THE MAGAZINE OF WILLIAM PENN CHARTER SCHOOL
SPRING 2016
Vision Forward
NOW
The STRATEGIC VISION for Penn Charter’s future is organized around SIX GOALS, each with a set of strategies. Goal 1: Quakerism
Goal 2: program Advance our educational program to provide students with the knowledge and skills they need to thrive in a complex and changing world.
Strategies include: q Create new assessment tools to measure whether students are learning what we intend to teach.
q Multiple platforms for content delivery, including new technologies, will maximize student engagement and success.
See Program example right Goal 3: Teaching Goal 4: Time Goal 5: Space Goal 6: Financial Sustainability
Educating Students to Live Lives that Make a Difference A Strategic Vision for the Future of William Penn Charter School
Ancient Gods and Facebook? Not the likeliest of matchups, however classics teacher Marianne Master is in the second year of using Facebook to familiarize her Latin Advanced Topics students with the pantheon of Greco-Roman gods and goddesses; her project is intended to inform students’ reading of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Traditionally, students would learn about the gods and goddesses by researching them in a textbook or other reference, and then the teacher would require them to take a test or write a paper to demonstrate they learned the material. “When I realized that most of the information I wanted the students to learn about the gods was biographical, I thought Facebook would be the perfect platform to share that information,” Master said. “Plus, it allowed students to have some fun and make some creative choices based on their research. More exciting and interesting than a research paper or even a PowerPoint, in my opinion.” Senior Max Jokelson took on the persona of Pluto for the project and created Facebook entries with Pluto’s personal information (Hometown: Mount Othrys. Interests: torture, wealth, dogs, kidnap, irony. Children: Furies, Macaria, Melinoe and Zagreus.) His posts offered the opportunity for dialogue and voice: Pluto: Shout-out to Sisyphus for moving my furniture to my new mountain place. At Hades. Sisyphus to Pluto: Hate you. Hate you so much. Persephone: Don’t get too upset, Sisyphus. He always does this sort of thing. I’ll bring snacks next time. Jokelson, who will be a Benjamin Franklin Scholar next year at the University of Pennsylvania, said the project was “enjoyable, interesting, and tremendously helpful.” “While I am normally a fan of writing a paper over other projects, I found the Facebook project to be far more beneficial,” Jokelson said. “It allowed the class to thoroughly research their respective mythological figures, just as in a paper, by referring to a number of substantial resources, and present in an insightful and easily understandable manner for the entire class… I really enjoyed the interesting angle I was able to take on one of my favorite topics in Latin.” PC
Contents SPRING 2016
FEATURES
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Service + Learning Service in Middle School is thriving and doing good work.
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The Class Record, Past and Present Past editors take a look back. Plus, learn about the new digital archive of past yearbooks.
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Vision Forward NOW Three years after introducing the new Strategic Vision, teachers and students present a showcase of innovations.
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Night at the Museum A memorable Downtown Reception at the Franklin Institute.
DEPARTMENTS
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OPENING COMMENTS
From the Head of School ...................................................................................... 2 AROUND CAMPUS
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Campus Currents ..................................................................................................... 3 Great Day to Be a Quaker..................................................................................... 6 Cancer Conference ................................................................................................. 8 Faculty and Overseer News...................................................................................9 New Coaching Teams ............................................................................................14 Athletics News .........................................................................................................14
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ALUMNI
PC Profiles................................................................................................................ 10 Athletic Honor Society.......................................................................................34 Class Notes ..............................................................................................................38
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ON THE COVER THE MAGAZINE OF WILLIAM PENN CHARTER SCHOOL
SPRING 2016
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Three years after introducing the new Strategic Vision, Head of School Darryl J. Ford invited the community to Vision Forward NOW for a dynamic progress report. Page 24. BACK COVER
All-School Musical: Beauty and the Beast
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THE MAGAZINE OF WILLIAM PENN CHARTER SCHOOL
Darryl J. Ford Head of School Elizabeth A. Glascott Hon. 1689 Assistant Head of School Jeffrey A. Reinhold Clerk, Overseers John T. Rogers Hon. 1689 Chief Development Officer
OPENING COMMENTS
From the Head of School Capacious Intellect | Spirit | Care | Talent The past six days at Penn Charter have been both full and fulfilling. On Thursday,
May 5, Vision Forward NOW, a showcase of student and teacher presentations, demonstrated meaningful ways our curriculum, our teaching and learning, and our campus have changed since we unveiled a new Strategic Vision in March 2013. Live presentations interspersed with videos captivated the audience in the beautiful Kurtz Center for the Performing Arts. On Friday evening, we honored OPCs at the 124th OPC Reception. Beloved language teacher Ralph Gunther Hon. 1689, who taught at Penn Charter from 1962 to 1986, returned to PC from his home in Switzerland, and Steve Bonnie OPC ’66 received the Alumni Award of Merit. These honorees helped to amass one of the largest crowds ever for this event, and each reveled in their own prolonged standing ovation. OPC Weekend continued with 12 different classes reunioning on Saturday night. I made it to five celebrations and was equally impressed at each by the love alumni felt for their school and for each other. Just yesterday, after our final board meeting of the year, Overseers hosted their annual dinner to thank faculty and staff for their work. During the program, I recognized colleagues for years of service to Penn Charter. From the first-year “survivors,” to three teachers recognized for 40 years of teaching, to several retiring colleagues, we feted each other’s contributions and cheered for those receiving recognition for different milestones. Most touching was a Minute of Appreciation read in honor of Roger S. Hillas OPC ’45, who will step aside from his 55 years of board service to the school; remarkably, Roger has been associated with Penn Charter for nine decades as both a student and board member. As I reflect on these events, I am reminded of a commonality that threads them all together and is quintessentially Penn Charter: Our strength as a school is directly related to the strength of our people. Teachers who lead in our classrooms, including the teacher presenters at Vision Forward NOW, Ralph Gunther and Steve Bonnie, and many others, make Penn Charter great. Students who receive the benefits of good instruction – including not only those who presented at the Strategic Vision showcase but all of our charges – freely share their talents, questions and learning, taking full advantage of excellent and innovative educational opportunities afforded them at Penn Charter. And our alumni, many of whom return home each year for OPC Weekend, affirm that their Penn Charter education not only prepared them well for college but prepared them well for life. Good instruction is better than riches, and we abound in riches because of the capacious intellect, spirit, care and talent of those who call Penn Charter home.
Margaux G. Pelegrin OPC ’99 Alumni Society President
MAGAZINE STAFF Sharon Sexton Editor Rebecca Luzi Associate Editor Julia Judson-Rea Assistant Editor Michael Branscom Feature Photography Proof Design Studios Design William Penn Charter School 3000 West School House Lane Philadelphia, PA 19144 215.844.3460
www.penncharter.com 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.
Follow Penn Charter at your favorite social media sites: FACEBOOK facebook.com/penncharter TWITTER @PennCharter YOUTUBE youtube.com/pennchartertube INSTAGRAM @PennCharter
PLEASE RECYCLE THIS MAGAZINE
Darryl J. Ford Head of School
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CAMPUS CURRENTS High School HeroesX Philadelphia Prize A group of six Penn Charter students won the Philadelphia Education Challenge High School HeroesX (HSHX) Philadelphia prize for the STEM coding and computer literacy curriculum they developed for third and fourth graders at the Gesu School's summer school.
CAMPUS EXPANDS TO 47 ACRES Penn Charter expanded the campus footprint with the purchase of a 2.5-acre property on School House Lane, opposite the main campus and adjacent to the Strawbridge Campus. Head of School Darryl J. Ford said PC is planning for creative use of the new space for outdoor education and athletics. “The acquisition of this land holds great promise for the future of the Penn Charter campus,” Ford said, noting that the campus is now close to 47 acres. Penn Charter expanded the campus most recently in 1984 when we acquired the former Strawbridge estate. In 1982, the school began a transition to coeducation, and Overseers recognized that we needed additional athletic facilities to accommodate both girls and boys sports. The Strawbridge purchase expanded the campus to 44 acres and, over time, made it possible for PC to build new tennis courts, athletic fields and the Kline & Specter Squash Center. Penn Charter purchased the new property from Jewish Employment Vocational Services (JEVS), which had operated a facility for adults with disabilities. Ford said the school entered into conversation with JEVS almost two years ago, after the organization decided to change its model and relocate residents to community living. PC negotiated an agreement of sale at that time, and Penn Charter Overseers funded the purchase of the property.
In its first year, the High School HeroesX Philadelphia contest focused on narrowing the education gap and improving high school and college graduation rates in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods in Philadelphia where the gap is most severe. Penn Charter sophomore Ian Harbison and seniors Mitchell Hogan, Derek Magers, Michael Newman, Andy Nguyen and Jonathan Weiss worked together to develop the lessons for the students at Gesu School, a pre-K to 8 Catholic school in North Philadelphia. Members of the Penn Charter team visited Gesu’s summer school regularly for seven weeks and ran lessons on coding, PowerPoint and keyboarding. High School HeroesX Philadelphia awarded $1,400 to Penn Charter in January, which PC will use to purchase Little Bits – plastic modules that snap together to form electric circuits that can power fans, play music or sound an alarm – for Gesu and St. James School, one of Penn Charter’s closest service partners.
“The acquisition of this land holds great promise for the future of the Penn Charter campus.” Following the agreement of sale, JEVS notified employees, residents, and families of the residents of its plan. The thoughtful relocation of the dozen or so residents to greatly improved housing was a priority for JEVS and for PC. That relocation was accomplished to the satisfaction of the residents and their families over a period of two years, and JEVS was able to allocate some of the proceeds of the sale to purchase furniture for the residents for their new homes.
HSHX Philadelphia team from Penn Charter are, L-R, Derek Magers, Jonathan Weiss, Andy Nguyen, Mitchell Hogan and Ian Harbison. Not pictured: Michael Newman.
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CAMPUS CURRENTS
A MAGICAL BEAUTY AND THE BEAST The Kurtz Center stage transformed into a provincial village and an enchanted castle for the all-school musical, Beauty and the Beast. More than 120 students ages 9-19 underwent their own transformations, becoming dancing cutlery, twirling napkins, ferocious wolves and impressionable townspeople. Others honed their craft in the orchestra pit, or learned set, costume, lighting and sound design under the tutelage of professional designers. The vividly painted backdrops and borders that portrayed a quaint town center and a mysterious castle – executed in large part by students and their parents – framed this tale of love and redemption. The show’s three February performances sold out, and the reviews were rave!
See photos at www.flickr.com/penncharter.
Films by, for and about Women Penn Charter’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Women’s Legacy Fund hosted the regional showing of Lunafest, a national tour of short films by, for and about women. Lunafest is a fundraising festival dedicated to promoting awareness about women’s issues, highlighting women filmmakers, and bringing women together in their communities. Imana Legette, director of the PC Office of Diversity and Inclusion, said the festival was also a way to support women’s history month and further Penn Charter’s focus this year on gender. The six films, recommended for ages 16 and up, ranged from animation to fictional drama, and covered topics such as women’s health, motherhood, body image, aging, cultural diversity and breaking barriers. All proceeds from Lunafest benefit the Breast Cancer Fund and the Women’s Legacy Fund, which supports and advances girls athletics at Penn Charter through scholarship, mentoring and celebration.
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CAMPUS CURRENTS
Nĭ Hăo!
PC WELCOMES CHINESE STUDENTS AND YEAR OF THE MONKEY Penn Charter hosted 11 high-school-aged students from Chongqing Number 1 Middle School for two weeks in February. Because middle school in China is equivalent to high school in the U.S., the Chinese students lived with Penn Charter Upper School students studying Mandarin. Penn Charter added Mandarin Chinese to the curriculum in 2010, offering courses up to Level 5 for students in seventh through 12th grades. “It is a small but growing program,” said Chinese teacher Lea Ekeberg. “We use story-based strategies, and there is no textbook. The students learn to speak Chinese by telling stories.” The Chinese visitors attended classes with their hosts, visited the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Constitution Center, University of Pennsylvania and sites in New York City. They had the opportunity to assist with set production for Beauty and the Beast and cheer on the girls and boys basketball teams. A group of PC students visited our sister school, Yaohua School in Tianjin, over spring break, and also spent time with the Chongqing students after two days in Beijing. PC students and exchange students from Chongqing celebrate Chinese New Year at Timmons House. Happy Year of the Monkey!
Gordon Robertson, Amelia Dogan, Josh Patton and Ian Harbison represented PC at Philadelphia FIRST Tech Challenge League Championship.
ROBOTICS CLUB WINS PHILLY, COMPETES AT STATES Penn Charter’s Robotics Club won the Philadelphia FIRST Tech Challenge League Championship this year and went on to capture 13th (of 36 teams) at States. The team, comprised of Upper School students from every grade and advised by science teachers Tim Clarke and Corey Kilbane, constructed and coded a robot that would complete tasks assigned in advance by the competition. “Our robot was reliable,” Clark said after the city competition. “Other teams had robots that could do more things, but they fell over and were useless, or just didn’t work. So, reliable was good! And we continued work to improve our robot.” The 17-member PC club worked in advance to design and build the robot, write its JAVA programming, code tasks, and design parts that were laser cut or 3D printed at Penn Charter. The win in Philly earned PC a spot in the state championships, where the competition team of Amelia Dogan, Ian Harbison, Gordon Robertson and Elizabeth Ominsky placed 13 out of 36 teams after the placement rounds. “The team had a great rookie year and is excited for next year,” Clarke said.
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THE STARS OF TO BE A
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BUT BUT WOW! WOW!
WE’VE ALWAYS KNOWN THAT PC PRIDE RUNS DEEP,
CONNECTED COMMUNITY:
Hundreds of tweets, Instagram posts and email submissions brought together the PC community for one GREAT day, March 15. Your recollections and old photos rolled in throughout the day. The blog, penncharter.com/greatday, was alive with faculty tales of PC traditions and memories. On campus, we loved seeing parents, faculty, staff and students share the joy of being a Penn Charter Quaker. With musical performances at each division to play us into the day, a PC-themed photo booth and cake – hand-delivered by William Penn, in some cases! – we had a fun-filled campus.
MESSAGES OF PC PRIDE: Post-it notes filled the message boards in each division throughout the day, responding to the query: It’s a Great Day to Be a Quaker because… Messages like “because I’m a 3rd trimester senior!” “because of great teachers and classmates!” “because you are accepted no matter who you are!” “because PC challenges you to be the best you can be!” and “because being a Quaker helps you stick together with friends and family” made our blue-and-yellow hearts swell. Online, many of you told us why you choose to support Penn Charter. A few of those messages were:
“I’m an alumnus who gives cheerfully every year!”– OPC ’34 (our oldest OPC donor!) “I was fortunate enough to receive the gift of a Penn Charter education from my parents. I give to Penn Charter to help give this gift to others. #greatday”– OPC ’01
INCREDIBLE SUPPORT:
Great Day to Be a Quaker raised $210,595 for Penn Charter; a whopping 345 of you made a Great Day gift. That’s 15% of the Annual Fund goal from 15% of donors in just 24 hours.
GREAT DAY GIVING CHALLENGES: Our network responded overwhelmingly to the giving challenges posted in the morning and the afternoon. With the dollar-for-dollar match in place in the morning from a generous overseer, your gifts quickly surpassed his $20,000 matching gift. Inspired by the PC community and its extraordinary generosity, another overseer challenged us all to make a-gift-just-right for Great Day and for our individual means. With participation the name of the game for this challenge, we blew past the challenge of 250 donors for a total of 345 on the day.
GREAT DAY BY THE NUMBERS
$210,595.14
RAISED ON GREAT DAY
345 GREAT DAY DONORS* 145 OPC DONORS
160 PARENT DONORS 101 FACULTY/STAFF DONORS 118 NEW AND REVIVED DONORS
“Because I’m so deeply grateful for the outstanding education my son is receiving at PC. And because the Middle School faculty blows my mind on a regular basis.” – PC Parent
“The VALUES! Our children have learned inclusion, respect, honesty and strong work ethics. PC helped to make us ‘even prouder’ parents!” – PC Parents
“I give because PC is a great place to teach and learn. It is a school that lives its mission and nurtures all community members to be their best selves.” – Faculty Member
“Penn Charter gave our daughter 12 years of an amazing education. She always says it was her PC education that shaped who she is and prepared her for her future! We agree!!! Thank you to all of the amazing teachers and PC staff that supported her along the way. We love Penn Charter!” – OPC Parents
*donors may be part of more than one group SPRING 2016 •
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CAMPUS CURRENTS
CANCER CONFERENCE RAISES AWARENESS, FUNDS Student organizers of PC’s Cancer Conference and Big Climb Philly Kickoff turned out a crowd to listen to informative presentations from eminent oncologists and heartfelt recollections from cancer survivors. “This is the era when cancer can be cured, and your generation can cure it,” Penn Medicine neurosurgeon Donald O’Rourke told students gathered in the Kurtz Center for the Saturday symposium. O’Rourke said medical science has made progress in treating cancer and extending survival rates. But, he said, “our field needs a new generation of young minds, and I challenge you to think about what you can do to cure cancer. The air is filled with possibilities.” Lynn M. Schuchter, chief of Penn Medicine’s division of Hematology Oncology, provided a fascinating overview of the disease and new cancer therapies, some of which have replaced chemotherapy and radiation. Although the new pharmaceuticals have side effects, she said, they are more benign than chemo and radiation. PC ninth grader Duncan Glew, who brought the idea for the Big Climb to Philadelphia when he moved here for treatment of T-cell leukemia, spoke from personal experience about the
destructiveness of some current medicine. “I stand before you today as a voice for all those who didn’t make it,” Duncan said. But he acknowledged that halting the cancer came at a price. A steroid used in his treatment has left his knees so brittle that he can no longer run or surf, as he once did. In addition to Duncan, the conference featured personal stories from four other individuals who have battled cancer. Jules Rauch OPC ’56 explained with emotion and candor what it was like to be diagnosed with melanoma in 2010 and given only months to live. Rauch became a patient of Schuchter’s and beat the odds. “Now I tell people I am 73 – plus the five years she gave me.” Rauch’s cancer was caused by exposure to the sun, and he recounted how he grew up at the beach, traveled to the Caribbean, fished off the Florida coast. He gave students a straightforward message: Protect your skin from the sun with sunscreen, sunblocking fabrics, hats, etc.
Top: Physicians Lynn Schuchter and Donald O’Rourke; cancer survivors Derek Fitzgerald and Jules Rauch; PC ninth grader and Big Climb inspiration Duncan Glew; PC science teacher and cancer survivor Timothy Lynch; Head of School Darryl J. Ford.
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Timothy Lynch, PC science teacher, was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a common and deadly form of brain cancer, when he was in his first year of graduate school in 1990. Lynch explained how a post-operative infection may have fired up his immune system in a way that fought back the cancer, which has a median survival rate of two years. (More about his survival and cancer research at penncharter.com/lynch.)
“This is the era when cancer can be cured, and your generation can cure it.” Derek Fitzgerald beat two life-threatening diseases. In 2003, when he was 30, Fitzgerald was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; he immediately underwent several rounds of chemotherapy. The treatment destroyed the cancer – but he soon learned that it had destroyed his heart. Fitzgerald received a heart transplant in 2011. He went on to win a full Ironman – a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run in 17 hours or less! Comcast’s Frank Purcell attended as a representative of the company and a cancer survivor, and he had the additional credential of being the younger brother of Erin Purcell Hughes, chair of PC’s English department. Like Fitzgerald and Duncan, Purcell came to rely for information and support on the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), organizers of the Big Climb Philly event. “Comcast Corporation is proud to host this event, and we thank Duncan for bringing this inspiration to us,” Purcell said. “We look forward to blowing the roof off!” PC
For photos and results of Big Climb Philly, see penncharter.com/news.
FACULTY AND OVERSEER NEWS
ACCOLADES FOR
HEAD OF SCHOOL DARRYL J. FORD FORD DEFINES HIS LEADERSHIP STYLE HEAD OF SCHOOL DARRYL J. FORD was invited to deliver the annual Spotlight on Leadership lecture at his alma mater, Villanova University, in February. Ford, a trustee of the university (and avid follower of Wildcats basketball), spoke of different styles of leadership: being the public face of a cause, encouraging and participating in the heart of a movement, or assisting and supporting as an ally. In doing so, he called to mind the Jacob Lawrence painting Confrontation at the Bridge and the iconic photograph by William Lovelace of Martin Luther King Jr., arm-in-arm with other leaders and marchers at the front of the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. “When confronted by a critical moment and crossing a bridge of equity and justice, where might you fall?” Ford asked the audience. “Would you be a leader at the front? Would you be a leader at the rear? Would you be an off-site ally, a leader who provided the organizational foundation for the fearless foot soldiers? Or might you not be present at all? Might you not be present at all?” “I invite you to the bridge so that we can strive to see that of God in each and every person on this planet Earth and recognize the dignity freely bestowed by our God and our maker,” Ford said. “I invite you to the bridge to march for equity and justice and to right the wrongs, which, sadly, we have made with our own hands. I invite you to the bridge to lead from the front and to push from behind. I invite YOU to the bridge.” Read Ford’s full speech at penncharter.com/spotlight.
COLLEGE SETTLEMENT COMMENDS FORD Head of School Darryl J. Ford received the 2015 Leonard C. Ferguson Youth Advocate Award from College Settlement at the Acorn to Oaks Gala in November 2015. College Settlement and Kuhn Day Camps offer camp programs for Philadelphia students, particularly the economically disadvantaged. Through experiential, environmental education programming, campers improve self-esteem, leadership skills and appreciation of the natural world. College Settlement provides outdoor education to thousands of young people each year. Ford has continued the Penn Charter tradition of more than 20 years of sending Lower School students to participate in team building and environmental education programs at College Settlement’s Outdoor School in Horsham. PC
NEW OVERSEER PROFILE
W. Scott Simon OPC ’78 CURIOSITIES AND STATISTICS Age: 55 Education: William Penn Charter School; BA and MS Stanford University, Industrial Engineering Professional Background: Simon worked at PIMCO, a global investment management firm, for 14 years following 16 years on Wall Street. Passions: Now that Simon is retired, he focuses on care of his body, mind, spirit and relationships. He is also grateful to have time to dedicate to good causes, including Penn Charter. And, Simon loves to fly airplanes. “I did it yesterday – to see my daughters – and I’ll go out again in about two hours!” he said.
CONNECTIONS AND THOUGHTS ON PENN CHARTER “My years at PC were the most formative years and experiences of my life,” Simon said. “The education is great; PC doesn’t just do rote teaching, it teaches you how to think. PC gives you the tools to be able to solve problems, in school or in life, that don’t just mimic the assigned problem set. What can you glean from what you know that applies to this problem? That’s the hallmark of a Penn Charter education.” The word overseer, Simon said, accurately conveys his new role. “Just the name conveys the responsibility to oversee this mission that has been so effective for the last 326 years. In terms of Penn Charter’s future, I am responsible for maintaining the values and ideals that have always been the hallmark, but also make sure the school is relevant for the current times. Earl Ball did a great job blending tradition with what was current. It can be easy at a place that’s big on tradition to not want to change; you might stay “pure” but you’re helping no one because the education is no longer relevant to the world around it. We need not compromise one for the other. Instead, we consider what method to deliver the tradition and values and the longstanding product – an excellent education. That’s not trivial, but that’s the responsibility of the Overseers, as I see it.”
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PC P RO F I LE S
A Supreme Question Ilana Eisenstein OPC ’95 BY MARK F. BERNSTEIN OPC ’79
“Ms. Eisenstein, one question.” Those four words from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas last February made national news. It had been a decade since Thomas had spoken during oral argument and, surprised as veteran court observers may have been, surely no one was more taken aback than the person to whom his question was directed: Ilana Eisenstein OPC ’95.
“The way he phrased his question made it difficult to answer, but the real substance behind it, which was why this statute survives Second Amendment scrutiny, was not surprising,” she said, well, judiciously in an interview weeks later at Penn Charter. The solicitor general is the government’s appellate lawyer. The office argues all cases before the Supreme Court in which the United States is a party, but also writes supporting briefs as an amicus curiae (friend of the court) in other cases where the government may have an interest in the decision. In addition, the Solicitor General must approve all cases in which the government files an appeal. Besides the Solicitor General himself (currently Donald Verrilli), there are four deputies and 16 assistants, of which Eisenstein is one.
A Penn Charter overseer since 2002 and the first alumna to serve on the school’s governing board, Eisenstein was a member of PC’s first girls squash team and continued playing varsity squash at Harvard with four other OPCs on teams that won three national championships. She always thought she would become a scientist but credits a course taught by Nancy Kelley, former PC teacher and assistant head of school, with turning her towards a career in the law. The course, called Current Issues, exposed a mix of students in grades 10, 11 and 12 to a wide range of issues in the news. Though she was only a junior at the time, Eisenstein more than held her own, Kelley recalled, praising her “razor-sharp thinking” as well as her “courage and willingness to look closely at issues many people would not want to deal with.” It was during that trimester, in fact, that Eisenstein made her first trip to the Supreme Court. Kelley organized a field trip to Washington, where Mike Hirshland OPC ’84 was clerking for Justice Kennedy. Kennedy spent an hour with the class in his chambers talking about his work and answering
Ilana Eisenstein outside the Supreme Court.
Assistant to the U.S. Solicitor General Ilana Eisenstein was arguing in the case Voisine v. United States, which concerns the constitutionality of a federal statute that prohibits anyone with a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction from possessing a firearm. As Eisenstein prepared to sit down after fielding 13 questions from Chief Justice John Roberts and justices Anthony Kennedy and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Thomas asked Eisenstein if she could cite any other examples of misdemeanor violations leading to the loss of a constitutional right. Eisenstein takes great pride in her preparation. Still: Clarence Thomas? Eisenstein couldn’t have been expecting a question from him, could she?
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Ilana Eisenstein and Tom Scott OPC ’95 relocated their family to Washington, D.C. in 2015. Scott is an anesthesiologist and member of the faculty at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
PC P RO F I LE S questions. “That,” Eisenstein recalled, “was a phenomenal experience.” Even more important, though, was a moot court competition Kelley organized at the federal courthouse, presided over by two Penn Charter parents, including U.S. District Judge Stuart Dalzell. Students were assigned a case concerning a hate crime; half the class argued one side and half the other. When the exercise was over, Dalzell nodded toward Eisenstein and asked Kelley, “Who is that?” He then took Eisenstein aside and asked if she was considering going to law school. When she said she wasn’t, Dalzell countered, “Well, you should.” Eisenstein eventually took Dalzell’s advice and attended law school at the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating in 2004, she clerked for Judge Edward Becker on the U.S. Court of Appeals, followed by a one-year fellowship in the Solicitor General’s Office. Having concluded that she was not interested in private practice, she spent the next eight and a half years as an assistant U.S. attorney in Delaware, overseeing drug trafficking and
money laundering cases as well as other criminal prosecutions, and eventually overseeing appeals coming out of the office. In 2014, as she began to contemplate the next stage of her career, she applied again to the Solicitor General’s Office, this time for a permanent position, and was accepted. Appellate argument is very different from the trial work she had done for most of her career up to that point, the latter more cut-and-thrust and the former more cerebral. What links them, though, is the element of unpredictability. “That’s the fun of being a litigator, at any level,” she said. “The unexpected often does happen.” The recipient of a once-in-a-decade question from Justice Thomas certainly would know. Her first appearance before the Supreme Court came last spring in the case of Ohio v. Clark, which concerned whether statements made out of court by a victim of child abuse are admissible under the Sixth Amendment. The Ohio Supreme Court had ruled that such statements are admissible, and Eisenstein was arguing on behalf of the United States, which had filed a supporting brief.
“It’s really difficult to prepare for a Supreme Court argument compared to arguments in the district court or the court of appeals,” she explained, “because the standard practice for arguing [in the lower courts] is to claim that a particular case controls. But the Supreme Court is not controlled by precedent. So the question is not what the law is but what the law should be.” A sharp appellate lawyer, then, must also look at positions the justices themselves have taken in previous cases. Which issues are likely to concern them? What are they likely to ask? And who is likely to do the asking? Lawyers also have a very limited amount of time – no more than 30 minutes, and often less – in which to hit the points they have made in their briefs and answer questions from the bench. “There is little time to respond to a question, just one sentence,” Eisenstein explained, “so you try to anticipate, come up with quick response, expound if you can, then turn back to your argument.” Her first argument, though, went off without a hitch. In Ohio v. Clark, the Court ruled 9-0 in favor of Eisenstein’s position. PC
Sundance Magic J.D. Dillard OPC ’06 BY MARK F. BERNSTEIN OPC ’79
J.D. Dillard (in hat) at Sundance Film Festival.
The thrill in any good magic trick requires a suspension of disbelief – Poof! A rabbit appears out of a hat! – but there is a different kind of fascination in examining how the magician sawed the lady in half or pulled a quarter from someone’s ear. Sleight, the new film by J.D. Dillard OPC ’06 might appear like another sleight-of-hand trick itself, but take a closer look. Dillard’s first feature film – part sci-fi thriller, part coming-of-age story, and part homage to his adopted hometown of Los Angeles – opened to universally favorable reviews at the Sundance film festival last January. Even so, it didn’t just appear out of thin air. It took a lot of
work before Dillard could reach into his hat, so to speak, and produce this movie. Still looking for a rabbit, though? In Sleight, that might be longtime PC teacher Randy Granger. But more on that in a bit. Dillard has been performing magic since he was a boy, spending his Christmas money on instruction books and trick card decks. The son of Bruce Dillard OPC ’77, a longtime Navy pilot and member of the famed Blue Angels aerobatic squadron, J.D. Dillard moved around the country before his family settled in the Philadelphia area. He entered Penn Charter in seventh grade.
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PC P RO F I LE S He fondly remembers drama classes and an independent study on screenwriting taught by Michael Roche, who praises Dillard’s willingness to accept feedback, something not always common in young writers. Making movies was another boyhood interest (“I always told him not to touch my camera,” his father laughed, “but he did it anyway.”), so film and photography classes with Granger also made a lasting impression, and not just for the technical points he picked up. “More of what I learned from him was about organizing information and the process behind it,” Dillard said. Granger gave students a flow chart of his own design, listing seven steps of the creative process: Intending, Defining, Exploring, Planning, Producing, Evaluating and Integrating. More than a decade later, Dillard still keeps a copy in his desk drawer and says he consults it frequently – “to help me organize my thoughts.” If Granger made an impression on Dillard, the feeling was mutual. “He stood out to me,”
Granger said of his former student’s film work. “His skill, which was really superior to any other student I have had, was to write a script that was integrated. He was brilliant in thinking about what he wanted to say.” The road from Penn Charter to Sundance was anything but straight, though. Dillard attended Syracuse University for two years, studying film, but tired of the cold and transferred to the University of Southern California. Pressed for money, he did not finish his degree but went to work instead. He worked in script development for the company that produced the TV show The Office and has directed short films and music videos independently. He also spent several years at Bad Robot, another TV and film production company, starting as a receptionist and eventually assisting director J.J. Abrams during European filming of the blockbuster Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Dillard credits that experience with giving his career direction. “[S]eeing good writing and
Penn Charter trifecta at Sundance: Bruce Dillard OPC ’77, Randy Granger Hon. 1689 and J.D. Dillard OPC ’06.
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Randy Granger with Frank Clem, the actor who portrays him in Sleight.
incredible directing, something happened,” he told Filmmaker magazine in an interview earlier this year. When he returned to the United States, Dillard and writing partner Alex Theurer took Sleight, originally conceived as a short film, and in a little more than a week fleshed it out into a full-length script. Raising money from industry friends, they filmed it in just 17 days with a budget of less than a million dollars, yet landed several recognizable names for the cast, including Dulé Hill, best known for his role on TV’s The West Wing, and Saturday Night Live’s Sasheer Zamata. Sleight tells the story of Bo, a young L.A. street magician trying to get ahead while slowly slipping into the web of a neighborhood drug dealer. Many of the magic tricks shown on screen are real, Dillard said, though a few were enhanced to make them work cinematically. In a climactic scene, when Bo has nowhere else to turn, he seeks out an old high school teacher and mentor for help – a character whom Dillard named “Mr. Granger.” The creative process is frequently solitary, so when Sundance festival representatives called one morning last December, Dillard did not recognize the Utah phone number. He let the call go to voicemail before he realized what it was. “It was so severely overwhelming,” he recalled. “I hate to admit how long I cried. For me and the team, getting that notification, it’s so far beyond
PC P RO F I LE S a boost of confidence. It’s much more akin to gratefulness. It’s like, wow, someone else who didn’t make the movie likes the movie.” The film received several screenings at Sundance, one of 10 works selected for the festival’s NEXT category devoted to “[p]ure, bold works distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling.” It was the first time Dillard had shown the film to large audiences, an experience he calls “both so exciting and so horrifying.” Reviews, though, were favorable. “Loaded with talent on both sides of the camera,” the Hollywood Reporter enthused, “Sleight displays the hallmarks of a potential indie crossover that stands to attract both niche and genre audiences alike.” Better still, Dillard landed a deal to distribute the film nationally. Look for it at the multiplex later this year. Beyond the critics and industry representatives, though, a few guests at the
always been extremely supportive of this abstract and nonlinear career,” he said. The other special guest – that rabbit pulled out of a hat, if you will – was Randy Granger himself, who flew to Park City, Utah, for the premiere just four days before undergoing a knee replacement. Dillard identified him during a Q & A session with the audience and explained their connection. After the theater emptied, someone spotted him outside and, in a moment, a crowd of people – actors and audience alike – surrounded Granger on the sidewalk. “There he is!” they shouted. “There’s the real Mr. Granger!” For his part, Granger calls the film and the recognition “a payback from the universe.” PC premiere held special meaning for Dillard. First, his parents, who had not seen the finished version of Sleight but had steadfastly encouraged his dream. “My parents have
J.D. Dillard flies in from Los Angeles to take part in Vision Forward NOW. See page 24.
Our Own SportsKid Reece Whitley
Reece Whitley, Penn Charter sophomore and breaststroke sensation, was voted the Sports Illustrated Kids 2015 SportsKid of the Year! First Lady Michelle Obama announced the news on Twitter – “We are so proud of you!” she tweeted. – and within minutes Reece made his first appearance on national television on ABC’s Good Morning America. Introduced as the “next big thing in breaststroke,” he looked handsome and calm on live television as he told how he got his start in swimming. He failed the deep-water swimming test at Penn Charter summer camp when he was 7 years old, he recounted. “I told my mom that night, and she enrolled me in lessons, and this is what happened.” Reece, now 16, has won a junior national championship in the breaststroke and holds
five individual national age-group marks in the pool, where he has become one of the top young swimmers in the country. His times in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke last year qualified him to compete at the 2016 Olympic Trials in June in Omaha, with hopes of competing in the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. Mark Bechtel, managing editor of Sports Illustrated Kids, said the magazine contest looks “for kids who excel on the field and off it, or in Reece’s case, in the pool or out.” Bechtel said the SportsKid of the Year also should possess an awareness of the world around, and Reece touched on this in the TV interview, explaining that the high incidence of African-American drowning deaths compels him to bring swimming to
more African-American children. “I think I’m going to need to play a key role in integrating swimming in inner city communities a lot more,” Reece said. PC
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STRATEGIC VISION
GOAL 5
SPACE
Changes, Improvements for
BASKETBALL and
TRACK & FIELD After multimillion-dollar investments in our athletics facilities, Penn Charter took the opportunity to review the basketball and track programs and reorganize the coaching structures. “The coaching teams, combined with investments the school has made in athletics facilities, offer students excellent opportunities for training and competition,” said Director of Athletics and Athletic Planning John Thiel. With the reorganization of basketball and track coaching staffs, athletes are working with both new and familiar faces.
BASKETBALL
BASKETBALL
The winter season saw the return of Jim Phillips as the head coach of boys basketball. Joe Maguire was introduced to PC players and parents as the head coach of girls basketball. Maguire’s take on the season: “This past season was very successful with the team going 17-10 and finishing in third place in the Inter-Ac (8-4). Next season the team hopes to continue this success with a good group of returning players and incoming freshmen. With hard work and dedication, we look forward to building a strong program.” Phillips’ take on the season: “The team did a great job of buying into some different expectations and this was helped by our tremendous senior leadership. We improved throughout the season and are extremely encouraged by this improvement and the bright future in years to come.”
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JIM PHILLIPS OPC ’90
Phillips, a teacher in the Middle School mathematics department, returned to a position he was familiar with, having been the head coach of PC boys basketball from 2000 to 2011. During his tenure, Phillips played a critical role in bringing athletes to PC for basketball and other sports; the boys won Inter-Ac Championships in back-toback, undefeated seasons in 2003 and 2004. Phillips, who coached for La Salle University for two years after college and managed the team for four years as a student, has strong ties to the Philadelphiaarea basketball community. In addition to his work at La Salle, where he helped recruit high school students for men’s basketball, he has coached AAU basketball for many years. In addition to teaching and serving as director of Middle School athletics, he has served as director of summer sports camps and as freshman basketball coach. Phillips has a BS in finance from La Salle and a master’s in multicultural education from Eastern College.
JOE MAGUIRE
Maguire’s playing career began at Father Judge High School, where he earned the Markward Award for Unsung Hero of the Catholic League. After Judge, he played at Holy Family University in Northeast Philadelphia. Maguire returned to Judge after college and, over the next five years, worked his way up from freshman coach to varsity assistant. Most recently, he was head coach of girls basketball at Springside Chestnut Hill and, last year, assistant girls coach at Archbishop Ryan High School. A teacher at Clara Barton Elementary School, Maguire earned a bachelor’s from Holy Family and a master’s in curriculum and development at the University of Scranton.
TRACK AND FIELD Similar to basketball, Track & Field has new faces and extremely familiar ones. Steve Bonnie continues his legacy as director of the program, with Khayla Atte moving into the role of girls’ head coach. New to PC this year is Bryan Skelly as the head coach of boys track. Early in the season, Steve Bonnie said, “We have 99 athletes on the team this year – the biggest team in Penn Charter school history. The girls are on the young side but improving rapidly, and the boys have a strong junior class. The team has good spirit, good attitude and dedication. The future is bright!”
honors and, in 2012, was inducted into the Philadelphia chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. Bonnie was inducted into the Penn Charter Athletic Hall of Fame as a track coach in 1997 and, along with the championship 1988 boys track team, again in 2003. Also in 2003 he was named Inter-Ac teacher/coach of the year. Bonnie moved from Director of Admissions to the Development Office three years ago and became Director of Stewardship and Special Projects.
BRYAN SKELLY Skelly is Penn Charter’s boys head track coach, and he will continue to coach boys cross country and winter track. Newly arrived from Haverford School to teach social studies in our Middle School, Skelly has a bachelor’s and master’s in history from La Salle University and a master’s in history for secondary education from St. Joseph’s University. Skelly coached cross country and track at Haverford and helped guide the team to the 2015 Inter-Ac Championship, their first in 43 years. Before Haverford, he was assistant for men’s track coach at Duke University and, from 2004 to 2007, he was the top assistant for men’s and women’s track and field at La Salle. Skelly was the Pennsylvania Independent School Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2014.
KHAYLA ATTE
NEW TRACK LEADERSHIP: Director of Track Steve Bonnie (center) with Bryan Skelly, boys head track coach, and Khayla Atte, girls head track coach.
STEVE BONNIE OPC ’66 Bonnie, a veteran, championship PC coach, has assumed a new role as Director of Track & Field. Bonnie will help coordinate the girls and boys teams and mentor track and field coaches in Upper and Middle School. Bonnie is the most decorated coach in Penn
Charter history. As the head track coach at Penn Charter for 40 years, Bonnie and his PC teams won an amazing 22 boys InterAc Championships and 18 gold medals in the 4 x 400m at the Penn Relays. He has won state, regional and league coaching
Atte, assistant track coach for Penn Charter since 2013, is now girls head coach. Atte has a BA from Lehigh University and a distinguished athletic resume: At Lehigh she was 2004 Patriot League Pentathlon Champion and an all-league selection in 2000 and 2003; in high school in western Pennsylvania she had PIAA state competition top-8 finishes in the hurdles, triple jump and 4 x 400m relay. She was captain at Lehigh from 2003 to 2005 and represented the university’s athletes on the Athletic Executive Council, 2004-2005. Since graduation, Atte has worked as a fine artist, executive coach and consultant to creative programs. PC
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STRATEGIC VISION
GOALS 1 & 2
QUAKERISM AND PROGRAM
SERVICE LEARNING by Rebecca Luzi
If there’s one thing Jim Pilkington wants to impart to Middle School students about service learning, it’s the idea that service is a reciprocal relationship. He often tells his young charges, “Service isn’t for yourself, but ultimately it is.” Pilkington has spent four years as Middle School service coordinator, and though there is no service requirement for Middle School students, he has watched – actually fostered – the program’s growth from involvement in the Darryl J. Ford Day of Service to yearround participation by many. “One of the original goals I had,” he said, “was to make service more visible and to make students more aware about it in Middle School.” So Pilkington, who teaches
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language arts and social studies, opened up, and talks up, multiple service opportunities throughout the year. And students spread the word, too, enjoying in particular the social aspect of participating with their friends. On Middle School intramural days, Sekia Phillips, an eighth grader, almost always chooses visiting Widener Memorial School, PC’s longtime service partner. Widener educates students with physical disabilities, and Penn Charter students visit during physical education classes to play basketball, hula hoops, bowling and more. “I like doing service and giving back to the community,” Sekia said. “Sometimes I go with my friends, too.”
Last year, Sekia took part in a unique service opportunity. A group of PC seventh and eighth graders publicized the screening of an award-winning documentary, Lion Ark, at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute and met the filmmakers. The film chronicles the rescue of 25 lions from illegal traveling circuses across Bolivia. Students made posters and flyers for the event and supported Animal Defenders International by collecting contact information from the audience. Gigi Glendinning, an animal rights activist and PC guest speaker, had sparked students’ interest in this cause. “It was the animal rights part that got me hooked in,” Sekia said. “It was a really fun experience.”
Caleb Anagnos, a PC sixth grader, enjoys an easy rapport with his peers at Widener Memorial School.
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STRATEGIC VISION
GOALS 1 & 2
QUAKERISM AND PROGRAM
SERVICE + LEARNING CONTINUED PC’s relationship with Widener is a key example of Pilkington’s goals of reciprocity and empathy building. “It’s interesting to watch the cultivation of relationships over time for both the Widener students and our own. After overcoming some initial nervousness if they have never been there before, our students quickly learn that Widener students crave the physical movement and social connections that they do,” Pilkington said. “Invariably, our students develop a comfort level with how they can best help and bond with those they are working with, and their perspective on their service shifts.” And, if at first PC students focus on the act of helping another, soon, Pilkington said, they think: “I’m going over there to have PE class with
someone that I know and I’m friends with.” Caleb Anagnos, a sixth grader, likes building those connections. “When I go to Widener, I love to see kids remember me and make progress with their speech or body control or anything else,” he said. “The fifth time I went to Widener, I was talking to a kid I had played with before, and his speech had improved incredibly. That is the first example of my now-favorite part of going to Widener.” “A common stereotype,” he said, “is that people with physical disabilities are mentally handicapped. … When I go to Widener I get to see kids who are really quite smart but in most cases are judged only by what’s on the outside.” Other frequent sites and service partners for Middle School are Historic
“When I go to Widener I get to see kids who are really quite smart but in most cases are judged only by what’s on the outside.”
Jim Pilkington, Middle School service coordinator, organizes his division’s participation in the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service. At Rhodes Elementary School, students sorted books for a new library.
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Interested in animal rights, Sekia Phillips helped promote a documentary film on the rescue of circus lions in Bolivia.
RittenhouseTown in Fairmount Park; Philabundance; Our Closet, which provides clothing to communities in “pop-up” shops; and Aid for Friends. This year, students had the opportunity to support the Philly AIDS Walk; the Light the Night Walk for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society; and a new library at Rhodes Elementary School in Allegheny West. More than 85 Middle School students participated in January’s MLK Jr. Day of Service, one of the largest numbers in recent years. Middle School also supports the school-wide Thanksgiving food drive for Widener families and the holiday gift drive for families from Taylor School and Northwest Philadelphia Interfaith Hospitality Network. On select Saturdays, Pilkington takes a group of students to SHARE, on Hunting Park Avenue, where students package food for distribution to food cupboards throughout the region. April’s Big Climb Philly, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s inaugural stair climb to the top of the Comcast tower, for ages 12
and older, was a big draw in Middle School this year. Duncan Glew, a PC freshman who has been receiving treatment at Children’s Hospital, established the event, designed to raise research funds to fight cancer; Duncan’s brother, Finn, is a seventh grader, and has led Middle School efforts. More than 40 students signed up to climb, and many participated in dress-down days and other fundraisers to publicize and raise money for it. Pilkington’s cup runneth over. “There is student interest for sure, and plenty of it,” he said, “yet finding the time with packed student and teacher schedules remains a struggle.” He looks forward to more conversations about this as the school gets even deeper into implementing the new Strategic Vision. Service learning is a key strategy of that vision, related both to PC’s goal to deepen our identity as a Quaker school and to educate students outside the traditional classroom. The recent decision to switch from a trimester to semester calendar will provide flexibility that accommodates exciting learning opportunities, including service learning. Pilkington sees service learning as filling different needs for different kids. “Service allows all of our students to use their talents to engage in various ways,” he said. “Some students want that feeling of doing something for the less fortunate. For some, it’s about connecting with those they serve or serve with. Some really enjoy organizing and publicizing projects. Overall, service provides an opportunity to fulfill community needs but also for students to feel confident about who they are and what they can do.” Integrating service into the curriculum has been one of Pilkington’s goals: bringing in speakers like Gigi Glendinning was a prime example of this work. Her presentation with eighth graders coincided with their reading of Eliot Schrefer’s Endangered, a book about the endangered bonobo in the Congo, and engaged students in public advocacy in the grade in which they study the same in Civics.
Middle School service opportunities include playing basketball with Widener students, packaging food at Share and, this year, raising money and awareness for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society during Big Climb Philly.
The Center for Public Purpose, another outcome of the Strategic Vision, will continue to build on this positive momentum with Middle School service next year. Some of the primary questions to explore next year: How do we bridge the gap between our vision for expanded service learning and finding the time and space for implementation? How do we fold issues of food insecurity, poverty and inequality in education into the classroom? How can we measure the impact of our
service for both our community partners and our own students? Jim Pilkington will continue his passionate involvement in Middle School service, to be sure, and as sixth grade coordinator, he will focus more on integrating service learning within the grade. That’s good news for Middle School students. “He’s funny,” Sekia Phillips said. “He’s just a really fun and interesting teacher to be around. He’s got this air about him, that you can trust him.” PC
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The Class Record —
THROUGH THE EYES OF THE EDITORS BY JARED SCOTT TESLER
The year Daniel Lai OPC ’82 served as coeditor of the Class Record was coincidentally also the first full year as advisor for Upper School social studies teacher John “Burky” Burkhart OPC ’72. It was the early ’80s, and the tools of the trade included wax pencils, plastic squares with knobs and graph paper – designed for markup, cropping and layout, respectively. Copy was entered via typewriter. Photos had to be developed before they could be used. Without the reassuring aid of desktop publishing software like Adobe InDesign and handy templates from the yearbook publisher, the process of putting together the yearbook was “laborious” and “old-school.” But Lai had a plan to shake up the content. “Being a lifer at Penn Charter, I wanted to acknowledge that the school was more than just four years,” explained Lai, who, in between yearbook meetings at Timmons House balanced additional extramural obligations: Charter Singers, Drama Society,
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Dan Lai, co-editor of the 1982 Class Record.
The Mirror. “I pushed for more inclusion of extracurriculars – productions and performances. I think we were also the first class to include a spring supplement so that spring sports, productions and the prom were memorialized.” Systematically changing the direction of the yearbook – as far as its content was concerned – was easily the most
rewarding aspect of his stint as co-editor, Lai said, expressing his partiality toward those sections that spotlighted the faculty. “They play such an important part in the experience of attending Penn Charter. The connections that you make with them are reflected on those pages.” The most challenging aspect, according to Lai? Helping to manage every single one of his classmates – all boys – to complete their pages under deadline. In the end, the real-world experience he gained over the course of that single year helped to bolster his leadership skills, particularly in the areas of communication and negotiation. “It was an invaluable experience in understanding others, learning how to negotiate with those who were not pulling their weight, and appreciating those who were reliable,” said Lai, now a fourth- and fifth-grade teacher of all subjects at the Philadelphia School.
Family Portrait By the time identical twin sisters Laura OPC ’04 and Megan Kaesshaefer OPC ’04 joined the yearbook staff, the Class Record’s headquarters had moved from Timmons House to Burkhart’s office, a rather special setting that has remained vividly emblazoned in their minds. “I still remember every inch of that place: Burky’s photos and mementos from yearbooks past, the computer workstations, the filing systems,” said Laura, former editorin-chief, seated beside her sister. “I have only the fondest memories of being in that office.” Megan, who worked alongside Laura before school, after school and during lunch as senior page editor, echoes this sentiment: “I remember the space so well — it was small, warm and cozy, and the environment was always productive. Meetings were organized and professional, but the staff was comprised of peers and friends, so it was always collaborative and entertaining.” The daughters of Charles OPC ’71, assistant director of PC’s Lower School and
CLASS RECORD ONLINE
The Class Record – digitized! Visit penncharter.com/yearbooks to see the Class Record from 1904 to 2010. Each year, at the fifth reunion, PC will post that class’ yearbook on the web. What better way to celebrate than with a bit of nostalgia for Old Penn Charter?
Megan Kaesshaefer
Laura Kaesshaefer
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director of summer camps, and Deborah Kaesshaefer, chair of the Performing Arts Department, both Laura and Megan spent their senior year singing in Quakers Dozen, playing on the varsity softball team, and volunteering in the Writing Center. The “careful” process of designing, editing and publishing the yearbook ultimately played a significant role in their professional lives. “My time at Penn Charter definitely influenced me to pursue this kind of work and prepared me to take it on,” said Megan, senior manager of social media and special projects for Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of big-name children’s book series, including Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Goosebumps, Clifford the Big Red Dog, and The Magic School Bus. Laura would eventually work her way up from assistant editor to associate editor at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, where she once received a bag of Burkhart’s homemade chocolate chip cookies by mail, each bite a sweet reminder of her days in the editing room. “I love the creative ways students have depicted teachers over the years,” Laura said, when asked what sets Penn Charter’s yearbook apart. “I remember my siblings
and me pouring over the pages of old Class Records to find dated photos of my parents. For Scotty (OPC ’08), Meg and me, it’s like a family archive of sorts.” PC
“Mr. Burkhart was an amazing advisor,” said Jeff Torchon OPC ’06, former yearbook editor and current musician and teacher. “I am grateful to
Mr. B for his guidance and faith in me as an editor. He understood my love for music and supported me in that love while also encouraging me to do my very best on the Class Record.
He showed me how to be a leader by leading himself.” Yearbook advisor John Burkhart, then and now.
CURRENT EDITOR Upon accepting the position of editor-in-chief, Madison Harden, Class of 2016, wondered if perhaps she had bitten off more than she could chew. The order was tall, the timing not exactly ideal. Harden, who had always been interested in journalism — but had never dabbled in design — and wanted to assume a larger leadership role during her senior year, would have to carefully divide her time between school, college applications, the yearbook, The Mirror, PC Ambassadors, peer tutoring and Student Council. She had no choice but to dive right in. Harden, who was awarded the Class of 1897 Prize for high scholarship, character and leadership in school activities as a junior, and her managing
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editor, fellow senior Samantha Zipin, began by selecting their yearbook staff. Over the summer, they conceptualized each individual page and settled on a theme, “Life in Motion,” in which “high-tech surprises” abound. “The next step was deciding on all the fonts and sizes for headers, body paragraphs, names, quotes and any other type of text included in the yearbook. From then on, each deadline required a certain number of pages to be completed,” said Harden, who focused primarily on consistency and style. Harden is excited that, years from now, the 2016 Class Record will be added to the digital archive of PC yearbooks. “The fact that OPCs will be able to relive the years they spent at Penn Charter thanks to the digital archives is what’s going to make them hold onto their nostalgic love for Penn Charter,” Harden said. “I am proud to be a part of a school that is taking advantage of this kind of technology as a way of strengthening the bond between Penn Charter and its students, old and new.” In the fall, Harden will leave Penn Charter for Columbia University, turning the page to a new chapter of bright-eyed editors with plenty of ideas and stories to share.
Does Your Company or Employer Pay Pennsylvania… t Corporate Net Income Tax t Capital Stock Franchise Tax t Bank & Trust Company Shares Tax t Title Insurance Companies Shares Tax t Insurance Premiums Tax t Mutual Thrift Institution Tax t Personal Income Tax of S Corporation Shareholderes If so, the business may be eligible to participate in two state tax-credit programs that make it possible to redirect tax dollars to Penn Charter for financial aid. The application process is easy, and the benefits to the school and to deserving students are significant. In 2014-2015, 30 companies with ties to Penn Charter participated in the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) or the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) programs. Support from these programs alone provided financial aid to more than 10 percent of the student body. EITC is designed to support private- and parochial-school scholarships to income-eligible children. OSTC offers further support for students living in neighborhoods with public schools that are low-achieving.
“I don’t know what occurred behind the scenes to make it happen, but I know that my mom always wanted the best-of-the-best for me. And Penn Charter was the best. I had amazing experiences, amazing teachers. I would
not be who I am today without my Penn Charter experience.
“Why participate? I think the question is why not?
Education can make or break a child. This is an opportunity to change someone’s life forever.”
Kirby Dixon
OPC ’09, Penn ’13 NBC Publicity Team, USA Network
Three years after he unveiled the Strategic Vision for the future of Penn Charter, Head of School Darryl J. Ford brought the community back together to deliver a progress report: “This work is still unfolding as we continue to reinvent classic,” Ford said. “The educational program we have put in place, and which continues to evolve, gives our students the ability read critically, think deeply, communicate persuasively, and adapt to change.” A school with a 326-year history of excellence is, by definition, Ford said, forward-thinking. “We are looking into the future and recognizing that we can’t know what our students will encounter … we want them to be prepared, agile and ready to make a difference.”
Vision Forward
NOW How we are teaching and learning now, and what it means for the future.
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Clockwise from above: Head of School Darryl J. Ford with third-grader Safiyah Muhammad, portraying Bessie Coleman. Ford interviewed filmmaker J.D. Dillard OPC ’06. Lower School Counselor Lisa Reedich led the audience in a mindfulness exercise.
Using video and live performances, students and teachers demonstrated how Penn Charter has implemented strategies related to the six goal of “Educating Students to Live Lives that Make a Difference,” the Strategic Vision approved by Overseers in 2013. Those goals are:
QUAKERISM PROGRAM TEACHING TIME SPACE FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY Vision Forward NOW was designed to demonstrate how Penn Charter students are learning now and what it means for the adults they will become – and the ways in which they will make a difference for their own lives, for Philadelphia, and for the world. These pages capture some of the evening’s content and offer links to view online the videos shown to the audience
gathered for the May 5 event in the Kurtz Center for the Performing Arts. At the end of the presentation, Ford invited onstage filmmaker J.D. Dillard OPC ’06, who flew in from Los Angeles to work with PC classes for two days and appear at Vision Forward NOW. Seated center stage, Ford and Dillard talked about Penn Charter and
about Sleight, the movie Dillard co-wrote and directed that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. At a time of crisis, the main character in Sleight turns to a former teacher; Dillard named that teacher character “Mr. Granger,” and he explained to Ford that the character was inspired by Penn Charter art teacher Randy Granger.
The audience at Vision Forward NOW viewed six short videos, each focused on projects or work that relate to the Strategic Vision. View one or all at penncharter.com/vision. FRIENDS LOBBYING IN D.C. A cross-divisional group of students took their learning beyond the walls of the classroom to Capitol Hill to lobby Congress about mass incarceration. Middle and Upper School students, urged to speak out and take action, learned what they were capable of with this hands-on, real-world experience.
UPCYCLING Passionate first graders are actively involved with an interdisciplinary project that teaches environmental sustainability, math, science, stewardship, civics and more. They collect, weigh, chart, box and ship empty toothpaste tubes, energy bar wrappers and snack bags for upcycling as wallets, shopping bags and other products. More than 200 pounds of trash saved from landfills so far this year.
CONCUSSION MANAGEMENT PC applies a holistic approach to keep the student at the center during the concussion recovery process, from diagnosis to the return to full school and then full participation in their sport. PC ensures the student is supported and manages a balance of rest and academics as they progress, at an individualized pace, through recovery.
MINDFULNESS PC is concerned with the whole brain, not just learning and health but wellness too. Mindfulness, a conscious focus on the present, is a trait that can be developed and practiced. Even the youngest students engage in mindfulness practice at PC, where, in part because of our Quaker values, we value the power of silence.
SEMESTERS PC is thinking carefully about structuring time differently based on what we know about student learning. In Middle and Upper School, the shift from a trimester to a semester format will facilitate longer chunks of time for experiential, deep learning and also adjust the day-to-day rhythm of school, activities, homework, family and sleep to a balance that prioritizes learning and wellness.
Sparkmakers Via the Center for Public Purpose, PC students take STEAM to neighborhood schools, including nearby St. James, a school in a high-poverty neighborhood. PC students teach circuitry and simple machines with hands-on lessons, reinforcing their own learning outside the classroom and deepening what it means to live lives that make a difference.
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“Penn Charter was like a Petri dish to let the things I loved cultivate,� Dillard explained of his PC experience. “This is where my creativity flourished, and now that my creativity is my career, I am grateful that it had a place to grow.� (Read more about Dillard on page 12.) Ford took the opportunity in closing the evening to assure the OPCs, parents, students and teachers in the audience that he is certain that the one thing at Penn Charter that will not change is the bond between teacher and student. “The teacher-student relationship is a hallmark of a Penn Charter education and it always will be.�
LIVE ONSTAGE: On-Campus Professional Development for Teachers: Teaching & Learning Center Ruth Aichenbaum thought the Apple Store learning model was genius. So genius that she charged forward on a hunch that the Apple model could be adapted to dramatically
Pre-K teacher intern Heather Hillas.
change the way Penn Charter supports faculty to develop their teaching practice. During her summer as the owner of a shiny new Mac, Aichenbaum – an avid learner and a veteran PC teacher about to begin her 16th year teaching fifth grade at PC – realized she kept returning to the store because Apple had a system that allowed her to identify what she wanted to learn and then decide whether she wanted to learn one-on-one, in a group, at night, on Sunday. “I knew that the biggest obstacle for PC faculty was time and access to opportunities.
GOAL 1:  QUAKERISM Deepen our identity and actions as a Friends school, and our students’ understanding of Quaker values, to prepare our graduates to live lives that make a dierence. t 8F SFDFOUMZ DPNQMFUFE B ZFBS MPOH 2VBLFS 4FMG 4UVEZ BT QBSU PG UIF membership renewal process for Friends Council on Education. Based on feedback from all of PC constituents, we see the emerging themes for future work to be Meeting for Worship, decision making, conflict resolution, and ongoing education about Quakerism for our community. t 5P EFFQFO PVS DPNNVOJUZ understanding of and commitment to the Peace testimony, we invited John Hunter, creator of the World Peace Game, to visit PC in October 2014, and fourth grade teacher Maria-Odilia Romeu will have a sabbatical in spring 2017 to participate in a master class with John Hunter (shown left) and bring the World Peace Game to our fourth grade in fall 2017.
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And, I knew there were faculty and sta with knowledge and experience that other faculty might want to learn; we didn’t always have to outsource skill building,â€? she said. With that, the Teaching & Learning Center (TLC) was born. Now in its third year, the TLC is housed on the second floor of Penn Charter’s Gummere Library, where teachers can easily visit early in the day, at lunch or after school. No costly transportation or time away from family. Aichenbaum conducts training and workshops and PC faculty teach each other, resident experts sharing their knowledge and skills on an impressive variety of subjects. Every PC teacher has visited the TLC at least once, and more than 50 percent have presented a session to their faculty peers. In a testimonial at Vision Forward NOW, Upper School English teacher Shahidah Kalam Id-din said: “I’ve done more reading across disciplines (on neuroscience and education, digital portfolios, dierentiated learning, authentic assessments) ‌ and I’ve done this reading in a small community of
t 4UVEFOUT JO BMM UISFF EJWJTJPOT IBWF PQQPSUVOJUJFT GPS DPMMBCPSBUJPO UP FOIBODF global competency. This spring, Upper School students traveled to our sister school in China and to Cow House Art Studio in Ireland; Middle School students visited Costa Rica to learn more about environmental sustainability and build leadership skills. In the Lower School, fifth grade students participated in the Global Read Aloud and connected online with students in New Orleans, Canada, Florida, northern Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and more. t 8F IBWF JODSFBTFE UIF QSFTFODF PG 2VBLFST FOSPMMJOH OFX 2VBLFS students from 13 Quaker families in the past three years.
GOAL 2:  PROGRAM Advance our educational program to provide students with the knowledge and skills they will need to thrive in a complex and changing world. t 4JODF &OHMJTI UFBDIFST IBWF PäFSFE B TFSJFT PG 1PQ 6Q -VODIFT optional faculty-led lunchtime lectures and discussions that allow students to explore topics related to popular culture, including race, sexuality and gender. More recently, educators from other departments and local universities have also taken part. Since their inception, interest in these events has grown, and it is not uncommon to have more than 50 community members in attendance.
listeners to vet, challenge, implement or expand on these ideas and our own.” The TLC reimagines teaching, time, content and even space and financial sustainability. Ford told the Vision Forward NOW audience that the TLC “is one of the most excellent examples of professional development in the nation.” Indeed, other independent schools and, recently, the head of the Directorate General for Education and Culture in the European Commission have visited to learn more about this exemplary model of professional development.
In Advanced Physics at Penn Charter, the Bridge Project has been reimagined. Employing creative thinking, computer software and the laser cutters in the new IdeaLab, Upper School science teacher Tim Clarke is helping students acquire new skills and to think deeply about what is now a highly complex project. Juniors Josh Patton and Zoe Topaz told the Vision Forward NOW audience how computer-aided design and bridge modeling
LIVE ONSTAGE: The Bridge Project: Classic Reinvented
Juniors Zoe Topaz (left) and Josh Patton explained how a classic science project has evolved with technology.
Hundreds of Popsicle sticks, globs of glue, and just one structural test culminating in a splintering crash. Ford recalled his experience – “It was a mess!” – with a classic physics project that challenges students to use small bits of wood to build a bridge that can withstand increasing amounts of weight.
t *O BO FäPSU UP QSPWJEF PVS Upper School students with a more balanced and academically fulfilling high school experience, students in grades 9-12 took the Challenge Success Survey. They responded to questions about time management, homework, study skills, sleep habits and other school-related topics. The results of this study have been carefully considered by faculty and divisional leadership. As a result, alterations to our academic program and assessment and homework policies are currently under review. In addition, we invited Frances Jensen, chair of the Neurology Department at the University of Pennsylvania and author of The Teenage Brain, to campus to share with parents and faculty her research around adolescent brain development and the importance of sleep. t 'PSFJHO MBOHVBHF JOTUSVDUJPO BU 1FOO $IBSUFS JT OP MPOHFS TPMFMZ BCPVU grammar and vocabulary. The Foreign Language Department is at the forefront of modern language instruction locally and nationally. Students
software enhanced their learning and understanding of concepts of physics such as of force, stress and compression – and led them to iterative designs that applied what they had learned from one crushed bridge to a subsequent design. They sped through each
in French and Spanish classrooms now take part in Integrated Performance Assessments, a performance-based approach to teaching, learning and assessing second language. Students engage with authentic resources and take part in level-appropriate communicative activities that focus on developing proficiency.
GOAL 3: TEACHING Promote excellence in teaching by supporting faculty to develop and advance their professional practice. t #FDLJF .JMMFS PVS -PXFS 4DIPPM NBUI specialist, and Marcy Sosa, our Language Arts specialist, conducted in-house professional development sessions multiple times throughout the year. Teachers collaborated to share best practices, identify an ideal curriculum sequence, and develop units of study. Richard Bisk, a Math in Focus expert, led an engaging in-service day workshop to support faculty with this new program.
Upper School social studies teacher Andy Zuccotti.
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continued from page 29
iteration of bridge design because of a laser cutter – one of two now available at PC – that cut a bridge in just four minutes. Clarke explained that the iterative design and multiple-tests process allows students to reflect upon, and then apply, what they’ve learned at each turn. This process, which they documented in digital portfolios, doubles as an alternative assessment tool – “letting students show what they are capable of beyond the traditional pencil-and-paper test.” The evolution of the Bridge Project will continue, as Clarke writes code for design tools to speed the process, and students learn coding to test different stresses on their designs. No Popsicle sticks!
“At PC, we’ve taken this classic project and aligned it with our Strategic Vision, rethinking the way we want our students to engage in the learning process,” third grade teacher Teodora Nedialkova said. In addition to reading, writing and researching, students learn about people from around the globe, explore technology and perform their monologues for students and teachers in all three divisions. The interdisciplinary project is woven from language arts, social studies, technology, art and drama. “The integration of subject matter is both time efficient and
a more authentic, engaging and meaningful way for children to learn,” colleague Jill Einbender explained. Children each chose a famous figure from a list of environmentalists, activists, inventors, philanthropists, artists and athletes who have used their talents to make a difference in the world. In this way, the famous figures that the children study
LIVE ONSTAGE: Third Grade Wax Museum Bessie Coleman, John James Audubon and Florence Nightingale took the Vision Forward NOW stage and captivated the audience, as third grade brought the Wax Museum Project to life.
t 5P BEWBODF UIFJS QSPGFTTJPOBM QSBDUJDF BQQSPYJNBUFMZ QFSDFOU PG GBDVMUZ members took part in conferences and workshops that addressed topics of diversity such as racial identity development and white privilege. Throughout the school year, Lisa Turner and Ruth Aichenbaum led an additional cohort of 12 faculty, parents and students in a Critical Friends Group and book discussion to explore the topic Using Privilege for Social Equity. t 5IJT ZFBS XF MBVODIFE OFX POMJOF 4UVEFOU 'BDVMUZ 'FFECBDL 'PSNT JO .JEEMF and Upper School. The feedback form results and our improved yearly reflection process, which includes a Checklist for Excellence in Teaching, have improved the faculty evaluation process and resulted in better studentteacher relationships and greater collaboration and innovation in teaching.
GOAL 4: TIME Reimagine the use of time, structuring the day to provide flexibility as we work to create a school experience that focuses on meaningful content and recognizes the importance of pace and balance for students and teachers. t 8IJMF NPWJOH UP TFNFTUFST XJMM QPUFOUJBMMZ DIBOHF UIF QBDF PG UIF TDIPPM year, Middle School plans to change the daily schedule for students next year and move the long block classes (60 minutes) to the morning.
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Third grade teachers (left) and three student performers showed the evolution of the Wax Museum. Performing from the second floor balcony in the Kurtz Center, Hadley Evans brought to life her character, founder of modern nursing Florence Nightingale.
According to brain research, mid-morning is a time of focus and attention for middle schoolers. t 'BDVMUZ JO CPUI .JEEMF BOE 6QQFS 4DIPPMT BSF FOHBHFE JO DPOWFSTBUJPO and experimentation learning outside of school hours, rethinking the goals and purpose of “homework” to engage students in meaningful work. They also are thinking about balance in student lives and homework holidays. t *O 4FQUFNCFS XF SPMMFE PVU UIF )VC 1$ T POMJOF MFBSOJOH NBOBHFNFOU system. The Hub is a one-stop site for teachers to post class materials and assignments, for students to easily access in and out of school, and for parents to receive teacher communications and check team schedules. The feedback from students, teachers and parents about the Hub has been very positive in this first year.
GOAL 5: SPACE Develop and repurpose space to serve the changing needs of the Penn Charter program and mission. t 8F IBWF DPNQMFUFE B DBNQVT NBTUFS QMBO XIJDI TVQQPSUT CPUI UIF 4USBUFHJD Vision and the needs of our educational program. The plan includes a new state-of-the-art Lower School and more efficiently utilizes PC’s 47-acre campus.
embody the Quaker value “Do Good with What Thou Hast.” “We inspire our students to consider their own talents and interests and envision how they, too, can make a difference,” teacher Chris Christoph said.
LIVE ONSTAGE: Middle School Advisory: Character, Decision Making, Healthy Choice “We know from studies on the adolescent brain,” began Middle School Director Wilson Felter, “that the frontal cortex, which controls functions like problem solving, spontaneity, initiation, judgment, impulse control and social behavior, is under major construction during the teenage years.” And so he outlined the ways in which the Middle School advisory program underwent its own major construction last summer, creating a meaningful advisory curriculum that supports adolescent growth. The program develops skills in students to help
Director of Middle School Wilson Felter led students in a presentation about a new advisory program designed to support adolescent growth.
them make healthy decisions, advocate for themselves and others, and empower them to be positive leaders. It accomplishes this through small-group lessons, team building, one-on-one time with advisors, and safe exploration of challenging adolescent topics. Students told of advisory lessons on identity, social justice, prioritizing what is important in their lives, social media and technology, and digital citizenship, which covers appropriate technology use.
t 5IF OFX *EFB-BC JO UIF .JEEMF 4DIPPM CBTFNFOU IBT ESBNBUJDBMMZ JODSFBTFE opportunities for STEAM in all three divisions. Upper School Robotics and Costume Design classes were taught in the IdeaLab. Middle School STAR Squad, an after-school activity, taught engineering, programming, robotics and crafting through design challenges related to outer space. Pre-kindergarten students will visit the IdeaLab to build parts for their Rube Goldberg machines. We are excited to add an IdeaLab this summer in Lower School. t 5P IFMQ NBLF SFDZDMJOH BOE DPNQPTUJOH FBTJFS GPS PVS TUVEFOUT XF redesigned and clearly labeled the dining hall dish area to promote these habits. Plans are being made for summer construction of raised garden beds at Timmons House to enhance students’ knowledge of botany, environmental science and environmental sustainability by growing herbs and vegetables that will be used in our dining hall.
“Advisory sessions that connect to the theme of social justice,” said seventh grader Zora Johnson, “allow me to think about the world outside of my life, to empathize with others, and reflect upon ways I can be an agent of positive change.” The Middle School advisory program models and teaches integrity, conflict resolution and ethical decision-making, all of which are featured goals within the Quakerism goal of the Strategic Vision. PC
GOAL 6: FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY Provide for financial sustainability and support the mission of the school and the goals of this innovative strategic plan. t 8F IBWF CFHVO UP VTF 'VUVSF 1FSGFDU B mOBODJBM modeling program, to evaluate current and future budget policies and resource allocation. This program allows us to use financial resources more effectively and to better understand the financial implications of decision making. t 3FDFOU MFBEFSTIJQ HJGUT UP UIF TDIPPM GSPN %VODBO McFarland OPC ‘61, William F. MacDonald Jr. OPC ‘62, Steven Koltes OPC ’74, Claudia and Richard Balderston OPC ’69 and the Maguire Foundation (James J. and Frances Maguire are the parents of two graduates, Christopher OPC ’84 and Timothy OPC ’85.) provide for financial sustainability and – in the case of the Koltes, Balderston and Maguire gifts – expanded educational opportunities for talented young students who otherwise could not attend PC. t 8F BSF VTJOH mOBODJBM BJE BT B TUSBUFHJD NFBOT PG GVMmMMJOH PVS NJTTJPO BOE achieving our enrollment goals.
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Head of School Darryl J. Ford at the podium in the Ben Franklin National Memorial.
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NIGHT
AT THE
MUSEUM On a chilly night in January, OPCs, parents, faculty and staff warmed up with food, friends and the exhibits at the always-interesting Franklin Institute for the Alumni Society Downtown Reception.
“What a splendid venue,” Head of School Darryl J. Ford said as he welcomed guests convened in the museum’s rotunda, at the feet of the magnificent sculpture of Benjamin Franklin. “Benjamin Franklin played a seminal role in the expansion of William Penn’s vision for Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia, which as we know was chartered the same day as Penn Charter. Franklin had big ideas, visionary ideas, and his work showed a commitment to learning and inspiring others. He worked to make a difference, and this is a value Penn Charter holds most dear.” Philadelphia City Solicitor and Penn Charter parent Sozi Tulante’s gripping and often funny keynote told the story of arriving in Philadelphia with his family, on another cold night in 1983, having escaped Zaire and been granted asylum. The family settled in a drug-ravaged neighborhood in North Philadelphia, he said, recalling his parent’s grit and determination to make a good life for their children.
Sozi Tulante, a PC parent and Mayor Jim Kenney’s choice for Philadelphia city solicitor, captivated the crowd with his dramatic life story and his hopes for the future of Philadelphia.
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PC pre-K parents L-R: Roger and Dana Band, Katie and Fredrick Plaza, Sozi and Meriel Tulante, Pamela and Richard Vail, Katie and Doug Jordan.
“I was a bad kid,” Tulante said. “Not a troubled kid, a bad kid. I got in fights, wasn’t interested in school.” After a particularly bad episode where his attempt to run away from home was thwarted by a police officer who brought him home, Tulante’s father arranged a transfer to another school and made him promise to go to school every day. “A math teacher at Russell Conwell Middle Magnet opened my eyes and helped me realize I was good at something. I didn’t miss a day, nor was late – through snowstorms and SEPTA strikes – from seventh through 12th grades.” Tulante volunteered at the college counseling office and devised an impressive wish list of schools. “Once accepted, I asked my father if I should choose Yale, Princeton, Penn or Harvard. He said Harvard because it was the only one that people in Africa would recognize,” Tulante recalled. He graduated in 1997 and was recognized with a John Harvard Scholarship. He graduated cum laude from Harvard Law in 2001. When Sozi and his wife, Meriel, moved to Philadelphia from Boston, she urged Sozi to learn to swim – and that led him to Penn Charter and swimming lessons with the Penn Charter Aquatics Club. Sozi and Meriel enrolled their children at Penn Charter because of the school’s values and inclusivity. “The spirit of William Penn is at Penn Charter. The spirit of Philadelphia as a sanctuary, and as a place you can be free, is found at Penn Charter. Second, Penn
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Charter creates opportunities for economically diverse families, and that’s important,” he said. Tulante also noted two other more personal factors in the decision: Meriel is a professor at Philadelphia University, just across the street, and their friend, Lower School counselor Lisa Reedich, spoke highly of the school. As city solicitor, Tulante advises the mayor, commissions and the City Council and represents the city in lawsuits. He said he spent his first four weeks meeting with his 200-person staff to learn what works and what does not, rather than announcing his own ideas. Tulante plans to improve the diversity in the city solicitor’s office and seek ways his office can have more of a voice in public policy, by writing more amicus briefs. Tulante said he has hope for the city, even when things seem bleak, and encouraged the school to remain active as an advocate for all Philadelphians. “In thinking about hope for Philadelphia, I want to leverage Philadelphia’s resources. Penn Charter can do a lot. Maintain Penn Charter’s commitment to the city. Continue to draw a mixture of the city’s diverse population. Keep students in touch with the city and its rich history of immigration.” Sozi and his wife, Meriel, are parents to Kiese, Class of 2027, Sengele, Class of 2029, and Zolana, a toddler. “My kids think I’m at a birthday party!” Tulante said of his Night at the Museum. PC
Alumni Society President Margaux G. Pelegrin OPC ’99 welcomed the crowd and thanked PC for its support of the alumni community.
Darryl J. Ford, keynote speaker Sozi Tulante, former Philadelphia city solicitor and OPC parent Hansel Minyard, current parent Darren Check.
David Roitshtein OPC ’05.
Clerk of Overseers Jeff Reinhold and Head of School Darryl J. Ford.
Bruce Balderston OPC ’72, Darryl J. Ford, Richard Balderston OPC ’69. Pre-K teachers Heather Hillas OPC ’06, Christina Hipp and Brooke Giles. SPRING 2016 •
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ATHLETIC HONOR SOCIETY ninth induction banquet
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Between greeting former classmates and teammates, and celebrating the newest inductees to the Penn Charter Athletic Honor Society, PC fans were updated on the latest news about Quaker athletics.
Mark Gubicza OPC ’81 was a member of the inaugural class of the Athletic Honor Society and returned as the keynote speaker for the event at the Union League. Drafted by the Kansas City Royals upon graduation from PC, Gubicza played 14 seasons in the major leagues. Enjoying a second career as a broadcaster, he has been a color commentator for telecasts of the Los Angeles Angels since 2006.
Director of Athletics and Athletic Planning John Thiel reported that, in the last three years, PC has hired new head coaches in football, girls soccer, girls cross country, field hockey, girls water polo, boys basketball, girls basketball, wrestling, girls and boys swimming and diving, baseball, boys and girls crew, and girls lacrosse. (And, more recently, track. See page 14.) “We want strong head varsity coaches because we know that these individuals have the most significant impact on the success of the program for each sport,” Thiel said. Facilities are critical to attracting quality coaches and student athletes. Most recently, PC built a multimillion dollar stadium field and track. And, in the last 10 years, Penn Charter has invested in athletics with a new squash center, new softball and soccer fields, two new turf fields, plus major upgrades to the Graham Athletics Center and the completely renovated Dooney Field House. PC coaches are newly focused on outreach to potential student athletes like never before. Plus, he said, coaches are working on vertical integration of each sport, with varsity coaches now involved in the JV and Middle School teams to promote and improve their program internally. “This internal recruiting – bringing talented young players up through our own system – will be critical to our future success,” Thiel said.
Alyson Goodner OPC ’96 updated the crowd on girls athletics and the work of the PC Women’s Legacy Fund, which supports and advances girls athletics at Penn Charter through scholarship, mentoring and events.
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ATHLETIC HONOR SOCIETY INDIVIDUAL INDUCTEES Marty Harrity OPC ’66 Mark Aitken OPC ’72 Gene Taylor OPC ’86 Leo Wyszynski OPC ’91 Tori (Marabella) Small OPC ’96 Virginia (Brown) Yinger OPC ’97 Rob Hitschler OPC ’03 Sean Singletary OPC ’04 Rob Kurz OPC ’04
Coach Debbie White honored the achievements of inductees Virginia Brown Yinger OPC ’97 (center) and Tori Marabella Small OPC ’96.
Coach Brian McCloskey OPC ’82 and inductee Rob Hitschler OPC ’03. In a touching tribute, inductee Marty Harrity OPC ’66 gave credit for his success in sports and in life to his brother Thomas Harrity (right), and he gave him his award as well.
Former coach Joe Perrott Hon. 1689 and inductee Mark Aitken OPC ’72.
Coach Jim Phillips OPC ’90 with inductees Sean Singletary OPC ’04 and Rob Kurz OPC ’04.
Veteran coaches Chuck Hitschler Hon. 1689 and Val Erdmanis Hon. 1689 flanking inductee Leo Wyszynski OPC ’91.
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[Not shown] Inductee Gene Taylor OPC ’86, who was unable to attend, played football and set track records at PC and went on to run track at the University of Virginia.
TEAM INDUCTEES 1962-63 Boys Basketball
1999 Girls Track
1983-84 Wrestling
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD William J. Jones Sr. Hon. 1689 Richard N. Westcott OPC ’55
Former coach Allan Brown (right) with members of the powerhouse 1962-63 Quakers basketball team, which completed a magnificent run of three-straight Inter-Ac titles in the winter of 1963.
William J. Jones Sr. Hon. 1689, honored posthumously with the Distinguished Service Award, provided more than a decade of service to Penn Charter, and especially PC athletics. His sons Kevin Jones OPC ’72 and William Jones Jr. OPC ’66 accepted for their father.
Girls track coach Liz Flemming (third from right) set championship expectations for the girls track team, and they responded, setting 11 school records – including the Penn 4x400 and an Inter-Ac record.
Sportswriter Rich Westcott OPC ’55 (right), historian of Philadelphia baseball and author of more than 25 books, was presented with the Distinguished Service Award by former coach and AHS member George “Buff” Weigand Hon. 1689.
The 1983-84 wrestling team featured depth, remarkable stats and individual triumphs.
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ALUMNI
What a Gabriella DiGiovanni OPC ’13
OPCs flooded social media with photos and memories of Penn Charter for Great Day to Be a Quaker. It was great fun to see snaps of OPC families and current students and photos memories from around the country, including a few throwbacks! Thank you for using #GreatDayPC to share your love for Old Penn Charter and for making March 15 a truly Great Day to Be a Quaker!
Graduating with the Class of 2013 was a #GreatDayPC Posted March 15
James C. Garvey OPC ’75
Another Great Day to Be a Quaker! #GreatDayPC Posted March 15
Pete Davis OPC ’74 and son John, Class of 2019.
Brian McCloskey OPC ‘82 with Colin OPC ‘14 and Karly, Class of 2016.
Carolyn Grace OPC ’12 and her Wizard of Oz castmates
There are so many moments from my 13 years at Penn Charter that made me happy and proud to be a Quaker. But one that sticks out in my mind is Friday, March 19, 2010, at 7:30 P.M., when I helped open the brand new David L. Kurtz OPCs gather for the Big East Tournament on March 10 to watch Villanova defeat Georgetown. Attending the game were (back, L-R) David Evans OPC ’59, Raymond W. Vickers OPC ’61, Brendan McNally OPC ’06, Darryl J. Ford and (front) Barry J. Markman OPC ’90. Val Erdmanis introduces baby Chelsea OPC ‘02 to the PC wrestling team.
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Center for the Performing Arts as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. It was totally transformative to be a part of PC history as a sophomore, and to partake in it with my good friends Clay Bryan (the Cowardly Lion, OPC ‘12), Nick Kelly (the Scarecrow, OPC ‘10), Tim Bell (the Tin Man, OPC ‘11), and the entire cast of Lower, Middle and Upper School students. That magical opening night will always remind me how great it was - and still is - to be a Quaker! #GreatDayPC
ALUMNI
Class Notes Penn Charter magazine wants to hear from you, and your classmates do, too! Submit your news and photos at penncharter.com/classnote. Digital photos should be 300 dpi JPEGs.
Class Notes A Look Back at
1951
Earl J. Ball III, former head of Penn Charter, received last November the Award of Visionary Service from ADVIS. The award reads, “The Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools celebrates the fact that our individual schools – and independent schools in general – are stronger and more viable for the gifts of talent, time, and resources of those who recognize the lasting positive effects that our schools have on society. In this spirit, each year ADVIS recognizes an individual or organization with the Award of Visionary Service, honoring the recipient for a commitment to independent education.”
1689
1948
Class Agent Jane F. Evans jevans@penncharter.com
Lindley (Lee) M. Cowperthwait OPC ’51 See death notices.
Robert H. Stier Jr. OPC ’48
1939
See death notices.
Class Agent Robert C. McAdoo rcmcadoo@gmail.com
James Carter Schaub OPC ’51 See death notices.
1949 Class Agent George C. Fuller fullergj@verizon.net
1940
Ralph L. Sitley OPC ’40 See death notices.
1945
See death notices.
Class Agents George C. (Skip) Corson Jr. gccesq@verizon.net
1950 Class Agent Christopher W. Parker cwp420@aol.com
1951 A. Richard (Dick) Teller OPC ’45
1952
Class Agent David N. Weinman ombudinc@aol.com
1953 Class Agent William H. Bux mbuxc@aol.com
1954 Class Agent Alfred F. Bracher III fbracher@aol.com
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Class Notes
OPC HELPS BRING ART TO PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS Leman Davis OPC ’54 has combined his passion for Philadelphia and his professional experience to work on behalf of Portside Arts Center, a group providing arts education to students attending public schools that have been forced to reduce or eliminate visual arts programs. “Like so many native Philadelphians, I am overwhelmed by the challenging statistic that our public school ninth graders have only a 10 percent chance of graduating from college,” Davis said. He is inspired by studies from the National Endowment for the Arts and others showing that students from low-income families who are highly engaged in the arts are more than twice as likely to graduate from college as peers with no arts education. “What these Portside teachers are offering is a life-changing experience,” Davis said. “The linkage between arts instruction and overall academic development is too vital to be severed.” Portside, amidst the River Wards of Northeast Philadelphia, was founded in 2007 by Kim Creighton, a metal and mosaic artist who purchased a two-story warehouse on E. Lehigh Avenue and, with friends and volunteers, transformed the space to house two visual arts classrooms, a performing arts room, music studio with private lesson booths and studio spaces for working artists. Eight years later, Portside offers 25 programs in the arts and serves more than 600 children and teens annually. For three hours each weekday afternoon, one of those programs provides a safe environment, homework support and visual arts education. The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts designated Portside’s afterschool arts program “Best of the Best” in 2014. With foundation grants exceeding $100,000, Portside is creating curriculum that integrates academics and arts; a new ArtsMobile project will literally bring the curriculum to classrooms in local schools.
1955 Class Agent Charles (Chuck) Clayton Jr. cclayt@comcast.net
1956 Class Agent Bernard E. Berlinger Jr. bberlinger@asidrives.com
1957 Class Agents G. Allan Dash allandash3@me.com James V. Masella Jr. vesperent@aol.com James G. Masland Jr. jgmasland@yahoo.com
1958 Class Agents John E. F. Corson jefcorson@aol.com Robert D. Morrow Jr. djm112@aol.com
1959 Class Agent Rush B. Smith smithrushb@aol.com
1960 Class Agent James M. Arrison III arrison@attglobal.net
Richard W. Berlinger OPC ‘60 See death notices.
1961 Class Agents Richard P. Hamilton Jr. rick1480@aol.com To encourage attendance at after-school programs, Portside has two shuttle buses that pick up children from six local schools. Leman Davis OPC ’54 is wearing the brimmed hat.
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J. Freedley Hunsicker Jr. fhunsicker@laborlawyers.com
ALUMNI
Class Notes A Look Back at
1961
1962 Class Agents Louis F. Burke lburke@lfblaw.com Kevin McKinney pmckin5750@rogers.com Ronald O. Prickitt ronprickitt@comcast.net
John Sheridan reports that he sold his woodworking business to the San Francisco Community WoodShop in November, moved to Portland, Ore., for an emeritus role with the Guild of Oregon Woodworkers, and,
as a member of Veterans for Peace, was surprised recently to receive the National Defense Service Medal from a grateful nation for surviving the Vietnam War.
1963 Class Agents Robert E. Brickley bob@bds-1.com Richard J. Gilkeson gilkeson1@msn.com Douglas S. Little dlittle@perkinscoie.com
On a personal note, I went on to Grove City College, became their swim captain and helped our team to four straight years of victories in the Penn-Ohio championships. This was followed by returning to PC as the JV swimming coach and leading them to the first undefeated PC swim season – proudly in our very own pool. My heart goes out with pride and sincere thanks to all first PC swimmers.”
James W. Cordray OPC ’64 reflected on the origins of the Penn Charter swim team. “I was the founder of our PC swim team back in ’63. This was all achieved with the blessing of our headmaster as a trial to see if we could actually bring a swim team to Penn Charter. We had no pool, no coach and no swimmers. We did have a vision. This vision was met with coordination from all the ’63 participants, coaches, athletic director – and, believe
or not, without a pool. The road trips down Kelly Drive to practice in the Aquarium-Waterworks followed the next year to the Philadelphia Aquatic Club were a challenge, but we managed. The two seasons proved to be a success. We accelerated our performance, handing PC two winning seasons (’63 and ’64). This was all accomplished without a home pool, which meant our swim meets were all away – no home-pool advantage.
Jim Cordray (left), with fellow PC swimmers Albert M. Comly Jr. OPC ’65 and Harry E. Nothacker Jr. OPC ’65, attended the OPC luncheon at the Sports Illustrated SportsKid of the Year party. SI hosted the party for Reece Whitley’s 10th grade class at Lincoln Financial Field in December, after naming Reece SportsKid of the Year. (See page 13.)
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ALUMNI
Class Notes 1964
1967
Class Agents John T. Long Jr. longacres1@yahoo.com
Class Agent Harry S. Cherken Jr. harry.cherken@dbr.com
John S. Morrow onefillycouple@msn.com
John Skinner III writes, “Not having been back since graduation, it is amazing to see all the new buildings. I have always been proud to be a graduate and a part of the school legacy. I was captain of the soccer team and have fond memories of my teachers. Took a birdwatching trip with Ralph “Bugsy” Evans to the Jersey shore to find eagles and Venus fly traps, and we did. Hard to believe how long ago that was. Hope to get back and visit sometime.”
1965 Class Agent Jonathon P. (Buck) DeLong b.delong@charter.net
1966 Class Agent Allen F. Steere asteere3@verizon.net
1968
Michael J. Kennedy writes, “It becomes increasingly obvious every year that passes how fortunate I was to attend PC, which I entered at the beginning of the ninth grade. I have often regretted that I did not take better advantage of what was being offered me there, and by whom, but good instruction is assuredly better than riches, and I received superb instruction (despite my frequent reluctance to absorb it). I have such fond memories of many of my teachers (“masters”), and of most of my fellow students, and I have always regretted that I live too far away to have my boys attend Penn Charter. I am looking forward to visiting the old school on our 50th this year. That’s me lecturing a group of lawyers on the Constitution.”
Class Agents Bruce C. Gill bcoopergil@aol.com
1969 Class Agent Thomas C. Robinson Jr. thomascrobinson@comcast.net
1970 Class Agents Charles L. Mitchell dhammalawyer@yahoo.com Robert N. Reeves Jr. robreeves@eareeves.com
1971 Class Agents Marc A. Golden harvardceo@aol.com Frederick H. Landell rlandell@ltk.com
Richard E. Stanley dickandlea@aol.com
Bradley C. Bower OPC ’71, left, and William Morrow Jr. OPC ’72, right, are shown in front of the Langhorne Carpet Company’s custom-made red carpet designed for Pope Francis’ visit to Philadelphia. Brad was photographing the red carpet manufactured at the Langhorne Carpet Company on assignment with the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Bill, who is the president of the familyowned company, just happened to mention he was a graduate of Penn Charter, OPC ’72, and I in turn mentioned I was the Class of ’71. Our conversation drifted back to our years at PC and those fellow classmates we both knew.”
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Class Notes A Look Back at
1971
Paul C. Mancini pcmancini@gmail.com David H. Neff dn@neffassociates.com
Theodore F. Decker Jr. is a grandfather. See Births.
Class Agents John D. Lemonick lemonickj@gmail.com Patrick E. Lynch patrick@tsle.com
1973 Class Agent Robert J. Marquess rjmproteus@aol.com
Class Agents John B. Caras johnbondcaras@comcast.net Charles J. (Chip) Goodman chip_goodman@cable.comcast.com
A Look Back at
1981
Class Agents David Felderman felderman.david@gmail.com David B. Gleit leyladavid@yahoo.com
Class Agents H. Bruce Hanson hansonkb@gmail.com Gregory D. Palkon gpalkon@hotmail.com
1975
Class Agents Sterling H. Johnson III sterling.h.johnson@usace.army.mil
Class Agent P. Timothy Phelps chamberphelps@gmail.com
1988
David S. Jonas has been named partner at the law firm of Fluet, Huber + Hoang in Virginia.
1978
1986
Adam M. Koppel adam.koppel@biogenidec.com
Class Agent J. Peter Davis pdavispc@comcast.net
James S. Still jstill3boys@gmail.com
Class Agents Matthew M. Killinger killingm@uphs.upenn.edu
1987
1974
Class Agents Robert L. Nydick suenydick@comcast.net
1985
Thomas D. Kramer tom@tdkca.com
1980
Class Agent Bruce K. Balderston bruce.balderston@pncbank.com
1984 Class Agent Robert T. Myers rob.myers@barclayswealth.com
1979
1972
Andrew K. Smith writes that his brother, Gavin Smith, died on Jan. 20, 2016. Gavin attend PC from kindergarten to 10th grade, and was a member of the Class of 1986.
1981 Class Agent Andrew J. Kramer akramer@kanepugh.com
1982 Class Agent James L. Walker Jr. jimwalks@yahoo.com
1989 Class Agent Kenneth (Casey) Murray playnikez@yahoo.com
1990 Class Agent James D. Phillips jphillips@penncharter.com
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Class Notes After more than 20 years in the mortgage industry, Brian A. Simon recently founded CapitalFront, a financial technology/marketplace lender focused on the business-to-business lending space and headquartered in Philadelphia. Additionally, Brian is a board member of Thrivest Management Co., the holding company for CapitalFront, as well as several other investment banking-related entities.
1991 Class Agents Daniel S. Donaghy dsdonaghy@hotmail.com Leo J. Wyszynski ljwyszynski@aol.com
A Look Back at
1991
1993 Class Agent Victor S. (Tory) Olshansky victor.olshansky@gmail.com
1994 Class Agent Jennifer R. Gallagher jenritagal@gmail.com
1995 Class Agent Stephanie Teaford Walters walters-stephanie@aramark.com
1996 Class Agents Alyson M. Goodner alygoods@yahoo.com Michael Sala luismichael.sala@gmail.com
Michael Sala writes, my wife, Jen, and I live in Wynnewood with our three kids, Annabel (6), Graham (4) and Jack (2). I recently joined LLR Partners, a private equity fund making growth investments in
the U.S., building out a direct origination team. Happy to be working back in Philly after commuting to New York City for five years. I was leading client development for a startup financial technology company that we successfully exited. Looking forward to catching up with alumni in the city; please reach out to reconnect: luismichael.sala@gmail.com
1997 Class Agents Brendan Moore brendanmoore78@yahoo.com Allison MacCullough O’Neill allisononeill88@gmail.com
1998 Class Agents Jeff Bender jb2424@gmail.com Patrick A. Sasse psasse@hotmail.com
Marshall Roslyn OPC ’98 was named one of the top tech bankers in Silicon Valley by Business Insider.
1992 Class Agents Anna V. Davis vanleer@hotmail.com (L to R) Scott P. Rosyln, Christopher V. Ferrari, Margaux Genovese Pelegrin, Christopher W. Rahill and Thomas R. Pomrink, all OPC ’99, met at the “OPCs in NYC” reception in December. OPC regional receptions are an opportunity to network and reconnect in your city.
Keith M. Nigro kmn5774@yahoo.com
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Class Notes 1999 Class Agents Mark D. Hecker mhecker616@gmail.com Margaux Pelegrin margaux.pelegrin@gmail.com
Colin Kelly is vice president of Scratch DJ Academy, overseeing the operations and growth of the business unit, as well as the company’s overall talent recruitment and relations.
2000 Class Agent Adam K. Sperling adsperling@gmail.com
2001 Class Agents William A. McKinney williammckinney@gmail.com Jessica A. Stein stein.jessica@gmail.com
A Look Back at
2001
Michael McKenna is the founder and principal of Memphis Delta Prep, a new tuition-free public charter school in Memphis, Tenn. Mike is pictured with his wife, Elza, and children Sage and Foster (twins) and Waverly.
2003
Class Agents Christopher W. Garrison cwg008@gmail.com
Anthony E. McDevitt mcdevitt44@gmail.com
Jessica Kalick jessiekalick@gmail.com
Jennifer N. Cooperman jcoop9185@gmail.com
2004 Class Agents Katherine E. Palmisano katherine.e.palmisano@gmail.com Erin E. Hozack erin.hozack@gmail.com
2002 Class Agent Katherine A. Butler butlerka@gmail.com
2005
Class Agents Jessica A. Kolansky jekolansky@comcast.net
Jerome B. Wright jwright08@gmail.com
Scott Yorko was recently named associate editor and gear editor at Backpacker magazine.
Maureen Ryan mmryan6@gmail.com
2006 Class Agents Joey Fugelo jfugelo@udel.edu Sarah Roberts sarahlkroberts@gmail.com Katherine Siegmann ksiegmann@gmail.com Jeffrey Torchon jazzjeff88@gmail.com
J.D. Dillard’s film Sleight, was critically acclaimed at its Sundance Film Festival debut. (See alumni profile on p. 11.)
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Class Notes 2007 Class Agents Richard Baska Lynn richardbaskalynne@gmail.com Audra Hugo audra.hugo@gmail.com Anne McKenna amckenna515@gmail.com Eric Muller bericmuller@gmail.com
2008 Class Agents Kathryn Corelli corelli.kathryn@gmail.com Ryan Goldman ryan.goldman6@gmail.com Kyle Maurer kylemaurer12@gmail.com
John T. Rogers Hon. 1689 was having dinner with OPC friends in Seattle when he ran into Brea Hall OPC ’10 (left) and Sworupini (Rupi) Sureshkumar OPC ’09.
Sierra Tishgart sierratishgart@gmail.com
2009 Class Agents Alexandra M. Glassman amg296@cornell.edu
Drew Lewis, pictured with PC’s Bruce MacCullough, paid his former teachers a visit in March. He works for New Balance in Boston, where he had an internship while a student at Tufts University.
Laura A. Kurash laurakurash@gmail.com Sam H. Lerner slerner3@gmail.com
2010 Class Agents Megan C. Delaney megan.c.delaney@gmail.com Cormac J. Ferrick mac.ferrick@gmail.com
2011 Class Agents Demetra B. Angelakis dangelak@bowdoin.edu
Kellie C. Ragg kragg@princeton.edu
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Adam J. Garnick ajg9692@gmail.com
SPRING 2016
Grant A. Guyer guyerg@dickinson.edu
Joseph S. Sankey is the 2016 player ambassador for the HEADstrong Foundation. In July, Joey earned Major League Lacrosse Cascade Rookie of the Year honors and currently plays for the Charlotte Hounds.
Curtiss R. Jones Jr. curtissjones215@gmail.com
Casey T. Maher ctm214@lehigh.edu
Casandra P. Gigliotti cassieg@bu.edu
ALUMNI
Class Notes Bennett W. Samuel bennettsamuel44@gmail.com Julia H. Vahey julia.vahey@hws.edu
2014 Class Agents Colin B. McCloskey comccloskey@ursinus.edu Lauren Matt lmatt@fandm.edu
Aleesha Powell OPC ’11 scored her 1,000th point for Seton Hall University in a game against North Carolina State on Nov. 26. Aleesha, pictured with Seton Hall women’s head coach Anthony Bozzella, was honored with a 1,000-point presentation.
A Look Back at
2011
2013
Andrew P. Murray andrew.murray@student.fairfield.edu Marissa Samuels samuelsmarissa@aol.com
2015
Class Agents Rachael D. Garnick rachaelgarnick@gmail.com
Class Agents Nicole DiGiovanni ndigiovanni@elon.edu
Aaron C. Mandelbaum aaronman@sas.upenn.edu
Nile J. Hodges njhodge1@gmail.com
2012 Class Agents Sarah L. Butler slbutler94@gmail.com Ben P. Krieger benpkrieger@gmail.com Edward Malandro edmalandro93@gmail.com Cathryn C. Peirce cpeirce@sas.upenn.edu
Penn Charter currently has five students at the connected campuses of Barnard College and Columbia University, and four of them are pictured here: Sarah Brody Bizar OPC ’15 (Barnard), Isabella Djerassi OPC ’14 (Barnard), Sylvie Miller OPC’15 (Barnard), Hannah Kramer OPC ’14 (Columbia). Not pictured: Molly Pollak OPC ’14 (Barnard). Isa Djerassi writes, “Four of the five of us are actually now in the same sorority on campus, Sigma Delta Tau. Additionally, Molly Pollak and I have lived on the same floor at Barnard two times in a row! We all kept in touch on campus because we have the OPC connection!”
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Class Notes Births 2004 Jerome III, to Yasmeen and Jerome B. Wright Jr., on Dec. 10, 2015.
Damon Leedale-Brown, PC’s director of squash, checked in on former PC squash players in February. Left: Damon went to Princeton University to watch former PC squash players Isabel W. Hirshberg OPC ’15 (pictured) and Tara Harrington OPC ’12 in an upset – Princeton beat Trinity College 5-4. Right: Izzy Hirshberg, Margaux A. Losty OPC ’14 and Tara Harrington played in a Princeton vs. Cornell matchup. Izzy and Tara compete for Princeton, and Margaux plays for Cornell.
2006 Whitney Lynn, to Lauren and Theodore S. Decker, on Nov. 24, 2015.
Marriages
Dolly Segal bsegal1@fandm.edu Ross Wood Jerald.wood@tufts.edu
2003 Aaron Mittica to Natalie Urban, on July 2, 2015.
Julian Johnson established his own company last November. The Hampton University freshman finance major founded the clothing brand Entr3pnr, which he reports is already turning a profit.
Deaths 1940 Ralph L. Sitley, on Nov. 1, 2015. 1945 Richard (Dick) Teller, on Nov. 25, 2015. 1948 Robert H. Stier Jr, on Feb. 25, 2016.
Aaron Mittica OPC ’03 married Natalie Urban in a Quaker ceremony on the beach in Jamaica. Aaron’s brother, C.J. Mittica OPC ’00 (pictured, center), was one of the witnesses.
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1951 Lindley (Lee) M. Cowperthwait OPC ’51, on Oct. 12, 2015. James Carter Schaub, on Feb. 17, 2016. 1960 Richard W. Berlinger, on Nov. 14, 2015.
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