Cyrus a magazine for alumni and friends of The Blake School
Special Issue 2020
FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL
Cyrus Photo: Julia McMahon, LB Jeffries Photography
a magazine for alumni and friends of The Blake School Editor Kristin Stouffer Managing Editor Tracy Grimm Graphic Designer Cate Hubbard Thanks to the many Blake community members who have contributed to this publication. Our Mission
This Issue is Inadequate. And That's Okay.
Blake engages students with a dynamic, academically challenging education in a diverse and supportive community committed to pluralism and a common set of values. Students pursue an integrated program of academic, artistic and athletic activities, preparing for college, lifelong learning and purposeful lives as community and global citizens. Commitment to Pluralism A vibrant learning environment springs from a diverse school community. For this reason, Blake seeks and values students, families and employees with a wide range of backgrounds, identities and life experiences. Individually and collectively, we strive for understanding across differences in an inclusive environment where everyone can belong, contribute and thrive. Our Core Values Respect Love of Learning Integrity Courage The Blake School Administrative Offices 110 Blake Road South Hopkins, MN 55343
This issue of Cyrus has been a long time in the making. We began preparing it in early 2020. When the pandemic hit, we revamped some of the content. And then this summer everything changed when, in our home city, we witnessed the horrific killing of George Floyd. We realize no one publication can address the complexities of systemic racism and our national reckoning with this painful history. Nor can one publication describe our evolving work at Blake to educate students and empower them to work toward a more just and equitable school and country. This special issue does not try to do all that. Rather, we center students (now alumni) as they examine race and identity through art and words. We also feature a Q&A with Tyneeta Canonge, who leads the Office of Equity and Community Engagement at Blake. Moving forward, we will hold space in this magazine and in Cyrus Monthly to share our ongoing efforts in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion. This year we’ve heard from many alumni that you’d like to be kept abreast of this news, hold your alma mater accountable and lend your voice to this essential work. I’m so grateful for your partnership. Among the myriad projects Tyneeta and her team are leading is the launch of the Equity Lab. If you’d like to engage in meaningful discussions about cultural differences and commonalities, this is a great place to start. Check out online events at blake.mn/equitylab. I hope to see you there.
952-988-3430 cyrus@blakeschool.org
Anne E. Stavney, Ph.D. Head of School The Blake School
b Cyrus
CONTENTS Special Issue 2020
ON THE COVER
Created in 2018 by Middle School visual arts teacher Seexeng Lee and students in the SmARTist Bears club, this collaborative artwork hangs in the Bovey Commons. Inspired by the play Seed Folks, the two hands represent the Blake community, which fosters students’ growth (the seedling) and keeps Blake golden (the gold leaf). The silhouette captures the Minneapolis skyline and includes Blake’s three campuses. SmARTist Bears contributors: Ella Chester ’24, Kelley Deng ’25, Caroline Epstein ’23, Grace Flikke ’24, Audrey Friedell ’24, Zosia Lazarewicz ’24, Melody Lee ’23, Quinn McDonough ’25, Winnie Ueland, ’24, Clara Ursu ’24 and Frances Vorbrich ’24.
IN PHOTOS
DEPARTMENTS
Peau
In Photos 2
A solo art exhibition by Louise Ba ’20 explores the intersections of race and religion at Blake.
Q&A 8
PAGE 2
In Print & Production 12 Class Notes 13
Q&A
More Than A Moment Office of Equity and Community Engagement Director Tyneeta Canonge offers insights on how we navigate the present, shape the future and reckon with the past. PAGE 8
Voices 21
IN PHOTOS
PEAU A SOLO ART EXHIBITION BY LOUISE BA ’20 EXPLORES THE INTERSECTIONS OF RACE AND RELIGION AT BLAKE. THE SHOW, WHICH WAS ON DISPLAY IN THE UPPER SCHOOL’S MARTHA BENNETT GALLERY EARLIER THIS YEAR, FEATURES AUDIO FROM INTERVIEWS BA CONDUCTED WITH THE 18 UPPER SCHOOL STUDENTS OF COLOR SHE PHOTOGRAPHED. “ I deal with my own intersecting identities on the daily, so I wanted to expand that and allow the words of some members of the community to resonate and positively impact Blake as a whole.” — LOUISE BA ’20, PHOTOGRAPHER AND CURATOR OF PEAU
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ISA
HANNAH
ELIJAH
“ Being a Black kid at Blake is [an advantage] yet at the same time a target. You’ll notice it in the little things, [for example] how the teachers act when they don’t know you. At first they almost generalize you into a category before they get to know you, then almost treat you nicer than the other kids. At the same time, though, some of the students think it’s okay to make jokes about slavery and durags.” —ELIJAH
“ Blake [has] just a little bit of tokenism and a little bit of feeling like maybe the people of color there are there just to maybe fill some sort of quota. But at the same time, I feel like everybody who is at Blake [is an] amazing student and just like, pretty good friends.” —HANNAH
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YOLANDA
HOWARD
HABON
“ In classes when we’re talking about slavery specifically, a lot of times heads will turn toward me or some other person of color, or when I tell people I speak Spanish or I’m taking Spanish and I’m Mexican and I have family who speak Spanish they’re like, ‘Aren’t you fluent? Why aren’t you in AP Spanish?’ It's just hard to explain that I’m adopted, and I don’t speak it at home.” —YOLANDA
“ I’m Muslim and I go to Islamic school every Saturday and Sunday. I pray five times a day. I like poetry, and I also go to a convention every year where I talk to people [about it].” —HABON
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SYDNEY
SPENCER
LILLI
ANISA
“ The Catholic church has oppressed different people based on their identities throughout history. I think it hurts a little bit sometimes to go to church, just knowing the history, what has happened and how they’ve treated people of African descent [and] other cultures as well.” —ANISA
“ The lack of diversity [at Blake] makes me feel uncomfortable here sometimes. And sometimes some of the things my peers say just aren’t really nice or welcoming. But I don’t really say anything about it because it’s a little awkward in that situation because everyone here is like white, so yeah.” —SPENCER
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CALLISTO
ROBERT
KIMORA
NADIA
“ African American literature is probably my favorite class right now, and I’m so glad that it exists...that and having Shades affinity group as a place to go and exist with other black individuals.” —CALLISTO
“ Specifically in the Hmong culture, it’s very...not like discriminatory, but men are important in specific ways like having a son is important, not simply to carry your last name, but your son is who will send you to the afterlife. ... It’s not so bad with me, but I do see a lot of men seeing themselves as better. My family, personally, we only have like me and my sister, but I still see it in other ways in my family, and I still see men and sons being valued like in other families.” —NADIA
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BILLY
THEO
ALEX
SOLVEIG
“ I am not religious. But I’m not an atheist or anything, I’m just not religious. I don’t practice religion except one day when I was in the car, I was like 7 years old, we were driving to Wisconsin or something, and it was during this huge like thunderstorm, and I remember I literally thought we were going to drive off of a bridge, so I prayed to God, and I didn’t really know how..so yeah. But I’m not religious.”
“ Although one thing I will say is that a club that was started last year—I joined this year—is the Student Diversity Leadership Council, and I joined because I thought it was important for me as a person of color to promote diversity at Blake. If I wasn’t a person of color, if I wasn’t Chinese, I don’t know if I would have joined that club, but I thought it was important for me to do so.” —THEO
—SOLVEIG
Special Issue Fall2020 2020 7
Q&A
MORE THAN A MOMENT
TYNEETA CANONGE, DIRECTOR OF BLAKE’S OFFICE OF EQUITY AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT (OECE), OFFERS INSIGHTS ON HOW WE NAVIGATE THE PRESENT, SHAPE THE FUTURE AND RECKON WITH THE PAST. Together with her five OECE team members, Canonge builds the framework that supports Blake’s goals of pluralism, equity, inclusivity and engagement. But, she notes, success ultimately depends on the individual and collective efforts of a school community committed to the lifelong work of anti-racism and anti-bias. Editor’s note: In addition to the director, Blake’s OECE team includes the director of global programming, the PK-12 department chair for equity and instruction, the LearningWorks executive director, the service learning and community engagement director and GLBTQ support and advocacy. Question: Can you describe the role of Blake’s OECE? Answer: Our team supports the school in recognizing, appreciating and affirming diverse perspectives and in building curriculum, policies and programs that foster intercultural competency. My focus is partnering with others to develop strategic planning and to find opportunities to engage the whole school 8 Cyrus
community in collaborative ways to create a vibrant, inclu sive institutional community. Other members of my team work on specific areas of the school’s commitment to pluralism, such as LGBTQIA+ advocacy, equity and instruction, global programming and service learning. The beautiful thing is it's a very multi-faceted approach. Q: What are OECE’s priorities and do you see them chang ing in the pandemic or as the country continues to respond to the killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and many others at the hands of the police? A: COVID-19 and the protests happening around the world have certainly garnered our attention. The OECE vision
“PANDEMICS LIKE RACISM AND COVID DRAW ATTENTION TO OUR FIGHT FOR EACH OTHER’S HUMANITY, UNFORTUNATELY AT A HIGH COST, BUT THEY ALSO PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXAMINE WHAT WE COULD BE DOING BETTER OR DIFFERENTLY TO SUPPORT ALL OUR STUDENTS, ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH MARGINALIZED IDENTITIES WHO MIGHT BE MORE EXPLICITLY IMPACTED BY WHAT’S HAPPENING IN OUR WORLD. ”
statement is “Leading, facilitating and supporting both individual and school-wide efforts that foster a more equitable, inclusive and engaged community.” We worked on this as a team to give us a foundation to develop Blake’s programming, no matter what's going on. So I don't think about changing our direction; I do think about amplifying the work we're doing, enriching the programming we already have and looking for opportunities to call more people into that work. Pandemics like racism and COVID draw attention to our fight for each other’s humanity, unfortunately at a high cost, but they also provide an opportunity to examine what we could be doing better or differently to support all our students, especially those with marginalized identities who might be more explicitly impacted by what’s happening in our world. We get another chance to deepen our learning and act on behalf of one another's well-being. We should always be ready to move forward toward the greater good.
Q: This fall, the OECE launched Blake’s Equity Lab. Can you share a bit about this program and who is involved?
community members outside of our office to develop programs that best serve our constituents' needs and interests.
A: Our team had a vision to create a hub to offer equityfocused learning opportunities for everyone in our community—students, faculty and staff, parents and guardians and alumni—as a way to help carry out Blake’s mission, core values and commitment to pluralism. This fall, we launched the Equity Lab, which serves as that hub by supporting a variety of programs such as lunch-andlearn sessions, after-school workshops, one-on-one discussions, critical friend groups, professional collaborations, webinars, community partnerships and more. It’s a place where people can engage in conversations about anti-racism and anti-bias and gain a better understanding of what’s happened in our local communities to bring us to this moment and really demystify the work for people. And while the OECE supports the Equity Lab, we’ll collaborate with
Q: How do you balance the immediate needs of our community, especially the emotional support of our Black, Indigenous and families of color, with the long-term strategic goals of your office? A: Our time is often spent managing the events of the day and the effect those events are having on our BIPOC families. But thinking collaboratively about what we need to do long term is also critical. You have to do those things simultaneously. The balancing act begins when we take a step back and find time and space to think about where we are, how far we’ve come, where we want to be in five years and how we’re going to get there. Some of that work involves reexamining our curriculum, both academic and social-emotional. How do we talk about the way our country has legislated power and privilege? How do we
celebrate the contributions of people whose stories don’t line our history books? Are there holes? How do we fill them? Another aspect of long-range planning is continued recruitment of people of color in the community and establishing strategies for retention. Where are our blind spots and what could we be doing better? Fortunately, not only is the OECE team thinking through these questions, but many in Blake's community, including the administrative team and trustees, are more than willing to get involved. For example, following George Floyd’s death, Blake’s division directors spearheaded a faculty-wide summer reading and discussions of the books Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds and We Want To Do More Than Survive by Bettina Love. That’s part of what I love about Blake: some of these initiatives don’t even come from my office. That's characteristic of the Blake community. People are really leaning in and wanting to learn and grow and deepen Special Issue 2020 9
“DIVERSIFYING THE COMMUNITY BENEFITS EVERYONE, BUT IT IS NOT ENOUGH. THE SAME EFFORT NEEDS TO BE PUT FORTH TO CREATE EQUITY IN EVERY AREA OF THE SCHOOL’S DAILY LIFE.”
their understanding of their own position and the role they play and the actions they can take to deconstruct racism. Q: Part of anti-racism work is acknowledging all aspects of history. How does a school like Blake effectively recognize its part in systemic racism? A: There's so much tension around this right now in schools across the country. First, we have to acknowledge that most educational institutions have a history of systemic inequities. Those doing a better job at alleviating some of that tension are just really bold and they name it by saying, “Here’s who we were, here’s how we were founded, and here’s the work we’re doing to balance the scales.” That involves creating greater access pipelines and setting aside funds to support comprehensive inclusive programming. But in every school, there's always more work to be done. For instance, schools need to make sure that whatever percentage of student identity exists in the institution there's 10 Cyrus
the same or greater balance of faculty identity. Diversifying the community benefits every ne, but it is not enough. The o same effort needs to be put forth to create equity in every area of the school’s daily life. The schools I see doing a good job have anti-bias curriculum and pedagogy. They use restorative justice student disciplinary techniques. They teach everyone to interrupt bias in their own ways. They empower all community members to advocate for equity. It can sometimes be messy and uncomfortable, especially for adults, to balance student passion and energy while activating student voice. Faculty, administrators and other adults in the community have to grow in their own intercultural competency and allyship to be positioned to support an active student orientation toward equity. Q: We're one school but our students are on three different campuses and range from pre-kindergarten to twelfth grade. What are the common threads that connect Blake’s
anti-racism culture and what are some of the challenges to fostering it? A: I am happy about Blake being one of a handful of schools that expects all teachers to grow their intercultural competency as part of the teacher evaluation process. Great work has been done in that area. Until all faculty members understand the systemic ways that inequities and racist ideas have been perpetuated and maintained, there is more work to do. Regarding students, we work hard to help students understand their own identities— what they love, what their experiences are, who they are—and also understand different cultural identities. But one area of growth for us is in our work outside of the classroom. For example, what does a student’s understanding of different cultures and history look like when they’re walking through the hallways or eating lunch? How do they take their appreciation and understanding of people whose
identities are different from theirs and translate that into the way they interact with their peers? Do we ever see ourselves and our students engaging with others based on stereotypical concepts? Are our actions toward each other harmful? How often do the Lower School rules welcome, kindness and respect and the Middle School HARRT Code translate in moments when kids think adults aren’t looking? Also, how do adults equip kids with the skills to do better when our stated school values aren’t honored? How do we investigate all of this? Do we collect data that could inform us? Are we consistent about our expectations across all divisions? Those are just a few of the questions we have to constantly ask ourselves. The idea of allyship is something our school community has talked about with students from a very young age, trying to help them understand what it means to be in a community and be respectful of each other no matter the differences.
“YOU NEVER ‘ARRIVE’ AS AN ANTI-RACIST, ANTI-BIASED PERSON. YOU HAVE TO DECIDE TO COMMIT TO LIFELONG LEARNING AND BEING UNCOMFORTABLE WHEN YOU FEEL ALL OF THE FEELINGS THAT COME WITH THE LEARNING.”
They also learn how to have conversations across differences and respectfully disagree. But there's sometimes a gap between what students are learning in the curriculum and their application of that knowledge in their everyday lives. The Black@Blake Instagram posts are an example of some students and faculty members not treating each other with dignity and respect. Incidents like these represent the way certain members in our community perpetuate racist ideas, intentionally or unintentionally, and participate in the oppression of others. As we learned in our faculty summer reading books, Stamped and We Want To Do More Than Survive, these ideas have been integrated in the foundation of our country, reiterated, and revived over and over again. The ideas, regulations and sentiments have allowed some people to have advantages over others throughout history. These ideas, regulations and sentiments have determined whether certain people were legally considered human or
could have citizenship. They’ve determined whether certain people would be prohibited from learning to read, marry, drink from water fountains, own property or businesses or cast a vote without extra ordinary ramifications. I could certainly go on. If these restrictions and atrocities have never applied to you or your ancestors, what can you be doing to create more equity for those who are still suffering the consequences of these racist ideas and actions today? Q: What advice do you have for people who want to bring about diversity, equity and inclusion in their daily lives and our broader culture? A: This isn’t a moment; this is lifelong work. You never “arrive” as an anti-racist, anti-biased person. You have to decide to commit to lifelong learning and being uncomfortable when you feel all of the feelings that come with the learning. The first step is to commit, no matter how uncomfortable it gets. The
Call for Equity Lab Proposals Are you a community member with equity-related expertise? Alumni, parents, students, faculty and staff are invited to create a session for Blake's Equity Lab by completing a proposal, available at blake.mn/elproposal. Successful session proposals will facilitate conversations that reflect Blake's Commitment to Pluralism and the OECE vision "to foster a more equitable, inclusive and engaged community." Proposals should plan for an hour-long session and reflect the current theme: "What does it mean to be anti-racist?" Content should be based in research, model evidence-based practices and draw on personal mastery or reflective practice. Sessions should encourage attendees to continue exploring the subject area and inspire action.
second step is, when you feel those uncomfortable feelings of anger or frustration or shame or embarrassment or guilt, stop and take a step back. Take a deep breath and really start asking yourself some questions. Is there something in my past experience that needs healing? What are these feelings about? Where did I learn the idea that's causing me to feel this way? Is the idea a biased one? One that values one group of people over another? How can I unlearn it and what information do I need to replace it with? This is a constant practice. Also understand that
we've all been socialized to believe things about gender, race, language, class, etc. that we now need to unlearn. The word “deconstruct” is so important because we didn't necessarily have control over what we’ve learned. But once you can educate yourself and recognize all of the miseducation, then you can begin to do the really uncomfortable work of unlearning and replacing falsehoods with truth.
Special Issue 2020 11
IN PRINT
RACE AND IDENTITY
This school year, all Blake faculty read at least one of two books: Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism and You, by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds, or We Want to Do More Than Survive, by Bettina Love. These shared texts serve as springboards for divisional conversations to further develop the school’s collective anti-racism culture. IBRAM X. KENDI AND JASON REYNOLDS
Stamped: Racism, Anti-Racism and You This reimagining of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's Stamped from the Beginning shines a light on the many insidious forms of racist ideas—and on ways readers can identify and stamp out racist thoughts in their daily lives. Taking the reader on a race journey from then to now, Stamped shows why we feel how we feel, and why the poison of racism lingers. It also proves that while racist ideas have always been easy to fabricate and distribute, they can also be discredited.
Blake’s sixth through twelfth graders read widely and inclusively in a variety of genres. The following titles are part of the Middle School and Upper School English curriculum.
Middle School The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives by Dashka Slater The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation by M. T. Anderson The Book Thief by Marcus Zuzak The Circuit, Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child by Francisco Jiménez
Following in the tradition of activists like Ella Baker, Bayard Rustin and Fannie Lou Hamer, We Want to Do More Than Survive introduces an alternative to traditional modes of educational reform and expands our ideas of civic engagement and inter sectional justice. Drawing on her life’s work of teaching and researching in urban schools, Bettina Love persuasively argues that educators must teach students about racial violence, oppression, and how to make sustainable change in their communities through radical civic initiatives and movements.
Angels in America by Toni Kushner Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurston Beloved by Toni Morrison Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates Citizen by Claudia Rankine Collected Essays by James Baldwin, edited by Toni Morrison Drown by Junot Díaz Dry September by William Faulkner (short story)
Flying Lessons and Other Stories edited by Ellen Oh
Exit West by Moshim Hamid
A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramée
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros It Ain't So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas Night by Elie Wiesel
We Want to Do More Than Survive
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
Listen, Slowly by Thanhhà Lai
BETTINA LOVE
Upper School
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga This Promise of Change: One Girl’s Story in the Fight for School Equality by Jo Ann Allen Boyce & Debbie Levy
Fences by August Wilson Hum by Jamaal May Krik Krak by Edwidge Danticat Miko Kings: An Indian Baseball Story by LeAnne Howe Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi Of Poetry and Protest by Phil Cushway and Michael Warr Revolutionary Hope: A Conversation Between James Baldwin and Audre Lorde from Essence The Round House by Louise Erdrich Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
Sister Heart by Sally Morgan
Surviving the City by Tasha Spillett-Sumner and Natasha Donovan
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston
Unbound by Ann E. Burg
There There by Tommy Orange
White Rose by Kip Wilson
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
With a Star in My Hand: Rubén Darío, Poetry Hero by Margarita Engel
Translations by Brian Friel
Woke: A Young Poet's Call to Justice by Mahagony L Browne
The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday Words Under the Words by Naomi Shihab Nye
For an extensive list of books and other media that address race and identity for pre-kindergarten students to adults, visit blake.mn/inprint.
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CLASS NOTES Most of the following updates were submitted before the COVID-19 pandemic. All notes received after April 2020 will appear in the next issue of Cyrus. Notes are provided by alumni or their friends and family, and some have been edited for length and style.
51
Tom Wittenberg writes, “Still thriving in my encore career as a tai chi trainer, mostly for fellow seniors in Athens, Georgia, where I have lived for the last 30 years with Madelaine Cooke, my wife of 38 years. Life is sweet.”
54
Elizabeth Porritt Francis and Carla Kopietz Paxton were unable to attend their Northrop 65th reunion, so Anice Wishart Flesh traveled to them. Anice writes, “Carla and I had brunch after church in December [2019] in Florida, and Elizabeth and I had dinner in Auckland in January. What fun!” Rod Winget reports, “My dear wife of 17 years and I live in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she is a counselor and I am retired from a career in marine biology. My retirement has focused on teaching SCUBA, kayaking and skiing, as well as making documentary movies about senior citizens. I would love to hear from classmates of 1954.”
59
Gail Pliam DavidTellis’s article Breach of Code: The Rift between Mamie Dickens
and Georgina Hogarth was pub lished in the winter 2019 issue of The Dickensian (published by the Dickens Fellowship).
61
In 2019, Rick Gilmore was honored as an emeritus chair of the Harold W. Rosenthal Fellowship in International Relations—having previously served as chair since its inception in 1977—and was named to the board of Investment Circle, a Swiss-based, privately held investment and advisory firm. He also serves as a trustee of Nutrien, the largest potash fertilizer com pany in the world. Rick is founder, president and CEO of GIC Group, an international agribusiness company. Teri McCannel Motley lives in Nahant, Massachusetts, with her husband, Herb. She took a hiatus from pastoral ministry, and she and Herb traveled last year to Australia, New Zealand and Tahiti. She writes, “My family is far-flung. Hudson, my disabled son, lives in Vermont, where he is cared for by an agency I founded, which now serves 80+ consumers. My daughter Julia lives in Florida, where she runs a swim coaching and teaching business. Catherine, my youngest, lives in Philadelphia,
where she juggles her work for the city’s finance department with the demands of her 3-year-old son and her contractor husband. Herb and I have applied to an independent living facility but hope we are way down on the waiting list, as we are still adequately managing and enjoying life, garden and house. The ground solar panels we put in last year give me a lot of satisfaction, as I try to lessen our impact on the planet by recycling, composting, being thoughtful about packaging and shopping at Savers. We keep active with church and choral singing.
63
Chuck Moos, Leo Stern and Tom Hull ’66 traveled to a remote area in Brazil on the Agua Boa river, a tributary of the Amazon, to fly fish for peacock bass and other species. Chuck writes, “It was a magnificent trip with many wildlife sightings, including Leo’s very close viewing of a Jaguar.”
64
At age 73, Peter Wonson personified the adage “you’re never too old to rock and roll” when he took the stage with his rock band, Tracks, as part of a two-band show at the Engine Room in White River Junction,
Vermont. Tracks played its first gig in November 1968 and its “last waltz" on August 10, 2019.
65
Bill Ratner writes that he is “tending happy family, doing voice-overs, writing poetry, swimming and meditating.”
66
Greater Wayzata Area Chamber of Commerce honored Peter Hitch as its 2019 Person of the Year. The annual award celebrates an individual who is an active participant and supporter of chamber activities and who contributes to the economic, civic, commercial and educational interest of the Wayzata area. Peter is owner and president of Data Doctors, which assists small businesses and individuals with computer, networking and technology issues. He has been a member of the chamber for the past 15 years, during which time he’s served as board chair (2014-15), helped develop the organization’s initial vision statement and five-year strategic plan (2015-20) and worked with the chamber staff and a committee to build Wayzata’s biggest festival, James J. Hill Days.
Special Issue 2020 13
CLASS NOTES
CARLA KOPIETZ PAXTON ’54 (LEFT) AND ANICE WISHART FLESH ’54 ENJOYED A POST-CHURCH BRUNCH TOGETHER IN DECEMBER.
Ames Sheldon’s second novel, Boats Away, has won six awards, including the winner in the family saga category and finalist in women’s fiction by the 2020 American Fiction Awards. The sequel to Eleanor’s Wars was also named finalist in historical fiction by the 2020 International Book Awards, finalist in women’s fiction by the 2020 National Indie Excellence Awards, finalist in fiction by the 2020 Next Generation Indie Book Awards and finalist in historical fiction by the 2019 Best Book Awards.
68
David Duryee and soulmate Kathryn rave about their 15-day adventure to the land down under aboard cruise ship Viking Orion. He writes, “Despite the extended airline travel, the antipodes are nirvana, according to the pilgrim from Prescott, Arizona.”
69
Jim Chandler has self-published a memoir—Fastlane: My Japanese Roadster on the Information SuperHighway—about his experience as the director of business development for a Japanese tech subsidiary in the heart of Silicon Valley in the midst
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ELIZABETH PORRITT FRANCIS ’54
of the internet boom. He writes, “It was a fascinating time, and I had a great perch from which to view the excitement, working with entrepreneurs and venture capitalists to get international distribution and investment opportunities for my Japanese multinational trading company.”
70
Margaret Little has four grown children and four grandchildren. She writes, “I had a marvelous career as a child psych iatrist from which I am retired. I have one adult child who is medically very ill, but nonetheless I feel blessed with an amazing life.” Marcia McNutt writes, “My daughter Dana and her husband, David, gave birth to twins, Atlas and Deia, in August [2019]. This makes the third set of twins in the family.”
72
Roger Cason retired last June after 43 years in the insurance business. He and his husband, Kevin McCurdy, moved to Sun City, Arizona, where they’ve had a house for seven years. He writes, “Still unpacking and settling in. Sun City has the most awesome recreation facilities I’ve ever seen. Awesome weight rooms, swimming pools,
TERI MCCANNEL MOTLEY ’61 WITH HER HUSBAND, HERB
CHUCK MOOS '63 PRESENTS THE ONE THAT DIDN’T GET AWAY DURING A FLY FISHING TRIP ON THE AGUA BOA RIVER IN BRAZIL.
bowling, lawn bowling and shuffleboard. Just settling into retirement so no big plans to travel for a while.” Alice Kaplan, a leading scholar of 20th and 21st century French and Francophone literature and history, has been named a Sterling Professor of French, the highest honor bestowed on faculty at Yale University, where she has taught since 2008. She was also appointed as director of the Whitney Humanities Center, where she will advance scholarly exchange across the humanities at Yale. Alice is the author of seven books, focused on French literature and culture as well as the cultural foundations and literary representation of fascism and racism. She is a member of the Writers Council of the American Library in Paris, serves as New Haven correspondent for the board of the French journal Critique and is a jury member for the French Voices Book Prize, awarded by the French Embassy in New York. Barb Wonson Liukkonen was appointed to the Governor’s Council on Minnesota’s Lake Superior Coastal Program for a three-year term. The council makes recommendations to the commissioner of the Minnesota
Class Notes were submitted prior to April 2020.
Department of Natural Resources on priorities, programs and funding for grant projects that benefit the coastal area.
75
Jock Donaldson sold his small business in 2017 and is enjoying teaching at Augsburg University and his first grandchild, Silas. Chan Poling published a children’s book with illustrations by fellow musical artist Lucy Michell. Jack and the Ghost (University of Minnesota Press) tells the story of Jack Cooper, the last in a long family line of fishermen, who lives alone in the remote North Shore town of Greyshore, haunted by grief. But he will discover what it means to be truly haunted when a ghostly woman appears to lure him to land’s end, to the beckoning waves that have broken his heart.
76
Jill McCarthy received the Distinguished Service Award from the Department of the Interior. She received the award—the highest honorary recognition a department employee can achieve—for her vision and leadership advancing the U.S. Geological Survey’s mission to provide information
CLASS NOTES
WHILE IN BRAZIL, LEO STERN ’63 FOUND THIS JAGUAR READY FOR A CLOSE UP.
PETER WONSON ’64 (PICTURED THIRD FROM RIGHT) JOINED HIS ROCK BAND TRACKS FOR A SHOW AT THE ENGINE ROOM IN WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, VERMONT—51 YEARS SINCE THE GROUP’S FIRST GIG IN NOVEMBER 1968.
and knowledge of earthquakes to reduce deaths, injury and damage.
but also as cultural time capsules that reflect design trends and popular culture.
Andrea Carla Eisenberg Michaels writes, “Hanging on to a rent-controlled apartment in San Francisco by my fingertips! Four years as ‘Pizza Lady’ [providing 30,000+ slices to those experiencing homelessness], still crossword constructing and naming companies/products (ACMEnaming.com). Come visit before the city (or I) disappears!” Vicki Parchman writes, “This is my 28th year at Calvary Church’s drop-in center. One of our sister ministries is Sole Care for Souls, volunteer nurses who do complete foot care. They desperately need nurses to help. Drop-in is open on Sundays from noon to 4 p.m, October through March.”
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Dwight Cleveland owns one of the most prominent private collections of classic movie posters in the world. He has published a book featuring more than 100 artworks from his collection. Cinema on Paper: The Graphic Genius of Movie Posters (Assouline) brings the artistry of cinema posters to life by celebrating them not only as unique works of art,
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Eric Braun has shifted from being an entrepreneur to bringing entrepreneurship into the corporate world, which led to an opportunity for him to build up an innovation program at a leading financial technology software company. He writes, “I had the ability to experiment and see how the company would respond to the creation of what was essentially an embedded start-up organization. The experience showed great results and proved out some of my theories and strategies. I also learned what did not work and was able to adapt and pivot in many instances. With my 20/20 hindsight, I now look forward to how I can take these ideas further. I’d love to hear stories from alumni on their experiences with corporate innovation. Ping me at ebraun@ssinnovation.com if you want to discuss the topic.”
79
Ceci Beach is on leave from her position as a French professor at Alfred University. For the past two years, she has been living in Kigali, Rwanda, where she is a
MARCIA MCNUTT ’70 (PICTURED AT FAR RIGHT) HAS TWICE THE FUN WITH THREE SETS OF TWINS IN THE FAMILY! ALSO PICTURED, MARCIA’S TWINS, DANA AND ASHLEY, AND DAUGHTER MEREDITH WITH THEIR CHILDREN: ATLAS AND DEIA, DANA’S TWINS; COLLINS, ASHLEY’S DAUGHTER; AND CECE AND NICO, MEREDITH’S TWINS.
resident yoga instructor at the Ituze Mindfulness and Yoga Center. In addition to teaching yoga and meditation at Ituze, Ceci also teaches a variety of community outreach classes, including yoga at a rehabilitation center for former street kids and sessions in Breath-Body-Mind (a therapeutic practice involving gentle movements and breathing techniques) at homes for elderly survivors of the genocide against the Tutsi. Mitch Goldstein has published his first book, Foreign Threat (Elevation Publishing). What begins as a grueling surgery residency quickly turns dangerous as intern Steve Carmichael is thrust into an adventure that will alter the course of his life. In the right place at the wrong time, Steve is forced into a mysterious experience where he must save himself. Will he make it out of this residency alive?
82
In John Bowe's latest book, I Have Something to Say: Mastering the Art of Public Speaking in an Age of Disconnection (Random House), he muses on the power of speech education to mend a nation no longer skilled at speaking to itself and demonstrates
Family Additions Cindy Sher ’96 a daughter, Olivia Marlowe October 2019 Eric Dayton ’99 and Cory Oehler Dayton ’00 a son, Wilder John November 14, 2019 Christine Brooks White ’01 a daughter, Elizabeth "Rosie" October 14, 2019 Reid Petit ’03 and Sarah Pomerantz Petit ’09 a son, Everett Winsor June 16, 2019
Marriages Genevievre Broche ’05 and Joey Colianni November 2, 2019 Laura Massie ’05 and Scott Furnary July 20, 2019 Kathy Nolan ’07 and Daniel Nissen November 3, 2018 Kyle Boyd ’08 and Archana Vamathevan October 19, 2019 Paige Esterkin ’08 and Jonathan Bronitsky November 23, 2019
Special Issue 2020 15
CLASS NOTES
JILL MCCARTHY ’76 RECEIVED THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, THE HIGHEST HONORARY RECOGNITION A DEPARTMENT EMPLOYEE CAN ACHIEVE.
how learning a few simple, ancient techniques can help us overcome our fears of public speaking and profoundly change our lives. Bill Ogden III is working with Latin American business intelligence data in South Florida. His daughter is in high school and his son is at Iowa State University. Elihu Wear has assumed full ownership and the position of president of Popco, a wholesale manufacturer, distributor, exporter and importer of pointof-purchase display components. He has worked at Popco for 25 years and has been a co-owner for 10 years.
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Eric Hetzler is head of drama, theater and performance at the University of Huddersfield, which ranks 25th globally for performing arts by QS World University Rankings. His article Emotion Memory: A Dangerous Reputation, which was adapted from a presentation given at the international S Word conference in Malta last year, has been published in Stanislavski Studies. His most recent work is called In Plain Sight: Hidden Stanislavski.
16 Cyrus
KARI NILSEN VANDERBILT ’83 AND MAGGIE LINVILL SMITH ’83 SHARE A FLASHBACK PHOTO FROM KARI'S 8TH BIRTHDAY PARTY DURING THEIR NORTHROP COLLEGIATE SCHOOL CLASSMATE YEARS. FRIENDS FOR LIFE!
84
This past fall, Eric Shogren purchased Wuollet Bakery, a 75-year-old family business in the Twin Cities. The founder and owner of a bakery and coffee shop chain in Russia, Eric also owns A Baker’s Wife in Minneapolis.
85
Cathy Countryman Maes was a finalist for the 2020 Charlie Awards, which celebrates food and beverage in the Twin Cities. She was nominated in the Community Hero category for her work as executive director of Loaves and Fishes Minnesota.
86
JoJo Mackay Herzig writes, “Michael and I have entered a new stage of parenting! Empty nester lifestyle is full of travel and lots of campus visits. Gabrielle, Pomona College ’21, David, the University of Michigan ’23, and Robbie is a junior at Exeter Academy. I am working as a college advisor at a small school in the Bronx. I also started working for Versed, a parent-to-parent pre-college consulting company. Check out the website and spread the word: Askversed.com. (The first consultation session is free!)”
JOJO MACKAY HERZIG ’86 WITH HER HUSBAND, MICHAEL, AND THEIR CHILDREN, ROBBIE, GABRIELLE AND DAVID
Arthur Phillips has released a new novel, The King at the Edge of the World (Random House). The year is 1601. Queen Elizabeth I is dying, childless. Potential successors secretly maneuver to be in position when the inevitable occurs. The leading candidate is King James VI of Scotland, but there is a problem. The queen’s spymasters fear that James is not what he appears. He has every reason to claim to be a Protestant, but if he secretly shares his family’s Catholicism, then 40 years of religious war will have been for nothing, and a bloodbath will ensue. With time running out, London confronts a seemingly impossible question: What does James truly believe?
88
Libby Gray is chairelect of the Louisville Bar Association litigation section and chair of the litigation practice group of Middleton Reutlinger, a law firm in Louisville, Kentucky. Steve Nilsen is vice president of the brand Liquid Death, a water company that uses recyclable cans. Steve writes, “With all the plastic polluting the oceans, we have an infinitely recyclable can filled with Austrian mountain spring water actually canned in Austria.
Class Notes were submitted prior to April 2020.
A portion of our proceeds goes to cleaning up plastic in our oceans. We’re available in Whole Foods with 7-11 and many other larger retailers to follow. Death to plastic!”
89
Jennifer Herman Spiller joined Americorps and is currently serving as a tutor with Minnesota Reading Corps in the Minneapolis Public Schools. She is doing her part to change the world, one reader at a time.
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Erik Aamoth is vice president of career education and employment services for the nonprofit Avivo, which provides chemical, mental health, housing, employment and career education services to people in poverty. Sarah Lapp continues to tour her community-building, problem-solving workshop Peace by Piece with Pie. Participants co-assemble jigsaw puzzles she’s designed to foster explorations of cultural identity and communication. Sarah writes, “If you think your work or life community would benefit from some mindful social practice, I’m open to suggestions and collaborations. You can reach me via my
CLASS NOTES
MARINE CORPS NICK SWAGGERT ’94, STUART HOWELL ‘94, ANDREW BORENE ’94
website cinemagoat.com, where you can also see the puzzles, paintings, drawings, films and other ephemera from the last several decades of production. Special thanks to supporter Anne Marie Ruff Grewal, whose mother was the first to finish my original 1000-piece puzzle, This is a Life Worth Living.”
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Mary Moulton Putman, vice president of marketing and brand for GE Appliances, received BrandSource’s 2020 Women in Business (WIB) Cornerstone Award, which lauds efforts to bring a woman’s perspective to the appliance industry and to help shatter the glass ceiling.
94
Stu Howell retired from the United States Marine Corps in June 2019 after 22 years of service as a naval aviator. He now fights fires by flying S-64 Sky Cranes for Erickson Inc. He spent last summer in California and is currently in Australia.
95
Chaim Woolf commutes between his law office in Los Angeles and Israel, where he lives with his wife, Yael, and children,
OLIVIA MARLOWE ANDERSON, THE DAUGHTER OF CINDY SHER ’96, WAS BORN IN OCTOBER 2019.
Asher, Naomi, Adam and Noa (ages 7–17).
96
Cindy Sher and her husband, Kurt, welcomed their first child, Olivia Marlowe Anderson, in October 2019. Cindy reports, “She is a human peanut who brings us so much joy!” Dan Slater's story Undercover in the Orthodox Underworld was published on Gen, a new Medium publication about politics, power and culture.
98
Anna Curtis has published Dangerous Masculinity: Fatherhood, Race and Security Inside America's Prisons (Rutgers University Press). For incarcerated fathers, prison rather than work mediates access to their families. Prison rules and staff regulate phone privileges, access to writing materials and visits. Perhaps even more important are the ways in which the penal system shapes men’s gender performances. This book considers how those within the prison system negotiate their expectations about “real” men and “good” fathers, how prisoners negotiate their relationships with
PAT WETHERILLE ’01 IS CEO OF LOSE IT!, A POPULAR WEIGHT LOSS APP THAT HELPED HIM LOSE OVER 50 POUNDS. HE SHARES THIS BEFORE (2009) AND AFTER (2020) COMPARISON.
those outside of prison, and the ways this negotiation reflects their understanding of masculinity. Sean Daugherty joined Guggenheim Securities, the investment banking and capital markets division of Guggenheim Partners, as a senior managing director focusing on the consumer sector.
99
Andy Rich and his wife, Sophie, are expecting a new addition to their family in August 2020. Their 2-year-old, Daphne, is looking forward to being a big sister. Tara Ward, a partner at Wiley Rein LLP, joined the International Association of Defense Counsel, a preeminent, invitation-only global legal organization for corporate and insurance defense attorneys.
00
Cory Oehler Dayton writes, “Eric [Dayton ’99] and I welcomed our third son, Wilder John Dayton, on November 14, 2019. He joined big brothers Hugo (class of 2032) and George.”
01
Soraya Darabi hosts the second season of the Synchrony podcast
Business Schooled. In each of the eight episodes, Soraya introduces entrepreneurs who’ve graduated from their early start-up days and hit new levels of success. Sam Rockwell became executive director of Move Minnesota, the state’s largest transportation advocacy organization, in late 2019. Move Minnesota focuses on building a more just and climate-sustainable world through its work to radically improve the Twin Cities transit system and support bike/walk infrastructure. Sam also continues to serve as president of the Minneapolis Planning Commission. Pat Wetherille writes, “The past few years have been the most challenging of my life. In 2017, Kimberley (my wife and partner of 15 years) lost her decade-long battle with stage IV medullary thyroid cancer. I faced a cancer diagnosis of my own in the same year but was lucky enough to catch it early, and I’m currently cancer-free. Starting over at 34 was a daunting task, but I’ve slowly been rebuilding with the help of my friends and family. Last summer I made the difficult decision to sell our house and move into a new place of my Special Issue 2020 17
CLASS NOTES
MANY GENERATIONS OF BLAKE AND BRECK ALUMNI GATHERED TO CELEBRATE GENEVIEVRE BROCHE ‘05 AND JOEY COLIANNI (BRECK SCHOOL ’05), WHO WERE MARRIED ON NOVEMBER 2, 2019, IN MINNEAPOLIS.
LAURA MASSIE ’05 MARRIED SCOTT FURNARY ON JULY 20, 2019, SURROUNDED BY BLAKE FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
BLAKE CLASSMATES ANNE MACMILLAN PEDRERO ’87 (AT FAR RIGHT) AND DEAN PHILLIPS ’87 ENJOYED DINNER IN WASHINGTON, D.C. WITH MUFFY MACMILLAN ’69 AND NOEL BENNETT PATTERSON ’06 (AT FAR LEFT).
In Memoriam Sally Ankeny Anson ’48 former parent, former grandparent, former trustee, April 30, 2020 Robert Bowen ’41 May 15, 2020 Barbara “Bobbie” Barber Brown ’48 former parent, April 28, 2019 Marcella Phelps Chute ’39 former parent, current grandparent, former trustee, May 8, 2020 Jean Wiegand Clark ’45 former parent, former trustee, February 28, 2020 Carroll Crawford ’46 former parent, March 3, 2020 Patricia Bank Dow ’54 November 14, 2019 Jean Neilson Duffy ’48 January 27, 2020 Robert “Brad” Dyar ’60 March 29, 2019 Garth Engwall ’77 March 6, 2020
Maurean Fellger former employee, February 7, 2020
Marilyn Eastman Kingman ’43 former parent, former grandparent, December 29, 2019
Edward Gottschalk former employee, March 25, 2020
Todd LaBounta ’71 October 14, 2019
Richard Gunderson current employee, January 8, 2020
Jeffrey Larson ’48 June 13, 2019
Melissa Davies Halsted ’68 November 2, 2019
Reese Larson ’68 November 21, 2018
Helen “Baba” Murray Honmyhr ’53 former parent, January 25, 2020
Dorothy Lukkasson former employee, March 14, 2020
Mary Clark Hovde ’42 October 21, 2019 John Howard ’55 former faculty, May 19, 2020 Carolyn “Jill” Hoke Johnson ’59 May 21, 2020
Elizabeth “Lissie” Kaufman ’82 December 23, 2019
William “Stew” Pinkerton ’60 October 28, 2019 Mary Kennedy Plant ’42 former parent, former grandparent, December 11, 2019 Louise Platt ’58 October 13, 2019 Thomas Punch ’63 October 16, 2019
Whitney MacMillan Sr. ’47 former parent, former trustee, March 11, 2020
Richard Rademacher ’49 December 24, 2019
Nancy Osborne ’51 March 13, 2020 Frances “Franny” Cole Owen ’40 April 5, 2018 Beverly Peterson former faculty, February 9, 2020
David Kelby ’54 May 6, 2020
Spencer Peterson ’66 October 25, 2019
Merry McGray Olson ’60 November 11, 2019
Mary Bull Madsen ’54 April 11, 2020
Zahara Kathawalla '15 June 21, 2020
Gretchen Knoblauch Peterson ’44 August 2, 2019
Dana Schmid ’50 October 10, 2019 George Selover ’47 April 20, 2020 Patricia Whitaker Selover ’47 September 24, 2018 Harriet Swanson former faculty, December 29, 2019 Cynthia Turner ’54 October 22, 2019 Peter Weiser ’61 December 27, 2019 Rodney West ’66 May 10, 2020
Thomas “Tony” Raugust ’53 December 5, 2019
Horace “Cliff” Whiteman former parent, former trustee, September 8, 2018
Roxanne Rich ’68 February 27, 2020
Mary Beard Wood ’51 February 11, 2020
Caroline Hanson Rohrbach ’46 May 1, 2018
Rosita “Zita” Hofmeister Wright ’43 former parent, December 29, 2019
Marilyn McGandy Ryerse ’49 former parent, former trustee, June 12, 2020
Mary Denny Kerrigan ’46 January 17, 2019
Sally Warner Wyer ’48 former parent, October 19, 2019 Jun Xue current parent, December 29, 2019
In Memoriam includes Blake community members whose deaths were reported to the school prior to July 2020. Please inform the Institutional Advancement Office of community member deaths at (952) 988-3430 or cyrus@blakeschool.org.
18 Cyrus
Class Notes were submitted prior to April 2020.
CLASS NOTES
LEARNINGWORKS AT BLAKE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NATALIE OWENS-PIKE ’07 (FAR LEFT) LEFT HER ROLE THIS SUMMER TO ATTEND DIVINITY SCHOOL AT YALE UNIVERSITY. KATHY NOLAN ’07 MARRIED DANIEL NISSEN IN THE COLORADO MOUNTAINS AT THE AIR FORCE ACADEMY. PICTURED, L TO R: SISTER CHRISTY NOLAN ’12, DAD DON NOLAN, KATHY, DANIEL AND MOM PAM NOLAN.
own. I doubled down on my work at Lose It!, a popular weight loss app where I have been working for eight years and which has personally helped me lose over 50 pounds. I’m proud to report that last month the founder pro moted me to CEO, taking over the company he has spent over a decade building. Despite all the hardships, I [have a] sense of happiness and optimism that makes me excited for what the future will bring.” Christine Brooks White writes, “My family welcomed our daughter, Elizabeth ‘Rosie’ White on October 14, 2019. Her big sister, Caroline (age 2), is loving her little sister and has begrudgingly shared a few of her favorite toys.”
02
Katie Spencer moved with her family (Jeremy Harkey, Cody, 4.5 and Ciela, 2) to Evergreen, Colorado. Through her business, Northbound Consulting (www.northboundconsulting.co), she integrates values, leadership development and the meaning of wealth to help individuals, families and teams find and use their unique voice. She also offers executive coaching and leadership
development to mission-driven companies, which is inspired by her husband’s impact investing fund, Groundswell Ventures (www.groundswell-ventures.com). Katie writes, “Evergreen is just off of the highway on your way to Colorado’s best ski resorts— stop in and say hello!”
05
Laura Massie married Scott Furnary on July 20, 2019, and had a wonderful time celebrating with family and friends back home in Wayzata, Minnesota. The couple lives in Rye, New York, and works in Manhattan, where Laura is an innovation and brand strategy director. Samantha Porter earned her Ph.D. in anthropology at the University of Minnesota. She has been selected to serve as an ambassador for the If/Then program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which seeks to inspire middle school girls to envision themselves in STEM careers.
07
Natalie Owens-Pike begins a new chapter after seven years in leadership of LearningWorks at Blake. She left her role as executive
BLAKE FAMILY AND FRIENDS CELEBRATED KYLE BOYD’S ’08 WEDDING ON OCTOBER 19, 2019. PICTURED, L TO R, ERIN DORSEY ’08, NICK PALOMBO ’08, KENDALL BOYD TYSON ’05, ZACH GULLA ’08, BRITTANY RANDOLPH GULLA ’08, KYLE, JOHN GULLA (FORMER HEAD OF SCHOOL), KASEY BOYD ’10 AND JOHN RANDOLPH ’80.
director at the end of summer to pursue a career in ordained ministry. She started her master’s in divinity at Yale University this fall. Though leaving LearningWorks at Blake is bittersweet, Natalie and her husband, Alex, look forward to connecting with alums in New Haven and the surrounding area.
08
Kyle Boyd married Archana “Archi” Vamathevan on October 19, 2019, in St. Paul. The couple work and live in Seattle, Washington. Paige Esterkin married Jonathan Bronitsky on November 23, 2019, at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Florida. Their wedding was featured in the New York Times. The couple resides in Washington, D.C. with their dog, Rufus. Paige is the deputy assistant secretary for policy development at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Her husband is the chief speechwriter and senior advisor for strategic communication to U.S. Attorney General William Barr.
09
Sarah Pomerantz Petit and Reid Petit ’03 welcomed
their first child, Everett Winsor Petit, on June 16, 2019.
10
David Kang and Paul Koullick co-founded Keeper Tax, the first tax filing software designed for freelancers. After six months of development, the product, which uses AI to scan purchases for tax write-offs and integrates those savings into tax returns, officially launched in the U.S.
12
Danielle Brewer was awarded the Rodney Wayne England, M.D. Scholarship, which recognizes outstanding achievement in medical student performance, by the Minnesota Chapter of the National Medical Association (a.k.a. the Minnesota Association of Black Physicians/the Minnesota Association of African American Physicians). Danielle completed her fourth year at the University of Minnesota Medical School and graduated in May. Vasiliki Papanikolopoulos started Curiati Collective as a way to bridge her interests in craft, community and cuisine. She believes progress toward a regenerative and sustainable future is possible and each of Special Issue 2020 19
CLASS NOTES
PAIGE ESTERKIN ’08 MARRIED JONATHAN BRONITSKY IN CORAL GABLES, FLORIDA, IN NOVEMBER 2019. BLAKE WEDDING GUESTS INCLUDED 2008 CLASSMATES EMILY MOOS, KATHRYN DASBURG, LAUREN GELLMAN KEYSER AND HER HUSBAND, WESLEY KEYSER, JILLIAN AVERY, JAMIE DONALDSON, ZACHARY GULLA, BRITTANY RANDOLPH GULLA, VERONICA PETERSON PLIMPTON AND HER HUSBAND, EUGENE PLIMPTON.
the daily ways we consume makes a difference. Vasiliki is working on another component of Curiati Collective centered on conversations with small shop owners who create places to consume locally and responsibly. To learn more, visit curiaticollective.com or follow Curiati Collective on Instagram for daily posts.
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Aliya Feroe, a thirdyear Harvard medical student who identifies as queer, is part of a push to improve health care for LGBTQ patients by increasing LGBTQ enrollment and training in LGBTQ health issues in medical schools. Alexandria Herr, who earned a master’s in environmental change and management from Oxford University and is a Ph.D. student at UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, was selected as runner up for Climate Outreach’s Climate Communications Research Award. Her study on the role of deadlines in climate communication found they do not produce significantly
EVERETT WINSOR PETIT IS THE SON OF SARAH POMERANTZ PETIT ’09 AND REID PETIT ’03.
different responses compared to non-deadline narratives in terms of affect, risk-perception or pro-environmental behaviors.
offers a close look at Jim’s professional architectural work as well as his other artistic pursuits.
14 16
Libby Rickeman, a junior at MIT and a member of the women’s tennis team, received the Christine Davis Sportsmanship Award at the 2019 NEWITT Tournament at Smith College and Mount Holyoke.
Hirsh Shekhar enrolled in the M.D. program at Yale Medical School in August 2019.
Halley Fine joined the doctorate of physical therapy program at the University of Pittsburgh this summer. Hannah Korslund, a senior at Johns Hopkins University, finished her final season on the women’s volleyball team with a NCAA Division II national championship. The Blue Jays are just the third team in the NCAA Division III history to finish the season undefeated.
17
Emma Dayton curated an exhibit for the Minnetonka Center for the Arts featuring the work of her dad, the late Jim Dayton ’83. Jim Dayton: Artist in His Studio
19
Izzy Daniel, now a sophmore forward for Cornell, was named Rookie of the Year in the Ivy League women’s ice hockey postseason awards. Madeline Wethington, now a sophomore defenseman on the Gophers’ women’s hockey team, was named the Western Collegiate Hockey Association preseason rookie of the year and scored Minnesota’s first goal of the season in the team’s winning game over Colgate University.
SUBMIT YOUR CLASS NOTES AND PHOTOS TO CLASSNOTES@BLAKESCHOOL.ORG. 20 Cyrus
KHYLE EASTIN ’12 AND ALYN EASTIN MOORE (FORMER UPPER SCHOOL GRADE DEAN) CELEBRATE THE MARRIAGE OF KYLE BOYD ’08 WITH MOTHER OF THE GROOM CHERYL BOYD (FORMER ADMISSIONS TEAM MEMBER, PICTURED AT LEFT).
Class Notes were submitted prior to April 2020.
Former Faculty Joanne Esser, former pre-kindergarten teacher, released Humming at the Dinner Table (Finishing Line Press), a collection of poetry that explores a wide range of subjects including family and early memories. James Lange worked for more than 40 years as chief engineer at Blake (1958-78, Blake campus; 1978–98, Northrop campus). He retired to Park Rapids, Minnesota, where he built a lake home. He’s still in good health at age 85 and tries to fish every day. KC West, former Middle School English teacher and third grade teacher, published her first novel, Minor Dramas and Other Catastrophes (Berkley). When a devoted teacher comes under pressure for her progressive curriculum and a helicopter mom goes viral on social media, two women at odds with each other find themselves in similar predicaments.
VOICES Change You often have the feeling of being watched, and you study snakes to learn how to shed your skin. You wish you could bleach your face to the palms of your hands and dye your hair in a bed of marigolds. You see in pale hues. A side effect of wishing to see in blue. You tell me these are just dreams. Just some lucky pennies you collect and store in a recycled coin purse. That nothing there really adds up to a dollar and that you can’t really buy anything with loose change. Have you learned to become invisible then? How to hold your breath so they can’t see you cross the bridge? Did you know that his life was worth twenty dollars? Cheryl Minde ’20 was Minnesota’s Poetry Out Loud state champion in 2018 and received two silver keys from the Minnesota Scholastic Writing Awards in 2020. During her time at Blake, Minde was a member of the Student Diversity Leadership Committee, the Martha Bennett Gallery Committee and competed on the varsity basketball and track and field teams. She began studying at Wellesley in the fall.
And that hers was summed up in eight wounds? Can you accept that some people can only talk to you with holes in your back? That it will be the only time they will see you? When you’re asked to come back safely, don’t put your trust in change. Dreams that do not amount to anything, will be the reason you don’t make it home one day.
Special Issue 2020 21
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