Nobles Fall 2019 Magazine

Nobles NON-PROFIT U.S. POSTAGE PAID BOSTON MA PERMIT NO. 53825

THE MAGAZINE OF NOBLE AND GREENOUGH SCHOOL

FALL 2019

Madeleine Charity ’19

Nobles THE MAGAZINE OF NOBLE AND GREENOUGH SCHOOL

FALL 2019

Liam Smith ’19

Nobles NON-PROFIT U.S. POSTAGE PAID BOSTON MA PERMIT NO. 53825

THE MAGAZINE OF NOBLE AND GREENOUGH SCHOOL

ISSUE FALL20XX 2019

Alexandra caption_whitney_right Weinsten ’19

Nobles THE MAGAZINE OF NOBLE AND GREENOUGH SCHOOL

FALL 2019

caption_whitney_right Devon Minor ’19

PHOTO OF THE DAY May 21, 2019 Vicky Seelen’s English class opts for a change of scenery and gathers in Fargo Circle.

PHOTO BY BEN HEIDER

contents FALL 2019

IN EVERY ISSUE 2

Letter from the Head

3 Reflections What Nobles folks are saying on campus and online 4

The Bulletin News and notes

17 By the Numbers A brief history of this magazine

18 Off the Shelf All about the books we read and write 20 Sports An epic year for girls tennis 22 Perspectives The space in between 42 Graduate News Nobles graduate updates 72 Archive The Castle crew

FEATURES 26 They did it!

Congrats, Class of 2019

28 Wellesley Picker Redefining ‘treasure’

32 Back to the Grindstone Making wheat mighty again

Cover Photograph by Kathleen Dooher Which cover did you get? The students above are among those profiled from the memorable Class of 2019. See more inside.

38 Good Advice An eclectic collection just for you

Nobles

letter from the head

FALL 2019

Relationship before task I AM OFTEN THE LUCKY BENEFICIARY of wonderful stories

from Nobles graduates about what Nobles means to them.

While there is tremendous diversity across these stories, there is a common theme. Graduates of all ages tell stories about the people who have made a difference in their lives. The focus is not on any particular event, game or project. The focus is always on the teachers, on the people who dedicated their lives to investing in Nobles students.

Not surprisingly, the unique power of a Nobles experience lies within the relationships forged, both while as a student at Nobles and in the decades that follow. Graduates’ stories are filled with memories of teachers who pushed and believed in them, coaches who inspired them to accomplish more than they knew they could, and advisors who reach out to grab coffee many years later. The common thread is the deep investment Nobles faculty made in students’ lives, and the lifelong impact of that investment.

It is so easy to get caught up in the swirling frenzy of data that surrounds education today, with rankings and the college list so often the focus of attention when comparing schools. It is so much easier to look at what is quantifiable when measuring success than it is to go deeper to understand the qualitative experience at a school. When I speak to our graduates, though, they never speak about the numbers, or the college lists, as a way to describe their Nobles experience. While certainly proud of how successful Nobles graduates are in their college outcomes and lives beyond college, the relationships are what resonate most strongly.

Our faculty often speak with pride about our commitment to “relationship before task,” a mission-driven promise to our students to focus on our relationships with them as the starting point of our work together. Our faculty know that having strong relationships with their students is paramount to anything else they seek to do in the classroom, on a field, or on a stage, and that the work that follows will only be better and stronger when the students know they are known.

It is through the personal connections with students that faculty draw the joy out of a career dedicated to the lives of young people.

As our students face mounting external pressures and demands, and as the process of applying to college has grown more and more obtuse, our focus on “relationship before task” has become somewhat counter-culture and is more important than ever before. Students draw on their faculty relationships to navigate an increasingly stressful and complex world.

Just as our students are facing greater stress, the job of teaching has never been harder, and the expectations placed on teachers have never been greater. Amidst this climate, we know we need to remain firmly committed to supporting Nobles faculty in very tangible ways. We need to seek to harness the growing resources needed to support and invest in our faculty, enabling “relationship before task” to continue to be our mission-driven focus at Nobles for the decades of students ahead.

—CATHERINE J. HALL, PH.D., HEAD OF SCHOOL

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Editor Heather Sullivan DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Assistant Editors Kim Neal

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Ben Heider

DIGITAL VIDEO PRODUCER/WRITER

Anne Hurlbut

WRITER/CONTENT MANAGER

Design 2COMMUNIQUÉ WWW.2COMMUNIQUE.COM

Photography Tim Carey Michael Dwyer Kathleen Dooher Joel Haskell Ben Heider Leah LaRiccia Kim Neal The Editorial Committee Brooke Asnis ’90 Casey Hassenstein John Gifford ’86 Tilesy Harrington Nobles is published three times a year for graduates, past and current parents and grandparents, students and supporters of Noble and Greenough School.

Nobles is a co-educational, non-sectarian day and five-day boarding school for students in grades seven (Class VI) through 12 (Class I). Noble and Greenough School is a rigorous academic community that strives for excellence in its classroom teaching, intellectual growth in its students and commitment to the arts, athletics and service to others.

For further information and up-to-the-minute graduate news, visit www.nobles.edu.

Letters and comments may be emailed to Heather_Sullivan@ nobles.edu. We also welcome old-fashioned mail sent c/o Noble and Greenough School, 10 Campus Drive, Dedham, MA 02026. The office may be reached at 781-320-7268. © Noble and Greenough School 2019

Well, well, well, look at our future.

—BILL BUSSEY, PROVOST, SPEAKING TO THE NEW CLASS I, IN GRADUATION ASSEMBLY

Boy, is it nice to be back in school today.

—BILL KEHLENBECK, MATH FACULTY MEMBER, RETURNING TO NOBLES IN THE FINAL DAYS OF HIS BATTLE WITH CANCER TO LEAD HIS “SGT. PEPPER BAND,” IN ASSEMBLY (SEE A REMEMBRANCE ON P. 58)

MAY 13, VIA NOBLES INSTAGRAM Coach Kate Blake and Sidnie Kulik ’21 go over the race plan for the 3,000-meter race at the ISL Track and Field Championship meet.

I am reminded, once again, of how lucky I feel to work at Nobles and how appreciative I am to my colleagues for all that they do to make it such a special place.

—MAURA SULLIVAN, DEAN OF FACULTY, ON “THOUGHTS FROM HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD,” APRIL 2019 PARENT NEWSLETTER

APRIL 30, VIA NOBLES INSTAGRAM It’s ’Round the World night for our Sixies, when they present their interdisciplinary projects about taking fictional trips around the world.

You know I’m serious because I’m wearing Birkenstocks today.

—ANNIE ELLISON ’19 ANNOUNCING CAMPUS EARTH DAY EFFORTS, IN ASSEMBLY

At this moment, my second language is the bridge between you and me.

—AYAKO ANDERSON, MODERN LANGUAGES FACULTY MEMBER, IN ASSEMBLY FALL 2019 Nobles 4

the bulletin

Hakeem Rahim

Help and Hope ON APRIL 17, during mental health awareness week, mental health advocate, spoken word artist, author and TEDx speaker Hakeem Rahim shared his personal experiences, tools and strategies to promote mental wellness.

When Rahim questioned Nobles students about misperceptions around mental health and barriers to discussion, they cited fear of judgment. Rahim commended Nobles for prioritizing the issue, reporting that “1 out of 5 teenagers experience some form of mental illness.” But, he also offered, “80 percent

assembly highlights The Year of the Pig Five student dancers representing the Asian to Asian (A2A) club

5 Nobles FALL 2019

celebrated the Chinese New Year with a beautifully choreographed traditional

of people who seek help for depression actually recover.”

Though Rahim experienced some anxiety and depression as a child and was bullied in school, his mental illness took hold in college. Arriving at Harvard in 1998 as an ebullient freshman, he became increasingly anxious and panicky in social situations, and he began to eschew sleep for fear of losing his creativity.

While there, Rahim had two manic episodes. During the second, his alarmed roommate called Rahim’s parents, who brought him home to

dance, prompting audible wows from the audience.

Silent 600 “I’m going to do some-

thing that makes me nervous, but I’m going to do it anyway,” said modern languages faculty member Anderson Julio

Long Island and checked him into a psychiatric hospital. There, he discovered that his manic episodes, delusions and other symptoms were indicators of bipolar disorder and depression.

He overcame subsequent bouts with the support of family and friends, eventually graduating with honors.

Rahim said, “If I thought life was over at 19, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity in 2014 to testify before Congress to advocate for other people with mental illness, or to go before the Senate in 2016 on behalf of people with mental health challenges.

“Sometimes the best thing you can do for a friend is be available, listen and do the little things for them that it’s hard to do when you’re depressed,” Rahim said. He also emphasized professional support: “It’s important to find the right person to talk about your feelings with.”

With faculty, Rahim explored the role of acceptance in mental health and wellness tools for students and themselves.

Organizer and Director of Psychology and Counseling Jennifer Hamilton said, “Having Hakeem come to Nobles was another important step in lowering stigma around talking about mental health issues; the more we talk, the more comfortable students become in seeking support for themselves or for a friend.”

Rahim’s closing message: “I want you to learn that it’s OK to talk about what you’re going through. There is no shame in seeking help, and there is absolutely hope. Keep going.”

before leading the entire school through a fiveminute meditation.

Advanced Cookie Consumption Peer Help Program (PHP) began the day with a “face the cookie” competition,

NEWS FROM OUR CAMPUS & COMMUNITY

CARETAKER, COUNSELOR, CAREGIVER Trish Koningisor, school nurse, retired from Nobles after 16 years. Her impact on all community members—but especially students—has been powerful. “I love when it’s busy and I get to know all of the kids,” Koningisor said. “I feel really good about the way they come in and feel comfortable talking to us about almost anything. I try to make them feel welcome.”

“Trish has served as caretaker, healer, counselor and advocate for thousands in her care,” said Head of School Cathy Hall.

“She has made Nobles a better place, one where students are front and center.”

A graduate of Arizona State School of Nursing, Koningisor worked in the Framingham Public Schools and with the Newton-Wellesley Visiting Nurses Association before joining Nobles.

Trish Koningisor, school nurse and parent of four Nobles grads, prepares for her next adventures.

challenging student and faculty volunteers to roll cookies from their foreheads to their mouths using only their facial muscles.

Quarter-Century Club Head of School Dr. Cathy Hall described her celebration with the 12 faculty members who have

She is also a parent of four Nobles graduates—her children began attending Nobles well before she became a faculty member. In “retirement,” Koningisor has plans to be an emergency first responder for natural disasters around the country. But first, she said, she needs to take care of one other young person in her life: her first grandchild. Koningisor will spend this fall with her grandbaby in Berkeley, California.

Koningisor has long been an avid mogul skier, a political junkie and skipper on her husband’s boats. Her adventures also include following the full trail of Lewis and Clark with her husband. Her friends know her for her fearlessness and her unvarnished approach to doing the right thing.

Nurse Lisa O’Connor, who has shared the office in Pratt Middle School with Koningisor for the past nine years, calls her an expert nurse and empathetic educator. “The selfless care Trish has provided to this community is a testament to her unwavering support and advocacy of students. She is a dedicated colleague and loyal friend.”

“I can’t believe that I’m not going to be coming back here,” Koningisor said. “This is home. I’m going to miss the community tremendously because people are just there for you when you need them.” She counted her relationships with members of the student life and counseling teams, as well as her colleagues in the middle school, as mentors and lifelong friends. “And I’m going to miss the kids,” she said. “The kids keep you young.”

“ I can’t believe that I’m not going to be coming back here. This is home.” —TRISH KONINGISOR

each spent more than 25 years at Nobles.

As Hall said, “Nobles is a place where people come and spend their careers.”

The Tingles Whispering from a table onstage, Karina Cowperthwaite ’19 and Sammy Walkey ’20 ate cheese and

brushed each other’s hair loudly into a mic to demonstrate ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response).

After many uncomfortable and hilarious minutes, they revealed, “The Nobleman is here!”

FALL 2019 Nobles 6

the bulletin

Scott Wilson

Father of Reinvention AFTER 15 YEARS AT NOBLES, where he has

of teaching, which led to him finding his way to Nobles. His pedagogy was richer for the time he had spent in the business world and enhanced what he could share in the classroom.

“When [Scott] returned, he brought back with him so many stories and experiences that related to the material he was teaching in math and certainly in economics,” said math teacher and senior master Nick Nickerson. “As his students will tell you, those real-world connections made his classroom instruction come alive.”

About three years ago, Wilson again had to reinvent himself, this time in his personal life. A serious car accident left him profoundly injured, but surrounded by the love and support of family, friends

and doctors, he was able to return to teaching the following school year.

“My first time meeting Scott was on that first day back at Nobles,” said Head of School Cathy Hall. “It was simply awe-inspiring to realize what he had accomplished in his recovery over the course of those nine months. The resilience that he showed was nothing short of miraculous, and I quickly realized he was someone equipped with tremendous passion for what he does each day at Nobles.”

With his decision to retire from the classroom, Wilson is again in transition.

“With his wonderful family and tremendous diversity of interests and experiences, there is no doubt Scott has great adventures ahead,” said Hall.

Middle School Master After stunning the crowd with his pianoplaying prowess, Maxwell Huang ’24 was guided back to

winning March Madness bracket picks—a map of Delaware.

encouraged all Nobles students to look into summer jobs.

taught both math and history, advised scores of students in Investment Club, and co-taught an entrepreneurship class, Scott Wilson retired from teaching. But this is not his first retirement—nor is it the first time he has reinvented himself.

After graduating from Hebron Academy and Bowdoin College in Maine, Wilson taught math and economics and coached several athletic teams at Worcester Academy. It was after this first classroom experience that Wilson reinvented himself professionally, heading to Tuck Business School and enjoying a two-decade career as a venture capitalist.

While he found success in the business world, he couldn’t shake the call

7 Nobles FALL 2019

the stage to accept a standing ovation.

Dela-where?

Jake Sanghavi ’20 accepted the prize for his

Get It Done Director of EXCEL Ben

Snyder described his adolescent dishwashing gig, where he learned the importance of completing the task at hand. He

The Subjunctive Nine students from

Amadou Seck’s French III course sang along with Céline Dion’s Pour Que Tu M’aimes Encore. As Max von

THE GIFT OF A GARDEN In May, Julia Lyne ’19 and Lev Sandler ’19 shared the concept for their Class I project in assembly: to create a garden “honoring the life and memory of our classmate Jane Song and the impact she had and still has on our Nobles community.”

Lyne and Sandler led more than 40 volunteers in a transformation of the neglected courtyard behind the Shattuck Schoolhouse. They cleared out yard waste, planted flowers and succulents in the new beds and raised boxes, and installed garden furniture, outdoor beanbags and vibrant Adirondack chairs.

Now, the Nobles community has a serene place to gather under the Japanese maples and remember Jane.

Lyne and Sandler said, “The Garden Project came to life our sophomore year. Following the death of our friend Jane Song, we realized how much we needed a space to get away and relax. Nobles has an amazing campus with beautiful outdoor spaces, so we decided that we would reenergize one of them. We are so thankful that everyone has been so supportive.”

The formal dedication took place in Gleason Hall on May 28. Lyne and Sandler hope the entire community will come spend time in this welcoming space for years to come.

To Add to the Archives “I have had a good life. And I worked in a great place with very good people,” said Isa Schaff, former comptroller and school archivist, upon her retirement this past spring. After almost 30 years in the business office and 10 in the archives, Schaff decided to move on to the next chapter of her storied life.

In 1979, Schaff was looking through The Dedham Transcript for opportunities that would bring her out of the city and closer to her two children. She found the Nobles job and became the assistant business manager, until former business manager Morgan “Kim” Smith promoted her to comptroller. Through her managers Smith and Bill Chamberlin, she says, “I got to know and love Nobles.”

As the school neared its sesquicentennial in 2016, former Head of School Bob Henderson recognized the need for a school

archive and a written history. “He asked me if I would organize the history of the school.

After I pointed out that I was an accountant, I remember him saying, ‘Oh, yeah, but you have been at the school a long time.

You love the school, you are organized, you’ll do fine.’ I thought about it and decided to do it. And I’m very glad I did.”

Schroeter ’19 said when they finished: “Let’s hope they get their extra credit.”

Julia Temple ’20 in her NED Talk, the Nobles version of TED Talks, about her experience with Lyme disease.

Diagnosis of Exclusion “I won’t let that little tick that bit me seven years ago take over my life,” commanded

Isa Schaff

White Ribbons, Rainbow Pins English faculty member Julia Russell began the Day of Silence by

After 10 years of sorting through the Castle safe, researching past students and faculty members, and discovering treasures like former president John F. Kennedy’s spelling awards, Schaff reflects, “I like to think about those kids. I find that when you read what they write, they’re not very different from the kids we have now. Different clothes, different habits, different hobbies. But they seem to be of the same spirit. And that’s what I think is so important for the archive to communicate to the current students—that they’re not very different from the kids of the 1800s and the 1900s. And that’s why history matters, because it helps you recognize that people were just like they are now. It makes them feel more alive.”

As she says: “I think it’s important that people are not forgotten.” We certainly will not forget her.

sharing stories of her own silencing, growing up when there was “no Ellen, no Modern Family, no Lady Gagas telling

us we were ‘born that way.’” Although she often feels tempted to “slip silence on like an old coat,” she imagines “a place where all sto-

FALL 2019 Nobles 8

the bulletin

Set Designer Wins Award DURING TECH WEEKS for Nobles theatre productions, it’s not uncommon to find Technical Theatre Director Erik Diaz working lengthy days, starting early in the booth for assembly sound checks and finishing rehearsals and set modifications well into the evening. In addition to his heavy behind-the-scenes workload of designing, engineering and building all the elements that go onto the Vinik stage, he also finds time to design professional productions. Last year, Diaz worked as the scenic designer for the SpeakEasy Stage Company’s production

of “Between Riverside and Crazy,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Stephen Adly Guirgis. In April, he won Best Set Design from the 23rd Annual Independent Reviewers of New England Awards.

“The short plot synopsis is that a guy named Pops, who is an AfricanAmerican ex-police officer, was shot when he was off-duty by a white police officer,” Diaz says. “It’s a lot about how that incident has framed his world view, and now Pops is in danger of losing his apartment if he doesn’t settle the lawsuit he brought against the

police department. So there’s a lot of racial tension and very current themes that are going on within the context of the show.”

Because the entire show takes place in the apartment, Diaz needed to research Upper West Side railroad-style apartments and how that environment would affect the characters. “Part of what I need to do as a designer, even before the actors get cast and begin rehearsals, is create their world and get into the psychology of who these characters are so that it feels appropriate for them,” Diaz says. “What type of artwork do they have on the walls?

What’s the quality of the furniture? What do they eat? That’s one of those things that I especially love.”

Diaz says that his initial design came back from the shop over budget, but in scaling back he was able to develop a new storytelling technique. “Where I started with a more realistic, almost naturalistic, design to the set, we ended up going a little bit more minimalistic. Walls that had been solid became molding only, and then I had them float the paintings and decorations that would be on the walls for that space with black cable,” he says. “It helped tell his story a little bit more as things were fading away, as the promise of this house being taken away was looming. You could almost see the deconstruction of his space.”

you love. 3) Exercise independence.

the Nobles community and on behalf of America, I want to say welcome to Anderson Julio and his family.”

Diaz’s award-winning set for “Between Riverside and Crazy”

ries can be heard and all journeys shared.”

Life Lessons Hailey Brown ’20 shared three life

9 Nobles FALL 2019

lessons from her great-grandmother: 1) Look for friends in unexpected places. 2) Be open to change and grow through those

Welcome Home Modern languages faculty member

Mark Sheeran congratulated his colleague on his newly achieved American citizenship: “On behalf of

Honk. Honk.

Improv Asylum, a group of professional improvisational comedians, visited Nobles for long assembly, of-

GRADS IN THE NEWS HARVARD SPEAKER HEADING TO AFRICA

Genesis De Los Santos graduated from Nobles in 2015 and was one of two students her classmates selected to speak. In 2019, she graduated from Harvard; she was selected as the English orator for her class, which was widely reported by news outlets and websites, including repeatingislands.com, which focuses on news related to the Caribbean (De Los Santos’ family is from the Dominican Republic). “As a recipient of the Trustman Fellowship, De Los Santos will spend next year in Senegal, learning about performance art and diaspora, and thinking about what will come next,” reported the website.

“Eventually, she sees herself becoming a teacher in Boston.

She has never forgotten the teachers who believed in her.

Some of them, she said, would be there to see her graduate.”

De Los Santos’ full address is also available on YouTube.

G.O.A. CHANGES PERSPECTIVES

On June 7, the New York Times “Bulletin Board” ran a piece on learning and global trends. Noa Fay ’19 spoke to the Times about her experience in an online course made available through Nobles. Fay “grew up in the United States, hearing various stereotypes about men and masculinity,” according to the story. “But in a gender studies course she took through the Global Online Academy, or G.O.A., [she] heard from classmates in Kenya, Hong Kong, England, India

fering some quotables like: “I love skee ball.

It’s like tiny bowling!”

Just Never Grow Up The three Poole

sisters—Alex ’19, Kat ’20 and Lara ’23— sang Taylor Swift’s Never Grow Up.

Let It Be “No one came to more events than Bill Kehlenbeck. That’s how I got to know him so well—he came to

and South Africa about how masculinity is defined where they live, and she learned that the American perspective isn’t ubiquitous.”

“The way I’m thinking about things is probably forever changed,” she said.

G.O.A. is a collective of more than 70 member schools around the world offering accredited online classes to middle and high school students. The courses, across a range of subjects, encourage students to develop global perspectives.

GRAD CHOSEN FOR SCHOLAR’S PROGRAM IN CHINA

John Beadle ’14 has been selected as a member of the Schwarzman Scholars Program’s Class of 2020, reported The Sun Chronicle, in Attleboro, Massachusetts. The program prepares “future global leaders to meet the geopolitical challenges of the 21st century” and “to build stronger links between China and a rapidly changing world.”

Selected scholars possess “exemplary leadership qualities and the potential to bridge and understand cultural and political differences.”

Scholars pursue a one-year master’s in global affairs at esteemed Tsinghua University in Beijing, learning about leadership and China’s growing global role. They also have access to leaders from China and other countries through lectures, internships, a mentoring network and travel seminars.

Beadle is in his senior year at Harvard University, concentrating in government. He spent last summer working in investment banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York City. At Harvard, he serves as co-president and CEO of Black Diamond Capital Investors, one of the largest studentrun hedge funds in the United States.

everything,” said Dr. Hall in assembly after Kehlenbeck’s passing.

Performing arts faculty member Michael Turner then sang Let

It Be, by the Beatles, in an emotional tribute.

Making Connections “Everyone in this room is capable of having

an amazing Nobles experience. It all depends on the connections you make. I urge each and every one of you to make

FALL 2019 Nobles 10

the bulletin

Clockwise from top left: McQuillen Martinez ’19 (r.) explains his work to Mason Klinck ’19; Ceramics by Rose O’Connor ’19, drawings by Betsy Matthew ’20 and photographs by Hannah Constable ’19; Work by Liam Smith ’19

Storied Walls THIS YEAR’S ANNUAL AP Student Art Show

in Foster Gallery featured work from 27 AP Ceramics, Photography and Drawing students, in a celebration of what gallery director and ceramics faculty member John Dorsey describes as “a year of intentional thought and craft, enabling peers, faculty and families to discuss the conceptual and technical challenges of articulating visual ideas.”

The 2019 show spanned the introspective to the culturally curious. Rose O’Connor ’19 crafted ceramic lanterns, exploring the international significance of these sources of “light and joy.” Painter

Clara Guzman ’19 represented the “cycle of youth struggle” to establish identity and stand out. Using gouache, pastels and micron pen, Veronica Kao ’19 shared her experience with synesthesia by drawing images of sea jellies. Inspired by the simplicity of Scandinavian folk art, Celia Dorsey ’20 created and carved through multicolored layers of ceramic tile to represent the relationship she feels with a city when she travels: “I like being able to enjoy a city skyline from a distance, but also to experience a city from the inside of a public square.” Photos by Maya Rodriguez ’19 “demonstrate the

intersection between two very important aspects of my life—the women in my family and the natural world.” Delaney Callaghan ’19 literally wove together strips of her photos to create new work, fascinated by her grandmother’s textile weaving—“the stories told by the colors, patterns, textures and their relationship to each other.” Callaghan said: “I wanted to explore how I could apply weaving to photographs to tell my own stories.”

Photos made by McQuillen Martinez ’19 reminded viewers that “staying present is an important aspect of living a fully conscious and memorable life.”

the most of this,” said Casey Goldstein ’19 in his NED Talk reflection on his struggle with depression, his support system

my favorite person on this earth,” said Mikaela Martin ’19 before taking the stage with her sister, Olivia ’21,

assembly stage to sing Ed Sheeran’s Castle on the Hill, saying, “When Mr. Bussey asked me to come back, I

11 Nobles FALL 2019

and his experience as a student here.

Neverland “I wanted to perform at least once with

for a rendition of Ruth B.’s Lost Boy. Younger Then Mac Porter ’17 returned to the

knew there was one song I had to do.”

Service Three graduating students, Vikram Aldykie-

A MATHEMATICIAN’S MOSAIC IN 1981, A YOUNG ACCOUNTANT decided

to pursue a more meaningful profession working with young people. He stepped onto Nobles’ campus wearing a T-shirt, shorts and sandals and found himself answering rapid-fire questions from an interview committee of Dick Baker, former director of studies; Nick Nickerson, former head of the math department; and Lee Sargent, former athletic director. That moment launched a career that spanned nearly four decades and fostered countless meaningful relationships.

Pondering his legacy, Steve Toubman says, “It’s about the impact that you’ve had on students and colleagues over the decades. If I’ve been able to pass along

qualities and help people grow and develop their character and their thinking skills so that they become better and more complete, more thoughtful, more supportive, hardworking, independent people, then that’s really the impact I want to have.”

A longtime wrestling coach with significant cultural influence on the school, Toubman reflects, “I keep coming back to wrestling. Each season can be such an intense experience to go through with so many kids. It has a strong effect on people. I developed many close friendships and have had the opportunity to work with so many fantastic kids. They’ve all had an impact on me, as well as the sport and me having any impact on them.

“Every person is a mosaic of so many different experiences and people,” he says. “When you talk about a legacy, you hope that you’ve changed people’s lives in such a way that impacts them into the future. You just hope you can make the world a better place in that way.”

Demonstrating his influence on his students, wrestlers and colleagues, Toubman was awarded the 2018 Vernon L. Greene Award for Faculty Excellence and honored with the creation of the Steve Toubman Award for superb sportsmanship, positive leadership and passion for wrestling. Beyond Nobles, he won the ISL Excellence Award and was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame’s Massachusetts Chapter.

group, Greensleeves, competed in a Pitch Perfect-style riff-off with the all-male a cappella group the Nobleonians, excerpt-

The Two Wyatts Wyatt Ellison ’20 and Wyatt Sullivan ’19—sang the Arctic Monkeys’ “No. 1 Party Anthem,” dedicating

Left: Steve Toubman answers a question for Maddie MacDonald ‘24 and Chris Ryan ‘24 in his pre-algebra class. Right: Steve Toubman coaches Darnel Cineas ‘21 during a wrestling meet.

wicz, John Murray and Zander Gomez, all ’19, earned a standing ovation for committing to the Reserve Officer Training Corps

(ROTC) at their respective universities.

Riff-Off The school’s allfemale a cappella

ing songs like Lady Gaga’s Poker Face, Old Crow Medicine Show’s Wagon Wheel and Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’.

their performance to Wyatt Lyons ’21.

FALL 2019 Nobles 12

the bulletin

Top: Chris Burr with his Class IV English class. Bottom: Kate Burr and Chris Burr watch a Friday Night Lights game.

Bye to the Burrs CHRIS BURR, A RETIRING MEMBER of the English faculty, begins every school year the same way. Holding the first student papers of the year against his chest, he tells his students, “I’m going to say something to you that’s going to be hard for you to hear.” He says, “You are not your grades. If I were to assume that you were your grades, it would be like me walking out into a field of wildflowers, picking two flowers and saying, ‘This is the field.’ You are way more than your grades, and that’s how I’m always going to see you.”

Kate Burr, longtime afternoon receptionist and Chris’ wife, agrees that Nobles students need these reminders.

She says, “I hope that, in the midst of

13 Nobles FALL 2019

all their achievements, they hold on to some of that tenderness and humanity of connection, which is what Chris and I are lucky to have with each other.”

The Burrs have been members of the Nobles community, collectively, for nearly three decades. For both, their time here has been punctuated with long-lasting and meaningful relationships. Chris lists his colleagues, like former English faculty member Tim Carey, as models for decency and kindness. Kate remembers the students like Genesis De Los Santos ’15, who confided in Kate when she was a struggling new student, but soon became the firecracker Kate always knew she was. These are the interactions the Burrs will cherish as

they carry their lives forward beyond the walls of Nobles.

The Burrs have been the bookends to the Nobles experience of many students over the years. They begin their days chatting with Chris on the bench outside Lawrence Auditorium and end it sprinting past Kate to catch their bus ride home. Kate reflects on those final moments of each day: “I love sitting at my desk as the last bus comes up for Forest Hills. I see the bus come up, and there’s a group of students walking behind me from Gleason. They’re always talking and laughing and joking with each other in the most wonderful way.

I always think, ‘That’s a great end to a day.’ And that’s what I want to hear.”

FREEMAN DINNER Class I students of color celebrated their accomplishments on May 14 with their families, faculty and students from Class II at the annual Freeman Legacy Dinner, honoring former arts faculty member and diversity pioneer Bob Freeman.

Student-elected speaker Angelina Gomes ’19 opened up about growing up in the foster care system, and her family’s history of addiction and loss.

Scary as it was, she first told her story while studying away at the Island School and said, “By sharing the truth of my story, I am set free. Like an anchor, I drop the shame and the weight behind my past; I become the person I’ve always felt I am inside by letting go.”

When she recounted the same story to Nobles classmates, she was met with gratitude for sharing her experience and respect for her resilience.

Gomes said, “In a place like Nobles, the communities and the spaces we share can feel oppressive, but our willingness to be our vulnerable and honest selves is what makes each of us so powerful.”

Dream Weaver Vibrant hand-knit scarves.

Whimsical clogs. Intricate journals. The scent of freshbaked cookies. A bulletin board obscured by curious, chaotic scraps of memorabilia. Vicky Seelen has taught English at Nobles since 1989; to take one look at her office wall is to catch a glimpse into her wondrous and colorful mind— and the art and substance that have meant the most to her.

After earning a degree in English from Brown University, she taught and coached at Burke Mountain Academy in Vermont before coming to Nobles—a stint only slated for

a year. She says, “I love what goes on in the classroom. It’s central to who I am. I am surprised every day. I learn every day. I have tremendous respect and affection for my students’ hard work, their humor and their willingness to do just about anything I ask them to do. And I’ve felt that way for all the years I’ve been teaching.”

Seelen sees her classroom as a living, breathing unit.

“I talk to my students about our class being an organism. . . .

It will take us a

long time to become who we’re going to be together, and that is the responsibility of every person in this room.”

Every spring, her Class I students produce a magazine modeled after the New Yorker.

Seelen treasures the process because, unlike dissecting novels she’s already taught, “We’re entering a text for the first time together. We switch gears quite a bit because so many genres are represented. I love that.”

Dear friend and officemate

of 25 years Alden Mauck calls her “a formidable intellect and a master teacher. . . .

She is a loyal friend to many, often the first to reach out to those in need. She is the ringleader of a Friday tradition that gathers faculty and staff together for coffee and treats.

She is the best office decorator on campus, and she is a constant tease of those she considers close friends.

I know—I have received as much attention as any!”

And as she lovingly packs away her collection of stories, she prepares to weave new ones.

FALL 2019 Nobles 14

the bulletin

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Based on the 2003 novel by Mark Haddon, the Nobles production of Curious Incident featured Karina Cowperthwaite ’19 (right) as Christopher, Wyatt Sullivan ’19 (left) as Christopher’s father, as well as Breene Hallaby ’19 and Sammi Walkey ’20.

15 Nobles FALL 2019

FALL 2019 Nobles 16

the bulletin

Photographer to First Responder WHILE WORKING as an Associated Press

photographer in Vermont for more than three decades, Toby Talbot ’69 spent his time as an outsider looking in—observing political elections, natural disasters, memorable sporting events and ordinary people going about their daily lives. Today, he is firmly on the inside.

As a firefighter and a civic leader in his hometown of Calais, Vermont, Talbot is part of the story, not just observing it.

Unlike many photojournalists, Talbot had no formal education in either photography or journalism. He discovered a love for taking pictures while at Nobles

Talbot during the 1988 Montpelier flood

17 Nobles FALL 2019

and began to develop his own photos and gain on-the-job experience as a photographer for the Nobleman and yearbook. A few years after graduating from Williams College, he turned his hobby into a career. While volunteering as a driver on a political campaign in Vermont, Talbot met a future Associated Press correspondent who would later take a chance on him. “He knew I enjoyed taking pictures and, back in those days, the AP Bureau in Montpelier did not have a full-time photographer on staff, so he helped me get hired as a parttime stringer or contractor,” he recalls.

“I started covering things that had not been covered before and, essentially, created a full-time job for myself.”

He took this opportunity and ran with it for more than 30 years, covering everything from presidential campaigns, to NASCAR races, to foliage festivals, to ice cream’s most famous duo, Ben and Jerry. He traveled throughout Vermont and the greater Northeast, learning about people and documenting history through his work.

“As a photojournalist in Vermont, I realized how great a need there is in small towns for competent people to participate,” says Talbot. So, when he moved from Montpelier to the small town of Calais in 1988, he began getting involved in the community at the local level. He has since served on the town’s Planning Commission and Design Review Board. From sewage officer to town selectman, there are few roles Talbot has not undertaken and few people who he doesn’t know.

Perhaps his most critical and notable title today is that of deputy chief of the East Montpelier Fire Department. Like photojournalism, his involvement in firefighting and emergency services is, in part, about being in the right place at the right time. “I used to take my car to a garage owned by a man who—it turns out—was one of the original founders of the town’s fire department in 1964. He asked if I was interested in volunteering and invited me to come down to the firehouse,” remembers Talbot. “So, literally, at the age of 50, I started to learn all there was about firefighting and being a first responder.” Today, his firehouse responds to dozens of fires and upward of 400 medical emergency calls each year. In fact, Talbot often arrives at the home of a neighbor or friend in need of medical help. Moments like these take local participation and engagement to a higher, more personal level.

—CASEY HASSENSTEIN

by the numbers

A BRIEF HISTORY OF NOBLES MAGAZINE

22

issues of Nobles published since 2012, the year of transition from the Nobles Bulletin to Nobles magazine

Nobles the magazine for noble and greenough school

fall 2012

Noble and Greenough School 10 Campus Drive Dedham, MA 02026-4099

NON-prOfit U.S. pOStage paiD BOStON Ma perMit NO. 53825

of the Nobles Bulletin (1924–2012)

NOBLES • SPRING 2014

87 YEARS

Nobles the magazine of noble and greenough school

The first volume of the Bulletin was published in 1924.

spring 2014

Honoring The Rev. Elise Kornack ’05 has worked

Fall 2012 Nobles 1

100+

graduates featured in the past 15 years

64

pages in the average issue

30

average number of interviews each issue

Nobles Nobles Nobles Nobles THE MAGAZINE OF NOBLE AND GREENOUGH SCHOOL

SPRING 2015

THE MAGAZINE OF NOBLE AND GREENOUGH SCHOOL

SPRING 2015

THE MAGAZINE OF NOBLE AND GREENOUGH SCHOOL

SPRING 2015

THE MAGAZINE OF NOBLE AND GREENOUGH SCHOOL

SPRING 2015

the magazine of noble and greenough school

Edward S. Gleason Jr., in some of New York’s finest p. 42 kitchens and won a culinary competition. Now, she hosts unforgettable, intimate dinners in Brooklyn.

2

Michael Beach ’82 in Los Angeles, the day after “Crisis” premiered.

Most times any grad has been on the cover: actor Michael Beach ’82

Nobles THE MAGAZINE OF NOBLE AND GREENOUGH SCHOOL

The Accidental Pioneer

40

A Return to the Sea

On the Front Lines

FALL 2018

A Rhodes? Nothing Special

The number of years of coeducation celebrated in the spring 2015 edition of Nobles. The four sequential covers featured women from each decade of coeducation: Tilesy Harrington (math faculty member since ’77), Ellen Mecray ’86, Negar Aliabadi ’96 and Laura Nelson ’07.

Tens of thousands of graduate notes received, including the announcements of more than 50 grad-to-grad marriages: At left, Class of 2001 sweethearts Evie Dabreo and Bryan Swaim celebrate their wedding with Nobles friends.

The Pivot

1

Grammy-nominee on the cover (that’s you, Tucker Halpern ’09!)

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off the shelf

WAKE, SIREN

BY NINA MACLAUGHLIN ’97

(Macmillan Publishers)

Wake, Siren by Nina MacLaughlin ’97, a re-telling of Ovid’s Metamorphoses told from the perspective of the female figures transformed, is an accessible and enjoyable window into the world of gods and monsters, ones with a lot to say, and MacLaughlin certainly has the artistry to say it. The feminine voice that has been absent for centuries

is thunderous. The prose is irresistible and reanimates a long-dead saga, filling out its inhabitants and making them unforgettable. With Wake, Siren, MacLaughlin elevates both her own storytelling and that of Ovid’s with a simplicity that evinces the pen of a master storyteller.

Wake, Siren fits squarely in a rich tradition of contemporary retellings of ancient myths, one that includes Shakespeare, Dante, Chaucer, and Joyce, and, more recently, Margaret Atwood, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Madeline Miller.

The book follows a welltraveled road, and it veers off that road into the places— the groves, coves, lakes, and forests—where those heroines, athletes, prophets, goddesses, and adulteresses suffer, love, and live, fully fleshed and ready to tell. What makes the women of Wake, Siren come to life is their supreme mortality. Each character is deeply human in both her desires and her flaws. Not victims, they are humans, however inhuman

they may become—changed to owls, cows, spiders, reeds, trees, springs. MacLaughlin does not fall into the trap of perfecting her dramatis personae for the sake of projecting a message or providing absolutes to the mystery of the human character. She works to present the other side of truth, the one unseen by Ovid’s audience, and generations of audiences since.

Metamorphoses breathes with menacing sexuality and its consequences, and yet only provides one side of every story. From Apollo’s chase of the beautiful Daphne to Sibyl being forced into bargaining with her virginity, MacLaughlin gives voice to the voices kept silent. And her truth is stunning. Never shying away from what makes an impact, MacLaughlin knows how to write the grotesque without gratuitousness. She makes the search for sincerity in the potential chaos of sexuality and gender paramount without sacrificing the quality of her words.

Just as an example of the elegance laced in Wake, Siren, the beginning of Medusa’s tale is particularly haunting as she recounts how Neptune raped her in the temple of Minerva, where she thought she was safest. “A certain sort of voice tells the story long enough and part of you ends up believing in it. In hearing the telling of my story, I have heard the words ‘seized and rifled.’ . . .

I have heard the words ‘attained her love.’ The words have made me question, was I wrong? Was it maybe not that bad? Was I not strong enough to handle it?” The scope of the project is enormous in its own right. If there is one way in which Ovid’s original yarns come up short, it is in their panoramic, verging on cursory, nature. While Metamorphoses presents a series of vistas, MacLaughlin’s opus serves more as an anthology of intricate stilllifes. Wake, Siren is a supreme feat: humble as it is sprawling, and sincere as it is humbling.

—WYATT SULLIVAN ’19

FROM “CALLISTO” TURNED INTO A BEAR, THEN TURNED INTO A CONSTELLATION, AN EXCERPT FROM WAKE, SIREN He swept us up into the sky, where we are, now, even now, still now, a series of stars, big bear and little bear. I stay and burn and will stay and burn and my fire roars, but no one can hear it. I’m one of the luckier ones though, because I see the children on earth pointing up at me. Look, look, they say, the big dipper. It’s part of me, the lights in the sky that the children learn first. And I think: I wish I could scoop you up, young ones. I wish I could ladle you up into me and keep you safe for all time. I see them down there, pointing and smiling. I am not invisible. But I don’t want them to

19 Nobles FALL 2019

know that when I seem especially bright, when I blaze in the sky, it’s because I’m remembering that afternoon when my body was no longer my own.

There are so many other stars, all of us burning. And I see all the stars around me, and I wonder, Are you the same as me? Is this what we all are? Fires fueled by fury, burning through the nights? Is that why you’re up here, and you, and you? No place on earth for a fury so hot and bright? For a roar so loud? I wonder this. I see some blazing brighter and I think: What are you remembering?

short stories

COLLECTIONS THAT WILL TURN YOU INTO A SHORT STORY LOVER

BY GIA BATTY, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF ACADEMIC SUPPORT; ENGLISH FACULTY

As an English teacher, I’ve always loved teaching short stories—Flannery O’Connor’s A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Tim O’Brien’s On the Rainy River are two of my current classroom favorites—but I really didn’t start reading short stories for pleasure until I had children (Rocky ’20 and Bruno ’23). When they were young and I was working, by the time I was ready to read at night, I just didn’t have the brain space for a novel. I’d fall asleep a few pages in or have to return to the beginning of a chapter to remember what was happening. That’s when I turned to short story collections, and I’ve been hooked ever since.

Unlike novels, which can take days or weeks to finish, short stories can often be devoured whole, in one delicious bite. Whether you’re in the mood for some classics from a master (Alice Munro), poignant stories about being human (Lorrie Moore), weird but wonderful stories (Karen Russell and Aimee Bender) or stories read by the authors (The Writer’s Voice podcast), there’s something here to turn you into the short story lover you’ve always wanted to be.

ORANGE WORLD, BY KAREN RUSSELL Orange World, published just this May, is Karen Russell’s third story collection, and this is as strangely wonderful as her others. Her stories sit somewhere on the genre axis of horror, science fiction and absurdism, and they are all so expertly crafted, I am sometimes physically winded when I finish reading one of them. My favorites in this collection are the title story, “Orange World,” in which a new mother strikes a deal with a devil who appears in the body of a “mutant red raccoon” that meets her in the drainage ditch outside her home in Portland each night, and “Bog Girl: A Romance,” about a teenaged peat harvester who finds the woman of his dreams in the 2,000-year-old remains of a female corpse buried in the bog.

BARK, BY LORRIE MOORE What I love most about Lorrie Moore is her playfulness with language, but also that she writes stories that capture what it actually feels like to be human, what it is to be part of a community and to question all of your connections to it. In my favorite story, “Debarking,” a newly divorced man who still can’t get his wedding ring off his finger because “it had grown twistedly around it like a happy challah” has an affair with a categorically unstable woman who slowly strips his delicate outer layers, essentially debarking him of his dignity.

WILLFUL CREATURES, BY AIMEE BENDER Aimee Bender’s writing is often referred to as fabulist—that magical place between science fiction and fairy tale—and her stories bend reality in ways that illuminate truths that may not be as clear to us otherwise. The world is just slightly out of whack in “The End of the Line,” where an arrogant bachelor shops at a pet store for a little

ART CREDIT

man “to keep him company.” In my favorite in the collection, “Off,” the slightly “off” female narrator announces as she enters a party, “I make a goal and it is to kiss three men: one with black hair, one with red hair and the third blonde,” and proceeds to insult all of the guests and then hide their coats and herself in a dark closet until she, in all of her lonely sadness, is revealed.

DANCE OF THE HAPPY SHADES AND OTHER STORIES,

BY ALICE MUNRO Alice Munro’s stories are often required reading in fiction-writing classes, used as models for how to craft a successful story. Dance of the Happy Shades is her debut collection, which was originally published in 1968, and since then, she’s published 16 others and won the Nobel Prize in literature. You can’t go wrong with any of her books, but my favorite Alice Munro story is in this collection.

It’s called “Boys and Girls,” and, like many of her stories, there is a carefully layered storyline that isn’t fully revealed until the very end.

At the heart of this story is a precocious young girl who articulates questions about gender and identity that we are still asking today.

THE NEW YORKER: THE WRITER’S VOICE PODCAST Here, you’ll find an audio anthology of more than 100 New Yorker stories read by the authors. Some of my recent favorites include Kristen Roupenian’s “Cat Person,” which nearly broke the internet when it aired in 2017 for its carefully wrought #metoo-ness, Lauren Groff’s “Dogs Go Wolf,” which, if you are a mother, you must read only if you know exactly where your children are, and most recently, Colson Whitehead’s new story “The Match,” which got the literary world very excited about his new book that came out this summer, The Nickel Boys, about a boys’ reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida.

FALL 2019 Nobles 20

sports

On the Playing Fields VARSITY BASEBALL Overall Record: 13-4 ISL Record: 11-4 All-ISL: John Grady, Cole Koeppel and

Jack Schwartz, all ’19 Honorable Mention: Owen Fitzhugh ’19, Jackson Phinney ’20 and Luca Danos ’21 ISL Co-Pitcher of the Year:

Jack Schwartz ’19 Awards: John Eliot Cooke Award (for significant improvement, devotion to the team and a genuine love for the game): Cole Koeppel ’19. The Lovett Medal (for excellence in baseball): John Grady and Jack Schwartz, both ’19 2020 Captains: Jack Cronin ’20, Luca Danos ’21, Owen O’Connor ’20 and Jackson Phinney ’20 BOYS VARSITY CREW New England Championship Results:

1st Crew: 3rd Place

2nd Crew: 2nd Place 3rd Crew: 3rd Place 4th Crew: 3rd Place Awards: The Taylor Shield Award (for sportsmanship in rowing): Sarah Jubber and Cam Nelson, both ’19. The Watson Medal (for overall contribution to rowing): Adam Qu ’19 2020 Captains: Finn Crawford, Wyatt Ellison, Charlie Guerra, Nick Hazard, all ’20 GIRLS VARSITY CREW New England Championship Results:

1st Crew: 1st Place 2nd Crew: 2nd Place 3rd Crew: 5th Place 4th Crew: 1st Place

NEIRA Overall Points Trophy Winners Awards: The Janice L. Mabley Award

(to the oarswoman whose spirit and dedication exemplify the ideals of Nobles rowing): Sarah Averill ’19. AC “Clint”

Kali Long ’21

Allen Bowl (for competitive, tough spirit in rowing): Julia Trull ’19. Jill Walsh Award (for exemplary leadership and mentorship): Sammi Janower, Caroline Kinghorn and Alex Poole, all ’19 2020 Captains: Saffiyah Coker, Lucy Del Col, Paloma Ducrest and Kat Poole, all ’20 VARSITY GOLF Overall Record: 9-5-2 ISL Record: 9-5-2 Kingman Championship Tournament:

5th Place

End-of-Year Awards ■■

■■

■■

■■ ■■

The George Washington Copp Noble Cup (to athletes in Classes V and VI, for sportsmanship in athletics): Ainsley Gray ’24, Matthew Loose ’24, Campbell Bates ’23 and Charles Wang ’23 The John Paine Award (to a junior varsity or third-level participant for sportsmanship and consistent work in athletics): Molly Epker ’22 and Jake McHugh ’20 The Robert J. Agostini Award (presented with the support of coaches and captains of Nobles teams for the greatest contribution to the school’s athletics program other than as a competitor): Bill Kehlenbeck The Tom Resor Coaching Excellence Award: Mark Harrington The Davis Cup (to a member of Class I for sportsmanship and consistent work in athletics): Alex Poole and John Murray, both ’19

21 Nobles FALL 2019

■■

■■

■■ ■■

ISL Award of Excellence (for exhibiting integrity, sportsmanship, fair play and good citizenship while participating as a multisport athlete): Rose O’Connor and Jack Schwartz, both ’19 The Nobles Shield (to the most respected athlete whose skill, sportsmanship and competitive spirit have personified excellence and the ideals of Nobles athletics): Aislinn McCarthy and Will Zink, both ’19 Miller Medal (for excellence in scholarship and athletics): Lily Farden ’19 NEPSAC Athlete of the Year (to the top female scholarathlete in the New England Preparatory School Council): Lily Farden ‘19

Allie Yi ’21

All-ISL: Vikram Konanki ’21 and

Girls varsity crew brings home the hardware at NEIRAs.

All-American: Aislinn McCarthy ’19 Award: Girls Lacrosse Bowl (for signifi-

Jason Temel ’19 Award: Dewey Golf Award (for overall contribution to golf ): Vikram Konanki ’21 2020 Captains: Noah Janfaza ’20 and Vikram Konanki ’21

cant contribution in spirit and performance): Susan Rowley ’19 2020 Captains: Becca Gill, Caroline Higgins and Madie Majernik, all ’20

BOYS VARSITY LACROSSE

VARSITY SOFTBALL

Overall Record: 11-7 ISL Record: 11-4 All-ISL: John Dixon ’20, Will Zink ’19 Honorable Mention: Dan Donahue ’20,

Overall Record: 6-7 ISL Record: 5-5

Ollie Bernstein ’20, Andrew Johnson ’19, David Jacobs ’20, Nick Taylor ’20 and Pierce Kenney ’20

Academic All-American:

Andrew Johnson ’19 Awards: Arnold Lacrosse Prize (to the player whose skill, dedication and enthusiasm most reflect a love of the sport): Will Zink ’19. Samuel P. Dawson Award (for significant improvement, sportsmanship and a genuine love for the game): Andrew Johnson ’19 2020 Captains: Oliver Bernstein and Nick Taylor, both ’20 GIRLS VARSITY LACROSSE Overall Record: 11-4 ISL Record: 9-3 All-ISL: Becca Gill ’20, Aislinn

McCarthy ’19 and Susan Rowley ’19 Honorable Mention: Schuyler Edie ’19 and Madie Majernik ’20

(Big East Tournament semifinalists) Winners of the Kathy Newell ISL Softball Team Sportsmanship Award All-ISL: Calli Bianchi ’19 and Addy

Sewack ’20 Award: The Bird Bowl (for the greatest contribution to the softball team): Calli Bianchi ’19 2020 Captains: Katie Armstrong, Angela Giordano and Addy Sewack, all ’20 BOYS VARSITY TENNIS Overall Record: 11-5 ISL-Record: 11-5 All-ISL: Rithik Alluri ’19 Honorable Mention: Justin Qin ’21 All-Scholastic ISL: Rithik Alluri ’19 Award: The Rice Cup (for enthusiasm,

skill and sportsmanship): Rithik Alluri ’19

NEPSAC Class A Tournament Quarterfinalists All-ISL: Jesse Brownell ’19, Nicole

Weinsten ’19 and Allie Yi ’21

Honorable Mention: Alex Weinsten and

Grayson Welo, both ’19

Award: C.F. Olney Prize (for enthusiasm,

skill and sportsmanship): Nicole Weinsten and Grayson Welo, both ’19 2020 Captains: Keren Luo ’20 and Allie Yi ’21 VARSITY TRACK AND FIELD

ISL Championship Meet: Girls, 7th place.

Boys, 11th place

ISL Meet Point Scorers: Kali Long ’21, 2nd in the 100m (12.49) and the 200m (25.62); Sidnie Kulik ’21, 4th in the 1500m (4:50.26) and 3rd in the 3000m (10:56.65); Leighton Graham ’19, 5th in the discus (137’ 10”) and the shot put (44’ 8”); Ami Nwaoha ’19, 6th in the 400m (53.02).

All-ISL Honorable Mention: Kali Long ’21

ULTIMATE Overall Record: 3-3 ISL Record: 3-1

GIRLS VARSITY TENNIS Overall Record: 16-0 ISL Record: 15-0 (1st Place)

FALL 2019 Nobles 22

perspectives

The Space in Between Savoring the simple moments

BY VICKY SEELEN, RETIRING MEMBER OF THE ENGLISH FACULTY

In April 2019, Seelen delivered a version of these remarks to students newly inducted into the Nobles chapter of Cum Laude Society: There is a ball of neon green hand-dyed yarn in my studio waiting for a project.

Today, it is an idea but has no place. I have waited and will continue to wait until I know where it belongs because I have only one. And I want to give it value, to honor what it needs to be—so I won’t force it into becoming. Rather, I will continue to wait and allow it to exist in the Space in Between—in between its being a lovely foraging sheep in a field and becoming a richly layered piece knitted by my hands.

So tonight I want to tell you about the Space in Between.

S

everal days ago, I sat at my desk while my juniors typed noisily, clicking fast, writing a response paper on a prompt, a quote from One Hundred Years of Solitude. I realized at that moment that I had the rare opportunity to slow down and watch them processing, leafing through their books, struggling at something that I have challenged them with. Maybe it was just a bit beyond their perceived reaches. But that’s the thing about teaching. We try to show students that they are more than they thought, that they can stretch. In that Space in Between, I marveled.

I also love that time when I hand out the exams at the final in the gym, when we make eye contact, and I know where we have journeyed together. I know how much we have done, and so I quiet the voice that says, “Why didn’t we do more?” in favor of, “Remember how long ago September was and how we have grown?”

For you all, one Space in Between is clearly demarcated with graduation hurtling toward you, as it is for me, who retires from 40 years of teaching, 30 of which have been spent here. The question, then, for me and for you was put forth by one of my favorite poets, Mary Oliver: “What will you do with your one wild and precious life?”

Students often talk about how one achieves happiness in life. What I have thought about, over and over, is the career I have chosen, its requisite hard work and remarkable rewards—and I have thought about how my best friends are those with whom I have worked hardest. I have also thought a lot about how much working with you all teaches me every day. Reading, tinkering with the curriculum, adjusting and readjusting, each year, month and day . . . and I’ve thought about what I will miss most. The creative enterprise that is teaching—the engagement in watching you all do what

“ Consider where the creative solutions lie and do not be daunted by the heft of the challenge.” —VICKY SEELEN

22 Nobles FALL 2019

you do best, but also what you are trying for the first time.

A graduate who came to my class had worked for five years on the Nike campus in Oregon before starting a company that makes zero-carbon food products. He said that we need to remember that we eat every day “in a castle!” That is being awake to the Space in Between. Look up. Look at the walls by the panini maker and notice that once they were outside in the weather for many decades before they were brought in by brilliant architects respecting the history of this iconic building. Look over the railings of the patio and wonder about the changing seasons here. And also, wonder about the people who take care of the fields for us. Savor the first flakes of snow, the tree outside of Dr. Hall’s office with those miraculous pink blossoms. A shared nod in the Quiet Room. A belly laugh with Mr. Mauck or Ms. Ramsdell. It is at these moments when I savor a deepening relationship or follow up on someone’s quiet pain with an acknowledgement that I notice it. Perhaps these are the moments when we can be the most awake.

The happiness we experience is often due to acting on our purpose beyond

caption_whitney_ right

achievement. If you notice the glorious beauty of an unfurling aspen tree in the spring, also acknowledge climate change.

Consider where the creative solutions lie and do not be daunted by the heft of the challenge. If your classmate says she suffers from feeling invisible, help her know that she is seen, that while you can never live her story, you can show empathy.

When you see a sign that says “Black Lives Matter,” do not jump in your head to “What about blue lives?”—because to acknowledge injustice does not negate the other. You have shown all of your teachers that you now have the skills to live in the complexities of ideas, to dance in the ambiguities, to dig into the essence of great literature and the study of history, or solve an almost unbearably complex mathematical formula. In the Space in Between, when you see a lawn sign or a news story that asks you to acknowledge injustice, stop and think.

I have had on my desk for years a quo-

tation from Brenda Ueland, journalist, editor and writer: “Inspiration does not come like a bolt, nor is it kinetic, energetic striving, but it comes into us slowly and quietly and all the time, though we must regularly and every day give it a little chance to start flowing, prime it with a little solitude and idleness.”

Learn to love alone time. Put down the phone. Shut the clam shell of your computer. Allow time to savor quiet.

Allow the gifts to arrive in the peace of it all, where we can welcome gratitude. As I write this, I look out the window of my studio, down at my husband who is fixing a hole in our backyard fence. He makes a small gesture that I could not notice, but I looked away from these keys and saw how he expresses his love. I noticed it and felt grateful, like honey on my heart.

So here is what I know: I am happiest when I am creating, with you in the classroom and also in my studio, when I read a new book that stuns me with the

richness of its story or transports me to a place that I did not know that I needed to go. I am happiest when I take the time to process in my journal, with a cup of coffee to my right and the space to feel. I am happiest when I get to the end of the journal entry and write a list of what I am grateful for. I am happiest when I laugh uproariously, and also when I sit among people who are truly curious, both intellectually and socially.

Today I returned to that neon green ball of yarn and recognized the metaphor in its unlimited possibilities. It is in the Space in Between that I realize it will work, it will “pop” when knit in a pattern with stitches of a speckled black Donegal Tweed that I bought in Ireland. I trust the process because sometimes waiting is what we should do, instead of living in the constant race. It is a deep trust that I have in the possible, the discovery, the inevitable beauty that comes from my hands when it is ready to be born.

FALL 2019 Nobles 23

perspectives

Food Hero

Choices for a Different Food Future BY KATIA ROZENBERG ’18 Katia Rozenberg ’18 traveled to Tel Aviv in summer 2019. She took with her a copy of a new cookbook, Jewish Food Hero, by Kenden Alfond ’95.

Here, Rozenberg explores the graduates’ shared heritage and love of food.

N

o, I can’t eat that. I’m allergic to bacon,” I said, staring at the lunch in front of me. “No, Katia, you’re not allergic. It’s because you’re Jewish,” my teacher responded, removing the BLT sandwich from my plate. That is the earliest memory I have of Judaism influencing what I eat. I was eight years old and had no idea that my “bacon allergy” was because I was kosher. All I remember is my mom telling me that bacon was unhealthy, so I shouldn’t eat it, and I should try to not mix meat with dairy. I nodded my head and didn’t ask any questions, assuming that everybody followed these rules. I quickly realized that kids in school did, in fact, eat bacon, while I sat there staring at their mouths imagining the taste. Why couldn’t I eat bacon? Was it because I was special? Every little kid wants to be special. So I settled on that. I was special because I was the only one in my secondgrade class with a “bacon allergy.”

The first time I ate bacon I hid it from my mom. I was 10 years old and eating breakfast at my friend’s house. She dipped the bacon into whipped cream.

I was tired of being special, so I copied her. When I took a bite, I didn’t feel like I had done anything wrong. Bacon just tasted like oversalted turkey. “Wait, Katia, aren’t you not supposed to eat that?” my friend asked. “Yeah,” I answered.

When I went home, I decided to do some research. I sat on the computer typing in words like “bacon” and “Jewish”

24 Nobles FALL 2019

and landed on a Wikipedia page: “And the pig, because it has a cloven hoof that is completely split, but will not regurgitate its cud; it is unclean for you. You shall not eat of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.”

I never liked anyone telling me what to do. This Wikipedia page was doing exactly that. My diet was restricted and dictated by my religion, and I hadn’t even decided if God existed. Now, the consequences of eating bacon seemed more severe. I kept these thoughts to myself, worried I would get in trouble if I told anyone.

“No, I won’t eat that. It looks gray,” I said. “Katia, you need protein,” my mom responded. I was 17 years old, and my family was celebrating Rosh Hashanah.

I wasn’t taking the chicken cutlet from the table, so my mom thought that an effective way to make me eat it was to put it on my plate herself. It was then that I realized that my approach to what I ate had shifted from “I can’t” to “I won’t.”

When I was younger, I was thoughtful about what I ate because I knew I had restrictions. These restrictions came externally and limited my diet in a way that overwhelmed me. Now that I was older, I was thoughtful about what I ate because I was actively making the decision to do so. I found it more reasonable and beneficial to listen to my body instead of a 3,000-year-old religion.

My relationship with Judaism and food is similar to when, in Kenden Alfond’s introduction to The Jewish Food Hero Cookbook, she writes that all the

Jewish recipes she found “were not reflective of [her] or [her] daughter’s generation.” It is difficult to follow the traditions of a religion because traditions do not change with time, even though culture and people do. I have often asked myself how I can take something as old as Jewish tradition and be able to celebrate it in my own way. Alfond’s cookbook is an example of a woman who was able to do so. Alfond writes, “I see a different food future for the Jewish people,” just like how I saw a different food future for myself.

Flipping through Alfond’s cookbook inspired me to try going pesco-vegan.

This summer, I am living in Tel Aviv for two months, and I thought that being in a new city would be the perfect opportunity to embrace a new eating habit. Israel also has the highest per-capita vegan population in the world, so I knew I would have a lot of options. My roommates and I cook for ourselves here, and many of our dishes are inspired by Alfond’s. On June 8 we celebrated Shavuot, a Jewish holiday that commemorates the wheat harvest.

Celebrating Shavuot typically involves eating dairy products, but I needed to find nondairy alternatives. Alfond’s book is organized by Jewish holidays, so I quickly found a vegan lemon “cheesecake” recipe (at right). As I cooked, I was connecting not only with Judaism,

but also with Alfond, another Jewish woman who wanted to redefine her Jewish heritage through food.

I’ve only just finished my first six days of being pesco-vegan. Though cheese can be tempting, I do enjoy all the varieties of hummus I have tried instead. Being

a healthier lifestyle. Whether or not I continue being pesco-vegan, food is a part of my identity that has been influenced by my religion, culture and family. Ultimately, my goal is to make food choices that stem completely from listening to myself and my body, not my “bacon allergy.”

pesco-vegan in a country where I did not grow up is helping me learn more about whether my past eating habits have been shaped by what my body needs or the environment in which I grew up. I hope to apply what I learn about food in Tel Aviv when I return to America in order to have

Lemon “Cheesecake” A RECIPE BY KENDEN ALFOND ’95 This is a yummy, lower-fat, plant-based version of cheesecake. With the addition of lemon, it tastes light and is the perfect summer dessert. Serves 8 (makes one 8-inch cheesecake).

TOOLS Food processor Cooking oil Springform cheesecake pan (8-inch) Offset spatula Dessert platter for serving

INGREDIENTS Crust: 2 cups graham cracker crumbs 1/4 cup chopped dates 1/4 teaspoon sea salt Cheesecake: 28 ounces silken tofu, drained 1/4 cup lemon juice 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 2 cups sugar

PHOTO BY KATIA ROZENBERG ’18

2 teaspoons vanilla 2 tablespoons tahini

■■

Garnish: Lemon twists and fresh berries

Make the cheesecake batter: ■■ Place all the cheesecake batter ingredients in the food processor and blend until smooth.

■■ Pour the batter over the crust and smooth the top with an offset spatula.

■■ Bake for 30 minutes, or until set in the middle.

■■ Remove from the oven and cool completely before removing from the springform pan, and place on a decorative dessert platter.

INSTRUCTIONS Preheat the oven to 350F Make the crust: ■■ Place the graham cracker crumbs, dates and sea salt in a food processor.

■■ Blend until crumbly (it should stick together when pressed with your fingers).

■■ Transfer to a lightly oiled springform pan and press evenly onto the bottom to form a crust.

Rinse and dry the food processor, and set aside.

Chill and serve: Once cooled, refrigerate for up to 4 hours to chill.

FALL 2019 Nobles 25

Life Tips for the Class of 2019 On May 31, Noble and Greenough School celebrated the accomplishments of its newest graduates.

AT THE FINAL ASSEMBLY in Lawrence

Auditorium, on the eve of its renovation, Head of School Dr. Cathy Hall noted, “Today marks our last time in this space as it is.” The crowd cheered as a powerful Class I lineup wrapped with an epic performance of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” “Talk about nailing it,” said impressed provost Bill Bussey.

Class I took their last walk through the Castle as Nobles students, many pausing to take one last “Castlegram” and adjust boutonnieres and flower crowns. The ceremony commenced with a declaration of appreciation for the Class of 2019 from School Life Council co-presidents Owen Asnis and Cyan Jean. Jean said, “The truth is, our class is so special because we’ve stuck together.

The past four years have not been easy— we’ve been through a lot together. . . . The one constant has been our love, support and respect for one another.” Asnis

26 Nobles FALL 2019

added, “It is truly gut-wrenching that these are our final moments together, but as cliché as it sounds, it’s time to go change the world, as I know we will.”

Hall told the Class of 2019, “Struggle can and should be part of the learning journey. . . It is an even greater gift to have faced those moments and experiences here at Nobles, surrounded by the intricate web of adults who believe in you deeply and who will go to the mat to support you.”

Hall then presented the Vernon Greene Award for excellence in teaching to middle school science faculty member, advisor, coach and Nobles parent Chris Averill. Of the 20-year Nobles educator, Hall said, “To step into Chris’ middle school science classroom is to witness students engaged in rich, thoughtful, highly organized learning, delving meaningfully into his science curriculum, but also delving into

broader skills and larger life lessons.”

Hall also recognized Averill’s mentorship of countless Nobles faculty over the years. She quoted a colleague who said, “He is thoughtful about students, clearly has their best interests at heart and, most importantly, shows flexibility in his thinking. He is never afraid to speak up when he feels it is in the best interest of the student, even when others may disagree.”

Director of Academic Support and science faculty member Mike Hoe gave a speech rife with wisdom and wit. He recalled the creation of “Life Tips by Mr. Hoe” when the graduating class was only in Class IV. His three favorite tips were the focus of his graduation missive: Life Tip #1: Be more meta. “Part of being truly meta is also maintaining a childlike innocence that enables you to still be idealistic and to notice the little things that happen each and every day.”

Life Tip #2: Don’t be complacent and never settle —even if life tries to force

you to. Hoe was three years old when he

lost his father in 1989. He marveled at his mother’s strength, earning two doctoral degrees while raising two children on her own and working full time. She taught him that “being truly kind requires intent, being sensitive is not a weakness, and that while chivalry is indeed not dead, girls can be anything they damn well please”—a fact Hoe says his wife and daughter demonstrate every day.

Life Tip #3: Don’t be sorry, be better.

Hoe believes “to be truly sorry means to be better moving forward to prevent whatever happened in the first place from ever happening again.”

Max von Schroeter and Mikaela Martin were selected to speak by their classmates. In his speech, “A Down Payment on Opportunity,” von Schroeter jested about Nobles: “We’ve got problems. For example, politics create tension, tuition is too high, homework causes too much stress, I’m still single.” Von Schroeter then invoked the inaugural address of President Theodore Roosevelt: “No people on earth have

more cause to be thankful than ours. . . .

Much has been given us, and much will rightfully be expected from us.”

Next was Mikaela Martin, with “Acronyms Solve Everything.”

Reflecting on six years at Nobles, Martin explained her guiding acronym, CARL. The “C” is for community. From the time Martin stepped on campus as an overwhelmed Sixie, she “fell in love with the community that Nobles was and the potential [she] saw within it, for [her]self.”

The “A” is for appreciation. For Martin, saying “I love you” has always been challenging. Over the years, she said, “Nobles has gifted me with people and relationships that have helped shape me into who I am and taught me the value of gratitude.”

The “R” represents respect. At Nobles, Martin says, she has learned to elicit respect and deal with conflict respectfully. “You have no idea what anyone is going through...There is no place at Nobles for disrespect and there is always

space for a middle ground.”

The final “L” is for love. Martin shared some of her classmates’ endearing traits, saying, “I am learning, step by step, to become conscious of the people I love and the things that I love, so that, when I am not so near them, I will always be able to draw off of their warmth.”

Hall announced the awards given the prior evening. Before the diplomas, the ceremony included the awarding of the Head of School Prize to Lev Sandler and Madeleine Charity; the Russell B. Stearns Achievement Award to Maya Principe and Maya Rodriguez; the Trustees’ Prize for Scholarship to Liam Smith; the Bond Prize for Improvement to Cyan Jean; the Miller Medal to Lily Farden; and the Gleason Award for Academic Excellence to Nathaniel Birne.

After accepting their diplomas, graduates joyfully thanked and were reunited with the proud faculty and family members who have been, and will be, by their sides all along.

FALL 2019 Nobles 27

WELLESLEY PICKER

T

The old adage says that one person’s junk is another person’s treasure. The Wellesley Picker, as Stephanie Savage Flynn ’01 is known on Instagram, is one person who can spot the diamond in the rough or an overlooked antique in a heap—with a little work and imagination, she can transform a beast into a beauty. She talked with Nobles magazine editor Heather Sullivan about her passion.

28 Nobles FALL 2019

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Heather Sullivan: Why make the effort when others go to the Internet, usually buying something new?

Stephanie Flynn: When you find a real treasure, it’s totally worth it.

HS: How did you become interested

in this type of treasure hunting?

SF: My parents are both avid collectors— antiques and artwork. I grew up being dragged to antique shows, museums and art galleries. My maternal grandmother was a ceramic artist. She was always finding old things and making them new

again; she was refinishing furniture into her eighties. I thought it was normal.

HS: What makes you interested in a

particular piece?

SF: It’s not necessarily the value—but I once

found sterling silver at the Wellesley dump swap. I couldn’t believe someone would just throw it away rather than sell it or give it to family. But I think what’s most exciting is finding pieces that are from the past that feel like they were made for you. My mom always looks for coin silver spoons with my initials on them, for example.

TIPS FROM STEPHANIE Add a monogram or inscription: Gold, sterling silver or even good silver-plate can be engraved with a personalized inscription or initials. This is a creative and fun way to make old items new again! Most local jewelers can help you out with this. Also, think about adding a new monogram to vintage textiles, such as a napkin set or handkerchief for a special occasion. You can find a local embroidery shop, search a site like Etsy, or if you dare, try hand-embroidering some initials. Extra credit if you find a vintage/antique item that already has your or your loved one’s initials.

Get to know your local hardware store: The shopkeepers and sales clerks often have a wealth of knowledge. They should be able to suggest paint that works best for specific projects, which polishes are most effective with specific metals, etc.

Keep your eye out for interesting containers: Anything that can hold water can become a vase! I like to keep a small collection of unique pitchers, cups and vases on hand for arranging fresh flowers as gifts or when sprucing up my home for visitors. These types of containers need not be expensive to pack a punch.

Group similar items together: Start collecting things you love and group similar items together. When displayed together, items such as blue-and-white pottery or brass candlesticks can make a beautiful, timeless statement.

Visit the Nobles Yard Sale! Treasures abound at this beloved biennial event — happening in October 2019!— and it’s a fun excuse to return to campus for a great cause. At the last sale, I bought sterling salt-and-pepper shakers for 50 cents! Happy hunting!

30 Nobles FALL 2019

HS: What’s your strategy?

SF: I visit places in person, whether

it’s an estate sale or a thrift shop or an antique store. Especially with old pieces, you need to touch them and see them to figure out if it’s the right fit. Auctions are fun, too. You can watch people and see what’s there—and sometimes you find really interesting deals. Bigger estate sale companies will list on the website estatesales.net.

HS: Some people with similar interests

are a bit aggressive in acquiring objects.

What about you?

SF: I’m not going to roll over people in my car to get the best deal. It’s not necessarily about saving money. For me, it’s about being inspired by the past and inspiring others. There’s a green element to it as well. On the coast of Maine or on the Cape, I stop at places that look like they might have a story to tell.

HS: The Brimfield Fair is a nationally known pilgrimage. It happens three times a year in Brimfield, Massachusetts, and has been featured on HGTV competitions. What’s your take?

SF: I think a lot of antique purists will say that it’s more like a flea market than an antique market, but you can certainly find treasures there. I went for the first time recently, and it was inspiring to see local design trends—how people are blending vintage pieces with new pieces. There’s no excuse not to go if you’re interested.

HS: How is your @wellesleypicker

Instagram feed reflective of your aesthetic?

SF: I don’t have any formal training as an artist. I did take photography at Nobles, though. A lot of photography is about composition. I think about how to compose a photo but also how to compose a room or furniture within a space.

I started @wellesleypicker as a private

joke among friends [who encouraged me to make it public]. I do love Instagram because it’s full of beautiful images and you can connect with really creative people. I also help run the Wellesley Kitchen and Home Tour every year as a volunteer. That work is inspiring and has helped inform my design sensibility.

HS: Describe what it’s like going to the

Wellesley dump swap.

SF: It’s not a landfill. It was started as a

way to keep usable goods out of the landfill, so there’s a green element to it. I joke that the return policy is great. I’ve found beautiful furniture that just needs a little help. If I can’t do all of the work myself, I connect with local furniture restorers or upholsterers. Connecting with people in the community is another benefit of picking at the dump.

HS: What has been the most dramatic

or satisfying transformation of a piece that you’ve found?

SF: I found a rattan telephone chair, which had been spray-painted black.

Under the chipping black, you could see yellow paint, too. I thought it could be beautiful—the style is Hollywood Regency or Palm Beach Regency. It’s a chair with a built-in side table. I painted it a thick and glossy Benjamin Moore navy blue, then I had cushions made for it in a beautiful, fresh fabric. Now it’s in my daughter’s room. I posted it on Instagram, and I found out who it used to belong to!

HS: Who’s your role model?

SF: My grandmother has been my muse.

She just had an eye for really beautiful things. She was first generation ItalianAmerican. Her father was an expert tailor and amateur painter who worked in oils. She had this natural knack for finding beautiful, well-made things. My grandmother could sew, she could cook, she could paint.

Is it trash? Stephanie Savage Flynn ’01 knows treasure when she sees it. She transformed this Regency-style bamboo telephone chair with paint, patience and a new upholstered cushion.

HS: You revived a Bermuda bag from

the ’80s. Tell me about that.

SF: It was a vintage bag, and I had my daughter’s monogram put on it. I call her my Little Picker. I want to teach my kids that you can have a new toy or new clothes. If you’re lucky enough to have that, that’s wonderful. But it’s also okay to have old things. We hand down clothes. We get clothes from our neighbors. It saves money, and it’s a nice connection with other people.

HS: Some people must be surprised

that you spend time and effort recycling old things.

SF: The green aspect is important to

me. But why I really started doing it even more is because I wanted to make my own home unique. I wanted to give my friends unique gifts and not just something out of a box. We are in such a fast world that making someone a meal or making them a needlepoint is a step in slowing down and really thinking about people. It’s about slowing down and using your brain in a way that’s creative. I mean, if you polish candlesticks that someone left at the dump, and they become shiny and beautiful, it’s a little thrill in a busy day. N FALL 2019 Nobles 31

Flour isn’t what it used to be, but Jon Olinto ’94 is working to bring wheat back to its local roots.

He’s milling “wheat you can eat” at One Mighty Mill to resurrect the grain that was once ground through 25,000 local mills in the country.

Now there are fewer than 200 mills, gluten sensitivities abound, and carbs are the enemy.

STORY A N D P HOTO G RA PHY BY BEN H EI DER

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W

hile Jon Olinto spent 14 years building the healthy farm-to-table business B.GOOD with Nobles classmate Anthony Ackil ’94, the one item on their menu not tied directly to a farmer was bread. Olinto realized that even though health-conscious consumers are adamant about eating a plant-based diet, they don’t want to eat wheat. “And we know why they don’t,” he says. “Because it’s been industrialized in a way that’s just not good for us.” Olinto left B.GOOD in 2017 to figure out why this grass that has nourished civilization from the beginning has been demonized, and how he could resurrect it.

“I’ve been to all these local farms all over the country, and I’d never seen wheat,” Olinto says. “We used to have all these healthy local food systems where mills were the cornerstone. You had farms growing wheat, and you had flour that was perishable. People were consuming it locally, and nobody had gluten issues back then. Nobody thought carbs were going to hurt us.” Today, the driving forces of industrialization—fast and cheap—have consolidated and mechanized our food systems over the past century.

Olinto explains how massive mills were created to make flour shelf-stable: “What a roller mill does is it takes out the living part of wheat, the germ. And in a lot of cases it also shears off the bran, which is the outer coating where all the fiber lives. And in truly refined white flour, it just leaves the endosperm, which is just empty starch. Our bodies were designed to eat the full seed, because the seed has fiber, it has vitamins and minerals, and it slows digestion because it’s a

34 Nobles FALL 2019

complete food instead of just starch that your body converts to sugar. So at the most basic level, the rolling mill takes everything good out of wheat and packages it so that it can be sold and held and transported across the country.”

In addition to the processing modifications, farming advancements have taken a toll as well. Grown as a monoculture in soil exhausted of nutrients, sprayed with pesticides, and bred for more white endosperm, modern wheat is dramatically different from that of our ancestors. “There’s just so much that’s gone wrong that it’s not a surprise that our bodies say, at some point, we shouldn’t be eating this. Nausea and inflammation—that’s just a natural response to eating too much junk food.

At some point your body’s going to say ‘stop.’” Once Olinto identified the problem, he set out to find some good old-fashioned wheat and figure out what to do with it.

Stone grinding flour differs from industrial factory milling because it simply crushes the wheat berry, leaving all of the nutritional properties intact.

With the absence of bleaching agents and with no need to add enrichments, One Mighty Mill’s whole wheat flour tastes better too. It has a naturally complex flavor that can only be described as . . . wheaty. “We’re so focused on wheat you can eat in terms of health, but in the end, our bagels and our tortillas and our pretzels have to taste amazing.

And they do! Which is critical,” Olinto says. “Tony [Rosenfeld, One Mighty Mill co-founder] has done an incredible job developing the recipes and handling everything on the production side.” One unintended consequence is that One Mighty Mill’s “gluten-friendly” food has been easily digested by even those with diagnosed severe gluten intolerances.

While nutrition and taste are the driving forces for using stone-ground flour,

“ We’re so focused on wheat you can eat in terms of health, but in the end, our bagels and our tortillas and our pretzels have to taste amazing.”

FALL 2019 Nobles 35

sustainability and connection to farmers are natural progressions from this local food system. Wheat is a nitrogen-fixing crop; however, since there is very little market for this cover crop wheat, they usually don’t even bother harvesting it and just till it back into the soil. Additionally, a peculiarity with transitioning to organic wheat means that for the first few years, the harvested product has a low protein content, so it is of low commercial quality.

Organic wheat has its own problems, because it takes three years before the USDA will certify a crop as organic. “It’s a huge challenge for farmers,” Olinto says, “because you’re not using chemicals, so your yield is probably going to be lower. It’s a bigger investment in labor. And on top of that, you have to grow it organically, but you don’t get a premium to sell it at an organic price for three years. It’s really hard to incentivize farmers to do it.” Through Olinto’s partnership with Matt and 36 Nobles FALL 2019

Sara Williams and other local farmers, though, One Mighty Mill is committed to purchasing these transitional organic wheat crops and developing recipes to work with the lower-gluten flours.

On September 1, One Mighty Mill simultaneously launched a pretzel snack in all 41 New England Whole Foods locations. “We did all our R&D around pretzels with the idea that this product could be like a silver bullet for us,” Olinto says. Since the pretzels don’t need to rise like bagels, the lower-gluten transitional organic wheat isn’t a problem, and they can use 100 percent of the milled seed, so there’s no wasted food cost associated with discarding the coarse bran. Olinto gets even more excited because “in that category, they are over-the-top good for you nutritionally. They have 100 percent more fiber than a regular pretzel snack, 50 percent more protein, 25 percent fewer calories and 25 percent less sugar.

And the whole-grain fresh-milled flour means it’s a better-tasting pretzel too.”

Choosing to open One Mighty Mill in Lynn wasn’t a casual decision based on available real estate. It was a deliberate act to help bolster a community.

Olinto describes downtown Lynn as “a place that has a rich history, and it’s an incredible community, but it’s a bit of an underdog. With a little love, though, I think it can really thrive. And so as we thought about where we wanted to build, we wanted to think about our mill as a way to make sure that we were making healthy food that was accessible to more than just people at Whole Foods. We just thought we could have more of an impact if we did it in a place where we could help be a part of the revitalization.” One Mighty Mill’s team of about 20 employs a mostly local Lynn baking staff, and the shop serves around 150 customers a day.

The bulk of the operation, though, consists of baking 2,000 bagels per day to package and distribute to the regional grocery stores. Olinto describes the culture like a startup, where everybody

One Mighty Story And now, an overly simplified step-by-step process for how to start a new business to revitalize “wheat you can eat”:

1 2 3 4 5 6

does everything and the importance of getting out into the community to share the mission cannot be overstated.

“Some parts of the business are supercomplicated. And then there are other parts that are like Business 101: Go and talk to people, tell them why your product’s special, and they’ll buy it. We want to bring back local wheat, and we want to bring back local mills, and I just think the way to do that as fast as you can is to tell the story through a brand that is accessible to everybody.”

After recently returning to Nobles for reunion and to see Ackil get inducted into the athletic hall of fame, Olinto remarked, “You can’t go back to campus and sit there and not just feel like you’re so lucky to have been a part of that community. To be able to spend four years at a place like this is life-changing.” With his commitment to health and sustainability, there’s a decent chance that One Mighty Mill’s products will be appearing on the Castle menu in the near future. N

Serendipitously meet Matt and Sara Williams, organic wheat farmers from Maine who happen to have 40,000 pounds of transitional organic wheat in storage.

Buy it all.

Develop a business plan with your partner and head chef Tony Rosenfeld.

Do a bunch of research about stone milling.

Realize there’s no market for mills in the United States so you’ll probably need to order one from Germany.

Luckily find out about Vermont handcraftsman Andrew Heyn, the only stone mill builder in the United States.

7

Buy the biggest mill he makes.

8

Determine the whole-grain product gap in grocery stores.

9 10

Figure out how to use your own freshly milled flour to bake bagels, tortillas and pretzels to fill that gap.

Spend a summer doing research and development in a high school gymnasium.

11

Open a bakery and market in Lynn, Massachusetts.

12

Call it One Mighty Mill.

13 14 15

Contract with Lynn and Boston Public Schools to serve your healthy bagels and tortillas in school breakfasts and lunches.

Get placement in one grocery store to sell your bagels, tortillas, bags of flour and pancake mix.

Grow to more than 65 grocery stores in New England plus Boston College’s dining halls in less than a year.

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BY K IM N EA L | I L LU ST R AT I ON S BY A A RON MESH O N

As we drew the curtain on another school year brimming with deeper relationships and lessons learned, faculty, staff and students shared some of the best advice they’ve ever received.

Their responses ranged from the random and humorous to the poignant and profound.

Good Advice ON LEARNING AND GETTING WHAT YOU WANT: “In any situation, you get out what you put into it.”

I’ve gotten so much good advice over my time at Nobles, but I remember this from when I was stressed about the college process, and Ms. [Kate] Ramsdell told it to me. I know that it’s a generic piece of advice, but I now always tell myself and others that whenever they are worried about a new environment. I remember it because, wherever I go, I want to work hard so that I can achieve my goals.

—AMI NWAOHA ’19 38 Nobles FALL 2019

“Just drive down to the school, knock on a few doors, and see if they’ll hire you.”

As a senior at Notre Dame in 1999, I placed all of my eggs in one basket and applied to just one program called ACE, the Alliance for Catholic Education. It involved living in a community of Notre Dame graduates while getting your master’s and teaching in underprivileged schools in the south for two years. I thought I was a shoo-in. I wasn’t selected. I drove home from Indiana to Hudson, Ohio, that Friday, embarrassed and rejected with no plan. When I got home, my mom told me, “Drive down to the private school in town [Western Reserve Academy], knock on the door, and see if they’ll hire you.” On Monday, I did that. It was spring break, and no one was around. I found one gentleman in the main schoolhouse who gave me some of his time and asked me a few questions. He hired me on the spot to teach four sections of math, coach three sports, and live in a dorm—that was the start of my teaching career.

—KAREN GALLAGHER, UPPER SCHOOL MATH AND DIRECTOR OF RESIDENTIAL LIFE

The best advice I ever received came in the spring of 1978, during my junior year of college, when Professor Bob Greenfield encouraged me to apply to graduate school and get a master’s degree in English and then go teach. He told me:

“You like to read and talk about books. If you teach, someone will pay you to do it every day.”

Thanks, Professor Greenfield.

—ALDEN MAUCK, UPPER SCHOOL ENGLISH

“The harder you work, the luckier you get,” or put in fancier words: “Good fortune is afforded to those who put in the effort.” I try to live by this in every aspect of my life!

—COLETTE FINLEY, ASSISTANT HEAD OF THE MIDDLE SCHOOL, MIDDLE SCHOOL MATH

“Why are you using notes?”

Mr. [Oris] Bryant asked me this question after a freshman-year HHC presentation on Sikhism.

In his class, if you did not use notes during a presentation, you would receive extra points—but I was scared to attempt to present without a guide.

After class, Mr. Bryant kept me to tell me that I had not used the notes once, but, since I had them, I would not receive the bonus, and that moving forward he would take off points if I had notes. This advice, as cheesy as it sounds, gave me a huge boost in my academic confidence and more trust in myself.

As it happened so early in my high school career, it was a strong push for me to continue to grow as a student and to begin to trust in what I knew and what I could do.

—JULIA LYNE ’19

“Always be ready to embrace the uncomfortable and step outside your comfort zone.”

You often learn the most about yourself when you’re faced with obstacles and the unknown. This is a message I’ve received from many people, including Mr. Burr, Mr. Kinard and former Navy SEAL David Goggins.

—RITHIK ALLURI ’19

THE RANDOM AND METAPHORICAL: “Always keep a roll of duct tape in your car.”

From my dad. Why? Because that stuff can fix just about anything in a pinch. Broken hose? No problem. Cracked window? Got it covered.

I remembered this piece of advice when I looked at my son David’s car. His license plate was duct-taped to his front bumper. He had been off-roading and it came loose. I guess I passed the advice on to him.

—ROSS HENDERSON, UPPER SCHOOL SCIENCE AND MATH

“Don’t futz with the meat.” Or, if you like, “If you’re looking, you’re not cooking.”

The Food Network taught me how to properly grill juicy steaks, tasty burgers and succulent chicken. The secret is to keep the juices on the inside. To do so, do less.

Flip the meat only once. Don’t poke holes in it; the juices will run out. Whatever you do, don’t squish the burgers down on the grill with a spatula to hear that appetizing hiss.

After all, it’s not the sizzle that counts. It’s what is on the inside. True with meat, true in life.

—THOMAS FORTEITH, MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGLISH FALL 2019 Nobles 39

ON FAILURE AND HARD TIMES: “Don’t wish it away.”

“One day at a time.”

Kelly Pickreign ’18 told me this at the end of my junior year when I was stressed and ready for a change. It was a reminder to stay in the moment and enjoy the time I had left, because it does end. From that point on, I never wished a day or year away at Nobles, and I often thought about the phrase when I felt down or tired. It reminded me to stay in the moment and enjoy the time I had left.

From my husband. We had just had our first baby, Ethan, and I was overwhelmed. I was a new immigrant to the United States, and I had no friends and no family in Texas, where we were at that time. I was feeling lost as a new mother facing all the challenges of parenthood that no one had told me. Every day, I cried. One day, my husband hugged me in the kitchen and whispered to me, “One day at a time.” He reminded me every day, and that kept me calm.

While it is important to have a foresight of the future, I have learned that it is also important to focus on the moment, especially when you are overwhelmed. You may not have total control over what may come in the future, but you can control what is in your hand at the moment. This is a piece of advice that I still keep close to my chest.

—PRISCILLA SINGLETON-ERIYO ’19

—AYAKO ANDERSON, JAPANESE AND GLOBAL ONLINE ACADEMY

At a writing workshop, a teacher once suggested, “All aspiring writers should make a list not of articles and stories published, but rather of rejection letters received.”

If the rejection list is growing, it means that one is persevering through adversity, which is the most difficult challenge that writers confront. —MIKE KALIN, UPPER SCHOOL HISTORY

“Embrace the suck.”

My favorite piece of advice, from my sister. Pain, difficulty and uncertainty are inevitable parts of life— and while they can’t be avoided, it’s possible to develop a better relationship with discomfort. Open yourself up to life as it is, the bitter and the sweet. —CAT KERSHAW, ADMISSION AND ACHIEVE 40 Nobles FALL 2019

“Today’s screw-ups are tomorrow’s experience, and I have a TON of experience.”

From one of my grad school mentors, Jack Nardi. He chose another word in place of “screw,” but I think it still holds true.

—ERIK DIAZ, TECHNICAL THEATRE ART CREDIT

ON RELATIONSHIPS: “None of the deals are rotten; they’re just different.”

“Nobles always comes around.”

I was talking to my friend Lauren Kelley ’20 about how having a special-needs sister can be really hard at times, and I often wonder why I was given this challenge when it feels like so many people have regular families with all typically developing people. Now, despite the hardships that come with my sister’s disabilities, I know she is a true blessing in my life. Still, there are times when I get particularly upset about all the things that come with having a special-needs sister. One of those times, I asked Lauren, “Why did I get a bad deal?” That’s when she said, “None of the deals are rotten; they’re just different,” and that’s probably the most open-minded, kind and compassionate piece of advice I’ve ever received.

It’s something I keep in mind whenever I’m feeling those challenges a little more starkly.

—NOA FAY ’19

From my parents:

“Don’t compare yourself to others, because it is difficult to grow as an individual when you are too worried about how you compare to others in all aspects of life.”

—ROSE O’CONNOR ’19

My mom [Brooke Asnis ’90, admission] once told me this, which is just so true. If you ever feel underappreciated or unnoticed, just remember that Nobles always finds a way to make you feel valued and loved in the end, and this certainly applies to every single student. That’s why I love Nobles so much.

— OWEN ASNIS ’19

ON PERSPECTIVE: “Worry is of no value, serves no useful purpose, and doesn’t change a thing!”

I’ve had oodles of great advice from both of my parents over the years, but one thing I think about a lot is from my mom.

She actually posted this on our refrigerator when I was growing up. Not to say that I’m always able to heed the advice, but I try.

—JEN HINES, DIRECTOR OF ENROLLMENT

“Progress, not perfection.” and...

“Sometimes it’s okay if the only thing you did today was breathe.”

Both are on the walls of my yoga studio—good reminders both in the practice and in life.

—KIMYA CHARLES, COLLEGE COUNSELING ART CREDIT

“Grades are a marathon, not a sprint.”

From my mum. When I’m overwhelmed or burnt out, it reminds me to think about the big picture. Sometimes going to sleep early is better than pulling an all-nighter studying. It’s understanding sometimes you need to slow down in order to pull ahead later on.

–ELENI KINNEY ’20

This advice is from my meditation app, Headspace, but I think it was originally derived from the ancient Buddha. It has provided great clarity for me:

“We may think we should always be happy, but that isn’t the nature of life. In accepting this truth, we discover a sense of ease in challenging times.”

—ANDERSON JULIO, SPANISH FALL 2019 Nobles 41

graduate news 1940

progress for such on the Old Head of Kinsale. A must stop if in Ireland.

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Percy Nelson

617-244-4126 percylnelson@comcast.net

1946 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Gregg Bemis

505-983-7094 gbemis@swcp.com News is slim. Our snowbird Dick Lucas is back to Massachusetts from his Arizona retreat, announcing a new grandchild and greatgrandchild since last report. He said it is getting tougher to beat his wife, Anne, on the golf course. Gregg Bemis is back from Ireland, where he attended the annual commemoration of the Lusitania tragedy on May 7. A new museum is in

1947 CLASS CORRESPONDENT NEEDED

John Gallup writes that he is “alive and well” but was unable to make it back to campus this year for reunion.

1948

Head of School Cathy Hall visits Percy Nelson ’40 and his wife, Toni, in Newton, Massachusetts.

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Bill Bliss

781-326-1062 wlbliss@comcast.net

1952 & 1953 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

John Childs

1951

johnchilds37@gmail.com

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Galt Grant

781-383-0854 galtgra@gmail.com

While never aspiring to come anywhere near equaling the accomplishments of Nobles legends,

Graduate Notes Policy: ■■ ■■ ■■

■■

■■

Send graduate updates and photographs to class correspondents if you have one.

Digital photographs must be high-resolution JPEG images (1MB+) to appear in print.

Editorial staff reserves the right to edit, format, and select all materials for publication, to accommodate eight decades of classes in the magazine.

For more information, visit the graduate notes online submission page, www.nobles.edu/ community/graduates/submit-a-class-note/.

Please contact us if you’d like to volunteer as class correspondent, to collect and compile news of your classmates to share.

42 Nobles FALL 2019

PLEASE NOTE: If you do not have a class

correspondent listed, you can submit your notes online at www.nobles.edu/community/graduates/ submit-a-class-note/… or volunteer to become the class correspondent by contacting us at graduateaffairs@nobles.edu.

NOTE FROM GRADUATE AFFAIRS: We sincerely apologize that some of the notes from the last issue were outdated, as the issue came out after Reunion Weekend. We make every effort to get the magazine published before, but there are sometimes inevitable hold-ups. Thank you in advance for your understanding.

I am well-suited to follow in Hooley Perry’s literary footsteps, as I have spent nearly 84 years in the shadow of a big brother who is blessed with dubious talents. So here I am. Bear with me.

The recent highlight for our era and many Nobles men was the elevation of David C. Horton Sr. to the Nobles Athletics Hall of Fame, which I understand was heavily influenced by Winston Perry! Our classes were represented at the induction by Bob Cumings, Dave Horton Jr. (plus Terry and family), Susan and Bob Hoffman, and Jean and John Childs.

My plea for relevant news began with Carol and Pete Willauer reporting that they were moving on to their 36’ trawler to cruise Maine this summer and then on to the Intracoastal Waterway in September. They are still active at the Hurricane Island Center for Science & Leadership. Jack Farlow recommends that we all look into Maine’s “Senior Colleges” program, which offers courses of your choice, no homework, no grades, minimal

NOTES & ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM CLASSMATES

fees, expanded horizons and new friends. He is obviously thriving.

My spies related that Lu Hallett visited Andrea Perry in Homosassa and Neil “Wink” Childs in Amelia Island, but he would only admit to having “a great time discussing the various bad guys of ’52 & ’53.”

I just heard from Ben Taylor, who failed to report on any fishing triumphs but wishes to highlight that he single-handedly has squeezed 100 percent Nobles Fund participation from the Class of 1952 three years in a row. A truly astounding achievement.

All I learned from John Blanchard is that he is apparently well and still living in Wilmette, Illinois, and Bo Wakefield nailed me for using an old email (the correct one is ktbow@bigpond.com if you choose to contact him) but offered no news. We keep in touch with Dave Thibodeau, who remains active, travels often, and is a strong Nobles supporter. He is at Fox Hill retirement community, along with Emmie Newell and Syddie Sowles, plus other Nobles people. As you may know, good friend Jim Sowles died last February.

Also talked with Dick Flood and Ted Jennings. Dick is struggling with health issues but remains busy in Jamestown, Rhode Island, with many varied school contacts and family, and he reports that he has two grandchildren at Brooks School, described as “one happy place!” Sally and Ted Jennings are well and busy in a retirement community near Albany, New York, and are pleased to see their three daughters and grandchildren thriving on the West

Coast. And while I’m at it, Jean and I have been happily ensconced at North Hill in Needham for more than two years, blessed with better health than most our age, active in the community and still curling, playing bad golf, and downhill skiing when conditions are perfect.

Trips to the Galápagos and Sedona spiced up our spring.

Finally (or should I characterize this as the finale), brother Wink.

Alas, the body is kerplunk, but the mind remains vibrant, and to prove he lives a charmed albeit quirky existence, I am reminded of an incident that took place a few years ago on Amelia Island. Returning home from a bike ride, Wink was sideswiped at a rotary by a pickup truck and hurtled into the air. Fortuitously, he landed in the truck’s trailer, but oblivious to it all, the driver motored on until hearing desperate shouts from behind. Once he stopped, Wink climbed out, and the astounded driver went on his way. Helmet askew, our hero staggered back to the intersection where he observed traffic backed up, a twisted bike and a small crowd looking for the victim.

Ho hum.

Barnett join the group, and I would love to know his thoughts about all the changes since June 1954. It was also nice that Ted Dunn brought his wife, Gio, back for the festivities, and Barbara and Fred Clifford made the well-worn trek up from Duxbury (remember our class party in Duxbury in 1954? Where’s van Kleek?). John Stimpson came from Lakeville, Connecticut, and I came over the bridge from West Falmouth.

I hope many more of you will let us know what you are doing these days. Peter Vandenburg and Bob Stone are settling the southwest territory as related in the last bulletin. What are you thinking about and doing?

1955 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Bob Chellis

781-237-9436 rdchellis@gmail.com The class has suffered two recent losses. I think we are now 15 strong.

Both classmates died in Maine— and each man had charted his own

unique course. Bill Thayer and Lee Patterson both impacted many people, leaving their mark in different but exceptional ways.

Bill left his insurance business more than 40 years ago, returned to school to become a special education teacher, and met his second wife, Cynthia. They bought undeveloped land north of Bar Harbor, in Gouldsboro, Maine, cleared the land themselves, and developed Darthia Farm. They were pioneers in the organic farming movement, raising organic crops and chickens, sheep, goats, pigs and turkeys.

Bill plowed with their horses.

Over 35-40 years they hosted and trained maybe 200 or more apprentices in gardening, spinning, weaving and carpentry. Their farm store and catalog sold products they raised, with “value added”— like their own pesto, yarn and jams, and mixed and washed salad greens for local restaurants. When a major fire destroyed their barn and many animals, with help from their many friends, they rebuilt, restocked and carried on. Beyond farming, Bill played the drums weekly in a swing band. Cynthia led weaving,

1954 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Peter Partridge

508-548-9418 bluechip7676@hotmail.com It was difficult to realize that our class was marking its 65th Reunion this May! Certainly, we are not “mature.” . . . We were few in numbers but still found lots to talk about.

It was great to have Jonathan

Peter Partridge, John Stimpson, Gio Dunn, Ted Dunn, Jonathan Barnett, Barbara Clifford, Fred Clifford (all ’54, with spouses)

FALL 2019 Nobles 43

graduate news

The late Wm. H. Thayer II ’55, aka “Bullet,” “Farmer Bill,” “Farmer Billy”

arts and writing groups, and has written at least three successful novels, each one a good read.

This spring, Bill fell in the woods retrieving loose horses and died at home after a brief hospital stay.

Knowing he would miss their next concert, his band planned to pipe it into his room. And I hope they did.

Lee Patterson—Robert W. Patterson—was into teaching, singing and camping. After Harvard, earning a degree in education, he taught and then founded and ran the Denning Travel Camp for Boys, leading canoeing trips from the Yukon to northern Maine. He was also a great lover of the opera and taught classes on the history of opera. He would drive roundtrip to New York City for a single performance at the Metropolitan Opera. He sang with the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Hancock County in competitions in New England and England, and he established a scholarship fund for singers.

I’m not yet aware of memorial services for either Lee or Bill.

Again this year, Nobles launched a fine Reunion Weekend on May 10 and 11. Friday night was cocktails and dinner in the Castle, and Gerry and Sam Gray, Sandy and Bob Chellis, and Susie

44 Nobles FALL 2019

and Wally Stimpson converged on a table for dinner. On Saturday, Wally and I were back for some programs and the cookout the next day. The campus looks just great these days —and it’s a really nice weekend. Let’s try to fill a table for our 65th next year!

Charlie Nichols’ grandson Curt Nichols ’09 plans a June wedding in Cooperstown, New York. Charlie is the chair of his Trinity College 60th Reunion—they chose the right man for that job! And Sandy and I will join former roommates of mine on the Princeton old campus for a four-day reunion weekend.

Back to music and beer. Favorite saying: “Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.”

Bob “Bebo” Gregg is in the process of moving from Hancock, New Hampshire, to an elegant and brand new CCRC in Keene, New Hampshire, and, of course, keeping his Adirondacks camp. Nearby, Bob Taylor and Carolyn are doing well at his Old Town farm in Peterborough and putting in quite a solar array—low-profile, but big enough to sell power back to the grid.

Kate Treitman Brown ’99 is the excellent and energetic head of the graduate office at Nobles. Nobles does three theatricals a year: fall, winter and spring. Acting on Kate’s invitation, Fox Hill Village bussed a group of our residents to the winter play, “Bright Star,” and it was stunningly good! Up to 40 students at once sang, danced and soloed on a two-tier stage with Broadway-level assurance and precision—with their own 12- to 15-piece student orchestra also on stage. Our group was totally impressed and still buzzing about it the next day. Me too.

So, be well. Send us some news. I’ll try to keep in closer touch

next year. And if you are in the area, come share a drink and a Fox Hill dinner. It would be great to see you, and we’re only two miles down Bridge Street from Nobles.

Lucky us!

1956 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Gren “Rocky” Whitman

410-639-7551 grenwhitman1@gmail.com Fred Wells escaped this past winter to visit his daughters in Virginia and to O’ahu, Hawaii, with Martha to visit their two sons who live there. “While we were there, we attended our youngest son’s invocation as the newly elected president of the Hawaii Builders Association—what a kick!”

1957 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

John Valentine

413-256-6676 jean6157@icloud.com “Not much to report down here in hot Florida since my last update,” says Lance Grandone. “Spending too much time contemplating the big 8-0 b’day coming up. Not a pleasant thought, but at least we are reasonably mobile. Our son and daughter visited about a month ago, and it was great to catch up. We are considering buying into an assistedliving community nearby that several of our friends have joined.

They offer several degrees of care and have excellent references, so if a unit comes available, I think we’ll pull the trigger on it. We can always rent it until I sell the house. I just feel it’s important to have a backup

plan, particularly with Karin’s health issues. I’m still vertical, but some days the arthritis gets the better of me. It definitely restricts the exercise activity, so I’m spending lots of time on the Internet and reading books on my Kindle. I’m still very active in philately and am now researching the Nazi occupation of Greece and Italian colonies via stamped covers from WWII. It’s been very interesting, and I’ve been able to acquire some unusual items and give talks about the subject.

“Hope all is well with the class and that we haven’t lost anyone recently. Too many of my friends here in Florida have passed away.

I encourage any classmates to get in touch via email or telephone. I check my messages several times per day.”

John Damon reports, “This summer I am off for a two-week Italian and Greek sojourn (while the knees and what’s left of my other health lasts). One trip will be a Dartmouth alumni trip to Apulia (at the heel of Italy, overlooking the Adriatic). The other is aboard a small sailing cruise ship. We will be Greek Island-hopping around the Aegean as I fantasize about writing the Great American Novel (yeah, right!). Travel leads to meeting a range of new people and adds a great deal to my knowledge of the world. It’s a stimulating way to enliven (ye gawds) my eighties.”

Bob McElwain writes, “Our class secretary recently sent me a T-shirt with ‘GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK CENTENNIAL 1919–2019’ on the front—which leads me to the road trip John (Valentine) and I took across the country in the summer of 1960.

Both of us remember well our introduction to and our hike into

the Grand Canyon in the summer of that year. Thanks to John’s dad, who found us employment for Southwest Logging Company, John and I had a great summer job and experience for five or six weeks in the Apache National Forest, near McNary, Arizona. As if we didn’t have enough physical labor during the week, we decided that some Friday after work, why not just take off and drive a few hours up to the rim of the Grand Canyon and maybe do a little hike the next day? I don’t think we had made any plans about where to stay or get anything to eat for the hike. We just took off one Friday after work, assuming there’d be an eatery or some place to get sandwiches and soft drinks before our hike down Saturday morning.

Anyway, we arrived at the rim in the early evening. We enjoyed the incredible view as we ate whatever we got along the way and sipped our well-deserved (somehow chilled?) martinis, thinking that in the morning we would certainly find a breakfast spot nearby. Since there were apparently no sleeping facilities around, we slept in John’s Chevy station wagon. The next morning we did not find a breakfast spot, and I don’t remember what we managed to pull together (out of the car?) for trail food, or maybe we got chocolate bars at a gift shop.

I can’t recall, but we did descend. I had a small canteen of water. We were assuming that we could refill our water bottles in the Colorado River (!). The descent down through Indian Gardens on the Bright Angel Trail was spectacular. So easy going down! I was so confident about getting a refill from the Colorado on our walk down that I actually gave half my fresh water supply to some thirsty fellow ascending as

we were descending, just below the Indian Gardens. Well, to shorten this report a bit, we did reach the bottom, and we did cool off in the Colorado, but we did not drink from it. And we did make it all the way back up to the top around dusk, safe and sound and very thirsty.

We drank lots of water, and we did go back to work the following Monday, ‘setting chokers’ and chopping off tree limbs. And that was only part of our trip out West!”

We also heard from Eliot Putnam: “The phone hasn’t rung for some time, inquiring about my availability to consult on a reproductive health project, or to evaluate efforts to strengthen struggling health systems. Clearly that means that potential clients, in reviewing my CV, realize that I’m not 45 anymore. Ergo, it’s time to admit I’m retired. That realization comes with some sadness, because I loved the work. The memories I have of interacting with nurses and midwives, health facility managers, community health workers, clinic patients and even health system bureaucrats are strong and, for the most part, positive. I especially miss, and will continue to miss, working in African countries, some 25 or so at last count. Over the years, I came to appreciate the immense variety in their cultures and the struggles they have to face, well beyond anything we are familiar with, in providing a reasonable level of health care to their citizens.

“Over time, I also observed a quantifiable growth in talent and competence in health-care professionals in Bénin, Ethiopia, Malawi, Burundi and so many other countries. When I first conducted evaluations of projects in African countries, my consulting teams

consisted largely of Americans or other non-Africans. But over the past 10 to 12 years, it became the norm for me to be the only mzungu (white man in Swahili) on the consulting teams I led, teams that were made up otherwise of experienced local professionals.

Mentoring them and learning from them was an honor and a delight, and many remain good friends, even though those friendships have to be expressed mostly through Christmas or New Year’s greetings.

I look back on the times we spent together, assessing strengths and weaknesses of health programs, and recommending ways in which they could be enhanced, with fondness and nostalgia. I even think that, now and then, our recommendations had some impact, although it is the lot of a consultant to rarely know for sure the use that is made of his or her findings.

“So . . . I won’t wait for the phone to ring and will instead move on to the next phase. Happily, that means spending more time, indeed most of my time, with Jan, and we have lots and lots of adventures planned. Happy retirement years to all!”

1958 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Chris Morss

knossos@aol.com

From Michael Whitman: “After 44 years of my being in one place, Lyme, New Hampshire, just gets better and better. What I’m involved in, approaching Year 11 of retirement, includes still making simple pine caskets—recently one for my first post-Nobles girlfriend, from a dancing class and then

years of deb parties in Baltimore— which seem to be getting more popular as boomer families seem to be leaning toward downsizing and modesty. I also note this as a strong trend among the attendees at the funeral-planning workshops I give at local churches, senior centers, utility clubs, etc. Two unique organizations do get a chunk of my time: the Lyme Foundation, a home-grown charitable foundation that I helped found 30 years ago, and Those Guys, a 25-year-old men’s service group—Google ’em for interesting details.”

Larry Daloz shares: “The main news is that we will be heading back to the Old Sod after 22 years in this spectacularly beautiful and vital corner of the world. We look back to see our Whidbey Institute having moved from essentially a shoebox budget to a $4.5 million current building fund and 100acre campus serving hundreds of people in dozens of programs each year. In fact, some of our classmates made significant contributions to all that—for which we are deeply grateful. We hope to be living in Hanover, New Hampshire, and spending lots of time with our grandkids (and their parents!) in Montpelier and Brooklyn, New York. It will be great to see some of my good classmates again.”

Like so many folks our age, Esther and Bill Danielson have moved south: “We sold our place in Wiscasset, Maine, and have moved to Chebeague Island— also in Maine. It’s a rambling old house that once served as a small inn. Our eldest daughter and her partner will be pulling up stakes in Alaska and moving in with us. We still spend time each year in our Cape Breton aerie, and I continue

FALL 2019 Nobles 45

graduate news

to write a monthly weather column for the county newspaper there.”

Tappy Wilder is “pleased to report that my daughter Jenney and granddaughter Niven have just moved from Salt Lake to South Portland, Maine, where Niven will be at Waynflete starting in the fall.

We’re thrilled to have them in God’s country—and now closer to Wilder summer headquarters, Blue Hill.

Check out allkindsoftherapy.com to learn about Jenney’s work nationally in the troubled-student arena.

I continue to labor for Thornton.

Among recent deeds, I have inflicted a new edition on the reading world of his last novel, Theophilus North (1973). The official launch occurred this past spring in Newport, the site of this marvelous tale (I’m biased). See Thorntonwilder.com for further literary and dramatic information and refreshment.”

Peter Horton writes: “Like Putty (Eliot Putnam) and his eloquent note from ’57, I too am moved by the goings-on of nature around me. Just the other day, early in the morning, I came out onto the porch

to check the temperature, as is my wont, and to see what the world was looking like. I realized that as my eyes began to focus, I had been staring at a doe not 30 yards away, standing absolutely motionless as if caught in the act, her bright black eyes riveted on me, her ears fully flat out. We were probably having the same thought in our respective languages, which was (politely) ‘What are you doing here?’ I tried to return quietly inside and get a look from a nearby window, but she had vanished, gone back into the woods, I’d like to think, with a balletic jeté.

“The birds came late this spring, but they have arrived now in full bloom, especially an indigo bunting whose blue hue leaves me breathless. A cardinal greets us every morning from a nearby treetop with his gorgeous song. In the evening there’s a bird I can’t identify with a very sexy call, asking at dusk, ‘Who’s gonna sleep with me tonight?’

“Our garden is thriving. On damp nights we’re having a fire in the wood stove, and I’ve got two cords of wood to finish stacking.

Unfortunately, one of our dogs may have to have his right hind leg amputated because of a tumor on his sciatic nerve. And there’s always the pernicious nonsense in Washington. Sic transit.”

1959 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

1959

60th Reunion dinner in Cambridge: Gals at reunion: Back row (left to right): Aida Snow, Connie Gagnebin, Dottie Damon, Liz Carp (Ted Mann), Bo Perkins (William Taylor), Abigail Wiebenson (Steve Grant) and Jane Deland. Front row (left to right): Janice Quigley, Penny Cutler and Faith Wilcox (all ’59 and spouses); Guys at reunion: Back row: Borden Snow, Ted Mann, Bill Cutler, Steve Grant, Richard Seiler, Whit Bond and John Gibson. Front row: Bill Taylor, Quigs Quigley, Buzz Gagnebin, Renny Damon and Steve Lister

Whit Bond

Key of G 1a. Oh write/play us a tune that will weave us together, 2a. Weave us together for all time to come, 1b. Our Music is weaving to all ears that hear it, 2b. Weaving that draws us to places of love.

whit.bond@verizon.net Buzz Gagnebin

imbuzz@me.com John Gibson

jgib1963@aol.com

46 Nobles FALL 2019

Our class held its 60th Reunion this spring, finishing with a dinner at the home of Connie and Buzz Gagnebin in Cambridge, reminiscent of the 55th Reunion dinner there. Almost all 55th attendees were there, and we were delighted to have Richard Seiler with us all the way from Strasbourg, France. He has been excited to get a conversation going about a relationship between Nobles and a high school in France.

This assembly of friends, old and new, brought to mind how well Nobles drew us together, or as a recent composition, below, of mine, inspired by a great musician friend, Jenna Moynihan, would phrase it, wove us together.

That is so relevant and important today, where we are in an age of Lost Connections, with the younger generations so connected online and via social media instead of forming connections face-to-face and hand-in-hand (I loved dancing back then).

Let’s hope that will improve with efforts like those continuing to be made by Nobles.

So let’s stay woven together.

William Taylor writes from the cold shore of Gloucester that he is still involved with a “bundle of small nonprofits that keep him busy”: Maritime Gloucester, where he notes he has attended more

than 200 board meetings for them over the past 18 years; also boards of the Gloucester Stage Company and the Gloucester Writers Center, as well as aiding the Manship Artists Residency, Essex County Greenbelt, Essex Shipbuilding Museum, Kestrel Education Adventures and the Cape Ann Vernal Pond Team.

He writes that “all these little nonprofits struggle yearly to keep going, as donors like us age out and younger families find themselves too busy to participate.” He still has time to garden and is head of the City of Gloucester Planting Committee, which he notes has no budget, no meetings and only a couple of members.

Much time is spent with children and grandchildren, all of whom are within four miles of his house. “I am totally blessed,” he notes. “Family, friends, and not too many creaks and groans . . . just a bit of minor skin cancer from too much youthful sun.”

He hopes the winter storms will not cover his entire (tiny) gardens with ocean storm water, as they did twice last winter, and he looks forward to our 60th Reunion this spring and a chance to catch up with as many classmates as possible!

1960 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Albert Vandam

arvandam42@gmail.com

1961 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Jim Newell

802-467-3555 newell43@gmail.com

1962

1966

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Peter McCombs

Ned Reece

215-947-8017 or 516-629-7983 prm9244@gmail.com

ned4047@sbcglobal.net

D.A. Mittell visited with Patrick Wilson in June 2018. “Pat exchanged with Tim Coggeshall in 1961-62.” D.A.’s son was studying in the U.K., which was the impetus for the visit.

1963

1967 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Drew Sullivan

781-461-1477 drewsull49@aol.com D.A. Mittell ’62 and Patrick Wilson (who exchanged with Tim Coggeshall for a year) in front of Wilson’s house and garden in June 2018

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Jim Lehan

508-520-1373 jblehan@aol.com

1964 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Ned Bigelow

781-704-4304 moe9817@aol.com It has been said that we have a special class, and the truth is, we do. People have asked about the secrets to our reunion successes, and the answer is really rather simple: We have a wonderful group of classmates/friends, who over the years have enjoyed coming together to reminisce, get updated, laugh, and just be together. One of the best decisions my family ever made was to send me to Nobles, and they lived long enough to know that one of the most important things I took away was a group of very special friends.

For our 55th, we embraced the Noblest program of events but also put our own stamp on the weekend, adding in a tour/ lunch of the Gardner Museum

(Friday), a class dinner (Saturday, chez Maurice Hamilburg) and a farewell brunch (Sunday, chez Clint Smith). A high point of the weekend was provided by the five intrepid souls who got into, and out of, a shell rowed with the same finesse of years ago. Definitely one for the memory banks.

A big thank you to all who helped plan (with a special nod to Alexander Caskey and Rick Farlow for all their work on the class website and communications), all who came, especially those from a significant distance (Steen Rydahl, Karen, Alexander and Carmen), the Hamilburgs and Smiths, who opened their homes once again, and all who contributed by participating in all the goings on—it was wonderful. Please stay in touch, and those of you who live at a distance, let us know when you’re next in the Dedham area. Be well!

1965 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Jim Summers

jimsummers@post.harvard.edu

Timothy Allison-Hatch shares that he is honored to be recently appointed to the board of trustees of his alma mater, Occidental College. “Six years ago, I established an endowed scholarship at ‘Oxy’ to help students from New Mexico afford the tuition.”

1968 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Andy Lord

617-899-3948 ajliii@yahoo.com Bob Frazee moved back to Barnstable Village after 23 years “in the wilds of Marstons Mills.”

He is getting settled and is happy to see classmates who are in the area.

1969 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Peter Pach

860-267-9701 peterbpach@gmail.com Well, our 50th Reunion went off wonderfully. I could have sworn we had 17 of our 37 living classmates on hand during part or all of the reunion, but I’ve counted twice and can only get 16: Wigs Frank, Stew

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Young, Bob Perkins, John Clark, Brad Wilkinson, Wes Wellington, Peter Gates, Leigh Seddon, Toby Talbot, David Polk, Steve Baker, Don Watson, George Pendergast, Jeff Lawrence, Toby Burr and I

make up the list of those on hand.

Several of us showed up first thing Friday morning to attend classes and get a tour of the campus, which is way more than the schoolhouse, Castle and gyms of

our time. We were treated to lunch in the new wing of the Castle.

No more sitting at long, waitedon tables headed by a master with one meal choice for all. We browsed along an extraordinary

1964

From left to right, top to bottom: Nick King and Brandy Wheeler; Rick Farlow anticipates a debut run as cox; Sunday brunch: Art Watson and Clint Smith; Friday Class of ’64 tour and lunch at Gardner Museum. From left: Rick Farlow, David Brooks, John Axten, Judy Axten, Ken Morse, Mike Wiggins, Gail Wiggins, Steen Rydahl, Karen Rydahl, Clint Smith, Alexander Caskey and Carmen Lozano; Friday afternoon session with Head of School Dr. Cathy Hall.

Back row: Maurice Hamilburg, Ned Bigelow, Steen Rydahl, Clint Smith, Bob Waldinger and Ken Morse.

Front row: Ned Lawson, Dr. Hall and Alexander Caskey; Saturday Class of ’64 leading by a length.

Cox: Rick Farlow, Bow: B Wolbach, 2: Art Watson, 3: David Brooks, Stroke: Ned Lawson. Why ’64 is so lucky: Sandy Bigelow, Janet Lawson and Sam Reece. Lurking in the background are Ken Morse, Frank Reece and B Wolbach.

48 Nobles FALL 2019

salad bar and picked among soup, sandwich and entree options.

During lunch, a senior boy and girl dropped by our tables to give us a little insight into today’s Nobles.

They were very tolerant of our telling them how it used to be. In the afternoon, we had a long visit with Head of School Catherine Hall, who answered all questions and talked about the importance of Nobles evolving to remain vital in a world of many—often less expensive—options.

Nobles treated the class to dinner Friday night in the Castle room next to the main staircase.

We were joined by former faculty members John Paine (recovering from broken bones) and Bob Bulkeley, who were in good form.

Class President Wilkinson offered a toast to the classmates we have lost: Peter Douglas, Scott Fitzpatrick, Davis Gallison, Nat Nash, Bill Schwartz and David Weed.

Saturday was another opportunity to catch up. We had a picnic lunch by the playing fields and strolled to favorite campus spots while marveling over the present and remembering the past. Wes Wellington became the star of the afternoon graduates meeting when he stepped up on stage in Lawrence Auditorium and gave a rendition of “Casey at the Bat” from memory.

Wes donned a baseball cap as he reached the podium and intoned, “The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day…” He had us in the palm of his hand from there on out. Most in the audience of several hundred came to Nobles in the days after Eliot Putnam opened the baseball season each year with his incomparable rendition of Ernest Lawrence Thayer’s piece. Wellington may be no Eliot Putnam, but

he hasn’t lost a step since his days as a star Sixie in oral English. And, when he finally reached the fateful line, “But there is no joy in Mudville —Mighty Casey has struck out,” the younger graduates rose and delivered a standing ovation.

Saturday night, Mary and Brad Wilkinson treated us to dinner at their new house in Needham. We had perfect weather, as classmates and many significant others drifted outdoors to the patio in the waning daylight for drinks and hors d’oeuvres, and then back inside for a full feast of salmon and grilled chicken. Toby Talbot, who was sporting his original Nobles blue blazer, challenged our memories for class trivia with questions drawn from our yearbook. He dredged up the days of the parachute club and other questionable moments. David Brown, who was hiking west to east across Scotland for the fourth time, became a virtual attendee as we aired a video he had sent from somewhere in the Highlands. Wes consented to giving a second performance of “Casey” for those who missed the afternoon meeting and for those who wanted a chance to hear it again. He was flawless once more.

We missed all of you who didn’t attend, but a large number of those who couldn’t make it sent pieces that were published in our 50th Reunion book, which proved to be an engrossing publication.

Toby Talbot added a number of photos from the Reunion Weekend to the Nobles ’69 Facebook page that he has been curating for a number of years. You can see them online: facebook.com/ Nobles-69-1502003620023725/.

I thought we’d get Tom Taylor to the reunion, but in the end he couldn’t make it over from Martha’s

1969

(Top to bottom, left to right): Tom Taylor ’69, who is very active in the Martha’s Vineyard youth hockey programs, with Rick Middleton and Don Lambert; From left to right: Wigs Frank, Stu Young, Bob Perkins, JT Clark, Brad Wilkinson, Toby Burr, Peter Pach, Wes Wellington, Peter Gates, Leigh Seddon, Toby Talbot, Dave Polk, Steve Baker and Don Watson (all ’69); The Class of 1969 meets with Head of School Cathy Hall. From left to right: Toby Burr, Wigs Frank, Peter Pach, Catherine Hall, Brad Wilkinson and Jeff Lawrence; From top, clockwise: Bob Perkins, Ann Aspbell, Leigh Seddon, JT Clark, Toby Talbot, Carol Clark, Toby Burr, Wes Wellington, Rennie Polk (all ’69, with spouses); The Friday night 50th Reunion dinner at Nobles in the Castle. Front row (left to right): George Pendergast, Peter Gates, former teacher John Paine, Peter Pach, former teacher Bob Bulkeley. Second row (left to right): Brad Wilkinson, Toby Talbot, Toby Burr, Leigh Seddon. Back row (left to right): David Polk, Wigs Frank

Vineyard. Tom has been very active in ice hockey on the island, and he has spearheaded fundraising for the island’s ice arena. He was president of the organization in 1981, when the board raised the money to put

a roof over the rink and give youth hockey a home on the Vineyard.

He is still a principal fundraiser for the hockey programs and is vice president of the Martha’s Vineyard Youth Hockey Association. This

year, they held a fundraiser featuring Boston Bruin alumni playing skaters from the Vineyard. Tom said he didn’t skate, but he managed to get a photo taken with Bruin Rick Middleton and Tom’s good friend

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and rink founder Don Lambert.

Well, we’re not going to have another 50th reunion, but several people have mentioned wanting to get together more frequently and to hold mini-reunions. The 50th reunion book has contact information for many of us that could help anyone trying to drum up a meeting with classmates. With a little advance warning (deadlines for class notes are months before publication), I could help spread the word. In addition, now that we have passed the 50-year milestone, Nobles won’t make us wait another five years for another reunion dinner. The school invites all graduates who are more than 50 years out back annually, complete with a dinner in the Castle.

I am always eager to get news of classmates, from travels to exotic places to winning the first place for your tomatoes in the local agricultural fair. Don’t put it off, email me at peterbpach@gmail.com.

Tempus fugit.

know if you have updated contact information, as we will be in touch primarily over email. It will be fun to see the school and learn about some of the changes. So let’s mark your calendar and start planning.

1970

Fred Heilner writes that he was sorry to miss his 45th Reunion, but for a good reason: “Both of my children graduated from graduate school: Madeline with an MBA from Clark University and Alexander with a master of accounting from Stetson University.”

Peter Martinez enjoyed his 45th Reunion. “I also celebrated my father’s 80th Reunion in memoriam and my son’s graduation from Nobles—the class of 2019!”

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Levy Byrd

781-449-7555 levbyrd@comcast.net Next year (May 2020) will be our 50th, and I am excited to get together with our classmates and talk about old times, new shoulders or knees, and grandchildren. Chris Counihan and I still play tennis and hockey. I see Bill Gray every year during the summer, and Roy Mabrey and I get together for some golf. Many of you have promised to come back for the 50th, and now I will hold you to that. Please let me

50 Nobles FALL 2019

Doug Floyd

781-788-0020 dfloyd44312@yahoo.com

1976 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

1971 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Tom Bartlett

+44 1908 647196 tom_bartlett58@hotmail.com

Harry Blackman

Harry.Blackman@skadden.com

Rob Piana

John Dewey

617-491-7499 robert.piana@vanderbilt.edu

jrdewey@usa.net Nick Mittell

phred.j.dog@gmail.com

1977 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Linda Rheingold Win Perkins

lrheingold@comcast.net

wperkins@mmuftc.com

1974

1978 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Christopher Reynolds

Kevin McCarthy

Cell: 800-444-0004 Home: 508-358-7757 chreynolds@comcast.net

617-480-6344 kjmc.bc.msw15@gmail.com

1975 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Jed Dawson

508-735-9663 jdawson711@gmail.com

James Kenny writes that he has been living in Bedford, Massachusetts, for about three years and is “still waking up on the right side of the grass.”

1979 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Dan Rodgers

212-423-0374 drodgers@wfw.com 40 years. Yowza, yowza, yowza!

And so it was that the past did indeed catch up with the present, when, by my record-keeping, which may have been impaired for some unknown reason, 33 intrepid (why intrepid, I don’t know)

classmates appeared at Nobles for this wonderful weekend. And so here they are (in no particular order because, again, impairment): Dan Corcoran, Tom Elcock, Kerry Kehoe, David Vogel, Nancy Pratt Hurley, Vicky Palmer Chase, Holly Charlesworth Casner, Tim Mansfield, Phil Eure, Gordon Prescott, Patsy McCormick DiGiovanna, Dr. Lori Tyler Spisak (representing the long-lost division), Fiona Jarrett Roman, Bill O’Toole, Amy Tayer Goldman, Alex Childs Smith, Scott Leland, John Stimpson, John Almy (who, yes, indeed was, is and always will be psyched!), Bruce Weber, Jeff Hedberg (who may or may not have been replaced by a pod from outer space at some point after our graduation), Phil Rueppel, Ginny Aldous Emerson, Sarah Bowman (runner-up in the longest distance to reunion category, from Los Angeles), Jim Morse, Bill Bliss, Phil Haughey, Lisa Heavey Evans, Kitty Breen, Joe Selle, Anne Abbott Randle, Dirk Long (repeat winner for longest distance to reunion from Hong Kong) and your intrepid (there’s that word again, does anybody know how or when it should be used?) class scribe.

And what a fun time it was, beginning on Friday at the Dedham Country and Polo Club, where six of us (Fiona Jarrett Roman, Anne Abbott Randle, Bill Bliss, Phil Haughey, Phil Rueppel and Dan Rodgers) gathered in the early afternoon to play golf followed by a nice reception organized by Phil Rueppel (where good food, drink and friends were to be found in abundance).

Saturday was a beautiful day at Nobles, splashed with sunlight and followed by a lovely ceremony in Lawrence Auditorium, a nice recep-

tion at the Castle and the class dinner in the new library. Somewhere in this issue there should be a good photo of us all at the dinner.

And for those of you who missed this wonderful reunion, you were indeed missed by all of us who made it. Don’t ever think just because you weren’t there with us this weekend that you are not always with us in our hearts. But please do come the next time around and take this opportunity to catch up with those to whom you were and hopefully remain close. It’s so easy now to “stalk” catch up with someone on the Internet, and I hope you will.

And do send me a note on your interactions. I’m sure everyone would like to share the story.

I cannot finish without mentioning Nancy Pratt Hurley, who apparently lives in fear of me calling her out in these notes.

Nancy bravely brought her beautiful daughter with her in an obvious attempt to distract me from my avowed mission to at some point embarrass each and every one of you. Alas, Nancy, it didn’t work!

But it was great to see you and speak with you about how not to annoy your daughter with boring old-people stuff like class reunions.

We had a few other classmates send updates this spring: Anne Mosseri-Marlio writes that she has been “living in Switzerland since 1992 and loving it.” She works there in the art world and in her own art gallery.

She would love to hear from any Nobles friends in the art world: “When not in Basel or Zermatt, look for me at art fairs!”

Charles Dow shares: “I can’t believe it’s been 40 years since graduation! We are happily living back in my hometown of Brookline

and celebrating my 25th year in private practice cardiology at Charles J. Dow MD Cardiology Associates in Boston. Our lovely daughter, Isabella, will be finishing up at Chestnut Hill School next year.”

John Stimpson says: “Watch for two of my new movies this year.

Ghost Light premieres this fall on Showtime and Christmas à la Mode will be out this holiday season.”

Finally, as you now are likely to have already heard, we lost Mr. Kehlenbeck on May 10. That sad news spread around the campus on the Saturday of Reunion Weekend. I’m sure Bill is looking down on all of us at Nobles, and I hope these notes bring a smile to his face (and all of yours as well, despite this loss).

1980 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Rob Capone

781-326-7142 robcapwest@comcast.net

1982 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Holly Malkasian Staudinger

914-925-2340 hollyamalkasian@gmail.com

1983 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Nancy Sarkis Corcoran

nlsc3@me.com Hello Class of ’83, This past spring was tough for our class. We lost our first classmate since Sam Dawson passed away in November 1982.

Betsy Morris-Rosen passed away on March 29, 2019, after

Betsy Morris-Rosen ’83, P’13, ’16 passed away in March.

a brave and difficult battle with a rare form of intestinal cancer.

When Haley Clifford Adams let our class know the sad news in an email, she said: “Betsy was a dear friend, wonderful wife and mother, beautiful singer, accomplished psychotherapist and was loved by so many. She will be missed but never forgotten.”

On Saturday, April 6, 2019, we gathered at Houghton Chapel (where Betsy and Rob were married) on the campus of Wellesley College to celebrate Betsy’s life and to say farewell to our classmate and friend. It was both heartbreaking and beautiful, and we were told it was all orchestrated

by Betsy before she passed. There was lots of music. (I will never be able to listen to “Gravity”, by Sara Bareilles, without crying and thinking of Betsy!) Betsy and Rob’s kids Samantha Rosen ’13 and Grant Rosen ’16 spoke so beautifully about their mom. Betsy’s sisters shared their thoughts about their little sister. Our own Lindsey Plexico also shared her memories of her Nobles and Colgate friend.

The Rosens hosted a lovely reception afterward. It was wonderful to see how many Nobles

grads were there. I’m sure Betsy would be tickled to know how many of us came out to honor her. A partial list of those in attendance: former faculty member Tim Carey, John Cutter ’82, Haley Clifford Adams, Amy McCulloch Brown, Jim Cabot, Steve Corcoran, Sarah Thibodeau Deck, Jane Fogg, Lindsey Plexico, Davis Fulkerson, Jim Jelin, John Kirk, John Montgomery, Muffy King O’Day, Greg Pastore, Wendy Riseborough, Debbie Paine Sabin, Nancy Lavin Scheerer and Jeff Schwartz.

In addition, many more classmates sent notes of condolence to Rob and his family on the email thread that Haley sent. We will keep your memory alive, Betsy.

Rest in peace. Life is short. I am grateful to be part of this wonderful, caring class. The good, bad and sad. Stay connected. Love & Peace to all. xo. N.

1984 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Christine Todd

christinetodd@me.com The Class of 1984 had a great time at reunion! See photos on page 69!

1986 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Heather Markey

617-365-3836 hsmarkey@icloud.com Jessica Tyler

781-934-6321 tylerjessica@me.com Eliza Kelly Beaulac

703-476-4442 embeaulac@verizon.net

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Jim Boyle writes: “Like so many, I am troubled and challenged by human-caused climate breakdown.

Sustainability Roundtable Inc. (SR Inc.), a firm I founded a decade ago to help advance best practices in more sustainable business, announced in June in San Francisco at Uber the Net Zero Consortium for Buyers. It provides a no-necessaryfee system of learning for select high-credit businesses to help them chart a profitable path to net-zero greenhouse gases globally. Multiple SR Inc. member-clients have already achieved net-zero emissions, and it is time for other enterprises to learn how, in a confidential setting for large enterprises intent on benefiting from renewable energy.

On a personal level, Hanna and I are psyched to tour our kids, 14 and 12, through the American West this summer—we just wish our AC was renewable-powered.”

1987 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Elise Gustafson

elise_gustafson@yahoo.com Becca Pratt Bromark is living in Carlisle these days, married with two daughters, Juliette, 10, and Alexandra, 6. She works as an artisan and volunteers way too much: “Recycling initiatives, an artisan cooperative, Girl Scouts and conservation trails are my jam. Last year, I ran to defeat dementias and Alzheimer’s disease. This summer I’m crutching around on a broken foot … so instead, decided to swim a mile at Walden Pond. I honor my brave mother who lives with MCI (mild cognitive impairment), a life-altering form of dementia, and also everyone suffering from Alzheimer’s. Today, an estimated 50 million people worldwide are living with Alzheimer’s or other dementias, including more than 5 million Americans.”

1988

Emily Gallagher Byrne

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

781-721-4444 egbyrne@verizon.net

Sasha Leland

sasha@thelelands.com

Jumping right into my big news: I got married! I proposed to Erin on New Year’s Eve, and just six weeks later, we eloped to the Cayman Islands and got hitched in style. We luxuriated for a week before calling our families to break the news.

The ceremony was quaint (held in the backyard garden of the officiant’s 90-year-old mother) and wonderfully stressfree. Erin and I still happily live in Portland, Maine, where our raised beds are growing like gangbusters due to all the spring rain, and we continue to build our digital marketing business together.

As for class news, to date I don’t have much to report.

However, by the time you read this, I will have had two wonderful events. The first is a visit in June from Tim Russell and his wife, Natasha, who are coming up from North Carolina to stay with us for a few days. George Cadwalader will also be coming up from Rhode Island with his family to stay with David Gerber, and we all plan to get together for

a big clambake. Between my wedding and several big (ahem) birthdays this year, it felt like a good time to get together and celebrate some milestones.

Several weeks later in July, Jaime Saenz Denis and family are coming from Spain to stay with us for one leg of a larger U.S. visit. By coincidence, at the time he will be here, Jane Weintraub will be in Kennebunkport, so we’ve planned a mini-reunion at a local restaurant. If all goes as planned, Dave Gerber will be joining us for that as well. Should be a great summer!

Rebekah Ham also writes: “With my oldest daughter, Fiona, a senior at Bowdoin and my youngest, Esmae, in first grade, I’m feeling pretty accomplished in the art of multitasking. My family is still happily living in Providence and tolerating my constant photography and Instagram addiction. This July we traveled to Washington, D.C., for our 10th annual 46 Mommas event and my eighth head shave for the St.

Left to right: Mare Morley ’84 with her husband, Will Friend, met up with Greta and Will Humphries ’84 in Sedona; Nobles students at the home of Marisa Zona ’88 in Chicago as part of a visual arts EXCEL trip in June 2018, led by faculty members David Roane, Curtis Mann and Betsy VanOot; the three daughters of Rebekah Ham ’88 Grace and Esmae, in a hug to welcome Fiona home from a semester in France

52 Nobles FALL 2019

Baldrick’s Foundation. To date our team has raised more than $2.2 million for childhood cancer research. My daughter Grace is now 12 years beyond brain cancer and a high school junior contemplating college. We’re grateful beyond measure. As I wind down my Mommas involvement, I’m excited for the new opportunities currently in the works.”

In other news, last June, Marisa Zona hosted a group of Nobles students in her home who were in Chicago during an EXCEL trip. The trip was sponsored by the Nobles Art Department but was integrated with American Studies. Students used gallery visits, museum trips and conversations with local professional artists to look at Chicago from the perspective of the city’s social, economic and racial history, and to think more critically about broader social and economic issues. See photos at left. Thanks to Marisa for hosting!

1989 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Rachel Spencer

917-921-5916 rachelwspencer@yahoo.com

1990

1997 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Bobbi Oldfield Wegner

617-980-1412 bobbiwegner@gmail.com Jessie Sandell Achterhof

781-990-3353 jessie.achterhof@gmail.com

1998 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Dave Klivans Jon Olinto, Anthony Ackil, Hunter Woolley and Mark Murphy (all ’94)

1991 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Amy Russell Farber

amy.farber.143@gmail.com

1992 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Lynne Dumas Davis

703-623-4211 lynnemddavis@gmail.com

1993

to take on the job. Please send all news her way at the contact info above. Thanks, Marni!

Sara-Mai Conway writes that she was sorry to miss everyone in May, but she was traveling too much! “Cheers to the class of ’94 and hope to see you all in the future, be it Boston or anywhere.”

Mark Murphy married Meg Folkinga on May 25, 2019, in Toronto. Hunter Woolley reports: “Great wedding and great times with fellow classmates!”

978-409-9444 sambjackson@hotmail.com

1995 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Amy Sheridan

CLASS CORRESPONDENT NEEDED

1994

aksheridan@gmail.com

Lisa Donahue Rose writes: “We are excited to see everyone back on campus in May 2020 for our 30th Reunion! We will be forming a committee. Please be in touch if you’re interested in joining.”

Monica Woelfel Stevenson will take over as vice president of the Graduates Council this fall.

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Molly Haverty

Marni Fox Payne

mollywhit@yahoo.com

mpayne@berkshirepartners.com Annie Stephenson Murphy has stepped down from her role as class correspondent after 10 years.

Thanks, Annie! We are excited that Marni Fox Payne has agreed

Adam Taub shares: “In March, we welcomed our son Moses Orion Taub to our family. Amos (3) is a doting big brother. Also, the entrepreneurial spirit of Silicon Valley finally caught up to me, and I am launching a new hedge fund, Stand Capital, later this year.”

1999 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Stephanie Trussell Driscoll

stephdriscoll32@gmail.com Gabriela Herman

gabriela.herman@gmail.com

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Sam Jackson

dave.liquid@gmail.com

1996 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Alex Slawsby

alex.slawsby@gmail.com

Leanne Gallagher Turner writes: “I married my husband, Nick Turner, in May 2017 at Longwood Cricket Club. We celebrated with fellow ’99 grads Jen and Greg Berberian and Gab Herman. Our son, Conlin Gray Turner, was born in April 2018. We just moved to South Orange, New Jersey, and I am adjusting to the suburbs after living in New York City since graduating from Nobles.”

Meagan Rock Painter was sorry to miss this year’s reunion in

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be starting as an assistant professor of composition at Arizona State University in the fall. Congrats, Alex!

2001 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Lauren Kenney Murphy

Lauren.kenney1@gmail.com Alex Temple ’00, who is starting a new position at Arizona State University

2002 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

William N. Duffey III May and reports that she is living just outside of San Francisco with her husband and daughter: “We are enjoying the weather and all of the hikes (and wine!) of Northern California.”

Will Stewart is a federal contractor and lives with his wife, Debora, and son, Liam (1), in Arlington, Virginia.

Amanda Tripp Hayes ’99 and Ryan Hayes welcomed Heath Vincent Hayes, their third baby boy, on May 10, 2019. Holden (4) and Hunter (2) are already the best older brothers for little Heath!

2000 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Lisa Marx Corn

lisamarx@gmail.com Hello, Class of 2000! I can’t believe it’s been 20 years. As we gear up for our reunion in May, it would be great to hear updates from everyone in the next magazine issue—career or personal news, our class has done a lot! Please feel free to send me your notes directly or submit them online. Looking forward to connecting with everyone in May. Mark your calendars!

I did hear that Alex Temple will

54 Nobles FALL 2019

617-893-1040 williamduffey@gmail.com

2003 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Laura Marholin Garcia

laura.marholin@gmail.com David Sherin and his dad recently took a trip to Antarctica that was awesome and filled with penguins, seals and whales. David has now hit all seven continents!

Julianna Manzi Syron and her husband, Brendan Syron, moved home to Boston after 12 years of living in New York City. Julianna is opening a modern wellness center in Back Bay this fall and hopes to see many Nobles grads now that she is back in Boston.

Christine Moynihan DeVirgilio and her husband, Brian, had their first baby, John Domenic (“JD”), in late March, just in time for the start of the Bruins playoffs.

Everyone is doing well and excited to start this next chapter. Christine is going to try very hard not to be one of those crazy hockey parents but makes no promises!

Stephanie Witkin Shapiro continues to work in sales at Morgan Stanley, where she man-

ages U.S. Corporate Access. She still lives in Manhattan with her family. Steph and husband Matt recently welcomed their second child, Stanley Wolfe Shapiro, who was born on May 29, 2019. Their daughter, Willa, just turned 2 and is very excited about her new role as big sister.

David Kehlenbeck writes, “Ginny Wortham and I got married on February 2, 2019, in Richmond, Virginia. In spite of the health challenges my dad fought against this past year, he was able to come to our wedding, and he sang Eric Clapton’s ‘Wonderful Tonight’ with our wedding band.

Thank you so much to all of my classmates and members of the Nobles community who have reached out to me and my family since he died in May. My dad loved Nobles with all of his heart, and it is clear how much the Nobles community loved him in return.”

Offiong Bassey lives with her husband, Alfred Ante, and their 1-year-old son, Ekeabasi, in the greater Boston area. She’s enjoying the blessings of marriage and motherhood. She’s currently a director of product development at CVS Health, which also keeps her busy. She’s eager to reconnect with the Nobles family!

Adam Marino was recently named a 2019 Five Star Wealth Manager and was featured in Boston magazine in February 2019.

Sam Barcelo graduated from Boston University’s Questrom School of Business in May. Kristin Danforth writes: “Hi, from Seattle, where I’ve lived with my husband, Ethan, and our dog, Franklin, for the past six years. So disappointed to have missed the reunion—I hope everyone is doing well!”

2005 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Saul Gorman

617-447-3444 saul.gorman@gmail.com I recently started a new job as a strategy consultant, and I made a (small) move across the river from New Jersey to Manhattan.

In other news, the planning has already started for our 15th (!)

Reunion next May. Mark your calendars—hope to see many of you there!

2006 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

E.B. Bartels

ebandersenbartels@gmail.com

2004 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Carolyn Sheehan Wintner

781-801-3742 carolyn.wintner@gmail.com Emily Dawson is back in Boston after seven years in New York City. “Our family has grown to include Bowen (2), Ivy (8 months) and Fig (pug).”

Special shout-out to all the ’06 animal lovers! This time around, I asked you all to send me updates on the pets in your life, and, my God, you did not disappoint. The Class of 2006 has some seriously good boys and girls.

Let’s start off with Krysten Keches. Krysten told me that she and her husband, Daniel, adopted a fluffy little poodle mix named

Ruffles, who is approximately 4 years old. “She loves to sit next to me while I’m practicing the harp,” Krysten wrote, “and she barks enthusiastically when my students finish playing loud pieces!” Ruffles also enjoys hanging out with her cousin, Olive, who lives with Greg Keches ’07. “Ruffles is not very tech-savvy,” laments Krysten, “but you can follow Olive’s adventures on Instagram at @olivethepaws.”

Chase Hensel informed me that he has Eddie, his “emotional support pitbull.” (See photo below.) “Not really,” Chase wrote.

“He’s a big baby.” I mean, seems like it. Look at that face!

The famed Percy the Bulldog of @percyboybulldog on Instagram belongs to Sam Dawson. Sam wrote that Percy hates horses but “loves everything else, especially rides in his wagon.”

Mariah Rich Collins wrote in to tell me about her Goldendoodle named Mac. Mac is 7 years old but apparently still has the energy of a puppy. “He will (and has) run through a wall to chase a ball,” Mariah explained. Be sure to check out the cute family photo Mariah sent in (see page 65) featuring Mac, Mariah, Mariah’s husband,

James, their daughter, Hadley, and their new baby, James Patrick Collins V. Like how I buried the lede there? Congrats, Mariah and James! Mariah wrote that Hadley is a proud big sister, and that Baby James, a.k.a. JP, was born on May 4, 2019. (I would also like to note, as it goes with the pets theme, that May 4 was my childhood Cairn Terrier Gwen’s birthday. Great date!

May the fourth be with you, JP!) I’m also pleased to report that our class doesn’t discriminate when it comes to non-dogs.

(Though, like, go bulldogs, or whatever.) Alexandra Gardiner adopted a calico cat named Muffin in April. “She prefers seafood to meat,” Alex told me. She also follows Alex everywhere she goes— well, inside Alex’s home, at least.

Muffin is an indoor cat.

Also, I couldn’t let this update go by without mentioning my pet tortoise, Terrence, a.k.a. Mr. T. I adopted Terrence in 2014 from a woman in Western Mass. on Craigslist, and now he has his own Instagram account, @theofficialmrt.

As of this writing, Terrence has 231 followers and has yet to be sued by the actual Mr. T. In other non-pet updates, I

Eddie “Big Baby” Hensel lives with Chase Hensel ’06.

also heard that Adam Benjamin graduated this past May with his MBA from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College.

He will return to Suffolk in a new role as an associate with Suffolk Ventures, a new division created to manage equity investments in large commercial projects. Large commercial projects, you say?

Maybe a large commercial project like a famous pet Instagram? I’ll call you, Adam, once Terrence gets over a thousand followers.

2007 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Kat Sargent

katharine.sargent@gmail.com

2008 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Michael Polebaum

mpolebaum08@nobles.edu Ahoy, 2008! It’s so good to hear from you all, or at least the four people who responded to my email. I’m currently writing these notes from Terminal E of Logan Airport as I prepare to depart on the Central Europe EXCEL trip with 16 Nobles students. We’ll be visiting Vienna, Krakow and Bratislava, so I’m sure there won’t be any issues whatsoever. . . .

I’m not the only one who has been on an adventure. Abram Dawson decided to take a sabbatical and buy an old van. He says he converted it into a tiny home, but I’m thinking he’s just a giant Chris Farley fan and wants to live down by the river. He traveled around for three months in his converted van/ home before reentering society and settling down in San Francisco.

Continuing the traveling theme, Amarilice Young, Ana Alvarado and Liz Johnson headed south of the border to Mexico and found themselves on a taco bike tour. I can only assume the bikes were actually shaped like tacos.

A new adventure awaits Rick Goode as he becomes the newest member of the Nobles board of trustees after being elected by the graduate body in the spring. I can safely say that the school is in tremendous hands, as Rick is simply the greatest human being I have ever met, and I’m not just saying that because he’s now my boss.

But perhaps his biggest news is that he is now married (see picture on page 64). He married his lovely wife, Hannah, in March of 2018, and they now live in Brookline.

We’ll end with this final and exciting life update from the two high school, but actually college, sweethearts Chris and Stephanie Steele.

They had a fricking baby! Chris and Stephanie welcomed their beautiful daughter, Theresa (Reese) Marie Steele, on February 15, 2019 (see photo on page 65). George Maley has already sent them lots of Nobles gear, so she’s ready to hit the ice for the Bulldawgs.

I’ll let you all know how the trip went in the next edition of the 2008 class notes. Always end on a cliffhanger!

2009 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Liz Rappaport

617-413-6070 lizrap21@gmail.com Natasha Tyagi writes that she is a “healthcare attorney at Oscar Health Insurance in New York

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graduate news

City and recently got engaged to Raj Sharma, a financial consultant at TCS.” Brett Adam got married in August and reports that he is teaching up in Canada.

Suzanne Sullivan shared: “Since graduating from UMass Amherst in 2013 with a BS in biology, I have worked on the Eastern Shore of Maryland for an environmental nonprofit. This past year we had an exciting merger with two other Riverkeeper organizations and became ShoreRivers. I am excited to be the new director of education and outreach, sharing our water quality work with students and adults alike. Maryland has been a great home-away-from-home filled with outdoor adventures like kayaking, hiking and fishing.”

Megan Bunnell married Eric Schlobohm in May 2019 at the Dartmouth Skiway. (See photo on page 64.) Nobles grads in attendance were Brett Hayes, Kristy Giandomenico, Hadley Stein, Megan Bunnell, Holly Foster ’10, Rob Troy, Julia Luscinskas and Ally Geanacopoulos (all 2009 unless otherwise noted).

2010 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Tori Goyette

tgoyette10@gmail.com Chris Pratt started a new job with Wesleyan University’s men’s soccer team as a graduate assistant coach.

Sarah Kistner is recently engaged to fellow Bates graduate John McCoy and beginning grad school in the fall.

Marissa Gedman and Caitlin

56 Nobles FALL 2019

Fai are about to reconvene on the same campus for the third time: Nobles, Harvard and now Tufts Medical School. True love (of learning) always finds a way.

Iesha Caisey shares: “For the past two years I have worked at International High School at Langley Park as the upper house school counselor and 11th/12thgrade college counselor. IHSLP (for short) is a public high school in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The school opened in 2015 specifically to address the increasing number of English language learners in Prince George’s County Public Schools. To that end, all students are either current or recently redesignated English language learners. More than 95 percent of students are either immigrants, refugees or asylees, and many are still adjusting to life, school and their surroundings in the United States. Just under a quarter of students are newcomers who have been in the United States for less than a year. While the majority of students are Spanish speakers, my school serves students from more than 20 countries. This year I had the privilege of supporting the first-ever graduating class of 2019 with the college process.

My students brought in over $7M in scholarships and grants!

I look forward to supporting the next IHSLP class of 2020.”

In March, Tori Goyette moved into a new role at Year Up on the technology team, building and releasing a tool called Workplace to its 1,000-person staff. “I am loving the chance to learn agile project management and am serving as a Scrum Master, objectively the strangest job title I’ve ever held.”

2011 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Katie Puccio

508-446-0726 krpooch@gmail.com

Marissa Shoji ’11, MD

Growing Families: Hannah Birnbaum, Laura Kirk and Marty Morris are all proud parents to new pets! LOL, you thought they would be kids.

Growing Brains: Matt Antoszyk and Julie Berez are swapping coasts and starting MBA programs at Harvard and Stanford, respectively. Gordie Bailey is going to business school, but not sure how he got in because he can’t even answer my texts. Dori Rahbar is starting law school, which means from now on everything she says is legally binding.

Colin Coughlin is now engaged to Olivia Meredith (of Wellesley, Massachusetts). The two met while at Trinity College and currently reside in South Boston (not far from several other Nobles classmates). Their wedding is set for next September in Jamestown, Rhode Island.

Growing Old: Many of the Class of 2010 celebrated fiveyear reunions from undergrad programs this year. These were considered dry runs for the Nobles 10-year our class will celebrate next May! See you all there.

After graduating from Harvard College magna cum laude with highest honors in neurobiology in 2015, Marissa Shoji graduated from Harvard Medical School with honors in May 2019. She will do her ophthalmology residency at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, the No. 1-ranked ophthalmology program in the country.

2012 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Coco Woeltz

ccwoeltz2@gmail.com Hello, Nobles! I hope everyone has enjoyed a wonderful summer.

For me, it has been a summer of change, in terms of location, career and travel. After three years in New York City at J.P. Morgan, I moved back to Boston for a few months before heading back to school. This fall, I will be starting my first semester at UVA’s Darden School of Business with hopes of obtaining my MBA. I am very excited (and nervous) for this new adventure. If there is anything I am confident in, though, it’s that I am sure my new path will have some degree of Nobles connection and familiarity, as that has been the case in every other journey I have pursued since graduating. I wish my classmates and the Nobles community well for what I hope will be a terrific fall and start to a new school year.

2013 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Caroline Thayer

carolinejthayer@gmail.com Elisielle Wilson started a new position at the International Rescue Committee, an NGO that focuses on refugee advocacy. Her job, which is based in New York City, integrates work on refugees and immigrants. Elisielle worked in similar fields when studying abroad in Belgium during college. She is excited because she is required to speak French and to continue to learn Arabic.

2014 CLASS CORRESPONDENT NEEDED

wasn’t in the cards this year due to work obligations. I hope to catch up with y’all sooner rather than later. I’m more than happy to offer up a couch to crash on if you’re ever in a pinch in the L.A. area.”

2015 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Natalie Hession

Natalie.a.hession@gmail.com Genesis de los Santos was chosen as a commencement speaker at Harvard College this year. For the full story, go to page 14. Congratulations to Genesis and all the other college graduates from 2015.

2016 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Becky Brownell writes: “I have been working at a law firm in Boston since I graduated from Dartmouth in 2018, which I’ve really enjoyed.”

Maria Maier graduated from Yale University in 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in psychology and is currently pursuing a J.D. at Boston College Law School.

Nolan Thomas shares: “Since moving out to Los Angeles for work back in August, I’ve been living out on the west side of L.A. (a few miles from the beach and a few thousand miles away from the Boston area). I started work at The Capital Group, an investment management company, back in September and have been adjusting to the new life away from my home of 20 years.” He wishes he “could be back on campus speeding through the stop sign by the Arts Center like old times and see some friendly faces. Reunion sadly

Sabrina Rabins

srabins@gmail.com Mariana Vega

vegamariana612@gmail.com

2017

amazing experience!”

Katie Giordano reports: “This summer I am studying at Osaka Gakuin University, in Osaka, Japan.

Through CET Academic Programs, I will be taking an intensive Japanese language immersion course.

This course completes a full year of Japanese in nine weeks. The program is centered around a language pledge, wherein the students pledge to only speak Japanese while here. Having studied Japanese for two years at Boston College, I am excited to improve my skills even more this summer.”

Hui Li writes: “It’s always a pleasure and honor to be back on campus, and to give back to the department that inspired me to pursue my passion for the Classics in college. My visit in May was no different, when I gave a special guest presentation for Mr. Blake’s AP Latin V class. I shared my experiences studying the Classics at the College of the Holy Cross, from the courses that expanded my view of the ancient world to my involvement with Classics events. I also spoke about how the techniques

we learn as high school Latin students can help us develop useful skills for our lives beyond Nobles.

I’m glad that everyone enjoyed the article I wrote about this topic for my college newspaper. I wish all the seniors in AP Latin V (and the entire Class of 2019) well in their journeys: best of luck, new grads!”

2018 CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Jill Radley

jillradley22@gmail.com

2019 CLASS CORRESPONDENTS

Allie Guerrero

alessandra.guerrero@bc.edu Cyan Jean

cjean040@gmail.com Thanks to Cyan Jean and Allie Guerrero for taking over the 2019 Class Notes. They will be in touch in the fall, but feel free to send updates in the meantime. Best of luck next year!

CLASS CORRESPONDENT

Harry Sherman

harry74sherman@gmail.com This past semester (spring 2019), Julia Shanno studied abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland. “I took math and physics courses among fulltime students at the University of Edinburgh. I also had the chance to travel around Scotland and enjoyed the amazing sights in the Scottish Highlands. The best part of my trip was meeting people from all over the world and traveling around Europe, to countries such as Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Belgium and Ireland. It was an

Great time at a graduation party for Julia Lyne ’19. Left to right; Tim Lyne ’79, Holly Lyne ’17, Molly Lyne ’75, Julia Lyne ’19 and Kevin McCarthy ’74

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in memoriam

The Storyteller

BY E.B. BARTELS ’06 WHEN I FOUND OUT IN AUGUST 2002 that Bill Kehlenbeck had been assigned to be my honors geometry teacher and my advisor, I was disappointed. As a bookworm and aspiring writer, I’d hoped for someone more “Englishy.” But I got over that initial reaction as Kehlenbeck and I bonded about music—I played cello, he played guitar—and that he was born and raised in New Jersey, like my dad. And, as advisors go, he was an all-star. Need a letter of recommendation? Kehlenbeck had it written and mailed 48 hours later. Performing in a concert? Kehlenbeck was front and center.

Need someone to defend you? Kehlenbeck was the intimidating guy you wanted in your corner. But the reason I kept Kehlenbeck as my advisor was because even though he wasn’t in the English department, he was a storyteller.

When I picture Bill Kehlenbeck, I see him holding court at a table in the Castle, telling and retelling stories. Pieces of Nobles lore, Red Sox history, trivia about musicians, even an incredible math equation—it didn’t matter what it was, he could turn anything into a story. I learned how to tell a story by listening to him, and now, in his absence, I find myself, and those who also knew and loved him, telling stories to honor his legacy: These are the stories we tell about Bill Kehlenbeck.

He loved math. “I was totally wowed by the story he’d tell with his chalk and proofs. The moment he put a QED was like a victory,” Melissa Weihmayer ’06 wrote, remembering calculus. Tilesy Harrington described Bill as a “meticulous, rigorous” mathematician who held you accountable. If you took college-level math, “if you had Bill, you were ready.”

He hated mayonnaise. “He was a picky eater. If it wasn’t American or Italian, he wouldn’t touch it,” Harrington said.

Every day for lunch in high school, Bill ate two hot dogs, a bag of chips and a Coke. Every. Single. Day. He loved baseball. Don Allard will “never forget the sight of Bill sitting in his chair at the end of the bench with his legs crossed and pencil sharpened, keeping a meticulous and precise scorebook.”

Before he died, Bill requested his memorial be on the Nobles baseball field.

He loved music. The Beatles, the Beach Boys, Billy Joel, James Taylor,

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Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, Chicago, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Bonnie Raitt, Roseanne Cash, Kathy Mattea. “In the 31 years I’ve been at Nobles,” Michael Turner said, “Bill only missed two choral concerts.”

Bill sang with the Princeton Nassoons, directed the Nobleonians, played with his two bands, sang at coffeehouses, and the last day I saw him, April 24, he performed a medley of Beatles songs in assembly. After Bill’s death, both Kelsey Grousbeck ’08 and Caroline Harrison ’06 posted photos [on Facebook] of themselves singing, while Bill played guitar. “The number of former Nobles students who have photos just like this one is a testament to what a caring, patient and giving teacher Kehlenbeck was,” Harrison wrote.

He hated Halloween. He thought October 31 was a wasted school day, but he still wore his black-and-orange Princeton blazer every year.

He loved nicknames. “He liked my initials,” Michael Turner said. “MVT, like Mean Value Theorem.” “And I was SPT, or Spit,” laughed Stacey Turner.

Bill realized you could scramble Bartels to make “Blaster” and called me that ever since. Bill even embraced “Killer K,” though, as he mellowed, the math department started calling him “Kitten K.” He had strong opinions. “I always sought him out at lunch in hopes of unearthing another pet peeve,” wrote Greg Croak ’06. “Songs that fade out have lazy songwriters. The golf team doesn’t need two coaches for eight players.” “When Bill felt mercilessly subjected to anything that he couldn’t stop or flee . . . soon after that, you could count on a withering blow-by-blow account and analysis,” said Bill Bussey.

“He was The Godfather of Fume.”

He hated wasting time. Bill fumed when assembly ran over and he missed part of class. When assembly featured particularly bad content, he’d cross his arms and say, “There’s 20 minutes of my life I’m never getting back.” “He knew that time is precious,” said Michael Turner.

He loved routine. Bill started working at Nobles in 1975. He never took his final sabbatical. He never retired.

He taught math in the same classroom.

He coached on the same field. He ate lunch with Mark Harrington every day. “He was perfectly happy doing what he was doing,” said Mark.

He believed in tradition. “Bill and I were the shirt-and-tie guys,” Mark Harrington said. Even after the dress code got rid of blazers, then ties, and then collared shirts, Bill continued to wear a shirt and tie every day.

He believed in progress. He encouraged Tilesy Harrington to become the first woman chair of the math department.

He was thrilled when Dr. Cathy Hall was announced to be the next head of school.

He believed in his students. Greg Schneider ’92 described how Bill stayed after practice to work with him on catching infield flies: “When I asked him what my problem was, he just said to keep practicing and to work through it. He didn’t give up on me.” When Schneider finally caught a game-winning fly, “Coach K gave me a huge hug with a smile, as if he had just concluded a proof confirming that all of his time after practice with me had been worth it.”

He celebrated his students. My senior year, he came to opening night of a play I wrote and asked me to sign his program.

He waved it like a winning lottery ticket.

“This!” he exclaimed, “is going to be valuable one day! I can’t wait until you’re a famous writer!” He bragged when Schneider became the head of Belmont Hill. “I loved Mr. Kehlenbeck for the way he always seemed to remember me,” Schneider said. “It was always the best version of me.”

He cared about his students. The winter of my senior year, my mom had thyroid cancer. I didn’t tell many

people at Nobles, not even some of my closest friends. But Bill knew. He never looked at me with pity. He never brought the subject up unless I did—but he knew, and he made sure I knew that he knew, and, in his own kind way, he would find me in the halls and check in on me, to make sure I was OK. He cared about his students, even when they were no longer his students.

Bill was officially my advisor from 2002 to 2006, but he continued to advise me long after he was not contractually obligated to do so. He came to plays I did while a student at Wellesley College.

He emailed me while I was studying in Russia. He celebrated my MFA graduation with my family. He was delighted when I was hired to teach at Nobles and made sure we had regular lunches; he was delighted again when I quit to pursue writing. He was thrilled when I signed with a literary agent and sold my book proposal. He was over the moon when my boyfriend and I got engaged.

Arthur Levy ’06 and I were the only two from our freshman advisee group to stay with Bill through graduation.

“He guided me through Nobles and beyond to reach my potential and be great,” Arthur wrote to me. Bill started calling himself my Advisor for Life, and he really was: for me, for Arthur, and for so many others.

He cared about his colleagues.

“When he listened to you, he was with you. He was present. He ignored everything else,” said Stacey Turner.

Bill even cared about his colleagues’ kids; he apologized to the Turners that he could never get to Bailey Turner ’18’s softball games because they were at the same time as his baseball games.

He was synonymous with Nobles.

“When we turned into campus, I forgot for a minute and thought, It will be so

nice to see Bill!” my mom told me at Bill’s memorial on June 16. Nobles and Bill were so interwoven, it’s impossible to imagine school without him.

He lived for Nobles. “You don’t make it to every concert, play, gallery opening, and sporting event by accident,” wrote Greg Croak. “I got the sense that as soon as the event schedules became available, he blocked that time out on his calendar immediately and planned his life around them instead of fitting them in if it was convenient.” When the Harringtons sat with Bill in hospice, they discussed a recent baseball game.

“A 5:15 start?” Tilesy asked. “I wonder why so late?” In his drugged state, Bill spoke up: “AP week.” The Harringtons realized it was, in fact, AP week, and that had been exactly why the game had started so late. “The Nobles calendar hard-wired to the end,” said Mark.

He loved Nobles. “Mr. Kehlenbeck was a true community-maker,” wrote Melissa Weihmayer. “He took the time to appreciate the community—commending me on a bold Nobleman article I wrote senior year, or checking out the first play I ever acted in and giving a nod in support before the first line, as if to say it didn’t matter the result, just giving it a try was good enough.

He inspired me in math, yes, but it was these other moments I will remember more.” “He wouldn’t just compliment someone’s Nobles accomplishment,” Croak wrote. “He would put it in context of why Nobles is such a special place.”

He loved us. In his last email to me, Bill said how happy he was that I could make it to the April 24 assembly. “As John Lennon sang, All you need is love,” Bill wrote, “and you and I are so fortunate to have so much love in our respective lives.”

So much love, and so many stories.

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in memoriam

A Runner with a Cause THE NOBLES COMMUNITY LOST A VISIONARY with the passing of Elise Raymond “Butch” Wallace H’03 on May 22, 2019, at age 86. As a former member of the board of trustees, one of only four honorary graduates and a co-founder of the Nobles Marathon Fund, she proved that one determined individual driven by kindness and compassion can change lives and communities for the better.

In 1985, long before marathons became powerful fundraising tools for a host of charitable organizations, Butch decided to run the Boston Marathon for a cause close to her heart: scholarship at Nobles. A lifelong athlete and avid runner, Butch partnered with her friend William L. “Bill” Bliss ’48, and the Nobles Marathon Fund was established.

“When Butchie set her teeth into something, she was like a bulldog. She got the idea of raising money for scholarship through running, and she was good at it,” recalls Bliss ’48. “The only reason I ran was because of her. She told me, ‘Hey, we are going to do this,’ and I could not say no.”

Almost four decades later, the Nobles Marathon Fund is valued at more than $3 million, making it the school’s second-largest scholarship fund. It helps provide financial aid to 10 current students, a number that continues to grow thanks to the generosity of hundreds of donors every year. Butch served on the Nobles Marathon Committee until her passing, and her leadership and commitment to making Nobles more diverse and accessible has been integral to the fund’s success.

Beyond its tremendous financial impact, the Nobles Marathon Fund has evolved to become one of Nobles’ great community traditions. Hundreds of students, parents, graduates and friends gather on campus each Marathon Monday to raise money and awareness for this beloved scholarship. Whether they are walking, running, biking or erging, they never stop cheering on or lifting up one another. Like Butch, they find joy in giving back and helping others.

Wallace’s spirit will live on each year as the Nobles community rallies together around the Boston Marathon to honor the life and legacy of a remarkable woman.

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Isaac Tucker Burr III ’35 was the last surviving member of the class of 1935 to pass away. At Nobles, “Tucker” was on the football and crew squads. He was a member of the Glee Club, president of the Dramatic Club and graduate editor of the Nobleman.

“His profound sense of humor has won him innumerable friends, and his vast knowledge of literature and things in general will always be remembered and admired,” his Classbook entry stated.

Born in Needham, Massachusetts, Burr graduated from Harvard College in 1939 and Veterinary College at Cornell University in 1951.

From 1939 until 1946, he served in the Canadian Army in Canada, Iceland, England, North Africa, Italy, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. He was awarded a number of military medals during WWII—most notable was the King George Medal: Member of the Order of the British Empire for his service in the Dieppe Raid, in Dieppe, France, in 1942.

Burr married Estelle Eggins of Sussex, England, in 1945 and moved back to the United States after the war and went on to veterinary school. He practiced veterinary medicine in Bellow Falls, Vermont, and Walpole, Massachusetts, until his retirement in 1980.

He was one of four brothers to attend Nobles, in addition to Carleton Burr ’39, John Burr ’38 and Francis Burr ’31. Burr is

survived by his sons, Ian ’64, Christopher ’66, Stephen ’68 and Duncan; his daughter, Jennifer; eight grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

Thomas D. Cabot Jr. ’40 passed away March 26, 2019, at his home in Naples, Florida, at age 96. At Nobles, he played football, rowed and was a member of the Student Council, Glee Club, Prize Quartet and Science Club.

Born in Boston, Cabot graduated in 1943 from Harvard College and then joined the United States Naval Reserves.

During WWII, he served honorably as a naval officer stationed in the Pacific, where he worked on aviation electronics, radar and nuclear technology. Upon returning home from the war, he began his career with the American Research and Development Corporation. Later, he became vice president and director of corporate development at Cabot Corporation.

An avid traveler, outdoor enthusiast and philanthropist, Cabot left an indelible mark on the many lives and communities he touched. In Greenwich, Connecticut, where he lived for 40 years, he was actively involved in the Greenwich Public School System, Kids in Crisis and St. Michael’s Church. He supported numerous nonprofit organizations, including the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Social Concerns, in Indiana.

Protecting natural resources and the environment was a

lifelong passion for Cabot. In Colorado, Cabot advocated for land conservation and drafted a conservation easement that preserved a large tract of land in southern Colorado. To this day, it remains the Nature Conservancy of Colorado’s largest private easement. He also fought to protect lands in Massachusetts, Maine and Canada.

Despite having no formal training, Cabot enjoyed architecture and design and took great pride in seeing his drawings and ideas come to life. A devoted family man, he will forever be remembered for his great business acumen, unforgettable stories, and generous and kind spirit.

Cabot is survived by his wife of 55 years, Mary McGrath Cabot; his six children, Thomas D. Cabot III, Moors C. Myers, Cecily C. Klingman, Robert M. Cabot, Lara Cabot Carrigan and James W. Cabot; his brothers, Louis W. Cabot ’39 and Robert M. Cabot; his sister, Linda C. Black; his sister-in-law, Betsy W. Cabot; 13 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

David Madden Traver ’42 passed away January 21, 2019, in Knoxville, Tennessee, at age 95. At Nobles, Traver was an accomplished athlete and musician. He played football, ice hockey and baseball and was a member of the Student Council, Glee Club, orchestra and Quartettes. In 1940, Traver received the Improvement Prize.

“Dave’s ability in football cannot be overestimated. He

proved himself one of the team’s best halfbacks, as he ripped opposing lines to shreds with his line-bucks and jarred halfbacks’ bones with his tackles,” his Classbook entry noted.

Born in Wellesley, Massachusetts, Traver graduated from Amherst College. After college, he attended Naval Flight School in Pensacola, Florida, and served as a pilot in the United States Navy.

He was president of East Tennessee Packing Company and was involved in numerous corporate and civic boards, including First American Bank, CMS Inc., Webb School of Knoxville, Knoxville Symphony and the South Knoxville Rotary Club.

A deeply religious man, Traver was a founding parishioner, former vestryman and longtime member of Church of the Ascension.

He is survived by his daughters, Susan and Margaret; his son, Douglas; nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

James Homer Sowles ’53 passed away February 18, 2019, at his home in Westwood, Massachusetts. At Nobles, he played soccer, rowed and was a member of the Dramatic Club.

“His gentle jests and sunny disposition have paved the way for easy friendship,” recalled his Classbook profile.

Born in Newton Centre, Massachusetts, “Jim” graduated from Williams College and Harvard School of Dental Medicine.

He also attended Boston Univer-

sity for postgraduate studies.

Sowles followed a long line of family members, including his father, into the dental profession. While teaching at Harvard School of Dental Medicine, he met Charles Trauring, and together they formed the Sowles-Trauring DDS practice, known for utilizing new technologies and delivery methods in dental medicine.

An active sportsman and outdoor enthusiast, Sowles divided his time between the Boston/Brookline area and Greensboro, Vermont.

He rode his bicycle to work daily and played competitive squash before turning to rowing.

He competed in numerous regattas and Head of the Charles races. He understood the symbiotic relationship between man and nature and was an environmentalist ahead of his time, believing one must do their best to leave nature as it was found.

Known to carry a pocket knife and screwdriver with him at all times, Sowles was a talented builder and fixer. He enjoyed carpentry and tinkering with old cars and clocks, building lamps, and dabbling in solar electricity generation. His varied interests also included cattle farming, horticulture and taxidermy.

Later in life, as he neared retirement, he helped establish a summer theater group in Greensboro, which expanded over the years into the Greensboro Arts Alliance and Residency (GAAR). Through the group’s work, local children and

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in memoriam adults have enjoyed high-quality theater and have been exposed to the joys and fun of acting.

He is survived by his wife, Sydney; his sons, Nicholas ’84 and Thomas; and five grandchildren.

William Thayer ’55 passed away April 1 at Darthia Farm, in Gouldsboro, Vermont.

At Nobles, he played football, hockey and baseball.

More than 40 years ago, “Bill” left the insurance business and returned to school to become a special education teacher, working with emotionally disturbed children. Soon after, he met his wife, Cynthia, and together they moved from Massachusetts to Maine, where they purchased undeveloped land north of Bar Harbor in Gouldsboro and started Darthia Farm.

Thayer was a pioneer in the organic farming movement, growing organic crops and raising a variety of livestock, including chickens, sheep, goats, pigs and turkeys, and earning the nickname “Farmer Bill.” Thayer particularly enjoyed working with his beloved horses to plow the land. Ever the teacher, he hosted and trained more than 200 apprentices in gardening, spinning, weaving and carpentry at his farm during his lifetime. He took pride in mentoring the next generation of organic farmers, many of whom are now running their own farms and businesses.

A fixture in the Gouldsboro community, Thayer was a selectman for many years and held

62 Nobles FALL 2019

the position of vice-chairman when he passed. He was also an active member of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association for decades and a board member with Schoodic Arts for All. When a fire destroyed Darthia Farm’s barn and many animals in 2012, the Gouldsboro community came together to support Thayer and his family in rebuilding, restocking and moving forward.

Thayer was a huge jazz fan and played drums weekly in a swing band.

In addition to his wife, Cynthia, he is survived by his daughters, Sara and Amy; his sons, Tom and Riley; three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Robert Whiteley Patterson Jr. ’55 passed away April 27, 2019, at his home in Somesville, Maine, at age 81. At Nobles, “Lee” was on the soccer and crew squads, was a member of the Glee Club and choir, and was on the board of the Nobleman.

After graduating from Harvard College with a degree in education, Patterson taught in Maryland and Pennsylvania before founding and running the Denning Travel Camp for Boys. He guided students on camping and canoeing trips throughout Maine and the rest of the country, as well as the Yukon. Throughout these adventures, he shared his great knowledge of the outdoors and his passion to protect the environmental world with his

students and all who knew him.

An opera enthusiast, Patterson would often make the round-trip drive from Maine to New York City just to see a performance at the Metropolitan Opera House. He taught classes locally on the history of the opera and was closely involved with the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Hancock County for many years. He sang throughout New England and internationally with an Ellsworth, Maine– based troupe and established a scholarship fund for singers.

Patterson was active in his local community, serving on a number of boards, including Camp Beechcliff, the Mount Desert Recycling Committee, the Mount Desert Historical Society and the Abbe Museum.

He is survived by his longtime friend and caregiver, Norman Bubb, whom he called his son; his nephew, Nick Burnett; and his nieces, Whiteley Wheeler and Abby Burnett.

John M. Martin II ’66 passed away March 21, 2019, at age 72. At Nobles, he participated in football, crew and wrestling and was also a member of the Glee Club, Quartets, Nobleonians and Deutscher Verein.

Born in Boston, he earned a B.A. and a master’s degree from the University of Virginia and then went on to earn his Ph.D. from Syracuse University. His research led him to Rochester Institute of Technology and

SUNY Buffalo Medical School.

After relocating to Dallas, he joined the faculty at Southwestern Medical School, Department of Ophthalmology, and later served as an adjunct professor at the University of Texas Arlington.

A highly creative and talented artist, Martin was a prolific sculptor, painter, printmaker and photographer. Several of his metal sculptures and his pastel artwork entitled “Portraits of Children in Crisis” were recently on display at the Visual Arts Center in Punta Gorda, Florida.

He was cofounder and CEO of Art Dallas Inc., as well as a joint owner of Commercial Art Services since 1988.

Martin was a certified sailing instructor who relished being on the water, fly-fishing, rowing or sailing. His greatest love was, perhaps, flying. He enjoyed piloting his own planes and flying between his homes in Taos, New Mexico, and Punta Gorda, Florida.

He will be remembered for his lifelong passion for learning and the depth and breadth of his many varied talents.

Martin is survived by his wife, Judy; his son, Michael; his daughter, Sloan; his sisters, Marie, Luisa and Eve; his brother, Edward; and two grandchildren.

Scott Fitzpatrick ’69 passed away on March 2, 2019, at age 67. At Nobles, he excelled in academics and played soccer, basketball and tennis.

He was also a member of

the Dramatic Club, Science Club and Parachute Club.

Raised in Westwood, Fitzpatrick graduated with a B.S. in psychology from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where he played soccer and golf and was treasurer of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity.

After college, he began a 30-year career working in the insurance industry with the Insurance Company of North America, in Philadelphia. He moved to Seattle to specialize in marine insurance with Johnson & Higgins and retired from the industry in 2011 while working for Scougal Rubber Company.

It was in Seattle that Fitzpatrick met and married Linda Leir, and together they had two sons. Outside of work, one could often find Fitzpatrick on the golf course, his favorite place to be. He especially loved playing at Pine Valley Golf Club, where he was a member since the mid-1970s.

After his wife, Linda, passed away, he was given a second chance at love, reconnecting with his college sweetheart, Ruth Anne McSorley Taylor, via Facebook.

The two were later married.

A Nobles classmate describes the rekindled romance, writing, “Scott sold his house in Seattle. They got married in Trinity Chapel in Hartford, and they are living in Easton, Connecticut. I could see him smiling broadly, even over the telephone, as he told me the story.”

After moving to Connecticut

as a newlywed, Fitzpatrick continued to live life to the fullest in retirement, playing golf, tennis and bridge regularly.

He was especially proud of recently earning Masters points as a member of the American Contract Bridge League. He was an active member of the Fairfield Beach Club and will be remembered fondly as a wonderful friend with a ready smile and kind disposition.

He is survived by his wife, Ruth, and her loving children and grandchildren; his son, Joshua; his sisters, Carolyn Weikel and Pamela Olah; and his nieces, Sara and Elizabeth.

dog, Bertie. She enjoyed listening to funk music, eating cookies of all kinds and drinking Tab. McOsker will be remembered for her warm, carefree spirit and sense of humor—a woman who lived life to the fullest in all her pursuits. She had a unique way of making everyone she encountered feel like an old friend, always including them and welcoming them into her world.

She is survived by her three children, Hilary, Lennox and Stuart; her brother, Jay; her sister, Megan; her niece, Abby; her nephew, Graham; and her stepmother, Dandy.

Sarah McOsker ’78 passed away March 15, 2019, at age 59. At Nobles, “Sash” played soccer. She was dedicated to her Nobles classmates and regularly attended school events and reunion, even serving as a member of her 30th and 35th Reunion committees.

Born in Wellesley, McOsker graduated from Skidmore College with a degree in American studies and a minor in art history. She pursued her love of art and design in New York City and San Francisco, where she married Paul Donlan and raised their three children.

Later in life, she returned to New England to live on Cape Cod, where she had summered since she was a child.

Known for her zest for life and infectious spirit, McOsker loved to bestow nicknames on her beloved family, friends and

Betsy Lynn Morris-Rosen ’83 passed away March 29 at age 53. At Nobles, she was a prefect and member of the Nobleman staff, as well as a member of Greensleeves and the Chamber Chorus.

Raised in Dover, Massachusetts, Morris-Rosen graduated from Colgate University with a degree in psychology.

After college, she worked in media sales before returning to school to receive a master’s in communication at the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California.

After working to promote the concept of social marketing to a number of key media markets in the northeast, Morris-Rosen embarked on a career change and went back to school. She earned her master’s in social work from Boston College and became a licensed

independent social worker. For eight years, she worked with individuals, families and groups as a psychotherapist at the Brookline Community Mental Health Center, in Brookline, Massachusetts, before opening her own private psychotherapy practice in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

In addition to being dedicated to her family and her career, Morris-Rosen was passionate about music, specifically a cappella singing. At Colgate, she was a member of the Swinging Gates, and later in life co-founded In the Moment, a women’s a cappella group in Boston. She also was an active member of the singing group The Works.

A devoted animal lover, she was known for rescuing dogs from shelters and doting upon her beloved dog, Zoe. She was happiest surrounded by family and friends, enjoying good music, dancing, company and food.

She is survived by her husband, Robert; her children, Samantha ’13 and Grant ’16; and her sisters, Susan Carlson and Lisa Grobar.

FALL 2019 Nobles 63

graduate news

1.

2.

3.

4.

1. Sasha Leland ’88 and wife Erin; 2. Rick and Hannah Goode were married in March 2018. Back row: Christine Bezreh P’08, Jim Bezreh P’08, Noah Atlas ’07, Jane Ayoub P’12, Simon Reale ’08, Elike Kumahia ’08. Second row: Paul Ayoub ’74 P’12, Eliza Goode ’10, Chip Goode ’72 P’08 ’10, Jan Trnka ’08, Hannah Kenary, Rick Goode ’08, Arthur Harris ’08, Chase Davenport ’08, Andrew Goode ’76, Laura Goode P’08 ’10. Front row: Briana Roberge, Matt Bezreh ’08, Tim Nelson ’08, Mike Turcotte ’08, Chris Enos ’08, Alden Abad ’08; 3. Megan Bunnell married Eric Schlobohm in May 2019 at the Dartmouth Skiway. Nobles grads in attendance were (left to right): Brett Hayes, Kristy Giandomenico, Hadley Stein, Megan Bunnell, Eric Schlobohm, Holly Foster ’10, Rob Troy, Julia Luscinskas and Ally Geanacopoulos (all ’09 unless otherwise noted); 4. Lauren Martin ’09 and Ed Joullian were married on Nantucket in June 2019. Left to right: Tyler Martin ’13, Eliza Loring ’12, Stephanie Pagliuca ’08, Nick Pagliuca,

announcements Engagements Natasha Tyagi ’09 to Raj Sharma; Colin Coughlin ’10 to Olivia Meredith; Sarah Kistner ’10 to John McCoy.

64 Nobles FALL 2019

Marriages Brett Adam ’09 got married in August 2019; Megan Bunnell ’09 married Eric Schlobohm in May 2019; Madeline Lazaris ’05 to Eric Heinbockel in June 2019; Lauren Martin ’09 to Ed Joullian in June

2019; Emily Kaufman ’01 to Chris Gabriel in June 2019; Curt Nichols ’09 to Katrina Timmerman in June 2019; David Kehlenbeck ’03 married Ginny Wortham on February 2, 2019; Mark Murphy ’94 married Meg Folkinga on May 25, 2019; Sasha Leland ’88 to Erin Weimer in February 2019.

6.

5.

7.

8.

9.

Ellen Crowley ’09, Casey Griffin Giudicelli ’09, Michael Mussafer ’11, Chelsea Landon ’11, Ben Knott ’09, Alex Conigliaro Biega ’09, Ed Joullian, Lauren Martin Joullian ’09, Liz Rappaport ’09, Maddy Petrini ’09, Hanna Atwood ’09, Steph Gill Steele ’08, Chris Steele ’08, Nick Resor ’08, Tim Demirjian ’14, Matt Edgerley ’13, Brian Edgerley ’11, Marc Kessler ’13; 5. Amanda Tripp Hayes ’99 and husband Ryan Hayes welcomed baby Heath Hayes in May 2019, here with brothers Holden and Hunter; 6. Stephanie (Witkin) Shapiro ’03, Matt Shapiro, Stanley Shapiro and Willa Shapiro; 7. JD DeVirgilio, son of Christine Moynihan DeVirgilio ’03; 8. Mariah Rich Collins ’06, husband James, their daughter, Hadley, and new baby, James Patrick Collins V, with pup Mac; 9. Christopher Steele and Stephanie Gill Steele, both ’08, welcomed their first child, Theresa (Reese) Marie Steele, on February 15, 2019.

New Arrivals Adam Taub ’98 and his wife welcomed Moses Orion Taub in March 2019; Steph Witkin Shapiro ’03 and husband Matt recently welcomed their second child, Stanley Wolfe Shapiro, on May 29, 2019;

Christine Moynihan DeVirgilio ’03 and her husband, Brian, had their first baby, John Domenic (“JD”), in late March; Amanda Tripp Hayes ’99 and Ryan Hayes welcomed Heath Vincent Hayes in May 2019; Chris and Stephanie Steele ’08 welcomed their daughter, Theresa (Reese) Marie Steele, on

February 15, 2019; Mariah Rich Collins ’06 and husband James welcomed James Patrick Collins V on May 4, 2019.

FALL 2019 Nobles 65

reunions

Reunion 2019 MORE THAN 600 GRADUATES, faculty and friends gathered

on campus for Reunion 2019 to reminisce, reconnect and to get a sense of student life at Nobles today.

The festivities began on Friday, May 10, with a full slate of activities for the 50th reunion class that included morning assembly, classroom visits and a roundtable conversation with Head of School Cathy Hall. During an afternoon “Nobles Today” panel, graduates asked current Class I and II students questions on topics ranging from technology to homework to military service. The day concluded in the Castle with the 50th dinner and the Noblest dinner for graduates who have already celebrated their 50th reunion. The Greensleeves performed for the more than 15 graduate classes that were in attendance.

On Saturday, May 11, reunion events kicked off on the water under blue skies and bright sunshine with open rowing hours at the Lincoln Boathouse and continued with some friendly competition at the men’s graduate lacrosse and women’s graduate soccer games. Afterward, attendees gathered to recognize the new Nobles Athletics Hall of Fame inductees: Coach David C. Horton Sr., Anthony Ackil ’94, Rebecca Loucks Manrique ’04, Casey Griffin Giudicelli ’09 and McCallum “Mac” Foote ’09. Throughout the afternoon, graduates cheered on varsity teams, toured the campus, enjoyed a cookout and family carnival, and volunteered alongside current students for the national Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.

The graduates assembly began with Weston Wellington ’69 amazing the crowd with a memorized Putnam recital of Ernest Lawrence Thayer’s classic poem “Casey at the Bat.” Hall paid tribute to retiring faculty members Chris Burr, Trish Koningisor, Vicky Seelen and Steve Toubman, who also received the Coggeshall Award from members of the class of 1994.

Classmates Jessica Baylor ’04 and Joseph Cappellano ’04 surprised current faculty member and co-director of diversity, equity and inclusion, Edgar De Leon ’04, with the Young Graduate Award. Charlie Long ’58 and Bill Gallagher ’57 were co-recipients of the Lawson Service Award, and Rick Goode ’08 was announced as a graduate trustee. The evening concluded with class dinners, where trips down memory lane continued and a great time was had by all.

—CASEY HASSENSTEIN

66 Nobles FALL 2019

Clockwise from top left: Grads enjoyed a cocktail hour on the Castle Terrace; Weston Wellington ’69 recited “Casey at the Bat” during the Graduates Assembly, bringing to memory Mr. Putnam’s daily readings; Andy Mcphee ‘94, Anthony Ackil ‘94 and Julia Mcphee; The Nobles bulldog at Carnival; 2019 Hall of Fame inductee Rebecca Loucks (second from left) with her husband, Fer, and fellow classmates Jessica Baylor ’04 and Class of 2018 Hall of Famer Jenna Gomez ’04; 2019 Hall of Fame inductee Casey Griffin Giudicelli ’09 with coaches Maura Sullivan and Tom Resor; student volunteers at the annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive; Nobles carnival (center)

FALL 2019 Nobles 67

reunions

1954 65TH REUNION (Left to right): Ted Dunn, Fred Clifford, John Stimpson, John Barnett, Peter Partridge

1959 60TH REUNION

1954

(Left to right): Remy Damon, Quigs Quigley, Richard Seiler, Steve Grant, John Gibson, Bill Taylor, Ted Mann, Borden Snow, Steve Lister, Bill Cutler, Whit Bond

1964 55TH REUNION Back row (left to right): Mike Wiggins, Ned Lawson, Ned Bigelow, Bob Waldinger, Steen Rydahl, Frank Reece, Rick Farlow. Front row (left to right): George Darrell, Alexander Caskey, Clint Smith, Ken Morse, Maurice Hamilburg, Art Watson

1959

1969 50TH REUNION Front row (left to right): Peter Gates, George Pendergast, Peter Pach, Leigh Seddon.

Second row (left to right): Brad Wilkinson, Toby Talbot, Toby Burr. Back row (left to right): David Polk, Wigs Frank

1974 45TH REUNION

1964

1969 68 Nobles FALL 2019

Front row (left to right): Ethan Goldman, Ted Wales, Jeff Grogan. Second row (left to right): Peter Martinez, Paul Ayoub, Jim Vogel, Kevin McCarthy, Gary Markoff, Geoff Brooks, Benjy Johnson, Harris Thompson, Doug Harvey. Back row (left to right): Allan Schmid, Bill Chandler, Seth Tower

1979 40TH REUNION

1974

Front row (left to right): Lori Tyler Spisak, Lisa Heavey Evans, Fiona Jarrett Roman, Dan Rodgers, Ginny Aldous Emerson, Alex Childs Smith, and Vicky Palmer Chase.

Second row (left to right): Amy Tayer Goldman, Sarah Bowman, Kitty Breen, Holly Charlesworth Casner, Patsy McCormick DiGiovanna, Charlie Dow, Tom Elcock, Bill Bliss, Dan Corcoran, David Vogel and Kerry Kehoe. Third row (left to right): Dirk Long, Phil Eure, Scott Leland, Jeff Hedberg, Bill O’Toole.

Fourth row (left to right): Anne Abbott Randle, Nancy Pratt Hurley, Phil Rueppel, Gordon Prescott, Tim Mansfield, Joe Selle, Bruce Weber. Back row (left to right): Jim Morse, John Almy

1984 35TH REUNION

1979

Front row (left to right): Leanne Gould Bernat, Kate Gilmore, Eric Freeman.

Second row (left to right): Demetri “Coup” Coupounas, Nick Sowles, Katharine White MacPhail, Heather Alker. Third row (left to right): Suzie Tayer Montgomery, Michele Simeone Abrecht. Back row (left to right): John Stephenson, Clark Munnell, George Lee, Rod Walkey, Trevor Keohane, Jim Bride

1989 30TH REUNION Front row (left to right): Darcey Angelo, Andy Hyland, Kim Griffith Hyland, Derek Boonisar, Mark Epker. Back row (left to right): JP Plunkett, Brian O’Neil, Jack Higgins, Nick Lundgren

1984 FALL 2019 Nobles 69

reunions

1994 25TH REUNION

1989

Front row (left to right): Lawson Allen Albright, Lisa Zeytoonjian Glenn, Annie Stephenson, Sherrie Selwin Delinsky, Atina White, Karen Anderson, Kathryn Lieber Berman, Robin Woodard Westerberg, Susan Hoffmann. Second row (left to right): Jim Hampe, Hunter Woolley, Elizabeth Geuss, Phil Higgins, Heidi Notman Muccifori, Heidi Swierupski Knoblaugh, Serena Mah Seel, Alissa White Kissell, Monica Ramirez Curtis, Mike Ackil, Marni Fox Payne. Back row (left to right): Matthew Glassman, Justin Alfond, Starr Glidden Peteet, Nancy Cremins, Dan Primack, Tim Weld, Andy McPhee, Dan Ryan, Dave MacKay

1999 20TH REUNION

1994

Front row (left to right): Jennifer FlynnBerberian, Leanne Gallagher Turner, Gabriela Herman, Elena RaptopoulosOrselli, Stephanie Trussell Driscoll, Susan Roy Greenbowe, April Levin, Amanda Green Helming, Rich Quincy, Josh Police.

Second row (left to right): Will MacPherson, Jennifer Ligums Leonard, Olivia Achtmeyer Boger, Kate Treitman Brown, Dan Cahan, Stefanie Noering Alfond. Third row (left to right): Greg Berberian, Bianca Mauro, Justin Gaither, Lindsay Curtis Wynalek, Eric Hanson, Walter Siggins, Adam Franklin, Reis Alfond, Ben Tobey, Dan Ackil. Back row (left to right): Jeff Raider, Dave Costello, John Cronin, Matt Starvis, Justin Dziama, Emily Condon Sprayrengen

2004 15TH REUNION

1999 70 Nobles FALL 2019

Front row (left to right): Sam Chud, Sam Barcelo, Rory Kelly Silvia, Carolyn Sheehan Wintner, Rebecca Loucks Manrique.

Second row (left to right): Peter Grape, John Hunter, Eleanor Lawson Merrill, Jessica Baylor, Edgar De Leon, Jenna Gomez, Dan McGoff, Brittany Burke, Matt Plitch, Joseph Cappellano

2009 10TH REUNION

2004

Front row (left to right): Ellen Crowley, Andrea Holland, Kristy Giandomenico, Maria Montes, Timothy Chang, Liz Rappaport, Maddy Cohen. Second row (left to right): Aldrich Mendes (Cynthia’s husband), Cynthia Rivas, Vinny Baker, Hannah Roman Pasterczyk, Julie Daniels, Jen Lawrence, Julia Luscinskas, McCallum Foote. Third row (left to right): George Tall, Nick Balsbaugh, Roger Bothe (Brett’s fiancé), Brett Hayes, Megan Bunnell, Kaitlin Spurling, Rob Troy, Peter Owen, Alexandra Conigliaro Biega. Fourth row (left to right): Earl Smith, Will Kiplinger, Donna Farizan, Claire Hickey, Hanna Atwood, Bobby Kelly, Paul Toribio. Fifth row (left to right): Chris McDonald, Max White, Brooke Hammer, Jamie Shulman

2014 5TH REUNION

2009

2014

Fifth row (left to right): Mo Afdhal, Elliot Borden, George Finnerty, Lucas Hicks, Robbie Abookire, Luke Patmon, John Keally, Ned Roman, Thomas Soule, Will Cunningham, Haley Mullins, Kate Kerrigan, Lauren Dillon. Fourth row (left to right): Will Samuels, Courtney Pensavalle, Parker McKee, Ryan Smith, Henry Muggia, Bryan Huynh, Harrison Alpaugh, Kunal Gupta, Jonathan Bloch, Jason Hooker, Mallory Souliotis, Kate Rosner, Caroline Petro, Maria Maier, Meredith Curry, Jairo Vanegas, Mia Murphy, Katie Schlager, Greta O’Marah.

Third row (left to right): Akshat Agrawal, Ryan Vultaggio, Kirsten Mulrenan, Elizabeth Orscheln, Sarah Harthun, Jack Radley, Cate Ellison, Becky Brownell, Audra Fitzgerald, Meaghan Murphy, Lexie Laing, Caroline Muggia, Abbey Anderson, Monica Ordóñez, Ava Brignol. Second row (left to right): John Beadle, Andrew Fai, Lucas O’Brien, Stephanie Yandow, Whitney Hazard, Sabrina Roberts, Ben Perelmuter, Chloe Rosen, Kirk Gulezian, Natalie Sellers, Miranda Hunter. Front row (left to right): Alex DiFelice, Andrew Freeman, Finn Putnam, Justin Jiménez, Hadley Edie, Katherine Kirk, Brigit Bergin

FALL 2019 Nobles 71

archive

CASTLE CREW Five Nobles graduates returned as faculty members in the early ’90s (left to right: John Gifford ’86, Beth Reilly ’87, Joia Scully ’87, Billy Hutchinson ’77 and Dave Aznavorian ’88. Gifford currently serves as assistant head of school and head of the middle school. Reilly taught and coached at Nobles for nine years and has served as president of the board of trustees since 2013.

Coming full circle for the 2019–2020 school year, four Nobles grads have returned to teach this fall. Rejoining Nobles this year as teaching fellows are Sarah Harthun ’14, Hayley Edgerley ’15, Stacy Goins ’15 and Robyn White ’13, which brings the current number of grads working at Nobles to 17.

72 Nobles FALL 2019

Noble and Greenough School 10 Campus Drive Dedham, MA 02026-4099

NON-PROFIT U.S. POSTAGE PAID BOSTON MA PERMIT NO. 53825

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A Book in the Hand Owen Myers ’23 makes the stretch to snag Florida, by Lauren Groff, during Provost Bill Bussey’s annual end-of-year book toss.

Nathaniel Birne was a cellist with the Nobles orchestra and was twice selected to represent Nobles at the Massachusetts Music Educators Association Eastern District Festival. He served as editor-in-chief of Cogito, a student journal on social science and international affairs. With an interest in food inspired by a Nobles farm trip to New Hampshire, he has volunteered at Newton Community Farm and Needham Farmers’ Market. Birne won the Edward Stone Gleason Award for academic excellence and the Dixwell Medal for classics. During his six years at Nobles, Birne won the Trustees’ Prize for scholarship four times. He attends Harvard University.

“A lot of teachers here have supported me in ways that have changed the way I think. For example, I had Mr. Kehlenbeck for geometry and BC Calc. One lesson that I took away from his class was how not to be a perfectionist. I would get annoyed at myself if I messed up little things, and I wanted everything to be exactly right. Sometimes, during a test, I would be the last person working. He would say, ‘Nathaniel, you have to be done. It can be excellent without being perfect.’ I try to remind myself that I don’t need to have everything right to be satisfied. I’ve learned to focus on the good things as much as the things that I wish were different. That makes those other things easier to fix because I’m just in a better place mentally.

“Everybody has things about themselves that they might consider flaws. As you improve yourself, you’re inevitably going to have things that you still wish were better. Knowing that’s always going to be the case is important because it makes you realize that you’re only going to be happy if you’re happy having flaws.

“I’m proud that I’ve pushed myself to do a lot of things that I was nervous about, like joining the cross country team and giving presentations in class. It’s rewarding to know that I’ve challenged myself to produce the best work that I can and to learn as much as I can.”

Nathaniel Birne

2019

Class

of

The

Devon Minor has earned recognition for his original spoken-word pieces, his performances in Nobles musicals and in assembly. He helped revive Nobles’ track-and-field program this spring after a 75-year hiatus, and played varsity football. Minor was a prefect, a middle school mentor and a Peer Help Program leader. He was part of Students United for Racial Justice and Equity and Brother 2 Brother, Nobles’ male affinity group for students of color.

Upon graduating, he received the Public Speaking Award and the Computer Science Award. Minor studies engineering at Tufts University.

“Poetry is limitless. It offers me the ability to share my experience and feelings without the need for the most proper grammar or a complete sentence every single time. But the vocal piece of slam poetry is most important: when I read it aloud, it gives the intonation that I want the reader to hear.

“The way I like to learn, I don’t want to just get lectured. Computer science is pretty much all hands-on learning; I’ve taken every class there is at Nobles. It’s fun to learn theories about how to apply certain pieces of code in order to make them work, and then to put the building blocks together. For my senior project, I built an autonomous robot. Last summer, I went to a camp at MIT and we worked on autonomous drones, but they were already made for us. I was cool, but I wanted to build the entire thing from scratch.’

“I’m a blunt leader; I’m not going to sugarcoat the message. I say what’s wrong at school and try to help get it fixed—I hope that it’s made some impact.

I want people to know that academics may not always be everything, but the relationships you form are crucial to your success and happiness.”

Devon Minor In addition to volunteering for Samaritans’ suicide hotline, Shirley Hu helps lead affinity group Asian 2 Asian. She was recognized as an outstanding delegate in 2019 at Harvard Model U.N. and aced an entrepreneurial development course at Babson College.

She also lent her talent to the Nobles chamber singers, the winter musical and the Nobles Dance Program.

She traveled to Cambodia and Vietnam with Nobles and studied for a semester at Alzar School of Leadership. Hu received the President’s Volunteer Service Award. She attends Georgetown University.

Lily Farden was a boarder and 12-season varsity athlete. She was ice hockey captain, NEPSAC Player of the Year, ISL MVP and thrice earned First Team All-New England and All-ISL honors. She won the Boston Bruins John Carlton Memorial Trophy as the best player in Eastern Massachusetts and played for the Under-18 USA national team, winning gold at the World Championships in Dmitrov, Russia. She was also field hockey captain, earning First Team All-NEPSAC, NEPSAC All-Star and three-time All-ISL honors. She won the Miller Medal for excellence in scholarship and athletics and was named NEPSAC Female Athlete of the Year. Farden is a member of the ice hockey team at Harvard.

Lily Farden

Shirley Hu

“I think that on the surface, sports are what people know about me. I’ve been on three varsity teams since my freshman year: field hockey, hockey and lacrosse.

Some of my favorite times at Nobles have come from playing sports and just being a part of a team. Hockey is my favorite sport and my main sport, but field hockey has definitely been my best experience on a team, hands down. It seems like the best people at Nobles always end up being on that team, and it’s a really great combination of having so much fun at practice every day but also being serious enough to actually get it done and be successful.

“Some of my best laughs ever at Nobles have come from Latin class. Since my freshman year, I’ve literally had the same exact people in my class for four years.

I think it’s definitely unique among other languages. Obviously, people say it’s a dead language—which it is—but the things that you can gain from learning it are really important. It’s like a little puzzle, and there are so many unknowns that being able to piece it out for yourself and problem-solve with what’s in front of you is a really useful skill.”

“I used to feel uncomfortable speaking out about things that I’m not well-read about. Very few people actually read both the New York Times and Breitbart on their own time. Now, I’m more comfortable starting conversations knowing that I’m not just coming from one source. I hadn’t really thought about the idea of ‘leaning into discomfort’ until a friend asked me to join a club called the Middle Ground. With more political turmoil around topics like [Supreme Court Justice] Kavanaugh, it was a space for discussion. In debate club, people asked, ‘Why is the Middle Ground trying to take our job?’ But debate uses logic to prove the conclusion you started with, and the Middle Ground is for listening. If everyone listened better, a lot of problems would go away. You can have an emotional, passionate argument or get frustrated, and still coexist with respect.

“I’m drawn to international relations having both my Chinese identity and my American identity, liking languages and being fascinated by differences in culture.

When you travel, it’s like you’re a little kid again; everything you see is new, and that’s essentially what international affairs is—understanding that difference and how that affects how you treat others.”

“One of the things I’m most grateful for coming through Nobles is that I’ve had the opportunity—more so than I’ve ever had in my education—to have strong male role models and mentors, and that has specifically come from a couple of my classes, extracurriculars and wrestling. In terms of culture and team environment, the wrestling coaches are an incredibly supportive group. I like the physical grind that comes with any sort of training in the weight room or going out on the cross country course or being on the mat.

“Mr. [Oris] Bryant and Mr. [Dick] Baker are two of the greatest influences on me. Mr. Bryant is a very high-level intellectual, and just talking to him and listening to him—how he speaks, how he articulates himself—is something I want to emulate. His influence has been particularly impactful in how I’ve developed as an academic. The way he challenges students to consider how they create, support and refute various arguments was revolutionary to me.

“When Mr. Baker brought the lens of philosophy and intellectual principles to English literature, it segued right off of my time studying away at the School for Ethics and Global Leadership, and I just fell in love instantly with that mentality.

He and I have also had a point of connection and talked in great length about what he did in the [military] service, and where he sees me going and where the Army as a professional organization can take me.”

“Through the Global Online Academy [a consortium in which Nobles participates], I took ‘Applying Philosophy to Modern Global Issues.’ We learned about issues such as drone warfare, designer babies and the opioid crisis. This class combined my interests in math, physics, and philosophy and enabled me to make connections throughout my other Nobles courses. Whether learning about Newtonian mechanics in physics, reading Voltaire’s philosophical Candide [a French satire] in French, studying the Scientific Revolution in AP Euro, or reading Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness in English, the GOA class led to a cascade of connections. My teachers encouraged and helped me to see these parallels. From engaging with philosophers, scientists, mathematicians, authors, and artists, I have a new perspective on humanity and am excited to continue to explore the natural and metaphysical world through a variety of lenses next year.”

Vikram Aldykiewicz

Alexandra Weinsten

Alexandra Weinsten was a leader of the Achieve Program, Jewish Culture Club, Community Service Club, and Peer Help Program. She volunteered in the New Orleans EXCEL program and spent one summer constructing a school and teaching English in the Krobo region of Ghana. On the soccer field, Weinsten helped the girls varsity soccer team win two ISL Championships and a NEPSAC Championship, earning the Ceci Clark Shield Award for her tenacity and commitment. Additionally, Weinsten helped the girls varsity tennis team win their first ISL championship since 1985. Weinsten won the Greenough Prize for excellence in mathematics and the Sheldon Prize for excellence in science. She attends the University of Pennsylvania.

John Murray “We decided to start the Heroes Wear Dog Tags club after Kyle Carpenter, the Medal of Honor recipient, came to long assembly. People were enamored with his story, and for many people here, that was their first time hearing a story like that. They had never heard of the sacrifices and the love that people on the frontlines have for each other. We saw that community response and decided to start a club to educate Nobles students on the military and support veteran organizations.

“It’s important to expose Nobles students to the positives of military life. There’s a stigma toward it, but I’m unique here in that I’ve become familiar with the military through my family. I can see how the positives outweigh the negatives. I think many Nobles students would be greatly suited to the military path, but they are reluctant to take it because they don’t understand those benefits.

“Nobles teaches us to work as a team, be good people, and develop problem-solving skills. All of those qualities go such a long way in the military. And there’s such a strong emphasis here on service to others and leadership for the public good. Not much else epitomizes those aims like military service.”

Beyond co-founding Heroes Wear Dog Tags, John Murray served as a Shield Head, Peer Help Program leader, prefect and boys varsity hockey captain. A boarder, he was a member of the Dorm Leadership Council and a winner of the Deb Harrison Award. At graduation, he won the Davis Cup for sportsmanship. He attends Harvard University as an Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadet.

Vikram Aldykiewicz won the Alumni Prize for History, served on the Disciplinary Committee, and was an active member of affinity groups Brother 2 Brother, Asian 2 Asian and Students United for Racial Justice and Equity. He was a boarder, ran cross country, rowed for two seasons, and captained the wrestling team, winning the Steve Toubman Award. He studied away at SEGL in Washington, D.C., and studied Arabic through the Global Online Academy. Aldykiewicz earned a full ROTC scholarship to Georgetown University.

Angelina Gomes “Before foster care, I grew up in a series of projects. I’ve been incredibly open with what I share with people, and I try to be my most true and authentic self.

It’s not worth changing myself for those who may never understand me or where I come from.

“Coming to Nobles through Achieve [an academic program for middleschoolers hosted at Nobles] was like entering Narnia. Then we saw the Castle, and I was like, ‘Wait, there’s more?’ Getting my acceptance letter into Nobles was way bigger than my acceptance letter into college because of what it meant to me and how representative it was of all my hard work and dedication. The dorms created a family for me that I didn’t have any other way, and Nobles has been the most consistent, stable thing in my life ever. I’d never lived in a place as long as I’ve lived here.

“Nobles also showed me my love for English, writing and literature. It’s so insane how the curriculum has lined up with different points in my life; there hasn’t been a book I’ve read here that hasn’t blown my mind. My teachers have consistently challenged me, from my writing, to my reading, to my participation, to my thoughts. They’ve taught me that no matter what I do, I can write. You can be a math professor and write. You can be a doctor and write. You can do anything and write, and I plan to do anything and write.”

Liam Smith “I intended to do Outdoor Adventure freshman year, but it was canceled that season. So I thought I would try wood-fired ceramics. I never thought of myself as an art person before I started working with clay. It’s so much fun to make things with your hands that have three-dimensional form. Ceramics is the only art form that exists within the same space as the viewer. I studied classics at Nobles, too, and was interested in Philemon and Bacchus; they were an old couple turned into a tree, so I made a sculpture about that. I also love chemistry and wanted to incorporate that. I remembered a reaction that Mr. Kern [retired faculty member] had shown us called the thermite reaction, which is quite explosive. Combining chemistry, mythology and ceramics, I thought I’d have a sculpture of a phoenix coming out of the ashes—that very cliché moment. And then I thought of when it’s dying, peacefully lying on the ground, but it didn’t feel right to me. For my final version, I showed the actual death of the phoenix.

“It’s more than making a single piece. You have to prepare the clay, make the piece, fire it in the kiln, glaze it, and then fire it again. It’s very processbased. You have to think about materials in your clay, how they’ll react at high temperatures, and the transition from clay to ceramic, which is a complicated chemical process.”

Liam Smith won the Trustees’ Prize for Class I. As a junior, Smith won the Michele Dufault Prize, given to a single student of high integrity and exceptional academic accomplishment. Smith served as co-president of Nobles Theatre Collective, Young Democrats, Junior Classical League, and Spectrum, a club for LGBTQ students. He also sang in choral groups and wrote for school publications. He volunteers for organizations that address food insecurity for children. At Stanford University, he plans to pursue chemistry, chemical engineering, linguistics and philosophy.

Angelina Gomes served as a leader for Students United for Racial Justice and Equity, and for Sister 2 Sister, an affinity group for female students of color. Peers elected her as the keynote speaker for the graduation celebration for Class I students of color, the annual Freeman Legacy Dinner. She spent a City Term semester in New York her Class II year and part of last summer at the Island School.

A passionate ambassador for Nobles, she was a lead tour guide and mentor to students at her former elementary school. Gomes is the first in her family to attend college, and is at Middlebury College.

“When I came to Nobles, I was a bit afraid of being myself. At my old school, kids thought it was a little strange that a guy was doing theatre. So I was confused about what I wanted to do when I got to Nobles—who I wanted to be. There were definitely some growing pains. I played baseball and soccer and liked it. I made great friends on those teams. Then I entered the theatre world. There was a Troy Bolton [from High School Musical] moment, when I felt stuck in the middle, and it was hard. Over my four years, though, I found that I just love performing. I love being surrounded by kids who love what I love and encourage me to love what I love. Nobles has allowed me to find out who I am. I mean, Nobles is not always easy. It’s a very competitive place. But it’s competitive in a friendly way that pushes you to be your best.

“One of the things I’m most proud of is the production of Spring Awakening we did last fall. It was the first major student-led production in Nobles history.

We wanted to do this musical so bad because it makes clear that problems [like abuse and suicide] exist, and it’s better to face them and talk about them.

I’m not just proud because I thought our work was extraordinary—or that we worked our butts off or that we worked six hours a day in the summer. It’s that we were so passionate about it that it wasn’t even like work for us. It was just fun.”

“SDLC [Student Diversity Leadership Conference] got me more into social justice and thinking about the world through the lens of different identities.

It’s important that Nobles kids have some awareness of what’s happening outside of our bubble. I led a walkout for gun control; we wrote letters to our representatives, had discussions, and preregistered kids to vote. It was a great day of civic engagement.

“As computer science becomes more popular at Nobles, the department is growing. Programming is like the way my brain works … having a big picture issue that you want to solve. Race, gender and social justice issues can be a little abstract, but nailing them down with data gives you more power. People might be resistant to hearing things are unjust until they’re faced with clear patterns over time, like comparing a very white school and a black charter school and the amount of money spent on a student.

“It’s my STEM science-y way of thinking that the world should work a certain way; in our ecosystem, everybody should have equal opportunities.

If that’s not the case, there’s something wrong, and that’s what I want to fix.

Nobles exposed me to a variety of things that I can do, but synthesizing all these things into an actual plan, finding my niche at the intersection of computer science and technology and social justice and applying that to real-world situations—I want to see where I can take that.”

Henry Dolgoff

Madeleine Charity

Mikaela Martin

Henry Dolgoff sang with the Chamber Singers and was co-president of the Nobleonians. He was a prefect, and also played baseball and soccer while at Nobles. Dolgoff performed in dance shows and many theatre productions. He was the title character in The Cripple of Inishmaan and Cry-Baby. Dolgoff attends the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, known as one of the world’s premier acting conservatories.

Madeleine Charity helped lead Students United for Racial Justice and Equity, Achieve Leadership Council, the Peer Help Program and was a prefect. She volunteered at Camp Sunshine for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families, and supported fundraising efforts. As a junior, she received the Williams Book Award, and upon graduation, the prestigious Head of School prize. She attends Stanford University.

“I’m fascinated by how languages work. My mom spoke Spanish to me when I was younger, and there’s this running debate in my family of whether it was my first language. Just living in Boston and being around all these different languages, I slid into French easily. In fifth grade, I started at a language camp for Mandarin Chinese. I also took Latin in eighth grade, and when I saw the similarities with French, I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ My dad said, ‘Chinese is more important; you should drop French.’ So to spite him, I took both. I want to go into linguistics and hopefully be ambassador to China or a francophone country.

“My senior project is studying the effects of colonization on the African language diaspora—the history of certain African countries and their languages, and how European or Western involvement has impacted the way language has ebbed and flowed, and which languages are more prominent and which ones are looked down upon.

“Once, my dance troupe was making a piece for a competition. It had to have a message, so I wrote a poem as a backdrop for the dancing. I was communicating through a combination of my body and the music and the words and my facial expressions—that in itself is powerful, what the human body can convey.

Trilingual in French, Chinese and English, Mikaela Martin has traveled to China, Rwanda, Guatemala and South Africa with the EXCEL (experiential learning) program. She received the Harvard Book Prize as a junior. She helped lead the Peer Help Program and Sister 2 Sister (Nobles’ affinity group for female students of color), and she served as a Shield Head (admission guide) and a core member of SURJE (Students United for Racial Justice and Equity). An experienced dancer, this year she was awarded the Nobles Dance Prize.

Martin has also distinguished herself as a triple-threat in the Nobles Theatre Collective. She plans to study linguistics at Harvard University.

Nathaniel Birne was a cellist with the Nobles orchestra and was twice selected to represent Nobles at the Massachusetts Music Educators Association Eastern District Festival. He served as editor-in-chief of Cogito, a student journal on social science and international affairs. With an interest in food inspired by a Nobles farm trip to New Hampshire, he has volunteered at Newton Community Farm and Needham Farmers’ Market. Birne won the Edward Stone Gleason Award for academic excellence and the Dixwell Medal for classics. During his six years at Nobles, Birne won the Trustees’ Prize for scholarship four times. He attends Harvard University.

“A lot of teachers here have supported me in ways that have changed the way I think. For example, I had Mr. Kehlenbeck for geometry and BC Calc. One lesson that I took away from his class was how not to be a perfectionist. I would get annoyed at myself if I messed up little things, and I wanted everything to be exactly right. Sometimes, during a test, I would be the last person working. He would say, ‘Nathaniel, you have to be done. It can be excellent without being perfect.’ I try to remind myself that I don’t need to have everything right to be satisfied. I’ve learned to focus on the good things as much as the things that I wish were different. That makes those other things easier to fix because I’m just in a better place mentally.

“Everybody has things about themselves that they might consider flaws. As you improve yourself, you’re inevitably going to have things that you still wish were better. Knowing that’s always going to be the case is important because it makes you realize that you’re only going to be happy if you’re happy having flaws.

“I’m proud that I’ve pushed myself to do a lot of things that I was nervous about, like joining the cross country team and giving presentations in class. It’s rewarding to know that I’ve challenged myself to produce the best work that I can and to learn as much as I can.”

Nathaniel Birne

2019

Class

of

The

Devon Minor has earned recognition for his original spoken-word pieces, his performances in Nobles musicals and in assembly. He helped revive Nobles’ track-and-field program this spring after a 75-year hiatus, and played varsity football. Minor was a prefect, a middle school mentor and a Peer Help Program leader. He was part of Students United for Racial Justice and Equity and Brother 2 Brother, Nobles’ male affinity group for students of color.

Upon graduating, he received the Public Speaking Award and the Computer Science Award. Minor studies engineering at Tufts University.

“Poetry is limitless. It offers me the ability to share my experience and feelings without the need for the most proper grammar or a complete sentence every single time. But the vocal piece of slam poetry is most important: when I read it aloud, it gives the intonation that I want the reader to hear.

“The way I like to learn, I don’t want to just get lectured. Computer science is pretty much all hands-on learning; I’ve taken every class there is at Nobles. It’s fun to learn theories about how to apply certain pieces of code in order to make them work, and then to put the building blocks together. For my senior project, I built an autonomous robot. Last summer, I went to a camp at MIT and we worked on autonomous drones, but they were already made for us. I was cool, but I wanted to build the entire thing from scratch.’

“I’m a blunt leader; I’m not going to sugarcoat the message. I say what’s wrong at school and try to help get it fixed—I hope that it’s made some impact.

I want people to know that academics may not always be everything, but the relationships you form are crucial to your success and happiness.”

Devon Minor In addition to volunteering for Samaritans’ suicide hotline, Shirley Hu helps lead affinity group Asian 2 Asian. She was recognized as an outstanding delegate in 2019 at Harvard Model U.N. and aced an entrepreneurial development course at Babson College.

She also lent her talent to the Nobles chamber singers, the winter musical and the Nobles Dance Program.

She traveled to Cambodia and Vietnam with Nobles and studied for a semester at Alzar School of Leadership. Hu received the President’s Volunteer Service Award. She attends Georgetown University.

Lily Farden was a boarder and 12-season varsity athlete. She was ice hockey captain, NEPSAC Player of the Year, ISL MVP and thrice earned First Team All-New England and All-ISL honors. She won the Boston Bruins John Carlton Memorial Trophy as the best player in Eastern Massachusetts and played for the Under-18 USA national team, winning gold at the World Championships in Dmitrov, Russia. She was also field hockey captain, earning First Team All-NEPSAC, NEPSAC All-Star and three-time All-ISL honors. She won the Miller Medal for excellence in scholarship and athletics and was named NEPSAC Female Athlete of the Year. Farden is a member of the ice hockey team at Harvard.

Lily Farden

Shirley Hu

“I think that on the surface, sports are what people know about me. I’ve been on three varsity teams since my freshman year: field hockey, hockey and lacrosse.

Some of my favorite times at Nobles have come from playing sports and just being a part of a team. Hockey is my favorite sport and my main sport, but field hockey has definitely been my best experience on a team, hands down. It seems like the best people at Nobles always end up being on that team, and it’s a really great combination of having so much fun at practice every day but also being serious enough to actually get it done and be successful.

“Some of my best laughs ever at Nobles have come from Latin class. Since my freshman year, I’ve literally had the same exact people in my class for four years.

I think it’s definitely unique among other languages. Obviously, people say it’s a dead language—which it is—but the things that you can gain from learning it are really important. It’s like a little puzzle, and there are so many unknowns that being able to piece it out for yourself and problem-solve with what’s in front of you is a really useful skill.”

“I used to feel uncomfortable speaking out about things that I’m not well-read about. Very few people actually read both the New York Times and Breitbart on their own time. Now, I’m more comfortable starting conversations knowing that I’m not just coming from one source. I hadn’t really thought about the idea of ‘leaning into discomfort’ until a friend asked me to join a club called the Middle Ground. With more political turmoil around topics like [Supreme Court Justice] Kavanaugh, it was a space for discussion. In debate club, people asked, ‘Why is the Middle Ground trying to take our job?’ But debate uses logic to prove the conclusion you started with, and the Middle Ground is for listening. If everyone listened better, a lot of problems would go away. You can have an emotional, passionate argument or get frustrated, and still coexist with respect.

“I’m drawn to international relations having both my Chinese identity and my American identity, liking languages and being fascinated by differences in culture.

When you travel, it’s like you’re a little kid again; everything you see is new, and that’s essentially what international affairs is—understanding that difference and how that affects how you treat others.”

“One of the things I’m most grateful for coming through Nobles is that I’ve had the opportunity—more so than I’ve ever had in my education—to have strong male role models and mentors, and that has specifically come from a couple of my classes, extracurriculars and wrestling. In terms of culture and team environment, the wrestling coaches are an incredibly supportive group. I like the physical grind that comes with any sort of training in the weight room or going out on the cross country course or being on the mat.

“Mr. [Oris] Bryant and Mr. [Dick] Baker are two of the greatest influences on me. Mr. Bryant is a very high-level intellectual, and just talking to him and listening to him—how he speaks, how he articulates himself—is something I want to emulate. His influence has been particularly impactful in how I’ve developed as an academic. The way he challenges students to consider how they create, support and refute various arguments was revolutionary to me.

“When Mr. Baker brought the lens of philosophy and intellectual principles to English literature, it segued right off of my time studying away at the School for Ethics and Global Leadership, and I just fell in love instantly with that mentality.

He and I have also had a point of connection and talked in great length about what he did in the [military] service, and where he sees me going and where the Army as a professional organization can take me.”

“Through the Global Online Academy [a consortium in which Nobles participates], I took ‘Applying Philosophy to Modern Global Issues.’ We learned about issues such as drone warfare, designer babies and the opioid crisis. This class combined my interests in math, physics, and philosophy and enabled me to make connections throughout my other Nobles courses. Whether learning about Newtonian mechanics in physics, reading Voltaire’s philosophical Candide [a French satire] in French, studying the Scientific Revolution in AP Euro, or reading Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness in English, the GOA class led to a cascade of connections. My teachers encouraged and helped me to see these parallels. From engaging with philosophers, scientists, mathematicians, authors, and artists, I have a new perspective on humanity and am excited to continue to explore the natural and metaphysical world through a variety of lenses next year.”

Vikram Aldykiewicz

Alexandra Weinsten

Alexandra Weinsten was a leader of the Achieve Program, Jewish Culture Club, Community Service Club, and Peer Help Program. She volunteered in the New Orleans EXCEL program and spent one summer constructing a school and teaching English in the Krobo region of Ghana. On the soccer field, Weinsten helped the girls varsity soccer team win two ISL Championships and a NEPSAC Championship, earning the Ceci Clark Shield Award for her tenacity and commitment. Additionally, Weinsten helped the girls varsity tennis team win their first ISL championship since 1985. Weinsten won the Greenough Prize for excellence in mathematics and the Sheldon Prize for excellence in science. She attends the University of Pennsylvania.

John Murray “We decided to start the Heroes Wear Dog Tags club after Kyle Carpenter, the Medal of Honor recipient, came to long assembly. People were enamored with his story, and for many people here, that was their first time hearing a story like that. They had never heard of the sacrifices and the love that people on the frontlines have for each other. We saw that community response and decided to start a club to educate Nobles students on the military and support veteran organizations.

“It’s important to expose Nobles students to the positives of military life. There’s a stigma toward it, but I’m unique here in that I’ve become familiar with the military through my family. I can see how the positives outweigh the negatives. I think many Nobles students would be greatly suited to the military path, but they are reluctant to take it because they don’t understand those benefits.

“Nobles teaches us to work as a team, be good people, and develop problem-solving skills. All of those qualities go such a long way in the military. And there’s such a strong emphasis here on service to others and leadership for the public good. Not much else epitomizes those aims like military service.”

Beyond co-founding Heroes Wear Dog Tags, John Murray served as a Shield Head, Peer Help Program leader, prefect and boys varsity hockey captain. A boarder, he was a member of the Dorm Leadership Council and a winner of the Deb Harrison Award. At graduation, he won the Davis Cup for sportsmanship. He attends Harvard University as an Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadet.

Vikram Aldykiewicz won the Alumni Prize for History, served on the Disciplinary Committee, and was an active member of affinity groups Brother 2 Brother, Asian 2 Asian and Students United for Racial Justice and Equity. He was a boarder, ran cross country, rowed for two seasons, and captained the wrestling team, winning the Steve Toubman Award. He studied away at SEGL in Washington, D.C., and studied Arabic through the Global Online Academy. Aldykiewicz earned a full ROTC scholarship to Georgetown University.

Angelina Gomes “Before foster care, I grew up in a series of projects. I’ve been incredibly open with what I share with people, and I try to be my most true and authentic self.

It’s not worth changing myself for those who may never understand me or where I come from.

“Coming to Nobles through Achieve [an academic program for middleschoolers hosted at Nobles] was like entering Narnia. Then we saw the Castle, and I was like, ‘Wait, there’s more?’ Getting my acceptance letter into Nobles was way bigger than my acceptance letter into college because of what it meant to me and how representative it was of all my hard work and dedication. The dorms created a family for me that I didn’t have any other way, and Nobles has been the most consistent, stable thing in my life ever. I’d never lived in a place as long as I’ve lived here.

“Nobles also showed me my love for English, writing and literature. It’s so insane how the curriculum has lined up with different points in my life; there hasn’t been a book I’ve read here that hasn’t blown my mind. My teachers have consistently challenged me, from my writing, to my reading, to my participation, to my thoughts. They’ve taught me that no matter what I do, I can write. You can be a math professor and write. You can be a doctor and write. You can do anything and write, and I plan to do anything and write.”

Liam Smith “I intended to do Outdoor Adventure freshman year, but it was canceled that season. So I thought I would try wood-fired ceramics. I never thought of myself as an art person before I started working with clay. It’s so much fun to make things with your hands that have three-dimensional form. Ceramics is the only art form that exists within the same space as the viewer. I studied classics at Nobles, too, and was interested in Philemon and Bacchus; they were an old couple turned into a tree, so I made a sculpture about that. I also love chemistry and wanted to incorporate that. I remembered a reaction that Mr. Kern [retired faculty member] had shown us called the thermite reaction, which is quite explosive. Combining chemistry, mythology and ceramics, I thought I’d have a sculpture of a phoenix coming out of the ashes—that very cliché moment. And then I thought of when it’s dying, peacefully lying on the ground, but it didn’t feel right to me. For my final version, I showed the actual death of the phoenix.

“It’s more than making a single piece. You have to prepare the clay, make the piece, fire it in the kiln, glaze it, and then fire it again. It’s very processbased. You have to think about materials in your clay, how they’ll react at high temperatures, and the transition from clay to ceramic, which is a complicated chemical process.”

Liam Smith won the Trustees’ Prize for Class I. As a junior, Smith won the Michele Dufault Prize, given to a single student of high integrity and exceptional academic accomplishment. Smith served as co-president of Nobles Theatre Collective, Young Democrats, Junior Classical League, and Spectrum, a club for LGBTQ students. He also sang in choral groups and wrote for school publications. He volunteers for organizations that address food insecurity for children. At Stanford University, he plans to pursue chemistry, chemical engineering, linguistics and philosophy.

Angelina Gomes served as a leader for Students United for Racial Justice and Equity, and for Sister 2 Sister, an affinity group for female students of color. Peers elected her as the keynote speaker for the graduation celebration for Class I students of color, the annual Freeman Legacy Dinner. She spent a City Term semester in New York her Class II year and part of last summer at the Island School.

A passionate ambassador for Nobles, she was a lead tour guide and mentor to students at her former elementary school. Gomes is the first in her family to attend college, and is at Middlebury College.

“When I came to Nobles, I was a bit afraid of being myself. At my old school, kids thought it was a little strange that a guy was doing theatre. So I was confused about what I wanted to do when I got to Nobles—who I wanted to be. There were definitely some growing pains. I played baseball and soccer and liked it. I made great friends on those teams. Then I entered the theatre world. There was a Troy Bolton [from High School Musical] moment, when I felt stuck in the middle, and it was hard. Over my four years, though, I found that I just love performing. I love being surrounded by kids who love what I love and encourage me to love what I love. Nobles has allowed me to find out who I am. I mean, Nobles is not always easy. It’s a very competitive place. But it’s competitive in a friendly way that pushes you to be your best.

“One of the things I’m most proud of is the production of Spring Awakening we did last fall. It was the first major student-led production in Nobles history.

We wanted to do this musical so bad because it makes clear that problems [like abuse and suicide] exist, and it’s better to face them and talk about them.

I’m not just proud because I thought our work was extraordinary—or that we worked our butts off or that we worked six hours a day in the summer. It’s that we were so passionate about it that it wasn’t even like work for us. It was just fun.”

“SDLC [Student Diversity Leadership Conference] got me more into social justice and thinking about the world through the lens of different identities.

It’s important that Nobles kids have some awareness of what’s happening outside of our bubble. I led a walkout for gun control; we wrote letters to our representatives, had discussions, and preregistered kids to vote. It was a great day of civic engagement.

“As computer science becomes more popular at Nobles, the department is growing. Programming is like the way my brain works … having a big picture issue that you want to solve. Race, gender and social justice issues can be a little abstract, but nailing them down with data gives you more power. People might be resistant to hearing things are unjust until they’re faced with clear patterns over time, like comparing a very white school and a black charter school and the amount of money spent on a student.

“It’s my STEM science-y way of thinking that the world should work a certain way; in our ecosystem, everybody should have equal opportunities.

If that’s not the case, there’s something wrong, and that’s what I want to fix.

Nobles exposed me to a variety of things that I can do, but synthesizing all these things into an actual plan, finding my niche at the intersection of computer science and technology and social justice and applying that to real-world situations—I want to see where I can take that.”

Henry Dolgoff

Madeleine Charity

Mikaela Martin

Henry Dolgoff sang with the Chamber Singers and was co-president of the Nobleonians. He was a prefect, and also played baseball and soccer while at Nobles. Dolgoff performed in dance shows and many theatre productions. He was the title character in The Cripple of Inishmaan and Cry-Baby. Dolgoff attends the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, known as one of the world’s premier acting conservatories.

Madeleine Charity helped lead Students United for Racial Justice and Equity, Achieve Leadership Council, the Peer Help Program and was a prefect. She volunteered at Camp Sunshine for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families, and supported fundraising efforts. As a junior, she received the Williams Book Award, and upon graduation, the prestigious Head of School prize. She attends Stanford University.

“I’m fascinated by how languages work. My mom spoke Spanish to me when I was younger, and there’s this running debate in my family of whether it was my first language. Just living in Boston and being around all these different languages, I slid into French easily. In fifth grade, I started at a language camp for Mandarin Chinese. I also took Latin in eighth grade, and when I saw the similarities with French, I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ My dad said, ‘Chinese is more important; you should drop French.’ So to spite him, I took both. I want to go into linguistics and hopefully be ambassador to China or a francophone country.

“My senior project is studying the effects of colonization on the African language diaspora—the history of certain African countries and their languages, and how European or Western involvement has impacted the way language has ebbed and flowed, and which languages are more prominent and which ones are looked down upon.

“Once, my dance troupe was making a piece for a competition. It had to have a message, so I wrote a poem as a backdrop for the dancing. I was communicating through a combination of my body and the music and the words and my facial expressions—that in itself is powerful, what the human body can convey.

Trilingual in French, Chinese and English, Mikaela Martin has traveled to China, Rwanda, Guatemala and South Africa with the EXCEL (experiential learning) program. She received the Harvard Book Prize as a junior. She helped lead the Peer Help Program and Sister 2 Sister (Nobles’ affinity group for female students of color), and she served as a Shield Head (admission guide) and a core member of SURJE (Students United for Racial Justice and Equity). An experienced dancer, this year she was awarded the Nobles Dance Prize.

Martin has also distinguished herself as a triple-threat in the Nobles Theatre Collective. She plans to study linguistics at Harvard University.

Nathaniel Birne was a cellist with the Nobles orchestra and was twice selected to represent Nobles at the Massachusetts Music Educators Association Eastern District Festival. He served as editor-in-chief of Cogito, a student journal on social science and international affairs. With an interest in food inspired by a Nobles farm trip to New Hampshire, he has volunteered at Newton Community Farm and Needham Farmers’ Market. Birne won the Edward Stone Gleason Award for academic excellence and the Dixwell Medal for classics. During his six years at Nobles, Birne won the Trustees’ Prize for scholarship four times. He attends Harvard University.

“A lot of teachers here have supported me in ways that have changed the way I think. For example, I had Mr. Kehlenbeck for geometry and BC Calc. One lesson that I took away from his class was how not to be a perfectionist. I would get annoyed at myself if I messed up little things, and I wanted everything to be exactly right. Sometimes, during a test, I would be the last person working. He would say, ‘Nathaniel, you have to be done. It can be excellent without being perfect.’ I try to remind myself that I don’t need to have everything right to be satisfied. I’ve learned to focus on the good things as much as the things that I wish were different. That makes those other things easier to fix because I’m just in a better place mentally.

“Everybody has things about themselves that they might consider flaws. As you improve yourself, you’re inevitably going to have things that you still wish were better. Knowing that’s always going to be the case is important because it makes you realize that you’re only going to be happy if you’re happy having flaws.

“I’m proud that I’ve pushed myself to do a lot of things that I was nervous about, like joining the cross country team and giving presentations in class. It’s rewarding to know that I’ve challenged myself to produce the best work that I can and to learn as much as I can.”

Nathaniel Birne

2019

Class

of

The

Devon Minor has earned recognition for his original spoken-word pieces, his performances in Nobles musicals and in assembly. He helped revive Nobles’ track-and-field program this spring after a 75-year hiatus, and played varsity football. Minor was a prefect, a middle school mentor and a Peer Help Program leader. He was part of Students United for Racial Justice and Equity and Brother 2 Brother, Nobles’ male affinity group for students of color.

Upon graduating, he received the Public Speaking Award and the Computer Science Award. Minor studies engineering at Tufts University.

“Poetry is limitless. It offers me the ability to share my experience and feelings without the need for the most proper grammar or a complete sentence every single time. But the vocal piece of slam poetry is most important: when I read it aloud, it gives the intonation that I want the reader to hear.

“The way I like to learn, I don’t want to just get lectured. Computer science is pretty much all hands-on learning; I’ve taken every class there is at Nobles. It’s fun to learn theories about how to apply certain pieces of code in order to make them work, and then to put the building blocks together. For my senior project, I built an autonomous robot. Last summer, I went to a camp at MIT and we worked on autonomous drones, but they were already made for us. I was cool, but I wanted to build the entire thing from scratch.’

“I’m a blunt leader; I’m not going to sugarcoat the message. I say what’s wrong at school and try to help get it fixed—I hope that it’s made some impact.

I want people to know that academics may not always be everything, but the relationships you form are crucial to your success and happiness.”

Devon Minor In addition to volunteering for Samaritans’ suicide hotline, Shirley Hu helps lead affinity group Asian 2 Asian. She was recognized as an outstanding delegate in 2019 at Harvard Model U.N. and aced an entrepreneurial development course at Babson College.

She also lent her talent to the Nobles chamber singers, the winter musical and the Nobles Dance Program.

She traveled to Cambodia and Vietnam with Nobles and studied for a semester at Alzar School of Leadership. Hu received the President’s Volunteer Service Award. She attends Georgetown University.

Lily Farden was a boarder and 12-season varsity athlete. She was ice hockey captain, NEPSAC Player of the Year, ISL MVP and thrice earned First Team All-New England and All-ISL honors. She won the Boston Bruins John Carlton Memorial Trophy as the best player in Eastern Massachusetts and played for the Under-18 USA national team, winning gold at the World Championships in Dmitrov, Russia. She was also field hockey captain, earning First Team All-NEPSAC, NEPSAC All-Star and three-time All-ISL honors. She won the Miller Medal for excellence in scholarship and athletics and was named NEPSAC Female Athlete of the Year. Farden is a member of the ice hockey team at Harvard.

Lily Farden

Shirley Hu

“I think that on the surface, sports are what people know about me. I’ve been on three varsity teams since my freshman year: field hockey, hockey and lacrosse.

Some of my favorite times at Nobles have come from playing sports and just being a part of a team. Hockey is my favorite sport and my main sport, but field hockey has definitely been my best experience on a team, hands down. It seems like the best people at Nobles always end up being on that team, and it’s a really great combination of having so much fun at practice every day but also being serious enough to actually get it done and be successful.

“Some of my best laughs ever at Nobles have come from Latin class. Since my freshman year, I’ve literally had the same exact people in my class for four years.

I think it’s definitely unique among other languages. Obviously, people say it’s a dead language—which it is—but the things that you can gain from learning it are really important. It’s like a little puzzle, and there are so many unknowns that being able to piece it out for yourself and problem-solve with what’s in front of you is a really useful skill.”

“I used to feel uncomfortable speaking out about things that I’m not well-read about. Very few people actually read both the New York Times and Breitbart on their own time. Now, I’m more comfortable starting conversations knowing that I’m not just coming from one source. I hadn’t really thought about the idea of ‘leaning into discomfort’ until a friend asked me to join a club called the Middle Ground. With more political turmoil around topics like [Supreme Court Justice] Kavanaugh, it was a space for discussion. In debate club, people asked, ‘Why is the Middle Ground trying to take our job?’ But debate uses logic to prove the conclusion you started with, and the Middle Ground is for listening. If everyone listened better, a lot of problems would go away. You can have an emotional, passionate argument or get frustrated, and still coexist with respect.

“I’m drawn to international relations having both my Chinese identity and my American identity, liking languages and being fascinated by differences in culture.

When you travel, it’s like you’re a little kid again; everything you see is new, and that’s essentially what international affairs is—understanding that difference and how that affects how you treat others.”

“One of the things I’m most grateful for coming through Nobles is that I’ve had the opportunity—more so than I’ve ever had in my education—to have strong male role models and mentors, and that has specifically come from a couple of my classes, extracurriculars and wrestling. In terms of culture and team environment, the wrestling coaches are an incredibly supportive group. I like the physical grind that comes with any sort of training in the weight room or going out on the cross country course or being on the mat.

“Mr. [Oris] Bryant and Mr. [Dick] Baker are two of the greatest influences on me. Mr. Bryant is a very high-level intellectual, and just talking to him and listening to him—how he speaks, how he articulates himself—is something I want to emulate. His influence has been particularly impactful in how I’ve developed as an academic. The way he challenges students to consider how they create, support and refute various arguments was revolutionary to me.

“When Mr. Baker brought the lens of philosophy and intellectual principles to English literature, it segued right off of my time studying away at the School for Ethics and Global Leadership, and I just fell in love instantly with that mentality.

He and I have also had a point of connection and talked in great length about what he did in the [military] service, and where he sees me going and where the Army as a professional organization can take me.”

“Through the Global Online Academy [a consortium in which Nobles participates], I took ‘Applying Philosophy to Modern Global Issues.’ We learned about issues such as drone warfare, designer babies and the opioid crisis. This class combined my interests in math, physics, and philosophy and enabled me to make connections throughout my other Nobles courses. Whether learning about Newtonian mechanics in physics, reading Voltaire’s philosophical Candide [a French satire] in French, studying the Scientific Revolution in AP Euro, or reading Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness in English, the GOA class led to a cascade of connections. My teachers encouraged and helped me to see these parallels. From engaging with philosophers, scientists, mathematicians, authors, and artists, I have a new perspective on humanity and am excited to continue to explore the natural and metaphysical world through a variety of lenses next year.”

Vikram Aldykiewicz

Alexandra Weinsten

Alexandra Weinsten was a leader of the Achieve Program, Jewish Culture Club, Community Service Club, and Peer Help Program. She volunteered in the New Orleans EXCEL program and spent one summer constructing a school and teaching English in the Krobo region of Ghana. On the soccer field, Weinsten helped the girls varsity soccer team win two ISL Championships and a NEPSAC Championship, earning the Ceci Clark Shield Award for her tenacity and commitment. Additionally, Weinsten helped the girls varsity tennis team win their first ISL championship since 1985. Weinsten won the Greenough Prize for excellence in mathematics and the Sheldon Prize for excellence in science. She attends the University of Pennsylvania.

John Murray “We decided to start the Heroes Wear Dog Tags club after Kyle Carpenter, the Medal of Honor recipient, came to long assembly. People were enamored with his story, and for many people here, that was their first time hearing a story like that. They had never heard of the sacrifices and the love that people on the frontlines have for each other. We saw that community response and decided to start a club to educate Nobles students on the military and support veteran organizations.

“It’s important to expose Nobles students to the positives of military life. There’s a stigma toward it, but I’m unique here in that I’ve become familiar with the military through my family. I can see how the positives outweigh the negatives. I think many Nobles students would be greatly suited to the military path, but they are reluctant to take it because they don’t understand those benefits.

“Nobles teaches us to work as a team, be good people, and develop problem-solving skills. All of those qualities go such a long way in the military. And there’s such a strong emphasis here on service to others and leadership for the public good. Not much else epitomizes those aims like military service.”

Beyond co-founding Heroes Wear Dog Tags, John Murray served as a Shield Head, Peer Help Program leader, prefect and boys varsity hockey captain. A boarder, he was a member of the Dorm Leadership Council and a winner of the Deb Harrison Award. At graduation, he won the Davis Cup for sportsmanship. He attends Harvard University as an Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadet.

Vikram Aldykiewicz won the Alumni Prize for History, served on the Disciplinary Committee, and was an active member of affinity groups Brother 2 Brother, Asian 2 Asian and Students United for Racial Justice and Equity. He was a boarder, ran cross country, rowed for two seasons, and captained the wrestling team, winning the Steve Toubman Award. He studied away at SEGL in Washington, D.C., and studied Arabic through the Global Online Academy. Aldykiewicz earned a full ROTC scholarship to Georgetown University.

Angelina Gomes “Before foster care, I grew up in a series of projects. I’ve been incredibly open with what I share with people, and I try to be my most true and authentic self.

It’s not worth changing myself for those who may never understand me or where I come from.

“Coming to Nobles through Achieve [an academic program for middleschoolers hosted at Nobles] was like entering Narnia. Then we saw the Castle, and I was like, ‘Wait, there’s more?’ Getting my acceptance letter into Nobles was way bigger than my acceptance letter into college because of what it meant to me and how representative it was of all my hard work and dedication. The dorms created a family for me that I didn’t have any other way, and Nobles has been the most consistent, stable thing in my life ever. I’d never lived in a place as long as I’ve lived here.

“Nobles also showed me my love for English, writing and literature. It’s so insane how the curriculum has lined up with different points in my life; there hasn’t been a book I’ve read here that hasn’t blown my mind. My teachers have consistently challenged me, from my writing, to my reading, to my participation, to my thoughts. They’ve taught me that no matter what I do, I can write. You can be a math professor and write. You can be a doctor and write. You can do anything and write, and I plan to do anything and write.”

Liam Smith “I intended to do Outdoor Adventure freshman year, but it was canceled that season. So I thought I would try wood-fired ceramics. I never thought of myself as an art person before I started working with clay. It’s so much fun to make things with your hands that have three-dimensional form. Ceramics is the only art form that exists within the same space as the viewer. I studied classics at Nobles, too, and was interested in Philemon and Bacchus; they were an old couple turned into a tree, so I made a sculpture about that. I also love chemistry and wanted to incorporate that. I remembered a reaction that Mr. Kern [retired faculty member] had shown us called the thermite reaction, which is quite explosive. Combining chemistry, mythology and ceramics, I thought I’d have a sculpture of a phoenix coming out of the ashes—that very cliché moment. And then I thought of when it’s dying, peacefully lying on the ground, but it didn’t feel right to me. For my final version, I showed the actual death of the phoenix.

“It’s more than making a single piece. You have to prepare the clay, make the piece, fire it in the kiln, glaze it, and then fire it again. It’s very processbased. You have to think about materials in your clay, how they’ll react at high temperatures, and the transition from clay to ceramic, which is a complicated chemical process.”

Liam Smith won the Trustees’ Prize for Class I. As a junior, Smith won the Michele Dufault Prize, given to a single student of high integrity and exceptional academic accomplishment. Smith served as co-president of Nobles Theatre Collective, Young Democrats, Junior Classical League, and Spectrum, a club for LGBTQ students. He also sang in choral groups and wrote for school publications. He volunteers for organizations that address food insecurity for children. At Stanford University, he plans to pursue chemistry, chemical engineering, linguistics and philosophy.

Angelina Gomes served as a leader for Students United for Racial Justice and Equity, and for Sister 2 Sister, an affinity group for female students of color. Peers elected her as the keynote speaker for the graduation celebration for Class I students of color, the annual Freeman Legacy Dinner. She spent a City Term semester in New York her Class II year and part of last summer at the Island School.

A passionate ambassador for Nobles, she was a lead tour guide and mentor to students at her former elementary school. Gomes is the first in her family to attend college, and is at Middlebury College.

“When I came to Nobles, I was a bit afraid of being myself. At my old school, kids thought it was a little strange that a guy was doing theatre. So I was confused about what I wanted to do when I got to Nobles—who I wanted to be. There were definitely some growing pains. I played baseball and soccer and liked it. I made great friends on those teams. Then I entered the theatre world. There was a Troy Bolton [from High School Musical] moment, when I felt stuck in the middle, and it was hard. Over my four years, though, I found that I just love performing. I love being surrounded by kids who love what I love and encourage me to love what I love. Nobles has allowed me to find out who I am. I mean, Nobles is not always easy. It’s a very competitive place. But it’s competitive in a friendly way that pushes you to be your best.

“One of the things I’m most proud of is the production of Spring Awakening we did last fall. It was the first major student-led production in Nobles history.

We wanted to do this musical so bad because it makes clear that problems [like abuse and suicide] exist, and it’s better to face them and talk about them.

I’m not just proud because I thought our work was extraordinary—or that we worked our butts off or that we worked six hours a day in the summer. It’s that we were so passionate about it that it wasn’t even like work for us. It was just fun.”

“SDLC [Student Diversity Leadership Conference] got me more into social justice and thinking about the world through the lens of different identities.

It’s important that Nobles kids have some awareness of what’s happening outside of our bubble. I led a walkout for gun control; we wrote letters to our representatives, had discussions, and preregistered kids to vote. It was a great day of civic engagement.

“As computer science becomes more popular at Nobles, the department is growing. Programming is like the way my brain works … having a big picture issue that you want to solve. Race, gender and social justice issues can be a little abstract, but nailing them down with data gives you more power. People might be resistant to hearing things are unjust until they’re faced with clear patterns over time, like comparing a very white school and a black charter school and the amount of money spent on a student.

“It’s my STEM science-y way of thinking that the world should work a certain way; in our ecosystem, everybody should have equal opportunities.

If that’s not the case, there’s something wrong, and that’s what I want to fix.

Nobles exposed me to a variety of things that I can do, but synthesizing all these things into an actual plan, finding my niche at the intersection of computer science and technology and social justice and applying that to real-world situations—I want to see where I can take that.”

Henry Dolgoff

Madeleine Charity

Mikaela Martin

Henry Dolgoff sang with the Chamber Singers and was co-president of the Nobleonians. He was a prefect, and also played baseball and soccer while at Nobles. Dolgoff performed in dance shows and many theatre productions. He was the title character in The Cripple of Inishmaan and Cry-Baby. Dolgoff attends the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, known as one of the world’s premier acting conservatories.

Madeleine Charity helped lead Students United for Racial Justice and Equity, Achieve Leadership Council, the Peer Help Program and was a prefect. She volunteered at Camp Sunshine for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families, and supported fundraising efforts. As a junior, she received the Williams Book Award, and upon graduation, the prestigious Head of School prize. She attends Stanford University.

“I’m fascinated by how languages work. My mom spoke Spanish to me when I was younger, and there’s this running debate in my family of whether it was my first language. Just living in Boston and being around all these different languages, I slid into French easily. In fifth grade, I started at a language camp for Mandarin Chinese. I also took Latin in eighth grade, and when I saw the similarities with French, I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ My dad said, ‘Chinese is more important; you should drop French.’ So to spite him, I took both. I want to go into linguistics and hopefully be ambassador to China or a francophone country.

“My senior project is studying the effects of colonization on the African language diaspora—the history of certain African countries and their languages, and how European or Western involvement has impacted the way language has ebbed and flowed, and which languages are more prominent and which ones are looked down upon.

“Once, my dance troupe was making a piece for a competition. It had to have a message, so I wrote a poem as a backdrop for the dancing. I was communicating through a combination of my body and the music and the words and my facial expressions—that in itself is powerful, what the human body can convey.

Trilingual in French, Chinese and English, Mikaela Martin has traveled to China, Rwanda, Guatemala and South Africa with the EXCEL (experiential learning) program. She received the Harvard Book Prize as a junior. She helped lead the Peer Help Program and Sister 2 Sister (Nobles’ affinity group for female students of color), and she served as a Shield Head (admission guide) and a core member of SURJE (Students United for Racial Justice and Equity). An experienced dancer, this year she was awarded the Nobles Dance Prize.

Martin has also distinguished herself as a triple-threat in the Nobles Theatre Collective. She plans to study linguistics at Harvard University.

2019

Nathaniel Birne was a cellist with the Nobles orchestra and was twice selected to represent Nobles at the Massachusetts Music Educators Association Eastern District Festival. He served as editor-in-chief of Cogito, a student journal on social science and international affairs. With an interest in food inspired by a Nobles farm trip to New Hampshire, he has volunteered at Newton Community Farm and Needham Farmers’ Market. Birne won the Edward Stone Gleason Award for academic excellence and the Dixwell Medal for classics. During his six years at Nobles, Birne won the Trustees’ Prize for scholarship four times. He attends Harvard University.

“A lot of teachers here have supported me in ways that have changed the way I think. For example, I had Mr. Kehlenbeck for geometry and BC Calc. One lesson that I took away from his class was how not to be a perfectionist. I would get annoyed at myself if I messed up little things, and I wanted everything to be exactly right. Sometimes, during a test, I would be the last person working. He would say, ‘Nathaniel, you have to be done. It can be excellent without being perfect.’ I try to remind myself that I don’t need to have everything right to be satisfied. I’ve learned to focus on the good things as much as the things that I wish were different. That makes those other things easier to fix because I’m just in a better place mentally.

“Everybody has things about themselves that they might consider flaws. As you improve yourself, you’re inevitably going to have things that you still wish were better. Knowing that’s always going to be the case is important because it makes you realize that you’re only going to be happy if you’re happy having flaws.

“I’m proud that I’ve pushed myself to do a lot of things that I was nervous about, like joining the cross country team and giving presentations in class. It’s rewarding to know that I’ve challenged myself to produce the best work that I can and to learn as much as I can.”

Class

of

The

Nathaniel Birne

Devon Minor has earned recognition for his original spoken-word pieces, his performances in Nobles musicals and in assembly. He helped revive Nobles’ track-and-field program this spring after a 75-year hiatus, and played varsity football. Minor was a prefect, a middle school mentor and a Peer Help Program leader. He was part of Students United for Racial Justice and Equity and Brother 2 Brother, Nobles’ male affinity group for students of color.

Upon graduating, he received the Public Speaking Award and the Computer Science Award. Minor studies engineering at Tufts University.

“Poetry is limitless. It offers me the ability to share my experience and feelings without the need for the most proper grammar or a complete sentence every single time. But the vocal piece of slam poetry is most important: when I read it aloud, it gives the intonation that I want the reader to hear.

“The way I like to learn, I don’t want to just get lectured. Computer science is pretty much all hands-on learning; I’ve taken every class there is at Nobles. It’s fun to learn theories about how to apply certain pieces of code in order to make them work, and then to put the building blocks together. For my senior project, I built an autonomous robot. Last summer, I went to a camp at MIT and we worked on autonomous drones, but they were already made for us. I was cool, but I wanted to build the entire thing from scratch.’

“I’m a blunt leader; I’m not going to sugarcoat the message. I say what’s wrong at school and try to help get it fixed—I hope that it’s made some impact.

I want people to know that academics may not always be everything, but the relationships you form are crucial to your success and happiness.”

Devon Minor In addition to volunteering for Samaritans’ suicide hotline, Shirley Hu helps lead affinity group Asian 2 Asian. She was recognized as an outstanding delegate in 2019 at Harvard Model U.N. and aced an entrepreneurial development course at Babson College.

She also lent her talent to the Nobles chamber singers, the winter musical and the Nobles Dance Program.

She traveled to Cambodia and Vietnam with Nobles and studied for a semester at Alzar School of Leadership. Hu received the President’s Volunteer Service Award. She attends Georgetown University.

Lily Farden was a boarder and 12-season varsity athlete. She was ice hockey captain, NEPSAC Player of the Year, ISL MVP and thrice earned First Team All-New England and All-ISL honors. She won the Boston Bruins John Carlton Memorial Trophy as the best player in Eastern Massachusetts and played for the Under-18 USA national team, winning gold at the World Championships in Dmitrov, Russia. She was also field hockey captain, earning First Team All-NEPSAC, NEPSAC All-Star and three-time All-ISL honors. She won the Miller Medal for excellence in scholarship and athletics and was named NEPSAC Female Athlete of the Year. Farden is a member of the ice hockey team at Harvard.

“I used to feel uncomfortable speaking out about things that I’m not well-read about. Very few people actually read both the New York Times and Breitbart on their own time. Now, I’m more comfortable starting conversations knowing that I’m not just coming from one source. I hadn’t really thought about the idea of ‘leaning into discomfort’ until a friend asked me to join a club called the Middle Ground. With more political turmoil around topics like [Supreme Court Justice] Kavanaugh, it was a space for discussion. In debate club, people asked, ‘Why is the Middle Ground trying to take our job?’ But debate uses logic to prove the conclusion you started with, and the Middle Ground is for listening. If everyone listened better, a lot of problems would go away. You can have an emotional, passionate argument or get frustrated, and still coexist with respect.

“I’m drawn to international relations having both my Chinese identity and my American identity, liking languages and being fascinated by differences in culture.

When you travel, it’s like you’re a little kid again; everything you see is new, and that’s essentially what international affairs is—understanding that difference and how that affects how you treat others.”

“I think that on the surface, sports are what people know about me. I’ve been on three varsity teams since my freshman year: field hockey, hockey and lacrosse.

Some of my favorite times at Nobles have come from playing sports and just being a part of a team. Hockey is my favorite sport and my main sport, but field hockey has definitely been my best experience on a team, hands down. It seems like the best people at Nobles always end up being on that team, and it’s a really great combination of having so much fun at practice every day but also being serious enough to actually get it done and be successful.

“Some of my best laughs ever at Nobles have come from Latin class. Since my freshman year, I’ve literally had the same exact people in my class for four years.

I think it’s definitely unique among other languages. Obviously, people say it’s a dead language—which it is—but the things that you can gain from learning it are really important. It’s like a little puzzle, and there are so many unknowns that being able to piece it out for yourself and problem-solve with what’s in front of you is a really useful skill.”

Shirley Hu

Lily Farden

Alexandra Weinsten

Vikram Aldykiewicz

Angelina Gomes

Liam Smith

“Through the Global Online Academy [a consortium in which Nobles participates], I took ‘Applying Philosophy to Modern Global Issues.’ We learned about issues such as drone warfare, designer babies and the opioid crisis. This class combined my interests in math, physics, and philosophy and enabled me to make connections throughout my other Nobles courses. Whether learning about Newtonian mechanics in physics, reading Voltaire’s philosophical Candide [a French satire] in French, studying the Scientific Revolution in AP Euro, or reading Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness in English, the GOA class led to a cascade of connections. My teachers encouraged and helped me to see these parallels. From engaging with philosophers, scientists, mathematicians, authors, and artists, I have a new perspective on humanity and am excited to continue to explore the natural and metaphysical world through a variety of lenses next year.”

“One of the things I’m most grateful for coming through Nobles is that I’ve had the opportunity—more so than I’ve ever had in my education—to have strong male role models and mentors, and that has specifically come from a couple of my classes, extracurriculars and wrestling. In terms of culture and team environment, the wrestling coaches are an incredibly supportive group. I like the physical grind that comes with any sort of training in the weight room or going out on the cross country course or being on the mat.

“Mr. [Oris] Bryant and Mr. [Dick] Baker are two of the greatest influences on me. Mr. Bryant is a very high-level intellectual, and just talking to him and listening to him—how he speaks, how he articulates himself—is something I want to emulate. His influence has been particularly impactful in how I’ve developed as an academic. The way he challenges students to consider how they create, support and refute various arguments was revolutionary to me.

“When Mr. Baker brought the lens of philosophy and intellectual principles to English literature, it segued right off of my time studying away at the School for Ethics and Global Leadership, and I just fell in love instantly with that mentality.

He and I have also had a point of connection and talked in great length about what he did in the [military] service, and where he sees me going and where the Army as a professional organization can take me.”

“Before foster care, I grew up in a series of projects. I’ve been incredibly open with what I share with people, and I try to be my most true and authentic self.

It’s not worth changing myself for those who may never understand me or where I come from.

“Coming to Nobles through Achieve [an academic program for middleschoolers hosted at Nobles] was like entering Narnia. Then we saw the Castle, and I was like, ‘Wait, there’s more?’ Getting my acceptance letter into Nobles was way bigger than my acceptance letter into college because of what it meant to me and how representative it was of all my hard work and dedication. The dorms created a family for me that I didn’t have any other way, and Nobles has been the most consistent, stable thing in my life ever. I’d never lived in a place as long as I’ve lived here.

“Nobles also showed me my love for English, writing and literature. It’s so insane how the curriculum has lined up with different points in my life; there hasn’t been a book I’ve read here that hasn’t blown my mind. My teachers have consistently challenged me, from my writing, to my reading, to my participation, to my thoughts. They’ve taught me that no matter what I do, I can write. You can be a math professor and write. You can be a doctor and write. You can do anything and write, and I plan to do anything and write.”

“I intended to do Outdoor Adventure freshman year, but it was canceled that season. So I thought I would try wood-fired ceramics. I never thought of myself as an art person before I started working with clay. It’s so much fun to make things with your hands that have three-dimensional form. Ceramics is the only art form that exists within the same space as the viewer. I studied classics at Nobles, too, and was interested in Philemon and Bacchus; they were an old couple turned into a tree, so I made a sculpture about that. I also love chemistry and wanted to incorporate that. I remembered a reaction that Mr. Kern [retired faculty member] had shown us called the thermite reaction, which is quite explosive. Combining chemistry, mythology and ceramics, I thought I’d have a sculpture of a phoenix coming out of the ashes—that very cliché moment. And then I thought of when it’s dying, peacefully lying on the ground, but it didn’t feel right to me. For my final version, I showed the actual death of the phoenix.

“It’s more than making a single piece. You have to prepare the clay, make the piece, fire it in the kiln, glaze it, and then fire it again. It’s very processbased. You have to think about materials in your clay, how they’ll react at high temperatures, and the transition from clay to ceramic, which is a complicated chemical process.”

Alexandra Weinsten was a leader of the Achieve Program, Jewish Culture Club, Community Service Club, and Peer Help Program. She volunteered in the New Orleans EXCEL program and spent one summer constructing a school and teaching English in the Krobo region of Ghana. On the soccer field, Weinsten helped the girls varsity soccer team win two ISL Championships and a NEPSAC Championship, earning the Ceci Clark Shield Award for her tenacity and commitment. Additionally, Weinsten helped the girls varsity tennis team win their first ISL championship since 1985. Weinsten won the Greenough Prize for excellence in mathematics and the Sheldon Prize for excellence in science. She attends the University of Pennsylvania.

Vikram Aldykiewicz won the Alumni Prize for History, served on the Disciplinary Committee, and was an active member of affinity groups Brother 2 Brother, Asian 2 Asian and Students United for Racial Justice and Equity. He was a boarder, ran cross country, rowed for two seasons, and captained the wrestling team, winning the Steve Toubman Award. He studied away at SEGL in Washington, D.C., and studied Arabic through the Global Online Academy. Aldykiewicz earned a full ROTC scholarship to Georgetown University.

Liam Smith won the Trustees’ Prize for Class I. As a junior, Smith won the Michele Dufault Prize, given to a single student of high integrity and exceptional academic accomplishment. Smith served as co-president of Nobles Theatre Collective, Young Democrats, Junior Classical League, and Spectrum, a club for LGBTQ students. He also sang in choral groups and wrote for school publications. He volunteers for organizations that address food insecurity for children. At Stanford University, he plans to pursue chemistry, chemical engineering, linguistics and philosophy.

Angelina Gomes served as a leader for Students United for Racial Justice and Equity, and for Sister 2 Sister, an affinity group for female students of color. Peers elected her as the keynote speaker for the graduation celebration for Class I students of color, the annual Freeman Legacy Dinner. She spent a City Term semester in New York her Class II year and part of last summer at the Island School.

A passionate ambassador for Nobles, she was a lead tour guide and mentor to students at her former elementary school. Gomes is the first in her family to attend college, and is at Middlebury College.

John Murray

Madeleine Charity

Henry Dolgoff

Mikaela Martin

“We decided to start the Heroes Wear Dog Tags club after Kyle Carpenter, the Medal of Honor recipient, came to long assembly. People were enamored with his story, and for many people here, that was their first time hearing a story like that. They had never heard of the sacrifices and the love that people on the frontlines have for each other. We saw that community response and decided to start a club to educate Nobles students on the military and support veteran organizations.

“It’s important to expose Nobles students to the positives of military life. There’s a stigma toward it, but I’m unique here in that I’ve become familiar with the military through my family. I can see how the positives outweigh the negatives. I think many Nobles students would be greatly suited to the military path, but they are reluctant to take it because they don’t understand those benefits.

“Nobles teaches us to work as a team, be good people, and develop problem-solving skills. All of those qualities go such a long way in the military. And there’s such a strong emphasis here on service to others and leadership for the public good. Not much else epitomizes those aims like military service.”

“SDLC [Student Diversity Leadership Conference] got me more into social justice and thinking about the world through the lens of different identities.

It’s important that Nobles kids have some awareness of what’s happening outside of our bubble. I led a walkout for gun control; we wrote letters to our representatives, had discussions, and preregistered kids to vote. It was a great day of civic engagement.

“As computer science becomes more popular at Nobles, the department is growing. Programming is like the way my brain works … having a big picture issue that you want to solve. Race, gender and social justice issues can be a little abstract, but nailing them down with data gives you more power. People might be resistant to hearing things are unjust until they’re faced with clear patterns over time, like comparing a very white school and a black charter school and the amount of money spent on a student.

“It’s my STEM science-y way of thinking that the world should work a certain way; in our ecosystem, everybody should have equal opportunities.

If that’s not the case, there’s something wrong, and that’s what I want to fix.

Nobles exposed me to a variety of things that I can do, but synthesizing all these things into an actual plan, finding my niche at the intersection of computer science and technology and social justice and applying that to real-world situations—I want to see where I can take that.”

“When I came to Nobles, I was a bit afraid of being myself. At my old school, kids thought it was a little strange that a guy was doing theatre. So I was confused about what I wanted to do when I got to Nobles—who I wanted to be. There were definitely some growing pains. I played baseball and soccer and liked it. I made great friends on those teams. Then I entered the theatre world. There was a Troy Bolton [from High School Musical] moment, when I felt stuck in the middle, and it was hard. Over my four years, though, I found that I just love performing. I love being surrounded by kids who love what I love and encourage me to love what I love. Nobles has allowed me to find out who I am. I mean, Nobles is not always easy. It’s a very competitive place. But it’s competitive in a friendly way that pushes you to be your best.

“One of the things I’m most proud of is the production of Spring Awakening we did last fall. It was the first major student-led production in Nobles history.

We wanted to do this musical so bad because it makes clear that problems [like abuse and suicide] exist, and it’s better to face them and talk about them.

I’m not just proud because I thought our work was extraordinary—or that we worked our butts off or that we worked six hours a day in the summer. It’s that we were so passionate about it that it wasn’t even like work for us. It was just fun.”

“I’m fascinated by how languages work. My mom spoke Spanish to me when I was younger, and there’s this running debate in my family of whether it was my first language. Just living in Boston and being around all these different languages, I slid into French easily. In fifth grade, I started at a language camp for Mandarin Chinese. I also took Latin in eighth grade, and when I saw the similarities with French, I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ My dad said, ‘Chinese is more important; you should drop French.’ So to spite him, I took both. I want to go into linguistics and hopefully be ambassador to China or a francophone country.

“My senior project is studying the effects of colonization on the African language diaspora—the history of certain African countries and their languages, and how European or Western involvement has impacted the way language has ebbed and flowed, and which languages are more prominent and which ones are looked down upon.

“Once, my dance troupe was making a piece for a competition. It had to have a message, so I wrote a poem as a backdrop for the dancing. I was communicating through a combination of my body and the music and the words and my facial expressions—that in itself is powerful, what the human body can convey.

Beyond co-founding Heroes Wear Dog Tags, John Murray served as a Shield Head, Peer Help Program leader, prefect and boys varsity hockey captain. A boarder, he was a member of the Dorm Leadership Council and a winner of the Deb Harrison Award. At graduation, he won the Davis Cup for sportsmanship. He attends Harvard University as an Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadet.

Madeleine Charity helped lead Students United for Racial Justice and Equity, Achieve Leadership Council, the Peer Help Program and was a prefect. She volunteered at Camp Sunshine for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families, and supported fundraising efforts. As a junior, she received the Williams Book Award, and upon graduation, the prestigious Head of School prize. She attends Stanford University.

Henry Dolgoff sang with the Chamber Singers and was co-president of the Nobleonians. He was a prefect, and also played baseball and soccer while at Nobles. Dolgoff performed in dance shows and many theatre productions. He was the title character in The Cripple of Inishmaan and Cry-Baby. Dolgoff attends the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, known as one of the world’s premier acting conservatories.

Trilingual in French, Chinese and English, Mikaela Martin has traveled to China, Rwanda, Guatemala and South Africa with the EXCEL (experiential learning) program. She received the Harvard Book Prize as a junior. She helped lead the Peer Help Program and Sister 2 Sister (Nobles’ affinity group for female students of color), and she served as a Shield Head (admission guide) and a core member of SURJE (Students United for Racial Justice and Equity). An experienced dancer, this year she was awarded the Nobles Dance Prize.

Martin has also distinguished herself as a triple-threat in the Nobles Theatre Collective. She plans to study linguistics at Harvard University.

2019

Nathaniel Birne was a cellist with the Nobles orchestra and was twice selected to represent Nobles at the Massachusetts Music Educators Association Eastern District Festival. He served as editor-in-chief of Cogito, a student journal on social science and international affairs. With an interest in food inspired by a Nobles farm trip to New Hampshire, he has volunteered at Newton Community Farm and Needham Farmers’ Market. Birne won the Edward Stone Gleason Award for academic excellence and the Dixwell Medal for classics. During his six years at Nobles, Birne won the Trustees’ Prize for scholarship four times. He attends Harvard University.

“A lot of teachers here have supported me in ways that have changed the way I think. For example, I had Mr. Kehlenbeck for geometry and BC Calc. One lesson that I took away from his class was how not to be a perfectionist. I would get annoyed at myself if I messed up little things, and I wanted everything to be exactly right. Sometimes, during a test, I would be the last person working. He would say, ‘Nathaniel, you have to be done. It can be excellent without being perfect.’ I try to remind myself that I don’t need to have everything right to be satisfied. I’ve learned to focus on the good things as much as the things that I wish were different. That makes those other things easier to fix because I’m just in a better place mentally.

“Everybody has things about themselves that they might consider flaws. As you improve yourself, you’re inevitably going to have things that you still wish were better. Knowing that’s always going to be the case is important because it makes you realize that you’re only going to be happy if you’re happy having flaws.

“I’m proud that I’ve pushed myself to do a lot of things that I was nervous about, like joining the cross country team and giving presentations in class. It’s rewarding to know that I’ve challenged myself to produce the best work that I can and to learn as much as I can.”

Class

of

The

Nathaniel Birne

Devon Minor has earned recognition for his original spoken-word pieces, his performances in Nobles musicals and in assembly. He helped revive Nobles’ track-and-field program this spring after a 75-year hiatus, and played varsity football. Minor was a prefect, a middle school mentor and a Peer Help Program leader. He was part of Students United for Racial Justice and Equity and Brother 2 Brother, Nobles’ male affinity group for students of color.

Upon graduating, he received the Public Speaking Award and the Computer Science Award. Minor studies engineering at Tufts University.

“Poetry is limitless. It offers me the ability to share my experience and feelings without the need for the most proper grammar or a complete sentence every single time. But the vocal piece of slam poetry is most important: when I read it aloud, it gives the intonation that I want the reader to hear.

“The way I like to learn, I don’t want to just get lectured. Computer science is pretty much all hands-on learning; I’ve taken every class there is at Nobles. It’s fun to learn theories about how to apply certain pieces of code in order to make them work, and then to put the building blocks together. For my senior project, I built an autonomous robot. Last summer, I went to a camp at MIT and we worked on autonomous drones, but they were already made for us. I was cool, but I wanted to build the entire thing from scratch.’

“I’m a blunt leader; I’m not going to sugarcoat the message. I say what’s wrong at school and try to help get it fixed—I hope that it’s made some impact.

I want people to know that academics may not always be everything, but the relationships you form are crucial to your success and happiness.”

Devon Minor In addition to volunteering for Samaritans’ suicide hotline, Shirley Hu helps lead affinity group Asian 2 Asian. She was recognized as an outstanding delegate in 2019 at Harvard Model U.N. and aced an entrepreneurial development course at Babson College.

She also lent her talent to the Nobles chamber singers, the winter musical and the Nobles Dance Program.

She traveled to Cambodia and Vietnam with Nobles and studied for a semester at Alzar School of Leadership. Hu received the President’s Volunteer Service Award. She attends Georgetown University.

Lily Farden was a boarder and 12-season varsity athlete. She was ice hockey captain, NEPSAC Player of the Year, ISL MVP and thrice earned First Team All-New England and All-ISL honors. She won the Boston Bruins John Carlton Memorial Trophy as the best player in Eastern Massachusetts and played for the Under-18 USA national team, winning gold at the World Championships in Dmitrov, Russia. She was also field hockey captain, earning First Team All-NEPSAC, NEPSAC All-Star and three-time All-ISL honors. She won the Miller Medal for excellence in scholarship and athletics and was named NEPSAC Female Athlete of the Year. Farden is a member of the ice hockey team at Harvard.

“I used to feel uncomfortable speaking out about things that I’m not well-read about. Very few people actually read both the New York Times and Breitbart on their own time. Now, I’m more comfortable starting conversations knowing that I’m not just coming from one source. I hadn’t really thought about the idea of ‘leaning into discomfort’ until a friend asked me to join a club called the Middle Ground. With more political turmoil around topics like [Supreme Court Justice] Kavanaugh, it was a space for discussion. In debate club, people asked, ‘Why is the Middle Ground trying to take our job?’ But debate uses logic to prove the conclusion you started with, and the Middle Ground is for listening. If everyone listened better, a lot of problems would go away. You can have an emotional, passionate argument or get frustrated, and still coexist with respect.

“I’m drawn to international relations having both my Chinese identity and my American identity, liking languages and being fascinated by differences in culture.

When you travel, it’s like you’re a little kid again; everything you see is new, and that’s essentially what international affairs is—understanding that difference and how that affects how you treat others.”

“I think that on the surface, sports are what people know about me. I’ve been on three varsity teams since my freshman year: field hockey, hockey and lacrosse.

Some of my favorite times at Nobles have come from playing sports and just being a part of a team. Hockey is my favorite sport and my main sport, but field hockey has definitely been my best experience on a team, hands down. It seems like the best people at Nobles always end up being on that team, and it’s a really great combination of having so much fun at practice every day but also being serious enough to actually get it done and be successful.

“Some of my best laughs ever at Nobles have come from Latin class. Since my freshman year, I’ve literally had the same exact people in my class for four years.

I think it’s definitely unique among other languages. Obviously, people say it’s a dead language—which it is—but the things that you can gain from learning it are really important. It’s like a little puzzle, and there are so many unknowns that being able to piece it out for yourself and problem-solve with what’s in front of you is a really useful skill.”

Shirley Hu

Lily Farden

Alexandra Weinsten

Vikram Aldykiewicz

Angelina Gomes

Liam Smith

“Through the Global Online Academy [a consortium in which Nobles participates], I took ‘Applying Philosophy to Modern Global Issues.’ We learned about issues such as drone warfare, designer babies and the opioid crisis. This class combined my interests in math, physics, and philosophy and enabled me to make connections throughout my other Nobles courses. Whether learning about Newtonian mechanics in physics, reading Voltaire’s philosophical Candide [a French satire] in French, studying the Scientific Revolution in AP Euro, or reading Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness in English, the GOA class led to a cascade of connections. My teachers encouraged and helped me to see these parallels. From engaging with philosophers, scientists, mathematicians, authors, and artists, I have a new perspective on humanity and am excited to continue to explore the natural and metaphysical world through a variety of lenses next year.”

“One of the things I’m most grateful for coming through Nobles is that I’ve had the opportunity—more so than I’ve ever had in my education—to have strong male role models and mentors, and that has specifically come from a couple of my classes, extracurriculars and wrestling. In terms of culture and team environment, the wrestling coaches are an incredibly supportive group. I like the physical grind that comes with any sort of training in the weight room or going out on the cross country course or being on the mat.

“Mr. [Oris] Bryant and Mr. [Dick] Baker are two of the greatest influences on me. Mr. Bryant is a very high-level intellectual, and just talking to him and listening to him—how he speaks, how he articulates himself—is something I want to emulate. His influence has been particularly impactful in how I’ve developed as an academic. The way he challenges students to consider how they create, support and refute various arguments was revolutionary to me.

“When Mr. Baker brought the lens of philosophy and intellectual principles to English literature, it segued right off of my time studying away at the School for Ethics and Global Leadership, and I just fell in love instantly with that mentality.

He and I have also had a point of connection and talked in great length about what he did in the [military] service, and where he sees me going and where the Army as a professional organization can take me.”

“Before foster care, I grew up in a series of projects. I’ve been incredibly open with what I share with people, and I try to be my most true and authentic self.

It’s not worth changing myself for those who may never understand me or where I come from.

“Coming to Nobles through Achieve [an academic program for middleschoolers hosted at Nobles] was like entering Narnia. Then we saw the Castle, and I was like, ‘Wait, there’s more?’ Getting my acceptance letter into Nobles was way bigger than my acceptance letter into college because of what it meant to me and how representative it was of all my hard work and dedication. The dorms created a family for me that I didn’t have any other way, and Nobles has been the most consistent, stable thing in my life ever. I’d never lived in a place as long as I’ve lived here.

“Nobles also showed me my love for English, writing and literature. It’s so insane how the curriculum has lined up with different points in my life; there hasn’t been a book I’ve read here that hasn’t blown my mind. My teachers have consistently challenged me, from my writing, to my reading, to my participation, to my thoughts. They’ve taught me that no matter what I do, I can write. You can be a math professor and write. You can be a doctor and write. You can do anything and write, and I plan to do anything and write.”

“I intended to do Outdoor Adventure freshman year, but it was canceled that season. So I thought I would try wood-fired ceramics. I never thought of myself as an art person before I started working with clay. It’s so much fun to make things with your hands that have three-dimensional form. Ceramics is the only art form that exists within the same space as the viewer. I studied classics at Nobles, too, and was interested in Philemon and Bacchus; they were an old couple turned into a tree, so I made a sculpture about that. I also love chemistry and wanted to incorporate that. I remembered a reaction that Mr. Kern [retired faculty member] had shown us called the thermite reaction, which is quite explosive. Combining chemistry, mythology and ceramics, I thought I’d have a sculpture of a phoenix coming out of the ashes—that very cliché moment. And then I thought of when it’s dying, peacefully lying on the ground, but it didn’t feel right to me. For my final version, I showed the actual death of the phoenix.

“It’s more than making a single piece. You have to prepare the clay, make the piece, fire it in the kiln, glaze it, and then fire it again. It’s very processbased. You have to think about materials in your clay, how they’ll react at high temperatures, and the transition from clay to ceramic, which is a complicated chemical process.”

Alexandra Weinsten was a leader of the Achieve Program, Jewish Culture Club, Community Service Club, and Peer Help Program. She volunteered in the New Orleans EXCEL program and spent one summer constructing a school and teaching English in the Krobo region of Ghana. On the soccer field, Weinsten helped the girls varsity soccer team win two ISL Championships and a NEPSAC Championship, earning the Ceci Clark Shield Award for her tenacity and commitment. Additionally, Weinsten helped the girls varsity tennis team win their first ISL championship since 1985. Weinsten won the Greenough Prize for excellence in mathematics and the Sheldon Prize for excellence in science. She attends the University of Pennsylvania.

Vikram Aldykiewicz won the Alumni Prize for History, served on the Disciplinary Committee, and was an active member of affinity groups Brother 2 Brother, Asian 2 Asian and Students United for Racial Justice and Equity. He was a boarder, ran cross country, rowed for two seasons, and captained the wrestling team, winning the Steve Toubman Award. He studied away at SEGL in Washington, D.C., and studied Arabic through the Global Online Academy. Aldykiewicz earned a full ROTC scholarship to Georgetown University.

Liam Smith won the Trustees’ Prize for Class I. As a junior, Smith won the Michele Dufault Prize, given to a single student of high integrity and exceptional academic accomplishment. Smith served as co-president of Nobles Theatre Collective, Young Democrats, Junior Classical League, and Spectrum, a club for LGBTQ students. He also sang in choral groups and wrote for school publications. He volunteers for organizations that address food insecurity for children. At Stanford University, he plans to pursue chemistry, chemical engineering, linguistics and philosophy.

Angelina Gomes served as a leader for Students United for Racial Justice and Equity, and for Sister 2 Sister, an affinity group for female students of color. Peers elected her as the keynote speaker for the graduation celebration for Class I students of color, the annual Freeman Legacy Dinner. She spent a City Term semester in New York her Class II year and part of last summer at the Island School.

A passionate ambassador for Nobles, she was a lead tour guide and mentor to students at her former elementary school. Gomes is the first in her family to attend college, and is at Middlebury College.

John Murray

Madeleine Charity

Henry Dolgoff

Mikaela Martin

“We decided to start the Heroes Wear Dog Tags club after Kyle Carpenter, the Medal of Honor recipient, came to long assembly. People were enamored with his story, and for many people here, that was their first time hearing a story like that. They had never heard of the sacrifices and the love that people on the frontlines have for each other. We saw that community response and decided to start a club to educate Nobles students on the military and support veteran organizations.

“It’s important to expose Nobles students to the positives of military life. There’s a stigma toward it, but I’m unique here in that I’ve become familiar with the military through my family. I can see how the positives outweigh the negatives. I think many Nobles students would be greatly suited to the military path, but they are reluctant to take it because they don’t understand those benefits.

“Nobles teaches us to work as a team, be good people, and develop problem-solving skills. All of those qualities go such a long way in the military. And there’s such a strong emphasis here on service to others and leadership for the public good. Not much else epitomizes those aims like military service.”

“SDLC [Student Diversity Leadership Conference] got me more into social justice and thinking about the world through the lens of different identities.

It’s important that Nobles kids have some awareness of what’s happening outside of our bubble. I led a walkout for gun control; we wrote letters to our representatives, had discussions, and preregistered kids to vote. It was a great day of civic engagement.

“As computer science becomes more popular at Nobles, the department is growing. Programming is like the way my brain works … having a big picture issue that you want to solve. Race, gender and social justice issues can be a little abstract, but nailing them down with data gives you more power. People might be resistant to hearing things are unjust until they’re faced with clear patterns over time, like comparing a very white school and a black charter school and the amount of money spent on a student.

“It’s my STEM science-y way of thinking that the world should work a certain way; in our ecosystem, everybody should have equal opportunities.

If that’s not the case, there’s something wrong, and that’s what I want to fix.

Nobles exposed me to a variety of things that I can do, but synthesizing all these things into an actual plan, finding my niche at the intersection of computer science and technology and social justice and applying that to real-world situations—I want to see where I can take that.”

“When I came to Nobles, I was a bit afraid of being myself. At my old school, kids thought it was a little strange that a guy was doing theatre. So I was confused about what I wanted to do when I got to Nobles—who I wanted to be. There were definitely some growing pains. I played baseball and soccer and liked it. I made great friends on those teams. Then I entered the theatre world. There was a Troy Bolton [from High School Musical] moment, when I felt stuck in the middle, and it was hard. Over my four years, though, I found that I just love performing. I love being surrounded by kids who love what I love and encourage me to love what I love. Nobles has allowed me to find out who I am. I mean, Nobles is not always easy. It’s a very competitive place. But it’s competitive in a friendly way that pushes you to be your best.

“One of the things I’m most proud of is the production of Spring Awakening we did last fall. It was the first major student-led production in Nobles history.

We wanted to do this musical so bad because it makes clear that problems [like abuse and suicide] exist, and it’s better to face them and talk about them.

I’m not just proud because I thought our work was extraordinary—or that we worked our butts off or that we worked six hours a day in the summer. It’s that we were so passionate about it that it wasn’t even like work for us. It was just fun.”

“I’m fascinated by how languages work. My mom spoke Spanish to me when I was younger, and there’s this running debate in my family of whether it was my first language. Just living in Boston and being around all these different languages, I slid into French easily. In fifth grade, I started at a language camp for Mandarin Chinese. I also took Latin in eighth grade, and when I saw the similarities with French, I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ My dad said, ‘Chinese is more important; you should drop French.’ So to spite him, I took both. I want to go into linguistics and hopefully be ambassador to China or a francophone country.

“My senior project is studying the effects of colonization on the African language diaspora—the history of certain African countries and their languages, and how European or Western involvement has impacted the way language has ebbed and flowed, and which languages are more prominent and which ones are looked down upon.

“Once, my dance troupe was making a piece for a competition. It had to have a message, so I wrote a poem as a backdrop for the dancing. I was communicating through a combination of my body and the music and the words and my facial expressions—that in itself is powerful, what the human body can convey.

Beyond co-founding Heroes Wear Dog Tags, John Murray served as a Shield Head, Peer Help Program leader, prefect and boys varsity hockey captain. A boarder, he was a member of the Dorm Leadership Council and a winner of the Deb Harrison Award. At graduation, he won the Davis Cup for sportsmanship. He attends Harvard University as an Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadet.

Madeleine Charity helped lead Students United for Racial Justice and Equity, Achieve Leadership Council, the Peer Help Program and was a prefect. She volunteered at Camp Sunshine for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families, and supported fundraising efforts. As a junior, she received the Williams Book Award, and upon graduation, the prestigious Head of School prize. She attends Stanford University.

Henry Dolgoff sang with the Chamber Singers and was co-president of the Nobleonians. He was a prefect, and also played baseball and soccer while at Nobles. Dolgoff performed in dance shows and many theatre productions. He was the title character in The Cripple of Inishmaan and Cry-Baby. Dolgoff attends the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, known as one of the world’s premier acting conservatories.

Trilingual in French, Chinese and English, Mikaela Martin has traveled to China, Rwanda, Guatemala and South Africa with the EXCEL (experiential learning) program. She received the Harvard Book Prize as a junior. She helped lead the Peer Help Program and Sister 2 Sister (Nobles’ affinity group for female students of color), and she served as a Shield Head (admission guide) and a core member of SURJE (Students United for Racial Justice and Equity). An experienced dancer, this year she was awarded the Nobles Dance Prize.

Martin has also distinguished herself as a triple-threat in the Nobles Theatre Collective. She plans to study linguistics at Harvard University.

2019

Nathaniel Birne was a cellist with the Nobles orchestra and was twice selected to represent Nobles at the Massachusetts Music Educators Association Eastern District Festival. He served as editor-in-chief of Cogito, a student journal on social science and international affairs. With an interest in food inspired by a Nobles farm trip to New Hampshire, he has volunteered at Newton Community Farm and Needham Farmers’ Market. Birne won the Edward Stone Gleason Award for academic excellence and the Dixwell Medal for classics. During his six years at Nobles, Birne won the Trustees’ Prize for scholarship four times. He attends Harvard University.

“A lot of teachers here have supported me in ways that have changed the way I think. For example, I had Mr. Kehlenbeck for geometry and BC Calc. One lesson that I took away from his class was how not to be a perfectionist. I would get annoyed at myself if I messed up little things, and I wanted everything to be exactly right. Sometimes, during a test, I would be the last person working. He would say, ‘Nathaniel, you have to be done. It can be excellent without being perfect.’ I try to remind myself that I don’t need to have everything right to be satisfied. I’ve learned to focus on the good things as much as the things that I wish were different. That makes those other things easier to fix because I’m just in a better place mentally.

“Everybody has things about themselves that they might consider flaws. As you improve yourself, you’re inevitably going to have things that you still wish were better. Knowing that’s always going to be the case is important because it makes you realize that you’re only going to be happy if you’re happy having flaws.

“I’m proud that I’ve pushed myself to do a lot of things that I was nervous about, like joining the cross country team and giving presentations in class. It’s rewarding to know that I’ve challenged myself to produce the best work that I can and to learn as much as I can.”

Class

of

The

Nathaniel Birne

Devon Minor has earned recognition for his original spoken-word pieces, his performances in Nobles musicals and in assembly. He helped revive Nobles’ track-and-field program this spring after a 75-year hiatus, and played varsity football. Minor was a prefect, a middle school mentor and a Peer Help Program leader. He was part of Students United for Racial Justice and Equity and Brother 2 Brother, Nobles’ male affinity group for students of color.

Upon graduating, he received the Public Speaking Award and the Computer Science Award. Minor studies engineering at Tufts University.

“Poetry is limitless. It offers me the ability to share my experience and feelings without the need for the most proper grammar or a complete sentence every single time. But the vocal piece of slam poetry is most important: when I read it aloud, it gives the intonation that I want the reader to hear.

“The way I like to learn, I don’t want to just get lectured. Computer science is pretty much all hands-on learning; I’ve taken every class there is at Nobles. It’s fun to learn theories about how to apply certain pieces of code in order to make them work, and then to put the building blocks together. For my senior project, I built an autonomous robot. Last summer, I went to a camp at MIT and we worked on autonomous drones, but they were already made for us. I was cool, but I wanted to build the entire thing from scratch.’

“I’m a blunt leader; I’m not going to sugarcoat the message. I say what’s wrong at school and try to help get it fixed—I hope that it’s made some impact.

I want people to know that academics may not always be everything, but the relationships you form are crucial to your success and happiness.”

Devon Minor In addition to volunteering for Samaritans’ suicide hotline, Shirley Hu helps lead affinity group Asian 2 Asian. She was recognized as an outstanding delegate in 2019 at Harvard Model U.N. and aced an entrepreneurial development course at Babson College.

She also lent her talent to the Nobles chamber singers, the winter musical and the Nobles Dance Program.

She traveled to Cambodia and Vietnam with Nobles and studied for a semester at Alzar School of Leadership. Hu received the President’s Volunteer Service Award. She attends Georgetown University.

Lily Farden was a boarder and 12-season varsity athlete. She was ice hockey captain, NEPSAC Player of the Year, ISL MVP and thrice earned First Team All-New England and All-ISL honors. She won the Boston Bruins John Carlton Memorial Trophy as the best player in Eastern Massachusetts and played for the Under-18 USA national team, winning gold at the World Championships in Dmitrov, Russia. She was also field hockey captain, earning First Team All-NEPSAC, NEPSAC All-Star and three-time All-ISL honors. She won the Miller Medal for excellence in scholarship and athletics and was named NEPSAC Female Athlete of the Year. Farden is a member of the ice hockey team at Harvard.

“I used to feel uncomfortable speaking out about things that I’m not well-read about. Very few people actually read both the New York Times and Breitbart on their own time. Now, I’m more comfortable starting conversations knowing that I’m not just coming from one source. I hadn’t really thought about the idea of ‘leaning into discomfort’ until a friend asked me to join a club called the Middle Ground. With more political turmoil around topics like [Supreme Court Justice] Kavanaugh, it was a space for discussion. In debate club, people asked, ‘Why is the Middle Ground trying to take our job?’ But debate uses logic to prove the conclusion you started with, and the Middle Ground is for listening. If everyone listened better, a lot of problems would go away. You can have an emotional, passionate argument or get frustrated, and still coexist with respect.

“I’m drawn to international relations having both my Chinese identity and my American identity, liking languages and being fascinated by differences in culture.

When you travel, it’s like you’re a little kid again; everything you see is new, and that’s essentially what international affairs is—understanding that difference and how that affects how you treat others.”

“I think that on the surface, sports are what people know about me. I’ve been on three varsity teams since my freshman year: field hockey, hockey and lacrosse.

Some of my favorite times at Nobles have come from playing sports and just being a part of a team. Hockey is my favorite sport and my main sport, but field hockey has definitely been my best experience on a team, hands down. It seems like the best people at Nobles always end up being on that team, and it’s a really great combination of having so much fun at practice every day but also being serious enough to actually get it done and be successful.

“Some of my best laughs ever at Nobles have come from Latin class. Since my freshman year, I’ve literally had the same exact people in my class for four years.

I think it’s definitely unique among other languages. Obviously, people say it’s a dead language—which it is—but the things that you can gain from learning it are really important. It’s like a little puzzle, and there are so many unknowns that being able to piece it out for yourself and problem-solve with what’s in front of you is a really useful skill.”

Shirley Hu

Lily Farden

Alexandra Weinsten

Vikram Aldykiewicz

Angelina Gomes

Liam Smith

“Through the Global Online Academy [a consortium in which Nobles participates], I took ‘Applying Philosophy to Modern Global Issues.’ We learned about issues such as drone warfare, designer babies and the opioid crisis. This class combined my interests in math, physics, and philosophy and enabled me to make connections throughout my other Nobles courses. Whether learning about Newtonian mechanics in physics, reading Voltaire’s philosophical Candide [a French satire] in French, studying the Scientific Revolution in AP Euro, or reading Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness in English, the GOA class led to a cascade of connections. My teachers encouraged and helped me to see these parallels. From engaging with philosophers, scientists, mathematicians, authors, and artists, I have a new perspective on humanity and am excited to continue to explore the natural and metaphysical world through a variety of lenses next year.”

“One of the things I’m most grateful for coming through Nobles is that I’ve had the opportunity—more so than I’ve ever had in my education—to have strong male role models and mentors, and that has specifically come from a couple of my classes, extracurriculars and wrestling. In terms of culture and team environment, the wrestling coaches are an incredibly supportive group. I like the physical grind that comes with any sort of training in the weight room or going out on the cross country course or being on the mat.

“Mr. [Oris] Bryant and Mr. [Dick] Baker are two of the greatest influences on me. Mr. Bryant is a very high-level intellectual, and just talking to him and listening to him—how he speaks, how he articulates himself—is something I want to emulate. His influence has been particularly impactful in how I’ve developed as an academic. The way he challenges students to consider how they create, support and refute various arguments was revolutionary to me.

“When Mr. Baker brought the lens of philosophy and intellectual principles to English literature, it segued right off of my time studying away at the School for Ethics and Global Leadership, and I just fell in love instantly with that mentality.

He and I have also had a point of connection and talked in great length about what he did in the [military] service, and where he sees me going and where the Army as a professional organization can take me.”

“Before foster care, I grew up in a series of projects. I’ve been incredibly open with what I share with people, and I try to be my most true and authentic self.

It’s not worth changing myself for those who may never understand me or where I come from.

“Coming to Nobles through Achieve [an academic program for middleschoolers hosted at Nobles] was like entering Narnia. Then we saw the Castle, and I was like, ‘Wait, there’s more?’ Getting my acceptance letter into Nobles was way bigger than my acceptance letter into college because of what it meant to me and how representative it was of all my hard work and dedication. The dorms created a family for me that I didn’t have any other way, and Nobles has been the most consistent, stable thing in my life ever. I’d never lived in a place as long as I’ve lived here.

“Nobles also showed me my love for English, writing and literature. It’s so insane how the curriculum has lined up with different points in my life; there hasn’t been a book I’ve read here that hasn’t blown my mind. My teachers have consistently challenged me, from my writing, to my reading, to my participation, to my thoughts. They’ve taught me that no matter what I do, I can write. You can be a math professor and write. You can be a doctor and write. You can do anything and write, and I plan to do anything and write.”

“I intended to do Outdoor Adventure freshman year, but it was canceled that season. So I thought I would try wood-fired ceramics. I never thought of myself as an art person before I started working with clay. It’s so much fun to make things with your hands that have three-dimensional form. Ceramics is the only art form that exists within the same space as the viewer. I studied classics at Nobles, too, and was interested in Philemon and Bacchus; they were an old couple turned into a tree, so I made a sculpture about that. I also love chemistry and wanted to incorporate that. I remembered a reaction that Mr. Kern [retired faculty member] had shown us called the thermite reaction, which is quite explosive. Combining chemistry, mythology and ceramics, I thought I’d have a sculpture of a phoenix coming out of the ashes—that very cliché moment. And then I thought of when it’s dying, peacefully lying on the ground, but it didn’t feel right to me. For my final version, I showed the actual death of the phoenix.

“It’s more than making a single piece. You have to prepare the clay, make the piece, fire it in the kiln, glaze it, and then fire it again. It’s very processbased. You have to think about materials in your clay, how they’ll react at high temperatures, and the transition from clay to ceramic, which is a complicated chemical process.”

Alexandra Weinsten was a leader of the Achieve Program, Jewish Culture Club, Community Service Club, and Peer Help Program. She volunteered in the New Orleans EXCEL program and spent one summer constructing a school and teaching English in the Krobo region of Ghana. On the soccer field, Weinsten helped the girls varsity soccer team win two ISL Championships and a NEPSAC Championship, earning the Ceci Clark Shield Award for her tenacity and commitment. Additionally, Weinsten helped the girls varsity tennis team win their first ISL championship since 1985. Weinsten won the Greenough Prize for excellence in mathematics and the Sheldon Prize for excellence in science. She attends the University of Pennsylvania.

Vikram Aldykiewicz won the Alumni Prize for History, served on the Disciplinary Committee, and was an active member of affinity groups Brother 2 Brother, Asian 2 Asian and Students United for Racial Justice and Equity. He was a boarder, ran cross country, rowed for two seasons, and captained the wrestling team, winning the Steve Toubman Award. He studied away at SEGL in Washington, D.C., and studied Arabic through the Global Online Academy. Aldykiewicz earned a full ROTC scholarship to Georgetown University.

Liam Smith won the Trustees’ Prize for Class I. As a junior, Smith won the Michele Dufault Prize, given to a single student of high integrity and exceptional academic accomplishment. Smith served as co-president of Nobles Theatre Collective, Young Democrats, Junior Classical League, and Spectrum, a club for LGBTQ students. He also sang in choral groups and wrote for school publications. He volunteers for organizations that address food insecurity for children. At Stanford University, he plans to pursue chemistry, chemical engineering, linguistics and philosophy.

Angelina Gomes served as a leader for Students United for Racial Justice and Equity, and for Sister 2 Sister, an affinity group for female students of color. Peers elected her as the keynote speaker for the graduation celebration for Class I students of color, the annual Freeman Legacy Dinner. She spent a City Term semester in New York her Class II year and part of last summer at the Island School.

A passionate ambassador for Nobles, she was a lead tour guide and mentor to students at her former elementary school. Gomes is the first in her family to attend college, and is at Middlebury College.

John Murray

Madeleine Charity

Henry Dolgoff

Mikaela Martin

“We decided to start the Heroes Wear Dog Tags club after Kyle Carpenter, the Medal of Honor recipient, came to long assembly. People were enamored with his story, and for many people here, that was their first time hearing a story like that. They had never heard of the sacrifices and the love that people on the frontlines have for each other. We saw that community response and decided to start a club to educate Nobles students on the military and support veteran organizations.

“It’s important to expose Nobles students to the positives of military life. There’s a stigma toward it, but I’m unique here in that I’ve become familiar with the military through my family. I can see how the positives outweigh the negatives. I think many Nobles students would be greatly suited to the military path, but they are reluctant to take it because they don’t understand those benefits.

“Nobles teaches us to work as a team, be good people, and develop problem-solving skills. All of those qualities go such a long way in the military. And there’s such a strong emphasis here on service to others and leadership for the public good. Not much else epitomizes those aims like military service.”

“SDLC [Student Diversity Leadership Conference] got me more into social justice and thinking about the world through the lens of different identities.

It’s important that Nobles kids have some awareness of what’s happening outside of our bubble. I led a walkout for gun control; we wrote letters to our representatives, had discussions, and preregistered kids to vote. It was a great day of civic engagement.

“As computer science becomes more popular at Nobles, the department is growing. Programming is like the way my brain works … having a big picture issue that you want to solve. Race, gender and social justice issues can be a little abstract, but nailing them down with data gives you more power. People might be resistant to hearing things are unjust until they’re faced with clear patterns over time, like comparing a very white school and a black charter school and the amount of money spent on a student.

“It’s my STEM science-y way of thinking that the world should work a certain way; in our ecosystem, everybody should have equal opportunities.

If that’s not the case, there’s something wrong, and that’s what I want to fix.

Nobles exposed me to a variety of things that I can do, but synthesizing all these things into an actual plan, finding my niche at the intersection of computer science and technology and social justice and applying that to real-world situations—I want to see where I can take that.”

“When I came to Nobles, I was a bit afraid of being myself. At my old school, kids thought it was a little strange that a guy was doing theatre. So I was confused about what I wanted to do when I got to Nobles—who I wanted to be. There were definitely some growing pains. I played baseball and soccer and liked it. I made great friends on those teams. Then I entered the theatre world. There was a Troy Bolton [from High School Musical] moment, when I felt stuck in the middle, and it was hard. Over my four years, though, I found that I just love performing. I love being surrounded by kids who love what I love and encourage me to love what I love. Nobles has allowed me to find out who I am. I mean, Nobles is not always easy. It’s a very competitive place. But it’s competitive in a friendly way that pushes you to be your best.

“One of the things I’m most proud of is the production of Spring Awakening we did last fall. It was the first major student-led production in Nobles history.

We wanted to do this musical so bad because it makes clear that problems [like abuse and suicide] exist, and it’s better to face them and talk about them.

I’m not just proud because I thought our work was extraordinary—or that we worked our butts off or that we worked six hours a day in the summer. It’s that we were so passionate about it that it wasn’t even like work for us. It was just fun.”

“I’m fascinated by how languages work. My mom spoke Spanish to me when I was younger, and there’s this running debate in my family of whether it was my first language. Just living in Boston and being around all these different languages, I slid into French easily. In fifth grade, I started at a language camp for Mandarin Chinese. I also took Latin in eighth grade, and when I saw the similarities with French, I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ My dad said, ‘Chinese is more important; you should drop French.’ So to spite him, I took both. I want to go into linguistics and hopefully be ambassador to China or a francophone country.

“My senior project is studying the effects of colonization on the African language diaspora—the history of certain African countries and their languages, and how European or Western involvement has impacted the way language has ebbed and flowed, and which languages are more prominent and which ones are looked down upon.

“Once, my dance troupe was making a piece for a competition. It had to have a message, so I wrote a poem as a backdrop for the dancing. I was communicating through a combination of my body and the music and the words and my facial expressions—that in itself is powerful, what the human body can convey.

Beyond co-founding Heroes Wear Dog Tags, John Murray served as a Shield Head, Peer Help Program leader, prefect and boys varsity hockey captain. A boarder, he was a member of the Dorm Leadership Council and a winner of the Deb Harrison Award. At graduation, he won the Davis Cup for sportsmanship. He attends Harvard University as an Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadet.

Madeleine Charity helped lead Students United for Racial Justice and Equity, Achieve Leadership Council, the Peer Help Program and was a prefect. She volunteered at Camp Sunshine for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families, and supported fundraising efforts. As a junior, she received the Williams Book Award, and upon graduation, the prestigious Head of School prize. She attends Stanford University.

Henry Dolgoff sang with the Chamber Singers and was co-president of the Nobleonians. He was a prefect, and also played baseball and soccer while at Nobles. Dolgoff performed in dance shows and many theatre productions. He was the title character in The Cripple of Inishmaan and Cry-Baby. Dolgoff attends the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, known as one of the world’s premier acting conservatories.

Trilingual in French, Chinese and English, Mikaela Martin has traveled to China, Rwanda, Guatemala and South Africa with the EXCEL (experiential learning) program. She received the Harvard Book Prize as a junior. She helped lead the Peer Help Program and Sister 2 Sister (Nobles’ affinity group for female students of color), and she served as a Shield Head (admission guide) and a core member of SURJE (Students United for Racial Justice and Equity). An experienced dancer, this year she was awarded the Nobles Dance Prize.

Martin has also distinguished herself as a triple-threat in the Nobles Theatre Collective. She plans to study linguistics at Harvard University.

2019

Nathaniel Birne was a cellist with the Nobles orchestra and was twice selected to represent Nobles at the Massachusetts Music Educators Association Eastern District Festival. He served as editor-in-chief of Cogito, a student journal on social science and international affairs. With an interest in food inspired by a Nobles farm trip to New Hampshire, he has volunteered at Newton Community Farm and Needham Farmers’ Market. Birne won the Edward Stone Gleason Award for academic excellence and the Dixwell Medal for classics. During his six years at Nobles, Birne won the Trustees’ Prize for scholarship four times. He attends Harvard University.

“A lot of teachers here have supported me in ways that have changed the way I think. For example, I had Mr. Kehlenbeck for geometry and BC Calc. One lesson that I took away from his class was how not to be a perfectionist. I would get annoyed at myself if I messed up little things, and I wanted everything to be exactly right. Sometimes, during a test, I would be the last person working. He would say, ‘Nathaniel, you have to be done. It can be excellent without being perfect.’ I try to remind myself that I don’t need to have everything right to be satisfied. I’ve learned to focus on the good things as much as the things that I wish were different. That makes those other things easier to fix because I’m just in a better place mentally.

“Everybody has things about themselves that they might consider flaws. As you improve yourself, you’re inevitably going to have things that you still wish were better. Knowing that’s always going to be the case is important because it makes you realize that you’re only going to be happy if you’re happy having flaws.

“I’m proud that I’ve pushed myself to do a lot of things that I was nervous about, like joining the cross country team and giving presentations in class. It’s rewarding to know that I’ve challenged myself to produce the best work that I can and to learn as much as I can.”

Class

of

The

Nathaniel Birne

Devon Minor has earned recognition for his original spoken-word pieces, his performances in Nobles musicals and in assembly. He helped revive Nobles’ track-and-field program this spring after a 75-year hiatus, and played varsity football. Minor was a prefect, a middle school mentor and a Peer Help Program leader. He was part of Students United for Racial Justice and Equity and Brother 2 Brother, Nobles’ male affinity group for students of color.

Upon graduating, he received the Public Speaking Award and the Computer Science Award. Minor studies engineering at Tufts University.

“Poetry is limitless. It offers me the ability to share my experience and feelings without the need for the most proper grammar or a complete sentence every single time. But the vocal piece of slam poetry is most important: when I read it aloud, it gives the intonation that I want the reader to hear.

“The way I like to learn, I don’t want to just get lectured. Computer science is pretty much all hands-on learning; I’ve taken every class there is at Nobles. It’s fun to learn theories about how to apply certain pieces of code in order to make them work, and then to put the building blocks together. For my senior project, I built an autonomous robot. Last summer, I went to a camp at MIT and we worked on autonomous drones, but they were already made for us. I was cool, but I wanted to build the entire thing from scratch.’

“I’m a blunt leader; I’m not going to sugarcoat the message. I say what’s wrong at school and try to help get it fixed—I hope that it’s made some impact.

I want people to know that academics may not always be everything, but the relationships you form are crucial to your success and happiness.”

Devon Minor In addition to volunteering for Samaritans’ suicide hotline, Shirley Hu helps lead affinity group Asian 2 Asian. She was recognized as an outstanding delegate in 2019 at Harvard Model U.N. and aced an entrepreneurial development course at Babson College.

She also lent her talent to the Nobles chamber singers, the winter musical and the Nobles Dance Program.

She traveled to Cambodia and Vietnam with Nobles and studied for a semester at Alzar School of Leadership. Hu received the President’s Volunteer Service Award. She attends Georgetown University.

Lily Farden was a boarder and 12-season varsity athlete. She was ice hockey captain, NEPSAC Player of the Year, ISL MVP and thrice earned First Team All-New England and All-ISL honors. She won the Boston Bruins John Carlton Memorial Trophy as the best player in Eastern Massachusetts and played for the Under-18 USA national team, winning gold at the World Championships in Dmitrov, Russia. She was also field hockey captain, earning First Team All-NEPSAC, NEPSAC All-Star and three-time All-ISL honors. She won the Miller Medal for excellence in scholarship and athletics and was named NEPSAC Female Athlete of the Year. Farden is a member of the ice hockey team at Harvard.

“I used to feel uncomfortable speaking out about things that I’m not well-read about. Very few people actually read both the New York Times and Breitbart on their own time. Now, I’m more comfortable starting conversations knowing that I’m not just coming from one source. I hadn’t really thought about the idea of ‘leaning into discomfort’ until a friend asked me to join a club called the Middle Ground. With more political turmoil around topics like [Supreme Court Justice] Kavanaugh, it was a space for discussion. In debate club, people asked, ‘Why is the Middle Ground trying to take our job?’ But debate uses logic to prove the conclusion you started with, and the Middle Ground is for listening. If everyone listened better, a lot of problems would go away. You can have an emotional, passionate argument or get frustrated, and still coexist with respect.

“I’m drawn to international relations having both my Chinese identity and my American identity, liking languages and being fascinated by differences in culture.

When you travel, it’s like you’re a little kid again; everything you see is new, and that’s essentially what international affairs is—understanding that difference and how that affects how you treat others.”

“I think that on the surface, sports are what people know about me. I’ve been on three varsity teams since my freshman year: field hockey, hockey and lacrosse.

Some of my favorite times at Nobles have come from playing sports and just being a part of a team. Hockey is my favorite sport and my main sport, but field hockey has definitely been my best experience on a team, hands down. It seems like the best people at Nobles always end up being on that team, and it’s a really great combination of having so much fun at practice every day but also being serious enough to actually get it done and be successful.

“Some of my best laughs ever at Nobles have come from Latin class. Since my freshman year, I’ve literally had the same exact people in my class for four years.

I think it’s definitely unique among other languages. Obviously, people say it’s a dead language—which it is—but the things that you can gain from learning it are really important. It’s like a little puzzle, and there are so many unknowns that being able to piece it out for yourself and problem-solve with what’s in front of you is a really useful skill.”

Shirley Hu

Lily Farden

Alexandra Weinsten

Vikram Aldykiewicz

Angelina Gomes

Liam Smith

“Through the Global Online Academy [a consortium in which Nobles participates], I took ‘Applying Philosophy to Modern Global Issues.’ We learned about issues such as drone warfare, designer babies and the opioid crisis. This class combined my interests in math, physics, and philosophy and enabled me to make connections throughout my other Nobles courses. Whether learning about Newtonian mechanics in physics, reading Voltaire’s philosophical Candide [a French satire] in French, studying the Scientific Revolution in AP Euro, or reading Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness in English, the GOA class led to a cascade of connections. My teachers encouraged and helped me to see these parallels. From engaging with philosophers, scientists, mathematicians, authors, and artists, I have a new perspective on humanity and am excited to continue to explore the natural and metaphysical world through a variety of lenses next year.”

“One of the things I’m most grateful for coming through Nobles is that I’ve had the opportunity—more so than I’ve ever had in my education—to have strong male role models and mentors, and that has specifically come from a couple of my classes, extracurriculars and wrestling. In terms of culture and team environment, the wrestling coaches are an incredibly supportive group. I like the physical grind that comes with any sort of training in the weight room or going out on the cross country course or being on the mat.

“Mr. [Oris] Bryant and Mr. [Dick] Baker are two of the greatest influences on me. Mr. Bryant is a very high-level intellectual, and just talking to him and listening to him—how he speaks, how he articulates himself—is something I want to emulate. His influence has been particularly impactful in how I’ve developed as an academic. The way he challenges students to consider how they create, support and refute various arguments was revolutionary to me.

“When Mr. Baker brought the lens of philosophy and intellectual principles to English literature, it segued right off of my time studying away at the School for Ethics and Global Leadership, and I just fell in love instantly with that mentality.

He and I have also had a point of connection and talked in great length about what he did in the [military] service, and where he sees me going and where the Army as a professional organization can take me.”

“Before foster care, I grew up in a series of projects. I’ve been incredibly open with what I share with people, and I try to be my most true and authentic self.

It’s not worth changing myself for those who may never understand me or where I come from.

“Coming to Nobles through Achieve [an academic program for middleschoolers hosted at Nobles] was like entering Narnia. Then we saw the Castle, and I was like, ‘Wait, there’s more?’ Getting my acceptance letter into Nobles was way bigger than my acceptance letter into college because of what it meant to me and how representative it was of all my hard work and dedication. The dorms created a family for me that I didn’t have any other way, and Nobles has been the most consistent, stable thing in my life ever. I’d never lived in a place as long as I’ve lived here.

“Nobles also showed me my love for English, writing and literature. It’s so insane how the curriculum has lined up with different points in my life; there hasn’t been a book I’ve read here that hasn’t blown my mind. My teachers have consistently challenged me, from my writing, to my reading, to my participation, to my thoughts. They’ve taught me that no matter what I do, I can write. You can be a math professor and write. You can be a doctor and write. You can do anything and write, and I plan to do anything and write.”

“I intended to do Outdoor Adventure freshman year, but it was canceled that season. So I thought I would try wood-fired ceramics. I never thought of myself as an art person before I started working with clay. It’s so much fun to make things with your hands that have three-dimensional form. Ceramics is the only art form that exists within the same space as the viewer. I studied classics at Nobles, too, and was interested in Philemon and Bacchus; they were an old couple turned into a tree, so I made a sculpture about that. I also love chemistry and wanted to incorporate that. I remembered a reaction that Mr. Kern [retired faculty member] had shown us called the thermite reaction, which is quite explosive. Combining chemistry, mythology and ceramics, I thought I’d have a sculpture of a phoenix coming out of the ashes—that very cliché moment. And then I thought of when it’s dying, peacefully lying on the ground, but it didn’t feel right to me. For my final version, I showed the actual death of the phoenix.

“It’s more than making a single piece. You have to prepare the clay, make the piece, fire it in the kiln, glaze it, and then fire it again. It’s very processbased. You have to think about materials in your clay, how they’ll react at high temperatures, and the transition from clay to ceramic, which is a complicated chemical process.”

Alexandra Weinsten was a leader of the Achieve Program, Jewish Culture Club, Community Service Club, and Peer Help Program. She volunteered in the New Orleans EXCEL program and spent one summer constructing a school and teaching English in the Krobo region of Ghana. On the soccer field, Weinsten helped the girls varsity soccer team win two ISL Championships and a NEPSAC Championship, earning the Ceci Clark Shield Award for her tenacity and commitment. Additionally, Weinsten helped the girls varsity tennis team win their first ISL championship since 1985. Weinsten won the Greenough Prize for excellence in mathematics and the Sheldon Prize for excellence in science. She attends the University of Pennsylvania.

Vikram Aldykiewicz won the Alumni Prize for History, served on the Disciplinary Committee, and was an active member of affinity groups Brother 2 Brother, Asian 2 Asian and Students United for Racial Justice and Equity. He was a boarder, ran cross country, rowed for two seasons, and captained the wrestling team, winning the Steve Toubman Award. He studied away at SEGL in Washington, D.C., and studied Arabic through the Global Online Academy. Aldykiewicz earned a full ROTC scholarship to Georgetown University.

Liam Smith won the Trustees’ Prize for Class I. As a junior, Smith won the Michele Dufault Prize, given to a single student of high integrity and exceptional academic accomplishment. Smith served as co-president of Nobles Theatre Collective, Young Democrats, Junior Classical League, and Spectrum, a club for LGBTQ students. He also sang in choral groups and wrote for school publications. He volunteers for organizations that address food insecurity for children. At Stanford University, he plans to pursue chemistry, chemical engineering, linguistics and philosophy.

Angelina Gomes served as a leader for Students United for Racial Justice and Equity, and for Sister 2 Sister, an affinity group for female students of color. Peers elected her as the keynote speaker for the graduation celebration for Class I students of color, the annual Freeman Legacy Dinner. She spent a City Term semester in New York her Class II year and part of last summer at the Island School.

A passionate ambassador for Nobles, she was a lead tour guide and mentor to students at her former elementary school. Gomes is the first in her family to attend college, and is at Middlebury College.

John Murray

Madeleine Charity

Henry Dolgoff

Mikaela Martin

“We decided to start the Heroes Wear Dog Tags club after Kyle Carpenter, the Medal of Honor recipient, came to long assembly. People were enamored with his story, and for many people here, that was their first time hearing a story like that. They had never heard of the sacrifices and the love that people on the frontlines have for each other. We saw that community response and decided to start a club to educate Nobles students on the military and support veteran organizations.

“It’s important to expose Nobles students to the positives of military life. There’s a stigma toward it, but I’m unique here in that I’ve become familiar with the military through my family. I can see how the positives outweigh the negatives. I think many Nobles students would be greatly suited to the military path, but they are reluctant to take it because they don’t understand those benefits.

“Nobles teaches us to work as a team, be good people, and develop problem-solving skills. All of those qualities go such a long way in the military. And there’s such a strong emphasis here on service to others and leadership for the public good. Not much else epitomizes those aims like military service.”

“SDLC [Student Diversity Leadership Conference] got me more into social justice and thinking about the world through the lens of different identities.

It’s important that Nobles kids have some awareness of what’s happening outside of our bubble. I led a walkout for gun control; we wrote letters to our representatives, had discussions, and preregistered kids to vote. It was a great day of civic engagement.

“As computer science becomes more popular at Nobles, the department is growing. Programming is like the way my brain works … having a big picture issue that you want to solve. Race, gender and social justice issues can be a little abstract, but nailing them down with data gives you more power. People might be resistant to hearing things are unjust until they’re faced with clear patterns over time, like comparing a very white school and a black charter school and the amount of money spent on a student.

“It’s my STEM science-y way of thinking that the world should work a certain way; in our ecosystem, everybody should have equal opportunities.

If that’s not the case, there’s something wrong, and that’s what I want to fix.

Nobles exposed me to a variety of things that I can do, but synthesizing all these things into an actual plan, finding my niche at the intersection of computer science and technology and social justice and applying that to real-world situations—I want to see where I can take that.”

“When I came to Nobles, I was a bit afraid of being myself. At my old school, kids thought it was a little strange that a guy was doing theatre. So I was confused about what I wanted to do when I got to Nobles—who I wanted to be. There were definitely some growing pains. I played baseball and soccer and liked it. I made great friends on those teams. Then I entered the theatre world. There was a Troy Bolton [from High School Musical] moment, when I felt stuck in the middle, and it was hard. Over my four years, though, I found that I just love performing. I love being surrounded by kids who love what I love and encourage me to love what I love. Nobles has allowed me to find out who I am. I mean, Nobles is not always easy. It’s a very competitive place. But it’s competitive in a friendly way that pushes you to be your best.

“One of the things I’m most proud of is the production of Spring Awakening we did last fall. It was the first major student-led production in Nobles history.

We wanted to do this musical so bad because it makes clear that problems [like abuse and suicide] exist, and it’s better to face them and talk about them.

I’m not just proud because I thought our work was extraordinary—or that we worked our butts off or that we worked six hours a day in the summer. It’s that we were so passionate about it that it wasn’t even like work for us. It was just fun.”

“I’m fascinated by how languages work. My mom spoke Spanish to me when I was younger, and there’s this running debate in my family of whether it was my first language. Just living in Boston and being around all these different languages, I slid into French easily. In fifth grade, I started at a language camp for Mandarin Chinese. I also took Latin in eighth grade, and when I saw the similarities with French, I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ My dad said, ‘Chinese is more important; you should drop French.’ So to spite him, I took both. I want to go into linguistics and hopefully be ambassador to China or a francophone country.

“My senior project is studying the effects of colonization on the African language diaspora—the history of certain African countries and their languages, and how European or Western involvement has impacted the way language has ebbed and flowed, and which languages are more prominent and which ones are looked down upon.

“Once, my dance troupe was making a piece for a competition. It had to have a message, so I wrote a poem as a backdrop for the dancing. I was communicating through a combination of my body and the music and the words and my facial expressions—that in itself is powerful, what the human body can convey.

Beyond co-founding Heroes Wear Dog Tags, John Murray served as a Shield Head, Peer Help Program leader, prefect and boys varsity hockey captain. A boarder, he was a member of the Dorm Leadership Council and a winner of the Deb Harrison Award. At graduation, he won the Davis Cup for sportsmanship. He attends Harvard University as an Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadet.

Madeleine Charity helped lead Students United for Racial Justice and Equity, Achieve Leadership Council, the Peer Help Program and was a prefect. She volunteered at Camp Sunshine for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families, and supported fundraising efforts. As a junior, she received the Williams Book Award, and upon graduation, the prestigious Head of School prize. She attends Stanford University.

Henry Dolgoff sang with the Chamber Singers and was co-president of the Nobleonians. He was a prefect, and also played baseball and soccer while at Nobles. Dolgoff performed in dance shows and many theatre productions. He was the title character in The Cripple of Inishmaan and Cry-Baby. Dolgoff attends the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, known as one of the world’s premier acting conservatories.

Trilingual in French, Chinese and English, Mikaela Martin has traveled to China, Rwanda, Guatemala and South Africa with the EXCEL (experiential learning) program. She received the Harvard Book Prize as a junior. She helped lead the Peer Help Program and Sister 2 Sister (Nobles’ affinity group for female students of color), and she served as a Shield Head (admission guide) and a core member of SURJE (Students United for Racial Justice and Equity). An experienced dancer, this year she was awarded the Nobles Dance Prize.

Martin has also distinguished herself as a triple-threat in the Nobles Theatre Collective. She plans to study linguistics at Harvard University.

Nathaniel Birne was a cellist with the Nobles orchestra and was twice selected to represent Nobles at the Massachusetts Music Educators Association Eastern District Festival. He served as editor-in-chief of Cogito, a student journal on social science and international affairs. With an interest in food inspired by a Nobles farm trip to New Hampshire, he has volunteered at Newton Community Farm and Needham Farmers’ Market. Birne won the Edward Stone Gleason Award for academic excellence and the Dixwell Medal for classics. During his six years at Nobles, Birne won the Trustees’ Prize for scholarship four times. He attends Harvard University.

“A lot of teachers here have supported me in ways that have changed the way I think. For example, I had Mr. Kehlenbeck for geometry and BC Calc. One lesson that I took away from his class was how not to be a perfectionist. I would get annoyed at myself if I messed up little things, and I wanted everything to be exactly right. Sometimes, during a test, I would be the last person working. He would say, ‘Nathaniel, you have to be done. It can be excellent without being perfect.’ I try to remind myself that I don’t need to have everything right to be satisfied. I’ve learned to focus on the good things as much as the things that I wish were different. That makes those other things easier to fix because I’m just in a better place mentally.

“Everybody has things about themselves that they might consider flaws. As you improve yourself, you’re inevitably going to have things that you still wish were better. Knowing that’s always going to be the case is important because it makes you realize that you’re only going to be happy if you’re happy having flaws.

“I’m proud that I’ve pushed myself to do a lot of things that I was nervous about, like joining the cross country team and giving presentations in class. It’s rewarding to know that I’ve challenged myself to produce the best work that I can and to learn as much as I can.”

Nathaniel Birne

2019

Class

of

The

Devon Minor has earned recognition for his original spoken-word pieces, his performances in Nobles musicals and in assembly. He helped revive Nobles’ track-and-field program this spring after a 75-year hiatus, and played varsity football. Minor was a prefect, a middle school mentor and a Peer Help Program leader. He was part of Students United for Racial Justice and Equity and Brother 2 Brother, Nobles’ male affinity group for students of color.

Upon graduating, he received the Public Speaking Award and the Computer Science Award. Minor studies engineering at Tufts University.

“Poetry is limitless. It offers me the ability to share my experience and feelings without the need for the most proper grammar or a complete sentence every single time. But the vocal piece of slam poetry is most important: when I read it aloud, it gives the intonation that I want the reader to hear.

“The way I like to learn, I don’t want to just get lectured. Computer science is pretty much all hands-on learning; I’ve taken every class there is at Nobles. It’s fun to learn theories about how to apply certain pieces of code in order to make them work, and then to put the building blocks together. For my senior project, I built an autonomous robot. Last summer, I went to a camp at MIT and we worked on autonomous drones, but they were already made for us. I was cool, but I wanted to build the entire thing from scratch.’

“I’m a blunt leader; I’m not going to sugarcoat the message. I say what’s wrong at school and try to help get it fixed—I hope that it’s made some impact.

I want people to know that academics may not always be everything, but the relationships you form are crucial to your success and happiness.”

Devon Minor In addition to volunteering for Samaritans’ suicide hotline, Shirley Hu helps lead affinity group Asian 2 Asian. She was recognized as an outstanding delegate in 2019 at Harvard Model U.N. and aced an entrepreneurial development course at Babson College.

She also lent her talent to the Nobles chamber singers, the winter musical and the Nobles Dance Program.

She traveled to Cambodia and Vietnam with Nobles and studied for a semester at Alzar School of Leadership. Hu received the President’s Volunteer Service Award. She attends Georgetown University.

Lily Farden was a boarder and 12-season varsity athlete. She was ice hockey captain, NEPSAC Player of the Year, ISL MVP and thrice earned First Team All-New England and All-ISL honors. She won the Boston Bruins John Carlton Memorial Trophy as the best player in Eastern Massachusetts and played for the Under-18 USA national team, winning gold at the World Championships in Dmitrov, Russia. She was also field hockey captain, earning First Team All-NEPSAC, NEPSAC All-Star and three-time All-ISL honors. She won the Miller Medal for excellence in scholarship and athletics and was named NEPSAC Female Athlete of the Year. Farden is a member of the ice hockey team at Harvard.

Lily Farden

Shirley Hu

“I think that on the surface, sports are what people know about me. I’ve been on three varsity teams since my freshman year: field hockey, hockey and lacrosse.

Some of my favorite times at Nobles have come from playing sports and just being a part of a team. Hockey is my favorite sport and my main sport, but field hockey has definitely been my best experience on a team, hands down. It seems like the best people at Nobles always end up being on that team, and it’s a really great combination of having so much fun at practice every day but also being serious enough to actually get it done and be successful.

“Some of my best laughs ever at Nobles have come from Latin class. Since my freshman year, I’ve literally had the same exact people in my class for four years.

I think it’s definitely unique among other languages. Obviously, people say it’s a dead language—which it is—but the things that you can gain from learning it are really important. It’s like a little puzzle, and there are so many unknowns that being able to piece it out for yourself and problem-solve with what’s in front of you is a really useful skill.”

“I used to feel uncomfortable speaking out about things that I’m not well-read about. Very few people actually read both the New York Times and Breitbart on their own time. Now, I’m more comfortable starting conversations knowing that I’m not just coming from one source. I hadn’t really thought about the idea of ‘leaning into discomfort’ until a friend asked me to join a club called the Middle Ground. With more political turmoil around topics like [Supreme Court Justice] Kavanaugh, it was a space for discussion. In debate club, people asked, ‘Why is the Middle Ground trying to take our job?’ But debate uses logic to prove the conclusion you started with, and the Middle Ground is for listening. If everyone listened better, a lot of problems would go away. You can have an emotional, passionate argument or get frustrated, and still coexist with respect.

“I’m drawn to international relations having both my Chinese identity and my American identity, liking languages and being fascinated by differences in culture.

When you travel, it’s like you’re a little kid again; everything you see is new, and that’s essentially what international affairs is—understanding that difference and how that affects how you treat others.”

“One of the things I’m most grateful for coming through Nobles is that I’ve had the opportunity—more so than I’ve ever had in my education—to have strong male role models and mentors, and that has specifically come from a couple of my classes, extracurriculars and wrestling. In terms of culture and team environment, the wrestling coaches are an incredibly supportive group. I like the physical grind that comes with any sort of training in the weight room or going out on the cross country course or being on the mat.

“Mr. [Oris] Bryant and Mr. [Dick] Baker are two of the greatest influences on me. Mr. Bryant is a very high-level intellectual, and just talking to him and listening to him—how he speaks, how he articulates himself—is something I want to emulate. His influence has been particularly impactful in how I’ve developed as an academic. The way he challenges students to consider how they create, support and refute various arguments was revolutionary to me.

“When Mr. Baker brought the lens of philosophy and intellectual principles to English literature, it segued right off of my time studying away at the School for Ethics and Global Leadership, and I just fell in love instantly with that mentality.

He and I have also had a point of connection and talked in great length about what he did in the [military] service, and where he sees me going and where the Army as a professional organization can take me.”

“Through the Global Online Academy [a consortium in which Nobles participates], I took ‘Applying Philosophy to Modern Global Issues.’ We learned about issues such as drone warfare, designer babies and the opioid crisis. This class combined my interests in math, physics, and philosophy and enabled me to make connections throughout my other Nobles courses. Whether learning about Newtonian mechanics in physics, reading Voltaire’s philosophical Candide [a French satire] in French, studying the Scientific Revolution in AP Euro, or reading Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness in English, the GOA class led to a cascade of connections. My teachers encouraged and helped me to see these parallels. From engaging with philosophers, scientists, mathematicians, authors, and artists, I have a new perspective on humanity and am excited to continue to explore the natural and metaphysical world through a variety of lenses next year.”

Vikram Aldykiewicz

Alexandra Weinsten

Alexandra Weinsten was a leader of the Achieve Program, Jewish Culture Club, Community Service Club, and Peer Help Program. She volunteered in the New Orleans EXCEL program and spent one summer constructing a school and teaching English in the Krobo region of Ghana. On the soccer field, Weinsten helped the girls varsity soccer team win two ISL Championships and a NEPSAC Championship, earning the Ceci Clark Shield Award for her tenacity and commitment. Additionally, Weinsten helped the girls varsity tennis team win their first ISL championship since 1985. Weinsten won the Greenough Prize for excellence in mathematics and the Sheldon Prize for excellence in science. She attends the University of Pennsylvania.

John Murray “We decided to start the Heroes Wear Dog Tags club after Kyle Carpenter, the Medal of Honor recipient, came to long assembly. People were enamored with his story, and for many people here, that was their first time hearing a story like that. They had never heard of the sacrifices and the love that people on the frontlines have for each other. We saw that community response and decided to start a club to educate Nobles students on the military and support veteran organizations.

“It’s important to expose Nobles students to the positives of military life. There’s a stigma toward it, but I’m unique here in that I’ve become familiar with the military through my family. I can see how the positives outweigh the negatives. I think many Nobles students would be greatly suited to the military path, but they are reluctant to take it because they don’t understand those benefits.

“Nobles teaches us to work as a team, be good people, and develop problem-solving skills. All of those qualities go such a long way in the military. And there’s such a strong emphasis here on service to others and leadership for the public good. Not much else epitomizes those aims like military service.”

Beyond co-founding Heroes Wear Dog Tags, John Murray served as a Shield Head, Peer Help Program leader, prefect and boys varsity hockey captain. A boarder, he was a member of the Dorm Leadership Council and a winner of the Deb Harrison Award. At graduation, he won the Davis Cup for sportsmanship. He attends Harvard University as an Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) cadet.

Vikram Aldykiewicz won the Alumni Prize for History, served on the Disciplinary Committee, and was an active member of affinity groups Brother 2 Brother, Asian 2 Asian and Students United for Racial Justice and Equity. He was a boarder, ran cross country, rowed for two seasons, and captained the wrestling team, winning the Steve Toubman Award. He studied away at SEGL in Washington, D.C., and studied Arabic through the Global Online Academy. Aldykiewicz earned a full ROTC scholarship to Georgetown University.

Angelina Gomes “Before foster care, I grew up in a series of projects. I’ve been incredibly open with what I share with people, and I try to be my most true and authentic self.

It’s not worth changing myself for those who may never understand me or where I come from.

“Coming to Nobles through Achieve [an academic program for middleschoolers hosted at Nobles] was like entering Narnia. Then we saw the Castle, and I was like, ‘Wait, there’s more?’ Getting my acceptance letter into Nobles was way bigger than my acceptance letter into college because of what it meant to me and how representative it was of all my hard work and dedication. The dorms created a family for me that I didn’t have any other way, and Nobles has been the most consistent, stable thing in my life ever. I’d never lived in a place as long as I’ve lived here.

“Nobles also showed me my love for English, writing and literature. It’s so insane how the curriculum has lined up with different points in my life; there hasn’t been a book I’ve read here that hasn’t blown my mind. My teachers have consistently challenged me, from my writing, to my reading, to my participation, to my thoughts. They’ve taught me that no matter what I do, I can write. You can be a math professor and write. You can be a doctor and write. You can do anything and write, and I plan to do anything and write.”

Liam Smith “I intended to do Outdoor Adventure freshman year, but it was canceled that season. So I thought I would try wood-fired ceramics. I never thought of myself as an art person before I started working with clay. It’s so much fun to make things with your hands that have three-dimensional form. Ceramics is the only art form that exists within the same space as the viewer. I studied classics at Nobles, too, and was interested in Philemon and Bacchus; they were an old couple turned into a tree, so I made a sculpture about that. I also love chemistry and wanted to incorporate that. I remembered a reaction that Mr. Kern [retired faculty member] had shown us called the thermite reaction, which is quite explosive. Combining chemistry, mythology and ceramics, I thought I’d have a sculpture of a phoenix coming out of the ashes—that very cliché moment. And then I thought of when it’s dying, peacefully lying on the ground, but it didn’t feel right to me. For my final version, I showed the actual death of the phoenix.

“It’s more than making a single piece. You have to prepare the clay, make the piece, fire it in the kiln, glaze it, and then fire it again. It’s very processbased. You have to think about materials in your clay, how they’ll react at high temperatures, and the transition from clay to ceramic, which is a complicated chemical process.”

Liam Smith won the Trustees’ Prize for Class I. As a junior, Smith won the Michele Dufault Prize, given to a single student of high integrity and exceptional academic accomplishment. Smith served as co-president of Nobles Theatre Collective, Young Democrats, Junior Classical League, and Spectrum, a club for LGBTQ students. He also sang in choral groups and wrote for school publications. He volunteers for organizations that address food insecurity for children. At Stanford University, he plans to pursue chemistry, chemical engineering, linguistics and philosophy.

Angelina Gomes served as a leader for Students United for Racial Justice and Equity, and for Sister 2 Sister, an affinity group for female students of color. Peers elected her as the keynote speaker for the graduation celebration for Class I students of color, the annual Freeman Legacy Dinner. She spent a City Term semester in New York her Class II year and part of last summer at the Island School.

A passionate ambassador for Nobles, she was a lead tour guide and mentor to students at her former elementary school. Gomes is the first in her family to attend college, and is at Middlebury College.

“When I came to Nobles, I was a bit afraid of being myself. At my old school, kids thought it was a little strange that a guy was doing theatre. So I was confused about what I wanted to do when I got to Nobles—who I wanted to be. There were definitely some growing pains. I played baseball and soccer and liked it. I made great friends on those teams. Then I entered the theatre world. There was a Troy Bolton [from High School Musical] moment, when I felt stuck in the middle, and it was hard. Over my four years, though, I found that I just love performing. I love being surrounded by kids who love what I love and encourage me to love what I love. Nobles has allowed me to find out who I am. I mean, Nobles is not always easy. It’s a very competitive place. But it’s competitive in a friendly way that pushes you to be your best.

“One of the things I’m most proud of is the production of Spring Awakening we did last fall. It was the first major student-led production in Nobles history.

We wanted to do this musical so bad because it makes clear that problems [like abuse and suicide] exist, and it’s better to face them and talk about them.

I’m not just proud because I thought our work was extraordinary—or that we worked our butts off or that we worked six hours a day in the summer. It’s that we were so passionate about it that it wasn’t even like work for us. It was just fun.”

“SDLC [Student Diversity Leadership Conference] got me more into social justice and thinking about the world through the lens of different identities.

It’s important that Nobles kids have some awareness of what’s happening outside of our bubble. I led a walkout for gun control; we wrote letters to our representatives, had discussions, and preregistered kids to vote. It was a great day of civic engagement.

“As computer science becomes more popular at Nobles, the department is growing. Programming is like the way my brain works … having a big picture issue that you want to solve. Race, gender and social justice issues can be a little abstract, but nailing them down with data gives you more power. People might be resistant to hearing things are unjust until they’re faced with clear patterns over time, like comparing a very white school and a black charter school and the amount of money spent on a student.

“It’s my STEM science-y way of thinking that the world should work a certain way; in our ecosystem, everybody should have equal opportunities.

If that’s not the case, there’s something wrong, and that’s what I want to fix.

Nobles exposed me to a variety of things that I can do, but synthesizing all these things into an actual plan, finding my niche at the intersection of computer science and technology and social justice and applying that to real-world situations—I want to see where I can take that.”

Henry Dolgoff

Madeleine Charity

Mikaela Martin

Henry Dolgoff sang with the Chamber Singers and was co-president of the Nobleonians. He was a prefect, and also played baseball and soccer while at Nobles. Dolgoff performed in dance shows and many theatre productions. He was the title character in The Cripple of Inishmaan and Cry-Baby. Dolgoff attends the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, known as one of the world’s premier acting conservatories.

Madeleine Charity helped lead Students United for Racial Justice and Equity, Achieve Leadership Council, the Peer Help Program and was a prefect. She volunteered at Camp Sunshine for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families, and supported fundraising efforts. As a junior, she received the Williams Book Award, and upon graduation, the prestigious Head of School prize. She attends Stanford University.

“I’m fascinated by how languages work. My mom spoke Spanish to me when I was younger, and there’s this running debate in my family of whether it was my first language. Just living in Boston and being around all these different languages, I slid into French easily. In fifth grade, I started at a language camp for Mandarin Chinese. I also took Latin in eighth grade, and when I saw the similarities with French, I was like, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ My dad said, ‘Chinese is more important; you should drop French.’ So to spite him, I took both. I want to go into linguistics and hopefully be ambassador to China or a francophone country.

“My senior project is studying the effects of colonization on the African language diaspora—the history of certain African countries and their languages, and how European or Western involvement has impacted the way language has ebbed and flowed, and which languages are more prominent and which ones are looked down upon.

“Once, my dance troupe was making a piece for a competition. It had to have a message, so I wrote a poem as a backdrop for the dancing. I was communicating through a combination of my body and the music and the words and my facial expressions—that in itself is powerful, what the human body can convey.

Trilingual in French, Chinese and English, Mikaela Martin has traveled to China, Rwanda, Guatemala and South Africa with the EXCEL (experiential learning) program. She received the Harvard Book Prize as a junior. She helped lead the Peer Help Program and Sister 2 Sister (Nobles’ affinity group for female students of color), and she served as a Shield Head (admission guide) and a core member of SURJE (Students United for Racial Justice and Equity). An experienced dancer, this year she was awarded the Nobles Dance Prize.

Martin has also distinguished herself as a triple-threat in the Nobles Theatre Collective. She plans to study linguistics at Harvard University.

2019 awards and prizes ALUMNI PRIZE (for excellence in history)

GREENOUGH PRIZE (for excellence in mathematics)

SCUDDER MEDAL (for excellence in fine arts)

Vikram Aldykiewicz

Andrew Johnson Alexandra Weinsten

Emily St. John

BRADLEY D. NASH 1919 MEDAL (for executive ability)

Owen Asnis BRAMHALL-BRIDGE PURCHASE PRIZE IN ART

HEAD OF SCHOOL’S PRIZE (formerly headmaster’s prize)

Lev Sandler Madeleine Charity

Delaney Callaghan Annie Ellison Brynn O’Connor

LITTLE MEMORIAL ESSAY AWARDS

CLASS OF ’98 AWARD (given, by the vote of the graduating class)

MILLER MEDAL (excellence in scholarship and athletics)

Owen Asnis

Lily Farden

COMPUTER SCIENCE AWARD

NATHANIEL C. NASH PRIZE (for journalism)

Devon Minor

Creative: Lindsey Qian Literary Analysis: Amar Scherzer

SHELDON PRIZE (for excellence in science)

Alexandra Weinsten SHILLITO CUP (for excellence in photography)

Susan Rowley SIDNEY L. EATON PRIZE (for excellence in performing arts)

All Senior Participants of the Nobles Theatre Collective THOMAS S. RESOR COACHING EXCELLENCE AWARD

Mark Harrington, faculty

Grayson Welo DAVIS CUP (for sportsmanship)

Alex Poole John Murray EDWARD L. BOND JR. PRIZE (for improvement in scholarship)

Cyan Jean EDWARD STONE GLEASON AWARD (for academic excellence)

Nathaniel Birne

TRUSTEES’ PRIZE FOR CLASS I THE NOBLES DANCE PRIZE

Liam Smith

Elizabeth Kantrowitz Mikaela Martin Lucy Morrison

VERNON L. GREENE PRIZE FOR FACULTY EXCELLENCE

Chris Averill NOBLES SHIELD (for most respected female and male athlete)

Aislinn McCarthy Will Zink

VOLKMANN MEDAL

Meghan Pauly (excellence in French) Jackson Smith (excellence in Mandarin) Julia Lyne (excellence in Spanish)

PUBLIC SPEAKING AWARD

Devon Minor EPES SARGENT DIXWELL MEDAL (for excellence in Latin)

WISWELL PRIZE (for excellence in English)

REGINALD DAVIDSON MUSIC AWARD

Karina Cowperthwaite

Nathaniel Birne

Cyan Jean

G. L. BRIDGE AWARD (for excellence in ceramics)

ROBERT J. AGOSTINI AWARD (for athletic contribution as a non-competitor)

Jesse Brownell

Bill Kehlenbeck, posthumously

GRANDIN WISE AWARD (for excellence in community service)

RUSSELL B. STEARNS ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Shirley Hu

Maya Principe Maya Rodriguez

class matriculation list 19 9 8 7 5 5 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

Harvard University Middlebury College Dartmouth College Boston College Tufts University Williams College Hamilton College Bowdoin College Duke University Georgetown University University of Chicago University of Pennsylvania University of Virginia University of Wisconsin-Madison Boston University Colby College Colgate University New York University Stanford University Syracuse University Vanderbilt University

One student enrolled at each of the following institutions: American University Babson College Barnard College Bates College Brown University College of the Holy Cross College of WIlliam & Mary Colorado College Columbia College Cornell University Davidson College Greater Boston Joint Apprentice Training Center / International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 103 Johns Hopkins University Lehigh University Massachusetts Institute of Technology Northeastern University Oberlin College of Arts and Sciences

Phillips Andover Academy Pitzer College Princeton University Rhodes College Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Santa Clara University School of the Art Institute of Chicago Skidmore College Union College University of Colorado at Boulder University of Edinburgh University of Exeter University of Massachusetts-Amherst Wake Forest University Washington and Lee University Washington University in St. Louis Wesleyan University