Pomfret Magazine — Fall 2016

FALL 2016

Magazine

Michelle Nivar ’16 2016 Founder’s Medal Winner

Commencement

Page 52

“What are you uniquely wired to do? What can’t you get out of your mind?”

- Jonathan Reckford, 2016 Commencement speaker and Habitat for Humanity CEO

Family Weekend October 20-22, 2016

CRATIA DEI MECUM

We Want to Hear from You Really, we do. These are your stories and this is your magazine.

If we’ve inspired or challenged you, please tell us about it.

— Submit To — Melissa Perkins Bellanceau |

Editor | mbellanceau@pomfretschool.org

FEATURES

FALL 2016 44

Reunion Weekend 2016

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Pomfret School 398 Pomfret Street • PO Box 128 Pomfret, CT 06258-0128 860.963.6100 www.pomfretschool.org

The Walrus in the Room

Editor Melissa Perkins Bellanceau mbellanceau@pomfretschool.org Head Writer Garry Dow Designer Jordan Kempain

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The Corbomite Maneuver

HILLTOP

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2016 Commencement

CONNECTIONS

Baby Carriages and Bicycles 6

Chapel Talk: Kenneth Colombe ’16

Robust Thinkers and Agile Learners 8

Iconography: Clark Chapel

Developing Minds for the Future 10

Kress Goldstein ’13 Dedication 60

Assessing Understanding 12

New Book: The Best of Families 61

Measuring What Matters 14

Class Notes 62

POMCon: A Back-to-School Conference 16

In Memoriam

Developing Strategic Learners 19

Class Agents & Secretaries

Flipped

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85 86

Gatherings 88

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College Counseling Office 22

Save the Dates 90

New Faculty 26

Pomfret Fund Recap 91

When A House Dorm is Home 30 Day of Silence

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The Good Leader 33 Welcome New Trustees 34 Arts 36 Athletics 40

Pomfret School does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, handicap, gender, sexual orientation, age, or national origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, financial aid, or other programs administered by the School.

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Contributing Writers Jamie Feild Baker Melissa Perkins Bellanceau Kenneth Colombe ’16 Erin Fisher P ’17, ’19 Don Gibbs Harry Groome ’56 Josh Lake Chip Lamb P ’09, ’11 Tim Richards P ’15 David Ring Bridget Tsemo P ’18 Thomas Vinciguerra Bruce Wolanin Class Notes & Gatherings Editor Deb Thurston dthurston@pomfretschool.org Contributing Photographers Deb Thurston Jamie Davis Jim Gipe (Pivot Media) Lindsay Lehmann Pomfret Magazine is published by Pomfret’s Communications Office © 2016 We welcome letters from readers on subjects related to the School. We also welcome letters to the editor and suggestions for future articles.

Submissions may be edited or shortened for publication. Please email submissions to: mbellanceau@pomfretschool.org.

Our Mission: Pomfret School cultivates a healthy interdependence of mind, body, and spirit in its students as it prepares them for college and to lead and learn in a diverse and increasingly interconnected society.

HILLTOP

Baby Carriages and Bicycles

What Pomfret can learn from a 175-year-old Spanish bicycle manufacturer.

By Tim Richards P’15 Head of School

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s I sat down to begin writing this article, riders on the Tour de France were halfway through the eleventh of 21 stages, pedaling nearly 163 kilometers, or just over 101 miles, from Carcassonne to Montpellier. Marcel Kittel led the pack with Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish not far behind. Sagan would ultimately go on to win the stage, and ultimately the Green Jersey at the end of the Tour as the “points” winner. Chris Froome finished the stage in second place, consolidating the Yellow Jersey classification that he would carry all the way to Paris, where he would win his third Tour.

As a dedicated cyclist in my own right, I can appreciate the rare combination of technical skill, power, and sheer will it requires to ride at an elite level. The best competitive cyclists go into a race like the Tour de France with a solid plan, but what makes them champions is their willingness and ability to adjust or abandon their plans when the race changes. A catastrophic crash, a blown tire, an overzealous fan on the course, a sudden storm, or an unanticipated attack in the mountains from a rival cyclist — anything can happen. Each bend in the road challenges the rider to respond, to adapt, to change.

Of course, having the right equipment helps, too. Along the way in this year’s race, Froome and Sagan were chased by riders from the French team, Cofidis, whose team bike is the Spanish-made Orbea Orca, a stateof-the-art piece of craftsmanship designed for speed. For many years, before switching to a Swiss-made BMC, I myself rode an Orca. I loved its sleek profile and hunger for speed.

Today Orbea is one of the world’s premier “craft” bicycle manufacturers, but for the first ninety years of its history, from 1840 to 1930, it was a gun manufacturer. The story of how this gunmaker became one of the most innovative bicycle manufacturers in the world is a story worth sharing.

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For several generations of employees and customers, the name Orbea was synonymous with firearms. Then, after the armistice ended World War I, the market for guns fell apart as peacetime interwar weapon restrictions cascaded across Europe. Orbea had a choice: it could double down on what it had always done, or it could change. It chose to adapt, and for the next several years, the company set out in search of the product that would define it for the next hundred years.

Leveraging its expertise in steel tubing, Orbea brought product after product to market, including a brief stint making baby carriages, building on every success and learning from every failure, refining its strategy, reimagining its purpose. At one point during this crucial transitional period, Orbea was making guns, baby carriages, and bicycles all at the same time. Strange bedfellows, its customers must have thought. Then, in 1930, the company left firearms behind and began making bicycles full-time.

More than 175 years after its founding, Orbea is considered one of the world’s premier bicycle manufacturers because it recognized that the world had changed and had the courage to change with it. Whether you are reimagining a new use for steel tubing or a new purpose for education, change is never linear. Success is a squiggly mess. It’s fraught with setbacks, stumbling blocks, risks, and rewards. It has to be.

Since releasing our strategic plan three years ago, we have begun to alter the way teachers teach and the way learners learn, and though the path has been anything but straight, the benefits of this approach are beginning to pile up.

In the past year alone, we have undertaken significant work to improve the experience for all of our students while positioning ourselves as a true leader in boarding schools. We adopted a new schedule that offers time for “slow-looking” and deep reflection while also addressing a frantic and unhealthy pace for faculty and students alike. In May we saw the final day of Advanced Placement classes at Pomfret, opening the door

e Dem Credit:

to new, challenging, and more beneficial learning experiences for Graduate School of Education that challenged us to explore ways our students. We saw student voice and choice increase with the to slow down and deepen the learning experience for our students. inclusion of student consultants in what was our third iteration This amazing experience called on us all to embrace the need to of Project: Pomfret. We introduced the QUEST program as upend the status quo with respect to helping our students develop a vehicle for having deep discussions about the essential co- deep understanding and to experience what deep learning looks curricular topics of equity and inclusion, leadership, and feels like. health and wellness, and the college process.

We were the fortunate beneficiary of a Like Orbea in 1930, Pomfret has a gift to create a multicultural resource choice. Long gone are the days when center at Pomfret that will help people commit to a career, choose our faculty and students — as an employer, and retire with well as local schools and a pension. Increasingly our organizations — engage graduates are being called on more deeply around the to make connections between topic of social justice. disparate things, collaborate Finally, this fall we with colleagues on other launched the Freshman continents, relocate for Fundamentals initiative work, market their own to begin instilling in our personal brand, and switch youngest students the careers. They are being ethos and ethics that will asked to adapt and change serve them well through at an unprecedented rate. their journeys at Pomfret.

As a school, we can stick A recently adopted core to our guns, or we can help campus master plan has them respond. provided us with a roadmap to address important needs No doubt, like Orbea, this ea with respect to our facilities, period in the history of Pomfret ut ho ro and our self-study as part of the School may look and feel to some fa boo NEASC accreditation process has like we are trying to sell “guns, baby k c al l ed This Is A Book. provided us with the opportunity to think carriages, and bicycles” all at the same critically about every aspect of our School and time. But by continually experimenting, its programs, always with an eye toward improving the evaluating, and adjusting; by learning through doing; student experience. and trusting our instincts, we are creating a culture of change at Pomfret that will sustain us for the next hundred years — ensuring Most recently, ten of my colleagues and I attended Project Zero that while other schools talk about preparing their students for the Classroom, an intensive, week-long program at the Harvard future, ours will actually be doing it. i art M tri

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HILLTOP | Academics

Robust Thinkers and Agile Learners

By Jamie Feild Baker Chief Academic Officer and Director of the Grauer Institute

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gility is the ability to change quickly and efficiently.

It requires great focus, speed, balance, flexibility, coordination, reflex, strength, and endurance.

Agility requires attention in order to read a situation, to know when an adjustment is necessary. It requires an intuitive decisiveness to make a move, not knowing if it’s the right move to make because only performance will tell.

We most often speak of skilled athletes as having great agility. Because of the rapid pace of change and innovation in our world, however, we all must develop great learning agility, become skilled at changing with the times, shifting as events change the landscape, and pivoting as needed.

Without question, the agility needed to successfully engage in our world, now and in the future, is the agility to adapt and learn continuously.

Learning agility is a mindset and a corresponding complex set of skills that allow individuals to learn something in one situation and apply it in a completely different situation. In education we call this transfer, and it is the ultimate goal of all learning. The agile learner gathers patterns and information from one environment, and then uses them in a completely new context. Agile learners equip themselves for understanding and managing complexities by continually developing and growing their knowledge and experience base. They do so voluntarily because they know that developing, growing, and continually learning are the keys to survival and success. Importantly, learning-agile people discard with ease assumptions, perspectives, ideas, and strategies that no longer serve present conditions and context. In other words, they are constantly adapting to their environment. While schools have traditionally espoused lifelong learning as an outcome they target for their students, the characteristics of learning agility

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give us a much more specific set of skills to focus on developing in our students. Thus, a much more modern and specific targeted outcome for students is for them to be agile learners.

Research conducted at Teachers College at Columbia University offers these characteristics of agile learners: »» Are open to change and actively challenge the status quo »» Are creative problem solvers who display curiosity and a willingness to experiment with new ideas and possibilities »» Take appropriate risks in order to learn »» Remain resilient through adversity and can tolerate the ambiguity of complexity »» Engage in disciplined self-reflection, display self-awareness, and seek feedback in order to improve.

All of these characteristics are future-focused, having a sense of action and momentum about them. Knowing that students’ futures will be definitively different than what we know and have comfort with now, at Pomfret we are dwelling less on passing along large swaths of knowledge that are constantly changing and expanding, and are focusing intently on developing our students as robust thinkers and agile learners.

“Pomfret’s educational philosophy offers a vastly different approach to learning than the traditional environment where it is through the teacher that knowledge is vetted, edited, and transferred from one generation to the next.”

Developing thinking requires that the teacher create circumstances, conditions, and situations that require students to figure things out for themselves. Instead of the teacher telling students what they need to know, students must actively research, validate information, and draw conclusions. Through experience, students become aware that they benefit from spending time looking at problems slowly and more completely, from different perspectives, and in different ways, struggling to make sense and meaning for themselves. Through grappling with ideas, identifying inconsistencies in information, and coalescing disparate viewpoints over and over again, students develop the focus, speed, balance, flexibility, coordination, strength, and endurance of great learning agility.

Pomfret’s educational philosophy offers a vastly different approach to learning than the traditional environment where it is through the teacher that knowledge is vetted, edited, and transferred from one generation to the next. In developing robust thinkers and agile learners, the primary role of Pomfret teachers is to help students develop numerous types of thinking skills and thinking routines to develop deep insights, understanding, and meaning from knowledge, and to give students plenty of opportunities to practice using these skills on problems that matter. At Pomfret we have come to understand that focusing on robust thinking and learning agility creates a virtuous cycle of new learning that engenders deeper and more refined thinking. In the process, our students become highly motivated, curious, confident, self-directed, and empowered to use their thinking and learning agility to problemsolve any situation, most especially successfully navigating their futures, becoming highly skilled at changing with the times, shifting as events change the landscape, and pivoting as needed. We believe, without a doubt, that this learning agility and robust thinking ability will offer Pomfret graduates a competitive advantage in this time of unprecedented complexity and change.

2017 Schwartz Visiting Fellow

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omfret is excited to host Alec Ross, author of the book Industries of the Future, as its 2017 Schwartz Visiting Fellow. Ross served as former Secretary of State Clinton’s senior advisor for innovation, visiting over 40 countries to observe technological innovations and the societal implications of these advances.

Since leaving the State Department, Ross advises businesses and governments on technology and innovation policy and concerns. His book offers detailed research and explanation of the technologically advanced fields and industries that await students entering the workforce in future years. These fields range from cutting-edge biotech research, human-like robotics, genetics, the “code-ification” of money, cybersecurity and warfare, the commercialization of genomics, and the commodification of big data.

Ross describes robots able to assist in the care of the elderly and nanorobots that diagnose cancer at earlier and earlier stages. Ross’s research and picture of the future is important for schools like Pomfret, who are focused on providing students with the most relevant and rigorous preparation for their futures. His book sheds light on the difficulty of this future-focused outcome because the future is often something we can hardly imagine and struggle to fully understand. Ross helps Pomfret become more future wise, encouraging us to ask what subjects we need to help students learn now in order to have the knowledge, experience, mindsets, sensibilities, worldview, and skills to fully participate and lead in an almost chaotic environment of technological advances and constant innovation.

The Schwartz Visiting Fellow Program began at Pomfret in 1988 when brothers Michael (’66) and Eric (’69) established a generous annual grant to invite a distinguished guest to Pomfret to share his or her work with students, faculty and the community at large. Ross will spend three days at Pomfret at the end of January, interacting with students, faculty, and offering a community lecture.

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HILLTOP | Academics

Developing Minds for the Future

By Jamie Feild Baker Chief Academic Officer and Director of the Grauer Institute

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ver the summer, Head of School Tim Richards and I participated with a group of nine Pomfret teachers in Harvard’s Graduate School of Education Project Zero Classroom. At this summer gathering, over 400 educators from all over the world gathered to learn and practice ideas and strategies at the forefront of teaching and learning. This was the first time that Pomfret has participated in this amazing, professional learning and we were delighted to be among such enthusiastic professional peers. The expertise offered through Project Zero Classroom is immense, and Pomfret will continue to send teachers and leaders each summer for this impactful learning.

question: How do our classroom environments, curriculum, and learning experiences need to change to truly prepare our children for the world of tomorrow? At Pomfret we have been continuously grappling with this question for a number of years now because we feel it is our responsibility to create a learning environment today that anticipates what our students will need for years to come.

No other program provides the type of transformative experience for a teacher or school leader that Harvard’s Project Zero Classroom offers. Project Zero Classroom provides an unparalleled opportunity for an experienced teacher to gain a new perspective on why and how he teaches, the goals for teaching, and what might be possible with a deeper and broader understanding of how learning occurs. Teachers and school leaders from all over the world come together to think critically about the art and science of teaching and more importantly, about how to create environments and systems for learning in their classrooms and at their schools. From a focus on content knowledge to using content knowledge to bolster essential understanding, from rote learning to a metacognitive approach to developing strong thinking skills in students, from teachercentered to student-centered classrooms — these are among the learning outcomes for our week at Harvard.

Every child is growing physically, socially, emotionally, and intellectually from the moment of birth until their early to midtwenties when some final critical synapses are activated in the brain, specifically in the prefrontal cortex which is the area that handles more mature decision-making and organization. This last function to kick in, if you will, is called executive functioning.

So, if you have known some rather scattered teenagers who turn out surprisingly well in their mid-twenties, the process of human cognitive development has a lot to do with it because it is later, even as late as their mid-twenties, that this executive functioning is performing well.

Started in 1967, Project Zero’s mission is “to understand and enhance learning, thinking, and creativity at the individual and institutional levels.” Project Zero’s goal is to use their vast network of scholars, research projects, and knowledge to inspire communities of reflective school leaders and teachers who want to advance their creative and critical thinking skills. Project Zero is also leading the way in helping schoolteachers and leaders understand the future of learning with this fundamental

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Project Zero’s professional learning experience for teachers and school leaders is unique because it is designed through the lenses of two overarching processes of which educators must show masterful understanding: cognitive human development and the process of learning.

Every child, also from the moment of birth, is learning. Babies don’t have to be taught; humans are wired to learn. Howard Gardner, one of the early directors and a Project Zero rock star, pioneered research about learning in the early 80s regarding a theory of multiple intelligences. This ground-breaking work is outlined in his book, Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. His work has had a profound impact on the philosophy, research, and public dialogue about the practice of formal education since its publication.

Howard Gardner’s work on multiple intelligences shifted our understanding of human learning in a revolutionary way. Since around the turn of the 20th century, behavior psychologists

and psychometricians, like Alfred Binet, the inventor of the first intelligence test (later purchased by Stanford, becoming the Stanford-Binet still used today) have believed that human intelligence was fixed, largely inherited, and measurable. Gardner was the first person to advance the theory that there are multiple intelligences that are valuable and independent of one another.

Each learner has his own profile of intelligences, his own learning strengths and constraints. And, quite a revolutionary idea, Gardner stressed that intelligences mature at different rates and can grow with effort and development over one’s lifespan.

Howard Gardner also quite quickly connected his theory of multiple intelligences to the fact that our education system has typically only recognized, valued, and fostered certain intelligences like logicalmathematical reasoning and language intelligence like writing and verbal communication. Gardner’s list of multiple intelligences are linguistical (facility with language), logical-mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal.

What Gardner’s work has provided is the theoretical underpinning and research for recognizing various strengths and aptitudes in individual students and for challenging education’s one-sizefits-all model. One of his more recent works, Five Minds for the Future, describes and places value on specific types of bundles of intelligence and skills that are essential for life in a fast-paced, dynamic world. Gardner’s five minds for the future are the disciplinary, synthesizing, creating, respectful and ethical — very similar to Pomfret’s vision for our graduates. Gardner has given us a new way to think about learning and building skill sets for our students’ futures.

I think, from my two years of experience here, what makes the Pomfret community strong is how we value, foster, and celebrate the individual intelligences and strengths each student has, and how we work to make each student greater and stronger and fuller so that he or she develops to their fullest potential. We work to honor each student’s particular learning needs and style.

Our teachers work to make the learning environments studentcentered, specifically making choices and decisions about the learning experience from the perspective of our learners. We strive to make the Pomfret learning environment unique and transformative — far from one-size-fits-all school.

To be able to listen and learn from Howard Gardner as he presented one of the week’s morning keynote sessions at Harvard’s Project Zero Classroom was truly inspiring. He views knowledge and understanding as the basis for a moral and purposeful life, much as Pomfret educators who devote their lives to serving the potential of their students do. Gardner says it best as he describes what he wants for his children: “I want my children to understand the world, but not just because the world is fascinating and the human mind is curious. I want them to understand it so that they will be positioned to make it a better place.” To lead and learn, to put it as we at Pomfret do so succinctly in our mission statement.

Because of learning opportunities like the Project Zero Classroom, which is funded by our community’s Pomfret Fund

contributions, Pomfret teachers can better teach for essential understanding, not just for content and recall. Pomfret teachers can join teachers from all over the world to engage in learning and collaborative discovery of meaning instead of being presented with content to remember and apply. The Project Zero process is more holistic and oriented toward critical thinking and synthesizing information. One teacher who had the opportunity to attend Project Zero used the metaphor of a river to describe her experience. She explained that, like a river that is part of a bigger water system, her learning over the summer was part of a bigger process that will continue to be fluid and moving, building momentum, constantly in process.

Learning is a fluid process, and a unique process to each learner.

Learning to focus on creating engaging and challenging learning experiences that are more student-centered than teacher-directed makes learning, for the student and for the teacher, more like a river, more like an exciting journey.

What is a Thinking Routine?

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thinking routine is a structure, formal steps, or a series of questions that are used to guide the process of thinking for an individual or a group. The purpose of the thinking routine is to slow down the automaticity of thinking and of jumping to positions or conclusions too quickly before an issue or problem is considered deeply from multiple viewpoints and possibilities. By working through a thinking routine and documenting the thinking that occurs at each stage, the thinking that mostly happens in our heads and is invisible to others, and even to ourselves, becomes visible and workable. By externalizing these thoughts, getting them out in the open, the thinking progression can be analyzed and improved upon. Those reviewing the thinking can scrutinize connections, add depth, or offer new insights that enhance the thinking process and outcome. For the teacher whose goal is to develop thinking skills in her students, thinking routines offer a predictable way to construct learning conditions and create practice opportunities with multiple types of content and problems. For students, the steps are eventually internalized in a manner that fosters discipline, depth, connectivity, broad consideration of multiple viewpoints, and the reflective habits of robust thinkers. In short, thinking routines are great tools to make thinking routine in students.

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HILLTOP | Academics

Assessing Understanding

By Bridget Tsemo P ’18 English Department Chair

ASSESSMENT CHOICES ASSESSMENT OPTION A: Answer 50 multiple choice questions regarding the political rhetoric being used by the current Democratic and Republican presidential candidates.

STUDENT’S APPROACH TO OPTION A: Read materials that the teacher provides, listen very closely to in-class lectures, and study lecture notes. Memorize notes.

Take test. Brain dump.

ASSESSMENT OPTION B: Prepare a one-page recommendation to the CEO of ADMac Advertising Agency recommending a line of consumer products for four different newshour / news magazine programs based on your analysis of current political rhetoric being used by the current Democratic and Republican presidential candidates.

STUDENT’S APPROACH TO OPTION B: Closely listen to, read, and gather together the political rhetoric that the Democratic and Republican candidates are using in the current presidential election. Determine what is meaningful and usable. Quantify the ways in which pundits talk about these candidates and categorize the views that the typical voter has of the candidates’ position statements. Once you have gathered your material, which becomes rich research data, prepare your recommendation based on how you interpret, or think about, what the data and material mean.

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f the two ways above to assess learning, one assesses what students know, the other comes much closer to assessing what students understand about the present election.

Which is more rigorous? Which is more relevant? Which is more valuable? Which is more meaningful practice and preparation?

understand what demographic segment of people are attracted to which candidates for what reasons. To make the assignment even more relevant, they have to create a product that they send to an actual CEO who can make a difference in how society engages the material that the student gathered to complete the assignment.

The traditional approach, Option A, requires that students listen to, read, and write what the teacher assigns. While there is definitely some value in this kind of learning — students should know the what, who, and why of the topic they are studying — the answers rely on students’ ability to repeat what others have already said or written. In Option B, the authentic performance task, students are challenged to use higher order thinking skills of analysis, evaluation, and synthesis to answer their question. Not only must students understand who the candidates are, what they stand for, and why they believe what they believe, they must understand the role of a pundit and how their words impact the larger society; they must seek out who the typical voter is by either interviewing others or viewing how citizens talk about the election in social media; they must know how to determine what part of the what both pundits and voters say are facts, informed opinions, and baseless beliefs. They must come to

According to Marc Chun, program officer at the education improvement-focused Hewlett Foundation, an authentic performance task has to have five components:

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• Real-world scenario in which students assume real-world roles • Scenarios must reflect the complexity and ambiguity of real-world challenges • Higher-order critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and problem-solving skills are required • The end product is authentic in that is reflects what a real professional would produce • The criteria by which the end product will be evaluated are transparent and related to the learning outcomes targeted by the task

and learn about how the environment was negatively affecting the turtles in that region. Once again, students were required to produce an oral and written project intended to teach other students at Pomfret to be more aware of the perils of littering.

One of our math classes last year challenged students to think It is difficult to believe that some people question the necessity about real-world budgets and how they might spend their of such a thoughtful and meaningful assessment approach. money after high school. They then had to make their own The dissenters may be concerned about whether or not the budget and explain to their peers how their budget might quality of students’ learning decreases if teachers focus on a few help others. These three examples are proof that our students and teachers are experimenting questions or even one multi-faceted with creating and participating question as opposed to multiple in thoughtful and important questions. The key to combat such In order to ensure that we are performance tasks for all involved. a concern is to focus on Chun’s helping students develop into what final bullet point: teachers have to we hope are exceptional citizens, we A look at our six-point goal as make sure that our assessments have are committed to ensuring that our articulated in our Vision of the transparent evaluation criteria. By assessments are aligned with what Pomfret Graduate reveals a wellworking thoughtfully, and with the students are learning inside and feedback from our students, we can outside of the classroom and that they rounded person who has the critical create evaluation criteria that reflects provide rigorous practice for the real- thinking skills to lead with creativity students’ hard work and level of world performance demands that our and respect. Our graduate should have the ability to collaborate and mastery learning. students will soon face in their lives communicate with high efficiency beyond Pomfret. and effectiveness, as well. In order In the past two years, our students to ensure that we are helping have gained some experience in students develop into what we hope answering an essential question as a are exceptional citizens, we are result of their real-world learning. In committed to ensuring that our assessments one English class, students were asked to integrate are aligned with what students are learning the knowledge they obtained from history, a novel, inside and outside of the classroom and that and a film to answer a question they created on they provide rigorous practice for the realtheir own. This summative assessment resulted world performance demands that our students both a written product and an oral presentation, will soon face in their lives beyond Pomfret. which they delivered to some of their peers in other classes. In a history class, some students were fortunate enough to travel to Costa Rica In an authentic performance task, the targeted learning outcomes drive the creation of the task. In other words, the task is designed so that students have to demonstrate their mastery for what you are working toward in their learning.

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HILLTOP | Academics

Measuring What Matters

By Don Gibbs Director of Studies and Institutional Assessment

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moved offices recently. As I packed books for the short journey down the hall, I came across Stephen Jay Gould’s The Mismeasure of Man. This 1981 masterwork debunked the notion that DNA is a blueprint for one’s destiny and purpose. The mismeasurement of man, Gould purports, is that one’s intelligence quotient (IQ) is a limit. Railing against the filing and sorting of human groups, Gould writes, “the argument that intelligence can be meaningfully abstracted as a single number capable of ranking all people on a linear scale of intrinsic and unalterable mental worth is absurd.” Modern science, particularly through the work of Harvard developmental psychologist Howard Gardner, Tuft’s psychometrician Robert Sternberg, and Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, has indeed shown that IQ is not fixed and can grow substantially over a person’s lifetime.

Yet, old notions die hard, particularly in schools, which have been slow to adopt more progressive and well-rounded measures of student success as well as measures that assess mission fulfillment and programmatic effectiveness.

At Pomfret we are embracing the notion that ongoing, targeted assessment of what matters most will be key to our long-term success and growth as an institution. We are moving away from

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only measuring what is easily quantifiable and readily captured, like standardized test scores. We are asking the most critical question of all: are we measuring what is truly significant and meaningful for our students and our school? Pomfret is eager to dive far below a surface-level understanding of our school and our students to develop a portfolio of data, measurements, and achievements related to the School’s programs. Through the ongoing evaluation of student learning, teaching, curriculum, and assessment strategies, we aim to measure the effectiveness of both our academic and co-curricular programs and to take steps to make necessary improvements that benefit student learning and the student experience.

Pomfret is exploring assessments that reveal our ability to deliver the full promise of our mission as seen through our Vision of the Pomfret Graduate, a core component of our strategic plan. We fully understand that the approaches to teaching and learning that yielded success in the past will not empower today’s graduates. Focusing only on content knowledge and traditional academic skills will not create flexible, adaptable, robust citizens and lifelong learners.

Research is showing that emotional intelligence (EQ) is more correlated to success and long-term happiness than IQ. A

compelling body of research reveals that EQ is malleable; that it can grow over time through targeted work; and that EQ is a valid predictor of success, particularly as students encounter the fluid, dynamic, and disruptive challenges of the future within an interconnected world, an unstable economy, and a rapidly evolving workplace. All of our learning initiatives, including QUEST, our athletic program, and residential life curriculum, seek to promote and develop each student’s EQ. Research tells us that, as a school, we must devote time and energy to fostering non-cognitive skills and to building character strengths linked to cooperation, resilience, ingenuity, and leadership.

Pomfret has taken important first steps in assessing our effectiveness in fostering strong EQ skills in our students. Last year, Pomfret was one of a handful of schools across the nation to partner with ProExam to administer the new Tessera Non-cognitive Skills Assessment. All Pomfret students participated in this pilot program.

Tessera assesses the following noncognitive skill sets: tenacity and grit, teamwork and cooperation, organization and responsibility, composure and resilience, curiosity and ingenuity, and leadership and communication. The assessment results are helping us learn more about the emotional intelligence (EQ) of individual learners, the range of skill in our student population, and the impact of our program on social-emotional learning and development. As one of the first schools to join this effort to measure EQ, Pomfret will use Tessera as one of several measures of the growth of our students over time.

Performance assessments are another critical measurement tool that Pomfret is using. Performance assessments are rich, complex learning experiences that seek to measure the application of a variety of essential skills — the very skills that are sought by colleges and prized by employers, including the ability to think critically, solve novel and realistic problems, and communicate effectively. Since 2014, Pomfret has been using the College Work Readiness Assessment (CWRA+) to measure how our program

is developing students who are strong critical thinkers, writers and communicators. The CWRA+ gives students a library of documents and asks them to perform a real-world task, such as forming a business plan, making a recommendation, or writing a letter to one’s congressional representative advocating a decision.

The collection of informational materials contains contradictory data, biases, and other real-world imperfections. Students must digest and scrutinize that portfolio of information and build credible, supported decisions that leverage the evidence. The test, which we administer each year, allows Pomfret to track the growth of essential skills (critical and independent thinking, communication and writing, and analysis, synthesis, and creative problem-solving) over a student’s career. The commitment to the CWRA+ measurement and data collection has spurred curricular reinventions across campus and prompted an examination of teaching and assessment methods that target growth in the essential skills captured in the School’s Vision of the Pomfret Graduate.

It is imperative that Pomfret’s programs leverage content in ways that develop critical thinking and problem-solving, that challenge and grow each student’s scientific and quantitative reasoning skills, and that build in our students the capacity to debate, engage, support claims, and communicate in a wide variety of formats for diverse audiences. Traditional measures alone do not adequately reveal the real gains our graduates have made, nor will they help us assess the strengths of our programs or how best to make thoughtful changes to better serve our students. Pomfret must think about measurement in a fundamentally new way and continue to explore metrics that reveal the impact of our programs on the growth of our students. This attention will allow us to increase the rewards and enduring value of the Pomfret experience. We acknowledge that not everything that counts can be counted, but Tessera and CWRA+ and other pieces of the developing data dashboard help us continue to realize our vision of making Pomfret a recognized leader in learning, teaching, and innovative program design for independent boarding schools.

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HILLTOP | Academics

POMCon:

A Back-to-School Conference

By Jamie Feild Baker Chief Academic Officer and Director of the Grauer Institute

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y the time students arrived on campus this fall, teachers had been working for a couple of weeks getting everything ready to go. Classrooms were stocked. New computers were loaded with the software, apps, and books needed for learning. Dorms were cleaned and shined, waiting to be filled with the sounds of old friends sharing news of their summers and comparing class schedules.

What no one sees during the last weeks of summer is that teachers become learners, spending time in the classroom discussing new ways to design, lead, and assess student learning.

These weeks of adult learning and preparation can be long and tedious. That is, until there was POMCon. This fall, instead of regular faculty meetings where teachers sat and listened to the equivalent of lectures on school policy, procedures, and new methods of teaching, I decided we should model for each other the type of teaching and learning that we want Pomfret classrooms to be filled with. Thus, POMCon (short for Pomfret Conference) was born.

POMCon is a one-day conference produced by Pomfret for Pomfret teachers and school leaders. All 28 of this year’s 70-minute learning sessions were offered by Pomfret faculty. Most learning sessions were built around new ideas and strategies that teachers learned when they attended conferences and workshops over the last year.

Teachers who spent a week in the summer learning at Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Project Zero Classroom, as well as the Henry Ford Institute for Design Thinking, modeled handson, discovery-based learning, slow looking, and other strategies for cultivating deep thinking and documenting student learning.

Other sessions were built around topics that veteran teachers have been sharing, often outside of Pomfret. Teachers now had the opportunity to share with colleagues. The sessions Teaching as Improv and Fed By Relationships: Creating Successful Advisory Groups come to mind as examples of Pomfret teachers sharing solid practices that are basic and grounding for a good teacher.

The goal of POMCon is to give all Pomfret teachers, school leaders, and professional staff the authentic experience of attending a conference, to showcase and share the expertise

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of Pomfret faculty, to begin to develop a disciplined and strong adult learning habit, and to offer a dynamic design of opening faculty meeting time. The focus of the entire conference is on learning and teaching.

What would a real conference be without a fantastic, renowned keynote speaker? The first POMCon hosted David Grant, former executive director of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and author of the new book, The Social Profit Handbook: The Essential Guide to Setting Goals, Assessing Outcomes and Achieving Success for Mission-driven Organizations as its very first keynote speaker.

David wowed the Pomfret audience with his ideas about aligning our daily work to mission-fulfillment as well as his Mark Twain impersonations from the oneman show that, while at Milton Academy, he toured around the world, retracing the route Mark Twain travelled during his 1895 Morals Lecture tour.

David’s book shares the message that in this fastpaced, dramatically changed, and constantly changing world, mission-driven organizations — like traditional boarding schools — cannot rely on past performance to create quality future work. Rather, a mission-driven organization must start with the end in mind, thinking backwards from its mission to specifically define what success looks like. This is especially difficult for schools when the benefit we strive to create is college-ready students and ethical, active citizens ready to make the world as better place, creating as David says, a social profit instead of a business’s financial profit.

All in all, the day was fantastic as teachers embodied all of the learning dispositions, mindsets, and behaviors of engaged learners.

New ideas unnerved some at first glance, and it was wonderful to have this real life experience and reminder of what it feels like for our students to encounter new ideas and new material. The word of POMCon travelled quickly to other schools, some even wondering what combining the knowledge of our teachers might look like in a bigger and better conference next year. I am not sure the second iteration of POMCon will venture out to become an experience open to the public, but I do know that now that Pomfret teachers have experienced the joy of learning from one another in a relaxed and happy way, POMCon will be back for sure in the fall of 2017.

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HILLTOP | Academics

BRAIN TEASER

Message from the Stars W

hile working in Pomfret’s Olmsted Observatory late one night, I saw a nearby star pulsing in a very regular manner — it’s Morse Code! I decoded the dots and dashes, but it seemed like a random string of letters. Or was it?

WAMK IENFECWD RUHIIESA LNTTRLPT ODLOARS With a clue about prime numbers from a favorite movie, Contact, I came up with the correct way to arrange the letters into a grid and read the message.

What are the aliens trying to tell us?

— Josh Lake, Science Department Chair, Director Olmsted Observatory

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g to How am I goin learn this?

W hat ar e my learning goals?

oes the d w o H in ent fit t n o c new hat I with w ow? kn already

How will I double-check th at I have it right?

Can I apply this new knowledge or skill in other subject areas or situations?

Developing Strategic Learners

By Erin Fisher P ’17, ’19 Director of the Collaborative Learning Center

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hese are the questions that strategic learners ask. Strategic learners also demonstrate strong problem-solving skills and cognitive flexibility, which allow them to look at problems from a variety of perspectives.

They think creatively about strategies and solutions, and work collaboratively with ease and confidence. They have good communication and self-advocacy skills. Finally, strategic learners are able to organize their work in ways that best serve them, and can articulate their unique needs to others when necessary.

Our goal at Pomfret’s Collaborative Learning Center (CLC) is to develop strategic learners.

By cultivating the habit of metacognition — the ability to think and reflect about one’s own thinking, and decisionmaking — the students with whom we partner develop a better understanding of themselves as thinkers and learners.

We encourage our students to become more aware of their individual learning styles, strengths, and deficits as learners.

We help them learn to monitor and evaluate their own progress and effective strategies for particular situations.

Together all of these strategies enhance each student’s individual and unique learning toolkit. In addition, our studentcentered approach ensures that our students become confident, self-directed learners and independent, creative thinkers who thrive at Pomfret.

The CLC offers a variety of services to enhance the learning of all Pomfret students, which include individualized and small group study skill sessions, learning enhancement workshops, as well as subject specific tutoring. Our program focuses on fostering the following: • Oral and written communication, and comprehension skills • Critical thinking and problemsolving skills • Information competency across disciplines • Executive functioning • Self-regulation, advocacy, and awareness skills • Study skills and test-taking strategies.

With the location of the CLC in du Pont Library, the academic hub in the center of our campus, we are able to integrate

working with students into the academic day, allowing them to access support when it works within their schedule. This flexibility leads to high student engagement and increased effectiveness in meeting desired student learning outcomes.

An important part of the success of the CLC is working with teachers to provide a classroom culture that supports Pomfret students’ wide-range of learning styles and an environment that fosters self-directed learning. We help Pomfret teachers develop both scaffolding and differentiation strategies in the classroom to help students find success and meet learning goals while recognizing each student’s individual learning style and unique needs. Not only do we help teachers develop cognitive skills including wit and grit, but we also focus on the social-emotional skills students need to find success and seek excellence across all realms of life at Pomfret.

Our work with teachers is a great reminder for students that teachers at Pomfret are strategic learners, too.

If you are interested in learning more about the CLC or would like to enroll your student in our program, please contact Erin Fisher at ef isher@pomfretschool.org.

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POMFRET Magazine

Flipped

By Jamie Feild Baker Chief Academic Officer and Director of the Grauer Institute

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ast fall, after we presented the Campus Master Plan at a faculty meeting, a teacher stopped me to share some school history. “You do know,” she said, “that the math department is on the wrong floor.” She went on to tell me that when the Centennial building was opened in 1994, commemorating the school’s 100th anniversary, somehow the English Department ended up on the second floor which had been designed and designated for math. Indeed the rooms are larger on the second floor of Centennial and lend themselves to more movement and board work. “We should consider flipping floors,” she said. I thought, “Wow, what a great idea!”

boards so that they actually become additional learning spaces.

Old art hanging systems have been replaced with blank walls for future collaborations between the Visual Arts Department and the two disciplines — English and Math — that share Centennial. The Ceramics Studio benefits from new display spaces for thrown pieces as well as sculptures. The English Department is opening a new writing studio and has picked up new classroom space in Centennial Auditorium, which has been renovated to be part theater and part meeting space. Teachers in the other academic buildings also packed everything up in preparation for renovated flooring, new furnishings, technology, and collaborative office space.

Flipping floors was not just a great idea; it actually helped Depersonalizing the classrooms so that the learning takes top billing accomplish strategic goals regarding classroom space. Since in every space is an important strategic goal that has been realized coming to Pomfret in 2014, I have been working to update all in the renovation of the academic spaces at Pomfret. Traditional of the academic spaces to make them the optimal tool for the education architecture, designed much like egg cartons, has type of deep, engaged, and active learning that we are working teachers separated and closeted in their own classrooms all day, to instill in our classes. Harkness every day. This physical layout is an tables and individual desks in rows impenetrable barrier to collaborating as For two years, upon walking are being replaced with modular and colleagues as well as collaborating from mobile furniture that can easily be class to class or discipline to discipline. into classrooms and through reconfigured and moved. In order to Over time, the individual classroom have opportunities for collaboration spaces become more like teacher nests departments, I have asked, and teamwork, as well as handswhere we learn a lot about the teachers, “How are your walls teaching? on problem-solving and design their interests, and their lives, but see challenges, students need space to revery little student work.

Where are you making today’s arrange as necessary and spread out learning visible?” when needed. The basics of carpet, For two years, upon walking into colorful surroundings, and writeable classrooms and through departments, walls needed attention. These I have asked, “How are your walls elements are essential to an appealing and modern environment. teaching? Where are you making today’s learning visible?” By Short-throw, interactive projectors also make more technology opening all Pomfret classrooms up to be shared spaces, the use of available to the teachers of different disciplines. All of these the classroom surfaces — walls, tables, floors — becomes available details and equipment are important tools for making learning for making the thinking and learning that students are doing active and fun. much more visible. With this change, every surface can become productive in new ways. Teachers’ desks and cubbies have been Before summer, each teacher in Centennial packed up his replaced with conversation and collaboration spaces. Teachers or her entire classroom, carefully marked boxes, and stacked now have departmental offices with individualized work and them in the halls. Despite trepidation and concern over room storage spaces. Because of proximity and routine, talking about designs, updating technology, having enough space for classes a particular student and their progress, or sharing ideas about to be scheduled, book storage, sharing classrooms, and noise subject matter, or a new teaching strategy, or even more social levels on different floors, the flip was on. Over the summer, and personal interaction are all imminent. While this is a big workers touched almost every surface in Centennial to renew adjustment, it is a bold and important move to support student and brighten all aspects of the building. Hallway spaces have learning. We have flipped, indeed, in favor of student learning been painted with bright colors and outfitted with glass white now owning and enlivening our classroom spaces.

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Finding The Right Fit:

Wisdom from Pomfret’s College Counseling Office

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By Bruce Wolanin Director of College Counseling

former college counseling teammate was fond of saying, “the students who have put the most effort into their search are the happiest in the end.” No doubt a positive attitude, strong work ethic, and curious mindset are key factors in any successful college search. In addition, at a time when competition for admission at many schools has never been more keen, student selfawareness remains an essential part of the process.

Pomfret has long been a place where our students have myriad opportunities to explore their interests and to pursue their passions, to better discover who they are and who they would like to become. Just as our revamped daily schedule and our exciting teaching shift to depth over breadth are making our students better thinkers, we in College Counseling have become evermore intentional in understanding students’ thinking about what they hope to achieve when they move on from Pomfret. Said another way, we are working hard to move from the “what” of the search process (e.g. “What size school are you looking for?”) to the “why.” Many of our college counselees will give us funny looks when we ask, “Why exactly do you want to go to college?” It certainly helps us give better advice when we understand the motivation of our students for attending college and what they would like to pursue rather than bypassing it as a foregone conclusion.

The exposure our students have to visiting college admission representatives remains a distinct benefit of attending Pomfret.

Our fall and spring college fairs each attract more than one hundred college representatives, and each year our students get advice during Family Weekend from the visiting dean of

The second iteration of our QUEST program, which challenges students to question, understand, engage, share, and transition, has provided college counseling with even more opportunities to improve our work with students of all grades as they prepare for life beyond Pomfret. We are particularly excited that all sophomores will have a one-on-one meeting with a faculty member this October to reflect on their Pomfret career to date and to brainstorm action items to get the most out of their future.

We will follow that up in the spring by taking the entire class to a local college and hearing from their dean of admission. Taking other sophomore classes on a local college visit has proven effective at getting them eager to dive into the search process. At the other end of the timeline, our graduating class will benefit from the frank advice of a visiting college director of student wellness on how to smoothly transition to college life.

College counseling is also excited about our new scope-andsequence, which will drive students, parents, faculty, and us to continually examine our thinking about the search process and our respective roles in it. We will be helping freshmen adjust to a new, challenging school curriculum and to chart a four-year path through Pomfret; inspiring sophomores to “dig in” and to respond to challenges with grit; encouraging juniors to hone interests and to look intentionally at the college process, including the

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a highly-selective college or university. The conversations our students have with college admission representatives are terrific opportunities for students to learn more about themselves as they ask and answer questions with reps from all over the world.

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U CO ING development of a sound standardized testing plan; and supporting seniors in forming a balanced list of colleges and to get excited about their transition to college life and responsibilities.

We are pondering heady questions, perhaps the most riveting of which centers on the ubiquitous “fit.” For us, a good college fit provides an environment where a student is successful academically in a curriculum he or she finds challenging and stimulating.

Another huge part of fit is a social atmosphere that provides myriad growth opportunities with ample support systems in place, if needed. As the global rate of change accelerates as never before, our students are well-served by balancing the benefits of a liberal arts education, i.e., learning how to think, with the

practical matter of being employable after they graduate. At the end of the day, we hope college has meaning for our graduates, and that looking deeply at fit, with our help, makes the meaning they seek apparent during the process of choosing a college.

Our expectation is that asking better questions and providing stimulating resources will better focus the priorities of our families. Add in sound advice from us about navigating the landscape and the actual application process, strong advocacy from our faculty, and a dose of good-old-fashioned elbow grease, and our students should be well on their way to becoming the happy, thriving college students we hope them to be.

Questions Each Student Must Ask Before Applying to College Why do I want to go to college? Have I considered a gap year?

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Do I understand what it means to be far from home?

What is the definition of “the right fit” for me?

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Approach the process with an open mind.

Am I limiting myself to a certain type of college or specific geographic region? If so, are my reasons good?

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The student is going to college.

Is the student leading the process?

What can we as a family afford? Have I spoken openly with my parents about college costs? Don’t be afraid of candid conversations.

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Would you be happy at every school on your final application list?

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Have I visited a school I didn’t know much about?

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Have I put my best effort into my applications?

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How important is a test-optional admission policy for me?

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What’s my plan for visiting schools?

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Patrick Wood Scholar

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very year Pomfret awards the Patrick D. Wood ’01 Memorial Prize to a newly enrolled day student from northeastern Connecticut who best exemplifies the character and qualities of the prize’s namesake.

This year’s recipient is Sydney Dubitsky ’20 of North Windham, CT. A graduate of St. MarySt. Joseph School in Willimantic, Dubitsky is a voracious reader and a budding novelist with several stage credits to her name. At St. MarySt. Joseph, she was one of the top academic performers in her class, excelled on the soccer field, and served as the vice president of her student council.

A graduate of the Pomfret class of 2001, Patrick Wood was a beloved son to Robert Wood and Lisette Rimer, and a brother to Libby Wood ’01 and Colin Wood ’97. During his time at Pomfret, Patrick was a top scholar, accomplished musician, and trusted friend.

Thorne Writing Prize

Upper Form Poetry: “Zero” by Michelle Kim ’16 Lower Form Poetry: “How Was Your Flight?”

by Yongwoo Lim ’19 Upper Form Prose: “Blame It on the L.S.D.”

by Caroline Dunn-Packer ’16

Dubitsky accepted the prize during St. Mary-St. Joseph’s commencement exercises in June.

By counting the letters, I found a total of 35. The only ways to arrange the letters into an even grid are 5 x 7 or 7 x 5 (or, of course, 1 x 35).

When I stacked them into 5 columns and 7 rows and read down, I found the message: “We will land in Pomfret, take us to Richards!”

POMFRET Magazine

n May, Connecticut State Poet Laureate Rennie McQuilkin announced the winners of the Thorne Writing Prize, an annual student writing contest established by Pomfret in 1994 to honor Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Thorne ’31.

Each winner received a $125 cash prize.

Sydney Dubitsky is the twelfth Pomfret student to receive the award. Past recipients include Hannah Leo ’11, Zachary Bellerose ’12, Isabelle Lofquist ’12, Daniel Kellaway ’13, Harrison Schroder ’13, Caed Jones ’15, Dylan and Evan Clarkin ’16, Julia Sullivan ’17, Greg Rice ’18, and Drew Marshall ’19.

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Following his death in 2006, the Wood family established the prize in his memory.

“Wood Scholars carry the pride of this award with them during their tenure at Pomfret School,” said Libby. “They are recognized… not only for their distinction academically, but also their skills, passions, and experiences outside of the classroom. They are rewarded for their show of character and hard work as learners, teachers, artists, and high achievers.”

Lower Form Prose: “fame.com” by Maria Tews ’19

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Looking for a Career-Specific Professional Mentor and/or Network? www.pomfretschool.org/CareerMentoring • Find fellow alumni from a number of career fields willing to share their career advice and experiences.

• Use as a springboard for making connections with Pomfret alumni in your field of choice.

• Learn how to be part of Pomfret’s Alumni Career Expo and/or other networking events in Boston, New York, D.C., and other major cities across the country.

• Volunteer to be a career mentor/advisor, networking event host, or speaker.

Alumni Association Career Networking Chairs Jo Anna Galanti Fellon ’02 and Mac Bayly ’99, and Advancement Office Staff Liaison Tammie LaBonte P ’05, are waiting to hear from you!

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FRESH FACES

THESE RECENT ADDITIONS DUBBED THEMSELVES THE LUCKY 13 DURING NEW FACULTY ORIENTATION IN AUGUST. MARY SCREEN (Missing from photo) Science Teacher Field Hockey and Crew Coach Picerne Dorm Parent

COOPER HASTINGS ’01 School Counselor Hockey and Lacrosse Coach Robinson Dorm Parent

SAMANTHA SLOTNICK ’10 Math Teacher Hockey and Softball Coach Kniffin Dorm Affiliate DEREK SEGESDY Science Teacher Soccer and Squash Coach Advisor Hale Dorm Affiliate

CAROLINE WARDLOW Math Teacher Soccer and Crew Coach Bricks Dorm Parent

SARAH SEGESDY Assistant Athletic Director Acting Coordinator of Student Activities Cross Country Coach

MARVIN AGUILAR English Teacher Crew and Basketball Coach Pyne Dorm Parent

GEORGIE HUNT English Teacher OutdoorAdventure and Basketball Coach Bricks Dorm Affiliate CASSANDRA BRUMBACK Spanish Teacher Basketball and Lacrosse Coach Orchard Dorm Parent

AMY GRAHAM Director of Enrollment Management Advisor Clement Dorm Affiliate ANDY GRAHAM Math Teacher Tennis Coach Advisor Clement Dorm Affiliate

NINA JOLY Director of Dance Afternoon Dance Coach Bricks Dorm Parent

ANTHONY FORONDA 3-D Animation Teacher

FULL BIOS ARE AVAILABLE IN THE FACULTY DIRECTORY @ WWW.POMFRETSCHOOL.ORG

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MEET AMY GRAHAM

POMFRET’S NEW DIRECTOR OF ENROLLMENT MANAGMENT LOOKS TO THE FUTURE OF ADMISSIONS

By Garry Dow Associate Director of Communications

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or parents, the decision to send a son or daughter to boarding school can feel disorienting — like standing at the edge of a cliff. “When they get to the cliff,” Amy Graham says, “the best thing I can do, the only thing I can do, is hold out my hand and jump with them.”

Taking a leap of faith is an apt metaphor.

Graham, who officially took the reins as Pomfret’s new Director of Enrollment Management in July, exudes both warmth and confidence. She was the school’s unanimous choice, following a nationwide search to fill the vacancy left by Carson Roy, who had been the admissions director since 2011.

A Connecticut native and UConn graduate, Graham has lived and worked in California since 2001. “I was very happy in California, but when I visited the Hilltop last spring, I knew this could be home. Pomfret is the total package for me: a traditional New England boarding school nimble enough to meet the needs of today’s students.”

Before she made the jump back east, Graham led the admissions office at Midland School in Los Olivos, CA, first as the Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, and later, as the Assistant Head of School for Enrollment Management.

Before Midland, Graham held leadership positions at Dunn School, The Hill School, and The Family School.

“I have always been fascinated by how systems function,” she says. “I have a master’s degree in community planning from Cal Poly, and it taught me a valuable lesson: If you want to survive in a changing world, you have to adapt.”

Over the last twenty years, huge demographic and cultural shifts have swept the globe, giving rise to new industries and

laying others low. These days, boarding schools are working harder than ever to attract and retain well-qualified students.

In response, Graham is changing the way Pomfret thinks about admissions.

“Boarding schools tend to operate in silos,” she says, “but enrollment management is about collaboration. It requires people in the business office, admissions, academics, student life, athletics, and communications to work together based on a shared set of goals informed by a shared set of data.”

Since her arrival, Graham has been busy collecting and analyzing heaps of data, and is now using that information to help determine how best to recruit and retain students for many years to come.

“Historically, admissions has focused on moving prospective students through the pipeline, from inquiry to acceptance.

It was a very nuts-and-bolts approach,” Graham says. “But as the market continues to shift, the most progressive schools, schools like Pomfret, are looking to the future.”

Three months into her new job, Graham has several big projects in the works, including a revamped tour guide program and a streamlined enrollment process. “I want every decision we make to start with the student,” she says. “From the initial inquiry through the end of time, I want our families to know… I am here for them.”

Graham lives on campus with her husband Andy, who teaches math and coaches tennis at Pomfret, and their nine-year-old daughter, Paige.

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SENIOR TRIP

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When a House Dorm is Home

By David Ring Director of Library Services Dorm Parent

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eing a dorm parent for freshmen boys is a unique experience, one that my family relishes. I live in Clement House with my wife, Linda, and our two children, Max, who is coming up on nine years old, and Ruby, who is every bit of four. It is impossible to say what the best parts of being dorm parents are because there are just too many good moments.

When I tell friends or family that I live in a dorm with a dozen or so freshmen boys, many raise their eyebrows and crack some joke about rambunctious teens and stinky socks. There is a kernel of truth to these jabs, but with regard to what is at the heart of the residential experience, my friends miss the mark.

While the dorm ought to be quiet in summer, devoid of students, this past summer there was the near-constant sounds of construction — hammers, saws, and screw guns. Clement was stripped to its studs. Carpenters, electricians, and plumbers traipsed in and out of the dorm to get into the guts of the building.

In the process they discovered years of hidden craftsmanship.

Stacks of sheetrock became the walls of our newly renovated dormitory, covering the internal workings of pipes and wires.

The care these workers put into our dorm is not unlike the care we dorm parents invest in the students who call Clement home.

Just as the rooms were remodeled, students, too, will undergo great transformation during the course of the school year. This

very human and very personal journey is a slow process, almost imperceptible, like trying to watch the hour hand move on a clock. Growth in mind, body, and spirit is happening, but it is very hard to see as it is transpiring.

The students that arrive at Clement have different prologues to Pomfret. For nearly all, this will be their first experience living — really living — away from home. Some might come from somewhere in Connecticut, but many come from farther afield.

Several are international students who arrive jet-lagged and dazed.

No matter their origin, after just a short few days, where they come from and what they have left behind become the ingredients of the community recipe we are crafting while living together.

In the midst of the excitement that comes with going away to boarding school, there is also trepidation and uncertainty. These feelings are, of course, not limited to the students; parents, too, struggle with separation concerns and anxiety. It’s not hard for me to put myself into the shoes of parents sending their child off to school. I can well imagine how my own children might feel about that proposition. Students and parents should not take the transition to boarding school lightly. I, as their dorm parent, certainly do not. I feel both the weight of the responsibility of easing the transition for new dorm members and their families, and the thrill of the opportunity of the transformative growth ahead.

Late last spring my family got a new puppy, a rescue German shepherd mix we named Lola. I cannot help but compare her joyful enthusiasm and boundless energy to the boys who live with us in Clement. Lola did not come fully trained. She mostly operates on instinct and impulse. Rare is it that she ever considers a consequence to her actions. She needs to be led on a leash, and she needs to be offered treats to induce good behavior. Lola also needs some stern reminders of various kinds now and again. Lola is smart, and in just a few months, she has made great progress.

Though she has much more to make, we love her very much and already can’t imagine our family without her. The freshmen boys in our dorm are not all that dissimilar when they first arrive. They act on impulse, are often self-absorbed, and they are motivated

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by food! They, too, need reminders about what is appropriate or wise. They, like Lola, often like to play and be part of the pack, but need occasional reminders about when to be a part of the pack and when to be an individual, or the leader of the pack.

What parents and students ought to know most about dorm life is that a freshman dorm is not a college dorm, nor is it a daycare center. Living at boarding school as freshmen marks the first step — and some occasional missteps — for these young men to grow, mature, develop, and to learn who they are and who they wish to become. If the freshman year is partly to form the structure of their Pomfret experience, their dorm life is the vital foundation. The experiences students have with each other, their dorm parents, and their family are like a year-long chemistry lab with hundreds of variables that are as dynamic as the students themselves.

Each interaction, like electrons bouncing between particles, slightly alters the very nature of the student.

There are, without exaggeration, literally hundreds of character-shaping moments and opportunities in dorm life. The young person who arrives in September is dramatically different than the one who moves out of the dorm at the end of the school year.

is developed over scores and scores of daily interactions and care. When a student tells me that they can’t wait to come back after they graduate to see Ruby and Max as teens, it speaks to the connection we all have made, not just as dorm parents and student, but as people.

“Through our year together in the unique and singular environment of a freshman house dorm, students and dorm parents are inextricably linked and forever bonded through all of the good moments that create our common experience.”

Parents should also know that, as a dorm parent, I greatly enjoy the times I get to interact with the parents of our students. Whether they come for the weekend or for an afternoon to drop off some snacks, I love getting to know them, learning about their concerns for their son and about what growth they’ve seen, or might like to see. I would like to think, too, that parents find comfort in getting to know me, my wife, and my children. They can see firsthand that our closeness to their children is not just one borne out of cohabitation, but

I appreciate when the boys in Clement learn from mistakes and can take a moment to reflect on them. I like watching them gain confidence and broaden their horizons. Together, we enjoy the unscripted moments when we might talk about something cool that we did. Other times, it’s the connection made when we struggle together over something difficult and challenging to talk about or overcome. These bonds form one of the essential pillars of Pomfret’s mission, part of the “healthy interdependence of mind, body, and spirit.” Through our year together in the unique and singular environment of a freshmen house dorm, students and dorm parents are inextricably linked and forever bonded through all of the good moments that create our common experience. At the end of the year, when the suitcases are packed and the walls are stripped of flags and posters, I am reminded that Clement is truly a home that will be all too quiet throughout summer without my many housemates.

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HILLTOP | Student Life

STUDENTS AND FACULTY VOICE SUPPORT FOR THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY WITHOUT MAKING A SOUND.

I

n April Pomfret students and faculty came together for the National Day of Silence, a studentdriven youth movement that brings attention to the name-calling, bullying, and harassment faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, especially in schools.

To signal their vow of silence, students pinned a note to their shirts: “Please understand my reasons for not speaking today,” the message read. “My deliberate silence echoes the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies.”

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Pomfret students and faculty, representing a spectrum of sexual orientations and gender identities,

participated in the event. “The day of silence becomes all the more powerful when straight allies take a stand against homophobia and transphobia,” said event coordinator Katie Wells, who teaches history at Pomfret.

Sponsored by the Pomfret Gay Straight Alliance (GSA), the day was bookended by two emotionally resonant events. In the morning, the student body gathered in Clark Chapel to champion a message of “open mindedness and big heartedness.”

During the service, more than a dozen students and faculty spoke, sang, danced, and played — sharing deeply of themselves, with honesty, empathy, tenderness, and kindness. In the afternoon, community members gathered around the Victory Bell to “break the silence,” a ceremony marked by whoops of celebration and the clatter of bells.

“The day of silence is not just about telling you that LGBTQ people exist,” Kaela Thomson ’18 said, “but to remind you that their existence in the human family shouldn’t make the rest of us feel uncomfortable or threatened. We are 99.9 percent the same and we’re in this together.”

ANNUAL TRADITION BRINGS CULTURE TO LIFE ON THE HILLTOP.

I

n April students and faculty celebrated CultureFest, a weeklong event that gives students and faculty an opportunity to share and celebrate their cultural heritage. During CultureFest, students wore traditional clothing, hung flags from their countries of origin, shared items of cultural significance, swapped family recipes, and performed songs and dance routines.

Jillian Forgue, Spanish teacher and CultureFest coordinator, organized the week. “CultureFest is really about who we are and where we come from,” she said.

“It’s an opportunity for students to share their unique talents, stories, backgrounds, and cultural identities in a fun way.”

— Garry Dow Associate Director of Communications

The Good Leader WHAT KIND OF LEADERS ARE WE EDUCATING?

By Garry Dow Associate Director of Communications

W

hat makes a good leader? That was the fundamental question posed by Dean of Students Dolph Clinton ’92 during Pomfret’s annual student leadership training program in June. “People have started calling it leadership boot camp,” Clinton joked.

The theme this year was “Be the Change You Want to See,” a quotation often attributed to Gandhi. “If we could change ourselves,” Gandhi said, “the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him... We need not wait to see what others do.”

With Gandhi’s words as the backdrop, a new crop of student leaders spent the weekend working in teams to explore how personal values like passion, respect, integrity, courage, and empathy inform the choices and actions of leaders who drive social transformation. “Leadership is amoral,” Clinton said. “The ability to inspire action in others has cured diseases, but it has also started wars. At Pomfret we want to do more than inspire the next generation of leaders. We want to inspire the next generation of good leaders.”

Organized by Clinton and Assistant Dean of Students Julie Kremer P ’14, ’17, this marks the third year of the successful program. In total, seventy-five students — prefects, key heads, dean’s assistants, school council members — attended the threeday workshop. The school also invited a handful of freshmen for the first time. Over the course of the weekend, students drafted vision statements, brainstormed themes for the upcoming school year, discussed ways they could improve the QUEST program, and engaged with young alumni during a panel discussion.

Clinton traces the origin of the weekend to a book called The Leadership Challenge, written by James M. Kouzes and Barry Posner, based on five fundamental practices of exemplary leadership. According to Kouzes and Posner, authentic leaders (1) challenge the process, (2) inspire a shared vision, (3) enable others to act, (4) model the way, and (5) always, always, encourage the heart. These five leadership commandments are the blueprint, he said, not just for the training, but for the school.

“Take control of your future,” Clinton told the students. “Be the change.”

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HILLTOP | Leadership

Welcome Four New Trustees Security. He also serves on the board of directors Prior to Bernstein, Molly was an education of USO-Metro and is vice chairman of the board consultant at the Wall Street Institute in Bangkok, of governors of the Middle East Institute.

Thailand and in the Ad Sales and Strategic Planning Division of The CNN Networks.

Tom received a B.S. degree with a double major in finance and accounting from Lehigh Molly attended Pomfret for her junior and University. He is the father of T. Justin ’09. senior years. She played varsity soccer and When not involved in one of the above squash, and served as a prefect. Since graduating endeavors, he enjoys time out on the links and from Pomfret, Molly has twice been featured at is an avid reader. the Pomfret Career Expo, discussing a career in finance with curious students.

Molly has a B.A. in economics from Bates College where she also played soccer and squash. Molly completed postgraduate work in statistics at Northwestern University. A native Chicagoan and lifetime Cubs fan, she now lives in Wellesley, MA with her husband Greg, their toddler son Bauer, and their Boston terrier Buckingham. She is a regular Pan Mass Challenge rider and enjoys spending time outdoors.

THOMAS J. CAMPBELL P ’09 Tom is the founder and president of DC Capital Partners, an Alexandria, VA investment firm, which focuses primarily on making controlled private equity investments and selectively investing in public equity and fixed income securities in a broad range of US government and infrastructure related companies. Prior to DC Capital Partners, he was an original partner of Veritas.

Currently, he serves as chairman of Michael Baker International LLC, SC3 LLC, Sallyport LLC, The Spectrum Group LLC, Cipher Systems LLC, QRC LLC, and Velox Visa & Passport Services LLC, all of which operate in government and engineering markets.

Tom is a member of the board of trustees of Lehigh University and a member of the board of directors at Center for a New American

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MEREDITH “MOLLY” J. HANSON ’00 Molly is a vice president and client advisor at Bernstein Private Wealth Management. A certified financial planner, she is responsible for providing investment and wealth planning advice to individuals and families and to their trusts, estates, foundations, endowments, and pension plans. In conjunction with Bernstein Global Wealth Planning and Analysis Group, she provides counsel to clients and their professional advisors on a variety of matters, including tax and estate planning, multigenerational asset allocation, individual and corporate retirement planning, and the sale of closely held businesses.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2016-17 Justin P. Klein ’65 — Chair

Lindsay Belew Paul P ’14, ’17 — Treasurer William Wiggins ’89 — Secretary Mark W. Blodgett ’75 P ’04, ’06 Daryle Lamonica Bost ’89 MICHAEL MARRUS

DAVID M. MURRAY ’97

Michael Marrus has over twenty-five years of experience as an investment banker and financial executive on Wall Street. Today he is a managing director for The Special Equities Group, a division of Chardan Capital Markets, a privately held investment banking firm. Before joining Chardan, Michael was a senior managing director at Dominick and Dominick, a wealth management and investment services firm, and a managing director of Merriman Capital, Inc.

David is a managing director at Murray Trading Partners, a privately held investment fund where he primarily deals with early stage venture investments. He sits on the board of directors at Cohesive Networks, a Chicago-based cloud computing company and The Guardsmen, a San Francisco nonprofit benefiting at-risk youth. Prior to Murray Trading Partners, David worked at Catamount Ventures, a San Francisco-based venture firm, and Sapias, a San Francisco company providing internet-based tracking of assets for large enterprise companies.

Since October of 2007, Michael has served on the board of directors of a public company, Arotech Corporation (ticker: ARTX), where he sits on various committees, including audit, compensation, and nominating. He has been a member of the board of a private company, as well as various non-profit organizations. He is a strong supporter of many educational institutions with a focus on independent secondary schools. He began a three-year term as a trustee of Congregation Emanu-El in New York in June 2016.

Michael attended Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, has an A.B. from Brown University, and an MBA from the Booth Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago. He lives in New York City with his wife Lauren. They have two children, Samantha, a recent graduate of Wellesley College, and Jacob, a rising junior at Williams College. A lifelong New Yorker, he supports local sports teams, and enjoys running, reading, and playing golf with a handicap, which shows no signs of decreasing.

David graduated from Pomfret in 1997. He played one year on the varsity golf team and served with distinction on several junior varsity teams. During his senior year, he served as a dean’s assistant.

David has B.B.A with an emphasis in marketing from The University of Notre Dame and an M.B.A. with an emphasis in finance from the University of San Francisco. He currently lives in San Francisco.

Nancy Buck P ’08

Thomas J. Campbell P ’09 Jimmy Chan P ’17 Mark Cohen ’82

Malik S. Ducard ’91

E. Clayton “Chip” Gengras ’89

Meredith “Molly” J. Hanson ’00 Rebecca D. Henry P ’13 Shelly Hwang P ’17

Martha Blake Linhares P ’14, ’16, ’18 Lin Lu “Lulin” P ’15 Michael Marrus

Gregory W. Melville ’68 Monique Miles ’95

Robert K. Mullarkey ’79, P ’10 David M. Murray ’97

Robert M. Olmsted ’59, P ’89 Judson P. Reis ’60, P ’98 James E. Rothman ’67

George “Jay” Millholland Wheatley III P ’12, ’15 David Woodrow ’64

Robert “Buzz” J. Yudell ’65

Laura Keeler Pierce ’03 — Ad Hoc George Santiago ’75 — Ex Officio

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HILLTOP | Arts

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U

nder the bright lights of Hard Auditorium, an ensemble cast of students, faculty, staff, and children delivered a swashbuckling performance of Peter and the Starcatcher. Adapted for the stage by Rick Elice, and based on the novel co-written by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson ’71, the Tony Award-winning musical play is the grown-up prequel to Peter Pan. “This play teaches what ensemble acting is all about,” said Theater Director Chip Lamb P ’09, ’11. “While you can easily identify the leads, the success of the production hinges on how well the entire cast works together, supports each other, and makes the most out of all moments, especially those that are smaller.”

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HILLTOP | Arts

VISIT POMFRET’S OFF-CAMPUS ART GALLERY Silver Circle Art Center Putnam, Connecticut

FOR SCHEDULE & PAST EXHIBITS www.pomfretschool.org/PSArt

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SPRING 2016

Dance Performance

I

n May the Pomfret Dance Company held its annual spring dance performance, Tellin’ Stories, in Chauncey Courtyard outside the du Pont Library. With dusk falling, eleven dancers moved in fluid motion through the evening air, while the indie folk band Town Meeting provided live musical accompaniment.

At the end of the show, the crowd rose to its feet to praise the dancers and bid farewell to the company’s director, Tony Guglietti, who is moving on after six years at Pomfret. “It’s hard leaving, but it feels like the right time personally,” Guglietti said. “I love watching students every year find their own creative voice. Some come in already having found it and some come in telling me they ‘aren’t creative.’ I think everyone has it; they just need a way to discover it.”

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HILLTOP | Athletics

NEWS

ALUMNI ATHLETIC Dan Gagnon ’12, a senior infielder on the Lasell College baseball team, was named to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) First Team on May 9, 2016. On June 2, he signed with the Old Orchard Beach Surge, a professional baseball club out of Old Orchard Beach, Maine. Dan topped his college career with 106 hits, four home runs, 53 RBI’s, and 64 runs scored in 113 games played.

Sam Zuckerman ’12 was a senior coxswain for the Hobart Varsity Eight crew team. The team was selected as Liberty League Crew of the Year in May 2016 as they

earned their eleventh straight Elisabeth Bartkus ’15 is a freshman coxswain for the St. Lawrence Liberty League title.

Novice Eight crew team, which Nick Ellis ’13, goaltender on was named the Liberty League Providence College men’s hockey Novice Crew of the Year in May team, agreed to a two-year entry- 2016. The team won the novice level contract with the Edmonton eight race at this year’s Liberty Oilers in April 2016. His contract League championship with a time will start in the 2016-17 season. of 7:11.30. They also advanced Nick led Hockey East in goals to the Final at the NY State against average and save percentage Championship after placing first by this season. On March 14 he was two-tenths of a second, eventually named Hockey East Co-Defensive earning the bronze medal in the end Player of Week, his second with a time of 6:52.57.

Defensive Player of the Week honor for the season, and is a two- Makenna Newkirk ’15 wrapped up time Hockey East Goaltender of her freshman year as a forward on the Month honoree after stellar the Boston College women’s hockey performances during the months team in fine favor. She was voted to the Hockey East All-Rookie of December and February.

Team by unanimous selection.

She led the league with four Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week awards this season, and was the February Rookie of the Month. In March 2016, Makenna was named to the 2015-2016 Pro-Ambitions All-Rookie Team by the Women’s Hockey East Association, and was voted the 2016 Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Year.

Overall, Makenna posted 45 points (21 goals, 24 assists) this season and leads the nation in freshman goal scoring and is second in freshman scoring by four points.

Congratulations Felice Mueller ’08 on a great Olympic run!

Felice Mueller ’08​​ ​earned a spot at her first Olympic Games by winning the women’s pair at the 2016 World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne, Switzerland in May 2016. She and her Rowing Cup partner, Grace Luczak, went on to row in ​th ​ e Olympic Games in Rio​, placing fourth in the women’s pairs event​.

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SPRING ATHLETIC AWARDS

ALUMNI PLAYING COLLEGE ATHLETICS During Spring 2016 Season

’15 ’14

ELIZABETH BARTKUS ROWING AT ST. LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY JOHNNY BRAY BASEBALL AT GETTYSBURG COLLEGE JAKE CANEPARI LACROSSE AT ROLLINS COLLEGE CAMERON GILES GOLF AT BRYANT UNIVERSITY ABBY HORST LACROSSE AT WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY EVAN JACCODINE ROWING AT ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY WESTON NOLAN LACROSSE AT ROGER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY ZACK WEIMER ROWING AT LEWIS AND CLARK COLLEGE SPENCER WHITMIRE TENNIS AT ST. LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY CAITLIN WOOD LACROSSE AT WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY

ANDREW AIKINS BASEBALL AT SKIDMORE COLLEGE MAE HANSON ROWING AT UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT JOE KELLY LACROSSE AT UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND NATE KREMER GOLF AT HAMILTON COLLEGE TUCKER MSCISZ LACROSSE AT CONNECTICUT COLLEGE KATHERINE PEARSON ROWING AT UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE NOAH VAN DYKE ROWING AT DARTMOUTH COLLEGE

Pomfret held its annual spring athletics award ceremony in May. LAUREN E. FERRAIUOLO ’16 NATHALIE APPLETON (LESTAGE) ’90 SOFTBALL CUP AARON H. SOUCY ’17 SYDNEY P. CLARK, JR. ’47 BASEBALL PLAQUE JOHN M. POULSON ’18 WILSON R. CORBIN J.V. BASEBALL AWARD GEORGE W. SCHMIDT ’16 JAMES M. REES BASEBALL AWARD CHRISTOPHER M. CLEARY ’17 WALLY GOODWIN ’45 GOLF AWARD JOSEPH M. RANALDI ’16 & MATTHEW G. PARENT ’16 S. M. MANDELL ’80 LACROSSE AWARD GRACE A. SANDERCOX ’16 JOHANNA MOFFITT ’82 LACROSSE AWARD

’13

JOHN CUNNINGHAM LACROSSE AT CONNECTICUT COLLEGE JAY FARRELL BASEBALL AT URSINUS COLLEGE MAX KING LACROSSE AT CONNECTICUT COLLEGE BEN MURPHY BASEBALL AT SKIDMORE COLLEGE GRIFF RICHARDS ROWING AT TUFTS UNIVERSITY

DOUGLAS P. BRAFF ’16 C. W. PUTNAM CREW AWARD KAILEY E. CASTLE ’17 R. DUANE DAENTL OARSWOMAN AWARD RHONE I. O’HARA ’16 ADRIENNE TAYLOR BIGGERT ‘92 AWARD ANDRES MADAHUAR FARIAS ’18 WALLACE H. ROWE IV BOYS’ TENNIS AWARD ABIGAIL S. CONWAY ’18 EDWARD A. BENOIT MANAGER OF THE YEAR AWARD

’12

AJ BOURDON LACROSSE AT ELMIRA COLLEGE (CAPTAIN) DAN GAGNON BASEBALL AT LASELL COLLEGE SID LOONEY LACROSSE AT WASHINGTON COLLEGE JON PATE GOLF AT HOBART COLLEGE SAM ZUCKERMAN ’12 ROWING AT HOBART COLLEGE

GREGORY ROSSOLIMO DONALD ECCLESTON COACHING AWARD

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HILLTOP | Athletics

ATHLETICS

SOFTBALL Head Coach: Erin Davey Assistant Coach: Tim Rose Captains: Elisabeth M-A. Berard ’16 and Lauren E. Ferraiuolo ’16

2015-2016

BASEBALL Head Coach: Rich Dempsey Assistant Coach: Matt Goethals Captains: Dylan M. Clarkin ’16, Evan M. Clarkin ’16, Aaron H. Soucy ’17

GIRLS TENNIS

BOYS TENNIS

GOLF

Head Coach: Bobby Fisher P ’17, ’19 Assistant Coach: Sarah-Anne Wildgoose Captain: Rhone I. O’Hara ’16

Head Coach: Tad Chase P ’13, ’15, ’17 Assistant Coach: None Captain: Davis H. Chase ’17

Head Coach: Brian Rice Assistant Coach: Ed Griffin P ’17, ’19 Captains: None

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GIRLS LACROSSE Head Coach: Quinn Brueggemann Assistant Coach: Katie Duglin ’01 Captains: Katharine E. Moran ’16, Anna G. Tarplin ’16, Remy M. Wells ’16

GIRLS CREW Head Coach: Liz Sangree Assistant Coach: Katie Wells Captains: Emily V. Buell ’16, Abigail H. McThomas ’16, Rosemary E. Osborne ’16

BOYS LACROSSE Head Coach: Jon Sheehan P ’10, ’19 Assistant Coach: Keith Buehler and Jeremiah Jones P ’04 Captains: Matthew G. Parent ’16, Joseph M. Ranaldi ’16, Cristiano D. Rovero ’16, Hugh P. Wackerman ’16

BOYS CREW Head Coach: Greg Rossolimo Assistant Coach: David Ring Captain: Jared R. Taintor ’16

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FEATURE

REUNION Weekend 2016 Tony Hoyt, John Caulk, Harry Groome, Bob Belknap (holding sign)

Ted Kelley (Former Faculty), Brett Burns ’01, Andrea Crothers, Pat Kelley (Former Faculty)

Chris Victory ’91, Deacon Webster ’91, Frances Lumpkin-Webster ’91

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Julie Hinchman, Reg Paige

Jennifer and Jeremy Button ’91

(back row, l-r): - Anouk de Ruiter (Current Staff), Frances Read, Otis Read ‘71, Genevieve Richardson ‘00, Jad Dix ‘96, Sarah-Anne Wildgoose, Wade Atkinson ‘19 (front row, l-r): - Dena Cocozza O’Hara P ‘13, ‘15, ‘16, ‘18, ‘20 (Former Faculty), Donna Strmiska, Jennifer Stolaroneck, Paula Brown, Alex Gibney ‘71, Louisa Jones P ‘04 (Faculty), Margot Gibney, Steve Davis (Faculty)

M

ore than 250 alumni from across the decades (1951 to 2011) gathered on the Hilltop this year. Mark Boyer ’51 was the oldest returning alumnus. Cara Droege ’11 was the youngest and traveled the farthest, coming all the way from Düsseldorf, Germany!

The Class of 1966 had the most people — with 49 percent returning to catch up, kick back, and reminisce with old friends.

1951, 1956, 1961, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011

Chantelle Lamountain, Brittany Nelson Granara, Jennie Bellonio,

Nic Lane ’11, Izzie Gallant ’11, Alek Makowski ’11

Erin Wolchesky, Micaela Long, Andrea Hunter

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FEATURE

VETS IN THE CLASSROOM

Class of 1961 alumni Steve Dexter, Roger Blake, George Walker, and Dick Jackson dropped by US History to talk about the Vietnam War with David Brush P ’00 and his students.

Roger Blake ‘61

Dana Diaz ’14, Arthur Diaz ’78, P ’10, ’12, ’14, Amy Diaz ’10

S. Prescott B. Clement Cup Abby (Gardiner) Silk ’91 Alumni Achievement Medals Juliana (Keyser) Harris ’91 Laurence Hale ’91, P ’19 Lorenzo Borghese ’91 Alumni Association Athletic Hall of Fame Award Bobby Vega ’01 Micaela Long ’06 ALUMNI AWARDS What does an investor, a hockey player, a conservationist, a philanthropist, and a reality television star have in common? They were all honored guests at this year’s Alumni Association Awards Dinner. Congratulations Abby, Juliana, Laurence, Lorenzo, Bobby, Micaela, Harry, Michael, and Eric. You make us proud.

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POMFRET Magazine

Alumni Award Harry Groome ’56 Olmsted Distinguished Service Award Michael Schwartz ’66 Eric Schwartz ’69

Celebrating their 50th reunion, the Class of 1966 are (front row, l-r): David Long, Martin Cherniack, Bill Lockwood, Peter Wood, Bob Merritt; (middle row, l-r): Michael Schwartz, Steve Mikula, Bob Off, David Raymond; (back row, l-r): Lewis Turner, Rick Hodsdon, David Aitken, Jim Goodwin, John Barbour, Tim Bates, Ned Williams, Rob Bavier, and Tom Simmons. (Missing from photo): Bob Barrett, Robert Duncan, Ted Reed, and John Sargent

50TH REUNION When these guys graduated, Lyndon Johnson was President, the GDP was $787.8 billion, Medicare was the new government program, the Celtics were NBA champions, and The Sound of Silence was number 54 on Billboard’s Top 100 chart.

More photos at pomfretschool.smugmug.com/Events

1937, 1942, 1927, 1952, 1957, 1962, 1967, 1972, 1977, 1982, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2002, 2007, 2012

Jim Bree

CALLING THE CLASSES OF

n ’91

REUNION Weekend 2017 May 12 - 14, 2017

Registration for Reunion 2017 opens in November FALL 2016

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FEATURE

THE WEBSTERS ARE ON A MISSION TO CHANGE THE WAY PEOPLE SEE ADS.

By Garry Dow, Associate Director of Communications

F

rances ’91 and Deacon Webster ’91 are the husband and wife team behind Walrus, a successful New York City advertising firm. In May they visited the Pomfret campus to share their unique perspective on the creative process, running a business, and life at Pomfret in the 1990s.

“Advertising is one of the most disliked industries in the country… right up there with oil and pharmaceuticals,” Frances says. “Deacon and I are trying to change the way people see ads by creating smart, funny, positive messages that resist stereotypes and add value to the media landscape. That really is our mission.”

Since its founding in 2005, Walrus has quickly become one of the most sought-after ad agencies in New York — launching products, planning stunts, and developing

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content for brands such as Amazon, Emergen-C, History Channel, Bloomberg Business, The Economist, HBO, Wired, and Grand Marnier. They describe what they do as “calculated misbehavior.”

Take the work Walrus did a few years back with Smith & Wollensky, the famed New York City steakhouse. “Serious steak eaters are monogomous,” Deacon said. “Once they reach a certain age — they pick a steakhouse and settle down with it.”

So, when the restaurant approached Walrus about developing a campaign that would attract a new cohort of regulars, Frances and Deacon came up with a novel solution: “We asked patrons to take a pledge of allegiance,” Deacon said. “In return, we promised patrons we’d rename the restaurant in their honor.”

It was a crazy idea, but it worked. Every day for an entire month, the restaurant renamed itself after a different customer. And not just the sign out front. Everything. “The matchbooks, the waiters’ jackets, even the names on the knives,” Deacon said. The promotion was wildly successful, attracting the attention of the New York Times, and earning Walrus a 2013 North American Effie Award.

The Websters’ recent visit to Pomfret was part of the Lasell Visiting Alumni Program.

Since 2002, the program has brought alumni home to share their time, talent, knowledge, and real-world experiences with students and faculty. “I was heavily influenced by my education at Pomfret,” said Chet

Lasell ’54, whose generous support makes the program possible. “With its caring faculty and its ability to cultivate a student’s creativity and independence, I learned the value of listening to and learning from others. It just seemed natural to create a program that would benefit the students in the same way.”

During their two-day visit, the Websters delivered an all-school presentation, shared meals with members of the school community, and visited select classes, including Literature and Film, Painting and Drawing, Digital Presentation, and Photography I and II. “Ads are like people,” Frances told students. “They are better when they are original. Being a little bit different makes all the difference.”

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FEATURE

The Corbomite Maneuver For more than fifty years, Tony Call has worked as a stage performer, television soap star, and voiceover actor, but it was his role as Lt. David Bailey in the original Star Trek series that made him famous.

By Thomas Vinciguerra Freelance Writer Being remembered as a navigator aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise was not something Call had ever envisioned.

But early on, he was pretty sure where his destiny lay.

“All I wanted was to direct in film and act on stage,” he recalled over drinks at the Players, the private Manhattan theatrical and literary club. “I knew exactly what I wanted to be.”

His father, Abner Biberman, a veteran director who transitioned from acting, encouraged him. After seeing his son in a production of Eugene O’Neill’s The Great God Brown, he said, “I could never be the actor you are.”

T

he durable actor Anthony Call ’58 has well over a hundred stage credits and a television résumé that includes The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Bonanza, and The Fugitive. A staple of the soap operas Guiding Light and One Life to Live, he received four Daytime Emmy nominations for the latter.

But nothing has won him as much recognition as a single featured appearance on the original Star Trek — an episode called “The Corbomite Maneuver.”

It was a welcome affirmation; Call’s early years had been unsettled.

Biberman and his wife divorced when Tony was 7, around the time the director was blacklisted. Mother and son moved to Washington, D.C. to be with her family; in 1952, she married the actor John Call (whose caricature, Tony discovered to his delight, is in the men’s room at the Players).

After a year apiece at St. Albans and the Harvey School, Tony interviewed at Choate and Hotchkiss. At that time he also encountered the headmaster of Pomfret.

As the 50th anniversary of the “The second I met Mr. Twichell,” broadcast approaches, Call looks he said, “I wanted to go there and back with wonder. never wanted to leave.”

“I don’t think anything in my life makes me more famous,” he said. “Every single week I get fan mail.” Once, a golfing buddy called him at 3:30 a.m. to announce that his episode was on the air. “3:30 in the f***ing morning!”

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The late, legendary David Twichell impressed Call as enlightened and progressive — and, especially, empathetic. “He was so interested in me as a human being. He had no interest in telling me what I ought to be thinking. He expressed his ideas about defining ways to express yourself.”

Call’s Pomfret years included friendship with classmate Orville Schell and a blur of football, baseball, ice hockey, and, naturally, acting. He remembers crossdressing to play Sheila Birling in An Inspector Calls and how his co-star, Peter Beard ’56, approached him afterward.

“As if he were talking to somebody else, he said, ‘She’s a good kid but she needs a man’s deodorant.’”

Following graduation, Call spent two years at the University of Pennsylvania; outside of class he was on the gridiron and in Kismet and Oklahoma! In 1960, following a reunion with his father in California, he began acting in earnest.

“I had to take odd jobs. I would get very good leading parts from time to time, but I was always broke.”

By this time, Call had married his first wife, whose close friend, Mary Carver, was part of a Desilu Studios actors’ workshop. In 1966 Carver invited him to join her in a staging of Tennessee Williams’ one-act play Talk to the Rain and Let Me Listen. A week later Carver’s husband, the director Joseph Sargent, asked Call if he would audition for a new Desilu show called Star Trek.

Call’s episode was the first in regular production after NBC green-lit the series. In “The Corbomite Maneuver,” the huge, globular spaceship Fesarius threatens to destroy the Enterprise.

Actually, its ostensibly malevolent

commander, Balok, is a cheerful cherub (played by Ron Howard’s seven-yearold brother, Clint) who simply wants to learn more about the Earthlings but needs a façade of bravado to do so.

At the helm console, Call was Lt. Dave Bailey — an inexperienced, belligerent, and even hysterical officer overwhelmed by his rapid advancement and a lifethreatening confrontation. At one point, Call breaks loose and cries, It’s the end of everything! What are you, robots?

Wound-up toy soldiers? Don’t you know when you’re dying? By episode’s end, however, it is clear that Bailey will grow into a responsible, seasoned crewman — by spending some time learning from Balok.

Call remembers the episode, which aired on November 10, 1966, with warmth and ambivalence. On the negative side, he remains unhappy with his performance. “In those days, I was serious — I was going to be the greatest actor who ever lived!” When he entered the transporter room to beam over to the Fesarius, suiting up with his phaser and communicator, he blurted out, “Stop. I can’t do this. I’m just not feeling it.”

Sargent exploded. “He said, ‘Don’t you ever stop a scene! Do you know what’s involved in getting this scene shot?

Don’t you ever do that again!’ And I never did. It was a very important lesson in trusting yourself and going on.”

Call admits he was distracted because he was preparing for Hamlet at the Los Angeles Art Theater, which he helped form. Just the same, Star Trek registered with him. “It was obvious to me that it seemed to be a big deal to everybody. I do remember being excited about it, and my wife being excited about it, because there was no question that it was a special event.”

He especially recalls the bridge set, where he spent most of his screen time. “I thought that all these blinking lights were just fabulous!”

He also has fond memories of the cast.

He clicked with DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy) and James Doohan (Scotty) on the set, socialized with Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura) and George Takei (Lt. Sulu) after hours, and felt affection for Clint Howard (“What a cute little kid!”). As for William Shatner (Captain Kirk), Call saw none of the actor’s legendarily outsize ego. “He was so kind to me, and supportive.”

And he found Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock) both wry and intellectual. “I really thought he was very well typecast.

He could have been that guy.”

At one point, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry told Call that he would come back as a regular. The pledge did not come to pass. “My mother said, ‘Well, it’s because you look too much like Shatner.’ And I said, ‘It’s because I gave such a rotten performance!’”

Based in New York since 1968, Tony Call today makes his living mainly as a narrator of such documentary series as The F.B.I. Files and Secrets of the Dead. And although he has only watched “The Corbomite Maneuver” twice (once when it first aired, once when it came out on DVD), he can’t escape his role of a lifetime. Not long ago, purely by coincidence, he was in Las Vegas during its big annual Star Trek convention. He figured he would drop by.

“We went over there to take a look and walked in the door and they said, ‘You’re Bailey!’ And they took me all around and treated me like a king, wined me and dined me.

“I had 25 years of soap operas,” he reflects. “But in terms of the world, there is nothing comparable to this show. It’s amazing.”

Thomas Vinciguerra, a contributor to

The New York Times, is the author of Cast of Characters: Wolcott Gibbs, E.B. White, James Thurber, and the Golden Age of The New Yorker (W.W. Norton, 2015).

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FEATURE

2016 Commencement

More than a thousand people attended the hour-long ceremony, which took place on Sunday, May 29.

By Garry Dow Associate Director of Communications

T

he weather forecast had threatened rain for a week, but when the day finally came, the sun came with it. At 2:00 p.m., members of the Class of 2016 appeared in the doorway of Hard Auditorium and then disappeared into a gauntlet of underclassmen, alumni, family, and friends — as the soon-to-be grads made their way to the commencement stage.

“Welcome to the 122nd graduation at Pomfret School,” said Head of School Tim Richards P ’15. “It is so nice to see so many families here today to help us celebrate this transitional moment in the lives of these 116 seniors.”

“WHAT ARE YOU UNIQUELY WIRED TO DO?” Aidan McGannon kicked off the ceremony as the form’s elected student commencement speaker. “I am deeply honored by the trust placed in me to deliver this graduation speech. I don’t think I could do much worse than the football team this year,” McGannon quipped, who captained the winless team, “so I should be all right.”

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Following McGannon, the 2016 commencement speaker, Jonathan T. M. Reckford, chief executive officer for Habitat for Humanity International, took the stage. Drawing on lessons he had learned during a trip to Zambia with his son several years earlier, Reckford challenged the graduating seniors to consider three questions: 1. Whose voices will you allow to speak into your life?

2. How will you define rich?

3. What are you uniquely wired to do?

“I’m not talking about what major you should consider or what profession you should choose,” he said, pausing for effect. “I’m asking how you will discover, as theologian Frederick Buechner describes it, where the deep gladness of your heart and the world’s great need meet.”

A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH During the ceremony, the School recognized two seniors for their Hilltop accomplishments. Michelle Nivar received the highest honor the School can bestow on a student. The Founder’s Medal recognizes the senior who gave the most to Pomfret through deep engagement with the School and who also exhibited outstanding qualities of scholarship, character, leadership, and determination.

“This student began her Pomfret journey as a scared and unsure girl who would shy away from sharing her voice and opinions in class and the dorm,” Richards said. “As a new 10th grader, she pushed herself to find her voice, worked hard on the athletic fields, and eventually began to see her own potential as a rising leader of the School. Now, as a senior who is on her way to Wesleyan University, she is the student kids admire and try to emulate and someone who has truly made her everlasting mark on the Hilltop.”

The second award of the afternoon went to School President Sofie Melian-Morse, who received the Wendell D. Mansfield Cup, awarded to the sixth form student who, by vote of the faculty, best exemplifies the qualities of desire, drive, and determination.

“This year’s winner is a force to be reckoned with,” Richards said.

“During her four years on the Hilltop, she took nine AP courses and competed on four different varsity teams. She was an active form representative for three years, and when she decided to run for school president, no one was surprised when she won. In the end, when the balance of school and life tipped, she taught us the most valuable lesson of all, reacting with poise and grace to right her boat and straighten her course.”

In addition to Nivar and Melian-Morse, the School also recognized seniors Anna Tarplin (valedictorian) and Anh “Jason” Vu (salutatorian) as Form Scholars during the ceremony.

PASSING THE GAVEL When the time came, Form Dean Tim Deary ’05 stepped up to the podium and began to read aloud the name of each member of the Class of 2016. Nearby, grinning parents snapped photos, while friends and families hollered in celebration. At the conclusion of the ceremony, School President Sofie Melian-Morse and Vice President Caelan Meggs handed a ceremonial gavel to School President-Elect Davis Chase ’17 and Vice President-Elect Chris Soutter ’17, a symbolic gesture of changing leadership.

And then, in a blink, high school was over. “By the power invested in me by the state of Connecticut and the Pomfret School Board of Trustees,” said Board Chair Justin Klein ’65, “I now pronounce you, the Class of 2016, graduates of Pomfret School.”

Watch commencement on our YouTube channel.

SPRING 2016

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FEATURE

The Class of 2016 Vincent Conn Alyzae Allison Davis Madison Amber Dean Benjamin I. DiIorio Andrew J.W. Douglas John Joseph Duffy II Caroline Dunn-Packer Henry Durston Enelow Lauren Elise Ferraiuolo Christian Anthony Figliola Austin Schulman Fink Alex David Foley Max Andrew Goldstein Gianna Felice Gonzalez Noah Grimeh Raphaël Jean Guillebon Christopher Michael Hicks Jr. JoonKi Hong Eliza Welles Hunnewell Remington von Lengerke Hutchins Matthew Wallace Kenyon Michelle Keun Young Kim Bradley Donald Kittrell Kyung Mo Koo Arseniy Koshelev

Penn

Villanova

Tulane

American

Texas Christian University

Endicott

UC Berkeley

UConn

University of Arizona

UVM

Colby

SMU

Drexel

Boston College Bowdoin Rochester IT

Connecticut College

Sacred Heart

University of Exeter

POMFRET Magazine

Wesleyan

Colorado College

Hamilton

Georgia IT

St. Lawrence

Stevens IT

Washington College

Northeastern

Centre

Trinity

Hobart and William Smith

Merrimack

Long Island University Stevenson

Syracuse UMiami NYU

Wentworth IT

Gettysburg Saint Joseph’s

US Military Academy

Penn State

McGill

Ngoc Thi Que Tran Annie Lyn Vance Jadan Daniel Villaruel Slade William Vincent Anh Tran Vu Hugh Peter Wackerman Alexandra Shan Lei Wallin Ruohang Wang Ravisara Wattana Benson Nalle Weed Remy Wells Molly Pinkham Wicker Cameron Wiley Winston Weizhi Wu Sera Naz Yanik Ekin Su Yazici Sarah Cassey Youngman Andrew Richard Youngman Michai Zlatopolsky

Vassar

Brandeis

Bentley

UC Boulder

Franklin and Marshall

UNH

Matthew Gregory Parent Rebecca Lynn Pempek Kyle Robert Penn Phoebe Pliakas-Smith Timothy Peter Quimby Joseph Maximillian Ranaldi Michael Rodriguez Cristiano Daniel Rovero Jacob Alexander Ruzecki Chloe Emanuelle Saad David Wells Samberg Grace Ann Sandercox Jacob Michael Scanlon William Hooker Talcott Scharer Christina Angelina Schiavone George William Schmidt Yaw Owusu Sekyere Zoe Sewell Andrew Joseph Shields Samuel Forster Skinner Eun Kyung Son Edmund Quincy Sylvester V Jared Robert Taintor Anna G. Tarplin Preston Chapman Teller Ruoyu Tian

University of Denver

Adelphi

Baruch

Chapman

George Washington University

Davidson

Embry-Riddle

Dickinson

Tanapol Kosolwattana Mohammad Labadi Olivia Kitchel Leachman Jun Beom Lee Eliza Hope Levin Emily Blake Linhares Breana T. Lohbusch John Patrick Long Lauren Keeley MacMaster Riley Michael MacNeil Hassan Emad Makiya Jesse Martinez Nicholas Sean Mazzarella Aidan Seamus McGannon Abigail Hannah McThomas Thomas Caelan Meggs Sofia Melian-Morse Carter Francis Miller William Bradford Miney Alessandra Elisa Montero Katharine Emma Moran Eduardo Munoz-Alonso Merigo Michelle Angela Nivar Rhone Inish O’Hara Hanna Wilms Ohaus Rosemary Endicott Osborne

University of Chicago

Notre Dame

Denison

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Queen’s University

WHERE THEY ARE HEADED

Lauren Christie Allen Khalifa Almheiri Alisa Alperovich David Sayles Altman Charlotte Rose Apuzzo Kaylee Montana Arzt Jack Anthony Bacon Michael Belden Elisabeth Marie-Ange Berard Gerald Blount Douglas Paul Braff Jr. Emily Violet Buell Brittany Amanda Cameron Thomas Roy Castle Sirui Cheng Brody M. Childs Dylan Matthew Clarkin Evan Matthew Clarkin Thomas C. Clay Kenneth Leroy Colombe

College of Charleston

Temple

Art Institute of Chicago

University of Scranton

Simmons New School

University of Alaska Fairbanks

Providence College

US Naval Academy Wake Forest

University of Virginia

Suffolk

Commencement Awards For a complete description of all the awards and their requirements, visit www.pomfretschool.org/awards.

STUDENTS Form Scholar: Valedictorian Anna G. Tarplin ’16 Form Scholar: Salutatorian Anh “Jason” T. Vu ’16 The Wendell D. Mansfield Cup Sofia Melian-Morse ’16 The Founders Medal Michelle Nivar ’16 The Chick Cole Cup Aidan S. McGannon ’16 The Halleck Lefferts Award Grace A. Sandercox ’16 The Edward E. Kelley Award John J. Duffy ’16 The Pomfret Bowl Breana T. Lohbusch ’16, Jared R. Taintor ’16 The Richard H. Randall, Jr. ’44 Award Anna G. Tarplin ’16 The Paul M. Rosenfield ’67 Award Kenneth L. Colombe ’16 Faculty Awards Gianna F. Gonzalez ’16, Keun Young Kim ’16, William H.T. Scharer ’16, Cameron W. Winston ’16

Sixth Form Music Award Aidan S. McGannon ’16, Gianna F. Gonzalez ’16

The Cowperthwait Award Rhone I. O’Hara ’16, Jared R. Taintor ’16

Sixth Form Theatre Award Kyung Mo Koo ’16

Edward A. Benoit Manager of the Year Award Abigail Conway ’18

Sixth Form Painting & Drawing Award Rebecca L. Pempek ’16

CUM LAUDE SOCIETY INDUCTEES

Sixth Form Photography Award Olivia K. Leachman ’16, Samuel F. Skinner ’16 Sixth Form Sculpture Award Anna G. Tarplin ’16 The Joseph Mannas Memorial Drama Award Douglas P. Braff ’16 Sixth Form History Award Remy M. Wells ’16 David A. Brush History Award Anh “Jason” Vu ’16, Brittany A. Cameron ’16 Sixth Form Latin Award Rebecca L. Pempek ’16, Aidan S. McGannon ’16 Sixth Form Spanish Award Sofia Melian-Morse ’16

Andrew James Walter Douglas ’16 JoonKi Hong ’16 Olivia Kitchel Leachman ’16 Jun Beom Lee ’16 Breana Taylor Lohbusch ’16 Aidan Seamus McGannon ’16 Sofia Melian-Morse ’16 Joseph Maximillian Ranaldi ’16 David Wells Samberg ’16 Grace Ann Sandercox ’16 Samuel Forster Skinner ’16 Ruoyu “Carla” Tian ’16 Ruohang “Jerry” Wang ’16 Remy Michelle Wells ’16 Weizhi “Jack” Wu ’16 Anh “Jason” Tran Vu ’16 * Anna G. Tarplin ’16 * Thomas Caelan Meggs ’16 * Rebecca L. Pempek ’16 * Sirui “Chloe” Cheng ’16 *

Sixth Form Chinese Award JoonKi Hong ’16

* Inducted at Convocation, September 2015

The C. Russell Stringer Award Eduardo Munoz-Alonso Merigo ’16

FACULTY

The Digital Arts Award William B. Miney ’16, George W. Schmidt ’16

The Marshall Eaton ’70 Calculus Award Anna G. Tarplin ’16

Sixth Form English Award Samuel F. Skinner ’16

Statistics Award Ruohang Wang ’16

The Prize in Creative Writing Caroline Dunn-Packer ’16

Sixth Form Religion Award Eliza W. Hunnewell ’16

Sixth Form Ceramics Award Sirui Cheng ’16

Sixth Form Science Award Breana T. Lohbusch ’16

Sixth Form Dance Award Jack A. Bacon ’16

Science Exploration Award JoonKi Hong ’16 The David A. Wilson III ’01 Memorial Prize Thomas R. Castle ’16

The Senior Cup Timothy Deary ’05 The William “Terry” Murbach Award Annie O’Sullivan The Prize for Teaching Excellence Pablo Montoro Alonso The Sooho Cho ’74 Award Bradley Davis P ’99 The David A. Brush Award Lindsay Lehmann The Eccleston Award Gregory Rossolimo

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CONNECTIONS | Chapel Talk

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POMFRET Magazine

CHAPEL TALK

Power of Story

By Kenneth Colombe ’16

M

y name is Ken Colombe and I hail from the small town of Kailua on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Like Figgs, I would like to get some common misconceptions and questions I’ve been asked over the years out of the way. Yes, I live in the United States and yes, Hawaii is the 50th state. No, I do not travel to school on the back of a dolphin or turtle, and no, I do not live in a grass hut. I don’t surf and rarely go to the beach, but I do love pineapple and have one growing in my backyard.

As a prospective post graduate, I was first attracted to Pomfret by the academics and the beautiful campus, and I was intrigued by the rising basketball program, but it was sitting here, in this chapel, a little over a year ago, that made me want to be a Griffin.

I was enamored as Papa’s sister, Afia Sekyere ’15, shared the story of her friend’s tragic suicide. I remember how receptive everyone in the crowd was. Looking at students’ faces, there was a shared anguish, a feeling of sympathy, and for some, even empathy. Her story was powerful. As chapel came to a close and the line formed to greet Afia, it was like nothing I had seen before. Right then, I knew Pomfret was a special place.

I have been fascinated with chapel talks ever since, but it wasn’t until a recent conversation with Coach Kremer that I really put my finger on why I was so captivated: the power of story. As humans we are driven by story. Everyone has their own unique tale to tell. This is what brings us closer together. By giving these chapel talks, we learn about people. They give us insight into what makes each individual person… well… individual.

As the year progressed, it has been amazing listening to my classmates’ journeys to the Hilltop. Not all have come on a straight or narrow path; in fact, most people have had bumps and bruises along the way, which have shaped and molded them. With those experiences come toughness, strength, and Mr. Goethals’s favorite trait, grit.

Not long ago I had a toxic attitude, one of discouragement and belittlement. It got to the point where I wasn’t allowed at Michael Gabrelcick’s house because his mother viewed me as a bad influence on her son and, quite frankly, I can’t disagree with her. When I run into people that haven’t seen me in ages, they

talk about how “they remembered me when I was younger.” I feel obligated to stop them mid-sentence and apologize for my younger teenage self. In addition to being obnoxious, I struggled with my body image throughout middle and early high school, eating little to nothing for days on end, and working myself into exhaustion to look skinnier.

This year I drew upon all the chapel talks I heard, learning from what each speaker went through, reflecting and applying each lesson to my own story. I distinctly remember hearing the speeches of Mo, who I really didn’t know very well, and Jack, who was the second Pomfret person I met and who gave me my tour; they both talked about their mothers. Mo talked about how his mom was never really a part of his life and Jack talked about losing his mom way too soon. This is something that, as people, we have experienced or we can relate to. It nearly brought me to tears. There was nothing more I wanted to do than to give both hugs and let them know how incredible they are. I am so grateful to call both of you my friends. You have made me realize how we must cherish those in our lives.

It is crazy to think that I did not know a lot of you before your chapel speeches. There is Anna Tarplin, whose talk on food was light and refreshing. Rebecca Pempek shared her relationship with art and artists. And Gianna shared her reasons for the uplifting hugs she gives on a daily basis. I can confidently call all three of these people friends. It was their stories that helped me connect with each one of them.

So whether it is the love of flying like Jacob Scanlon, a unique and awesome name like Brad Kittrell or Rhone O’Hara, a fascination for creation and building like Tom Castle, or a love for butterflies like Matt Kenyon — do not be afraid to tell your story. Do not be afraid to share your own experiences with your peers. Do not be afraid to sit and listen to others around you. It is through the power of story that we find strength, understanding, and unity.

Before they graduate, all sixth form students are required to deliver a chapel talk in front of the assembled Pomfret community. Students decide what they want to say and how they want to say it. Every student is encouraged to speak with honesty and clarity and specificity, but there is really only one requirement: Say something you mean.

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CONNECTIONS | Iconography

The co nstru was fun ction of the c ha ded by a single pel

$135,0 00 n given in mem G E O R G ory of NEWH E ALL C L A who gr RK in 1904 aduated from , , by Po donatio

mfret his p and Lyd ia, afte arents Edwa rG rd away d uring h eorge passe d is soph year at Harvar omore d.

Generations of students have referred to the main lectern as

SIR GALAHAD, but it’s actually a representation of

ST. GEORGE,

a soldier and officer in the Roman Army, who was martyred for refusing to recant his Christian faith in the year 303.

The st was one use don d ated to bu by a ild the loca c l far hapel mer wall who di , s s and of his mantle b d hau led eloved the sta , h W te i the s top bount olf Den ly y of P omf by oxc Farm, ret H art to ill.

LEW

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IS F . AV ERIL L

POMFRET Magazine

A FALSE WOOD PANEL in the main sanctuary hides the signatures of alumni who have been secretly inscribing their names on the chapel wall for years.

for its owned indows n e r is l st w hape Clark C s windows. Mo , the year s 8 90 gla stained ck to around 1 d, but records a e t b le e o dat as comp indow and tw w l e p a W e s a o the ch the R d from suggest s were remove other

RY U T N E 13TH CENCH FR AL, m R D E H CAT ing the s rs, mak w

u o en of To lder. The wind li u J t in o ’s Sa s k r r a o e s of y New Y hundred first offered to f Art, but the of were eum o tan Mus them because li o p o r t Me rejected ion. museum eir poor condit th

CLARK CHAPEL HOW MUCH DO YOU Really KNOW ABOUT THE Spirit OF POMFRET?

el was rk Chap d in la C r o f ate ign The des on a church loc d base

, T C A R EF D. PONT N A L G typical .

N a E res re textu ecture The rich -inspired archit an of Norm

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CONNECTIONS

Brother Max ’16, father Larry, mother Jennifer Abry-Goldstein ’78, brother Jack ’10, and Grandparents

Kress Goldstein ’13 Memorial Dedication

O

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POMFRET Magazine

n the eve of Commencement, the people who knew him best gathered on a grassy rise overlooking Mallory Field to remember Kress Alexander Goldstein ’13, whose unexpected passing last December shocked the Pomfret community.

admiration and respect for our friend, we are working with his family to place a tree and a bench in his memory on the Pomfret campus,” they said. “The news of his passing has left us speechless and beyond sad, but this memorial will allow the memory of Kress to live on.”

In total, around fifty people, including family, classmates, and teachers, turned out to dedicate a Japanese maple and wooden bench in his memory. The Pomfret memorial was the idea of Peter Reimer ’13, Malcom Chace ’13, and Geoff Short ’13. “With true

During the gathering, tears were common, but so too was laughter — which is just the way Kress would have wanted it. He lived life to the fullest, and as he so often said, “Crack a smile while you’re at it.”

The Best of Families A new book by Harry Groome ’56

T

he Best of Families is the revelatory midlife memoir of Philadelphia socialite Francis Hopkinson Delafield.

Uncomfortable with the mores of one of the city’s oldest families, Fran begins his story the summer after he graduates from prep school, when he dutifully marries his pregnant French Canadian girlfriend, only to have her disappear within months of their marriage.

Disillusioned and angry at the whole world, Fran quits college and enlists in the army. He is badly wounded in a war that no one seems to know or care about, and upon returning home from Vietnam, he is confronted with navigating the roiled waters of a second marriage while both his parents and his wives hold secrets that alter his life forever.

“With wit and compassion, The Best of Families captures perfectly the floundering of WASP society at mid-20th century,” wrote Rebecca Pepper Sinkler, the former editor of the New York Times Book Review. “Trapped in the empty rituals of an upper crust that is well past its sellby date, young Fran Delafield struggles to free himself from family and tradition. Love, the war in Vietnam and fatherhood turn out to be his path to an authentic life, and his salvation. Harry Groome interweaves romance and tragedy in this lively, evocative novel.”

Available at local bookstores and through Amazon.

For more information: www.harrygroome.com FALL 2016

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Winter

CLASS NOTES

1935-2015

1935 | 1936 | 1937 | 1938 | 1939 | 1940 | 1941 | 1942 | 1943 | 1944 | 1945 | 1946 | 1947 | 1948 | 1949 | 1950 | 1951 | 1952 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | Reunion Years

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’40 ’54 1954 Chet Lasell and his wife, Kate, have sold their home in Williamstown, MA and moved to Niskayuna, NY, where their son Chet and his family live.

Chet and Kate are keeping their official residence in Vero Beach, FL.

’40 Advancement Officer Louisa Jones P ’04 spent time with Lucien Kinsolving ’40 in August for his 95th birthday!

1949

’49

Several members of the Class of 1949 have celebrated their birthdays in the past few months: Terry Hoyt in April and Jeremy Burnham in May; June saw Joe Lorenz, Win Cady and Steve Heartt pass another year, and George Monks celebrated in July. August is the banner month for Arthur Hall, Dick Feldon, Bindy Banker, Tony LaPalme, John Flender, and Roger Chappelka. Best wishes to all of you!

1952

’52

Don Nelson wrote, “We just returned from a trip to some of the Canyons of the West. We started in Sonoma on to the Grand Canyon, and then up to Utah for Zion and Bryce Canyons and John Wayne’s Monument Valley. Breakfast on a boat on Lake Powell and then two days in Las Vegas. I really suggest the Bryce and Zion Canyons – beautiful!”

Ted Parker is a retiree from General Motors’ Tech Center in Warren, MI, where he was involved in the design of GM cars and trucks. He moved from Michigan to Winter Park, CO in 1991. In March 2016 Bruce Knight wrote a mini biography about Ted and his trip around the world as a crew member of the Brigantine Yankee from November 1956 to May of 1958.

The article appeared in the Sky Hi Daily News, and was well received in northern Colorado: www.skyhidailynews.com/news/21260846-113/grand-county-biography-ted-parker

’55 1955 Brooks Robbins wrote, “My wife, Meg, and I chase our four grandchildren around quite a bit – great fun – mostly athletic events and significant family gatherings. Our oldest graduated from Berkeley Prep in Tampa and is going on to Furman University in Greenville, SC. A good lacrosse player, his team reached the district level playoffs for the first time in the school’s history.

His younger sister plays club soccer and was in the state finals at U16 level.

Our Rye, NY family has a ninth grader going to Northfield Mount Hermon in the fall, while her younger brother plays U15 squash and was recently the runner-up in a national juniors silver level tournament. They keep us going at high speed. Meg is very involved with the restoration of the Dorothy Quincy Homestead in Quincy, MA. (Dorothy married John Hancock.) The city of Quincy is trying very hard to recreate itself to attract more tourists. It is the ‘city of presidents.’ That’s the news from Lake Wobegon…”

Hardy Eshbaugh wrote, “On May 1, 2016, I celebrated my 80th birthday, and my entire family – all three generations – gathered in Oxford, OH for the event. This included our four children, their spouses, and our seven grandchildren. Miami University planted a tree, a red oak, in my honor very near my office. I am still teaching in our Institute in Retirement and just finished teaching a course, A Botanical Potpourri.”

Class notes featured in this issue were received prior to August 7, 2016. Notes received after this date will be published in the Spring 2017 issue. Class notes are appreciated and may be submitted via your Class Agent, the Pomfret School website, or by e-mail to: Debby Thurston, Class Notes Editor, at dthurston@pomfretschool.org.

We encourage and welcome appropriate news items and photographs from all alumni and friends. Please note that not all submissions are guaranteed to appear based upon subject matter, photo reproduction quality, and space availability. Also, we reserve the right to edit for consistency and style but we will give every consideration to each author’s individual writing style.

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CONNECTIONS | Class Notes

’56

1955 continued

1956

’55 John Huss ’55 keeps busy as a docent at the Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester, MA. Here he is leading a tour through the museum galleries which include the world’s collection of fabulous marine art by Fitz Henry Lane. John is also the curator at the Manchester Historical Museum in his home town of Manchester-by-the-Sea. He welcomes any Pomfret classmates or alumni to pay either or both museums a visit – he’d be more than happy to conduct a personalized tour for such “distinguished” guests!

Tony Hoyt reported, “On Friday, May 13, 2016, five surviving members of the Pomfret Class of 1956 gathered on the Hilltop to celebrate our 60th Reunion. Present at the class dinner were Bob Belknap, John Caulk, Harry Groome, Bill Huffer and yours truly. Christine and Bill Huffer received the ‘we came the farthest’ award and a special award should also go to Mary and Bob Belknap for making the effort to be present. I could only stay for Friday night and so was not present when Harry Groome received the Alumni Award at Saturday night’s gala dinner. At dinner on Friday evening, Bill turned to me and said that our class needed a Class Secretary/Agent to succeed Nick [Storrs], who did such a brilliant job for so many years until his death. Since nobody else was listening, I have agreed to take on this responsibility for the next few years. I ask for your help. It was good to be back at Pomfret. When you think back on it, we spent some wonderful years there in the 50s and made some good friends. We have drifted apart which is natural, but if you have anything that you would like to report about your life, your activities, your health, your children, whatever, please just email it to me and I will pass it on to the school. Pomfret is in excellent shape and Tim Richards is doing a spectacular job as Head of School. And the place looks great! We have emails for most of the class but not for the following: du Pont, Fraise, Greenman, Paterson, Putnam, Watkins or Wingate. If any of you have emails for them, please let me know. It’s too bad that more of you could not be with us for the weekend, but, hopefully, we can and will have a larger representation at our 65th. If any of you find yourself in or around Manchester, Vermont, feel free to give me a call. It would be great to catch up. Best wishes to all.”

’55 Hardy Eshbaugh ’55 (top center) celebrating his 80th birthday with his family.

’56 Celebrating their 60th reunion, the Class of 1956 are (l-r): Tony Hoyt, Bob Belknap (seated), John Caulk, and Harry Groome. (Missing from photo): Bill Huffer, Hank Wingate.

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POMFRET Magazine

1957

’57 ’61

David Unsworth reported, “[In the spring] I appeared in Pirates of Penzance at the Hole in the Wall Theater in New Britain, CT. This is after finishing the year of the Choral Club of Hartford. In July 2016 I went with the Connecticut Golden Age Team to Detroit [to compete] with other veterans who are associated with the VA. I did the 25 and 50 meter backstroke, and the 100, 200 and 400 meter races, among other events. I was lucky enough to medal in swimming, nine ball, track, and shuffleboard. This is the seventh year that I’ve participated. Sure, the competition is there, but most of us are there for the camaraderie. I am taking a breather and hope to go to the games next May in Biloxi.”

1960

’60

Bob Bates’ book, When Things Fell Apart: State Failure in Late-Century Africa (2008), is being published by the Cambridge University Press.

It was selected for the Canto Classics series, which features the most influential titles over the past half-century. Bob is the Eaton Professor of the Science of Government and professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard, and a faculty associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. Additionally, Bob was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences in May 2016 for his contributions to the study of development, agriculture, and political violence. Both recognitions were based on his fieldwork in political violence, and as the most prominent Africanist in political science. “My interest in Africa was sparked by the international program at Pomfret and the trip I took with Frick Hufnagel and Adam Hochschild, along with seven others from schools throughout the country, in the summer of 1989,” Bob wrote.

Adam Hochschild chronicles Americans’ involvement in the Spanish Civil War in his new book, Spain in Our Hearts [Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939]. He says that the majority of Americans in Spain (including writer Ernest Hemingway, who reported on the conflict) were sympathetic to the Republican forces who fought against Gen. Francisco Franco’s Nationalists, noting it was by far the largest number of Americans before or since who’ve ever joined somebody else’s civil war.

’60

Bob Bates ’60 signing “the Great Book” at his induction into the National Academy of Sciences in May 2016.

’61 Celebrating their 55th reunion, the Class of 1961 are (l-r): Chip Wadhams, Robert Brown, George Walker, Clark Groome, Deborah Dexter, Steve Dexter, Dick Jackson, George Morgan, and Roger Blake

’62 1962 Toby Condliffe wrote, “My wife, Dr. Nancy McKee, retired from her clinical practice of hand surgery as of June 30, 2016. We expect to spend more time visiting children and grandchildren in Vancouver, Edmonton and Haliburton (Ontario). We will also spend more time at our cottage on Martha’s Vineyard. Classmates would be welcomed there or at our home in Toronto.”

Pat Morss wrote, “Anne-Lise and I were in Philadelphia on May 14th for my University of Pennsylvania 50th reunion. With the large class we knew almost no one, but enjoyed visiting my fraternity, Psi Upsilon, and seeing other Penn friends living in Philly. Next will be my Penn design graduate school Architecture 50th, where there will be many familiar faces.”

Howie Mallory wrote, “Just over three years ago I completed a circle. I returned to Danang I Corps Vietnam with eight vets. I had been there between 1969 & 1970 – the peak of the US troop buildup. Maybe others have also gone back. The unified country is energetically trying to catch up and move past the decade-long war, evolving from adversary to ally.

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1962 continued [It was] bittersweet but impressive. Now after retiring, I am currently working in Aspen, CO with local land conservation and open space organizations feeling the pressure of Colorado’s population boom.

The image and appeal of the frontier in the Rocky Mountain west is still going strong. I hope to see everyone a year from now at our 55th.”

Peter Lownds and Doug Knott ’61 played demonstrably leading roles in the world premiere showing of the play Naked Lunch at their 50th reunion at Yale University in June. Another example of the class of 1962’s diversity 54 years ago!

Sam Tilton wrote, “Last summer (2015), while in Vermont for a NY State Bar Association event, my wife Mimi and I visited Carey and Mike Curtis at their self-designed Vermont home high on a hill with a fabulous view of the countryside, and Mike gave us a tour of the ‘grounds’ in his Alligator ATV. I am in my third year of working part-time to transition out of our law firm (every year more part and less time as I often say), which leaves more time for travel. This past January, Mimi and I joined a National Geographic Expedition to Antarctica on a 100 passenger ship departing from the tip of South America (definitely not a cruise). It was summer in Antarctica – lots of sun with daytime temperatures in the 30s and even low 40s. The sun was up almost all day, and even the few hours when it was not, it’s just twilight. Lots of seals and penguins, spectacular scenery and colors in the changing light (especially kayaking among the icebergs) – the trip far exceeded our expectations, even with the very rough 36 hour trip across the Drake Passage with its 50 knot sustained winds and 15-20 foot waves. And I (along with about a third of the others) topped it off by taking the Polar Plunge into the Antarctic Sea, where the temperature was 30 degrees, not dissuaded by seeing the ship’s doctor standing by with a defibrillator. I now have a feeling of what hypothermia’s effects would be in a very short time. In June 2016, I attended my four-day 50th reunion at Harvard (Cai Von Rumohr was signed up to attend but I never saw him), which was enormous fun. I have good memories about our [Pomfret] 50th reunion – seeing so many classmates for the first time in 50 years, and very surprised to receive the Olmsted Award, for which I once again thank all my classmates. I look forward to coming back again soon – hard to believe that our 55th will be next year.”

’62 (l-r): Doug Knott ‘61, Peter Lownds ‘62 and Toby Condliffe ‘62 at their 50th reunion at Yale on June 2, 2016

’62 Mimi and Sam Tilton ’62 in Antarctica in January 2016

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1963

’63

Dan Poor wrote, “[My wife] Rickey and I drove to Colorado to spend Thanksgiving with our son and his family and in-laws. We timed timing and route perfectly as far as weather was concerned. We only had to contend with a bit of precipitation that was wanting to become freezing rain as we drove by Indianapolis on the way home. Our trip out was a push to get there in three days. Took a bit longer to get home, and we spent an evening visiting with Judy and John Burch in Lawrence, Kansas. In spite of the fact they had just survived the marriage of their daughter a few days earlier, they were most gracious hosts and provided us with good food, conversation, accommodations! They even said we’d be welcome to come again and stay a bit longer to explore that part of Kansas.

Other classmates are invited to contact John anytime they are driving through Kansas as well.”

1965

’65

’66 Celebrating their 50th reunion, the Class of 1966 are (front row, l-r): David Long, Martin Cherniack, Bill Lockwood, Peter Wood, Bob Merritt; (middle row, l-r): Michael Schwartz, Steve Mikula, Bob Off, David Raymond; (back row, l-r): Lewis Turner, Rick Hodsdon, David Aitken, Jim Goodwin, John Barbour, Tim Bates, Ned Williams, Rob Bavier, and Tom Simmons.

(Missing from photo): Bob Barrett, Robert Duncan, Ted Reed, and John Sargent

Barry Bobrick wrote, “In mid-June 2016, my wife and I met up with Peter Murkett for a visit with [former headmaster] Jay Milnor at his home in Peabody, MA. Jay told us much about his early life, time at Pomfret, and years in Istanbul; reminisced about a few of the faculty we knew (including Chick Cole, Marcel Marcotte and William Parquette); and drew out of us some account of our own lives, too. A man of stupendous stamina, even now: he kept us going well past dark.”

’66 1966 Michael Schwartz wrote, “Judge Augusto Trindade, Dave Raymond and I, along with our wives, had a mini-reunion at a Georgetown restaurant in Washington, DC on June 10, 2016. We didn’t solve the political dilemmas in the US or Brazil, but the food and wine were good!”

’66 (l-r): Dave Raymond ‘66, Michael Schwartz ’66 and Augusto Trindade ’66

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’67 1967 Jack Viertel’s book The Secret Life of the American Musical was published in March 2016 by Sarah Crichton Books/Farrar Straus & Giroux. Jack doesn’t cite his extensive acting experience while at Pomfret, but some classmates will remember that his obsessive interest in theater was present even back then. The book, which disassembles and reassembles classic and new musicals from Oklahoma! to Hamilton is for fans of the genre, and others who are curious as to how musicals are put together for Broadway.

David Feffer celebrated the seventh year of the Crown Guitar Workshop and Festival in Bigfork, Montana, which he founded in 2009. Set on the grounds of Flathead Lake Lodge dude ranch, 45 minutes south of Glacier National Park, the Crown has become an epicenter for guitar while celebrating the splendor of Montana. This year’s workshop and festival was set for August 28 to September 4, 2016. The line-up included rock/songwriter legend Jim Messina and his band; Grammy®-winners Dweezil Zappa and Lee Ritenour; Jazz prodigy Julian Lage; Punch Brothers Bluegrass virtuoso Chris Eldridge; Nashville recording legend Brent Mason; gypsy jazz artists Gonzalo Bergara and Max O’Rourke; country singer/songwriter Liz Longley; SoloDuo, the Italian classical duo of Matteo Mela and Lorenzo Micheli; and many other great performers and pedagogues.

Eleven guitar workshops span a wide-range of guitar genres for beginning to advanced players, taught by world-class faculty. To learn more information about this event, go to www.crownguitarfest.org.

1969

’69

Jeff Purvin wrote, “I’m living in New York City now, helping my wife Francesca run our web-based online education business, University of Fashion, and moonlighting as a board member for a couple of medical device companies – one out of the UK and the other in CT. I was just appointed to New York City’s Community Board, District 5, allowing me to weigh in on liquor licenses, new sidewalk cafés, street concerts, building landmarking, schools, affordable housing, quality of life, etc. Marijuana reform has sadly not crossed my desk as of yet.”

Eric Schwartz, playing golf with his California mates near St. Andrews, Scotland, had the good fortune of enjoying the services of caddie Will St Onge ’99.

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Robert Shasha wrote, “[Age] 65 is a great time of life! One has had the opportunity to ‘play one’s life song,’ but still has many good years ahead for further growth, development, and exploration. I say that it is like being a senior in high school, but trying not to ‘graduate too soon!’

We must have the good fortune to stay healthy, have family, friends, and love in our life.”

Chico Livingston reported, “I moved from Santa Fe to Portland, OR about four years ago. I retired from the Indian Health Service after 20 years of service. I am working now with both aspects of my training.

As an internist, I work part-time at a clinic serving un-insured and under-insured clients (the local grade schools list 30% of their students as homeless!!). The clinic used to be a ‘free clinic’ but has used federal grants to become a full-service primary care clinic, with clients from all over the world...really good group of providers and staff, and huge need in our clients. I am also trained as an acupuncturist, and teach at the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine, a masters level Traditional Chinese Medicine school. Jeez... teaching is really hard. I now respect my teachers at Pomfret so much more. And the questions students ask... [My] kids are grown and (mostly) out of the house. In general they are doing fine, but I really worry about the coming generations... so many fewer opportunities than we had and much more pressure; so much part-time work, so little benefits. I really miss Santa Fe, but my wife is much happier in Oregon. I still love to ski, bike, hike, play (classical) guitar, and follow the Red Sox. And... I just returned from my first annual Medicare wellness check. MEDICARE!!! Walkers and canes and adult diapers... That’s for older people isn’t it? You know, old – like, over 65 – er... hmmm... and, I guess, for those of us from the class of ’69. So that’s the report from the Great Northwest where, of course, it is cloudy with chance of showers.”

Peter Borgemeister wrote, “On July 22 [2016], the day I turned 65, I formally retired from a 47-year career in construction – first as a carpenter, then designer, and finally an architect. I don’t get my gold watch, however; I expect to wrap-up what will likely be my final large project in October. This project – over six years in the making – involves the major rehabilitation of three Boston buildings that provide 23 housing units to individuals and families affected by AIDS. Looking ahead, I’m fixing up my basement to provide a workshop and sculpture studio. At long last, I’ll be able to carve those logs and pieces of marble that [former faculty] Alice Dunbar gave me so many years ago! I also look forward to having the time to complete my book on building rehabilitation and other long-deferred writing projects – shades of [former faculty] Bill Parquette.”

Jock Herron wrote, “This my first alumni note in 47 or so years, but it seemed worth reporting that our son Levi entered Pomfret as a Third Former this fall – entirely his choice and much to our surprise. On the personal front, after many years in New York City, Tokyo and London, I have spent the past fifteen years in Cambridge, MA with my wife Julia.

I’m on the faculty (at lowest possible rung) of the Harvard Graduate School of Design where I got a doctorate some years ago. My ‘specialty’ is food systems, and I’ll be co-teaching a year-long studio course on the subject in a new program run jointly with the engineering school this fall. I hobble about on two new knees, a new hip joint and an achilles tendon that’s been stitched back together, but otherwise seem fine. Much time spent chairing the board of the Cambridge Center for Adult Education and as Vice Chair of the American Antiquarian Society in, of course, Worcester. I co-run Tidepool Press, a micropublishing operation that will release its eighteenth book this summer – a great way to get poor slowly. I also co-manage some family farms

in southern Ohio – another way to get poor slowly. We still spend a fair amount of time Downeast, so after a geographically adventurous career my time is spent much closer to home these days. And, visiting a surprisingly less austere Pomfret campus is now in the offing.”

’69 One of three buildings in the Boston area undergoing rehabilitation by Peter Borgemeister ’69 for people affected with AIDS

’69 This image, drawn by Gary Tharler ’69, was recently accepted in a local juried gallery show and was given an award of merit.

’69 Jock Herron ’69 (right) with his son and new Pomfret freshman, Levi ’20

’69 Robert Shasha ’69 (right) with his children (l-r): Jordan, David, Caroline, and wife Ellen.

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’71

’71 Celebrating their 45th reunion, the Class of 1971 are (l-r): Peter Castle, John Sigel, Otis Read, Alex Gibney, Jacques Bailhé, David Matzdorf, Skip Hine, and Steve Shwartz. (Missing from photo): Charles Campbell and Robin Pfoutz.

1971 Bob McChesney released another book with John Nichols in March 2016 entitled People Get Ready: The Fight Against a Jobless Economy and a Citizenless Democracy. The book discusses the automation revolution and what it means for our economy and our politics, and suggests a new economy in which new technologies are applied to address environmental and social problems, and used to rejuvenate democratic institutions.

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’75 1975 Cindy Shearer recently published a book entitled Green Flashes and Goombay Smashes - a poignant tale of Life, Death and Sunsets. Inspired to share the amazing life story of her mother, Cindy’s moving memoir is penned as one of millions of baby boomers who has cared for an aging parent, keeping alive the dialogue surrounding how society deals – or does not deal – with life’s final phase.

The book is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Cindy currently resides in the Virgin Islands, where she works as a litigation paralegal.

’76 ’76

’79

Celebrating their 40th reunion, the Class of 1976 are (l-r): Chris Cestaro, Julian Herzfeld, Rich Cody, Jeff Siekierski, John Masley, and Ron Roelke. (Missing from photo): John Groton and Brian Kauch.

’81

’81 ’79

(l-r): David Meade ’79 (founder, Shelby American Automobile Club of New England) met up with Charles Moseley ’79 (actor, producer, director and president at Driving with Idiots) at the first annual Barrett Jackson Collector Car Auction Eastern Edition at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT in June 2016.

Julie Hinchman and Reg Paige of the Class of 1981 were present to celebrate their 35th reunion. (Missing from photo): Billy Cole

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1982

’82

Whitney Welch received the Firefighter of the Year Award on May 17, 2016 at the annual awards luncheon given by the Greenwich (CT) Chamber of Commerce.

’83

initiatives, JFV is doing incredible work building the national network of Veterans Treatment Courts to help soldiers who have come back from active theatre and are all too often losing the fight trying to return to civilian life. These people are struggling with crippling PTSD, battlefield injuries, lost limbs, homelessness, substance abuse, poverty, you name it, and when they run into trouble with the law, like drug treatment courts, the vet treatment courts try to avoid incarceration and get these people help. We raised over $10K for JFV. I am going to miss a few names here so apologies in advance, but it was impossibly great to see fellow Pomfret alumni in the flesh: Joey Moffitt ’82, Amy Forte ’82, Ashley Van Slyck Schofield ’82, Rachel Weiss ’82, Tim Eustis, Al Washco, Chris Scott, Chris Jackson ’84 and his eldest Kit, Ronnie Wilson ’86 (on crutches no less - nice effort, girl!), and the great and powerful Kevin West ’03. Donate at www.jfv.org and listen to the album at www. givingtribemusic.com, or throw me a nickel and get the sounds at iTunes, Amazon, etc... Love to all.”

1983 In the spring of 2016, Ned Hallowell went to New York and visited with classmates Sander Coxe and Christopher Scott. Then he went on a day trip to Pomfret with Jim and Wendy Reeder Enelow to meet with their sons Henry ’16 and George ’17. He also had the good fortune to see Lucy Nalle P ’16 and Christopher (again) in California!

Ingrid Black Burnell wrote, “All is well here in Georgia!

Stephen and I will be celebrating our 29th wedding anniversary this year. Our daughter Lindsay just turned 23 and is finishing off her Masters in Education Counseling. Chandler will be 20 and in his second year at University of North Georgia. He is on the road touring as the production manager with Camp Kidjam, and loving every minute. Daphne is 11 and started middle school in the fall; she is still on the fence as to whether it will be a good thing having her mom working at the school she attends. I am going into my 10th year at South Forsyth Middle School, the top public middle school in the state of Georgia. We continue to foster children and are staying young and worn out by the end of the day with our three year old whom we have had for 21 months. Recently Lindsay and I travelled to Savannah to celebrate Courtney Crompton’s graduation from Savannah College of Art Design; it was a great weekend celebrating with Beth Corcoran Crompton and Dave Crompton ’84.”

Sander Coxe wrote, “MANY thanks to all the Pomfret pals who sent good wishes and came out on April 30, 2016 in New York City to help celebrate [the release of our album] and support a great cause. Our band-givingTribe-played a generous helping of our first record, hands that feed, and all our friends dug deep and gave copiously to Justice for Vets. Among other worthy

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’83

(l-r): Wendy Reeder Enelow ’83, George Enelow ’17, Ned Hallowell ’83, Henry Enelow ’16, and Jim Enelow ’83 at Pomfret in the spring.

’83

’83 Class of 1983 parents celebrating their Class of 2016 graduates at Pomfret’s Commencement. (l-r): Jim Enelow ’83 with Henry Enelow ’16, Wendy Reeder Enelow ’83, Ben Weed ’16 with mother Lucy Nalle ’83, and Abby McThomas ’16 with mother Amy Hare ’83.

Sander Coxe ’83 playing a fundraiser with his band, givingTribe, in New York City on April 30, 2016

’86 1986 Brooke Toni wrote, “I presented my photography for the first time at a festival in a small town in the Shenandoah Mountains. My contemporary and abstract style was well received. Also, I attended my 30th reunion [in May] and had a wonderful time spending quality time with Telena Bolding ’87, Erin Chui Ki Lau ’87 (whom I had not seen for 29 years), my mother Connie Toni, and [former faculty] Ginny & Marshall Eaton ’70. Thanks for celebrating with me!”

’83 (l-r): Ingrid Black Burnell ’83, Beth Corcoran Crompton ’83 with her daughter Courtney, and Ingrid’s daughter Lindsay.

’86 Brooke Toni ’86 (center) celebrating her 30th class reunion, with help from Telena Bolding ’87 (left) and Erin Chui Ki Lau ’87.

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’91

’91 Celebrating their 25th reunion, the Class of 1991 are (front row, l-r): Michelle Prince, Deacon Webster, Frances Lumpkin-Webster, Jesse Lawrence, Courtney Hallock McGinnis; (middle row, l-r): Alex Jones, Joan Fiore Collins, Abby Gardiner Silk, Chris LeMoult, Dan Good, Jesse Silverman, Shelley Butler Coughlin, Juliana Keyser Harris, Sam Caspersen; (back row, l-r): Dave Farnum, Jay VanDerzee, Jeremy Button, Caroline Waterlow, Jim Breen, Lorenzo Borghese, Andy Ramirez, Dylan Henderson, Chris Victory.

(Missing from photo): Laurence Hale, Samantha Jones O’Brien, Kennon Perrin.

’92 1992 Danna Day recently became a partner at Copley Wolff Design Group, a landscape architecture and planning firm located in downtown Boston, MA. Danna has been the Director of Marketing for the firm since joining in 2012 and oversees all marketing, public relations, and business development efforts. She looks forward to contributing to the continuing advancement, growth, and success of the company which has been responsible for a number of high profile projects across the country.

’93 1993 Jack Howard-Potter wrote, “I am still making sculpture and placing my work all over the USA! I participated in the Flux Art Fair in New York City and had a sculpture placed in Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem through August 2016 with the New York City Parks Department. I installed two sculptures in Chicago (corner of Halstead and Monroe and 4827 North Damon St.); both locations are open to the public 24/7. I also placed a sculpture in Cary, North Carolina in June, and one in Decatur, Illinois in the new Scovill Sculpture Park – it’s a wonderful environment that showcases my sculpture, Valkyrie, very well. Please visit my website to see over a dozen locations where my work is displayed: www.steelstatue.com.”

Congratulations to Lauren Feltz, who was appointed as the new principal of Middlebrook School in Wilton, CT on July 20, 2016. Lauren brings more than 19 years of experience in education and administrative leadership to the school.

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’95

’98 1998 Congratulations to actress Toyin Moses, who won Best Lead Female in the performance Knock Me a Kiss at the 2015 NAACP Theatre Awards on March 6, 2016. Toyin also has a prominent role as Bazemint Tape in 96 Souls, an independent sci-fi feature film that is currently being shown at independent film festivals.

’95

JD Rogers and Rachel Schoppe Rogers ’02 welcomed their second child, Lewis Irving Rogers, on March 30, 2016. He joins big sister Cecilia (2).

Jackson Elegbe, son of Wale Elegbe ’95, sporting his Pomfret pride!

Anna Hastings and her husband, Jean-Rèmy Bonnefoy, were thrilled to announce the birth of their baby girl, Lucienne Hastings Bonnefoy, on May 13, 2016.

’96

1996

Congratulations to Conor O’Malley, who was married to Devon Godfrey on May 14, 2016 in Mystic, CT. Pomfret alumni in attendance were Kip Hale, JD Rogers, Rachel Schoppe Rogers ’02, Ligeia Donis, Thayer Whipple, Sarah Welch, Toyin Moses, and Teddy O’Brien ’93.

Gretchen Bryan reported, “I currently live in Medford, Massachusetts. I work as an ABA counselor for autistic kids and work at a bakery. I kayak, hike, do yoga, travel and enjoy the Boston film club. I attend a lot of film events like the Sundance Film Festival. I also enjoy the culinary arts and take cooking classes at the Cambridge Culinary Art Institute. I love Brazilian jazz and I am exploring that genre of music in the Boston area.

I plan on living in Boston for several years but am thinking about moving out to California after that.”

’01

’96

Cecilia and Lewis Rogers

Celebrating their 20th reunion, the Class of 1996 are (l-r): Elizabeth Chartier Rudzinski, Hillary Lewis Fryer, Jad Dix, Mike Newton, and Chandler Cooper. (Missing from photo): Will Wiquist FALL 2016

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’01 ’99

1999 Congratulations to Steve Chang, who was selected to receive a NIMH BRAINS award (Biobehavioral Research Awards for Innovative New Scientists) in June 2016. Steve is an assistant professor of psychology and neurobiology at Yale University. According to Yale, this distinguished award goes to very few young scientists to do highly innovative, highrisk/high-return research. Steve will use his award to develop and study an inducible animal model of social dysfunctions arising from the neuronal interaction between the anterior cingulate cortex and the amygdala in the brain.

2001

Congratulations to Julie and Dan Griffith on the birth of their son, Bodhin Zephyr Griffith, on January 30, 2016.

Caitlin Rogers Connelly was hoping she and her husband, Dan, would be able to make it to the Hilltop for Reunion Weekend, but were thrilled to miss it due to the arrival of their third child, Edward James Connelly, on May 11, 2016.

“Life as a family of five is wonderfully busy – Edward’s big sisters Ruth and Eleanor absolutely adore him and take their new roles very seriously!” she said.

’00

2000

Congratulations to Tom Reichstein and Franzi Schulte, who welcomed a son, Casimir “Casi” Valentin Heinemann-Schulte, on October 9, 2015.

He joins big sister Marie, who was born on April 6, 2013.

’01 Dan Griffith ’01 and his son Bodhin

’00 Baby Casi H-Schulte

’01 Lily Campbell with her new baby sister Kate Elizabeth, who was born on February 5, 2016. They are the daughters of Mary and Rob Campbell ’01.

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’01 Celebrating their 15th reunion, the Class of 2001 are (l-r): Joe Dickson, Donnie Moorer, Bobby Vega, Katie Duglin, Brett Burns, Sunny Kneissl Zweig, and Nari Gill Grause.

(Missing from photo): Lily Rand Barnett, Cooper Hastings, Kevin Rees, and Sean Regan.

’01

Edward James Connelly, son of Dan and Caitlin Rogers Connelly ’01

’02 2002 Congratulations to Colton Riley, who was married to Rachel Mulkerin on April 30, 2016 at St. James Parish Church in St. James, Barbados. Chris Watkins was best man and Jay Powers ’03 was a groomsman.

’02 On May 24, 2016 at 8:10am, Timothy and Christina Galanti Dickson ’02 welcomed Gregory Michael Dickson at 7lbs 2oz. “We are overwhelmed with joy!” they said.

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’03 2003 Claire and Steve Atwood announced the birth of their daughter, Marian Rose Atwood, on December 4, 2015. She joins big brother Paul (age 5) and sister Teresa (age 2).

Philip Baylor and his wife, Katherine, welcomed their first child, Howard Nelson Baylor, on March 24, 2016 in Arlington, Virginia.

The Baylors live in Loudoun County, Virginia.

’03 Baby Howard Nelson Baylor

’03 Baby Marian Atwood

’03

Grace Elizabeth Hancock, baby daughter of Zach and Caitlin Connelly Hancock ’03, was born on February 12, 2016.

’03 Fast friends! Andie McNeil Spadaccini (top) and Lucy Barrett, daughters of Mackie Pilsbury Spadaccini ’03 and David Barrett ’03.

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’05

2005

Camille Byars wrote, “I just returned from Europe where I stopped to see Sarah Mayor and Emily Rand in London and then Cory Holt Zwick in Denmark and Sweden, followed by a week in Prague. An amazing trip to catch up with amazing friends! All found on the Pomfret hilltop.”

Tate Morris graduated from Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine with a doctorate in veterinary medicine. He is taking a position as a horse doctor at Randwick Equine Centre in Randwick (Sydney), Australia.

It is a large referral hospital that sees and treats a majority of Thoroughbred racehorses.

Join us for the 2017

Woodruff Winter Benefit SATURDAY

JANUARY ’05 Tate Morris ’05

7 Come to play or just watch.

The choice is yours.

’05 (l-r): Emily Rand ’05, Camille Byars ’05, and Sarah Mayor ’05 in London, England

In 1999, Doug Woodruff ’77 died of colon cancer. As a child at Pomfret, and eventually, as a varsity captain of the hockey team, Doug spent countless hours on the ice. In 2001, his twin brother Steve Woodruff ’77 started the Doug Woodruff Memorial Alumni Hockey Game so friends, family, teammates, alumni, faculty, and coaches could gather to remember Doug in the place where his passion for the game first began.

~ FOR MORE INFORMATION ~ 860.963.5994 events@pomfretschool.org FALL 2016

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’06 ’05 Camille Byars ’05 and Cory Holt Zwick ’05 in Copenhagen, Denmark

Adam and Michelle Gilmore Castiglione ’06 became the proud parents of Marcus Owen Castiglione on May 19, 2016.

’05 Sadie Rochelle Ritter was born on May 5, 2016 to William and Brittany Durand Ritter ’05

2006

’06

’06

James Pinkham announced, “After two years working in Canada as part of the Ridley College Admissions Office, I moved to New Hampshire in July to join the Admissions Office at the New Hampton School.

This opportunity also allows me to also get back to coaching and living on campus as a dorm parent. I’m very excited about this change and coming back to the U.S.”

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Celebrating their 10th reunion, the Class of 2006 are (front row, l-r): Rachel Rapoza, Erin Wolchesky, Chantelle Lamountain, Brittany Nelson Granara, Micaela Long, Jennie Bellonio, Andrea Hunter, Claire Rimkus, Caroline McLoughlin Davis, Tamara Ferreira Marcella, Mike Sullivan; (middle row, l-r): Mike Wenning, Trevor Reid, Allie Rosenberg, Hillary Ross Charalambous; (back row, l-r): Nate DuBois, Mike Gately, Form Dean Louisa Jones, Young Hahn, Pete Wisotzkey, Brian Mott, Greg Jones, James Pinkham, Joey Army Almonte, Amanda Jordan.

(Missing from photo): Sean Driscoll, Brady Griffin, Ashley Humes, Jarred Raymond, and Kasia Kolodziejczak Saar.

’07

2007

Elise Fargnoli, a member of a design team comprised mainly of Rhode Island School of Design alumni, captured two awards during the interior design challenge at the Rhode Island Home Show March 31-April 3, 2016. The design team was awarded the “People’s Choice” and “Lifestyle Achievement” awards for its inspired live-work space design and coastal living theme which featured almost exclusively Rhode Island-created furnishings and décor. Elise currently works for Paradigm Media Consultants in Warwick, RI.

’07

Kat Phrasavath announced, “Matthew Clements and I were married on July 2, 2016 at Mystic Seaport [CT]. Meredith Gagnon was a bridesmaid, and Rosamond Dunn and Emily Detmer were also in attendance. We honeymooned in Spain for two glorious weeks!”

Kat Phrasavath ’07 and her husband Matthew Clements

’08 2008

’07 Elise Fargnoli ’07 (right) with teammate Ainsley Bonham of Judd Brown Designs, stand in their multiple award-winning live-work space design at the 2016 Rhode Island Home Show.

Austin Hoag is finishing his fourth year of his Ph.D. program at the University of California Davis. He received a prestigious threeyear NASA fellowship and has been working on international collaborations in his area of research. Austin is working in the area of astrophysics and specifically the use of gravitational lensing to see way back in time to some of the earliest galaxies. His work brings him to the W.M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea a couple of times a year for collecting data. He travels often for his research and has collaborations with several universities. He has published a number of journal papers and has presented around the US and in Italy. On May 18, 2016 the Keck Observatory reported that an international team of scientists, which included Austin, detected and confirmed the faintest early-Universe galaxy born just after the Big Bang, using the world’s most powerful telescope at the observatory. The results were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Congratulations to Felice Mueller ’08 who​​earned a spot at her first Olympic Games by winning the women’s pair at the 2016 World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne, Switzerland in May 2016. She and her Rowing Cup partner, Grace Luczak, went on to row in ​t​he Olympic Games in Rio​, placing fourth in the women’s pairs event​.

’07 Eloise Geddes Andrews was born on May 3, 2016 to Mark and Alex Parsons Andrews ’07.

Meredith Colwell wrote, “I had the opportunity to catch up with Michele Kelley for dinner earlier this spring in Washington, DC and reminisce about our Pomfret days before I graduated from the University of Maryland School of Dentistry with my Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in May. Shortly after graduation, on June 6, 2016, I married my husband and best friend, Ian Swisher, in a beautiful intimate ceremony in Chestertown, MD surrounded by our closest family and friends. We’re loving newlywed life and are looking forward to planning a more traditional ceremony to celebrate with our extended family and all of our friends in the not-too-far future.”

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CONNECTIONS | Class Notes

2008 continued Ben Tarlow has made his dream an entrepreneurial reality; he is the proud founder and president of Mid-Century Motoring, a classic car company operating out of Buchanan, New York in the Hudson River Valley. Ben purchases the cars in Europe and has them refurbished here in the States for collectors. His website is MidCenturyMotoring.com.

Steven Harkey has just been voted onto the Board of Trustees of EdVigor, Inc., an educational non-profit providing teacher training to educators in Nigeria. The organization just completed its first successful trip to Lagos in July of 2016. For more information, their website is EdVigor.org.

’10 Ash Mayo ’10 (right) and her wife, Jess Coon, on their wedding day

’11 2011 Nic Lane reported, “I moved back home to Seattle, WA after graduating from Colgate University last spring (2015) to take a job as a financial advisor at Merrill Lynch.”

’08 Meredith Colwell ’08 with her new husband Ian Swisher

2010

’10

Ash Mayo announced, “Jess Coon, an alumna of the Lincoln School in Providence, and I were married on May 1, 2016 at the Providence Public Library. Pomfret attendees included former faculty Kate and Pete Gillin and their children, along with Chip and Susan Lamb P ’09, ’11.

Jess and I met while we were both attending the University of Chicago, and are still living in the Windy City.”

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’11 Celebrating their 5th reunion, the Class of 2011 are (front) Czarina Hutchins and Hammy Morley and (back row, l-r): Ben Sukonik, Brooke Bytalan, Chris Emerson, James Wall, Cara Droege, Lindsay Harrington, Kevin Grace, Nic Lane, Izzy Gallant, and Alek Makowski. Many more classmates, not pictured, turned out to celebrate this milestone event.

’12 ’13

2012

Congratulations to Dedja Collins, who was the recipient of the Bison Award for Excellence in Co-Curricular Activities at Bucknell College. The Award recognizes seniors who have made a significant contribution to various co-curricular and community activities.

Dan Gagnon, a senior infielder on the Lasell College baseball team, was named to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) First Team on May 9, 2016. Then, on June 2, he signed with the Old Orchard Beach Surge, a professional baseball club out of Old Orchard Beach, Maine. Dan topped his college career with 106 hits, four home runs, 53 RBI’s, and 64 runs scored in 113 games played.

Sam Zuckerman is a senior coxswain for the Hobart Varsity Eight crew team. The team was selected as Liberty League Crew of the Year in May 2016 as they earned their eleventh straight Liberty League title.

Sorrel Perka reported this year was her second summer leading trips for Adventures Cross Country and she led a trip to Cuba.

Following that, she moved to Perth, Australia to be an au pair.

2013 Nick Ellis, goaltender on Providence College men’s hockey team, agreed to a two-year, entry-level contract with the Edmonton Oilers in April 2016. His contract will start in the 2016-17 season. Nick led Hockey East in goals against average and save percentage this season. On March 14th, he was named Hockey East Co-Defensive Player of Week, his second Defensive Player of the Week honor for the season, and is a two-time Hockey East Goaltender of the Month honoree after stellar performances during the months of December and February.

Congratulations to Hayden Clarkin, who was among a group of undergraduate students from the University of Connecticut who earned the top prize for its sustainable housing solution at the U21 Global Ingenuity Challenge, an online competition hosted by Universitas 21 (U21), an international network of leading research-intensive universities.

The Challenge invited teams to develop and pitch a solution to a reallife problem in a self-produced video presentation. Dubbed the “Mixed America Initiative,” the UConn team devised a holistic solution to the problem of urban decay in the United States, which considered the needs of entire neighborhoods rather than individual homes. Their proposal shared top honors with a group from Korea University in Seoul. Hayden studies civil engineering and German in UConn’s Eurotech program.

’14 ’12 Dedja Collins ’12 holding her award from Bucknell College

’14

’13 Classmates of Kress Goldstein at his memorial dedication Tyler McNeil, Karoline Lozier, Mikey Daley, Alex Holloway, Miles Hamilton, Luke Rivera (Seated): Johnny Richmond, Peter Reimer, Malcolm Chace (see page 60)

Members of the Great Class of 2014 reunited at Pomfret’s Commencement on May 29, 2016. (Front row, l-r): Isaiah Henderson, Austin Jones, Dana Diaz, Hallie Leo, Maddy Hutchins; (middle row, l-r): Mark Kozlowski, Nate Kremer, Jane Linhares, Ben Rumrill, Form Dean Arthur Diaz ’78, Scott Guo; (back row, l-r): Robby Cleary, Liam McGannon, Jeffrey Iyalekhue, Mae Hanson. Also present, but not in the photo, were Annie Clay, Kelley Fitzpatrick, Sarah McThomas, and Lauren Paneyko.

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CONNECTIONS | Class Notes

2015

’15

Elisabeth Bartkus ’15 is a freshman coxswain for the St. Lawrence Novice Eight crew team, which was named the Liberty League Novice Crew of the Year in May 2016. The team won the novice eight race at this year’s Liberty League championship with a time of 7:11.30. They also advanced to the Final at the NY State Championship after placing first by two-tenths of a second, eventually earning the bronze medal in the end with a time of 6:52.57.

Makenna Newkirk ’15 wrapped up her freshman year as a forward on the Boston College women’s hockey team in fine favor. She was voted to the Hockey East All-Rookie Team by unanimous selection. She led the league with four Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week awards this season, and was the February Rookie of the Month. In March 2016, Makenna was named to the 2015-2016 Pro-Ambitions All-Rookie Team by the Women’s Hockey East Association, and was voted the 2016 Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Year. Overall, Makenna posted 45 points (21 goals, 24 assists) this season and leads the nation in freshman goal scoring and is second in freshman scoring by four points. Makenna then headed to USA Hockey’s annual Women’s National Festival at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid, NY, held August 8-14, 2016, as part of the Team USA camp.

Brad Davis

Deb Davis

The End of an Era For as long as most people can remember, Brad and Deb Davis have been fixtures on the Hilltop. Combined, they served Pomfret for a staggering fifty-eight years. As they embark on their next adventure at Stony Brook School on Long Island, we wish them well.

If you need to get in touch with a former faculty member, please contact Tina Lefevre in the Advancement office by phone at 860-963-6127 or by email at tlefevre@pomfretschool.org.

FACULTY/STAFF NEWS Baby Boom

I

t’s been a baby boom here on the Pomfret hilltop! Congratulations to the following faculty and staff members on the newest additions to the Pomfret community:

• Ashley and Matt Goethals [Mathematics] became the proud parents of a daughter, Beverly Seal Goethals, on April 30, 2016.

• Mike and Sheridan Zimmer [English] welcomed a son, Charlie Louis Zimmer, on July 16, 2016. “Big sister” Rhi (their dog) was excited to meet her new baby brother!

• Dennis and Cosley Campbell [Human Resources/Payroll Assistant] welcomed a baby girl, Morgan Dorothy Campbell, on July 25, 2016.

Morgan tipped the scales at 10 pounds 13 ounces, and measured 22 inches long.

• Jen Osborne [Student Activities Coordinator] and Greg Osborne ’03 [Associate Director of Admissions] became parents to William Geoffrey Osborne on August 16, 2016.

All families are doing great and we wish them the best!

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Morgan Dorothy Campbell

William Geoffrey Osborne

In Memoriam Visit our website at pomfretschool.org/obituaries for full detail alumni obituaries.

To request a printed copy, call the Advancement Office at 860.963.6129.

’44

’49

William R. Carrick ’44 March 23, 2016

Richard C. Kennedy ’49 June 27, 2016

’61

’61

Raymond S. Agar ’61 November 22, 2004

Benjamin M. Rowland ’61 March 1, 2016

’52 Barclay F. Gordon ’52 April 6, 2016

We were saddened to learn of the passing of two former faculty members:

’64

’72

Alfred Jaretzki IV ’64 April 20, 2016

Peter G. Gregoire ’72 July 6, 2016

Stuart Woodruff passed away on February 26, 2016. An English teacher from 1954-1958, and then again from 1969-1975, he was also father to Pomfret alumni Jay ’71, David ’75, Doug ’77 and Steve ’77.

Peter Richardson passed away on March 12, 2016. He was a science teacher and college counselor from 1952-1964. Peter was a frequent attendee of many Pomfret Alumni Reunion Weekends, and was named an honorary member of the Class of 1956 during their 50th reunion in 2006.

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CONNECTIONS | Class Notes

CLASS AGENTS & SECRETARIES Classes not listed do not have a class agent at present.

If interested in volunteering, contact Beth Dow, Associate Director of the Pomfret Fund, at 860.963.5993 or bdow@pomfretschool.org.

1937

CLASS AGENTS:

Seth B. French, Jr.

1939

CLASS AGENTS:

William P. Rowland

1941

CLASS AGENTS:

Francis O. Lathrop, Jr. Paul F. Perkins

1946

1957

1970

Danforth P. Fales Horace H. Work

Richard A. Bensen

CLASS AGENT:

CLASS AGENTS:

1971

1949

1972

1983

CLASS AGENT:

Jeb N. Embree

James M. Bergantz Milton L. Butts, Jr.

Wendy Reeder Enelow Timothy T. Robinson

1960

1973

1984

Benjamin A. Fairbank

David A. Rosen

Jeffrey P. Curran Alexis Rosenthal Proceller Nathaniel S. Reeder

Galen N. Griffin

1959

CLASS AGENT:

CLASS AGENTS:

CLASS AGENT:

George M. Walker

David D. Dixon

1985

Heather Julian

CLASS AGENT:

CLASS SECRETARY:

I. Howell Mallory

Andre B. Burgess Timothy S. Matthews

1951

CLASS AGENT:

CLASS SECRETARY:

Toby Condliffe

1963

CLASS AGENTS:

Charles W. Fleischmann Anthony C. Lame

CLASS AGENT:

Rolfe Floyd III

1952

CLASS AGENT:

Charles V. Henry III

1953

CLASS AGENTS:

Frederick K. Gaston III Edward K. McCagg

CLASS SECRETARY:

Charles W. Fleischmann

1964

CLASS AGENTS:

Peter W. Clement Charles W. Findlay III Paul D. Fowler

1967

CLASS AGENT:

1954

Michael S. Petty

Chester K. Lasell William H. O’Brien III

1968

CLASS AGENTS:

1955

CLASS AGENTS:

John J. Huss, William A.W. Stewart III CLASS SECRETARY:

CLASS AGENTS:

Gregory W. Melville Robert R. Rich

1969

CLASS AGENT:

Richard G. Levin

CLASS AGENTS:

1976

CLASS AGENTS:

Richard S. Cody Michael R. Nelson

Jeffrey H. Connor

1987

CLASS AGENTS:

Katharine B. Cowperthwait

Elizabeth Tilt Weiner

1978

CLASS AGENTS:

CLASS AGENT:

Mark S. Breen

1979

CLASS AGENT:

CLASS AGENT:

1989

Nathaniel M. Peirce Catherine Moriarty Whittier

1990

CLASS AGENTS:

Bradley R. Painter

Marcus W. Acheson Rachel Baime Laura H. Cowperthwait Jonathan G. Gengras

1980

1991

Linnea Corwin Elrington

Laurence N. Hale Abigail Gardiner Silk

Robert K. Mullarkey CLASS SECRETARY:

CLASS AGENT:

CLASS SECRETARY:

Martha K. Murphy

Eric L. Foster

POMFRET Magazine

CLASS AGENTS:

John B. Leeming II Elwood E. Leonard III

1956

86

1986

1988

CLASS AGENTS:

1981

Anthony S. Hoyt

CLASS AGENT:

1977

E. Brooks Robbins CLASS AGENTS:

CLASS AGENTS:

1974

CLASS AGENT:

1975

William O. Sumner

CLASS AGENTS:

1961 1962

CLASS AGENT:

CLASS AGENTS:

Luis Cruz Johanna M. Moffitt

Stuart J. Bracken Winslow M. Cady

1950

1982

Jacques P. Bailhé

CLASS AGENT:

CLASS AGENTS:

Tony LaPalme

Sarah Armstrong Scheide

CLASS AGENT:

1958

CLASS AGENT:

Robert A. Brunker

CLASS SECRETARY:

CLASS AGENT:

CLASS AGENTS:

CLASS SECRETARY:

Caroline E. Waterlow

1992

CLASS AGENTS:

Diana Heide Fredericks David Wyatt Wartels

1993

2001

Michael G. Farina Sarah M. Flournoy

Caitlin Rogers Connelly Wendell Smith Scarisbrick

CLASS AGENTS:

CLASS AGENTS:

1994

2002

Karrie M. Amsler Daniel B. Levin Edward W. Wartels Timothy L. Whipple

Christina Galanti Dickson Jo Anna Galanti Fellon Michael J. Krents John P. Lindsey William E. Walker II Christopher J. Watkins William R. Wentworth

CLASS AGENTS:

1995

CLASS AGENTS:

Carson T. Baker Whitney A. Cook Nicholas D. Mettler Allison Glasmann Reiner Robert E. Thebault Daniel J. Thompson

1996

CLASS AGENTS:

M. Anderson Bottomy Hillary Lewis Fryer Michael A. Newton Rebecca Holt Squires

1997

CLASS AGENTS:

Miriam Jamron Baskies Joanna Kontoudakis Lindsay R. Larsen Hadley Weiss Rosen CLASS SECRETARIES:

Wheeler Simmons Griffith Maurice P. Kane Kyle V. Ritchie

1998

CLASS AGENTS:

John E. Evans III Christopher R. Hale Olutoyin D. Moses Stacy Durbin Nieuwoudt Livia Skelly-Dorn Roustan Sarah L. Welch Thayer P. Whipple

1999

CLASS AGENTS:

Lindsey Boardman Duerr Timothy A. Patrick Alysa Hill Paul Katrin I. Urban Kelly L. Wentworth

2000

CLASS AGENTS:

Hilary Gerson Axtmayer Susannah Miragliuolo

CLASS AGENTS:

2003

CLASS AGENTS:

Muhammed-Saleem R. Ahmed Chelsea Weiss Baum Peyton A. Ladt Laura Keeler Pierce Christopher G. Pike MacLean Pilsbury Spadaccini Suparatch Watchara-Amphaiwan

2004

CLASS AGENTS:

Sung Min Choo Christian T. Ford Robert M. Saunders Etienne J. Vazquez

2005

Meredith E. Gagnon Christopher P. Golden Holly A. Lorms Shawn P. McCloud Nathaniel H. Proctor Else S. Ross Darren A. Small Melissa A. Stuart

2008

CLASS AGENTS:

Alexandra D’Agostino Joanna A. Gaube Steven A. Harkey Georgina L. Heasman Emily F. Johnson Nicole A. Shirley Charles H. Sullivan Sophia G. Welch

2009

CLASS AGENTS:

Thomas M. Atwood Molly K. Downey Zachary J. Golden Kathryn M. Kramer Haley A. Mitchell Edward T. Ross Rebecca M. Smith Samantha L. St. Lawrence

2010

CLASS AGENTS:

Davinia G. Buckley Timothy J. Deary Laura F. Dunn Alysia LaBonte-Campbell Joshua W. Rich Hyun-Yi Yoo

Gabriella W. Bucci Mackenzie C. Deary Maura J. Hall Ryan C. Johnson Kathryn G. Sheehan Samantha A. Slotnick Ryan C. Wainwright

2006

2011

CLASS AGENTS:

CLASS AGENTS:

Michelle Gilmore Castiglione Hillary Ross Charalambous Caroline McLoughlin Davis Olivia T. Gray Young Hoon Hahn Maryam A. Hayatu-Deen Gregory E. Jones Katherine Winogradow Munno Caitlin M. Neiduski Kathryn S. Nelson James E. Pinkham Erin A. Wolchesky

2007

CLASS AGENTS:

Emily H. Detmer Julia D. Field

CLASS AGENTS:

Muhammed-Jamil R. Ahmed Matthew D. Bourdeau Carlos H. Ferre Lilah T. Fones Czarina N. Hutchins Hannah P. Leo Aidan P. McGloine Hamilton G. Morley Daniel R. Palumbo Margaret H. Thompson Raymond R. Zeek III

Margaret Juna Kim Moira M. MacArthur Jack W. Nicholson Georgia W. Paige Sagar A. Patel Sorrel M. Perka Biying Zhang

2013

CLASS AGENTS:

Alexandra R. Adams Lindsay M. Barber Roxane J. Barbera Alyson J. Chase Hayden M. Clarkin Jordan P. Ginsberg Alexis Gulino Daniel D. Kellaway Maximillian P. King William F. Mackie Dylan G. O’Hara Izabel M. Tropnasse

2014

CLASS AGENTS:

Bridget D. Bohan Gabriella M. Criscuolo Isaiah Henderson Ryan S. Jackson Hallie L. Leo Meghan J. MacArthur Annie J. E. Zalon Elise M. Zender

2015

CLASS AGENTS:

Kailey A. Cox Nickolas F. Fulchino Rachel K. Godfrey Keith C. O’Hara Thomas D. Wheatley

2016

CLASS AGENTS:

Madison A. Dean Abigail H. McThomas Thomas Meggs Sofia Melian-Morse Chloe Saad David W. Samberg Grace A. Sandercox Samual F. Skinner

2012

CLASS AGENTS:

Elizabeth A. Bohan Ian J. Crouse Helen E. Day Sean P. Fitzpatrick Caroline N. Hayssen

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CONNECTIONS | Class Notes

GATHERINGS

MYOPIA POLO MATCH, SOUTH HAMILTON, MA August 7, 2016 (l-r): Trustee Molly Graham Hanson ’00, Oliver & Linda Wolcott GP ’18, Damien & Elizabeth Chartier Rudzinski ’96, Louisa Jones P ’04, Linda and Dick Fates ’63, Ollie Wolcott P ’18, Ollie Wolcott ’18, Elise Wolcott P ’18

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TENNIS IN NEW CANAAN August 17, 2016 Front row (l-r): Kenyon Clark ’67, Amanda Barnes Zampiello ’94, Joey Moffitt ’82, Winnie Goodrich ’05, Dave Lefferts ’85; back row (l-r): Geoff Short ’13, Vip Van Voorhees ’64, Geoff Zampiello, Paul Fowler ’64, Nick Banks ’92, Andy Ramirez ’91.

(Missing from photo): Louisa Jones P ’04

POMFRET AT THE BRADLEY PLAYHOUSE, PUTNAM, CT August 19, 2016 Pomfret cast members and guests for the performance of Mary Poppins were (l-r): Bob Wood and Lisette Rimer P ’97, ’01, ’01; Greg Brock ’84; faculty member Chip Lamb P ’09, ’11; Tonya Brock; Maarita Dubitsky P ’20; Sydney Dubitsky ’20; former faculty members Chris Atwood, Bob Sloat P ’86, ’95, Beth Jacquet (with children Coco and Remy), and former staff Carl Mercier; Joey Army Almonte ’06; Chris Almonte; Michelle Gilmore Castiglione ’06, former faculty member Kathe Atwood; Michelle Weisman ’06. (Missing from photo): Louisa Jones P ’04.

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SAVE THE DATES CELEBRATE YOUR POMFRET CONNECTIONS Family Weekend Thursday through Saturday, October 20-22, 2016 New York Holiday Reception with a special pre-event School Update Tuesday, December 6, 2016 The Penn Club, New York City Boston Holiday Reception with a special pre-event School Update Thursday, December 8, 2016 Downtown Harvard Club, Boston, MA PLAN NOW TO ATTEND OUR SIGNATURE ON-CAMPUS EVENTS Woodruff Winter Benefit Saturday, January 7, 2017 Play or watch hockey and squash Pomfret Alumni Career Expo Saturday, April 22, 2017 Share your career passions with Pomfret students Alumni Reunion Weekend Friday through Sunday, May 12-13, 2017 Celebrating classes ending in 2s and 7s

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POMFRET FUND RECAP

By Melissa Bellanceau, Director of Advancement and Communications

P

omfret School’s 123rd academic year has begun in much the same way as you might remember from your own experience. Cars loaded to the top pulling into the front circle, a friend you haven’t seen since June running up to you seemingly out of nowhere to give you a hug, a new student nervously stepping out of the car looking forward to making new friends and embracing new challenges.

The Pomfret campus has an untouched sparkle, fresh from summer improvements and ready to accept 350 Griffins. I chuckle as I think, “this moment made possible by…” — the clichés spinning through my head. But then the magnitude of that overused statement settles and I realize how incredibly true it is. People — generous people, Pomfret people — made this moment possible.

A tradition of philanthropy exists at Pomfret that transcends generations and touches every student, teacher, and visitor to campus. Evidence of this gratitude can be seen in buildings and on bookshelves, in faces and on fields. It’s the sparkle that appears in the eye of a re-energized faculty member fresh off a summer of professional learning, and of the student who never thought that this moment would be possible.

On June 30, 2016, Pomfret wrapped up an incredibly successful annual giving year thanks to the donations of 1,237 alumni and 230 families.

Together with grandparents and friends, donors generously gave $2,337,397 to the Pomfret Fund. These gifts supported class trips, new technology, performances in Hard Auditorium,

Something special is happening. There is palpable momentum as evidenced by the more than $10 million donated in cash and pledges to Pomfret over this last year.

Ideas are giving way to action as plans to build a new health and wellness center are becoming a reality. Ground broke this summer at the site of a new solar aquaponics greenhouse, which was generously supported by the Edward E. Ford Foundation and other inspired individuals.

Students will be working to lend their hands to build this unique learning environment for themselves, their peers, and future Griffins. The Grauer Institute for Excellence in Innovation and Education has received significant funding to transform how learning and teaching happens at Pomfret. And the most generous bequest intention in the School’s history was received to support the future of Pomfret’s financial aid program.

I like to think of Pomfret’s momentum as being a bit like a rocket ship. After careful design and planning, a fire is ignited. That fire is becoming real and visible. Pomfret is on its way to becoming a recognized leader in learning and teaching and, thanks to the generosity of our community, that vision is becoming a reality.

S C H

O O

L

PO

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F

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and advisee dinners. Unrestricted gifts allowed the School to upgrade classrooms, become more energy efficient, and invest in opportunities that will enhance the experience of all students.

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398 Pomfret Street PO Box 128 Pomfret CT 06258- 0128 www.pomfretschool.org

Change Service Requested

Please notify us of any change of address, giving both the new and the old addresses.

Please join us for our prospective student

Boarding Open House November 5, 2016 10:30 AM - 1:30 PM

Registration Required 860.963.6120 admissions@pomfretschool.org