PACKER The
S U MMER 2017
Magazine
Packer’s Global Classroom: Our International Travel Programs From Banking to Kindergarten with Deb McDermott Lifelong Activist Ruth Browne ’77 Reunion 2017 WINTER 2016 | 3
prete creative photography; oppostite page: jackie kazarian
THE PACKER MAGAZINE
THE PACKER COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE
Editor Karin Storm Wood
Head of School Bruce L. Dennis
Class Notes Editor Jacque Jones
Director of Communications Karin Storm Wood
Communications Associate Tori Gibbs
Communications Associate Tori Gibbs
Photography Tori Gibbs Karin Storm Wood Contributors as noted
Director of Development Sara Shulman
Design Karin Storm Wood
Director of Alumni Dona Metcalf Laughlin Director of Annual Giving Susan Moore
The Packer Magazine is published twice a year by The Packer Collegiate Institute, 170 Joralemon Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Nothing herein may be reprinted wholly or in part without the written permission of Packer’s Development Office. The Packer Collegiate Institute © 2017
Manager of Development Services Aaron Heflich Shapiro
Packer is a member of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).
Communications (718) 250-0264
More content at www.packer.edu/magazine
Erratum:Due to an editing error, photographs that appeared on page 28 of the Winter 2017 issue were not given attribution. They were taken by Raoul Brown.
Development Associate Shriya Bhargava-Sears
Alumni
(718) 250-0229
Registrar
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General
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www.packer.edu
Board of Trustees Leadership 2016-17 Chair Deborah Juantorena P’19 Vice Chair Anne Giddings Kimball ’55 IVAc Treasurer Karen Snow P’21, P’25 Secretary Karen Tayeh P’09, P’17
Alumni Association Leadership 2016-17 President Geoffrey Brewer ’82, P’26 Vice President Sasha Baumrind ’00 Secretary Jeremy Schiffres ’07 Director Emeritus Ellin Rosenzweig ’52
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From the Head of School On Campus Art Gallery In Competition
Middle School strings players led by Lucas Maia performed in an interschool concert at Carnegie Hall in January.
18
Packer’s Global Classroom
Our faculty leaders and students reflect on our international travel programs, which bring students out of their comfort zones and into high-intensity learning experiences.
29 Parent Association News 31 Alumni News Ruth Browne ’ 77: A Life of Activism Reunion 2017 Jean-Marc Gorelick ’98 on his career abroad 40 Class Notes 55 In Memoriam
On the cover: Lucy Friedberg ’18 captured this shot of fellow Packer students exploring Siem Reap with their Cambodian digital-storytelling partners. See “Packer’s Global Classroom” on page 18.
2 | THE PACKER MAGAZINE
From the Head of School
As part of Packer’s South Africa program, Georgia Fine ’19 and her partner from at ArtWorks for Youth embark on a story exchange in Joe Slovo Township outside the city of Port Elizabeth.
RAOUL BROWN
I
n Ecclesisastes, Solomon reflects on life’s monotony, opining, “there is nothing new under the sun.” Though I suppose it might be possible to feel such world-weariness from having “seen it all,” I would argue that Solomon was not much of a traveler — at least, not my kind of traveler. As I write this, my wife and I are preparing for a trip to Kenya and Tanzania, in what will be our second journey to Africa. No matter how often or how far I travel, I always look forward to the countless unfamiliar experiences: stepping onto the tarmac in a distant time zone, navigating the streets of a new city, even being handed a menu in another language. These simple moments somehow manage to loosen the grip of our expertise and make us less jaded, opening our minds to new experiences and engendering a precious sense of wonder. In these ways, an open-minded traveler will always find something new under the sun. The British-Indian writer Pico Iyer may have been describing this elevating phenomenon when he compared traveling to falling in love. “[Travel] is a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, undimmed by familiarity, and ready to be transformed.” Packer’s global travel programs are designed to harness this same transformative power. They convert our students’ knowledge from something abstract into something deeper. They make intellectual concepts — whether the practice of Buddhism, the legacy of Apartheid, or life in the Roman Empire — immediate and tangible. They offer students an understanding of our world that is forever imbued with personal resonance. At their best, our travel programs even transform our students’ understanding of home and of themselves. You will see this
transformation in the thoughtful reflections by students who traveled this spring to Cambodia, South Africa, and Italy, in “Packer’s Global Classroom” on page 18. Though the Italy program will live on, this spring marked Latin teacher Tim Flannery’s final year as its leader. Whether or not you have first-hand knowledge of the trip, you will appreciate his loving description of its significance to Packer students over the past 22 years. Don’t miss the interviews with Tim and his fellow retiring faculty members, 2nd Grade teacher Sara Baumrin and music teacher Fran Onne-Fong, on page 6. We are indebted to them for enhancing the lives of countless students and wish them well in their retirements. Packer’s life-long influence is the theme of two alumni interviews in this issue. Ruth Browne ’77 and Jean-Marc Gorelick ’98 describe the impact on their lives of specific Packer teachers, as well as transformations they experienced while living abroad. In fact, this issue of The Packer Magazine may prove an inspiring traveling companion this summer! Bring it with you, and enjoy.
bruce l. dennis SUMMER 2017 | 3
On Campus
hopes for their futures but also gave them the opportunity to form diverse, enduring friendships. What is the most important thing that you try to impart to your students?
Where Laughter is Always Allowed to Interrupt the Day
T
his May, in her twentieth year as an Associate Teacher for Kindergarten, Deborah McDermott received the 2017-18 Parent Association Excellence in Teaching Award. Before she became an early childhood educator, Deb worked at Swiss Bank Corporation, where she was vice president in charge of foreign exchange operations.
You were a banker for 17 years. Tell us about the transition from that world to Kindergarten.
While I enjoyed my time in banking, I wanted to be closer to home when raising our two sons. Little did I know that, soon after, I would be working at Packer, a school I consider home. The transition was an easy one. I’d spent several years designing and implementing a new operations system and then training a very talented staff. This experience helped me appreciate process and reminded me of the benefits of trial and error. Working with children became an extension of my experience in banking, 4 | THE PACKER MAGAZINE
I hope to impart to my students that they are valued members of our community whose opinions matter and deserve attention. My teaching partner and I establish a loving and caring classroom that belongs to everyone equally. We begin each day with a mindfulness practice in which we take a moment to be present. We come together as a curious and playful group where laughter is always allowed to interrupt the day and where creativity is safe, fun, and welcome. I want our children to realize that learning can be a shared surprise and that each puzzle we try to solve (or not) is an exploration. I want them to feel comfortable problem-solving alone and together. Accomplishment is always a celebrated part of our learning, but my hope is that they realize that problemsolving, sharing, joy, and friendship are the most important parts of their school day. What do your students teach you?
in that my students’ curiosity often seeks immediate resolution. It’s our job to guide them towards the benefits of discovery through their own exploration.
Every single day my students affirm the value of patience and exhibit constant examples of empathy and compassion. I have become much more flexible and forgiving of my own mistakes — since that is what I hope for for my students. My students are always helping me find joy and opportunity in unplanned situations, which awaken our curiosity and give us new puzzles to solve together.
You and your husband chose Packer for your sons, Devin ’05 and Brendin ’07. What drew your family to the School?
What went through your mind when you received the Excellence in Teaching Award?
Packer’s approach to teaching, the talented, dedicated educators and staff, and of course the wonderful Garden, made for an easy decision. We were confident our sons would become lifelong learners and caring citizens at Packer. Their experiences not only allowed them to exceed even our best
It’s hard to put the emotion of that moment into words. It’s such a privilege to be chosen for this award while doing what I love. I am surrounded by so many excellent teachers, amazing students, and wonderful families every day, and I feel so lucky to have made Packer my home for the past 25 years.
Creating Change and Taking Action
U
nder the leadership of Director of Diversity and Equity Semeka Smith-Williams and Director of Global Outreach, Service, and Sustainability Tené Howard, Packer’s biennial Community in Action Day evolved into an annual program, Packer in Action. One key distinction was its expansion from a single day in March to a commitment sustained and supported by Packer’s curriculum throughout the school year. This year’s theme, Creating Change and Taking Action, asked students in all divisions to generate thoughtful ideas and solutions to challenging problems in our community.
Preschoolers visited local organizations while Lower School students teamed up with their Middle School Pelican Partners to share their community-action plans. For example, 3rd Graders presented their proposals for more equitably sharing the Garden’s central playspace while their 7th Grade buddies gave them feedback on their presentations. Other groups brainstormed solutions to issues related to immigration, pollution, and accessibility. Later in the day, their roles reversed, with the younger students responding to the older students’ proposed action plans. In the Upper School, forty student leaders ran “fishbowl” discussions to
connect with one another and share their experiences. Later, students, faculty, staff, and administrators joined affinity groups based on various self-selected identifiers. The students’ inspired commitment to activism extended into the spring. Middle School students partnered with Brooklyn For Peace to ask local businesses on Court Street to display posters in support of immigrants and refugees [above left]. The Kindergarten Dalmatians spread the message around the School to join their Earth Day March to Cadman Plaza [above right]. They drew handmade signs and wrote a chant: “Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! Take care of the Earth and don’t let it go!”
women in stem take on stem barbie After collecting feedback from the “The classic blonde doll comes Upper School’s Women in STEM club, equipped with a lab coat and safety co-founders Becca Horwitz ’18 and goggles, but her hair is loose and she’s Hawthorne Ripley ’18 published an op-ed wearing a mini skirt and high heels. in the spring 2017 newsletter for Women “Mattel’s portrayal of the female scienChemists Committee of the American tist is both diminishing and discouraging.” Chemical Society. The students recommended that the Their piece, “Barbie Takes on STEM,” toy company focus on “changing the critiques Mattel’s new female scientist experiments included” and offering doll and challenges the toy company to “more complex and varied” accessories create more innovative, educational STEM to “enhance the engineering aspect” of toys marketed to girls. the kit.
SUMMER 2017 | 5
Fondest Farewells
With a combined 56 years at Packer among them, three beloved educators retired in June 2017.
SARA BAUMRIN was a 4th Grade Associate Teacher and, more recently, a 2nd Grade Head Teacher in her 14 years at the School. “Ms. Baumrin brought out my most natural and happy self,” said former student Natasha Brecht ’18. “She was truly one of the best teachers in my time at Packer and I am so grateful to have had the honor of being in her class.”
What do you look forward to the most in retirement? I am looking forward
to traveling.
What will you miss most? I will miss the children and their wonderful, open, curious minds. Describe a favorite or memorable moment in your classroom at Packer.
One of my favorite classroom moments at Packer was an impromptu dance flash mob. The children were out and I was working quietly, when some former students came to my classroom’s back door to visit. Before we knew it, we were dancing on the tables to Katy Perry’s “California Gurls.”
6 | THE PACKER MAGAZINE
FRAN ONNE-FONG taught Pre and Lower School music for 18 years and offered private music lessons to former students. William Zygmuntowicz ’19 who studied piano with Ms. Onne-Fong for many years, called her a “wonderful, caring, and dedicated teacher.”
What do you look forward to the most in retirement? Being with my grand-
son and my family.
TIM FLANNERY taught every level of Latin in his 24 years at the School and is particularly appreciated by his students for the unparalleled experience he has offered on the Italy Spring Break program [see story on page 18]. Alumnus Ben Leitner ’14 spoke to his former teacher’s dedication in the classroom: “Mr. Flannery always believed in the success of every student. He showed me that mastery of any subject is possible if you hold yourself accountable and put in the time to learn.”
What will you miss most?
I will miss my friends, colleagues, students, and families at Packer, and especially the arts department. Describe a favorite or memorable moment in your classroom at Packer.
Lower School art teacher Risa Glickman, dance teacher Alicia White, the Kindergarten teachers and I worked together on an interdisciplinary project involving Camille Saint-Saëns’ Le carnaval des animaux. The children made fish hats to dance to “Aquarium” and shadow puppets for “Hens and Roosters.” We performed it in my classroom.
What do you look forward to in retirement? I’d like to explore
possibilities to do some translating as well as some writing. I’d also very much like to brush up on my Italian and to revive my very rusty ancient Greek. Learning piano is not out of the question. Being a lifelong learner by nature, I want to follow in the footsteps of Solon of ancient Athens, who said he grew older learning something in addition every day. What will you miss most? I will miss my students, the classroom experience, the opportunity to have daily exchanges with teenagers. I will miss being part of this vibrant, intellectual, and creative community.
“I love those golden moments when I get to witness students make real breakthroughs, almost discernibly hoisting themselves another rung higher in their understanding or ability.” — Tim Flannery Describe a favorite or memorable moment in your classroom at Packer.
There are just too many to list! They range, however, between the serious and occasionally the silly. I love those golden moments now and then, when I get to witness students make real breakthroughs, almost discernibly hoisting themselves another rung higher in their understanding or ability. On the flip side, I have fond memories of many zany moments. These frequently involve students making me laugh, often helping me not to take myself quite so seriously. For instance, there was the time when, during a formal observation by former Head of School Geoff Pierson, the students played an April Fool’s Day joke on me by replacing all the chalk nubs with white Good & Plenty candies — with which I tried desperately to write on the chalkboard! Some of my most memorable moments occurred when taking students abroad, making Italy our classroom. The joy and pride I felt watching the students take ownership of their site reports will remain with me always.
Lutz Holzinger
Allen Ruch
The 2017–2020 Stutt Chair is Awarded to Holzinger and Ruch
F
or the first time, the William C. Stutt Endowed Chair of Math, Science, and Technology was awarded to two members of the science department: Lutz Holzinger and Allen Ruch. Head of School Dr. Bruce Dennis praised Mr. Holzinger as “a master teacher” who “embodies the word collegiality.” He joined the science faculty at Packer in 2009, and has helped rewrite the biology curriculum, create the interdisciplinary elective Race and Gender, and lead the Independent Science Research Program. Mr. Holzinger expressed his appreciation of the School’s role in his professional development: “I came to Packer without much experience in modern teaching approaches. It is a testament to the School, and the science department in particular, that I have been provided with the space and tools to develop as a teacher. I have been surrounded by awesome colleagues whom I look up to and who have helped me to become a better teacher. The journey never ends — I look forward to working with my colleagues to make the science program at Packer even better.”
Allen Ruch has taught chemistry, astronomy, and nuclear physics at Packer since 2009 and plays an important role in the Packer Symposium’s trip to Spain. Dr. Dennis called him an “outstanding teacher who possesses a wicked sense of humor that has endeared him to many students.” Mr. Ruch reflected on the importance of scientific inquiry: “At a time when science represents both a significant cause and an essential solution to many of our global problems, it is frustrating to see the fundamentals of science come under attack from all sides of the political spectrum — fundamentals such as the reliance on factbased evidence, the ability to think critically and collaborate effectively, and the capacity to construct (and entertain) persuasive arguments. I am happy to work at a school that places such a high value on science.” Established in 2005, the Stutt Chair is awarded on a triannual basis to an outstanding faculty member (or two!) who have taught math, science, or technology at Packer for five or more years.
[Read Tim’s account of the Italy program on page 25.]
SUMMER 2017 | 7
{ PHOTO ALBUM }
In a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Lara Vapnek, associate professor of history at St. John’s University, juniors and seniors in Dr. Sarah Strauss’s Advanced Topics Archives class presented their original research on the Packer collection housed at the Brooklyn Historical Society [right]. The students’ topics included Packer women during World War I, theater in the 1940s, and student activism during the Vietnam War.
On the annual 8th Grade trip to Washington, DC, students visited the new American Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Archives, and explored the Yayoi Kusama retrospective at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden [above].
Student developers Andrew Enger ’18, Eon John ’17, Nate Antoine ’17, and Robert Vitali ’17 launched PCI Connect, a mobile app for Middle and Upper School students and teachers to receive messages, set their schedules, and track assignments.
8 | THE PACKER MAGAZINE
In February, Nigel Jaffe ’18, Jasper Covey ’18, Victor Akujobi ’17, and Tasnia Khan ’17 presented original science research at the Junior Science and Humanities Symposia. Nigel placed first in engineering for his robotic fruit fly larvae, and Tasnia placed third in environmental science for her research on dairy product safety.
In April, Upper School music students competed at the Worldstrides Music Festival in Philadelphia. The Chorus won a gold medal and the Wind Symphony and strings players took home silver. The whole Packer contingent also earned the Spirit Award for overall excellence in participation. They were led by music teachers Linda Albert, Esther Harris, Lucas Maia, Paul Riggio, and Jeremy Udden.
At the Immigration Celebration in May, 4th Graders shared their research on some of the top countries of origin among New York City’s immigrants today: Egypt, Mexico, Pakistan, India, Jamaica, Ghana, Yemen, Guyana, Ecuador, China, Ukraine, the Philippines, the Dominican Republic, and Poland. Parent volunteers prepared a delicious menu of international food, with all proceeds going to Packer’s community partner The Arab-American Family Support Center. The 4th Graders were excited to welcome many of their “reading buddies” from the AAFSC — some of whom are immigrants from the featured countries.
In the debut of our new Pelican Partners program, Lower and Middle Schoolers paired up for interdivisional fun and bonding. Together, the pairs created handmade Valentines for local nonprofit organizations, shared feedback on communityaction projects during Packer in Action Day [see page 10], and gathered for a celebratory end-ofyear picnic in the sunny Garden.
This spring, The Carol Shen Gallery debuted “The Most Important Picture: Syria,” an exhibition of writing and photography by young Syrian refugees in the Zaatari refugee camp. The work was created during workshops led by photographer/ educator Brendan Bannon [above center], whose residency at Packer included class discussions and hands-on photography activities in all three divisions. The show was curated by Lower School Art Teacher Liz Titone; Director of Global Outreach, Service, and Sustainability Tené Howard and student-photographers Destini Armstrong ’17, Paul McLaren ’17, and Lucy Friedberg ’18.
SUMMER 2017 | 9
and introduced the FARE model (Familiarization, Action, Reflection, and Extension) to the Lower School. community and relationships
9/New Upper School Advising Program
In addition to the grade dean, each student now has a four-year advisor who receives additional training. 10/New 7-Day Schedule
The new schedule has increased time for advising, clubs, and community activities, and has created an extended block for in-depth classroom study and trips.
Five Years, Fifteen Strategic Gains
11/Expansion of Parent Workshops
Packer has significantly increased the number of parent talks on subjects as wide-ranging as math education, health education, language arts, and technology.
this year marked the conclusion of Packer’s 2011-2016 strategic plan, which guided fifteen significant advances across the School:
created, including Nuclear Physics, Organic Chemistry, and college-level discrete mathematics. 5/New Interdisciplinary Courses
finances , facilities , and school size
educational program
Art, music, literacy, and movement are more deeply integrated into core curricula in the Pre, Lower, and Middle Schools. Interdisciplinary electives were created in the Upper School, including Race and Gender, Video Journalism, Shakespeare and His Time, and The French Revolution and Identity.
12/Doubled the Endowment
1/Transition to Advanced Topics
Replacement of Advanced Placement courses with the Advanced Topics program has permitted Upper School students to explore subjects more deeply and without having to conform to rigid AP curriculum guidelines. 2/Education Beyond Packer’s Walls
faculty and administration
The Packer Symposium in the Upper School [above] and WinterSession in the Middle School have encouraged teachers to leverage the resources our region has to offer. Field trips around the city, always a staple of the Lower School, are frequent in all divisions.
6/Assistant Head Role Expanded
Now Assistant Head of School and Academic Dean, this role brings further coherence to our academic programs. Elizabeth Hastings, appointed in July 2016, supervises department heads and the Academic Council.
3/International Travel Program
7/Professional Development for Faculty
Four classes of 10th Graders have traveled to Andalucía, Spain, providing an opportunity for global learning for all students. The cost of the program is included in tuition.
Professional development remains a key priority, engaging veteran teachers and associate teachers alike. Salary increases have been 4-5% annually.
4/Math and Science Excellence
Packer’s Independent Science Research program has grown from six students to more than 40, several of whom have been recognized in local, regional, and national competitions. New science and math electives have also been 10 | THE PACKER MAGAZINE
8/Creation of Administrative Role Overseeing International Programs, Community Service, and Sustainability
As Packer’s first Director of Global Outreach, Service, and Sustainability, Tené Howard ’97 has reshaped the community service program, strengthened student leadership opportunities,
Thanks to donors’ incredible generosity, the endowment grew to over $30 million. 13/Acquisition of New Building
Opening in September 2018, Packer’s new Early Learning Center at 100 Clinton Street will house our preschool and Kindergarten classes in a beautiful, age-appropriate setting. 14/Campus Renovation
The School has completely renovated the Lower and Upper School science classrooms, nearly all Lower School classrooms, and the Upper School Office. The new Middle School Mezzanine has created a large, flexible space for classes and meetings. 15/Balancing Tuition and Program Goals
Packer offers a program and facility that is fully competitive with the very finest schools in New York, while tuition remains in the bottom quartile in our peer group. This spring, the Board of Trustees gathered the community’s feedback on the plan’s successes. It is currently engaged in determining how the feedback will help shape the School’s future.
New Trustees on Packer’s Board at its meeting in June, the Packer Board of Trustees elected two new members. Dawn Fischer P’21, P’22 has been a Packer parent since 2008, and has served as the Packer Book Fair Co-Chair for three years and as a Class of 2021 PA Grade Representative for two years. Active in the LGBT community, she was a member of the Services and Advocacy for LGBT Elders (SAGE) Board from 2009 to 2016 and serves as secretary for the 31-year-old Prospect Park Women’s Softball League. Reed Lowenstein P’24, P’26 is a partner at Capital International Investors, where he has managed portfolios and analyzed investments since 1998. Reed became a Packer parent in 2013. Reed currently co-chairs Kane Street Synagogue’s Hebrew School
Committee. He is a native of Kansas City, MO, and holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA from Tufts University. Six trustees were also re-elected at the meeting: Cynthia Gardstein ’66 IVAc, Anthony Guarna P’18, P’20, Deborah Juantorena P’19, Karen Tayeh P’09, P’17, Megan Sheetz P’23, P’24, P’26, and Karen Snow P’21, P’25. Officers for 2017-2018 will be: Deborah Juantorena P’19, Chair; Cynthia Gardstein ’66 IVAc, Vice Chair; Richard Story P’17, P’19, P’26, Secretary; Karen Snow P’21, P’25, Treasurer; Steven Fineman P’20, P’29, Officer.
Dawn Fischer
Stepping down from the Board are
Anne Giddings Kimball ’55 IVAc and Nicholas Brumm ’85, who were thanked for their
service to Packer.
Reed Lowenstein
faculty + staff news In March, Upper School Choral Director Esther Harris presented a workshop for music educators and professional musicians at the Organization of American Kodály Educators (OAKE) National Conference in Philadelphia. Her paper “Energizing the Kodály Methodology: A Model of Autonomy in High School Choral Settings” was published in the winter 2017 Music Educators Journal. Many Packer faculty participated in diversity conferences, including the White Privilege Conference in Kansas City; Little Chairs, Big Difference at the Weeksville Heritage Center in Brooklyn; and the NYSAIS Diversity Conference at Lycée Français. An especially large Packer contingent — four trustees, three students, two parents, plus faculty and staff members Shriya Bhargava-Sears, Cindy Copland, José De Jesús, Ashley Greene, Vidya Misra, Noah Reinhardt, and Semeka Smith-Williams — attended the Diversity in Community Conference at Dalton, which examined the impact of white privilege in independent schools [above].
Blu Ruck [middle right]. In February, Second Grade Head Teacher Hardeep Juttla welcomed Sansaar Kaur Channa [bottom right].
k n o w y o ur p e l i c a n s Want to catch up with more of the many wonderful people who make up the Packer community? At www.packer.edu/KYP, you’ll find interviews with 30 of our beloved faculty and staff members. Learn about Rich Domanico’s favorite winning moment as a coach.... the community members whom Ann Martinez views as family.... the best career switch of Lou Rios’s life.... whether Paul Riggio is indeed, a former male model.... and meet Ali Boag, new Chair of the Performing Arts Department.
Health and Physical Education Teacher Dorothy Gurreri joined the Board of Directors of the Saint Francis of Assisi School in Astoria, Queens. In December, Middle and Upper School Librarian Kristyn Dorfman welcomed Zoe Mera [top tight]. In January, Physical Education Teacher Chris Ruck welcomed Stella
SUMMER 2017 | 11
ALL PHOTOS BY JULIE BROWN PHOTOGRAPHY
Packer’s 170th Graduation: A Sunny Send-Off for ’17 In the Garden, under a cool, crystalline sky, graduation speakers encouraged the Class of 2017 to spread their kindness, empathy, and curiosity — and to live in the moment. “Go out into the world and be the smart, funny, curious, and hardworking people that I’ve gotten to know and love.” — Graham Rainsby ’17
12 | THE PACKER MAGAZINE
“Now, more than ever, we need your brains, your voice, and your essential goodness — all of which you have displayed in abundance during your years at Packer — to help the world move onward in a way that we have never depended on a new generation before. ” — Dr. Bruce L. Dennis, Head of School “The ability to think ahead, while valuable, often comes at the expense of another skill that is essential to happiness, balance, and perspective. It is the ability to simply be in the moment.” — Deborah Juantorena, Chair of the Board of Trustees
Class of 2017 Matriculation
“I know of no faster way to gain empathy than telling stories. Your stories, and the empathy they engender, have helped impact lives deeply... You did that, ’17. What an awesome legacy.” — José de Jesús, Head of Upper School “If you keep your ambition in check, and enjoy the doing and not just getting there, you will have a better time in whatever you do.” — Guest Speaker Dean Baquet, Executive Editor of the New York Times
Amherst College (2) Barnard College (2) Binghamton University Boston College Bowdoin College Brandeis University (2) Brooklyn College of the CUNY Brown University (3) Bucknell University (2) Claremont McKenna College Colby College (2) Colgate University Columbia University Cornell University (3) Emory University Fordham University Hamilton College (2) Johns Hopkins University (3) Kenyon College Macalester College (2)
Maryland Institute College of Art Massachusetts Institute of Technology McGill University Middlebury College (4) Northeastern University Oberlin College of Arts and Sciences (4) Pennsylvania State University (2) Pomona College Rhode Island School of Design Rochester Institute of Technology The Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education of the CUNY Stony Brook University SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry
Syracuse University (3) The University of Edinburgh (2) Tufts University (2) University of Chicago University of Colorado University of Maryland University of Michigan (2) University of Pennsylvania (3) University of Rhode Island University of Southern California University of St Andrews University of Wisconsin Vassar College Washington University in St. Louis (2) Wesleyan University (7) Whitman College Yale University (2)
SUMMER 2017 | 13
{ ART GALLERY }
This page, clockwise from top left: Zaki Haider-Bierer ’27, Rufus Somerby ’17, Lia Di Bitonto ’17, Henry Guzman Mitchell ’22, Destini Armstrong ’17 (paired portraits), Paul McLaren ’17 14 | THE PACKER MAGAZINE
This page, clockwise from top left: Olivia Weseley ’19 (film still), Benjamin Schneier ’17 (dress), Ayinde Castro ’17, Marigold Manley ’28, Lucy Freedman ’17 (textile sculpture); center: Lea Wong ’21
SUMMER 2017 | 15
TORY LACY
{ CHAMPIONS }
Girls Varsity Basketball
Girls Varsity Swimming
Tournament champion and undefeated in the regular season (AAIS) Undefeated champion in the regular season (ACIS)
Regular season and tournament champion (ACIS) All-Stars were Rebecca Horwitz ’18 and Ana Molestina ’18. Seeing what our program has developed into in the last few years has made me realize that the swim program is more and more successful each year. This year 50 swimmers came out for the team! — Head Coach Chris Ruck
Captains were Brittany Boyce ’17, Chandler Dewgard ’17, and Tessa Stroud ’18. All-Stars were Brittany Boyce ’17, Katie Panczner ’18, and Jordana Sampson ’21. Brittany also surpassed the 1000-point milestone. The most successful season of my coaching tenure, eclipsing the 20-win mark and capturing the elusive AAIS championship.... A memory that will last forever.
DARRIN FALLICK
— Head Coach Russell Tombline
Boys Varsity Baseball
Boys Junior Varsity Basketball
Tournament champion (ACIS)
Regular season champion (ACIS)
All-Stars were Will Stewart ’17 and Thomas Jensen ’17.
Captains were Matt Dolan ’19 and Kai Carse ’19.
The team worked extremely hard and improved dramatically throughout the season. Our two playoff wins were our best games all year. — Head Coach Geoff Silver
We had a wonderful year, with the players growing as a team and as individuals too. This was a great year to watch the kids really blossom into the basketball players that I knew they could be. — Head Coach John Keaveny
16 | THE PACKER MAGAZINE
JEAN ERVASTI
Co-Ed Varsity Squash #9 in the nation (Boys Division) Captains were Andrew Douglas ’17, Henry Martin ’17, Jane Pincus ’17, and Rufus Somerby ’17.
Girls Varsity Softball
Andrew Douglas ’17 held the #1 national ranking among boys under 19 for the second year.
Regular season champion (ACIS)
Congratulations and thank you to the student athletes and all the people who supported us this year.
Captains were Lucy Freedman ’17, Ellie Kagel ’17, and Diana Steelman ’17.
— Head Coach Barry Stelzner
All-Stars were Mackenzie Bunnell ’21, Ava Horn ’19, Rhea Lieber ’18, and Nathalie Perra ’22. Our team consistently put forth their best effort, representing themselves, the coaching staff, and Packer with tremendous pride. They created a very supportive and fun environment, which allowed each player to grow both on and off the field.
Boys Varsity Basketball Tournament champion (ACIS) Victor Akujobi ’17 and Blake Martin ’17 were Captains and All-Stars, and each surpassed the 1000-point milestone. These boys were resilient and gritty. They were a true team that represented Packer well, and they were an honor to coach. — Head Coach George Boutis
DARRIN FALLICK
DARRIN FALLICK
— Head Coach Russell Tombline
SUMMER 2017 | 17
>> PACKER’S GLOBAL CLASSROOM Our international travel programs bring students out of their comfort zones and into high-intensity learning experiences.
Packer students and their Cambodian storytelling partners in Siem Reap.
cambodia photos by elizabeth eagle unless otherwise noted
>> CAMBODIA Collaborative Digital Storytelling
k a l i b l a i n ’18
I
n the first year of Packer’s Digital Storytelling program in Cambodia, eighteen students travelled to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh with history teacher Sandra Fahy and visual arts teachers Liz Titone, Michael Miller, and Elizabeth Eagle. Ms. Eagle offered this overview:
At the heart of Packer’s new Cambodia program is a cultural exchange encompassing history, visual literacy, and the ethics and art of storytelling. With assistance from Peace Works Travel, my Packer colleagues and I connected with educators from PEPY Empowering Youth, a program for students from villages outside Siem Reap. We established penpal relationships between our students and theirs before our arrival. Once we came on site, the two groups of students embarked on a curriculum we had co-designed with our counterparts
from PEPY. For the week that followed, the students shared their cultures through portrait photography, documentary filmmaking, kite building, and music, dance, and games from both places. Our students soon discovered a more significant language barrier than we had expected. This unexpected obstacle provided a great platform for getting them out of their comfort zones, and they rose to the challenge: e l e a n o r h a p p y ’19 : I felt guilty that I had expected [my penpal] Va to know English when I did not know any Khmer, and I felt discouraged that we were having so much trouble communicating. As I scanned the room, I [saw] Carden Katz drawing something for his penpal. I had an idea: I drew New York City to diagram how I get to school; I drew the subway;
I drew my dog; and I drew me playing soccer. With each drawing, Va began to understand what I was saying. She started to draw in her own notebook and would write down how to say things in Khmer, such as “subway.” j u l i a m c c o r m i c k ’18 : Through photography and videography I was able to understand and communicate with [my penpal Sreyrov] better. Doing silly poses together and laughing at failed photos made us more comfortable with each other and more open to discussing challenging topics. I found that the camera can be a great way to engage and open yourself up to someone. Just as you can write about your favorite shirt or tell someone a story about your childhood, you can show your personality, your opinions, your likes and dislikes through photography and video.
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View more 2017 global travel images and the Siem Reap documentaries at www.packer.edu/magazine Theodore Eagle ’18 [top] and Aidan Abdulali ’18 [bottom] work with their PEPY partners.
our interview due to the successful collaboration between the three of us. d e l i l a h r i g h t e r ’17 : Even though the Packer students were the ones with the cameras and the “experience” with filming, it was important that the PEPY students (or more generally, the people in whose country we were guests) were the ones telling the story. They were the ones who understood the culture and who knew how to approach situations with respect. They were the ones who helped us to navigate the streets, to speak to strangers, and to capture moments that felt crucial to get on camera.
On the third day of our exchange with PEPY, the students brainstormed three topics to address in their documentaries: the market, faith, and transportation. Piling into tuktuks, armed with cameras and video and sound equipment, each group went out with Khmer speakers and English speakers. The Cambodian students took the lead: the market group interviewed chicken sellers, jewelry makers, and dressmakers; the faith group traveled to Buddhist temples where they interviewed several monks and recorded their chants; and the transportation group cruised about Siem Reap, investigating the city’s many modes of transport and speaking with tuktuk and moped drivers. The next day, the roles switched. With encouragement from their Khmer partners, the PEPY students asked for interviews with the local people.
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t h e o d o r e e ag l e ’18 : The goal I set before going to Cambodia was to identify and understand what it means to tell someone else’s story in a way that is authentic to that person’s experience. What I realized after my time in Cambodia is that telling someone else’s story [requires collaboration with that person]. My penpal Sina and I worked together for four days, filming a documentary about transportation. Working closely with him taught me the importance of telling a story alongside another person, where it is imperative to consider how you fit into your partner’s story and how they fit into your own. For example, when we were interviewing Mr. Ra, one of the thousands of tuktuk drivers in Siem Reap, Sina was able to ask much deeper questions, whereas my inability to speak Khmer didn’t allow for such inquiries. Alternating between English and Khmer, Mr. Ra’s story shines through in
On the final day of the PEPY exchange there were no tentative glances, no uncomfortable silences, just a giant group of friends who, through learning together, developed strong friendships and trust. We all gathered at the Metta Karuna (“Loving Compassion”) Reflection Center, where we spent most of our nights in Siem Reap, sharing games, music, and dance, and viewing the portraits that the students had taken throughout the week. It was a sad goodbye as we moved on to Phnom Penh, but a very happy time learning together. Before the trip, our students had read Patricia McCormick’s Never Fall Down, a book that gives voice to Arn Chorn-Pond, a musician who survived the genocide and Khmer Rouge labor camps as a child. In Phnom Penh, we met with Arn himself at Cambodian Living Arts, the non-profit that he founded to promote national healing through the arts. In Phnom Penh, we visited the Toul Sleng “S21” Prison Museum and the Khmer Rouge Killing Fields. After these difficult vists, Arn connected his personal experience to Cambodia’s harrowing history and helped our students process what they had seen and learned. Then, at Packer just a few weeks after we returned, students had the opportunity to discuss their experiences in the program with both Arn and Patricia McCormick.
Packer’s student hosts shared the Cambodian art of kite-making, using plastic bags, plastic bottles, and string. New York City-themed stickers (designed by Suzy Storr ’09) adorned the kites, giving Packer students another prompt for talking about home. Laughter — and some goodhumored frustration when the kites tangled in telephone wires — brought the groups together.
l u c y f r i e d b e r g ’18
After visiting Siem Reap’s Landmine Museum, the group spent an afternoon with Tun Channeret, a Nobel Peace Prize winner recognized for his efforts to ban landmines globally. He guided the students as they built four wheelchairs for children injured by landmines.
a l e x a n d e r b o r i n s t e i n ’18
Honestly, it was hard to remember all that I had learned about the genocide prior to the trip because the people made me forget. They did not seem as though they had suffered or were spiteful about what had happened to them. Instead, almost every single Cambodian I was lucky enough to have a meaningful interaction with was joyous, friendly, and welcoming. They made it easy to connect with the culture. Whether it was a vendor in the Siem Reap market agreeing to do an interview on camera, or the PEPY students teaching us how to build kites, they a i da n a b d u l a l i ’18 :
educated me just through our exchanges. It was beautiful to learn about the Cambodians’ difficult history beforehand, only to see them thriving and rebuilding with energy and strength. The reality is that the Khmer people are not very different from us. They try to go about their daily lives and pursue their interests as if the war did not happen (even if they fully acknowledge and reconcile it). Seeing their optimism, especially through the NGOs and individuals that we met with, was moving and important.
Arising before dawn and traveling from Siem Reap in tuktuks, the group was able to watch the sun rise over Angkor Wat. Over two days, they explored four temples in the ancient city.
In addition but intimately connected to our immersion in Cambodian culture was another important aspect of the program: the sense of connection that developed within our group of 22 Packer people. We had daily meetings where students had a chance to reflect about the day and support each other through our more challenging experiences. And we had so many wonderful and meaningful meals where we laughed, shared new foods, and got to know each other really well. — Elizabeth Eagle •
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>> SOUTH AFRICA Partnering with ArtWorks for Youth
south africa photos by tory lacy
P
acker’s travel program in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, is now in its second decade. At the heart of this experience is Packer’s partnership with ArtWorks for Youth, an afterschool center offering art programs, mentoring, and academic support to underserved teenagers in the Joe Slovo township. ArtWorks for Youth was founded by John Lombardo, a former Director of Auxiliary Programs at Packer. Leaders of the 2017 trip were librarian Andrew Parson (who contributed to this story), Overnight Travel Coordinator Tory Lacy, and math teacher Ashley Greene. In a three-day story exchange, Packer students are paired with ArtWorks students. Each pair shares personal stories that are central to their identity. After listening to each other’s narratives, the two partners share one another’s story with the entire group,
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speaking in the first person. The exchange follows the protocol of Narrative 4, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to build “a community of empathic global citizens who improve the world through the exchange of personal narratives.” Monday was our first day in Joe Slovo and the day that we met our “peer partners.” Before knowing the basic situation of my partner, or even some of her characteristics, I told her one of my most personal stories, and she told me one of hers. The point of this exercise was to gain a deeper understanding for each other by listening to each other’s stories and then sharing them with the group. It’s unusual to share your life story with someone when they can barely pronounce your name, but that’s what made it so special. There were no preconceived notions about you, no ava h o r n ’19 :
thoughts running through your partner’s mind other than what you were telling them in that moment. Listening to my partner’s story before knowing anything else [about her allowed] me to empathize on a more sincere level. Although Packer students are also responsible for planning and running afterschool activities for the ArtWorks students, the focus of the activities is not top-down teaching but rather a collaboration with the ArtWorks students that evolves and adapts every day over the two weeks. Together with their South African peers and younger ArtWorks students, they explore a passion — reading, sculpture, sports, arts and crafts, and dance. m i c h a e l d i c k e y ’18 : I took part in the dance group, along with Sascha, Delilah, and Laura. We were all nervous going into it. We started
During the story exchange, Packer students Cameron Oliver ’18 [left] and Jack Beaumont ’19 [above] and their ArtWorks partners spent several hours getting to know each other and sharing their personal narratives. Later, speaking in the first person, they recreated one another’s narratives before the whole group. The blue corrugated metal structures were ArtWorks’ temporary space while the organization was building a new facility.
off with a simple warm-up and the ArtWorks “oooohhh.” Acknowledging the blazing heat, we kids really seemed to enjoy it. However, as we asked the kids if they wanted to have another transitioned into a freestyle dance circle, [the water break or to keep going. Unexpectedly, energy] started to die down. Besides us leaders, they chose to keep going, and I was relieved that only four kids went in the circle: Yumza, Sihpo, they were enjoying themselves. Lihle, and Sivuyo. My instinct was to end the activity early and get right into the choreograThe Packer students’ mornings are devoted phy that we had created for them. When we to activities that deepen their understandturned on “Sorry” by Justin Bieber, faces lit up ing of the region’s history and culture, and across the group, including mine when seeing contextualize their relationships with their their reactions. ArtWorks peers: a beach trip; a guided walk After a water break, we could tell a few kids through downtown Port Elizabeth; and an had left, which made me think that we weren’t art gallery visit where the peer partners made doing something right, or even worse, that they portraits of each other. weren’t having fun. However, we couldn’t let our disappointment hold us back; we continued c a m e ro n o l i v e r ’18 : Today, we went to the to teach new parts of the dance, and we could beach. I played soccer, ran races, rode waves, tell that the kids were more into it. Every time I and even became a sand merman. I was in awe introduced a new component to the dance, they of the pure happiness that the ArtWorks kids expressed their enthusiasm with a resounding exuded throughout the whole trip.
A question we have been asked to consider is why we are here. I’ve really thought about this. No matter how hard I tried to fight it, I came on this trip with preconceptions of a group of American kids on a stereotypical community service trip to “save” children in need. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I’ve learned through my experiences so far that these aren’t children who need to be “saved” — that’s definitely not why we’re here. I now understand that these are intelligent, unique, and immensely special kids with compelling stories to tell. I have realized that we are here to listen, tell stories of our own, learn from each other, and most of all, enjoy the shared experiences we have. At the Hippo Backpackers Hostel, which has hosted the Packer group for many years, students are responsible for the cooking and cleaning. Each night ends with students and
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Kai Carse ’19 becomes a sand merman.
Michael Dickey ’18 [foreground, left], Laura Goldstein ’18, and Sascha Lewit ’19 participate in the ArtWorks afterschool dance group.
chaperones processing the day’s events, sharing their “highs and lows,” and delving into sensitive topics of race, access, and wealth. k a i c a r s e ’19 a n d g e o r g i a f i n e ’19 : When thinking about empathy in the context of this trip, we had never really considered what it would mean to empathize with other Packer students. But after hearing everyone’s stories, we realized that even though we live in the same area and go to the same school, it doesn’t mean that we have the same experiences. The Packer students’ stories made us realize how much we had assumed we knew about our peers and their circumstances. This led us to ask: How often do we go into a discussion willing to admit that we might be wrong about something we already “know”? We realized that we constantly go into debates with the sole focus of changing the other person’s mind, without a willingness to change our own. So when hearing someone’s opinion, it’s easier to attack [that opinion] than to work to
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understand it and consider why we might be wrong. However, the real challenge comes in working to see their point of view and in understanding exactly why they feel that way. During our recent nightly meetings, we reached a breakthrough because of our new respect for empathy when discussing tough topics. This trip brings up some difficult and controversial perspectives. Working to understand people and why they feel the way they do is the best way that we have found to structure a respectful conversation. This understanding before judgment is something we hope to carry with us in our lives moving forward. Back in Brooklyn, students are eager to share their experiences with friends and family. They often have difficulty finding words to describe an experience that is underpinned so strongly by the relationships formed not only with ArtWorks students but within the Packer group itself. Two years ago, disappointed by conversations that
petered out with “Maybe you’d have to be there to understand,” several Upper School students launched the ArtWorks for Youth Club to build upon their experience and invite the Packer community to learn about the South Africa program. Through events such as a dance-a-thon and a pop-up thrift store, the club has raised over $45,000 to support ArtWorks programs and sponsor two students’ enrollment at the Ethembeni Enrichment Centre in Port Elizabeth. Recognizing that the story exchange is at the heart of their South Africa experience, this year’s club leaders also worked with faculty and administrators to bring Narrative 4 to Packer for training in April. In June, students from three South Africa trips facilitated a story exchange among nearly 70 student leaders at the annual Upper School Leadership Summit. Next year, the club’s leaders hope to sponsor a story exchange to provide a safe and respectful space for Packer students to share their political beliefs. •
>> ITALY The Language, History, and Culture of the Romans
italy photos by jackie kazarian
M
arch 2017 marked the final Italy Program for Tim Flannery, who retired in June after 24 years of teaching Latin at Packer. He was accompanied by fellow Latinist Jackie Kazarian and Spanish teacher Rashad Randolph. He reflected on his eleven biennial journeys to Rome with Packer’s Latin students.
All roads lead to Rome, as the proverb goes. Ever since choosing first to study, then to teach, Latin, the path I have taken certainly led me to Rome again and again. My own encounters with the Eternal City and Italy in general include having studied there on more than one occasion as a young man and having lived and taught there when I was, as Dante put it, nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita. But my most abiding memory of that
country will certainly remain the pleasure and privilege of having made it an extension of my life here at Packer as a Latin teacher for just shy of a quarter of a century. I inaugurated Packer’s Italy Program in 1995, my second year on Joralemon Street, because I believe it particularly important for Latin students to have an opportunity to experience firsthand the city from which emanated the language and culture they are studying. Unlike French, Mandarin, and Spanish students, who have more obvious and immediate ways to utilize and connect with their language of study, Rome provides Latin students a means of making personal connections with aspects otherwise confined to the texts we study in the classroom. Things previously experienced solely on the page — topography, monuments, artifacts, and the incidents and people we read about together
— are brought to life through the immediacy of place. For nine days, then, on a biennial basis, the city of Rome became my favorite classroom in the world. da n t e m a s t ro p i e t ro ’20 : I always sit on the left side of my Latin classroom at Packer. From there I look towards a number of posters of Rome: the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, Augustus at Prima Porta, and my favorite, the statue of Laocoön and his sons. In the Aeneid, Virgil outlines Laocoön’s bravery as he rescues his own sons from the grasp of the sinister serpents. This was just another Latin passage to me until Mr. Flannery pointed his blue pen (as he often does) towards one of the posters. He said that those of us accompanying him on the trip to Rome would see this statue first-hand in Vatican City. At the time I thought nothing of it — just another statue
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Genesis Andrade ’19 delivers her site report in the theater at Ostia Antica while Tim Flannery [far left] takes a photograph.
At the daily roll-calls, students answer to the names of their assigned emperors. At the Ara Pacis Museum in Rome, they posed with their imperial counterparts.
in a museum filled with enough stone to fill a quarry. But there was nothing like experiencing the statue in person. Despite the words we had translated and the posters on the wall, the expression on Laocoön’s face was something unimaginable. Every minute crevice on his face, unnoticeable until you get so very close, tells the story of his struggle to stay alive and save those he loves from inevitable death. The statue evoked a genuinely visceral response in me — something I didn’t know I could feel from looking at a statue. This experience made me realize that an exponential amount of understanding is to be gained by immersing oneself in a foreign culture. The Italy trip shifted my perception of ancient Rome’s relevance in modern society. 26 | THE PACKER MAGAZINE
From the beginning, I conceived of the Italy program as both a pleasurable and scholarly pursuit. It was a way for me to share with my students my own special love for Italy. But I wanted to instill in them the joy of being a responsible, learned traveler rather than merely a tourist. Well in advance of the trip, the students are each assigned a site report on an historical monument. They research them in advance, in many cases creating illustrated handouts for their peers. Once in Italy they present brief lectures at their individual sites. Far from feeling it onerous, the students take ownership of their site reports, are respectful and supportive of their peers’ presentations, and ultimately derive great benefit from one another’s expertise.
From the beginning, it has been my aim to shape each student traveler into, as Cicero attributes to Socrates, civis mundi: a citizen of the whole world. Advance meetings with our student travelers allow us to familiarize them with our itinerary and the layout of the city, to acclimate them to cultural differences, and even to provide a crash course in the Italian language. The trip was designed to offer Latin students an extensive introduction to the city of Rome. But we also explore the archaeological site of Ostia Antica (Rome’s port city on the Tiber River, often described as a northern Pompeii) and the Renaissance city of Florence. Our journey thus provides the opportunity not only to examine the
Dante Mastropietro ’20 poses with his imperial roll-call emperor, Domitian, at the Vatican Museum.
have come home absolutely determined to spend their junior year in Italy, or motivated to learn Italian in an independent study at Packer or in college. Many simply returned reinvigorated, having conceived a greater motivation toward their study of Latin — as well as a deeper connection with their Latin teacher! k at e h a r t y ’20 : It ought to be impossible to walk ten miles a day or climb the 871 winding steps of Saint Peter’s Basilica with a broken foot. Any sane person with a broken foot would not have come on this trip. It’s a good thing, then, that Mr. Flannery tends towards the slightly insane. Whether he was spending fifteen minutes discussing a single painting, leading us through the winding streets of Rome, or finding the best gelaterias, it is hard to imagine the Italy trip without him. As imposing as monuments like the Duomo or the Spanish Steps are, nothing was as impressive as Mr. Flannery’s seemingly endless facts and stories and energy.
monuments and vestiges of antiquity, but also to experience modern Italy, and the successive layers of intervening centuries and eras that are everywhere present — in its architecture, its cuisine, its culture, and its language. c l a i r e f r e n c h ’20 : Each day as we navigated from the Hotel Orlanda through the Jewish Ghetto, the subway system, the Piazza del Popolo, and Tiber Island, I was amazed by the integration of Roman ruins with relics of the Renaissance [as well as] with the festive culture of modern-day Italy. The combination of eras first hit me when our group passed a subway station at a busy intersection just 25 meters from the Colosseum. Later,
while journeying toward the Santa Maria degli Angeli — a Renaissance church designed by Michelangelo, built inside the ancient Baths of Diocletian — a classmate pointed out some graffiti on a closed snack bar. To our surprise the orange and lime-green letters were written not in Italian, but in Latin. As we rested our feet, we translated the work, identifying indirect statements, ablative absolute, participles, and other grammar we had learned in class. Being immersed in Italian culture allowed me to fully appreciate the value of Latin linguistics. I have witnessed the gains students derive from their experiences abroad and the significance it holds for them upon our return. Over the years a number of students
Travel and the study of language are and should be, in my opinion, inextricably woven together. The act of studying a second language is a form of travel. It’s a kind of journey on which you set forth the first day you enter the language classroom. This journey, this marvelous, linguistic pathway, is capable of transporting you to unexpected places — both literally and figuratively. When we allow ourselves to become deeply involved in the study of another language, of another culture, we cannot help but be enriched, empowered, and ultimately transformed by that experience. It was my choice, years ago, to study Latin — a choice that led me to Rome, to the classroom, to teaching — and here to Packer. And for that choice, that path, that journey, I will always remain very grateful indeed. — Tim Flannery • SUMMER 2017 | 27
>> CHINA
>> SPAIN
In Spring 2016, Upper School students traveled to Beijing, Shanghai, and Suzhou to explore Chinese language, culture, and history. They visited the Forbidden City [above], Beijing’s 798 Art Zone, Shanghai’s Bund and Yu Garden, and the Great Wall. They also met with two groups of Chinese students, with Packer’s Mandarinlanguage students translating.
In the Packer Symposium’s International Program, the 10th Grade travels to Andalucía, Spain. There they experience the unique culture forged by the confluence of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Students visit a number of historic sites, including the Alhambra in Granada. They also attend a flamenco performance and learn about the Spanish tradition of bullfighting.
>> PUERTO RICO
>> QUÉBEC
Eighth Grade Spanish students immersed themselves in the Spanish language and Puerto Rican culture: visiting historic old San Juan and El Yunque rainforest; dancing salsa; cooking mofongo (plaintains); and taking an eco-boat tour of La Parguera, where local fishermen showed them octopi and sea stars.
W
hat is the goal of a global travel experience? There are of course intrinsic advantages to be gained whenever our students navigate the world outside of Packer’s walls. However, our travel programs aim for something deeper. We directly align our programs with our School’s mission to build “empathetic, responsible, globally-minded individuals.” Our goal is to create travel programs that provide students with truly transformative experiences in environments and cultures that are often quite different from their own.
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French-language students in the 8th Grade traveled to Vieux Montréal, visiting the Notre-Dame Basilica, admiring the snowy city from Au Sommet observatory [above], and traversing the footbridge above Montmorency Falls. In Québec City, they participated in a re-enactment of the 1759 battle on the Plains of Abraham.
Our global programs very deliberately put our students at the center of their own learning and amplify their voices — as well as provide opportunities for the rest of us here at the School to join them in thinking about our place in the world. Our travelers return to our community with a remarkable zeal and motivation to share these transformative experiences with their friends, teachers, and families. Together, we weave these experiences into the life of our School and expand our definitions of what it means to be a citizen of our world. For example, the students who traveled to Cambodia have continued
to pursue their collaboration with their peers in Siem Reap and are exploring further connections. Our South Africa students’ enthusiasm for the story-exchange protocol has directly influenced our Upper School leadership training program. The students who traveled to Italy presented their learning to the Middle and Upper Schools during World Language Week. Long after our students return to Brooklyn, the impact of their experiences frequently and vividly comes into view, enriching us all. — Tené Howard, Director of Global Outreach, Service, and Sustainability
Parent Association News
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Celebrating and Serving Our Community
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his Spring, the PA created opportunities for families to come together by participating in community outreach, deepening parent education, and supporting the School. There was ice skating in Prospect Park [1]; a celebration of the music, food, and dance of Morocco at Cultural Day [2]; music performances and an art exhibit by our talented arts faculty [3]; dancing and playing shuffleboard at the Spring Gala at the Royal Palms [see page 30]; the beloved annual Book Fair [4]; hosting families from Little
Flowers Children and Family Services for community-building and fun; and celebrating another successful school year with the Spring Breakfast Social [5] and the PA Diversity Committee Family Picnic [6]. The PA deepened its partnership with the faculty in many ways: sponsoring a faculty professional development session (and a parent talk) on learning differences with author and educator Rick Lavoie; collaborating with the Offices of Diversity and Equity and Global Outreach, Service, and
Sustainability to organize the inaugural March for Peace on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day [7]; and partnering with the Office of Diversity and Equity to bring the LGBTQ+ performance theater group How We GLOW to Packer for an evening of reflection and community engagement with students, families, faculty, and staff. The PA also led the Packer community in family-friendly service work with local organizations, including Cobble Hill Senior Center and The Gowanus Canal Conservancy [8]. SUMMER 2017 | 29
ALEXA HOYER
Miami Beach on Union Street The 2017 Spring Gala supported faculty and staff professional development. The Packer Gala is a longstanding tradition that brings people together from across our school community, and this year’s event was no different! Parents, faculty and staff, and
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special friends gathered at Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club in Gowanus to raise funds for professional development. Guests enjoyed shuffleboard, board games, and food
from Marlow & Daughters, while DJ Skillachi, aka Facilities team member Luciean Seaforth [top row, center] had everyone dancing to Miami-inspired beats.
Special thanks are due to the Gala Co-Chairs Leigh Fisher Savar P’26 and Barbara Wilding P’23, P’25 [top row, left] and all their committee members for a wonderful event.
Alumni News
Making a Difference for Others Dr. Ruth Browne ’77 (left) received the 2017 Alumni Award for a distinguished career leading two renowned non-profit public health organizations. She talked with community-health advocate & Packer Trustee Jamillah Hoy-Rosas ’94, P’22, P’27 about her lifelong commitment to activism.
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uth Browne was recently appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Ronald McDonald House New York (RMH), which provides temporary housing and support for out-of-town pediatric cancer patients and their families. Prior to joining RMH, Dr. Browne spent 23 years at the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health, first as Director and Project Manager, then as Executive Director and finally as Chief Executive Officer. She is also a founder and former director of Brooklyn Health Disparities Center, a National Institute of Health Center of Excellence, for community, academic, and government partnerships.
Dr. Browne received a BA from Princeton University, a Masters of Public Health and Masters of Public Policy from the University of Michigan, and a Doctor of Science from the School of Public Health at Harvard University. At her 40th Reunion in May, Head of School Dr. Dennis awarded her Packer’s Alumni Award of Honor.
the way through 12th Grade. I always had Elsie and she always had me. Elsie lived in Crown Heights, and I lived in Flatbush. We remain good friends today. I remember one time, I fell while playing dodgeball. I look up and there were about 40 girls gathered around me to see if I was ok. I had just come from PS 249, where it was more like, “Unless you’re dead, get yourself up!” I had a good time Jamillah Hoy-Rosas: You came to Packer here, and I felt in retrospect that it was a in the 5th Grade in 1969. How did it feel great place. I blossomed here. being one of the few students of color in I got to do a lot [at Packer]. I did a your class? lot of independent exploring, such as an Ruth Browne: When I left public school independent study on Black female writto come to Packer, there were three girls ers. I never would have heard of some of of color in the 5th Grade. My friend these writers if I hadn’t had that opporLisa left after 5th Grade, but Elsie Crum tunity. My English teacher Jane Rinden McCabe and I were best friends all particularly encouraged [this pursuit]. SUMMER 2017 | 31
JHR: How did you enter the world of public health? RB: I had the
opportunity to study abroad when I was at Princeton. I had wanted to study in Africa, but the application process took a year. Someone recommended the University of West Indies, and even though my father was Independent study was something that from Guyana, I was like, “What’s that?” Packer built into the curriculum. UWI has campuses in Jamaica, Barbados, I also did internships for a week or and Trinidad, and I went down to two during midsession. I worked at Jamaica my first semester junior year. Channel 13 on Tony Brown’s “Black Except for one African-American Journal.” I studied dance at Martha studies teacher at Princeton, it was Graham School of Contemporary the first time that my professors were Dance. I got to explore. It was a lot of mostly black and my classmates mostly fun. black. And the issues we were talking about were very real. It wasn’t distanced JHR: Tell me some of your favorite politics. teachers and memories of Packer. I thought, This is amazing. RB: Hal Wicke started the debate team Only 1% of the population gets to and ran the theater program. Elsie go to the University of the West Indies. and I joined the debate team and we We’re talking about [students who are] had a ball. I thought I would go to law off-the-charts smart. I had never felt school! smart, but I felt really dumb around And dance with Linda Ray was them! In political science, they could give fabulous. The theater and dance the Marxist analysis, the Maoist analysis programs here were amazing. You felt — everything. I thought, This is really like you were going to Broadway, seeing interesting. I’d like to come back here. So I the students prepare and then finally did another semester there in senior year. perform! It was really remarkable. For graduate school, I wanted a program that would give me a marketJHR: Did you keep up with those able skill and allow me to travel. I activities in college or did you start to thought it would be nice if I could help explore different things? someone along the way, but mostly it RB: No, but early activism started had to be marketable. I read a brochure at Packer, in the smallest ways. For about public health, and thought, This instance, there wasn’t a Kwanzaa celsounds interesting. I’m decent at science ebration, so I would find the sprinkling — maybe I could do this. I applied to the of kids of color in Lower School and public policy school at Michigan, and have a Kwanzaa celebration. I was I received a full scholarship. When I trying to do a celebration for [the kids got there, I applied to the public health of color]; the School said I should do program and got a dual degree. one for everybody. Being on the debate team, we got to JHR: And you said you didn’t feel smart! talk about issues that weren’t talked RB: [Laughs] Public health is so domiabout all the time, like What is citizennated by MDs that I knew I needed a ship? and Who is not at the table? credential that would allow me to come to the table. But along the way I became 32 | THE PACKER MAGAZINE
interested in a lot of things. And while working on my doctorate, I got my position at Arthur Ashe Institute at the SUNY Downstate, which gave me an academic home. JHR: Was there a connection between your work at Packer and your work in public policy and public health? RB: I actually think the debate team
influenced me a lot. We also had a dynamic history and social studies teacher, Eric Cluxton. For us, more recent history was the civil rights era, and Mr. Cluxton raised these issues for us. But mostly it was the debate team where I got to explore policy issues and took an interest in public policy.
JHR: Tell me a little about how you helped Arthur Ashe Institute reach different communities. RB: At the time, I was on a task force
for the American Heart Association on black women and heart disease. We were tackling the question of how to get a message out to black women about heart disease. I had just read an article about a hair stylist in South Carolina who was educating her salon’s customers about AIDS. I said, “Couldn’t we do that for heart disease?” We started in upscale AfricanAmerican hair salons, and our volunteers went in to share materials and collect data. I wanted the program to expand to multiple health issues in salons across Brooklyn. We started an initiative, “Black Pearls: The Health and Beauty of the Black Woman,” in salons, then barber shops, then churches, then body piercing and tattoo salons. The model changed depending on the venue, but those were our educational campuses for critical issues in the community. JHR: You’re now doing very different work as the Executive Director at Ronald MacDonald House New York. What led you to this position? RB: Issues of educational health and
educational equity are heavy issues. When you work in academia, you think deeply about things — and I’m more of an “applied” person, so it’s even heavier. After 23 years at Arthur Ashe Institute, I
thought to myself, What if I focused on one thing? RMH has a very simple but powerful mission: providing a home away from home for families of children at one of the city’s 14 cancer care centers. It is squarely in the public health field. It’s a $100 million organization with tremendous potential. Everyone who stays at RMH comes from abroad or from other parts of U.S. They are bringing their child to see clinicians of last resort, or to get a treatment they can never get at home or an experimental treatment offered only through a clinical trial. They are families in crisis. They don’t know how long they will be there, and sometimes the whole family comes. We provide support services not only for the adults but also for the other children — tutoring and interactive work for the siblings who might have nothing to do. We even send families on trips so they are creating memories together even at the most difficult time of their lives. To expand our program to New York City families, we just opened up a family room at Kings County Hospital for families of babies in intensive care, for whom rest is critical. And I’m leading a $23 million capital expansion to build more housing, including six suites for bone-marrow transplant recipients, who have to be in isolation for 100 days. We keep the patient and family together, and everything they need is in the suite. When surrounded by family, patients heal faster. Not long ago, 75% of children being treated for cancer used to die. Now, 75% of them live. JHR: Do you have any advice for aspiring public health scholars? RB: There is plenty to do in public
health. But you can do service until you’re blue in the face. It is the policy work that is so important. Where there is institutional racism and where there are systemic factors that don’t change, only policy will be effective. When you effect policy in public health, you really see the lasting impact and you reach more people. But service is still so
a n “ i n t er g e n er a t i o n a l h a u n t i n g ” Accepting the 2017 Alumni Award, Ruth Browne spoke of her middleclass upbringing and her family’s position at “the forefront of social justice.” She described how her mother proudly wore the jewelry her father gave her but always returned it to a safety-deposit box at the bank: “That’s bail money,” my mother would say. She knew that we stood closer to the specter of incarceration than her white colleagues or my white schoolmates. Even as a professional, educated family, she knew we should always be prepared, and that my dad or my uncles, brothers, her nephews, nieces, and cousins were more at risk. My parents have passed away. [My siblings and I still keep that jewelry] in a safety-deposit box. There is an intergenerational haunting that will not let us forget to be prepared for the high cost of legal defense. Let me share some statistics that should haunt every one of us: We lead the world in number of people in prison, despite decreasing crime rates. Sixty percent of people in prison are AfricanAmerican. There are more African Americans in the criminal justice system than were enslaved in the 1850s. The percentage of women in prison increases every year and is roughly double the rate of men. Nationally, African-American girls are suspended
important, and service on the ground should inform policy. JHR: In your acceptance speech at the Reunion, you talked about the problem of mass incarceration, which we as a society have neglected. RB: I do think deeply about prison
reform and incarceration, and I do the advocacy that I can. It’s this insidious under-the-radar problem, because prisoners are removed from the community.
from school six times more often than whites; African-American boys are three times more likely to be suspended. Wherever I go, I talk about the issues that are important to me. Today’s opportunity is no exception, and I believe there is always a call to action. Educate yourself on this issue. Michelle Alexander’s excellent book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in an Age of Colorblindness is a good place to start. Support legal aid societies that provide defense to those who cannot afford it. Call elected officials to insist on policy change relating to incarceration. Finally, I would love to know that the school that shaped me would include this ongoing history of injustice in the history and sociology classes offered here. I was given the freedom and was embraced for being outspoken [here]. We are active alumni, exemplifying the School’s mission of creating “meaningful and sustained relationships.” Each of you solve complex problems in your careers and personal lives, and as a group we have a track record that demonstrates Packer’s commitment to supporting lives of “purpose and heart.” This is an issue that calls for both. Thank you. Read Dr. Browne’s entire speech at www.packer.edu/magazine.
As I said in my speech, our alumni solve complex problems every day [see excerpt above]. We are so privileged to have had the opportunity to go to Packer — we didn’t even realize how privileged we were. And if we can’t use our voices to say something, then nobody can. When I was a student at Packer, I was embraced for being outspoken. I believe there is no downside to using your voice to raise an issue you care about. SUMMER 2017 | 33
REUNION 2017
Front row: Elizabeth McCarthy (holding sign), Josh Palgon, Gina Morrow, Ronnette Hope, Liana Fong, Jeremy Schiffres, Julia Weigel, Danielle Butera Keefe, Susannah Chovnick, Mika Taliaferro, Aneil BharathSingh, Jon Berne, Chris Jones, Matt Goldon; second row: Michael Dolmatch, Lekan Nicholson, Joe O’Neil, Sally Stulberg, Tiffany Ortiz, Mike Murchison, Victoria Flexner, Mike Dorfman, Kara Ricciardi; back row: Alex Mirarchi, Ale Alvarez, Vinny Turturice, Caitlin Barrett, Emma Karasz, Jamie Kurtz, George Pierot, Ed Sturm, guest of Ed Sturm
Front row: Antoinette Farrugia Morro, Margaret May, Elizabeth Macken, Liz Larson, Helene Reisman, Lauren Skinner Gaines, Margaret Van Baaren, David Schwindt, Debbie Kochman Deane, Tino Pucci; back row: Tone North, Alain Kodsi, Michael Einbinder-Schatz ’81, John Delury, Peter Branscombe, Geoff Brewer, Heidi Kahofer Varucene, Julian Hyman, Jenny Dewar ’83, Jennifer Knudson Schwindt ’83 34 | THE PACKER MAGAZINE
1 Front row: Rebecca Chovnick Beck, Emily Dannenberg, Lucy Baumrind, Melanie Closs; back row: Matt Spiro, Jesse Perl, Danielle Hutton, Dan Voce-Gardner, Yasmine Kohli Fordham Dumorne, Henry Casey, Emily Lamia, Becky Eyster Laird, Harry Beck, Lincoln Restler
For Service to Packer Liz Larson ’82 came to Packer as a Kindergartener and graduated as a “lifer.” In 1993, she returned to her alma mater to serve on the Alumni Board (becoming President in 1998) and on the Board of Trustees through 2002. At Reunion, Alumni Association Director Emeritus Ellin Rosenzweig ’52 presented Liz with the Joan Buehler Eisenstein ’51 Award for Service, calling her “a wonderful example of the spirit of volunteerism exemplified by Joan.” What is your favorite thing about Packer?
Front row: Carlos Blackburn, Felicia Lowden Kimmel, Rachel Singer, Lucy Larson Malley, Lisa Ginsburg, Anne Marie Lubrano, Gabriele Blecher, Piotr Orlov; back row: Barr Weiner, Stacy Chandigian Foote, Douglas Kaufman, Deborah Buchman, Sara Hornstein O’Riley, Julian Wachner and son Tallis
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Front row: Sydney Utendahl, Gillian Jakab, Lena Young, Shannon Rhodes, Nina Deoras, Nora Bailin, Sofia Kadieva; back row: Kevin Obey, Campbell Weaver, Henry Butler, Nick Morton
I love everything about Packer — it is such an amazing school and I am proud to say that I have graduated from Packer. The campus beautifully combines the old with the new. Which teacher(s) influenced you at Packer — and how?
I attended Packer for too many years to pick just one favorite teacher. I had many teachers from many subjects that influenced me, starting from my Kindergarten teacher Eugenie Fasano, to Madame Kodsi, Barbara Brick, Linda Gold, Jane Rinden, Ken Rush, Bruce Tulloch, Rich Domanico, and Dorothy Gurerri, to name a few!
In addition to having served as a Trustee and as President of the Alumni Board, you have been a Class Agent for 16 years. What lies behind your service to Packer?
I love staying connected to the School because of the friendships I developed over my 13 years as a student. My role as a Class Agent is an easy one, as the Class of 1982 is eager to come back to Reunion, support the School in Annual Giving, and stay connected with one another. It has been exciting to follow the many accomplishments of my classmates over the past 35 years. Remembering our days as students and getting alums back to the School is critical in making them excited about Packer. Sharing old pictures is extremely effective in getting people to recall our school days and past Reunions. SUMMER SUMMER 2017 2017 | 35
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4 2 1. From left to right: Lila Romans Hooper, Sandra Swift Gill, Jane Hurwitz Levine, Christina Ferayorni Ivaldi, Barbara Meaney Shapiro, Barbara Buchsbaum Gilford, Jane Santoro, Alma Frohman Endee, Daphne Zacker Mason 2. Front row: Laura Ann Basili Wilson, Emmy Askari, Susan Byrne, Diana Williams, Dana Snyder Miller, Susan Reiss; middle row: Holly Titman Scott, Meri Appel, Isabel Dulfano, Marisa Pucci Duffy, Liz Hollister Swearingin, Amy Latson, Evangelia Constantakos Kingsley, Denise Berson Tanzman, Martha McDonald Goupit; back row: Ruth Browne, Laura Haff-Hall, Sarah Conway, Martha (Muffie) Webb Vernon, Susanne Morton
More Reunion photos at www.packer.edu/Reunion
3. From left to right: Joan Shamyer Shalhoub, Ellin Rosenzweig, Suzanne Rosen Wolfe-Martin 4. From left to right: Yolanda GarciaWillis, Clarissa Santos-Pena, Ainka Shackleford Turner, Anastasia Yatrakis Thanopoulos
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5. From left to right: Kathleen Scioscia Albert, Sonja Hedlund, Stephany Sanger, Lucy Mallin Schneider, Bette Sue ’57 Co 6. From left to right: Susan Pagoda, Wendy Giddings Gold, Ellen Hinrichsen Iamascia, Carolyn Trois Sheehan, Elaine Khoury 7. From left to right: Leslie Smith, Farah Schwartz Goldstein, Sarah Dalsimer, Margaret Maloney Hale, Selena Jones
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In Life’s Travels, One Constant: Yourself
USAID DEVELOPMENT INNOVATIONS/CHANDY MAO
Jean-Marc Gorelick ’98 traces his path from Packer and Ulysses to Kabul and Phnom Penh.
reason, I enjoyed reading and discussing James Joyce’s near-impossible Ulysses with him) and he praised my writing. I’m certain that neither my writing nor my interpretive reading skills were sophisticated at that age. Nonetheless, having a teacher believe in me and encourage me was really important. I was able to relate to him, as he shared his own memories of reading long and difficult novels in Paris on vacation as a youngster. He helped nurture my intellectual curiosity. When one is curious about ideas, one then becomes curious about all things in the world. So my career choice stems from the curiosity that Mr. Weisberg helped nurture at Packer.
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fter graduating from Packer, Jean-Marc Gorelick attended Bard College and then served in the Peace Corps in Togo. He returned to the U.S. to pursue a master’s degree at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. In 2009 he joined the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the largest government agency working to support democracies and to end extreme poverty around the world. In his eight years of foreign service work in democracy and governance, he has done tours in Senegal, Afghanistan, and South Sudan. He is currently the Deputy Director, Democracy and Governance Office, at USAID Cambodia. Tell us about a project for USAID that’s had the most meaning for you.
The most meaningful project so far has been supporting Afghanistan’s 2014 election process. Although the country is plagued by violence, 2014 marked the first democratic transfer of power in that country’s history. Thanks to the United States government’s efforts, Afghanistan’s government held together through democratic means, thus preventing the country from sliding into civil war, which would have rendered the country even more dangerous than it is today. Our students who just traveled to Cambodia were struck by the resilience and hope of the Khmer people. What does supporting democracy in that country look like in 2017?
Supporting democracy and governance in Cambodia means supporting the Cambodians in their quest to lead their country on a democratic trajectory. That means supporting the administration of elections, supporting civil-society actors as they advocate for their rights, and supporting anti-trafficking nongovernmental organizations that provide
safety to vulnerable Cambodians at risk of trafficking. It also means supporting the vital effort to document the atrocities committed under the Khmer Rouge regime, to help Cambodians ensure that such crimes against humanity never recur. When it comes to democracy and governance, we follow the Cambodians’ lead. After all, we can’t want it more than they do. What do you like most about working in the foreign service?
I love the variety. Each country poses its own unique set of challenges and opportunities. I have fond memories of each country in which I’ve served. Each time was a different period in my life, and each experience was a specific moment in that country’s history. There’s something very pleasing about the dynamic and fluid nature of this job. What experiences at Packer contributed to your career choice?
Eric Weisberg had a profound impact on me. He encouraged my reading habits (for some
What advice do you have for young people who are interested in meaningful experiences abroad?
I would advise them to foster their intellectual curiosity. Don’t feel like you have to specialize in any region or in any international-affairs sector in high school. You can do that in college, and if not in college, in grad school. In college, I majored in literature. In grad school, I majored in international affairs, with a specialization in political science and international development. I’ll never forget what a colleague once told me: “You bring yourself with you.” What does that mean? It means whether you are in Kabul running for cover from a rocket attack, or in calm and peaceful Cambodia enjoying the wonderful ruins of Siem Reap, you are the one constant in your experiences abroad. When you leave America to visit or live in some faraway land, you don’t leave yourself back in America. So that means, in high school, develop your passions. If you love to write creative fiction, dive into that. If you love to read, dive into that. If you love biology, go for it. If you love music, embrace it. These are all the intellectual pursuits that you bring with you from country to country. They make you who you are. If you are into fitness, hone your skills. Develop your interests. They will all serve you well in having meaningful experiences abroad. SUMMER 2017 | 37
New on the Alumni Board and economics. He went on to earn his MBA from Columbia Business School.
Natasha Chefetz Nordahl ’86 earned degrees from Duke University in 1990 and Brooklyn Law School in 1994. After practicing litigation for over 20 years, Natasha is currently a full-time mother to three boys in Westchester County.
Adrian Purcell ’03 entered Packer as
a first grader in 1991 and went on to graduate as a “lifer.” He attended Wesleyan University where he earned a degree in mathematics
Francisco Tezén ’93 entered Packer in the 9th Grade and found a community committed to scholarship and service. It was an experience that has been a guiding force in his career of fundraising and developing partnerships for educational and human service organizations. He is currently vice president for fundraising at the Food Bank for New York City. Francisco earned his BA in history and Latin American studies from Wesleyan University and an MA in nonprofit management from The New School. He is excited to join the Alumni Board and give back to the Packer community.
Calling All Veterans! Packer students have organized a Veterans’ Affairs club and are looking to connect with alumni who have served in the United States
Packer on the Road
Boston event attendees: Suzanne Morton ’77, Julia Simms Holderness ’89, Susan Byrne ’77, Meredith Moore ’97, Anne Moore ’00 and her wife Cheryl Nunes, Josh Segal ’99. (Not pictured: Heather Campbell ’66 IVAc, Anne Hoffman ’66 IVAc, Brynna Downey ’13)
In May, Packer alums from the Classes of 1966 IVAc to 2013 gathered at Joe’s American Bar and Grill on Newbury Street in Boston to catch up over hors d’oeuvres and drinks. Two alums even discovered they were neighbors! Gathering once again at Old Ebbitt Grill, Washington, DC-area alumni heard from Dr. Bruce Dennis, Head of School, and President of the Alumni Association Geoff Brewer ’82, P’26 in January. Alums were thrilled to hear about the traditions — new and old — that current students and faculty bring to life back in Brooklyn.
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Elizabeth KesslerFernandez ’91 with Jesse, Marissa Alperin ’95 with Sebastian ’27 and Carmen, and Ainka Shackleford Turner ’92 with Margaret ’31 and Katherine.
military. They are interested in hearing about the experiences of veterans both during and after their service and developing ways to support our alumni veterans. If you served in the U.S. military, please contact Dona Metcalf Laughlin, Director of Alumni, at dlaughlin@packer.edu or (718) 250-0229.
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The always-popular Alumni/Toddler Ice Cream Social for alumni and their young children was held in May to coincide with the Parent Association Book Fair. Past and future Pelicans enjoyed picking out a new book or two. At least one child discovered the delights of ice cream for the first time!
Newly minted Packer alumni: Alex, Maddy, Ben, Scott, and Shivam Class Correspondent Benjamin (Ben) Schneier ’17 came to Packer in 9th Grade. In the Upper School, he served as vice president of Student Council and co-editor-in-chief of the Packer Prism. He will be attending Wesleyan University in the fall. Madeleine (Maddy) Stutt ’17, Class Correspondent, was captain of the Girls Varsity Soccer team and led Harvard Model Congress
The Alumni Office is looking for the following alumni. If you have information about them, please contact Alumni Director Dona Metcalf Laughlin at (718) 2500229 or dlaughlin@packer.edu. Thank you! Jeanne Cotten Blum ’38 Janice Grossman Halperin ’38’ Betty Colgan Kelly ’38 Patricia Meacham Taylor ’38 Clair Ulrich ’38 Bette O’Brien Breslin ’43 Jane Valentine Coleman ’43 Bette Egan Fitzgerald ’43 Katherine Davis Foster ’43 Ann Ellenwood Glegg ’43 Gloria Gonzales ’43 Carmen Lightcap McKenna ’43 Elisabeth Morrow ’43 Jean Crotty Murphy ’43 Anita Lordi O’Connor ’43 Dorothy Ellis Pierson ’43 Theresa Mealli Remercer ’43 Virginia Hauth Trent ’43 Joyce Feinberg Zankel ’43 Patricia Henry Andrews ’48 Cornelia Byrne Banjak ’48 Margarette Bingham ’48 Doris Nims Covert ’48 Barbara Cypiot ’48 Margaret Morgenthaler ’48 Ruth Slaight Hendrickson ’53 Barbara Solomon Hertzberg ’53 Patricia Tague Lombardi ’53 Doreen Lu ’53
Ethel Walther ’53 Susanne Kingsley Donnelly ’53 IVAc Patricia Kerr ’53 IVAc Beth Bolvig Knapp ’53 IVAc Judith Wren Lore ’53 IVAc Annabelle Brooks ’58 Co Mariann Schumer ’58 Co Helen Rose Stalker ’58 Co Ruth Wong ’58 Co Elinor Kossow Albert ’58 IVAc Carol Beck ’58 IVAc Jane Berggren ’58 IVAc Susan Commoss ’58 IVAc Erica Pfaffenberger De Angelo ’58 IVAc Helen Elizabeth Meyer ’58 IVAc Patricia Wilson Siegel ’58 IVAc Carol Zych Berger ’63 Co Carol Primavera Burcham ’63 Co Marjorie Chipman ’63 Co Linda Meehan Clark ’63 Co Janet Ducat ’63 Co Sophie Chaurize Hismeh ’63 Co Vivian Wang Lee ’63 Co Yvonne Maingot ’63 Co Susan Mason Michelson ’63 Co Marcella Rochel ’63 Co Linda Streeseman ’63 Co
and Spectrum. She will be attending Middlebury College to study political science. Class Agent Alexandra (Alex) Champagne ’17 entered Packer in 10th Grade after moving from Santa Fe, NM, to Brooklyn. Alex was a leader in the Stop Hunger Now club, which organized mealpackaging events. During her senior year, she worked alongside three other students to advocate for the installation of solar panels at Packer. Alex will be pursuing a BS in fashion design at Cornell University this fall, with the hopes of combining her love of fashion, science, and technology. Shivam Khatri ’17, Class Agent, entered Packer in the 9th Grade. Throughout his four years at Packer, he played in the Orchestra and Chamber Ensemble and led the Math Team and Chess Club. Outside of school, he was involved in math and science research with professors from area institutions. He will attend the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education to pursue a seven-year joint BA and MD course. Class Agent Scott Shepetin ’17 came to Packer in the 9th Grade from Bank Street School for Children. At Packer, he played on the basketball and the baseball teams, was a mentor in the PALS program, and was a leader of the Waffle Club. He will attend Pomona College.
Judith Kerby Coleman ’63 IVAc Claire Citroen Jones ’63 IVAc Carola Wartberger King ’63 IVAc Carolyn Kirvin ’63 IVAc Barbara Levine ’63 IVAc Andrea Marcus ’63 IVAc Bronwen Hance McLaughlin ’63 IVAc Mary Michele ’63 IVAc Angela Milea Mogin ’63 IVAc Elizabeth Varat Pine ’63 IVAc Jean Anderson Rydberg ’63 IVAc Taya Graham Vanderwarker ’63 IVAc Margaret Avicolli ’68 Co Susan Berland ’68 Co Catherine Coumantaros ’68 Co Elizabeth Gallimore ’68 Co Susan Kirchofer ’68 Co Wendy Silverstone Kraft ’68 Co Beverly Levine ’68 Co Christine Brown Milgram ’68 Co Genevieve Cerullo O’Connor ’68 Co Patricia Piracci ’68 Co Angela D’Angelo Saccomanno ’68 Co Susan Shear ’68 Co Leah Corwin Silverman ’68 Co Emily Patella Siolek ’68 Co Kathleen Thorsen ’68 Co Frances Avellino ’68 IVAc Molli Zeltner Bot ’68 IVAc Nina Mazzola ’68 IVAc Elisa Pardi Taflin ’68 IVAc Theodora Woolfe ’68 IVAc
Gladys Ramsay ’73 IVAc Rosemary MacQueen Bennett ’73 Co Catherine Howard ’73 Co Patricia Koehler Jackson ’73 Co Anne Brennan ’73 IVAc Karen Farber ’73 IVAc Denise Henry ’73 IVAc Rebekah Jenks ’73 IVAc Ingrid Luomanen ’73 IVAc Nancy Macnab ’73 IVAc Theresa Minetto ’73 IVAc Ann Sherrill ’73 IVAc Virginia Wolff ’73 IVAc Alberta M. Crum ’78 Lisa Edelman ’78 Pamela Gregory ’78 Donna Vlahakis Hanna ’78 Jamie Henderson ’78 Chely Lopez ’78 Jamie Meyers ’78 Janet Simons ’78 Madeleine Stam Stam Maribel Torres ’78 Errol Wint ’78 Damian Chmelar ’83 Deidre Pavis Dare ’83 Anna Itskovich ’83 Adam Berthiaume ’88 Sarah Carlson ’88 Deirdre Cram ’88 Shari Davis ’88 Jeffrey Harrington ’88 Joshua Holden ’88 Graham Long ’88
USAID DEVELOPMENT INNOVATIONS/CHANDY MAO
c l a ss o f 2017 : h ere a re y o ur n e w a l um n i v o l u n t eeers !
Devin Malkin ’88 Patty E. Persell ’88 Vitaly Sinelnikov ’88 Dan Starobinets ’88 Danielle Nasoff Steinberg ’88 Claire Gronemeyer Thomas ’88 Alicia Wilson ’88 Joshua Zuckerberg ’88 Aurora Cole-Reimer ’93 Melanie Etchison ’93 Samantha Feder ’93 Ann Fuller ’93 Anna Kilmer ’93 Timothy McVicker ’93 Arlene Muller ’93 Diana Whitecage ’93 Perry Whitecage ’93 Miwa Yoshikami ’93 Terell Cooper-Edwards ’98 Dwayne DeFreitas ’98 Jason DeVeau-Rosen ’98 Anna Blaustein Ferguson ’98 Danielle Marquis ’98 Jordan Rathkopf ’98 Elisabeth Davies ’03 Maxwell Kampfner-Williams ’03 Jessica Martinaitis ’03 Stephani Michelsen-Correa ’03 Christopher Ruiz ’03 Hannah Camp ’08 Will Ehrenreich ’08 Jacob Halpern Weitzman ’08 Jose Santiago ’08 Jackalyn Tipchaieuh ’08 William Rowles ’13
SUMMER 2017 | 39
GREAT THINGS HAPPEN when we work together!
CELEBRATE PACKER 2017 Photograph by Raoul Brown
The generous support of Packer in 2016-17 by parents, alumni, grandparents, parents of alumni, and faculty and staff made amazing opportunities happen and ideas come to life. We thank you! PACKER
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If this publication is addressed to an alumna or alumnus who no longer lives at home, please notify the School of her/his new address by visiting www.packer.edu/contact or calling (718) 250-0228.