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An aerial photograph of Loomis Chaffee this fall captures the evening glow of the campus and the Hartford skyline beyond. loomischaffee.org 1
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Cover: Juniors Cindy Lin and Iris Sande form a window around senior Andrew Dao, in his role as Man on Street, in the fall production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, performed in the Norris Ely Orchard Theater.
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Contents Wi n te r 2 0 24
| Volum e 8 7 | No. 1
FEATU R E S
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Standing the Test of Time Personal bonds created at Loomis, Chaffee, and Loomis Chaffee have a way of surviving, even deepening, long after graduation. Six stories offer a sampling of these long-lasting friendships.
EDITORIAL & DESIGN TEAM
Lynn A. Petrillo ’86 Director of Strategic Communications & Marketing
Becky Purdy Managing Editor
Turning Up the Heat
Kelley Albert
With a recipe for unforgettable interviews — celebrities plus hot wings plus probing questions — the Emmy-nominated YouTube sensation “Hot Ones” is the brainchild of Chris Schonberger ’02.
Jeff Otterbein
Coding Across the Curriculum Data. Algorithms. Computation. Whether we embrace them or curse them, these aspects of the Information Age affect much about the way we see, interpret, and engage with the world. They also offer opportunities to make sense of large amounts of information and solve complex problems. Welcome to Digital and Computational Learning.
DEPARTMENTS 4 5 19 20 52 54 58 64
From the Head Island News Faculty and Staff News Pelican Sports Object Lesson News from the Alumni/Development Office Obituaries Reflections
SUBMISSIONS/STORIES & NEWS
School community members may contribute items of interest to: Loomis Chaffee Editors The Loomis Chaffee School • 4 Batchelder Rd • Windsor, CT 06095 860.687.6811 • magazine@loomis.org Facebook (@loomischaffee) X (@loomischaffee) Instagram (@loomischaffee) LinkedIn (The Loomis Chaffee School)
Senior Graphic Designer
Obituaries Editor
CONTRIBUTORS
Jeff Otterbein Paige Abrams Deidre Swords Lisa Salinetti Ross Heidi E.V. McCann ’93 PHOTOGRAPHY
Catherine Johanna Photography PhotoFlight AM Makhala Huggins Kelley Albert Emily Benson Megan DuPlessis Defining Studios Jessica Ravenelle Jeff Otterbein Courtesy of Zarin Rizvi Courtesy of Andrew Addo Stan Godlewski Courtesy of Buzz Feed Inc. Courtesy of Heatonist Neil Grover ’23 Junior Ridley Gould Loomis Chaffee Archives Amanda Gentile Aram Bogohisan Visit Loomis Chaffee online at www.loomischaffee.org for the latest school news, sports scores, and galleries of recent photos. You also will find direct links to all of our social networking communities. For an online version of the magazine, go to www.loomischaffee.org/magazine. Printed at Lane Press, Burlington, VT Printed on Sterling Ultra Matte
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FROM THE HEAD
Adapting to a New Technology Landscape
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penAI, a San Francisco-based tech company, released ChatGPT on November 30, 2022, and within weeks if not days most students at Loomis Chaffee at least knew about it, many of them were already playing with it, and some were using it to help them with their homework assignments. ChatGPT is an easily available, free, large-language artificial intelligence model that follows user prompts to generate text. The chatbot is trained on vast quantities of data publicly available through the internet including works of fiction and journalism. Within months of their initial release of the app, OpenAI released a still more sophisticated bot, ChatGPT4, which requires a subscription of a little over $20 a month, and Google has released its own version, Bard/Gemini. AI-generated content today is ubiquitous. Text-to-image bots include Dall-E and Midjourney, both of which can create stunning images. By early January, the New York City public schools had banned the use of ChatGPT on any devices across the system. (The city’s schools lifted the ban in May of 2023.) By February, the number of users had reached 100 million, and media stories about this new phenomenon were everywhere—many of them alarmist. The Atlantic, for example, published an article titled “The End of HighSchool English,” and 60 Minutes interviewed Geoffrey Hinton, sometimes called “the father of AI,” who had resigned from his position at Google because of his significant concerns about what AI could do to undermine humanity. While I don’t know if AI signals the end of civilization as we know it, I am quite sure that this new technology will reshape education just as the graphing calculator did in the 1990s and Google Translate did more recently. The question then for schools like Loomis Chaffee is how do we adapt to this new landscape? Students are often early adopters of new technologies and do occasionally
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by Sheila Culbert
look for short-cuts to the hard work of learning. Many of our faculty are also intrigued about how they can use the chatbots to enhance student learning. The quality of the information that chatbots provide is usually only as good as the prompt that they are given, and they can quite confidently give the user false information or even make up sources. But they are getting better at an exponential rate. Bot-generated text can be difficult to detect. Check out the December 26, 2022, New York Times article “Did a Fourth Grader Write This? Or the New Chatbot?” A straight-out ban on using chatbots is impractical, as the New York City schools quickly found out. Our approach has been to encourage faculty to familiarize themselves with the technology and to be very clear in their classrooms regarding when and how students may use chatbots. Assistant Director of Academic Technology Matt Johnson and his colleagues in the Kravis Center for Excellence in Teaching have taken the lead in adopting and adapting to the new technology and teaching colleagues about it. The school has hosted two symposiums for faculty at Loomis as well as other schools to share ideas about how best to incorporate AI into our students’ learning. Colleagues from 35 peer schools attended, and it is clear that Loomis is taking a leadership position in helping faculty understand both the pros and cons of this technology.
I have been particularly impressed with some of the ideas my colleagues have developed. Caitie Cotton, a faculty member in the History, Philosophy & Religious Studies Department, uses a chatbot as a kindly assistant talking to students about their thesis statements. Caitie provides her students with a prompt that specifically instructs the bot not to rewrite their thesis statements but rather to ask them questions so as to encourage students to expand on them. This has freed up Caitie to have deeper conversations with each of her students about their papers. Similarly, Matt uses a chatbot in his ninthgrade English class as a friendly professor to discuss poetry with individual students to give them the practice and confidence they need to then share their opinions with their classmates. As we grapple with the impact that AI is having on the school, there are a host of questions that have surfaced including: Should we pay for financial aid students to have access to ChatGPT4 given that so many of our full-pay students already have access to it? How do we ensure equitable access to the whole range of other educational AI applications? What are our policies regarding the use of AI for school business, including writing letters of recommendation, comment writing, routine letters to parents, and the like? (Currently, we have said no to such uses but there are probably ways in which AI can help in these areas.) How do we stay abreast of the innovations that are taking place with AI and the ways in which they are changing education? I don’t know where all of this is leading, but for now, Loomis has carved out a leadership position with regard to how faculty can use this new technology to enhance learning. Personally, I have enjoyed playing with various chatbots and text to image bots. If you have not already done so, I would encourage you to do the same. And stay tuned for further developments.
ISLAND NEWS
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ISLAND NEWS
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Loomis Chaffee Spoke to Her Head and Heart the qualities I place above all are integrity, humility, and having a sense of humor.
s Jody Reilly Soja, who has been appointed Loomis Chaffee’s eighth head of school, was going through the interview process, she says the school “spoke to both my head and my heart.”
“At school, and in particular in a boarding community, integrity is essential,” she continues. “I seek to be a trustworthy colleague and leader, without exception. Being honest and authentic has always served me well, and I hope that others I interact with personally and professionally live by the same standard. Without honesty, there is no trust, and trust in a community is of the utmost importance.”
Jody, whose appointment was announced on November 29, will begin her tenure on the Island on July 1, 2024, succeeding Sheila Culbert, who will retire at the end of this academic year after 16 years of service to the school. Jody has 25 years of experience as an educator and leader in independent boarding and day schools, including the past nine years as head of school at Indian Mountain School (IMS), a co-educational junior boarding school in Lakeville, Connecticut. The appointment by the Loomis Chaffee Board of Trustees concluded a process conducted by an 11-person search committee co-chaired by Trustees David Rogan ’76, P ’04 and Rachel Kort ’98 and aided by the executive search firm Isaacson, Miller. “Loomis Chaffee has an amazing reputation at IMS,” Jody says. “Many IMS students apply to Loomis and several matriculate each year. Recently, the parent of a prospective student remarked after their many school visits that Loomis Chaffee was noticeably the kindest school they toured. This impression stuck with me.” So did the feeling she got when she met with the Search Committee for an interview in September. “I was equally struck by how talented, kind, and welcoming the group of faculty, staff, and Trustees were,” Jody says. “There was also a lot of laughter and joy in the room. It was clear that all the committee members loved Loomis Chaffee and genuinely liked each other. The comfort and trust that existed in the interview room further reinforced that Loomis Chaffee is a collaborative, inclusive, and fun place to be.” 6 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
Humility, she says, allows her to remain curious, open-hearted, and respectful.
Jody also was struck by the similarities between Loomis Chaffee and Indian Mountain, saying the history and culture of Loomis resonated with her. “I knew I would be proud to represent such a school,” she says. In her letter to the IMS community announcing that she was leaving, she wrote about the shared characteristics: “Both schools were founded with a mission to provide an education to children whose families did not have the resources to pay full tuition. Both schools place a premium on kindness, understand the importance of diversity and belonging, provide an exceptional education, and intentionally cultivate strong character and community connection. Everything I have learned about Loomis Chaffee has affirmed our philosophical alignment and has inspired me to join a community so much like our own.” A head of school must have many qualities, but when asked to pick the three most important, Jody says, “Above all, as an educator and leader, I try not to ask anyone to do something that I am not willing to do. As adults in schools, I feel it is essential that we model for our students the qualities and values we hope to see reflected in them. So
“With humility, we must assume we do not have the answers to everything. Through active listening and genuine curiosity, we hear and benefit from the experience of others,” she says. “Particularly as a new head of school, it is essential I not come into the Loomis Chaffee community assuming I know best. We are most open to learning and growing when we can accept we do not know everything, and we remain open to hearing others’ perspectives and opinions. We may never fully know what it is like to be another person, but the ability to listen with humility, empathy, and respect will bring us closer.” And a healthy sense of humor can help bring a community together, she observes. “At IMS we like to say that we take the work seriously, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously,” Jody says. “This helps maintain a sense of joy, optimism, connection, and spirit. When we laugh together, we form connections. The best humor, obviously, is one that lifts people up and does not diminish others. So no humor at anyone’s expense, but genuine joy and connection through storytelling and humility. In a serious world with serious issues to tackle, humor is indeed the best medicine.” continues on page 18
ISLAND NEWS
A Sense of Curiosity
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hen we think about animals, Ed Yong writes, we tend to look at their lives in terms of our senses, not theirs. Animals perceive the world in ways of which we are unaware. Mr. Yong’s book, An Immense World, helps people to understand other creatures, and he furthered that understanding for the Loomis Chaffee community in September during a visit to campus and convocation address in the Olcott Center. An Immense World was this year’s all-school read. From the exotic to the ordinary, Mr. Yong illustrated for his Loomis audience why creatures have certain characteristics that help them navigate the world.
of the creatures around us. It moves away from the stereotypes we might hold about them and unlocks fascinating things about their lives.”
He started with the ordinary — his dog, Typo — and told his listeners not to focus on the corgi’s eyes and ears, but the nose.
His book will tell you that Bogong moths, European robins, and loggerhead turtles all navigate long distances by sensing the earth’s magnetic field. We see a moth, a robin, a turtle. Few of us envision the earth’s magnetic field. A bumblebee lands on a flower. That’s what we see, but who among us thinks about the fact that it can sense the electric field of flowers? We see a chameleon, but who knew they can look forward and behind simultaneously with independent eyes?
“He puts this incredible hardware to good use,” Mr. Yong said. “When I walk with Typo, there will be moments when he will suddenly grind to a halt and intensely explore a patch of pavement that looks completely nondescript to my eyes but is clearly bursting with information to him. When he passes another dog, they will sniff each other as a means of social greeting, as a means of finding out about each other’s age and identity and health and diet. … He can also pick up that info by sniffing patches of pee other dogs have left behind. To me that is not that different from checking social media to find out what my friends are up to in places far away from me.” Who hasn’t tried to hurry up their dog when on a walk, but Mr. Yong’s book teaches readers to slow down. Understanding the world around us, he said, “is always worth the attempt. There is glory and purpose in the striving. … It changes our understanding
Mr. Yong also has written extensively about the COVID-19 pandemic, and his coverage for The Atlantic won multiple awards, including a Pulitzer Prize in 2021 for explanatory reporting. “In the early part of the pandemic, many people talked about how they could suddenly hear birds,” Mr. Yong said. “There was an idea that birds and other animals were returning to places humans had vacated. It’s simply that we were quieter, and we could
hear things around us that we normally can’t because we’re not listening, we’re not looking.” Thinking about the senses of animals is a gift that might be uniquely human, he said, and one that should be used. “I think it is incumbent upon us to do so because we can, because it changes our understanding of how close nature is to us all the time, because it makes us better stewards of the world around us, and because fundamentally it is an act of empathy,” he said. “It is living in the shoes of another life.” After the convocation, Mr. Yong reflected on his message before heading to an Advanced Biology class. “I hope the students will feel a curiosity about the world around them,” he said, “that they will pay more attention to the other creatures they see and to think about how those creatures experience the world. The book is, at its core, about curiosity and empathy, two values all of us could pay more attention to.” Mr. Yong’s visit was part of the Hubbard Speakers Series. Administered by the Norton Family Center for the Common Good, the speakers series was made possible by a gift from Robert P. Hubbard ’47.
Above: Author and science journalist Ed Yong visits an Advanced Biology class in September. loomischaffee.org 7
2 PLAYS Something for Everyone
ISLAND NEWS
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heater Director David McCamish could not have been happier about how this fall’s two Loomis Chaffee plays, Our Town and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, turned out. He had been thinking for a while about how to give freshmen and sophomores more opportunities, so this year there were two fall plays, one in the Black Box Theater and another on the main stage of the Norris Ely Orchard Theater. The cast for Our Town, which was produced in October in the Black Box, was all freshmen and sophomores and was led by Assistant Theatrical Director David Edgar. The cast of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, presented in early November on the main stage, was juniors and seniors under the direction of David McCamish. David McCamish said the goal going forward is to have two plays every fall. “The freshmen and sophomores did a great job with Our Town,” David Edgar said. “They got a lot of stage time, learned technique, and that will prepare them for the [winter] musical and for next fall.” Our Town was created by American playwright Thornton Wilder in 1938 and tells the story of a fictional American town between 1901 and 1913 through the daily lives of its citizens. “In an October of [college] application deadlines, legislative gridlock, continued pandemic strain, and escalating military conflicts, we offer this play of ‘little hint.’ May it help us see,” David Edgar wrote in the program for the play. He, like, David McCamish, was pleased with the outcome. Both directors also complimented the behindthe-scenes work, from the stage managers to the technical crews to the production teams. The Curious Incident is based on a novel by Mark Haddon adapted by Simon Stephens. The protagonist, Christina, played by senior Lauren Sonnenfeld, follows a path of selfdiscovery, bravery, and growth through the play. Christina’s character is neurodivergent.
“It was a very good telling of the story by our students,” David McCamish said. “We did a lot of research on what it means to be on the spectrum. Lauren really embodied the character. She took the role so seriously, the words so seriously, and the whole cast did as well. They took their time with the play, and I could not have been happier.” Preparation for both plays required many hours of “hard work, sweat, and tears,” as David McCamish put it. And when he says sweat, he means it. Warmups before rehearsals tend to be physical. “I think by the time we opened they were up to 4 1/2-minute planks, over 120 four-count jumping jacks. They were doing just about everything,” he said. The physical part is just one element of many that the students gain from the theater productions. “They build a tight-knit community,” David McCamish said. “They gain confidence, they learn to communicate better, they learn to speak their mind, they all have input into their characters, and they get to activate that creative side of their imagination to put themselves in the shoes of someone else, to
experience through the eyes of another a different world than their own.” One special first-time actor in The Curious Incident was David McCamish’s dog Penny, who made her debut on the NEO stage. “She was a natural and mugged for the audience,” the director said. “I talked to her about that.” The theater program is all about collective bows and shared success, so Penny had to learn that lesson. “Her agent let us have her for a nominal fee,” he said, “and I think everyone appreciated her and her work.”
At Left: Top: The cast of Our Town in the Black Box Theater. Bottom: The cast of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in the Norris Ely Orchard Theater. Above: Top Left: Sophomore Nina Gitlitz applies makeup to fellow Our Town cast member sophomore Adam Pendergrass. Bottom Left: Members of the tech crew for Curious Incident: freshman Lilly Autry, freshman Aim Wanglee, senior Jamnia Ai, and junior Boden Bubb. Right: Christina (played by senior Lauren Sonnenfeld) summons courage in Curious Incident. loomischaffee.org 9
ISLAND NEWS
When It Rains, It Pours
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he water had seemingly come from every direction, and by the morning of July 12, 2023, the Meadows sat under water that was up to about three feet deep in spots. All that lush, green grass, so carefully maintained, no longer visible. The Meadows had turned into a lake. Loomis Chaffee, sitting as it does on the confluence of the Farmington and Connecticut rivers, is accustomed to seeing floodwaters encroach the Meadows and other parts of the campus. But this was different. It was mid-summer, not March, when snow melt from up north can combine with precipitation to create floodwaters. In this summer’s flood, the water was slow to recede in a month that became the wettest on record in the Hartford area, and those records go back nearly 120 years. More than five inches fell on the fourth of July weekend. Another four inches fell between July 10 and July 14.
Flood waters overspread the Meadows for more than 10 days in July.
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When the flood waters finally receded, Meadows playing fields had become expanses of debris and dead vegetation.
Grounds Supervisor Tim Dowd has worked at Loomis Chaffee for 25 years. “We’re used to flooding, so it is not something that is new to us, but it’s generally the river comes up, the river goes down, and everything goes back to normal in a short amount of time,” Tim said. “This time it just stayed up.”
When the water finally receded, the work began. Debris, including a few logs, needed to be cleared off the fields. In many spots the grass was matted down seemingly to the point of no return. “We couldn’t do anything until we could get seed down into the soil,” Tim said. After dethatching and vacuuming dead grass and debris and aerating — hours
and hours of work — seed went down. “And we overseeded and overseeded,” Tim said. Barton Field, where the girls soccer team plays, came back rather quickly. A good portion of Helfrich Field, where boys soccer plays, needed to be resodded. The practice field closest to the road was under water the longest and was one big matted mess. Slowly it came back, greener and greener each day.
As repairs begin, rolls of sod are delivered and installed on Helfrich Field.
“We had guys non-stop working down there,” Tim said, “and we were very fortunate we got the fields to come back as well as they did.” As if it were not enough, the Meadows was not the only place on campus that needed help. Water had crept up toward Audrey Field, home to the softball team, and at one point forced the closure of Batchelder Road because floodwaters were over the roadway on the causeway into campus. As they say, when it rains it pours. And the Loomis Chaffee grounds crew poured its heart and soul into returning the grounds to its postcard-like beauty. Mother Nature was back with more flooding in December as this magazine went to press.
Soccer teams return to the Meadows in September although some fields were not playable for the fall season.
... generally the river comes up, the river goes down, and everything goes back to normal in a short amount of time. This time is just stayed up. loomischaffee.org 11
ISLAND NEWS
Norton Fellowships Spur Hometown Projects Norton Fellowships allow a selected group of students the opportunity to pursue their interests and become more engaged with their local communities over summer break. The annual fellowships are administered by the Norton Family Center for the Common Good. Students must apply. If chosen, they receive up to $1,000 to help them complete the project. In 2023 there were four Norton Fellows, with projects ranging from talking to Vietnamese women about their recollections of the Vietnam War to helping young children learn computer coding.
Creating an Anthology Through the Eyes of Women Senior Katie Fullerton walked into a shop last summer in a Vietnamese section of San Jose, California, the white and purple orchids and decorative vases catching her eye. So did the Vietnamese woman waiting for customers. As part of her Norton Fellowship project, Katie planned to talk with Vietnamese women about their recollections of the Vietnam War. Katie was nervous before the interview in San Jose. She had never met the woman and the woman had never met Katie. “I just wanted to get her to feel comfortable sharing some details with me that are hard to talk about. At first, she was shy,” Katie said, “but we ended up talking about an hour and a half, and over that time she got more and more comfortable and told me a really sad story about her brother leaving Vietnam. At that point she was holding onto my arms, gripping me … I could really feel her gripping my arms, and she was crying, and I was crying, too. It was such a powerful and genuine moment, and I don’t think she had talked about it before.” The woman was reenacting the day her brother boarded a lifeboat to begin a journey to the United States. “She was saying, ‘You 12 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
have to go. You have to get out of here,’” Katie recalled. “And it was a sacrifice for her. She wants to be with her brother but knows it is best for him to leave.”
hours a day, she worked with third- and fourth-graders at a local church in a summer program, where she led a book club and an art club.
Katie created an anthology for her Norton Fellowship project, in which she interviewed about 17 women.
“Some of the kids had not been in the U.S. for long, so it was hard with obstacles such as language barriers and cultural differences,” Isabella said. “So bridging that gap and making sure everyone was having a good time was important to me, and seeing everyone interacting, even if not from the same cultures, was meaningful.”
Katie’s mother was born in Vietnam during the war, coming to the United States when she was about 7 years old. Her grandfather is of Korean descent and fought for the United States in the war. He met Katie’s grandmother during his time of duty in Vietnam.
Witnessing the Impact on Children and Families Be patient. Be empathetic. Lessons that help at any age, and two lessons that senior Isabella Delach learned last summer during her Norton Fellowship. Her project through World Relief, an organization that partners with churches and volunteers, was two-pronged. She made welcome kits for refugee families settling in the Chicago area, and four days a week, four
Isabella learned to communicate without words at times, and so did the children. As time went on, Isabella said she could see the kids “coming out of their shells.” The welcome kits consisted of such things as hygiene items, food, and kitchen utensils — all designed to make life easier at the start for those finding their way in a new country. “It was fulfilling because I was able to visit a townhouse and see people unpacking all these things and putting them in various parts of the house, such as cutlery in drawers and sheets on a bed,” Isabella said. “I was fortunate to see the impact these kits had.”
Above: 2023 Norton Fellows: senior Katie Fullerton, junior Andrew Addo, senior Zarin Rizvi, and senior Isabella Delach
Sharing a Passion for Computer Science When senior Zarin Rizvi was younger, she knew her mother worked in the computer science field. She’d ask about her mom’s work but really didn’t understand it. As Zarin got older, her interest grew. So did her comprehension of computer science. She took some online courses, and her mother mentored her. In August, as part of the Norton Fellowship program, Zarin taught computer coding to students ranging from 5 to 14 years old at a YMCA in the New Haven, Connecticut, area. “I was mentoring students who had experience, but also teaching younger students who had not interacted with coding or computers in that way,” Zarin said. “It was great to work with a variety of students and see how their love for coding developed over the course of the program.” Zarin said she grouped the students in terms of experience and interests, “so if they really wanted to do something related to sports or art for example, we could code something in those realms.” She said she enjoyed seeing the kids collaborate with one another in smaller groups.
Cleaning Up a Beach in Ghana When junior Andrew Addo spoke last May about his Norton Fellowship, his goals were clear. The water along a beach in Prampram, Ghana, was anything but. He had spent time there each summer since he was in grammar school, running the beaches as a way to train for soccer. He has family in Ghana. “Wait a second,” he thought to himself. “Why are these beaches so filled with trash?” He talked with the local fishing community and heard about the decline in fish, which in part was attributed to the amount of plastic in the water. The fishing industry is vital to the economy of Ghana, employing 2.7 million people, according to the Environmental Justice Foundation. Something had to be done, Andrew thought. And something was done.
“I learned how valuable it is to share your passion,’’ Zarin said. “It was gratifying to see the students and hear the students getting excited. I know I never would have gotten into coding if not for my mom, so I am glad I was able to be the first step for some kids.”
Ghana generates about 840,000 tons of plastic waste per year, and only about 9.5 percent is recycled, according to an article by the World Economic Forum. By 2050, there would be more plastic than fish in the ocean if action was not taken, the article said.
Ghana has launched programs to stem the tide, and Andrew wanted to do his part. With assistance from the Norton Fellowship, Andrew organized a beach cleanup in Prampram, a coastal resort town in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. “We got over 100 people to show up for the cleanup, and we cleared the entire beach at a resort,” Andrew wrote in a July email to Matthew Kammrath, the Keller Family Director of the Norton Family Center for the Common Good. Andrew also took steps to ensure that the beach cleanup was more than a one-time effort. He put part of the funding for his project into the purchase of a plastic grinder. The plan is to sell ground and washed plastic to a recycling company in Ghana, which Andrew visited over the summer. The money from the recycling company will help to pay the people collecting the plastic, allowing the project to be self-sustaining.
Above: Zarin works with young computer scientists. Top right: Volunteers deliver plastic waste to a recycling facility run by Coliba Ghana after the beach cleanup organized by Andrew. Middle right: Andrew at the recycling plant Bottom right: The beach cleanup volunteers celebrate their good work in the coastal town of Prampram. loomischaffee.org 13
ISLAND NEWS
Interesting Chapters in Alumnae Authors’ Lives
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hen Eugenie Montague ’97 arrived at Loomis Chaffee, her prefect in Palmer Hall was Maya Shanbhag Lang ’96. Thus began a long friendship between the writers. “We used to stay up all night talking about books, yes, but also just about our ideas, our questions, things that didn’t make sense to us about the world,” Maya told students gathered in Gilchrist Auditorium in October. “And if … someone tapped on our shoulders at that age and said, ‘One day you both will be published authors, and you’ll be back at Loomis reading your work,’ … we would not have believed it.” During their visit to campus for two events, Maya and Eugenie read from their work and reflected on their road to becoming published authors. At a Dinner and a Draft event, a group of student writers shared a meal and conversation about writing with the alumnae authors in the Burton Room. Afterwards, the authors engaged in a larger forum in Gilchrist. Their visit to campus was coordinated by the Writing Initiatives program with the support of the Ralph M. Shulansky ’45 Lecture Fund. John Shulansky ’72 and his mother, Ruth Shulansky, joined the writers for the Dinner and a Draft. Eugenie has published short fiction in numerous formats, and her first novel, Swallow the Ghost, which originated as a short story, will be out early this year. Maya is the author of a memoir, What We Carry, named a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice and a “Best Of 2020” by Amazon. She also wrote a novel, The Sixteenth of June, and her essays have been widely published.
Above: Eugenie Montague ’97, Ruth Shulansky, Maya Shanbhag Lang ’96, and John Shulansky ’72 at the Dinner and a Draft event 14 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
Maya was selected last spring to be president of The Authors Guild, an organization founded in 1912 that now has nearly 14,000 members. “While not the first woman to serve in this role, Maya is notably our first person of color, the Indian American daughter of immigrants, who brings an acute understanding of the need for greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in our industry, and who is committed to helping us achieve those aims,” Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenbeger said when the announcement was made. Maya called it the honor of a lifetime. “It is not something you apply for,” Maya said in an interview between the two Loomis Chaffee events. “When they approached me and said, ‘We want to talk to you about the presidency,’ I said, ‘Oh, I’d be happy to brainstorm candidates with you.’ And they said, ‘No, we want you.’ It was this out-ofbody moment for me.” She noted that the publishing industry is at an important juncture. “We are facing unprecedented levels of attempts at censorship and book banning,” as well as generative artificial intelligence programs
such as ChatGPT, she said. In the fall, 17 authors filed a class-action suit against OpenAI in the Southern District of New York for copyright infringement of their works of fiction on behalf of a class of fiction writers whose works have been used to train GPT. Maya signed onto the suit. So did John Grisham, Michael Connelly, and Jodi Picoult, who among them have written more than 125 books. “This is a time that feels more important than ever to protect authors’ rights and try to cultivate an environment where to be a writer is even feasible,” Maya said. “And we’re trying to protect emerging voices and diverse voices, which publishing needs and readers want.” The bond between Maya and Eugenie has remained long after their days on the Island ended. “We have always known what was going on in each other’s lives,” Maya said. “We would send each other letters during college,” Eugenie said. “And Maya’s were always so great.”
Over the years, they of course have talked about writing. Who better can understand what an author goes through than another author? “When you are a writer, it is a solitary endeavor,” Maya said. “You’re in front of a screen for hours and hours. Also, the publishing industry is a unique thing. … It’s hard to find someone who can relate to all that, the experience of writing and the experience of trying to get published, so Eugenie has been that person for me. And we have read each other’s work when it is in progress.” Eugenie commented, “It’s a unique feeling to try to write a book, so it is helpful to know people who get what that means.” The work is never far from a writer’s mind, sometimes even at 3 a.m.
Family Weekend Highlights About 900 family members of Loomis Chaffee students visited the Island for Family Weekend 2023 in October, which featured opportunities for parents to meet their children’s teachers, advisors, and friends as well as watch a performing arts sampler, visit art exhibits, witness play rehearsals, cheer on Pelican athletes, learn more about various academic and extracurricular programs, donate books to the library, connect with other parents, and spend time with their children, among many other highlights.
“It’s not necessarily the idea you have at 3 a.m. is genius. For me it’s not,” Maya said. “The inability for a story to leave you alone, the way it keeps tapping into your thoughts, that is something I love about the writing process.” Writing, said Eugenie, can feel a little crazy. “I’m hanging out with my kids and thinking a lot about this totally made-up thing,” she said with a laugh. “But a lot of it is your back brain, too. You’re not consciously thinking about it, but something is working itself out in the back of your brain while you’re doing other things.” Eugenie has a law degree from Duke University and a Master of Fine Arts (fiction writing) from UC Irvine. “Why write?” Eugenie said. “I can’t not. I’ve always wanted to write.” Maya’s memoir, What We Carry, took a year to write and two years to edit. “I wrote What We Carry while living it,” Maya said. “I was caring for a young child and my ailing mother [Alzheimer’s] at the time. Even though I was exhausted, I found writing necessary. It wasn’t optional. The memoir was my way of making sense of that period: the surreal challenge of becoming a parent to my parent, and the personal realization that I had never really known my mom as a human being. I’d always looked up to her as a nearly mythic figure. That period was a reckoning, a time of seeing the culpable person behind the myth.” loomischaffee.org 15
ISLAND NEWS
A Collaboration: Music and Words
P
ulse, rhythm, meter. We associate them with music, but they also extend to writing. Netta Hadari, the Loomis Chaffee Orchestra director and a violinist, worked with students in September in the College-Level Creative Writing class of Writing Initiatives Director John Morrell. “We have been thinking a lot about voice and about the sound of language, so this fits really well with some of the exercises students are doing that focus on using short sentences and then using only long sentences, removing punctuation in their writing,” John said. “I am hopeful they can see a transfer between some of the musical language Netta is using and some of the language we have been using in class.” The class was interactive. Netta played recordings of some songs so that the students could understand and feel the pulse, rhythm, and meter. All of that set up an exercise as he handed out a Langston Hughes poem, “Dreams,” which is eight short lines:
Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow “Read the poem to yourself,” Netta said. “Be aware of the rhythms you use when you read it.” He also asked students to underline what they felt were the most important words, describe the mood of the poem, and think about the inflection of the most important words. He then told the students, “Turn to your partner and perform. Have fun with it. I want to hear a lot of inflection.” 16 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
hold
fast to hold fast to
hold fast to dreams
dreams
dreams There was, of course, no right or wrong. Maybe the emphasis is on “hold” in the first sentence of the poem. Maybe it is on “fast.” Maybe “hold” is said in a more booming voice and “dreams” is more subtle. Or maybe not. “I have had student composers create music to this, and they have taken very different approaches that I love,” Netta said. He asked the students to think of the poem musically. “What instruments do you hear? What are those instruments doing? What voices do you hear? A low singer, a high singer? Fast notes, slow notes? What feeling do you want to invoke in the listener?” These questions are no different than asking what feeling a poem aims to invoke in a reader. The students shared their thoughts musically. Then Netta gave them their final task, asking them to write in their notebooks “how today relates to your creative writing in this class and beyond … how you can apply what you found interesting today, what you learned today, what you still have questions about.” There was one last opportunity to share, and a few did.
When Netta thinks of good music and good writing, he said, “form and imagination and the craft” come to mind. “I’m very obsessed with form, how things build, the choices the author or composer has made intentionally and also the imagination used,” Netta said after the class. He said he is always interested in taking music outside of Hubbard Music Center. “There are many ways to collaborate between academic courses,” Netta said. “Also, as a composer I want people to know what it is to write music and to work with music and words together because they have to be intertwined to have a good song.” After the class, senior Leah Ozgun shared what she took from the experience. “I enjoyed learning about where to put emphasis,” Leah said. “Something I have been learning a lot in life lately is [that] presentation really matters. You can have all the skills, all the good writing, the good art, the language, but if you do not frame it correctly, it could lose its meaning.”
ISLAND NEWS
EXHIBITING ARTISTS
VISITING ARTIST
Artists Howard el-Yasin and Flora Wilds: In the art show “Accumulated Proximities,” artists Howard el-Yasin and Flora Wilds exhibited their work in the Sue and Eugene Mercy Jr. Gallery this fall.
Visiting Artist Maria Chavez: Experimental DJ and sound and multimedia artist Maria Chavez discussed her art and performed in the Hubbard Performance Hall, exhibited her work in the Mercy Gallery, and worked with and among students in the Richmond Art Center this fall.
Mr. el-Yasin is an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and educator from New Haven, Connecticut. One of his pieces stretched nearly to the ceiling of the gallery. It was made of dryer lint. “My practice is rooted in collecting things that may no longer be deemed as having value or worth,” Mr. el-Yasin said on the night of the opening in September. “I am interested in things that are marginalized, so I often collect things that are discarded, and I try to reclaim them. A couple of people mentioned that to me today, that they can see fragments of their own existence. I hope they see part of themselves … part of other people ... how we are all connected as human beings.”
Guest Musician Tony Susi: Local composer Tony Susi shared his time and talents with the Loomis Chaffee Wind Ensemble in November. The composer of “Harvest Fair,” which the Wind Ensemble performed earlier in the year on Family Weekend, worked with the ensemble on the piece, which originally was commissioned by RHAM High School in Hebron, Connecticut. She said she hoped that students could see that she embraces “many areas of creativity and doesn’t stick to just one medium to express myself. I hope it inspires them to see that one doesn’t need to be in a box. You can do many things, whether it be as an artist or working in another field.”
Ms. Wilds is a multidisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn, New York. She uses second-hand materials, such as previously worn clothing, purses, and quilts, to create her work.
GUEST MUSICIAN
Ms. Chavez’s abstract turntablism work is internationally known for taking broken vinyl records and repurposing them into improvised sonic sculpture compositions. The Mercy Gallery exhibit runs through Jan. 23. Visiting Artists are brought to campus as part of the Adolf and Virginia Dehn Visiting Artist program.
The Hebron Harvest Fair, a community and regional event for more than 50 years, inspired the piece, which celebrates the New England fair season of late summer and early fall. Mr. Susi, a longtime music educator and composer, came to the Island at the request of Wind Ensemble Director David Winer. They have been colleagues for years. “I am honored that you are putting all this time and effort into my music,” Mr. Susi told the students. “Any composer is grateful. … Just because we write things doesn’t mean people will play it.” Mr. Susi’s visit was made possible by the Joseph Stookins Lecture/Guest Musicians Fund.
“Art making is a never-alone project whether you are collaborating with your friend on a project or collaborating with materials that once belonged to someone else,” Ms. Wilds said. “I do think of the material relations I am constructing as collaborations with people who have made quilts before, giving their work a second chance to be an art object.” Above: Howard el-Yasin and Flora Wilds Top middle: A sonic sculpture composition by Visiting Artist Maria Chavez Top right and bottom right: Guest Musician Tony Susi works with the Loomis Chaffee Wind Ensemble in November in the Hubbard Music Center. loomischaffee.org 17
Head and Heart continued from page 6 So, too, are family, food, and books. “Apart from spending time with my family, my favorite way to relax is with a good book,” Jody says. “I am an avid reader, fiction or historical fiction mostly, and love nothing more than to curl up during breaks with a stack of books. Reading is also how I end each day.” She says she used to be a runner — calling herself a slow one — but has now switched to cycling. At first she stuck mostly to a spin class but now is an avid road biker. She also says she enjoys cooking when she has the time. “My husband and I are ‘foodies’ and love to find great new restaurants,” she says. “We often joke that we travel to eat and make sampling local food an important part of any work trip or vacation. Food is a wonderful way to share and learn about culture.”
Jody and her husband, Kevin, can often be found on the sidelines of various fields and ice rinks. They both enjoy watching their sons, Russell and William, play sports. Both boys are hockey and lacrosse players, for school and travel teams, while William also plays soccer. “As former athletes, my husband and I really enjoy supporting the boys the way our parents supported us,” Jody says. “Road trips to games are also great for bonding in the car.” Before becoming head of school at Indian Mountain in 2015, Jody was the head of middle school and later director of faculty development (grades 4–12) at National Cathedral School (NCS), a private day school for girls in Washington, D.C. Before joining NCS, Jody taught at Millbrook School in New York. Her first stint at Indian Mountain started in 1999, and in the next 10 years she worked in various roles, including teacher of U.S. History, dormitory head, assistant athletic director, girls soccer and lacrosse
coach, and dean of faculty. Jody earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Bates College and a master’s degree in education with a focus on teaching and learning from Harvard University. In his message announcing the appointment of Jody, Chair of the Board of Trustees Duncan MacLean ’90, P ’24, ’27 wrote: “Jody’s professional and personal values — including an emphasis on fostering intellectual curiosity; prioritization of health, wellness, and belonging; and reverence for the pursuit of joy in teaching and learning — are wellaligned with the values and aspirations of the Loomis Chaffee community.” To learn more about the search process and read Jody’s first message to the Loomis Chaffee community, visit the Head of School Search webpage at https://www.loomischaffee. org/about/head-of-school-search.
THAT’S ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! CARNEGIE HALL Flutists Angela Ye and Jessica Luo and clarinetist Max Jiao, all seniors and four-year Loomis Chaffee Wind Ensemble members, have been accepted to the Carnegie Hall Honors Performance Ensembles. They and other selected high school musicians from around the country will spend several days in New York City in February for rehearsals and the culminating performance in famed Carnegie Hall on February 10.
DEBATE Loomis Chaffee debaters earned the top three places among advanced speakers at a Connecticut Debate Association tournament at the end of the fall term, and a total of six members of the Loomis Debate Society have qualified for the state championships. At the final tournament of the fall, junior Luke Han, junior Julius Kim, and senior Mike Hoffman finished first, second, and third, respectively, in the advanced speakers competition. The two-person teams of Luke and Julius as well as Mike and his partner, senior Nana Achiaa Donkor, received team awards in the advanced division, and the team of sophomore Alex Park and junior Cindy Lin was undefeated in the novice division. All six of these students 18 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
qualified to compete in the state finals in the spring.
COMMENDED POET Senior Mercuri Lam was named a commended poet in the 2023 Foyle Young Poets of the Year Awards, the largest international poetry contest for teen writers. From the 15,800 poems entered in the contest, 100 poets were honored, including the top 15 poems and 85 commended poems. Mercuri’s poem, “Bear Brook, New Hampshire,” and the other commended works will appear in an online anthology in March. Mercuri was named Connecticut Youth Poet Laureate last May and published a debut chapbook, Bloodpaths, in April 2023 under the pen name Saturn Browne.
ROBOTICS MENTORS Students on the school’s robotics team mentored young children on Sunday afternoons this fall as part of the FIRST LEGO League Robotics program. As many as 11 children between the ages of 6 and 9 — most of them faculty children — learned basic programming and robotics using LEGOs in the weekly one-hour sessions in the Pearse Hub for Innovation (PHI). The students’ mentorship of younger kids fits the FIRST Robotics model,
with a focus on professionalism and helping others, explains Jen Solomon, associate director of innovation and a science teacher, who is in charge of the FIRST LEGO initiative.
GLOBAL CONNECTIONS Loomis Chaffee students working toward Global & Environmental Studies Certificates visited the Islamic Center of Central Connecticut in New Britain in October, where they connected with female immigrant students of similar ages from countries such as Yemen and Syria. The two groups of teenagers did icebreaker activities, got to know one another through various prompts, and simply talked with each other in group settings. The visitors also toured the mosque, enjoyed a traditional Syrian meal, and heard from leaders at the Islamic Center about misconceptions of Islam and of Muslim people. Loomis faculty member Richard Karrat collaborated with Maha Abdullah, an educator, author, and public speaker who works with the Arabic community in New Britain, to bring the two groups of teenagers together. Richard teaches Arabic, French, and Spanish at Loomis Chaffee and is an associate of the Alvord Center for Global & Environmental Studies, which oversees the certificate program.
ISLAND NEWS
Faculty and Staff News A novel by K.H. Saxton, known on the Island as Loomis Chaffee Registrar, Assistant Director of Studies, and English teacher Kate Saxton, was published by Union Square Kids in September. The A&A Detective Agency: The Fairfleet Affair is geared toward readers ages 8 to 12, who join the pair of main characters as they track down clues and decipher puzzles to try to solve the mystery of a missing millionaire. The book is the first in the A&A Detective Agency series. accepted into two international biennales in recent months. She received an honorable mention in the Chungju International Craft Biennale in Korea, an exhibit that took place in September and October. She also was accepted into the Jingdezhen International Ceramic Biennale in China, which started in December. Both of the pieces YoonJee submitted for the biennales are coil-built ceramic pieces from her “Patterned Memories” series.
Loomis Chaffee Groundskeeper Jesse Burnham (above) was presented with the Windsor Police Department’s Citizen Award in November for helping to free a 17-monthold child from a burning vehicle after a man stole a car with the baby inside from a location in Windsor center, robbed a bank, fled the scene, and crashed the car on Loomis Chaffee property along Windsor Avenue, where Jesse was working. The incident took place in October. The child suffered minor injuries in the crash. The driver of the vehicle died. The citation noted that Jesse “disregarded his own personal safety” to work with the others to get the child out of the car “and provide aid until police arrived.” Ceramic work by artist and Loomis Chaffee visual arts teacher YoonJee Kwak was
Still-life paintings by visual arts teacher Mark Zunino were featured in Five Points Gallery’s 2023 Small Works Juried Exhibition, in Torrington, Connecticut, in October and November. The exhibit was curated by visual arts teacher Melanie Carr, who chose work from more than 900 artist submissions. Dean of Student Life & Wellness Jessica Matzkin received the Burch Ford Kaleidoscope Award from The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS) this fall. Susan Baldrige, the executive director of TABS, made a surprise presentation of the award during an all-school meeting in October. The award honors boarding school professionals nationwide who exemplify commitment, creativity, and excellence in the area of
student and residential life. About 250 schools are members of TABS. Chief Financial Officer Rich Esposito was honored by Windsor’s First Town Downtown organization in October for his work on behalf of the town over the past 14 years. Rich has served on the Board of Directors of the Windsor Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Enhancement Committee, and he is a past president and current treasurer of First Town Downtown. A brick was installed on the Town Green in recognition of Rich’s commitment and dedication to the town. Director of the Kravis Center for Excellence in Teaching Sara Deveaux, Chief Diversity Officer Ashley Augustin, and Fiona Mills, the Kravis Center’s assistant director of DEI curricular and pedagogical development, presented at The Association of Boarding School’s 2023 conference in November in Boston. Their session was titled “A DEI Audit for Assessing Teacher Practice: Empowering Schools to Build Inclusive Classrooms.” Also at TABS, Dean of Student Life & Wellness Jessica Matzkin was the co-leader of the pre-conference workshop “Building Cultures of Mental Wellness: Strategic Approaches to Supporting Student Mental Health.”
Above: Dean of Student Life & Wellness Jessica Matzkin was dressed all-in for Team Purple on the day of the Pelican Games this fall when Susan Baldrige (left), executive director of The Association of Boarding Schools, made a surprise presentation of the Burch Ford Kaleidoscope Award to Jess during an all-school meeting. loomischaffee.org 19
PELICAN SPORTS
20 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Summer 2023
NEW ENGLAND CHAMPS
Unprecedented The Loomis Chaffee varsity volleyball team compiled the first undefeated season in the history of the program this fall and won the New England Prep School Athletic Conference Class A Championship. Compiling a win-loss record of 20-0, the team dropped a total of four sets all season. In the championship tournament, the Pelicans defeated Andover 3-0 in the quarterfinals, topped defending champ Deerfield 3-1 in the semifinals, and overcame Sacred Heart Greenwich 3-1 in the final on November 19 at Milton Academy. Led by head coach Jeffrey Dyreson and assistant coach Hannah Insuik, the close-knit team was captained by seniors Emma Wuchenich and Maddie Moenkhaus. Left: Junior Bella Cardona, junior Aiste Bardauskaite, freshman Audrey Flynn, and senior Ida Wiszomirska celebrate a winning point in a home volleyball match against Northfield Mount Hermon this fall.
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VARSITY RECORDS
1: Senior captain Emma Wuchenich 2: Junior Natalie Crocker 3: Senior Jacob Staton and junior Anthony Rodriguez 4: Sophomore Megan Hosman
BOYS CROSS COUNTRY 4-3 Founders League, 2nd place New England Division I, 5th place GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY 7-0 Founders League Champion New England Division I, 3rd place FIELD HOCKEY 10-7 FOOTBALL 4-4 BOYS SOCCER 12-6-2 New England Class A Quarterfinalist GIRLS SOCCER 11-3-2 New England Class A Quarterfinalist VOLLEYBALL 20-0 Founders League Champion New England Class A Champion BOYS WATER POLO 3-13
22 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
5: Senior captain Lorcan Mitchell 6: Senior Scott Boutry 7: Juniors Erik Lamphere and Lucas Hanley 8: Junior Sydnee Denson and sophomore Tennessee Murphy
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24 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Summer 2023
Standing the Test of Time By Jeff Otterbein Eleven Members of the Loomis Class of 1960 started getting together in 1996 in various places around the country. Three have died. When the pandemic hit and life came to a standstill, the eight classmates did not let that deter them. They met via Zoom. They still do, building it into their schedules.
Erik Mueller, Kenn Tarantino, and Gary Grilli grew up in South Windsor and graduated from Loomis Chaffee in 1993. Now five of their children attend the school. But the story really only starts there. “It seems more and more that our families are woven together somehow rather than just connected,” Kenn says.
On Wendy West Nelson’s ’69 first day of school at Chaffee, she met Megan O’Neill ’69. They would become lifelong friends. Suzanne Nolan also was in the Class of 1969. Wendy and Suzanne had not kept in touch after high school. “Then I got a taste of what an extraordinary woman she was,” Wendy says.
Petagay Rowe ’95 and Stacy-Ann Rowe ’97 are sisters, but beyond that they are best friends. “What Loomis has done is brought my sister and me together in our adult years, which is usually a time when families drift apart,” Petagay says.
Lisa Johnson ’88 was a senior day student from Connecticut when she met David Stevenson ’88, a post-graduate student from Texas. They eventually would marry in Founders Chapel, and their daughter Kate would graduate in the Class of 2023.
Chris Mattei ’96, Tim Helfrich ’96, and Jon Hunt ’96 did a 35-mile run through the Grand Canyon in one day last May, starting out in the dark with headlamps on. And it’s safe to say they would run through a brick wall for one another.
Six Stories. A small sampling of the bonds built at Loomis, Chaffee, and Loomis Chaffee.
loomischaffee.org 25
Zooming in on Close Relationships Every other Monday at 5 p.m. the faces pop up on the Zoom screen. If everyone is on the call — Rick Beizer, John Bigelow, David Carroll, David Hobler, Tom Jones, Bob Kaiser, Mackie MacLean, and Harvey Struthers — it is eight graduates of the Class of 1960. If you can make the call, fine. If you cannot, that is understood, though you might take a little ribbing. On this evening Bob gets on the call late. The question at the time was what keeps this relationship going. “Boredom,” cracks Bob. Someone has a sense of humor is one response, but here’s another: “That will be the last time someone says that about you, Greelie.” Greelie is Bob Kaiser’s nickname. It’s actually his middle name, and the nickname resides in the 1960 yearbook. There were so many nicknames thrown around on the call, and not just among those on the call but of others from back in the day, that you would need a scorecard, as they say, to keep everything straight. Nicknames tend to be humorous, but they most often are a sign of endearment. And this group is close. As Bob says, “psychologically dependent on one another. We are important in each other’s lives.” Harvey is the record-keeper. A member of the Loomis Chaffee Board of Trustees, he keeps the crew informed of what is happening on the Island. Before COVID altered the world, the men would gather every so often at someone’s house for about four days at a time. There have been 14 gatherings in the past 30 years, in locations from Martha’s Vineyard
From left to right: Mackie MacLean, Harvey Struthers, David Hobler, Bob Kaiser, John Bigelow, Rick Beizer, Tom Jones, and David Carroll at a 2018 gathering.
in Massachusetts to Lake Tahoe in Nevada. Harvey has kept a file on each one. Those in-person gatherings could not happen during COVID, but this band of brothers did not let the pandemic stop them. They just switched to Zoom like the rest of the world. And those Mondays are planned around the call as much as possible. “We have different backgrounds, we are in different parts of the country, so it is enriching in that way,” Harvey says. “People bring different perspectives to our conversations and another way of thinking.” Rick feels much the same as Harvey. “It is very comfortable talking with these guys,” Rick says. “Part of it for me is all of us have had interesting lives between the time we went to Loomis and now, so it is nice to hear how people have gotten along. We are different, but the same. We have had the same experiences or a lot of the same experiences with Loomis. We spend some time talking about those. We talk politics. We talk sports. The organ recital. You know, the latest, greatest pain in the whatever.”
Age seems not to dim the memory, only to heighten the importance of enduring relationships developed at a time when Eisenhower was president and rock ’n’ roll was starting to take hold. “It is certainly the sound we grew up with,” remembers Rick. “There was a lot of resistance from older people to Little Richard and Tutti Frutti.” In an alumni remembrance published on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the school, Bob wrote, “We were the first rock ’n’ roll generation, blaring alien noises around campus to the horror of many of our elders.” These also were the days, noted Bob in that article, of “strict rules, single-sex education and coat-and-ties.” That, of course, does not mean there were not any shenanigans going on. There were two stories relayed on this call that are best kept secret. A common refrain when the group is gathered in person or via Zoom might start with, “Remember the time when …” And ultimately the laughs start.
CLASS OF 1960 Rick Beiser 26 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
John Bigelow
David Carroll
Lyle Davis
David Hobler
Mini-Reunions
The site of the gatherings
The group gets on Zoom every two weeks and generally has tried for one in-person gathering every year since the idea was hatched. Three of the group’s 11 original members have died. All 11 (pictured in the framed photo) gathered for the first mini-reunion in 1996.
Front Row: Pete Ramsey: deceased (2004) • New York City • Banker John Wilbur: deceased (2013) • Palm Beach, Florida • Lawyer Rick Beizer: Great Falls, Virginia • Lawyer, former assistant U.S. attorney David Carroll: Tappan, New York • Writer of non-fiction books
Back Row: Lyle Davis: deceased (1998) • Concord, Massachusetts Owner of investment management firm John Bigelow: Santa Fe, New Mexico • Retired, lawyer, government official
2022 2019 2018 2016 2015 2014 2012 2011 2010 2008 2007 2006 2005 1996
Chicago, Illinois Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Chicago, Illinois Washington, D.C. Lake Tahoe, Nevada New York, New York Lake Tahoe, Nevada Beauvais Point, Canada Tannersville, New York Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts Santa Fe, New Mexico Door County, Wisconsin Beauvais Point, Canada Tannersville, New York
Tom Jones: Easthampton, Massachusetts Retired, private school headmaster, environmental consultant David Hobler: Seattle, Washington • Lawyer, addiction counselor Mackie MacLean: Haverford, Pennsylvania Co-owner of executive search firm Harvey Struthers: Vero Beach, Florida • Retired, banker Bob Kaiser: New York City • Retired, 50 years at Washington Post, including seven years as managing editor • Author of eight books “The school was a big part of everyone’s life,” Harvey says. “We were not just passing through. There are a lot of memories of classes, teachers, sports we played.” They were on many of the same teams, many of the same clubs. Tom Jones arrived from Middletown, Ohio, for his junior year. Middletown was known in the 1950s as the basketball capital of Ohio, winning multiple state high school titles, including two when future NBA Hall of Famer Jerry Lucas starred there. Tom was a basketball player; he was perfectly content to stay at home. “My mother ordered me to go to boarding school,” he remembers with a slight laugh.
Tom Jones
Bob Kaiser
At the time, Tom had basketball skills, not necessarily academic prowess. Rick and Tom captained the Loomis basketball team as seniors when the Pelicans went 10-3. Dave Hobler was on that team, too. “I had to learn how to study,” Tom says. “I remember calling my mother after a chemistry exam and saying I think I aced the chem exam. Of course, I had gotten a D-minus. It took me a while to figure out academics, but it was a good thing for me, it saved me.” And that’s the thing. If anyone needs saving, there’s always someone there.
Mackie MacLean
Pete Ramsey
“It’s like a support group I suppose,” Harvey says. “I could count on any of these guys. If I needed help, they would help.” The call on this Monday would end a little short of the one-hour time period. Rick was headed out to an improv class with his wife. And that was sure to make for some good stories down the road.
Harvey Struthers
John Wilbur loomischaffee.org 27
Once a Classmate, Always a Classmate A Story of How Suzanne Nolan ’69 Touched the Life of Wendy West ’69 On Wendy West Nelson’s first day at Chaffee, she met Megan O’Neill. They would become lifelong friends from the Chaffee Class of 1969. “We never lost touch even though we’ve always lived a couple hundred or a few thousand miles apart since graduation,” Wendy says in an interview. “I think we’ve seen each other once or twice a year for most of those 50-plus years. A bit more frequently in retirement. … She is most like a sister to me.” This is but one of many examples of lifelong friendships built at Loomis, Chaffee, and Loomis Chaffee. Yet you never quite know when or how a classmate might come back into your life.
Wendy West
Suzanne Nolan
This is but one of many examples of lifelong friendships built at Loomis, Chaffee, and Loomis Chaffee. Yet you never quite know when or how a classmate might come back into your life.
Such was the case with Suzanne Nolan ’69, who died Feb. 21, 2023, but not before having an impact on the life of both Wendy and Megan. Suzanne was diagnosed in late fall of 2022 with liver cancer that metastasized to her pancreas. Many of her Chaffee classmates wrote touching tributes about Suzanne and emailed them to the Loomis Chaffee Communications Office. One spoke of the unbroken Chaffee bond, always there. Wendy and Suzanne had not kept in touch after high school. “Then I got a taste of what an extraordinary woman she was,” Wendy wrote in her email tribute. “In 2021, when she learned my husband was a [double lung] transplant patient, she offered useful and funny support.” There were emails and phone calls, a consistent show of support. Suzanne understood what Wendy was going through in part because Suzanne once had a liver transplant. Suzanne also had a master’s 28 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
Megan O’Neil
Merrill Bunce
degree in counseling with many years of practical application in formal settings. But it was more than that; helping others seemed to be embedded in her soul.
Suzanne regularly visited Megan and emailed or phoned Wendy with updates.
In 2022, Suzanne was there again for Wendy. Megan had a medical issue, and Wendy, who lives in the Philadelphia area, could only occasionally drive to see Megan in Connecticut.
After all those years apart, Wendy and Suzanne developed a bond from 2021 to 2023. More than 50 years had passed since graduation, but it did not matter.
“I was so appreciative of that,” Wendy says.
They Met — and Married —Here “Part of what made her reaching out so powerful was that it was rooted in our old school friendship,” Wendy says. “Some combination of that and Suzanne’s gifts made our conversations immediately intimate and trustworthy in a way that is unlike, say, professional therapy, worthy as that is. She was also very funny and irreverent, which was a tonic.” Phrases on the Loomis Chaffee website — from “it’s all about community” to “fostering the common good” — played out in real life. Words that Suzanne lived by. Suzanne taught for a time, including at Loomis Chaffee; worked in nonprofits; and did church ministry as well as stints as a chaplain at Manchester Memorial Hospital in Connecticut and Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Massachusetts. After retirement she became much more active at St. Patrick–St. Anthony Church in Hartford, Connecticut.
Lisa and David Stevenson, Class of ’88, Ran in the Same Circles There is little surprise that Lisa Johnson Stevenson ’88 attended Loomis Chaffee. Her father, Stanley, and his twin brother, Clinton, each graduated in 1959; their brother, Lowell, graduated in 1953. Lisa’s sister Kristin graduated in 1985. It’s not a shock that Dave Stevenson ’88 came here, but he easily might have gone somewhere else. He was from Texas and was looking for a post-graduate year. “My mom is from Massachusetts, and we would always visit the East Coast during the summer,” Dave says, “and even today I have uncles, aunts, and cousins scattered
throughout New England. And, I am the last of five. My siblings had all gone east to school, so I was certainly familiar with the area. I can’t really put a finger on it, why Loomis, I guess it was just a feeling.”
Suzanne’s best friend at Chaffee, says Wendy, was Merrill Bunce ’69. “That friendship lasted over the years just as Megan’s and mine has,” Wendy says. “Merrill was a speaker at the funeral Mass along with family members.” In Merrill’s email tribute, she wrote about backpacking with Suzanne through Europe in the summer of 1973, and Suzanne officiating at Merrill’s wedding and those of Merrill’s two daughters. In the various tributes, Suzanne was said to be funny, kind, smart, unselfish, and courageous and to have sincerity, levity, and temerity. Suzanne left a profound impression on Wendy as well. “At 70 she still radiated the sparkle she had as an athletic student and leader, even though she’d obviously had health challenges,” Wendy wrote in her email tribute. “She gave me the feeling that time and any difficulties in her life had simply distilled and enlarged her spirit, in a way that was grounded in people and based in faith. And of course, with an utter lack of pretense or self-importance. “A sad loss, yes. More than most, I can imagine her smooth passage to a higher plane.”
Above: Lisa and David with their daughter Kate at Kate’s 2023 graduation loomischaffee.org loomischaffee.org 29
A feeling that altered both of their lives. “I had come early for cross country camp,” Dave says, “and I remember seeing a girl standing at the pay phone and wondered who that might be.” As he says, he was from Texas, and there was no reason to think this was anything but a stopover as he was eager to return home. “I never would have thought I would get married and come back and have children here,” Dave says. But that is exactly what happened. Lisa and Dave’s son, Harry, went to Westminster and is a senior at Bates College. Their daughter, Kate, graduated in 2023 from Loomis Chaffee and is a freshman at Kenyon College. “We did not have any classes together, but we were always in one another’s orbit,” Lisa recalls. “We dated at Loomis and even went to prom together. We enrolled in college (Lisa at Denison; Dave at Kenyon) about 45 minutes from one another. But there were 30 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
times when the schools could have been on opposite coasts. We would stay in touch, but we did not officially ‘date’ in college. We reconnected about two months before college graduation, and the rest is history.” Part of that “orbit” at Loomis Chaffee was the cross country program. Lisa: “I was first struck by his Southern charm (not his mullet) and most of all, his sense of humor and playful spirit.” Dave: “I had a beautiful flowing ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ Billy Ray Cyrus mullet.” Lisa: “That might be a little bit of an exaggeration. But no matter, I had that trimmed off way before graduation.” “It was Lisa’s confidence that I first noticed,” Dave says. “She was on a payphone, her back was to me, but I could tell whoever she was speaking to on the other side of the phone was getting an earful. This gal wasn’t taking any guff.”
They married in Founders Chapel. This was not lost on Kate and became a useful anecdote for her role as a tour guide. “Dave and I liked the idea of getting married in a chapel or church that had meaning for both of us,” Lisa says. “I was part of the choir at Loomis, and our practices and performances took place in the chapel. I used to sit up in one of the windows, with two of my pals, during our choir rehearsals. The chapel is beautiful in its simplicity. Three of my bridesmaids were our Loomis classmates — Erika Heim Abella, Jennifer Hartley Johnson, and Chase Olcott Stevenson.” Says Dave: “It was actually pretty selfless of Lisa to suggest Loomis. Tradition dictates that the ceremony is in the bride’s hometown or church, and often there is no connection or attachment for the groom. But Lisa pushed for Loomis as it would be meaningful to me and my family, too. What an odd thing but I look at that well-worn step into Founders, the door closest to Batch. As a boarder, how many times did I have to navigate that divot? And
who would have foreseen that our first steps as a married couple would be over that hollow? I actually smile when I see that funny, old worn stone. It has ‘seen’ us as students, alums, newlyweds, and parents.” Late May/early June in 2023 was a busy time for the Stevensons with Kate graduating.
“Some of my lifelong best friends are my Loomis pals, and I always treasure the times when we get to reconnect.” — LISA JOHNSON STEVENSON “Graduation day certainly brought back a flood of wonderful memories — the day was very reminiscent of our graduation in 1988 — white dresses, beautiful weather and backdrop, and a flood of emotions,” Lisa says. Dave adds, “Agree, I loved the similarities between the 1988 and 2023 graduation ceremonies, even the irreverent ones. As we received our diploma, in the process of shaking Dr. [John] Ratte’s hand, we surreptitiously slipped him a jack. This year, I think Dr. [Sheila] Culbert collected about 200 bookmarks.” A few days before the May 28 graduation, Dave, Lisa, and Lisa’s mom headed to campus to take prom photos of Kate and her friends. “During pictures, I had never heard the story before, but my Mom shared that she actually attended the Loomis prom in the old dining hall, many years before, with my dad,” Lisa says. Two weeks after graduation, Lisa and Dave were here for Reunion Weekend. “The night was a fun and festive blast from the past. Some of my lifelong best friends are my Loomis pals, and I always treasure the times when we get to reconnect,” Lisa says. “One of my other favorite spots on campus is the second-floor porch of Howe Hall (formerly Mason). Two of my best pals lived in the room with the porch on the second floor. We logged countless hours on that porch. On the
night of the reunion, we revisited the porch — what a perfect birds-eye view of the quad.” Dave remembers being homesick at first when he arrived on campus for his postgrad year, and thinking the courses “were too hard, the school too much of a challenge. “With hindsight it was exactly what I needed,” Dave says. “And, of course, it is the place
where I met my wife, so I have a sense of gratitude. But honestly, I think I fell in love with the school in my current role as a parent. Kate grew up there. Being a teenager is rough. Mix in the isolation of COVID and she was, our family was, lucky to have that community.” Opposite page: Lisa and David’s 1996 wedding in Founders Chapel Above: Lisa with Jennifer Hartley Johnson ’88 during their 35th Reunion Inset: Kate receiving her diploma from Head of School Sheila Culbert at Commencement 2023 loomischaffee.org 31
All Routes Lead Back to 4 Batchelder Road Kenn Tarantino, Gary Grilli, and Erik Mueller Graduated Together in 1993. Now Five of Their Children Are Here.
together in South Windsor. Erik, Kenn, and Gary all went to the same middle school, where Gary and Kenn played on the school’s basketball team. The story only starts there. Buckle up for a long ride. Erik’s mother, Ingrid Mueller, taught German at Loomis and drove the three boys to school until they were old enough to drive. Erik and Gary were in New York City with Kenn when Kenn met his wife, Mavi. Maisie Mueller and Catalina Tarantino were born within hours of each other. “The story continues with the Muellers, and then my family, relocating to San Francisco, where I coached Maisie and Catalina in soccer,” Kenn says. “Our children attended the same K-8 school, where Courtney Mueller, Erik’s wife, was our daughter Isabella’s art teacher. Here they are, having made the same decision to attend LC together.” Erik remembers well when the idea of the children attending Loomis Chaffee happened. Kenn wanted to get together for dinner. “He said I’m thinking of sending my girls to Loomis, and I said that’s crazy. Courtney and I are thinking of doing the same with Maisie,” Erik says. “And then the twist of all twists is Gary says his second son, Justin, is going to apply.” Erik Mueller, Kenn Tarantino, and Gary Grilli sometimes find themselves in the Chaffee parking lot, their minds drifting back 30 years. Kenn was a lacrosse athlete, Gary a baseball player, Erik a runner, all three graduating in 1993. After practice they’d sometimes hang out in that parking lot. Now, all these years later, they sometimes do the same as they wait to pick up their children who play sports for the Pelicans. “We’ve had some surreal moments as we wait for our kids,” Erik says. Says Gary: “Over time, Loomis has managed to keep us together in many ways. It’s crazy 32 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
to think that after being spread out and living on opposite sides of the country, we’ve practically become neighbors again due to our children attending Loomis.” Maisie Mueller, Justin Grilli, and Catalina Tarantino are juniors. Isabella Tarantino is a senior. Grace Grilli is a freshman. “I credit my experiences at Loomis and certainly the friendships I developed while at school for helping shape my life to this very day,” Gary says. “I can only hope for the same for Erik’s, Kenn’s, and my children.”
They were back together. “When we relocated back to Connecticut [in 2021] ahead of the Loomis school year beginning, Justin was one of the first classmates Catalina would meet as the Grillis hosted us at the beach to welcome us back to New England,” Kenn says of the move from California. Erik and Courtney maintain a residence in California, where Erik and his brother own a business. Courtney and Maisie live in Connecticut full-time. Kenn, an investment
The lives of Erik, Kenn, Gary, and their families have been intertwined for years. Erik and Kenn went to elementary school
Above: Kenn, Gary, and Erik on campus during Family Weekend this fall
manager, and his wife, Mavi, live in Avon. Gary and his wife, Nicole, live in South Windsor, where Gary is a longtime dentist. “It’s just a wild thing,” Erik says. “I fly and am here every couple of weeks. Our spouses all get along, and so we all occasionally will meet up at The Bean [local coffee shop] on a Thursday morning and just hang out. It has been an interesting road.” And that road leads back to 4 Batchelder Road. “It seems more and more that our families are woven together somehow rather than just connected,” Kenn says. “And we share a legacy now with Loomis Chaffee that magically has our children sharing a similar experience not only with each other, but also with us. Our LC is now their LC. Their legacy together matters, and someday they will understand how strong a bond it creates.” Kenn is an assistant coach with the boys lacrosse team. “I had the gift of playing for Jim ‘Grim’ Wilson, who was one of the best coaches I’ve had the pleasure of playing for,” Kenn says. “I was fortunate to be named All-American — there were so many exceptional players on my LC team — but I felt the bigger accolade was being named captain by my teammates. … Now, being an assistant coach here with an exceptional group of coaches, I feel a tremendous responsibility to give back, to give what I can to the program, to the other coaches, to the terrific young men we help develop and guide.” Erik has worked with some Loomis science classes. He and his brother operate eTrac Inc., which provides hydrographic surveys and custom integrated services to multiple sectors in the marine industry. The Island has never been far from Erik’s mind. As he says, he was at Loomis before he was at Loomis since his mother taught there from 1984 to 2009 and served as the Language Department head for a time. In the 1993 yearbook, there are senior photos with remembrances. Most of what is written means nothing to an outsider. These tend to have a certain number of inside jokes. If you know the story of these three, the first words next to Kenn’s senior photo say it all: “S.W. Mueller. Grilli.”
These Sisters Are Fast Friends Working at LC Has Only Strengthened The Rowes’ Relationship Theirs is a friendship that began while growing up together in New York City, continued at Loomis Chaffee as students and now as faculty members. Yes, they are sisters, but more than that they are best friends. Petagay Rowe ’95 is a member of the English faculty and an admission affiliate who lives on campus. Stacy-Ann Rowe ’97, known to all as “Ro,” is the Visual Arts Department head, associate director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, and head of Ammidon Hall. A third sister, Terry Rowe-Bailey ’03, was a Spanish teacher at Miss Porter’s from 2018 to 2021 as well as a class dean. She now lives in Miami. “Commonality strengthens familiarity,” Petagay says. “Attending the same school fosters bonding while reminiscing about our teenage years as the imagery and
references all make sense to each one of us. Now I have the privilege of working with one of my sisters. … We practically live together again like we did when we were younger and take full advantage of each other’s presence.” Says Ro: “LC has played a significant role here, providing a space where we not only relive memories but also create new ones. Our interactions at LC transcend the usual sibling relationship, blending professional respect with familial love.” They are often seen in the dining hall eating — and laughing — together at lunchtime. But then it’s on to the next thing. Faculty members at a boarding school such as Loomis Chaffee are involved in the lives of students in many ways. “What Loomis has done is brought my sister and me together in our adult years,
Above: Petagay and Stacy-Ann are rarely far apart. loomischaffee.org 33
which is usually a time when most families drift apart,” Petagay says. “I never thought that, during our adult years, we would be having lunch meetings together during work time. This shows that I envisioned my siblings and me to have a long-distance relationship once we all graduated, and expected we would meet up during the typical designated family holidays. It is refreshing to have the option of continuing my childhood well into my gray years.” The sisters teamed up when they were in school together to form the first LC Step Team.
“Although we wear many hats here, the end goals all mirror that of an educator,” Petagay says. “Whether it is in the English classroom, as the step team coach, faculty advisor to numerous community engagement groups, driver for the equestrian team, producer of the multiple solidarity projects, or as dorm faculty, my engagement with the students on this campus is to enrich their lives starting with themselves. “No matter the hat worn, I am an advisor to the undecided, a shoulder to lean on for the fatigued, a warm hug for those on the verge
of how popular I and the show had become. I lived for the rush of performing on stage and meeting the celebrities who came to watch us perform.” Ro experienced a “rush” of her own last spring when her art exhibit, “Freedom of Thought,” filled the Sue and Eugene Mercy Jr. Gallery. As she said at the time, she was proud to have come full circle in the place that cemented her interest in art, the Richmond Art Center. When Petagay became a faculty member in 2020, one of her goals was to revive the LC Step Team, which she has done. The team performs a few times a school year. Petagay and Ro often work together. “As faculty members we have collaborated quite a bit with a number of events, but the LC Solidarity Project has been a new, fun way to support our students and bring that Pelican spirit,” Ro says. An LC Solidarity video highlighting the diversity of Loomis Chaffee through students from various countries has been shown at Martin Luther King Day celebrations on campus. The 2024 video will be spoken word. In the 1995 yearbook, Petagay has a shout-out for Ro, and in the 1997 yearbook Ro returns the favor. “My sister and I are two completely different individuals, but I wanted her to know that, just as I had done, she too could end her race with a win,” Petagay says. “We both wanted to bring home the gold for our parents and especially our siblings as examples of successes those looking up to us could realize on their own as well.”
“Despite our different strengths,” Ro said, “we found a unique rhythm and complemented each other perfectly. This moment not only showcased our sibling synergy but also encapsulated the essence of our shared journey at LC, filled with support, laughter, and growth.” Support … laughter … growth. Just some of what they try to provide each other and the students. 34 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
of tears, and applause for the numerous victories when achieved.” Petagay knows something about applause. She was a finalist on Popstars, a reality talent program that aired on the WB network in 2000, and a top-six finalist on NBC’s popular reality competition FAME in 2003. “FAME was fun,” remembers Petagay. “I got to be on TV weekly and wasn’t even aware
Says Ro: “In the yearbook, my shout-out to Petagay reflects her role as both a sibling and an inspiration. She set a high standard, both academically and personally, which was indeed a hard act to follow. Her success and resilience motivated me to pursue my goals with equal determination and heart. But quite literally, I would have never known that Loomis Chaffe existed without her being accepted, and for that I am eternally grateful.”
Left: For Petagay and Ro, shown here in the Tisch Dining Hall, support, laughter, and growth are part of a shared journey.
An Epic Adventure Rugged Run Through Grand Canyon
didn’t qualify for that either. So we bonded over getting destroyed by guys who actually knew how to play football. Jon was, I don’t know, about 110 pounds. I was about 105 pounds. And we bonded over that shared misery and became fast friends.” Tim was on the soccer team, one of five brothers to have played soccer on the Island on a field now named for the Helfrich family. Tim met Chris and Jon that freshman year in the student lounge. The group of friends that has stayed close for about 30 years also includes classmates Chad McDermott ’96 and Matt Lawson ’96, though neither could make the Grand Canyon adventure. “We really do think of ourselves as a group of five,” Jon says. “You know, incredibly close friends. So we missed having Lawson and Chad [on the run].” The run came about because of a Zoom call in November 2022. Hiking in the Southern Sierras, an adventure they shared in 2021, had been a memorable experience. Somebody said, “We need to do something epic again.” Tim came up with the Grand Canyon idea, and it took on a life of its own. Tim, Jon, and Chris began training, each running about 600 miles in preparation — but not one mile together. Chris lives in Connecticut, Tim in North Carolina, and Jon in California.
They have hiked the Southern Sierras and run through the Grand Canyon, so who knows what the next adventure will be? Maybe something a little tamer, but don’t bet on that. Chris Mattei, Tim Helfrich, and Jon Hunt, Loomis Chaffee classmates from 1996, completed the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim To Rim Run in May. The run, which typically covers about 43 miles and 11,000 feet of elevation gain, starts at the South Rim and goes to the North Rim and back again. The North Rim was closed when the trio was there because of a record amount of snow, so they had to improvise and ended up running about 35 miles. All in one day. “I think it was about nine hours of active running and 11 hours total or something
like that,” Tim says on a Zoom call. “Using running as a verb to describe what happened the last four hours would be completely inappropriate. I don’t know what the verb is to describe what we were doing, but it was slogging our way back.” The friendship of Chris, Tim, and Jon goes back to their freshman year in the fall of 1992. Chris and Jon were on the III football team. They, of course, wanted to be on the varsity team. “To be clear, we signed up for football,” Chris says, “but we were told that we were on the III, which was generous, and we probably
“I was never convinced I was actually going to be able to do it right up until the very end,” Chris says, “and I kept telling these guys, ‘Look, I’m not committing to this. I’ll keep training, but I’m not committing to it.’ I’d never been much of a runner, but this became a time to reflect on all sorts of things — career, family life, friendship — during those long runs.” Although they could not train together, keeping in touch continually about their training helped, he says. They became each other’s inspiration. Above: Tim, Chris, and Jon embark on their grand adventure. loomischaffee.org 35
They also were accountable to one another. “It was a pretty amazing six-month journey,” Jon says, “and we have a text thread that literally has thousands of texts and pictures. We kind of did one step in front of the other and got there, so that was fun.”
“Generally, I think a person makes sure their sneakers are not threadbare the night before they go on a 35-mile run.” — JON HUNT
They woke up the morning of the run, May 8, at 2:30 a.m. It was dark and it was cold, 36 degrees.
Chris reflects on relationships that transcend any one moment. Chris met his wife through Jon. Chris is the godfather to Tim’s oldest daughter. They stayed connected during their college days and have done so through marriage, children, and busy careers. A lot happened in their lives during just their six-month training period.
“We had no idea what we were in for,” Tim says, “and started out with headlamps.”
Chris is a trial lawyer who presented a case on behalf of Sandy Hook families against conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who spread lies to his millions of followers about the 2012 mass shooting. The Connecticut jury in October 2022 returned a $1 billion judgment against Mr. Jones and the parent company of his Infowars website, and the court later added $473 million in punitive damages.
They ran for hours without seeing a single other person. They had to carry gear on their backs, including water and carbohydrates for fuel. Along the way there were challenges. A part of the trail had fallen into the canyon. What was supposed to be a stream had turned into a river. A bridge had been washed away. Then there was an issue with Chris that took some innovation to overcome. They were about five miles in when he looked down and one of his shoes was falling apart. They taped it, but they knew that would not be enough. “We had these sun sleeves, almost like compression stockings, that you wear on your arms,” Chris says. They slid one over the shoe, and that did the trick for the next 30 miles. Chris, of course, took some heat for this. “Generally, I think a person makes sure their sneakers are not threadbare the night before they go on a 35-mile run,” Jon says. “I think that is the protocol.” The protocol for this adventure was to minimize risks. There are warning and danger signs all over the Grand Canyon. One starts out with “hiking in the canyon is dangerous,” so imagine what running is amid temperature changes. And the running itself is difficult and dangerous: climbing and descending, running switchbacks, zigzagging that is especially tough before the sun comes up. “I think we were between feeling really relaxed and connected and having a great time, but also being pretty aware that we needed to stay really focused on nutrition and water,” Tim says. Their memories of the adventure range from specific details to philosophical realizations. 36 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
“The Grand Canyon was epic in its own right, but the piece I might remember the most is the laughs, the grind of what we went through training even though we did not see each other the entire six months,” Jon says. “The camaraderie. You know, we would call each other during the long training runs, and we’d patch all three of us in and give encouragement, say 28 miles into a 30-mile run. I’ll tell you, that made the difference for me anyway.” Tim says the undertaking really was about friendship. “We went to Flagstaff [Arizona] on Friday and did not get to the canyon until Monday,” Tim says. “Chris said at one point while we were reflecting that his favorite part was maybe the drive from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon. We’re just hanging out and singing, driving in the car.” Being in the Grand Canyon early in the morning with headlamps on was “a truly extraordinary experience,” Tim says. Likewise being at the bottom of the canyon when the sun comes up. “You feel miniscule,” he says.
Jon changed jobs and works for Microsoft, running its enterprise software business. Tim, who previous taught at Loomis, stepped away from an operations role in Summit Coffee Company, based in Davidson, N.C., a company he has owned for 20 years, and launched LEAPP Coaching, which stands for Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Peak Performance. “There were also birthdays, school dances, tennis tournaments, ski trips, performances, injuries, family members fighting cancer, new pets, the death of a classmate, hangovers, worries about teenage kids, house projects, COVID tests, and hundreds and hundreds of miles,” Tim wrote in a blog post. “We shared them all on a text thread as long as the path from rim to rim. On most long runs, we called each other to help pass the time and a few miles. Love, Beauty, Freedom, Connection, Adventure.” Friends. “We have been able to sustain these relationships for 30 years, and that means so much to me,” Chris says. Editors’ Note: Sadly, as this magazine went to press, we learned that Matt Lawson ’96, mentioned earlier in this story, died on January 2, 2024.
... So, We Leapt “The term ‘leap of faith’ was first coined by Danish Existential philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, who recognized that there are important moments in our lives when we face choices for which rational and logical thinking are insufficient, thus requiring faith as the catalyst for decision or action. Running the canyon together seemed immensely illogical given our state of conditioning, the distance between us, the busyness of our lives, our lack of experience. But it also somehow felt right. So, we leapt.”
Six Months of Training
So many hours of running we’ve put in
So many
You’re ready dude.
— TIM HELFRICH, from a blog on the LEAPP website
“It was a pretty amazing six-month journey, and we have a text thread that literally has thousands of texts and pictures. We kind of did one step in front of the other and got there, so that was fun.” — JON HUNT “We have been able to sustain these relationships for 30 years, and that means so much to me,” — CHRIS MATTEI
MAY 8, 2023 Wake up time: 2:30 a.m. Start time: 3:21 a.m. Finish time: 2:30 p.m. Coldest temp: 36 degrees Hottest temp: 90 degrees Miles Run: 35
Chris Mattei, Tim Helfrich, and Jon Hunt didn’t live close to each other. They never ran a single step together, so each trained in his own way. They texted back and forth. They pushed and prodded and encouraged one another. They were ready by the day of the run, even if the final six miles would take almost three hours. Then they drove 90 miles back to their hotel for one final night together, singing tunes along the way and sending what Tim called “proof-of-life messages” to their families.
loomischaffee.org 37
TURNING UP THE
Chris Schonberger ’02 Created a YouTube Sensation in “Hot Ones” By Jeff Otterbein
38 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
THE PITCH To shake up the tired Q&A format, we put the talent in the hot seat: They have to answer our most probing questions while also eating incredibly hot wings. Tony Hawk eats at a lot of high-end restaurants around the world and is also involved in the San Diego restaurant scene, so we’d like to interview him about his culinary travels while he battles with the wings.
We could get Sean Evans to host. Or I can.
T
hat was the original pitch for Hot Ones emailed by Chris Schonberger ’02 to his bosses at Complex Networks on December 4, 2014. The show made its debut on March 12, 2015. Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk was not the first guest, but he would go on the show during the second season. Now, more than 300 episodes later, the talk show Hot Ones created by Chris and hosted by Evans on the YouTube culinary channel First We Feast remains as hot as ever. And lucrative. A spokesperson would not give exact numbers but said Hot Ones — and all that is associated with the show — is an eight-figure business. The concept is simple. Celebrity guests sample 10 wings that become increasingly hot. Make it through 10 and you are a champ, even if you don’t remember everything you said along the way. The thinking was that the hot sauce would break down people’s inhibitions when answering questions by Evans, who is
known for his interview skills and ability to put guests at ease while eating the hot wings himself. Evans has been on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, where he and Colbert did a mini version of Hot Ones — four wings, the last one called Blair’s Mega Death Sauce with Extra Rage and registering at 550,000 on the “Scoville scale.” [See definition, page 42.] Evans asked Colbert about being vocal about his faith, Catholicism, over the years, to which Colbert replied, “Forgive me, God, for whatever I did to deserve this.” Then there was Julia Louis-Dreyfus of Seinfeld fame saying, “I’m firing my publicist. I also want a lawyer … now.” More than once she said, “I’m sweating, I’m actually sweating.” And comedian Kevin Hart trying to get the words out, “My lips feel like they’re bleeding.” There’s actress Jennifer Lawrence: “I feel like I’m going to die.” And actress Margot Robbie, who recently played Barbie in the hit movie: “It’s the worst thing I have ever eaten.”
Live date — TBD Above: Author, chef, and food personality Eddie Huang with Hot Ones creator Chris Schonberger ’02 and host Sean Evans loomischaffee.org 39
“I’m firing my publicist. I also want a lawyer … now. — Julia Louis-Dreyfus
I feel like I’m going to die. — Jennifer Lawrence
My lips feel like they’re bleeding. — Kevin Hart
Cardi B said her fans had been begging her to go on for “so, so, so, so long” that she went on in September, at one point saying, “I just want to go home to my kids. … This is crazy.” Hot Ones deserves all the attention it gets, which is plenty. There have been Hot Ones memes, a bingewatch list by Mashable, Vanity Fair and New York Times stories, a few Streamy Awards for best online video content, a Hall of Shame for celebrities who didn’t make it to 10 wings. 40 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
The show has been spoofed on Saturday Night Live. There was a Hot Ones game show spin-off on TruTV for one season. And if you’re looking for something special for that heat lover in your family, gift packs of hot sauces used on the shows are available. About one million bottles of Hot Ones hot sauce have been sold. Hot Ones has 21 million followers across social platforms and has more than two billion views since its inception. It has been nominated
for two daytime Emmy Awards going up against traditional shows such as The Today Show and The Kelly Clarkson Show, breaking new ground for YouTube and talk shows. In the beginning someone in a bar might occasionally recognize Sean as “the wing guy,” but there was much more anonymity than celebrity, according to Chris. “We remember that maybe an airline agent might say we’re going to have to pat you down for wings, and we thought that was so funny,” Chris says. “Now, Sean cannot move down the street
Reacting to Change To know how Chris thinks is to know his life. He was born in Washington, D.C., and lived in Connecticut from third grade through high school, spending a lot of summers, vacations, and winter breaks in England, where his mother’s family has roots. He was always enamored with Time Out, a publication that started in London in 1968 and covered the cultural and entertainment scene, and English talk shows that would not let guests off easy and were cheeky in tone.
Chris has always been a writer at heart, honing that craft at Loomis Chaffee and Harvard, where he wrote for various publications. Chris says he is grateful to Loomis for encouraging his love of writing.
without being mobbed. It’s just remarkable seeing how famous he has gotten. I’m very much behind the scenes, so only the super-fans of the show know me.” Those who watched the episode with actress Leslie Mann saw Chris for a minute. When Mann sampled the “Da Bomb” hot sauce, she asked: “That’s really bad. Whose idea was this show?” Evans said Chris was in the studio, and Mann motioned for him to come over and try a
little of the dastardly heat. “I deserve this,” Chris said. And he handled the heat. He ate a whole vegan wing. That’s the other thing. Not a meat eater? Fine. There’s a vegan option for guests, and that was Mann’s choice for absorbing the heat. Above: Dousing the fire: Sean Evans and actress Melissa McCarthy take a water break. Right: Chris in his senior yearbook photo, 2002
“The focus on composition essays helped me tremendously in college, but more importantly I had amazing teachers like Mrs. [Sally] Knight, Mr. [Jeffrey] Scanlon [’79], and Mrs. [Jane] Archibald who fostered my interest in expository and creative writing,” Chris says. “I distinctly remember writing personal essays for Mrs. Archibald’s class about topics like mini-golf and really trying to make my classmates laugh when we shared them. Rather than telling me to write about something more serious, she told me, ‘You are going to be able to write about anything you want.’ She made me feel like I had a superpower. … “That really galvanized me, and I held onto it as I went through college and the early part of my career in journalism, and everything I did that broke through or got me noticed was informed by a desire to entertain people. I think that set me on the path to believing in my own voice to start First We Feast, and ultimately to create Hot Ones.” loomischaffee.org 41
Hot Ones is anything but a traditional entertainment show. When Chris graduated from Harvard in 2006, he thought the end game would be working for a more traditional publication. “Magazines were still the pinnacle of the industry, and I came out thinking if I could get a great job at a magazine, that would be the ultimate achievement,” Chris says. It didn’t take long to get that coveted job, at the Time Out Group’s New York operation, covering New York City’s dining and nightlife scene.
Complex had access to celebrities, especially in the music and sports world. It was time for a celebrity-driven show. Thus, Hot Ones was born. There was just one response to his idea sent to those tasked with considering new concepts at Complex. A deputy editor said he liked the idea. Chris says there wasn’t much resistance to doing a pilot episode since it was an inexpensive proposition. And the set hasn’t changed much since the pilot. Black drapes on the set frame a table where Evans sits at one end and the guest at another. Ten chicken wings, a pitcher of ice water, a glass of milk,
But at every turn Chris has been quick to recognize a changing media landscape, from legacy print to websites and blogs (he once did a blog with his brother Nick ’99 called “Nacho Hunters”) and then to video. Yet it’s one thing to see change and another to react to that change by taking a leap into the unknown. Chris was comfortable at Time Out and on the rise. But in 2012 he started First We Feast as a food culture blog for Complex Networks, an entertainment company aimed at youth culture and now part of BuzzFeed Inc. Chris was never what you would call a traditional food writer. He always saw food as an entryway into the cultural aspects of life. In 2014 First We Feast won the James Beard Award for Group Food Blog. It struck the right tone between food and pop culture and, as Chris says, “reached a new generation of food lovers looking through the lens of their lifestyle and other passions they had, and not just the gourmet aspect of food.” That same year First We Feast launched its YouTube channel. The mix of food and pop culture on First We Feast played well, but Chris realized the video needed to be edgier, and he knew Right: When NBA Stephen Curry heats up, look out. He owns the NBA record for three-point shots made, so he’s impactful on the wing. So, too, apparently is the hot sauce.
What are Scoville Heat Units?
for finding the “hole in the wall” restaurant or the best little Vietnamese restaurant or who in Hartford made the best Jamaican beef patty. Long before online shopping, Chris’s dad was buying mail-order food products from all over the country, including “crazy hot sauces and salsas,” Chris recalls. “It’s kind of hilarious,” Chris says of those packages arriving at Harvard. “I remember asking for practical things. ‘Dad, I could really use a reading lamp.’ Or, ‘I don’t have enough pillows.’ And he’d send a box with extremely hot salsa and sauces and other things. I was shy in college and remember breaking these things out and sharing with roommates or other people coming through, and there is just this natural bonding that happens when you eat spicy food with people. It’s a great icebreaker, and that lodged itself somewhere in my brain and came through when the Hot Ones idea came around.”
The Art of the Arc There is a science to Hot Ones, but Chris says it is much more of an art.
and the show is ready to go. As Chris says, energy is poured into research for the interview and not some glitzy talk show set. “The struggle for resources came more as we realized that, for the show to be successful, we had to program it regularly and make sure there was a video ready to upload every Thursday at the same time,” Chris says. “It had to be dependable and become part of people’s weekly routine — like something they looked forward to watching on their lunch break — rather than popping up randomly.” Popping up randomly also refers to packages he received at Harvard from his father, who was in commercial real estate and had a taste
The Scoville scale is a measurement of the pungency or heat of a pepper based on the levels of the chemical compound capsaicin. The scale is named after its creator, American pharmacologist Wilbur Scoville, whose 1912 method is known as the Scoville organoleptic test. Put simply, the higher the Scoville units, the hotter the sauce, though how the various sauces are perceived depends on the person. The first one might start out at 1,800. Kid’s stuff. By the eighth sauce, which always is DaBomb Beyond Insanity, the Scovilles measure at 135,600. Sauces nine and 10 have much higher Scoville ratings, but DaBomb Beyond Insanity has a way of affecting guests that few forget. DaBomb has been in the eighth spot since Season 2. continues on page 44
From the National Institute of Standards And Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce
The levels of a chemical compound known as capsaicin determine how hot a pepper feels. A tool called the Scoville Scale expresses the level of pungency or heat of a pepper based on the levels of capsaicin in a pepper. The scale was invented in 1912 by a pharmacologist named Wilbur Scoville. It involves extracting the capsaicinoids from a pepper and diluting them with a solution of sugar and water until the heat of the pepper can no longer be tasted by a panel of professionally trained taste testers. More dilutions indicate a higher heat index rating and therefore a higher concentration of capsaicinoids. The test relies on the initial amount extracted from the pepper as well as the training of the taste testers. The amount of heat is expressed in Scoville Heat Units (SHU), which represent the number of times the concentration of capsaicinoids needs to be diluted before it’s no longer detectable. For example, the jalapeno pepper is measured at 2,000-8,000 SHUs, which means it took 2,000-8,000 dilutions for that to happen.
42 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
5 7 4
8
Scoville 2 Heat Units
11
2
Season 22 Hot Sauces
9
3
6
Heatonist, which sells the Hot Ones hot sauces used on the program, uses a 1–10 scale to compare sauces based off its experience tasting sauce regularly. SHU stands for Scoville Heat Units.
1. Buffalo Hot Sauce 2. Blistered Shishito & Garlic Hot Sauce 3. Spicy Sweet Passion Fruit 4. Los Calientes Barbacoa 5. Power Jab Hot Sauce
SHU: 1,800 Heat: 2/10 SHU: 5,800 Heat: 2/10 SHU: 16,000 Heat: 3/10 SHU: 33,000 Heat: 4/10 SHU: 55,000 Heat: 5/10
6. Whiskey Smoked Ghost 7. Tropic Star Hot Sauce 8. Evolution Hot Sauce | Da Bomb 9. Zuzu 7-Pot 10. The Last Dab: Xperience
SHU: 71,000 SHU: 110,000 SHU: 135,000 SHU: 620,000 SHU: 2,693,000
Heat: 6/10 Heat: 7/10 Heat: 8/10 Heat: 9/10 Heat: 11/10
loomischaffee.org 43
Each season, the creators sample 20 to 40 hot sauces to figure out which ones will be the 10 that are used on that season’s shows. The first samplings are tasted straight up to get a sense of the flavors and heat levels, but different sauces react differently to being on chicken, Chris says. “Some get muted and really don’t cut through, and some work really well.” All of the sauces used on the show come from Heatonist, a company that started in 2013 when founder Noah Chaimberg began selling curated hot sauces from a pushcart in Brooklyn. Heatonist partners with Hot Ones to get a variety of hot sauces from small-batch makers for each season’s lineup. At some point science turns to art because on the receiving ends of the hot wings are human beings. The sauces are tested on wings at the same pace that the show will follow — a trial run if you will. Guests are on stage for 40 to 45 minutes, but the interview is edited down to the 22- to 25-minute range. “There is sort of an art to the experience you want them to have where, with the early wings, they are commenting on the flavor and maybe there is a little pop of heat here and there, but you don’t want them to die too early because then they can’t talk,” Chris says. Getting people to talk freely is what the show is all about. Well, that and the various reactions to the heat of the wings, of course. So, if Chris were across the table from Evans, what would Sean ask him late in the process? “That’s kind of a very Hot Ones question,” Chris says with a laugh. “We work on all of the interviews together, and basically what we are doing is complete armchair psychology, trying to understand who the person sitting in the seat is and what will make them comfortable, talkative, willing to share more, and setting them up to be as funny and as interesting as possible. “I think Sean might ask me … ‘What does Hot Ones mean to you on a personal level?’ Or he would throw some Hot Ones trivia at me, which would horrify me because I have a terrible memory. … He’d probably surprise me somehow.” Chris calls Evans the greatest professional partner he has ever had. If Chris had been 44 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
chosen as the host nine years ago, the show would have disappeared after a few episodes, Chris says. Evans is that good at interviewing people. And if Evans did ask Chris what the show has meant to him, Chris would say, “Definitely the most creative project of my life and most successful, and I feel very fortunate that the most successful also has been the most fun. The team at Hot Ones [about 10 work on each show] has been together a long time, and I love working with everyone.” And if Evans asked Chris what we’d find inside his brain if we opened it up, Chris would say, “A lot of rap lyrics and a lot of random information about celebrities and hot sauces that I have learned researching Hot Ones, and all of it kind of funneled into a mush by too much doom-scrolling on social media.” And if Evans asked Chris what we’d find inside his stomach if we opened it up, Chris would say, “I don’t actually eat much hot sauce outside of work. I’m nearing 40, so I’m trying to eat healthier … but also there would be the remnants of the dinner plates of our three children I’m eating every night.”
Children are at the heart of the official charity partner of Hot Ones — Common Threads — which has a diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative that “aims to support communities in achieving healthier diets, which can lead to better health outcomes, especially where children, adults, and families are facing systematic racism and discrimination embedded in policies that have shaped their local food systems and resources,” according to the Common Threads website. Chris says Common Threads was chosen as the charity partner by the whole Hot Ones team. “As a brand that often celebrates food in a fun, entertaining light, we thought it was important to acknowledge that not everyone has access to the basic nutrition needed to live a happy, productive life,” Chris says. “We are also aware of the lack of diversity across not only the chef world, but also food media. We love that Common Threads is not only feeding children but also educating them about how to cook and make healthier choices for themselves and their communities. We’re inspired to think about what the next generation of food-world professionals can look like.”
Who Hasn’t Been on the Show? When Chris pitched the show, why did he propose Tony Hawk as the first guest? “He was a childhood hero of mine, and I knew that he had a real interest in food. At the time, Complex was managing a skateboarding website that he was involved with, so it felt like we had a line to his team to pitch the concept,“ Chris says. Hawk would be on the show the next year, shooting a live version at ComplexCon, a festival that brings together pop culture, music, food, and more. Musicians, actors, comedians, athletes, and chefs are among those who have been guests. As far back as 2019 fans requested Keanu Reeves as a guest, but the actor has said he is not interested. While on a press tour for his movie John Wick: Chapter 4 in March 2023, Reeves told Reddit, “I love chicken wings … but I don’t want to eat really spicy chicken wings. Especially not in public … and certainly not with the consequences in private. Bon appetit.” “We believe no one is not gettable, so we’ll keep chipping away,” Chris says. Guests are chosen in part by whom the audience wants, Chris says, but also by whom the Hot Ones team decides to go after. When guests make it through the gauntlet of wings, they get to talk about upcoming projects. “In the early days, it was very difficult to book, and a lot of [potential guests] thought it was a candid camera show,” Chris says. “These days, Hollywood reps see it as an essential stop on the press circuit, like a late-night show, so there is a lot more interest in making an appearance. We see the [choice of guests] as the secret sauce of the show, and try to make each episode an event. Few other shows cover such a wide swath of entertainment, from A-list stars to cult internet figures.” When Chris is asked his favorite guests, he answers the way one might expect: impossible to choose. “One that does stand out and is meaningful to me in terms of the arc of the show and the growth of the show is Gordon Ramsay,” Chris says, referring to the celebrity chef,
who appeared on the show in 2019. “He was associated with food and critiquing food, so there probably was a built-in interest in what he would say while eating these hot sauces, and also he’s colorful and swears a lot, and for whatever reason he became the most requested guest.
“In the early days, it was very difficult to book, and a lot of [potential guests] thought it was a candid camera show. These days, Hollywood reps see it as an essential stop on the press circuit ... ” — C H R I S S C H O N B E R G E R “For three-plus years we chased him and we were able to book him, so when the moment finally came, there was a lot of energy around the fan base and pressure to deliver. It felt satisfying for the episode to be what it was.” The episode was a classic, getting over 120 million views. As Chris says, it was “an iconic piece of internet history.” Ramsay was funny and entertaining. At one point he described eating a wing as “sticking your tongue in a plate of acid.” At another moment he drank a glass of Pepto-Bismol. And throughout the show his language was as spicy as the wings. Each year Hot Ones produces an annual Hot Ones Holiday Extravaganza that raises money for Common Threads. In 2021 Ramsay appeared on the holiday show, and more than $150,000 was raised. No. 2 in the most viewed episodes is singer/ songwriter Billie Eilish, who was 17 years old when she went on as the youngest guest; followed by former NBA great Shaquille O’Neal at No. 3, comedian Kevin Hart at No. 4, and rapper Post Malone at No. 5. Chris says he would like to get Jay-Z on the show. “He really doesn’t do interviews anymore, but it would be a dream to interview him,” Chris says. So he’ll keep chasing him. And who knows, deep into the lineup of 10 wings, maybe Jay-Z would rap about Hot Ones.
Opposite page: Chris with host Sean Evans, whose secret sauce is his interviewing skill. Left: Guest star power (top to bottom): rapper/actor LL Cool J, actress Jennifer Lawrence, actor John Stamos, and actress Jenna Ortega loomischaffee.org 45
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46 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
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By Becky Purdy
Coding across
T
he two abstract drawings (to the left and below) are more alike than different. Both depict colorful circles on a white background, some overlapping, some floating free. One drawing was created by hand, by students using colored pencils on a sheet of white paper. The other resulted from student-written code that instructed a computer to generate the art. Both pieces were based on the following set of instructions, which the students devised collaboratively: “Eight bright randomly colored circles with radii of 15 percent of the length of the canvas. Intersecting areas of the circles are where the colors mix.”
The conceptual art project, a collaboration last spring among students in Drawing I and Introduction to Programming, tapped into the fascinating interdisciplinary possibilities of Digital and Computational Learning, a program formally launched four years ago at Loomis Chaffee.
Digital and computational learning involves looking at data, algorithms, and programming as they relate to other things in our lives, explains Kate Seyboth, the school’s director of the program. Application of these skills and concepts to various disciplines has led to collaborative projects across the curriculum, from exploration of geometric probability to comparison of French- and English-speaking people’s feelings on a variety of topics. One of the primary goals of the program is interdisciplinary — to integrate the skills, concepts, and thinking surrounding data, algorithms, and programming into other parts of students’ academic lives. Another major goal from the outset was to offer courses in these areas, including expanding the school’s computer science and programming
the Curriculum loomischaffee.org 47
offerings. A third, overarching goal is to raise awareness and understanding of both the ubiquitous influence and the intriguing opportunities of data and algorithms. Algorithms are at work in nearly every aspect of our lives. What you see at the top of your Facebook feed is based on data and algorithms. The same is true of which ads pop up as you browse the web, which emails end up in your spam folder, and which songs show up on your Spotify app. The pattern of a traffic light at a busy intersection relies on data-driven algorithms, as do public transportation routes and schedules. Your Fitbit and other step-counting, heart rate-measuring, and sleep-tracking devices use data and algorithms to analyze and show your progress toward your health goals and to recommend next steps or even the need for rest and recovery.
to a hotel in Paris, France. You break down the solution into parts: First, drive from home to the airport. Next, fly from Chicago to Paris. Then, take a taxi from the Paris airport to your hotel. Algorithmic thinking is the combination of abstraction and decomposition. It involves creating a step-by-step, or piece-by-piece, process by which you can solve a particular kind of problem. For example, suppose you need to figure out how to assign dormitories to all of a school’s boarding students with their chosen roommates. The problem involves multiple variables, including the number of boarding students, each student’s class year, the number of beds in each dorm, the class years housed in each dorm, each
The advent of generative artificial intelligence applications — programs that can create — takes the impact of algorithms to a new level in everyday life, and their presence makes informed awareness of them more imperative than ever in navigating the world with intention. “With the way our world is changing, it’s increasingly important that students understand the way these things work,” says Kate, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science at Tufts University. Before coming to Loomis in 2021, Kate taught for 15 years at Westover School, a girls school in Middlebury, Connecticut, where she also directed the Women In Science & Engineering (WISE) program. Digital and computational learning involves three key concepts of problem-solving: abstraction, decomposition, and algorithmic thinking, Kate explains. Abstraction describes taking a solution to a single problem and applying it more generally to other, similar problems. For example, you start with a triangle and its measurements and find the triangle’s area. Abstraction would explain how to find the area of any triangle based on its corresponding measurements. Decomposition is the process of breaking down a problem and its solution into smaller pieces. This is something we do all the time when faced with a complex task, such as traveling from one’s home in, say, Chicago 48 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
roommate pairing, and so on. The solution requires many steps whose outcomes affect the next steps in the process. Algorithmic thinking figures out how to accomplish this task. And computer programming expresses the solution in precise, unambiguous instructions. To begin introducing these skills and concepts in subjects across the curriculum, geometry classes added a unit in which students learn to use a drag-and-drop programming tool called Scratch, which was developed by MIT. Math teacher Courtney Doyle’s geometry class, for example, is using this tool to explore points of concurrency, places where three or more lines intersect. Students in math teacher Allison Beason’s Geometry Advanced class are using a typing-based programming tool called Processing to learn about geometric probability. Environmental science classes have incorporated Arduino software to collect air quality data from sensors around campus
as they researched such topics as the effectiveness of the air-quality infrastructure in the new Nichols Center for Theater and Dance, changes in the air quality in the pool when the swim team is practicing versus when the pool is idle, and other queries. And statistics classes, which traditionally have used spreadsheets to sort and analyze data, are turning to the computer language R for a deeper understanding of statistics and a less labor-intensive approach than using spreadsheets. R was designed primarily for statistics work, Kate says. The usefulness of computational thinking is not limited to math and computer science fields, as some initiatives in Loomis humanities courses are showing. Adam Alsamadisi, a math and science teacher and a member of the Digital and Computational Learning faculty, is helping history and language teachers to use technology in ways that expand students’ cultural understanding of the past and present. Adam is working with World History teachers to help students decipher, analyze, and interpret the Catalan Atlas, a 14th-century map of the world. By bringing this ancient map to screens and applying computational tools to the map’s markings and symbols, Adam says, students can draw conclusions about the primary roles of communities in different parts of the world. One area might have been the spiritual center, for instance, and another might have been the crossroads of trade. Adam also worked with a History of the Present class as the students created digital stories using geographic information system, or GIS, mapping. The digital stories, often referred to as “storymaps,” bring together data, geographic information, and narratives to find meaning in complex subjects and present that meaning visually. For their final project, the History of the Present students used data, maps, and narratives to create storymaps related to social justice, Adam says. French and statistics classes collaborated on a project last year that compared attitudes toward various topics among English- and French-speaking populations. Students in language teacher Rachel Nisselson’s CollegeLevel French 5 class and in Adam’s CollegeLevel Statistics class engaged in the project,
This map examines the gentrification and displacement in Lower Manhattan. It is observed that the majority of Chinatown and the surrounding area is experiencing some sort of gentrification. The racial composition of the area has been extremely dynamic; from 2000 to 2010, the white population increased 42 percent, while the Asian population decreased by 15 percent (Furman 2019).
Adam says. They downloaded 500 tweets from the social media platform X (formerly called Twitter) in English and French and analyzed the expressed sentiments using a library that linguists employ to read tone from word choice. Then the students compared the sentiments that the Frenchtweeting people expressed versus those of the English-tweeting people on topics related to the environment, such as organic foods, climate change, and consumption. Importantly, technology is used in these projects not for its own sake but as a tool to enhance learning, Adam says. These approaches provide valuable, new insights that advance students’ learning. Usefulness is important. “We really want these projects to be authentic,” Kate notes. The conceptual art collaboration last spring brought together Kate’s programming students and art teacher Melanie Carr’s drawing students. To begin, the two classes took a field trip to MassMOCA in North Adams, Massachusetts, where they viewed conceptual art by artist Sol LeWitt. After the field trip, the students were divided into small groups, each with a mix of two art students and one programming student. Then, during a series of eight class meetings, each group developed an idea for a conceptual art drawing and wrote
instructions. (Conveniently, the two classes met during the same time block.) The programming student in each group then wrote code designed to produce the art, and each group’s drawing students put colored pencil to paper to produce their own version. Melanie says it was interesting for her and her students to see the interpretive process of “the verbal world translated to the visual world.” Melanie had expected the two outcomes within each group to be more alike, but she was pleasantly surprised to see that “digital” and “analog” interpretations of a concept produced different results, beyond the difference in materials — a printed image on glossy paper versus hand-drawn art using colored pencil on uncoated paper. The project also gave the students an opportunity to collaborate across disciplines. “I like everything about the intersection of all things,” Melanie says. “I think that’s where life happens.” The programming students gained an understanding of how the skills they were learning in computer science class could be used in real-world situations. Kate says it is common for new programming students to see only the “tinkering” aspects of what they
are doing, not the practical applications. The art project offered them a wider perspective. As with the art, history, and language projects, ideas continue to brew for using digital and computational skills in other academic departments. Matt Johnson, an English, computer science, and math teacher and the assistant director for academic technology of the Kravis Center for Excellence in Teaching, is developing an interdisciplinary course with the working title “Algorithms, AI, and Us: Writing and Technology.” Matt says the course would explore what algorithms are and how their use influences various aspects of the world, and it would take deeper dives into generative artificial intelligence (ChatGPT and the like), issues of bias in algorithms, and the use of algorithms in such areas as social media, finance, and the health care industry. Students would write papers, articles, and persuasive essays or letters about the issues they explore in the course. In this way, students would develop both their writing skills and their understanding of algorithms. “Part of what it should mean to be an engaged citizen in 2023 is to have a basic understanding of how algorithms are influencing things,” Matt says.
Opposite page: Kate Seyboth, the director of digital and computational learning, works with a computer science student. Above: Using geographic information system (GIS) mapping, Neil Grover ’23 last year explored the effects of gentrification on New York City’s Chinatown. loomischaffee.org 49
Loomis computer science courses are interdisciplinary by design. It is not a coincidence that programming courses are taught in classrooms adjacent to the Pearse Hub for Innovation, whose theme is “make things and make a difference.” In College-Level Computer Science Topics, an advanced term course in programming, students work on projects with practical applications, applying their coding and computer language skills to real problems. The theme for the course last year was “game development for the common good,” a nod to Loomis Chaffee’s emphasis on the best self and the common good. Students in the course last year worked with the school’s Alvord Center for Global & Environmental Studies to tackle several problems. They developed a game about what can and cannot be composted at Loomis. They wrote code to analyze data from the school’s solar array. And for the maple sugaring season, they wrote a program that scheduled student collection of maple sap from trees around campus, making sure the collection buckets were exchanged before they overflowed. After perfecting their programs, the students created video demonstrations to show their “clients” how to put them to use. For their final project last year, the Topics students worked in small groups in collaboration with math and science faculty members who identified concepts in their disciplines that students struggled to master. Then the programming students designed games to help students understand these confounding concepts. One group tackled the physics concepts of motion and force in collaboration with astronomy teacher Steve Stewart. Another group worked with math teacher Joe Cleary to develop a way to explain algebraic fractions.
Right: For an environmental studies project, junior Ridley Gould examined the distribution of leopards in the Northern Acacia-Commiphora bushlands and thickets ecoregion in eastern Africa and shared his findings using GIS mapping.
50 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
And another group worked with physics teacher Julie Hinchman on the concept of conservation of momentum. The students in this group designed a game depicting a cannon inside a cave. The goal is to move the cannon out of the cave by shooting cannon balls, which propel the cannon backwards in the direction the player wants to move it, going around obstacles and ultimately exiting through the mouth of the cave.
and figuring out how to place each student in an appropriate dorm. This year, Kate says, the student who is taking on this challenge as an independent study is writing an algorithm that will take a first stab at the dorm assignments, giving the deans a starting point. The finished product will enable the deans to adjust the first configuration and see how various adjustments affect the big picture.
It is not a coincidence that programming courses are taught in classrooms adjacent to the Pearse Hub for Innovation, whose theme is “make things and make a difference.”
Several students each year also engage in programming-related independent studies and senior projects.
The CL Topics students this fall developed programs that would streamline the assignment of “work jobs,” the school-keeping tasks that all students and faculty do as part of the community work program. Hannah Hayes, the community work program coordinator, and Lillian Corman, associate director of the Norton Family Center for the Common Good, normally spend three days assigning work jobs manually. That means matching up the correct number of students and their free periods with the needed number of people for each task in each time block. Kate says the final student program will do it in seconds, and then Hannah and Lil will just need to make some additional tweaks.
For the last two years independent studies students have worked on developing a computer program that would help with the arduous task that the deans of students face each summer: assigning boarding students to dorms. The deans spend hours in a room trying to piece together this complex puzzle, sifting through the requests of the school’s 500 or so boarding students, considering the bed counts and configurations of the campus’s 13 dorms,
As the Digital and Computational Learning program continues to gain momentum, one of the main things standing in the way of faster expansion is a universal one: time. Students don’t have enough of it to take all the courses that intrigue them and pursue all the interests they enjoy. It’s not a bad problem to have, and who knows? Maybe a Loomis student will write a computer program that squeezes more time out of each day or more days out of each term.
Kate explains that solving problems through digital and computational thinking synthesizes many of the skills students have been building as they advance through the computer science curriculum.
Step into J.R. Zavisza’s office on the third floor of Katharine Brush Library, and one thing is immediately clear: J.R. is a collector. Postcards, beach stones, hockey pennants, vinyl records, lobster pot buoys, and other items from his collections add character to his desk and the walls and shelves around it. The collections tell
stories about J.R. and about history, the subject he has taught at Loomis Chaffee since 2010. Ice and water are recurring themes in J.R.’s office, hinting at two of his favorite places to spend time — in ice rinks coaching the boys varsity hockey team and at the beach in Maine, where he and his family spend summers.
Faculty Desks J.R. ZAVISZA, HISTORY TEACHER Team plaque of the 1997–98 U.S. National Under-18 Boys Ice Hockey Team, on which J.R. played
Former faculty member Al Freihofer ’69 and J.R. exchanged these photos of themselves water skiing in their younger days, J.R. (top) at Crystal Pond in Connecticut and Al on Lake George in New York.
Postcard of Bob Dylan, J.R.’s favorite musician
Beach stones found during the summer in Maine. For a moment of mindfulness, J.R. sometimes tries to stack them.
A 2020 calendar with seasonal family photos
A Confederate canister recovered from a Civil War battlefield in Appomattox, Virginia. Colleague Reem Aweida-Parsons gave J.R. the artifact in the History, Philosophy & Religious Studies Department’s Secret Santa gift exchange in 2022.
loomischaffee.org 51
OBJECT LESSON
The Flood of 1936 By Karen Parsons Loomis Chaffee History Teacher & School Archivist
A
n aerial photographer captured this image of the Loomis campus on March 22, 1936. The school was truly an island among the high water of one of the most destructive floods to surge through the Connecticut River Valley. This flood tested Loomis’ resourcefulness and resolve, even as the school was spared the extreme hardships that many residents in the area endured. Headmaster Nathaniel Batchelder wrote on March 24, “the sixth day of very high water… we still have firewood; and we still have our courage. You can’t keep a good school down.”
Windsor. The relief felt when this receded was short-lived. More downpours swelled the Connecticut and Farmington rivers, and on March 18, Mr. Batchelder closed the school early for spring break. Most students left but, as The Loomis Log reported, “the school became an island on th[at] night … with a third of the student body marooned.” The next day, the Connecticut River continued to rise about an inch per hour, electricity on campus failed that morning, and the railroad tracks from Windsor to Hartford became submerged. The highest water was still to come.
Early thaw of northern New England’s snow and heavy rains comprised the first flood wave to push through the valley; on March 13, water covered the road to
Vibrant reporting by Mr. Batchelder, school publications, and The Hartford Courant overlay this photographer’s broad view with colorful details, resilience, and generosity.
Gwendolen Infirmary — As waters rose, school nurses cared for six ill students in the infirmary. They were transported off campus on the morning of Thursday, March 19, in small boats, operated by Herman Hoxie, son of the Loomis farm manager, and faculty member Jack Gates. Mr. Batchelder recalled, “Three could sit up and go ashore by boat wrapped in blankets. For three others we improvised a bed upon an outboard motorboat, and with the aid of [a local] delivery wagon [and] willing stretcher bearers … we made them all safe and comfortable.” Hoxie ran his boat taxi for days until the road to town was passable.
The Gymnasium — By Thursday, a foot of water covered the basketball court’s wooden floor. As the water continued to rise in the gym over the next three days, the building suffered some of the most severe damage on campus. Later in the spring, students helped to pull up and replace the floor, and efforts of the Student Endowment Fund helped pay for the new floor.
52 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
Evelyn Longman’s Studio — The Courant reported on Friday, March 20, that the acclaimed sculptor’s studio was “submerged by 6 feet of water.” The night before, Mr. Batchelder, who was Evelyn’s husband, and a staff member sprang into action to rescue her unfinished works and other objects that already had been placed at what Mr. B called, “above any possible
MARCH
22 1936 flood height.” He recalled that they “cruised in a rowboat with a flashlight at 10:00 pm to retrieve irreplaceable treasures.” They carried out her sculptures, cutting off the shoulders of one portrait bust “still in plasteline … to save weight.” During their mission, the pair “upset the boat,” fell into the flood waters, and were feared missing. With phone lines downed, Evelyn tried but was unable to call for help from police or firefighters. The Log reported that she “had just about give up hope when a bedraggled headmaster turned up at last.” The Power House — Flooded boiler rooms and a submerged electric transformer took out the supply of heat, hot water, and light to campus buildings. A new set of overhead electrical wires were strung to the infirmary, dining hall, and kitchen on
“the sixth day of very high water… we still have firewood; and we still have our courage. You can’t keep a good school down.” — HEADMASTER N. H. BATCHELDER , MARCH 24, 1936
Thursday morning. By Thursday evening, these too had failed. The Log noted that “motors, dynamos, switchboards, and lead cables” in the Power House incurred “severe damage” and were later sent to a local General Electric factory reconfigured to “spen[d] all its time repairing equipment damaged by the flood.” Warham Dormitory — The Courant’s Sunday, March 22, issue reported that campus residents “had moved to their second floors in order to be prepared for the possibility of the Holyoke [MA] dam giving way.” Cellars in dormitories contained about two feet of water, and The Log recalled that “the only source of heat was open fires. In Warham, piles of wood were rescued from the flooding cellar and deposited in the social room. Candles and flashlight batteries were at a premium and
the strictest economy had to be observed. A scavenger hunt was organized to plunder the dormitories of [these] articles.” William H. Loomis Dining Hall — Gas ranges were moved upstairs from the flooded basement kitchen and used until Saturday, March 21, when the gas line to campus failed. After that, Chef Alberge, who resorted to wearing hip boots to wade through the kitchen for supplies, cooked for faculty and staff on an open fire in Loomis Hall’s fireplace and a small kerosene stove. Mr. B recalled that on Sunday the chef served a steak dinner for 30. The steaks had been meant for an winter athletics dinner, canceled because of the early release. “The ‘Bitter-Enders Club’… munch[ed] tenderloins served up in various forms” over the duration of the flood.
Later that spring, 22 students volunteered every day after school for clean-up projects, including helping the Skac family. Their house, located near the river and south of the school farm — out of the aerial photographer’s viewfinder — had been picked up off its foundation by raging flood waters and moved. The damage was extensive, and the family lost their home. Carl Olson, Loomis’ carpenter; a team of students; and Mr. Skac tore down and rebuilt the house that spring. Evelyn Longman assisted with interior decorating. Ne Cede Malis.
loomischaffee.org 53
NEWS F ROM T H E ALUMN I /DEVELOPMEN T OF F I C E
ALUMNI GATHERINGS
New York City Reception
SEPTEMBER 28, 2023 Above: Effie Xistris ’13, Melanie Larkins ’10, Head of School Sheila Culbert, Dana Lerner ’10 Top Right: Kyle Bisceglie P ’26, Debbie Bisceglie P ’26, Jocelynn Cheng P ’27, David Cheng P ’27 Middle Right: Tarquin Hanson ’19, Eli Allick ’18, Miles Williams ’84, host Fridolf Hanson ’85, P ’17, ’19, ’24 Bottom Right: Suzanne Kissling, Tony Kissling ’61, Ted Shortliffe ’65, Chief Advancement Officer Tim Struthers ’85, Vimla Patel Below: Trustee Ariel Williams ’06 and Lindsay Hoffman ’06
54 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
NEWS FROM ALUMNI / DEVELOPMENT
ALUMNI GATHERINGS
Boston Reception
OCTOBER 11, 2023 Above: Rebecca Pacheco ’97, Debbie Savitt First ’59, P’ 86, GP ’19, Maggie Dey Abele ’00 Top Right: Host Jonathan Kelly ’81, Head of School Sheila Culbert, hosts Jill Hai and Marc Rubenstein ’82 Bottom Right: Traken Sutton ’16, Harrison Parsons ’16, Justin LaRose ’16, Brener De Souza ’18, Alex Benthien ’16 Below: Ileana Jiménez García P ’22, Paul Wingle P ’22, Lei Chen P ’26
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Reconnect with fellow alumni at regional receptions across the country. Visit www.loomischaffee.org/alumni for event information. We look -forward to seeing you soon at one of the upcoming gatherings.
loomischaffee.org 55
NEWS FROM ALUMNI / DEVELOPMENT
Introducing Our New Annual Fund Co-Chairs Gillian MacLean Growdon ’91, P’27 Kaned Suviwattanachai ’03 Leading and supporting fundraising efforts, the chairs of the Annual Fund will partner with the Alumni/Development team to assist with volunteer recruitment and serve as spokespeople for Annual Fund initiatives. They look forward to sharing their passion for the school with you and hope that you will join them with your continued support. To learn more about the Annual Fund, please visit: https://www.loomischaffee.org/ giving/annual-fund
CHAFFEE BOOK CLUB
Chaffee Book Club November 1, 2023 The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey Discussion leader: Head of School Sheila Culbert
The fall gathering of the Chaffee Book Club featured one of Loomis Chaffee’s annual Book Chat selections — The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by award-winning author Elisabeth Tova Bailey. Head of School Sheila Culbert hosted dinner in her home, facilitated lively discussion of Bailey’s autobiographical nature memoir, and guided an exercise — crafting haikus. ATTENDEES (front): Sue Fisher Shepard ’62, Lynn Hayden Wadhams ’61, Betsy Mallory MacDermid ’66, Priscilla Ransom Marks ’66, Beverley Earle ’68, Jan Manocchio Hickcox ’66, and Bhavna Sacheti Singh ’96; and (back): Wendy Wolcott ’63, Carey Shea ’78, Lisa Silvestri ’71, Kate Butterworth Valdez ’67, Head of School and discussion leader Sheila Culbert, Jane Torrey ’67, Jean Sanderson ’67, Anne Schneider McNulty ’72, and Ann Hayden Hamilton ’63. . 56 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
HENRY VAN VLECK ’51 Since he first stepped onto campus in 1947, Henry Van Vleck ’51 supported Loomis Chaffee in numerous ways. A four-year boarder from West Hartford, Connecticut, he was a varsity wrestler and tennis player, played intramural football, was involved in the glee club, the choir, the jazz club, the photography club, and the student endowment fund. A lead class agent for the Class of 1951 for many years, he was very active in the role. He was always at the school, either for games, art exhibits, reunions, Annual Fund functions, or in the Alumni/Development office. His wife Gail helped fundraise for the school when their children Val ’86 and Chris ’89 were students. Education was very important to Henry; he was a teacher for 27 years. Loomis Chaffee will remember and forever be grateful for Henry’s role as head class agent during which he shared his keen guidance, wit, sense of humor, and dedication with a community that he loved so much. Loomis Chaffee would also like to thank Henry for including the school in his estate plans — one last act of kindness and generosity for which Henry will be remembered. Henry passed away in April of 2023 at the age of 90.
The Van Vlecks: Val ’86, Henry ’51, Gail, and Chris ’89
Until the enactment of the omnibus bill, only IRA transfers for outright gifts qualified as Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs). The new omnibus bill allows a transfer of IRA funds for a life-income plan that pays income to the IRA owner and/or the owner’s spouse. The transfer can be made in only one tax year, and the contribution limit is $50,000. But like outright gift transfers, it is adjusted for inflation. Provided it meets these requirements, the IRA transfer will be treated as a QCD. For more information about planned gifts and the John Metcalf Taylor Society, please contact Heidi E.V. McCann ’93, P ’23, ’25 at 860.687.6273 or heidi_mccann@loomis.org
www.loomischaffee.giftplans.org
NEWS FROM ALUMNI / DEVELOPMENT
SAVE THE DATE
SAVE THE DATE
Philanthropy Day Challenge 2024 Reunite, Reconnect and Reminisce • June 7-9, 2024 Classes ending in 4s and 9s — this is your year! Mark your calendar for Reunion Weekend and join us on the Island for the festivities. Visit www.loomischaffee.org/reunion for more information or call 860.687.6815.
REGISTRATION OPENS THIS SPRING!
JOIN LC Connect
Loomis Chaffee’s alumni engagement platform
LC Connect is an online community and resource for alumni that makes it easier than ever for Pelicans to stay connected to each other and with the school. LC Connect is an opt-in networking platform, powered by Graduway, that enables alumni to:
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29 Every February members of the Loomis Chaffee community come together to make an impact on the lives of our students, faculty, and staff by participating in Philanthropy Day. Please save the date to join fellow alumni, parents, and friends to make our 12th Philanthropy Day a success. To learn more about Philanthropy Day or lend your early support, please visit www.loomischaffee.org/philanthropyday or scan the QR code below.
• Find and reengage with fellow alumni through the online directory and groups; • Expand professional connections through mentorship opportunities and a job board; • Stay up to date with Loomis Chaffee news and activities through an alumni events board and the school’s social media channels; • Have on-the-go access through the LC Connect mobile app.
Register at www.loomischaffeealumni.org LC Connect replaces Loomis Chaffee’s Evertrue app and Career Network, upgrading the alumni experience by providing several resources in one platform.
To learn how you can help as a volunteer for Philanthropy Day, please contact Director of the Annual Fund Deidre Swords at deidre_swords@loomis.org.
www.loomischaffee.org/ philanthropyday
loomischaffee.org 57
58 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Summer 2023
OBIT UA R IES
1940 Mary Elizabeth Dillon Kirk, on October 11, 2023. Born in 1922, Mary gained her permanent nickname, “M’Liss,” short for Mary Elizabeth, at Chaffee. Her graduating class was 17 students, and she was one of two girls selected as having “done most for Chaffee” in the Epilogue, the school’s 1940 yearbook. She attended Hartford Junior College, then finished her degree in 1943 in English at Mount Holyoke College and began teaching high school English in nearby Simsbury, Conn. In a fortuitous sequence of events in the spring of 1944, she joined friends at a dance for military officers in Hartford. She met a young Army Air Corps lieutenant named William Edward Kirk Jr. from Charleston, W.Va., who was stationed at Bradley Field. They lost touch for a time when Bill was stationed in Japan but reconnected by mail. Bill returned to Charleston in 1946 and finished his degree in chemistry. He then enrolled at Georgetown University Law School. Bill and Mary married in 1948. She began teaching English in Washington at a vocational high school while Bill finished law school. They soon moved to Park Fairfax, Va., and welcomed two sons, William Edward Kirk III and Richard Dillon Kirk. In 1953, they moved to Delaware when Bill joined the DuPont Company legal department. In Delaware, the family welcomed their daughter, Susan Helen Kirk. Mary proudly and happily watched over the children until they all “left the nest.” Mary and Bill warmly welcomed daughters-in-law Hazel (Bill) and Bridget (Dick) and son-in-law Joe (Susan). In 1984, Bill retired from DuPont at 62 to be sure that he and Mary could enjoy a good retirement together, and their family grew to include six grandchildren. For Mary, life returned full circle as she threw herself into championing and cheerleading six grandkids, all of whom lived nearby,
something she treasured. After Bill’s sudden death in 2007 as Mary was about to turn 85, she began a new adventure, moving into an apartment in Forwood Manor, instantly making new friends. On her 95th birthday in 2017, she fell and suffered a major injury. She recovered but not without the loss of some mobility. In 2020 she moved back to the home in Sharpley, Del., (by then Susan’s and Joe’s) where she remained. She had the chance to see the weddings of four grandchildren and in her final hours met her greatgrandson via FaceTime. She was predeceased by her brother Richard Dillon ’35. Visitation was on October 21, 2023, at St. Joseph on the Brandywine Church in Greenville, Del., followed by a Mass of Christian Burial.
1946 Thomas Taylor Bissell, on August 28, 2023, at Endion, his home in Long Lake, N.Y. He was a two-year student who played hockey and badminton and was in various clubs. Tom graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in education. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and was awarded the Bronze Star, the Korean Campaign Medal with three campaign stars, the U.N. Medal, and the Korean Presidential Unit Citation. Tom taught at Newcomb Central School for 26 years and retired in 1985. Tom took great pride in being a lifelong resident of Long Lake, and he looked upon the entire community as an extended family. Tom spent six years as an emergency medical technician on the Long Lake Rescue Squad and served as a member of the Long Lake Central School board for seven years. He also served as a Long Lake town councilman and Long Lake town supervisor. He was a distinguished member of the Long Lake Historical Society and published many
articles about the history of Long Lake. Tom served in the American Legion Post 650 and was a guest speaker for the Memorial Day service many times. Tom drifted into developing land, a pursuit for over 40 years. He was known for speaking his mind about local land regulation. He enjoyed buying tracts of land around Long Lake, building roads, which he found pleasurable, but not as much as leaf blowing and cleaning up the pine needles at Endion. Tom was predeceased by his parents, (James) Talbot Bissell and Alice Middletown Williams; his brother Talbot Bissell; his son Timothy Howarth Bissell; and his wife, Jane Goostray Bissel, whom he married in 1968. Tom was survived by his son Thomas Taylor Bissell Jr. and Tommy’s long-time companion, Christine Campeau; his nieces Marion Bissell Ober and Alice Bissell; his sister-in-law Margaret Goostray; and his beloved cat Lila. Services were held September 1, 2023. Henry Parsons Hall, on July 17, 2023, at Shell Point in Fort Myers, Fla. He was a two-year student who played football, hockey, and baseball as well as being on Student Council and in various clubs. Before moving full-time to Florida in 2010, he resided for many years in Lincoln and Concord, Mass. He received his bachelor’s degree from Williams College and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from MIT. Henry joined the General Radio Company (later GenRad) as a student in 1949, was appointed senior staff scientist in 1978, and retired in 1992. He was instrumental in developing 16 precision measuring instruments, wrote more than 65 technical articles, and was awarded numerous patents. He was a life fellow of the IEEE. Henry and his wife, Dean, loved to travel and visited numerous countries in Europe as well as the Baltics, Bhutan, China, Egypt, Israel, Japan, and Thailand. He was an infielder for the North Lincoln Bearcats softball team and an avid DIYer at home who loomischaffee.org 59
loved to grow tomatoes. Henry was a member of the First Parish of Concord. Henry and Dean enjoyed making new friends in Fort Myers and spending time with Dean’s daughter Franny and granddaughter Shelby and family, who also live in Fort Myers. Henry was predeceased by his wife, Dean Palmer Hall; his parents, Henry and Harriet; his sister Harriet Aurelia (Hall) Dieterich; his brother Burton Harrington Hall; and son-inlaw Dennis B. Inman. Henry was survived by his children Richard B. Hall, Katharine H. Inman, Christopher H. Hall, and James H. Hall and their spouses; Dean’s children, Peter B. McCagg and David McCagg; 11 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.
1947 Edward H. Christ Jr., most recently of Virginia Beach, Va., on February 5, 2023. Ted was a three-year student who was on the football and track teams, in the Glee Club, and on the Senior Executive Committee. Ted lived for extended times in Richmond, Va., and Washington, N.C., as well as Atlanta, Ga. and Avon, Conn. If you think about the time, you spent with Ted, there are a few constants. Have a project? He not only could help with the planning (measure twice, cut once), but loved every aspect of the effort as well. Did he help you with repairing a toy? Fixing your car? Working on your boat? Rewiring your kitchen? Digging in the garden? Building a tree house? Painting a dance studio? Creating a BMX track? Building wooden boxes? All of these activities brought him joy, especially if you were working with him, so that he could teach you as well. Perhaps his favorite activities surrounded his passion for water and boats. Whether it was a small sailing skiff or a speedy wooden rum runner, he loved how they looked, how they moved, and how they were designed. One of his most memorable accomplishments was constructing “Elegance,” built in his workshop and launched amid the cheers of family and friends in Pamlico Creek. Ted was predeceased by his parents, Edward H. Christ Sr. and Francine Wachter Christ; his sister, Manon Lu Christ; and his son-in-law, Scott D. DeShields. His deepest loss was the love of his life, Patricia W. Christ, whom he lost to glioblastoma in 1998 and missed every day. He was survived by his daughters, Lisette C. Piccillo and Katrina C. DeShields; four grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. A celebration was held March 4, 2023, at Charity United Methodist Church. 60 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
1954 Howard H. “Tad” Sargent III, in Boulder, Colo., on June 9, 2022. He was a two-year student who was on the track and tennis teams and in various clubs. Tad left college after two years and joined the Navy as a radioman. After two years of active duty, he returned to Connecticut and earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at the University of Connecticut in 1963. During the Vietnam War, Tad was commissioned in the Navy Reserve Seabees. He retired as a lieutenant commander. Upon returning to Boulder, he completed a master’s degree in engineering at University of Colorado. During that period, Tad met Inge Eberhard Seng, whom he married in 1969. Tad adopted her two daughters, Mayari and Kennari. Tad's engineering training enabled him to travel the world and do all sorts of interesting things. He routinely traveled to the Johnson Space Center in Houston and worked in mission control, supporting several Apollo missions to the Moon and SKYLAB. In 1977, as chief forecaster of NOAA’s Space Environment Forecast Center, he spent months in the Soviet Union as part of a
U.S.-Soviet scientific exchange studying weather and climate. He visited all the continents except Africa. What he missed seeing with his own eyes, he visited through books. A lifelong reader, he figured he had read over 1,000 books. Tad was committed to racial and social equity. He and Inge started Burma Lifeline (BL), a nonprofit devoted to helping refugees fleeing across the border from Burma to Thailand. During the 11 years Tad and Inge ran BL, they managed to raise well over $1 million to help the refugees. In 2010 they turned BL over to Partners Asia, which continues helping these refugees. Tad left behind his wife, Inge; his daughters, Mayari and Kennari; his grandchildren; his brother Doug and family; and his sister Anne.
1956 Arthur “Art” Myles, of Cumberland, Maine, on August 23, 2023. Art was a two-year student who played soccer and tennis and was in the sailing and ski clubs. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Middlebury College, a master’s degree at Wesleyan University, and a doctorate in biochemistry from Cornell and Sloan-Kettering. He did postdoctoral work
in Utah and Konstanz, Germany. Upon his return to the United States, he settled in Stow, Mass., and was employed by Collaborative Research/Becton Dickinson until his retirement. Art loved Camp Becket (YMCA) in the Berkshires. He spent time there as a camper and counselor, and later as a board member. He also played a prominent role at the First Parish Unitarian Church in Cohasset, Mass., where he and his wife Penny were married in 1999. Among his contributions were fundraising efforts, Property Committee, and Parish Committee. He was lovingly known by the church’s preschoolers as “Art the Builder.” Art was an avid gardener who had large vegetable and dahlia gardens at his home in Hingham, Mass. He enjoyed photographing flowers, nature scenes, and the places he went. He traveled annually to St. John, rafted down the Grand Canyon (twice!), and explored many European countries. He loved cooking Swedish “sandbakelser” holiday cookies, homemade pizza, and sourdough pancakes. Art’s greatest joy in life was spending time with his family and friends and giving back to his community, fulfilling the Becket motto, “Help the other fellow.” He was survived by his beloved wife, Penny (Prudden) Myles; his son, Chris Myles, and wife K.T.; his daughter, Kari MacLeod, and husband Rod; his brother, John “Tinker” Myles; his twin, Katherine “Kitty” Mullen; his sister, Marjorie “Midge” Miller; his stepchildren, Alexandra Cohen and husband Brian, Sophie Herr and husband Gregg, and Ben Redfield and wife Katie; his 13 grandchildren, who called him “grandpies”; and many nieces, nephews, and friends who adored him. His deceased uncle, John M. Roeser, was a 1928 Loomis grad. A memorial service was held September 9, 2023. Briscoe “Sandy” Ranson Smith, on November 6, 2023. He was a three-year student who was president of the Student Council, a varsity football player, and a recipient of the American Field Service Scholarship. At Williams College he was a varsity football player and a member of the Overweight Eight, a men’s acapella group. While at Williams he read the book Gideons Trumpet, a story about a young attorney’s first argument before the Supreme Court, which solidified his desire to become a lawyer. He attended law school at the University of Virginia, where he was editor of the Law Review and a member of the Raven Honorary Society. During law school, Briscoe was introduced to and quickly smitten by Lee Sanders, a junior editor at Harper’s Bazaar
Magazine. They married and settled in Bronxville, N.Y., where they enjoyed raising their three children and a marriage of more than 50 years. Briscoe began his legal career by taking a judge clerkship for New York City’s 9th District and went on to become a partner at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCoy. At Milbank he was a commercial litigation specialist and advised institutional clients all over the world on complex legal matters. While at Milbank he wrote a memorandum for junior associates aspiring to make partner. The first bullet point: “Treat your support staff like royalty,” which epitomized his gracious and humble spirit. He went on to be general counsel at US Trust and lead counsel at the Atlantic Legal Foundation, where he took on litigation to promote a more limited federal government and the enhancement of charter school systems in the United States. Briscoe was a member of the Reformed Church of Bronxville for 50 years, serving on many committees, advising members and staff on various legal matters, and publishing an illustrated book on the church’s architectural history. He was an avid golfer, a voracious reader of historical and political biographies, and author of two books on his family’s genealogy. Briscoe was survived by his daughter, Ranson; sons Radford and Brewster; son-in-law Ken; daughters-in-law Johanneke and Heather; and seven grandchildren. Briscoe’s deceased brother, Theodore Smith III, was a 1954 graduate.
1958 L. Kent Babcock III, better known as Skip to family and friends, on June 4, 2023, of complications of renal disease, at Avow Hospice, Naples, Fla. Skip was a three-year student, was in the sailing and jazz clubs, was a cast member in various theater productions, and participated in football, baseball, and wrestling. He was a 1962 graduate of Williams College with a bachelor’s degree in English. Upon graduation, he enlisted in the Navy, attending Officers Candidate School in Newport, R.I. He was commissioned as an ensign in May 1963 and served three years aboard the USS Saint Paul, an all-gun heavy cruiser, stationed in San Diego, Calif. He met his wife, Katherine “Keppy” Patton Babcock, at the Aloha summer camps in Fairlee, Vt. They married in September 1963, one of several camp marriages, and had two sons, Brad and Andy. After leaving the service in 1966,
the couple settled in Bryn Mawr, Pa., and Skip was hired by the Philadelphia National Bank. They later moved to Malvern, Pa. Skip spent 32 years with the bank, retiring in 1998 as an executive vice president in charge of risk management. Upon retirement they moved to Bald Head Island, N.C. They both loved sailing and spent many summers exploring Chesapeake Bay and the coast of Maine. In 2000 they bought a small cabin on Linikin Bay in Boothbay Harbor and enjoyed many summers there. While living in North Carolina, they were introduced to the game of 6-wicket croquet and spent several years going to various tournaments along the East Coast. Eventually they moved to Naples, living at Audubon Country Club and then at a senior living facility, Siena Lakes. Skip was survived by his wife, two children, and two grandchildren. He was predeceased by his parents (his father was L. Kent Babcock Jr. ’29); a sister, Thayer Babcock Morgan; and three nieces. His cousin Lucy Beach McCord is a 1963 graduate of Chaffee.
1960 Larry Dickie, on September 16, 2023, with his wife of 55 years, Barbara, by his side. Larry was a two-year student who participated in football, basketball, and track. He was in various clubs and the orchestra. Larry graduated from Middlebury College and Syracuse Law School. He served as captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. His law career began at Hughes, Hubbard & Reed in New York City before he spent the majority of his career at PepsiCo, where he retired as associate general counsel. Larry served as a chairman of the board at Green Mountain Valley School in Waitsfield, Vt., as well as a commodore at Riverside (Conn.) Yacht Club. Larry’s passion for wine led him to earn membership in the Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin. But his true joy was found on the water. He started a charter fishing company in Turks and Caicos, where he made his second home. And he spent decades racing on his various Ptarmigan sailboats alongside his beloved crew. He was survived by his wife, Barbara; his daughter Liz Walters and husband Will; his daughter Ally Shaule and husband Scott; and several grandchildren, including freshman Sophia. A memorial service was held September 29, 2023, at Riverside Yacht Club. loomischaffee.org 61
1964 Thomas E. Barefoot III, on April 5, 2022. Tom was a two-year student who played football, basketball, and lacrosse and was in the radio and ski clubs. From the yearbook: “Tom was determined, affable, and above all, genuine.” According to the family obituary, he was remarkable and accomplished, a gracious and considerate person who always sought to be of service to others and will be remembered for his warmth and generous friendship. Born in Washington, D.C., Tom was raised in Alexandria, Va. He completed his undergraduate studies at Tufts University with a degree in philosophy. Tom earned a master’s degree in human services administration from Antioch University New England. Tom shared his time and expertise with numerous organizations, all working toward a kinder, healthier and more compassionate world, embracing the importance of economic and social justice. He servedon the board of Vermont Public Interest Research Group and co-founded Gross National Happiness USA, actively engaging in research and legislation to improve the well-being of others. Tom was an active member of the Mad River Valley Ambulance Service. Tom began studying meditation and yoga in college, and in 1970 he joined Ananda Marga, a meditation and social change organization based in India. He established Universal Micro Systems (UMS) in 1980, one of the first companies in Vermont to sell personal computers. Over the years, UMS grew to offer networking solutions, programming, and repairs to Vermont state agencies as well as businesses across Vermont and New England. Tom was survived by his wife of 46 years, Joni Zweig; his daughter, Madhurii Barefoot Maves ’94, and her husband, Tyler Maves; and his grandchildren. A celebration of life was held in Waitsfield, Vt., in May 2022.
1965 Brian William MacKenzie, of Cornelius, N.C., on August 4, 2022. Brian was born and raised in Wethersfield, Conn., and was a four-year student who was an avid swimmer and diver growing up. He swam for Pine Acres and AAU, winning countless ribbons, medals, and championship races. At Loomis he played soccer and lacrosse, his real love. He played attack position, and in his senior year the Pelicans were undefeated. His 62 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
greatest high school game was a 3-1 win against Kingswood-Oxford when he scored a hat trick against KO’s All-New England goalie. He graduated from Villanova, where he played lacrosse. He later played in the Birmingham, Ala., men’s league. At the age of 50, he followed his dream and earned a law degree from the Birmingham School of Law. He was also in the Army reserves. He loved riding his Harley and taking guitar lessons, and he had quite a collection of watches that would bring a smile to his face at the end of his days. He was predeceased by his wife, Celia. He cared for her while she battled Alzheimer’s at their home in North Carolina until she passed, which left him devastated. He began to have his own health issues. After having a stroke, which left him paralyzed on his left side, he tried to keep a positive outlook. He was survived by his daughters, Kate and Karen, and their families; his son, B.J.: lifelong friends, including Peter Seigle ’65; and a very special stepdaughter, Melanie, who became his guardian angel at the end of his days.
1977 Phillip Sprague Steers, on August 13, 2023, at Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs, Colo., from a massive heart attack. Phil came to Loomis from Glen Head, N.Y. He attended the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse, graduating in 1982. Phil worked for the United States Forest Service from 1983 to 2021 in Wyoming, Oregon, Colorado, California, Michigan, and Oklahoma. He worked for the White River National Forest’s Rifle Ranger District on and off for many years. Phil primarily worked in the timber program. He marked, cruised, and prepared timber sale packages for local forest products, including saw timber, poles, firewood, and Christmas trees. He enjoyed utilizing all forest products that would support other Forest Service programs. He loved being outdoors and working in the forest, taking great pride in his work and caring deeply for the lands on which he worked. He started a recycling program at Rifle and often hauled in scraps of recyclable material that visitors left behind. He also spent weekend time helping local recycling programs, sorting and packaging recyclables. Phil had a passion for history and archaeology. While working in the White River National Forest as a forester, he was trained to be a para-archaeologist, helping to find and
preserve cultural resources. Phillip was a devoted patron of the Glenwood Springs Historical Society, financially supporting urgent needs for the Frontier Museum. He would regularly bring historic artifacts to donate, from World War II medals to a valuable antique table. Phillip was an avid reader of history and would often send articles from publications of prehistoric and historic interest to the museum staff. Phil was survived by his mother, Judith Harvey Steers, and brothers James, George, and Robert and was preceded in death by his father, J. Rich Steers, and his brother David. Daniel R. Tustin, of Bloomfield, Conn., on August 18, 2023, at St. Francis Hospital after a courageous battle with cancer. Dan was a four-year student from Windsor, Conn., who was involved in sports and was a member of the ski club. His student file noted that he worked on small engines, motorcycles, and cars; built his own go-kart; and was in the process of rebuilding a van into a camper, signaling what was to come. Dan earned a certificate in mechanical and electrical drafting from Porter and Chester School of Design in Enfield, Conn. He had a long career as a machinist, fabricator, and machine maintenance mechanic, and he was employed by various Connecticut companies, including Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in East Hartford, Custom Fabrication and Services in Bloomfield, CUNO in Enfield, and Jacobs Vehicle Systems in Bloomfield, before retiring. Dan enjoyed biking and hiking, camping with his family, skiing the slopes of many mountains across New England, and traveling to the beaches of Cape Cod and Rhode Island. In his spare time, you could find him at his home or in his yard tinkering and fixing things as he was a genuine handyman. He epitomized kindness, selflessness, and humility. A soft-spoken and humble soul, he went to great lengths for the people he was close to, never seeking anything in return. Dan was survived by his two children, Nicholas Tustin and partner Stephanie Ahart and Kelsey Tustin and fiancé Nicholas Guay, along with their mother, Judith Tustin. He was also survived by extended family members and many dear friends. In addition to his parents, Margaret, a Loomis Chaffee librarian for 20 years, and Richard Tustin, he was predeceased by his brother, Timothy B. Tustin. A Celebration of Life service was planned at a later date.
1979
George and Catherine (Eklund) Lynch; his sister, Gretchen Lynch; sister-in-law Marline Agnew; and his brother, George. Friends and relatives were invited to call on the family on July 22, 2023, at the MacArthur Funeral Home in Stamford.
Sherry Gross, on April 15, 2023, of natural causes. She was a neuroradiologist in New York City for many years. Sherry loved animals and spent a great deal of time doing work in New York City with the homeless community. She was known to order large boxes of winter clothes and pass them out to people living in the streets. Sherry was extremely generous and would literally give someone the shoes off her feet if they needed them. Sherry went to Brown University and majored in Russian and biology. Sherry was survived by her sister, Rina Leslie Gross Racket ’80, and Rina’s family.
Former Faculty and Staff
1984 Phyllis L. Porter, of West Hartford, Conn., on January 26, 2023. She was a four-year student who was a volleyball captain and a team Most Valuable Player. In her junior year Phyllis won New England titles in shot put and in the 400-meter relay. Her track coaches cited her as “dedicated, graceful, and very coachable.” Her volleyball coaches called her “hard-working … a leader and role model who knows how to enjoy the game.” She attended Syracuse University and received an associate degree. Phyllis was survived by her son, Joseph Simpson; two sisters, Jennifer Porter Gore and Theresa Lindsay and her husband; three brothers, Douglas Porter and his wife, Timothy Porter, and Stephen Porter; and a host of nieces and nephews. Phyllis was predeceased by her husband Keith Simpson and her sister Eileen Porter. Services were held in February in Windsor.
1989 Sean B. Lynch, of Stamford, N.Y., on July 12, 2023. Sean was a three-year student who forged many friendships, played football, threw the discus and shot, and earned the nickname “Lurch,” which most of his closest friends still called him. During his youth in Stamford, many came to know Sean from deliveries he made to homes and businesses, working behind the counter or in the yard at Eklund Building Supply, alongside his parents, siblings, and the amazing employees who were like family. He graduated from Hobart & William Smith College in Geneva, N.Y., with a bachelor’s degree in history in 1993. He learned to play rugby there, a sport
he later coached. After graduation, Sean spent some time back in Stamford working at Eklund’s. He moved to Boston in 1995, where he met Rebecca, his wife of almost 24 years, and worked in banking. After three years, they moved to Long Island, where he continued in banking for a brief time before returning to school at Stony Brook University to earn a master’s in teaching. In 1999 Sean and Rebecca married at the Lynch family home in Stamford, their favorite place, and in 2002 moved to Stamford to raise their family. Sean started his teaching career as a high school history teacher, which had been a passion. He earned an administrative certification at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts to become a better teacher and leader. If you were looking for Sean, you could find him watching one of his daughters’ sports events, fishing, golfing, enjoying nature, or at a live music event. Sean volunteered at many community events and was on the library board. In honor of a man who made an impact on his life and took a chance on him as his mentor in education, Sean established the Joseph P. Beck Memorial Golf Tournament that has raised money for the past 15 years to award scholarships to Stamford Central School graduates. Sean was predeceased by his maternal and paternal grandparents. Sean was survived by his wife, Rebecca (Steinhauer) Lynch; two daughters, Michaela and Georgia; his special furry dog son, Sargie; his parents,
Margaret Rose Tustin, of Bloomfield, Conn., and a longtime resident of Windsor, Conn., on June 16, 2023. Margaret grew up in Windsor, attended local schools, and was a graduate of John Fitch High School. She was employed at Loomis Chaffee for over 20 years, working in the library, where she made many friends and built lifelong relationships. Margaret and her husband of 58 years, the late Richard B. Tustin, enjoyed traveling the world together. She was an avid baker and an outstanding cook of comfort foods that her family and friends always looked forward to enjoying. Margaret was kind and considerate. She would assist her neighbors and friends with transportation all around Connecticut; they would often take day trips to run errands and enjoy the day out. Family was most important to her. She took care of her grandchildren as if they were her own children. She never missed a graduation, event, play, or function, and she was always there for them when they needed her. Margaret was survived by two grandchildren, Nicholas Tustin and Kelsey Tustin, along with their mother, Judith Tustin; her brother, Daniel Rose; and numerous nieces, nephews, and extended family. In addition to her husband and parents, she was predeceased by her son Timothy B. Tustin and her three siblings, Walter Rose, Dorothy Hassett, and Mildred Barker. Her son Daniel R. Tustin ’77 died two months after her. A graveside service for Margaret was held August 26, 2023, in Windsor.
More News The alumni office has learned of the passing of George A. Lundberg Jr. ’42, on September 1, 2019; Angus Deming ’43, on February 12, 2020; and Matthew Lawson ’96 on January 2. More information, as available, will be published in a future magazine. loomischaffee.org 63
REFLECTIONS
Out of the Woodwork
M
“
ake things and make a difference” is the unofficial motto of the Pearse Hub for Innovation (PHI), a bustling space in the Scanlan Campus Center where, on any given day, students might be build-
ing birdhouses for a club project, engaging in a design challenge with a class, brainstorming a social media plan for a local business, or all of the above. Students took a keen interest in making things long before the PHI, though, and Loomis Chaffee encouraged them to pursue these activities as part of a well-rounded education.
Above: Sam Feifer ’19 and Maral Asik ’20, when they were students, use woodworking tools in the PHI to complete projects for the Problem Solving for the Common Good course.
64 Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2024
In 1950, Carl Olson supervises students building a chest of drawers in the woodshop that was set up in the Physical Plant building. In addition to teaching wood-working, Carl was superintendent of maintenance and an instructor in manual training during his 41 years working at The Loomis Institute.
loomischaffee.org 65
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