the bulletin
Stoneleigh-Burnham School Fall 2010
Small School. Big World.
Stoneleigh-Burnham School The Bulletin • Fall 2010 Head of School • Sally L. Mixsell ’69 Editor Anne Pinkerton Writing Contributors Jeremy Deason Liz Feeley Sally L. Mixsell Dr. Regina E. Mooney Judith Nuño Stef Perry Anne Pinkerton Susanna Thompson Roger Turton Photography Contributors Liz Feeley Sally L. Mixsell Dr. Regina E. Mooney Anne Pinkerton Susanna Thompson
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Let us know what you think about the content found in this issue of The Bulletin. Write to us with your suggestions and share your ideas for future stories. We would love to hear from you! Email:
alumnae@sbschool.org or communications@sbschool.org
Mail to: The Bulletin Stoneleigh-Burnham School 574 Bernardston Road Greenfield, MA 01301
Office of Development & Alumnae Relations Dr. Regina E. Mooney Director of Development & Alumnae Relations Liz Feeley Associate Director of Development & Alumnae Relations Stephanie Dimetres Development Office Manager Communications Office Anne Pinkerton Director of Communications Susanna Thompson Communications Assistant Changes in address should be emailed to sdimetres@sbschool.org or mailed to the address listed below.
Stoneleigh-Burnham School 574 Bernardston Road Greenfield, Massachusetts 01301 413.774.2711 www.sbschool.org
11th grade forum: Yvonne Wang, Book Israsena, Noelle Evans
The Bulletin is printed with vegetable based inks on 50% recycled FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified paper, with 25% post consumer fiber.
The Mission Stoneleigh-Burnham School is an academic community that inspires girls to pursue meaningful lives based on honor, respect, and intellectual curiosity. Each student is challenged to discover her best self and graduate with the confidence to think independently and act ethically, secure in the knowledge that her voice will be heard.
The Board of Trustees
In This Issue
Kathy Seyffer Opdycke ’70, Chair
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When the Lightbulb Goes On by Sally L. Mixsell, Head of School
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Who We Are in Numbers Stoneleigh-Burnham Overview 2010-2011
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Forging the Future by Regina Mooney, Ph.D. Spotlight on Kathy Seyffer Opdycke ’70 Chair, Board of Trustees
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Faculty Activities Around the Globe
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The International Baccalaureate Program
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Alumnae Profiles 11 Emily Palmer ’06 by Liz Feeley How Debate Made Her a Better Biomedical Engineer
Allison Porter ’89, Vice Chair Rich Hubbard P’00,’02,’05, Secretary Jacque Waxenberg ’77, Treasurer Shayna Appel ’78, P’04 Dr. John Barrengos Annette A. Cazenave ’74 Nancy Corsiglia ’74 Anne Quantrell Dennen ’70 Kimberly Eldridge ’92 Charles Gledhill P’13 Barbara Mayo Llewellyn ’69
12 Betty Hess Jelstrup ’41S by Liz Feeley A Lifelong Journey with the UN Security Council
Laura B. Richards ’60S
14 Nicol Ragland ’90 by Liz Feeley Learning the Lesson of Simplicity
Helene A. Robbins Lisa Zewinski Adams ’87, Ex-officio Sally Leach Mixsell ’69, Ex-officio
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News from the Barn
Nancy Lowe Diver ’53B, Emeritus
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Varsity Soccer Takes Title
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Alumnae Pages 25 Class Notes 28 Alumnae Get Together 34 Alumnae Board 35 In Memoriam 37 Room Renovation/Corrections
Michael F. Donohue Jr. P’78, Emeritus Elinor Johnstone Ferdon ’54B, P’76,’78,’82, Emeritus Benn W. Jesser P’63, GP’81,’94,’06, Emeritus John McNear P’79, Emeritus
When the Lightbulb Goes On by Sally L. Mixsell, Head of School
The work at Stoneleigh-Burnham continues to be fruitful and exciting, and we are so pleased to be able to update you in this edition of The Bulletin. We opened in September with the highest enrollment in five years as well as a full middle school for the first time since its inception seven years ago! There is a bustling air of excitement and inquiry as we have embarked on this year, and we continue to build upon our strong foundation as we strive to become increasingly inclusive to our very multicultural community. We have worked assiduously in admissions to bring in what our Director of Admissions, Eric Swartzentruber, calls “mission appropriate kids.” Eric has been traveling around this country (and others) to bring the right mix of students to our campus. He and his staff have admitted an incredible group of girls this fall, and together with the returning students they have become the most enthusiastic, fun-filled, curious and generous student body in my experience so far at School.
We know that practice does indeed make perfect; we know that our job is to mentor and help our students appreciate that delayed gratification can often lead to a most rewarding experience...
Something profound happened recently that typifies the climate here these days. Manuela, a senior from Miami (by way of Columbia, S.A.), has befriended a new post-graduate student, Asma, from Afghanistan. Last weekend they asked our Administrator on Duty and Tech Director, Tod Pleasant, if he would help Asma learn to ride a bike. She had never been on one. Tod, an avid cyclist, was more than happy to accommodate the girls. So off they went to the bike shed for Lesson #1. Asma was a bit fearful, Manuela was very excited to have her friend learn this new skill and Tod had no idea what he was getting himself into. Karen Levitt, on-duty dorm parent and History Department Chair, was also on hand and played the role of chief cheerleader and Tod’s assistant. The four of them spent several hours in multiple locations on campus as Asma tried and tried to get herself balanced on a bike.
At one point, Tod removed the pedals so that Asma could “feel” the balance better and have assurance that her feet could touch the ground when she felt too wobbly. Once she had gained confidence with that, they moved to a gradual hill so Asma could try gliding down, balancing again with her feet if the going got rough. And eventually she was able to keep her feet up as she sailed down the hill. Despite her gradual progress, Asma kept insisting that she wasn’t good and couldn’t do it. She was willing to try, but she had little hope. Then the pedals went back on. Asma repeated the exercise of gliding downhill, but this time she turned the pedals with her feet. Time and time again she had to put her feet down on the descent before she fell. Time and time again she echoed her sense of dismay at her lack of progress, but Tod, Karen and Manuela reminded her that she had made enormous progress.
The Bulletin Fall 2010
And then, Asma went down the hill again, pedaling wildly and balancing ALL THE WAY! Great “hurrah”s! Asma then turned slightly and fell down on the ground. But she had done it; she had ridden all the way down the hill. She had learned to ride a bike, but she still insisted that she had not – because she had also fallen. Tod reminded her that the Wright Brothers’ first flight traveled a mere 120 feet before clumsily crashing to the ground, but it was still considered flight. He hoped Asma was willing to concede success with her bike ride that had traveled longer than 120 feet, and she finally acquiesced.
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I know this story because Tod and Karen told it to me at the lunch table. Tod said that it was perhaps the most meaningful experience of his twelve years at the school. Why? Well, there is nothing like the moment when success is achieved, when the lightbulb goes on, when persistence is paid off. This is the kind of moment that we strive to give all our girls in any number of different venues. We know that practice does indeed make perfect; we know that our job is to mentor and help our students appreciate that delayed gratification can often lead to a most rewarding experience; and we know that girls learn best in connection and collaboration with others. This vignette is just one of the many moments like it as our year has gotten underway. It is a moment in time at a little school in western Massachusetts that embodies the microcosm of the world that we are today. It was indeed a beautiful moment. Please enjoy the stories of other beautiful moments and meaningful lives we have gathered here for you. Come back and visit to see for yourselves! We’d love to see you. v
Who We Are in Numbers
Stoneleigh-Burnham Overview 2010-2011
1st
8,229
19%
year the Middle School is
is the number of miles from Rwanda to
is the
fully enrolled since its
Greenfield, Massachusetts. This year,
inception seven years ago!
we have a student from Rwanda in attendance.
enrollment increase over last year.
three new students are legacies.
three new students were summer campers first.
56 is the number of new students for Fall 2010, which makes our enrollment the highest
five years at a total of140. in
Maria Prado Pilgram ‘15 and Theresa Oh ‘11 descending Mount Skinner, Mountain Day 2010.
fifteen
one
is the number of countries our girls represent including
is the number of Post-
Afghanistan, Bermuda, Cameroon, Canada, China, Germany,
Graduate students this
Ghana, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Rwanda, St. Martin, Taiwan,
year.
Thailand and the United States.
Forging the Future
Spotlight on Kathy Seyffer Opdyke ’70 Chair, Board of Trustees by Regina E. Mooney, Ph.D. Board Chair, Kathy Opdycke, may be new to the job but she is no stranger to either Stoneleigh-Burnham School or to the challenging work of strengthening an institution. An alumna of the class of 1970, the then Kathy Seyffer, or “Seyff,” as she is still sometimes called, was active in the newspaper, the Spanish Club and the Northern Educational Service as well as field hockey and glee club. Kathy was a “Four Year Girl” at SBS who, upon graduating, attended Centenary College in New Jersey earning an associate’s degree. She later completed a bachelor’s degree at the University of Richmond in the legal assistant program. Kathy confesses she wasn’t always set on the professional track. That came along gradually as she assumed positions as office manager in a medical practice and then on to paralegal work with a city law firm.
“I will reserve the right to ask any and all questions that point the way toward making Stoneleigh-Burnham School the best it can be. We require it of the students as stated in our Mission Statement; we must require it of ourselves as well.” was up. Grateful for their leadership and asked about her own agenda as chair, Kathy immediately responded with, “I have gained so much knowledge from my experience on the Board and from the people who believe in me, which makes me a better board chair. Even so, as a new chair, I will reserve the right to ask any and all questions that point the way toward making Stoneleigh-Burnham School the best it can be. We require it of the students as stated in our Mission Statement; we must require it of ourselves as well.”
The Bulletin Fall 2010
Kathy says her husband Bob Opdycke grounds her with unimaginable support for her work at Stoneleigh-Burnham. She also has a son, Lowndes, by a previous marriage and recently has been graced with her first grandchild.
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With a great sense of organization, policies and protocol, Kathy is patient and clear as she works to move a process toward its desired end. Those skills, along with a deep commitment to her alma mater, made Kathy a natural fit as she assumed a role as a member of the StoneleighBurnham Board of Trustees in 2006 and then Vice Chair in 2008. She became Board Chair in June 2010. She claims to have observed the style of her chair predecessors knowing she would succeed Shayna Appel when her term
Anyone reading the chosen quote next to Kathy’s senior photo in the 1970 yearbook, Perspective, surely will enjoy a nostalgic smile seeing the phrase, “What is left for us but sad goodbyes and maybe someday we will meet again and speak of today only in remembering.” Warm and sentimental in its meaning, this saying doesn’t come close to capturing Kathy’s approach to the past or the future. This spunky Board Chair, only slightly amused by nostalgia, seeks rather to forge the future with new memories for SBS carved out of her travels to alumnae events and frequent visits to campus. She is known to greet classmates and teachers alike with exuberance. Each time Kathy Opdycke says goodbye it is only after she has scheduled her next meeting with you, confirmed the agenda and hugged you with her open arms and infectious smile. v
Faculty Activites Around the Globe SBS in Seoul English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teacher Minhee Kang spends her summers in Jeju, an island in South Korea she calls home. This past summer, Jenie Hahn, a disc jockey for Arirang TV and Radio in Seoul, and host of a radio show called All That Jeju (a play on All That Jazz!), invited Minhee to her show to talk about her life in the U.S. and her job at Stoneleigh-Burnham School. Minhee teaches ESL to international students at StoneleighBurnham School and helps prepare them for the mainstream classroom settings. She also provides support as they make cultural adjustments to the American school system and way of life. She graduated from Jeju University with a degree in English Language and Literature. While in college, a friend who was dedicated to learning English formed a pact with Minhee that they would speak English exclusively as they traveled to and from classes. If they slipped up and forgot, they would incur a $1 penalty. Minhee and her friend learned English, but they also exchanged a lot of cash by the end of the first semester! ESL Teacher Minhee Kang on Arirang Radio in South Korea
Minhee draws upon her own experience learning English as a second language when she works with her students. She is tuned in to certain areas where they may have difficulties, thus anticipating how they might struggle and how best to help. Minhee and her husband, Seoon, have a son named Sungmin, who, at three years old, is already bilingual. Sungmin learns English throughout the day, so at home, Minhee and Seoon speak Korean. They want to be sure that when they return to the island of Jeju each summer, Seoon can communicate with all of their relatives in their native language. v
SBS in Saudi Arabia & Germany
Following 11 days in 100-degree heat and a brief run-out to meet with a new educational consulting group in Bonn, Germany, Admissions Director Eric Swartzentruber traveled to Berlin for the annual meeting of International Consultants for Education and Fairs (ICEF). Mr. Swartzentruber held 20-minute meetings with 40 consultants from around the world over the course of two days, which he likened to “speed-dating.� SBS will continue to travel internationally and in the U.S. spreading the word about what we have to offer to girls all over the world. v
Director of Admissions Eric Swartzentruber in Saudi Arabia with new friends
The Bulletin Fall 2010
This fall, SBS traveled to Saudi Arabia and Germany for two school fairs. In Saudi Arabia, SBS joined over 50 schools for an event sponsored by Saudi Aramco, which included interviews with students and presentations to parents from schools in Dhahran, Udhailiyah, Abqaiq and Ras Tanura.
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The International Baccalaureate Expanding Our Global Perspectives The Program For the last two years, Stoneleigh-Burnham has been working towards acheiving the status of “International Baccalaureate® (IB) World School” status. This exclusive achievement will allow us to offer a more global, interdisciplinary curriculum, opening doors for our students to study at universities around the world, provide better college accessibility to international students and generally help prepare our students for life in the 21st century.
Is a SBS diploma awarded as well as an IB Diploma?
What is the “International Baccalaureate”?
Yes. Students can register to take the IB exam at the conclusion of each IB course and earn an IB certificate. If a course is taken in order to complete the certificate, transcripts will reflect that an IB course was taken (similar to an Advanced Placement (AP) course).
The International Baccalaureate is a non-profit educational foundation, motivated by its mission to “develop inquiring, knowledgeable, and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.” The organization creates programs that encourage students across the world to gain “the intellectual, personal, emotional and social skills to live, learn, and work in a rapidly globalizing world.” The IB program was designed to encourage and develop life-long learning, providing skills that will help students in college and beyond. Founded in 1968, the IB currently works with 3,072 schools in 139 countries to develop and offer challenging programs to over 838,000 students ages 3 to 19. What does it mean to be an “International Baccalaureate World School”? These are schools that share a common philosophy—a commitment to high quality, challenging, international education that Stoneleigh-Burnham believes is important for our students. No schools are owned or managed by IB; the organization provides training and support to teachers and regularly evaluates its associated schools. Can any student take part in the IB Program? Yes! All students are welcome. Students in their sophomore year will be required to complete an application and an interview.
The Bulletin Fall 2010
When can students start the IB Program?
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At SBS, the IB courses will be taken over two years – junior and senior year. However, in order to be well prepared to take these academically challenging courses, we will help students begin to plan from their freshman year.
Yes. On completion of the IB Diploma Program, students have also earned a Stoneleigh-Burnham high school diploma. Can a student take just IB courses and not participate in the full diploma program?
Students will take written examinations each May, which are marked by external IB examiners. Students also complete assignments and projects in school, which are either initially marked by teachers and then moderated by external moderators or sent directly to external examiners. How many courses are required for the IB Diploma? IB Diploma Program students study six courses at higher level or standard level—no fewer than three and no more than four at the higher level. These courses include Primary and Secondary Languages, “Individuals and Societies,” which includes History and Psychology, “Experimental Sciences,” which includes Biology, Chemistry and Environmental Systems, Math and Arts. Additionally, students will be required to write an extended essay on a topic of individual interest, complete a Theory of Knowledge course and participate in the School’s Creativity, Action, Service program. Theory of Knowledge is the core course around which all the disciplines orbit; it is in this class that students consider how human beings think and learn, how academic disciplines bring different perspectives to the same problem and how the disciplines are interrelated. Since SBS is already a vibrant community where diversity is celebrated, the inclusion of the IB program feels like a logical extension of the work we are already doing. The new partnership seems to be a natural one, as both organizations desire to help students from around the globe achieve their educational goals while gaining a broad understanding of and respect for others.
The Training All faculty teaching IB courses are required to attend specialized IB training. To date, the two-year application process has included two rounds of formal written application, online and on-site teacher training and evidence of progress toward making accommodations in our program and resources. We have submitted a course outline for each IB class offering, as well as the teaching assignments for each of those courses.
All of our teachers have now been trained. SBS teachers embarked on their IB education with great excitement. A few of them share reports of their experiences as they worked to gain new knowledge and tools to bring the IB education to Stoneleigh-Burham:
IB Mathematics by Roger Turton
Aileen and I went to St. Petersburg, Florida in June for training in how to teach IB mathematics courses. There was no equivalent session available on-line, so instead we spent three days at a beach resort with 40 other teachers like us from all over the United States and several other countries. The instructors were two women who not only had many years of teaching IB mathematics, but who had also conducted many IB training workshops Math teachers Aileen Logan-Tyson and Roger Turton in Florida for IB training together. They were so well organized, there was not a single wasted moment during the training sessions. We covered the entire syllabus; topic by topic, we looked at sample exam questions and learned how our student’s answers would be graded and we received many invaluable tips to help us through the application process for becoming an IB School. Although Aileen and I were familiar with the topics in the IB Mathematics curriculum and already have many years of teaching experience, this was an extremely useful introduction to this new program for us.
Over the 33 years that I have taught at Stoneleigh-Burnham, the mathematics curriculum has grown from having no Advanced Placement (AP) electives to one elective and then two electives. Now the introduction of the IB Diploma Program represents a development of our curriculum in a new direction. We will still be offering our students instruction in all of the same mathematics topics and skills in our new courses as we did in our AP courses. However, the difference is that they will now be more fully integrated into the overall curriculum of the school. Aileen and I are excited to be part of this transition and we are looking forward to teaching the first classes with students working towards their IB Certificates and Diplomas.
The Bulletin Fall 2010
Although the beach and the warm weather were very tempting, we spent most of the daylight hours in a conference room taking notes and practicing our math skills. (Well, we did get to go out in the evening and sample the local restaurants. And there was a magnificent fireworks display on the beach outside our hotel one night. Alright, on our way to the airport for our flight home, we also stopped to visit the Dali Museum.)
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IB Science
by Judith Nuño I took the Chemistry and Biology trainings online, which I find a very effective method for learning. What I liked most about the training was interacting with other IB Chemistry and IB Biology teachers from all over the world. I had some wonderful online, asynchronous chats with teachers in Japan, Brazil, Nigeria, Germany and Spain as well as several different states in the U.S. Several of the teachers in the Chemistry course were already teaching IB Chemistry, so they had some wonderful insight on how the program works as well as some tips for beginning to teach the course. The IB Biology class was smaller, but the learning was just as effective. One of the things we teachers had in common in both of the classes was our concern about the practical aspect of the IB science courses. IB science fosters an inquiry approach, which is the most effective method of teaching science, but it is also the most time-consuming. So in the class, we shared ideas on how to be proactive in introducing inquiry science into classes that lead up to the IB courses as well as how to encourage our students to be more independent in approaching lab activities. I’ve always tried to foster inquiry in my science classes, but as a result of the cyber friendships I made in the training courses, I have lots of new ideas for inquiry lab activities. I’m implementing these ideas right now in my Chemistry and Biology classes to prepare students for success when they begin IB science in their junior year.
“The IB experience is not just a better way to learn, it’s a way of life, and the way to a better world.”
IB Foreign Language
as reported to Anne Pinkerton by Miriam Przybyla-Baum
The Bulletin Fall 2010
Over the summer, Miriam Przybyla-Baum and Jessica Durfey traveled to Atlanta, GA for three days of IB training in French and Spanish, respectively. The Atlanta International School, a K-12 day school that currently offers the IB Diploma Program, hosted the trainings. Miriam and Jess work very closely at Stoneleigh-Burnham and they were thrilled to be able to attend the training sessions together.
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These IB sessions were conducted completely in the target languages, so all trainees were fully immersed while learning, which proved to be good practice for everyone. Trainers delivered lectures in French or Spanish, materials were printed in the particular languages and all colleagues kept it up during breaks and meals, refraining from English. Miriam and Jess enjoyed being in the company of other teachers who were of comparable caliber and who were all going through the same process. Conversations with other educational professionals in these languages helped them exercise their communication skills and make important connections. They reported that simply being in the Atlanta International School building was valuable—that seeing another independent school gave them ideas to bring back to Stoneleigh-Burnham. The fact that all office doors in the school are labeled in four languages for their multicultural school community made quite an impression. Miriam and Jess were energized and inspired by the IB training experience and are looking forward to implementing these new ideas and skills in their teaching.
The Visit On September 22nd and 23rd, three representatives of the International Baccalaureate Organization, all current or former Heads of School or IB Coordinators, came onto our campus to take one final look at SBS as an IB World School candidate. The committee’s sole purpose was to evaluate our readiness to be a World School as well as assess our understanding of the program and its philosophy.
School is capable of housing such a program (we are!). Our visitors noted the remarkably thorough understanding of the program by our representative parents and trustees. The committee commended our excellent communication around this impending change in the school, especially as it related to the work of Natalie Demers who has done a Herculean job of moving it forward.
The visiting committee was interested in understanding our mission and how it is reflected in all we do, which we were commended for. The only recommendation they made was that we consider adding language to reflect our commitment to internationalism and multiculturalism. We were very happy to tell them that we already set it as an agenda item for a new strategic planning process this year.
No other major recommendations were made, but there was one more commendation. The committee congratulated us for recognizing the inherent synergistic connection between the values and goals of SBS and the mission of the International Baccalaureate Organization. This is, coincidentally, exactly where our internal conversation began just about two years ago. It was reassuring to know that the IB representatives came away with the same impression.
All in all, the process was incredibly thorough. Our visitors met with various groups to ascertain the consistency of our messaging and the depth of understanding across our constituent groups. Those interviewed included students who have shown interest in pursuing the IB Diploma Program, some of the parents of those students, each faculty member who will teach in the program, Board members (to ascertain both their understanding of the program and their financial commitment to it), the Head of School and the IB coordinator designate (Academic Dean, Natalie Demers). The committee also toured the facilities to ensure that the
As a final step, the committee writes a report that is submitted to IBO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. The IB officers review all the SBS information gathered and come to a decision of “yea” or “nay.” So now we wait until December or January to—hopefully—get full approval to open in the fall as an IB World School. When that happens, Stoneleigh-Burnham will become the first girls’ school in New England and only the third girls’ school in the country to do so. Please stay tuned!
Your Gift to the Stoneleigh-Burnham School Annual Fund can help fund the International Baccalaureate Program! (among other things...) Consider a donation to help young women gain a world of knowled knowledge.
2010-2011 Annual Fund Goal = $300,000 Mail your contribution in the enclosed envelope or visit us online at www.sbschool.org/support.
The Bulletin Fall 2010
The Annual Fund meets ongoing needs of the school on a yearly basis through: Financial Aid ~ Opening our doors to a wide range of girls Faculty Salaries ~ Attracting and keeping quality educators General Operations ~ the cost of maintaining a 150 acre campus
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Profiles
The Bulletin Fall 2010
Associate Director of Development and Alumnae Relations Liz Feeley interviewed three alumnae to learn about the trajectories of their lives since Stoneleigh-Burnham. Each has been on a personal journey to find her passion and to make a difference in the world. Truly, each woman has found unique and intriguing ways to become her best self and find her own voice, living the Stoneleigh-Burnham mission every day.
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photo by Nicol Ragland
Emily Palmer ’06 How Debate Made Her a Better Biomedical Engineer by Liz Feeley
Emily Palmer senses that many girls aren’t drawn to biomedical engineering simply because they don’t know it exists. AP Biology class at SBS made the difference for her. Now she delivers presentations at scientific conferences like a pro. Emily Palmer ’06 spent part of last summer working as a counselor at Stoneleigh-Burnham’s Debate Camp. When we caught up with her at the camp, we learned that Emily has received a Distinguished Biomedical Engineering Fellowship from Boston University (BU) and will be working toward her Ph.D. in Biomechanical Engineering in the National Institutes of Health Training Program in Quantitative Biology and Physiology. This five-year program is one of the oldest and most distinguished in the country, as only the top ten undergraduates and graduates in Biomedical Engineering are selected. Emily shared her perspective on why many women don’t go into biomedical engineering: “It’s a field that girls don’t think about because they are not exposed to it enough at a young age. So they don’t know what it is. Hopefully that will change. My AP Biology class at Stoneleigh-Burnham was incredible and ultimately was a contributing factor that led me to this field.”
Emily could eventually play a role in changing the landscape of the field, as her long range plans are to engage in research and development for a few years after graduation then eventually teach in higher education. She would continue with research as a professor and feels that she would “have the best of both worlds.” So what role has her debate team experience played? When Emily and her peers presented their year-long senior design projects at BU, over 100 biomedical companies and universities attended the scientific conference. Emily confided that “everyone else was so nervous about speaking in their presentations, and although I get butterflies, I was very confident and able to speak in front of people comfortably. As PB (Debate Coach Paul Bassett) has always said [quoting Helen Keller], ‘It’s OK to have butterflies, as long as they fly in formation.’” v
“Everyone else was so nervous... I was very confident and able to speak in front of people comfortably.”
Emily Palmer ‘06 and Debate Coach Paul Bassett
The Bulletin Fall 2010
When we asked her how many female professors she has encountered in the field during her college career, Emily noted that she had one female professor, but she is a joint faculty member in mechanical and biomedical engineering.
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Betty Hess Jelstrup ’41S A Life-long Journey with the United Nations Security Council by Liz Feeley
“It was the center of where global issues were being debated and I was on the floor of the Security Council. Not many people could be there and there I was!” Betty Hess at Stoneleigh-Prospect Hill in 1941
The Bulletin Fall 2010
Betty Hess Jelstrup had no idea that a clerical job would ultimately help her discover the world. Her global experience was born out of a passion for politics and an opportunity to explore.
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Back in 1945 when Betty Hess Jelstrup ’41 SPH was looking for a job to help pay for college, she found a 38 year career. After transferring from Bucknell University to Barnard College because the train system made it too much of a chore to travel to Lewisburg, PA from her hometown of Pelham, NY, Betty landed a position as a secretary with the United Nations. The life-long journey that would take her around the globe had just begun. “I started as a clerk typist while I was in college to help pay expenses and it wasn’t very profitable. But I enjoyed it and was lucky to land the job when the United Nations Department of Political and Security Council Affairs was
brand new. It was organized in London in 1945 and they decided they wanted to have headquarters in the United States. Rockefeller had a piece of property on the East River that he made available so they could build their headquarters on 42nd Street.” The first plane trip of her life was quite a journey! Betty traveled to Indonesia to serve on the staff of a United Nations Committee of Good Officers that was created to mediate the dispute between the Dutch colonists and Indonesian natives. Back in 1946, planes had propellers instead of jet engines, thus they needed refueling fairly frequently. Betty explains, “That is one way I had a chance to see so many
different places.” They stopped in Houston, stayed over in San Francisco for a few days and then flew to Honolulu for a week before continuing on to Guam. From there they “hopped across the Pacific,” according to Betty and stopped in Wake, Tinian, New Caledonia and ultimately, Sydney, Australia, where they had more than a week of organizational meetings in preparation for the talks. “We were sent to settle a dispute between the Dutch and Indonesians after the war. The Indonesians were resisting Japanese occupation which wasn’t very pleasant for them. The Dutch developed rice fields and plantations and palm oil trees and drilling for oil. So they wanted to go back and retrieve their colony and the Indonesians were fighting their return. The United Nations was asked to settle it and that is where our group came in.” The three-member Good Officers Committee that was sent to settle the dispute was comprised of a Belgian, an Australian and an American. Referring to the process, Betty said, “Well, it didn’t happen very quickly. But it gave me the experience of writing the records of the meetings rather than just taking dictation, and allowed me to do some political work. So that got me ahead.”
Betty’s wanderlust also led her to her husband. She and a friend decided to take a ‘long’ vacation, traveling around the world by boat for three months. At the time, her future husband, Axel, was a chief officer on their ship. Betty says, “He had all that paperwork with the manifests, and I was helping him, and well, we got to know each other quite well.” Their romance and her career developed in tandem. After Betty and Axel married, they traveled to New York City from their home in Pelham, NY on a daily basis for their respective jobs. They had a daughter, Elna, who ultimately convinced them to move near her in Durham, North Carolina. That is where you can find Betty today, far away from the pace of the city, yet still keeping abreast of global issues by dedicated reading of the New York Times. Although Betty is years and miles away from the UN, her mind and heart are still engaged there. At 86 years young, she remains physically active as well by participating in various activities in her community. “Three mornings a week I go to the swimming pool for water aerobics, which I enjoy because if you fall, you just get wet!” v
After three months in Indonesia, they sent replacements and Betty decided to take the long way home. A classmate served on a committee in Greece that was working on a conflict between the Greeks, Romanians, and Bulgarians and invited her to visit. From Greece, she traveled to Denmark to visit an uncle in Copenhagen. Her mother was born in Norway to a Danish father, so visiting her roots in Denmark seemed natural. Betty continued on her journey and spent some time exploring London and the English countryside before returning to her position at the UN in New York.
The UN had two general assembly committees, a political committee (security) and a deputy secondary committee for political affairs for some stagnant perennial cases like apartheid in South Africa. “I was on the second political committee and sat through all of those meetings. In the early days before they had this wonderful spontaneous interpreter, we had to listen to a speech while interpreters would be taking notes and then they would present the speech in English, French, Russian and possibly Spanish.” She exclaims, “That would take forever!”
Cathy Clark Lupton, Bette MacDonald, Betty Hess Jelstrup and Theo Connett Stack at their 50th Reunion in 1991
The Bulletin Fall 2010
“I returned to New York City and a colleague from Ecuador got promoted. Their ambassadors said that I was doing just as good a job, so they put pressure on the U.S. government to promote me,” she says with a laugh. Eventually Betty became head of a section of Research for Security Council Publications. “It was the center of where global issues were being debated and I was on the floor of the Security Council.…Not many people could be there and there I was!”
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Nicol Ragland ’90 Learning the Lesson of Simplicity by Liz Feeley
Through endless curiosity and a willingness to try new things, Nicol Ragland fell in love with photography. Photography led her to the Hadzabe tribe. The Hadzas taught her entirely new perspectives. A Day with the Hadzabe—late afternoon time: “They are rated number one of the ‘least complex societies in the world.’ It takes a bit to rid yourself of your own complexities in order to realize just how simple they are and consequently completely content. It’s as if I arrived in search of some sacred earth secret... but day by day [I realized] the secret is in the simplicity.”
It all started for Nicol in a round-about way. After she graduated from Stoneleigh-Burnham in 1990, she enrolled at the University of Denver to study English. She eventually changed her major to Biology and ended up receiving a B.A. in Environmental Science after a couple of early courses intrigued her. She became involved in environmental field work in Colorado and Death Valley, CA and decided to enroll in an extended program for Wildland Studies at San Francisco State University. Needing just three more credits to graduate from SFU, Nicol went to Nepal to work in the field, concentrating in tree diversity. “The Nepal trip...was an incredible experience. Taking pictures, as nineteen year old kids do when they are backpacking the Himalayas, just woke up my love of photography and when I came back to the U.S., I decided to go to photography school.”
Nicol with a member of the Hadzabe tribe
She was accepted at the Colorado Institute of Art and graduated in 1997. While she worked on her photography degree, Nicol participated in a dance program with a local dance company. The leader of the dance company invited the group to Los Angeles. After growing up in Oklahoma, attending SBS and going to college in Colorado, Los Angeles was her first experience with a “booming metropolis.” She continued to dance while looking for freelance photography connections. This led to an opportunity presented by a friend of a friend who was running a film school in Jacmel, Haiti. He needed a photographer to document the children in the film school and hired Nicol to do the shoot. “It is not a high paying job, but the wealth is in the experience. In documenting the kids of the school, I learned just how hungry they are to express themselves, their inherent ability to tell stories and their need for their country to be placed on the world map.” Nicol would like to focus on fine art works and has done a few group shows in Los Angeles, which has been a way for
The Bulletin Fall 2010
Nicol Ragland ’90 entered the words above in her travel blog to reflect on her time spent with the Hadzabe tribe in Tanzania. This past September, Nicol embarked on a three week journey into the bush in Eastern Africa, her second such visit there. Nicol and her camera have traveled to India, Kenya, Burma, Rwanda, Cambodia, Haiti, Vietnam and Laos, yet it was the Hadzabe tribe that “really grabbed hold” of her and inspired her photo documentary.
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photo by Nicol Ragland
her to partially finance her trips. The photography adventures are funded primarily by her wedding photography business, called AlyssaNicol (alyssanicol.com). “I provide the travel opportunites for myself by shooting a bunch of weddings, then go on a trip. Shoot a bunch more weddings and go on another trip.” Her wedding albums are outstanding works in their own right with stunning photos that are unique to each wedding setting.
The Bulletin Fall 2010
Nicol reported that it is difficult to make a living as a travel photographer and although it would be a dream to work for National Geographic in the future, she is grateful to have been given some wonderful opportunities through Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs). Global Green commissioned Nicol for some work and The Millennium Village in Rwanda hired her due to her personal investment in earlier shoots in Rwanda.
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Mid-afternoon time: “... it’s important not to idolize the Hadza, which I have to admit I did prior to my time with them. They are part of humanity no different than you and I and we can’t change humanity, but what we can change is the systems that govern societies and human nature. That’s the biggest lesson we can take from them and we’re in dire need for major paradigm shifts. Not that we should change our ways to that of the Hadza’s but we can change our ways to be similar so that our systems are more sustainable.” Her trips to Tanzania documenting the Hadzabe tribe, however, are Nicol’s personal project and her passion. Her
first trip into the North African bush found her spending a few days with the Hadza and earning their trust. Her guide, a native Tanzanian man named Ethan, works for a group that is actively working to protect the Hadzabe. The Hadzabe are hunter-gatherers and considered to be one of the last remaining tribes of such in the world. They have been living in Northern Tanzania for thousands of years and “they basically have a link to the beginning of humanity.” It is believed that the Hadzabe have been resiliently combating missionaries, pastoralists, journalists and the socialist government to maintain their culture of truly living off the land. Nicol noted that “They have a gorgeous defense mechanism of moving if anything threatens their world. Their land is threatened by other tribes as well as the government.” One incident during Nicol’s first trip to Tanzania demonstrated that threat. “They asked us if we could take them to get their poison, ... so they hopped in the back of our vehicle and off we went to gather poison with about six Hadza men.” “At one of the plateaus we were unexpectedly met by a group of Masai men, who are considered adversarial to the Hadzabe. They are engaged in a conflict over encroachment of land.” Nicol was a bit nervous as the confrontation seemed to escalate, but then she noticed that the Hadza men just went about their business of drawing poison from the trees, making it into paste and putting it on their arrows. Nicol initially had an internal conflict about whether or not she was exploiting the tribe by photographing them. But
Late afternoon time: “They are trapped inside the economic machine that feeds off of those who have come from the plentiful and want to witness these primitive curiosities. It’s quite ironic that their way of life has such interest. They own nothing, aren’t bothered by the concepts of time, share everything, can completely live off the land without destroying it and have absolutely no idea how to operate under an economic sructure... all while being completely content.” She returned home to Venice, CA and did some anthropological research, studied the tribe and returned this past September for a three week journey with the Hadzabe tribe. Her second trip brought her closer to grasping their culture. “Africa is an incredibly powerful place. I just felt right at home. This particular trip, I was penetrating the romance of the travel, the romance of the country and really getting past the veneer and getting to the truth of what is going on.” There is a cultural tourism circuit that exploits the Masai in villages set up for tourists to ‘experience’ their culture. The Hadzabe have not yet been affected by the cultural tourism and Nicol strongly believes that they have the right
to maintain their culture and we can continue to learn from their simple existence. Nicol would like to create an art installation of the Hadzabe using mixed media including photos, video and sound. She continues to explore how we are ultimately connected to this understanding of abundance and not just ‘how can we save this tribe.’ Nicol continues to question what we can learn from the Hadzabe. “This particular project has made me realize what it is I want to do with my photography. I am an artist and I would like to create something that connects humanity. I would love to do something that offers something artistically and translates into a poetic conduit for humanity.” As we were talking over the phone for this interview, Nicol in California, me in Greenfield, a giant African bee started circling her head. She shrieked, then laughed, then exclaimed, “It’s a sign! Totally auspicious. It’s huge! It does not belong in this part of the world.” We ended our conversation with those words hanging there as a reminder of the influence the Hadzabe tribe has had on Nicol Ragland.
Sundown time: “We need to live more simply, to take pleasure and joy in things that are more grounded and our economies need to be more community oriented. This is the way of the Hadzabe and to follow will most certainly give us a more equitable and abundant world to live in.” v
photo by Nicol Ragland
The Bulletin Fall 2010
that same day, a Hadza man motioned to Nicol to follow him, bring her camera and keep taking pictures. “I began to understand that they possibly understood the importance of sharing their story and how their world needs to be understood and respected.”
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News from the Barn Stoneleigh-Burnham School is well-known for its equestrian program and the shows this fall have further established the school’s prestige in the ring. New riding instructors Stephanie Perry and Marilyn Bennett and many new student riders have joined veteran riders and equestrian director Mina Payne Williams ‘78 for the 2010-2011 academic year. All of the new energy and excitement for the sport has been evident in our girls’ efforts on and off of their horses.
Equestrian Center Events At the first show of the year in Pittsfield, MA on September 11, the five girls in attendance made strong showings, earning ribbons and medal qualifications in various events. Courtney Hartford carried the highlight of the weekend when she won a reserve championship on Chip, a warmblood gelding owned by SBS. At the end of September, over 100 riders from all over New England came to our campus to compete in dressage, stadium jumping and cross-country at the SBS sponsored Horse Trials. None of our girls competed, but were able instead to volunteer and experience first hand the hard work and dedication necessary to run such a large, high profile event. Four SBS riders took to the reigns at the Massachusetts Horseman’s Council Days of Champions (MHC) at the Northampton Fairground on October 1 and 2. Kelly Siok and Tess Drouin Reed competed in the Junior Medal and Franny Eremeeva and Alissa Ames competed in the Mini Medal. Despite incredibly tough competition from nearly 150 Junior Medal riders and 100 Mini Medal riders, Franny finished 12th in her 12-14 Open Class.
The Bulletin Fall 2010
On October 9 and 10, SBS riders headed to the Western New England Professional Horseman’s Association (WNEPHA) at Mount Holyoke College, where both Alissa Ames and Emmalee Bauckman earned third place in their respective medal divisions.
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At the prestigious New England Horseman’s Council (NEHC) show on October 30, SBS riders took advantage of the opportunity to showcase their riding abilities, their strength, and the skill with which they guide and manipulate their mounts. Instructor Stef Perry added, “I love the atmosphere of NEHC–the hush in the ring as some of the best riders and horses in the area show their stuff and the excitement and friendly atmosphere of all the competing barns.” K
Interscholastic Equestrian Association Team feet and numerous flat equitation classes. As of the 20092010 competition year, over 200 teams and 3,000 members had joined the IEA and expansion continues. StoneleighBurnham School has been a member of the IEA since its inception in 2002 and holds four consecutive national titles. On October 30, the IEA team travelled to the Hopkins/ Biscuit Hill Farm IEA horse show in Shelburne, MA. SBS riders performed strong rounds over fences and positioned the team to finish in the top six. But with key wins from both Kelly Siok in Open Flat and Leira Feves in Beginner on the Flat, the SBS team moved up for a final finish of second place. The success in Shelburne provided excellent momentum for the team as they competed at an SBS home show on November 6 and ended up winning the entire show and qualifying for the regional competition. K
IEA Team (left to right): Leira Feves, Hannah Reynolds, Kristina Athey, Rachel Gledhill, Callan Franchi, Tess Drouin Reed, Jessie Bartolotta, Courtney Hartford, Elizabeth Vincento, Alissa Ames and Elizabeth Pagliuca. Photo by Kim Hartford.
The Bulletin Fall 2010
The Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA) team commenced training and competing in mid-October and participated in their first show of the year on October 17th at Mount Holyoke College. The IEA circuit differs significantly from other equestrian shows and prepares riders for the type of competition they will face at the collegiate level. The IEA was established nationally in 2002 and serves to promote and improve the quality of equestrian instruction and competition available to middle and secondary school students. The unique aspect of these competitions, both at the local and national level, is that none of the riders will supply their own horses or tack. The host school selects and provides horses for the show, meaning essentially that the horse will be new to the rider so that the scores will be based on the horsemanship, not the horse. The competitions involve six classes jumping over fences no greater than three
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Introducing New Riding Instructors Stephanie Perry Stephanie (Stef) Perry hails from a family of ‘horse people’ and is thrilled to be working for the Stoneleigh-Burnham School equestrian program. Originally from the South Shore of Massachusetts, she has ridden with several of the top barns in that area and has shown extensively throughout New England for years, qualifying and competing at the Massachusetts and New England Equitation Finals. Stef graduated from Stonehill College in 2010 and competed in the Open division for Stonehill College’s Intercollegiate Show Horse Association (ISHA) team. After graduating, Stephanie worked as the assistant editor for the Horseman’s Yankee Pedlar, experience that will serve her well as SBS promotes its rich equestrian pedigree. Stephanie has years of experience teaching equestrian skills and riding. A self-described ‘Hunter Jumper through and through,’ Stephanie is determined to “help the SBS girls to grow and learn, both on and off the horse.” You can meet Stephanie and her young Oldenburg mare, Pirate, at the SBS barn. K
Marilyn Bennett
The Bulletin Fall 2010
A native of Connecticut, Marilyn Bennett has shown extensively throughout the New England show circuit. She has primarily shown in the jumper division with her own horse, Abbey Road. She won several jumper classics on Abbey as well as qualified for and rode at the Capital Challenge Show in Maryland and the Marshall & Sterling Finals.
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Marilyn graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2010 where she majored in Animal Science. As an undergraduate, she was team captain and lead Open rider for the University of Connecticut’s IHSA team. After graduating, Marilyn managed a barn and spent time traveling with Horse Shows in the Sun (HITS) and the Vermont Summer Festival. Marilyn is proud to be a member of the Stoneleigh-Burnham School riding community and is excited to teach new skills and useful techniques to her student riders. K
Nominations for the Stoneleigh-Burnham School Equestrian Wall of Fame are due by December 15, 2010! The Wall of Fame was created to spotlight and celebrate the achievements of alumnae in various sectors of the equestrian world who have made significant contributions to the field. The first inductees to the Wall of Fame in Spring 2010 included those who had brought exceptional bloodlines to America from Europe, written and published books on horse eventing, become horse veterinarians and held high positions in an array of equestrian organizations.
The 2nd annual induction ceremony will take place on February 19, 2011!
The Bulletin Fall 2010
Nomination forms can be found at www.sbschool.org/riding under Wall of Fame, or you may call the Equestrian Center office at 413-774-2711 x1010 to receive a form in the mail.
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Varsity Soccer Takes Title SBS Soccer Team Wins Championship! In front of a big home crowd, SBS, the number one seed in the River Valley Athletic League (RVAL) tournament, hosted Eagle Hill, the number two seed, for the RVAL Championship. A week before, Eagle Hill had beaten SBS 2-1, so the rematch was sure to be a dynamic contest of skill and determination. The game opened with a twenty-minute battle for possession. Finally after an Eagle Hill hand-ball in the box, Emily Mangan ’12 scored from the penalty spot in the twenty-first minute of play. Just five minutes later, Emily struck another shot from outside the box that deflected off an EHS player for her second goal. SBS held strong to keep control of the defensive half of the field and goalie Kate Strousse ’13 made a spectacular diving save on a shot from Taylor Kinser of EHS to keep the game at 2-0. With eight minutes remaining in the first half, Ximena Correa ’15 was fouled in the box and Mangan again converted with a penalty kick for her third goal. With two minutes remaining before halftime, Kelly Sprague ’14 placed a nice pass in front of the EHS goal and Mangan converted for her fourth goal, and eighth in two days. SBS led 4-0 at the half.
MVP Emily Mangan ’12
Eagle Hill turned up the heat in the second half and Kinser scored her own hat trick over the course of the first 30 minutes to bring the Pioneers within one goal of the Owls, 4-3. The sideline erupted in support and with just eight minutes remaining in the half, Alysha Romain ’13 pounded home an SBS insurance goal off of a scramble in the box to give the host team a 5-3 lead. The final whistle blew and Stoneleigh-Burnham was crowned the Girls Champion of the RVAL in its inaugural year.
photo by Cassie Deason
After leading the entire school in a chorus of “¡Olé, Olé, Olé, Olé!” the varsity soccer team presented the first RVAL championship trophy to Head of School Sally Mixsell at Housemeeting on November 9. The entire SBS community celebrated their success.
Varsity soccer had a tremendous fall season, wrapping up with 10 wins, the most since 1995. SBS finished the year 10-5. The River Valley Athletic League
The Bulletin Fall 2010
The River Valley Athletic League (RVAL) was created by a group of athletic directors from similar-sized local schools with shared sports philosophies. According to Jesse Porter-Henry, RVAL Chairman and Athletic Director at The Academy at Charlemont, “The objective of RVAL is to sustain a competitive athletic league for small schools in Western Mass that stresses sportsmanship and quality of play.” Participating girls’ schools include: The Academy at Charlemont, Four Rivers Charter School, Stoneleigh-Burnham School, Hartsbrook Waldorf School, Dublin School, Eagle Hill School, The Putney School, The Buxton School, and The White Oak School. K
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Fall All-Stars Announced Jess Gale ’11 was named to the NEPSAC Volleyball Class C All-Star team and represented SBS well in the game at Choate Rosemary Hall on Sunday, November 7th. In soccer, Emily Mangan ’12 and Lizzy Galluzzo ’12 were named to the Western New England small schools all-star teams and played in the All-Star Game at Westminster School on November 14th. All three athletes were integral to their teams success throughout their season earning the well-deserved accolades.
Can you spare two cups of coffee?
If every Stoneleigh-Burnham alumna gave the equivalent of two cups of coffee a month, the Annual Fund would raise nearly half a million dollars each year!
Your Gift to the Stoneleigh-Burnham School Annual Fund helps fund Financial Aid, Faculty Salaries and General Operations! Consider a donation to help young women gain a world of knowled knowledge. 2010-2011 Annual Fund Goal = $300,000 Mail your contribution in the enclosed envelope or visit us online at www.sbschool.org/support.
Alumnae Pages
The Bulletin Fall/Winter 2010
Class Notes Alumnae Getting Together Alumnae Board Update In Memoriam
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8 Colleen Pearl ’94 in Paris, 2010.
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Tell us about yourself! Post a class note in the Alumnae Portal at www.sbschool.org.
Join Stoneleigh-Burnham on Facebook! Find us at www.facebook.com/sbsalumnae.
Class Notes Class Agents are needed for the following years: 1943S, 1944B, 1944S, 1947B, 1948S, 1956B, 1964S, 1968S, 1979. Contact the Alumnae Office if you are interested in being a Class Agent!
1943B
Class Agent: Jane Swift Wood - 4231 Grattan Price Dr, Harrisonburg, VA 22801
1945B
Class Agent: Patricia Birt Morse - 735 Riomar Dr, Vero Beach, FL 32963, tmorse997@aol.com
1945S
Class Agent: Connie Johnson Corsiglia - 101 Country Side Rd, Greenfield, MA 01301
1946B 65th Reunion!
Class Agent: Barbara Cox Sileo – 8963 Oldham Way, West Palm Beach, FL 33412, jimbarb63@ bellsouth.net
1946S 65th Reunion!
Class Agent: Elizabeth McLean McLain – 12725 Via Nasca, San Diego, CA 92128-1572 patmclmcl@hotmail.com
1947S
Class Agent: Joan Hutton Landis – 450 Osage Lane, Media, PA 19063, jlandis1@swarthmore. edu
1948B
Class Agent: Joan Fenton Clark – 313 Tally Ho Dr, Indian Trail, NC 28079, jclark020@ carolina.rr.com
1948S
Class Agent needed!
1949B
Class Agent: Jacqueline Oothouse Mitchell – 131 Cumberland Rd, Burlington, VT 05408, jacqmitch@comcast.net
1949S
Class Agent: Sue Heubisch Milkey – 27076 Kindlewood Ln, Bonita Springs, FL 34134 Mary Em Bodman Kenner writes that Sue Dalzell Moore came all the way from Washington State to the Bahamas to attend her daughter’s wedding. The area had just been hit by a hurricane and it was quite a feat for all of the festivities to take place and the planes to land.
Mary Em Bodman Kenner ’49S & Sue Dalzell Moore ’49S
Barbara Miale MacNamee ’54B, Sandi Krebs Meagher ’54B, Ellie Johnstone Ferdon ’54B
1950B
Class Agent: Addie Warner Minott – 2518 Stage Rd, Guilford, VT 05301, pulpitfm@myfairpoint.net
Joan Walthers Parks shares: Gib and I are still enjoying our winters in Florida. Since the recent move of our eldest daughter and family from Scarborough, Maine to Bradenton, Florida we now have 8 of our 10 grandchildren living in Florida. A year ago we welcomed our first great granddaughter. We keep busy working at Red Cross Bloodmobiles, loving retirement and our yearly trip to our favorite place in Maine.
1951B 60th Reunion!
1952B
1951S 60th Reunion!
1952S
Jan McLaughlin Keser writes: I retired a year ago from my job as an employee for the state of North Carolina. I am living in the mountains of West North Carolina and loving it. My five daughters live in NJ, CA, AZ and TX with nine grandkids between them. Two of the grandkids are sophomores in college and two more start this fall as freshmen. Guess I’m getting old! My oldest daughter will be 50 in December, which blows my mind! Sally Smith Place reports: My husband Arthur and I are enjoying life in the New Hampshire mountains with our five Japanese Chins. I did some dog showing in previous years with English Cockers, but I am retired now. My oldest daughter Nancy Burow and I visited Stoneleigh some years ago. We had dinner in the dining room. That brought back memories! Nancy lives on a farm in Central Massachusetts and she keeps my horses there, but we visit often. My youngest daughter, Donna, lives in Burgaw, North Carolina. A little further to go to visit. No Grandchildren. We sold the Raccoon Hill Farm in Barre, MA about ten years ago and I still really miss it. We talk about moving back to Central Mass and winters would be a little easier. After all, we are not skiers!
1953B
Class Agent: Emily Cooper Stephenson – PO Box 957, Carmel, CA 93921, emilystephenson@sbcglobal.net
1950S
Class Agent: Susan Huber Gross – 49 Ravenwood Rd, West Hartford, CT 06107 Class Agent: Joan Walthers Parks – 37 Church St, Westminster, MA 01473, bowtie-1@mindspring. com.
Class Agent: Sandra Williams White – PO Box 790, Franconia, NH 03580
Class Agent: Barbara Schaff Blumenthal – 36 Sullivan Dr, West Redding, CT 06896, Barbglea@ aol.com
Class Agents: Gaye Alexander Cavanaugh – cjcava1@aol.com; Jane McGrath Packer – jpacker796@comline.com
1953S
Class Agents: Pat Birge Johnson – 4130 SW 25th Pl, Cape Coral, FL 33914
1954B
Class Agent: Jill Crawford Stoll – spunkygram57@ aol.com
1954S
Class Agent: Linda Jennings Kraus – 58 Judson Rd, Fairfield, CT 06824-6655
1955B 55th Reunion! Class Agent: Pat Reinking McBane – dpmcbane@ aol.com
Pat Reinking McBane reports: Dave and I have had an interesting summer. We sold our house in Cape Elizabeth, Maine last fall so we decided
to try camping in different places in New England and see some of our friends. While on Cape Cod we had dinner with Joyce Domling Dawkins and the next evening Joyce, Dave and I had cocktails at the new condo of Ellen Kenney Glennon and her husband Tom. We leave for Laconia, NH on the 3rd of September where we will see Judy Park Coyne ’56B. We have spent this past month in a campground outside of Portland, Maine. The RV belongs to a good friend and at 35 feet long is most comfortable. We will head back to Florida on September 12th. I would love to hear from any of my classmates! I will be sure to send your news on to Stoneleigh-Burnham.
Joyce Domling Dawkins ’55B
1955S
Class Agent needed!
1956B 55th Reunion!
The Bulletin Fall 2010
Class Agent: Judith Howard Whitney – Terry judith.whitney@gmail.com
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Judith Whitney-Terry reports: Sandy Durkee Switaj tells me, “We are still living in Baltimore part time and the rest of the time in a log cabin in the Poconos! We love living on the mountain with the deer, hummingbirds, wild turkeys, and other creatures. We have a lake down the road and one of our daughters has a place across the lake. Our oldest granddaughter graduated from college and my youngest daughter, Beula, was married this summer. The wedding was a wonderful event and gave me an opportunity to be with my four daughters without having to cook anything.” Carole Hart Barbour and I had a wonderful lunch together in CA while I was there attending a youth conference. She was suffering from a badly repaired broken wrist after a fall on the ice (and you ask why we live in Mexico in the winter?). However a recent email from Carole states “Latest news! My daughter Heather and her husband, Arturo, are in Washington, DC. Heather is at the Library of Congress writing/researching public policy for Congress and Arturo with the U.S. Treasury in the banking area. I had recent wrist surgery and it is gradually returning to normal. I have a Golden Retriever/Cocker Spaniel new breed, a year old now and sweet, pretty, trainable and a super companion. Biggest news is that I will be hosting a cruise on the luxury cruise line, Regent Seven Seas,
from Ft. Lauderdale to San Francisco on April 25, 2011. Anyone that is interested in joining us, call me at 1-866-966-5567. It is a fully all inclusive trip. Great value!” (OK LADIES! For all of you who have no interest or live too far from SBS to return for reunions, how about making it a cruise for our 55th? I’m in! How about you?) Ursula Kendratavitch Hogan shares: Last December Clarita, my niece, and I met at the Yale Club in NYC for a delightful dinner. Actually I am having dinner tonight with Clarita, Andy and their spouses. Last month we met at the Clarke Museum in Williamstown for our annual picnic supper. It is a delightful place to meet. Tonight we again will be in Williamstown for supper at Hobson’s. I taught a first grade class for 12 weeks in Springfield this year. It was delightful. In July I attended the International Conference of Delta Kappa Gamma in Spokane, WA. A week later I returned to the West Coast and spent two weeks at the beach with a dear friend who moved to Rockaway, OR. Ursula mentioned that Phyllis Tosi Lawlor and husband, Tom, are kept very busy with their three grandchildren. Rolli Grayson is still raising her beautiful Portuguese Water Dogs; one of the exceptionally smart breeds. She and Lyndsay Pond White met up while Lyndsay was visiting her son Brian in Chicago. Clarita Kushelvitch Kaufman writes: “I’m back in the city after a pleasant summer in the Berkshires and busy with family and city life in general. I had a lovely Stoneleigh-Burnham reunion in April at the home of Helen Coonley Colcord ’55B. Together with her sister Hannah Coonley Nunn ’55S they hosted a lovely reception and welcomed a large crowd of alumnae.” Judith Howard Whitney-Terry writes: Once again, Bob and I had the chance to prevail on Alan and Jean MacLean Jankowski for a lovely two day visit on our way home from Mexico. As most of you know, Jean is quite the gardener and this year she is president of their Garden Club, which I’m sure is an all consuming job. In early October I will head to Mexico via Ann Arbor, Michigan for the opening ceremonies of Peace Corps 50th year. As you know, we are coming up on our 55th reunion in June of 2011. However, since it has become difficult for me to keep in touch with most of you, I think it best that I resign as your class agent and hope that someone who is more in touch will pick up the torch and carry it on. I have sadly learned of the death of Jane Ellis Ashland and unfortunately I have no further details.
1956S 55th Reunion!
Class Agent: Linda Maiuzzo Budd – linnieb13@ hotmail.com Gail Hawthorne Smith writes: When I receive my Bulletin I always go directly to “1956S” and I am always disappointed to find nothing! Maybe
Judy Parke Coyne ’56B & Pat Reinking McBane ’55B some others of you do the same thing and are also disappointed. Well, it suddenly dawned on me that I am a member of this class and I haven’t written anything either. Wow, what a revelation! So here I am to see if I can inspire a few others to do likewise. We were a class of nineteen, but through the years we have lost Sally Plummer, Nancy Hackett, Barbara “Flashie” Flashman and Brenda “Cosse” Cosseboom. We have also misplaced Betty Ann “Bam” Moritz! We’re fifteen now and nine of us were able to attend our 50th Reunion in 2006 and what a wonderful time we had! The only two I had not seen in fifty years were Dana Woodberry Saccomanno and Lynne Falk and they were the ones I shared a hotel room with and it was as if no time had passed! We still ran the halls in our pjs (just kidding!). I’ve been in Florida for the last twenty years and most of that time would find me and Gret (Gretchen Wustlich Russell) getting together twice a year for an overnight of swimming, eating and “catching up” at her condo on the Gulf. Linda Maiuzzo Budd joined us last year and it was an extra fun time! My life changed drastically in May of 2009 when I lost my dear husband and best friend, Bill. That really brought the meaning of friendship close to home. The strength and camaraderie of women friends is amazing. Hmm, I wonder if SPH contributed to some of that? I think of you all with love and I would LOVE to know what you are all into these days. Certainly not ‘trouble’ at our age! Love, Gail
1957B
Class Agent: Roberta Lee Gerber – 47 9 St, Bonita Springs, FL 34134, rlgerber@me.com th
1957S
Class Agent: Winnie Steel Walker – 14 Honey Corners Rd, West Topsham, VT 05086
1958B
Class Agent: Karen Preefer Hanauer – khanauer@optonline.net
1958S
Class Agent: Anita Smiley Bailey – PO Box 83, Boyce, VA 22620
1959B
Class Agent: Susan Cummings Campbell – beachrosedesigns@ comcast.net Sue Cummings Campbell writes: I would like to encourage the class of
1959S
Class Agents: Betsy Barry Beaudin – betsy@ beaudins.com; Joannah Hall Glass – jhallglass@ aol.com
1960B
Class Agents: Rachael Chamberlain Schlegel – rcs4335@aol.com; Cynthia Poltrack Skinner – cynth6@earthlink.net
1960S
Class Agents: Margery Lawton Cooper – mtlcooper@yahoo.com; Laura Richards – lrichards102@gmail.com Mimi Lawton Cooper reports: Reunion 2010 was wonderful! It was an incredibly special weekend for five ’60S “Fiftiers:” Laura Richards, Sally Gottlieb, Ceci Ament Roberge, Marci Currier Currier, Mimi Lawton Cooper and one adoptee, Vicki Van Patten, B ’60. Vicki was the lone attendee from her class - so we happily took her in as one of our own. I have spoken with Vicki by phone and she said that she enjoyed every minute with us, and that we made her reunion experience very special. We were delighted to have her with us. It was truly a fun time, both festive and relaxing, calling forth all kinds of fabulous old stories, seemingly endless updating on the 50 years past, and just having laugh after laugh after laugh. Ceci says, “It was exhilarating and enriching for me to be with friends from the past and to make new friends. There was such a serene, comfortable feeling amongst us. How wonderful to have shared the experience with Mimi, Laura, Sally and Marci, and our adopted classmate, Vicki. We missed many of our classmates, but remembered them with great stories! Time flies, yet for a little while at Reunion, it stood still.” Ceci had retinal surgery in early July, causing some serious convalescing. But as of my last note from her, her vision continues to improve. A wonderful summer for her, for sure. Marci says she couldn’t think of anything “eloquent to say about reunion, other than it was cosmic, sharing laughs with everyone after all these years!” “Cosmic,” absolutely! She was so happy that Rey was able to meet everyone, and share in her “Marci Currier past.” Rey was a joy to have with us - he certainly put up with a lot of silliness! And his picture-taking talents are most greatly appreciated! After their extensive travels (from home town of Southport, North Carolina) just before reunion, Marci and Rey had a bit of a break this summer (a week taking care of Rey’s three year old grandson, for example . . .), but they’re off to Palm Desert, California, and then to “good old Bean Town” for a visit with Marci’s brother and a niece’s wedding. Hard to keep up with those two! Laura agrees that Reunion was a great time. Of course, she spends a good deal of time there with all of her official duties, but I think that this particular weekend was a really special time for her. Laura had a good summer in Vermont, with mostly good weather
so her campers had a good time. She spent a few days at home on Long Island in July and met up with a tornado and had 30 hours without power! Lucky Laura is off in September on a trip to Slovenia and Croatia, cruising down the Dalmation Coast to Greece. Although roommate Sal and I have attended several other reunions, this one was unquestionably memorable. Happily, we can pick up right wherever we left off, and just have a grand old time. We stayed in the suite at school that she and I shared with Nancy Frisbie Clark and Sue Tise so many years ago - now that was a trip in itself! Sal’s fine - in Woodstock, Vermont, not Stockbridge, as I had reported in the last Bulletin (sorry Sal!). She doesn’t change: funny, fascinating, and wonderful to be with. She, too, had a busy summer with visiting kids, grandkids and friends - “blessed with the most incredible weather from early spring on . . . am sure we’ll pay dearly this winter.” She’s involved with her local food bank and local community dinner project. She said the day she emailed was a quiet one: walk, gym, farmers’ market. Nice Vermont life. Sue Pruyn King writes that her summer in her town of Brewster, Massachusetts, was hectic and a bit trying: “It’s Tourist Time!” Finding a spot to park to enjoy the beach is “iffy” at best and during a season when the tourists are especially rude, locals tend to “hunker down” far more than they do for hurricanes! But Sue keeps herself busy by volunteering at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History and feeding baby birds at Wild Care, a wildlife rehabilitation center. Sue and Tom’s daughter Kirsten King ’93 is with them for a while and teaching. She and Sue, through their church, make lunches for the homeless once a month (“BJ’s, here we come!”). Had an email from Nancy Frisbie Clark. At that moment she had just returned from a get-together with girl friends, bridge and dinner. Says she loves the game! And she had recently returned from a trip from Cleveland to Connecticut and New Jersey to visit with two of their three sons. Number three lives in Atlanta. I gather, from her postings on Facebook, that she misses having her kids and grandkids close by. She’ll be in Stuart, Florida for the months of November, February and March. Those of us who are in Florida for some parts, or all parts, of the winter are hoping to get together at some point. A mini-reunion! And speaking of Reunion - I’m sure I speak for our entire group - huge thanks to the school for making our weekend such a pleasure, really unforgettable. Head of School Sally Mixsell ’69 was so very gracious and so much fun, making sure our little group was a “stand-out” at every juncture! Stephanie Smith and Liz Feeley couldn’t have been more attentive to us, along with everyone else involved. It was a fabulous time, to reconnect, learn - and laugh! And lastly, Sue, Sal, Frisbie, “Pete” (Alixe Carpenter Hugret) and I are on Facebook - take a look. Barry and I head back to St. Augustine mid-October, after a wonderful summer at Highland Lake in Connecticut, with kids and grandkids nearby. See you next time.
1961B 50th Reunion! Class Agents: Judy Vandeveer McDermott – judithmc33@aol.com; Toni Schust Zegras – tzegras@optonline.net
1961S 50th Reunion! Class Agent: Julie Stephens Wyman – Julie4cats@gmail.com
1962B
Class Agent: Kathy Conathan Reardon – kathyr1230@aol.com It is hard to believe summer is over, and we are getting closer to our 50th reunion. Bev Burgess sent me a message on Facebook, reminding me “Only 18 months until our 50th. Since time seems to be moving at record speed, we had better start planning now.” She is still working full-time and busier than ever. She took a 16-day cruise in the Mediterranean with her daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren. She loved experiencing Venice, Rome, Florence, Istanbul, and Athens through the eyes of a 12 and 13 year old. Last fall she traveled to Guatemala for a service project with an organization called Common Hope. She would like to return next year and shared some of the pictures on Facebook, and they were amazing. Althea Prescott Cranton sent a message that she ran into Heidi Simoneau Hennessey at a craft fair this summer. She said the jewelry Heidi makes is just beautiful. As for us, we have had an up and down year. My husband Jack had extensive surgery for bladder cancer in December. After a long recuperative period he finely went back to work in March. He was one of the lucky ones; they caught it in time and he has an excellent prognosis. In May our son Tiger (Philip) and his wife Sarah had another baby boy, Declan. He joins big brother Trevor and they are just the joy of our lives. We are off on a cruise to New England and Canada and hope for some cooler weather. We have had a hot, hot summer in Pennsylvania. Our little Facebook group is growing. It is a great way to share news and pictures. Libby Montague Mundy always has some of her great photography on there; just wish she would post more. Again, a plea…please send me some news!
1962S
Class Agents: Roby Akin Phillips – rphillips@ worldtrav.com; Charlot Martin Taylor – PO Box 1333, Wainscott, NY 11975-1333
1963B
Class Agent: Judith Whalen Dunbar – Judidunbar@aol.com Nancy Anderson Judge just published a Christmas non-fiction book that recounts her teenage years and her relationship with her brother Bub, a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. It’s powerful and poignant and a very heartwarming Christmas read.
1963S
Class Agent: Sally Miller Fuller – ImFuller@ sopris.net
1964B
Class Agents: Gail Martin Clock – gclock@ aol. com; Ellen Chello McFarland – ejmcfarland@ snet.net
1964S
Class Agent needed!
1965B
Class Agent: Ann Mickelson de Brauw – amdebrauw@aol.com
1965S
Class Agent: Patricia Roberts – proberts6@nyc.rr.com
The Bulletin Fall 2010
’59 to support the proposed International Baccalaureate (IB) program for junior and senior years at SB. The prospects of an IB diploma can be important in recruiting outstanding young women to our school as well as providing them a fast track to good colleges. I live in a community with one of the top IB schools in the country (Sturgis School, Hyannis, MA). I have seen the results. We need to support SB with our gifts to establish the IB!
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Alumnae Get Together
Alumnae Association Regional Events
1. Gretchen Bates ’70, Sally Richardson Roberts ’69, Shayna Appel ’78 2. PARIS Priscilla Frost Gimeno ’87 3. CAMDEN, ME Back: Lisa (Chef), Leslie Brown P’98, Sarah Hubbard VonFrank ’85, Sally Richardson Roberts ’69, Shayna Appel ’78, Robin Lunn P’04, Maggie Leonhardt Conger ’71, Regina Mooney (Dir. of Development), Gretchen Bates ’70, John Barrengos (Trustee), Anne Quantrell Dennen ’70 \ Front: Susan Gould McLean ’72, Sally Leach Mixsell ’69, Meredith Lang ’65B
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4. DALLAS, TX Amanda Tompkins ’88, Regina Mooney, Courtney Milburn ’92, Sally Leach Mixsell ’69 and Lynn Schultz Kehoe ’77 (at her home). 5. SANTA FE, NM Left to right: Barbara Bergeron Wheaton ’61B, Susan Barta Hadley ’64S and Lyn Faulkner ’64S 6. AVON, CT Seated: John Bloodgood, Patty Hibbard ’76, Sharon Lewis Gaffey ’67S \ Standing: Jean Finney Haberman ’64S, Sally Leach Mixsell ’69, Kevin Hibbard, Linda Barrows Bloodgood ’55B, Sue Ellen Rothery ’69
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The Bulletin Fall 2010
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1966B 45th Reunion!
Class Agents: Kiki Black – henshaw66@yahoo. com; Mandy Burr – RevMandy@aol.com; Judy Arnold Conner – jmac333@comcast.net Judy Arnold Conner writes: Kiki Black, Mandy Burr and I are really hoping that all of you are thinking about coming to our 45th Reunion in June 2011. Even if you haven’t decided yet, please mark it down on your calendar for June 10 -12, 2011 so it will be there as a ‘gentle’ reminder to attend. Kiki, Mandy and I are going to be there, and a couple of months ago when we had a flurry of emails, there were about 15 of you that also said that you would be coming. It will be much more fun for everyone if we get a big turnout.
1966S 45th Reunion!
Class Agent: Beth Born Mellina – 710 Dartmoor, Westfield, NJ 07090
1967B
Class Agents: Jody Geberhardt – jodyg@cableone. net; Judith Lilleston – lillestonj@hotmail.com
1967S
Class Agent: Susie Hine – PO Box 96, East Dennis, MA 02641
1968B
Class Agent: Joyce Cornish Suter – ljsuter@ comcast.net Amy Nolan Woodruff reports: I came out from San Diego to join Sue Scull Trzcienski and Peggy McElhone at Mary Lee Prescott-Griffin’s home in Swansea, Massachusetts for a fun-filled weekend at the end of August. The four of us had not been all together since Sue’s wedding in 1972 (where we were all bridesmaids). Sue and Mary Lee are both grandmothers now. This photo was taken after a wonderful lobster dinner where we toasted our friendship. Being together made the time disappear. We fondly remembered good friends from The Cottage and Round Hill, our esteemed teachers, and, of course, Mrs. Peters. Our Burnham years were indeed golden ones.
Sue Scull Trzcienski, Mary Lee Prescott-Griffin, Peggy McElhone Broskie, Amy Nolan Woodruff, B68
1969
Class Agent Chairs: Meg Long White – megevents@gmail.com; Bonnie Briskin – bonnieb351@yahoo.com; Class Agents: Deborah Chamberlain – dorchamb@aol. com; Mary Maloney –maloneym@ummhc.org
1970
Class Agent Chair: Kathy Seyffer Opdycke – wlpmom@ comcast.net; Class Agent: Perky Heath Hamill – peezola@optonline.net
Reunion in June was just fabulous!! Despite the persistent rain on Saturday Perky Heath Hamill led our group of 8 returning alums, including Denise Bruner, Gretchen Bates, Anne Quantrell Dennen, Anne Sears, Nancy Johnson Bercaw, Pam Feather Osborn and myself (Kathy Seyffer Opdycke). No one could believe that 40 years had passed! We spent Saturday afternoon in the Red Room looking through class pictures and reminiscing about old times. It was true confessions all over again! Everyone looked wonderful and many thanks to each of you for coming. And if anyone is the least bit curious… Perky hasn’t changed at all! Congratulations to Anne Sears as a newly elected member of Stoneleigh-Burnham School’s Alumnae Board. Anne will be doing some very important work to re-connect our class and to encourage alumnae from all classes to support our school financially. Anne, best of luck to you in your efforts! Thanks to Anne Quantrell Dennen for hosting an alumnae event at her home in Camden, Maine this past summer. Gretchen Bates lives in Yarmouth, Maine and she and Sally Richardson ’69 traveled to Camden for the event. Also attending were Maggie Leonhardt Conger ’71 and Meredith Lang ’65B. I was planning to attend the alumnae event at Anne’s however I cancelled my trip at the last minute to be in Richmond for the birth of my first grandson, William Lowndes Peple, V., born on August 9, 2010. I continue my work as Chair of the Board of Trustees at Stoneleigh-Burnham School. Sally and I make a great team and I work with an incredible Board who share my same passion for our school! Pamela Coffin Williams and I have been in constant communication. Pamela lives in Naples, Florida and she has graciously assisted my efforts in development for our school using her many years of experience! Pamela, again, thanks for all your support. Sue Cutler Ray has had e-mail correspondence with Perky. ‘Cutler’ lives in North Carolina and wished she could have joined us for Reunion. Maybe for our 45th, Cutler? Perky has also corresponded with Joy Suisman McLean who still lives in and loves Atlanta and tells us that Justin, 31 is married and in Medical School in Philadelphia with an interest in emergency room medicine. Matt, 30, lives in Atlanta and is a senior account executive with an advertising firm. Alex, 25, is in training for marine crane sales and will be handling the southern part of the U.S. and her husband Bob turned 65 and is still practicing dentistry and has taken up golf and sculpting. Joy says her interior design business took a dive last year but thankfully is getting back on track. The business is going on 25 years and Joy has had wonderful projects in California, Kansas City, Savannah and Atlanta. Her website is: www. joymcleaninteriors.com. Perky also e-mailed with Betsy Moore Joseph who reports, “I’m going to be a grandma! Our daughter, Jen, is having her first baby in April, and we’re over the moon! Our son is getting married to a wonderful girl in November. We spent a great summer at our house at the Cape and I’m back at school teaching reading to kindergarteners and first graders. Life is good, and I appreciate every day. Let’s all make a concerted effort to send in news for the next SBS newsletter. Has anyone noticed our class is the worst? It’s been really fun re-connecting with a lot of you on Facebook. Did you guys see Perky’s pictures? Amazing!” Nancy Johnson Bercaw shares: We are on our way out the door to our cabin in New York so I will be quick...I have been married for 36 years this August
Kathy Seyffer Opdycke ‘70 and grandson William Lowndes Peple V to my love Walter and we have three kids, Laura 29, David 27 and Christopher 24. My gallery, the Station Gallery in Greenville, DE for fine art and custom framing celebrated 30 years in business last year. My website is: www.stationgallery.net. I had a great time at reunion and only wish a few more of us were there! I also had a visit with Denise Bruner and her husband in August. It was so nice to reconnect with her! Perky met Cindy Gaebe Potter on August 30 in Hartford, CT where Cindy’s son is at Trinity College. Perky reported: Gabby and I had fun! It’s so weird to have this picture in your head of how someone looked 40 years ago and then there’s this grown woman! She looks really good, VERY put together. She’s still the same Gabby! She wants to try and have a mini reunion maybe in NYC sometime with whoever can make it. Sound good? And news from Perky: “I took a trip to Kenya in July and brought t-shirts to the children in the school. I live in Watertown, CT and have been married to Sandy Hamill for 37 years (good god). Sandy is a doctor and I take care of old people...like me! We have three children, Bronwyn, 32, a psychological counselor and mother of Trey, Whitney, 29, a Nurse Anesthetist at Mass Eye and Ear in Boston and Morgan (a man/ cub) 22, in his last year at Wesleyan University as an Anthropology/Archeology major. I went to the 40th Reunion at SBS and had a blast! For those of you who have never been back…do it! They give prizes! I got the prize for sneaking out the most! And huge kudos to Sally! She was heaven sent!” And my last report: I enjoyed lunch last April with Holly Burns Johnson in her hometown of Kennebunkport, Maine. Holly looks just great and loves her job with Pack Maynard Real Estate where she oversees their rental properties. She is happily married and her daughter Lindsay has moved to Washington, D. C. Thanks for sharing and we hope to hear from more of you for the spring edition of The Bulletin!
Perky Hamill ‘70 and grandson Trey
1971 40th Reunion! Class Agent: Lynda Decker Gallagher – lyndadeckergallagher@gmail.com
Friends, our 40th Reunion is coming up next June! Time flies! Please plan to join your former classmates and forever friends at StoneleighBurnham for our 40th reunion weekend celebration on June 10-12. Bring family photos and stories of your lives. We can’t wait to see you! Linda Lewis shares: I am planning to attend the reunion next June provided nothing comes up that will prevent that from happening. My mother is doing very well now and in fact, we are flying her down for Christmas. She lives in Oregon and will turn 93 in December! She’s quite remarkable. I’ve not heard anything from Byrd since April. She lives in Berkeley which is about an hour south and east of me. I know she would enjoy hearing from fellow classmates. Her email address is: catbirdnow@sbcglobal.net. We’ve had a cool summer for Northern California but I have enjoyed it. The up side is it is perfect for playing tennis. The down side is the majority of our tomatoes are still green. Oh, well. I would enjoy hearing from anyone! Gigi Abbo reports that she celebrated her daughter’s graduation from college in Europe this past spring. She and Lynda Decker Gallagher got together at Gigi’s home in Boca Raton for lunch in June and are looking forward to visiting with Sutzie Anger Canzonetti in September.
audience in singing Happy Birthday to Mickey. My dear friend and SBS alumna Keli Levine and her family shared in the fun as well. A great time was had by all! Jennifer Pickering writes: I have had a busy year. After 13 years in the same location, I had to move my Seahorse Travel office to a new location in Bedford, NH. All settled in now and very happy in my new digs. I have been doing quite a bit of cruising this year and have done some other traveling too. Earlier this month I had lunch with Charlotte Newton ‘71 at the Cheesecake Factory in Natick, MA. Then I had dinner with Sue Tuttle in Oakland, CA when I was in California on vacation. It was great to see Sue and catch up. She has a beautiful loft in an old mill building in Oakland and is busy making gorgeous jewelry of all kinds. Sue is still her happy, bubbly self and looks great. Hopefully she (and some of you other 72-ers!) can make it to our 40th reunion in 2012. That’s not very far away! Hello to everybody! Melissa Leach Dickson writes: I just returned from a Labor Day weekend wedding of my nephew, Hayden Mixsell, son of sister Sally Leach Mixsell ’69, in Vermont. It was a perfect weekend and a very fun wedding! Regina Mooney, the Director of Development of SBS was the officiate and she was more than fantastic! Summer was filled with hot sun, sailing, tennis and seeing my kids a lot, which was the highlight. All three children are in NYC teaching 2nd grade, 9th grade physics, and acting and SAT tutoring with office management. I am still fitness training Mat Pilates and teaching Spin.
the Hospitality Field. From Amy Sullivan: Just wanted to say that Jeanne Lavieri ‘73 and I met up in San Francisco and reminisced about the long hours we spent making pottery in the art room at SBS. Jeanne and I are both still working in the arts and coincidentally our sons live a few miles apart in the city.
1973
Class Agents: Susan McVie - 1731 Rose Ave, Bethlehem, PA 18018 Lucy C. Pierpont has been appointed as the new marketing and program director at The Kent Memorial Library. She owns her own design company and previously worked for The Litchfield County Times/Housatonic Publications. In addition to joining the library, she will continue her work with Klemm Real Estate in graphic design and marketing.
1974
Class Agent: Victoria Claman Hewitt – vchewitt@aol.com
1975
Class Agent: Susan Murphy Mulcahy – emeraldsm@sbcglobal.net
1976 35th Reunion!
Class Agents: Nancy Maurer Preston – npreston07@gmail.com; Susan Tyrrel – styrrel@ cox.net
1977
Class Agent: Kathryn Whitney Mansfield – kat.mansfield@verizon.net
1978
Class Agent: Lynne Schulthess – SabrinaS@optonline.net
1979
Lynda Decker Gallagher ’71 and Gigi Abbo ‘71
1972
The Bulletin Fall 2010
Class Agent: Melissa Leach Dickson – MelissaLDickson@gmail.com From Ellen Easton: I have a busy autumn speaking schedule for my new book, Tea Travels™ For The Holidays. Speaking to women’s groups, schools and fundraisers is a great pleasure knowing that my books help to bring friendship into the lives of others. On September 19 and 20th, I was honored to have organized and serve as Master of Ceremonies for Jan and Mickey Rooney’s “Let’s Put on a Show” celebrating Mickey’s 90th birthday, at Feinstein’s Loews Regency in New York. Michael Feinstein presented a cake and led the star studded
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Ellen Easton ’69 with Jan and Mickey Rooney
Class Agent: needed! Melissa Leach Dickson ’72 and family at her nephew’s wedding in VT Stephanie Fox Kramer shares: I am still living in Burbank with my husband Timothy and my daughter Sophie, who will be going into 10th grade this fall. I am the costume supervisor for a new show called “The Defenders,” which will air this fall season on CBS. It stars Jim Belushi and Jerry O’Connell. I know it will be a big hit. It is a dream show for me. Sharon Caulkins Hubley writes: We moved eight months ago up to Capitol Hill to an 1880’s townhouse seven blocks from the Capitol. We are loving the charm and convenience of it. The restaurants and all the activities up here are amazing and we have no excuses about not going to activities. Peter and I saw our first Greek play put on at the Folger Shakespeare Theater a couple of months ago. I am continuing to do my real estate management business and also the staging. My other business is my vintage jewelry and sundries business called Unbridaled Treasures. I will be doing a fundraiser for The Lab School of Washington where my daughter Caroline, now 15, attends. My son Cameron is working on his B.A. degree from Davis and Elkins in West Virginia in
1980
Class Agents: Kim Day - 403 Pacific Cir, Newbury Park, CA 91320; Dawn Slaney Hill - 303 Tutwiler Dr, Trussville, AL 35173; Cindi Grader Viola – jckviola@comcast.net
1981 30th Reunion!
Class Agent: Becky Rawson Aronson Weaver – baronson75206@yahoo.com
1982
Class Agent: Bridget O’Brien – bobrien@comcast.net
1983
Class Agent: Lois Kuiper Fuller – lcmfuller@comcast.net
1984
Class Agents: Susan Mahoney Casey – suem65@flash.net Libby Cowperthwaite Schmittdiel writes: Hey all, I am still living in North Carolina with my husband of 17 years and my 16 year old son. I am still teaching and training horses but in the
I learned how to sail last spring and just love it. I still surf every so often and I took up jogging last year and trained for my first ever race and did quite well, I must say. It was an adventure that I am still enduring. Our nine year old twin boys are super active and keep us very busy and laughing a lot! They are in the 4th grade now and love school! If anyone is ever planning a trip to Hawaii and you happen to come to Oahu, please let me know, I would love to show you this great Island we call home. Aloha for now!
1991 20th Reunion!
Class Agents: Amy Christiansen-Burton – ajchristiansen@aol.com; Rebecca Whiting Harr – rwharr2@aol.com; Brooke Harris – ebrooke326@yahoo.com Bridget O’Brien ’82 with daughters Abigail (left) and Claire and husband John Di Tosto. last year have started an equine rescue. It is called Healing Hearts Equine Rescue. Check out our web site at healingheartsequinerescue.org. We are non profit so if you are looking for some place to make a tax deductible gift this is a perfect organization. It is the most rewarding thing I have ever done besides being a mom. My son was just asked to play on a 1st division soccer team as starting goal keeper. My husband is busy running his landscaping business and helping out on our 25 acre farm, Healing Acres Farm, with our horses and our rescues. Hope this finds all of you well! Let’s catch up. I am on Facebook where I have been blessed with reuniting with a lot of you. Have a great holiday season!
1985
Class Agents: Sophie Aikman – sophieaikman@ hotmail.com; Sharon Barbour Petrecca – spetrecca@cox.net; Suze Stutzman – suzedesigns@ hotmail.com; Evelyn Trebilcock – Evelyn. Trebilcock@oprhp.state.ny.us
1986 25th Reunion!
Class Agents: Elizabeth Engel – eengel1241@ aol.com; Liz Tichenor Percheson – elizabeth. percheson@pharna.com
1987
Class Agents: Damiane Adamczyk – dadamczyk@ snet.com; Jenny West Pender – penderjenw@ yahoo.com
– tbassettfox@hr-k12.org; Travis Stewart – travandboo@sbcglobal.net; Kelsa Fuller Zereski – kelsa96@aol.com; Sam Stephens Kelsa (Fuller) Zereski writes: I reconnected over the summer with Lorna Conway and my little sister from SBS, Melanie McCusker ’91 on Cape Cod.
1989
Class Agents: Julie Gunther - julesgunther@yahoo. com; Sam Loud Migon – migons@bellsouth.net
1990
Class Agents: Dionne Cason - 5904 Terry Parker Dr N, Jacksonville, FL 32211; Melanie McCusker Fenstersmaker – dmfence@aol.com; Tamar Cooke Luck – twnsrul@yahoo.com; Teresa WilliamsYetming – paris100@aol.com Tamar Luck reports: Aloha from the Rainbow State. We have been living here for two years now and still love it! We hope to be here for another three years, but we will see what the Army says. This November my husband and I will celebrate fourteen years of marriage, and while it is hard to believe it has been that long I am so grateful to God that He gave me such a wonderful man. We have been very blessed to have been to so many great places, thanks to his Army career and Hawaii has not failed us yet. I still stay home with the kids, well ok, they go off to school, but I still am blessed to be here for them. I have done so many things here that I never thought I would do.
Brooke Harris reports: I’m happy to report that Masina Wright is moving to Portland, Maine. After fifteen great years getting her Naturopathic Doctor degree and being in private practice at 360 Healthcare, Masina is planning on leaving Toronto, Ontario. She is moving back to New England and will be living and working in Portland, Maine. You can find her on twitter@thewrightdoctor. Kyo Yamada was kind enough to respond to the request for notes reporting that she had nothing to report! Funny girl! Becki Whiting Harr thinks that it’s time we all start planning for Reunion 2011 and says, “No excuses, ladies - this is #20!!! Time to leave the jobs, spouses, kids and daily grind behind and head to Greenfield for a weekend get away!” Shigeri Takamatsu reports, “I think I am writing my first class note to SBS in my life. I have been living in Munich, Germany for the last four years and lead a French and German team at Cartier. After all, it was my 10-year long dream to work outside of Japan, in a management position. In summer 2010, I opened a big exhibition with 360 Cartier antique pieces at Prague Castle. This project took three and a half years and much adventure working with an ex-communist country, Czech Republic. Through this project, I met my husband, who is a forest ranger. Lee Bender is highly surprised and excited about the 20 year reunion. It seems to have snuck up on her. Lee says, “we do all need to be there for the Reunion. Let’s make a great showing for the class of ‘91! I have a little news. I finally got back with horses again after 7 years and I bought a 2 year old. Easiest baby I have had so far! Now I will see if the kids get bitten by the same bug I did. Take care all!”
1988
Class Agents: Linwood Bardusch Kenneally buggie221@yahoo.com; Taffy Bassett-Fox
Stephanie Farmer Bunting ’88 in Haiti working on a documentary.
Tamar Luck ’90 with son JD (left), husband Aaron and son Drew
Coaching, fell in love with the work and have launched a full time practice offering individual coaching, groups and classes (visit UniquePeople. net to find out more). I share this exciting and busy life with my partner of 10 years, Netania Shapiro and our two awesome boys, Zev age 6 and Leo age 3. Hope to be in touch with more of you soon!
1993
Class Agents: Jennifer Anderson Hayes – jhayes36@yahoo.com; Sarah Johnson – sarahflies2004@yahoo.com Amy Morford Nebeker sadly reports that her mom, Linda Erickson Morford passed away on June 10, 2010. “I miss her dearly, but things are going fine here otherwise. Ashton is growing up way too fast!
1994
The Bulletin Fall 2010
Logan Korpita Gomes ’99 with husband Tiago Gomes and son Tiavo Tristan Gomes
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Patricia Caicedo feels that her note would be much more amusing if I made it up for her, but I’m not going to do that. Although Patricia, I do think you would make a very nice ballerina or astronaut. “Well here’s my recent resume three boys (13, 7 and almost 2), Mateo, Juan and Manuel, three dogs, one wonderful husband (haha), Eduardo. I’m living back home in Cali, Colombia. I founded and run, along with my three half sisters, the charity aspect of my family’s candy and food company ‘Fundación Colombina.’ I have a forest themed candy store ‘Algo Dulce Para Ti’ whose main character is a big bear named Dulce where we sell candy by weight, boxes, teddy bears, cards, wine, chocolates. There is a ‘tree house’ where art, non-violent video games, music and free play are offered for kids up to age 10, while parents dine at the very yummy restaurant (part of the candy shop) named ‘El Mesón’. I am a Buddhist so meditation plays a big role in my life as well. I am also very involved in all of my kids’ activities at school: room mother, chaperoning school field trips and such. I’m quite busy and happy.” Amy Christiansen Burton shared some news too, “I am a proud stay at home mom of four wonderful children which are two sets of twins. Mychal and Macyn were born in May 2006 then Kendyl and Kamryn May 2009. Even though the kids keep my husband, Brian and me busy, I still find time to volunteer with March of Dimes as a mother of multiples group. We live in Baltimore, Maryland yet I miss Massachusetts very much and I try to bring the kids up as much as possible. This past summer we spent a month with my parents in Wenham, Mass. I know that my class notes are a little boring but my life consists of PBS television, reading children books, trips to the library and the park, driving to gymnastics and cooking dinner with the kids. Macyn and Mychal started full day Pre-K this past week and WOW, I love it. I forgot what it was like to just have two kids in the house. I do plan to see Courtney Bartlett Cardona ’92 and her family the day after Thanksgiving. It has become an annual tradition. I do love Facebook as it helps in keeping up with all my SBS sisters. If you haven’t already, please add me as a friend.” Susan Dodd reports that “I am living in Sarasota, Florida (my hometown) and working for the local government after graduating with an architecture
degree in 2003 from the University of Arizona. I love my work and have amazing friends and family close by.” Nicola Green wants to know what the chances are that people are going to go to Reunion next year. It’s a long trip, Nicola, but I think you should invest in a ticket. She also let me know that “Life continues to be busy, busy, busy with company, kids & other bits & pieces. Thankfully the two of them go back to school in two weeks time (eight weeks is way too long) then I can get back to ‘normal’ working life which is manic at present. There is never a dull moment. If any of you ever require state of the art mobile phone detection and blocking technology and soon Intelligence Software - let me know. It’s amazing how true the saying is: It isn’t what you know - it is who you know (or should that be whom)? Take care and see you maybe next year (somewhere in the U.S.!)” As for me, (Brooke Harris), I continue to live the best life in Portland, ME. I travel frequently and I spent some time in Morocco in the fall, three weeks this summer in Tanzania and I’m headed to Italy in a few days for a week with some family. It was a long winter. My mother was sick with cancer, but she has recovered and gotten a clean bill of health. No kids for me yet, but I have this dog that thinks I’m the best thing EVER. That’s good for me for now. I continue to work per diem doing clinical assessments for a large agency. I’m all finished with football (enough beating up of the body), but I’ve picked up running (it’s a little less painful). I hope that people will think about Reunion this coming summer- I think it’s safe to say that everyone has fun when they go, so try to make it happen. Enjoy the fall, and brace yourself, those of us that live in colder climates, snow is not that far away!
1992
Class Agents: Tracy Allison Evans - 1611 Prather Ave, Saint Louis, MO 63139; Leelee Harrison – leelee_harrison@yahoo.com Shana Hiranandani writes: Hi All! I am writing to announce the launching of my new business. After earning my graduate degree in counseling psychology and working in the field, I still felt that there was something more out there for me. I continued with formal training in Life and Career
Class Agent: Amie Tessler Butman – amieb@ cox. net
1995
Class Agent: Emily Clarke Whitney – ewhitney@ bement.org
1996 15th Reunion!
Class Agents: Marguerite Barrett – margueriteb@ yahoo.com; Mary Ellen Hennessey Blake – mary_ ellen_hennessey@hotmail.com Amanda Hanan shares: I married the man of my dreams on April 16, 2010! We were so lucky to have all our family and friends there to share our special day. Melissa McKallagat writes: I am back in the Worcester area and would love to connect with anyone that is around these parts. This fall I have been coaching a middle school boy’s soccer team and I love it. The kids are great and we have a lot of fun. I hope to see everyone at Reunion this summer.
1997
Class Agents: Erin McDonald – emcdonald82@ hotmail.com; Becky Plough – rtp9979@aol.com; Kilian Tracy – kiliantracy@yahoo.com
1998
Class Agents: Sara Brown Gibbons – sarambrown@hotmail.com; Melissa Hemming McWeeny – melissa5074@yahoo.com; Meg O’Brien – megoatc@hotmail.com
1999
Class Agent: Alexandra Slack Hindle – alexandra. slack@gmail.com Logan Korpita Gomes shares: On August 3rd my husband, Tiago Gomes, and I welcomed our first child, a baby boy Tavio Tristan Gomes. Tavio was born at Nantucket Cottage Hospital (Nantucket Island, MA) at 4:50pm weighing 8lbs, 10.5 oz and measuring 21 inches in length.
2000
Class Agent: Caisey Jefferson Kakascik– cjeff2@ yahoo.com
2001 10th Reunion!
Class Agents: Joyhdae Albert - simply.joyhdae@ gmail.com; Katelyn Morgan - kmorgan@hartford. edu Ann McCoppin shares: I am the proud mother
Ann McKoppin ’01 with her children Brody and Paisley
2002
Class Agent: Samantha Pleasant – sampleasant gmail.com
2003
Class Agent: Jessica Fydenkevez – jess. fydenkevez@gmail.com
2004
Class Agent: Jessica Pleasant – jpleasan@ student. umass.edu
2005
Class Agent: Erika Marback – Wedges9@aol.com
to Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia and Austria. Kirsten is studying Psychology and Women’s Studies at Wheaton College. Tracy Ruttkamp and her fiance are leaving September 20th for a road trip around the U.S. for a few months. They will travel to Florida, Tennessee, Texas, Colorado, California and a bunch of other states. Janelle Batta recently spent a semester studying abroad in Paris and is back in New York for her last year at Barnard College. She continues to study environmental policy while preparing to graduate and end an eight-year stint of dorm living that began on Upper Mary Burnham Hall. Heather Gore is a year away from graduating, and is applying directly into Ph.D. programs for Neuroscience. She has been working in several laboratories at UMass Amherst for the last year and a half. The focus of the labs are primate behavior, the effects of sex hormones on cognition, and the HPA axis. Right now, she is beginning her Honors Capstone which is looking to see if rhesus monkeys recognize and prefer humans who imitate them. She was just published as second author on a poster that went to the American Society for Primatologists called, “Rhesus Macaques May Eavesdrop on NonCommunicative Exchanges.” Kelsi Watkins transferred from Mount Holyoke College to the University of Massachusetts Amherst to major in Animal Science. She is currently taking time off to work, and is employed by the Yankee Candle Company. She is living in Sunderland, MA. Soo Jin Cho is currently in Tel-Aviv, Israel enjoying the beach and sun! It is only for one semester before she goes back to New York City for the very last time. Katie Dempster is enjoying her senior year at Gettysburg College. She is a member of the marching band and APO—a national service fraternity. She studied abroad in Denmark last spring which was an amazing experience. Her plans for next year are still undecided but she will be applying to medical school next spring to attend in the Fall of 2012.
2008
Obehi Utubor ‘05
2006 5th Reunion!
Class Agent: Natalie Rosenstock – rosenstock_n@ mitchell.edu; Marcy Segel – mwindy15@aol.com
2007
Class Agents: Ashlee Houle – ashleehoule@ gmail. com; Kirsten Porter – kirst.porter@gmail. com Kirsten (Porter) McKenzie spent last semester studying in Dublin Ireland. During her time there she interned for The National Women’s Council of Ireland. Before returning home she traveled
Class Agents: Martha Kingman – foremek@sover. net; Caroline Marsden – cmarsden@student. umass.edu Sam Torres shares: School is good and I’m busy with 18 credits again this semester as well as a job at a gym working as a personal trainer, which is SO much fun. My email address is samm.torres@ gmail.com. Dana Larson reports: My major is Environmental Studies and I’m about to declare my minor as Spanish. I joined the Kappa Delta Sigma sorority in Fall 2009 which I’m happy about because I’ve made many good friends last year. I’m also doing club yoga and skiing and ice-skating when I find time. Rose Hannigan writes: I am in my third year at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. I am working on my BS in Administration of Justice with minors in Information Technology and Dance. My concentration within my major is Homeland Security. I love all my classes for the most part. I am also on the Mason Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) Team. I compete almost every weekend for the team as well as being the Fundraiser Coordinator for the team. Vicky Sun reports: I plan to spend this year
Emily Palmer ‘06 and Liz Smith ‘06 working Debate Camp at SBS abroad in France with Wagner College’s program through Lyon Lumiere II. Sheila Park writes: Okay, so while I was taking a lot of classes to fill my requirements for medical school, I also took an International Politics class and found that to be SO AMAZING and decided to change my major to Political Science. And now as I am facing junior year, I plan to major in politics and intern at the UN. And I’m going to minor in media. I’m going back to Korea for the summer and will be working, interning, and traveling! Jody Romeo shares: I just enlisted in the Air Force and graduated from basic military training on Lackland Air Force base on January 29th and have just started technical training at Sheppard Air Force Base where I will graduate around April 1st as a munitions systems apprentice. I really like it so far, the community is great and the benefits terrific. I just found out that, after my training here, I’ll be shipping out to the Air Force base in Osan, South Korea for a year-long tour, so that should be pretty fun.
2009
Class Agents: Audrey Lewis – alewis@sbschool. org; Chi-Hung Liao – xurucj@hotmail.com; Colleen Mangan – cmangan@sbschool.org
2010
Class Agent Chair: Ashley Daigle – Ashley. daigle@mail.goucher.edu; Class Agents: Dylan Tomalin – dylansierra13@yahoo.com; Kim Balk – kbalkyunxi@gmail.com
We love your photos & we want to print them here! However, some submissions we receive are too small, too low resolution or too dark to print. If you have questions about submitting photos to The Bulletin, please contact the Communications Office at communications@ sbschool.org or 413.774.2711 x277.
The Bulletin Fall 2010
to two beautiful kids, Paisley (age 8) and Brody (age 7), with a third baby due in October, which my family and I are extremely excited about! I also want to let everyone know that I attended the wedding of classmate April Ainsworth in Las Vegas. I miss every one from Stoneleigh and hope to make it to our 10 Year Reunion and hopefully will see everyone there! Cait O’Connor writes: I am graduating in May 2011 with my masters in social work from Springfield College. Hope all is well! Andrea Baggetta Robin shares: My husband Mike, my three year old son Jason and I just welcomed a baby boy, Logan George Robin, into our family on July 1st.
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Alumnae Board: Serving the Alumnae Association Dear Fellow Alumnae, As the Alumnae Board grows in the strength of its numbers and the clarity of its mission, we are excited to serve the Alumnae Association as ambassadors to the school. Our main objective is to connect with and engage more alumnae each year. We have just launched a “Class Agent Project” that connects Alumnae Board members directly with class agents for classes that will be celebrating milestone reunions in 2011 and 2012. This project will expand over the next few years until we have each class agent working directly with an Alumnae Board member. Our intent is to increase the number of class agents for each class to assist class agents with keeping in communication with their classmates.
Lisa Zewinski Adams ‘87 Alumnae Board President
Ideally we would like to create a 1:10 ratio of class agents and classmates. Last year the Class of 2010 elected three class agents to work with their class members over the many wonderful years ahead. We are here as a resource for you to learn about the school and what is happening here on campus. We are a presence on campus for meetings and various school events, so the current body learns that there is a rich history to this school, and we are living proof of it! We are here to help the school connect with as many alumnae as possible throughout the year. We serve as Alumnae Board members for many different personal reasons and our journeys through our high school years vary as much as our graduating years would indicate. But one common thread in each of us, whether we graduated from Mary A. Burnham, StoneleighProspect Hill or Stoneleigh-Burnham School, is the friendships we made and the bonds that we created, which will always give us a place to call our own. So join us for Reunion 2011 and experience first-hand the excitement of connecting with old friends and classmates. I’ll see you there!
The Bulletin Fall 2010
Live, Laugh and Love,
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11 Sharon Lewis Gaffey ’68S, Cynnie Mitchell Bassett ’67B, Erica Marback ’05, Kirsten Porter McKenzie ’07, Melissa Weisberg Donovan ’89, Donna Lynn Sparks ’86, Anne Sears ’70, Melissa McKallagat ’96, Emily Gamelin ’02, Heatherle Clingerman ’93, Carolyn Austin ’68B, Taffy Bassett-Fox ’88. Not Pictured: Rose Hannigan ’08, Kimberly Leegstra ’88, Lisa Zewinski Adams ’87, Kristen Landino ’98, Manuela Uribe ’11
In Memoriam Helen Goodwin Fritts 1941 MAB August 2010
Martha Bailey Kirk 1958 MAB May 26, 2010
Lucy Wright Case 1950 SPH September 12, 2010
Marcella Rice Lopez 1959 MAB July 16, 2010
Barbara Black Funk 1950 April 16, 2010
Victoria A. Simons 1962 MAB March 1, 2010
Remembering Jane Perkins 1942 - 2010 by Cyndee Meese
I remember Jane Perkins as one who always loved and lived life to the fullest. Her interest and compassion for people and her students rang through the gym and the dance studio every day. She created a dance program at SBS that is still one of the jewels of the school. “Get your head up!” she would cry to the girls as the music floated out from the dance studio. “You are beautiful … Say the name of the steps… Do not watch your feet - they aren’t going anywhere without you.” Her voice would soar above the music. That was my introduction to Stoneleigh-Burnham School and to the remarkable energy of Jane Perkins. Jane was always moving. She choreographed in any style—tap, jazz, ballet or lyrical. She loved musicals and choreographed many of the musicals at SBS. Jane and her husband Bob created a space in their home for my husband and me and our three-month old baby girl when we needed a place to stay while looking for a home. “ Of course you will stay with us. You and that baby can stay here while Bill goes to work during the day. You can look for a house, but I get to play with that little girl.” Jane left SBS in the mid-eighties to pursue a new life, but she did not leave her friends behind. She kept in touch with my family throughout her many continuing life adventures. These included living and working in France for twenty years, then later returning to America to pursue a Masters degree in nursing and to enjoy her grandchildren. Jane embraced life with the courage of her convictions and her ready laugh. What a life she led. Some people never leave your heart. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family at this time. Jane’s vivacious, energetic voice will always be in my heart saying, “ Get your head up! You are beautiful!” What a memory. What an incredible woman.
She lived in Paris for 20 years, teaching English to corporate executives, singing in the choral ensemble “Voices” and playing handbells at the American Church, Paris. After moving back to Maine six years ago, she was charge nurse at Eastern Maine Medical Center and was working toward her Bachelor of Science in nursing at the University of Maine, Orono. Jane embraced life and reveled in her time with family and at her beloved Seal Bay. She was an avid scuba diver, cross-country skier, Bagaduce bridge jumper and blueberry pie maker. She was also a proud member of Daughters of the American Revolution and National Honor Society.
The Bulletin Fall 2010
Jane Richmond Dickey Perkins, 68, died unexpectedly September 9, 2010. Jane was born in Bangor, ME. She graduated from Hampden High School and Peter Bent Brigham School of Nursing, and she took classes and taught at Polly Thomas School of Dance. She was a principal dancer of Ballet Arts Regional Repertoire Ensemble, in Greenfield, MA, and conducted her own dance school at Stoneleigh-Burnham School.
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z Nominate Someone You Know for the Distinguished Alumna Award!
Who is her best self?
Stoneleigh-Burnham School alumnae strive to live with purpose and meaning. They inspire and challenge others around them to enrich their communities and the world. They distinguish themselves in myriad ways, reimagining the limits of their own potential.
To honor alumnae who have stood out amongst their peers, Stoneleigh-Burnham School created the Distinguished Alumna Award in 2010. This award is presented annually and bestows institutional recognition on one alumna who has distinguished herself in her personal or professional life, in her intellectual pursuits, or in her dedication to service of community, country or society.
The Distinguished Alumna Award serves also to inspire the entire Stoneleigh-Burnham School community—students, alumnae, staff and faculty alike—to strive ‘to become their best selves’ in their pursuit of a meaningful life.
Nominations for 2011 must be received by January 1, 2011!
Nominations are welcomed from other alumnae who know better than anyone those who are deserving of this honor. We encourage detailed and strong statements of nomination that emphasize the following criteria: • The nominee should embody the core values of Stoneleigh-Burnham School by exhibiting characteristics of intellectual curiosity, integrity and determination in her ‘pursuit of good.’ • The nominee should have contributed significantly to the welfare of her community or society and accomplished outstanding professional and personal achievements in her field of endeavor. The 2011 award will be announced and presented during Reunion in June 2011. Past recipient: 2010 – Karen Van Lengen ’69
Submit your nomination for Distinguished Alumna online at www.sbschool.org under Alumnae/Distinguished Alumna Award or call the Alumnae Office at 413.774.2711 x 247
z
Lucky 70 While most people think the number 7 is lucky, Anne Sears prefers the number 70. Anne started high school at Mary A. Burnham in 1967 and graduated from Stoneleigh-Burnham in 1970 after the schools merged in 1969. Coincidentally, this past Reunion, the 50th for Anne’s class, she was randomly assigned Room 70 for the weekend.
During Reunion 2010, Anne heard about the opportunity for alumnae to sponsor the renovation of dorm rooms and offered to make a gift to the school for the renovation of Room Anne Sears ’70 70. Anne dedicated the renovation in memory of her parents Hazel and Richard Sears “who gave me the opportunity to attend MAB and SBS. I will be forever grateful.” When Anne returned to campus in October as a member of the Alumnae Board and stayed on campus for the weekend, she was able to stay in the newly renovated Room 70. Anne says, “The room looked wonderful! And the bed was much more comfortable than it was in June with the new mattress!”
Dorm Room 70 after its face-lift
To learn more about sponsoring a room renovation, contact Regina Mooney at 413-774-2711 x317.
We Stand Corrected Left Out
In our Spring 2010 Bulletin issue, we incorrectly stated that nine Stoneleigh-Burnham students qualified and competed at the Debate World Championships. Unfortunately, we omitted Bethany Hubbard ’02 (pictured left), who competed in London in 2001. Bethany is currently residing in Chicago where she has been studying and performing improv/sketch comedy for the past three years. In January, she returns to Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism to pursue her Masters degree.
We misidentified Debbie Titterton Narraway ’88 in the photo to the right taken in Bermuda Spring 2010. Let’s try that again! Left to right (back): Samantha Hood Stephens ’88, Sally Mixsell ’69, Debbie Titterton Narraway ’88, Julie Gunther ’89, Lara Ingham ’87 (front): Nicole DuPonte ’00, Gail DuPonte and, peeking from the back row, Neal Stephens.
The Bulletin Fall 2010
Mistaken Identity
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STONELEIGH-BURNHAM SCHOOL
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Parents: If this issue is addressed to your daughter who no longer maintains a permanent address at your home, please notify the Alumnae Office at alumnae@sbschool.org or 413.774.2711 x247. Thank you.
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Join in the Fun! Reunion 2011 •June 10-12
Class of 1961 MAB celebrating their 40th Reunion in 2001
Registration for Reunion 2011 begins January 17!
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