Cathedral T H E M AG A Z I N E O F T H E C AT H E D R A L S C H O O L O F ST. J O H N T H E D I V I N E
Independent Thinkers
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Cathedral T H E M AG A Z I N E O F T H E C AT H E D R A L S C H O O L O F ST. J O H N T H E D I V I N E W I N T E R 2 017
Head of School Marsha K. Nelson Director of Institutional Advancement Jennifer Rhodes Communications Coordinator Colin Murray Editor Jessie Saunders Design Lilly Pereira www.aldeia.design Printing Lane Press Contributing Writers Colin Murray, Marietta Snyder, Yojairy Sands, Dr. Mark Thomas, Alan Donaldson, Emmanuel Saldana Principal Photography Caroline Voagen Nelson Photographers Filip Wolak, Colin Murray
Please send magazine submissions to: The Cathedral School of St. John the Divine Attn: Cathedral Editor 1047 Amsterdam Avenue New York, NY 10025 Email: news@cathedralnyc.org
Cover and Table of Contents photos: Filip Wolak Back Cover photo: Caroline Voagen Nelson
F E AT U R E S
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Capital Notions State-of-the-art classrooms for the Upper School and a renovated Kit Wallace Playground are part of Cathedral’s exciting major renovations this year
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A School of One’s Own As Cathedral 8th graders turn their attention to finding the perfect high school, they discover something else: the curious, enterprising, and thoughtful students they have become
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Science + Art In our complex world, multidisciplinary learning is vital. That’s why both Cathedral’s science curriculum and STEAM programs are breaking new ground
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Cathedral Close Cathedral alumni keep in touch, and keep Cathedral traditions alive after graduation
D E PA RT M E N T S
02 Letter from the Head of School 03 Notes from Amsterdam Avenue 20 Uniquely Cathedral 24 Responsible Citizens of the World
26 On the Close 40 Graduation 2016 42 Beyond Cathedral 44 The Last Word
Letter from the Head of School MARSHA K. NELSON
As Head of School, I have a wide range of responsibilities. Invariably, however, the best part of my day occurs when I leave my office, walk through the halls of our building, and step into classrooms, where I have the privilege to watch remarkable learning taking place. I could say “teaching,” and that would certainly be accurate, but I use the word “learning” intentionally. Our teachers, as you know, are talented and committed individuals, deeply knowledgeable about subject matter and proficient in a wide range of techniques to help their students achieve mastery. What our teachers understand is that students learn best when they are thinking, speaking, and writing, when they are actively collaborating, creating, presenting, and, yes, even teaching. This is exactly what I witness every day in our classrooms. I see small groups of children bursting with excitement, teaching each other a variety of methods to solve complex problems. I see articulate presenters, standing with confidence, sharing Head of School Marsha their interpretations and discoveries Nelson was elected with their peers. Most important, I see President of the Guild, independent thinkers: intellectually an organization of astute and proud students who model over 80 NYC Heads of the rewards of a Cathedral education School in 2016 through their fresh and original thinking, their bold and purposeful leadership, and their mature understanding of themselves and the world in which they live. This issue of Cathedral Magazine highlights just a few of the ways our students develop into independent thinkers. You will read about outside speakers visiting classes and clubs to inspire our students through their example and their wisdom. You will hear of teachers utilizing their professional development, whether to provide young
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C A R O L I N E VOAG E N N E L S O N
Declaration of Independence
math students a variety of opportunities to extend their learning, or to help older students become more selfaware through mindfulness training. You will learn how our youngest Lower Schoolers find excitement and joy in encountering a new language, and how this frees them from the fear of making mistakes when they read and speak this language in later years. And you will understand how our expansive campus “classroom” and interdisciplinary STEAM program inspire both imaginations and independence, teaching students that there is no limit to learning and that exploration can be endless. Students become empowered throughout their years at Cathedral, armed with knowledge, skills, passions, and the confidence to make their own decisions. As you will read in “A School of One’s Own,” our 8th graders are more than ready to take the lead in the high school process, further developing along the way their ability to communicate who they are and what they want in a school. Last year, 28 students, focused on finding the right fit for themselves, chose to attend 22 different schools. This is the kind of independent thinking and decision-making we admire in every graduating class. Whether by leading Evensongs, creating electives, presenting their particular passions, or boldly expressing their own points of view, Cathedral students are uniquely prepared to leave the Close and charge into the next phases of their lives, equipped not just to enlighten, but also to change the world. s
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Notes from Amsterdam Avenue
Notes from Amsterdam Avenue
Kids in the Halls What do Cathedral students love to learn about in school? What do they eat for lunch every day? We decided to find out.
Favorite core value? Responsibility, because whenever you do something you have a responsibility to it. Everyone has to be responsible. You have your responsibility to serve food, and to clean up afterwards.
What’s your favorite school lunch?
AMEER, 5TH GRADE
Chicken nuggets with french fries. Or fish nuggets with french fries. Basically, I like french fries.
Everything! NATASHA, 1ST GRADE
BEVERLY, 5TH GRADE
Cheerios! LORETTA, 2ND GRADE
Kindness and respect because you need respect to be kind and kindness to be respectful.
Integrity. It’s the satisfaction of doing the right thing, with nobody telling you to do it. You’ve grown up as a person, you’ve grown up as an individual.
BENNETT, 4TH GRADE
Baloney. JULIAN, 2ND GRADE
Muenster bagels.
Courage because courage means stepping up and doing things that are right for the community. JAMES, 4TH GRADE
Math, because I like the logic behind all the numbers.
LUCAS, 4TH GRADE
Favorite subject? Art, because it’s really freeing.
What I’m eating right now. Rice. RYAN, 1ST GRADE
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ISABEL, 7TH GRADE
Gym or Recess.
Reading. My favorite book is Amelia Bedelia.
EMIL, 3RD GRADE
ELIZABETH, 1ST GRADE
OSCAR, 6TH GRADE
JULIAN, 2ND GRADE
ANTONIO, 8TH GRADE
DALYN, 6TH GRADE
Mac and cheese. So Good!
You have the courage to do something, and that’s important for a lot of people.
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Notes from Amsterdam Avenue
Sign Up for STEAM Camp
LOWER SCHOOL SCIENCE LAB
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Students in the Lower School were introduced to two new inhabitants of the Lower School Science lab this fall: a pair of doves, rescued with help from the Wild Bird Fund on the Upper West Side. Here, Elisa F. ’23 carefully pets the female dove, held by Lower School Science teacher Deja Williams.
Expanded Electives
STEAM camp was back in the summer of 2016 and better than ever. For six weeks, campers explored topics ranging from robotics to coding to water conservation under the expert tutelage of Cathedral faculty members Shawna Altdorf, Deja Williams, Michael Demianiuk, and young alumni counselors. At the end of each week, a field trip took the STEAM campers for hands-on exploration at places like the Museum of Math. Plus, there were popsicles. Camper Theo R. says, “I liked STEAM camp because it was a little bit of everything: science, language arts, music, and technology. I liked having a new theme each week, and you got to know everybody.” Parents were equally enthusiastic: STEAM parent Catherine Hawthorn wrote, “There is something magical going on at The Cathedral School STEAM Camp,” where her son had a wonderful, enriching time. Don’t miss your opportunity to sign up for the 2017 summer sessions! Visit cathedralnyc.org today and sign up for one week, or all six, or contact STEAM Camp Director Emmanuel Saldana at steamcamp@cathedralnyc.org.
It’s been a fall for new experiences at The Cathedral School, as Upper School students have had the option of exploring some new electives. They include a TED talks elective, where the goal is to create a TED-like talk at the end of the trimester; the Beta Club, a way to explore science questions in a lab setting; and Upper School Science teacher Jonathan Pirnia’s Ampersand Club, which invites speakers to school to explain what they do and how they do it, in an effort to enrich students’ classroom time. This year’s first Ampersand Club speaker was Dr. Jason Hochfelder, an orthopedic surgeon who alternately transfixed and repulsed a large crowd of Upper Schoolers with detailed photographs of knee surgery. Next up was professional lacrosse player and Cornell University star attackman Rob Pannell.
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A New Face on the Third Floor
Visiting Scholars This fall has brought some notable speakers to Cathedral classrooms. The 6th graders learned about the bronze age from Alexander Bauer, Professor of Anthropology at Queens College and Cathedral parent. Professor Bauer described using both old-fashioned techniques (walking through plowed fields looking for potsherds) and hightech ones (radar mapping of underground sites) to answer questions about bronze-age life in Anatolia. Diocesan Bishop Andrew Dietsche visited the 8th grade to discuss Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. They explored the themes of good versus evil, personal sacrifice, and how Miller tied the fear-mongering of the 1950s Red Scare into the play. The Bishop remarked that “When people are afraid, they are their worst selves,” tying the events at Salem to modern reactions to Muslims in a post 9/11 world.
Josh Deitch joins the faculty as the Upper School Head, bringing some of the old—a love of Latin—and some of the new—a love of technology—with him.
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FACULTY NEWS + NOTES
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EMPOWERED LEARNING As a learning specialist, in any given interaction with a student, I have to assess where the student is academically, what motivation they might need, and, most importantly, when to step back and let them work. To me, this job is about empowering students to recognize who they are as learners and how to make full use of the resources they have available to them.—Marietta Snyder
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Josh Deitch is a busy man. Not only is he diving headfirst into a new position at a new school, but he’s the father of 3, with a newborn son who was three weeks old at the start of the fall trimester. But that doesn’t seem to faze him. “I like that kind of challenge,” he laughs. His interest in education began at Washington University in St. Louis. “To me it was an interdisciplinary field. There was history involved, there was psychology, there was brain science. It’s different everyday.” Before coming to Cathedral, he was at Saddle River Day School in New Jersey, where he was the head of the middle school. He taught Latin, while also helping to integrate technology into the curriculum. His goal? “Working with teachers to figure out the best way to implement technology, and make it seem not scary. It is just different, and a new teaching tool.” At Cathedral, he’s hoping to strike a balance with technology, by integrating the technology class time the students have now with their academics more efficiently. He’s inspired by how enthusiastic the faculty are about technology.
Director of High School Counseling, Howard Nusbaum, is proud to share that his son, Jeffrey Nusbaum ’00, married Carly Layfield, this July, in Philadelphia, PA. Jeffrey is a resident in Emergency Medicine at Mt. Sinai Hospital. ¶ Both STEAM coordinator Meglena Zapreva and Mario Flores in Food Service, ran the 2016 NYC marathon. ¶ Upper School Science teacher Jonathan Pirnia served as an Instructional Coach at Breakthrough New York, a college-prep program for low-income students, where he mentored young teachers to develop a range of science curricula. He
is also an instructor at The Cliffs in Long Island City, Queens, where he shares his love of climbing. ¶ Congratulations to 4th Grade teacher Ben Jacoff, who married Emma Tessler, in
September 2016. Not only did he find personal happiness, he found himself a subject of the New York Times Vows column feature couple, making him the envy of brides and grooms everywhere.
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I Am… I pretend that I am a rocket ship launching into outer space I feel like I am a superhero I am sensational and strong
I understand the world I say I am stronger I dream that I am going to West Point I try to heal the world I hope that no kid goes hungry I am warm and proud
—Aiden
—Julian
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SILHOUETTES Cathedral 2nd graders let the rest of us know what’s going in in their heads through these thoughtful and sensitive hybrid poetry and collage projects.
I am friendly and generous I wonder if the world will ever turn upside down I hear bunnies getting married I see a hotel made out of ice cream I want more trees I am friendly and generous
—Lily T H E M AG A Z I N E O F T H E C AT H E D R A L S C H O O L O F ST. J O H N T H E D I V I N E 07
Notes from Amsterdam Avenue
Cathedral is Social Catch up with the Cathedral community through a year of Instagram 2
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1 Fencing made its debut as an elective at Cathedral in 2016
4 The numbers are in: 1st graders raised $1,768 from their Pennies for Puppies Read-a-Thon
7 3rd graders explore connections within the ecosystem on the Pulpit Green
2 Students sported jerseys for Sports Fan Day during Spirit Week
5 Kindergartners visited the local farmers market
8 It’s all fun and games when our alumnae visit
3 Olivia Perlman ’15 and Weston Delacey ’15 processed in the 2016 St Francis celebration on Sunday at the Cathedral.
6 Dessert day: I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream
9 Our students watched a live broadcast of DemocracyNow! and talked with host and executive producer Amy Goodman, the 2016 AJB honoree
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On a hot, bright Spring Fair morning, over 125 alumni and alumni parents gathered in the Dining Room to wish Linda Brown a happy retirement, after her 34-year career at The Cathedral School. Some well-wishers traveled from as far away as San Francisco. Head of School Marsha Nelson kicked off the remarks by noting that moments like Ms. Brown’s farewell were so important because “we want to keep growing as a community but we want to hold on to our roots.” Several alumni spoke, including former trustee Linara Davidson ’96 and trustee Jennifer Prince ’96. Linara Davidson said her closeness to Ms. Brown showed her “that friendships can sometimes transcend age,” and as a black student at Cathedral, Ms. Brown had been her “affinity group before they existed.” Ms. Brown spoke last, thanking everyone for their kind remarks. “I feel blessed,” she said, “I wanted everyone to feel that they were taken care of, and I see that it is true.” Afterwards, the whole group gathered for a picture on the porch—their proud smiles a testimonial to the love and respect the Cathedral community will always have for Ms. Brown.
C A R O L I N E VOAG E N N E L S O N
Linda Brown Farewell
THANKSGIVING FOOD DRIVE A familiar sight to current and former Cathedral students every November, the gothic bench in the vestibule is covered in canned goods the first day of the Thanksgiving Food Drive 2016, to benefit the pantry at Cathedral Community Cares.
Over 125 alumni and alumni parents joined in a group photo at Linda Brown’s farewell reception
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Getting to Know You We asked Cathedral’s new faculty members two questions: What has surprised you or inspired you about The Cathedral School, and what has been your favorite Cathedral School tradition to experience so far?
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ATTICUS ZAVALETTA 2nd Grade Associate Teacher I’ve been so taken aback by how much the faculty and staff at Cathedral enjoy working together! As a newcomer, the level of collegiality has been truly something to witness, and an even greater joy to participate in.
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BENJAMIN JACOFF 4th Grade Teacher I was most surprised by how fluently, and comfortably, our students talk about their own and other’s identities. I was not sure what to expect before teaching my first Identity Time, but I was so impressed with how ready they were to discuss how they see themselves, how they see others, and how different aspects of their identities affect their experiences in the world. Assembly has to be my favorite tradition so far. Singing together as a group is great for our community and is a wonderful way to end the week, and the Weekly Wonder Book is a great way to recognize the little positive moments that happen every day. Its just one feel-good moment after another. I look forward to it every week.
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The Weekly Wonder Book is a great way to recognize the little positive moments that happen every day.
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ERIC DANIELS ’02 First Grade Associate Teacher As an alumnus, I’m still so inspired by the beauty in the diversity of Cathedral. Although we’ve just begun, the Identity Time we have with our first graders is wonderful!
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JOSELINA TEJADA 2nd Grade Associate Teacher I love Book Buddies. It is a wonderful tradition that gives students the opportunity to share their love of reading with each other and form bonds across grades.
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LYNN ZIMMERMAN Student Support, World Languages K–4 Spanish Teacher 3rd Grade Academic Support As a new teacher at Cathedral I admire the dedication the teachers have for their students. I also love Friday assembly. I enjoy when the Lower School comes together for songs and performances by different students. It’s a lovely way to end the week.
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MEGLENA ZAPREVA STEAM Coordinator 3rd & 4th Grade Science The strong sense of identity and diversity at Cathedral has inspired me to think about science, art, and new technologies in the context of equality and their role in exploring our common humanity. I have loved watching the Passion for Learning presentations. Teachers working with 4th graders in presenting a topic of student’s own interest is a wonderful tradition
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which allows us to get to know students in a personal light, adds a dimension to the student’s personality, teaches them presentation skills, and allows students to shine at their best.
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JENNY GELLHORN 5th & 7th Grade English Teacher I am inspired by the goodness in the hearts of my students. My favorite school tradition thus far is the All Saints/All Souls assembly. Everything about it—from the unrolling of the scroll to the doll performance by the first grade—moved me.
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DELILAH LORA World Languages Upper School Spanish Teacher My favorite tradition at Cathedral School has been the Evensongs. Sitting in the front of the Cathedral with parents, students, faculty, and our wonderful Choristers is such a moving experience. I was particularly inspired by the All Souls Evensong where our Lower Schoolers sang and presented their Día de los Muertos dolls, and the school scroll was unveiled with the names of our loved ones who have passed on. What a touching moment of remembrance!
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MARIETTA SNYDER Student Support Upper School Learning Specialist I am inspired by the level of professionalism by the faculty and staff, and Evensong is lovely! What a rich and special tradition. s
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Notes from Amsterdam Avenue
Teaching Moments Every year, Cathedral faculty can take advantage of the Faculty Professional Development Fund, allowing them to deepen their understanding of a subject, theme, or teaching technique. Here, four teachers, in their own words, give us a glimpse into their summer professional development:
ALAN DONALDSON 4th grade Teacher Professional development, while it often means seeking out insight into a theory or method, can also mean helping other teachers work through complex situations. In July, I was on a panel at the CARLE (Critical Analysis of Race in Learning & Education) Institute with three other educators discussing what it means to be a white, anti-racist educator. We held a dialogue with 35 white teachers who were exploring the following questions: What made you realize you needed to commit to becoming an anti-racist educator? What are some of the most challenging things you have faced as an anti-racist advocate? What lessons can you share with us? How do you work in accountability to people of color? Finally, what is one quote that encompasses the way you approach anti-racist work? I chose this quote, from the white curator of the America’s Black Holocaust Museum, Fran Kaplan: “My perspective, as a white person in this setting, is to help white people understand the tremendous jigsaw puzzle that is racism in America. So they can see the picture, so that they understand the picture, so that they can dismantle that picture.” DR. MARK THOMAS Upper School Faculty Inspired by the newly developed Mindfulness Committee at
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Cathedral, I was fortunate to attend a workshop entitled Mindfulness Practices for Better Classroom Learning. The instructor, Dan Lauter, demonstrated simple, time efficient techniques designed to minimize stress and promote self-awareness. I was surprised to learn that children as young as three are able to internalize the practice of mindfulness. The techniques introduced at the workshop are being honed by the Cathedral Mindfulness Committee (which I co-lead with Art teacher Kristie Valentine) to make them appropriate for all grades, K through 8. The ultimate goal is to have our students graduate from Cathedral with a toolbox of practices that facilitate centeredness and stress reduction. YOJAIRY SANDS K—2 Math Specialist I attended two workshops this summer. One was at Columbia’s Teacher’s College and was entitled “Instructional Models in the Education of Gifted Children.” In this workshop, I learned about the variety of models that have been developed for teaching more advanced students from the inception of “gifted education” to the present. I left with several great ideas for creating extensions for those students who are ready for more of a challenge in math. The other workshop was at the Windward School and was titled, “Improving Math Competence: Diagnosis and
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What I did on my summer vacation: teacher edition
1st grade Associate teacher Michael Demianiuk
Remediation.” In this workshop, I learned methods for supporting students with different learning styles as well as students who may struggle to learn math concepts. MICHAEL DEMIANIUK 1st grade Associate Teacher I attended the Responsive Classroom (RC) course and a two-day workshop on Sounds in Motion, to try and deepen my teaching skills and expertise twofold: through learning how to more effectively construct and cultivate caring learning communities and through expanding my understanding of multi-sensory learning. The RC course helped me learn how to lead learning communities from their construction to end. Second, I have been fascinated by many types of multi-sensory learning and have wanted to include more in my teaching. Sounds in Motion (SIM) is a practical program to implement or supplement any language arts program. I found it quite helpful to have learned the sounds and motions for the short vowels and consonants last school year. This summer, I also took a course at Bank Street College on music and movement—and I had the opportunity to take what I learned and try it out the next day with my students at Cathedral School’s STEAM camp.
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A FRIEND INDEED
L I B R A RY P H OTO S BY F I L I P WO L A K
You’re never too old to get a cuddle from the huge Cathedral School teddy bear in the library. Whether it’s the first book you’ve taken out of the shelves, or the thousandth, the bear is always there to prop you up.
DEAR MR. PRESIDENT-ELECT During the election season Cathedral students concentrated on the issues and remained civil and courteous in the face of tremendous political polarization. Now that it’s over, 5th and 6th graders wrote letters to the new President-elect, congratulating him on his victory, and explaining the concerns closest to their hearts. Here are some excerpts:
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All in the Family For this pair Cathedral siblings soccer is a way to find common ground: by playing on the same coed team.
If you attended a Cathedral School soccer game this fall, you might have noticed center forwards Aadam ’17 and Alisha F. ’18 tearing through the opposing defense. The brother and sister duo are fierce competitors on the field, and they share an unrelenting desire to put the ball in the back of the net. While they both play club soccer, this was their first opportunity to be on the same team in many years. “It was a learning experience, to get to play with your sibling,” recalls Aadam. Although Alisha admits that their partnership was “frustrating” at times, they came together by the end of the season for the good of the team. “It’s just fun,” says Aadam, “we get to play together and know each other through soccer, the sport that both of us love.” Soccer is the one team sport at Cathedral that is coed, and affords all the players the unique opportunity to compete against and cooperate together. “Regardless of gender, there are a wide range of abilities on the team,” says Shawna Altdorf, one of this year’s coaches. “I enjoy coaching because it gives me the chance to see students excel outside of the classroom.” For Alisha, the games were a way to measure herself against the competition and test her limits. Next year, she hopes to use her experience and position as an 8th grade leader to motivate her younger teammates. Aadam, an 8th grader this year, plans to continue playing soccer in high school next fall for a traditional single-sex team. However, he recognizes the benefits of his time on the Cathedral coed team, even beyond just playing with girls: “the best thing I’ve learned is working together with other students,
One-two punch: the soccer playing siblings Aadam ’17 and Alisha ’18.
especially if they’re different and have different backgrounds.” The comradery on the field even spills over into the classroom. “The next day at school you can talk about the game with your friend,” says Alisha, “you get to know them better so in the classroom you can coordinate on group projects.” From the field to the classroom, Cathedral students strengthen their community.—Colin Murray
GIRLS ON THE RUN The Cathedral School Cross-Country teams capped off a strong season at the AIPSL league championship meet at Van Cortlandt park this past November. While there were several standout individual performances on both teams, the girls’ team had six runners place in the top 30, no small feat for a school that competes against teams that are often twice as large. While team results are not officially recognized, Coach Berney and Coach Donaldson determined that this gave our girls’ team a second-place finish, just behind Hunter Middle School and ahead of Horace Mann. Congratulations to our young runners!
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Notes from Amsterdam Avenue
Diego O. ’19 slides to his right at shortstop during the Cathedral School Baseball season at Randall’s Island.
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The choristers line up before entering Westminster Abbey
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The British Expedition
C O U RT E SY O F B RYA N Z A R O S
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Cathedral choristers saw them on a 10-day dream trip to London’s world-famous Westminster Abbey (with a stopover in Dublin)
It was months before their late-August trip that the Cathedral choristers started to prepare. After all, this was no ordinary trip: over thirty choristers, their departing choir master, Malcolm Merriweather, and their new one, Bryan Zaros, as well as parents and parent chaperones would be headed to Dublin and London for residencies first at Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin, and then for a whole week in Westminster Abbey. It was an international introduction. The choristers are very disciplined normally—Bryan Zaros jokes he barely has to warm them up before rehearsal, they come so prepared—but there was an added dimension to their dedication before this trip abroad. You see, they were going to be performing the work of British composer Herbert Howells all week long at Westminster. From where they were going to be standing, under the soaring vaulted ceiling of the abbey, Herbert Howells was interred about fifteen feet away. Talk about added pressure. “You want to please the dead. You don’t want to mess up his piece,” deadpans Sophie P. ’17, one of the choristers on the trip. For many of the choristers, this was their first time overseas, so while they went to work, they were also avid tourists. Their long hours of practice beforehand helped them have time off to explore each capital’s historic (and shopping) districts. After a weekend stop in Dublin (where a lucky few got to ring the bell at Christchurch Cathedral), they headed to London for a week. When there, the choristers sang almost every day, and twice on Sundays, before hundreds and hundreds of people. Sophie’s father Tim, who was a parent chaperone, wrote CM that “The sight and sound of our kids singing in these incredibly important historic churches was moving in a way that I just can’t describe. One felt the
Serious singing was interspersed with the chance to visit world-renowned landmarks like the London Bridge
presence of centuries of history and so many important historical figures as the choir’s beautiful voices filled the space.” In their free time, they hit most of the major historical monuments: the Tower of London, Parliament, the London Eye, and of course a behind-the-scenes tour of the world’s most famous abbey, Westminster. When they walked in, Sophie says, “I remember seeing the amazing space. It was so big! I had seen it on TV but the reality was something else.” Savanah H. ’17 adds, “the building was beautifully detailed and everything was so intricate.” Parent chaperone Debbie Golden says that this trip “will be with the kids for the rest of their lives. They got to sing where the Queen was crowned.” Everybody had made an effort to be on this trip, including the graduating class of 2016, some of whom were due at high school the day the choristers returned. “They were really committed to this trip all the way,” Bryan Zaros reflects. “Singing at Westminster Abbey, there’s nothing like it.” Chorister Savanah H. would agree. “It was just another example of the doors that are opened when you’re at The Cathedral School.” s
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A Day in the Life: 5th Grade For these newest members of the Upper School, every moment of the school day presents a chance for growth and exploration
8:00 AM [1] For the first time, 5th graders enter the building themselves and meet in their homerooms, not at porch drop-off 9:05 AM [2] Working in groups in social studies, taking advantage of the new rolling desks in the Upper School classrooms 9:55 AM [3] Dean of the 5th grade Richard Koo catches up on grading during a free period
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12:30 PM [4+5] 5th graders work on multimedia projects in Brian Delacey’s art room 1:15 PM [6] There are new academic challenges in 5th grade that the students take very seriously 3:30 PM [7] Packing up for the day, and trying to keep those lockers organized P H OTO S BY C A R O L I N E VOAG E N N E L S O N A N D F I L I P WO L A K
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The 5th graders love their newly found independence—their freedom to move about the school, as well as their freedom to decide how they want to approach their learning.
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RICHARD KOO, 5th grade Dean
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Uniquely Cathedral
Passport to Parler Cathedral’s emphasis on exposure to world languages from the first days of kindergarten helps our students communicate in an increasingly global world
A Global Lower School Experience Even the most experienced world travelers can start to sweat when faced with a snobby French maître d’, a lengthy menu du jour, and newly minted command of the French language. But not a Cathedral 4th grader, out to lunch on Broadway with his classmates on a special year end trip: the language lunch. After carefully examining the menu (en français, bien sur), he orders “un hamburger, s’il vous plait, avec frites.” And pour dessert, monsieur? “La mousse au chocolat.” This lunch, and one just like it at a Spanish-speaking restaurant nearby, are the celebratory culminations of Cathedral’s Lower School language program, which begins in kindergarten as an effort to interest and excite children about the power of exploring language. From the kindergarten through 2nd grade, the children have a trimester each of Mandarin, Spanish and French. Even when it’s not a language period, the teachers “make an effort to incorporate words and phrases in the language that’s being studied that trimester into morning meetings and other group events,” says Rachel Geringer-Dunn, the Lower School Dean and the French teacher for kindergarten through 4th grade. “It really helps the students appreciate the joys of learning a language.” At the end of 2nd grade, the students and the families get together to make a decision—which language, French or Spanish, will they continue learning? (Mandarin is offered as an elective in the Upper School and Latin instruction begins in the 6th grade). The focus on language, for 45 minutes every other day, gives the Cathedral students a solid foundation of language skills they can build on in the Upper School. In the 3rd grade, they are learning useful phrases, some grammar, and lots of vocabulary. By the 4th grade, Cathedral language students can write short essays about the things that interest
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them. “It also gives the students a strong sense of community—they don’t just belong to their homeroom, but they also belong to the 3rd grade Spanish students,” Rachel Geringer-Dunn says. “It expands their world beyond the classroom.” Spanish Speaking in the Upper School Delilah Lora, Cathedral’s new Upper School Spanish teacher, grew up speaking Spanish with her grandmother. “If I wanted anything, I knew I wouldn’t get it if I asked in English,” she remembers. In school, she studied Spanish and French before getting her BA in Spanish Literature from Wesleyan University. Her teaching style is exuberant—if you pass by Room 304 when class is in session, you will most likely see a group of budding Spanish speakers, full of energy, speaking and sharing in front of the class, or working in groups. “I don’t like being in front of the class,” Delilah Lora explains. “I want the kids to feel comfortable coming up front and sharing their work. I want to cater to all the different types of learners, so sometimes we do some visual activities, sometimes we’ll do some movement, or we will take advantage of the white boards. We do reading as well, and if we do that, it’s not me reading the instructions. I encourage them to read it. I want them to understand why they’re learning a language: it’s not because you have to learn conjugations and proper grammar, it’s because you’re going to be using it in everyday life.”
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L E F T: F I L I P WO L A K , R I G H T: C O L I N M U R R AY
Uniquely Cathedral
Ben L. ’20 and Sybilla H. ’20 work as a team during Delilah Lora’s Spanish class (above); Carefully ordering en français during the 4th grade language lunch field trip (left)
Lora notices the results of the focus on language in the Lower School. “My 5th graders are really impressive. Their listening skills are strong, and they are confident speaking, and not afraid of making mistakes.” She has high hopes for all her students, when it comes to language learning. It’s important in this global society to continue to learn Spanish, or any language. “I want them to use it outside the classroom, with their friends, on their travels, or in the city itself.” s
I want them to understand why they’re learning a language: it’s not because you have to learn conjugations, it’s because you’re going to be using it in everyday life. T H E M AG A Z I N E O F T H E C AT H E D R A L S C H O O L O F ST. J O H N T H E D I V I N E
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Uniquely Cathedral
Campus Alive
It’s 8:10 on a cool, bright fall morning and a group of 4th graders have bags filled with goodies—magnifying glasses, pens and colored pencils, clipboards, and map making materials. Instead of an indoor lab, they are heading out to the Pulpit Green for a nature scavenger hunt, identifying plants, insects and trees, and plotting them on a graph. In the fresh air, these students’ imaginations are lit up by the sunshine. They are ready to explore and learn. From their first week in kindergarten, Cathedral students learn one of the best kept secrets about Cathedral School: the whole campus, not just the school building, is a classroom. From the sciences, to math and the humanities, faculty and students take advantage of the spectacular setting around the school, an incredible incubator of learning in the middle of the busy city. For many teachers, holding class outside is just the beginning. This fall, the Upper School is offering a new elective called Beta Lab, which Upper School Science teacher Jonathan Pirnia describes this way: “it’s an elective that’s as rigorous as the kids want it to be, as lighthearted as they want it to be, but it’s a formal place in our daily schedule where kids can come in for one trimester and develop projects that fit in with an overarching theme.” In its first trimester this fall, with the help of Upper School Science teacher Shawna Altdorf, the students are focusing on botany. Shawna, who grew up an avid gardener in rural Connecticut, was enthusiastic to share her knowledge with students. This fall has seen them planting outdoors and in, doing chromatography experiments with plants found on the Close, and building small greenhouses for the winter. The current members of the elective are thoughtful about what they’re planting, and why. Peter S. ’19, considering which seeds to plant during one lab, chooses red cabbage so he can do pH
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C A R O L I N E VOAG E N N E L S O N
The largest classroom at Cathedral isn’t the Upper School Science Lab or the Art Room—it’s the 13 acres available for exploration right out Cathedral’s front door
tests. “I always think scientifically when I plant,” he says. Shawna Altdorf notes that gardening is an interest that cultivates “consistency and dedication to get results.” Though Beta Club will move on to other topics in the winter, that’s not the end of botany for Cathedral students. In the spring, new five-foot-long planting beds will be installed on the back terrace, in front of the kindergarten classroom windows. The plants sown there by both the Lower Schoolers and Upper Schoolers will be tended by STEAM campers over the summer, so Cathedral’s urban farm will be a year-round project.
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Uniquely Cathedral
Clockwise from right: Meglena Zapreva leads her 3rd graders on a scientific scavenger hunt; a glimpse of the beauty of the Cathedral Close; the sunrise over the school building.
Sometimes, the best moments on the campus are unplanned. The Close is the home to one of the oldest gardening groups in Manhattan, the Cathedral Gardens Conservancy. One morning, gardener Marilyn Budzanoski was in need of some help raking and bagging the fall leaves on the green, so Meglena Zapreva’s students pitched in. While they were raking, they discussed where the leaves would go and how they would decompose and how those decomposed leaves could then help more plants to grow later. They discussed why the changing leaves might be different colors. Finally, towards the bottom of the leaf piles they found some new objects of fascination: slugs, which they examined and discussed with happy intensity. One student later told Meglena that the experience was “only second best to dissecting worms!” It’s just another day in the life of an outdoor classroom. s
The best kept secret about Cathedral School is that the whole campus, not just the school building, is a classroom.
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Responsible Citizens of the World
A Conversation on Inclusion
Could you help define the difference between diversity and inclusion, particularly how children and families understand it? Dr. Duncan: One of the things I say—whether I’m talking to a prospective parent, or another professional coming to visit and experience what it is we do here—is that even though we appreciate diversity, we don’t stop with diversity. Let’s use an analogy from the toy store. If we look at a Barbie display, we see the traditional Barbie, and there’s an African-American Barbie, and there’s a Latina Barbie, but all of the Barbies share the same style and look. They have the same hairstyle, they have the same build, they have the same clothing. So while that’s diversity—you have the different colors, and different names—that’s not inclusion. Inclusion is having that original American Barbie with blond hair, but also an American Barbie that’s AsianAmerican. Or you have a Latina Barbie, but this Latina barbie has Latina signifiers. There’s true inclusion of the elements it takes to build these identities. It’s not just skin deep. That’s what we do differently here at Cathedral School, I believe: we appreciate all aspects of identity. Some of that appreciation is based on race and ethnicity, but it is also gender. It’s also religion. It is also appreciation of different learning styles and teaching styles. How does that practically apply in say, 5th grade, or in the classroom? For Beverly and Natalia, is the difference between diversity and inclusion something they understand? Dr. Duncan: That’s part of what we’re teaching. In K–4, we start by saying, “these are the differences that we can see,” but by 5th and 6th grade, we start talking about the structures in the world that actually give those differences some kind of meaning. So when Beverly and Natalia were in 4th grade last year, the main
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conversation was: okay, we recognize that there are differences, and we recognize that there are people who don’t have a voice, so let’s figure out how to give those people a voice. But now the lesson these students will continue learning throughout this year and next is: there is a reason why people don’t have a voice, there’s a reason why a lot of people didn’t see themselves in Barbies and started to speak out and say, I love this toy, but I want to see how it can also reflect me. It isn’t me, and it doesn’t have to be me, but can there be options for others and have it still be considered a Barbie doll? Clearly it’s not just about Barbie. [Laughter] Beverly: Barbie is just an example. Is it difficult for you to talk about the differences that you see, even in our school community? For instance, different religions or different family makeup and structures? Have you found the way that Cathedral talks about it makes it more understandable for you two? Beverly: I think it’s good that we talk about it, and it makes it more understandable. There’s not just one religion, one type of person, one color of skin. Nobody has exactly the same skin color. Natalia: It’s not very difficult to understand, because you learn about everyone here. In the 4th grade, in Identity Time, we talked about everyone’s identity, and who they were. So it’s not difficult. I really like having the time to talk. Dr. Duncan: This is my 19th year teaching, and this 5th grade has so many nuances they understand already about diversity and inclusion. It’s almost as if they don’t understand why there are these difficulties in the world at large. They know there are problems, but they think: maybe if everybody came to Cathedral as children then it would have been so much better. It’s so beautiful that they recognize the need for change, and that they see that it does not make sense that we have conflict, just because someone is different from you. I think that’s a beautiful concept to hold in your heart. What’s your favorite thing about Identity Time with Dr. Duncan? Beverly: That we can learn about each other and learn about change. Natalia: I’m just thinking about all these things when I’m there. There are so many people there with you, and you don’t feel left out. s
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Cathedral’s Director of Inclusion and Community Engagement, Dr. Worokya Duncan, along with 5th graders Natalia G. and Beverly D., talked to Cathedral Magazine to outline the crucial distinction between diversity and inclusion, how Cathedral introduces these concepts in the classroom, and the importance of Identity Time
Responsible Citizens of
Dr. Worokya Duncan, Beverly D. ’20 and theNatalie World G. ’20 share a laugh on the way into Cathedral
This spring, Dr. Worokya Duncan is adding a Masters of Education in Equity, Ethics and Justice to an already impressive list of a degrees, including bachelor’s and master’s from Duke, and a PhD in Education from the University of Phoenix. She recently held a workshop for East Harlem’s Tutorial Program on Black Lives Matter and Standing Rock.
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On the Close: Young Scientists The flowers and insects on the Pulpit Green deserve closer examination during 3rd grade science class. P H OTO BY C A R O L I N E VOAG E N N E L S O N
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The new whiteboard-lined walls allow for collaborative work and interactive learning, as in this 8th grade math class; using the smart board in French class (right)
Capital Notions It’s not always easy renovating a century-old building located within one of the most historically important sites in New York City. But this fall, Cathedral School unveiled two major renovation projects: state-of-the-art classrooms in the Upper School, and a dynamic, reimagined Kit Wallace Playground.
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The question was, what would they find in the attics? After over 100 years of resting relatively undisturbed, it was time to find out in the summer of 2015. The groundwork of a two-year plan was about to be laid. The whole school structure had to be reinforced with steel to support the machinery and ductwork for a long-overdue installation: air conditioning in the Upper School. Along with a strong-enough steel walkway “to land an airplane,” in the words of Cathedral’s CFO, Peter Maas, all the electrical wiring running through the upper reaches of the school had to be replaced. It was a massive, dusty job, but when the students came back to campus in September, all that hard work was hidden behind new ceilings, waiting for phase two this past summer. When it was finally time to begin demolition this summer in the Upper School classrooms, walls came down, and ceilings went up, from 9 feet to 14 feet. Energy efficient lighting was installed, because, as Peter Maas noted, “we didn’t want to just be up to code, we wanted to surpass energy code requirements.” The fixtures in these classrooms had been discussed at meetings over a twoyear period, allowing the input of teachers, the Upper and Lower School heads, and Head of School Marsha Nelson. Everything was considered—the placement of whiteboards, the locations of data ports, the fixtures, the electrical outlets. When it came time for new furniture, dozens of new student desks were considered until the perfect one, a rolling desk that allows for collaborative work, was chosen. The new, gleaming rooms are getting rave reviews from students and teachers alike. And let’s not forget about the air-conditioning, particularly on sticky, end-ofsummer school days. If, from the lovely, newly air-conditioned confines of Room 304, you happened to look out the window and down, you would see the results of the other major construction project completed in 2016. Officially inaugurated on November 2, the wonderful new Kit Wallace
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Playground has an incredible array of equipment, guaranteed to please and challenge any Cathedral student. The location couldn’t be more beautiful: sheltered by both the Cathedral itself and the school building, it is surrounded by trees and overlooks Morningside Park. There is an astonishingly long climbing apparatus, a zipline, a carousel, a slide, and a Gaga Pit for playing ball (for more on the Gaga Pit, see “Gift Giving” below). At the ribbon cutting, it was the honor of the kindergarteners to inaugurate the new equipment for a brief playtime before their morning meetings. Like the morning sunshine, they were glowing with pleasure. The playground project had also been on the radar of the Facilities Committee of the Board of Trustees for some time, and the planning and execution took about a year to unfold. As with all construction projects, there were some surprises. When it came time to install the playground equipment, the crew discovered that the foundation of the area was not gravel, as they thought, but actually bedrock—that world-famous Manhattan schist—which entailed waiting for specialized equipment so the workers could drill holes in it. Suffice it to say, the new playground isn’t going anywhere. s GIFT GIVING The third floor renovations and renovated playground were not the only new developments in 2016. In September, a new trophy case, elegantly set into the wall, was installed on the third floor, next to Dr. Vitale’s room. This case, the official 8th grade gift, will now be the place to display all of Cathedral’s athletic trophies. There’s also a gift to the school in the new playground: the 2015-2016 Student Council made a gift of a Gaga Pit, which (for the uninitiated) is a form of dodgeball played inside a cage.
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Kindergarten Conversations in the New Playground As Cathedral’s kindergarteners were the first to enjoy the playground after the ribbon cutting on November 2, Cathedral Magazine (CM) thought their initial impressions would be particularly newsworthy. We visited some of them one afternoon as they were putting the new equipment through its paces. Cathedral Magazine’s icebreaker: What do you like best in the new playground? Cora: “The slide and the Gaga Pit.” Thank you, Cora! Bruce: “This,” (gesturing to the enormous climbing apparatus). Why? “Because I like climbing.” Rebecca: “The slide. I don’t know? It’s curly.” Henry: “Going up. Well, I think I can go up on the spider web.” (Henry is perched on the spider web.) How many people do you think can fit on the spinner at the same time? “Four.” You think four? “I know four. There have been more than four. But they said only four people at a time!” (gestures to Ms. Peneda). CM tries to interrupt a game in the Gaga Pit. Why are all the boys in the Gaga Pit? “Because they’re cool.” Halle: “I like the spinning thing, and I really like this climbing thing, because I like to hang upside down.” Hudson: What do you like to do, Hudson? “I like to get up on that spider web. Bruce just taught me. But not today, yesterday.” Did he teach you how to get down as well? “No, I just found myself a way to get down.” Hazel: “Today’s my real birthday.” Well, Happy Birthday, Hazel. Are you having a cake? “I’m having pizza.” Max: A new arrival. ”Ask me!” I don’t think you’re in kindergarten. Ella: CM turns to Ella. What do you like, Ella? “The thing that I’m on now.” Max: “I’m her brother. I’m in the 3rd grade.” Ok, Max, what’s the best part of the new playground? “It’s a hard choice. I like climbing to the spider web. It’s good for my calluses.” Ella: “I knew you were going to say that, Max!”
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Above: Jocelyn G. ’25 and Andrew B. ’25 feel pretty zippy in the renovated playground. Left: Swinging high and low
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A SCHOOL OF ONE’S
OWN One of the benefits of a K–8 school experience? Getting to apply to high school. Seriously.
For Cathedral students, the start of the 8th grade means the beginning of the end and the end of the beginning. After all, it’s their last year at Cathedral: they are the campus leaders, taking charge in the classroom, on the playing field, and in community service. But it is also the students’ first glimpse at their future away from the Close, as they consider what high school is right for them. Howard Nusbaum, Cathedral’s Director of High School Placement, puts it this way: “The students take a year to figure out where they’ve been, where they want to go, and then they lead the process.” Last year, that process ended in the incredible quality and array of high schools Cathedral students entered—last year, 22 schools for 28 graduates. They’ve emerged, mature, thoughtful, and confident in their choices. For Jennevieve C., a potential professional career as a ballerina— she had already appeared on stage with the New York City Ballet in Balanchine’s Nutcracker and in The
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Firebird—meant making some hard decisions as early as the spring of 6th grade. “I started thinking, do I have to go to a specific school for ballet? Will I have to compromise my academics? That’s when I realized I really didn’t want to do that.” Her interests run the gamut from journalism and writing to team sports, and she wanted to be more open to other experiences. After attending an information session her 7th grade spring hosted by the National Coalition of Girls Schools, Jennevieve says, she made up her mind: “They were talking about the many different things students could do in high school. It was a pretty simple decision, in the end.” Logan G. is also a student with diverse interests. He’s an avid amateur chef, he founded a business selling coveted skater gear on-line and at skateboarding expos like Sneaker Con, and he’s interested in pursuing clothing design. So he needs a high school that challenges him academically, while also letting him explore his outside passions. “The high school process helps you find out a lot about yourself,” Logan says, “Your perceptions might change throughout the process. Now I’ve started to go through it, I’ve found I’d like to stay in the city. I think it would be hard if I went to a boarding school.” His mother, Stephanie, concurs: “Logan has specific and strong interests, and strong ideas.” As a K–8 school, Cathedral is dedicated to helping their graduates end up in a school that’s the best, and the best for them. Cathedral has set up a comprehensive system to support the children through the application season. First, the school asks the student and the family to answer a questionnaire to help the school craft recommendations and interview strategies. Then, Howard Nusbaum meets with the family and the student to discuss potential schools. There are mock interviews with Cathedral faculty that are much more intense than the real thing. Cathedral runs
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L E F T: C A R O L I N E VOAG E N N E L S O N ; R I G H T: F I L I P WO L A K
BY J E S S I E S AU N D E R S
SO MUCH MORE...
THE STUDENTS TAKE A YEAR TO FIGURE OUT WHERE THEY’VE BEEN, WHERE THEY WANT TO GO, AND THEN THEY LEAD THE PROCESS.
Jennevieve C. ’17 (below) and Logan G. ’17 (left) are both confidently going through a Cathedral rite of passage—high school admissions.
The best barometer of success in the high school selection process at Cathedral is to ask young alumni. Several current 9th and 10th graders, at public schools, independent schools, and boarding schools volunteered their opinions and we have it all online at www.cathedral.org
test-prep classes for the standardized SSAT and the ISEE. Jennevieve’s father Ridge says, ‘The school does a fantastic job prepping the 8th graders for having a sense and understanding of what they’re going to go through, and what’s expected of them.” The process also is a way for parents and 8th graders to grow closer. Over the summer, the whole family begins answering the questionnaire together. Jennevieve remembers, “It took me a while to complete. I was thinking about myself in a way I don’t do on a day-to-day basis. It was great, too, because I got to work with my mom.” The same is true for Logan and his mother, Stephanie. She says that, “I made a decision to go to each school with him, so he could bounce ideas off me. It has had a lovely, positive effect on our relationship. You have to talk about and share personal things, and your own goals and preferences.” In the end, the experience is overwhelmingly positive. Howard Nusbaum says, “It’s not so bad to be a grown up, leaving school for an interview on a beautiful fall day. There’s so much growing up that goes on during the year, and they’re aware of it. And, of course, when they get into the school they wanted, they are going to feel good that they did it, not just because they found the right school by searching hard enough, but because they find they learned more about themselves.” s
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Kindergarteners learned how pressure under the earth creates volcanoes by experimenting with pipettes and beakers
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With its innovative spiral curriculum, the Upper School science program aims to inspire students to ask questions and look for their own answers. Meanwhile, the STEAM program continues to strengthen the bonds between disciplines, making a Cathedral education a shining example of collaborative learning
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From left: Hands-on with nature in Lower School lab; experimenting with chromatography; a collection of specimens for students to explore; Q&A before a lab
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hen Upper School science teacher Jonathan Pirnia joined the faculty of Cathedral School in the fall of 2014, he was given an intriguing task: help choose a new textbook. “It was permission to take the curriculum in different directions,” he remembers. After careful consideration, he was drawn to two books, and an idea was born. “We thought, let’s develop a spiral curriculum, based around two textbooks.” A spiral curriculum is one that builds on learning from previous years. Where in the past, you might have life science one year, and an introduction to chemistry in the next, with a spiral curriculum, “It’s one year’s study following the other,” Pirnia says, “with the second year digging deeper into the same subjects, which then naturally lead into others. It’s a continuum.” Here’s how it works: 5th graders, in their trimesters, focus first on life science, then physical science, then earth and space. When those 5th graders return as 6th graders, they pick up with a trimester on earth and space. By the 7th and 8th grade, the spiral continues, with the added dimension that the students start to develop their own independent projects. In the 7th grade, the students start to build aptitude in a lab setting, which means understanding lab books, procedures, and familiarizing the students with the apparatus. By the 8th grade, they are secure in their understanding of the scientific method and eager to design their own experiments. Pirnia, who teaches 6th and 8th grade science, shared this vision with Shawna Altdorf, who teaches the 5th and 7th grade. The biggest concern for both of them was that the children would feel shy about starting their own independent projects. How could they help foster a spirit
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of investigation? By encouraging independent thought in younger grades. Jon Pirnia says, “In a very informal way, we started introducing the idea, that if they had additional questions, and they wanted to investigate those or spin-off questions from lab, we can pull them in for a working lunch or recess or during academic support for enrichment. We’re really trying to be there for any expansive thought process the kids want to get into.” Part of the change has been a holistic one—that is, thinking of science as not an Upper School or Lower School curriculum, but as a science department, where children in the Lower School are exploring ways to investigate and learn that become more formal scientific methods in the Upper School. Using the National Science Standards as a guide, Lower School science focuses on themes like “form and function,” which is broad enough to touch upon any number of scientific questions. But when those same kids reach Upper School, the foundations of form and function are there. More practically, there are things—like the format of the Upper School tests—that the younger students would benefit from understanding. So in the Lower School, the children get a gentle introduction to those sorts of questions. At heart, in the Lower School, they are developing a conceptual toolbox. In the Upper School, they can apply it specifically.
CODING AT CATHEDRAL Last year, Cathedral introduced coding in several week-long coding classes, but this year, the coding is integrated into the curriculum year-round, from kindergarten to the 8th grade. Technology is so prevalent in modern life that it’s a priority to make sure Cathedral students are computer literate, meaning they can both use the systems, and create programming. For today’s students, it serves as another language to be embraced.
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This kind of collaboration in science is an echo of the larger goals of Cathedral’s STEAM program. This year, Cathedral School welcomes Meglena Zapreva, who is the STEAM coordinator, and teaches Lower School science. As one of the chairs of the faculty STEAM committee, alongside Nisha Joshi, the Technology Coordinator, and Art teacher Brian Delacey, she helps promote and assimilate STEAM ideas into Cathedral’s daily academic life. To work seamlessly, STEAM has to be an organic part of the curriculum, not a collaborative Band-Aid slapped on an existing lesson plan. Faculty and students alike are excited about STEAM possibilities. For instance, Meglena Zapreva explains, “the 4th graders were interested in animal studies and animal behavior, so we embarked on that. From there, I started thinking about how we could incorporate social studies. So Alan Donaldson, their homeroom teacher, and I sat down and thought, what if they work with the state animals? How are state animals chosen? They can learn the state animals. Then they can bring in programming by doing some animation, showing the state and the animal and how it behaves. “And then another layer came in: Learning Specialist Grace Rho was talking about the students writing tall tales, and I thought it would be great if the kids came up with a tall tale about how the animals they were researching became the state animal, and then animate that story, because that’s much more juicy and interesting. They will be much more invested because it’s their own invention. Finally, Brian Delacey is working with them to create scientific models of the state birds.” So, as an example, this one project—which started out as a question to students one day in science class—became a unit that involved four teachers and both scientific and creative ways of looking at the subject. This kind of natural collaboration between faculty and students is at the heart of STEAM.
STEAM is a concept you hear a lot about, but sometimes the definition can be elusive. There’s a reason for that: as a collaborative process, it is constantly evolving. The common definition of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) is a method of teaching and collaborative learning that promotes the understanding of the sciences. It started as STEM, without the art element, but as Meglena Zapreva notes, “The arts brings the element of creativity into the logic and understanding of the work. For us, that’s very important.”
How is STEAM different at Cathedral than at other schools? Well, says Meglena Zapreva, “the fact that Cathedral is a leader in equity and justice and exploring identity,” gives the STEAM program here a specific dynamic. After all, “many inventions and lots of scientific work often touches on ethics. What’s the impact of an invention or innovation on particular social groups? On the earth?” This focus on cultural awareness can set Cathedral’s STEAM program apart from those at other schools. Going forward, there will be more collaboration between faculty, students, and grades. A plan is forming for an official STEAM day, where the whole school explores steam projects; at the same time, each grade would have a STEAM goal of their own. The ideal is a truly multidisciplinary way of understanding and learning. s
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What is it about the Cathedral School that creates lasting friendships?
Close It’s not everyday that you get married. It’s also not everyday that you invite not only your best friend from childhood, but also their parents. Such was the case for Matilda McGee-Tubb ’99, now a litigator in Boston, who says, “I invited at least two of my Cathedral friends’ parents to my wedding.” This is not only because her parents became lifelong friends with other parents in her class. “They are my friends, too. I text with Madeline Rumely ’99’s father from time to time.” Such is the wonderful, enduring strength of the relationships that are built at The Cathedral School. Cathedral Magazine (CM) caught up with Cathedral Alumni—from the class of 1985 through to the class of 2012—to ask why they’ve remained so close to classmates they knew long before high school, college, and beyond. The answers are, well, uniquely Cathedral. Kayla Williams ’12 is a Freshman at Georgetown University, and the hub of a large and energetic group of recent Cathedral graduates. She noted that after a natural lull at the beginning of high school, she relied on her Cathedral friends for support more than she could have imagined. “There’s an amazing connection, since you do everything together for so long. You really get to know someone’s character,” she says, “and we’re there for each other. We trust each other.” This is a constant theme with Cathedral graduates: the deeply-rooted sense of equity and justice that is emblematic of a Cathedral education. Matilda McGee-Tubb thinks her class “has gotten closer over the years in part because we have a shared set of values, and shared ways we think about the world.” She continues, “Cathedral teaches you a respect for people who are different from you, and I think we all realized when we went out into the world that not everybody has cultivated that sense of understanding and reconciliation.” It’s also a school with a deep commitment to the whole family, where parents are active members of the community, from chatting at drop-off, to volunteering, to attending Friday Assembly. The 13-acre campus itself fosters friendships, as it’s a safe place for children to run and explore nature while in the middle of the city before, during, and after the school day. It’s a recipe for life-long closeness. Claudie Mabry ’04 lives in Brooklyn and is a Program Manager of a nonprofit called Groundswell, which creates art for social change with youth,
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artists, and communities. She remains extremely close with her Cathedral friends. “Whether it is our weekly, even daily, mass text check-ins,” she told CM, “or all of us meeting up at my apartment or out at restaurants for dinner parties, or catching a movie or checking out a concert on the weekend, we seem to always be together, and it’s always happened naturally since Cathedral.” Alexandra Schwinn ’04 noticed another facet of Cathedral friendships post school years while she studied at Cambridge University. “I became close with Cathedral alumni who were in other graduating classes,” she
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A tradition for friends from the Class of 2004: an annual holiday decorating party. From left: Alexandra Schwinn, Luke Seabra, Sam Batchelor, Claudie Mabry, Christopher Estrella, and Carlos Morales
says of her time there, even alumni who were four or five years younger. “There’s this underlying passion, creativity, and exploration with Cathedral alumni. It’s a place where you learn self-acceptance,” which can lead to greater confidence and selfesteem, certainly traits that encourage long-lasting friendships. A famously close group is the Class of 1999, where, for a while before weddings and career trajectories intervened, several alumni lived in the same Brooklyn apartment building. This group always gets together on New Year’s Eve to reminisce about their time at Cathedral. One year,
they even dug up an old VHS player to watch their 8th grade musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. “Do you know how hard it is to find a video player?” Madeline Rumely asks. New York City-based members of the Class of 1999 still get together at least once a week. Madeline feels “much closer to my Cathedral friends, then to my friends in high school or college.” Dr. John Arbo ’85, now Chief of Emergency Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical Center, was a dedicated chorister during his time at Cathedral, is also part of a tight-knit Cathedral class. He considers his
classmate, Maxim Weintraub ’85, his best friend, and he’s in contact with most of his Cathedral classmates. In fact, there was a recent class dinner in New York and more than half of his classmates showed up, from as far away as Atlanta. Which class is the closest? Well, members of the class of 2012, 2004 and 1999 all claimed that title. Perhaps, as Claudie Mabry says, the most important thing is to “know that my closest Cathedral friends will always be there, and there for me, no matter where life takes me, no matter how far in distance we all are.” s
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Graduation
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C L A S S O F 201 6
Graduation Days The Cathedral School Class of 2016 became Cathedral alumni on June 15, 2016. These Cathedral graduates are headed to 22 different independent, boarding, public, and diocesan schools. They received acceptances to:
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Day Schools The Berkeley Carroll School The Brearley School Brooklyn Friends School Collegiate School Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School Convent of Sacred Heart Dwight School Ethical Culture Fieldston School Friends Seminary Grace Church School The Hewitt School Horace Mann School Léman School Little Red School House and Elizabeth Irwin High School Loyola School Marymount School of New York The Masters School The Nightingale-Bamford School The Packer Collegiate Institute Poly Prep Country Day School Riverdale Country School The Spence School Trevor Day School Trinity School United Nations International School York Preparatory School Boarding Schools Choate Rosemary Hall Deerfield Academy Episcopal High School Groton School
Holderness School Millbrook School Milton Academy Northfield Mount Hermon School Pomfret School The Putney School Proctor Academy St. Andrew’s Academy The White Mountain School Woodberry Forest School Public Schools High School for American Studies at Lehman College Baccalaureate School of Global Education Bard High School Early College The Bronx High School of Science Brooklyn Technical High School Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School Frank Sinatra School of the Arts Harvest Collegiate High School Manhattan/Hunter Science High School Millennium High School New Explorations into Science, Technology and Math High School Diocesan Schools Dominican Academy Fordham Preparatory School La Salle Academy Notre Dame School
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C A R O L I N E VOAG E N N E L S O N
Beyond Cathedral
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Beyond Cathedral
Our esteemed Latin teacher and Faculty Chair of the 2016–2017 Annual Fund, Dr. Vitale, and Yelka Kamara, the Associate Director of Annual Fund and Alumni Engagement, speak to Cathedral Magazine about the importance of giving
Dr. Vitale, why did you agree to become the faculty chair of the Annual Fund? Dr. Vitale: All these years, I watched other people do it. And the thing is, I didn’t get involved. I didn’t catch on, because to me it was a business. But the thing is, this is not a business. And the concept that makes it work: there’s got to be a connection. It’s not a business, it’s a personal connection. So, Latin, always in the picture, says: videre lucem. May you see the light. So I saw the light. And it became my turn. When I’m teaching in the classroom now, I’m edified by the fact that the money has somehow helped me in the classroom; for instance, now I can write on those whiteboards all the way down. The school has never refused me anything. Any book, any map, anything at all. Where does this come from? The Fund. That’s where it comes from. So, I’m glad to do it now because I saw the light. Yelka, what is your favorite part of working with Dr. Vitale? Kamara: I think it’s really his connection. As he said, he saw the light, and I think that once you understand what the Annual Fund means, once you can actually see it in the work that you’re doing. Dr. Vitale: I have to put in a good word. It appears to me as a faculty member that your heart is in this. And we’re all pitching together. And it’s a no-brainer for faculty members, if in fact, all the faculty gave whatever they could give, if that would enable you to get donations from the outside, seeing that incentive, it’s a no-brainer. We have a responsibility to do this. And there’s another word involved here. Now it’s Greek to the rescue: the big word in raising money is philanthropy. If you break it apart, it’s love of people. We have a love for our students here. And also, what is unique about the school, what is absolutely unique and worth it, is the testimonials. The students keep coming back, year after year, who have graduated 20 years ago, to say hello and stay in touch. I would dare
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NOTE: THIS INTERVIEW HAS BEEN EDITED AND CONDENSED.
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Videre Lucem with Dr. Vitale say this doesn’t happen anywhere else. There is a legacy and a connection that is in perpetuity. As the Faculty Chair, why do you think the faculty and staff should donate to the Annual Fund? Dr. Vitale: We are part of the main. This is not an insular existence that we live. You see, years ago, when I thought that this was a business, I was on an island. But we’re not on an island. We’re on the mainland, and this is a connected unit. Kamara: And what we do supports you, and what you do supports us as well, because you are giving us the testimonials. Dr. Vitale: It’s a thoroughgoing reciprocity! Can we go back to Yelka’s favorite part about working with Dr. Vitale? Kamara: My favorite part was working on the Annual Fund video with Dr. Vitale. Just hearing your thought process and really breaking down the meaning of different words. I’ve been doing philanthropy now for about seven years, it’s always a beautiful thing to hear what other people’s interpretation of philanthropy is. My understanding of philanthropy is it is the expression of the human spirit. Dr. Vitale: It’s where it all starts, the roots. The students keep coming back to the roots. They are spellbound by the whole experience. There’s no experience like this. That’s why I don’t leave here! Check out the Annual Fund video “If Not You, Then Who?” featuring Dr. Vitale, at www.cathedralnyc.org. Don’t hesitate to contact Yelka Kamara at ykamara@cathedralnyc.org and make an Annual Fund donation today.
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The Last Word
The Last Word: Emmanuel Saldana “Take care of your business!” This was a phrase I had grown accustomed to hearing in our two-bedroom apartment in the South Bronx. One time, my dad yelled it at me from the kitchen while cooking chicharrones. Pierre, my older brother, and I were doing homework at the dining room table. Pierre refused to help me plot quadratic equations, and I kept asking for help. “I dunno how to do this,” I whined. As my frustration grew, there was a cathartic slamming of my textbook, tears, and finally a stomping off to my room. I moped alone. Nobody came bursting in my room to save the day like Mighty Mouse. As I dawdled on my way to the dinner table, my dad served the food, looked at me, and repeated, “Take care of your business.” Pierre slid into the seat next to me. He smiled and mocked Dad behind his back, “Take care of your business!” Pierre laughed, “What does that mean?” In the South Bronx, “taking care of your business” was interpreted differently in our house than it might be on the streets. At home, those who cut class, hung out late, or came home late from practice were not taking care of their business. My childhood friends have grown to respect my passion for teaching and learning, but as kids, my intensity invited some ridicule. At the time, however, I was trying to define who I was: both a boy from the Bronx who loved Fabolous and Marvin Gaye, wore a flat brim, sagged his jeans, but who also read the Count of Monte Cristo five times that semester. In moments when the ridicule seemed insurmountable, “take care of your business” rang in my ears. I was supposed to stay the course and take care of my responsibilities to school, my athletic teams, and my community. This would be my identity; in the classroom, in my neighborhood, wherever I decided to be. I would learn to be passionate about the business of my identity as a student and a South Bronx native. These identities would intersect and allow me to grow as a person. My father was my role model. At 18, he enlisted in the United States military to support my grandmother and aunts and uncles living back in Queens. After serving four tours in the Vietnam War, twenty additional years in the military, and eighteen at Spofford Correctional Center as
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a Corrections Officer, I’d like to think he took care of his business. As a soldier, he established himself as a leader, responsible for his unit, earning many military service medals, including the Purple Heart. Through years of service at Spofford, juveniles from around New York City were guided towards rehabilitation. He understood that his business was his family, friends, community, and country. To me, his example of personal responsibility and integrity was the most important lesson of my life: invest in your responsibilities, value how those responsibilities make you feel. Take care of your business. Despite Pierre’s lack of cooperation at the dining room table, my hard work in middle school paid off and I ended up at an independent high school far from the South Bronx. When I arrived, I saw the school’s motto, “Be Worthy of Your Heritage,” inscribed on the walls and in the seal. I have often found a connection between my dad’s words and this motto. Just like our racial or religious identity, our neighborhood, family, and personal interests are all parts of our heritage and identity. We carry these aspects of ourselves everywhere, whether consciously or unconsciously. We are responsible for representing this heritage as a badge of honor. In my father’s words, we should all feel pride and strive to be worthy of the multiple identities we carry. In the same manner, to take care of our business as people, we must honor the heritage, identity, and passion of those around us. As a coach, teacher, and dean, I walk the halls of Cathedral every day, engaging in deeply intense historical debates, offering advice and guidance, playing pickup basketball, but I am astounded how students demonstrate their ability to care for everyone’s identities. More importantly, Cathedral students make it their business and responsibility to honor the heritage, passions, identities, and integrity of their fellow peers. They are, in their own way, taking care of their business, and I couldn’t be prouder. s Emmanuel Saldana is currently The Cathedral School’s 8th grade dean, as well as teaching 6th and 8th grade social studies, and coaching basketball.
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M I S S I O N STAT E M E N T The Cathedral School of St. John the Divine is an independent, Episcopal, K-8 day school for girls and boys of all faiths. The School is committed to a rigorous academic program that integrates the arts, athletics, and leadership development. Located on New York City’s Upper West Side on the 13-acre Close of the Cathedral, the School offers a unique setting for the celebration of the many traditions shared by its families. The School prides itself in being a diverse community in partnership with families who take an active role in their children’s intellectual, ethical, social, and emotional growth. The Cathedral School offers a stimulating environment in which each child can become an articulate, confident, and responsible citizen of the world. Continuing a century-old relationship, the School draws upon the Cathedral’s vast resources and provides its children’s choir. 20 16–2 0 17 B OA R D O F T R U ST E E S The Very Rev. Dr. James A. Kowalski Chair and Dean of the Cathedral Angie Karna President James Hooke Vice President Robin Alston Secretary Sandor Lehoczky Treasurer Marsha K. Nelson Head of School William Bermont S. Courtney Booker, III Jenni Bounds Satrina Boyce Jaye Chen Roberta Connolly Lucy Culver Cindy Dupont Jay Eisenhofer Carey Flaherty John Gallo Bruce Paulsen Jefrey Pollock Jennifer Prince Marta Sanders FI L I P WO L A K
Aaron Sack Leila Satow Elizabeth Stein Ellen Stein Rachel Strickland Sally Thurston Jody van der Goes Troy Wagner
1047 Amsterdam Ave. New York, NY 10025