The Westonian, Summer 2016 by aldeia

SUMMER 2016

The

Westonian Magazine IN THIS ISSUE

Graduation Essays Alumni Weekend

Teaching to the Light

Quakerism at Westtown

The Westonian, a magazine for alumni, parents, and friends, is published by Westtown School. Its mission is “to capture the life of the school, to celebrate the impact that our students, faculty, and alumni have on our world, and to serve as a forum for connection, exploration, and conversation.” We publish issues in Winter and Summer.

Editor Lynette Assarsson, Associate Director of Communications Manager of Web Features Greg Cross, Associate Director of Digital Communication Contributors Kris Batley ’81, Director of Alumni Engagement

38 Teaching to the Light

Mary Brooks, Archivist Anne Burns, Director of Communications and Marketing Stephanie Ziemke, Director of Annual Giving Design Lilly Pereira Principal Photography Ed Cunicelli Additional Photography Greg Cross Tom Gilbert ’76 Lee Moskow

We welcome letters to the editor. You may send them to our home address or to westonian@ westtown.edu.

CON N EC T

facebook.com/westtownschool twitter.com/westtownschool vimeo.com/westtownschool instagram.com/westtownschool

HEAD OF SCHOOL John Baird BOARD OF TRUSTEES Timothy B. Barnard Amy Taylor Brooks ’88 Martha Brown Bryans ’68 Beah BurgerLenehan ’02

Michelle B. Caughey ’71, Assistant Clerk Dayton Coles ’63 Molly Niles Cornell ’60 Robert Cottone Jacob Dresden ’62, Assistant Clerk Diana Evans ’95 Jonathan W. Evans ’73, Clerk

Susan Carney Fahey Davis Henderson ’62 Gary M. Holloway, Jr. Sydney HoweBarksdale David Jones ’72 Jess Lord ’90 Brenda Perkins ’75, Recording Clerk James Perkins ’56

Michael Sicoli ’88 Danielle Toaltoan ’03 Kristen Waterfield Edward C. Winslow III ’64 EMERITUS: David Barclay ’52 Arthur M. Larrabee ’60

SUMMER 2016

The

Westonian Magazine FE ATUR E

Teaching to the Light Educating in a Quaker Way

D E PAR TME NTS

02 LETTER FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

A message from John Baird 03 NEWS FROM

AROUND ’TOWN

What’s happening on campus?

14 PAST IS PROLOGUE The more things change… 16 CAMPUS MASTER PLAN

Update

18 FIELDS & COURTS Season roundup

BEHIND THE COVER Westtown’s Meeting House

20 LOOKING WITHIN A Quaker Self-Study 22 FACULTY PROFILE Jon Kimmel 24 ARTS GALLERY Studio arts

26 GRADUATION 2016 30 STUDENT VOICES Graduation Essays from the Class of 2016 36 ALL IN THE FAMILY The tradition continues 48 ALUMNI VOICES Celina Tio ’88 50 DEDICATION Guerster House 52 REUNION RECAP What a weekend! 56 BOOKSHELF Books by alumni 58 CLASS NOTES Catch up on alumni news 77 FROM THE ARCHIVES Meeting House dedication

LET TER F ROM H EAD O F SC H O O L J O H N B A IRD

The View from my Window On the following pages, you will read about many projects on campus, including the school’s recent completion of a Quaker Self Study process, undertaken in partnership with the Friends Council on Education. Among the many strategic initiatives we have worked on recently, this has been especially meaningful to me, as it relates to our fundamental strength and vision as a Friends school. We practice a “continually revealed” Quaker pedagogy and it was invaluable to take time to engage in this reflection and inquiry into this essential element of our school community. Thanks to the Spiritual Life Committee and all of those who contributed to this inclusive process. The Friends Council report gave a resounding confirmation of the way Quakerism suffuses all aspects of school life, as well as helpful recommendations to continue to support the wide-ranging and ambitious work being done in all areas of the school. One of the report’s commendations was for “making space for joy, for a commitment to making room for students and adults to share smiles, laughter, and fun in times of hard work as well as play.” I hope the summer is affording you with opportunities for this as well. In June, 97 students joined our alumni community as the newest Westtown graduates. Closing ceremonies, Meetings for Worship, and Commencement always provide vivid confirmation of the impact a Westtown education has on our students. Take a look at our student essays within this magazine; their diverse voices and perspectives each convey the transformative effect that living and learning at Westtown has had on them. We want to ensure that our students will continue to discover, hone, and and use their talents as they go into the world as innovative and ethical leaders who are dedicated to the common good. Moving forward, we look with great anticipation to prioritizing strategic projects 02

The Westonian Magazine

that will reinforce the character and uniqueness of Westtown’s community and campus and enhance program excellence schoolwide. New families are also recognizing the value of a Westtown education. Next year, not only will we experience our third straight year of increased enrollment, but also we will be a full year ahead of our Strategic Plan’s overall enrollment goals. We have doubled the number of legacy enrollments since last year and will welcome a strong contingent of Quaker students on campus next year as well— our second largest in seven years! As I write this, the Lake Restoration Project is nearing completion. I am excited that this complex project that has been envisioned, discussed, and planned with great energy and care over the last 13 years, will be completed before the summer ends and that this “gem” will be available for canoeing, scientific and nature study, skating, shared meals, summer programs, inspiration, and spiritual renewal for many future generations. During the last week of school the senior class held a Meeting for Worship on the lake’s new dock. Contemplating the serenity of that moment, I reflected on what the lake has meant to generations of Westonians. I felt a keen sense of satisfaction and gratitude to see this project nearing completion. I told the seniors that I hoped they would draw from their experience an appreciation for the value of having a quiet oasis in the midst of their lives wherever they are, at Westtown or beyond. And, I hoped they could also see the importance of persistence, grit, and hard work to complete something that you deeply care about. We have seen both that inspiration and dedicated, hard, collaborative work in many areas of school life during this past year. I look forward to continuing to learn and grow with and from my colleagues and students in the coming year, my last at Westtown. I hope to see you on campus and have the opportunity to at school events and activities, over conversation, shared projects, or worship, as the Friends Council reminds us—with joy!

News from Around â&#x20AC;&#x2122;Town

The design engineering lab

SUMMER 2016

N EWS F ROM ARO UND ’ T O WN

Farm to Cafeteria A Westtown cohort of Beth Pellegrino, Director of Food Service, Tim Mountz, Farm Manager, and Wade Tomlinson, Director of Sustainability, went to and presented at the Farm to Cafeteria Conference in Madison, Wisconsin this June. About 2,000 participants came from all over the nation as well as Canada and Brazil to talk about bringing local, fresh, and organic foods to students. The farm-to-cafeteria movement has real momentum, and with over 42,000 schools participating (which is also 42% of all schools), approximately 23.6 million students are oﬀered healthier food choices. Westtown has become a leader in this national and international movement and a model for other schools. Westtown’s conference team presented some of the ways in which we’ve instituted healthier habits (see sidebar). These practices are far beyond what many schools, hospitals, and other institutions are doing. While at the conference, members of the Westtown group explored an aquaponics system, took a field trip to Milwaukee to observe inner city farms and gardens to see how to create working partnerships for Westtown and urban Philadelphia, and visited an organic dairy farm. They also were privileged to hear First Lady Michelle Obama speak.

HEALTHIER HABITS

35%

of all food that we serve is local (within 50 mile radius) and/ or organic—that is more than double than the average participating schools.

Friends Journal

Our SALAD BAR includes items from Pete’s Produce farm, the Westtown student organic farm, and from our Lower School mini-farm

100%

of our chicken and turkey is both local and organic

COLLEGE SHIRT DAY On May 1st, Westtown hosted its third annual College Shirt Day. May 1 is the national college decision day when seniors must commit to a college that has offered acceptance. We celebrate our seniors’ next step with a photo shoot, so they can show their college choices. See more photos from College Shirt Day: westtown.edu/thewestonian

RECESS and PLAY is a priority across all three divisions

100% of our beef and pork is grass fed, local, and usually organic

Required ATHLETICS (OR FARMING AND GARDENING) ensures that students have healthy bodies as well as healthy minds

Student Voices Project For the last several years, Friends Journal, a publication that serves the Quaker community, has sponsored the Student Voices Project. For this project, students at Friends Schools are asked to submit written work in response to various queries and entries are chosen from among them. This year, the queries pertained to aspects of community building. Reflections from the following students were selected: Sophie Adler ’19, Reena Bradley ’19, Carolina Castilho ’17, Tony Chen ’19, Jack DeVuono ’19, Franklin Grear ’19, Natalie Neumann ’19, and Heidi Suh ’19. All of their essays were insightful and powerful.

You can find the essays at westtown.edu/ thewestonian

The Westonian Magazine

N E W S F RO M A R O U ND ’ T O W N

Metal Moose takes the Title! In April, Westtown hosted the FIRST® Robotics MidAtlantic District Competition. Westtown’s Team 1391, the Metal Moose, formed an alliance with two other teams to win the championship. The Metal Moose also took home the Judges Award, given to a team whose unique eﬀorts, performance, or dynamics merit recognition. But that’s not the end of the story. When Westtown was selected as a host site for this year’s Mid-Atlantic District Competition, Steve Compton, Director of Westtown’s Science Institute and Head Coach of The Metal Moose, decided the event not only needed to “solve mechanical issues, but also social ones at the same time.” Thus the 1st Annual Good Robot Challenge was born. Compton says, “With the creation of this challenge, each year we will seek to leverage the power of numbers to create social good. By connecting our annual district event with the power of all of the participating teams, we will support a selected organization that is creating social change and supporting children through education, opportunity, and strong futures.” This year, Westtown’s team led a fundraising and in-kind resource donation challenge among robotics teams across the country. Their goal, as part of the 1st Annual Good Robot Challenge, was to raise $38,000 for Yspaniola, a 501(c)3 education organization in the Dominican Republic. So far, the Good Robot Challenge has raised $2,650 toward its goal, plus 127 backpacks each filled with school supplies, enough to give one to every school-aged child (K–8), in the Batey Libertad in the Dominican Republic.

CONFERENCE BY THE NUMBERS FIRST® ROBOTICS MID-ATLANTIC DISTRICT COMPETITION

teams comprised of more than

1,000

students participated in this year’s medieval-themed event.

2,000

visitors attended the event each day.

GOOD ROBOT CHALLENGE

$2,650 raised so far and

127 one

backpacks filled with school supplies. That’s enough to give

to every school-aged child in the Batey Libertad in the Dominican Republic

MIDDLE SCHOOL ROBOTICS In late December, the Westtown Middle School robotics teams competed in the FIRST Lego League regional qualifier. This event was the culmination of four months of engineering and programming robots, and designing, researching, and completing team research projects. The teams presented their work to multiple panels of judges and were evaluated across three primary categories: robot design and programming, the team project, and demonstration of the FIRST League’s Core Values. Both teams performed impressively and each walked away from the event with an award. The Got Bricks? team was recognized for their demonstration of core values; one judge remarked that the team was “very professional and delivered a gracious presentation of core values! Each team member respected each other, other teams, and the judges. This team was impressively independent.” Team The Brickade earned accolades as the overall winner of the robotics game and were recognized for their “simple and robust robot design that clearly demonstrated evidence of a systematic approach to the engineering and programming process. Their strategy was clear and their team goals were well defined.” Congratulations to both teams, as well as the team interns who assisted!

SUMMER 2016

N EWS F ROM ARO UND ’ T O WN

ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE

Enjoy a gallery

The theater was busy as usual of photos at westtown.edu/ with fantastic productions thewestonian this winter and spring. The Middle School staged Yo, Vikings, the Upper School put on Kiss Me Kate, seniors tackled The Madwoman of Chaillot, and each grade in Lower School had a play.

Drummers & Dreamers For several years, Lower School has celebrated One Story Week in which one book sets a theme and curriculum You can watch a and activities reflect ideas in the book. This year, Drum video about One Story Week at Dream Girl by Margarita Engle was the selected book. westtown.edu/ Drum Dream Girl is the story about a girl in Cuba who, thewestonian desperate to make music with the drums, questions the rule that only boys can be drummers. The book is about dreamers, shattering stereotypes, and standing up to do what one is passionate about - beating your own drum. The week’s activities included a Google Hangout session with Drum Dream Girl illustrator Rafael Lopez, another Hangout session with a parrot rescue center, making toys for the rescue parrots (which were then delivered to the Rhode Island center by Lower School Principal Kristin Trueblood), salsa dancing lessons, t-shirt decorating, and more.

WE LOVE MAIL! Please send feedback in any form you choose. Address it to “Editor” and share your thoughts about any aspect of the magazine. We will do our best to publish as many letters as will fit. We may edit for space, and we’ll always confirm with you what we intend to publish. Our email is westonian@westtown.edu.

The Westonian Magazine

A CAPPIE in Their Hats Each year Westtown participates in the CAPPIES program (kind of like the Tonys for high school students), which also allows student critics to watch and write about performances at area high schools. This year, Westtown’s CAPPIES team was chosen as the best student critics in the Greater Philadelphia area! Congratulations to Nathan Mullen ’16, Laina Yost ’16, Lily Cunicelli ’17, India Henderson ’17, Jane Mentzinger ’17, and Brooke Tyborowski ’16!

N E W S F RO M A R O U ND ’ T O W N

Senior Projects

Members of the Class of 2016 spent their Senior Projects in 14 countries and 10 states. Projects included the school-led trips to Mexico, Israel/Palestine, Guadeloupe, and Ghana, as well as 47 distinct independent projects near and far, such as Chase Winham’s culinary project at Celina Tio’s ’88 restaurants in Kansas City. We know that Senior Projects can be transformative experiences for our students. We also know that they give students opportunity for Read the Senior independent learning and reflection. Some of our seniors shared Projects blog: westtownsrprojects. their experiences and reflections on the Senior Projects Blog, so we wordpress.com invite you read them. As Hannah Zuckerberg so eloquently put it as she reflected on her time in Israel, “When I explain Quakerism and my school to everyone I meet, I am reminded about why I am here in the first place. Westtown trained me for four years for the world—giving me the ability to find peace in silence, community amongst strangers, and strength in myself.”

SUMMER 2016

N EWS F ROM ARO UND ’ T O WN

QUIC K NOTES

SPANISH

Campus Kitchen Westtown was awarded a $5000 grant to become part of the Campus Kitchen Project! This collaborative venture with the West Chester Senior Center will help us meet the food needs of local senior citizens. We will plant fruit trees and distribute the harvest to the Senior Center in addition to providing some of the tomatoes To see the grown on our organic farm. We will also recover video visit westtown.edu/ some of the food that does not get eaten in our thewestonian Dining Room by storing some leftovers and delivering the food to CityTeam in Chester, who will then distribute the food to those in need in their community. The oﬃcial launch was May 26th with a ribbon cutting and planting of a cherry tree near Lower School.

FRENCH

LATIN

A Bright Idea Fourth grader Langston Payne overheard a conversation about a Westtown Science Institute logo redesign. He was so interested in the project that he spent his recess time considering ideas. He approached Keith Stater, Director of Auxiliary Programs, and said emphatically, “Teacher Keith, I have a bright idea! Why don’t we use a light bulb in the new logo?” Together they refined the design and the new WSI logo was born!

The Westonian Magazine

MANDARIN

To see the complete list of honorees: westtown.edu/ thewestonian

NATIONAL LANGUAGE EXAM HONORS Each year, students in the World and Classical Language sit for the National Language Exam in their area of study. This year, a host of students was honored with medals or honorable mentions.

N E W S F RO M A R O U ND ’ T O W N

[3]

[4] [1]

COLLEGE-BOUND ATHLETES This spring, three athletes were recruited to colleges to play sports. Ian Davies and Emily Sands [1] will be playing soccer for Philadelphia University and University of Pennsylvania respectively, and Dagny Davidsdottir [2] will be playing basketball for Niagara University in the fall. SOCIAL CHANGE GRANT Westtown is the recipient of a $10,000 grant from the VWR Foundation. The funds will be used to create a collaborative summer program that connects our Westtown Science Institute Social Entrepreneurship students with students from underserved communities in our region by way of a summer residential “Incubating Social Change” product development program. Westtown students will develop projects in partnership with students from the Boys and Girls Club of Delaware as peer collaborators in an immersive design engineering experience. The VWR Foundation is a charitable organization whose purpose is to promote learning in the sciences. It is part of VWR, a science equipment manufacturer in Radnor, PA.

[2]

CONNECTING IN ASIA In March, John Baird, Head of School, Ellen Gilbert, Director of Advancement, and Carrie Brodsky, Associate Director of College Counseling, visited with parents and alumni in Beijing, Shanghai, [3] and Taipei to share school news, discuss program innovations, and highlight the college counseling process. STEAM DAY On Sunday, April 24th, we welcomed over 80 young innovators and their families to campus for Westtown’s inaugural STEAM Day. It was an afternoon of hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math activities for 2nd through 5th graders from the surrounding area. As the young guests walked the halls of Westtown’s state-of-the-art Science Center with lab coats on and notebooks in hand, they had the opportunity to explore and learn about DNA extraction, programming, electrical circuitry, To see the cryptography, elements of video visit westtown.edu/ robotics, and much more. thewestonian Special thanks to the planning team of Ellen Songle, Alicia Zeoli, and Anne Burns, and to the many faculty and staff who shared their expertise and Sunday afternoon with us. The event was designed to attract visitors to Westtown’s

campus and to get sample our programs and faculty. It successfully yielded inquiries, applicants, and enrollees! WESTTOWN WINS ENERGY EFFICIENT SCHOOLS AWARD In May, Wade Tomlinson, Director of Sustainability, and Jay Farrow, Assistant Head of School for Operations, traveled to Harrisburg, PA, where To read more: westtown.edu/ they were presented [4] thewestonian with the Keystone Energy Efficiency Alliance/Keystone Energy Education Fund’s (KEEA/KEEF) “Moving to the Head of the Class: Energy Efficient Schools Award” in the rotunda of the capitol building. This award, given by KEEA/KEEF along with funding from the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, PECO, and PPL Electric Utilities, honors schools that have reduced energy consumption by at least five percent in the last year. Westtown is among only three schools in Pennsylvania to receive this prestigious award.

SUMMER 2016

N EWS F ROM ARO UND â&#x20AC;&#x2122; T O WN

The Westonian Magazine

N E W S F RO M A R O U ND ’ T O W N

A Guinness World Record is in the Bag This year, fourth graders wanted to do a project that helped our planet. They decided to join the Plastic Bag Challenge to bring awareness to our community about single-use plastics, partnering with Bring Your Own Bag Delaware (BYOB), an environmental education group. The fourth grade began their Plastic Bag Challenge just before spring break, enlisting the help of the Westtown community. Collection boxes were placed in all divisions. They set a goal of 6,000 and by the end of April, Lower School had collected 6,163 bags. Delaware’s Sierra Club and the BYOB group organized an event to collect the bags. Read the local news coverage at Lower School teachers Hilary Simons and westtown.edu/ Andy Fetzer, along with other Westtown thewestonian participants, took the bags to Wilmington, DE for the event. Westtown’s contingent of volunteers was largest at the event held on April 23rd. The schools, organizations, and individuals collected over 52,000 bags, 30,872 of which were formed into a giant ball. This ball, weighing in at a whopping 340 pounds, set a Guinness World Record! Lower School placed first for elementary private schools and third among all participating schools. Their creative recycling bins placed first in the “Monster Division.” Congratulations, 4th graders!

Artists in Residence

One of the great aspects of our arts program is the Artist is Residence Program which brought artists to both Lower and Upper School this spring. John Baker, whose residency was funded by a gift To see a from alumna Chris Hall ’64, worked video visit westtown.edu/ with Upper School students sharthewestonian ing paper making techniques (left). Rich Hoffman brought his stop-motion filmmaking to Lower School. Make sure to check out the video to see what they created.

Dinner from the new pizza oven during Eco week

EC O W EEK + E A R TH DAY The Green Coalition, Westtown’s student-led environmental group, organized a month’s worth of activities in celebration of Earth Month, Eco Week (which they dubbed “No Waste Week”), and Earth Day. Their activities included, among many others: • Field Trip to Covanta waste-to-energy plant in Plymouth Meeting • Presentation about waste to Upper School • No Waste Week campaign in the Dining Room, including an all-vegan dinner • Eco-themed weekend activities such as a rock gym trip and fire circle • Off-campus hike to Valley Forge • Organic farm work • Ropes Course • Viewing of Chasing Ice, a documentary about climate change • Sunrise Meeting For Worship • Attendance at the United Nations Assembly on climate change For No Waste Week, the Green Coalition led a campaign to reduce food and material waste in the Dining Room. They encouraged the community to put only what they would eat on their plates, to reduce the use of napkins, and to properly sort waste for composting, recycling, and trash. Their campaign was successful! The baseline measurement of Dining Room waste the week before was 318 pounds of trash. During No Waste Week, we produced 227 pounds—a 90-pound reduction overall. Hats off to this tenacious and effective group of students who remind us to pay attention to our habits!

SUMMER 2016

N EWS F ROM ARO UND ’ T O WN

M ODE L CI TI Z E N S A delegation of Upper School students attended the 32nd Annual Ivy League Model United Nations Conference (ILMUNC) in February. Eleven Westtown students represented Ecuador on seven different committees at the conference, negotiating and brokering collaborations to tackle a number of different topics. All 11 of Westtown’s delegates were credited sponsors (which indicates writing credit) for the final resolutions which ultimately passed in their respective committees—an impressive result. Over 3,000 students attended, including representatives from 20-plus countries, but the four-day conference was also jam-packed other ways. In addition to multiple four-hour committee sessions a day, most of our students used both their lunch and dinner breaks to collaborate on drafts of working papers, resolutions, and amendments. Their creative conflict resolution and hard work were clearly appreciated by their fellow delegates, who approved and signed on to each resolution in turn (in several cases beating out the proposals by representatives of heavily-favored world powers). Congratulations to our delegation made up of: Charlotte Ells ’16, Gwyneth Turner ’15, Tara Kleponis ’17, Jalen Jones ’19, Layth Al Bhaisi ’18, Katie Olsen ’18, Mike An ’18, Dex Coen Gilbert ’17, Jack DeVuono ’19, Fritz Gessl ’19, and Alexander LeFebvre ’16, and to Model UN advisor, Anne Coleman.

The Westonian Magazine

Changemakers

For the second year, the 8th graders spent much of their last semester on The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind Projects. They built on the work of last year’s project, reusing of the windmill towers so that students could focus on the mechanical components of windmills. The project began months ago with an interdisciplinary reading of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind in English, science, history, and math classes. Students further developed Changemaker Projects to craft solutions for actual problems faced by communities in East and West Africa, and specifically by Heritage Academy, Westtown’s sister school in Ghana, West Africa. The Changemaker topics included prevention of malaria, nutrition, sustainable agriculture, and building a refrigerated room. Changemakers presented a plan of action backed by a grant proposal and an eﬀective infographic to a panel of professionals from our wider community. A second group developed models from science class to build windmill components, and a windmill tower with only materials that are found in Ghana, such as bamboo, twine, and cleavers. New this year as well was real-time collaboration with teachers at Heritage Academy who are working on similar projects with their students, and using the research and information gathered by Westtown students. Eighth graders raised $500 for “grant money” and each of the Changemaker groups had to compete for the grant. In the end, it was the nutrition group that won the funds. They have shared their nutrition plans, budget, and ideas with Heritage Academy, and have sent them the money. Heritage Academy students and teachers will now work on implementing their plans. This project exemplifies action-based learning at its best— when students work to find authentic, implementable solutions to real-world problems.

N E W S HAVE F RO M A R O U ND ’ T O W N

YOUR SAY

WESTTOWN STUDENTS WEIGH IN ON:

Are you the kind of Westonian the world needs? Westtown has taught me that there are real problems in the world, and that there is no reason why I can’t be the one to solve them.

The world needs more Westonians, people who care and who have the skills to put those thoughts into action. The world needs more people like me.

—MISKIYAT ’16

—HANNAH ’16

I hope that I am a ‘Westonian’ in the sense that … I care enough to act. Westtown didn’t teach me to care; I have always known that … Westtown taught me how to care, and how to make myself useful. For me, that combination will be important.’ —MOLLY ’16 Westtown has shaped my personality and my perspective by using Quaker values and practice to create a habit of self-reflection and to never question that all voices deserve to be heard. —EMMA ’17

The world needs individuals who are passionate enough to challenge themselves and take risks, and I am glad that I can be one of those people. —ROGER ’16 Westtown’s greatest gift to its students is its emphasis on the morality in all areas of life—in jobs, in relationships, in everyday interactions—and this isn’t something I’ve found in any other school. —CAROLINE ’16 As a Westonian, I feel equipped with the passion for learning, the tools to continue to learn, the vigor to stand for what I believe in, and ultimately to tackle issues that most high school students would believe are impossible. —LEO ’16

When I think of the arts at Westtown, I think of…

Send your responses to westonian@westtown.edu or to our street address with attention to the Communications Office.

SUMMER 2016

Past is Prologue

While recreational canoeing has long been a part of student life, since 1983, CANOE TRIPS have been an integral part of the Middle School curriculum. A series of overnight canoe trips, one at each grade level, begin with relatively minor physical challenges in 6th grade and progress to a twonight whitewater experience by 8th grade. Students not only learn technical skills, but also collaboration, sustainability, and leadership.

1915

This horse-drawn wagon is setting off from Westtown the morning of PRIVILEGE DAY, circa 1915, a late spring tradition for many years. Boys headed to a spot along the Brandywine River where the day was spent playing games, canoeing, and devouring “grub.” Girls had the run of the entire campus for similar activities, including canoeing on the lake.

2016

AR C H I VA L P HOT O C OUR T E SY O F M A RY BRO O K S , W ES T T O W N S C HO O L A RC HI V ES . 2 0 1 6 P HO T O BY EDSCU N ICEL PRIN G 2 0 1L4I

CAMPUS MA ST ER P L AN UP DAT E

Envisioning the Future: Westtown’s Campus Master Plan BY A N N E B U RN S• PH OT O BY G R EG C R OS S

The Westonian Magazine

After hundreds of hours of committee work, 40+ focus group meetings, two Town Hall meetings, and alumni gatherings over a 22-month period, the Campus Master Plan Steering Committee presented a draft of the Long Range Campus Vision for Westtown School to the Board of Trustees for consideration at their June meeting. The Board’s response was enthusiastic and supportive of the direction of this long-range vision which has been thoughtfully created to ensure that our school will thrive, not just for the next twenty years, but for the next century and beyond. This vision respects the uniqueness of the Westtown campus while valuing the history and spiritual nature of the school, positioning the Meeting House at the geographical center—the heart—of the campus. In the plan, the campus’ natural resources are strategically and purposefully integrated into school and auxiliary programming. John Baird shares, “When I arrived at Westtown in 2002, the school had a brand new master plan which had been developed by the Board of Trustees, the school’s administration, and architecture firm Wallace,

Roberts & Todd (WRT). I am pleased that we have accomplished a great deal since then, completing many of the projects detailed in the plan such as: the Lower School expansion, renovations to the Athletic Center, the new LEED goldcertified Science Center, a new facilities building, faculty townhouses, and renovations to the Barton-Test theater, to name just a few. I am delighted that Westtown’s Strategic Plan, introduced in 2014, is gaining great momentum with exciting initiatives happening in our academic program in all three divisions. The plan is designed to strengthen our position as a Quaker, PreK–12 day and boarding

school, whose program will change lives and create graduates who will be the changemakers our world so desperately needs.” Over the past 22 months, the school has reengaged WRT to listen, assess needs, review current facilities, and envision ways to preserve and care for Westtown’s incredible campus. The ultimate goal is to ensure that the Long Range Campus Vision serves to enhance community, support program, and positions our school to attract students locally, nationally, and internationally. “During our partnership with WRT,” Baird continues, “they have helped us to identify strengths, look for opportunities to enhance program, and identify sacred spaces on campus for

preservation. They have challenged us, connected our sense of history and place with our vision for teaching and learning, and managed to synthesize all this into the draft plan. Just as in the 2001 plan, the school’s Board of Trustees and administration will conduct a careful process of prioritization and phasing with respect to this next set of projects. I look forward to partnering with you to ensure that Westtown will continue flourish and support our students to live lives of success and meaning in perpetuity.” Over the summer, the Campus Master Plan Steering Committee, co-clerked by current parent Robert Cottone and L. Jay Farrow ’75 will continue to refine the plan based on feedback from the Board. The draft plan will then be presented at the October Board of Trustees meeting for approval.

S u m m er 2 0 1 6

Fields & Courts Our teams and individual athletes had some remarkable successes in the winter and spring seasons! Here’s just a small sample of their accomplishments. Go ’TOWN! TEAM ACHIEVEMENTS: • Boys’ wrestling finished the Friends Schools league regular season in second place, and came in second in the FSL championship. • Boys’ swim team finished 3rd in the FSL. • The girls’ varsity basketball team earned a spot in the FSL semi-finals for the first time in seven years. Their overall record was 11-10. • Boys’ varsity basketball team won the FSL Championship for the third consecutive year, and also won its first-ever state title. By capturing the PAISAA title, the team becomes the first team in school history to win a state title. • The girls’ varsity swim team became FSL champions for the third consecutive season! See more sports • The golf team, undefeated in the updates online at FSL in the regular season, won the westtown.edu/ athletics Friends Schools League championship for the third consecutive year! • Both the girls’ and boys’ Track team finished 4th in the FSL. INDIVIDUAL RECORDS: • Freshman swimmer Cruz Buitron broke the school record in the 100 butterfly with a time of 54.82, then broke his own 100 Butterfly record with a time of 54.01. This is also a record for the FSL. Buitron also set a record for the 500 free with a time of 5:05.9. • Naomi Jimenez ’16 scored her 1000th point on the basketball court this season. She also broke the school record in the high jump and became the PAISAA state champion high jumper. • Jair Bolden ’16 scored his 1000th point this basketball season. • Maddie Barth ’17 has scored 100 lacrosse goals in her high school career thus far. • Emily Dodds ’16 has scored 100 lacrosse goals in her high school career thus far. • Freshman runner Julian Klenner won the 400 meter race in the FSL tournament with a time of 49.6 seconds.

The Westonian Magazine

Westtown School has been designated a SAFE SPORTS SCHOOL by the American Trainers Association.

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COMMU N I T Y

Looking Within

A Quaker Self Study BY J O H N B A IRD • PH OT O BY E D C UNI C E LLI

FROM OUR BEGINNING, Westtown has provided an education rooted in the values, principles, and practices of Friends. These values are modelled and conveyed by the faculty and staﬀ and experienced daily by our entire community. And yet, with changes in staﬃng, modifications in our programs and campus, alumni and other friends sometimes ask, “Is Westtown still Westtown?” In the concluding chapter of her history, Westtown Through the Years, written in 1942, Helen Hole states that Westtown aims to teach young people “to build in themselves spiritual resources which will enable them to cope with the situation ahead of them.” She continues, “no longer can we speak of Westtown as a closed garden.” Then she pauses to ask, “Have the Westonians of today held fast to that which is good, or have we diverged from the purposes of the original institution?” It is a question that Westonians of every era should have, and should ask. To ensure that the Quaker “taproot” grows deep and continues to nourish the tree, it is vital that we periodically examine ourselves. It is in that spirit, and in our desire to include both thorough self-study and observation by seasoned Quaker educators from outside the school, that we embarked on the Membership Renewal Process through the Friends Council on Education. The Friends Council on Education’s (herein FCE) membership is comprised of schools that are based on the faith and practice of the Religious Society of Friends. The FCE established three pathways to membership in order to encourage and welcome the diversity of Quaker education that exists within the Religious Society of Friends: at least half of a school’s board members are Quakers; the school is in the care of or relationship with a Monthly Meeting; or, a school undergoes a Membership Renewal Process at least once every ten years. At least half of Westtown’s Trustees are Quakers and the school is currently in a care relationship with a Monthly Meeting, so on the surface, this study was not mandatory. But, if you look deeper, there is great value to be gained from this process. Westtown’s Quaker Self Study was undertaken as an opportunity for our entire community to reflect upon our 20

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Lower School Meeting for Worship in the Greenwood.

practices, our strengths, our areas for growth and continuing revelation in relation to our mission, Meeting for Worship, governance, leadership, program, and community life. This rigorous process involved surveys, discussions, and focus groups including the Board of Trustees, faculty and staﬀ, students, parents, and alumni over the course of 18 months. The entire process was guided by the all-school Spiritual Life Committee, co-clerked by Betsy Swan and Kevin Gallagher, and culminated in a two-day visit from members of the FCE Membership Committee. Following their visit, FCE’s visiting team enthusiastically confirmed “the state of Quakerism at Westtown” and the FCE Board heartily approved their report at their May meeting. Their report captures the vibrancy of the Quaker ethos and spirit and the dynamic new initiatives, from a robust, actionbased curriculum in all three divisions, to energetic, passionate student leadership in a new Upper School Meeting for Business. In their report to the school, the FCE shared a list of 58 (!) commendations to the school. I have selected my “top 10” to share with the community (see sidebar). And, while these commendations are incredibly aﬃrming, there is always more that can be done. The FCE also provided us with several recommendations. Moving forward, our first priority is how we might more fully embrace Westtown’s identification as a Quaker Learning Center and expand our use of Westtown as a gathering space for Friends education as we fortify our ongoing fellowship with Friends schools and organizations.

C O M M U NI T Y

THE FRIENDS COUNCIL ON EDUCATION COMMENDS WESTTOWN SCHOOL FOR:

Maintaining Quakerism as the central value in school life, translating that historical focus into modern forms

Its robust and palpable commitment to Quaker values and practice—grounded in regularly scheduled and deliberately framed experiences of Meeting for Worship—as central to the identity of Westtown School

Its deliberate framing of increased opportunities for student ownership of and responsibility for the Quaker character of the school, evident especially in the Middle School students clerks program and in the recent creation of an inspired and inspiring Upper School student-led Meeting for Business, as well as the Religious Life Committee and Quaker Leadership Program

Cultivation of an ethic of fairness, participation, and sportsmanship in athletics

Among our other priorities will be to: • Continue to orient and integrate all members of the adult community—including staff and parents—more fully in Meeting for Worship and education about Quaker thought and practice • Continue to embrace and live out our commitment to Quaker values, including diversity and stewardship, explicitly and intentionally • Cultivate space for reflection and appreciation of the present moment in our busy lives • Consider creative approaches to provide staffing dedicated to the coordination of the wide-ranging and ambitious work being done in the area of Quakerism at Westtown As we look to the future, I am confident about the clarity of mission and spiritual vitality of the school. I am proud of our accomplishments in our current and previous strategic plans. But most of all, I am proud of our students. In early March, one student stood up in Meeting for Worship and shared that she was scared about going off to her Senior Project in Israel. She shared, “My experience with Quakerism has given me a sense of security in who I am in this community. It is in me. I have it —and it goes with me wherever I am in the world.” I couldn’t have said it any better.

The extraordinarily devoted faculty we met throughout our visit, professionals who are clearly drawn to their work and to Westtown for mission-based goals

The Board’s visible and palpable stewardship of the school community’s self-conscious and very intentional eﬀorts to preserve and fortify Westtown’s Quaker values and identity

Making space for joy, for a commitment to making room for students and adults to share smiles, laughter, and fun in times of hard work as well as play

The way Quakerism suﬀuses all aspects of school life. As one new community member put it, “Quakerism not a part of the curriculum; it’s a part of everything.”

The tremendous creativity put in play by teachers in all divisions in incorporating Quaker values in everyday lessons in core subjects as well as bringing an exploratory, inquiring spirit to engaging lessons in Quakerism classes

The development of a robust spiritual literacy program on campus

SUMMER 2016

FACU LT Y PRO FIL E

Jon Kimmel

Coeﬃcients & Creativity BY LY N E T T E A S S A R S S O N • PH O T O BY E D C UNI C E LL I

TO OBSERVE Jon Kimmel with students is not unlike watching him create a piece in the woodshop. He is gentle yet straightforward, committed to technique yet innovative, and a patient guide whose wry sense of humor brings levity to challenges. A graduate of Swarthmore College with a Masters in Secondary Education from the University of Pennsylvania, Kimmel was hired in 1990 as a one-year replacement for a Middle School teacher on sabbatical. Over the course of the year, Westtown discovered it had something special on its hands and Kimmel knew that he had found a professional and spiritual home. That one year turned into 26. And counting. He came for the job but stayed for Westtown students—unlike any he had taught in the past—and for the colleagues he encountered. Westtown’s dedication to its mission and the freedom and expectation to manifest it in the classroom sealed the deal. “We had a clear sense of our identity and that helped us work together to achieve the goals of our mission. That was (and is) very important to me.” For many years, Kimmel taught Latin American History along with algebra and filmmaking. While he still teaches filmmaking and algebra, he gave up history to make room in his schedule to teach woodshop. He was Clerk of the Middle School Faculty for six years and has served as 7th and 8th grade dean, a canoe trip leader, play director, set designer, and Tech Fellow. He is currently the Service Project Coordinator, a student advisor, and has been the Middle School Math Department Head for 24 years. Kimmel’s aﬃnity for math is evident, but ever a man of balance, he also relishes opportunities for creativity. He finds them in both his filmmaking and woodshop classes, where problem-solving takes an artful turn. “I love the creative work that I get to do with kids - making films and the physical objects and special projects in the woodshop.” It’s a special brand of teacher who can relate to Middle School students who are in that sometimes awkward, always heady transitional time between childhood and adolescence. Yet Kimmel is inspired by their frenetic energy and enjoys the specific challenges of this age group. “Sometimes I miss the big-idea thinking of older students, but middle school students bring so much energy and curiosity,” he says. “It’s a little like 22

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riding a wild beast, but once you learn how to hang on, the ride is exciting and incredibly rewarding!” For Kimmel’s students, that joy is obvious and they describe him as someone who brings humor to the classroom. They also express that he is passionate and encouraging. “Teacher Jon is incredibly supportive but also encourages you to figure out problems on your own,” says Emma Stavis ’20. “This helps you to grow in ways that you might not have otherwise. He has been an example of the kind of person I want to become.” Hannah Weaver ’16, who was once Kimmel’s advisee and also went on the Ghana Senior Project with him this past March, sums it up like this: “In the classroom, Teacher Jon is lively and passionate about whatever subject he’s teaching. He is a man of many talents and he uses his classes to convey his love of the subjects. Also, he is a person you refer to as ‘Teacher’ when you are his student, but once you graduate from his classes you begin to think of him as ‘friend.’” Kimmel’s colleagues count him an inspirational mentor. “Jon is a creative thinker and collaborator,” observes fellow 8th grade teacher Megan Rose. “He is my go-to faculty member when I need advice. He is a Renaissance man and encourages this in others.” Colleague Erin Salvucci says, “He has created a classroom atmosphere that makes students comfortable with stepping up to high-level academic challenges. As a colleague, he is a patient and supportive mentor.” Kimmel cites his relationships with peers as an important factor in his professional satisfaction. “The collegiality of it all, the sense of being in it together with colleagues has been so important. I think the kids see how much we enjoy what we’re doing and that helps them.” Equally rewarding is the opportunity to educate in a manner he believes the world needs. “We have a mission and a shared purpose...I feel like we have a higher calling. Having that gives us a way of considering whether what we are doing is the right thing, and gives us a way of interacting with our students that keeps them focused on what we have agreed as a school is most important. I’m happy when I get to be part of something in which people get to think about their place in the world,” he says. “It’s no accident that I am teaching at a Quaker school!” And it’s no accident that Westtown counts him as one of its best.

FAC U LT Y P R O F I L E

SUMMER 2016

The Arts Gallery Learn more about the Arts at westtown. edu/arts.

WHETHER IT IS with paint, charcoal, wire, paper, clay, film, tin, wood or any other medium, the possibilities are endless. Students in every grade have the opportunity to create in our various studios and to seek the special kind of artist that they are.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The artist is not a special kind of person; rather each person is a special kind of artist.â&#x20AC;? ANANDA COOMARASWAMY

The Westonian Magazine

SUMMER 2016

Please enjoy much more coverage of Commencement, including a video of the ceremony, on our website. Visit westtown. edu/thewestonian.

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20 E 16 CLASS OF

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20 16 CLASS OF

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G R A D UAT I O N

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S TU DEN T VOIC ES

20 16 CLASS OF

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S T U D E NT VO I C E S

Graduation Essays We have found that the voices we most want to hear on graduation day are those of our students themselves—they are more powerful and evocative of the Westtown experience than any outside speaker. Each year, seniors write a personal reflective essay. Three essays are chosen to be read at Commencement by a committee of Upper School faculty, who note how difficult it is to select only three! The fourth essay is written and read by the valedictorian who is elected by the seniors to speak on their behalf. This year’s essayists represent the strength, character, and intellect of our students, as well as the diversity of experiences within our community. We share their essays here.

MISKIYAT JIMBA

All I remember was an abundance of color. The women wore floor length iros, skirts made of any and every color imaginable. Their iros swirled around the dance floor as their bodies answered the beat. Their geles, tightly wound headdresses made from a paper-like material, nearly scraped the sky as each one added height and power to its owner. The scents of spicy jollof rice and pounded yams would be evident if one wasn’t used to the aroma. I could not understand much of the lyrics sung in Yoruba, but the singer’s voice demanded that we dance. So we did. In the midst of the crowd’s vivacious dancing I was thrown into my cousin, Bose, the bride. Her face glowed with ecstasy, startling me. She was so happy that I couldn't help but grab her hands when she oﬀered them, and move my body with her. We danced on and on and, as one song flowed into the next, we danced some more. Sweat formed at the top of my forehead from the beating neon lights, and from the heat of two hundred bodies packed like sardines. In a lot of ways, that day describes how I used to feel about the part of me that is Nigerian. That part meant being noisy, dancing all of the time, wearing exquisite clothing, and crowding with my people like cattle. Growing up as a first generation American child, I struggled to reconcile my Nigerian and American identity. Throughout my life, Nigerian Misky felt like these isolated moments that were very separate, and

perhaps more special, than who I was when I left the house. But I have two homes. One where I am known as Misky Jimba. And another where I am known as Miskiyat Oyinsola Nofisat Dolapo Adamson Ajoke Jimba. Miskiyat with seven names is loud. She likes to wear the traditional, and considerably itchy, geles and iros. She eats a whole lot of rice, stew, and her favorite, pounded yams. She understands less Yoruba then her cousins, but more than her parents think she does. Every four years during the summer Olympics, she crouches by the television in the living room to cheer when the Nigerian Olympic team, dancing for the cameras like they do every time, is shown during the opening ceremony. Miskiyat with seven names greets her parents every morning with “e kaaro ma” and “e kaaro sa.” Well, she doesn’t but she’s supposed to. And Miskiyat with seven names feels Nigeria everyday, right here in her heart. That may be because of the way her parents explain their homeland; they use so much detail that it feels like she can smell the air they inhaled as kids. Or it may be because she never eats American food for dinner. Or maybe because she can kind of understand her parents native tongue. Either way, being at home feels like she’s have traveled across the globe. But Misky, just plain Misky to her friends, was diﬀerent. She only understands English. She likes burgers and French fries and pizza. She values her right to freedom of speech, and the right

to remain silent, and her general protection under the law. She doesn’t like to wear those itchy geles and iros. She doesn’t see why she needs to learn Yoruba. She knows the Pledge of Allegiance and national anthem like the back of her hand. She says “whatever” to her parents, and deeply regrets it when she sees the look on their faces. Nigerian parents do not like that word. Every two years during the Olympics, she crouches by the the television in the living room to cheer when the American Olympic team, very much unlike the Nigerian team, marches stately with a certain level of self assurance as their flag waves in the sky. She has opportunity. The type that her parents gave up their whole lives in another country to aﬀord her when they came to the states. The type that makes it easy to give up everything if it weren’t for the sake of her parents because of that heavy weight of debt, or love, or love and debt. Misky, just plain Misky, feels America everyday, right here in her heart. And I used to think that as a first generation citizen, I was half the old and half the new. But I am not half anything. I’m double. I am Nigerian and I am American. And I would consider this to be a blessing. From birth, my experiences molded me to live not how the world is, but how the world should be, two cultures making a home inside of me. Two cultures that are the best parts of me. Two cultures compatible not because of location proximity or societal ideals or especially the likeness of each religious majority, but rather because it just ought to be this way. There is no border that bounds me, no single nation that claims me. The two countries, two lifestyles, two ways of being that lie within me are intertwined, like two vines growing together on the side of a tree trunk. Living this way taught me that attaining the finest part of the human experience might call for us to transcend the barriers that separate us from one another. And this isn’t to say that the world would be better if we were all first generation citizens. It, instead, means that your identity cannot be split.

SUMMER 2016

S TU DEN T VOIC ES

Because whether you feel you have one nationality, or two or three or just too many to count, those places created one person. They made you. They made me. And I am deeply proud to say that I cannot be defined by any one thing. VALEDICTORIAN

GRAHAM ZUG

The school I attended from second to eighth grade, Benchmark School, has an annual musical. About a week ago, I went to go see it and—let me tell you—nostalgia glasses warp reality. I shook hands with my old teachers. Some of my friends also showed up. We wandered around the playground, reminiscing about playing tag on the old wooden pirate ship near the rusty monkey bars. And with those nostalgia glasses glued to our eyes, we talked about how easy it was, and how everyone got along, how much we all loved one another. Everything in our memories was perfect. But that feeling that I had for Benchmark and that, as leaving, I’m starting to have for Westtown, promotes an incomplete vision. It insists that there’s a warm, kind reality hiding just out of view, behind the corner of the past. But that’s not true. And as I sit on the South Lawn every night watching the golden brown sunset on the smooth, rainwater-smelling grass trying to soak it all in before I’m gone forever, I need to remind myself of the truth: The reality that there were hardships and there were terrible blunders and there were staggering imperfections. And I need to remind myself that this nostalgia vision, above all, takes away from the successes we are celebrating today. The friends we’ve made, the grades we’ve earned, the athletic competitions we’ve won, all become meaningless if we choose to blind ourselves to the challenges within them. If I am to talk about Westtown, I want to talk about the version with great successes and mind boggling failures alike. I don’t want the lens of nostalgia glasses. I want the lens of reality. That’s because I have come to love Westtown with all its flaws, though admittedly that took some time. When I 32

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came here I was initially terrified by my decision. The boarding element made it tough. I remember that first night in freshman year lying sleeplessly on the hard, patchy, pale green mattress watching the grind of the faint red light from my digital alarm clock pass through every minute of every hour. I felt like I was going to explode like a helpless gerbil in a microwave. There’s so much uncertainty in that situation—and I wasn’t even thinking about most of it. I didn’t know how Westtown would change me, I didn’t know what challenges I was going to face academically: every single bead of sweat collected by my pillow that night had one source, the only question: How will I make friends? It took a long time and lots of trial and error. There was a lot of sitting down at lunch tables in crowds where I didn’t quite fit and silently standing in conversation circles where I had nothing to say. It was hard. A lot of my nights began to mimic that first lonely one: Not many friends, not very sure how to make them. But eventually I began to meet people I connected with. I met Sam Horstman, my best friend. If you have confidence problems, you should talk to Sam. He’s living proof that the gangly nerd in freshman year with curly hair larger than his head and crooked glasses can blossom into a firefighting EMT with a girlfriend who’s way out of his league. And then there’s Elyse Gadra, she’s smarter than the rest of us. But not smart enough to know it, or maybe just too modest to admit it, I don’t know. I met Rabia King a walking, talking ray of sunshine. I met and came to love many, many others. Even though those first nights were rough, I’m glad they happened. They remind me of how important my friends are and how lost I’d be without them. Those nights make me grateful for the relationships I have. And they remind me to be proud of the work and risks my friends and I took in the awkward and anxious purgatory of acquaintanceship. And then there were the risks I did not choose. For those of you who don’t know I’m a theater kid. But by spring of freshman year, I had done all the theater

I could do and I had to endure a required sport. I knew it was coming, though I was hoping it wouldn’t - like my Godmother showing up to my graduation ceremony. So I masqueraded as a baseball player for a season. Let me be clear: I did not play baseball. I remember the closest I got to playing when I first hit the ball. Missing it had become a regular occurrence for me. Dogs bark. Birds tweet. Graham strikes out. But then, I hit the ball. It flew an impressive ten feet forward. I initiated a rocketing sprint for the base. As laughter reached my ears, awareness struck me, far harder than I struck the ball. My rocketing sprint deflated into an intoxicated waddle. They were laughing at me because I had run to third base instead of first. So I wasn’t good at baseball and I never got good. But I’m grateful for that experience. I have never cherished my talents more than when I “played,” baseball because it showed me how awful life would be if I hadn’t trained those talents. So every missed catch and awful toss made me grateful for the hours I had put into the honing my writing skills and figuring out math. All my experiences at Westtown— the good and the bad—are like the infinitesimally small rectangles that make up an integral in calculus. Each bit, although in itself almost nonexistent, added up to create one cohesive Westtown. Westtown is hard. Westtown beat me up when I took risks and lost. Westtown picked me apart and found the places I was most vulnerable, so it could apply the most pressure to them. But the reason I hate the nostalgia glasses is because I hate the idea of a Westtown without all of these things. Without the lonely nights and the struggle to make friends, the relationships that I have would have much less value. And that military grade incompetence that I displayed in baseball, it gave me a new appreciation for my skills on stage. Today my initial instinct was to say that I’ve come to love all of you. But that would be a lie and a betrayal. The real truth, the thing that gives our time at Westtown such meaning and value, is not the love and successes we have found themselves,

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but the challenges through which they were cultivated. Every member of this class has failed spectacularly and they will continue to do so. But I also believe that their successes outweigh their failures. Although I have not come to love all of them equally the love I have found in my friends here is—and I don’t say this lightly—the most important thing in the world to me. Claiming it all was easy, or worse, that there was no failure involved, would kill it. Instead, let us keep it alive by wishing each other good luck as we go out to fail some more.

JAIR BOLDEN

The summer of 2013 when I learned I was going to be attending Westtown, I was put into contact with a few people who were already at the school. From most I got the generic, “great school, great people, and everything is perfect.” However, one interaction stood out. When asked this question, he gave quite a simple response. “It’s just different.” Do you mean weird? Creepy? Elaborate please, what do you mean? “All I can say is it’s different.” That answer was soon to be the butt of many jokes between my father and me for the rest of the summer. What kind of empty description was that? Clearly, I didn’t know much about Westtown. Arriving on campus in September was like being thrown in a bucket of ice cold water. The people, the culture, Meeting for Worship, even the grass for that matter— it was all new to me. I was scared. I would never have admitted it then, but I was panic-stricken. I was the cool, tall, basketball player from Brooklyn. Everyone was supposed to love me, right? But it didn’t quite work that way, not at Westtown. I didn’t have an identity other than what was expected of me. So I did what most would: I hid. I became the little brother that I had never been before. I followed in the shadows of those who looked, spoke, and acted like I did. I looked to my big brothers for guidance. They were my protection from this different place. Big brothers didn’t expect much from a little guy but to fit in. I was a follower. Thankfully my big brothers were men

that one could follow and not get led astray. They never once asked me to do something that my parents wouldn’t be proud of. I was blessed to be a little brother in a place like Westtown, but I knew it wasn’t me. I was merely the outline of those who had come before me. For better or for worse, I was not Jair. Somewhere in the back of my head was my father explaining why he calls me superstar, my mother telling me I could be anything I wanted to be, and my two baby siblings looking at me with eyes empty and wide open, waiting to be filled with wisdom from my actions and words. As any younger sibling in the world knows, eventually, big brother leaves. And so they did, left to all different parts of the world, left to pursue careers and passions that I knew they would, and to my dismay, left a hole in this different world so large that the shadow that little brother had been living in for so long quickly disappeared, only to be replaced by the blinding sun of authenticity. And boy was I blinded. Blinded to the point where I could not even see my time here at Westtown lasting. How was a kid like me supposed to make it to the Greenwood when day-to-day interactions seemed impossible. I felt like an outcast; people would reach out to me and my automatic reaction would be defense. I convinced myself that they were just speaking to me out of pity. I had lost faith in myself and my ability to be anything other than what many expected me to be: a tall, cool, athlete. I lost sight of the light inside of me. At Westtown, people saw more. Quakerism and its values are at the focal point of this community. Quakerism states that there is that of God in everybody. Luckily, we go to a school where teachers, staff, and students believe in this practice. Even when I wanted to hide under the shadow that I had created for myself in the absence of my big brothers, I would be thrown back into the light. They saw something I didn’t—the beauty of self. As hard as it may have been, I was forced to step outside of my comfort zone, and I did so many times. Teachers would call on me in class when I tried to

There is no border that bounds me … The two countries, lifestyles, and ways of being that lie within me are intertwined.

Miskiyat Jimba

Graham Zug

I want to talk about the version with great successes and mind boggling failures alike. I don't want the lens of nostalgia glasses. SUMMER 2016

S TU DEN T VOIC ES

disappear in the back. Coaches would look to me in practices to be the leader they knew I could be. Peers would convince me to read personal narratives in front of classes, and even the entire school. I have failed, time and time again, but still am welcomed back into this community with open arms, with words of encouragement, and most importantly with constructive criticism. The sun of authenticity leaves no room for fear, but has tons for growth. My loved ones have watched me be molded by the sun into the man that I am today, the sun that showed all my blemishes, but also showed the sparkle in my eyes. The very same sun that allowed me to look all around me and instead of seeing loneliness and darkness, I now see my fellow Westonians, smiling right back at me with their hands outstretched. I arrived at Westtown a scared boy who did not know himself. Now here I am, my final moments of this very diﬀerent place we call home, 100% unapologetically me thanks to you all. Leaving now, as...Jair Bolden. Class of 2016. The Big Brother.

MARISA ANTINORI

I swing the large, brown door open with anticipation and glance eagerly around at the Independent Research lab. I slide comfortably into my mom’s old lab coat and button it down to the bottom. I snap on a pair of teal, latex-free gloves. Ethanol whooshes out of the spray bottle as I squeeze it, cleaning the biosafety hood. Its smell has turned into my perfume. The chair squeaks in resentment as I prepare to settle into it for the next few hours. The glass cover of the biosafety hood clunks its way open. The airflow of the hood picks up and hums, followed by unrelenting beeps, warning me that the hood is open. Reds, yellows, blues, and oranges spread themselves out in front of me in the form of media, flasks, pipettes, and tubes. My lab is my wonderland. I spend hours upon hours in my little corner in the science building, tucked away from the rest of the world. In my lab, I feel like I am capable of anything. Working in the lab has turned me into an adrenaline junkie. I never know what 34

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tragic event will happen that day, or whether I’ll have a pleasantly boring day where everything will go as planned. More often than not, however, science has a funny way of attracting catastrophe. I accidentally graze something in the hood with the tip of a pipette, so I have to throw it out because it’s no longer sterile. The newly-purchased CO2 tank hisses, leaking for days, undiscovered. My microscope light bulb pops and burns out again. I groan as I struggle through conversions, dilutions, and more math than I could ask for in calculus class. Although these are inconveniences of working in a lab, I don’t think there’s anything that makes my heart beat faster and harder than making graphs on Excel. Yes, it’s nerdy, but these graphs are going to reflect whether or not my hypothesis was correct. Throughout my science education, I have been handed lab experiments with all of the steps written out, supplies ready and prepared for me as I walked into class. But now in my research class, I didn’t have a teacher handing me a protocol for an experiment. This time, I wrote, planned, prepared, and executed the experiment myself. My experiment. My hypothesis. My creation. Every so often my parents call me and my phone buzzes in my pocket. I put them on speaker in the chest pocket of my lab coat and they ask about my experiment while my hands are busy at work under the hood. Between the small talk, I habitually murmur the protocol that I’ve memorized as I go through it step by step. All of a sudden, another catastrophe strikes. My control panel for my brand new CO2 tank is broken. I need to get the anti-cancer drug out of the vial and all I have are syringes and needles. The only thing I know about syringes and needles is from what I’ve seen on Grey’s Anatomy. I don’t know the most eﬃcient way to make a 1:192 dilution to dilute my cell culture, and I only have eight minutes until my next class. Over the phone, I hear my dad’s pen click as he opens his notepad and starts crunching numbers. My mom’s fingers tick over her keyboard as she looks up the model number for the pipette controller that

just stopped working. My hands are frozen under the hood, motion limited from my forearms to my fingertips. “What do I do? What do I do?” My mind goes off in a million directions, thinking of different ways to fix the problem before time runs out. It’s my own ticking time bomb. My parents and I bounce ideas off of each other, like students working on a history project, until we agree on the best way to fix the problem. They had been waiting for one of their four kids to finally be the combination of them both, the “science” child. Now I was the one who wouldn’t stop calling them. Once the problem is fixed, I clean the hood with ethanol, I strip off my gloves, and I hang up my lab coat. It reads, “Clinical Cancer Research, Division of Cytokinetics.” I smile, hang up the phone, and run out the door. Tomorrow, I have to prep the lab, count thousands of cells, have a mini panic attack from whatever gets thrown my way, and clean up, all in forty three minutes. Taking Independent Research has taught me to be proud of the work that I do. At first, having the diligence to read forty page research articles seemed impossible. I didn’t know half of the words in the titles, and the entire language was foreign to me. It took me hours to comprehend, but eventually I annotated fifteen primary sources, developing a limitless and deeper understanding of my project than I could have gotten from a classroom lecture. I grew accustomed to planning hours, days, and even weeks ahead of time. My lab notebook became my database of information, perfectly organized and set up so future students can pick up my research project. To top it off, I got real, solid results. My hypothesis proved to be correct on a baseline level, and I couldn’t be more proud. I have accomplished something that is truly greater than myself. I have added to the scientific body of cancer research. One day, I hope to have a lab coat of my own.

Even when I wanted to hide under the shadow… I would be thrown back into the light. They saw something I didn't—the beauty of self.

Stay Connected More than 6,600 Westtown alumni are all together in one place, right now. The new EVERTRUE ALUMNI MOBILE APP is an easy way for you to connect with other Westonians. This free tool allows you to look for alumni by geography, profession, class year, and so much more! Download the EverTrue App in the Apple App store or the Google Play store and search for Westtown School.

Follow us on Facebook Stay up-to-date on what is happening at Westtown through the Westtown School Facebook page, the Westtown Alumni Facebook page, and the Westtown Athletics Facebook page. Learn about upcoming events, celebrate alumni successes, and follow your favorite teams.

Jair Bolden

Marisa Antinori

I spend hours in my little corner of the science building, tucked away from the rest of the world. In my lab I feel I am capable of anything.

Want to Watch a Game? If you can’t make it back to campus, you can still watch Westtown athletes on our fields and courts live or on demand. Premium Bleachers accounts get access to home games, and free Bleacher accounts are also available for select games. Activating your account is easy and just takes a minute, so don’t miss a minute of the action! Subscribe or log in at gobleachers.com.

SUMMER 2016

A LL I N THE FAM ILY

20 16

CLASS OF

The Westonian Magazine

A L L I N T HE FA M I LY

All in the Family

We celebrate our newest graduates who are children of Westtown alumni or are connected to faculty and staff! (1) ACHARYA Karabi Bhattacharyya Acharya ’82, Keya Acharya ’16, Priyanka Acharya ’23

(8) PINSKY Betsy Hepps Pinsky ’83, Ron Pinsky, Max Pinsky ’14, Sam Pinsky ’16

(2) DEAR Marion van Arkel Dear ’83 (CF), Rosalie Dear ’16, Anne Harrison van Arkel ’54

(9) WINHAM Chase Winham ’16, Carolyn Mayo ’84 (FF)

(3) TIEN Caroline Tien ’16, David Tien ’73 (4) GRAY Dylan Gray ’16, Beth Morton Gray ’85, Cody Gray ’12 (5) WORTMANN Rachel Wortmann ’12, Rebecca Wortmann ’16, Richard Wortmann ’83, Beth Wortmann Quintana ’92 (6) MURPHY Betsy Christopher ’73 (FF), Claire Murphy ’16 (7) KIMMEL Betsy Swan Kimmel (CF), Becca Kimmel ’16, Jon Kimmel (CF), Ben Kimmel ’13

(10) SANDERS Dori Dietz Blitz ’63, Jenna Fenander ’86, Evan Sanders ’16, Margie Flaccus Fenander ’58, David Flaccus ’61

(11) PERKINS-TAYLOR Brenda Perkins ’75 (BOT), Colin Perkins-Taylor ’16, Jennifer Perkins ’78 (12) NOVAK Jeff Novak ’14, Bert Bacon ’60, Dotsy Jacob Bacon ’60, Debbie Bacon Novak ’85, Katie Novak ’16, Sean Novak ’11 (13) DUFFEY James Duffey ’16, Sara Jane Bacon Duffey ’79 (CF) (14) ROBERTS Lee Parshall Roberts ’85, Todd Roberts ’14, Maddie Roberts ’16, Dave Roberts ’84

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Teaching to the

Light Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come, that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in everyone. —GEORGE F OX, 1656

BY LYNET TE A SSARSSON • PHOTOS BY ED CUNICELLI

The Westonian Magazine

SUMMER 2016

Two by two and hand in hand, Lower School students walk in silence along the Granolithic, the sidewalk that stretches across campus, and stride into the Meeting House. Older students shepherd the younger ones as they fill the benches. Fifth graders—the “elders” of Lower School—take their seats on the facing benches. These youngest Westonians settle into silence along with their teachers. On this May morning, the long awaited sunshine spills through windows bathing the gathering in light. Bird songs, that seem rather like hymns in this setting, waft in on a gentle breeze through the open doors. The silence is broken by a girl who rises and says, “I’m thankful spring has arrived.” This is Meeting for Worship. Weekly Meeting for Worship is the spiritual center of Westtown. Within the unadorned walls of the Meeting House, students, faculty, and staff gather by division to sit in reflective silence and sometimes share messages both simple and grand. There is no minister or sermon, simply the ministry of those who share, for Quakers believe that all have access to the Divine. The kinds of messages shared in Meeting for Worship differ by the age of the students, but the sharing and centering down of Meeting have a profound effect on both individuals and the community. It is a unifying experience, even for those who are not Quaker. It is through this quiet reflection and communal sharing that people of all faith traditions can worship together. “You do not have to be a Quaker to experience this sense of the sacredness, of life, of the discovery of your own soul or inner teacher,” says Head of School, John Baird. “It’s there and it’s accessible and we have language that we can use to talk about things that most schools and many people don’t have a language or a venue for exploring. We can discover and learn from this as a guidepost or a compass for our entire lives.” Baird remembers a particular Meeting for Worship in the Upper School. “A Ghanaian boy stood and sang a beautiful

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Christian song that his mother used to sing to him. He said, ‘When I was little and struggling my mom would sing this song to me...It gave me a sense of confidence and aﬃrmation.’ It was so courageous for him to sing it, and deeply authentic. What impressed me was that students from diﬀerent religious traditions stood and related to what he’d shared, although they weren’t Christian. Then a student from China stood and shared, ‘I’m from Communist China and you would probably expect that I would be an atheist, but I’m not. Although I wouldn’t express it in the same way that it’s been expressed by others in this Meeting, I do believe that there is a force within every person and if you pay attention to it, it will guide your life for the good.’ These young citizens from all over the world come together and share at that profoundly personal level...they get right to the common denominator which is beyond any divisions and brings people together.” That common denominator is the foundation of Quakerism and the root of education at Westtown: that there is that of God in everyone, the Inner Light. The stillness of Meeting has an impact on students. As the rise in the popularity of mindfulness practices indicates, being calm, silent, and reflective is healthy

Lea

ading A sense of being called to undertake a specific course of action

(and perhaps invaluable) in the hurried pace of a hyper-connected world. Being quiet and reflective comes more easily to some than others, but teachers and students alike provide orientation for how to just “be” in listening silence. A few years ago, sixth grade students created a “how-to” guide for Meeting for Worship, explaining what to do in the silence of worship. Among many suggestions were: let peace find you; center yourself; listen to inner sounds and to the sounds around you; and, thinking in this time can help ease your mind and help you make better decisions. While stillness may be new for some students, they quickly learn the value of it. Betsy Swan, Co-Clerk of the Spiritual Life Committee, says, “I think that we do an extraordinary service for kids in helping them learn to sit in silence listening to the voice of God in whatever form that takes for them, whether it’s just listening to their own heartbeat or understanding the power of stillness in their lives.” Meeting for Worship is also a space in which students learn to be courageous in finding their voices. One sixth grader wrote about speaking in Meeting for Worship in this way: “It’s a test of courage of standing up to speak, of listening, of staying still, of being respectful when you don’t agree with someone.” It is not easy to rise out of silence and share a thought or concern with a large group, but students know that the Meeting House is a safe and sacred space. Kristin Trueblood, Lower School Principal, says that the faculty help their students develop an appreciation for Meeting for Worship so that “every child feels a sense of responsibility for what happens in Meeting. Older kids elder the younger ones with a touch on the knee to stop fidgeting, or fetch a tissue for a runny nose,” or a positive nod for a shared message. They also model message sharing for the smaller kids. Swan explains that when students enter the Meeting House they, “treat it as a sacred space, and not necessarily in a religious sense, but in that what is said in that Meeting House is treated

diﬀerently than anything else that is said on this campus...I think it permeates everything we do because kids take that relationship out of the Meeting House and into the classroom and into their interactions with each other and the adults in the community. Teaching them how to handle being entrusted with someone’s deepest thoughts changes them dramatically.” BEYOND THE MEETING HOUSE If you were to ask any teacher, student or staﬀ member about Quakerism at Westtown, they would proclaim, “It’s everywhere!” Baird enthuses, “It’s not just a philosophy statement, it’s an elemental part of what everyone experiences here.” These statements are demonstrative of how Quaker values permeate the culture of Westtown, but how Quakerism is cultivated and manifested, and what it is specifically that makes Westtown a Quaker school is more complex. Although Meeting for Worship, an obvious expression of Quakerism, is central to Quaker practices at Westtown, it is but one facet of Quaker education. Other expressions are equally intentional, if somewhat more subtle, but no less central to delivering an education that reflects Westtown’s principles. When Westtown was founded in 1799, Philadelphia Quakers envisioned a school that would provide a “guarded education” for young Quakers, to shield them from outside influences. Westtown provided that guarded education until 1933 when the first non-Quakers were admitted. Over the years, curricula and practices evolved as the student and teaching body became more diverse, and no longer is the education a guarded one. Instead, it has become more inclusive while remaining true to the testimonies; or rather it is inclusive because of the testimonies. While Quakers (also known as the Religious Society of Friends) reject creeds, they share certain guiding principles—which they refer to as testimonies—of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and

SUMMER 2016

stewardship. It is these testimonies and the precept that there is that of God in everyone that provide a framework in which curriculum is designed, teachers teach, and out of which residential and community life expectations have arisen. Although Quakerism is intricately woven into the fabric of Westtown, teachers and administrators began considering the question What does Quaker education in the 21st century look like? What are our modern expressions of Quakerism? In recent years, academic, residential, and community life curricula have evolved to make Quakerism more visible to students. Given bboth turnover in faculty and staﬀ and the dynamic nature of Quaker pedagogy, it became essential to ensure and confirm the commitment to the Quaker ethos of the school. Concentrated attention has been paid to enhancing programs and course work around Westtown’s Quaker mission and to the spiritual life of the community. Many of the changes were nuanced and some were distinctive and deliberate initiatives. These changes ranged from the formation of the all-school Spiritual Life Committee, the Upper School student-centered Religious Life Committee, and the Lower School Quakerism Committee, to introduction of Meeting for Business, to the creation of academic projects that arise out of Quaker testimonies, to specific updates in curricula. Trueblood says, “Students experience Quakerism naturally and it is embedded,” but she and Lower School faculty spend a lot of time thinking about and creating ways to to show it authentically and explicitly. “It’s important that we are visibly intentional so our children know they are at a Quaker School.” The faculty put children at the center of the work, and “we celebrate the kids when they take action and become changemakers. This is part of living out our mission,” she says. Marc Dear, a third grade teacher and member of the Lower School Quakerism Committee, says that while there is no overt teaching of

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Quakerism in Lower School classrooms, there is immersion in the values and testimonies. For example, “We often use ‘yes, and’ statements in discussions, opening children to the possibilities of other ideas and opinions.” He adds that they also employ the practice of the “feedback circle”in which kids get in the practice of saying kind things to one another all the time, but especially when they are in conflict. Trueblood also makes note of the teaching units that amplify the testimonies. For One Story Week, a book is chosen that reflects a Quaker value and the entirety of Lower School explores the topic together across subjects. The Lower School spends not one day, but an entire week learning about Martin Luther King Jr., focusing on service, non-violent protest, and on ways to stand up for and speak out about issues of importance. Trueblood also notes that in addition to the science curriculum, which employs the exploration of nature on Westtown’s campus, a few times a year Meeting for Worship is held somewhere outside—such as at the fire circle, or at the lake—to keep children in touch with the natural world in a spiritual way. In 2014, Westtown was named a Changemaker School, part of the Start Empathy program of Ashoka, an honor that recognizes work around community building and social action in schools. Shelagh Wilson ’85, first grade teacher and one of Westtown’s leaders of Start Empathy, echoes Trueblood’s sentiments, recalling projects and units in all Lower School grades that focus on stewardship, peace, and changemaking—social justice. “It’s about teaching kids how to live in the world and to live with each other.” It’s also about empowering students to be active participants in the world around them. “We want them to have the skill to reflect and take action,” says Wilson. All learning is experiential and that includes undertaking projects that make a real diﬀerence in the world, like the 4th grade’s plastic bag drive, which teaches the community about the hazards of

single-use plastics, or the many design thinking projects in the iLab. New this year in the Lower School is Faith & Play, a Friends program for children that reflects Faith & Practice, Quakers’ “book of discipline.” Lower School music teacher Guenevere Finley teaches the program. The Faith & Play curriculum uses interactive storytelling to explore what it means to talk and listen to God, and explains sharing in Meeting for Worship (“use as few words as possible, but as many as needed”). Faith & Play provides a way for students to explore spirituality comfortably and conversationally outside of Meeting for Worship or their own places of worship. This kind of dialogue is unusual for children this young, but Finley says that they take to it naturally. “They don’t feel like they’re allowed to talk about God unless they’re at church,” she says, “but once we begin, they seem eager to explore ideas together.” She has noticed that it deepens connections between the children, no matter what their faith traditions are. They learn from one another. “Kids need to know that they are allowed to have their own truth, and that they can seek answers inwardly.” Finley is excited by what she has seen in students this past year, and plans to expand the program, including training her colleagues on ways to integrate Faith & Play in their classrooms and curriculum. Quaker values are a dynamic presence throughout the academic and social curriculum and projects in the Middle School. An 8th grade capstone experience is The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind Changemaker Project, a crosscurricular/cross-cultural project with Heritage Academy in Ghana (our sister school), that combines principles of community, equality, and stewardship with design thinking. Sixth graders have a Quakerism class in which they learn Quaker history and have an active orientation for and discussions about Meeting for Worship. Teachers Carrie Timmins and John Fernandez lead the MOOSE club (Many Optimistic and Open-Minded Supporters of Equality),

Unity A sense of spiritual oneness and harmony whose realization is a primary objective of a Meeting for Worship or a Meeting for Business

a group whose focus is diversity, identity, and community. “Quakerism plays out in many ways in Middle School. Much our curriculum works from Friends testimonies,” says Nancy van Arkel, Middle School Principal. “Certainly stewardship and sustainability are big factors in our curriculum, whether it’s the 6th grade Viking unit where they’re drawing connections between how they were using resources that led to the decline of their civilization and the parallels to how we use resources today, or 7th grade history which looks at the unintended consequences of the Industrial Revolution and and how our current Green Revolution is in response to those consequences.” Perhaps the most significant example of how Quakerism is manifested in the Middle School, however, is in student leadership. Until several years ago, student leaders were selected by a democratic model of an election process

with a representative from each homeroom. “Leadership was dysfunctional, though,” says van Arkel. “We realized that kids wanted to win a popularity contest, they didn’t really want to be leaders. So that led to creative work by a group of teachers and students who had observed a discernment process at another school. We scrapped our student leadership plan and began to think about what we value in leaders. We certainly value the person who’s happy to be a visible leader with big ideas, but that’s only one kind of leader. We also value the person who’s good at identifying a goal and considering the steps needed to make that goal—the organizational leader. We also value the kind of leader who can listen to a lot of people and build unity—the quiet leader.” Middle School teachers and van Arkel herself talk with kids overtly and invite diﬀerent types of leaders into the program and leadership groups. “We’re

interested in anybody who wants to work on their leadership skills. Anyone can come, so there’s no gatekeeping for our students,” she says. Now, Student Body Clerks are selected through a discernment process whereby anyone who’s been involved in a leadership group is eligible to be nominated by students to be a Student Body Clerk or Recording Clerk. Then the 6th and 7th graders gather in the Meeting House and the current Student Body Clerks run the meeting (a few teachers observe). The nominees are not present and the clerks invite anyone in the room to be recognized to stand to talk about why a particular person would be good at the job. The comments are only positive; there are no negative comments permitted in this process. It is not voting, rather a discussion of positive qualities required for diﬀerent types of leaders. This change in student leadership in the Middle School has resulted in greater opportunities for students to engage in and learn Quaker leadership skills (like making decisions in unity or consensus), and a kinder, gentler process for identifying and selecting students for leadership roles. It has also resulted in better leaders. There are a multitude of academic manifestations of Quakerism in the Upper School. Quaker values are explicit in courses like Peace and Justice in which students study methods of social change and peacemaking, and in Hiroshima to 9/11 that explores global events and policies that shape international relations. The History Department’s courses embody Westtown’s mission and values by nurturing deeper civic understanding and activism. The English Department chooses literature that fosters empathy, and challenges students to consider the perspectives of others, expanding both their worldview and their awareness of social issues. Quaker values also permeate scientific study, as exploration and stewardship of the natural world have always been central to Friends. The Science Department is particularly interested in deepening students’ understanding of

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“We celebrate kids when they take action and become changemakers. This is part of living out our mission.”

—KRISTIN TRUEBLOOD

human impact on the Earth, and offers three new environmental science courses that explore Earth Science, the science of sustainability, and environmental problem solving respectively. Similarly, the Design Engineering courses challenge students to collaboratively develop robotic, realtime, applicable solutions to world problems. Last year, the students built a self-sustaining aquaponics system, for example. In the 2014-15 school year, Westtown developed the Deep Dive Designations. The Deep Dive program was created to provide students with an opportunity to design a cross-disciplinary, actionbased, independent course of study in an area that reflects Westtown’s mission. The Deep Dive Designations are offered in three areas: Social Entrepreneurship, Sustainability Leadership, and Global Leadership, all of which require an off-campus immersion experience, a series academic courses applicable to their area, and a creation of a portfolio of work, among others. This year, the first certificates were awarded to fourteen students. Not unexpectedly, significant examples of Quakerism in the Upper School can be found in the Religion Department. Consistent with Westtown’s emphasis on justice, courses provide a diversity of views of people, communities, and faiths. Religion Department faculty believe that exposure to the religions of the world develops empathy, and reading sacred texts from many faith traditions cultivates a broader world view. In courses such as Liberation Theology and Religion and Social

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Change, students explore the history, people, and movements that brought about justice and change non-violently. One objective of the Business and Society course is to teach students how business works, but its primary purpose is to highlight the opportunities for social good in the world of business. “The course engages students in the creative tension and opportunity of applying ethical norms in the real world marketplace,” says teacher Kevin Eppler. The course culminates with the assignment to create a viable business plan that addresses a social issue. Quakerism—as an academic subject— has been taught in the Religion Department for decades, and for many years, it was studied within the Bible and Quakerism Course. Then it was a specific unit in Freshman seminar. Eager to expand the study of Quakerism, Religion Department Chair, Jennifer O’Brien, and Brian Blackmore, a religion teacher and convinced Quaker, created a new course called Quakerism in Life and Practice. The new iteration, introduced two years ago, is a yearlong course required for all 9th graders and 10th graders new to Westtown. Fittingly, the class meets in the Meeting House. The course has three units, the first covering Quaker history and what contemporary Quakerism looks like from bible-centric Friends to African and Latin American Friends to unprogrammed Humanist Friends. The second unit focuses on beliefs and practices. Lastly, one that both O’Brien and Blackmore mark as highly important, is a unit on social witness. Students examine the work of Quaker organizations like American

Friends Service Committee, Friends Committee on National Legislation, and the Friends World Committee for Consultation, all of which are agencies of political and social change. “I think the name of the course is important,” Says O’Brien, “The class is about life and practice, not about Quaker history, although we cover Quaker history and theology to understand the application of it.” Blackmore says that for him, it’s important that the class also focuses on Westtown. “We want to direct its orientation specifically to Westtown. We want to teach kids about why Westtown does what it does.” Blackmore is also quick to point out that the purpose of the course isn’t to convince more Quakers. “There’s no pressure of indoctrination. Instead we explore questions of How do I create my own ethical compass? How can we create our own way of relating to and being in the world?” O’Brien says that the course looks at Quakerism in the context of students’ lives and in current times. “We ask, What does it mean to you as a student? and What does it mean to be in a Quaker community, even if you don’t identify as a Quaker? and What does it mean besides going to Meeting for Worship? At the end of the course, we ask them to reflect on what it means to be in a Quaker school, now that those new to Quakerism have had a year of the class and our community.” The answers are not surprising. They note that people are kind. That although the community is not a perfect one, the eﬀort to build community is strong and noticeable. O’Brien says she also sees Quakerism expressed in how comfortable students are in talking to adults, and likewise how faculty have great respect for students’ ideas and initiatives. STUDENTS TAKE THE LEAD The spirit of activism is alive in the student body. They speak out and stand up for what they believe in. They are advocates for for peace, equity, and social change. In leadership roles, in committee memberships, in causespecific clubs, and through Work

Program and Service Network, students help create community within the school and live out Westtown’s Quaker values outside it. They believe in the role their voices play in shaping school life and are active participants in bringing topics that are important to them to forefront. Meeting for Business (MFB) in the Upper School was implemented this year, arising out of a desire to have a time and place set aside to discuss pressing community issues, such as race and diversity, as well as to make decisions in unity around the language of the dress codes, as just two examples. For Friends, MFB, or Meeting for Worship for Business, is a Meeting in which “decisions are made together through worshipful attention to the Spirit and deep listening to one another in a shared search to discern the truth.” The Student Body Presidents, Naomi Jimenez ’16 and Jair Bolden ’16 helped spearhead this initiative and led several Meetings for Business throughout the year. Celeste Payne and Joe Tyler are the faculty advisors of the MFB Steering Committee, whose membership includes the student body presidents, class oﬃcers, and a recording clerk. Payne feels that MFB has been a wonderful opportunity for the community to face each other and to talk through things together. “Certainly not everyone talks, but it’s given us an opportunity for students and faculty to speak about issues because there hasn’t been another venue, really,” she says. “The closest thing may be the Opinion Board, but people write something, people respond, but there’s no real conversation. You don’t hear nuances or people explaining themselves. So to have that wider personal interaction has been an important piece.” Tyler agrees and adds that it has been satisfying to see it unfold. “What we heard from the community is that this is something that maybe should have been thought about a long time ago. There’s certainly some fine tuning that needs to be done, but I think overall

it’s made an impact on both faculty and students.” Betsy Swan, recounting a particular MFB, exemplifies why it is a powerful forum for students and the community. “In Meeting for Business we discussed what we need to do to address racism as a community and how we can productively engage around difficult, divisive issues. I was awed, literally, by the deep, loving listening, the honesty of the people who spoke, the willingness to trust one another. We are not done—far from it—but the conversation laid the foundation for us to pull together around this question.” Lower School has practiced MFB for many years, holding it four or five times a year. In these Meetings, sharing focuses on queries. Different grades consider different queries but they all focus on the testimonies in some way. The adult Quakerism committee in Lower School and the students determine the queries together. In Middle School, MFB is part of the Student Clerks program and is also led by students. Formed about 16 years ago, the Quaker Leadership Program (QLP) was designed to deepen the religious experience of Quaker students – and any interested students – and to train them in Quaker leadership. The QLP is run by student leaders and guided by Quaker faculty. Susan Waterhouse, a birthright Quaker who teaches math in the Upper School, has been the leader of this active group for the past six years. They meet weekly to learn leadership and clerking skills, to discuss Quakerism and spirituality, and for fellowship and fun. Along with members of the Religious Life Committee, the QLP also tends to the Thursday Upper School Meeting for Worship. (Upper School students also attend Sunday MFW which is under the care of Westtown Monthly Meeting.) The QLP is made of up both Quaker and non-Quaker students as is its leadership. Waterhouse says, “Every year we have kids who feel aligned with Quakerism but don’t consider themselves Quaker. Adolescence is a time of great exploration, and faith is one of those areas, so it’s important for us to leave space for

QUAKER GLOSSARY* Advices Guidance or recommendations about your actions, often connected to queries or how to live the testimonies Centering Down A process by which we still or direct our conscious thought and open our minds in order that we may hear or sense the Spirit directly Clerk A member who presides at meetings for worship with a concern for business, or the head of a committee Clearness We have clearness when we feel that God’s wishes about a concern have been fulfilled Concern A deeply-felt sense of responsibility to do something about a situation, problem, or need Continuing Revelation A theological belief that God continues to reveal divine principles or commandments to humanity; that truths can continue to reveal themselves Discernment The process of discerning whether a decision, direction, or leading comes from the Spirit, and for gaining greater clarity about its full character and import for a Friend or a meeting Hold in the Light To ask for God’s presence to illumine a person, situation, or problem, whether in concern or thanksgiving

Inner Light The Light or Spirit of God within each person Leading A sense of being called to undertake a specific course of action Lift up To emphasize or make explicit a particular point or concern Message Words spoken in a meeting for worship; spontaneous spiritual inspiration Ministry Sharing one’s gifts in service to others and to the larger community Queries Questions used to spur thought and reflection Testimonies The subjects on which Quakers focus as way to live life, their beliefs: simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, stewardship Unity A sense of spiritual oneness and harmony whose realization is a primary objective of a Meeting for Worship or a Meeting for Business Way opens When an action is felt to be necessary, and a path becomes clear

*Sources: Curated for Westtown Middle School S Ustudents M M E Rby2Melinda 0 1 6 Wenner Bradley ’88; New York Yearly Meeting Glossary of Quaker Terms and Concepts

Guidance or recommendations about your actions, often connected to queries or how to live the testimonies

Advices those who are exploring their faith. Certainly we want the QLP space to feel right to Quaker kids, but we also want to be welcoming to everyone.” This openness and welcoming of Quakers, “cultural Quakers,” and students of different faiths is not only a hallmark of the QLP, but also of Westtown in general. Caroline Tien ’16, a non-Quaker, is a member of QLP. “I chose to part of QLP because although my my family is not Quaker, we’ve always liked and respected Quaker values and religious traditions.” Joseph Rue ’16, one of the clerks of QLP, says that for him, meetings provide an “informal setting to talk and think about religion and spirituality in a different way and consider how it intersects with daily life.” QLP students are also afforded off-campus learning experiences, such as attending the Quaker Youth Leadership Conference. QYLC is an opportunity for students from all Friends schools to get to know one another, and to attend student-led workshops around a theme. Rebecca Wortmann ’16 another clerk of QLP, says that attending the conference is an interesting way to see how deeply rooted in Quakerism Westtown is by comparison. “We compare notes with kids from

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other schools. We’re really Quaker!” Some QLP students also attend the QLP Summer Work Camp in Mexico. Las Cañadas, run by former faculty Paula Kline and Alan Wright, focuses on cloud forest conservation, eco-farming, sustainable development, and cultural exchange. It was also one of the destinations of Senior Projects this past year. For Waterhouse, one of the most important things that QLP does is to teach skills that are useful beyond Westtown. “In QLP, we develop skills— clerking skills, leadership skills, communication skills—and consider questions of conscience. Growing skills that are transferable and rooted in Quaker values is important and they work really well in all environments. So you can take the skill of running a meeting in a Quaker style out into the world, and use it even if it’s not the predominant style. Hearing all voices and looking for decisions made in unity is important.” The Upper School Religious Life Committee (RLC), comprised of faculty and selected Upper School students, was revived about four years ago. This new iteration wrote a mission statement for the RLC to bring about more structure and intentionality in Meeting for Worship, to provide attention to diﬀerent faiths, and to nurture the

spiritual life of Upper School students. Elson Blunt, a Co-Clerk who was also a member of the original RLC, recounts that the committee is more robust and has been enriched by the students, who are invested in the mission of the group. “As a person who’s been here for a while, the spiritual life of Westtown is very important to me,” says “lifer” Becca Kimmel ’16. “Nurturing it is so necessary and such a large part of having a healthy community. Adults can’t feel the same community that we feel. Like living on dorm—you can sense different things, and the variety of perspectives and ideas that come from different generations is crucial.” Hannah Zuckerberg ’16, one of the Jewish Student Union heads, says, “[RLC] seemed like a natural fit for me because I like being part of the spiritual life of the school, guiding students, faculty, and the community. And I think the committee needs the students, but also the students need the committee.” The RLC’s work toward improving the experience of MFW has resulted in a more engaged spiritual environment. Blunt says, “The nucleus of our charge is to nurture the Thursday Meeting and I think that’s something we’ve done well. Now different departments do greeting before Meeting and different student groups rotate sitting on the facing bench. Sometimes we offer queries or

some kind of programming. In this group we ask, How were the messages shared? Was the silence rich? We check in about how Meeting goes, which I think has been healthy this year. But it hasn’t always been like that. I remember a decade ago Meeting ended with a handshake and that was the end. This is the committee that brought about the structural changes like when Meeting ends, people don’t run out the door, there’s some space to interact. Guests introduce themselves, community announcements are made.” The conclusion of Meeting is often when announcements about observing other religious holidays are made as well. The group has oﬀered alternative Meetings for Worship such as a sunrise Meeting and a star-gazing Meeting. Shepherding Meeting for Worship is one of the group’s primary charges, but they also spend a great deal of time discussing and planning interfaith activities, and exploring the range of faith traditions represented in the student body. The RLC created the “Sharing Our Stories” programming where members of the community to share their religious experiences in Collection. The 2016, Senior Retreat came out of RLC as well. Seniors took a weekend away from school for team building. Many of the mindfulness and reflective parts of the retreat were programmed by the RLC. One of the initiatives in the works is an interfaith religion fair. TENDING THE SPIRITUAL LIFE Much of the nurturing of Quakerism arises from a faculty and staﬀ that is dedicated to and conversant in Quaker ideals. As Baird observes, “I believe that the strength of the adult community and the extent to which they understand and champion the mission of the school is essential. It has to be a shared experience, the common life of everyone. And we are blessed because it is, and in a lot of schools it’s not.” He notes that at some schools, Quakerism is a department, or is compartmentalized. “Here it is the taproot. And that doesn’t mean everyone

has to be Quaker, it doesn’t mean it has to be in an explicitly religious sense, but it’s in the way that we interact with each other and in the way that we think about teaching and learning. It’s in how we apply what we learn to making a difference in the world, and in our approach to diversity and inclusivity, and respecting difference.” So how does an adult community in which Quakers are the minority teach in a Quaker way? How do both Quaker and non-Quaker faculty new to Westtown develop the skills to nurture our Quaker-ness? Shelagh Wilson ’85 and Whitney Suttell ’98 have created a robust faculty/staff orientation program. All new employees participate in a series of sessions that focus on Quakerism. Head of School John Baird leads an introduction to Quakerism, and addresses how it connects to Westtown. Betsy Swan, Clerk of the Spiritual Life Committee, gives an introduction to Meeting for Worship. Arthur Larrabee ’60, Board of Trustee Emeritus, provides entree into Quaker business and decision-making practice, as well as living out Quaker values in a Quaker school. New faculty and staff are given A Quaker Book of Wisdom, by Robert Lawrence Smith, former Headmaster of Sidwell Friends School. Finally, faculty attend the annual Friends Council on Education’s workshop entitled “Educators New To Quakerism.” It is a thorough introduction to the culture at Westtown, and once orientation is over, learning continues immersively. The Spiritual Life Committee (SLC), co-clerked by Betsy Swan and Kevin Gallagher, is an all-school group of adults that was formed about a decade ago in response to Strategic Plan initiatives. They were a reporting group, to notice areas where the Quaker life of the school could be strengthened, and to lift up things that were going well. Over the years, the SLC has evolved to tend to the religious life of the school as a whole. When Baird decided that Westtown should participate in Friends Council on Education’s Quaker SelfStudy and membership renewal process,

he charged the SLC with this thorough 18-month undertaking. “There is a very dynamic Quaker spirit and engagement in Quaker initiatives throughout the school about which I’m really excited,” says Baird. “And yet I think as personnel changes, as programs change, as the campus changes, people wonder if this is still a Quaker school. We should always examine ourselves. So I felt the renewal process would be a perfect opportunity for us and that it would augment our own analysis to have an outside committee come in to give us feedback about what we are doing well and what we could be doing better.” The Friends Council on Education’s report from the visiting team was tremendously aﬃrming in its commendations (see more about the results on page 20), and not without some recommendations as well. The SLC committee members and Baird were gratified by the opportunity the self study gave to have deep and meaningful conversations about what it means to be a Quaker school. Indeed, the conversations themselves represent the openness to dialogue and change that exists within this community. “I think that Quaker institutions and Westtown have a really important place and mission today because they are grounded in Quaker faith and practice and we do need to preserve and teach that, says Baird. “But at the same time, we’re not an institution whose mission it is to guard children from the world. In fact we never were. One of my favorite quotations is from William Penn: ‘True religion doesn’t take people out of the world, it enables them to live better in it and excites their eﬀorts to mend it.’ We’re not trying to make students Quaker. We’re trying to find that common wellspring of inspiration and then let them go out into the world and make it better. And mend it.”

SUMMER 2016

ALUMN I VOI CES

Celina Tio ’88

Chance, Risk, & Reward BY KRIS B ATL EY ’ 8 1 • PH O T O BY E D C UNI C E LLI

EVEN AT the tender age of eight, Celina Tio’s ’88 favorite days revolved around making grocery shopping lists, watching Julia Child re-runs, and baking and cooking for family and friends. The chef-restaurateur knew early on that she wanted to lead a kitchen, thanks to her family’s culinary influence and work ethic. After working in restaurants (and Westtown’s Dining Room) throughout her teens and earning a degree in hotel and restaurant management from Drexel University, Celina started cooking at Philadelphia’s Ritz-Carlton hotel. By age 23, she had been promoted to head the hotel’s Grill Room. Craving a broader challenge and the ability to develop an audience for her cooking, Celina moved to Orlando, Florida. There she helped open three specialty restaurants for Walt Disney World: Spoodles, featuring Mediterranean cuisine; Citricos, specializing in Southern French dishes; and Palo, an upscale Italian experience. Celina truly made her mark during the following seven years, heading the kitchen at Kansas City’s renowned American Restaurant. A lot has happened since she garnered both local and national accolades by winning the 2005 Chef of the Year by Chef Magazine. Celina won the James Beard Foundation’s 2007 Best Chef: Midwest, and was honored by KC Magazine as Chef of the Year for her first proprietary restaurant, Julian, in Kansas City. You’ve probably seen her on Food Network’s The Next Iron Chef and Iron Chef America and Bravo TV’s Top Chef Masters. Celina opened her newest restaurant, Collection (named for guess which tradition at Westtown?), in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District in May of 2013. In 2014, she was honored as one of Draft Magazine’s picks for best new beer restaurants for The Belfry, another nod to her Westtown days. Celina was the keynote speaker on Alumni Day, and she shared her motto of, “if you don’t put yourself in uncomfortable situations, great things will never happen.” She spoke about the importance of putting yourself in new, and sometimes risky, positions. Here is some of what she told the

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audience: “I have been taking risks my whole life, and Westtown encouraged me to take risks. Hopefully some of you have known or watched Iron Chef. If that’s not putting yourself in an uncomfortable situation, I don’t know what is! You’re there with a bunch of chefs who you know, highly respect, and then you get to cook against them in a really short amount of time. In 2007, I started looking for a place to start my own restaurant. I had just won the James Beard Award, and I was telling my dad that I wanted to open my own restaurant. He said, ‘But you have a great job already. Why would you do that?’ He worked for the same company for 45 years (which is unheard of in the chef world). I found a location in July of 2009, which financially in our world was not a very good time. Again my dad questioned me, ‘Are you sure you want to do this? You know, it’s not a good time.’ My response was, ‘If I wait until it’s the perfect time, it might not ever happen.’ I had to take that chance. I was in Germany recently with a group called The Mess Lords, and I was on four army bases. In Special Forces, Delta Force, and the Rangers you need to be 70% sure to make a decision. That 30% is what’s uncomfortable. That’s the unknown. If you wait until you’re 100%, you may not have the opportunity. That’s exactly how I feel. You have to take risks and make yourself uncomfortable for great things to happen. The community that I learned at Westtown is what I build into all of my restaurants. You have to love what you do, and I hope that everybody learned those same things, those same values from Westtown that I did. My life has been absolutely amazing, and I would not have been able to do anything that I have done without the community of Westtown. Westtown instilled in me the importance of being your own person, being at one with your community, and reaching out to other people.” Celina will return to Westtown as a Shoemaker Lecturer on Sunday, April 23, 2017.

A LU M NI VO I C E S

SUMMER 2016

DEDI CATI ON

Rene Guerster ’56

Guerster House P H O TO BY E D CU NI C E LLI

GUERSTER HOUSE was dedicated on Alumni Weekend with the help of John Baird, Head of School, Ted Freeman, Guerster House Dorm Head, current Guerster House students, trustees, family, and the Class of 1956. It was a joyful occasion recognizing and thanking Rene Guerster ’56 for his generous and visionary contributions to the school. John Baird shares, “When I first met Rene, I was enthralled by his account of coming to Westtown as a young boy. He candidly spoke about how disoriented he felt upon his arrival and how the support of his teachers and the Quaker practices he experienced on campus became foundational in his life.” Born in Switzerland after his parents escaped the impact of Nazi Germany, Rene Guerster ’56 immigrated with his family to the United States in 1941. Moving frequently during his childhood, Rene especially appreciated the stability he found during his four continuous years of boarding at Westtown. Entering the school in 1952, Rene lived in Guerster House (then known as Stone House) for his ninth grade year. Citing his experience as the “bricks and mortar” of who he was to become, Rene felt that his time on campus had a profound and pivotal eﬀect upon his life. Eager to provide a similar experience to worthy immigrant student candidates, he established the Guerster Scholarship for students while also forming the Guerster Sabbatical Fund for faculty. Most recently, he founded the Guerster House Faculty Compensation Fund and the Guerster House Retreat Fund, two funds which support ongoing programming at Guerster House. ”We are incredibly grateful for Rene’s extraordinary support,” says Baird, “his gifts to the school will ensure that the experiences that informed and transformed him will exist, as he likes to say, ‘in perpetuity.’” 50

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A LU M NI VO I C E S

SUMMER 2016

20 16 REUNION

The Westonian Magazine

R E U NI O N

50th A Weekend to Remember Class of 1966 BY J IM WIN SLOW

More than seventy members of the Class of 1966 and their partners returned to Westtown for their 50th reunion, some from halfway around the world. No one was sorry to have made the trip. The reunion was superbly conceived and organized by Laurel Brill Swan and Sharon Taft Quarles, and it turns out there’s something extraordinary about meeting up with folks we knew intimately long ago and finding them even more wonderful, interesting, and dear. On Thursday afternoon, a group of early arrivals met at the Brandywine River Museum, ostensibly to view 19th century American landscape paintings. It was a clever icebreaker, where we could stand in a darkened room and quietly try to figure out who was who while our docent talked away. Our tour included a fascinating visit to the nearby studio/dwelling of Andrew and, later, Jamie Wyeth. Libby and Buzz Burger graciously opened their home to about forty classmates that evening, and the following night—with a dozen new arrivals—we gathered again at the Tanguy Community Center. These were great places to circulate, catch up, and enjoy great food. Fortunately, we had all received John Carroll’s brilliant reunion yearbook, and some of us had been on canoe trips generously organized by Gail Haines and Joe Elkinton, which meant that we weren’t starting from zero. We partied deep into the night, at least until 9:00 pm. However much credit we give Libby, Deb Way Brumbaugh and Peg Walther Saenger (and mates Buzz, Bob, and Pete) for the food and local arrangements over the weekend, it’s not enough. On Friday, some of us attended classes at the school and were impressed by the use of relevant issues as a starting

point for examining each subject, the sophistication of the teaching tools, and the engagement of the students. For those who carpooled to the Barnes Foundation on Friday, it lived up to its reputation. The lights went out shortly after we arrived, but we had fun hanging out in the darkened dining area before returning in the rain to Westtown. Saturday morning the class of ’66 took possession of the Cabin as its reunion headquarters, starting with breakfast and greeting a few more arrivals. At the morning Alumni Association Meeting, Clif Paterson, our fundraising chair, announced our gift of over $300,000 to Westtown. He stunned the assembly with the news that we had achieved 100% participation, something no class had ever done. Yay ’66! And thanks to all the heroic phone callers. Not bad for a bunch of disaffected Vietnam-era types. Our official reunion lunch at the Cabin followed. We were entertained, unforgettably, by six talented and intrepid classmates who delivered amazing performances of two songs, written by Paige Russell for the occasion, celebrating the home states and professions of the Class of ’66. If you weren’t there, hurry to our Facebook page (Westtown School 1966; Debbie Wallace Essig set it up). In the afternoon, many classmates visited the newly reconstructed lake, which looks great, albeit different. The water level was still short of full, but trees have been removed from the dam area, the concrete section of the dam looks impressively like a Greek amphitheater, and the forebay promises to manage future silting. And the turtles are back!

SUMMER 2016

20 16 REUNION

60TH REUNION GIFT

$6.3 million! BY ELLEN CRYER GILBERT â&#x20AC;&#x2122;76, DIRECTOR OF ADVANCEMENT

$6.3 million! Wow! What an amazing 60th Reunion gift from the Class of 1956. Thank you to the 52 members (73%) of the Class of 1956 who combined their resources in such a generous way to benefit the school. This class set the record for a 50th reunion gift with their gift 10 years ago for $1.5 million. Since that time, they have raised this additional $6.3 million. Truly an amazing and inspiring accomplishment. This record-setting gift would not have been possible without such a high participation rate, and it would not have happened without the generous donations by some lead donors. But it certainly would not have been possible without the ongoing leadership provided by Glen Hudson and Mary Collins Eby. Glen and Mary have led this class for more than 20 years, and it is due to their tireless work to keep the class connected through newsletters, emails, and phone calls that has helped create the tight bonds classmates feel for each other, and for fostering this culture of giving back. It is with deep gratitude that we thank the great class of 1956 for their generous gift that impacts all areas of the school now and into the future.

The Westonian Magazine

SNAPSHOTS From the Alumni Art Show, celebrating Teacher Caroline Loose, to the Lake Celebration and the Alumni Baseball Game honoring Coach Bob Corbett, it was a weekend full of fellowship and festivities! Save the Date for Alumni Weekend 2017 May 12â&#x20AC;&#x201C;14, 2017.

A LU M NI WE E K E ND

50th Reunion Class of 1966

SUMMER 2016

W ES T T OW N B O O KSHEL F

Books by Westonians

Kathryn Drechsler Finnegan ’57 Hand Fans: An Illustrated History: A Timeline of Events, Materials, Arts and Technologies That Have Influenced Fans CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2016

This timeline of the evolution of hand fans provides a comprehensive glossary of fan types and is beautifully illustrated with almost 400 color photographs. Representing fans from the past two centuries, this book features a glossary of fan-related terms and an extensive bibliography. Hand Fans is a wonderful resource for readers who love history and art, especially art in miniature, as it combines both. Elise Allen ’89 Gabby Duran and the Unsittables Disney-Hyperion, 2015 The Association Linking Intergalactics and Earthlings (A.L.I.E.N.) has a new member. After months of investigation, Gabby Duran has proven herself to be a babysitter extraordinaire. Her celebrity clients fly her around the country to care for their rambunctious little humans. Our spy, Edwina, believes Gabby can be trusted with the

The Westonian Magazine

truth: aliens are living among humans on Earth. And here at A.L.I.E.N, we believe that even extraterrestrials need a babysitter now and then. After accepting the top-secret position, Edwina has paired our new associate up with a little girl from the planet Flarknartia. The timing is less than ideal. It’s a school day on Planet Earth, Gabby’s audition for the solo part in the band is tonight, and this tiny alien is a bit more than meets the eye. Can Gabby Duran, First Sitter to the Unsittables, keep her otherworldly charge safe in the unpredictable halls of middle-school and keep A.L.I.E.N hidden?

and minotaurs. Abisina knows that the most challenging creature of all has arrived— though what shape it will take is still a mystery. As she faces hostile centaurs, ambitious fairies, the destruction of the only home she’s ever known, and separation from those who love her, Abisina doubts if she has the strength to be the leader that everyone needs. Even the power of the Keeper’s necklace doesn’t seem to be enough—and when that is taken from her, she’s left on the brink of hopelessness. Can Abisina’s faith in the power of love, acceptance, and unity that she’s learned from her friends and family survive this final test?

Ellen Abbott (Faculty) The Keeper Skyscape, 2013

Miki Webb ’58 The Next Right Road Llumina Press, 2015

In the third installment of the Watersmeet series, Abisina is ready to assume the role of Keeper that has been her destiny. But the survival of the land depends on the north and south—the centaurs, dwarves, fairies, humans, and fauns—joining together to confront a gathering evil. The rift that opened in the Mountains Eternal has continued to spew forth terrible creatures: überwolves, leviathan-birds,

When Miki Webb retired from the practice of medicine, she sold her house, put her furniture in storage, bought an RV and set out. She and her two cats went on a two-year adventure, traveling around the United States. This is the story of that journey, the people she met along the way, old friends she reconnected with, and the wonderful places she went. It is not a travelogue; it is one person’s somewhat quirky

take on the adventure of traveling with no goals and all the time in the world. Miki, her cats, and the RV become part of the story; the cats’ adjustment to living in a moving home, the problems to be solved with the RV, and Miki’s increasing sense of mastery of the RV as well as the process of traveling itself. The author gains a new view of herself, unattached and floating in wonder every day. Anna Zilboorg ’50 Splendid Apparel: A Handbook of Embroidered Knits Xrx Books, 2015 The craft of knitting is devoted to making useful things, and embroidery is devoted to making useful things beautiful. Splendid Apparel brings these two crafts together. Anna Zilboorg begins with richly textured knit fabrics, then adds embroidery for emphasis, color, detail, and sheen. The book includes a dozen sample embroidery stitches and a library of more than 50 textured knit patterns, and the swatches—photographed both as they come off the knitting needles and after embroidery is added—clearly show the transformations and provide springboards for

2015-2016

Westtown Fund

THANK YOU further experimentation. Stitch basics and step-bystep illustrations help a novice learn the simple motions, try variations, and add a contrasting color, while Anna’s cogent comments identify where a knit stitch may require special attention and adjustments to make the embroidery steps easier. The 18 full patterns in this book are all basic shapes— a few with innovative, joinas-you-go construction.

We deeply appreciate the generosity of more than 2,000 community members in supporting the Westtown Fund this year. Your support ensures that today’s Westonians have the resources they need to be leaders and stewards of a better world. Your donation to the Westtown Fund provides financial aid to our students, supports faculty compensation and professional development opportunities, and enhances our student programs throughout all three divisions. Without your support, Westtown would not be possible. The entire Westtown community is grateful to everyone who made a gift this school year!

Wendy Hammarstrom ’69 Circles of Healing, The Complete Guide to Healing with Massage & Yoga: For Caregivers, Practitioners, Students and Clients CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012 Circles of Healing is a comprehensive resource for professional massage and energy practitioners, as well as for others interested in the healing power of touch and yoga. It is based on Wendy’s 40 years of experience in the field, working with a wide variety of challenges presented by her clients. The book is beautifully illustrated and demonstrates the possibilities we all have for healing beyond the usual medical remedies. A special thanks goes to Alice Mudge Iwasa ’66 for generously offering hundreds of hours of her time, energy, and expertise!

W IN TE R 2 0 1 6

975 Westtown Road, West Chester, PA 19382-5700

The Shoemaker Visiting Lecturer Series is made possible by the generosity of the Class of 1930, the Shoemaker family, and others who have donated to this endowed fund, which brings distinguished visitors to Westtown.

Shoemaker Series Shoemaker Visiting Lecturer Series at Barton-Test Theater. All events are FREE. Limited seating is available to the public. All talks begin at 7:30 pm unless otherwise noted. For more information, contact Margaret Haviland at margaret.haviland@westtown.edu. OCTOBER 2, 2016 Steven Tejada is an educator, actor, writer, and speaker. Written, directed, and performed by Steven, his one-man show “Boogie Down Journeys,” focuses on the powerful experiences of people of color combining comedy, drama, and real emotions to discover stories of struggle, survival, love, and laughter. DECEMBER 3, 2016 Climbing Poetree is the combined force of two boundary-breaking women who interweave spoken word, hip hop, and award-winning multimedia theater to expose injustice, channel hope into vision, and make a better future visible, immediate, and irresistible. Together, they tell powerful stories.

PHOTO OF CLIMBING POETREE BY PABLO AGUIL AR

FEBRUARY 12, 2017 Gabriele BetancourtMartinez ’06 is a Ph.D. candidate in astrophysics at the University of Maryland, College Park. Gabriele will discuss some of the coolest objects in the universe: supermassive black holes as well as her trajectory from Westtown to the field of rocket science.

APRIL 5, 2017 (7:00 pm) Under the direction of Isaburoh Hanayagi (father of Haruki Koyama ’04) Tamagawa Taiko Drummers and Dancers return to Westtown for an incredibly dynamic and moving performance as part of the annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Philadelphia.

APRIL 23, 2017 Celina Tio ’88, Iron Chef, Chef Magazine’s Chef of the Year and the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef: Midwest. Join us to hear her story—from her days at Westtown to her latest achievements. Bring your appetite for inspiration and excitement!