Connecting

“We always have interesting conversations around the table,” said Ms. Butler, who previously led the Philadelphia group of Ancients and served on a panel that nominated people for Alumnae Board positions. “We have people who are in politics and lawyers and physicians and all sorts of very different folks who make the dinner conversation very diverse. There’s always a weaving in of Porter’s experiences.”

Bhutan native Jamyang Penjor ’08 was living in Brussels, Belgium, and working on an MBA last year when she decided to host a virtual Worldwide Sit-Down Dinner for the first time. The three other participants were all in the United States, ranging in class years from 1978 to 2015.

“Even though we had never met, there was an atmosphere of trust because of our time at Porter’s,” said Ms. Penjor, noting that the Zoom dinner went on for two hours. “No matter where we were or what we were doing, everyone seemed to be very aware of what’s happening in the world. Everyone’s doing something to contribute and help out in their own way. Now, having a daughter and thinking about what I want for her, it makes me want to make sure she has the opportunity if she wants to to go to a place like Porter’s.”

Alysa Auriemma ’03, who has taught English at Porter’s since 2018, describes the alumnae network as being “like a secret society that everyone’s a part of. The difference is there’s automatically a sense of being there for everyone. I know that I could text anybody from my class about anything, and I’d probably hear back from them pretty quickly.”

Fatimah Finney ’06 had no intention of being a published creative writer. The clinical mental health counselor and intercultural competence consultant was scrolling through the Ancients of Color Facebook page in 2021 when she saw a post by novelist Darien Hsu Gee ’87. Ms. Gee was looking for people of color to contribute micro essays to an anthology called “Nonwhite and Women,” which was published in 2022.

“I was at a place in my life where I hadn’t done any writing in a long time,” said Ms. Finney, who lives in South Orange, New Jersey. “I felt my life was too serious, and when was I going to get back to doing some fun things?” So she wrote the essay in the week before the deadline, and it was accepted two months later. It is an example of “how

Porter’s even on a random Facebook scroll could really change my life in a meaningful way because I’m an author now,” she said. “That’s pretty cool.”

When attorney Ayanna Butler ’99 was moving from Bloomfield, Connecticut, to Washington, D.C., in the fall of 2015, she asked the Alumnae & Development Office for a list of Ancients who lived in the District. She promptly invited about 20 of them, along with spouses and partners, to a “Friendsgiving” that has become an annual event cohosted with Ancient Kate Boisture Pippert ’96. She said she got the idea from fellow Ancient and former Alumnae Board Co-President Kate Osterman ’97, who had hosted Friendsgiving dinners when she lived in D.C.

Rachel McGrath ’09 is a senior principal systems engineer at Pratt & Whitney in East Hartford, Connecticut. She began hosting Miss Porter’s interns because she had enjoyed the tutoring she was able to do early in her career and because she wanted to contribute to the school.

“It seemed like something that I would have thought was cool when I was in high school and I didn’t have the opportunity for,” she said.

A senior-year internship at Porter’s turned into a paying gig for Rishitha Talluri ’22, a freshman at the University of Michigan who works six hours a week creating social media content for Pasito, a financial technology company co-founded by Pauline Roteta ’07.

“When I was at Porter’s freshman to junior years, I didn’t see how the alumnae network could help, but doing the internship and connecting with Pauline, I really saw how powerful the Ancient network could be,” she said. “I had this instant connection. And now, at Michigan, there are two juniors and three seniors from Porter’s who have been really helpful, helping me figure out my path.”

Maggie Garczynski Johndrow ’06 is a financial advisor and managing partner at Johndrow Wealth Management in Westport and West Hartford, Connecticut. She has served as a class rep, hosted Worldwide Sit-Down Dinners, led online seminars for fellow Ancients and mentored Porter’s interns. “Giving back to Porter’s is my top extracurricular activity,” she said. “I just love our alumnae network because everyone just genuinely wants to see the other person succeed.”

That network helped her find a new employee a few years ago. After she posted a job to the Miss Porter’s School Facebook group, a member of the class of 2014 applied and was hired. “It certainly helped to know she was a Porter’s alumna,” said Ms. Johndrow. “You know the work ethic that’s instilled at Miss Porter’s.”

Sometimes the learning is very personal. Every year, a panel of Ancients returns to Farmington for “Imagining Life,” an event where they meet with the senior class and have frank discussions about the paths their lives have taken after Porter’s. Endowed in memory of Obidimma Olga Ibimina Okobi ’94, this is “an opportunity to think about life as it really exists,” explained Christine Pina, Porter’s chief advancement officer. “It’s not all roses and bon bons. It can be all kinds of things. But the thing that will be a constant for our graduates is change and innovation, and they have to be ready to adapt. That’s why the alumnae network will be so important to them.”

“When I was at Porter’s freshman to junior years, I didn’t see how the alumnae network could help, but doing the internship and connecting with Pauline, I really saw how powerful the Ancient network could be.”

RISHITHA TALLURI ’22 Social Media Intern, Pasito

Some Porter’s alumnae are making their impact on the world by returning to Farmington, working in a variety of roles to help Porter’s grow and evolve through the generations.

When Lauren Melman, MD ’97 was at Porter’s, the school doctor was an older man, and the girls often had to go off campus to consult with him. Now she’s the school doctor and medical director, the Colgate Wellness Center sees most students on campus for their health care needs, and, she says, “We have made a lot of changes to keep up with what health care means for young women today.”

That means more mental health counseling and support, increased access to women’s reproductive health care and an emphasis on wellness. “We’re teaching our students to be their own health care advocates,” she said. “We’re impressing on them the importance of wellness, which is really important in a world where there’s a lot of stress.”

Director of Counseling Amanda Kice ’93 came back to Farmington in 2014. “I’m really proud of how far we’ve come in our department,” said the licensed social worker.

“When I started, it felt like we were doing good work with counseling, but now it feels like there’s a schoolwide interest and desire to have as much information about mental health as possible seeing it as a positive, a way we can really thrive and do well in all areas of our life.”

Ms. Kice and the department’s two other counselors have integrated themselves into all aspects of school life, serving as chaperones on international trips, helping out with sports and creating a relaxation room in the wellness center where students can unwind between classes. “When I think about being a student here 30 years ago, it is so different now, being open about mental health,” Ms. Kice said. “Our students today are grappling with a great deal of things that are so important and essential to their development in a healthy and productive way with supportive adults at Porter’s and at home.”

Associate Director of Admission Maya Silva Thompson ’17 said being an Ancient informs every aspect of her job. Being able to tell prospective students that it wasn’t so long ago that she was in their position is an icebreaker during interviews, and being Black empowers families of color to ask about her four years in Farmington. Back then, she said, “I felt a responsibility to educate adults and my peers about things that were going on, but now there’s an overall sense that it’s everyone’s responsibility to educate themselves especially the adults in the community. There’s so much more support, in my opinion, for students of every different background, whether it’s racial or religious or sexual identity.”

The 2022 graduation ceremony was dedicated to Assistant Director of Alumnae and Parent Engagement Kaitlin Faticoni ’07, who was honored for her positivity, humor and kindness traits the seniors got to see up close because she serves as a dorm affiliate for Humphrey Dorm.

Ms. Faticoni brings those same personal qualities to her work with Ancients, especially with those who have felt disengaged. “How do we repair the harm that has been done?” she asked. “How do we show Ancients that we’re doing the necessary work to fix some of the things that caused them to feel they don’t belong? There are actionable steps being taken to make sure that when we say we want to be an anti-racist institution, that this is happening.”

English teacher Alysa Auriemma ’03 looks back on the teachers who inspired her as a student and strives to emulate them. “If the students know you’re there for them, the difference is palpable. The tone is different, the energy is different I aspire to that kind of impact,” she said. Being an Ancient is valuable in other ways, too. “It really informs my job. I am able to understand the way that life is here, when there’s a no-homework night because of a tradition or a program,” she said, noting that “school life now is really not that different, but at the same time everything’s different. There’s so much more focus on the learning that’s happening and also on supporting every learner.”

“When I started, it felt like we were doing good work with counseling, but now it feels like there’s a schoolwide interest and desire to have as much information about mental health as possible—seeing it as a positive, a way we can really thrive and do well in all areas of our life.”

AMANDA KICE

Director of Counseling