Pushout Sold Out

from UHS Journal 2020

The Show(case) Must Go On

offer. As a young alumna, I wrote letters back to the school to challenge them to be more inclusive in the material that was being taught and in the community that was invited to participate in this unique, elite learning community. As a parent, I observed the growth of the curriculum (that version of Western Civ that included discussions about ancient Egypt, the Harlem Renaissance, and early hip-hop was amazing!) and recognize that the school understands that the work of being a location for every student to feel safe is an ongoing process. What I love most is that UHS has been willing to look inward and consider the leadership of its students in cultivating new possibilities. To the students, that means, speak your truth and continue to articulate Dr. Monique W. Morris ’90, SB ’86, P ’19, hosted two screenings of her critically acclaimed documentary film PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools for the SFUHS community. During the school day, Monique came to campus to answer students’ questions after the film, which was screened at a special assembly. She was welcomed on stage by Ana Roudebush ’20 and Sami Lee what you want from your school! To the school leaders and faculty, that means, listen and increase your capacity to respond to students’ evolving needs. Safety— in every sense of the word—is co-constructed.”

Monique is the founder and board chair of the National Black Women’s Justice Institute. She has held leadership roles with such influential bodies as the NAACP, the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice at the Berkeley School of Law, and the California Subcommittee on Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities. Her TED Women talk in December 2018 is climbing toward 2 million views. She is currently working on two books that examine schools’ connection with Black Excerpt of a letter from Dr. Njema Frazier ’88, SB ’84, about Dr. Monique W. Morris, read on the evening of the PUSHOUT screening for adult members of the UHS community and the public.

“When we’re young and have our lives ahead of us, we believe in things like heroes . . . right and wrong . . . changing the world… we believe in unlimited potential. We use a blanket for a cape, we step between someone being bullied and their tormentor, we write our bigger-than-life dreams in a journal. But as we grow into adulthood, we become more pragmatic, more cautious, more jaded, less open, less passionate, less caring. We seek out compromise instead of right; we make excuses for our unwillingness to get involved when we see something wrong: ‘that’s none of my business,’ ‘that’s their problem,’ ‘I didn’t do anything wrong.’And yet a few of us—a precious few, a rare few, a Halley’s Comet few of us— keep that indomitable spirit of life inside of us full. We actually become the heroes, the defenders of right and wrong. We change the world. We fulfill—and maintain our belief in— unlimited potential. Monique is changing the world.”

PUSHOUT

SOLD OUT!

On February 6, 2020, families and youth-led organizing. n ’21, co-leaders of UHS RIOT Club. RIOT Club is a student affinity group for self-identified women of color, focusing on the intersection of race and feminism, and sparking discussions in the wider UHS community about issues relevant to women of color. After the assembly screening, students met with their clusters and advisors for dialogue and reflection on the film. Monique hosted a concurrent reflection group, and invited RIOT Club, the Black Student Union, and all students interested in her work and her approach to social and gender justice work to join her.

Later that day, PUSHOUT was screened at the neighborhood Vogue Theater for members of the public and adult members of our community. The screening was filled with UHS alumni parents and Bay Area educators. Again, Monique was on hand to answer questions for audience members after the film. All 220 tickets sold out, and 100% of the $3,300 proceeds benefited Camp Akili, a project of Flourish Agenda Inc. Camp Akili is a five-day intensive summer retreat for African American youths, providing them with personal transformation and cultural awareness experiences that allow them to unlock their full potential to flourish.

University and the Alumni Association wish to extend our gratitude to Dr. Morris for hosting two screenings of PUSHOUT for the UHS community in one day. n

Dr. Monique W. Morris ’90, SB ’86, P ’19, with RIOT Club co-leaders Sami Lee ’21 (left) and Ana Roudebush ’20, Vogue Theater marquee, Dr. Morris with students in her reflection group after the student assembly screening,

2019 Alumni Holiday Party & Panel Talk: Equity in the Civic Space

For the third year in a row, we held the alumni holiday party in San Francisco’s Yerba Buena district, and for the second year, our venue was the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), with a panel talk devoted to civics. Inspired by SPUR’s long history of working to solve problems that cities face, our theme was equity in the civic space, with a panel moderated by Mariana Maguire ’00, honorary chair of UHS Alumni Changemakers. UHS Alumni Changemakers on the panel shared their stories of working toward achieving equity in civic spaces, including the areas of justice and law, government and policy, and nonprofits. n

“One of the areas most in need of reform is the criminal justice system, from top to bottom—starting with a fresh look at what we criminalize and how criminalizing certain actions disproportionately targets people of color.”

—Joe Alioto ’90

Alumni Holiday Party panelists, from left to right: Mariana Maguire ’00, honorary chair of UHS Alumni Changemakers and public affairs officer for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency; Yeymi Rivas ’15, climate fellow, CivicSpark—Americorps Program; Lara Ettenson ’95, director, Energy Efficiency Initiative, Natural Resources Defense Council; Nelson Richards ’99, deputy attorney general, California Department of Justice; Stina Skewes-Cox Trainor ’00, former deputy chief of staff of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations and former aide to Speaker Nancy Pelosi; Sharon Hing ’01, legal program collaboration manager, Immigrant Legal Resource Center; Joseph Alioto ’90, attorney, Joseph Alioto Law.

“Work that is genuinely focused on building and sustaining equity on a systemic level is inherently and necessarily uncomfortable. It requires humbly confronting all inequities— those that are easily apparent, and those that are baked into the everyday systems of how we work and how we relate to each other. I’m fortunate that the organization where I work, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, is committed to challenging both.”

—Sharon Hing ’01

We regret that the 2020 Alumni Holiday Party is canceled. Check sfuhs.org/alumnicalendar for information on future events.

WHAT'S YOUR ONE DEGREE

EXPERIENCE?

One Degree is a recurring section of the UHS Journal magazine, sharing stories of alumni who work together or volunteer together after their time at UHS. What’s your One Degree experience? Send us the story at UHSalumni@sfuhs.org. To expand your career network and make meaningful connections with other alumni, become an Alumnifire beta tester at SFUHS.Alumnifire.com.

NANCY ADAMS ‘92, SB ‘88 + ANDREW LOVETT ‘85

Andrew Lovett ’85 met Nancy Adams ’92, SB ’88, P ’18, at a UHS admissions open house where she was a parent volunteer. Andrew was there to learn more about how the school could benefit his son, but he ended up making two new friends who made a deep impact on his personal and professional lives.

Andrew and Nancy quickly realized that they had met before and had a lot in common. Andrew was a Summerbridge staff member in the late ’80s, when Nancy was a student in the program, and they share a deep personal commitment to the institution. Andrew was the founder and director of Summerbridge Cincinnati, and Nancy’s son, Khalil Adams ’18, SB ’14, is a Summerbridge veteran. And both Andrew and Nancy work in careers where they help others: Andrew is a private tutor and admissions counselor, and Nancy is an attorney with the Contra Costa County Department of Child Support Services. That night, they happened to chat about UHS’s iconic Western Civilization class, and, hearing that Khalil could use some help with Civ, Andrew volunteered to tutor Khalil.

Andrew and Khalil’s work together showed that a tutor can be a powerful ally in student success. It was a surprise for Nancy to learn that independent school students commonly work with private tutors as well as with their classroom instructors and the Learning Services Office. “I wasn’t sure what to expect at first,” she recalled, “but Khalil and Andrew’s relationship evolved from tutoring to a type of mentorship with amazing chemistry. You don’t always develop that type of chemistry . . . they bonded! Andrew helped Khalil in a way that I, as a mother, could not.” After conquering Civ and mastering the art of study skills, Khalil went on to have a very successful junior year, and he is currently a sophomore at Davidson College, where he majors in computer science and is a dorm resident assistant.

Khalil says, “Andrew and I worked on different visual aids, which helped me to make connections within the material. We often prepared for exams and projects by focusing on time management and by analyzing the details of a given assignment—skills I hadn’t thoroughly developed before. It didn’t hurt that we are both lovers of pop culture, and this aspect of our personalities was also instrumental in establishing our connection.”

This three-way collaboration became a model for BATS Scholars, the community service program of the Bay Area Tutoring Summit (BATS), founded in 2016. BATS Scholars provides two years of free support for students toward a successful college placement, including tutoring across the curriculum; standardized test preparation; mentoring in executive function, stress reduction, and life planning; and counseling in college selection, admissions, and financing. Today, Nancy generously volunteers her time as the director of community relations for the BATS Scholars program. She acts as an ambassador of sorts, explaining the benefit of tutoring to under-resourced families who may be initially reluctant to access the program. She also ensures that the tutors understand the circumstances and needs of the families they are working with, and that they understand the barriers to learning that the families and students may face. As Nancy puts it, “Families of color who come from under-resourced situations sometimes feel doubt that predominantly White nonprofits can truly help. I’m happy to be able to share my family’s story with them.”

Andrew reflects, “It has been a joy to work with Khalil. I’m so grateful to Nancy for her participation and leadership. Nancy sharing her story makes it possible for BATS Scholars to further its reach.”

To learn more about BATS, contact Andrew at liminuslearning@gmail.com or Nancy at nancyadams0006@ gmail.com. n

Left to right: Alyza Martinez ’19 Ariana Martinez ’19 Alysha Sadarangani ’19

ALYZA MARTINEZ ’19 + ARIANA MARTINEZ ’19 + ALYSHA SADARANGANI ’19

After having worked together in different areas at UHS, the three of us reconnected and combined efforts with other college students to create an online media platform, The Vocalized. With social media increasingly being used to mobilize for social

JIBRIL JACKSON ’98

Jibril Jackson ’98, cofounder of startup tech firm HYVE, says he owes a lot to the UHS network for helping him get his business off the ground. And it just so happens that HYVE itself is a social network. HYVE is an app designed to be an information arm for media production studios—a very prestigious, invitation-only contemporary version of the Nielsen Media Research “family” of households recruited to determine television ratings. In exchange for access to users’ data, HYVE offers users an exclusive video feed of original but unreleased content, such as pilots and demos. Coded by Jibril himself, HYVE’s user interface displays social media and email side-byside, filtering spam and low-priority messages so that users always see what is most important. HYVE users are treated to justice, we were inspired to create a virtual space to amplify the voices of Black and Indigenous people, women of color, and nonbinary, trans, and queer folx. Since graduation, we have organized a multitude of events, including panels and virtual first looks at up-and-coming talent, and can help crowdsource the next wave of artists and performers and feel the pride and satisfaction of contributing to their success. (Organizing all of your content into a single app is a huge side benefit.) HYVE board member Dame Dash provides much of the content for HYVE from his eponymous production studio. Jibril will be beta-testing HYVE at his alma mater, Morehouse, in fall 2020. At Morehouse, Jibril studied economics and political science, then went on to graduate from Stanford University Law School. After graduation, he combined both of his sets of expertise by working in mergers and acquisitions at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in New York for four years, then moved to the global industrials group at Citibank. There he taught himself how to code, after finding the traditional Excel financial classes addressing such topics as indigenous environmental justice, self-defense and assertiveness training, food insecurity, and wellness. Further, we have created accessible resource compilations that have garnered thousands of shares on social media. Our team has been proud to educate people of all backgrounds and to have the ability to fairly compensate the activists we partner with modeling tools that the bank used inadequate. His last job in the traditional corporate world was at Guggenheim Capital. Despite a decade of deep experience and connections on Wall Street, Jibril has had challenges in finding investors willing to take a risk on him. “VC tends to reward its own. Everyone is so polite, but in the end they invest in what they know. There are a ton of super-credentialed Black engineers in Silicon Valley, but they are invisible, because the Valley doesn’t seed engineers, they seed managers, and managers in the Valley are mostly White.” Jibril says his time at UHS gave him early exposure to thinking around hacking and coding of social environments. Coming from Montera Junior High School in Oakland, he experienced a culture clash, and he describes his time at UHS as a “tale of two cities.” He says he was appreciative of the academic rigor at UHS, but he felt, in some ways, like a “social experiment.” For example, in the mid-to-late through community donations. We continue to collaborate with UHS students and alumnx, and we hope to work with others in the future. Learn more on Facebook, Instagram, and Linktr.ee @thevocalized. n

—Alyza Martinez ’19, Ariana Martinez ’19, and Alysha

Sadarangani ’19 ’90s, UHS did not have a lunch program for students who received financial aid. After a long commute from his home near the Oakland Coliseum, Jibril often arrived at school hungry, and his friends gave him money for lunch. As a result of their lived experiences at UHS, he and his friends published an anonymous underground newsletter that called out the racism they saw and felt. The administration learned the identity of the editors, and Jibril credits the school with putting them through a fair process during the discovery. As a result, the cohort has bonded as friends for life.

HYVE advisors who have been by Jibril’s side for the whole journey include close friends Rob Reffkin ’97, founder and CEO of Compass Realty; Adam Wight ’98, an expert on machine learning with Wikidata; and Julia Collins ’97, founder of Planet FWD and member of the scout fund at Cleo Capital, who wrote the first check investing in HYVE. n

DIEGO SCANLON ’21 + BIANCA CATALAN ’10 + TOMMY GOODWIN ’96

Diego Scanlon ’21 is the co-founder and president of the Students of Color Committee for Diversity and Equity (SCCDE). The committee aims to create a space where students of color in Bay Area independent schools who are leaders in their respective communities can collaborate on and work to resolve any challenges their communities may be facing in regards to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Four faculty of color serve as advisors, including

Bianca Catalan

’10, University’s instructor of community engagement.

Diego shares, “Bianca is our chief advisor and editor. She

KYLE SHIN ’16 + GEORGE WATSKY ’05

In the summer of 2018, I asked Watsky (George Watsky ’05) if I could be his creative intern. He said, “I’ve never had a creative intern before, but let’s do it!” I first met George back in 2012, when I was a freshman at UHS and he came to perform on campus. This was not long after his appearance on the Ellen show for his viral video, “Pale Kid Raps Fast,” in 2011. He met with students in M-202 and talked about his writing process. I didn’t rap seriously at that time, but seeing someone White enter the art form The Students of Color Committee for Diversity and Equity (SCCDE) is a group consisting of students of color and faculty of color from Bay Area independent high schools. The committee aims to create a space where students of color who are leaders in their respective communities can collaborate on and work to resolve any challenges their communities may be facing in regards to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

helps us apply and receive grants, which help us pay for our website and stipends for our members. As a UHS alumna we value her perspective on our work, because she understands our perspective. She has felt the same emotions we do as people of color at an independent school, and her valuable advice and suggestions come from first-hand experience.”

“Last summer we launched a speakers series, and Bianca and hip-hop culture in a way that seemed appreciative and respectful made me think I could follow in his footsteps. Fast forward to 2016, my senior year. George was scheduled to come back to campus, so I wrote to him ahead of time, asking if I could meet with him to show him raps I had written, and he ended up inviting me and Benny Solomon ’16 to perform on stage with him! In the summer of 2018, I drove down to L.A. to be George’s creative intern. I went with him to music video sets and the recording studio, and worked with his manager to help out with events connected us with Tommy Goodwin ’96, SB ’92, who is a successful event producer and tech executive, and happened to begin his career doing equity and community work first as a staff member of Summerbridge SF, then in the Service Learning Department at UHS. He was the founding director of the Service Learning Department at Urban School, and their first dean of multicultural life. We invited Tommy to share his experience and social media. I was lucky to be there when his 2019 release Complaint was just beginning production. During that summer, I learned about the music business, and also about the intricacies of artist branding. George even taught me a technique on how to rap faster and still enunciate my words clearly. A generous mentor and all-around dope person, George is my guy. n —Kyle Shin ’16

SCCDE

of being a person of color in independent schools, and in the corporate world. Tommy said he has learned that no matter where you go to school or work, ‘ communicating through difference is one of the toughest things you can do, but we don’t think of it as a skill set.’ Improving communication between different groups is one of SCCDE’s primary goals. You can watch our conversation with Tommy at sccde.org/discussions.”

“We’d like to meet other alumni of color and learn from their contactsccde@gmail.com.” n

experiences. Please contact us at Kyle Jae Shin, AKA Son of Paper (SOP), is a rapper of Chinese and Korean descent, from San Francisco. Through music, art and film, Son of Paper is expanding the Asian American narrative for all audiences. Since his self-titled EP release in 2016, SOP’s songs and music videos have been streamed more than 30,000 times, and he has performed more than 50 shows across the country. Hear Kyle’s work and learn more about him as an artist at sonofpaper.com.

An alum of San Francisco’s youth spoken-word poetry scene, Watsky has appeared on HBO Def Poetry, Ellen, CNN, NPR, PBS, and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton Mixtape; toured extensively with his live band; and amassed more than 200 million YouTube views. His debut essay collection, How to Ruin Everything (Penguin Random House), was a New York Times bestseller. Watsky was a 2018 recipient of UHS Alumni Honors. Learn more about Watsky at georgewatsky.com

KRISTA BOSCOE ‘84 + AMIGOS + UHS

Krista Boscoe ’84, SB ’80, is the Bay Area director of Amigos de las Américas (AMIGOS). She and many other UHS students have participated in this program over the decades, and now she has come full circle, recruiting high school students for AMIGOS. AMIGOS’s mission is to activate the next generation of youth to create positive change through curiosity, empathy, cultural humility and service in their local and global communities.

As a Summerbridge alumna, I was thrilled to be at UHS, but found myself with what we now call imposter syndrome. I fronted confidence, but I felt out of my element. One morning in Ronda Calef’s Spanish class, two juniors, Tomás Magaña ’82 and Jennifer Thompson ’82, came in to tell us about AMIGOS. Their poise, maturity, and stories of independence took hold of me; I believed that if I could succeed in a situation like AMIGOS, where I had no network, no cushion, and was required to demonstrate agency and purpose, I would be able to thrive at UHS. And that’s exactly what happened. The program has evolved profoundly over the decades. When I lived in small villages in Mexico and Ecuador in the early ’80s, I dug latrines and vaccinated dogs and cats. Today, students spend the first weeks of their time listening to residents and learning about their host community, what problems they face, and ways to work collaboratively to support local initiatives. In the early days, projects were built top-down, with international leadership determining local action. Intentions were good, but many look back and fear we took more than we gave. Before I took my current role, five years ago, I was pleasantly surprised to learn the program had changed completely, with local youths and our partners from Latin America leading the programming decisions at key levels. Today, we don’t train our volunteers what to do—we train them how to ask how they can be of value and service to their host communities. They find their projects within the needs of the town and its residents, and together they are responsible for the project management. The commitment to access has also changed. We have deep capacity for financial aid, with $300,000 available annually. We partner with the State Department to provide our Youth Ambassador Program, a fully “AMIGOS was a formative experience for me as a sixteenyear-old living in rural Ecuador and working on public health projects. I spent several summers as an AMIGOS volunteer in Latin America, alongside a number of UHS classmates. While the programs have evolved considerably since those days, the impact of a cross-cultural AMIGOS experience continues to resonate long after the summer experience is over.”

—Mike Gridley ’91, AMIGOS trustee

funded reciprocal program where 150 youths from the United States and South America go to one another’s countries for host family stays, leadership training, and service project design training. And today, more trainers and youth leadership come from Latinx households. AMIGOS is committed to continuous growth and improvement, just as we want our volunteers to be. In summer 2020, due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, American participants enjoyed a different—but equally growth-oriented—curriculum alongside Latin American youths online. You can see a one-minute video of their experiences at https://bit.ly/3kSsL0m. And we just built an amplified version of this new virtual model for high school graduates looking for gapyear options. Here’s an incomplete list of UHS alumni who participated in AMIGOS while at UHS:

Prentiss H. Van Den Berg

Fields ’82, Tomás Magaña ’82 (past AMIGOS International Board member), Jennifer Thompson ’82, David Frankel ’83, Maryam Mohit ’85, Joey Stewart ’88, Seth Goddard ’90, Bob Steinmetz ’90, Mike trustee), Eli Kaufman ’91, Lisa Miller ’91, Ben Stewart ’91, Megan Gridley ’95, Gregory Gomes ’97, Lenya Bloom ’98,

Gridley ’91 (current AMIGOS

’80, Elizabeth Hambrecht Eu ’81, Sarah Jones ’81, Ben

"The impact of my AMIGOS experiences in Honduras and Paraguay many years ago is difficult to adequately describe. Suffice it to say that those adventures provided the foundation of what would eventually become my lifetime commitment to service, health care, and social justice. I am delighted to see how AMIGOS has evolved over the years, Charlie Koch ’09, Caroline Kremer ’09, Elaine Chan ’10, Molly Butler ’12, Morgan Corley ’14, Samuel Al-Badeh ’19, Patrick Maurer ’19, Reed Schwartz ’19, Helena Maddox ’21, Annabelle Brauer ’22, and Max Stuebe ’22. If you participated in AMIGOS as a UHS student, or if you’re interested in AMIGOS for your high-schoolage student, I’d love to hear from you! Contact me at kboscoe@ AMIGOSinternational.org. n

by changing its programs to be more authentically responsive to community input and partnership and by responding to the importance of inclusion and diversity among its staff and volunteers. I am very proud to know that I played a role in Krista’s introduction to AMIGOS, and I celebrate her personal journey of growth as a leader within the organization. She continues to do such important work by fostering those values and priorities that make AMIGOS particularly unique and important among youth and community development programs in this country.” —Krista Boscoe ’84, SB ’80

—Tomás A. Magaña, MD ’82

ALUMNI 2020 Virtual Reunion

CLASS OF 1980

CLASS OF 1985

On May 2, 2020, 5 p.m. Pacific/8 p.m. Eastern, classes ending in 0 and 5 got together to celebrate their reunions virtually! Eight milestone reunion classes (1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2015) convened simultaneous Zoom parties. Normally held at the Decorator Showcase, the traditional in-person party was canceled due to COVID shelter-in-place. Despite initial reluctance to RSVP for this brave new format, class hosts rallied their classmates to attend, and participation was as strong as the in-person version for classes celebrating their 20th and up. Many said that they would have been unable to travel to San Francisco to attend the festivities in person due to work, family, or budget constraints, and appreciated the Zoom alternative. Overall, reaction was so positive that the Alumni Association will make a virtual event part of Reunion Weekend going forward. For the details on 2021 reunions honoring classes ending in 6 and 1, go to sfuhs.org/reunion.

Thanks to these folks for rallying their classmates to attend: Frances Hochschild ’80, Lexy Lowenstein ’80, Maryam Mohit ’85, Ted Collins ’90, Gabriel Levy ’90, Elizabeth Land ’90, Ted Levinson ’90, and Mariana Maguire ’00. n

CLASS OF 1995

CLASS OF 2000

CLASS OF 2005

CLASS OF 2010

Behind the scenes, Reunion 2020 was almost derailed due to technical difficulties! The UHS enterprise Zoom account was not set up to allow one administrator to host multiple live meetings. Despite multiple test sessions leading up to May 2, this "bug" was only discovered five minutes before launch. New links were published via email and Facebook just in time. Big thanks to Maryam Mohit �85 and Ted Collins �90 for moderating their Zoom reunions!

Tech difficulties, our Zoom account does not allow single host to have multiple meetings going at once. Hold tight! 4:50 p.m.

4:52 p.m. As a last resort we can use my Zoom room for my class! –Maryam Mohit �85 4:53 p.m.

All good. I sent you the new invitation. If you can get that out to the invitation list, I can take it from there. Posting to the 1990 Facebook page now. I got this! –Ted Collins �90 4:55 p.m 4:55 p.m.

CLASS OF 2015

Class Notes

Ted Streuli ’79 received the 2020 Will Rogers Humanitarian Award, presented during the annual conference of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. Ted is the president and executive director of Peaceful Family Solutions, an organization dedicated to preventing addiction by providing free therapy to children of parents with addiction. In 2013, he founded the Colby Foundation to promote awareness, and break down the stigma, of mental illness. It is named after his son, Colby, who died after a decade-long struggle with schizophrenia and paranoia. The Colby Foundation annually recognizes journalists who have provided exemplary coverage of mental health issues, and sponsors a fundraising run for mental health organizations. Ted served as an editor and columnist for the Journal Record in Oklahoma City from 2004 to 2018, and continues to work as a columnist with weekly pieces published in the Edmond Sun newspaper and shared online. He has also been recognized with the national Voice Award from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Dr. R. Murali Krishna Family Eliminate the Stigma Award, as well as multiple journalism, ethics, and public relations awards.

Marc Zegans ’79 writes, “Dear fellow UHS alums, I’m very happy to announce the release of my most recent collection of poems, The Snow Dead, by Cervena Barva Press. This little volume, set in New England winter, engages questions of memory and loss through 23 entwined small poems that together form a meta-poem and an extended meditation. This spare little volume, my sixth published collection, is without doubt my best work. It would After 14 years in Australia, Christophe de Bord ’85, Barbara Keys ’82 took up P ’17, continues to teach high a chair in history at Durham school French at Sacred Heart University in Melbourne, where Schools in Atherton and play lots she is now teaching human of soccer around S.F. Elizabeth rights, international history, and de Bord ’87, P ’17, has been U.S. history. teaching Spanish and coaching Emmy Award–winning producer volleyball at rival school Urban. Dan Herz ’85, principal of Michelle Woo Bowman ’89, NIAD Productions, was hired aquatic scientist, has launched by UHS’s Decorator Showcase her own firm, KaiTerra to produce the virtual Showcase Environmental, specializing tours offered in place of the in environmental education, in-person experience due to and empowering people with COVID-19. concepts and knowledge bring me great pleasure to know that some of you fine minds Lincoln Mitchell ’85 was invited by UHS history instructhrough clear and concise communication. might pick it up and give it a tor (and rock critic) Jesse Berrett Jennifer Dulski ’89 joined look. I’m eager to know how to come to campus in fall 2019 the board of directors of WW you respond.” to speak with students about his (formerly Weight Watchers) in Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life, by Dr. Louise Aronson ’81, was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction. latest book, San Francisco Year Zero: Political Upheaval, Punk Rock and a Third-Place Baseball Team. Charles A. Fracchia, Sr., P ’81, founder and president emeritus of the San Francisco Historical Society, provided this review spring 2020. In May, David Ganz ’89, executive director of Thailand-based NGO RECOFTC, addressed the United Nations Global Compact in response to a call for CEOs printed on the back of to record and submit a video the book: “San Francisco sharing what their companies are Year Zero parses the doing in response to COVIDyear 1978--the annus 19, giving examples of efforts horribilis and nadir of to recover from, and support San Francisco’s ‘time resiliency in the face of, the of troubles.’ Mitchell’s global crisis. RECOFTC serves brilliant political anal- the poorest and most marginysis has, as a counter- alized rural communities in the point, an analysis of the Asia/Pacific region, helping them 1978 Giants season. build their capacity to overcome From left to right: Heidi Philbrick Schell ’81, This creative mixture poverty and protect the forests Debbe Hamber Stern ’81, Louise Aronson ’81, makes San Francisco Year that they depend on for their Sandra Bodovitz Feder ’81, Bradley Solomon ’81. Zero an extraordinarily survival. David’s message to important contribu- the Global Compact was that Heidi Philbrick Schell ’81 shared this news and photo: “A few of us from the Class of 1981 gathered together for dinner on January 12, 2020, at the home of Sandra Bodovitz Feder tion to the historiography of San Francisco.” research shows that deforestation spurs transmission, and that deforestation also escalates climate change, making RECOFTC’s mission especially critical at this time. ’81 after Louise Aronson ’81 In June 2020, Joe Alioto spoke about her book Elderhood ’90 was appointed to the at Peninsula Temple Sholom in California State Coastal Burlingame, where I currently Conservancy by Governor serve as president and Sandra’s Newsom. Earlier in the husband is the senior rabbi.” Lincoln Mitchell ’85 (right) with baseball year he opened his own fan Carson Levit ’83. practice, Joseph Alioto Law,

specializing in antitrust, whistleblower, and civil rights cases.

In spring 2020, Dr. Monique W. Morris ’90 became the executive director of Grantmakers for Girls of Color, and relocated to New York for her new role. Monique was also a recipient of UHS’s 2020 Alumni Honors; read more about her important work on pages 9 and 22.

Cynthia Brown, MSN, ’91, area manager with Seattle & King County Public Health, has joined the board of the Washington State Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA) Association.

In late May, Dan Marmar ’96 collaborated with members of the Class of 1996 to present a series of Zoom gatherings titled “MasterClass for Kids.” His original appeal to classmates started out with, “I’m writing to you from Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, where I’m spending a lot of time indoors with my three kids, which made me think of all of you.” Dan’s kids, Amalya, Liyora, and Tziyon, were into subjects that he (in his words) had not mastered, including fashion, drama, coding, basketball, and the stock market. He needed help. But shortly after that message went out, news of George Floyd’s murder became widespread, and a need for a group of friends to come together and help one another in a different way was recognized. Tommy Goodwin ’96, experienced equity and community educator, helped lead the first session, for adults to process the tragedy. The following week, the group kept time for community, and John Pettus ’96 gave a MasterClass for Kids on fact-checking social media and how to identify misinformation in online public discourse, based on his lessons learned building Fiskkit. (Fiskkit is a place for people to discuss important news topics and to find what information is accurate in every article on the Internet, promoting logic and civility and using instantaneous reader feedback to help people identify what is true, false, well-reasoned or logically unsound in every news article or opinion piece.) The last session, by Bayard Martensen ’96, focused on the basics of business and how corporations and stocks work— in Dan’s words, “a ten-minute finance degree.” In all, about two dozen ’96ers participated—great prep for their 25th anniversary reunion coming up in spring 2021. Leonard Chung ’97 and his wife Lily Han welcomed their first child, baby boy Liam, in April 2020. became the executive director of Outdoors Empowered Network, a national network of community-led, youth-centered outdoor education groups that are dedicated to increasing access and diversity in the outdoors through gear libraries and outdoor leadership training.

Dr. Rebecca Plevin ’00

posted about her brother, Chris Plevin ’99, on Facebook: “Not all heroes wear capes—some wear Shakespeare costumes! The pandemic has affected everyone, but arts communities have been particularly hard hit. Since it began, my brother Chris has been working to address the critical shortage of surgical masks while supporting artisans in his theater who would otherwise be out of work.” Chris is the director of production with the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Skilled artists in the theater’s costume shop were commissioned to fabricate 250,000 masks to hospitals and convalescence wards throughout the Chicago area. After 15 years of planning and designing events for top venues, caterers, and boutique planning firms, Heather Rice ’99 launched Heather Rice Events (HRE), specializing in weddings and nonprofits. Carefully honed skills allow HRE to be rooted in tradition and logistics, but to have the freedom to design bespoke events tailored to clients’ interests, passions, and heritage. This synergy between tradition and inventiveness makes HRE both unique and timeless. After being disrupted by COVID-19, the business pivoted to local intimate weddings and virtual affairs, and Heather is looking forward to 2021, when HRE can hopefully resume celebrating life in a big way. Aaron Fung ’00 (whose primary job title on LinkedIn is “Cooper’s Dad”!) has started a career coaching practice outside of his day job at SAP SuccessFactors. Find his page on LinkedIn at linkedin. com/company/coachingaf/. Dr. Jeffrey Hom ’00 was a recipient of UHS’s 2020 Alumni Honors. Read about him on page 9. In spring 2020, Mariana Maguire ’00 became the public affairs officer for the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency. Pastreich ’00, has been featured in multiple film festivals, and received the Audience Award from the Eastern Oregon Film Festival and Special Jury Prize for Excellence in American Profiles from the San Francisco Independent Film Festival. The film, about a subculture of men in South Central L.A. who compete with somersaulting pigeons, is

Clockwise beginning top left: Dan Marmar ’96, Key Doby ’96, Jenn Hagan ’96, Alberto Preciado ’96, Chrissy Wong Lee ’96, Tommy Goodwin ’96.

In January, Seraph White ’98

Pigeon Kings, a film by Milena now available for streaming. Chris Plevin ’99 shared on Facebook that his sister Dr. Rebecca Plevin ’00, a trauma surgeon at UCSF, spent two weeks volunteering on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis in the ICU at New York Presbyterian: “United Airlines gave her and her 2 colleagues a public send-off at the gate, with the CEO and Chancellor of UCSF giving speeches in the boarding area. I can’t say I’m surprised that Becca would run into the center of the storm to do this work. Part of me expected it. That’s what heroes do.”

Catherine Shea Sanger ’00 is directing the Center for Teaching and Learning at Yale-NUS College in Singapore, where she also teaches in the Global Affairs program. In early 2020, her first book, Diversity and Inclusion in Global Higher Education: Lessons from Across Asia, was published by Palgrave. Within five months after publication, the free ebook version had been downloaded more than 100,000 times! Kate adds that her children, Cendana and Asher, “continue to delight and exhaust.”

After ten years as a youth soccer coach with East Bay United Soccer Club, Andrew Williams ’00 has become the organization’s inaugural executive director.

Candace J. Yu ’00 has joined the UHS board of trustees. See page 44 2019–2020 Annual Report to learn more about Candace.

Emily Bell ’03 Zoomed in to Scott Laughlin’s Stories classes in May to share her experiences as a long-tenured fiction editor at Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Scott and Emily met at Green Apple Books when she spoke at an event there. Short story collections that Emily has edited include A Manual for Cleaning Women and Evening in Paradise by Lucia Berlin, I Hold a Wolf by the Ears by Laura van den Berg, and Hardly Children by Laura Adamczyk.

Dr. Alon B. Neidich ’03 and his wife, Julia A. Connolly, were delighted to welcome their son, Adi Lior Neidich, on April 11, 2020. He weighed 6 lbs. 1 oz. upon arrival, and he continues to delight his four grandparents and his uncles (including Dr. Eitan M. Neidich ’06) every day over Zoom, although he doesn’t look into the screen very much. In addition, in spring 2020, Alon completed his training in internal medicine at Harvard.

Professor Jonathan Shelley

’03, of Georgia Tech, received a $10,000 grant to partner with Common Good Atlanta, an organization that provides access to higher education for incarcerated people and their families, to teach a free college-level Shakespeare course for Atlanta residents who have been released from prison. The course will consist of rigorous analysis of dramatic texts and trips to the Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse to see live performances, and will also engage students as co-collaborators in the creation of opensource lesson plans. When the semester ends, the project team will make the course’s curricular tools available online, and will encourage their use by colleges, universities, and other educational programs teaching literature and the humanities to currently and formerly incarcerated people.

Dr. Lindsay Wheeler ’03 was the lead author of a study by cancer and family planning doctors at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital, published in September 2019, that examines how contraceptive intrauterine devices (IUDs) affect ovarian cancer rates. The team found that rates of ovarian cancer declined by up to 32% for women who used IUDs.

Chinaedu E. Nwadibia ’04 is a 2020 Rema Hort Mann Foundation Emerging Artist Award grantee. In her artist statement, Chinaedu shared that her recent work in photography, collage, and sculpture has been centered around forms of loyalty (patriotism, sisterhood, athletic bonds) in femininity within the African diaspora. “The discoveries I’ve made through my art practice have helped to evolve my thoughts on identity and various themes of loyalty that I’ve navigated and sought out in my own life. I use my work to advocate for myself and others, to question, highlight, and archive nuanced elements of my two cultures that may be otherwise overlooked.”

Colin Feuille ’05 is a gastroenterology fellow at UCSF.

Winston Ibrahim ’05, founder and CEO of Hydros, saw sales for his affordable, eco-friendly water filtration system spike 150% because of the pandemic. In a May Forbes magazine article, Winston attributes the demand to people who were no longer drinking filtered water at work and found themselves at home and in need of a filtration solution. Hydros’s three products— pitchers, carafes, and bottles—are made without ionic plastic resins, and all use the same universal, speedy filter for fast flow. That fast flow, Winston says, allowed Hydros to eliminate the bulky plastic reservoirs used in many other water-filtration products, thereby reducing the amount of material needed and the amount of waste produced.

George Watsky ’05, better known as Watsky, set the Guinness World Record for Longest Rap Marathon by freestyling for thirty-three hours and thirty-three minutes. Watsky raised more than $100,000 for his crew, Sweet Relief, who lost income that had been expected from his planned North American tour, and for fans in need of financial support during the pandemic.

In fall 2019, Alexander Berggruen ’06 left his role as a specialist at Christie’s to open his eponymous gallery, focusing on 20th-century and contemporary art. In fall 2019, Alexandra Perloff-Giles ’07 became a First Amendment Fellow at the New York Times, and at the start of the 2020–2021 school year, she joined the faculty of Columbia University as an adjunct professor.

Rachel Salmanowitz

Kronenberger ’08 and her husband, Billy, welcomed their first child, Russell Grant, on February 7, 2020.

Startup Epic CleanTec, helmed by founder and co-CEO Aaron Tartakovsky ’08, was featured in the April 2020 issue of Fast Company, in an article titled “World Changing Ideas Awards 2020.” Epic CleanTec helps buildings reduce water demand by up to 90%, saving building owners hundreds of thousands of dollars annually on their water and sewer bills. Its proprietary onsite approach processes a building’s wastewater, producing both recycled water for non-potable applications, such as toilet flushing, irrigation, and cooling towers, and natural soil amendments that can be used to grow crops, enhance gardens, and beautify green spaces. Epic CleanTec was selected as one of 40 global clean-tech startups to present at the 2020 Industry Growth Forum hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in April 2020. The company completed a $2.6M seed round in August.

After graduating from Boston University, Katherine Lo ’15 is pursuing her MD at New York Medical College School of Medicine.

Camila Pelsinger ’15 was awarded a 2020 Rhodes Scholarship, and will pursue a master’s degree at Oxford University. She will undertake a MSc in Criminology and Criminal Justice and a Master of Public Policy degree. As an undergraduate at Brown University, Camila concentrated in international relations and cognitive neuroscience. Her research took an interdisciplinary approach to examining violence, focusing on women in New Zealand and in the United States who have created restorative justice programs to address gender-based violence in their communities. She served as Vice President of the University Council of Students and was a leader in sexual violence prevention issues on campus, including as a coordinator with the Brown University Sexual Assault Peer Education program. Quoted in the Brown Daily Herald, Camila said, “More than anything, I am so grateful for the students across campus who have entrusted me with their stories of harm, and for those working to prevent and address violence in their own communities everyday. The Rhodes Selection Committee recognizing the value of this work gives me hope that more campuses will move towards decentralized practices and frameworks that support healing and transformation.”

After screenings at multiple film festivals, The Last Christmas Party, the first feature film made by Julian Santos ’15, was picked up by distributor Four by Three, and will be available for streaming this winter. The Last Christmas Party is a romantic drama about the intertwined stories of three couples during a Christmas party. Julian attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, completing his degree in film in three years and graduating summa cum laude.

In spring 2020, Frances Arnautou ’16 received the Nellie Pratt Elliot Award, given to senior women at Yale whose excellence in the field of athletics and in their lives at school best represents the ideals of sportsmanship and Yale tradition. During her undergraduate career, Frances was a three-time Ivy League champion in volleyball and earned both Ivy League Player of the Year honors and Academic All-Ivy honors. Off the court, she was a valued member and contributor to Yale’s Communication and Consent Educators program and was the co-president of the Unorthojocks, an all-athlete a cappella group.

Following the fall 2019 season,

Mirei Golding-Powers ’17

was one of two field hockey players from Mount Holyoke College who were recognized by the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference for their impressive play and named to the All-Conference team. Then a junior, Mirei was the Lyons’ leader with 25 points on eight goals and nine assists that season. Mirei also set new single-game career highs in goals, assists, points, and shots. Making her accomplishments even more remarkable, she became a forward in college, after playing only defensive positions at UHS.

Ana Telfer ’17 and her writing partner at the University of Southern California, where she studies writing for screen and television in the Film, Cinema, and Visual Studies Department, were semifinalists and second rounders for the HUMANITAS Prize’s David and Lynn Angell College Comedy Fellowship.

In spring 2020, Zoe Yzabella Taylor ’19 cofounded Synchesis Media, an evolving media platform project created by students from Carleton College, Columbia University, Fordham University, San Francisco State University, and Wellesley College. Synchesis Media has two goals: creating bite-sized pieces of educational content that are both share-friendly and impactful — with a specific lens on issues of race and xenophobia — and providing a platform for young people to share their stories — stories that may not be able to be voiced otherwise. Learn more at synchesismedia.com. n

Tim Price retired from UHS after 33 years as a music instructor and leading the Jazz Ensemble. In Tim’s words, “UHS is an unbelievably great school, made that way by the students I’ve been lucky enough to teach.” The Class of 2020 dedicated the 2019–2020 UHS yearbook to Tim with this inscription:

“For 33 years Tim Price hos shored his love and encyclopedic knowledge of music with a generation of students. A multi-instrumentalist, Tim has elevated the jazz and musical theater programs at UHS while teaching the importance of history and musical excellence. His love for music and teaching is clear and is only enhanced by his sharp wit and joy. Tim will forever live in our music rooms, midi-lab, theater stage and at every event when our faculty, staff and students join together to sing our school song, which he of course helped compose . . . Tho’ earth may quake and sun may set, UNIVERSITY, we won’t forget . . . Tim Price!”

Scott Okamoto ’94 adds, “Congratulations, Tim Price, and thank you so very much for setting me on a path of music I will cherish my entire life. I owe you more than I can even say.”

Tim continues to perform as principal clarinetist and saxophonist for the California Pops Orchestra, a group that is dedicated to the preservation and performance of music from the 1930s to the 1960s written for radio, television, and the movies.

Pizza Party!

Last year we saw our greatest participation ever in the Pizza Party Program (PPP)! Unfortunately, we’re suspending PPP for now, because of COVID-19 (we don’t feel comfortable encouraging even socially distanced picnics), but we hope to be up and running again soon! Learn more at sfuhs.org/pizzaparty.

Michelle Fong ’13, Anoli Motawala ’13, Jocelyn Kwong ’13

Jane Rand ’18, Lindsey Chung ’17, Maddy Chung ’15

Tre Gonzales ’15, Kyle Shin ’16, Julia Lu ’15, Yeymi Rivas ’15

Max Savage ’12, Kirk Horton ’12, Nick Perloff-Giles ’12, Will Danforth ’12

Nathalie Chicoine ’19, Emilia Lim ’19, Amy Yu ’19 Maddie Brown ’13, Emily Stabler ’14, Marisa Lowe ’13

Ila Shon ’15, Maddy Chung ’15, Brenda Walker ’15

Jeff Kasten ’00, Mariana Maguire ’00, Andrew Shubov ’00, Polina (Melamed) Beckerson ’00, Dan Crossen ’01

Stephanie Tse ’14, Stephen Nemy ’14, Kevin Tsai ’13, Caroline Grassi ’14 Ezra Parkhill ’19, Ethan Joseph ’19, William Urrutia ’19, Jacob Urisman ’19

Vika Mlonchina ’11, Emmeline Hill ’11, Lindsey Simon ’11 Katie Kelley ’15, Julia Lu ’15, Yeymi Rivas ’15, Tre Gonzales ’15 Jacob Urisman ’19, William Urrutia ’19, Alex Sheft ’19

Nikki Kang ’15, Austin Moreman ’15, Ali Meneghetti ’15, Lauren Banks ’15 Elliot Britton ’18, Alejandro Collins ’16, Alex Ritter ’16, Sarah Young ’16, Elizabeth Levie ’19, Claire Kalikman ’17, Jonathan Altman ’17