Nueva Magazine, Spring/Summer 2021 by aldeia

SPRING / SUMMER 2021

NUEVA

M A G A Z I N E

2021

N U E VA Magazine is published by the Communications Department for past and current students, parents, grandparents, and friends of The Nueva School.

EDITORIAL TEAM Rachel Freeman Mitzi Mock LiAnn Yim ALUMNI NEWS Diana A. Chamorro S TAY C O N N E C T E D

WANT TO REACH OUR ALUMNI OFFICE? Please email us at alumni@nuevaschool.org DESIGN Aldeia www.aldeia.design PRINTER Colorprint www.colorprint.com

Printed on Rolland Enviro® 100PC, 80lb cover and 70lb text. This paper contains 100% post-consumer fiber, is manufactured using renewable energy—Biogas and processed chlorine free. It is FSC® and Ancient Forest FriendlyTM certified.

T H E N U E VA S C H O O L is an independent, coeducational, PreK–Grade 12 school for gifted learners. Our school community inspires passion for lifelong learning, fosters social and emotional acuity, and develops the imaginative mind. Nueva uses a dynamic educational model to enable gifted learners to make choices that will benefit the world.

nuevaschool.org N U E V A

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Dear Nueva Community, It would be easy to tell the 2020–2021 school year as a story of resilience—a time of getting the work done in spite of challenging circumstances. But as we look back—especially at our spring semester—we find that our story is so much more than simple fortitude. Our community was as ambitious and aspirational as ever. This was the year we hosted our inaugural Humanities Fair, which offered 38 virtual sessions, ranging from calligraphy workshops to parliamentary debates to a deep dive into the art of the emoji (see page 28). This was the year that travel restrictions couldn’t hold us back from choreographing a weeklong, hands-on, international learning extravaganza for our middle and upper school students, who tried everything from salsa dancing to oyster shucking to portrait making (see page 18). This was the year that students across divisions dove into critical conversations about race and took on more ownership of anti-racism efforts (see pages 5 and 10). The Class of 2021 embodies this spirit of creativity and care. While this wasn’t the senior year they had imagined, their contributions during their time at Nueva (founding THRIVE, launching The Current, starting the Nueva Coffeehouse performance series…just to name a few) will have a lasting impact on the school for years to come. In this issue, they share what they loved about Nueva and what memories they are taking with them (see page 34). As we prepare for the next school year, we are grateful for a community that offers endless storytelling inspiration. We hope you enjoy the stories in this issue, and we are eager to write Nueva’s next chapter alongside you. Go Mavericks and best wishes, The Nueva Communications Team

DROP US A NOTE: Share your thoughts on this magazine—and anything Nueva related—at communications@nuevaschool.org

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02 R EF L E C T I O N Letter from the Head of School

03 N OT E D

[Virtually] Around the World

News from Nueva

Travel Week 2021 brings the world to our doorstep

40 A LU M N I

News from alumni

48 E XC L A M A T I O N P OI N T

Chairs and stools, coffee tables and desks. Upper school students in Product Design present beautiful, handcrafted furniture pieces.

Class of 2021 INSIDE BACK COVER

Be a Maverick Benefit Surpasses Goal, Connects Nueva Community Online

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After a school year turned upside down, the Class of 2021 and their families reunited in person for a joyous celebration.

Eigth-Grade Celebration In a hundred words, eighth graders share what the Nueva experience has meant to them.

24 A New Role

Q+A with Middle School Division Head Karen Tiegel

28 Humanities

From fairs to field trips, Nueva is finding unique ways to bring the study of humanities to life

ON THE COVER Seniors celebrated the end of commencement with an annual tradition: a confetti blast. PHOTO BY CHARLOTTE FIORITO/ COMPASS PHOTOGRAPHERS

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R E F L E C T I O N

Dear Community

“ You will encounter moments of hope, evidence of community growth, and assurances that the Nueva Way is here to stay!”

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As we enjoy a slightly more manageable pace during the summer at Nueva, it is a wonderful opportunity to look back and reflect upon the 2020–21 school year. What a year it was! The fear generated by the global pandemic, the turmoil stemming from so many manifestations of discrimination throughout the world, and the disturbing unrest caused by a contentious election in our country challenged Nueva to embrace its own role as a changemaking institution at an even higher level. Fortunately, the Nueva community, with its agility and design thinking ethos, not only survived the past year but actually thrived in many creative and impactful ways. From Mission to Metrics

There are many indicators that are illustrative of our success throughout the 2020-21 school year. Among them: • Our faculty and staff’s flexibility was on full display as they implemented our hybrid learning model, ensuring students continued to learn by doing and learn by caring. • In the area of admissions we saw an increase in the number of applications, improvement in our overall yield (the percentage of accepted students who choose to enroll), and a higher number of students of color enrolling at Nueva for the coming school year. • Our seniors’ impressive college and university acceptances, in a very challenging pandemic environment, are a reflection of Nueva’s continued success this past year. • Last year might have been one of the very best in terms of fundraising and alumni outreach, as we stepped up our development efforts to actively engage even more community stakeholders. • We continued our strong faculty and staff recruitment efforts, anchored by anti-bias hiring practices and a shared

understanding of the types of employees this community needs. A Powerful Partnership with Parents

There is one more vital component in our success this past school year, and that is the critical role parents played in Nueva’s ability to thrive. Whether it was incredibly high levels of volunteerism to host wonderful community events or serving on a wide range of panels and committees that supported leadership initiatives or continuously expressing appreciation to our faculty and staff through words, treats, and gifts, Nueva parents stepped up in amazing and significant ways! There is simply no way that we would have had the success we did without the participation, generosity, and support of our parent community. Please join me in thanking our Nueva Parents’ Association and all of the parent volunteers for partnering with the school to make the 2020–21 school year one we will actually choose to remember and in which we collectively nurtured a cohesive sense of community even in the midst of so much chaos. As we close out the 2020–21 school year and prepare for the next school year, I invite you to enjoy this issue of the Nueva Magazine. You will encounter moments of hope, evidence of community growth, and assurances that the Nueva Way is here to stay! I look forward to soon embarking with you on our 54th year of fulfilling our mission and embodying our vision of “enabling gifted learners to make choices that benefit the world.” In partnership, LEE FERTIG

Head of School

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D I GITAL ART C O LLECTION See page 6.

“Blossom” by Tomo Greenberg ’21

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↑ Members of Sharkbytes posed in the I-Lab during one of their first team meetings after returning to campus. ← Eighth grader Ethan C. works on the FTC robot in the Hillsborough campus I-Lab.

Remotely Together Sharkbytes Build a Robot in a Remote Environment This was an unusual year, so it makes sense that Nueva’s middle school robotics team—Sharkbytes—found itself encountering unique challenges. While FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) team captain Lucy D. was building the chassis, build team lead James T. was working on the flywheel launcher, Jason C. was busy creating the intake, and Howard L. and Anton P. were building the wobble arm. This was life for the Sharkbytes, who worked together remotely to design, build, and program a robot for the 2020–21 FTC competition. The FIRST Tech Challenge is a robotics competition for students in grades 7 through 12, where teams compete head to

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head by designing, building, and programming a robot. In addition to a game challenge—in which, among other tasks, the robots must autonomously shoot rings in a target—FTC judges award additional team honors for teams that demonstrate important values, including teamwork, creativity, innovation, and the value of the engineering design process receive awards. (In March 2020, Nueva FTC won the Promote Award.) Because students across a wide range of grade levels are eligible to compete, the Nueva middle school team often finds itself competing against very big, and sometimes bearded, high school seniors!

“Competing against high schoolers is a huge and awesome challenge for our students,” said I-Lab shop manager Christine Braun, who, along with Brad Hoge, serves as faculty advisors for FTC. From the start of the school year, the FTC team meets twice each week during the school day and after school on Wednesdays. What was most impressive for this 2020–2021 season was that the team was able to design and build a robot while working remotely. The students’ return to campus coincidentally happened at the same time the team was ready to assemble the robot, so team members had an opportunity to finish their build and work on programming the robot in the final week before the competition. Teams typically have a few weeks to program the robot, so this year’s remote environment posed a particular challenge for students. “Being remote this season certainly posed a very unique challenge for our team,” said eighth grader Ethan C., who worked on the CAD (computer-aided design) sub-team. “My teammate Ryker and I were likely less affected by being remote than the other teams, because we did a lot of 3D modeling on Fusion 360. It was still a challenge, though, because to model certain parts of the robot accurately, we

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needed precise dimensions, which were often hard to clarify remotely.” Technology helped solve some of the logistics challenges team members faced. They spent many meetings over Zoom using the collaborative software, Figma, to strategize their build. The CAD team also used Fusion 360 software to design and print the team’s parts. They made mecanum wheels, flywheels, intake, and much more! And the program team worked to create an autonomous program, where the robot operates on its own. The programmers also created the driver program which ensures each mechanism built by the build team works according to its design. “The students completely blew me away,” Christine said. “The fact that the build team built all of the parts individually in their own homes—with assistance from the CAD team to make anything they needed—and then the three programmers brought the program together is incredible! It took everyone working hard. It was simply awesome!” In addition to learning to design, build, and program a robot, the FTC team learns a variety of other skills that will be helpful as they move through school and beyond. “This program is outside of the regular school program, so team members learn how to set up fundraisers and seek out sponsors,” Christine shared. “As part of the FTC program, students are also responsible for keeping an engineering notebook, which documents everything the team has done in regards to the build, fundraising, outreach, upreach, and team dynamics. So they learn to work together to document all of the aspects of the team.” —Judith Worrall

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B L AC K L I V E S M AT T E R The Upper School Student Council organized the creation of a Black Lives Matter art installation at the San Mateo campus. Working closely with school leadership, arts faculty, the operations team, and Black community members, students plan to create an art piece that spells out “Black Lives Matter.” Each of the 16 letters will be filled with a unique painting that either explores the challenges Black people experience regarding race and equity or celebrates the extraordinary contributions that Black Americans have made to society. The installation, which will be completed in the 2021 fall semester, is intended to fill the driveway to campus near the East Courtyard. Seventeen students and faculty members completed the artist application, which included submitting ideas and sample art for consideration. The review process for the mural submissions includes the upper school student council, art faculty members, Black community members, and Nueva’s Task Force on Racial Equity and Accountability.

← Each of the 16 letters of the mural will be filled with a unique painting that either explores the challenges Black people experience regarding race and equity, or celebrates the extraordinary contributions that Black Americans have made to society.

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Art Briefs

DIGITAL ART COLLECTION

SOCIAL JUSTICE ART

Middle school social justice representative Callan C. organized a social justice art night for his sixth-grade classmates. ¶ “We made art inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat,” said Callan, referring to the famous graffiti artist, who rose to fame in the 1980s. “I was very inspired by him because his art had a lot to do with police brutality and racism.” ¶ During the evening, students explored Basquiat’s work and expressed their own artistic ideas on social-justice themes, including the wealth gap, women’s rights, and liberty.

This spring, upper school student council arts representative Tomo Greenberg ’21 launched the Nueva Art Collection, a place to share, explore, and document all of the artistic talent and creativity of the Nueva community. “I was inspired by all the incredible artwork by Nueva students that I have seen over the years,” Tomo said. “While we display artwork on the walls, I couldn’t help but feel like there was still so much artwork going unseen. I thought a digital art gallery would be a great way to access the hidden talent of the Nueva community and have a place to store art indefinitely without needing any physical space.” From bird photography to self-portraits in every medium, freshman Aura M.’s stirring piano arrangement of Olivia Rodgrigo’s “Driver’s License” to Tomo’s captivating video ad for a local Bay Area artist’s wallcovering work, the digital gallery allows for a collection of diverse media housed all in one place. Site visitors can also search for specific artists or sort the collection by a specific class or medium. The site is open for all Nueva community members to submit their original artwork, whether it was created in-school or not.

FOR THE TREES

Fifth graders had the chance to practice en plein air art, a method of art-making where they leave the four walls of the studio for the outside! The fifth grade students closely observed the many beautiful, towering trees on the Hillsborough campus and drew them in charcoal. As they worked on rendering the trees in proportion, shading, and texture, they thought about the importance and beauty of trees.

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 To see more art, visit usstuco.com/artcollection

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FOUND ART PROJECT

In a found object art project, seventh and eighth graders were challenged to take an ordinary, mundane item and reimagine its functionality in our lives. Students were given two paths to pursue: they could create a drawing that incorporated the object and changed its function or original meaning, or they could find a way to combine two unrelated objects into one.

↑ Art by eighth grader Zadie K.

3D COMIC PROJECT “Dragonfly” by Paul B. ’22

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Bam! Zap! Pow! For their 3D comic project, middle school students looked at a number of comics and studied examples of sequential narrative art. Then they created a drawn pencil background, drew a prop for themselves, and photographed themselves against a green screen, and digitally stitched all the different pieces together to create the final art piece.

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HOW DO YOU CAPTURE THE SUM OF THE NUEVA EXPERIENCE? For illustrator and recent graduate Alyssa Liao ’21, it’s a patchwork of extraordinary and everyday moments. For more memories and reflections from the Class of 2021, see page 34.

Alyssa Liao ’21: “This piece is a visual response to the ‘Class of 2021 Senior Feature’ in four major themes that defined the class’s experience: the school trips, sports, and intellectual or social interactions between peers and teachers. Through overlapping frames—depicting memories of stargazing in Peru, running track and field, hallway conversations with teachers, etc.—, this piece represents the common thread of interconnection between community and each individual of the class of 2021’s intellectual or personal growth.”

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NUEVAPALOOZA This year’s Nuevapalooza brought the triumphant return of live music to the Hillsborough campus. Lower and middle school students spent the final in-person day of the school year watching their peers perform everything from pop songs to rockand-roll classics to one-of-a-kind musical covers. The sunny celebration was capped off with an afternoon of ice cream, games, and signing yearbooks.

↑ Head of School (and guitar hobbyist) Lee Fertig joined students from Jim Munzenrider’s sixth-grade music class for a cover performance of the Beatles’ “Eight Days a Week.”

↑ Sierra A. (second grade), Ravi K. (fifth grade) and siblings Katherine (kindergarten), Elisabeth (fifth grade), and William S. (first grade) participated in a steel-drum version of the Sound of Music classic “Do-Re-Mi.” → It’s a family affair! Siblings Jaxon (ninth grade), J.R. (seventh grade), Jazper (fifth grade), and Skylar J. (second grade) performed renditions of the Taylor Swift song “august” and Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling.”

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CATCH I N G U P W I TH…

William Cheng Upper School Spanish Teacher

Throughout the 2020–21 school year, we featured a number of Nueva faculty members in a series called, “Catching Up with. . .” This interview with William Cheng concludes our 2020–21 series. Director of Special Projects Jim Morrison caught up with William to learn about his journey to becoming a Spanish teacher and his pedagogical approach to teaching at Nueva. Jim Morrison: Can you describe your personal path to teaching Spanish and how your practice is informed by your own personal experience and background? William Cheng: I discovered my calling somewhat late in life and, in many ways, also accidentally. After completing high school, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life, so I took a gap-year in order to do some soul searching. After a year of working odd jobs and earning minimum wage, I quickly decided to go to college. I enrolled at the University of Colorado at Boulder to study philosophy as my major. After earning a B.A. degree, I landed a job in a financial institution and worked there for four years until the

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monotony of it all made me dread this type of work. It was then that I contemplated a more adventurous career: teaching. I returned to the University of Colorado and enrolled in the teacher certification program with the hope of teaching Spanish at the secondary school level. The decision to teach Spanish came because I wanted to retain my Hispanic heritage as part of my personal identity. But becoming a high school teacher got sidetracked as I was lured into academia by a couple of my professors. I enrolled in the M.A. and Ph.D. program, also at the University of Colorado. After completing my doctorate degree, I landed my first academic job as an assistant professor at Drury University in Springfield,

Missouri. My teaching tenure there lasted four years until a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity appeared: I secured a lectureship position at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. After 12 years in New Zealand, I felt disillusioned with academia, as the career demanded more work in academic research, committee work, and administrative duties than in teaching. At the same time, I also felt that my 12-year sojourn in New Zealand had reached its end. So in 2018, I repatriated back to the US. It was then that I was fortunate enough to join The Nueva School as a Spanish teacher.

JM: What is a guiding principle or aspiration that informs your practice and work with students? How has your teaching practice evolved during your time at Nueva? WC: My first guiding principle in teaching language is not so much a pedagogical one, but a principle of positive psychology. Many of us have limiting beliefs that prevent us from achieving our full potential. Everyone can learn another language (or multiple languages) once he or she believes it. In that sense, I like to teach students to live up to their potential rather than limit their beliefs.

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← William Cheng teaches Spanish in the upper school. The 2021–2022 school year will be his fourth year at Nueva.

One particular linguistic construct that is very difficult to translate is the expression, a flor de piel. Its literal translation in English would be, to flower of skin, which doesn’t make much sense in the English language. This particular phrase in Spanish describes a feeling or emotion, either as ‘on the edge,’ ‘out into the open,’ or ‘highly sensitive.’ My second guiding principle is the well-known communicative approach to language acquisition, a pedagogical method that I have employed during my 20 years of teaching Spanish. This approach emphasizes a student-centered classroom, where the teacher—as facilitator—provides comprehensible input and, in turn,

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students produce the output in the target language for communicative purposes. My teaching practice since joining Nueva has strayed away from traditional testing practices and more towards students demonstrating their communicative skills by means of projects, both individual and collaborative.

JM: What is a word, or perhaps linguistic construct, in Spanish that you believe is unique to the language? Is there a word in Spanish that is almost beyond common translation in English? Tell us about it. WC: Spanish, like many other languages, is very rich with imagery, meaning, and metaphor. One particular linguistic construct that is very difficult to translate is the expression, “A flor de piel.” Its literal translation in English would be, “To flower of skin,” which doesn’t make much sense in the English language. This particular phrase in Spanish describes a feeling or emotion, either as ‘on the edge,’ ‘out into the open,’ or ‘highly sensitive.’ For example, I can say, “Durante la inauguración del presidente Joe Biden, las emociones estaban a flor de piel.” The translation of the latter sentence would be, “During president Joe Biden’s inauguration, emotions were running very high.” JM: Can you describe a unit or project that you are currently working on with our upper school students that you are excited about? How did the idea for the project come about and what has the student response been so far?

WC: Since starting at Nueva in 2018 I discovered that Nueva students are highly motivated and creative and enjoy project-based assessments. In my Latin American literature class that I taught during the 2019–2020 year, students produced a pastiche of Pablo Neruda’s ludic poetry. I was astounded by my students’ enthusiasm, talent, and creativity. (Many thanks to Jen Paull, who has put these collections of poems on virtual display in the WRC). This academic year (2020–2021) in my Spanish survey literature class, students have worked on a group project in which they created a pastiche of Spain’s 18th century fables—through which they impart a moral lesson—in the spirit of José María Samaniego and Tomás de Iriarte, two of Spain’s Neoclassicist writers. Again, this project allows us to see Nueva students’ creative talent, sense of humor, and collective effort in creating a tight-knit community.

w To read other interviews in this series, visit nuevaschool.org/voices.

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“ In Anti-racism Club, we are really trying to spread awareness about deep and painful racism that is still scarring our society. It’s a very hard topic to talk about, but it’s very necessary.” R AYA I ., F I F T H G R A D E . This year, students and faculty in the middle school founded an anti-racism club. Students used club time to review books, articles, and videos about race-related issues, lead group discussions, and explore opportunities for activism. In addition to group work, members pursued individual projects, exploring topics such as reparations, voter suppression, Eurocentric beauty standards, microaggressions, and social justice artwork.

PA R T N E R S

This spring, first graders spent time reflecting on the concept of the Beloved Community and brainstorming ways to support the needs of different community members. At the end of the semester, students sent their community partners their proposed ideas, along with a portrait.

My community partner is . . . Priscilla Jih. She works as a head teacher in third grade. Priscilla needs a way to spend more time with kids/teachers because she doesn’t feel like she has enough time to connect with teachers/kids. My solution is a Nueva app with a group chat. —Sadie D. Rob Zomber. He works at the I-Lab. I appreciate that my dog is friends with Rob’s dog. Rob needs a chance to interact and bring more diverse people to the I-Lab because it will create a more inclusive school. My solution is a robot puppy party in the I-Lab where everyone can come. —Alistair H.

TAKING ACTION

“No hate, no fear, Asian people are welcome here!” So chanted our lower school students, who participated in a Stop Asian Hate march across campus in April. Through their march and in speeches they prepared, our youngest students sent a very important message that hate cannot be tolerated or accepted in our world.

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Steven Osborne. He plans new buildings. He needs uninterrupted time to get his work done. My solution is a one day break once a month with a clear calendar so he can catch up. —Jude S. Elizabeth Rossini. She has two cats, and one of them likes to find goose poop. Elizabeth needs more opportunities to come together.. My solution is a teacher day so every teacher can meet each other. —Grace L.

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Leveling Up Environmental Citizenship Efforts Rewarded as The Nueva School is Named a National Green Ribbon School In April, Nueva was recognized by the United States Department of Education as a California Green Ribbon School in recognition of our exemplary practices and achievements in three areas: resource efficiency, health and wellness, and environmental and sustainability education. Whereas the school received a similar award last year, we are particularly proud of reaching the even higher ‘Green Achiever’ level this year, an honor that recognizes Nueva as a National Green Ribbon School by the United States Department of Education. Only one private school per state is accorded this honor each year! “This significant achievement is a reflection of Nueva’s genuine embrace of and commitment to environmental citizenship,” said Head of School Lee Fertig. “In addition to all the students, families, faculty, and staff who worked so hard to elevate Nueva to this level of recognition so quickly, I want to particularly thank Tanja Srebotnjak (former Director of Environmental Citizenship), Aron Walker ’99 (former Assistant Director of Environmental Citizenship), and Sarah Koning (current Director of Environmental Citizenship). Their leadership in this critically important area is appreciated by all in our community.” Sarah was elated, and hopes this award provides the momentum for the community to keep pushing toward four goals: mindset of environmental citizenship, proclivity

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↑ Juliet C. and Ella T. smile behind their masks as they and their seventh-grade classmates help to restore the Nueva garden. ↙ Seventh grader Lucas T. pushes a wheelbarrow in the school garden.

toward nature, systems thinking, and designing and evaluating solutions. “This is an incredible honor for Nueva and speaks to the passion and commitment of the entire community,” she said. “I hope to build off this enthusiasm to continue the growth of the environmental citizenship program and to provide a sense of optimism and resiliency to Nueva students in the face of climate change.”

In the coming year, Sarah plans to take these four goals and integrate them into the curriculum, student projects, and campus operations. “Two examples of what I am currently working on with students, faculty, and staff are increasing and creating more robust outdoor classroom spaces and rethinking waste management on campus,” Sarah said. “In addition, I hope to fully maximize the beautiful new space at the Science and Environmental Center. I see the new center as a place that will be used to create a holistic, interdisciplinary, hands-on space for students to creatively collaborate, explore, and experiment across grades.”

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AT H L E T I C S

Mavericks While the 2020–2021 year was anything but typical, the Nueva Upper School Athletics Program was able to offer team opportunities to student-athletes in the spring, when COVID numbers in the county began to decline. Many teams returned to action: girls’ and boys’ tennis, coed cross-country, girls’ and boys’ soccer, boys’ and girls’ basketball, boys’ grass volleyball, girls’ beach volleyball, coed track and field, coed swimming, and coed golf. Nueva’s ability to offer student-athletes the chance to get back out on the playing fields and courts is a testament to our students’ and coaches’ commitment to the Nueva Athletics core values. “The reason we have program values is so that we can sustain our program no matter the circumstances,” said Nueva Athletics Director Chris Wade. “Our values of resiliency, commitment, and follow-through were on full display by both our students and coaches this year. The collective creativity to problem-solve and the ability for everyone to be flexible is really why we were able to continue to provide students with so many opportunities.”

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GO M AV S!

P H O T O S P R OV I D E D BY D I A N E M A Z Z O N I A N D N U E VA AT H L E T I C S

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upper school teams offered in spring 2021

70+

interscholastic competitions from March to June 2021

teams that qualified for CCS playoffs

(Girls’ basketball, boys’ basketball, girls’ soccer, and track and field)

 To learn more about Nueva athletics, visit nuevaschool. org/athletics.

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Seventh graders in the Amethyst group created this piece, “A Mural Commemorating the Los Angeles River.” As part of their travel week experience, seventh graders worked with professional artists from Precita Eyes Muralists to creatively synthesize everything they had learned from their travels. See page 18 for more travel week projects.

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[Virtually]

BY JIM MORRISON

Travel Week 2021 Brings the World to Our Doorstep

F E AT U R E

Purposeful and immersive travel is a cornerstone of the Nueva experience. The places we go, the people we meet, and the way we reflect on our experiences as an entire community reaffirms and develops our understanding of the world. Travel— and the studies, preparation, and sense of shared responsibility that precede it—helps us to live up to our mission of developing informed and engaged global citizens. At the heart of those travel experiences has always been the imagination, resilience, and tireless efforts of the deans, teachers, and administrators responsible for planning our local and global treks. The 2020–21 trip planning team—led by Dean of Student Life Hillary Freeman and Eighth-grade Dean Cynthia Kosut— and the grade-level deans took on the challenge this spring of “traveling” during a pandemic. During the week of May 17 through 21, Nueva students engaged in five days of virtual travel. Students and their faculty chaperones visited museums, met with experts from around the world, entered the homes of indigenous people across three continents, attended cooking classes, and toured schools, sanctuaries, and remote locations around the world. Many of these experiences were live on Zoom, and hosted by our travel partners from past, inperson trips.

“Built on the foundation of why we travel, we worked on the design of an immersive academic and cultural experience for each grade for our middle and upper school students,” Cynthia shared in her first letter introducing the travel week program to middle and upper school families. “So, why do we travel? Collectively, our trips develop a sense of global citizenship and expand our students’ comfort zone, academically, socially, and emotionally.” While the experiences at each grade level were uniquely tied to the distinctive, year-long thematic foci, all of the 2021 trips were built around the pillars of the Nueva experience, including environmental citizenship, design thinking, social justice and equity, and social-emotional learning. New this year, as well, was one common theme throughout all of the trips: diaspora. “We wanted to use this opportunity to magnify our goals and build unique

experiences that ignite learning and enhance understanding,” Cynthia explained. “To that end, we chose an underlying theme for all grades: how the concept of diaspora (from the root ‘to spread’) relates in the context of the focus for each grade’s particular exploration.” In grades 6 and 11, students explored the American experience, examining the migration of African Americans from the South to the Northeast for manufacturing jobs. Eighth graders looked at the movement of people from rural communities to urban centers in Japan, China, and Spain. Cynthia added, “We saw many opportunities to make the connections necessary in facilitating critical thinking and empathy.” With this theme in mind, faculty chaperones were asked to identify how this theme of diaspora connected to the content they already have planned. Just like in normal years, the goal was for our community to share in authentic and informed travel experiences. “This year required a pivot into parts unknown,” Hillary reflected. “Because of our collective ‘yes, and’ and can-do spirit, our cohort of Nueva educators made the magic happen. My sincere hope is that each person involved will reflect on their own personal learning and recognize it when it appears over and over again in their lives.”

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Notes from the field

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05.19.2021

Just Plane Awesome

↑ Ninth graders experienced a virtual flyover of the Nazca Lines, seeing footage taken from an airplane.

Aura M., ninth grade

↑ Ninth grader Sam M. builds his cajón drum as part of the Peru trip experiences.

When I first heard that Nueva was doing a virtual trips week, I was somewhat apprehensive about how well the experience of traveling and experiencing a new country could be replicated in a meaningful way on Zoom. What I didn’t realize was that the trips team hadn’t just planned a series of talks on video calls. The interactive sessions— most notably building and learning to play a cajón, pottery workshops, and a cooking class on sopa seca, a traditional dish—gave me the opportunity to experience some of the wonders of Peru from my very own house! I just can’t describe in words how amazing and awe-inspiring the virtual flight over the Nazca Lines was. The excitement of flying—a refreshingly new perspective in a reality in which I’m stuck at home and barely aware that the rest of the physical world exists — coupled with the thrill and wonder of learning about the unsolved mystery of these lines was an experience I will never forget. I think this might be my favorite activity so far on the Peru trip…It’s definitely the activity that I was least expecting to be so excited about, at any rate.

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8TH GRADE PROJECT “Today’s virtual travel day was fascinating and I enjoyed it very much. We began with an excursion in Beijing— it was interesting to see interactions with locals, daily life, and the contrast between old and new Beijing (the modern vs past), then learned how to make noodles with Jiang Laoshi (it was very fun and I’d even do it again on my own).” Rachel Y., eighth grade (pictured above)

What was most exciting to me is that this year, rather than focusing only on Cusco, students got to experience a much wider geographical area, view the beauty and diversity of the country, and learn about the fascinating and, at times, challenging history. Jo Newman, ninth-grade dean

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5-18-21

The World Is Our Oyster Sebastian DeEry, 12th grade After a two-hour drive across the Golden Gate Bridge, through San Francisco’s Presidio and Marin’s seaside eateries and kayak shops, the winding roads came to a stop at an unassuming dirt lot. The ocean air cleared our disorientation from the long drive and we were greeted by Gary Fleener, our expert for the day in anything and everything intertidal. Gary led us to the seashore and taught us about the symbiotic beauty found on the beach in the region where the ocean tides fall and leave moist sand cluttered with small crabs, washed-up jellyfish and oysters, and partially burrowed clams among the stranded sea kelp. (And trust me when I say, depending on your taste, he came equipped with the best and worst sense of dad humor one might expect from an oyster expert...but I digress.) After a brief drive farther north, we arrived at Hog Island Oyster Co., a prominent local oyster producer, and we learned firsthand how it relies on the natural harmony of Tomales Bay and intertidal areas to farm millions of oysters each year. We even got our hands dirty and learned how to shuck open an oyster or two (or a half dozen in the case of some avid Nueva shuckers). Opening the little mollusk is easier said than done, requiring the right technique with a knife more so than raw brute strength (“Finesse, not force,” Gary told us), but the process is certainly worth it! For our efforts we could eat the raw oyster inside, and got to experiment enjoying it with lemon juice, spicy sauces, or a delicious garlic and citrus juice—or as Gary liked to put it “fiesta en la boca” (translated as “party in the mouth”). I think I speak for everyone when I say we left Point Reyes and Hog Island Oyster Co. with a newfound appreciation for the effort put into the production of oysters: harnessing the complex relationship the animal shares with its ocean environment and, through understanding it, cultivating an efficient oyster farm—although, admittedly, some of us left with more than just fond memories, bringing bags of several dozen oysters for the ride home.

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↖ Sebastian Deery ’21 and his classmates visited the Tomales Bay intertidal zone and then learned to shuck oysters at Hog Island Oyster Co. as part of their Food Cultures trip.

Notes from the field

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5-21-21

A Deep-Dive into Pueblo Culture Raya I., fifth grade During Travel Week 2021, the fifth graders were able to experience the culture and beliefs of the ancestral Pueblo people firsthand, through a multitude of activities and lessons. Archaeological Dig with Zubin: We would know nothing about the lifestyles of the Pueblo people if it were not for archaeology and digging. With Zubin, we journeyed down to Crocker Road to try and dig up clues of the past and unearth the mysteries that have been there for a long, long time. We got to use metal detectors and giant magnets to search the hillside for clues. My group didn’t discover anything momentous but this dig simulated some of the struggles and rewards that real archaeologists face in trying to dig up clues of the past. Hogan Making with Zac & Louis Williams: Some could say that the entire essence of all of these activities a classes ties back to humanities, and I would agree. In all of this, we are learning about a culture and applying it to our modern life. We are taking information from long ago and absorbing it, using it, interpreting it in new and creative ways. For the humanities portion of travel week, we were visited by Louis Williams, a member of Navajo Nation, and, along with Zac, learned about the history of the Navajo hogan, which means home in Navajo. We learned about the different types of hogan, male and female, and then constructed our own using pretzels and cream cheese frosting mixed with confectioner’s sugar. It was harder than you would expect, and the history was fascinating! The fifth-grade travel week was a deep exploration of the ancestral Pueblo culture. Through all of our activities, we journeyed back in time to try and infer what life might have been like back then. Though we were not really at Crow Canyon, it was fun, enlightening, and humbling to participate in these classes just the same.

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6TH GRADE PROTOTYPE PROJECT Using two sheets of paper and no adhesives (glue, tape, etc.), sixth graders were challenged to design a way to raise as many clementines off the table as possible. Sofia Z. applied engineering techniques she learned from Dan Sweeney of the MIT D-Lab to sketch and then build her idea in nine steps. Her final result was a success, with her two sheets of paper holding up 11 clementines!

We have the power to discover and learn, to question and explore … to be humbled by the Pueblo people and what they did to bring us right here, right now. We should embrace that power, and we should use it wisely. Raya I., fifth grade (pictured above)

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Appreciations & Takeaways

11TH GRADE TRIP A group of 11th grade students visited the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park as part of their trip focused on the AIDS Movement. Led by Alegria Barclay, Rachel Dawson, and Allen Frost, students walked the grove, had the chance to view panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt up close, and heard from quilt conservator and “Mother of the AIDS Quilt” Gert McMullin, who has had a hand in sewing all 48,000 panels.

Thank you so much for some of the most amazing two hours I’ve ever had! Seeing, hearing, and, above all, learning about all the wildlife in the cloud forest ecosystem was absolutely amazing. I loved it! C H A R LO T T E A . , 10 T H G R A D E

I really enjoyed making the tapas, dancing, decorating fans, making tiles, and talking with all the cool teachers and leaders. I learned so much about Spanish culture and I especially enjoyed learning about how different cultures influenced what today is known as Spanish culture. TAT I O L A S. , E I G H T H G R A D E

A memory I have from the week is making blackberry couli and spilling 20 percent of it on me right after I took it off of the stove. N I K H I L S. , S I X T H G R A D E

I learned that when you are trying to solve a problem you should experience it yourself so you have a better understanding on how to help. J U L I A C. , S I X T H G R A D E

My favorite experience was learning the traditional way of painting using ‘Mao bi’ (a calligraphy pen used throughout most of Chinese ancient history). Because of my passion for art, it was really fun to experiment with this medium.

I hope I can speak for everyone in my travel group when B R E N DA N W. , E I G H T H G R A D E I say that this week almost felt like a return to normal, and I am very thankful that after this past year of challenges we could close out our senior year with an experience this enriching and straight out filled with fun. A L E X C H E N, 12 T H G R A D E

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← After more than a decade at Nueva teaching multiple subjects across different grade levels and serving as dean for fifth and sixth grade, Karen Tiegel sets off on her latest adventure as Nueva’s new middle school division head.

Feature

Q&A Middle School Division Head Karen Tiegel

A New Role INTERVIEW BY ANTONIA EHLERS

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Middle school division head Karen Tiegel has worn many hats during her 12 years at Nueva. She began as a substitute teacher, subbing for structured word inquiry teacher Rebecca Loveless when the Class of 2020 was in first grade. (She still remembers making paper airplanes with those students and reading the Rainbow Magic books to them!) For more than a decade, she has been a middle school writing teacher, a PE teacher, a Lit Club leader, an advisor, a California Association of Independent Schools accreditation co-lead, an assistant director of admissions, a Giftedness Institute co-lead, a summer camp counselor, and a middle school dean. Get to know Karen in her new role. Karen congratulates students during this year’s eighth-grade celebration. After a year as an interim administrator, Karen has officially “graduated” to middle school division head.

What are you most excited about regarding your new role? Being the middle school

head is a new challenge in my career. It’s exciting to be able to use all of the skills I’ve developed over my 20 years as a teacher-leader and to see the school in a new light. The best part of this position is that I get to work with so many different groups of people in a new way: students, teachers, board members, staff, the café folks, operations, security, the Admissions Department, the Development Department, and the extended Nueva community. When you get to work in the morning, how do you prioritize all the things you have to get done? How do you get started? I usually start

working well before getting

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to school. Early mornings are when my teenagers are asleep and the house is quiet, so I can answer emails and go through my list of what needs to get done. In the mornings, I try to prioritize the things at top of my lists as well as the longer planning items, always keeping in mind that the day will be busy and it’s unlikely that I’ll have time to tackle more than meetings, teacher observations, building relationships with students, and putting out fires during the day. Therefore, if there are letters to write, really hard decisions to be finalized, or slides to be created, I do those in the morning when I am freshest. Can you share with us a few of your goals as the middle school division head, in

the short term and looking further down the road? My

first and foremost goal is to continue to work on building a beloved community at the middle school, where all our students, faculty, and staff feel seen, loved, heard, and included. That’s both a shortterm goal in finding ways to meet the immediate needs of community members, as well as a long-term goal in helping everyone feel supported. As a school for gifted kids, we’re always looking for ways to challenge and grow our students, as well as to differentiate support for them, recognizing that our students grow and learn uniquely. Another goal is to continue to build systems and processes that support this work and that are transparent and clear. This is something that needs to be done collaboratively, with as many voices and perspectives a part of building these systems. I also want to continue to work on communicating frequently with our community members in a variety of ways, including parent coffees, individual meetings, emails (but not too many!), culminations, and presentations. What is your favorite part of your new job? Without a

doubt, it’s getting to collaborate with a wide range of students, staff and faculty. This job is impossible to do alone, and collaborating with others is invigorating and just plain fun (and often funny).

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I love it when a group of people runs with an idea and the brainstorming takes off and we begin to envision the very best of what our school can be and put the pieces in place for the next steps. It’s also a ton of fun to celebrate when an event goes well after so much planning. I’ve been so impressed this year by our students: they’ve planned social events, speakers, fundraisers, and supply drives. The teachers did incredible work in preparing the curricula and travel week activities, and their creativity was boundless. Parents supported students at home and were incredibly flexible in responding to the challenges we faced in bringing students back in person. The way that our community has dealt with the pandemic has been phenomenal: the level of support for one another was stellar, and the ways that kids and adults found ways to build community throughout was inspiring. And in this role, I get to see things from a wider view, so it was so amazing to watch the creativity with which so many approached this difficult year.

a teacher to support that. If a student wants to paint a mural, there’s a teacher to support that. If a student wants to explore machine learning or fractals or how to build a surfboard, there’s a teacher to support that. Likewise, I love how teachers bring their own passions and interests into the classroom. Your three children are Mavericks. How has Nueva enriched their lives? Nueva

has challenged my kids and has helped them to find deep passions and interests while pushing them to explore areas they might not have on their own. Jason ’20 first played electric guitar with Jim Munzenrider in sixth grade. That led to his building a custom guitar for his eighth grade recital project. He had amazing experiences, which included playing “Crazy Train” at Disneyland and having master classes from Cuban musicians during Intersession. He’s now at

Vanderbilt, playing in a jazz ensemble. (I can hear him practicing as I say this!) Kayla ’23 loves the balance of academics, art, and sports. She’s engaged deeply in the art classes at Nueva, learning from Grant Ditzler and Rachel Dawson. Her recital project was a series of acrylic triptych paintings, and she has enjoyed sculpture and painting at the high school. Kevin ’23 loves the intellectual challenges of the school and has grown tremendously as a student of Spanish. He had such a great time on the Spain trip that he almost didn’t come home! Under the guidance of Silvia, Ben, William, and Francisco, he’s gained confidence in his reading and writing skills, and he often chats in Spanish at home. Can you tell us a little about what you like to do in your free time? I don’t have a lot of

free time, but when I do, you can find me hiking in the local parks, curled up in a sunbeam

reading a book, or hanging out and playing games with my family. What is something that people might be surprised to know about you? When

I lived in Switzerland, my good-bye present to myself before I moved back to the US was to parasail from the top of the mountain I lived on over the school grounds and the village nearby. It was thrilling! What do you hope this new year will bring for you personally and professionally?

Personally, I hope I’ll get to travel somewhere cool. I’ve missed the adventure of travel and getting to experience new places, new foods, and meeting new friends. Professionally, I’d like to continue to build my leadership skills and support the school community. [N] Karen and her family (pictured left to right: Kayla ’23, Karen, Jason ’20, spouse Jenko, and Kevin ’23).

What do you find really special about our school? What are some of the things you love most? Nueva is unique

because of the way that teachers and students connect over their learning. I love the way that teachers and students find matches for their particular interests. If a student wants to write a novel, there’s

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HUMANITIES @ NUEVA

PHILOSOPHY

IMAGINATION HISTORY WRITING LITERATURE ANTHROPOLOGY LANGUAGE

CULTURE THEATER

COMMUNITY IDENTITY SOCIAL IMPACT GEOGRAPHY

WONDER

ECONOMICS

CRITICAL THINKING

STORY BY RACHEL FREEMAN

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Feed the Love,

“

Create the Experiences, and Spread the Word

The biologist, naturalist, and writer E.O. Wilson once said, ‘Where scientific observation addresses all phenomena existing in the real world, scientific experimentation addresses all possible real worlds, and scientific theory addresses all conceivable real worlds, the humanities emcompasses all three of these levels and one more: the infinity of all fantasy worlds.’ That’s how important the humanities are in a school community. Head of School L E E F E R T I G , in a video message opening the inaugural Nueva Humanities Fair in spring 2021

When humanities coordinator Jen Paull joined the first Humanities Fair via Zoom this spring, she found herself irrepressibly grinning for hours on end. Time flew by as she joined a discussion with ‘Dr. Indiana Bones,’ watched a student’s tour of the ancient agora in Athens, took in the powerful spoken-word poetry of Mahogany Browne, learned from an Ohlone community member, and gained new insight into Garfield thanks to a student’s presentation—all in one afternoon. As the sessions closed, she joined a flurry of wishes that the event wouldn’t end. This inaugural Humanities Fair was one of the many humanities initiatives that came to fruition during the 2020–2021 school year, a year that saw tremendous growth in the humanities at Nueva. What started as an idea of Diane Rosenberg, former head of school, and Matt Berman, former lower school humanities teacher, has transformed into a major area of focus across PreK–12. “Nueva’s roots are in the arts and humanities,” Matt said. “When Diane and I arrived at Nueva there was a huge effort put into improving the STEM and design programs. Before the 2018–2019 school year, we felt it was time to balance out our focus: Nueva was beginning to gain a reputation as a STEM school, and we knew it to be so much more than that.”

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Today, Jen leads the program and serves as a central hub to provide information, resources, and support for faculty and students. “Diane and Matt had a vision around creating a humanities program that would deepen the work happening in the classroom and support students who wanted to go further and deeper in their exploration of a specific humanities topic,” Jen said. In the beginning, the aim was to bring humanities into everyday life at Nueva. As director, Matt strove to weave together elements of the humanities to create rich experiences for students, including inviting guest speakers, creating reading challenges, and starting the Humanities Circle, an event for Nuevans and community members alike to engage in hands-on classes designed to spark and deepen passions for literature, language, history, and culture. Among the guests Matt brought in were author Armistead Maupin and storyteller Jim Weiss. Following Matt’s retirement, and with Jen at the helm leading the Humanities Program, the program has taken off. CLASSROOM PROGRAMMING One potent example of faculty partnership: the fall 2019 field trip for Tom Dorrance’s upper school Capitalism and the Apocalypse class, which was facilitated by Jen and Humanities Center Task Force member Ann Green. The class traveled

to the Cecil H. Green Library at Stanford University to explore the stacks and special collections, which allowed students to dive into a multitude of primary sources for their own research around the cultural history of capitalism. “I think this field trip is the perfect example of the work being done in the humanities and how Jen really made this field trip happen,” Tom said. “Jen helped me to figure out what is possible for my students outside of the classroom. She introduced resources and connections I didn’t even know we had.” This past fall, Jen helped to organize a special after-school noodle-making program designed to extend the middle school students’ interdisciplinary study of the Silk Road. Author and restaurateur Jennifer Lin-Liu spoke about her own travels on the Silk Road, as she came to learn its history firsthand, and then walked participants through the process of making noodles. The Silk Road study is a cornerstone of the seventh- and eighth-grade experience that brings together history, art, religion, geography, food, and science. “I organized this project as a humanities initiative, an example of the kinds of curricular support that the Humanities Program does,” Jen said. The goal of programs like these, Jen shared, is to provide opportunities for students in all grades that focus on relevant topics tied to the curriculum which support students’ curiosity about the human experience. “I found it cool how a food I have encountered a countless number of times has such an amazing and culturally vivid story behind them,” said eighth grader Rohan T., who spent an afternoon in late fall learning from Jennifer. ↗ During a 2019 field trip, upper school history teacher Tom Dorrance and Parker Walther ’20 look at archives in the Cecil H. Green Library at Stanford University. ← Sculpture created by ninth grader Amrutha R., which she shared in the student showcase on the Humanities Fair website.

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Lower school teachers Sarah Merkt and Emily Mitchell have also recently partnered with Jen to bring two days of special humanities programming to all lower school students. “We centered our programming around two central questions, one for each day: ‘What is the power of a story?’ and ‘How do the arts give you a window, door, or mirror into the experience of yours or others?” Emily explained. “Our goal was to delight, expose, reveal, and uplift students.” “We started with the idea of stories because we wanted to make sure the content was accessible to all students across PreK through fourth grade,” Sarah added. “Oftentimes, the best teachers teach lessons through stories and we know that people at every age can connect to stories.” Jen was integral in getting these programming days off the ground. “Jen was really fantastic,” Sarah said. “She asked us questions to make sure we were balanced in our approach, and she went into the community to seek out guests in a way that I could not have done.” HUMANITIES FAIR From workshops on topics ranging from mapmaking and calligraphy to poetry and book writing to ethical dilemmas and emojis, the inaugural biennial Humanities Fair, a joint effort of the Nueva Parents’ Association and the Humanities Program, was a rousing success. In years to come, the Humanities Fair will alternate with the STEM Fair and take place in every odd year. The aim of these fairs is to show Nueva’s balanced commitment to these disciplines, as well as give students a chance to share their work and thinking. “When we begin to plan this inaugural fair, we started from the idea that, like the STEM Fair, it should be a showcase for student passions and learning, paired with outside speakers that would feed those passions and also bring new ideas

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P O E T R Y

C O R N E R

TOGETHER Mia T., fourth grade Fighting for the truth and hoping for a better future. Praying for a better world. But some of us realized hope was as thin as a feather and gave up the fight. But the truth is, being resilient and staying strong were the only keys to the door of a better future. So some of us keep fighting our rights. Writing letters to those who we thought would help us. Marching with signs everyday, power-walking through the busy streets. And after every day, we thought and hoped that we made the world a better place. Everyday, that feather of hope floats on the wind of change. Excerpt from “Together,” a poem written and presented by Mia during her Humanities Fair session, “Poetry in Politics.”

and excitement,” said Sarah Ordody, Nueva parent and co-chair of the Humanities Fair. “The work the students did is beautiful,” Emily said. “One of my former students, a current second grader, invited me to attend his presentation because it was about work he started last year in my class. It was wonderful to have the opportunity to revisit past students and see what they are working on.” Sarah Merkt shares similar sentiments to Emily’s about the importance for students to have a space to showcase their work. “I had a few students who had been chomping at the bit to share their work with the broader Nueva community,”

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↗ Fourth graders were asked to brainstorm what the humanities mean to them.

Sarah said. “They were so joyful and excited to spend their Sunday at the [virtual] Humanities Fair.” These presentations provided students with additional leadership opportunities outside of the classroom. Fourth graders Mia T. and Lucia v. G. were two of Sarah’s students who were eager to share their love of humanities with others at the fair. The pair hosted a workshop, “Poetry in Politics,” which they described as, “How poetry ties in to the nuts and bolts of politics.” During the workshop, they shared information about select famous poets, including Amanda Gorman, Maya Angelou, and Audre Lorde; read poems they had written following the Presidential Inauguration; and then invited participants to begin to write their own poems. “Over the course of the past year, I generated a love of poetry and I really wanted to share my passion for poetry with the Nueva community,” Mia said. “To me, the Humanities Fair is so Nueva, because Nueva is this innovative place where we learn by caring and doing.” Lucia added, “I felt really lucky to be able to participate in a very unique opportunity and experience like the Humanities Fair. It felt important to me that we were

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able to share our passions and interests with the whole school.” In addition to hosting workshops and being audience members, a few Nueva students had the opportunity to moderate a panel of guests. Senior and 20–21 Nueva Current editor-in-chief Willow Yang served as moderator for the panel, “Social Journalism,” for guests including Peter Hartlaub ’82, San Francisco Chronicle’s culture critic, Max Strebel ’04, filmmaker, and Emma Strebel ’07, artist.* “We had an amazing panel of distinguished guests that had, at times, conflicting worldviews, which is natural for a topic as controversial as the role of journalism in the modern world,” Willow reflected. “It was an honor to be able to facilitate the discussion; the topics covered were all things I’d talked about in my various classes, so it was great to see professionals and alumni talk about the same issues.” With more than 750 attendees in 38 unique sessions and a post-event music jam session, it was clear to Sarah, fellow co-chair Essy Nickolova, and Jen that the fair was a great success. “Given that just a few months prior we had no idea what the content would be for the event, what form it would take,

and if anyone would even show up, we blew way past any expectations we dared to set,” Sarah said. “For one, we were thrilled with the level of student involvement — both as presenters and as guests. We received more than 100 submissions of student work for the Humanities Fair website (www.nuevahumanitiesfair.org) and evening jam concert, and more than 50 students signed up to present, sit on panels, and otherwise volunteer for the live event.” Jen echoed Sarah’s excitement. “I love that towards the end of day so many people were saying, ‘I wish this wouldn’t end!’ and sharing how energized the fair made them feel, even though it was a few extra hours of Zoom on a weekend,” she said. “In the realm of humanities, this is why we do an event like this, as the work can often feel limited to a particular classroom or exchange between teacher and students. We are trying to broaden the range of ways students can share their work and get exposed to awesome new ideas.” THE FUTURE What began as a vision of former Head of School Diane Rosenberg has blossomed into a robust and deeply embedded Nueva program. From division-wide reads to guest speakers and author talks to the Humanities Fair and more, humanities at Nueva have once again regained a larger place in our school experience. And while they’ve accomplished much, Jen and her team still have many more ideas they’d love to bring to students in the years to come. Piloted during the 2020–2021 school year was the first edition of a Nueva humanities-studies journal, Romanesco. Jen worked with a group of upper school student-volunteers and faculty-volunteers to put this first edition together. The hope in the future is to include middle school students and to publish it twice annually. “This journal features student work on a span of topics that really does justice to the way humanities has a big wingspan,”

*Read profiles on the alumni panelists on p. 44.

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Jen shared. “All of the submissions show an appetite to understand and interpret human curiosities. This is a chance for people to see the depth of thinking and variety of thinking going on around us.” In the coming year, there are hopes of recruiting faculty members to be “humaniteers,” teachers who have a dream to enhance their humanities programming and want to partner with Jen to bring those ideas to life. And the Humanities Circle, a community-wide event which aligns with Nueva’s Mission II “by engaging the education community actively within the Bay Area,” will return in spring 2022. It is clear that for many in the community, the Humanities Program has provided them with an outlet for creativity and opportunities to think deeply and critically about topics that are important to them. “In broad strokes, the humanities programs teach you how to be simultaneously inquisitive and empathetic,” said Grace Holmes ’21, who recently completed her tenure as Nueva Current opinion and culture editor and serves on the Romanesco editorial board. “The Humanities Program at Nueva has given me the opportunity to continuously strive to understand the world in a different way.” “So much of what we’re doing with humanities boils down to three actions: Feed the love, create the experience, spread the word,” Jen said. “Feeding the love means how we help students pursue their humanities interests further and how we feed our appreciation of the humanities’ significance. Creating the experience means how we work together to find activities, special guests, and resources that can support and extend all of the incredible humanities studies happening in our classrooms. And spreading the word touches on how we’ll raise the profile of the humanities, both within Nueva and in the greater community.” Lucia and Mia may have summed up best the importance of this work: “If humanities wasn’t part of our lives, we wouldn’t feel whole.” [N]

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WE ASKED STAFF AND FACULTY

HOW DO YOU CHARACTERIZE OR DEFINE THE HUMANITIES WAY OF THINKING? Humanities thinking allows us to pursue questions that may always be uncertain, where no natural law or explanation will give you a cutand-dry answer. ELIZABETH ROSSINI, Director of Teaching and Learning

Appreciation of human thought and achievement. Z AC CA R R , Assistant Middle School Head

Writing! Thinking! Discussing! K A R E N T I E G E L , Middle School Division Head

For the first 10 billion years, physics and chemistry were enough to explain everything that was going on. When the biosphere emerged, biology was enough, until the last 15,000 years. The humanities are for figuring out what’s been going on since. A R TA K H A K P O U R, Upper School History Teacher

Humanities is the flourishing of being human: reading, thinking, writing, finding, and posing through lines across literature, history, and culture. LO R A S A A R N I O, Fifth-grade Dean and Lower School Math and Computer Science Specialist

Making connections across texts, eras, authors, and genres. A L L I E A L B E R T S , Upper School English Teacher

A chance to explore the everevolving notion of what it means to be human. C O L I N T R I B B L E ’ 04 , Seventh-grade Dean and Middle School Humanities Teacher 33

2021

A school year turned upside down ends in a joyous celebration

CLASS OF

P H O T O S B Y C O M PA S S P H O T O G R A P H E R S

For the 97 members of the Class of 2021, this year’s graduation ceremony—their official last day as Nueva students—was also a celebration of “firsts.” It was the first time since the start of the pandemic that all of the seniors, their families, and teachers could come together in person. Beyond a rite of passage, commencement served as a joyous celebration of a community reunited.

(PARENT OF TREVOR GOLOB)

DAVE GOLOB

One of my favorite questions is: “Why not us?” People often look at the big problems in the world and just think they are so big and complex that we couldn’t possibly solve them. We could be a company, a small non-profit, or a couple of college sophomores contemplating the state of the world. There is often no someone else who is going to go out and tackle these problems, and as hard as it sometimes is to imagine this, you could be the one to make it happen. So, why not us? Why not you?

CHRISTINA HYUN AND RICHARD CHIN (PARENTS OF ELLIOT CHIN)

Now that you are much too smart to think of life simply as good and bad, may you find yourself exploring, understanding, even delighting, in all the shades in between.

Family Advice…

MAYA CHAWLA

Gems of Wisdom

VIENNA GAO

hello

AMALIA KAMON

GRACE HOLMES

Guillermo Maldonado, the security guard who used to sit at the front desk. He was often the first person I saw each day and his kindness, care, and humor—found in fantastic stories, bad jokes, and good advice, often all wrapped into one—meant the world to me.

May Wilson, for constant laughter and the perfect creative workspace.

I would like to thank Barry Treseler for pushing me to do better even when it’s hard.

Is there somebody at Nueva who has made a lasting impact? Somebody you would like to thank?

Patrick Berger was an incredible teacher who worked with me when I was experiencing personal difficulties. He believed in my ability THE HONG FAMILY to learn and work hard (FAMILY OF CONNIE HONG) on my assignments which allowed me to be ultimately successful in both of my economics classes with him. The empathy that he showed teachers can have for students, even if they are only working with each other for a year, made a lasting impact on how I view education altogether.

Take care of yourself. Be kind to people and the world. Be true to yourself and be patient. Find solutions instead of complaints. Embrace the ups and downs of the journey ahead. And your parents are always a phone call away.

ANN WILSON GREEN (PARENT OF CLAIRE GREEN)

One of my favorite lines in Mrs. Dalloway is, “They had been alone together.” Despite feeling “alone together” this year, we still sought ways to connect despite our physical separateness. I believe that longing for connectedness is enduring and uniquely human.

MARGARET SUOZZO (PARENT OF MOLLY DILLON)

You have been gifted with a beautiful and rich education in how to think, do, and effect change. Use it wisely. Use it for good.

SHALIN ZARBOULAS

The teachers (of course), the tomfoolery between and during classes, killing time at the panini press with friends. TARA SAXENA

I’ll miss all the little moments like randomly bursting into laughter with my friends or going on unexpected tangents in class that end up leading to the most captivating discussions.

NIKIL THAKUR

Shamelessly being myself, whether that’s complimenting Ishir in the allschool Zoom chats or unapologetically jamming to Taylor Swift. This place has helped me to become a more sincere person and has given me a chance to forge relationships that I’ll cherish forever.

What will you miss the most?

EMMA LESCHLEY

I can’t wait for trips Nap time in the locker room The I-Lab’s on fire

Haiku…

EUGENIA XU

We’re potatoes. There’s no hierarchical structure in our growth, but we grow and nevertheless thrive.

Capture the Class of 2021 as a metaphor.

Seniors share their favorite Nueva memories and reflections, while their families offer advice for life after graduation.

2021

The Peru trip in ninth grade. Getting close to so many of my friends was amazing, and we got to make some really amazing food, chocolates, and crafts together. CATHERINE CELIO

I will always look back on the 11th grade retreat quite fondly—our last trip before remote learning and the pandemic. On both nights, about 20 of us laid out on the tarp, instead of staying in our tents. Huddled all together in the chilly, August night, we had whispered to each other in the moonlit forest about summer, future plans, and excitement for our two years as upperclassmen. AMANDA WANG

ELLIOT CHIN

Grade-wide tag—in the rain, over the hills, and down the trails of the Hillsborough campus. Sprinting from teachers and peers alike. Nueva’s open access to the outdoors, at both campuses, shaped how I play and learn.

What is your favorite memory?

J O N AT H A N W. →

Celebration

Eighth-grade

The most memorable lessons are those you teach yourself. Someone could teach me how a sail works, and I would likely forget it in a day. I learned how a sail works by placing a piece of paper against my chest and sprinting, the wind gluing it against my body. That was in kindergarten and I still remember the power of that experience because I made it for myself. I didn’t gain knowledge, but wonder. Wonder is something I will never lose. Wonder is what drives me to strive even further. Wonder is the most wondrous teacher I’ve ever had.

“Sticks!” Our teacher gave us our notes: EFFFEGC. I was part of a group of lower schoolers staying after school to play steel drums. I had gravitated instantly to the blue set of double-seconds, with yellow markings. With jumbled enthusiasm, we attempted to learn our parts on our new drums. Eventually, our playing improved, but it wasn’t yet quite right. So we wrote lyrics to go with the song: “Let’s have a party tonight / Calypso party tonight.” The creativity of our song, assisted by our teacher, was a perfect microcosm of Nueva: teachers guiding and nurturing students’ creativity so they can grow and improve.

↑ G R AC E F. - O.

P H O T O S B Y C O M PA S S P H O T O G R A P H E R S

Few Nueva traditions are as beloved and longstanding as the 100-word speeches each eighth grader delivers at their end-ofyear eighth-grade celebration. Reflections shared with a mix of heart and humor, this rite of passage offers a window into the Nueva memories and lessons students are taking with them.

↓ I Z E L L. P.

I have a terrible memory. I don’t remember most words. Looking back to middle school at Nueva I have memories but no words from my time here. It’s generous calling them memories though. To me it is only a single space I can visit in my head. Even then it’s only made of smeared colors, sounds occasionally but most importantly the overall feeling of that long span of time. It’s a door marked “Nueva,” where not a single moment, teacher, or friend is able to outshine another. I enjoy that my memory works this way as my time here is too special for words to describe.

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ALUMNI PIN IT! Initiating a new Nueva tradition, the Alumni Office hosted its inaugural pinning ceremony for the Class of 2021. Prior to heading to their graduation ceremony, the seniors were officially inducted into the Nueva Alumni Association and received their class pins to proudly wear on their robes. A memento of their Nueva experience, the pin officially marks their transition from student to graduate. During the ceremony, Director of Alumni Relations Diana Chamorro reminded the graduates that Nueva will always be a place they can call home, as commencement does not serve as an end, but the beginning of their new lifelong relationship with Nueva. 40

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REUNI O N R E C A P

A Global Homecoming The Nueva spirit was felt around the globe as alumni and parents of alumni virtually gathered for our 2021 Alumni Reunion celebration on June 5. With members of the Classes of 1977 through 2020 in attendance, reminiscing about memories with classmates, beloved traditions, and uniquely Nueva experiences served as a throughline of connection. “What I most enjoyed about this reunion was the sense of serendipity,” said Mia Kimura ’85. “Those who attended were just a handful of all the spirits which have inhabited the grounds of both campuses over the years. We discovered many connections and shared memories about how Nueva has profoundly shaped each of us and our lives.” The event kicked off with a welcome from Head of School Lee Fertig, in which he shared campus updates and key ongoing administrative priorities, and offered insight on the first year of his headship. Before closing, he reminded our alumni of how important and meaningful their continued engagement with their Nueva community is. “Nueva is always here for you and a place you can call home,” he emphasized. Following Lee’s remarks, attendees joined breakout rooms to reconnect with classmates and former teachers. “The reunion was a great way to reconnect with Nueva alumni,” shared Chris Sun ’99. “Not only did I get a chance to catch up with classmates from my time at Nueva, but I also got to meet a few new friends. What was most wonderful was reminiscing about all the memories connected to ‘Moonshadow’ and ‘Hall of the Mountain King.’ It reminded me of the impact music had during our time at Nueva.” From room to room, eruptions of laughter and genuine joy shone through as personal updates, favorite Nueva stories, and other memories were recounted. After spending time catching up, classmates teamed up to test their knowledge in a friendly trivia competition. As the celebration came to a close, Director of Alumni Relations Diana Chamorro asked all attendees to think about what words come to mind when they describe Nueva. Utilizing an interactive platform, a word bubble was created, displaying their collective thoughts and descriptors of Nueva. Among the top submissions were passion, love, home, and caring. With the collective excitement and enjoyment of reconnecting, the momentum is already in motion for next year’s Alumni Reunion Weekend on June 3 and 4, 2022. “The next reunion is already on my calendar and I hope to see more of you there!” concluded Mia.

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S AV E T H E DAT E S

Alumni Calendar Save the date for our upcoming alumni and community events!

What words come to mind when you describe Nueva?

14th Annual Nueva Cup Golf Tournament Monday, October 25, 2021 Green Hills Country Club Millbrae, California ↑ At the conclusion of the 2021 reunion festivities, alumni shared what words come to mind when they describe Nueva.

Thanksgiving Alumni Basketball Game & Pregame Reception Tuesday, November 23, 2021 San Mateo Campus Alumni Intersession January 4–7, 2022 San Mateo Campus Young Alumni Luncheon Wednesday, January 5, 2022 San Mateo Campus

← Members of the Classes of 1977 through 2020 enjoyed celebrating the Nueva bond, while reconnecting with classmates and former teachers at 2021 Alumni Reunion on June 5.

Be a Maverick Benefit Saturday, April 9, 2022 Virtual with TBD in-person elements 2022 ALUMNI REUNION WEEKEND Milestone Reunion Reception for all class years ending in a 2 or 7 Friday, June 3, 2022 San Mateo Campus Coed Alumni Soccer Game Saturday, June 4, 2022 Hillsborough Campus BBQ Celebration for all alumni and parents of alumni Saturday, June 4, 2022 Hillsborough Campus

S TAY C O N N E C T E D ! F O L LOW N U E VA O N L I N E… nuevaschool.org/alumni instagram @nuevaalumni

facebook @nuevaalumniassociation

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Virtually Present Alumni Share Expertise at Humanities Fair

One of the unique opportunities of having the inaugural Humanities Fair hosted on Zoom was that Nueva alumni were invited to join as audience members, session hosts, and panelists. Below we profile five alumni who returned for the Humanities Fair to share more about the topics they explored with our students.

P E T E R H A R T L AU B ’82 March 30, 1981—a day that Peter Hartlaub ’82 will never forget. In American history, it is the date of President Ronald Reagan’s assasination attempt, but for Peter it was the start of his career in journalism. Now 20 years later, he is the San Francisco Chronicle’s culture critic, host of the “Total SF” podcast, and writes the archive-based “Our San Francisco’’ local history column. Rewind two decades to his time at Nueva and a fateful day in early spring. As a student, he didn’t fully gel with his peers, who were excelling and passionate about computer programming and STEM-related subjects. A self-professed creative kid, who credits his teachers for always being very supportive of him, March 30 was a day his Nueva experience shifted and his confidence grew tenfold.

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As the news broke of President Reagan being shot, Peter’s teacher set him up in front of a 1950s-era radio in the library and he experienced his first taste of being a reporter. Stationed in the library, he listened to the radio updates and ran to the various classrooms providing updates as events unfolded. Peter reflected on how positive the experience was for him, being in a position to tell adults and students the breaking news. “I still feel like I’m chasing that feeling when I try to find new stories and different ways to tell them at the Chronicle.” N O E L L E F LOY D ’ 1 9 Cybersecurity and calligraphy don’t often go together, but for Noelle Floyd ’19 they are interwoven in her daily routine and have become professional and personal passions. A rising thirdyear student at Northeastern University, she credits her time at Nueva as the place where she could foster and explore her various interests. “Nueva was my introduction to computer science and cybersecurity,” she explained. “I definitely have the school, specifically teacher Jen Selby, to thank for my love of STEM and computer science. I appreciate the fact that I was given an environment to pursue all of my interests simultaneously and

equally, whether they be social sciences, art, or technology.” A cybersecurity major, Noelle is enrolled in Northeastern’s co-op program, where students spend a semester working full time in a position in their intended industry, and currently is a cyber engineering intern at LookingGlass Cyber Solutions in Washington, D.C. Outside of her academic and professional pursuits combating cyber threats, data breaches, and more, an unexpected gift prompted a deep love for calligraphy. “I first started calligraphy in 10th grade, when I received some basic brush pens and paper from a friend as a birthday present,” she said. “I’ve always loved fonts and word art, and decided to teach myself calligraphy techniques to get the most out of my gifts.” In the four years since receiving her first set of pens and paper, she has excelled in learning the art of calligraphy, so much so that she was able to teach the next generation of Nuevans basic calligraphy and lettering skills during her interactive session at the Humanities Fair. Learning the craft has also helped her find balance while studying and working in a vital and demanding field. “It’s a great technique to use in tandem with journaling, and

definitely counts as a ‘mindfulness’ practice I keep up with daily,” she concluded. LY Z B U S H - P E E L ’ 20 An accomplished writer and author of 16 novels, alumna Elizabeth “Lyz” Bush-Peel’s ’20 deep love of literature and writing was fostered as a student at Nueva. She credits her teachers and mentors for nourishing her curiosities and interests, as well as the school’s expansion of humanities programmatic offerings. “I feel lucky to have watched Nueva’s humanities programs and publications grow during my time there, and I’m especially grateful to publications legend LiAnn Yim and my wonderful English teachers for how much they helped my writing grow,” Lyz explained. “Working on the Current taught me clarity and concision, as well as how to work on a deadline. Exposure to a great variety of literature [in my classes] has helped me select my course of study in college.” An English and philosophy major at Columbia University, Lyz enjoys writing novels, short fiction, and creative nonfiction. In addition to her self-published novels, her short works have been featured and published in YAWP and The Ellipsis. “My novels are mostly fantasy and realistic fiction, while I write shorter pieces in a variety of genres, including mystery, magical realism, and realistic fiction,” she shared. A past participant of the prestigious University of Iowa Summer Writing Residency and Iowa Young Writers’ Studio, Lyz participated in the Humanities Fair as a panelist to offer insight on her book-writing process, from idea generation to publication. The panel featured

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students across all three divisions, fifth-grade writing and humanities teacher Cliff Burke, and was moderated by current parent and author Liza Percer. As she continues to embark on future projects, Lyz is actively querying for novel publication and looking forward to her sophomore year at Columbia and interning at a New York literary agency in the fall. M A X ’0 4 A N D E M M A ’0 7 S T R E B E L As their lives dramatically shifted due to the pandemic, siblings Max ’04 and Emma ’07 Strebel found themselves experiencing new feelings and thoughts due to the isolation of sheltering in place. In processing and reflecting on those newfound emotions, the idea to start a podcast was sparked. For the Strebels, the desire to connect more intimately with others prompted the creation of “What’s Inside,” where listeners are able to escape and hear unscripted monologues. “We had just moved back into our parents’ house at the beginning of the pandemic and were very overwhelmed by the shock of our dramatically altered lives due to the lockdown,” the siblings explained. “Every day we seemed to have new feelings and thoughts in regards to the

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pandemic and our new lives. We realized that everyone else was going through different experiences in reaction to the same thing, but due to our social distancing and isolation, we weren’t able to hear and share these crazy stories with each other.” Since its launch in May 2020, the pair has been inspired by the authentic reflections they’ve collected from individuals around the globe. Listeners have gotten a peek into the lives of people coping with the pandemic, navigating relationships, sharing what they’ve learned over the past year, and more. With nearly 200 recordings and life returning to a sense of normalcy, Max and Emma are looking forward to concluding “What’s Inside” and pursuing a new project. “It’s been a year since we started and it feels like the right time to move on from this project. We are developing a new podcast with a similar format of people reflecting on their relationship to the environment. Climate change is another global issue, and we want to hear how people are thinking, grappling, and relating to it,” they shared. The Strebel siblings credit their Nueva education as foundational in inspiring their podcast. The project, rooted in

Nueva continues to influence our work in many ways. The core principles of ‘learn by doing, learn my caring’ are the foundation of ‘What’s Inside.’ We have tried to approach the project with empathy and compassion, and we also wanted to develop content that would be engaging and beneficial to the public. Our maker approach to life is something that Nueva really fostered. Max ’04 amd Emma ’07 Strebel

dealing with a difficult situation, ultimately became a place of deep connection with a worldwide reach. “Nueva continues to influence our work in many ways,” they said. “The core principles of ‘learn by doing, learn my caring’ are the foundation of ‘What’s Inside.’ We have tried to approach the project with empathy and compassion, and we also wanted to develop content that would be engaging and beneficial to the public. Our maker approach to life is something that Nueva really fostered.”

BRIEFS 2017

Daniela Nemirovsky contributed to a Forbes article on May 25, where she reflected on graduating from The Wharton School and her trepidations about entering the business sector in its current state. ¶ Swetha Tummula is a first-year medical student at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM). In May, she was selected to present a poster at the university’s McCahan Education Conference, which recognizes innovation in education. Swetha’s project focuses on assisting low-income families of color at Boston Medical Center Pediatrics to open college savings accounts, while connecting them with financial services to empower their families and build health equity. ¶ “I was moved to launch this project and apply for the conference because Nueva has always been a pioneer in education innovation,” she said. “As an alumna, I am always thrilled to hear about new projects and innovations that Nueva students, faculty, and administrators are working on!” ¶ Swetha is also a student leader for the South Asian Medical Student Association at BUSM, and recently helped organize a virtual culture show. It was the largest student event

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of the year and served as a unifying celebration for BU’s medical students. The event showcased student diversity and their wide-ranging talents, and featured a fashion show. Participating in the show as well, Swetha performed “La Vie en Rose,” and danced. ¶ Berklee College of Music film scoring major, Marc Yu, is working as a music assistant on Netflix’s Ridley Jones and at Disney’s California Adventure Park’s Avengers Campus. In March 2020, he was featured on NBC for initiating the recreation of Berklee’s campus on Minecraft.

“ It is great to continue studying literature with my former students!” Allen Frost, upper school English teacher and director of the Innovative Teacher Program

2018

Combining their love of literature and newfound time on their hands, a group of upper school graduates and their former teacher Allen Frost found a silver lining when shelter in place was imposed. Keeping in touch since graduation, the group began more regularly exchanging messages about the books they were reading and the idea to form a book club was born in April 2020.

↑ Members of the Class of 2020 offered insight and shared their collective wisdom on navigating college and life after Nueva at the final NPA meeting of the 2020–21 school year.

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Since then, Sinead Chang, Nathalie Gee, Anika Kwan, Jill Mankoff ’17, Jessa Mellea, Paco Poler, Sonali Seshadri, Eli van der Rijn, and Allen have met regularly on Zoom, and the group is already on their sixth book together. ¶ “It is great to continue studying literature with my former students!” Allen shared.

2020 ↑ Left to right: Casey Manning ’20, Artharv Chandra ’20, and Calista Huang ’20 caught up over lunch in Baltimore in April. → Before beginning her studies at Stanford, Zoe Quake ’20 enjoyed living and working in Athens, Greece during her gap year.

↑ Meg Cozadd ’20 is training Labrador Retriever Gia to assist a low mobility client.

Atharv Chandra, Calista Huang, and Casey Manning reunited for a mini Class of 2020 reunion at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. The trio enjoyed lunch at Unos before heading to Washington, D.C. to take in the sights around the nation’s Capital. ¶ Calista and Atharv are first-years at Johns Hopkins University, and Casey is enrolled at Stanford. ¶ Meg Cozadd was accepted into a seven-week service dog training certification seminar, where she will be learning to train service dogs for different disabilities and working with service dog users. She will be in charge of training a service dog throughout the program, culminating with the pair graduating at the end of the seminar and the dog going to its forever home. ¶ Nine members of the Class of 2020 shared insight into their first year at college at the NPA’s final

upper school meeting on June 1. Participating in the virtual panel were: Jason Hwong, Irene Madejski, Maya Malavasi, Madeline Park, Billy Pierce, Noah Tavares, Dylan Taylor, Eugenia Theodosopoulous, and Stanley Wang, who answered questions about how Nueva influenced their college experience, what they wish they had taken more advantage of in upper school, and how they navigated their first year of college to a captive audience of current parents. ¶ Zoe Quake spent her gap year in Athens, Greece working at a public health NGO, volunteering for a nonprofit involved in the refugee crisis, and interning remotely for an allergy lab. Other highlights of her year include taking long walks around the city center, improving her Greek, and spending time with her aunt.

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Do you have news or personal updates you’d like to share? We invite you to submit a class brief about exciting personal events, including marriages or new arrivals, professional experiences or accomplishments, recent travel, reunions with fellow Nueva alumni, and more. nuevaschool.org/classbriefs

P O I N T E X C L A M AT I O N

FINAL PROJECTS IN PRODUCT DESIGN On the last day of school, students in Rob Zomber’s Product Design class gathered on the lawn to share their final projects: furniture they designed, prototyped, and built. The thoughtful and striking pieces ranged from lounge chairs and coffee tables to room organizers and desks.

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Becoming

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BENEFIT SURPASSES GOAL, CONNECTS COMMUNITY ONLINE

On May 1 the Nueva community galloped together to raise more than $1 million for student financial assistance at the Be a Maverick Benefit, held virtually over YouTube Live for more than 300 registrants. This year’s event focused on the four C’s of what makes a Maverick—creativity, curiosity, critical thinking, and changemaking. Attendees had the option to choose one of three virtual pre-parties: improvisational theater (representing creativity), cocktail-making (representing curiosity), and a trivia contest (representing critical thinking). After the pre-parties, everyone gathered for the main event—being a changemaker by supporting financial assistance at Nueva. “This special event also served as a phenomenal community-building activity by bringing together so many who share the goal of increasing access and opportunity at Nueva,” said Head of School Lee Fertig. The evening also featured a video profile of alumna Michaela “Mickey” Shiloh ’06, who shared how her Nueva education and the financial awards she received made it possible for her to blaze her own trail in the music industry. As a songwriter, recording artist, and CEO of a game-changing record label, Mickey has worked with some of the world’s most notable musicians, including Britney Spears and Janet Jackson. “My time at Nueva is actually 100 percent of the reason I’m an entrepreneur,” she said. “My creativity was nurtured daily, and there were never any limitations to the kinds of projects we could do. Knowing that I can change the world, it’s only because that was instilled in me by the teachers.” It’s students like Mickey that inspired Victoria Osman and Maribeth Portz to serve as event co-chairs for this year’s Be a Maverick benefit. “Thank you to the Nueva community for your remarkable support of this year’s benefit,” Victoria said in a post-event thank you video. “Our success in raising $1 million-plus for financial assistance reflects our values in education—providing opportunity and belonging. Learning by caring continues at Nueva!” “I feel honored to be part of such a giving community,” Maribeth added. “Thank you to all Nueva families who did their part to ensure that we continue to offer a special educational opportunity to all qualified students. The Be a Maverick Benefit made an impact on our community, and I look forward to this event, which celebrates the Maverick spirit, making an impact for years to come.” In addition to raising critical funds for financial assistance, Director of Development Joe Cheeseman said, “It was a fun-filled evening for the entire community. The camaraderie was felt from the improv games, good-natured trivia competition, and cocktail-making fun, all the way through the chat comments cheering on the bidders. Sixth grade writing and eighth grade humanities associate teacher Michelle Greenberg may have summed the event up best. “What an incredible Saturday evening,” she said. “The benefit was such a spoton example of the best of Nueva. Thank you for a wonderful evening of humor and doing good. Seeing the generosity of this community on full display is no surprise, but it certainly doesn’t lessen how deeply it touches me. I’m grateful that it is a priority to bring diverse groups of students to our school—it enriches all our learning, and the benefit underscored this value.” —Antonia Ehlers

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Celebrating the Class of 2021. See page 34.