TRANSITIONS

Eight impactful retiring and departing PDS faculty and staff members were honored at the annual end-of-year employee celebration this June. Collectively, they represent over 165 years of service to the school.

JAMES ATKESON P’11 ’13 ’17 Middle School

Technology Coordinator, Middle School STEAM Coordinator

YEARS OF SERVICE: 38

“Jamie is an educator’s educator and a gentleman. He’s served the PDS community in so many capacities. He learns your name, understands your needs and helps solve problems with creativity and expertise. Jamie’s mischievous, playful side makes him a magnet for Middle School kids. I am grateful to call him a colleague and a friend.” – Renée Price P’27 ’29, Head of Middle School and Assistant Head of School for Academic Life

TODD GUDGEL P’14 ’16 ’18 Upper School Latin Teacher YEARS

OF SERVICE: 33

“Todd is not only a master teacher, but he is also a wonderful colleague, a respected dean, a supportive mentor and the wise and caring friend we all wish to have in our lives. He encourages students to think, he kindles their intellectual curiosity and he opens their minds to new perspectives. The connections Todd has created over the years are very strong, and we will miss him terribly.” – Laurence Farhat P’16 ’19, Classical & Modern Languages Department Chair

Dolores Wright

Administrative Assistant, Office of Advancement

YEARS OF SERVICE: 31

“Dolores was a warm, familiar smile for our alumni community for over 30 years. She helped make the work of the Advancement Office successful, and will be missed by so many members of the community.” – Courtney Hodock, Senior Development Officer

KATHY SCHULTE P’17 ’20

Assistant Head of School for Advancement and Strategic Priorities

YEARS OF SERVICE: 20

“Kathy’s impact can certainly be seen in the fundraising efforts she’s led, but it is most felt by those lucky enough to work with her. By offering a listening ear, sharing a new way to look at a situation or simply showing up, Kathy leads by example and inspires those around her to do the same. Her generosity of spirit will leave an indelible mark on the Great Road.” – Amy Gallo ’03 P’32 ’35, Director of Donor Engagement

Elias Montes

Custodial Services

YEARS OF SERVICE: 17

“At the tail end of the day as we were heading out to the fields for games, it was always so wonderful to see Eli’s warm smile. We will miss his friendship, his engaging personality and his willingness to always lend a helping hand.” – Scott

Bertoli, Associate Director

of

Athletics and Director of Middle School Athletics

Gene Hartway

Custodial Foreman

YEARS OF SERVICE: 10

“What a pleasure it has been to work with Gene. The way he guided and supported his team members was an incredible thing to experience, though his care did not stop there. He would make it his business to create touchpoints with community members, to ensure all of their needs were being met. He will be missed.” – Robert

Clemens, Director of Facility Operations

JILL GOLDMAN ’74 P’05 ’08 ’11 ’14

Director of Annual Giving

YEARS OF SERVICE: 10

“Jill is one of the most good-natured, genuine and dedicated colleagues I’ve had the pleasure of working with. She is always ready to jump right into whatever needs to be done and always willing to go the extra mile, no matter how small the task. She’s a wealth of institutional knowledge and believes deeply in the school and her work. PDS won’t be the same without her.” – Julie

Cucchi P’21 ’23, Director of Admission and Financial Aid

MARITONI (CANDY) SHAH P’21 ’22

Director of Wellness

YEARS OF SERVICE: 8

“Candy has been an invaluable asset to PDS, consistently demonstrating her exceptional skills and unwavering dedication. We not only benefited from her expert medical knowledge and tireless commitment to the wellbeing of every member of our community but came to depend on it. She brought a sense of energy and passion to her work, elevating the health and wellness program to new heights.” – Lisa

Surace P’22, Associate Head of School

Noelle Moore ’33 learned when she was a toddler that building sustainable rockets was the future. And it’s a future she plans to be a part of.

At just three years old, Moore attended a robotics competition with her older brother and encountered an all-female panel of aerospace engineering students. It was the first time she realized what she wanted to be when she grew up.

“I really like space and think building rockets would be pretty cool,” Moore said. “If I create a rocketship, maybe I could go in it, but I don’t think my mom would let me.”

Parental permission to travel to space aside, Moore got her first taste of what life as an aerospace engineer might be like when she entered the Future Engineer’s Power to Explore Challenge sponsored by NASA. Students were tasked with answering a simple question: If you could plan a mission in our solar system or beyond, where would you go and what would you explore?

The parameters called for the fictional but fact-based missions to be powered by Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS), and also asked students to think about how their own “power” — whether a skill, personality trait or other personal strength — would help the mission succeed.

Moore’s mission was a look into the year 2038 when she is building a spacecraft as an aerospace engineer. According to Moore, “The RPS on my spacecraft will fuel and heat my spacecraft so that I can do research around how we can tap into ancient pockets of water in Olympus Mons to help encourage settlement on Mars.”

And her superpower? Overcoming her own challenges with dyslexia. She shared, “I think my superpower will help me work at NASA because I am very talented at math and science, and I’m a creative thinker. A percentage of NASA employees are dyslexic, so I think my superpower will help me fit in.”

Moore’s powerful and well-researched entry was chosen as a top 15 semi-finalist out of 1,500 entries. Soon, she would learn that she made it to the top three.

“I was really excited. I just like to learn and read about space and I like the books at the library here. That’s where I first learned about things like Olympus Mons. I think it’s two times the size of Mt. Everest,” shared Moore. (For those of us who need to brush up on our knowledge of planetary geology, Olympus Mons is the largest volcano in the solar system, found on Mars).

According to Moore’s mother, Sarah Moore, this is nothing out of the ordinary for her daughter.

“Noelle has dreamed of being an aerospace engineer from the time she was in Pre-K,” she said. “We credit Noelle’s interest and passion for aerospace engineering and astrophysics directly to PDS. The school has given her an environment that nurtures her love of science and math.”