NWS Magazine Spring 2021 by The Northwest School

Celebrating 40 Years A Publication for Alumni & Friends

Spring / Summer 2021

northwestschool.org

Dennis Bisgaard Interim Head of School

Margie Combs, Editor Director of Communications Julie Lombardo Interim Director of Development Svetlana Turetskaya Alumni Program Coordinator Maria Mazcorro Development and Volunteer Coordinator Peter Woodburn Website and Digital Media Coordinator

The Northwest School is an international college preparatory and boarding school for girls and boys, grades 6-12. Inquiries for academic year admission should be directed to Michele Sanchez, Director of Admissions and Enrollment Management. michele.sanchez@northwestschool.org 206.682.7309 Inquiries for international admission should be directed to John Lloyd, International Program Coordinator. john.lloyd@northwestschool.org 206.682.7309

Inquiries for global partnerships and programs should be directed to Dmitry Sherbakov, Director of Global Marketing and Programs. dmitry.sherbakov@northwestschool.org 206.816.6202 The Northwest School Magazine welcomes notes and photographs by alumni, parents, and friends. Please email to alumni@ northwestschool.org.

Contributing Writers Margie Combs Julie Lombardo Peter Woodburn Svetlana Turetskaya Contributing Photographers Peter Woodburn Richard Ha Matt Chadsey Adam Levin-Delson NWS Archives NWS Faculty, Students, Parents, and Alumni Graphic Design Barbara Chin

Table of Contents

cover photo (right to left): Poppy N. ’26, Hamilton H. ’25, Ana Elisa T-F. ’25, Elliott C. ’25, and Malia Taggart, hiking with the Outdoor Program group to Lena Lake, April 2021 this page: Outdoor Program at Lena Lake, April 2021

Head’s Message

Teaching in a Pandemic

Our 40th Anniversary Story

Q&A with Ray Wilson, Head of School

News and Notes

Celebrating 40 Years at Community Meeting

Northwest Students Return to Campus for Hybrid Learning

Students Initiate School Plan for Carbon Neutrality

Community Reflects and Learns Through MLK Day Celebration

Chemistry Students Examine Impact of Water Pollution

Environmental and Climate Justice Speaker Series

Students Amplify Internment Camp Stories

Students Prep for Powerful Virtual Concert

Nutritious Fare in a Pandemic

First Faculty of The Northwest School

What Makes a Great Faculty

Faculty and Staff Roster, August 29, 1980

The Northwest School’s First Graduation

Alumni Profiles

Shirin Etessam ’84

Dara Pressley ’89

Andrew Miksys’87

Vintage NWS Chairs Adopted by our Alumni!

Alumni Happenings

40 Years of Generosity

You Did It! Pizazz Raises More Than $400,000

o one could have imagined that Northwest School would celebrate its 40th Anniversary in the midst of a global pandemic and within a remote learning environment for a significant chunk of the school year. As a relatively young school, Northwest has seen its share of challenges and complexities over the years. Yet the school has also experienced extraordinary highlights, unique moments, memorable successes and triumphs, and of course, a long list of remarkable, inspirational, and innovative educators.

The Heart of The House

One constant for the past forty years, and at the heart and epicenter of our wonderful school that came to life in 1980, is the imperative of good teaching, life-long learning, and deep dives into the curricular and cocurricular riches of the world. In this Spring Magazine you will be introduced or re-introduced to some of the teachers who made up Northwest’s inaugural faculty. From day one, it was always lucidly clear that the success of a new school, of any school, would depend on the exceptional quality of its faculty and a deep commitment and focus on student-centered learning. Our faculty today not only continue to bring breadth, depth, commitment, exceptional experience, and skills, they have also demonstrated tremendous flexibility, resilience, care, compassion, resolve, and grit. In this pandemic year, they have been pivoting and moving nimbly between in-person, remote, and hybrid instruction, embracing new technologies and platforms with the landscape continuously shifting, all the while supporting one another, enriching the lives of our students, and continuing to build community among parents and guardians. Innovative teaching, academic agility, community, and social justice have all been fundamental pieces of our school’s history and legacy. To the next forty years and our continued success.

Dennis Bisgaard Interim Head of School

Our 40th Anniversary Story

he values of The Northwest School are seeded deep in its history, reaching back at least two decades before the opening day of school. Thanks to the dedicated work of archivists Alice Shahan and Amanda Demeter, this rich history is now available in The Northwest School Story 1980-2021, published this spring. If you have not received your printed copy, please notify Alumni Coordinator Svetlana Turetskaya at svetlana. turetskaya@nothwestschool.org and make sure she has your up-to-date mailing address. In the meantime, you can leaf through the digital version of the timeline on the school’s website under About the School > History and Culture. Enjoy!

04 01 Erica Bergamini, teaching a hybrid

class of 6th Grade General Science 02 Erica shows the results of a pH

indicator to Benson R. ’27 (front) and Lucas F. ’27. 03 Music teachers Jo Nardolillo (arm

raised) and Ethan Sobotta teach Middle School band and orchestra students on the West Court. 04 Center spread of The Northwest 03

School’s 40th Anniversary Story, published April 2021

Q&A with Ray Wilson, Head of School

I first started teaching math and science to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, then taught math and history in high school. About two years into my high school tenure, the head of school said I had to chose one or the other. I’m a sociology major—I love math but that’s not my major. I came back and said I’m going to go down the history path. The reason why is because with math the answers are always the same—there may be multiple ways to get there but the result will be the same. With history, things can change depending on the current climate and there is always the opportunity to compare and contrast today with yesterday. My background in sociology gave me a lens through which to view history and to teach history. I’ve always felt energized by that.

e are excited and honored to welcome Ray Wilson as our new Head of School, beginning July 1, 2021. Ray brings 28 years of teaching, coaching, and leadership experience in independent schools. As a progressive educator, he believes in the primacy of academics and the value of experiential learning that is relevant to student’s lives. Ray’s impressive breadth of experience in education includes his tenures as history teacher, Middle School & Upper School Director, Director of College Counseling, Director of Athletics, Assistant Dean of Students, international boarding/dorm parent, domestic and international admissions panels, Finance Committee, campus master planning, and new building campaigns and construction. Beyond the campus, Ray is on the Steering Committee of the Pacific Northwest chapter of People of Color in Independent Schools. He has spearheaded diversity workshops on curriculum development, student support, and building inclusive school culture. Northwest School Magazine Editor Margie Combs recently sat down with Ray, on Zoom, for a conversation about teaching, mentoring, and building school community.

Start with your teaching. You have been both a math and history teacher, which is an unusual pairing of interests.

How have you applied your sociology background in the classroom? I can help students develop a sociological lens, which in turn will help them view any history or literature through that lens. I lay that over the courses I’ve developed over the years, the most recent being The Sociology of Malcolm X and The Japanese-American Experience during WWII. I’ve refined them to fit the current day climate. I give students a two-week crash course in sociology at the beginning of the term, and then we jump right into the text. I feel it is important to give students a sociological framework first because that serves to protect their emotional base. We’re able to have generative questions based on the reading and to identify patterns of behavior, patterns of thought, and systems or structures that are in place to sustain those patterns. In my class on Malcolm X, I ask my students to take notes in three columns: Column 1) Write notes on the Autobiography of Malcolm X by using sociological perspectives taught in class; Column 2) Identify examples from the reading that make you think about your current school experience; Column 3) Identify connections from the reading that make you think about your life outside the school. So, my students have three entry points by which they are able to synthesize and develop their own analysis, and this serves to connect them emotionally to the work. I feel like I got the most out of my students once we were established as a micro-community within that classroom. Am I a historian? No. I tell the kids I am not a history buff; I don’t commit dates to memory, but if you ask me what the impact was of certain events on different groups in society, we can talk about that. It’s a different way of exploring history.

01 Head of School Ray Wilson

Given the current climate of racial tension in the country, how do you create a safe space for open discussion in your classroom? My classes have been a fifty-fifty split between white students and students of color, and there has never been a student in my classes who felt defensive or angry. I know I am successful in creating a safe classroom when the white students in the class are able to say “white,” as in “a white person in the book said this or that.” When we are able to talk in racial terms openly, that is when I know everyone feels safe to express themselves— that’s the goal. In my other course, the Japanese American Experience during WWII, I approach it in the same way: a crash course in sociology at the beginning and then we talk about the experiences of generations of Japanese-Americans in the United States. We are able to think about the conditions that led to systemic acts of discrimination as a way to interrupt those conditions in the current day. Students are able to recognize patterns of behavior or structures that can, if left alone, potentially cause a repeat of historical traumas.

You identify yourself as having a collaborative leadership approach. What does that mean and look like in your work as a teacher, coach, and administrator? I’ll answer this from two angles: The first is an intellectual angle. There is a book, The Anatomy of Peace, which was given to me in about 2009. That text has opened my eyes to understanding the origins of conflict and has helped me to get out in front of it, to be proactive in either mitigating or interrupting signs that can lead to conflict. It is important to be surrounded by people who have read it as well, so I will be asking members of The Northwest School administrative team to read this text. We must have a shared working framework around how we will be with one another as we navigate this upcoming transition. The second is a text called Spark. The book goes behind the scenes of the Cirque de Soleil and chronicles what goes into putting on a performance—as an audience, we have no idea. There are many lessons to be learned from it regarding teamwork. This is a text that every member of the faculty will read over the summer. By exploring the role that we each play in ensuring a positive experience for students and colleagues, we can develop a shared purpose and goals that will guide our work. The second angle is my lived experiences. First off, I assume best intentions. Because I start with that premise, it helps me to receive someone’s concerns or even complaint without getting my ego bruised—I don’t lead with an ego in that way. It helps me to remain in a team mindset.

Speaking of team mindset, you’ve coached basketball for many years. Has that informed your collaborative approach?

As a teacher and coach, you’ve mentored many students. Are there mentors who have played important roles in your life and career?

As a longtime athlete, I know that being coachable is important and so is being an effective coach. I often will inquire about what goals or objectives an individual might have, what are their strengths, what areas they can focus on, and then engage in a conversation about how I can be supportive and help them rise to the level they see for themselves. On the court you have five players with different responsibilities but they all have the goal and charge to blend their responsibilities to score a basket. I’m able to see one person’s role and another person’s role in an organization and how they can complement one another in order to achieve a particular outcome. I think of it as an interactive Venn Diagram: we all have different attributes and skill sets but that common piece in the middle is where we all should be sitting right now.

I’ve had mentors of all different backgrounds— that is of foremost importance to me. Each person has served a different role in that mentoring journey. Two mentors made a difference for me at pivotal moments in my career. They said, “Ray, have you given a thought to something outside of what you’re doing now?” They prompted me to reimagine myself in a broader way and that, to me, was very impactful. They saw something in me I hadn’t even thought about. I try to replicate that as much as possible as I teach and coach.

Another aspect of my approach is that I don’t get rattled. You won’t see that in me at all and it comes from coaching. I’ve been through many games, nail biters, you name it, and I never sit down when I’m coaching— I want to feel the energy. I live vicariously through the people I am working with. It’s another layer of focus and excitement that I bring to my work, but in a healthy way.

01 01 Ray, conducting a recorded

interview with Cofounders Mark Terry and Ellen Taussig for the annual fundraiser for financial aid. 02 Ray welcomes prospective

families to the school’s virtual tour of the campus posted on the website, 2021.

You’re a person of color who has been mentored for the past eight years by a person of color. Has that played a significant part in your development as a leader?

How are you anticipating stepping into this new role as Head of School at Northwest? What excites you and what do you see as a possible challenge?

The important role that a person of color has played for me is more as an example than as a direct advisor of what to do or not to do. Currently, at Bush, the head of school is a person of color and seeing over the last six or seven years how he has navigated the role of head of school has provided lessons and takeaways for me. The most important point of that is to be authentic, genuine, and true to who I am as a person and be in position to convey that message to others. When I am in conversations with people of color who are aspiring to leadership, I talk with them about the importance of being as authentically present as possible in their daily walk, while also understanding there may be challenges along the way based on their various layers of identity. Being in tune with multiple layers of identity and then recognizing systems and structures that are in place that can serve to either perpetuate or create feelings of being marginalized will help in espousing and behaving in a proactive manner. A huge part of what I have learned throughout my career is to be grounded in just living, learning, observing, and reflecting along the way.

Northwest is one hundred percent in alignment with my personal views about education: the school’s broad range approach to Humanities is a direct match for me; the school’s commitment to social justice work is of great importance to me; the emphasis on the environment, all the ways in which Northwest situates itself within the educational arena here in Seattle are important to me. I feel I can bring my complete self to the campus each day. I often give this analogy: Imagine you are listening to music in the car. When you pull up to the metaphorical gate of the school, do you feel you must turn down your music or can you leave it playing? I believe I can keep my music playing as I move onto campus at Northwest. The other is knowing that everyone who is working at the school and the families who have chosen the school for their kids, all have a common starting point and belief that the school is positioned to help everyone thrive in ways that are important to them.

If I were to name a challenge, it would be to help everyone to feel settled into this next chapter of the school’s journey. It’s a challenge, but one I am looking forward to. Going back to the belief that everyone is here because they want to be here, and because everyone wants to be here, let’s make our experience as positive as we can, knowing that there will be challenges along the way. It takes me back to The Anatomy of Peace—it will be an important framework to have when we reach those challenging moments.

News & Notes

The floor then went to Cofounder Ellen Taussig, who (in a pre-recorded video) provided a bit of history about the first graduation of Northwest School seniors in 1980. Those 10 graduates walked down the aisle of the Upper Hall to receive their diplomas in a ceremony filled with musical performances.

n April 7, 2021, the Northwest School gathered for a special Community Meeting celebrating the 40th anniversary of the school’s founding.

The virtual event kicked off with alumni Chaz Welsh ’97’s and Oce Eagan ’96’s children, Nico and Carlos, (known as The Welsh Sessions) playing instruments and singing “Happy Birthday” to the school.

Ellen was followed by Athletics Director Britt Atack who presented a history of the Northwest School athletics program. He featured abundant photos of some of the earliest sports teams at Northwest. The birthday Community Meeting concluded with long-time Humanities teacher Tamara Bunnell providing some context for the school’s room-naming conventions. Happy birthday, Northwest!

Celebrating 40 Years of Community Meeting

Northwest Students Return to Campus for Hybrid Learning 03

fter nearly an entire year of learning from home due to COVID-19, Northwest School students and faculty partially returned to campus for a hybrid learning experience at the start of Trimester 3. Returning to the House required some orientation days for both students and faculty. In the weeks leading up to the switch to hybrid, Northwest offered multiple Mask On Join Other (MOJO) Days for each grade level. The purpose of the MOJO Days was both to provide some on-campus and in-person social exposure for students and to help orient and adapt to the new normal of a safely distanced classroom experience.

To ease into the process, Middle School students first attended on-campus hybrid learning on Mondays and Tuesdays, and Upper School students on Thursdays and Fridays. Throughout the trimester, students who wished to remain in remote learning were allowed to do so and they joined their classes synchronously through Zoom. Noting the complexities that physical distancing presented for performing arts classes, Performing Arts Department Chair Jo Nardolillo created a performing arts rotation schedule for Wednesdays. Each week, the arts disciplines of dance, theater, and music had the option to participate in those classes on campus, allowing students to continue to engage in a critical part of The Northwest School educational experience.

0 1 Community Meeting in the Commons,

circa 1990s 0 2 Community Meeting in the

401 Gymnasium, 2020 0 3 Beginning at top of staircase: Juno S. ’25,

Keefe S. ’25, Max M. ’25, Cara L. ’25, Stella B. ’25 observe safe distancing as they descend from the Upper Hall during MOJO day, March 2021. 0 4 Humanities teacher Scott Davis, teaching

a hybrid Humanities class, April 2021

News & Notes

U Students Initiate School Plan for Carbon Neutrality

pper School students from the Environmental Interest Group (EIG) believe The Northwest School can be a leader in climate action and achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. To that end, they developed a proposal for the school to adopt a goal of meaningfully going carbon neutral by 2030 and presented it to the Board of Trustees Facilities Committee. With support from that committee and school administration, the students created the NWS Carbon Neutrality Task Force to develop recommendations and assess the feasibility of the carbon neutrality goal. Students cited the Northwest School’s core values and mission as driving the needs for institutional change and climate leadership.

he NWS Carbon Neutrality Task Force had its first meeting in late April and plans to meet monthly through Fall 2021. To launch the Task Force, EIG students put out an open call for students, faculty, parents, guardians, and alumni to express interest in being a part of the group. The group is currently comprised of seven Upper School students, two parents/guardians, and four faculty who represent science, humanities, facilities and transportation, and environmental sustainability. The objectives of the Task Force include: • Develop a comprehensive plan of strategies and actions that would enable The Northwest School to meaningfully achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. • Assess the physical and financial feasibility of such a plan. • Create opportunities for meaningful engagement in the process (input, feedback, and evaluation) for The Northwest School community. • Effectively share the story of this work with our school and broader community to inspire action at other schools and organizations.

“It is a complicated and complex process to figure out carbon neutrality and it is big enough to have an impact in the Seattle area and on other independent schools,” says junior Annika W. “If Northwest can accomplish this feat, we are setting a bar and providing a blueprint for others to follow.” The Northwest School has long identified environmental sustainability as one of the most significant existential issues of its time. More recently, in the context of the 2018 United Nations IPCC report that demonstrates the need to dramatically reduce GHG emissions by 2030 to stave off the worst of climate change, and in parallel with its participation in the 2019 Global Climate Strike and moving the endowment to Environmental, Social, and Governance Screened investments, the school has emphasized climate change as one of the biggest social justice issue of our time (the global and local impacts of climate change disproportionately effect already marginalized communities, particularly Black, Indigenous, and people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and young people). “While a single school cannot tackle climate change alone, the hope is to inspire other schools and organizations to take action and lead on aligning operations and business practices with contributing to a more just, equitable world and stable climate,” says Jenny Cooper, Director of Environmental Education and Sustainability, who is supporting the student effort to forge a path to meaningfully reducing GHG emissions.

The EIG’s carbon neutrality proposal specifically calls for the school to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions within its direct control (such as school buses or natural gas to power the school) to zero by 2030. To achieve this goal, students propose focusing on reducing emissions as much as possible onsite and using certified, verifiable carbon offsets when a viable option for emissions reductions isn’t yet available. A carbon offset is a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for emissions made elsewhere. The students stress that the focus is on directly reducing the school’s emissions rather than so-called “green washing,” which is maintaining carbon neutrality by relying solely on offsets. The reason for this focus is that offsets can have serious and complex negative impacts on social and racial justice. According to the EIG proposal, offsets would still be used but only as temporary approach to address GHG emissions that the school has less control over and for which there are no viable options to directly reduce emissions. For example, the proposal calls for all emissions from student programs and administrative airplane trips to be offset by 2022, and all international student travel and domestic commuting offset by 2030. “It is a lofty goal, but if we don’t start now, when are we going to start it?” says senior Iliana G. “For me as a senior, knowing we have younger members in the EIG who are able to continue the project and make it into something concrete ensures that our work will bring results.” The carbon neutrality proposal was inspired by a project completed by Northwest School alumnae Jena Utaski ’20. Working with Jenny Cooper and other Northwest faculty members, Jena completed a greenhouse gas emissions inventory of The Northwest School. To learn more about the Carbon Neutrality Task Force, or to express interest in joining it, please contact Jenny Cooper (jenny.cooper@ northwestschool.org).

he Northwest School community “Vocabulary around implicit bias engaged in celebrating the life and and how to present it can be legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on Friday, challenging for middle schoolers, Jan. 15, 2021. The day began with Indigenous but given the current events public speaker Lyla June and concluded with of our times, it’s necessary poet Yolanda Wisher. to begin to teach them that vocabulary,” says Alex. “My hope Normally, the schoolwide event is organized is that the students will come by students. However, given the complexities away with questions that lead to of remote learning, the faculty members conversations, either among their 01 stepped forward to facilitate the day this year. peers or with their parents.” Led by the Advancing Equity Team, faculty members presented over 20 workshops on Theatre teacher Ashleigh Bragg a variety of subjects. led a workshop called There is No Hierarchy of Oppressions— Lyla Jane, an Indigenous environmental Audre Lorde: Mindfulness, scientist, doctoral student, educator, Meditation, and Exploration of community organizer, and musician of Diné Sexuality, Queerness and Race. (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne), and She chose the title because European lineages, opened the day as she felt it was important to the keynote speaker, describing her lived talk to young people about the experiences and what the community can do intersectionalities of oppression to make Northwest a more inclusive space. and how Audre Lorde’s work “One thing I would say, in terms of building explores that topic deeply a more equitable and inclusive school and vulnerably. environment, is to challenge ourselves to 02 “What I want people to take break open our minds of what is possible,” away from my workshop is Lyla told the community. “What counts as that there is a whole system knowledge? What would the world look like designed to depend on us not knowing who if you are seeing it through my language, we are, or hating our bodies or ourselves for or Mandarin, or an Australian indigenous being different from what is socially praised language? We can learn there are many and historically and systemically uplifted,” ways of seeing and understanding reality, says Ashleigh. “Different is beautiful and understanding the world, and understanding it should be celebrated. Our relationships the Earth.” to our sexuality and being racialized in this After Lyla’s presentation, students chose country is an ever-evolving journey, and being from a wide range of workshops covering kind to ourselves and all of who we are is an topics such as implicit bias, Black feminist empowering way forward.” literature, re-energizing allyship, explorations After the workshops, the community reunited of sexuality, queerness, and race, and global to listen to poems from Yolanda Wisher, an voices within the Northwest community. African-American poet, educator, and spokenMath teacher Alex Chen led “Implicit Bias— word artist, who served as Philadelphia’s Poet The Hidden Biases of Good People.” Alex Laureate for 2016-17. Yolanda read both her facilitated a similar workshop in previous published and unpublished poems, including years, but this year decided to tailor his “Mentoring Joy,” “Secret Garden,” and “The presentation specifically to Middle Potter’s Field.” School students.

Community Reflects and Learns Through MLK Day Celebration

0 1 Lyla Jane, Indigenous environmental

scientist, speaks at MLK Day, January 2021. 0 2 Poet Yolanda Wisher reads her

published and unpublished poems to conclude MLK Day, January 2021. 0 3 Student-created mural of Dr. Martin

Luther King, Jr., in the Upper Hall, 2016

News & Notes

Chemistry Students Examine Impact of Water Pollution

ater quality and its profound impact on human health was the focus of an integrated Chemistry assignment for juniors this year. The unit combined the science of ions and compounds with the study of water pollution and environmental racism in the world. “We want the students to see what they are doing is applicable, important, and not just a stand-alone topic,” says Chemistry teacher Olivia Heeter. “You can learn about water quality through the context of ions only. But what about everything else, the harm to humans and the environment, and the bigger picture?” To practice the science behind water quality, students took two samples from different sources and conducted a water quality test to identify what contaminants resided in the water. Then students researched a variety of subjects related to water quality, environmental racism, and social justice. These subjects included microplastics in alpine lakes and rivers, the lead contamination of the Flint Water Crisis, the history of pollution of the Duwamish River, among others. Students demonstrated what they learned by creating a video, podcast, news blog, or article.

0 1 Shoreline of the polluted Duwamish

River, Seattle, 2018 0 2 Adrienne Hampton, Climate Policy and

Engagement Manager, Duwamish River Cleanup 0 3 Gabrielle Farrell, former Press

Secretary for the Elizabeth Warren for President Campaign 0 4 Harriet Morgan, Researcher, UW

Climate Impacts Group 0 5 Lylianna Allala, Climate Justice

Director, City of Seattle

Grace N. read articles about pollution in the Duwamish River, specifically one about BIPOC representation in science from the Delridge Neighbors Development Association. The article discussed how many of the environmental issues in the Delridge neighborhood, which is one of the most racially diverse in the city of Seattle, were being attended to by white environmentalists. “As someone who is mixed race, hearing other people talk about lack of representation in both media and STEM fields is great to see,” says Grace. “People don’t talk about it much at all, but we need to acknowledge it is happening.” Classmate Annika W. valued going beyond the standard labs and scientific studies of chemistry. “A lot of times people learn about science, work in science, and teach science, and they strictly focus on that scientific perspective without thinking of the broader implications,” says Annika. “It is a good lesson for us to combine our labs with Humanities-like research. Science can’t simply be single-focused—it must consider communities, and social justice aspects.”

Environmental and Climate Justice Speaker Series

drienne Hampton, the Climate Policy and Engagement Manager for the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition, joined Northwest School students, parents, guardians, faculty, alumni, and parents of alumni on Oct. 28, 2020 for the Environmental Sustainability Speaker Series.

“The series is through the lens of environmental justice and climate justice, and how these issues disproportionately impact already marginalized people,” says Director of Environmental Education and Sustainability Jenny Cooper, who organizes the series. “The series gives members of our community the opportunity to see how different professions have ways of engaging in the topics of environmental justice through university research, community organizing, city government, political campaigns, and a wide range of other sustainability practitioners.”

The event with Adrienne Hampton was the fourth in the series and the second one of the 2020-21 school year. Previous speakers include Lylianna Allala, the Climate Justice Director at the City of Seattle Office of Sustainability and Environment; Harriet Morgan, a researcher with the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group; and Gabrielle Farrell, the former press secretary for the Elizabeth Warren for President Campaign. According to Jenny, the series is an opportunity to bring people together to learn about environmental sustainability and build community, using the resources available within the constraints of the pandemic. Held over Zoom, the series allows for a casual, yet informative discussion among people of different ages and backgrounds.

News & Notes

Students Amplify Internment Camp Stories

leventh grader Shoshana R. was one of several students who this year dove into the lives of Japanese-Americans incarcerated during WWII. Along with her classmates, she strove to tell a lesser-known story about the Japanese-American incarceration by the United States government. Shoshana focused her required exhibit on the experience of females in the internment camps, informing on maternal healthcare, caring for children, acts of sexual violence and assault, and other difficulties faced by women.

“People usually learn about the living conditions and how harsh and bleak it was, but not about individual experiences,” says Shoshana. “I feel like, in general, women experience a lot of things that we don’t talk about, and I thought it was important to highlight this issue.” According to Shoshana, one of the hardest parts of the project was finding the information. Eventually, she found some quality sources on The Densho Project website. “The assignment wasn’t to tell the story of what happened, we already know that,” says Humanities teacher Curtis Hisayahu. “We wanted students to find a human-interest element, or some aspect of the process of incarceration that isn’t traditionally told, and amplify it. We wanted them to find their own small story to tell in the history.” 01

01 Historical photo of a Japanese-

American Internment Camp during WWII 02 Students performing in the

virtual Fall Music Concert, December 2020

To prepare for the assignment, students read Miné Okubo’s graphic novel Citizen 13660, a biographical documentation of life inside one of the relocation centers. Then, browsing through archives of the Japanese-American incarceration from The Densho Project, Smithsonian Museum, and others, students created visual PowerPoints with information slides on subjects such as baseball, women’s rights, and entrepreneurship in the camps. “We had to analyze everything so deeply, find our specific focus, and figure out how to tell the narrative,” says Shoshana. “I’m a visual learner, so I like this over writing a paper because all the same research and information is in the exhibit. It is just consolidated in a different way.”

he Northwest School proudly presented its Fall Music Concert on Dec. 16, 2020. The virtual concert featured pre-recorded pieces played by Middle and Upper School students.

“We may be alone in our rooms, but we can still enjoy the magic of playing music together with a little help from technology,” says Orchestra teacher Jo Nardolillo. “I am particularly proud of how all our musicians broke down these barriers, poured their hearts into our work, and produced a powerful concert in spite of everything that is going on.” Jo prepared the music for her students by uploading all of the individual instrument scores into a software program called Sibelius that mimics the instrument sounds and produces a pre-recorded computerized orchestra piece. Students then practiced together by muting their microphones in the Zoom classroom and playing their individual parts in sync with the computer-generated score. This muting eliminated feedback issues and latency problems that occur when all microphones are on. Despite the challenges of playing remotely, many students, such as senior Hana H., found growth as musicians.

Students Perform Powerful Virtual Concert “I trust myself and my playing more now,” says Hana. “I only know what I think the music is supposed to feel like. Because I am by myself and I can’t hear the other students, all I can do is my best to bring out what I think is the proper emotion of the piece and trust that my classmates are doing that as well.” In some ways, practicing for the performance during class was business as usual. Aviva L. ’25 noted that during class, Jo told only specific instruments to play various sections, just as she would do during an in-person class. “All the work that Jo puts in to create the backing track with the individual instruments is incredibly helpful,” says Aviva. “It doesn’t replace being in person, but it is the next best thing.” The Fall Music Concert included The Avengers: Endgame theme and other musical compositions such as “Carpathia,” by William Owens, the traditional American folk song “Oh Shenandoah,” and “Set Me as a Seal,” by René Clausen.

Nutritious Fare in a Pandemic

hen the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in March 2020 and The Northwest School shifted to remote learning, Director of Dining Services Bethany Fong and her team gathered to contemplate how they could still serve the school community. They looked at daily lunches, meal kits, and CSA-like boxes before settling on the House Specialty Program.

“Continuity, agility, and care for the community are three points that apply to the House Specialty Program,” says Bethany. “How are we caring for our faculty, community, and the farmers we purchase from? How are we agile, rethinking, and pivoting? How are we providing continuity?” Once every week, the dining room faculty provided pre-made meals for five, featuring Northwest School favorites such as yakisoba and curry. Community members came to the school to pick up the meals or at one of six locations around the area. From the very beginning, it was clear to Bethany that the pandemic would hit the food service industry disproportionately harder than other job sectors.

“There were people on my team who were unsure if they were going to have jobs,” says Bethany. “In thinking about the big impact COVID has had on society and the inequities it brought to the table, it is important to recognize that The Northwest School is not immune to any of that.” Bethany was able to recreate much of the Dining Program values in the House Specialty Program. From a sustainability standpoint, she committed to sourcing as many local ingredients as possible and assembling the meal kits with compostable packaging. “The themes of having meaningful conversations, connecting, and sharing ideas, and hoping that families can use the dinner to take a pause, all of that is what we do daily at lunch,” says Bethany. “Everything from how we designed the packaging to how we are delivering reflects our values as a program.” Recognizing that Northwest School families live all over the Seattle area, the dining services faculty loaded up a Northwest School bus each day of the week to deliver meals to families in Queen Anne, University Village, West Seattle, Crown Hill, Columbia City, and Bellevue.

News & Notes

A weekly newsletter echoed the daily information students normally see on the chalkboard while waiting in line at lunch. The newsletter included information about the meal, where the ingredients come from, and a “table-talk question” that came from the chalkboard’s question-of-the-day. The program was very successful but not without its challenges. On top of continuing to provide meals for the students living in the dorm, Bethany’s staff increased their work load from cooking for 2,500 people per week to 4,000 per week. The increase in quantity reflected the expanded portion sizes for each serving. These larger portions made up for the fact that students no longer have access to soups, an expansive salad bar, or the WOW-butter sandwich station. Challenges aside, Bethany and her team were pleased that families were sharing the lunch experience of their students. “Before, lunch was something only students and faculty could experience, but this was an opportunity to include families,” says Bethany. “It is not often families get to be a part of the day-to-day life of the school.”

0 1 Elham Kazemi (left) and her

daughter Neeku P. ’22 pick up take-out dinners, courtesy of the school’s House Specialty Program, 2021. 0 2 Dining Services faculty Miguel

Mora packs salad in compostable containers for the weekly takeout dinners, 2021. 0 3 The Northwest School delivers

meals at one of six locations around Seattle, 2021. 0 4 One House Specialty meal,

enough to feed a family of five.

First Faculty of The Northwest School I

n honor of our 40th Anniversary we pay tribute to the teachers who encouraged the passions and changed the lives of hundreds of students. When the doors to The Northwest School opened in September 1980, 41 founding faculty members greeted the students. Here is a small sampling of who was there.

Lisa Blodgett received a BA from the University of Washington. Having just received her WA State teaching certificate, she was working in a restaurant frequented by Northwest cofounders. Learning that she spoke Spanish, the cofounders recruited her to teach Spanish at the school. Lisa participated in approximately twenty-six international trips. She took students to Mexico in 1980s and started the popular Seville, Spain, program around 1991-1992, running that trip between 1991-2000. Together with Humanities teacher Daniel Sparler, she organized trips to Cuba (2001-2002), and her first of many El Salvador trips took place circa 1998-1999.

What Makes a Great Faculty

“

”

Gwen Jackson

Mark Gilstrap received a BFA in Painting and Drawing from University of Utah, and then exhibited his work widely throughout the West. He was commissioned to create a large mural and covers for a Black History text series, among many other projects. He created and led many art workshops and worked in the Arts in Education Office with the Seattle Public Schools. He was artist in residence at Briarcliff School in Magnolia. Mark initially met Ellen Taussig when they collaborated on the Seattle Public Schools Arts in Education program. Ellen recruited him to teach at Northwest around 1978.

(d. 2002) started her career working at independent schools in Lumberville, PA. When she moved to Seattle, she was a co-developer of the 4-4-4 Plan, which helped to desegregate Seattle Public Schools. She also worked as a liaison between the Office of Desegregation and the schools. After leaving the public school system, she was hired by Northwest School and later worked at The Bush School as a school counselor.

The very first action we took once we decided to start a school was to reach out to great teachers we knew and invite them to join us. Some came from other parts of the country to do so. As we hired new teachers, once we were convinced that they had expertise in their subject matter, we looked for passion, both for their subject area and about teaching. We also looked for their desire to be part of a collaborative community. – Cofounder Ellen Taussig

“

For me, “great faculty” has always meant people who know enough to challenge kids, care enough to support kids in meeting challenges, and who have a great sense of humor, take kids seriously, and don’t take themselves too seriously.

When we wrote the school’s philosophy statement, there was no question that the first sentence needed to be: “Excellence in education is determined by the quality of the faculty.” This was written before the school opened, and some years before the Mission Statement was crafted. This assertion was simply based on our experience in a variety of schools. No single educational philosophy or curriculum or schedule or architectural design or anything else mattered as much to the quality of the educational experience as the inherent quality of the faculty. So, hire and maintain a great faculty. Then worry about keeping the lights on.

”

– Cofounder Mark Terry

Faculty and Staff Roster August 29, 1980 Nancy Becker • Community Liaison Robert E. Beissel • Chair, Foreign Languages Marilyn D. Bennett • Chair, Theater Arts Lisa Blodgett • Spanish Larry Broder • Chair, Science Buzz Brusletten • Chair, Music Jennifer Cassel Hanni Crissey • Associate Director, Middle School Cass Dahlstrom • Word Processor Betsy W. Geist • Commons Coordinator Mark Gilstrap • Chair, Art Barbara Green • Middle School Strings Robin Hannibal • Office Manager Gwen Jackson • Registrar Jeff Jacobsen • Chair, Math Steve Kinzie • Middle School Latin Roger Klark • Librarian Faedra (Leah) Kosh • Art Markus Lefkovits • Consultant, Learning Disabilities Diane LeSourd • German Karla Lieberman • Ceramics Mac McGaw • Assistant Environmental Coordinator Rosalie MacMahon • Middle School English Justin Marshall • Receptionist Ken Mostow • Business Manager Gary Mozel • Middle School Science/Social Studies Melinda Mueller • Middle School Science/Humanities Lindy Newell • Counselor Chris O’Leary • Middle School Math Nancy Pollack • Chair, Humanities Paul D. Raymond • Director Pete Remington • Environmental Coordinator Sandy Schwartz • Chamber Music Floyd Standifer • Associate Director, Arts Steve Stevens • Chorus Lisa Stickelman • Ballet Martha Straley • Math Ellen Taussig • Associate Director, Humanities Mark Terry • Associate Director, Environment Pat VerEllen • Middle School Science Cheryl Wise • Chair, Dance

Leah Kosh received her BFA and MFA from Tyler School of Arts of Temple University, Philadelphia. She moved to Seattle in 1979 and taught drawing and painting at The Northwest School. Leah is a practicing artist and currently lives in Port Townsend, Washington. Her artwork includes painting and collage.

Roger Klark (1944-2002) was the first librarian at Northwest and worked in this role for ten years. A graduate of both Olympic College and the University of Washington, he served in the army from 1962 to 1965, stationed in Japan. After leaving Northwest, Roger worked at many bookstores in the Seattle area.

Karla Lieberman (1952-2010) taught students at Northwest for twenty-eight years. She created and ran the ceramics program until her retirement from the school in 2008. A graduate of the Evergreen State College, Karla was an accomplished glass and ceramic artist. Her sculptures have been curated by several museums across the country.

Floyd Standifer (1929-2007) was a jazz musician who sang, played tenor saxophone and trumpet, and was the band leader of the Floyd Standifer Quartet. He was instrumental in creating the jazz music scene in Seattle. In 1946 he started studying at the University of Washington, aiming to major in physics, but then began to play jazz with other young musicians such as Quincy Jones and Ray Charles. Floyd is included in the Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame and the City of Seattle proclaimed May 9, 1996, and October 20, 2000, “Floyd Standifer Day.” He taught at Cornish Institute, Olympic Community College, and at jazz and stage band clinics throughout North America.

Ellen Taussig received her MAT (English) from Yale University and was awarded a Fulbright/DAAD Grant, English Teaching, in Berlin, Germany. She was a teacher and administrator at the Oakwood and Newbridge Schools in Los Angeles, the Overlake School in Redmond, at Seattle and Bellevue public schools. She is a former Education Coordinator for the Seattle Symphony and was a founding board member of the Pacific Rim Camp for the Arts. She was a Klingenstein Fellow in 1997, a member of the State Commission on High School Graduation Requirements, and a Governor appointee on the state Higher Education Facilities Authority. Ellen was recognized as a Changemaker in Global Washington. She retired from Northwest School in 2011.

Mark Terry received his BA in Anthropology from the University of Washington, and MAT (Science Education) from Cornell University. Mark taught in the Project Open Future program, at the Oakwood School in California, at the Overlake School in Redmond, and in public schools in New York and Oregon. In 1971, he wrote Teaching for Survival, a book strongly advocating all schools teach environmental education. In 1976, he was commissioned to write the first environmental education guidelines for Washington State. He is a member of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology and is a leader in the national effort to defend and strengthen the teaching of evolution in the nation’s public schools. He was recognized for this work as the 2011 recipient of the Evolution Education Award of the American Institute of Biological Sciences/ National Biology Teachers Association. Mark retired from Northwest School in 2015.

Paul Raymond (1932-2007) received both his BA and MA in History from the University of Oregon and pursued post-graduate work at the University of California, Berkeley. Paul was the History Department Chair at the Midland School and at the Oakwood School in California, where he founded Project Open Future, one of the first summer programs for inner city youth. He was head of the Upper School at the Newbridge School in Beverly Hills and at the Overlake School in Redmond. At Northwest, Paul taught Humanities and was director of the Humanities Department. He retired in 2007.

The Northwest School’s First Graduation On a June evening in 1981, students, faculty, and parents gathered in the Upper Hall to celebrate the school’s first graduating class. Ten seniors processed down the center of the hallway to receive their diplomas presented by Board President Elizabeth McEachern. Theater teacher Marilyn Bennett was chosen by the students to be the keynote speaker. A particularly special element of the ceremony was the music. Jazz musician and faculty member Floyd Standifer, a giant in the Seattle jazz scene, played the processional. Renowned jazz and blues singer and board member Ernestine Anderson, accompanied by her jazz trio, performed several songs, including “Summertime,” “My Shining Hour,” “What a Difference a Day Makes,” and Teach Me Tonight.” As a thank you and parting gift, the senior class presented the school with an engraved silver platter.

Alumni Profiles

t thirteen years old, Shirin Etessam ’84 was among the first students to set foot in The House. When the school doors opened in September 1980, she arrived as a young 9th grader and marveled at what she saw.

“I felt I had landed either on some other planet—or in heaven,” says Shirin, who is founder and content and creative chief at Slay Agency in San Francisco. “It didn’t look like a school; it looked like a house. I had no reference for it: no bells, no lockers, and being told we were responsible for taking care of the school. There is nothing more humbling than giving a teenager a broom in front of their friends and saying, ‘No matter how cool you are you’re going to sweep the staircase.’” Four years earlier, Shirin and her older sister and mother had moved from their home in Iran to the United States. Her parents wanted to seek a better educational experience for their eldest daughter who was thirteen at the time. Then in 1979, Shirin’s father was hired by University of Washington to teach architecture and the family moved to Seattle. Entering the public middle school in 8th grade, Shirin experienced what turned out to be a miserable year. “It was right after of the Iran hostage crisis and as a young Iranian student I had a hard time. There was a lot of harassment and name calling. I was not happy.” Her parents heard of a new school opening on Capitol Hill, and as soon as Shirin toured the campus she applied and got accepted. 01

Becoming a Creative

Shirin Etessam ’84

Content and Creative Chief, Slay Agency

“Northwest felt like ‘come as you are,’” recalls Shirin. “I thought, wow, I can actually be who I am. I was very interested in theatre and, that first year, I was the youngest member of the play cast—I was really proud of that. I looked forward to coming to school and that was unusual—it had my attention.” In Humanities classes, Shirin remembered having big philosophical discussions. “I remember reading The Dancing Wu Li Masters, by Gary Zukav, which was not typical high school reading material. The topics we covered engaged me differently than I ever had been.” After graduating from Northwest, Shirin headed to San Francisco to pursue a degree in film with a minor in broadcasting at San Francisco State University. Though she wanted to continue acting her father worried that it wasn’t a viable profession for her. “He was worried about an Iranian girl in L.A. trying to be an actress. He encouraged me to make films instead.”

Digital Storytelling In 1996, Shirin produced Walls of Sand, the first feature film to ever premier online (pre-Netflix, -Hulu, and -Amazon Prime). Later, she founded oml.tv (formerly onemorelesbian.com), which is a platform for streaming queer content. Last November, it became the first 24/7 LGBT channel in the world specifically focused on queer women. “OML was really beautiful because it began as a passion play of mine, and now, it is a money maker. It has a huge reach: 250 million plus.” Meanwhile, as content and creative chief at Slay Agency, Shirin helps companies define and tell their brand and product stories through various formats and channels, including video, digital, print, social, and AR/VR. Her clients have included Facebook, StubHub, Intel, ServiceNow, Virgin, RingCentral, ABC, CBS, BBC, and Discovery. Along with her team at the agency, she is currently developing a TV series, among other exciting projects.

0 1 Shirin Etessam, in Bodega Bay, 2020 0 2 Shirin (second from left), with her son

Kian (holding Maggie the Magnificent), fiancé Tracey Mason, and daughter Iman (far right)

Parenting TikTokkers Shirin has two children, both adopted as babies. Her son Kian, born in Guatemala, is 15 years old, and her daughter Iman, born in Ethiopia, is 13. “They’re both ‘TikTokers,’” Shirin says, smiling. “If they want to describe something as old and passe they say, ‘Oh, that’s so 2012!’” Shirin co-parents her children with her former partner and is now in a new relationship. She and Tracey Mason are engaged and hope to marry sometime next year.

Allowed to Flourish At present, Shirin is embarking on yet another project. She is writing a book and designing a website that centers on self-transformation. Her ability to seek new ways of being creative and to keep learning she credits to her time at Northwest. “I knew I was well educated but it’s the culture of the school that stands out for me. It cultivated and nurtured my creativity. I was allowed to flourish and explore. I became acutely aware of my emotional intelligence and the importance of it. That has been a huge benefit.” After a moment of thought, Shirin adds: “I really think Northwest School made me. The school was an amazing idea that came to fruition and a lot of people really benefitted from it. I feel really lucky to be one of them.”

Dara Pressley ’89

User Experience Architect, ICF Next 01

ara Pressley ’89 is a designer and architect. Not of brick-and-mortar buildings but of digital spaces. She designs user-friendly, human-centered websites that allow users to rapidly and smoothly find important information.

“It’s my job to ask who is coming to the website, what are they looking for, who is the priority, and how do we serve up content for each user that arrives at the doorstep?” says Dara. Currently, Dara is the Director of User Experience at ICF Next, a global advisory and technology services provider with 7000 employees. Before ICF, she spent many years working as a consultant and as an employee in the commercial world for Fortune 500 companies, including AOL, Microsoft, and Accenture. In 2016 she decided she wanted a better quality of life and searched for a firm that would allow her to work in a remote-first environment. “My commute had gotten really bad on the east coast— it was two hours, one way,” explains Dara, who moved back to Seattle last year with her two children, 18-yearold Fauno, and 16-year-old Zion. “I decided I should be spending my time either with work or with family, not on the road. So, my priority was to work remotely. ICF was able to meet that need.”

At ICF, Dara works primarily on federal government projects as opposed to commercial. “I love the work I do now. I’m a partner and on the executive team.” A recent favorite project was to overhaul the data site for the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. The purpose of the federal agency’s data site is to provide the public with the latest behavioral health data and statistics, as well as timely access to mental health and substance abuse trends. It is the go-to resource for policy makers, journalists, and medical professionals, and yet the site was confusing and notoriously difficult to navigate. “You could not figure out where to go or what to do once you were on the site,” testifies Dara. She and her ICF teammates overhauled the information architecture, visual design, content, and backend architecture. “We not only solved the problem we changed what the initial ask was; we told them, ‘this is actually the problem you have,’ and we were able to solve it in less time than they had predicted. It was a fun project.”

Alumni Profiles

From Writer to Designer

Learning How to Learn

Dara’s path to user experience strategist has been anything but a straight line. When she headed to Scripps College in California, she thought she wanted to be a lawyer, but soon realized she wanted to be a writer. After gaining her degree in English from Scripps, she went on to Columbia College Chicago, and obtained an MFA in Writing and a MA in Teaching Writing. She was the first to obtain two master’s degrees simultaneously at Columbia. She got straight As in both.

Dara particularly appreciates how Northwest taught students how to think by examining both sides of an issue or historical event.

Despite these stellar credentials she had a hard time getting a fulltime college teaching position. She started looking for writing jobs at tech companies but the tech bubble caused a series of layoffs. She then turned to freelancing, creating cradle-to-grave websites, but did not like marketing and hustling required. One day, a head hunter asked, how about user experience (also known as UX)? “I said, what’s that? He described it and I said, well, that’s the part I actually like doing. I got my first UX job at AOL and never looked back.” At the time, there was no degree program for user experience; people were self-taught. Dara had learned webwork and technology at home (her mother was a computer developer) and her knowledge of psychology and human behavior came from her academic pursuits. “All my training in liberal arts really helped,” confirms Dara.

“Paul (Raymond) would come into class and say ‘Communism is the best thing ever!’ and by the time the class was over we were all ready to be communists. Then the next day, he came in and said ‘Communism is the worst thing ever!’ He was amazing,” recalls Dara, laughing. When students complained about the heavy reading and writing workload, Paul countered that college was going be so hard so they must learn how to do this now. According to Dara, the hard work paid off. “After Northwest, college was so-o-o easy. I saw my classmates struggling with trying to write an essay. I had been writing essays since 7th grade and term papers since 9th. The liberal arts at Northwest were outstanding. They taught us how to learn. To this day that serves me because I’m always learning something. I credit Northwest for teaching me to do that.”

In elementary school, Dara was in the public school system and had a good experience. But when she toured the public middle school, she refused to go. Her parents heard about Northwest School through a friend and took her there for a tour. “I saw Northwest was very much a community and not about competition. I was very, very shy before coming to Northwest and a competitive environment would have just done me in.” Starting at Northwest in 7th grade, Dara blossomed. She credits the dance program and the theatre training for her current ease at being in front of people. “In my field we do a lot of presentations,” confirms Dara. “As soon as I get in front of people now, it’s flawless.”

0 1 Dara Pressley, 2021 0 2 An Office of Population Affairs

website, designed by Dara and her colleagues at ICF.

Alumni Profiles

Andrew Miksys ’87

Photographer

hough his photographs are realistic and often have a political or social subtext, Andrew Miksys ’87 does not identify as a photojournalist. His is a fine art photographer drawn to people who live on the edges of society.

“I like people who are not in the mainstream—how they fit or create their own organic subculture,” says Andrew who grew up in Seattle but now lives in Lithuania with his wife, Ernesta, and brand-new twins born in April 2021: a daughter, Tulip, and a son, Arok. Andrew’s photography has been shown internationally, including exhibitions at the Seattle Art Museum, Vilnius Contemporary Art Centre, Kaunas Gallery, the “Ў” Gallery of Contemporary Art in Minsk, and Maureen Paley Gallery. He has been the recipient of grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, Fulbright, and the Aaron Siskind Foundation. In 2016, he was awarded the Balys Buračas Prize for Photography by the Lithuanian Cultural Ministry. Additionally, he has published several books of his images through his publishing imprint ARÖK Books, including DISKO (2013) from his series about Lithuanian village discos, and TULIPS (2016), a book about Belarus and the political situation there. His earlier work centered on the Roma, the so-called gypsies of Lithuania. “I choose subjects I want to learn more about and I start at zero and learn along the way. I ask some questions and leave it open,” explains Andrew. “When I’m shooting, I rely on intuition and when I see something I don’t expect I think, I don’t know what this is but I’ll figure it out. In Lithuania, I bought a cheap car and wandered around to villages, photographed a lot, then later looked and found a few images I thought I could make something out of. Then I built on those photographs.”

Finding One’s Roots

Getting Serious about Photography

For the last fifteen years Andrew has lived in Lithuania where his family has roots; his father was born there. At the end of WWII when the Soviets moved in to occupy Lithuania, Andrew’s grandparents fled on a horse and buggy with his father who was two years old. They made their way to Germany, spent five years in a refugee camp, and then were able to come to the U.S. The trauma his father suffered took a lasting toll. “I didn’t grow up in the Lithuanian culture,” says Andrew who attended The Northwest School in 11th and 12th grades. “At Northwest they taught Russian at the time but my dad would not let me take it. I had to take Latin. I learned about an event on Capitol Hill when they were unveiling a statue in partnership with Seattle’s sister city Tashkent (U.S.S.R.) and when my dad found out, he started yelling. He couldn’t understand why I’d want to go see it.” Although Northwest did not have a photography program at the time, Andrew knew photography was what he wanted to do. Andrew’s father was a good amateur photographer and took all of the photos for Bingo Today, a newspaper he published in Seattle for 27 years. As a teenager, Andrew delivered the paper to bingo halls and convenience stores like 7-Eleven all over the city. Eventually, Andrew took a camera with him and started taking photos in the bingo halls.

Developing an Artist’s Sensibility At the same time, Andrew was developing sensibilities at Northwest that would serve him as a fine art photographer. “My classmates were from all over Seattle, all different kinds of people who were really interested in their own thing: acting, dancing, music. It was really cool to see that,” says Andrew.

After graduating from Northwest, Andrew headed to Hampshire College in Massachusetts for its photography and filmmaking program. There he studied history, law, and photography. Says Andrew, “That’s when I got serious.” After college, Andrew decided he needed some life experience, so he traveled, first to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he started assisting photographers. Then he spent time in New York and ended up in New Orleans. “I learned about a fellowship program at LSU where they would pay you to get your master’s,” says Andrew. “I got my MFA in photography and filmmaking there—I was already motivated to do my own projects; all I needed was time and space to do my work.” Andrew received a Fulbright Fellowship and went to Lithuania for the first time. He photographed for a year then came back to LSU to teach for a year. Then he got a Guggenheim Fellowship and went back to Lithuania. There he started working on all the projects he has now made into books. According to Andrew, self-publishing one’s work has become a great way for many artists in the last 15 years to show their work. “You are directing the way people are seeing the images through the sequencing, the design, and the way the images are placed on the page. There are these huge book fairs in New York and Los Angeles, and I sell my books through those.” Meanwhile, Andrew’s journey as an artist has come full circle. Building on all the photos he took as a teenage delivery boy, his new book, coming out in July 2021, is titled BINGO.

At a deeper level, he was learning to be politically and socially active and to connect to community, values he is guided by today in his photo projects and in his life. “Paul Raymond would come into class and have the New York Times, and he would teach just by talking about what he was reading and doing. He was so politically active. In 12th grade we had to work on a political campaign and Paul talked about making a decision and voting. That stuck with me my whole life. I get so excited about voting.” Andrew names other Northwest teachers—Floyd Standifer, Mark Terry, Ellen Taussig—who made a great impression on him. “They really changed me’” confirms Andrew. “I realized I could do things with my energy and interests. Things connected.”

01 Andrew Miksys,

at his home in Lithuania, 2021 02 From BINGO, by

Andrew Miksys, 2021 03 From BAXT, by

Andrew Miksys, 2013 04 From DISKO, by

Andrew Miksys, 2016

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3322 w al

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Vintage NWS Chairs Adopted by our Alumni!

axter ’02

Ta w

M a d e n w a ld ’8 5

e started this year with a call to alumni to stop by The House to pick up our old, beloved chairs and take them home. In early January 2021, alums came to the school to choose the chair they felt most connected to (no two chairs were alike!). Bob Martin, a longtime former director of Northwest School facilities, remembers the maintenance crew and the environment team spending countless hours sanding out various engravings that some students left on the chairs. Thank you to all alums who adopted one of our chairs and to those who wrote to tell us why.

“

’1

Lots of memories come to mind when I see these desks: the squeak and wobble of their loose screws; notes spilled off of their woefully small tops; unique graffiti tattooed on each of their surfaces. But more than anything, these desks remind me of community. We gathered in rooms full of them for gradewide meetings and lectures. They were the foundation from which we grew together as a class. I am so grateful for all the learning that these chairs fostered.

”

– Alana Baxter ’02 er

– Ali Black ’16

– Jen Allen ’93

“

To some people this may look like just an ordinary lecture chair, a relic from the past. I see it as the dream that Mark, Ellen, and Paul had all those years ago. It is part of the very fabric of what made Northwest School so special. It has witnessed first love and heartbreak; been part of countless humanities lectures and orchestra practices; and been front-row center for many winter and spring fests. It has helped students focus and daydream. It has even been pushed aside and neglected. It is part of a unique community that spans the globe. It is my past and my present now that I have brought it into my home.

A li

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One of my strongest memories of these chairs was during the Nisqually Quake of 2001. My 11th grade class was in the middle of a Humanities lecture when the room started to quiver like a big truck was going by, only the shaking kept going and gradually got stronger. The Humanities teachers realized what was going on first and yelled, ‘Earthquake! Get under your desks!’ We all got down on the floor and put our heads under the small desk portion as far as we could before hitting a chair leg. The quake went on so long that I had time to feel both ridiculous for relying on such a tiny desk to shield me from possible falling debris and very aware that I was in a building that had been standing for almost a century. Thankfully, The Northwest School building knew a thing or two about staying in one piece through trauma. When the shaking had passed and we slowly emerged from under our tiny wooden protectors, I glanced back at the teachers and saw them making eye contact with each other and mouthing the words, ‘Lecture marathon!’ That day, I learned what was scarier than an earthquake: the thought of how much my hand would hurt after that much writing.

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6 & Greta Zor e ’1 n’ t i 16 h W

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These chairs hold so much character and sentimental value! I remember racing up from my Environment assignment in the basement to MLK for lectures sophomore year, trying not to get there so late that I would be left with a “lefty” desk. From taking notes in them during Cal Shaw’s lectures on the Protestant Reformation freshman year to facilitating Feminist Interest Group meetings in them senior year, the chairs seemed to be present for it all. What a gift!

”

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– Alex White ’16

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– Max Sarkowsky ’16

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These chairs bring back happy memories of science and Humanities lectures in Raymond, sliding down the narrow aisles between the rows, taking out my little tablet that just fit perfectly on the small desk, and scrunching my elbows together so my hands could get to the best position for typing. It sounds uncomfortable, but those lectures, especially ones from Mark Terry, transported me out of that chair and into worlds of history and biology. Something about the chair-desk combo made me feel like I was in my own little bubble of learning, only slightly squished, backpack between my knees, absorbing as much knowledge as I could before the period was up.

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I’m so glad to have this chair, where my mind was opened to the realities and human rights impact of U.S., domestic and foreign policy, and the vital essence of environmental stewardship and artistic expression. It’s also where I became aware of my responsibility to take civic action and that the power of one’s voice is the only thing that has ever created change. I can’t wait to sit in this chair again and think of all the amazing hours of learning it has nurtured. I intend to keep learning for as long as I breathe air and I invite you to do the same. All Power to the People!

”

– Dmitra Smith ’87

D m it ra S m i t h ’

Alumni Happenings Alumni in Science Conversation On February 25, we launched our Alumni Conversations via Zoom with our first installment of Alumni in Science. Our Alumni Conversations celebrate a variety of career paths our alumni have taken since graduating from NWS and highlight 40 years of strong education and mentorship at The Northwest School. Alumni in Science panelists represented paleontology, material science, biochemistry, chemistry, and other fields, working both in the academy and beyond. Thank you to our panel participants: Biochemist and Biophysicist Gabriel Braun ’15, Biologist and Ecologist Emily Buckner ’11, Material Chemist and Engineer Dr. Eric Manley ’07, Chemist and Nanotechnologist Dr. Lewis E. Johnson ’03, and Paleontologist Dr. Josh Miller ’96

Alumni in Theater Conversation On April 5, students, parents, guardians, alumni and faculty gathered on Zoom to hear our seven alumni panelists reflect on their career trajectories and creative pathways in theater. Topics that came up included finding one’s voice as an artist, staying resilient and creative, and the invaluable impact of NWS education and our strong theater program. Our panelists included Playwright Frank Garland ’16, Playwright Abe Koogler ’02, Associate Artistic Director Sophia Watt ’05, Author, Actor, and Independent Filmmaker Gina B. Lalonde ’02, Designer, Director, and Producer Max Sarkowsky ’16, Actress and Instructor Sylvie Baldwin ’11, and Producer, Director and Sound/Projection Designer Sam McHale ’16. Thank you to our alumni panelists and to everyone who attended this event!

Early Years Alumni Reunion 02

0 1 Alumni in Science Panelists: Left to right, top row first:

Gabriel Braun ’15, Emily Buckner ’11, Dr. Eric Manley ’07, Dr. Lewis E. Johnson ’03, and Dr. Josh Miller ’96

Alumni who graduated in the 1980s had a Zoom reunion on February 18. Joined by NWS Cofounders Ellen Taussig and Mark Terry, alums indulged in a lot of warm reminiscing about the early days in The House, including the first day of school on September 4, 1980, when 230 students stepped over the threshold for the first time.

0 2 Alumni in Theater Panelists: Left to right, top row first: Abe Koogler ’02,

Frank Garland ’16, Sophia Watt ’05, Sylvie Baldwin ’11, Sam McHale ’16, Max Sarkowsky ’16, Gina B. Lalonde ’02 0 3 Humanities teacher Scott Davis emcees the virtual

Pizazz event, April 2021.

Pizazz 35

You Did It! Pizazz Raises More Than $400,000

40 Years of Generosity

Our 12th annual spring fundraiser, Pizazz, took place virtually over four days (April 27–30). Nearly 140 contributed $404,000 in support of financial aid. Proceeds from this year’s event will benefit our families through two funds: the Raymond Taussig Terry Financial Aid Endowment Fund and The Northwest Experience Fund. Thank you for giving so generously! Our entire community is strengthened when we can ensure access to a Northwest School education. Emceed by teacher Scott Davis, our event featured daily videos from Scott, Interim Head of School Dennis Bisgaard, Director of Financial Aid and Assistant Director of Admissions Jonathan Hochberg, Director of Learning Services Hillary French, Learning Resources Coordinator Rae Page, and Director of Dining Services Bethany Fong. Parents Cynthia Tee and C.Y. Lee completed this series of videos by announcing their Pizazz gift to the entire community. On Friday evening, Dennis emceed a live Zoom event and introduced a collection of videos, including a Q & A with Incoming Head of School Ray Wilson and Cofounders Ellen Taussig and Mark Terry, and four solo student performances: Ana Elisa T-R. ’25, dance; Sophie R. ’21, written word; Coco O. ’25, dance; Wesley K. ’22, instrumental and vocals. The event wrapped up with a thank-you video from Ray.

he Northwest School community has been consistently supportive and generous since the earliest days. These qualities were on display September 4, 1980, when a group of committed families believed enough in Northwest and its founding trustees, its faculty, and curriculum to invest in the school with their most valued assets: their children! Throughout the past four decades, parents and guardians, alumni, alum parents, and so many others have come together in myriad ways to ensure that Northwest’s philosophy and values endure so that more students can benefit from all that our school has to offer. What follows is a partial list of events and initiatives that dedicated contributors and volunteers made possible, all to benefit the students and families at Northwest. • The Paul Winter Consort benefit concert took place in 1984, raising funds—and awareness—of Northwest during the school’s earliest years. • Seattle’s beloved Elliott Bay Book Company joined forces with Northwest in 1988. This fundraiser supported our library and has been an annual event, now Holiday on the Hill, ever since. • In 2005, The Concert for The Northwest School scholarship fund included performances by a few notable alums and an alum parent, including Stone Gossard ’84 (of Pearl Jam), Jason Finn ’85 (of The Presidents of the United States of America), and jazz musician Bill Frisell, parent of Monica Jane Frisell ’09.

All the videos can be found at

give.classy.org/Pizazz2021.

• A new addition to the main school building was inaugurated in 2006. This successful capital campaign gave us our current library, computer lab, photography lab, and dance studio. • In 2007, The Paul Raymond Endowed Financial Aid Fund was established to give more students access to a Northwest education and to increase the school’s socioeconomic diversity. This fund is now called “RTT” to honor all three founders. • The 401 E Pike building opened in 2014 and included a Black Box Theater, Dining Hall, Gym, and Rooftop Sports Field. • The Northwest Experience Fund (Xfund) launched in 2016 to provide support for all the extra costs beyond tuition for those families on financial aid. What stands out among all of these successes is a commitment to financial aid, a love of The Northwest School model of education, and the belief that more students should be able to experience and benefit from this model. We look forward to strengthening financial aid, increasing opportunities, and improving our campus over the next 40 years. Together, we have accomplished so much, and will continue to build on these in the future. Thanks to everyone, past and present, for your generosity, and Happy 40th Anniversary!

Thank You Pizazz Volunteers! Many thanks to our Pizazz Event Planning Committee volunteers, including Barb Chin, Emily Raymond, Jason Barbacovi, Julie Lyss, Katharine Gregg, Lisa Haselby, Madlen Caplow, Roger Capestany, and Sally Ketcham. They all shared ideas, gave great advice and feedback, and were always willing to offer help and humor when needed. Thanks for helping to make Pizazz the most successful in its history!

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage

1415 Summit Avenue Seattle, WA 98122

Seattle, Wa. Permit No. 10921

northwestschool.org

01 The class of 2021 and their guests pose for Prom photos at Lincoln

Park before boarding a ferry to Vashon Island for the event, May 2021. 02

02 from left: Seniors Oscar M., Minh N. Charlotte H., and Preston P. 03 Chris S. ’21 and his date

Printed on process chlorine free, 10% post-consumer recycled paper.

NWS Magazine Spring 2021

Articles inside

First Faculty of The Northwest School

40 Years of Generosity

Alumni Profiles

Alumni Happenings

News and Notes

Q&A with Ray Wilson, Head of School

Head’s Message