CLASS NOTES

by Libby Singer, Assistant Director of Development

Take a look at these updates shared by members of the Blazer alumni community across the decades. To share your update for future publications, please email the Alumni O ce at alumni@bush.edu.

1970s

Michelle Purnell-Hepburn ’75

was awarded the 2021 Thaddeus Spratlen Legacy Award. The award, presented by the Association of Black Business Students at the University of Washington Foster School of Business, is for Michelle’s work on urban growth and inclusion.

1980s

Monica (Garbutt) Anselmetti ’82 and Clara Savage ’96 saw each other at work! Both are MD OB/GYNs at Swedish Hospital in Seattle.

Cindy Peyser Srafronoff ’88 published a book, Dedication: Building the Seattle ranches of ary aker ddy’s hurch, entennial tory art to 1929. For her work, she was awarded gold in the Illumination Book Awards. Crediting much of what she knows about writing history to Sis Pease, Cindy said the historical research is helping preservationists show why this place (which also happens to be Sis Pease’s church) matters.

1990s

Saunder Jurriaans ’96 was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score) for his work as a composer for the hit series Ozark. Congratulations, Saunder!

2000s

Mandela Gardner ’04 is the volunteer coordinator at El Centro de la Raza. During the election season, in partnership with King County Elections, he worked to increase voter registration and outreach. His first encounter with El Centro de la Raza was volunteering during his AMP in the Upper School at Bush. Now, years later, he has returned to make a positive impact on the community.

Jay Wyatt ’04 and fellow Bush teachers James Batey and Marilina Kim went on the adventure of their lives on Race to the Center of the Earth, which premiered in March 2021 on National Geographic. Filmed in October 2019, these Bush faculty members competed against three other teams all dropped in far-flung locations around the world, racing to be the first to reach a central location. Emily Henke ’05 is the executive director of the Oregon Public Health Institute (OPHI) and director of Pacific Northwest Projects and was named 40 under 40 by the Portland Business Journal in 2021. During the pandemic, her team has focused on tracking health with contact tracing, working with four different counties and 120-130 staff in the Pacific Northwest, especially focused on supporting the Latinx community. She utilizes her bilingual skills in English in Spanish, which she began practicing at Bush during a study abroad opportunity to the Canary Islands in 2004, to better connect with the communities OPHI

serves.

2010s

Zarina Agilon ’15 graduated from the University of Washington with a Masters in Education in K-8 education and an English Language Learner certification. In this work, she completed a graduate thesis and “had the privilege of exploring the area of teacher diversity and the experiences of BIPOC teacher candidates as they enter the profession. I have been incredibly lucky to have amazing teachers throughout my life and I could not be more excited to begin my career as an educator.”

David Marten ’10 and Grant Friedman ’15 are working in Senator Cantwell’s office.

Elizabeth Moore Simpson ’10

reconnected with Susanne Eckert and the Bush Teen Feed crew in the kitchen this year. Ten years ago, Elizabeth created a senior project focused on supporting Teen Feed, a local organization that provides meals to homeless and at-risk youth. a elle, y eauty, the debut feature film produced by Kelsey Scult ’10, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2021 on January 30. Sundance calls a elle, y eauty “a breezy and meaningful journey through winedrenched candlelit dinners, firelit vineyard parties, farmers’ markets, and sunny hikes alongside the creek, as Fred, Bertie, and Lane grapple with how to get what they want inside the soup of their desires, passions, and life ambitions.”

Nija Chappel ’12 is attending The George Washington University Law School, where she is getting a dual degree, a JD focused on health law and a Masters in Public Health focused on health policy. This summer she is working at Epstein Becker Green as one of the Diversity Pipeline Program summer associates. She serves as the co-president of the Student Health Law Association and is a member of the Black Law Students Association, the Corporate and Business Law Society, the International Law Society, and the Lambda Law Society. Rence (Jackson Hirsh ’16) released a new single at the beginning of 2021, “Endless.” he Hype aga ine says, “with nearly fifty million streams thus far and recent acclaim from Paper magazine, Flaunt and many more, genre-defying singer, songwriter, and producer Rence is back with a new single entitled ‘Endless.’”

After Dova Zilly ’18’s first year at Colorado College, the pandemic sent her back home where, in addition to online classes, she helped launch Rhamani Sandals. This startup creates eco-friendly sandals made partially out of algae from algae blooms and removable straps for more customizable options. These look perfect for a Cascade or a wilderness trip!

WE ARE BUSH KINDERGARTEN

SELF PORTRAITS AND A YEARLONG EXPLORATION OF IDENTITY

by Colleen Carroll, Admissions and Communications Coordinator

How do you capture a year of learning and self-discovery in Kindergarten? For Kindergarten Teachers Sean Carroll and Nicole Price, the best way is through the eyes and artistic expressions of the students themselves. Since September, Kindergarten students at The Bush School have created monthly self-portraits, exploring a different aspect of their personal identity through each piece of art and in the process creating a lasting record of their Kindergarten year. Sean notes that through the series of portraits, “you can not only see how much they have grown, but also what they understand about themselves.”

The study of self weaves through the entire Kindergarten year, and the identity work of the portraits connects to other areas of curriculum as well, like reading, writing, and science. Classroom books, such as The Colors of Us by Karen Katz and What Is a Scientist? by Barbara Lehn, tie into the theme of each month’s portrait. The “I Am” portraits connected with the class name study. This included both an exploration of each student’s own name and what a name means for individual identity as well as a dive into phonics to practice reading skills. Writing projects such as the “Best Self” books created in Sean’s class complement the students’ art, and a scientific study of skin and skin color brought out additional details for students working to mix and identify their own skin color in the “Science of Skin” portrait.

In working through the portrait process, students learn to adapt to things not going as planned. The phrase “practice, not perfection” lets the young artists em race that the work itself is to be celebrated and that mistakes are OK.

Artwork by: page 100 L to R: Sami Yaw A. ’33, Derek R. ’33; page 101 clockwise from top L: Mira A. ’33, Oliver G. ’33, Sami Yaw A. ’33; page 102 clockwise from top L: Reese C. ’33, Reese C. ’33, Norah A. ’33; page 103 clockwise from top L: Mira A ’33, Mira A. ’33, LJ R. ’33

hrough the portraits, students study the inside and outside parts of identity what is visi le to others like hair, skin, eyes, and clothing as well as what is hidden inside like interests, emotions, and thoughts. tudents discussed how identity, like a frosted cake or a geode, can look one way from the outside and another way when you reveal what is inside.

Nicole’s favorite part of the portraits is all the details students include. “The extra details show their personality. ach student has a uni ue style, and you do not even need a name to know whose is whose.” Sean shared that he loves seeing all of the portraits together at the end and that with each new group of portraits, there is something that will make him stop and say, h my goodness, this is magical.”

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