among friends a biannual publication for the san francisco friends school community
spring / summer 2021
reflecting on our biggest takeaways from this year
celebrating—and giving gratitude— at 48 hours for friends graduation is back in the building!
friendly forays: reconnecting with our community
meet claire coen ‘15, changemaker
“Maybe... our mistake is that we set our sights on hurrying [children] along to grow up. What we need to do is let them grow. And that, no matter what, is a slow process that deserves space. It is different for everyone. It’s better to follow the guidance of those pesky Quakers: don’t just do something; stand there!” – Jennifer Arnest, Lower School Head, from her article, “How to Be a Warrior for Childhood,” published in the February 2021 issue of Friends Journal
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in this issue... REDISCOVER dear friends: a letter from our head of school
page 2
connections what’s your biggest takeaway from this year? page 4 48 hours for friends page 6 graduation is back in the building: celebrating the class of 2021
page 8
friendly forays: reconnecting with our community
page 11
friends forever: five questions for claire coen ‘15
page 14
class notes
page 16
quaker glossary page 19 photo album page 20
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dear friends a letter from our head of school Dear Friends, For this issue of Among Friends, the theme of which is rediscovery, it was important to me to change my photo to one with students in the frame. After a year that required so many of us to do without so much of what we love, I suspect my words will fail to convey the meaning that the simple act of sitting and talking with students, on our campus, in
ing. And that has meant more than words can adequately capture. In many ways, we have had to redefine what it looks like for us to be back at 250 Valencia Street, and the adjustments and innovations we’ve made are numerous, too numerous, in fact, to list in these pages. Far more inspiring than these adaptations have been the simple gifts we’ve rediscovered.
ifornia Volunteers Monument; and your patience, waves, and smiles of understanding shared each morning on our own tiny carpool island— which thanks to Guybe, Tracie, and our Facilities Team, we’ve been able to transform into a lively daytime parklet for Middle-Schoolers to claim for some space and hold the occasional cornhole tournaments. We’ve also rediscovered ways to per-
“After a year that required so many of us to do without so much of what we love, I suspect my words will fail to convey the meaning that the simple act of sitting and talking with students, on our campus, in person, provides.”
person, provides. I smile a lot, both doing it and thinking of it now. Of course, we wear masks. We keep a distance. We limit the size of our cohorts. And we continuously wash and sanitize our hands. We wonder which still matter, but we are together—meeting, agreeing, disagreeing, exploring possibilities, sharing ideas and interests, laughing and learning, creating and connect-
For me these gifts include friendly greetings in hallways, the sound of music, and classrooms buzzing; teachers like Suzanne and Gabby creating library and art carts and delivering the goods like those navigating the aisle of a ballpark selling hot dogs; walking meetings that afford me time outside and bring me to breathtaking city views at Dolores Park and the colorful brilliance of the flowers at the Cal-
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form and share our work, through the windows of 260 Valencia (the site of a rotating student art gallery) and impromptu Middle School drum concerts on the sidewalk. Our Lower-Schoolers have learned how to sing through sign language and, as I write this letter, our Middle School thespians are in final rehearsals for our school’s first-ever Zoom play, appropriately titled, Distance Learning.
Perhaps most importantly, we’ve rediscovered what matters most, the meaning of community, including both the individual opportunities and shared responsibilities it summons and provides. I will claim some time off this summer during which I hope to catch up on my reading (please see my current list to the right) and rediscover—and discovering anew— activities and connections that reignite meaning and joy—full-hearted smiles like those I experience with students at Friends. thinking sffs,
MIKE’S SUMMER READING LIST: Back by popular demand, Mike is sharing the books he’s most excited to tuck into this summer: • Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell • Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam Grant • Dedicated: The Case for Commitment in an Age of Infinite Browsing by Pete Davis • Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment by Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, and Cass R. Sunstein • Effortless: Make It Easier To Do What Matters Most by Greg McKeown
Mike Hanas Head of School
• Manifesto for a Moral Revolution: Practices to Build a Better World by Jacqueline Novogratz
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connections In each issue of Among Friends, we pose a question to our community, and print as many responses as we can fit! THIS ISSUE’S QUESTION: What is your biggest takeaway from this year on the power of community?
Community to me this year has meant a place to be together—in person and virtually, a place of affinity, learning and activism, a place of friendship. – Aneesha Capur Kelly, Current Parent
In a time of such unknowing and shifts, community has meant smiling faces, supportive listening and dialogue, and knowing our decisions make an impact. The gratitude I’ve felt for my work has deepened my commitment to seeing communities around me nurtured and renewed. – Jeremy Mikush, Kindergarten Teaching Aide
Our son Owen joined the SFFS community this school year as a first grader. Because we were expecting a baby, Owen did Friends@Home all the way through spring break and just returned to campus. Even though our family has never met most of Owen’s classmates and parents in person, we were showered with support from the Friends community when our new baby Cole arrived. Families sent us meals and delivered homemade care packages, and they truly made those early weeks do-able. We were floored by the generosity extended to us and the willingness of others to go out of their way to help. To us, community has meant being welcomed warmly, even when we couldn’t be physically present. We are so grateful for SFFS! – Amber Johnson Binkley, Current Parent
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That there’s no substitute for showing up for your people—obviously in a crisis but also as importantly in the everyday, when it doesn’t feel as urgent but really actually is. The hustle of the before times was so depleting. When more of us slowed down and stayed put, we saw how attention was like nutrition for our relationships. It’s something we knew. But the pandemic made us feel it and learn it in a deeper way. – Vinnee Tong, Current Parent
At SFFS, community has been the sustaining bond between the school and my 7th grade daughter. The deep relationships she has built over the years at Friends kept her connected to her friends throughout the pandemic. The staff and teachers invest energy into both academics and relationships. This was crucial to draw upon during the pandemic. This foundation kept my daughter grounded in herself and her academics. – Sue Hirsch, Current Parent
Community this year has been a vitally important source of strength, nourishment, and connection for me. While we were not able to physically close to each other, I feel our shared sense of purpose brought us together in powerful ways. – Guybe Slangen, Director of Community Engagement & Current Parent
My biggest takeaway on community from this [experience] is that I didn’t know how important it was to me to be able to go inside the school. Pre-COVID, I’d find myself in the building or out in the yard at least twice a week, and I now realize that I took that for granted. Not being able to say hi to Claudia, wave to my daughter’s former teachers, see Mike go bounding by, run into fellow parents, watch the students play in the yard during ED—those were all painfully missed over the last 15 months. It was so wonderful to see the building full of life again in the fall once students returned, even if it wasn’t full time. And I absolutely cannot wait until the next in-person community MFW, whenever that may be. 250 Valencia, I miss you! – Shawn Wrobel, PA Co-Clerk & Current Parent page 5
48 hours for friends though we couldn’t physically come together, our community still manged to show up in a big way.
In a year in which everything was different, the Development Office realized early on that hosting a traditional Blue Party this spring would be out of the question— and that attempting to replicate the uniqueness of the event in an online format would be nearly impossible. So the resourceful crew pivoted, and instead focused on looking for new ways to raise money for the SFFS Adjustable Tuition program, while also offering our community
the opportunity to come together virtually in a way that would feel inclusive and in line with our values. The office began thinking about how to honor both the intent and experience of Blue Party, recognizing the two foundational components of this event are: 1) Its role as an important fundraiser for our Adjustable Tuition program, which provides tuition assistance to one in four students
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at SFFS and is one of the school’s biggest expenses. The Adjustable Tuition program ensures that Friends is accessible to families regardless of their socioeconomic circumstances and students get the support they need through free lunches, subsidized tutoring, and access to extracurricular lessons. And 2) Its role as a community connection point for our families. “Holding these two concepts up as our guiding principles,” Assistant Director of Development Emma
Sonduck says, “we arrived at the idea of a giving day that would culminate in a virtual community celebration. Those two elements allowed us to continue the important work of raising funds for adjustable tuition, while also offering our parent community the opportunity to connect in a meaningful and celebratory way.” The office also realized numerous benefits to the new giving day format: • The structure of a giving day, with its unique website home base and marketing opportunities, provided a more expansive platform to share compelling information about the important role that adjustable tuition plays for Friends families. • Additionally, a giving day offered the opportunity to expand the audience for our message beyond just our parent community, and through email and social media channels, the school appealed to alumni families, friends, and grandfriends in its fundraising efforts. • Finally, the Development Office was able to leverage the generosity of the SFFS Board to create three separate matching opportunities as part of its fundraising push. “We could not be more grateful for their leadership,” says Emma. In the end, 48 Hours for Friends raised just over $252,000 to support adjustable tuition—the most a Blue Party has ever raised! The event was capped off when over 90 families joined our virtual Blue celebration to hear Head of School Mike Hanas share the ways he (and we) are saying “Yes!” to important moments during a challenging time, enjoyed a video highlighting
OUR REIMAGINED BLUE, BY THE NUMBERS: • # of families who joined our virtual Blue Party: 90 • # of SFFS Board challenges: 3 challenges, totalling $30,000 • # of gifts made: 267 • # of dollars raised: $252,291 • # of Parent Gifts: 172 • # of Trustee Gifts: 23 • # of Alumni Parent Gifts: 25 • # of GrandFriend Gifts: 30 • # of Alumni Gifts: 4 • # of M&M Bags Sent Home in Pre-Party Care Pacakges: 348
all that we’ve accomplished over this last year, and then connected with friends in some fun-filled breakout rooms, courtesy of our parent volunteers.
proved that this community, in the face of unprecendented challenges, can achieve more than ever, while staying grounded in our values and commitment to one another. •
On behalf of SFFS, we are so grateful for the response of our community to this reinvented Blue. You
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graduation is back in the building with covid guidelines allowing for larger gatherings this spring, friends attempted to create an authentic and meaningful graduation ceremony for the class of 2021—on our campus. On Wednesday, June 9, the Class of 2021, their teachers and advisors, and their family and loved ones gathered at 250 Valencia Street for their graduation from the San Francisco Friends School. In order to make this momentous event possible on our campus, families gathered to watch the ceremony in the SFFS gym, while the soon-to-be graduates sat together in the Meeting Room. The two groups (plus those who were Zooming from home) experienced the ceremony together via an extensive AV set-up, and families were able to watch their graduates walk across the gym stage to receive their diploma from Mike and Clarke while hearing the cheers and feeling the pride of the (distanced) crowd. The incredible SFFS Arts Department led the talented Class of 2021 in a number of performances, ranging from a jazz-infused take on “Simple Gifts,” to an 8th Grade
band performance of classic poprock hits by A-ha and Foo Fighters to a beautiful spoken word piece, “New Eyes,” that was co-written by three of the graduates (Jocelyn Gursky, Leah Lashinsky, and Rajan Rao), an homage to their journey through Friends, which they masterfully compared to the 8th Grade interdisciplinary eye project, itself a rite of passage at Friends. –––––––––– [Excerpted from “New Eyes”]: Jocelyn: Today, I walk down the hallway for the last time as a Friends School student. Lining the walls, watching me, are eyes. The eyes have so many different components that allow for the process of vision. There are so many things that the light goes through during this process to obtain a clear image. And when the adventure has come to an end, the light is ready to do it all over again. Rajan: We are all nervous to go to a
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new school, with new people, and new experiences. But, we have been through this incredible journey together. We have learned so many things along the way, and are ready to embark on this journey once again. Jocelyn: Because of our parents, teachers, and community, we have new eyes. Leah: Now, we can see clearly. –––––––––– We are so proud of this group of newly-minted SFFS alumni, who are off to attend 23 different high schools from San Francisco to Massachusetts to Barcelona. Below, we’ve included Mike’s remarks to the graduates and their families on June 9, complete with some family lore, some encouragement, and some moving insight into what these remarkable young people bring with them as they move on from Valencia Street. En-
joy, and Happy Summer, Friends! –––––––––– From Head of School Mike Hanas’s Graduation Remarks: Parents and Grandparents, Siblings and Cousins, Aunts and Uncles, Family Members and Friends, near, upstairs in the gym, and far, Colleagues and Trustees, and, yes, Graduates of the Class of 2021, welcome,
thank you, and congratulations! As I said to your family members in the gym in this quote from Brene Brown, “A collective assembly can start to heal the wounds of a traumatized community. When we come together to share authentic joy, hope, and pain, we melt the pervasive cynicism that often cloaks our better human nature.”
Let the melting begin. You did it. Let’s pause for a moment and savor that together. And, yes, when I say you did it, I mean all of you—graduates, colleagues, family members. No matter your age and stage of life, over the page 9
course of the past 16 months, you have experienced disappointment, loss, fear, frustration, perhaps even anger. And no matter your age and stage of life, my strong sense is that you have mustered courage, creativity, resilience, fortitude, curiosity, and compassion—I not only sense that; I have seen it . . . firsthand on the carpool island and Front Yard, in hallways and classrooms, even on Zoom. Sometimes a story looms so large in my mind that I just can’t help but tell it. Today it is the story of Mary Pryal and my mother, Anne Hanas, that looms so large. Mary was 94 years old when she died on Friday. Her husband Martin, 99 years old himself, tells this story in the way I love most, and I’ll try to capture some sense of how he begins it when I ask, “Martin, would you please tell the story of how you and Mary met my mother?” “Ah, by Jesus, Michael, it was a cold night in December. Mary and I had come to the country from Ireland, through Canada and Michigan, to Chicago, where I’d been told there were jobs. Mary was pregnant with our Michael—just a few years older than you—and we had no place to live. Then we met your mother and your grandmother Mary on the street on Wolcott, the street where you grew up. We told ‘em our story, and they said, “Then you’ll live with us. And we did.” So Mary and Martin moved into the house at 5309 South Wolcott with my parents and grandmother. Mary gave birth to Michael Pryal. Martin got a job with the gas company that made it possible for them to pay some rent and contribute to grocery bills. And perhaps most importantly, Martin got his driver’s license and a car that allowed him to drive himself to work and to drive Mary and my mother wherever they needed to go—grocery shopping, doctor’s appointments, the
pharmacy, Wisconsin Dells and Lake Geneva for vacations. Mary and my mother became best friends, through my mother’s passing 33 years ago and as I describe them to you today. They did not know the language of The SPICES, but they lived simply and knew what mattered most; they knew how to argue without ending a friendship and what a waste of time and energy it was to be anything other than true to themselves; they knew how to work toward more just and caring communities, as a nurse in Mary’s case, trained in London she rode her bicycle and served as a midwife delivering and blessing babies when hospitals were being bombed in WWII, and as a lunchroom attendant in our local public school in my mother’s case; and they knew how to pull together their limited resources in the sharing of responsibility for one another. My mother finally earned her driver’s license when she turned fifty, and I think the only reason she bought a car was because the Pryals had become able to move into their own home a little too far from ours for us to walk. Those kinds of lives and that kind of friendship require a whole range of choices easy to take for granted, but as one of my fictional heroes Albus Dumbledore reminds us in The Chamber of Secrets in a line I think you know well, “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” You, Graduates of San Francisco Friends School, the Class of 2021, you know how to make such choices. You know how to ask questions in order to understand. You may not do so everytime—none of us do—but you know what it takes to muster the will to work. Your exploratorium exhibitions demonstrated what Clarke described as “profound depth of knowledge”
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and “skilled execution.” Sara Melman says, “You rocked it.” You know how to use what you have learned in order to act—with your voices, your industry, and your willingness to simply show up—in response to poverty, homelessness, and racism. You know what it means, how it feels, to be seen and how to see that of god, light, in everyone you meet. You know more about the eye—how it works—than nearly anyone I know. You know, as we’ve heard again and again, how to finish strong. You made of this year—this year—”something very special” by showing up in the ways you have. And you know how to spark joy, like that on the face of your Kindergarten buddy in response to your smile or with another chapter of “Bird of the Day.” Who the heck needs SNL when we have Rajan! I don’t know that any of you will pursue the career possibilities you chose for budgeting exercises with Lissie—in fact, one of my wishes for you is that you change your mind again and again and occasionally connect the dots—but I know this, you will take SF Friends School with you, within you, like a toolbelt, wherever you go; and whatever challenges you and we face next, the world we share will be a better place for the fact that you are part of the response team. You have our deep love, very best wishes, and our heartfelt congratulations! •
friendly forays:
reconnecting with our community With all students in grades K–8 back on campus this spring, it was time for our friends to rediscover and reconnect with one our city, and with one another. The first week of the Kindergarten’s “Friendly Forays” out to Dolores Park in late April, the anticipation was palpable as excited chatter and bright yellow SFFS t-shirts flooded the first floor hallways. After all, it had been over a year since students had ventured out from our Valencia Street campus to enjoy the rich offerings of our surrounding Mission District neighborhood, always a central tenet of the Friends student experience. This school is closely connected with our neighbors and our place in the landscape of San Francisco, inhabiting a building with a powerful history and engaging with the community in a number of ways, from making meals with Kitava restaurant to volunteering at the The Gubbio Project in The Mission’s St. John the Evangelist. With COVID restrictions beginning to ease around the city and the vast majority of our faculty page 11
“These things... reminded us all of the importance of open spaces and play to help integrate our learning in the context of a world that is full of open-ended joys and opportunities. ”
and staff fully vaccinated against the virus, the time seemed right to begin to reconnect and rediscover the world beyond our school gates. Our smallest Friends bravely led the way, with Kindergarten beginning weekly sojourns to the park for some much-needed outdoor bonding time against a quintessential San Francisco backdrop. Other grades soon followed, using walking field trips to strengthen class bonds and integrating parts of their academic programs into the time spent outdoors. Lisa and Sunné soon began regularly holding Dolores Park PE classes, as well.
“The park trips gave us back a sense of possibility. Getting our kids outside, to interact, run more free, breath more free, build fairy houses, kick a ball to a friend, have a useful conflict over sharing a jump rope—these things saved us, saved teachers, and reminded us all of the importance of open spaces and play to help integrate our learning in the context of a world that is full of open-ended joys and opportunities. We could spread our wings, together, and look up and out to the future, which is full of possibilities and the kids know it,” says Lower School Head Jennifer Arnest.
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Kindergarten Lead Teacher Nick McGrane notes that in addition to reconnecting with their environment, the outdoor adventures actually strenghened classroom bonds and dynamics: “We used our walks... to make connections and start off new friendships. Having a new field trip buddy to walk with each week gave students an hour of time in a one-on-one conversation, learning about each other, laughing and developing those first bonds of friendship. With some structured role-plays before we left, students were able to ask each other great questions, share jokes, and make rhymes. Students frequently
Left: The Kindergarten classes walk two-by-two to the gardens at the California Volunteers Monument to release their newly emerged butterflies into the world. Right: To give back to the community, four members of the Class of 2024 founded SF Girls for a Purpose, a nonprofit dedicated to raising funds for local projects through the girls’ own beautiful creations.
would share about how happy and surprised they were about the new friends they made while just walking where we were going... Since our recess bag had limited supplies, friends found themselves playing with new partners and having a great time doing so. This was one of the first times students really got to spend time playing with others who shared their interests.” Of course, for students at SFFS, community engagement is a crucial component of our community reconnection, and our Friends wasted no time getting back out into their community to take action and make a difference (though socially distanced projects, such as bread-baking for GLIDE, continued on throughout the months of quarantining at home). One group of 5th Grade Friends—
Ever Cole-Baker, Evan Fowler, Paloma Seligman, and Willow Stokes—decided that, in the face of the pandemic, they wanted to do something for their San Francisco community. “The pandemic opened our eyes to how lucky we are,” they say. “And we were driven to do this in quarantine for so long.” They formed SF Girls for a Purpose, selling tie-dyed goods they’ve made themselves, including masks, tea towels, scarves, and scrunchies outside the entrance to Ever’s neighborhood farmer’s market in Noe Valley. After each sale, one member of the group chooses what organization they will donate all their proceeds to—and so far, they’ve donated over $1,000 to Undocufund (which supports undocumented workers in San Francisco) and La Casa de las Madres
(an organization that provides shelter and resources for women and children who are the victims of domestic violence). The group hopes to return to the market with a new batch of goods in August, and you can follow SF Girls for a Purpose on Instagram @sf_girls_for_a_purpose for news and updates! The process of rediscovering our connection with our greater community over the course of this past spring was, no doubt, among the most rewarding parts of being back on our campus in the heart of the Mission District and our vibrant city of San Francisco. •
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friends forever five questions for inspiring changemaker claire coen ‘15 After her college roommate introduced her to food and environmental justice issues, Claire Coen ‘15 was inspired to get involved, leading her to start her own advocacy organization, The PB&J Project, which seeks to make people more aware of where their food comes from and factory farming. Claire will be pitching PB&J to The Changemaker Project this summer in a bid for funding so that she can expand the scope and reach of her work.
1) How did you first hear about the Changemaker Project, and what inspired you to get involved? Can you explain more about the organization? My roommate from college, Ella Rosenblatt, has been a lifelong vegan and advocate for animal welfare and sustainable practices. I credit so much of my growth and knowledge around factory farming and plantbased eating to her. She was invited to join the Changemaker Project because of her involvement with the Factory Farming Awareness Coalition (a great organization that I recommend everyone checks out). Once she explained the project, I couldn’t help but join in. The Changemaker Project equips young people to build and execute an initiative of their choosing and pitch it in front of judges to potentially receive funding. After following a curriculum that covers various
social justice issues, participants form teams, pick an issue to tackle, and begin designing their projects. In June, selected teams attend the Global Pitch and compete to receive funding. I encourage people to visit thechangemakerproject.org to learn more. 2) Why did you choose to pursue PB&J as your social justice issue / project for the Changemaker Project? How did that idea come about? As people particularly passionate about animal welfare and environmental protection, Ella and I wanted to focus on a topic that encompassed both of these issues: factory farming. We aim to address the global issue of factory farming by addressing the lack of awareness surrounding it. Factory farms are intentionally hidden from society so that people can go on consuming their products without any
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moral qualms. Our goal with this project was to break this invisibility and begin to shine a light on the true horrors of animal agriculture, starting with younger audiences. We present factory farming as the problem and propose plant-based eating as the solution. With factory farming, the issues of animal cruelty, human illness, and environmental degradation intersect. In this intersection, a plant-based diet works to combat all three issues while being individually attainable. We also want young people to understand that plant-based food is delicious and nutritious, and offers tremendous ethical and environmental benefits. According to American food journalist, Mark Bittman in his latest talk about his book Animal, Vegetable, Junk, “eating is a language” and
The founders of the PB&J Project, Claire Coen ‘15 (left) and Ella Rosenblatt (right). Maya Roytman, their friend and a student at Loyola University Chicago, also recently joined the team.
our food habits are learned in early childhood. It is a necessity, according to him and other prominent authors, to educate children as early as four years old on their eating habits and their impacts on our planet. Thus, we began to develop The Plant-Based and Justice Project. The PB&J Project is more than a website—it is an education toolkit for pre-teen audiences and their families to learn about factory farming and plant-based eating with content focused on cultural competency and experiential learning. Unlike other websites that discuss plant-based eating, the PB&J project brings students and their families on a unique educational journey. Our site is conveniently divided into three sections—the problem, the solution, and the commitment—as a way of organiz-
ing material and providing a road map for learning/exploration. Each section provides in-depth and comprehensive resources, with a variety of mediums ranging from readings to videos to audio recordings to activities. The site integrates original artwork, curricula, commissioned cooking demos by renowned chefs such as Traci Des Jardins, recipes to enhance cultural learning for children through plant-based food, inspirational family features, and interactive activities that help children explore this pressing issue. We are so excited to share this site and hope to inspire the next generation of changemakers to take on this pressing issue! 3) If you secure funding from the Changemaker Project for PB&J, what are your hopes for the project and its future? Our ultimate goal is to spread this resource to families and empow-
er them to learn more about this issue. If we receive funding, our hopes are that the site continues to reach more audiences. We would love to see the site utilize not only in at-home learning environments, but in classroom settings, as well. We also want to implement new and updated content, namely more cooking demos; more interactive activities; and more collaborations with chefs, educators, and plantbased advocates. 4) What did you learn about community engagement and activism during your time at Friends? Would you say that the emphasis on social justice at SFFS influenced you beyond your time there? The dedication that I witnessed in my teachers towards their students friends forever continued on page 18... page 15
class notes
Clockwise from top right: Michael McKane ‘17, Emmy Etlin ‘17, and Fletcher Grumbach ‘17 graduated from University High School; Billie Breskin ‘17 will be attending Brown University in the fall; and Simon Schwartz ‘17 at the Bay School graduation.
class of 2011: Friends is so happy to share that Luc Borden ‘11 is joining the SFFS Board of Trustees for his first term, starting this August! Luc is the first alum to hold this honor, and we are thrilled to have him representing our alumni community in such an important leadership role.
–––––––––– class of 2012: Gavrielle Sonntag ‘12 writes in, “After a long year and a half of remote school, I am graduating this June from UC Davis with a BS in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. I absolutely adored my time in Davis and would highly recommend it to any prospective college students. I am very excited to be starting at UCLA this fall to pursue a Masters of Public Health
with an emphasis on epidemiology. I hope to explore the intersection of molecular genetics and disease while advocating for science when it comes to policy and decision making. I can’t wait until our communities are healthy enough to be back together again!”
–––––––––– class of 2013: Spencer Small ‘13 writes in: “I am a senior at Brown University studying Architecture and Computer Science, working as a web and graphic designer on the side. During the pandemic, I moved to Los Angeles to work and study remotely, while continuing to keep in touch with my best friends from SFFS; we make it a point to get together whenever we’re all home.”
–––––––––– class of 2015:
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Jake Slaughter ‘15 recently collaborated with his friend Ben to make an incredible video for the SFFS Admissions Office during the height of the pandemic, when it was especially crucial to give our prospective families a virtual view into our campus. The video is incredible, and we are so grateful for them sharing their artistic and tecnhological expertise with us!
––––––––––
class of 2017: Congratulations on graduating from high school, Class of 2017! We are so proud of you and thrilled to hear about what you’re up to next. Many of our ‘17 alums shared their plans for next year: • George Kingsland will be attending Washington University in St. Louis. • Stella Malone will be spending a semester in London at Richmond: the American University before attending USC. • Juliana Lamm-Perez will be attending Stanford University. • Billie Breskin will be attending Brown University. • Anna Hochman will be attending the University of Pennsylvania. • Emmy Etlin will be attending UCLA. • Simon Schwartz will be attending Wesleyan University • Naomi King will be attending Williamette University George Kingsland ‘17 and Katherine Sapinski ‘17, now friends for 12 years (!), graduated together from Groton School in Massachusetts in early June. Hannah Duane writes: “I ended up graduating high school (Ruth Asawa School of the Arts), a year early, and as such, I’ve just finished my first year at Deep Springs College, a tiny liberal arts college located in the white mountains of California.”
–––––––––– class of 2020: Beckett Aufderhaar ‘20 writes in, “I am enjoying my first year at SHCP, especially now that we are in person! I’m playing on the JV
Clockwise from top: A cohort of Friends graduated from Lick earlier this month (from left to right): Ava Grey, Journey Moore-Prewitt, Ben Slaughter, Juliana Lamm-Perez, and Anna Hochman (Milo Chung also graduated with the group, but is not pictured); a still from one of the two SFFS admissions videos created by Jake Slaughter ‘15; Spencer Small ‘13 with SFFS friends James Hill ‘13 and Stephan Ciulla ‘13; and George Kingsland and Katherine Sapinski ‘17 at their Groton graduation.
soccer team at school, continuing to play on my club team, and am looking forward to spending some time on Cape Cod with my family over the summer.” •
Do you have news to share with your fellow SFFS alums? Please send in a Class Note to Alissa at akinney-moe@ sffriendsschool.org— and thank you!
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continued from friends forever on page 15...
ue to struggle with. Joining the Changemaker Project has given me the chance to practice accountability. I’ve come to learn that it’s all about making challenging, yet attainable goals. The Changemaker Project itself hasn’t taught me much about being an activist, but instead, it’s given me the platform and structure to create something and commit to it. Months ago, I would have never thought I’d be in the place I am now. However, having deadlines, a schedule, and many goals laid out ahead, has helped me to better understand that sustained commitment makes all the difference. If you’re unsure where to start, create a plan for yourself. Whether that means dedicating a certain amount of time to thoroughly researching a topic
“The dedication that I witnessed in my teachers towards their students or even the smallest tasks and projects, helped me to tap into a passion and drive that I’m continuing to uncover. I never felt alone at SFFS, but rather, surrounded by adults who would do anything to make me feel understood and cared for. In turn, this seemed to instill the same attitude in my fellow peers, as well as myself.”
or even the smallest tasks and projects, helped me to tap into a passion and drive that I’m continuing to uncover. I never felt alone at SFFS, but rather, surrounded by adults who would do anything to make me feel understood and cared for. In turn, this seemed to instill the same attitude in my fellow peers, as well as myself. Through SFFS, I have learned that the most important skill to carry with me is empathy, and by doing so, activism and community engagement easily follow. From field trips, to workshops, and classroom activities, community engagement
was so ingrained in everyday life at Friends that it’s hard to parse it out from the rest of my experience. Now looking back, the way caring for others was embedded as a daily habit has shaped me into someone that doesn’t question or second-guess making sacrifices for and helping others. 5) What advice would you give to those who want to become changemakers, but aren’t sure where to start? Finding the entry point for involvement is something I contin-
among friends: spring / summer 2021
or an organization, or committing to talking about an important issue with a least a certain number of people, I’ve found creating a plan for my engagement holds me accountable and makes my contributions more effective. • UPDATE: We are thrilled to share that PB&J received enthusiastic funding at The Changemaker Project Global Pitch event! You can watch their pitch, and the moment they learned they would receive funding, at www.thechangemakerproject.org/2021projects
the quaker glossary Wondering what your kids are talking about when they come home with new Quaker lingo? We’re here to help! Continuing Revelation: For Quakers, an individual’s Inner Light is their most powerful spiritual guide, providing clarity and illumination to them individually, but also to the community as a whole when they share guidance or revelation that their Inner Light* has provided. In using the term “continuing revelation,” Quakers often refer to the ongoing spiritual guidance that their Inner Light reveals, sometimes after quiet reflection in spaces such as Meetings for Worship. In the early days of Quakerism, the practice of continuing revelation led to the development and adoption of the six primary Quaker testimonies, or the most sacred values of our Quaker principles. But the idea of continuing revelation also means that spiritual beliefs may be evolutionary and changing for each of us throughout our lives—there may not be one rigid dogma that guides us eternally, as we are continuously seeking truth. This means we can be flexible, we can change our minds, we can come to another mode of thought and belief. “One example that was shared with me,” says Director of Community Engagement Guybe Slangen, “is if you look back on your life, what you thought to be ‘true’ at various times may have evolved or changed all together.” Truth can be revealed through ourselves and others, and for Quakers, answers are dynamic, not static. Continuing revelation is also personal—it comes from within each of us, from our Inner Light. This puts Quakers on individual journies of self-discovery, understanding, and learning. “For me,” says SFFS Trustee Rob Lippincott, “there is also something fundamentally hopeful and future-focused in the notion of continuous revelation.” • –––––––––– * One’s Inner Light can most simply be described as the light of God that resides in each of us, showing us the way and guiding us through questions and challenges in life.
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photo album
among friends: spring / summer 2021
photos from the past few months at sffs that capture our theme in this issue: rediscover
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san francisco friends school 250 valencia street san francisco, ca 94103 have any questions or requests regarding among friends magazine? please contact sffs director of communications alissa moe at akinney-moe@sffriendsschool.org.
