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Alumni Association Awards
Alice Paul Merit Award: Sarah Feyerherm ’82 Fosters Community and Inclusion at Washington College and Beyond
Washington College (MD) Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students Sarah Feyerherm ’82 accepted the Alice Paul Merit Award from Head of School Julia de la Torre on Alumni Weekend. Sarah has spent her career helping to foster community and inclusion, both on her campus and throughout the world of collegiate athletics, as a member of the Board of Managers of the NCAA’s largest division, Division III.
As Chair of the LGBTQ Subcommitttee of the Committee on Women’s Athletics, Minority Interests and Opportunities, she helped to craft the NCAA’s first official guide to sexual orientation and athletics in 2013, which sought to create a more inclusive environment for gay, lesbian and transgender college athletes. The guide was the first of its kind, and offered everything from accurate terminology and guidelines for coaches of a student in the process of coming out, to tips on how to handle dating between teammates.
She has also served as vice chair of the overall NCAA Committee on Women in Athletics. There is a clear throughline from her experience at MFS to her current role at Washington College; where during the pandemic she and the college provost co-taught a course on ethics and sports.
Prior to her work in student affairs, Sarah was the Assistant Director of Athletics and Head Field Hockey Coach at the College. Sarah also has served on the Board of Directors of the Kent County (Maryland) United Way since 2015, and is its current Vice Chair.
Sarah is an alumna of Hamilton College, where she was a standout three-sport scholar-athlete, graduating as the first woman to score 1,000 points in basketball at the college, and as the college’s then all-time leading field hockey scorer. She later earned an M.S. in Sport Management from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and an Ed.D. in Innovation and Leadership from Wilmington University.
Sarah’s mother, Miriam Feyerherm, is a past recipient of the Alumni Association’s Alice Paul Merit Award. Sarah has stayed engaged with the school, currently serves on the Head’s Council, and was a co-founder of the Floss Brudon Endowment for Coaching.
Below are Sarah’s poignant acceptance remarks to the audience at the Dessert Among Friends on Alumni Weekend.
“In the rare moments of silence and peace - which have been hard to come by these past two years - I sometimes reflect on why helping young adults – particularly those who feel alone or out of place because they feel different – has become the thread that runs through the entire course of my career and life.
“I used to wonder if there was one defining moment or experience – maybe one person who flipped the switch for me and made me want to work in places where young people grow, develop, and find themselves. But recently what’s become clear is that it isn’t just one moment or one individual. It’s all of it. It’s this school, my friends – my classmates who are here tonight, my teachers (Mary Williams and Louise Morgan), my coaches, my family.
“And I learned that it is not in one experience either. I learned and absorbed the ethics of care, respect, and belonging in the MFS hallways -- before class started or between classes, on the basketball court and the field hockey and lacrosse fields. I learned it in English class (especially Mary’s and Louise’s), I learned it as an elementary school student from teachers like Jackie Hockenbury – and my third grade teacher – my mom. The lessons became part of my DNA in art class, Intensive Learning, service projects --- and I learned it every day growing up in the house that Alice Paul once called home.
“When I first became aware, as a young teen, who Alice Paul was, what she stood for, and how incredibly lucky I was to inhabit the same spaces she did as a child, I had no idea that her legacy of working tirelessly for the rights of those who didn’t have them would have any impact on my life once I left home.
“In my current role, I enjoy an immense privilege every day to help create an environment where ALL of our students can thrive and feel a sense of belonging and importance. I am particularly blessed to be able to focus on those environments where students both struggle and persevere, encounter both frustration and joy. It is no straight path for them. Or any of us.
“But it is those spaces – the rehearsal rooms, the residence hall lounges, the student government senate meetings, and of course, the playing fields, courts, and other places where they are part of a team and learn what it means to be borne up by the
“To know even one life has breathed easier because you lived, this is to have succeeded” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
support of teammates as well as the satisfaction of knowing you have helped a teammate who needs your support.
“After I graduated from MFS, college felt a lot less safe to me. But I found refuge with my college basketball teammates and coaches and was steadied by the foundation of care and support I had at MFS that helped me navigate some difficult times.
“When I was in 10th grade, my advisor and teacher Tom Smith wrote a humorous version of the school’s daily bulletin and noted that I was self-selected for the ’least likely to succeed’ award. I had a lot of doubt in myself back then! But the word ‘success’ and what it means has been a constant in my life. A while back my mom gave me a poster printed by the Fellowship of Reconciliation that includes Emerson’s well known quote that ends ‘To know even one life has breathed easier because you lived, this is to have succeeded.’ That poster sits up above my computer in my office at work and serves as a constant reminder to me.
Top Right: Sarah Feyerherm (pictured on the lacrosse field in 1982) was a 1982 Herm Magee award winner and went on to be a three-sport student-athlete at Hamilton College. Bottom: Washington College (MD) Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students Sarah Feyerherm ’82 chats with students on the Chestertown campus.
Service Award: Lynne Brick and Marge Dawson Help Maintain Bonds with Former Faculty and Staff
Retired Lower and Middle School Quaker Educator Lynne Brick and retired Second Grade Teacher Marge Dawson jointly received the Alumni Association Service Award for their dedicated, continuing contributions to maintaining relationships with former faculty and staff members and the school. They were presented with the award on Alumni Weekend by Lower/ Middle School Computers Teacher and Assistant to the Director of Technology Lisa Thomas Martin ’84.
Lynne and Marge (along with the late former math teacher Neil Hartman) came up with the idea of adding a Former Faculty/ Staff Reunion to the Alumni Weekend program in 2014. It has become one of the most beloved Alumni Weekend features, for both returning former faculty, staff, and administrators, and for alumni who greatly enjoy reconnecting with their teachers. They have also been generous with their time in signing letters and writing personal notes to their colleagues inviting them to come back – and each year the attendance has grown. The program even continued in 2021 with a Zoom gathering on the Virtual Alumni Weekend in the midst of the pandemic.
Both members of the Consecutive Years Giving Society, Lynne and Marge have unhesitatingly agreed to write solicitation letters for the Annual Fund adding a personal, peer-to-peer touch which inspires many former colleagues to continue to give to the school they know so well.
Lynne served as a Quaker educator from 1994 to 2013, helping to instill Quaker values to a wide age-range of children, from three-year-old preschoolers to sixth graders. She is remembered for introducing students to the idea of sitting together in silent worship, and for stressing the importance of kindness with her story-telling skills and the I-Care-Cat. She also played a leading role in the development of the 2004 Strategic Plan’s Examined Life Program, part of the school’s commitment to being more intentional about its Quaker dimension.
Marge joined the Lower School in 1988, and retired in 2009. Along with fellow Second Grade Teacher Hazel Edwards, she helped to introduce the Second Grade’s Violin Program. Marge was also known for the Quaker Studies unit she developed, which included visits to local Meeting Houses.
Lynne and Marge together have strengthened the tradition of departed teachers and staff staying more closely connected to each other and to the school community, which is a lasting gift.
Call for 2023 Alumni Awards Nominations
The MFS Alumni Association warmly welcomes nominations for the Association’s annual awards slate. If you would like to nominate a fellow alum, or in the case of the Service Award, an alum, alumni parent, or teacher, the process is easy. You can find an online nomination form on the MFS website under the Alumni tab at the top of the landing page. Criteria for the awards and lists of past recipients can also be found there. You also may contact Associate Director of Development Beth Stouffer, at bstouffer@mfriends.org and she will assist you.
The Awards Program was established in 2000, when the first Service Award was conferred on the late teacher and coach Floss Brudon. Award nominations are considered by a representative national committee clerked by MFS Trustee and Alumni Association Executive Committee member Haley Coles Driscoll ’86. Traditionally, the awards have been presented at the Dinner Among Friends, which opens Alumni Weekend in May. In addition to the Service Award, the Alice Paul Merit Award is given for lifetime achievement, and the Young Alumni Award recognizes outstanding alums on or before their 15th MFS reunion.
Young Alumni Award: Briana Pressey Ellerbe ’07, Ph.D. Studies Children’s Media - Representation and Impact
Briana Pressey Ellerbe ’07 (on screen) accepted her Young Alumni Award virtually while her parents Myles and Linda Pressey accepted in person from Science Teacher Tina Corsey.
Briana Pressey Ellerbe ’07 accepted the Young Alumni Award virtually on Alumni Weekend for her scholarly work focusing on children’s media as a potential tool for education and social justice, racial representations in media, and community engaged research. Her parents Myles and Linda Pressey accepted the award in person. This summer she earned her Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Southern California (USC) Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism. She also earned an M.A. from USC in Communication.
After taking several MFS Upper School electives such as “Diversity in Media,” “Children’s Literature,” and “Diversity & Justice,” Briana completed her B.A. at the University of Pennsylvania in Communication and Cinema Studies with a minor in Africana Studies. From Penn, Briana went on to Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she earned her Ed.M. with a concentration in Technology, Innovation and Education.
She launched her career in children’s media studies at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center in New York City, the Sesame Street Workshop’s independent research and innovation lab, advancing from Research Assistant, to Coordinator, to Manager. She worked primarily on the Families and Media Project, doing research with families in East Harlem to highlight the innovative ways that they incorporate technology into their lives and learning arrangements, and helping to translate those findings for media producers and educators. She moved to Los Angeles in 2016 to pursue her doctorate, dedicating herself to understanding the role of media within the larger contexts of children and their families - particularly in marginalized groups.
In her acceptance remarks, she cited a number of MFS influences and connections, specifically Science Teacher Tina Corsey and retired Director of Diversity and Inclusion and Spanish Teacher Karen Washington. “I am thankful to so many MFS teachers for your dedication to your students.”
She then relayed to the audience a poignant story that cites how she values her MFS education:
“Recently, when I was doing some research for an article I was writing, I opened up a book by James C. Scott - a professor and a scholar (Yale University Sterling Professor of Political Science and Professor of Anthropology) whom I embarrassingly had no idea was also an MFS alum (Class of 1954). I found out when I read the dedication in the first pages of his book that simply said, ‘For Moorestown Friends School.’ I felt honored reading this dedication, as I felt I had insider knowledge as to why he would dedicate his work to the school that I’m sure had an indelible impact on his life. Namely, one of the beautiful things about MFS - something that impacted me so strongly in my time there - is that it is a community that instills in you a care and love for others…To see the best in others, and to use whatever has been placed in your hands - whether that is an education, a resource, or an interest in something - to help others.”
She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Keith Ellerbe and their two children.
Young Alumni Award: Andrew Bernard ’07 Has Traveled the World To Advance Anthropological Research
Andrew Bernard ’07 (on screen) accepted his Young Alumni Award virtually while his mother, retired MFS Math Teacher Kathi Bernard and father Barry Bernard accepted in person from Alumni Association President Sarah Lynn Geiger ’05.
Andrew Bernard ’07 was presented virtually at Alumni Weekend with the 2022 Young Alumni Award for his adventurous and important work as an anthropologist. Andrew is completing his Ph.D. in anthropology at the University of Michigan. His areas of interest and research include primatology, conservation biology, climate change biology, tropical ecology and biological anthropology. The question that frames Andrew’s dissertation research is, how is climate change going to affect primates, who - like humans - are long-lived, socially complex and generally adaptable? Will they move, modify their behavior or even adapt in place?
During 12th grade, Andrew took “Honors Environmental Science” and an elective about Modern Africa, and did his Senior Project at the Pinelands Preservation Alliance - planting seeds for his environmental consciousness, as he headed off to study at Bates College.
“All community members of primary and secondary schools will never be given enough credit for the essential role they play in developing people as learners capable of conceiving new ways of thinking, and I’m happy I have an opportunity here to thank MFS for the instrumental role it played in helping me become the learner that I am,” said Andrew.
Andrew’s world travels began during his junior year in college, when he journeyed to Tanzania, studying coastal ecology and natural resource management. Later as a field biologist, he lived in Santiago, Chile for several months studying the common degu (also known as the brush-tailed rat), and then moved on to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to work with conservation biologists who were helping to create a national park. There, he conducted bird surveys, and cut and measured new trails to search for bonobos. He also studied chimpanzees at Kibale National Park in western Uganda.
In 2018, with funding from The Leakey Foundation, Andrew and two local research assistants lived in the remote montane forest of Gunung Palung National Park in West Kalimantan, in Indonesian Borneo, documenting their observation of numerous primates, including macaques, red-leaf monkeys, white-bearded gibbons and Bornean orangutans.
Andrew reflected on the importance of his field: “I’ve come to realize, through theory and experience, paraphrasing the words of anthropologist Wade Davis, that anthropology is essential because it allows us to look beneath the surface of things. The very existence of other ways of being, other ways that people think, other visions of human life itself.”
Andrew, who resides in Ann Arbor, MI, has co-authored 11 published scholarly articles. He is the lead author of “Assessing the state of knowledge of contemporary climate change and primates,” which appeared in the journal Evolutionary Anthropology in 2020, and was based on his research in Indonesia.
