Concord Academy, Fall 2017 by aldeia

FALL 2017

CONCORD ACADEMY MAGAZINE

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26 A video shoot with Quess Green ‘16 is just one of the ways students have been involved in films on campus. P H OTO BY B E N CA R M I C H A E L ’0 1

FEATURE S

FALL 2017

20 M A G A Z I

Raising the Bars

CA alumnae/i and former faculty are embracing the challenges, and the rewards, of teaching in prison.

Editor

Heidi Koelz Associate Director of Communications

Design

Aldeia www.aldeia.design Editorial Board

Ben Carmichael ’01 Director of Marketing and Communications

CA is celebrating 50 years of filmmaking. For more on this long history, see page 33.

John Drew P’15, ’19 Assistant Head and Academic Dean

The Big Picture Faculty and alumnae/i take you behind the scenes of CA’s ambitious filmmaking program.

DEPARTMENTS

Alice Roebuck Director of Advancement and Engagement

Reunion 2017. See page 42.

Hilary Rouse Director of Engagement

Message from the Head of School

Alumnae/i profiles, reunion, and volunteer spotlight

Campus

Concord Academy Magazine 166 Main Street Concord, MA 01742 (978) 402-2249 magazine@concordacademy.org

News about students, faculty, arts, and athletics

Opening Remarks

M I SS I O N

Concord Academy engages its students in a community animated by a love of learning, enriched by a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives, and guided by a covenant of common trust.

Charles Darwin. See page 52.

Centennial Campaign

Previewing CA Houses

Alumnae/i

Creative Types

Then & Now

End Space

Science teacher Max Hall

O N T H E C OV E R On a shoot with Windy Films, a video production company founded by CA graduates Tripp Clemens ‘09 and Harvey Burrell ‘09 to tell stories that matter. P H OTO C O U RT E SY O F W I N DY F I L M S

O P E N I N G R E M A R KS

A L E T T E R F RO M H E A D O F SC H O O L R I C K H A R DY

Building a Community “Perhaps what was most striking was the pronoun [students] used again and again as they talked with one another: ‘we.’”

IN EARLY SEPTEMBER, I had the pleasure of speaking with a group of alumnae/i; they had come to campus or called in by phone to hear an update about CA from me. Joining us were four members of the class of 2018, who, after my remarks, shared their thoughts and goals for the year just begun. They were — and are — thoughtful, confident spokespersons on behalf of the school. Perhaps what was most striking was the pronoun they used again and again as they talked with — and sometimes over! — one another: “we.” I have heard too many commentators characterize young people as self-absorbed, governed most by narrow self-interest rather than awareness of and concern for others. I wish some of those folks could have been in the room that evening. They would have heard these students talking about the way they had engaged as a class in thinking about their senior year, about the tone they wanted to create, about the legacy they wanted to leave. They would have heard them recalling their first days as new students at CA, and how the senior class had — or in some cases had not — welcomed and mentored them in that first year, and especially in those first months. Then they would have heard their plans for giving back, for creating a student advisor system to complement the work that adults do. And they have done

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just that — to the benefit of everyone, students and adults alike. In this single idea one can see two qualities that have been emblematic of CA students for decades: that during their time at CA they develop a resilient sense of agency, the ability to advocate for themselves and to make good choices, and that they possess a genuine concern for people — all people — that impels them not simply to feel, but to act on behalf of others. CA’s students are bright and talented, without a doubt. But more importantly, they are independent, capable individuals who are well aware of the advantages they have enjoyed by dint of their experience here, and they are determined to give back. As one student leader put it this fall, “Community is not something that just happens — we have to build it.” As difficult as the past few months have been — disturbing violence in Charlottesville, threats from North Korea, the White House’s decision on DACA, hurricane devastation in the United States and elsewhere — these students give me ample reason for hope. CA’s mission lives in them, and because of them, I am optimistic about the future. I know well how powerfully education can shape and inspire the lives of young people, and I also know how deeply students can shape and inspire the community and the world around them. CA is, our community is, and the world is, because they are.

I L LU ST R AT I O N BY A DA M C RU F T. P H OTO ( R I G H T ) BY B E N CA R M I C H A E L ’0 1

New CA students receive a warm welcome from returning students at orientation.

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@CA campus N E WS

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C O N G R AT U L AT I O N S

Class of 2017! Concord Academy’s 95th Commencement Exercises The skies were clear on June 2 for the class of 2017, and so was the message from one speaker to the next: The future looks bright in the hands of this generation. Board of Trustees President Kim Williams P’08, ’14 welcomed graduating seniors into the “legions of difference makers” that make up CA alumnae/i. Head of School Rick Hardy applauded the “brilliance, positivity, kindness, and joy they will be bringing to their new communities across the globe.” Student Head of School Mary Craig ’17 acknowledged CA’s faculty and staff, teachers, coaches, advisors, and house parents. “We came to them with dreams and ideas,” she said, “and they taught us how to make them real.” And Senior Class President Emma Manzella ’17 introduced the Commencement speaker as an “incredibly inspiring role model of civil rights activism.” P H OTOS BY K R I ST I E G I L LO O LY A N D B E N CA R M I C H A E L ’0 1

“Stay curious, stay humble, and stay kind.” M AU R A H E A L E Y Massachusetts attorney general

Watch Healey’s Commencement address at www. concordacademy.org/ commencement2017.

M AU R A H E A L E Y’S GA LVA N I Z I N G S P E EC H

Before she offered the graduates advice, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey asked for their help. “We need you to stand up for the values of CA in your community, the values of a free society,” she said, noting that intellectual honesty, social justice, and equality are under attack in the United States, and that love of learning, diverse perspectives, and common trust guide her work. Great challenges will fall to this generation, Healey acknowledged. But she ended with words of inspiration. “It’s OK to trust your gut, even when everybody is telling you it may not be the best move,” she said. “Because at the end of the day, you have everything that you need. You have that foundation through your experiences, and your education, learned here at CA. Stay curious, stay humble, and stay kind.”

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COMMENCEMENT 2017

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Living History CA students intern with the National Park Service In accordance with the customs of 19th-century America, author Louisa May Alcott referred to her father as “Mr. Alcott” to all but her sisters. At Bronson Alcott’s insistence, the family bathed in cold water, but Louisa May, though she was a willful child, often in trouble, didn’t seem to mind. These are some of the humanizing details that CA student interns working as living-history players with the National Park Service in Concord, Mass., this summer learned while doing research at The Wayside, a 300-yearold house in Concord, Mass., that is part of Minute Man National Historical Park. Once home to the Alcotts, it later housed another literary light, Nathaniel Hawthorne. When the National Park Service sought interpreters to portray children who had lived in the historic home, they turned to Concord Academy history teacher Kim Frederick, who had earlier collaborated on a curriculum for student volunteers. Recruiting students at Concord Academy was the logical next step. Mary Louisa Jones ’18 assumed the character of Margaret Lothrop, born at The Wayside in 1884. Her parents had bought the property sight unseen because the Hawthornes had lived there, and they opened up their private home to literary pilgrims. Mary Louisa wrote a tour of the entire house, situating herself in 1904, the year Lothrop’s mother organized a three-day celebration of the centennial of Hawthorne’s birth. Engaging visitors to The Wayside in two time periods at once proved an ingenious way of showing the historical layers at the site, where additions over the years preserved older details beneath. In trying to embody historical figures and inhabit their attitudes and outlooks, students Mary Louisa, Emma Myers-Raffery ’21, and Annie McGarry (daughter of John McGarry, associate director of admissions and director of financial aid) combined acting with historical work. “They weren’t assuming or making anything up,” Frederick says. “They worked with primary sources and came up with more than words: how they presented and held themselves, how they walked, how they interacted. They helped visitors consider people in the past in all their complexity.” “Sometimes, living in Concord, we forget that the national park here is a national treasure,” Frederick says. “It’s fundamentally important to the history of our country.”

T H O U G H TS F RO M T H E WAYS I D E

I had a wonderful time this summer working as a living history player at The Wayside and learning so much about Concord’s history and culture through my research of the house. I found it really interesting to picture myself as one of the Alcott, Hawthorne, or Lothrop children and think about what lives were like in 19th-century households of such intellect and political importance. Social dynamics were also fascinating, especially within the Hawthorne family, where all the children seemed to be fighting to attain the same fame as their father. The National Park Service was an excellent resource for information that is harder to dig out of books, and I had a great time working with them. I am really happy I had this opportunity to expand my knowledge and be part of a great historic site. — Mary Louisa Jones ’18 GET INVOLVED Interested in volunteering at The Wayside next summer? Contact Kim Frederick at kimberly_frederick@concordacademy.org.

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P H OTOS BY R E B EC CA L I N D EG R E N

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C O N VO CAT I O N

“Think less about what you want to accomplish by the end of your journey and more about the people you will meet along the way.” A DA M BA I L E Y Spanish teacher, Modern and Classical Languages Department head. Visit www.concordacademy.org/convocation2017 to read his remarks in full.

Youth in Philanthropy Concord Academy students involved in the Foundation for MetroWest’s Youth in Philanthropy program learn about philanthropy by reviewing grant applications, visiting sites, and designating nonprofit organizations to receive grant funding. Last spring, CA students awarded $5,000 each to Doc Wayne Youth Services in Framingham, Mass., and Camp Starfish in Stow, Mass.

Doc Wayne Youth Services and Camp Starfish Five thousand dollars YIP Concord Academy

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May 2017

5,000.00

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H A L L F E L LOW TA L K

“If there are people in the field you’re interested in who are doing great work, get in touch with them. Hang out with people who are pushing the boundaries of your art, and who will push you.”

E V E N TS

Save the dates for the following CA Events: December Wednesday, December 20, 6:30 p.m. Young Alumnae/i Boston Holiday Party Meadhall Cambridge, Mass. January Monday, January 15, 7 p.m. Community Event at CA May Tuesday, May 15, 6 p.m. Alumnae/i Barbecue with the Class of 2018 Concord Academy Thursday, May 31, 7:30 p.m. Baccalaureate Elizabeth B. Hall Chapel June Friday, June 1, 10 a.m.–12 p.m. Concord Academy’s 96th Commencement Chapel Lawn Friday–Sunday June 8–10 Reunion

E L E A N O R B I N G H A M M I L L E R ’6 4 Filmmaker and 2016–17 Hall Fellow. Read more at www.concordacademy.org/binghammiller.

LIBRARY REFRESH CA students and faculty returned to campus this fall to find the J. Josephine Tucker Library redesigned. Now home to the Academic Support Center and a new multipurpose space for group collaboration or classroom use, the library has separate areas for quiet study and teamwork. The group spaces are equipped with whiteboards, projectors, and flexible seating, and new glass walls allow in plenty of natural light. Don Kingman, director of campus planning, design, and construction, says updates were due. “It’s been 30 years since the library was built,” he says. “Pedagogy and philosophy about how to use space have changed tremendously in that time.” \

PHOTO TOUR View a slideshow at www.concordacademy. org/libraryrefresh.

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N E T S H OTS

During the fall soccer season last year, I was injured for a couple of days, and not being able to play, I found myself with the perfect opportunity to take some photos of the team. I couldn’t participate in practices, so while everyone else was playing, I walked around the field taking pictures. I got a wide variety of shots during the time that I was injured, and since I really love close-ups, here are two of the best. In the end, every annoying soccer injury has a silver lining. — Sameer Desai ’20

“Klein aber fein”

CA’s summer trip to Germany

Meet German teacher Annie Falk

Many schools have dropped German programs. How relevant is the language now? Germany is a big player on the world stage. That’s why we’ve been talking about the migrant crisis in class. Chancellor Angela Merkel has taken leadership on this issue at a time when other countries are hostile to refugees — it’s a humanitarian approach that’s directly related to Germany’s history. Additionally, studying German can be beneficial in the college process. Because it’s not a typical choice, taking the language helps applicants stand out in the crowd. Have you always wanted to teach? I knew before I finished my doctorate in German literature at Columbia University that I wanted to teach high school. Many professors focus primarily on research, and I wanted a job that was fully teaching.

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Why did you want to work at CA? I got excited when I saw the job listing, because the course catalog seemed like one from a small liberal arts college. At CA, there’s a genuine approach to learning. How did you learn German? I’ve always loved languages. I was a classics major in college. When I was getting my master’s in applied linguistics at Teachers College, a mentor recommended that I learn German. I had no particular interest in the language, but I knew that Middlebury Language Schools has amazing summer immersion language programs. I went as a complete beginner, and I got obsessed. The challenge made me buckle down and really want to master this language.

C U LT U R A L I M M E RS I O N

FAC U LT Y

The German language program at CA is “klein aber fein,” small but mighty, says German teacher Annie Falk, who succeeded longtime teacher Susan Adams in 2013.

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So it’s not impossible to learn a new language as an adult? I learned German when I was around 25 years old. It’s absolutely possible to learn a language later in life. But it requires serious commitment. If you’re really interested in something, it doesn’t matter what it is. It will take you someplace if you dig really deep.

CA students explored the arts and culture of Germany during a summer immersion trip.

In June, CA German teacher Annie Falk and English teacher Laurence Vanleynseele accompanied 11 CA students to Göttingen, Germany, for 13 days. They stayed with host families, studied at a private language school, and took many an afternoon excursion. The trip concluded with a long weekend in Berlin, where students saw the Reichstag and other cultural landmarks, took in a show with music teacher and additional chaperone Michael Bennett, and connected over dinner with alumnae Martina Falter ’89 and Thandiwe Mbityana ’90. “It’s important for the students to hear other German voices,” Falk says. Her upper-level German classes had studied the European migrant crisis, using Skype to interview a professor who teaches refugees in Berlin. “That real interaction with a native speaker was the highlight of the semester for many of those students,” Falk says. On the trip, they learned that the Friedland Transit Camp, open to refugees since World War II, was just a brief train ride from Göttingen. Fortuitously, they visited Museum Friedland on World Refugee Day. “Immersion in the language is very important,” Falk says, “but more than that, trips like this make other countries real to students. It’s the first time many travel without their families or imagine studying abroad. It’s a bridge experience.”

TRAVEL ASSISTANCE The German Summer Study Fund was established in 2015 through a parent’s gift. The fund supports CA travel to Germany according to financial need for students who have completed German 1 and 2.

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V I SUA L A RTS

Class Portrait Nina He ’17 captures the spirit of her class Senior projects come in all shapes and sizes at CA. Semester-long, student-designed independent courses challenge students to dig deeply into specific topics or experiences. The senior project Nina He ’17 undertook ended up in the form of 97 8-by-8-inch canvas boards — one for each of the 97 members of the class of 2017. The series went on display in the senior projects showcase in May. The idea for painting portraits of her classmates came from a story He read in the Boston Globe about a student who sketched his entire class in charcoal. She wanted to work in color and chose acrylic paint. With guidance from her senior project advisor, visual arts teacher Jonathan Smith, she got to work just after winter break. He’s portraits capture their subjects’ personalities. Asking her fellow students to pose candidly, she worked from photographs. At the outset, each portrait took her three to four hours to finish. As she gained expertise, she cut that time in half. She focused most of her attention on faces, leaving the hair for last to keep herself on schedule. She also had a bit of help: Her father assisted with some of the

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“manual labor.” Together they created a gridding device that allowed her to proportionally draw from the photographs onto canvas,and he painted some of the backgrounds. But she was responsible for the remarkable likenesses. Now in her first year at Princeton, He plans to study computer science — it runs in the family. Her dream job would combine that with visual arts at Pixar. For the time being, she has lent the paintings to CA. At her first reunion, she says, she hopes to give individual portraits as mementos to her classmates. Clockwise: Nina He ’17 working on a portrait in the painting studio. The finished portraits displayed at the senior projects showcase, where she showed a time-lapse video of her process. Some portraits in progress. Her self-portrait.

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FACES OF 2017 To watch a video about Nina He and her paintings, visit www. concordacademy.org/ classportrait.

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P E R FO R M I N G A RTS

IMPROVISATIONAL STRUCTURE CA dancers take the stage with Skeleton Architecture at the ICA In July, Summer Stages Dance, directed by CA dance faculty members Amy Spencer and Richard Colton, hosted a weeklong residency at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston for the landmark performance group Skeleton Architecture. This multigenerational, interdisciplinary collective of 20 black women and gender-nonconforming performance artists from New York recently won the dance world’s most esteemed award, a Bessie Award for best performer. Spencer and Colton invited the group to share its improvisational processes with black artists from Boston — including current CA student Dorree Ndooki ’19 and alumnae Maya Luckett ’14 and Kiki McEady ’17. The residency culminated in a performance of a brave work that had never been rehearsed, an hour-and-a-half music and dance improvisation inspired by Audre Lorde’s influential essay “Poetry Is Not a Luxury.”

Dorree Ndooki ’19, Kiki McEady ’17, and Maya Luckett ’14 working with Skeleton Architecture at the ICA.

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“Poetry is the way we help give name to the nameless so it can be thought.” AU D R E LO R D E

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H OW W E T E AC H T E E N S

“At what cost do we expect adolescents to think and act like adults before they have actually developed those capacities?” asks David Gleason, Psy.D., consulting psychologist at Concord Academy, in his TEDx talk. It’s the inquiry driving his new book, At What Cost? Defending Adolescent Development in Fiercely Competitive Schools, which was selected for CA faculty and staff summer reading.

IN BRIEF

Stage Notes

Theater teacher Megan Schy Gleeson directed a new play, Plank, by John Greiner-Ferris, at Alley Cat Theater in August and September. Music technology teacher Ned Singh designed the sound for the show. The playwright worked with CA students on last year’s Theater Company show, Plan(c)ked.

Theater Company is collaborating with another local playwright this year, Alexa Mavromatis, who also works for Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, to create an original piece in a yearlong project.

The cast and crew of CA’s 2017 fall musical, Urinetown, joined forces with science teacher Gretchen Roorbach and the Green Club in showrelated activities encouraging awareness of local water usage and its relationship with climate change.

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ST U DY B R E A K

Citizen Science This is CA’s 11th year contributing to Picture Post, a NASA-funded project that engages citizens in monitoring local environmental conditions. Science teacher John Pickle was on the team that instigated the project, and he heads it up at CA, where a 4-by-4inch post is located behind the Elizabeth B. Hall Chapel. Placed on the octagonal surface as a guide, smartphones or digital cameras capture 360-degree views of the surrounding area; volunteers upload the pictures to a website for scientists to use in analyzing local environmental health. When combined, the images from many Picture Posts provide valuable data on regional and national environmental trends. CA’s post is adjacent to a maple tree, so Pickle has tracked variables such as the dates of its first leaf, complete canopy cover, first new wood added to the trunk, and fall foliage color change.

This wave pendulum grabbed some attention in the Main School Lobby last spring. The DEMONs (Dreamers, Engineers, Mechanics, and Overt Nerds) club spent years refining these pendulums, which behave independently but produce a collective pattern. The device helps explain the apparent contraction of wave-particle duality, a central idea in quantum physics. It made for a fun study break, too.

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Building a New Cultural Bridge CA students lay a path for Latin learners in China and beyond As Julius Caesar’s army advanced through Gaul in the first century B.C.E, the Romans laid down roads and bridges on the march, paving supply lines for the empire. Classics teacher Elizabeth Penland ’89 likens the two-year labor of love some of her students undertook in translating a commentary on Caesar’s Gallic War into Mandarin to that ancient engineering feat. The text was the first resource for Chinese students of Latin to be released by Dickinson College Commentaries (DCC), which publishes Latin and Greek resources free of charge for public use. Penland believes a classical education should not just be the mark of the elite. “Anyone should be able to study Latin,” she says. With its peer-reviewed, crowdsourced approach, DCC is leading a charge to make the classics accessible to anyone with an internet connection. And despite an international trend of declining study of the classical humanities, thousands of students in China are learning Latin and ancient Greek. Many high schools, colleges, and universities rely on DCC commentaries, as does Penland. By aggregating generations of contextual notes, they reveal “a chain of interpretation, of teaching, and of use,” she says. “They help the text feel more like a cultural object that many people have read.” Penland was in the right place at the right time to get the CA translation project started. While attending the Conventiculum Dickinsoniense, an annual immersive oral Latin experience hosted by Dickinson College, in 2015, she talked with DCC project director Christopher Francese, who compiled the commentary. She mentioned the talented and passionate Latin students

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Ken Lin ’18 and Nora Zhou ’17 in Oxford, England, during a spring 2016 “Roman Britain” trip that allowed CA students to see the impact of Caesar’s invasions on the British landscape.

who were entering CA’s program as native Mandarin speakers with training in ancient Chinese. He had just prioritized the translation work on Caesar, because it is core literature for the Advanced Placement exam in Latin. Once Penland had recruited students, Adam Bailey, head of modern and classical languages, and John Drew, assistant head of school and academic dean, offered their support. It seemed the perfect project to encourage research and independent thinking. Mandarin teacher Wenjun Kuai agreed to consult with students. “Wenjun is such a generous colleague and a wonderful teacher,” Penland says. “She did so much work on the Mandarin. The students had responsibility and a voice in how the project ran. Their group work was self-directed. It was a highly collaborative process, a model of linguistic research.”

The work took place entirely outside of class, and the students were supervised by a Chinese research editor assigned by DCC. In the first phase, Nora Zhou ’17 and Ken Lin ’18 oversaw the translation as student project leaders. Penland assembled groups of students, pairing EnglishLatin and Mandarin-English speakers. Some who knew both languages met in the middle. With Zhou and Lin, Rebecca Yang ’18, Helen Wu ’18, Jessica Ding ’17, Michael Qiu ’18, Ben Zide ’18, Anna Dibble ’18, and Lysie Jones ’18 all translated, and additional students provided project support. A friendly but intense competition emerged, thanks to weekly “brownie challenges” that earned baked goods from Penland. Lin, who completed numerous translations, says, “I’m not going to lie. It really motivated me.” By summer 2016, review began, with final edits arriving in the fall. Zide worked as an editorial assistant to Zhou and Lin. “He’s a fantastic classicist and did much of the coordinating and computing work to keep the project managed and formatted consistently,” Penland says. Working feverishly to meet a January 2017 deadline, the students completed the project on the first day of the Lunar New Year of the Rooster (and coincidentally, Lin’s birthday). The entire Latin program cheered on the project team. “They achieved something I don’t know if I’ve ever seen the like of,” Penland says. “It’s astounding to me what they did on their first effort.” Very different linguistic structures make translating between Latin, English, and Mandarin challenging. Zhou explains that both Latin and Mandarin can be quite concise, but in different ways. The Romans used concrete, detailed descriptions, whereas

the Chinese rely on metaphor. English is more similar to Latin — for example, the languages share the passive voice — than to Mandarin. For Lin, immersing himself in all three languages at once revealed commonalities across cultures. “It’s very easy to see the differences, but this allowed me to make connections,” he says. “Nora has an astonishing literary sense, with multilayered, nuanced linguistic thoughts,” Penland says. “And Ken is a rock star. He’s on fire for classics.” Zhou is now studying chemistry and classics at UCLA. Lin interned in Rome this

summer with the Paideia Institute, helping to write a textbook bridging ancient China and ancient Rome. He is independently organizing Mandarin speakers to translate English classics blogs. “They’re all great students, tenacious, willing, motivated, and respectful of each other. Scholarly work is so often isolating, but those qualities will make them really successful later,” Penland says. Now students are asking Penland if they can tackle a Vergil commentary. “They got the bug,” she says. “That’s how intellectual passion happens.”

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“It’s very easy to see the diﬀerences, but this allowed me to make connections.” K E N L I N ’1 8

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AT H L E T I C S

Go Green! CA teams enjoyed much success in the spring. Several saw vast improvement, and others continued their winning ways, earning berths in the season-ending Eastern Independent League (EIL) and New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) tournaments. The varsity softball, baseball, and girls lacrosse teams matched or improved their tournament seeding, a sign of steady progress. After its best season in years, the baseball team suffered a heartbreaking 1–0 loss in the EIL semifinals, having nearly upended the number-one seed, Pingree. The boys lacrosse team completed the season with a winning record after a winless season in 2016 — a dramatic turnaround in only one year. “Congrats to the coaches and players for their hard work and dedication,” said Sue Johnson, athletics director. “They treated CA fans to many individual and team highlights across all sports!”

Ultimate Teamwork

The coed varsity Ultimate Frisbee team completed a second straight unblemished season, earning a bid to the A pool of the NEPSAC tournament — the first time in school history. As a result, the players tested their skills against much larger programs, such as Northfield Mount Hermon, Choate Rosemary Hall, and Worcester Academy. The Chameleons didn’t advance in the pool, but they competed well at that high level. With a young team returning this spring, look for the Ultimate team to aim for a return trip to the upper ranks of the NEPSAC tournament.

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The track and field team traveled to Marianapolis Preparatory School in May to compete in the EIL championships. By the end of the day, both the girls and boys teams stood upon the podium accepting third-place trophies. It was the first time since the program began in 2010 that either team placed in the top three at EILs. Soon after, 19 of CA’s track athletes traveled to the NEPSAC championship meet and enjoyed a stellar day, with eight athletes earning medals and Sam Welsh ’18 (see page 18) winning in the discus with a record-setting throw.

(see pg 18).

Banner Season

no-hitters were thrown by Kunaal Verma ’17 for the baseball team.

All

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Sam Welsh ’18 broke a 16-year-old New England discus record by

Going the Distance

of CA’s varsity teams ended the spring season with winning records.

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For highlights from spring and fall athletics and news about all of CA’s dedicated student-athletes, visit www.concordacademy.org/athletics.

The girls varsity tennis team earned an impressive third NEPSAC tournament bid in five years. The team secured the number-two seed, the best in program history, on the strength of a hard-fought victory over previously undefeated league rival Winsor School on the last viable competition day of the regular season. As a result, CA earned a bye to the semifinals, where they fought off EIL foe Newton Country Day School to send the team to the NEPSAC finals for the first time in the program’s history. The Chameleons fell to a powerful St. Luke’s School squad, the top seed in the tournament, the following day. CA is proud of the team’s runner-up finish!

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ST U D E N T-AT H L E T E

Thrown into History Sam Welsh ’18 sets a new record in discus

The first time Sam Welsh ’18 picked up a discus during a track and field practice in spring 2016, something about throwing it made an impression on him. “I felt I could do well with it,” says the All-American and Massachusetts state record holder. “It reminded me of my baseball swing, with a similar rotational movement. I just fell in love with it.” Within two weeks, Sam had thrown 130 feet, an impressive distance for any high schooler. After training through the winter, he threw 183 feet, 9 inches — a CA record — in his first competition. Sam had played baseball and basketball for years, but his interest in them was waning. “I was looking for something to replace that fire,” he says. He started discus training that summer, though he admits he had no idea what he was doing. “All I had was YouTube and a dirt field,” he says. When he began practicing with a local Chelmsford, Mass., club in the fall of 2016, he started hitting his stride and focused on improving. “When I went into the fall, I had no idea I’d be going to national meets,” he says. “All I could think about was my training.” Once he started training in earnest, the distances grew. In the New England DIII Championships, he set a new Eastern Independent League and New England Preparatory School Athletic Council record. At the New Balance Nationals he came in fifth, making him an AllAmerican — a title he earned again at the Junior Olympics in July 2017. At the Bay State Games the same summer, he threw 195 feet, 11 inches for a Massachusetts state record. The throw also put him first in the United States for the class of 2018. Jonathan Waldron, his track and field coach at CA, sums it up: “Within one year, he went from never having touched a discus to being the best high school discus thrower ever in the history of Massachusetts.” In explaining this meteoric rise, Waldron adds, “He’s extremely coordinated, with a great sense of balance. And Sam’s personality is well suited to discus: He’s very driven to perfect whatever he’s doing.” Everyone at CA has been so supportive, especially Coach Waldron, Coach Champion, Coach Bohenek, and Sue Johnson,” Sam says. “The journey has been amazing.“Last fall, I set a goal of hitting 200 feet. I hit it in practice and now want to hit it in a meet.” This summer, he hopes to throw in Junior Nationals, where a heavier disc is used — something he is already training for. He wants to throw in college, but “before athletics come academics,” he says. “I’m looking to enjoy the overall experience.” And from there? “I try to set high goals for myself,” he says. “My dream is to go to the Olympics.” — Ben Carmichael ’01

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CA M P U S

BUILDING A TEAM English teacher and Community and Equity faculty member Courtney Fields is a die-hard softball fan. She’s played the sport since she was 5 years old and has coached the girls varsity softball team at CA for the past five years. What’s your coaching philosophy? I get my core values from my own experience in a private school with a very strong head coach who was also my advisor. Playing softball taught me good communication and how to recover from mistakes. A third element I started emphasizing at CA was “the team before me.” CA’s emphasis on individualism is awesome and comes from Concord’s transcendentalist roots, but it’s not ideal for team sports. One of the most important parts of coaching is team bonding, so we have scavenger hunts and trips to college-level softball games. We’ve been lucky to attract great, dedicated kids who love to play softball. They stay friends off the field. You became a varsity team five years ago. How has the team matured? Ed Rafferty was coaching before I arrived. The team had almost gone under, but he took it on, then stayed on for two years as head coach and has continued as assistant coach. He’s really dedicated and believes in the importance of high-quality women’s athletic opportunities. The first couple of years after we went varsity, it was a tough sell to say, “This is what competitive sports look like at this level” to some people who just wanted to have fun. By the third year, we started to attract more competitive players, and they became role models. Now my job is easy. Any recent successes to highlight? Winning two games against top-threeranked programs in recent seasons was a turning point for morale. The other teams were as surprised as we were, but we realized that we’re great too. That really upped our level of play.

DRAWN TO DISCUS Watch a video about Sam Welsh, and see him throw, at www.concordacademy.org/ samwelsh. FA L L 20 1 7

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE Director of Athletics Sue Johnson set her sights on a regulation softball field when she arrived at CA two years ago. The girls varsity softball team was playing on a temporary field; with only the mound skinned, players couldn’t dig in at the plate or slide on the grass. In June, that field was transformed. “Now we’re right at the top among comparable schools,” Johnson says. “This is a commitment to supporting our female athletes.” Head coach Courtney Fields says “it was hard for the girls to take themselves seriously” when, prior to using the temporary field, they had to trek to nearby Emerson School to practice and play. “There was a huge shift when we finally had space on campus two years ago,” she says. “We finally had fans.” She can’t wait to get her team out on the new field this spring. “It’s also symbolic,” Fields says. “We’re not just a thrown-together team; we’re a competitive program.”

RAISING THE 20

I O R DL ACALD E MUY M AGA S Z ITN E CONC

] [BARS Embracing the challenges, and the rewards, of

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WITHIN A YEAR of his release from prison, Dorell Smallwood was working at Brooklyn Defender Services, counseling teenagers who had just been arrested. “Because of the stigma,” he says, “so many felt like it was over for them.” To give them hope, he would disclose his own prison history: “Here I am, an individual who went to jail at 16, who benefitted from college programs at the bachelor’s and the master’s level, and who then returned home. And now my colleagues are criminal defense attorneys and criminal defense social workers — that’s mind-blowing — inside the court that convicted me for 20 years.”

teaching in prison

mallwood spoke recently on a Ford Foundation panel organized to launch the book Liberating Minds: The Case for College in Prison by Ellen Condliﬀe Lagemann ’63, Levy Institute Research Professor at Bard College and a distinguished fellow at the Bard Prison Initiative (BPI). Nationally, more than half of released prisoners are rearrested within three years, but just two percent of BPI’s graduates recidivate. Many go on to earn advanced degrees and find employment in the social services. They and professors such as Lagemann have been discussing how education in prison can transform lives. “These are the most interesting students I’ve taught anywhere: more motivated, more willing to ask questions without worrying about appearing stupid,” Lagemann says. “Traditional college students are flooded with opportunities. People in prison are very aware of the privilege of education.” An expert on education history and research, she wrote Liberating Minds to detail the impact of programs such as BPI, which operates in six New York state prisons, and to argue that the movement for “college for all” can’t afford to overlook the incarcerated. In the United States, over 2.3 million people are imprisoned, more per capita than in any other country. In state prisons, most inmates have not completed high school, and quite a few are illiterate. BPI doesn’t offer remedial instruction, because “it turns students off and results in dropping out,” Lagemann says, but it does meet them where they are. Students in BPI’s associate’s degree program complete a selective application process that prioritizes their determination to succeed over their level of education. Bard provides writing guidelines that students are responsible for learning with fellow students’ help. Advisors work with them closely. Facing high expectations, they rise to the seriousness of study and talk about “coming to Bard”; when

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EDUCATION + REINCARCERATION BY TH E NUM BERS

More than

M I L L I O N people are imprisoned in the U.S., more per capita than in any other country.

50% 2% Over

of released prisoners are rearrested within three years.

of BPI’s graduates recidivate.

$1 $5 For every

spent on education,

are saved on reincarceration.

Inmates who participate in any correctional education have

43%

lower odds of recidivating than those who do not.

Statistics from Liberating Minds and the Rand Corporation report “How Effective Is Correctional Education, and Where Do We Go From Here?”(2014)

class is in session, they’re students, not prisoners. Those who do well can apply through Bard’s admissions office to pursue bachelor’s degrees; their senior theses are as strong as those from the main campus. BPI has essentially no dropouts and offers robust reentry assistance for housing and jobs. College-in-prison programs were commonplace in the 1980s, but after Congress voted in 1994 to make prisoners ineligible for federal Pell grants, only a few private programs survived. The U.S. Department of Education launched Second Chance Pell in 2015, opening up college to 12,000 more inmates. That’s a sliver of the current prison population, but the results of this five-year pilot program might attract more investment. Politicians on both sides of the aisle agree that U.S. mass incarceration must be remedied, but they have different approaches to addressing the problem. In Lagemann’s view, this solution isn’t

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Left: Inside a BPI classroom. Below: Ellen Condliffe Lagemann ’63.

Traditional college students are flooded with opportunities. People in prison are very aware of the privilege of education.” ELLEN CONDLIFFE LAGEMANN ’63

a quick fix, but it is a permanent one. “If you want to close prisons,” she says, “the surest route is through college in prison. People don’t go back.” “We know some things with no debate,” agrees attorney Lael Hiam Chester ’83 P’17, who is researching emerging adult justice for 18- to 25-yearolds at the Harvard Kennedy School. “Education in prison reduces recidivism. It’s really clear.” A comprehensive 2014

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RAND Corporation report shows that for every dollar spent on education, five are saved on reincarceration. Prison education has been shown to reduce violence and improve institutional conditions for students, other inmates, and corrections officers. Once released, participants are less likely to reoffend. They earn more and are likelier to pay taxes. And prisoners who pursue degrees often inspire family members to do the same. Beyond being sound social policy, for Chester, who led the successful Justice for Kids Campaign that ended automatic prosecution and sentencing of 17-year-olds as adults in Massachusetts, education in prison is a human rights issue. She has spent her career examining factors that contribute to the incarceration of young people. Not surprisingly, many attend failing schools. At a developmental stage during which they are prone to risk-taking, mental health issues, and substance abuse, young

adults are shockingly overrepresented in the criminal justice system. “They’re malleable and very peer-oriented, both negatively and positively,” Chester says. “For a poor person of color, the chance of getting swept into the criminal justice system is incredibly high.” After college, Chester worked as a victim witness advocate in Middlesex County, Mass., and collected data on juvenile court cases. Her youthful idealism took a blow when one child who had been badly abused, and of whom she’d grown fond, appeared in court as a defendant. “People forget that some of the incarcerated have done awful things, but many have been victimized,” she says. “We get cast into one role or another, but it’s much more complex than that.” Chester is now trying to translate research into policy guidelines. She’s optimistic about state and local criminal justice reform — three counties in Massachusetts are planning to open special correctional units for emerging adults. More broadly, she hopes Americans’ attitudes toward criminality will shift. She points to Europe, where rates of incarceration are minuscule in comparison. “There’s a very strong sense in America culturally of valuing retribution over prevention and rehabilitation,” she says. A common argument against educating prisoners overlooks the return on investment because of a sense of unfairness. Why should criminals benefit from programs, especially college, that law-abiding citizens can’t afford? Chester admits it’s a valid objection, but it’s one that would

Left: Teaching BPI students. Right: BPI graduates marching at their commencement ceremony.

be obviated if public college were free for everyone. “Your kids should go to college, but that does not mean we exclude others from participating,” she says. “The circumstances of these programs are vastly different. Except for losing your life, losing your liberty is the greatest punishment we can place on someone.”

NOT ONLY college-level instruction matters, as the RAND study shows: Inmates who participate in any correctional education have 43 percent lower odds of recidivating than those who do not. Angela Middleton Wilkins ’48 GP’12 considers it equally important to reach prisoners who have little chance of

ON CAMPUS English teacher Andrew Stevens is new to CA this year. Originally from Michigan, he came to CA from the University of Alabama, where he completed his graduate studies while also teaching at the Alabama Prison Arts and Education Project. The men at the maximum security William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility demanded more of his teaching than any previous group of students. “These guys wanted everything I had, and I quickly ran through my material,” he says. Teaching at Donaldson challenged Stevens’ assumptions about prison and influenced his pedagogy. “When an idea you have of how something will go is disrupted, you grow as a teacher and a learner,” he says. It’s an experience he hopes to foster for students at CA.

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accessing higher education. Retired from the Carroll School, a school in Lincoln, Mass., for students with dyslexia and other learning challenges, she now volunteers at the Northeastern Correctional Center in West Concord, Mass. The minimum-security and pre-release facility is nicknamed “The Farm”: It doesn’t look like a prison, and instead of a wall, a field surrounds it. Before Wilkins and a friend began teaching there in 2015, they spent weeks planning. But when they met their students — 10 Latino inmates — something seemed wrong. While Wilkins spoke, the men’s facial expressions didn’t change. Then it dawned on her: They didn’t understand English. Wilkins and her friend overhauled their plans for the class. Twice a week, they divided time between English instruction and mathematics. They created classroom situations that valued thinking, not only right answers. Not knowing any Spanish, Wilkins used the language-learning platform Duolingo to teach herself. “It increased our rapport,” she says, “because I was learning along with them. They could laugh at my mistakes.” Unwilling to speak in front of one another in the fall, by spring the students rushed to class, smiling and swaggering. Their strong desire to learn impressed Wilkins, as did their pride in realizing the extent of their abilities. “Clearly they began to appreciate that learning can be a positive experience, actually even enjoyable,” she says. Because many prisons rely on volunteers who may not be experienced teachers, Wilkins has proposed professional development sessions to the Massachusetts

Department of Correction. Fortunately for their students, the CA community members who teach in prison are seasoned educators. Their experiences might not be typical, but they show what quality education can accomplish. Without exception, they describe classes in prison as the most rewarding teaching experiences of their lives. “I think my students are brilliant,” says Sarah Wyman ’84, who volunteers at the maximum security Shawangunk Correctional Facility in Wallkill, N.Y. “I’m impressed and overwhelmed.” Since 2007, she has taught poetry reading and writing twice a semester to 15 men at various levels of literacy. They read Robert Hayden, Langston Hughes, Sonia Sanchez, and Claude McKay. They respond to photos or paintings and question what poetry is and what it can do. At first Wyman was concerned her students wouldn’t feel comfortable sharing their own work; so much of it was about loss. But after a while, they suggested concluding with poetry slams. “They’re the easiest students to teach, so attentive and appreciative,” Wyman says. She even followed one man through the publication of his book, editing his manuscript. An associate professor of English and director of the Faculty Development Center at the State University of New York at New Paltz, Wyman says she was simply looking for a way to give back near home. She traces her commitment to social justice to CA, where she led Volunteers in Action. “I wish we all had a public service requirement

There’s a very strong sense in America culturally of valuing retribution over prevention and retribution” LAEL HIAM CHESTER ’83 P’17

as American citizens,” she says. “It would challenge the way we think about work and responsibility.”

WHAT MAKES a successful teacher in prison? According to former Concord Academy English teacher Richard Shohet P’82, ’84, ’87, it’s “what the Greeks called the greatest of all attributes: humility.” Shohet spent most of his career in public schools. Retired now, he volunteered for decades in Massachusetts prisons, teaching literature once a week, sometimes to inmates who could not read a word. “I quickly learned that there is no shortage of brainpower behind bars. Schooling, yes, but not intelligence,” he says. Discussing books, from Stephen King to Sophocles, Mickey Spillane to Shakespeare, excited his students. He also noticed that racial divisions, which defined groups at meals or in the yard, relaxed in his classroom. He says he never had a bad night in prison, and if he could choose his career again, he might consider law enforcement. Like Shohet, Tilia Klebenov Jacobs ’83 has taught at several correctional institutions in Massachusetts. She holds a master of theological studies degree from Harvard Divinity School and a secondary school teaching certification from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and she has taught in middle school, high school, and college. She’s also a published author. In prison, Jacobs teaches a six-week novel-writing class modeled on her experience drafting her first crime thriller, Wrong Place, Wrong Time, during National Novel Writing Month. Her class offers no credit or “good time” (a reduction of sentence), so she draws adults who are simply eager to learn and improve their lives. Her students manage time; they make mistakes and try again. Though many prison educational offerings emphasize self-reflection, Jacobs finds taking in other viewpoints essential. “Empathy doesn’t exist until you step outside of yourself,” she says.

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For her incarcerated students, she says, she’s making a bigger difference than for any other group she has taught. And she has become especially grateful for her own education. “CA always let you know that learning is a privilege,” she says. “Working with prisoners has been the first time in my life that I’ve felt I’m doing enough.” Her students testify to the impact of the class. Many report a new perspective and level of awareness. One inmate wrote that it “helped with what many of us face in prison, failure to thrive.” Another said, “I’m capable of using my mind toward anything positive.”

ART FOR JUSTICE In June, the New York Times reported that art collector and philanthropist Agnes Gund P’83, ’86 sold a Roy Lichtenstein painting and donated $100 million of the proceeds to kick-start the Art for Justice Fund. Its purpose: to support advocacy and interventions to safely cut the prison population in states with the highest rates of incarceration, and to strengthen the education and employment options for people leaving prison — through the sale of art. Learn more at artforjusticefund.org

DIFFERENCE MAKERS The CA graduates who teach in prison are seasoned educators, including (left to right) Tilia Klebenov Jacobs ’83, Sarah Wyman ’84, and Angela Middleton Wilkins ’48 GP’12. Lael Hiam Chester ’83 P’17 (right) researches emerging adult justice.

PICTURE

BIG

THE

BY H E I D I KO E L Z

Behind the scenes of CA’s ambitious filmmaking program

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Harvey Burrell ‘09 tests camera gear for Windy Films, a film production company he co-founded with Tripp Clemens ‘09.

A Above: Screen capture from Much Ado About Nothing, the school’s third feature-length film. Opposite Top: Film teacher Justin Bull directing CA student actors in the production of Much Ado About Nothing. Opposite Middle: Screen capture from Merge. Opposite Bottom: Shooting scenes for Much Ado About Nothing.

listair Wilson ’11 remembers the precise moment

he got interested in making films. As a sophomore at Concord Academy, he read an email from longtime teacher Ben Stumpf ’88, who was recruiting students for a documentary about climate change and New England fishing. Wilson jumped at the chance to participate. He soon started taking classes with film teacher Justin Bull, who has been at CA since 2007. A little more than a year ago, Wilson and Jordan Beard ’11 founded the production company Weekend Studio in Boston. Both credit CA with inspiring their love of filmmaking. “We were constantly making stuff,” Beard says. “Justin put a camera in our hands on day one. The experience got us hooked.” Weekend Studio shares a building with Windy Films, where Harvey Burrell ’09 and Tripp Clemens ’09 create short films that tell stories of social impact and innovation. Burrell admires Bull’s “commitment and energy for pushing the outer limits of what a high school film program can do.” Clemens studied film in college. Burrell didn’t. But they share a background in CA’s

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film program. “We can reach out to CA alums to work with and know that they have a base of common knowledge,” Clemens says. (Ben Glass ’16 interned at Windy Films this summer, Carter Kratkiewicz ’16 at Weekend Studio.) Burrell and Clemens co-directed that documentary of Stumpf’s back in 2009. Cold Water won a production grant from WGBH, which Stumpf used to buy new gear and start a weekly film series called Dinner Docs. “When kids decide to take on documentary projects, they’re doing research and also working from their deepest passions,” he says. “So you might see student films about sports culture or the refugee crisis.” Two of his students, Gwen Sadie ’17 and Rafi Barron ’17, made what he considers “the best film on the internet about intersectional feminism.” Stumpf, who teaches computer science, graphic design, and documentary and introductory narrative filmmaking, traces his passion for film to his own student days at CA in Chris Rowe’s animation course. Stumpf earned his master’s in filmmaking while teaching at CA and still considers Rowe a mentor. For his part, Rowe, who once taught film and now teaches primarily drawing and architecture, has watched the film program’s trajectory since he came to CA in 1985. He calls Bull “the perfect blend of go-for-it and professionalism.” Students are using college-grade gear to make movies, and affordable digital equipment has encouraged experimentation and collaboration. “Digital technology has allowed the arts to bleed into each other,” Rowe says. “For schools that’s a challenge because we’re used to teaching discrete subjects. But the categories are frankly no longer relevant, especially to students who can now make sophisticated videos on their smartphones. What we’re seeing is a democratization and cross-pollination across media.” Amy Spencer, head of performing arts and a dance teacher, agrees. “Video is how our students are exploring work from other dancers and finding outlets for their own,” she says. “We need to address changes in how people will be viewing the arts. We’re trying to explore synergy between art forms as much as possible.”

“Students come to understand the nature of largescale, collaborative artmaking that is the heart of filmmaking.” << JUSTIN BULL

THE COLLABORATIVE ART OF FILM The shift to digital technology has allowed Bull to dream up, and realize, big projects. He’s engaged in an “ongoing attempt to erode barriers,” he says, between performing and visual arts. Film is really both. It also requires creative writing, technical skills, and business acumen. “It’s a strange beast,” he says. “That’s why I like it.” Soon after Bull arrived at CA, Spencer and dance program director Richard Colton reached out to him. “I caught the bug and wanted to collaborate more,” he says. In 2011, a semester-long joint production brought his students to Maryland to shoot Dance Company’s Alice Underground and a related narrative short, Wonderland. Impressed by the Dance Company and Theater Company models, Bull introduced yearlong Feature Film courses. The first result was an improvised minimalist character study, Extracurricular. “We learned a lot and put so much love into it,” Bull says, “but it didn’t cause a blip when I submitted it to festivals.” Later he coordinated with English teacher Laurence Vanleynseele on a course about collective consciousness. Kratkiewicz, now studying filmmaking at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts, was in the class that made the related science fiction thriller Merge. “No one knew how we were going to pull it off on top of the rest of our schoolwork, but Justin made it happen,” he says. “Not only did we make a feature-length film, but we made something we could all be proud of.” Merge premiered in 2016 at the Boston Science Fiction Film Festival, followed by Sci-Fi-London, where Sight & Sound hailed it as one of the festival’s 10 highlights. Last year’s Much Ado About Nothing was CA’s first movie musical. With a screenplay co-written by Jared Green ’88 and original music by the

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BEYOND FILM CLASSES Even outside the media lab, aspects of CA’s educational approach also influenced alumnae/i now working in media. Andrew Herwitz ’79, who runs the Film Sales Company, credits history, English, and art history teachers for preparing him for his career. “Endless chatting about matters both large and trivial with friends,” he says, taught him to appreciate good storytelling. Producer and director Caroline Suh ’89 says, “The education we got in high school gave us a strong idea that we could do something creative in life.” She remembers hearing author Susan Minot ’74 and producer Sarah Pillsbury ’69 speak. “Those experiences showed us we also could have jobs working in creative fields.”

Above: Hannah Trautwein ’17 on a campus video shoot. Bottom Right: Weekend Studio team Jordan Beard ’11 and Alistair Wilson ’11 on location.

Magnetic Fields (a band that includes Claudia Gonson ’86 and Sam Davol ’88), it was a multigenerational CA endeavor. It also involved four classes of students in music, dance, and film. Having recently taught Dance, Music, and New Media with Bull and choral director Michael Bennett, Spencer describes a recent shift in educators’ roles. “Teachers are acting as facilitators, with students as content creators,” she says. “That changes the dynamic and means we need different sorts of spaces for different modes of working.” Bull, too, wants to “work in a space that breaks down barriers in a literal sense,” he says. He’s also considering collaborating with other filmmakers. “It would be amazing for students in the Feature Film course to work with a resident filmmaker,” he says, “maybe a recent alum who could come back to direct.”

A BALANCED APPROACH As with any artistic discipline at Concord Academy, film teachers are practicing artists. Stumpf makes documentaries. Bull is a narrative filmmaker and a successful screenwriter. He holds the Katherine Carton Hammer ’68 Endowed Faculty Chair, which recognizes and supports gifted midcareer teaching. He’s using school-awarded funds to shoot a few short films and deepen his postproduction skills. Bull ensures that new students learn by making and that advanced students communicate in teams to tell strong stories. Beginning students complete several short projects while learning the basics of shot composition, screenwriting,

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editing, continuity, lighting, set design, and audio. Stumpf, who collaborates with Bull on the introductory film curriculum, says, “Justin is always looking toward the next wave of filmmaking. I love to watch this art form evolve, to see kids engage.” As a capstone experience, advanced classes are split into two crews with specialized roles in Film Production Workshops. In the Feature Film courses, students “come to understand the nature of large-scale, collaborative artmaking that is the heart of filmmaking,” Bull says. “CA was where I was first told I could be a filmmaker,” says Dani Girdwood ’11, who is getting her start assisting independent filmmakers and is also directing her own projects. “I credit Justin Bull with having brought to CA a really balanced approach between cultivating the craft to curate a portfolio and working on a big project with 30 or so others, which reflects the practical nature of the film industry.”

Below: Quess Green ‘16 during a campus video shoot with Harvey Burrell ‘09 and Tripp Clemens ‘09 from Windy Films. Right: Students on the production crew of Much Ado About Nothing.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE Visit www. concordacademy.org/ filmworks for a video interview with CA film teacher Justin Bull and trailers from recent CA feature films.

CALLING CA ALUMNAE/I Are you involved in the film or entertainment industry? Let us know at magazine@ concordacademy.org, and connect with fellow CA alumnae/i working in film and video.

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Not all CA film students become filmmakers, but the skills they learn are highly transferrable. Benjamin Bell ’93 went on to develop video games such as the Sims, Guitar Hero, Call of Duty, and EverQuest. Daniel Coppersmith ’11 studies anxiety in children at the National Institute of Mental Health. Directing Alice Underground at CA was “one of the most formative experiences” he had in high school, giving him a sense of “autonomy and empowerment,” he says. “Both filmmaking and research are very structured. You have to execute complex projects, collaborating with large groups and calling on many ways of thinking.” Many students stumble into filmmaking at CA. When he arrived, Paolo Sanchez ’14 had not given much thought to film classes as an option. He didn’t think of himself as artistic. “I liked watching movies,” he said, “but I was blown away by the rich history of film and how much there was to learn.” He recalls campus speaking visits from alumnae/i such as journalist Sebastian Junger ’80 and cinematographer Rachel Morrison ’96 as “amazing opportunities to be in a room with CA people who kept going with their passions, to see where our work might take us.” Bull shared his love of films as

well, and of teaching. Now applying to both MFA and doctoral programs in film, Sanchez envisions himself one day teaching, he says, “with the same energy and passion as Justin.” Some alumnae/i are already shaping the next generation of filmmakers. Alex Fichera ’11 studied with Bull at CA and with Sally Rubin ’95, who teaches documentary filmmaking, at Chapman University. He praises Bull’s “keen sense of story” as a screenwriter. “He’s great at getting young people to ignore the temptation to overuse special effects and gimmicks, making sure you’re focused on the narrative, emotional core of the story,” he says. Rubin, he says, is a very different kind of filmmaker, from the boots-on-the-ground documentary world. Her lessons included how to work with documentary subjects, the ethical role of the filmmaker, and how editing transforms and shapes a story. No matter the approach, CA student filmmakers gain skills for life. Of her own experience, Rubin says, “I’ve been making films about the underdog since I was at CA, where I was encouraged to find my passion, to have a voice in the world that can make a difference. That’s always been what’s rooted me. CA is an absolutely incredible place, and I’m so grateful to it.”

“Not only did we make a feature-length film, but we made something we could all be proud of.” CARTER KRATKIEWICZ ’16

Filming Much Ado About Nothing in the SHAC gymnasium.

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A LONG HISTORY

[ LO O K I N G BAC K ]

A no-holds-barred spirit has animated CA’s film program since it began 50 years ago under then-English teacher Russell Mead, who later became headmaster. Super 8 cameras and editing equipment arrived for the first film class in 1967. In the early 1970s, adventurous filmmakers, including Gerry and Kit Laybourne, Chuck McVinney, Peter Simmons, and Todd Crocker taught animation, film history, and production. Jean Pierce Morrow took over in 1977. The school’s rich filmmaking legacy matters to alumnae/i. David Kissinger ’79, president of Conaco, the television production company owned by comedian Conan O’Brien, says the film program had a “huge influence” on him, and he still clearly recalls his student films: a Beatles music video, shot in the Chapel, and a Buster Keaton homage, Ralph Goes to School. “It was my first time thinking about how to make a film,” he says. “We were running around with cameras, shooting scripts, and editing by hand. It was very tactile and satisfying.” Chris Rowe began directing the film program in 1986 and joined a cohort of young filmmakers. Selftaught, he jumped into animation using a still camera. Though he describes the “creative chaos” of the 1990s as exhausting, he gave his students freedom to fail and fostered “a healthy recklessness” that served them well. He says, “I like to think that the spirit of what we were trying informs the program now.” Rowe had a big influence on documentary archival producer Becca Bender ’95, who tackled an independent study with him. He later helped her land a job in Los Angeles. Independent filmmaker

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Emily Abt ’93 also links her career to Rowe and CA. “That’s where my passion ignited,” she says. Rowe’s successor, Marc Fields, brought a cinephile seriousness to the program when he arrived in 1999. An Emmy winner who had taught in the graduate film program at NYU and produced a weekly arts magazine for New Jersey Public Television, he appreciated CA’s seriousness about “artmaking as a legitimate subject for study,” he says. Fields developed a full spectrum of narrative and documentary film production and film studies courses. “I attach a lot of importance to the opportunity to accomplish something through making, not simply through academic evaluation,” Fields says. “My colleagues at CA were examples of that pedagogy working on all levels.” Now director of the graduate film program at Emerson College, Fields was the first CA teacher to be recognized with the Katherine Carton Hammer ’68 Endowed Faculty Chair. “Talk about support,” he says. “I’m very grateful to the school.” The funds helped him develop Give Me the Banjo, which aired on PBS in 2011. Shaun Clarke ’03 was on the first shoot and continued on the project as associate producer. Now he teaches alongside Fields at Emerson. He came to CA for its film program. “Other schools had them,” he says, “but CA’s was more robust.” Clarke describes the discipline required to shoot and edit in analog film as transformational. “Marc

Left: A student in the media lab. Right: Former headmaster Russ Mead teaching one of the first film classes at CA.

was extraordinarily knowledgeable about filmmaking across a variety of modes,” he says. “He was also patient, nice, and encouraging. That created a real community among us.” The film program likewise drew Sara’o Bery ’05. “Marc will always be the best film teacher I ever had,” he says. “The greatest testament to that education was what a leg up I had when I got to college. We were truly doing college-level film theory from freshman year on at Concord.” Looking back, Fields says, “I wasn’t prepared for the students’ limitless hunger for learning and doing as much as possible. I couldn’t have asked for more motivated, intellectually curious young people. I just gave them the opportunities and the tools to know what they were capable of doing.” CA’s former film students are eager to share what those opportunities have helped them achieve. When her documentary First Position came out, Bess Kargman ’00 says, she wanted CA students to see it “because of the love of art and making and creativity that is nourished at CA,” so she included the school in screenings. The film curriculum may have changed over the years, but the spirit of the courses remains the same: rigorous, adventurous, collaborative. All in.

U P DAT E

Centennial Campaign Just a few years ago, we announced the launch of create + innovate: the Centennial Campaign for Concord Academy. This campaign set forth five coordinated initiatives to invest in CA’s people and programs by supporting financial aid, faculty leadership, a boundless campus, CA Houses, and CA Labs. The first chapter of this plan was ambitious, and I am pleased to report that our ambitions have been met with extraordinary enthusiasm and generosity. We are on the verge of surpassing our $32 million fundraising goal for the initial phase of this campaign. Consider how much we, as a community, are poised to do as we approach CA’s centennial in five years. As we look ahead to preparing CA to enter its second century, we are working toward a thoughtful and compelling plan that will solidify the foundation of the school and invest in areas of distinction. We look forward to sharing that with you in the coming year. In the meantime, thank you. All of you, the many members of the CA community, have made these opportunities for collaboration possible.

Kim Williams P’08, ’14

President, Board of Trustees

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CA HOUSES

A community-centered renovation plan takes shape

Driving this project is the need to expand the learning experience beyond the classroom.

PLAN DETAILS The CA Houses plan was approved by the Board of Trustees in October. Please check the Concord Academy website, where the full details of the plan should now be available. www.concordacademy.org/cahouses

With its Colonial houses framing the school’s Main Street campus, Concord Academy’s residential life program offers a home-like atmosphere to boarders and exposes day students to a wide world of perspectives. The buildings are more than houses. They enliven a campus that is open to the entire CA community seven days a week. Helping the school fulfill its mission, they stand at the heart of CA’s identity as a warm, supportive community. CA plans to renovate its historic student houses, which are in critical need of attention, to improve the quality of life for all students. “Every enhancement we have made to Concord Academy’s campus has been community-centered,” says Don Kingman, director of campus planning, design, and construction. “We never look at a project as separate from the life of the school.” This plan is no exception. Driving the project is the need to expand the learning experience beyond the classroom by encouraging meaningful interaction and collaboration. Upgrades to the physical structures will create flexible common rooms that might serve as additional classrooms or as gathering spaces for student groups, which in CA’s culture of engagement are always in demand. In an effort to continue to attract and retain the best teachers, the plan also calls for enhancing apartments for house faculty. Rick Hardy, head of school, says, “Our plan for CA Houses will ensure that Concord Academy’s distinctive residential model continues to center and inspire the school’s entire living and learning community.”

C E N T E N N I A L CA M PA I G N

The Aﬃrmation of Financial Aid BY THE NUMBERS 2017–18 Concord Academy’s mission includes a commitment to embracing and broadening a diversity of backgrounds, perspectives, and talents. Providing financial aid is mission-critical. But for a school of CA’s resources, it’s a major ongoing commitment. More work is needed to ensure the future of financial aid at CA.

$26.1 M I L L I O N operating budget

$4.3

M I L L I O N financial aid budget

Financial aid is a gift to recipients and a gift to Concord Academy. To student recipients, financial aid promises equal access to CA’s outstanding education. To the school, enrolling students with demonstrated financial need promises broader perspectives. Both promises are important, and CA’s pledge to honor them, as a community and as an institution, is unwavering. For me, financial aid is deeply personal. Without it, I would not be where I am. Financial aid opened doors that might have been closed to me otherwise. But because of the generosity of people like you, I got the chance to study what I loved, and for the past 30 years I’ve had the very good fortune to do a job that I love. I don’t remember all the details about the moment I got word that I’d been awarded a scholarship to attend college, but I do remember exactly how I felt. I remember being amazed and deeply grateful at being given the freedom to pursue a college degree, something my parents had not been able to do. I felt this opportunity as an affirmation of who I was, and more importantly, of who I might become. I see that same sense of affirmation in the faces of students here at CA. I can see and hear it in the parents of those students. They know what affirmation feels like — it means “Yes, you can.” It means “Yes, you matter.” It means “Yes, we need you.” And it means “Yes, you belong.” That’s a powerful message, a message that can shape not just a moment, but a lifetime.

17%

of the operating budget goes toward CA’s annual commitment to financial aid

families receiving financial aid

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Rick Hardy

Head of School, Dresden Endowed Chair

alumnae/i

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Preserving History A conservator gives everyday objects a second life

Antje Neumann ’86. Center: Unwrapping Nubian shabti funerary figures from the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Below right: Neumann cleaning a plantation bell with solvents.

Making art has been a critical component of life for Antje Neumann ’86 from her Concord Academy days through college and into her early post-college years, when she worked in art galleries and painted in her free time. But a volunteer position at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, led to a revelation and ultimately a swerve in her career path. “At the MFA, I was working on Nubian tomb figurines, taking out pieces that were still packed up in newspapers from 1910 and were missing noses and toes,” Neumann says. “They had been stored next to a boiler room, and some pieces almost dissolved when you touched them. I suddenly realized that there’s a lot of art in the world that has tremendous historical value but needs help in order to be preserved or restored. So instead of selfishly working on my own art, perhaps I should use my skills to help preserve the art that has already been created.” Armed with this new perspective, Neumann earned a graduate degree in art conservation. Positions at museums all over the country followed: the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Museum of New Mexico, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, among others. She eventually left the museum world to join a group of conservators, exhibit planners, and other professionals who help national park sites in all 50

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states to create exhibits, a position that included preparing artifacts for parks, including Pearl Harbor. “I worked from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Navy Yard, dealing with rusted torpedoes and a piece cut from the USS Arizona,” she recalls. “It was a long way from the time I’d spent at fine arts museums examining the gold used to create intricate flowers of Fabergé eggs under a microscope. This was rusted metal and moldy artifacts. But it made me realize that these unglamorous materials made up historically significant artifacts, and my role was to help ensure that America’s cultural heritage is preserved.” The chance of a lifetime arose when, a hundred years after it was first envisioned, planning for the National Museum of African American History and Culture suddenly swung into high gear. Neumann was hired to work for the Smithsonian in 2014, two years before the museum opened its doors. She spent most of those years at an off-site warehouse where contributions to the collection were being temporarily housed as the building was constructed. It was a mad scramble, Neumann says. And as with

Pearl Harbor, she was keenly aware that these artifacts were not the treasured heirlooms she had once worked with at art museums. “These artifacts had a rough life,” Neumann says. “From the curators, I’d learn the backstories of the objects; I’d learn about their owners and their donors.” A typical day at the “office” might find Neumann cleaning the exterior of a Pullman rail car or coordinating treatment plans for exhibits. But, she points out, when working with historical relics, cleaning and polishing is not always the desired outcome of the conservation. “You have to figure out how to take away the grime or debris that came about through neglect, but leave the dirt that is intrinsic to the object’s history,” Neumann says. She describes plywood structures from a tent city constructed during a protest in Washington 50 years ago: “There’s mud splashed on the plywood because while people were camping out in these structures, it rained. So is that something you clean off, or something you leave because it’s part of the object’s story? Conservation includes the preservation of its historical integrity and significance.” The National Museum of African American History and Culture opened in fall 2016. After years of preparation, Neumann finds her position as supervisory conservator in a thriving destination to be energizing. “Sometimes when I’m working amidst the exhibits,” she says, “I’ll overhear a visitor point to a display and say ‘That’s my brother in that photograph’ or ‘That was worn by my grandmother.’ It is both extremely humbling and fulfilling. People view our exhibits and relay to their children or grandchildren what it means to them. This isn’t a collection of art and achievements from overseas. This is an important story from our own history that must be told.” — Nancy Shohet West ’84

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A LU M N A E / I AS S O C I AT I O N L AU R E N B RU C K S I M O N ’8 5, Alumnae/i Association President

ONE AWARD HONORS SERVICE TO MANY Concord Academy gives no awards or rankings to its seniors, believing all graduates should be celebrated for their individual and collective achievements. But CA does offer one distinction: the Joan Shaw Herman Award for Distinguished Service (see page 40 for this year’s recipient). To a member of the alumnae/i community who has demonstrated dedication to service in either a professional or volunteer capacity, this singular award has been presented joyfully and respectfully, but without undue fanfare, for decades at a special event in the Elizabeth B. Hall Chapel during reunion weekend. The award is named for Joan Shaw Herman ’46, who contracted polio the summer after graduation and was paralyzed from the neck down. Unable to attend college and confined to an iron lung, Herman dedicated herself to helping other disabled people lead productive and fulfilling lives. Following her death, CA established the Joan Shaw Herman Award in 1976 to honor her remarkable life and achievements. Recipients are graduates who, like Herman, have worked to improve others’ lives. One honoree has worked as mayor of Inuvik, in the Canadian Arctic, fighting elevated prices and alcoholism. Others have coordinated care for incarcerated individuals, addressed societal challenges through the creative use of media, and fought to increase educational opportunities for women and the poor. “If I have been of service to others, it is because this school Sandra Willett Jackson ’61, set me up to do so,” said Sandra Willett recipient of the 2016 Joan Shaw Herman Award for Jackson ’61 upon receiving the award in 2016. Distinguished Service As a result of the values we learned at CA and the preparation the school gave us for reaching out beyond ourselves, a great many of us live as committed citizens, improving our neighborhoods, our towns, our states, our country — and the world. In many ways, the Joan Shaw Herman Award winner stands up for all of us, and we should all feel a part of the selection. If you know any fellow CA graduates who epitomize the CA ideal of service and responsible citizenship, please consider nominating them for the Joan Shaw Herman Award when you receive the request this winter. If you need inspiration, you can visit CA’s website, where a list of past recipients is posted. The more of us who participate in nominating graduates for the Joan Shaw Herman Award, the more we will help honor its namesake and its goal: to raise awareness of all we can do, one at a time or together, to extend our CA experience into the world.

“If I have been of service to others, it is because this school set me up to do so.”

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J OA N S H AW H E R M A N AWA R D FO R D I ST I N G U I S H E D S E RV I C E

An African Queen in Connecticut This teacher of students with special needs acts locally and globally

2017 RECEPIENT Read more about Brignoli at www.concordacademy. org/jsh-brignoli.

NOMINATIONS Do you know a CA graduate who embodies the school’s ideals of service and responsible citizenship? Nominations for the Joan Shaw Herman Distinguished Service Award are welcome at www. concordacademy.org/jsh.

She’s called a queen in West Africa, but the term doesn’t translate well. Lyn Burr Brignoli ’62 says it’s an honorific akin to being called a godmother. More than anything, Brignoli is grateful that her title has allowed her to belong to the Nanumba people in Bimbilla, in remote, predominantly Muslim northern Ghana. In this region of extreme poverty, where generations of girls have been denied schooling, Brignoli has been quietly working with community members for nearly two decades to sustain a girls’ education initiative. In the Elizabeth B. Hall Chapel during reunion in June, Brignoli was honored with the 2017 Joan Shaw Herman Distinguished Service Award for her sustained personal efforts on behalf of education both in her Connecticut community, as a volunteer teacher for children with Down syndrome and other special needs, and in Ghana. “Positive change flows from a human connection,” Brignoli said. “I know mothers of disabled children in Greenwich, Conn., where I live, and then I met a mother in Ghana. While they come from different cultures and live in very different worlds, I realized they understood each other. It was a spiritual experience. It shows that the human

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spirit goes beyond any religion, culture, or nation.” Her presentation in pictures for the CA community was memorable for the direct, personal connections she had made in Ghana, her respect for the culture and customs of her hosts, and her unassuming, tireless spirit. Offering a different model for providing aid to developing countries, Brignoli reminded her audience how, when following a local community’s lead, very little money can change many lives. We may ask ourselves whether it’s more important to act locally or globally. Brignoli’s work reminds us that we can do both, and that the connections we make to other cultures can deepen our impact everywhere. The Joan Shaw Herman Distinguished Service Award is the sole award bestowed at Concord Academy. Established in 1976, it honors Joan Shaw Herman ’46, who was paralyzed after contracting polio the summer after her graduation. Although confined to an iron lung, she worked constantly to improve the lives of people with disabilities. Each year during reunion, the Concord Academy Alumnae/i Association presents the award to a member of the CA community in recognition of service to others.

“While they come from diﬀerent cultures and live in very diﬀerent worlds, I realized they understood each other. It was a spiritual experience. It shows that the human spirit goes beyond any religion, culture, or nation.” LY N B U R R B R I G N O L I ’6 2

P H OTOS BY K R I ST I E G I L LO O LY

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Brignoli’s granddaughter Sarah demonstrates “the tail,” a ritual item made of horsehair that fetish priests and royalty in Ghana use to bless crowds and ward off juju (evil spirits).

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Together Again Around 225 alumnae/i returned to Concord Academy for reunion in June, catching up over receptions and dinners, ballet and yoga classes, and kayaking trips on the Sudbury River. On offer were previews of CA Houses renovations, a design thinking workshop from Science Department Head Amy Kumpel, and a screening of CA’s movie musical, Much Ado About Nothing (see “The Big Picture” on page 26). Alumnae/i gathered at Moriarty Athletic Campus to hear speakers and play lawn games, and in the Elizabeth B. Hall Chapel for a memorial service. Jazz brunches bookended the weekend. The next reunion for these alumnae/i — class years ending in 2 or 7 — will be at Concord Academy’s centennial in 2022. P H OTOS BY K R I ST I E G I L LO O LY

“Working in politics is a good way of meeting people who disagree with you.” DAV E CAV E L L ’0 2

Visit www.concord academy.org/ reunion2017-politics to read more from the panel.

The Transformative Power of Public Service in Politics

With good humor and illuminating stories from the front lines of U.S. politics, two CA alumnae/i discussed ways to make a positive impact in a rapidly changing political landscape. They delved into campaign management, advocacy and organizing, and governance. Meg Ansara ’97, founding partner of 270 Strategies and former battleground states director for Hillary for America, called the next round of primaries critical and stressed “an opportunity and a necessity to fight at the local level” to preserve public services and programs. A member of the audience asked Dave Cavell ’02, senior advisor and assistant attorney general at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office and former White House speechwriter, about ways to see beyond the “blue bubble” in Massachusetts. Cavell said with a smile, “Working in politics is a good way of meeting people who disagree with you.”

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Visit www.concordacademy.org/ reunion2017 for more photos.

REUNION 2017

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VO LU N T E E R S P OT L I G H T

I Am CA Director of Engagement Hilary Rouse calls Laura McConaghy ’01 an “unsung hero” on the Alumnae/i Association Steering Committee. McConaghy has headed up the Admission Network for several years. What brought you back to CA in a volunteer capacity? CA connections have helped to define my career and my life ever since college. Senior year at CA I took a class on the history of Cuba with José De Jesús and traveled with a group to Cuba during spring break. That led to my decision to major in Latin American history at Bates College. Several years later, José connected me with the Experiment in International Living, where I found work both at their Vermont headquarters and as a group leader on summer homestays in Chile. And then when I relocated to Boston, the CA network helped me find my current professional position at the Boston Foundation, where I report to Kate Radke Guedj ’84. While attending some local alumnae/i events, I became interested in joining the alumnae/i interview program, headed up at that time by Jamie Klickstein ’86. I started out as an interviewer, then when Jamie moved on to become chair of the Alumnae/i Association, I took over his role coordinating the interview program and as a member of the Alumnae/i Association Steering Committee. g

WAYS TO GIVE BACK Interested in volunteering? Visit www.concordacademy. org/volunteer to learn about opportunities.

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How does serving on the Alumnae/i Association Steering Committee affect your perspective on the school? It provides me with a regular touchpoint with CA and an understanding of how the school is continuing to evolve and change with the world beyond us. Right now we’re planning for CA’s 2022 centennial. It’s fascinating to be in on conversations in which we are peeling back the layers of what it means for a school with such profound history to be approaching 100 years. One tangible way you see this is the way the school is reimagining and updating traditional spaces like CA Labs to create greater flexibility and support learning in a more interactive environment. It speaks to the culture of the school: playfulness,

creativity, support of innovation in both teaching and learning. What should your fellow CA alumnae/i know about ways to become more involved? Volunteering with CA is a wonderful opportunity to reengage with the school. Now, as we plan for the centennial, is a particularly good time: We have an amazing opportunity to look back at our history and look ahead to the next 100 years. There’s a tremendous number of ways to stay engaged with CA, and those of us on the steering committee and other volunteer committees would all welcome the chance to have more folks at the table. — Nancy Shohet West ’84

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IN MEMORIAM

NEW TRUSTEES In May 2017, the Concord Academy Board of Trustees elected four new members. Karl Bandtel P’20 is a parttime student at Harvard Divinity School and serves on the boards of Centennial Resource Development and the Wellington Management Charitable Foundation. He was a partner and investment portfolio manager at Wellington Management from 1990 to 2016, and a board member of Fayerweather Street School from 2005 to 2008. He was educated at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Bandtel lives in Cambridge, Mass., with his wife and their four children, including Spencer ’20. Lynn Bay Dayton P’20 is the president of Dayton LLC and principal of DH Design Studio, an interior design firm specializing in custom furniture and décor. Her professional experience includes founding a luxury retail home décor showroom in Wellesley, Mass., as well as working as a chef, food writer, and special event planner. Since 2005, Dayton has been an active member of the WGBH Boston board of trustees, serving as vice chair since 2015 and as the current co-chair of the WGBH campaign steering committee. She is an active trustee on the MSPCA–Angell board, with service on the nominating and development committees. Dayton previously served as a trustee on the board of Lovelane Therapeutic Horseback Riding Program, Public Radio International (PRI), and the Carroll School. She has also served on committees and

advisory boards for The Second Step, MGH Cancer Center, and Eagle Hill School. Dayton holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Immaculata University in Philadelphia and a culinary chef degree from California College of the Arts in San Francisco. Dayton lives in Chestnut Hill, Mass., with her husband, Bruce Dayton, and their two sons, including Conner ’20. She is very engaged with CA, serving as a parent volunteer. Matthew Ginsburg P’16, ’17 previously served as the managing director and head of investment banking for the Asia-Pacific region at Barclays Capital, and as head of the Asia Investment Bank of Barclays PLC until July 2014. He served as the head of investment banking of the Asia-Pacific division of Morgan Stanley from May 2006 to June 2009. He has been a nonexecutive director at Sino Gas & Energy Holdings Ltd. since August 2015. He also served as the head of Morgan Stanley’s financial institutions group in the Asia-Pacific region. Ginsburg joined Morgan Stanley in 1996 in Asia and held various positions including investment banking operations officer and head of M&A Asia Pacific. He serves on the board of directors for Mother’s Choice in Hong Kong. Ginsburg lives in Hong Kong with his wife, Joanna, and their daughters Sophia ’16, Anna ’17, and Isabella. Joanna serves CA in many parent volunteer capacities. Yuchun Lee P’19 is CEO and co-founder of Allego, a software company focusing on transforming sales learning and boosting the performance of customer-facing teams using short videos and mobile devices. Lee is also the executive chairman of Clarabridge,

a software company helping companies leverage customer feedback into intelligence that improves customer experiences. Prior to Allego and Clarabridge, Lee served as vice president and general manager of IBM’s Enterprise Marketing Management Group, with a global responsibility focusing on the needs of chief marketing officers. He joined IBM in 2010 as part of its acquisition of Unica, which Lee co-founded to meet the needs of marketers seeking to leverage technology to reach new customers. Serving as Unica’s CEO since its inception in 1992, Lee guided the company through a successful IPO in 2005 and its sale to IBM. Prior to founding Unica, he was a senior consultant with Digital Equipment Corporation and a researcher in MIT’s Lincoln and Media Labs. He holds bachelor’s and master’s of science degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT and an MBA from Babson College. A respected thought leader in technology and marketing, Lee is an executive in residence at General Catalyst Partners, a venture firm; serves on the board of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a biotech-pharmaceutical company; and is an executive advisor with Summit Partners, a global venture and private equity firm. He is a co-inventor of six technology patents and the co-author of Solving Data Mining Problems through Pattern Recognition. Lee is also a trustee and overseer at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Lee lives in Weston, Mass., with his wife, Agustina, and their daughters Jaime ’19 and Alexandra.

Thomas Beal father of Jennifer Beal ’79, Penelope Beal Pennoyer ’81, and Alexander Beal ’85, grandfather of Katalina Gamarra ’12

Lynn Chapman ’71 sister of Nora Mitchell ’74 and cousin of Peter Mudd ’91

Marvin Collier father of Samuel Collier ’77, Jonathan Collier ’79, and Charles Collier ’85

John Crocker husband of Caroline Lee Crocker ’66 and father of Barbara Crocker Stango ’03

Norman Dorsen father of Jennifer Dorsen ‘85

David Drachman father of Laura Drachman ’79 and Jessica Drachman Blaustein ’81, uncle of Rebecca Derby ’84

Mary Isabella Taylor Groblewski ’39 sister of Anne Taylor ’41

Joanne Hoffman former faculty, mother of Caitlin Hoffman ’98

Janet Pierpont Hosmer ’38 aunt of Anna Henchman ’87

John Linton husband of Eleanor Noble Linton ’60 and brother-in-law of Susan Noble ’59

Julie Lueck mother of August Pokorak ’19

Geoffrey Nunes husband of former faculty Clare Nunes and grandfather of Hadleigh Nunes ’15 and Emmett Nunes ’18

George O’Connor father of former faculty Karen Culbert and grandfather of Samantha Culbert ’15, Allison Culbert ’17, and Sydney Culbert ’19

Jean Richards ’45 Sarah Slater ’69 mother of John Brauns ’01

Edith Tucker ’48 Susan Tuttle ’53 Mary Wadleigh ’64 mother of Alice Jayne ’97, cousin of Ruth Cheney Wyman ’43, Susan Kidder ’66, and Priscilla Kidder Blevins ’77, and daughter of the late Joy Shane ’40

Elizabeth Pleasants Whitehead ‘61 sister of Belinda Pleasants Smith ’60 and Cornelia Pleasants ’71

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Adventures in Science Sharing the thrill, and the physics, of flight

Philip Rossoni ’80 is the author of Build and Pilot Your Own Walkalong Gliders, published in 2012 by McGraw-Hill Education TAB. He has worked as a commercial glider pilot and until recently volunteered with the Exhibit Interpretation Program at the Museum of Science, Boston.

“Commercial glider pilot” is an unusual job title in itself and even more unusual for a graduate of CA and Oberlin. What led you down this career path? While still in college I started studying to become a licensed private pilot. After that, I became interested in gliders and earned that commercial license as well. I did some demo rides for the MIT Soaring Association, but I didn’t stay with gliding for long. It’s expensive, and you’re always waiting for the right weather. That was when I discovered paragliding. The attraction of paragliding is that the equipment weighs 40 to 50 pounds and packs into a compact knapsack so that you can just carry it on your back up to the top of a mountain and glide down.

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Later, you became an expert in walkalong gliders, the subject of your recent book and of your interpretive work at Boston’s Museum of Science. What’s the connection between that and paragliding off the top of a mountain? I majored in physics in college. With paragliding, or any kind of current-borne gliding, if you find the right air current you can stay airborne for as long as you want to. The holy grail of flight, going back to the time of the Wright brothers, is to find a way both to keep an airplane airborne and to control its direction. In other words, to make it fly and to tell it where to go. Walkalong gliders, which move on air currents that you generate by walking along with a flat sheet of cardboard, are like creating a real airplane out of a paper airplane. What kind of audience did you attract at the Museum of Science? The nature of an interpretive exhibit is such that you have less than one minute to engage people’s interest. Some people who saw what I was doing with the walkalong gliders insisted that it

must be fake. Others were amazed by what they saw and wanted to try it themselves. Having a presence at the Museum of Science was important to me because I always like to share what I’m doing and what I’m learning. When you share research and knowledge, new ideas go back and forth, hither and yon. Origami experts in Taiwan watch my YouTube videos and add their own little twist to my ideas. Then I take what they’ve done and build on it still further. How does demonstrating the physical principles behind air currents and paper airplanes complement your need for adventure? I still go paragliding! Recently I took a paragliding flight that lasted for a full hour off Mt. Tom in western Massachusetts. Working with walkalong gliders is a way of bringing the physics behind aviation into the classroom or museum. I think of it as the science behind the adventure. — Nancy Shohet West ’84

TAKING FLIGHT Learn more about Philip and his book at sites.google.com/site/ walkalongglider.

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“The holy grail of flight, going back to the time of the Wright brothers, is to find a way both to keep an airplane airborne and to control its direction.” P H I L I P ROSS O N I ’80

COMPILED BY LIBRARY DIRECTOR MARTHA KENNEDY

Creative Types B O O KS

Liberating Minds: The Case for College in Prison Ellen Condliﬀe Lagemann ’63

The New Press, 2017 Informed by her work with the Bard Prison Initiative, and through extensive interviews with students and professors committed to the program, Lagemann makes a strong case for why college-in-prison programs result in reduced violence and recidivism, and how they can improve the overall lives of prisoners and correctional officers. Numerous aspects of incarceration are considered, including economic costs, the psychological toll extracted by restrictive and stifling environments, and far-reaching societal benefits when graduates of the program leave prison and go on to lead productive lives. (See “Raising the Bars” on page 20 for more.)

A House Among the Trees

she finds herself completely in the dark when it comes to his final wishes. As she begins to make sense of his legacy, Tommy finds others who are likewise drawn into the intricate web of Lear’s largerthan-life personality, including her estranged brother, the museum director desperate to secure Lear’s hefty bequest, and a charming British actor who is to portray the artist in a masterfully directed biopic of Lear’s creative life.

Sound and Scent in the Garden

them with a complete sensory experience, from stunning visuals to the calming gurgles of water features and memory- and mood-provoking fragrances. In recreating these gardens, contemporary landscape architects can capture the form of a garden’s past, but replicating accurate sounds and smells proves more difficult because of how we perceive such fleeting sensory experiences.

Project 258: Making Dinner at Fish & Game

Julia Glass ’74

D. Fairchild Ruggles ’75, editor

Peter Barrett ’86, photos and illustrations, and Zak Pelaccio

Pantheon, 2017

Dumbarton Oaks, 2017

University of Texas, 2017

Startling revelations follow the sudden death of Mort Lear, a beloved children’s book author and illustrator. Orderly in his approach to art, Lear leaves his estate in a bit of a muddle. Tommy, his longtime personal assistant, is left to sort out the mess, and

The oft-overlooked and more subtle auditory and olfactory aspects of formal gardens are the focal points of these essays by international scholars. Throughout horticultural history, purposeful designs created settings intended to enchant visitors by engaging

Under the guidance of chef/ owner Pelaccio, Fish & Game restaurant in Hudson, N.Y., presents exceptional cuisine reaching far beyond conventional farm-to-table models. Key to this locavore destination are essences painstakingly crafted and

C O N C O R D ACA D E M Y M AGA Z I N E

perfected by Pelaccio and partners — fish sauce, vinegar, maple syrup — and the masterful use of elemental fire. As a two-year artist in residence, Barrett creates an exquisite photo documentary of the passing seasons in and around the Fish & Game kitchen, capturing each plant and animal raised or procured from a network of food providers in New York and New England. Best of all, Fish & Game creators share recipes with readers wishing to test their culinary chops at home.

Powerful Partnerships: A Teacher’s Guide to Engaging Families for Student Success Jessica Lander ’06, Karen L. Mapp, and Ilene Carver

Scholastic, 2017 It’s no surprise that fostering engagement between families and schools significantly improves the performance of

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CALLING ALL CREATIVE TYPES Have you published a book or released a film or CD within the past year? Please contact martha_ kennedy@concordacademy.org, and consider donating a copy to the J. Josephine Tucker Library’s alumnae/i collection.

students and increases their classroom success. Powerful Partnerships offers educators clear approaches to forging strong connections with these critical partners by setting firm relational foundations early in the year and continuing to build family connections with ongoing follow-ups. Lander and co-authors draw upon public school outreach efforts of their own as well as from primary and secondary educators who have realized effective teaching through critical family contact.

John Hay, Friend of Giants: The Man and Life Connecting Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, Henry James, and Theodore Roosevelt Philip McFarland, faculty emeritus

Rowman & Littlefield, 2017 John Hay’s rise to national eminence occurred rapidly and is documented in his extensive correspondence. Though a little-known figure to contemporary Americans, Hay rubbed elbows with many of the social and political elites of the mid- to late 19th centuries. Remarkably, he bookended his political career in the employ of two larger-than-life Republican presidents. As a young lawyer, Hay worked next door to

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Abraham Lincoln and soon found himself serving the president as an undersecretary at the age of 22. Four decades later, Secretary of State Hay died during Theodore Roosevelt’s administration. In between, the accomplished statesman led a remarkable life, befriending a string of literary notables including Mark Twain, Henry Adams, and Henry James.

FILMS

BA R R AC U DA (2017) Julia Halperin ’84, co-director, with Jason Cortlund

A strange woman comes to Texas to meet her half-sister and stake a claim to the family music legacy, one way or another. This slow-burn thriller premiered in March at SXSW and will be released theatrically and digitally by Samuel Goldwyn Films starting in fall 2017. S I G N AT U R E M OV E (2017) Eugene Sun Park ’96, producer

In this coming-of-age Muslim melodrama, a new romance leads a woman to confront her relationship with her recently widowed mother and take up Lucha-style wrestling. This first feature film from Park’s Full Spectrum Features

C R E AT I V E T Y P E S

Mudbound (2017)

premiered in March at SXSW and won the U.S. grand jury prize for best narrative feature at Outfest Los Angeles 2017, among other awards. It opened in theaters in September and will stream on Amazon Prime in early 2018. M U D B O U N D (2017) Rachel Morrison ’96, director of photography

Two men return home from World War II to work on a farm in rural Mississippi, where they struggle to deal with racism and adjust to life after war. Netflix picked up this 1940s Mississippi Delta drama at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and plans a simultaneous theatrical and streaming release this year.

Chavela Vargas shot in 1991, and guided by her iconoclastic voice, Chavela weaves an arresting portrait of a woman who dared to dress, speak, sing, and dream her unique life into being. Winner of the documentary grand jury prize and best documentary feature audience award at Frameline and official selection at the 2017 Berlin International Film Festival, HotDocs, and Seattle International Film Festival, Chavela opened in New York and Los Angeles in October. A national release will follow.

Chavela (2017)

C H AV E L A (2017) Catherine Saalfield Gund ’83 co-producer and co-director with Daresha Kyi

Centered around exclusive interview and performance footage of iconic singer

A LU M N A E / I

Then

CHAPEL WELCOME

For generations, students have greeted one another, faculty, and staff at the Elizabeth B. Hall Chapel vestibule. Though the grasshopper — a replica of the weathervane atop Faneuil Hall, which originally topped CA’s barn — now perches in the Student-Faculty Center, chapel talks continue as a central rite of passage, and the Chapel remains the heart and soul of Concord Academy.

C O N C O R D ACA D E M Y M AGA Z I N E

Now

Left to right: Lucas Veloria ’20, Meredith Benjamin ’20, Kate Bacigalupo ’20, Ryan Mach ’20, and Tim First ’20 P H OTO BY B E N CA R M I C H A E L ’0 1

E N D S PAC E

M A X H A L L , S C I E N C E T E AC H E R

04 01

05 10

11 08

01. 3D-printed nameplate: Connor McCann ’14 made this. He gave it to me after he graduated. [Science teacher John] Pickle has one too. 02. Star Trek: The Next Generation shuttlecraft: A gift from my desk neighbor and department head Amy Kumpel. 03. Spider art: My daughter made this “work spider” for me. You know, you trace your hand on folded paper, snip with scissors.... She went through a phase when she made hundreds of these.

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04. Robot: This wind-up guy helps teach vector addition. He traverses “rivers” of paper towels every autumn. 05. Charles Darwin: I don’t teach biology, but ... Darwin. 06. Fume hood buttons: From the second floor in the old science building. Mike Wirtz [now head of the Hackley School] and Joan Kaufmann [retired] each have one, too. 07. Lead warning: The story of lead in gasoline is essential reading, far beyond the chemistry.

08. Dried dry-erase markers: They’re waiting to be rehabilitated. (We’re figuring out how. I’ve been collecting them for a while.) 09. Electrical diagram for the new CA Labs building: Know where to drill. 10. Dome: A conceptual model for a 20-foot frequencythree geodesic dome that we built in 2001 in a science elective called Inventions. 11. Chameleon blocks: These were engraver and router test runs from the CNC

machine we built in DEMONs, the engineering and inventing club. 12. Hard hat: From tours during the construction of CA Labs. 13. Noise-canceling headphones: Nine of us share the office, and it’s awesome. Sometimes, though, concentration needs help. 14. Coffee: Caffeine leaves your system at about 0.08 L/h/kg; sometimes you need to top up!

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