Singapore American School Journeys June 2008, Volume 4

MICA(P) 098/04/2008

SAS

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Volume 4 June 2008

ourneys Singapore American School Alumni Magazine

SAS Vision: Passion, Vitality, Courage

Inside features: • Alums with vision • Meet the new superintendent • Generous and enthusiastic parents • Alumni celebrations around the world

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Vol 4 June 2008 Editor Junia Baker Superintendent Brent Mutsch Director of Communications and Development Beth Gribbon Associate Director of Alumni Relations Lauren Thomas Designer Josephine Yu

SAS Journeys is published by the SAS Office of Communications and Development.

Front cover: Students at Homecoming represent the SAS Vision – to inspire a passion for learning, encourage emotional and intellectual vitality, and empower students with the confidence and courage to contribute to the global community and to achieve their dreams.

Back cover: SAS Director of Communications and Development Beth Gribbon and Associate Director of Alumni Relations Lauren Thomas.

C o n t e n t s Meet Superintendent Brent Mutsch – and the vision he brings to SAS Raising funds for the Education Foundation Already this year, the third annual Star Appeal Dinner has raised $500,000, while a newly formed parent group has raised an additional $23,000!

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Special teachers and their many years of service Roopa Dewan, Patricia Kuester, Patrick Hopkins, Steve Betts, Mike Stagg and Beth Kramer leave SAS, plus a tribute to Eric Cooper, a teacher from the 1970s

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Mr. Hoe’s ever-delicious char siew pork

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SAS Today – Homecoming New tradition begins with high spirits

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Alums who work to give to others Microfinance and corporate charity programs that “contribute to the global community”

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Stories of the good ol days on King’s Road in the 80s and 90s and at Ulu Pandan in the 70s

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Alum Spotlight Why she happily skipped school for a week

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Ex Peace Corps teachers continue to make a difference

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7 + 2 in one family attended SAS Nelson family members were at SAS over a 25-year span of time – and they all loved Coach Kasi!

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Alumni celebrations around the world

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Notes & Quotes

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Welcome Alumni Dear SAS Alumni, please let me know if I can help publicize it or send you A big thank you to everyone who came out to our three something special from Singapore. events in the United States this spring! I was lucky enough to In this issue, you’ll read about an event that will hopemeet many of you as I accompanied Superintendent Brent fully be the start of a new tradition on campus: in January, the Mutsch, who was seeking fantastic new teachers to bring High School students hosted the first SAS Homecoming, which back to Singapore at recruitment fairs in the three cities. was a great success! We This two week advenhope to see alumni at this ture to the U.S. was only part event next year, either cheerof a very busy year for Dr. ing in the stands or playing in Mutsch, who is new to Sinthe Alumni v. Faculty Homegapore. Dr. Mutsch has recoming Basketball Game! cently finished his first year I learned an important as superintendent, and in lesson from alumna Susan this issue you’ll find that he’s Rath Latos (66) when I was been kind enough to tell us in New York City. Susan rea little about himself and minded me of the imporwhat led him to Singapore. tance of archiving and capAs those of you who have turing the history of the met him know, he has a school when the memories wealth of experience in inof the people involved are ternational schooling and a fresh. She very kindly gave strong vision for SAS. Much me a copy of the 1962 of his first year was spent Islander yearbook, which defining that vision and SAS alumni at the New York City IASAS reunion last February are seeking feedback from the Bill Pearson (former assistant superintendent), Anita Pearson was missing from the li(former communications director), Katie O’Gorman (99), Priya brary’s extensive archive school community about Dewan (99), Dan Stefanik (96), Anita Krishnan (02), Rob Stefanik such important issues as (03), Connor O’Gorman (97), Lauren Thomas, Reshma Ketkar collection. She promised to help archive further pieces of possible school expansion, (96), Sara Dallaire (96).

SAS history by reaching out endowment funding and into her friends from SAS. She ternational accreditation. is joined in this important Both Dr. Mutsch and I venture by Edward Steele, former Elementary School Princilearned a lot (as well as having a lot of fun) at the happy hour pal, who donated three of his SAS yearbooks, and Cork events we hosted in San Francisco, Boston and New York City. Through casual conversation, we heard stories of the Graham (82), an author who has posted many photos of his Singapore childhood on the alumni website. Thank you for school and Singapore in earlier times and were quite impressed at the strong connection the alumni have to one your help! If you’d like to donate a piece of SAS memorabilia to the school, please contact the alumni office. The library is another, regardless of the campus or the graduating class year they identified with. As always, Singapore food and especially interested in procuring yearbooks for the years 1960, 1963, 1966 and 1976. weather topped the list of what everyone misses most! SevI hope you enjoy this issue and hope to continue meeting eral alums were thrilled to see long-lost Singapore friends more of you and hearing your wonderful stories!

that they hadn’t even realized were living in the same cities!

It is my hope that we can continue the great momentum of good feelings we saw during these gatherings, and plan to make these casual events regular occurrences in cities near you. I can’t think of a better way to network and enjoy the Lauren Thomas Associate Director of Alumni Relations company of people who share a very unique childhood bond.

If you’d like to make an event happen for alums in your area, lthomas@sas.edu.sg 3

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Letters & News

From SAS Superintendent Brent Mutsch: Journeys strikes a wonderful balance between sharing the human interest stories that capture the attention of alumni, while also creating a window of opportunity for us to invite alumni back into the life of the current SAS experience.

From Mary Gruman (parent and Arts Council): The 50th anniversary quilt article in Dec. 07 Journeys doesn’t speak to the collaborative nature of the project, which is a shame since the quilt celebrates the school community as a whole and was created only through the strength of that community.

The 50 squares were crafted by teachers, administrators, parents and students. Expert quilters Jane Dodge and Karen O’Shaughnessy added expertise to the design and pieced the quilt.

The words across the bottom are the school’s self-selected character traits, the pillars of its character education program. The four corner stars represent the parent organizations: the School Board, PTA, Boosters and Arts Council.

The quilt was finished by a sheltered workshop for quilters in Indonesia. It was hand delivered and returned by a friend not at all affiliated with SAS, who insisted on paying for the finishing as a gift to our school.

From Karen Studebaker (former faculty): What a rich, full, vital edition [Dec. 07 Journeys]. Do you have any stories left to tell? I am just amazed at how much you covered and how interesting each article was. I loved the idea of having the alums, staff, teachers writing the stories. It just got better and better with each page. I think the Hoe story will be the most read!

Isn’t everyone’s #1 memory about the food in Singapore and more specifically about Mr. Hoe’s food at SAS? I can taste his chicken curry now!

From Garth Sheldon (School Board Chair): The newest issue of Journeys is excellent! The content and design combine to communicate something that really does capture the special aspects of SAS as a world community.

Correction to “The school the community built” in Dec. 07 Journeys: Superintendent Aven had lunch with Ed Beemer, not Bob Ayers, who said his company (Stanvac, now Exxon Mobil) would donate a substantial amount of money to build the school on King’s Road and that his donation would be matched by five other Singapore American companies.

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Award for bravery to Tim Blair (02)

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maneuvered his gun truck alongside a damaged vehicle to shield it while medics treated the wounded. He coordinated air medical evacuation procedures and cleared a landing zone to evacuate the wounded. He also coordinated air and ground security with the assistance of a gunship.

After the medical helicopters took the wounded and gunships cleared the area of enemy combatants, Lt. Blair coordinated recovery and evacuation of the convoy.

The DOD announcement said that “his bravery, selfless service and leadership prevented further casualties, and his actions are in keeping with the finest traditions of military heroism.”

Second Lt. Timothy Blair (02) received the Bronze Star Medal with Valor for his actions as an Airborne Ranger platoon leader in Iraq last summer. When awarded for bravery, the Bronze Star Medal with Valor is the fourth-highest combat award.

According to the U.S. Department of Defense, Lt. Blair was exceptionally valorous in the face of the enemy. He was leading a combat logistics patrol of 30 trucks and 11 other vehicles, when one of the trucks was hit by explosives, and the convoy began to receive small arms fire.

While under attack, Lt. Blair

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From the Superintendent

Thrilled to be part of SAS

By Brent Mutsch, Superintendent of Schools As we wind down the school year, I’ve started to reflect on my first year as superintendent. I’ve spent the year surrounded by energetic, dedicated, caring educators. Their commitment and the commitment of the greater school community have challenged me to grow both professionally and personally.

The community has surpassed my high expectations.

The students are inquiring, friendly and actively involved in classroom activities. The students’ talent is phenomenal; their work on the stage, on the athletic fields and in the classroom serves as powerful evidence of student learning.

SAS parents are supportive and engaged in their children’s education. They are gracious in offering support and assistance and passionate about the quality of education SAS provides.

SAS faculty, staff and administrators are deeply committed and dedicated. They are willing to invest additional time, effort and energy to promote learning and student success.

As I live close by, I often catch up on work late at night and on weekends. I find that I am never alone; I always see teachers and administrators putting in extra time and effort to make that positive difference in students’ lives.

In February, SAS Alumni Relations hosted alumni socials in San Francisco, Boston and New York City. Fortunately, I was able to attend those gatherings, which gave us an opportunity to share past and recent stories of Singapore and SAS. I can fully appreciate the connections that alumni have with the school, whether they were here for one year or twelve.

I found their stories of Mr. Ho’s food and the adventures of Interim Semester fascinating. During this first year as superintendent, I have experienced the same initiation process the alumni went through as students, getting used to a new city and a new school. Even if they joined at a young age and stayed for a short time, the SAS experience was a lifechanging one. As I settle into my new professional role in Singapore, I can relate to the powerful feelings they have for the school and for Singapore.

Brent and Maggie Mutsch at Star Appeal Dinner.

Many alumni were curious about my personal journey to SAS. I grew up in a small town in Minnesota, one of three boys of Depression-era parents. My parents were unable to attend college, but they instilled in us from an early age that education was the way to take control of our lives and accomplish our goals.

I never thought my career would involve education. I went to St. Olaf College, anticipating I would go on to law school.

My sophomore year I volunteered for a “drop out-drop in” outreach program for high school dropouts who were earning their GEDs. Working with these students, I realized that I could really make a difference in their lives and switched my major to history and education. After graduation, I moved to Des Moines to teach.

After three years in the classroom, I went back to school and completed a graduate program at the University of Iowa and further graduate studies at Iowa State University. I worked as an associate high school principal in Iowa and later as a principal in Colorado. I missed being in the classroom, but being a principal seemed like a natural fit and a wonderful way to continue to help students. When the position of superintendent of my school district came up in 1990, I was surprised to be considered but pleased to take on the job at the relatively young age of 39.

My wife Maggie and I now realize that our move from the Midwest to Colorado set the stage for an international move nine years later. A good friend of mine teaching in Saudi Arabia notified me that a deputy superintendent position had become available at his school. Maggie and I had always thought about moving internationally later in life, but the loss of a close family member reminded us that life was 5

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Education Foundation

Dinner raises $23,000 for SAS interest related to their children’s education at SAS. Held in support of the SAS Education Foundation, the event raised over $23,000 for the school programs supported by the foundation. Parents contributed at least $200 per couple, and since the cost of the dinner was entirely underwritten by Vijay and Sujata Parekh, every dollar donated will go directly to the SAS Education Foundation.

Superintendent Dr. Brent Musch, Board of Governors Chairman Garth Sheldon and other board members attended the dinner, providing an opportunity for parents to share their ideas and feedback about the school.

Heartfelt thanks are extended to Vijay and Sujata Parekh for hosting this special evening. Thanks are also due to committee members Arathi Nilakantan, Usha Sivaskandan, Mary Raj Kumar, Ani Parikh, Vidya Sambamurthy and Mika Parekh who helped plan the event. The support of the parents who attended the dinner and made donations is very much appreciated. All donations to the foundation will be acknowledged in the December issue of Journeys.

Front row: Vijay Chopra, Brent Mutsch, Sujata Parekh, Shalini Chopra; back: Beth Gribbon, Vijay Parekh at the Parekh’s home on April 5.

By Beth Gribbon, Director of Communications and Development SAS parents, Vijay and Sujata Parekh, hosted a warm and festive dinner gathering in their home on April 5, providing an opportunity for parents of Indian heritage to come together to share ideas and topics of common

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Thrilled to be at SAS continued short. We decided to leap at the opportunity.

I became deputy superintendent of Saudi Arabian International Schools, Dhahran District in 1994. We lived in a Westernized part of the kingdom, where the American oil companies have been based for over 50 years. I still wear a watch with Arabic numerals, which reminds me of my time there — when I was driving, I needed to ensure that my speed was aligned with speed limits posted in Arabic numerals and often checked my watch to make sure I was within the limit.

During 13 years in Saudi Arabia, I worked for eight years at SAIS-DD and five years at the Saudi Arabian National Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) schools. While there, I became increasingly aware of the international school environment and which schools enjoyed excellent reputations. The Singapore American School is considered one of the finest in the world. As Bob Gross approached his final year as superintendent, I visited with him and discussed the unique opportunity his departure would create for a successor.

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The professional challenges at SAS and the opportunity to experience Asian culture were compelling. I formally applied for the position of superintendent in the fall of 2006.

I was thrilled to be chosen for the position. In the months that we’ve been in Singapore, Maggie, a third grade teacher at SAS, and I have enjoyed the ease with which so many things “just work.” We live in Woodlands, so we’re conveniently close to school and able to attend the many afterschool and evening events.

Maggie and I have enjoyed a number of jazz concerts and cycling the scenic roads in our Woodlands neighborhood.

As we get into the rhythm of our new jobs, we will continue to explore Singapore and the region.

I look forward to beginning my second school year in August, continuing to make a personal contribution to the amazing memories our students are making today and fostering the powerful connection they have with one another, their teachers and SAS.

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Education Foundation

Foundation thanks generous parents

By Beth Gribbon Director of Communications and Development Reflecting on our third year of fundraising for the SAS Education Foundation, we find cause for celebration. Already this year, due to the generosity of parent and corporate donors, over $525,000 has been raised. These funds will be used for academic and extra-curricular programs in the coming year as well adding to the endowment fund in support of the future. A portion of the funds will also be used to offer a limited amount of financial aid and scholarships. For example, this year the foundation underwrote the costs associated with the visiting conductors who worked with students during the Music Festival Week and the SAS Parent Speaker Series that has offered parents guidance on parenting and study skills.

The cost of educating our children continues to grow rapidly and the additional financial resources made available through the foundation are making a difference in the life of the school.

This summer we will break ground on the long-awaited Riady Performing Arts Center and Memory Garden, made possible by Stephen Riady’s $4 million donation. The enhancement to this part of the campus will greatly expand the use of that area and will provide a venue for reflection and honoring milestones in the history of SAS, including the untimely deaths of SAS students and recent graduates. We will keep alumni informed as the project nears completion in the fall of 2008, so that those interested in attending the opening of the facility will have ample time to plan for attendance.

Fundraising efforts to date have been supported almost exclusively by our current parent community. Alumni are also invited and encouraged to make a donation to the foundation.

Reflect on your time at SAS and how it has shaped your future and consider making a contribution to support the programs making those same opportunities available for current and future SAS students.

The 2007-08 annual fund campaign will run through June 30. Donations will be acknowledged in the December 2008 issue of Journeys.

Superintendent Brent Mutsch and Stephen Riady at the Winter Collage concert in December, where Mutsch thanked Riady for his generous contribution to the Education Foundation.

Riady Performing Arts Center Early next school year, the performing arts programs at SAS will have a new venue for showcasing student work. The area between the Drama Theater and the Auditorium will be enhanced to create an additional performing venue and reception area leading to the Memory Garden, which honors significant milestones in the history of the school.

The creation of this wonderful new space is possible because of the generosity of SAS parent Stephen Riady. His donation of $4 million to the Education Foundation will underwrite the cost of the project.

Making a Donation You may contribute to the SAS Education Foundation by check or credit card. Checks should be made payable to Singapore American School Foundation. Go to http://alumni.sas.edu.sg/donations to make a donation by credit card via our secure server. Donations made by check or credit card in U.S. dollars are taxdeductible for U.S. tax purposes.

Donation checks should be mailed to: Office of Communications and Development, Singapore American School, 40 Woodlands Street 41, Singapore 738547.

Thank you for considering a donation to the SAS Education Foundation.

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Education Foundation

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Third Annual Star Appeal Dinner

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5 1. Middle schoolers from the cast of Guys and Dolls Jr. with teacher Tracy Meyer performed some scenes from the play at the Star Appeal Dinner. A guitar performance by Kyushik Nam and James Khoo was also part of the entertainment, and a selection of art by National Art Honor Society students was displayed throughout the ballroom and reception area.

At the Star Appeal Dinner on March 1, 2008, Superintendent Brent Mutsch thanked the contributors and said that the dinner and the SAS Education Foundation were celebrating three years of success in support of the Singapore American School. “The road of 1,000 miles begins with a single footstep, and our journey to ensure a secure financial future for SAS so that we may provide each student with an exemplary American educational experience with an international perspective has begun.”

2. Auctioneer extraordinaire John Byrne raised $56,000 with delightful prizes that included incredible wines donated by Wendy Yap, a twelve-course dinner at Iggy’s Kitchen Table and tickets to the Formula One Grand Prix, donated by Singapore GP and

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Education Foundation

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raises $500,000 for SAS Foundation

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7 5. Eva and Mike DeNoma won the bids for both the Formula One tickets and the wine tasting donated by Vinum Fine Wine Merchants!

Lenovo. Pictured with Byrne are Bill Amelio and David Miller.

3. Edan and Bon Park with friends.The Parks underwrote the cost of the decorations created by Sebastian Ee that adorned the tables in the Goodwood Park Hotel ballroom.

6. Claire and Colin Holdstock sip the lovely wine that was such a hit with diners, as was the Champagne donated for cocktails by Devin Kimble and Amy Sittler.

4. Enjoying their first Star Appeal Dinner this year, Ragnar and Joey Horn invited teachers Linda Eide, Jeff Scott and Analu Assis to join them for the evening.The annual event is underwritten each year by the Khoo Teck Puat Foundation.

7. Many parents, such as Stephen and Jane Yao, bought entire tables and invited their favorite teachers. Eagle Circle donors Stephen Riady and Shincee Leonardi bought three tables for SAS staff, even though they were unable to attend.

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Star Appeal Dinner Donations 2008 ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Eagle Circle

S$20,000 and above

• Shahryar Mahbub & Shazia Khawaja • David & Christy Miller • Rudy & Andrea Muller• Janie Ooi • Deepa Pasumarty • Adrian & Susan Peh • Raj & Mar y Rajkumar • Nam Uh & Youn Soo Rhee • Stephen & Stephanie Russell • Iwan Sarjono & Ingrid Prasatya • Steven & Raju Shaulis • Garth & Roxana Sheldon• Helman Sitohang & Maria Praptani • Ajay & Sukeshi Sondhi • Yulies Tan • Soejono Varinata & Fae Sugiharto• Harrison & Sheila Wang • Rayanusin Widjaja & Diana Harkono • Jonathan Wilson & Cindy Leake • Jun Won & Yoon Hee Choi • Clement & Una Wang • Kwan Nga & Rosa Wong • Howard & Beth Yao • Raymond & Kaori Zage • David Zemans & Catherine Poyen

William & Jamie Amelio • Ah Wah Chan & Cheok Kee Lim • Michael & Eva DeNoma • Khoo Teck Puat Foundation • Stephen Riady & Shincee Leonardi • Sukma Widjaja & Hano Maeloa

TigerICircle

S$10,000-S$19,999

David Ban & Irene Lim • Fanny Barki • DHL Express Pte Ltd • Colin & Claire Holdstock • Hae Jin & Young Rim Lee • William & Lois Lydens • John & Paula McCarvel • Brent & Maggie Mutsch • Edan & Bon Sun Park • Richard & Jacqueline Seow • In Jun Song & Joo Hyun Lee • Yoon Suck & Suzie Nam • Brent & Sandra Smith • Jeff & Cindy Tay • Rohet & Arshna Tolani • Ee Chao & Jennifer Wee • Ee Lim & Sofina Wee • Peter Yan & Siew Yen Chua • Xu Quan & Xue Qiong Yao

Gecko Circle

Traveler’s Palm Circle

S$100-S$999

Mike & Julie Allen • Todd & Mary Avery • Gary & Sally Greene • Albert Koh • William & Marybeth Shay • Amy Young

S$5,000-S$9,999

Joe & Mae Anderson • Ragnar & Joey Horn • Keum Shik Shin & Seung Hee Lim • Carl & Anne Stocking • Kelly Randall • Steven & Maya Roll

Orchid Circle

S$1,000-S$4,999

Jonathan & Jessika Auerbach • Richard & Ashley Barry • Al & Clarissa Bautista •Bart & Valerie Broadman • John & Janine Byrne • Dong Woo Chang & Ah Jung Lee • Bob & Monika Comstock • Jeff & Vicki Crocker • Belinda Chua • Johny Djuhar & Lilies Irawan • Grace Fan • Edward Gaffney • Jim & Beth Gribbon • Kirk & Janice Hulse • Ajai & Abha Kaul • Rini Keim • Chris & Elyse Khang • Devin Kimble & Amy Sittler • Wisanggeni & Evi Lauw •Joo Bae & Eun Hee Lee • Seung Hee Lee & Ki Ran Rho • Norman & Bee Bee Lem • Kevin & Deborah Leong •Thomas & Cheryl Linton

Brent and Sandra Smith bidding for prizes at the Star Appeal Dinner.

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Faculty Farewell

Teaching with passion – Dr. Roopa Dewan 1991-2008 Daksha Rajagopalan (08)

her the day the quarter ends, Dr. Dewan also completes the homework It was 7:40 on a Sunday mornthat she assigns all her students, ing – too early to be awake, let whether it’s re-reading Tess of the alone in school. It was the day of D’Urbervilles or composing a our first AP Lit mock exam. As villanelle. She does this all with the groggy students started arriving, Dr. most contagious enthusiasm.

Dewan unveiled the breakfast she Vrutika Mody (06) remembers, had spent all Saturday night pre“I always wanted to be like Dr. Dewan. paring for the sixty of us: freshly It seemed like her energy grew baked homemade muffins! exponentially every week. I would get Over the years, it has ceased exhausted from activities and hometo surprise students when a day’s work and would want to drop somehomework from Dr. Dewan enthing. She, on the other hand, would tailed writing a six-page character add yoga to her schedule or volunsketch, reading 90 pages of a teer at the National Library.” completely different book and David Wilson (01) says she was annotating a couple of poems. “one of the most amazing teachers I “We’d spend hours complaining have ever had. She expected high about how much work we were Dr. Dewan enjoying Interim Semester in Bhutan with standards from everyone. She was a assigned every week,” recalled students – her energy and enthusiasm rub off on mentor as well.” anyone who has worked with her.

Shruti Ayyar (07). Too true; my comTeymour Anwar (03) adds, “she puter screen has been flooded told me to never stop questioning.” with MSN windows, all regarding I have worked with Dr. Dewan AP Lit; the standard greeting to any through Peace Initiative for four fellow-Lit-er has become a groan of “oh my god, have you years, and I think I have figured out the secret to her zest: she even started the work yet?” But anyone who has taken AP Lit wholeheartedly believes in everything she does, and she truly and gone on to study in college knows just how well the loves what she does. Whether it is literature, whether it is course prepared them. teaching and mentoring students or whether it is raising On top of grading all the work we turn in, all the essays we money to empower less privileged children, Dr. Dewan is, choose to re-write (and she lets us re-write absolutely anything simply put, passionate. “That was one thing she always inwe want to improve) and all the late work we sheepishly give spired me with – I wanted to make sure that I did something 11

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Faculty Farewell

that I had that much love for too,” said Shruti.

Dr. Dewan’s passion extends to mentoring her students, a very apt sentiment for a teacher. She thinks of her students as adults, and she treats us that way. Michelle Schmitz (07) said, “even when I was ten, Dr. Dewan struck me [as unique] because she was willing to talk to me like an adult.”

It is her ability to treat us like adults while still guiding us that I am indebted to. Organizing Peace Concert takes a huge amount of work, and whenever the officers are stuck or lost, Dr. Dewan gives us direction or provides the boost of energy needed.

As Vrutika, a former president of Peace Initiative, rightly points out, “no one is as excited as Dr. Dewan [the day of the concert], who was always convinced it was going to be a success because of how important our cause is.” Dr. Dewan’s optimism Celebrating SAS 50th Anniversary with their favorite teacher are Gillian Lee and positive energy never fail to inspire us to con- (95), Gwen Nicholson Rodney (95), Bryan Baker (94), Mark Maran (94), John tinue doing what we believe in. “She made sure Paul Botcheller (95) Maribel Tirona Reimer (94), Dr Dewan, Amita Shah (94), we knew that even the smallest donation or speak- Stephanie Jones Hill (93), Angie Jones Whitworth (95), Jenn Reynolds (93). er’s corner debate was changing something, even if it was just awarenesss.”

A couple years ago, Peace Initiative launched a “Power of One” campaign. We were at the age when most students start to get jaded about life, but Dr. Dewan mentoring four times as many students as she did through made sure we held onto our hope. “Being around her really Peace Initiative. helped me throw my cynicism out,” said Vrutika.

Her energy and enthusiasm, her passion and warmth Dr. Dewan drafted the curriculum for the Global Issues have rubbed off on all who have worked with her. We will course based upon a student suggestion for a studentmiss the fragrance of lilies as we enter her room, the plethora led, project-oriented course in 1993 whose outcomes of books behind her whiteboard and the basket of apples ranged from teaching a 7th grade health class about AIDS and crackers for any hungry student. Mostly, we will miss to creating and selling a cloth bag at school for environhaving the teacher that she is. mental conser vation purposes. She then set about Thank you. Thank you for being much more than a teacher.

Dr. Dewan was the first instructor who really challenged my mind and treated me as an adult. Her class was much more than a typical English class – it was a cultural experience. Maribel Tirona (94)

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Faculty Farewell

21 years of drama and magic – Patricia Kuester 1987-2008

By Susan Murray (SAS parent) and Sarah Murray (03) Sometime around June 15 of this year, Patricia Kuester will look around her classroom one last time, head upstairs to the auditorium and drama theater, and turn out the lights.

After 32 years as an English and drama teacher, 21 of them at SAS, she is moving to Ireland to join longtime friend and companion, John Hurst, where she will help part-time in his rare book store and explore theater in and around Dublin.

Roget’s New Millennium Thesaurus (2008 edition) lists 36 synonyms for teacher, but among those many words, there is none that truly captures the full impact of her career.

As an English teacher, she opened minds to the possibilities and importance of words, their arrangement and usage.

As a teacher of drama and director of multiple school plays and musicals, she brought young actors to an understanding of art beyond entertainment value. This was not always received well by audiences who were asked to stretch their minds and limits, but it worked its magic on the actors who left our school with an education and understanding of the theater arts well beyond that of most high school thespians.

I met Patricia Kuester in 2001 when my eldest daughter, Sarah, was cast as Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof. As this was a pivotal moment in Sarah’s life, I have asked her to speak to the importance of Ms. Kuester as her teacher and mentor.

Sarah’s words:

English teacher and theater director Trish Kuester (far left) with 2007 cast of Philadelphia, Here I Come.

volunteered information. For me an air of mystery has always surrounded Ms. Kuester. I like it that way. For all I know, she could be an escaped gypsy princess, I guess that goes with the territory when teaching acting to an over-imaginative high school student.

These are the things I do know about Ms Kuester: She is Hungarian by blood and Australian by upbringing. She has taught at SAS for 21 years, has seen the campus through

I could write about what made Ms. Kuester decide to move to Singapore, I could write about where she grew up, how many brothers and sisters she has and why she chose to go into teaching. But Ms. Kuester never told me these things; I’m not saying she wouldn’t tell me; only that it wasn’t 13

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Faculty Farewell teacher. I am watching her help mold these kids into the people they will become, into the mothers, doctors, engineers, teachers, leaders and maybe artists that they will one day become.

SAS is losing a truly special person and an unbelievable teacher. I don’t think it matters that I don’t know why she became a teacher or why she moved to Singapore. What matters is that she gave 21 years of her life to SAS and the commitment to guide and lead hundreds, maybe thousands of kids into their lives as adults. If she has done for one other person what she has done for me, then she has done a great thing. I honor her legacy at this school. We have been lucky to have her.

three major changes and has directed more than 50 plays.

She loves Felline, Beckett, Shakespeare and Mamet. She has a deep love for dogs, and her home of heart is in Ireland.

I had always wanted to be an actor, but I attribute my decision to follow my dream in a large part to Ms. Kuester.

It’s not that she encouraged me to step blindly onto the unsure, sparse, poor path of an artist – actually that is precisely what she encouraged me not to do – but when I finished high school I left with such a huge respect for the

Ms. Kuester was so interesting and inspiring, so compassionate and intelligent.

Helen Lee Kwok (96)

One thing I know: Patricia Kuester will take her love for her students with her — and she would be delighted to hear from them. If you are in the small town of Westport in County Mayo, Ireland (not too far from Dublin), you may find her and her dog Rebel behind the counter at Gibbon’s Interesting Books. If you would like to contact her by e-mail, you may do so by sending a message to johnhurst07@eircom.net.

Student theater memorabilia adorns the walls of Kuester’s classroom.

craft and such a strong grasp on my vocation that I felt prepared to follow my heart.

Ms. Kuester was the first teacher who taught me discipline. She taught me to break down text and verse in a systematic way; she taught me that within structure there is an immense amount of freedom. She taught me to read between the lines and to always make interesting choices. She taught me that art is meticulous, heart wrenching and above all else difficult. When I arrived at the conservatory where I chose to go to college I already had the foundation upon which to build, and that foundation came from Ms. Kuester.

I have returned to Ms. Kuester’s classroom in the last month. Her room has changed; it is now a beautiful studio with high ceilings and a dark hardwood stage, but the same pictures hang on the wall. I have often found that my great teachers always have one more lesson for me, a lesson that I wasn’t previously ready to learn. Now as I sit and watch her with her students, I feel so proud to be a product of her method: the animation with which she speaks to them, her gentle thoughtfulness when she listens to them, her faith that her students are capable of achieving poignant and riveting performances. Through her I am learning what it means to be a 14

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Faculty Farewell

Farewell to some special long-term educators

Social Studies teacher Patrick Hopkins, shown here with Interim Semester students, will return to the United States with wife and Intermediate School teacher Jennifer after ten years at SAS.

Social Studies teacher Mike Stagg and High School counselor Beth Kramer are returning to the States after six years at the school.

High School swim coach and Middle School PE teacher Steve Betts is leaving SAS after seven award-winning years.

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To Sir, With Love The time has come for closing books And long last looks must end.

And as I leave, I know that I am leaving my best friend.

A friend who taught me right from wrong And weak from strong.

That’s a lot to learn, But what can I give you in return?

If you wanted the sky I would write across the sky in letters That would soar a thousand feet high, “To Sir, with Love”

Teacher and mentor Eric Cooper

ing and exciting year of education in my entire life. I enjoyed all my school years at SAS and considered it a privilege to be there, but I think each of us connects with one teacher who ultimately stands out above all others, a teacher who finds a unique way to make learning an adventure and goes beyond curriculum, broadening our abilities to view life from new vantage points. For me, Mr. Cooper fell into this category.

I thought back to 1970, the beginning of a new decade, as I experienced my most extraordinary year at SAS. We were on the cusp of becoming teenagers. We knew everything and nothing. Mr. Cooper, being English, always treated us with deep respect. I never remember anyone getting into trouble. We learned all the basics of course, but this particular teacher had an energy that transcended the ordinary. Mr. Cooper introduced us to the art of play.

One day, to our amazement, he brought out packs of cards, and we had our first bridge lesson. Imagine, a gaggle of 12 year olds, learning to bid contracts and master the finer points of trumping. We were ecstatic. A couple of months later, we were given little chess sets and practiced all the moves that bishops, castles, rooks and royalty made. We learned the art of heraldry and created our own coat of arms,

By Julia Nickson (76) I attended SAS from third grade in 1967 until I graduated in the bicentennial year of 1976. I was part of the last group of SAS students who spent all our years at the King’s Road campus, eating Mr. Ho’s curry on Wednesdays as well as foo yong hai and gula malacca for dessert – memory courtesy of April Stevenson (76). If one couldn’t afford the $1.25 lunch, there was always the 30-cent rice and gravy. We ran the Farrer Road loop for after school warm-ups, ending with a final legcrunching spurt up the steep hill that led to the student unloading zone. Some months, we arrived at 7 a.m. to compete and train for positions on teams that went to represent SAS in Jakarta or Bangkok.

I had SAS on my mind as I was looking at some oldies and goodies on iTunes. Most of my classmates are celebrating their 50th birthdays this year. I decided to listen to “To Sir With Love.” As Lulu sang, I started thinking about the various teachers that had an impact and influence on my life.

Immediately I smiled as I thought about my 6th grade teacher, Eric Cooper, with whom I had simply the most reward-

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as Coach Cooper’s membership at the Tanglin Club.

Mitchell Wood (72) said that he and Chris Nelson (73) were the first two members. “Chris and I were the national doubles runners up in our first SAS year – to get that far was all credit to Coach Cooper.” Jim Baker (66 and faculty 71-74, 82-present) said, “My memories of Eric were of the passion he brought to all his endeavors, whether it be teaching, coaching or running. Beyond that he had a sense of perspective about life. He knew how to laugh at himself and at what life had dealt him.”

I continued singing along with Lulu on iTunes and decided to google Mr. Cooper. I was excited at the thought of possibly meeting up with him to tell him how important he was to me. All I could find was the following: “For the benefit of the younger generation, Eric Cooper was a school teacher and was one of the better squash players in Singapore in the 1960s and 1970s. Eric Cooper gave a much-needed hand of help to the Squash Association in the pioneering days of the 70s. Eric tragically drowned in Bali waters trying to save someone in trouble. Both Malaysia and Singapore recognized his contribution to squash and appropriately introduced the Eric Cooper Memorial Trophy as a junior event of the Dunlop Salver Singapore/ Malaysia series.”

I felt the tears well up and yet, at the same time, I was smiling. I could see him in my mind’s eye – with his brown hair and eyes, strong athletic build, broad smile, and a mischievous black gibbon (yes, he had adopted a monkey) wrapped around his neck. He taught me where to correctly place my commas and how to write a descriptive paragraph. He did his best to instill values and opened up to me a world of sophistication that very few 12 year olds knew. My teacher, Mr. Cooper, who died as he lived – adhering to his code of conduct as a warrior, one who knows there is no time for hesitation. My teacher, our teacher, Eric Cooper, a lion rampart.

I realize that after all these years I finally have the answer to a question that has always eluded me. Mr. Cooper is my mentor, the person who had the most influence on my life in one short year, and the person I would most like to emulate.

complete with rampart lions, seme de lis (small fleur-de lis), and cleche crosses in vivid hues of azure, argent and purpure.

We listened in rapt attention as he explained the mark of the illegitimate child, the Bend Sinister. For a final project, we wrote our very own first novels, complete with illustrations, detailing the hardships and endurance needed to travel the Oregon Trail. Mr. Cooper also taught us about the subconscious mind, a subject that wasn’t in any of our textbooks.

It is probably no coincidence that the summer after 6th grade, I watched Gone With the Wind for the first time, and the seed of becoming an actress was born.

In 1970, SAS had more students than it could hold. It was decided that half the elementary school would attend morning classes, and the other half would go to afternoon school. Mr. Cooper taught my class in the mornings and then moved to the athletic field and became Coach Cooper for the high school kids.

Paul North (73) recounted that tennis was not a popular sport during this era, but once Mr. Cooper realized there was interest in a tennis club, he found courts at various locations. The team used the old army barracks near the Botanical Gardens, as well

Julia Nickson is an actress. Her first big break was the part of CoBao in Rambo: First Blood Part II. She was married to David Soul (Starsky and Hutch) from 1987-93, and they have a daughter, China Soul, who is also an actress. Right: Julia at bat in 1972. Below: Julia today.

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SAS Today

SAS Mission and Vision

not been formally reviewed for nine years, and SAS did not have a vision statement in place. I believe a vision statement brings the community together by providing a concise framework for what we want to accomplish. I wanted to review the school’s ongoing commitment to its focus on learning and to consolidate the excellent work done previously with a shared vision for the future.

With the help of a facilitator, the group began by deconstructing the mission that has guided SAS for nine years. We determined that the mission continued to have value in articulating the core purpose of SAS. We considered the existing mission statement and strategic plan, the current environment at SAS, the historical background and reputation, and the future goals of SAS. By breaking these down into key elements, we formulated

By Superintendent Brent Mutsch It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision.

Helen Keller In late November 2007, 36 members of the Singapore American School community collaborated during a two-day retreat to review the SAS mission statement and to develop a vision statement. The team included a diverse group of long-serving and relatively new faculty and instruction assistants, parents, administrators and high school students.

I felt this was an important time to bring this diverse group together because the SAS mission statement had 18

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SAS Today I think the strategic planning we’re doing is a bridge between where we are now and the vision we create: we’re beginning with the end in mind. The vision creates a forward orientation, and our strategic plan is a road map that enables us to create our future through the actions we take today.

our ideas into an updated mission statement and new vision statement, which were then validated at the December meeting of the SAS Board of Governors.

The importance of having readily identifiable mission and vision statements was driven home to me in the Saudi Aramco schools. When I started to work with them, they did not have an operational mission or a vision statement.

I saw how powerful defining a mission/vision could be when I attended a series of professional development experiences with Saudi Aramco’s senior leadership. In my first year as superintendent there, I used the same exercise to articulate the school’s purpose and desired future.

THE SAS MISSION Consistent with SAS’s commitment to providing extraordinary care for the welfare of each child, the mission specifically identifies that each student is daily the focus of the efforts of the faculty, staff and administration. We

Mission: The Singapore American School is committed to providing each student an exemplary American educational experience with an international perspective.

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SAS Today

found this especially important because SAS is one of the largest international schools in the world, and it continues to grow. We must successfully address the educational needs of each student on the Woodlands campus and provide that student with the support and enrichment he or she needs for success.

Exemplary is defined as “worthy of being an example.”

SAS is deeply committed to providing students with an American educational experience that is the benchmark against which other schools compare their programs and perform-

ance. Visitors, aware of the development of exemplary programs, are frequently on the campus to learn more about these programs so that they can take “best practices” back to their home environments.

We are deeply committed to providing an American educational experience. SAS regularly reviews, revises and develops curricula on the basis of what are considered to be “best practices” by professional American organizations. The curriculum is designed with a deliberate emphasis on the latest research and definition of what constitutes “best prac-

Vision: The Singapore American School inspires a passion for learning, encourages emotional and intellectual vitality, and empowers students with the confidence and courage to contribute to the global community and to achieve their dreams.

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SAS Today daily interaction on campus, we encourage everyone to treat one another with the core values of compassion, honesty, fairness, responsibility and respect.

At the core of the vision is the articulation of the preferred future for each of our students. SAS is deeply committed to empowering students to develop the confidence and courage to make quality contributions to the global community and to successfully bring their aspirations to reality.

In the weeks, months and years ahead, the mission and vision will serve as the lens through which both individual and school-wide decisions will be consistently aligned. The work of the mission/vision team has contributed to developing further clarity of purpose. This vision contributes to the creation of a culture in which the SAS learning community (students, parents, faculty, staff and administrators) works together to inspire a passion for learning, encourage emotional and intellectual vitality and empower students with the confidence and courage to contribute to the global community and to achieve their dreams.

tice� in a particular curricular area.

Lastly, because of our location in Singapore, the composition of community members and the recognition that the world is becoming increasingly interdependent, we are uniquely positioned to provide an educational experience that reflects an international perspective. SAS will encourage students to share their perspectives and differences in ways that serve to further educate each of us.

THE SAS VISION The greatest gift that any school can collaborate with parents to impart to students is a love for learning. Just as we learn to read so that we can read to learn, inspiring a passion for learning establishes the foundation on which a lifetime of learning and further development can occur.

We will encourage students to develop vitality for both matters of the heart (emotional) and of the mind (intellectual) to enable them to have deeper life experiences. Emotional and intellectual development is a goal of our character education program, which we have attempted to integrate throughout the curriculum. In our

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Mr. Ho’s Sichuan Chicken*

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4 cups cooked chicken cubed (seasoned with salt, pepper, ginger juice to taste) 15 dry red whole chilies (cut in half) 2 tablespoons chopped garlic 1 cup roasted cashew nuts Sauce (combine half cup vinegar, 3/4 cup sugar, half cup dark soya sauce and 3 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine) 3 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 3/4 cup of water 6 tablespoons corn oil 3 cups chicken stock 1 tablespoon Sichuan chili (optional) Heat oil in a wok and brown the red chilies until there is a strong chili fragrance. Stir in the chopped garlic. Immediately add the chicken and the sauce and continue to stir fry until the liquid begins to caramelize (be careful not to burn it). Add in chicken stock and bring to a boil. Taste the sauce to see if it needs additional soya sauce, sugar, cooking wine or vinegar.

Once it is to taste, thicken the sauce with the corn starch mixture. Top with roasted cashew nuts and serve.

*Reprinted from last issue of Journeys because of errors in the measurements.

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Heat the wok with a little oil and add garlic cloves; stir fry for about 5 seconds; quickly add the salted bean paste and the soya sauce; fry until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add chicken stock and boil for 5 minutes. Later add cornstarch and water to the sauce to thicken it.

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The sauce 2 tablespoons salted bean paste 2 tablespoons soya sauce 3 crushed garlic cloves 3 cups chicken stock 3 tablespoons cornstarch diluted with water

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Blend all the above into a paste and add to one kg (two pounds) of marinated pork. Roast the Char Siew in 350degree oven about 45 minutes until cooked, then grill it in a wok with a little oil and 2 tablespoons sugar until the sugar completely coats the pork.

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1 tablespoon five spice powder 3 tablespoons salted bean paste 3 tablespoons salted bean curd 3 tablespoons Chinese white wine 1 teaspoon salt 5 cloves garlic 5 shallots 4 tablespoons sugar 3 tablespoons sesame oil A few drops red coloring

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Mr. Hoe’s Char Siew

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Homecoming 2008

Alumni Vicki Rameker (95), Katy Lydens (09) and Aaron Couch (98) vow to avenge their loss against the Faculty at next year’s Homecoming.

By Eric Burnett, High School Teacher

ISKL came down to Singapore to share in the Homecoming festivities, only to be trounced by the Eagles.

four SAS graduates) entered the game and put on a basketball clinic. Unfortunately, even with the fearless defense and aquatic athleticism of former SAS swimmers Vicki Rameker (95) and Aaron Couch (98), the Alumni team just couldn’t get a lead on the Chip Miller and Chad Brekke-led Faculty team.

MVP honors go to Mike Rogers who had channeled his inner Deion Sanders earlier in the day by leading a local softball team to victory over in Sembawang, changing clothes and then bringing the Alumni to within two points with his buzzerbeating three pointer. Although the Alumni fell short this year by a score of 35 to 33, next year they’ll have a chance for revenge as the fans and the athletes gather again to see who has best survived the aging process.

In the varsity game that followed, the SAS Eagles dominated the ISKL Panthers, never trailing en route to a 7764 victory. During halftime, announcers Josh Smith and Belal

With two seniors crowned king and queen, the Eagles securing a solid basketball victory against the KL Panthers, and the Alumni coming up just short of beating the Faculty, SAS finally bid farewell to the 2008 Homecoming Week, a week of high school activities that included pillow fighting, Jello Twister, TV trivia and an all-out water balloon fight.

In the main event on Saturday, the first basketball game matched the Alumni vs. the Faculty. Over 950 fans watched as Scott Greene (04) utilized deft leadership abilities to coach the former SASers into a quick ten-point deficit. However, with relentless aggression, aided by the offensive juggernaut known as Bryan Baker (94) and Shaun Lee (99), the Alumni team pulled within five points by halftime. Fortunately, due to a last minute rules adjustment Eddie Bywater (sibling to 23

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Top: The 2008 Homecoming Court: Princesses Alice Grgas, Chi Chi Lin, Elisabeth Stocking and Renuka Agarwal and Princes Bryan Gamble, Chris Hussey, Rod Hesh and Sandy Morris with Queen Abby Murray and King Belal Hakim.

Right: Eagles versus Panthers and loud, happy crowds of students and teachers – SAS traditions that go back fifty years.

Hakim announced the 2008 Homecoming Court (Princesses Abby Murray, Alice Grgas, Chi Chi Lin, Elisabeth Stocking, Renuka Agarwal; Princes Belal Hakim, Bryan Gamble, Chris Hussey, Rod Hesh, Sandy Morris) and also orchestrated the raffle ticket face-off that saw freshmen Willow Johnston beat the other raffle winners in a shooting challenge, thus walking home with a brand new Apple ITouch.

As the night came to an end, the organizers and participants could all look back at the success of the week and the evening. Over $4,000 was raised for assorted club and grade level charities, Belal Hakim and Abby Murray were crowned King and Queen, and the SAS cagers felt the gym rumble one last time before they headed off to IASAS. With the week now behind us, the Homecoming Committee has already begun plans for Homecoming 2009, and we hope to see even more alumni out on the court on Friday, January 16, 2009!

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Ju-Lie says that the essence of microfinance is the provision of financial services to the working poor to seed and grow their dreams.

She especially enjoys the light of empowerment and confidence in the eyes of her clients.

Hands-on microfinance – a rewarding day at work

By Ju-Lie Lee Bell (98)

before rejoining Morgan Stanley as a researcher and investor in distressed debt and special situations – a.k.a. vulture investing or rescue financing and in reality a job very much like being an investigative journalist. This new work was both incredibly demanding and fascinating and took volunteering decisively out of the picture.

Then one random day last June, I saw the most unusual posting on Morgan Stanley’s internal website: a photo of rice workers in a paddy field, followed by application instructions to join the firm’s newly launched microfinance group. I swear I broke out in a sweat. The essence of microfinance is the provision of financial services to the working poor. It is the banking of the previously un-banked; the provision of capital to those who need it most – poor entrepreneurs who can then seed and grow their dreams. The ability to use my finan-

I still remember being voted “Most likely female to end up on Wall Street” in the class of 1998. Having never picked up a Wall Street Journal or even the business section of The Straits Times, I was surprised, confused and even a little indignant. How did they come up with that one? I had spent much of my extracurricular time at SAS with the Social Services Club that it was hard to imagine myself as a “Wall Street” type.

But four years later, after graduating from Harvard with a degree in economics, I found myself suited out as an investment banking analyst at Morgan Stanley. And after the standard two-year analyst rotation, I decided to remain in financial services, spending a brief period of time in private equity 25

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Ju-Lie with Filipina entrepreneurs. To her, the ability to use her financial training to empower individuals, particularly women, all around the world is a dream come true.

loan to productive use.

What does my job entail? Just as microfinance institutions evaluate the micro-entrepreneurs they lend to, my job is to evaluate the microfinance institutions and gauge their ability to raise funds while connecting them with investors in the capital markets. My work requires that I spend time in the field, taking me to the rural Philippines (not Manila where I went for IASAS, but Iloilo City and Bacolod City), rural districts surrounding Jakarta and five major cities in Colombia. I have swapped stories with hard working entrepreneurs who live on less than $2 a day and who have dirt floors and woven mats for the walls of their home. I have met the most amazing entrepreneurs, such as the woman whose family once had no running water, and today, with the help of several micro loans, has several small businesses to supplement her husband’s earnings, allowing the family to earn and save the $3,000 necessary to send all three of her children to university. I have also met some of the most extraordinary CEOs, many of them women, who run tight ships serving more than 100,000 clients while remaining financially viable.

Never mind the roach emerging from my hotel bed, the roads being closed due to flare-ups between local protestors and government authorities, the lack of cell phone or blackberry reception, all while working and traveling 20 hours a day, I get to see the light in their eyes of empowerment, of strength, of greater confidence in their futures. When I go home, it is my responsibility to find a way to fund these entrepreneurs economically and to help them help themselves.

What a great way to spend a day at work.

cial training to empower individuals – particularly women – all around the world was a dream come true. I applied immediately for a one-year spot in the new group. Four weeks later, I traded my high octane trading floor job for a conference room shared with six other people, little infrastructure and uncharted territory.

My new group aims to bring commercial capital markets funding to the microfinance institutions (MFIs) that ultimately provide the entrepreneurial loans to the micro-entrepreneurs.

These MFIs vary drastically in size, with loan portfolios from a few million to several hundred million dollars; capital markets access allows them to reduce their reliance on donations or subsidized funding and ultimately scale. Scaling is important since the average loan made to an entrepreneur could be anywhere from $40 to $10,000, depending on the country and the focus of the MFI. The entrepreneur can use the loan to buy fishing nets, a young pig to raise and fatten or a refrigerator for her egg business, rent a stall at the local market or upgrade her store front.

While MFIs have the challenge of scaling up, we face the reverse problem; it is incredibly difficult for us to scale down to their small needs. So we rely on the MFIs to evaluate the micro-entrepreneurs, to determine if she or he can handle the loans and interest repayments, to make disbursements and to collect the weekly or monthly payments. Some of these programs are community-based lending models, where a loan may be made to a group of 20 or 30 women, who are collectively responsible for the entire amount; if someone is unable to repay, the others are committed to make up the difference, which is why repayment rates are so high. Other programs are individually based, where loan officers must go out into the field, visit the entrepreneur’s business, ask for references and in some cases visit the entrepreneur’s home to make sure the entrepreneur can put the proceeds of the

Ju-Lie (Lee) Bell has lived in New York City since 2002 with her husband Alex, whom she met in college. Coincidentally, Shally Venugopal (01) also works in Morgan Stanley’s microfinance group.

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Corporate America at its charitable best Photos show Hal and others from Gap Inc. building a house for Habitat for Humanity in Guatemala, one of the many charitable and self-help programs sponsored by the Gap Foundation and its 150,000 employees throughout the world.

By Hal Marz (90) I learned the importance of giving back at a very early age. My mother, born in small village in northern Thailand, taught me that giving back was just a part of life. Always give more than what you receive, she would say. Born and raised in Asia for 16 years, more than 10 years of that in Singapore, I thought I had it all, living a life filled with luxurious vacations, live-in maids and private schools. I thought everyone lived this way.

I slowly learned that this was not so. My mother started to take me to her volunteer projects, where she spent several hours each week. She would help the elderly and handicapped children and pretty much everyone in between. The rewards were amazing – a smile here, a laugh there, a thank you in a language I didn’t have to understand. This was the way I wanted to live my life.

I also learned this from my father, who was born and

raised in the San Francisco Bay area and entered the Peace Corps in Bangalore, India in the 1960s. He taught village farmers how to make the most out of their land. Once completing his service, he fell in love with that part of the world and eventually made it his home.

After leaving Singapore just before the start of my junior year of high school, I moved to northern California to complete my studies and eventually attended a small Catholic college named Saint Mary’s. How a young man raised in a household with an atheist father and a Buddhist mother ended up at a Catholic college, I will never know. But it was at this college that I realized the real gift of volunteering.

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During my junior year, I took a semester off to teach preschool in the Appalachian mountains of Kentucky, one of the poorest areas of the United States. I spent a month living in a converted motel and taught rural kids the basics of life. Most did not know how to read, and many came to school dirty and unfed. We taught them simple things, such as brushing their teeth, washing their faces and the types of nutritious food they should be eating. I was moved by how much I learned about life from these children. They had no TV, no toys or books, but still seemed content with their lives. I went back to California yearning for another experience like this.

My senior year, I took a semester abroad and it brought me to Calcutta, India. Here I embarked on a journey like no other. This intensive program had our class doing volunteer work in the mornings, while our afternoons were filled with learning Indian culture, history and language. Our volunteer work brought us to the homes of Mother Teresa, deep in the slums of the city. My chance in-person meeting with her was quite a turning point in my life. She hugged me and thanked me for my service to the poor in her city. Why was this incredible saint thanking me? I should have been thanking her for all the work she has done in her life. I realized just how easy it was to help people and that I got so much back in return. I knew not a word of the language, but understood everything.

Those memories stuck with me for years and really shaped who I am today.

I graduated from college in 1994 and moved directly

into corporate America. I worked for a recruiting firm for the first few years, then went through a couple of “dot bombs” and eventually landed at a retail giant in a quite unexpected way. I had been laid off from an online web company and was recruited on site to work as a contract recruiter at Gap Inc. Little did I know this would blossom into a career that would last seven years. During those years I worked in several departments, including recruiting, international merchandise planning and finally the Gap Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the company. I am part of an 11 person team that supports our 150,000 employees worldwide. I really do enjoy my job as it incorporates working for a large corporation with doing good business in the communities where our employees live and work. I feel this is my dream job as I get to encourage others in our company to volunteer and give back to their communities.

One of the programs I manage is taking employees on Habitat builds in the United States and Central America. These employees are selected for their significant commitment to volunteering. It is amazing to see people from all parts of the company come together to do something good. Many employees describe this experience as life-changing, and they also speak of developing lasting friendships with colleagues whom they might never have met apart from building a house together.

I also get to manage our volunteer projects at Corporate Headquarters. I put together special days where entire departments go out into their communities to volunteer.

One of my favorite parts of the job is talking to our employees in our offices worldwide, including Singapore.

Every single day these employees inspire me with their stories. And they come from every corner of the globe.

From cleaning up beaches in Japan to painting a children’s hospital in Turkey, tutoring youth at a Boys and Girls Club in Des Moines, Iowa, and assisting women in micro-financing in the Philippines. They all motivate me to want to make this world a better place.

Hal says working with volunteers is his dream job because he gets to give and encourage others to give. “Every single day they inspire me with their stories.”

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Entrance to the King’s Road campus showing the Kuhbander Fine and Performing Arts Center. All that remains today is the sign, which students preserved and gave to teacher Jim Baker, who attended SAS as a child and taught on that campus for 17 years. He says that someday he’ll donate it to the SAS Library Archives.

In the best interests of students

By Mel Kuhbander Superintendent 1981-1990

in contradiction but just to flesh out a bit, and that is why I’ve penned these words.

I know that when I first arrive in a new position, I like to take time to look around, to ask questions about why we do what we do, not to challenge anyone or any policy, but to better understand and incidentally, to force a focus on the reasons why we do what we do. I also have enough good sense to listen to what the Board of Governors suggests about what it sees needs to be done.

I think most Journeys readers will acknowledge, as I do, the marvelous history of the Singapore American School that was written by Jim Baker, a long-time member of the faculty – Singapore’s Eagles. As I paged through the section that dealt with my tenure as superintendent at SAS (1981-1990), I felt that there were a few things I wanted to enlarge on, not 29

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One of my first actions was to remove sugared soft drinks from the cafeterias. I remember being stopped in the hallway at Ulu Pandan (then the elementary and middle school) by a young girl, probably in the second grade, who asked me if I was “the person who took away her Coca-Cola?” I replied I was and explained that it wasn’t especially good for her health and her learning. She said, “Okay.” Then she asked if “they could have it on Thursdays.”

A pretty good lesson there, I think. No matter what decisions are made and no matter what the reason, there is a human element that should not be forgotten. For that reason, one of the principles I used and enjoined my administrators to use was this: make all decisions in the best interests of the students.

No matter what decisions are made and no matter what the reason, there is a human element that should not be forgotten.

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IASAS was born on King’s Road Certainly, the initiation of IASAS (Interscholastic Association of Southeast Asian Schools) was one of those decisions that was and is in the best interest of students. I do not know how many people recall or even know that IASAS was born on King’s Road in 1982. ISKL Superintendent Gail Schoppert and JIS Superintendent Everett Gould had both experienced programs similar to IASAS elsewhere. These two men cornered me – well, okay, we were actually at an EARCOS meeting (Don’t you love all these acronyms? This one stands for East Asia Regional Council of Overseas Schools) – and pursued the adoption of this inter-scholastic athletic activity. Seemed like a good idea to me, and we decided to bring the athletic directors of our schools together at the geographic middle site, King’s Road, to construct a first draft of the constitution, rules and so on.

We were not far into the first months of IASAS when the decision was made to include the speech tournaments and the fine and performing arts as part and parcel of valid experiences for students.

Drug sniffing and testing When I arrived in Singapore, the school had a pretty bad reputation for drug usage as a result of an incident a halfdozen years back. I knew that all of us wanted to be rid of this mark, but it was only in the mid-80s that we came up with a double-barreled plan. I worked closely with SACAC (Singapore American Community Action Council) to arrange

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Above left:IASAS sports and cultural conventions with International School Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta International School, International School Manila, Taipei American School and International School Bangkok began in 1982 and are still going strong. Photo shows 1991 track team after its victory over JIS. Coaches were Bob Fenske (81-96), Bill Rankin (91-95) and Jim Baker (71-74 & 82-present).

Above right: The Senior Tree – SAS attempted to transplant cuttings on the Woodlands campus but they did not survive.

pling of students. Although the policy required every parent to sign off allowing their children to be sampled, we never tested any student other than high school students. It was done in a completely randomized manner with two exceptions. Principal Dan Scinto’s daughter and my daughter were deliberately selected for testing a minimum of one time a year to forestall any suggestion that administrators’ children were excluded.

Once the samples were collected, they were sent to out of Singapore for lab testing. There weren’t many positive results, although we did tend to allow a certain amount of time to elapse following lengthy vacations.

a visit by the drug-sniffing dogs from the Singapore government. I agreed to not be notified in advance of the visit. It was important that we approach this with a double-blinded experiment.

So, the dogs came in one evening and were led into every classroom, every locker room, across the campus open areas, through the library and so on. No area was left unchecked, un-sniffed if you wish. Happily, absolutely no drugs were found, and we were able to render a public report about those results.

Next we set up, through cooperation with International Schools Services in New Jersey, a randomized urine sam-

Working with UWC I had the truly good fortune to meet with David Watson, the head of United World College, on many a social evening.

I once appended to a school advertisement the tag line: SAS – the first choice in education for expatriates in Singapore (or something like that). David asked me how I got away with that kind of statement. I replied, “I thought of it first.”

I received a phone call one day from an officer of the Sentosa operation. He told me that the previous day, a number of students had dropped their trousers and bent over when the tram went past them. I asked if he had gotten their names and he was proud to tell me he had. Of course I asked for them. I don’t recall all of them but I do remember that one was a “Samuel Clemens” and that the rest were just as unlikely pseudonyms.

A school is about upholding educational standards and honoring the people who do it well.

Abe Abraham to the Class of 1996 31

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Top: The Class of 1996 was the final class to graduate from the King’s Road campus. History teacher Mike Imperi was chosen by the senior class to speak at graduation. He in turn invited Kuhbander, teacher emeritus Abe Abraham and alum and longtime teacher Jim Baker to speak for the school.

Bottom: Kuhbander and Abraham tell tall tales at a graduation party in 1996.

Opposite: With enthusiastic support from Dr. Kuhbander, fine and performing arts thrived at SAS in the 1980s. Full musicals, such as Li’l Abner, were produced under the guidance of teacher John Hurst (82-07), while teachers Linda Harley (73-96), Paula Silverman (87-present) and Rosemary Farmer (81-96), respectively, ran the fine arts, dance and music programs.

The school is a shared monument to the efforts of parents, teachers and administrators. As we move to Woodlands and as you move to adulthood, remember the African proverb that it takes a village to raise a child – and remember that a school is more than bricks and mortar – it is a village.

Jim Baker to the Class of 1996 32

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ings, English one year with mathematics and social studies and so on in succeeding years. Department heads or representatives would attend U.S. national conferences in their areas prior to the review. While in the States, these representatives went to Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where they touched base with their counterparts in 13 school districts.

The bottom line: instead of bringing in new teachers with presumably current ideas and practices, we sent our good teachers to upgrade their skills and also exposed them to outstanding visiting educators.

In many ways, I feel this was the greatest contribution I made to the good of the school. My wife told me, upon my assuming my first superintendency (in the United States) that my first job was to “ensure that every student who gradu-

Change is inevitable, but the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.

If you focus on this, you will have an anchor throughout life.

Mel Kuhbander to the Class of 1996

I was pretty sure that these were students from SAS – it sure sounded to me like something our students might do – so I dutifully checked each name against our directory. I was able to tell the officer that none of them was from SAS and that, perhaps, they might be from UWC. David wasn’t too happy with that one either, but we did remain good friends.

A great teaching staff In the years prior to my arrival at the campus, the operating principle appeared to be that the way to ensure that teachers would be current with U.S. principles and practices (which is what the school philosophy called for) was to turn them over on a pretty regular basis.

I saw some pretty darn good teaching going on and some very, very dedicated people in the classroom, so I adopted a different approach, and the Board of Governors agreed to it.

Henceforth, we would ensure that our teachers were exposed to some of the stellar educators from the United States by inviting those people to be presenters at what became SEATCCO (Southeast Asia Teachers and Councilors Conference), now called EARCOS Teachers’ Conference.

On top of that, we made some curriculum development changes, which put into place a periodic review of our offer-

ated from (my) schools was an interesting person.” By this time I had been married about ten years so I knew I should listen up as she went on, “And the way to do that is to hire interesting teachers.”

That became a goal, and I’d like to believe I met it. I might have made some mistakes in hiring some of the administrators, but I think my track record on teachers is pretty darn good.

Always building As Jim Baker references in the SAS book, there was always a need to build. At Ulu Pandan we had three-storey buildings, each with six classrooms in an open environment when I arrived. It became pretty obvious that the teachers preferred separate rooms as they slowly but surely constructed walls out of file cabinets, boxes and whatever else 33

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Alumni at 1995 reunion in Singapore gathered in front of the Kuhbander Fine Arts Center.

scuba diving with the Singapore Club Aquanaut, which no longer exists, and sailing as a result of a push from Dick Lewis who taught art and was another of those very instrumental in forming IASAS. I think a lot of good things happened while I was there because I believed then as I do now that every idea should see the light of day, whether that idea comes from faculty, parent, student or board member. For me, though, the best thing that happened came a half dozen years after I left SAS. I received a call one night from teacher Mike Imperi (8397) who was still at SAS. He told me that the King’s Road property was being sold, and the school was moving to the Woodlands area. As a result, commencement that year would be the final one in the auditorium and fine arts center that had been re-dedicated in my name in 1990. He went on to say that some of the faculty who had worked with me at SAS had joined together to pay for me and my wife to visit Singapore and that I was invited to speak at that final commencement.

I’ve told many a person that that act touched me deeply.

After all, how many bosses are invited from a half a world away at the expense of a group of teachers?

I sincerely wish SAS all the best in the future.

might be found. So, we added room dividers in the form of folding partitions, and we also added an additional tower, which contained, as I recall, 12 classrooms and a major laboratory area.

At King’s Road, we demolished the original principal’s house and the old gym and then constructed a contemporary gymnasium complete with weight and dance rooms; we renovated a building to form a two-storey library that looked out on a lovely Banyan tree; and we built a large and beautiful fine and performing arts center in 1987. A number of other modifications were made through the campus.

In all of this construction, I ensured that teacher input was sought and made part of the design. The art and music rooms, for example, came to their final form by the simple act of having the teachers review the architectural plans with the architect and my then directing that their suggestions be incorporated.

Those were the days, my friend As the song goes, those were the days, and in many ways, we thought they’d never end. But they did. I had nine great years working with the teachers and the board. I also took up running (primarily with the Hash House Harriers), 34

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Good Ol Days

Treasures from Ulu Pandan, 1972 to 1977

By Frederick Kurt “Cork” Graham (82) Wounded and left for dead, suffering from a concussion that would haunt me with migraines for ten years, I made it past my fear and pain, out of a bombed-out cornfield in El Salvador, and waved down a passing Army convoy, which carried me to a hospital. What I credit with this feat in 1986 were tenacity and resolve, whose fires were ignited during my years at SAS from 1972 to 1977.

My parents, my younger brother Frank and I arrived in Singapore, having previously lived in Saigon, South Vietnam: a memory that starts with my father and me on the roof of our home, as a U.S. Army chopper rocketed a Vietcong machine gun nest in a nearby high-rise during the 1968 Tet Offensive.

Like Jim (85) and July (81) Ellis across Moonbeam Walk, we were originally bused to Gillman SAS, an old British Army base on Alexandra Road. I still chuckle when I see The Bridge on the River Kwai, recalling when we stood in formation to the “Colonel Bogey March” and parodied it. (A search under “Comet” on Wikipedia.org brings up the parody’s lyrics.)

The Ulu Pandan campus, which opened in 1973, was a whole new world: after a sweet pull-tea from an Indian food stall along Holland Road and a short walk, I was daily reintroduced to the philosophies and magic of “Classrooms Without Walls,” to this day the most profound program in my childhood, enabling me to be at ease later as an 18-year-old journalist without a college degree, talking to a campesino in the field or the CEO of a company or the leader of a nation. Such

Below left:Ulu Pandan opened in 1973 with a new approach to learning known as Individually Guided Education. The belief was that an individualized program would best meet the needs of the school’s transient and diverse community, so multi-age communities were set up to encourage students to learn at their own pace based on their individual abilities. Each open “pod” at the new campus contained 120 students, and teachers shared responsibilities for all the children in the pod. The individualization worked well with some children, such as Cork, while others suffered from the lack of structure. Teachers were overwhelmed, and parents confused. The program was gradually phased out, and by 1982 walls divided the pods into self-contained classrooms.

Below right: 1976 class trip on board the USS Ranger. Everyone got Popsicles from the sailors – the highlight of the visit!

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Good Ol Days rapport-building skills were of utmost help in Vietnam in 1983, when it was all I could do to convince my trigger-happy (pun intended) interrogators that I was simply a teenager on his first big assignment for Associated Press and not a CIA “spyman” requiring execution by firing squad. This ability to connect with a variety of cultures and classes was instilled through an education system that built a fluid, interweaving interest in the global arena.

Of course, there was language, too. Sure, I spoke French and Vietnamese, along with my mother’s native Spanish, but Mandarin and Malay at Ulu Pandan, especially painting Chinese characters, stirred my interest in a variety of other languages I’ve also had to learn over the years, such as Russian, Korean and German. Not a day goes by that I’m not improving my level of fluency and increasing my vocabulary in a foreign language as a result of that glowing ember at Ulu Pandan.

Then there was teacher and nurse Nora Irvin (73-93), who set us straight on life, having been a survivor of WWII, making me appreciate the history of Southeast Asia and the world. My respect for her went so far as for me to become interested in medicine, something I practiced during my first non-journalistic position in Central America as combat medic.

On the field we had Coach Bava (71-06), whom I credit with showing me what was possible physically, with javelin, shot put, discus, field hockey and rugby. Robray Raiders Coach Proctor furthered that drive to never quit, even when all seemed impossible, something the U.S. Navy

SEALs also nurtured at a Salvadoran Naval Special Forces course in 1986.

When four members of the Pittsburgh Steelers came to Singapore, I was ecstatic when I didn’t stumble and caught a pass thrown by Lynn Swann, and rejoined the rest of my friends in line: Ed and Paul Delahaunty, Louis Scavone, Steven Studebaker, Colin Sturtevant, Michael Nutter, Oliver Byington, Mark Maydew, Robbie Oliver, Jimmy Stavina, Jimmy Ellis, Wade and Jonathan Longnecker, Kent Nolan, Bob Whelan and many other classmates whose names I apologize for having forgotten over time.

While instructing officers at the ROK Army MIL INTEL School in 2007, I was hit by how much Asia had changed and how auspicious it was to have experienced Southeast Asia during the Kennedy-induced idealism of the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s; and to have attended SAS in a time of such amazing educational innovations, especially as I now take on a new frontier, moving from recording histories in print to revealing them in celluloid.

Cork Graham is an award-winning journalist and author who has many stories of adventures in Vietnam and Central America. His Southeast Asia memoir, The Bamboo Chest: An Adventure in Healing the Trauma of War, was an Amazon top seller in the fall of 2004. He invites lost chums to contact him at www.corkgraham.com.

Robry Raiders in 1976. Cork is #83.

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Alum Spotlight

Why I skipped school for a week… and am totally okay with it!

Alum competes with peers to create an entire publication on the topic of “What if the draft were reinstated” in just two days – amd wins an internship with The Boston Globe. In Steph’s words, the experience was “awesome,” “ridiculous” and “wonderful.”

By Steph Yiu (04)

mailed and promptly forgotten.

Three months later, I was flying to Boston with nine other finalists. The competition was held in conjunction with the annual design conference. The top five students would get summer internships at The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Virginian-Pilot, The Dallas Morning News and the Hartford Courant.

We all nervously arrived at the Boston Park Plaza on Sunday, October 7. Within hours we were whisked off to a mixer with editors from The Boston Globe and the Christian Science Monitor. At about 11 p.m. that night, the competition organizer, Kristen, told us our task: create an entire publication around the topic of: “What if the draft were reinstated?”

We were divided into two groups of five, Team A and Team 1, and the two teams clustered in different parts of the hotel lobby and pow-wowed. My team talked for two hours straight and came to the conclusion that we would design an

I skipped school for a week because I was a finalist in some crazy design competition – the kind that makes you feel like you’re on reality TV. I was in the middle of an internship at The Oregonian in Portland, Oregon, when my design professor e-mailed to tell me to enter a design competition held by the Society of News Designers (SND) called “The Intern,” due tomorrow. The prompt? With only a pen and six pieces of paper, sketch out six panels of a news story (plus description) in any format you wish about the topic: “What if the draft were reinstated?”

In about three hours, I sketched the ugliest drawings you will ever see: six scenes from a news bureau in Second Life, not realizing that I would be the only competitor with an entirely online presentation. The pages were covered in stick figures and chicken scratch, stuffed into a manila envelope, 37

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Alum Spotlight

tion in some swanky club. There, among the many, many integrated tabloid and web publication. brilliant industry professionals I met, I bumped into the man Monday morning we were taken to The Boston Globe, who redesigned The Guardian and a managing editor of USA where an enormous, $50,000 G5 Mac lab had been preToday, and although I was nervous, it was pretty exciting. pared for us, with every software program imaginable. We worked until midnight. We had judges and Boston Globe deFriday morning, designer-extraordinaire Chip Kidd adsigners drop by to watch and give us advice, and our team dressed the entire conference with an absolutely inspiring tried to work collaboratively, playing up the strengths of each and entertaining speech. My favorite workshop of the confermember. It was an inence was when the New tense yet wonderful York Times spoke to us learning experience. about its R+D departTuesday morning we ment, which was just were back, and our fascinating and innovaprojects had to be comtive. I got pulled aside to pleted at noon. At 12:30, meet them, and they are we presented them to the just rock stars. executive, managing, A1, During the business photo, online and design lunch, in front of huneditors of the Globe (as dreds of conference attendees, Team A and well as many others). It Team 1 presented their was absolutely nervedesigns. Afterward, the wracking, and although judges from the five the editors were harsh, newspapers announced they made great suggesthe five finalists, and I tions. We finished Steph presents her team’s work to executives and editors from The Boston was one of them! “tweaking” by 6 p.m. that Globe, The New York Times, The Virginian-Pilot, The Dallas Morning News After that it was up night. Our team did a phe- and the Hartford Courant. “It was absolutely nerve-wracking!” to the conference nomenal job. attendees to vote for Wednesday was the their favorite intern. We big day of interviews, at five finalists went out to which each of us was inmeet as many people as we could, discussing our work and terviewed by the representatives from each paper – basishowing off our portfolios. The conference attendees would cally, a five-on-one interview. We each had half an hour with rank us, 1 through 5, and then we could pick an internship, in them. I brought my portfolio and talked to them about the order of the ranking. future of the newspaper industry.

On Saturday night at the final banquet, after days of workWednesday night, the 700 conference attendees started shops and competitions, Bridget O’Donnell came in first place showing up. All the interns went to the big bar party with the and picked The New York Times. I came in second place and attendees and basically started “schmoozing.” We talked with people from everywhere, from the Chicago Tribune to picked The Boston Globe. the San Francisco Chronicle. Getting to pick the brains of The week was ridiculous. I don’t even know how all of such talented people from the industry was amazing… and this stuff happened, I’m not really a designer and really quite overwhelming. more of a reporter. But, I am so excited about my internship at the Globe this summer!

On Thursday the conference began, and we all attended workshops on various topics relating to the newspaper inSo that’s why I skipped school... and am pretty okay dustry. Thursday night there was the huge opening reception, with it!

and the intern competitors were invited to the presidential suite to mingle at the pre-party. Then we headed to the recep38

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SAS Teachers

Peace Corps experiences bring teachers to SAS

By Brittany Hale (07)

alism and the overwhelming desire to avoid the Vietnam War draft were the biggest reasons that he joined.

Adams was based in Fiji in 1971 as a math teacher.

Kumpel was a coastal resources manager studying marine biology on the island of Bohol in the Philippines. Forgeron was a teacher in the small village of Gamba on the southern coast of Gabon on the equator of central Africa. He had to become fluent in French and then began teaching middle school and high school math. Turner worked with the wildlife department in Sri Lanka, tracking the leopard population in a national park and then taught health care to children in the tea estates.

Most volunteers say their experiences were absolutely rewarding. Kumpel said, “The family is so important to the Filipinos and to be accepted as a member of the family took a lot of hard work and time. They really treated me like a son.” The relationships and cultural ties were the most rewarding aspects of Kumpel’s experience. Cox said that the Peace Corps helped him “find himself.” Adams found happiness just by walking into class to teach as well as having his students do well on their external exams. The experience of a new life and making new friends from Africa and Europe were especially satisfying for Forgeron. It seems as if all the Peace Corps volunteers gained a lot of cultural knowledge along with the gratifying experience of giving their talents to the world.

All the volunteers had difficulty adjusting to their new environments. Cox, Turner, Forgeron, Adams and Kumpel all said it was very lonely being away from their home towns.

Kumpel explained, “I’ve never been that lonely before and don’t ever want to be that lonely again. It’s hard to explain but I didn’t see another American for the first three months or so I was in the Peace Corps. As much as people say they want to experience other cultures, it is a whole other matter to be 100 percent immersed in a foreign culture.” Leaving family was the main difficulty for Adams and Cox, however Forgeron said he was always independent. However, getting through the tough times made the volunteers learn so much about

When the Peace Corps idea was brought up by John F. Kennedy, people wondered what kind of person would want to join the Peace Corps. I found that there were many reasons why people volunteered. Science teacher Jay Kumpel decided it would be a great way to enhance his college education and do something that was culturally challenging. Math teacher Mark Forgeron said he simply wanted to do something that would impact the lives of less fortunate people in a positive way. The most common desirable thing about joining the Peace Corps was the idea of adventure and challenges of working in a far away land as math teacher Don Adams and primary school counselor Matthew Turner claim. However science teacher Michael Cox said the Kennedy-era ide-

Mike Cox, who has taught science at SAS since 1981, says that Kennedy-era idealism and an overwhelming desire to avoid the Vietnam War draft led him to join the Peace Corps.

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SAS Teachers

themselves, proving the saying “You never truly know yourself until you’re truly alone.”

Moving back home after the Peace Corps was a huge thing for all of the volunteers as so much had changed during the time they were gone. The lack of idealism and perspective and the materialism were a total shock. Adams revealed, “When I left people were in jeans and T-shirts and protesting the war. When I returned those same people were in three piece suits and their idealism was fading fast.” Kumpel experienced “reverse culture shock.” He felt that his “family and friends were so loud and blunt,” which made him realize that “we Americans are a bit brazen even if we don’t mean to be.”

Cox’s perceptions had completely changed: “I had a very Asian perspective on life and a worldview of current events. It really made a difference to look back at the U.S. from afar and to see things from another’s eyes.” Like Kumpel, he found his American friends to be quite narrow-minded. Another dilemma that came with returning home was the difference in lifestyles. As Turner put it, “I had lived a very simple life in Sri Lanka and I struggled with the materialism in the U.S. and how seemingly inane so many of the day-to-day worries were and are in the U.S.” Relating their experiences to friends and families was also hard. Many Americans did not even want to bother hearing about them, mostly because they could not even comprehend being so far from home or the extraordinary cultural differences.

These teachers’ hearts remained overseas, where they felt they had grown the most. This is the main reason that they now live overseas and have chosen to teach at the Singapore American School. For Kumpel “the Peace Corps reinforced the idea of service as a worthwhile aspiration in life.”

Don Adams, who has been at SAS since 1984, taught math in Fiji in the early 1970s. “When I left, people were in jeans and T-shirts protesting the war. When I returned those same people were in three-piece suits and their idealism was fading fast.”

The long lasting effects of the Peace Corps on its volunteers are clear when it comes to these teachers. They gained more than they ever expected in many different ways. They had their twists and turns in the process, but getting through everything inspired these teachers to give to others. They have all ended up in Singapore, once again lending their services to the young people who are going to shape the future of the world.

Idealistic volunteers who view teaching as a service and choose to remain engaged as teachers overseas enhance the school’s vision of empowering students with the confidence and courage to contribute to the global community 40

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Then & Now

THE NELSONS +2 7 @ SAS

By Linda Clarke SAS teacher 76-present Elizabeth Louise Wood was born to missionary parents in the South Indian town of Kodaikanal. The year was 1930. Two months later in Salina, Kansas, John Robert Nelson was born to a mail carrier and his wife. “Betty Lou” and Johnny were destined to create the biggest family ever to attend SAS. Betty Lou attended Kodaikanal School, graduating in 1948. She obtained her BS and RN certification from Mid-

land Fremont College (Nebraska) in 1953. While washing dishes in the college dining hall, she met Johnny. He received his BA in history/sociology in 1952, and they were married in 1953. Betty Lou worked while Johnny went to the Central Lutheran Theological Seminary, exiting in 1955 with a master’s of divinity. In 1954, Denise Jo, the first of their seven children, was born.

Johnny’s first appointment was as a missionary in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The first of several month-long ocean voyages to Southeast Asia began when Jo was not quite one

Nelson kids all grown up. Front, Michael and Erika; back, Peter, Tim, Jo, David and Philip.

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Then & Now Seven children followed in the footsteps of their illustrious parents. Each child attended SAS for a total of 70 school years! All excelled in either academics and/or sports. And with that beginning, let me introduce you in order to the Nelson 7 + 2.

Denise Jo (72) – Coach Kasi was her hero Denise Jo attended school on the original Rochalie Drive campus and moved with the school to King’s Road in 1962.

An early memory was coming home to report to her parents that the U.S. had 52 states, or so her British teacher had told the class! She graduated in 1972 in the first class to graduate over 100 students.

Jo performed in the first SAS musical, Oklahoma, a massive endeavor of choir, band and drama students under the creative guidance of teachers Jim Perry and Brian Leonard.

These charismatic teachers attracted incredible numbers of students and established the solid music program that continues at SAS today.

Jo also worked on the yearbook and was captain of the hockey team and MVP her senior year. Other memories include traveling to ISKL as part of the girls’ basketball team and scoring 3 of the 6 points that her team managed against a triumphant ISKL. Jo enjoyed science classes with Mrs. Abraham, and Coach Kasi was her hero.

She attended Midland Lutheran College and Immanuel Medical Center, becoming an RN in 1976. Jo lives in Des Moines, Iowa, and is a director of data governance at a large insurance company. Her daughter Jillian graduated from university this spring.

Tim (74) and the days of hippy haircuts Tim was born in Kuala Lumpur in 1956 and was the only Nelson to go straight through SAS on the King’s Road campus, K-12. Softball was his sport during his junior and senior years. He also has fond memories of Coach Kasi putting his arm around his players to “instruct” them during a game.

In 1972-73, the Singapore government promoted a conservative lifestyle, including short hair, in an effort to counteract the perceived decadent influences of the U.S. Men with “hippy” hair were served last in government offices and sometimes were denied entry to the country until they had haircuts. At the national basketball championships that year, the long-haired Eagles triumphed over Chung Cheng High School, breaking an 11-year winning streak. This was not the model Singapore wanted for its young people, and the Sports Council ruled that all participants would have short hair in the future. Some SASers in the upcoming rugby championship

Nelsons in 1967 (above) and 1968 (top).

year old, and it was home for the Nelsons until Johnny’s retirement in 1995. During that time, Johnny pastored the Lutheran church on Duke’s Road, then started the churches on Lutheran Road (1960), in Queenstown (1965) and in Bedok (1978). Incidentally, he also named Lutheran Road when the government asked the public for suggestions for road names.

The contributions of both Johnny and Betty Lou contained in Singapore/Malaysia in Singapore: The Encyclopedia published by the National Heritage Board .

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Then & Now grade graduation class was the first to complete classes at Ulu Pandan. The Ulu Pandan campus was designed in open “pods,” where students worked independently — a new way of teaching at the time.

Erika recalls the days of watching movies outdoors at the American Club. Her dad chose the name “Eagles Nest” for the new restaurant at the club that overlooked the swimming pool.

After graduating from ISKL, she continued her education in Nebraska, majoring in elementary education. She married a native Nebraskan, Jay, and has three children, Kristine (24) Bryan (21) and Josh (19). In May, Erika completed an MA in education. While studying she was the northeastern Nebraska manager for Head Start.

SAS educated nine Nelsons between 1961 and 2005 – a history almost as long as that of the school!

refused to do this, forfeiting the game. Subsequently SAS was barred from all national competitions.

Tim remembers there was no air conditioning in the classrooms, only ceiling fans! The gym had sliding/folding doors all around the building to catch breezes.

He earned a BA in natural science/respiratory therapy and later an MBA from Iowa State. He is Director of Cardiovascular Services with Alegent Health, Bergan Mercy Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska. He and Loree have three children — Ben (financial analyst), Jared (teaches English in Hangzhou, China) and Rachael, who just graduated from the University of Iowa.

David (76) played basketball against SAS David was born in Petaling Jaya, outside Kuala Lumpur, in 1958. He attended SAS for 11 years but graduated from ISKL. David very much enjoyed playing chess. He beat everyone, including science teacher Roby Johnson. As a basketball player, he remembers SAS coming to ISKL, where ISKL came out on top. Coach Kasi was not happy that he had trained David for all those years, only to have him play – and win – against SAS. David went on to get a BS in computer science and an MS and a PhD in mathematics from the University of Kansas.

He is a full professor and chair of the mathematics department at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. As a 50th birthday gift, David visited Malaysia and Singapore this year.

Philip (81) was outstanding student and athlete Philip is the first of the last three sons, all of whom were born in Singapore. Phil was born on December 31, 1962, and later learned that he was a tax deduction. His parents used the deduction money to buy a new swimsuit for his mom. Phil went to SAS for six years, then ISKL for four years and finished high school at King’s Road. Volleyball was his first season varsity sport; he was captain and MVP of the basketball team his senior year; and track and field was his spring sport. The same Coach Kasi who had taught his brothers and sister made a huge bet that Phil would score 38 points in a basketball game. Kasi won the bet (no, Coach Norman was not aware of this sideline bet!). Phil was vice president of the senior class and received the Burdell-Wood award as outstanding senior male student.

The honors continued as Phil received his undergraduate degree (biology, chemistry and natural science) with summa cum laude distinction from his parents’ alma mater and later an MBA from Harvard. He joined the Navy in 1985 and saw active duty in various places, including service during the 1991 Gulf War. On 9/11, Phil was in the Pentagon when the plane crashed into the building. He remains a commander in the Navy reserves. While stationed in Japan, Phil met Tiki, a German gal. They have two daughters, ages 4 and 2, and live in Bangalore, India, where Phil works for AOL as a senior vice president and general manager.

Erika (79) was at three different campuses Erika was born during the missionary furlough year of 1960 in Salina, Kansas. She went to SAS from K-8 and had one year at the Alexandra campus, meeting in Quonset huts, while the Ulu Pandan campus was being built. Her eighth

Peter (83) was outstanding Eagle as well Peter was born in 1964. He attended SAS K-3 and 8-12, graduating in 1983. He captained both the volleyball and basketball teams his senior year and was MVP in volleyball.

He also received the outstanding male athlete award.

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Then & Now The “sweet” legend of Coach

A fond Interim Semester memory is consuming a three-pound bacon sandwich on “Baker’s Island” at the end of the week when the only remaining food supplies were bread and bacon! That was back in the days when students in that particular program were expected to scavenge their food from the sea and rain forest, and any “real” food was a treat.

Peter earned a BS degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Kansas and while there met Kelly. After eight years at Cessna Aircraft in Wichita, Peter and Kelly moved to San Jose, where he is an engineer for BAE Systems, and Kelly is a human factors engineer at IBM. Daughter Claudia is 2.

Michael (85) – Last of the seven Michael is the last son and was born in 1966. He was at SAS for two years and ISKL for four, returning to SAS for his middle and high school years. Michael played varsity volleyball and basketball, was in NHS and was MUN president and president of the junior class as well as student council president in 1984-85.

He graduated from Northwestern University in 1989 with double majors in economics and political science. Michael is presently in Shanghai as director of Citibank’s Multinational Corporate Sector. He and JeanEllen have three children — Kailey (11) and Dylan (10) were both born in Singapore while Stephen (1) was born in Beijing.

By Junia Baker, Editor Coach Kasi holds a special place in the hearts of many SAS athletes, not just the Nelson bunch. One of my earliest SAS memories is in 1972 or so, when Jim Baker (66), who was then the basketball coach and had been one of Kasi’s athletes, grumbled to me, “The kids called me ‘Coach’ today.

They can’t DO that! There’s only one Coach!”

K.S. Kasinathan was the school’s first fulltime qualified PE teacher and athletic director, and he opened entire new vistas for SAS athletes and continued to do so for 20 years.

He won the love and loyalty of many, many athletes and the affection of many others, including me. Every student who played sports at SAS between 1963 and 1983 has a story about Coach. The testimonials in the 1983 Islander include: “Coach expects the best and the most out of each and every member of his team.”

“The only cool teacher in this school.”

“He is a man above men.”

“He will be remembered for his warm smile, ‘OK, sweet’ and rapping boys on the tops of their heads.”

Coach was born in Sri Lanka and attended Springfield College in Massachusetts. He has the rare distinction of having represented three different countries in sports – Sri Lanka in rugby, the United States as a member of the national collegiate all star soccer team and Singapore in cricket.

He left Singapore in 1983 to teach at Kodaikanal International School (the very school Betty Lou Nelson attended – small world, isn’t it?). In 1987, he joined the International School of Luxembourg at the invitation of former SAS Superintendent Harry Barteau (66-69) who was then head of ISL. He retired in 2002 but continues to win the affection of past and present students as coordinator of ISL’s alumni association.

The next generation of Nelsons at SAS And here is where the “+2” comes into the Nelson SAS story. Michael worked for Citibank in Singapore from 20012005, and Kailey and Dylan attended SAS during that time.

Michael’s first grade teacher, Faridah Mallal, substituted one day for his son Dylan’s first grade class. Yes, Faridah remembered teaching Michael!

SAS had Nelson kids from 1961-1985 with a break from 1974-78 while the family was in Kuala Lumpur. In 1971-72, all seven Nelson children attended SAS! If you include the second generation of Nelsons, they were present a total of 78 school years. How much tuition was paid? Well, the mathematicians can do those calculations in their spare time. The Nelsons hold an SAS attendance record that most likely will never be broken!

Johnny and Betty Lou travel the world in their retirement years. They have a house in Arkansas and a cabin on a lake in Minnesota, but much of the year is on the road visiting family in Georgia, Iowa and California. They spend part of each year overseas, visiting their former churches as well as stopping

in India and China for family visits.

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SAS visits alums in San Francisco, Boston and New York in February

By Lauren Thomas, Associate Director of Alumni Relations

3

On a Monday night in an upscale Singaporean restaurant in San Francisco, 25 SAS alumni representing years from 1965 to 2005 met to enjoy American-made versions of roti prata, satay and vegetable samosas. Kristin Searle Lundberg (64) saw her friend Ginny Bordwell Daws (63) for the first time since they had left SAS. Ever yone enjoyed seeing photos of themselves in high school on a laptop slideshow the alumni office had prepared. After attending the event, brother and sister Shastri and Shahani Purushotma Towfiq (92) called their little brother Ravi (99) in Boston and urged him to attend the SAS party in Boston that coming Wednesday night! The drinks were flowing and the chat was animated‌ a great night!

1. Shahani Purushotma Towfiq (92) and Shastri Purushotma (90).

2. Gretchen Perry Vander Kamp (65), Ginny Bordwell Daws (63), Elaine Wales Koch (70).

3. Back: Hal Marz (90), Nathalie Vo-Ta Antus (90), Carol Pernikar (89); seated: Kenny Ikei (02), Robin Hale, Cork Graham (82).

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Class of 92: Amanda Oo Morton, Katherine Low, Anne Cangi, Jillian Leviton Wiseman, Matt Nealon.

Yongwook Kim (01), Colin Nederkoorn (00), Emily Reiff (00).

SAS alums party with SAS reps on a chilly February evening in Boston

Tara Varghese (03), Francesco Zargani (86), Likai Liu (00), Alex McCabe (04), Kate Hollenbach (03).

Superintendent Brent Mutsch and I flew west into a cold, snowy Boston for the second event. Being a Singapore expat, I huddled in my warm hotel room, wondering if anyone would attend the party at John Harvard’s Brew House in such terrible weather! The Boston alums are a hardy bunch, and instead of having an empty bar, we had a fantastic (well-bundled up) group of 30, many of whom were students at the local universities. The Class of 92 was well-represented, with Jillian Leviton Wiseman, Anne Cangi, Amanda Oo Morton, Katherine Low and Matt Nealon in attendance. These alums meet regularly, but they were pleased to catch up with people like Francesco Zargani (86), Emily Reiff (00) and John Paul (95) and Karen Botcheller (98), who also keep the SAS spirit going in Boston.

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New York, New York We started a new IASAS tradition in New York City, packing six schools’ 200+ alumni into a tiny bar on 27th Street. SAS alumni were the largest group there! They were thrilled to catch up with one another and with IASAS friends from Manila, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Jakarta, many of whom attended more than one IASAS school during their childhoods. The party was still hopping well past the 8:30 p.m. finish time, and many alumni made plans to meet later that week. Rob Oandasan (03) said that he and some of his classmates met at a local Singaporean restaurant that very Saturday and plan to get together more often now that they know they’re all nearby. Stay tuned for details of next year’s IASAS reunion; we now know we’ll have to provide a bigger space to hold everyone!

Jesper Lovendahl Johansen (92) and Greg Leviton (91).

Katie O’Gorman (99), Reshma Ketkar (96), Sara Dallaire (96), Alison Smith (97), Sveta Srinivasan (97).

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3 More New York party photos 1. Susan Rath Latos (66) and Douglas Lee (76).

2. Anish Jain (02) and former superintendent Bob Gross 3. Claire Tan (98) and sister Anne-Marie Tan (96), daughters of Kathy Saludo Tan (67 alum and current teacher).

4. Paul Chmelik (former HS principal) and Nicholas Haslett (03).

5. Anita Krishnan (02) and Deepti Singh (02).

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Young Alums Annual reunion for graduates of the last ten years was held on December 17, 2007 in the Union Bar American Club Singapore

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Notes & Quotes

Kathy Blake (71), Linda Chambers Pringle (72) and Debbie Bruns Lucas (71) at annual Super Bowl party.

Ernest Glass (67) and wife Gina visited Singapore last year and caught up with stilllocal residents Kathy Tan (67), Abe and Jolly Abraham (59-92), Russ Ng (67) and Jim Baker (66).

1956 Stuart Lippe reports that he had lunch with former SAS Superintendent Bob Gross (99-07) in December 07 to talk about fond memories of Singapore, albeit at different times and from distinctly different perspectives as Stuart was a ninth grader when he left SAS in 1956.

Bob was leaving the next day for an extensive visit to European schools for the State Department. He sends warm greetings to all.

1966 Class rep: Sandra Pinckney, sandraptv@aol.com Sandra Pinckney has an award-winning television show on the Food Network, Food Finds, as well a food column in the Baltimore Sun. She volunteers for the Heifer Foundation, which is also the charity choice of SAS third graders.

1968 Carol Yarnell retired from her job as a

Lifeway editor. At her company’s retirement party, former classmate Allen Lundy, whom Carol hadn’t seen in 30 years, surprised her with a funny, touching speech about her unique life and personality traits.

1969 Diane Brannon lives in Leesburg, near Orlando, with husband Wesley and two cats. She retired after 31 years as an educator – 4 years as a 1st grade teacher and 27 years as a Guidance Counselor.

She’s planning to pursue her love of nature and landscape photography.

1970 Class reps: Wendy Lamont-Woolbright, wlamontwoolbright@cox.net; Don Chambers, don@donchambers.com Wendy Lamont-Woolbright has retired after 33 years as a speech and language pathologist in the Rhode Island Public Schools. Her youngest child will graduate from high school in June.

William McGhee is VP with a pump distributor in Minneapolis and teaches college part time. His ambition is to retire in 7 years and then teach at SAS.

1972 Class rep: Kathleen Moskal Fischer, silk@hawaii.rr.com Randall Mayhall of Houston, Texas, passed away on October 28, 2007 at the age of 51.

Steven Pringle and Linda Chambers Pringle hosted their annual Super Bowl party in Tuscon, Arizona – just 80 miles from the real thing in Phoenix. In addition to watching the game, Don Chambers (70), Debbie Bruns Lucas (71), Kathy Blake (71), and Mitchell Wood (72) reminisced over their Islander yearbooks!

1973 Class rep: Debbie Dudley Bodal, ddbodal@comcast.net Peter North visited Singapore for the first time in 29 years in September 2007. Since 2002, Peter has worked as CEO of his local Habitat for Humanity in Hamilton, New Zealand. He has increased the housing outcomes six-

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Notes & Quotes

Greg Myhre (73) has worked as an insurance broker in Anchorage, Alaska for 27 years, where he lives with his wife of 23 years, Debbie, and their 3 children, Kjersti 22, Lindsi 19, and David 15. Greg and Debbie have been very active in their kids’ sporting and music activities. They both love to cook, listen to their son’s band and enjoy the beautiful Alaskan scenery.

Joe Summers (73) and Rose (Garacci) Summers (75) plan to spend their retirement flying.

Peter North (73) then and now.

fold, raised $2 million per year in donated funds, oversees 11 staff and has sent house building teams to Fiji, Mexico, Sri Lanka, India, Mongolia, South Africa and the Philippines. In July 2008 Peter and his wife of 25 years, Vicki, are leading a team of 40 to build houses in Siem Reap, with a stopover

After 28 years Joel Kjome (80) and Dean Jackson (81) were re-united in February 2008 at a Houston, Texas truck stop.

There they enjoyed a few hours of great memories and conversation about their years at SAS. Dean and wife Melanie own a construction restoration business in Houston and Joel has a Peterbuilt semi and is owner-operator based out of Rockford Township, Minnesota, where he is also board supervisor of the township.

Debbie (Dudley) Bodal (73) sent in this photo of a great memory from a class trip to Fraser’s Hill. Back row (l to r) Christine Stankard (73), Rose Garacci (75), Lene Haumann (73), Peggy Peck (73). Second row Jackie Taylor (73), Debbie Dudley, Debra Grayson (73) and in front, Lesli Edge (73). Debbie says, “The teacher that was on the trip was Mr. Paratore, who was a great teacher, young and very tolerant of all of us, that is probably why we all chose to go on this trip with him!”

in Singapore on their way home. The couple has two children, Jonathan and Jennifer. Peter’s sister Jane lives in Fort Worth and brother Paul lives in Los Angeles. Peter encourages any alums visiting New Zealand to contact him, he’d be happy to host you!

Marc Garrett has worked as a private consultant in the oil and gas industry for the last 12 years and is now based in Jakarta. He has great memories of a trip through Europe with Joe Summers after graduation, and of a “boondoggle” SAS trip to Fraser’s Hill with teacher Dave Paratore.

Joe Summers has returned to the States, after almost 30 years working in the oilfield in 15 countries. He is look-

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Notes & Quotes Chest: An Adventure in Healing the Trauma of War, was a Fall 2004 Amazon.com topseller. An avid pilot, Cork is searching for a new Chesapeake Bay or Brittany co-pilot and field pal.

1983

Christine Houba Okamoto (86) and husband Nobutake of Japan, now live in Irvine, California with their infant daughter Karisa.

Michael Fiala (80), wife JuDan and son Dante now live in Singapore, where Michael works for Reuters.

ing forward to a fun and active retirement with his wife Rose Garacci Summers (75) at their beautiful home in the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon.

In his spare time, Joe flies his ultra light plane, and someday plans to fly from Oregon down to Louisiana and back with Rose acting as ground support.

Sean Purdom and wife Gina visited SAS in November and discovered a picture of Sean in kindergarten in the 1970-71 Memory Book. He threatened to swipe the book unless Alumni Director Lauren Thomas scanned the page for him. His cousin, Suzanne Moilanen, is a current SAS parent with two teenagers, Nicholas (10) and Zachary (08).

1980

1985

Class rep: Susan StudebakerRutledge, susan@studebakerrutledge.com May Png Nepia lives with her husband Paul and their two daughters in Doha, Qatar. She remembers fun middle school days at Ulu Pandan and would like to catch up with Carrie Dodds and Chris Bowen.

Class reps: Lenny Perry, leonardaperry@gmail.com; Lisa Kukula, ltkukula@hotmail.com; LuAnne Boone Balelo, lujorio@earthlink.net Lisa Kukula was in Singapore for training with the U.S. Navy, participating in a war game exercise that is taking place in three different countries. Lisa enlisted in the Navy Reserve after 9/11.

Lisa has stopped by SAS a few times to have lunch and pick up her nephew, an SAS third-grader.

1982 Class rep: Steven Studebaker, steves@group-air.com.vn Frederick “Cork” Graham has returned to California from a year instructing at the ROK Army MIL INTEL School in Seoul, South Korea. He is an aircraft broker (Asia/Latin America) and film producer, having previously been a combat photographer for the Associated Press and Reuters in Asia and Latin America. His memoir, The Bamboo Cynthia Houba Green (83) now lives in Russia. She likes the cross-country skiing with neighbors from Finland, Estonia, Australia and Austria. She and husband Anthony have enjoyed the Bolshoi Ballet several times, taking son Oliver (left) to children’s productions.

1987 Class rep: Julie Vail Freedman, julie.vail@yahoo.com Rosette Bradley Braaten will celebrate her 21st wedding anniversary with fellow alum Mike Braaten (85) this year with a vacation in Asia. Since leaving SAS, the Braatens have had two kids, Shauna 18, and Jimmy 14. Mike is a police sergeant in Santa Monica and Rosette is a PE teacher.

Pilar Wolfsteller joined the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, Inc. Switzerland as the firm’s external communications manager. She

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Notes & Quotes Kelly (Johns) Barrios and her husband Joe have two children, daughter Riley 6 and son Robbie 2 in Orange County, California, where Kelly is a stay at home mom. The family enjoys regular road trips to the Sierra Mountains and Oregon.

has spent most of the past 16 years based in Germany and Switzerland, working across Europe and the Middle East, first as a journalist for Bloomberg and Reuters news agencies, then as a media relations specialist for a Swiss bank. She and her Swiss beau, René Sollberger, plan to marry this coming October in Virginia.

1989 Class rep: Lauren Kuhbander Thomas, lkuhbander@yahoo.com Erik Dierks is head of the development office of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, which will perform at the Beijing Music Festival in October 08.

1988 Class rep: Lily Supardan, lsupardan@gmail.com Darren Wilson and his wife Nadine married in 1995 and now have two children, Michael 5 and Carly 3. Since 2000, the Wilson family has lived in the West End of Edmonton, Alberta. Darren started his own Directional Drilling consulting business in 2006.

David Mercer lives in Spanish Fort, Alabama with his wife, Melinda, and two children: Melissa 5 and Paul 2. David is involved in his church, the Senior Bowl Committee (organizes the college allstar game for NFL prospects) and a local Mardi Gras organization.

Tammie Thompson Good is married with three children (ages 8, 6, and 18 months) in Calgary, Canada. She works part time as an occupational therapist, enjoys teaching fitness classes and owns a small jewelry business.

Jennifer Vesper and Tom Wagner will celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary in October. They met at SAS in 1988, lost touch for 9 years and then met again at an SAS high school reunion in Las Vegas. Jennifer is director of development for the historic Tampa Theatre and Tom is public relations manager for The Florida Aquarium in Tampa. They look forward to catching up with other SAS alumni in Orlando this summer.

Shannon Salter Burghardt is a full-time mom to Thomas 10 and Victoria 4. She and her husband of 15 years, Robert, live just outside Philadelphia, where

1990 Jesper Lovendahl Johansen (92) lives in New York with his wife and daughter. He is president of the Danish American Chamber of Commerce. He founded a global online business network for international Danes and was included in “Top 100 Talents in Danish Business 2006” by a leading Danish business magazine.

He leads U.S. operations for the digital ad agency VerticPortals in Soho.

Shannon volunteers at the school library and for the PTCA and chairs her son’s Cub Scout pack. She occasionally freelances for a New York-based catering company.

Lily Supardan has been busy planning the June 21st Class of 1998 (& beyond) reunion in Orlando, Florida, with Kelly Johns. She and Kelly hope to see you there! Lily lives in Seattle with her partner Shon, where she works in human resources for a software company, teaches fitness classes, does massage therapy part time and performs with two fire troupes, Pyrosutra and Womanipura. In her spare time, she does yoga, bikes and frequents sushi joints.

Class rep: Nathalie Vo-Ta Antus, nantus@msn.com J. Lynn Milliman Burton and husband Robert adopted their third and fourth children in April 08 and would like to

Lily Liu Chan (94) and husband Vincent welcomed Benjamin Vincent in February 2008.

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Notes & Quotes

Angie Jones Whitworth (95) married Chris Whitworth in May 2007. The couple now lives in Austin, Texas. Attending the wedding were alums Stephanie Hill (93), Vicki Rameker Rogers (95), Kelly Noonan, Mark Amador (95), Ed and Jill Wu (95), Matt Rogers (95), Mike Pallarino (95) and Clay Roup (95).

Sara Dallaire (96) and John Cox (98) caught up in Shanghai at a New Year’s party, where Sara’s parents live. John has been in Shanghai since 05, working with media companies. Younger brother, Darren (01) also lives in Shanghai.

Pam Conavay Lindholm (96) married B.J. Lindholm in Roseville, California, on May 19, 2007. April Hixon-Goldsmith (95) was a guest, and maid of honor was Pam’s sister Elaine Conavay Gresham (92). In August 2007, Pam graduated from California State University-Sacramento with a master’s degree in biological conservation. She started her new job in restoration with the Department of Water Resources in February 08.

Amy Pack Bascom (94) visited with Tracey Wimer Shepard and family at Sea World, San Antonio in March 07. Amy is a stay-at-home-mom with four boys in West Jordan, Utah. Husband Adam works for U.S. Postal Service. In front are Adam and Amy Bascom, Tracey and Jeremiah Shepard holding Miah; back row, Aaron and Nathan Bascom, Taylor Shepard, Zach Bascom.

Christine Schaetzl will complete a post-masters training program in advanced clinical social work with a focus on individual therapy in 2009.

In addition to academic work, she works at a clinic in New York City to build her clinical skills.

Kate Pierse dropped by SAS for a visit last November en route from Australia to Virginia.

national affairs at the School of Government at Texas A&M. His wife has been awarded a full scholarship to pursue a PhD in Statistics at Texas A&M.

1993 adopt more. Lynn is president of the Calcasieu/Cameron Parish Foster Parent Association in Louisiana and is looking for sponsors for local children to attend camp this summer.

Nathalie (Vo-Ta) Antus would like the Class of 1990 to check out this blog: sas90.wordpress.com.

1992 Class rep: Jennifer Kahn Liguorl, jenniferliguorl@hotmail.com

Alyssa Amador Conover and her brother Mark Amador (95) founded Foundations Learning Center, a tutoring business for students of all ages, in 2006. The business has grown steadily, and Alyssa and Mark are thrilled with their accomplishment. Alyssa and her husband, a Fort Lauderdale firefighter, are expecting twins. Mark is still enjoying the single life.

Raoul Rolfes and his wife are relocating to Texas, where he will study inter-

Sawako Morikawa (96), GahYan Tsui (96) and Alison Smith (97) at Newton Circus hawker center during their visit to Singapore in March 2008.

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Notes & Quotes

Tracy Koh Karplus and her husband Steven Karplus, an ASIJ alum, had a baby girl on April 20, 07 – Lily Siena Karplus. The family lives in New York.

Allyson Tippie (99) and Victor Rameker (97) were married in Ubud, Bali on January 1, 08, followed by a Chinese wedding dinner in Singapore on January 6. Family at the wedding included Vicki Rameker Rogers (95), Matt Rogers (95) and Nathan Tippie (08). SAS friends attending the Bali ceremony included Rob Reynolds (96), Daniel Jol (97) and Mike Rogers (00).

1998 Class reps: Jaclyn Schmidt, Jaclyn.Schmidt@gmail.com; Shari VoTa, svota@hotmail.com Jessie Imperi has finished a full year

1994 Class reps: Heather Brown Hopkins, hmhopkins77@yahoo.com; Carrie Taylor, carriebrooke@hotmail.com World-renowned cellist Inbal Megiddo visited SAS in November. She gave several mini recitals and coached individual students over several days.

Brian Sullivan and wife Heather Rains Sullivan (97) had a baby girl, Rubyjane on April 23, 07 in San Diego.

1996 Class reps: Sara Dallaire, Sara.dallaire@gmail.com; Chris Ellis, wellis@gmail.com Paula Welter is expecting her first child this summer. She and her husband live in Boston.

Claire Tan (98) is engaged to Leon Liu (96). They plan to return to Singapore to celebrate their wedding on August 23.

Living in NYC are Reshma Ketkar, Sara Dallaire, who works for Tiffany & Company in public relations, Chris Ellis, who graduated law school last year, and Matt Keenen, who works for Standard & Poor’s.

1997 Julie Welter is engaged and expecting her first child this summer. She lives in South Carolina with her fiance who works as a chef.

Jamie Presnail (03) and Callista were married in the Dominican Republic in November 2007.

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Notes & Quotes of cosmetology school, recently passed her state board exams and now works at Floyd’s Rock & Roll Barber Shop and Salon in Boulder, Colorado. Daughter Shayna is now in third grade in Boulder.

Kelly Sonnack works for a literary agency in southern CA and recently linked a Singaporean author with a U.S. publisher. The children’s book, The Elephant and the Tree, is now available in both Singapore and the United States.

1999 Class rep: William Mathopoullos, wzorba80@yahoo.com Elizabeth Love is moving to Singapore from France in July 2008. In France, Elizabeth was teaching at the American School of Paris. In Singapore, Elizabeth will teach at the Australian International School.

Tim Ciavarella was married in October 2006. He and his wife Shannon live in Ravenna, Ohio, and are expecting their first child, a daughter, in June 2008.

Christian Ward is the navigator on an Arliegh Burke Class Destroyer (The USS BULKELEY). He has lived in Virginia Beach since May 2007, but has been in and out of port with his deployments for the Navy.

2004

2006

Emily Fenske graduated from the University of Minnesota with a major in Spanish in May.

Kristina Imperi travelled through Europe for four months in 2007. She lives in Evergreen, Colorado, where she takes voice lessons, snow skiis and plays the harp.

2005 Class reps: Cordelia Ross, s87b@hotmail.com; Barnabas Lin, barnabas-lin@northwestern.edu Olivia Kelly is at Cape Town University on a 6-month university exchange. Her home university is University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Olivia has just finished a 3-month volunteer project in Madagascar. She visited Singapore in December 2007, and attended the SAS Homecoming basketball game.

Gil McMillan is attending the U.S. Naval Academy and hopes to become a pilot for the Navy or Marine Corps. He “cherishes the eternal ties” he has with classmates from SAS and says says that his SAS education was a prominent factor in being accepted to the academy.

2007 Michelle Schmitz is a prospective biological sciences/history of science major at the U. of Chicago. She’s involved in Model UN, working at both high school and college conferences. She went to Boston in March to pursue an externship at the Steele Laboratory and hopes to go to Shanghai over the summer to practice her Chinese. She says that anyone with questions about medical or laboratory internships should contact her -- also, she quips, any packages of chicken rice and satay would be greatly appreciated.

Julia Knight is enjoying her freshman year at Yale and is contemplating history, political science, ethics as majors

2001 Class reps: Leon Bart-Williams, leon@ckb.corp.com; Jeffrey Kong, Jkong@northwestern.edu Sabrina Imperi will finish her AMI International Montessori teacher’s training this June in Denver. She has taken up learning African and Native American percussion instruments. She writes children’s stories and hopes to go overseas to teach.

Teresa Fenske has graduated from the University of Minnesota and is now a Peace Corps volunteer in Vanuatu.

John Dankowski (principal 71-72), floating around NASA, says “I’ve got the greatest retirement job one could ask for!”

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Notes & Quotes Bill and Marlene Regan (1996-2001) have moved to California from the Dominican Republic. The couple is celebrating their 35th wedding anniversary this year.

Ben (01) lives and works as a PE teacher near Fresno, California. Will (99) is substitute teaching and working on his special education credential. Ross (05) will be attending Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo next year.

and will be working for the New Haven Economic Development Department this summer. She misses friends and teachers at SAS.

Parents and Faculty Rep: Karen Studebaker (75-81), kds@studebaker-rutledge.com Former Faculty Andrea Fenske (HS math teacher 8197) is a school social worker in Minnesota.

Mike Imperi (HS social studies teacher 83-97) and his wife Kathi moved from Boulder, Colorado, to Las Vegas, Nevada, when Mike accepted a position as headmaster at the Alexander Dawson School at Rainbow Mountain in August 2007.

Rosita Abrew left SAS last summer to look after her husband, who had suffered a heart attack. He has since made a remarkable recovery. Rosita worked at King’s Road from 1970-1982 when Jack

McLeod, John Plank, Richard Lyden and Mel Kuhbander were superintendents and returned to SAS from 2004–2007.

She misses the adorable kiddies in the the Early Childhood Center.

Anna and Michael Citrino have begun their first year teaching grade four and grade seven, respectively, at the American Embassy School in New Delhi, India. The Citrinos are “loving the cool temperatures in the winter there, the opportunity to see the Himalayas and the immense cultural diversity of India.”

Elizabeth “Liz” Duval – Karen Studebaker had a long telephone conversation with Liz Duval (Saturn 75-77) who left Singapore for Medan and the jungles of Sumatra, but ultimately fled small town island life for the bright lights of San Francisco. She thought she had retired, but was coaxed back to take on a long assignment as a kindergarten substitute. Check in with Liz when you are in the Oakland area. She’d love to hear from you.

Nora Irvin – Congratulations to Nora Irvin down there across the Big Pond who had a milestone birthday in late 2007. The current faculty at SAS, led by David Hoss, prepared messages and a scrapbook to send to her in Australia.

The world loves Nora and we’d all like to see her again and hear some more of her stories of life in India, Malaysia and the early days of Singapore. I liked the one about her being in charge of borrowing elephants (I think from the Sultan of Johor) and having the elephants walked down from Malaysia for some special event for SAS students. She always had a funny ending to each one. Won’t someone who spends time with her (Diane Peterson, Mary O’Keefe or Andree Rajoo) please record some of those for the SAS Archives? We are thinking of you Nora!

Mahaya Menon (SAS Elementary/Middle School 1968-1994) has been a volunteer at Singapore Botanic Gardens since retirement. She researched the plants and wrote the text for the tour of the edible and medicinal plants area, which happens the first Saturday of each month. She trains the guides for this tour. She is also planning an organic healing garden at a friend’s farm.

Meg Monks (Beta and Curriculum Resource Office 72-79) and husband Ron Manning live in San Antonio. Meg goes back to D.C. to visit her family every three months. While there last fall she had lunch with Bonnie Leister, who is still a busy principal. Meg had

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Notes & Quotes

Chuck, Lisa, Mike (90) and Carolyn (93) Crosse.

news that Toni Crouch (Ulu Pandan Counselor 74-76) is still in D.C., but has bought a home in Maine. Meg and Ron spent the summer in the Pacific Northwest. They’ll be back home in Texas in summer 2008.

Andree Rajoo (French teacher for 43 years) has spent the spring visiting son Rishy and his family in West Palm Beach, Florida. She keeps in touch with Lonnie Barili (Alpha teacher in the 70s) who lives in Italy.

Michelle Ricketts (teacher 1962-95) writes from her home in Australia that 2007 was a year when both she and husband Ricky got acquainted with hospitals. Ricky had double by-pass, a replacement heart valve and more, but ended the year on a healthy note. ”He’s now working in the garden with gusto harvesting vegetables to

roses.” Michelle had a hip replacement that went well. Their son Paul now lives in Columbus, Ohio, is working in a doctor’s clinic and has just joined the Franciscan Order as a secular brother. Marc (89) is between jobs and busy with interviews, but stays busy with LandMark Education as well as his oratorio choir.

Areta and John Schock are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. They currently stay active through the Brookings-Harbor Lions, Brookings Elks Lodge, Brookings Emblem Club, Crescent City Elk Lodge and BrookingHarbor Garden Club. They are looking forward to trips to Bangkok, Canada, and China in 2008.

Judy Bushman Scott has moved just outside Colmesneil, Texas. She loves it out in the “boondocks” and says she’s feels like a “country mouse” if she goes somewhere with a population of over 15,000. She has a cabin 150 feet from the lake’s edge. She would love to see or hear from anyone who thinks they can find her. That sounds like an invitation to organize a 70s-80s faculty/staff retreat, doesn’t it?

Steff Sanvik died at his home in Snohomish, Washington in February 08 in the company of his wife Pat and daughters, Kristen and Tollie. Steff was a talented music and band teacher who had “the gift” of engaging students in the joy of music. He was a warm and wonderful individual who always had a twinkle in his eye and a ready joke or story from his Norwegian heritage.

Although better known for her literature classes and her work with the

SAS Peace Initiative, Dr Roopa Dewan has been visiting the Leprosy Home with students and former teacher Bob Dodge since 1996. She plans to continue her sponsorship of the students next year even though she too is retiring.

Parents SAS parents Chuck and Lisa Crosse have been living in Aurora, Colorado for the past 15 years. During their time in Singapore (1980-86) Chuck was GM of Times Publishing and a director of Dilingham International. Lisa was active in AWA and wrote for the Singapore American newspaper and other Singapore magazines. Their son Mike (90), was a sophomore in college when he suffered traumatic head injuries in an automobile accident in 1993. He made an amazing recovery and graduated in 1995. Daughter Carolyn (93) completed her schooling in Hong Kong and the States. She graduated from the University of Oregon and obtained a master’s in art and design education from Pratt Institute. She now is studio manager of the UCC Arts and Crafts Center, Santa Monica.

Jim and Cathy Houba have been running an international import business from Florida since Jim took early retirement from GM in 1992. They travel overseas 2-3 times a year and have been back to Singapore 10 times since they left. Cathy feels that Singapore was a wonderful place to raise their girls for 13 years and that their SAS experience prepared them well.

Send your news and photos for the December 08 issue of SAS Journeys to journeys@sas.edu.sg. Please note that the magazine will not list e-mail addresses. If you want to communicate with SAS classmates or teachers, you may register with other alumni at http://alumni.sas.edu.sg.

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Reunions

Kansas City Reunion June 21, 2008 Michelle Cooper Staley (78): Michelle1@everestkc.net

What Happened at SAS, Happens in Vegas IV! July 31-August 3, 2008 Raoul Rolfes (93): raoul.rolfes@gmail.com

Semi-Annual Reunion in Orlando June 21, 2008 Kelly Johns (88): kellyjohns@hotmail.com

Class of 79 Thirtieth Reunion in Houston June 2009 Katy Hayes Jordan (79): pukikj@msn.com ○

Class of 98 Ten-Year Reunion in Las Vegas June 27-29, 2008 Shari Vo-Ta (98): sasclass98@gmail.com

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Information on all reunions: alumni.sas.edu.sg ○

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Singapore’s Eagles, the history of SAS and Singapore, is on sale at the SAS online store.

The photos alone make it a book to cherish.

See http://alumni.sas.edu.sg/?storefront or snail-mail Lauren Thomas, Associate Director of Alumni Relations, Singapore American School, 40 Woodlands Street 41, Singapore 738547.

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Published by the Office of Communications and Development 40 Woodlands Street 41 Singapore 738547 Tel: (65) 6363-3403 Fax: (65) 6363-3408 www.sas.edu.sg journeys@sas.edu.sg

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