Loomis Chaffee Spring 2015 Magazine by Loomis Chaffee

MAGAZINE

SPRING 2015

Talking Points Our Song Future Teachers

Freshman Suzy Ryckman congratulates senior swim teammate Krystal Sung on a great race in Hedges Pool. Photo: Tom Honan

INSIDE 20 | Talking Points

Spring 2015/ Volume LXXVII, No. 2

With their teachers’ guidance, Loomis Chaffee students learn and practice the skills of productive discourse and come to value the ability to discuss difficult topics civilly, debate respectfully, and consider differing opinions with a willing mind.

ON THE COVER Classroom discourse. Illustration by James Yang

David Snyder ’80 discusses composing the school’s Centennial song, “Where Rivers Rise and Fall.”

MANAGING EDITOR | Becky Purdy DESIGNER | Patricia J. Cousins CLASS NEWS | James S. Rugen ’70 OBITUARIES | Christine Coyle CONTRIBUTORS | Christine Coyle, Cara Woods, Timothy Struthers ’85, KeriAnne Travis, Lisa Salinetti Ross, Alexandra Muchura, Katherine Langmaid, and Nathan Follansbee

26 | Q&A: School Sounds

30 | Centennial Essay: Teaching Future Teachers Brandeis education professor Marya Randall Levenson ’60 considers the challenges and imperatives of excellent teaching in our nation’s schools.

33 | Winter Light

SUBMISSIONS/STORIES AND NEWS Alumni may contribute items of interest to: Loomis Chaffee Editors The Loomis Chaffee School 4 Batchelder Road Windsor CT 06095 860 687 6811 magazine@loomis.org

A photo essay captures the beauty of the winter of 2015 on the Island.

40 | The Write Stuff

Our annual update on alumni authors features Zane Hickcox Kotker ’52

DEPARTMENTS 2 | HEADLINES | Community Bonds 3 | AROUND THE QUADS

10 | THE BIG PICTURE 16 | ISLAND ARRAY 17 | OF NOTE | FACULTY & STAFF

DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING | Lynn A. Petrillo ’86

PRINTED AT LANE PRESS Burlington, Vermont Printed on 70# Sterling Matte, an SFI sheet SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY INITIATIVE POSTMASTER Send address changes to The Loomis Chaffee School 4 Batchelder Road Windsor CT 06095

18 | ATHLETICS

42 | OBJECT LESSONS | Heroic Proportions 44 | ALUMNI NEWS 54 | IN MEMORIAM 62 | READERS’ VOICES 64 | THE LAST WORD | Family Testimonial Go to 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.

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HEADLINES | BY SHEILA CULBERT

Community Bonds

N this, the school’s Centennial year, I have found myself on the road more often than not meeting with alumni, parents, and friends of the school. In addition to the on-campus September 20 celebration of our 100th year—replete with ceremony, dinner and dancing under the Grubbs Quadrangle tent, and fireworks over the Meadows—and the formal launch of Our Time Is Now: The Centennial Campaign for Loomis Chaffee in New York at the American Museum of Natural History on October 23, Loomis has held celebrations in Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Austin, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Vero Beach, Atlanta, Charlotte, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London, Hartford, and Boston. Whew! And more will take place by the time you receive this magazine, or soon after: Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; New York; and Chicago. We have had terrific attendance at each of these events, and I have thoroughly enjoyed talking with graduates and parents about their and their children’s Loomis experiences and about the strategic plan to ensure that the next century of school history gets off to a great start. Like the school itself, our celebrations have drawn people from around the world and from all walks of life. The atmosphere is down-to-earth, warm, and friendly as attendees look for people from their own class years or for alumni or parents they have met at previous receptions. For those of us traveling for the

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school, the Loomis Centennial tour, more so than usual, has become almost an extension of the school’s oral history project of the past few years, a pastiche of memories and interactions, as alumni and parents recall their time on the Island—a kind word, a challenge overcome, an encouragement, a moment of crisis or of accomplishment. Attendees quickly bond over conversations about which dormitory they lived in or whether they traveled to school by bus or car, over stories about teachers they had and fellow classmates, over the success of our athletic teams, and over the work jobs they had. (The trash truck detail deserves a special oral history of its own!) That the school has fostered friendships that have stood the test of time should come as no surprise to anyone. Students, during one of the most formative periods of their lives, spend up to four years together in close company with other students and with teachers who are often not only their classroom teachers but also their athletic coaches, their advisors, or their dorm parents. The special character, that sense of inclusive community, that distinguishes Loomis is readily apparent in our off-campus gatherings. It stems, I think, from the school’s origins, the vision that the Founders described in the 1874 Charter and the 1878 Family Testimonial. In establishing “a free educational establishment, called the Loomis Institute,” the Founders COMMUNITY BONDS | continued 63

Sheila Culbert Photo: Patricia Cousins

“

The special character, that sense of inclusive community, that distinguishes Loomis is readily apparent in our offcampus gatherings.

”

AROUND THE QUADS

Cutler Hall Plans Expanded, Work Begins

Hall, as the buildings on campus are a vital part of our community. Even so, by expanding our residential options for both students and faculty, the new building strikes a better balance of our strategic plan with our economic reality,” Sheila explains.

LANS for Cutler Hall, announced last spring, are moving forward with an ambitious schedule to open in the fall of 2016. With a $3 million gift from Alexander “Sandy” M. Cutler ’69 and his wife, Sally, the Board of Trustees and Head of School Sheila Culbert originally planned to re-purpose Gwendolen Hall, transforming it through renovation into a dormitory for 22 students and two faculty families. The renovated building would be renamed Cutler Hall.

In completing due diligence, however, the Building and Grounds Committee of the Board of Trustees, along with the school administration, determined that funds needed for renovating the existing building

would be better invested in a new structure that could house nearly twice as many students and faculty families. “Many of us, myself included, have become attached to Gwendolen

Architect Sam Olshin from the Philadelphia firm of Atkin, Olshin & Schade has presented a plan for Cutler Hall, that, when aligned with Kravis and Richmond Halls, will form a courtyard, creating a gathering space for underclassmen similar to that of Grubbs Quadrangle. The new building design also incorporates architectural elements inspired by Gwendolen Hall. Dedicated in 1919, Gwendolen Hall

was named in honor of Nathaniel Batchelder’s first wife, Gwendolen Sedgwick Batchelder. It served first as an infirmary and has subsequently housed the Health Center, Admission Office, and College Office. Its last occupant, the Health Center, has moved to a new home in Richmond Hall and retains the Gwendolen name. The old structure will be taken down this spring in order to prepare for ground-breaking. “The Board of Trustees and I are greatly appreciative of the Cutlers’ generosity, and we look forward to the addition of what promises to be a wonderful new dormitory that is very much in keeping with the beautiful architecture already here,” Sheila adds.

Rendering of the north side of Cutler Hall. Illustration: Samuel Olshin, Atkin Olshin Schade Architects.

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AROUND THE QUADS

Jeff Johnson speaks at convocation. Photo: Patricia Cousins

Using Past Tense to Consider Future of Social Justice

“S

ANKOFA” is the idea, from the West African tradition, of looking back in order to move forward, of understanding the past as an aspect of the future. Jeff Johnson, the keynote speaker for this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Week celebration at Loomis Chaffee, invoked sankofa as an honest and useful approach to facing issues of race and social justice in American society. “We must return to our roots to move forward,” said Mr. Johnson, an award-winning journalist, communications specialist, and thought leader. In several forums during his January visit to campus, he urged students and faculty to talk about the country’s history, even the difficult times, as a step toward change. “Can we be honest about what

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we’ve been through as a nation, to collectively remember so that we would be able to move forward in creating our best future?” he asked. Mr. Johnson began his convocation address to the school with a reference to Dr. King’s last book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?, which implored people involved in the civil rights movement to take action, not just engaging in marches and rhetoric, but transformative action — policy change on the federal and local level — in order to achieve the promise of America. Dr. King’s challenge still resonates. When we consider the issues surrounding the cases of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and Eric Garner, Mr. Johnson said, each of the cases is different and nuanced. However,

most of the discussion around the issues has been superficial and unsophisticated. “We seem to have forgotten how we’ve gotten here as a nation and the challenges we have been through,” he asserted. Relating this topic to the 2014–15 school theme of “Memory,” Mr. Johnson suggested that memory is about listening to "the voices of those who came before us.” If we don’t recognize the voices of the Americans of the past, he cautioned, we won’t have a legacy to build upon for those who follow us. He encouraged the school community to talk about the country’s history — our collective memory — when it is relevant, and not to shy away from uncomfortable discussions. Embracing our memories, even the painful ones, he said,

reminds us of who we are and helps us to connect with each other as members of the “human family.” During his visit to campus, Mr. Johnson also spoke at a faculty meeting and led a discussion with students in leadership roles about identifying organizational goals, making connections to achieve those goals, and thinking beyond diversity in building a community. MLK Week also included student and faculty performances in tribute to Dr. King’s legacy, a Hot Topic Discussion titled “Personal Experiences with Oppression — The ‘I’ Perspective,” and a spoken word slam with performers from the Loomis community as well as two guest performers from the Hartford area.

Kravis to Speak at Commencement

ENRY R. KRAVIS ’63, co-founder, co-chairman, and co-chief executive officer of KKR & Co. L.P., will speak at Loomis Chaffee’s Commencement on Sunday, May 24.

Junior Joseph Lee, speaker Steve Ramirez, sophomore Lily Liu, freshman Mahek Pannu, sophomore Yuri Kovshov, and freshman Emily Bian continue the discussion after the convocation. Photo: Patricia Cousins

Memory’s Place in the Brain

EMORIES are not just abstract concepts; they have a physical presence in the brain, according to Steve Ramirez, an MIT researcher who spoke to the Loomis community this winter. And memories can be physically manipulated in the brain.

Mr. Ramirez, a graduate student in MIT’s Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department, and MIT Fellow Xu Liu have gained recognition for their breakthrough research on memory and the brain. Using light technology called optogenetics, they have been able to manipulate brain cells in lab mice to activate memories, erase them, and even create false memories. Science Magazine featured their research in a 2013 cover story titled “Creating a False Memory in the Hippocampus,” and the pair received the 2014 Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for their ongoing work. During his convocation address at Loomis, Mr. Ramirez displayed a photograph that exhibited the physical activation of cells that house memory in the brain’s hippocampus. When activated in the lab, the cells glowed an electric green. “As abstract as it feels, a memory actually has an appearance,” he said. Optogenetics research may lead to better treatments for brain diseases that drug therapies over the last 50

years have had only limited success in treating, Mr. Ramirez said. “It’s possible that some disorders of the brain, such as depression, may need physical intervention — it’s just not as obvious as a broken leg,” he explained. The convocation sparked the interest of a number of students who waited in line to speak with Mr. Ramirez after the talk. Students said they were fascinated both by the research and by Mr. Ramirez’s own story. At age 27, he has been named one of MIT Technology Review’s “35 Innovators Under 35” and one of Pacific Standard’s “Top 30 Thinkers Under 30.” Despite his prodigious work, he said that when he was in high school, “I had zero idea of what I wanted to do. I found neuroscience completely by accident.” He shared this advice for students as they explore their future courses of study and profession: “Throw yourself off the deep end — OK, not literally. Go work in a lab, a law firm, or at Google — really get your hands wet. You’ll either love it or you’ll hate it, but the experience will shed light on what you want or don’t want to do.” Mr. Ramirez’s visit was part of the Hubbard Speakers Series, made possible by a gift from Robert Hubbard ’47. The series this year is focusing on the theme of “Memory.”

A three-year boarder from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Henry graduated from Loomis in 1963. He went on to attend Claremont McKenna College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1967, and then Columbia University Graduate School of Business, where he earned a master’s in business administration in 1969. In 1976, Henry co-founded KKR, a leading global investment firm with approximately $98 billion in assets under management as of December 2014. Henry has more than four decades of experience financing, analyzing, and investing in public and private companies as well as serving on the boards of a number of KKR portfolio companies.

Henry R. Kravis ’63

In addition to his work at KKR, Henry also serves as a director, chairman emeritus, or trustee of several cultural, professional, and educational institutions, including the Business Council (vice chairman), Claremont McKenna College, Columbia Graduate School of Business (co-chairman), Mount Sinai Hospital, the Partnership for New York City (former chairman), the Partnership Fund for New York City (founder), Rockefeller University (vice chairman), Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (chairman), and the Tsinghua School of Economics and Management.

Honorary co-chair of Our Best Selves: The Campaign for Loomis Chaffee from 2002 to 2006, Henry is a longtime supporter of the school. Through his generosity, Loomis built Kravis Hall and established the Henry R. Kravis ’63 Center for Excellence in Teaching. Henry also created the Kravis Scholars program to provide opportunities for students with significant financial need from culturally, geographically, and ethnically under-represented backgrounds. Students who demonstrate leadership potential, show consistent academic achievement, and seek to serve as influential leaders in their communities qualify for consideration. In addition to competitive need-based financial aid grants, each Kravis Scholar receives a fully funded pre-Loomis summer enrichment experience and a grant for overseas travel. While at Loomis, Henry was a leader in his class and the school, serving two years on the Student Council, the second year as vice president and a member of the Executive Committee. He lettered in varsity wrestling and varsity track and co-captained the wrestling team in his senior year. Henry also participated in several extracurricular activities, including the Press Club (co-president), Dance Committee, and Intramural Athletic Council. Henry’s daughter, Kimberly Kravis Schulhof ’93, serves on the Loomis Chaffee Board of Trustees.

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AROUND THE QUADS

Kelly Fund Supports Professional Development with a Global Focus

EACHERS will become students this summer thanks in part to grants from the Jonathan M. Kelly ’81 Faculty Fund for Global Studies. Mike Murphy, history and economics teacher, will travel to China to study U.S. and China relations in the context of recent and future environmental agreements. Math teacher Isso Shimamoto will attend a teacher conference in the Bahamas that focuses on place-based learning models and experiential education. And history teacher Thomas Pipoli will attend the European Society for Environmental History’s biennial conference in Versailles, France. Established by Jonathan in 2013, the faculty fund supports Loomis’ Center for Global Studies by providing funding for faculty members to seek professional development overseas, including serving as instructors on the school’s study trips for its students. When asked about his motivation to create the fund, Jonathan shares that he has always been interested in faculty and faculty development. “I had so many teachers at Loomis whose spirit filled the classroom and brought their subjects to

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life,” he explains. “I am extremely grateful for everything they taught me and for their commitment to excellence.”

“

This is an exciting new initiative at Loomis, and I look forward to learning about how the faculty will bring their experiences into the classroom.

”

— Jonathan Kelly ’81

The work of the Center for Global Studies also intrigued Jonathan. “I manage investment portfolios in emerging markets … and so overseas travel and foreign cultures, particularly in less developed markets, are an interest and passion for me,” he says. Creating the Faculty Fund for Global Studies allows Jonathan to combine his interests and support both the center and Loomis faculty. With the first round of funding available this year, faculty were invited to submit professional development proposals this winter. The recipients were announced in March. “We are very excited for the opportunities that the Kelly Fund will create for our faculty. Our teachers will be afforded the chance to engage in professional development abroad and then will bring those experiences directly back to their courses and classrooms,” comments Alexander McCandless, Christopher H. Lutz Director of the

Center for Global Studies. “Support for a teacher to study and see, in person, economic development and environmental degradation in China or India, for example, or language, literature, and local dialect use in Latin America will enliven their courses and promote global education at Loomis Chaffee.” “This is an exciting new initiative at Loomis, and I look forward to learning about how the faculty will bring their experiences into the classroom,” adds Jonathan. Faculty support is a critical objective of Our Time Is Now: The Centennial Campaign for Loomis Chaffee. As of March 1, 2015, the campaign had received more than $72.8 million in gifts and pledges toward the $100 million goal. For more information about Our Time Is Now, please visit www.loomischaffee. org/campaign.

Financial Aid Initiative Tops Goal

FINANCIAL aid fundraising initiative launched in 2010 by an anonymous donor has reached its goal, raising a total of $13.5 million for the financial aid endowment thanks to a remarkable 62 commitments to financial aid, each exceeding $50,000, and a $4.3 million matching gift. The Financial Aid Initiative and its resulting gifts will help to ensure that a Loomis Chaffee education remains accessible to academically talented students from diverse backgrounds, regardless of their families’ ability to pay tuition. “I am especially thrilled that so many donors have fulfilled the Financial Aid Initiative’s challenge in the Centennial year,” Head of School Sheila Culbert says. “Given the Founders’ vision that access to a Loomis education would be based on students’ character and potential, not on their families’ ability to pay, each donor honors that vision and those values by giving to the initiative. We are particularly grateful to the anonymous individual who created and then extended the Financial Aid Initiative, who believes so strongly in accessibility and in the impact of a Loomis education, and who has motivated so many other alumni and parents to contribute to such an honorable cause.” The initiative launched five years ago with the goal of encouraging new gifts to the endowment for financial aid. The anonymous donor offered to give up to $3.3 million through a 50 percent match for each new gift that established a scholarship fund or supplemented an existing fund by at least $50,000. As the initiative progressed, the anonymous challenger, impressed by the early results, decided to add another $1 million in matching

funding. Fittingly, just as the initiative began through the generosity of an anonymous donor, it reached completion with a final gift from another anonymous donor. “The Financial Aid Initiative is one of the most important strategic ideas we have undertaken during this campaign,” says Erby Mitchell, assistant head of school for enrollment. “Preserving access to a Loomis education, particularly to those talented students from families who otherwise would not be able to afford it, is our highest priority. Without a robust financial aid program, we limit the opportunities to create an intellectually diverse community where the free flow of opinions is appreciated, and where the wide range of talents can materialize.” The initiative already has helped the school to provide more financial aid funding to students in need of assistance. In 2014–15, the school provided $8.9 million in aid to 34 percent of students. The initiative by the numbers:  4 0 new scholarships were established with $5,930,689 in new funds and $2,668,798 in matching funds.  1 6 existing scholarships received new gifts totaling $2,268,204 and $1,134,102 in matching funds.  6 current restricted and special financial aid funds totaling $994,200 in new gifts were matched with $497,100 to the financial aid endowment.  F rom 2009–10 to 2014–15, financial aid has grown at a rate 50 percent faster than the underlying budget.

Jonathan Kelly ’81

Douglas Lyons ’82

Two Alumni Join Board of Trustees

HE Board of Trustees welcomed two new members, Jonathan Kelly ’81 and Douglas Lyons ’82, at the winter board meeting in January.

Jonathan lives in Weston, Massachusetts, and is a portfolio manager of the Emerging Nations Fund at Fidelity Investments, where he has worked for more than 20 years. As a four-year Loomis Chaffee student from Glastonbury, Connecticut, Jonathan played on the varsity soccer and varsity tennis teams and was co-president of the Political Union, a member of the Assembly Committee, a student tutor, and a study hall proctor. He graduated cum laude. He received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science from Dartmouth College in 1985, and a master’s of business administration from University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business in 1991. Jonathan chaired his 25th Reunion at Loomis Chaffee and was a member of his 30th Reunion committee. From 2008 to 2010, Jonathan co-chaired the school’s Annual Fund, and in 2009 he joined the Head’s Council. Jonathan and his wife, Meg, have three children. Doug lives in Chicago, Illinois, and is a managing director of Pearlmark Real Estate Partners, where he is responsible for the firm’s capital markets, portfolio management, and debt activities, and is a member of Pearlmark’s management and investment committees. A threeyear student from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Doug was a three-sport varsity athlete at Loomis, competing in soccer, basketball, and track. He also was a prefect, an admission tour guide, a representative to the Disciplinary Committee, a writer for The Log, and senior class president. Doug graduated cum laude and at Commencement received the Nathaniel Horton Batchelder Prize for Industry, Loyalty, and Integrity. Doug earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Amherst College in 1986 and a master’s in business administration from Harvard University in 1993. Doug served as co-chair of Loomis Chaffee’s Annual Fund from 2003 to 2007. He previously served on the school’s Board of Trustees from 2006 to 2011, with membership on the Advancement Committee, Buildings and Grounds Committee, Finance Committee, and Salaries and Benefits Committee. Doug and his wife, Susan, have two children. Their elder child, Nathaniel, is a junior at Loomis.

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AROUND THE QUADS

“

‘You just showed us a love story,’ Al Freihofer ’69, director of the Norton Family Center for the Common Good, said to Melissa after the applause subsided.

”

Freihofer ’69, director of the Norton Family Center for the Common Good, said to Melissa after the applause subsided.

Melissa Donovan ’81 speaks with students in the Norton Family Center for the Common Good. Photo: Patricia Cousins

Students Screen Alumna’s Film

ILMMAKER Melissa Donovan ’81 attended an on-campus screening of her awardwinning documentary Zemene in February and visited classes the following day to talk with students about her work and the making of the film. Zemene takes its title from the name of its central figure, a young Ethiopian girl who seeks treatment for a life-threatening curvature of her spine. The documentary begins chronicling her story when she is 10 years old, malnourished, and suffering from kyphosis, a severe spine condition. She is unlikely to survive into adulthood without treatment. Yet through the tireless efforts

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of family members, Zemene’s own spirited perseverance, and a chance encounter with Dr. Rick Hodes, Zemene eventually receives treatment that saves her life. While remaining devoted to her family and village, she also discovers the possibilities of the wider world and sees ways she can help the lives of others. The entire freshman class, seniors in the Global Studies Certificate program, and many faculty, parents, and community members attended the screening and question-andanswer session with Melissa in the Hubbard Performance Hall. “You just showed us a love story,” Al

The screening sparked wide-ranging questions from the audience and from students who met with Melissa the next day in their film, freshman English, Modern Africa, and World History classes. They showered her with queries about her experiences in Ethiopia, her challenges in making the film, her motivation for pursuing the project, and the lives of the individuals and families in the documentary. “What was the biggest thing you

learned from making the film?” one freshman asked. “Being able to hang on when you feel like you’re at your lowest,” Melissa replied. “It was amazing to me to see Zemene never giving up.” After her visit to the Island, Melissa traveled to Washington, D.C., and San Jose, Calif., for screenings of the film. She also is working to raise funds to build a school in Zemene’s village next fall. Melissa has worked in the commercial, independent, and documentary world as a cinematographer for the past 10 years. After assisting and learning from a wide range of wellknown filmmakers, including Robert Richardson and Carolyn Chen, she transitioned into the role of director of photography and now director. Her work has received critical praise and multiple awards, and Zemene was named Best Documentary at the Boston Film Festival in 2014.

Oklahoma! Sets NEO Toes A-Tapping

HE Meadows took on a decidedly white, bleak, and snowy look this winter, but in the Norris Ely Orchard Theater, student actors sang, “There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow.” The opening lyrics and full production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical Oklahoma! proved to be a fitting antidote to the season’s nearhistoric cold and snowfall. The large cast, backstage crew, and pit orchestra drew students from across the campus for this sizable production, and sold-out crowds greeted the performances

with delight and ovations. In fact, a standing-room-only audience attended the final performance, which followed the Loomis Chaffee Parents Association’s celebratory theater luncheon in the dining hall. Oklahoma! tells the timeless love story of Curly the cowboy (played by junior Andrey Vdovenko) and Laurey the farm girl (played by freshman Sarah Gyurina) just after the turn of the 20th century, when settlers from different backgrounds and sensibilities are forging a new life together in the Oklahoma territory. The show’s supporting story lines,

colorful characters, large-scale dance numbers, and memorable music filled the NEO with a toe-tapping atmosphere as well as laughter and tender moments. The theater faculty chose Oklahoma! as this year’s musical in part because it is Loomis Chaffee’s Centennial year. “The setting takes place around the same time in America as when the Founders established the school. And it’s a story of a community coming together,” explains director and theater faculty member David McCamish.

For Aunt Eller (junior Kirsten Mossberg), Cord Elam (junior Joseph Hinton), and a rancher (senior Laura Scanlon), these boots are made for dancin’. Photo: Wayne Dombkowski

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AROUND THE QUADS | THE BIG PICTURE

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YEAR OF THE GOAT Three goats moved into guest quarters on campus this winter and enjoyed feasting on dining hall scraps, discarded Christmas trees, and other goodies. The goats, which live in a small barn and enclosure built by students and faculty member Peter Gwyn, are on loan to the school from a current family as a pilot program for a new sustainable agriculture initiative. Goats provide natural weed control, eating poison ivy and other unwanted plants, and their manure enriches the soil. Photo: Patricia Cousins

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AROUND THE QUADS

“18 Cubed” and Team HAX Triumph

AX Robotics, Loomis Chaffee’s robotics team, hosted a FIRST Tech Challenge tournament during Head’s Holiday weekend and came away with a design award and a share of the championship title. The LC Shakedown, as the tournament is called, brought together 26 teams from schools across Connecticut — teams with such names as “TechKnow Geeks,” “Radians of the Arctangent,” and “RoboEpic.” Donning eclectic team swag and bringing the excitement to a fever pitch in the Olcott Center, the competitors pitted their robots against each other in a game called Cascade Effect. The teams had spent the preceding months planning, designing, building, and trouble-shooting their robots for the competition

and other state and regional contests. Once on the LC Shakedown playing “field,” the robots maneuvered through obstacles in an effort to complete game elements.

“I think it’s going well — though we’ve had a few set-backs,” remarked junior Samantha Aube, a HAX team member, during the qualifying matches. “But we are working through adversity, which is what we are trained to do.” Team HAX and its robot, dubbed “18 Cubed,” went on to win the Rockwell Collins Innovate Award for design ingenuity and inventiveness — the highest award in the design category — and was a member of the winning alliance for the overall competition. “I thought the day went very well for all the teams,” comments

Team Hax members, advisor Ewen Ross, and several "fac brat" helpers celebrate upon learning the final results of the LC Shakedown. Photo: Dan Corjulo

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Ewen Ross, Loomis science teacher and event organizer. Ewen and fellow faculty member Mischa Lassow ’09 are the robotics advisors. “The level of enthusiasm was excellent,” Ewen continues. “The teams not only learned a lot, but also had fun.”

18 Cubed, the team's robot. Photo: Christine Coyle

Team HAX went on to compete in the Connecticut and Vermont regional championships and the East Super-Regional FIRST Tech Championship in Pennsylvania in March. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an international not-for-profit organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen in 1989 and supported by a network of sponsors and volunteers. FIRST Connecticut inspires young people across the state to be science and technology leaders through mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills; inspire innovation; and foster self-confidence, communication, and leadership with the support of schools and business organizations.

brilliant!  Junior Catriona Hong’s ceramic sculpture “Fierce Love” was selected for inclusion in the National K-12 Ceramic Exhibition this year. Catriona and five other Loomis art students also received awards in the 26th Annual Connecticut Regional Scholastic Art Awards and Exhibit in January and February.  The Student Council raised $1,700 for a local soup kitchen through a benefit concert in the Hubbard Performance Hall on February 27. Students showcased their talent in 21 musical and dance performances. With an audience of more than 200, the concert benefitted Loaves & Fishes of Enfield, Connecticut.  Junior Mallory Kievman, inventor of the patented hiccup remedy Hiccupops, was a guest of President Barack Obama at the White House Science Fair in March. The fair showcased the work of student innovators from across the country.  Mathematics enthusiasts had no shortage of opportunities to test their mettle this winter. More than 135 Loomis students took the American Math Competition exams in February, and five of them advanced to the next round, the American Invitational Mathematics Examination. The highest scorers in the invitational qualify for the USA Mathematical Olympiad and a chance to compete in the International Mathematical Olympiad. Groups of math students also competed in the Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament for high school students in February and the Math Majors of America Tournament for High Schools at Yale University in March.  Through its annual Mardi Gras Feast, the Pelican Service Organization raised more than $1,500 for NicaPhoto, an organization dedicated to helping break the cycle of poverty in Nicaragua. The February 26 event in the dining hall featured homemade dishes from Loomis parents, faculty, staff, and students. Kate Rossi ’07 and Maggie Trautman ’07 are volunteering for six months this year with NicaPhoto in the village of Sonrisa del Dio.  Fifteen students were selected to participate in this year’s Northern Region Music Festival hosted by the Connecticut Music Educators Association. Chosen by audition, the students joined talented musicians from across northern Connecticut in New Britain in January for two days of rehearsals and a festival concert featuring jazz, choral, orchestra, and band performances.  Four student musicians were chosen by audition to the Connecticut All-State Music Festival later this spring.  Sophomore Evan McDonagh was named Eagle Scout of the Year for his district, which includes 66 troops in north central Connecticut.  Delegations of diplomatic students took part in two Model United Nations conferences this winter. A team of 26 Loomis Chaffee delegates joined students from across the country at the Yale Model United Nations Conference in January and earned several awards, including Best Delegate and Honorable Delegate. Nineteen Loomis students participated in the Boston Invitational Model United Nations, sponsored by Boston University, in February and received four awards.  For the 12th consecutive year, the school participated this winter in the Green Cup Energy Challenge, a national interscholastic campaign created by the Green Schools Alliance. Despite the very cold winter, the conservation efforts of the Loomis community led to a savings of 1.7 percent of energy use this year compared to the same period last year.

A Record-Setting Day for Giving

N February 24, the school celebrated Philanthropy Day, the symbolic date when tuition runs out and Loomis Chaffee operates for the rest of the year on the generosity of alumni, parents, and friends through Annual Fund gifts as well as the endowment draw. To mark the Centennial, the school set a lofty goal of receiving gifts from 1,000 donors on this one day. And, if the goal was achieved, Head of School Sheila Culbert agreed to dye her hair an outrageous color. The Philanthropy Day campaign, which included videos, social media messaging, and student, staff, and volunteer outreach throughout the 24-hour period, was perhaps the most comprehensive single-day fundraising effort in the school’s history. The results astounded even the Annual Fund team. Loomis Chaffee’s alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and friends responded in record numbers — 1,016 in all — contributing

$236,886. “None of this would have been possible without the dedicated efforts of hundreds of Annual Fund volunteers and the tremendous generosity of the Loomis Chaffee community,” remarks KeriAnne Travis, director of the Annual Fund. How does one follow up such a day? With a party to celebrate the achievement and thank the donors. On February 27, students, faculty, and staff gathered in the Katharine Brush Library to celebrate Hezekiah Loomis’ birthday by writing thank you postcards to many of the 1,016 donors. Although the note-writing took place throughout the day, the highlight was the moment when Sheila stepped into the library with a head of purple, pink, and blue hair. Faculty applauded. Students snapped selfies. And Sheila took a moment to acknowledge the tremendous commitment of the school’s many benefactors. To see more photographs from the event, and pictures of Sheila — and her dogs — in celebratory colors, go to loomischaffee.org/magazine.

Delivering on her promise to dye her hair an outrageous color, Head of School Sheila Culbert marks the success of Philanthropy Day with sophomore Brendan Nelson, junior Bryce Loomis, junior Marcus Witherspoon, junior Summer Schuster, senior Katherine Munroe, and senior Margo Rybeck in Katharine Brush Library. Photo: Patricia Cousins

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AROUND THE QUADS

Alumni Artist Series Continues

WO Loomis Chaffee graduates exhibited art work in the Sue and Eugene Mercy Jr. Gallery this winter as part of the yearlong celebration of alumni art in conjunction with the school’s Centennial. The final show in the series opens April 28. “Painting Time: Work by Andrew Sendor,” which ran from mid-January to mid-February, featured a selection from the private collection of Mickey Cartin ’66. Mr. Sendor is an American artist whose work has been exhibited worldwide to much acclaim. He was included among the “10 Painters Who are Changing Their Media in the 21st Century” in an October 2014 article in The Huffington Post.

Illustration: Patricia Cousins

Happy Birthday, Dear Founders . . .

IRTHDAY celebrations for Loomis Chaffee's Founders have punctuated the school’s Centennial year, and with one more still to come, the party’s not over yet. The school honored the birthdays of Abigail Loomis Hayden on September 23, John Mason Loomis on January 5, Osbert Burr Loomis on January 30 (his half birthday), and Hezekiah Bradley Loomis on February 27. A celebration of the fifth Loomis sibling, James Chaffee Loomis, will take place on his birthday, April 29. Organized by the Centennial Celebration Committee, the betweenclass festivities have been fun, welcome diversions from daily routines. At each celebration, students enjoyed baked treats, signed a huge birthday card for the day’s honoree, and collected one of the five Loomis family “trading cards” complete with portrait and bio. Students who collect all five will be entered in a prize drawing after James’ birthday.

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Each birthday party had its own unique touch. At John’s celebration, students enjoyed cookies in the shape of his prominent mustache, and they posed for photos using the cookies as disguises. Students struck poses with life-sized cutouts created for Osbert’s celebration. In honor of Abigail’s birthday, students and faculty were encouraged to “pay it forward,” performing an act of kindness for someone else. And Hezekiah’s festivities were partnered with Philanthropy Day’s thank you note-writing campaign to Annual Fund donors. Not to be left out of the celebrations, alumni gathered off campus at receptions in Boston; New York; Washington, D.C.; and West Hartford to mark Osbert’s half birthday in “A Toast to Osbert” over Head’s Holiday weekend. To view photos from the birthday celebrations and from the Head's Holiday receptions, go to www.loomischaffee.org /magazine

The Mercy Gallery exhibit included five paintings from Mickey’s collection and five paintings borrowed from other collections, to tell a “fuller story,” according to exhibit curator Steven Holmes, overseer of The Cartin Collection. Mickey has long been instrumental in bringing artists and their works to share with the Loomis community. “Explorations,” a photography exhibit by James Pomerantz ’96, ran from February 24 to April 16. The exhibited images represented only a fraction of the photographs James took while on assignment for The New York Times, Rolling Stone Magazine, Reader’s Digest, and other publications over the past Origins, 48 x 36, oil on linen, polymer resin, paper balls 12 years. Gallery visitors and spray paint by Sarah Lutz ’85 were invited to select a photo and communicate with the artist via email in order to “engage in active dialogue that contrasts with today’s expected mode of photographic consumption.” In the finale of the alumni artist series, painter and mixed media artist Sarah Lutz ’85 will exhibit her work in the Mercy Gallery from April 28 to June 14. Sarah also will be a Visiting Artist in the Richmond Art Center April 27–30. Earlier exhibits in the series featured the works of Jon Goodman ’71, Deborah Zlotsky ’80, Catherine Monahan ’08, and Joe Hill ’93.

Notes from a Musical Year

Alumni musicians: (above) Solon Gordon ’03 and (at right, top to bottom) Chris ’05 and John ’05 Robison with bandmate Sean Elligers, Justin Murphy-Mancini ’08 with music faculty Susan Chrzanowski and James Rugen ’70, and David Snyder ’80 with Concert Choir. Photos: Christine Coyle, John Groo

HE Centennial Alumni Musician series continued this winter and early spring with concerts featuring brothers John ’05 and Chris ’05 Robison, composer and conductor David Snyder ’80, organist Justin Murphy-Mancini ’08, pianist Solon Gordon ’03, and the trio of siblings Christine ’11, Sirena ’12, and Anderson ’14 Huang. All eight of these alumni distinguished themselves as musicians while students at Loomis and went on to expand their musical horizons after graduation. On January 8, John and Chris and their band, All The Friends, performed in a midday concert in the Hubbard Performance Hall and conducted a workshop with Jazz and Concert band students. All the Friends, which has been described as an indie/chamber/pop band, includes the two brothers as well as Sean Elligers of Windsor and

Erinrose Mager, who was unable to attend the concert. The band members each play several electronic and acoustic instruments. Despite the digital components, classic techniques anchor the band’s roots. The concert was a return home for the twins. Their parents, Curt and Delphine Robison, are faculty members, and John and Chris grew up on campus, where, in addition to playing in the Concert, Jazz, and Jazz Improv groups and studying music theory, they formed a popular rock band that rehearsed in the family’s garage. Later in January, David spent several days on campus working with the Concert Choir in preparation for the premiere of “Where Rivers Rise and Fall,” a work he composed in commemoration of the school’s Centennial. The piece includes lyrics by David and faculty members James Rugen ’70 and Timothy

Lawrence. David conducted the choir in the premiere during the Winter Choral Concert on January 25. (Read an interview with David on page 26.) The series continued on February 16 with an organ recital by Justin in Founders Chapel. A versatile musician, Justin earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, a bachelor of music in organ performance, and a master of music in historical performance, all from Oberlin College. He is working toward a doctorate in music composition at the University of California-San Diego, and he serves as organist of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego. Justin competed in the harpsichord division of the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig, Germany, last summer. On February 26, Solon and his wife, violist Jennifer Chang, performed a

recital in the Hubbard Performance Hall and conducted a workshop with students after the performance. A Manhattan-based pianist, Solon has been staff accompanist for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and performs with Classical Revolution, a musicians’ collective seeking to expand the audience for chamber music. He attended the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he became known for creating unique musical collaborations. On March 28, the final concert in the series reunited siblings Christine ’11, Sirena ’12, and Anderson ’14 Huang on the Hubbard stage. Sirena, a renowned violinist, is a student at Juilliard. She recently won Third Prize and two other awards at the Singapore International Violin Competition. Her talented siblings — Christine plays the piano and Anderson the cello — joined her for the special Loomis performance.

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AROUND THE QUADS | ISLAND ARRAY Spring happenings, night and day, inside and outside, at Loomis Chaffee INSIDE

Senior Meditation in the Olcott Center

Chinese New Year celebration

Spoken Word Slam in the SNUG

Huang family recital in the Hubbard Performance Hall

American Math Competition exams in the Olcott Center

NIGHT

DAY

Workshop in the NEO with actors from Shakespeare & Company

Painting by sophomore Claudia Liu

Women in STEM panelists Christina Stenman Liebel ’99, Colleen Murphy ’06, and Molly Flanagan ’01

The sting of winter has ended, finally!

Gratia Lee, science teacher and sustainable agriculture coordinator

Bonfire in the Meadows

Junior Laurie Zielinski tends the goats.

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OUTSIDE

Photos: Patricia Cousins, Christine Coyle, Mary Forrester, John Groo

AROUND THE QUADS | OF NOTE | FACULTY & STAFF

At left, Jennifer McCandless Photo: Patricia Cousins Splats in the background

David Winer Photo: John Groo

 Concert Band Director David Winer was the guest conductor for three festivals around the state in February and March: the Connecticut chapter of the American School Band Directors Association’s 8th Grade Band Festival; the Connecticut Music Educators Association’s Western Region Middle School Music Festival Band; and the Westport Public Schools’ District-Wide Band Festival. David has conducted bands at high school and middle school festivals from Maine to New York. “It is an extreme honor, and a very humbling experience, to be invited by one’s colleagues to conduct at these events. It is a pleasure to serve music education on a broader scale, and I strive to bring the same level of

excellence and commitment to my Loomis students each day,” David says.  Visual Arts Department head Jennifer McCandless exhibited her ceramics work in two gallery shows in January. Her exhibition titled “Body of Eden” was presented by Wayfarers Gallery and Art Shape Mammoth in Brooklyn, New York, and her work “Baby Boomer Pile Up” was included in the “Noreaster” show at the New Britain Museum in New Britain, Connecticut. Jennifer will show a large installation titled “Splats” at the Garner Arts Center in Garnerville, New York, May 28– June 15. Jennifer also completed a week-long instructional course at the Corning Glass Museum Studio in Corning, New York,

learning how to use a specialized glass kiln. Thanks to a grant from Nicholas Fox Weber ’65 and the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation, a glass kiln will be installed in the Richmond Art Center next year for the benefit of advanced students of ceramics and sculpture.  English teacher Stephen Colgate and his wife, Dana, welcomed son Kai Robert Colgate on February 23. Kai joins big sister Sarah.  Faculty members Elizabeth and Jake Leyden also welcomed their first son, Benjamin Thomas Leyden, on March 18. Benjamin joins big sis Madeline.

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AROUND THE QUADS | ATHLETICS | BY BOB HOWE ’80

Playing for the Opportunity at any Level

was to shape these differing levels and backgrounds into a cohesive team. We had to get 23 students, ranging in experience from new ninth-graders to post-graduates who were varsity athletes in the fall term, to recognize and respect everyone’s independent journey in hockey. Within this group we had very strong younger players who aspire to play varsity hockey at Loomis, and we had great talent in players who were seniors and post-graduates and wanted most of all to be on a team and contribute their leadership skills this winter. We also had some younger players who will probably be JV hockey players throughout their years at Loomis.

Peter Gwyn Photo: Tom Honan

ECENTLY I put my skates on the shelf for the next several months, having completed another season of coaching boys hockey at the Savage/Johnson Rink. I’m an assistant coach to head coach Peter Gwyn, working with the boys JV hockey team. It was the end of our second season together and my second season ever as an assistant coach. This has been a great experience for me, and it’s given me the opportunity to reflect more on why it’s important to have vibrant interscholastic programs not only at the varsity level, but just as importantly at the sub-varsity levels. Regardless of the wins and losses, recognition of success, and support throughout the Loomis Chaffee community, many of our students will never play on a varsity team, but they are deserving of all that comes with playing on a team, and what we promote as the good in athletic participa18 |

tion. My experience with our team these past couple of winters has further instilled in me a commitment to maintaining good athletic programs regardless of level here on the Island. The challenges of coaching a junior varsity sport are many indeed. On the first day of the season, you have a list of students who had signed up for that sport and that level. What you find standing in front of you, though, are many more students than you were expecting based on the list in your hands. Some decided to try the sport because “there is nothing better to do,” while others are there because they were cut from a varsity roster. On the JV boys hockey team this winter, Coach Gwyn and I started the season with players of a wide range of ages, abilities, and desires to play. Our greatest challenge in those early weeks

Looking back on the season, I am more convinced now than ever of the value of team sports in our curriculum at Loomis. There are too many easy excuses not to remain with a sport you have enjoyed throughout your young life. I’ve seen first-hand the value added to our students’ experience through leadership opportunities and teamdynamic learning from just staying with a sport regardless of the level. Too often, I see students walk away from an activity because they can’t make the varsity squad or because they want to focus on preparing for their “main” sport. Sports specialization and our young people’s busy schedules are real and are here to stay, but we shouldn’t overlook the benefits of doing something you like to do regardless of any payback or recognition. The upperclassmen on this year’s team developed leadership skills they didn’t know they had. For Coach Gwyn and me, no amount of wins could surpass the growth we saw in this special group of young men. There are several programs I hold in especially high regard at Loomis because they incorporate a philosophy that welcomes all willing participants and give new members the kind of support that keeps them coming back the next year. Boys and girls cross country and track, wrestling, and football do not turn anyone away. Their coaches ask only for an honest effort and unselfish behavior toward others. Some extraordinary

Junior Sherly Francois

Juniors Samantha Roy and Nancy Coulverson

Junior William Meng Photos: Tom Honan

Junior Traken Sutton

VARSITY SCOREBOARD SPORT

RECORD ACCOLADES

Girls Basketball 19-5 * Founders League Champion * New England Class A Tournament Semifinalist Boys Basketball 9-12 Girls Hockey 16-6-3 * New England Division I Tournament Quarterfinalist Boys Hockey 21-5-1 * Founders League Champion * New England Elite 8 Tournament Quarterfinalist Girls Swimming & Diving 6-5 Boys Swimming & Diving 6-5 * Founders League Champion Girls Squash 9-8 * New England Class B Tournament Runner-up Boys Squash 10-10 * New England Class B Tournament Co-Champion Wrestling 15-4 Skiing 11-6 * Girls New England Class B Runner-up

college-bound athletes have risen from such humble beginnings as trying something new. But more commonly, a herd of midlevel athletic kids develop into responsible, community-minded leaders just through their commitment to a chosen healthy activity with which they decided to stay. Since coming to work at Loomis 11 years ago, I’ve seen the athletic landscape change dramatically, and we’ve tried hard to stay current on how best to serve our student athletes. Female athletes are beginning to specialize more and, like their male counterparts, they are committing to colleges earlier in their high school careers. Weight training in the “off-season” for both boys and girls is a growing trend and deemed necessary by college and Loomis coaches. Playing varsity sports at Loomis is a bigtime commitment, and we see incredible student athletes come through our doors.

They are self-starters and will gain great benefits from their sports participation on the Island. My experience with JV hockey makes me more determined than ever to continue the conversation with the sophomore and junior students who are tempted not to continue with a sport because they anticipate they will never develop into varsity athletes. Some stop pursuing one sport because they feel the need to put more focus on their “primary” sport. Whatever the reason, more conversations need to happen with these young people, letting them know about the developmental opportunities they may be discarding. Does playing a JV sport for fun, for leadership opportunities, for good health, and for the chance to contribute to a team mean the same thing as it did 10 years ago? The atmosphere in the JV hockey locker room in February this winter,

Sophomore Sharon Frankel

where we had a dozen or so sophomores and juniors who are probably career JV pucksters, made a good case for time standing still. One of the many reasons why I wanted to come back to Loomis after growing up on the Island and going to school here was the depth of the coaching on this campus. The coaching dedication, energy, and experience available to student athletes at all our levels are outstanding. We strive for every student to leave this school with an extraordinary experience and preparedness to take on even the greatest challenges facing them in their futures. With this lofty goal in mind, we continue to look for ways to reach every student to ensure a fulfilling experience in athletics.© Bob Howe ’80 is director of athletics.

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TALKING POINTS

How Loomis Chaffee students learn to engage in productive, civil discourse BY BECKY PURDY ILLUSTRATIONS BY JAMES YANG

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GOOD class discussion is like a snowman, says longtime Loomis Chaffee English teacher Fred Seebeck. One student contributes an idea then rolls it to another student, who adds another handful of thoughts, building on what came before. Then other students contribute, gathering their observations, ideas, and opinions and packing them together, smoothing out some of the bumps in the growing snowball as they go. At the end of the discussion, the students see they have created something unique and fine, something that, with the addition of a few final touches, seems to take on a life of its own and might even withstand the cold wind of doubt. Not every discussion, whether in a Loomis classroom, in a small-town coffee shop, or in the U.N. General Assembly, builds inevitably into consensus or even mutual understanding. Many of the models for serious conversation in the wider world do not lend themselves even to mutual respect among the participants; they seem designed instead for polarization, shutting out others’ ideas, out-shouting and out-maneuvering those with differing viewpoints. Productive discourse seems a quaint notion on the floor of the U.S. Senate or among the talking heads who interrupt and harangue each other as the news tickers scroll below them on the television screen.

Public examples notwithstanding, the ability to discuss civilly, to debate respectfully, and to consider differing opinions with a willing mind is a skill that can be taught and learned. And at Loomis it is as valued a competency as good writing, encouraged and practiced in every area of study and in forums beyond the classrooms. Senior Chynna Bailey can vouch for discussion as a learnable skill. As an incoming freshman with a sharp mind, she had plenty of ideas, but she preferred to avoid having conversations. Where she comes from, she says, “talking is considered a sign of weakness.” But through her four years at Loomis, she says she has learned that having serious discussions can produce good, important outcomes. “Talking is actually a sign of strength,” she says. Today Chynna sees a discussion as a chance to grow. “You have the opportunity to leave the conversation with a whole new perspective and learn things you never knew before,” she says. The opportunity to be heard is no less powerful for her. “I’ve learned not to be afraid to voice my opinion,” she shares. “There are people here who genuinely care about what I think and how I feel.” It is important for young people — people of any age, for that matter — to be able to talk with others who hold different viewpoints about difficult topics, whether academic, personal, or political, says Elizabeth Parada, Spanish teacher and director of multicultural affairs at Loomis. “It takes effort. It takes a lot of practice,” she says. But, she contin-

STARTING POINT FRESHMAN SEMINAR, a required, ungraded course, brings together small groups of freshmen once a week for discussions on a range of topics, from Ferguson to philanthropy to civility. The seminars, created by the Norton Family Center for the Common Good, began three years ago. As of next school year, all Loomis students who started as freshmen will have gone through or be enrolled in the Freshman Seminars. It’s hard to say whether the lessons discovered in the seminars carry over into other classrooms or to dining hall conversations, but as Norton Center Director Al Freihofer ’69 notes, the seminars provide an opportunity for 80 minutes a week of dialogue, conversation, and respectful debate with a group of peers who become more familiar with each other with each passing week. “This is about getting kids to talk, about getting kids to share. It’s about getting kids to buy into the idea that they can and should contribute to discussions,” Al says. At the end of the day, the content of the seminars is less important than the process. “We’re teaching communication skills and confidence and empathy,” he says.

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ues, it helps people to probe what they really believe and what they really mean, and to understand other people’s perspectives. “It’s not just about saying what we want to say, but it’s also about really listening,” she says. Senior Michael Carter, an editor-in-chief of The LOG, points to an ongoing dialogue in the senior class about feminism. Through discussion and sometimes heated debate, he has seen minds opened and changed, and what used to be a pejorative term among his peers has become better understood. “Now people are a lot more comfortable with saying, ‘I am a feminist,’” he notes. Once students in his class spoke up about their belief in equal rights for women and men, others joined the conversation. “There is a lot of listening and a lot of hearing, to the point where you can change the way the community sees a particular issue,” he observes.

A SAFE PLACE TO BE WRONG How do Loomis students learn and practice the skills of productive discussion? The most universal venue is the classroom, and a symphony of examples greets anyone who walks through a classroom building on campus on any given school day. In one classroom, students sit around an oval table and delve together into Mr. Darcy’s letter to Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice, sharing their thoughts on the archness of his language. In another classroom, history students debate the merits of colonial rule in the 18th century. In a science lab, pairs of students puzzle through a problem set, challenging each other not just to come up with the correct answer, but also to explain why that answer is right. Engaged and productive classroom discourse begins with a strong foundation, an intellectually open classroom atmosphere. In his work as director of the Henry R. Kravis ’63 Center for Excellence in Teaching, Scott MacClintic ’82 sees Loomis teachers building and reinforcing this foundation all the time. Faculty members, he says, care about and are skilled at encouraging students to share their ideas, answers, and opinions. “In the classroom, it’s a safe place even to be wrong, especially to be wrong,” Scott says. “Not all discussions work, but when it’s working well, the students are comfortable, and they care about ideas,” says Eric LaForest, a history teacher, associate director of the Norton Family Center for the Common Good, and the Student Council’s Teacher of the Year for 2013–14. To achieve this ethos, Eric and other faculty members agree, the teacher and the class must create a culture where everyone feels that they can take risks with ideas and that those ideas will be respected and sincerely considered, not just ignored.

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Loomis teachers establish expectations for this culture from the first day of class. They explain the atmosphere they want the class to create and the importance of involvement from all students in the room. They also stress civility. As the year (or the trimester for term courses) progresses, teachers may revisit these opening expectations with the group and individuals, suggesting ways they can improve their sharing, listening, and responding. And on a daily basis, teachers reinforce their expectations through the phrasing of their questions, their body language, and their tone during class discussions. Scott offers the example of a student who gives an incorrect answer to a teacher’s question during discussion. Instead of shutting down the student, which could discourage future contributions, the teacher responds, “What makes you think that?” emphasizing the value of thinking through an answer, whether right or wrong. Or the teacher turns to the rest of the class: “Can somebody improve upon that?” The discussion, thus, moves along, the first student sees he or she has started the dialogue, and, importantly, the teacher is not set up as the only one with the answers. As the discussion progresses closer to the correct answer, Scott says, the teacher might circle back to the first student and ask him or her to restate the original answer with the addition of information gained in the discussion. Students who are new to Loomis discover quickly that they have a responsibility to themselves and their classmates to take part in classroom dialogues. “A lot of what we read is very sophisticated,” notes English teacher and Associate Head of School Aaron “Woody” Hess. There’s no question, for example, that Hamlet is difficult material, and discussion helps students to understand it. Woody says students need to realize that asking questions about parts of the play’s plot or language that they don’t understand and talking with their classmates about it helps everyone in the class. They don’t need to have all the answers, but they do need to be part of the conversation.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? As much as possible, teachers say, they want to remove their own voices from discussions. The idealized version of student-centered discussion is the Harkness method, an approach that uses a specially-designed oval table where no one sits at the “head” of the table and the teacher is simply an observer. In reality, especially with freshmen and sophomores, the teacher might need to guide the discussion.

“You want to have as Socratic a situation as you can, but sometimes you need to call on people,” Woody says. With students who tend to dominate discussions, Loomis teachers say they try to make space for other voices without embarrassing the more talkative ones. Sometimes a hand signal is all it takes to hold up a student who jumps into the discussion too often, Fred says, or he tells the student, simply and without judgment, “We’ve heard from you a lot today. Let’s hear from someone else.” On the other end of spectrum, students who prefer to remain silent during class discussion also present an obstacle to good discourse. Not only do they miss out on the cognitive benefits of expressing their ideas, but also the class as a whole misses out on the silent students’ perspectives. With younger students, giving oral presentations and reading passages aloud during class can loosen the inhibitions of shy students. Knowing that their level of engagement affects their grade also helps to motivate reticent students, and with practice, they gain confidence in their ability to contribute. History teacher Rachel Engelke notes that students who seem reluctant to raise their hands often provide helpful, even insightful, viewpoints when called on. She describes one of her current students who does well on papers and other assignments and listens intently to discussions but hesitates to contribute. “There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s every bit prepared,” she says. “His best way of learning is not by talking but by listening.” Still, she wants his input to benefit the whole class. Recognizing that cold-calling a student who is timid or introverted could cause the student to freeze up, Rachel instead draws out a quiet student by calling on him with a “soft-ball” question: “What do you think about this?” After they accept her invitation to participate, these

students often contribute more readily the next time an opportunity arises. Structured approaches to class discussion can help bring out everyone’s voice. Scott MacClintic explains the “ThinkPair-Share” approach that many Loomis teachers tailor to their own classroom styles: The teacher poses a topic or question to the whole class and divides the class into groups of two or three students to talk about the topic. The teacher circulates around the room, checking in on the small-group discussions, and after a sufficient length of time, brings everyone back together. The groups report on what they discussed, and full-class discussion ensues. Classroom debates also provide a structured forum where involvement is prescribed. They allow students to engage in discussion and share their knowledge without necessarily having to express their personal opinions, which they may be more reluctant to reveal. Eric LaForest’s Advanced Placement U.S. History classes periodically debate issues relevant to their readings. Eric referees the debate, giving each side’s chosen spokesperson an opportunity to present their argument, allowing others to expand on those ideas, and then opening the floor for rebuttal and discussion. “Referee” is an apt description of Eric’s role because the students are eager to get their points across, and while he does not take sides during the debate, he makes sure each voice is heard, allows time-outs for regrouping, and calls a twominute warning when discussion is about to come to a close.

WHAT DID HOWARD SAY? While these approaches help give students the confidence to engage, effective discussion is about more than participation, Loomis teachers caution.

“Listening, which is a lost art for a lot of kids, is important,” says Woody Hess, who has taught for 51 years. He strives to model careful listening as well as teach it. As a discussion progresses in his class, Woody often refers back to something a student said earlier. He also pointedly asks his students to do the same. “What did Howard say a few minutes ago?” he inquires of others in the class. Listening and responding play as much of a role as speaking in good discourse, says Scott. When he advises new teachers on fostering discussion, he emphasizes that students need instruction on having a productive, serious conversation. “I think the biggest mistake people make is assuming the students know how to do this. They don’t,” he says. From the first discussion of the year, Scott suggests that teachers allow for, or even require, a pause after each student speaks to build a rhythm of comment and response, rather than letting disconnected comments pile on top of each other. Requiring the next speaker to connect his or her point to what the previous speaker said also emphasizes listening and responding. It’s perfectly acceptable, he counsels, to be explicit about these steps, which establish active listening as the norm for the class’ discussions.

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MAPPING DISCUSSION Students can see how they advance or hinder a discussion in a diagram created by English teacher Scott Purdy and shared with his class afterwards.

By the time students reach their junior and senior years at Loomis, they have become familiar with the expectations for discussion and gained practice in these skills. Harkness-style discussions unfold more readily. Chynna has noticed this change. In Social Psychology, a term course for juniors and seniors that she took this winter, the class talked civilly but openly about difficult topics, she says. The students in the class came from a mix of socio-economic, ethnic, and racial backgrounds. There was a balance of boys and girls, and there were several international students. Near the end of the term, the class took a field trip to a prison. “The experience affected us all in different ways,” Chynna reflects, and these differing viewpoints emerged in class discussions after the field trip. But she and her classmates listened to each other, she says. They didn’t interrupt each other, and they responded to each other’s points. It was clear, she observes, that they already knew how to acknowledge and respect each other’s ideas, and the result was an honest sharing of knowledge and experience. Even in classes with upperclassmen, discourse may need a teacher’s helping hand. Chynna’s Social Psychology teacher Ruth Duell often played devil’s advocate to offer viewpoints that the class had not yet considered or that a quieter student had not yet expressed. Loomis teachers also leverage older students’ well-developed critical thinking skills to steer them toward balanced, productive discourse. An occasional bird’s eye view of a discussion often helps a junior- or senior-level class to see the successes and pitfalls — as well their individual roles — in the overall dialogue. English teacher Scott Purdy

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provides this view by diagramming a discussion early in the school year, or term for shorter electives. With his class gathered around the table, Scott gives the group a discussion topic, perhaps based on the previous night’s reading, then sits back and watches. Without his students seeing what he is writing, he creates a diagram of the table arrangement and maps the discussion. When a student makes a point and another student responds to it, Scott draws a line between the two classmates. He continues linking speakers as they pick up on each others’ points. If a student begins to make a point and is interrupted, he marks an “X” at the end of that line. About halfway through the discussion, he switches the color of his pen to indicate when the contributions were made — in the first half or second half of the conversation. After the discussion concludes, Scott projects his diagram on a screen for the class. The quiet students see they didn’t speak at all or spoke very little. The talkative students see how often they spoke up. Students who cut off others or who did not respond to the line of discussion see this dynamic as well. And those who talk early then fall silent and those who wait until late in the discussion to contribute see that their arrows are mostly one color. Scott says the students often are surprised when they see the diagram because they didn’t realize that’s how they helped or didn’t help the discussion move forward. Another method he uses that fosters full and balanced participation in upper-level classes might be called Skittles Rationing. Scott brings a bag of the small candies into class once or twice a term and gives three Skittles to each student. Then he opens the discussion with the proviso that each time a student speaks, he or she must eat a Skittle from the ration. When a student’s supply of three candies

is gone, he or she must remain silent for the rest of the discussion. And all students are expected to use up all of their three Skittles by the end of class. The experience is enlightening and frustrating — and fun — for the members of the class. “I’m bringing a whole bag of Skittles of my own to class next time,” one student playfully told another after a recent Skittles Rationing discussion. Although the approach helps discussions in several ways, Scott’s ultimate goal with this exercise is to improve his students’ writing. He has found that even the best student writers quickly plateau in their progress if they don’t share and develop their ideas through discussion. By encouraging and making space for every student to engage in these dialogues, each student’s writing continues to grow. Humanities classes aren’t the only disciplines at Loomis where teachers foster dialogue. In Molecular Biology, an advanced science course team-taught by Scott MacClintic and Naomi Appel, students must work in pairs to complete in-class problem sets. Near the beginning of the course, Scott says, pairs sometimes will come up with wrong answers because they did not truly discuss and work through the problem; instead, they chose the answer asserted by the more confident or strong-willed student of the two. As the year goes on, students in these pair exercises begin to challenge each other to explain their answers. “Why do you think this is correct?” or “Convince me” become common refrains. It’s what Scott and Naomi like to hear.

IN PRACTICE Beyond the classroom, students find ample opportunities to practice what they learn about discourse. Freshmen discuss a wide range of topics in small groups in the weekly Freshman Seminars, a required course designed by

the Norton Family Center for the Common Good. (See sidebar, page 21.) For all grades, the center also hosts Dialogues in the Common Good, occasional evening forums about issues of interest or concern to students. Both the seminars and the dialogues have provided much-needed venues for frank and safe discussion of difficult topics this school year. After an unarmed black teenager was fatally shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, last summer and protests about police treatment of minorities swept the country, students at Loomis wanted to talk about the unfolding news and the issues it raised. Two Dialogues in the Common Good in the fall and winter centered on Ferguson and related events, and Freshman Seminars set aside their planned weekly discussion topics as needed to enable students to discuss their reactions to Ferguson. The Dialogues in the Common Good have been mostly reactionary to current events so far. As the forums gain traction, students are increasingly stopping by the Norton Center to talk with Director Al Freihofer ’69 or Associate Director Eric LaForest about other topics they’d like to put on the table for discussion. This process itself helps students unpack their ideas and dissect approaches to sharing them.

Respect confidentiality.” (“Ouch/oops” is an exhortation to speak up when you hear something that hurts and to have a chance to explain or apologize if you say something that offends.) Students and faculty pointed to several other venues for practicing dialogue and discourse, including Student Council; The Log, The World Bulletin, and other student publications; Senior Meditations, an opportunity for seniors to share something about themselves during an all-school convocation; and Talks in the Common Good, short student speeches at class meetings about topics of the speakers’ choice. Through all of these opportunities, both in and out of the classroom, Loomis students find their voices and develop their ability to truly converse with other people — skills they will use and continue to refine in their lives after Loomis. They will do so with plenty of practice as a foundation. ©

The Office of Multicultural Affairs hosts Hot Topic Discussions every year to open conversation about issues of interest to the school community. The forums have addressed such topics as “Cliques in the Dining Hall: Where Do I Belong?” and “Personal Experiences with Oppression.” Students who participate gain a better understanding not only of the chosen topic, but also of ways to talk with others about difficult or sensitive subjects, says Elizabeth Parada. Each Hot Topic Discussion begins with ground rules: “Speak from the “I” perspective. Listen, listen, listen then respond. Challenge ideas, not people. Ouch/ oops. Lean into discomfort. Share air space.

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DAVID SNYDER ’80

Our Song Composing the Sound of Loomis Chaffee’s Centennial By Christine Coyle

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AVID SNYDER ’80 returned to the Island in January for the premiere of his musical

composition “Where Rivers Rise and Fall,” which celebrates the school’s Centennial. With David as guest conductor, the Loomis Chaffee Concert Choir debuted the song during the Winter Choral Concert in the Hubbard Performance Hall, and Nathan Follansbee, associate head for external relations, served as narrator. The choir will perform the song again at the Spring Choral Concert on May 10, with former headmaster John Ratté as narrator. After graduating from Loomis, David earned an undergraduate degree in conducting from Occidental College and later studied film composing at the Grove School of Music with some of his idols, including Henry Mancini and Allyn Ferguson. In his musical career, David has worked on the scoring stages of Hollywood, arranged for and performed with the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, and conducted orchestral performances throughout the United States. He has served as pianist and musical director on dozens of projects. Last year, Mr. Confidential, a production for which David composed his first musical theater score, was selected to debut at the New York Musical Theater Festival. During his visit to the Island, David worked with the choir in preparation for the performance and shared the inspiration and process behind the creation of “Where Rivers Rise and Fall.”

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Narrator Nat Follansbee, David, Choral Director Susan Chrzanowski, and music teacher and accompanist James Rugen ’70 plan for the premiere. Photo: John Groo

Q: W hen you think back to your time

spent on the Island, what stands out in your memory?

A: What stands out most is the feeling that Loomis was a combination of tradition and very much a place of today — today being the late ’70s. When I would walk through Founders, or when we’d learn something about the school at convocation, I often thought it was really cool that this place had a lot of history. Yet it still felt contemporary. I didn’t feel like I was going to school in a museum. I felt like I was a part of something a lot bigger than just me and a lot bigger than just my class.

I remember spending a lot of time in the NEO [Norris Ely Orchard Theater] with the theater crowd. I was able to be in a production with my brother [Matthew W. Snyder ’82] playing brothers in Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors, which was great. There were also standout teachers like Mr. [Bert] Thurber, Mr. [James] Rugen [’70], Mr. [Charles] Toll, and [former Headmaster] John Ratté who personified the school for me.

Q: D id your experience at Loomis influence your career choice?

A: I knew I was bound to go into music

by the time I was about 10 years old, but the Loomis experience helped shaped that choice. I loved music and playing piano, and I wanted to take that further — perhaps to compose, orchestrate, or arrange music. At Loomis I found an encouraging attitude about creating opportunities for yourself. For example, I played trombone, and while there was a jazz band, what I really wanted to do was play in a jazz trio — but there wasn’t one at the time. So I had to put together my own jazz trio and organize my own performance opportunities. I found a drummer and recruited a teacher to play the bass. We played our first gig in what was then

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Chaffee Gym [now Hubbard Performance Hall.] Ever since, I’ve had to create my own opportunities throughout my music career. The idea that if you are passionate about something, you must take initiative to make it happen, is something I learned here at Loomis.

Q: H ow did the idea for composing a piece of music to commemorate Loomis Chaffee’s Centennial come about?

A: I ’d love to say it was my idea, but that

is not how it went. I got an email from John Ratté, headmaster emeritus, in his inimitable style. It read just like John sounds: [David mimics] “We are having a huge celebration of the school’s 100th anniversary, and I have a vision that, as the students are moving from the playing fields up into the quads and towards Founders, there is a rousing piece of music the students will sing, and it will become the school’s commemorative song! And you, David, are the only one who can write it.” It was classic Ratté. The idea of the music evolved from that lofty ideal to something a bit more practical, but it was an amazing genesis. I hadn’t spent much time on the Island in many years, so it was a wonderful experience to spend some time here with John and faculty members James Rugen and Timothy Lawrence

to discuss the possibilities for music to commemorate the Centennial.

Q: H ow would you describe this piece of music?

A: “ Where Rivers Rise and Fall” contains

a lot of imagery that will be meaningful to current students and alumni. I’d hoped that the imagery in the music would be like a story-telling experience for the kids and the audience. Along with the imagery, I included a narrative part that helps tell the Founders’ story. The piece became part narration, part music, and then there’s a piece in the middle that is like a school song — which is what John originally wanted. It’s kind of a fantasia about the Loomis experience.

Q: D id your memories of Loomis have an impact on your composition?

A: T here are some memories and experi-

ences we all share that make the Loomis experience what it is. I come from a film scoring background — it’s what I studied in grad school. I find when I compose music, it’s most interesting for me when I have something to paint. I call my company Sonic Landscapes because that’s what I actually do — painting sonically in music. In this case, the story of the Loomis experience from that collective memory is what I am setting to music.

Q: W hat was your inspiration for the narrative?

A: I remember first hearing about the

school’s history and mission while I was a student here. It’s a very moving story, that the Founders started this school out of the tragedy of losing their children and the desire to give something back to the community. I hope to contribute to making the story relevant to successive generations of students.

Afterwards, they actually did write a poem in rhyming verse, and I really liked the words they used. As I looked at the words and thought about them, the melody for the music came to me, and that’s how it often works when I collaborate with a lyricist. The words will sort of sing to me, and the melody sort of spins itself out of the lyrics.

Q: W hat message or emotion were you hoping to convey or evoke?

Q: Y ou wrote the lyrics with James and Tim. What was that process like?

A: W ith their many years here, James and

Tim have a great understating of just those kinds of shared experiences I mentioned. I asked them to start talking about them first. “You don’t have to write a set lyric,” I told them. “Start with some ideas — just some notions, even a phrase, that captures the Loomis experience.” They talked about things like the Victory Bell, the atmosphere in the morning, and Mr. Taylor’s nose, and so those inspirations found their way into the piece in the form of a narrative.

A: W e wanted the words to convey a bit

of gravitas for the occasion, but still be accessible, not stuffy. As I told the students in the choir at rehearsal, the most important thing to me was that they be able to feel this as they sing it. I wanted to evoke the same feeling in them that I had when I set foot on the Island for the first time — that melding of tradition with an understanding that what we were doing was contemporary and relevant. In educating 100 years’ worth of students to a higher level with a higher purpose, we can take pride in the posi-

tive contribution we make in the world. We are a part of something really special here that began long ago with our Founders and continues on. I hope to convey to the students that they are a part of something larger than their four-year experience here, and inspire them to carry on the tradition.

Q: W hat do you hope students will take away from being part of this experience?

A: B eing part of a musical performing

group at school is fun, and the practice of performing is beneficial for students on a basic level. But for many people, myself included, it is much more than that. Music is a connection, a way to communicate with other people where music is the medium. It wasn’t the applause, rather the connection to others, that led me to pursue music as my life’s work. That’s the enthusiasm I want to share with the kids. I hope they experience a connection with alumni, faculty, their families, and each other with this music. “Where Rivers Rise and Fall” is an anthem for them, and for all of us in the Loomis Chaffee community, to experience the power of connecting through music. © To see a video on the making of the Centennial song, go to www.loomischaffee.org/magazine.

David conducts the Concert Choir in the premiere of “Where Rivers Rise and Fall.” Photo: John Groo

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CENTENNIAL ESSAY | BY MARYA RANDALL LEVENSON ’60

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2 01 4

EDITORS NOTE: The Centennial Essays, a special series marking the school's 100th year, were commissioned from Loomis Chaffee graduates who have made their marks in various fields. Offering perspectives derived from the authors' work, the essays present cutting-edge ideas from their respective fields. Some make connections between the writers' years at school and the experiences that have shaped their views. Some focus on a national or global crisis. All bring to bear on their subjects the insights gained from years of study and action, and from a compelling need to deepen understanding, shape opinion, and provoke commitment. The series concludes its publication run with this issue of the magazine. To read additional Centennial Essays, go to www. loomischaffee.org/magazine.

Teaching Future Teachers

“C

an you remember the special teacher who inspired you to explore and learn because she or he was so passionate about the subject? What made your worst teacher so ineffective? Take a moment or two to think about these teachers whose names and faces are so strongly etched in your memories.” When I start my course “Exploring Teaching — Secondary” with these questions, each of us can remember the names and the faces of teachers who had such an impact on us. As we begin to brainstorm about the qualities of the best teachers, students will volunteer that their teachers were engaging, knowledgeable, and passionate about their subject; able to make connections with individual students in and outside of the classroom; respectful of others’ opinions while also being demanding, supportive, and persistent throughout the course. In fact, students who want to become middle or high school teachers often share that they decided to become teachers because of the impact of a particular teacher who inspired them to learn deeply about the content. (Elementary teachers will often say instead that they always knew they wanted to be teachers from the moment that they played school.)

ARE TEACHERS BORN OR MADE?

Marya Randall Levenson

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That first class is the beginning of a journey where the Brandeis undergraduate or master’s student begins to study the art and craft of teaching. Some

people entering the profession are charismatic and look forward to performing in front of a classroom; others are quiet but have a passion about the subject that they want to share. Regardless of their personalities, those thinking about becoming teachers find that they have much to learn. Whether they want to introduce excited first graders to reading, mathematical, and social skills; become part of a middle school team of teachers working with rambunctious seventh graders; or teach disengaged 10th graders, prospective teachers need to learn how to:  Know their students as

individuals who come from diverse communities,

 L earn alongside their stu-

dents as they uncover and examine meaningful questions,

 T each and assess for under-

standing, and

 B e reflective and public about

their work.

Teachers must learn the specific pedagogy for their subject. It is really different to teach Chinese, chemistry, or civics. Educators need to have a strong liberal arts preparation and flexible content knowledge if we want teachers who are comfortable acknowledging that there is more than one way to diagnose and solve a problem. They also need to be conversant with today’s substantial research about teaching and learning. Teachers make hundreds of instructional decisions each day. They need to be able to differentiate instruction to reach the students where they are while

challenging them to learn new skills, content, and dispositions. Even if someone is teaching chemistry all day, he or she soon discovers the necessity of varying the pace and instruction from one class to the next since not all 10th-grade chemistry classes are the same. For example, one of the great successes of the past decades has been the integration of students with disabilities into “regular” classrooms; such integration means that a teacher must now be able to make modifications in assignments according to the needs of individual students in a class. (It is exciting that technology offers some promising options for differentiation of content, instruction, and assessment.) Furthermore, many teachers — even in suburban classrooms — are seeing a frightening increase in the poverty of the families of the students they are teaching, and they worry about who is going to address the needs of “their” children inside and outside the classroom.

ENTERING AND REMAINING IN THE PROFESSION My colleague Sharon FeimanNemser writes about the continuum of learning to be a teacher: from pre-service through the very challenging first years of teaching to becoming a teacher leader in a learning community that welcomes and mentors new teachers.1 Unlike doctors who gradually learn their profession in supervised residencies after med school, teachers who have TEACHING | continued 32

TEACHERS PAST AND PRESENT DONALD JOFFRAY

F. EVELYN SMITH ’50 ALLEN BEEBE ANNE SBARGE

KATHLEEN PETERSON ’72

ALICE BAXTER

JAMES WILSON

ADRIAN BRONK SUSAN CHRZANOWSKI

RUTH DUELL

JEFFREY SCANLON ’79

DOMINIC FAILLA JANE ARCHIBALD SCOTT MacCLINTIC ’82

NAOMI APPEL

RONALD MARCHETTI

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TEACHING | continued from 30

such a high learning curve in their first year are given four or five classes, the same load as an experienced teacher of 25 years. (Not coincidentally, almost 50 perent of teachers leave the profession by their fifth year — an unacceptable loss.) Most teachers can share horrific and sometimes funny stories from their first year. Almost all will agree that they are glad that they survived. Young teachers are also quick to acknowledge how much more effective they are in their second and third years of teaching. Although it is helpful to provide a first-year teacher with an inschool mentor who can explain how the school functions, we need to do much more. The teacher residency model, found in Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia, offers a model of assigning first-year urban teachers to co-teach with a mentor throughout their first year. We also should consider redefining teachers’ work so that the first year would explicitly include learning how to teach by observing other teachers and taking on-site classes. We need to reorganize schools so that teachers can become reflective educators who learn from their most effective colleagues. On the other hand, neither the traditional approach of higher education programs, which focus only on the pre-service preparation of teachers, nor the five-week summer programs of Teach for America (TFA) address the need to retain our best teachers. I would argue that TFA’s short immersion preparation not only underprepares those assigned to be teachers in the most challenging urban classrooms (which should instead have the most experienced and talented teachers), but also undercuts any concept of teaching as a profession. (Would you want the services of a lawyer or doctor who had only five weeks of classes in the summer before beginning 32 |

“

It is time to change how we think about teaching. At a time of global challenges and changing demographics, our country needs to have excellent, well-prepared teachers in every urban, suburban, and rural classroom.

”

work?) This is not solely a TFA issue, however, since almost all teacher education programs should be doing much more to support teachers through their beginning years in the classroom. In addition to restructuring the first year of teaching, we need to provide opportunities for teachers who are respected educators to assume teacher leadership roles in strengthening the schools’ instruction, climate, and organization. Second-stage teachers, professionals with four to 10 years of experience, have so much to contribute to beginning teachers, principals, and colleagues who want to improve learning or reform the school.2 Yet these educators do not necessarily want to leave the classroom to become principals. We need to recognize their expertise, create career ladders and roles for them in their schools and in university education programs, and listen to their voices about how to improve both instruction and schools.

(DON’T) LET MY BABY GROW UP TO BE A TEACHER Although we want only the best teachers for our own children, American parents are often not pleased if their children decide to become teachers. Teaching has been neither a particularly

valued nor well-paid profession in our country; it has instead long been seen as appropriate work for women until they get married. In contrast, Finland has a different perception of teaching as a profession; Finnish students in the top third compete to become educators and are prepared in free, fiveyear university programs. (Finland’s students also perform among the best on international assessments.)3 It is time to change how we think about teaching. At a time of global challenges and changing demographics, our country needs to have excellent, well-prepared teachers in every urban, suburban, and rural classroom. We must recruit, prepare, and support in the classroom reflective, collaborative teachers committed to creating inquiry-based curricula and instruction that challenges students to be creative and analytical problem-solvers. After all, what would it be like if all students could have the benefit of teachers like those who inspired and challenged us at Loomis Chaffee? ©

(Endnotes) 1 Feiman-Nemser, Sharon. Teachers as Learners. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press, 2012. 2L evenson, Marya R. Pathways to Teacher Leadership: Emerging Models, Changing Roles. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press, forthcoming in January, 2014. 3S ahlberg, Pasi. Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland? New York: Teachers College Press, 2010. Marya R. Levenson ’60, served as a ninth-grade history and civics teacher in the Boston Public Schools, the principal of Newton North (Mass.) High School, and superintendent of the North Colonie (N.Y.) Central School District. She earned her doctorate in education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and served as a member of the Executive Committee of the New York State Council of School Superintendents. She is a professor of the practice in education and the Harry S. Levitan Director of Education at Brandeis University, where she received the Louis Dembitz Brandeis Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Marya is married to Andy Hawley, and is the grandmother of five terrific grandchildren.

WINTER LIGHT

While many of us were groaning about the epic winter of 2015, a lens captured the seasonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s beauty on the Island. Photos by Patricia Cousins www.loomischaffee.org | 33

Late afternoon sun warms trees and Founders cupola. A sunlit pattern falls across Warham Hallâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brick facade. The setting sun casts brilliant rays between Palmer and Mason halls. Bare trees line Grubbs Quad.

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A sycamore tree keeps watch along Batchelder Road on a snowy morning. Dramatic light illuminates the snow at the campus end of the causeway.

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The Homestead at sunset

Patricia Cousins is design director for the Office of Strategic Communications & Marketing at Loomis Chaffee.

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THE WRITE STUFF | BY JAMES S. RUGEN ’70

FEATURED WRITER: Zane Hickcox Kotker ’52

ITH the publication of her fifth novel, The Inner Sea: A Novel of the Year 100 (Levellers Press, 2014), Zane Hickcox Kotker ’52 earns continued recognition as a historical novelist of the first rank. In the Acknowledgments following the text of the novel, Zane explains the work’s genesis: “Let me leave you … with the image of a hundred scattered books in an upstairs study shortly after the death of my husband in 1999. Here find side by side the Christian library of my father, the Reverend Edward S. Hickcox, and the Jewish library of my husband, the writer Norman Kotker. Winnowing and merging, I soon realized that I was saving every book pertaining to the time period from 100 BCE 40 |

to 100 CE and allocating most of the rest for dispersal. When the books were finally shelved, I sat down and began to read. Thanks to both of these men for their passionate attachment to the history of their divergent religions.” From her extensive research, Zane offers a panoramic view of the Roman Empire in the year 100 with authoritative immediacy. She fashions two gripping narratives that take the reader from Tarraco, Spain (modern Tarragona), to Puteoli (modern Pozzuoli) on the Italian mainland to Rome — and from Cyrene to Ephesus to Puteoli. The narratives ultimately join, anchored by the story of the love of a Jewish merchant from Cyrene and a young Roman girl of

aristocratic background who is converting to Christianity; and Zane sets their stories against the turbulence and uncertainty of a vast empire near its greatest expansion. The empire has absorbed many cultures and beliefs, cults, gods, and philosophies, but has been inimical to others. Christians are regarded as subversive and face execution if they refuse to swear allegiance to the emperor, and Jews look back on the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem, by Roman hands, only 30 years earlier, even though they enjoy certain protections within the empire. A third narrative involves the emperor himself. Trajan, Spanish-born, is in the third year of his reign and planning further expansion of the empire. Throughout the novel, Zane presents the emperor in a series of vignettes, and we come to know his mind and his habits, his dreams and his fears, his pleasures and his eccentricities. In the dramatic final scene of the novel, Trajan himself confronts our young heroine, and plays a direct role in the denouement. The Inner Sea brilliantly accomplishes the KOTKER | continued next page

THE WRITE STUFF

Recent Books by Alumni Authors These books have been published or have been brought to our attention in the last year. The editors ask alumni to send updates and corrections to magazine@loomis.org for inclusion in this annual list.

Otis H. King & Jonathan A. Weiss ’56

A Star Over Harlem Nancy Weber ’59

Ad Parnassum (a novella & 2 shorts) Richard Rapaport ’70

California Moderne and the MidCentury Dream: The Architecture of Edward H. Fickett Stephen Cushman ’73

Belligerent Muse: Five Northern Writers and How They Shaped Our Understanding of the Civil War The Red List (book-length poem) Randy Parks ’74

Neuropsychology of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias (2nd edition) Chris Hedges ’75 and Joe Sacco

Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt Terry Jacobs Walters ’84

Eat Clean Live Well Kae Bell (Kathleen Bell) ’88

The Brittle Limit Sue Henshon ’89

Andy Lightfoot and the Time Warp Kita Helmetag Murdock ’92

Future Flash Dave McGrail ’93

Surviving Middle School: An Interactive Story for Girls Rebecca Pacheco ’97

Do Your Om Thing: Bending Yoga Tradition To Fit Your Modern Life

goal of the best of historical fiction: to convey a compelling narrative that breathes life into a distant historical time. Roger King, author of Love and Fatigue in America, writes: “With unobtrusive authority and deft skill, Zane Kotker achieves the astonishing feat of making the richly various Mediterranean peoples of the year 100 AD as familiar to us as our neighbors.” And Herbert Leibowitz, editor of Parnassus: Poetry in Review, writes of the novel: “Its large cast of characters, from silver merchants, slaves, Roman officials, and Christian martyrs to a young Jewish Romeo in love with a Juliet under the spell of Christianity, pulsate with life, inspiring the reader to meditate on the corruptions of power and the devastating consequences of military and religious warfare.” Zane is the author of four other novels: Bodies in Motion (Alfred Knopf, 1972); A Certain Man, (Alfred Knopf, 1976); White Rising, (Alfred Knopf, 1981); and Try to Remember, (Random House, 1997). Her poetry collection, Old Ladies in the Locker Room and Pool, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2011, and she has published numerous short stories in a wide variety of magazines and journals. Additionally, she is the author, under the pseudonym of Maggie Strong, of Mainstay: For the Well Spouse of the Chronically Ill, based on her experience caring for her late husband, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Subsequently, Zane and several of her readers established the Well Spouse Association as a resource for others providing care for their spouses. Zane lives in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, halfway between her childhood home in Vermont and the playground in Manhattan where she raised her children. She has won a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts; has enjoyed stays at MacDowell, Yaddo, Villa Montalvo, Fundación Valparáiso, and Djerassi; and has been included in the American Audio Prose Library. Zane’s vivid memoir of her Chaffee student days, “The Chaffee School for Girls: A Remembrance from the Halfway Point,” is published in Cherished Hopes and Honorable Ambition: A Centennial History of Loomis Chaffee, edited by John Ratté and Karen Parsons. For more information about Zane and her work, visit www.zanekotker.com. © www.loomischaffee.org | 41

OBJECT LESSONS | BY KAREN PARSONS

Heroic Proportions

N 1924, the Hartford City Commission asked Evelyn Longman to sculpt a memorial honoring the city’s Spanish American War veterans. Daniel Chester French, the creator of the Lincoln Memorial, had recommended her for the job, and Longman, as she wrote to a friend, was “quite thrilled at the opportunity of having an important public monument in Hartford.” Evelyn had married Loomis’ first headmaster, Nathaniel Horton Batchelder, in 1920 and relocated her studio from New York City to Windsor.

Longman proposed a design and explained its historicity to the commission: “I feel that any adequate Spanish War memorial must express the idealism of our national purpose, [and] explain the historical importance of the conflict … .” The monument’s centerpiece is an idealized figure, in the artist’s words, “bearing in her extended right hand the torch of liberty and in her left a shield with the stars and stripes.” This interpretation of the war as a noble effort to ensure democracy for Cuba was consistent with many Americans’ opinions during the early 20th century. Historians have since presented alternate narratives refocused on America’s economic and political intentions in Cuba. Longman worked for more than two years on the project in her Windsor studio, sending the model plaster casts in November 1926 to the American Art Foundry in Astoria, New York. There the final full-size bronze monument was cast. Earlier in the process, smaller scale models of the central female figure were crafted, and one was cast in bronze. More than 15,000 gathered at Bushnell Park on May 22, 1927, for the monument’s dedication. A “long and colorful parade” preceded the ceremony, and, as described by The Hartford Courant, “two great American flags as if moved 42 |

by unseen hands slowly undraped from about a statue of heroic proportions, then suddenly caught by an eager breeze, swept clear and revealed … Hartford’s newest memorial.” Spectators responded with “a great burst of applause” and a standing ovation for Longman. Warren Archibald, minister of Hartford’s South Church, attended the dedication and wrote to Longman, telling her “how deeply … moved and impressed I am with this inspiring figure … . [I]t has a noble ancestry in the expression of thought & feeling.” The Batchelders watched the newsreel film of the dedication at Hartford’s Strand Theater the next week and placed a photo of the monument on their 1927 Christmas card. Two years later, Longman received an honorary membership from the local Spanish War Veterans’ organization. In 1949, Longman donated the small bronze model to The Chaffee School for display in the new classroom building, Sellers Hall. Originally known as “Columbia Holding the Torch of Enlightenment,” the sculpture acquired the nickname “Minerva.” From time to time, students decorated the sculpture with clothing and flowers, and Minerva took up residence in a dedicated alcove. Two decades of The Epilogue include images of smiling Chaffee girls posed for club photos around Minerva. In 1970, the sculpture moved to the Island campus with The Chaffee School. Some alumni will recall the day that members of Committee X dressed in togas and escorted Minerva across campus to a new alcove home in Chaffee Hall, where it can be found today. Two sculptures of dramatically different sizes were born of the same artistic and historical inspiration. One inspired awe, while the other a more playful intimacy. © Karen Parsons is archivist and teaches history.

“

The monument’s centerpiece is an idealized figure, in the artist’s words, ‘bearing in her extended right hand the torch of liberty and in her left a shield with the stars and stripes.’

”

Evelyn Longman puts the finishing touches on the monument in her studio on campus. Photo: Loomis Chaffee Archives

www.loomischaffee.org | 43

ALUMNI NEWS | EDITED BY JAMES S. RUGEN ’70

1938

From Arch Doty: “I, finally, am living in a retirement complex where my life is run by a golden retriever and my wife, Adah. The only problem here is that most of the residents don’t know that they are old. So, to keep up with them, I had a patent issued last year, and have another application pending. Never a dull moment!”

1939

Nan Christensen Carmon writes: “Although I am 91 years old, I am blessed with good health and still work full time in our family business. I have 12 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren. I cherish the memories of my four years at Chaffee under Mrs. Sellers.”

1941

“I tried hard to encourage classmates to attend Reunion!” writes Jane Wingate

Quayle. “It was so informative and fun! I was the oldest or one of the oldest, attending with my son D.W. Quayle ’69.”

1943

Dorothy Shoenfuss Howell writes: “I keep up with Janice Falkin, Mary Jane Small Halsey, sister Lee Schoenfuss Smith ’40, and Art Schoenfuss ’35. All is well in Maine. I’m enjoying retirement after 36 years with the Census Bureau — Department of Commerce — out of the Boston office.” “We have sold our condo in Florida,” reports Marilyn Griffin Lombardo. “We are now permanently in Orleans, Mass. — Cape Cod. We made the change partly for health reasons and partly because it was getting to be too much for us to make the changeover. We will miss the Florida warmth. We hope it will not be as cold and snowy a winter as last year.”

1947

Janet Voorhies Abel writes: “I consider myself very fortunate for the wonderful education I received at Loomis Chaffee. Thank you.”

1949

Lyman Page reports that he spent last summer “getting cured of colon cancer.” He adds that his recovery is progressing, and the future is bright.

1950

Bert Engelhardt lives in the Village at Orchard Ridge in Winchester, Va., where his wife, Claire, has been in the skilled nursing facility since October 2013.

1953

From Gail Bliss Allen: “I have been up here, near Seattle, since April 2012 after 50plus years in Northern California. I am near

Chaffee

BOOK CLUB SAVE THE DATE: Wednesday, May 6 6 p.m. Dinner 7:30 p.m. Discussion Burton Room, Athletics Complex The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier Discussion Leader: Karen Parsons, history teacher, archivist, and Centennial co-chair

44 |

At the winter gathering of the Chaffee Book Club on February 11, Chaffee alumnae were joined by several junior and senior girls for discussion of Jo Baker’s Longbourn. Sally Knight of the English Department and Kathie Popadin of the Katharine Brush Library faciliated conversation of the novel, a look at the world of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice from the perspective of the servants. Attendees: (front) junior Hannah McCarthy Potter, junior Michelle Choi, and senior Madison PetersonPorta; (middle row) Sally Knight, Mims Brooks Butterworth ’36, Evie Smith ’50, Lynn Hayden Wadhams ’61, Jenefer Carey Berall ’59, and Sally Hoskins O’Brien ’55; and (back) Sue Fisher Shepard ’62, Beverley Earle ’68, Kathy Howard Kerrigan ’68, junior Katya Yepifanova, senior Gabby Roncone, Kathie Popadin, Kate Butterworth de Valdez ’67, Anne Schneider McNulty ’72, and Elaine Title Lowengard ’46. Missing from photo: juniors Josie Gautier and Kirsten Mossberg.

REUNION | June 12–14, 2015 CLASSES ENDING IN 0s AND 5s! LOOMIS CHAFFEE my son and family. I do miss my place in the Sierra, though.” Yona Donner Hermann writes of her grandchildren: “Eric Hermann is graduating from Stanford this year and is remaining for another year for his master’s degree in computer science; Matthew Hermann plays lacrosse for Hamilton and is going to South Africa for a semester for his junior year; Bennett Hermann teaches tennis; Ally Russell is the social media editor for her high school newspaper and swims for the high school team; Lexi Russell, her twin, has been winning ribbons in riding shows.” Yona adds that her son, Jesse Hermann, has been named CEO of a multinational company based in Phoenix, Ariz. Yona’s daughter is Sarah Hermann Russell ’82.

wants YOU to celebrate this year! Join classmates, friends, and faculty as we close out the Centennial year with a bang. Look for your invitation this spring. Be sure to receive electronic updates by sharing your email address with the school. Update your information and find out more about the weekend at www.loomischaffee.org/reunion or call 860.687.6815.

1955

“Looking forward to Reunion in June,” writes Grace Hartnett Leffel.

1956

Peter Gehris reports: “This year is the 21st anniversary of the start of my company, Travel Insured International. We administer travel insurance plans, and have 115 employees; we had 43 when we started in 1993. I continue to enjoy the challenge and working with bright and dedicated employees.” Martin Nemirow writes: “I worked on legislation in Washington to increase the minimum wage, make lower unemployment as well as inflation a FED priority, and incorporate family leave/child care in federal policy. If we want a healthy society and economy, these are some of the pro-worker policies that are needed.”

Reunion 2015

Jonathan Weiss, with Otis H. King, recently published a novel, A Star Over Harlem. From promotional material: “Left with his father’s mysterious dying words to solve, A.D. Jr. embarks on a daunting journey that will take him many places and into the arms of a beautiful stranger with another agenda. He and his companion must fight to discover the truth behind an ancient religious secret … but so little time remains before enemies close in. Danger www.loomischaffee.org | 45

John Metcalf Taylor

SOCIETY Partner with Loomis Chaffee by establishing a Charitable Gift Annuity. Good for you. Good for Loomis Chaffee.

CHARITABLE GIFT annuity allows you to make a gift, receive a steady stream of income for life, and claim a charitable deduction, all while providing critical support for Loomis Chaffee. Charitable gift annuities can be established with gifts of cash or securities of $10,000 or more. The rates are based on age; the older you are, the greater your payment. While the minimum age is 65, “deferred” gift annuities can be set up at a younger age. A sample of current rates is below: Age Rate 65

4.7%

70 5.1% 75

5.8%

80 6.8% 85

7.8%

Creating a charitable gift annuity is simple to do, and we are here to walk you through every step of the way. For more information, please contact: Timothy G. Struthers ’85 Chief Philanthropic Officer 860.687.6221 or tim_struthers@loomis.org or Katherine Langmaid Associate Director of Development 860.687.6822 or katherine_langmaid@loomis.org If Loomis Chaffee is already included in your estate plans, please let us know so we may welcome you to the John Metcalf Taylor Society.

46 |

arises at every turn, all pursuits converge, everything becomes clear, so only a miracle will save the day, casting off all shadows … like A Star Over Harlem.”

1957

“Fun!” writes Rosalie Spring Savitt Asher. “Atlanta is a movie-making capital and Kathy Lucus, the daughter of Louise Cohon Kieffer ’54, is spending lots of time here as the designer on location of the upcoming film Divergent. Great getting to know her.”

1958

Lee Bishop Howard and John Howard ’56 report: “We continue to fill our calendars with activities with our seven kids and eight grandkids, establishing disaster response programs in neighborhoods in two towns, and laughing at and playing with our rescue puppy.” Lee is president of their neighborhood association, and John is president of the local Lions Club. Chuck Kennedy won third prize in the Newburyport (Mass.) Writers Contest, and first prize in the Anna Jaques Hospital “Pink Up the Port” cancer display. He spent last winter in southern France researching Cathar religious history and is spending this winter in Mexico. He continues to run his bed and breakfast. “Still alive, but going down fast!” writes John Nichols. “Two new books coming out at end of 2015 or early 2016: The Annual Big Arsenic Fishing Contest, a novel; My Heart Belongs to Nature, non-fiction photo essay. I’m reading Chris Hedges ’75, exLoomie, who knows the score!”

1959

Karen Beck Chutter and Roger Chutter ’58 report: “Still basking in the joy of our 50th. Shall we do the 60th? Had a fantastic visit with Cindy Abell Allyn and Pat Leary Friedle during the summer at Cindy and Lou’s fun and gorgeous home. Our grandchildren got to witness what it’s like when ‘older’ Chaffee gals reminisce and share the joy of countless giggle-worthy memories!” A book of fiction consisting of a novella and two short stories, Ad Parnassum, by Nancy Weber was recently published by Underground Voices. Vivian Fancher, editor of CEOTraveler. com, writes: “Nancy Weber excels at whatever she puts her pen to. In her rediscovered work, Ad Parnassum, dating from 1973, she invented an entirely new style of writing. The reader has to work at unraveling clues, but it’s worth it when the pieces of the puzzle come together. There’s a double reward, two equally surprising short stories all wrapped up in one package.”

1960

“I enjoyed the Gala in New York,” writes Rust Deming. “Congratulations on a very successful 100 years. I have great hopes for the school for the next century.” At 72, Lawrence Allen Katz still plays men’s league basketball. He also plays “killer Scrabble” with Ellen, his wife of almost 50 years. “Thanks, Loomis,” he writes, “for teaching me so many words! If only Ellen didn’t know more!”

Marya Randall Levenson writes: “I continue to enjoy my work as a professor and director of the Education Program at Brandeis University. My husband and I are very grateful for our adult children and five grandchildren. And I enjoy reading about the values and inquiry-based education at Loomis Chaffee.” “My husband and I attended afternoon and evening events on Centennial Day September 20,” reports Joanne Hartman Madsen. “It was a beautiful, sunny day, and we thoroughly enjoyed the football game, halftime entertainment, and the presentation recreating at the Homestead the history of the founding of the school. We sat with a student and his family from Brooklyn, N.Y., at dinner under the tent in Grubbs Quadrangle. He was so proud to be there, and his family was extremely proud of him.”

1961

From John Olds: “Semi-retired as of April this year from Robert Talbott (the tie and clothing company). They have me consulting and doing financial projects. Celebrated 26th wedding anniversary this year. Other than a cruise last year and Yellowstone this year, most of my travel is to dog events (tracking and barn hunt).”

1962

Barbara J. Brown writes: “I had a nice visit with Linda Cole Judd Brondsted as she returned from a trip to Denmark last summer.”

1964

Donald Hooper writes: “I’ve had a lifetime of great experiences. Loomis set me up for all of them: Ceylon in high school, Botswana Peace Corps, two degrees at Harvard, teaching, Vermont legislature, Vermont secretary of state, National Wildlife Federation working against global warming … cool.”

1966

From Tom Andrews: “Visited daughter in Germany last year; Canadian Rockies this summer. Busy with Rotary, RV-ing, flying in my 1948 Globe Swift. Currently have an

exchange student from Ecuador living here. Life is good … and full!” John Bonee writes: “I enjoyed the 100th birthday festivities — especially encountering old friends and two events in particular: ‘Dancing Through the Ages’ by students on the football field and the Homestead re-enactment of the Loomis family legacy for the future of education. Well done and much appreciated!”

1967

“Enjoying retirement,” writes Virginia “Vini” Norris Exton. “Still working on grant-supported projects in education but no longer correcting papers or doing lesson plans. Yay!”

1968

Gerry Farmer Cohen retired in August 2014 after 37 years with the North Carolina General Assembly, ending as special counsel. In October, he joined the law firm of Nelson, Mullins, Riley and Scarborough as a consultant.

1969

From Steven Book: “My wife, Maureen, and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit last summer to Reunion. It was very well planned, and we enjoyed the evening with Bill Beckett and Steve Nightingale.”

1970

David Margolick’s book Dreadful: The Short Life and Gay Times of John Horne Burns is now available in paperback, published by Other Press. The book traces the career of the Loomis teacher and ultimately tragic novelist. The new edition includes a preface by John Nichols ’58.

1973

In the fall of 2014, Stephen Cushman published two books: Belligerent Muse: Five Northern Writers and How They Shaped Our Understanding of The Civil War, published by the University of North Carolina; and The Red List, a book-length poem published by Louisiana State University.

The American Medical Association (AMA) on February 24 presented Bruce G. Gellin, deputy assistant secretary for health and director of the National Vaccine Program Office at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with the Dr. Nathan Davis Award for Outstanding Government Service. Bruce was presented the award in conjunction with the AMA’s National Advocacy Conference in Washington, D.C. He was selected for his leadership and vision while overseeing the nation’s vaccine and immunization initiatives. During his tenure at the National Vaccine Program Office, Bruce spearheaded the development of the first pandemic influenza preparedness plan, led the department’s response to the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, and was the architect of an innovative roadmap for the vaccine and immunization enterprise, coined the National Vaccine Plan. Bruce is one of seven honorees chosen this year to receive the Dr. Nathan Davis Award for Outstanding Government Service. He joins the more than 200 men and women so honored in the past 26 years. News from Peter Samis: “Still happily living in the People’s Republic of Berkeley, California; working at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and finishing a book on how museums can be more sensitive to visitor needs. It should appear in 2015!”

1974

“Some of my classmates know that I am recovering from a brain tumor,” writes Morwen Swilling Two Feathers. “It was a nasty, aggressive cancer, but thanks to surgery in March 2013 and one year of chemo, I now have no cancer in my brain. The tumor was on my expressive language area, so speaking and writing are challenging. I can’t do my old job, and I am figuring out what to do now — since it seems I have some time left in this world. I enjoyed Reunion with my classmates.”

1978

Tom Rosenberg was one of 10 recipients of the 2014 David Brady Award, given to www.loomischaffee.org | 47

’97

’73

’00

Peter R. Ogilby ’73 recently prepared three CDs, available through Gateway Music ApS, both as physical copies sent by post and as files that can be downloaded. Peter, a chemistry professor in Denmark, has been playing the guitar and writing songs as a hobby for more than 50 years. “My life as a clandestine musician playing and singing only for myself, family, and friends has ended,” he writes. For more information, see www.peter-r-ogilby.com.

Yelda Batur Kalkandelen ’97 and her husband, Erman, welcomed their daughter, Lila Beren Kalkandelen, into the world on November 17, 2014. Yelda writes: “Big brother Kaya was happy to have her at his second birthday party in February.”

’98

Britt-Marie K. Cole-Johnson ’00, a lawyer at Robinson & Cole, was nominated for and has accepted service as the chair of the YWCA Hartford Region’s Board of Directors, 2015–16. Her appointment was announced at the YWCA annual meeting in February. Britt-Marie has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2011 and has held various leadership positions, including chair of the Governance Committee, chair of the Nominating Committee, and event co-chair of the 19th Annual “In the Company of Women” luncheon. She has also served as a member of the Executive Committee.

’99

’00

’01

’06

’88

Laird Coby ’98 and his wife, Brooke, are excited to announce the birth of their daughter, Campbell, born on October 8, 2014, in London, where the couple has lived for the past three years. “Campbell has heard many bedtime fairy tales of the Island, but needs to see it to believe it!” Laird writes.

Alexandra Cutting ’88 and Peter Kennedy ’88 were married on December 31, 2014, in Las Vegas. “It’s only taken us 27 years! We met at Loomis Chaffee as English Speaking Union scholars. We now live in Ascot (U.K.) with an assortment of six children.”

’99 Lucas Reed Dolce was born on August 22, 2014, to Candi Naboicheck ’99 and Michael Dolce ’99. “He is already preparing for his days at Loomis!” note the proud parents.

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Denaka Perry ’00, Courtney Ackeifi ’06, Sheria Butler ’99, Nana Mensah ’01, and Gleennia Napper ’99 gather at a February fundraising event and panel discussion for Nana’s film, Queen of Glory. The film is the story of Sarah Obeng, the brilliant child of Ghanaian immigrants, who is leaving her doctoral program at Columbia University to follow her married lover and former professor to Ohio. When her mother dies unexpectedly, Sarah becomes the proprietor of King of Glory, a Christian bookstore in the Pelham Parkway neighborhood in the Bronx. Life in the bookstore sparks both painful and hilarious lessons.

’00

Charlotte Leigh Hasday was born on August 28, 2014, to Jason and Meredith Keller Hasday ’00.

employees of Merrill Lynch/ Bank of America Corporation “who best demonstrate the spirit of partnership and what it means to go above and beyond expectations in their dedication and commitment to clients.” The award is named for David Brady, who died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and was known for his commitment and dedication to his clients. From a notification letter from Merrill Lynch to clients and friends comes this tribute: “Over his dedicated 27-year career, Tom has proven to be not only a critical fixture in the Rockefeller Center office but a role model in both Global Wealth management and our community at large. In addition to running a successful business, Tom helps hire and run our training program for new advisors during their first three years in the business. Tom is also active with several charities and environmental groups. He believes strongly in the preservation of our Earth and has worked for the Nature Conservancy for over 25 years, serving as a State Trustee for eight years. He also founded their ‘Young Professionals Group,’ which has raised over $1 million for their Global Environmental causes. Tom has brought his love for nature into Bank of America, where he is currently acting as the New York City chair for the My Environment program. Tom and his chapter work on informing employees about the firm’s $50 billion environmental initiatives.”

1979

Mary Collins writes: “Donnie Collins ’11, my trans son, interned at the Colbert Report last

summer and will graduate from Emerson College in May.”

1980

Leila “Lili” Cummin is happily working for Oscar de la Renta in New York City. She looks forward to hearing from classmates. After more than 29 years of active and reserve service, David A. “Scotty” Dawson retired from the Marine Corps in December 2014. He continues to work in his civilian job at U.S. Central Command, so he is still very much involved with operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan. He hopes to attend Reunion, “operations permitting.”

1981

“Still loving life in Omaha at Creighton University,” reports Santina “Tina” Smith Bolowich. “My husband’s soccer team is now in the Big East, and they won the regular season championship as well as advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight in 2014. My son, Alex, who plays on the team, will graduate this December. No more college tuition! My daughter, Alya, lives in Norway and is pursuing her master’s in industrial ecology at Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Four days a week, you can find me on the tennis court. I love following my classmates on Facebook. Hope to see Heather McGregor Worthington in Germany this July.”

1982

Nicholas Breul writes: “Retired from the D.C. police. Managed security operations for the Washington National Cathedral

for two years. Now director of Officer Safety and Wellness — for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.”

1986

Jamie Parkinson and his family recently moved to London, where Jamie is opening his law firm’s U.K. office. “Anyone coming through London should shout for a visit,” he writes.

1987

“I serve on the board of the State Theater of North Carolina, also known as the Flat Rock Playhouse,” reports Robert Danos. “We recently made a great hire by bringing on Katie Zanca ’10 as our new company manager. Katie was an apprentice here during her last two college summers, acting, singing, and working in every aspect of the theater. Now as company manager, she will continue to perform on stage but also be responsible for the endless logistics of the stream of professional actors who perform here each year. We are grateful that she made it from the NEO (Norris Ely Orchard Theater) to starting her professional theater career here.” Cathryn Prince Saldinger is at work on her fifth book. It concerns the celebrity author and adventurer Richard Halliburton and will be published by Chicago Review Press in 2016.

1988

Kathleen Bell, under the name Kae Bell, has just published her debut novel, The Brittle Limit, a thriller set in Cambodia.

1989

Sue Henshon, as Dr. S. Henshon, recently published another book for children (and adults who love good stories), Andy Lightfoot and the Time Warp. Andy’s parents have disappeared, and he lives with his grandparents. At the Jules Verne Time Travel School, he meets fellow time travelers and learns about the history and mechanics of time travel; fashions of the past, present, and future; and how to convert currencies across time. He also discovers that time travel is more dangerous than anything he could have imagined. Sue writes: “My book actually features Founders Hall and the Cupola, so there are definitely parts of Loomis that are reflected in this story — in a very good way.”

1990

Larry Milburn is the co-producer of the documentary Sweet Blues: A Film About Michael Bloomfield, which concerns the talented blues and rock guitarist, Larry’s cousin. Bloomfield is considered one of the great guitar players of all time and can be heard on several famous recordings, including Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited. Larry turned to film-making after a brief acting career. In 2003, he wrote, directed, and acted in a short film, Roadie, which has become a cult favorite. His company, Milburn Media Arts, makes films for video podcasts, corporate events, and web videos as well as behind-thescenes short features for major films and documentaries. Like his cousin, Larry also plays the guitar; he can be found at open www.loomischaffee.org | 49

The Loomis Chaffee

ALUMNI APP

mike nights and plays with a band in New York City. He has also made a documentary film about the music of Arlen Roth.

1991

Sarah Larson is a roving cultural correspondent for The New Yorker. See www.newyorker.com/culture/sarah-larson.

1994

Introducing EverTrue, a Loomis Chaffee exclusive alumni mobile app! The app features:

• Searchable alumni directory tool to search by • Nearby location and view the results on a map

• Integration with LinkedIn • LC news and events on Facebook, Twitter, and the LC website

• Ability to make your gift to Loomis Chaffee using our secure giving page

Access all this on your Apple or Android smartphone by downloading the free Evertrue app from the App Store or Google Play store today! 50 |

Caroline Nolan serves as the inaugural director of the Tang Institute at Andover, an initiative at Phillips Academy that encourages educational experimentation, interdisciplinary work, partnerships, and connected learning and assessment. Backed by $15 million in support from the former president of Phillips Academy’s Board of Trustees Oscar Tang, an investor and global philanthropist, the institute has also secured seed funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation as well as from other benefactors. Caroline joined Phillips Academy in October 2013. Prior to that, she was associate director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, where she launched, led, and contributed to a wide range of interdisciplinary initiatives and partnerships focused on topics at the intersection of new technologies, free expression and privacy, education, and other issues. Caroline holds a bachelor’s degree from Brown University and a master’s in international affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She has worked as a researcher for Reebok’s human rights department; for the Boston Consortium on Gender, Security and Human Rights;

and for Pathfinder International. In her first career, she was a sous chef at Rialto Restaurant in Cambridge, Mass.

1996

“We love living in Washington, D.C,” reports Pleasance Lowengard Silicki. “We have two children, Saylor and Milo, who are so much fun. I own a community yoga studio, called Lil Omm Yoga, which is such a wonderful way to serve the community! Stop by if you are in D.C.!”

1997

Four years after opening his first restaurant/bar in downtown Providence, R.I., Steven E. A. Correa is excited to announce the opening of his second location: Aruba Steve’s Island Grill, in Warren, R.I. Suzette Lee has completed two missions in Africa for Médecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), the first as a supervisor of nursing staff in a large pediatric hospital in Mali, treating malnourished children suffering and dying from malaria. Her second mission took her to Liberia, where she treated patients struck by the Ebola virus. She is now on her third mission, a two-month Ebola medical relief initiative in Guinea. Stateside, Suzette works at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in the breast cancer prevention and screening program. She also has participated in missions in the Dominican Republic and in Haiti. She holds a nursing degree from Johns Hopkins. Rebecca Pacheco is an acclaimed yoga teacher, writer, speaker, and creator of one of

the most popular yoga blogs, OmGal.com. In her new book, Do Your OM Thing (HarperCollins), she presents a guide for the 21st-century yogi that strikes a fresh balance between yoga tradition and the reality of a fast-paced life. Rebecca explores yoga tradition, from the eight limbs of the ancient path, outlined by Patanjali, to the five koshas and seven chakras of the yoga body. She interprets these ancient teachings for the modern user and puts them into the context of our everyday lives. Previously a master teacher at the Baptiste Power Yoga Institute, Rebecca now blends nearly two decades of yoga experience into her signature Om Athlete and creative Vinyasa yoga classes. She is the resident yoga expert for Runner’s World magazine’s online Yoga Center.

1998

From Beth Sigman Somerset: “My family and I welcomed our second daughter, Nell, January 9, and we are all doing well in Peterborough, N.H.”

1999

Jonathan Oppenheimer was named a winner of the Knight Arts Challenge St. Paul for his Midway Murals public art project. He will lead a team of four muralists who will work alongside immigrant business owners and communities to transform his neighborhood next summer through public art. The murals will weave together the theme of starting anew as they reflect immigrant stories and promote a deeper sense of connection between immigrants and the broader Twin Cities community.

ALUMNI GATHERIN GS

Loomis in Harlem on March 4

RISTI AND JULIAN RILEY ’86 hosted the second annual Harlem Reception at the Red Rooster on March 4. Despite the chilly temperatures, alumni warmed up quickly as they reconnected with classmates and other Pelicans. Guests were treated to a special tasting of Harlem Blue, an exclusively Harlem-brewed creation by Julian. Also in attendance was Nathan Follansbee, associate head for external relations, who presented on the state of the school today. Erik Cliette ’84, Kristi Riley, Alexandra Muchura-Mensah, and host Julian Riley ’86

Nigel Richards ’93, Nat Follansbee, and Anthony Perry ’93

Kwanzaa Butler ’89 and Anthony Perry ’93

Sheria Butler ’99, Nana Mensah ’01, Gleennia Napper ’99, and Shenae Dure ’00

Jacqueline Knights ’81

Sana Butler ’90 and Peter Kolp ’90

Courtney Ackeifi ’06, Leecy Cameron ’06, and Ariel Williams ’06

www.loomischaffee.org | 51

’02

2001

News from Ashley Merz Marchand: “My husband, Andrew, and I welcomed our daughter, Finley, to the world May 20, 2014. She joins her two older brothers: Tucker, 4, and Wade, 2.”

2003

Elizabeth Fleming and Ryan O’Connor ’02 were married on August 23, 2014, at the Belle Haven Club in Greenwich, Conn. Ryan reports: “It was an amazing night, and we had a fantastic showing of Pelicans!” (left to right, bottom to top) Chris Atwell ’04, the bride, the groom, Bick Brooks ’04, Gabe Belsky ’02, Nader Golsorkhi ’03, Paul Vannelli ’02, John Clark ’03, Jas Wagstaff ’03, Hadley Quish ’02, Vaidas Nutautas ’98, Graham Lincoln ’02, Erin O’Connor ’09, Zach Shore ’02, and Tommy Spinella ’02

John Abraham ’12 plays for the Canadian National Rugby 7’s development team.

Paul H. Mounds Jr. was recently named a trustee of Trinity College. A political science major when he was a student at Trinity, Paul serves as director of government affairs for the Office of Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy, a position he has held since 2012. Previously, he was deputy state director for outreach for the Office of U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, communications director at the Office of U.S. Rep. John B. Larson, and federal grants coordinator/ press assistant at Rep. Larson’s office. Paul also serves as a trustee of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in Hartford.

2004

Afton Pavletic works with Boston College football in recruiting and operations. She is a 2013 graduate of Cornell University Law School and a member of the New York State Bar Association.

2005

’12 Darius Moore ’13, Amy Ward ’13, and Ben Russell ’13 celebrated Thanksgiving 2014 together at Amy’s home in Chapel Hill, N.C.

’13

Oscar Axel Gerdner writes: “I just graduated from medical school at the University of Connecticut and have now begun my training in psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School — affiliated residency program at the Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital. I am already looking forward to Reunion in June!”

2006

Steve Parrillo is continuing in the master’s of fine arts cinema program at San Francisco State University. His thesis film, which will complete his degree requirements, will preview later this year. During his three years in San Francisco, Steve has received awards nomina52 |

tions for cinematography at the Sundance, Toronto, South by Southwest, and Rhode Island film festivals for his work on The Trial in 2011. He worked on various film sets in Europe in 2012 and wrote and directed his own feature film there in 2013. He has also worked in the commercial sector as cinematographer in advertising campaigns throughout the Bay Area. In 2014, Steve was employed by SFG Productions, the in-house production company for the San Francisco Giants, as a field producer, video editor, and (during the playoffs) cinematographer, for which he will receive a 2014 World Series championship ring. Last May, he won two Emmys for best non-fiction film and best sports documentary, and he will be in contention for three more Emmys for footage he shot during the playoffs, used in SFG Productions’ television program Inside the Clubhouse. Steve is the coordinating judge for the Film Students Shorts Film Festival, sponsored by the San Francisco Public Broadcasting Service station, KQED.

2007

“I have been living in Salt Lake City, Utah, for the last year,” reports Leah Pepe. “I am working at Overstock.com in their Farmers Market and loving it. I’m having fun finally learning to ski at Alta!”

2009

Juliana Just Costa and her brother have teamed up to form a Montreal-based musical duo, Juliana & Jesse. Last September they recorded their first album. For information, see their website: www.julianaandjesse.com.

2010

Melanie Grover-Schwartz lives in Seattle and works for T-Mobile. She graduated from Colgate in May 2014. Kai Wilson graduated with honors from Macalester College in 2014. A political science major, he minored in anthro-

2014–15 Annual Fund

pology with a concentration in Middle East studies and Islamic civilization. For news of Katie Zanca, see the entry from Robert Danos ’87.

2011

An article by Sarah May Patrick, “Framing terrorism; geography-based media coverage variations of the 2004 commuter train bombings in Madrid and the 2009 twin suicide bombings in Baghdad,” has been published online in the journal Critical Studies on Terrorism (Volume 7, Issue 3, 2014). Sarah is a senior at Georgetown University. She writes: “During my sophomore year, I took a class related to critical studies of terrorism that focused on studying terrorism and counterterrorism from the perspective of the non-state actors/terrorists themselves. This led to a small obsession, and I am sure I was being tracked throughout the year because I spent all my time perusing communiqués released by terrorist organizations before and after they conducted attacks. While I was in South Africa, my professor contacted me asking whether I wanted to get my final research paper published. Although the topic and the paper itself are not exactly my main focus for research these days, it is still exciting to see my work in print.” To read Sarah’s article, go to www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/ 10.1080/17539153.2014.957009#. VQHYqmYkITk.

2012

John Abraham, a junior at Dartmouth, plays for the Canadian National Rugby 7’s development team and traveled to Argentina and Chile for a series of games recently. Shelby A. Pinkerton, a junior at Tulane University, is spending the spring term in Budapest, Hungary.

2013

Northeastern University sophomore Aaron Civale struck out four Red Sox players, including David “Big Papi” Ortiz, in a spring training game on March 3. Aaron was the starting pitcher for Northeastern in the team’s annual game against the pros at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla. In two no-hit innings, Aaron struck out Ortiz, Hanley Ramirez, Mike Napoli, and Xander Bogaerts.

100 Reasons to Give

In celebration of our Centennial, we collected 100 reasons why alumni, parents, and friends give to the Annual Fund. There are many reasons to support Loomis Chaffee. What’s yours? Give today at www.loomischaffee.org/giving. To see the full list and add your reason, go to www.loomischaffee.org/reasons.

REASON #18 Trust fall

Providence College sophomore and sociology major Nick Sailor helped the Friars men’s soccer team to a Big East Championship on November 16, 2014. The Friars defeated Xavier University 2-1 to win the Big East title. Nick played 66 minutes in the title game.

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IN MEMORIAM | BY CHRISTINE COYLE

1932 William Hurd Scheide, on November 14, 2014, in Princeton, N.J. Originally from Titusville, Penn., Bill became a noted philanthropist, scholar, and Bach enthusiast. During his three years at Loomis, Bill was involved in the Political Club, the Glee Club, The Log Board, and the Publications Board. He served on the Junto Advisory Committee, served as secretarytreasurer of Der Deutsche Verein, and published work in The Loom. Bill was active in soccer and tennis and was captain of Allyn soccer. He placed second in the category of “Most Brilliant” in his senior class poll and graduated with Cum Laude distinction. One of 16 in his Loomis graduating class to attend Princeton University, Bill earned a bachelor’s degree in history at Princeton, followed by a master’s degree in music from Columbia University. He was awarded three honorary doctorate degrees: one in music from The College of Wooster in 1961, one in humane letters from Westminster Choir College in 1985, and one in humanities from Princeton University in 1994. Bill’s grandfather, William T. Scheide, made his fortune in the late 19th century as an executive for the Standard Oil Company of Pennsylvania. Bill’s parents sent him to Loomis for his high school education in part because the school's tuition-free policy at the time meant Bill's peers would be from a variety of backgrounds, and Bill became a lifelong supporter of the school. Bill devoted his life to his passions, including the study and advancement of the music of 54 |

J.S. Bach. Bill was concerned with the collection, preservation, and sharing of cultural treasures and, in particular, the rich library of texts now housed at Princeton University at his bequest. As well as for his academic pursuits, Bill will be remembered for his humanitarian dedication and support of civil rights in America. In the 1950s, Bill lent significant financial support to the Legal Defense Fund of the National Associations for the Advancement of Colored Persons for the landmark school desegregation case Brown v. Board of Education. He held leadership positions on numerous human rights organizations and remained committed throughout his 100 years to preserving equality and justice for all people. He is survived by his wife, Judith McCartin Scheide; his two daughters, Louise Marshall and Barbara Scheide; a son, John; three stepdaughters, Mary Holmes, Carol Taylor, and Catherine McCartin; three grandchildren; six step-grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

1934 Nathan Straus III, on December 16, 2014, in Brattleboro, Vt. A two-year student from New York City, Nathan was involved in the Political Club and the Glee Club. He was active in tennis, soccer, and Allyn basketball. After graduating from Loomis, Nathan earned a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and a master’s degree in business from Columbia University. He served in World War II in the European Theater of Operations and retired in 1945

with the rank of lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy. He was president of the foodservice products organization FSP International Corporation until his reluctant retirement at 94 years of age. Grandson of philanthropist Nathan Straus Sr., co-owner of the R.H. Macy and Abraham & Straus department stores, and son of Nathan Straus, Jr., New York state senator and administrator of the U.S. Housing Authority under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Nathan III continued the family legacy of public service. He served as president of the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce, president of the National Association for the Prevention of Addiction to Narcotics, chairman of the National Committee for Immigration Reform, and chairman of the State-City Nationalities Division of the Democratic State Committee. He ran for state office to represent a Bronx district in Congress in 1966 and 1968. Nathan is predeceased by his beloved wife of 64 years, Betty; and by his brothers, Bernard (Barney) Straus ’37 and R. Peter Straus ’40. He is survived by his three children, Andrea, Joseph, and Martha; his six grandchildren; and many other loving relatives.

1937 Daniel Brazier Libby, on February 9. A one-year student from Portland, Maine, Dan was involved in the Glee Club and was active in tennis and Wolcott soccer. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College in 1941. While at Dartmouth, Dan took a flying

course, which began his lifelong interest in both civilian and military aviation. He attended Navy officer training at the famous Chicago V7 School at Northwestern University and completed flight training school in Corpus Christi, Texas. He reported for duty to Pearl Harbor, where, Dan often recounted, he was yards away from the first bomb dropped on December 7, 1941. He was commended for his performance during the attack and eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant commander, serving much of his career as a top flight instructor until he was honorably discharged in 1946. Dan became employed by the Limerick Yarn Mills in Limerick, Maine, followed by a long and successful career with textile industry giant J.P. Stevens & Company. He and his wife enjoyed many years in the community of Harwich on Cape Cod, where they retired in 1983. Dan is survived by his fraternal twin, Ellen Lawrence; his wife, Kay; their four children, Ellen Hyde, Dan Libby, Kathy Stuka, and Anne Dontonville, and their spouses; 15 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. A memorial service was held on February 14 in Harwich Center, Massachusetts.

1938 William Tapley Hubbard, on August 3, 2013. Bill, a one-year student from Springfield, Mass., was involved with the Political Club and Allyn club baseball and basketball. Additionally, he served as captain of Allyn club soccer. After graduation, Bill was employed by Dun and Bradstreet. He entered World

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War II in 1942, serving in the Counter Intelligence Corps of the U.S. Army in the AsianPacific Theater. Upon discharge in 1946, he returned to Dun and Bradstreet. From 1948 through 1985, Bill was employed with the Schenectady Insuring Agency, serving as vice president and secretary before retirement. He married Charlotte Roberts of Springfield, Massachusetts, in a double wedding service with Charlotte’s sister, Katherine, and Katherine’s late husband, William Hale. Active in a variety of community organizations, including United Way of Schenectady, Planned Parenthood, and the Schenectady Rotary Club, William also served as president of the Schenectady County Council of Churches. A member of the First Reformed Church for more than 50 years, Bill was a member of its Greater Consistory. In 1984, Bill was named Schenectady Patron by the city of Schenectady. Bill is predeceased by his wife, Charlotte. He is survived by his daughter, Susan; two granddaughters; and six great-grandchildren. A memorial service was held at the First Reformed Church of Schenectady in September 2013.

1943 William Leggett Sly, on September 14, 2014, in Hackettstown, N.J. A twoyear student from Summit, N.J., Bill was a member of the Political Club and the Dining Hall Committee and was on the Honor Roll for both years. He was active in Allyn intermediate football, Allyn senior basketball, and Allyn senior tennis. After 56 |

graduation, he served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Bill graduated from Cornell University with bachelor’s degrees in economics and mechanical engineering. Before retirement, he was employed by Zero of Princeton, N.J., as a mechanical engineer. Bill was a Presbyterian elder and a member of the First Presbyterian Church, Hackettstown. He served as an elder and treasurer at South Salem, N.Y., Presbyterian Church, and was a past member of the Pennington Presbyterian Church, Pennington, N.J. An advocate for education, Bill attended 61 elder hostels and volunteered at the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association. His interests included sailing and anything to do with boats. Bill and his wife of 64 years, Barbara, enjoyed many sailing vacations together. He is survived by his wife; three daughters, Margery, Carol, and Patricia, and their spouses; and five grandchildren.

1944 Calvin Thomas Hughes Jr., on January 26. A three-year Honor Roll student from Milldale, Conn., Cal was involved in the Political Club, Chemistry Club, Glee Club, Chess Club, and Ski Club and was on the Commencement Committee. He served as vice president of Le Cercle Français and was in the cast of Pirates of Penzance. He was active in Wolcott senior soccer, and track. After Loomis, Cal served in the U.S. Navy. A graduate of Yale University and Harvard University Medical School, Cal furthered his study

of ophthalmology at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. Afterwards, he set up practice in Hartford, Conn., where he spent many years as a respected ophthalmologist and was an innovator of corneal transplant surgery. Passionate about travel, Cal visited all seven continents. He was a world-class skier, taking to the slopes in the Swiss and Austrian Alps, as well as in Colorado and Utah. An avid sailor, he enjoyed sailing his 40foot Swedish-built sloop out of Niantic, Conn., and did a term of service on an international charitable hospital ship. Cal was an accomplished classical pianist and was devoted to all animals, especially to birds. He was predeceased by his cousin Edmund W. Wallace ’33. Cal is survived by his cousins Lucia Doud Wallace, Cynthia Day Wallace, Margaret Ellis Wood, John Arden Ellis, and Calvin Gogerty and many close friends. Eleanor Barber Malmfeldt, on March 16, 2014. At Chaffee, Ellie participated in many school activities. An excerpt from The Epilogue reads, “Eleanor holds the unchallenged position of class mathematician. She has figured prominently in all school activities. Sophomore year she was class president and senior year treasurer of the Chaffers. Ellie is an unusually efficient person and is best remembered for her friendly manner and pungent wit.” She attended Connecticut College and transferred to Simmons College after her marriage to John Ford Malmfeldt. The couple relocated to Mercer Island, Wash., where they raised four children. Ellie earned her master

of library science degree at the University of Washington and, after returning to Connecticut with her husband and family, served as the school librarian at Mansfield Middle School for 23 years. Ellie remained connected to Loomis Chaffee as an alumnae volunteer and was a member of the Common Good Society. It was a Loomis Chaffee class reunion that served to reconnect Ellie with her old friend Willis Abbey. Finding love again later in life, Ellie moved to Charlottesville, Va., to be near him, and found happiness and many new friends in the Charlottesville community. Ellie is pre-deceased by her brother, Thomas H. Barber ’49. She is survived by her friend and companion Willis F. Abbey ’43; her children, Barbara Baldwin, Kit Malmfeldt, Emily Zevenbergen Sistrunk, and Carl John Malmfeldt, and their spouses; six grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. Ellie is also survived by her nephews Thomas Barber Jr. ’73 and Jonathan R. Barber ’77.

1948 Roger Knight Gallic, on November 18, 2014. A four-year student from Windsor, Conn., Roger served as senior library supervisor and was involved in the Glee Club. He was involved with the Fire Fighting Squad, Rifle Club, and Ski Club, and he sang in the chorus of York Nativity Play. He was active in Ludlow senior football and baseball, and he lettered in first team hockey. Roger’s son John ’77 said of his father, “He took great delight in the memories of IN MEMORIAM | continued 58

Robert Penniman Hubbard ’47

OBERT PENNIMAN HUBBARD ’47, educator and longtime supporter of Loomis Chaffee, passed away peacefully on November 20, 2014, at his home in Walpole, N.H.

a longtime donor to the Annual Fund and member of the John Metcalf Taylor Society, became the lead donor for what eventually became the Hubbard Music Center. In 2004, Bob also established the Robert P. Hubbard ’47 Instructorship in Theater and the Hubbard Speakers Series. Each year, John Clark and later Timothy Struthers ’85, chief philanthropic officer, would send Bob an update on the speakers who had come to campus and how they were received by the students.

“He was a quintessential Yankee, generous to a fault and exceedingly modest. No fanfare permitted,” former director of development John Clark reflected with affection. A three-year student from Walpole, Bob lived in Batchelder and Palmer halls and was president of the Classical Music Club, a member of the Senior Library Committee, and a member of the stage crew for the productions of York Nativity and Macbeth. Bob also participated in first soccer, winter track, and first track. Following his graduation from Loomis, Bob attended Harvard and graduated from Kenyon College in 1953 with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology. In 1974 he was awarded a master of arts degree in English from the University of New Hampshire in Durham. A teacher for most of his life, Bob believed deeply in the mission of educating young people. “It was clear that Bob really appreciated what a good teacher and a good school could do for students,” reflects Head of School Sheila Culbert.

After one such update, Bob wrote back: “How pleased I am with your response and that of the probing students to the speakers. All of you give me confidence in the future. As usual and as always, Loomis Chaffee is still the alert, active, stimulating and provocative school that I do so well remember from my years there. I arrived in my sophomore year asleep and was awakened.”

Robert P. Hubbard ’47

Photo: Loomis Chaffee Archives

Magazine highlighting proposed changes to the school’s performing arts program During the course of his career, Bob taught intrigued him. As John Clark recalls, “The at Wilbraham Academy in Wilbraham, school’s relationship with Bob Hubbard Mass., and was a teacher of English and was elevated in the late ’90s when he chairman of the English departments wrote to express interest in the plans for a at Wassookeag School-Camp in Dexter, performing arts center. I responded to that Maine; the Bolles School in Jacksonville, letter, and thus began a five-year correFla.; and Palm Beach Academy in Palm spondence with the man. His letters were Beach, Fla. typewritten on ancient onion-skinned Of his time at Loomis, Bob had many great stationery … and were beautifully written, stories and a deep fondness that he readily as one would expect from a former English teacher.” shared with visitors from the school over the years, usually over lunch at his favorite In one of those letters, Bob wrote, “Obvirestaurant in Walpole, Burdicks. He arously, Loomis Chaffee is doing important rived on the Island as a sophomore in 1947, and rewarding work in many ways. But the same year his brother, Wentworth, perhaps what has most caught my eye — enrolled at Loomis as a junior. Admittedly and impressed me in recent years — has not a mathematics and science student, been your concerns, undertakings and acBob nurtured academic interests and pascomplishments with the arts and cultural sions in literature, theater, and music. activities.” Consequently, it was not surprising that With a generous gift of $5 million, Bob, an article in the Fall 1999 Loomis Chaffee

Bob was not shy about recommending Loomis Chaffee to friends and neighbors, and several enrolled over the years. The enrollment of one such neighbor, Justin Flessa-Laroche ’07, gave Bob a perfect excuse to venture back to the Island several times in the mid-2000s to watch lacrosse games. “Bob was an authentic Yankee gentleman whose quiet generosity made a real difference in the lives of others at Loomis Chaffee, Kenyon, the Harvard School of Design, his hometown of Walpole, N.H., as well as for individual students whose educational expenses he personally funded,” remembers former Head of School Russell H. Weigel. “The Hubbard Instructorship in Theater, the Hubbard Speakers Series, and Hubbard Hall will enhance the shared experience of students, faculty, and staff on the Island for generations to come.” Bob was predeceased by his brother, O. Wentworth Hubbard ’46. Bob’s survivors include his nephews and nieces, Jan Jefferis and her husband, Gary; Dale Hubbard and his wife, Colleen; Heidi Crotty and her husband, Patrick; and Jeffrey Hubbard and his wife, Patty; and many grandnephews and grandnieces. At his request, there was no funeral or memorial service. ©

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his time at Loomis.” After graduation, Roger earned a degree in economics from the University of Vermont. He was a veteran of the U.S. Air Force. He loved spending time with his family, was an avid fan of all sports, and especially enjoyed hockey, skiing, and camping. Throughout his life, he was involved in the community by serving on the Board of Trustees at the United Congregational Church of Tolland, the Board of Education of Tolland, the Recreation Board, and the Republican Town Committee. He was active in the Masons and was one of the original founders of Tolland Youth Football. Roger is survived by his sons, Roger Jr., Jeffrey, and John ’77, and their spouses; five grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his wife, Beverly Cole Gallic, and his sister, Gloria Gallic Perkins ’41. A funeral service was held in November 2014 at the United Congregational Church of Tolland.

1949 David Conrad Chappelear, on January 10, in Pennington, N.J. A three-year student from Hartford, Conn., Dave was involved with the Glee Club, Ski Club, Sportsman’s Club, and Chemistry Club. He served as a laboratory assistant, was a member of the Scholarship and Library committees, played in the Concert Orchestra, and was an Honor Roll student. He was active in Allyn tennis and lettered in first team soccer and first team wrestling. In 1953, Dave earned a bachelor’s 58 |

degree in chemical engineering from Yale University. While at Yale, he sang with the Glee Club and climbed with the Mountaineering Club. He served as first lieutenant in the U.S. Army in Fort Sill, Okla. David earned a doctorate in chemical engineering from Princeton University in 1960 before joining the Monsanto Company in Springfield, Mass., where, during his 20-year career, he oversaw the development of plastics products and was granted several patents. During that time, Dave taught graduate courses in chemical engineering at the University of Massachusetts. In the early 1980s, Dave led polymer research and development at Raychem Corporation in Menlo Park, Calif., then joined Johnson & Johnson’s consumer products division in New Jersey. There, he served as vice president of research and engineering and director of new technology until his retirement in 1995. In his executive roles, Dave remained committed to the technical, problem-solving side of his work, using the skills he had honed in engineering. He was named a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in 1986. David was an accomplished mountaineer and climbed extensively in the southern Alaskan mountains. An experienced polymer chemist, he was able to assist with important early analysis of the flow of glacier ice in the Juneau Ice Field in Alaska. Dave was a lifetime wilderness enthusiast who enjoyed climbing, hiking, skiing, cycling, and tennis. Singing, including with the Yale Glee

Club for many years, was a source of great pleasure. David is survived by his brother Daniel N. Chappelear ’52; his sons, Christopher and Thomas; his longtime companion, Dorothea Webster; and five grandchildren. A memorial service was held in January at the Pennington United Methodist Church. Joan Mather MacIntosh, on February 4. A four-year student from Windsor, Conn., Joan was involved in drama and served as president of the Chaffers. Following graduation, Joan attended Lasell College in Newton, Mass. She was employed by the law firm of Day, Berry & Howard and by Combustion Engineering, and she worked at Connecticut National Bank for many years as a trust officer. Reading, needlework, and travel were her sources of enjoyment. Joan is predeceased by her husband, Aubrey Forbes MacIntosh; and her brothers, Walter S. Mather ’46 and Linwood S. Mather ’48. She is survived by her sisters-in-law, Sandra Mather and Nancy Mather; 13 nieces and nephews; and her step-children. She is buried at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford, Conn.

1950 Guy Gibson Gardiner, on November 23, 2014. A two-year student from Newtonville, Mass., Guy was involved with the Jazz Club, Glee Club, Velvets, Barbell Club, and Outing Club; was a volunteer medical aide; and was Maher House supervisor. He was active in first

team hockey, Allyn tennis and wrestling, and he lettered in first team football. After graduation, Guy attended Philadelphia Textile College and Lowell Textile College. Guy served proudly as a crew chief on a C-47 for the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. He retired as district sales manager for the Kimberly-Clark Corporation after 35 years of employment. Guy was a 32nd degree Mason and a charter member of the Danbury Men’s Club. He enjoyed traveling and was an avid reader and golfer. Guy’s spontaneous sense of humor was infectious and will be sorely missed by all who knew and loved him. Guy enjoyed strolling the Siesta Key beach with his wife, Debby, by his side. Guy is predeceased by his son, Bruce. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Deborah; his daughter, Pamela, and her spouse; his daughter-in-law, Diane; his granddaughter; and several nieces and nephews. A memorial service was held in December at the Congregational Church of New Fairfield, Conn.

1951 William Henderson Brantley III, on January 2. A two-year student from Birmingham, Ala., Bill was involved in the Political Club, Bridge Club, Nautical Club, Outing Club, Jazz Club, Student Endowment Fund, and Senior Grounds Committee. He was active in Allyn senior football, Allyn hockey, and Allyn senior baseball. Bill graduated from The University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He

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served in the U.S. Army. Afterwards, Bill sold insurance at the Cobbs, Allen & Hall Company, and he worked in the industrial development department of Alabama Power Company. He was later self-employed. Bill was a member of the Redstone Club, Mountain Brook Club, the American Legion Post 134, and Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church, all of Birmingham. Predeceased by his brother Richard Kirven Brantley ’53, Bill is survived by his wife, Lucy Forsyth Brantley; his three children, Lucy Brantley Hawkins, Arthur Forsyth Brantley, and William Henderson Brantley, and their spouses; and six grandchildren. A memorial service was held at Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church. Richard Keppie Lynn, on January 10. A two-year student from Elmira, N.Y., Dick was involved in the Glee Club, Radio Club, Chess Club, and Choir. He sang in the chorus of Down in the Valley; served on the Senior Dormitory Supervision Committee, the Senior Library Committee, and the Senior Scholarship Committee; and was an Honor Roll student. He was active in Allyn intermediate football, Allyn second basketball, and Allyn tennis. He earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering at Case Institute of Technology. Following a stint in the U.S. Air Force, Dick received a master’s in business administration from Ohio State University, attended Harvard Business School, and became a professor at University of CaliforniaBerkeley’s school of business. In a departure from academia, Dick joined Arthur D. Little Inc. as a consultant. As a real estate 60 |

consultant, he was instrumental in planning California’s Mission Viejo and Florida’s Sawgrass communities. Dick also took part in various viability studies in the then-developing Napa Valley wine industry, where he and his family maintained a weekend home. His clients included the Domaine Chandon, Clos du Val, and Robert Mondavi wineries as well as his own, Lyncrest Vineyards. While his wife, Evadna, was employed in New York City, Dick maintained their San Francisco home, raising their two children and supervising the restoration of their historic 1892 Victorian house. Despite their peripatetic lifestyle, Dick and Evadna remained loyal fans and season ticket holders of the San Francisco 49ers football team for 30 years. When the children were in college, Dick moved to New York City until Evadna retired in 1998. They returned to San Francisco, where, for the next decade, they enjoyed traveling and fulfilling dreams inspired while Dick was a board member at the World Affairs Council. Over the last 15 years, they divided their time between San Francisco and Napa Valley, eventually moving to Yountville, Calif. Dick is survived by his wife of 52 years, Evadna, and their two children, Douglas and Lisa. He is also survived by his brother, Donald M. Lynn, Jr. ’46, and his niece, Carol Lynn Blackwelder ’88. A memorial service was held at the San Francisco Columbarium in January.

1952 Lynn Edward Bizik, on June 3, 2013. A one-year student from West Hartford, Conn., Lynn attended Loomis for freshman year beginning in the fall of 1948. Afterwards, his family moved to Tucson, Ariz., where Lynn completed his high school education. He graduated from the University of Arizona in 1959 and served honorably in the U.S. Marine Corps. He worked for many years in the mortgage banking industry and will be remembered for donating his time to youth soccer. He is survived by his wife, Elisabeth, and his sons, Lee and Brent, and their families, including his beloved grandchildren. A funeral was held in June 2013 in Tucson, Ariz.

1955 Paul Elon Reichert, on December 12, 2014. A threeyear student from Branford, Conn., Paul was involved in the Political Club, Stagehands Union, and Dining Hall Committee. A three-season athlete, he lettered in first team football, first team wrestling, and track. After graduation from Loomis, Paul attended Colby College followed by careers in the insurance industry, agriculture, and auctioneering. Paul’s lifelong passion for sports included being a baseball coach for his sons’ teams in various youth leagues. He also enjoyed bowling, softball, hiking, biking, and camping, preferably with his family or with scouts. In his youth, Paul was active in Boy Scouts of America, earning the distinction of Eagle Scout, and

served as a leader in adulthood. He and his wife retired to New Smyrna Beach, Fla., where they enjoyed the beach and boating as well as being active in the local church and community. Paul was predeceased by his brotherin-law James R. Healey ’53. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Elaine Healey Reichert; his four sons, Steven, David, Robert, and John, and their spouses; six grandchildren; a large extended family; and many friends who were special to Paul. A service in celebration of his life took place in January at the South Deerfield Congregational Church in South Deerfield, Mass.

1965 William F. Lahey, on August 1, 2007. A one-year student from West Hartford, Conn., Bill attended Loomis as a freshman. He went on to play baseball at Hall High School and the American Legion and continued to play competitive softball into his late 40s. Bill enjoyed golf and wildlife and was a fan of the Boston Red Sox. He graduated from Suffolk University and spent most of his career in the publishing business with Hayden and Butterworth publications, as well as Dell Books. Bill was predeceased by his wife, Kathryn Lahey; and his sister Judith A. Lahey ’61. He is survived by his siblings Sara M. Lahey, Margaret A. Lahey, Paul J. Lahey, and Michael J. Lahey ’76; his children, Kristen L. DiGravio, Sara D. Lahey, and Ryan P. Lahey, and their spouses; and four grandchildren.

FORMER TRUSTEE | Susan Seymour Reinhart ’60

USAN SEYMOUR REINHART, a former Loomis Chaffee Trustee, passed away on November 18, 2014, surrounded by family. A student from the Hartford area, Susan served as editor-inchief of The Epilogue and was active in Student Council, Model United Nations, Glee Club, and the play The Devil’s Disciple. After graduation, Susan earned her bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College and master’s degree from Central Connecticut State University. Her life’s work encompassed motherhood, teaching, and many community service positions, including with the Junior League, at Christ Church Cathedral, at Loomis Chaffee, and with The Hartford Foundation. Her career included many management roles at CIGNA and concluded with the Antiquarian & Landmarks Society. Susan stayed connected to Loomis Chaffee long after graduation, serving

1971 Richard MacPherson Crosen, on April 13, 2006, at his home in California. A student from Wethersfield, Conn., “Scott,” as he was known, was active in hockey at Loomis. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1975, and earned a master’s in business administration from the University of New Hampshire’s Whittemore School of Business. Scott enjoyed the outdoors; was an avid gardener, handyman, and craftsman; and doted on his beloved pets. Scott is survived by his mother, Eunice Crosen; his siblings, Peter W. Crosen ’77, Janet Elwood, Patricia Montanaro, Doug Crosen, Ted Crosen, Elizabeth Cormier, and Carolyn Crosen, and their families; and his countless friends from coast to coast. A memorial service was held at Trinity Episcopal Church in Wethersfield, Conn.

1973 Wallace John Faber, on November 10, 2014. A student from Enfield, Conn., Wally was known for his gourmet cooking, his wonderful sense of humor, and his love of travel. He enjoyed living and working

Susan Seymour Reinhart ’60 Photo: Loomis Chaffee Archives

in the hospitality business in Boston and Stoneham, Mass., and in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. His favorite travel destination was the Island of Vieques, Puerto Rico. Wally was predeceased by his uncle Donald P. Faber ’49. He is survived by his father, Wallace A. Faber ’46; and his siblings, Carri Gilbert and Scott Faber. Family and friends shared their remembrances at the Barile Family Funeral Home in Stoneham, Mass.

1981 Michael David Dooman, on November 29, 2014, after a courageous battle with cancer. A student from New Britain, Conn., Michael attended Mooreland Hill School and then Loomis Chaffee, where he was active in varsity baseball and varsity riflery. After graduating from Loomis, he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and classics from Drew University and a master’s degree in history from Trinity College. Michael began his career in education as a teacher of Latin, English, and history at St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia. In 1986, he was invited to join the Mooreland Hill School faculty as an instructor of Latin, English, and history and to serve as varsity baseball coach.

on reunion committees, the Chaffee Advisory Committee and as president of the Loomis Chaffee Alumni Association. Of most significance, she was a three-term Trustee from 1986 to 1998 and chaired the Salaries and Benefits Committee. Until fairly recently, Susan visited the Island regularly to attend Chaffee Book Club dinners and meetings at school. Susan is survived by her husband, Richard Reinhart ’55, whom she married in Founders Chapel in 2001. She is also survived by her sisters, Nancy Seymour ’63 and Carol Gaffey; daughters Katherine Hallas Stahl ’87 and Elizabeth Hallas ’90 and their spouses; stepdaughter Krista Reinhart; and four cherished grandchildren, to whom she was “Gramzie.” Attendees at Susan’s memorial service, held in December at Old St. Andrew’s Church in Bloomfield, Conn., wore purple in her honor. ©

During his 14-year tenure, he was named director of studies, dean of students, and assistant headmaster. In 2000, he accepted the position of middle school director for The Country Day School, in Madison, Conn. In 2006, Michael was invited to return to Mooreland as headmaster, where he served for eight years. He was instrumental in expanding Mooreland Hill to include a lower school program. Michael’s passion was for Mooreland Hill School and the students and families he served there for 22 years, yet he found time to contribute to his community as well. He was a member of the New Britain Saturday Night Club, chair of the Conservation Commission for the city of New Britain, a board member of the United Way of New Britain, corporator of the Hospital of Central Connecticut, and a volunteer at the New Britain Museum of American Art. He furthered his study in the field of education at The Klingenstein Center, Teacher’s College Columbia University. Michael was a fan of the New York Yankees baseball team. He is survived by his wife, Sheila Lavey; his sons, Colin and John; his mother, Betty; his brother, Nelson; and many cherished family and friends. A celebration of Michael’s life was held in December in New Britain. www.loomischaffee.org | 61

Photo: Loomis Chaffee Archives

Former Staff Anthony J. DiGregorio, on February 14. Tony worked in the athletics cage/equipment room and helped with maintenance of the athletics fields for 12 years in the 1980s and 1990s. According to Seth Beebe ’78, director of advancement services, “The students thought the world of him.” Residing in Enfield, Conn., for most of his life, Tony graduated from Enfield High School and earned an associate’s degree from American International College in Springfield, Mass. He served his country honorably with the U.S. Army during World War II. His career included working at Hamilton Standard and Electrolux, where he was district manager. He was a parishioner of St. Patrick’s Church and a 62 |

member of the John Maciolek Post 154 American Legion in Enfield. Tony enjoyed many sports, including tennis, golf, softball, and running. He was a longtime fan of the New York Yankees baseball team and the New York Giants football team and also enjoyed horseracing and the beach. Tony was predeceased by his wife, Yolanda. He is survived by his children, Carole Martin, Donna Jean DiGregorio, Joseph DiGregorio, Michael DiGregorio, Bonnie Sproha, and Ann Coro, and their spouses; 10 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

C. Robert Hoffmann Jr., on December 10, 2014. Bob was head baker at Loomis Chaffee for 12 years, retiring in 1986. A New Britain, Conn., native and former resident, he graduated from New Britain High School in 1942, and was a World War II U.S. Navy veteran. Bob worked at the Hoffmann family bakery for more than 30 years before joining Loomis. He was a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church in New Britain and the Berlin VFW Post. In addition to his wife of 70 years, Millie, he leaves two daughters, Susan Hoffmann and Gail Benson; his granddaughter; and his greatgrandson. A funeral service was held in December at St. John’s Lutheran Church in New Britain.

More News The Alumni Office has learned of the passing of Edith “Gay” Gaberman Sudarsky ’39, on March 16, 2015; Dean Ames McCallum ’47, on December 29, 2014; Stanley Paul Johnson ’59, on February 20, 2015; Theodore Smith Turner Jr. ’65, on February 27, 2014; Rebecca Silliman Boardman ’66, on November 15, 2014; and Edward Douglas Turner Jr. ’77, on June 13, 2014. More information, as available, will be printed in future issues. ©

READERS’ VOICE

The Irony of Cuba

HERE is a tremendous irony that appears in the latest Loomis Chaffee Magazine (Winter 2015). On the back cover is an ad inviting alumni and parents to visit Cuba in May and “discover the classic art and culture of Cuba.” A few pages inside is the obituary of Thor Halvorssen, much of which is properly attributed to Armando Valladares. Of course here is the irony. Armando Valladares is one of the world’s most famous Cuban dissidents. He spent over 20 years in Cuban concentration camps which are scattered throughout Cuba. He endured and witnessed torture and atrocities that the Nazis could only dream of. World opinion forced his release. He has written the one great book written by a Cuban since 1959: Against All Hope. Critics have called him “the Cuban Solzhenitsyn” because of his eloquence in describing the Stalinist gulag known as Cuba. What Mr. Valladares makes clear is that anyone who visits Cuba,

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set out to attract a full range of students. The school’s Charter states that “no person shall be admitted as a student in said institute until he or she shall be adjudged, on examination, capable of a high level of intellectual engagement and able to succeed in a rigorous academic environment, and to be of good moral character.” Students should also be admitted “without regard to state or nation.” All of this meant, of course, that Loomis has always been a wonderfully democratic and broadly diverse community of talented young people drawn together by their willingness to learn. While no longer free, Loomis continues to embrace the Founders’ vision of attracting talented students from across the socioeconomic spectrum “without regard to state or nation.” Today, the school commits more of its operating budget toward financial aid than just about every other

including Loomis alumni and parents, will be no different than the Red Cross visiting Theresienstadt in June 1944. The Cuban torturers and murderers will make sure no visitors hear the screams of the tortured and dying while they are “discovering the classic art and culture of Cuba.” Yes, it is a great irony that Armando Valladares is juxtaposed so closely with an invitation to visit Cuba. — Richard Sherman ’65 peer school, with the one exception of Andover, spending upwards of $9 million dollars, 18 percent of our budget, on financial aid. This generous financial aid policy is made possible by scores of donors who have established funds in support of financial aid. Three years ago one particularly generous anonymous donor awarded the school $3.3 million as a matching fund to encourage others to give to our scholarship program. The match proved so popular with donors that the original donor agreed to extend it by adding another $1 million. In March, the school completed the initiative with 62 donors and a total monetary commitment of $13.5 million, which will benefit generations of Loomis students in the years to come. In addition to this Financial Aid Initiative, Henry R. Kravis ’63 pledged $500,000 per year for 10 years in support of the Kravis Scholars Program, which supports

girls and boys from underrepresented groups. And finally, we heard recently of a multi-million dollar bequest for financial aid from the estate of Robert Hubbard ’47, a longtime supporter of the school. All of these commitments—the matching program, the Kravis Scholars, and the Hubbard bequest—have together raised $25 million for financial aid, an extraordinary amount of money and a huge boost to our scholarship funds. In celebrating our Centennial, we look back to our Founders and the vision and values that they espoused. By committing to provide the most generous financial aid program that we can afford, we ensure that their vision lives on in generations of talented students yet to come and that the Loomis Institute, at 100 years, continues to serve the common good. ©

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THE LAST WORD | BY KAREN PARSONS

Familial Ties and a Common Purpose Hezekiah Bradley Loomis, one of the Loomis Institute Founders, is credited with penning the Family Testimonial and recording the siblings’ intentions to found a school. They gathered in Windsor on April 29, 1878, at Abby Loomis Hayden’s home to sign this document.

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Hezekiah Bradley Loomis Photo: Loomis Chaffee Archives

Somewhere near the termination of the year 1871, or the beginning of 1872, a sentiment, born of the strong natural love and sympathy between us, and intensified by the loss of all our children, crystallized into a desire to leave some memento of our lives, failing the natural one of succession; and this finally took the form of a free educational establishment, called the Loomis Institute. … [D]esiring to make a record of our united sentiments for ourselves, and all who in the future may be interested in the story of the love and tenderness we bear to each other, moving us to stand together, supporting at the close of our lives a common purpose, [we] pledge ourselves to the support, care and personal comfort of each other, and to remain true and signally faithful to the Loomis Institute, acknowledging and accepting the duties incident, cheerfully, lovingly and devotedly; so that nothing short of death shall divert us from our purpose of mutual support; hoping and trusting that some good may come to posterity, from the harvest, poor though it may be, of our lives.

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Abby Loomis Haydenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home where it once stood on the Broad Street Green in Windsor. Photo: Loomis Chaffee Archives.

The Loomis Chaffee School 4 Batchelder Road Windsor, Connecticut 06095

Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Loomis Chaffee School

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

Loomis Chaffee is 100 years old. This is a milestone year and alumni are upping the ante. The goal? A record 50 percent alumni participation. It’s never been done, but it’s within reach. Over the past five years, more than 56 percent of alumni have made gifts to the Annual Fund. All we have to do is give in the same year — this year. Need more incentive than setting a record? The MacLean Family (Duncan ’90 and Gillian ’91) will give the school $1 million if we reach the 50 percent goal by June 30, 2015. In honor of the Centennial, give today. 50 NOW!

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