Riparian T h e R i v e r s S c h o o l • s p r i n g 2 014
• Farewell to Tom Olverson • Faculty Embrace Life-long Learning • Robotics Team Reaches New Heights Spring 2014 • Riparian • i
Red Wings Rule! The varsity girls’ soccer team finished its undefeated season as NEPSAC Class B Co-Champions after tying Tabor Academy 0-0 in QUADRUPLE overtime.
The varsity boys’ ski team successfully defended its NEPSAC New England Class B Championship, taking both the slalom and giant slalom events.
The varsity boys’ basketball team clinched sole possession of the ISL championship with an undefeated record in the ISL of 15-0 and overall record of 21-4.
The varsity boys’ hockey team clinched its second ISL Eberhart Division championship, finishing the season with a 12-1-1 record in the division.
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Bonus! The varsity boys’ hockey team scrimmaged against the United States Women’s Olympic Hockey team for a pre-Sochi warm-up – a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity our boys will never forget!
Vol. XXix • Number 1
Riparian The Rivers School • spring 2014
The Red Turtle by Hunter Dempsey ’15
Editor
Christine Martin, Director of Communications and Stewardship Contributors
Jimmy Kelley, Jessica Isner Photography
Tim Morse, Jimmy Kelley, Jessica Isner De s i g n e r
Amanda Wait & David Gerratt, NonprofitDesign.com Printer
Signature Printing & Consulting, Brian Maranian ’96 He a d o f Sc h o o l
Thomas P. Olverson D i r ec t o r o f A d v a n ce m e n t
Janice H. Hicinbothem
A s s i s t a n t D i r ec t o r o f A d v a n ce m e n t
Heather Jack
Coordinator of P a r e n t Re l a t i o n s
Amy Dunne
2 3 5 9 11 15 16 18 19 22 24 29 30
A Message from Board President Clinton P. Harris Farewell to Head of School Tom Olverson F e at u r e :
Rivers’ Faculty Embrace Life-Long Learning F e at u r e :
Robotics Team Reaches New Heights Campus News Faculty News: Honoring Jeanette Szretter’s Service Art Awards Across the Board Parent News: Senior Parents Celebrate Revitalizing the Alumni Community Alumni Excellence Award Recipient: Joshua M. Kraft ’85 Class Notes and Alumni Events Alumni Profile: Emmaline Payette ’05 Alumni Profile: Jen Keefe ’08
Alumni Programs Coordinator
Meg Speranza
The Rivers School 333 Winter Street Weston, MA 02493-1040 781-235-9300 www.rivers.org
Riparian: “One that lives or has property on the bank of a river or lake.”
O N the C O V E R
The Riparian is published twice a year for The Rivers School alumni, parents, students, faculty, and friends. To save on the cost of mailing the Riparian, Rivers has consolidated multiple mailings addressed to the same household so that your home will receive only one copy. If you have reason to receive additional copies at your address, please call Chris Martin at 781-235-9300, ext. 230.
Head of School Tom Olverson
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Message from the President of the Board
With Deep Appreciation to Tom Olverson By Clinton P. Harris
O
n behalf of the Board of Trustees, I want to take this opportunity to thank Head of School Tom Olverson for the tremendous impact he has had on The Rivers School for the past 17 years. Under his leadership Rivers has seen unprecedented growth in the campus infrastructure as well as in the quantity and quality of its programs. The MacDowell Library, MacDowell Athletic Center, Bradley Hall, and Campus Center are the outward manifestations of the equally impressive strides made toward improving faculty compensation, expanding curricular and co-curricular offerings, and strengthening the arts and athletics. There are so many possible parameters of measuring his success: the percentage of students enrolled in top colleges has quadrupled, the endowment has increased seven-fold, professional development funding has increased ten-fold, to name a few. What is most remarkable though is that Tom Olverson has been able to sustain the culture of Rivers as a caring and nurturing environment while raising the bar of excellence across every facet of the institution. That is an incredibly difficult challenge for a head of school and yet it is what makes Rivers such a special place today.
Tom Olverson has always been an enthusiastic collaborator with the Board of Trustees, and it has been an honor and a pleasure working with him to develop the strategic plans and capital campaigns needed to accomplish each goal we set, tackle those goals, and then move on to the next challenge. From the outset, Tom Olverson has had an eye toward the future of the school, recognizing the potential of the institution while leveraging its inherent strengths. Tom Olverson wholeheartedly embraced the school’s mission of “Excellence with Humanity” in everything he did. The Rivers community cannot thank him enough for valuing and promoting the unique combination of high standards and a deep caring for each student that defines the Rivers Way. Looking forward, we are excited to welcome Ned Parsons, who we believe will continue to build upon Tom’s legacy. Ned brings with him a strong commitment to the faculty and cur- riculum, and we anticipate that the innovative and collaborative spirit among Rivers’ faculty and staff will flourish under Ned’s leadership. With the recent commendations and recommendations from the accreditation self-study in hand, the stage has been set for Ned and the Board to determine a new strategic plan to guide Rivers into the future.
Save the date for a farewell party for Tom Olverson at The Rivers School on Friday evening, May 30.
Board of Trustees 2013–2014 President: Clinton P. Harris
Daniel A. Kraft Term Trustees Hongmei Li Dennis Baldwin Benjamin R. Bloomstone Barbara V. Ligon Deborah H. McAneny Robert E. Buonato ’81 James C. Mullen James F. Carlin ’81 Daniel R. Revers Louise Cummings ’98 Alan D. Rose ’87 Karen L. Daniels Solomon B. Roth Howard G. Davis ’70 Laurie Schoen Ben D. Fischman Mark S. Schuster ’72 Mark R. Florence Andrew N. Jaffe 2 • Riparian • ’93 Spring 2014Andrew P. Slifka Laurie Slifka Stephen M. Jennings
Richard L. Smith Steven J. Snider Michael P. Stansky Eric M. Wolf Life Trustees David M. Berwind Charles C. Carswell Stephen R. Delinsky Peter A. Gaines G. Arnold Haynes Harriet R. Lewis
Thomas L. Lyons Roy S. MacDowell, Jr. Joel B. Sherman Frances B. Shifman William B. Tyler ’43 Joan A. Vaccarino Cai von Rumohr Joan C. Walter Frank S. Waterman III ’41 Dudley H. Willis
Honorary Trustees of the Corporation Joan T. Allison Thomas P. Beal Richard A. Bradley Marie Fitzpatrick Louis J. Grossman ’67 Joshua M. Kraft ’85 Warren M. Little ’51 Virginia S. MacDowell Deborah S. Petri Frederick G. Pfannenstiehl ’59 A. Tozzer Spalding ’62
Farewell to Head of School Tom Olverson
W
hen Tom Olverson delivered his inaugural talk to the Rivers community, at the opening of school in 1997, he outlined his vision of the ideal school: “My ideal school rests on a simple notion. Excellence, creativity, and caring in balance—reinforcing each other, almost indistinguishable from each other, and appropriately applied in the right doses by a highly skilled faculty.” Seventeen years later, as Olverson prepares to retire, The Rivers School has become in many ways his ideal school. The terminology may have changed slightly, but the essence has not. Academic excellence, supportive relationships, innovative thinking, character development, and the overall quality of each student’s experience have been engineered into the very DNA of the school. And if the lifeblood of Rivers is its outstanding faculty, then its heart is Tom Olverson. In that same talk, Olverson revealed that, deep-down, he is an entrepreneur, that as head of school, he “enjoys creating a shared vision, developing strategies to attain that vision, and taking risks —all in the service to a great cause—to inspire and challenge young people to become their best selves.” He has proven himself to be just such an entrepreneur, envisioning, strategizing, and fostering enough innovative ideas to keep the most forward-thinking dot-com afloat—student intern-
ships, interdisciplinary studies, an extensive advisory program, a leadership program, a Conservatory Program, robotics, the list goes on and on. Under Tom Olverson’s leadership, the Rivers Board of Trustees has developed and implemented three strategic plans, each time outlining a set of goals and steps for achieving those goals while maintaining the central mission of the school. Beyond the physical transformation of the campus, which has nearly doubled in terms of building capacity and athletic fields, Rivers’ academic, athletic, and artistic programs today reflect Olverson’s longterm commitment to his ideals. Central to the achievement of the school’s strategic goals has been Rivers’ talented and dedicated faculty, who embody Olverson’s ideals: “models of excellence, growth, compassion, life-long-learning, competence, and integrity—all vital qualities as our students look around, trying to figure out who they want to be,” he said. “In my ideal school, the adults make a difference by doing what they love to do and the school gives them the time, resources, and incentives to do outstanding work.” From Rivers’ most senior faculty members to its youngest recruits, teachers enjoy a level of support from their Head of School that many say is unique in their experience. Teachers are encouraged to pursue not only opportunities that will enhance their pedagogical skills and knowledge in the discipline they Spring 2014 • Riparian • 3
teach, but also their own intellectual passions, whether that be the study of Sumarian or the mandolin. They thrive in a community of fellow scholars that is rich with opportunities to collaborate, mentor, and be mentored. The Berwind Circle of Teachers and Mentors represents the culmination of a long and deliberate process initiated under Olverson’s leadership, of encouraging and celebrating professional advancement among the faculty; more than two-thirds of the faculty hold masters or doctorates with a number of professional degrees added to the mix. Olverson admits that one of his favorite expressions in a faculty meeting is “best idea wins,” a challenge to think outside the box that has led to academic innovations ranging from the interdisciplinary water project tackled by the sixth graders right up to senior electives on the Enlightenment and Game Theory. Fueling these ideas is the 21st Century Focus Group, a gathering of faculty members, across grades and disciplines, who meet periodically to share the best and the brightest ideas on the pedagogical horizon. The faculty’s efforts have met with national acclaim. Head of Middle School Susie McGee has written a chapter on Rivers’ leadership program for a book published by the Center for Spiritual and Ethical Education. Dave Burzillo helped develop the BIG
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History curriculum now offered internationally online. Julian Willard was appointed both a research fellow at Yale University’s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics and a visiting scholar at The Hastings Center this year. These are just the tip of a very large iceberg of faculty contributions to Rivers’ own academic life, and to the academic world beyond our walls. The students in turn sense this intellectual engagement in their teachers and are inspired to attack their studies and interests with the same intellectual curiosity, again to national acclaim. They are accepted to highly selective colleges, routinely earn 5’s and 4’s on the AP exams, win art and music prizes, athletic championships, awards in Robotics, Model UN, and Debate. They present the findings of their summer internships at national medical and science conferences. But Olverson has always seen excellence as a means to an end, not an end in itself. “In my ideal school, students are recognized for achieving excellence in any area, but more importantly, they are recognized for extraordinary effort in their pursuit of excellence,” he said in his inaugural talk. “I want them to push harder than they ever have before and I want them to love it.” Tom Olverson would probably be most proud of the relationships that he sees forged around him at Rivers—between teachers and teachers, teachers and students, coaches and students, students and students. At the center of these relationships is the advisor system, expanded over the years to provide students and advisors with ample time and opportunities to form strong connections. There is a culture of respect tempered by openness that encourages students to be themselves and use these adults as sounding boards for the large and small issues that can be the bane of adolescence. Fast forwarding from his inaugural speech in 1997 to today, Tom Olverson summed up his vision of Rivers in a recent blog. “Rivers exists for one simple reason—to help students live meaningful lives, now and in the future. At Rivers excellence is a means, not an end. We don’t challenge our students for the sole purpose of demonstrating that we have excellence. We challenge them so that they can learn about themselves, so that they can discover what they are good at, what they love, what they need to work on. We challenge them so that they can discover who they are and who they want to be. We challenge them so that they can live lives that matter. “And … the best way to help students live meaningful lives is to make sure that teachers are living meaningful lives, to make sure that the reason our teachers got into this business in the first place—to make a positive difference in kids’ lives—never dies out, that their life purpose is not only valued but constantly nurtured… That is why Rivers exists.” Never veering from the course he set seventeen years ago, Tom Olverson has held true to his own ideals and in doing so has had a profound impact on the present landscape and future course of The Rivers School. For that, the Rivers community is forever grateful.
Rivers’ Faculty Embrace Life-Long Learning By Jessica Isner
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hile Julian Willard may have been the only Rivers teacher wielding a sword last summer in a fight against Macbeth, his commitment to educating himself in order to better educate his students is by no means unique among the Rivers faculty. Rivers has a longstanding commitment to encouraging teachers to take those extra steps, in a wide range of unique venues, in order to pursue their professional and personal growth. Willard’s road to Southern Oregon University for a stage combat course began several years ago, when Rivers’ Head of School Tom Olverson and Head of Upper School Patti Carbery approached him with an idea: to create a new department that would specialize in teaching classes across several different departments—for example, English, history, and science— with a focus on real-world applications. Shortly thereafter, Willard was named the chair of the Interdisciplinary Studies Department, which now offers eight courses in four different disciplines, asking questions such as, ‘How can our nation make sure a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina never ravages an American city again?’
Julian Willard
“With Shakespeare and with any drama, the language is just part of it. It’s not just a question of reading the language on the page but inhabiting it in a fuller way.” “We want Rivers students to graduate with skills and experiences in which they’ve had to draw from multiple disciplines and integrate them creatively in order to respond effectively to a realistic challenge,” Willard said. “I’m really excited by ways of promoting interdisciplinary thinking here at Rivers and am fortunate to be part of a great faculty that supports interdisciplinary teaching. They’re prepared to join each other’s classes and offer their points of view and expertise.” Several years before the inception of the Interdisciplinary Studies Department, Rivers’ Middle School was already modeling a similar approach, with great success. At each grade level, teachers with a background in English and history jointly teach the Humanities courses, offering students a fuller understanding of the material.
Willard was the ideal candidate to take charge of the new department because he is always looking for innovative ways to help his students relate to the material, no matter how intimidating or difficult it may be. That is how he found himself in Oregon last summer, taking a workshop in stage combat. “The stage combat course offers very safe stage techniques for portraying the violence that exists in King Lear, for example,” Willard said. “That helps us visualize it, helps us take risks of our own in seeing what Shakespeare’s up to.” During the workshop, Willard and his peers staged the fight in Shakespeare’s Macbeth that takes place between the title character and Macduff. As he executed the choreography, Willard— who has read the play countless times—gained an entirely new and deeper appreciation for the material, which you simply cannot achieve just by studying the words on the page. Spring 2014 • Riparian • 5
“This is a way of taking some of the anxiety out of studying Shakespeare,” he said. “Students tend to Adam Ganderson be uneasy around Shakespeare. They want to analyze the language on the page, and that’s super, but with Shakespeare and with any drama, the language is just part of it. It’s not just a question of reading the language on the page but inhabiting it in a fuller way.” Willard’s wide-ranging personal interests are not limited to his teaching at Rivers. He also serves on a Community Ethics Committee that works with doctors and nurses affiliated with Harvard Medical School and seeks community feedback about ethical issues that arise out of the practice of contemporary medicine. His work with the committee led to his appointment as a Yale-Hastings Scholar. The Hastings Center is a bioethics research center in New York State that works in partnership with Yale University. “My hope is that the work I’m doing on interdisciplinary education in bioethics can illuminate what we’re doing in interdisciplinary education here at Rivers,” Willard said. “I want us to address pressing problems that Later that summer, Ganderson and his peers spent two weeks can only be fully addressed by drawing from multiple disciplines.” completing each of the six major projects offered in the now- Like Willard, Adam Ganderson encourages his engineering implemented Engineering course. Not only did he rediscover the students to have fun with the material, to “put the play back into joy of learning and problem solving, but those two weeks proved it.” The math and science teacher has noticed that his students to be instrumental to him as a teacher. tend to be far more engaged when they are working with their “We had the opportunity to do the things we’re asking the hands and their minds, rather than just their minds. kids to do. We had the opportunity to have the difficulties and the Ganderson believes the secret is in the presentation of the failures and successes the kids are going to experience,” Gandermaterial. Whereas students are encouraged to be more creative son said. “That was incredibly valuable. Having done it once aland more engaged in their early school years, the bulk of their ready made it so much more comfortable to teach.” high school work relies upon reading, writing, and assessment. Ganderson’s class relies upon 80 percent project involvement In a word, school stops being fun sometime around sixth grade. and 20 percent talking about the projects. This approach has
“We had the opportunity to have the difficulties and the failures and successes the kids are going to experience.” “In elementary school, we focus on play. In middle school, we say, ‘OK, it’s time to get serious. Less play, more time sitting down and doing homework.’ In high school, our sense of play has almost completely gone away,” he said. Ganderson discovered the engineering course last summer, when he attended the International Society for Technology and Education Conference in San Antonio, Texas, a gathering of 18,000 educators, innovators, and technology professionals who came together to discover the ways in which they could use technology to enhance teaching. The University of Texas, which developed the engineering curriculum, was willing to train teachers and professors in the hope that they would bring the course back to their own campuses. 6 • Riparian • Spring 2014
already paid dividends in terms of student engagement and performance. “One of the wonderful things about this engineering class is that it gives the students an opportunity to go back to building again,” Ganderson said. “They’re making things with their hands. The talking-about-it is still important, but we’re helping them see why. We’re trying to get across a process, a problem-solving philosophy, a sense of critical thinking, but unless students have the passion to go along with what they’re doing, we’re not getting as much out of them as we can.” Upper School science teacher and Ganderson’s co-advisor of the Robotics Club, Maureen Courtney, knows a little something about staying motivated. She has been pursuing her doctorate in brain, behavior, and cognition at Boston University for 10 years. Originally, when she was an undergraduate studying biomedical engineering, Courtney assumed she would pursue a career in research, but she quickly found that it wasn’t for her. While she was collecting data for her graduate studies, Courtney was working primarily with Huntington’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and HIV/AIDS patients, some of whom were in homeless
shelters. She found it difficult to put up boundaries, to draw an “All these strategies I had been teaching my students for years emotional line between herself and her patients. Then, in order about writing, I now had to rely on, myself,” she said. “As I work to fund graduate school, Courtney took a position as a teaching on my own writing, I realize what’s hard about it, where we tend fellow at BU and as an adjunct professor at Pine Manor College. to get stuck, how to break out of it. I can better anticipate the It was there that she first discovered her passion for teaching. problems kids have with their writing and help them through “I thought, this is so great, being able to make these connecthose problems. Since writing that book, I’ve become a more eftions with students,” she said. “It was just a happier atmosphere fective writing teacher and certainly a more empathetic one.” for me. I didn’t find myself taking home the burden of my work Last summer, a faculty enrichment grant took Regan-Loomis because it was so fun.” to the United Kingdom, where she visited several historical sites Still, after so much work on her PhD, Courtney was hardly associated with William Shakespeare, including Glamis Castle willing to give up. So despite the enormous time commitment in Scotland – the setting of MacBeth—and Westminster Abbey. it would require, she just kept going. Most of her research was While overseas, she also saw a Royal Shakespeare Company conducted over vacations and school breaks, and now that the production of As You Like It. research is finally completed, she is writing her dissertation and preparing to set a date to defend it. “I don’t set up any labs for the students Courtney has been able to bring her studies directly into the because I don’t want to limit their imagination Rivers classroom by offering a Neuroanatomy elective. She also uses an inquiry-based approach as the foundation of her teaching about what sort of study they can design.” style, particularly in AP Biology—which is something that stems directly from her PhD work. Having the opportunity to see it performed live by such a “I don’t set up any labs for the students because I don’t want renowned theater company, in Shakespeare’s birthplace, made to limit their imagination about what sort of study they can it new again. design,” she said. “Starting from scratch like that is a hugely “It’s always fun to see one of his plays enacted rather than daunting task, but it’s something I understand because with my study it critically,” she said. “I was able to note the ways in which dissertation, I had to start from nothing, come up with an origithe Royal Shakespeare made it accessible for those who hadn’t nal idea, convince people that is was important, execute it, and recently studied the play, the ways you can reach a contemporary then write up what I learned and how I can make it better. audience. To hear it performed is closer to the experience stuNow, that’s happening in the classroom, too.” dents have when they read it.” It is important to Courtney that her students use her not Language Department Chair and Middle School Latin teacher only as a resource in their studies but as an inspiration, as proof Cathy Favreau benefited from her own trip to Bath, England and that hard work really does pay off. its environs in 2012 as part of a faculty enrichment grant. She “There’s a huge sense of accomplishment in finishing something difficult,” she said. “Lots of things are challenging, but it’s so satisfying when you fight through it and accomplish it.” Upper School English Department Chair Meghan Regan-Loomis agrees with Courtney that the key to keeping students motivated and engaged is ensuring that teachers remain passionate and engaged themselves. “One element of becoming an expert in English is being a practitioner,” she said. “An English teacher should continue to be a student of literature as the canon changes and as our collective thinking about it changes. But for many teachers of English, professional engagement also means doing our own writing.” In addition to penning a book in 2008 entitled Juggling Twins, written after the birth of her two boys, Regan-Loomis keeps herself engaged by constantly seeking new ways to appreciate the material Maureen Courtney she teaches. Writing a book was instrumental in that. Spring 2014 • Riparian • 7
visited the Roman sites of Aquae Sulis, the Roman Museum at Cirencester, and the Roman villa at Chedworth, all of which are a part of her Middle School Latin 8 curriculum. “It was great to be in a strange place and explore and learn,” she said. “I felt like a student again. I’ve been teaching about these sites in the Middle School for the past 13 years but hadn’t been there in over 20 years, so it felt good to look at these sights through a new lens and perspective.”
“As I work on my own writing, I realize what’s hard about it, where we tend to get stuck, how to break out of it.” As significant as it is for teachers to get out of the classroom and fully experience the material they are teaching, it is equally important for students to do the same through field trips, and occasionally foreign trips. Chinese teacher and Director of Academic Technology Fred Kosak believes that finding a way for students to experience the topics they are studying first-hand is instrumental in making sure they reach their fullest potential. Kosak, who spent a year of college studying abroad in China, has led Rivers’ spring break trip to China twice and he believes these trips offer students a new source of motivation. “How do you help students see the bigger picture of what you’re doing and why it’s important?” he asked. “One easy, direct way to do that is to get them off campus to some other kind of event, but the extreme version of that is taking them to China.” During spring break last year, a group of Kosak’s Chinese language students journeyed for 11 days through Shanghai, Lijiang,
Fred Kosak in Shanghai, China
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Cathy Favreau in Bath, England
Dali, Beijing, and more. Along the way, they were forced to use the language skills they had cultivated in the classroom in order to navigate the city, to communicate, and to learn. “Kids have spent one to three years studying the language, and by traveling, they have the opportunity to affirm the work they’ve done,” he said. “If you want to buy something in a market, you suddenly have to dig back through what you’ve learned, pull out certain words, remember how to bargain. Students put all this work in, and it pays off in a really meaningful experience.” Kosak agrees that, for teachers and students alike, the experience of getting out and gaining first-hand experience directly translates into a better performance in the classroom. “You can do every possible thing in class to get kids to see those connections—you can show them movies, read them snippets of articles about things they understand on an intellectual level—but it’s like anything: If you don’t understand it on a deeper level, it’s hard to motivate yourself from a genuine place,” he said. “There’s definitely no more direct, effective way to get students excited about something they’re studying than to show it to them in practice.” Though he has made seven trips to China, Kosak’s visits have never become stale or stagnant. In fact, the more often he visits, the more passionate he becomes about the language and the country’s history—and that passion directly translates back into his classroom at Rivers. “I always come back feeling affirmed in what I’m doing,” he said. “I always feel a little bit more certain of my reasons for teaching.”
Robotics Team Reaches New Heights By Jimmy Kelley
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acDowell Arena is the site of the annual club fair each fall where students can peruse trifold displays, hear what clubs have planned for the upcoming year, and grab a handful of candy before heading off to class. But one club doesn’t need a table or candy or a trifold board because they have something so magnetic that it pulls in all interested parties. They have a robot. The Robotics club members stand around, clad in their matching black shirts bearing their team name, “The Arcitechs,” controlling their robot, # 4176, that will soon go on to place first at the First Tech Challenge State Championship qualifying tournament. Students beg to man the controls. Now in its third year of competition, the Robotics team recently wrapped up its most successful season yet as it continues to embody the innovation happening in science classrooms at Rivers every day. “The more time I spent around this team, the more I felt, ‘This is really what education should be about,’ ” said Science Department Chair Michael Schlenker, who helped organize the inaugural robotics team four years ago. “This is what the real world is about; this is what real engineers do. You have a team, you have a challenge, and you have to establish what you know and don’t know, what works and what doesn’t. Teamwork and organization and communication are just as important as knowing what electrostatic discharge is.”
“The more time I spent around this team, the more I felt, ‘This is really what education should be about.’ ” The engineering method was applied to the team itself as members navigated the rocky road between school and free time that many students fill with music and athletics. This led to weekend meetings at students’ homes, then at the school, and now in club blocks in a dedicated room in the basement of the science center. Through all of these iterations of workspaces there was a constant, however. Doug Steinfeld P’06,’11 is a software engineer by trade and had always pushed for more hands-on learning experiences for students. When the team began to take shape in the fall of 2010, Schlenker called upon Mr. Steinfeld to assist with the team in a consulting role. Championing the cause from the student side of things was then freshman, now senior and captain Ben Warwick ’14.
“Between the robotics elective, Doug Steinfeld, and my experience with the class, I gave it a lot of thought, trying to figure out how it could work,” Schlenker said. “I’m really big on having real experiences in learning, so I thought the opportunity to have a group of kids working outside of the curriculum on applied problem solving and applied science could work here.” Steinfeld offers his time on Thursday mornings to impart his engineering wisdom to the team, giving insight on how calculus and physics could be applied to the robot in order to make a design viable. “The kids know that every Thursday morning Mr. Steinfeld is going to be there, and that’s precious time, to have an hour with an engineer,” said science teacher Maureen Courtney, who presently serves as the team’s head coach and advisor. Rivers began competition in earnest in the First Tech Challenge in 2011, attending the kick-off event where FTC reveals that season’s challenge. Hours of hard work and dedication earned the team the Think Award at the state qualifying tournament, on the strength of its outstanding engineering notebook. The award in turn earned them an invitation to the State Championship tournament. Upperclassmen such as Carlton Jester ’13 and Billy Oldach ’12 brought a lot to the table. Jester had the programming know- how for the more mechanical challenges while Oldach, a standout football player, served as a calming presence in the heat of competition. Said Schlenker, “Billy was the one I would turn to in the middle of a competition the first year and say, ‘take the robot apart and replace that part in 10 minutes or we’re doomed.’ And he’d do it.” When Schlenker became Science Department Chair in 2012, Courtney took over leadership of the team. While she takes Spring 2014 • Riparian • 9
Ben Warwick ’14 and Roger Wirkala ’16 interviewed at the State Championships
on administrative aspects of the team such as scheduling and supervising, the team also builds on her own undergraduate background in engineering and programming. Courtney honed her programming skills the summer before becoming head coach, at a programming course at Carnegie Mellon that allowed her to implement new strategies in coaching. The team also took advantage of the skills of math teacher Adam Ganderson. An MIT graduate with an engineering background, Ganderson brought those skills to the table on an everyday basis as assistant coach, which was invaluable to the development of the team.
“Hopefully through the team and the classes students realize that these are things you can do for a living.” “Maureen was magnificent at leading the team, Michael would come by and help with the physics side of things, so I was able to contribute more to the mechanical side,” Ganderson said. “This year has been exciting because I have been able to incorporate some of the concepts I teach in the Engineering class, most notably the engineering process.” Ganderson’s background and the methods he brought from the Engineering and AP Computer Science classes helped the team come to quicker realizations of why they should do something a certain way, allowing adjustments and tweaks to happen early in the process which kept the project rolling. What those classes have also provided is baseline knowledge that some of the older students bring into the robotics room in order to solve problems. By being excited about how their classwork fits into the framework of the team, these students not only make the team stronger but also encourage younger students to think about taking those classes down the road. The team has also become just that: a team. Schlenker jokes that this is the next Rivers varsity team because the time, planning, effort, and dedication that goes into it is similar to what 10 • Riparian • Spring 2014
The Arcitechs
goes into a basketball, hockey, or football team. Not to mention the success. “Hopefully through the team and the classes students realize that these are things you can do for a living,” Schlenker said. “Yes, it’s important that we teach our students the physics and chemistry and biology but it’s the passion that we’re most concerned with because that is what carries you through all the years of study – that real-world application. “We’re just starting to see the benefits of this, not just with more kids going to technology and engineering schools, but with kids who stay with it through college. That’s what we want to happen.” In 2013, the Robotics team qualified for the state tournament once again, this time on the strength of its robot’s performance, taking first place at the qualifier for the first time in its history. There are currently 85 teams from New England that compete during the qualifying tournament for one of 32 spots at the Massachusetts State Championship. Once at the Championship, the team ended the qualifying rounds in seventh place overall— a huge improvement over last year’s 28th place finish and a major accomplishment considering the team’s time constraints with other school commitments. It was a perfect final season for a group of seniors who helped take the team from the ground level to where it stands today. The foundation for the future, one of dedicated sophomores and freshmen, was on display at the qualifier as senior Griffin Green ’14 ceded his driver role to Roger Wirkala ’16 and the sophomore guided the robot to victory. “The seniors care so much about this program,” Courtney said. “I asked Griffin if he wanted to drive at the qualifier and he said ‘You know, I think I’m going to coach one of the sophomores to drive instead.’ I asked if that was really what he wanted to do and he said, ‘Yeah, it’s someone else’s turn.’ ” The Robotics team reached new heights this year and thanks to this dedicated group of faculty, students, and parents, the sky is truly the limit for The Arcitechs.
Campus News
Academic Achievement Recognized
Seven Rivers students were recognized for their outstanding performance in the National Merit Scholarship Program, as a result of their performance on the PSAT exam as juniors. Seniors Emily Fraser, Spencer Graves, James Hotchkiss, Nate Johnson, John McDaniel, and Sam Stulin, as well as Cornell University freshman Simi Mirchandani, were named Commended students, placing in the top 5% of more than 1.5 million juniors nationally who take this competitive exam. In addition, 39 Rivers students were recognized by the College Board for their performance on the AP exams. Eleven students were named AP Scholars with Distinction, earning an overall average of 4.5 on five or more AP exams each. All members of the class of 2013, they are Alex Andonian (Bates), Anne Armstrong (Johns Hopkins), Madeline Bauer (Yale), Suzanne Burzillo (Emory), Sarah Gilmore (Brown), Andrew Hill (Colorado), Sara Hyde (Brown), Christina Keefe (Cornell), Bruna Lee (Brown), Andrew Xia (MIT), and Arianna Zhang (Harvard). In addition, nine students were named AP Scholars with Honor, achieving an overall average of 4.2 on 4 or more exams each. Finally, 19 students were AP Scholars, achieving as a group an average of 4.0 on 3 or more AP exams each.
Debate Team Returns to JSA Winter Congress in D.C.
Since 2010, the Rivers Debate team has been going to the Junior State of America Winter Congress in Washington D.C. where they combine with hundreds of high school students from across the country in a mock congress environment. Seventeen Rivers students made the trip to our nation’s capital in February where they presented a bill that moved to increase the Federal Minimum Wage. This trip comes on the heels of a successful outing to the Fall State meet in December in Boston, where James Jennings ’15 was voted “Best Speaker” in his schedule session.
The Rivers Big Band
The Current wins First Place
Rivers’ art and literary magazine, The Current, received a First Place award from the American Scholastic Press Association for the 2013 edition. The senior editors were Tessa Kadar ’13, Andrew Xia ’13, and Sarah Gilmore ’13. The Current included submissions in prose, poetry, photography, and two- and three-dimensional art that were reviewed by a national panel of independent judges in each category.
On a Roll: Big Band, Select 1 Combo, and members gather awards
In January the Rivers Big Band and Select 1 Combo placed third and second respectively in the small school category at the Berklee High School Jazz Festival. The festival is the largest of its kind in the country, bringing more than 3,000 students from over 200 ensembles nationwide to Berklee College of Music for two days of competition. Receiving individual accolades were Richard Oates ’14, recognized with two “Outstanding Musicianship” awards for his part in the Big Band and Select Combo, and John Nydam ’15, who received the competition’s top award, the “Superior Musicianship” award. In February the Rivers Select 1 Combo travelled to the Manhattan School of Music for the annual Charles Mingus High School Jazz Competition as one of the top four high school ensembles in the country. John Nydam ’15 was honored with an outstanding soloist award and was asked to sit in
and play with the Mingus Big Band at the end of the competition. Also receiving an outstanding soloist award was Michael Manasseh ’19, who was the only middle school student in the entire competition. Rachel Hawley ’15 earned the best arranger award for her interpretation of a Mingus composition. In March, the Rivers Big Band competed at the Massachusetts Association for Jazz Education (MAJE) Central Senior District Big Band Competition at Nipmuc High School and earned the only Gold medal awarded at the competition, qualifying for the State Finals. Jamie Juviler ’14, James Hotchkiss ’14, and Richard Oates ’14 each received Outstanding Musician awards with Oates also earning MVP honors for the entire competition.
Student Composers Win Awards
John Nydam ’15 won the Oklahoma City University Bass School of Music’s national high school music competition with his submission to the electronic music category. The competition is part of the school’s Project 21 program, which features new music by young artists. He composed the electronic piece, entitled 7604319145, while attending a summer program at Tanglewood in Lenox, and he will attend its inaugural performance this spring in Oklahoma City. Rachel Hawley ’15 was named a winner of the National YoungArts Foundation’s 2014 competition for her classical Spring 2014 • Riparian • 11
Campus News programs and have been afforded the opportunity to integrate themselves into the New York jazz scene.
University of Texas Representative, New England Teachers Observe Engineering Class
John Nydam ’15
Rachel Hawley ’15
composition work, one of 700 high school students selected from a pool of over 11,000 applicants from a variety of visual and performing arts disciplines. Hawley composed her winning saxophone quartet and orchestra piece this past summer while attending the Interlochen Center for the Arts.
Seven Rivers Students Perform at All State and Junior District Festivals
Seven Rivers students earned trips to the Junior District and All-State MMEA Festivals, after successful auditions this winter. Performing at Junior Districts in March were Charles Lowell ’18 (bass, mixed chorus), Ali Hickey ’17 (snare drum, orchestra), and Nazeli Hagen ’17 (alto, treble chorus). The following students performed at the All States at Boston’s Symphony Hall in March: John Nydam ’15 (piano, jazz band), Rhea Teng ’15 (cello, orchestra), Andrew Chang ’15 (bass, chorus), and James Nydam ’15 (bass, chorus).
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Elliot ’11 and Casey ’09 Berman in master class
Conservatory Program Alumni Return to Celebrate
Conservatory Program alumni held a concert in January in Bradley Hall to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Program at Rivers. Casey Berman ’09 Alex Barstow ’07, Ethan Bauer ’11, Tim Carman ’07, Jeremiah Campanelli ’12, Tom Chalmers ’10, Henry Fraser ’10, Alicia Palmisano ’10, and Ethan Silverman ’12 gathered to celebrate the program’s anniversary. Students currently in the Rivers School Conservatory Program were also treated to a visit from Conservatory Program alumni Casey ’09 and Elliot ’11 Berman as the pair held a master class in the MacDowell Orchestra Room. Attended by both students and faculty, the Bermans and their band performed several original compositions and delved into the process of creating them. Both Casey and Elliot are part of NYU’s prestigious music
Adam Ganderson’s Engineering students hosted visitors in December when a representative from the University of Texas at Austin and several educators from around New England stopped by to observe the class. This planned visit was part of UT’s Engineer Your World program, which has provided all of the course materials and funding for Rivers’ inaugural year. Ganderson and his class were gracious hosts to the visiting teachers, allowing them to observe, ask questions, and learn about how they were building their earthquake-proof buildings for their latest project. The visiting teachers were impressed with the diversity of the class in both gender and breadth of academic experience. The course is designed so that students taking regular math and science classes have the same opportunity to thrive as those in AP sections.
Former Social Security Administrator Mike Astrue Visits AP Government Class
Will Mills’ AP Government class welcomed former Social Security Administrator Mike Astrue to Rivers in January to hear stories of his career in politics—which began in 1983 as a law clerk on Senator Richard Schweiker’s staff—as well as keen insights into the inner workings of government and life in Washington, D.C. During his visit, Astrue also addressed the separation of powers among the three branches of government, his perspective on partisanship in government today, and the challenges facing Social Security in the future. Astrue, who recently finished a six-year term as Commissioner of Social Security, served in all three branches of government at the national level, across four different presidential administrations. From 2007 to 2013, he was one of six Trustees of the Medicare and Social Security Trust Funds.
Campus News
The Rivers School Nonesuch Players Present Almost, Maine and Godspell
The Rivers School Nonesuch Players presented John Cariani’s Almost, Maine in Haffenreffer’s Black Box Theater in November. The romantic comedy, one of the most widely produced in the last decade, featured plenty of woolen caps with ear-flaps and a hefty dose of slapstick, but touched the audience’s heart with its heartfelt sentiment. The annual musical in February was a contemporary reincarnation of the 1970s Broadway hit Godspell, presented at Regis College’s Fine Arts Center. The show, composed of various musical parables from The Gospel According to Matthew, was staged in the political turbulence of Washington D.C., a setting emblematic of the social, economic, and political turmoil that engages and influences all of us on a daily basis and bears a striking resemblance to conditions in which the Biblical parables and lessons were first told.
Summer Intern Helps Fine Tune Surgical Robots
As a result of work completed during a summer internship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, David Alelyunas ’14 had the honor of having his work cited in a forthcoming paper and presented at a conference in February. He worked on surgical robotics in the hospital’s radiology departThe Godspell cast
ment, in an effort to improve the way in which biopsies are conducted. The goal was to have a robot use MRIs to determine the placement of the biopsy needle. Alelyunas and a fellow intern were tasked with programming a sensor in a computer mouse to measure needle depth, eventually building a prototype that would test the idea’s feasibility. Kevin Hester ’13 and Jenny Park ’13 also completed internships in the medical field: Hester worked in obesity and diabetes research at the Boston University medical campus, and Park worked in a robotic simulation laboratory at Boston Children’s Hospital. Four students also held business internships last summer: Emily Fraser ’14 at Audax, and Ross Barlow ’14 and Sarah Roth ’14 at America’s Growth Capital. The Rivers Summer Internship Program offers tremendous opportunities to rising sophomores and juniors who have expressed a strong enthusiasm for either the sciences or business.
Willard’s Enlightenment Class Enjoys Visit from Triple Helix
Dr. Julian Willard’s Enlightenment students were treated to a surprise visit from The Rivers School Conservatory’s ensemble-inresidence Triple Helix. Willard, who serves as the chair of Rivers’ Interdisciplinary Studies Department, thought a visit from Joel Miranda ’14 and Emily Fraser ’14 in Almost, Maine
David Alelyunas ’14 explaining his research
the trio would help his students better understand Enlightenment and Romantic themes in music. Triple Helix performed pieces from Haydn and Beethoven, and the students responded enthusiastically, even joining the trio at the end of class to sing the Ode to Joy, part of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, in German. Willard’s Enlightenment course makes use of visiting experts from different departments at Rivers in order to consider the ways in which the Enlightenment changed the way we look at the world and humanity’s place in it.
Rivers Sends Five Repre- sentatives to People of Color Leadership Conferences
This month, Rivers sent two teachers and three student representatives to the People Kathleen Nicholson shares reflections during MLK assembly
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Campus News taking both the giant slalom and slalom events, with James Bradley ’17, Ben Freeland ’16, Stephen Richlen ’15, Thomas Corcoran ’15, and Ben Pasculano ’15 representing the Red Wings. Bradley and Freeland each earned All-New England honors in both events by virtue of their top 10 finishes, while Richlen was AllNew England in the slalom.
Left: Trevor Davock’15 and Maclaine Lehan ’14. Above: Division I recruits O’Hare, Gendron, Gates, and Orr
of Color and Student Diversity Leadership Conferences in Maryland, an experience that provided its participants with a renewed commitment to exploring diversity issues on campus. Math teacher Jennifer Dalton and science teacher Kathleen Nicholson attended the conference, as well as Marlayeeka Valcourt ’16, Pedro Oliveira ’15, and Rashelle Centeio ’16. The three-day conferences, run by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), is an opportunity for networking and professional development for faculty while the students gather in small groups to discuss their roles in advancing their schools’ equity and justice around racial and ethnic identity.
Maclaine Lehan ‘14 and Trevor Davock ‘15 Win Multiple Athletic Accolades
Maclaine Lehan ’14 and Trevor Davock ’15 both earned All-American distinction from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and were also named Boston Globe All-Scholastics for their play this fall. Maclaine was also named NSCAA Massachusetts State Player of the Year as well as being the 2012 and 2013 Independent School League (ISL) Defensive Player of the Year. She has verbally committed to play soccer at Brown University next fall. Trevor also earned his All-American status by leading the ISL in scoring, netting 25 goals in league play with five assists for 55 total points. Trevor was also named ISL Offensive Player of the Year for his 14 • Riparian • Spring 2014
part in leading a Red Wings offense that outscored its opponents 40-11 in ISL play. In addition, four Rivers athletes have officially committed to play Division I athletics next year. Brendan Gates ’14 (University of Hartford), Shaun O’Hare ’14 (Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, Conn.), and Collin Orr ’14 (Colgate University) all signed to play collegiate lacrosse, while Miles Gendron ’14 signed to play college hockey at the University of Connecticut.
Girls’ Soccer Named NEPSAC Co-Champions!
The varsity girls’ soccer team finished its undefeated season as NEPSAC Class B Co-Champions after tying Tabor Academy 0-0 in the final at The Pomfret School. Both teams had chances to break the tie, but after 120 minutes of soccer the Red Wings and Sea Wolves finished on equal footing. Seniors Maclaine Lehan, Meghan Lee, Jacquie Boudreau, Erica Chalmers, and Olivia Antonelli finished their careers with a 49-9-12 record, two consecutive undefeated regular seasons and one Class B Co-Championship. This is the girls’ soccer team’s first NEPSAC Championship since 2007. The boys’ soccer and field hockey teams both made it to the semi- finals in postseason play
Boys’ Varsity Skiing Repeats As New England Class B Champs
The Rivers varsity boys’ ski team successfully defended its NEPSAC New England Class B Championship at Loon Mountain,
Boys’ Basketball, Hockey Claim ISL Titles, Girls Take Holiday Tournament Title
The 2013–14 winter season was a successful one for the boys’ basketball and ice hockey teams. The boys’ basketball team earned sole possession of the ISL cham- pionship with a final win over Groton, ending the season 21-4-0. The boys’ hockey team clinched its second ISL Eberhart Division championship, finishing the season with a 12-1-1 record in the division and winning their last six games by a combined score of 24-6. Miles Gendron ’14 was named a Boston Globe All-Scholastic for his performance. The 2013 Rivers Holiday Tournament saw 12 teams from 11 schools compete in a total of 16 games over three days. Both the boys’ and girls’ varsity basketball teams made runs to the championship round, with the girls taking home their sixth consecutive championship.
Presidential Awards Recognize Service
Eight Rivers students received Presidential Volunteer Service Awards for their work over the last year, recognizing those who have achieved a certain amount of service hours. Daniel Gil ’15 received a Gold Award (over 250 hours of service) for working with children at a summer camp as well as working with children with terminal illnesses in an overnight camp environment. Receiving Silver Awards (175249 service hours) were Patrick El Khoury ’15 and Kate Everett ’16. Bronze Award (100-174 hours of service) recipients were Miranda Bachman ’14, Abby Finn ’16, Emily Fraser ’14, Julia Strauss ’15, and Claudia Wittenberg ’15.
Campus News
Honoring Jeanette Szretter’s Service to Rivers By christine Martin
Jeanette Szretter
J
eanette Szretter is retiring in June after nearly three decades of service to The Rivers School. As a senior Spanish teacher, compassionate advisor, and tireless community service director, she is leaving a legacy as a selfless educator who helped create nationally recognized service learning programs at Rivers. Szretter will be honored at the Alumni Dinner at Rivers on May 17. Szretter joined the Rivers Language Department in 1985. For the next 25 years, she taught Spanish at many different levels, and was recognized as a Senior Teacher by Rivers in 2004. She drew on her experiences living and studying in Argentina and Mexico, and from professional development trips to Cuba and Chile, to enhance her Spanish curriculum. A firm believer in the power of experiencing another culture first-hand, she organized and led a number of student trips to Spain. In 1999 she founded the Argentine visiting student partnership with St. George’s School in Buenos Aires, an exchange program that continued at Rivers for more than a decade. In addition, Szretter has served as the Director of Community Service for more than 25 years, creating and leading the Rivers Givers Youth in Philanthropy Program, establishing the Upper
School Service Council, coordinating the annual Special Olympics basketball tournament, and initiating the New Orleans service trip in 2008. Szretter’s goal as director has been to help students discover the best match for their talents and interests in a service environment. She believes in developing ongoing partnerships with local agencies, so that service projects are not isolated experiences for the students, but continuing interactions. As a result of her tenacity, Rivers received the national Community Service Award from the Council for Spiritual and Ethical Education in 2012 in recognition of its outstanding relationships with local agencies. “The best part of this job has been translating the needs of an agency into terms understood by the students, and then translating their abilities to the needs of the agency,” said Szretter. “I like thinking outside the box to effectively match needs and abilities. For instance, our students recently helped package educational materials for the North Section of the Massachusetts Special Olympics to be distributed by the Natick Recreation and Parks Department as part of their disability awareness initiative. Our students became the link between two of the agencies we work with most closely on an on-going basis.” Beyond Rivers, Szretter served as a founding board member of the MetroWest Habitat for Humanity affiliate, and is the current co-president of the Natick Service Council and member of the Natick Medical Reserve Corps. Szretter and her husband, Wayne, live in Natick and are the parents of two Rivers graduates, Mark ’94 and Kristy ’97.
The Szretter family in 2010
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Art Awards Across the Board
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he 2014 Globe Scholastic Art Awards recognized Rivers students with 39 awards this year, honoring more than half of all of Rivers’ entries. The school received eight Gold Keys, 15 Silver Keys, and 16 Honorable Mentions, with at least one winner at each grade level, in each of the possible 2D and 3D media arts categories, taught by each Rivers’ arts faculty member. “It’s wonderful that so many student artists at Rivers were recognized in this year’s awards,” said Visual Arts Department Chair David Saul. “We’re thrilled that students earned honors for artwork in all of the different mediums taught at Rivers, including ceramics, sculpture, drawing, photography, printmaking, painting, and digital art. Thanks to our dedicated artist educators, we have students at all levels of our program willing to take risks, learning from the creative process, and making significant, self-expressive artwork.”
Maya Wasserman ’18, Photography, Facial
Savannah Knisley ’15, Ceramics, Incongruous Triad, National Gold Medal Winner
Leah Ciffolillo ’14, Photography, Distress
Natalia Sprofera ’15, Drawing, Self-Portrait 16 • Riparian • Spring 2014 2011 16
Gold Key Award Miranda Bachman ’14, Ceramics, Sage Femme Claudia Bellido ’14, Ceramics, Ridged Maria Burzillo ’16, Ceramics, Vase Will Cohen ’15, Printmaking, Tinted Glass Erin Connolly ’15, Printmaking, Fallen Tears Savannah Knisley ’15, Ceramics, Incongruous Triad Kate Longfield ’14, Printmaking, Bridge Rachel Silverman ’14, Ceramics, Roller Coaster
Alexandra Gaither ’15, Sculpture, El Despecho
Erin Connolly ’15, Printmaking, Fallen Tears
Silver Key Award Alicia Bellido ’17, Drawing, An Impression of My Kitchen Simone Blake ’14, Ceramics, Lotus Flower Bomb Leah Ciffolillo ’14, Photography, Distress Matt Cronin ’19, Drawing, Charcoal Self-Portrait Kristen Daley ’15, Painting, Still Life With Brass Vase Hunter Dempsey ’15, Sculpture, The Red Turtle Courtney Drucker ’16, Ceramics, Covered Jar David Freedman ’17, Photography, Summer Light Sophie Jacobs ’18, Drawing, Queen of Cats Sareena Kamath ’14, Printmaking, Queen of Hearts Patrick McNally ’15, Digital Art, Lab Garden Ben Pasculano ’15, Ceramics, Offering Caroline Rakip ’15, Photography, Anticipation Maya Wasserman ’18, Photography, Facial Christine Yang ’16, Sculpture, Half Moon Honorable Mention Leah Ciffolillo ’14, Photography, Flight Alex Clay ’18, Photography, Life’s Tower Hunter Corliss ’17, Photography, Majestic Trees Alexandra Gaither ’15, Sculpture, El Despecho Sarah Jarvis ’14, Drawing, Casey Savannah Knisley ’15, Printmaking, Power Aidan McAnena ’18, Photography, Tree Scars Victoria Nedder ’16, Sculpture, Slant Band Saw Box Natalie Schoen ’16, Ceramics, Draped Alex Sidell ’16, Sculpture, The Elements Campbell Siegrist ’17, Photography, Backyard Artifacts Natalia Sprofera ’15, Drawing, Self-Portrait Sam Stulin ’14, Ceramics, Phoenix Charles Watkins ’16, Digital Art, Ethereal Sky Montrez Williams ’14, Ceramics, Meditation Claudia Wittenberg ’15, Photography, My Ride
Claudia Bellido ’14, Ceramics, Ridged
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Parent News
Rivers’ Parents of Seniors Celebrate
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he parents of the Class of 2014 gathered in the fall at the home of David and Lisa Antonelli to socialize and enjoy a preview of the highlights of senior year. Head of Upper School Patti Carbery shared experienced words of wisdom about the challenges their children would be facing in the coming months as they prepare for graduation and then college.
Head of Upper School Patti Carbery with hosts David and Lisa Antonelli Iarta Webb-Myers, Molly Schoek, and Frantz Georges
Jim DeCaprio and Gerson Gonzalez
Head of School Tom Olverson with Clark and Susan Jarvis
Joanne Mueffelmann, Diana Orr, and Carol Harris Robin Neiterman and Kirsten Johnson
Steve Bunick with Karen and Kenneth Gates
Parents listen to Patti Carbery
David Antonelli and Phil Ades
Kara Boudreau and Mil Crowley 18 • Riparian • Spring 2014
Revitalizing the Alumni Community By Christine Martin
A
strong foundation for alumni participation has always existed at Rivers, built on the cornerstones of Homecoming, Alumni Day, the Golf Tournament, and Annual Fund giving. However, a number of recent initiatives launched by the Alumni Council have built on the familiar essence of the Rivers experience, and have energized Rivers’ alumni in new and exciting ways. Relationships have always been central to our students’ lives, whether they are bonding with classmates, teammates, teachers, or coaches. The Alumni Council, headed by President Larry Glazer ’86, has worked to extend these relationships in order to strengthen the sense of community among Rivers alumni. “The Rivers Alumni Association fulfills an essential role by serving as a voice for the Rivers alumni community,” says Glazer. “By listening to feedback from Rivers graduates, today we offer a robust schedule of outstanding programs and activities that appeal to a wide range of alumni interests. The alumni are rapidly developing a vibrant network and community that provides support and mentorship to current students. This will serve to enhance the Rivers experience for future generations.” For example, Boston and New York Career Development Committees have been providing opportunities for alumni to stay connected both socially and professionally. Attendance at the Career Development Committee events in Boston
has grown, thanks to the guidance of Stephen Lable ’90, and several prominent speakers. The Rivers network has also grown particularly strong in New York, led by Nikki Hunter ’05, as more and more young alumni join financial and entrepreneurial ventures there. Less formalized outreach efforts have also helped reconnect Rivers alumni working in Washington, D.C. with the help of Jeremy Moskowitz ’08, as well as in the San Francisco Bay area, with the help of Jason Schlesinger ’88. Rivers encourages each student to take on leadership roles in whatever venues they feel a passion and commitment. Each year three or four seniors volunteer to work on behalf of the Alumni Council as student representatives. They host phonathons during which they and their classmates share their perspective on life at Rivers. The student representatives also help to educate their own classmates on the importance of supporting Rivers through their class gift, which this year will support financial aid for fellow students. The Alumni Council’s Emerging Leaders, led by Charlotte Lewis ’02, and Jeff Kotzen ’02, were organized this year to keep the momentum and commitment going among recent college graduates. The enthusiasm these alumni bring to their new professions is being tapped on behalf of Rivers, as they are asked to consider ways they can give back to Rivers in terms of time and resources.
Larry Glazer ’86 with Bruce Clifford ’85
Greg Cahill ’77, Stephen Lable ’90, and Larry Epstein ’87
“The Rivers alumni association fulfills an essential role by serving as a voice for the Rivers alumni community. By listening to feedback from Rivers graduates, today we offer a robust schedule of outstanding programs and activities that appeal to a wide range of alumni interests. ”
Jeremy Moskowitz ’08 with sister Marissa ’03
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Charlotte Lewis ’02, Assistant Head of School Jim Long, Jeff Kotzen ’02
Bridget Garsh ’00
Alexandra Krotinger ’04 with Jack Jarzavek
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“I want to say what a wonderful community we have and just how much it has enriched my life—friendships, business relationships, asking for advice,” comments Lewis. “There’s a genuine sense of caring, and I am so thankful for that.” The Annual Fund committee, cochaired by Bridget Garsh ’00 and Nick Petri ’02, has helped a growing number of class agents reach out to classmates during the year to obtain the latest news, help to plan reunions, and help with the annual fund. In addition, the Leadership Committee, led by Charlie Abrams ’88, serves to recognize and thank donors who have had a significant impact at Rivers. Social media has also generated innovative forms of outreach among alumni. On Giving Tuesday, a national day of giving on December 3, more than 150 gifts were made or pledged by the Rivers community on that one day, far surpassing expectations of support. The inaugural Nonesuch Madness Competition in March pitted the 16 youngest classes against each other to see which class could generate the highest participation rate of gifts to the Annual Fund. With ongoing Facebook, Twitter, and email updates, friendly rivalries generated much appreciated support for Rivers’ day-to-day budgeted needs. In March, Rivers launched a new app for the
iphone called Evertrue. This app enables alumni to connect and network with one another and remain up-to-date with Rivers alumni news and events. Through its layer of intelligence and relationships with LinkedIn and Facebook, Rivers’ app gives alumni the tools to quickly locate one another for networking purposes. The Golf Committee, led by Bruce Clifford ’83, continues to generate significant financial aid funding through the annual Golf Tournament, now in its 14th year. The event’s successful outcome each year is due in large part to our generous hosts, the Daley family—Pat Daley ’84 P’13’15’18 and his brother Fred P’12’14’16, who donate the use of the course at Charter Oak, as well as several generous Rivers alumni as sponsors. With a full field of golfers, the camaraderie on and off the course is as rewarding as the financial goal of the tournament. The committee is looking forward to another successful turnout on Monday, May 12, 2014, when it hopes to surpass the $1 million mark in funds raised! In addition to the traditional Alumni Excellence Award, a committee led by Gregory Cahill ’77, which has recognized the outstanding professional and volunteer contributions of our alumni since 2001, the Alumni Council is excited to announce a brand new initiative, the
Tom Olverson with Chris Laakko ’02 and Adin Heller ’02 at the NYC Reception
Thinking Green?
Charlie Abrams ’88
Lisa Raftery ’93
Young Alumni Achievement Award. This award will be given annually to a recent graduate who models the spirit and values of The Rivers School. Through professional, academic, and/or volunteer roles, the recipient will have demonstrated leadership, excellence in his/her chosen career, and an interest in and commitment to serving others. The committee, led by Alexandra Krotinger ’04, is currently seeking nominations for the inaugural award in 2014. The Alumni Council leadership is proud of the additional energy, relation-
ships, and impact that they have created in recent years. They are looking forward to continuing to fulfill their vision of developing a connected, involved, and vibrant Rivers alumni community. The nominating committee, led by Lisa Raftery ’93, is currently speaking with additional alumni who want to serve on committees, in order to build on the momentum of the Alumni Council. Please contact Assistant Director of Advancement Heather Jack at hjack@rivers.org if you are interested in serving.
Put Monday, May 12, on your calendar and golf for a great cause. Join fellow alumni, parents, and friends for the 14th Annual Rivers School Golf Tournament to Benefit Financial Aid at Charter Oak Country Club. • Foursomes and individual players welcome. • Sponsors and auction donations still needed. Check rivers.org/golftournament for event details or contact Alumni Programs Coordinator Meg Speranza at 339-686-2246 or m.speranza@rivers.org.
Dana Amsbary ’05, Katelyn Landry ’08 and Danielle Ain ’05 at the Emerging Leaders dinner
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2014 Alumni Excellence Award Recipient: Joshua M. Kraft ’85 By Christine Martin
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like people. I enjoy getting to meet different people, learning about them,” says Josh Kraft ’85. “When you do community work, you get to interact with a lot of people from a lot of different backgrounds. No matter what level you’re working at, it’s about the people.” That genuine interest in people has been the driving force behind Kraft’s twenty-plus-year career with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston. Beginning in 1990, when he ran an outreach program for thirty at-risk middle schoolers in South Boston, through today as president and CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston serving more than 14,000 children, Josh Kraft has always been committed to people.
“We give kids a sense that there is a something for them, there are opportunities and hope, and they have to grab them.” “In the end what we really provide the kids with at the Boys and Girls Clubs is a consistent caring adult who meets them and greets them every day. It’s through that relationship with that adult that they begin to develop a sense of safety, a sense of confidence,” says Kraft. “We give them a sense that there is something for them, there are opportunities and hope, and they have to grab them.” For many years, Kraft was that caring adult. After graduating from Williams College, he did a brief stint teaching and coaching at a local private school, before joining the staff of the South Boston Boys 22 • Riparian • Spring 2014
and Girls Club. He spent the next few years working on a daily basis with youngsters from the South Boston public housing developments who were having problems academically and socially. After taking time off to earn a master’s degree in education and social policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Kraft took on a new challenge. With a group of volunteers, he founded the Boys and Girls Club in Chelsea in 1993. “The city was in receivership at the time,” comments Kraft. “We started out in the basement of public housing, with about 75 kids, then moved to a new school building, then to the old high school where we worked out of their locker rooms. “I look back at my time in Chelsea, growing the club there—most people get their MBAs in two years—but that was my MBA, my corporate training, my masters in public health and public administration. Those fifteen years, I wouldn’t trade it. Beyond my family, it was probably the best experience in my life.” He kept expanding the program, fundraising and building community support, until 2002 when they moved into the $11.2 million state-of-the-art Gerald and Darlene Jordan Club, which now serves more than 1,000 children annually. He continued there as founding executive director until he was appointed the Nicholas President and CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston in 2008. Again Kraft faced many challenges as the economy faltered and non-profits saw their base of support shrink. “We are so lucky. We have unbelievable volunteers. Our board, our overseers, these people really get it,” he comments. “With the advice of our board, we made
some budget cuts that got us through the year. There was a strategic plan in place that we had to put on hold. But we’re doing great now, with a healthy endowment. Most of our funding—80 percent of our $21 million budget—comes from corporations, individuals, and foundations.” Kraft had already made many connections with the Boston community while he was with the Chelsea club and has continued to build on that base. In turn he serves as trustee or overseer of a number of local nonprofits, including The Rivers School, Beaver Country Day School, the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation, the Museum of Science, and Lasell College. Kraft is also the president of the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation where he oversees numerous initiatives. “Here at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, we feel that part of our job is to partner with as many other nonprofits as possible. We feel if we don’t do that, we’re not doing our job,” says Kraft. “By partnering we’re giving access and opportunity to every kid that comes through our door. There might be something we’re not that proficient at, so we partner with everyone
from the Museum of Fine Arts to MetroLacrosse to the Children’s Room that works with grieving youth and families. We have 180 partners of all kinds and they’re really essential to our being able to reach our mission.” That’s not to say the 11 clubs located throughout the Boston area don’t offer a full range of programs on site. Youngsters arrive after school and some stay as late as 8:30 at night with a healthy meal served each afternoon. The professional staff offers specific programs: from college club, to tutoring, to reading club, to basketball leagues, ceramics, everything and anything that covers the six core initiatives the clubs focus on: arts; sports; leadership; life skills; sports, fitness, and recreation; and technology. In his administrative role as president and CEO, does Kraft miss the daily connection with the kids? “I worked in Chelsea for 15 years and saw a whole generation of kids come through there. My door was always open so I could be talking with you right now and kids would be sitting at the conference table, waiting for me,” comments Kraft. “I had a kid from Chelsea who came by the other day—we have an alumni program and he was getting involved in that —and he said if it hadn’t been for the Boys and Girls Club, he never would have set foot on a college campus. It’s nice to hear those things. “But I still get to enjoy that aspect— of being out in the community,” he continues. “Again it’s about the people, always being open not just to the kids, but to other people in the community.” He credits Rivers with helping him appreciate the importance of relationships. “I always really treasured my time at Rivers. For me it was a great place. I had a great group of friends and the teachers were terrific: Mr. Jarzavek, Dr. Wasson, Mr. Suby. In the end it goes back to what I was saying about community work, it’s all about relationships. Those are the things that have lasted with me, from my friends that I made there to the teachers I got to connect with.
“It’s great having my nieces at Rivers and seeing the school through their eyes,” he adds. “Jessica graduated in 2012, Ali is a junior, and Sadie is a freshman.” Josh Kraft will be honored with the 2014 Alumni Excellence Award on Alumni Day, May 17, in recognition of his longstanding commitment to public service. “It’s an honor to get this award from Rivers not just because the place means
so much to me but also because it comes in Tom Olverson’s final year,” he concludes. It is indeed a timely honor for Kraft. In talking about his own guiding principles, Tom Olverson has often said, “It’s all about the kids.” Josh Kraft has certainly shared that passion and dedicated his heart and soul—and career—to “the kids.”
Nominate an Alumnus or Alumna for Alumni Excellence Award Established in 2001, The Rivers School Alumni Excellence Award is presented annually by the Alumni Association to a member of the Rivers community who displays extraordinary achievement within their established career field or through an outstanding commitment to social, political, or other volunteer causes. The purpose of the Award is to highlight the professional and volunteer achievements of alumni and in so doing inspire Rivers students to pursue their passions. When nominating a Rivers graduate, please include the following information: their name and class year; address, phone number, and email address; title, company, or industry; list of professional achievements and professional and civic commitments; and any other information relevant to the candidate’s professional contributions. Nominations may be sent to Assistant Director of Advancement Heather Jack at 339-686-2247 or h.jack@rivers.org
Young Alumni Achievement Award Established The Alumni Council recently established a new annual award to recognize a graduate from the past 16 years who models the spirit and values of The Rivers School. Through professional, academic, and/or volunteer roles, the recipient will have demonstrated leadership, excellence in his/her chosen career, and an interest in and commitment to serving others. Nominations are being solicited from graduates, class agents, and faculty, and should include why this person should be selected as well as professional and community service achievements, employment positions, and honors or recognitions that qualify the candidate for this award. After being selected by the Young Alumni Achievement Award Committee, the recipient will speak to the Rivers student body at an all school assembly in the fall. If you would like to submit a nomination for the inaugural award, please visit www.rivers.org/yaachievement, or contact Assistant Director of Advancement Heather Jack at 339-686-2247 or h.jack@rivers.org by May 30, 2014.
Spring 2014 • Riparian • 23
Thanksgiving Tradition
R
ivers’ alumni returned en masse for the traditional pre-Thanksgiving reception, held again this year at Lir in Boston’s Back Bay. Drawing both local alumni and those just in town for the holiday, the evening was the perfect time to catch up on the latest social and business news.
Evon Burroughs ’98, Marc Stroum ’98, Adilson Teixeira ’99, Rob Prenovitz ’00
Evan O’Brien ’06, Brittany Hughes ’08, Carolyn Fishman ’08
Will Lawton ’06, Peter Sessa ’06, Chris Clifford ’04 Kaleigh Hunt ’09, Rachel Hunter ’08
Brian Davis ’06, Scott Barchard ’06, Marco Eberth ’10
Brandon Bigelow ’08, Matt Williamson ’98
Kaleigh Hunt ’09, Jackie Gannon ’09 Michelle Davis, Tim Lepore , Molly Troy, all Class of ’08 Brandon Meiseles ’10 and brother Ben ’09 24 • Riparian • Spring 2014
Student Alumni News News
Class Notes 1954
Potomac, Md. for 11 years, and in his current position as Assistant Head of School and Upper School Principal for the past seven years.
Rolly Hopkins wrote, “I recently moved back to Plymouth, Mass. from Vermont. We all know that when you move you unearth lots of dusty old stuff. I found a yellowed 2-page report called “Roland’s Progress during the February to June 1941 Term” by Isabelle Baughman, Kindergarten teacher. I wonder how many other Rivers kids are still around from that year. By the way, the report said, among other things, that I was friendly, and that has always been the key to my success. Thanks, Isabelle.
1994
Brendon Bates moved to Acton, Mass. last summer where he lives with his wife and two-yearold son Andrew. Brendon continues to teach at the Carroll School and in his “free” time works with an improvisation group in Cambridge and spends time writing.
1997
1961
Griff Griffin emailed, “I have been elected vicechairman of the Barnstable Municipal Airport Commission for the coming year. I’ve served on the commission since 1998, and we recently completed a total replacement of the terminal, control tower, roadways and parking. Still enjoying semi-retired life on the Cape; boating, fishing, and some flying.”
1962
Paul Karofsky wrote. “Rivers has been important to me and I’ll continue to support it as best I can. I’m also proud to say that I believe my family is the first to have three generations all exclusively at the Weston campus. Best, Paul”
1966
Si Balch emailed, “Lila and I are semi-retired living on the shore in Brooklin, Maine. Each of us is doing some consulting. Our two children are both married, but no grandkids yet. Cheers.”
1973
Stephen Salny announced the publication of his fourth book, William Hodgins Interiors. “Hodgins, internationally renowned, has been based in Boston since the late 1960s; his work encompasses residential commissions from New England to Florida, as far west as California, and overseas. Hodgins’s interiors have been celebrated in the pages of Architectural Digest, House & Garden, House Beautiful, and other magazines and books, but this is the first publication entirely devoted to his oeuvre, which spans five decades. This book evolved from The Country Houses of David Adler (2001), the first book I wrote expanding upon an independent study I did during my senior year at Lake Forest College. The other two books are Frances Elkins: Interior Design (2005) and Michael Taylor: Interior Design (2009). Elkins, Adler’s sister, was a renowned interior decorator who completed a great deal of work in Lake Forest, on the North Shore, and Chicago as well as the West Coast where she lived.
Taylor was a San Francisco-based interior decorator who defined the ‘California Look,’ which brought the outdoors inside. Taylor was greatly influenced by Elkins.”
Class agents: Grant Hecht, Dan Sherman Ashley Stanley, founder and executive director of Lovin’ Spoonfuls, a food rescue organization based in Boston, was recognized on the Boston Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” list of rising innovators and business leaders. Ashley spoke to members of Rivers Givers in February, sharing some of the statistics about food insecurity and
1974
Brian Shuman was elected to the Mid-Atlantic Conference All-Century Soccer team and received a United Way Building Block Award for work with the Vermont Special Olympics dental screenings.
1979
Herb Holtz enjoyed a mini reunion in Wellesley with classmates Bennet Heart and Richard Watkins. “It was wonderful to catch up with each other.”
1993
Andy Delinsky was named Head of School at Peck School, which is a K-8 independent school in Morristown, N.J., and will assume the position in the fall. He has been at The Bullis School in
Cary ’69 and Steve ’75 Corkin on a recent visit to Rivers
Herb Holtz, Bennet Heart, and Richard Watkins, all Class of ’79
Spring 2014 • Riparian • 25
Student Alumni News News
Alumni Gather in NYC
M
ore than two dozen Rivers alumni from the New York area rang in the New Year in early January at Libation, where they were brought up to speed on Rivers news by Head of School Tom Olverson and faculty member and class dean Kate Wade. It was clear that the alumni network in New York is a lively one, spanning a wide range of careers and interests.
James Wolf, Shoban Pothula, Anna Crystal, Alexandra Byer, all Class of ’07
Kate Wade, Emily Greiff ’08, Liza Warshaver ’09, Nikki Hunter ’05
John Whalen ’99, Adin Heller ’02, Brent Wheeldon and Mary Taggart ’02
Tom Olverson and Jared Gerstenblatt ’93
Lauren Fink ’05 and Keilly Cutler ’05 Rich Shanfeld, Jake Olin, Jesse Comart, all Class of ’04
Matt Doherty ’05, Alex Parkinson ’06, Lauren Fink ’05
26 • Riparian • Spring 2014
Tim Choate ’04, Tim Ward ’03
Student Alumni News News
her organization’s efforts to help iradicate it by rescuing fresh, nutritious food that would otherwise go to waste.
1998
Class agents: Spencer Godfrey, Kate Machan Heather Black Ganitsky and her husband, David, welcomed their third child, Sophia Bea Ganitsky on November 7, 2013. Sophia has a big brother, Eli (5), and big sister, Lauren (2-1/2). Leslie Rosen Silberman and her husband Jason Silberman welcomed their third child this summer, Chase Dylan Silberman. “Big brother Brett and big sister Carly love their baby brother very much!”
1999
Class agents: Scott Prieur, Dave Garsh, Elissa Hintlian, Stephen Robb, Dave Garsh John Cyr announced the release of his upcoming powerHouse publication Developer Trays. “This monograph is the culmination of my last three years of work and includes all 82 developer trays that I have had the privilege of photographing. The book launch, exhibition, and reception took place on Tuesday, March 18 at the powerHouse Arena in Brooklyn. After a brief description of my developer tray project, I discussed the work with renowned photography writer Lyle Rexer.”
Chase Silberman
Ansel Adams’ developer tray, featured in book by John Cyr ’99
2000
Class agents: James Bernson
2001
Class agent: Jonathan Karelitz Gary Satow is teaching history at Governor’s Academy in Byfield, Mass., after working at Eaglebrook School in Deerfield, Mass. for the past eight years. “My wife, Cory, and I moved to Governor’s in August along with our two dogs. I will also be an assistant coach on the varsity soccer and hockey teams here as well as a dorm parent.”
2002
Class agents: Charlotte Lewis, Jeff Kotzen Alex Forse married Meredith Ford on September 14, 2013 and they now are living in Boston’s Back Bay. Adin Heller emailed, “I am thrilled to be joining the US team of London-based design research firm The Big Picture! After six great years as a member of the Audio Identity team at Elias Arts, where I helped create and execute sonic brand identities and strategies for global brands like American Express, Dell, and Travelers, I am excited to move on to a new, equally exciting challenge. As a Research Executive at The Big Picture, I will help grow the newly opened New York office and contribute to the firm’s design-
2000s Hockey: Alumnae skaters returned to practice with the girls’ varsity hockey team: Carlie Tarbell ’11, Alexis Antonelli ’10, Julia Williams ’10, Brittany Mills ’08, and Katelyn Landry ’08, with former coach Melissa Dolan ’98 (and Charlie!)
focused qualitative research practice while collaborating with a wide variety of clients around the globe.” Mary Taggart emailed, “I got married in October to Brent Wheeldon! Our wedding was in Boston and we had a great time celebrating with our family and friends, including Rivers classmates, Emily Thompson, who was a bridesmaid, and Rachel Morris. Brent is from Australia, so we went there for Christmas and to have a smaller wedding reception with Brent’s family and friends who couldn’t make the trip from Down Under. 2013 was a very fun and exciting year!”
Julia Williamson has opened a Barre fitness studio, called Modern Barre, on Commonwealth Avenue in Chestnut Hill. Modern Barre classes are full body, low impact workouts inspired by the foundations of ballet, Pilates, and yoga. Julia graduated with a B.A. in psychology from Hamilton College and is a certified personal trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) and a certified group fitness instructor through the American Aerobics & Fitness Association (AFAA).
Spring 2014 • Riparian • 27
Student Alumni News News
Alumni Hockey: A Battle to the Finish!
T
he annual Alumni Hockey Game drew a record turnout in the MacDowell Arena for the last game of the season. This year, teams were divided by class year: the “odd” class years were the red team and the “even” class years were the white team. At the end of three fun, grueling periods, the score was tied at 13 all. The red team scored in overtime for a final score of 14 to 13, and everyone retired to Hutton Commons to join their families for lunch before the free skate. Alumni skaters and friends, male and female, looking for an opportunity to play on a weekly basis are urged to join the Sunday night league next season. Please contact Alumni Programs Coordinator Meg Speranza at m.speranza@rivers. org or 339-686-2246 for more information.
Red v. White
Recovering at lunch Alex and Eric Stephens ’83 and assorted cousins
Scott Bartfield ’96 with Cameron, Bryce, and Skylar
Jason Medeiros ’01 and son Cameron
Red Wing Alumni Honored
T
he winter season wasn’t just a great one for the Red Wings on campus, but also for those in college ranks. B.J. Dunne ’06 earned CoCoaching Staff of the Year in the Liberty League, Jackson Brewer ’10 was named the NESCAC Men’s Ice Hockey Player of the Year, and Julia Williams ’10 was named to the 2014 NESCAC Winter All-Sportsmanship Team. B.J. led Vassar College to its best season in program history in his first year at the helm—a feat made doubly impressive by the fact that he is the youngest coach in NCAA college basketball across all divisions. Vassar’s 19 overall wins and 10 conference wins were both program and •2014 marked 28 records • Riparian Spring 2014the first season in which the Brewers reached the Liberty
League championship game, where they fell to Hobart in double overtime. Jackson led Trinity to the No. 1 seed in the NESCAC Tournament and a 15-3-0 record and led the conference in assists with 42 for the year. His 14 goals placed him in a tie for ninth in the league. He is the first Trinity player to ever win this award. Julia, who played defense on Hamilton College’s women’s ice hockey team, was one of 85 student-athletes chosen for the NESCAC All-Sportsmanship Team, which is composed of one studentathlete from each institution for each sport the conference sponsors. The studentathletes are selected by the players and coaches for having demonstrated outstanding dedication to sportsmanship.
B.J. Dunne ’06
Alumni Profile
Emmaline Payette ’05 Brings Nature-Inspired Art Installation to Rivers
W
hile she was studying at Union College in Schenectady, New York, Emmaline Payette ’05 began volunteering as an art teacher at a local school. That was all it took for her entire career path, and her life, to change. At the time, Payette was an environmental anthropology major, but volunteering as an art teacher forced her to consider that maybe that was her true passion. She started thinking about the ways she might be able to combine art with her interests in the environment and the ways in which people interact with it—and out of that was borne her exploration of environmentally-conscious and environmentally-inspired art.
“Environmental issues are a big focus of mine, and when I’m making art, I like to reuse a lot of material.” She now approaches all of her work with sensitivity to environmental impact and sustainability, and all of her creations aim to invoke passion for the natural landscape as well as to inspire thinking about our own relationships with the environment around us. Payette’s mixed-media installation, currently on display at the Bell Gallery at Rivers, exposes an interdisciplinary practice that explores the ways in which art has evolved into something more interactive, something that explores the ways in which people interact with the environment. “I’m very interested in what’s happening in our world now,” Payette said. “Environmental issues are a big focus
of mine, and when I’m making art, I like to reuse a lot of material. A lot of the things that I use are things that I find, and I try not to waste anything or consume too much.” Though Payette’s passion for pursuing a career in art blossomed at Union, it began at Rivers, under the tutelage of art teacher and gallery coordinator Jeremy Harrison, whom she calls a mentor. While at Rivers, Payette was the recipient of the Ceramics Prize and was active in several other facets of art, including drawing and painting. Once she began volunteering in Schenectady, Payette picked up a minor in visual studies and started thinking about combining her interests in art and the environment post-graduation. After studying drawing at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago and the Pont-Aven School of Contemporary Art, she took a position as an art teacher in an inner-city after school program. Payette is currently in the process of applying to masters programs—a process during which Harrison has continued to serve as her mentor. “We’ve stayed friends post-Rivers, and he’s been really supportive of my art,” Payette said. “So that’s been awesome.” In the meantime, Payette—who still works in painting, drawing, and installation and visited several upper school art classes at Rivers to discuss contemporary art practices—has exhibited her work in Rockport, Provincetown, Boston, New York, and Brittany, France. Her time spent as a resident at Vermont Studio Center in August 2013 remains one of the more formative experiences of her young career. She also currently serves as an adult painting instructor at Step-Back Studios in Dedham, Mass., and teaches an afterschool program at CASP in Newton. “I’ve always loved working with kids,” she said. “We do a lot of gardening proj-
ects, so it really is a lot of environmen- tally based work, like I do.” Payette’s installation at the Bell Gallery showcased her passion for sustainability and the environment, and was inspired and influenced by philosophical teachings about the ecological age and the movement to create more cohesion between the natural world and the post-industrial world. “That is what I’m really interested in,” Payette said. “The coexistence between the natural world and also this world that’s man-made and synthesized. That’s definitely something I’m interested in exploring more.”
Spring 2014 • Riparian • 29
Alumni Profile
Jen Keefe ’08 Pursues Acting Dream in the Big Apple
J
en Keefe is no stranger to taking risks. As any current or former Rivers senior knows, Senior Speeches can be exhilarating, but they can also be terrifying. Standing at the podium in front of all those people— the whole school, the whole faculty, a smattering of parents and siblings— can make anyone’s heart rate skyrocket. But not Keefe. Never one to play it safe, she didn’t simply deliver her Senior Speech—she rapped it. “I became a rapper one day in middle school and started rapping about how boring softball practice was,” she said. “And from that point on, I crafted a lot of rap parodies for different things —my Senior Speech, class projects, friends’ birthdays.” It is that moment —rapping her Senior Speech—that Keefe credits with inspiring her to pursue a career as a television actress. Keefe, who lives in East Harlem with fellow Rivers alum Juliana Horn ’08, spends her days running from audition to acting class and back in the hopes of following in the footsteps of comedians like Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. She moved to New York after graduating from Hamilton College in August 2012 and promptly enrolled in the improv program at UCB Theatre. Her ultimate dream? To have her own single-camera TV sitcom in the style of The Office and Parks and Recreation. For now, though, it’s all about auditioning. And while auditions are certainly nerve-wracking, Keefe is seemingly immune to the pressure— and she credits Rivers with helping her develop a thick skin and an even keel. “It’s a very specific nervousness I get when I audition—it’s more of an excited feeling than anything,” she said. “And I actually first identified that feeling
30 • Riparian • Spring 2014
“. . . for 24 years, I have been lucky to have known exactly who I am, and to have supportive people around me . . .” right before my Senior Speech. It’s like standing at the top of a roller coaster— you’re really excited for the drop, and for the thrill that once you start, you can’t stop.” Keefe said she has always been interested in pursuing a career as a performer—she visited Rivers last year to perform a standup routine, which you can see on YouTube —but the acting bug bit her during her senior year at Rivers, when she decided to audition for the school play. As a threesport varsity athlete, it was an opportunity she had never taken advantage of, but she quit soccer and nabbed the lead role as Princess Gloriana in The Mouse That Roared. Keefe has never forgotten something that English teacher Jennie Jacoby said to her after her performance.
“‘Your ability to become someone else is just outstanding,’” Keefe recalled Jacoby saying. “‘You have to pursue this.’ And that, coming from the mother of an amazing actor like Miles Jacoby ’07—really stuck with me.” While Keefe is still awaiting her first callback, the moment she calls her “turning point” came just a couple of months ago. She had the opportunity to perform in front of the owner of Actor’s Green Room (AGR), an organization that hosts showcases for actors, allowing them the opportunity to perform in front of casting directors. “When it was my turn to perform, the owner was doubled over in her chair laughing and said some unexpected, crazily complimentary things,” Keefe said. “Here was this highly respected person in the business saying that I could actually do this—whereas before, I just kind of hoped that I would make it.” Keefe credits the Rivers commu- nity—the values of excellence with humanity it promotes, the nurturing it provides—with helping her get one step closer to achieving her dream. “My greatest preparation for that performance was that for 24 years, I have been so lucky to have known exactly who I am, and to have supportive people around me encouraging me to be that person,” she said. “Or, as my math teacher Kristin Harder once said, ‘You are unapologetic for who you are.’” Keefe has never forgotten that—and given how much success that credo has brought her thus far, it’s unlikely she ever will. Learn more about Jen Keefe by visiting her website: http://jenkeefe.com.
Student Alumni News News
Rachel Morris, Mary Taggart, and Emily Thompson, all Class of ’02
2003
Class agents: Marissa Goldstein, Scott Moriyama Dave Donahue and Margaret Gormley were married on October 5, 2013 in Chestnut Hill and are living in Alexandria, Va.
2004
Class agents: Brad Karelitz, Alexandra Krotinger, Maggie Petri Jon Fainberg is in his third year of medical school and about to start his surgery rotation. Annie Weiss just completed her M.S. in human resource management and is looking forward to her upcoming August wedding.
2005
Class agents: Rachel Gorman, Katherine Brustowicz, Amanda Chace Chris Bliss emailed, “I credit my experience at Rivers for a lot of my personal development throughout my life and I know I wouldn’t be where I am today without the amazing faculty, education and overall culture that Rivers provided.”
2006
Class agent: Alix Parkinson Sam Perrone will graduate from Tulane University Law School in May and has been appointed Law Clerk for Judge Sarah Vance, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Front row, l to r: Grady O’Gara ‘03, Benjamin Donahue ‘06, Susanna Donahue, Samantha Cohen ‘03, Margaret Donahue, Dave Donahue ‘03, Scott Moriyama ‘03, Brad Belin ‘03. Back row, l to r: Jim Long, Allie Page ‘07, Nick Petri ‘02, Michael Crowley ‘02, Myron Mentis, Bob Pipe.
2009
Class agents: Meg Woodruff, Becca Nichols Leigh Carroll graduated with honors in June from Carlton College in Minnesota as a studio arts major and then headed out to Seattle to work. Jillian Dempsey emailed, “This year I’ve been playing professional women’s hockey for the Boston Blades in the CWHL (Canadian Women’s Hockey League), and I actually just won rookie of the year for the CWHL which was pretty cool. I am also coaching a U12 team based in Newton, and running on-ice skills sessions/private lessons. My Teach for America training starts this summer with Institute in Lawrence. I’ll be an elementary school teacher at Community Day Arlington in Lawrence, Mass. starting in August for the next two years. I am really looking forward to it.”
2010
Class agents: David Tackeff, Adam Lowenstein, Shannon McSweeney, Leah Stansky
2011
Class agents: Robert Costa, Marissa DelFavero, Wendy Nicolas, Will Corkin Elaina Bell is spending a semester abroad in Ireland and then will head to New York City for a summer internship, then back to Boston College.
2012
Class agents: Billy Oldach, Andre Tilahun, Emily Snider Meghan McAneny emails from Duke, “Rivers still holds a special place in my heart.”
2013
Class agents: Kate Mecke, Sam Berger, Anne Armstrong
2007
Class agents: Nikki Schuster, Chris Whittier, Kadie Greenfield
Student News In Memoriam
2008
Class agents: Steph McCartney, Jonathan Salzman, Jeremy Moskowitz, Lindsay Bloom Brittany Mills, a Dartmouth graduate, is a mechanical engineer and is applying to graduate school to get a master’s degree in engineering.
Douglas F. Allen ’43, May 22, 2013 Robert S. Allyn ’42, August 16, 2013 Rev. John D. Eusden ’40, April 27, 2013
Sculpture by Leigh Carroll ’09
Robert B. Stimpson ’51, January 31, 2014
Spring 2014 • Riparian • 31
Alumni Profile
Gabe Perrone ’08 Makes News with Silk Screws
G
abe Perrone ’08 is the lead author of an article recently published by Nature Communications on the potential use of resorbable screws prepared from silk fibroin for pediatric craniofacial fracture repair. Now a research assistant in Boston Children’s Sports Medicine Research lab, he described the project he began working on in 2010 while earning a BS/MS in mechanical engineering from Tufts University. “Currently screws are made of metal but may cause problems when left in the body, such as temperature sensitivity and tactile sensation,” he noted. “Silk screws may be advan- tageous because they will degrade in the body, eliminating long-term complications or need for removal, and they may improve bone remodeling.” The initial studies were done on rat femurs with appropriately scaled screws, but Perrone believes the screws can be scaled up to proportionately larger sizes for humans and still take advantage of the resorbable function. “Seeing the potential benefit to your research is definitely a huge motivator, especially when the research is so application specific,” said Perrone. “I really enjoyed the fact that we knew the type of patients and the application that this could
be used for, and it really helped tailor the direction and goals of the project. “I definitely want to go to medical school in a couple of years, but not totally sure what I want to do in the long run,” Perrone concluded. “I like that medical school gives you the flexibility to stay hands-on your entire life by doing surgeries, for example, but you also have the opportunity to do research as well.”
Molly Barstow ’09 and Esther Burson ’06 Receive Fulbrights
T
wo recent alumnae have been awarded Fulbright grants: Esther Burson ’06 received a Fulbright to work at the Counseling Office of the Hellenic American Educational Foundation in Athens, Greece, while Molly Barstow ’09 is currently on a Fulbright in Morocco. “I advise students who want to study in the United States, so I teach SAT prep courses, help students write their admissions essays, and select their list of colleges to apply to,” Burson said. “I’ve been interested in college counseling since my time at Rivers, when Mr. [Rick] Rizoli and the College Counseling Office introduced me to the process. I was fortunate to go through
32 • Riparian • Spring 2014
this stressful process of college applications at Rivers with support and guidance from talented, friendly professionals.” Barstow is studying the integration of refugees into Moroccan society, particularly Sub-Saharan refugees, a group more marginalized than others due to racial tensions and discrimination. She was eager for a chance to return to Morocco after having studied abroad there while earning
her undergraduate degree at Northwestern University. “I knew going into my senior year of college that I wanted to spend at least a year back in Morocco after graduation,” said Barstow. She is currently in the midst of a six-month period in which she is studying Moroccan Arabic, after which she will spend nine months doing ethnographies, observing refugees as they go about their daily lives in their homes in a neighborhood in Rabat. When her Fulbright ends, Barstow plans to pursue a PhD in social anthropology. Burson, who studied psychology with a second major in classics at Swarthmore College, is in the midst of applying to PhD programs to study psychology and social policy.
Three Cheers for Rivers Supporters! Make a gift and your participation will count even more! Every gift will be matched up to $25 by a generous alumni family. Where could your Annual Fund gift go? • $25 covers the cost of a research app for an iPad • $50 would purchase a game-day basketball • $100 buys arts supplies such as clay, paints, and wood • $250 enables students to attend a theater production • $1,000 would purchase a new laptop
Your gifts matter! Each gift helps us give our students the true Rivers experience. Go to www.rivers.org/giveonline to make a gift or mail a check or credit card information to: Advancement Office, The Rivers School, 333 Winter Street, Weston, MA 02493.
Introducing the Rivers Alumni App No matter where you live or how busy your schedule is, you will be able to connect with other alums and keep up-to-date on the latest Rivers and alumni news. Download the “EverTrue” app from the iPhone app store or Google Play store to your mobile device, or scan the QR Code. Choose The Rivers School as your community, and follow the prompts. For more information, email the Alumni Programs Coordinator, Meg Speranza at m.speranza@rivers.org, or go to https://www.rivers.org/evertrue.
T h e R i v e r s M o b i l e A p p f o r A lu m n i , p o w e r e d b y E v e r T r u e .
The Rivers School
Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Boston MA Permit No. 10
333 Winter Street Weston, MA 02493-1040
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Rivers admits academically qualified students of any race, religion, sex, disability, or national origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally available to its students. Rivers does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, color, ethnic, or national origin in our admissions policies, educational policies, financial aid and loan programs, and athletic or other school-administered programs.
Please notify us if your phone number, mailing address, or email address changes so that Rivers can stay in touch with you and your family. Contact Lydia Gibson at 339-686-2239 or l.gibson@rivers.org.
The rivers school — Alumni Day Reminder
Alumni Day and Reunions SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2014, 6:00 PM Honoring Joshua Kraft ’85, Alumni Excellence Recipient and Jeanette Szretter on her Retirement 1934 1939 1944 1949 1954 1959 1964 1969 1974 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009