Solebury School Magazine Summer / Fall 2017

Strategic Plan Progress Report In 2016, we announced our goals for the future of Solebury School. Here’s an update. pg. 7 >

Commencement 2017 On June 10, 2017, Solebury School graduated 51 outstanding seniors. pg. 12 >

Celebrating Holmquist The Holmquist School for Girls, which merged with the Solebury School for Boys in 1949, was founded in 1917, 100 years ago. pg. 22 >

S u m m e r / Fa l l 2 0 1 7

100 Years of Holmquist

Board of Trustees 2017-2018 Scott Bolenbaugh P’09 Chairman Tom Hunt ’74 P’16 Vice Chairman Elizabeth Wavle P’11 Treasurer Alan Sheriff P’08 ’16 Secretary Jay Abbe ’59 Bette Jane (BJ) Booth P’11 Andrea Devereux P’14 Jonathan C. Downs ’71 P’03 ’08 ’09 Andrée Newsome Falco ’63 Dr. Ellen Faulkner P’06 ’11 Jeremy Fergusson ’63 Andrew Gespass ’73 Patrick Hernandez ’95 Mandy Mundy Whitney Parker-Klimpel P’06 ’09 Josh Perlsweig ’03 John H. Petito P’96 ’03 Joan Reinthaler ’53 Anne C. (Annsi) Stephano ’58 P’77 ’78 ’81 Derek Warden ’79 Brett Webber ’85 Navarrow Wright ’88 P’16

Head of School Thomas G. Wilschutz

Honorary Trustees Chris Chandor ’60 P’86 Alan Donley ’55 Betsy Bidelman Meredith ’54 P’81 Richard Moss ’48 Eric Shaw ’55 Jean Tappan Shaw ’53

Summer / Fall 2017

Contents

Solebury School Summer/Fall Magazine

Editor Jennifer K. Burns P’19 Assistant Head of School: Advancement and External Affairs

Managing Editor Deb O’Reilly Director of Publications and Online Media

Alma’s Update Editor Renee LaPorte Director of Alumni Relations and Gift Planning

Contributing Editor Holly Victor ’89 Director of Marketing and Communications

Design and Production Proof Design

Features 4 A Symbiotic Relationship

Please send change of address to:

Solebury School 6832 Phillips Mill Road New Hope, PA 18938 Phone: 215-862-5261 Fax: 215-862-3366 Email: alumni@solebury.org © Copyright 2017 Solebury School

Connect With Solebury School

Did you know our 90-acre campus hosts six beehives? Thanks to an alumni parent, bees have found refuge on our campus and serve as a living science lesson.

7 Solebury School’s Strategic Plan: A Progress Report

Last fall, we unveiled our plans for the future of Solebury School, through 2030. Here’s what we’ve achieved since then.

12 Commencement 2017

On Saturday, June 10, 2017, Solebury School celebrated the Class of 2017 during a beautiful outdoor commencement ceremony.

22 Honoring Holmquist

FacEbook Facebook.com/SoleburySchool1925 Twitter twitter.com/SoleburySchool youtube youtube.com/SoleburySchoolUWatch Instagram @soleburyschool

www.solebury.org

Alumni from the 1940s share what life was like as students at the Holmquist School for Girls, founded 100 years ago.

26 Reunion Weekend 2017

Everything came together for a fantastic, memorable weekend.

Departments 2 A Note from the Head of School A message from Tom Wilschutz

25 A LOOK BACK

What was the Posture Cup, anyway?

34

Alma’s Update

Catch up on alumni news

A N o t e f r o m T o m W i l s ch u t z

Head of School The New Hope School, as it was initially named, was founded

by Mildred Gutterson, Dorothea Whorf, and Karline Holmquist. After its first year, Gutterson and Whorf set off for other adventures, leaving Karline Holmquist and the renamed Holmquist School for Girls to begin a 32-year adventure educating young women. Karline Holmquist believed that “each girl should be helped to discover and develop her own individual talents and capabilities so that she could be of service in her adult life.” Those sentiments sound remarkably similar to the words we have long employed to describe Solebury School.

As we embark on Solebury School’s 93rd year, it is worth noting that this year also marks the centennial anniversary of the Holmquist School for Girls. And as I embark on my 10th year at Solebury, my mind wanders to the many young women who have left their mark on our School and are now leaving their mark on the larger stages of colleges, universities, and society — women who embody the spirit of Karline Holmquist’s hopes for young women.

I think of Camille LeBlanc ’12, who was in the the first cohort of our Teach2Serve (T2S) Program. Motivated by

Some decades ago, I imagined myself living the life of a professor of history.

a desire to engage the many problems of our world, the Teach2Serve Capstone Project that Camille designed was to facilitate the T2S leadership team to bolster the curriculum, initiate contact with potential partner organizations, and

For a variety of reasons, I stopped midway through the

strengthen the program at a macro level. As her senior year

dissertation, but all of those years training to be an historian left

drew to a close, Camille postponed her entrance to New York

their mark. Toss out a date and my mind goes to the “what” and

University, instead taking a gap year to join the Global Citizen

“why.” For example, say “1917” and I think of President Woodrow

Year program. Camille spent a year following graduation in

Wilson, World War I, trench warfare, the British Mesopotamian

one the poorest cities of Brazil, Salvador, in the state of Bahia.

Campaign, the Bolshevik Revolution and the Balfour Declaration.

The thrust of her work in Salvador was the intersection of

These days and because I am the Head of Solebury School, I also

social justice and storytelling. She developed a program called

think of Karline Holmquist.

“Girls with Cameras,” a participatory initiative that helped

In 1917, against the backdrop of war, Karline Holmquist decided to open a school for girls. And thus began the Holmquist

empower Afro-Brazilian girls and women to tell their stories through photography.

journey, one that would merge with Solebury School formally

Imagine the courage it took for an 18-year-old to forgo the

in June 1949, and ultimately conclude with the sale of the then

known, the expected, the routine path, and opt for the unknown

termed “Lower Campus” in 1985. Between those two endpoints,

of a year abroad in one of the world’s more impoverished

generations of women passed through Appledore and White

locales... just so she could learn a bit more about herself,

Oaks dormitories on their way to becoming strong, well-

develop her leadership skills, and in Karline Holmquist’s words

educated, independent thinking women.

“be of service in her adult life.”

2

The Magazine

Summer / Fall 2017

Solebury School Welcomes Two New Members to Our Board of Trustees

By Deb O’Reilly

Assistant Head of School Jennifer K. Burns P’19 with Lana Whitehead ’96 at the 2017 Reunification Day Heroes Awards ceremony.

The same could be said for Lana Whitehead ’96. A stellar student and athlete at Solebury, she earned her undergraduate degree at West Virginia University and her master’s degree in Child Advocacy from Montclair State University. Her love of and skill on the basketball court (she was inducted into Solebury’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011) shaped her early years after college. Since then, Lana has served humanity as a social worker for the state of New Jersey for the past 11 years. Additionally, Lana is the Founder/CEO/Certified Professional Coach at Sharpened Mindz, as well as their motivational speaker.

In June, Lana was recognized at Family Reunification Day, sponsored by the Legal Services of New Jersey, as one of their “2017 Reunification Day Heroes.” Lana was described as someone who “went above and beyond to support the family.”

In this centennial anniversary, Camille and Lana are but two examples that the ethos of Holmquist School lives on in the spirit of Solebury School. I hope you enjoy this issue of Solebury Magazine and our celebration of the centennial anniversary of Holmquist School for Girls.

Every spring at our Reunion Weekend, Lana also helps Solebury School raise funds for the Page and Otto Marx Jr. Foundation, which benefits our financial aid program.

Thank you for your steadfast support, Lana!

See page 26 for more on Reunion Weekend 2017.

Summer / Fall 2017

Mandy Mundy is the Director of Education and Training at the Network of Victim Assistance (NOVA) in Bucks County.

She has devoted her 21-year career to NOVA, and in 2012, received the Governor’s Victim Service Pathfinders Award for Prevention Education and Outreach for Pennsylvania. Those local to Bucks County may recognize NOVA for their popular NO BULLying run, a family-friendly one-mile walk/run and a five-mile race in Doylestown, PA, to raise awareness on the effects and consequences of bullying. (Solebury School is a sponsor of the event.)

Mandy’s relationship with Solebury School began when Head of School Tom Wilschutz contacted her during the 2010-2011 school year for help in administering all-staff training on mandated reporting of child abuse. Mandy conducted our first all-staff training session in 2012, before the state created its own standards. “It wasn’t until 2014 that [mandated reporting by school staffs] was required by law [in Pennsylvania], so Tom really did bring innovation to the school in that way. It’s a sensitive training, and when you have schools that have so many other training requirements, it’s not always one that rises to the top. Solebury was being proactive,” Mandy told us. Mandy is currently completing her master’s degree in Nonprofit Leadership at La Salle University. She lives with her husband and children in Doylestown, PA. John H. Petito P’96 ’03 rejoins the board this year. A longtime supporter of Solebury School and resident of Bucks County, John has served on the board for most of the last 20 years, including as Board Secretary from 2003-2007. “It has been a privilege to be associated with Solebury for two decades, with its dedicated Board, outstanding administrators and faculty, and always with students who have demonstrated that the Solebury philosophy works and works very well,” says John.

A graduate of the Lawrenceville School, Boston University (BA), New York University (MA), and Suffolk University Law School (JD), John once served as an Assistant Prosecutor as well as an Assistant Deputy Public Defender of Mercer County, NJ. Professor Petito currently teaches history and political science at the Bucks County Community College, where he also served as Dean of the Department of Social and Behavorial Sciences from 2007 to 2015.

Dan Cohen ’63 completed his term of Board service in May. In addition to many other roles during his time on the Board, Dan served as the Chair of our Strategic Planning Committee, a two-year effort to chart Solebury’s future for the next two decades. We are incredibly grateful for his time, expertise, and leadership.

www.solebury.org

3

Beyond the books

A Symbiotic Relationship Did you know Solebury School hosts six beehives on campus? Thanks to an alumni parent, an endangered species has found refuge on our campus.

By Lauren Eckstein Sonya Sappington P’15 reached her hands into the simple white box and pulled out a frame covered in bees. As the insects quietly crawled along the screen and a few arced into the air, she calmly smiled. “Hello girls,” she said. “You’re working so hard.”

Sonya is the beekeeper in charge of Solebury School’s beehives.

When her daughter, Christina, became a student at Solebury School in 2014, Sonya fell in love with the school. She knew it would be a great place for her daughter. But she also found herself thinking that it would be a great place for bees. “I thought about the way Solebury is,” said Sonya. “It’s a really wonderful environment in many ways — the community, the people, the teachers, the students. It’s also a beautiful environment and a place where bees could be safe.” After discussing her ideas with school administrators, she installed two beehives near the Abbe Science Center. That was three-and-a-half years ago. There are now six beehives on campus, three near the Abbe Building, and three near the water treatment center. “They are all really healthy,” she said. “This is a great place for our bees.”

The hives have become an important feature on campus. They not only give the school’s idyllic campus another layer of connection to its natural surroundings, but also offer students opportunities to learn. “We have been able to bring students out to the beehives and Sonya has shown them what is going on,” said Cari Nelson, a science teacher at Solebury School who is also the Director of the Science Department and the Middle School. “It has been a great resource on campus — students hear about the decline of the bee population in the news and then walk outside of Abbe Science Center and understand the intricacies of bees and their important function within our world.” The hives also sweeten the lives of the faculty. Last year, Sonya harvested enough honey from the school’s hives to make over 100 two-ounce bottles that she gave to Solebury School faculty and staff as gifts. This year, she expects an even bigger harvest.

When she is not taking care of Solebury School’s bees, Sonya works Nine Acre Farm, the sunflower farm she owns and operates in Skillman, New Jersey. Yet she didn’t set out to be a farmer or a

4

The Magazine

beekeeper. She has done everything from apprenticing with the San Francisco Ballet to being a broker with Merrill Lynch. But after she and her husband bought a small farm and spent two years renovating it, Sonya was inspired. She bought a few packets of Burpee sunflower seeds at the hardware store. “It didn’t go well,” she laughed. So she tried again. “I planted 1,000 sunflowers. I really wasn’t thinking at all. But people stopped and said, you really should sell these.” So she figured, why not?

She planted seeds by hand until her crop grew to 10,000 plants.

Then she got some farm equipment and got serious. Ten years later, Sonya grows 80,000 sunflowers in a season, which she sells at local farmer’s markets and at a farmstand on her property. She wakes up at about 4 a.m. most days and begins cutting flowers at first light.

“We have a reputation for beautiful, strong, long-lasting flowers,” she said. “I am a perfectionist. I am a freak about the flowers.” Yet she also finds it rewarding. “It’s extremely hard work, extremely long days,” she said. “But yes, I love it.”

Sonya became interested in beekeeping nine years ago. As a farmer, she was well aware of the problems facing the bee population. “I read articles about bees and Colony Collapse Disorder and that they were in trouble,” she said. She saw studies showing that bee colonies across the country were experiencing significant losses due to the use of pesticides. She read that without bees, there would be no more apples, grapes, tomatoes, peaches, coffee, and countless other crops. She wanted to help. And so, she became a beekeeper. Looking back on how she became a farmer and beekeeper, Sonya just shrugs.

“It was all accidental,” she said. “It all just evolved.”

On the campus of Solebury School, the bees work busily in the late morning sun. Sonya checks on the hives about every two weeks and said that she likes having an excuse to keep visiting Solebury School. Her daughter is now at Manhattanville College studying to be a teacher for children with learning differences and special needs. Yet Sonya still likes to visit the school she fell in love with almost four years ago. “I love this place,” she said. “This is a very, very special place.” Sonya also loves that the school has become a safe haven for bees. “It’s nice that the school has bees — it really is,” she said. “For me, it’s something that grounds the place. It’s magical and special and a part of what should be.”

Summer / Fall 2017

Beyond the books

Solebury School’s New Daily Schedule Now a year after its launch, the new schedule — featuring an 8:30am start time and 80-minute classes — has proven to be a success.

By Lauren Eckstein When he first heard about the new schedule at Solebury School for the 20162017 school year featuring 80-minute classes, Jacob Gleason ’18 was definitively not psyched. “It sounded like it was going to be dreadful,” he said. Yet one year into the grand schedule experiment, Jacob has become an unexpected convert. “It sounded like it would be a really long day when I first heard about it,” he said. “But the day actually goes faster.”

Solebury School’s meticulously crafted new schedule was designed to enrich the academic day, while also allowing for positive lifestyle changes in the lives of both students and teachers. Under the new schedule, classes meet for 80 minutes on a rotating schedule. Each class meets two or three times a week, and students generally have either two or three classes each day. The school day also begins 30 minutes later, at 8:30 a.m. four days a week, and at 9 a.m. on Wednesdays, following the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics to address teen sleep deprivation.

The changes grew out of hours of meetings, discussions, and debates. Yet Rick Tony, Solebury School’s Director of Studies and one of the founding fathers of the schedule, said that finding a way to have 80-minute classes became the main goal. Both teachers and administrators recognized the value in having time to teach a lesson and then move seamlessly into a hands-on activity to illustrate that lesson. The extra time seemed like it held

Summer / Fall 2017

boundless potential for teaching and learning. “It opens doors and doesn’t close too many,” said Rick. “As a teacher, there are definite gains. It inspires me to be more creative. It’s not just two 40-minute lessons. For kids, that would be boring on top of boring. But if I can do a hands-on activity, the kids will learn better.”

Overall, the new schedule allows for more rigorous academics and helps create a healthier learning environment. When every class met every day, students had about three hours of homework a night, said Rick. “Now, with a full schedule, you have a maximum of two hours and 15 minutes of homework per night and you’re preparing for, at most, three classes instead of six. It’s more peaceful. It’s less anxiety producing.”

Students have also seen the benefits. “I didn’t think I was going to be able to focus for 80 minutes,” said Olivia Lutz ’18. “But now, teachers can lecture and then put what we learned toward an experiment or in-class project. You don’t have to wait until the next class to try out what you learned. It flows better. I feel like it’s more efficient.”

Others appreciate that their day feels less frenetic. “Before, classes felt rushed, and students didn’t have as much time to ask questions and to work through problems in class,” said Rishabh Kancherla ’19. “In our film class, we would have to rush and set up equipment as fast as possible so we could break it down in time; now we don’t have to rush as much, and it leads to better quality work.”

Last spring, Channel One News visited campus to film a news story on Solebury’s later start times. They asked Brian Wedderburn ’20 (shown) to do an “Instagram takeover” of their feed and document a day in the life of a Solebury student. Watch their news video, and read more about our schedule, at solebury.org/schedule.

Students also said that having two or three classes a day makes homework more manageable. “Especially with playing three sports, I used to come home late and stress out about doing work for five classes,” said Jacob. “Now I only have two or three classes to prepare for.”

The new schedule has been so successful that the 2017-2018 school year features only few tweaks. The later school start times remain the same. “We have seen the research on school start times, and there is too much upside to not use the time this way,” said Rick.

Students seem to agree. “Sleeping is always good,” smiled Jacob.

www.solebury.org

5

Beyond the books

Taking Stock in 10th Grade It’s the perfect time to reflect and plan; all sophomores now sit down with our Associate Head of School or our Director of Studies for 30-minute “chats” about their future.

By Lauren Eckstein It was a moment to stop and think. It

students to know what the options are

was 30 minutes to reflect on the past and

while they are still open.”

plan for the future. It was a meeting that was part advice, part interview, and part strategizing. It was the first year that Solebury School introduced the halfwaythrough-high-school 10th grade chats, and by all accounts, it was a success.

“It was one of the coolest, most interesting, and useful innovations I’ve seen here,” said Steve Buteux, Associate Head of Solebury School.

During seven weeks this spring, every

The chats asked rising juniors to think about schedules, academics, life balance, college aspirations, and career goals.

“This kind of forced self-reflection when they’re younger helps them put the pieces together and empowers them to be intentional and not just let things happen to them, good or bad,” said Steve.

For some students, being forced to think about the future was a good wakeup call.

10th grader sat down for a 30-minute

“I always stress about college but I never want to talk about it,” said Emma Salerno ’19. “So when I had to talk about it, I realized, ‘Oh, wow, it’s all real now.

It made me more sure of what I need to do, and what I want to do.’”

Others appreciated the wisdom and advice.

“It’s overwhelming because people are always saying you should do this or that,” said Logan Doan ’19. “But Rick was giving me real suggestions and I appreciated that. He talked to me about what I want to do and basically

conversation with either Steve Buteux

helped me plan it out in the long run. It

or Rick Tony, Solebury School’s

boosted my confidence.”

Director of Studies. Steve held what

While the chats often ended with concrete

he called “fireside chats” in his office,

advice about course selections and

because of his love of FDR and the

college goals, the meetings were often

fireplace in his office. Rick held what

meandering and conversational. “I don’t

he called “‘Doc-side chats” in his office,

have a script at all,” said Rick. “Sometimes

next to the portrait of “Doc” Washburn,

we hardly talked about academics. We

one of the founders of Solebury School.

were just hashing it all out.” This meant

The idea was dreamed up by Rick as

that by the end of the 30 minutes, the

a way to allow students to pause for a moment halfway through their high

administrators felt that they got to know

school career and think in a meaningful

the student, and the student felt known.

way about how they want to maximize

Together, Steve and Rick met with about

the rest of their time at Solebury School.

“Sophomores are mature enough to be self reflective,” said Rick. “Plus, logistically, there are more choices in 11th and 12th grade. It’s important for

6

The Magazine

Sophomores meet with Rick Tony for a “Docside chat” (Rick’s office features this portrait

by Daniel Garber of Solebury School founder Doc Washburn) or a “Fireside chat” with Steve Buteux — Steve has a fireplace in his office, as well as an affinity for FDR.

50 students in the 10th grade. It was time consuming, but both administrators said it was well worth it. Or, as Rick put it: “What else could I possibly do that’s more important than this?”

Summer / Fall 2017

Solebury School’s Strategic Plan

A Progress Report Last fall, we unveiled the strategic plan for the next chapter of Solebury School, taking us into 2030.

Here’s what we’ve achieved since then, goal by goal.

By JENNIFER K. BURNS P’19

Goal 1: Grow Enrollment We are building the foundation for future enrollment growth by expanding our contacts and outreach in recruiting. With a focus on attracting new families while retaining currently enrolled ones, we are

our website, Solebury.org. Our comprehensive, cohesive branding strategy modernizes the Solebury School crest, using its four elements (the owl, the plow, the beaver, and the oak) to help illustrate today’s educational experience at Solebury School. Learn what the owl, plow, beaver, and oak each represent at Solebury.org/crest.

engaging more independent middle school programs to introduce their students to Solebury, as well as more private education consultants who assist students as they navigate the independent school process. We have streamlined and improved our application process, moving to a digital application for incoming students. In July, Jennifer Morrissey joined Solebury’s Admission team, filling in the gap left by the retirement of Bert Johnson. Jen comes to us from Muhlenberg College, bringing more than 10 years of experience in domestic and international admissions at both the secondary and collegiate levels. While the overall percentage of international students enrolled will remain the same at Solebury in the future, we plan to diversify student representation from varying countries. Finally, this fall, we launched new recruiting and marketing materials for Solebury School, culminating a year-long effort to redesign all of our School’s promotional materials as well as

Summer / Fall 2017

www.solebury.org

7

Solebury School’s Strategic Plan: A Progress Report

Goal 2: Academic Program This year, we made significant progress in redefining

our vision for Solebury School’s academic program, beginning with a new academic mission. The new mission clearly defines our approach to education; creating this mission was led by Director of Studies Rick Tony and faculty across academic disciplines (see below for the results of their good thinking). We also launched “chats” with our 10th graders (see page 6) to ensure that sophomores’ course selections match their goals for the future. We began a review of Solebury’s graduation requirements through the lens of our academic mission. We also launched our School’s new daily schedule in the fall of 2016 with later morning start times as recommended by the American Association of Pediatrics. The new schedule also features longer class periods, resulting in deeper learning opportunities with fewer class transitions (see page 5 for more on our schedule). Beginning this fall, students have the option to focus their high school studies through our Global Education program. They may declare a global education concentration, designed to cultivate globally minded young adults through coursework, service learning, travel immersion experiences, and independent study.

supervisors to set professional goals annually. In addition, this committee continues to work with our buildings and grounds committee to advocate on behalf of faculty as the campus master plan nears completion.

Goal 4: Strategic Partnerships This year saw much progress on developing mission-aligned

partnerships that strengthen our academic program and assist students and alumni in determining their passions and careers. In April, Solebury hosted Steven Rowley as a visiting author for our students and for an evening discussion of his national bestseller Lily and the Octopus. This event was open to the public, bringing dozens of community members to campus, and was conducted in partnership with Farley’s Bookshop, a local favorite. Solebury School and Bucks County Playhouse (BCP) continue to collaborate on a joint summer camp focused on theater. TThis summer, BCP’s apprentices from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance resided here on-campus and offered master classes to our campers. In addition, Solebury School launched a partnership with Delaware Valley University – this fall, Solebury will offer Multivariable Calculus for college credit, as well as fulfilling a student’s high school requirements.

Our distinctive and dynamic academic program guides students to discover and pursue their passions and inspires them to set and rise to rigorous expectations.

–Solebury School Academic Mission

Goal 3: Faculty & Staff Solebury School continues to prioritize attracting

and retaining the best teachers and staff professionals while developing a culture of learning for all. This year, a committee of faculty researched observation and evaluation systems specifically geared to teachers and professionals at independent schools.

For faculty, evaluation criteria were gathered for further review and approval, and all faculty and staff will work with their

8

The Magazine

A student from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance – who apprenticed at the Bucks County Playhouse this summer – performed at our StarCatchers Summer Theater Camp show in July, thanks to our partnership with BCP.

Goal 5: Residential Life There have been significant advances in our Residential Life program, and plans for many more to come. The program is based on four key pillars – Community,

Summer / Fall 2017

Responsibility, Self-Discipline, and Physical and Emotional Health – championed by our Dean of Residence Life, a new role at Solebury School. In this position, Bill Christy (who has been with Solebury School for more than 20 years, most recently as Assistant Dean of Students) focuses on the student boarding experience and the faculty who guide those students living on campus. Working with dorm faculty, the School has increased its promotion of physical fitness and activity for our residential students and is developing a “passport” system that promotes and tracks student participation in weekend activities. Some students will begin to use their passports this fall. Thanks to this year’s Special Appeal, all students will benefit from the improvements to the Herbert S. Boyd Dining Hall, resulting in a more comfortable experience at breakfast, lunch, and dinner (see page 29).

Help Our Students Continue to Soar Here’s how to make your state tax dollars work for Solebury School

Goal 6: Master Plan A physical campus environment that serves our strategic goals and supports Solebury School’s vision, mission, and culture requires a strong master plan. After identifying eight firms, five were invited to submit proposals to build our next campus master plan.

Ultimately, Hord Coplan Macht (HCM) of Baltimore, Maryland was selected. HCM’s rigorous process included several visits to campus, where they met with faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends of the School to uncover our community’s needs, hopes, and dreams for Solebury’s campus. A draft plan was presented to the Board of Trustees at their May 2017 meeting for feedback, with a final iteration set to be complete later this year.

Goal 7: Prosperity The bedrock upon which our vision and goals rest is Solebury School’s financial sustainability into the future. This long-term goal makes each of the previous goals possible – from ensuring that our Annual Fund (which provides support for Solebury’s annual budget) is strong to developing a capital campaign that’s designed to provide the necessary resources for our School to thrive in the future. As the master plan fully develops, it will inform phase one of the strategic plan’s implementation. We are grateful for the ongoing generosity of our alumni, parents, grandparents, faculty, staff, and friends of the School – your support keeps Solebury School strong.

Qualifying businesses can use Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program (EITC) to redirect their state taxes from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to Solebury School, where they will go toward our financial aid program. It’s a terrific, nearly cost-free opportunity to make a difference in the lives of our students — more than half of whom receive some form of financial aid.*

What Is EITC? EITC provides Pennsylvania companies with a 75% tax credit for donations to a non-profit scholarship or “educational improvement organization” (Solebury School). If the business commits to making the same donation for two consecutive years, the tax credit increases to 90%. By combining this tax credit with federal deductions for charitable gifts, the scholarship donation is virtually cost-free to businesses.

Learn More For more information, go to solebury.org/EITC or contact Heather Gaghan, Annual Fund Manager, at hgaghan@solebury.org or at 215.862.5261. *Students must be residents of Pennsylvania to receive EITC funding.

Summer / Fall 2017

www.solebury.org

9

Beyond the books

Honoring the 2017 Winners of the Above and Beyond Award

By Lauren Eckstein

The Above & Beyond Endowed Award for Faculty and Staff was created in 2015 by the Home and School Association as a way to recognize the Solebury School employees who truly go “above and beyond” and exceed the expectations of their position. Of course, those who work here know that it’s hard to identify someone at Solebury School who doesn’t go that extra mile. Yet even in this haven of devoted overachievers, it is nice to acknowledge individual efforts by awarding a yearly prize. This year, there were two winners of the award: Phyllis Arnold and Holly Victor.

Phyllis Arnold P’12 ’14 It was one week before Solebury School’s 2005 end-of-the-year music concert and Will Mullin ’05, then a senior, was worried. A committed athlete, Will and his friends joined chorus in their senior year just for fun. Yet when the director of the chorus, Phyllis Arnold, agreed to their requests for “Disney [songs] and rock [music],” Will was impressed.

Now, during a busy spring senior year schedule that left him scrambling to learn his songs in time, he was about to be impressed by his music teacher again.

“Phyllis invited me over to her home on a Thursday one week before the concert,” said Will. “While making dinner and grading, she sat with me in her living room, playing the ebony and ivory keys while I belted out to the best of my ability.”

It is for this kind of devotion to her students and countless other reasons that Phyllis Arnold was awarded an Above & Beyond Award this spring. Phyllis has worked at Solebury School since 1999.

She started off as a music teacher and

10

The Magazine

Phyllis at a school performance.

choir conductor and, after earning her master’s degree in Special Education in 2006, became a Learning Skills teacher.

Phyllis never planned on this career path.

“I was never going to be a teacher because my mother was a teacher,” she said with a wry smile. She started off studying biochemistry at New York University.

Yet one year shy of earning her degree,

she suddenly switched gears. “I had an epiphany,” she said. “I thought, ‘What am I doing? I’m so unhappy.’” Phyllis decided to pursue what did make her happy: singing. She auditioned for the Boston Conservatory to study voice and went on to sing in opera companies up and down the East Coast for nearly 10 years. It was after she had children that she switched gears again. “I couldn’t perform at the level I was at and have kids,” she said. “So, I picked something more stable.”

At Solebury School, Phyllis has taught music theory, music history, jazz, rock, and middle school music. As the director of the chorus, she grew a small singing group into a robust activity that tackles ambitious musical selections every year.

As a Learning Skills teacher, Phyllis is an attentive champion for her students — part cheerleader, part nurturer, part taskmaster. And even though she never intended to become a teacher, she has no regrets. “Everything about it is invigorating,” she said. “I wake up and I feel excited to go to work. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.”

Her students cannot say enough about her. Emma Black ’16 remembers her as a devoted teacher who would do anything for any student who needed help. “Phyllis didn’t have to help me, since I was not enrolled in her class, but she chose to help me because that’s who she is,” said Emma, who benefitted from Phyllis’ help when she was studying for the ACT. “She goes above and beyond for each student she encounters.”

Phyllis is also devoted to community service and brings her sense of activism to the school. In her 17 years at Solebury School, she has run a coat drive for the homeless, collected used prom dresses to donate to young women, run a fundraiser to build a well in Kenya, ran voter registration events on campus, and on and on. “I like to try to leave the place better than I found it — it’s an old Girl Scout thing,” she said. “And I like to push kids

Summer / Fall 2017

Beyond the books to get involved and push them to be their better selves.”

Phyllis is the definition of small but mighty.

This dynamo who is about the height of most middle schoolers never stops trying to impact her students and the world in a positive way. For the students who know her, she is clearly someone who goes above and beyond. “Her dedication and commitment to her students is unmatched,” said Will. “She is always outperforming what is expected of her. I am happy to have called her my teacher and I am honored to call her a friend.”

our printed admissions materials, as well as mentoring her replacement as Parent Relations Coordinator.

Holly Victor ’89 On her first day of 8th grade, Holly Victor thought Solebury School was “the best thing ever.” After 33 years, that feeling has not faded. When she graduated, however, she figured that her time on campus was over. “When I walked out with my diploma at 18, I thought I’d never come back,” she said.

Thankfully for Solebury School, she was mistaken.

Holly returned to Solebury School in 2011 to become the Parent Relations Coordinator. Over the next five years, the job evolved from part-time to fulltime, with Holly managing more than 20 annual events, including our largest fundraiser, the spring auction. During her tenure, Solebury raised more than $600,000 through its annual auctions and developed a strong process for managing both revenue and expenses, resulting in more net revenue to be invested back into the school. Last year, she was promoted to the role of Director of Marketing and Communications, focusing on advertising and media relations, as well as supporting the Admission department through recruitment materials and promotional videos, and managing media relations.

She quickly garnered local, regional, and national press coverage of our new school day schedule (see page 5) while leading a team effort of redesigning all of

Summer / Fall 2017

Holly (right) with Parent Relations Manager Jessica Harms at Solebury’s 2017 spring dinner auction.

While her stellar professional accomplishments are significant, Holly’s commitment to Solebury School extends well beyond them. In addition to her fulltime role, Holly teaches yoga to Solebury students as an after-school activity three days a week. Her masters degree in Art Education and prior career experience at art museums in Denver and Philadelphia motivated her to take on Solebury School’s artwork collection, finding just the right spots around campus for us all to admire works by alumni and friends. “Holly is a tireless advocate for the aesthetics of Solebury School and its history, leading the recent interior design efforts for both the Carriage House and the lobby of the main office, as well as deploying important art pieces that share our history throughout campus,” said Jennifer K. Burns, Assistant Head of School. “It would be so easy to leave these treasures in a storage room… and so wrong to do that. Holly knows this and makes time to get these treasures out with the hope of ultimately curating an alumni art space somewhere on campus.”

In the decades that Holly has known Solebury School, she has watched it evolve. “It’s remarkable how things

have grown and changed and that’s all for the better,” she said. In some ways, she said, the Solebury School of today is a very different place — after all, she recalls when the entire student body was fewer than 100 students. Yet Holly also remembers a tight-knit community that was grounded by a strong sense of respect and kindness. That, she said, has endured. “Solebury has the same heart, the same soul to it,” she said. “I’ve always said that the thing that stuck out for me was that I known, and how great it was to be in a community where people know you. That’s still true.”

“Holly’s love for and dedication to Solebury runs as deeply as anyone’s,” said Scott Eckstein, the Director of Admission. “The way she transitioned this year to her new role in communications highlights how talented she is.” Students who have worked with Holly also appreciate her efforts.

George O’Connor ’17, who is studying filmmaking at Chapman University this fall, completed his Senior Project with Holly, helping to make promotional videos for the school. “Even though I was making promotional videos for the school, Holly let me make them based on my own vision,” said George. “She listened to my ideas and made sure that this project was still my project, even though I was not making it for myself.”

Holly said she was surprised and humbled to receive the Above & Beyond Award. “I am completely shocked and totally honored,” she said. She is also somewhat shocked to find herself back at her alma mater. “At times, it will crack me up that I’m back here,” she laughed.

“The place where my office is was an AV room. I took a class on American television here.”

For more information on the Above & Beyond award or on how to contribute to this endowed fund, contact Jennifer K. Burns, Assistant Head of School: Advancement & External Affairs, at jburns@solebury.org.

www.solebury.org

11

12

The Magazine

Summer / Fall 2017

Commencement

2017 June 10, 2017

On graduation day, Head of School Tom Wilschutz shared a message on social media to the Class of 2017 that young alumni would find familiar: “Before long breaks, I conclude assemblies with a wish for our students: be happy, be safe, come back to me.” He continued, “To the Class of 2017: be happy, be safe, but now go forward boldly with a spirit of adventure and resolve.

(But know you can always come back to your Solebury family.)”

The message punctuated the end of an exciting and emotional

“First and foremost, I

would like to send my sincerest thanks and appreciation to the entire Solebury community. From the faculty and staff to the Board of Trustees members to the friends and family of the entire 2017 graduating class, without you all, this day would not be possible.”

celebration of the Class of 2017.

–Macio Sexton ’17

As is Solebury School tradition, the festivities kicked off the day before graduation with a rehearsal led by Dean of Students Annette Miller, followed by Senior Dinner. Seniors and their families gathered in the Athletic Center for speeches, awards, student performances, and for one last meal prepared by our talented chefs.

The next morning, our seniors, faculty and staff, family and friends, and quite a few supportive alumni gathered for a beautiful outdoor ceremony by the main office.

Student speakers included Macio Sexton ’17 (now at the College of William and Mary), Eliza Mlodzinski ’17 (now at Bryn Mawr College), and Andrew Underwood ’17 (now at the Stevens Institute of Technology). Assistant Dean of Students Greg Lewis ’04 was selected by the Class of 2017 as the faculty commencement speaker.

Opposite page, TOP LEFT to RIGHT: Fiona Bauman ’17 with parents Brenda Muldowney P’17 and Christian Bauman P’17. London Green ’17 with parents Robert Green P’17 and Stephanie Carter-Green P’17. Rebecca Pearlman ’17 and Ashton Freeman ’17. MIDDLE: The Class of 2017. BOTTOM LEFT TO RIGHT: Kaileigh Fox ’17 with mother Lynne Ann Fox P’17 ’20 and sister Kiara ’20. Mei-lin Sloan ’17 with mother Sandra Gong P’17 and sister An-lin. Abbie Rains ’17 with dad Christopher Rains P’17.

This page, top: Emma Kerrigan ’17 with the similarly flower-crowned Alexis Molgat ’17.

BOTTOM: Commencement speaker Macio Sexton ’17.

To watch our entire Commencement 2017 ceremony, go to solebury.org/commencement2017.

Summer / Fall 2017

www.solebury.org

13

Commencement 2017

“I want to sincerely congratulate the Class of 2017.

You made it,” Greg said. “It’s kind of surreal being up here speaking to you all because I once sat in your exact position... I, too, was full of excitement, wonder, curiosity, hunger, and ready to take on the world.”

Greg inspired them to meet life’s challenges with grit and reminded them of how much they’d already overcome. “One is not defined by the amount of times you are knocked down... what defines you is your response. Some [of you] have lost family members, loved ones, friends. Some have endured heartbreak, breakups, rough seasons, long study hours, tough classes... Tough times don’t always last, but tough people do.”

After diplomas were awarded and a celebratory lunch, the incredible Class of 2017 bid farewell to Solebury School.

By DEB O’REILLY PHOTOS BY STEPHEN BARTH

“I count myself incredibly

lucky that I got to be in the same

place as all of you while you were here. I’d like to thank all of you for making my six years here amazing, and to wish all of you the best of luck in wherever you go next.”

“When we all leave here today and move on with our lives,

make sure you are moving toward some purpose, something that

drives you and makes you want to live for more than just the sake of living itself. And when you find that thing, don’t continue to follow someone else’s path.... just find your purpose and follow it, that is truly the fast track to happiness.”

–Andrew Underwood ‘17

–Eliza Mlodzinski ‘17

CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP: This group of friends attended Solebury School together for six years, from Middle School to graduation. Commencement speaker Andrew Underwood ’17. Macio Sexton ’17 with his advisor Rebecca Wilschutz and Head of School Tom Wilschutz. Assistant Dean of Students Greg Lewis ’04, who gave a heartfelt, funny speech. Commencement speaker Eliza Mlodzinski ’17.

Class of 2017 and other young alums: Save the date for Young Alumni Day on Wednesday, January 10!

14

The Magazine

Summer / Fall 2017

Commencement 2017

Senior Awards

Leaders for Today and the Future The Number One Ranked in the Class of 2017

The Mike Mullen Award

Kate Gregory ’17

This award is presented to the senior who has exemplified Mike’s characteristics of hard work, honesty, and love of the Solebury community and its natural surroundings. George attends Chapman University.

Kate earned the highest cumulative GPA. She attends Georgetown University.

Frank Ammirati Math & Science Prize Chris O’Brian ’17 This prize is given in honor of Frank Ammirati P’73 ‘77 ‘79 ‘81 ‘82, who taught math and science at Solebury for more than 30 years. The recipient of this award is a senior who excels in both of these disciplines. Chris attends Cornell University.

George O’Connor ’17

Dorothy MacBrien Award Josh Poole ’17 Given in memory of Dottie MacBrien P’79 by her husband Hugh and son Chris ‘79, this award goes to a senior for his or her contributions to making Solebury School a

better community and for demonstrating a willingness to help others. Josh attends The New School.

The William P. Orrick Award Sam Benson ’17 This prize honors William Pendleton Orrick, Headmaster of Solebury School from 1948-1968, and is the gift of the Dr. Marvin Solomon Family and John Lippman ‘75. It is awarded to a senior who has made the greatest academic improvement during his or her time at Solebury. Sam attends Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Special Awards

Presented on Prize Day Founders Award

Ben Weinberg ’18 Established by John A. Silver III ’57 and Betsy Orth Hill ’57, this award is intended for a member of the junior class who exudes personal maturity, integrity, intellectual curiosity, and a sense of responsibility to the school community as well as a society in general, sympathy for others and courage.

Home and School Community Service Award

Vikki Rueda-Juarez ’17 This award is given to a senior who has completed a high number, and wide variety of, community service hours. Vikki attends Ursinus College.

Director of Studies Award Andrew Underwood ’17

Awarded to a student in any grade whose actions in and outside of the classroom demonstrate intellectual curiosity, love of learning for its own sake, and speculative habits of mind. Andrew attends Stevens Institute of Technology.

The Commitment to Diversity Award

Vikki Rueda-Juarez ’17 Established by the Class of 2014, this award is presented to students who have demonstrated enthusiasm for diversity through his or her willingness to cross social boundaries, respect of Solebury’s diverse population, participation in diversity

Summer / Fall 2017

www.solebury.org

15

Commencement 2017

activities on campus, and encouragement of understanding within the community. Vikki attends Ursinus College.

Dean of Students Award

Jessica Randolph ’17 and Adam Mlodzinski ’17 The award is given to a student(s) who participates in and gives to the community unselfishly and who sees a need in the community and helps without being asked. Jessica attends Sam Houston State University; Adam attends Ursinus College.

Bryn Mawr Book Award Lakumi Dias ’18

Given to a young woman in the junior class who embodies the core characteristics of a Bryn Mawr woman: exhibits an intense intellectual commitment, has a self-directed and purposeful vision of life, and has a desire to make a meaningful contribution to the world.

Dean of Students Annette Miller and Assistant Dean of Students Greg Lewis ’04 with Adam Mlodzinski ’17 and Jessica Randolph ’17.

Smith College Book Award Teva Skovronek ’18

Given to an outstanding junior or sophomore who exemplifies the academic achievement and leadership qualities that characterize the thousands of women who have graduated from Smith College.

This student is typically in the “top tenth” of her class and serves as an example of scholarship and community service.

College of the Atlantic Award

Erik Daughterman ’18

Director of College Counseling Tim Gallen with (from left) Teva Skovronek ’18, Allie Duff ’18, Lakumi Dias ’18, and Erik Daughterman ’18.

Given to an adventurous junior who is invested in creating positive change in the world, and is engaged in their learning and their community.

the sciences. It includes a scholarship to Chatham University and an invitation to a reception on campus.

songs. This award is not given annually, only when a student merits it. Ashton attends Goucher College.

Rachel Carson Book Award

SongCraft Award

Duke Ellington Award for Excellence in Music

Allie Duff ’18

Given by Chatham University to a junior who has shown passion for the environment and interest in writing or

16

The Magazine

Ashton Freeman ’17 Given to the student who shows great potential as a songwriter; candidates had to submit a body of work of at least three

Josh Poole ’17

This is the highest honor given by the music department to an instrumentalist

Summer / Fall 2017

Commencement 2017

and competence with technical tasks related to lighting and sound at Solebury School.

Bridge Graduation Prize Elisabeth Belben ’17

This award is given to the student who began at Solebury School in our Bridge Program and who has worked hard to graduate from the program with success, demonstrating hard work and determination. Elisabeth attends Wheaton College.

Music teachers Cathy Block and Phyllis Arnold P’12 ‘14 with Josh Poole ’17 and Ashton Freeman ’17.

The Ned Harrington Scholarship Mei Peng Rizzo ’18

Given by the Solebury Township Historical Society to honor the memory of local historian Ned Harrington, the award recognizes a junior or senior for demonstrated commitment to history and social studies work, both in and outside of the classroom, and offers a scholarship in support of the student’s pursuit of these fields in college.

Teacher Chris Langhart with Andrew Underwood ’17 (left) and Chris O’Brian ’17.

or vocalist. It is given to the senior (or seniors) who have attained a high degree of technique and musicality on their

This award is only given when a student is deemed highly qualified, and therefore may not be awarded every year.

instrument and who show an exceptional potential in music which approaches a professional clarity. Such students have continually shown improvement and growth, and have made a significant contribution to Solebury’s music program.

Summer / Fall 2017

Technical Projects Award

Andrew Underwood ’17 and Chris O’Brian ’17 This award is given to the senior (or seniors) who have demonstrated continued interest

www.solebury.org

17

Off to College The next chapter of the Class of 2017’s education

By Deb O’Reilly By now, Solebury School’s newest alumni are settled into

working at Solebury. He is on the board of several

the rhythms and pace of college life. “It was an honor

collegiate organizations and is currently president of

to help get them there,” Tim Gallen (shown below) told

the Pennsylvania Association for College Admission

us recently. Tim has been Solebury School’s Director

Counseling (PACAC) — he was elected to the role last

of College Counseling since 2008, and to him, the

summer from nearly 1,150 PACAC members.

experience of sending off another class of students into the world is more sweet than bittersweet. “I wish the Class of 2017 well in their new lives as college students, and I hope they’re enjoying the experience.”

Tim has seen both sides of the college admissions

18

Tim’s tireless enthusiasm for his work is apparent all year long, even after most of our seniors have made their final decisions on where to attend. Last May, one of our seniors, bearing a huge smile, dashed out of the dining hall to share the exciting news with Tim that she was admitted off

process, having been the Senior Assistant Director

the waitlist to her top choice college. “It was an uplifting

of Admissions at the University of Scranton prior to

reminder of why I do what I do,” he said.

The Magazine

Summer / Fall 2017

Members of the Class of 2017 were accepted to more than 100 selective colleges and universities in the United States and beyond.

The University of Alabama

Ithaca College

Salve Regina University

American University

James Madison University

Sam Houston State University

Arcadia University

Juniata College

University of San Francisco

Berklee College of Music

King’s College

Savannah College of Art and Design

Boston College

Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

Seton Hall University

Boston University

La Salle University

Skidmore College

Brandeis University

Lake Forest College

Smith College

Bryn Mawr College

University of Maine

University of South Carolina

Bucks County Community College

Manhattan College

Southern Methodist University

University of California, Davis

Manhattanville College

St. John’s University - Queens Campus

University of California, Irvine

University of Mary Washington

State University of New York at Albany

University of California, Santa Cruz

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts

Stetson University

Case Western Reserve University

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Chapman University

University of Massachusetts, Amherst

College of Charleston

University of Massachusetts, Boston

Clark University

Menlo College

University of Colorado at Boulder

Merrimack College

Colorado State University

Miami University, Oxford

Connecticut College

University of Miami

University of Connecticut

Michigan State University

Cornell University

Monmouth University

University of Delaware

Montgomery County Community College

University of Denver

Morehouse College

DeSales University

Mount Holyoke College

Dickinson College

Muhlenberg College

Drew University

National University of Ireland, Galway

Drexel University

Neumont University

Eckerd College

The College of New Jersey

Elon University

New York Institute of Technology

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Daytona Beach

New York University

Emerson College

Northeastern University

University of Washington

Emmanuel College

Pace University, New York City

West Chester University of Pennsylvania

Fairfield University

Pennsylvania State University

West Virginia University

Florida Institute of Technology

Pepperdine University

Wheaton College MA

Fordham University

University of Pittsburgh

Widener University

Franklin & Marshall College

Pitzer College

Wilkes University

Full Sail University

Purchase College State University of New York

College of William and Mary

Georgetown University

Purdue University

University of Wisconsin, Madison

The George Washington University

Quinnipiac University

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

George Mason University

Ramapo College of New Jersey

Georgia Institute of Technology

University of Richmond

Gettysburg College

Rider University

Goucher College

Rochester Institute of Technology

Green Mountain College

University of Rochester

Hamilton College - NY

Rollins College

University of Hawaii at Manoa

Rowan University

High Point University

Rutgers University-New Brunswick

Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Saint Joseph’s University

Summer / Fall 2017

University of North Dakota

Stevens Institute of Technology Stony Brook University Syracuse University The University of Tampa Temple University The New School (NYC) Tulane University Union College (New York) University at Buffalo The State University of New York University of Chester Ursinus College University of Vermont Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Tech Wabash College Washington College Washington University in St. Louis

Save the date: Young Alumni Day is Wednesday, January 10! www.solebury.org

19

AthLetics NEWS

Athletic Award Recipients On Saturday, May 20, 2017, Solebury School’s athletes, coaches, and parents gathered to celebrate the year in sports at our annual Athletic Banquet.

Boys Tennis Most Valuable Player Chang (Eric) Yin ’18

Coaches’ Award (2)

Dengruo (Daniel) Wang ’17, Zihan (Neo) He ’17

Most Improved Award Marshall Overhiser ’19

Baseball

Fall Awards

WINTER AWARDS

Girls Soccer

Girls (Varsity) Basketball

Jacob Gleason ’18

Most Valuable Player:

Most Valuable Player

Benjamin Roxey ’19, Elias Ziff ’18

Nicole Cosner ’20

Addie Groth-Tuft ’19

Coaches’ Award (2):

Coaches’ Award (2)

Jessica Randolph ’17, Abbie Rains ’17

Nicole Cosner ’20, Yujiao (Louisa) Qiu ’19

Most Improved Award:

Most Improved

Addie Groth-Tuft ’19

Rebecca Bozzo ’20

Boys Soccer

Wrestling

Most Valuable Player

Most Valuable Player

Jongwook Jeon ’17

Garritt Zalewski ’19

Coaches’ Award

Coaches’ Award

Most Valuable Player Coaches’ Award (2)

Most Improved Award (2) Jason Burns ’19, Logan Doan ’19

Track & Field Most Valuable Player (4)

Caitlin Miller ’18, Josh Zolkewitz ’18, Vikki Rueda-Juarez ’17, Sam Benson ’17

Coaches’ Award (4)

Songyuhao (Fred) Shi ’18

Daniel Cosner ’22

Lakumi Dias ’18, Andrei Benoliel ’18, Debby Qu ’19, Aidan Holtz ’20

Most Improved Award

Boys (Varsity) Basketball

Yuan Lin ’18, Cally Kerrigan ’18, William Gao ’18, Ethan Stein ’20

Hayden Cowperthwaite ’22

Cross Country Most Valuable Player (2) Devon Brewster ‘18, Maya Boreas ’20

Coaches’ Award (2)

Most Valuable Player London Green ’17

Coaches’ Award (2)

Devon Brewster ’18, Troy McGregor ’20

Most Improved Award

Most Improved Award (4)

Boys Golf Most Valuable Player Jacob Goodman ’18

Coaches’ Award

Andrei Benoliel ’18, Elisabeth Belben ’17

Jacob Gleason ’18

Most Improved Award (2)

SPRING AWARDS

Most Improved Award

Field Hockey

Softball

Girls Lacrosse

Most Valuable Player

Most Valuable Player

Most Valuable Player

Coaches’ Award

Coaches’ Award

Most Improved Award

Most Improved Award (2)

Marshall Overhiser ’19, Cally Kerrigan ’18

Alexandra Babicki ’17

Coaches’ Award Emma Kerrigan ’17

Most Improved Award Arlene Ricks ’20

20

The Magazine

Arlene Ricks ’20

Zihan (Ashley) Wang ’19 Jiabo (Jane) Wei ’19

Kyle Schlegel ’20 Zekai Liu ’17

Emma Salerno ’19 Ella Titus ’17

ZiJing (Sarah) Zhai ’19, Julianna Tes ’20

Summer / Fall 2017

AthLetics NEWS

Annual Awards Frank Ammirati Most Valuable Senior Athlete Award Jongwook Jeon ’17, Vikki Rueda-Juarez ’17 “As Director of Athletics, I have the privilege of giving out the Frank Ammirati Most Valuable Senior Athlete Award,” said Rob Eichem near the close of the Athletic Banquet. “Past winners include Malcolm Ingram ’06, 1000-point scorer and 2013 inductee into Solebury’s Athletic Hall of Fame. Claudia Keep ’11, a 2011 recipient, who ran cross country and track at Bryn Mawr College and owns school records there in the 1500m, 3k, and 5k. And Tavorsia Talley ’14, a 2014 recipient, 1000-point scorer, and current member of the Smith College Women’s Basketball Team.”

Jongwook Jeon ’17 and Vikki Rueda-Juarez ’17 were the recipients of this year’s awards. Rob described Jongwook and Vikki as having become key players and sources of inspiration on their respective teams. “Every time they stepped on a field, they played with passion, a drive to succeed, and a desire to make their teammates better... both are the epitome of understated excellence, and they have earned multiple letters and awards over their careers,” Rob said.

At the banquet, Vikki earned MVP for track and field (her third in that sport), and throughout her track career at Solebury, she’s won a number of medals and topthree finishes in shot, discus, and the javelin. She continues her track career at Ursinus College as a freshman this year.

Vikki is also a three-year varsity letter winner in girls soccer and four-year letter winner in track and field. She also played basketball during her career at Solebury.

Jongwook is a four-year letter winner in boys soccer and two-year letter winner in boys tennis. At the banquet, he was named MVP in boys soccer for the second year in a row. He also played basketball since his freshman year.

Coach of the Year Terri Miller P’16 ’18, Cross Country Terri Miller was a self-described jock growing up who played basketball but ran track and cross country as a way to improve

Summer / Fall 2017

her game. It wasn’t until after having children that she discovered distance running as a great way to get back into shape and de-stress. She ran her first 10k in 2006, her first Philadelphia Broad Street Run in 2008, her first half marathon in 2011, and her first marathon in 2014. Last fall, she completed the 2016 New York City Marathon.

Her passion for the sport is matched by her passion for coaching.

“There is nothing more gratifying than watching a kid come out and work hard every day, and seeing their improvement week to week,” Terri told us at the start of the fall 2017 season. “I try to instill a healthy, life-long love of running in all the athletes that I coach, as well as a sense of confidence that they can do anything they put their minds to. They are my reason for continuing to take on races (half marathons and marathons). I want them to know that you can always dream big, make a plan, and see it through.”

At the Athletic Banquet, Solebury School celebrated Terri with the much-deserved Coach of the Year Award. “Over the past five seasons, Terri has shown tremendous dedication to the cross country program at Solebury, first as an assistant coach before becoming head coach four years ago. Her teams have won PennJersey League Championships and captured invitationals, and her runners have consistently finished top 10,” said Rob Eichem as he presented her award. “She has spent countless hours outside normal practice times working on our home course, organizing practices and scoring meets, and promoting the sport of running by getting her own athletes and others involved in running 5ks or 10ks off campus.”

Terri is also known to attend games in other seasons to support her runners in their primary or secondary sports.

“I take great pride in having a cross country program that anyone can feel comfortable and prosper,” said Terri. It meant so much to have our work recognized by being chosen as Coach of the Year. I am truly blessed to be able to do what I absolutely feel I was meant to do: coach. Being able to work with kids of all levels of fitness, and watch them gain confidence in themselves and their abilities to do things they never thought they could do, like a 5k or the Broad Street Run, is a gift.”

By DEB O’REILLY

www.solebury.org

21

Honoring Holmquist The Holmquist School for Girls, which merged with the Solebury School for Boys in 1949, was founded 100 years ago.

By Deb O’Reilly Today’s Solebury students best know “Holmquist” as one of our School’s four houses. The houses — named after Karline Holmquist, Laurie Erskine, Arthur “Doc” Washburn, and Julian Lathrop — participate in a friendly but spirited competition for points throughout the year. The house competition was inspired by one featured in the bestselling series Harry Potter, yet the history of The Holmquist School for Girls is pretty magical itself.

Originally called The New Hope School, it opened in 1917 as the United States entered World War I and was still two years away from granting women the right to vote.

Who Was Karline Holmquist?

“To open an independent school as the nation entered W.W.I. was, of course, an act of courage and optimism that, fortunately, succeeded. The key to that success was Miss Karline’s combination of strength and compassion, as well as the able assistance of her family, excellent teachers, and staff and the rich resources of the New Hope artists’ community….In addition to her duties as Headmistress, Miss Karline, who had studied music in Paris and Berlin, inspired young musicians at Holmquist.

— Excerpted from Solebury at 75: A Fond Look Back, published in 2000*

An informal assembly in Holmquist’s main building, White Oaks, in the 1940s.

The courageous Karline Holmquist (along with Mildred Gutterson and Dorothea Whorf, who left after the first year) founded her school for girls on a stunning property that Karline had purchased from William Lathrop in 1909, located along the banks of the Delaware River where the Hotel du Village sits today. During the first year, six girls were admitted. Numbers grew in the following years and the name changed. Despite the odds, this school for girls remained open through the Depression and a second world war.

In the 1937 yearbook, “Miss Karline” (as she was known) wrote, “As I look back over the 20 years of the school, I read a lovely story of impractical daring, free, brave adventure, many

22

The Magazine

Summer / Fall 2017

The Holmquist Family “Much loved by students over many years, the Holmquists were the backbone of the school. Karline’s sister, Miss Louise Holmquist, joined Holmquist in 1925 and served as co-principal as well as business manager and treasurer. The Holmquist women’s brother, Carl, served as the financial advisor, and “Grandpa” Frederick Holmquist was the bookkeeper until his death at age 102 in 1943. Margery Holmquist, sister-in-law to the Holmquist siblings, was widowed early in life and joined the Holmquist staff, raising her children, Kinnie ’32, Betty ’33, and Fritz ’43 on the Holmquist property.”

—Solebury at 75: A Fond Look Back*

Who Was Dr. Blanche Norton?

Today, Solebury School boarding students who live in the boys dorm may recognize this name. A fireside lounge in Walter Lamb Hall was dedicated in 1998 as “The Holmquist Lounge in memory of Dr. Blanche Norton,” to honor the inspirational teacher who taught at Holmquist and Solebury School for 30 years.

years, however. The final Holmquist graduation took place in

“Blanche Norton, MD, was a woman extraordinarily talented in many fields. A 1915 graduate of Cornell Medical School, Dr. Norton went to Turkish Armenia to deliver medical care to the victims of the 1919 upheavals. After the war, King Alexander of Greece bestowed upon her the Military Order of King George…. In the 1920s she returned to the United States and continued her career as a physician, a teacher, principal, and social worker before joining the Holmquist faculty in the early 1930s. Dr. Norton was an excellent teacher and role model for her students. Modern in her outlook, she crusaded against cigarettes and overuse of sodium, and spoke out on women’s health issues in general. Girls felt comfortable asking Dr. Norton questions about their own development that they might not be able to ask others.”

the spring of 1949, following the death of Miss Karline in 1943

—Solebury at 75: A Fond Look Back*

TOP: Holmquist’s Appledore building, which served as a classroom, infirmary, and dormitory. BOTTOM: Holmquist faculty, 1949.

mistakes, many achievements, and tremendous seriousness of purpose, and I am very thankful for all of them, and shall look forward to the coming 20 years with great interest, curiosity, and many chuckles.”

The Holmquist School for Girls wouldn’t last another 20

and years of financial hardship. That September, Holmquist merged with the Solebury School for Boys, ushering in a new era for the now coeducational Solebury School. Holmquist’s property officially became the Solebury School’s Lower Campus until 1985 when it was sold.

Summer / Fall 2017

*There are copies of Solebury at 75: A Fond Look Back in the Carriage House. The book offers a comprehensive look back at the first 75 years of Solebury School. History buffs are welcome to stop by and browse it anytime.

www.solebury.org

23

The Influence of Art at Holmquist

What Was Life Like as a Holmquist Student?

We spoke to a few alumni from the 1940s to learn about their experiences.

The Holmquist Education “I just liked the whole atmosphere there. And I felt lucky to be able to go there, because my family didn’t have have much money. I was a day student on scholarship.”

— Noëlle (Kennedy) Masukawa ’49, who grew up in New Hope, PA

“My mother grew up in Hartford and went to Syracuse [University], but she always talked about her education and her time at Holmquist… it was as if she felt the education there was superior. She felt the fundamentals of what she learned were the best. She had very fond memories of Holmquist and made lifelong friends there.”

— Susan Widem, daughter of Selma (Waxman) Widem ’47.

Selma passed away in 2015.

24

The Magazine

Holmquist art teacher and notable Pennsylvania impressionist artist John Fulton Folinsbee P ’34 ’36 painted this stunning portrait of Polly Gnagy Seymour ’46.

“I was extremely flattered that [Folinsbee] asked me to pose for him… I was either 14 or 15; it was actually before I was a Holmquist student. I think he paid me $12 to sit for it. [The portrait] is hanging right in our living room. We cherish it.”

— Polly (Gnagy) Seymour ’46, who grew up in New Hope and whose father, Jon Gnagy, was also a famous artist. Jon Gnagy hosted the popular 1940s and 50s TV show Learn to Draw.

“My mother was very artistic, and I think she did a lot of painting at Holmquist. She painted for most of her life.”

—Susan Widem, daughter of Selma (Waxman) Widem ’47

A Favorite Teacher, Dr. Blanche Norton “I loved her dearly. She was very easy to be around and friendly. She pushed me pretty hard, particularly in the direction of medicine. But in college I changed my major to English, which was not uncommon then [ for women].”

— Polly (Gnagy) Seymour ’46. Dr. Blanche Norton helped Polly get accepted to the University of Rochester.

“She was lovely. She talked to us like we were adults.”

—Bernice (Farlee) Snyder ’44

Summer / Fall 2017

A look Back

Miss Perfect Posture

By Deb O’Reilly

Many decades ago, the Holmquist School for Girls awarded an annual Posture Cup to its most deserving student.

Attending School During WWII “Many of the boarding students at that time were sent [to Holmquist] from Europe to be kept safe.”

—Polly (Gnagy) Seymour ’46

“We used to have air raid practices where we had to cover up the windows to black out everything.”

—Noëlle (Kennedy) Masukawa ’49

“I remember keeping the shades down during blackouts. I also remember some of the [Holmquist] girls taking their bath towels and spelling out their phone numbers with them across the lawn, hoping that soldiers flying planes from the base nearby would call them. I’m not sure they ever did.”

—Bernice (Farlee) Snyder ’44

Life After Holmquist “My father didn’t want me going to college, [he believed] women didn’t go to college. So [after Holmquist] I went down to Columbia, SC, to spend time with my brother and his wife and ended up taking classes at the University of South Carolina. I didn’t graduate...On the way back home, I stopped in Baltimore to visit friends and one of them was reading the paper that morning and said, ‘There’s a job at the library at the Baltimore Sun. Maybe I was the only one applying for it, but I got the job. And I just loved it. I was there for about three years, until I got married and moved to Wilmington. The job was filing newspaper clippings [by topic for reference later].

That was in the early 1950s. And I still have friends who were Baltimore Sun ‘alumni’ that I remained friends with.”

—Noëlle (Kennedy) Masukawa ’49

Summer / Fall 2017

That’s right, an award for ... posture. These were different times. “Back then, we called all of our teachers by ‘Miss’ or ‘Mrs.’ And if you wanted to go anywhere off campus, you had to be accompanied by a responsible girl,” Bernice Farlee Snyder ’44 told us over iced tea recently in her home in Lambertville, NJ, the town she grew up in, including during her time as a Holmquist day student.

Bernice was, in fact, the winner of the Posture Cup in 1944.

Her sister, the late Adele Farlee Hantin ’46, won in 1945 and 1946. “I remember walking through Lambertville with the cup,” Bernice told us, smiling. “It’s not a bad thing, you know — good posture.”

And well, she’s right, you might hesitantly agree as you slouch in your chair reading this very sentence. (Shoulders back, everyone!) Today, experts frown upon our bad habits of hunching over our phones or keyboards. They extol, to both women and men, the virtues of yoga and stretching, as well as modern office aids like standing desks. In 2012, a TED Talk on “power posing” — adjusting your body language to boost your confidence at work — went viral. The talk was given by a woman, Harvard sociology professor Amy Cuddy. One example of a power pose? Standing with your feet apart, hands on your hips, chin uplifted. It’s called the “Wonder Woman.”

www.solebury.org

25

Solebury School

2017

Reunion Weekend

By DEB O’REILLY PHOTOS BY Kelli Abdoney

“This year’s Reunion Weekend was just a blast,” said Director of Alumni Relations Renée LaPorte, summing up the event. “I was thrilled to see so many alumni return, from the well-coordinated classes of 2000s to the numerous surprise, and very welcome, drop-ins from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. This year, I loved working with Chuck Schwartz ’52 on our 1950s gathering. He came to me about a year ago, wanting to organize a really special gathering of dear old friends.”

26

The Magazine

Summer / Fall 2017

Reunion Weekend 2017

And so they did. On the Saturday afternoon of Reunion Weekend, Chuck hosted a large group of 1950s alumni in Solebury School’s main office. Old friends reminisced as they paged through their yearbooks.

Head of School Tom Wilschutz dropped in for a lengthy conversation, answering dozens of questions about the School’s recent news and its future, including details from the strategic plan (see page 7).

During the Memorial Service of Reunion Weekend, we remembered the following friends, family, and faculty:

Holmquist School Joan Folinsbee Cook ’36 Eleanor Wisner Gural ’45

Solebury School Edward Joseph Boyle ’62 John Goldsmith ’59 Donald Henderson, Jr. ’58 Oliver Hess ’67 Clay Stratton Holden ’49 Jenny Semans Koortbojian ’72 Brooke Detweiler Peoples ’53 Paul Perlsweig ’67 William “Dutch” Schoener ’56 Benjamin Wells ’52 Walter Hines Winternitz ’41

Former Faculty Richard Albertine

Relatives and Friends of Solebury School Maureen Ammirati P’73 ’74 ’77 ’79 ’82 ’86 John (Jack) MacPherson Newkirk Helen Simpson P’69 ’71 GP’10 OPPOSITE PAGE: Our 1950s gathering. THIS PAGE, TOP: Bob Stockton ’58 and Director of Alumni Relations Renée LaPorte.

SECOND FROM TOP: Daniel Anthonisen ’88, Walter Street ’88, Keith Pinckney ’87, Candido Rivera ’87, and Joe Cucinotta ’89. In front: Holly Victor ’89 and Bic Hendricks ’87 P’11. SECOND FROM BOTTOM: Joyce Bulifant ’56. BOTTOM: Teacher Matt Baron with brothers Dante and Deshawn Hendricks ’11 and Tyler Lloyd ’12.

Summer / Fall 2017

www.solebury.org

27

Reunion Weekend 2017

Meanwhile, our festive annual Burger and Beer Bash — spearheaded by the unstoppable Lana Whitehead ’96 — drew crowds from more recent decades, as well as the family and friends of Nate Croskey ’75 and Gerald Clark Jr. ’99, who celebrated their inductions into the Athletic Hall of Fame that afternoon. As she does every year at this event, Lana graciously sought donations for Solebury School’s Page and Otto Marx Jr. Foundation Scholarship, an endowed fund that supports tuition assistance for students of color with financial need. Lana personally and professionally embraces the concept of giving back to one’s community; see page 2 for more on Lana and her recent “Hero Award” from the state of New Jersey.

If you’d like to organize an event for you and your Solebury friends at our 2018 Reunion Weekend, please contact Renée LaPorte at rlaporte@solebury.org or 215.862.5261.

TOP: At the Burger and Beer Bash, alumni were lucky to be served by expert grill master Evan Asoudegan ’11, owner and chef of New Hope’s MOO, a burger restaurant.

SECOND ROW: Alumni from the 1980s. THIRD ROW: Camron Dovalina ’97 and Shaughnessy Naughton ’95 (left).

Bella Blasko ’07 and Dennis Liana ’07 (right). FOURTH ROW: Alumni from the 1970s (left). Ben Dahl ’07, Anna Franzini ’08, Kylee Briggs ’07, Dana Goldenberg ’07 (right).

BOTTOM: Celebrating after the Athletic Hall of Fame.

SAVE THE DATE for next year’s Reunion Weekend, May 4-6, 2018!

28

The Magazine

Summer / Fall 2017

Reunion Weekend 2017

Life Is a Fiesta!

Solebury School’s 2017 Spring Dinner Auction

By DEB O’REILLY Photos by Kelli Abdoney

Improving the Herbert S. Boyd Dining Hall Each year during the auction, we seek donations to fund a specific program or project. This year’s “special appeal” supported upgrades to our dining hall, specifically a new HVAC system that will keep the space cooler and less humid in the spring, summer, and fall, and cozier during the winter months.

Our maintenance team had just a few weeks in August to tackle the project — after day camp concluded and before school started. “We were ready to go and it came together quickly. Our team actually finished the job ahead of schedule,” said Director of Facilities Brad King in late August. “You can make it ‘TW-cold’ in here now if you At this year’s dinner auction, Life Is a Fiesta!, we raised more than $100,000 to benefit Solebury School.

This incredible night was a success thanks to our supportive community of Solebury parents, alumni, students, faculty, and friends. Our auction committee spent the better part of the school year planning every detail, led by our talented and tireless auction cochairs, Robin Sherman P’17 and René Lutz P’18.

name just a few upgrades: new lockers were equipped to handle the space and needs of our day students, new picnic tables and Adirondack chairs

want,” he added with a smile during a particularly hot day. (“TW” stands for Head of School Tom Wilschutz, a proud former Midwesterner who prefers

have been added to common areas, and

temperatures in the single digits.)

prominent new signage (reflecting our

Head Chef Carmen DiFoggio couldn’t be

new school logo) now welcomes all to

happier. “The difference was immediate.

Solebury School. Auction proceeds not

It is much, much more pleasant to cook

only contributed to the Annual Fund,

and work in this kitchen. And I’m sure the

but replenished the Home and School

students will enjoy hanging out, eating,

Association’s grant-making fund, which

and studying in the dining hall even more

provides small grants to Solebury

now, all year long,” he said. “My team and

The funds raised have already been put

School teachers to create innovative

I thank everyone who donated funds to

to great use throughout campus. To

learning experiences for our students.

this project. It is sincerely appreciated.”

Summer / Fall 2017

www.solebury.org

29

Reunion Weekend 2017

Many thanks to our auction sponsors!

Platinum Sponsors Daniel C. Arnold and Linda Chaille-Arnold P’20 Hongwei and Di Li P’19 DonorPerfect Fundraising Software Edu-Tech Academic Solutions Saul Ewing LLP The First National Bank of Newtown Karen and Mikel Waldon P’19

Gold SPONSORS Jeff Benoliel and Amy Branch P’18 Xiping Wang and Ning Li P’18

Silver SPONSORS Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin and Schiller HaiPeng Wang P’20

Bronze SPONSORS Annsi Cole Stephano ’58 P’77 ’78 ’81

Benefactor Andrea Devereux P’14 Jian Shen and Qi Xie P’20

Patron Sarah and Steve Kelleher P’23 Joan Reinthaler ’53 James ’64 and Sharon Wolman P’17

FROM TOP: Mitch and auction co-chair Robin Sherman P’17. Mandy and Mike Salerno P’19 ’22. Margaret and Robert Orlando P’20. Michelle Hunter P’21 and Jennifer Glazer P’22.

Save the Date for next year’s

auction and plan to join us on Friday, May 4, 2018!

30

The Magazine

Summer / Fall 2017

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT: Jean Shaw ’53 and Bob Stockton ’58. Theater Director Shawn Wright and husband Eric. Nikkii Kashub ’04 with husband Chad and father James. Teacher Matt Baron with Ben Weinberg ’18, auction volunteer. Head Chef Carmen DiFoggio and Human Resources Director Sherry Goulding P’18. Felicia Holtz P’20.

Summer / Fall 2017

www.solebury.org

31

Reunion Weekend 2017

Solebury School

2017 Athletic Hall of Fame During Reunion Weekend, Solebury School honors former Spartan athletes, teams, coaches, or other members of our community who’ve made outstanding contributions to our athletic program.

Here are the inductees for the 2017 Athletic Hall of Fame:

Nathaniel Croskey ’75 Gerald Clark Jr. ’99 Don McCook P’60 ’62 ’64 Student-athletes Nate Croskey and Jerry Clark were standout players on the basketball court during their respective careers at Solebury School.

The late Don McCook, affectionately known as a “poet coach,” headed the Athletics Department from 1952 to 1961. He also taught English and coached girls and boys basketball, baseball, football, and track, inspiring countless students in and out of the classroom during his tenure. When he passed away in 1961, Solebury School dedicated the Don McCook Memorial Field a year later to honor his memory.

ABOVE: Athletic Director Rob Eichem. BELOW: Don McCook’s son Jon McCook ’62 (left) with Mike Sienkiewicz ’56, who gave a rousing speech as part of the late coach’s induction into the Athletic Hall of Fame. Mike played football under Coach Don McCook in the 1950s.

At the Hall of Fame, Mike Sienkiewicz ’56 shared a description of Don McCook (shown above) by fellow alumnus Mike Zoob ’54, who once described McCook as “old school in the matter of sports, and that meant taking knocks and bruises without griping. He made it plain to us that you never knocked your own team, or dwelt on the other fellow’s inadequacies.

With Don, you played football because you loved it and you especially didn’t get discouraged by getting beaten… but you never gave up trying to win.”

32

The Magazine

Summer / Fall 2017

Nate’s Hall of Fame celebration truly was a family affair.

Solebury has Nate (shown above, right) to thank for introducing multiple alumni to our School, including Edwin “Bic” Hendricks ’87 and his twin sons Dante ’11 and Deshawn ’11, Alicia Taylor ’01, Keith Pinckney ’87, and Candido Rivera ’88.

“This is an honor I never expected, “This is very humbling. Cleve, you gave me the chance and I just appreciate it. You’ve always had my back. Thank you for that.”

and I thank you for that.”

— Nate Croskey ’75, who was MVP in basketball his senior year, as well as an all-league and all-area player.

— Gerald Clark Jr. ’99, shown above right, shouting out longtime Solebury School basketball coach and mentor Cleve Christie (left).

2018 Nominations Nominations for our 2018 Athletic Hall of Fame can be made by completing the online nomination form at solebury.org/athleticHOF, or by mailing a printed and completed form to Rob Eichem, Director of Athletics, Solebury School, 6832 Phillips Mill Road, New Hope, PA 18938. The deadline for submitting a nomination is December 15, 2017.

By DEB O’REILLY PHOTOS BY Kelli Abdoney

Summer / Fall 2017

www.solebury.org

33

A l u m n i N e w s a nd C l a s s N o t e s

Alma’s Update Submit a Class note Mail:

the New Jersey Supreme Court rendered a

Hank Brooks and Michael Doyle —

decision on a disability discrimination lawsuit I

caught up at a Washington Nationals

filed in 2011 on behalf of a hospital nurse.”

baseball game, as they do once a year.

Solebury School Attn: The Alumni Office 6832 Phillips Mill Road New Hope, PA 18938

Class of 1952

E-Mail:

since he saw some of his classmates. The

alumni@solebury.org Class Notes are edited for length and clarity, and they will be published online.

Class of 1938 Everett Morse turned 100 years old this year. On his birthday, Head of School Tom Wilschutz and the entire Advancement

Chuck Schwartz had a blast at Reunion Weekend 2017. It had been nearly 60 years highlight of the reunion was a chance for all the 1950s alumni to chat with Head of School Tom Wilschutz. For nearly two hours, Tom answered many questions and shared details of Solebury’s strategic plan.

Some of the decade’s alumni who came to the weekend included: Jean Tappan Shaw ’53,

Class of 1965

Nick Simons ’51, Diana Thiele Lippincott

Rodger Biles is now in Kentucky after

’52, Ann Bassett ’51, ​David Mueller ’52,

spending 44 years in Florida. He lost his

Dick Walsh ’52, Malcolm Drezner ’52,

department called him to sing him

wife of 43 years to cancer last September

Joyce Bulifant ‘56, Bob Stockton ‘58, Neil

and says it’s taking awhile to get adjusted to

Happy Birthday. “Solebury is my favorite

Cubberly ‘59, and Neil MacLean ‘52 . Chuck

the “new normal” without her.

place,” he told us. Shown: Everett at his

would like to thank Director of Alumni

70th Solebury reunion with his wife, June,

Relations Renée LaPorte for all of her help in

and son Jonathan.

making the reunion a great success.

Class of 1953

Class of 1968

Guy Lewis is retired and living the good life in northern California. Chris Scherer just retired and is living the good life in Portland,

Hayward (Woody) Holbert is happily

OR. Iano Sereno and Ken Gilbert continue

retired and splits his time between New

to work in North Carolina and New York City

Hope, PA, and Daytona Beach, FL.

Class of 1963

respectively and can only dream of the good life. John Sadwith will be living the good life in Colorado when he retires this December.

Shown: Guy and Iano in Denver this summer.

John Funk and his wife, Deb have moved to Portland, ME. John still works in Concord, NH, and travels back and forth. He plans to work for a few more years and then retire.

He recently attended his 50th reunion at

Class of 1949 Noel Crowley reports, “The highlight of my 86th year on the planet (and my 60th year in law practice) came on July 12, 2017, when

34

The Magazine

Princeton University.

Class of 1964 The “Solebury School boys of summer” — Mark Augenblick, Bryant Mitchell ’65,

Summer / Fall 2017

Alma’s Update

Class of 1976

Class of 1996

Class of 2010

fondly. She returned to college (New York

2017 with her life coaching practice,

Joseph’s University with a degree in theater,

University) at the age of 50 to complete her

Sharpened Mindz, located in Middlesex

film, and communications. She went on

bachelor’s degree, then onto grad school

County, NJ. The company has sponsored

to appear in the CBS TV show Madame

for her master’s of social work (MSW) to

and participated in community events

Secretary. Her focus has since shifted to sales

become a psychotherapist. She is one year

all through New Jersey for the past two

and she works for ADP out of Philadelphia. She

away from graduation and thrilled to embark

summers, including a recent event themed,

hopes to get back into the theater scene very

on a career she loves after decades in the film

“There’s Always Room for Ice Cream,”

soon. Shown: Alyssa with Rebecca Wilschutz.

business. Jolie would love to hear from folks

where Lana teamed up with a local ice

in New York and Los Angeles.

cream parlor and the National Missing

Jolie Gorchov remembers Solebury

Lana Whitehead has been busy in

Alyssa Pimpinella graduated from Saint

Children Center for Exploited Children.

Class of 1978

Sharpened Mindz registered children and

Ambika Devi’s third book entitled The Wizard and The Wrench is due out this fall. It is a collaboration of poetry penned by Ambika and fellow wordsmith Dominic Albanese, along with artwork and photography. Her first novel Lilith was a finalist in the 2015 International Book Awards in the category of Spiritual Fiction. This was followed by a second book Unfolding Happiness, a treatise of happiness, health and Ayurveda which was named one of the Top 100 Indie Published Books of 2016 under Mythologem Press.

families in the community for missing child kits while providing free ice cream, face painting, games, and more.

This summer, Lana was also the keynote speaker for the Middlesex County HSE Commencement ceremony and the keynote speaker for an Annual Youth Conference for at-risk youth in Elizabeth, NJ. Lana attributes her public speaking and leadership skills to Solebury School, when she was the facilitator for the Tuesday morning meetings and three-time captain of the women’s basketball team. Read about a prestigious award Lana received this summer on page 2.

Class of 2011

*Phil Walker is an MD/PhD candidate at Wright State University. In March 2017, Phil spent his spring break in Kampala, Uganda, where he studied neurosurgery with a team from Duke University that included doctors, nurses, scientists, technicians

Class of 2005

and biomedical engineers. It was the 10th

Meg O’Donnell is currently a staff scientist

Duke and Mulago Hospital/Makerere

at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.

anniversary of the collaboration between University College of Health Sciences.

There, the Duke team performed about 20 neurosurgical cases that Phil was able to

Class of 1989

Class of 2007

observe. “[It] was an absolutely phenomenal

Jonathan Tetelman recently traveled

research that I am passionate about. I

to China to sing La Boheme. He thanks

certainly gained a much fuller perspective

Eddy Manoyrine

Solebury for giving him the foundation that

on how social, behavioral and environmental

is working at

enables him to pursue his passion and have a

factors influence neurosurgical needs.”

the North Shore

career in singing.

Medical Center in the Nursing

Summer / Fall 2017

Class of 2013

Administration

Class of 2009

office as a Staffing

Nathaniel Danciger has been living for the

in Information Science from Bucks County

Coordinator.

last two years in Miami, FL. This past year,

Community College. He currently attends

Shown: Eddy

Nate has been working with CMA Design

Elizabethtown College and is working on a

Studios and loves every minute. Nate writes

bachelor’s of science degree in Information

that he owes so much to Solebury School.

Systems.

with his six-year-old son, Nicholas Chase Manoyrine.

introduction into a field of medicine and

Eric Biskin received his associate degree

www.solebury.org

35

Alma’s Update *Keziah Groth-Tuft graduated from

improve their English. He keeps in touch

Dickinson College where she majored in

with Solebury buddies when time allows.

international studies and studied abroad

Class of 2017 Mei-lin Sloan and family toured parts of

in Jordan and Denmark. She minored

Sasha Scudder has

Europe this summer, including the Strait

in Arabic and also earned a certificate

successfully finished

of Gibraltar shown in the background of

in Security studies. Keziah was recently

her second year of

this photo.

awarded a Rotary International scholarship

college. This year,

for a LL.M (Master of Laws) Human Rights

she was elected

and Environment program at Lancaster

president of her

University in England. She will focus her

collegiate a capella group “9th Street

dissertation on the Paris Agreement. *Junhua (Richard) Wu graduated from Cornell University a semester early in December 2016 and moved to New York City to work for the Lightstone Group, a real estate company, as an asset management analyst.

Hooligans” and is thrilled to continue performing with them. She is majoring in theater and concentrating in media studies/ video game design.

This June, she spent 10 days traveling in France and also travelled to Bilbao, Spain, interning at a Michelin-starred winery Bodega Talleri for a month. She finished

Class of 2014

her European summer with a visit to Russia

*Alex Leone will graduate from Yale University in 2018. This summer she interned with The Bronx Defenders,

and will be back home in time to submit her application to Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London for the spring semester.

working in their Civil Action department.

“I will contribute to their holistic defense approach to intervene in the cycle of imprisonment and poverty,” she told us this spring. “My current plan is to work in a social enterprise or for a consulting firm for a few years after college then attend law school. Ideally, I will continue to work for empowerment and prevention programs for domestic violence survivors (like I did with A Woman’s Place during Solebury School’s senior project!) in a legal role.”

Class of 2015

Class of 2016

Births

Brittany Korn Winfeld ’02

This summer, J. R. Madey worked for the

On August 3rd, 2017, Brittany Korn

Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth

Winfeld and her husband Matthew Winfeld

as a Resident Assistant at their Bay Area,

welcomed their second son, Brayden Mason

CA site. He worked with 10-12 year olds, planning their afternoon and weekend activities (when they weren’t in class) and

Winfeld. They also just purchased their first house in Lititz, PA.

served as their RA in the evenings. He is hoping to use this experience to get a volunteer position at one of the children’s hospitals in New York when he returns to NYU in the fall. J.R. plans to pursue pediatric medicine in the future.

Matt Angle is in his junior year majoring in economics at George Washington University and loves living in Washington D.C. This summer, he enjoyed interning

at a wealth management firm and was the youngest student involved in a GWU program to help Asian PhD scholars

Carol Wright published the 8th issue of her online magazine, NYOTA, including a beautiful cover story on Disney star Skai Jackson. Carol photographed Skai in Los Angeles at the professional studio of Jeff Vespa ’88. “Meeting and working with Jeff was unreal,” she told us. “First of all he’s so kind, and down to earth. You would never guess that he has shot every celebrity you could think of. Every day in California felt like I was walking through a dream.”

Faculty Tim Gallen In June, Director of College Counseling Tim Gallen began his term as President of the Pennsylvania Association for College Admission Counseling, which has 1,150 members. He was elected for the position in the summer of 2016.

*Read more about this alum on Solebury.org’s homepage as part of our “Success After Solebury” series.

36

The Magazine

Summer / Fall 2017

Renée LaPorte, Renée LaPorte, Director of Alumni Relations

Obituaries

and Gift Planning, recently placed 3rd in

Cyrus Hamlin ’36

her age division for in the Bucks County 5k

Cyrus Hamlin ’36, 98 years old, passed away peacefully on March 17, 2017, after a brief decline.

He was born July 14, 1918, to Charlotte (Verlage) and Marston Lovell Hamlin in Orange, NJ. Cy developed a lifelong love affair with marine matters, nurtured by his father’s love of sailing and Cy’s experience in the BSA Sea Scouts program.

Series. There are seven races in series, which goes from March through May. Renée has been running for only two years.

Army cartographer serving in the Philippines.

Following the war, Cy was awarded a graduate

Masukawa ’49, lives in Montgomery, OH.

as a draftsman in New York until 1939, when he moved to Southwest Harbor, where he was employed by Hinckley Yachts and Southwest Boat Corporation designing pleasure and commercial vessels. He also supervised the construction of early yawls for the U.S. Naval Academy. During World War II, Cy was a U.S. English teacher Sarah Sargent and family welcomed an adorable baby girl on

fellowship at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, NJ. There, he met his wife, Jean Barklie, and they returned to Southwest

April 10, 2017, named

Harbor in 1949 to work and start a family.

Katherine (Kat)

He is survived by his second wife Mary

Hazel May. Sarah

Jane Hamlin, three children, and several

returned to Solebury

grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

School as head of the English department this fall.

Tom and Rebecca Wilschutz As they frequently do, Tom and Rebecca Wilschutz hosted several alumni for dinner this spring. Shown, from left: Danny Paulson ‘12, Milo Luciano ‘15, Rebecca, friend Timera Brooks , and Justin Berger ‘16.

George Kennedy ’42 George F. Kennedy was born in Paris, France on July 10, 1924, and died on July 16, 2017 in Fort Worth, TX. After he graduated from Solebury, he immediately joined the U.S. Army and boarded a train in Trenton to serve in Belgium, France, and Germany in WWII with the 30th Infantry Division. After returning to the States, he graduated from the University of South Carolina to a career in insurance, but never left the service. George served various state National Guards and obtained the rank of General. His survivors include Betty Walker Kennedy (wife), and children from a previous marriage to Patricia Hoile Kennedy: Olivia Yvonne, of Fort Worth; George F. Kennedy, Jr. of Lexington, SC; John R. Kennedy, 3rd of Hamilton County, NJ; a grandson; and a great-grandson. His sister, Noëlle Kennedy

A self-taught naval architect, Cy was employed

Sarah Sargent

experiences took place again in the Philippines where he was assigned to intelligence gathering during the Korean Conflict. He remained in the U.S. Air Force until 1967.

Walter Hines Winternitz ’41 Walter Hines Winternitz ’41 died Saturday, June 27, 2015, at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, MA. He was born November 5, 1922, in Boston. His parents Sibyl (Bingham) and Robert Winternitz moved to Nutley, NJ, when Walter was five. He spent much of his childhood in Nutley, attending public school until his parents moved to an apartment in Greenwich Village. He spent his high school years at Solebury School.

In the fall of 1941, Walter began to attend Harvard, but his studies were interrupted when he was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he served in the Philippines. At the end of the war, Walter returned to complete his undergraduate education at Harvard University, where he decided to enroll in R.O.T.C. program. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army, but soon chose to enter the U.S. Air Force. His most notable

Brooke (Detweiler) Peoples ’53 Brooke (Detweiler) Peoples ’53 passed away on December 24, 2016, at the Assisi Health Care Center of Clare Oaks in Bartlett, IL. She was born on May 20, 1935, in New York City to Frank and Joan Detweiler and attended school in New Rochelle, NY, and Plainfield, NJ. In 1953, she graduated from Solebury School. She studied painting and design at Carnegie Mellon University and The Art Students League of New York.

She married John Peoples, Jr. in 1955.

They lived in Baltimore and New York City before moving to Geneva, IL, in 1973, when John joined the Fermilab scientific staff. In 1999 they moved to Wayne, IL, where she continued to pursue some of her favorite activities: painting, tending gardens, and hiking with her family and dogs.

Hannah Steuart Dinkel ’60 Hannah Steuart Dinkel ’60, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her family after a long and courageous battle with breast cancer. After Solebury, Hanna graduated from The University of Colorado Boulder with a B.A. in history and English.

She received her master’s degree from Long Island University School of Education.

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Bellmawr, NJ Permit No. 280

6832 Phillips Mill Road New Hope, PA 18938-9682 Address service requested

Save The Date

Admissions Open House..................................... October 22 Agatha Christie’s The Hollow Production.........November 2-5 Fall Concert.....................................................November 10 Young Alumni Day............................................... January 10 For all events, please visit solebury.org.