Mercersburg Magazine - Summer 2011 by Mercersburg Academy

Mercersburg A magazine for Mercersburg Academy family and friends

Students:

Center all of it

the

V O L U M E 3 8 N O . 2 s umme r 2 0 1 1

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M e r c e r s b u r g m a g a z i n e s u mm e r 2 0 1 1

VOLUME 38

NO. 2

s umme r 2 0 1 1

The Center of it All

A magazine for Mercersburg Academy family and friends

Mercersburg 1,024 Words

Mountain living at its finest. Page 6

A Basement No Longer

Coming soon: the Simon Student Center at Ford Hall. Page 16

Evolution, Not Revolution

Inside the Mercersburg Plan and the blueprint for Mercersburg’s academic future. Page 24

Dean’s List

Five Mercersburg alumni handle much more than discipline at their schools. Page 31

My Say

Peter Banzhaf ’02 on his work at Ground Zero. Page 53

You Should Know

Class of 2011 president Matt Cook ’11 (with flag) led the procession of Mercersburg’s senior class into the school’s annual Baccalaureate service May 27. The next day, 126 members of the class participated in Mercersburg’s 118th Commencement exercises. See page 8 for full coverage. Photo by Bill Green. Photo credits: p. 2 Chris Crisman; p. 3 (Lowe) Joe Faraoni/ESPN, (Kim) Stacey Talbot Grasa; p. 4 (Buschi) Bill Green, (Garlick/Hyrkas) Dave Keeseman, (all others) Grasa; p. 5 (Wentz) courtesy Richard Wentz; p. 8–15 (all photos) Green; p. 17 Centerbrook Architects; p. 18 Lesley Gourley; p. 19–22 (all photos/renderings) Centerbrook Architects; p. 23 courtesy Deborah Simon; p. 24 John McKeith; p. 27 Julia Maurer; p. 28 Eric Poggenpohl; p. 29 (all photos) Sue Malone; p. 31 courtesy Jeff Adair; p. 32 courtesy John Collmus; p. 33 (Rahauser) Bruce Weller; p. 34 courtesy The Harker School; p. 35 (dance) Ryan Smith, (bottom left) Alicia Cadrette ’13, (bottom right) Richard Rotz; p. 36 (top) Cadrette, (Stony Batter) Green; p. 38–39 (all photos) Keeseman; p. 40 (left) Keeseman, (right) Caroline Yoo ’13; p. 43 (all photos) Green; p. 53 courtesy Peter Banzhaf. Illustrations: cover: Centerbrook Architects

From the Head of School Via Mercersburg Commencement Reunion Anniversary Weekend Arts Athletics Class Notes Mercersburg magazine is published three times annually by the Office of Strategic Marketing and Communications. Mercersburg Academy 300 East Seminary Street Mercersburg, Pennsylvania 17236

2 3 8 12 35 38 41 Editor: Lee Owen Class Notes Editor: Tyler Miller Contributors: Peter Banzhaf ’02, Susan Pasternack, Zally Price, Jay Quinn, Lindsay Tanton, Richard Wentz, Wallace Whitworth

Magazine correspondence: Lee_Owen@mercersburg.edu

Art Direction: Aldrich Design

Class Notes correspondence: classnotes@mercersburg.edu

Director of Strategic Marketing and Communications: Wallace Whitworth

Alumni correspondence/ change of address: Leslie_Miller@mercersburg.edu

Assistant Head for Enrollment: Tommy Adams

www.mercersburg.edu Read us online: issuu.com/mercersburg

Head of School: Douglas Hale

Assistant Head for External Affairs: Mary Carrasco

© Copyright 2011 Mercersburg Academy. All rights reserved. No content from this publication may be reproduced or reprinted in any form without the express written consent of Mercersburg Academy. Mercersburg Academy abides by both the spirit and the letter of the law in all its employment and admission policies. The school does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin.

From the Head of School

The Mercersburg Plan: Time-Traveling

hen William Mann Irvine st arted as Mercersburg’s first Headmaster, he also started something else: a culture of planning. Born in 1865, Dr. Irvine came to Mercersburg when a new century was about to dawn, so he set about building a school that would thrive in that new century—Nolde Gymnasium, the Chapel, new dormitories, expanded curriculum, talented faculty. He was a Princeton man by way of Exeter. His plans always focused on the betterment of the student: planning was tied to program, and program was always tied to the students and their ability to excel in college and the world post-Mercersburg. This thoughtful self-examination is the Mercersburg way, and, as such, it is both the foundation and core of the Mercersburg Plan. Mercersburg stands today at a similar kind of juncture that Dr. Irvine stood in 1893—a new century is upon us, and new centuries demand new approaches, because education and institutions, like life, are never static. The Mercersburg Plan is still grounded in the tradition of the liberal arts with an emphasis on critical-thinking skills, but those skills are geared to the students’ global orientation and need to assess quickly and cogently the morass of information available to them digitally. The plan still demands superior communication skills, both written and oral, but those skills are purposely diversified to match the demands and opportunities of new communications platforms and media now “broadbanded” into every student’s life 24/7. The plan still calls for rigorous academics through innovative courses and the accumulation of pertinent knowledge, but now students are called upon to demonstrate they can transfer and apply that knowledge with mastery and ease in order to compete in a global world where flexibility, collaboration, and creative thinking are the norms. The plan still adheres to Dr. Irvine’s signature ethos of “hard work, fair play, and clean life,” but within the context of a modern, integrated residential life curriculum that is fully

coeducational and extremely socially diverse. The plan also highlights the strategic importance of financial aid for the recruitment of great students and the vital role our endowment plays in making that aid a reality. In Dr. Irvine’s era, every building was appropriately an outgrowth of the school’s educational program. Likewise, the Mercersburg Plan today includes strategic development of key facilities that derive entirely from our evolving academic and residential curricula. The plan calls for completing our indoor athletic facility with an expansive field house. Just as Nolde Gymnasium set the stage at the beginning of the 20th century for our athletic legacy, this new field house will ensure that we extend and renew that legacy well into this century. The plan also calls for building a new aquatic center that includes a 50-meter pool, which will be a magnet for high-caliber swimmers, and at the same time expands our physical education program exponentially. And the plan includes a new student center, so that in this age dominated by cyber-communication of all kinds, our students will grow socially and interpersonally by having a truly attractive, inviting, comfortable place where face-to-face talking, performing, playing, meeting, and, yes, planning abounds. So, enter the Mercersburg Plan—another significant moment in Mercersburg’s educational journey and history. It may sound revolutionary, but I assure you it’s much more evolutionary. For all its newness, at the core it’s as old as Mercersburg itself, thanks to Dr. Irvine and all the school’s leadership who, over the decades, established and maintained such a strong and prescient culture of planning at this good place.

Douglas Hale Head of School

M e r c e r s b u r g m a g a z i n e s u mm e r 2 0 1 1

D at e s to Re m e m b e r

Sep 13

Sep 23–25

Mercersburg A roundup of what’s news, what’s new, and what Mercersburg people are talking about.

Oct 3

Family Weekend Ammerman Family Lecture: Nicole Krauss

Oct 10

Oct 14–16 Dec 18

Schaff Lecture: Reza Aslan

Admission Open House Fall Alumni Weekend Christmas Candlelight Service

4 p.m./7:30 p.m., Irvine Memorial Chapel

Schedule subject to change; for a full and updated schedule of events, visit www.mercersburg.edu

Greetings from Germany

One of Mercersburg’s own anchors ESPN’s Women’s World Cup coverage

Mercersburg alumna Rebecca Lowe ’99, a veteran of sports television in her native England, had a starring role on ESPN broadcasts of the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany, which ran from June 26 through July 17. Lowe, who has worked for the BBC and Setanta Sports and co-hosts ESPN’s coverage of the Barclays Premier League for ESPN UK, essentially made her debut on American television as one of two ESPN hosts for studio shows surrounding the games (along with network fixture Bob Ley). Matches were shown in the U.S. on ESPN and ESPN2. Lowe anchored from seven different German cities (including Berlin, Dresden, and Frankfurt) as part of a mobile set that followed teams across the country.

“Covering the Women’s World Cup for ESPN was quite an experience,” Lowe says. “More than 200 people were dispatched to Germany to make ground-breaking TV and do everything in our power to capture the flavor of the tournament for both fans and non-fans alike. The sheer scale of the production was huge and just as big as when I worked on men’s World Cups for the BBC previously in my career.” Lowe came to Mercersburg as an EnglishSpeaking Union scholar after graduating from high school in England at age 17. She later majored in drama at the University of East Anglia and worked for the BBC from 2002 until 2007 as a reporter and anchor covering soccer. Lowe moved to Setanta Sports in 2007 and joined ESPN UK, a British network owned by ESPN, in 2009. The Women’s World Cup featured teams from 16 nations; Japan defeated the United States on penalty kicks in the final to win its first Women’s World Cup title. “I was lucky to be able to work alongside the likes of [American soccer legends] Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain in addition to Bob Ley,” Lowe says. “It was a real honor. It was also intense, not in the least because the TV jargon is totally different in the U.S. and I had to adapt to that.” Lowe is back in the United Kingdom and now in her third season as co-host of ESPN UK’s Premier League coverage, which began in August. “But keep an eye out, as I may well pop up every now and then on your screens stateside,” she says. —Lee Owen

Medal Winner Sally Kim ’12 garnered a silver medal for her drawing, Through the Looking Glass in Beijing (above), in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, which is the nation’s largest and longest-running scholarship and recognition program for teenage artists and writers. The program is presented by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. More than 185,000 works of art and writing were submitted; only 1,500 works earned national medals this year. The honor earned Kim an invitation to the national awards ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City in May.

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Coming to a College (or Pro) Team Near You Thirty-one members o f M e r c e r s b u r g ’s Class of 2011 are continuing their athletic careers at the college level. The list includes athletes from 11 different sports. Lou Buschi More than two-thirds of the group (21 athletes) will compete at the NCAA Division I level in their respective sports. Eight different Division I conferences (America East, Big East, Big 12, Ivy, Pac-12, Patriot, Southeastern, West Coast), are represented on the list—which doesn’t include Christian Binford ’11, who originally committed to play baseball for the University of Virginia but signed a pro contract with the Kansas City Royals after the team selected him in the 30th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. The full list: Shane Black, football, Lafayette College Audrey Brown, swimming, U.S. Military Academy (West Point) Christian Binford Bobby Burg, wrestling, U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis)

Lou Buschi, football,

Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania Nick Carberry, wrestling, Gannon University [Pennsylvania] Audrey Brown Kevin Carroll, swimming, University of Southern California Alex Dempsey, swimming, U.S. Military Academy Giovanni DeSantis, lacrosse, Saint Vincent College [Pennsylvania] Julie Garlick, softball, Haverford College Gui Gomes, soccer, Benedictine College Bobby Burg [Kansas] Collin Greene, swimming, Bucknell University Nikki Hyrkas, swimming, U.S. Naval Academy Donya Jackson, basketball, U.S. Naval Academy August Jonas, golf, U.S. Naval Academy Tareq Kaaki, swimming, Texas Nikki Hyrkas A&M University Linc Kupke, swimming, Boston University Will Levangie, baseball, Bates College

Keeli McNeary, swimming, U.S. Military

Academy

Conor Monaghan, swimming, U.S.

Military Academy

Chall Montgomery, basketball, U.S.

Naval Academy

Michael Newsome,

football, University of Alabama Mackenzie Riford, cross country, Shippensburg Julie Garlick University of Pennsylvania Joey Roberts, soccer, Muhlenberg College Sam Rodgers, football, Syracuse University Tucker Sandercock, soccer, State University of New York at Binghamton Jake Shorr, soccer, Roanoke College Roy Simmons, lacrosse, Hartwick College Nikki Wolny Arvind Stone, wrestling, U.S. Naval Academy Matt Timoney, baseball, Harvard University Brendan Warshauer, soccer, U.S. Naval Academy Nikki Wolny, tennis, Santa Clara University

Service in the Sun Pictured: Mercersburg students take a break with faculty trip leaders Jeff Cohen and Trini Hoffman on the annual spring-break service trip to Costa Rica. Other school groups traveling internationally during spring vacation visited Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Italy, Northern Ireland, Spain, and Switzerland. Summer trips took students to Costa Rica again—this time for an immersive tropical biology experience—and to Chile, Malawi, and Turkey. (See page 27 for more.)

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Ascent into Mercersburg: A Meditation By Richard E. Wentz Many years ago, I made a first ascent into Mercersburg. It was an ascent, not a descent, because Mercersburg was a holy place. In the early 19th century, a public meeting was held there in the southwestern part of Franklin County—a meeting to “deliberate upon the contemplated removal of the Theological and Classical Institutions which are now situated in York, Pennsylvania, with a view to their permanent location in Mercersburg.” Mercersburg was on the western edge of the Pennsylvania Dutch country, itself a homeland for people of Germanic dialects who considered themselves the true Pennsylvanians. The Pennsylvania Dutch were Lutheran, Reformed, and Anabaptist, and it is important to remember that those religious identities were fundamental to the very nature of the people. The institutions whose re-location to Mercersburg was contemplated in 1834 were of the German Reformed Church. “The location of Mercersburg is healthy,” reported the committee of the Synod, “and surrounded with scenery at once striking and beautiful. The number of inhabitants [is] less than one thousand. The turnpike road from Pittsburgh to Baltimore passes through the town, and other public roads from Chambersburg and Hagerstown.” The

preference was for Mercersburg over the invitation of Chambersburg and Franklin College in Lancaster. The classical institution that was shortly to become Marshall College made its way from York by early November 1835. Dr. Frederick Augustus Rauch, its principal,

Wentz

gave notice that “by the permission of Divine Providence,” the students would move in two stagecoaches (seven students in each) from

York to a place where nothing would divert their minds. There was an urgency to the move because the United States demanded “men of education in every department of life.” That’s how Mercersburg became a sacred place. When I ascended those holy hills for the first time it was to find where the first holy people had lived. I knew I would feel the presence of Dr. Rauch and John Nevin, Philip Schaff, and that funny man, Henry Harbaugh. I found them there in Old Mercersburg. Next time I ascend into Mercersburg, I hope I will feel their presence again, and I hope the people I meet will assure me that they know the holy people too.

Richard Wentz is professor emeritus of religious studies at Arizona State University. He taught at Mercersburg from 1955 to 1962, and has also taught at Penn State University. Wentz is the author of John Williamson Nevin: American Theologian; American Religious Traditions; and Why People Do Bad Things in the Name of Religion. An active member of the Pennsylvania German Society, he has recently cut a CD, “Tales from My Mothers and Fathers.” Wentz and his wife, Joan, live in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Architect of Chapel Window Restoration Dies Dieter Goldkuhle, a stained-glass artisan who restored stained-glass windows in the Irvine Memorial Chapel, died March 9 at age 72. Goldkuhle restored the first panel of the Holy Grail window, the Presentation in the Temple window, and the Epiphany window. Born in 1938 in Weidenbrück, Germany, to a family in the glass trade, Goldkuhle immigrated to the United States in 1962. In 1966, he moved from the New York City area to Reston, Virginia, where he made his permanent home.

A fabricator and restorer of stained glass art his entire life, Goldkuhle’s greatest body of work is at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., where he worked for more than 40 years. In addition to fabricating and restoring stained glass there, Goldkuhle restored many of the clerestory windows at the Duke University Chapel in Durham, North Carolina.

M e r c e r s b u r g m a g a z i n e s u mm e r 2 0 1 1

1,024 Words

Kayaks sit ready for a Mercersburg Outdoor Education (MOE) paddling trip down the Needles section of the Potomac River near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. Photo by Ryan Smith.

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MERCERSBURG’S 118TH COMMENCEMENT MAY 28, 2011 Just the facts 126 graduates, representing 20 states and 11 nations Members of the class will matriculate at 84 different institutions Most-popular college choices: United States Naval Academy (seven matriculations), Lehigh University (five), United States Military Academy (four), Bucknell University (four), University of Southern California (four) Some other institutions represented:

Boston University, University of California at Berkeley, Columbia University, Emory University, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, North Carolina State University, the University of Richmond, Syracuse University, University of Virginia Anson Guo, Guangzhou, China

Valedictorian:

Salutatorian: Danny Roza, Hagerstown, Maryland Nevin Orator: Claire Sabol, Mercersburg, Pennsylvania

Class Orator: Sami Kebede, Brazzaville, Congo

Sami Kebede ’11, Susie Klein ’11 Jeff Pierce

Class Marshals: Liza Rizzo, Windber, Pennsylvania; Sam Rodgers, State College, Pennsylvania Commencement speaker: Jeff Pierce (former Mercersburg faculty member, now a student at Stanford Law School)

Eugenio Sancho (Mercersburg faculty member 1970– 1975, 1983–2011; retired as full-time faculty in summer 2011)

Baccalaureate speaker:

Anson Guo ’11, valedictorian

M e r c e r s b u r g m a g a z i n e s u mm e r 2 0 1 1

Class of 2011 Prizes for Distinguished Performance Cum Laude Society Harrison Brink Nathan Burnette Matt Cook Susan Durnford Julie Garlick Anson Guo Annette Hull Jessie Jeong YouJung Jun Will Levangie Ryan Ma Angelina Magal Renee Mao Paige Pak Bethany Pasierb Mackenzie Riford Danny Roza David Roza Kyu Man Sim Thomas Steiger Stephanie Stine Matt Timoney Chris Weller Candice Yang Penelope Zhang Steven Zhang

President’s Education Award for Educational Excellence Harrison Brink Nathan Burnette Matt Cook Susan Durnford Isaac Furman Julie Garlick Anson Guo Emily Guo Lim Jang Jessie Jeong YouJung Jun Min Cheol Lee Will Levangie Ryan Ma Renee Mao Tyler Murphy Paige Pak Bethany Pasierb Mackenzie Riford

Danny Roza David Roza Claire Sabol Kyu Man Sim Thomas Steiger Palis Tarasansombat Matt Timoney Chris Weller Candice Yang Penelope Zhang Steven Zhang

English The Harry F. Smith Prize

Danny Roza The William C. Heilman (1896) Prize

Renee Mao The Pratt L. Tobey Prize

Chris Weller The Gordon M. Macartney Prize

Georgia Baker

Fine Arts The Head of School’s Purchase Prize

Linh Ho Tran and Foster Wattles The Austin V. McClain ’26 Prize in Fine Arts

Ryan Ma The Blue Review Award

Lim Jang The Music Director’s Prize

Hannah Edwards, Bethany Pasierb, and Stephanie Stine The Paul M. Suerken Prize

Dan Kwak The Senior Instrumental Music Prize

Nathaniel Bachtell The Dance Director’s Award

Annette Hull The Excellence in Dance Award

Kayleigh Kiser and Shayna Rice The Stony Batter Prize

Susan Durnford and Stephanie Stine

Sam Rodgers ’11 and Liza Rizzo ’11, class marshals The Technical Theatre Prize

Thomas Steiger

The Frank Hoffmeier (1896) Scholar/Athlete Prize

Anson Guo

History The European History Prize

Special Awards

Thomas Steiger

U.S. Naval Academy at

The Colonel Wills Prize

Annapolis Certificate

Stephanie Stine

Jaret Darcangelo Donya Jackson August Jonas Chall Montgomery Arvind Stone Brendan Warshauer

John H. Montgomery Prize in

U.S. Military Academy at

Tyler Murphy (first prize) Anson Guo (second prize)

Foreign Language Prize in Advanced Level Latin

Advanced Level French

Steven Hernandez The H. Eugene Davis Prize in Spanish

Mackenzie Riford

West Point Certificate

Audrey Brown Alex Dempsey Keeli McNeary Conor Monaghan The Community Service Award

Mathematics

Maggie Agrba

Prize in Multivariable Calculus

The Yale University Aurelian Prize

Tyler Murphy

Matt Cook The Francis Shunk Downs (1902)

Science

Prize

The William O. Allen AP Biology

Blackburn Warner

Prize

The William C. Fowle Award

Danny Roza

Sami Kebede

The Brent Gift Environmental

The Mary Jane Berger Prize

Science Prize

Sam Rodgers

Angelina Magal

The Tim O. Rockwell Award

Deborah Adjibaba

Athletics/Outdoor Education

The Daughters of American Revolution Good Citizen Award

The Leonard Plantz Award

Claire Sabol

Matt Timoney

The Carol Amorocho ’81 Prize

The Darrell Ecker Award

Claire Sabol

Mackenzie Riford

The Head of School’s Prize

The Persis F. Ross Award

Danny Roza

Steven Hernandez

10 M e r c e r s b u r g m a g a z i n e s u mm e r 2 0 1 1 MERCERSBURG’S 118TH COMMENCEMENT

“Six years ago, I watched my brother walk across this platform and graduate. Three years ago, I watched my sister. I cannot describe the emotion of watching a loved one achieve such an honor, and I hope that now we watch each other with the same feeling. It might be your school, but it is my hometown and my community as well as my school, and I want you to love it as much as I do.” —Claire Sabol ’11, Nevin Orator

Claire Sabol ’11, Nevin Orator

Class of 2011

Legacy Graduates 1

2 1

5 4 5

6 7

8 4

9 9

M e r c e r s b u r g m a g a z i n e s u mm e r 2 0 1 1

Danny Roza ’11, salutatorian

“We didn’t just learn here. We didn’t just go here. We lived here, we loved here, and we grew here. The memories that we made here and the feats that we accomplished here will remain fixed in time and will always carry us, guide us, and support us.” —Danny Roza ’11, salutatorian

20 17

21 18

20 18

1. Cris Stanton and Nick Stanton, sons of Jim Stanton ’70. 2. Albie Critchfield, grandson of Jim Critchfield ’44. 3. Blackburn Warner, son of Ann Shabb Warner ’76. 4. Nick Casparian, son of Carol Furnary Casparian ’79. 5. Sam Rodgers, son of John Rodgers ’79. 6. Peter Flanagan, son of Dave Flanagan ’81 and grandson of Tom Flanagan ’38. 7. Patrick O’Brien, son of Donald “Ridge” O’Brien ’73. 8. Liza Rizzo, daughter of Laura Dupré Rizzo ’77. 9. Susie Klein, daughter of Fred Klein ’72. 10. Harrison Brink, son of John Brink ’69. 11. Jane Banta, daughter of Nancy Moore Banta ’77, granddaughter of Tom Moore ’57, and great-granddaughter of the late Charles “Crip” Moore ’22. 12. Paige Seibert, daughter of Dick Seibert ’69. 13. Shayna Rice, great-granddaughter of the late John W. Stoner ’27 and great-great-granddaughter of the late John A. Stoner (1900). 14. Chuck Mellott, son of Herm Mellott ’72. 15. Stephanie Stine and Matt Cook, grandchildren of the late Bill Cook ’51. 16. Kate Alt, granddaughter of Chuck Wiley ’48. 17. Barrett Helzel, son of Richard Helzel ’68. 18. Collin Greene, son of Chris Greene ’80. 19. Chris Weller, great-grandson of the late Ethelbert Evans ’29. 20. James Hendrickson, son of Jim Hendrickson ’67 and grandson of the late E. Mason Hendrickson ’40. 21. Christian Binford, son of Mark Binford ’74. 22. Thomas Steiger, son of Thomas B. Steiger Jr. ’66, grandson of the late Thomas B. Steiger ’35 and great-grandson of the late Seth G. Steiger (1904) and Mercersburg’s third headmaster, the late Charles S. Tippetts (1912).

Reunion Anniversary Weekend June 10â&#x20AC;&#x201C;12, 2011

For more Reunion Weekend coverage, scan this QR code or visit www.mercersburg.edu/RAW.

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Awards Alumni Council Service Award Roy Peck Jr. Roy Peck Jr. dedicated more than half a century of loyal service to Mercersburg, working as the school’s physical plant operator from March 1956 until his retirement in September 2010. Roy and his wife, Sally, who herself worked at Mercersburg from 1979 to 2000, live in Maple Cottage on Rutledge Road. They have three children—Melissa Abbott, Jamie Peck, and De-Enda Rotz, a longtime staff member in Mercersburg’s Alumni & Development Office—and five grandchildren. Alumni Council Achievement Award John W. Rich Jr. ’71 After graduating from Mercersburg, John Rich attended American University and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado. He is currently the head of a multifaceted family company in eastern Pennsylvania. The oldest portion

Allen W. Zern ’61

Roy Peck Jr.

of the Rich Family of Companies, Reading Anthracite, started in 1871. While coal and fuel oil are the basis of the group’s operations, in recent years John and his brother, Brian ’78, have taken the company in progressive directions of energy development. Waste Management & Processors Inc. is an ultra-clean fuel manufacturer that specializes in supplying fuel to the co-generation industry. John was a pioneer in bringing facilities to the anthracite coal region that produce energy from the waste product of coal mining and processing. John’s efforts to construct a coal-toliquid fuel facility continue, and the Riches are also experimenting with wind power. In addition to this work, the family has begun a fish-farming business to serve the needs of the rapidly growing market for tilapia in the northeastern United States and Canada and a re-vegetation, seeding, and evergreen tree farm. These are just a few of the activities of the 27 entities under the company umbrella. As a one-year student at Mercersburg, John was a member of the basketball and football teams. He has continued his connection to the school as a volunteer fundraiser for the most recent capital campaign. John is a long and loyal donor to Mercersburg. He is the father of four children—Lia, Olivia, Elizabeth, and John—and enjoys flying and spending time in Colorado. Class of ’32 Award Allen W. Zern ’61 Allen Zern graduated from Dartmouth College and the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth. He joined Morgan Stanley when the firm was housed in a single office in New York City and left in 1994. Allen started in the firm’s investment banking department and was

John W. Rich Jr. ’71

made a partner there in 1975. In 1982 he moved to the finance, administration, and operations department, where he held positions that included treasurer and chief financial officer. Allen participated in the strategic decisions that led to the establishment of many of Morgan Stanley’s current businesses and offices, and he oversaw the worldwide financing of Morgan Stanley’s businesses in a period when the firm’s capital more than tripled. Allen retired as chief financial officer in early 1994, having assisted in the company’s growth from 142 people to more than 10,000 employees. After retiring, Allen became a founding partner of Occom Partners LLC, which works exclusively with private company owners in the planning and execution of the sale of all or a portion of their companies. He was honored by Dartmouth in 2001 with the Dartmouth Alumni Achievement Award. Allen served on the steering committees of the New York Regional Centennial Campaign and co-chair of the Mightily Onward Campaign New York Region Committee for Mercersburg. He has been a member of the Mercersburg Board of Regents since 1995 and has served as vice president of the Board since 2002. Allen has served the past 15 years as chair of the Investment Committee. Thanks to his guidance and sensible investment strategy, Mercersburg weathered the recent international economic crisis on a solid foundation. Allen enjoys golf and cycling for recreation and reading and playing bridge for relaxation. He and his wife Judy have two children, Peter and Carolyn, and twin grandchildren. Allen and Judy are members of the McDowell Society, the pinnacle of philanthropic recognition at Mercersburg.

M e r c e r s b u r g m a g a z i n e s u mm e r 2 0 1 1

CLASS PHOTOS

Loyalty Club Front row (L–R): Jim McClelland ’55, Dale Williams ’54, Dick Boulden ’44, Tom Massey ’43. Row 2: Bill Turpin ’55, John Oliver ’47, Fred Schaff ’50.

Class of 1961 Front row (L–R): Tom Hershey, Scott Basinger, Ches Browning, Allen Zern, Jack Findlater, Barry Kart. Row 2: Jeff Carpenter, Bill Putnam, John Hench, John MacIndoe, George Burrier, Arnold Zaks. Row 3: John Fletcher, Lou Bertrand, John Strauch, Torrey Harder, Dan Wilson, Bill Thompson.

Class of 1966 Front row (L–R): Bill Armour, Chris Spurry, Brock Vinton, David Scoblionko, John VerStandig. Row 2: Bill Goodfellow, Tom Trunzo, Bill Gordon, Tom Steiger, Gordon Hughes, Tom Newby.

Class of 1971 Front row (L–R): Michael Broder, David Garber, Bill Rockey, Paul Murray, John Lent, Tom Cleeland. Row 2: Ed Vinson, John McClure, Tom Wohlsen, Paul Dickman, Fred Hazelwood. Row 3: Dan Whiteman, Alec Graham, Scott Cummings, Charlie Bell, Larry Gluck, Michael Granet, Robert Bonham, Joe Rendina, George Alter.

Class of 1976 Front row (L–R): Judy Rakowsky, Leslie Lewandowski, Jeff Driggs, Brian Dewey. Row 2: Tony Tito ’75, David Ryan, David Wright, Jennifer Russell Rose, Jane White Yocum, Shelley Weinberg, Denise Dupré, Pat Christian, Ann Bruch, Bill Whitaker ’75. Row 3: Bill Flanagan, Jim Brewer, Doug Comer, Page Lansdale, Tony Furnary, Mark Bistline.

Class of 1981 Front row (L–R): Sally Anne Epstein, Liz Gildea Logie, Jill Bowling Thompson, Wei Li Lao (wife of Mark Moore). Row 2: Karen Craig, Agnes Schrider, Mark Moore, Jim Jenkins, Carter Ferrington. Row 3: Andy Montague, Dave Flanagan, Josh Turner, Dave Wagner.

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Class of 1986 Front row (L–R): Paige Walton Diskin, Raeanne Shilling Crum, Shawn Meyers, Elizabeth Steinhauser Bray, Suzanna Dann Aguilar, Sandra Davenport Simpson, Laura Steinbuhler Sullivan, Jen Schlegel. Row 2: Julia Clark MacInnis, Lee Bryant, Paul Ward, Dina Zimmerman, Sabrina Derrickson Hill. Row 3: P.J. Schaner, Beth Rockwell Willander, Jon Winebrenner, D.J. Hill, Nancy Gallagher Jones, Margaret O’Brien, Jon Becker, Matt Simar.

Class of 1996 Ben George, Jason Huntsberry, Josh Smith, Darcie Zimmerman, Lori Esposit Miller.

Class of 2006 Front row (L–R): Mary O’Malley, Shelby Hoffman, Rachael Hendrickson, Paul Rutherford, Pamela Aquino, Kimberly Kohlhepp, Anjali Patel. Row 2: Josh Light, Kristen Willwerth, Ted Kalbach, Stephon Fullerton, Colin Cubit, Medora Hartz, Crystal Lora, Roxanne Leyshon. Row 3: Chris Caranante, Ryan Wilde, Andrew Johnson, Travis Youngs, Casey Oliver, Max Linden, Santiago Rubino.

Class of 1991 Front row (L–R): Shala Pulgar, Astrid Haggerson McLendon, Russ Spinney, Laura Linderman Barker. Row 2: Chris Frisby, Hannah Smith Kudrik, Kelley Keeler Short, Shani O’Neil Calhoun, Susannah McNear Barnes. Row 3: Adam Klein, Eric Mercer, Helen Barfield Prichett, Lori Ruohomaki McCullough, Jeri Stelson Weaver, John Barnes.

Class of 2001 Front row (L–R): Holly Czuba, Molly Malone, Abby Kuskin, Shelane Jorgenson, Heidi Anderes, Maria Nevarez-MacDonald. Row 2: Ann Marie Bliley, Pamela Scorza, Adrienne Herr-Paul Higby-Flowers, Elizabeth Thompson, Maureen Smeltz, Sarah Nusairat. Row 3: Sierra Nixon, Chris Wood, Carson HigbyFlowers, David Kimball, Mike Flanagan, Will Conrad, Logan Chace. Row 4: Gray McDermid, Chris Balaban, Sheanon Summers, Jamie Hughes, Julian Böcker, Michael Best, Emory Mort.

50th Birthday Bash Front row (L–R): Lynne Roberts Appleman ’79, Sandi Koenigsberg Cleary ’79, Lynn Brewer Price ’80, Molly Jones Mancini ’79, Carol Furnary Casparian ’79, Cindy Dray Ensor ’79, Gretchen Decker Jones ’79, Lucy Northrop ’80. Row 2: James Cihlar (boyfriend of Sandi Koenigsberg Cleary), Doug Corwin ’79, John Rodgers ’79, Brooke Kinney ’79, Ruth Quinn ’79, Kip Power ’79, Vance Jones (husband of Gretchen Decker Jones), John Mancini (husband of Molly Jones Mancini). Row 3: Lacy Rice ’79, Skip Lyshon ’79, Rafael Gavilanes ’79, Colin Fitch ’79, Greg Wagner ’79, Steve Ensor (husband of Cindy Dray Ensor).

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A basement

no longer Coming soon: a true student hub in the heart of campus BY WALLACE WHITWORTH

ome have referred to it as the soufflé that is perennially proposed and shoved into the planning oven, but which never actually rises to fruition. Others, when considering it, have reconciled themselves to applying Herculean patience: good things come to those who wait, so what’s the fuss if it takes 120 years to arrive on the scene? And still others have found themselves defaulting to a metaphysical approach that puts everything into the wise hands of Providence: when the time is right, and the need most acute, it will appear. This mysterious “it” without antecedent is nothing less than the first-ever designedfrom-top-to-bottom student center at Mercersburg, and the good news—whether you fall into the culinary, Herculean, or providential camp—is that the wait is just about over. Finally. Patience will be rewarded. And the soufflé the school is about to pull from the oven will rise in such relative glory that it is bound to meet or exceed even the

most fervent dreams of students, parents, and alumni. The first phase of construction begins in spring 2012, and by the opening of school in 2013, the Simon Student Center at Ford Hall will be fully up and running. When the new Student Center opens its doors, the landscape of residential life at Mercersburg will change forever—and it’s only fitting, because it took extended, very deliberate, and sweeping reimagining of both the essence and scope of the school’s residential life curriculum through the Mercersburg Plan to define what a student center at Mercersburg really needs to be—for today and tomorrow. After all, a student center must be many things to many people, but the things it absolutely must be are a home and a haven that students eagerly want to manage and claim as their own. To say that the new student center will be Mercersburg’s first true space of its kind may sound a bit inaccurate, but technically it’s correct. The Edward E. Ford Foundation

provided the funds to help the school build its dining hall (the duly named Ford Hall) in 1964; the foundation, established by Ford of the Academy’s Class of 1912, also underwrote construction of Tippetts Hall in 1960. Ford Hall is a handsome and highly utilitarian facility that is a crucial structure in the life of the school nearly every day of the calendar year. But Lower Ford, the locale known fondly to students as “LoFo,” was never built to be a student center. The school was fortunate that enough space was created—in what was, and is, essentially the basement of the dining hall—for an area where students could congregate. So for decades, Lower Ford has served its role as a makeshift gathering place, though its ability to provide students sufficient options for congregating has always been piecemeal and perennially dysfunctional. It’s hard to call a student center a “student center” when it has no true center. “The present student center is the same student center as when I attended 40 years

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Residential life is more than just people living in dormitories or meeting in a student center. – DebBIE Rutherford ago,” says Deborah Simon ’74, the lead donor for the new center and a member of the Academy’s Board of Regents. “We tried very hard not that long ago to make it a little prettier, a little more attractive. It has always served as a congregation point—the mailboxes were there, the store was there, the soda machines were there, there were tables where you could sit and talk, and in my day and age the pay phones were there. But now we’re going to make it special.” Simon, who made a lead gift of $5 million toward the $13.2 million project, points the way to the prime driver—congregation by intent—behind taking Lower Ford and turning it into a thoughtful and deliberate collection of spaces that will meld attractively into a true student center, one that today’s students will embrace and enjoy. As she alludes, young people, no matter the decade or the era, are hardwired to congregate in places they find suitable to their needs. If the school doesn’t provide an attractive and multifunctional place for them to do that, students will invent their own— often off-campus. It’s a story that’s about as old as the school itself. Listen to John Albert Bennett, a member of the Class of 1900,

Debbie Rutherford

describe this very phenomenon: There are three girls in town Dr. Irvine allows us to call on. So we call religiously once or twice a week at each place. One of them lives on the street that runs up to the school. So about every afternoon we go down town and stop in on the way back; there is always a gang in there, consequently [one] Halloween someone put up a sign, “CLUB HOUSE,” on the door. Starting about 1910, the unofficial offcampus “student center” was Steiger’s Restaurant in downtown Mercersburg. When Steiger’s closed in 1928, John “Jack” McLaughlin ’24 opened a drugstore, soda fountain, and lunch counter next door that satisfied social (and gastronomical) cravings for decades of Academy students until it shut its doors in the mid-1970s. Across the street, the Harriet Lane Coffee Shop was a frequent hangout and spot for club meetings as well. If the goal is simply to give students a place to gather, there would be no need to renovate and re-envision Lower Ford. However, today the premise behind a student center is not one of broad-stroking the concept of congregation but of consciously

fine-tuning and intentionally shaping the space for specific outcomes that tie directly to the personal growth and development of young people. Congregation is still the impetus, but today it’s congregation with purpose, direction, dimension, versatility, technology, and comfort, as students of today demand that it be. Ironically, in this new century where the ubiquity of mobile devices and texting allows for instant connection in the ether rather than in the flesh, such technologies do not portend the death-knell for student centers. Instead, the very by-product of all the texting, instant messaging, and Facebooking among and between students is an equally strong driver that shapes both the design and the raison d’être for the new center. Students need now (probably more so than ever) a place where they can develop their face-toface communication skills and get to know their classmates and neighbors the old-fashioned way: by talking to them and spending time with them. “Mercersburg has always understood that technology is a tool, not ‘the end,’” Associate Head of School Debbie Rutherford says, “and has always been good about seeing that

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as its place. For example, starting in 2012– 2013, all students will be required to have an iPad, not a laptop. That itself is a huge step, both academically and residentially. We’ve always been very forward-looking and on the front edge of whatever technology comes that is going to enhance learning and the lives of students, but we’ve never made it the centerpiece of the curriculum or anything like that.” Designing a new student center to provide numerous places for a thousand spur-of-themoment student interactions is in many ways almost a mechanical exercise when compared to the larger goal of creating a new student center that is an emotionally and psychologically secure haven for students. For this to happen, an astute and careful approach to the whole of residential life must drive the process. As Rutherford points out, it requires an entirely specialized architecture

all its own—an architecture that goes well beyond the specs for a new building. “Residential life is more than just people living in dormitories or meeting in a student center,” she says. “It’s community life and it’s residential, because we are residing here on campus together. Living together 24 hours a day, seven days a week, has a huge amount of opportunity and power behind it. As a school we deliberately create a framework for living a life that gives the students access to all those opportunities available to them. With 430 kids from 30-plus states and 30-plus different countries, you have to have a structure, a framework—an architecture for residential life. If you get the architecture right, it melts into the background.” What does a deliberate residential life structure or curriculum entail? It includes mealtimes: which ones are required, and which ones are not. It includes after-school

activities, whether students are required to participate or not. Included also is some intentional downtime: what time students should be present in the dorm, the types of activities that the school requires at certain times, and an overall vision that not only gives choices to students, but also compels them to take advantage of those opportunities. “In the Mercersburg Plan, we have deliberately looked at our whole curriculum both inside and outside of the classroom in order to deliver some concrete lessons,” Rutherford says. “We want them to learn the skills in an organic way, so that students don’t feel as if they’re going to class to learn how to communicate, and then to take a test on communicating. Our residential-life curriculum and its inherent structure gives them many lessons in effective communication and lots of opportunities to practice those lessons. So

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Architecturally Speaking Mercersburg has engaged Centerbrook Architects of Connecticut to create the new student center by renovating and expanding “Lower Ford.” Chad Floyd, FAIA, is a founding partner with the firm and the lead architect on the student center renovation. Mercersburg magazine asked him to address the project from the architect’s point of view. Construction begins in spring 2012, and the project is projected to be completed by the opening of the 2013–2014 school year. MM: How do you approach this kind of modern renovation and redesign of a student center, which is part of a larger building that was designed and constructed 50 years ago? CF: Ford Hall was designed by architect Marion Syms Wyeth, who worked principally out of New York. He was well regarded for designing real solid, institutional buildings, and was at the height of his powers from the 1940s to the 1960s, which included the period when he designed Ford Hall at Mercersburg. His buildings are unrelentingly symmetrical; he believed in the importance of a formal presentation. What you tended to get from him was a cleanly detailed version of Greek Revival architecture. Ford Hall is a perfect example. I wanted to respect the hallmark of Wyeth’s work on this building, his architectural instincts, which meant that I had to respect its symmetrical presentation. My approach was to follow the Secretary of the Interior’s guidelines for additions to historic buildings—which is to differentiate additions so there will be no confusion between the addition and the original structure. For the new student center, I’m adding a large circular lounge that expands the footprint of the building on the far end. Being glassy, it differentiates from Ford and also is at a lower level looking out over Spider Field where it won’t be visible from the center of the campus. On the west side of Ford Hall, however, we made necessary changes that will be much closer to Wyeth’s genetic code, so it’ll be much harder to tell them from the original building. MM: Looking at the heart of the new student center, what magic are you working architecturally to transform “Lower Ford” into a student center that will be truly exciting and inviting to students? CF: Most important is to get rid of the basement feeling. Wyeth did a great thing by providing that space in the first place in the 1960s, at a time when independent schools were not providing much in the way of social-center spaces for students. Since Lower Ford is in reality a basement, it lacks windows, and there’s no good way to get down there from the main level of Ford Hall (you literally go down what was intended as a fire stair), and there’s little connection from Lower Ford out to the residential sections of the school.

Chad Floyd So here’s what we’re doing: • We’re raising the ceiling, and we’re putting in an elevator.

•W e’re opening up the Jimmy Walker Lounge and installing a very

open and dramatic staircase, making it inviting for students to migrate down to the student center. They can literally sweep downstairs on this great, open, curved staircase.

• I n the heart of the student center we created an intersection of paths right at the game room so the entire floor plan will enable flow and reinforce options for socializing, meeting, and connecting.

• A cross the “street” from the game room we have the post office and the school store.

•W e’re creating a new entrance off the residential quad, which allows students to enter from the residential quad.

• T he north side will now have many more doors and windows, so the whole center will fill more with natural light—plus, we are brightening the electrical lighting in the building.

• T he new lounge is large and all glass, with a distinct oval

extension that invites you to come in and offers a spectacular panorama to the north. It’ll be easy to slip in and out of. And we’ve added more entry points all along the north terrace.

• O n the terrace itself, there will be a fire pit to add a new dimension to this already popular spot.

• F inishes throughout the renovation will be of high quality so that the student center will lose the “rec room” feel that it has now.

The outcome: it’s a basement no longer, but a true student center. I’m confident that students will eagerly say, “Hey, this is a fine building that I actually like and look forward to spending time in again and again.” The whole of Ford Hall will be more commodious and more neighborly for the school community, since this building really is the social center for students.

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much of that valuable learning will take place naturally in the new student center.” This “new” architecture for Mercersburg’s residential life curriculum did not spring up overnight; rather, it is the result of an ongoing strategy going back more than two decades. For example, Mercersburg adopted a very deliberate residential facilities plan in the mid-1990s. As each dormitory was renovated, a conscious effort was made to create common spaces in each building, to give students a place to gather outside their individual rooms without leaving the dorm itself. Though it is important for students to have the experience of living with a roommate, there are plenty of times that roommates benefit from space away from one other. So if each dorm has common spaces with television, Internet access, and a place to make popcorn or ramen noodles, why does the school need a student center? Common rooms in the dorms are nice, but they are limited—and they’re confined to a single dorm. “The student center,” Rutherford emphasizes, “is the place where everybody

can connect, from ninth graders through 12th graders. And in the new student center, the options for connecting will be vastly increased, because the student center is designed programmatically and architecturally with an invisible purpose to aid in developing students’ social skills and facilitating their growth into balanced young adults. “If we told students that your task on Friday night is to learn to socialize with other students, it’s not going to feel like fun. The new student center will invite everyone in at his or her own level of comfort. It will have many different areas that kids will start to understand more intuitively as they’re more familiar with it. Everyone entering the space will see activities taking place, so immediately they will have, at a glance, so many attractive options.” To illustrate how creatively and deliberately the new student center has been designed to deliver what students both want and need, Rutherford agreed to take us on a brief walking tour.

One big change will be entry. Right now in Lower Ford, regardless of where you walk in, you have to end up in the middle of one large space. In the new center, students will have several entry points. There will be a really nice new entrance from the residential-quad side. Almost half our boarding-student population [which lives in Fowle and Tippetts halls] will no longer have to walk up to the main entrance of Ford Hall around to the patio to enter the student center. When students walk in, they will come to the entranceway, which is not your typical dark, drab chute for human traffic, but is light, attractive, and open so that the view from the entrance immediately gives students several choices of where to go next. They will have a dedicated area where there’s finally adequate room to play PingPong, pool, or foosball. As they enter, they will be able to see what’s going on in the play area, but they won’t be deposited in the middle of it.

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The same effect will be true with the stairway from the upstairs of Ford. Students can look to see who’s there, but they won’t be plopped in the middle of one room where nearly everything is taking place at once. Continuing down the main hallway, they can pop into the school store that will be right there on the corner. Nearby they will have the mailboxes, a comfortable place to stop. Further down the hallway they can also glimpse into the TV theater through a glass window that divides the TV area from rest of the functions—but anyone can still see what’s on TV or who’s in the theater without having to walk through the middle of the viewing area. As they continue, students will find the grill, where they can stop, pick up a snack, talk to friends, or just relax. From there they can see the café where anyone can sit and chat, or do homework, read a book, work on an iPad—the options are many. And from here, they look out onto Spider Field or gaze at Mount Parnell in the distance. At the end of the hall, students will find

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the duty dean and the Student Activities Office, where there are faculty who aren’t invasively in the middle of the space, but they’re an important presence. In addition to three spotlight performance spaces and plenty of room to hold school dances, the heart of the student government will be right in the student center in its own designated room. There will be a conference room that can be used by anyone: students can call a student council meeting, where they will have all of the necessary materials and technology at their fingertips. Upstairs, just above the student center, the venerable Jane Ford and Jimmy Walker lounges are both expanding and getting a full makeover, while the main entrance to Ford Hall itself will now be fully accessible and totally re-landscaped, but the architectural integrity of Ford Hall remains completely intact. But the student center is not the only new aspect of residential life that the 2011–2012 school year is introducing by way of the Mercersburg Plan. In addition to having all students arrive by August 28 for preseason (not just artists and athletes), 8 a.m. classes are a thing of the past. Classes now begin 50 minutes later each weekday. “Like everything else in the Mercersburg Plan, the health and welfare of the student is at the center,” Rutherford says. “On the residential side it gives kids more time for sleep because we want them to get close to the nine hours recommended nightly for adolescents. On the academic side, there’s the benefit of faculty-planning time while kids are getting up and eating breakfast, and it allows us to have extra help-sessions devoted to students after lunch.” A fully envisioned student center, a residential life curriculum whose architecture is seamlessly and intentionally planned, and a new start to the day—all with student wellbeing at the core. It’s all thanks to the comprehensive nature of the Mercersburg Plan. Coming home to Mercersburg has never been better.

Deborah Simon: In Her Own Words This year, Deborah Simon ’74, a member of the Mercersburg Board of Regents, gave the school $5 million as the lead gift for the $13.2 million renovation of the student center, which will be called the Simon Student Center in Ford Hall. (The total cost of the project, in addition to the student-center renovations, includes the full replacement of Ford Hall’s 40-year-old heating and air-conditioning system.) Following are some of Simon’s thoughts about the project. This school is the most amazing place on the face of the earth and it will get even more amazing as the years go by. Mercersburg was the most wonderful experience I ever had, and I think in the long run it will be the most wonderful experience for other children and other parents. It truly is a caring, kind community. I’m making this gift to support the student center in honor of my mother and father, who are both deceased, and to all the parents out there who have the courage to send their kids to boarding school. By sending your child to Mercersburg you’re not walking away from your parental duties; you’re enhancing them by giving your child these opportunities. There’s not another opportunity like it in the world. It has the most incredible teachers who care about the kids. That’s what counts. When I was at Mercersburg as a kid, it was a safe place to be good or to be bad at whatever you chose to do. But you would learn so much in the process then, and you will learn so much in the process now. That’s why Mercersburg is about defining yourself. What we need in a student center is a true place where the students can enjoy their time off, to learn how to communicate with their peers. Also, to study. I couldn’t always study in my room, because there was too much going on in the dorm. The environment we’re trying to create will be so much better, so much more technologically advanced, more comfortable and inviting. Kids need their space—a space to talk, to enjoy each other, develop friendships, watch TV or a movie or a concert, or hold a club meeting. But the students will also have to learn to manage the student center, which is one of the big ways that this new facility will tie into the residential-life curriculum of the school and the kinds of skills the Mercersburg Plan wants to instill in our students—self-directed learning by doing. We know that students have a learning curve on how to manage their time. This is going to show them that, yes, you can come over and use the student center, but you also need to know that your homework has to be done, your deadlines have to be met, your other academic, athletic, and artistic responsibilities and obligations have to be met. They will have to learn how to manage all of these— appropriately. I’m very excited about what we are trying to do.

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Julia Stojak Maurer

NOT

Evolution, Revolution The blueprint for Mercersburgâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s academic future

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By Lee Owen

In June, even as roughly 430 Mercersburg students began enjoying a well-earned summer respite, class was still in session in the place they had called home for the past nine months.

Julia Stojak Maurer

Some of the material covered was new. Much was not. Ideas, analysis, debate, and practical advice ruled the discussions. And in these classes, Mercersburg’s teachers were the pupils. The sessions, featuring experts from Authentic Education, a leading force in curriculum design and discussion at every level of the American educational system, were constructed not to lead Mercersburg faculty into a brave and completely new world, but rather to keep the school’s academic structure in line with its core values and goals for every student who arrives on campus—instilling the ability to think critically, to solve problems in a reasoned and principled way, to communicate clearly and openly, and to embrace the challenges of the 21st century, all while living, learning, and interacting in a shared and student-centered global community. Two years of thorough self-examination by members of the school’s Program Review Committee has led to this point.

The committee, composed of teachers and administrators representing all parts of the faculty and co-chaired by Academic Dean and alumna Julia Stojak Maurer ’90 and longtime faculty member Paul Galey, reviewed and scrutinized all facets of academic and residential life at Mercersburg. The Program Review Committee and the implementation committees that followed it are prime components of the Mercersburg Plan, which, in addition to the aforementioned review of all aspects of the school’s academic and residential-life curriculum, also includes key initiatives in the general campus plan as approved by the Board of Regents (including new and renovated facilities) and actions as part of the Academy’s reaccreditation by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. “We looked at our academic program and our residential and extracurricular program in its entirety; all as part of one educational experience, not separate experiences, says Head of School Douglas Hale,

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TRANSFER

doin

Grant Wiggins:

rni n ea

“At its most basic, ‘learning by doing’ means the students don’t just sit there and take stuff in. That’s why it’s useful to use the word ‘transfer’ as the goal. Learning by doing is not the goal. Learning by doing is the means. The end is the ability to apply your learning in new situations, or what we call ‘transfer’ in education. So if the goal is transfer, then sitting listening to adults day after day after day is a bad way to learn to transfer. At Mercersburg, just as was true at the school that I taught at [an independent boarding school], teachers coach. I was a coach. I coached soccer, I coached baseball, I coached track and cross country. The easy analogy here is coaching students to perform on the field. You don’t talk soccer at students day after day after day. You get them playing soccer. And one of the beauties of coaching, in fact, is that you have to get them playing from the get-go even if you think in your heart of hearts that they’re not quite ready. But they learn by doing. And they especially learn from feedback.” Problem-based learning is now central, for instance, to the physics and engineering program at MIT. We know that the case method and problem-based learning is widely used in most professional schools: medicine, law, business education. There are plenty of examples, but the problem is that there aren’t great examples in the core academic subjects, for the most part. And that’s really the challenge—to take what we know and treat it as a design problem for these other academic areas where more traditional forms of pedagogy are still being used. Grant Wiggins is president and founder of Hopewell, New Jersey-based Authentic Education, which is working with Mercersburg on curriculum design and implementation. Wiggins is co-author of Understanding By Design, an award-winning and highly successful program and set of materials on curriculum design used all over the world. Wiggins has worked with numerous public, private, and independent schools, and with the International Baccalaureate and Advanced Placement programs.

who received the committee’s recommendations. “A boarding school can do that, since we have these students 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So while we don’t want students to feel as though they are in the classroom every minute of their lives, they are learning every second of their lives in very real ways.” The most effective courses do not necessarily begin with Chapter 1 of the text. On one level, it’s common sense and nothing new. On another, it almost sounds avant-garde: when planning and strategizing how to teach a course, the best place to start is at the end, not the beginning. The course should not be your textbook; it should be more than your textbook. “As a teacher, what is it that I want the students to walk away with at the end of the course?” Maurer says. “That has to be the end goal. Not what I told them that they can repeat back to me, but what can they do with the knowledge they acquire over the course of the year?” The concept of building a course with the end goals of the student in mind is called “backward design.” Planning begins— regardless of whether the subject is chemistry, history, Spanish, or multivariable calculus—with the essential question: What are the ideas and concepts students should understand and master after successfully completing a particular course? Start from there and build a strategy and a plan around these goals. There’s a difference between knowing and understanding. Both knowing and understanding are important, but knowing deals more with facts, recall, and rote memorization, while understanding involves applying the material to make connections between the classroom and the real world. Understanding is problem solving. It’s intellectual curiosity and the ability and desire to distinguish the essential from the not-as-essential. “Knowing and understanding are not

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Education and its president and founder, Grant Wiggins (who led a professional-development session with the Mercersburg faculty in March). In the course of the school’s Program Review discussions, Maurer and the committee were drawn to the idea of a common vocabulary for faculty members to use as they share ideas and approaches for course design and implementation. Wiggins and his Authentic Education team are engaging faculty members in ongoing

discussions about these strategies and the ultimate goals behind them. “I thought it could be a really valuable experience for everyone,” Maurer says. “Grant’s ideas make a lot of sense, and it’s imperative for us to talk about putting students at the center of the educational process and focus on their ability to transfer the knowledge they acquire, to make it their own. As we discuss curriculum development, we will develop capstone experiences

TRANSFER

making modifications to their physical designs and sensor calibrations,” Maurer says. “They were literally working the entire time with only a short 20-minute break that they allowed themselves for lunch.” Casparian took part in the physical search & rescue competition, where the object was for the robots to find a “victim” in a maze-like location, pick the victim up, and transport it to a rescue platform. “For me, the entire RoboCup was extremely challenging—especially being on my own,” Casparian says. “It was like trying to push a brick wall to a certain point and every day the brick wall would move a few inches but the point would move a few feet. The most rewarding part was scoring something like 130 points on my best run—compared to zero. In the end, I had a blast. Instead of learning something new, I think I reinforced what I already knew. When you are determined and disciplined, you can achieve anything.” The thermal search team of Cui, Guo, and Guo often found themselves challenged by sensitive heat sensors that were integral to their mission. The goal of their mission was for the robots to locate the heat signatures of “live”

Anson Guo ’11, Jason Cui ’13, Emily Guo ’11

bodies trapped y doin in a maze and then signal that the signatures have been found. When both teams were interviewed by a member of the organizing committee, “they were asked about nearly every portion of their design process and program,” says Maurer. Although both teams faced adversity and tension during the competition and the courses increased in difficulty each day, Maurer was proud of the work ethic, comportment, and accomplishments of each student. Mercersburg came in 14th place overall. “We leave knowing that our students made a good impression on the judges for their hard work and helpfulness,” Maurer says. “Our students were the go-to people at the competition because the judges found them so kind and helpful. The experience of competing at RoboCup combined with the experience of Istanbul made for a life-changing week. We met people from all over the world and made a lot of new friends. Our students worked to the very end, trying their hardest to make sure their robots would have a great run.” Proud parent Carol Furnary Casparian ’79 was in Istanbul to cheer on the team. “It was great to see how our teams rose to the challenge presented to them each day,” she says. “Their determination reflected the Mercersburg spirit regardless of the outcome. It was also great to see how the kids embraced and enjoyed the atmosphere of Istanbul.” —Lindsay Tanton

Nick Casparian ’11

For seven days in July, four Mercersburg students matched wits and sensors against competitors from all over the world at the 2011 RoboCup Junior competition in Istanbul, Turkey. Nick Casparian ’11, Jason Cui ’13, Anson Guo ’11, and Emily Guo ’11 made the trip after qualifying to represent the United States at a regional competition. It marked the third appearance by Mercersburg students at the international event, and the first year in which two teams from the school qualified in the same year. “We had gone to regionals before [beginning in 2004], but the international competition was such a good experience and so exciting that we decided to see if we could get a student there every year,” says Academic Dean and robotics teacher Julia Stojak Maurer ’90, who accompanied the students along with Associate Academic Dean Matthew Kearney. “It’s a huge honor for us to have two teams qualify internationally in the same year.” Cui, Anson Guo, and Emily Guo teamed up to compete in the thermal search & rescue event, while Casparian took part in the physical search & rescue competition. (Casparian and Steven Zhang ’11 qualified for the event as a two-person team, but Zhang was unable to travel to Turkey due to passport/visa issues.) Maurer describes the level of what students see and experience at RoboCup as “mind-blowing” in the field of robotics. Prior to their competitions, the students, who competed in an exposition center the size of three airport hangars, worked from “early in the morning until the end of the day

Talking Turkey at RoboCup 2011

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mutually exclusive,” said Hilde McGeehan of Authentic Education, who facilitated a June session involving the school’s English, history, and religion faculty. “We have to provide opportunities for the students to take what they learn, make sense of that knowledge, and build on it.” Maurer experienced this firsthand when she created the school’s robotics curriculum in 2004 and in the process became acquainted with the work of Authentic

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John David Bennett

for students. These new programs will ultimately be about transfer: students will apply their knowledge, solve a complex problem, write about their work, present their work, and then be evaluated by a panel of experts. We want them to be engaged in something really substantial over the course of the year.” As the plan is implemented, the typical Mercersburg class schedule for ninth and 10th graders will include courses in six different disciplines—English, mathematics, science, history, a foreign language, and two terms of fine arts each year. This is a change from the current curriculum, which for logistical reasons requires most students to choose between taking a history course or a

We looked at our academic program and our residential and extracurricular program in its entirety; all as part of one educational experience, not separate experiences. — Douglas Hale

science course during their 10th-grade year. “We agreed that the focus in the ninth and 10th grades should be on skill development,” Maurer says. The committee also recommended that teachers take a closer look at the amount, and type, of homework they assign (on a nightly basis), especially to ninth and 10th graders. Maurer instituted a pilot program of sorts in her statistics class last year where she gave, on average, 20 to 25 minutes of homework each night. The results were positive; the AP scores in the course compared favorably with her classes from previous years, when significantly more homework was assigned. “We want to supply students with a significant foundation in each discipline which will prepare them for more independent and in-depth work in the 11th- and 12th-grade years,” she continues. “That is really the crux of the 11th- and 12th-grade program. We are asking students to do more independent work, more in-depth work, and more project-based and experiential work.” Students will now complete nearly all of their graduation requirements by the end of the 11th grade, freeing up the second half of their Mercersburg careers for a culminating experience in one of two in-depth capstone programs, which will include a thesis-like

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TRANSFER

doin

Malawi is one of the least developed countries in the world, but it has its bright spots, among them the nickname “The Warm Heart of Africa.” The moniker is well deserved, according to a group of 12 Mercersburg students and faculty members Matthew Caretti and Sue Malone, who set off in June on a 21-day service-oriented trip—one that gave the group as many lessons about global perspective as the Mercersburg students had for the young pupils they were embarking to assist. “The people in Malawi were so hospitable and friendly,” said Nick Voegele ’12. They have virtually nothing, yet they’re always so positive and happy.” Others in the group agreed with Voegele’s discovery that Western countries are generally comprised pockets of poverty surrounded by affluence, but in Malawi, the conditions are exactly the opposite—pockets of affluence surrounded by mostly poverty. The group travelled to Malawi to work at the Amitofo Care Centre, which is an orphanage that includes a school, dormitories, a library, a medical center, and a Buddhist temple. Teachers come from China and Malawi and follow a curriculum set by the Malawian government. The original premise was that the Mercersburg students would assist the school’s faculty, but when the group arrived, Caretti found that the school’s teachers pretty much wanted the Mercersburg students to teach the classes. Drawing on every fiber of every class they had taken at Mercersburg and on every bit of creativity between them, the intrepid “Team Mercersburg” adapted to this turning of the tables and set about teaching everything from algebra and chemistry to English, various sports, and even the cha-cha-slide. “There was a lot of pressure on our students,” Malone says. “They had to prepare material like geography and algebra each day. They were working at night to prepare the lessons. The Malawian and Chinese teachers were looking to our students for the creativity that the United States is famous for.” John San Filippo ’12 taught some of the older students (mostly eighth and ninth graders). “You’d have three or four students in every class

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“Still Processing” after Malawi

Counter-clockwise from top left: Melody Gomez ’13 and Barrett Helzel ’11 meet new friends; Nick Voegele ’12 leads a classroom project.

whose English was really good, then you’d have the middle portion whose language skills were ‘okay,’ then you’d have the three or four kids that had no English skills,” San Filippo recalls. “But dealing with those challenges was part of the reward. When they did learn, and when we could see that we had successfully taught a class that they really enjoyed, it was a great experience for us, and for them.” Rebekah Samuels ’13 taught in the sports group, among other classes. “We played regular outdoor activities—kickball and croquet,” she says. “I taught some of the older girls volleyball. They were thrilled.” “The Malawian kids were very curious, very quick learners,” Caretti says. “We obviously did not have cell phones and iPods. Because of that, these kids could completely focus; they have that ability because there aren’t all these constant distractions. I think all of us from Mercersburg realized firsthand the benefit of that—of unplugging.”

The group did get a break from their teaching duties with some colorful side trips, including Mwabvi, which is a safari resort that is part of the country’s national park system. The group took a walking safari, a boat tour, and, a classic safari in a car, where they could see many of the storied African species in their natural habitat. It was a big change from the very impoverished Africa to a main tourist attraction. “I still haven’t processed this entire trip,” Voegele says. “But the real highlight for me was teaching algebra to a class of ninth graders. One day we had been teaching equations. That night I was going to bed, when there was a knock at the door. Three kids from my class were outside and said, “Hey Nick, we need some help with our homework—would you come outside and help us?” So I helped them; they understood everything, and it felt really nice knowing that they came for help because they wanted to learn.” —Wallace Whitworth

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project or independent study in an area of interest—ideally, as a result of earlier exposure to a particular academic discipline. “We hope that these innovations to the academic program will provide our students with better opportunities for discovering a spark or an interest that they will be able to explore and develop during their time here,” Maurer says. “We hope the changes will help students define their academic experience at Mercersburg—while still maintaining a very thorough academic background and a true liberal-arts education.”

You are going to sit them in a classroom and talk to them about stuff they could read 24/7 on the Internet? It is a fundamental challenge to the whole notion of what it means to be a teacher with students in a classroom. “What impresses me about what Mercersburg is trying to do is they are not resting on their laurels like so many independent schools do. They are saying, ‘There is a new world, [and] it’s doesn’t mean we haven’t been good, but there is a need to adapt to this world. And [Mercersburg] has made, as an institution, a formal commitment to learning by doing, 21st-century Experiential learning (or “learning by learning, and all that implies.” doing”) is a critical part of the educational Faculty member John David Bennett experience for today’s students. has incorporated backward-design prinHigh school students today—and frankly, ciples in his classes since before he came adults as well—are more tethered to technol- to Mercersburg; as a teacher at the School ogy than ever before. Today’s students have for the Talented and Gifted (also known lived their entire lives in the Internet age, as TAG Magnet) in Dallas, he taught a and many cannot remember a time before senior thesis seminar and was amazed by the laptop computers, iPods, and instant world- quality of work his students produced when wide communication. he designed courses around the concept of “The greatest challenge that education outcomes-based learning. now faces—and this includes the best private “As teachers, we have to design classes schools in the country, like Mercersburg—is around what we want students to be able to the expectations of students who have grown do rather than what we want them to know— up in a digital world,” Wiggins says. “Many and that’s a big difference,” says Bennett, who students come in with a lot of experience teaches English and served on Mercersburg’s [interacting with others] around the world. Program Review Committee. “We’re in a world where teachers or large bound volumes of text are no longer the only way for students to receive information. Today, I can say something in class The plan focuses on six skills that the Program and every student in the Review Committee thought most important for class has the ability to factMercersburg students to acquire and master: check me right there [on a laptop or mobile device]. • Critical thinking and problem solving We have to make adjust• Effective communication ments for how well-enfran• Collaboration chised students are with • Information literacy the access they have to • Creativity, curiosity, and imagination information.” • Personal responsibility and accountability The emphasis of learning by doing and outcomebased goals, however, does

21st-Century Skills

not signal the end of required reading, open and intensive discussions around Harkness tables, or teacher lectures. Bennett’s students are reading Hemingway and Mark Twain, but the objective is not for them to become experts on a particular work and then simply move onto the next one, discarding what was learned along the way. Instead, the focus is on applying the concepts and knowledge from, say, Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried (another work Bennett assigns) to everything that comes afterward. “By helping students accumulate the tools to fill their workshops throughout the year, they will emerge from the course with the ability to truly craft well-written work on their own,” Bennett says. 21st- century skills are familiar Mercersburg concepts, but with new applications. The six concepts highlighted in the program-review process as the most fundamental objectives for students to master—critical thinking and problem-solving; effective communication; collaboration; information literacy; creativity, curiosity, and imagination; and personal responsibility and accountability—are referred to in the plan as 21stcentury skills. And they certainly are skills students will need going forward. But, as fundamental tenets go, none of the six truly qualifies as brand-new, because schools like Mercersburg have emphasized intellectual curiosity and communication skills and taking responsibility for one’s actions since their beginnings. “One of the endearing values of this school is the capacity for self-examination,” Hale says. “We are always wanting honestly and objectively to evaluate and examine what we are doing, and to talk about how we can do it better. It’s part of the culture of this institution. “While change will always be occurring, the fundamental core values of this school are not changing—because they are the real deal, and they are the things that will last forever and ever.”

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Deans’ List By Lee Owen

These Mercersburg alumni help their students stay centered

there’s a common thread among the Mercersburg alumni serving as deans of students at independent schools across America, it might be this: the stories they can tell publicly are probably less interesting than the ones they can’t. Another similarity is that those charged with overseeing community behavior, student issues, and the like share a passion for working with kids and helping them find the right paths at such a formative time in their lives. “You deal with every possible issue in this position; thousands of things and situations you’re not even capable of thinking up,” says Tom Rahauser ’74, who joined the Mercersburg faculty in 1978 and has been the school’s dean of students since 1996. “The stuff

that happens—you can’t make it up. What you end up dealing with most of the time are people issues as much as anything. “You have to be even and genuine when you’re in this position— it’s about wanting to sort through the issues with the people you’re dealing with, whether they’re students, faculty, or parents.” Mercersburg’s alumni deans of students can be found today at day schools and boarding schools from Hawaii to Virginia, working in educational institutions that serve children from kindergarten through high-school age. Collectively, they spent their student years at Mercersburg under the watchful eyes of Deans of Students Bill “Soapy” Howard, Joe Chandler, Tim Rockwell, and—for the youngest among them—even one of their own (Rahauser).

Jeff Adair ’98 Eastside Prep Kirkland, Washington

Jeff Adair

As the son of U.S. Foreign Service officers, Adair has lived in seven countries and visited more than 60 nations. “The longest I’d lived in one place until I went to college was my three-year stint at Mercersburg,” he says. One of the nations on the list is Ghana, where his family moved before his 10thgrade year, leading Adair and his parents to look to boarding school in America as his educational destination. “Mercersburg really became my home,” says Adair, who has worked at Eastside Prep in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, little more than a computer chip’s throw from the campus of technology behemoth Microsoft (located in neighboring Redmond); Eastside Prep was founded in 2003 by spouses of Microsoft executives who wanted a quality private institution that was independent of any religious affiliation. “I had a different overall experience than a lot of my fellow Mercersburg students; they had homebases. Mercersburg was essentially my homebase. In comparison, the places my parents lived felt like places I’d visit on vacation.” As a senior at Mercersburg, Adair was

president of his class, captain of the boys’ lacrosse team, and a prefect in Main Hall. He also served on the Honor Committee and Discipline Committee as a student— two experiences that led him to push for the creation of similar student organizations at Eastside Prep, where a new Honor Committee will debut this fall. “You probably have to be a certain age to be able to come to this realization, but I think Mercersburg put me in an environment to really understand what integrity is,” Adair says. “Integrity is not doing the right thing for fear of chastisement, but as the saying goes, it’s what you do when no one’s looking.” A d a i r g r a d u a t e d f r o m We s t e r n Washington University and was one of the founding counselors for Mercersburg’s Summer Adventure Camps, and st ays in touch with then Director of Summer Programs (and current Director of Athletics) Rick Hendrickson; Adair also served as Eastside’s athletic director in addition to his duties teaching history and as dean of students until handing off the AD position at the end of spring 2011. “As the dean of students, you have to

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when we were trying to get the school off the ground, we went through some serious ups and downs and there was a question as to whether we were even going to stay afloat. You could define my role as an administrator as almost that of an emergency-room doctor. We were doing all we could to keep things afloat. “It was really a faith journey. Early on, there were times where the board or administration had to go to teachers and figure out who could survive without getting paid on time for a particular month. Teachers had to understand from year to year that for financial reasons, there was no guarantee that they’d be around next year. It was a real testimony to people’s commitment to what the school was trying to do, and that we were willing to say we believe in the mission and that God will see us through on this.” Like his late father, Dwight ’42, Collmus came to Mercersburg for a postgraduate year. “At that age, a lot of kids are John Collmus ’74 The Covenant School ready to be done with high school Charlottesville, Virginia and get on with college and their Like Adair, Collmus is lives,” Collmus says. “But I’ve actufamiliar with the process ally encouraged a lot of kids to conof building a school from sider a gap year [between high school the ground up. A graduand college] to do something differJohn Collmus ate of Washington and ent, because maybe not everybody is Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, he ready for college. I look back now and appretaught science at a private school in nearby ciate not being in a hurry to get to the next Buena Vista and then in a public school in phase of life. Charlottesville before joining the faculty at “I was a runner and a tennis player in Covenant in 1987. high school, and I had this grand dream that “A friend of mine and some families were I would be the quarterback of Mercersburg’s looking to start a private school in the area football team—even though my entire expethat integrated Christian principles with rience with football was playing on Sunday strong academics, and there wasn’t a school afternoons with my buddies. I came in for like that in Charlottesville,” says Collmus, preseason football camp and realized I really who came to Covenant in its fourth year as wasn’t a football player, and ended up on the a science teacher and assistant headmaster. cross country team instead.” During his first year there, the headmaster Collmus was Covenant’s dean of stuleft and Collmus was elevated to the position dents for the ninth and 10th grades until this of interim headmaster for the remainder of spring; he is returning to the classroom on a the academic year. It was a time of change, full-time basis this fall. to say the least. “The disciplinary aspect of the dean “We were a kindergarten through ninth of students position is not necessarily a grade school back then, and inherited a negative thing,” he says. “We all need to high-school student body from another be disciplined and we all need to be held school that went under,” he recalls. “For accountable. Some kids just need more the next decade, I was assistant headmaster guidance than others in making the right of a school that grew from 160 to 700 studecisions and in realizing there are consedents in a pretty short period of time. And quences when you make the wrong decision. make sure you are both respected and liked by the kids,” Adair says. “Mr. Rockwell and Mr. Rahauser had similar personalities. They were in charge of discipline, but at the same time were able to get kids to want to behave, not because they were afraid of the punishment but because [the students] were afraid of disappointing them. When you have the students’ respect and not their fear, that’s the primary tool for keeping things moving in the right direction. “I think kids here would say I’m one of the most liked and most feared [administrators]. They coined a term called ‘the Adair stare, and even created a Facebook page about it; I learned about it a couple months after it came out and it was fun to go on there and see what they were saying—in jest, of course. There was a competition to see who could get a picture of it.”

And though sometimes it’s not pleasant to deal with disciplinary issues, in the long run, it’s so formative—and necessary.” Collmus and his wife, Jackie, have four children; their youngest is entering his senior year at Covenant in the fall. For each of the past five years, Collmus has taken a group from the school to Nicaragua for mission work in orphanages and in struggling neighborhoods in the Central American country. “If you were to ask our kids what they like about Covenant, they’d say that the teachers really care about them,” he says. “You had that at Mercersburg too; you were living with these people and you got to know them on a level that unfortunately for most people, a public school can’t give you.”

Flynn Corson ’99 Pacific Buddhist Academy Honolulu, Hawaii

As a student at Mercersburg, Corson spent a lot of time with Rahauser—and not because he was hoping to follow in the professional footsteps of the school’s dean of students. “It was involuntary time, if you know what I mean,” says Corson, who is in his sixth year on the faculty of Pacific Buddhist Academy, a day school in Honolulu. “I spent a lot of time making bad decisions and getting in trouble. So now to be the person on the other end of that is pretty surreal. “But this is what, I think, makes me qualified for what I do; I spend a lot of time trying to understand—not judge—student behavior, so I can help students understand their own behavior.” Corson is also the school’s director of admission and teaches English literature and an adventure-learning course in addition to overseeing school culture, discipline, and campus safety as PBA’s dean of students. “School culture is what shapes an alumnus’ memory of a school, and is the palpable energy apparent when a prospective student, parent, or donor visits a school for the first time,” he says. “School culture has the capacity to be a reflection of the culture of the community at large—the world.” H e c r e di t s H e n d r i c k s o n , t h e n Mercersburg’s head wrestling coach, for helping him turn things around when he came to Mercersburg for his 11th-grade year.

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[Walter] Burgin ’53 while I was home for “Coach taught me to be a man—which is Tom Rahauser ’74 Mercersburg Academy Christmas—not so much to try and get a job exactly what he said he was going to do on Mercersburg, Pennsylvania [at Mercersburg], but perhaps he’d know of my very first day of school at Mercersburg,” A familiar face in the Mercersburg coma school somewhere looking for a Spanish Corson says. “Without him, I would never munity as a student or administrator since teacher. So I sat down with him, told him have learned how to study, how to commit Richard Nixon was in the White House, what I was doing, and asked if he was aware to anything, or how to accomplish anything. Rahauser followed his brothers Dave ’67 of anyone who might need anybody. As it I like to think that I have an impact on some and Chuck ’70 to the Academy from nearby turned out, the soccer coach and Spanish of my students or our school, and if it’s true, Chambersburg. Tom and his wife, Susan teacher had just resigned three days before. that impact is an extension of love, courage, (a fellow faculty member and the school’s He asked if I’d like to be considered for the grit, and leadership that Coach modeled. He director of counseling services), job. ‘Sure,’ I said, and that’s how was and is a hero for me and many others.” have three children, all of whom it all began.” Corson (whose sister, M.C. ’00, is a fellow graduated from or are attending With the exception of a yearMercersburg graduate) ended up as a coMercersburg: Eric ’05, Tim ’07, long graduate-school sabbatical captain of the Blue Storm wrestling team and Laura ’12, who will be a at Penn State and the University his senior year and collected more than Mercersburg senior this fall. Tom, of Salamanca in Spain, Rahauser 100 victories on the mat. He began his Dave, and Chuck’s great uncle, has been at Mercersburg unincollege career at Cal State Fullerton before William ’22, and Chuck’s son, terrupted ever since. It was a returning to Pennsylvania to attend Ursinus Chas ’06, are also alumni of the Tom Rahauser natural fit for Rahauser to serve College. school. as an assistant to head soccer coach Dave “I graduated from Mercersburg without a Tom Rahauser was a three-sport standTyson, but Rahauser also found himself sense of direction; all I knew is what I didn’t out (soccer, basketball, baseball) and lived in charge of the junior-varsity program in want to do,” he says. “Coach Hendrickson on the same Keil Hall floor as then Dean of lacrosse, a sport he had paid no attention to used to tell me that I should be a teacher or Students Bill Howard, a man whose posiat all as a student. coach, though I scoffed at the idea. When tion he would one day occupy on campus. “We had a local guy who came in to help I came to Ursinus, I encountered two won“From a student perspective, he was a us who had played some, but I was responderful mentors, including John Strassburger, tough guy and not someone you would swap sible for these kids,” Rahauser remembers. who was the president of the college. When jokes with,” Rahauser says. “However, he was “And we actually won a few games—I don’t they echoed Coach Hendrickson’s advice, a fair and decent man. If you did what you know how, but we did.” He chuckles at the things began to come into focus for me.” were supposed to, you were fine; if not, he story of one of his players recalling him as After graduating from Ursinus, Corson let you know. He was actually a very funny both the best (soccer) and worst (lacrosse) worked as a substitute teacher at Germantown guy when you got to know him, and if you coach he had ever played for. Friends School near dealt with him enough you got to Thankfully, Rahauser shed his lacrosse Philadelphia before know that.” duties and added baseball—a sport with PBA hired him to teach Rahauser played soccer at Franklin which he was much more familiar—to his English in just the & Marshall College in Lancaster, and coaching roster. He took over as head boys’ school’s fourth year of spent his junior year abroad studying soccer coach in 1984, and asked Tyson to existence. (Corson was in Spain. “It was the beginning of my serve as his assistant. “Dave was a great coach drawn to the opportulove affair with Spanish, which has and an excellent organizer, and a very intelnity in Hawaii because Flynn Corson taken me over and never let go,” he ligent student of the game,” Rahauser says. it gave him the opporsays. “It was a wonderful experience. “He understood the subtleties of it. I was very tunity to surf 12 months I was learning something all the time. It lucky to learn about coaching from him.” out of the year.) He is pursuing a master’s in was magnificent and I absolutely loved it.” In addition to his work in the Spanish literature from Middlebury College’s Bread Rahauser also spent a good portion of one of classroom (which continues today), Rahauser Loaf School of English. Bread Loaf is the his high-school summers in Mexico playing became dean of students in 1996. graduate alma mater of several members of soccer for a club team and taking classes. “You have to be even and genuine when the Mercersburg faculty, including Head of As a senior in college, Rahauser took a you’re in this position, and you have to want School Douglas Hale. student-teaching position in the Lancaster to sort through the issue with the people As part of his graduate work, Corson spent city schools. “Back then, language-teaching you’re dealing with,” he says. “And while the summer studying at Oxford University jobs were really tough to get,” he said. “They I have to talk a bit at times, I also observe in England. He and his wife, Kate, have told me that to stay in Lancaster, I would and listen a great deal. My wife is a trea 1-year-old son and another child due in have had to work for at least a year or two as mendous, active listener—the best listener I February 2012. a substitute before landing a full-time job. know. I have learned an enormous amount My dad suggested I go talk to Headmaster from watching her and have been able to

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develop that skill. It is one that I am constantly working on.” “Almost every situation you encounter in this job is never as clear-cut as it seems on the surface. It can be fascinating, perplexing, and frustrating all at the same time. But working with the kids keeps me going. I love interacting with them—it’s exhausting but I enjoy it. It’s very rewarding to watch them work through a difficult issue or situation and then grow from that experience.”

Kevin Williamson ’80 The Harker School San Jose, California

Like Rahauser, Williamson was one of three brothers to attend boarding school. The difference is that the Williamsons, of Fairmont, West Virginia, wanted each of their sons to have separate experiences, so their boys went to three different institutions. Kevin, the oldest of the trio, also had the shortest trip to make; his brothers, Kyle and Kraig, later enrolled at Berkshire School in Massachusetts and The Taft School in Connecticut, respectively.

The Colonel, Spike, and Friends

Mercersburg’s deans of students (or their equivalent) of the past 100 years: Colonel Don F. Wills Faculty tenure: 1897–1915 Years as head of discipline: 1897–1915 Harold colson Faculty tenure: 1915–1921 Years as head of discipline: 1915–1921 Roy “Spike” Andrew Faculty tenure: 1914–1961 Years as dean: 1921–1961 Bill “Soapy” Howard Faculty tenure: 1939–1977 Years as dean: 1961–1977 Joe Chandler Faculty tenure: 1968–1988 Years as dean: 1977–1983 Tim Rockwell Faculty tenure: 1970–1996 Years as dean: 1983–1996 Tom Rahauser ’74 Faculty tenure: 1978–current Years as dean: 1996–current

It was the start of a long career in inde- related to current science faculty member pendent schools for Williamson, a four-year Franklin Bell.] Mercersburg student who earned an underJohn Bursk, Karl Reisner, Al Pisano, graduate degree from Tulane University and and Wirt Winebrenner ’54 are other has taught at Trinity School in Atlanta; the faculty Williamson counts as big influOut-of-Door Academy in Sarasota, Florida; ences on him while at Mercersburg; Bursk Squaw Valley Academy in California; and served as his adviser and frequently invited Bosque Preparatory School in Williamson over for dinner to his Albuquerque, New Mexico. family’s apartment on the second Since 1999, he has served as a floor of Main Hall. Two decades faculty member at The Harker later, Williamson helped estabSchool in San Jose, California, lish an adviser system at Harker a K–12 institution which is one that was closely modeled after of the largest independent day Mercersburg’s. schools west of the Mississippi “We’ve really tried to make that River (1,750 students). one of the cornerstones of what we Kevin Williamson “A lot of my inspiration came do,” he says. “As we’ve grown, it’s from being at Mercersburg and been more of a challenge to keep having that underpinning to know what it that small-school feel. Every teacher has a takes to succeed as an independent school,” number of student advisees; I have ninth Williamson says. “Having come from West graders and we follow them for four years.” Virginia, my parents realized the importance Williamson’s interactions with Joe of a good education. My father had gone Chandler, who was the dean of students at to Valley Forge Military Academy and he the beginning of his Mercersburg career, wanted to get me out of Fairmont and into made a special impact on him as well. “I a boarding school. I think that was really had a lot of respect for him. He was a very my inspiration to help start other schools empathetic man, and you could tell that it elsewhere.” wasn’t easy for him to deal with kids [in difWilliamson was on the Bosque faculty ficult circumstances]. when the school was founded in 1994 (it “When I have to make tough decisions now enrolls almost 550 students and recently in situations that are uncomfortable for opened a new campus), and while Harker kids or families, I always try to think about has been around for more than 100 years, it the kids who are doing the right thing— was essentially a startup high school at the the 90 percent that you’re backing up what time Williamson arrived, having added a they’re doing. I think of what’s best for the high school to its existing K–8 curriculum school and the rest of the student popuin the late 1990s. lation, and it helps me get through those Williamson has taught math, history, times. But I think you need that empathetic and reading during his career, and has also side too.” Chandler retired in 2010 as dean served as a coach, dorm parent, and admin- of the upper school at Moravian Academy istrator. Long before any of that, though, he in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. was a Mercersburg ninth grader struggling Williamson, who holds a master of arts through an algebra class taught by long- in teaching from Emory University, lives time faculty member Frank Bell. “He really in Belmont, California (halfway between challenged me in the sense that no one had San Francisco and San Jose), with his wife, ever told me ‘You’re not good enough’— Andrea, and their son. and he failed me,” Williamson remembers. “Mercersburg did so much for me, and “I had to repeat the class and had him as a I’m so appreciative that I want to share how teacher again, and I went on to do very well; special independent education can be,” he I guess I rose to the challenge, so to speak. says. “I think it’s a big part of why I’ve lived That might be why I ended up teaching in so many places and love to travel. Had I algebra myself. It’s funny how things work not left Fairmont, I don’t know if that would that way.” [Editor’s note: Frank Bell is not have been the case.”

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Arts

D at e s to Re m e m b e r

Sep 23–25

Oct 28–30

Nov 5

Stony Batter Players present Neil Simon’s Rumors Fri-Sat 8 p.m./Sun 2 p.m., Simon Theatre

Nov 12

Stony Batter Players present World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War (fall one-act) Fri-Sat 8 p.m./Sun 2 p.m., Hale Studio Theatre

Fall Dance Concert 8 p.m., Simon Theatre Fall Pops Concert 8 p.m., Simon Theatre

Above events in Burgin Center for the Arts. Schedule subject to change; for a full and updated schedule of events, visit www.mercersburg.edu.

Dance director: Denise Dalton

(above) Shayna Rice ’11 in the Dalton-choreographed “Varia” (right) Min Hee Lee ’12 performing a traditional Korean dance (self-choreographed)

Vocal Music directors: Richard Rotz, Jim Brinson

Chorale

Mercersburg’s Band, Chorale, Jazz Band, and String Ensemble all received “superior” ratings—the highest possible rating—at the 2011 Music In The Parks adjudication in May at Hersheypark. It’s the first time that all four Mercersburg groups have earned a “superior” rating at the competition in the same year.

M e r c e r s b u r g m a g a z i n e s u mm e r 2 0 1 1

Instrumental Music directors: Richard Rotz, Jack Hawbaker, Michael Cameron

Band

Robin Jo ’12 and Joe Lee ’12 of the String Ensemble

Stony Batter Players directors: Laurie Mufson, Matt Maurer Shakespeare Scenes

Hannah Edwards ’11 and Danny Roza ’11

Stephanie Stine ’11

M e r c e r s b u r g m a g a z i n e s u mm e r 2 0 1 1

Visual Art faculty: Mark Flowers, Kristy Higby, Wells Gray

Kate Alt ’11, painting

Katrina Cook ’12, works on paper

Brittany Burg ’13, ceramics

ARTS

note

Three Mercersburg students earned awards in the 2011 Mid-Atlantic Prep League Art Exhibition: Kate Alt ’11 (painting), Brittany Burg ’13 (ceramics), and Katrina Cook ’12 (works on paper). The awardwinning pieces from the six MAPL schools were on exhibit in April in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Mercersburg will host the 2012 MAPL Art Exhibition next spring.

Sally Kim ’12, works on paper [page 3]

Athletics Dates to Remember

Sep 24

Family Weekend Cross country hosts Mercersburg Invitational, noon Golf vs. Potomac School (Whitetail), 1 p.m. Volleyball vs. Shenandoah Valley Christian Academy, 2:30 p.m. Hun at Mercersburg (all games at 1 p.m.): Field hockey, football, boys’/girls’ soccer, girls’ tennis

Fall Alumni Weekend

Oct 14

Swimming: Blue/White Intrasquad Meet, 4:30 p.m.

Hill at Mercersburg: Girls’ tennis, 2 p.m. Cross country, field hockey, boys’/girls’ soccer, 2:30 p.m. Football, 3:15 p.m.

Oct 15

Schedule subject to change; for a full and updated schedule of events, visit www.mercersburg.edu

Winter Varsity Athletics Roundup Boys’ Basketball

Captains: game captains selected Boys’ Basketball Award (most outstanding player): Donya Jackson ’11, Chall Montgomery ’11 Coaches’ Award (most improved player): Peter Flanagan ’11 John Prevost ’54 Basketball Award: Harrison Brink ’11 Head coach: Mark Cubit (12th season) Record: 11–12 (1–4 MAPL) Highlights: Jackson and Montgomery were named All-MAPL; both will play next year at Navy… Montgomery broke the 30-point barrier in four different games, with a season-high of 36 points in a win over the Hood College JV team; he also scored 33 points in wins over Peddie, Martinsburg, and Solebury, and was a double-figure scorer in all 23 games… Jackson reached double figures in all but one contest, and posted 29 points in a single game twice… Julian Eisner ’11 and Troy Nwanna ’11 also had multiple games scoring in double figures… Mike Collins ’14 saw significant playing time as a ninth grader and earned a varsity letter... the team went 5–0 against rivals from the IndependentParochial School League (IPSL), and its 11 victories were the most since the 2006 season… Blackburn Warner ’11 garnered Academic All-MAPL honors.

Girls’ Basketball

Captains: Bailey Blake ’11, Julie Garlick ’11 Girls’ Basketball Award (most outstanding player): Melody Gomez ’13 Coaches’ Award (most improved player): Tereza Uhlirova ’12 Head coach: Monique Liddell (4th season) Record: 5–17 (1–4 MAPL) Highlights: Garlick was named to the [Chambersburg] Public Opinion’s honorablemention All-Star team… the Blue Storm’s win over Lawrenceville was its first MAPL victory since 2009… Blake earned a varsity letter all four years… Gomez was an Academic All-MAPL selection…

seven different players were leading scorers in a single game, led by Blake (six games), Garlick (five games), and Gomez (four games)… two of the team’s victories came on buzzer-beating shots: Firestone put back an offensive rebound to knock off Lawrenceville and Garlick nailed a three-pointer

at the buzzer to beat McConnellsburg… Katie LaRue was named head coach for the 2011–2012 campaign; she comes to Mercersburg from the Asheville School in North Carolina, where she was head girls’ varsity basketball coach and assistant athletic director.

Diving

Diving Award (most outstanding diver): Melina Keller ’13 Coaches’ Award (most improved diver): Harrison Yancey ’11 Head coach: Jennifer Miller Smith ’97 (3rd season) Highlights: Keller took 17th place in the girls’ division at Easterns and was sixth at the Hill Invitational, which featured divers from all three MAPL schools with diving teams, plus other schools; she also led a Mercersburg sweep of the top three places in a dual meet against Loyola Blakefield, and was joined on the podium by Ines Urdaci ’12 and Jordan Shihadeh ’14… Urdaci and Yancey finished eighth in the girls’ and boys’ divisions, respectively, at the Hill Invitational… Yancey placed fourth at the Loyola Blakefield dual meet in his first-ever competition, and took first at a dual meet between the Blue Storm and Hill… Shihadeh earned Academic AllMAPL honors.

Boys’ Squash

Captains: Ahmed Abdel Latif ’12, Brendan McClintick ’12 Thomas Flanagan ’38 Boys’ Squash Award (most outstanding player): Abdel Latif Coaches’ Award (most improved player): McClintick Head coach: Chip Vink ’73 (11th season) Record: 10–13 Highlights: Abdel Latif captured the championship flight of the MAPL Championship for the second straight year, and finished the season with a 26–0 individual mark without dropping a single game… the team tied for second place (with Hill) at the MAPL Championships, and earned a seventhplace finish in Division III at the U.S. High School Team Championships in Connecticut… in addition to Abdel Latif, top players included Ben Bunjapamai ’11, McClintick, and Cris Stanton ’11… Jason Lee ’12 represented the team on the Academic All-MAPL squad.

Girls’ Squash

Captain: Ana Kelly ’11 Thomas Flanagan ’38 Girls’ Squash Award (most outstanding player): Kelly Coaches’ Award (most improved player): Sarah Allen ’12 Head coach: Wells Gray (8th season) Record: 9–7 Highlights: Kelly, an All-MAPL selection after finishing third at the MAPL Championships, was named all-conference for the third time and also earned a varsity letter all four years… the team went 2–1 at the U.S. High School Team Championships in Connecticut, placing 11th in Division II and 27th overall in the nation… the Storm finished second

as a team (behind Lawrenceville) at the MAPL Championships… Nikki Rhyne ’12, Allen, and Vale Quan Miranda ’12 held the No. 2 through No. 4 positions after Kelly… the Storm swept a tri-meet from conference foes Blair and Hill… Claire Sabol ’11 was an Academic All-MAPL selection.

Boys’ Swimming

Captains: Collin Greene ’11, Linc Kupke ’11 Harry Glancy ’24 Award (most outstanding swimmer): Tareq Kaaki ’11 Finlay Vanderveer ’29 Award (greatest influence): Kupke Tom Wolfe ’85 Award (most improved swimmer): Kupke Head coach: Pete Williams (23rd season) Easterns finish: 3rd Highlights: While the team was unable to repeat as Easterns champion (finishing behind Peddie

and Germantown Academy), the Storm did win three events there—50-yard freestyle (Kaaki), 100 butterfly (Conor Monaghan ’11), and the 200 medley relay (Kupke, Monaghan, Kevin Carroll ’11, Tom Zhang ’12)… Kaaki was All-America in the 50 free and received All-America consideration in the 100 free, while Carroll gained All-America consideration in the 100 backstroke… the team placed second at the MAPL Championships (behind Peddie), led by event wins from Kaaki (50 free), Monaghan (100 fly), and Alex Dempsey ’11 (200 individual medley)… college swimmers next year will include Carroll (USC), Dempsey (Army), Greene (Bucknell), Kaaki (Texas A&M), Kupke (Boston University), and Monaghan (Army)… Greene was a four-year letterwinner… Harrison Helm ’12 was named Academic All-MAPL.

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Girls’ Swimming

Captains: Audrey Brown ’11, Nikki Hyrkas ’11 Neidhoefer Swimming Award (most outstanding swimmer): Hyrkas John Preston ’47 Award (most improved swimmer): Leah Selznick ’12 Thomas Hartz ’72 Award (perseverance): Hannah Lutz ’12 Head coach: Pete Williams (23rd season) Easterns finish: 4th Highlights: The team finished behind only Germantown Academy, Peddie, and Episcopal Academy at Easterns… top Easterns performances came from the 400 freestyle relay team (Hyrkas, Lutz, Kelly Hamilton ’13, Keeli McNeary ’11/2nd place), McNeary (100 back/5th), Hamilton (100 back/sixth, 100 fly/6th), Hyrkas (200 free/6th), and Audrey Brown ’11 (500 free/6th)… the Storm placed second at the MAPL Championships behind Peddie, and got second-place finishes there from the aforementioned 400 free relay team, Hamilton (100 back), Christina Hyrkas ’13 (100 breaststroke) and Nikki Hyrkas (200 free)… Nikki Hyrkas earned a varsity letter all four years and will swim at Navy next year, while Brown and McNeary will swim at Army… Hamilton garnered Academic All-MAPL honors.

Boys’ Winter Track & Field

Captain: Matt Cook ’11 Boys’ Winter Track & Field Award (most outstanding athlete): Cook Coaches’ Award (most improved athlete): Austin Hess ’13 Head coach: David Grady (7th season) MAPL finish: 5th Highlights: Taku Yamane ’12 placed second in the 200m and Cook took third in the 3200m at the

MAPL Championships… Yamane is now ranked in the top six all-time at Mercersburg in five events: the 55m (6th), 60m (5th), 200m (3rd), long jump (5th), and triple jump (6th) with one year still to go… Hess took sixth in the pole vault at the MAPL Championships; his effort of 8’6” ranks fifth alltime on the Mercersburg winter list…Yamane captured the 200m and triple jump and Cook took first in the 800m in a quad meet against Hill, Peddie, and the George School… Cook was named Academic All-MAPL and was a four-year letterwinner.

Girls’ Winter Track & Field

Captains: Mackenzie Riford ’11, Paige Summers ’11 Girls’ Winter Track & Field Award (most outstanding athlete): Abby Colby ’12 Coaches’ Award (most improved athlete): Brittany Burg ’13 Head coach: David Grady (7th season) MAPL finish: 4th Highlights: Colby won the 3200m at the MAPL Championships, setting a school record (11:53.69) in the process… she also set a school record in the 3000m (11:08.44)… also at the MAPL Championships, Ashley Heisey ’12 broke the school record in the pole vault (8’0”) while finishing second, and Kayleigh Kiser ’11 took third in the 400m (1:01.79, good for fourth on Mercersburg’s career list)… Burg and Kiser are each ranked in the school’s all-time top ten in four separate events (both in the 400m and as part of the 4x200 relay team; Burg is also ranked in the 55m and 200m, and Kiser in the high jump and pole vault)… Colby took fifth in the 3000m at the Kevin Dare Invitational… Riford was named Academic All-MAPL for the fourth time in her Mercersburg career; she and Summers earned varsity letters all four years.

Wrestling

Captains: James Hendrickson ’11, John San Filippo ’12, Arvind Stone ’11 Fred Kuhn Award (most outstanding wrestler): Bobby Burg ’11 Coaches’ Award (most improved player): Alex Kelly ’12 Ronald D. Tebben Leadership Award: Hendrickson Head coach: Nate Jacklin ’96 (3rd season) MAPL finish: 2nd Highlights: Burg finished the year with a perfect 37–0 mark and earned the Pennsylvania state and National Prep championships at 160 pounds; he is Mercersburg’s first national champion since Jeremy Berry ’00 and its first state champion since Josh Edgin ’06 and Brad Nielson ’06 (both in 2005)… Matt Brower ’11 joined Burg as a prep AllAmerican after finishing sixth at 140 pounds; four other Storm wrestlers (San Filippo, Stone, Nick Carberry ’11, and Sam Rodgers ’11) also competed at National Preps… San Filippo (189 pounds) took third and Rodgers (285 pounds) placed fifth at the state championships… Rodgers and San Filippo were chosen as Academic All-MAPL selections for the third and fourth time, respectively… Burg and Stone are Navy-bound, while Carberry will wrestle at Gannon University next year; Rodgers will play football at Syracuse.

M e r c e r s b u r g m a g a z i n e s u mm e r 2 0 1 1

Class Notes Submit class notes via email to classnotes@mercersburg.edu or by contacting your class agent directly. Submissions may appear online or in print. Mercersburg reserves the right to edit submissions for space or content, and is not responsible for more than reasonable editing or fact-checking. When sending or uploading photos, please submit images of the highest quality possible; some images captured by cell phones or other cameras may not be suitable for print. Class notes are also available online at www.mercersburg. edu/classnotes.

Charles Ecker ’28 celebrated his 100th birthday on April 2, 2011. He passed away just over a month later with his family by his side in Camarillo, California. (For a full obituary, see page 48.)

Ed Saeger ’47 and his wife, Jackie, met fellow Mercersburg parents Larry and Jean Hjelle on a trip to Patagonia in February. Both couples lived in Rochester, New York, when their children (Bob Saeger ’79/Rich Saeger ’82 and Mark Hjelle ’88/Anjie Hjelle Fidanza ’91, respectively) were at Mercersburg—though this was the first time the parents had ever met. Pictured here are the Saegers (left) and Hjelles in front of the Perito Moreno Glacier in Los Glaciares National Park. “Weather was favorable during the two-week trip,” Ed says, “and we were able to round Cape Horn on a four-day cruise on the Stella Australis.”

’37 James Maguire’s wife, Elizabeth, died

’47 Maurice Cohill’s wife, Anne Mullaney,

’38 Charles Boyer’s wife, Josephine, passed

James Kohl’s wife, Joyce, died May 14, 2010.

’43

Ed Bou is a not-yet-retired lawyer in Washington, D.C. When Ed needs a break, he likes to drive to Mercersburg and visit the campus.

April 29, 2010.

away October 26, 2009.

Bud Koffman was inducted into the Jewish Community Center’s Athletic Hall of Fame in Binghamton, New York.

’46

John Cavins’ wife, Myrtle “Skippy” MacLeod Cavins, died January 2, 2011.

passed away April 22, 2011.

’48

Lee Henry and his wife, Gretchen, have settled into their new home in Scottsdale, Arizona, though they maintain a summer house in Munds Park, Arizona. Lee continues to pursue his passions in Spanish and music and is now studying French.

Hugh Miller, not yet retired, is in his 15th year teaching in the master of arts program in historic preservation at Goucher College in Baltimore. Hugh spent 30 years in historic architecture with the National Park Service and five years as director of Virginia’s Department of Historic Resources. Jim Pfautz spends his summers at his boyhood home in Sherwood Forest, near Annapolis, Maryland. During Jim’s high-school years, his Mercersburg swim teammates always enjoyed parties at Jim’s after meets against the Navy Plebes.

Edmund Partridge’s wife, passed away July 27, 2010.

’52

Carolyn,

M e r c e r s b u r g m a g a z i n e s u mm e r 2 0 1 1

’53 In April, Bill Draper, John Ross, and

and Tom Rahauser ’74 and grandmother of Eric ’05, Chas ’06, Tim ’07, and Laura ’12, died June 9, 2011.

’58

Milton “Mick” Heller III’s father, Milton Jr., passed away December 22, 2010.

their wives enjoyed a three-day microreunion in Medford, Oregon.

Alan Wein received the Ferdinand C. Valentine Award in Urology from the New York Academy of Medicine’s Section on Urology. Alan is professor and chief of the division of urology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and director of the Urology Residency Program at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He was elected to Mercersburg’s Board of Regents in 2005.

’59

Wes Johnston’s wife, Millicent, died March 16, 2011.

’61

Faculty emeritus Neil Carstensen and his wife, Barb (left), visited Sam McGredy ’49 in Auckland, New Zealand. Sam [Mercersburg magazine, winter 2007–2008] is a worldrenowned horticulturist. The Carstensens were scheduled to be in Christchurch, New Zealand, three days after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck the city earlier this year, but changed their itinerary following the quake.

George Burrier is president of Friends of the Rock Island Trail. The trail, once an abandoned railroad right-of-way, runs 29 miles from Peoria to Toulon, Illinois. George, a retired attorney, started the project after serving in Vietnam in the early 1970s. He and his wife, Sandi, have two daughters. Fletcher Platt Jr.’s father, Fletcher, passed away March 24, 2011.

’63

Class notes are now available online at www.mercersburg.edu/classnotes.

Submit yours by emailing classnotes@mercersburg.edu

Bill Moyer was inducted into the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame. A Dover resident, Bill continues to swim and participate in triathlons.

’67

Tom Graffagnino is still drawing and painting but has recently started taking photographs, mostly around the still waters of ponds and lakes. “I have tried to weave and blend images with the Good News, observations, meditations, prayers, and even some poetry,” shares Tom. “Someone recently characterized my poems as ‘Dr. Seuss does the Gospel.’ And that may well be so, but I’d rather just call them ‘accessible.’ Wirt [Winebrenner ’54], I’m sure, would not be pleased!” Tom is also enjoying his first grandson, Benjamin (1 ½ years), and his son Patrick (born at Mercersburg in 1979) and wife Brittany are expecting again in June. Tom Motheral visited with classmate Jim Pyers while Tom was competing in a United States Masters swim meet in Wooster, Ohio. Jim is a senior auditor for the state of Ohio and travels throughout the state. He and his wife, Pam, have four grown children and four grandchildren. Jim sends his warmest regards to fellow classmates. Janet Cunningham Rahauser, mother of David Rahauser, Chuck Rahauser ’70,

’68 ’69

Ella and Bernard Snyder, parents of James Snyder and grandparents of Daniel Snyder ’05, died July 19, 2010 and April 20, 2011, respectively.

’72

Tom Hadzor celebrated the arrival of his first grandchild, Gertrude Ann, in June 2010.

’79

Lynn Tchobanoglous is moving from Virginia with her husband, Tom Anderson, and their 8-year-old son, Davis, to Toulouse, France—headquarters of Airbus. If you’re in southern France, contact Lynn for a tour of the city’s best cheese shops.

’80

Paul Jenkins lives in Lake Forest, Illinois, and works for Abbott Laboratories as an area sales director. He and his wife, Kelly, and their three children see his brother, Jim ’81, and his family frequently, as they also live in the Chicagoland area.

’82

Ray Liddy [Mercersburg, spring 2011] was selected as a San Diego County Top Attorney for 2011 in the Municipal & Government practice area by the San Diego Daily Transcript. As a deputy attorney general for the State of California, Ray represents California in multi-district civil fraud and whistleblower litigation involving the pharmaceutical and medical device industries.

’83

Betsy Mitchell is the director of athletics and recreation and physical education at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. Before coming to Caltech, she spent the past five years as director of athletics at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. Betsy won a gold and a silver medal as a member of the U.S. swim team at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and added another silver medal at the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul.

’84

Anthony Calandra, a captain in the U.S. Navy, assumed command of the Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling April 28 in Washington, D.C. Anthony is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Chapman University, and the Naval War College.

New on the Alumni Council

Douglas B. Hummel-Price ’04

J. Page Lansdale ’76

Doug earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 2009. An actor and singer, he is a former member of the Yale Whiffenpoofs and a current member of the Yale Institute for Music Theatre. At Mercersburg, Doug was a library proctor, tour guide, and member of the Concert Band, Jazz Band, Octet, Student Council, The Fifteen, Stony Batter, and the Marshall Society. He also played football and was a dorm prefect. Doug is a Torchbearer.

Page earned a bachelor’s degree from Trinity College and an MBA from the University of Virginia. While at Mercersburg, he was a dorm prefect and a member of the Chorale, Octet, and Marshall Society. Page was an active athlete, playing soccer and tennis and captaining the squash team for four years. Page is senior vice president of B.F. Saul Company. An active volunteer for Mercersburg, he is a Torchbearer and member of the William Mann Irvine Society. Page has two brothers who are also Mercersburg graduates, Thomas ’72 and Richard ’74 (who taught at Mercersburg from 1980 to 1989). Page and his wife, Lyn, have three children.

Thomas R. Lindquist ’77

James L. McClelland ’55

After his time at Mercersburg, where he was a member of the swim team, Tom earned a degree from the University of Wisconsin. A former vice president of Bradford Electric, Tom is a project manager for Ballard Companies. He is a Torchbearer and a past fundraising volunteer, having served as a solicitor for the Mightily Onward campaign. Tom is married to Anne and is a member of the William Mann Irvine Society.

Jim earned an undergraduate degree from Indiana University and a graduate degree from the College of Wooster. Recently retired as director and secretary of the Greater Huntington Park & Recreation District after 31 years, Jim is chair of the Loyalty Club Committee and a Torchbearer. At Mercersburg, he played football and baseball, was a wrestler, and was a member of the Marshall Society. Jim and his wife, Sue, have two children.

West Kingston, Rhode Island

Rockford, Illinois

Bethesda, Maryland

Huntington, West Virginia

M e r c e r s b u r g m a g a z i n e s u mm e r 2 0 1 1

’86 Susan Stoner Leithauser is director of development at The Works: Ohio Center for History, Art, and Technology in Newark, Ohio.

Shawn Meyers, a judge with the Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania’s 39th Judicial District, was named the Greene Township Lions Club’s Citizen of the Year.

’89

Amy Sheridan Fazackerley invented and is marketing and selling the Lay-n-Go (a toy storage, activity mat, clean-up, and carry-all solution-in-one). Marc Furigay continues to operate Classroom Jams, a combination record label and publishing house that produces materials for educators. Marc was awarded an investment on the ABC television show Shark Tark and was featured in a “Where Are They Now” segment on the show in March. Kate Bazemore Harrison is working as an emergency medicine physician at Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.

’94 “The Fight,” a song Tim Putnam co-

wrote with Natalie Hemby, appears on Crazy Girl EP by Republic Nashville recording artists Eli Young Band. The EP rose to No. 1 on the iTunes country chart. Tim also works at Moontoast, a start-up company that develops socialcommerce technology.

’95

Shawn Patten has served in the U.S. Army since 2004 and was promoted to the rank of to major. His current assignment is with the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division in Kaiserslautern, Germany. Shawn has prosecuted cases at courts-martial and deployed to Afghanistan as the chief of administrative law for the 101st Airborne Division. Shawn’s next assignment will be in the master of laws program at the Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School at the University of Virginia. His military decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, and the NATO/ISAF Medal.

’96 Allison Arch graduated from the Drexel

University College of Medicine in May. She received the American Academy Award for excellence in neurology and will pursue a neurology residency at Yale University Medical School. Haven Barnes retired from professional triathlon competition in 2010 and immediately went back to school. He graduated in June from the University of Washington with a master’s in intercollegiate athletic leadership. Haven lives in Seattle and has another home in Manitou Springs, Colorado.

’01

Holly Czuba’s photography exhibit, “Rot, Crumble & Creep,” was displayed in the Niche Gallery of the Burgin Center this summer. Christopher Wood’s mother, Erica Brown Wood, passed away May 10, 2011.

’02

Bill Schindler is the play-by-play broadcaster for Na Koa Ikaika Maui, an independent-league baseball team in the North American League. (The team’s

Fall Alumni Weekend

October 14–16, 2011 Visit www.mercersburg.edu/faw for more information!

name means “the Strong Warriors of Maui” in Hawaiian.) Bill continues as co-host of “The Sports Phone” on ESPN 550 in Kahului, Hawaii.

’03

Amisha Gadani lives in Pittsburgh and works at Carnegie Mellon University’s Studio for Creative Inquiry, an interdisciplinary art/biology/ecology/robotics research lab. Amisha has been making animal-inspired kinetic defensive dresses based on the ink-squirting defensive behavior of cephalopods, and the dresses will be shown at the studio’s Pittsburgh Biennial at the Andy Warhol Museum this fall.

Jessica Malone completed 34 miles of the Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim Run (R2R2R) in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, in March. Jessica participated in the event with her mother, Sue, and fellow Mercersburg faculty member Alisa Springman.

’05

Bobby Best graduated from the University of Chicago in 2009. After working with the disabled, Bobby has accepted a full-tuition Bloom Scholarship for the fall 2011 to the West Virginia University College of Law.

M e r c e r s b u r g m a g a z i n e s u mm e r 2 0 1 1

Births/Adoptions Children of Todd Hershey ’88 and his wife, Jennifer: Oliver (2), Jackson (5), Henry (6), and Oscar Campbell (born December 8, 2010).

Emily Gilmer Caldwell ’92 and her husband, Robert, welcomed twins Emma Maclaren and Robert Montgomery May 23, 2011.

Shane Belford ’50 [Mercersburg, spring 2011], enjoyed meeting the Mercersburg contingent visiting his hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland, in March. (L–R): Nick O’Meally ’11, Cameron Rogers ’12, Allen Irving ’12, Paige Summers ’11, James Riford ’14, Belford, Ben Barrows ’14, faculty member/trip leader Marshall Carroll, Connor Weiss ’13.

Yu-Sang, son of J.P. Shim ’95 and his wife, Monica, born April 10, 2011.

Jennifer Powers Hoffman ’96 and her husband, Chris, with their son, George William, born April 16, 2010.

Mackenzie Gwynne has been accepted at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and will enter her first year there this fall. She is a 2009 honors graduate of the College of Charleston.

collegiate lacrosse career with 10 goals and three assists.

Eric Rahauser has been named an assistant men’s basketball coach at Shippensburg University for the 2011–2012 season. Eric has been a member of the men’s basketball coaching staff there for the past two seasons and was a four-year letterwinner at Dickinson College.

Cord Heine gave Penn State Altoona’s baseball team its first-ever NCAA Division III Tournament win; his basesloaded, walk-off double led the Lions to a 3–2 victory over Adrian College in May. Cord helped the team to the 2011 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference title.

Daniel Snyder completed a master’s in journalism at New York University and has been offered a postgraduate fellowship in the culture/entertainment section of The Atlantic in Washington, D.C.

Bryan Morgan composed a selection of music that the Duke University Wind Symphony premiered in April. He was also featured in the May-June 2011 issue of Duke Magazine.

’06 Josh Edgin, a left-handed pitcher and

Jordan Reed, a senior at Dickinson College, earned three first-place medals and set several records at the Centennial Conference swim meet in February at Gettysburg College.

2010 draft pick of the New York Mets, is having a great year in the Mets’ farm system. He was chosen for the South Atlantic League All-Star Team after recording 16 saves and an 0.87 earnedrun average in 24 appearances for the Class A Savannah Sand Gnats. Josh was promoted to the Class A Advanced St. Lucie Mets of the Florida State League in June.

’07

Alexander James, son of Julia Kaufman Nussdorfer ’99 and her husband, Michael, born December 11, 2010.

Gwen Buss, a junior at Lock Haven University, scored three goals in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference lacrosse championship game in which Lock Haven defeated West Chester. Gwen scored 29 goals and added six assists to help the Bald Eagles to a 16–3 record. Megan Dent-Carman, a senior at Frostburg State University, finished her

Adam Fehn graduated from Juniata College in May with a degree in wildlife conservation.

Chuck Roberts is a summer intern for U.S. Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.

’08

Lauren Dobish, a junior outfielder at Bates College, hit .333 with nine doubles and 13 runs batted in for Bates’ softball team. James Finucane is a junior at the University of Pennsylvania, where he holds the school’s top mile time and is No. 5 in Penn indoor history after posting a 4:06.84 at the IC4A Championships at Boston University in March. John Marshall is interning during the summer with Norfolk Southern in Roanoke, Virginia.

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Nominees for Election as Alumni Representatives to the Board of Regents Under the bylaws of Mercersburg’s Board of Regents, up to 10 Regents may be elected annually to three-year terms, including two alumni (known as alumni representatives), who are elected by the alumni-at-large. The nominating committees of the Alumni Council and of the Board of Regents, with the approval of the full membership of the Council and the Board, hereby present Dr. Alan J. Wein ’58 and Gabriel Hammond ’97 for election as alumni representatives to the Board of Regents. This ballot is hereby circulated to all Mercersburg alumni to encourage their full participation in the election process.

Dr. Alan J. Wein ’58 Gladwyne, Pennsylvania

Gabriel A. Hammond ’97 Dallas, Texas

Alan is professor and chair of the division of urology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Health System and chief of urology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of Princeton University, received an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and was awarded an honorary Ph.D. from the University of Patras, Greece. Alan is editor-in-chief of Campbell’s Urology (the gold standard text in the field), and he holds editorial positions for many well respected journals in his field. He has published more than 850 articles and 20 books. Alan has three daughters; his wife, Noele, runs her own business as an asset manager and actively supports the arts in the Philadelphia area. Alan’s brothers, Robert ’64 and Gary ’67, are fellow Mercersburg alumni. Alan was first elected to the Board of Regents in October 2005.

Gabriel is the managing partner of SteelPath Capital Management LLC. He is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University, where he double majored in economics and international relations. Prior to founding SteelPath in 2004, Gabriel covered the broader energy and power sector at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in the firm’s equity research division. Specializing in the Master Limited Partnership (MLP) midstream energy space, Gabriel advised Goldman Sachs Asset Management. SteelPath Capital Management was founded to exclusively focus on investing in energy infrastructure through the emerging midstream energy MLP asset class. Gabriel sits on the board of directors of the National Association of Publicly Traded Partnerships. He is also a member of the board of directors of Semgroup Energy Partners.

BALLOT FOR ELECTION OF ALUMNI REPRESENTATIVES TO THE BOARD OF REGENTS Dr. Alan J. Wein ’58

Gabriel A. Hammond ’97

is proposed for consideration as an Alumni Representative to the Board of Regents.

Name:

Mail to:

Class:

Mary K. Carrasco Secretary to the Board of Regents Mercersburg Academy 300 East Seminary Street Mercersburg, PA 17236

Fax to: Email to:

717-328-6211 carrascom@mercersburg.edu

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Remy Wheat was one of 23 University of Virginia students elected as an Honor Committee representative. The Honor Committee is responsible for the maintenance and administration of the university’s Honor System and conducts honor investigations and trials.

’09

Kiersten Bell, a sophomore swimmer at Kenyon College, was a three-time NCAA Division III All-American this spring. She finished eighth in the mile, ninth in the 500-yard freestyle, and helped Kenyon’s 800 freestyle relay team place third at the Division III national championships. Kiersten is now a five-time All-American just two years into her college career. Jenn Brallier earned first-team all-region lacrosse honors as a sophomore at Bates College. She finished the season with 41 goals, which was among the leaders in the New England Small College Athletic Conference. Ronald MacDonald, an English-Speaking Union Scholar and music student at the University of Edinburgh, was formally accepted to study music for a year at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, as an International Exchange Scholar. Before

beginning studies in Canada, he taught piano and music at Garodia School in Mumbai, India, under the auspices of the British Council and the Worldwide Appreciation of Music Foundation.

Faculty The Skate Park Owner’s Manual, written by Mercersburg faculty member Todd McGuire, was published in August by American Book Publishers of Salt Lake City. Todd, who owned and operated Rain City Skate Park in Seattle for three years, wrote the book to teach others some of the things he learned in the process of founding and operating the business. Todd also blogs about skate park issues at skateparkbusiness. blogspot.com.

Former faculty/ staff/friends Elizabeth George, who was the Acad-

New features & New options A new MyBurg: coming this fall www.mercersburg.edu/podium

emy’s medical director from 1981 to 2005, and her husband, Robert, received the Harriet Lane Award from the Mercersburg Women’s Club in May. The Georges are the parents of three Mercersburg alumni (Ben George ’96, Megan George Herold ’98, and Ann George ’01) and continue to run a family medicine practice in Mercersburg.

Marriages Shelley Maida ’78 to James Hager, December 29, 2010.

The wedding of Peggy Raley ’85 and Sherman Ward, April 30, 2011, in Bethany Beach, Delaware (L–R): Natalie Hopkins ’09, Suzette Raley Hopkins ’81, former faculty member Tim Rockwell, Bonnie Rockwell, Peggy and Sherman, Ellie Burbank, former faculty member Bo Burbank, and faculty members Cindy and Larry Jones.

The wedding of Lauren Molen ’99 and James Adams, March 26, 2011, in Sea Island, Georgia (L–R): Jasen Wright ’99, Cassie Hubbard ’99, Sabina Martinko ’99, Irene Papoutsis Mulkerin ’99, Jimmy and Lauren, Denah Marano D’Annunzio ’99, Sylvia Saracino Koodrich ’99, and Jake Koodrich ’99.

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Obituaries ’27

C. Hardy Oliver, August 21, 2006. (South Cottage, Irving debater, News Board, The Fifteen, Class Historian) Hardy graduated from Yale University and the Yale University School of Architecture. He was an architect and an artist in watercolor and oil painting by avocation. Hardy was preceded in death by his first wife of 56 years, Eleanor McKinnon Oliver, and a brother, Sewall ’26. Survivors included his second wife, Mary Beth Stobes Oliver; two sons; and six grandchildren.

’28

Charles S. Ecker Jr., May 10, 2011. (Keil, Irving) Chuck graduated from Williams College and earned a Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his service in the U.S. Army’s 29th Infantry Division in World War II. He spent more than two decades as field director for the Presbyterian Lay Committee and was active in prison ministry, at a food bank, and in historical efforts. He died little more than a month after his 100th birthday. His wife, Grace Dodds Ecker, preceded him in death; survivors include a daughter and two grandchildren.

’29

Bernard Scott, December 4, 2010. (track) A U.S. Navy veteran, “Scotty” attended the University of Southern California and lived in Sunland, California.

’30

Obituaries ’32

Harry E. Schadt Jr., December 16, 2010. (Irving, Glee Club) A graduate of Washington University, Harry served in World War II as an officer with an anti-aircraft artillery unit in the South Pacific. He returned from the war to Newellton, Louisiana, where for 10 years he managed a family lumber operation. In 1956, he and his family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where he entered the real estate development business. He is survived by two children, two grandchildren, a step-grandchild, and a great-grandchild.

’35

Charles E. Lynch, February 2, 2011. (Marshall, baseball, swimming, French Club) A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Charlie was a lieutenant aboard the USS Pittsburgh in World War II. He was a self-employed farmer in South Carolina, raising cotton, tobacco, and soybeans. He was owner and president of General Warehouse and Storage and McColl Gin Company. Charlie was preceded in death by his wife, Mary McColl Lynch, in 1991. He is survived by two sons, a daughter, seven grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.

’36

John M. Geisel, April 21, 2008. (tennis, French Club) A graduate of Princeton University, John worked in management for Rohm & Haas in Philadelphia, retiring in 1978.

Harry F. Espenscheid, April 2, 2011. (Marshall, Gym Team, tennis) Harry graduated from Dartmouth College and attended Harvard Business School; however, he sought adventure and in 1935 he took off, traveling around the world for two years—mainly by bicycle. He co-owned a dude ranch in Jackson, Wyoming, which he sold when he was drafted into the Navy in World War II. After the war, he bought Gypsum Supply Company, which he expanded to 10 locations in three states. He went to his business office regularly until he was 94 years old. Harry was preceded in death by his wife, Dorothy, in 2007. He is survived by two sons, a daughter, three grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

F. Monroe Smith Jr., June 21, 2011. (Marshall) Bud graduated from Duke University and served as commander of a minesweeper during World War II. He owned Cleanwater Associates, a swimming pool company, retiring in 2007. His wife, Grace Wood Smith, and father, Frank Sr. (1909), preceded him in death. Survivors include two daughters, four grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and a sister.

Phillip R. Ribble, May 22, 2008. Phil enlisted in the Army in 1942 after graduating from the University of North Dakota with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He re-enlisted in the Army in 1952 to serve in the Korean War. He was discharged as a lieutenant colonel and managed several businesses in Minneapolis and Coldwater, Michigan. He retired in 1968 to Coldwater, spending the winter months in Vero Beach, Florida. He is survived by his wife, Helyn, whom he married in 1968, and many nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews.

Albert L. Allen, July 20, 2009. (South Cottage, Irving, Glee Club, Les Copains, News Board, swimming, tennis) A graduate of the University of Virginia, Al served aboard the USS Waller in the South Pacific during World War II. He was recalled to active duty aboard the USS Lewis Hancock in the Korean War. He was president and CEO of Albert L. Allen Company and founder and president of American Sentinel Insurance Company, retiring in 1990. Al was preceded in death by his wife, Betty; survivors include a son, a daughter, and four grandchildren.

’37

’38

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W. Thomas Kelly, March 14, 2011. (South Cottage, Irving, football) Tom attended Penn State University, where he was among the first students to wear the Nittany Lion mascot costume at sporting events. He graduated from Harvard University in 1942 and was commissioned in the Army. After landing on Utah Beach, his unit followed General George Patton’s Third Army, identifying soldiers killed in action and preparing them for burial. After the war, Tom did a year of postgraduate study at Harvard and joined the financial services firm of Towers, Perrin, Forster & Crosby in Philadelphia. In 1962, he established First Investment Annuity Company of America. In addition to his wife of 61 years, Jane MacCabe Kelly, he is survived by a son, three daughters, and eight grandchildren. William B. Straub, August 10, 2010. (Marshall, swimming, Chapel Usher) Bill worked for DuPont for 42 years and lived in Richmond, Virginia. He was the nephew of Vice Admiral Joel T. Boone (1909), one of Mercersburg’s three Medal of Honor recipients. Bill’s wife of 57 years, Geneva Conaway “Connie” Straub, preceded him in death; survivors include three children and three grandchildren.

’41

Robert Ellenstein, October 28, 2010. (Main, Irving debater, Glee Club, Stony Batter, Class Memorial Committee, Chemistry Club, Press Club, swimming, tennis, wrestling, News Board) Robert attended New York University and graduated with a degree in theater from the University of Iowa. He also served in World War II and was wounded in Holland. As an actor and director, he had a long Hollywood resume that began in the late 1950s and included roles in the movies North by Northwest, Brewster’s Millions, and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Among his many television credits are Mission: Impossible; The Wild Wild West; The Rockford Files; CHiPs; Magnum, P.I.; Hawaii Five-O; Murder, She Wrote; and ER. He is survived by Lois, his wife of 58 years; and a daughter, two sons, and four grandchildren. H. Jack Seltzer, February 28, 2011. (Laucks, Irving, Press Club, soccer, wrestling, baseball) Jack joined the Navy and served as a first-class petty officer in the Pacific theater during World War II. After the war, he returned home to Palmyra, Pennsylvania, and re-opened the family business, Seltzer’s Lebanon Bologna Company (which his father founded in 1902). Jack was first elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1957 and served as the state’s Speaker of the House for his final two years in office (1979 and 1980). After retirement, he and his wife, Geneva, moved to Scottsdale, Arizona. Jack and Geneva were married for 65 years. In addition to his wife, Jack is survived by two daughters (including Patty SeltzerWagoner ’78), a son, and four grandchildren. Warren K. Vieth, March 6, 2008. (Main, Marshall, Blue & White Melodians, Glee Club, News Board, baseball, football, track) Warren was a standout football player at Princeton University. He served as a B-25 bomber pilot with the Army Air Force in World War II. Following the war, he was an account executive with the advertising agency of Batten, Barton, Durstine & Osborn, then worked for Morgan-Grampian Publishing Company, from which he retired in 1984 after 23 years. Survivors include a son, a daughter, and three grandchildren.

’42

Sidney Andersen, April 7, 2011. (‘Eighty-eight, Marshall, El Circulo Español, baseball, football, track) Sid graduated from Yale University and Grand Canyon College. He was an Army World War II veteran and an athlete. Throughout his business career, he worked as a purchasing agent, a surveyor’s rodman, and a mechanic. Survivors include his wife, Ann, two sons and two daughters, and four grandsons. Robins P. McIntosh Sr., February 3, 2011. (‘Eighty-eight, Marshall, Stony Batter, track, Press Club, KARUX Board) Rob retired as president of Medical Respiratory Services in Florida, a company he founded after having been a sales representative with Wyeth Laboratories for 25 years. Survivors include his son, Robins Jr. (“Mac”) ’70.

’43

Irvin M. Condon, February 11, 2010. Ernie, a graduate of Duke University, served for 18 months during World War II with the Army’s Third Infantry Division in the European theater. He was retired chairman and CEO of the American Canteen Corporation.

’44

Frank D. Byham, May 20, 2007. (Irving) A veteran of the Army Air Corps, Frank worked for the American Tobacco Company and lived in Durham, North Carolina.

’45

Daniel P. Detwiler, April 9, 2010. (South Cottage, Marshall, Rauchrunde, Concert Band, Football Band) Dan graduated from Swarthmore College and Yale University. He first worked as a project leader in solid-state physics at Franklin Institute Laboratories in Philadelphia. He was a professor at Alfred University and director of research at Wilkes College; he retired in 1995 as professor emeritus from California State University-Bakersfield. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Ann Meckes Detwiler, and second wife, Laura Buck Dennison. Survivors include a son, two daughters, and two grandchildren. Eugene A. Tighe, May 7, 2011. (South Cottage, Marshall, Senior Club vice president, Stony Batter, football, baseball) A graduate of Rutgers University and Rutgers University Law School, Gene served in the Marine Corps during World War II. He also spent two years in the Army, part of that time in Germany during the Korean War. He was a member of the Cole, Koury, Cole & Tighe law firm in Atlantic City, New Jersey, retiring from the firm in 1992. Gene was preceded in death by his wife, Carol. Survivors include three sons, three daughters, and 10 grandchildren.

’46

Richard D. Lemmerman, December 24, 2010. (South Cottage, Marshall, baseball, football, wrestling) Dick earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from Princeton University. He was a member of the Tau Beta Pi Honorary Engineering Society and the Sigma Xi Honorary Research Society. Survivors include his wife, Sara; four daughters and a son; a stepdaughter and stepson; and 12 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

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’48

George A. Bacon Jr., March 13, 2011. (Main, Irving, KARUX Board, Assembly Orchestra, Concert Band, Blue & White Melodians) George was an Army veteran of the Korean War and a graduate of Yale University. He retired in 1995 as president of Traffic Service Bureau. Survivors include his wife of nearly 60 years, Marianne Dapp Bacon; a daughter and son; four grandsons; and a cousin, Ben Harry ’45. His uncle, Fred Harry (1908), preceded him in death. Victor A. Bihl, April 26, 2011. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, El Circulo Español, Chemistry Club, Octet, Glee Club, Varsity Club, Stony Batter, football, track) Vic graduated from Princeton University, where he played football for four years and sang with the Princeton Nassoons. He served aboard the USS New Jersey and was a veteran of the Korean War. After graduating from the Dickinson School of Law, he joined the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office as an assistant district attorney. He later moved into private practice, retiring in 1992 from the firm of Reynolds, Bihl, Wion & Trace. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Suzanne, and a daughter, a sister, and a step-grandson. Survivors include his wife of 27 years, Mary Ann; two sons; four stepchildren; seven grandchildren; seven step-grandchildren; and a step-great-granddaughter. Henry A. Clutz, June 22, 2011. (Marshall, The Fifteen, Cum Laude, Les Copains, soccer, wrestling, Chemistry Club) Henry grew up in Mercersburg (his father, Paul, was a physician in town) and graduated from the California Institute of Technology. In 1957, he moved to Arlington, Texas, and spent 42 years as an engineer for LTV Aerospace & Defense Company. He was the nephew of the late Henry Hartman ’34. Survivors include Renabel, his wife of 58 years; a son and two daughters; brothers Bill ’51 and David ’55; and five grandsons. David M. Long, December 8, 2010. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, Glee Club, Octet, Varsity Club, football, baseball, wrestling) A graduate of Lebanon Valley College and Temple University, Dave was retired from the Marine Corps. He was an administrator at Gettysburg College and Lebanon Valley College and also served as director of development for the Pennsylvania Easter Seals Society. David is survived by his wife, Barbara, two sons, two daughters, and eight grandchildren. Donald P. McLaughlin, July 4, 2010. (’Eighty-eight, Irving, Gun Club, wrestling) Don retired in 1989 as claims manager and executive vice president of Home Mutual Insurance Company in Binghamton, New York. Survivors include his wife, Jane Sullivan McLaughlin; three sons; and several grandchildren. Robert L. Riddle, March 5, 2010. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, Stony Batter secretary, Chapel Usher, football, basketball, swimming, track) Bob was a retired captain and director of fleet operations for Sea-Land Services, and lived in Bucksport, Maine. Survivors include his wife and five children.

Alonzo E. Tull, March 8, 2011. (Keil, Irving, KARUX Board, El Circulo Español, Chapel Usher, Caducean Club, football, baseball, track, Varsity Club) “Lonnie” served in the Army and graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a degree in metallurgical engineering. He spent much of his career in engineering sales with the Air Reduction Company. Survivors include three children, six grandchildren, and his partner of more than 30 years, Nicky Glassman. His father, Honnis ’17, preceded him in death.

’49

John C. Alexander Jr., November 29, 2009. (Main, Irving, KARUX Board, Press Club, tennis) John graduated from the University of Miami. He was preceded in death by his brother, Richard ’50. Robert A. Chichester, February 17, 2010. (Irving, KARUX, track) “Chic” was a retired senior engineering technician for the Colorado Department of Highways. Among his survivors are his wife, Patricia.

’50

C. Norman Murray, May 14, 2011. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, Stony Batter, Glee Club, football, wrestling) Norman graduated from Allegheny College and served three years in the Air Force, after which he graduated from the Dickinson School of Law. He specialized in human resources and OSHA compliance for Corning Glass and Great Northern Paper. Survivors include his wife of 54 years, Laurie MacArthur Murray; two sons and a daughter; and five grandchildren. Robert D. Sheaffer, April 8, 2011. Bob served in the Air Force from 1952 to 1956 and was stationed in Morocco. He retired as senior vice president and treasurer of Hershey National Bank, where he served on the bank’s board of directors. Robert was preceded in death by his wife, Marian Groff Sheaffer, and is survived by a son, a daughter, and three grandchildren. John M. Webb, April 26, 2011. (South Cottage, Irving, News Board, El Circulo Español, Chemistry Club, Caducean Club, baseball, tennis) Jack graduated from Princeton University and the University of Michigan Law School. He was a partner in the Webb Law Firm in Pittsburgh. Survivors include his wife of 57 years, Mary Theresa; three daughters; and 10 grandchildren.

’51

Bruce M. Collion, April 26, 2010. (South Cottage, Irving, swimming) Bruce retired as a sales manager for Rust-Oleum Corporation in Buford, Georgia. Survivors include his wife and two daughters. G. Gary Fuller, June 26, 2010. (Main, Irving, Chemistry Club, Blue & White Melodians, Caducean Club) Gary graduated from the University of Rochester, attended Syracuse University, and earned a degree from Albany Medical College. His internship and residency at Mary Fletcher Hospital in Burlington, Vermont, led to his specialty in radiology. Survivors include a son, a daughter, and three grandchildren. Peter Jenkins, August 30, 2008. (’Eighty-eight, Marshall, football, Varsity Club) Pete graduated from Tufts University and was a sales engineer and an avid golfer. He lived in Charlotte, North Carolina. Survivors include Jan, his wife of 48 years; a daughter and a son; two grandchildren; and two brothers.

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David L. Waring, February 9, 2011. (’Eighty-eight, Irving, Glee Club, Chapel Usher, football, wrestling, Varsity Club) Dave graduated from the Colorado School of Mines and earned an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He spent his career in the iron and steel industry. Survivors include his wife of 54 years, Judith; a daughter and son; and two grandchildren.

’54

Howard A. Knox Jr., January 26, 2011. (South Cottage, Marshall, News Board, Gun Club, football, wrestling) “Skip” earned bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of North Carolina. He practiced criminal and personal injury law from 1962 until his retirement in 2006. He is survived by his wife of 41 years, Lois Cobb Knox; four children; and 16 grandchildren.

’56

William P. Coffin, April 8, 2011. (Main, Marshall, Jurisprudence Society, Radio Club, cross country, varsity track) Bill graduated from Catawba College and the Washington and Lee University School of Law. He was a distinguished attorney and lifelong resident of Easton, Pennsylvania. He was preceded in death by his father, George ’21; his brother, George ’47; his mother; and a son. Survivors include his wife, Margaret; two sons; and four grandchildren. Barry M. Cohen, October 16, 2008. (South Cottage, Irving, News Board, The Fifteen, Laticlavii, Caducean Club, Glee Club) Barry graduated from Duke University and the University of Maryland School of Medicine and practiced internal medicine for 38 years. He is survived by two daughters, four sons, and 11 grandchildren. Walter E. Muir, January 29, 2009. (Keil, Irving, News Board, Lit Board, The Fifteen, Cum Laude, football, basketball, Varsity Club) Following several years in sales and marketing management with the data processing division of IBM, Walt joined Cincom Systems, a Cincinnati company that provided consulting services, systems assistance, and program products to industry, government, and education. Within a few years, he was director of marketing. In the next decade, he founded and served as an executive for several computer-systems companies in California. Survivors include his wife, Vicki, and a son.

’61

William H. Hanks Jr., January 20, 2011. (Main, Marshall, Jurisprudence Society, Caducean Club, Electronics Club, Gun Club, football, track, Varsity Club) Bill attended the University of Virginia and graduated from Johns Hopkins University. He served in the Navy and founded Patamoke Stove Works on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

’62

Steven Brody, February 18, 2011. (Tippetts, Marshall, Senate, Student Council, Class Historian/Poet, The Fifteen, Laticlavii, News Board, football, basketball, golf, Marshal of the Field) A graduate of Yale University and Columbia Business School, Steve worked for several financial firms in New York City, including Dun &

Bradstreet and Standard & Poor’s. He founded Brody Associates in 1978. He was a founding partner or chairman of a number of businesses and helped expand many start-up businesses that relied on him for his financial expertise and his ethics. Survivors include his wife of 42 years, Susan Ritter Brody; two sons, including Jared ’91; a brother (Alan ’64) and a sister; a nephew, Isaac ’99; and a cousin, David ’62. Robert F. Prince Jr., May 30, 2010. Bob was a retired sales representative for U.S. Steel. He is survived by his wife, Ellen; a son and two daughters; and five grandchildren.

’70

Gregg L. Spyridon, March 8, 2011. (Marshall secretary, Discipline Committee, Blue Key, Caducean Club, Jurisprudence Society, Stony Batter, football, swimming, track) Gregg graduated from Vanderbilt University, the University of Mississippi Law Center, and Tulane University School of Law. He was a prominent lawyer and senior partner in the firm of Spyridon, Palermo & Dornan. He was a resident of New Orleans for the past 30 years. Gregg was admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd, 5th, 9th, and 11th circuits, and all state and federal courts in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Survivors include his wife, Donna Parziale Spyridon; a son, daughter, and two stepsons; and his mother, sister, and brother.

’71

M. Nasser Ahari, February 26, 2011. (Marshall, Caducean Club secretary, French Club, News business manager, Stony Batter, fencing, Student Planning Committee, Ski Club) Nasser was an architect at Ahari & Associates in New York City.

G. Russell Knerr III, April 15, 2011. (Irving, dorm prefect, Spanish Club, WMER vice president) A graduate of Bucknell University, Russ earned a master’s from the American Graduate School of International Management in Glendale, Arizona. In addition to his wife, Lynn, and his parents, survivors include a daughter and granddaughter. Ross I. Krummel, February 22, 2011. (Irving, Caducean Club, Kazaki, Jurisprudence Club, WMER, Explorers’ Club, football, wrestling, lacrosse) Ross earned a bachelor’s degree in geology from Brown University. He worked in the oil industry, including two years in Saudi Arabia and two winters on the north slope of Alaska. During the final three years of his professional career, he worked exclusively with organic soil conditioning products. Survivors include his wife, Marilyn; a brother and sister; and several nieces and nephews. Wendell E. Wickerham, February 3, 2009. (Marshall, Stony Batter, News, Press Club, choir) Wendell graduated from Yale University and Washington University and was a principal in the Boston architectural firm of Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott. He was also a keyboard player in SIX, a classic-rock cover band. Survivors include his wife, Michele; a son and daughter; and a cousin, Earl ’84. He was preceded in death by his father, William ’42, and two uncles, Earl ’39 and John ’39.

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’74

W. McMichael Jones, February 14, 2011. (Marshall, Gun Club, Gourmet Club, golf) A graduate of George Washington University, Mike began a successful career selling newsprint ink for Sun Chemical. He left the company to launch his own ink-recycling firm, 3R, which had manufacturing hubs in Maryland, Texas, and Illinois. He also founded a second company, Wastebusters. Survivors include a son, daughter, sister, and brother.

’76

Forrest G. Astarita, June 26, 2007. A graduate of Fordham University with a degree in biology/chemistry, Forrest was an ordained minister in the International Metaphysical Ministry. He is survived by two sons, his mother, and a brother.

Nelson K. Boatner, September 4, 2008.

’81 ’83

David A. Hales, August 5, 2010. (golf) Dave worked as a private investigator and lived in Warrenton, Virginia.

Former faculty/staff/friends Maye C. Fisher, February 21, 2011. For many years, Maye was a receptionist and secretary in Traylor Hall at Mercersburg. Among her survivors are three sons (including Ronald ’63 and Randy ’67) and a daughter, seven grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

Dieter Goldkuhle, stained-glass artisan and restorer of several windows in the Irvine Memorial Chapel, March 9, 2011. [page 5] James L. Malone, father of faculty member Jim Malone, father-inlaw of faculty member Sue Malone, and grandfather of Molly ’01 and Jessica ’03, April 12, 2011. Betty M. Moats, May 14, 2011. Betty began her 45-year career with the G.C. Murphy Company in 1949 at its store on the square in Mercersburg. She was one of the first female managers in the company’s history, holding that position from 1974 until her retirement in 1994. Over the years she offered encouragement, guidance, and support to Mercersburg students who were away from home for the first time. She attended many Commencements and supported Mercersburg teams with her cowbell and homemade cookies. For many alumni, she was a cheering section of one. Nina Klemenok Schwartz, mother of the late Marilyn Larson (former academic dean), mother-in-law of faculty member Ray Larson, and grandfather of Kit Larson ’97, Ben Larson ’01, and Greg Larson ’06, June 17, 2011. John F. Urbanski, father of staff member Susan Simar and father-inlaw of faculty member Ron Simar, April 25, 2011. John was a retired Marine Corps sergeant major, having participated in the landing and seizure of Peleliu Island and Okinawa in the Pacific theater in World War II. He also fought in the assault and seizure of Inchon and the capture and securing of Seoul in the Korean War. In addition to his daughter and son-in-law, he is survived by a son, five grandchildren (including Matthew Simar ’86, Seton Simar-Moritz ’90, and Eric Mercer ’91), and four great-grandchildren.

My Say

M e r c e r s b u r g m a g a z i n e s u mm e r 2 0 1 1

As I write this in August 2011, the 10th anniversary of the

September 11 attacks is less than a month away. It is hard for one not to ask, “Where were you on September 11, 2001?” All of us were witnesses and impacted in some way by the worst terrorist attack on American soil. By Peter Banzhaf ’02

I was a senior at Mercersburg and it was the beginning of the school year. That day, I was downstairs in Ford Hall reading the newspaper and getting ready to head off to class. As I started for the door, I saw everyone heading over to the television in disbelief. Curious as to what was going on, I walked over and saw the first tower engulfed in flames just as second plane hit. That day, faculty member Trini Hoffman was giving a campus tour to several architects who were designing the preliminary stages of what became the Burgin Center for the Arts. It was deathly quiet as we gathered around the TV, and I remember someone asking the architects if they were from New York City and where their offices were located. One of the men walked up to the TV and pointed to his office building on the screen directly below the burning towers as the first one fell. I suppose every generation has a tragic public event that stands apart and sticks out in the mind. For my parents it was “where were you when Kennedy was shot?” For my grandparents it was “where were you when Pearl Harbor was hit?” I don’t like the theory of reoccurring tragedies, because they are horrible events and it implies that there will be something else for the next generation. However, it’s hard not to wonder where you were during these pivotal moments in time. 9/11 is that moment for my generation. If you had asked me what I would be doing 10 years from that moment, I don’t think “helping to rebuild the World Trade Center” would have been the answer. Mercersburg gave me a strong foundation of ethics, morals, education, and character. Through the lessons I learned at Mercersburg and my life’s travels, I now find myself working in construction management in New York at the World Trade Center. As a construction manager, it is my job to procure work through a bidding process, estimate the cost, manage the construction activities, and close out the project on time and on budget. This past year I was handed a set of drawings for the new Welcome Center for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center. In this market, competition is fierce for a multi-million dollar project like this, and even though I bid the project against eight other qualified companies, I was awarded the contract.

Now, with a month left, everything is coming together. We are painting the walls, cleaning the floors, and getting the space ready for turnover on time and on budget. My hope is that our nation never forgets these tragic events and that the emotion they engender will help the next generation build a brighter future, free from tragedies like 9/11. A graduate of the University of Denver, Peter Banzhaf ’02 is a project manager for Hunter Roberts Construction Group. He is a LEED accredited professional in building design and construction (LEED AP BD+C). The Welcome Center for the National September 11 Memorial at the World Trade Center is located at 90 West Street (across Liberty Street from the WTC site in Lower Manhattan) and opened on the 10th anniversary of the attacks; the memorial’s museum is scheduled for a September 2012 opening. For more information, visit 911memorial.org.

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