The Magazine of William Penn Charter School
Fall 2016
IdeaLab More than a makerspace
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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 Goal 3: Teaching Goal 4: Time Goal 5: Space Goal 6: Financial Sustainability Details on objectives and implementation strategies at penncharter.com/vision.
Educating Students to Live Lives that Make a Difference A Strategic Vision for the Future of William Penn Charter School
V I TAL
Valuing • Innovative • Teaching • and • Learning
a n n i v e r s a ry In 2012, just as the school was completing the Strategic Vision for the future of Penn Charter, we launched an exciting new model for faculty summer work that provides time and resources for research and collaboration that result in innovative curriculum. This year marks the fifth anniversary of Valuing Innovative Teaching and Learning (VITAL), the professional development program that supports excellence in teaching, which is Goal 3 of the Strategic Vision. By extension, the work teachers do to advance their professional practice also advances the six goals of the Strategic Vision, which are listed at left. Faculty collaborate on VITAL proposals, and a committee of teachers, staff and community members uses consensus to select between one and three projects a year. With the generous support of donors, VITAL projects have transformed curriculum in all three divisions. Examples of VITAL projects include: 2016 Creating Music: Theory and Practice. A music teacher and science teacher began a study of music theory and the physics behind the notes and tones of instruments. The teachers used 3D printing and laser cutters to construct instruments and laid the groundwork for student investigations of similar theories, ideas and methods. See page 18. 2015 Middle School Advisory Project. An intensive collaboration to create a succinct, meaningful and spiraling advisory program resulted in curriculum with lessons, queries and content that support the social, emotional, spiritual and intellectual growth of Middle School students. 2014 Tilapia Aquaculture Project. With the installation of a 110-gallon tilapia tank and aquaculture system in their Middle School science classroom, two seventh grade science teachers created innovative curriculum for mathematics and science topics, including ecology, environmental science and biology. 2013 Soaring to New Language Arts Heights. Faculty shared an intensive writing workshop experience to facilitate increased collaboration and cohesion across grades in the Lower School language arts program. 2012 Content and Design. Art, science and technology teachers researched electronic publishing to support mastery learning and enhance student engagement in media-rich learning environments, later resulting in two student-produced eBooks, The Philadelphia Bestiary and, featured on page 16, A Field Guide to Campus Trees. Ruth Aichenbaum, coordinator of PC’s Teaching & Learning Center, another exemplary model of faculty professional development, is excited to see the byproduct of five years of VITAL. “The participants in the first project have gone on to collaborate several times over,” she said, “and collaboration and innovation have continued and expanded well beyond VITAL.” As an example, Aichenbaum cites the IdeaLab, “which wasn’t even on the horizon five years ago.” Read about the IdeaLabs beginning on page 18.
Contents Fall 2016
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Features
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Dedicated to Teamwork PC dedicates Maguire Field.
12 First Careers, Submarines to Seminary Life before Penn Charter
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Innovation Legacy Decades later, his students recall Sam Tatnall.
16 Now Available on iTunes! A Field Guide to Campus Trees
18 Where Ideas Come to Life Penn Charter’s new IdeaLabs inspire collaboration and innovation.
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Departments Opening Comments
From the Head of School. ..................................................................................... 2 Around Campus
Campus Currents...................................................................................................... 3 Commencement. ......................................................................................................6 Alumni
PC Profiles. ............................................................................................................... 10 OPC Weekend 2016.............................................................................................. 22 Class Notes...............................................................................................................26
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Class Notes
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On the Cover The Magazine oF WilliaM Penn CharTer SChool
Fall 2016
Using the green screen in the IdeaLab, an Upper School photography student poses for a pre-K photographer. Photo by Brooke Giles.
IdeaLab More than a makerspace
BACK COVER “Quaker City” by Bevan McShea P ‘27, P ‘29, was on display at the Triennial Art Show. Page 3.
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The Magazine of William Penn Charter School
Darryl J. Ford Head of School Elizabeth A. Glascott Hon. 1689 Assistant Head of School Jeffrey A. Reinhold Clerk, Overseers John T. Rogers Hon. 1689 Chief Development Officer
Opening Comments
From the Head of School Shifting social dynamics, the political process, technology, social media. In today’s world, there is so much that feels as if it is changing – or is, indeed, changing. The ways in which each of these individual changes is confounded by another creates a more complicated horizon than we ever have witnessed before.
Magazine Staff Sharon Sexton Editor Rebecca Luzi Associate Editor Julia Judson-Rea Assistant Editor
Schools are changing, too. At Penn Charter we are keeping the best of who we are while we simultaneously collaborate to identify and then refine new ways to teach new content. The level of professional development at PC – faculty working to advance their professional practice – is unprecedented. Our curious and creative teachers question themselves and each other in the hallways, at the lunch table and in the Teaching & Learning Center we established to promote excellence in teaching. I hope their engagement and dedication to their craft is communicated in this issue. The impact of these efforts aligns with our Strategic Vision to provide students with the knowledge and skills they need to thrive in a complex and changing world.
Michael Branscom Feature Photography
For friends who have not recently visited Penn Charter, the most noticeable physical change is the transformation of the campus with new facilities to support innovative teaching and learning, athletics and the arts. This transformation began with our last capital campaign and the construction of the Richard B. Fisher Middle School and Kurtz Center for the Performing Arts, and continued as we added the Kline & Specter Squash Courts, the Perrott synthetic turf field, the Gross softball field, the Blaine Center for Performance and Fitness, renovated Dooney Field House and, most recently, the new track and state-of-the-art Maguire Field.
www.penncharter.com
Less apparent, we have invested in student learning by investing in technology, including a computer device for every student in grades 4 to 12 – MacBook Airs in Middle and Upper School, Chromebooks in Lower. Students are learning to access and assess information from books, websites, original documents and more. As you will read in a story about the eBook A Field Guide to Campus Trees, they even create original publications. Each classroom is newly outfitted for technology and the IdeaLabs we have added to Penn Charter’s network of studios, science labs, recording studio, woodshop and more evolve the concept of a makerspace. As our faculty explain in the story beginning on page 18, our two new IdeaLabs are spaces where students innovate, collaborate, communicate. They are spaces where their ideas come to life. What hasn’t changed at Penn Charter is the high level of engagement of student learners, the strength of the teacher-student relationship, the strong bonds of friendship among classmates, people’s love for the school as evidenced by their return to campus year after year, and the philanthropic support given by OPCs and parents. In this issue of our magazine, I invite you to witness extraordinary stories about our school – both new innovations and longstanding realities of Penn Charter.
arryl J. Ford D Head of School
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Brian Cash OPC ’00 Alumni Society President
Proof Design Studios Design William Penn Charter School 3000 West School House Lane Philadelphia, PA 19144 215.844.3460
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.
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Campus Currents
Simply Wonderful!
A Middle School student docent provides a friendly, informed tour of the show.
Simplicity, the Parent Community’s Triennial Art Show, thoughtfully explored that Quaker testimony and expressed as well the Quaker testimony of Community. Parent volunteers kicked off the spring show with an opening reception that provided a welcoming opportunity for families and friends to enjoy the art and each other’s company as they toured the gallery in the transformed wrestling room. The student docents were charming! For a week after the opening, the show hung elegantly in the light-filled space, featuring works by established and emerging artists, plus PC students and teachers. Mixed media, sculpture, watercolors, oils, ceramics, jewelry – visitors could view it all and ponder what simplicity meant to them and to the artists. In advance of the show, Parent Community volunteers circulated postcards to parents, faculty, staff and especially students and asked that they draw or write about What simplicity means to me… Two walls of the gallery were papered with the responses.
Overseer Anne Caramanico, shown here with Head of School Darryl J. Ford, showed her own work and taught printmaking to students who visited the gallery during the school days.
Congratulations and kudos to Triennial Art Show Co-Chairs Megan Grugan and Dora Presley, and the rest of the art show team: Michelle Hinshaw, Heather Killinger, Soozung Rankin and Laura Sibson. Thank you to everyone who supported the show with a purchase. With the $3,000 profit, the Parent Community made a $2,000 gift to the IdeaLab (read more about the IdeaLab
on page 18) and a $1,000 gift to the PC team supporting Big Climb Philly, a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The Parent Community organizes a major event each year. Save the date for the Grace Fund Party on the evening of Saturday, May 13. Proceeds from that event support the Grace Fund’s goal of providing equal access to the full Penn Charter experience by helping some families afford school trips, textbooks, athletic gear and more.
More photos at flickr.com/penncharter/sets Photography: Zamani Feelings
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Campus Currents
Ringing in 2016-17 Senior class co-presidents Amira Martin and Joshua Patton, pictured here with Head of School Darryl J. Ford and the Class of 2017 banner, delivered a carefully considered speech at the opening All-School Assembly, which focused on Quaker consensus, conversation, compromise — and community, the theme for the academic year. Josh and Amira shared their experiences as Penn Charter students and recognized that it is the Penn Charter community that has supported them throughout their schooling. Community, they said, is why they love PC today.
Some members of the Caldwell and Ortale families at the 11th Run for Peace.
Still Running (and Walking) Strong Thank you to all the runners, walkers and friends who participated in the 11th annual Run for Peace. The starting line was crowded with supporters and the day fulfilled its goals. One of the goals of the Run for Peace is to honor those who died on 9/11 – including Kenny Caldwell OPC ’89 and Peter Ortale OPC ’83. Another goal is to help make a Penn Charter education accessible to talented young people, like Kenny and Peter, who need financial support to attend Penn Charter. The day raised awareness and proceeds for the two scholarship funds named in their honor.
More photos at flickr.com/penncharter/sets
A Fun and Meaningful Field Trip This year, the eighth grade added an exciting stop to its annual trip to Washington, D.C., stepping through the doors of the brand new National Museum of African American History and Culture. The museum had been open to the public for only four days when Penn Charter entered to tour its unrivaled documentation of African American life, history and culture. Early critics have praised not only its collection but the architecture of the bronze-colored structure – wrapped with lattice work that pays homage to ironwork crafted by enslaved African Americans – and the symbolic importance of its position on the National Mall, between the White House and the Washington Monument. “The biggest takeaway for our students,” social studies teacher Josh Oberfield said, “was understanding the importance of [African Americans] being recognized as a major
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influence, a building block – literally builders – of this country, and appreciating that.” PC eighth graders visit Washington, D.C., each year, touring the U.S. Capitol, Library of Congress, Supreme Court, various monuments and assorted Smithsonian Museums. They have light-hearted fun, too, including a trip to the bowling alley. Back in the summer, when she began planning this year’s trip, Middle School mathematics teacher and eighth grade advisor Jen Ketler wanted her PC students to be among the first to visit the new museum. Combining patience and persistence, Ketler visited the museum website daily so she could swoop in at just the right moment to secure tickets for all 84 eighth graders. Imana Legette, PC director of diversity and inclusion and a Middle School social studies teacher, said adult visitors complimented the PC students for their attentiveness and respect. “They really took to heart what they were seeing. No matter the race and ethnicity of the student, they felt the power of the museum,”
Legette said. “Adult strangers commented that they were so glad young people were there and taking it so seriously, because they had lived it.” Another meaningful addition to the trip included, on the first night, service work with PC Overseer Mark Hecker OPC ’99 for On the Same Page UNITED; this project of Free Minds Book Club supports juveniles incarcerated in adult prisons by sharing their poetry and short stories with individuals outside prison. PC students read and then added – writing in colorful ink on the page – praise, encouragement and contextual comments for the incarcerated boys.
Campus Currents
Building Community and Empathy
Champs!
Penn Charter students and faculty, numbering more than 450, fanned out across 16 zip codes to pitch in with schools and nonprofit organizations that work on issues of education, poverty and food insecurity. The work on Friday, Oct. 14, was the centerpiece of the 19th annual Louis Savino Day of Service.
Coach Doc Mittica and the girls softball team now own two-in-a-row PAISAA titles, plus two consecutive Inter-Ac titles.
Penn Charter senior Perri Keehfuss, a member of the Upper School Service Council, spent the morning packing dried vegetables, rice and fortified soy into packets for meals for Stop Hunger Now. The packets, combined with other meals, will be delivered to one of 37 international partner countries where the need is greatest. “Service plays a big role in my life,” Keehfuss said as she worked. “I’m applying to service councils in college so I can continue to do service, and I am excited about that.” At 22 sites, with familiar as well as new service partners, Penn Charter served meals, raked leaves, helped teach gym class, wrote poems, cleaned up parks and neighborhoods, sorted clothing, helped with recess, read to children, painted, assisted physically disabled students in the pool and sorted groceries alongside members of the communities in which they served.
Congratulations! Amazing educator, choral director, musician and composer Joseph Fitzmartin premiered his “Concert Mass” at the Kimmel Center in June. A major work for symphony orchestra and choir, Fitzmartin’s composition had its world premiere at Carnegie Hall and has since been performed at the Sydney Opera House in Australia, in Berlin, and by the Novgorod Symphony in Russia. At the Kimmel Center, the Keystone State Boychoir performed the work as part of the 15th anniversary gala for the stellar choir; Fitzmartin helped found the group and is still music director.
Girls Softball
The Quakers stormed to a combined record of 43-4 for the 2015 and 2016 season – 25-2, then 18-2. “Not shabby,” Doc noted with pride. Inquirer sportswriter Kate Harman noticed, too. “The Quakers haven’t had many challenges so far, rolling through the season as they have outscored opponents, 223-34, notched 10 or more runs in 14 contests, and have beaten foes 13 times by the 10-run rule.”
Girls Tennis It was only mid-October when Penn Charter’s girls tennis team clinched the Inter-Ac 2016 championship. “We all are just happy that we won the Inter-Ac with an undefeated season,” senior Natalie Williams commented to PC SportsZone. “With the help and coaching of our amazing coach, Rose Weinstein, we were able to strive and be better tennis players for ourselves, for each other and for Rose.” This is PC’s first girls tennis crown since the fall of 2000; that squad, coached by Cheryl Irving, also was perfect in league play.
More photos and news about athletics at penncharter.com/sportszone.
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commencement 2016
“Parents are pretty decent at giving advice, whether you ask for it or not. An old African proverb my dad told me the other day states: “A lizard does not eat pepper for the frog to feel the heat in its mouth,” and while the language may be a little different
the meaning is the same. Living in the
present doesn’t mean going around and being reckless, it means owning what you do because the kind of life you want to lead is determined by the choices you make.”
– Kristina Ohemeng Columbia University, Class of 2020
“At Penn Charter, we have provided you an education of consequence. We want you to focus on issues of consequence. And we want you to live lives of consequence. Because you have been students at Penn Charter, it is our hope that you leave these walls and go forth to live lives that make a difference.” –Head of School Darryl J. Ford
More photos at flickr.com/penncharter/sets
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Jonathan Weiss received the Phi Beta Kappa Award, presented to the student outstanding in scholarship in the senior class. Weiss, now a freshman at Yale University, was also senior class president and had the honor of presenting a $113,754 Senior Class Gift on behalf of the parents of the Class of 2016; the gift will support professional development for Penn Charter’s talented teachers.
“Now I’m not saying that every single moment at this school has been an amazing, peachy-keen, best-time-of-my-life, I-want-to-stay-in-highschool-forever type of time. Of course there were those early-morning swims, those late-night study sessions on Skype, and those teachers who just would not let up on the homework. But looking back on it, I can’t help but see how necessary those
The hard times that we have gone through while at this school were all for a purpose: to prepare us for life after Penn Charter. things were.
Sean Foley received the Alumni Senior Award, given to “a member of the senior class who, on qualifications of scholarship, character, leadership and athletic ability, exemplifies the best Penn Charter type.” Sean is a member of the Class of 2020 at the University of Richmond.
A proud OPC moment! Max and David OPC ’87 Jokelson; Barry Markman OPC ’90 and niece Laney; Leah and Andrew Kramer OPC ’81; Richard Stanley OPC ’68 and Sally; Rebecca Miller Hon. 1689 and Tate, son of Rebecca and the late Matthew Miller OPC ’86; Brooke and David OPC ’83 Hassman; Maxwell and Michael OPC ’81 Monheit; Brian OPC ’82 and Karly McCloskey; Sean and Ed OPC ’81 Foley; Samantha and Howard OPC ’86 Zipin.
“But now it’s the end … It was good, and we all belonged here … now it is our job to take the leap and ascend into life with one another.” – Jack Mahoney Cornell University, Class of 2020
college choices An end-of-year survey showed that 94 percent of students in the Class of 2016 are attending one of their top-choice colleges. More than half were admitted to a “most competitive college,” according to Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges.
Congratulations to the Class of 2016! Amherst College Auburn University Bloomsburg University Boston University Brandeis University Brown University Bucknell University Carnegie Mellon University Chapman University Coastal Carolina University Colgate University Columbia University Cornell University Drexel University Eckerd College
Elon University Emory University Fairfield University Fordham University George Washington University Haverford College Howard University La Salle University Lehigh University Marlboro College Montgomery Co. Community College Muhlenberg College Pennsylvania State University Princeton University Roanoke College
Sarah Lawrence College Syracuse University Temple University Tufts University Tyler School of Art United States Naval Academy University of Arizona University of Connecticut University of Delaware University of Denver University of Maryland University of Massachusetts University of Miami University of Michigan University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Pennsylvania University of Pittsburgh University of Richmond University of South Carolina University of Tampa University of Utah University of Vermont University of Wisconsin Ursinus College Vanderbilt University Villanova University Washington University in St. Louis Yale University York College
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Strategic Vision
Goal 5
Space Develop and repurpose space to serve the changing needs of the Penn Charter program and mission.
Members of the 1983 Inter-Ac champion football team: Michael Biront OPC ’84, Dennis Foley OPC ’83, P.J. Maley OPC ’86, Jeff Bass OPC ’84, Joe Doherty OPC ’85, Chris Maguire OPC ’84, Rennie Rodriguez OPC ’85, head coach William Gallagher Hon. 1689 and C. Michael Roberts OPC ’84.
Dedicated to Teamwork Anticipation. Oct. 14 had cheering fans in the stands, the Senior Grill Squad flipping burgers, PC spirit in abundance, and anticipation for both the football Inter-Ac opener and the dedication of Maguire Field. “This is a great day for Penn Charter,” Head of School Darryl J. Ford addressed the crowd. “Today we are pleased to dedicate Maguire Field and thank a family that is renowned for its commitment to service, education, arts, the humanities and the desire to rid the world of hunger and homelessness.” That philanthropic family is the Maguires. The nonprofit Maguire Foundation, which they established in 2000, supports education, arts and humanities, and relief of hunger and homelessness. Perhaps the foundation’s best-known program is Maguire Scholars, which provides financial support to students from elementary school through college. Penn Charter is active in the Maguire Scholars program. James Maguire and his sons Chris OPC ’84 and Tim OPC ’85 made a $1.5 million gift to Penn Charter to fund the new, top-of-the-line synthetic turf field, renamed Maguire Field. Jim, Chris and Chris’s wife, Ellen, attended the halftime ceremony; Tim lives on the West Coast and sent his best wishes.
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For their support of Penn Charter and PC athletics, Head of School Darryl J. Ford recognized Jeff Reinhold, clerk of Overseers (right) and thanked donors Jim and Chris Maguire (left).
Chris and Tim were football teammates, and the team was like family. “My coaches were my surrogate fathers, and my teammates were my brothers in arms,” Chris said in his remarks to the crowd. “When you compete for the honor of your school, you form bonds that last a lifetime. continued on next page
“I studied English and math in there,” he said from the field, pointing to the main building. “But I learned lessons for life out here. Discipline, commitment, resilience are terms that come to mind and are the values I will carry with me for the rest of my life. To play football at Penn Charter meant you were going to be tough, you were going to compete, and you would do it with controlled fury! Nobody wanted to play Penn Charter.”
Bill Gallagher Hon. 1689 (right) coached hundreds of football players during his tenure as varsity head coach at Penn Charter, 1981-1996, including Jim Maguire’s sons Chris and Tim.
Head of School Darryl J. Ford with Jim Maguire, and Ellen and Chris Maguire OPC ’84.
A few of those winning coaches made it back for the dedication, too, like head coach Bill Gallagher Hon. 1689 and offensive line coach Ed Gallagher. “They were tough on us,” Doherty said of his coaches, “but they wanted us to win.” Another special guest was Robert C. McAdoo OPC ’39, captain and quarterback of Penn Charter’s 1938 football team. As for the modern-day game on the field, undefeated Haverford won a nailbiting 21-20 in overtime. But, oh, the anticipation. PC – Rebecca Luzi
The 1983 team of which Chris and Tim were a part – and Jim and his wife, Frannie, too, because they cheered at every game – won the InterAc championship during that undefeated season. “It was the most fun I had in my life,” Chris said. “It was the release valve from teenage angst. We were doing something we loved with our friends every day. It was the coming together around a common purpose, each of us pushing each other to be the best.” The feeling was mutual. Many members of that 1983 team attended the dedication, along with members of the Athletic Honor Society. Joseph E. Doherty OPC ’85, who played offensive tackle, was one of them. “When I see these guys it’s like I saw them yesterday,” Doherty said. “We were all friends off the field, too. I consider the Maguires – the whole team – my brothers.”
Photography: Zamani Feelings
Maguire Field advances Penn Charter’s Strategic Vision to develop space and facilities that support excellence in every aspect of the Penn Charter program. Football and girls lacrosse play all home games on the field, with boys and girls soccer and boys lacrosse using it as the schedule permits.
Members of Penn Charter’s Athletic Honor Society attended the dedication.
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PC P RO F I LE S
The Evolution of a Star Jennifer H. Diamond OPC ’01 by Julia Judson-Rea
Jennifer Diamond (née Rosen) OPC ’01 arrived at Penn Charter in her sophomore year, already a talented actress with a powerful voice. “She sang for me, and I about fell over,” theater teacher Eva Kay Noone said. “I knew she was the real deal. She wanted it and she had the goods.” “Ms. Noone and Mr. Fitz just completely welcomed me in,” Diamond said. She was in all the PC plays and musicals, plus several in nearby theaters. Noone invited Diamond to be her assistant director for a PC show as a junior, and Diamond directed two one-act plays from David Ives’ All in the Timing for her Senior Comprehensive Project.
Flash forward to 2016 and Diamond has just wrapped up a swath of performances as both Eve and Louise in Ruthless! The Musical at the “Broadway-adjacent” St. Luke’s Theater. She has also had a one-woman show at Feinstein’s/54 Below, directed by Richard Jay-Alexander, who is known for executive producing Miss Saigon, Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera and co-directs Barbra Streisand. Prior to that, Diamond toured for two years with mega-star Kristin Chenoweth as a featured member of the cast in Kristin Chenoweth in Concert and The Evolution of a Soprano. “We sang duets together, and I played the tall,
Jennifer Diamond OPC ’01, left, onstage with Kristin Chenoweth.
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leggy brunette to Kristin’s very petite blonde,” Diamond said. With Chenoweth, Diamond sang in the Sydney Opera House, the Hollywood Bowl, Las Vegas at New Year’s, and she made her Carnegie Hall debut.
“I had dreams for my career,” Diamond said, “but that job went bigger and better than any of my dreams.” So yes, Jennifer Diamond is the real deal. “I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished, but as an actor, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done — when you walk into an audition, you’re still at square one,” Diamond said. “You’re only as good as your last job, and it could all come tumbling down.” Diamond was recently in London for a week with her husband, Robert, to see shows and catch up with old friends. Robert Diamond is the chief executive officer and editor-in-chief of BroadwayWorld.com, the largest theater website in the world. The duo married – dramatically! – in 2011 as the wind and waves of Hurricane Irene battered Manhattan. Diamond, who is auditioning for whatever might be next, works hard, takes a lot of classes to keep learning and growing, and takes time to appreciate her life. “My husband and I just moved to our lake house full time, giving up our apartment in the city. It’s incredible to have the best of both worlds – I go into New York City to audition, and I come home and sit on the dock with my dogs and my feet in the lake.” PC
PC P RO F I LE S
Subterranean Adventures David Wilcots OPC ’80 by Julia Judson-Rea
David Wilcots OPC ’80 lives and works in Philadelphia, and he has mapped a part of the city most of us don’t often think about — the soil types, historic fill, groundwater and bedrock types underground. An environmental geologist for Sci-Tek Consultants, Inc., a civil, environmental and geotechnical engineering firm, Wilcots used Geographic Information System (GIS) in 2015 to create 3D models of the subsurface of Philadelphia County. “I helped create the maps the Philadelphia Water Department consults in order to
David Wilcots OPC ‘80 on a dig in southwestern Wyoming.
forecast what they will find in a specific spot if they need to dig,” Wilcots said. The maps, he said, are used just about every day, and Philadelphia Emergency Management Department and the Department of Public Safety also ask to consult the maps. “[The maps] give you some idea of when you will hit groundwater, how deep the bedrock is and what kind of bedrock it might be.” In addition to his job with Sci-Tek assisting construction excavations and supervising drilling projects to keep the environment safe, Wilcots is passionate about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education. His website, Dinosaurs Fossils and Adventures (www. DinsoaursFA.com), is geared toward children ages 8 to 14 and their parents. On the site, kids can learn more about dinosaurs, fossils, geology and paleontology. “It’s fun because kids and parents email me through the site with questions. I’ve heard from people as far away as New Zealand and the Philippines!” Wilcots said. He also visits classrooms in the area to teach elementary and middle schoolers about fossils and paleontology. Wilcots brings fossils from his own collection for students to handle and explore. “I have specimens from as old as 550 million years to 10 million years. I try to cover much of geological time with my fossils, so the kids can have a hands-on learning experience they can’t have at a museum,” Wilcots said. Wilcots was a lifer at PC. “The science classes at Penn Charter were strong all the way through,” he recalled. “I especially loved the Earth Sciences class in eighth grade. I was already interested in dinosaurs, fossils and rocks, so it filled an interest. And, it was a lot of fun. Mr. [Whitman] Cross OPC ’50 taught the class, and he was the kind of teacher who just knew everything.”
Wilcots’ collection of fossils includes specimens that are 550 million years old.
Many of the fossils in Wilcots’ collection he dug up himself. For several years, he has joined a dig in southwestern Wyoming conducted by Seattle’s Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. Southwestern Wyoming is of particular interest because of the age of the rock in that region. “The rocks are 47 million years old, give or take a half million,” Wilcots said. “That epoch was after the dinosaurs went extinct, but before modern mammals evolved. So you’ll find fossil horses, but they’re two feet tall. Rhinos, which lived in North American then, were the size of goats. It’s the time when ancestral eagles and hawks diverged, and there were early primitive carnivores. Cats and dogs had not yet evolved.” Wilcots does a great job explaining the science and his work. It’s easy to tell why he’s good at bringing the information to budding geologists and paleontologists — he is passionate, and the excitement shows. No doubt, the many who pass through Dinosaur Hall at Philadelphia’s Academy of Natural Sciences are lucky to have him as a docent. Wilcots is a volunteer there and will be ready to answer any questions you have. Or you can email him from anywhere, even New Zealand or Timbuktu! PC
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First Careers, Submarines to Seminary by Mark F. Bernstein OPC ’79
It is sometimes hard for students to imagine that Penn Charter teachers have lives outside of the classroom, let alone that they had careers before becoming teachers. Several, though, pursued other paths, some of them quite unusual and unexpected. Here are just a few examples. Marcy Sosa It’s not too much to say that Marceline “Marcy” Sosa bleeds blue, but it’s NYPD blue. Her father and stepmother were both police detectives – her father died of illness contracted as a first responder on 9/11 – and for four years PC’s Lower School language arts coordinator was herself a member of the New York City police force. Having grown up around law enforcement, Sosa needed little persuading when her father
Lower School learning specialist Marcy Sosa was a New York City police officer for four years.
told her about a police department program that would pay for college while training her for the force. She recalls with a twinge of embarrassment that part of her training
Randy Granger At the height of the Cold War, from 1970 to 1972, longtime PC art and design teacher Randy Granger manned the bridge of the nuclear submarine USS Casimir Pulaski. He and the rest of the crew were submerged for 77 days at a time in Randy Granger Hon. 1689 was the assistant navigator on the USS Casimir Pulaski, a the North Atlantic, their nuclear submarine. operational orders and navigational charts top secret. Granger, the sub’s assistant navigator, was responsible for guiding his vessel and insuring its safety at all times, but he also carried a briefcase containing codes to launch the Pulaski’s 16 nuclear missiles, and had access to a secure telephone line direct to the White House.
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required her to run a mile and a half in under 12 minutes, but she failed the first three times she tried. “The funny thing is, I bet I could run it now,” she laughed. Nevertheless, Sosa earned her bachelor’s degree from Lehman College in New York and, after completing her run on the fourth try, was sworn in as a police officer. Sosa was assigned to a precinct in the Lower East Side neighborhood where she grew up and where her mother still lives. Every day she faced a range of issues, including truancy, drug deals and suicides. She recalls responding to a domestic violence call in a public housing development only to discover that she knew both the complainant continued on next page
“It’s not a simple story,” Granger admitted. “In fact, it’s a very messy story.” Growing up in Bay Head, N.J., Granger loved the rich maritime history of his hometown, where in 1944 German U-boat saboteurs got past U.S. Coast Guard patrols, came ashore – and were captured. With the sea in his DNA and a compelling desire to serve his country while also earning a teaching degree in art, he joined the U.S. Naval Submarine Reserves in 1966, on his 18th birthday. “I was very opposed to the war in Vietnam, which I viewed as a totally wasteful and wrongheaded enterprise,” he explained. “I did not want to serve in a military organization where most people were conscripted and where some even liked war.” Instead, he volunteered for submarine service because many Navy veterans had told him that it attracted the most thoughtful and resourceful people to its ranks. Granger participated actively in submarine reserve drills for four years while studying at the Philadelphia College of Art, changing into his uniform in school closets on the eve of drill weekends before taking the C bus down to the Philadelphia Naval Base to go to sea. As part of the extensive psychological screening for submarine
and her husband. “They assumed that I was going to be the friend and not the officer,” Sosa recalled. “And I was like, no, we’re going to follow the steps. And then they respected me. In the neighborhood, people knew that I was someone who took my job seriously but was able still to support them.” When Sosa became pregnant with her daughter in 2000, she was reassigned to desk duty, according to NYPD rules, and retired the following year. While on the force she had occasionally spoken in local schools and realized that she was drawn to teaching. She earned a master’s degree in special education from Manhattanville College, and after teaching in New York and North Carolina, joined the PC faculty in 2007. Asked if her service in law enforcement helps her manage unruly Lower School students, Sosa answered with a laugh, “Oh, absolutely!” But as a former officer and a woman of color, she also brings a unique perspective to controversial issues such as the excessive use of force by police. “I try to tell [students] that there are people who make poor choices in all walks of life and it’s hard for us to justify stereotyping one group of people. That isn’t what we’re about, particularly at a Quaker school.”
Tiffani Harris Tiffani Harris, director of Leadership and Annual Giving, has danced all her life, but from 2004 to 2012 she did it professionally, with the Jamal Jackson Dance Company, based in Brooklyn, N.Y. Raised in the Chicago suburbs, Harris studied ballet for years but branched into modern and West African dance while in college at the University of Richmond. For a year and a half after graduation, she trained at the prestigious Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York before deciding to turn professional. The Jamal Jackson Dance Company proved to be the perfect fit for her. Founded in 2004, with the purpose (according to its website) “of fusing various traditional African dance styles with Modern and Hip Hop techniques and diverse contemporary music styles in order to create a new, unique technique that is relevant to a multifarious community of Americans,” the company performs across the country and around the world. Over the next eight years, Harris performed in dozens of shows and earned warm reviews. In 2012, for example, the Albany, N.Y., Daily Gazette praised her as “long and gorgeous” in a dance called “Next Time” from the show “Footprints from My Head’s Rhythm.”
Tiffani Harris, director of leadership and annual giving, was a professional dancer for eight years.
To earn extra money, Harris began filling in as a substitute kindergarten teacher at a private school in Brooklyn. “If you can teach kindergarten, you can teach anything,” she joked. She hoped, though, to become a dance teacher and, while still with the Jamal Jackson Company, earned her master’s in dance performance and choreography at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Along the way, though, she discovered a different talent. Internships with performing arts organizations and independent schools continued on next page
service, Granger recalled, he was one of the few candidates in his group who told interviewers that he would never launch the sub’s missiles, even if directly ordered to do so. Since then, Granger has discovered many other missile submarine veterans who answered the question in the very same way. He surmises that his was the answer the Navy was looking for – they did not want trigger-happy cowboys in charge of nuclear weapons. The Pulaski’s crew was guided daily, Granger said, by the Cold War psychology of deterrence, also known as “mutually assured destruction” or MAD. MAD was – and is – based on the belief that nuclear superpowers will not dare to use weapons of mass destruction because they know that the attack, and subsequent retaliation, would destroy both sides and all humanity. For a young naval officer, it was an incredibly stressful job. “Every day I lived in fear that the President’s Launch Phone, only a few feet away from my chart table, would ring with orders to launch,” he said. But the nuclear missiles on board were hardly Granger’s only worry. He said that Russian intelligence-gathering trawlers routinely played chicken with American subs outside their base in Holy Loch, Scotland,
hoping to provoke a collision that might spark an international incident. Another constant danger was from uncharted seamounts (submerged mountains), with which the sub might accidentally collide deep beneath the surface of the vast North Atlantic. Granger served aboard the Pulaski until mid-1972, when he returned to high school teaching. As a Quaker, Granger is proud of his military service, though he feels others often misunderstand it. “I always saw it as subversive work,” Granger explained, “in that I was basically a pacifist in a military organization, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t take my service seriously. I’m proud that we never had an international incident with the Russians at sea and that we never fired a missile in anger. I consider my service there to be worthy pacifist work. Our primary objective was to never deploy our terrible tools of mass destruction. Now, my old ship of 50 years ago and its missiles have been reduced to razor blades.” Indeed, Granger believes that the country would be better served if young people familiar with Friends values actually carried those values into the military, if they elected to participate there. This is especially true today, he said, when restraint and reflection may be the only things standing between a continuation of peace and devastating destruction.
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introduced Harris to the world of fundraising. She confesses, though, that she got her first teaching job for an additional reason: She needed health insurance. Being a professional dancer is as physically taxing as being a professional athlete, and by the end of her run with the Jackson Company, neck, ankle and knee injuries had left Harris in so much pain that she found it difficult even to stand on the subway platform for five minutes waiting for a train. “I will always remember being in constant pain and having to just dance through it or act like it didn’t hurt,” she said. “Pain could never be a factor. Everyone wanted to see grace and beauty.” At the age of 31, Harris recognized that it was time to retire and pursue a new career. Two years later, in 2014, she joined the staff at Penn Charter as fundraiser – with an occasional break to work with students rehearsing dance numbers for the all-school musical.
Joseph Fitzmartin “Father Fitz.” It has a nice ring to it, but although longtime music teacher and choral director Joe Fitzmartin studied at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary for six years, his plans to become a Roman Catholic priest never came to pass. But he did become a music teacher.
the organ. Wait until your legs are long enough to reach the pedals, his mother suggested, but she enrolled him immediately in piano lessons. A priest at Cardinal Dougherty High School prepared him to enter the Curtis Institute of Music, but seminary beckoned. “My only role models were priests and nuns,” he explained. St. Charles at the time was a 10-year program, the first six years a course in the humanities leading to a bachelor’s degree, followed by four years of preparation for ordination. But Fitzmartin’s interest in becoming a priest changed early. On a religious retreat during his first year at seminary, he recalls hearing an older priest express doubt about the existence of original sin. The seminarians were shocked. That exchange confirmed Fitzmartin’s own doubts; over the next several years he resolved that he would not seek ordination. “I knew that I just couldn’t see myself telling other people how to live their lives,” he explained. During his summers at St. Charles, however, Fitzmartin was selected to study composition and conducting at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. Following his graduation, he was hired to teach music at Girard College, where he remained for the next 16 years. Fitzmartin has just begun his 21st year at Penn Charter and describes himself as “a contented atheist.”
Ed Foley
Choral director Joseph Fitzmartin (left) at seminary school.
Music and religion were intertwined throughout Fitzmartin’s early life. He recalls hearing an organist play Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring,” at Incarnation of Our Lord Church in the Olney section of Philadelphia where he grew up, and asking if he could study
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When Ed Foley OPC ’81 teaches his economics classes about small business, he speaks from experience. For two decades before joining the PC faculty in 2008, he was in charge of selling a broad range of vehicles for a local car dealership. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, where he was an All-Ivy lineman and lettered on three championship football teams, Foley was certain that he wanted to work for a big national company. With that in mind, he joined Pittsburgh-based Beecham Group (now part of GlaxoSmithKline), selling health and beauty aids directly to small stores throughout the area. But after a year and a
Associate Director of Athletics Ed Foley, shown here at a promotional event with Phillie great Jim Thome, was in change of fleet sales for Magarity Auto Group.
half, he decided he wanted “something more interesting.” Foley found that opportunity right in Flourtown, where he grew up as one of 12 children. In 1987, he joined Magarity Chevrolet, becoming general manager of its fleet division. In that capacity, Foley was responsible for selling cars, vans, small trucks and other equipment to companies and organizations across the area, including SEPTA, Philadelphia Electric Company and Herr’s. “My buddies would tease me that I was selling used cars, but it was really the beginning of business-to-business sales in the auto industry,” he said. Eventually, Foley was put in charge of all Magarity’s auto business at two locations. Sales, he says, is a relationship business. “You’ve got to connect at some level, and it’s not really about your product. It’s about building a mutually beneficial relationship based on trust.” He left the auto industry for good during the 2008 recession. He has been back at PC ever since, serving as associate director of athletics, coaching and teaching physical education, Economics and the Mathematics of Finance, a new course this year. He enjoys it but admits that he misses some of the perks of his former job, such as getting to drive a new car every six months. “I say I have headaches [now] but they’re more enjoyable headaches,” he laughed. PC
Strategic Vision
Goal 6
Financial Sustainability Provide for financial sustainability and support the mission of the school and the goals of the Strategic Vision.
Innovation Legacy by Rebecca Luzi
Sam Tatnall made a big impact on Penn Charter students during his relatively brief tenure as a physics teacher, from 1963 to 1972. Perhaps that was because he was much more than a science teacher. Tatnall was an outdoorsman, a musician, a mentor, a lover of operas and sonatas, a rock climber, and an early adopter of organic gardening. In short, he was an educator, an innovator, a Renaissance man. “He approached life with all the seriousness and amusement that it deserves,” wrote his goddaughter, Daisy Freund, in the program for his memorial service. Sam died on June 16, 2015. News of his passing and of his memorial service later that fall motivated OPCs to create an endowed fund in his name. The Samuel M. Tatnall Memorial Science Fund will support the science and innovation curriculum, including the IdeaLab, a makerspace that has opened up opportunities, and harnessed enthusiasm, for STEAM – science, technology, engineering, arts and math. (See story on page 18.) Eric Podietz OPC ’71 felt Tatnall’s influence as both a teacher and mentor. The physics “was almost secondary,” said Podietz, who spent his free time in the lab, working on projects like a mass spectrometer, an instrument that identifies the chemical constitution of a substance by separating gaseous ions according to their differing mass and charge. Tatnall and his students built this device (shown right). “It employed a lot of the things that we were using in physics,” Podietz said. “It was fascinating to see.” Components of this complicated, large device included a pump that created a vacuum; nitrogen to create extreme cold; great, big magnets; a rack of equipment to monitor pressures – plus, “a panel of blinking lights, which I built. It was meant to look like some sort of intelligent device. I learned a little bit about how to make electronics.” Today’s mass spectrometers, much smaller, are an everyday piece of lab equipment. “He was no-nonsense,” Podietz said of his mentor. “He loved the outdoors. He liked curiosity and experimenting. He wasn’t into institutional stuff.”
Perhaps the best example of that was the programming project he gave Podietz when the administration at Penn Charter instituted narrative comments on report cards. As any teacher, then or now, can tell you, writing these comments that describe a student’s progress requires considerable time. And Tatnall wanted to find efficiencies. So he had Podietz write a computer program that would generate the comments automatically, using the number Tatnall had assigned to a particular work habit. “We made typical sentence patterns about each of the work habits, and you would put in a number for the adjective that you wanted,” Podietz said. “We never did this for real, we were just testing it. It was an interesting programming project.” Computer programming would become Podietz’s career. Tatnall also took students rock climbing, often at Livezey Lane in the Wissahickon Valley, and once in New Hampshire. “He was just a very inspiring person, ” Podietz said. Ted Driscoll OPC ’70 is another Tatnall fan who made a gift to the fund in his teacher’s memory. “Sam was my favorite PC teacher. He was accessible and open, and he just fascinated his students with the wonders of physics.” Driscoll recalled learning momentum and gravity by breaking teacups with a pendulum and weight. “Learning was fun with Sam. And he was also helping us learn computers and programming. He was preparing us beautifully for the coming revolution in our digital world.” Other former students credit Tatnall with influencing their futures. “He did indeed play a critical role in my development as a budding scientist,” physicist Jim Harbison said, recalling how he worked to build a laser under Tatnall’s guidance. “I did later get involved
Sam Tatnall and the mass spectrometer he and students built.
in the research world at Bell Labs making semiconductor lasers and even eventually penned a book about lasers for the Scientific American Library Series called Lasers: Harnessing the Atom’s Light.” “This memorial fund commemorates a truly inspirational teacher who was responsible for encouraging many OPCs to follow their passions in science,” said another student, Randy Barba OPC ’71. Barba said Tatnall encouraged him to apply for a PC grant to fund building an analog computer. He entered the device in the Philadelphia Science Fair and placed second. “Sam and this project were instrumental in enabling me to go on to a graduate degree in physical oceanography. Other than my father, Sam was the person who helped me focus my interests in science and launch my career. How can you get any better than that for a fund committed to inspiring upand-coming students in the sciences?”
If you would like to make a gift to the Samuel M. Tatnall Memorial Science Fund, contact Stephanie Ball at sball@penncharter.com.
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Strategic Vision
Goals 2 & 3
PROGRAM and TEACHING
Acer palmatum
Now Available on iTunes!
A Field Guide to Campus Trees by Rebecca Luzi You could say that the idea for Penn Charter’s eBook, A Field Guide to Campus Trees, grew organically. The project, a student-published, multimedia electronic book now available on iTunes, sprang from the initial collaboration of art, science and technology teachers seeking to combine the disciplines of science, mathematics and fine arts, and expose students to 21st century tools for expression and content creation. With the support of a Penn Charter VITAL grant, the teachers explored how Upper School students could create media-rich resources that could be shared with younger students. The first product of that VITAL collaboration was The Philadelphia Bestiary, an eBook about animals that was rich with artwork, podcasts and video, all created by ninth grade students based on their research and visits to animals at the Philadelphia Zoo. (Read more about VITAL grants on the inside front cover.) The Bestiary project was such a success in interdisciplinary learning and self-publishing that teachers looked for another theme with some of the same elements. For their second venture, they took a look at the ninth grade science curriculum, specifically the plant genetics project in Biology. And they took a look out the window. Penn Charter’s beautiful 47-acre campus provided an accessible, rich source for A Field Guide to Campus Trees, a second eBook, now also available on iTunes. The project made connections among plant genetics, weather patterns, mathematics, digital animation, design, audio recording and the fine arts. The completed eBook, which students worked on for their ninthgrade year, is a series of photographs, drawings, cyanotypes, radio plays, and one-minute animations with sound scores that illustrate each tree and the weather it experienced in a 24-hour period. For this enormous, multilayered project, students used Toon Boom Animation, GarageBand, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premiere.
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The ninth grade student authors, the Class of 2017, began with a visit to Awbury Arboretum, where they explored elements of art and design through botanical and landscape studies. They made sketches, relief rubbings, photographs and sound recordings. They explored color, light and shadow, texture, form, positive and negative space, and photographic concepts such as depth of field and camera angles. Back at PC, students each chose a tree on campus. They studied, identified and photographed the leaves, bark, buds and fruits; made drawings; and created graphic designs and cyanotypes for the eBook. Science teachers showed them how to collect weather data from the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration website. Snow, rain, wind, sunrise – it’s all recorded hourly by longitude and latitude. So the students determined the longitude and latitude of each tree and translated 24 hours of weather data into 720 frames of digital animation, which equals one minute of animation. (Yes, there’s math, too!) Think of it as a creative weather report. Students wrote and recorded sound scores for the short films, using found objects, instruments and help from friends who performed the music, along with digital sound effects. They also wrote and performed a radio play for each tree – an imaginative voice-over as if the tree is telling its story. Grace Eberwine wrote a radio play for a white paper birch along the bus lane: “... I cherish every breeze that comes my way. I also enjoy seeing all the little kids that wait for their busses at the end of the day. Yet they always pick at my bark. They don’t do that to any of my sisters, though, so why me? It really hurts when they do that, and it takes time to grow back.” The teachers have moved on to other innovative projects, many of which are informed by what they experienced with the two eBook projects. The student authors, now seniors, will graduate this June, on the back patio, near the American Beech. One of the branches of the legacy they leave us is a carefully researched, visual, musical story of the trees that dot Penn Charter’s campus. PC Enjoy the free download of the Class of 2017 eBook, A Field Guide to Campus Trees, available on iTunes.
The student-published A Field Guide to Campus Trees makes connections among plant genetics, weather patterns, mathematics, digital animation, design, audio recording and the fine arts. Read more about gifts that support innovations in teaching and learning. Inside back cover.
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Where
Come to Life by Connie Langland
A 21st century curriculum requires 21st century learning spaces — IdeaLabs. The IdeaLab in the lower level of the Richard B. Fisher Middle School seems cavernous – nearly 90 feet long and plenty wide with high ceilings, bright lighting and ample elbow room among the worktables, storage and snazzy equipment. There’s a 3D printer in one corner, two more farther down the room, and a laser cutter in a
prominent spot. Oversized exhaust hoods and high-powered ventilation keep the soldering table and other work areas free of fumes. There are safety locks on power saws, and electrical cords roll up out of the way when not in use. It’s a great space, but that’s not the main thing.
Corey Kilbane, left, and students watch the laser cutter in action, outputting a computer-designed pattern to their exact specifications.
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“What we’re aspiring to do is to give our kids spaces for creation, collaboration, communication,” said Corey Kilbane, IdeaLab coordinator and Upper School chemistry teacher. “We want it warm, welcoming, where anyone can come down and work on their idea.” David Brightbill, academic dean for curriculum and professional development, described the opening of the lab – the soft rollout began in the fall of 2015 – as “an opportunity to rethink the learning experience, to really go beyond what’s happening in the classroom.” The focus on doing, creating and problem solving “is much more a hands-on approach, where students are producing something that shows that the learning has taken place as opposed to just regurgitating facts on a test,” he said. Teachers are being trained to use the new technology and urged to think about how what they’ve learned might be applicable to the courses they’re teaching. “There is an expectation that all departments will at least be considering these opportunities,” Brightbill said.
Sound Design Instrumental music students have been studying the physics of sound and instrument design by building PVC or plywood versions of their instruments in the lab. The effort is a result of a VITAL summer professional development grant that funded a research collaboration between Brad Ford, Upper School music teacher, and Tim Clarke, Upper School science teacher. Players built rudimentary trombones, for instance, using PVC piping cut to size and plastic mouthpieces shaped by a 3D printer (also used to create bright blue bells for the horn). Changing the interior shape of the mouthpiece has an effect that the students can discern as they play. “The long-term goal is to play with the shape and see the effect on the tone,” Clarke said. “We try things out, we learn from our errors,” said Ford. “And students get a better understanding of the instruments they play.”
Trombone player and sophomore Cole Frieman agreed. “It’s so cool – you put the pieces together and, oh, it’s an instrument now,” he said. “To build it, you really have to learn about the instrument, more than just knowing how to play it. We’re building mouthpieces right now and Mr. Clarke will ask, ‘Does it feel right? How does it feel different?’ It’s amazing.”
Fabric Design Upper School theater teacher Eva Kay Noone learned how to operate the laser cutter and the 3D printer along with the software programs during a VITAL professional development week in the summer of 2015. “My brain was ready to explode!” Noone exclaimed. The task, she said, then became finding ways to apply what she had learned. “I gravitated more towards the laser cutter because I was thinking about wearable art and how to marry what I call old-style skills, like the sewing machine, like needle and thread, with the modern laser cutter. Plus, I was seeing
all these beautiful fashions that were coming out with laser-cut designs,” she said. Noone’s brainstorming for her costume design course resulted in an eye-catching project, Hawaiian reverse-applique fabric design. Students each created a snowflakelike pattern, photographed it, and sent the image via email to Kilbane, who helped them laser-cut each image on white cloth. They then used old-school technology – sewing machines – to complete their work. Junior Priya Ahmad documented the process on video. “It was fun. I got to learn how to use a laser cutter and how to do some of the computer stuff that comes with it,” Ahmad said. “I’m a hands-on type of learner, so it was nice to see my project come to life.” Noone said fall semester’s end-of-course project would involve repurposing used materials into a costume. IdeaLab resources, she said, “open the door” to all sorts of possible creations. The extra space and the new technology have transformed two mainstays in the
Science teacher Eve Schwartz offers after-school maker courses for Middle School students who want to learn coding, robotics, design, mapping, and how to use the equipment in the IdeaLab.
science realm: the eighth-grade Physics 500 boxcar project and the Upper School bridge construction project in Advanced Physics class.
Physics, Then and Now Previously, students would spend hours manually cutting the parts for their vehicles, including wheels, with little chance to test for continued on next page
Using the IdeaLab’s laser cutter and 3D printer, Upper School science teacher Tim Clarke and band teacher Brad Ford spent much of their summer building musical instruments to study the physics of sound.
Thank you!
When the Middle and Upper School IdeaLab was just an idea on paper, Craig Sabatino OPC ‘74 became enthused about the concept. So that the project could be completed as envisioned, Sabatino made a gift to the school to cover the cost.
Our students and teachers are grateful!
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Strategic Vision Goals 2, 3 and 5 A Strategic Vision
As much as any other curricular innovation in the past three years, the IdeaLab is a farreaching implementation of the Strategic Vision unveiled in March 2013. The new spaces fulfill at least three of the goals of that vision for the future of Penn Charter:
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. The IdeaLab advances the educational program by teaching students to use 21st century tools – 3D printers, laser cutters, 360-degree scanners, green screens, and more – to solve problems, use what they know, and bring their ideas to life.
Goal 3: EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING Promote excellence in teaching by supporting faculty to develop and advance their professional practice.
The IdeaLab, with the support of the VITAL summer grant program for teachers, has spurred remarkable faculty development and cross-divisional and interdisciplinary work; that work has shifted the role for some from teacher to catalyst, innovating, coaching and collaborating with students.
Goal 5: SPACE
Develop and repurpose space to serve the changing needs of the Penn Charter program and mission. A 21st century curriculum requires 21st century learning spaces – IdeaLabs.
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durability before the big race down the incline by Graham Athletics Center. One, maybe two cars would make it to the finish line. Last spring, there were six, and they went faster and further than in previous years. With teachers running the laser cutter, students had glued layers of cardboard together to create perfectly round wheels, and they had plenty of time left to test for sturdiness and refine their cars. Previously, bridge building was a lengthy, tedious, sticky project, with students having only one chance to test for strength and structural weaknesses. Now, students design their bridges on their MacBook Airs, do some testing virtually, then have the components laser-cut to size before fastening the pieces together for testing. “Instead of building one bridge over two weeks, they’re making five or six,” Kilbane said. “With the traditional project, you would just write up your results, but science is all about coming up with the thing, testing, evaluating, refining. That’s what they’re able to do now.” The designs, he said, have become “more intricate, more efficient, and the kids can reflect on the process at every point along the way.” Brightbill was equally enthusiastic. “It’s more like what would happen in real life, in the industrial world,” he said. The kind of testing that an engineer would do “they are doing now as juniors or seniors for their physics class.” Current projects lean toward STEM – science, technology, engineering and math – but the space is designed for STEAM – the A is for art. There’s a green screen for shooting
Students in Costume Design learn to use the laser cutter and sewing machines to design fabric and costumes.
video productions next to a space reserved for testing robots, next to shelves stacked with the parts of the ersatz saxophones. Noone’s project is an example of how faculty from all departments can use the space. “A lot of us see things as pretty siloed, with particular rooms and spaces belonging to certain people. But we wanted to create a space that is really inclusive,” said Kilbane. Since PC acquired its first 3D printer, Kilbane has sought to make curricular connections outside of science. He began by partnering with the Smithsonian 3D Digitization group to bring artifacts from its network of museums into the classroom. He later spent a summer as a teacher associate at the National Museum of American History to explore hands-on approaches to combine history and science.
Pre-kindergarten teacher Brooke Giles uses point-and-shoot cameras to introduce her students to photography, beginning with portraiture. Feeling they were ready for an adventure and a next step, Giles brought pre-K groups to the green screen in the IdeaLab so Upper School photography students could teach them how to use more sophisticated equipment. Both big and little kids took turns as photographer and subject.
Building upon the lessons learned and success of the IdeaLab for students in grades 6-12, Penn Charter created a developmentally appropriate IdeaLab to enhance curriculum and instruction for grades 1-5.
More than a Makerspace Kilbane’s role in the PC IdeaLab is pivotal. He views the lab as a sort of library, one with a supersized toolbox of resources. “I’m becoming a part-time librarian, if you will. I’m there to show people how to use the tools, how to use the space, to keep it organized.” Clarke said having a person who is passionate about the space and has the knowledge to make things work is critical. “Corey is enthusiastic,” Clarke said. “He makes a conscious effort to pull people in. The goal is not just to draw in engineering and science people but for everybody to consider it a space they can use.” The IdeaLab itself was born through a VITAL grant awarded five years ago to Kilbane, along with librarian Doug Uhlmann in Gummere Library and Sheila Ruen, chair of visual arts at the time, according to Brightbill. (Read more about VITAL on the inside front cover.) “Architecturally, ours is definitely not one of the fanciest of spaces, but it definitely has the space and tools that kids need to really get the work done,” said Brightbill. “A lot of times these types of makerspaces are very much a part of the science program, but that’s not the way we see it at all. We’re looking at it much more holistically.”
The opening of the lab spurred a rethinking of all the creative spaces across the Penn Charter campus, from the art studios, to the music rooms, to the digital photography lab, to the woodshop in the Lower School. Brightbill now thinks of them collectively as IdeaLab spaces. Kilbane concurred, saying studios and equipment should be considered a shared resource no matter where they are situated. “With all these creative spaces – what classes might use them? What tools do they offer?” he asked. “It reflects that whole Quaker ethos – finding that light of inspiration in every place we can.”
Just for Lower School The Lower School opened its own, smaller IdeaLab space this fall, run by Christina Brennan, Lower School technology coordinator. “It’s a robotics, engineering, arts, science kind of space with technology imbedded in what we do,” Brennan said. One project: designing a miniature chair that might suit Iggy Peck, the boy architect with fanciful ideas in a children’s book by that name. Working in groups, the students constructed their chairs using molding clay and pipe cleaners. Over time, the use of this new Lower School IdeaLab will provide students with more
opportunities for inquiry-based, hands-on learning. Gradually, they will learn design thinking, technology and basic coding skills that will provide a foundation for learning in Middle and Upper School. Walking through the Middle and Upper School IdeaLab, Brightbill considered the big picture. “We see this as a catalyst for curriculum change,” he said, surveying the room. “It’s not just the space itself, but more importantly it’s building connections between students, between teachers … departments … divisions. It’s really an opportunity for us to rethink the learning experience.” The mantra of IdeaLab enthusiasts seems to be: Try it, you’ll like it. “I love meeting with students down here,” said Kilbane. One group visited with questions about chemistry and density. “As soon as they got in the space, they started asking questions and asking can they do this, can they do that,” he recalled. “It’s just a matter of getting students in the door.” Frieman, the trombone player, had exactly that reaction. “I love the lab,” he said. “It gives you a place to be the most creative you can be. If you have an idea, and you want to go do it, it gives you all the tools you need.” PC
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OPC
weekend 2016 The Meeting Room during the annual OPC Reception – the 124th on record! – was crowded with one of the largest turnouts in recent memory, with many alumni and even former parents returning to honor Stephen A. Bonnie OPC ’66, the 2016 recipient of the Alumni Award of Merit. Head of School Darryl J. Ford updated reunioners and friends on Penn Charter today, enumerating exciting changes to curriculum and facilities. He recognized Ralph Gunther Hon. 1689, a PC foreign language teacher and soccer coach over three decades, for “challenging students for the sake of their own growth,” and Gunther rose from the crowd to acknowledge the accolade and the applause from former students. Ford recalled other teachers, now departed, who inspired and motivated students, including Wilbur Braxton, Fritz Kempner, Jon Steere, Ted Shakespeare, Alice Davis and Cheryl Irving. The impact of inspirational teachers continues in the present day, Ford said. “While we may have new curriculum and facilities, some things remain the same,” Ford said. “The faculty remains at the heart of Penn Charter, and the teacher-student relationship is central to what makes our school special.”
The 50th reunion of the Class of 1966 drew a crowd and raised an Annual Fund gift of $82,264. Thank you,
Class of 1966!
Brian Cash OPC ’00 and Margaux Genovese Pelegrin OPC ’99 – the incoming and outgoing presidents of the Alumni Society – shared the stage with Head of School Darryl J. Ford.
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James Bell OPC ‘06 and his wife, Sabrina, joined other alumni and their families for the Kenny M. Caldwell OPC ’89 Memorial Kicknick. Alumni Award of Merit recipient Stephen A. Bonnie with Dareem and Shawn David OPC ’09, two of dozens of graduates who returned to honor an iconic teacher/coach. More on next page.
Elizabeth Wills OPC ’11, Chelsea Erdmanis Greenspon OPC ’02 and Rachel Dyer OPC ’92 teamed up to offer a lacrosse clinic for girls in grades 3-8.
To the delight of reunioning classes from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, their teacher Ralph Gunther Hon. 1689 returned to campus for a brief cameo at Friday night’s program.
The OPCs of Color Networking Brunch brought current students and graduates together to discuss their PC experiences.
Adam Greenberg OPC ’06, Blair Braun Weber OPC ’06, Sarah Roberts Hall OPC ’06 and husband Chester Hall.
The Class of 2006 reunioned on campus and off. Remember to look in Class Notes, beginning on page 28, for more reunion class photos.
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Alumni
OPC weekend 2016
alumni award of
merit
“To a graduate of the William Penn Charter School whose character and outstanding achievement have reflected lasting credit upon this school.”
Stephen A. Bonnie OPC ’66
The Alumni Award of Merit, given “to a graduate of the William Penn Charter School whose character and outstanding achievement have reflected lasting credit upon this school,” was presented to Stephen A. Bonnie OPC ’66 by his friend and former student, Andrew Kramer OPC ’81. Bonnie, now the Director of Stewardship and Special Projects at Penn Charter, delighted the crowd with his heartfelt and, true to character, humorous acceptance speech. And so, long ago and far away, it was time for me to leave Houston elementary school in Mt. Airy after sixth grade and give independent schools a try. I applied to Penn Charter and yes, Germantown Academy. Somehow I got into both, and, bad news, my father’s best friend was chairman of
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the board at GA. I had visited GA’s unique campus and lovely building down School House Lane and was also unimpressed by their director of admissions, who reminded me of Mr. Peepers. But I had also visited PC’s beautiful edifice and met Ralph Palaia, the man who gave me a chance for this great opportunity. It was over… for me… in what seemed like two years, but probably was two days, and I was finally allowed to make my choice – Penn Charter! So in September of 1960, before most of you were born, I began school at old PC on the same day as my teacher and mentor, Allan Brown, a curious karma to say the least. With this incredible opportunity, I spent six years loving Penn Charter, playing soccer, running track, socializing too much, studying sometimes and having more fun than I probably should have. Bert Linton really tried to teach me mathematical concepts, Phil Maroney let me write extra credit book reports, Joe Perrott fed me Hamlet in small doses and Ollie Nuse said I was a hopeless artist. I also had the pleasure of learning soccer from Chick Conrad and track from Russ Faber – although they didn’t seem to feel the pleasure. Oh, and back to Allan Brown: He contributed to my high selfesteem by writing two pages of corrections and criticism in bright red on my essay that was one-and-a-half pages long! Let’s cut to the chase: I was in Reds McMillan’s Latin class when I received a note typed in red from Dr. Gummere – “Report to my office at 11:15.” Oh baby… I am waiting in that chair by his office at 11:10, the glass door is closed/ the walnut door is open. He doesn’t even look up, and says, “Come.” I go through the glass door partially… stop… and boom it hits me in the backside, and I am vaulted into his office… Again… He never looks up. “44.” “Yes, sir.” “You will be going to Temple.” “Yes, sir.” “That will be all.” “Yes, sir.” I gratefully sprinted back to Latin class. Doc John was the scariest man I ever knew. Penn Charter prepared me really well for college. One of my jobs there was to help other student-athletes learn to put together a term paper and decipher the nuances of an essay test. Many of my fellow athletes were not English majors and appreciated my input even when it came deftly packaged in a sarcastic tone. Each year, the Penn Charter seniors have little idea about how blessed they will be. With a touch of humor and much sincerity, former student and current friend Andrew Kramer OPC ‘81 introduced his old teacher.
Alumni
OPC weekend 2016
honorary 1689
Dana Toedtman and Mary Gallagher Dana Toedtman Dana Toedtman and Mary Gallagher received Honorary 1689 diplomas, which are given to “a member of the Penn Charter community who has shown extraordinary commitment to the school by demonstrating pride and excellence in the performance of their duties and by consistently providing encouragement and support to the student body.”
Head of School Darryl J. Ford with the Alumni Society Award of Merit winners for 2016 and 2015: Stephen A. Bonnie OPC ’66 and Shanin Specter OPC ’75.
I got my first teaching job at Lankenau School, formerly a girls’ school, across the street, which had gone coed. Perhaps this was because I could teach English and history as well as coach, or perhaps it was because I had spent so much time there in my youth. My real break came when Buff Weigand hired me to coach Middle School soccer and track and it was – game on. It did, however, take applying for a teaching job at PC four times! But finally Wilbert Braxton and Earl Ball had mercy on me and hired me as a full-time teacher in 1976… And sincerest thanks to both of them. My favorite course to teach was always seventh grade English, but it is also really a joy to presently teach my seniors in the William Penn history course, where they generally seemed amused… or… is it bemused? Penn Charter always taught us to be well-rounded and try different things, and the sports requirement encouraged us to try to be athletes. Somehow this led me to be the varsity track coach for the past 41 years. I cannot mention all the wonderful kids that I had the pleasure of working with, but I am proud of their numerous championships, thrilled with the development of our girls program, thanks to Liz Flemming, and I take great enjoyment in seeing how these track graduates have utilized the life skills that Penn Charter taught them. And thank you to those generous people who funded our beautiful new track. When the great Ralph Palaia retired in 1982, Earl Ball was kind enough to allow me to be Director of Admissions. The Admissions job gave me the opportunity to give young people the same gift from which I had benefitted. I thought about that every day. That period saw the matriculation of girls to Penn Charter and far greater economic and racial diversity. I was most proud that we, as a Quaker school, looked beyond test scores and chose to give opportunity based on a student’s character and Inner Light. The former headmaster and liberator, Anthony Benezet, who supported these same ideas in the 1700s, would be most impressed. When Ralph Palaia had his retirement party, he was asked, “You made many great picks, but did you make any mistakes?” He said after a long pause, “Yes, Steve Bonnie and Rick Mellor.” I will reflect even longer, but then reveal my two picks at the party that follows tonight. Speaking of jokes, I have experienced a lot of them regarding my various “projects” around campus: e.g., refinishing old teachers’ desks, painting the window wells, creating offices out of closets, fixing the Meeting Room benches and generally being annoying. I see this as ‘in school’ community service, and I highly recommend it to everyone.”
Dana Toedtman, retired in 2015, began her long association with Penn Charter 30 years ago as a reading specialist and later learning specialist for grades K-12.
“Dana’s job at Penn Charter was to do the impossible,” Ford said. “Singlehandedly, she was to rescue students who were not finding academic success and help them to turn around their academic performance. As Superwoman, Dana did just this.”
Ford and colleagues considered Toedtman a “friend extraordinaire,” he said. “Dana might cook you a meal, bake you some bread, write an encouraging note or present a gift at the exact right moment of need. Just as she gave professionally to our students, she gave personally to her colleagues, and all of us became her friend.”
Mary Gallagher Denise Haigler Hon. 1689, longtime assistant to the head of school, worked with Mary Gallagher in the front office and described her as “a team player” who supported athletics, the Middle School, college counseling and the assistant head of school. “While Mary has been gone for 15 years,” Haigler said, “her heart has never left Penn Charter, and she will always be part of the Penn Charter community.” With the receipt of the Honorary 1689 degree, Mary joins her husband and children Jennifer OPC ’94, Megan OPC ’93 and William Jr. OPC ’91 as OPC. Mary Gallagher, matriarch of a family with serious Penn Charter roots, came to work at PC when her husband William Gallagher Hon. 1689 became athletic director and football coach.
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William Penn Charter School
Then & Now
1970
Circa
Upper School visual arts teacher Charles Olson instructs a student on the finer points of film editing.
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2016
Upper School Science teacher Corey Kilbane uses the IdeaLab to collaborate with students on a robotics challenge.
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Alumni
Class Notes Penn Charter magazine wants to hear from you, and your classmates do, too! Submit your news and photos at penncharter.com/classnote. Digital photos should be 300 dpi JPEGs.
Dear OPCs ... The PC Class Notes are alive and well, and bigger than ever!
1939 Robert C. McAdoo, who was Phi Beta Kappa at Amherst College, returned to campus for Color Day, where he met with Amherst-bound seniors Cesar R. Centeno, Jennifer Bown and Hannah R. Fox — fellow members of the PC yellow team!
Thank you to the OPCs who responded to the request for notes for this issue, which unveils a new design for this ever-popular section of the magazine. We are already making plans for the spring edition so please send us your updates and let us continue to keep you connected with your classmates. If you are one of those OPCs who begins reading the magazine from the back to the front, make sure your Class Note is in the next issue. Please email me at crahill@penncharter.com or call 215-844-3460 ext. 134 to catch up.
Class of 1946 70th Reunion
Go, Charter! Chris Rahill OPC ’99 Director of Alumni Relations Harry A. Alsentzer III, John H.S. Spencer Jr., John H. Gawthrop, Irwin L. Park Jr. and Benjamin H. Linton Jr. celebrated their reunion during lunch at Head of School Darryl J. Ford’s house.
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Alumni
Class Notes
1950 Whitman “Pete” Cross II says, “I feel very fortunate to be able to have spent the past 18 ‘semi-retirement’ years as a part-time personal trainer in a medically-based program in Charlottesville, Va., where I played soccer for the University of Virginia. This has been a great way to enter those ‘golden years,’ both socially and professionally. I am still running occasional photo/natural history tours of Iceland with the same Icelandic guide I have used since 1978! My wife, Joy, continues to enjoy being an exhibiting watercolor artist. Our families will always occupy some of our time — 15 grandkids! I plan on being at the next big reunion in 2020!” Christopher W. Parker Sr. writes, “Janie and I are doing just fine — with Janie doing most of the ‘doing.’ Our move to Crefeld Street in Chestnut Hill in 2000 has been great. Son Chris settled in Florida, where he’s the go-to guy for weather forecasting for sailors in the Caribbean area. Daughter Pam lives two blocks away with husband Mike and two girls. We’re not world travelers, but we do Florida (Sanibel) in the winter — as all Philadelphians should — and we go to Chautauqua in the summer.”
1951 Michael J. Bennett Jr. reports that he and his wife, Judy, are “sailing along fine.” Son Dan Bennett OPC ’81 is in California, Michael E. Bennett OPC ’85 lives in North Carolina, and daughter Keren is in Switzerland, with seven grandchildren among them. In June 2016, he and Harvey I. Salwen attended the “stately and festive” funeral of classmate Nelson R. Hartranft. “Looking forward to seeing you all at our 95th OPC reunion in 2046,” he writes. “Why not?” George Denniston lives on the Olympic Peninsula, in Wash., and is currently and is currently president of Doctors Opposing Circumcision. He wishes all his classmates well.
Jay M. Neal II writes, “Since our reunion in May did not work out, my wife, Connie, and I got together with Richard W. Aberle for lunch in Exton. Great food and conversation. Our son, his wife, and their two redheaded daughters live in suburban D.C., and we live near Annapolis, Md.” Michel Skrodzki writes, “It still makes me proud to be a legendary part of PC Class of 1951, even if it is 66 years since then. So what has gone in between? First, my name is Mike Skrodzki, from Germany, and now Switzerland. At PC I was known as ‘good old Mike.’ This funny name was created by Dr. Gummere, Henry Evans (biology), Mr. Walters (mathematics), and Mr. W. Bill Lane (English), with whom I had constant contact until his death. He even visited me in Germany, together with his lovely wife, Ruth. “When I returned to Germany, I studied organic chemistry, primarily paint and coating technology. In 1966 I moved with my beloved family (including my son and daughter) to Switzerland. I am the chief executive responsible for the research and development department of an international paint and coating company. But soon I must retire completely, due to my age. In private life, my wife and I did quite a lot of sport, like mountain climbing, skiing, and ballroom dancing (participating in the European and world championships with rather great success). “If I look back, I can say I am honored to have had the chance, due to the German scholarship in 1950/1951, to experience that special year in the USA, especially to have been a student at PC. Thanks again and lots of greetings, particularly to those friends of my class.”
1952 Colson H. Hillier Jr. writes, “Living on Amelia Island, Florida, continues to be invigorating — so much to do, and I really enjoy playing my weekly golf and pétanque. The many wonderful volunteering opportunities and travelling to see grandchildren keeps my wife, Pat, and me on the go! Looking forward to returning to Penn Charter in May 2017 to celebrate our 65th reunion!”
George C. (Skip) Corson Jr. (gccesq@gmail.com) and F. Bruce Waechter (waechterjb@aol.com) would like to remind their classmates that the 65th reunion is in the works. It will be May 4-6, 2017, beginning with a dinner on Thursday. Much of Friday will be spent at Penn Charter for the OPC Weekend tours and events, followed by dinner for the Class of ’52 on Saturday. “Put May 4-6, 2017 on your calendars for your class reunion — If not now, when?”
1953 John Budd took up writing five years after retiring from business and recently published his fourth book, Idol, a suspense novel. For more information about his books, go to johnsbudd.com.
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Class Notes Donald S. Luria reports, “I more or less retired with my wife, Donna Nordin, from the restaurant business after Café Terra Cotta closed in 2009. However, we are still “foodies”! Donna teaches Southwestern, French and other classes, and I help prep, set tables, wash pots and pans, and pour wine. I’m affectionately referred to as her kitchen slave. “So what keeps me busy? Two activities! For Christmas 2015 my four children gave me a Fitbit. It was to help me keep in shape after I had a pacemaker installed with the recognition that I was headed towards cardiac arrest in June 2015. “My children all do great. Deborah is coordinator of prospective graduate student services at Gallaudet College, Cindie is a very successful Realtor, selling over 60 houses a year here in Tucson. Michael is executive director of the Tucson Children’s Museum, and Andrew is director of Technical Services Global Enterprise & Technology Solutions at EDP. Grandchildren are not too bad, with Ryan a PhD student in clinical psychology at the University of Arizona, Casey going for her doctorate in physical therapy at Northern Arizona University, Hunter a great hairdresser and creative bartender, and Max exceptional in high school. “We lost our youngest granddaughter, Kelsey Taylor Luria, to AML Leukemia at 18 years and 6 days last year. But before she lost her life she set up a nonprofit, Bald Beauties (baldbeautiesproject.org), to pay for makeup and family photographs of children and young adults that have lost their hair through chemotherapy. More than 40 have benefited so far. Over 700 people came for her ‘celebration of life.’” William E. Lutz writes, “Jan and I are blessed with good health, allowing us to do lots of travel. Last fall, we celebrated turning 80 by taking a trip around the world with 14 other explorers—we spent 36 days touring 10 countries on five
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continents! Flying from Los Angeles, we started in Bali, then toured Singapore, enjoyed a few days on the Eastern and Oriental Express train through Malaysia to Bangkok. We flew to Istanbul, then south to Cape Town and Kruger National Park before flying from Johannesburg to South America. We enjoyed Buenos Aires and the incredible, huge Iguassu Falls, then visited Lima, Sacred Valley and Cuzco, Peru. Walking among the ruins of Macchu Picchu was exhausting but amazing — oh, to be a bit younger! “This June, we took two grandchildren to France to meet and visit their French cousins. My first trip to Paris and Normandy was as a Penn Charter junior, when I spent the summer with my cousins, the Balsans, and I’ve been going back and forth with them ever since. How lucky we are!”
are living in Princeton, NJ. We have three children (two boys, one girl) who live in Ecuador, Pasadena and Princeton, plus nine granddaughters. We have been fortunate in spending time with them all. I am keeping busy with business and nonprofit activities, and having great fun with both. Two or three times a year, I keep up with classmates in the Philadelphia area with class lunches that Bill Hamilton has been nice enough to organize.”
1955
When James A. Lehman retired after 43 years at Akron Children’s Hospital, the craniofacial center there was renamed in his honor. It’s now the James A. Lehman Jr., MD Craniofacial Center at Akron Children’s Hospital.
John J. Bevan writes, “After PC, I received a BSME from Drexel and served two years in the Army Corps of Engineers. Returned to Philly and received my MBA from Drexel. I spent 27 years at PECO in various capacities, including the development of a long-range energy forecasting model. I retired in 1991 serving as the assistant to the VP of Commercial Operations. “In 2010, I moved to Shell Point Retirement Community in Fort Myers, Florida. Since 2005, I have spent a great amount of time traveling the world, from north of the Arctic Circle to the Antarctic. On one trip I met Carl Stawström in Sweden. “Before moving to Shell Point, my “on land hobby” was gardening and trying to play golf, which I never succeeded in doing. Now my hobby is genealogy. This summer I’m visiting newly discovered relatives who reside in Cheshire. I will be visiting many towns and villages in Cheshire where my ancestors lived, worked and are buried. “This past June while attending a funeral of a family member in Philly, I stopped by the old school. Front entrance still looks the same, but the school really has expanded. It’s been a great life, and I look forward to attending my 70th class reunion in 2025. I missed the 60th last year, as I was on a cruise to England and the Mediterranean.”
George H. McLaughlin II says, “Charlotte and I have been married 56 years and
Charles Clayton Jr. reports, “On the first day of spring 2015, Chris Donahower
Philip H. Pfatteicher writes, “Lois and I are living in Boston, enjoying reasonably good health. We’re especially enjoying our newest grandchild, who’s now 6 months old, but she lives in Pittsburgh so we don’t see her often. I keep busy writing (17 books so far, large and small, but who’s counting?) and serving in an honorary capacity at the Church of the Advent on Beacon Hill. Life’s good, even though we are getting old and surprised how close we are getting to the beginning of the class reports in the alumni news of our schools.”
1954
Alumni
Class Notes Robert L. Gray, Thomas M. Twitmyer, Richard N. Westcott and Frank J. Wiechec meeting for old stories and lunch at an undisclosed location somewhere in the Sunshine State.” After more than 15 years living in London, David Hugh Rosenbaum is going to follow the Brexit vote, which he deplores, by moving back to the U.S. sometime in the next year or so to a retirement home outside of Philadelphia. There he hopes to catch up on classmates who are still in the area.
and I were married, after having known each other for 60 years. Classmates may remember her as Chris Lapp from Abington Friends, class of 1956. We live at Foulkeways, a continuing-care retirement community in Gwynedd. With a year and a half under our belts we are totally enjoying the people, the 136-acre campus and the rewarding lifestyle offered here. The only problem is that we are surrounded by graduates of Germantown Friends and George School but nary an OPC. “Classmates Robert L. Gray, Earl W. Glazier, and I would meet for lunch two or three times a year until Earl’s death in November 2015. Bob and Earl’s friendship went back 68 years at the time of Earl’s passing. Many memories shared during each lunch together. It’s reported that this past winter a mini reunion materialized in Florida with William S. Colehower,
Carl Stawström writes, “I studied at PC in 1954-55 on an AFS scholarship. This was a great experience, I got several new friends and learned much. The teaching and the teachers were excellent. I stayed with the Fischer family of Chestnut Hill. After returning I studied at the Royal University of Stockholm (KTH). I taught math and physics at a senior high school for some years and then got a chair as associate professor in Electronics at KTH, where I stayed until my retirement. “My wife, Annelie, and I built our own home in Tyresö, a small community close to Stockholm. We still live there. We have two children, a girl and a boy, and three granddaughters, proud young women in their 20s. We have travelled extensively, in Scandinavia (naturally) and the Baltic states, Germany, England, Southern
Europe, Egypt and Turkey. A visit to India and Nepal was a tremendous experience, as was our train journey from Saint Petersburg to Beijing on the Transsiberian Railroad followed by a three-week tour of China. I am still keeping contact with two of my classmates, John J. Bevan III (now in Florida) and David Hugh Rosenbaum (in England), and I am really looking forward to hearing about many of the others.” Owen B. Tabor writes, “I am retired from orthopedic surgery practice, flying and bagpipes. With the help of two new knees and my wife of 55 years, Margaret, I am busy keeping up with grandchildren, some golf, and splitting time between Memphis and Charlottesville, Va. I treasure the memories of the PC years, the friends made, lessons learned, and the chance to know some really great men. The Trident Society, now completely unknown to current students and faculty, was to this day the greatest honor of my early life. I am, in a word, extremely grateful for the PC that took me in as a Quarta student on scholarship in 1948! Sent from Isle of Skye, Scotland.” Richard N. Westcott has just authored his 25th book, this one called The Champions of Philadelphia. It covers the title-winning teams of Philadelphia’s four major league professional sports teams. Rich has been a writer and editor with newspapers and magazines throughout his 56-year career. He’s a recent past president of the Philadelphia Sports Writers’ Association. His website is www.richwestcott.com. Rich holds a bachelor’s degree from Drexel University and a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University. He’s been married to the former Lois Cherry for 58 years. The couple has four children and nine grandchildren. The Westcotts have lived most of their adult lives in Springfield (Delaware County).
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Class Notes
Class of 1956 60th Reunion
1956 John D. Corbit III reported on his first couple of decades after graduation. “My very ambitious goal in science was to transform psychology from a qualitative science to a quantitative science like physics. That is, it is one thing to show that A causes B, and quite another to work out the immutable equation that relates A to B. That was my purpose. Colleagues knew that I was doing important work, but their training was at the qualitative level and they could not make the paradigm shift to understand the higher level. For me that was lonely and disappointing, and it was extremely hard work. I could only take so much of that. “My wife, Tina, and I bought our first boat in 1969. Loved it. Then in 1971 we bought a very serious boat, a Grand Banks.
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We became very competent cruising from Narragansett Bay to Block Island, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and the North Shore of Massachusetts. In academic year 1975-1976 I took an unpaid leave of absence and we, with our 1-yearold daughter, Laura, headed down the Intracoastal Waterway from Narragansett all along the East Coast to Palm Beach, Fla., and then out to the Bahamas for the winter and spring. Then back to Rhode Island. That was an incredible adventure. “In 1977 we sold the boat and, in response to the Arab oil embargo, built the first 100 percent space-heated home in the state of Rhode Island. It was a beauty! And active and passive solar heating worked even though there were no components for sale at that time. We built them ourselves. I am proud of that, too.”
After graduation, Henry R. (Harry) Waddington went to Bucknell University. “I then worked for the Stouffer Foods Corporation in their restaurant division in Philadelphia. Uncle Sam came calling and I entered the U.S. Navy in 1964. I served two years on the USS Enterprise in the communications department as a cryptographer. I also ran the wardroom, which fed 450 officers three meals a day. I then was transferred to Charleston, S.C., where I was in charge of the Officers’ Club, which I ran for two years. “Upon discharge from the Navy, I ran the New Orleans Playboy Club. After Playboy I returned to Charleston to run the Officers’ Club again. In 1974 the club was recognized as the best Officers’ Club in the Navy system. Then it was on to restaurant ownership in Charleston. I did that for six years then went back to the club industry. I managed Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, N.C., Quail Hollow Country Club in Charlotte, and, finally, the Piedmont Driving Club in Atlanta. “I am now retired and living in Sun City Hilton Head, enjoying life, playing golf and traveling. Jennie and I will be in Paris for New Year’s!”
1957 Daniel P. Mitchell has lived in the same house in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., for 43 years. His primary career was in radio broadcasting sales, in Orlando, Anaheim, Los Angeles and Palm Springs. He also worked in commercial real estate in Orange County. He’s been married to Maurine Bright of South Bend, Indiana, for 55 years.
Alumni
Class Notes They have five grown children and seven grandchildren, all in California. “My health, thank God, is fantastic,” he writes. “My wife suffers from the genetic disorder polymyalgia rheumatica, so she has slowed down quite a bit. Penn Charter is the finest school in my history, by far.”
learn more about our activities, visit www.amaniglobalworks.com or email me at de8@columbia.edu.”
1958 Carl Burkhart has been elected president of the board of directors of the homeowners association of Connestee Falls, a mountain community near Brevard, N.C. Carl and his wife, Barbara, have been married for 54 years and are great-grandparents of a 5-year-old “sweetie.”
1959 A. Merrick (Rick) Barnes went to Alaska last summer to get out of the heat, and he’s looking into a trip to Nova Scotia next year. “Anybody traveling north-south on the East Coast will pass close by to me,” he writes. “I live outside Raleigh, N.C. Give me a call and perhaps I can accommodate.”
1960 Samuel H. Francis says, “I’m long since retired — and after that, retired again — from a career in the tech world. My life is currently filled with a kaleidoscope
of hobbies: serving the local ambulance squad as EMT and executive; sailing the world (recently with classmates James M. Arrison and William W. Blodgett and Jack Rogers Hon. 1689; struggling to hit a little white ball with a club face open to the target line and closed to the swing path (why is geometry so difficult?). I love my wife, Bobbie, of 51 years, and my kids. And oh, those granddaughters!” John (Chuck) Harmon writes, “I still live in Syracuse, as I have since I came to Syracuse University in 1960. I am retired after spending almost 40 years as superintendent of juvenile detention for Onondaga County. I remain active golfing, fishing, boating, skiing and flying my C-172. “Now, about the best things in my life, my children. Anneliese, my first born, has lived in London for 22 years, managing a variety of interests in the music industry. My youngest, Chyleigh, enrolled at MIT
James A. Davis, a Live Oak County Sheriff ’s Office reserve deputy, earned the Governor’s Twenty Award as one of the top 20 Texas police officers in police combat pistol competition at the 2016 Texas State Police Shooting Championships. David Evans reported on his work in the Congo. “I’m volunteering for Amani Global Works, which has built a hospital and just this year started a school, the Idjwi Island Girls Academy. This photo is of the first graduation of grades K-4 and shows a girl wearing a pink backpack — the prize for being the best kindergarten student. The hospital has just started performing C-sections, initiated a family planning program, and is conducting a deworming campaign on the island. To
James M. Arrison reported on his latest seafaring adventure (pictured). “On the left you will find Samuel H. Francis (in blue shirt) and me, standing in front of Sam. We had just moored in Lefkas, Greece, having spent the week sailing from Corfu among the Greek islands in the Ionian Sea, west of the Greek mainland. Each year (almost) since leaving the U.S. Navy, Sam Francis has led charter cruises to exotic locations worldwide. Jack Rogers Hon. 1689 has sailed with us three times and intends to sail the Windward Islands in May 2017.”
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Class Notes at age 16 and graduated in 2014. She went on to Georgetown and completed a post-baccalaureate in physiology in 2015. She is now enrolled at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, pursuing her dream to become a medical doctor. My stepdaughter, Kurtria, is married and living in Fort Washington, Md., working for the USDA as a nutritionist. Kurtria and Jason gave me the most wonderful granddaughter, Margo, who is now 7 years old. She comes to Syracuse every summer to spend two weeks with Poppa Chuck. She is one of the reasons I am still in good health. I hope to be around for a long time to see my kids and granddaughter accomplish their dreams.” David A. Scott has a new grandson, Culver Jack Scott-Straight, born on June 22, 2016, pictured with his sister, Evelyn Eleanor.
1961 Richard E. Bater says, “After completing my BA at LaSalle College, I worked for a bit in the business world doing nothing of significance. My friend and mentor Edwin Owrid (known affectionately at PC as the Owl) encouraged me to apply to Drexel and get a master of library science, which I did with a minor in information science. Edwin was helpful in getting me a graduate assistantship that paid tuition along with a small stipend. “After graduation I worked for a number of years in public libraries and subsequently as a library consultant. I was also a teaching associate at Temple University in photography and finished a master’s program in communications. Subsequently, I worked at Stockton State College as media director. After that I worked in the PSE&G nuclear department. My last position was as directorship with the National Archives, where I was involved in setting a local area network and designing the website. By then I had had enough of staff meetings and memos and resigned to work in my own company designing online web marketing sites. “In 2007 I retired with my wife to Chambersburg. My wife and I are active in the local Methodist Church and enjoy the outdoors. We both continue to read
The Class of 1960 enjoyed a golf outing, lunch and conversation. From left: Sam Francis, Alicia Blodgett, James M. Arrison III, Head of School Darryl J. Ford, a friend, William R. Blodgett, two friends, Richard P. Allman, Alan Roberts McFarland Jr., Susan Arrison.
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extensively and watch as many British mysteries as we can find.” David L. Geyer reports, “After attending our 55th Reunion, Carol and I explored the Hudson River Valley, visited our grandkids in Santa Barbara and returned to our favorite haunts in Paris and Provence, including a visit with the Vickers at their grand bastide. In between, I ran the Philadelphia half marathon, and we added a new member to our household, a lab puppy named Walter. He joins his dog siblings, Annebelle and George, at our farm outside Cleveland.”
Jeffry H. Tindall writes, “My daughter, Sara Tindall Woodman, is being inducted into the Pingry School’s athletic hall of fame for her cross country and track years at the New Jersey school. At the same time, Brown University will induct her into the Brown All-Time Athletic Hall of Fame in cross country and track. She now resides in Providence, RI, has three children, and is a special assistant attorney general for the state of Rhode Island.”
Alumni
Class Notes
1962 John A. Blakely says, “I retired in 2000, after spending 30 years in hightech manufacturing, mostly with Texas Instruments. I relocated to Palm Springs, Calif., in 2004 and married my third wife, Jine Wang, in July 2006. She was born and raised in China. I live at Heritage Palms Country Club in Indio, Calif., and play golf three or four times every week. My handicap now is 16 and getting better as time goes by.” David H. Werkley writes, “Hello from paradise, otherwise known as the east coast of South Florida. I’ve been living here in Port St. Lucie for the past 10 years. Getting the opportunity to play golf two or three times a week is a benefit of working parttime at the PGA Golf Club, a job I thoroughly enjoy. My kids and grandkids all live in Indiana, and I just welcomed my first greatgrandchild into the world in July 2016. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone next May when we celebrate our 55th.”
1963 Charles (Charley) Kurz “Here is a photo of Richard M. (Dick) Dearnley, Steven P. Hannes and me at the beginning of the annual Longport Mile race at the Jersey Shore on July 4, 2016. Glad to report that we each completed the event in record time.”
Jack Rogers Hon. 1689 joined Nan and Douglas S. Little in the RAGBRAI (the Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa) for the benefit of Pedaling for Parkinson’s.
ecological restoration of endangered and fire-dependent Oak Savannah and Native Prairie ecosystems, both among the rarest on the planet. In 2013 Bauer legally married his life partner since 1969, Charles E. Beckwith. This year he sold the Soap Opera, became a temporary landlord and retired.
1964 Peter P. Liebert writes, “Dindy and I celebrated our 42nd anniversary this summer. Daughter Pippa OPC ’92 and husband have two sons, and Peter V OPC ’96 and wife just had their first child, a healthy boy, Peter VI. I reopened Liebert & Co., Inc. last January. Still playing golf, trapshooting, skating (no hockey at present) and swimming.”
1965 Charles T. Bauer graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University and received an MFA from the University of Wisconsin— Madison. In 1972 he cofounded the Soap Opera, a retail and mail-order business. In 1977 he purchased 82 acres in rural southwest Wisconsin and stabilized and restored six historic Norwegian immigrant diversified-farm buildings. In 1999 he began a “hundred year plan” for the remainder of the property, focusing on the
1966 Carl H. Hill writes, “Hello, Gents (the class was all that then). If you are reading this, I am glad that you are still with us. I am retired from pedagogy and Southwest Virginia and other careers and places over 50-plus years. Takako, my wife, and I live back in the woods a few miles on the Piedmont side of the Blue Ridge, where we listen to the frogs in the pond and the trees and get to interface weekly with the grandkids. Other than two blown rotator cuffs, I am in good old-age health, as is my wife. Takako pursues her art, and I try to lessen my ignorance in a variety of subjects. Sometimes, I find Bud to be wiser than many pundits. I wish well to all of you, and in the words of Vinegar Joe Stilwell, ‘Illegitimi non carborundum.’”
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Class Notes
Class of 1966
Peace, a Japanese organization that has the goal of the abolition of nuclear weapons.
50th Reunion
1969 Ray Siefert Benson writes, “Well, after 46 years Asleep at the Wheel, I’m still on the road playin’ music 150 days a year. Won another Grammy, our 10th, this year and enjoy traveling the world. Still in Austin, Texas, where I serve on numerous nonprofit boards. We appeared on two Austin City Limits television shows, one as they inducted us into the ACL hall of fame. My son Sam runs my business and recording studios in Austin, produces our CDs, and plays guitar on them. My other son, Aaron, was working for Smitty OPC ’69 and just moved on to another job as a movie trailer editor in L.A.”
Jeffrey A. Seder, wife Nina Burnaford, and their two children Wyatt and Meriwether (13 and 17) live on a horse farm in rural Pennsylvania with lots of dogs. He’s a lawyer and entrepreneur in horse racing businesses (www.eqb.com). He’s published multiple research publications in scientific journals on quadruped locomotion and sports medicine. A highlight, he reports, was being a key to the career of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in 2015.
1967 Joseph H. Huston says, “I didn’t graduate with the class, leaving after ninth grade (due to financial issues, not problems). I have never felt comfortable doing things like this or going to reunions but have supported the school financially a bit for many years, and have very warm memories. (My father was OPC ’24, first class to graduate in the newly-built gym at School House Lane.) I do keep in touch with several classmates sporadically. Kind regards, and good luck.”
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1968 Class agent Bruce C. Gill wants to remind ’68 that No. 50 is just two years away. We need a committee to put together the reunion! Edwin S. Skinner writes, “We relocated two years ago to the Cincinnati area after 30 years in Toledo. I work as a business manager for a small local school district. Pamela continues as an independent computer consultant. We are happy and busy attending grandchildren’s sporting events such as soccer and swimming. Hope all is well with classmates of 1968!” Kenneth J. Young reports, “I still have my minor league baseball teams in Norfolk, Va.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Biloxi, Miss.; and Bowie and Frederick, Md. During the summer I completed a seven-day trip down the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. It was great. I live in Tampa, if any OPCs are around.” G. Harvey Zendt has moved to Oxford, Md. He continues to work with underserved high school students and for Mayors For
James P. Harbison says, “I have finally retired after half a working life in applied physics. The other half a life was spent in computer software. I’m looking forward to spending more time with my four
Alumni
Class Notes grandchildren, honing my golf game, and exploring a host of hobbies and volunteer activities, like relearning guitar, building wooden boat models, and helping guide a community nature center at Pocono Lake Preserve. Lots to look forward to!” Craig B. Priest writes, “I am married to Debi Catarineau-Priest and living and working in Miami. No kids, just three horses, three dogs, five cats and three birds. I own a Corvette shop called the VetteSmith, Inc. I also own the ToneSmith, which is a boutique Two Rock guitar amplifier dealership. We do a lot of camping in the winter months with the dogs and horses. I do a lot of skeet and sporting clays shooting and have been doing CrossFit for the past year to slow the aging down a bit.” C. Brewster Rhoads writes, “I retired last summer from being executive director of Green Umbrella, the sustainability alliance for Greater Cincinnati. I am still consulting on political and issue campaigns and doing my best to win Ohio for Hillary Clinton. My older daughter, Elizabeth, lives in London and Indonesia and is finishing up her PhD in law. My younger daughter, Caroline, is
teaching elementary school in Yangon, Myanmar, and my wife, Ann, is still running her whistleblower law practice here in Cincinnati. My stock headshot for the past decade has been the attached one of me wearing my PC hat on the shores of Lake Erie. Still carrying the OPC spirit out here in the industrial heartland!”
1970 After almost 42 years with Aetna, most recently as senior vice president, public and labor, Russell R. Dickhart retired in March. Russ and Lora Jo still have a home in Wayne, but plan to spend about half of their time in Cape May and travel during the winter months, particularly to see their grandchildren in Houston. Russ also just finished serving his term as commodore of Corinthian Yacht Club of Cape May and continues to enjoy taking advantage of all that the New Jersey shore offers.
Robert J. Ingersoll just celebrated 30 years of teaching at Crane Country Day School in Santa Barbara, Calif. “I’m also approaching 30 years of marriage to Whitney,” he writes. “I’ve been in Santa Barbara for 42 years but return to Philadelphia and Surf City every summer to see my family. I always drive by Penn Charter and appreciate the people I knew and the education I received.” Pictured (from left): Dawson, in the process of graduating from Clark University; Robert; Rivers, a PhD student in mechanical engineering at Stanford; and Whitney.
Class of 1971 45th Reunion
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Class Notes C atching U p with :
Bob Picardo OPC ’71 (Photo Credit: Tommaso Boddi, Getty Images)
In one of the funniest scenes from the Coen brothers film, Hail, Caesar!, now available on video, four religious leaders try to advise studio executive Josh Brolin about the nature of God in a movie he’s hoping to produce. Look closely and you’ll notice that the rabbi is played by none other than Robert Picardo OPC ’71. In his 45-year theatrical career, the Yale-trained, Emmy-nominated Picardo has appeared in dozens of films and TV shows, most famously playing a hologram on Star Trek: Voyager. (He recently became a member of the board of directors of the Planetary Society, an organization which helps get young people interested in space exploration.) Picardo took a few minutes to talk about his role and working with the Coens.
How did you get the part? I had read for the Coen brothers previously for Inside Llewyn Davis. What’s wonderful about them as directors is that they really like actors. So when I went in to audition for Hail, Caesar!, they remembered me. The part I first read for was the producer of their movie within the movie. When I finished, they looked at each other. One raised an eyebrow, the other one nodded his head knowingly, and they said, would you look at this—and handed me the rabbi script. So I went outside, spent five to 10 minutes preparing, came back in and read it, and that’s the role I got. How much rehearsing did you do before filming? About a week before we shot the scene, we all sat around on a sound stage and read through the script. I was a little nervous because you don’t know how far they want you to go. I was very deadpan at first, and I could hear the Coens laughing. So on the day we actually shot the scene, I went a little further with my disdain and added a bit of a New York accent. How long did it take to film the scene? We filmed it in about 11 hours. That’s not a long day in the movie business; on Star Trek, we had many 14- or 15-hour days. What do you think you brought to the part? There was something about my big, dark eyes that made me look sullen and unhappy. I had played a curmudgeon on Star Trek, and I think that’s how they wanted the rabbi to be. I was able to convey a sense that my character didn’t want to be there and felt he was surrounded by idiots. I’m not saying that was something Penn Charter taught me; I would give that to Yale. – Mark F. Bernstein OPC ’79
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1971 William D. Barker reports, “It remains my life’s journey to continue portraying — and interpreting — Thomas Jefferson, which began for me 35 years ago at Independence Hall. It has been both personally fulfilling and intellectually rewarding to continue reading him as both he and I grow older. He has never ceased to remain an inspiration and fascination for me in these momentous times.” In the summer 2016 issue of Trend & Tradition: The Magazine of Colonial Williamsburg, Bill, who has portrayed Jefferson at the historic site for more than two decades, was profiled along with fellow interpreter Kurt Smith.
Alumni
Class Notes After living and working in numerous locations in the U.S. and Europe since leaving Penn Charter in 1971, David Kinley III has settled down in Chestnut Hill. He is semiretired and spends his time on volunteer work for nonprofits, golfing at a local club, surfing at many exotic beaches, and traveling to favorite places in Europe, Latin America, Asia and the U.S. During his 40-year professional career as a public information and communications specialist, David served with the United Nations Development Programme in New York, the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, and the World Bank Group in Washington, D.C. He’s the author of three major books on international development aid. David maintains close contact with a small group of OPC ’71 classmates that have been networking, travelling and celebrating friendship together for more than 50 years. Pictured: David and R. Keith Helmetag OPC ’71 on a surfing adventure in Rincon, Puerto Rico last winter.
Records in 2010. He maintains an active performing schedule as a soloist and with other singers and instrumentalists. Check the calendar page for his next gig in your locale. www.brucemcfarland05.com
1972 David R. Gilkeson writes, “I am still living in Houston, still working and raising a family. My son, Christopher, is 13 and in seventh grade, which was my first year at PC. I am looking forward to May 2017 and our 45th reunion. Where did the time go?”
1973
W. Bruce McFarland is currently choosing tunes and working on arrangements for his new CD. The album is scheduled for release in 2016-2017. The first song, “Wreckage in the Dust,” is available for preview on YouTube. Bruce’s first album, One Way Ticket, was released on Green Grape
Frederick H. (Rick) Bartlett says, “Greetings! I am currently an OB/GYN physician at Abington Hospital. I am an instructor for our 20-member residency program, where we deliver over 2,000 babies per year. My lovely wife, Melanie, also has Penn Charter roots. Her father, Lincoln Roden III OPC ’48, and uncles Ed OPC ’50 and Sam Winner OPC ’59 are all PC grads. All three of our children graduated from Penn Charter: Henry OPC ’03, Lincoln OPC ’05, and Emily ’06. Our son Lincoln and wife Jaime have two beautiful children, Violet and Lincoln. Henry and wife Morgan were married June 18, and Emily and husband Justin were married Aug. 13. Emily, Justin and I
attended the PC graduation last spring. I try to get back to PC for football and lacrosse games when I can. I was thrilled to be present at the graduations of the children of Michael A. Golden, Stuart F. Conston and Philip Wachs over the years. It’s great to see Allan B. Brown Hon. 1689 is still at PC! I stay in touch with Joe Perrott Hon. 1689 and was happy to be present when they dedicated the turf lacrosse field in his name in 2010. After retirement, I would love to do some part-time teaching at PC!” J. Craig Shields writes, “My fourth book on clean energy, Bullish on Renewable Energy – Fourteen Reasons that Clean Energy Investors Can’t Lose, was published last year. That and a quarter will buy me a cup of coffee, as they say, but the whole process is richly rewarding. I also invite those interested in environmental sustainability to check out 2GreenEnergy.com; I try to keep readers up to date on the technological, economic and political aspects of mankind’s thorniest challenge.” A. Leon Sickles has moved to Sarasota, Fla. His main focus is on volunteering as a co-chair and developer of the Paris Flea Market, a major fundraiser for the Sarasota Orchestra. He’s president of the Treymore Homeowners Association and treasurer of the Villages of Palm Aire water board. In addition, he teaches water aerobics at the Palm Aire Country Club and co-authors a monthly article for its newsletter. Leon still maintains his Pennsylvania associate broker’s real estate license, managing a real estate and investment portfolio. Charles J. Webb writes, “I live in Vail, Colo. (go figure) and own a ski equipment distribution company. We snow ski in the winter and hike, bike, golf and water ski in the summer. We have five boys, all grown and doing well. Three in Denver, one in Hollywood making movies, and one in Seattle.”
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Class Notes
1974 David S. Jonas is a partner in the FH+H Law Firm in Tysons Corner, Va. He specializes in nuclear matters, litigation, government investigations, government contracts, regulatory compliance, and general counsel services to small- and medium-sized businesses. He is an expert on nuclear nonproliferation matters like the Iran nuclear deal, to which he is opposed. He recently appeared on Al Jazeera television in an interview (available on YouTube) about the deal and has spoken frequently and published about it.
Barton (Craig) McManus has two businesses, Alabama Energy Doctors and Thermatorque Inc. They do Home Performance with Energy Star for existing homes, testing homes and creating plans for energy-efficiency upgrades, like air sealing, insulation, HVAC and solar energy. They design and certify Zero Energy homes, off-grid homes, and renewable-energy backup power systems. They also design and install commercial energy-efficiency measures, and solar thermal and solar electric systems. He’s married to Bonnie and has two 15-year-old sons. Stephen G. Rhoads writes, “I recently won the Uptown! Entertainment Alliance’s 2016 Songwriter’s Competition, based in West Chester. I continue to perform acoustic folk/country music from Cape Cod to Philadelphia and parts in between with my co-writer of 42 years, Mark Mayfield. Check it out at www.facebook.com/ mayfieldrhoads.” Clifton C. Stroud writes, “Greetings to everyone from the class of 1974! I live in Warrenton, Va., which is about 40 miles west
David B. Kennedy, David D. Rosskam, Stephen G. Rhoads and Peter J. Davis had a great time as a foursome at the 29th annual Bert Linton Golf Outing last April. Join the next one on April 24, 2017!
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of Washington, D.C. It’s a small, beautiful country town but close enough to the city that we don’t feel too removed from civilization. “My long career in aviation now finds me working for the FAA in a communications capacity, as we transition from a groundbased aircraft navigation system to a satellite-based navigation system. I have also managed to keep active as a professional musician, with a part-time position as organist at a local church and serving as an accompanist for various musical productions in the area.” “My son, David; his girlfriend, Veronica; and her 3-year-old daughter, Autumn (pictured), live with me while Veronica finishes nursing school. They are all a delight and make for a very active and dynamic home. I keep in touch with David S. Jonas, who is also in the D.C. area, and we meet for lunch when we can. I have also seen William H. Lesser recently, as we both work in D.C. It was so great to see everyone from our class at the 40th reunion a few years ago. I’m very much looking forward to our next get-together.”
Alumni
Class Notes
Class of 1976 40th Reunion
1976
1977
Brent Sherwood writes, “I enjoyed the
Brooke D. Steytler is a featured artist in the summer issue of Nature Inspired Anthologies. Pictured: watercolor.
Class of ’76 40th reunion in late spring, traveling there from Los Angeles. Some of my classmates may remember my mom, Alma, who recently passed away at age 89. I am living in Altadena, Calif., where I’ve been for the past 11 years. I’m a program manager for Solar System Mission Formulation at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. I lead multiple portfolios of concepts for planetary science missions,
1978 Paul B. DiMarco reports that he “finally took some time off and sailed through the Caribbean on a 72-foot monohull – while we are still young, right? All the best to my friends from OPC!”
1979 Richard A. Bedford says, “I have been busy raising a family and moving through life! Pretty boring stuff, but exactly what makes me happy. I have been married for 30 years to a woman I met in college. I’ve been working for the same company, a Danish Biotech Company called NovoNordisk, for 19 years. I have been living in the New York City area for 25 years, in Hillsdale, Bergen County, N.J. I keep busy as a high school and college lacrosse and football official. I have two sons, 26 and 24 years old.”
from conception through competitive proposal to NASA. This year I have two concepts in the final round for selection for flight: a two-year mission to conduct global reconnaissance of Venus at high resolution, and a six-year mission to explore the solar system’s largest ironnickel asteroid, Psyche.”
1981 Gary C. Adler moved from Philadelphia to Portland, Ore., in 2013. He met his future wife there and married in Jan. 2015. He’s entering his 20th year with the FBI, where he works as a supervisory special agent.
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Class of 1981 35th Reunion
youngest Lucy plays point guard, I’ve been told more than once that she plays basketball like a linebacker. Professionally, I have been in venture capital since moving to Boston in 1999 and five years ago left the large firm to start my own, Resolute Ventures.”
1985
1983 Ruben Amaro writes, “Enjoying the move back down to the field and wearing the uniform again as a coach with the Boston Red Sox. Hopeful that we can reach postseason with the club and finding the change both challenging and gratifying. I remarried in November 2014 to Jami, and we have five kids between us: my daughters, Andrea and Sophia, and my stepchildren, Samantha, Colby and Ayden. My girls are attending the Pennington School, with Andrea a senior and Sophia a freshman. My stepkids are in the Council Rock School District, and we are living in Washington Crossing. I am still in touch often with J. Brandt Joel, who is a talent agent with WME Entertainment in Beverly Hills. I’ve also been lucky enough to stay in touch with and spend some time with Bruce L. Gelb, who now is a manager for Andrea Bocelli.” David R. Hassman, who attended his daughter’s graduation in June, writes, “I’m proud to be PC strong and committed to a
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wonderful school.” Pictured: Corey OPC ’14, Brooke C. OPC ’16, David OPC ’83 and Abby Hassman, Class of 2019.
Joseph F. Doherty says, “A bunch of us OPC ’85s recently made our annual pilgrimage to Elkton, Md., to celebrate those of us who just turned 50 and those who are about to. We spent the weekend at Gregory P. Wolfson’s place and on his boat telling old and new stories and catching up on each other’s lives. We certainly could have used a class on “safe boating” and “how to read a weather forecast” when we were at PC. Pictured (from left): Brian P. McNally, Charles J. Dougherty, Daryl Berlinger, Joseph F. Doherty, Joseph J. Gleason, Gregory P. Wolfson, Michael E. Bennett, and Anthony J. “Chris” Lewandowski. (Missing from photo: Sean M. Fitzpatrick.)
1984 Michael J. Hirshland reports, “Hard to believe, but I’ve now been in the Boston area for 17 years — but I’m still an Eagles fan! Even harder to believe that two of our four kids are off to college (Henry at Stanford University ’19, Maggie at University of Virginia ’20) and the other two are in high school. Son Oliver is already 3 inches taller and 4 inches broader than me, which serves him well on the gridiron, and while
1986 James J. Fitzgerald writes, “I’ve been working at Goldman Sachs for 18 years now, in the investment management division. My sons James (12) and Russell (10), who are both at AIM Academy, keep me very busy with soccer, baseball, squash, golf, etc. But every now and then I like to get away for a hiking or biking trip.”
Alumni
Class Notes
Class of 1986 30th Reunion
Steve M. Jones writes, “Since I missed the 30th reunion, I’ll offer a quick update. Almost a dozen years ago, I relocated from Boston to the San Francisco Bay area to work for Bank of America. It’s fantastic here aside from the drought, wildfires and earthquakes. This is my second year as executive director of a nonprofit focused on email security — keeping scammers from being able to impersonate your favorite bank/retailer/ whatever. It’s pretty geeky stuff, but visit dmarc.org if you’re suffering from insomnia. “I hope all the photos of smiling kids and spouses I see on Facebook mean everybody’s doing well. I rarely get back to Philly these days, and the idea of Manayunk and Fishtown being hot neighborhoods is still a bit odd to me, but I often find myself remembering our time at PC. It’s amazing to look back and realize how well that foundation prepared me for everything that followed.” Lawrence E. Mittin lives in Las Vegas and stopped by during a recent visit to Philadelphia to give his wife, Jennifer, and daughter, Samantha, a tour of Penn Charter.
Paul P. Rabinovitch (shown with his family) lives in Marin County, Calif., and develops sustainable homes.
1988 Joseph M. Sgrignioli says, “Happily married and living in Hershey with my wife, Mary Anne, and four daughters. After spending 20 years in the hospitality industry, I started Travel Champs, a company that executes youth sports tournaments throughout the U.S. and Canada. We recently acquired TC Promotions, specializing in all team sports apparel and custom embroidery. I recently did an “event series” in Hawaii — I guess
there are worse places to put on sporting events. Looking forward to our 30th reunion in 2018!”
Joshua F. Brockman reports, “I continue to enjoy my work as a writer, multimedia journalist, and writing coach. My new website, www.kayaknews.com, features my stories for the New York Times, NPR, Outside and other national publications. It’s also a forum for sharing information about the seminars I teach on email management and business writing that help improve communication with colleagues and clients. “In March, I traveled to Scottsdale, Ariz., for the opening of my photography show, “Assignment: Fritz Scholder,” at Gebert Contemporary. The gallery show featured a select group of my photographs that had never been exhibited before and coincided with “Super Indian,” a major show of Fritz Scholder’s work at the Phoenix Art Museum. My images focus on the artist’s commitment to painting during his last years, and his passion for living with his own art, books and ephemera. Lately, I’ve enjoyed catching up with Penn Charter classmates and alumni in Philadelphia and Los Angeles.”
1989 Christopher D. Brasler lives in Sydney, Australia, with wife Charlotte and two daughters, Pearl (12) and Lola (8). After 23 years of service, Joseph L. Wyszynski is enjoying his first assignment back in Pennsylvania. Joe is a professor of military science and chair of the military science department at Dickinson College in
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Class Notes Carlisle. Duties also include teaching and leading Army ROTC activities at Gettysburg, York and Messiah Colleges, Millersville University and Penn State-Harrisburg.
Class of 1991 25th Reunion
1990 J.C. Spink recently had dinner with John Christian Meoli, Kevin Murray and David Kittredge, all of whom live on the West Coast. Barry J. Markman, wife Golda, Jason McDavid OPC ’08 (middle), and Mary McDavid, Class of 2019 fed more than 400 people in Central Park on July 9, in conjunction with Life Experience and Faith Sharing Associates, a New York City nonprofit.
Casey O’Donnell met Hillary Clinton in April when she came to his company, Impact Services, for a roundtable discussion on workforce development. Impact Services provides a range of employment, training and housing services for needy Philadelphians.
1991
2016 and will begin practicing as a family nurse practitioner in Philadelphia.
William A. Gallagher Jr. is involved with the Philadelphia Little Quakers organization and encourages all former Little Quakers to reach out to him for updates on the program and its continued involvement with Penn Charter.
Aaron S. Kesselheim writes, “I had a book published this year, Blinding as a Solution to Bias: Strengthening Biomedical Science, Forensic Science, and Law (Elsevier Press). Looking forward to the 25th!”
Thomas S. Lendvay writes, “In addition to my day job as pediatric surgeon at Seattle Children’s Hospital, I started up a company, CSATS, Inc., that is used for assessing surgeon skill for credentialing. I am the chief medical officer and cofounder. My wife, Kathleen, and two boys, Luke (9) and Will (7), would probably be okay if I chose one or the other job.”
1992 Cara A. (Caputo) Bird will graduate with a master’s degree in nursing at the end of
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William A. Wright’s firm, Wright Commissioning, is the only independent building commissioning firm in the Philadelphia area. In June 2016, an article he co-wrote appeared in College Planning & Management magazine.
1993 J. Courtney Batts writes, “I teach algebra in Baltimore City public schools. This school year will be my 17th year of teaching! I just had my 16th anniversary with my wife, DanYelle. Last week I was with Jason V.
Alumni
Class Notes Webb and Theodore J. Caviness! It was a great reunion. I have two kids, Courtney (17) and Morgan (15). Next week I will be in the West Caribbean on a cruise with my family (pictured). I’m truly blessed. Be well.”
development. This fellowship offers me the opportunity to teach other family medicine residents while I also get to go to Pacific Lutheran University for an MBA. We are enjoying what the Pacific Northwest has to offer, but we sure do miss the East Coast.” Trevor S. O’Driscoll reports that he enjoys staying connected to the PC community. He’s married to Vanessa, and they have two kids, Oona (7) and Cormac (5). They live in Providence, R.I., and he’s the head of middle school at an independent school in Massachusetts. He loves staying in touch with Josh Wiegand and Bill Brightcliffe and really enjoys texting with Jeremy Atkins, especially during Villanova’s NCAA championship run.
Jeffrey G. Fischer reports, “I work in commercial real estate for Federal Realty Investment Trust and live in Gladwyne with my wife, Liza, son Oliver and daughter Lucy. I catch up with other Penn Charter alumni from time to time and stay connected through my niece and nephew, Mallory and Garrett Schwartz, both of whom currently attend Penn Charter. I also watch just about every episode of The Goldbergs, awaiting the episode featuring the April Fool’s Day prank of 1992, where we hid every bookbag in the new gym while everyone was in the cafeteria for lunch, effectively ending school for the day. I earned that suspension!”
1994 David J. Sirota was recently profiled in the Columbia Journalism Review and Esquire for his investigative reporting series on healthcare mergers for International Business Times. His reporting on the presidential campaign was also featured on CNN. Sirota is also working with First Look Media on a sitcom and on developing journalists’ stories into television shows, films and documentary series. He lives in Denver with his wife, two young children and his dog.
1995 David M. Beitchman writes, “The last several years have given my family amazing opportunities to learn about the world around us. (See photo below.) In 2012, my wife and I became houseparents at a boarding school in Hershey. For three years, we worked and lived with middle school girls from low-income families. Most of the girls struggled with low self-esteem and had not had positive adult role models in their lives. As houseparents, we learned an immense amount about the culture of poverty in our country, and the impact that
Wyatt Gallery says, “I have a new book coming out this fall, and an exhibition opening at the Jewish Museum of Florida. The book and exhibition are titled Jewish Treasures of the Caribbean – photographs of the oldest Jewish synagogues and cemeteries in the Western Hemisphere, which are located, surprisingly, in the Caribbean. You can view more at www. jewishtreasuresofthecaribbean.com.” Laurel Neff writes, “My family and I are stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, near Tacoma, Wash., while I am in the middle of a two-year fellowship for faculty
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Class Notes
Class of 1996 20th Reunion
Patrick Sasse was appointed as principal at Sun Valley High School in Aston, which is in the Penn-Delco School District.
2000
culture has on its youth. While living in Hershey, we had our second child, Noah. “We then moved to a small beach town on the north coast of the Dominican Republic for a year. Our boys were 1 and 4 when we moved. With the help of his newfound Dominican friends, our oldest son learned to climb trees, ride his bike and swim. More than anything, our boys were able to experience a kind of freedom that has all but disappeared in developed countries today. The warmth of our Dominican neighbors was like nothing we had experienced before, and we cherished the simple, beautiful life on the island. “In April 2016, we moved back to the U.S., this time to Plano, Texas. While a bit more suburban than we would prefer, Plano is a great place to raise a family. I will be a special education reading teacher, and I am excited to begin our newest chapter of life. If you ever happen to be in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, it would be great to reconnect!”
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Eric D. Rassman writes, “I moved to New York City last year and spend my days working with an incredible community — together we create technologies that integrate the latest in neuroscience, psychology and spirituality to bring more kindness, compassion and love into the world. I have also dedicated my life to moving money toward the wellbeing of all and rallying the financial community to invest in the evolution of human consciousness. If anyone in the PC community wants to explore either of these passions, please reach out!” erassman@leapforward.us
1998 Michael B. McCrossen, wife Monique, and daughter Lorelei (OPC 2034?) moved back to Philly in May 2016 after living in Miami for nine years. He’s working as a criminal defense lawyer in Camden, N.J.
Isaac (Ziggy) Whitman reports that he married his college sweetheart, Sanja, and with their three kids, Natalija, Yannick and Aubrey, they moved to San Francisco for his cardiology and cardiac electrophysiology training, “and have done just about nothing else, save for a few dinner dates with my wife and birthday parties for kids up to 6 years old. I’ll be finishing my training in June 2017, at which point I’ll be taking a job somewhere to be determined. Sanja, in addition to being employed as a private investigator, is a “real” athlete (tennis instead of squash), and her genes run strong in our kids. While I had mixed feelings for PC as I graduated (probably mostly due to the Senior Stairs incident that led to a few of us spending a week together at the Timmons House!), I find myself singing “Old Penn Charter” with my kids in the car, and our oldest is a first-grader at the San Francisco Friends School, an easy choice for us given the Quaker education we all hold dear. I miss Philly, I miss PC, and I miss how great high school was. And I’m sick of seeing people walking around in Giants and 49ers gear.”
Alumni
Class Notes James D. Berry reports, “After Penn Charter I graduated from Widener University in 2004 with a degree in accounting. Two years later I met my wife, Erica, and in the next two years I decided to go back to school and received a master’s degree in business from the University of Phoenix in 2009. My wife and I have lived in Charlotte, N.C., for almost five years. We have two kids, daughter Morgan (4) and son Bryson (17 months). I worked at Bank of America headquarters in Charlotte for a year and am now a manager at the Siegfried Group, a financial service firm. “Recently I took a trip back home to Philadelphia and had the honor and privilege to hang out with a great OPC by the name of Chris Rahill OPC ‘99. Chris and I go way back. He was my QB when I played for the Little Quakers and Penn Charter from 1995 to 1998. It was great seeing him and his dad, Gene, at the golf outing for the Little Quakers at JC Melrose Country Club. They gave me some great tips on how to swing a golf club, and now I am ready to hit the range. From time to time I talk to one of my old classmates, groomsmen, and good friend Chavar Hollinger. It’s been more than 20 years that I have known these guys. I hope to see and connect with more of my OPC classmates when I make my next visit back home, instead of on social media. Until next time!”
2003 Brittany Horn Cook lives in Bryn Mawr with her husband, Alex, 2-year-old son, Colton, and new baby girl, Rylan. She is a vice president at Bessemer Trust Company in Wilmington, where she runs into Christofer Johnson.
2004 Christine L. Pennington writes, “I graduated from Albright College in 2008 with a bachelor of science in economics and received my MBA from LaSalle University in May 2015. I have been working for the Navy in Northeast Philadelphia since 2009 as a contracting officer, procuring aircraft components. My husband, Sidney Pennington, and I were married in June 2011 and just had our first child in March 2016, Wyatt Pennington. Wyatt had the pleasure of meeting Rebecca R. Cohen, Elizabeth N. Wendel and Suzanne P. Cotter.
Jane H. Affleck moved to Seattle in August 2015 to pursue a master of education with a focus on environmental education through the University of Washington. She will graduate in June 2017.
2006 Rachel Dowling hosted Paris Harper and Julianne Skinner in San Francisco in June 2016. “Then we went on a camping trip together in Yosemite,” she writes. “It was awesome to reconnect, and we had so much fun!”
David A. Layne is a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He is wrapping up his first tour of duty at Naval Air Station Pensacola, home of the Navy’s Blue Angels Flight Demonstration Squadron. As much as he loves the beautiful Emerald Coast of Florida, he misses Philly even more and hopes to get back soon!
2005 2002
the opportunity ahead, and to continue working to support education and help a new organization grow.”
Mindy L. Zacharjasz writes, “After three and a half great years at the Philadelphia School Partnership, I’ll be moving on to a new opportunity, joining an education startup company here in Philadelphia called KickUp. I have deep respect for the PSP team and I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished and what’s to come. I’ll look forward to being a continued friend and partner in education. I’m also excited for
Alexis Armstrong says, “After a rigorous 27 months, I graduated from Villanova University’s master’s in nurse anesthesia program in November 2015. After spending time traveling in Southeast Asia post-graduation (pictured), I began work at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in February 2016. I love working with children on a daily basis and the exciting and challenging nature of my career. I’ve enjoyed being back in Philly these past three years after moving back
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Alumni
Class Notes from New York City. I look forward to reconnecting with many OPCs, both down the shore and at upcoming weddings.”
2007 Jonathan Hulting-Cohen is a saxophonist, teacher and collaborator who spent a year touring with saxophone sextet the Moanin’ Frogs in France and all over the U.S. He’s a concerto soloist with Tulare County Symphony Orchestra in Visalia, Calif., where he was filmed performing inside a giant sequoia tree. He met up with Dylan Isaacson, Rebecca Garden, Robert McInerney, Max Feldman, and Alexander Baer OPC ’06 in Paris over New Year’s.
Save the Date! OPCs in New York Reception
Tuesday
Dec. 6, 2016 7-9 p.m.
Papillion Bistro 22 E 54th St., NY, NY 10022 $25, free to Clock Tower Society members.
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Thomas Caramanico recently got engaged to Gabby Contro.
Alex Crozier-Jackson (pictured, left) is going into his fifth year with Spectrum Dance Theater in Seattle. He’s producing, directing and choreographing his first fulllength dance performance, “Millennials.” (Photo Credit: Tim Summers)
2008 Jeremy L. Maurer graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in May 2016. He’s a swine veterinarian with Smithfield Foods’ hog production division in Southern Utah, overseeing the health of a 75,000-sow operation, farrow to finish, with 60 farm sites.
Alumni
Class Notes
2009 Kirby Dixon says, “You know what they say about New York City: It’s the concrete jungle where dreams are made of. And after three crazy years of living in the city that never sleeps, I cannot say that I disagree. Since graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 2013, I have been working with NBCUniversal, first as an NBC page and now as a member of the communications team at USA and Syfy networks. I can’t believe it has been seven years since graduating from Penn Charter, but I am so grateful for the lifelong friendships that I have been able to maintain along the way and am looking forward to connecting again with my former classmates in years to come! If you’re ever in New York, don’t hesitate to reach out!” Dillon J. Minacci writes, “I’ve just moved back to South Philadelphia from Nashville after seven years of working at venues, booking agencies and breweries. I’m now on the road, tour managing a group called Low Cut Connie. In August and September,
we’re heading to the West Coast for a tour and ending with a show at the Trocadero Theater in Philadelphia.”
2010 Elizabeth L. Thom says, “Last spring I was awarded a Thouron Award (fellowship) from the University of Pennsylvania to get my master’s in comparative social policy at the University of Oxford. I’ll be headed to Oxford in September 2016 as a member of St. Cross College and the Department of Social Policy and Intervention.”
2011
a reporter in Westchester, N.Y. She now covers daily breaking news in the Lower Hudson Valley for Verizon Fios1 News. If you’re ever in the area with a story idea, she’s got you covered!
2012 Carolyn M. Grace received the University of Pennsylvania’s James V. Saporito Memorial Prize for the best undergraduate research paper or thesis in intellectual and cultural history. A published copy of her project, “Delinquents, Rebels, Lovers, and Lost Souls: Representations of American and French Youth Culture in Film,” can be found through Penn’s libraries.
Rachel Codkind is the assistant regional dean of admissions at Franklin & Marshall College. Alexandra H. (Ali) Rosen has continued to follow her passion for storytelling. After college she became a reporter for the NBC affiliate in Rehoboth Beach and has recently taken a huge jump in her career to become
Marion Z. Hirshberg and Shane J. Carr graduated from Yale in May.
A group of OPCs came back to Penn Charter on MLK Day to volunteer at the Live Like Blaine Foundation’s captains’ practice for young female athletes in Philadelphia. They were all classmates and teammates with Blaine A. Steinberg OPC ’11. Pictured: Mackenzie L. Kramer OPC ’11, Amma D. Ntoso OPC ’11, Katherine L. Higgins OPC ’11, Laura J. Kroculick OPC ’10, Elizabeth L. Thom OPC ’10, Kellie C. Ragg OPC ’10, Linnea Cripe OPC ’10, Laura A. Kurash OPC ’09.
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Alumni
Class Notes After graduating summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, Cathryn C. Peirce has accepted a grant from the the Fulbright Program to work in Côte d’Ivoire as a Fulbright Scholar. In addition to teaching English at Collège Moderne de Cocody, Cathryn will be doing sexual violence prevention and women’s empowerment work for nine months, starting in October 2016.
Jessica R. Star is finishing up her final year at Brandeis University and applying to PhD programs in sociology in hopes of becoming a research professor.
Deaths Former Teacher
2014 Carl Christoph, an applied economics major with a concentration in finance and accounting at Ursinus College, posed as the bear mascot for a school video, on the roof.
Edward O. (Ted) Shakespeare on July 2, 2016.
1941 B. Herbert Lee on April 19, 2016.
Dianna Thomas-Palmer graduated from Hofstra University in May, where she majored in public relations, minored in sociology and played on the women’s basketball team. She’s now the director of operations for the team.
1949 Maxwell “Bruce” Hirshorn on July 7, 2016.
2013
1951
Charles Guinta OPC ’13 (left) and Jackson Tamasitis OPC ’12 played in a lacrosse scrimmage against each other, St. Joseph’s University vs. West Point.
Richard Budd on Aug. 22, 2016.
Nelson R. Hartranft on June 24, 2016.
Bennett W. Samuel writes, “Recently, I participated in the USA Team Handball Open National Tournament. I am also finishing up an internship in which I was the first intern to be globally sponsored by Ricoh; I traveled to London and met with a fellow OPC Brian J. Duffy OPC ’85.”
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Jeffrey Bryan Woo writes, “I’m a student at Stanford University. This fall I’ll be an RA for the dorm I lived in as a freshman. I’m still swimming and serving as the team manager of the club swim team. I am in a fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon, and am a member of the outdoor-themed club. I also studied abroad in Florence and I have taken up a new competitive sport in climbing.”
1954 Bartholomew A. Hanlon on Sept. 24, 2016.
Alumni
Class Notes 1955 Earl W. Glazier on Nov. 27, 2015.
1956
Soens OPC ’97 and J.C. Spink OPC ’90. Besides the beautiful bride, picturesque ceremony and perfect break in front of Surfrider Beach in Malibu, Calif., the night turned unfortunate when Dan attempted a flip he had been practicing and unfortunately made it only a quarter of the way around. The couple honeymooned in Thailand.”
2002 James H. Rich on Dec. 1, 2015.
1969
Chelsea K. Erdmanis and Brian B. Greenspon, on Oct. 17, 2015. Pictured: Dana (Greenspon) Bate OPC ’99, Caroline M. Seider, Christopher A. Lins, Devon L. Erdmanis OPC ’04, Rebecca N. Etter, Michael Swift, Katherine (Butler) Ahrens and Robert Smyth. Also in attendance were Jane H. Affleck, Rachel L. Prowler, Katie Ficken and Andrew Richards, all OPC ’02.
McEnerney, Eric S. Feinschil, Benjamin Gottehrer and Vincent L. Johnson. Best man responsibilities were expertly handled by Benjamin R. Sanfillipo-Cohn OPC ’02.
2005 Douglas Brookman to Lauren Bower, on May 29, 2016. Doug writes, “I got married in Los Angeles to Lauren Bower on May 29, 2016, and started a new job on the business development team at Platinum Equity, a global private equity firm based in L.A. I have attached a photo from our wedding taken on the helipad of the Intercontinental Hotel.”
David C. Zimmerman on Feb. 8, 2016.
1978 Alan K. Roy on Jan. 27, 2015.
2003 Henry Bartlett, to Morgan Finch, on June 18, 2016.
1997 Kelly Ann Costa on June 15, 2016.
After eloping in Las Vegas on Feb. 29, 2016, Katharine (Hill) Steiner celebrated her marriage to Darren Steiner this summer surrounded by dear friends and Penn Charter classmates Caroline F. Braun, Whitney Joslin, Andrew J. Layne, Hunter Maloumian, Jacob R. Markovitz, Allison Pearce, and Bertram W. Strackhouse.
Marriages 1996 Daniel S. Spink to Holly Hindman, on June 18, 2016. Michael (Mickey) Sala, Brian M. Spink OPC ’92 and Andrew Gallery were groomsmen. Mickey Sala writes, “Also in attendance were Jesse D. Watters, Michael
2004 Zachary J. Cohn to Sarah Ayres, on Aug. 13, 2016. OPCs who attended the wedding near Sebago Lake, Maine, were David A. Layne, Peter W. O’Keefe, Joshua K. Sperling, Dave
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Alumni
Class Notes 2006
2005
James R. Bell to Sabrina Foster, on Oct. 10, 2015. Helping to celebrate were brothers Thomas G. Bell OPC ’03 and Timothy W. Bell OPC ’11, and classmates Joseph J. Fugelo, Drew Speranza, Rachel Kohn, Justine (JD) Dillard and Eve Schwartz.
Jeffrey Torchon to Nikki Gleason, on June 18, 2016.
Jessica Balderston to Zachary Gertz, on June 18, 2016. OPCs and PC parents in attendance: David Krupnick OPC ’02, Betsy Krupnick OPC ’00, Thomas H. Lee OPC ’69, Michael Bloom, Philip F. Balderston OPC ’02, Richard A. Balderston OPC ’69, Jessica Balderston OPC ’05, Timothy R. Balderston OPC ’75, Jayne Bernsten OPC ’07, Laura Carey OPC ’05, James P. Harbison OPC ’69, John A. Rogers Hon. 1689, Eva Gunz OPC ’05, Head of School Darryl J. Ford and Gail Sullivan.
Births
1998
1990 & 1994
Adelaide Mary, to Tara and Patrick Sasse, on Aug. 22, 2016.
Emily (Emma) Bartlett to Justin Madison Walker, on Aug. 13, 2016.
Patrick William and Brayden Elliott, to David T. Wilson OPC ’90 and Megan L. (Miller) Wilson OPC ’94, on July 10, 2016. (Pictured with big sister Reagan.)
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Wyatt, to Sidney and Christine (Eanes) Pennington, in March 2016.
John Steven (Jack), to Aimee DeVries and John E. Ranieri, on March 17, 2015.
1999
1997
Murphy, to Sean and Kathleen (Rogers) O’Donovan, on July 18, 2016.
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Georgina, to Tom and Katherine (Cantor) Cain, in February 2015.
2004
1991
John (Jack)., to John and Kate (Houstoun) Lisko OPC ’97, on March 17, 2016.
2001
The Insight Initiative Understanding and Uplifting Our Annual Fund
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Save the Date December 6
April 24
May 26
OPCs in New York Reception
Bert Linton Golf Outing
Color Day, 1 p.m.
January 26
May 5-6
Downtown Reception
OPC Weekend
June 10 Commencement, 10:30 a.m