kruse ’11.

frankly a bit surprised that a school of Laurel’s stature did not have a program.”

In Mr. Kawolics’ first meeting with then new Head of School Ann Klotz he told her he wanted to start a speech and debate program. Ms. Klotz offered to fund the program if Mr. Kawolics would agree to lead it—and the Laurel Speech and Debate program was born.

Laurel’s Forensic program has evolved over the past six years and the most visible change is in numbers; in the first year there were 18 members and 3 qualified for states. This year, the team had as many competitors at states as were on the entire team in 2005. In 2010-2011, nearly 50 girls or 20% of the Upper School participated in speech and debate. Another change is the events the team now focuses on. Early on the team had its greatest success in Public Forum debate and Oratorical Interpretation. But today, Laurel is the strongest Original Oratory school in the district, with four state qualifiers (the maximum) in each of the last two years.

“I think our Middle School Power of the Pen program, as well as the excellent teachers in the English department, are largely responsible for that. We also have grown a very strong Lincoln-Douglas Kiara Vincent ’11 competes in Oratorical Interpretation

Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011 23

Voices Raised

in Speech & Debate

debate contingent and have become one of the strongest Extemporaneous Speaking schools in Cleveland. We have two state qualifiers each in International and US Extemp this year,” says Mr. Kawolics.

Beyond the Saturdays spent participating in tournaments, the girls put in hours researching and prepping, writing speeches and cases and practicing with coaches and teammates. It’s a huge commitment and most of the girls estimate they dedicate around 15 additional hours each week to the program. Then there are the state, district and national tournaments which Anne Meeker describes as, “incredibly long, grueling, nervewracking, heartbreaking, but occasionally joyous.” But for girls on the Speech and Debate team like Anne, the experience is incredibly empowering and rewarding. “I hardly recognize myself, after three years of speech,” she asserts. “Beyond the abil-

ity to speak articulately in public—which I’m reminded very often is an incredibly valuable skill—I also learned what it means to have a voice, and to use it.”

Sophomore Megan Zupon credits speech and debate with expanding her ability to think and express herself and so much more. “Being in Original Oratory has helped me realize the passion and power in writing, and has guided much of my academic life in terms of the classes I’m taking and colleges I’m interested in,” she explains. “I don’t think I’d be the same person without forensics. It’s such a fantastic environment socially and academically, and it really is, in my opinion, the best ‘glue’ between classes, interests, schools, counties—and even states—you can find.”

Rich Kawolics believes that the personal confidence and conviction that Laurel students develop through speech

or debate are critical assets that they carry with them into whatever life they choose. “I am certain that before long,” he predicts, “Laurel Speech and Debate will count among its alumnae any number of attorneys, doctors, business leaders, teachers, authors, researchers, and performers.”

But for Laurel girls there are some additional perks. “I love speech and debate because it gives us time to socialize with boys in an intellectual way,” admits Sophomore Claire Rundelli. “But that’s only one reason, speech and debate really prepares you for life by giving you amazing public speaking skills and social skills. It always has a new or exciting experience to offer and there are so many new friends to be made. I definitely think that getting up early on a Saturday is an easy thing to do if it means that I can participate in this wonderful program.” n

O R I G I N A L O R A T O R Y — Anne finished in the top 30 nationally with this original speech, excerpted below

S

by Anne Meeker ’12

o, I have this pet peeve.... (I)t’s rampant insincerity. And it’s everywhere. For most people, this would have just become a rant. For me, well… sometime last summer, it became a speech. Here’s how it happened: I wrote most of my first draft, but I didn’t have any ideas for an opening, so I just picked a flashy, slick, attention-grabbing

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gimmick and sent it to my coach. The next day, I got an email back—“everything okay except intro.” So, I went bigger, flashier, wilder.... A month and a half and fifteen drafts later: “don’t hate me, but it’s still not there.” I was annoyed.... And that’s when it hit me. I was writing a speech about how sincerity is dying out because we’re too concerned with what other people expect to hear from us, and everything I wrote was completely insincere....

To remember as a people how to mean what we say—how to be sincere—first we need to realize how others’ expectations affect us. We then have to figure out why we’re not being brought up to be sincere, and ultimately to recognize sincerity when we are lucky enough to find it.

I’d like to introduce you to an unfortunately little-known character here in the West. His name is Vladimir Pomerantsev.

In 1953, his essay “On Sincerity in Literature” (1) was published in a Russian journal, detailing a disappointing phenomenon in Soviet writing after the Bolshevik Revolution. The phenomenon?

Characters in Russian literature spoke as soullessly as one

ludicrous miner who exclaimed “I really want to use the lengthened because they didn’t have the freedom to say what they felt; kids bore-holes! I wish my day off would end sooner!”(1) All characters without the ability to understand what they’re thinking don’t have were ideal communist comrades, all conflicts resolved, all the freedom to articulate it, but Carol was sincere because she emotions boxed and bottled and stacked on library shelves like had the freedom of never being bound by social constraints.... soup cans in a warehouse. In writing what they thought critics— Ursula K. Le Guin once said: “Freedom… is not a gift given, but controlled by the oppressive government—wanted to hear, these a choice made.”(5) It’s a difficult choice, and one that I can’t ask anyone to make. writers locked themselves into molds, and Pomerantsev said it There are so many hoops we make ourselves jump through best: “Things fit the mold when there are no particular thoughts before we say something sincere because we all know how much or feelings.”(1) However, according to the Literary Encyclopedia, after the publication of this essay, the Russian government, and easier it is to speak only from behind layers of words we only mean therefore critics, began to relax control of literature and art. With a little bit of.... Feeling and expressing emotion are inextricably (2) that newfound freedom, literature blossomed.

Kiran Kawolics ’11, Megan Zupon’ 13 and Anne Meeker ’12 But beyond literature, and oppressively unimaginative governments, why are we not sincere?

I think one of the biggest reasons has to be that without anything to communicate, there’s nothing to be sincere about. Without clear thought, there’s nothing to communicate, therefore, no sincerity.

Educational psychologist Dr. Jane Healy raises the argument that we don’t think clearly anymore—and aren’t raising our children to, either—in her book “Endangered Minds: Why Our Children Don’t Think and What We Can Do About It.”(3) Her basic argument is that the complexity of our thoughts depends on related; by forgetting how to do one, we eventually forget the the complexity of the language we use... the amount of language other as well. How can you possibly expect to recognize sincerity ability developed is directly linked to the amount of time spent in conversation. However, busy parents and overworked teachers tend in someone else when you don’t know how to show it yourself?...

(When) I find my humanity. I get this rare glimpse of the person I to enforce the idea that children should be seen and not heard. want to be.... For me, at least, this is freedom.

Teachers then struggle with nice, complacent students who can’t So, maybe I misspoke earlier when I labeled this just a pet articulate a coherent thought to save their lives....(3) So that explains our inability to articulate complex thoughts peeve, because it is something so much greater than that. At with any degree of sincerity, but not all sincerity requires complex, the root of sincerity is everything beautiful about humanity—our abstract thought, or even words at all. Last summer, I suddenly self-expression, our freedom. I can stand here and plead until the realized I should be doing some community service.... So, I filled world ends, but when it comes to overcoming others’ expectations, out my application and went to Hattie Larlham, a home for raising our children to think clearly, finding the freedom and the children with profound mental retardation and developmental courage to move beyond our societal constraints—to seeing true (4) disabilities. .... I went in to Hattie’s to play piano for Carol, one sincerity—that’s in your hands. of the residents I knew from when I was little.... (a) few songs in...

And I mean that most sincerely. n this kid, who hardly ever reacts to anything, responded. She kicked BIBLIOGRAPHY her feet and beat her rattle in time with the music, all with this (1) Pomerantsev, Vladimir. «On Sincerity in Literature.» SovLit.com. SovLit.com, 1953.

Web. 5 May 2010. <http://www.sovlit.com/sincerity/>. grin on her face. It was incredible. And what made it so special (2) Cornwell, Neil. «Soviet Literature--›The Thaw.›» The Literary Encyclopedia. The Literary was that Carol wasn’t afraid to show how she felt.... Maybe it was

Dictionary Company Limited, 20 July 2005. Web. 11 Sept. 2010. so sincere because she never learned to fear the rejection, the (3) Healy, Jane M. “Endangered Minds: Why Our Children Don›t Think and What We Can Do

About It.” New York: Touchstone, 1999. Print. heartbreak, and the pain we hide from.

(4) «We Are.» Hattie Larlham: services for people with developmental disabilities. Hattie I think what it all comes down to, what really hides behind

Larlham, n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2010. all the layers of barbed wire and broken glass we all surround (5) Le Guin, Ursula K. “The Tombs of Atuan.” New York: Aladdin Paperbacks-Simon and ourselves with… is freedom. Our Russian friends weren’t sincere

Schuster, 2001. Print.

Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011 25

Holiday Luncheon and Class Song Contest 2010

ALUMNAE NEWS

The prize in contention is nothing more than bragging rights but each year the excitement builds in the Upper School the days preceding Winter Break as classes rehearse (and rehearse) for the highly anticipated Class Song Contest, which immediately follows the Alumnae Holiday Luncheon. This year’s bragging rights may have been claimed by the Senior Class but all classes proved themselves worthy competitors and songmistresses!

ROW ONE (L TO R): “Power women who rock” take the Senior Class to first place!; Runners-up the Juniors sing a “Laurel-ized” version of “The Lonely Goatherd” from The Sound of Music!

ROW TWO (L TO R): Classmates Lois Mueller Roulston ’50, Barbara Peterson Ruhlman ’50 and Kay Weidenthal Boyd ’50 remembering their own class song contest days!; Casey Anderson ’08 and Emily Wirtz ’08 catch up with Larry Goodman, Director of Strategic Programming.; Facing a difficult deliberation are song contest judges Noreen Wilson ’77, Jamie Taylor ’02 and Mebby Klein Brown ’65.

ROW THREE (L TO R): The Freshman in their first outing pay tribute to “music through the decades.”; The Sophomores present their spin on Disney hits.

26 Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011

Lyman Circle and Beyond

Young Alumnae Rosemary Mudry ’02 and Alison Lee Streif ’03

ALUMNAE NEWS

Inspired by New Year’s Resolutions, the Young Alumnae Committee hosted a January event FINANCE 101: IMPORTANT LESSONS FOR THOSE IN COLLEGE, JUST OUT OF COLLEGE & IN THEIR EARLY EARNING YEARS. Local alumnae Carey Jaros ’96 (on budgeting), Emily Davis ’89 (on real estate and owning vs. renting), Mary Farrell ’88 (on financial planning, college loans and other debts) and Heather Roulston Ettinger ’79 (on it’s never too early to save, especially for retirement) shared their expertise. Thanks to this wonderfully educational and interactive event, alumnae left feeling informed, powerful and capable, knowing exactly how to start taking their financial lives into their own hands.

Gatherings JOLLY OLD ENGLAND! In December, the Alumnae Association held its first international alumnae and friends reception with a traditional English tea at The Goring Hotel in London. (For those royal wedding watchers, yes, the very same hotel that the Middleton family used as homebase during the wedding festivities in April.) Alumnae as well as parents of alumnae living in London and the UK enjoyed watercress sandwiches, tiny treats and tea while Ann V. Klotz shared with them news about Laurel today. Prior to the tea, the 2011 Distinguished Alumnae Committee, chaired by Leslie McCormack Gathy ’84 and comprising women from the UK and France, met to deliberate about this year’s nominees. Read full coverage about the two women selected, Kathryn Hellerstein ’70 (Distinguished Alumna) and Tiffany Laufer ’91 (Young Alumna of Distinction), in the next issue!

TOP: The 2011 Distinguished Alumnae Committee: (Back row) Jennifer Wilham Stott ’89, Anne Conway Juster ’80 ex-officio, Leslie McCormack Gathy ’84, chair, Alice AuWerter Leader ’65 and Lynnette Jackson ’93 ex-officio (Front row) Judith Hamilton Marie ’51, Carol Madison Graham ’74, Ann V. Klotz ex-officio and Hillbre Ferguson Hill ’45.

MIDDLE: Leslie McCormack Gathy ’84 with Patrick, Jackie and Alexandra Haighton ’86 at The Goring Hotel BOTTOM: Mary Pollock ’04 with Anne Conway Juster ’80; Head of School Ann V. Klotz with Penny Stout-Hammar’69 after a visit Penny arranged to the Godolphin & Latymer School, a fine girls’ school in London.

Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011 27

ALUMNAE NEWS

Gatherings WINE TASTING A Wine Tasting event in late January at the American Wine School, in Beachwood was the perfect way to combat winter’s chill. Marianne Frantz, a certified Wine Educator and Advanced Sommelier, educated 20-some alumnae about the growing process of grapes, how to pair certain wines with certain types of food, how climates contribute to differences in wines, and how tannins effect the strength and deepness of red wines. Along with learning a thing or two about wine, we enjoyed a relaxing evening catching up with old friends and making some new ones, too!

TOP (CLOCKWISE FROM BOTTOM LEFT): Marlana Strange ’96, Noreen Wilson ’77, Janer Danforth Belson ’68 and Marissa Strange ’97 BOTTOM (L TO R): Ann Boughner ’78, Sue Dwyer ’79, Michael Anne Johnson ’64 and Tina Tricarichi ’79

MAKE AND TASTE As a follow-up to last year’s Health and Wellness Expo, the Alumnae Association presented “Make and Taste, an Evening with Jane Esselstyn RN” at a local Whole Foods Market in March. Jane, daughter of Ann Crile Esselstyn ’53, promotes “Health Care is Self Care” and shared her knowledge of and recipes for a healthy plant-based menu. A sold out audience of alumnae and guests eagerly took notes and then prepared delicious and healthy food.

Co-chairs Martha Walter Royan ’71 (left) and Heather Chisholm Evans ’80 (right) with presenter Jane Esselstyn (center)

FOURTH ANNUAL RESTAURANT ROLL What began four years ago as a progressive dinner sampling the finest that independent restaurants had to offer has grown into an annual rite of spring! This year’s Cleveland location — Little Italy. Over twenty alumnae gathered for a girls’ night out, starting with appetizers at Washington Place Bistro and ending with dinner and dessert at Michaelangelo’s.

CLOCKWISE (L TO R): Classmates from 1996 Jen Jackson, Sara Wolfe Hobbs, Jessica Lampros Wilson and Audrey Aponte used the restaurant roll as a preamble to their 10th reunion.; Ronda Mourad ’94, Shannon Sweeny Davis ’89 and Vikki Anderson Patacca ’82; Barbara Smith Martien ’42 and Nancy Wykoff Sharp ’43

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ALUMNAE NEWS

Student Outreach SOPHOMORE CAREER DAY Some of the hostesses and presenters at the Annual Sophomore Career Day, presented by the Alumnae Association: (back row) Emerald Mavridis Velotta ’85, Jane Husni Easly ’84, Kay Carlson ’84, Cari Richer Ross ’85, Mary Garner Ganske ’77 (front row) Sandhia Varyani ’91, Hilary Rule ’78, Emilie Collens Illson ’69 and Jamie Taylor ’02.

SENIOR CLASS STRESSBUSTER

MOCK COLLEGE INTERVIEWS Also in March, just prior to Spring Break, the Alumnae Board sponsored its traditional College Mock Interviewing Workshop for the Junior Class. The brainchild of Amy Stephens ’84 and Lynnette Jackson ’93, this workshop has imparted invaluable advice to Laurel girls as they enter the college process.

Lynnette Jackson ’93 “interviews” Clea Newman ’12

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SS/ CLA IOR E SEN UMNA ER AL BUST ESS STR

In March, the Student Outreach Committee rolled up their sleeves, tied up their laces, and took girls from the Class of 2011 to Freeway Lanes in Solon for a fun afternoon of cosmic bowling for a Senior Class Stress Buster. With first semester finals over but college decisions and AP tests looming, the seniors needed some stress-free hours to play, socialize and unwind. Once the lights dimmed and the cosmic strobe started flashing, the sound of girls’ (both young and more seasoned!) laughter filled the air. Whether celebrating strikes and spares or lamenting the occasional gutter ball, it was an enjoyable afternoon spent with our soon-to-be-newest alumnae!

DO YOU “LIKE” LAUREL SCHOOL? Then become a fan of the official Laurel School fan page featuring the Laurel ring — don’t be confused by imitators! Check out our page for updates throughout the year on the exciting things happening at One Lyman Circle… and at our Butler Campus!

Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011 29

ALUMNAE NEWS

In March, when the earthquake and subsequent tsunami hit Japan, our thoughts turned to those members of the Laurel community in that country: Kitty Shively Kohno ’54 and Akiko Yamaguchi Kitamura ’70 and their families and the students and teachers at our sister school in Iwate Jyoshi.

Thanks to the power of the Internet we learned that all were safe and that a new friendship between Laurel women from different generations was born out of adversity. What follows are excerpts from the email correspondence between the Alumnae Office and Kitty and Akiko.

From: Julie Donahue Sent: March 18, 2011 To: Kitty Shively Kohno ’54 and Akiko Yamaguchi Kitamura ’70 Subject: Concerned Greetings from Laurel Dear Kitty and Akiko, Ever since last Friday, as we have watched the news of the unfolding and unimaginable forces of destruction that began with the earthquake, we have worried about you, your loved ones and our friends at our sister school in Iwate Jyoshi. From here at Lyman Circle, it is hard to comprehend the magnitude of the suffering and the challenges your country has faced, and continues to face, as the photos and news reports come in. It is our sincerest hope that you and your families have been spared. Know that our prayers and thoughts are with you and your countrymen. Adversity is the foundation of virtue. Our hearts are with you.

Julie

From: Akiko Kitamura Sent: March 18, 2011 Dear Julie, Thank you very much for your email. It is very encouraging to have friends far away in Cleveland who are concerned about us and send sympathy.

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I live in the suburb of Tokyo, and my family and our house are all safe and well. I was in the city center on the 5th floor of a building that afternoon. It was the biggest quake I had ever felt in my life and we ran down stairs to evacuate. In the city center there are many high-rise buildings but fortunately I saw no collapse or damage, nor things falling down. People came down from the 20th- or 30th-floor, gathered on the ground, watching buildings sway like trees blowing in the wind! We were very scared.

Fortunately, soon after, I found out my husband and son were safe and I felt very much relieved. Public transportation stopped at once after the first quake, so I could not go home that day. I stayed overnight at a hotel and reached home the next morning.

I know we are in a volcanic country with frequent earthquakes but had never imagined such a big one would hit Japan. We face critical troubles of nuclear power plants, too. Aftershock quakes still occur in different places. A week after the quake, relief activities have started to proceed.

I have received emails to inquire about the safety of my family and me from several classmates of ’70. I appreciate their heartfelt messages and prayers and feel we can move forward with the support.

Thank you very much.

Love to Laurel, Akiko Kitamura (Class of ’70)

From: Kitty Kohno Date: March 21, 2011 Dear Julie and Laurel Community, It surely was wonderfully comforting to hear from you, dear friends.

Thank you all for your prayers and kind thoughts during these difficult days in Japan. First of all, please know that my husband and I, as well as all of our family members in Tokyo, Chiba and Yokohama, feel very blessed because we all are safe and unharmed by the events of the earthquake, the tsunami, and the nuclear disasters in Fukushima. The Japanese people are persevering, working together, and surely they will succeed to rise up from the rubble and the tragedy seen around the world on TV today.

ALUMNAE NEWS

This was a three-day national holiday weekend in Japan in honor of the spring equinox, but… many people seem to want to stay inside their homes where they can feel a little safer from radiation and possible strong aftershocks. They haven’t yet forgotten the fearful feeling night before last when we had a rather strong aftershock. Aftershocks bring back the unforgettable, vivid images and feelings many of us had during the violent earthquake. It was certainly a wild ride on the twenty-ninth floor of our apartment building, and I think it is impossible to forget, even though we are so fortunate and thankful to be safe from the disaster, albeit somewhat effected by shortages and rationing of items such as bottled water, rice, and other staples which we gladly deal with now. The lobby and hallways of our building are rather dimly lit, and the escalator from the lobby to the second floor also is not in operation in order to conserve electricity, but the elevators are still running, and we are thankful for that. The Concierge has told us that most of the foreigners residing in our apartment building have returned to their own countries. But a big part of my heart is with Japan, so my husband and I are happily here where we will do our best to help in whatever ways we can. We will keep in touch.

With gratitude and love, Kitty Kohno

From: Kitty Kohno Sent: March 22, 2011 To: Akiko Kitamura CC: Julie Donahue Dear Akiko-san, During these difficult days following the earthquake in Japan, Julie Donahue

and the Laurel community have been in close touch with you and me. What a comfort that has been! We are not only fortunate to be safe from all the harm and destruction in Japan, but we are also truly blessed to have experienced life and education at Laurel School. In that sense, we are already “sisters.” It is my sincere hope that we will have a chance to meet very soon and become good friends. In fact, I feel like we already are!

We must keep in touch, and when the aftershocks from the earthquake become less, let’s make a plan to meet.

From your new Laurel friend, Kitty Kohno

From: Kitty Kohno Sent: March 24, 2011 Dear Julie, Thank you so much for sending Akiko’s contact information and bringing the two of us together. We have been emailing to each other, and already she seems like my new “sister.” So far we have not been able to meet because we are waiting for the aftershocks to settle down before venturing out very far from our homes.

We do plan to meet just as soon as we are sure that the trains are very safe and the Tokyo tap water is safe to drink again.

Probably we live about a little over an hour train ride apart now. But ironically, when my husband and I first arrived in Tokyo nearly ten years ago, we lived only about fifteen minutes from each other, and I often used to shop at the grocery store in Akiko’s neighborhood.

By coincidence, the great earthquake has brought two Laurel girls together and we have a long, long friendship to look forward to I believe.

Thank you again for everything.

Love from, Kitty Kohno

From: Kitty Kohno Sent: April 14, 2011 Dear Julie, Today the Lyman CircleNewsletter was waiting for me when I opened my computer early this morning. I enjoyed reading it from start to finish and looking at the lovely photos, too. What a coincidence because today Akiko and I had our very first meeting and spent the entire day until late afternoon enjoying the cherry blossoms in Setagaya, Tokyo and chatting over lunch about our treasured Laurel days, our families, and our lives.

I’ve attached the photos we took today so you can see what a happy day it was for us! Thank you for giving Akiko and me this opportunity to know each other and become very good friends. We’re looking forward to the time when we can visit Laurel someday.

With love and gratitude, Kitty Kohno

Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011 31

alumnae

IN MEMORIAM Marion Weiner Halle ’36 of Beachwood, on November 14, 2010. Marion joined Laurel’s Class of 1936 as a Sophomore and was a loyal supporter of Laurel whose longtime volunteer service included being a leadership agent for the Annual Fund, serving on the Distinguished Alumna committee and being a reunion planner. She is survived by her daughter, two sons, nine grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.

Kathryn “Kay” Blair Herndon ’36 of Cleveland, on March 14, 2011. Kay met her late husband, Charles, a doctor, while serving in England as a Donut Girl for the American Red Cross during WWII. Kay was injured during the invasion of Normandy, suffering burns from an exploding stove. However, she remembered her service fondly and continued to help people and causes the rest of her life. She is survived by two sons, grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

Suzanne Brookhart Harrison ’37 of Cleveland Heights, on January 5, 2011. She attended Vassar College and the University of California, Berkeley. After the bombing at Pearl Harbor, Sue opened a day nursery for preschool children so their mothers could work in factories to help the war effort. She went on to be the Secretary of the Day Nursery Association and an Assistant Director of the Mather Day Nursery. A member of the Children’s Council of the United Appeal, the Children’s Council of the Welfare Federation, and numerous committees for the Junior League, Sue received the Outstanding Volunteer Fundraising Award by the National Society of Fundraising Executives, as well as the Edward F. Meyers Outstanding Trustee Award for her fundraising service

for Beech Brook and the Judson Retirement Community. Sue was a founding member of the Prentiss Society and a member of Legacy for Laurel. She is survived by daughters Mary Harrison Lansing ’63 and Virginia Harrison Knight ’66, her son, six grandchildren, two step-grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

Nancy Seaton Dornbos ’41 of Indian Harbor Beach, Fla., on June 4, 2010. Nancy graduated from Smith College and had a very active career, working for the Pentagon in Military Intelligence at the end of World War II, as well as working at Northwestern and the University of Chicago. She received Volunteer of the Year for her service to the Brevard Symphony Orchestra South Guild.

She belonged to the Embroiderers Guild, was a founding member of the Space Coast Smith Club, and sang in her church choir.

She is survived by five sons, a daughter, sixteen grandchildren, and seven greatgrandchildren.

Ann “Doug” Douglas Ondocsin ’42 of Plano, Texas, on January 29, 2011. Laurel’s Student Government President during her Senior year, Ann attended The College of Wooster and then worked for a time as a Laboratory Technician at the Rochester General Hospital. She enjoyed gardening, reading, and golfing in her spare time and was a member of the Pennsylvania Women’s Golf Association. Ann was a Prentiss Society member and is survived by her husband, two sons, her daughter, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Suzanne Quay Kelley ’45 of Chagrin Falls, on November 12, 2010. She attended The College of Wooster. She was an accomplished knitter— instructing others, as well as creating and selling her own designs, a guide at the Toledo Museum of Art and an active member in her church. Sue enjoyed working with plants and floral arrangements, serving as the President of the Sundial Garden Club many times. She played golf and tennis in her spare time. Sue is survived by her husband, three sisters, three sons, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Agnes “San” Veach Brooks ’46 of Baltimore, Md., on October 8, 2010. She graduated from Sweet Briar College with a degree in Art History. While living in Cambridge in the late 1960s, San helped her husband run the Cambridge Corporation, a collaboration between Harvard and MIT, focusing on developing the community of the city. When they retired to a family home in Ripton, Vt., San became a dog breeder, focusing on different training and feeding techniques to improve a dog’s quality of life. She was also a volunteer librarian. She is survived by two sisters, three sons and a daughter.

Henrietta “Hank” Gale Kraus ’46 of Cleveland, on December 2, 2010. At Laurel, Hank was a former Class President and a source of much amusement for classmates and friends, writing witty and entertaining stories about her family. She attended Hollins College.

She is survived by her sister, Grace Gale Jones ’43; three daughters, Katherine Kraus Falkner ’71, Caroline Kraus ’74, and Grace Kraus ’76; her son; nieces Laura Dingle DeVenanzio ’66, Rebecca Dingle ’69 and Amy Dingle Ivy ’74; and many grandchildren.

Highlights/SPRING • SUMMER 2011 55

alumnae

IN MEMORIAM Kate Ireland ’48 of Tallahassee, Fla., on February 15, 2011. Kate attended Vassar College and was an avid leader, both civically and within the Laurel community. She was a former President of The Junior League of Cleveland and a former Legislative Chairwoman of the Junior League of Ohio. At age 20, Kate started as a volunteer courier for Frontier Nursing Service in Kentucky, by age 26 worked there full time and in 1975 was named its National Chairwoman. In 1978 she became Laurel’s first Distinguished Alumna. Kate volunteered for University Hospitals and helped start Hill House, now Magnolia Clubhouse, for patients with mental illnesses and served for many years on the board of Berea College. The honorary chair of Laurel’s Centennial Celebration, a longtime benefactress and a Trustee of the School since 1985, Kate showed her dedication to Laurel time and again.

Kate was predeceased by her niece, Margo Humphrey Bindhardt ’60, and her aunt, Elisabeth Ireland Poe ’15. She is survived by her partner, Anne; her sister, Louise Ireland Humphrey ’37, and many nieces and nephews.

Elizabeth “Betsy” Easly King ’49 of Houston, Texas, on November 18, 2010. She attended Raymond Walters College and The Ohio State University. Betsy was a registered nurse and worked for a time at the Tucson General Hospital. She enjoyed building homes, landscaping, and gardening, as well as reading and camping. She is survived by her husband, a daughter, three sons, a step-daughter, sister-in-law Patricia Linderme Easly ’56 and her niece, Sarah Easly Woodall ’79.

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Marcia Gygli King ’49 of San Antonio, Texas, and New York, on January 18, 2011. Marcia attended Smith College and the University of Texas and was a successful and wellknown artist throughout her lifetime. Her work has been shown in museums including the Guggenheim, Brooklyn, and Newark Museums, the Cleveland, San Antonio, and McNay Museums of Art, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Marcia loved summering in Sagaponack, N.Y., where she was able to paint, spend time on the beach, and enjoy family and friends. She was predeceased by her mother, Ruth Farr Gygli ’20. She is survived by two sons and five grandchildren.

Kathleen A. Leonard ’58 of Willoughby, on March 11, 2011. A member of the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre’s Women’s Committee as well as the St. Justin Martyr Bible Study Group, Kate liked jazz music and playing the piano. A member of a longtime Laurel family, Kate was predeceased by her mother, Dorothy Steinbrenner Leonard ’30, great aunts Jessie Steinbrenner Schneider 1902 and Gertrude Steinbrenner 1907, aunt Ruth Steinbrenner Weil ’33 and cousins Gertrude Schneider Taylor ’27 and Leslie Taylor Perkins ’58. She is survived by her brother and sister and cousins Gretchen Schneider Hickok ’34, Susan Steinbrenner Norpell ’51 and Marcia Weil Borowski ‘58.

Mary “Meg” Elizabeth Gale ’54 of Greenacres, Fla., on February 6, 2011. She attended Florida Atlantic University. Meg was an avid domino player, a philanthropist and a writer. She authored Mountain Boy in the City and was a travel journalist for Seabreeze magazine, traveling across the southeastern states. Meg also supported environmental programs dedicated to preserving the Everglades, as well as the National Wheelchair Sports fund, helping to put together the 2002 Florida International Wheelchair Tennis Tournament. Meg established the Gale Scholarship at Laurel in honor of her mother, Mary Blossom (Gale) Lee ’30, and her aunt, Louise Gale Halsey ’41. She also helped fund Laurel’s Magic Tree House through the Molly Bee Foundation, in honor of her mother. Meg is survived by her step-mother, four brothers, her sister, many nieces and nephews and her cousins Sylvia Gale Oliver ’54 and Emily Gale McCartney ’57.

Suzanne Ruby Goldsmith ’59 of Philadelphia, Pa., on December 22, 2010. She attended Syracuse University and was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority. Su was very passionate about community affairs, especially those involving ecology and preserving the environment and natural resources. She helped start the Waynesboro Riverfest at Constitution Park in Waynesboro, Va., as well as the Blue Ridge Recycler Newspaper.

In her free time she enjoyed painting, traveling, and playing bridge. She is survived by her sister and many nieces and nephews.

IN MEMORIAM THROUGH MARCH 2011

Legacy for Laurel

JOAN DOUGLAS ANDERSON ’44

LINDA ANDERSON EDWARDS ’69

Laurel School was very special for Joan Douglas Anderson ’44. In the 1944 issue of Laurel Leaves, Joan was noted for her vivacity and for her passion for art. Having loved her Laurel experience, she never hesitated to have her own daughters, Katharine Anderson Lincoln ’67 and Linda Anderson Edwards ’69, attend Laurel.

So it was fitting that when tragedy struck, she would reaffirm that connection to Laurel School.

When Linda, their younger daughter, passed away suddenly in 1993, Joan and her husband, Alvin, established an irrevocable Charitable Remainder Unitrust in her memory and named Laurel the beneficiary. The Andersons would receive interest from the trust throughout their lifetimes and then the principal would come to Laurel for its endowment.

A member of the Laurel Leaves staff, Glee Club, Choir and Chapel Theater, Linda graduated from Denison University and rose through the ranks at American Greetings from writer to VP of licensing of the Care Bears and other characters. Eventually she began her own business specializing in the creation and licensing of characters for corporate marketing.

We thank Joan, who passed away in March 2009, and her husband, who passed away in March 2011, for honoring their daughter’s life, work and talents by directing the Trust toward Laurel, where it establishes the Linda Anderson Edwards ’69 Endowment, the income from which will be used annually for drama, music and theater programs for students and faculty.

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 Deborah Farquhar Jones, Director of Development and External Affairs, at 216.455.3027 or via email at dFarquharJones@LaurelSchool.org.

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Hats off to the Laurel Class of 2011!

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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING FINE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES WHO WILL WELCOME YOU IN THE FALL: Bard College, Brandeis University, Colby College, The College of Wooster, Denison University, Duke University, Emerson College, Georgetown University, The George Washington University, Indiana University at Bloomington, John Carroll University, Johns Hopkins University, Kenyon College, Maryland Institute College of Art, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Miami University, Middlebury College, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, Northwestern University, The Ohio State University, Ohio University, Rice University, Roanoke College, Rochester Institute of Technology, Purdue University, Scripps College, Stern College for Women, Tulane University, University of Chicago, University of Cincinnati, University of Denver, University of Kansas, University of Michigan, University of Notre Dame, University of St. Andrews-Scotland, University of South Carolina, University of Texas-Dallas, University of Virginia, Vanderbilt University, Vassar College, Washington and Lee University, Washington University in St. Louis, Wellesley College, Wesleyan University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Xavier University, Yale University

We were honored to help inspire you to fulfill your promise and to better the world. We canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wait to see what you accomplish as Laurel School alumnae who Dream. Dare. Do.