The Magazine of William Penn Charter School
Spring 2011
China Connections
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From the Head of School Some of my recent work is stretching me in two different directions to consider what Penn Charter might look like in eras unknown to me. We are currently engaged in an exciting strategic planning process that will determine the priorities that will guide our educational program into the future. The skills that students will need to learn to be successfully prepared for the 21st century will be different in 10 years than they are today. And while much of the content that we teach will remain the same (I am certain that Shakespeare, algebra and U.S. History, among many other familiar topics and disciplines, will always be part of the curriculum), how this content is packaged and delivered to our students is changing already. Just recently, at the National Association of Independent Schools annual conference, I was introduced to and excited by Kahn Academy (kahnacademy.org) – a fascinating and engaging Web-based classroom that covers thousands of topics, all of which can be accessed from any computer virtually for free and in only a few seconds. Even in this brave new world, while I am certain that nothing will replace the student-teacher relationship that meaningfully characterizes the best of Penn Charter, how teachers instruct and how students learn is evolving beyond the familiar four walls of the classroom as we once knew it. Equally exciting as this strategic planning process is my work looking back into Penn Charter’s history as we make preparations to celebrate our school’s 325th anniversary in 2014-2015. While preliminary plans are in their infancy and developing (and unfunded, as of yet!), this anniversary will give rise to a celebration of 325 years of Quaker education. William Penn knew that education was an essential common good for his colony, and ultimately our country, to prosper. Consequently, he established schools that were not intended to provide a “guarded education” solely to Friends but were open to an array of people, each of whom could contribute to the success of the “Holy Experiment” that was Penn’s vision. Looking at our past to prepare for a 325th birthday celebration and securing our future by taking part in strategic planning reminds me of the theme of our most recent Penn Charter admissions viewbook: Reinventing Classic. At Penn Charter we honor the past, take the best of what we know is good for students, and make education new and relevant for today’s learners, as we strive to prepare them for tomorrow. So many of our graduates speak passionately about how a Penn Charter education prepared them for life. While life has changed in so many ways, this purpose for Penn Charter remains constant. This excites me about my work and makes me proud to be at new Old Penn Charter.
Darryl J. Ford
Tim Bell as Seymour and Jamie Lozoff as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors. More photos at penncharter.com/news.
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The Magazine of William Penn Charter School
Darryl J. Ford Head of School
Contents
Stephanie Judson Associate Head of School Elizabeth A. Glascott Assistant Head of School Anne Marble Caramanico Clerk, Overseers John T. Rogers Hon. 1689 Chief Development Officer William A. Gallagher Jr. OPC ’91 Alumni Society President
Penn Charter is the magazine of William Penn Charter School. It is published by the Marketing Communications Office and distributed to alumni, parents and friends of the school. In addition to providing alumni updates about classmates, reunions and events, the magazine focuses on the people, the programs and the ideas that energize our school community.
2 Spring 2011
Editor Sharon Sexton
From the Head of School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Front Cover World-Changing Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Assistant Editor Rebecca Luzi
The Setting of the Sundial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Feature Photography Michael Branscom
China Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 124th PC/GA Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Design Turnaround Marketing Communications
William Penn Charter School 3000 West School House Lane Philadelphia, PA 19144 215.844.3460 www.penncharter.com
Learning about Feelings & Friendships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
13
Campus Currents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Annual FUNd Party: A Swinging Good Time! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 The Way It Was at PC 60 Years Ago . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Class Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Penn Charter is mailed at a special third-class rate for nonprofit organizations and cannot be forwarded.
On the cover: Middle School students painted hulus, also known as calabash or bottle gourds, in Mandarin class. The hulu symbolizes good health. When harvested young, it is eaten as a vegetable; when dried, it is used as a vessel to transport water or decorated as folk art.
Š 2011 William Penn Charter School
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“Many are the trysts I’ve had With the mortals here, Their bodies offered to my trust, To cut and sew and maybe cure.” —John Heysham Gibbon Jr., 1960
World-Changing
Work Millions of lives have been saved by the vision and work of this persistent OPC. by Connie Langland
John Heysham Gibbon Jr. OPC ’19 must count among the most illustrious – and most persistent – of William Penn Charter School graduates. Gibbon, a fifth-generation physician, is credited with developing the first heart-lung machines and also with performing the world’s first successful open-heart operation using total cardiopulmonary bypass. On May 6, 1953, Gibbon made history when he closed a hole between the upper heart chambers of 18-year-old Cecelia Bavolek of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., in surgery at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. For 27 minutes, Bavolek’s heart and A graduate of Penn Charter, Princeton and Jefferson Medical College, John Heysham Gibbon Jr. opened a new era in the history of cardiac surgery by developing the first heart-lung machine and performing the first successful surgery with it on May 6, 1953. Courtesy of Thomas Jefferson University Archives & Special Collections, Philadelphia.
(LEFT)
lung function were totally supported by a machine conceived and designed by Gibbon and then refined by Gibbon and a team of IBM engineers. It was a success that was two decades in the making. Gibbon’s achievement cannot be overstated: The heartlung machine launched the modern era of cardiac surgery – eventually including heart transplants and surgery to repair otherwise fatal heart defects in the tiniest of infants. The machine moved blood from the veins through a catheter into the machine, where the blood was cooled, supplied with oxygen and then pumped back into the arteries. His own words had been recorded five years earlier: “Some day the heart-lung machine will become a practical affair.” And it has: Half a million surgeries a year in the United States; many, many more across the globe. The estimate since 1970 stands at 15-20 million benefiting from the work of this pioneer. continued on next page
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World-Changing Said Glenn J. R. Whitman OPC ’70, physician and director of the Cardiac Surgical Intensive Care Unit at Johns Hopkins University Hospital: “There are very few people who have changed the course of nature in the way he did. He is not 100 percent responsible, but he is largely responsible. The magnitude of what he did is incredible.” And James S. Killinger OPC ’91, a pediatric critical-care surgeon at Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx, N.Y., called Gibbon’s contribution to the world of cardiac surgery “immeasurable.” Gibbon was born in 1903, one of four children of John H. Gibbon Sr., a prominent Philadelphia surgeon, and Marjorie Young Gibbon, who is said to have passed on her love of poetry to her son. She was the daughter of Gen. Samuel Young, first president of the War College. The family had a home in Philadelphia and spent summers on Lynfield Farm, west of the city, near Media. Gibbon died there in 1973, just shy of his 70th birthday and the 20th anniversary of the historic surgery. In his youth, Gibbon, known as Jack, was athletic, competitive, an avid chess player and a scholar, according to his biographers. He graduated from Penn Charter in 1919, from Princeton University in 1923 (at age 19) and from Jefferson Medical College in 1927. At Penn Charter, Gibbon’s talents were on full display: Accounts in the school magazine show that he excelled at his studies, edited for the magazine, dabbled in theater, and played center halfback on the winning school soccer team. In
his senior year, Gibbon was an officer in the Trident honor society and finished a close second for the top prize for scholarship – but no matter, the accolades would come later. Gibbon was drawn to the intellectual life of a writer as much as to medicine, and he considered leaving medical school. He was persuaded to obtain his M.D. by his father, who told him: “If you don’t want to practice, you needn’t, but you won’t write worse for having it.” Trained as a surgeon, Gibbon decided to pursue a career that would combine surgery with clinical research, and in 1929 he won a research fellowship with Dr. Edward B. Churchill at Harvard Medical School. What happened one year later set the course of his life. On duty one night at Boston City Hospital, monitoring the vital signs of a patient dying of a pulmonary embolism, Gibbon realized that her life could be saved if “it were possible to remove continuously some of the blue blood from the patient’s swollen veins, put oxygen into that blood and allow carbon dioxide to escape from it, and then to inject continuously the now-red blood back into the patient’s arteries. … We would have bypassed the obstructing embolus and performed part of the work of the patient’s heart and lungs outside the body.” Gibbon’s account was cited by his close friend, Harris B. Shumacker Jr., in a 1982 memoir published by the National Academy of Sciences. Gibbon at the time was a novice researcher but was undeterred by mentors who suggested he pursue less ambitious projects. He was, according to biographer Ada
The Literary Society performed its plays in Center City, in this case at the Bellevue-Stratford hotel. In the 1918 production, when he was a senior, Gibbon (right) played Blackie Daw, a leading male role in the comedy Get-Rich-Quick-Wallingford. The school magazine reported that the Penn Charter plays evolved into “a social event of prime importance in Philadelphia.” The 1918 production attracted an estimated 2,000 theatergoers, filling the Bellevue-Stratford ballroom to capacity. The Literary Society sent $1,000 in box office proceeds to the French War Relief Committee.
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Recounting that era, London cardiothoracic surgeon Kenneth M. Taylor described the high drama surrounding Gibbon’s work: “[N]ot only was there the high point of May 6, 1953, there were three other days, one in February 1952 and two in July 1953, when the patients (baby girls aged 15 months, 5 years, and 5 years, respectively) did not survive, leading to a self-imposed moratorium on [bypass] surgery.” His good friend Shumacker recalled Gibbon’s frame of mind: “Finally May 6, 1953, arrived and his successful closure of an atrial septal defect brought his 20-year labor to a close. Jack then cast his work with his heart-lung machine aside, turning its future use and development over to younger hands. He told me that he had achieved his goal and would now work on a different project.” Months prior to his ground-breaking surgery, Gibbon had shared details of his invention with the Mayo Clinic in February 1953. By the mid 1950s, Mayo Clinic developed the “Mayo Gibbon-type oxygenator,” and other heart-lung bypass designs also were being tested and put into use. Gibbon’s other research focused on cardiac function, pulmonary ventilation, and other esophageal and pulmonary problems. continued on next page
Gibbon (left) was cast as Blanche Bailey in Penn Charter’s 1917 production of The Galloper, a three-act farce about the experiences of Americans in the GraecoTurkish War. In that era, Penn Charter was an all-boys school and boys often played female roles.
Romaine-Davis, a “stubborn, persevering, single-minded genius, whose determination ... resulted in the one thing essential for sustained progress in heart surgery.” It was during this period that Gibbon married Mary Hopkinson, known as Maly, a technician in Churchill’s laboratory and daughter of a famous portraitist of the era, Charles Hopkinson. By 1935, Gibbon, assisted by his wife, had developed a blood oxygenator that was able to sustain the cardiorespiratory function of a cat for nearly four hours. Returning to Philadelphia, the Gibbons worked to refine the machine, mostly at University of Pennsylvania labs, until the start of World War II. Gibbon, by then 38 with four children at home with Maly, was gone four years, serving as an Army surgeon in the South Pacific. Back in Philadelphia, now working at Jefferson, Gibbon’s work advanced, assisted by Dr. Bernard J. Miller, himself a graduate of Chestnut Hill Academy. The effort won the backing of IBM chairman Thomas J. Watson, who lent financial and engineering support. The Gibbon-IBM team added wire-mesh screens to enhance oxygenation and filters to block air bubbles and clots as well as monitoring devices.
Gibbon and his wife, Mary “Maly” Hopkinson, shown here with the heart-lung machine, met while working in a Boston lab. Together, they had four children and collaborated for years to develop the revolutionary machine they initially called the “oxygenator.” Courtesy of Thomas Jefferson University Archives & Special Collections, Philadelphia.
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Drs. Frankenstein & Samuels Louis Samuels came to Penn Charter to talk about “playing God.” As the parent of one OPC and two current students, Samuels visits school often, but this time he was here to address the sophomore class about the ethics and limits of science as played out in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein, and the ethics and expanding possibilities of his own work as a cardiac surgeon. In 2001, Samuels implanted an electric artificial heart in the chest of James Quinn – the world’s fifth patient to receive the totally implantable device, and the first to ever be discharged from the hospital. The path that led Samuels to the operating room that day began years earlier when he was motivated to find a treatment for congestive heart failure, the disease responsible for the death of his father and millions of others. During his PC visit,
Samuels brought with him several artificial hearts – he is actively engaged in ongoing work to refine surgical techniques and assistive devices for heart patients – and he was accompanied by Brenda LydeLucky, a recent surgery patient. Together, they answered numerous questions from curious students – questions about science, surgery, recovery, insurance. Shelley, who had an interest in science, wrote Frankenstein during a time when scientific discoveries abounded and
debate raged about whether religion or science was “the source of answers to life’s many mysteries,” Samuels said. “Scientific discoveries were all around Shelley, and her youthful imagination took stock in the seeming limitless possibilities, including the creation of life itself.” Her title character, Victor Frankenstein, “was determined to create life at the expense of himself and those around him,” Samuels told students who gathered at lunch time in the Meeting Room. “He was consumed with and ultimately consumed by his own creation.” In his address, provocatively titled “Drs. Frankenstein and Samuels,” Samuels described his fascination with the heart, its simplicity and complexity, and his excitement about medical advances that can improve the quality and length of life for millions of heart patients. However, his ambition, he said, is motivated not by self gain but by the welfare of patients whose lives pulsate, literally, in his hands. “To do what I do is not meant to be an attempt at playing God, but rather of being human.”
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In 1956 Gibbon was awarded the Samuel D. Gross Professorship of Surgery and chair of the department. He retired from Jefferson in 1967 and spent his remaining years with his wife at Lynfield Farm, where he died of a heart attack while playing tennis on Feb. 5, 1973. Gibbon, a heavy smoker, had previously experienced bouts of angina and, ironically, had even discussed with Shumacker the possibility of pursuing open-heart surgery to improve his health. In 1990, Jefferson paid Gibbon a posthumous honor by renaming its new hospital building on 11th between Chestnut and Sansom Streets the Gibbon Building. Gibbon’s admirers were left to ponder whether his remarkable machine would have won him the Nobel Prize in medicine, if he had lived. It was cause for conjecture for years to come. In 2003, the 50th anniversary of Gibbon’s landmark surgery, famed heart surgeon Denton Cooley of the Texas Heart Institute reflected on Gibbon’s contribution. Cooley wrote: “John Gibbon deserves much credit for the years of laboratory research that encouraged him to try his elaborate device clinically, with success in 1 of his first 2 attempts. One can only marvel at his ability to attempt such a clinical experiment supported by what now would be considered marginal and unacceptable results in the experimental laboratory. That event stimulated investigators to move
ahead at an almost frantic pace. Today, open heart procedures are accomplished regularly with low risk, and [the procedure] is used not only for cardiac conditions but for diverse other conditions.” Penn Charter alumnus James Killinger added this note: “Cardiopulmonary bypass is occasionally used outside the operating room, in the intensive care unit, to support patients with severe respiratory or cardiac failure. Since the 1970s, surgeons and intensivists have used this technology to save the lives of more than 20,000 children.” Killinger, who is medical director of the Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) program at Children’s, said his hospital utilizes ECMO 10-15 times a year, “but always on the most critically ill children – those with the greatest risk of dying without it.” As a final note, Killinger, who, like Gibbon, graduated from PC, Princeton and Jefferson Medical College, offered this praise of Gibbon: “Having such a connection with John Gibbon is special for me, and I think of that connection every time we put a patient on ECMO. It is unlikely that he envisioned the use of this technology, that has saved so many adult lives, outside of the operating room on our most vulnerable children, but his impact on this small world of pediatric critical care medicine is substantial.” Said Whitman: “John Gibbon has to be the most worldchanging person ever to graduate from Penn Charter.” PC
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Teaching & Learning
The Setting of the Sundial Q
The Head of School, a history teacher and a collector of art and antiques, recounts his investigation of the Chigwell Close sundial, a tale of twists and turns. by Darryl J. Ford
This story resembles a tall tale – like the stories about the fish that kept getting away – except I wasn’t angling, but just looking for the sundial that once sat on a pedestal in Chigwell Close. It had gone missing. On a good day, when everything is running on schedule and I don’t encounter too many surprises, I try to walk to each of our academic buildings; this “management by walking around” allows me to see students and faculty and to observe firsthand what is happening in our classrooms. One day last fall, as I took my daily walk, I decided to pass through Chigwell Close just, as it happened, as our new discovery garden was approaching completion. Inspired by the beauty of Chigwell – the captured rainwater streaming through a curving bed of stones, the blueberry bushes, the flagstone pathways – I glanced at the old sundial pedestal and had the grand idea to find the lost sundial and place both in the middle of a circular pattern of stepping stones, which had just been set. Chigwell Close is named for Chigwell School, in the county of Essex, England, where William Penn studied in his youth, and I remember thinking that the sundial
had some connection to Penn as well. So, that is how my quest to recover this important Penn Charter artifact began. I took off to see Allan Brown, our school archivist, to ask whether the lost dial was in his possession or in Penn Charter’s archives at Haverford College. On my way, I bumped into Phil Palkon, our superintendent of grounds, who informed me that Director of Admissions Steve Bonnie had the dial. I detoured to Steve Bonnie, who told me that the sundial was removed from Chigwell by the late Charlie Simmons, who meticulously cared for our grounds prior to Phil. Dr. Bonnie said that, more than a decade ago, Charlie removed the sundial to perhaps protect it from visiting pranksters on PC/GA Day. The dial, Dr. Bonnie reported, was safely stored on the Strawbridge property, in the Carriage House where Charlie often worked. Within a moment, I bumped into Allan Brown – management by walking around has many benefits – and was able to ask him if the sundial was in the Carriage House. No, he said, it was in his possession on the second floor of Gummere Library. And, later that day, Allan presented me with a box that continued on next page
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Teaching & Learning One project integrating math, science, history, English, Latin and art.
Randy Granger holding the finished 8”x 8” brass plate, a replica of a sundial from William Penn’s grammar school. Head of School Darryl J. Ford followed the process through to the end; here, Grant Shaffer and Edward Malandro discuss plans to etch the final plate. Working on the floor of the art room, Granger, Malandro and Shaffer hammer a pin into the plate before dropping it into the etching solution. continued from previous page
contained a lovely brass sundial that I was certain had been in Chigwell for decades. I was puzzled by the box, however, and its label reading “Hummingbird Sundial made in Taiwan.” My sleuthing led me to show the sundial to Penn Charter employees who are a bit long-in-the-tooth. I asked Steve Bonnie, who entered PC as a seventh grader in 1960 and has remained here as a teacher, coach and administrator, and Charlie Kaesshaefer, who arrived in ninth grade in 1967 and achieved the same triple-threat (please note, both men did take a break from PC to attend college): Was this the dial that you remember? Both of these veterans assured me that the dial in the box was, in fact, the sundial they observed in Chigwell for decades. I was making progress. But, with the brass sundial in my hands, the significance of the artifact gave me pause. Dated 1666 and bearing the inscription “Tempus Fugit,” the sundial was given to Penn Charter by the Chigwell School as a tribute to Penn. According to articles Allan subsequently found in Penn Charter Magazine and Chigwell School’s magazine, the dial was presented to Penn Charter in December 1952 by Henry Gillam Reifsnyder OPC ’15, on behalf of the Welcome Society of Pennsylvania, a group whose members were direct descendants of passengers who arrived in America with
William Penn on the good ship Welcome. William Wistar Comfort OPC ’90 (that would be 1890!), president emeritus of Haverford College, accepted the sundial on behalf of his fellow Penn Charter Overseers. Clearly, the piece was linked to our founder as well as to the courtyard named for his old school. Today’s Chigwell Close, with its gurgling stream and playful children, seemed the ideal setting for the dial, but I was moved to protect the sundial for posterity. I decided that the sundial would remain safe in our archives, and that I would have a replica made and installed in Chigwell. There was no one better suited to tackle the next phase of this project than Randy Granger, PC art teacher, recipient of the Randy W. Granger Chair in Visual Arts, and expert in art archeology and historic preservation. He was eager to inspect the dial and get to work. Randy observed that a piece of the dial’s arm was broken and questioned whether our archives at Haverford College might contain any photographic records that would help him fashion a better replica. Allan dutifully traveled to Haverford and, imagine my surprise when he returned to school without any photos but with a box containing a sundial, dated 1666. On the back of the dial, inscribed in the brass, was the word: original. Imagine my surprise, at that moment, to realize that
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some other forward-thinking head of school (most likely Headmaster John F. Gummere) had the fine idea to create a replica of the 1666 sundial and place it in Chigwell – keeping the original safe and secure! So, I now had two sundials. Or, maybe three? According to … Better than riches, the school history published in 1989 in honor of Penn Charter’s tricentennial, that headmaster who ordered up the replica was prescient: “[the dial] was retired to the Quaker collection at Haverford College for security and replaced by a replica which soon disappeared.” So, maybe three dials: the dial in the PC archive, the dial engraved “original” in the Haverford archive, and the missing replica? Or, was the missing replica referred to in … Better than riches actually the same dial that Charlie Simmons removed, the one that ended up in the PC archive? And, what of the box with the puzzling reference to Taiwan and a hummingbird? I wasn’t finished yet.
Q Randy Granger and his students researched the history of engraving and etching with the intent to replicate the 1666 Chigwell School sundial using – to the extent possible – 17th century engraving tools and techniques. A document first published in the late 1600s, around the time Penn Charter was established, became a critical source for their work: Mechanick Dyalling, by Joseph Moxon. The sundial team was also excited to discover a 19th century etching technology, one that required no toxic acids. Using a 6-volt lantern battery and a plastic tub, they created a deep, handsome etching with a combination of 6.5L of water and 50 oz. of fine sea salt.
Real-World Learning
What has been even more exciting than this fish tale of a sundial is the work that Randy Granger and his students have done to replicate the artifact. Together, they made a series of important discoveries and decisions about the replica: ET hey would create the replica using materials and techniques from the era of the original. Randy made gravers (engraving tools) and researched the alloy in the original brass. He and his students used as a manual the fourth edition of Mechanick Dyalling – a 1703 document with the descriptive subtitle: “TEACHING Any Man, tho’ of an Ordinary Capacity and unlearned in the Mathematicks, To Draw a True SUNDYAL” – to etch and engrave the brass. (See sidebar.) E The replica should function as an accurate sundial. The angle of the arm of the dial on the original was set to the longitude and latitude of Chigwell, England, and could never have told accurate Philadelphia time; the replica would be set to 40°N, Philadelphia’s latitude coordinate. This exciting classroom experience began in fall 2010 with Randy’s Advanced Architecture class and continued this spring with Ed Malandro and Grant Shaffer, two seniors who shaped an independent study around the project and became engrossed in the work. Grant was surprised that he looked forward to spending not just his class time but his free periods in the art room working on the dial. “It was a real-world project because it integrated math, science, history, English, Latin, art – all these disciplines in one project.” “Mr. Granger calls it real learning because you’re learning by doing,” Ed said. “We had so many failures, and we repeated so many steps again and again. Sometimes it felt like we weren’t making progress. And then, one day – Pop! – it all fell into place.”
Postscript
On another of my walks, I found Lower School science teacher Steve Wade, who co-clerked the committee planning the discovery garden in Chigwell Close, to tell him this tale. I began my recap by asking Steve if he knew about the sundial in Chigwell Close. “Yes,” he replied, “and I have it.” Surprised, and knowing that I had two sundials in my office, I questioned Steve about just what he possessed. He was in possession of the “Hummingbird Sundial made in Taiwan,”
which was probably placed on the pedestal after the replica was removed. Not knowing if and where this story will end, I am pleased to have traversed this sundial trail and proud of the superb teaching and learning around this artifact. With a new sundial completed and Chigwell Close renovated as a discovery garden for Lower School students and a green square for the entire Penn Charter community to gather, we will soon place our new sun-dyal – this one a synthesis of Penn Charter’s past, present and future – in its rightful place in Chigwell! PC
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Teaching & Learning
China c o nn e c t i o n s by Rebecca Luzi
Middle and Upper School Mandarin students are learning the nuance of pronunciation. Fourth and fifth graders can sing Xin nian kuai le (Happy New Year). Parents have tried their hand at Chinese calligraphy. And teachers have traveled to Beijing, Tianjin, Sichuan and Yunnan Province. Penn Charter has introduced Mandarin in the foreign language program and then gone a step further to embrace Chinese culture. From the beginning, the Non-Western Language Committee, formed to choose a new language and then integrate it into the curriculum, envisioned an interdisciplinary approach to their mission. All along, the process has been much more than designing foreign language courses. “It’s the other work we’re doing that makes our process unique,” said David Brightbill, member of the committee and chair of the foreign language department. “The best way to make this program successful is to look for interdisciplinary connections.” In 2009, the committee made its recommendation to the school: add Mandarin Chinese to the curriculum, using
pinyin, a system of transcribing Chinese characters, along with simplified characters. The school also formed a China Connections Committee to create a context for this new foreign language by identifying classroom and extracurricular opportunities to learn about Chinese culture, history and religion. In preparation, social studies teacher Ed Marks, who co-clerks the committee along with Brightbill, visited Sichuan Province in southwest China for a month in 2009 as part of the George School’s Global Service Program. Marks and 14 other educators from around the country traveled to the village of Zhongba to help with ongoing relief efforts following a devastating earthquake.
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“We live in a truly global community where interactions and connections are growing every day,” Marks said of his experience, “and international service helps to establish those connections.” The connections continued the next year. In summer 2010, Marks traveled to Shanghai for a month as part of a cultural immersion program for students from America and Europe. In charge of community service, Marks guided students as they helped children of migrant workers with their English skills. David Brightbill later joined Marks, and the two teachers visited Penn Charter’s new “sister” school, Yaohua School, in Tianjin, Hebei Province. Two administrators from Yaohua, a highly regarded school in Tianjin, had visited Penn Charter in May 2010 and were eager to reciprocate. Next year, the China Connections Committee plans for students from both schools to participate in a homestay exchange program. “We hope that this will be the start of a long relationship,” Brightbill said, “that over the years will allow many Penn Charter students and teachers the opportunity to experience China and the Chinese culture firsthand.” To celebrate Chinese New Year this past winter, Penn Charter hosted a three-part series in which parents were invited to learn about U.S./China relations, Chinese religions, and Chinese art. Terry Cooke, PC parent, cultural anthropologist, former diplomat and expert on U.S./China environmental sustainability, engaged Penn Charter Upper School students as well as parents in a conversation about environmental issues facing China as its economy and population grow rapidly. Tom Rickards, chair of the religious studies department, led a discussion on Chinese religions and their origins. And Daphne Lee, Penn Charter’s Mandarin teacher, offered a workshop on Chinese calligraphy and painting.
The proper order of strokes is important in writing Chinese characters, students learn.
Lower School students are also exploring Chinese language and culture. Enrichment classes have introduced students to Chinese songs, zodiac animals, colors, common words and art such as paper lanterns. And children’s book author and illustrator Grace Lin, who received a 2010 Newbery Honor, addressed grades pre-K to 6 about her craft, which often focuses on Chinese traditions. Daphne Lee, a native of Taiwan, is PC’s Mandarin Chinese teacher. She has taught Mandarin at StarTalk Chinese Teacher Academy, Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania. This year, Lee teaches Mandarin Chinese to sixth and seventh grade students; she will add an eighth grade course next year. In Upper School, she teaches Level 1; next year, students may continue with Level 2. continued on next page
Mandarin teacher Daphne Lee speaks mostly in Chinese to her Middle School students.
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Teaching & Learning summer course on Chinese Buddhism at Rutgers University as part of the study tour. In China, he traveled to Lijiang, famed for its historic canals, and visited Naxi cultural sites, learning about efforts to preserve Naxi traditions. Traveling north to Shangri-La, he took part in workshops focused on preserving local Tibetan traditions and encouraging sustainable usage of natural resources. The study tour also included visits to national parks, schools and historic sites. “This is the first time I’ll get to go and meet Tibetan Buddhists in a monastery,” Rickards said before his trip, looking forward to sharing his experiences with faculty and students upon his return. “Even in the past decade, China is becoming more and more pressing.” In March, Penn Charter hosted a workshop on modern China led by the China Institute. More than a dozen teachers from PC and other area schools attended the program, which explored geography and ecology, media, politics, culture and the future. And this summer, Leah Garden, a rising senior, will spend almost a month working with ethnic Miao, one of China’s 56 minority groups. She will be in Guizhou Province in south central China, as part of the same Global Service Program in which her teacher, Ed Marks, participated. Penn Charter’s China connections are established, and growing. PC
In Enrichment classes, fourth and fifth grade students made colorful paper lanterns to celebrate Chinese New Year. continued from previous page
At first, Lee said of her students, “they thought Chinese was so hard. Now they think it is so easy.” Chinese has no verb tenses, she explained. Tense must be understood from context. Pronunciation and tones are the hardest part of learning Chinese. A ripe example: The words for “bananas” and “smelly feet” sound similar, differing just slightly in pronunciation. But, Lee joked, “To like bananas and to like smelly feet are two very different things!” Students, especially Upper School, speak mostly in Chinese, learning early on how to use classroom expressions like “Could you repeat?” and “How do you say?” They concentrate on the pinyin translation early on, and then learn to both recognize and write some Chinese characters. The religious studies and social studies curricula also reflect the interdisciplinary approach. East Asian Religions was offered to Upper School students as an elective this year, and Modern China is slated for next. Tom Rickards, religious studies chair, traveled to Yunnan Province in April as part of a “study tour” for educators sponsored by the China Institute in New York. The institute strives to advance a cross-cultural understanding of China through education, art and business. Rickards completed a
(TOP) Penn Charter parents from all divisions attended a workshop in Chinese calligraphy taught by Daphne Lee. (BOTTOM) David Brightbill and Ed Marks (second and third from left, respectively) visited Yaohua School, Penn Charter’s sister school, in Tianjin. Students from the school served as their translators as they toured the city, including a Confucian temple, shown here.
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Athletics Spotlight
“He loved this school.”
124th PC/GA Day O
New & Improved
Track coach Stephen A. Bonnie OPC ’66 (center) with class representatives James H. Shacklett OPC ’70 and Robert N. Reeves OPC ’70, celebrating the official dedication of the newly resurfaced William M. Weaver OPC ’29 Track.
n a brilliant fall day, Penn Charter attracted one of the largest crowds ever to witness the annual competition between two great schools. The 124th meeting of Penn Charter and Germantown Academy was not only packed with people, but with stories. There was the PC cross country runner who ran more than half his race with only one shoe – and finished with his personal-best time on the Penn Charter course. There was the 3-2 win by the boys soccer team, a victory that clinched the Inter-Ac championship and excited the PC student and parent fans packing the sidelines. PC won the 124th annual gridiron contest, too, hanging on to a 16-14 win despite GA’s effort to score in the last two minutes. One of the most emotional moments of the day occurred at halftime of the football game when the family and many of the classmates of Harold “Hap” Gottehrer OPC ’97 walked onto the track. Head of School Darryl J. Ford announced the dedication of the press box and bleachers in memory of Hap, who was remembered by his coach, his classmates and his family as a loving, smiling, positive presence. Surrounded by her husband, Neil, and their children Benjamin “Biff” OPC ’04 and Beth OPC ’07, Anne Gottehrer recalled the ties her son felt to Penn Charter. “He loved his friends, his teachers, his coaches, his service partners,” she said. “He loved this school.” PC
Penn Charter took time out at PC/GA Day to acknowledge the major upgrade in athletic facilities, including four improvements that were in use for fall sports.
Head of School Darryl J. Ford and Director of Athletics and Athletic Planning Paul Butler with the Gottehrer family: Anne, Beth OPC ’07, Neil, and Benjamin OPC ’04.
More scores and photos at penncharter.com/news.
In front of the new scoreboard they made possible, Anthony A. Caimi OPC ’50 and his wife, Nina.
Penn Charter will host PC/GA Day again next year: Save the Date for the 125th PC/GA Day @ Penn Charter on Nov. 12, 2011.
William A. Graham IV OPC ’58 and his classmates (see group photo in Class Notes) celebrated the formal dedication of the Graham Athletics Center.
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Teaching & Learning Lower School counselor Lisa Reedich (shown here) uses puppets to explain and explore children’s feelings. In one exchange, Reedich tells second graders that Cynthia the rabbit is sad and nervous about the upcoming parentteacher conferences. When students admit that they are, too, Reedich has the puppet quiz second grade teacher Natasha Pronga about the conferences, giving Pronga an opportunity to provide a reassuring answer: “I get to talk to parents about their child’s strengths, what they do well, and all the things we’re working on to get better.”
Learning about Feelings & Friendships by Rebecca Luzi
Lower School counselor Lisa Reedich, fondly known as the “feelings teacher,” has a lot of tools in her toolbox: puppets, conversation sticks and a colorful ball of yarn among them. Reedich brings her tools to each of the friendship groups she leads in grades 1-5. Friendship might seem to be a natural process for children, but Reedich knows that being a good friend takes both thought and practice. “The point of the friendship groups,” she said, “is for them to navigate social relationships with confidence and compassion.” The friendship groups, which begin with a handshake greeting in a circle of friends, are ways for the children to
share news about themselves – happy or sad – and to address concerns specific to the class. It is also a chance for Reedich and the classroom teachers to introduce issues that they perceive as problems. “It’s supposed to be experiential,” Reedich said. “It’s not me lecturing them on how to be.” Puppets, it turns out, are great for problem solving. They help children to recognize an unhelpful behavior, for example, and provide just enough distance so that they can talk freely about it. Hedgy, a hedgehog, rolls into a ball as she hides her feelings. Becky, a beaver, thinks she’s perfect. Rammy likes to use his horns instead of words. Cynthia, a rabbit, is always sad. One puppet has only a mom, another is adopted. Their different personalities and family situations help children recognize themselves. Cooperative games are another way to bring feelings to the forefront and to
illustrate the importance of teamwork. “The Web” involves passing the colorful ball of yarn from one friend to another and holding the string of yarn in place as it forms a web on the carpet. As each student gets the ball, he or she may share an “I message,” as third grade students recently did: “I feel upset when somebody says they liked doing something without me.” “I feel kind of sad when people exclude me from soccer or football and they say I’m not good enough.” “I feel sad for the people in Japan because of the earthquake and tsunami.” “I feel uncomfortable when there’s rumors going around about crushes.” “I feel happy in the morning when I get to see my friends.” Each student speaks while the others listen. When the web is complete, Reedich explains, “We’re all connected to each other, and everything we do affects one another.”
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Students play a number of cooperative, team-building games in friendship groups, including In Plain View, Quick Numbers, Tongue Magician and The Web (shown here).
Sometimes the students must tiptoe through the web, pretending they are stepping through laser beams, as their friends lift it off the ground. In this team-building exercise, if all classmates aren’t focused and attentive, their friend gets “zapped”! Reedich also addresses some of the tender spots raised during the game. “Remember how we talked about this?” she asks the third graders. “When you tease somebody about crushes, you go right to the heart of that person.” If she thinks students should explore an issue more deeply, she’ll ask them to role play, a favorite friendship group activity. Classroom conflicts become more sophisticated as the students get older. So, in fourth and fifth grades, Reedich leads boys groups and girls groups in addition to the coed groups.
Animal puppets help students recognize themselves and work through their problems.
Reedich helps the girls navigate the cliques and gossip that begin in the pre-teen years. “We talk about how cliques don’t have power unless you give them power,” Reedich said. “You decided who’s popular.” The boys groups often talk about physical competition and sports prowess among their peers. Academic competition can also be troubling. Students discuss fun teasing vs. nasty teasing. Reedich helps them understand that teasing about a friend’s weight, family, color, religion and beliefs – their most personal qualities – is the most hurtful. And jokes that are repeated again and again sting all the more. “They really think a lot about the meanings of words and how words are used.” “We talk a lot about conversations,” Reedich said. “A conversation is a
Community Help Community help meetings are yet another way for the Lower School community to come together in friendship. Different from friendship groups, they arise out of need and focus on one child – someone who has something big, and troubling, happening in his or her life. It could be a sick parent, the death of a family member or a beloved pet, or an impending move. Lower School counselor Lisa Reedich generally gets a head’s up from a parent or from the child herself. She meets with the child to offer the option of, once and for all, sharing the news with classmates so that the student doesn’t have to worry about when the next question is coming. “They own their news,” Reedich said. “We don’t share other people’s news. We try to respect each other’s boundaries, each other’s privacy. We don’t need to know details; we just need to know how to take care of our friends.”
connection between us. How do you maintain that connection with no one getting hurt?” The conversation sticks demonstrate. Both friends press their fingertip to the end of the conversation stick, holding it up. If one person doesn’t hold up his end of the conversation, the stick falls. Conversely, if one person pushes a little, the other must give a little; and if one pushes too hard, the other could push back, and the conversation becomes an argument. The message is clear. “Kids get it,” Reedich said. Then, she shows them conversation from the teacher’s viewpoint: The teacher holds up both hands, each of her 10 fingers pressed on the end of a conversation stick connected to another student. The teacher must maintain 10 conversations at once. If one student drops the stick, others fall, too. A successful conversation, therefore, depends on all of them. During friendship groups, Reedich always reminds students of what’s most important: “If a friend has a problem, we drop everything because a friend’s feelings are more important than any old game.” Friendship groups don’t solve every problem, Reedich acknowledges. But they are a foundation on which students can build self-expression and problem-solving skills. “I can’t control what other people are going to do and say,” Reedich tells students. “I can only set you up to have integrity and fortify you to be true to yourself, advocate for yourself, get help when you need it.” PC
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Campus Currents downtown reception: Lessons in Life
Alumni Society President William A. Gallagher OPC ’91: “I’m sure we all feel the same sense of pride in these two OPCs.”
Leon Caldwell and Mike McKenna met in Memphis in 2007, two strangers brought together by their interest in urban education. As they began to collaborate on a film about the 1968 sanitation workers strike in Memphis, they discovered another connection. They are both Penn Charter graduates. When the two men stepped up to the podium before a sellout crowd at the 2011 Downtown Reception in February, it was apparent that, while the documentary project brought them together, they have formed a friendship based on their sense of justice and desire to find new solutions to old problems. Plus, their shared history at Penn Charter. The two OPCs discussed their experiences as educators and presented the documentary, “I Am A Man: From Memphis, a Lesson in Life.” The award-winning film explains the roots and the outcomes of the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers strike, and focuses on the story of Elmore Nickleberry. This year’s reception was held at the National Liberty Museum in Old City. Caldwell OPC ’87, until recently a college professor – he has since moved to a senior research position with the Annie E. Casey Foundation – was a consultant for the film. With
Nickleberry and the film crew, he visited McKenna’s classroom at Soulsville Charter School in Memphis. Several Soulsville students are featured in the film, listening to Nickleberry’s dramatic story and reflecting on the lessons of his life. The lessons of the civil rights movement are clearly themes that Caldwell has experienced in his own life and McKenna began to think about at Penn Charter and in his work at Soulsville. McKenna OPC ’02, a lifer at PC, said the school taught him “selflessness, giving. My Quaker education, it helps me every single day.” “It really did take a village to raise me and my brother and my sister,” Caldwell said, mentioning the Gillespie family that introduced him and his brother Kenneth OPC ’89 to PC. “My mother, her spirit, her sense of justice, the Gillespies, they all shaped the way I think about the world,” Caldwell said. “I carried that activism from home – and at Penn Charter I learned to articulate it.”
Michael McKenna OPC ’02 and Leon Caldwell OPC ’87 packed the house at the Downtown Reception.
New Sculls After several years of renting boats, Penn Charter’s coed crew team has purchased two sleek four-person sculls, which the team will row out of Vesper Boat Club. Varsity coach Hanne Gradinger Duncan says owning its own 4x sculls will allow the team to tailor everything in the boat to the crew’s specifications, including the boat size and weight, shoe sizes in the boats and adjustments on the riggers. The team members can perform repairs quickly and on their own.
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Paula Gordon chaired the auction committee, and Pete Ciarrocchi provided lively color commentary during the live auction.
A trio of auction committee members: Rachel Dyer, Erica Howard and Stephanie Ball.
Auctioneer Robert Ward OPC ’60 wielded the gavel for the cause.
The auction celebrated academics at PC and honored four people who are at the heart of the school’s academic strength: Head of School Darryl J. Ford, Associate Head Stephanie Judson, Assistant Head Beth Glascott and Director of Pre-Kindergarten Joan Rosen.
Kid-friendly during the day, the Please Touch Museum was an elegant venue for a nighttime party, too.
Celebrating Our Academic Roots The 2011 Community Auction CELEBRATING OUR ACADEMIC ROOTS was huge. Huge effort during many months of preparation. Huge imagination. And huge outcome. The numbers tell the story: 375 Penn Charter friends attended the auction and party at the fabulous Please Touch Museum, many of them dancing late into the night. Nearly 200 items sold in the online auction that ended the day before the event at Please Touch. 100 and more ads in the Community Auction program
book paid tribute to Penn Charter, the school and the people. 4 honorees took a bow, celebrated for their extraordinary contributions to PC. In addition to the goodwill and good times, the auction, the Community’s most important fund-raiser of the year, was intended to raise money to support Penn Charter’s academic program. And that number was huge, too. The 2011 Community Auction raised more than:
$100,000!
Awesome! Congratulations to the cast, crew and musicians of the Upper School musical, Little Shop of Horrors. As director Michael Roche declared at the end of dress rehearsal: “Awesome!” Visit penncharter.com/news to view more photos and a video featuring interviews with some cast members, plus scenes of the show.
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Certificate of Appreciation The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Kingdom of Cambodia expressed gratitude to Penn Charter students for the contribution the Caramanico School has made to students in Trapaing Chres. In a framed certificate that Overseer Anne Caramanico brought home from her most recent trip to the school, Education Minister Im Sethy cited “the construction of an eight-room dormitory equipped with materials and equipment, latrine, kitchen and the provision of meals for poor students.”
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Development News w il li am
te r pe n n ch ar
sc h o o l
od time!
A swinging go
Nearly 600 people celebrated Penn Charter’s first Annual FUNd Party on Nov. 11 with a Texas barbeque and – the inspiration for the evening’s theme – a primetime performance by Ray Benson OPC ’69 and Asleep at the Wheel, his Grammy-winning Texas swing band. Head of School Darryl J. Ford, who dressed for the fun in jeans, vest and bolo tie, invited the crowd to celebrate “the gift that is Penn Charter” and asked that the loyal supporters gathered in the party tent make their gifts or pledges to the 2010-2011 Annual Fund early this year. He asked, and the PC community delivered: A week after the Nov. 11 party, more than 550 donors gave or pledged a total of $450,000.
“That huge act of kindness by Penn Charter changed my entire life. What I do for Penn Charter is a labor of love, joy and thanksgiving.”
Eric Binswanger OPC ’08 created a short film, Why We Give, in which alumni, parents and teachers explained what motivates them to make gifts to Penn Charter. One of the most moving testimonials came from Sevill “Bud” Schofield OPC ’43 (shown here). He recalled that, after his father’s sudden death during the Great Depression, his mother visited school to explain that her son would have to leave because she could not afford the tuition. Headmaster Richard Knowles awarded him a 75 percent scholarship. “That huge act of kindness by Penn Charter changed my entire life,” Schofield said. “What I do for Penn Charter is a labor of love, joy and thanksgiving.”
Update: Director of Annual Fund Stephanie Ball said that, as of March 14, 2011, Penn Charter raised $852,800 in total gifts and pledges, compared to $721,836 at the same time last year. “Our goal for the year, which we hope to achieve this spring with gifts from parents, alumni, and 2011 fiveyear reunion classes, is $1,125,000,” Ball said. “Our alumni are so generous and our parents really understand that tuition doesn’t cover the cost of a top-notch educational program. I think we’ll hit our goal by June 30 – I think we could even exceed it!”
Melissa Codkind, PC parent and a professional event planner, worked for months to craft the Western theme expressed in the food, décor and even the straw hats distributed to guests at the door.
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For the second time in 2010, Ray Benson OPC ’69 returned to perform at PC – this time with Asleep at the Wheel, his Grammy-winning Texas swing band. Representing alumni, Balderston brothers Richard OPC ’69 (left) and Bruce OPC ’72 announced gifts-to-date by alumni, and others gave a shout-out for overseers, parents, faculty, staff and friends who made gifts or pledges.
More photos online in Penn Charter’s Flickr gallery at penncharter.com/news.
Head of School Darryl J. Ford welcomed the crowd to PC’s first Annual FUNd Party.
Most Loyal OPCs ( ( ( (
These PC graduates have made gifts to the Annual Fund every year since their graduations. What motivates this loyal giving? ( ( ( (
The loyal donor, that person who can be counted on to make a gift year in, year out, decade after decade, is a treasure. “They’re really the building blocks of giving at the school,” Director of Annual Fund Stephanie Ball said. Penn Charter is fortunate to have more than our share of donors who make consecutive gifts to the Annual Fund. Records at Timmons House show 1,087 people who have donated for 10 or more years – and 375 of those donors have made gifts for more than 25 consecutive years. Some of these longtime donors are current parents, some are former parents, and hundreds of them are OPCs. Four OPCs explain that their gifts are motivated by fond memories of the school and the faculty as well as deep respect for the education and experiences gained at Penn Charter. Sometimes, family tradition is a motivator, too.
( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( Casey Murray OPC ’89, currently vice president, North America sales and business development at SevOne, Inc., is just one of PC’s 1,087 10+-year donors. Murray attended Penn Charter for 11 years and has fond memories of the school, including winning the lacrosse state championship in a triple-overtime game against Episcopal Academy. But
even that highlight doesn’t top a moment in his kitchen. “My fondest memory of the school was fourth grade. I was so worried I’d have to go to GA because of logistical reasons for my family. But the morning I found out I could stay at Penn Charter, I was just so relieved! I had been absolutely panicked. I was very upset to have to think about it. I loved being there.” Murray had five Penn Charter graduates in his wedding. “That was an indication of how close I was to my classmates,” he said. “I give because of the friends I made and the community aspect.” Also, “it feels like the right thing to do.” continued on next page
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Development News Nelson Luria OPC ’59 has been a Penn Charter overseer for 25 years, but he has been a donor to the school for even longer. One of the 375 “longest givers” to Penn Charter, Luria said, “I made lifelong friends at Penn Charter.” Even before becoming an overseer, he stayed connected with the school through those friends, and by reading the PC magazine. Luria, a managing partner at RBC Capital Markets, has provided not only financial contributions to the school every year since his graduation five decades ago, but, as an overseer, he now also donates his time and expertise. “I hope the school will continue to provide to those who attend in the future the kinds of values, education, and strong community that I experienced. Education is more than math, reading or using a computer. The values of how to be a productive, good member of our society are instilled in students at Penn Charter. I hope the school will continue to do that as well as, if not better and more suited to what society becomes, into the future.” Luria said, “I consider it an honor and a privilege to do whatever I can for the school.” ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( Jessica Kolansky OPC ’03 said, “I love that Penn Charter was small enough to know everyone,” but not too small. Currently in law school, Kolansky has found that information and lessons learned at Penn Charter increasingly come up, particularly in her mediation course. Kolansky has
donated every year since graduation, even as a law student on a tight budget. “I do what works for me and hopefully I’ll be in a position to give more someday.” ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( Bill Chapman OPC ’59, who is active in the financial services industry, attributes much of his professional and personal success to PC. “Penn Charter has had a profound effect on who I have become,” Chapman said. “I was there for 12 years, and I left with a very strong value system and ability to think. That’s what it’s all about. It prepares you for life.” For Chapman, giving to PC is a family tradition. “For many years, I was not [one of the] longest continuing donors to the school,” he said. “My father, while he was alive, held that honor as a member of the class of 1936.” ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (
“These longtime donors recognize that PC has evolved over the years,” said Stephanie Ball, “and their gifts are a testament to their abiding affection.” Every gift helps the school, no matter the size. As Casey Murray pointed out, foundations place a value on schools with a high percentage of alumni donors. “It’s important in getting grants,” Murray said. And for those percentages, it doesn’t matter if the alumni gift is $25 or $2,500. “It’s an important responsibility.” –Julia Judson-Rea
Annual Giving
Winners! Beat GA!
Penn Charter defeated Germantown Academy during the inaugural year of this “off the field” challenge for Annual Fund giving. The final alumni participation challenge was PC 26 percent vs. GA 17 percent!
On PC/GA Day, Head of School Darryl J. Ford accepted the Liberty Bell trophy for alumni giving with, left to right, GA Alumni Society President Tim Durkin, PC Alumni Society Vice President Pete Davis OPC ’74, and GA Head of School James W. Connor. We’ve already taken the lead again this year. Alumni, are you up for continuing the challenge?
( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( (
2009-2010 Alumni Cup Winners
Class representatives from 1985, 1960 and 2004 – Brian Duffy OPC ’85, Matt Killinger OPC ’85, Dick Berlinger OPC ’60, and Jerome Wright OPC ’04 – gathered at the Downtown Reception to accept cups on behalf of their classes for winning both the largest class contributions and the highest percent participation in the 2009-2010 Annual Fund.
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Alumni News
The Way It Was At PC 60 Years Ago
instructors were earnest and properly demanding. They had nicknames like “Bugs,” “Fuzzy,” “Pussyfoot,” “Cactus Charlie” and “Duke.” The latter would tab some of us as “turkeys” or “buzzard bait.” We all knew these monikers were delivered in good humor, and Duke was one of our favorites. Dr. Jack Gummere, called headmaster in those days, was amazing. Aside from running the school with a firm hand, he also taught us Latin. And he made that convoluted, maddening language interesting! English was strong. I had to write, “The verb to be never takes an object” 500 times. Even today, an internal scold reminds me if I answer, It’s me. Spelling, before computerized second-guessing, was very important – sometimes lethal. The good Col. Lisle would dock us 40 percent for each misspelled word. Two bad words and you’re down to a 20. We had extensive reading lists of the classics. One day I was into The Canterbury Tales; I came upon “The Miller’s Tale.” It was wild – X-rated! It shocked me out of my innocent teenage wits. Really gross, but maybe just cool stuff these days. Math was done the hard way: long division, multiplication, square roots, logarithms. There were no calculators or laptops; we used slide rules. As for cell phones: only comic strip detective Dick Tracy used one. Multitasking was blessedly minimal. I was not an honor student, but I did work conscientiously and graduated, like the fine folks in Lake Wobegon, above average. My parents always encouraged me. I was pretty good at art and still am. A mural I painted was of an industrial scene with blobs of smoke billowing out of factories. In those days it meant progress.
In anticipation of his 50th reunion, an OPC recalls the antics and the earnest efforts of the Class of 1951. by Wayne G. Brown OPC ’51
Probably no one at PC today was around when I was. I entered eighth grade (called Upper Quarta) in 1946 and graduated after finishing Upper Prima in 1951. Oddly, many of my recollections of that time are clearer than what happened last week; it’s part of aging – I’m 77. America had emerged triumphant, albeit bloody, from wars in Europe and the Pacific. Harry Truman was president. Economically, we started to boom. We were king of the world, though very worried about China and Russia. Enemies were clearly defined and we thought we were always right. Korea was to become very messy. We had to register for the draft, around age 18, I think. War, past and prospective, weighed heavily on our outlook. My wise parents saw I was going nowhere in public school, so they sacrificed to get me into Penn Charter – tuition was around $600. All of us students were white boys. Our teachers were white males. To our credit, as seniors, we dedicated our yearbook to George Harvey and Jim Kirby, two fine school employees who happened to be black. Our
Lunchtime was a neat opportunity for eraser fights. One had better have an accurate pitching arm and quick reflexes to duck a chalky hit or be caught by a snooping teacher. Our classrooms had quirky clocks that moved in two- and three-minute intervals. Hallways were made of polished wooden blocks and remain satisfying to walk on. A heartier amusement was visiting the Troc downtown. This seedy theater featured baggy-pants comedians, and, shall we say, suitably-endowed dancers who knew how to titillate us prurient school kids. Rather daring then, but ho-hum now. The Trocadero may have been an inspiration for Ralph Allen to write musicals. He wrote the Broadway
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hit Sugar Babies and became our class’s first Alumni Award winner. Similar awards went to two other classmates for different accomplishments: Charlie Parmenter, for chemistry, and Fred Woerner, who became a four-star general. All three men were professors, too. Three winners out of a class of 63 must be a record. Gym sessions were vigorous. We grunted through a series of exercises, like chin-ups, leg lifts, rope climbs, indoor pole vaulting. Equipment was fixed and inexpensive, not the clunky contraptions people sweat on today. Nobody walked around with water bottles; drinking fountains were just fine – also for filling water pistols. Before going on the football field, we performed ankle and knee stretching; this lessened injuries. If memory serves, an attractive, young Grace Kelly came to some games. She lived nearby and her brother was a star athlete at PC. She, of course, became the famous actress and princess. In the winter, I chose fencing, under the masterful tutelage of Monsieur Henri Gordon. He could touché any of us in the blink of an eye. I went for the saber because I fancied myself a swashbuckler. With that weapon one can poke or slash opponents anywhere above the waist. A very un-Friendly game. We got to go on some swell trips to West Point and Annapolis. At the latter, we would go into town with a fistful of nickels to play the slot machines. Another type of outing was provided by that grand country gentleman, Col. Lisle. He would invite guys to go beagling; that entailed running with the hounds to chase foxes, not to harm them. Or maybe it was rabbits. Music was big. Most of us joined the chorus. Charles Maclary, a musical drill-sergeant, whipped us into a formidable ensemble. We sang at the Academy of Music and at the Wanamaker organ. Best of all, we got to serenade the lovelies at schools like Shipley and Springside. Then we danced; we actually held the girls closely. Tuxedos were required, available at Jacob Reed’s for $35. To polish social skills, some went to ballroom dancing class. Parents observed from a balcony, gloating over their darlings’ budding maturity. It was a time of the Big Bands. Frank Sinatra was hot; so were Louis Armstrong and George Shearing. Quaker Meeting never stirred me. We sat fitfully on those massive wooden benches without cushions. Meetings would end when Dr. Gummere shook the hand of some rumpled old overseer. Now I’m the rumpled one – my skin, that is. After school, I boarded the 52 trolley to rumble down Midvale Avenue to the modern 53. The 52 was a noisy steel body on iron wheels; the motorman pressed a foot pedal to dump sand on the rails. Evenings after dinner I studied. TV was new; one show we all watched was Milton Berle’s Texaco Star Theater. Everything was black and white; no cable or public broadcasting. We missed the onslaught of illicit drugs. The booze of choice was beer or hard liquor. Abortion was illegal and dangerous. Cigarette smoking was rampant – 17 cents a pack. Medical costs had yet to skyrocket, and Medicare didn’t exist. Cholesterol wasn’t identified as a problem. Streets were pretty safe, and traffic not hectic. Car dashboards were simple, not like jet cockpits. Crime was less violent with little gun mayhem. Tax rules were
comprehensible. Kids had no power; adults set the standards. Mothers stayed at home. Movies were censored. Advertising had not yet begun to cover every possible moment and space; lawyers couldn’t advertise. Ma Bell was virtually the only telephone company. Just about all of our class headed off to first-tier colleges. Seven to Princeton, 11 to Penn, several to places like Haverford, Dartmouth, Amherst, and three to military academies. Admissions are reportedly more competitive today. There was the expected smattering of those aiming for law or medicine or business. After college, many of us went into graduate school or the military (remember the draft). One of our classmates was shot down, fatally, in Vietnam. Over these 60 years, too many good guys have died while others are simply out-of-touch. Some didn’t like their PC experience. For me, it was fulfilling. Penn Charter stressed the fundamentals in all subjects, avoiding fuzzy notions and fads. Teachers were devoted, admirable and likable. Though I’m not a Quaker, I laud the good things they do and the standards they uphold. And that’s a tiny glimpse of the way it was – for me, at least. These recollections may be off a tad in details. Many things were better then, many worse. Though I seldom get back to school and don’t know firsthand what goes on inside, I can surmise it remains sound, that it still delivers robust instruction and moral guidance. PC
2011 May 6-7 If you haven’t RSVPed, visit www.penncharter.com/reunionweekend.
You don’t want to miss it!
24th Annual Bert Linton
Golf Outing
Monday, May 9 Philadelphia Cricket Club, Flourtown Scramble (shotgun start), cocktails, silent auction, dinner.
RSVP at penncharter.com/golf.
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Class Notes 1689
Class Agent Jane F. Evans jevans@penncharter.com
Brown House Dedicated
Joan McIlvaine writes, “I have been working at the McIlvaine Funeral Home for 10 years. My daughter, Debbie McIlvaine, works at PC as the administrative assistant to the director of Lower School admissions. Three of my grandchildren attend PC: Henry, Edgar and Dorothy McIlvaine. The entire family enjoys spending time at our home in Ocean City, N.J., thanks to my grandmother, Lucy Allen, who bought the house in 1948. When I travel, it is to visit my other daughter, Laura, and her family, who live near St. Louis, Mo.
1931
Charles A. Ernst enjoyed a visit from Darryl J. Ford in November. Charlie is celebrating the 80th anniversary of his graduation from Penn Charter this year. He entered Penn Charter when the school was located at 12th Street and was president of his senior class.
1933
In December 2010, Richard P. Brown Jr. OPC ’38 was smiling as he attended the dedication of the Brown House, the three-story Dutch colonial revival on The Oak Road in which he grew up. Brown persuaded his father to donate the house, behind the football field, to Penn Charter in 1976, and it has been the head’s residence ever since. Brown recalled his morning “commute” to school: “I had to go through the hedge and over the fence.” Did he get to class on time? “Of course.” With the shortcut, he said, he was able to sleep a little bit later. At the time, Brown said, “There were two other houses on The Oak Road bordering campus: Timmons and a house at the corner that was later torn down. I was thinking that that whole area of the block ought to belong to the school. I did not picture it necessarily as becoming the head’s house; that was the Overseers’ idea. It turned out to be a good idea.” Brown, a longtime overseer himself, pointed out that the house is more than just the head’s residence – it also hosts faculty, alumni and parent events.
At the dedication of the handsome residence, Brown and his former schoolmates (below, left to right, Robert C. McAdoo OPC ’39, Brown, H. Dickson S. Boenning OPC ’38, Robert P. Thompson OPC ’38) were hosted by the home’s current residents, Head of School Darryl J. Ford and his wife, Gail Sullivan. Former head of school Earl J. Ball (bottom, right, pictured with Ford and Brown) and Pam Ball, who lived in the house for 30 years, also attended. PC
1936 John S. Child OPC ’33 See death notices.
1935
Wayne Herkness is still working and playing croquet.
James Marshall Evans OPC ’36 See death notices.
James T. Shilcock OPC ’36 See death notices.
The OPC Spirit publishes online, bringing the latest in alumni news and events right to your e-mail inbox. If you’re not receiving THE OPC SPIRIT, e-mail Megan Evans Kafer OPC ‘95 at mkafer@penncharter.com!
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Class Notes 1937
Class Agent Edmond H. (Ted) Heisler Edmond H. (Ted) Heisler writes, “Still playing a lot of tennis. My partner and I came in second place in the 2010 90-plus national indoor, grass court and clay court championships.”
1939
Class Agent Robert C. McAdoo
1940
Class Agent Robert J. Harbison III rharbo@aol.com
1941 In November, five OPCs and residents of the Hill at Whitemarsh, a retirement community in Lafayette Hill, enjoyed a lunch gathering that included Head of School Darryl J. Ford and Ted Decker OPC ’78, director of alumni relations. Pictured, left to right: Nina and Charles H. Schaefer OPC ’48, Robert J. Harbison III OPC ’40, Darryl Ford, Mimi Thompson, William E. Lutz OPC ’53, Robert P. Thompson OPC ’38, Lewis S. III OPC ’44 and Betty Somers. Benjamin C. Carmine Jr. OPC ’41 See death notices.
1942
Class Agent John M. Donahue jmdpin@aol.com Guy L. Schless OPC ’47 See death notices.
Davis P. Wurts OPC ’41 See death notices.
1948
Norman L. Barr continues to travel, including to Iceland, from which he returned in August 2010.
George E. Schieber OPC ’42 See death notices.
George S. Meinel writes that he keeps seeing Thomas S. Williams, Charles H. Schaefer, Thomas Paff, Philip J. Baur, David P. Loughran and Albert T. (Skip) Fisher at too many of their classmates’ funerals. He e-mails John L. (Zeke) Finney every week, and he sees Lawrence C. Hardy every summer when he is in from California.
1943
A Look Back at
1946
Class Agent John G. C. Fuller
Class Agent Sevill (Bud) Schofield Jr.
1945
Class Agent H. Leonard Brown
1949
Class Agent Bruce R. Barstow brbarstow@aol.com
John G. Cunningham OPC ’45 See death notices.
1947
Jean-Loup Dherse OPC ’49 See death notices.
1950 William E. Lukens OPC ’47 See death notices.
Class Agent William J. Wall william.j.wallsr@wachoviasec.com
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A Look Back at
1956
The Class of 1952 can’t wait five years to gather for a reunion. These OPCs celebrated their 58th reunion in Florida last year. Bruce Waechter writes, “It has become somewhat of a custom for a number of our classmates to gather every two years near the home of a classmate to celebrate our PC reunion. Back at the end of April 2010, 15 classmates and their significant others gathered for three days in Stuart, Fla., with Carol and John H. Wagner hosting. Activities included several dinners and much sightseeing, including a boating trip around the exclusive Hutchinson Island area. Classmates who attended are shown in the picture: (seated) Frederick J. Yannessa, Michael P. Ritter, John H. Wagner, David E. Smith; (standing) William H. Brehm, George L. (Jeff) Deming, Charles J. Nicholas, Robert Y. Twitmyer, Charles Waygood, William J. McGuckin, David K. Colescott, John L. Graham, Frank F. Embick, George C. (Skip) Corson Jr., and F. Bruce Waechter. The four previous locations included Santa Barbara (for our 50th), Amelia Island, Fla., Wickenburg, Ariz., and Jackson Hole, Wyo. Already the group is planning its 60th, this time back to Philadelphia on May 3-6, 2012, including attending the annual PC alumni dinner.”
1956
Class Agent Bernard E. Berlinger Jr. bberlinger@asidrives.com
Christopher R. Rosser OPC ’56 See death notices. Kenneth M. Dillabough OPC ’54 See death notices.
Thomas Driscoll OPC ’50 See death notices.
1951
Class Agent David N. Weinman ombudinc@aol.com
1955
Class Agent Charles (Chuck) Clayton Jr. cclayt@comcast.net
1957
Class Agents G. Allan Dash allandash3@comcast.net James V. Masella Jr. vesperent@aol.com
1952
Class Agents George C. (Skip) Corson Jr. gccesq@aol.com F. Bruce Waechter fbw413@aol.com
1953
Class Agents William H. Bux mbuxc@aol.com Richard L. Geyer dickgey@aol.com Gilbert L. Granger is happy to report that he has three children and seven grandchildren.
1954
Class Agent Alfred F. Bracher III fbracher@aol.com
The Class of 1958 gathered to celebrate the dedication of the Graham Athletics Center on PC/GA Day. Pictured (from left): Ross R. Hibbert, Rodger C. Wichterman, John H. Newton, Stephen J. Ruckman, Robert D. Morrow, William A. Graham IV, William M. Graff, Courtnay H. Pitt, Jef Corson, Robert M. Harting, Bradford M. (Buck) Gearinger.
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Class Notes 1958
Class Agents John E. F. (Jef) Corson jefcorson@aol.com Robert D. Morrow Jr. djm112@aol.com
1959
Class Agent Rush B. Smith smithrushb@aol.com
Samuel D. Winner OPC ’59 See death notices.
1960
Class Agent James M. Arrison III arrison@attglobal.net
1961
Class Agents Richard P. Hamilton Jr. rick1480@aol.com J. Freedley Hunsicker Jr. hunsicjf@dbr.com
1962
Class Agents Louis F. Burke lburke@lfblaw.com Kevin McKinney pmckin5750@rogers.com Ronald O. Prickitt ron@netilla.com
1964
1970
Class Agents John T. Long Jr. longacres1@yahoo.com John S. Morrow jsmopc64@hargray.com
Class Agents Charles L. Mitchell dhammalawyer@yahoo.com Robert N. Reeves Jr. robreeves@eareeves.com
James G. B. Perkins writes, “I have started to teach again (after 32 years!) as a volunteer math teacher at our local elementary school several afternoons a week, and I absolutely love it. I have many wonderful memories of teaching at PC when I was in my 20s. Now, at 64, I have a chance to give back to those who have not had the fine education and opportunities that I have been blessed with.”
1965
Class Agent Jonathon P. (Buck) DeLong b.delong@charter.net
Class Agent Marc A. Golden harvardceo@aol.com
1972
Class Agent Bruce K. Balderston bruce.balderston@pncbank.com
1973
Class Agent Robert J. Marquess rjmproteus@aol.com
1966
Class Agent Martin J. (Marty) Harrity mharrity@aol.com
Richard L. Baer writes, “I’m developing camera technology for future Apple products. My older daughter is back in Philadelphia at Penn Law School.”
1967
David B. Icenhower was recognized in the Philadelphia Inquirer in February as having the highest winning percentage as a coach in all levels of college wrestling.
1968
Class Agents Bruce C. Gill bcoopergil@aol.com Richard E. Stanley dickandlea@aol.com
1969
A Look Back at
1971
J. Craig Shields is happy to report that after a 30-year career as a marketing consultant to the IT industry, he has dedicated himself to the cause of renewable energy and electric transportation.
Class Agent Thomas C. Robinson Jr. thomascrobinson@comcast.net
1966
Ray Benson OPC ‘69 (center) drew a crowd to PC’s Annual FUNd Party on Nov. 11, 2010. (See page 18.) Backstage, he caught up with several classmates: (from left) Richard D. Mellor, Richard A. Balderston, Thomas H. Lee, James P. Harbison, William B. Carr Jr. and Jonathan H. Sprogell OPC ‘70.
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Class of 1975 35th Reunion
His recent book, Renewable Energy: Facts and Fantasies (Clean Energy Press, 2010) is a compilation of interviews with subject-matter experts in a range of related disciplines. Craig lives near Los Angeles with wife Becky, son Jake and daughter Valerie. He has enjoyed reconnecting with classmates on Facebook. Learn more about his book: http://2greenenergy.com/renewableenergy-facts-fantasies/. (See photo.)
Class Agent Robert L. Nydick robert.nydick@villanova.edu James S. Still jstill@boenningib.com
Class Agent Reid S. Perper rsperper@yahoo.com
James C. Garvey was named vice president for strategic priorities and advancement at New England College.
1974
Class Agent J. Peter Davis pdavis@rittenhousehotel.com David C. Hahn writes, “I designed the sound for the Seattle Public Theatre’s March production of Dying City, a play by Christopher Shinn, directed by John Vreek. I just finished composing “TIC*TAC*TOE” for mandolin, guitar and electronic sound. The piece was commissioned by the Germanbased MARE Duo and will be included on their next CD. I worked as sound designer for Seattle Public Theatre’s March 2011 production of The Happy Ones, a play by Julie Marie Myatt. I have founded the performing ensemble Concert Imaginaire. Along with my compositions, the group (electric guitar, synthesizer, bass, violin, percussion) performs free improvisations and Eastern European folk music. My four-movement piece for mandolin and guitar, Passionate Isolation, has been published by Clear Note Publications. The piece won the 2003 Composition Prize from the Classical Mandolin Society of America. You can hear examples of Passionate Isolation here: http://www.clearnote.net/PassionateIsolation.html. I am beginning to compose pieces for solo voice and electronics on English texts by Shakespeare and Latin texts from female characters in Vergil’s Aeneid. I also have a few poems by Serbian poet Vasko Popa, which I plan to set for voice, clarinet and piano. My website, www.davidhahnonline.com, has recently been updated and contains a few new pieces on the Juke Box page.
1977
1975
A Look Back at
Samuel W. Levitt has been working at Aetna in investor relations since August 2010.
1978
Class Agents Sterling H. Johnson III ag96cu4@aol.com Paul C. Mancini paul@mancini.com David H. Neff dn@neffassociates.com
1979
Class Agent John D. Lemonick jlemonick@donnellyandassociates.com
1976
Gordon L. Gross writes, “After several decades of limited contact with Penn Charter, my daughter, Gianna (10 years old) started the pressure to leave GA swimming and move to Penn Charter Aquatic Club. I was certainly happy for the reunion with my old school – but disappointed in the longer daily commute. It was a great move – should have done it sooner. Good to come back to my ’70s stomping ground and reconnect with some old memories. Especially around the track. Campus has come a long way in the past 32 years.” Jon M. Lukens finished his third tour in Iraq last April and is scheduled to return this June. “This will likely be my retirement tour with the Army at 28 years,” Jon writes. “It’s been a good run, and I’ve worked with the newest ‘Greatest Generation’ of young men and women.” Jon has been married to Stephanie for 17 years and has three sons, Jacob (age 11), Samuel and Henry (both age 8).
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Class Notes 1980
Class Agents John B. Caras john.caras@cingular.com Charles J. (Chip) Goodman chip_goodman@cable.comcast.com
1981
Class Agent Andrew J. Kramer akramer@kanepugh.com
1982
Class Agent James L. Walker Jr. jimwalks@yahoo.com
1984
Class Agent Robert T. Myers rob.myers@barclayswealth.com Jonathan Fraser writes, “Though we are out of the Philadelphia area, I have continued to follow the school from a distance, sharing with our boys, Ian (age 13) and James (age 10). They visited the school with me a few years ago.”
San Jose Earthquakes soccer star Bobby Convey (middle), who attended Penn Charter before he left to play major league soccer, received the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association Native Son award at the 107th annual Sports Award Dinner on Jan. 31, 2011. Ruben Amaro Jr. OPC ’83 (left), general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, attended, along with Richard Wescott OPC ’55 (right), president of the PSWA.
1986
1988
Class Agent P. Timothy Phelps chambertim@hotmail.com
Class Agents H. Bruce Hanson hbhanson@duanemorris.com Gregory D. Palkon greg@palkonlaw.com
1987
1985
Class Agents Matthew M. Killinger killingm@uphs.upenn.edu Thomas D. Kramer tkramer@jcrosspartners.com
Class Agents David Felderman felderman.david@gmail.com David B. Gleit leyladavid@yahoo.com Adam M. Koppel akoppel@baincapital.com
1989
Class Agent Kenneth (Casey) Murray playnikez@yahoo.com
A Look Back at
1986
Brian M. Donaghy OPC ’89 took the Food Network Challenge! on Nov. 28, 2010, and again on Feb. 5. He didn’t win the first time, but in February he and his teammate, Amanda Haba (left), prevailed with this four-foot tall chocolate showpiece. Brian is a pastry chef/chocolatier and runs a consulting firm called the Criollo Group that consults for small to mid-size confectioners throughout North America. He lives in Buffalo, N.Y., with his wife, Christina, his daughter, Olive (age 2) and a chocolate Labradoodle named Criollo.
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Glenn M. Polin is practicing electrophysiology, and his wife, Nichole, is practicing interventional cardiology. They live in Kansas City with Chloe (age 3) and Maddie (age 1).
1990
Class Agent James D. Phillips jphillips@penncharter.com
1991
Class Agents Daniel S. Donaghy ddonaghy@PierceAssociates.com Leo J. Wyszynski ljwyszynski@aol.com
1992
Class Agent Anna V. Davis vanleer@hotmail.com W. Todd Goulding was elected to the Avon Town Council in November 2010. Previously, Todd was appointed to Avon’s Planning and Zoning Commission in 2006, serving as chairman in 2009 and 2010.
Eagles spirit was strong on the West Coast when Philadelphia played the San Francisco 49ers in October 2010. Sixteen OPCs gathered to tailgate before the game. (Back row, left to right) Pete Silow OPC ’04, Pete O’Keefe OPC ’04, Lee Jacobs OPC ’04, Kyle Roslyn OPC ’04, Pat Brady OPC ’07, Mike McKenna OPC ’02, Marshall Roslyn OPC ’98, Dan McKenna OPC ’00, Stuart Brown OPC ’02; (front row) Chris Walling OPC ’04, Aly Brady OPC ’05, Stacy Petro OPC ’04, Hallie Mufson OPC ’04, Anne McKenna OPC ’07, Marie McKenna OPC ’05, Shannon Harrington OPC ’07.
Wyatt Gallery OPC ’93 Wyatt Gallery OPC ’93 visited Penn Charter in March to speak with students and to give an illustrated talk about his recent book, Tent Life: Haiti, a book of photographs taken after the devastating 2010 earthquake. Gallery visited Haiti with seven other artists who volunteered to film and photograph the lives of those left homeless after the earthquake. The story of how Gallery was drawn to Haiti began with his trip to Sri Lanka after the 2004 tsunami that devastated Southeast Asia. Amid the destruction, he photographed what he called “a spirit of hope.” He experienced something similar in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina: “I was drawn to the spirit of the people as seen through the remnants of their personal spaces and their belongings,” he wrote in a journal entry in Tent Life: Haiti. The thread continued in Haiti when he volunteered to document the devastation: “Amid the people
of Haiti, we discovered an intense sense of hope, resilience, and, at times, joy.” Gallery discovered his love for photography at Penn Charter and received his BFA from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. He has received numerous awards such as the Fulbright Fellowship, the PDN (Photo District News) 30, and Duke University’s 25 Under 25: Up and Coming
American Photographers. His photographs have been exhibited throughout the U.S. and are in major private and public collections such as the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and the George Eastman House. He has been published in the New York Times, Geo Saison, Esquire, Mother Jones and Newsweek. Life magazine recently featured Gallery’s Haiti photos on its website. PC
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Class Notes Julie K. Walters writes, “My daughter, Ava, is really loving pre-K at Penn Charter, and we are so proud that she is continuing the great family Penn Charter tradition.”
1993
Class Agent Victor S. (Tory) Olshansky vsolshansky@earthlink.net
1994
Class Agent Jennifer R. Gallagher gallagherj@unionleague.org
1995
Class Agent Stephanie Teaford Walters walters-stephanie@aramark.com
1996
Class Agents Alyson M. Goodner alygoods@yahoo.com Michael Sala sala_lm@yahoo.com Andrew Gallery, a documentary filmmaker who lives in Los Angeles and co-founded CaveLight Films, is working on two projects. “One is a film about Jeremy Tyler, the first basketball player to leave high school early to turn pro,” Andrew writes. “Since this controversial decision, he has been battling corruption and personal obstacles on his way to NBA stardom and to making history. The New York Times and ESPN have reported on Jeremy for years, but I have had inside access to every aspect of his life, and this is truly a story of a lifetime. The second film I am doing is about the secret to happiness. After working directly with Britney Spears for over a year, I got inspired to
A Look Back at
1996
find out what makes us happy, partially because here Britney was with all this ‘stuff’ and she wasn’t happy. Eventually, I would travel to Israel and team up with Tal Ben Shahar, an author and professor at Harvard. He wrote the book Happier, which was a New York Times bestseller. Since then I have gotten involvement from many other academics, celebrities and ‘normal’ people. My goal is to travel all around the world, talking to scientists, academics, spiritual leaders and, most importantly, real people and document the secrets of what makes people happy.” Visit www.cavelightfilms.com.
1997
1999
Class Agents Mark D. Hecker mhecker616@gmail.com Margaux Pelegrin margaux.pelegrin@gmail.com
2000
Class Agent Adam K. Sperling adsperling@gmail.com
2001
Class Agent Virginia M. Brown vyinger@thehill.org
Class Agents William A. McKinney williammckinney@gmail.com Jessica A. Stein stein.jessica@gmail.com
1998
Class Agents Jeff Bender jb2424@gmail.com Patrick A. Sasse psasse@hotmail.com
2002
Class Agent Katherine A. Butler butlerka@gmail.com
Making History Phil Katz OPC ’01 and his father, Sam Katz, are working together on History Making Productions, creating films about historical events and figures – “educating through entertaining” is how they describe it on historymakingproductions.com. Although they create films for clients, the two received press last fall and winter for a 30-minute pilot episode for a personal project, a film series called “Philadelphia: The Great Experiment.” Phil, who began editing film at Penn Charter, produced the pilot. He said they envision seven, one-hour chapters as well as webisodes, podcasts and other educational materials. Each episode costs about $750,000 to produce, which calculates to a total cost of more than $5 million. A hefty price tag but worth it, Sam said, if the project leads Philadelphia to develop a vision for its future. The former mayoral candidate and longtime history buff believes that Philadelphia, in order to develop a vision for its future, must have a better understanding of its past. “It isn’t clear what it is we’re trying to be,” Katz said. “And I would argue that one of the reasons that’s the case is we have no idea what we’ve been.” PC
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2003
2005
Class Agents Jessica A. Kolansky jekolansky@davidson.edu Anthony E. McDevitt mcdevitt44@gmail.com Thomas G. Bell writes, “Just got my wings last weekend and am moving to San Diego in early November to fly brand new MH-60R Seahawk helicopters for the Navy. If anyone finds themselves in Southern California, look me up.”
Gloria Fretz works for the Association for the Blind in Charleston, S.C., and is engaged to Captain John Paul Baker, a C-17 pilot with the U.S. Air Force, whom she met while attending the Air Force Academy. The wedding will take place at the Magnolia Plantation in Charleston on July 16, 2011. Julia A. LiBassi writes, “After threeand-a-half years of playing in a sevenperson rock band in Boston, I moved to Denver in 2009 to start the up-and-coming band The Raven and the Writing Desk.” The six-piece rock ensemble, heavy on piano, violin and percussion, is turning heads all over Denver and released its debut album Recidivist in December. A tour will follow.
Daniel E. Conston has recently moved back to Washington, D.C., after 10 months out on campaigns. He spent about five months in Kansas City as communications director for Jerry Moran’s winning U.S. Senate race in Kansas, and then after the primary win, he moved to Tallahassee, Fla., to manage communications for the Republican Party of Florida, working as a spokesman for now-Sen. Marco Rubio and now-Gov. Rick Scott. Daniel is back in D.C. now as communications director for Rep. Peter Roskam, the Republican majority whip.
Class Agents Christopher W. Garrison cwg008@bucknell.edu Jessica Kalick jessiekalick@gmail.com Maureen Ryan mmr54@georgetown.edu
A Look Back at
2006
Michael G. (Mickey) Maley is enjoying a fun job at the Franklin Institute. Ian A. Saltzman has moved back to Blue Bell after graduate school and works as a mushroom growing specialist for Oakshire Mushroom Farm in Kennett Square, where they are the sole mushroom supplier for Dole across all of North America.
2004
Class Agents Katherine A. Entwisle kentwisl@gmail.com Jerome B. Wright jwright08@gmail.com
Class of 2005 5th Reunion
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Class Notes 2006
Class Agents Joey Fugelo insaniac83@aol.com Sarah Roberts sar777@aol.com Katherine Siegmann ksiegmann@gmail.com
2007
Class Agents Billy Goldman weg211@lehigh.edu Audra Hugo audro.hugo@gmail.com Anne McKenna anniemck515@comcast.net Eric Muller ebm28@drexel.edu
2008
Class Agents Katie Corelli kcorelli@stanford.edu Ryan Goldman ryg@sas.upenn.edu Kyle Maurer kmaurer3@jhu.edu Sierra Tishgart s-tishgart@u.northwestern.edu
2009
Class Agents Alexandra M. Glassman amg296@cornell.edu Curtiss R. Jones Jr. crj213@lehigh.edu Laura A. Kurash chargefan5@comcast.net Sam H. Lerner sam.lerner@richmond.edu
2010
Thomas Driscoll, 1950 on Sept. 7, 2010.
Class Agents Megan C. Delaney megan.c.delaney@gmail.com Cormac J. Ferrick mac.ferrick@gmail.com Casey T. Maher ctm214@lehigh.edu Kellie C. Ragg kragg@princeton.edu
Kenneth M. Dillabough, 1954 on April 30, 2010. Christopher R. Rosser, 1956 on Nov. 20, 2010. Samuel D. Winner, 1959 on Oct. 14, 2010.
BIRTHS 1986 Kate Foster, to Jenny and Andy Rosenberg, on Feb. 16, 2010. 1988 Conor Martin, to Anne and Patrick Keane, on Nov. 29, 2010. 1994 Isaac Irving, to Emily and David J. Sirota, on Nov. 22, 2010.
Come Celebrate:
Samuel David, to Kimberly and Aaron D. Rubin, on Dec. 3, 2010.
•2 0 Years of Girls Athletics at PC
1995 Thomas Gahan, to Ellis and John H. Whipple, on April 5, 2010.
• And Deborah White, Cheryl Irving, Elizabeth Glascott and Elizabeth Flemming.
Nathan Samuel, to Traci and Hugh A. Meyer, on Dec. 8, 2010. 1997 Hunter Harlin, to James and Maya Comerota Stewart on Jan. 8, 2011. 1999 Colin Thomas, to Kevin and Margaux Genovese Pelegrin, on Oct. 18, 2010.
DEATHS 1933
J ohn S. Child, on Oct. 27, 2010.
1936
J ames Marshall Evans, on Sept. 24, 2010.
June 3, 2011, 7pm to 10pm The Chestnut Club, 1529 Chestnut St. RSVP online at: penncharter.com/legacy.
6th PKO Alumni Lacrosse Game
Join fellow PC Lacrosse Alumni for the Peter K. Ortale OPC ’83 Alumni Lacrosse Game.
James T. Shilcock, on Feb. 2, 2011.
Date: May 21, 2011 • Time: 11:00 a.m.
Benjamin C. Carmine Jr., 1941 on Feb. 23, 2011. Davis P. Wurts, on Nov. 8, 2010.
Location: William Penn Charter School Perrott Field This biennial event has become a wonderful tradition, bringing together the PC lacrosse family and honoring the memory of Peter K. Ortale OPC ’83. The game will be followed by a barbecue lunch at Timmons House compliments of the Penn Charter Alumni Society. Families are welcome.
George E. Schieber, 1942 on Aug. 23, 2010. 1945
• Women’s Legacy Scholarship Fund
RSVP to Paul Butler pbutler@penncharter.com or 215-844-3460 ext. 159
J ohn G. Cunningham, on Nov. 8, 2010.
We hope you can join us!
William E. Lukens, 1947 on Dec. 24, 2010. Laura A. Kurash, a sophomore at Wesleyan University, earned first-team all-New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) honors in women’s soccer for the 2010 season following a vote of the NESCAC coaches.
uy L. Schless, G on Feb. 14, 2011.
1949
J ean-Loup Dherse, on May 30, 2010.
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Spring 2011 The Magazine of William Penn Charter School
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Page 32
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william penn charter school
a n n ua l f u n d 2010-2011
dear friends, In 2003, on only my second day on the job at the Doe Fund, I found myself walking the halls of a transitional housing program in Harlem, led by a tour guide who’d spent 10 years in prison. When we reached a floor with living quarters, he shouted, “Lady on the floor!” and a couple of doors closed quietly as we made our rounds. I thought, What am I doing here? I had trouble imagining I had much to offer a 20-year-old nonprofit organization that served 600 formerly homeless men, helping them off the street and into productive jobs. Sure, I had done service learning projects at Penn Charter and later spent three months after college working in rural Mexico. But what could I possibly contribute here, every day, for years? What am I doing here? So there I was in Harlem, feeling small and far from home. You can imagine my surprise running into anyone familiar there, let alone someone I’d known for years. But there was Mr. Ballengee – my Penn Charter teacher, college counselor, and friend’s father – taking a group of Penn Charter students enrolled in a course called Peace, Justice and Social Change on a tour of my new organization. Suddenly, I knew exactly why I was there. And if I hadn’t figured it out yet, Mr. Ballengee, now PC’s director of service learning, gave me three minutes to figure it out and collect my thoughts before delivering to his students a brief presentation on my life at Penn Charter and at college, and my decision to pursue a career in service that led me to the Doe Fund. Penn Charter taught me that I will learn more from the people I am serving than I will ever be able to teach them. But Penn Charter also taught me that I have something valuable to contribute to any cause. I learned to put my thoughts together on paper with the support of creative instructors, and I doubled my self-discipline on the field through track and soccer. At Penn Charter, I learned that nerves are normal when speaking in front of classmates at Friends Meeting … or spontaneously, as a young adult, before a roomful of high school students … or more formally, when I became deputy director at the Doe Fund’s Philadelphia chapter. When my Penn Charter classmates and I talk about our time at school, almost 15 years later, we not only remember every classmate but the personalities of each teacher and specific lessons in each classroom. Those clear memories, coupled with the confidence I learned in Penn Charter’s halls, have helped guide me every day of my career.
Sincerely,
Kate Houstoun OPC ’97
We ask you to consider making a gift to the Annual Fund, ensuring that Penn Charter continues to provide a place of growth for future generations. Visit www.penncharter.com to make your gift online. You may also contact Ted Decker OPC ’78, Director of Alumni Relations (215.844.3460 ext. 134 or tdecker@penncharter.com), or Stephanie Ball, Director of Annual Fund (215.844.3460 ext. 112 or sball@penncharter.com).
Answer the Call
The Penn Charter Alumni Association is calling... Penn Charter has decided to print a new edition of our Alumni Directory, a handy alternative to our online alumni listings. Over the next several months, Publishing Concepts Inc. (PCI) will be contacting OPCs via mail, phone and e-mail to request that you help us update your home and business contact information. We understand that you might not want to provide your information to just anyone, so we want you to know their request for your information is legitimate.
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The new directory will be printed and available to you by spring 2012 in both hard copy and CD formats! For more information about the project, contact Director of Alumni Relations Ted Decker OPC ’78 at 215-844-3460 ext. 134 or tdecker@penncharter.com.
5/8/12 10:18 AM
Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage
PAID
Philadelphia, PA Permit No. 6118
3000 West School House Lane Philadelphia, PA 19144
The 2011 Community Auction at the Please Touch Museum. See page 17.
Save the Date Saturday, May 21
Peter K. Ortale OPC ’83 Alumni Lacrosse Game and Barbeque, 10 a.m.
Friday, May 27 Color Day, 1 p.m.
Friday, June 3
Celebration of 20 Years of Girls Athletics, 7 p.m.
Saturday, June 11
Commencement, 10:30 a.m.
Sunday, June 12
Kenny Caldwell OPC ’89 Memorial Kicknic, 12:30 p.m.
Friday, November 11
Athletic Honor Society Banquet
Saturday, November 12 PC/GA Day at PC
Saturday, November 26 Class of 2006 Five-Year Reunion
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