NA Outreach Spring 2005

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Phone: 973.992.7000

Fax: 973.992.8962

www.newarka.edu

E-mail: outreach@newarka.edu

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outreach SPRING2005

Elizabeth Penney Riegelman Head of School

Charles E. Henshall Director of Institutional Advancement

EDITOR

Debra W. Marr Director of Communications

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Blackwood ParlinPaul Krieger ’73

Pegeen GalvinNancy McGaughan Meghan Verdon

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

William D. Green ’69Gerald Lustig ChairmanVice Chairman

David G. Hardin ’73Julianne Rose Vice ChairmanSecretary

Lynda BaccoliPamela Huttenberg

Mumtaz Bari BrownWayne D. Kent ’85

Harris M. Cohen ’83Ernest W. Loesser

Anne EssnerJoseph McGrath ’81

Randy FrankelJonathan D. Olesky ’74

David N.W. GrantRichard Redmond ’77

Pam Grodman Elizabeth Penney Riegelman

Nancy Baird Harwood ’75John B. Rubinstein ’64

Amir HashemiAndrew Senchak

Noreen HassanJeffrey J. Silverman ’82

Emeriti

Louis V. Aronson II ’41John L. McGraw ’49

Paul Busse ’38 Robert S. Puder ’38

William D. Hardin ’44William T. Wachenfeld ’44

ALUMNI BOARD OF GOVERNORS

Harris M. Cohen ’83 President

Leo M. Gordon ’69 Vice President

Scott N. Newman ’73 Recording Secretary

Betsy Dollinger Bernstein ’86Richard Rapp ’71

Margery Gering Feinberg ’78Jed Rosenthal ’93

Leslie Abney Ford ’74Amanda H. Rubinstein ’97

Kim S. Hirsh ’80Lisa Shah ’98

Ian Josloff ’90Richard Slutsker ’52

Jane Florin Langendorff ’80 Van Stevens ’65

Andrew J. Mulvihill ’81Richard Szuch ’80

Pamela Helfant Vichengrad ’94

Emeriti

J. Richard Beltram ’41William C.H. Stroh III ’48

Richard M. Watson ’50

GRAPHIC DESIGN

Abbie Moore Design

PHOTOGRAPHY

Andrea BrizziRobyn Craig

Outreach is a publication for Newark Academy alumni.

Published by the Office of Institutional Advancement

Newark Academy, 91 South Orange Avenue Livingston, New Jersey 07039

Telephone: (973) 992-7000, Fax (973) 992-8962

E-mail: outreach@newarka.edu; Website: www.newarka.edu

Readers’ comments are encouraged; please send them to the editor at the postal or e-mail address above.

FROM THE President of the Board of Governors

I have always believed that Newark Academy is an outstanding school; however, during my last 10 years as a member, and now as president of the Newark Academy Board of Governors, I have come to appreciate an institution that has grown even stronger and more capable than the one I graduated from in 1983, and one that is always striving to be better

Currently, the Academy’s board of governors is comprised of 18 graduates, from the 1950s through the 1990s. The creativity and energy of this board has engaged alumni throughout the country in a variety of ways. This year, the annual Reunion dinner was moved to the fall to coincide with NA’s Homecoming activities. Combining these two special events has brought together all facets of the Newark Academy community: alumni, students, parents and faculty. More than 270 people attended the event, the highest participation in a decade. In addition, alumni receptions have taken place in Boston, Washington, Los Angeles and Philadelphia, promoting networking opportunities and rekindling relationships within the Newark Academy family. The leadership of the members of the board of governors has also contributed to the growth of the Minuteman Golf Invitational. Last year’s event raised more than $50,000 to benefit the Academy.

The governors, in conjunction with the Academy’s administration, have also spearheaded new initiatives to better serve the interests of the alumni. A constituent relations committee was created which will focus on the various modes of communication – print publications, the website, and e-mail cor respondence. This issue of Outreach includes a self-addressed card for you to fill out with your current e-mail address so that the alumni office can keep you apprised of important information and events. Please complete the card and send it back as soon as possible.

Also of note, Newark Academy has formally launched a special initiative to increase the endowment from $7 million to $20 million by the end of 2006. This campaign is designed to secure the Academy’s financial future by providing permanent funds for academic program enhancements, faculty support and student financial aid.

I am hopeful that the Newark Academy community, past and present, will embrace the efforts of the board of governors to strengthen our connection to alumni. We hope you will avail yourselves of opportunities to be involved and engaged in the development of the NA of the future. We look forward to your participation and to reaching out to you.

Harris M. Cohen

Perspectives FROM THE Head of School

Charting the life of an institution carries the same challenges each of us faces in shaping a productive and interesting life over our adult decades. We strive to preserve the best of the present, to honor our heritage and, at the same time, to predict how we can best adjust to the changing conditions of the future.

During the course of the next year, the Academy will gather perspectives on its future from all constituencies. We are particularly interested in hearing from you, as your collective views of what will distinguish a great school in the next 20 or 50 years are informed by such an extraordinary range of expertise and experience. For example, the discussion which led us to replace German with Mandarin Chinese was initiated by alumni who felt strongly that we must acknowledge the growing importance of China in the world. Similarly, we have had invaluable advice in revising our science curriculum to include fundamentals of biotechnology. More wide ranging perspectives on the Academy’s future have included the school’s responsibility to its surrounding community, possibilities for financing faculty housing in an increasingly expensive market and methods of communication within and between constituencies.

Elizabeth P. Riegelman

As we look to the future, we need the benefit of your wisdom and experience! ALUMNI ADVICEFOR THESTRATEGICPLAN

Please send your thoughts to me at school, either by mail or by e-mail to priegelman@newarka.edu by April 20.

Here are some areas to consider:

What must we preserve in the culture and function of the school? What must we consider in assessing the challenges of the future? What developments do you anticipate for which Newark Academy graduates must be prepared?

CONVOCATION

SEPTEMBER 10, 2004

Never, Ever...Give Up!

ERIC SUMNER ’73

HEADOF SCHOOL ELIZABETH PENNEY RIEGELMAN

LEDTHEOPENINGCEREMONYON SEPTEMBER 10

INTHE ROSE AUDITORIUMAT NEWARK ACADEMY, WELCOMINGSTUDENTSTOANEWACADEMICYEAR.

Students and faculty were also greeted by William Green ’69, chairman of the board of trustees; Harris Cohen ’83, president of the alumni association; Pam Grodman, president of the parents association; and Eva Olesky, school council president. Each speaker, in turn, welcomed visiting Fulbright Exchange Administrator, Benjawon Kraiwutthinundh of Thailand, and presented her with a gift.

The convocation address was delivered by Eric Sumner ’73, founding chief technology officer for Lucent’s Network Systems and former CEO of a software provider for voice-over IP and presencebased communications. Sumner engaged the student community with a keynote speech and Power Point demonstration that centered on the theme of resilience

His talk began in typical fashion, but when he took out a frying pan, a tennis ball and an egg, he grabbed everyone’s attention. He threw the ball into the pan first, then the egg, all to illustrate his point: When life hits you with something incredibly hard – you can either bounce back or fall to pieces. He urged, “Be a person of action in the face of misfortune. Be a person who moves, acts, creates, and explores ” Sumner exhorted the group to stand and repeat the phrase out loud: Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever give up!

Sumner’s presentation was not only inspirational and humorous, but truly memorable!

Homecoming

OCTOBER 16, 2004

The sun eventually peeked through the clouds and shone on a wonderful day filled with games, food, friendship and fun. Newark Academy welcomed alumni back with a special lunch and treated them to victories on the soccer fields, and a valiant effort by the football team in their return as a varsity program. Alumni from as far back as the Class of 1944 made the trip to Livingston to see Newark Academy in action and cap off the enthusiasm generated by the student body during the preceding Spirit Week. There were clowns, magicians and face painters on hand for alumni children, as well as school tours to reacquaint their parents with their beloved NA. Despite the autumn chill in the air, the feeling on campus could not have been warmer.

The Ride of Your Life

LIFELESSONSTHROUGH“SERVICE” AT NA

by Pegeen Galvin

WHEN I REFLECTUPON “SERVICE” AT NEWARK ACADEMY, a famous story from the college I attended immediately comes to mind. In the early 19th century, a group of young men, presumably on their way to class, were caught in an intense thunderstorm. They hid under a nearby haystack, hoping to evade the lightning strikes around them. They prayed and vowed that they would dedicate their lives to “service” to peoples in lands across the seas if God spared them. And so the American Foreign Missions had its beginning.

The Power of Students

Phyllis Rothschild ’84 Launches the Community Service Program at NA

Isearched my memory for just such a moment at Newark Academy and I found one, though smaller and less dramatic. The setting is different: it’s the late 20th century in the city of Newark, and I am driving a group of about 15 students in one of those truncated, yellow school buses past the projects. We are returning from a Christmas event: NA students had run the arts and crafts table at a party for about 50 needy children in the basement of an old church. I overhear two students talking in the back about how this small gathering just wasn’t enough, how these children had so little and deserved more. Wasn’t there a way NA could have a full-fledged party complete with Santa and elves, entertainment, presents of food and clothes and toys, arts-and-crafts stations, dancing and celebrating? And

so, because of one shared idea, in a single moment on the back of that bus, one of our great school traditions (certainly the one that has made the most children smile), the Newark Academy Holiday Party, was born.

Of course, great ideas give rise to great ideas, and this one would not have been possible if it had not been for the brainchild of one student: Phyllis Rothschild ’84. As a senior, Phyllis made the community service program happen at Newark Academy. While attending a youth leadership seminar with Bill Bradley, then-governor of New Jersey, Phyllis learned about the idea of community service. Why not bring community service to Newark Academy? And so she did. What Phyllis taught me in my second year of teaching was the power of students, or

more specifically, the power of one student with an idea –and the receptiveness of this community to that idea. It impressed me enough to stay another 20 years (still here!) and although I couldn’t know at 23 years old that I would become dean of students, it has informed my work in that role. No idea is too small, no student too young. Anyone can make a difference. In fact, if you think about it, in the 20 years since Phyllis graduated, Newark Academy students have volunteered more than 200,000 hours, a staggering contribution all traceable to one single person. I even remember Phyllis presenting her idea at a curriculum committee meeting – a shining-faced young woman with a vision. Oh, the committee members (primarily adults) threw all kinds of queries and questions in her direction: Would a requirement sully the intentions of true volunteerism? Was it truly related to Newark Academy’s mission? Would students resist? How could such an enormous program work? The skepticism abounded, but Phyllis kept to her idea: community service could be a great part of Newark Academy.

It is, however, inaccurate to say that Phyllis made this happen alone. In fact, Phyllis found a faculty champion in Betty Newman. And there I learned yet another lesson for school: kids need champions, someone who will believe in them when they have an idea, find all the places and the people who need to hear, stand by them when they present, develop, and implement those ideas, keep the idea going after they graduate. Betty Newman did just that and provided a role model for all of us who work with young people.

One of the best relationships that Betty developed for Newark Academy was the relationship with Protestant Community Centers, Inc. (P.C.C.I.), a social service agency based in Newark that strives to help the neediest of families. Through P.C.C.I., Newark Academy became a tutoring site for third graders from Newark with NA students providing weekly one-on-one tutoring sessions; later NA became the host for the annual S.C.E.E.P. Olympics for all 250 of the students who attend these tutoring sites around the area. These programs strengthened our commitment to community service and continue to this day. Although not all such programs continue, some of them occurred at just the right time for those in need. One such program was the Cook-A-Thon, where Newark Academy students prepared a full meal for several hundred people in our school kitchen and transported the food one night at the end of each month (when welfare assistance would run out and food pantries were empty) to a P.C.C.I. location. Yes, it was begun by one student with a culinary idea: Michael Hung ’95. One year we even had a student purported to be a princess from Turkey, with her baseball

cap on backwards, smiling and serving the homeless and the hungry. The food was warm and nourishing, but the way Newark Academy kids reached out was not only heartening to those who needed the food, but to me as well. Once again the power of one person was strong.

Of course, there is always the danger of noblesse oblige: the obligation to give from the “stronger” to the “weaker.” Perhaps this is a real danger with adults, I don’t know, but I have never felt or witnessed any sense of superiority from students. In fact, more often than not, students have impressed me with their understanding of how easily any one of us could have traded places by some random chance of birth. One of the most powerful students I have known taught us just that lesson. Rasheea Williams ’95 commuted daily to Newark Academy from the

Betty Newman: A Faculty Champion

Stella

NAHoliday Party

Betty Newman with a group of student volunteers

NA Volunteers for Habitat for Humanity

Wright Homes in Newark. Rather than being embittered by the plenty that surrounded her at school in Livingston, she set out to help those around her at home in Newark. Rasheea addressed the student body at a morning meeting explaining how she wanted to help the people in her own neighborhood. Because of her eloquence, she motivated others to get involved in a significant way through community service. Rasheea recently confided that her childhood home had been razed. She explained, “Having grown up in a housing project in Newark, I saw a lot of suffering and I can remember from a very early age wanting to help people who were in pain or need. It was all I could do to give my time to show how thankful I was to be as blessed as I was. Volunteering brought me joy and helped me forget my own issues.”

School Council Boosts Level of Service

As amazing and dominant as the community service program is at NA, service isn’t solely limited to this, now more formalized, program. In fact, amazing kinds of service often emerge just because a group of students want to do the “right thing.” On a retreat to Sedge Island, the school council of 2002 worked on the usual council events, planned primarily to support school spirit and to create a fun community for play as well as study. However, that year was different. A beloved teacher and friend, Carole Heaney, had died from breast cancer over the summer. As students remembered her with tears in their eyes, the five senior officers developed an idea: Why should the school council limit itself to spirit functions? Why shouldn’t the school council take on a mission to raise money to fight breast cancer? There were the usual reservations, but then the ideas flowed and eventually led to a yearlong effort: eight beautiful quilts commemorating the lives of those lost to breast cancer; all-school Jeans Days; a Pink Tie Ball; and a Walk-A-Thon, culminating in the presentation of an $11,000 check to the Susan B. Komen Foundation. Advances in breast cancer esearch have been furthered through the contributions of the Newark Academy school council and community.

Service oriented efforts have continued to be the hallmark of the school council. In addition to the countless hours organizing everything from Spirit

Week to Winter Schminter – and cleaning up afterward (a very special kind of service), council members in the ensuing years have performed various kinds of service, all from wanting to do “the right thing.” The council of 2003 helped to sponsor a gay-straight alliance after The Laramie Project was performed on campus. Members of the council understood how difficult it would be for a solo student to start such a group, so they decided as a council to begin the alliance on behalf of all the students, gay and straight, who might benefit from just such a group. A number of alumni have told me that they find it heartening to know that we are not only advocating diversity, but moving toward accepting all people for who they are.

This year, another school council group, led by some remarkable individuals, decided to move beyond the “cruise director” role of the council, yet again, and chose to host a 5-K Run for charity. The focus of that charitable effort hit very close to home. The senior class president, Jason Cali ’05, addressed the student body about a disease called Fibrodisplaysia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP) that afflicts his younger brother, Ian, and about 1,200 people worldwide. Because of the statistical rarity of the condition, a small number of families, including the Calis, work together to funda research facility at the University of Pennsylvania. This was to be Newark Academy’s first 5-K Run, the dream of school council president Eva Olesky ’05. The event was opento the outside community and was advertised to runners’ groups in the area. The outpouring of giving that resulted was enormous! Fifteen businesses sponsored the run (several of which were directly connected to Newark Academy); more than 150 runners participated in the event (complete with race numbers, course liners and timers); and more than 60 students (including the entire football team) volunteered in all areas of the pre-race preparations as well as the day itself. At the start of the race, it was clear that we had raised

more than $10,000, fulfilling our hopes and exceeding our dreams. Tears of joy really did flow at the registration table: kids were crying, parents were crying, okay, I was crying. And here is the next lesson I learned: individuals

are powerful and when powerful individuals band together as a group, the good they can do is extraordinary. They can provide a service that can change people’s lives.

Charity at Home and Beyond

When I was growing up in Boston in the 1970s,I became painfully aware of the plight of children around the world, particularly in the famine struck region of Biafra. Even today, the images of children with swollen bellies holding out wooden bowls remain in my mind. I would ask my mother what we could do, and she would tell me that charity begins here at home. I remember being infuriated by the truism and confused by her complacency. I knew she was a very good person, why was she not more concerned? After being at Newark Academy for all these years, I’m starting to understand a little better why she was so insistent about our immediate care of each other. For one thing, I’m not sure she had any model for service beyond the home, but more importantly, she understood that children learn to give from a sense that there is plenty, not only plenty of the material kind, but plenty of love, concern, and support. Because of that sense, people within a community – a family or school, or a town or global village – give to each other freely and understand how much they have to give, yet another life lesson.

And so, in many ways, charity does begin here at NA. Within the brick walls of our own small school, the concept of service thrives. Over 20 years old, the Minuteman Society, which began as a Key Club, has involved a cadre of student volunteers who understand, better than I did as a high school student, that giving starts right here, right now. From helping run lines to stuffing envelopes, from sending out admission packets to ushering in the auditorium, these volunteers spend over 500 hours a term of their own time to help the school. There is another very special type of service group we call simply “The Techies.” Nothing would happen

without their incredible support; they seem to be omnipresent. They light up the building, make sound possible, and get the technology up and running. I am also impressed by how willing all students, both current and graduated, are to help, no matter who needs the help or what task needs to be done.

So often I see a student who volunteers many of his or her own hours in school in myriad ways also volunteering in several community service activities out of school. This doesn’t just appear to be a high school, multi-activity phenomenon. So many alumni continue their involvement beyond our walls. As Chloe Miller ’94 explains, “Volunteering became a part of my life, like going to museums or reading the newspaper.” At Newark Academy, she was a S.C.E.E.P. tutor and a Food Bank volunteer Later, in college, she worked with a local AIDS/HIV organization and at a hospital in Florence during her junior year abroad. Now in graduate school, Chloe works with Literacy Volunteers of America. When she e-mailed me, she was just off to meet two of her students for a pizza celebration. Other alumni come back to their hometowns during breaks and vacations to “ride with the squad” on those midnight to six a.m. shifts for local First Aid teams. Phyllis Rothschild Golnick now volunteers at her childrens’ schools, runs a women’s initiative program through the Mercer Management Consulting firm, where she is a partner/director, and is newly involved with her husband in a business importing Asian goods. For their new store, Red River Trading Co., in South Boston, they try to source merchandise from art cooperatives and small, poor villages to help local, struggling economies. They also are contributing 100 percent of revenues to the tsunami relief effort.

A S.C.E.E.P. tutoring session

The 2004–2005 Student Council’s 5-K Run to benefit the Ian Cali Fund for FOPresearch was a record-breaking success.

In the most recent half-decade, much of the focus here at Newark Academy has been on understanding our role as part of the global community. It is interesting to note that in the area of service, Newark Academy’s global orientation has evolved naturally. Not mandated but certainly supported, students have gravitated toward service to those in need around the world. Once again, that has been largely because of the vision of individual students. As part of a service program, Lara Samet ’01 worked with the gypsies –or more precisely, the “Roma” – in Romania. Seeing the illiteracy and poverty of the Roma children and experiencing their sense of hopelessness about the future made Lara want to commit herself to helping them in a significant way. In her applications to law schools, she has been searching for a program that is focused not on corporate careers, but on global responsibility. Elisabeth Sherman ’02 helped launch and run the Make-A-Wish Club during her time at Newark Academy (a very special service granting wishes to terminally ill children). In college, she has become involved in a program in Belorusse where she met with villagers and helped to research local history through the restoration of Jewish cemeteries. Today, I am particularly proud to note that Newark Academy may be one of the few, if not the only, private school with two antislavery clubs, both started by students, Alex Beecher ’07 and Gillian Javetski ’07, who believe that they must help. The Free-the-Children Club focuses on many issues including child slavery, while the American Anti-Slavery group concentrates their efforts solely on slavery issues for adults and children, both national and international. This latter group invited Francis Bok, a 20-year-old escaped Sudanese slave, to speak to our full community. To date, both groups have raised funds to free slaves and help children around the world.

The Depth and Breadth of the Experience

Another faculty “champion,” Judi Dougherty, director of community service and advisor for the student community service council, understands that in the community service process, we often get much more than we give, not because the outpouring of generosity is not there, but because we learn about ourselves. Having grown up in the Midwest, Judi was disturbed by the racism, or more precisely, the racial divisions she experienced. As a young, advanced equestrian, she was once rescued by a black groomsman who prevented her horse from crushing her. She was not, however, encouraged to befriend him. Working closely with P.C.C.I., she has been instrumental in reaching across that divide. She remembersone student telling her that she “didn’t know people actually lived there [in Newark].” Certainly, community service broadens our sometimes narrow, provincial experience beyond the bedroom communities of the suburbs.

The range of experience in all kinds of service varies widely, however. Not all experiences are eye-opening or life-changing. Kwame Ivery ’89, gives some of his years of community service “the Tepid Trophy.” A soon-to-bepublished novelist (his book is currently being considered by several publishers), his hours of community service in the local library involved shelving books. Although he found the job somewhat mechanical, he was surrounded by books so he was like “a kid in a candy store.” He still has the “Excellent Service” certificate he received from the librarians. Even more important, as a senior, Kwame performed in a very special play called Inner Circle, directed by Scott Jacoby, about a young teenager with A.I.D.S. who experiences intense discrimination at his school. Performing the play in local schools as part of community service involved sharing knowledge about the facts surrounding A.I.D.S. and the pain of the individuals afflicted.

Kwame remembers his first meeting with an A.I.D.S. patient named Michael. As Kwame describes it, “One of the proudest moments in my life was the moment after the performance when Michael came up to me, shook my hand, looked me in the eyes and told me that I convincingly conveyed the anger that he often felt.” He advises students to choose their community service well. “If you pick something that’s prosaic and by-the-numbers, then you’re going to be underwhelmed,” said Kwame. “But if you participate in something that relates to what you’re passionate about, then you’re in for the ride of your life.”

Changing Perspectives

For many years, there was a small club at Newark Academy called “The Bridge,” a cross-grade, multi-talented group of performers who entertained at local nursing homes and schools for the disabled. When I first became dean of students in 1992, I remember encouraging this group by finding faculty advisors and chaperones, working with different leaders to navigate complicated schedules, and encouraging them to continue even when finding common rehearsal and performance time was frustrating.

Fast forward to 2004, and I’m driving another school vehicle, this time a white Chevy van, filled with musicians who call themselves the Amphions Club after the “god of music.” The new leader, Michaela Tolpin ’06, has stepped forward and launched a reincarnation of the Bridge Club. We are en route to the nursing home where my mother now lives. She had lived with my family for eight years, but her Alzheimer’s had been advancing and she needed round-the-clock care. The musicians entertain the patients well and bravely, since it is difficult to perform for an audience that is somewhat unresponsive. I can, however, see enjoyment and appreciation in some of their faces. My mother is actually sitting dead-center in the front row, eyes wide. In the last set, she decides to perform as well, singing a duet with Jamal Gorrick ’05 rather loudly, definitely out-of-tune, but with all the right words. Jamal looks unnerved for a split second, then he relaxes into it and sings “Oh, When the Saints Go Marching In” faceto-face with my mom. She put it best afterward, when she kept repeating, “Those kids are wonderful.” How your perspective changes when it is those you love who have needs that Newark Academy students fill so wonderfully Now I understand much more deeply how the library Sarah Marcus ’06 started for the Senior Center in Summit, and the Cyberseniors program launched by Grant Pitel ’01 affect people who just might be as close as your own mother.

In the process of writing these somewhat random reflections, I know I’ve left out some critical program or person because this is not meant to be a history of “service” at Newark Academy. Writing that book would be a great boon to the school – is there a volunteer out there?

I could write an entire article based solely on the new initiatives from students just in the past year. Still, I trust that all the Santas, the elves, the performers, the

volunteers, the student leaders, the faculty champions know who they are and that none of them did any of these “good works” for any sort of extended credit, but simply for the sake of the service itself. None seemed to need a life-threatening storm to motivate them although surely the response to others threatened around the world, especially those affected by the tsunami and earthquake disasters in South East Asia, has been heartening. I know that through watching all the kinds of service performed over the years, I’ve learned many lessons about the power of kids and teachers, the commitment of this school and the families, the ways people help from the local levels to the global, and the ways life conspires to have the young teach the old. I think of the laughter of the children at the Holiday Party, of the impassioned plea for someone to help Francis Bok as an enslaved eleven-year-old, of the off-key singing of my mother. The perennial question, “Can one person really make a difference?” or, put more solipsistically, “Can I make a difference?” has been resoundingly answered by many students here over the past two decades: You absolutely can and you absolutely must!

The annual S.C.E.E.P. Olympics event at NA

The Cyberseniors Program pairs students with seniors eager to develop computer skills

Helping Others toScore

CASSIE COGGESHALL ’05

EMBARKS ON A SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNEY

by Meghan Verdon

When students think of summer vacation, images of traveling, barbeques, and long lazy days of idle time usually come to mind. Time away from the demands of the classroom is often used to earn extra money through a summer job, pursue a specific interest through an internship or simply enjoy some “down” time. Then there are those who choose to spend the summer months helping others through becoming counselors, coaches, and teachers. Cassie Coggeshall made the decision to do just that. Last summer, she traveled to South Africa to teach soccer to girls at the Ithuteng Trust School in Soweto, leaving behind the barbeques and beaches for an inspirational journey that would leave a lifelong impression.

children and teenagers were left on their own as orphans or had broken homes with no supervision or guidance and no government program to help them in their time of need. In 1999, Maarohanye convinced then President Nelson Mendela to inaugurate the Crime Prevention Youth Development Program of the Ithuteng Trust. The school now works to assist “at-risk youth” with life skills and educational opportunities, as well as provide them with a sense of love, discipline, responsibility and respect.

In March 2004, Cassie’s mother, Alexandra Christy, traveled to South Africa for business. There, she met and developed a relationship with Mama Jackey Maarohanye, director of the Ithuteng (pronounced To-teng) Trust School, and like Cassie, formed an instant bond with the students and faculty. Mama Jackey, as Cassie likes to call her, embraced the idea of Cassie coming to the school to teach soccer to her students. Upon hearing the news at the dinner table, on the night of her mother’s return to the United States, Cassie seized the opportunity that was presented to her with great enthusiasm.

The Ithuteng Trust School was founded by Mama Jackey Maarohanye in 1990 and was originally a program dedicated to helping adult domestic workers. However, after extensive dealings with the local prisons, Maarohanye discovered that there was a growing and alarming trend of criminal behavior among the young. Due to political violence, extreme poverty and AIDS tragedies, many

In the days prior to Cassie leaving for her monthlong stay in South Africa, she encountered many people wishing her well and offering her advice to stay safe. Since nearly every conversation she had with friends and family ended in “Have fun, be safe,” Cassie began to grow concerned. “I had no idea what to expect,” she said. “I understood the necessity of taking precautions to be safe and I was aware of the tragedies that the students had to deal with such as AIDS, rape and violence, but my own safety was something I didn’t think about until so many people made that statement to me.” Fear of the unknown began to settle in.

The apprehension dissipated, though, within hours of Cassie’s arrival in South Africa.“I originally thought people would stare and question my intentions for being there. I thought they might have a preconceived notion about me, but I have never felt more welcomed in my life. Their expressions and glances were from curiosity and kindness, rather than distrust,” she marveled.

Cassie quickly settled into her daily routine at the Ithuteng Trust and found her place among the group of 15 to 21

year-old-girls to whom she would be teaching soccer. She made her home with Mama Jackey’s family outside of the school grounds and was driven to the school each morning by Mama Jackey’s daughter. Mornings were spent helping the students with their project of building a “cultural village” on the grounds of the school. The village consisted of a group of thatched huts which were made to represent different tribes and regions, and a gazebo built in the center to be used for performances. The work period was followed by lunch and a three-hour session of soccer.

Evenings were filled with scrimmages, which included the participation of male students. “At first I was one of the only females who would stay around to play,” said Cassie. “After the days and weeks went by, more and more of the female students became involved and were cycled into the scrimmages. It was great to see their confidence rising and to have them feel better about participating.” Such an accomplishment for a teacher is something beyond compare.

When asked to recall some of the most outstanding parts of the trip, a smile spread wide across Cassie’s face, suggesting that there were far too many to share. After spending a moment to ponder the question, she shared one of the most memorable days she has ever had:

The group returned to the school that evening, the students having just partaken in a celebration that is commonplace to them, and Cassie having just experienced the thrill of a lifetime.

Before embarking on the trip to South Africa, Cassie was able to collect a substantial sum of donations from her family and friends. This enabled her to purchase soccer clothing and equipment for her students. These items (t-shirts, shin guards, soccer balls, and cones) would not have been available to them had it not been for her visit. With the surplus of donations they were also able to purchase a trailer for the school to be used for transporting sports equipment, theatrical equipment,and field supplies, among other things.

“The day we went to the Apartheid Museum, we left early and walked to the train station where we caught a train that resembled a subway trainin New York City, only above ground. After a long ride we reached our stop and then had to walk miles to the museum. Spending the day with the students in this museum, where so much of their family history was exhibited, was unbelievable. Many of their parents had experienced the atrocities of Apartheid and many of the students were orphaned as a result. After spending the entire day at the museum we boarded the train for the ride back to Ithuteng. The train was crowded – filled with our students as well as with many older men and women. One of the older men started to chant, sing, and clap and many of the other passengers joined in. After just a few moments, the entire train was engulfed in this amazing rhythmic and spiritual celebration. It was like nothing I had ever seen or felt before; even the older women were drumming on the sides of the train!”

Cassie remembers the sadness she felt upon leaving South Africa to return to her home in New Jersey. “I cried the entire plane ride home,” she recalled. “I had become a part of their family and community and didn’t want to leave such a positive and vibrant place. They had taught me so much about pure happiness that I didn’t want to leave it behind.” Once back in the United States, it took Cassie a little while to assimilate back into her normal routine. “I took a little time and somewhat removed myself from my friends and family. I needed a chance to collect my thoughts and emotions from my experience in South Africa in order to adjust back into the life I left here. It was such a wonderful experience that I just needed some time to reflect upon it and appreciate it,” Cassie explained.

As the school year starts to wind down and Cassie is closer to starting her next adventure, college, she thinks back to the many things she learned from Mama Jackey, the students of Ithuteng Trust and the people of Soweto.

“Everyone was always smiling, happy and kind, no matter what their situation. They were so generous to me and provided me with such a vibrant and healthy perspective. I never heard a complaint about anything the entire time I was there and people were always willing to share whatever they had.” Cassie hopes to return to South Africa to visit with the school and students again. Until then, she keeps in touch with them through phone calls and letters.

“They just called to wish me a Happy New Year! It was great to talk to everyone and hear their voices. Their smiles and kindness will stay with me forever.”

Faculty Focus

As reported in the last issue of Outreach, Middle School Principal Joe Ball spent six weeks in Thailand last summer observing Thai culture, customs, and institutions through the Fulbright Administrator Exchange Program. His exchange partner, Benjawon Kraiwutthinundh, was, in turn, welcomed by the NA community for a six-week visit in the U.S. In addition to participating in life at the Academy, “Mrs. Benjawon” visited area schools (charter, independent and public). As an administrator of a high school in Thailand with 2,200 students, the cultural exchangewas invaluable for all involved.

Richard DiBianca, principal of the upper school, has been asked to edit one of a series of books to be produced by Craig Thorn of Andover School. The working title of the book (which will include articles by seven different authors) is Global Education: Getting Young People to Take Their Education Beyond the Classroom . DiBianca also published an article entitled “Values Education in a Multicultural School” in the book, Looking Ahead: Independent School Issues and Answers (Avocus Publishing, Inc).

Liz Daniels will travel to Namibia, Africa this summer to educate people on the topic of HIV/AIDS, working through the organization World Teach out of Harvard University. After a week of training and cultural immersion, she will work primarily in rural school districts for the first six weeks. In addition to providing instruction and awareness about HIV/AIDS, she will help to update, and in some cases introduce, computer technology. The final two weeks will be spent traveling from village to village to further adult understanding of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Sandy Palmer co-authored an article that is featured in The Bulletin of Marine Science. The article is entitled “Age, Growth and Reproduction of the Red Snapper, Lutjanus Campechanus, from the Atlantic Waters of the Southeastern United States.” The article can be viewed in its entirety by visiting www.rsmas.miami.edu/bms.

Marquis Scott, faculty technology trainer and diversity coordinator, was invited to take part in the Martin Luther King Day celebration at The Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut on January 17. The theme of the event was: Viewing the World Through Human Eyes … Human I’s … Humanize. Marquis led a workshop on “Diversity in Private Schools” and facilitated a discussion group.

Bill Blomn, Caroline DiTullio and Kathleen Sigrist received master’s degrees in December.

Kirsti Morin and Neil Stourton welcomed the birth of their daughter, Eleni Stourton Morin, on Valentine’s Day.

The McGraw Gallery at Newark Academy recently featured the superb works of former faculty member Paul Aspell and his wife, Irene. Handmade quilts and unique ceramic pieces were on display throughout the month of November.Of course, the best part was a chance to catch up with “Spell” at the artists’ reception.Paul is currently enjoying life on the Eastern shore of Maryland.

Former faculty member Tim Blackbur n lives and teaches in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and is the proud father of little Nicholas.

RECOGNITION

At fall convocation, the following faculty members were honored for exemplary achievement, high academic standards and dedication to their students:

Nomination Form 2005-2006

The Catherine Lynham Academic Chair is open to all members of the current Newark Academy faculty who are full-time classroom teachers. It honors a member of the faculty for high academic standards, exemplary practice in teaching, and interest in the personal development of students.

We invite all members of the Newark Academycommunity to nominate faculty for this honor.The recipient will be selected from among the nominees and will be named at Fall Convocation.

Nomination of:

Comments:

Nominated by:

Amy Emelianoff and Kirsti Morin

Lydia Masterson

Tom Ashburn and David Pasquale

Benson Hawk and Scott Johnson

Bill Blaskopf and Jeff Kacur

Middle School Principal Joe Ball and Benjawon Kraiwutthinundh

Paul Aspell returned to NA for a day

Nicholas, son of Tim Blackburn

NANight School

NA Night School was held on three separate evenings this year and was well attended by alumni, parents and friends of the NA community.

Here’s a small sampling of some of the course offerings:

Navigating eBay

Ever wanted to buy or sell using eBay? This class showed you how to get started. Taught by Jason Frey, Coordinator of Technology

Crime Scene Investigation

Who done it? In this class, a murder was solved and class members participated in a crime scene investigation. Taught by Deb Tavares, Science Department Chair

Wine Tasting 101

Everything you wanted to know about wine but were afraid to ask! Taught by Jeff Silverman ’82

Wildlife Care: Successes and Failures

Have you ever wondered how oil spills affect wildlife and ecological systems?Have you thought about what it takes to remove oil from a contaminated animal or whether it makes a difference to their survival?

Is it worth the estimated hundreds of dollars to care for one bird? This class tackled these issues, leading to discussions about the successes and failures of wildlife care. Taught by Dr. Scott Newman ’83, Conservation Medicine Specialist, The Wildlife Trust

Rabbits, Fibonacci Numbers, and The DaVinci Code

Were you fascinated by The DaVinci Code? Does the book refer to phi correctly, and where exactly do the Fibonacci numbers occur in nature?

Class participants learned more about the numbers that lead to phi and the ratio of the Golden Mean. Taught by Bill Blaskopf, Math Department Chair

If you would like to share your talents and interests as a teacher of a class for one of the upcoming sessions, please call Nancy McGaughan in the Alumni Office, (973) 992-7000, ext. 367.

THE SPORTS REPORT Sound Body, Sound Mind

For students and faculty alike, The Danco Family Fitness Center is the perfect place to go to escape the stresses of daily life, pursue physical and mental wellness, and develop the competitive edge.

Easily one of the most popular places in the entire building during the school year, the Danco Family Fitness Center welcomes visitors each day from dawn until dark. A dedicated group of faculty members and administrators regularly assemble in the facility for an early workout soon after the school building opens at 6 a.m., and they are followed throughout the day by others from the school community who are passionate about aerobic, endurance, flexibility and/or strength training. During the summer months, when school is not in session, a special schedule allows alumni to also take advantage of the center.

An integral part of the original design for the Simon Family Field House, the fitness center was made possible by a generous gift from Tom Danco ’71. In his senior year at NA, Danco captained the varsity basketball team and was a defensive stalwart at third base for Coach Bruno Tomaino’s varsity baseball squad. He currently resides in the Los Angeles area.

Since opening its doors in 2001, the Danco Family Fitness Center has been systematically transformed into a state-of-the art facility under the direction of Physical

Education Department Chair Jeff Kacur and Athletic Trainer Glen DePino. An avid fitness enthusiast himself, DePino uses the center extensively for rehabilitation of sports injuries. “The array of equipment and machines we have at our disposal allows me to customize a program for an injured student-athlete that will not only fast-track his or her recovery and return to the playing field, but also produce a higher overall level of conditioning.”

On average, anywhere from 100-250 members of the school community make a stop in the fitness center each day. For Strength and Conditioning Coach Donald Dougherty, who joined the NA staff in November and oversees the after-school and summer programs, the consistent turnout is a testament to the quality of the facility. “This is a clear example of ‘If you build it, they will come,’” he says, “and I think that most people here realize that the fitness center is not something that should be taken for granted.”

To be sure, having a facility like the Danco Family Fitness Center in-house is a benefit that is not lost on many of the regular users. “I often wonder if I would be able to work out as frequently as I do now if my only option was to join a gym or program on the outside,” confides music teacher Julie Madison Jacoby. “The proximity and convenience of the fitness center certainly make it a lot easier to make an exercise routine part of my daily schedule.”

Whether you come as a teacher or a student, we welcome your participation! Check the website for course offerings and schedules. www.newarka.edu For athletic news, sports schedules and scores, please visit the Newark Academy website at www.newarka.edu

Several years ago, Peter and Margie Gering Feinberg, members of the Newark Academy Class of 1978, made a generous contribution to the school’s endowment to establish the “Feinberg Family MulticulturalAwareness Program Fund.” On January 20, 2005, the value of the fund to the school community was on full display as the Academy sponsored the Global Simulation Workshop, an interactive game developed by American educator and inventor Richard Buckminster Fuller. Facilitated by O.S. Earth, the workshop exposed NA students to the political, economic and social challenges facing the world today. The event was covered by a reporter from The Star-Ledger, and the following story appeared the next day in the Essex County edition.

THESTAR-LEDGER

Global game puts world, its woes, in their hands

BY KATIE WANG

Keshav Poddar was a popular guy yesterday at the Newark Academy in Livingston.

Standing in the school gym, he was surrounded by a group of anxious classmates who wanted to win him over for the betterment of the world.

Their simulated world, that is. Poddar, 12, was playing the role of a health official in a three-hour global simulation game at the school yesterday mor ning. The

game split the 550 students into five parallel universes, which were further subdivided into regions of the world.

The regions included Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Russia, China, India and North America.

The students were given the challenge of running their countries while dealing with issues such as health care, education, human rights and the environment. The students had to work to acquire

those resources, symbolized by cards and pokerlike chips, by making trades and curr ying favors with officials such as Poddar.

As they collected the resources, their power increased and they moved up the ladder of global power. Some traded for long-term benefits for the masses, while others were more power and money hungry.

“We are dedicated to giving our students a global perspective, and we’re trying to give them the con-

cept of responsibility,” said Penney Riegelman, head of the school. The company behind the global simulation game, O.S. Earth, has also run the game at a host of colleges and universities and other public and private schools. The game costs between $2,800 to $8,000 depending on the number of participants.

Pegeen Galvin, dean of students, said the game is a good way to merge current events in the world into classroom instruction.

“The kids are talking about (the tsunami) and have we done enough and are we spending too much on the inauguration,” said Galvin. “These questions are on their mind.”

But it isn’t easy running the world, as the Newark Academy students quickly learned.

The school gymnasium floor looked and sounded more like the trading floor on Wall Street, with students brokering trades andflinging cards about. Bells chimed repeatedly, signaling when another region had advanced up the socalled wealth meter measuring their success.

The game started out diplomatically for the most part, but the bargaining and jockeying turned more aggressive as the game came to an end.

Poddar and another teammate, Kyle Ostroff, 13, were especially tough when it came to doling out health care resources to different teams.

Tony Argibay, an eighth-grader, experienced this first hand.Argibay tried to bargain for a health card for his team, Japan, by offering two of his chips.

The offer was well short of the six-chip minimum.

“No!” screamed Poddar, turning

Argibay away. “Because we’re charging six chips for a health card.”

This rankled Argibay, who decided to drop a few names of his allies. “We’ve got China on our side,” he shouted back. “We’ll squish you like a bug. We’re Japan!”

During breaks in the games, the different groups reported their progress. In most cases, North America, Europe and Japan were the power houses while Africa and the Middle East lagged.

Representatives from those regions complained that no one wanted to trade with them.

Nicole Friend, a sixth-grader

from Summit and trade representative of Europe, said she plannedto help Africa after she acquired enough money for Europe.

“We’re going to try to help them once we accomplish our own achievements,” she vowed.

But cards, chips and money aside, students said the game taught them valuable lessons about negotiation, interdependency and how the world works.

“It’s the whole world trying to work together,” said Rebecca Ellis, 12, of West Orange.

HEROES Has Their Releve nce

by Paul Krieger ’73

Much has been written about heroes and role models over the past few years. With the plethora of flawed and fallen national figures – be they politicians, pro-athletes, business leaders, or celebrities – the current climate is ripe for a reevaluation of what we have traditionally considered appropriate heroes for young people. If you asked ten young people to define the word “hero,” you might well get eleven different criteria.

Traditionally, heroes were public figures, which included presidents, soldiers, and writers; these were the warrior-males that dominated the dreamy landscape of teenaged boys. There were also leaders of great causes, such as Horace Mann, Martin Luther King, General Eisenhower, Teddy Roosevelt, and Ibn-Saud, all of whom left their mark on their respective societies. After working with young people for nearly 20 years, I am not sure that these traditional heroes are their heroes of today. What passes for heroes now may seem more watered down than those of the past who exemplified courage, persistence, and intestinal fortitude. Today’s celebrity culture honors form rather than substance, flash and sizzle rather than humility and dignity. There is a wider breadth of acceptance today for young people as to who and what will pass the test for hero and role model. And this is not necessarily a bad thing. Today’s current stockpile of heroes is not encumbered or limited by race, ethnicity, religion, background, or gender. Certainly the feminist movement

of the 1970s allowed young American women access to all educational and professional arenas but also encouraged them to dream their own dreams and follow their chosen heroes or heroines.

However, the simple fact that the criteria for role models have been expanded and subsequently made more inclusive does not mandate that we summarily reduce the qualities, behavior, or characteristics required in being effective transmitters of time-tested values and morals. For generations young men and women have been well served in attempting to emulate heroes, which then aided them in surviving times of prosperity as well as cataclysmic events.

Celebrity Culture

“Be careful what you wish for,” the old adage goes. We live in an age of unceasing information. The media’s presence is everywhere, in our homes, our schools, our places of work; there are even cafés for the passing pedestrian to stop by and check his or her e-mail for no apparent reason.We are fast becoming a voyeuristic society obsessed with sexuality, fame, and intimate facts about clearly ordinary people. Celebrities used to complain about the public “invading” their privacy; now it is the rich and famous who invade our living rooms with a needy willingness to share details regarding their weight struggles, sex lives, and abusive childhoods. What must our children think? There is nothing wrong with young

people having a wide breadth of role models or heroes, but the over-presence of Hollywood type celebrities as legitimate carriers of values and virtues is more than a little disturbing to today’s educators and parents. I think that historian Daniel Boorstin shed the greatest clarity on the distinction between heroes and celebrities:

“The hero is known for achievements, the celebrity for well-knownness. The hero reveals the possibilities of human nature. The celebrity reveals the possibilities of the press and the media. Celebrities are people who make news, but heroes are people who make history. Time makes heroes and dissolves celebrities.”

What are Schools Doing?

Sometimes I think that we do it to ourselves. A few years ago, I was the director of a middle school and taught sixth grade English and eighth grade history. As I perused the middle school summer reading list, I was disappointed to see most of the books selected were written after 1970 with a focus on a reality-based approach. These books are good books and usually ones that garner the highest literary prizes, such as the Newbery Medal. However, they tend not to be about children having adventures or fighting evil villains in enchanted forests. Rather, they intend to assault the pre-pubescent reader with a truckload of reality, which hopes to bring a sense of 21st century realism. Their theme is that the world is inherently evil and fraught with unsavory characters out to “get you” at every turn. What a shame.

overcomes personal obstacles such as poverty, war, and oppression for his or society’s benefit. These occurrences are more transformational in nature and therefore of greater good. You do not need to save someone’s life to be a hero. You do not need to be famous, or rich, or athletic. What you do need, however, is to be of service to others. Real heroismdoes not necessarily involve death-defying feats, but consists of deeds such as making a difference, serving others, and improving lives.

Real

So of all the elements that comprise greatness, it boils down to serving others. What differentiates superior people from the ordinary? It has to be the relentless and willful service to others with no payoff for the doer. I think of Mother Theresa, Albert Schweitzer, Clara Barton, and Mahatma Ghandi, all of whom were selfless in their willingness to enhance the lives of others without any inclination or desire to be compensated or benefited in any way

One of the new “classics,” Walk Two Moons chronicles a daughter’s search for her missing mother, who fled, it turns out, because of a deep depression after a miscarriage and subsequent hysterectomy. In the end, the girl discovers that her mother was killed in a bus accident. This doesn’t exactly make for tender conversation over dinner for a sixth grader and her family. Is it any wonder that children today are diagnosed with more frequent bouts of depressionthan ever before? What happened to the average protagonist with normal age-appropriate skills who rises up from his/her shortcomings and conquers fears for the betterment of self and community? Whenwas the happy ending allowed to die? Our children must know and learn that good things can and do happen to people but it takes traditional traits such as hard work, perseverance, courage, and faith; not lawyers, the press, or psychoanalysts. It has been said that education is the gentle rubbing away of innocence, but rub too hard and you tear away the protective coating.

Real Heroes, A Definition

heroismdoes not involve death-defying feats, but consists of deeds such as making a difference, serving others, and improving lives.

“ ”

I am pleased to see that the concept of service has begun to take a comfortable place in today’s schools. It is now commonplace to have schools, public and private,providing intentional community service programs for its students. When I attended Newark Academy in the early 1970 s, there was no community service requirement or program. Today, Newark Academy Upper School students are encouraged to seek out opportunities for service in their local communities. Last year alone, NA students volunteered for over 12,000 hours, a remarkableindividual and collective achievement for NA. Hospitals, libraries, child care centers, museums, animal shelters, soup kitchens, and firehouses benefited from students’ efforts. Perhaps our students are learning, in their own small way, to be heroes or at least hero-like.

Heroes are important and are critical for young people to have during their formative years. Role models let children create a proxy self, whether it is through a professional athlete, politician, neighbor, or even a super-hero, who’s more powerful than their real selves. This self-proxy can be very energizing and instructional in helping them form values, character, and a general behavior that will carry them far into their adult lives. It is up to today’s teachers, parents, and mentors of young people to assist them in sorting through the vast array of anti-heroes, and guide them towards those individuals who give off the strong scent of courage, perseverance, faith, and self-less service to others. Only then will the true and worthy heroes find their pedestals.

There are a few timeless essentials that all real heroes need to possess. Overcoming adversity is an integral part of the hero equation. It can also be transactional, such as a mountain climber surviving a harrowing ascent of Mt. Everest. It is a deeper level if the hero

Paul Krieger is headmaster of the Christ School, an independent boarding school for boys located on a 500-acre wooded campus in Asheville, North Carolina. Paul and his wife, Beth, have three children, Emily (17), Colin (14) and Jeff (11).

THE

Senior students “sweep T.S. Elliot’s heap of broken images into order” in Ms. Barbato’s English class

ASTELAND

The History of “ The {Illustrated}Waste Land”

by Elizabeth H. Barbato

An encounter with the organized chaos of Modernism can give even the most hale and able reader vertigo. The multiple languages, literary and cultural allusions, and philosophical complexity of “The Waste Land” have stumped and frustrated generations of students, while a few truly learn to listen to the numerous competing voices in T.S. Eliot’s creation.

Several years ago, I thought of having seniors create visual representations of elements in the monumental poem – to sweep Eliot’s “heap of broken images” into order. And so “The Illustrated Waste Land” project was born. Each year, students push the definition of “illustration,” creating works of depth and character. Whether writing verse in response to the deathless Sybil, painting themselves into iconic scenes of modern ennui, or decoding tarot cards, these students truly demonstrate the legitimacy of creativity in approaching literature. They are people who understand that sometimes an essay is simply not the most effective way to approach a text, sometimes paragraphs are not the best way to show why April can be the cruelest month, and why an analysis of “what the thunder said” is no better than simply passing on the blessing of shantih shanth shantih.

Student artwork for The Waste Land: (clockwise from bottom left) Betina Bethlem, Emily LiMandri, Ariel Schvarcz, Rebecca Groveman, Julia Cross

ALLIN for NA!

ENDOWMENT CAMPAIGN KICK-OFF FEBRUARY 12, 2005

The Kirby Gymnasium in the Simon Family Field House was transformed into an entertainment venue as more than 400 members of the NA community gathered for an evening of fun, food and prizes to celebrate the kick-off of a special campaign to build the school’s endowment. The event formally launched the Academy’s plan to increase the endowment from $7 million to $20 million by the end of 2006. More than $6.5 million has already been raised. The campaign is designed to secure the Academy's financial future by providing permanent funds for academic program enhancements, faculty support and student financial aid.

Von Rollenhagen, dean of faculty, deals

The event committee: Diane Werner, Holly Caminiti, Leslie Fischer, Laura Hardin, Kathleen Kleiber, Jeanne Galbraith, Susan Olesky, Janet Simon

Irma and Dick Beltram ’41, board of governors emeritus, enjoy a hand

Chairman of the Board of Trustees William Green ’69 announces campaign goals

Sam Goldfischer, director of business and finance, deals a hand in the final round

Hold ‘em closeThe “casino” floor (aka the Kirby Gym)

Natalie Friedman and Sarah Hassan Ryan Rafel, Arielle Silverman and Samantha Kelly

David Hardin ’73, chair, endowment committee Jeff Silverman ’82, member of the board of trustees and Leo Gordon ’69, vice president of the board of governors

Dealer and “Pit Boss” Judi Dougherty, learning specialist

Randall Keur rakes in the chips

“Full house!” called by School Council

President Eva Olesky as Penney Riegelman, head of school, looks on

And the winners are...Tim Simon, Max Davidson, Ben Olesky and David Henshall

Taking World BetterPlace MakeJourney the the to a

Peace Corps Volunteer Adam Kaswiner ’99 Teaches English in Bangladesh

by Debra Marr

Adam Kaswiner was introduced to community service the summer between his junior and senior years at Newark Academy. He spent a month in Ecuador, working 10 hours a day on a farm in a small village –digging holes for trout ponds, planting seeds for vegetables, milking cows and interacting with the villagers. It was tough in the beginning, but according to Adam, it was a deeply rewarding experience that left an indelible mark on the direction of his life.

After graduating from Newark Academy in 1999, Adam went on to Emory where he studied biology and philosophy. As he contemplated going to law school, he found himself inexplicably drawn to thoughts of foreign cultures and working to improve the conditions of those in need. He visited the Peace Corps corporate office in Atlanta during spring break of his senior year and was soon delving into the massive amount of paperwork that’s involved in completing a Peace Corps application.

His assignment came while he was traveling in Prague following his graduation from Emory. He learned that soon he would be on his way to Bangladesh to teach English to young adults.

Adam is the first American to live in the small town of Jhalakati in southern Bangladesh. Travel is difficult to this remote area. Roads leading to and from the town are barely paved, buses continually break down, heavy rains often wash out bridges. Within the town, traffic is chaotic. “Rickshaws, chickens, cows and goats are everywhere,” said Adam.

Adam lived with his native “host” family for two months before acquiring a place of his own. During

that time, he immersed himself in the culture and language of the Bengali people. He is passionate about learning the language. Even after 12 months there, he continues to challenge himself to learn more and demands the same from his students.

The young adults in Adam’s charge have to demonstrate a strong desire to become fluent in the English language. Adam interviews many candidates for his classes but only the most serious and motivated among them make the cut. He meets with his students for two hours each day. In addition to teaching the language, Adam teaches his students to think critically. “Innovation and creativity are not encouraged here,” he explained. Adam, therefore, inspires debates among his students and requires them to do special projects and presentations.

Adam teaches class for just two hours a day but says he works “around the clock.” Every time he steps out of the door of his fifth floor walk-up apartment, he is confronted with people and situations that he must engage in. He is constantly sharing information and ideas with people who are driven by their curiosity of him. Sometimes, the attention and constant focus is overwhelming, but Adam draws encouragement from his Peace Corps co-workers scattered throughout the region and from some of his close Bengali friends.

All in all, Adam feels he has made a lasting impression upon the people in this small Bengali village, as they have with him. When he returns to the U.S. after his 18 month sojourn in Bangladesh, the people and places he has encountered will remain in his thoughts and in his heart as he embarks on his next life adventure.

A Doctor on a Mission

Lesly D’Ambola’78 Brings Hope and Healing to Victimized Camden

by Debra Marr

Recent headlines proclaimed the city of Camden, New Jersey to be the most dangerous city in the United States. The people of Camden are, in fact, struggling.

According to City Councilman Ali Sloan-El, Camden’s poverty is an important contributing factor to its high crime rate. Murder, rape, aggravated assault and burglary are all too common in this city of 79,000. Perhaps that’s what drew Lesly D’Ambola to St. Luke’s Catholic Medical Services in Camden. As a doctor of osteopathic medicine, she could have chosen to work in a practice in the suburbs, instead she went right into the heart of the most dangerous city in the nation.

“When I became a physician, I made a commitment to serve.”

Lesly’s decision to follow this career path was not an easy one. Her mother tried to persuade her to seek a position at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston or some other comparable medical facility. Lesly, however, wanted to do more. “When I became a physician,” said Lesly, “I made a commitment to serve.” For Lesly, that sense of dedication is all-encompassing.

St. Luke’s Catholic Medical Services was founded in 1983 by Father Mark Aita, a Jesuit priest and physician. Today, St. Luke’s is the medical component of the Jesuit Urban Service Team that has been called “a spiritual oasis in a hard-hit neighborhood.” The other services in this five-prong ministry include a school for Latino students from kindergarten through eighth grade; a center for law and social justice; a family service agency with licensed therapists; and the Holy Name Parish which serves more than 450 families and 1,200 children. These services are housed in separate buildings within the same depressed city block.

When Lesly first interviewed for the position of medical director for St. Luke’s, she thought she would be working side by side with its founder. Father Aita had a strong presence among the residents of Camden and was greatly beloved. He not only established the clinic to provide comprehensive medical care to an impoverished community, but organized a “Little League” team for the children of his patients, and helped local residents clean up their streets.

or depressed to come in to the office,” said Lesly. “In their own environment, they often open up more, enabling us to help them better.”

Chris shared with us the story of one young woman who was diagnosed with cancer in her sinuses. After the initial office visit she didn’t return for follow-up care. As Chris and Lesly soon learned, the cancer had metastasized quickly and had distorted the young woman’s face to the point where she didn’t want to leave her bedroom. She became depressed and homebound. Caring for her in the privacy of her home made all the difference on her road to recovery.

Lesly also recounted the story of a young woman who called on Valentine’s Day. The father of her children left her for another woman and she was in a state of great despair. She threatened to kill herself and take the lives of her children as well. She called the St. Luke’s clinic because they were like family to her. Lesly was eventually able to get her patient to a crisis center and a tragedy was averted. As Lesly and Chris will attest, there are an infinite number of stories like these.

Finding time for herself is often difficult. Lesly lives in a high rise apartment building in a safe, quite neighborhood in Pennsauken (just minutes from her Camden clinic). When she manages to find the time, she enjoys going out to dinner and attending concerts with friends.

Soon after Lesly accepted the position, she was startled to learn that Father Aita had announced his resignation. Lesly, who was not bilingual at the time, spent six weeks in a language immersion program in Mexico, and emerged ready to meet the challenges and demands of managing a solo practice in the inner city. She credits her dedicated staff with the continued success of the program. They, in turn, acknowledge the compassion and vitality that Lesly imparts to the patients in her care.

Lesly admits that many of her patients have complex issues and problems that extend beyond the realm of ordinary medical care. Some of them are depressed, some are alcoholic, drug dependent, or involved in abusive relationships. Some have mental disorders, many are illiterate or unable to read English. “By delving into one medical issue,” said Lesly “I often discover so many others.” That’s why her days typically extend long into the evening. She can frequently be found visiting patients in the hospital at 9 or 10 pm.

Patient care is what it’s all about for Lesly and her staff. Lesly was overjoyed when a nurse practitioner was recently added to her team. “Chris is able to make home visits when patients are too sick

Lesly fondly reflected upon her Newark Academy days, “I feel blessed to have had such a fabulous education and such wonderful friends at NA.” Clearly, the seeds for her future humanitarian efforts were sown at Ne wark Academy where she embraced community service work with great enthusiasm.

Her former advisor, Ray Cruitt, recalled, “Lesly’s commitment to the city of Camden doesn’t surprise me. As a native Newarker, she s always been a city girl, and proud of it. In those days, when Newark was at its lowest, she always stuck up for the city and, if memory serves, even hosted a “Newark picnic” one year in Branch Brook Park. Lesly was a student with a keen intelligence and a true love of learning, not to mention a real sweetheart of a person.”

And after spending the day with Lesly, that’s how I would describe her, too – persistent, driving and tough, with a gentle, caring heart.

Lesly D’Ambola is a full-time faculty member of the Department of Medicine at the UMDNJ School of Osteopathic Medicine, and provides the medical directorship for St. Luke’s Catholic Medical Services. She can be reached at (856) 365-4642. For more information about St. Luke’s Catholic Medical Services and the Holy Name Jesuit Urban Service Team, please visit their website at www.hnc-just.org.

VOLUNTEERING WITHSEEDS

A Growing Conviction FOR

SCOTTNEWMAN ’73

by Nancy McGaughan

Four years ago, when Scott Newman was looking for a way to become an active volunteer, he had no idea how much teaching in the New Jersey SEEDS program would impact his life.

Scott has always been a person who got involved in his community. He was active in many ways as a student at Newark Academy, and spent his senior project working with disadvantaged and disabled young people. At Yale, he was the director of the Big BrotherProgram serving on the board of that organization even after he graduated in 1977.

Volunteering was a natural choice for Scott who had been raised in a family which valuedcommunity involvement and activism. His mother, Betty Newman, was the Newark Academy faculty member who was influential in starting the Academy’s community service program in the 1980s. Under her guidance, the program grew to be a vital and dynamic force, helping to serve the needs of hundreds of people while exposing the student body to the idea of service and volunteerism. Her activism and involvement were traits that inspired Scott to find his own way to give to others. Even so, none of those experiences prepared Scott for just how much he was going to love working as a teacher in the NJ SEEDS program.

The NJ SEEDS program opens doors for high-achieving students from low-income families.The mission of the organization is to give hard-working, inner city students the same opportunities available to people from more affluent areas. Established in 1990 by a groupof independent school administrators, educational experts and business leaders, it provides students with academic enrichment through a comprehensive program of extra classes, tutoring, and workshops. At SEEDS, they challenge students to perform at their best and place those students in excellent independent and boarding schools.

Even after their students are placed in high schools, NJ SEEDS supports them with counseling, college advising and summer opportunities. The program continues to mentor it’s alumni throughout their college and graduate school years. Over the years, Newark Academy has worked closely with the NJ SEEDS program and usually enrolls at least one SEEDS program student each year. Newark Academy’s Director of AdmissionFred McGaughan believes that NJ SEEDS has evolved into the best “prep-for-prep program” in the state.

Scott knew about the NJ SEEDS program before he began volunteering as a teacher. He had been involved with their financial committee, so he knew that it was a well-run organization with a strong board of directors. It was after he was introduced to the executive director by a friend that Scott started his second career as a volunteer educator, a decision he has never regretted.

Every Saturday morning Scott spends an hour and a half with, as he puts it, “the most delightful, motivated, hard-working kids on earth.” He works with ten students preparing them for the SSATB math tests they will have to take in order to gain admission to an independent school.

It is clear from talking to Scott that he truly loves his students. Usually a quiet man, he becomes effusive as he describes how much he enjoys working with his students, and how much he admires their determination. He positively beams when he says that, “Seeing their bright faces every Saturday morning, or the smile on the face of a kid who has just had a breakthrough, is priceless.”He is equally determined about his role as their teacher. Scott estimates that he spends at least five hours each week preparing for class and grading papers, because it is so important that he be completely prepared to field any questions his students may have about their work. His students often call him at home for help with a difficult problem, and he once worked for days, even enlisting the help of others, to find the solution to a question that had turned out to be written incorrectly in the test manual.

For Scott Newman, his work with NJ SEEDS has challenged him and enriched him, a sentiment one can imagine that is shared by all of his students.

Scott Newman is the president of Voltronics, a high-tech manufacturing company in Denville, New Jersey. He and his wife, Wendy, have two children: Dan, a 2003Newark Academy alumnus and Rachel, a junior at NA.

Reunion 2004

OCTOBER 16, 2004

More than 250 alumni and guests came together at the Wilshire Grand Hotel to heartily celebrate their reunion. There was much laughter, reminiscing and catching up as alumni from the Classes of 1944—1999 met up with old friends and faculty. The evening was a great success and a wonderful time for all who attended.

▲ Peter Haigh ’59, Jim D’Angelo ’59, John Tiensch ’59, Doug Slade ’59, Donald Knight ’59

Class of 1969 ▼

Class of 1979

Peter Haigh ’59, Jim Manning, Hampton Abney ▼

▲ Theodore Latimer ’79, Edward Kastl ’79, Ralph Meloro ’79

▲ Asha Talwar ’99, Kumi Dikengil ’99, David Green ’99

Class of 1984 ▼

Class of 1964

Sarah Coyne ’89, Scott Jacoby, Julie Jacoby ▼

▲ Scott Johnson, Lisa Pellaton ’94, Candace Polow ’94, Ross Schulman ’94, Lauren Erlichman ’94

▲ Jodi Prupis ’94, Lane Jaffe ’94, Philip Graziano ’94

of 1999

▲ Lena Hill ’94, Shireen Gianchandani ’94, Chloe Miller ’94

William Wachenfeld ’44

Fulton H. MacArthur Award

Service to others has been the hallmark of William Wachenfeld’s life and has made him the natural choice to be the recipient of the Fulton H. MacArthur Award. This award is presented to those graduates who have distinguished themselves through loyal and dedicated service to Newark Academy and the alumni association. From his military service in World War II and the Korean War to the outstanding work he performed as president and chief executive officer of the Charles Hayden Foundation which promotes the mental, moral and physical development of children in the New York and Boston areas, Bill has always dedicated himself to serving others. His work as a member of the Newark Academy board of trustees was a continuation of this ethic and his contributions as an active member of the financial policy and executive committees benefit Newark Academy to this day.

Lane Jaffe ’94 Athletic Hall of Fame Award

It was hard work, competitive spirit and athletic ability which distinguished Lane Jaffe when he was a football player, wrestler and lacrosse player at Newark Academy and which makes him a natural for the Newark Academy Athletic Hall of Fame Award. His junior and senior years were filled with conference, prep and county post-season honors, and he was named to the All-State lacrosse team three times as well as receiving the All State Goalie Award in 1994. Lane has continued to excel in the field of athletics as a college lacrosse coach and as assistant coach for Team USA California. His pursuit of a master’s degree in child psychology serves to demonstrate his determination and commitment to continually improve and challenge his abilities.

REUNION 2004 CELEBRATES

Distinguished Alumni & Faculty

Adrien Wing ’74 Alumni Achievement Award

Adrien Wing was a member of the first class that included girls when she entered Newark Academy in 1971. Since then, Adrien has continued to lead the way for other women and for all those who value justice and equality. She has distinguished herself as an attorney and teacher and as an advisor to groups such as the Rwandan Constitutional Commission. She has worked as a United Nations consultant on human rights and advised the founding fathers and mothers in three societies on their constitutional options. Her accomplishments and contributions to the global community are extensive and it is with great admiration that she was awarded the Newark Academy Alumni Achievement Award for her commitment, passion and dedication.

Hampton Abney Distinguished Faculty Award

Winner of the Distinguished Faculty Award, Hampton Abney has always relished the fact that he “came with the building.” Hampton began his 40-year career at Newark Academy when the doors of the Livingston campus opened in 1964. Certainly, after four decades, the halls of NA will seem empty without him. During his years at NA, Hampton not only taught a multitude of language classes but served as chair of the foreign language department for 10 years. He was a vital member of the arts department, producing and directing 24 musicals and variety shows, as well as a dedicated advisor to the staff of the Polymnian. He was lauded by his colleagues in 1985 with the David M. Ripps Faculty Award and will be remembered by legions of students as a friend and mentor.

AlumniGatherings

Boston

HARVARDCLUB

November 17, 2004

1: Katie Hawkins ’01 and Rachel Slutsky ’00

2: William Green ’69 and Eric Williams ’75

3: Eric Carniol ’04 Jayson Uppal ’04 and Eric Weinberg ’04

4: Joe Ball, Kara Levy ’02 and Kavita Jethwa ’01

5: Karen Dwyer-Tower ’78, William Dwyer Jr. ’44 and Penney Riegelman

NA Goes West!

San Francisco

February 17

Bay Area alumni joined Karen Ferretti ’91, director of college counseling, for an informal evening of cocktails and conversation at the Blue Mermaid Chowder House and Bar

1: Peter Herbst, Vida Buchalter Harband ’82, Jeff Harband, Karen Ferretti ’91, Georgia Green ’03, Hulet Hornbeck ’38, Anne Herbst ’78

Los Angeles

February 22

Alumni gathered in Hollywood Hills at the beautiful home of Michael Blum ’79. Despite the soggy weather, the evening was delightful. Alumni were eager to reconnect and reminisce about their days at NA.

2: Kate Hackman ’91, Roger Lowenstein ’60 and Pache Barcliffe ’96

3: Susan Karlin ’81, Jennifer (Michael’s friend) and Michael Blum ’79

4: Karen Ferretti ’91, Harlan Spinner ’79, William Green ’69 and Kendra Kirchner King ’79

5: Eve Smilack ’89 and Todd Rosenfelt ’01

6: Wuang Ee Blum (Michael’s wife) with Penney Riegelman

From the Archives

The communist leadership is not enthusiastic about recognizing the contributions from the capitalist world.

Humanitarian Service on the Parochial and Global Scale

by Blackwood Parlin

In considering the theme of this issue of Outreach, service to others, my thoughts are both parochial and global.

COMMUNITY SERVICE AT NA

At Newark Academy the start of the community service program was important for the school and the community

The inspiration came originally from a student, Phyllis Rothschild ’84. In a meeting of students and faculty she presented and explained her concept of community service.

At the time, such programs were rare. None of us had heard of a community service program. After Phyllis had made her presentation, a number of voices of skepticism were raised: students won’t serve, won’t want to serve,

can’t effectively serve, and so forth, and finally, even if the idea were feasible, it would be impossible for the next year.

The person who stepped forward to say with assurance, “We can and will start next year,” was Betty Newman. When a person has Betty’s strength and determination, it’s good to have them on the side of the angels. What Betty did over the summer was to compile an encyclopedia of social institutions in the area that could benefit from volunteer help. In the fall, the student who had an idea for service, say visiting in a nursing home, could use Betty’s encyclopedia to get the names and information about area nursing homes. The community service program at Newark Academy was launched.

A rehearsal in front of Boyd Gymnasium in China.

Generous Americans of an earlier era contributed to the building of a number of educational facilities still in use in China today.

A WORLDWIDE FOCUS

Shifting to a focus on service in a global sense, I can say that I have always had an awareness of global service because I was raised in a Protestant evangelical home which respected the missionary effort of the 19th and 20th centuries. One prominent missionary leader of that era spoke of “Winning the World for Christ in Our Generation.” Missionaries went to every corner of the globe.

After the massacre of hundreds of missionaries in China by the Boxers, Oberlin College constructed a memorial arch. Seven decades later, in the era of the Vietnam War, the arch was desecrated and protest signs proclaimed the missionaries to have been racist imperialists and the Boxers noble heroes. It is easy to mock the narrowness and ridiculousness that missionaries sometimes exhibited. But at their best they took enlightened values to the world and created eleemosynary institutions of education and health care which ameliorated human suffering.

My mother, who taught chemistry at Yenching College in Peking, subsequently absorbed into Beijing University,

defined herself as a teaching missionary. She spoke and embodied tolerant and humanistic values without trying to convert anybody.

Much of the world is still poor, illiterate and desperate. Unfortunately we who have skills and resources are often paralyzed by a pessimism and cynicism which says that it is naïve to try to ameliorate the human condition. I wish we could recover just a bit of the optimistic, outgoing spirit which launched the outreach of the North Atlantic nations a century ago.

A special need of our time is for people with diverse talents to find ways to build bridges to the Muslim world which has come, for understandable reason, to hate and distrust our world.

I find it thrilling to hear of more and more graduates of NA who are learning the histories, cultures and languages which will be essential in the bridge building. It just might be that a community service program on the parochial level ultimately generates the concept of community ser vice on the global level.

emember Joe? A Joe Ziegler Story

The reference in the last issue of “Outreach” to the dedicated service to NA by Joe Ziegler brought a number of responses, all expressing both respect and affection for Joe. A future issue will have more recollections of Joe, but here is an interesting nugget supplied by Ray Cruitt:

Joe was the head of maintenance for Temple B’Nai Abraham on Clinton Avenue in Newark. (The building is now a Pentecostal Church.) Joe’s apartment was in the Temple He worshipped in the Catholic Church, Blessed Sacrament, which was across the street. Joe told Ray Cruitt that he loved to observe people’s faces as he left the Temple to go to Church or left the Church to go home to the Temple.