19 minute read
Alumni
From a middle school obsession to claiming the Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X season 33 crown in 2016, alumnus Adam Klein ’05 returned to the revolutionary reality competition in February 2020 to compete in a battle against all former winners. As Winners at War season 40 aired, Adam was a frequent visitor to the Nueva campus, where he had the opportunity to connect with another megafan in eighthgrader Sam B. ’24.
SURVIVOR WINNER
Adam Klein ’05
For 40 seasons, Survivor has entertained audiences with its gameplay, witty competitors, and unexpected plot twists. Nueva alumnus and Survivor winner Adam Klein ’05 recently participated in its latest season, Winners at War. Last summer, as the unanimous winner of Millennials vs. Gen X, Adam headed to Fiji to compete in an epic battle between all past winners.
Winning Survivor in 2016 was the culmination of Adam’s childhood dreams and one that he was able to share with his mom shortly before her passing.
To celebrate the launch of the new season, which began airing in February, Nueva welcomed more than 150 alumni, parents of alumni, Adam’s friends and family, and even a pair of former contestants to the Upper School on February 12 for a premier party. Adam’s quick wit was immediately on display, as he rebounded from being an early target to be voted off. During commercial breaks, he offered anecdotes about that unnerving first night with his tribe and fielded questions about the show to the delight of all in attendance.
Back on the Hillsborough campus, megafan and show aficionado eighth grader Sam B.’senthusiasm was barely containable, as his favorite contestant would be competing again. On February 25, the show veteran and the future hopeful competitor met to discuss all things Nueva, and, of course, Survivor. They discussed gameplay and strategy, and Sam’s lifelong goal of competing on the show. Adam also surprised Sam with his own Winners at War buff (see sidebar for Q&A).
Adam’s second run on the show ultimately concluded in episode nine, as he was the 11th person to hear, “The tribe has spoken,” and was voted out of the competition. Following his elimination from the game, he was sent to the Edge of Extinction, where contestants who are voted out are taken to a desolate, abandoned beach with hopes of winning a competition and returning to the game. During his time on the Edge of Extinction, Adam had a tearful reunion with his father. “I needed my dad to be here to get some sense of closure for my mom’s passing,” Adam said during episode 10. “Him being able to come here, it made everything OK.”—Diana A. Chamorro
← During their February meeting, alumnus Adam Klein ’05 recounted Nueva traditions that still occur today with eighth grader Sam B. SURVIVOR Q+A
Survivor superfan Sam B. ’24 asks Adam Klein ’05 about gameplay and strategy
SAM: I understand your love of Survivor started as a Nueva middle schooler. Can you share how you got into the show?
ADAM: The show started when I was 9 and I was in the third grade. By the second season, I made a fantasy league with my family. When I got to Nueva in sixth grade, it had already been on for a couple years and it was still getting better. Then Pearl Islands was the season when I was in seventh grade and it was massive! Were you even alive when it aired?
S: Well, I watched it in preparation for season 40 and it’s my secondfavorite season ever.
A: What’s your top?
S: Cambodia!
A: My top two are Cagayan and Pearl Islands.
S: Did any lessons or experiences you had at Nueva help you better strategize and compete on the show?
A: Yes, because the person I am today is because of Nueva. I really believe that. When I was in the fifth grade, I got in trouble a lot for just being too much. My mom would always tell me, “You need an off button.” I had so much energy, and I didn’t know how to manage it.
S: I can relate.
A: I see a lot of myself in you for sure. I started to realize as I was entering the sixth grade that I needed to change a little bit. The world wasn’t going to change for me and I needed to start to think from the perspective of other people. I realized I needed to adjust how I was behaving, dependent on the reactions of the people around me—social awareness. That is what that is, and I used to operate at my own speed. It was at Nueva where I learned to adjust, to operate at the speed of the person I am interacting with. More than anything, I learned at Nueva how to be a social human, and it was a perfect place to learn because everyone accepted people for all of their quirks. It was the perfect place for me to be comfortable in who I was, but also start to figure out how to be better socially and that’s how you win Survivor.
Do they still have a student council? Did you know that I started it? I created the student council (StuCo) for Nueva Middle School.
S: Were you president?
A: I was the first-ever president.
S: I was on StuCo in fifth grade and in seventh grade, but in first grade, I had a very similar experience. Did you have buddies?
A: With the Lower School? I think so.
S: My buddy was in eighth grade and told me about student council. This was right after Obama got reelected and I was fresh into politics.
A: Fresh into politics, and you were what, 5 years old? This is so Nueva!
S: I made a monthly presidential election, where there were three parties: the Art Party, the Sports Party, and the Math Party. People would run with a vice president, and we set up a whole voting booth outside. It was pre-Survivor, obviously, but it was similar to you. Our stories are so similar—hopefully I can win (Survivor) too!
A: That’s so cool and to hear student council still exists. That’s my legacy at Nueva!
ALUMNI (VIRTUAL) REUNION
More than 100 alumni and their parents virtually returned home for 2020 Alumni Reunion on June 6. The event reconnected alumni and parents, spanning Classes of 1976 to 2019, who Zoomed with one another and faculty members, and celebrated and paid tribute to Diane Rosenberg.
To view more photos from this virtual event, go to: tinyurl.com/ nuevareunion2020
TRIBUTE
9,900,400* MINUTES HOW DO YOU MEASURE, MEASURE 19 YEARS? in MEETINGS, in GREETINGS, in EMAILS, in PARENT COFFEES, in VISIONS, in SMILES, in LESSONS IN LIFE, HOW ABOUT LOVE? MEASURE IN LOVE SEASONS OF LOVE
← 2020 Alumni Reunion was reimagined into a joyous virtual homecoming for generations of alumni and parents of alumni, and celebration of Diane Rosenberg. Here are just a few of the participants.
→ Alumni singing their musical tribute to Diane
S TAY C O N N E C T E D! F O L LOW N U E VA O N L I N E…
instagram @nuevaalumni facebook @nuevaalumniassociation
Diane Rosenberg has been Nueva’s head of school for 19 years. Translated into minutes, that would be 9,900,400 minutes. To celebrate Diane’s tenure and everything she has meant to our school, Nueva students and alumni—spanning 16 years—came together to sing about her many seasons of love, under the direction of musical theatre director and parent of alumni Lisa Share-Sapolsky.
QUOTED
THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION welcomed the 92 MEMBERS of the CLASS OF 2020 into the alumni association with an official class pin, pennant, and laundry bag to showcase their Nueva pride in their dorm rooms and beyond.
#NuevaNosh*
While this past year has seen us transition from in-person get-togethers to digital meet-ups, the connection Nueva alumni have with one another and their former teachers transcends space and time. Prior to sheltering in place, alumni reunited to #NuevaNosh over a meal or coffee across the country. We look forward to treating you and your fellow classmates at future get-togethers, when it is safe to do so! To qualify, take a picture of all alumni at your event, and send it along with a short personal update and a copy of your restaurant receipt to the Alumni Office. We will mail you the reimbursement for the meal, and post your picture on social media!
*Please note, reimbursements are $50 maximum and are for food items and non-alcoholic beverages purchased for Nueva alumni only. Limit one submission per person per year. Class of
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Inducted into alumni association and received some cool Nueva swag.
(1) Class of 2017 alumnae (l-r) Swetha Tummala, Jill Mankoff, and Kathryn Swint had a Nueva reunion in Copley Square in Boston. (2) Upper School grads (l-r) Xander Hughes ’18, Laurel Rodriguez Mitton ’19, Zach Chroman ’18, and Effie Theodosopoulos ’18 enjoyed grabbing Greek food in Santa Cruz in January 2020. (3) Class of 2007 alumni enjoyed catching up and reminiscing about their time as Nueva students over pizza in fall 2019. Pictured(l-r) Rosslee Mamis, Spencer Corpuz, Alex Bhasavanich, Nathan Sklar and Chris Addiego. SAV E T H E DAT E
2021 Alumni Reunion A celebration for all alumni and parents of alumni
SAT U R DAY
JUNE 5, 2021
Hillsborough Campus
10:30 a.m.–12 noon
Alumni Coed Soccer Game
4:30–7 p.m.
Reunion Celebration
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Alumni Luncheon
Nueva alumni go out into the world ready to make a difference and accept exciting challenges—but there’s nothing like com- ing home. On Jan. 8, more than 30 recent graduates visited the Upper School campus to reminisce about the good old days and catch up on their current lives.
“Attending Nueva was incredible,” said Jess Karan ’17, who is enrolled in a liberal arts program at Kenyon College in Ohio. “I had amazing teachers and an ex- periential learning experience. I needed a nontraditional environment, and I had that at Nueva.”
Jess enjoyed catching up with Leo Ikle-Maizlish ’19, who is enjoying college life at Tufts University. He has particu- larly fond memories of Lee Holtzman’s Philosophy of Consciousness class and Claire Yeo’s English classes.
Brothers Yoni ’17 and Osher Lerner ’19 were in the mix, mingling with old friends enjoying the catered luncheon.
“This is a blast from the past,” said Osher, a student at UC Berkeley. “It’s great to be here during Intersession because it’s such a fun week.”
Yoni is studying computer science at Stanford University. He said Jen Selby’s Advanced Programming class prepared him extremely well for his university classes. In fact, he teaches computer sci- ence skills to 10 to 15 Stanford students every week as a section leader.
“The bond Nueva alumni share is incredibly special,” said Director of Alumni Diana Chamorro. “Many refer to their time as students here as the most transformational educational experience of their lives. While they no longer are current students, their relationship with Nueva does not end at graduation—this is a lifelong community and home for them. It was very exciting to have a great turnout from our young alumni at the luncheon. It was wonderful to hear where their post-Nueva journeys have taken them, how connected they remain to their former classmates and teachers, and how much they miss their school.” —Antonia Ehlers
ALUMNI WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
Stay connected with Nueva at
nuevaschool.org/alumni
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(1) During Intersession, Upper School graduates joined former teachers, classmates, and Diane Rosenberg for a luncheon on Jan. 8. (2) Alumni were all smiles posing with former teachers at the get together (l-r): Avery Cowan ’17, Matthew Salah ’17, Yoni Lerner ’17, Osher Lerner ’19, Upper School physics teacher Mark Hurwitz, Emily Steirman ’18, Assistant Director of Environmental Citizenship and alumnus Aron Walker ’99, Natalie Gould ’17, and Zach Chroman ’18. (3) Class of 2019 grads enthusiastically shared personal up- dates and reminisced about their time on the San Mateo cam- pus (l-r, clockwise): Julienne Ho, Leo Ikle-Maizlish, Laurel Rodriguez Mitton, Upper School economics teacher Patrick Berger (center), Eric Jung (back), Max Dillon (middle), Arun Johnson (front) (4) Alumna and faculty member, Lee Holtzman ’00, caught up with former students Jennifer Lange ’19 and Jessa Mellea ’18. (5) Alumnus Xander Hughes ’18 and Upper School English teacher Jamie Biondi spent time reconnecting at the January luncheon.
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↑ MIXED COMPANY
With a mix of up-tempo harmonies and choreography, Yale’s a cappella group Mixed Company delighted lower and middle schoolers in the GCC. This last stop of the group’s winter tour was particularly special, as Nueva alumna Kira Sze ’12 is a soprano in the 17-member group. A junior cognitive science major, Kira welcomed the excited students to the assembly and shared anecdotes of being a student on the Hillsborough cam- pus. Following the performance, she spent time reconnecting with her former teachers and Head of School Diane Rosenberg.
A Calling to Serve
By age 5, Tatyana Ray ’06 was already immersing herself in intercultural inquiry, sparking an interest that would eventually guide her life’s work and bring her to Ecuador as part of the Peace Corps.
She credits this early interest and passion to her Nueva education, explaining, “Nueva had a direct influence on my global awareness, beginning as early as PreK. We did a lot of intercultural learning. For me, that was the start of my formalized awareness of other lived realities.”
This awareness was also deeply personal, as her father is African American and her mother is an Indian immigrant. Being multiracial, but not speaking Punjabi, her mother’s native tongue, she hoped the opportunity to serve abroad could provide a collaborative space of cultural exchange that allowed for a deepening of her maternal roots.
“I have always felt a calling toward making our world more just and equitable,” she said.
Tatyana’s experiences as a woman of color are inextricably bound in advocacy work. The Peace Corps offered her an ability to directly engage with frameworks she was exposed to throughout her schooling. After high school, Tatyana enrolled at Bard College at Simon’s Rock and studied cultural anthropology—a discipline that affirmed her desire to physically and ideologically transcend the lenses through which she viewed the world. To further her studies, she transferred to the University of Arizona, where she conducted research and fieldwork.
In August 2017, Tatyana was accepted into the Peace Corps, and was among the early application cycles that could rank location and service preference.
With her excitement building to serve in Nepal, an unexpected road block presented itself.
→ During her time in Ecuador, Tatyana Ray ’06 supported multiple local organizations, including Fútbol
“I was accepted into the Peace Corps Más, where her work intersected play with in August 2017 and was expected to educating youth on depart in early 2018 [to Nepal], but gender paradigms. missed the deadline for departure because the clearance process wasn’t done,” she remembered. “Unfortunately, medical and legal clearances can take longer than expected.”
Since going to Nepal was no longer an option, Tatyana entered a waiting pool to determine which location still needed volunteers and in April 2018, she received her assignment— Ecuador. Tatyana was one of 40-plus Americans headed to the South American nation, where she spent nearly the next two years living in the coastal province of Guayas.
“The Peace Corps has been one of the most challenging experiences of my life, but also one of the best in so many ways,” she said.
Tatyana’s work targets specific needs defined by the area and population, in collaboration with local partner organizations. The goal is to create programs or initiatives that are sustainable well beyond her or fellow Peace Corps volunteers’ time there.
“We are not coming in and implementing programs for two years and then leaving, or coming in and giving standalone lectures that are difficult for people to engage in,” she said. “The idea is we are capacity building. In my sector, we are developing skills with youth or families, only if they are applicable to their self-expressed needs.”
During her time in Ecuador, Tatyana worked with three organizations, including Fútbol Más, an international NGO. They use sports as a vehicle for local youth to build community and social inclusion. As she became more immersed in the Ecuadorian culture, she witnessed how prominent gender roles are, and how children’s education can be eroded.
“There’s sometimes a tension between being in school and performing informal labor to supplement insufficient familial income,” she explained. “So, then these inversion roles can develop, such as children performing adult duties in the house, and/or an economic function outside of it.”
Ideas about how human beings “should behave”— roles in the community and professions—are deeply gendered as well. “With my partner organization, Fútbol
Más, we used games, paired with dialogue and activities to help dispel gendered paradigms,” Tatyana said.
One activity she recounted focused on having cones with names of varying professions hidden underneath. The children each randomly chose a cone to stand next to, and the profession is revealed. Tatyana and her colleagues engaged
GREETINGS, NUEVA ALUMNI!
Since joining Nueva in fall 2019, I have had the pleasure of learning how deeply passionate our 2,000-plus alumni are about this school. It has been a pleasure to meet many of you at events, visits to campus, or virtually, and to hear how transformative Nueva was and continues to be in your life. As Nueva alumni, you are the school’s greatest legacy, and we wel“The Peace come you home to the Hillsborough and San Mateo campuses any time. Corps has The Nueva School Alumni Association been one (NSAA) looks forward to serving, supporting, and engaging its robust global youth when they heard negative comments if certain pro fessions weren’t aligned with perceptions of gender. of the most challenging community with events, networking and mentoring programs, and opportu nities to get more involved. “We heard, ‘Oh she has bad luck, she can’t ever be president,’” Tatyana noted. “Using a moment like that to unpack our personal and societal prejudices is so important. experiences of my life, but I encourage all alumni who are interested in supporting the NSAA to contact me to learn more! The activity with cones was an important way to address also one of Diana A. Chamorro gender stereotypes. It was a small way to start undoing the best in so Director of Alumni, Parents of gender [bias] training that happens at an early age.” For Tatayana, building a deep connection with the many ways.” Alumni, and Grandparents dchamorro@nuevaschool.org community has been the most fulfilling, and her own TAT YA N A R AY ’06 650.350.4562 identity, as a multiracial woman, has been a natural bridge to connect with the Afro-Ecuadorian and indigenous populations, too.
“It has been really helpful for them to learn about my identity as a Alumni Jump into Action woman of color from the United States, the assumption about many Graduates spanning more than a decade support Class of 2020 Americans is that I would be a white, tall, blonde, thin, blue-eyed, person,” she explained. “So, for some, my unexpected identity can Whether together on campus or spanning the globe, Nueva create obstacles and questions. But, it is also is a really wonderful way to connect.” alumni share a unique and tight knit communal bond. That connectedness was most recently demonstrated by an outpouring of support for the Class of 2020. Due to travel restrictions from
While the emotional connection and physicality of service can be the unprecedented events of COVID-19, the senior class had to taxing, she credits the experience as an incredible opportunity for pernavigate their college decisions without the opportunity to make sonal growth, while making a meaningful and sustainable impact. final visits to the schools of their choice. Jumping to action, gradWhen reflecting on going to Ecuador instead of Nepal, she shared, “My Mom still says ‘I think it was meant to happen,’ uates spanning the Classes of 2008 to 2019 were quick to offer themselves as resources to their fellow Mavericks, sharing insight and in a way, things fell into place.” about the institutions they had or are
Tatyana, unfortunately, had an abrupt end to her service, due to currently attending. the COVID-19 pandemic. She and all 7,000 Peace Corps volunteers “I decided to share my contact information with around the world were evacuated from their sites in March 2020. While bittersweet, she is grateful to be back home in the Bay Area other Nueva students because I remember how scary the college decision process was for me, and I want to help them in any way that I can,” said Sinead Chang ’18, a current journalwith her family and can feel a sense of relief knowing that her partner ism and political science major at the University of Southern organizations will continue the work she supported. Looking toward California. “I actually decided on USC after meeting up with her next endeavor of service, Tatyana has joined the San Francisco another former Nueva student, Jesse Valdez ’17, during a campus based tech start-up Symba, in an effort to save internships amidst the pandemic, and will pursue graduate work at Columbia University in visit, so I know how valuable a resource alumni can be! Even though I only spent three years at Nueva, the community means a whole lot to me and I’m always happy to offer support to current the fall of 2020. students. Plus, many of my friends are now seniors at Nueva, so —Diana A. Chamorro of course I want to help!”
