Paw Prints
SPRING
2016
lake forest country day school
The Art of the Story Inside this Issue:
20+ Year Veteran Teachers Telling Stories with Technology 2016 Short-Story Winners
SPRING 2016
Our Mission HEAD OF SCHOOL 40 Inspired teaching, academic rigor, attention to individual needs, a commitment to responsible citizenship—these principles infuse every aspect of life at Lake Forest Country Day School and define our dedication to producing students of strong character with a passion for learning.
INSIDE Lake Forest Country Day School PAW PRINTS 2 | 7| 8 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 25 | 26 | 29 | 33 | 34 |
Message from the Head of School Poetry in Music A Literary Journey Short Story Winners Music in Afghanistan Alumni Spotlight The Appleton Mason Society Class Notes Class of 2007 Looking Ahead Auction The Legacy of Frank E. Ward
Lake Forest Country Day School
4 THE ART AND SCIENCE OF WRITING
14 425 YEARS OF INSPIRED TEACHING
QR Codes Throughout this issue, you will find QR codes that take you to stories, poetry, and examples of how our students use technology to communicate ideas in exciting new ways. To use a QR code, you will need a smartphone or tablet equipped with a camera and a QR code reader application. To download a QR code reader: 1. Open your mobile app store (App Store, Google Play, Windows Marketplace, etc.) 2. Search for QR code readers. 3. Download the QR code reader to your phone, open, and you are ready to go. Steady your hand while the QR code is centered on the screen. When it is done scanning, the information stored in the QR code will pop up. If you do not have a smartphone, we have provided web addresses, which when typed into your computer’s browser will take you directly to the information contained in the QR code.
1 Head of School Bob Whelan President, Board of Trustees Wendy Weil Board of Trustees Nicholas Alexos Joe Andrea Kimberly Beans Jeffrey Brincat Bill Collins Sameer Chhabria ’88 Pedro DeJesus Ahmed Farag Kate Fitzgerald ’87 Bill Giambrone Rebecca Graf Jamee Kane ’90 David Keller Adam Kriger Ted Kovas Jane S. O’Neil Diane Potts Marianne Silver Wendy Weil Bob Whelan Managing Editor Lisa Gilcrest Design Peapod Design, New Canaan, CT Photography Tim Coffey Contributors Judith Arnstein Scott Baeseman Kim Bell Bob Bullard Claire Concannon Amyanne Cope Mark DeBernardi Ryan Grimstad Lisa Horstmann John Kinzer Jill London Marcia Mann Ami Polonsky Shira Schwartz Sarah Thomas Jessica Zaleski
SPRING 2016
02 HEAD OF SCHOOL
A MESSAGE FROM HEAD OF SCHOOL One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. – carl jung Take a moment and think about your favorite teachers when you were young. What was it exactly that made them stand out for you? For starters, I’m quite certain that they connected with you. At a very fundamental level there was a relationship with those teachers where you “got” each other. Perhaps they knew about your interests outside of school, and that they had an uncanny ability to suggest a book or a topic that was a perfect match. They had a way of recognizing you when you achieved something big, and they could probably tell when you were not feeling your best. I suspect that you trusted them and that you knew they truly cared about you. I would also guess that you wanted to do your best for those teachers, and that they seemed to know when you were capable of more than even you thought possible. I imagine that when that teacher asked you to extend yourself, somehow you did not want to let them down - you wanted to show them your best work. The relationships between educators and students are at the heart of great teaching, and a commitment to that ideal has defined the culture of teaching and learning at Lake Forest Country Day School for generations. Our mission begins with the words inspired teaching. Those two words highlight a purpose that challenges our faculty to incorporate their own passion for teaching and the autonomy they have as independent school educators to go even further to help construct and deconstruct a student’s understanding through a range of both traditional and innovative approaches. On any given day, examples of multi-sensory approaches to instruction abound on our campus, and you might catch a glimpse of a sixty square foot swimming pool set up in a science lab so that students are able to test the robotic devices they have built in order to better understand physics properties, or a classroom of second graders using QR
code technology to broadcast their written work as part of an initiative to help our students become even more effective writers. Three years ago, we made the decision to more than double our commitment to professional growth and development resources for our faculty. Ongoing mastery is central to motivation for us as human beings and, not surprisingly, LFCDS educators have embraced the opportunity to grow. By modeling their own passion for learning, our faculty took part in thousands of hours of professional training over the course of the last year. When teachers learn, kids learn. We had countless examples of that this year where teachers revisited lessons and strategies that were already good, with an eye toward making them great. In the pages that follow, you’ll read about our teachers going back to school to refine how we teach writing, and you’ll see examples of outcomes from the class of 2007, where alumni are coupling 21st century problem solving talents with the timeless skill of public speaking on a daily basis. Finally, you’ll see some familiar faces - our “twenty year plus” club, who collectively represent 425 years of teaching experience. Our veteran faculty serve as a reminder that as much as things change, at a fundamental level, the relationship that expert teachers develop with kids is what defines the best environment for teaching and learning and will always do so at the heart of a great school. We hope you will enjoy the inspiring stories that follow in the upcoming pages.
Bob Whelan
SPRING 2016
04 ART & SCIENCE OF WRITING
THE ART & SCIENCE OF WRITING
The lights flicker, indicating it is time to make your way to your seat. The show is about to begin. Children settle in, the room is filled with the hushed chatter of anticipation as the screen lights their smiling faces. Welcome to the Grade 2 Movie Theater. Today’s attraction: Movie trailers produced by each student for a book he or she has read. While traditional expository is still taught and highly valued in second grade at LFCDS, the inspired teaching of Grade 2 teachers Shira Schwartz and Claire Concannon has taken reading, writing, and the comprehension and expression of ideas to dazzling new heights. There is an excitement and energy in their classrooms that comes from students eager to take risks and experiment with words and technology. Second grade is a pivotal year for students. They learn the foundational skills of close reading – reading for content and comprehension – and strong writing. There is an emphasis on traditional instruction that is enhanced with 1:1 iPad technology used in the Grade 2 classroom.
At the outset of year, the students received two QR codes – one assigned to an online “shelf ” to store each book he or she has read, and one that connects to a digital online portfolio of his or her writing. “We called them ‘Book Shelfies’,” said Mrs. Concannon. “With software called Padlet, the children can video themselves giving an oral book review, or they can take a photo of the book they read. They can also write a review and post it. It really allows each child to go at his or her own pace.” “I love working with the QR codes,” said Linley Fletcher. “I really like writing, so I can put every single thing I do in my portfolio. I can go back and look at what I’ve done, or I can share it with my friends and parents.” Parents can use the same program to leave comments on their child’s review or to add their own book review. At the same time, both the teachers and the families get a digital record of the child’s progress throughout the year. “It enables us to track the student’s progress in writing mechanics, spelling, and comprehension,” said Mrs. Concannon.
The QR codes also encourage sharing. “If students are looking for new books to read, they can scan each other’s reviews to see what their classmates enjoyed and why,” said Mrs. Schwartz. “Often a child who may be quieter or a little shy feels empowered through this medium to share their thoughts and perspectives. Everyone’s story is different, so you get to tell the world what you want them to know about your experience in a way that you create.” The intermix of reading, writing, storytelling, and technology is fluid and inspiring for these second-grade students, and this is where the transformation from ordinary learning to extraordinary learning begins. What started as a tremendously moving school-wide Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. assembly in January, culminated just weeks later in the Green Bay Atrium filled with iPad installations as the second-grade Civil Rights Museum. It took days of research, writing, programming, and sharing among our young historians to bring Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and Ruby Bridges to life in their exhibit.
Scan the code to see a Telligami http://bit.ly/1TFSxRZ “We read books on Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and Ruby Bridges prior to the assembly. One in particular, Martin’s Big Words by Doreen Rappaport, underscored words like love, peace, justice, and equality,” said Grade 2 teacher Shira Schwartz. “After the assembly, we had lengthy discussions on what it means to be an upstander not a bystander, what it means to overcome, and how we communicate that in meaningful ways.”
The QR codes also encourage sharing. “If students are looking for new books to read, they can scan each other’s reviews to see what their classmates enjoyed and why,” said Mrs. Schwartz. “Often a child who may be quieter or a little shy feels empowered through this medium to share their thoughts and perspectives. Everyone’s story is different, so you get to tell the world what you want them to know about your experience in a way that you create.”
Creating these iPad presentations required the children to use many different technological applications. “It’s called ‘app smashing’,” said student Jahstone Martin. “It’s using a bunch of different apps and programs to make a project.” First, the students canvassed a variety of online educational research sites to glean as much information as they could about Dr. King, Ms. Parks, and Ms. Bridges. Following their online research, they downloaded an image for the background of their video, loaded the image into drawingboard software, labeled their images, and imported all of it into animation software called Telligami. Through the animation software, students can type or record audio and develop online representations of themselves or, in this case, Dr. King, Ms. Parks, or Ms. Bridges. In addition to their iPad presentations, each installation in the Civil Rights Museum featured a photo of the student holding a sign reading “I Stand Up For,” followed by their choice of attribute. “The children chose words like integrity, freedom, love, equality, and peace, which really helped bring this lesson full circle to the book we read… Martin’s Big Words,” said Schwartz. Every piece, traditional or technological, goes to support comprehending and owning the concepts each child is learning. Second-grade students are still required to use paper and pencil when writing, but often the end product is a combination of paper, pencil, and technology. Learning to write a procedural, or how-to essay, is introduced in Grade 2. The students write on topics ranging from how to make a pizza, catch a snowflake, or brush your teeth. “We use an app called Chatterbox that puts a mouth on anything,” said student Iris Perlioni. “So I put a mouth on the brushy part of the toothbrush, and recorded my voice explaining how to brush your teeth. But it looks like the toothbrush is talking and describing the best way to take care of your teeth!”
Scan the code to see a Telestory http://bit.ly/1Z37Jdb
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SPRING 2016
ART & SCIENCE OF WRITING “We call it QRazy math,” said student Anna Hendricks. “We write out story problems and illustrate them, and on the opposite page there is a QR code with the answer.”
At LFCDS, learning in one subject often crosses over into another subject, and Grade 2 is no exception. Building on their skill at using the QR codes, the students designed and wrote their own math books. “We call it QRazy math,” said student Anna Hendricks. “We write out story problems and illustrate them, and on the opposite page there is a QR code with the answer.” By having the children engage with concepts in a variety of mediums, it enables them to think about all the different ways in which they can communicate and problem solve. As seven- and eight-year-old students, play is still an integral part of the learning process and will often pave the way for an enriched experience. “There were several days this winter where recess was indoors,” said Mrs. Schwartz. “During those times, the children loved making iMovies and became quite proficient. This happened to coincide with the kids writing traditional book reports, so we thought, ‘Why not? If they can make a movie starring the classroom turtle, let’s take the material from a book and make it into an enticing trailer.’” The project challenged the children to write storyboards for the trailer with details that would peak the viewer’s interest, but not give away the ending. They added graphics, sound, and even a score. “There were so many impressive elements to this project,” said Mrs. Concannon.
“The children wrote the trailer then photographed portions of the book to upload as scenes which required them to really understand the story. It was essential for students to select pictures that would meaningfully represent the text they’d written; otherwise the trailer wouldn’t make sense. It is equally important that every child in the grade engaged in the same project but used a book that was appropriate to his or her individual level. It fosters a deeper sense of community.” Back in the classroom, as the iMovie book trailers play to delighted students munching on popcorn, the group agrees it’s tough to decide which book to check out next!
Scan the code to see a book trailer http://bit.ly/1X4I6uc
To view examples of Grade 2 students’ work, please scan the QR codes throughout the article.
SPRING 2016
STUDENT POETRY
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POETRY IN MUSIC is. Elephants are associated with the deity Ganesh and were used in the Punic Wars. They tower physically, but are elegant and respectful.” Interestingly, one of the “animal” movements is actually entitled The Piano, yet Evalyn Lee, Grade 5, imagined the animalistic qualities of the piano. “I thought the music coming from the piano could represent the spirit of an animal,” said Lee. “And the pedals as they move look like they are chewing up and down.”
Last fall, the Lake Forest Symphony invited Lake Forest Country Day School’s Upper School students to take part in an extraordinary musical partnership. For the symphony’s holiday concert, Sounds of the Season, the musicians played Camille SaintSaens’ Carnival of the Animals, with each of the thirteen movements punctuated by LFCDS students’ original poetry. Each poem represented the movement’s title animal. “The Lake Forest Symphony chose to partner with LFCDS because of its exceptional commitment to excellence and to nurturing creativity and self-expression in all its students,” said Susan Lape, Executive Director of the Lake Forest Symphony. “The student poetry greatly enhanced our performance of “Carnival of the Animals” and brought out nuanced qualities in the music and helped the children in the audience to visualize the different characters.” Before choosing an animal to write about, students first listened to the piece and discussed its history. Composed following a less-than-stellar concert tour of Germany in the late 1800s, “Carnival of the Animals” was meant to be a whimsical piece enjoyed only by Saint-Saens’ grandchildren. LFCDS students found inspiration in the music and its history. “It’s really an honor to be chosen to participate in such an old tradition, something that is part of this composer’s legacy,” said Johnny Silver, Grade 7. “I chose the elephant and focused on how grand an animal it
“Through this collaborative project with the Lake Forest Symphony, the students developed a greater understanding of and appreciation for the relationship between music and poetry,” said LFCDS English teacher Kim Bell. “Perhaps even more importantly, students wrote and performed poetry—not for a grade or as a classroom exercise—but to participate authentically in a work of art.” LFCDS English department faculty chose the top poem for each movement. Those selected were the following:
The Royal Lions by Charlotte Kelliher The Rooster by Eva Hanson Wild Horse by Pamela Shattock Turtle by Asher Anderson The Legend of the Elephant by Johnny Silver Kangaroo by Ben Kelliher Fish by Anton Walvoord Four Ways of Looking at a Donkey by Bella Farag The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods by Nicole Tong Aviary: A Poem in Two Voices by Zack Kaplan and Will Meyer The Piano by Evalyn Lee Fossil by Katie Schilling The Swan by Mia Walvoord To read each of the poems, please scan the following QR code. www.lfcds.org/poetryinmusic
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SPRING 2016
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
A LITERARY JOURNEY by Upper School English teacher Kim Bell with Ami Polonsky and Jess Zaleski
THE CALL TO ADVENTURE
we cross Massachusetts and New Hampshire into Maine, we try out the words we know for the water that runs alongside us—inter-coastal, estuaries, eddies, bays and harbors, rivers, rapids, ocean. Already our journey feels as much made of water and words as of land, especially as we arrive at former LFCDS Upper School English teacher Lynn Beuttell’s beautiful house, perched beside the Arrowsic River. A lighthouse blinks from a nearby point, an orange buoy bobs. This is our home for the next week.
DAY 1: Becoming Students Again In March of 2015, educator Nancie Atwell, long-time champion of reading and writing workshops and hero of middle school teachers everywhere, won the Global Teacher Prize. This honor was accompanied by a check for one million dollars which Atwell donated to The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), the school she had founded in Edgecomb, Maine. CTL is a demonstration school, meaning that every year they offer a handful of internships to teachers interested in learning how to use the CTL reading and writing workshop model. We all admired Atwell’s work and applied for one of CTL’s coveted internships and crossed our fingers. Last July, we were thrilled to learn all of our applications had been accepted. At that moment, our journey began. Flash forward nine months. We are flung across the sky, from Chicago to Boston’s Logan Airport. After a less-thansmooth landing, we hop into a rented Jeep and drive. As
THE ODYSSEY
It’s a cold Monday morning in Maine, a few snowflakes dot the air as we arrive at CTL. After a tour, we settle in to morning meeting, a daily ritual in which the whole school, K-8, gathers on pillows on the floor. A teacher leads from
a rocking chair at the front of the room. Already, the pace feels slower, gentler here. Our surroundings are unadorned, simple, but drenched in books. The day unfolds with student shares: a lost baseball is claimed; a child reports that the pigs have been pied-pipered from one field to another; a second-grader’s birthday is celebrated with donated books and a Beatles song played on kazoos. We observe a 90-minute writing workshop for 7th and 8th graders and a two hour and twenty minute reading and writing workshop for 5th and 6th grade. We make double-sided notes in spiral-bound books, observe, listen in on individual conferences, and look over students’ shoulders as they compose. We quickly recognize just how difficult it is to become students again: to listen, write, think, and process for long stretches of time. The children
move readily between these states of being and seem to sink into reading and composition with ease. Truly, there is something unique happening here. As we reflect later that night over a home cooked dinner, we talk about the fact that kids are kids no matter where you are, and that we are especially drawn to the CTL teachers who interact with their students with the most warmth and humor. We express genuine admiration for the quality of writing we’ve observed and, particularly, the unhurried nature of the day.
DAY 2: Meeting the Mentor
Nancie Atwell, while no longer teaching her own class at CTL, actively helps run the school. Today, when we enter morning meeting, we see that she has joined us. She smiles at the kids and, halfway through the meeting, asks to tell a story. It is a story about having rheumatic fever as a child. While convalescing, she discovered the works of Beverly Cleary, an iconic children’s book author who turned 100 on April 12, 2016, and was hooked. She credits Cleary with saving her life and making her a reader. She tells the students, “There are few connections between my life and yours. But Beverly Cleary is one.” It is clear that the teachers at CTL continually reinforce the power of stories to connect us to other times, other worlds, and to each other.
DAY 3: Diving In
The 7th and 8th grade reading workshop always starts with the discussion of a poem. Today we read Elegy for a Diver by Peter Meinke. The poem uses allusions to Icarus (“archer-diver who flew too high”) and explores the dangers of hubris and peaking too early (“high off the board you’d pierce the sky/& split the apple of the devil sun/& spit in the sun’s fierce eye”). We are at the edge of our seats, hungry for the discussion of this brilliantly imagined piece, and the students do not disappoint, engaging questions of form, poetic device, mythology, and meaning. On this, the third day, we feel ourselves diving deeper into these waters with the students and their teachers. Given this gift of sustained time, we can see how through varied reading experiences, discussions, and effective mini-lessons, the teachers are imparting a deep appreciation for literature.
DAY 4: The Final Lesson
Today, we observe the most effective lesson so far about critical writing. We make frantic notes as our teacher, Glenn Powers, thoughtfully guides the students. As we scribble and plan, the students explore (in a much less frantic, more deliberate way) their understanding
about how to make a literary argument and support it. Because the students’ reading experiences here are largely independent, every student works on composing a critical analysis about a different book. After school, we travel to Boothbay Harbor and explore. The wind whips short bursts of rain at us. We eat dinner in Bath, pausing to enjoy the atmosphere of the Beale Street BBQ, but take our slices of key lime pie “to go” so we can spend our final evening at home, debriefing about the day. And the real “take home” is this: Time spent with colleagues like this is invaluable.
THE RETURN “The places we love, we can never leave” — from a poem by Ivan V. Lalic read at morning meeting at CTL. Reluctantly, we prepare to leave Lynn Beuttell’s lovely house. As we walk out, we take a final look back at the woods and out at the cold water of the Arrowsic River. We notice that the river travels at two speeds—the water out beyond the orange buoy rushes by with urgency, while closer to shore, it eases against the curve of the land into a slow eddy. The two modes of the Arrowsic River act as a metaphor for our time in Maine. Like the calm swirl that eddies by the shore, our time allowed us to linger, to pause and observe different ways of teaching and being; simultaneously, time inevitably rushed past us, bringing our journey to an end. And now it is time to go home. It is time to ask, What have we learned? We learned no matter how far we travel or where we go, when we leave our community at LFCDS we always come home to the same principles. In the hands of the experts we were so privileged to observe, we learned that the teaching of reading and writing is, most fundamentally, about relationships: the connection between teacher and student, between reader and writer, and between a student and her own story, her own sense of self. We discover who we are and are bound to each other by the stories we read and the stories we tell—those thrilling journeys we take both on and off the page. We loved every minute of our time in Maine, and now we are eager to bring the stories of our adventure home to LFCDS.
Your Gifts at Work
Thank you to the Bullard Fund donors who made this opportunity possible. Your support enables our teachers to participate firsthand in these transformational professional development experiences.
SPRING 2016
10 SHORT STORY WINNERS
TELLING OUR STORIES The best stories pull you in with the first sentence, grabbing hold and carrying you away into a vivid world of the writer’s conjuring. The winners of the 2016 Lake Forest Country Day School Short Story Competition do just that. For more than 20 years, it has been a rite of passage for Grade 8 students to study the art of the short story, and to try their hand at crafting their own tale. Under the skilled eye of English teacher Marcia Mann, the students develop and
present a plot line, draft their story, submit their work for feedback, make revisions, and finally present the finished piece. It is a months-long process marked by taking risks, thinking critically, and persevering. This year’s eighth grade is a class of voracious readers, which makes it understandable that their work was so strong there was a tie for second place. Excerpts of each of the winning short stories follow. To read each story in its entirety, please scan its companion QR code.
PROLOGUE 37 by Nicole Tong
First Place
forgotten about it. I really had done that, hadn’t I? Not as if I expected somebody to actually follow through with the idea. It’s the thought that counts – isn’t that what people say?
Hello.
Yeah, I did.
It was a message from a stranger, a text containing only one word.
That was probably why no one had done so. I was terrible at keeping up a conversation that wasn’t completely one-sided, terrible at catching up to this person who seemed as if he could voice their problems for days on end, if the speed at which they typed out their previous message was any indication.
Hi. I shook my head, grimacing after I pressed send. There were more important things to say, more important than amiable greetings. Who’s this? It was a reasonable question – I had the right to be curious about this person who somehow contacted me, whether out of accident or not. A nobody. A few weeks ago, you said that you could lend an ear to anybody who needed to vent. Before I could protest for a real answer, he had gotten me sidetracked. A few weeks ago was correct; I had already
Well, I need to vent. Or, more accurately, I need help. Help? With what? Perhaps I was wrong, then. For he spent so long sending a reply that I began to think he had just given up.
Scan the code to read the rest of Nicole’s story http://bit.ly/24iNejG
To learn how to scan a QR code please see page 1
AZUL
JITTERS
by Emilio Alvarez
by Mia Walvoord
His eulogy has ended. The last words uttered leave nothing but quiet to fill the empty space that is me. I was never close with my cousin; I can’t even remember his name.
I wake with a start. I wipe the sleep from my eyes and groggily turn my head to look at my digital clock. The crisp, blue numbers state that it is 4:30 am. My insides feel as if they are going to just leap out of me at any moment. I am getting on the plane today with my father. What are we going to talk about? I have absolutely no idea whatsoever. There is no use in trying to go back to sleep, so I pull on my fluffy blue robe, silently pad over to the window and brush the curtains aside. I look out into the stillness of the new day and allow myself to contemplate the peculiar dream I had last night.
Second Place
The inevitability of wartime. It’s nothing new; people are dying every day. The tears and grief have made me hard and barren. The world has lost its color; there is no paint to fill the empty canvas that stands as our country.
Scan the code to read the rest of Emilio’s story http://bit.ly/1QNwOmx
FAKE by Anne Seaman
Second Place I woke up to the sunlight beaming through the glass pane of my window. It warmed me, and I sighed effortlessly in the simplicity of the moment. I stretched out of the bed and trudged to the bathroom. I looked in the mirror as I was brushing my teeth focusing on the motions of moving the brush up and down. I pulled out the bottle of cleanser from the medicine cabinet and filled the sink basin with warm water. I felt clean and pure, but I didn’t like that feeling. Now it was time to use loads of make-up to hide the girl that sighed in the simplicity of sunlight, the girl whom my mother preferred under loads of makeup. As I begin to apply coat after coat, I lose myself as my true facial features began to change under all the powder and mascara. That’s how I prefer it.
Scan the code to read the rest of Anne’s story http://bit.ly/1TFT71U
Third Place
Scan the code to read the rest of Mia’s story http://bit.ly/26KSQlu
Honorable Mention Side by Side by Mia Foxman The Miracle Bee by Rohan Gudivaka Wild Friendship by Johanna Hielscher A Day to Remember by Caitlin Kolb The Runner by Harrison Potts Choosing What’s Right by James Sugrue Scan the code to read the rest of the award-winning stories www.lfcds.org/shortstory2016
Grade 8 Self Portraits
The artwork featured in this story is from the Grade 8 monochromatic self-portrait project, which was a multi-step creative process introduced this year by LFCDS art teacher Mark DeBernardi. The students first used the Innovation Lab to create studio photographic portraits. Each student had the opportunity to be the photographer, stylist, and model. They next imported their portraits into Photoshop to create a high contrast black-and-white photograph to be used as source material. The final stage was the production of a value-scale painting using a single color and adding tints (addition of white) and shades (addition of black) to produce their monochromatic self-portraits
SPRING 2016
12 MUSIC
MUSIC IN AFGHANISTAN
One of the most treasured aspects of an LFCDS education is the opportunity to explore diverse topics in an often unconventional way. So it wasn’t surprising to find Scott Baeseman’s Grade 7 World Music class sprawled on the hallway floor tracing life-size outlines of each other on giant strips of paper. While many upper-school aged children can’t imagine a world without their favorite artist singing the soundtrack to their daily lives, the Grade 7 students discovered not everyone in the world is so fortunate. Students in Mr. Baeseman’s class watched the BBC documentary Breaking the Silence: Music of Afghanistan, which depicts the Taliban’s systematic destruction and elimination of music in Afghanistan and the subsequent toll it took on the country’s collective soul. “Music was the way the people of Afghanistan escaped the hardships of their lives,’ said student Jackson Levin. Classmate Jake Putzel commented, “When the Taliban banned music, it destroyed their culture because they were so reliant on music. They felt tortured in a whole different way.”
“Mu sic was the wa y the the p e ha rd ople sh ips of A fg of th han eir is liv tan es e .
Mr. Baeseman tasked students, broken into groups of four or five, with discussing the documentary, and compiling ten points they found most compelling. “Music has the ability to ground us in our humanity,” said Mr. Baeseman. “One of the things that I absolutely love about this project is that it helps the students understand the importance of how music tells the story of someone’s civilization and culture. They also see how dangerous it can be to a society if ed p someone tries to destroy their cultural a identity.” sc
”
Taking great care with their body outlines, the students placed each idea onto an area of the body or a body part to symbolize the physical manifestation of how an Afghan
“As these students go through life, they will meet many people who look different and think differently than they do.”
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citizen might have felt about the ban on music. While many drew broken hearts, the reasons for the heart break were varied. One pair of students placed music on the heart because it is so central to Afghan culture, another because the Taliban’s destruction of buildings and musical instruments also destroyed the heart and soul of the Afghan people. “To me it was really inspiring that their connection to music was so important that they would sing and play in secret,” said Taylor Gilbert. “To them the cost of risking their lives was worth it.” Another group of students placed a weight on the shoulder to signify the weight out of work Afghan musicians carried as they worried how they would support their families with their livelihoods erased.
“W cu hen lt u t h
Tough skin to weather the hardship; reflections of televisions crossed out in the eyes; and music coursing through veins to symbolize the bloodlines through which music and instruments were passed from generation to generation – these images resonated with the seventh graders who took turns presenting their outlines to the rest of the class.
d the.ir stroye c it de t on musi sic, n ” mu o relia f erent way. ed if nn ere s hole d ba w w an hey in a lib e t red Ta us tu e ca tor be elt reey f Th
“To me it was really inspiring that their connection to music was so important that they would sing and play in secret,” said Taylor Gilbert. “To them the cost of risking their lives was worth it.”
“I thought it was really interesting that while many of us had the same bullet points, we had different interpretations of what kind of impact that idea would have, and what part of the body would represent it the best,” said Gabbie Jakubowski. Projects like this one are at the core of LFCDS’ mission to develop responsible world citizens. “As these students go through life, they will meet many people who look different and think differently than they do,” notes Mr. Baeseman. “ A unit of study like this gives them practice in examining and being open to these differences through the lens of something they all can appreciate— music.”
SPRING 2016
14 OUR TEACHERS
428 YEARS OF INSPIRED TEACHING One of the most common questions visitors to Lake Forest Country Day School ask is, “How long do your teachers typically stay at the school?” At LFCDS, we have sixteen members of the faculty and staff who have proudly called this school home for more than twenty years each. In fact, ranging from twenty years to thirty-seven years, the tally comes to more than 425 years of collective teaching experience. Ours is a community that values each individual - faculty, staff, and student. We are all working together to provide the very best school experience for each child who enters our doors. It is a community that quickly welcomes new family members. Below we’ve interviewed each of our 20+ year veterans about what has changed, what hasn’t, and what is their favorite school lunch!
Tom Crofts
37 Years – Upper School History and Social Studies, Outdoor Education
What is your favorite project or piece of curriculum? The project I am proudest of
involves the work I did to bring effort comments and an Effort Honor Roll to our school’s evaluation system. I also successfully defended that decision when our Administration was considering doing away with the Effort Honors system several years later.
What is your favorite classroom innovation? I love doing First Amendment Trials
with my eighth graders and Russian interviews with my seventh graders.
What do you enjoy doing when not at LFCDS? I like reading, playing guitar and going to warm climates!
Please describe yourself in a tweet:
LFCDS is a “family” to me. Poisonous snakes are on my tests. They query, “Can I go to the bathroom?” I say, “Ask the nurse!” The Chicago Cubs: expect the worst!
Nan Caldwell
35 Years - Spanish, Community Service Director, Talent/Variety Show Co-Director
What has changed at LFCDS over the years? We now have telephones, copiers,
word processors, and computers. I no longer have to use a typewriter or a mimeograph machine.
What has remained consistent? We have always had a talented group of students and teachers at LFCDS!
What has remained the same at LFCDS over the years? Dedication
What is your favorite project or piece of curriculum with which you’ve been involved? The Spanish puppet shows and
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the immersion trips
What is your favorite LFCDS lunch?
My favorite is the Thanksgiving turkey with stuffing!
What book are you currently reading? The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul by Debbie Rodriguez
Cindy Edwards
31 Years - SK, Grade 1, Grade 3, Talent/Variety Show Co-Chair, House System Co-Coordinator
What song, movie, or TV show best describes your LFCDS experience?
“We are Family” by Sister Sledge
Please describe yourself in a tweet:
Mother of a treasured daughter. Lover of languages, good books, gardens, and beagles. Runner, traveler, occasional practical joker. Life-long learner and shower singer.
Nancy Clifford 35 Years – Grade 1
What has changed at LFCDS over the years? Obviously the physical space has changed
dramatically. It’s actually hard to remember where things used to be. Teachers have also gotten MUCH younger!
What has remained the same? The overall feeling you get when you are at LFCDS has not changed. It embraces you like a family member and always makes you feel like you belong and are a part of something bigger.
What has changed at LFCDS over the years? Technology, technology, technology!!! What has remained the same? The collective and genuine respect and interest in the individuality of each child
What is your favorite project or piece of curriculum with which you’ve been involved? In SK, I loved the “QU” wedding we would have every year. In Grade 1, the giant 100 chart we made on the wall in the hallway was so much fun. In Grade 3, seeing how the students represent themselves with the synonym project is always so interesting.
What book are you currently reading?
What is your favorite LFCDS lunch?
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
What is your favorite LFCDS tradition?
The Talent/Variety Show we do every year is a tradition I’m glad we’ve kept.
Hot dogs clearly are my favorite!!
I love the singing of “Let there be Peace on Earth” at the holiday assembly.
What do you enjoy doing when not at LFCDS? I love being with my dear husband and our combined families.
Please describe yourself in a tweet:
First-grade teacher, proud mother and grandmother, needle pointer, confidant, cheerleader, friend, optimist, and mostly happy and content!
What is your favorite LFCDS tradition? Please describe yourself in a tweet: Lake Forest lifer: birth, school,
work. Mom of two great kids. Longtime fiancé. Part of a golfing family. Majorly type A. Traveler whenever possible. Risky chef. Children’s author wannabee. Longtime LFCDS fan club member.
SPRING 2016
16 OUR TEACHERS Becky Friedlander
31 Years- Learning Development Director, LS Language Arts
What has changed at LFCDS over the years? We have a more diverse population. What has remained the same? Our caring teachers and their attention to individual needs How are the challenges today’s students face different from those in the past? Our students today face more pressure to compete in today’s world.
What book are you currently reading? I just started to read New Life, No Instructions by Gail Caldwell.
What is your favorite LFCDS lunch? Sloppy Joes and tater tots – don’t tell a soul!!
What song, movie, or TV show best describes your LFCDS experience?
“With a Little Help From My Friends” by the Beatles
Please describe yourself in a tweet:
Proud mom of 2, very proud Grami of 5 super kids, Learning Development guru, teacher to my students, friend to my colleagues, happy senior citizen with a oneyear-old tattoo!
Patty Crofts
29 Years- US science, Grade 5 math and STEM+
What has remained consistent over the years at LFCDS? We have always had a caring,
intelligent, committed faculty, and families who are very supportive and engaged with their children.
What is your favorite project or piece of curriculum with which you’ve been involved? It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I love
teaching simple machines, biofeedback and the human body, microscopic pond organisms, and all forms of math.
Who was your favorite teacher as a child and why? I had a seventh-grade English
teacher named Mrs. Black who had a crazy sense of humor and really reached me! Once she came in to school and announced that she was Mrs. Black’s twin sister, here as a substitute for our beloved Mrs. Black. She was SO convincing!!! She was also mean, and critical—very unlike her “sister!” I remember appreciating the real Mrs. Black so much more after that experience!!!
What book are you currently reading? Nevada Barr’s Destroyer Angel — I LOVE murder mysteries!!! I plan to write one someday.
What is your favorite LFCDS tradition? The M. L. K. assembly is my favorite!
Please describe yourself in a tweet:
Nurturer, naturalist, destroyer of artifice, energetic forward-looker, potential author, eventual sun-drenched retiree!
Scott Mitchell
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27 Years – Facilities Management
What is your favorite project or piece of curriculum with which you’ve been involved? I have enjoyed being a part of experiences What has remained the same at LFCDS over the years? The commitment to
students and the big gym
that make history come alive. In Grade 3 we have the Harvest Feast, Rendezvous, and Pioneer Days. Many years ago a former Grade 4 partner, Mary Jane Welch, came up with the idea of an immigration simulation, and I recently brought this back for fourth-grade students. These are many of my favorite curriculum pieces.
What is your favorite piece of curriculum with which you’ve been involved? All the What book are you currently reading?
different building projects I’ve been asked to help with for various classrooms and teachers. I also enjoy building bird houses with the Cub Scouts and showing JK students the tools and equipment in the maintenance building.
What book are you currently reading? The Finest Hours by Casey Sherman and Mike Tougias
What is your favorite LFCDS tradition? Graduations in the courtyard
What do you enjoy doing when not a LFCDS? Fishing, woodworking, grandkids, and old cars Please describe yourself in a tweet:
Grateful grandfather, bountiful builder, lover of hot rods and fishing rods, LFCDS’s facilities guru.
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate – the Grade 4 book group just read this book, and they recommended it as a great read.
What do you enjoy doing when not at LFCDS? I enjoy baking, watching movies, going on bike rides, and most importantly spending quality time with my family.
Please describe yourself in a tweet:
Mother of 3, native of the Show Me State, bar model and deep thinking promoter, life-long learner and teacher, cookie decorator.
Mimi Aiston
25 Years — Junior Kindergarten, Outdoor Classroom
Katie Bowler
26 Years - Grades 3 & 4, Math and Reading for SK, Grades 2, 3, 4
What has remained the same at LFCDS over the years? We continue to have a hardworking What has remained the same at LFCDS over the years? The idea that we are a community
that cares for its population continues to be our foundation. In my mind, family means that we foster relationships with all constituents and players within our community. Each member of the community is important.
staff with priorities to provide every child with the best education possible, to foster good social skills and citizenship, and to provide for the emotional growth and well-being for all of the children at LFCDS. There has always been an emphasis on working together with families in the best interest of their children. LFCDS continues to be committed to educating the whole child.
SPRING 2016
18 OUR TEACHERS What is your favorite project or piece of curriculum with which you’ve been involved? I love the creativity involved in developing
curriculum. Favorite projects are creating units of study to spark the interest of young children including North American woodlands, polar regions, South America, Australia, Space, the human body, China, Africa, and famous artists. To inspire students at the beginning of continent studies, we developed a simulated flight in which parents and LFCDS faculty, administrators, and staff work as pilots, flight attendants, ticket agents, etc. to start the students off on their adventure to a new continent.
How are the challenges today’s students face different from those in the past? The use of technology presents a challenge, especially in the education of young children. We need to carefully consider the balance between hands-on, play-based, interactional learning and screen-based learning.
What do you enjoy doing when not at LFCDS? Hiking, bicycling, tennis, golf, reading, crossword puzzles, ping pong, travel
Please describe yourself in a tweet: Lover of family, nature, hiking, biking,
backpacking, paleontology – all things science. A teacher who loves to learn. Traveler to just about every national park in the U.S., Canada, Switzerland, and New Zealand.
Mark Arthur
24 Years- US Science, Technology Coordinator and Instructor, Department Chair, Coached football, baseball, basketball
What has changed at LFCDS over the years? My hair… It used to be so thick I could not get a comb through it. But really….the facility is incredible. It has been designed with the students’ best
interest and learning in mind. Teaching methods have changed from the instructor being the source to now more of a guide through endless resources and learning avenues.
What has remained the same? The emphasis on hiring the best employees in all positions. I have been blessed to work with individuals who keep the facility pristine, teachers who inspire, and individuals who truly care about you and your family. What is your favorite project or piece of curriculum with which you’ve been involved? Probably the Space Simulation project.
The students were able to construct a capsule and mission control that supported student astronauts for a continuous 24-hour period. Students had to remain in the capsule with no contact with the outside world except through technology. They performed science experiments and various activities. It was only possible because of the parent support, and every teacher from the grade level participated.
What is your favorite LFCDS lunch?
Salad Bar
What is your favorite LFCDS tradition? Eighth-Grade Game Night
Please describe yourself in a tweet:
Family first then fishing forever: anywhere, anytime, ice to open water!
Amy Klein
23 Years - Learning Development, Grade 5 math, Grade 1 Reading & Math
What has changed at LFCDS over the years? Our beautiful building, Upper School e-Pals, increased use of technology, more diversity
What has remained the same? The heart of the school, teachers’ commitment to the students.
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What book are you currently reading? The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown
What is your favorite LFCDS tradition? The Veterans Day Assembly. I just love that we invite Veterans to the school and the entire student body is involved in honoring them. It’s very moving.
What do you enjoy doing when not at LFCDS? Going for long walks, yoga, being near the beach
Please describe yourself in a tweet:
Happy teacher, loving wife, proud mother of 2 college students, avid game show watcher, enjoyer of beach and long walks, Boston native.
Bill Scroggins
23 Years – Physical Education and Wellness preschool through Grade 9, Coached Football, Baseball and Boys and Girls Basketball
What has remained consistent at LFCDS over the years? That family school feeling has
remained. Our faculty is so dedicated to each student, and the kids really feel comfortable when they walk through the door every day.
What book are you currently reading?
Anything by James Patterson or John Sanford. I’m a big mystery guy. I love the true crime and detective genre.
What is your favorite LFCDS lunch?
Well, I have to say, back in the day there was a mustard potato salad that I still think about. But I’m a burger guy, so burger day.
What is your favorite LFCDS tradition? Homecoming – it’s always great to see all the kids coming back.
Do you have any pets? I have a fifteen-year-old shih tzu named Jessie who is blind in one eye, but man, what a great dog!
What song, movie, or television show best describes your LFCDS experience? The Big Chill
Please describe yourself in a tweet:
Proud Army vet, with bionic knees. Not done calling outs, pass the whistle, please! Devoted to Jessie the best little pet, LFCDS – the best school yet!
Marcia Banzuly
21 Years - Librarian, ISACS, Mission, New Building Committees
What has changed at LFCDS over the years? Technology and how comfortable we are with it! Also the energy level has gradually but consistently increased over the last 20 years.
What has remained the same? Good manners
and our deep commitment to each student
What is your favorite project or piece of curriculum with which you’ve been involved? I like the speech contest research
phase and the eighth-grade history project because it lets me see how much our students grow, and it is fun to be a helpful part of something they are serious about and invested in. I liked being involved in the Grade 3 expert report that Sally Bullard’s class used to do, too. Right now, my favorite is the Grade 6 art class project that will result in new signs for the Library, because it is great to enjoy the students’ enthusiasm and creativity…and we really need those signs!
SPRING 2016
20 OUR TEACHERS What book are you currently reading?
I am reading: The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall (at home); Nimona by Noelle Stevenson (during lunch); and Smarter Charts by Kristine Mraz and Marjorie Martinelli when I work out on the elliptical machine.
What is your favorite LFCDS lunch? Pizza, of course.
Please describe yourself in a tweet:
Love all things family; reading; laughing; learning. So glad to be in a library. So glad when I can get outside.
Sarah McCauley
21 Years - US Science, Computers, Math, Coached Girls Soccer, Track
who truly enjoy their role of mentoring young children is something that has always been prevalent.
What is your favorite project or piece of curriculum with which you’ve been involved? We have a business project in Grade 7,
which is dynamic. Each year, the children really elevate their ability to work with math concepts that are used to develop and create best business practice. We work on profit margins, pricing, mark-up and discount of goods, marketing, percent of change, advertising, etc. Often, our alumni relate back to this experience and in high school opt to take a business course because they remember their experiences at LFCDS. I think we sow the seeds for some early entrepreneurship.
What is your favorite LFCDS tradition?
The Holiday Assembly is a favourite tradition because it’s a time of celebration for everyone. The children are excited because we’re about to go on break; parents and grandparents get to share in that anticipation as they watch the children in the musical performance. It’s timed perfectly for us to welcome extended family and to see alumni again. It’s a way to see the future and the past.
Please describe yourself in a tweet:
What has changed at LFCDS over the years? The House system is a big change; I feel it has
brought the various divisions of the school together very nicely. Being at school in England it was an aspect of my childhood that I valued because it made you feel that you belonged. It’s wonderful watching the younger children engrossed in activities with their middle school peers, under the leadership of the eighth-grade students. The relationships fostered by the children help build a sense of inclusion, and it’s allowed them to develop more empathy towards one another through shared experiences.
What has remained the same? The energy of the people who work at LFCDS seems indestructible. LFCDS is an invigorating environment. You’re always on the cusp of experiencing something new when you walk through the doors. I think it’s the joy you see when you enter our school that’s the most sustaining aspect of our culture. The camaraderie and fellowship of the people
Loving mom, PBS addict, Lake Bluff Top Chef, Sudoku Guru, dog-crazy, baseball and soccer tag-a-long, craving Cadbury.
Marcia Mann
20 Years - US English, Department Chair, Paw Prints, Yearbook Advisor
What has remained the same at LFCDS over the years? What has remained the same is the quality of instruction from an incredibly dedicated and talented faculty and the camaraderie.
What is your favorite project or piece of curriculum with which you’ve been involved? The annual Robbie Bermingham Speaking
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Contest—It’s such a treasured school tradition, and it serves as such an effective vehicle for students to learn about and participate in public speaking.
Who was your favorite teacher as a child and why? I had two—Mrs. Edwards in
fourth grade who read to us and in so doing cultivated a class of eager readers. Also the films we saw of Africa led to my determination to visit Tanzania and the Serengeti which I did in ’99. The other favorite was Mr. Paige in seventh-grade math. He treated us like adults and taught us how to develop a financial budget. I stayed in touch with him for years after I was out of college.
Ty Stuckslager
20 Years - US Math, Grade 3, Grade 4 Math, Coached Girls Basketball
What book are you currently reading? Several titles by Nancie Atwell related to Reading/ Writing workshop and the visit to Center for Teaching and Learning that several department members will be attending. For fun, a YA title I Kill the Mockingbird.
What is your favorite LFCDS tradition?
Book plates - The parting messages Grade 8 teachers write in the books for graduates.
What do you enjoy doing when not at LFCDS? I enjoy painting on silk—watercolor
painting—visiting art fairs, walking at the Botanic Garden, cooking, and engaging in church activities.
Please describe yourself in a tweet:
Proud mom of 3, fortunate English teacher and grateful member of LFCDS faculty, former textbook editor, nascent artist, quasi technophobe.
What has changed at LFCDS over the years? Obviously the physical nature of the building
has changed immensely. A new ECC, US, LS, playground, lunch program. Also the faculty has changed. The talent that is joining the faculty is amazing.
What has remained the same? The dedication of the faculty remains consistent. They strive to engage, challenge, support, enrich. What is your favorite project or piece of curriculum with which you’ve been involved? While there have been some fun ones:
measuring the safety of helmets protecting the brain; Fantasy Football or the Stock Market Game; I thoroughly enjoy the excitement of designing, developing and implementing the next one.
What book are you currently reading? The Miracle of Castel di Sangro by Joe McGinniss
“ The other favorite was Mr. Paige in seventh-grade math. He treated us like adults and taught us how to develop a financial budget. I stayed in touch with him for years after I was out of college.”
What is your favorite LFCDS tradition? Teachers speaking about students at the Lower School graduation
Do you have any pets? We have two fish in the classroom. Lunchbox and The Other One.
What song, movie, or TV show best describes your LFCDS experience? “Growing Older But Not Up” by Jimmy Buffett
Please describe yourself in a tweet:
Ice Cream Aficionado, Rick Steves Wannabe, Music Buff, Beer Advocate, Problem Solver, Soccer Freak, TechnoGeek.
SPRING 2016
22 ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
LANNIE ROSENFIELD ’05 Marketing in the Digital Age
free to explore and develop her personality. “LFCDS encouraged individuality,” remembers Rosenfield. “I felt like I was in a place where I could always be whoever I wanted to be, and the faculty and students made me feel safe and supported.” Rosenfield went on to Lake Forest Academy and eventually began developing her digital marketing expertise at Claremont McKenna College. Majoring in Psychology and Media Studies, Rosenfield acquired a unique understanding of consumer purchasing behavior and the effects of various marketing strategies on the decision-making process.
Lannie Rosenfield ’05 currently manages operations and TV production partnerships for Twitter—a social media company that allows users to post and share 140-character narratives to a potential network of almost 300 million monthly active users. Rosenfield was recently recognized by Forbes as a distinguished professional in the annual “30 under 30: Media” article. Highlighting thirty professionals under the age of thirty who are off to promising careers in their industry, this piece honors some of the most brilliant young minds in media today. And while Rosenfield is indeed young, the digital media guru is anything but green. Much like a series of 140-word “tweets,” Rosenfield’s story has unfolded in segments, the first of which began at Lake Forest Country Day School. “In my job, creativity, innovation, and the ability to work well with others are crucial,” mentions Rosenfield. “These are all qualities that are important to learn and practice early, which I was fortunate to have experienced at LFCDS.” At LFCDS, Rosenfield enjoyed the support of a large faceto-face, social network of friends and teachers—including Mrs. Bullard, Mrs. Atteberry, and Mr. Genger—who helped form a nurturing environment where she was
After graduation, Rosenfield became a digital marketing manager at Dick Clark Productions (DCP), a large company responsible for producing live event series such as So You Think You Can Dance and the Golden Globe Awards. During her time at DCP, Rosenfield managed the company’s strategic relationship with Twitter and grew the digital team from four to almost fourteen people in just under a year and a half. Leveraging her strong professional rapport with media colleagues inside Twitter, Rosenfield was able to land her current job of managing Twitter’s partnerships with production companies. “Twitter is such a forward thinking tech company and tied so closely to the TV world,” says Rosenfield. “It was an opportunity I could not turn down.” Today, Rosenfield mentions she is honored to be in a career position worthy of Forbes’ recognition. For most twenty-five year olds, it would seem that such a rapid peak would be justifiable cause for complacency. Yet, Rosenfield says she is interested in pursuing graduate school to broaden her business expertise and deepen her understanding of the digital marketing industry. Rosenfield credits her teachers at LFCDS and their inspired teaching for developing her own natural love for learning. She says, “LFCDS instilled a joy of learning in me that I still carry with me today.”
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TODD WOLOSON ’82 Entrepreneurship & Giving Back Todd Woloson ’82, founder of IZZE Beverage Company and managing director of a capital venture fund in a $500-billion industry, possesses a rare proficiency at transforming ideas into reality. “Having a vision is one thing,” Woloson says. “Being able to capitalize on that idea to make a meaningful impact is an entirely different endeavor altogether.” In just under twenty years, Woloson has mastered the opportunistic, yet too often unsuccessful process of completing the synapse from concept to end product, resulting in the formation of his own company. Woloson first developed his core entrepreneurial skills during his learning experience at LFCDS. As a football player under the tutelage of legendary Coach Frank Ward, Woloson learned how to channel grit and toughness to meet his goals—not to mention helping him survive as the middle of three brothers. “I think all of life’s lessons come from struggle,” says Woloson. “It is the only way you learn, and Coach Ward and my LFCDS teachers gave me the confidence to try new things and rise above the fear of failure.” Several formative years later, Woloson graduated from Lake Forest High School and entered St. Lawrence University, where he studied Government and Music while playing club hockey. Upon graduation, Woloson enrolled at the Sturm College of Law at Denver University and soon began working as an environmental lawyer for the Department of Energy. It was during this time that Woloson noticed the unprecedented growth of the natural products industry in Colorado. New food and wellness companies began springing up around Boulder and Denver in the late ’90s
and early ’00s with the backing of driven investors. This fertile business atmosphere helped transform Boulder into the “Silicon Valley of Food.” Working within the network of these young visionaries, Woloson was inspired by and made strong connections with several pioneers, including the group who started Horizon Organic Dairy and the founders of Wild Oats, now a division of Whole Foods. Around the same time, Woloson co-founded the Global Education Fund (GEF) with his wife, Eliza. A non-profit organization providing children in need with access to education and learning tools, GEF could only succeed with a more stable funding source, so Woloson decided to make his own mark in the health and wellness industry to support his non-profit endeavor. “My mother-inlaw had recently been to France and noticed that they were drinking sparkling water with everything,” recalls Woloson. “I thought what if we can bring that to the US and add some juice, making it a healthier alternative to traditional soda.” With no paid employees, Woloson began producing his product in a plant in Minnesota in 2002. In the following months, Woloson locked up distribution deals with Starbucks and Wild Oats—two companies that put IZZE, named after Woloson’s daughter, Isabelle, on the map. From there, Woloson began rolling out his soda across the country, and the reaction was instantly positive. Woloson received the 2003 Entrepreneur of the Year Award from Ernst & Young due to the instant success of the company, helping Woloson’s non-profit organization, GEF, to succeed. To date, the educational fund has created fifty-three libraries and literacy centers in twenty-one countries throughout the world. In 2006, Woloson brought his entrepreneurial career full circle when he sold IZZE to PepsiCo and began working at Greenmont Capital Partners as Managing Director the following year. Today, Woloson inspires others to take a shot at transforming their own ideas into business ventures. “Executing on an idea is never easy; it takes guts and the patience to see it through, but if you are persistent and passionate, you can make it happen,” says Woloson.
SPRING 2016
24 ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
CARA SAWYER ’96 Using Music for Global Change While many adults may feel compelled to relegate their creative passion to pursuits taken up in the time gaps between career endeavors, Cara Sawyer ’96 is one whose determination has allowed her to actualize her artistic talents into a fulfilling career. A world-class French horn player, Sawyer has also become an international teacher who is making good on her goal to spread the benefits of music to communities around the globe. “Although I love to perform,” says the alumna of the prestigious Civic Orchestra of Chicago, “I have become increasingly interested in utilizing music as a medium to create social and psychological improvement.” This desire to magnify her musical impact beyond the range of her own instrument and into the minds of eager students in far off cities materialized during her formative years at LFCDS. “When I look back on my years at LFCDS, it is through the eyes of an adult in the field of education. A good education is absolutely paramount to success, and I am extremely grateful for the opportunities that my outstanding grade school education has provided me—many of which I am still discovering along the way.” Through Mrs. Caldwell’s Spanish immersion trips to Mexico at LFCDS, Sawyer was given the opportunity to observe first-hand the intersection of the arts and community outreach. Sawyer vividly recalls Mrs. Caldwell’s passion for language and her creative approach to travel, as well her love for people, which so naturally surfaced as Mrs. Caldwell led the eighth-grade class on interactive and meaningful experiences with the locals. “I think that it is very important for people who are going to be movers and shakers to have cultural experiences,” says Sawyer. “Mrs. Caldwell always stressed this and encouraged us to step out of our comfort zone.” As a mentor for the YOA Orchestra of the Americas’ Global Leaders Program, the former Program Director for the People’s Music School Logan Square Youth Orchestra, and an international winds and brass coach for students in countries including Honduras, Belize,
and Spain for the past 15 years, Sawyer has come to embrace her own inspiring impact as a teacher. She has spread the joy of music to communities that would have otherwise remained untouched by the stirring sounds of the classical music that Sawyer has found to be so meaningful. Ultimately, it is her students whom Sawyer cherishes the most. “Music is so much more than just sound! When one makes music, it literally connects the brain hemispheres. And in an orchestral setting, it can be used to teach social skills that children might not otherwise learn, not to mention that it gives kids a unique creative outlet,” mentions Sawyer. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Sawyer began teaching at the age of 18 before giving music classes in Spanish during her post-graduate years in Barcelona. During these early teaching years, Sawyer learned that the diffusion of knowledge in the teacher-mentee relationship is a mutually flowing process that occurs when teachers are able to bond in meaningful ways with their students. “When you teach, you begin to learn more,” says Sawyer. “Students are often the teachers. A good teacher must find the most effective way to reach them, and each student is unique.” “My teachers at LFCDS were very caring when I was young and impressionable. I feel very fortunate that I was able to receive such a wholesome education from teachers who knew how to evoke my passions and direct my interests. I want to be able to emulate that care and attention to detail in all that I do,” says Sawyer.
SPRING 2016
PLANNED GIVING 25
THE APPLETON MASON SOCIETY Lake Forest Country Day School has prepared and inspired generations of students to live lives of character and purpose. Now in its 128th year, Lake Forest Country Day School continues to provide an extraordinary educational experience in a community of devoted students, faculty, and alumni.
LFCDS in their future plans. By leaving your own legacy and making the School an integral part of your estate plans today, you will have a direct and enduring impact on the School and its students in the future.
Thanks in large part to the prudent foresight and generosity of prior generations, LFCDS is able to continue its tradition of excellence. The Appleton Mason Society celebrates those who have included
For more information
Build a lasting legacy with a planned gift to LFCDS today by becoming a member of the Appleton Mason Society. The commitments of Society members constitute one of Lake Forest Country Day School’s most valuable assets.
please contact Sarah Thomas, Director of Development at sarah.thomas@lfcds.org or (847) 234-2350.
SPRING 2016
26 CLASS NOTES
CLASS NOTES Shane Lynch ’14
Shane Lynch ’14 is a sophomore at Lake Forest High School and is currently active on both the baseball and football teams.
Heather Knobel ’14
Heather Knobel ’14 started a club at Highland Park High School called Girl Up. Girl Up is a campaign initiated by the United Nations Foundation, uniting girls to change the world. It is an empowering community of passionate advocates changing policies and raising funds to support United Nations programs that help girls living in places in the world where it is hardest to be a girl.
Justin Hone ’14
Justin Hone ’14 is a sophomore at Lake Forest Academy where he plays lacrosse and runs cross country. He recently stopped by LFCDS for a visit this past March.
Julia Dixon ’12
Julia Dixon ’12 is enjoying her senior year at Deerfield Academy. She loves being a Proctor in an underclassman dorm and playing field hockey, ice hockey, and lacrosse. She is looking forward to graduation, participating in a NOLS course in Alaska this summer, and attending Cornell University next fall.
Andrew T. Strudwick ’11
Andrew Strudwick ’11 is a freshman at Dickinson College where he is taking courses in business, economics, philosophy, and Chinese. He is also a member of the Dickinson Varsity Squash Team.
Madeline Lipp ’09
Maddie Lipp ’09 currently attends Northwestern University where she is studying Economics. Additionally, she plays for the tennis team and credits the LFCDS Athletic Department for her success as a D1 athlete at Northwestern University.
Henry Davis ’05
Henry Davis ’05 lives in Chicago and is working at Morgan Stanley.
Rachel Cantor ’12
Rachel Cantor ’12 was accepted early to Northwestern University and will graduate in the Class of 2020. This past April, Rachel was awarded a Bridge Builder Award. Rachel was also selected for the Celebrating High School Innovators (CHSI) Award of 2016.
Donald Boyce ’04
Donnie Boyce ’04 currently lives in Pacific Palisades, California with his wife, Jenna, who he met at Wheaton College. Donnie moved out to California in 2012 to pursue his Master’s Degree in Philosophy, was married in 2014, and currently works in advertising at TBWA\ Chiat\Day with clients such as Nissan, Miller Lite, Airbnb, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Twitter. He plans to attend seminary to become a pastor once he has had a bit more work-world experience.
27 Abigail H. Westcott ’04
Abby Westcott ’04 moved to Boston and is currently working toward obtaining her Master’s Degree in Education at Boston College.
Toby Davis ’04
Toby Davis ’04 moved back to Chicago from New York and is still working at Northern Trust.
Douglas S. Kaplan ’03
Doug Kaplan ’03 is a professional musician and had an album released this past winter. The album differs from his more complex and experimental work with Goodwillsmith, his more popular band.
Adam Levin ’98
Adam Levin ’98 is a classical guitar faculty member at University of Massachusetts and University of Rhode Island. He is currently living in Boston, MA and enjoys touring the world giving recitals and teaching the next generation of classical guitarists. In March 2015, he launched a non-profit organization called Kithara Project with fellow guitarists Matthew Rohde and Scott Borg. He has won several top prizes, including the Fulbright Scholarship and the Kate Neal Kinley Memorial Fellowship.
Tscharner Hunter ’98
Tscharner Hunter ’98 was married to Nicholas Alexander Tonelli on September 5, 2015, at the Onwentsia Club in Lake Forest. Her brother, Tommy Hunter ’00 and fellow LFCDS classmate Dana Meadow ’98 were in the wedding party. Alex and Tscharner first met at the Hotchkiss School and were most recently living and working in San Francisco, CA. They are currently based in Hanover, NH, where Tscharner is a first-year student at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.
Daisy Wood ’01
Daisy Wood ’01 married James Tolles on September 19, 2015, at First Presbyterian Church in Lake Forest, followed by a reception at Daisy’s parents’ backyard on Green Bay Road. Many LFCDS alumni and alumnae attended the wedding, spanning all age groups.
Sarah Davidson ’00
Sarah Davidson ’00 currently runs External Affairs for NY Green Bank, a $1 billion state sponsored investment fund that partners with private sector capital providers to advance clean energy projects throughout New York State. She lives in Brooklyn with her boyfriend, Spencer, (both graduates of Colorado College) and their dog, Moxie.
Melburn E. Laundry II ’84
Melburn E. Laundry II ’84 is working with Laundry and Associates in Estate Planning.
SPRING 2016
28 CLASS NOTES Marion MacKenzie Christoph ’77
Marion MacKenzie Christoph ’77 and her husband Roger moved back to Lake Forest in the summer of 2015. Currently, Marion is homeschooling her youngest son who is in sixth grade. Additionally, Marion has two sons out of college, a daughter and son in college, and a daughter in high school. Marion fulfilled a dream by training for, competing in, and finishing the American Birkebeiner cross country ski race this past February.
Elizabeth Roberts ’73
Elizabeth Roberts ’73 has been a pediatric neuropsychologist at the NYC Child Study Center since 2007. Daughter Sophia, 23, graduated from Yale University and works in education. Daughter Elena, 20, is a sophomore at Brown University. Liz recently moved to Dobbs Ferry, NY and loves Westchester County.
Kadie Hill ’71
Kadie Hill ’71 was recently hired as a travel consultant at Valerie Wilson Travel in Lake Forest. In her spare time, Kadie enjoys traveling, going to the opera, and volunteering at the Shedd Aquarium.
Robertson K. Chandler ’69
Robbie Chandler ’69 lives in Newport Beach, CA, and is the CEO of the Fairmont Schools. His oldest son, Kent ’97, is living in Lake Bluff. Robbie’s son, Jake ’00, is a safari guide in South Africa, and his other son, Charlie, is currently a senior at the Marine Military Academy. Robbie’s daughter, McCoy, is currently a junior at Besant Hill.
Gail Chandler Gaston ’66
Gail Chandler Gaston ’66 and Robertson K. Chandler ’69 recently sold their family home in Lake Forest. They both plan on returning to Lake Forest often to visit family and friends. Gail’s son, Jamey (29), is living and working in commercial real estate in Brooklyn. Her daughter, Frances (27), is a property manager in NYC. Both are avid bicyclists. Gail and her family all love to travel. Recently, Gail and Jamey spent 1 ½ years in the Far East, as well visiting Upper Michigan and Maine. Gail mentions she both sees and keeps in touch with many of her LFCDS classmates.
Keith Reed ’64 John Needham ’72
John Needham ’72 lives in Bedford, NY with his family, including three daughters who are alumnae of Rippowam Cisqua School, the school where Bob Whelan served as Associate Head of School before joining as the Head of School at LFCDS in 2013. After a long career in media at Time Inc. and as the CEO of the Clinton Global Initiative, John now owns a company in Katonah, NY. He misses Chicago, remains a Bears and Blackhawks fan, and especially treasures his lifelong friendships with LFCDS classmates.
Keith Reed ’64 and his wife, Lisa, moved to Montana at the end of June 2015. Keith reports that he and Lisa recently had dinner with Pam (Rich) ’62 and Bill Bryan and a separate dinner with Heather (Hart) ’69 and Walter Goldstein. This past summer, Keith and Lisa had lunch with another classmate, Tony Rich ’63, who also lives in Bozeman. Keith and Lisa met up with Bobbie Brown ’66 and Nick Bothfeld, Susie (Farwell) ’61 and Ned Houston, Henry Barkhausen ’61, and Ben Phinney ’70 and his wife, Barbara, during a ski trip in Bozeman this past March.
SPRING 2016
CLASS ’07 29
THE CLASS OF 2007 LOOKING AHEAD The class of 2007 is the newest class of LFCDS alumni and alumnae to begin graduating college, enter the workforce, and engage in graduate studies. We congratulate all members of the Class of 2007 on their accomplishments and wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors. Below are some quick snapshots of what some of those endeavors entail.
Shelby Benjamin College: University of California Los Angeles
Current Occupation: Obtaining BA in Songwriting at Berklee College of Music; Currently interning at a recording studio, studying Audio Engineering, and working under a songwriter named Ned Albright in Los Angeles Notes: Recently received certificate in Independent Music Production from UCLA; Released a music video last summer that was nominated for Best Music Video in the Garden State Film Festival in Atlantic City, NJ.
Casper Clausen
College: Southern Oregon University
Current Occupation: Student Transportation Options Coordinator at Southern Oregon University Notes: Still enjoys being active outdoors and in nature.
Joanie Davis
College: Colgate University Current Occupation: Travel Sales Consultant for Abercrombie and Kent Notes: Geography Major and Political Science Minor at Colgate University; Currently lives in Chicago.
Brandon Eason
College: College of William and Mary
Current Occupation: Undecided Notes: Currently lives in Boston.
Gina Carfagno
College: Xavier University Current Occupation: Graduate Studies for Library Science Notes: Currently working until graduate school begins this fall.
Allyson Genger
College: Marquette University Current Occupation: Admission Counselor at Office of Undergraduate Admissions, Marquette University Notes: Graduated Cum Laude from Marquette University; Engaged in extensive volunteer work with students in Milwaukee public schools.
SPRING 2016
30 CLASS ’07 Allie Gray
College: Dartmouth College Current Occupation: Investment Research at Putnam Investments Notes: Graduated from Dartmouth with a degree in Economics; Works in Boston.
Graham Harwood
College: Cornell University Current Occupation: Software Engineer at Peak6 Investments (Chicago Board of Trade) Notes: Worked as Head of Information Science Students Association at Cornell and was active as an undergraduate researcher.
Jon Hennessy
College: University of Pennsylvania
Current Occupation: Consultant at Alvarez and Marsal
Notes: Member of the Heavyweight Rowing Team at University of Pennsylvania; Graduated from College of Arts and Sciences at University of Pennsylvania; Lives in New York City.
“Although I graduated from Lake Forest Country Day more than eight years ago, I would still consider some of my classmates to be my best friends. I think LFCDS most prepared me for the real world in that it fostered friendships that will endure a lifetime.” — Allie Gray
Jenny Janeck
College: Northeastern University Current Occupation: Plans to graduate from Northeastern University with a cooperative Chemical Engineering degree and Administration minor in 2016; Will begin job with Nike in Product Creation Notes: Recently traveled to Tanzania and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and will be traveling to Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina this spring.
Duncan Lamphere
College: Lawrence University Current Occupation: Law student at Georgetown University Law Center Notes: Graduated Cum Laude from Lawrence University.
“Attending LFCDS has given me the confidence to make presentations to large groups in both academic and work settings.” — Duncan Lamphere Robert Levin
College: Arizona State University Current Occupation: Junior at Arizona State University Notes: Studying for a degree in business management and entrepreneurship at the WP Carey School of Business at Arizona State University; Named the American Collegiate Hockey Association rookie of the year in 2013/2014.
“ LFCDS helped me prepare for college by instilling strong time management skills as well as a desire to continually improve.” — Robert Levin
31 David Levine
College: Furman University Current Occupation: Professional racecar driver & graphic design/ public relations freelancer in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Notes: Received BA in Communication Studies at Furman University; Competed in the ARCA Racing Series this past year and finished 5th in national series and finished with the highest points overall among rookies.
Paige Lynch
College: Pace University Current Occupation: Student at Pace University Notes: Paige chose to take time off of school to give care to her ill father; Planning on graduating next year; Working full time at Whitesmith Entertainment and Dreamfuel Internships.
Shannon Lynch
College: University of Michigan Current Occupation: Student at University of Michigan Notes: Graduates this year; Varsity Rowing Team member and Big 10 championship winner in 2012.
Lane Lytle
College: Southern Methodist University Current Occupation: Engagement Associate at Project Art.
Kelly Marsch
College: Boston University Current Occupation: Associate at
PricewaterhouseCoopers, Chicago Notes: Graduated Cum Laude from Boston University.
“ LFCDS really taught me how to work as a team. Being a part of small, close-knit class for so many years and taking part in so many group projects and activities gave me leadership and teamwork skills that I took with me to Andover, SMU, and now into the workforce!” — Lane Lytle Rob McNerney
College: University of Michigan Current Occupation: Data Analyst Coordinator at IMGE Notes: Has an interest in marketing and politics, specifically the digital execution of politically charged campaigns from media planning to strategy.
Katharine McCauley College: College of William and Mary
Current Occupation: Graduate School for Illustration and Graphic Design at Savanah College of Art and Design Notes: Played soccer at College of William and Mary; Member of Tri Delta Sorority.
Alex Newman
College: University of Miami Current Occupation: Masters of Science Program in Taxation at University of Miami Notes: Will begin working for Boeing this September; Dean’s List (3) times and Provost List (1) time during undergraduate studies at Miami.
SPRING 2016
32 CLASS ’07 Natasha Patel
College: Georgetown University Current Occupation: Credit Analyst at Barclays Notes: Currently lives in New York City.
“ LFCDS provided me with the academic foundation and nurturing relationships I needed to succeed in high school and college.” — Natasha Patel Jori Richman
College: University of Southern California
Current Occupation: Motion Picture Coordinator at Worldwide Production Agency Notes: Awarded the Renaissance Scholarship at USC; Graduated Cum Laude with degrees in Neuroscience and Film Production; Dreams of creating a production company that specializes in character-driven science fiction.
Jack Schweighauser
College: Williams College Current Occupation: Business Analyst at Ocean Tomo Notes: Graduated from Williams College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics; Awarded the Kleinhandler Prize for Excellence in Music at Williams College.
Mark Shannahan:
College: University of Indianapolis Current Occupation: Final year of undergraduate work at University of Indianapolis Notes: Interested in the hospitality industry, politics, and recreational running and cycling; Active in community service work at Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and the Special Olympics.
“LFCDS has helped prepare me for life in college and in the real world in so many ways. Each teacher and administrator taught and valued the material that they were teaching. Their devotion has inspired me to look at any situation from many different perspectives, all while staying true to myself.” — Mark Shannahan Charlotte Smith
College: University of Chicago Current Occupation: Investment Banker at Piper Jaffrey & Co. Notes: Graduated with General Honors from University of Chicago.
Hannah Stevens
College: Miami of Ohio Current Occupation: Co-owner of Matchmaker Ltd. Notes: Graduated with a degree in Marketing from the Farmer School of Business; Member of Kappa Kappa Gamma and the Women in Business club; Currently works with mother, Connie, as co-owner of their equestrian company, Matchmaker Ltd, riding and showing professionally, teaching clients of all ages, buying and selling horses, and investing.
Elise Terlato
College: University of Miami Current Occupation: Assistant Account Executive at FCB Global Notes: National Student Advertising Competition 1st Place Regional Winner while at University of Miami.
SPRING 2016
AUCTION 33 34th Annual Auction, March 5, 2016
LIGHTS, CAMERA, AUCTION! Strolling down the red carpet and posing for the paparazzi created the ambience for the 34th LFCDS Auction. More than 360 parents, faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of LFCDS entered the spectacular scene amidst dazzling chandeliers and elegant displays of Silent Auction items. Co-Chairs Stephanie Andrea and Laura Foxman led the cast and crew of more than ninety parent volunteers. From the hand-print “Walk of Fame� created by the 1st STEP students to the eighth-grade students harmonizing aside Mr. Whelan in the finale video, everyone participated in the months leading up to the event. The photo chandelier in the atrium spins to share the smiles of students who are the beneficiaries of the successful fundraising event. Proceeds from the Auction facilitate educational excellence by bringing national experts, Dr. David Walsh, Scott Sanchez, and Jessica Lahey, to LFCDS for lectures and training. Additionally these proceeds will fund part of the financial aid program and state-of-the-art technology, including a video wall and 3D printers, and enable faculty and staff to attend professional growth and development opportunities around the country. Bravo to the entire community of supporters who participated in a record-breaking Auction that grossed more than $950,000.
SPRING 2016
34 FRANK E. WARD
THE LEGACY OF FRANK E. WARD Words by Bob Bullard
Lake Forest Country Day School lost one of its most iconic figures this past August. A teacher, coach, passionate sportsman, raconteur, good will ambassador, and gentleman, Frank Ward arrived at LFCDS in 1959. Frank enjoyed an illustrious and celebrated 24-year career, retiring in 1982. Frank’s influence on so many young men and women is the subject about which legends are written. In many ways Frank was a man from another era who was totally focused on excellence in the now. His profound impact on a generation of students continues to burn strongly in their hearts and minds. E.M. Swift, a 1965 alumnus, captured the difference Frank made in his athletes’ lives in his chapter, “Why Be Last, Son” (one of Frank’s pet phrases) in the book, Coach. Having been regaled with the story of Frank’s participation as part of the landing crew during the Hindenburg disaster in 1937, alumni Lock Swift ’68 and Tom Hunter ’68 arranged for Frank to be interviewed by the Smithsonian Institution as part of its 75th anniversary commemoration of that tragic event. As a 17-year-old that day, Frank was the last survivor of the landing crew. Upon graduation from the University of Virginia, Frank coached their track team. A proud patriot, Frank was decorated for service to his country in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters during World War II as well as in Korea.
As colleagues and friends, Sally and I had the pleasure of living next door to Frank and his lovely wife Jeanne. This neighborly perspective gave us a delightful insight into their generous hospitality and genuine natures. Their mutual love and respect exemplified the soundest of relationships. Jeanne relished calling Frank “Chief,” but we soon learned that the “Chief ” was only too willing to render the decision-making to his gracious and dignified wife, who preceded him in death in 2005. It was also a privilege to have coached with Frank. In the business of molding young men, his coaching style was truly singular. Frank’s nicknames for his players are legendary, some sticking throughout their lives. A steel-trap mind allowed for infamous recall of individual plays from games years ago. Narrated with his disarming sense of humor, these memories delighted former athletes to no end.
“ Ward-isms,” such as “there is no “I” in team,” “enthusiasm creates momentum,” and “the difference between champ and chump is ‘u’,” were part of his largerthan-life personality.
As a teacher, Frank made learning fun for the students: telling stories in history class (enriched with his own invented vocabulary), presiding over assemblies with a steady dose of current events quizzes, or drawing the “Winged-Foot of Victory” on the backs of little kids’ hands when they stopped by to visit Frank in his office. His Saturday morning ravine hikes in the winter were a true test of stamina and memorable for all who participated. Illustrative of the abiding respect and admiration held by so many of his former students and athletes was the care and concern shown Frank and Jeanne in their later retirement years. “Secret Panthers” stepped up to ensure that the Wards were comfortably ensconced at the Colonnades in Charlottesville, Virginia. There, Frank continued to cultivate his diverse interests as an artist and playwright. In his earlier retirement years, Frank pursued the life of an avid horseman and competitor in field events at the Senior Olympics.
35 A special memory was created on the occasion of Frank’s 90th birthday. David “Sid” Gorter ’73, John “Jack” Hough ’77, and I paid a surprise visit to him in Charlottesville. It was quite a weekend, one for the books and full of laughter, stories, and good Scotch. In a letter written to me just after his 91st birthday, Frank jokingly said, “It feels like I might go one or two innings, but arm strength is gone.”
Frank was invited to participate in the rededication of the newly restored athletic fields during the opening our new building in 2006. The fields had been originally dedicated in Frank’s honor in 1982 as noted on the plaque mounted on a boulder under the Legacy Oak tree. Those in attendance will never forget his speech that day or his waxing eloquent at a celebratory dinner at the Onwentsia Club that evening.
These memories underscored what Frank had taught and modeled: effort, discipline, resilience, respect, team, sportsmanship, and expectations for gentlemanly behavior.
© Frank Ward
This past October 17, at the conclusion of the Homecoming varsity football game, a memorial celebration of Frank’s life was fittingly held under the Legacy Oak. Alumni, former parents, and colleagues gathered to share stories, many laced with strong emotions and humor. These memories underscored what Frank had taught and modeled: effort, discipline, resilience, respect, team, sportsmanship, and expectations for gentlemanly behavior. For sure, Frank coached athletes. Perhaps most importantly, he taught his charges the valuable lessons of life. Indeed, his memory lives on.
SPRING 2016
36 ANNUAL FUND WHAT IS THE ANNUAL GIVING FUND?
Annual Giving is the cornerstone of all fundraising activities at the School. LFCDS relies on gifts to the Fund to maintain its excellence year after year. The Fund refers to tax-deductible gifts collected during the fiscal year, beginning on July 1 and ending on June 30. Specifically, contributions to the Fund allow LFCDS to do the following: • Retain talented faculty members • Ensure a low student-to-teacher ratio • Provide cutting edge technology in the classroom • Maintain state-of-the-art infrastructure • Fund professional development opportunities for faculty and staff
WHY GIVE?
Gifts to the Annual Giving Fund are of vital importance to our School as they help secure the margin of excellence that makes the LFCDS experience so extraordinary. Since tuition only covers eighty percent of the cost of educating our students, donations to the Fund bridge the gap between revenue and operating costs. Ultimately, the students and faculty are the primary beneficiaries of gifts to the Annual Fund. Participation with a gift of any size allows LFCDS to attract support from foundations and corporations and has a direct and immediate impact on our people and programs.
THANK YOU!
CORE VALUES: Excellence Partnership Responsibility Participation Diversity
Lake Forest Country Day School 145 South Green Bay Road Lake Forest, Illinois 60045 (847) 234-2350 | www.lfcds.org
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If we have made an error of any kind, please accept our sincere apology and bring it to our attention so that we may correct our records immediately. Please contact Lisa Gilcrest at lisa.gilcrest@lfcds.org with any concerns or questions. In the meantime, look for our fall issue, set to come out next October!
save the date October 14-15, 2016: Homecoming & Reunion Weekend Friday, October 14
5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Alumni and Alumni Parent Cocktail Reception, LFCDS Library Please join Head of School Bob Whelan for an evening of reconnecting.
Saturday, October 15
10:00 a.m. –2:00 p.m. Athletic Games & BBQ Please join us for family fun and Panther pride! Children’s games and activities will be provided. Interested in planning a class reunion? Please contact John Kinzer at john.kinzer@lfcds.org.