Academy Magazine - Summer 2015

ACADE M Y

NORFOLK ACADEMY MAGAZINE

inside From the Classroom HANDS-ON PROBLEM SOLVING CATAPALOOZA! CHESAPEAKE BAY DAY SPACE: FINAL FRONTIER From the Archives SCIENCE AT NORFOLK ACADEMY Global Perspectives WHERE SCIENCE AND ART INTERSECT

SUMMER 2015

ACADEMY

table of [ C O N T E N T S ]

NOR FOL K ACADEMY M A G A Z IN E

SUMMER 2015 HEADMASTER

Dennis G. Manning

CHAPEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

(2)

— Sports, Epics, and the Greatest of Expectations DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Esther M. Diskin

STUDIO & STAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

(4)

— Playing Well with Others ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Kathy Finney

110

(6)

THE SAVAGE CHRONICLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1100

(12)

FROM THE CENTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

— Perspectives from the Fellows EDITOR

Betsy Wardell Guzik ’89

— Six Degrees of Bulldogs EDITORIAL BOARD

Ruth Payne Acra ’86 Karen Del Vecchio ’05 Ron Newman David Rezelman Toy Savage Aubrey Shinofield Gigi Cooke Tysinger ’87 Sean Wetmore ’86

FROM THE CLASSROOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1110

STUDENT EDITORS

IN THE GAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11000 (24)

Ben Klebanoff ’15 Banning Stiffler ’15 Deni Budman ’16 Cross Birdsong ’18 Patrick McElroy ’19 Sarah Yue ’19 Nosa Lawani ’20 Audrey Neumann ’20

— LAX for Love — Coach Spotlight: Mary “Werky” Werkheiser

PHOTOGRAPHY

LIVES OF CONSEQUENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11110 (30)

Stephanie Oberlander Woody Poole Alumni and Staff submissions

— Engineering a Bright Future: Lauren Simone ’06

(14)

— Hands-on Problem Solving — Catapalooza!

— Norfolk Academy Dives into Chesapeake Bay Day — Space: Final Frontier, Teaching Tool GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10110 (22)

— Where Art and Science Intersect… Italy!

FROM THE ARCHIVES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11010 (26)

— Science at Norfolk Academy PAW PRINTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11100 (28)

— Meet the Eco-Zoo

ALUMNI HIGHLIGHTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100000 (32)

— Alumni Gatherings and Reunions DESIGN

Cheney & Company: Andrea Hopkins & Beth Lyons

CLASS NOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101000 (40)

— Class Notes — In Memoriam Visit norfolkacademy.org for the latest school news, sports scores, and galleries of recent photos.

You will also find direct links to all of our social networking communities.

Norfolk Academy does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion, color, or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, employment policies, scholarship and loan programs, athletics, or other schooladministered programs.

On the cover: First grader Brody Stuart uses a magnifying glass to examine the larva of a Painted Lady butterfly. Photo by JonesFoto.

from the [ H E A D M A S T E R ]

Looking for a page in the magazine?

If you are completely confused about the numbering system on our pages, look no further.

The string of ones and zeroes that you see in the corners of this magazine takes the place of the normal base-10 numerals you are accustomed to. These are binary numbers. A binary number is the representation of a numeric value using the powers of 2.

Normally, we use the numbers 0–9 instead of just 0 and 1. A computer uses the binary system because of its simplicity, breaking down information into the smallest possible units. It is most efficient to store information as 0s and 1s in the computer’s circuitry.

So, how, exactly, do you read binary? First, you need to calculate the number from right to left. The number in the place farthest to the right represents 20 (that’s 1). Add that to the calculation for the next digit.

The next digit to the left represents 21 (or 2), followed by 22 (4). The exponents count up as you would expect (0 through 8, 9, 10, etc.).

For example, let’s take the binary number 101. If we read this from right to left we get 20, we ignore 21 because there is a 0 in that place, we then include 22 because there is a 1 there.

We then add the numbers together 20 + 22 = 5. I hope this short explanation was helpful!

Enjoy the rest of the magazine.

Luke Morina ’16

SUMMER 2015

School’s out for the summer?

NOT A CHANCE!

In fact, we accelerated into the summer—a season of learning, renewal, and renovation.

Mere days after school ended in June, bulldozers and dump trucks began work Dennis G. Manning on the transformation of our front field. By August, we will be the first school in the region with a stateof-the-art synthetic turf field for Field Hockey and Girls Lacrosse. An attractive new brick wall and fence system to enhance safety and security, as well as a new entrance, will soon follow.

Construction projects were just the beginning of our summer whirlwind. Norfolk Academy Summer Programs rolled full steam ahead. Classrooms in the Lower School erupted in excitement, as campers constructed art and engineering projects, or dumped their backpacks and headed for the gyms, fields, and pool. As always, many of those camps were created and led by Norfolk Academy teachers with Upper School students serving as camp counselors and lifeguards.

The Middle School hummed with the industry of the Breakthrough program, as talented students from Norfolk’s public schools arrived for six weeks of academic enrichment— all of it free but supported by generous donors to the Academy. College students from around the country and Norfolk Academy Upper School students served as teachers in the program, which is led by English teacher Ari Zito (see his essay on page 2). Norfolk Academy faculty supported Breakthrough by serving as mentors to the young teachers, showing them how to write lesson plans that kept students alert, even on hot summer days.

During the early summer, faculty members led enrichment trips for Norfolk Academy students to countries around the globe: Haiti (Global Health Fellows); the Dominican Republic (Outreach 360); Germany (our 43rd consecutive year of the German Exchange); Southern Italy and Sicily (a brandnew trip for rising 9th graders to explore the foundations of the modern world through study of ancient sites), and China (the third year of our exchange as part of the World’s Leading Schools Association). Our first cohort of Engineering, Design, and Innovation Fellows visited Washington, D.C., and New York, including the Cooper Union Invention Factory.

The summer wrapped up with more faculty-led trips, including a leadership training venture in Washington, D.C., a camping-andkayaking expedition to explore the Chesapeake Bay, a trip to New York (Literacy Fellows), and a trip to Estonia, Russia, and Finland(International Relations Fellows).

Back on campus, teachers held meetings as part of our SUMMIT initiative, which spurs innovation and cross-curricular collaboration to strengthen our school-year academic program.

Teacher-coaches offered optional team practices, helping student athletes stay in peak condition, ready for the fall season.

There’s no off-season for our faculty, and this issue of the magazine captures a bit of their ceaseless activity.

I hope you enjoy the energy and dynamism in this issue of the Academy magazine. In fact, I think it may be the perfect read for a relaxing afternoon, under the beach umbrella or in the shade of the porch. I hope, too, it reminds you of the unusual quality and uncommon commitment of the men and women who serve our children. ◆

(1) 1

[ CHAPEL ]

Sports, Epics, and the Greatest of Expectations

BY ARI ZITO

FOR A COMPETITOR, it’s hard to top the feeling of beating an opponent who is supposed to be better than you. There’s probably only one type of triumph greater than the underdog victory and that’s what we call “redemption.” In sports, redemption means either avenging a previous loss to the same opponent or succeeding at a high level where you had previously come up short. Redemption is the theme of the film Rocky; it’s also the theme of all the lesser sequels that followed. But with respect to the first one, which is a classic for a reason, Rocky is the people’s champion because he failed for so long, barely getting enough fights to continue his sputtering career and eventually having his locker given away to a younger and hungrier fighter. All that slogging through the muck makes his shot at redemption that much more compelling and sweet. He is revered even in defeat because he is able to go the distance with the world champ.

Now, even though Philadelphians sometimes choose to ignore this fact, Rocky is a fictional character. The problem in the real world is that championship opportunities come along so rarely that when a competitor or a team has a chance to win it all and comes up just short, odds are they will not be back anytime soon—and if it’s a team sport, in all likelihood they’ll be a completely different team by that point. Pro teams, with the exception of the San Antonio Spurs, tend to change personnel dramatically year to year.

Elite college teams, especially in men’s basketball, are constantly losing players to the pros (Exhibit A would be Kentucky this year, a drastically different team than the one that lost in last year’s championship game). Perhaps the best opportunities for athletic redemption come in individual sports like tennis. After years of being overshadowed by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, as those two legends racked up major after major, Novak Djokovic finally rose to the top of the tennis world in 2011 with three Grand Slam titles and a record of 70 wins to only six losses. That year was hailed as perhaps the greatest year of tennis ever played on the men’s side, and since then Djokovic has sustained his excellence and cemented his legacy as one of the all-time greats.

Sports in our society fulfill a desire that we have had since ancient times: to see humans strive and excel in a

10 (2)

physical quest that calls for courage, determination, and performance under pressure. In the world’s oldest existing written story (at least that I know of), the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, the title character achieves fame for slaying a ferocious monster that no mortal has ever had the courage to challenge. What motivates the king is a powerful desire to be revered as a kind of god on earth, to become a living legend.

Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, and the French epic The Song of Roland all deal with earning glory through heroic deeds and thereby securing the admiration and respect of a society for generations to come. The word “glory”—found frequently in these famous poems— means honorable fame. In other words, what motivates these heroes is the need for others to admire them and tell their story as an example of what human beings are capable of.

The ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius offers a very different perspective on the topic of glory. In The Analects, Confucius is reported to have said the following: It is not the failure of others to appreciate your abilities that should trouble you, but rather your own lack of them.

In the words of the comedian Kenan Thompson, (precede with head twirl and then “snap it shut”) “Whaaat?”

Confucius is telling me that the problem is... me? Yes, Confucius is teaching his students not to worry about earning respect or admiration (and certainly not glory) but to focus instead on their lack of abilities, what we might call weaknesses. On the one hand, Confucius is teaching humility, reminding us of how flawed we are. But, on the other hand, he is not merely calling us flawed; he is exhorting us to be troubled by these character flaws so we will feel compelled to improve ourselves.

With the emergence of the novel as a popular literary form in the 19th century, the protagonist is no longer a king or warrior, but a normal person, and the quest is no longer a physical one, but an internal struggle to recognize one’s own deficiencies, often through heartbreak, and to find redemption through self-improvement. In Great Expectations, a novel our 9th graders read every year, the main character, Pip, remains tormented by his own conduct toward those closest to him until at last he openly admits his mistakes

ACADEMY

and commits to making amends. An aspiring gentleman, Pip learns life’s most important lessons about generosity and duty from two uneducated, lower-class father figures who inspire him to find peace within himself. Pip’s is a personal redemption and it is also a spiritual redemption in the sense that he rejects material wealth in favor of a simpler existence of making himself a valuable part of others’ lives rather than trying to impress those who don’t really care about him. Pip finds redemption in validating his worth not as a “gentleman” (or an athlete or warrior) but as a human being. He takes stock of himself, doesn’t like what he sees, and finally, after years of focusing his attention elsewhere, has the courage to act on it.

When I was in school, most of my battles pitted me against clear external challenges with public outcomes and opportunities to win admiration. Do well in school, excel on the court or playing field, build a shining resume, gain admission to a good college. Maybe this sounds familiar.

I had a classmate in college named Nico, who as it turned out, refused to play by those rules. I discovered this one day in a French language class we were taking during our semester in France. An instructor at the Alliance Française in Bordeaux tried to motivate Nico to be more demanding of himself by saying that another student had spoken more correctly. “Je ne savais pas que c’était un concours” (“I didn’t realize this was a competition”) was his response, leaving the teacher speechless. His priorities had nothing to do with winning other people’s respect. It was a totally different approach for me and I respected it immediately.

I’ll tell you another story. I grew up around UConn basketball. One of the great players of the 1980s at Connecticut was Phil Gamble, a tall, lanky swingman with a smooth jump shot. Gamble was also a student in the School of Education. He did his undergraduate student teaching at the Child Development Labs on campus, where I was in preschool and kindergarten. Phil Gamble was a giant among children. He would lift us up one at a time with his enormous hands, set us on top of his shoulders, walk around the playground and allow us to survey our kingdom from on high, and then set us down gently on solid ground. In 1988 Gamble led the Huskies to the NIT Championship, beginning a golden era of basketball in the state of Connecticut.

After his overseas pro career ended years later, Gamble sent his former coach Jim Calhoun a letter expressing sadness for the end of his career. He wrote, “The ball has stopped bouncing and the clapping has stopped.” The glory days were gone and he was feeling forgotten and adrift. Coach Calhoun encouraged him to come home immediately and put his education to use. Fortunately, Gamble would find his way by working with children again, helping low-income

SUMMER 2015

families, teaching, and coaching basketball in Washington, D.C., making a difference in a quieter, less glorified way.

Even King Gilgamesh from the Sumerian epic must set his sights inward to find redemption. He returns to the great walled city of Uruk, having learned the devastating news that he cannot be made immortal like the bloodless gods.

Like his brother before him, he must one day die. Worse yet, though his citizens revere him for his conquests, they fear him for his temper and resent him for abusing his power and taking unjustly from them. The king finally recognizes that he must get his own house in order, so to speak, if he wants to find happiness in this life—and he does finally become a good and just ruler.

The clapping always stops eventually; the name is spoken less and less until it is no longer spoken at all; this year’s NCAA basketball champion will be next year’s old news. What remains is the normal person who leads a quiet life beyond the view and attention span of the general public. He or she has real relationships with real people.

Naomi Shihab Nye, renowned poet and 2010 visiting author at Norfolk Academy, wrote a poem called “Famous” that takes the notion of fame and turns it on its head. Nye ends with two stanzas that express a desire to be important to just one person at a time, simply by extending herself to them as a friend and fellow human being. She writes: I want to be famous to shuffling men who smile while crossing streets, sticky children in grocery lines, famous as the one who smiled back.

I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous, or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular, but because it never forgot what it could do.

The poem suggests a realization that the fame, adoration and glory people seek should not be the basis for a fulfilling life. Redemption happens on a local level—not local like the sweet potatoes in the refectory, but even more local—within your own conscience. There’s a reason why in his “Redemption Song,” Bob Marley sings “none but ourselves can free our mind.” Sooner or later, we recognize that there is only one person who knows how to unlock the gates of redemption and walk in the garden of humanity’s finest qualities, among persistence and courage, compassion and generosity—and that’s the same person who’s been banging at the wrong gate for heaven knows how long. ◆ Ari Zito teaches English in the Middle School and is Assistant Coach for Varsity Boys Basketball. Mr. Zito is also the Director of the Breakthrough at Norfolk Academy program.

(3) 11

&

STUDIO

stage

Playing Well with Others Chamber Music as a Teaching Tool

BY JEFF DANIELSON

enjoying music has been a common trait shared by all cultures. From folk music celebrating or marking important events to extremely sophisticated creations in sound called art music, people have always enjoyed organized sound (music). Having the skill to actually perform music is even better. Being able to perform with others is a treasure for life.

THROUGHOUT HUMAN HISTORY,

Performance is exhibited many ways in an educational setting. Students perform when they take tests, give speeches, do things on a stage, and make plays during an athletic event. They learn, study, practice, rehearse, and then perform.

As in the world of sports where people form groups and learn to hone skills, work, sweat, and learn together, musicians also band together and go through the same processes. In both instances a coach or conductor is involved to help develop skills, monitor the rate of learning, and manage the “classroom.” The process is often more important than the result.

Although they may be audible, coaches are not on the field during the game.

A large musical group will, however, require a coach or, as they are called in the music business, a conductor. There are too many musicians too far apart from each other to keep the organized sound organized. Imagine a musical theater production, opera, or ballet with performers on stage and in a pit synchronizing without the “traffic cop” keeping it together by keeping time and pointing cues! Also important, when working in a school setting, is the simple fact that adult supervision is necessary. Clearly, a conductor/teacher is an important part of any music program.

Yet, the ultimate goal in teaching is for the student not to need the teacher!

Competent independence and autonomy are what all teachers (and parents for that matter) strive for. Indeed, anyone having spent time with adolescents and pre-teens knows just how strong their impulse for independence and autonomy can be. This impulse is a natural one as well and should be encouraged.

100 (4)

ACADEMY

Is it possible to teach teamwork, responsibility, empathy, not to mention a vast array of discipline-specific skills, while honoring this natural impulse for autonomy?

Yes, classroom teachers have increasingly been taking advantage of this impulse by forming project-based groups of students that work apart from the teacher. Working in a group or collaborating is now viewed as an essential 21st century skill. While the teacher makes the decisions about the goals, parameters, and time lines of the project, it is the group of students by themselves who must work through the issues of completing the assignment. Music teachers know this idea succeeds spectacularly through the medium of chamber music.

Chamber music is any small group of players or singers that practice and perform without a conductor. In a school setting, a chamber music coach forms the groups based on skill level and experience, assigns or approves the piece to be studied and performed, and then steps back. The coach will monitor progress and make suggestions based on need. (In a small singing group, a cappella or otherwise, where some students might not be able to read the written language of music, more teacher intervention will be necessary. Therefore, an a cappella group might not be as independent as they want!)

Students like chamber music because: • • • • •

It’s FUN. Each person is a soloist (one person to a part, e.g., one 1st flute, one 2nd flute, and one 3rd flute = a flute trio. One violin, one viola, one cello = a string trio).

Students work together by themselves with only occasional teacher direction.

There is potential for more performances throughout the school—think “elite special forces” of musicians playing at parent lunches, awards ceremonies, etc.

It’s FUN.

Teachers (this one, anyway) like chamber music because: • • • • • •

It gives advanced students a great way to stand out. In groups formed by division level rather than skill level or ability, it helps diversify instruction.

It is one of the best ways to teach listening skills.

It develops strong time-keeping skills.

It fosters responsibility and independence.

It can create variety during concerts.

Chamber musicians make their band, chorus, or orchestra stronger—in a small school, chamber groups and a cappella groups need to support their bands, choruses, and orchestras; basic skills acquired in the larger group should still support those ensembles.

Norfolk Academy has among its objectives the goal of “providing a broad and varied program in the realms of the academic, the artistic, and the athletic so that all students may have maximum opportunities for personal success” as well as seeking to “challenge and stimulate talented students by providing opportunities for independent study and individualized programs.” Equally important is the goal, found in the Fine Arts mission statement, of creating lifelong learners. Providing our advanced musicians in band, chorus, and orchestra additional learning and performing opportunities through chamber music does just this. And it’s good clean fun! ◆ Jeff Danielson is the Director of the Lower School Orchestra, teaches private lessons, grade level string classes in the Lower School, and coaches chamber music in the Middle and Upper Schools.

Mr. Danielson succeeds Ron Newman as the school’s newly appointed Director of Fine Arts.

SUMMER 2015

(5) 101

from the [ C E N T E R ]

Engineering, Design, and Innovation Fellows

ENGINEERS WANTED! We are pleased to announce the launch of the EDI (Engineering, Design, and Innovation) Fellows program, the fifth Fellows program offered through Norfolk Academy’s Center for Civic and Global Leadership.

The Engineering, Design, and Innovation Fellows will harness the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math to address complex problems facing communities locally and internationally. Recognizing the potential for engineering and design to promote equity and improve lives, the program seeks to empower students to develop creative responses to critical infrastructure challenges. Through empathy-driven design challenges, case study analysis, local partnerships, and peer and professional collaboration, Fellows will develop leadership, project management, and research skills as they design and implement human-centered solutions that support individuals and improve communities.

Ms. Erika Newland, who is a 6th grade faculty member and served as an Assistant Director for the Chesapeake Bay Fellows program 2014–2015, directs the EDI Fellows program.

110 (6)

ACADEMY

Chesapeake Bay Fellows

The Chesapeake Bay: Beauty Worth Cherishing WILSON FORD ’15

“There is a certain virtue in cherishing beauty and also a certain vice in defiling it.”

THERE IS SOMETHING INHERENTLY BEAUTIFUL

about the sunset over a marsh. However, with the advent of modern comforts such as air conditioning, iPads, and screened porches, it seems far more enticing nowadays to enjoy all that nature has to offer from a safe distance, watching through a screen. But experiencing nature through a surrogate device in the comfort of your own home is about as real to the genuine experience of nature as watching the Super Bowl on your home television is from a sideline VIP pass to the Big Game. The two cannot compare.

There is a common thought process that has become contagious in modern society: Yes, the environment should be cared for, but we should focus on fixing all of our other social and political problems first. We put environmental action indefinitely aside until the glorious day when we shall have solved all the rest of society’s problems. Then we will have time to care for the environment. This idealistic reality will likely never come.

It is time that we started taking a proactive approach to caring about our earth. If the current environmental trend continues, we shall have an Australia without a Great Barrier Reef, a Patagonia without glaciers, and a Virginia without a Chesapeake Bay. This future sounds bleak, but the science points alarmingly to its reality. If we, as a society, do not start making a concerted effort to preserve our natural world, we shall be left in a desolate reality where grandfathers cannot take grandsons fishing.

The Chesapeake Bay is our local environmental sanctuary, our beacon of environmental hope. If our local community can care enough to save the Chesapeake Bay, then we

SUMMER 2015

can show the world that the environment can be saved and that it is worth saving.

Four years ago I began a journey as a Chesapeake Bay Fellow. At first, my thought process resonated with the one I mentioned above. I appreciated the environment, but it was far from the top of my list of immediate societal ills. Yet after four years of revealing itself to me, the Chesapeake Bay has reordered my priorities.

The Chesapeake Bay is worth saving. Economic studies point to monetary benefits. We also have a moral obligation to the next generation. But perhaps most important, we should save the Bay because it’s beautiful. It is beautiful to every family that has ever had a picnic on the shores of Seashore State Park. It is beautiful to every little boy who has ever reeled in a fish at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. It is beautiful to the lucky few who have seen the mighty osprey make a majestic plunge to catch his dinner. There is a certain virtue in cherishing beauty and also a certain vice in defiling it. Everyone can find something beautiful in the Bay; let us keep it that way. ◆

(7) 111

from the [ C E N T E R ]

Literacy Fellows

The Faults of Standardized Testing NOA GREENSPAN ’18

AS THE ACADEMIC YEAR WINDS DOWN

and we prepare for our final exams, the students at Tidewater Park Elementary (TPE) face an exam that they have been preparing for all year: the SOL. SOLs, or Standards of Learning tests, are the examinations put in place at Virginia public schools, and are comparable to other state-regulated tests and the exams that colleges require. What do all of these tests have in common? The answer is the consequences that their results can dictate, including school budget cuts or bonuses, the employment of certain teachers, and students’ futures. Volunteering at TPE this year and watching my brother as he prepared for the SAT and ACT, I have observed how standardized testing can often be disadvantageous to a school and individual members of an educational community.

On Wednesdays the Literacy Fellows hop on a bus and head over to Tidewater Park, where we enjoy working with third graders and assisting teachers in their lessons. Teachers work incredibly hard at TPE. Several times this year I have watched them transform the classroom environment, even going so far as to permanently amalgamate classes to combine teachers’ resources, with the purpose of making the learning experience ultimately more constructive to their students.

They even put together a Poetry Night for the kids, an evening designed to cultivate original thought and present reading and writing in a way that students respond to. Unfortunately, state-regulated testing can end up hindering their endeavors by using students’ scores to either increase or cut the budget of a school.

For example, low SOL scores afforded TPE extra funding one year, which teachers used to design interactive science labs.

As a result, the students performed dramatically better on the next test and so TPE had its budget cut, lowering the school’s educational benefits once again. Dr. Kidd, Literacy Fellow co-director and TPE volunteer, comments that “the teachers can be victims of their own success—they can improve test scores only to see their funding reduced because of it.” This

1000 (8)

negative feedback loop is neither beneficial to the students nor to the actual purpose of the tests, which is to improve educational standards.

Standardized tests are also associated with inordinate amounts of pressure placed on individual teachers. For stateregulated exams like the SOL, educators must teach a certain amount of material in a small time period, usually around six months. These tests are the same throughout an entire region, therefore providing no exceptions to schools’ various situations that may prevent teachers from covering all the required material. The author of a TeachHub.com article states, “These standardized tests put unneeded pressure on a teacher to have her class score well without giving consideration to the various reading levels, behavioral challenges, learning disabilities, or time constraints that make up a classroom. It is also unfortunate that administrators use the results of the test as an indicator of the teacher’s ability to teach… Has the pressure [of these tests] gotten so bad that teachers are risking their careers to save their careers?”

By “risking their careers,” the author refers to the public school teachers in Atlanta, Georgia, the majority of whom cheated on state-regulated tests so they would not be fired if their students failed. While I have faith that most teachers would never, under any circumstances, doctor their students’ scores, this particular case in Atlanta is a testament to the excessive pressure put on educators to have their students pass standardized exams.

Though tests like the SOL are designed for public schools, we at Norfolk Academy are certainly not immune to the stress of standardized exams. On the contrary, it sometimes feels like our entire futures ride on our performance on tests like the SAT. My brother Daniel, a junior, recently took the SAT and ACT. It served as a personal wake-up call for me as I realized just how much pressure I would be under when taking the tests in two years.

Tests like the SAT, SOL, and others can dramatically affect an educational institution and its individual members.

Perhaps it is time to examine standardized tests and realize that the consequences associated with them, like budget cuts and a restricted curriculum, are, more often than not, negative. ◆

ACADEMY

from the [ C E N T E R ]

International Relations Fellows

Coming to Terms with One’s Past MILA COLIZZA ’18

MANY PEOPLE, SOCIETIES, AND COUNTRIES refuse to acknowledge past mistakes. No one wants to accept the fault or the blame for something horrendous. This is exactly what is occurring in Japan, especially at such an awkward stage post–World War II. Japan’s current foreign policies are constructed with too little regard for the painful scars they have left on surrounding countries. Their history books gloss over information that might tarnish the Japanese veneer. The root of the problem comes down to basic human nature and Japanese culture. They uphold a mentality that teaching history in all its harshest details will not change their youth’s opinions or their country’s future and will only serve to distress and overburden their citizens. However, denial and refusal are not healthy alternatives. In fact, Japan’s course of action has set them up for much more strife than is necessary.

As historical misdeeds go, Japan has much to make up for when it comes to the early- to mid-20th century. That is not to say that no other country has ever committed comparable wrongful acts (e.g., the United States and its history with slavery), but the Japanese military committed more than its fair share during this period. To this day Japan has done too little to make reparations. Beginning at the end of the 19th century, Japan involved itself in wars against China and colonized Korea, committing many atrocities throughout. On March 1, 1919, Koreans began a movement against Japanese imperialism in Korea, and Japan responded vigorously and squashed the demonstrations. Yet, even as Korea commemorates this event, Japan obliterates it from its school curriculum.

In December 1937, Japan attacked the Chinese city of Nanjing with a cruel and heinous ferocity, displaying no mercy. The people of China still feel the echoes of pain and resentment from this atrocity, but Japanese history textbooks often only vaguely acknowledge the Nanjing Massacre. It may be part of Japanese culture to minimize the mistakes of the past, but doing so impedes Japan’s present-day relations with other countries. This spring the United States has been pushing for Seoul to seek extra defense measures through pacts with Japan,

SUMMER 2015

but South Korea is hesitant to cooperate with Japan due to “historical reasons.” Similarly, Japan and China are once again stuck at a stalemate over the Senkaku / Diaoyu Islands (the two sides cannot even agree upon their name). Once again, the stalemate is due in part to “historical reasons.” Today a new age dawns of development, technology, and global interdependence. These old grudges between Japan and its neighbors will continue to have disturbing consequences as long as they remain not properly addressed.

The biggest threat of this kind globally, however, is that other countries may follow Japan’s path. Germany, despite the similar historical circumstances it shares with Japan, reacted after the war in a very different manner and serves as a model of acceptance. Its school system stresses the Holocaust, hoping to encourage a full understanding of the matter as well as an acknowledgement of the Second World War and its role in German history.

Today Germany is fully capable of interacting well with its surrounding nations and the world. Instead of minimizing its mistakes, Germany has learned from them. Japan must make every effort to follow Germany’s lead and educate its citizens properly. In May 2015, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe personally expressed his “deep remorse” to the United States Congress over Japan’s aggressive actions in the 1930s and 1940s. Although this has by no means satisfied all of Japan’s critics, it is a hopeful sign that Japanese relations with other East Asian countries may improve in the near future. ◆

(9) 1001

Global Health Fellows

When Money Isn’t Enough Applying the lessons of Haiti to the disaster in Nepal GRAHAM BARBOUR ’17 IN THE WAKE OF THE RECENT NEPALESE EARTHQUAKE, first responders have been scrambling to make headway in the daunting task of finding the victims and rebuilding. The response to this disaster has been impressive, with funds and supplies flowing into Nepal constantly since the quake struck on April 25 and the major aftershock on May 12. Nevertheless, the $22 million raised globally still lags far behind the estimated $415 million needed to rebuild the country. The Norfolk Academy community is doing its part by selling baked goods but money is not enough.

Nepal can learn from Haiti’s experience following its devastating earthquake in 2010 and the ensuing disaster relief.

In Haiti, only 1% of the $3.6 billion in donations went to the government, which was a major problem. The government is a vital part of any resurgence effort, because it is able to continue reconstruction work long after the international aid disappears.

Unfortunately, as in Haiti, there has been significant opposition to giving money to the Nepalese government due to concerns about misuse and corruption. The magnitude 7.8 earthquake that killed more than 8,000 people and injured thousands more has set Nepal’s growth back by at least 50 years, according to some estimates. If we are to catalyze Nepal’s recovery, we must put fears of governmental corruption aside and help scaffold the public sector.

Having said that, Nepal’s response to the influx of supplies has been underwhelming. The main port of entry

1010 (10)

for these goods is a small airport, ill-equipped for the massive amount of aid coming in. Furthermore, Nepalese officials have done little to expedite the relief process, insisting on customs inspections of all incoming goods. Ironically, the country may also be hampered by a situation that would logically be a distinct advantage: even before the earthquake, Nepal was full of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) doing aid work. In fact, Nepal is often called an “NGOdom,” with an astonishing 5,000 NGOs operating in the country. Similarly, Haiti has been coined “The Republic of NGOs” with estimates nearing 10,000 operating in-country. While NGOs can be extremely useful for rapid disaster recovery, the high number of aid organizations also increases the risk of a “fundraising arms race” in which organizations race to capture the public’s attention, rather than spending time and money on the rebuilding effort. There also needs to be a unifying collaboration mechanism in place on the ground to make sure efforts are conducted in the most efficient way possible.

In recent years, the Global Health Fellows have been working on community health projects in an impoverished rural village in the Central Plateau region of Haiti, and there is much that we can learn from the relief efforts in Nepal.

First, funding needs to have direction and purpose; simply throwing money at a problem will not solve it. We must evaluate the needs of the community to learn how to use funds most effectively and with an eye toward sustainability; otherwise, it will be wasted on inadequate short-term solutions.

Second, teamwork and collaboration are key. Partnering with other organizations will dramatically increase the reach and effectiveness of our work. Trying to work independently is futile due to our small size. Working together is the only option, just as in Nepal.

With so many lessons learned in the aftermath of the Haiti 2010 earthquake, we are hopeful that Nepal will be able to build back better, with private-public partnerships and a coordinated effort taking the forefront of the disaster relief agenda. ◆

ACADEMY

You make the difference!

The Academy Fund, formerly Annual Giving, is the school’s top fundraising priority. When you give to The Academy Fund, you strengthen the students, faculty, and programs that distinguish the school.

You may direct your gift to an area of interest within the school program: Area of Greatest Need

Fine Arts

Athletics

Green Initiatives

Breakthrough

International Programs

Community Service

Student Leadership Programs

Faculty Development Financial Aid

Technology and Innovation

Make your gift to Norfolk Academy today! www.norfolkacademy.org/giving

THE

savage

CHRONICLES

Six Degrees of Bulldogs UPON MERGER WITH THE COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL

in 1966, Norfolk Academy’s graduating classes rose to roughly 60 students. Within a few years, it was more like 100, 60 boys and 40 girls. The ratio of girls to boys has evened out, although each class remains between 100 and 120 kids. In the last few years, this number has begun to creep up, but it is accurate to say that, compared to most public schools and many independent schools, Norfolk Academy is not big.

1100 (12)

If my math is correct, that means we have sent somewhere in the neighborhood of 4,800 men and women into the community since we moved to Wesleyan Drive. In a nation of three hundred million, that’s not a lot. This raises an interesting question: Why is it that in the last fifteen years, every single time I travel out of town I run into somebody I have taught or worked with here? It’s actually unbelievable how consistently that happens. But you must believe it. So, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, “to prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.”

• While taking my youngest child to summer camp in the North Carolina mountains in 1999, I run into Catherine Byrd ’01 and Lion McLean ’01 holding hands on the back patio of the Biltmore mansion.

• While fulfilling my dream of seeing a game at Wrigley Field in 2008, I run into Danielle Smith-Llera ’89 laughing and joking with friends.

• While returning from Baltimore on the Amtrak train, there’s Buffy Driskill in line in front of me at the café car. Twenty minutes later I run into Rachel Sachs ’06 working on her laptop.

• While trying to recapture my youth by visiting FAO Schwartz in New York City several years ago, there’s Kareem Muasher ’01 manning the build-a-Muppet station, entertaining wide-eyed little ones. It’s his day job while he pursues his career on Broadway.

• While visiting my daughter in Nashville in 2008, I come down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast and see Mary Teachey, Allison Farley, Sara Straeten, and a couple of other members of the class of ’94 who are there for the wedding of the last member of their friendship circle to get married.

• While outside Oriole Park at Camden Yards this past June, who should I see in the crowd but Matthew van Hoose ’89, who has landed the job as organist for the Washington Nationals. They are out of town, so he is checking out the Orioles’ PA set-up.

ACADEMY

Those of us who work here and graduate from here share a common experience that survives separation… That common experience supplies us with an emotional warehouse. We build up and store away so many memories and so many relationships.

• While touring the Frick Collection in New York City three years ago, I pass a group of professional young women emerging from a conference room off the main courtyard. As my wife and I head down the hall, I hear an excited “Mr. Savage?!?” and turn to face Kate Heckard ’09 skipping toward us and grinning from ear to ear. Seems she’s interning at Sotheby’s and is at the Frick for a seminar.

• And finally, my wife and I are staying in a remote B&B on the isolated Isle of Inishmore off the west coast of Ireland. This place is in the middle of nowhere, folks, three miles from the island’s only town, a tiny little village called Kilronan, which is a 90-minute ferry ride away from the mainland. Who do we miss by one hour? Kim and Andrew Fink ’73, who may even have gotten off the ferry taking us away. If so, we just didn’t notice them, but they did see my signature in the hotel’s register an hour later. Now that’s downright spooky.

It’s not as though I’m visiting places like college campuses where NA folks would logically be. No, this is the Biltmore and Wrigley Field and FAO Schwartz, much less a deserted island with two cafés and a weaver. And these are not Facebook-channeled virtual encounters. Can it be that fate has consigned me always to greet Bulldogs wherever I may go? My wife finds it remarkable and maybe even a little irritating. “I can’t take you anywhere,” she says, shaking her head. I find it downright weird.

Here’s what I do know. It is always a delight to run into these people, wherever they may be. John Tucker, who started teaching at the Academy in 1955, when there were eight upper-school faculty members and eleven seniors, used to refer to our community as a family. In those days, faculty meetings were held literally around Mr. Massey’s dining-room table, while Mrs. Massey provided lemonade and Pepperidge Farm cookies, so “family” was a particularly apt description.

Even when we grew to our present size, Mr. Tucker

SUMMER 2015

clung to the notion of family. That characterization doesn’t work as well in 2015—it’s a little hard to have 1,200 brothers and sisters at the same time, even though Dennis Manning somehow knows the names and faces of every one of us.

But if family doesn’t quite work anymore, being a Bulldog does. Those of us who work here and graduate from here share a common experience that survives separation. Kate Heckard’s smile was real.

That common experience supplies us with an emotional warehouse. We build up and store away so many memories and so many relationships. It is an absolute pleasure and privilege to be able to retrieve them from time to time.

I’m headed out of town for my 40th anniversary this summer. Turns out the hotel we plan to stay in is literally around the corner from Brian Duquette’s home. I give up. ◆ Toy Savage ’71 This piece first appeared in The Savage Chronicles, Toy Savage’s blog, featuring observations and investigations of Norfolk Academy, its rich history, and the many lives it has shaped. Visit thesavagechronicles.org

(13) 1101

from the [ C L A S S R O O M ]

Hands-on Problem Solving

BY JOHN GALLER

WITH THE INTRODUCTION of the new Engineering, Design, and Innovation (EDI) Fellows program, there has been a renewed focus on hands-on problem solving, with the Lower School continuing to expand and improve science and engineering experiences for students in grades 1 through 6. The school year was full of exciting challenges, from division-wide monthly challenges to creations like an equal arm balance made from re-purposed goods and 2nd grade boggle boxes.

One new activity that was introduced this spring was the Monthly Challenge. Each challenge is designed to entertain and educate the entire range of ages and abilities found in the Lower School.

The Envelope Challenge The first monthly challenge was held in February, and the object was to retrieve an envelope hanging from the ceiling in the Atrium. Students were asked to come up with a contraption using available supplies, such as pool noodles, hula-hoops, hangers, tape, meter sticks and other implements. Students formed small groups to develop their plans, and then filled out a proposal sheet on which they detailed their design features. Mrs. Ferguson and Dr. Galler reviewed the design proposals and oversaw building activities in the Atrium. Each group had five minutes to build and then three tries to get down the envelope. Very few groups were successful with their first design, and most took what they learned from their failures to improve their designs and try again. Over the course of the month, over 100 designs were built, and the envelope retrieval success rate increased steadily as students continually improved their designs.

1110  (14)

FAR LEFT: Second

graders work together to complete the February challenge and retrieve the envelope.

LEFT: Each group had

five minutes to build and three tries to retrieve the envelope. Shown here, fourth graders collaborate on their design.

The Maze Challenge May’s challenge was borrowed from the Museum of Mathematics (MoMath) in Manhattan.

While students might not be thrilled by the thought of visiting a math museum, MoMath really is a fascinating and fun addition to any New York City vacation. What looks at first like a simple maze is complicated by the rule that participants can only make right turns inside the maze. Doing the maze in the most efficient manner possible requires linking 14 turns together in the right order. The maze provided opportunities for lower grade levels to work on simple concepts like right versus left, while the older grades in the Lower School discussed planned actions and anticipation. [See answer to maze on page 111100.]

FINISH

START

John Galler, Ph.D., teaches 6th grade science and is helping to design (and test, and design, and test‌) the new Lower School EDI program.

(15)  1111

from the [ C L A S S R O O M ]

Catapalooza!

BY WITT BORUM AND ASHER ROLFE

On April 1 and 2, the Class of 2018 (the 8th grade) participated in Norfolk Academy’s third annual “Catapalooza”—the brain-child of Mr. Asher Rolfe (MS History) and Mr. Witt Borum (MS Math and Science).

CATAPALOOZA WAS A TWO-DAY, HANDS-ON, outside the

classroom, cross-curricular, integrated immersion into the topics of siege warfare and the catapult.

This year’s iteration included two significant shifts in philosophy from the first two years. First, instead of scripting out the activities, times, locations and movements of the 8th grade, the students were put into groups of three and presented with a packet that included a series of challenges that had to be completed over the two-day event. Part of their objective was to plan and schedule how they would spend their time over the two days to complete their tasks. Second, one of the activities, the spoon-a-pult, was layered with significant elements of design iteration to expose the students to one of the main elements of the real world—failure—and more important, improvement from failure.

Catapalooza began with a history presentation about the development and changes in siege warfare through ancient times. Students learned about siege techniques from Mesopotamia that predate the invention of the catapult and

10000 (16)

then saw how the Greeks’ invention of the catapult tipped the power balance to the attacking army in a siege. The presentation featured the Macedonian siege of Tyre and the Roman siege of Jerusalem to tie into the Ancient History curriculum.

After the history presentation, students received their list of challenges. Each student group needed to work together to design and build a miniature catapult, explore vertical motion outside on the baseball fields, investigate the effect of wind on the path of a projectile, predict the distance of the official Royster catapult shot, and author a narration of the group’s work in an English activity that incorporated elements of epic poetry. A large part of their challenge was to solve the puzzle presented by a three-person group, and to decide whether to divide and conquer the tasks among the group members, or to put all of their heads together and tackle one obstacle at a time.

Out on the baseball fields, students explored vertical motion by measuring a projectile’s initial velocity and by recording the time of flight. Each group used the measured

ACADEMY

velocity to calculate the time of flight for the projectile, and subsequent maximum height of the projectile flight. Then, the group used the recorded time of flight to calculate the initial velocity, and then a second maximum height of flight. Having solved both these problems, the students compared their measured values to their calculated values. They then responded to a series of leading questions designed to force them to explore the discrepancies between the measured values and the calculated values and the two different maximum heights obtained from each set of data. Finally, they had to formulate a logical and factual argument regarding which of the two calculated heights was more accurate.

Inside the Athletic Pavilion, students spent hours in a design iteration process to create a miniature catapult, called a spoon-a-pult, that fires a jumbo marshmallow. Students worked with their group members to diagram their first model and have the diagram approved prior to construction. The approval process required the diagram to show the spoon-apult’s materials and be drawn to scale. Lengths of PVC pipe, wooden dowels, myriad sizes of popsicle sticks and rubber bands constituted the building materials along with the single spoon given to each group. After the first iteration of each group’s spoon-a-pult recorded an official firing distance, Ms. Erika Newland and Dr. John Galler gave the 8th graders a presentation on the design iteration process that stressed the need to identify the design objectives, ask questions to stimulate thought, and then build and test the creation. With the design iteration process so clearly detailed, the faculty revealed a new set of challenges for the spoon-a-pults that required students to design for accuracy, firing distance-to-weight ratio, and distance improvement from the first iteration to the last.

The group that won the distance competition by launching the

SUMMER 2015

marshmallow 20.76 meters (68.11 feet) constituted a 110% improvement in firing distance over their first design.

After lunch on the second day, the 8th graders drew on all their learning from the event to predict the landing point of a projectile fired from the torsion catapult constructed by Mr. Borum, Mr. Poole, and Mr. Rolfe. Students used their understanding of projectile motion and the effects of the wind to stake a paper plate into the ground with their group number and their calculations explaining how the group arrived at its prediction. After firing the torsion catapult, the teachers also fired a trebuchet to illustrate the difference between the two.

Throughout the second afternoon, groups were encouraged to seclude themselves away from the action and work on writing their epic poems. This provided the students with an opportunity to begin reflection on their two days of work immediately at the end of the process. By crafting an Odysseystyle epic poem about their experiences at Catapalooza, the students drew on components of their English curriculum; at the same time the activity served to cement the lessons of the two days in their memories.

The final component of the two-day event was a session in Price Auditorium to analyze the results of the catapult and trebuchet shots, announce winners of the spoon-a-pult competitions, and hear recitations of the winning English Odyssey compositions. Three students were selected to read their respective groups’ work, to the applause and great amusement of their peers. This year’s challenge-based iteration of Catapalooza was a compelling demonstration of learning through cross-curricular activities. The students greatly enjoyed the hands-on nature of the two days, and the 8th grade faculty had yet another opportunity to support the students in their learning. ◆ (17) 10001

from the [ C L A S S R O O M ]

Norfolk Academy dives into

Chesapeake Bay Day

BY ESTHER DISKIN

An interpretive dance about the Bay, performed for this year’s All-School Seminar Day

FOUR YEARS AGO, when Alana Davitt ’15 started her journey as a member of

Norfolk Academy’s first Fellows Program, the Chesapeake Bay Fellows, she wrote a song—part environmental advocacy, part folk ballad—called “No More Mermaids.”

The song, about ecological perils to the Chesapeake Bay, eventually sparked a conversation between Alana and another Bay Fellow, Ellie Randolph ’15, as the two were bobbing in life jackets in the Chesapeake Bay on a summer Outward Bound trip. They both recall that moment the same way: “Wouldn’t it be a cool idea to write a children’s book? And make a mermaid the star, so it would be relatable.”

The idea was no mere passing fancy. By their junior year, they had an interactive digital book, No More Mermaids, displayed on iPads at the 2014 Fellows Symposium, with story by Davitt and watercolor pictures by Randolph.

That children’s book provided the impetus for this year’s All-School Seminar Day, which focused on ways to “Save the Bay.” Seminar Day is a Norfolk Academy tradition that places reading, inquiry, and discussion of

10010 (18)

a children’s book at the center of a whirl of educational activity. In past years, the books have been written by award-winning authors and illustrators.

This year, students started the day with a onehour, multiple-grade discussion group using No More Mermaids. The book, available as an iBook download, has been enhanced with audio narration, recorded

by Norfolk Academy teachers and students; the story charts the adventures of Indigo, a mermaid, as she struggles to swim in the polluted Bay waters. She is helped to safety by Alfred, a wise, old sea turtle, voiced

by Upper School physics teacher Charlie Merriam, who retired in 2014.

The digital book features an interactive component: readers can tap on pearls hidden in the illustrations, revealing additional research on the Chesapeake Bay, all of it developed by the six students in the 2015 class of

ACADEMY

A page from the interpretive digital book No More Mermaids by Alana Davitt ’15, illustrated by Ellie Randolph ’15

the Chesapeake Bay Fellows. Those students, with guidance from faculty members, helped plan the Seminar Day activities. In addition to Davitt and Randolph, the 2015 Bay Fellows are Courtney Byler, Wilson Ford, Christopher Hornbuckle, and Chris McElroy.

“We never imagined that we would be doing this,” said Chris Nelson, Norfolk Academy’s faculty director of the Chesapeake Bay Fellows and an ardent environmental advocate. “It is a type of capstone project for them. We didn’t require it, but it grew naturally out of what they are doing.”

After the book discussions, which prompted new questions, students in all divisions fanned out for activities specifically designed to offer learning suited for their developmental ages.

Will Baker, President of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, delivered a wide-ranging keynote speech to Upper School students. He talked about the practical politics of advocating for the Bay’s health in the face of myriad dangers to it, including dead zones, chemical contamination, and the impact of development. “We can do better. We must do better,” he exhorted the students. “And we can start right now on the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the birthplace of our nation.”

Upper School students got more in-depth infor-

SUMMER 2015

We never imagined that we would be doing this… It is a type of capstone project for them. We didn’t require it, but it grew naturally out of what they are doing.

mation in talks and workshops by an array of experts.

Presenters included Ann Swanson, Executive Director of the Chesapeake Bay Commission; Christy Everett, Director of the Hampton Roads office of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation; Tom Horton, a professor at Salisbury University in Maryland and author of several books about the Chesapeake Bay; and Sally Dickinson, Director of Education at the Barrier Islands Center.

Some Upper School students played the researchbased UVA Bay Game, developed by professors at University of Virginia, who came from Charlottesville to run the session. The game is a large-scale, actionpacked simulation, which allows participants to take on the roles of various stakeholders in the Bay watershed, such as farmers, developers, watermen, and policy makers.

(19) 10011

You can forget how closely entwined the worlds of art and advocacy are, … how powerful artistic things can be in making change.

ABOVE (L–R):

The Elbert Watson Dance Company performs for students; Mermaids compete in relay races; Lower Schoolers angle for paper fish.

10100 (20)

In the Lower School, students were engrossed in hands-on activities combining fun and critical thinking: each student visited four different “stations” designed to spur environmental awareness and boost understanding of the Bay. In one classroom, 2nd graders dipped fishing poles into plastic “ponds,” angling for paper fish that they measured and evaluated on a chart; fish deemed too small or those caught “out of season” were tossed back.

Outside near the playground, relay races drew cheers and shrieks of laughter. Boys, dressed as “King Neptune” in scuba fins and a crown, competed against girls, who donned a long fabric mermaid tail. Boys waddled and girls hopped toward a barrel, grabbed two recyclable items, and struggled back to dump the items in a blue recycling bin.

“The tail is like a cloud, soft and puffy,” said Adaline Scott of 1GA, “but it’s hard to move in it!”

Meanwhile, Miles McKenzie of 1A triumphantly shared his technique for moving across the grass in flippers. “I figured out that you can slide in them.”

Students in 4th through 6th grades investigated restaurant menus, trying to decide whether the businesses served sustainable seafood, defined as seafood that is either caught or harvested in ways that consider the long-term vitality of the species. They also watched an abridged version of the documentary, Plastic Paradise: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Many were shocked by the impact of plastic products on wildlife. “I learned that

we should stop pollution, because it is getting in birds’ mouths and killing the birds,” said Luke Denson of 4B. Middle School students watched Watermen, a Barrier Islands Center documentary that explains the history and culture of fishing in the waters of Virginia’s seaside and Chesapeake Bay. While the day emphasized practical action, it also explored artistic expression as a form of powerful advocacy. Students from all three divisions gathered in the Johnson Theater to watch an interpretive dance about the Bay, choreographed and performed by Norfolk Academy’s Dance Master Elbert Watson with a troupe of adult dancers from the region. The dance, performed to dissonant, rhythmic music, against a backdrop of deep blue ocean scenes, conveyed a forceful environmental message without a single word.

After the Upper School dance performance, Alana Davitt came out on a darkened stage to play guitar and sing her original song, “No More Mermaids.”

“You can forget how closely entwined the worlds of art and advocacy are,” observed Ellie Randolph. “You don’t always think of how powerful artistic things can be in making change.” ◆ Esther Diskin, who teaches English in the Upper School, succeeds Betsy Guzik ’89 as Norfolk Academy’s Director of Communications.

ACADEMY

SPACE: Final Frontier, Teaching Tool How Star Trek helps us examine contemporary moral issues

BY RICHARD OBERDORFER

IN ITS FIFTY YEARS OF EXISTENCE, Star Trek has used its entertaining format to reflect on current issues and their future implications. Its creator, Gene Roddenberry, designed a program that permitted the show’s contributors to comment on contemporary problems by using a non-threatening futuristic setting. To get it accepted by NBC’s television network, he pitched it as “wagon train in space,” a kind of “outer-space Western.” People who might be reluctant to watch explicit social commentary would, he hoped, be comfortable watching conflicts in faraway, future locales.

Network watchdogs had second thoughts about Roddenberry’s initial plan to put a woman in a position of authority on a spaceship. They kept a close eye on anything deemed controversial. But—thankfully—they let most of his other ideas get by.

Star Trek’s classroom utility has been recognized for years.

For example, a San Diego State professor offers a course called Star Trek, Culture, and History; and references to Star Fleet are common in some Norfolk Academy courses as well. Want to discuss war crimes? There’s a Star Trek for that, as well as for Romanticism, pre-Columbian religion, ecology, eugenics, and plenty of other subjects, including technology.

Gene Roddenberry was an optimist. He was dead set against picturing the future with a heavy military component.

Breakthroughs in technology would lead to space exploration, not conquest. In addition, he saw that such a future was achievable, since the technology introduced in Star Trek was already in its nascent stages. Dr. McCoy’s diagnostic beds seemed to be fantasy in the 1960s, but they resemble today’s intensive-care units.

Likewise, the communicators carried by ship personnel evolved into cell phones. Only speed faster than light was considered improbable, but without it the Enterprise would spend all its time in transit. They would boldly go but they would be completely incapable of reaching strange new worlds.

Although its later manifestations would veer from Roddenberry’s initial vision in some ways, they have never lost sight of the central point that became the tag line for his first feature film: “The Human Adventure Is Just Beginning.”

Technological predictions were not allowed to become the focus.

In fact, as sequels moved farther into the future, producers found it more and more difficult to gauge where scientific progress would lead humanity. They opted for prequels instead.

It is clear from this that Star Trek is not blindly dedicated to “science.” It has always attempted to delineate the dangers that lie along the current path of progress. Fifty years before drones, for

SUMMER 2015

example, it raised the question of what might happen if technology made wars too “easy” to fight. In an episode entitled “A Taste of Armageddon,” two planets fight their wars with computers.

When one registers a strike, people in the designated area obediently report to be exterminated. The advantage is that no buildings are damaged, and the civilization goes on. This “civilized” arrangement had been going on for so long that both cultures simply accepted it. Captain Kirk destroys one side’s computer system, causing the panicked government to fear its foe might launch a real attack. The solution, states Kirk, is to negotiate an end to the war—so they won’t have to face a genuine bloodbath.

In repeated episodes and films, Star Trek examines artificial life forms. Are they alive? How are they different from humanity? Does humanity possess capabilities beyond those of highly developed computers?

In the first feature film, a Voyager space probe has learned all there is to know in terms of factual data and is returning to Earth to ask its “creator” the Faustian question, “Isn’t there more to life than factual knowledge?” A couple of years before H.A.L.’s breakdown in 2001 : A Space Odyssey, a Star Trek episode examined what might happen to ships run totally by artificial intelligence. The android Data is an example of all that is good about robotics, but “he” has a “twin” brother who is all that is bad.

One of Star Trek’s most recognizable villains is the Borg, a hive-minded culture completely devoid of individuality. Their spacecraft is a cube, completely lacking any aesthetic appeal. They are formidable opponents, with an Achilles heel: they carry out directives and can do little else. Repeatedly, we are warned that technological proficiency requires moral guidance; it becomes Frankenstein’s monster without it.

Using a metaphorical setting, Star Trek asks “If we keep going, where are we headed?” In its various manifestations— six television series and twelve feature films—it has repeatedly employed a “what-if?” approach to make viewers consider where social patterns and scientific trends seem to be leading.

Consequently, it has done what no other entertainment franchise has ever done… or tried to do. It has reminded its viewers to maintain their moral values and at the same time it has made them THINK. ◆ Richard Oberdorfer has taught history in the Upper School since 1976.

He has written two plays and a collection of short stories illustrating central themes in European history. Check out his blog, mr-o-zone.org

(21) 10101

[ G L O B A L ] perspectives

Where Science and Art Intersect … Italy!

BY SARAH CONNOR

As a student, my two favorite classes were always art and science. I felt very much caught between two worlds and worried that I would be forced eventually to choose one path for my career and one for my hobby. With this trip we hoped to reach students like me and show them that saying “yes” to science does not mean saying “no” to other disciplines and, perhaps more important, that even by choosing a so-called “non-science” path, you can never dissociate yourself entirely from the fundamentals of science.

ABOVE: The climb

may be tiring but the view is worth it! The students rest after a hike to San Miniato al Monte over­ looking the city of Florence.

10110 (22)

The concept of the Science and Art in Italy trip originated from a desire to create a multidisciplinary experience where students could learn at the convergence of all of their classes. Our goal was to open as many students’ minds as possible to the wide applicability of what they were learning in science class.

The focus of the trip is to study where disciplines meet at the juncture of art and science. We define the term “art” loosely, and we add a good dose of history, math, and cultural immersion. Our trip is preceded by several preparatory lessons in the fall on the chemistry of art restoration, the chemistry of gelato and pizza, the effect of Venice’s climate on its cultural heritage, and the peculiar behavior of glass at the molecular level. We take

a field trip to the Chrysler Museum of Art, where the Head Conservator, Mark Lewis, gives us a tour of the art restoration lab. Additionally, each student presents to the group on one or more sites we will visit, so that he or she becomes the group expert on that place.

We travel to three main cities on the trip—Rome, Florence, and Venice—and explore a different avenue of science and art in each. In Rome, our foremost experience is a tour of the Coliseum with Dr. Giorgio Monti, a professor at Sapienza University in Rome, who studies the effects of modern vibrations, such as traffic, on the structure of the Coliseum. We also tour two now underground villas from ancient Rome, which have been virtually reconstructed using lasers. We walk through

ACADEMY

miles of art at the Vatican museum, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s; marvel at the engineering ingenuity that resulted in Rome’s best-preserved ancient building, the Pantheon; and experience daily life in ancient Rome on a day trip to the ruins of the ancient Roman port town, Ostia Antica.

In Florence, our focus experience is a tour of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, the premier art restoration lab in the world, where we learn from the restorers about the chemistry of how art ages and how it can be preserved. Our tour takes us past priceless works by da Vinci, Pollock, and Donatello, all undergoing careful, sometimes years-long, restoration, and preservation.

We also take a tour of the Museo Galileo to see historical scientific instruments from the Renaissance, like Galileo’s telescope and a room-sized armillary sphere belonging to the Medici family. We take a fresco painting lesson at the Palazzo Vecchio and get to take home our very own mini fresco. We climb the hill below Florence to the San Miniato al Monte for a fantastic view of the city, shop for authentic Florentine leather, silk, and jewelry at markets that have been in place for centuries, and take a day trip to Siena for a lesson in traditional Tuscan cooking.

SUMMER 2015

In Venice our main experience is a glass blowing and fusion lesson at the Abate Zanetti School of Glass on the island of Murano. The students are able to watch the master glass blowers at work and even try their own hand at glass blowing and fusion. At the end of the lesson, each student has designed and made a pane of fused glass which they are able to take home. We also climb the campanile in St. Mark’s Square, where Galileo famously demonstrated his telescope to the Doge of Venice, and spend some time getting lost in Venice’s maze of canals.

When the students return, they are most excited about their cultural experience in their travels—the food, the people, and the cities themselves. But what they have really achieved is a ten-day immersion into worlds where science and math permeate every aspect of life, work, and identity, and converge seamlessly with other seemingly disparate disciplines. Some students on the trip may have self-identified as so-called “science students” before the trip and some may not have; but by the end of the trip they have all found themselves absorbed into worlds where fundamental knowledge of science and math is crucial—and enjoyed it! ◆

ABOVE CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: St. Peter’s

Basilica and the Vatican Museum on our first day in Rome Students pose proudly with their own frescoes painted at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.

Chris Hornbuckle tries his hand at glass-blowing under the tutelage of the Master Glass Blower at the Abate Zanetti School of Glass on the island of Murano.

Luke Morina, Amy Kislyakov, and Claire Willis team up to try their hands at pasta-making at the Scuola di Cucina di Lella in Siena.

A guided tour of Museo Galileo in Florence

Sarah Connor teaches Chemistry in the Upper School.

(23) 10111

in the [ G A M E ]

LAX for Love

BY BLAIR WEYMOUTH MONACO

Three years ago, I made the suggestion to dedicate a spring game to my former U.Va. teammate, Yeardley Love.

I ENVISIONED A FEW POSTERS hanging around campus; I’d say a few words before our lacrosse game; we’d play our game, and that would be the end of it. What started as this small way to remember a teammate has now become a community-wide event which remains a staple in our spring lacrosse program: Lax for Love.

Relationship violence meant almost nothing to me until May 2010, when Yeardley’s life was taken. I’d heard the words before, but I never grasped their meaning. No one ever spoke to me about the statistics or the warning signs—I knew next to nothing. Likewise, neither did Sharon or Lexie Love, Yeardley’s mother and sister.

What we’ve all learned as a result of Yeardley’s untimely death is that relationship violence is living in the shadows all around us, and it is our responsibility, and the One Love Foundation’s mission, to shed light on the topic. Created by Sharon and Lexie Love in honor of Yeardley, The One Love Foundation is “educating, empowering, and activating young people in a movement to end relationship violence.”

In an effort to spread awareness on our campus, we engaged our Upper and Middle School students in discussions to learn about relationship violence and understand how real it is in our everyday lives. Our Middle School faculty dedicated time in advisory groups where

11000 (24)

our students created public service announcement posters; seniors led an Upper School chapel on relationship violence, and the Varsity Lacrosse teams hosted a dinner for our senior lacrosse players to informally discuss the relevance of this silent topic as they embark on their first year of college.

On April 11, the Norfolk Academy girls and boys lacrosse teams came together to celebrate the third annual Lax for Love event in honor of Yeardley and the One Love Foundation. Raising over $11,000 for the One Love Foundation, this event brought together twenty regional lacrosse teams to play the game that Yeardley loved. Thanks to events like ours, Sharon Love states, “You are the ones who have helped us believe that our vision for change is attainable.” Thank you to both the Norfolk Academy and the Hampton Roads’ lacrosse communities for their support.

Empowering and educating our young adults to be advocates for themselves and others is critical to shattering the silence and keeping this movement alive. Thank you to everyone who has helped out, spoken up, and donated to the One Love Foundation. I am proud to work in a place that cares so deeply and seeks not only to understand the issues, but also to partake in the cause. ◆ Blair Weymouth Monaco teaches English in the Middle School and is the Head Coach of the Varsity Girls Lacrosse team.

ACADEMY

Coach Spotlight

Mary “Werky” Werkheiser THE VARSITY FIELD HOCKEY banner that hangs in Burroughs Gym is missing only three TCIS Champion­ ship titles since 1984. Coach Mary Werkheiser was hired at Norfolk Academy in 1989. Under her leadership, the program boasts 23 TCIS Championships (27 total), four LIS Championships, and finally, the coveted state field hockey championship in the fall of 2014.

Coach Werkhesier (“Werky”) will tell you that she has the perfect job—but it is not because of all of the trophies, accolades, and respect that she has acquired as head coach of the Norfolk Academy field hockey program.

It is because of the relationships she has built with her students, first through Lower School physical education, and then again as those former students become her athletes in Middle and Upper School.

In addition to teaching PE, Coach Werkheiser has worn many hats along the way, including head coach of girls lacrosse and Middle School volleyball and basketball.

But her passions lay in field hockey—a sport in which she won two national championships as a student-athlete at Loch Haven University. Her gratitude for her own

experience as an athlete and the opportunities provided for her is what drives her to create a similarly positive outcome for her athletes at Norfolk Academy.

Coach Werkheiser was recognized for her efforts on the field in 2006 as one of the first recipients of Norfolk Academy’s Excellence in Coaching Award. Teacher, coach, motivator, advisor, friend—Coach Werkheiser is all of those things to so many current and former Norfolk Academy graduates, whether they played for her or not. And now, she can add state championship coach to the list. ◆

ABOVE Assistant Coaches Catherine Bowles and Laura Gibson;

Courtney Byler ‘15 and Alden Stedfast ‘15; Head Coach Mary Werkheiser. RIGHT Werky gets a Gatorade treatment from the team.

SUMMER 2015

(25) 11001

Science Through the Decades FROM THE ARCHIVES Norfolk Academy maintains a rich archive of documents and photos that date back to our founding. We are delighted to share the treasures from our archives and depend on our school community to help identify and explain the photos in our

Ann Margrethe Lindemann ’76

Ms. Jean McIntyre’s Class From the 1975–76 Year Book

11010 (26)

collection. Please contact Gay Savage (gsavage@norfolkacademy. org) if you are able to provide additional information about the photos you see here!

THETA CLUB 1974–1975 FIRST ROW: C. Slingluff, J. Wisoff, M. Karlen, R. Jaffe, B. Morgan, L. Guerry, M. Chase; SECOND ROW: T. Magraw, R. Thornton, S. Carr, B. Walsh, N. Scott, C. Jones, J. Legum, C. Kotarides, Mr. Dike

SCIENCE FICTION CLUB 1988–1989 FIRST ROW: K. Kennedy, J. Peterson, D. Hakim, M. Peparak, K. Keinenger, M. Fischer; SECOND ROW: D. Lawrence, C. Hill, M. Borosky, T. Lilly, J. Schechner, B. Youmans, N. Zimmerman, T. Feher; THIRD ROW: M. Sword, B. Finn, T. Ritter, A. Carrera, M. Shirley, T. Brandt, P. Ramos, J. Dorothy, P. Kottke, K. Muellendorf; FOURTH ROW: C. Tyler, K. Hultgren, M. Corneille,

ACADEMY

Lisa Parker (?) and Lisa Ribaudo, 1994–95?

THETA CLUB 1977–1978

Mr. Kepchar and (probably?) members of Form IV, Class of ’66

FIRST ROW: R. Hoffman, S. Jacobson, J. Fink, C. Mast, J. Rollins

SECOND ROW: P. Becker, M. Gill, C. Ramzy, M. Hardy, Mr. Dike, A. Dodor, D. Katz, K. Bernert, R. Becker THIRD ROW: D. Katz, J. Molloy, M. Lin, K. Turner, S. Denman, R. Slepin, J. Gracy

J. Pessar, N. Zimmel, A. Bishop, N. Kirk, S. McCoy, J. Losciuto, T. Koch, G. Imbur, M. Miller, D. Cardon, G. Smith, J. Montagna, J. VanderHorst, J. Magpoc

SUMMER 2015

David Pariser ’64 (President, Epsilon Club), Mr. Kepchar, Walter Green ’64 (Secretary, Epsilon Club)

FROM THE 1975–76 YEAR BOOK, 9TH GRADERS:

Marc Moss (?), Kim Carlson, Jimmy Johnson (?)

(27) 11011

paw PRI N T S The animals featured here are denizens of Dr. Lew Affronti’s classroom in the Upper School. Students in his Chesapeake Bay Ecosystems class take on all duties in helping these creatures thrive, including habitat construction, feeding, and cleaning. Through these interactions, students also learn about close observation, a critical skill for scientists.

Peter the Lionhead Rabbit Scientific name: Oryctolagus cuniculus Peter is a three-year-old neutered male. He particularly enjoys hydrating and hopping.

He is allowed to wander around class while we take notes. We sometimes bring him take-out from the Refectory salad bar.

FUN FACT: Rabbits can see nearly 360

degrees around them without rotating their heads! They can remain perfectly still and detect predators attacking from any position. Their blind spot isn’t where you’d suppose—it is a small spot right in front of their noses!

E

Mr. Turtél the Red-eared Slider Scientific name: Trachemys scripta elegans

MEET

— O C

We’ve observed that when we move the rocks in Mr. Turtél’s cage, he does not seem pleased. Also, he stares at himself in the mirror for a long periods of time.

Apparently, he thinks it is another turtle because he puffs up to try to fight it!

CLAIM TO FAME: Same species as the

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! (We do not feed him pizza.)

Paw Prints is the student-edited section of the Academy magazine. We congratulate seniors Ben Klebanoff ’15 and Banning Stiffler ’15, Chief Editors for this issue of Paw Prints, for their four years of dedicated service to the magazine.

11100 (28)

Lionel the Ball Python Scientific name: Python regius Not all snakes are frightening. That’s a lesson most of us have learned from Lionel.

Ball pythons only grow to 3–5 feet, and they are very docile. Still, it’s really impressive to watch him eat a mouse! He’s still small enough to go through belt loops—an activity we’ve found he enjoys. Savanah Yoder ’15, a senior ecosystem student who took Lionel home with her during school breaks, insists he also enjoyed sitting on the sofa and watching TV with her.

FUN FACT: Ball pythons can live for up to

50 years! They get their name because they will coil up into a ball with their heads in the center when they get nervous.

ACADEMY

The Goldfish Tub Scientific name: Carassius auratus Our goldfish live in a 200-gallon aquarium. We use them to “turn over the tank,” which means they help in establishing a healthy balance of ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate, so that all the fish can survive.

THE

FUN FACT: Goldfish are able to see infrared and ultraviolet

light in addition to all of the colors we see!

—Z OO

American Anole Lizard Scientific name: Anolis carolinensis This is a sad tale. Anoles usually live in groups of one male and three females. We had a male and a female.

Our male just died, at 2.5 years old. Generally, anoles live 3–5 years. While there was hope they would mate, we had no success. We’ve hypothesized that the reason was that they require higher humidity to mate. We now have a lone female.

FUN FACT: Anoles are also called American Chameleons because they are able to change color from brown to green. Technically, they aren’t chameleons. There is a lot more to color change than simply blending into backgrounds—though that can be highly advantageous!

A green color is the result of high activity in bright light, while a brown color is expressed when conditions are cool, moist, and dark, when the animal is less active.

Rito the Syrian Hamster Scientific name: Mesocricetus auratus There are three distinct variations of white Syrian hamster, which you can observe at the phenotypic (outward appearance) and genotypic (DNA) levels. White Syrian hamsters can be dark-eared, flesh-eared, or blackeyed. Dark-eared are born with red eyes that darken as the animal matures. Flesh-eared, commonly referred to as albino, are usually born without eyes! The black-eyed variety has flesh-colored ears. Guess which one Rito is!

Zebra Fish Pair Scientific name: Danio rerio One of our zebra fish was genetically engineered! Zebra fish have dark blue horizontal stripes. Males have goldish stripes in between the blue, while females have silvery stripes. One of ours has bright orange stripes! The way this was achieved was by inserting a coral gene into the genome of this variety of zebra fish.

HOBBY: Rolling around in his ball during class

FUN FACTS: Zebra fish are able to regenerate different

FUN FACT: Hamsters run a lot in the wild, and can

parts of their bodies—fins, skin, even their hearts! Zebra fish are often used by scientists researching human nervous system and musculoskeletal disorders and diseases.

clock tremendous distances on their wheels—more than five miles in a day!

SUMMER 2015

(29) 11101

lives of [ C O N S E Q U E N C E ]

Engineering a Bright Future

BY GIGI COOKE TYSINGER ’87

From a modular trailer that functions as her office, Lauren Simone ’06 outlines the final punch list classroom by classroom.

AS PROJECT ENGINEER for a new $43 million elementary

school in Northern Virginia, Lauren knows that her attention to detail and penchant for resolving conflicts early has saved time and money. After all, she built the virtual threedimensional construction model that serves as the organizational underpinning of the project. To do so, she mastered a software program that allowed her to essentially overlay the architectural design with every other plan (mechanical, electrical, structural, fire prevention, plumbing, and so on) so that she and others could understand exactly how the building fit together inside and out. And, with so detailed a visual representation, Lauren uncovered design contradictions and made corrections before materials arrived on site. Now, with hard hat secured and iPad in tow, Lauren moves through the nearly completed facility with the authority and focus of a veteran engineer.

The daughter of Norfolk Academy’s 4th grade girls teacher Janice Simone, Lauren doesn’t find it a bit unusual to be a woman in a male-dominated profession. She appreciates that having a diversity of perspectives and backgrounds on a team lends creativity and compromise. In fact, working with different people in the field to solve problems has been one of the most rewarding aspects of the complex design-build project. The 130,000-square-foot elementary school serves 750

11110 (30)

ACADEMY

FACING PAGE: Janice Simone, who teaches 4th grade

girls, visits her daughter, Lauren Simone ’06, at the construction site.

LEFT: Lauren and her brother David Simone ’11 check out the new gymnasium at the elementary school.

BELOW: Lauren’s 3D construction model

children in pre-kindergarten through 5th grade. With an environmentally conscious design, the school is a model for sustainability in terms of material selection, water efficiency, and energy use. Amiably nicknamed “the LEED police” by her co-workers, Lauren coordinated and submitted the nearly-300-page document which defined the construction elements required to achieve silver certification under the Leadership Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) standards developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. The school uses geothermal energy, has a green roof, its own windmill, solar panels, and an integrated system for harvesting rainwater to supply water for field irrigation and flushing toilets. Flat-screen televisions in the hallways provide a way for students to share the information they track as to the building’s energy storage and consumption. Other modernizations include unique classroom arrangements that feature a central hub for each grade level and movable walls to facilitate large- or small-group learning activities. The goal, Lauren explains, is to give students more opportunities to bridge the theoretical and the abstract with hands-on activity.

In addition to her actual job responsibilities, Lauren actively contributes to the health and wellness of her fellow co-workers. Last summer, she planted a garden at the construction site so that she and others could enjoy fresh tomatoes and summer squash; and she’s helped motivate several co-workers to take on new or improved exercise routines by setting a positive example and sharing the personal health victories of younger brother David ’11, a Norfolk Academy lacrosse standout and college athlete who is currently completing treatment for a rare but curable form of childhood cancer. “It’s unusual to meet a young person with the

SUMMER 2015

“Math is especially my thing. But I didn’t want to sit at a desk and crunch numbers all day. I wanted to use my conceptual skills to solve real problems.”

integrity and work ethic that Lauren brings to our team,” notes supervisor Tony Turnball. “Lauren’s been able to connect numerous pieces of information and communicate details in a way that lets all of us be successful.”

Lauren earned a bachelor’s of science in building construction from Virginia Tech in 2010. She deferred a job offer with Homeland Contracting Corporation, based in Chesapeake, Virginia, to travel in New Zealand and southeast Asia, then returned in the fall of 2013 to join Homeland Contracting Corporation. Through their partnership with W.M. Jordan Company, Lauren moved to northern Virginia for the now-completed elementary school project. Currently, Lauren is a project engineer for W.M. Jordan Company, a leading construction firm in Virginia and North Carolina. ◆ Gigi Cooke Tysinger ’87 is Director of Advancement Services.

(31) 11111

[ A L U M N I ] Gatherings 1 Care Package Party

1

2 Lexa Pope Amazing Alumni Speaker Series

1

1

1

2

100000  (32)

2

2

2 ACADEMY

3 College Holiday Lunch

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

SUMMER 2015

(33)  100001

[ A L U M N I ] Gatherings 4 Young Alumni Holiday Bulldog Bash

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

100010  (34)

ACADEMY

[ A L U M N I ] Reunions 1 Virginia Tech

1

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

SUMMER 2015

2 San Francisco

(35)  100011

[ A L U M N I ] Reunions 3 New Orleans

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

3

100100  (36)

ACADEMY

4 Washington, DC

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

4

SUMMER 2015

(37)  100101

[ A L U M N I ] Reunions 5 Charlottesville

5

5

5

100110  (38)

5

5

5

5 ACADEMY

6 Richmond

6

6

6

6

7

7

7

7

SUMMER 2015

7 San Diego

7 (39)  100111

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Richmond, VA Permit #320

1585 WESLEYAN DRIVE NORFOLK, VA 23502

Stay Connected!

Like us, link to us, find us or follow us.

Join the conversation and be in touch with us. facebook.com/NorfolkAcademyBulldogs @NorfolkAcademy @AdmissionsNA @AthleticsNA @Battenlibrary @PMcLaughlinNA 757.461.6236 norfolkacademy.org thesavagechronicles.org mr-o-zone.org blogs.norfolkacademy.org