Penn Charter Magazine Spring 2019 by William Penn Charter School

THE MAGAZINE OF WILLIAM PENN CHARTER SCHOOL

SPRING 2019

WELCOME TO OUR FIELD OF DREAMS

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.

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

DESTINATION: Mancos, Colorado This time next year, Penn Charter seventh graders will have just returned from a transformative travel experience in the Southwestern United States, a new signature trip designed to teach critical life skills, broaden their worldview, and enrich learning across multiple disciplines. Penn Charter is partnering with Deer Hill Expeditions, an experiential learning organization with a 130-acre basecamp in Mancos, Colorado, to design a nine day trip with both a wilderness experience and a cross-cultural service project. Students will live on Native American lands in the Navajo Nation, or in Zuni or Hopi pueblos, immersed in another culture. The Native American reverence for the land will undoubtedly make an impression, as will the challenge of living off the land with scarce resources. The students’ collective service efforts will be a significant help. Next May, the Class of 2025 will be the inaugural travelers, and PC anticipates returning to Deer Hill in subsequent years. Middle School teachers currently are exploring additions to the curriculum to prepare students for what they will witness and to help them reflect on their observations when they return. Ideas under consideration are units on renewable energy, water conservation, sustainable agriculture, food insecurity and tribal council decisionmaking processes, plus a long list of relevant novels. The signature trip was inspired by Penn Charter’s Strategic Vision and advanced since June 2017 through the work of an 11-person committee of faculty and administrators. The school plans for every seventh grader to take the trip. The cost will be paid for by three sources: a payment from each family, consistent with their budget; creative community fundraising; and contributions from Penn Charter’s How Far? capital campaign. Photo credit: Deer Hill Expeditions, deerhillexpecitions.com

Contents SPRING 2019

FEATURES

What Makes Them Tick?

Assistant swim coach Crystal Keelan looks for connections to her swimmers and ignites their drive.

14 What’s Under the Hood of the Parent Community?

Strategizing to make the Penn Charter experience engaging and meaningful for parents and families.

20 Computer Science with Inspiration, and Equity

PC computer science expands course list and adds focus on policy issues such as privacy and cybersecurity.

6 Welcome to Our Field of Dreams 2 0 Generational Philanthropy 3

The Robertses collaborate on a family gift to need-based financial aid.

Charting a Global Adventure Penn Charter students study abroad in New Zealand, Israel and England.

DEPARTMENTS OPENING COMMENTS

From the Head of School.................................................................................... 2 AROUND CAMPUS

Campus Currents................................................................................................... 3 Athletics Achievements......................................................................................8 Great Day to Be a Quaker................................................................................. 25 Faculty News ........................................................................................................34

ALUMNI

PC Profiles David Oxtoby OPC ’68................................................................................... 19 Downtown Reception 2019............................................................................36 Then & Now.......................................................................................................... 40 Class Notes..............................................................................................................41 ON THE COVER THE MAGAZINE OF WILLIAM PENN CHARTER SCHOOL

SPRING 2019

WELCOME TO OUR FIELD OF DREAMS

Coach Rick Mellor OPC ‘69 was honored at the ceremonial opening of Ralph F. Palaia Field. See page 26.

SPRING 2019 •

OPENING COMMENTS

From the Head of School

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 Rob Frieman OPC ’87 Alumni Society President

MAGAZINE STAFF Sharon Sexton Editor Rebecca Luzi Associate Editor Julia Judson-Rea Assistant Editor

JUST TONIGHT, I ENJOYED THE SPRING CONCERT of Penn Charter’s Upper School symphonic band, jazz band, string ensemble, chorus and Quakers Dozen. More than 100 students delighted us in the Ball Theater of the Kurtz Center for Performing Arts with moving renditions of “Perthshire Majesty” by Samuel Hazo; “Carnaval” by Erik Morales; Simon and Garfunkel’s triedand-true “Bridge Over Troubled Water”; and “Joyful, Joyful”—the Sister Act version—complete with choreography that brought the audience to its feet. As I scanned the stage looking at the performers, I marveled at their musical talent and reflected upon the other deep interests that so many Penn Charter students pursue. A senior leads environmental efforts at school and throughout metro Philadelphia, and has traveled and studied globally. A baseball player inspired us on the guitar, another exhibited previously unseen dance moves, and a tuba player is the clerk of our Service Learning Council. Tonight, they were all musicians, yet daily, they are budding academicians, student activists, athletes, writers, scientists and thought leaders in our school and beyond. Earlier this week, I traveled to Florida to visit with two OPCs, from the Class of 1949 (celebrating his 70th reunion) and the Class of 1961. Each of these graduates possesses deep intellect and curiosity—each a Renaissance man who credits so much of his broad interests and lifelong success to Penn Charter. When faculty and staff, counselors and coaches, advisors and administrators work with Penn Charter students, we sometimes lose sight that while our individual courses and content are important, the totality of a Penn Charter education is so much greater. Like our graduates, Penn Charter students are learning to become so much more. A myriad of interests and talents—some yet to blossom—is contained in each student on our campus. So while we teach our students today, we can’t lose sight that we are educating our students for the future. While we witness our students’ learning today, we can’t lose sight of a more critical question: How Far Can We See them go? I am certain that they will go far!

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 FLICKR flickr.com/penncharter/sets

Sincerely,

arryl J. Ford D Head of School PLEASE RECYCLE THIS MAGAZINE

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SPRING 2019

CAMPUS CURRENTS

Q. W here in Philadelphia can a theatergoer enjoy Disney entertainment at family-friendly prices in a splendid theater where every seat is a great seat? A: THE BALL THEATER! Penn Charter’s all-school production of My Son Pinocchio: Geppetto’s Musical Tale combined the talents of nearly a hundred student (and faculty!) actors, dancers, musicians and stage crew in a memorable production that brought the audience to tears—when we all weren’t laughing at the antics of the fairies or marveling at the coordination of the marionettes. Bravo!

SPRING 2019 •

CAMPUS CURRENTS

Students Lead the Way with Successful Diversity Conference Penn Charter’s inaugural Cheryl Irving Student Diversity Conference brought together 150 area students for an all-day event designed to give young leaders tools to be ambassadors for community building and social justice. “It is our hope that after your conversations and experiences today, you all will go back to your schools empowered with resources and make great strides to promote the beauty of diversity,” PC senior and conference cofounder Pierce Hodges told students assembled in the Meeting Room on Saturday, March 2. Reflecting on the conference afterward, Ainyae Holmes, senior and conference cofounder with Pierce Hodges, said the turnout and the content of the discussions gave her hope. “We aren’t alone in caring about these issues,” Ainyae said. “When so many people showed up, it made me realize that we have many allies who want to help.”

The morning began with a keynote address from Rohan Arjun, director of admissions at George School, who told a poetic, tender story of leaving Jamaica—and his mother—to find a new life in the United States. He encouraged students: “Tell your stories loudly, boldly, unapologetically so that they become the master narratives around your identities.” Supreme Dow, founder of the Black Writers Museum in Germantown, ended the afternoon with a second keynote, which Ainyae described as a call to action. “He told us it is up to our generation to make change,” she said. “We say we want it; we need to make a plan and go forward.”

During the middle of the day, students were actively involved in workshops, home groups, affinity groups and panel discussions. In addition to Pierce and Ainyae, PC students developed the content and led many of the workshops and affinity groups. Workshop topics included Race & Identity, Colorism, False Representation in the Media, Community Accountability. In the media workshop, PC seniors Bianca Bryant and Ayana Opong-Nyantekyi presented data and questioned why Hispanic movie characters are most often assigned roles as, in this order, criminals, gardeners and maids, but hardly ever as doctors. The series The Walking Dead has 266 characters, they said, and six are LGBTQ, or 2 percent; the show takes place in Atlanta where the LGBTQ population is 4.2 percent. “To not show the whole of humanity is to deny LGBTQ people,” said Bianca. Students who selected this workshop shared their own analysis about current media: “Black Panther was not a black movie,” said one student. “Black people were portrayed positively, running their own country … but Wakanda was a bubble, not the black experience. It was a superhero movie, it doesn’t address our problems.”

Director of Diversity and Inclusion Antonio Williams and student conference leaders Ainyae Holmes and Pierce Hodges succeeded in bringing together 150 students to discuss diversity, equity and inclusion.

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SPRING 2019

In the Colorism workshop, Leila Sor and Lizzy Ominsky asked students to identify personalities they find attractive, and used the responses to launch a discussion about light vs dark skin tone. Historically, they said, enslaved people with lighter skin were often kept as “house slaves,” while African Americans with

CAMPUS CURRENTS

is selective, with a maximum of six students from any school admitted in a given year. And conference and travel cost can be prohibitive. Pierce and Ainyae initiated the PC conference idea almost a year ago and worked to develop the goals and programming for the day in collaboration with Director of Diversity and Inclusion Antonio Williams and Upper School teachers Shahidah Kalam Id-Din and Ruth McGee.

The all-day Saturday conference included affinity groups in which students could discuss issues of particular interest to their race. In this photo, students in the Asian/Asian Pacific Islander affinity group are loosening up with an icebreaker activity called the Foot Handshake Dance.

darker skin were sent to do backbreaking work outdoors. In contemporary cultures around the world, they said, prejudice about skin color results in discrimination. They showed video interviews of young women of different races and cultures talking about the pains they took to bleach their skin or straighten their hair. They shared video interviews of black and white children who, when asked to identify pictures of children who were smart, or good, identified the positive attributes to the white children in the photos, and the negative attributes to the children of color. Their session ended with a video of an elementary school teacher’s well-known lesson about brown and white eggs: Break open each egg, and the inside is the same. Students selected from panel discussions that included topics such as college life and law enforcement. For Pierce, a high point of the all-day event was the panel with a Philadelphia Police inspector and a Pennsylvania state trooper. The Gummere Library was packed with students who elected to attend that session, and when the two police officers finished their remarks and opened up to questions, Pierce said, “it seemed every hand in the room shot up. I thought, wow, this is really working.” Students, most of them African American, had questions about police violence, about building better relations between police and community,

and they had safety concerns such as: What do I do if I get pulled over? Randomly assigned students formed “home groups” so they could discuss race, class and gender with people they might not know. “The home groups had about 19 or 20 in each, and they lasted two hours,” said Ainyae. “The idea was to gain new connections and new friends in an intimate space.”

Students and teachers worked their networks to build attendance; PC students were joined by students from Abington Friends, Agnes Irwin, Baldwin, Episcopal, Friends Select, Germantown Academy, Germantown Friends, Haverford, Malvern, Shipley, Springside Chestnut Hill. “I am impressed with this student leadership and their willingness to focus on issues that matter to them and to society,” said Penn Charter Head of School Darryl J. Ford. “This is an important day of conversation and understanding, and that’s what schools are all about.” PC

Pierce said affinity groups, including African American, White Caucasian, Asian/Asian Pacific Islander, Hispanic and multiracial groups, provided another opportunity to talk comfortably about topics specific to that race. To differentiate the PC conference and appeal to local students, Pierce and Ainyae modeled the conference on the training students undertake at the annual National Association of Independent Schools Student Diversity Leadership Conference, or NAIS SDLC. Both of them have attended the conference, but it

Leila Sor and Lizzy Ominsky presented a workshop on Colorism, a form of prejudice or discrimination in which people are treated differently based on social meanings attached to skin color.

The Cheryl Irving Student Diversity Conference was named for the late Cheryl O. Irving Hon. 1689, Penn Charter teacher and champion of diversity. Read Darryl Ford’s eulogy of Irving, who died in May 2014, at penncharter.com/Irving.

SPRING 2019 •

CAMPUS CURRENTS

ERIN PURCELL HUGHES APPOINTED DIRECTOR OF UPPER SCHOOL

Following a national search, Head of School Darryl J. Ford appointed Erin Purcell Hughes director of Upper School. “Erin rose in the search because of her unique combination of intellect, experience, understanding of Quaker education, and commitment to growth for the school, the division and herself,” Ford said in announcing the appointment. Hughes has served the Penn Charter community for almost three decades. Critical to the decision of the Search Committee were the work she has done as a department chair, grade dean and college counselor, and her commitment to her own professional development. While working full-time at PC, Hughes earned her doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and completed the Heads Network Women’s Leadership Seminar. This spring, she will complete the Friends Council on Education’s two-year Leadership Institute. In a short bio available on penncharter.com, Hughes writes about her childhood and career as well as aspirations for PC graduates: “I believe that no child’s spark is brighter or dimmer than another’s and no child is more or less deserving of a superior education than is another. Invested in equity, I treasure Penn Charter’s philosophy to be ‘a place where diversity is understood, represented and valued.’ Consequently, I aspire for every Penn Charter student to develop not only the content knowledge and skills to succeed in college academics but also the dexterity to communicate and work with different kinds of people and to develop meaningful relationships.” Hughes has served this year as acting director of Upper School, replacing Travis Larrabee, who transitioned to a new role as Penn Charter’s director of strategic initiatives.

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SPRING 2019

Microfinance, Macro Impact A group of Upper School students combined business and real-world experience at the inaugural William Penn Charter School Microfinance Conference Saturday, Feb. 2, a learning opportunity that evolved from Penn Charter’s Microfinance Club. The two-year-old club has been exploring international and local microfinance, fundraising through schoolwide activities and making loans to entrepreneurs through Kiva.org. In addition to Penn Charter club members, the conference included students from the Plymouth Whitemarsh Microfinance Club, as well as students from Wissahickon High School and Germantown Academy who are interested in learning more about microfinance. Students heard from David Rose of Sally Blagg, a creative agency, about how to connect with and support local businesses in Philadelphia. Rose led an interactive discussion about the history of Germantown businesses and shared his insights on the significant number of citizens who lack access to capital. In addition, students heard from Vibhav Jagwani and Brandon Cohen, from the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Microfinance Club, who shared their experiences and work at the university level. The conference concluded with a discussion about a cross-school project to support local entrepreneurs and small businesses in Philadelphia, helping them gather the resources necessary to start and sustain local businesses that will benefit their communities.

CAMPUS CURRENTS

MATH MARVELS Penn Charter students have found success in recent mathematics competitions. The PC team of (left to right) Lance Kay, Jack Frank, Matt Clarke and Harrison Signorello, all eighth graders, took second place in February at the MathCounts Competition held at Temple University. All four students qualified for the oral competition by finishing in the top 10 in the written competition. Lance and Harrison qualified to compete at the state level. Ninth grader Jackson Handler will have his solution to a math problem published in the New York State Mathematics Teachers’ Journal. The problem was intended to be solved by math teachers, however, Harris Kwong, the publisher and a mathematics professor at SUNY Fredonia, chose Jackson’s solution because of his unique approach.

Where in the world is …? While the rest of her classmates were relaxing during spring break, eighth grader Merrill Gadsden was preparing to represent Penn Charter in the 2019 National Geographic GeoBee Pennsylvania State Competition. Merrill (pictured here with social studies teacher Alice Bateman) qualified for the competition based on her stellar performance in Penn Charter’s GeoBee, followed by her score on an online qualifying test. The National Geographic Society has invited up to 100 of the top-scoring students in each of the 50 states to compete in the State GeoBees. Merrill competed in Harrisburg on March 29; although she did well in her round, answering six of eight questions correctly, she did not advance. “Merrill enjoys studying about the world, history and current events,” said Bateman, “and she has an uncanny ability to read about a place and remember its details later.” Read these recent GeoBee questions and see if you are ready for GeoBee competition: 1. A tlanta has a higher elevation than Dushanbe, Tajikistan: true or false? 2. W hich of these countries is not a major exporter of gold? Canada, Moldova, South Africa? (1. False 2. Moldova)

ACTION ON PLASTIC As part of their plastic pollution project, third grade students researched the problem, took surveys of plastic use on campus and wrote persuasive letters to Kaitlyn Norton, the director of dining services, advocating for a reduction in single-use plastics in Penn Charter’s cafeteria. They got results! Norton was impressed with the students’ knowledge and passion and searched for new measures to add to what PC is already doing: she removed plastic condiment cups and plastic wrapping around organic apples, and is experimenting with reusable bowls for cut fruit. In addition, the Class of 2028 identified where they can reduce plastic consumption at home, and have taken action by reminding their parents to use the T-shirt bags they made for groceries. “We learned so much along with them,” third grade teacher Jill Einbender said of the research. “The kids are realizing they can make a difference and that is what’s really cool.”

SPRING 2019 •

ATHLETICS ACHIEVEMENTS PENN CHARTER COACHES HONORED Two Penn Charter coaches received state recognitions this year after standout performances by their teams.

Pete Shaifer OPC ’82 won the award for Head Coach of the Year at the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Wrestling Tournament in February. Shaifer’s fellow coaches elected him to receive the honor following a top-five performance by the Quakers at the event. At the PAISWT Tournament, nine Quakers qualified to participate in nationals. It was Penn Charter wrestling’s highest number of national qualifiers in more than 25 years.

Andy Zuccotti won the Pennsylvania Independent School Athletic Association’s award for Girls Cross Country Coach of the Year. Zuccotti’s honor came after a stellar fall season in which the girls team completed the Inter-Ac season undefeated; won both the Inter-Ac and independent school state championship; and won the George School and William Tennent Invitationals. The 2018 season was the best in the history of girls cross country at Penn Charter.

BASKETBALL

Ryan Holmes Breaks 1,000

Junior guard Ryan Holmes scored his 1,000th career point from the foul line during a dominant boys basketball win over Freire Charter in January. Holmes also led the offense that day, putting up 20 points for the Quakers. This year, Holmes had a terrific season, earning 2nd team All-Inter-Ac and averaging 17 points, six rebounds and four assists per game. Holmes with his parents, Meg and Keith, and Director of Athletics John Thiel (left) and head coach John Owens (right).

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SPRING 2019

BASKETBALL

Girls Basketball Sets School Record, Wins Nike Tournament This past season, girls basketball made its mark on PC athletics history by breaking the school record for wins in a season by a girls basketball team. The team went 23-7; finished Inter-Ac play at 9-3; and tied for second place and earned the No. 2 seed in the PAISAA Tournament. Another highlight of the girls’ season was a win at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix, Arizona, in December. Penn Charter came away with a 4-0 record after tipping off against some of the best teams in the tournament. Junior Carmen Williams averaged 13.5 points across the Quakers’ four games and was named MVP in her bracket.

SWIMMING AND DIVING

Historic Swim Champions—Again! The girls swim team continued its historic run, repeating as both Inter-Ac champions and Easterns champions. Over the course of the season, the girls team also broke nine (out of 12) team records. Over the last two years the girls have rewritten the record board entirely, breaking team records in 11 of 12 events. This year’s team featured seven swimmers who made the AllInter-Ac team and six swims that are All-American qualifying times. The team continued to be a formidable opponent in championship meets: At Easterns, the Quakers secured two relay wins (200 and 400 free) and an individual victory by Sally Foley in the 100 breaststroke.

INDOOR TRACK

Runners Win at State Meet, Shatter School Record Girls indoor track and field’s Distance Medley Relay team won their event outright at the state meet and set a new school record in the event. Peyton Parker, Mary McDavid, Sara Shipon and Emma Zwall won the event while competing against Pennsylvania teams of every classification and size, and beat the previous Penn Charter record by nine seconds. That same foursome returned two weeks later to place ninth in the Championship Section of the New Balance Indoor Nationals in New York City, improving on their PC record by an additional 8 seconds to 12:02.90. That time was one of the fastest in state track history.

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STRATEGIC VISION

GOAL 2

PROGRAM

W H AT M A K E S T H E M T I C K?

In international competition and at home in Penn Charter’s pool, assistant swim coach Crystal Keelan looks for connections to her swimmers and ignites their drive. BY RAY BAILEY OPC ’09 When Brian Hecker refers to his Penn Charter swimming and diving colleague Crystal Keelan as “one of the best coaches in the country,” he isn’t exaggerating out of chummy enthusiasm—he means it. His assessment would likely be affirmed, in fact, by the authorities at USA Swimming, the national governing body for the sport. Why else would they name Keelan to lead Team USA at the World Junior Championships in Budapest this summer?

“It’s a pretty cool opportunity,” Keelan said from her office in the Graham Athletics Center, where she also presides over the Penn Charter Aquatics Club (PCAC). Budapest marks Keelan’s second highprofile appointment in less than a year. Last fall, she served as head coach of Team USA at the Youth Olympic Games—the sport’s other premier international competition—in Buenos Aires. It was her first time leading Team USA, though she had previously served as assistant coach. The Youth Olympic Games appointment held another significance for Keelan: It was her first appearance at an international meet without her star protégé, Reece Whitley OPC ’18. Keelan is perhaps best known for coaching Whitley through 23 National Age Group records, a flurry of national and international medals, and a Sports Illustrated Kids cover. Their seven-year mentorship began with one-on-one lessons when Whitley was 11 and continued at PC and PCAC until his graduation last spring. But impressive as those achievements are, reducing Keelan’s career to her work with Whitley would be misguided, warns Hecker. “Everywhere she’s been she’s had success,” he said. After concluding her own swimming career at York College, Keelan became an assistant coach with the Lower Moreland Lightning in 2004. She sent swimmers to top national meets, trained Junior Olympic champions and refined her coaching skills while working under her aunt and mentor, Dawn Pachence. In 2007, Keelan began a five-year stint as head coach at her high school, Council Rock. She led the school to its first divisional title in three decades and watched her roster balloon into the mid200s. The school’s dwindling USA club program grew from two members to 50 under her direction, and more than half the team qualified for Junior Olympics.

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It should come as no surprise, then, that “Coach Crystal” has found success at Penn Charter as assistant swim coach for boys and girls. This season, the girls swimming and diving team won the Inter-Ac and the Eastern Interscholastic Championship for the second year in a row. The boys and girls teams’ combined scores earned Penn Charter a fifth-place ranking among 45 Pennsylvania independent schools at Easterns. After that inspired season-capping performance, Keelan took to Twitter—as she often does—to congratulate her athletes and take stock of the day’s accomplishments: “9 team records broken, 6 All American recognitions, 2 relay wins, 1 individual win, insanely fast swimming & the best team spirit on deck!” John Thiel, Penn Charter’s director of athletics and athletic planning, said Keelan has helped bring greater depth to the aquatics program since her arrival in 2013. He praised her “outstanding technical knowledge” and communication skills. “It’s amazing to watch what she can get done in a minute—in 30 seconds—with a swimmer,” he said. Keelan and Hecker divvy up coaching duties for the boys and girls varsity teams, with support from former head coach Charlie Brown Hon. 1689. Keelan designs most of the programming. And rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach, she customizes workouts for each swimmer and makes adjustments in real time. “You’ll see a lot of coaches will put a set up on the board—every kid is doing the exact same thing,” Hecker said. “It’s not going to make them better.” PC swimming and diving co-captain Annika Murray, a senior, noted Keelan’s keen sense of judgment: “She knows what each person needs, and she knows how to coach different types of swimmers.”

Keelan, second from left, poolside at Easterns with PC varsity swimmers (L-R) Gabriella Lopez-Ona, Camille Weiss and Marissa Lopez-Ona.

That kind of individualized attention even extends beyond the pool. Keelan meets with her athletes one-on-one at the beginning of each season to set goals and find out about their lives beyond PC’s pool. She checks in with them casually at practice to make sure everyone is happy, healthy and staying on top of school work. Building rapport with athletes seems to come naturally to Keelan, and it also serves her as a coach. Knowing her swimmers’ personalities allows Keelan to tailor her approach on the pool deck. “Some kids respond to me being a little bit sarcastic or making a joke, and others respond to me just cheering them on,” she said. “You have to find out what makes them tick.” Hecker sees Keelan’s ability to bond with her athletes and her ability to get results as two sides of the same coin.

“It’s rare that you see a coach demand so much and still have the kids love her so much,” he said. “She finds a way to make sure they know she cares about them and then she gets them to really work and dig.” For Whitley, now a freshman at the University of California, Berkeley, Keelan’s willingness to “get to know her swimmers and understand them on a personal level” is her most admirable trait. “That’s something that’s very rare in coaching: Someone who can look past the pool,” he said by phone. Whitley has been eagerly following the developments in his former coach’s career. He tuned in for the Youth Olympic Games last October. “I loved watching those kids go at it and compete at the best level in the world for junior swimming. To know [Keelan] was behind all that as head coach was really cool.” continued on next page

SPRING 2019 •

WHAT MAKES THEM TICK? continued from page 11

For Keelan, this latest iteration of success comes on the heels of much learning during the experience with Whitley. She points out that their relationship was symbiotic: His passion for improvement as a swimmer fueled her passion for improvement as a coach. They got better together.

NEW FACES IN PC ATHLETICS MAIYAH BROWN HEAD COACH, FIELD HOCKEY Maiyah Brown comes to Penn Charter after four years as a varsity field hockey starter at Temple University, where she majored in sport and recreation management. Brown was a captain of the Division I team and helped take the Owls to the Big East Tournament in 2015 after scoring a game-winning goal against Villanova. A native of Allentown, Brown was a four-year letter winner at William Allen High School, where she scored 36 career goals. She also played club field hockey for the Slapstyx and won a silver medal at the Disney Field Hockey Showcase. Along with her work at PC, Brown is an operations manager at LA Fitness and an athletic assistant at Phield House, an indoor sports facility in Philadelphia.

JOHN OWENS HEAD COACH, BOYS BASKETBALL John Owens joins PC Athletics after serving as associate head basketball coach at his high school, Abington Friends. Before that, he was assistant coach at California University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with a BS in psychology in 2007 and a master’s degree in school psychology in 2009. PCAC swimmers Alex Boratto (L) and Reece Whitley after breaking the National Age Group Record in the 400 Medley Relay last summer. Boratto swam backstroke and Whitley swam breaststroke in the event.

And Keelan, who describes herself as “not shy,” took advantage of the professional development opportunities available at the upper echelons of competitive swimming. She made a habit of approaching other coaches for insight and advice; she studied elite swimmers during down time at meets; she phoned in for conference calls with the Olympic Training Committee. In short, Keelan, already a great coach, rose to the extraordinary occasion she was presented with and became one of the best. That trajectory isn’t lost on Thiel. “To me, one of Crystal’s greatest assets is her desire to continue to learn and develop.” Nor is Keelan’s trajectory lost on the broader swimming community, which has embraced her with open arms—and without her most celebrated pupil. PC

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During his playing days at Abington Friends, Owens received All-League honors his junior and senior years. In his senior season, his team won the Friends League Championship. He finished his high school career with more than 1,000 points. Owens attended Bloomsburg University, starting at point guard for two years. He then transferred to California University of Pennsylvania, one of the strongest Division I programs in the state, where he completed his college career and earned Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference MVP honors. Owens is currently employed at JEVS Human Services as the senior director of community support services.

BOBBY WURTZ OPC ’12 HEAD COACH, BOYS WATER POLO Bobby Wurtz OPC ’12 returned to Penn Charter as a coach after graduating from Fordham University with a BS in engineering physics. At Fordham, Wurtz played water polo and served as cocaptain of the team during his junior and senior seasons. He helped lead the team to its first 20-win season in school history. While at PC, Wurtz served as a captain of the water polo and swimming teams for two years. He won the PC/GA Day game MVP, team MVP and First Team All-Inter-Ac in his senior year. Wurtz also swam on three All-American relays, played golf and pole vaulted for the track and field team. After a period working as a computer programmer, Wurtz pursued a master’s degree in cybersecurity from Johns Hopkins University. He recently developed and launched a company with his family and a former teammate from Fordham. Nutrition by Corvis delivers customized meals for competitive athletes, and Wurtz is chief information officer and primary web developer.

STRATEGIC VISION

GOALS 1 & 2

QUAKERISM • PROGRAM

BUILDING A BIKING CULTURE

Teachers Joel Eckel, Michael Moulton and Pete Shaifer, all avid bike riders and members of PC’s Green Team of environmentalists, used a 2018 Penn Charter summer grant to investigate and advance the role of biking in our community.

PC students and faculty at the starting point of the Bike Train.

“Some people are interested in riding bikes to school but feel a little intimidated by it,” Eckel said, “so giving them the opportunity to be with a group—it’s just a friendly access point.” The event was sponsored by the Penn Charter Parent Community and attracted more than 15 participants, who assembled at the Trolley Car Diner in Mt. Airy. There were four preplanned stops along the route where bikers who live closer to campus could join the train. After the success of that initial event, another bike train is scheduled for May; in addition to the Trolley Car Diner group, the event will include an additional group of riders setting out from Lloyd Hall on Kelly Drive. PC community members who biked to school during National Bike Month in May 2018 were gifted with a reusable water bottle from the faculty Green Team. Lower School Admissions Assistant Debbie McIlvaine was among those who participated.

A major outcome of their work was to apply for—and win—Penn Charter a Bicycle Friendly Business award through the League of American Bicyclists. PC is the first secondary school in the state to receive the designation, given in December. “It put us on the map,” said Moulton. Along with the award, the League of American Bicyclists offers resources for education and planning, and recommendations for making campus more bike-friendly going forward. In applying for the award, the Green Team surveyed faculty and staff to get a better sense of PC’s strengths and to better understand the community’s biking habits. That data was included in the application along with a written account of existing “incentives, programming and amenities” related to biking. Penn Charter was awarded a bronze-level designation for its efforts so far, with kudos

for the educational opportunities available to cyclists on campus. In the Middle School, for instance, Shaifer has spearheaded a student “fix-it” club that meets in the IdeaLab to work on bikes. Last fall, Moulton offered a workshop in the Teaching & Learning Center on how to fix a flat tire.

BIKE TRAIN In its appraisal, the League of American Bicyclists also took note of two new biking events offered to the PC community this year. November saw the first Penn Charter “bike train,” a group of faculty, students and parents who rode to school together along a predetermined route. The event was a means of promoting bicycle awareness, building camaraderie among riders and drawing more PC cyclists out of the woodwork.

Middle School teacher Alice Bateman rode with the Trolley Car Diner group in November. She enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with former students, now in Upper School, and found a renewed sense of enthusiasm for biking to school. “Since that ride, I’ve been motivated to bike to school every few weeks,” she said. “I realized that seven miles is not that tough, and morning rides give me incredible energy for the day.” For PC’s Coordinator of Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability Tom Rickards, the benefits of a healthy biking culture on campus are many: It has a positive environmental impact, promotes wellness, builds community and encourages people to spend time outdoors. He applauded the work Eckel, Moulton and Shaifer have taken on and noted that the recent biking initiatives at PC are helping to create a more savvy, safe community of riders. “We’re building, I hope, a skill set that instills a sense of confidence in our PC bikers,” he said. PC

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STRATEGIC VISION

GOAL 1

QUAKERISM

What’s under the hood of the

PARENT COMMUNITY? BY REBECCA LUZI

A common thread weaves through every event, initiative and program supported by Penn Charter’s Parent Community: helping to make the Penn Charter experience engaging and meaningful for parents and families. And while the role of the Parent Community has remained true for more than 60 years, the ways in which it engages parents has evolved. In 2017, co-chairs Alyson Schwartz and Jennifer Fiss conducted an informal focus group of parents from all divisions, including those who attended Parent Community events and others who did

personal, informal means of communicating, such as phone calls from other parents. The consensus was that parents and families are overstressed with events and obligations. “We had to make adjustments,” Schwartz said. “We wanted to create opportunities where things are already happening at PC and parents are on campus anyway. And we needed opportunities to bring the whole group together and not just one grade.”

Parent Community co-chairs Alyson Schwartz and Joy Chaffin

not. They wanted to know: Which events work? Which do not? What makes you want to attend an event? Among the themes that emerged, parents wanted school-wide or division-wide parent gatherings, more opportunities for service projects, and more

And so they retooled the annual parent socials, making them no-fuss parent pop-ins. The goal, Schwartz said, “was to eliminate as many obstacles as possible and make it easy to show up.” The pop-ins are no longer potluck—instead, the Parent Community provides the food, and parents just bring a beverage. Middle School pop-ins are scheduled at the same time as dances so that parents can “pop in” after dropping off their children. Lower School pop-ins include continued on page 16

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The Parent Community’s workshop on cooking meals for Face to Face (top) garnered so much interest that leaders built upon the idea for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, making and packing lunches for homeless shelters (bottom).

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WHAT’S UNDER THE HOOD OF THE PARENT COMMUNITY? continued from page 14

grades 1-5, with separate socials for pre-K and kindergarten, which continue to boast robust attendance. “For Upper School,” Schwartz said, “we wanted to create an easy social during a football game, with food provided by the Parent Community.” So, the Parent Tailgate is a new opportunity to hang out with other parents before the game—with music provided by treasurer Scott Solomon, a frequent volunteer DJ. Also new in the fall of 2018, Middle School Family Night was an invitation to families to gather at the Wissahickon Environmental

Center for a guided night hike, s’mores over a campfire, space to play and even a ghost story courtesy of an older student. Next year, Schwartz said, they will build in more social time. “It was well-received, and we want to do it again. It was a great first-year effort.” Perhaps the biggest development in the Parent Community in recent years is the Parent-to-Parent workshop model, a teachand-learn program in which parents share expertise and common interests. Fiss knew about the Teaching & Learning Center’s (TLC) lunch-and-learn sessions for faculty at Penn Charter, which are taught

by teachers for teachers. She envisioned a program that would similarly tap the talents of parents for parents. “This was part of a very intentional shift focused on building community among parents,” said Fiss, now former co-chair, who spearheaded the program. “People were interested in meaningful experience. “It’s an exciting new way to bring people together. The parents who participate in the program have given me so much positive feedback. It’s been a nice way to re-engage parents across divisions.”

This year’s Grace Fund Party—Game Night—was a fun-filled evening of playful competition between Blue and Yellow teams to benefit the full-access fund that covers the cost of items and experiences not paid for by financial aid.

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Fiss sometimes teams up with Ruth Aichenbaum, coordinator of Penn Charter’s TLC, to host faculty-parent crossover sessions, such as Upper School parent Gwen Glew’s “Environmental Causes of Cancer in Youth” and teacher Tom Rickards’ rock climbing tutorial. Finding leads for new workshop material means discovering people’s interests and passions. Parent experts have included a pastry chef, a gemologist and an Indycar race engineer. In “What’s Under Your Hood?” Lower School parent Brigitte Addimando, who worked for Honda Performance on their race engine program, taught parents engine operation and maintenance, and how to change a tire. More so than content, scheduling can present a challenge. When Headmaster John F. Gummere established the Community, as it was then called, in 1955, few women worked outside the home, people traveled less for work, and children were engaged in fewer extracurricular activities. “We try to engage people in a way that works for them and to accommodate their schedules as well,” said Joy Chaffin, co-chair this year along with Schwartz. “Weekends have been least popular even though parents have requested them. People are just busy.” So Parent Community leaders offer an array of different choices at different times to accommodate the most people. Women are the most frequent attendees as well as presenters.

Fundamentals of Leadership As the Parent Community has refocused its mission of supporting families and community at Penn Charter, the executive committee has also reworked its budget, reallocating money that supported the Middle School Play Day, for instance, and choosing instead to fund the Parent Tailgate and Middle School Family Night—events enjoyed by parents and families, not just students. “It was a very intentional process that we went through,” Jennifer Fiss said, “to think about who we are, what our goals are as a parent community and how we’re going to use the money that families give us.” At the beginning of each year, each family is asked to pay $40 in dues to fund the organization’s many events. Division chairs, who have long been instrumental in event planning, now have more autonomy and their own small budget to create events that are fun and meaningful for their division. And the executive committee now hosts an end-of-year breakfast for class chairs and division chairs as a way of thanking them for the work they do all year long. In recent years, the timing with which new Parent Community co-chairs assume their twoyear commitment has changed. No longer do both co-chairs step down as two others step up. Leadership is staggered so that between the co-chairs, only one is new each year. The same is true for divisional chairs. The new co-chair, Joy Chaffin said, learns from the other, “who is experienced and knows the ins and outs. [She is] someone who has done the role for a year and knows the challenges.” There is also an unofficial third year in leadership. Fiss, who was co-chair in 2016-17 and 2017-18, is now a sort of co-chair emeritus, continuing to lead the Parent-to-Parent program. “There is so much institutional knowledge you gain as a chair that you can be a resource to others,” Fiss said. The Upper School Parent Tailgate, held before a football game last October, is both casual and convenient. As part of the effort to make parent socials as easy as possible for parents, the Parent Community budgets and pays for the food.

Knowing that cooking and baking were popular workshops, organizers believed that cooking as a service project would appeal to many parents. So Fiss decided to host “Community Cooking for Face to Face” to serve a longtime service partner of Penn Charter’s in Germantown. Face to Face strives to meet the basic needs of struggling families and individuals, some of whom are homeless. For the Parent Community project, Penn Charter parents made and delivered lasagna, chicken pot pie and continued on next page

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WHAT’S UNDER THE HOOD OF THE PARENT COMMUNITY? continued from page 17

Mexican spaghetti bake. This project also provided an opportunity for parents who couldn’t be there: They could contribute by providing ingredients. This combination of community and service was so successful that Parent Community leaders built upon it for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. “We worked with Aly Goodner [OPC ’96, director of the PC Center for Public Purpose]

to craft a day that would be really useful,” Chaffin said. One group of parents donated ingredients, another group baked treats in advance, and a third group, along with students in the Food Insecurity Club, packaged the baked goods on MLK Day as a treat in nutritious lunch bags. Later that day, Upper School students delivered these lunch bags to homeless shelters. Increasingly, the Parent Community has been collaborating with the Office of

Former Indycar race engineer Brigitte Addimando’s “What’s Under Your Hood?” was a popular Parent-toParent workshop.

Diversity and Inclusion. Schwartz hopes that events centered on issues of diversity, such as the book discussion, led by Head of School Darryl J. Ford, of Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge with a video appearance by author Erica Armstrong Dunbar, will attract more people, and not just people of color. Parent liaisons Yolanda and Reggie Banks have hosted “fireside chats to discuss things that affect all of us,” Schwartz said. “When do you talk to your kids about race? How do you raise children to be leaders in creating diverse friendships? How do you model that behavior? “I really wanted to dispel the image of the Parent Community as ladies who lunch,” Schwartz said. “We want to appeal to people of different interests. I want to make a difference. We want to create lives that make a difference and support that environment for our children at school.” The Parent Community founded generations ago continues to be vibrant and relevant. It still supports Color Day, staffing booths that sell cold drinks, lemon sticks and plenty of other refreshments. Volunteers bake and help Lower School students sell treats at the Valentine’s Day bake sale. And the Parent Community continues to host large fundraising events—but those events over the years have transformed from a Tea Dance back in the earliest days, to the Grace Fund Party, a casual affair that raised $25,000 last November, billed as “Color Day, but for grownups, at night, indoors!” Alyson Schwartz, approaching the end of her two-year tenure as co-chair, will miss her role in creating and planning dynamic programming. But, she said, “I think that after two years, it’s time for somebody to come in with fresh ideas. You have to be ready for it. It’s a lot of work, but it’s gratifying. I like walking around campus and everybody knows you. Two years is about right.” PC

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PC P RO F I LE S

Still Asking the Right Questions David Oxtoby OPC ’68 BY MARK F. BERNSTEIN OPC ’79

It’s a risky business, trying to look for hints about someone’s future career from their high school yearbook, but in the case of David Oxtoby OPC ’68, the new president of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the temptation is hard to resist. Beneath a long list of PC honors, achievements and activities, Oxtoby chose a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson—“Great geniuses have the shortest biographies”—but his own career belies that. Oxtoby’s biography is pretty long. A Harvard-trained physicist and chemist with a PhD in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, he was director of the James Franck Institute, an interdisciplinary research group at the University of Chicago, and later dean of the university’s physical sciences division. He recently finished a 14-year tenure as president of Pomona College in California, where he championed sustainability and more than doubled the number of low-income students accepted. He also received the PC Alumni Award of Merit in 2003. For the first time in decades, Oxtoby is out of the rhythm of the academic calendar, but he is adjusting well. In moving to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, which is based in Cambridge, Mass., Oxtoby is capping his career in a place where he can put all of his talents and experience to use. Relatively little known to the general public, the American Academy is one of the oldest and most distinguished societies for scholars in the United States. It was established in 1780 by John Adams, John Hancock and others “to cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people.” George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were among the first class of inductees, a list that over the centuries has included luminaries such as Willa Cather, T.S. Eliot, Robert Oppenheimer, Charles Darwin and Nelson Mandela. Today, the American Academy counts about 5,000 members in the United States and another 600 around the world.

Although it is an honorary society—members must be nominated and voted upon—Oxtoby said the American Academy’s chief purpose is to bring important issues before the public eye. “It has tremendous convening power to bring people together from all different fields and backgrounds to talk about important issues and try to make recommendations that will help the country.” Recent studies have focused on a wide range of subjects, including nuclear proliferation, political corruption, undergraduate education, expanding civic participation, and even why jazz matters. Many are published in the society’s journal, Daedalus. One of Oxtoby’s goals is to find ways to help the American Academy’s studies make a broader impact on the public debate. “It’s great to get people together and do a thoughtful examination and prepare a report, but if that report just sits on a shelf it hasn’t really accomplished its purpose,” he explained. “Who is reading our reports, and are they being put into practice?” This work is particularly important in today’s fractious climate, Oxtoby added. “We are able to bring people together from across political divides in a setting where things are not, we hope, politicized. Bringing people together is important now as ever.” Although Oxtoby’s career has taken him into higher education and public advocacy, it could have gone in many directions. At PC, he took two languages, French and Latin, and was also invited to join a small Greek class taught by Edward McMillan. He fondly recalled English classes taught by Joe Perrott and Peter Reinke as some of the best he took. But it was the physical sciences, especially an AP chemistry class taught by Bruce Hartman and an 11th grade physics class taught by Sam Tatnall, that turned him towards a career as a scientist. Oxtoby acknowledged that he was fortunate to receive the sort of well-rounded education all high school students should get. “I think sometimes that high schools try to do all the same things colleges do in terms of [academic] tracks and offering many elective courses,” he said. “Sure, you want them to be offering challenging courses, but breadth of education is important, too. High schools should not be offering courses that try to be a direct substitute for college courses.” Go back and thumb through that old 1968 PC yearbook and one other page stands out. The class listed each senior’s favorite catch phrase. Oxtoby’s was, “Are you sure that’s right?” A good quote from a budding scientist and academic. PC

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Moulton’s computer science class recently held a Q & A session via Skype with Shannon Harrington OPC ’07 (pictured on screen) who works as principal at NavTalent. She recruits talent for tech firms in Silicon Valley.

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STRATEGIC VISION

GOALS 1,2,3

QUAKERISM • PROGRAM • TEACHING

COMPUTER SCIENCE

WITH INSPIRATION, AND EQUITY BY MARK F. BERNSTEIN OPC ’79

The buzz in Room 230 on a Friday morning in March is the kind that can be heard when any PC class is working on a group project. This is AP Computer Science Principles, and 20 students, a mix of 10th, 11th and 12th graders, are hunched over their laptops, either individually or in small teams. They are designing a simple app, an address book that can save and load data from the computing cloud. Teacher Michael Moulton circulates, supervising and giving help when asked, but some of the students are also working with online tutorials that guide them through the lesson. Moulton has been teaching AP computer science for three years now, but next year is going to be very different. Last November, Amazon announced that Penn Charter is one of 1,000 high schools across the country to receive a grant from the company’s Amazon Future Engineer Pathway program. When it is rolled out this fall, the grant will provide PC with new computer science resources, a new curriculum and new tools for teachers. continued on next page

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COMPUTER SCIENCE WITH INSPIRATION, AND EQUITY continued from page 21

have a chance to see computer science principles in practice on a very large scale at Amazon’s 655,000 sq. ft. distribution and fulfillment center in West Deptford, N.J. “This is a dream,” Moulton said, “because it provides us the ability to get the best from both individual and group learning. With the grant we’ll be able to teach in the same great ways that we aspire to at PC—but with one big difference. In addition to the scheduled classroom experience, we’ll have flexibility to teach at as many different levels as there are students taking the classes.”

The new AP Computer Science Principles course is designed to attract girls and students of color, both underrepresented in computer science.

It’s a significant change for Penn Charter but perhaps just a hint of even more farreaching strategic initiatives that could reimagine how schools teach and students learn in the 21st century. Amazon Future Engineer program gives schools access to the company’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) tools and provides schools access to powerful individualized learning tools from a company called Edhesive. Edhesive’s curriculum enables students to learn at their own pace, both in class and online, as they prepare for the national AP exam. Individual learning units cover topics such as

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computational thinking, programming, data representation, digital media representation and innovative technologies. Students also receive memberships in another program, AWS Educate, which gives them access to Amazon’s computing cloud, the online servers where data is stored. Teachers will benefit from tools that help them track student performance in class and in those online exercises. And everyone, students and teachers alike, gets access to high-level Amazon techs who will video conference and visit PC to answer questions about working in the field. They will also

The grant Penn Charter received is only one part of the Amazon Future Engineer program, a four-part initiative launched with the goal of teaching more than 10 million children to code. Forget about the economy of tomorrow; those budding young coders are badly needed right now. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that, by next year, there will be 1.4 million computer science-related jobs in this country and only 400,000 computer science graduates. Although computer science is the fastest growing STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) field, only about 8 percent of STEM majors earn a computer science degree. Widening that pipeline will be a key to ensuring American economic competitiveness in the decades ahead.

NOT JUST FOR “GEEKS” Penn Charter’s association with computer science goes back to the beginning—in fact, to before the beginning. J. Presper Eckert OPC ’37 helped design the ENIAC and the UNIVAC, two of the first electronic digital computers, in the 1940s and 1950s. By the time Moulton joined the PC faculty in 1998, though, computer science was a one-trimester elective course. In 2016, he advocated for offering AP Computer Science Principles as a full-year class.

Interest in the subject had grown, and the

students.” At Moulton’s invitation, Popyack

Principles is set up so that students with prior

new class was introduced to meet the need.

even attended one of the early planning

coding experience don’t have too much of

Moulton was attracted to the new AP offering

meetings to design PC’s class.

an advantage and novices aren’t scared off.

for several reasons. He had been inspired to

The AP computer science course is built

(Moulton estimated that about three-quarters

study computer science as an undergraduate

to attract girls and students of color into

at Drexel University by his professor Jeffrey

a field where both have historically been

Popyack. When he learned that Popyack was

underrepresented. That was another thing

divided between boys and girls.)

of the students in this year’s AP class had never coded before. It is also almost evenly

one of the principal architects of the new AP

that resonated with Moulton, who has tried

Studies have shown that girls are interested

computer science course, Moulton recalled, “I

to encourage greater diversity in the courses

in computers for what they can do, and so the

fell over myself to see what it could do for our

he teaches, as well. AP Computer Science

current curriculum, designed by Code.org, a continued on next page

Penn Charter’s two full-year AP computer science courses strengthen tech knowledge and prepare students to work together, much like they would in the modern workplace.

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COMPUTER SCIENCE WITH INSPIRATION, AND EQUITY continued from page 23

nonprofit collaborative venture by Amazon, Facebook, Google and several other tech giants, focuses on real-life uses of computer science, such as designing games and apps. It also addresses related issues such as cybersecurity and privacy protection. Course designers, as Moulton put it, took the subject “from just bits and bytes and added ‘why.’” The AP computer science exam also focuses less on pure theory and more on practice. The familiar fill-in-the-bubble standardized test is now largely replaced by portfolio projects that are sent to the College Board throughout the year. One of Moulton’s students is designing an app that helps with nutritional guidelines and meal planning. Another designed a new computer card game. Throughout the year there are lots of collaborative projects in which students work together, much like in the modern workplace. Moulton believes it will pay off. “Some are heading into computer science next year in college,” he said. “But all are going into professions that will require them to be savvy about tech.” Small changes in a way a subject is taught can have a big impact. Studies have shown

EXPLORING FRONTIERS IN EDUCATION One of the key features of the AP Computer Science curriculum is the ability it offers students to work at their own pace. On this particular morning in March, some students had already finished their address book apps and had moved on to the next unit, while others were still trying to fix some bugs in their software. Moulton teaches the class as any Penn Charter teacher would, but the curriculum includes video components that students can access either in class or remotely, on their own time. This year, sophomore Evie Eisenstein took a portion of the class while she studied in Israel. All of this is a new way of teaching and learning, and one that may hint at even more significant changes in the Penn Charter educational experience yet to come. Online learning, at least to some degree, is an educational frontier that the school is just beginning to explore, said Travis Larrabee, PC director of strategic initiatives. He cited a recent report that as many as a third of college students will take at least one online course during their undergraduate years. Today’s teenagers

have grown up with the ability to get news and entertainment on their own schedule. Technology may make it possible to get part of their education that way, too. Larrabee imagined a world in the notso-distant future in which Penn Charter students could learn a subject such as computer science or advanced math at least in part through online coursework. They might “attend” those classes during regular school time, during a free block or even at home. This sort of nontraditional teaching will never replace the Penn Charter experience, but it could enhance it in productive ways. “One of the things we pride ourselves on, and rightfully so, is the face-to-face contact and the relationships that we have with our students,” Larrabee said. “That is not something that we want to lose. But we need to ask ourselves if accessing online learning is something that we should ask our students to start doing. And what is the best way to introduce them to that? “Software like Edhesive is never going to replace the strong interpersonal work that we do here. But those things are not mutually exclusive, either.”

that students of color are 8-10 times more likely to major in computer science if they have taken an AP computer science course in high school. With the new curriculum, “we can set students up for success on their AP exams while also giving them real-world access to game design, app development and cybersecurity. To me, the big idea is that PC was recognized for teaching computer science in a way that inspires, prepares and propels students of all backgrounds to pursue computer science education in college.” Starting next year, PC students who do want to continue their studies can also take a second course, AP Computer Science A, which is geared toward more advanced topics.

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“WE CAN SET STUDENTS UP FOR

SUCCESS ON THEIR AP EXAMS

while also giving them real-world access to game design, app development and cybersecurity.”

STRATEGIC VISION

GOAL 6

FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

TO BE A

In an unprecedented show of support for the school on Great Day to Be a Quaker,

549 donors contributed $567,282 to support excellence at Penn Charter.

We met every giving goal set before us and came together as a community to celebrate what we love about the school. OPCs and parents gathered on campus and at events around Philadelphia, and hundreds checked in on social media and on the Great Day blog. So, those nearby as well as our far-flung community shared the excitement. Alumni Director Chris Rahill OPC â&#x20AC;&#x2122;99 traversed Philadelphia for #RahillOnTheRoad to surprise OPCs with the news that they had been inducted into the Athletic Honor Society.

Revisit the spirited day at penncharter.com/greatday.

SPRING 2019 â&#x20AC;˘

â&#x20AC;¢

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Penn Charterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s picture-perfect baseball facility officially opened on a picture-perfect spring day, and in front of a delighted crowd that represented every constituency of the PC community.

SPRING 2019 â&#x20AC;˘

Head of School Darryl J. Ford stood on the pitcher’s mound and welcomed them all — students, parents, teachers and coaches, OPCs, former parents, grandparents, and neighbors, too. “I welcome you to the opening ceremony of Palaia Field,” Ford said. “I welcome you to our field of dreams.”

Sports reporter Gabriella DiGiovanni OPC ’13 on camera and Marketing Communications Associate Ray Bailey OPC ’09 behind the camera for Facebook Live coverage of the event.

Although brief, the April 6 opening celebration hit all the right notes. Looking imposing in their blueon-white pinstripes, PC baseball players stood ceremonially along the first base line. Looking proud and spanning decades, former PC players lined the third base path. Ruben Amaro OPC ’83, now an executive with the NY Mets, and Craig Sabatino OPC ’74, principal and co-founder of Intech Construction, the company that built the facility, were tapped for ceremonial-pitch honors.

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“We are thrilled to honor these legendary coaches,” Ford said. “In positive ways, they shaped their students, many of whom are here today.” The new facility, with an outfield that resembles the configuration of Citizens Bank Park, sits directly across School House Lane from the main campus. Spectators can look beyond the outfield to a vast and beautiful view of treetops stretching far into the distance. And, in the other direction, runners heading to home plate can look beyond to Penn Charter’s iconic clock tower.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT Ford thanked the donors to the field and the How Far? capital campaign, and explained that the field is the “enabling project” in a campus transformation that will make it possible for the school to achieve everything Penn Charter needs to remain and thrive in East Falls for decades to come. The baseball facility is the first of three major construction projects:

• next up is an Athletics & Wellness Center on the site of the old baseball field, • followed by construction of a state-of-the-art lower school on the site now occupied by Dooney Field House. “All of this,” Ford said, “is in support of Penn Charter’s Strategic Vision and in support of our daily efforts to educate students to live lives that make a difference.”

Top: Jeff Reinhold, clerk of Overseers, former coaches Rick Mellor OPC ’69 and Allan Brown Hon. 1689, Head of School Darryl J. Ford and Carolyn Palaia, widow of former PC coach Ralph Palaia. Bottom: Varsity players presented commemorative bats to Mellor, Brown and Carolyn Palaia, the guests of honor for the opening celebration.

Seated in the infield were many special guests, including former coaches Allan Brown Hon. 1689 and Rick Mellor OPC ’69, and Carolyn and Rich Palaia OPC ’75, the widow and the son of Ralph F. Palaia, for whom the field is named. The Palaias, Brown and Mellor received commemorative bats acknowledging their contributions to Penn Charter’s baseball legacy. Brown coached for 11 years, with five Inter-Ac championships and a winning percentage of 62 percent; Mellor, who played for Brown, coached for 33 years and retired from PC baseball with the most wins in league history; Palaia coached for 17 years and won 14 Inter-Ac championships, including 11 straight from 1954-65.

At press time, the Quakers’ W-L record was 17-7-1.

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STRATEGIC VISION

GOALS 1,6

QUAKERISM • FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

A Culture of

G E N E R AT I O N A L PHILANTHROPY The three children of Aileen and Brian Roberts spent a combined total of 39 years at Penn Charter, each beginning in kindergarten. (Their parents did a lot of driving!) DURING THEIR “LIFER” TENURES AT PENN CHARTER,

When they reflect on their PC experience,

Sarah recalls Ford’s eloquent and

all three Roberts children were deeply involved in various aspects of the school. Amanda OPC ’12, when not on the squash court, was co-editor of the yearbook and Student Council clerk. Tucker OPC ’09, a regular in Joe Fitzmartin’s room, was a member of Penn Charter choral groups for seven years and also sang with Fitz in the Keystone State Boychoir for eight years. After playing alongside them as sixth graders on the high school team, Sarah OPC ’06 co-captained the squash team her senior year with her two best friends, and PC girls squash won the Inter-Ac for the first time.

Sarah, Tucker and Amanda recognize that

commanding voice often setting the tone

All three Roberts OPCs are still in touch with their friends from Penn Charter. Tucker roomed almost exclusively with PC friends at Penn, and Amanda and Sarah have both been bridesmaids in weddings for their PC classmates.

throughout their Middle and Upper School

during Meeting for Worship. And she also

experiences Head of School Darryl J. Ford

can attest that Kamal Marell OPC ’06 does a

was a guiding influence.

flawless impersonation of Dr. Ford!

Commencement 2009: At Tucker’s graduation, he and Darryl Ford are flanked by (L to R): Brian and Aileen Roberts, grandparents Ralph and Suzanne Roberts, Amanda OPC ’12 and Sarah OPC ’06.

Tradition of Financial Aid Financial aid at William Penn Charter School has its roots in the early writings of William Penn, a devout Quaker and enlightened thinker who believed that education should not be restricted to a wealthy few. Penn advocated for financial aid in the interest of fairness and because he believed that a society’s welfare and prosperity depended upon the education of its citizens. He called upon his closest friends to support educational opportunity for those who could not afford to pay. Penn Charter continues as a leader in need-based financial aid. The school allocated more than $11.6 million in financial aid for the 2018-2019 school year. Currently, 39.4 percent of the student body receives financial aid in amounts that range from several hundred dollars to almost full tuition.

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Amanda, the youngest, recalls, “I feel lucky I first knew Dr. Ford when he was a part of the Middle School.” Ford was director of the Middle School for 10 years before being named head of school in 2007. “I was a fairly awkward middle schooler,” she joked, “so when I moved into Upper School he really was a familiar face to see and say hi to in the halls.” Aileen Roberts served on Overseers, Penn Charter’s governing board, and was a member of the committee that selected Ford as head of school. “Darryl has led the Middle School and ultimately the entire school successfully for years with a real purpose and vision,” she said. “I can still remember him saying, at the time of his interview, that his ‘life’s dream was to be head of a Quaker school.’ “Our family is truly grateful for sharing his Quaker values with the Penn Charter community, and we would like more young families to experience all the opportunity that comes from this wonderful institution.”

SUPPORTING PHILADELPHIA, HONORING FORD Sarah Roberts Hall said that “a family gift to financial aid at Penn Charter was an easy decision for us because my brother and sister and I all experienced Penn Charter in such a positive way as three very different people. Among the three of us, we spent 39 years at Penn Charter and are so appreciative for every day we were able to have there.” She stops to laugh: “I say that now, but there were difficult days—like 11th grade.” As a family, the Robertses have made a significant gift to the How Far? capital campaign. In support of educational opportunity and diversity at Penn Charter, the Roberts gift is designated for financial aid. And in recognition of Ford, a portion of the Roberts family gift will be used to create a specific endowed scholarship in honor of Head of School Darryl J. Ford. Income from that endowed scholarship fund alone will support need-based financial aid for multiple Penn Charter students. PC

The Darryl J. Ford Head of School Scholarship Fund Established by the Roberts family, Brian, Aileen, Sarah OPC ‘06, Tucker OPC ‘09 and Amanda OPC ‘12, to honor Darryl Ford’s leadership and dedication to Penn Charter for more than 20 years, first as Director of Middle School and then Head of School. This fund will support financial aid for deserving students for whom a Penn Charter education would otherwise be financially unobtainable. The gift celebrates Penn Charter’s longstanding commitment to educating students to live lives that make a difference and Darryl’s singular talents in enhancing opportunities over a score of years.

The gifts that help us achieve our vision of the future come in all shapes and sizes, from people who have meaningful ties to Penn Charter. Where do you see yourself in this campaign? Gifts (and pledges) received to the How Far? campaign in the last nine months. In some cases gifts are pledged and the payments spread over three-to-four years.

GIFT PRIORITY

PEOPLE

$500,000 $350,000 $250,000 $200,000 $125,000 $100,000 $50,000 $30,000 $25,000 $10,000 $10,000 $5,000 $1,689 $1,000

Endowed Faculty Fund

OPC

Center for Public Purpose

Parents of an OPC

How Far? Campaign Priorities, Unrestricted

Current Parents

Palaia Baseball Field and Endowed Scholarship Fund

Parents of an OPC

Endowed Band Room to Honor Father

OPC

Endowed Scholarship Fund

OPC

Senior Parent Gift: Faculty Professional Development

Current Parents

30th Reunion Gift to Athletics & Wellness Center OPC

How Far? Campaign Priorities, Unrestricted

Current Parents

EITC/OSTC for Financial Aid

Current Parents

Annual Fund on Great Day to Be a Quaker

Current Parents

Annual Fund in Honor of 50th Reunion

OPC

Grace Fund

Current Teacher

Palaia Baseball Field

Foxx Lane Neighbor

Progress to Date The goal of the How Far? campaign is $75 million. We are excited to report that we have so far raised $71 million.

$75M

$71M SPRING 2019 •

STRATEGIC VISION

GOALS 2,4

PROGRAM • TIME

charting a global

Adventure Penn Charter Students Study Abroad by Julia Judson-Rea

Penn Charter’s goal to create global learning experiences, and the flexibility students need to pursue those opportunities, took a leap forward this year when five students signed on for study abroad programs for different lengths of time in different corners of the world. Through connections with their synagogues, three Penn Charter sophomores and a senior enrolled at a high school in Israel. Another sophomore studied in New Zealand, and another is spending the year in London. Travis Larrabee, in his first year as PC’s new director of strategic initiatives, is a big proponent of students seeking educational opportunities beyond School House Lane. His own experiences studying in Russia in both high school and college were “borne out of curiosity,” Larrabee said. “I was learning about people I had been taught growing up were the enemy—that’s why I went to Russia. I went at 17, by myself, and did it again in college. “I want to encourage that exploration with this generation,” he said. “We do a good job at Quaker schools teaching about empathy, building those skills. But nothing that can quite replicate living with another family in their house, with their family, in their culture.”

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Larrabee is working to build more relationships with global education programs and international schools so that more Penn Charter students can benefit. In addition to global education, Larrabee’s new position has him investigating stateside opportunities to enrich student learning through: • university partnerships • online/blended learning • PC’s two new certificate programs in Environmental Sustainability and Global Studies To ensure that no one returns at a disadvantage academically, he is also coordinating coursework for the students studying abroad.

about new cultures figure highly in her happiness, she reports. The beautiful island and great weather don’t hurt, either.

Typical Day at Waiheke High School on Waiheke Island “I am taking three really interesting classes— Viticulture, Hospitality and Sea Sports.” Samuel said. “In my Viticulture class, we learn about how the wine is made, along with how grapes are grown and the care that goes into that. In Hospitality, we learn about cooking and commercial standards. We make recipes each week, and we learn about different diets. Sea Sports is my absolute favorite class. We snorkel, kayak, sail, fish and paddle board. We also learn about water safety and how to

New Zealand Sophomore Abby Samuel’s study abroad was the first step in pursuing her passion. “I chose to do what I love by starting my dream of exploring the world, and New Zealand is just the beginning of this,” she wrote in an email from New Zealand. “I have already learned so much about myself, the biggest thing being that I am so happy.” Independence, responsibility and learning

Abby Samuel (left) in Waiheke Island off Auckland, New Zealand.

do CPR,” Samuel said via email. Without the time pressures of daily sports practices or activities, Samuel has a bit of freedom each day in New Zealand. “I typically take the bus to the beach with my friends and then take the bus home to have dinner with my homestay parents and German homestay sister.”

Israel Three sophomores, Evie Eisenstein, Olivia Schwartz and Jessica Wolfe, spent eight weeks at Alexander Muss High School in Israel (AMHSI), located in a suburb of Tel Aviv. Sophie Gordon, a senior, has chosen to spend the second half of her senior year in Israel attending Muss, followed by time on a kibbutz. The four recognize the learning advantages of a months-long experience. “The program immerses students in Israeli culture, far past all of the tourist attractions,” Jessica Wolfe wrote in an email. Evie Eisenstein’s goal was “to learn more about my identity, gain independence and branch out,” she said. Students at AMHSI have classes Sunday through Friday afternoon, and live in dormitories, shared with an Israeli boarding school. They spend at least one day a week, and sometimes an overnight, on a field trip, or tiyul, in Hebrew, and the rest of the week on campus attending classes.

“On a typical day… we go to our Israeli Studies class [taught by AHMSI],” Olivia Schwartz explained. “We have four hours of this intense class with a few breaks in between, but it is pretty rigorous and we are taught a lot of information.” In the afternoons, the students work on their courses from home. Eisenstein Skypes in to her AP Computer Science class at Penn Charter; it’s a morning class at PC, but leads up to dinner in Israeli time. “It is a long day, but there is never a dull moment!” Eisenstein said. A typical tiyul day might be a trip, for example, to Masada, an ancient stone fortress on a plateau in the Judean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea, Schwartz explained. “We go to a specific spot on that site and sit there to learn about the history of the exact place where we are sitting.” One day, after hiking to the summit, she continued, “the sun had not fully risen yet so we were all just taking pictures and waiting. Once the sun rose, which was amazing, we began our class on top of Masada. This is an extremely effective way to learn because we were looking at the sites where the events took place while being taught the information. It is much easier to comprehend this history since I am able to actually visualize it.” After Israeli Studies class, Sophie Gordon takes calculus as part of her coursework for Penn Charter. “After lunch I am free for the rest of the day,” she said. “Sometimes I go to

town, Hod Hasharon, and get meals with my friends.” Students at AMHSI take Hebrew on Friday mornings and observe Shabbat. “From wandering Jerusalem on Shabbat, to days in the West Bank, to school-assigned street interviews in Tel Aviv, we truly have been immersed in Israeli culture,” Jessica Wolfe said. “I have enjoyed meeting all different types of people with different ideas.”

England Evelyn Springer is spending her junior year at TASIS, the American International School in England. “I was inspired to study abroad because I wanted to learn more about myself and become more independent,” Springer wrote in an email. “I also have lived in the same state my entire life and wanted a new place to explore. Plus, I get to travel around Europe!”

Evelyn Springer (left) with friends while traveling in Romania.

Springer recognizes how the experience has helped her grow in small ways and large. “I learned how to direct myself around London,” she said, “and if you know me I have a horrible sense of direction! I have truly learned who I am and who I want to be as a person.”

On a tiyul, students attending AMHSI hold class atop Masada.

One of Springer’s most meaningful experiences was a week-long trip she took last fall as part of TASIS’s academic program. “I had an absolutely amazing experience in Romania,” she wrote. “Every day we would just help take care of the kids and make them happy. I fell in love with the kids and learned that even if you don’t speak the same language you can still create a bond. I hope to go back one day and help those wonderful kids again.” PC

SPRING 2019 •

FACULTY NEWS

Penn Charter Gets

SCHOOLED by Rebecca Luzi

It’s not wholly unexpected for former teachers of Adam F. Goldberg OPC ’94 to get the call: Can you come to the set of Schooled in Culver City, Calif., to film an interview with the actor who plays you? Unexpected, maybe not. Thrilling, yes. Schooled is the ABC series—a spinoff of The Goldbergs— based on Penn Charter teachers that debuted in January. The latest teachers to jet out to Sony Studios to be filmed with the actors who play them, for a cameo interview in the series created by Goldberg, are math teacher Liz Flemming and visual arts teacher Randy Granger. Liz Flemming got the invitation in January and began her whirlwind journey back to the ’90s as Adam F. Goldberg’s math teacher. “I taught him eighth grade Algebra I,” she said. “He was a terrible math student, but he did fine in my class. He was in the C section. He told me he was supposed to be in the D section, but his mother begged and screamed and cried that he needed to be in C section or he wouldn’t get into college.” Thanks to his “smother,” Beverly Goldberg (immortalized in the ABC series The Goldbergs), who saved everything, Goldberg knows he earned a B- in Flemming’s class. Not bad for a kid who spent all his time with a camera on his shoulder.

Liz Flemming with Lennon Parnham, the actress who plays her on Schooled.

“Math was not his natural thing, and it wasn’t his interest either,” Flemming recalled. “But he did what he had to do.” Goldberg was funny in class, she said, and he carried his camera with him “anytime a teacher didn’t yell at him to put it away.” As part of her interview prep, Flemming shared her memories with Goldberg and Schooled writer Kerri Doherty. And she learned about her character, a rather intense teacher, and former track and mathletes coach. Sound familiar? The real Ms. Flemming has coached track, cross country, basketball and Math Counts. As for intense, Flemming passed along to Goldberg a recommendation from a current student athlete that her character “needs to be obsessively keeping track of stats.” Once Flemming got a tour of the sprawling studio, finished with hair and makeup, and left her very own trailer—reserved for “Real Liz Flemming,”—she sat high in a director’s chair next to actress and comedian Lennon Parnham, who plays her on Schooled.

Liz Flemming’s trailer at base camp at Sony Studio, labeled “Real” Liz Flemming.

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“Mostly what I was focusing on was trying to take it all in and be there in the moment,” Flemming said. “It was so surreal. I was nervous, but I was trying so hard to just be there that it wasn’t a bad thing. I was enjoying it.”

FACULTY NEWS

Parnham asked her what goes on in the teachers lounge—Flemming assured her those conversations stay in the teachers lounge—and what Beverly Goldberg was like. “She … liked me,” Flemming said. “I think I gave Adam good enough grades … so I was one of the rare lucky ones.” Flemming, who brought along her daughter, Anne, Class of 2020, flew back to Philadelphia on a red-eye, just a day-anda-half after arriving in Los Angeles. “We got home at 6:00 am, fed the cats, changed clothes, had breakfast, and got to school for a full day of teaching and learning,” she said. “We just skipped the whole sleeping part. And it was worth it.”

The Mustachioed Art Teacher Soon after, Goldberg invited his former film and photography teacher, Randy Granger Hon. 1689, to the set. Granger was in good company—his former student Ruben Amaro Jr. and friend John Dover, former Penn Charter dean of students, flew out to Sony Studios for their own interviews on the same day. Amaro is a recurring character on The Goldbergs, and Mr. Glascott, based on the real John Dover but named for the real Beth Glascott, assistant head of school, is principal of “William Penn Academy” on Schooled. “When I arrived at the studio,” Granger said, “I was initially surprised—but not supersurprised—at the hundreds of popular culture toys from Adam’s youth that covered the four walls of his office. I remember thinking that was so fitting and appropriate for the Adam I remembered as my student. When you make films about playful, comedic things, you have to be playful yourself.” Greg Proops, the actor who plays Granger on Schooled, is a ringer for Granger, right down to the paint-splashed shirt and the shaggy mustache. “I am so grateful for how he depicted me; he really got me,” Granger said. “I think the glasses were all wrong, and I wrote

that to Adam, but other than the clunky glasses, I think Greg nailed my character remarkably well.” On camera, Proops asked Granger about the real X Day, the annual arts festival developed by Granger at PC that was featured in the episode “Kris Kross,” and about his signature mustache. “I’ve had it since I was 18,” Granger explained. “Never cut it off—it just kept growing! It’s much shorter today than it was then. But I’ve always had it, and when I considered cutting it off, I thought, Oh no, what will people think; they won’t recognize me!” No doubt because Granger kept the mustache, he was widely recognized when he arrived at the studio. “How do you all know me?” he asked. Cosmetic artists on the production team showed him a copy of his 1991 PC yearbook photo, mustache and all, taped to the mirror in the hair-and-makeup trailer. “You’re the only one on the show whose picture hangs on the wall,” they told him. “We see you every day.” Granger taught Goldberg during his high school years in the early ’90s. “I remember fondly how he would share things about his family,” he said of his former student. “I never understood or believed the full family context he presented, especially the stories about his dad sitting in a recliner in his underwear at dinnertime. At first I thought he made it up, but now I see how he used his own family experience to create brilliant fiction in The Goldbergs. “As a 16mm production student, Adam was technically accomplished. He possessed the ability to create imaginative narratives and reveal them in highly developed ways. He

Two Mr. Grangers on the Sony Studios set of Schooled.

could envision new stories to share in film and translate them for viewers with great precision, detail and humor.” As much as Granger valued Goldberg’s talents as a student, he appreciates his work even more as creator of The Goldbergs and Schooled. “I think that much of the content that Adam presents in Schooled speaks to social responsibility,” he said. “It provides a valuable public service to viewers, especially here in the United States, where education is so widely back-seated. The perception that teachers are often not very accomplished, committed or passionate about being learners themselves is challenged by Adam’s narrative underpinning the humorous surface of the show: imperfect people constantly trying to do their best while holding up the values of educating youth with care, support and compassion. It speaks to all of us who have given our lives to teaching.” PC

“... teachers are ... imperfect people constantly trying to do their best while holding up the values of educating youth with care, support and compassion. It speaks to all of us who have given our lives to teaching.”

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“If everybody gives a little bit, if during our normal day we step out of our normal circle by one step and help someone plant a tree or paint their house, I think we can set the world on fire.”

–John Somers OPC ’78

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DOWNTOWN RECEPTION 2019 featuring

JOHN SOMERS OPC ’78 The keynote speaker for the annual reception inspired the PC crowd with his account of a public purpose project that reflects Quaker values. There was a time, about 10 years ago, when John Somers thought of moving his business out of Buffalo’s East Side to a suburban setting free from poverty, crime and other distress that afflicts many urban neighborhoods in the United States. But as Somers contemplated moving Harmac Medical Products, a global manufacturer of medical devices, he realized that 25 percent of the employees at his Buffalo facility lived in the same zip code as his plant—the same neighborhood he thought to abandon. “It wasn’t fair,” Somers realized. “Instead,” he told the audience at the 2019 Downtown Reception, “we put together a vision to stabilize the neighborhood and transform the east side of Buffalo by providing green space, affordable housing and more job opportunity.” Somers was the keynote speaker at the annual PC event, invited because his work in Buffalo syncs philosophically with PC’s Strategic Vision to “Educate Students to Live Lives that Make a Difference.” In his introduction, Head of School Darryl J. Ford told the audience of alumni, parents and teachers, “John is doing what we hope for each of our students—he is living a life to make a difference.” continued on next page

Brothers Lewis “Scot” Somers IV OPC ’73 and John F. Somers OPC ’78 enrolled at Penn Charter as boys, Scott in seventh grade and John in second. Their parents, Betty and Lewis S. Somers 3rd OPC ’44, were loyal boosters and supporters of the school; Betty served as a class parent, and Lew was an overseer from 1973 to 2012.

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DOWNTOWN RECEPTION 2019 continued from page 37

At the Downtown Reception, and during a presentation to students earlier in the day, Somers described how Harmac sparked the neighborhood transformation by buying land and abandoned properties, and by forming partnerships with like-minded people and agencies. Key to the success of the project, Somers said, was professor Hiro Hata and his students at the University of Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning. They immersed themselves in community feedback, data and ideas, and developed the first phase of a 10-year master plan; their work tied for second place in the 2016 International Making Cities Livable Design Competition. Somers believes the University of Buffalo’s early emphasis on green space and walkability has been vital to the project’s success. “You get synergy when you let people walk within the area and have natural connections as they take a baby out in a stroller, walk the dog or wait for the bus,” he explained. One of Harmac’s first projects was to donate a piece of land near the plant to the city for use as two bus shelters. “We have 80 employees who take the bus, and they gave us a standing ovation when we did this,” Somers said. “Sometimes, it’s the little things that make the difference.”

The neighborhood has a new moniker, Bailey Green (Harmac headquarters have been on Bailey Avenue since 1981), and strategic partnerships have borne results: • Habitat for Humanity, which customarily rehabs houses one at a time, has embraced the idea of rebuilding the neighborhood. It just finished rehabbing its ninth Bailey Green home and plans to build or rehab at least 12 more. • The city has replaced sidewalks and street lights. • Groundwork Market Garden is growing organic produce and has purchased a once-abandoned, 40,000-square-foot building next door to its 2.5 acres of farmland for packing, cold storage and youth education. • Urban Fruits & Veggies plans to break ground this spring for the first of two hydroponic gardens and hopes to raise grant money and donations for a second greenhouse, a community garden, fruit orchard, and wellness center that includes yoga instruction and a small medical practice. • A carpentry training program is off the ground, successfully preparing new carpenters for employment. • Buffalo Peacemakers, a group of about 150 community residents focused on violence prevention and gang intervention, expects to move its headquarters to a rehabbed building that Harmac helped rescue from the city’s demolition list. “If everybody gives a little bit, if during our normal day we step out of our normal circle by one step and help someone plant a tree or paint their house, I think we can set the world on fire,” Somers said. Harmac contracts with Fortune 500 medical technology companies around the world to manufacture single-use medical devices, including blood separation systems and ophthalmology and wound management products, to name just a few. Harmac also has facilities in Ireland and Mexico, and, just as the company has worked to be good neighbors and employers in Bailey Green, the company is engaged in similar efforts at these other locations. At its Ireland facility, for example, Harmac provides more than a dozen partial college scholarships for children of employees, a fitness center, a free week of summer camp, a community park and onsite dental care. In Mexico, Harmac hosts an annual employee family event; holds regular training sessions to utilize many of the products which they manufacture; sponsors a student-scholar program for employees’ children; and holds an annual Mother’s Day celebration.

The Downtown Reception is an enjoyable opportunity for OPCs, parents and teachers to connect and socialize. In focus: siblings Aaron Cohen OPC ’97 and Elisabeth Roland OPC ’94.

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“We are committed to improving our employees’ lives,” Somers said. “In fact, we see this as our responsibility. We believe we owe them far more than a paycheck for 40 hours’ worth of work. “And that’s our vision: to positively change the lives of patients, employees and the communities in which we work.” PC

Marghi OPC ’07 and Scott Adzick OPC ’07.

Head of School Darryl J. Ford with OPCs ’09: Kyrie Georgiou, Ryan Broderick, Ray Bailey, Shaina Levin, Katherine Grace and James Grace.

Alumni directors T.J. Ferrick OPC ’06, Sterling Johnson OPC ’78, Michelle Chaitt OPC ’00, Luke Urban OPC ’99, Rob Frieman OPC ’87 and Matthew Kessler OPC ’99.

Bruce Balderston OPC ’72, Richard Balderston OPC ’69 and Rick Mellor OPC ’69.

Deena Johnson and Sterling Johnson OPC ’78, Lee Payton P ’20, and Christopher and Blanca Womack P ’20.

Stephanie Ball P ’19, P ’22, John Somers OPC ’78, and Christine Angelakis P ’11, ’13, ’18.

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William Penn Charter School

Then & Now

C. 1959-60

Penn Charter’s Book Fair, long an opportunity to explore new topics and feed one’s imagination, borrowed space in the former Old Library, now the Overseers Room. (Editor’s note: The John F. Gummere Library opened in 1967.)

2018 40

Today’s Book Fair offers inspiration for ages pre-K through adult in the Old Gym, and proceeds benefit the Gummere and Trask libraries. •

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ALUMNI

Class Notes

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.

1689 Robert A. Gordon visited PC with a copy of Where Is My Balloon?, the latest children’s book written by daughter Ariel (Gordon) Bernstein OPC ’95. Bob and his wife, Susan, are heading off on their next adventure, to Copenhagen with their grandson Teddy.

1945 Roger S. Hillas received the Citizen of the Year Award from Lower Gwynedd Township at its annual volunteer appreciation banquet in October.

1946 George H. Kurz shares: “I have completed a book of memoirs and hope to have it published this year. It is primarily about my career in ophthalmology and contains many events that are surprising or humorous, as well as a few that are heartbreaking. In one particularly rewarding event I taught ophthalmologists in Tanzania how to insert an artificial lens into the eye at the time of cataract removal and oversaw the first lens implantation ever in that country. It also goes back to my days at Penn Charter,

recalling my experience on the fencing team and a weekend work camp in Philadelphia led by Quaker activist David Richie.”

1949 Harry E. Richter writes, “This has been a mixed-bag winter, with most of my time spent at doctors and only some of the time on important things like right whale research. It has been a better season for right whale work but still far short of what was needed. There have been seven new calves this winter, short of the 20 average we hoped for but better than the zero we had last winter. There was only one SAG (surface active group) sighted in the south this year and, due to bad weather, the group was never seen again, so another year of no SAG acoustic recordings. It will be interesting to see if there are any new calves that were not seen in the winter critical habitat off Georgia and Florida. As we wrap up the 2018-19 season, we look forward to another season next year. I wish all my surviving classmates good health and good wishes for our 70th anniversary reunion, which I will miss. Have a great time.”

1952 Clifford W. Donahower writes, “Linnea and I celebrated our 56th wedding anniversary in November 2018. I am still playing golf but a long way away from my handicap back in my prime. My son Tom and I play in a 9-hole league at Pinewood Country Club outside of Rochester. Hope all is well with our ’52 class.” John L. Graham writes, “Health is fine. We sold the Sanibel House two years ago. The lighthouse I designed 60 years ago at age 25 (pictured) is the last one built in the U.S., in Charlestown, S.C.—a 140-foot-tall triangle and the only one with an elevator.”

1950 Christopher W. Parker Sr. writes, “Just back from some fun in the sun, our 20th year at the Moorings in Sanibel, Fla. Usually get to see Bonnie and H. Curtis Wood in Naples when we’re there but not this year. Their retirement community had some structural problems with the apartment buildings and so they were moved out for nine months. They were very busy! Unsettling to say the least. Spoke to Curt later and they are fine.”

Colson H. Hillier Jr. writes, “Pat and I celebrated 50 years of wedded bliss on Feb. 15, and took a 19-day Norwegian cruise from L.A. to N.Y. through the Panama Canal. Many highlights at the 11 ports where we stopped, but the Canal transit was right at the top of the list. We’re now trying to decide which diet program will work the best!

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ALUMNI

Class Notes “Our youngest son, Derek, has taken a job in Providence, R.I., so for the first time, we have our two sons and grandchildren in our same time zone! Life continues to be wonderful on our beautiful paradise of Amelia Island, Fla.” David M. Jordan writes, “In December my biography of Robert A. Lovett was published, Robert A. Lovett and the Development of American Air Power. Lovett was a Navy flying hero in World War I, a longtime partner of Brown Brothers Harriman on Wall Street, the Assistant Secretary of War for air in World War II who developed the strategic bombing force that basically destroyed Germany (and Japan), the Undersecretary of State in developing the Marshall Plan, NATO and the Berlin Airlift, and Secretary of Defense during the Korean War. Later he was a consultant to Eisenhower and Kennedy, particularly during the Cuban Missile Crisis, where he was one of the first to recommend a blockade rather than bombing Cuba off the globe. The publisher has put a ridiculous price on my book, but hopefully it will come down to something reasonable in the near future. Otherwise just moseying along.” Michael P. Ritter writes, “I took Margo breakfast in bed this morning before she went out to play ping pong, then to teach ice skating. I’ll put out the trash, edit at a clients’ house on a video for PBS, then go play music in a coffee house for a couple of hours … same old routine!” Joseph B. Van Sciver III writes, “Greetings from the Van Scivers! 2018 finished busy for our family with a family celebration of our 50th wedding anniversary in November, and a second conservation easement gift of 3.4 acres of open space to Chestnut Hill Conservancy and Historic Society, completed on Dec. 28. This joins 8.4 acres donated in 2017. After the holidays in January 2019, Carol and I

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traveled south to the Jupiter, Fla., area, and then stopped in Orlando to visit daughter Carolyn and family (missing some of those bitter days of 3 and 4 degrees), returning for early February events up North.” Janet and F. Bruce Waechter continue to enjoy life at their retirement community and share that they “are in reasonable health. We welcomed a second greatgrandchild, albeit in Seattle. In March, the third of nine grandchildren will be married in Arizona, and a fourth grandchild is in a serious relationship as he prepares to graduate from Haverford College this May. We are blessed!”

Richard A. Johnson is happily retired, playing lots of duplicate bridge and living on the Palos Verdes Peninsula overlooking Santa Monica Bay. He is married to Cornell classmate Dale Reis Johnson and they have two children and two grandchildren. “We keep in touch with Jan and William E. Lutz, who keep us up to date on things back East,” they report.

1955 David H. Rosenbaum, now established in the Quadrangle CCRC in Haverford, has joined a recorder group playing the Renaissance contrabass.

1953 Daniel R. Furman writes, “My racquetball partner and I won the Washington State Senior Games, 80-85 age group. This qualifies us for the National Senior Games, in June in Albuquerque, N.M., Currently on injured reserve, I am not sure I will be there to represent the great state of Washington.” William M. (Whitey) Felton will be competing in his 15th National Senior Games in Albuquerque, N.M., in June. The events in his 85-89 age group are the 5K and 10K Road Races, plus the 5K and 1500meter Power Walk and 1500-, 800- and 400-meter sprints on the track. Since 2001, he has been a certified track & field official and will also be serving in that capacity for the third time at these biennial games. He recently had a very busy indoor track & field season officiating for seven weekends of meets in Lubbock, Texas, at the new $48 million Texas Tech University Sports Performance Center. Richard P. (Dick) Graff has relocated from Connecticut to West Chester, Pa., to be closer to family; he looks forward to reconnecting with OPCs.

Owen B. Tabor writes, “Margaret and I split our time between Memphis, Charlottesville, Va., and a wee time on the Isle of Skye, Scotland, for the hottest part of the summer. Graduations in the spring for our grandchildren and gratitude for Penn Charter years renewed. I see W. Barnes Hauptfuhrer OPC ’72 and Scott B. Perper OPC ’74 in Charlotte and occasionally basketball great Sean M. Singletary OPC ’04.”

ALUMNI

Class Notes

1957 Donald M. Kerr writes, “2018 has been a year of major changes for the Kerrs. We decided to live in one house, in Denver, after 21 years in McLean. We lightened the load; we packed; we saw the movers off on June 30. We (Alison, Don and our dog, Pebbles) flew to Colorado on July 4. We closed on selling our McLean house in November. And the marriage survived! “We are quite happy with our new home. The location is ideal, about a mile from our family and within walking distance of shops, restaurants, the public library branch and a good physical therapy facility (new hip for Alison). The house itself replicates all the spaces we really used in McLean, on two levels instead of five. We have the bonus of several pleasant outdoor living areas. “I have decided to reduce the amount of time spent consulting since being elected chairman of the MITRE Corporation board in October. That will bring us back to Northern Virginia from time to time when there are board meetings. Also, I

will continue to work on national security, space and launch issues while maintaining an interest in the cybersecurity world.”

1958 Edwin A. Weihenmayer III writes that his son, Erik, a blind adventurer, has another award-winning film, Weight of Water, which is centered on his historic kayak trip of the 277 miles of the Grand Canyon. Its message is about living a No Barriers Life and the extraordinary teammates who helped him, who also faced their own life challenges. The film won the Grand Prize at the Banff Film Festival and was the People’s Choice at the Denver Film Festival. Erik spoke at an assembly at PC in 2017.

narrate Mural Arts Philadelphia’s nearly 4,000 murals (www.muralarts.org). This is being done in conjunction with tandem street photography projects, spearheaded by photographer friends in Lisbon and Porto, Portugal; in Barcelona, Spain; in Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and in Hong Kong—to photograph and narrate fascinating concurrent and similar mural creativity. Philly is not only the unsung ‘mural capital of the world’ but an underappreciated international graphic arts leader as well.”

1961 David L. Geyer (below) is currently training for the Kauai Half Marathon in September and recently ran the Philadelphia Rock ’n’ Roll Half Marathon with his sister-in-law.

1960 David A. Scott reports that he has begun conceptualizing upcoming local and international street photography projects, “especially a project to photograph and

Michael E. (Ted) Cushmore OPC ’58 was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame City All-Star Chapter on April 9. Ted was a three-sport athlete at Penn Charter, playing football, basketball and baseball. Ted (pictured, center, standing with a glove) was captain of the 1958 baseball team, Inter-Ac champions with a 12-0 record, coached by Ralph Palaia Hon. 1689. He currently lives with his wife, Carol, in Minneapolis, Minn., and part-time at their winter home in Arizona.

Richard A. Redeker has retired after 50 years in the mutual fund business. He got his start at the Wellington Management Company with friend and classmate Duncan M. McFarland, eventually joining Prudential Mutual Fund Management as CEO and then ultimately as chairman of the board for PGIM Funds. His Prudential family made gifts to Penn Charter honoring him; Rich chose the Rochelle Feldman and Robert P. Levy OPC ’48 Scholarship Fund in appreciation for all the Levy family has done for him.

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ALUMNI

Class Notes

Exchange Student Grateful for Enriching Adventure

1964

Martin Boyer is a former French exchange student who attended PC 1960-61, his junior year. He will return for OPC Weekend 2019. He recently reflected on his experience.

Jonathan D. Stanley writes, “My wife, Dorothy Atchley, and I moved from Wisconsin to Washington state in November 2016 to be near our younger son, Peter, and his family, including Miles, our only grandson.”

Now the spoiled grandfather of four lovely youngsters, I wish them to live through the same enriching adventure that I enjoyed at age 15, when I was so lucky to be awarded a scholarship by the Religious Society of Friends to attend PC for one full year. In June 1961, I was proud to introduce my Paris-based parents to PC— and since then, my two sons—for them all to see and understand how meaningful such an extraordinary year-abroad experience was for me. In 1960-61, I stayed successively with four different families, each having a son in the Class of 1961: Henry Lynn Herbst (in Wyndmoor), John Dwyer, (in Jenkintown), Jeff Tindall (in Oreland) and Bill Biddle (in Newtown). Academically, I was not the best but not the worst around! I played varsity soccer (captain was Pete Humbert OPC ’61). We did win PC/GA Day in the fall of 1960, and I scored goals. In the spring of 1961, I played tennis and remember we did quite well in the Inter-Ac League. I played mainly doubles, with Bill MacDonald OPC ’62 and Pete Wills OPC ’62. The strongest players were playing singles: Bill Biddle and Pete Humbert. And I made friends with so many classmates in both the senior and junior classes that I would need to review the yearbooks to name them all! Amongst my vivid memories is the Army-Navy game in the fall of 1960 with Joe Bellino running faster than anybody else! Now 73 and a former banker, I am still actively running my international executive search company. I am president of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution of France. My direct ancestor Viscount de Turpin, as commodore in the French Royal Navy, was introduced to Gen. George Washington by Admiral de Grasse on board the powerful ship Ville de Paris and took part in the decisive naval battle off the Chesapeake Bay in 1781, against the British Navy. As a member of the Society of the Cincinnati, founded in 1783 by officers of the Continental Army and their French counterparts who served together in the American Revolution, I shall attend a special meeting in Philadelphia in May as part of the French delegation. When coming back to the USA, I always try to visit New York, as I lived and studied at New York University, receiving an MBA from the Stern School of Business in 1973. I am happy to congratulate all those in charge of Penn Charter today for their great accomplishments in the education programs and the improved facilities, always keeping in mind that good instruction is better than riches! I am sure that Dr. Gummere would be most proud of the results. I am grateful to all at Penn Charter who did welcome me so warmly back in the 1960s and to my new friends as well. It will be a pleasure to come back to PC in May and to see you!

– Martin Boyer

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SPRING 2019

1965 William K. Canfield writes, “My son Taylor is helmsman and founder of the America’s Cup Challenge Stars & Stripes Team USA out of Long Beach Yacht Club. He hopes to bring the Cup back to the USA in 2021.

1966 Donald A. Noveau writes, “I’ve been fully retired since 2017, but now I’m negotiating with my old company for a six-month assignment they proposed. Meanwhile, I do a lot of volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity, Smithsonian, the Montgomery County (Md.) Office of Consumer Protection and Cornell University, and I’m learning Spanish. Barbara is totally involved with a political activist organization she started called DoTheMostGood MoCo. Daughter Jenna lives nearby and is in an OB-GYN practice; daughter Kate lives in Providence, R.I., and is an LICSW. Recent travel took us on a tour of Morocco, which was fascinating.” John T. Ort, his wife, Karen, Robert W. Ulmer and Allen F. Steere gathered at Abington High School in December to enjoy

ALUMNI

Class Notes a holiday singing program by the Abington Choral Group. Randal J. McDowell, former Quakers Dozen singer, and the rest of the Abington Choral Group welcomed in the holidays with a medley of familiar carols and sacred music. Jeffrey A. Seder continues to run EQB, specialists in horse evaluation and purchases. Check out Jeff ’s website: www.eqb.com. Allen F. Steere has entered his Ivy Hill Therapeutic Equestrian team in this year’s Bert Linton Golf Outing at the Huntingdon Valley Country Club. Ivy Hill serves approximately 175 disabled riders and their families in Bucks and Eastern Montgomery counties. If you’d like to learn more about equine therapy, visit www.ivyhillequestrian.org.

1969 C. Brewster Rhoads III writes, “After working for over 45 years managing political campaigns, staffing public officials and running progressive nonprofit organizations, I have finally retired. But I am still serving on a number of boards for environmental and social change organizations, and consulting with candidates and ballot issues in greater Cincinnati. “Last year I participated in a nonstop 133-mile Voyager canoe trip down the Ohio River from Cincinnati to Louisville, which we completed in 32 hours. First all-nighter since college! “Elizabeth, my oldest daughter, just earned her PhD in law from Kings College at the University of London, while my youngest, Caroline, returned to Cincinnati, after teaching in Myanmar (Burma) for the past five years, to get her masters in Montessori Education from Xavier University. “My wife, Ann, and I are now spending the winter months kayaking and cycling in the Florida Keys and much of the warmer months doing the same in Marblehead, Ohio, on Lake Erie.

1970

1973

George J. Hauptfuhrer writes, “Our daughter, Barbara, married Andy in 2011, and they have three children: Charlotte (6), Alice (3) and Matthew (1). They live in Reading, Pa. Son Tuck married Kathleen in 2016; they live in San Francisco and are expecting a son in late March. Son Lawson wed Christine in 2017. They live near Baltimore and are expecting a son in late May. Sally and I are enjoying being grandparents but wish they all lived closer to us in Atlanta. I’m still working as an investment consultant with Prime Buchholz.”

J. Barrington Bates retired on March 1 after 20+ years as a priest of the Episcopal Church and another 20+ years as a computer geek. He continues to live in Jersey City, N.J., with his husband, Jamie MacKenzie. They also have a vacation home north of Harbor Springs, Mich.

1972 David R. Gilkeson writes, “I am still kicking after all these years and still working in Houston, Texas. Our family survived Hurricane Harvey in August of 2017 with only a few scratches. “I am sorry to miss the dedication of the new baseball field. I am sure Coach Brown has many good memories, and probably some not so good ones—like my errant throws from the outfield. I look forward to our next reunion year (May 2022 for our 50th) and hope to see all of my Class of ’72 classmates.”

Peter S. Crosby writes, “It’s been a blur since I resigned at year’s end from my New York City tech executive job after eight years to dive fulltime into documentary filmmaking in China. This fall, I’m planning to bicycle across rural China, from Beijing to Hong Kong—about 2,000 miles—as I did in 1994. Using 25-yearold video and photos from the original journey, and documentaries for National Geographic TV and the Monitor radio show, I’ll now be filming old places, grown-up faces and new mobile ways in the Middle Kingdom, hoping to rekindle my love for China and share it with the world. Called Belly of the Dragon, more stories, photos and videos can be found at bellyofthedragon.com.”

1974 David C. Hahn writes, “My six-part madrigal cycle for choir, Technicians of the Sacred, was performed with Seattle’s outstanding Emerald Ensemble. My suite

Frederick W. Dohrmann III OPC ’74 was inducted into the Class of 2019 Delaware County Athletes Hall of Fame on April 14. He played soccer and baseball at Penn Charter, and was honored for his career as Widener’s softball coach. Pictured, seated: Alan C. Good, Thomas S. Mellon; standing: Craig J. Sabatino, Peter J. Davis, David B. Kennedy, Fred Dohrmann, John M. DeSantis, all OPC ’74.

SPRING 2019 •

ALUMNI

Class Notes W IS FOR WEASEL for violin and guitar has just been released on the CD called At Home and Abroad by the excellent Shank-Hagedorn Duo. You may purchase it here: https://www.innova.mu/albums/ shank-hagedorn-duo/home-and-abroad “My ensemble, Concert Imaginaire, will soon release our third CD. This includes several ensemble pieces as well as some electronic wizardry. Stay tuned to The Sublunar Society, my record label and publishing company based in Stockholm, Sweden, “dedicated to artistic freedom/creative exploration beyond the conventional,” where you can find downloadable sounds for much or our music available for purchase. This is a label well worth supporting! “Corporate Coitus, a video of my composition by Andreas Karaoulanis was shown at the ABOP Event for Subculture and Alternative Cinema. “My ballet music based on the Edgar Allan Poe story, The Masque of the Red Death, is ready for a choreographer! Please let me know if you are interested or know anyone who would like to make this incredible piece into a dance. I always enjoy hearing from OPCs!”

1977 James R. Malone Jr. was elected vice chair of the tax section of the Philadelphia Bar Association.

1978

1981

Paul B. DiMarco shares: “Volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House Charities is a chance for me to give back just a little bit of myself for those overwhelmed with stress and worry over their children and family. Music is a very powerful healing force, to both the player and the listener, and every time I perform, there is always something that surprises me. It’s not anything you would ever look for or expect, but sometimes just a shy smile or wave from a child is all you need to know you are doing the right thing.”

Franklin S. Horowitz shares: “Saddened by the loss of our son Jackson in June, and grateful to be raising his child, our grandson Isaac, who is a joy and just turned 8. Still a practicing public adjuster, and close to wife Joan and sons Leo (24) and Clarke (18).”

1979 James N. Iademarco writes, “Looking forward to the upcoming 40th reunion. It’s difficult to remain in touch once you move outside of the Northeast, but my travel over the last two years has allowed me to connect with Erik Greenberg Anjou, Mark F. Bernstein, J. Michael Chaple and Michael J. Corboy, and read about others in this beautiful magazine. I speak with our former biology professor M. Reid Bush on a regular basis, and Catalina and I visited him at Camp Dark Waters, where he serves on their board. I am enjoying strategy and innovation consulting under my firm, Strategic Avalanche, and work with bright people trying to solve challenging global problems in agriculture, food and chemicals, using biotechnology. Please drop us note if your travels cross through Raleigh, N.C.”

1984 Jeffrey D. Bigelow is a director at EIS, Inc. in Huntington Valley, Pa.

1986 Paul P. Rabinovitch was recently named Principal and Head of Real Estate Investment at New Island Capital Management, a San Francisco-based family office focused on making triple bottom line impact investments.

1988 Benjamin W. Jones writes, “I had an opportunity in December to catch up here in New York City with fellow OPC ’88 classmates and good friends Keith A. Halpern and Andrew G. Salkin.” The friends relived a favorite moment from senior year of a special evening accompanied by classmates Steven A. Rudolf and David M. Shipon that ended in an unexpected sleepover at the home of Andrew Salkin after having a little too much fun.

1989 OPC ’77 William J. Wall Jr.’s son, William, married Melissa Berkoff In Westchester, N.Y. OPCs in attendance were Joseph H. Happe III OPC ’77, Christopher K. Holmes OPC ’77, Adam T. Wall OPC ’82 and Robert L. Wall OPC ’79.

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SPRING 2019

Erich J. Herbert writes, “I live in Milford, N.H., with my wife, Tammy. We have two boys, William (17) and Brendan (16), who attend the Winchendon School. I work for Boston 25, which is the local news organization and Fox affiliate, in their business development team.”

ALUMNI

Class Notes

1990

2002

Michael A. Gomez and Barry J. Markman enjoyed a week of fly fishing together in Patagonia. Both are married, with kids. Mike works in financial services in Newport Beach, Calif., and Barry in the fish business in NYC.

Jason S. Harrow writes, “Philip and I now live in Los Angeles. I am chief counsel to a nonprofit called Equal Citizens, where I work on helping to reform our democracy, and Philip is a fashion buyer. We love it out here in L.A. but wish we could see the gang from PC more frequently.” (See Marriages)

2004 Amanda (MacCullough) Zaid and Jacob R. Markovitz OPC ’05 competed against each other in the championship of their ax league.

1992 Pippa S. Goetz has two sons, ages 8 and 6, playing hockey in the Philadelphia Jr. Flyers hockey program. (Also lacrosse, soccer, swimming, golf).

Jamie L. Wells was honored to be profiled as a physician leader and to offer career insights in a feature by the Women in Medicine Legacy Foundation.

1994

2005 Nicholas Brown is now in his 10th year working at VitalSource, an education technology company, where he uses machine learning to help students learn. He writes, “Adrienne recently finished her PhD at UNC Chapel Hill, and we moved from Durham, N.C., to Pennington, N.J., with a 5-week-old Henry in December. Whew! Come visit if you need a pit stop in between Philly and New York City.”

Jennifer R. Gallagher OPC ’94, general manager of the Acorn Club in Philadelphia, met Gov. Tom Wolf during an event.

SPRING 2019 •

ALUMNI

Class Notes

2006

2008

Drew Speranza writes, “In what’s at least the 10th consecutive installment of the storied rivalry, the Class of 2006 and the Class of 2008 faced off in the Turkey Bowl Classic over Thanksgiving weekend. The game takes place at Penn Charter every year and includes some of the most elite rough touch football players from 2006, 2008 and various other PC classes. After a lackluster first half, the Class of 2006 found their usual form and came storming back to victory, continuing their domination of the overall series. Final Score: 12-9. The Class of 2006 leads the rivalry 7-3 all-time.”

Christopher Callis achieved the ranking of number one in the world in doubles squash in March 2019.

2010 Hunter D. Beck graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2014, finished flight school in 2016, and is now flying EA-18G Growlers off the USS Ronald Reagan. He and his wife, Brittany, are stationed in Iwakuni, Japan, for two more years.

Pictured (back row): Marisa S. Taylor OPC ’06, Stephanie (Yuhasz) Kotloff OPC ’08, Joseph J. Fugelo OPC ’06, James Entwisle OPC ’06, Drew Speranza OPC ’06, Andrew Smith OPC ’06, Timothy G. Decker OPC ’08, Emily Drinker OPC ’08, Derek H. Speranza OPC ’08; (front) Eric T. Weiner OPC ’08, Brian Kotloff OPC ’08, Tucker Colton OPC ’12, Edward D. Yuhasz OPC ’12, Jared D. Massaro OPC ’12.

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SPRING 2019

ALUMNI

Class Notes

2011

Class of 2013

Henry L. Morgan is currently the chef and general manager of Dizengoff, part of the growing restaurant group CookNSolo. Henry’s work has been featured in publications such as Zagat and the Philadelphia Inquirer. Visit Dizengoff at 1625 Sansom St.

Joseph S. Sankey has been selected to play for the Premier League Lacrosse team Redwoods Lacrosse Club in the PLL’s inaugural season this summer. Sankey is an attack. John J. Moderski OPC ’12 has been selected to play for Chrome LC as a defenseman.

2013 Randall C. Beck graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2017, finished flight school in fall of 2018, and is now stationed in Jacksonville, Fla., to train in the P-8 (aka the submarine hunter). Although he does not get home to Philly too often, his buddies from PC are usually the first group he sees when he is home.

5TH REUNION

Jessica R. Star is finishing up her master’s in sociology at Emory University this May. She will then be relocating to attend the University of Michigan to receive a master’s in public health with a focus in social epidemiology and aging. In her free time, she plays in an amateur tennis league and recently made it to the playoffs.

2015 Nile J. Hodges was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa at Howard University. He will graduate this spring and attend the Kornberg School of Dentistry at Temple University in the fall.

2014 Hailey A. Bennett writes, “I attended Syracuse University, where I majored in fashion design. From last fall to earlier this year, I was working on a freelance design job with a locally designed and owned business called ThePureBag (https://www. thepurebag.com/). During my freelance design job, I collaborated with owner Lori Gildea and her production factory manager to design a versatile bag that could be used for yoga and/or everyday life. The final products produced will be the first designs I will have put into production!”

2016 Jonathan D. Weiss will be working at DowDuPont’s agricultural division doing genetic engineering (GMOs) this summer.

SPRING 2019 •

ALUMNI

Class Notes DEATHS 1941

1951

Norman L. Barr Jr., on Dec. 13, 2018.

1965

Leonard A. Bracken, on Sept. 25, 2018.

Francis H. Muldoon Jr., on Nov. 2, 2018.

Andrew Fulton III, on July 27, 2018.

Wayne L. Palmer, on Jan. 2, 2019.

1943

Robert Bower, on March 4, 2019.

1954

Sevill Schofield Jr., on Feb. 1, 2019.

1944

1968

Malcolm A. Buckey Jr., on Feb. 3, 2019.

1960 William T. Buck Jr., on Sept. 19, 2018

Arthur G. Segal, on Oct. 23, 2018.

Gibson E. Stine Jr., on Jan. 6, 2019.

1985

John C. (Chuck) Harmon, on Feb. 11, 2019.

1963

1948

Michael B. Darby, on Feb. 19, 2019.

2008

Varick D. Martin III, on July 9, 2018.

Robert P. Levy, on Nov. 7, 2018.

1964

John T. Walton, on Feb. 25, 2019.

Correction: In the fall 2018 issue of Penn Charter magazine, we published the wrong yearbook photo for Alvin Swenson.

1960

1950 William F. Lotz III, on Feb. 28, 2019.

Jay E. Helme, on Jan. 21, 2019.

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SPRING 2019

Alvin A. Swenson, on April 11, 2018.

ALUMNI

Class Notes MARRIAGES 1971

2002

John B. Kitto Jr. married JoAnn Bedore on Dec. 2, 2018. He writes, “I married my sweetheart of 19 years at a private ceremony at the Church in Silver Lake (Silver Lake, Ohio). JoAnn likes to note with a wry smile, ‘Do you think we rushed into it?’ We then celebrated our wedding at Christmas with our joint family of children and grandchildren when everyone could journey to Ohio—11 in all at the very full dining room table. Great fun!”

Jason S. Harrow wed Philip Manghisi on Nov. 10, 2018, in Scottsdale, Ariz. Jason’s sister, Dana Harrow Maloney OPC ’04, presided at the ceremony, along with Philip’s sister Jen. Several PC friends from the Class of 2002 attended, including Andrew P. Goldberger, Matthew Greenberg, David Krupnick and Benjamin R. Rosenblum, who came from Amsterdam for the celebration. The wedding cake was by Flour Shop, a New York bakery started by Jason’s brother, Ross Harrow OPC ’07, and his wife, Amirah. Pictured: Ross Harrow, David Krupnick, Jason Harrow and brother-in-law Patrick Maloney.

1976

2008

Brent Sherwood and his longtime partner, Narciso Quijada, married on Sept. 1, 2018. The three-day celebration, attended by 125 close friends from around the world, was themed Arabian Nights; Narciso made the outfits. Brent and Narciso returned from a honeymoon cruise in French Polynesia, only to find that alas, work continues as usual.

Garrett Shields married Rachel Jordan on Sept. 29, 2018, in Dover, Pa. OPC ’08 guests included Tom Bryan, Katharine Diaz, Evan Gagne, Caroline Huber, Michael McInerney, Zachary Smith and Christina Wagner.

SPRING 2019 •

ALUMNI

Class Notes Brian Kotloff OPC ’08 and Stephanie Yuhasz OPC ’08 married on Aug. 4, 2018, in Philadelphia. Joseph J. Fugelo OPC ’06 served as their officiant, while Tucker Colton OPC ’12 served as the unofficial videographer.

2003 Emmett, to Lydia L. Dworetzky and Tim Grose, on Nov. 7, 2018.

2005 Henry Hoarfrost, to Adrienne Hoarfrost and Nicholas Brown, on Nov. 11, 2018 (making longtime teacher Charles H. Brown Hon. 1689 a grandfather for the first time.)

2011 Maggie E. Faigen married Zack Finder on Feb. 17, 2019 in Los Angeles. Multiple OPCs celebrated with the newlyweds. Pictured (clockwise, from top left): Emily R. Apple, Kimberly A. Turner, Mackenzie L. Kramer, Kyle L. Bonus, Katelyn R. Faigen, Jessica G. Stone, Jennifer M. Israelite, Alexandra H. Rosen and Maggie E. Faigen, all OPC ’11.

BIRTHS

2000

1996

Harrison, to Leonard Greenfield and Rachel Chaffin, on April 26, 2018.

Theodore Russell to Lynn and Peter P. Liebert V, on Nov. 26, 2018.

Shannon Therese, to Sean and Kathleen B. (Rogers) O’Donovan, on Dec. 11, 2018.

2002 Caroline Jessie, to Brian B. Greenspon and Chelsea K. Erdmanis Greenspon, on Feb. 27, 2019.

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SPRING 2019

Madelyn Arya, to Kim and Lee Davidow, on March 11, 2019.

Silas, to Nicola and Jeffrey Torchon, on July 27, 2018.

1999

2006

EXCELLENCE TODAY Join these friends and others like them to fuel excellence and ensure the future of Penn Charter for generations to come.

MAKE A GIFT TODAY. penncharter.com/give

THE FUTURE IN FOCUS

MAY 3 and 4 Visit www.penncharter.com/OPCWeekend for photos and highlights.

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID Philadelphia, PA Permit No. 6118 3000 West School House Lane Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19144

Save the Date MAY 17

JUNE 8

NOVEMBER 30

Alumni Society/Meet and Greet, 12:30 p.m.

Commencement, 10:30 a.m.

Class of 2014 Fifth Reunion

MAY 24

NOVEMBER 9

Color Day, 1 p.m.

PC/GA Day

As part of the social studies curriculum, fourth grade students investigate the ancient cultures of the Inca, Egyptians and Greeks. Then, in art class, they create original masks illustrating what they learned about the people, gods, goddesses and animals of these cultures. Fourth graders present their work to families during the Mask Celebration.

Penn Charter Magazine Spring 2019

Articles inside

Still Asking the Right Questions

What Makes Them Tick?

Penn Charter Gets Schooled

What's Under the Hood of the Parent Community?

Students Lead the Way with Successful Diversity Conference

Computer Science with Inspiration, and Equity