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Appointments and Awards
IN FEBRUARY, CLAUDIA
MCGUIGAN, an inaugural Walter J. Crain fellow, was appointed associate dean of faculty, effective immediately. This latest responsibility continues to build out her Hotchkiss résumé, which includes teaching math, serving as associate director of faculty recruitment, interviewing student applicants for admissions, coaching girls cross country, and being a member of the dorm team in Coy.
“I am incredibly grateful to be afforded this opportunity to serve as associate dean of faculty,” says McGuigan. “It has been a privilege to work alongside such incredible colleagues, and I’m looking forward to deepening my bonds and relationships with the talented and passionate Hotchkiss faculty. It’s an exciting time to be part of the Hotchkiss School community. I have learned so much in my short time here—it’s truly been humbling.”
While relatively new to Hotchkiss, McGuigan is not new to the boarding school world. Before moving to Lakeville, McGuigan taught languages at Westminster School where she also co-advised the student newspaper, served as faculty advisor to multiple affinity groups and clubs, and was a dorm parent. Previously, she taught at Watkinson School and Kingswood Oxford School. Prior to her teaching career, McGuigan was a merchandise planner at ASOS.
As a Walter J. Crain Fellow, McGuigan will begin coursework for her master’s degree in independent school leadership at the Klingenstein Center, Teachers College, next summer. She will also complete her M.B.A. at the University of Connecticut this year. She holds a B.A. in French and Spanish as well as marketing from the University of Northumbria. She also studied at the Université de Bourgogne, majoring in Modern Language in Business. She lives with her husband, Ryan, and their five children in Millerton, NY. H
Serena Oh Castellano Appointed New Director of College Advising Office
SERENA OH CASTELLANO
will join Hotchkiss as director of college advising on July 1, as Rick Hazelton P’19,’22, who has led the College Advising Office for the last 16 years, begins an exciting new role with the School as the director of the Center for Global Understanding and Independent Thinking (CGUIT).
Oh Castellano brings a great depth of experience and enthusiasm to her new role, having held leadership positions in admission, financial aid, and college counseling throughout her career in education.
She comes to Hotchkiss most recently from the Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York City where she has been director of college counseling since 2008. Prior to this, she served as an associate director of college advising at St. Paul’s School, at Wellesley College as both an associate director of admission and earlier in her career as the associate director of financial aid, and at Princeton University as an associate director of admission. She holds a B.A. from Wellesley College and a master’s in higher education administration from Stanford University.
“Hotchkiss is a school I have admired for a long time as both an admission professional and a college counselor,” says Oh Castellano. “I am thrilled to be joining this wonderful community where we live together and actively learn from one another. A college advisor has the distinct privilege of learning each student’s individual story at a pivotal point in a young person’s life. The fact that I get to continue the work that I love in a community that values excellence and generosity is truly a gift.”
This summer, Oh Castellano will move to Lakeville with her husband and their children. H
Week of Gratitude Recognizes Faculty and Staff
THE WEEK THAT STUDENTS returned from spring break marked a celebration of gratitude. From posters highlighting employees who have served from five to 35 years to a bulletin board where students, faculty, and staff wrote the reasons they are grateful to Hotchkiss, the entire week was designated as one of giving thanks. The Anniversary Awards Ceremony, held with all students in attendance during Community Time, recognized the winners of the Margot Hooker Award and the Robert and Candice Barker Staff Recognition Award. “Running this School is a tremendous undertaking,” said Head of School Craig Bradley in opening the ceremony. “Hotchkiss’s 335 employees have collectively provided 3,102 years of service. These colleagues contribute day in and day out to assure the excellence of the Hotchkiss experience.”
STAFF RECOGNITION AWARDS
Dennis Smith Receives Margot Hooker Award
James “Dennis” G. Smith III, assistant grounds supervisor, received the Margot Hooker Award, which was established in September 1996 in memory of Margot Hooker, a 28-year member of the Hotchkiss staff. It is presented annually to a member of the staff who best exemplifies those traits of character which distinguished Margot Hooker: thoughtfulness, reliability, attachment to the institution, cheerfulness, kindness to one’s co-workers, and the example one sets for others.
Lisa Brown, director of events and special projects, received the Robert and Candice Barker Staff Recognition Award, established in 2017 to recognize a staff member who, through personal commitment, dedication, loyalty, and willingness to go beyond the call of duty, has enhanced the sense of community at Hotchkiss. The award is sustained by the permanent endowment of the Robert and Candice Barker Staff Recognition Fund and honors Robert and Candice Barker, whose work for four decades exemplified dedication to the School. Robert taught history at Hotchkiss, with great distinction for 39 years, holding the E. Carlton Granbury Teaching Chair for two decades.
MILESTONE ANNIVERSARY HONOREES
25 YEARS OF SERVICE
Jim Kennedy, golf course manager in the Department of Student and Auxiliary Services
Richard Kirby P’08,’09,’14,’15,
The Independence Foundation Chair, instructor in chemistry
Alan Simon P’09,’10, instructor
in jazz piano in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts
Charlie Tokarz, instructor in
saxophone in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts
Additional Milestones
35 YEARS OF SERVICE
Joe O’Connor P’10, Manager of Auxiliary Services
30 YEARS OF SERVICE
Chris Burchfield P’08,’10,’18, the L. Blair
Torrey, Jr. ’50 Chair, instructor in English Ana Hermoso P’16, the Audrey Meyer Mars
Teaching Chair, Spanish program coordinator, instructor in Spanish Letty Roberts P’12,’15, the George and Jody Stone
Teaching Chair, instructor in mathematics
20 YEARS OF SERVICE
Iris Mortman, Health Services, registered nurse Danny Smith P’18,’20,’24, co-director of athletics Anju Taneja, P’04,’09, instructor in physics
SCAN FOR A FULL LIST OF CELEBRATIONS!
From Kentucky to Lakeville to Award-Winning Writer
How Daily Themes Inspired Prize-Winning Author Whitney Martin Collins ’91
BY WENDY CARLSON
WRITING DAILY THEMES PROVED to be a game changer for prize-winning author Whitney Martin Collins ’91 when she was a student. The writing practice, which dates back to the mid-20th century at Hotchkiss, takes place over a two-month period during which all lower mids are required to write up to 20 short essays.
Collins had arrived straight off the farm from Kentucky, and she struggled academically and in sports. “It’s a minor miracle I’m here today,” the alumna joked to students when she visited campus in February through the Nalen Writing Program. Putting her pen to paper for Daily Themes, however, transformed her Hotchkiss experience and set her on a path to becoming an aspiring writer.
The turning point came when she received an A+ and high praise from English Instructor Geoffrey Marchant P’93,’07 for one of her essays.
“He handed the paper to me and said, ‘You’re going to be a writer.’ That was huge for me,” said Collins. “So when your teachers tell you you are good at something, listen to them.”
The Nalen Writing Program was established by Skip Nalen ’48, P’79, GP’13,’15 as a gift to the School in appreciation of the writing instruction generations of graduates have received at Hotchkiss. Visiting Nalen writers inspire students and instructors in the art and practice of writing through classroom time and an evening reading with a Q&A.
Collins, who lives with her family in her native Kentucky, holds a B.A. from Hamilton College, where she majored in English and creative writing. She earned an M.F.A. at Spalding University. Prior to pursuing her graduate degree, she spent nearly 15 years working as a freelance writer for trade magazines before making the plunge into fiction writing.
Over the years, her work has garnered numerous awards, and her fiction has appeared in many literary publications, including The Southeast Review, The Pinch, and Lumina. She is the recipient of a 2020 Pushcart Prize. Big Bad, her collection of 13 stories, was the 2019 winner of the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction. In 2021, she placed first in Grist’s ProForma Contest for her story, “Cray.” Her story “Rocks 4 Sale,” is a nominee for the 2022 Pushcart Prize.
Her writing has been described as “magical realism,” a literary genre that interweaves realistic fiction with fantastic moments. Sometimes her stories have an element of horror juxtaposed with dark humor. Her writing in this style was already evident in the Daily Theme that earned her an A+. The prompt for the theme was to write about a fictional new head of school in an ordinary location. Collins chose to write about a seemingly affable and helpful man in a grocery store who turns sinister at the end of the story.
Sage Advice for Students
When she encounters writer’s block, she told students, she picks up a book by a writer she loves and reads, or she will force herself to sit down and write. She offered similar advice to lower mids who find Daily Themes daunting.
“Sit down and write five lines. When you think about it, you tell stories to each other verbally all day; so now, just write them down. You are all storytellers,” she said. “Just have fun with it.”
Bits and pieces of her own memories of Hotchkiss have played into some of her fiction. She often draws inspiration and ideas through eavesdropping on conversations or by simply observing situations in everyday places like airports, motels, or parking lots and adding her own suspenseful elements.
“You have to open yourself up to life’s oddities, those very normal situations where something unintentional and unexpected happens,” she explained.
Typically, her stories end in a way that is not thoroughly satisfying for the reader. “But that is the beauty of fiction,” she said. “If I tie everything up in a nice bow at the end, the reader doesn’t have much of a personal connection to it.”
Big Bad is a collection of stories about scrappy underdogs who are trying to overcome an obstacle, whether it is a person, a situation, or a condition. To readers, the plight of the characters can seem hopeless, but that is intentional.
“I always try to leave the ending with a little bit of potential for redemption, transformation, mercy, or justice. So, there is hope; I just don’t serve it up to you,” said Collins.
“I want my story endings to feel like I am giving you a meal, but there’s one thing missing from the plate. What would you put there? What do you think happened?” H
While attending Hotchkiss, Collins was inspired by the world around her and parlayed those experiences into her writing. Author Whitney Martin Collins inspired students in February as part of the Nalen Writing Program, telling them, “When you think about it, you tell stories to each other verbally all day; so now, just write them down...have fun with it.”
THE MISCH PHOTO:
