WEBB M A G A Z I N E
THE EVOLUTION OF SCIENCE EDUCATION
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Fall 2016
THE LIBRARY IN THE AGE OF EVERYTHING
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THE NATURE OF LEARNING
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WHERE WOMEN LEAD
Thank you for supporting The Webb Fund campaign! 2015-16 The Annual Report is now online! Please visit webb.org/annualreport to view photos, class donor lists, teaching awards and more.
• Gifts to The Webb Fund in 2015-16 totaled
$1.64 million! Thank you to the more than
1,600 donors who made this possible.
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Alumni set a new record with 959 alumni donors showing their support! Visit the online 2015-16 Annual Report today to read more about our wonderful year, including these highlights:
$5.88 million in Total Giving in 2015-16! 31% Alumni Participation 76% Parent Participation
WEBB
Meet our writers — Debbie Carini is a writer and development professional. She has been
M A G A Z I N E
FEATURES
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From the Head of Schools The Evolution of Science Education The Nature of Learning The Library in the Age of Everything Where Women Lead
WEBB TODAY
36 44 46 50 54
Students Sports Arts The Alf at Webb Faculty
NEWSNOTES
56 60 74 76
Alumni Profi es WSC and VWS News In Memoriam Final Word: Jenna Gambaro ’95
affil ted with The Webb Schools since 1999 as a writer for the magazine as well as various campaign and fundraising materials; she is also a successful grant writer for the schools and Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology. She is a contributing writer to the Claremont Courier with the monthly humor column “Out of My Mind.”
John Ferrari has experience as a newspaper journalist and as a writer, editor, communications strategist and public outreach specialist in higher education. He has written feature articles on topics ranging from astrophysics and genetics to theme parks and, of course, the Alf Museum. He also serves as a public affai s officer in the Navy Reserve.
Aaron Severson began his writing and editing career as the editorial assistant for a science journal. He later became a story development executive for film television, and comic book publishing and, more recently, a freelance writer and the founder of the award-winning automotive history website Ate Up With Motor. He has written for The Webb Schools since 2009.
Cover image of The Narrows in Zion National Park made by Scott Nichols in July 2015. Image shot on a Canon 5D MKIII using a EF-24-70mm f/2.8 lens at 1 sec, f/14, and ISO 50.
Fall 2016
SOCIAL
FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOLS
Ultimate Questions of Epictetus This past summer, my brother Sid and I spent several weeks at our childhood home in Coronado, California cleaning out its contents from our mother’s passing last October.
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Our dad passed away in 2005, and it was time to confront the massive task of sifting through every item in a home where our family had lived for over 60 years.
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and manuscripts. Able to access him and his remarkable bravery as never before, we again asked ourselves the question: “How did he survive such horrific circumstances of starvation, torture, brutal conditions, and come home as such a sane, loving man?” That he survived at all was a total miracle, but to have emerged with such an amazing mind and spirit is beyond belief.
We went through piles and piles of letters, photos, historical items, and then in the evenings we reflected on it all, sometimes with tears and more often with a good deal of laughter.
Along with the usual items of lives fully lived, the piles also had tremendous historical artifacts of history. Our dad was a Navy fighter pilot, shot down in Vietnam and held as a P.O.W. for nearly eight years. Our mom was equally heroic, raising four boys and founding a national league for the wives and families of POWs and MIAs. We came across incredible items, most of which we are donating to the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and the Coronado Historical Society. We also saw and reflected on so many of our dad’s notes, essays
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
This summer, Sid and I had a bit of a eureka moment in answering this question. Our father survived and thrived, not just through his physical toughness but because of his deep knowledge of the classics, most notably Epictetus, who began life as the son of a Greek-speaking slave woman from a little town in Asia Minor in what is modern-day Turkey. As the son of a slave, abject servitude was his condition also. In childhood, he was crippled by a cruel master and for the rest of his life suffe ed from a left leg that barely functioned. The turning point in the boy’s life came when he was rescued by Musonius Rufus, a leading Stoic philosopher of his time. This relationship proved to be his entrée into the world of tutoring wealthy children and adults in Stoic teachings, a very practical course of study on how to be liberated from all forms of slavery, even those forms existing in the families of the rich and well-born. At the core of this wisdom was a set of rules on how to escape the clutches of those trying to establish a moral leverage over you and thus force you to bend to their will. This teaching later became my father’s mainstay in resisting the manipulations of his torturers who continuously worked both physically and psychologically to break his resistance.
My father lived alone in a fi thy prison cell, in constant pain and without any hope of deliverance from the outside, communicating with fellow POWs only by means of tapping out messages in code. In these degraded surroundings, he discovered his own personal strength and provided leadership to his band of brothers founded upon our civilization’s most enduring truths. Before going to Vietnam, at the age of 37, my fighter-pilot father chose to get a master’s degree in international relations with a specific focus on moral philosophy from Stanford University. This sounds abstract and divorced from his chosen career path, but it was not. He studied the ancients as well as some modern thinkers who wrestled with ultimate questions such as: Do we live in a world “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing,” as Shakespeare asked? Or if there is a purpose to our existence, can individuals define themselves in their time and place or are they the playthings of fate or other determinant factors? Should survival, momentary pleasures and opportunism be our only guide? And above all, what is the diffe ence between good and evil? His own wrestling with these questions ultimately proved to be his salvation.
My dad and his plane in 1964.
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In our new century, a skills-based education for job and economic related functions seems to be most valued, and our revised curriculum at Webb is somewhat shaped by this trend. But it is also rooted in the liberal arts. This summer’s recollections in my family home reinforced for me that while having the knowledge needed for specific career paths is very important, the undergirding of civilization’s moral grounding is more than preferable; it is essential! That is what Thompson and Vivian Webb deeply believed. The study of history, great literature, the arts and philosophy offe s a life grounded on universal truths. An educational foundation of pondering life’s ultimate questions is often over-looked, and yet it provides the inner strength necessary to persevere in the most challenging of circumstances. As the son of a man whose sense of self-worth rested on such knowledge, I am once again reminded of the importance of Webb’s mission. Taylor B. Stockdale Head of Schools
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
Scientists explore, discover, create, fail, triumph, and learn. By John Ferrari
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So do Webb students.
Webb’s science curriculum aims to do more than simply teach students about science: the school’s goal is to give students the opportunity to be scientists. In new electives, students will create and undertake their own research projects, formulating hypotheses and developing procedures and experiments to test them. Instead of simply learning what scientists already know, they’ll create new knowledge, experiencing the scientific p ocess fi sthand.
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Development of the new electives began two years ago, inspired in part by the successes of the Alf Museum’s paleontology program, in which students conduct original research and present the results in scientific ournals or at professional conferences. Webb’s science faculty “wanted the kids to feel that sense of discovery and that sense of involvement and ownership over the direction of their education,” explains Science Department Chair John Lawrence. Webb’s recently revised science curriculum comprises a two-year sequence introducing freshmen and sophomores to scientific concepts and content in biology, physics and chemistry, leading to junior and senior year electives in which students have the opportunity to engage with their subjects as scientists. The introductory courses provide students with a grounding in scientific princ ples and knowledge, but even these courses also allow students to participate in the scientific process through inquiry-based labs, a core element of both the introductory and elective courses. Traditional ‘kitchen’ or ‘cookbook’ labs, used in high schools for generations, present students with a set of procedures to follow, leading to a predetermined result. Inquiry-based labs, Lawrence explains, present a question. Working collaboratively, students develop a hypothesis, determine what data they need to test the hypothesis, and design and conduct procedures to collect the data. While teachers may guide and help students, the students create their own science experience. The inquiry-based model “emphasizes leadership, rather than passivity and following,” he says. “We are seeing students become better leaders, better active learners.” The model requires students to work through the problem-solving process, and that’s not as simple as going through the motions to complete a cookbook lab. Students say the introductory courses force them to work—and think—more, Lawrence says, “but it’s a stress like, ‘how are we going to figure this out?’ and that’s a good thing.” Webb’s science electives build on the content and scientific indset introduced in the students’ freshmen and sophomore years. In addition to Advanced Placement courses in biology, chemistry, environmental sciences and physics, as well as courses in environment solutions, and physics, this academic year Webb is introducing advanced studies electives in anatomy and physiology, biotechnology, and organic chemistry. The new courses leverage the science faculty’s interests and expertise. Advanced Studies in Anatomy and Physiology, for example, draws on instructor Kevin Quick’s experience as a physical therapist—and it will be much more interactive than the traditional Anatomy 101 lecture course. With each new course topic, groups of students will be presented with a virtual patient presenting symptoms the students must diagnose, a technique that will engage students with the subject, foster a deeper understanding of the material and build problem-solving skills, Quick says.
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
“I can’t really tell you what the kids are going to do because Advanced Studies in Biotechnology combines instructor Lisa Blomberg’s background in protein biochemistry and her enthusiasm for fi ld research. “A lot of topics in science didn’t really make sense to me until I started doing research,” recalls Blomberg, but she also feels that research conducted entirely in a lab setting is lacking, especially in a fi ld like biology. The new elective places biology in the context of ecology, enlisting students in an ongoing project to use DNA collected from Webb and the surrounding area to precisely catalog the region’s flora. “I’ve been thinking about this course for a long time,” she says. The course will teach students lab techniques and theory fi st, after which they will have opportunities to develop their own research questions and projects. In essence, Blomberg says, the course will give students a toolbox, which they can then use to explore their own interests—solving problems and developing research strategies and methods as they do.
I don’t know yet, and that’s awesome.”
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“The more we engage students in active learning the more likely they are to retain the material.”
Advanced Studies in Organic Chemistry allows instructor Sally Mingarelli and her students to study one important group of molecules extensively, instead of rushing through a much broader range of topics, and she is excited about that opportunity. Like Blomberg’s biotechnology course, the organic chemistry course will begin with lab techniques and theory, after which students will develop projects to isolate and manipulate organic molecules. “I can’t really tell you what the kids are going to do because I don’t know yet,” says Mingarelli, “and that’s awesome.” That brings up a key point, says Theresa Smith, Webb’s director of academic affai s: the school’s inquiry—and skills-based science curriculum is challenging for teachers, as well as students. “They have to be ready to explain any question the student raises,” Smith explains, “so these teachers know
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
their stuff. They have to be knowledgeable about the cutting edge in their fi ld.” In addition to skilled faculty, a hands-on science curriculum requires facilities capable of supporting student research— a goal the school has been working toward since development of the new curriculum began. Webb’s two existing lab spaces have been completely renovated as interdisciplinary science labs including state-of-the-art work stations and a layout designed for student-driven work and collaboration. “We put a lot of thought into the redesign,” says Blomberg, ensuring the labs are optimized both as spaces to teach science and as areas to practice science. “That’s critical to the success of our advanced courses.” The end result, she says, is labs that are “more like what you would see at the college level.” The school also created a new position for a full-time laboratory technician to support Webb faculty and students, and planning for construction of an additional lab is underway.
The new science courses will take students beyond Webb’s labs and campus, too: each includes a partnership with an academic institution. These partnerships just make sense, says Smith, in a hub of colleges and research universities—and they give Webb students access to world-class resources and knowledge. Advanced Studies in Anatomy and Physiology students, for example, will be able to make use of the J and K Virtual Reality Learning Center at the Western University of Health Sciences. Using the center’s Anatomage Virtual Dissection Table, students will be able to ‘dissect’ a body in detail, examining each layer and structure, while the center’s virtual reality headsets let students ‘journey’ through the body. “They can really see how complicated and beautiful human anatomy is,” explains Associate Professor of Anatomy and Dental Medicine Vicki Wedel. “And the more we engage students in active learning as opposed to sitting through a lecture… the more likely they are to retain the material.” As they design and complete their research projects, students in Webb’s advanced biotechnology and organic chemistry courses will have access to facilities at University of California, Riverside and Pomona College, respectively. Webb’s biotechnology courses draw on The Dynamic Genome, a course developed by UC Riverside’s Biology Department as a research-focused alternative to more traditional, lecture-heavy biology courses. Enrolled students use the Neil A. Campbell Science Learning Laboratory, equipped with thermocyclers, polymerase chain reaction equipment, compound microscopes, and iPads for data analysis and database searches—all equipment Webb students will have access to through the school’s partnership with the university.
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The student-driven research, the lab facilities, the academic partnerships; they’re all the end result of the curriculum development process. But the impetus for the refreshed curriculum is to provide students with skills and habits of mind crucial for the 21st century—the same impetus that led to the development of Webb’s new humanities courses and the school’s emphasis on interdisciplinary courses. At Webb, in college and throughout their careers, students will need to be comfortable with ‘unbounded thinking,’ a term coined by alumnus Robert Hefner ’52. Today’s Webb students will have between six and 10 diffe ent jobs over the course of their working life, says Smith, so “being robust learners is what they’re going to need to be.” Two skills stand out for unbounded thinking and robust learning: problem-solving and critical analysis. In today’s academic and career environment, anyone with Internet access can find i formation with a few keystrokes—it’s what you can do with that information that’s important. As Smith points out, it’s easy to learn information—using that information to solve problems is more difficult.
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
“Students must also learn by struggling with real-world problems...�
Across academic disciplines, Webb’s curricula emphasize flexible skills over rote memorization. This philosophy is a natural fit for the sciences; after all, Lawrence notes, problem-solving and critical thinking are integral to science. “Those,” he says, “are real scientist methodologies.” And increasingly, they are methodologies important across all career fi lds and in civic life. The Next Generation Science Standards consortium—whose findi gs and recommendations informed the development of Webb’s science curriculum—notes that a strong background in science and math is “essential preparation for all careers in the modern workforce.” Beyond that, it’s essential in civic life—as individuals must consider issues ranging from energy sources to social policy—and private life, for decisions ranging from health care to retirement planning.
“The Opportunity Equation: Transforming Mathematics and Science Education for Citizenship and the Global Economy,” a 2009 report by the Carnegie Corporation of New York—Institute for Advanced Study Commission on Mathematics and Science Education, concludes: “We know that math and science are fundamental to sound decision making and to an ever-widening range of careers in nearly every sector, from technology and research to business, teaching, health, community development, and human services. We also know that, in today’s economy, the sharp division between preparing for higher education and preparing for a career has effect vely disappeared.” Webb’s science curriculum prepares students for higher education and careers in any fi ld by emphasizing skills and habits of mind, as well as providing students with a strong background in scientific princ ples. When students encounter new questions in Webb’s science courses, they must think in new ways to reach an answer, Lawrence explains. In addition to these flexible, problem-solving skills, Webb’s inquiry-based science curriculum builds critical reasoning skills, Mingarelli adds— and that’s crucial in the information-saturated 21st century. “People who lack that skill are so easily persuaded,” Mingarelli says. “Skepticism is important,” not only in science, but in any area that presents competing claims and data, from government policy options to fi ancial decisions.
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“All of these habits of mind are really applicable in all aspects of life,” says Blomberg. From designing and implementing a controlled experiment—which emphasizes the ability to compare options—to controlling factors—which requires thinking objectively—students can take the skills they build in science courses and use them in any area, she notes. “The Opportunity Equation” mirrors her insight: “Like literacy, math and science embody habits of mind and methods for discerning meaning that enable students to learn deeply and critically in all areas. Just as adults need math and science to understand the world and function within it, students need math and science to understand and master subjects such as history, geography, music, and art.” Beyond that, and more immediate to the student experience, Webb’s hands-on science courses instill a familiarity with both concepts and procedures scientists use, and enable them to see themselves as scientists. “The Opportunity Equation” argues that a full understanding of science as a human endeavor does not come from textbooks alone. “Learning math and science from textbooks is not enough,” it states. “Students must also learn by struggling with real-world problems, theorizing possible answers, and testing solutions.” And studies suggest that involvement in authentic scientific research increases students’ persistence in science, both in college and as a potential career fi ld, a correlation that’s especially strong for women and minorities, says Jim Burnette, a professor and academic coordinator for UC Riverside’s College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences. Engaging students in research early “inoculates” them against less-than-exciting lectures, he adds. “The opportunity to do real science is inspirational,” says Smith. And in the 21st century—in any fi ld—students “have to be able to problem solve in the world,” Quick says. “They have to think on their own.”
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
the
nature
of
learning
Is the classroom the only place in which to learn?
N o t i f y o u a s k a We b b s t u d e n t .
By Debbie Carini
From its setting on the front porch of the magnificent San Gabriel Mountains to the occasions, year-round, to engage with nature, Webb provides an incomparable opportunity for students
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to encounter, explore and develop interests and passions beyond the classroom.
and it has been, e ver thus. When Thompson Webb fi st set eyes on the scrubby hillside school in the early 1920s, the only growing things on campus were several small palm trees; there was sagebrush rising up to the windows of the buildings. In the early years, students rode horses through the foothills, and just as they do now, they hiked the local trails. A student looking north from the chapel today enjoys much the same view as one who stood on the same ground in 1922— Potato Mountain looms over the chapel, with stately Mt. Baldy, just beyond that.
Although he wasn’t aware of it at the time, Thompson Webb’s campus, and the off- hebeaten-path adventures he, and other early teachers including Ray Alf, often took with students were what is today called, experiential learning. Experiential learning, as defined by he National Association of Independent Schools, promotes learning through direct experience, often outside the classroom, at times not directly related to academic courses, frequently not graded, and
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
sometimes not mediated through language or academic discourse and practice. According to educational experts, its roots may be traced to a saying commonly attributed to Confucius around 450: “Tell me, and I will forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I will understand.”
At Webb, exposure to the natural world starts before the fi st class is convened. Students participate in freshman retreats— most recently, the boys to Mt. Baldy and the girls to San Onofre Beach.
With studies now showing that the average American child, age 8 to 18, spends nearly eight hours per day, year round, indoors looking at electronic screens. (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2010), this kind of “out-in-the world” learning is more important than ever. And Webb alumni are living proof that the effec s of learning and exploring in the natural world can inspire a lifetime of fulfillme t whether it be at work, through volunteerism or in everyday life.
By definition, a naturalist is: 1) an expert in or student of natural history or 2) a person who practices naturalism in art or literature.
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Robert Glenn Ketchum ’66 could be called the embodiment of a naturalist. A landscape and nature photographer whose work has a strong environmental advocacy message (in its 100th issue, Audubon magazine named him one of the 100 people who “shaped the environmental movement of the 20th Century,” and this year, the Explorers Club of New York— whose membership has included Robert Peary, Roald Amundsen, Charles Lindbergh and Neil Armstrong—honored him with their Lowell Thomas Award as a “Visionary of Conservation”), Ketchum attributes many of his strong feelings towards nature to his Webb experience: “I liked the out-of-doors but had never considered the ‘science’ of it before my arrival at Webb. Raymond Alf’s biology classes kindled my interests and Peccary trips were always fun, for me more for the camping and exploring than just for the paleontology. All of the Peccary trips contributed to what was fi ally an epiphany in college which is when I made the fi al ‘career’ choice,” he explained. “Although I do not think it caused my choice, I would say that our senior ‘ditch’ choice reflected our class love of the Peccary trips and we chose to go to the Grand Canyon, walk down to the bottom, spend the night at the Phantom Ranch, and walk back up the next day. That was not only challenging but completely amazing as we had an epic event to contend with also. I loved the ‘wildness’ of it all and I am sure that is part of my devotion to wilderness and the experience of wilderness.”
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
“ We have kids who have expertise in all different arenas—sports, acting, video and fi m, dance, gaming,” said Will Allan ’94 of the freshmen boys. “But that fi st hike and camping experience with your Webb peers is very valuable, no matter what you’re passionate about. When you’re camping and hiking, everyone’s in it together—you learn how to work together. There are no iPhones, no video games, no laptops, you’re forced to interact, and you have to figure out how to get from point A to point B with this group.” Allan enjoys the unique experience of having been a student at Webb himself in the early 1990s. He recalled a night hike in Mt. Baldy when teacher Tim Smith had the group lay down on the trail and look at the sky. “There was a huge smattering of stars,” he said. “It opened my eyes to what nature had to offe .” For the 2016 Unbounded Days, Allan and teacher Lisa Blomberg led students on a 4-day, 3-night adventure in canyoneering and rock climbing, exploring the topography of the Southwest at Red Rock in Nevada—through amazing rock formations and underground pools formed millions of years ago. Rock climbing is a sport that involves climbing vertical rock walls with the aid of harnesses, ropes and belays. Canyoneering is traveling in canyons using a variety of techniques including rock scrambling, climbing, abseiling (rappelling on rope), and sometimes even swimming.
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“Some of the canyon walls are very tight,” explained Blomberg, “so a couple of students had to overcome some fears.” The group camped every night, waded through canyons, and got into several snug spaces.
Even students who were outdoorsy before they started at Webb, have found new ways to discover the natural world at Webb.
“It’s almost like caving,” said Blomberg of the experience. Blomberg leads the schools’ after-school outdoor activities for two seasons each year, taking students to Hangar 18 Indoor Climbing Gym in Upland, and on weekends also out into the fi ld—to Big Bear and Malibu. Last year she went to the Grand Canyon with the boys (she holds a Wilderness First Responder Certific te which was required for the trip); she might be the fi st woman to have hiked the whole way with the guys.
who grew up in Mt. Baldy and whose family camped and
“ I was always interested in nature,” said Brenden Shue ’17 hiked. “But my outdoor experiences at Webb have opened my eyes to nature—the beauty of nature itself, how humans are affecting it, and how we can adapt to nature.” Of his Unbounded adventure in Zion, Shue said: “I couldn’t describe how beautiful it was—it’s nothing like the pictures; it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Teachers Greg Gerkin and Andy Dahlstrom also led an Unbounded excursion, entitled “Walk Out the Back Door,” which took advantage of Webb’s location right up against a 10,000 ft. mountain, Mt. San Antonio, (often referred to as Mt. Baldy), the highest peak of the San Gabriel Mountains. “The technology stayed at home,” said Gerkin of the no-phone, no-laptop rule on the 4-day, 3-night camping trip. “When you get out there, it comes down to simple human connection. We don’t need all those things.”
Shue hopes to pursue environmental studies in college. Alexis Hegelson ’16 has been enjoying rock climbing for two years. “You don’t expect that to be an after-school activity,” she said. Hegelson also grew up hiking and camping. But at Webb, she’s pushed herself further.
Gerkin went on to explain that students learn a lot of lessons in the outdoors, such as, “how do I lead a group up the mountain or how do I plan a meal for 10 people?”
“In Zion, you’re struggling outside your comfort zone,” she said. “When you’re climbing and working hard like that, it binds you together with your classmates in ways that just don’t happen in the classroom. You have to trust the person attached to your rope.”
“It can be a life-changing experience,” said Gerkin. “One student wasn’t very happy about it, but in the end he told me, ‘I can’t believe I did this, it was so worth it!’”
Helgelson ’16 also traveled to Belize with a Webb group during her sophomore year. “We were hiking in the jungle and snorkeling. [Belize has the second longest barrier reef in the world].
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
We explored a canyon that we had to swim through parts of— it was dark, so I was wearing a headlamp, and little fish ere nibbling at my legs.” So inspired has she been by her encounters, Helgelson has investigated other methods of academic exploration in nature. With the support of Science Department Chair John Lawrence, she worked with the group 5 Gyres, a community that fights ocean plastic pollution through education, science and activism, helping the group to count and track trash at diffe ent flow times in channelized and natural creeks and rivers in Belize. Gerkin said that every trip is an opportunity to discuss the environmental movement and instill in students the need to start taking value in things that are going away. Throughout the 90-plus years of Webb’s existence, students have explored the natural world from the Kaiparowits Plateau in southern Utah to the Mongolian section of the Gobi Desert, from Yosemite to the Grand Canyon. And they’ve gone on to contribute to the contemplation and preservation of the natural world. Of course, Webb students have almost always had an incomparable opportunity to experience nature in the form of the Alf Museum and its programs. Very early on in the schools’ existence, biology teacher Ray Alf began leading groups of students to nearby fossil sites in Barstow, and the program continued to grow. James Davis ’67 says Dr. Alf was an inspiration to him, even though he was more interested in snakes than dinosaur fossils.
“I really liked hiking and spent a lot of time walking on the trails that went along the powerlines,” said Davis describing his afternoon adventures, where he saw several rattlesnakes and captured one that was kept safe in an aquarium in a teacher’s house, and then in a zoo in Arizona. He also recalls looking out his window to see coyotes at night, and great horned owl.
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Davis recently retired as a naturalist for Portland, Oregon’s, Metro Regional Parks and Greenspaces, where he conducted a variety of educational programs in Metro’s natural areas. He has written a book entitled The Northwest Nature Guide, and has contributed to Wild in the City: A Guide to Portland’s Natural Areas. He was previously education director for the Audubon Society of Portland. “The Peccary trips were great,” said Davis, “but Dr. Alf also spent a lot of time listening to the things I was interested in. I had a lot of chances to explore the natural world I was in.”
Dr. Don Lofgren picked up where Dr. Alf left off continuing the tradition of Peccary trips and outdoor education. “It’s essential to be out in nature,” explained Dr. Lofgren. “We don’t allow kids to use electronics outside of their tents— not even earplugs—what if there’s a rattlesnake?”
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
Dr. Lofgren takes students to Barstow and uses the same cast iron pans to cook pancakes that Dr. Alf did in the 1950s. He said students enjoy doing their own cooking.
Joshua Tree, Presecan says the group was challenged to take concepts they learned in the classroom and apply them in the fi ld.
“Part of the experience is just learning to be outside—to be prepared—it can rain or thunder, you need to know where you can go and where you can’t,” he said.
Often times, her job requires the same skills.
Dr. Lofgren also discourages the use of too much technology. “We teach students how to look at their surroundings to orient themselves,” he said. He doesn’t use GPS to hike, asserting that people should always carry and know how to read a map. “I joke around, ‘GPS is for people who don’t know how to read a map,’ but it’s kind of true,” he added.
“When I go to a site, I have to make fi ld calculations, and I don’t always have the proper tools, so I use what I have and then go back to the office and develop computer models,” she said. Webb provided Presecan with a strong background in science and math, but she also stresses that the emphasis on writing and communications during her high school years is also important in her job which often requires her to explain technical issues in a practical manner.
Part of the experience is also learning where to set up camp, digging a trench around one’s tent, putting stuff way (so animals don’t get to it) and learning to use a restroom out in nature.
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Lucy Herrero ’10 is the Collections Assistant at the Alf Museum. She graduated from Stanford University in 2014 with a B.A. in archaeology.
“ Webb focused on the whole package,” said Presecan. “You learned to understand other perspectives and to
“On my freshman Peccary trip, I did not like it—it was so hot and it felt like we were hiking for miles,” she said. But a twoweek summer Peccary trip changed all that.
participate in collaborative learning—those are the skills that are going to help solve today’s problems.”
“The fi ldwork was so exciting, and even if it was totally diffe ent than what I was used to, I was hooked,” explained Herrero. At Stanford, as part of her major, she went on digs around the world: Peru, Jordan, Turkey.
Dr. Andrew Farke, the Augustyn Family Curator and Director of Research and Collections at the Alf Museum says that no matter how great a virtual experience is, there’s nothing like being out in nature talking about rocks, ecosystems, and more.
“Archeological fi ldwork shares many of the same basic principles as paleontology fi ldwork,” she explained. “I felt very prepared doing international fi ldwork after my experience collecting and excavating with the Alf.”
“It’s comfortable for students to look in a book, but it’s important for students to get out there and try things outside,” he said.
Mary Presecan ’92 is the water resources manager at Leonard Rice Engineers, Inc. in Denver, Colorado, where she assists clients in their long-range water supply planning; she also often serves as an expert witness in water rights cases. Presecan (whose mother Joan was a biology teacher at Webb at the time) said she participated in every Peccary trip offe ed during the school year. During her sophomore-year trip to
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
“I thought I would only find a ew scraps,” said Nicole Huh ’19 of her fi st Peccary trip, “but a lot of people in our class found things that will go into the museum.” Dr. Mark Torres ’06, who is a postdoctoral research fellow at the California Institute of Technology, said he wanted to go to Webb specific lly because of his interest in the natural world. “I was sold on going to Webb as soon as I heard that I would be able to hunt for fossils as part of a class,” he shared.
“That said, Webb took what was my vague enthusiasm for the natural sciences and focused it into what is now my main intellectual pursuit. Simply put, Webb is the reason that I now have a Ph.D. in Earth Science.” Torres still regularly finds himself in the wilderness collecting fi ld data.
“Students may ‘learn’ about climate change for example, by reading the news, watching videos or listening to lectures,” said Dr. Webb. “However, doesn’t it mean much more to physically experience the local outcomes of global processes? Similarly, people collectively have made choices at many societal levels that have implications across the globe. Seeing is believing, indeed.” Dr. Webb also says that his graduation trip to the Grand Canyon has stuck with him for 30 years and that he still enjoys recalling the hike.
“ I published a scientific paper on one of the same sites that I went to as a high school student with Dr. Lofgren,” he said. “On a Peccary trip, I defin tely felt a sense of purpose that elevated the experience above a simple camping trip. We weren’t just camping, we were trying
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to understand Earth’s past through the fossil record.”
“It was very much team-oriented, something that is very much required for fi ld research. A good fi ld team, like those that I put together for tropical forest expeditions, is highly organized even if it seems informal and is a setting where everyone is having a great time. This is something I learned at Webb and was very important for later success as a fi ld biologist.”
Incorporating the natural world as an integral part of the Webb educational process insures that students
Sensitivity to the environment is the hallmark of Drew Hubbell’s ’80 Hubbell and Hubbell Architects studio. The company is unique among architectural firms in ts ability to integrate sustainability with artistry, innovation and tradition. He says the school retreat to Joshua Tree, where students spent time hiking and looking at the stars, sparked his major in architecture and that his overall Webb experience taught him to think critically and solve problems. “I haven’t been afraid to try to use new materials; I don’t just follow other people’s opinions,” he said. Hubbell has spent 20 years at the forefront of green building trends, utilizing materials and techniques such as straw bale construction, passive solar design, green roof natural building, adobe construction and rain water harvesting. Dr. Edward Webb ’86 is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the National University of Singapore as well as the Director of the Bachelor of Environmental Studies Program at NUS. He says the experience/philosophy at Webb that he incorporates most into his work at NUS is the concept of a well-rounded education and the importance of getting outside and giving hands-on experience to students.
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
develop a critical understanding and appreciation for the natural systems that support life on Earth. “Without going outside and looking at the natural world, many science lessons can come across as abstract and esoteric,” said Torres. “Consequently, the best way to teach science is to get students outside and thinking about how what is written in the text book can be applied to the natural world. Furthermore, there is nothing quite as humbling as looking out over vast expanses of open space and realizing how much more there is to the world then we get to see during our day to day life.” As part of its “Be Out There” Campaign, the National Wildlife Federation released a report entitled, Back to School: Back Outside! which concluded that the “hands-on and real-world aspects of most environmental and outdoor education improve students’ desire to learn and boost their performance on most measures of student success.” “During my lifetime, people have become more isolated from nature, from earth and how it works” said Davis. That’s why this kind of education is more important than ever.
It is often noted that Ansel Adams walked the halls of Congress with his portfolio of King’s Canyon to persuade delegates that the area should be a national park. Ketchum has done the Congressional hall walk many times with his own books as well as the books of others. He has met with Presidents Jimmy Carter and George Bush Sr., and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He has also known four Secretaries of the Interior. “I helped to found a group, iLCP, the International League of Conservation Photographers, many of whom are the foremost journalists on climate change in the world. I myself have worked in the Arctic since 1994 and have been to the pole twice, done research in Greenland and Newfoundland, and flown over a hundred hours of time photographing,” said Ketchum. “There is probably NOTHING more important than this education! If we cannot address the disruption in weather cycles that we are creating, successive generations of humans will struggle to survive the changes.”
e ver
Robert Glenn Ketchum ’66 (left). Founding Fellow, International League of Conservation Photographers.
th us
LIBRA THE
IN THE
AGE OF
EVERYTHING
RY
By Aaron Severson
Although alarmist headlines often suggest that libraries are an endangered species, rendered obsolete by the many online resources now at our fingertips, the library at Webb is becoming more relevant than ever. In fact, it’s helping to reshape Webb’s curriculum and campus life. L I B R A R I E S T O D AY Times have been tough for public libraries. In many communities, funding is tighter than ever. There are also signs that library use is declining. In surveys conducted by Pew Research Center, the percentage of Americans 16 and older who report visiting public libraries in the past year has fallen from 53 percent in 2012 to 46 percent last year. Use of library websites hasn’t increased commensurately and it appears public library patrons, particularly younger ones, have been slow to recognize the range of resources many libraries now offe . Nonetheless, Pew surveys reveal that more than 70 percent of American adults still feel that libraries serve an important role in supporting education in their communities and nurturing “lifelong learners.” There’s also a strong correlation between library use and other forms of community engagement and activism.
Those points figure prominently in the arguments of library experts and advocates like John Palfrey, head of school for Phillips Academy Andover, former vice-dean of library and information resources at Harvard Law, and author of the 2015 book BiblioTech: Why Libraries Matter More Than Ever in the Age of Google. Palfrey’s thesis is that libraries must also become hubs of interaction and creation, helping communities to connect and navigate an increasingly complex technological and informational landscape.
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I check out books (some for leisure, most for school), and I spend my lunches in one of the library classrooms with my friends.” Barrett Fischer ’16 says the library “somehow manages to be both intellectual and casual. One moment you could be talking to your friend about last night’s game and the next you’re working on a history paper.” Students have played an important part in that transformation, suggesting ways to improve the physical space and creating
“The library somehow manages to be both intellectual and casual.”
S OU N D S OF C HANGE Anyone seeking a model of the thriving and vital library of the future would do well to study Webb’s W. Russell Fawcett Memorial Library, which has been undergoing a renaissance under the leadership of director of teaching and learning resources Mark Dzula, Ph.D. Dzula says the library “should stimulate wonder, nurture discovery, and support extended study.” One of the many changes he’s made to support that vision can be heard the moment you walk in the door. “Our rules allow collegial conversation instead of requiring hushed silence,” he explains. “Fawcett Library is a dynamic place. I am proud to have the library open to a broad spectrum of use.” Dzula’s philosophy has helped transform the library into a vibrant community center as well as a haven for study and research. “At Webb, the library is also seen as a social hangout spot,” says Maxim Sapozhkov ’17, who adds that it’s still “a very good study place.” “I use the Fawcett Library in a variety of manners, everything from studying to socializing,” says Anjali Reddy ’18. “During my free blocks, I like to complete my work at the main tables,
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
artwork like the new mascot, “Billy the Book,” and the “Kaleidoscope” mural installation that adorns the back wall. “The [mural’s] frame was designed to match the geometry of the Fawcett Library: octagons and circles,” explains Leo Zhang ’17. “We agreed that the sketches should be a reflection of life at Webb. The cool color scheme was designed to be a contrast to the warm scheme elsewhere in the library.” In addition to student art, the library now regularly hosts events and programs, from poetry readings to karaoke. New after-school programs like Creative Writing and News & Views provide an informal setting for students to share opinions and exercise their creativity. During each Creative Writing program, for example, former library assistant Liz Harmer used to offer wr ting prompts, advice, and snacks for a dozen or so young writers. “You bounce ideas off f your friends and peers, sometimes writing a story together,” explains Andi Delgado ’18. Reddy, another regular participant, says, “It’s defi itely helped me with my creative spontaneity.”
TRANSFORMATIVE TOOLS Another addition to the library is the Berry Center, a “maker space” offeri g an assortment of materials for drawing or model-building. Some students use these materials for class projects. Last fall, for instance, sophomores in Webb’s new Integrated Physics & Chemistry (IPC) class designed model bridges and marble roller coasters. “It was benefici l for our students to have access to the library’s new maker space, where they could collaborate between classes and experiment with new designs,” says teacher Andrew Hamilton. Sapozhkov turned to the Berry Center for a project in Honors American Literature. “Our assignment was to visualize the mansion of Jay Gatsby from the book The Great Gatsby,” he explains. “The colored pencils and markers were very useful.” Many students also use the space recreationally. “I love the Berry Center,” exclaims Delgado. “I sometimes fin myself in there after a particularly rough academic day to doodle.” Zhang is fond of the wooden KEVA planks. “I go there and just build some random shapes for fun,” he says. “We all get something from the wooden blocks, either the joy of building them and watching them collapse or a study of the geometry or spaces.”
CULTIVATING INFORMATION LITERACY None of these new features have supplanted the library’s core mission, which is supporting student learning. The prevalence of online information and new media present both opportunities and challenges for educators. The convenience of search engines, says Director of Academic Affai s Theresa Smith, PhD, hasn’t eliminated the need “to be really good at locating good information, which implies the ability to know what is good information.” Webb students themselves generally express confi ence in their “information literacy,” but their teachers are less sanguine. “The students are good at what they can glean from the fi st or second page of a Google search,” says dean of faculty
Tracy Miller, PhD “Our kids are used to the instant gratific tion that comes so often with information online. It’s something we work on from the minute they arrive on campus.” “I think incoming students are not always as skeptical as I would like,” adds Smith. “They’ve grown up in a world where media, advertising, and information are blended so much that I think they have a hard time seeing how information might be shaped by business or the source it’s coming from.” Corinne McGinley ’16 says that was definitely true for her as a freshman. “I was very naïve when it came to being discerning of diffe ent sources,” she says. The library staff plays an active role in helping students develop that discernment while taking advantage of the many powerful resources available online. “We’ve invested in databases like EBSCOhost and the New York Times archives at teachers’ requests,” says Dzula. “We demonstrate the capabilities of these resources and help teachers and students integrate them into their projects.”
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“Sometimes, I have absolutely no clue where to start for a project or paper,” admits Delgado. “I have found the online databases to which we have subscriptions, such as JSTOR and the Gale Discovering Collection, to be immensely helpful.” Hamilton says that last fall, “the library arranged for every sophomore to attend a lunchtime presentation on research skills and tools.” Harmer, who conducted part of that presentation, explains that she “went through all our online resources to show students which ones tend to be better for diffe ent approaches: sociological versus scientifi versus historical.” Dzula conducted a comparable tutorial on the New York Times archives for the 11th grade U.S. History class. The fi st major research project teacher Susanna Linsley, PhD, assigned for that class was to write a fi st-person diary of a historical figure of the 1920s based on information from the Times archives. Linsley says part of the goal was to help students “gain an
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
understanding of what we can know from newspaper articles and what sort of information a newspaper can’t provide.” Sapozhkov, who wrote about Pan-Africanism founder Marcus Garvey, found the tutorial illuminating. “I was very surprised that the New York Times has papers even from the 1890s,” he says. “These archives helped me not only in history class, but also in my Honors American Lit class.”
CURRICULAR DEVELOPMENT The library staff s involvement extends well beyond demonstrating databases. For Linsley’s 20s diary assignment, Dzula and his staff prepared a 12-page research guide outlining books and resources available on each historical figure. “I work very closely with Mark and the library staff hen developing these projects,” says Linsley. “They make sure they have a detailed understanding of the projects so they can help students find esources.”
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To help IPC students design “supergraphics” illustrating concepts in quantum mechanics, the library staff i troduced students to the work of infographics master Edward Tufte. “The [library’s] display included a video presentation and a short biography of Tufte,” Hamilton explains. “Dr. Dzula also pointed us to The Vizzies, an annual award sponsored by the National Science Foundation for scientific il ustration, and located several magazines that contained great examples.” An emerging role of the library, notes Smith, “is to help us access academic resources for departments beyond what we normally think of as academic resources.” One exciting example is the recent collaboration between Dzula and Miller for Miller’s 11th grade AP Language class. In teaching Mark Twain’s 1894 novel Pudd’nhead Wilson, Miller “was looking for a way to link the book to conversations about race that are happening in our world today. Mark helped me shape the direction of the assignment. It was his idea to tap students into public discourse through a venue in which it’s happening today.” Among the most important of those venues is Twitter, where headline-making hashtags like #BlackLivesMatter link an incisive, acerbic running dialogue about race in America. English and Humanities Department Chair Andy Dahlstrom, who adopted Miller’s assignment for his 12th grade AP Literature class, says the library “assembled an amazing document: a collection of the social media discussions of race in 2015.” Students conducted additional independent research and then recorded five-minute oral reflections using their smartphones.
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
McGinley says the library guide was “incredible and deeply appreciated,” helping her come to grips with an assignment that touched on everything from identity politics to police shootings. “This was a project reflective of Webb’s values of creating students of the world,” she says, “encouraging us to engage with the world around us and not isolate ourselves to traditional forms of research.” “I never had an assignment quite like that,” adds Fischer, whose own oral reflection considered the links between violence and poverty. “It was a good reminder that the work we do in school, although sometimes seemingly arbitrary, holds a lot of personal significan e.”
“ It was a good reminder that the work we do in school, although sometimes seemingly arbitrary, holds a lot of personal significance.” Library-faculty collaborations like these will grow more frequent as Webb develops its new junior and senior elective curriculum. That curriculum will include a strong research component that Miller says is aimed at “getting students to engage with primary sources, which is often not what you get when you Google.” Miller calls Dzula “a great colleague and interlocutor” and says the library staff “can be eally powerful partners for teachers. They know the kinds of questions the kids ask and the roadblocks to research.”
INTO THE FUTURE
INTO THE
For all he’s accomplished, Dzula is just getting started. Aside from expanding the library’s role in curricular development, he’s exploring additional partnerships with other libraries—the library is already a member of the Independent School Library Exchange, the local affil te of the Association of Independent School Libraries—and collaborating with Miller “to promote the library as a resource for professional development.” The revitalized library’s most important contribution may be its impact on Webb students. If the Fawcett Library is a model of the library of tomorrow, its users are the forerunners of tomorrow’s library patrons: engaged, curious, and passionate about everything a library can offe . As Delgado puts it, “I feel like Fawcett is raising my expectations of libraries in general.”
FUTURE
“ The e is no perfect fit when ou’re looking for the next big thing to do. You have to take opportunities and make an opportunity fit for ou, rather than the other way around. The ability to learn is the mos important quality a leader can have.” —Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
WHERE WOMEN LEAD By Debbie Carini
K
Ken Huang ’89 is the managing partner and CFO of ZQuest Solutions, which provides consulting and IT / tax advisory
Thirty years after women became 50 percent of the college graduates in the United States, men still hold the vast majority of leadership positions in government and industry, according to research presented by Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook. But VWS graduates are not only bucking this trend, they are findi g ways to actively sculpt their lives and careers to not only succeed, but to realize the symbolism of the Lancastrian rose on their school’s crest—strength and leadership. At Vivian Webb School, girls internalize the ideal of a female in a leadership position because that is what they see—day-in and day-out—in their directors and deans. And, in single sex classes (which are predominant for ninth and tenth graders), a young woman can comprehend her value and capabilities in ways that have nothing to do with how she looks or whom she dates.
services to Fortune 500 companies. When she founded the company with two other women (they met through their children—Huang’s boys are 13 and 10), the three accomplished
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professionals decided to create a work environment that embodied the work/life balance. “The juggling of both work and family has taught me to be smart about my time,” explained Huang. “Being effici t is crucial. I measure my day in 15-minute increments. I know that sounds crazy, but that’s how I’m able to balance. That efficien requires precision, and so that has required me to be very honest in my leadership style. Also knowing how to prioritize. Starting ZQuest Solutions has so far been one of the most rewarding and learning experiences I have had in my career. First, we had been friends for many years before starting this business. And so there was trust and respect to begin with. This is so important for us as it enables us to resolve diffe ences effect vely. Since we all have family and enjoy our hobbies such as long distance running, photography and volunteering at school, we remind each other weekly or even daily why we started this business, particularly when we’re all pulling 12-plus-hour days.”
“Vivian Webb School showed me the importance of never underestimating myself,” said Noreen Barcena ’05, who today is the principal of Barcena Law Offices in Los Angeles, practicing criminal defense, family law and immigration law since December 2012. She is also on the executive board of the Mexican American Bar Association. “It also taught me to adapt to working with others because we had roommates and group projects. I think the way we transitioned from all-girls classes to co-ed classes really helped me come out of my shell. I learned to be outspoken and be direct.” Theresa Smith PhD is Webb’s director of academic affai s and she has many conversations with VWS students as they strive to figure out their paths to leadership at the school.
“ There are so many opportunities for girls to be leaders at Webb: in the dorms, on the honor council, on the playing field, as peer advisors, with ASB, in clubs and beyond,” Smith explained. “ Coordinate single-sex education helps girls become leaders by fostering their confidence and helping them to develop a strong, clear voice.” Marian Wright Edelman wrote: “You can’t be what you can’t see,” and young women at Webb are fortunate to have authoritative role models in their school leadership—both administratively and in student-led government.
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
“There are myriad ways to see leadership in action, and that’s really powerful” said Tracy Miller PhD, dean of faculty. “To be in a place where you’re around strong women who understand what it means to be a decision maker, that’s empowering in a way I didn’t realize until I left,” said Mona Shah-Anderson ’93 who is the founder of Moxxe Public Relations in Orange County, California. “I always looked up to Susan Nelson.” Susan Nelson was the fi st and only woman to be appointed head of schools, which occurred in 1991. She led the schools through myriad successes over more than two decades in the role. She was appointed head emerita by the board of trustees in 2011. BARCENA
SHAH-ANDERSON
“The mentorship piece at Webb starts early on,” added Coye. “That’s a great model as you’re developing. You learn who can support you and who you can help support. As a leader, I know it’s important to build-up my staff, to invest in them so they’ll feel secure and confi ent and work harder to succeed.” Coye says she was never a scholar or athlete at Webb, but she built relationships with her teachers (she cites Diane Wilsdon and Joanne Kingston as examples), “they showed me the opportunities I had ahead of me.” Opening the lines of communication is another advantage of a VWS education. Many alumnae speak of the “sisterhood” of VWS. All girls schools, even those like VWS that eventually offer o-ed classes, provide a unique opportunity for young women to form a bond of sisterhood that extends beyond graduation. Shah-Anderson explained that she is still friends with many of her VWS classmates. “My classmate Tina Dutta-Ladva ’93 (a management professional with 15 years-experience providing business solutions to Fortune Global Top 10 and Fortune 500 companies) helped me to realize that I could own a business and still be a great mom,” said Shah-Anderson whose PR experience encompasses a wide range of duties, from being the PR director for the Miss Universe contest (and in doing so, working closely with Donald Trump— “he’s always ‘PR-ing’!” she said) to coordinating initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa with the Harvard Aids Institute, to working on the 84th Annual Academy Awards and coordinating publicity for high profi e individuals such as President Bill Clinton and former First Lady Laura Bush.
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That sense of sisterhood also extends to co-workers. BARNES
COYE
Lilly Coye ’00 who calls herself a “Jill-of-all-trades” in her role as assistant director of advising at the University of Southern California, said that she most appreciates her experience on the Honor Cabinet for the knowledge it provided in terms of talking things through. “If you violated the contract of the community, you had to talk to your peers about that,” said Coye, who attributes that experience with leading her to run for president of her class at Skidmore College. She not only won, she spoke at graduation.
Melissa Barnes Dholakia ’87 is the founder of MBD Partners, a company that supports new and existing charter schools in the areas of school design, goal setting and monitoring and performance reporting. She also helps new schools design programs and develop their charters. “I chose a fi ld of work in which women are dominant, education, but continue to be a disproportionate minority in leadership positions,” said Barnes Dholakia. “As a female leader, I try to model what it means to be a working mother— and I think this benefits not only my female counterparts, but also male. I have a comfort level saying I need to change a
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
meeting because my child is ill and needs to see a doctor, in a way that I don’t think many male leaders do—including my spouse (Sanjay Dholakia ’87, formerly the chief marketing officer for Marketo and currently chairman of the board at Webb). It makes me human—and makes the people who work for me comfortable when they need to do the same. There isn’t judgement, it’s about doing two amazing jobs well—as a principal of the company and a mom.” Barnes Dholakia says her Vivian Webb experience helped her prepare for her career by creating structures that allowed individuals to take leadership for things that they cared about: “‘What, you want to start a debate team? Go right ahead!’ ‘Girls soccer? Sure!’ That encouragement of ideas, within a small community where there was a strong sense of team, was the perfect training ground for taking risks and learning to lead with others.”
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Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong ’93 was appointed to a judgeship in the Los Angeles County Superior Court by Governor Jerry Brown in 2015. She previously served in several positions at the U.S. Department of Justice from 2007 to 2015. She earned a JD from Yale Law School and a BA from Harvard University. She credits her VWS experience with giving her the confi ence to inspire others and champion the people she is responsible for leading.
“Being in a women’s school meant that we saw (and were!) women leaders every day and were constantly told—in words and actions—that there was nothing we as women could not do,” said Frimpong. “As I have progressed in my career, I have often found myself in male dominated environments, or in roles—such as being a judge—where people may expect to see a man. The fact that I do not believe my gender should hold me back from anything helps me to just focus on being the best judge I can be.”
J Jana Sims ’03 is a fi ancial analyst at The Resmark Companies, a real estate investment advisor. She believes that leadership is the ability to identify a challenge and inspire action in a way that maximizes available strengths to foster a solution while maintaining a big picture perspective. “This defi ition of leadership applies to both men and women; however we still live in a world that is skeptical of women’s abilities when it comes to business acumen and ability to lead and execute,” said Sims. “This skepticism is often on a subconscious level, but it still presents an additional hurdle in the business world for women to overcome. Thus, women often have to go the extra mile to demonstrate subject matter command in a way that encourages confi ence which is necessary to inspire action.” Sims credits her VWS education with providing a “dual track environment, which allowed me to work through insecurities and develop my skills and confi ences in a safe women’s space and then immediately apply them in a co-ed ‘real world’ context. I was the ASB president of a women’s school, but I very often worked hand-in-hand with the ASB president of the men’s school (WSC) on matters that impacted the overall student body. I fostered my leadership skills in a safe environment and I was challenged to rise to a larger audience and still gain confi ence and inspire action.” In some sectors of the business world women are still working their way up. The Wall Street Journal reported last year, for example, that “women enter the banking fi ld at roughly the same rate as men, but their numbers shrink the
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
higher up the leadership chain one goes. The biggest U.S. banks have never had a female chief executive officer, and the number of women getting close to the top spot hasn’t grown much in recent years, either.” Joanne Goh ’99 is challenging that data as a vice president and senior relationship manager for the Financial Institutions Group at DBS Bank in Hong Kong. She says her experience at Webb helped her prepare for the challenges of her career: “Webb is a wonderful melting pot of strong personalities, diverse backgrounds and incredible talents, which mirrors that of the banking world. Being a women’s school in a co-ed setting, VWS offe ed single-gender classes, activities and dormitories, from which I got plenty of opportunities to learn how to work and live with, and to build kinship with other women. With the ever-increasing emphasis placed by the banking industry on encouraging women hires, closing the gender salary gap, and promoting more women to management positions, the ability to appreciate and work with fellow women is an invaluable skill to possess.” The advantages of attending Vivian Webb School are long lasting. From a deeper involvement in leadership roles and a stronger sense of self-worth, to paths that lead alumni to doctoral degrees, MDs, and JDs among others, and into careers as entrepreneurs, doctors, scientists, lawyers and more. To their sisters still attending Webb, VWS alumnae continue to provide words of encouragement: SIMS
“I would advise students to get uncomfortable,” said Sims. “Don’t be afraid of failure. You learn so much from failed circumstances and high school provides the protective cushion of limited consequences. So you get all the upside with almost no downside.Trying new things allows you to develop new skills, hone your strategic approach, and gain a true understanding of your own strengths and weaknesses.” And Barnes Dholakia added: “There are people who set a path then pursue it, others who set out and create a path as opportunities unfold. I’ve been a bit of both throughout my life and would encourage Vivian Webb students to embrace flexibility. Figure out what your passion is—what your why is—that’s the part that will drive you. Then be flexible as life unfolds and you consider your options for what you might do and how you might do it. For me, I simply wanted to make the world a better place for the people in it who have been marginalized—it has always been my why. My how became clear in college, through education. But my what has evolved over time, taking opportunities as they unfolded.” HUANG
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FRIMPONG
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
Congratulations
WEBB
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TODAY S T U D E N T S
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Class of 2016 Advances to New Endeavors Webb’s 100 graduates were bid a fond farewell during commencement exercises on Saturday, June 3, amid blue skies and great excitement. In the presence of families, friends, faculty, students, alumni, and members of the Webb Board of Trustees, the ceremonies marked the achievements of students who came to Webb from all parts of California, from across the country, and from around the world to experience the unique, honor-bound culture that is a Webb education. Head of Schools Taylor Stockdale conferred diplomas on the schools’ seniors at two ceremonies—the 33rd commencement exercises of Vivian Webb School, and the 94th commencement exercise of Webb School of California. At 10:30 am on Faculty Field, Stockdale encouraged the 48 seniors of Vivian Webb School to “let this experience not just be a high school graduation, but a moment in your life when you set out to change the world, knowing you have this robust foundation here at Vivian Webb to support you and nurture you for all the days of your life.”
Student body president Kate Lofgren ’16 introduced the ceremony’s speaker, Julia Marciari-Alexander ’85, one of the 34 founding students of Vivian Webb School. MarciariAlexander is the executive director of The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore where she oversees the museum’s more than 30,000 pieces that span from the 3rd millennium B.C. to the early 20th century.
Marciari-Alexander spoke of her unique place in Vivian Webb history as one of the original “pioneers,” and how that experience shaped her life:
“I am certain that VWS is the secret in my sauce. I have always credited that moment of walking into the dining hall that fi st day as the moment it all became possible for me. According to my acceptance letter, my recommenders thought that my traits of ‘leadership, a positive attitude, and a high sense of integrity’ were what made me a perfect fit for the nascent Vivian Webb School. What I didn’t know then, and, on the eve of the big 50, what I do know now is that leadership and integrity are merely the by-products of the most important quality of all: a positive attitude.”
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
W E B B TODAY
S T U D E N T S
Class valedictorian Bonnee Nie ’16 spoke of the support and guidance she found at Webb:
“I already know that, from my time at
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Webb, I will always have with me the friendship that helped and will continue to help me through obstacles like vertical cables hanging off a granite cliff-side or my own self-doubt, the wisdom, which I learned from my teachers, is best obtained unceasingly and on one’s own, or the honor from and of serving my world, my community, my family, now and at any time.” In the late afternoon, the 52 seniors of Webb School of California gathered on the Alamo lawn, as they have for more than 90 years. Stockdale took the opportunity to expound on the school’s tradition of presenting Bibles to graduates: “Several of you have asked me why we give a Bible to such a diverse group of students. I have taken this question to heart. I have spoken to alumni of all faiths and no faith about it, and have read a great deal from Thompson Webb’s own writings. “Tradition is the nest where humanity is nurtured. The word ‘tradition’ is used here in the singular tense, but a close
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
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examination of Webb’s student body reveals a representation of many varied traditions and beliefs. Here at Webb, we regularly give special attention to the traditions that have characterized this institution from the beginning. The annual commencement exercise is one of those times. The diploma placed in a Bible is another. While Thompson Webb was a Christian of the Methodist persuasion, he regarded all of the world’s religions as teaching virtues of human development. He stated this plainly and clearly when he built his chapel in his beloved wife’s name all those years ago.
“Thompson Webb, and his father Sawney Webb before him, placed an emphasis on the classics, especially those works of ancient and sacred literature that helped shape western civilization. Of these, the Bible is of course one of the preeminent texts. Its meaning is not the same for all people, but within its pages can be found examples of moral courage, or what we have long termed ‘honor.’ So as we send you forth from the Webb nest, as we have done for 90-plus years before, we impart this gift as a remembrance of Webb traditions and the virtues that will always characterize the mission of these great schools.” Colonel John Rogers ’59 addressed the gathering, recalling that he was graduate number 753 at the 37th annual commencement. Col. Rogers served in the United States Air Force, retiring as a full colonel in 1989. Throughout his career, he fle transporttype aircraft including the C-124 Globemaster and the C-141
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Starlifter. Currently, Col. Rogers is president of the United Samaritans Foundation and The Mary Stuart Rogers Foundation. Rogers has a BA from Willamette University and an MA from University of Colorado Boulder. He counseled the graduates to strive to be their best: “For the last four years, you have experienced a caring Webb family, who did all they could to teach you in many ways. You’ve been offe ed a set of tools for success. Your choice is to use those tools wisely. For me, the honor code was the tool that did the most for my career and life in general. Be a fi st class citizen! Be honest if you want people to trust you.” Class valedictorian Matthew Lee ’16 spoke to the class of the lessons learned on their arduous end-of-year trip to the Grand Canyon:
“Four years ago, we started an amazing journey together. Although we were from vastly different backgrounds, we fought through every obstacle and enjoyed every victory together. Now, we will part ways, follow different trails, maybe even pave new ones. I know that no matter how steep and dangerous our paths are, how long and arduous our journey is, or how large our obstacles are, we will hike on, putting one foot in front of the
Several awards were also presented to members of the Webb community during both ceremonies. Claire McCloud (P Casey ’95 and Ashley ’96) was presented with an honorary diploma from Vivian Webb School for her extraordinary service to Webb including as the parent of two graduates, as Affiliates president, campaign coordinator, and as a member of the Webb Board of Trustees for 10 years.
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Paul Reitler ’54 was honored for his many years of service to Webb which began in the late 1960s with involvement on the Alumni Council and continued straight through to his recent retirement as chairman of the Webb Board of Trustees. Reilter was presented with a wood plaque carving to be mounted in Jackson Library, as well as one to take home. At a board meeting earlier in the day, both Reitler and McCloud were unanimously elected as Life Trustees for Webb. Commencement day is also a time to honor teachers with special awards. At the VWS ceremony, humanities teacher Dr. Elizabeth Cantwell was presented with the Laurence McMillin Excellence in Teaching Award and math teacher Geoff Owers received the Jean E. Miller Excellence in Teaching Award. At the WSC event, humanities teacher Michelle Gerken received the Thompson and Vivian Webb Award, and Stefanie Plumley was awarded The James T. Demetriades Prize for Unbounded Teaching.
other, until someday we all meet again at the top of the canyon, standing proudly as principes non homines.”
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
W E B B TODAY
S T U D E N T S
A Culture
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of
Honor
I WILL NEVER BRING DISGRACE ON THIS MY SCHOOL, ON MYSELF, OR ON MY FRIENDS BY AN ACT OF DISHONESTY OR COWARDICE. I WILL FIGHT FOR THE IDEALS AND SACRED THINGS
When Thompson Webb started Webb School of California in 1922, ethical education was as important as the intellectual.
The ideal that schools should produce people who are both smart and good has a venerable tradition in the United States. Most children in 19th century America learned their ABC’s from McGuff y Readers, which were laced with stories of honesty, self-reliance, and courage. But by the early 20th century, schools were beginning to lose their comfort with such moral indoctrination. As America became a more pluralistic society, it was harder to come up with a shared notion of good behavior. Given the lack of agreement, moral education, it was argued, was best left to the individual child’s family and religious institution. By the late 1970s, character development had all but disappeared as a goal of American public schools. Thompson grew up with the simple, direct statement “Do nothing on the sly,” which was his father Sawney’s admonishment to his students at The Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee; it was even translated into Latin as the school’s motto: “Noli Res Subdole Facere.”
When Thompson founded Webb School in Claremont, he established honor as a founding tenet instituting a student-comprised honor committee and crafting an honor code. He often reminded students, “Without honor there can be no trust, and without trust there can be no community.” More important than the origin of the Honor System, however, is its survival into the 21st century—the triumph of ideals over the tribulations of changing times.
“The philosophy of the Honor Cabinet (the VWS student-led honor governing body) has evolved over time,” explained Michelle Gerken, the group’s new co-faculty advisor and a humanities teacher. “When a student faces the Honor Cabinet, it isn’t just about punishment. We want to help her understand how her actions have impacted the community. It’s not just a group of students making another student feel bad.” Colleen Bartlett, co-advisor, agrees, “It’s a wonderful thing to watch a student take ownership of a mistake—with no hedging—just taking responsibility.” On the boys’ side, science teacher Tom Jurczak, in his fi st year as advisor for the Honor Committee, said that the actions of the Honor Committee (the WSC student-led governing body) are to help students and the school: “The Honor Committee asks itself, ‘what can we do to make the school the honorable place we want it to be? And how do we abide by those principles?’”
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To those ends, both groups are enthusiastic to become a more visible presence in the community. “Our main goal is to branch out,” said Honor Committeeman Apollo Thomas ’17. “We want to educate the community, to explain what we do. We start the year with a chapel talk about the honor program and we have events throughout the year to let students know that our group is about more than enforcement—people sometimes think that all we want to do is kick kids out of school, but what we really want is for them to learn the honor code is there to help us all become honest and more responsible members of our community.”
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
W E B B TODAY
S T U D E N T S
In a fi st for The Webb Schools, Apollo is joined in his effor s to uphold an honorable campus by his sister, Savannah Thomas ’18, who was elected to the VWS Honor Cabinet for the 2016-2017 school year. “Through Apollo’s experience last year, I got to see how the program works,” said Savannah of the Honor system. “Our goal (for the Honor Cabinet) is to help students diffe entiate between right and wrong,” she went on. “Also, to let people know more about what we do. We protect the rights and liberties of all students at Webb. We want students to understand that what they say and do matters.” For example, the group has helped bring awareness of the LBGT community to campus through a day of silence. Savannah also hopes to do further collaboration with the Honor Committee by working with her brother, and to share the message of the Honor Cabinet through less traditional outlets such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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There is also a goal to encourage awareness of the community— to hear the feedback of peers. “We’re working to become more approachable,” said Lengyi Zhang ’17, who is in her second year of service on the cabinet. “The Honor Cabinet meetings are the place for students to ask questions and for us to really hear if a person is struggling with difficulties. It’s a diverse community and we try to balance diffe ent perspectives and to be empathetic and understand our peers’ issues.” The group is committed to an educational approach to academic integrity and making decisions through a holistic assessment of each student’s life and experiences.
“It’s defi itely less punitive and more about creating community,” said Gerken. “The consequences aren’t just disciplinary, they’re about helping a student understand what she did wrong and how she can move forward. The group is working hard to be more visible and proactive—when issues start to percolate, they make themselves more available.” Gerken also touched on the concerns that were virtually non-existent, even 10 to 15 years ago. “With the ever-changing technology… sometimes I can’t wrap my head around all of it,” she said. “That’s why the Honor Cabinet members’ voices are essential. Kids can make a lot of mistakes on the web and it’s important for their peers to help steer them in the right direction. The Honor Cabinet’s goal is to help a student who’s made a mistake recognize that it has happened, embrace the consequences and appreciate the opportunity to turn it around. There can be mistakes that end up being very productive.” According to Andre Ardelan ’17, honor committeeman, one of the most significa t errors that students make today involves the easy access to all kinds of information. “With just the click of a mouse, there’s the potential to make a wrong choice,” said Ardelan. “Our main goal is to inform students that there are other options—talk to one of us, talk to your teachers.”
In today’s world, expectations of honesty can run counter to much of what students experience in the greater culture and that serves as a reminder to student leaders of how important their work is at Webb. ‘With the political environment now, it seems like it’s okay to say anything you want,’ said Bartlett. And the Honor Cabinet is here to say, ‘no, that’s not an acceptable way to treat people.’
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
The school’s deep and lasting commitment to the Honor Code, and to the students who embody the ideologies that Thompson held so dearly through their participation on the Honor Cabinet and Honor Committee, creates an atmosphere of trust and respect that frees all Webb students to pursue their intellectual journeys without distractions. “There’s something about Webb’s honor system—everyone from all parts of the world buys into it, and that’s how you build trust.
When people come to campus and see all the backpacks laying around, they’re stunned by that,” added Ardelan. “The Honor Committee men (and women of the Honor Cabinet) are leading by example,” fi ished Jurczak. “They encourage other students to make good decisions and if they see things that aren’t on the up-and-up, they say something about it. They know they need to be the voice of their community.”
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W E B B TODAY
G A U L
A T H L E T I C S
SPORTS, LEADERSHIP, and CHARACTER at WEBB
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How You Play the Game. Character is like the weather: We all know it’s important, but it’s easier to observe than to shape. You might learn history or math from a textbook, but character is as much about practice as principle. In that respect, it’s just like learning a sport, which is why athletics have long played an important role in leadership development.
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
Leadership is a central focus of Webb’s athletic program, whatever the sport. “I focus 100% of my coaching towards these lessons and concepts,” says boys cross country coach Brian Caldwell. “I work closely with (girls coach) Geoff wers to instill pride in the quality of our program and how we present ourselves to the public. We are very deliberate in our work to create leaders and boys and girls with integrity.”
Success and Failure One vital character lesson athletic competition teaches is how to deal with setbacks. For high achievers like Webb students, failure of any kind may be a jarring, unfamiliar experience. Boys’ basketball coach Rick Duque, who tests each new team with a deliberately negative practice session he dubs “Psychology 101,” says that for some players, “that’s their fi st failure on a test.”
“My point to the guys,” Duque explains, “is that there are going to be tough times in the season when we might have lost several games in a row or the defense is really getting to us. How are we going to respond when there’s adversity?” Raymond Tang ’15, now a freshman at Harvard, knows all about overcoming athletic adversity. “I dreaded cross-country practice because I never enjoyed running,” he says. “I was probably the slowest runner on the team for the longest time.” The support of his coaches and teammates inspired him to persevere and improve. “It taught me to be persistent, to struggle through the hard times,” he says. “Even the best of athletes will face failure in sports,” notes swim coach Ken Rosenfeld. “It is our natural instinct to protect our kids from failure, but I think the greater fear is one of our students matriculating to college having never learned to respond effectively to failure. Th ough sports, our kids grow both athletically and personally in ways that will completely overshadow any missteps along the way.” Of course, Webb teams have also been doing a lot of winning, which tennis coach Ron Martinez says is its own test of character. He always reminds his team, “We’re beating these other kids, but you don’t gloat. Remember how you felt when you got beaten up.”
Tennis captain Megan Kotrappa ’16 says competition presents many such tests, beyond just winning or losing. “You encounter bad line calls, overly involved parents, and rude players,” she says. “By competing, you understand all these things and stop yourself or others you know from doing the same. You learn what is right and what is wrong and learn true sportsmanship on and off the court.”
Teamwork and Sacrifice “Sports also cause a person to make sacrifices” says Geoff wers. “Playing a position for an injured person, doing something for a team member when they can’t do it for themselves, or putting aside individual glory for team strategy can be invaluable life skills.” “Cross country really emphasizes unity and how to live for more than just the moment,” says girls captain Robin Bissett ’16. “We all run together and have to encourage each other to tough it out and strive to do our best.”
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That plays out in small ways as well as large ones. Shey Newton ’16, who’ll play Division 1 AA football at the University of San Diego next year, says that on mornings before football practice at Webb, “I make sure I get up 10 minutes earlier than usual and go around the whole campus to gather as many of my friends as I can so that they can make the (pre-practice) lift ession.” The kids “may not think of it as ‘leadership,’” remarks Rosenfeld. “It simply comes off s being a good friend and teammate, but it is leadership in its best form nonetheless.”
Finding Your Style “What’s interesting to me [about sports] is that there are different types of leaders,” adds Elyse Morris ’17, who hopes to play Division I soft all in college. “Most people think a leader is the most outspoken person in a group, but this is not always true.” Competing on the swim team definitely helped Richard Parnell ’16 discover his leadership style. “I like to joke around and motivate people by getting them out of their own heads,” he explains. “My main goal as a captain is to ensure everyone is competing at their best level and having fun. I think it is important that every leader knows their strengths and weaknesses, and Webb athletics have certainly helped me fi d mine.”
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
STUDIO
Sam Scudders ’18
STUDIO
Annabel Lam ’17
W E B B TODAY
T H E
A R T S
Artistry Re-imagined CREATIVE artistry knew no bounds last year as Webb students explored new mediums to create robots, ultrasonic musical instruments, a laser alarm system and electronic turn signals for the back of a jacket. Even spray painting entered the digital art domain as students fashioned a virtual graffiti experience by writing a graffiti painting application, taking apart ordinary spray paint cans, loading them with software, and voilà_“spray-painting” on to a digital screen.
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For the K-WEB sponsored Jubilee, which took place over two days in early May, Media Arts students wrote, shot and edited short films representing almost every genre including documentary and stopmotion animation. The films were screened in Hooper Center. Nearby, on the Alamo patio, traditional arts_painting, drawing, photography, and ceramics_and mixed media sculpture, 3-D printed sculpture and electronic arts were on display. The event also featured an Art Café_teacher Jonathan Capone cited Helen Ge ’17 and Annabel Lam’s ’17 paintings and photographs by Emily Anabi ’17 and Sam Scudders ’18 as just a few of the highlights. Utilizing acrylic paint on a large canvas, Ge painted oversized orange slices in a glass of splashing water. Inspired by Jason DeGraaf’s “A Wave of Refreshment,” Ge said she decided to copy DeGraaf because she was always interested in reflective glass objects and the beauty of simple things. “I am mainly focused on painting with acrylic on canvas for now,” said Ge, “but I plan to keep taking art senior year to pursue my interests in reflective objects further.” Lam said her freshman Art AB class with Mr. Maffris is where she first learned to experiment with different mediums. “He gave us a lot of freedom to do what we wanted,” she added. Lam’s mixed media artwork utilized acrylics as well as rope. “It started as a basic portrait, but the addition of rope gave it an emotion of confinement,” she explained. Members of the Electrical Engineering Club, Ben Hou ’17,
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
David Hou ’17, Leo Zhang ’17 and James Liu ’16, demonstrated a virtual reality video game that they designed and coded with an Oculus Rift virtual reality headset that Capone was able to purchase with funds from his Laurence McMillin Excellence in Teaching Award last year. “I got the Oculus Rift because I wanted my students to be able to explore their interests in virtual reality,” said Capone. “It’s the future of media, so it’s important to bring that element into their work.” “Virtual reality is an emerging technology that is becoming increasingly popular among gamers, though it is still a technology in its infancy,” explained David Hou ’17. “Our game design philosophy is largely objective oriented, so we started off by brainstorming: What could we do to get someone not so inclined about technology to be interested in VR? We wanted a short experience that could allow the player to experience the core aspects of VR. We decided that it would be best to create a game where the player does not need to move around, as it has been known that excessive movement in VR experiences lead to motion sickness. Ultimately, our game revolved around the player being in an escape pod in space, and certain malfunctions happening randomly. The twist is that the game requires communication between the player playing the game in VR and a player outside holding a physical instruction manual with instructions on how to fix the malfunctions in the game. Communication and unconventional gameplay methods were the driving forces behind this unique VR experience.” For the LA Times event (formerly known as International Night) in January, the same tech-savvy students created a virtual graffiti experience. “They took apart a spray paint can, put electronics in it, wrote some software to control it, and wrote a graffiti painting application,” explained Capone. “The spray can worked just like a regular can and the creators even kept the sound the can makes when you shake it. When you held the can up to the screen and pressed the button, you could paint virtually on the wall as you moved around.”
Liu call the experience “Virtual Graffiti” and explained the technical know-how that went into the process: “To make the experience feel organic, we made a spray can prop with an Arduino and a pressure sensor inside. The Arduino controls an array of infrared LEDs on the spray can and toggles them according to how hard the user pushes down the tip. The end result feels like actually spraying paint on the screen. The canvas resets and changes color at a set interval.” At the same event, there was also a video submersion room which made visitors feel like they were on the streets of Los Angeles. Capone also assisted the theater production of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” by scanning 3-D images of actors Amelia Barbee ’16 and Rachel Kho ’19 with an Xbox Kinect which were then 3-D printed and assembled into life-sized models to be used as props on stage.
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In his New Media class, Capone had students craft robots that were capable of moving via remote control; the robots could play a song, dance and even draw a picture. Students also created electronic art projects and inventions of their own imagination, coming up with an ultrasonic musical instrument, the electronic jacket turn signals, a laser alarm system and a solar-tuned digital alarm clock (that would sound an alarm based on the amount of light outside). And finally, students became teachers themselves as they assisted a group of Claremont McKenna College undergraduates who came to campus to learn to use Webb’s state-of-the-art equipment. The Webb students taught the college co-eds 3-D printing. “It was a great experience,” said Capone, who made the connection with the college students through Tracy Miller, dean of faculty learning. Twenty students from the nearby undergraduate institution enjoyed a 90 minute lesson and several even returned to campus for further instruction. For more information about this year’s arts events, visit http://www. webb.org/arts/index.aspx
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
THE
ALF WEBB AT
News from the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology at The Webb Schools
Little Dinosaur Gets a Big Reception in Japan After a journey spanning 75 million years and bridging the
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Pacific Ocean, a dinosaur skeleton discovered by a Webb student and housed at the Alf Museum made its international debut in Tokyo. The fossil, which has already been viewed by more than a million people, is one of the highlighted specimens in the 2016 Dinosaur Expo, coordinated by The Asahi Shimbun Company and the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo.
“Dinosaur Joe” was discovered in 2009 by Kevin Terris ’09 on a Summer Peccary Trip in Utah. It turned out to be the youngest, smallest, and most complete example of the plant-eating dinosaur Parasaurolophus. After excavation in 2010, the fossil was published in the scientifi literature in 2013, with accompanying international press attention. It was this media spotlight that caught the eye of the organizers of the Dinosaur Expo in Japan. The traveling exhibition aims to highlight recent discoveries worldwide, showcasing groundbreaking work within dinosaur paleontology. They contacted the Alf Museum, and began the process of arranging for the fossil’s transport to Japan. Shipping a dinosaur skeleton across the Pacifi is no small matter. First, permission had to be secured from the United States Bureau of Land Management, because the fossil was discovered and collected under permit within Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The Alf Museum is the caretaker for the specimen, so international loan of the fossil Dr. Andrew Farke with Joe on exhibit in Tokyo Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
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required clearance from the federal government. Once this was secured, planning for the next phase began—how do you safely ship a 75-million-year-old dinosaur skeleton? A team coordinated by Masterpiece International, an exhibit and fine art s ipping and logistics firm, esigned and built a custom crate to hold Joe. Collections manager Gabe Santos and collections assistant Lucy Herrero ’10 made sure that the fossil was stable and ready for transport. The skeleton was carefully loaded into this crate, and then driven to Los Angeles International Airport for security inspections. The skull, which required special handling, was hand-carried by Augustyn Family Curator Andy Farke. With the skeleton safely stowed in a Japan Airlines cargo hold, and Farke seated up above in the passenger compartment, Joe took off for an 11-hour fl ght to Tokyo. After arrival and unloading, the fossil cleared customs, and then headed to the National Museum of Nature and Science.
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Dinosaur Joe was installed just in time for the Dinosaur Expo’s grand opening on March 7. Joe was exhibited with many prehistoric friends, including a baby horned dinosaur,
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gigantic skeletons of Tyrannosaurus and Spinosaurus, and even dinosaur feathers in amber. Advertisements for the exhibition could be seen across Tokyo, and the exhibit opening was widely covered in the Japanese press. Even miniature Joe figurines were available in the exhibit gift shop! More than 2,700 people visited the expo in its fi st day alone, and upwards of 20,000 visitors attended on peak weekends, with over an hour wait to enter the exhibit hall. Within three weeks, attendance had topped 100,000 people, and currently over 1,000,000 people have seen “Joe.”
5 Above Clockwise: 1 - Packing the crate with Joe; 2- Joe in the crate, awaiting transport to LAX; 3 - Joe being loaded into the cargo hold for a trans-Pacific flight; 4 - Opening the crate in Tokyo; 5 - Installing the fossil skeleton at the exhibit in Tokyo. Below: The skeleton of Joe.
After fi ishing its run in Tokyo on June 12, “Joe” traveled with the rest of the expo to Osaka. From here, the exhibition will fi ish its run in Kitakyushu. “Joe” will return to the Alf Museum in January 2017. This international exposure for the Alf Museum and the paleontology program at The Webb Schools is unprecedented. “The display of Dinosaur Joe in Japan is an exciting validation of all the work we have done over the past 20 years to put our nationally accredited museum on the international stage,” said museum director Dr. Don Lofgren. “To think that our students have the opportunity to find, excavate, and study specimens of this caliber is a testament to all the support we have received in our drive to create a world class educational and research institution at Webb.”
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
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A Record-Breaking Alumni & Friends
Peccary Trip Over the weekend of April 29, 2016, the Peccary Society met for its annual Alumni & Friends Peccary Trip in Barstow, California.
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Eighty years after the original Peccary discovery, the group carried on the traditions of Ray Alf as bacon and “golden browns” (pancakes) were cooked in cast-iron pans over a campfi e or grill— the same pans Alf and Webb students used 50 years ago. The group searched through the Barstow Badlands and collected snails, horse and camel teeth, and other fossils, such as a 15-million-year-old tortoise shell found by Mimi Issa ’05. This was a successful trip! Alumni came from as far as Hawaii, Portland, Salt Lake City, and New York to partake in this exciting and fun annual weekend gathering.
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
Brittany Lamon-Paredes ’11 described her experience, “My fondest memories of Webb involved annual peccary trips and I was grateful to share this experience with my dad. It was exciting to trek around Barstow and explore for fossils with a family member. That’s another reason why donating to the Raymond Alf Museum is always a top priority for me. I know my investment goes directly back to the museum and the greater community.” It was a record-breaking group of 86 participants: alumni, parents, grandparents, trustees, faculty, staff and their friends and family. All enjoyed the great camaraderie that happens when of a group of dedicated peccary enthusiasts gets together in the desert. We hope you will join us on the trip next year during the weekend of May 5, 2017. It’s an opportunity to catch up with old friends and make new ones, hike and sleep outdoors, and fin a fossil that will become part of the museum’s permanent collections. Laudate Deum!
Alf
raymond m. Alf museum of paleontology
the Webb schools
Utah dig continues to surprise
Paleontology and Penguins:
The Alf Museum Visits Argentina A group of 11 alumni, trustees, and friends of the Alf Museum, led by Augustyn Family Curator Dr. Andy Farke, toured the natural history wonders of Argentina from March 28 to April 6. This was the museum’s fi st paleontological trip to South America.
More than 10 years after its discovery, the Cripe Site continues to reveal amazing fossils.
After rendevousing in Buenos Aires, the group traveled to Trelew, a coastal city in northern Patagonia. From there, they visited Punta Tombo, home of one of the world’s largest penguin colonies. The next day was spent at Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio, one of Argentina’s premiere paleontology museums. “Getting a back room tour to see fossils from the largest dinosaur ever discovered was awesome,” said museum trustee Terry Baganz. These bones are so new that they have not yet been given a scientifi name—a real treat for the travelers.
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Found by Jeff Cripe ’08 during the 2005 Summer Peccary Trip, this quarry in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, southern Utah, has produced dozens of bones from 75 million year old tyrannosaurs, plant-eating dinosaurs, turtles, and other prehistoric organisms. The 2015 excavations revealed the biggest surprise yet—the amazingly preserved partial skeleton of a rare flying reptile called a pterosaur. The fi st bones of this animal were found by accident, while clearing rock from above the main fossil-bearing layer in the quarry. Careful excavation showed a set of delicate, hollow bones, given the preliminary identific tion of a small meateating dinosaur. Back at the lab, painstaking removal of rock showed this initial guess to be wrong—rather than a dinosaur, the bones were from a pterosaur! These winged animals lived at the same time as dinosaurs, but are rarely preserved due to the fragility of their skeleton. Finding multiple bones from a single animal is even more rare. So far, a number of wing and shoulder bones have been identified along with a thighbone. The precise identity of the animal is unknown, but there is a strong possibility that it is a species new to science. Effor s during the summer of 2016 focused on recovering more of the skeleton, followed by extensive scientifi study of the remains by Webb students, Alf staff and outside experts. Some of the fossils will be displayed at the 2016 Peccary Dinner, and the animal will also be featured on the dinner’s commemorative glass. Once again, a student discovery has expanded scientifi knowledge!
The Alf Museum group and Argentine colleagues, with bones from the world’s largest dinosaur
From Trelew, the group next traveled to Mendoza (home of Argentina’s wine country), and then to several major parks. First was Ischigualasto Provincial Park, home of some of the world’s oldest known dinosaurs. Finally, the group visited Talampaya National Park, which has rocks that have yielded numerous dinosaur ancestors and early dinosaurs. In addition to their geological wonders, these parks were also an opportunity to view some spectacular scenery and unusual animal and plant life. The group returned to Buenos Aires before flying back to the United States. Trip participants included Andy Farke (Augustyn Family Curator), Larry Ashton ’70, Alicia Ashton, Terry Baganz, Akemi Chang, Dan Gluckstein, Ron Hagander ’66, David Mirkin ’66, Karen Piacentini, Charles Steinmann and Pat Steinmann.
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
W E B B TODAY
F A C U LT Y
A Fond Farewell Celebration for Ogden, La croix and the Marshalls
Over 150 guests gathered together on May 21 to bid farewell to four special members of the Webb community: Brian Ogden, Susan Lacroix and Leo & Stevie Marshall.
The audience was filled with current and former students,
along with their parents, grandparents, plus many faculty and staff. Several former faculty and staff also came including Dave Fawcett ’61 (from San Luis Obispo), Sarah Mackenzie, Blair Maffris, Joann Robinson (from Costa Rica), Steve Sittig, Daren and Judy Starnes (from New Jersey), and Jennifer Wesley.
Good luck to you all! Brian Ogden has had a distinguished career at Webb, arriving as a faculty member in 2002. He quickly made his mark as a history teacher, aquatics coach, advisor and dorm parent. In 2006, Brian became dean of students for Webb School of California, where he coordinated leadership groups such as the dorm heads, advisors, and some residential programs. Five years later, in 2011, he was named dean of faculty. His notable accomplishments include developing a strong and effect ve faculty mentor program, playing a key role in designing and implementing a faculty feedback and appraisal process, organizing and promoting professional growth, and integrating the digital learning platform Haiku into our academic program. Brian and his family head to La Jolla, California this summer where he will begin a new post as director of the upper school at The Bishop’s School.
Susan Lacroix arrived at Webb in 1986, beginning as an administrative assistant in the Admission Office. Shortly after, Susan became Webb’s registrar, and every year since she has tirelessly worked miracles—carefully arranging class schedules and factoring in our many self-imposed permutations— single-sex classes, coed classes, ideal classroom space for a given course, certain class periods for teachers enabling their optimal performance, and the list goes on! You can always tell when it is course selection time as a queue of students waits outside of her door and she patiently meets with all of those
seeking schedule changes. For our alumni, when they’re submitting grad school applications, she’s sent copies of their transcript, oftentimes in a rush since they’ve left it to the last minute! For this tremendous service and more, she received the Joann Robinson Staff istinguished Service Award in 2013. Susan will now get some much-deserved rest and we wish her the very best in retirement.
Leo and Stevie Marshall came to Webb in 2001: Leo as director of admission and fi ancial aid and Stevie as an admission officer. They helped shape Webb in so many ways through their dedication to the next generation of students. But their work has not been limited to just admissions. Leo was a track and fi ld coach for many years, leading his teams to league championships. Stevie has helped the growing international student population navigate the stressful and difficult world of student visas and more with ease and grace. Leo and Stevie will now retire to their home in Jupiter, Florida. Earlier this year, Leo sent an email to the Webb community, “After over 85 years between us in independent schools, it’s time for us to move on and take some time to enjoy retirement. We have been blessed beyond measure by our time and experience at Webb. I know of no better school in this country and no school I would rather be at.”
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Please join us in wishing each of them the very best in their next chapter.
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
NewsNotes FROM AND FOR THE ALUMNI OF THE WEBB SCHOOLS
We n d i n S m i t h
’89
alumni spotlight
When Wendin Smith Ph.D. ’89 starts talking, the acronyms go flying: DOD, CBRN, WMD, WHO.
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One of those alarmingly common acronyms is actually in her job title: as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD), Smith is responsible for establishing policy and guidance to protect United States and Allied forces against chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear attack from state or terrorist factions, as well as for preventing and countering global trafficking in weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Appointed in July 2015, Dr. Smith works at the Pentagon in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy within which her CWDM office has three directorates. One is a transnational threats team that focuses on “hard spots” of the world including North Korea, Iran, and freedom of navigational policy (such as in the South China Seas). A second part of her job involves Cooperative Threat Reduction—the CTR program, commonly known as the Nunn–Lugar Act whose purpose was originally “to secure and dismantle weapons of mass destruction and their associated infrastructure in former Soviet Union states;” CTR now operates in 38 countries. And the third involves chem-bio-rad-nuclear (CBRN) defense policy, which works with partners to build capacity in WMD defense and countermeasures. Dr. Smith cited long-running concerns about the threat of terrorist use of a WMD as something she is currently engaged in combating. “It’s not a hypothetical,” she said of the possibility. “ISIL was responsible for chemical weapons attacks in Iraq and Syria, and there is no indication that the materials used were linked to any residual Syrian or Iraqui capabilities —they’re indigenously produced and ISIL is willing to use them. We look at this from a policy and planning perspective. It’s incredibly important to make sure we are prepared—and to hold accountable any individuals involved in these attacks.”
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
She also cited North Korea as a hot spot—a country with nuclear and biological weapons capacity. “We need to be ready to deal with a collapse of their government or contingencies on the peninsula,” she stressed, “to secure nuclear, biological and chemical weapons consistent with various treaty requirements.” In order to do so, Dr. Smith works with the Combatant Command of which there are nine throughout the world, each one led by a four-star general or admiral. These commands were established to provide effect ve command and control of U.S. military forces, regardless of branch of service, in peace and war. Dr. Smith grew up in the Great Lakes area of northern Michigan. When she was 8 years old, she read that the Soviet Union was dumping nuclear and chemical waste into the world’s largest freshwater lake which spurred her interested in those two topics: Russian and bio-chemicals. “From a very young age, I wanted to work for the government,” she said. A fi st step in that direction was heading to Vivian Webb School, where she was one of 33 young women in her class. She was also the first VWS student to hail from east of the Mississippi. She made the connection to the school through a friend of her parents. “I loved that there were opportunities to lead,” she said of VWS. She served on the Dorm Council and on the Honor Cabinet. In a commencement address that she delivered to the VWS Class of 2007, Dr. Smith related: “There were lots of things I didn’t know how to do… but there were also lots of things I didn’t know were possible. I didn’t know it was possible to go on a Peccary, fin fossils, and dust decades’ worth of sand off dinosaur prints. I didn’t know the challenges that serving as the dorm prefect would offe .” She went on: “In my life since VWS, I have tested limits related to geography, international relations, education, foreign languages, and culture.”
In the ensuing years, Dr. Smith served as Director of the Moscowbased U.S. Information Agency’s American Center and supported the administration of Freedom Support Act programs which sponsored the study of former Soviet students in the United States. She worked for several consultancies including Booz Allen Hamilton where she supported nonproliferation and cooperative threat reduction programs for the U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense, including for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Biological Threat Reduction and Strategic Offen ive Arms Elimination programs, as well as for several of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s initiatives. Dr. Smith also founded and managed two companies—one an all-female consultancy—providing services in program management, international development, and regulatory compliance to clients in energy security, nuclear energy, as well as nonproliferation and arms control. Dr. Smith says there are fiv themes she has carried through her life and career that stem from her Vivian Webb education.
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“First, there is the importance of a team—I learned that at Webb and I’ve carried that forward—today, for example, this includes my colleagues in Korea, on the Peninsula, and beyond” she said. “Second is adaptability—listening and learning from one another, third is diversity, and the fourth is community ” she went on, all of which aid her work, illustrating for example, the complexity of the issues surrounding WMD—“it’s so multi-dimensional and multi-focused, you have to be able to look at the topic broadly.” Lastly, and most important, Dr. Smith says is honor.
“ I came to Webb with a sense of honor, but at VWS, I saw the power of it—across the whole school,” she said. “And in my work, I see the importance of being honest, having the facts, being honest when I don’t have them, and being able to have trust and confidence in others.”
After Webb, Dr. Smith completed her A.B. in Russian Studies from Dartmouth College and received her Ph.D. and Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where she focused on International Security Studies and International Environment and Resource Policy.
Dr. Smith’s status with the Defense Department is as a political appointee—she says it’s been an honor to serve President Obama— and the process requires her to submit her resignation on Inauguration Day in 2017. She looks forward to new ventures, whether continuing to serve in the government or supporting national security through the private sector, and a busy life as mother to Luca.
“A lot of environmental problems come from the weapons complex—the more I studied, the more I knew I wanted to work on the environment and security,” she said.
And, the advice she communicated to the class 2007 holds true for her future: “What enables us all to reach further, and to challenge possibilities, is the foundation we grounded at VWS.”
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
NewsNotes
22 and a half minutes with Peter
Emblad ’86
Emergency Medicine
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riginally from San Francisco, Peter Emblad, M.D., FACEP, FAAEM, came to Webb at the age of 16, which he calls “a wakeup call to turn my life around.” Guided by that experience and the example of his childhood pediatrician, he enrolled in Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine, earning his medical degree in 1997.
Dr. Emblad has since returned to the Bay Area, where he has been an ER physcian for Kaiser Permanente San Francisco since 2001. He has also become an entrepreneur, establishing Skuut LLC, maker of the award-winning Skuut Bike, a wooden balance bike for kids 2–5.
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
Q&A What drew you to emergency medicine?
One of my study buddies in med school would tell amazing stories of life in the ER. At the time, I was also rotating in the ER at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. None of my other rotations could hold a candle to those months. Being an ER doc is the best career I could imagine. It’s exciting in its pace and lack of predictability. It gives you great perspective and makes you quickly realize that you can’t possibly presume to judge anyone. It gives you great empathy, understanding, and humility—which is the best part of my job. You were head of Emergency Medicine at Kaiser for a while, is that right?
I passed on the torch about two years ago. It was a great experience that gave me a much higher-level understanding of the organization, but managing people, sitting through countless meetings, and balancing budgets were not duties I was passionate about. So, I went back to just doing clinical medicine, which is what feeds my soul. For many years, I also served as the medical director for the Presidio Fire Department and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which is all the open land north and south of San Francisco, including Alcatraz, Muir Woods, and Point Reyes Station. This was particularly challenging, as many of these locations were fairly inaccessible. That job definitely kept me up at night.
59 Tell us a little about the relief work you’ve done.
In 2009, I took a sabbatical and worked for about six months in a small local hospital in Santiago Atitlán, Guatemala, serving the indigenous people. My wife (who also works in emergency medicine) and I were looking for a relatively impoverished country to remind ourselves, and our kids, how the majority of the world lives. Living on a lake surrounded by volcanoes in a beautiful setting didn’t hurt. I also worked with NYC Medics in the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan hit the islands in 2013. It was hard work: Some days, we saw over 600 patients, in austere conditions. We slept in tents. The damage was unfathomable, but the Filipinos we met were incredibly kind, optimistic, and resilient. The stories they told will never leave me. One woman hung on to a palm tree and tried to hang on to her three kids when the wind was at its worst. Two of the kids slipped out of her grasp and were never found. How do you recover from something like that? My wife and I want to go on more disaster missions, but having packed schedules and two kids makes taking off at a moment’s notice practically impossible. Hopefully, when they are a bit more grown up, we will get more chances.
Switching gears, how did you come to found your company? What was the inspiration for the Skuut Bike?
I actually did not invent the balance bike. The concept has been around for over a hundred years. I saw one in Europe while on vacation and loved the concept, but the only one available in the U.S. was a German one for $300. That seemed prohibitively expensive for most families, so I designed one for less. The company grew out of my garage and we started selling to local toy stores fi st. It has done fairly well for several years. However, retail shopping has changed and the ride-on toy market has really suffe ed. Nonetheless, I loved the experience and am continually trying to do similar ventures. You must have a hectic schedule. What do you do to unwind?
If it’s light out, I will be on my bike, hiking, running, or on the links. If it’s dark, I’m usually found with a good book by the fi e. One of my recent reads is The Heretics by Will Storr, a very funny book that examines how we form our beliefs and inherent biases. What’s been the most lasting impact of your time at Webb?
Webb changed my life. I was unfocused and undisciplined when I was sent there. Webb taught me discipline, how to survive hard work, and the importance of developing guiding principles.
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
NewsNotes Events and Highlights
REUNIONS, HOLIDAY PARTIES AND MORE. ALUMNI, PARENTS AND FRIENDS RECONNECT. Find more event photos at webb.org/alumnievents
HONG KONG Reception for alumni, current and incoming parents with Taylor and Anne Stockdale at The Dynasty Club.
SHANGHAI Yacht cruise on the Huangpu River with current and incoming families.
BEIJING Dinner with current parents.
SEOUL Alumni gathering in Seoul.
LOS ANGELES Private tour of the Frank Gehry exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
NEW YORK A record number of alumni and friends, 80 in total, at the National Arts Club, hosted by trustee David Loo ’79.
WASHINGTON, DC Thirty alumni and friends with Head of Schools Taylor Stockdale and Museum Director Don Lofgren at Lincoln Restaurant.
GOOGLE IN SILICON VALLEY Over 30 alumni and friends gathered on the Google main campus, thanks to Debbie Lai ’08.
MARCH MADNESS IN PHOENIX
MARCH MADNESS IN SAN DIEGO Alumni happy hour at the Bayside Landing.
MARCH MADNESS IN LOS ANGELES Golden Road Brewery with over 30 alumni and friends.
MARCH MADNESS IN CHICAGO Alumni dinner at Quartino Ristorante.
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Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
Alumni and friends at Jade Bar at the Sanctuary Camelback Resort.
Council Corner Senior Dinner
Welcome dinner for the Class of 2016, hosted by the Alumni Council.
Barstow
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n behalf of the Alumni Council, I am pleased to welcome four new Council members who began three-year terms on July 1, 2016.
Joe Thomas ’70 is the owner of Realty World ALL STARS. In 2011, he was named Best Realtor in the Inland Empire by the Los Angeles Times. He is an active alumnus co-chairing numerous class reunions and attending peccary dinners and peccary trips. He is also a member of the Webb’s Planned Giving Advisory Council. Joe has a BA in English from CSU Pomona. Stephanie Ho ’04 is Manager of Corporate Development
Record turnout of 86 alumni and friends at the annual peccary trip to Barstow.
Head’s Reception for Leadership Donors
at MGM Studios. She has a BS in business management from Boston College and is now working towards her MBA at UCLA. She is also a spin instructor at Equinox, teaching at various clubs throughout Los Angeles. Stephanie still holds the VWS record for shot put. She has served as a reunion chair and class agent, co-leading 2004 to the Webb Fund March Madness championships in 2014 and 2016. She was also the VWS Commencement Speaker in 2015.
Ken Liu ’10 is in management and a project leader at American Chung Nam, a global recycling company. He graduated cum laude from Harvard with an AB in government and then spent the last few years in New York as a consultant at PwC Strategy. Ken co-chaired his 5-year reunion, helping set a new attendance record for a 5-year reunion with 41 members of the Class of 2010 attending Alumni Weekend. Dakota Santana-Grace ’11 graduated from Harvard in
Members of the Head’s Circle, Leadership Society and Pacesetter’s Club gathered at Taylor and Anne Stockdale’s home.
Women of Webb
Featured speaker Julia Marciari-Alexander ’85 and hosted by Yassmin Sarmadi ’87 at her restaurant Spring in downtown Los Angeles. Classes of 1984 through 2015 were represented.
2015 with a degree in Social Studies. He interned at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA, Harvard Crimson Summer Academy and Boston Consulting Group. Dakota joins Lily Chen ’04 as our co-Regional Rep in Boston. I also extend a sincere thanks to our outgoing members for their 42 years of combined service on the Alumni Council: Ruchika Chandiok ’97, Lee Lee Choi ’90, Chip Greening ’62, Sandra Lee Rebish ’88, Renee Polanco ’94, and Aminah Teachout ’04. Their good work on behalf of the alumni community is greatly appreciated. Rahmi Mowjood ’90, President Alumni Council
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
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NewsNotes T H E W E B B SC HO O L S 1942 • FX has announced a new 10-episode series about the Getty family. Directed by Oscar winner Danny Boyle, Trust is based on the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, nephew of George F. Getty II ’42. Now deceased, George attended Webb for three years and served on the board at one time. 1949 • Pete Akin and Bill Ruddick enjoyed spending time together and visiting the Disney Museum on February 1, 2016 in San Francisco. - 1 1951 • Peter Hertz-Ohmes now lives in Germany full time and will not be coming to the reunion in October. This summer Edinburgh University Press published his English translation of Gilles Deleuze’s Transcendental Empiricism: From Tradition to Difference.
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1959 • John and June Rogers are the proud grandparents of Webb graduate Tylor Bell-Rogers, WSC class of 2016. - 2 1960 • Taylor and Anne Stockdale enjoyed seeing Brien Benson and Fritz Mulhauser at the alumni event in D.C. - 3 1961 • In May Dodd and Nancy Fischer hosted an enthusiastic group of almost 30 alumni and friends at the Multnomah Athletic Club in Portland, Ore. Head of Schools Taylor Stockdale gave a presentation discussing the school’s mission, innovative curriculum, campus master plans, and college placement. Alumni Council members Chip Greening ’62 and Jason Blackwell ’91 were on hand to welcome alumni from 1955-1994.
Larry Price will participate in a physics colloquium held jointly by Pomona College and Harvey Mudd College on October 25. The event takes place in the days following the 55th reunion of Webb’s Class of 1961.
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Robert Warford is now a Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. Membership is by invitation only and limited to 500 active trial lawyers from the U.S. and an additional 100 from 30-plus countries. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. In recent years, Bob has served as both state vice-chair and state chair. He was recently selected as a regent of the college, a position he will hold until 2019. A partner in the law firm of Reback, McAndrews, et al LLP, located in San Bernardino, Cal.; he specializes in the defense of medical malpractice and other professional negligence lawsuits. - 4 1964 • Golden browns and bacon for Steve Boyer, Kend Linderholm ’66 and John Boyer ’63 during the alumni peccary trip to Barstow. - 5
Summer Fun for Alumni at Webb!
1965 • Greg Grant visited the Webb campus in April to see the wood carvings in Jackson Library. His father, Joe Grant ’29, has his named carved on the library doors. Greg recently learned that four of his uncles attended Webb: Frank ’33, Robert ’39, Michael ’42 and Peter ’46. This was only Greg’s second time returning to campus since he graduated (the first return visit was last October for his 50th reunion). - 6 1967 • Frank Alley is happy to be retiring this year. He will be a senior bankruptcy judge for a year, and then fully retired just in time for the 50th reunion!
Chuck Ensey says he loves his work at Wells Fargo Advisors and plans to keep working until he is at least 70! He still enjoys golfing and skiing. Jim Wooldridge retired in December 2015 from Oracle America after working there for almost 22 years. Prior to that he had worked at Digital Equipment Corporation for 20 years. He says he is loving retirement! 1971 • George Erving is a professor at University of Puget Sound where he teaches English literature and European intellectual history from the 17th through early 19th centuries. He also directs the humanities and honors programs, and supervises a digital humanities initiative funded by the Andrew Mellon Foundation. He is the author of essays on the works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Blake, British Romantic period theatre, and the literary theories of Rene Girard. Current projects include one on Coleridge’s dissenting journal, The Watchman, and the other on the psychology of desire in Blake’s major works, The Four Zoas, Milton, and Jerusalem.
The Summer Junior Scholars Program welcomed several alumni legacies this year, with students coming from Hong Kong, New York, Costa Rica, San Francisco and greater Los Angeles to explore immersive learning experiences in paleontology, leadership and digital arts. Mickey Novak ’70 - Caleb, Paleo Kurt Zishke ’74 (NY) - Alex, Paleo Andrew Ross ’83 (Riverside) - Jessica, Leadership Dawn Fortis ’86 (LA) - Taliesa, Digital Arts Hubert Chen ’87 (San Diego) - Kevin, Digital Arts & Ivan, Paleo Janel Henriksen Hastings ’87 - David, Paleo Joseph Poon ’88 (Hong Kong) - Conrad, Paleo Matt Olsan ’86 & Ken Huang ’89 (San Francisco) - Ben, Digital Arts Bart Miller ’97 - Julia, Digital Arts Sugam Arora ’02 - Saira Arora, niece, Digital Arts Four young alumni were the 2016 Summer Fellows: (L to R) Kane Willis ’11, Chason Bridges ’13, Seraphina Oney ’12, and Anni-Ming Larson ’14.
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
If you are interested in the Summer Program, visit webb.org/summer
1976 • Will De Shazo attended our alumni event in D.C. last April. He is working for the U.S. Department of Justice. - 7
It was nice to see Michael Heller back on campus in February. It was his first visit since graduating. He enjoys his work as a photographer for the Sag Harbor News, a local newspaper in Sag Harbor, N.Y., where he’s twice been awarded Photographer of the Year by the New York Press Association. - 8 Christopher Kneib visited Bangkok in February where he met up (once again) with former teammates from the WSC tennis team, Chatchawin “Pong” Charoen-Rajapark ’78 and Olarn Issara. - 9
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1978 • John Alexander recently visited Webb with his fiance´ Martie. This was his first visit back since his 15th reunion and her first trip to Claremont. John teaches ESL at St. Thomas More School in Connecticut.
Russ Beckley lives in Everett, Wash., 25 miles north of Seattle. “I’m an internal medicine physician working as a hospitalist at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett and The Everett Clinic. I have been married for almost 16 years to Louise, and we have a 10 year old son, Nathaniel. Louise owns a Pilates Studio, is a certified rolfer, and teaches group fitness at our gym, so she keeps me motivated to stay in shape too. Last year I became board certified in clinical informatics, and am working half time with Providence Health Systems improving our electronic health record system. I am having a great time enjoying the skiing with my son, both at our local area, Stevens Pass, and on a recent vacation to Whistler. I hope to attend our 40th (that can’t be right?) reunion in two years.
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1979 • Members of the Class of ’79 gathered to celebrate the life of Chris Bradford. Eric Pauwels flew in from N.Y. and brought his father Jacques, Dave Baer and Blair Brown flew down from the Bay area, Claude Sauviat came from Palm Desert with his wife, Len Unkeless from Santa Clarita, Larry Recht from Newport Beach, Sean Berne from Big Bear, Craig Scheu, Lolo Jaffee and Bill Ansell. - 10
Grant Cramer celebrated his six-year wedding anniversary in July and his son just celebrated his first birthday on May 22. “Work-wise, I continue to produce movies, most recently And So It Goes, starring Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton, Lone Survivor, starring Mark Wahlberg, November Man, starring Pierce Brosnan, and several others not quite so well known. All in all, life is good and we’re very blessed.” - 11 1980 • David Myles enjoyed seeing many classmates at the 35th reunion in Palm Springs last fall. “Rob Seltzer, Frank Jones and others did a terrific job of organizing. 2016 is shaping up to be a big year. In April, my fiance´ Carrie Horsey and I tied the knot at a small ceremony with family and friends. Our five kids served as bridesmaids and groomsmen. After a short formal reception at the church, we all convened at our home in the Berkeley Hills for the real celebration. It was a great day.” - 12
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After 34 years in the Bay area, Howard Warner and his family have moved to Kalaheo on Kauai. He’s the co-owner of Living Foods Gourmet Market and Cafe in Kauai, a business he started with his brother-in-law Jeff Sacchini in 2014. “We buy direct from Kauai farmers, artisans, and small businesses while rounding out the fresh offerings with imports from the mainland. One of the challenges we face is getting product from the mainland to the store since it can be a 7-12 day lead time and logistics are subject to anything from labor disputes on the West Coast to weather patterns on the ocean.” - 13 1981 • Sushil Da Silva and Chris Brown attended the alumni event in New York this past May. Sushil enjoyed catching up on Webb news with Anne Stockdale, wife of Head of Schools Taylor Stockdale. - 14
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1982 • Members of the Class of ’82 enjoyed a ski trip together: four beautiful days at Alta and Snowbird in Utah! L-R: Jason Yee, Robbie Warner, Sam Gregory, Jesse Albert, Jason Keyes, John Wirum and Dilip DaSilva. Great fun! - 15 1983 • George Ahn has entered a deal with Waud Capital Partners, a leading lower middle-market private equity firm. Waud has committed $100 million of equity capital to the partnership. George, a software industry executive for the past 25 years, has served as the head of IBM’s Smarter Infrastructure software organization and was responsible for overseeing Maximo and TRIRIGA. He served as CEO of Tririga for six years before it was acquired by IBM in 2011.
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The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
giving and volunteering
2016 Congratulations to this year’s March Madness champions: the Class of 2004! Thanks to a big fi al push by class agents Will Habos ’04 and Stephanie Ho ’04 they edged out runner-up Class of 1967 with 152 points to 148 points, respectively. Class of 2008 came in third with an impressive 139 points. Classes of 2013, 1989, 1990, 1987, 2006, 2002, and 1961 rounded out the top ten. Many thanks to Fletcher Strickler ’67 and Lexus Beaman ’08 for their tireless effor s, and to all alumni who made a gift during the competition!
From March 1 to April 15, 237 alumni gave 343 gifts totaling over $141,000! That is nearly double the amount of donors and dollars from the previous year. Everyone is a winner for supporting The Webb Fund, allowing us to continue to offe students and teachers the very best Webb experience every year.
You can make your annual gift to The Webb Fund at webb.org/giving.
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
Upcoming Alumni Events Nov 29
Webb in Philadelphia
Dec 1
Webb 15, New York
Dec 2
Webb 15, Washington, DC
Dec 6
Webb in Los Angeles
Dec 7
Webb in San Francisco
Dec 17 Jan 8 Mar 24
College Webbies Holiday Party Alumni vs. Students Basketball Game Webb Fund March Madness Celebration
April 29 - May 1
Alumni Peccary Trip, Barstow
Check the online calendar for more alumni events.
www.webb.org/alumni
1984 • Zachari Mateev is the general manager of the AC Hotel Barra Rio de Janeiro by Marriott which opened in July for the Olympic Games.
Christina Mercer McGinley is the proud parent of Vivian Webb graduate, Cori, VWS Class of 2016. Cori is now attending UC Berkeley. - 16 During a trip to Houston Harry Oei caught up with Keith Baggerly. He also saw Jeff Luhnow at Minute Maid Park when he watched the Astros play. - 17 It was nice to see Dana Su Lee and her son Graham on campus. - 18 1985 • We held a mini eighties reunion for Julia Marciari-Alexander’s commencement address at the VWS graduation in May. Everyone enjoyed lunch at Taylor Stockdale’s home afterwards: Yassmin Sarmadi ’87, Todd McNichols, Michael Mullane, Eric Singelyn, Janel Henriksen Hastings ’87, Christina Mercer McGinley ’84, Stephanie Riggio, Sanjay Dholakia ’87, Rob Takata, Sarah Tong Sangmeister ’87 and Hope Demetriades ’87. You can watch Julia’s speech on youtube.com/thewebbschools. - 19 1986 • Coleen Martinez and her husband Hector are proud parents of a WSC graduate! Will is attending Georgetown. During his senior year, he was on the varsity wrestling team, ASB vice president and a senior ambassador. - 20
David Row gave a chapel talk in January, joined by several Webb friends: Hiro Sasaki ’83, Christina Mercer McGinley ’84, Stephanie Riggio ’85, Rob Takata ’85, Mark Shpall ’86, Janel Henriksen Hastings ’87, Tammy Ho ’87, Natasha Kordus ’87, Bob Connolly ’89, and Robert Lee ’88. - 21
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Eric Rubin found this blast from the past: a photo taken on the tennis court at Cate, just after winning the 1986 CIF Championships. Team members are: Michael Kwon ’87, Robbie Monroe ’87, Franklin Yap ’88, Steven Gottlieb, Charlie Lombardelli, Bill Rogers, Coach Mark Kushner. Seated: Leigh Bass, Eddy Harinasuta ’87, Eric Rubin - 22 In April Will Warne appeared on Shark Tank with his product, KidRunner, a revolutionary alternative to a typical jogging stroller. Since then, he has signed a licensing agreement with a partner to manufacture and sell KidRunner globally. Visit www.KidRunners.com! - 23 1987 • Rebekah Ebner Swan has joined Webb’s Planned Giving Advisory Council where she is serving as a resource for donors interested in making a planned gift to Webb from their estate. She is a senior litigation counsel focusing on trust and estate litigation at Hoffman Sabban & Watenmaker APC, a boutique probate, trust and estate planning firm located in Westwood, Cal. She currently lives in Palos Verdes Estates with her husband, two sons (Hart is 16 and Birk is 14), both lacrosse players, and their Vizsla puppy, Shogi. Becky will be spending a good part of the summer traveling around the country watching her sons play lacrosse and looking at colleges with Hart.
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1988 • Scott Kennelly wrote: “Kelly and I got married on 1/2/2016! Trampoline weddings are the best! I hope to see the whole class of 1988 in 2018 for our 30-year reunion.” - 24
Eugene Whitlock and his wife Romina welcomed their daughter, Seychelle, in April 2016. - 25 1989 • Donald Balacuit, his wife Rochelle, and their four kids have moved back to Southern California. He is a family physician in Monrovia, Cal. alongside his father. Donald looks forward to future reunions now that he is a SoCal native again.
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1989 • After 17 years at Vanity Fair, Punch Hutton has stepped down as its long-time deputy editor. In her tenure at the magazine, she was editor of the “Fanfair” section and reintroduced and edited the party pages in the “Fairground” section. Punch also launched the magazine’s annual gift guide and made it one of Vanity Fair’s most popular compilations. Now she’s working on her next big move! Stay tuned.
Timothy Sun, Chapman Lam, Andy Wu, and Vincent Lau held a mini reunion in Hong Kong to celebrate Andy’s brithday. - 26 25
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The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
Unbounded Day Field Trips Thank you to the alumni, parents and friends
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who hosted Webb students during Unbounded Days earlier this year.
Here are a few highlights:
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Steve Shenbaum ’88, President and founder of game on Nation, flew in from Florida to lead an interactive workshop on team building, positive communication and leadership skills.
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Daniel Heidari ’16 spent a day at the British Consulate in Los Angeles with Brittany Loya ’06, who talked about her work in international business development.
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Yassmin Sarmadi ’87 and her husband Chef Tony Esnault hosted the molecular gastronomy group at their new restaurant Spring in downtown Los Angeles.
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Russell Silvers, Senior Vice President at AEG Global Partnerships, talked about sports marketing and sponsorships. Afterwards, students watched an LA Clippers game.
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Students spent a day at the Riverside and Rancho Cucamonga Courthouses with attorney Gustavo Barcena P ’05.
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Ayad and Trixie Fargo P ’17, owners of Biscomerica, a leading manufacturer of cookies and candy, highlighted the ins and outs of running a large business in California. Students met with the VP of Sales & Marketing and VP of Sales/Vending and enjoyed tasty samples!
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Anesthesiologist Dr. Perry Chu P ’11, ’14, ’17 gave Noah Martinez ’19 a tour of San Antonio Ambulatory Surgical Center in Upland, CA. Noah even witnessed some surgeries!
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Students spent a day with John Mooney, son of Herbert Mooney ’51, at his glass studio Moonlight Glass in Venice Beach, CA. Everyone had a chance to blow glass and bring home their own piece.
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Raul Romero P ’08 and his team at Jet Propulsion Laboratory gave a tour of the Space Flight Operations and Spacecraft Assembly Facilities. Students saw a life-size replica of Curiosity, the Mars Rover, and toured the actual mission control command center. Other Unbounded hosts included Monica Lago-Kaytis associate producer at Walt Disney Animation Studios; Dr. Adel Albadawi P ’08 ’14 of Arlington Prescription Pharmacy; Bill Baldwin P ’16 of HartmanBaldwin Design/Build; Taylor Chaput ’06 of Bliss Paddle Yoga; Matt Fong, owner of Pappas Artisanal; Danielle Gordon from Webb’s Alumni Office; Dr. Lawrence Kong P ’15 ’18 of Kaiser Permanente; Tommy Ngan ’05, co-owner of Ice Cream Lab 10 ; Josh Saltman ’87, Associate General Counsel at The Walt Disney Company; and Michael & Jessica Vincent P ’14 ’18.
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1990 • David Kahm wrote, “Thankful for my time at Webb and the lifetime of friends. Great seeing Robert Seung after all these years.” - 27
Rahmi Mowjood and his wife Hafsa welcomed their second child, a baby boy named Hakeem Rizvi Mowjood, on December 30, 2015. - 28 1992 • Clifford Rice and his wife Denine are the proud parents of Samuel Sang Chung Rice, born December 30, 2015. - 29 1993 • Katie Fisher-Burnett and her husband Travis welcomed twins Gus and Ellie on October 15, 2015. - 30
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1994 • Tara Lazar was featured in the March 2016 issue of Los Angeles magazine. The article, “Queen of the Desert,” discusses Tara’s impact on the hospitality industry in Palm Springs. In 2008 Tara opened Cheeky’s, a 30-seat breakfast restaurant on North Palm Canyon Drive. Three years later she opened Birba, a cantina-style restaurant and Alcazar (formerly the Peppertree Inn), both in the Uptown Design District. - 31
Ann Shinn and her husband, James Berry welcomed a baby boy named Christopher Jae-min Berry on February 8, 2016. He weighed in at 9 lbs. 10 oz. and 22.2 inches long. He joins big sister Hannah (age 5) and big brother Brandon (age 3). - 32 1995 • Julie Schaffner welcomed daughter Kaian Jean Saenger on February 22, 2016. 1996 • Don Lofgren enjoyed seeing Eissa Villasenor ’98, Megan Tracy Benson and Ewurama Ewusi-Mensah at the D.C. event in April. Also pictured: David Ivey-Soto ’82 from the Alumni Council. - 33 1997 • It was nice to see Aman Ahluwalia and his daughter Sahej at the LACMA tour in February. Aman started his own firm Golden Bear Consulting Group last year. “We are a boutique regulatory compliance consulting firm based in Southern California, focused on servicing and addressing the regulatory compliance and legal needs of a broad range of investment managers including investment advisers, investment companies, hedge funds, private equity funds, wealth managers, private fund managers, ETF sponsors and venture capital firms.” - 34
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Shampa (Chatterjee) Mukerji and her husband Sam welcomed their third child, Rai Kiran Mukerji, on December 14, 2015. She weighed 8 lbs. 3 oz. and measured 20.5 inches. Rai’s siblings Kavin Kumar (age 8) and Isha Rani (age 4) can’t get enough of her! - 35 Lisa Shonnard Sipprell attended the Webb Fund March Madness alumni mixer in LA. Here she is with her sisters Sarah ’99 and EB, Thatcher Woodley ’98, and the next generation of Webbies: Lisa’s daughter Madeleine and Thatcher’s son Colgate. - 36 1998 • Michael Madanat and his wife Thalia welcomed their second son, Nicholas, on February 10, 2016. 1999 • Charles Black and his wife Kathryn Bearden came to the Alumni Council’s LACMA tour of the Frank Gehry exhibit. They also joined us for the alumni peccary trip to Barstow. - 37
Sandeep Madhavan and his wife Dana welcomed a son Wyatt Dean Madhavan on January 7, 2016. He joins big brother Max. - 38
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
NewsNotes Erica McDaniel Nofi and her husband Greg Nofi welcomed Corin Nelida Nofi on April 10, 2016, at 8 lbs. 13 oz. and 21 inches long, in Brooklyn, N.Y. Big brother Reid (age 4) reports that her head is soft, and she smells a little funny, like old milk. - 39 2000 • Asim Rizvi and his wife Mehrukh welcomed their second child, Inara Aziza Rizvi, on January 12, 2016. Big sister Noora loves having a little sister. - 40
Jesson Yeh stopped by campus in April with his wife Xi Huang. They live in the N.Y. area where Jess is an ER doctor at Hackensack University Medical Center in Hackensack, N.J. - 41 2001 • Chiara Issa O’Connell and her husband, Eric O’Connell welcomed a baby girl. Artemis Crane Issa O’Connell was born on February 19. She was 8 lbs. 4 oz. and 20 inches long. “We had an amazing home birth. Ellington is a proud big brother and we are beyond thrilled to have a lovely family of four now. We know where they’re going to high school. Can’t wait for future peccary trips!” - 42
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Jean (Kim) Korch and her husband Travers Korch welcomed daughter Elliette Seung-mi Korch on August 12, 2015. - 43 2002 • Jason Tam graduated from his residency in orthopaedic surgery in 2015 and spent the last year in San Diego completing a fellowship in orthopaedic surgery. He was one of the team physicians for the San Diego Padres and Chargers as well as for the San Diego Gulls (Anaheim Ducks’ minor league team), San Diego State University athletics and numerous junior colleges and high schools in the area. Jason looks forward to setting up practice in his hometown of Glendora, focusing on sports medicine and general orthopaedics.
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2003 • Aaron Davis is in Las Vegas working at YWS Design and Architecture. “Found out that one of my colleagues, Robert Riffel, is a Webb alumnus from the class of 1988. We both work at YWS Design and Architecture with about 60 employees, so to say this is a small world is beyond true. I am the regional director and he is a senior project architect. We are working on over $2 billion worth of construction projects at the moment! Both of us credit Webb to being key to our success.”
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In April Paul Yoo, Victor Ma and Ariel Hsieh ’01 attended the alumni event in New York. Paul is an attorney, Victor is an investment banker with Miller Buckfire, and Ariel is an urban designer at Perkins Eastman, one of the top architecture and design firms worldwide. - 44 Daniel Smith traveled through Spain this spring with his wife Christine on a culinary journey, and met up in Barcelona with Michelle Fabregas ’02. Michelle is the founder of Dribble Dots, a gourmet edible oil company. - 45 2004 • Bryant Priromprintr married Garnet Kim on May 7 at the Padua Hills Theatre in Claremont. Alumni in attendance were Bryant’s brother Art ’01, Marisa (Chai) Meehan ’02 and Eddie Chai ’94. Bryant has been a general pediatric resident at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles for the last 2 years, and is now a pediatric cardiologist at Stanford. - 46
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Aminah Teachout and her husband Cody welcomed a son, Hawking Joyce Teachout on January 4, 2016, weighing 7.6 lbs. and measuring 20 inches. - 47 James Withey has moved to Baltimore, Md. after passing his internal medicine boards and completing his residency at the USC County Hospital. He is working at an affiliate of the Johns Hopkins University. 45
2005 • Brittan Berry received her MBA from Yale School of Management in May and is now working as lead innovation strategist for University Hospitals of Cleveland. Her husband Andrew is VP of player personnel for the Cleveland Browns.
Connie Cheng received her MD from Yale School of Medicine this spring and recently began an OB/GYN residency at UCLA. Her research thesis, “Effects of Race and Socioeconomic Factors on the Emergency Treatment of Threatened Abortion and Early Pregnancy Loss,” was accepted to the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, one of the major conferences for academic emergency physicians, and she gave an oral presentation in Boston. 46
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
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It was nice to see Stephani Cook and her sister Valerie ’09 at the Women of Webb event in Los Angeles. - 48 Jessica Gupta met up with Nihar Shah ’04 and Andrew Tye ’04 at a mutual friend’s wedding in Mumbai, India. - 49 Thea Hinkle, Lindsay Barbee, Stephani Cook, Micol Issa and Cooper Johnson ’06 enjoyed a weekend at Owl Canyon Campground in Barstow for the annual alumni peccary trip. - 50, 51 Janay Kong and her sister Lianna ’02 have started their own bakery Caked. In February, they won an award at the Los Angeles Cookie Con and Sweets Show and have been attending various food fests in the area. Janay is also pursuing her PhD in bioengineering at UCLA and Lianna is an admin for Jira, a project/bug tracking software. Check out their business at getcakedinla.com! - 52
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Tommy Ngan and his wife Rachel welcomed their daughter Mia on March 17, 2016. - 53 Anna Simle married Dan Schniedwind in Bailey, Col. on August 1, 2015. Webbies in attendance were Anna’s cousins Albert Walsh ’00, Kate (Walsh) Garrett ’02, Lawrence Tollenaere ’03, Robert Walsh ’04, Matt Abrams ’10; Katie Oakley was her maid of honor. - 54 2006 • Lillian Kwang has moved to New York where she is a senior associate in Deal Advisory at KPMG. She works as a mergers and acquisitions consultant focusing on the HR portion of deals from due diligence through integration or separation. It’s exciting work as she finds out about potential mergers, acquisitions, and separations before they hit the press!
Sarah Lewis is in New York at Columbia Business School. Recently she participated in a NASA video chat with the International Space Station, where she spoke with astronaut Tim Kopra (also a Columbia Business School graduate). Sarah had lunch with Don Lofgren and Matt Lauria ’01 in April and swam one mile in the Hudson River in June as part of the New Amsterdam City Swim fundraiser for ALS research.
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Best wishes to Heidi Marti as she embarks on a new job with Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles. She started at Webb in 2010 as the advancement fellow before joining admissions as the assistant director of admission in 2012. She looks forward to seeing her classmates at their 10-year reunion this fall! Former faculty members Brian Ogden and Sherrie Staveley Singer enjoyed dinner in San Francisco with Simon Ou. - 55 LiangLiang Sun visited campus in May with her husband Jason. She lives in Pasadena and is CEO of Sun Homeland, a residential development company. She came to visit Leo and Stevie Marshall and wish them well on their retirement before coming by the Alumni Office. - 56
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Kathleen Terris is working at the Houston Museum of Natural Science on the new collections inventory team. “I love it and get to work with all aspects of the museum’s collections, from anthropology to paleo!” 2008 • Alexandra Shultz married James Emery on March 23, 2016 in Las Vegas in an intimate ceremony. - 57
After 8 years in the Northeast, Brenna Kearns is moving back to California to start law school at Berkeley this fall. She would love to reconnect with any Webbies in the Bay Area, especially from the great ’08!
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Congratulations to Katelyn Previti for receiving the Dianna J. Pelletier Resiliency Scholarship from CSU San Bernardino. Katelyn is going back to school for real estate. - 58
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
NewsNotes 2009 • We enjoyed seeing Lexington Henn, Rosie Lewis, and Judy Yang at the N.Y. alumni event in April. - 59
Enoch Kwon has completed his masters in human developmental neuroscience at Cornell. He returns to Cornell in the fall to work as a graduate research assistant while he applies for both MD and PhD programs, looking towards becoming an emergency room physician or professor of neuroscience. Dylan Sittig has completed his degree as a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs, with a concentration in community economic development and environmental analysis and policy. He has landed a full-time position in the Los Angeles City Planning Department as a planning assistant.
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2010 • Congratulations to Ariel Fan for being chosen for the Energy Efficiency Partnership Award 2016 by Southern California Edison Utility for her implementation of efficiency projects such as LEDs, water-saving fixtures, and power partnerships with over 25 hotels. - 60 2011 • Congratulations to Kelly Dualan who graduated from the United States Air Force Academy on June 2, 2016 with a B.S. degree in international history studies and a commission as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force.
Andy Lee is working for Uber Technologies in their research and development division in Pittsburgh, Pa., working on developing driver-less cars. Any alumni in the area, should say hello! Andy was also on campus for the last young alumni holiday party with Emily Kan and Jim Dahler. - 61
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Phil Sang, Elena Scott-Kakures and Chris Jusuf attended the alumni event in D.C. Phil is finishing up a master’s degree at Georgetown; Elena is a Middle East program Intern at The Wilson Center, and Chris is a legislative fellow for Congressman Steve Knight. - 62 2012 • Alec Harbison graduated from Georgetown University in May with a B.A. in economics and computer science. In 2015 he studied for a semester abroad at University College Dublin.
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We enjoyed seeing San Diego Webbies in March. Angie Harold graduated from USD in May and now heads to Chapman Law School. Ilya Shoniya graduated from UCSD with a degree in chemical engineering. Terence Tien ’13 and Kevin Pandji ’13 are both at UCSD and roommates! Terence is studying structural engineering and Kevin is majoring in nanoengineering. - 63 2013 • Nadine Bouz spent the summer in Nicaragua volunteering with Global Medical Brigades to provide villagers with health care services. “When I was a VWS sophomore, I traveled to a small village in Fiji with Mrs. James and the service council. We built stairs and a community center, and taught the children English. During this trip, I learned so much about myself and loved every second of it.” Nadine is VP of the Chapman Global Medical Organization and recently established a Global Dental Brigade there. “During these trips, I truly witness the power of medicine and most importantly the effect of helping an underserved population.” Nadine is a senior at Chapman University majoring in psychology and minoring in biology. She also volunteers at University of California Irvine Medical Center. - 64
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Aaron DiGiamarino is now at the University of La Verne, where he’s a member of the varsity golf team and majoring in accounting. - 65 Jack Gilliat graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 2015, and subsequently joined their theatre company for a year. He has since founded a production company, Eye of a Fly Productions, and co-founded a theatre company, Whistleblower, with Zenon Productions. His latest production is Echoes of Ebola, which he co-wrote and acts in. It ran at The Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, at Playwrights Horizons on 42nd Street in NYC, in June. Jack recently premiered his first feature film, Exposure, an independent film about the complexities of love. Jack says, “We had the screening last week and it was surreal! Walking into a theatre, seeing a movie poster with your name on it in big block letters just doesn’t compute!” - 66
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
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Sophomore
Career Evening
How did you pick your college major? Are internships important? What do you like most about your job? These are just a few of the questions asked by sophomores at the 17th Annual Sophomore Career Evening.
MEDICINE & HEALTH —
MARKETING & PUBLIC RELATIONS —
Christine French ’90, Sandra Lee Rebish ’88 and Jason Tam ’02 talked about careers in medicine and health. Christine is a vitamin D researcher for Grassroots Health and has co-authored papers on the relationship between vitamin D, diabetes, kidney stones, and cancer. Sandra is a dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon. Her Youtube channel, Dr. Pimple Popper, has over 1 million subscribers. Jason is a team physician for the San Diego Padres, Chargers and Gulls, San Diego State athletics and some junior colleges and high schools.
Alex Schack ’03 is a talent publicist at Slate PR, a top agency in Hollywood, representing clients like Bryce Dallas Howard, Nicolas Cage, and Naya Rivera. James Sheehy ’85 is the Director of Consumer Insights for PepsiCo’s Naked Emerging Brands, overseeing consumer insight and business, consumer and retailer strategies. Grace Urn ’08 is a media promotions manager at Lions Gate Entertainment, doing theatrical marketing on film like The Hunger Games, Divergent series, and John Wick.
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EDUCATION & SERVICE — REAL ESTATE & DEVELOPMENT — Ariel Fan ’10 and Sarah Sun ’10 discussed their experiences in the fi lds of real estate and development. Ariel is the Energy Operations manager at Brighton Management, a leading hotel management company. Sarah is a Financial Analyst in Corporate Real Estate at the Walt Disney Company.
Micol Issa ’05 teaches 8th grade English at Brookhurst Jr. High in Anaheim and previously spent four years in Haiti as an English Program Manager. Mark Shpall ’86 is the Dean of Students and assistant wrestling coach at deToledo High School in Agoura Hills. He originally studied to be a lawyer, but discovered that his true passion was teaching.
BUSINESS & FINANCE —
THE LAW —
Raj Dayalan ’90 and Naveen Jeeredi ’92 presented on investment banking, hedge funds, and the world of fi ance. Raj is the Director, Head of Internet at Houlihan Lokey, specializing in e-commerce, digital media, and payment sectors. Naveen is the CEO of Jeereddi Partners LLC. He has approximately two decades of value-oriented experience fi ancing, analyzing and investing in public and private companies.
Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong ’93, Bassil Madanat ’04, and Priya Verma ’02 spoke about the diffe ent sectors of the law. Maame is a judge with the LA County Superior Court, and previously was in Washington, DC working for the Department of Justice and Millennium Challenge Corp. Bassil is a patent attorney, specializing in intellectual property litigation at Ruttenberg IP Law. Priya, an associate with Morris Yorn Barnes Levine Krintzman Rubenstein Kohner & Gellman, an entertainment law firm works mostly with TV clients such as Aziz Ansari, Zach Galifia akis, and several show creators.
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
NewsNotes “Y” after Carl Phillips
For her senior thesis at Colorado College, Juliana Hernandez is working with her tribe, the Acjachemen people, Juaneno Band of Mission Indians, and studying the nutritional health and wellness affects on California Natives. Her major is Southwest studies and pre-med.
by Carly Olszewski ’13 This poem appears in the Indiana Review Online, a non-profit literary magazine dedicated to showcasing the talents of emerging and established writers. Several questions past that of when and where laid a fork in the road to say go, but Y
Jack Yang is at Harvey Mudd studying engineering with an emphasis on computer science. His primary interests are in robotics research, electrical engineering and software development. “My current project in LAIR (Lab for Autonomous and Intelligent Robotics) is to design a fast-planned highway system in an obstacle-ridden 3D space. The highway should maximize the traffic throughout for multiple autonomous robots travelling through the space.”
is still for the sturdy turkey wishbone, the new tree branch growing outside
2014 • In May Hailey Beaman joined the senior girls on their Half Dome hike. “I enjoyed reconnecting and reliving a part of my Webb experience from a different perspective. The first time, there were a lot of unknowns that loomed on the horizon, and summiting Half Dome felt like an apex of my high school experience. This time, I summited it with half of college behind me and a different set of unknowns on the horizon. Plus, I always love a good challenge!”
that slowly grows closer to you, the gazer out the window, not yet the view those eyes
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Erik Chu interned at Capital Group Companies this summer in global client services. Many thanks to Webb parent Todd Wagner, for offering this internship through the Webb@Work program. - 68
will meet. Y, as in martini glass,
2015 • Young alumni returned to campus to speak at the Affiliates meeting in January. The panel consisted of Anthony Dahi ’15 (Pitzer), Elisa Kong ’15 (Columbia), Adam Holliday ’15 (Colorado College), Hailey Beaman ’14 (Bowdoin), Kevin Guardia ’13 (Pitzer), and Annisa Herrero ’13 (Columbia). - 69
anyone’s fi gers, any peaceful pair of two, my
Congratulations to Maia Dominguez for completing her EMT training course and passing the official set of “practicals,” which include an in-person practical examination conducted by official reviewers. As part of the training she participated in ambulance ride-alongs and worked a few shifts in a local ER.
arms above your head reaching up, Y water floods down, where the two rivers
Anna Huang is a sophomore at Boston College studying biochemistry on the pre-med track. This summer she spent a shadow day with Dr. Rahmi Mowjood ’90, as part of the Webb@Work program. - 70
join, meeting, and now, together. Y, not
Raymond Tang and Chris Choi ’14 did Webb@Work summer internships at LPL Financial in San Bernardino, hosted by alumni parent Marcus Paredes.
look as the zipper moves down the dress, or
This summer Blake Williams was a research assistant with Dr. Jonathan Kelber ’93 in the Oncogene Lab at Cal State Northridge. His work involved a breast cancer project, which tested a novel compound that has been shown to block the production of a protein called PEAK1 and has previously reported to inhibit breast cancer cell growth for its ability to prevent breast cancer metastasis. - 71
as the necklace dangles down the center of my chest, but here too, when the stethoscope counts your half-living, half-dying life, where I sometimes trace along the contour of your nose, up across your eyebrows, and think I decide to stay. Y is all I keep meaning to answer.
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
Miya Wensley and Amara Banks ’15 were summer interns for the Kamala Harris Senate campaign. Miya is majoring in law, history and culture and minoring in English at USC. Last spring, she was a public policy and communications intern with SeePolitical, a non-profit that aims to increase civic awareness on ballot measures. Amara is a political science major at Barnard. She fellowed with the Obama Administration’s Organizing For Action during her time at Webb, and aspires to attend law school after her undergraduate studies. - 67
Carly Olszewski is a senior at Stanford University, majoring in biology. She is the director of recruitment and volunteer education at the local Veteran’s Hospital, as well as the copy editor for Stanford’s fashion and culture magazine, MINT.
FO RM E R FACU LT Y, STA F F & F R I E N D S Harvey Mudd Mathematics Professor Dr. Art Benjamin (and parent of Laurel ’17) was a guest speaker in May. He spoke to over 100 math students about number theory and algebra. Brian Caldwell, who organized the event stated, “The entire night was a success, and even though it was the week before final exams, it was well worth it! I overheard students talking afterwards and they were very much inspired and excited about math.” Roy Bergeson has returned from China and retired! “The last two years as the founding head of a dual-diploma high school for Chinese students at ShattuckSt. Mary’s - Beijing Bayi School turned out to be what my whole life had prepared me for. What an incredible experience! But, it’s lovely today when I sit here in Soren’s ’91 house, five miles outside of New Paltz, N.Y. and compare my life to just a few months ago, trying to run a high school in China in a city of 22 million! The irony is that Soren and his family (wife, Angie; son, Lars; daughter, Winona) are now in Beijing. Soren has taken a teaching position at Keystone Academy. Irony of ironies, he is raising his two children on a boarding school campus just as he was raised along with his brother Seth ’93 on the Webb campus. But, there are definitely some differences between 1175 West Base Line Road and the Shunyi District of Beijing!” - 72 Robert Doebler, who taught chemistry at Webb from 1998-2002, is the president and co-founder of ClaremontBio, a biotech company that has developed a suite of instruments for rapid preparation of samples for biological analysis. The devices, with disposable and affordable components, used to break open cells and extract RNA and DNA much more quickly than standard techniques, are suitable for applications in research, homeland security, and now, space! CBio worked with NASA to test and fly a suite of devices for use in the International Space Station to extract nuclear material from organic matter, hands free and in under six minutes. Arriving at the ISS in April, the instruments are being used to test the effects of spaceflight and microgravity on gene expression in microbes and mammalian cells.
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Phil and Nancy Hogarth are enjoying retirement. Albuquerque, N. Mex. is a terrific place and they can’t imagine a better place to live. They are fit and healthy, clocking between 50-60 miles a week with walks or hiking. Phil golfs and Nancy enjoys pilates. They also work at the University of New Mexico’s Medical School as “standardized patients” for medical students. They see Jim Dahler about 4-5 times a year and he keeps them updated on Webb news. - 73 Former faculty members Joan Presecan, Sandee Mirell, Lucia Dick and Janet Macaulay attended the Women of Webb event in Los Angeles last May. - 74 Former Spanish teacher Clara Soto-Ivey celebrated her 80th birthday in April with a Sunday brunch at Walter’s among family and friends. Pictured with Asya Beardsley ’87 and Coleen Martinez ’87. - 75 Teri Tompkins, PhD (parent of Katie ’14 and Erin ’15 Dickins) was named chair of the Applied Behavioral Science & Organization Theory and Management Department at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management. She has been a professor of applied behavioral sciences at Pepperdine since 2001. 75
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
In Memoriam
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Stephen H. Dolley passed away on November 29, 2015. At Webb, Stephen was an Honor Committeeman, business manager of El Espejo, contributor to Blue & Gold, and lettered in baseball. He graduated from Brown before serving in World War II as a naval officer in advance bases in Africa, Sicily, Italy and France. He spent most of his career in mortgage banking in Southern California before retiring to Carmel in 1980. Stephen and his wife Martha owned the Circle Four Ranch in southern Monterey County for over 25 years. He had a number of articles published in various papers and magazines on travel, hunting, fis ing, cooking and military history. His cookbook, Uncommon Foods for the Uncommon Chef, was published in 2001.
Carlton Appleby passed away on December 14, 2015. At Webb, Carl was the class valedictorian, a member of the Honor Committee, Block W, assistant editor of El Espejo, and he played football and basketball. After Webb, Carl joined the Marine Corps before going through boot training at Parris Island. He then studied at Quantico’s Office Candidate School and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He was recalled to active duty in 1951 to serve as a platoon leader with the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines before being deployed to Korea. Upon his return, Carl joined his mother in the publishing business, eventually becoming the president and publisher of the Escondido Times-Advocate. Carl was a director of the Daily News in Los Angeles and a consultant to the Tribune Company helping to analyze future acquisitions. Throughout his family’s long connection with Webb, Carl was a stalwart devotee of the schools’ mission. He served as a Webb trustee from 1964 to 1971 and helped fund projects such as Appleby Dorm, the Nelson Performing Arts Center, and Gallagher Quad. His brother Andrew ’46, son Jeffrey ’69, and grandchildren Wayne Frank ’05, Christopher Appleby ’07, and Mareesa Frank ’07 also attended Webb.
M. Curtis Smith Jr. passed away on December 23, 2015. At Webb, Curtis played badminton, his favorite sport, was a member of the radio shack, and was an excellent student in science and math. Curtis went on to graduate from Cal Tech. 1940 Brooks Hoar died on March 14, 2015, just nine days after his 93rd birthday. While at Webb, Brooks could take apart and reassemble any type of radio, gun, binocular, or other mechanical paraphernalia. He was quite the badminton player and enjoyed sailing. He graduated from Chapman College and was a veteran of the Army Air Corps in World War II. A video interview he gave during Alumni Weekend 2014 can be found on the Teachers of Webb Project page on our website.
Webb Magazine • Fall 2016
1942 William “Bill” H. Jackson died on December 29, 2014. At Webb, Bill was an Honor Committeeman, dorm counselor and prefect. He played football and was a member of Block W. During World War II, he was drafted into the army and served in the 13th Armored Division which was attached to General George Patton’s army. He fought in Germany and Austria, including Hitler’s hometown. Bill and his wife, Louise, spent 64 years together, travelling the world and raising three sons.
A celebration of life
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Richard H. Elwood died on June 1, 2011. At Webb, Richard ran track, was a carpenter for the Drama Club, a member of the Stamp Club, and a circulation manager for Blue & Gold. He graduated from USC before going on to have a distinguished career as the owner of Llords & Elwood Winery. He was a longstanding wine judge at the Orange County Fair.
S. Chris Bradford passed away on December 21, 2015. At Webb, Chris lent his keen eye to El Espejo as co-editor and photography editor, and contributed to the student newspaper Blue & Gold. After graduating from Claremont McKenna, he spent 10 years in real estate before beginning a career in the wine industry. He became a certified ommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers in London and served as wine director and sommelier at numerous restaurants in Southern California, including Bouchee and L’Auberge Carmel in Carmel and Crustacean in Beverly Hills. His most recent positions were as the wine director at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles and sommelier at Culina. Chris was also a long-time supporter of the Monterey Jazz Festival and served as a jazz ambassador for the Los Angeles area.
Herbert Mooney died on February 26, 2016. At Webb, Herbert was a stellar athlete, earning letters in football, basketball and baseball. He graduated from Pomona College before receiving his medical degree from University of California, San Francisco. He served at Heidelberg Army Hospital in Germany before starting his general surgical practice in Longmont, Colorado. He also was a clinical professor at University of Colorado School of Medicine, retiring in 2014, and an active member of the Colorado Medical Society and the Boulder County Medical Society. 1956 Michael Godfrey died on August 10, 2014. He graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with a degree in electrical engineering. He went on to work at Westinghouse as a vice president before going on to be the president of three other companies. Michael served in the U.S. Navy Submarine Service and was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in Millard, Neb. 1967
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1982 Tadashi “Sy” Akimoto died on April 2, 2016. Sy was on the WSC tennis and wrestling teams and attended many peccary trips. After graduating from Pitzer College, he had a successful career as a racecar driver. He was on the winning team at the 1993 Rolex 24 at Daytona, a 24-hour sports car endurance race, and the runner-up at the InterTEC Touring Car Championship at Mt. Fuji Speedway in Japan in the early 1990s. He retired from racing to start Racing Sports Akimoto, a racecar parts manufacturing company. Sy is considered to be one of the vanguards and chief cheerleaders of the auto import performance marketplace in the early 1990s.
Ralph H. Bean died on February 12, 2016. At Webb, Ralph was known for his unshakable optimism and never-ending smile. John Jackson Phelps passed away on February 14, 2016. At Webb, Jack was the quarterback of the varsity football team, a folk singer, member of the guitar group, and member of the swim team.
The Webb Schools • WEBB.ORG
Final Word By Jenna Gambaro ’95
The Language of Negotiation
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I was recently asked, “As a woman, do you negotiate diffe ently than your male counterparts?” The question took me by surprise. I had never thought of my negotiating style as being gendered. To be honest I had never consciously thought about my negotiating style at all, which one might fin odd as I am a lawyer and by virtue of my job I negotiate all day, every day. It took being asked this question for me to pause and reflect.
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Negotiating by defi ition is a way for individuals to achieve the best possible outcome for their position. With a goal of compromise and/or agreement, there are so many styles and techniques that can be employed to be an effect ve negotiator. I set out to explore whether societal assumptions or ingrained gender biases impose restrictions, whether internally or externally, on the way women negotiate. The wage gap has been top of my mind recently, with reports showing that in 2015 female full-time workers still made only 79 cents for every dollar earned by men. Jennifer Lawrence, arguably the world’s biggest movie star (male or female), entered the conversation after the Sony hack brought to light that Jennifer was paid less than her male counterparts in the same film In the October 14, 2015 issue of the Lenny Letter, Jennifer wrote, “I didn’t want to seem ‘difficult’ or ‘spoiled.’ At the time, that seemed like a fin idea, until I saw the payroll on the Internet and realized every man I was working with definitely didn’t worry about being ‘difficult’ or ‘spoiled.’” The fear of being perceived as non-deserving or difficult restricts the ability to be one’s best advocate. Jessica Stillman points out in her 2014 Inc.com article that “men who take control and get things done are admired; whereas women are often labeled cold and disliked thanks to deep-seated expectations that females be caring and soft.” The reality is that women are perceived diffe ently when negotiating. So how can we change the way we conduct these exchanges acknowledging the stereotypes and adjusting our behavior to off et them? The biggest problem lies in the very language we use. Language, both written and spoken, is obviously at the core of every interchange we have with others. Studies have shown that women are more prone to use words and phrases that diminish
“The biggest problem lies in the very language we use.”
or undermine their position. Ellen Leanse, a former Google and Apple executive, examines women’s use of the word “just” in her 2015 Business Insider article. She contends that using “just,” rather than directly stating the point is a “subtle message of subordination and deference.” I challenged myself to consciously omit this qualifier from my communications, unless it was essential. For example: “I just wanted to check in on the status of the agreement,” as opposed to, “I am checking in on the status of the agreement.” The latter is a stronger and less submissive statement. Tara Mohr, an expert on women’s leadership and well-being, explores how women undermine themselves with words in a conversation with Goop.com. Tara delves into the “unconscious habit many women have to apologize before asking a question ... to apologize in all kinds of situations where an apology is not warranted.” After reading the article, I immediately noticed how often I started sentences with “I’m sorry, but…” I was not sorry. In fact, I was simply asserting my position or stating my opinion. Whether intentionally or otherwise, women soften their language in an attempt to, “ensure we don’t get labeled as bitchy, aggressive, or abrasive.” This is in no way to presume that all women use this limiting language or that men do not fall into the same language traps, but when women use these speech patterns it affir a negative stereotype that is not evoked when men use the same patterns. Stating your position clearly, concisely and unapologetically should not and does not make you difficult or aggressive. Rather, it makes you a powerful advocate for yourself and your clients. So as I answer the question, of course my gender plays a role in how I negotiate. Being a woman influences every decision I make and every action I take—whether consciously or not. However, the question has challenged me to focus on strong language, not discounting my thoughts or apologizing for having a point of view. This is the struggle of female professionals the world over, and is a deep focus of Webb’s coordinate education system. Empowerment through language is the fi st step. The earlier this message reaches our daughters and sons the better, and it is our job to model these principals for the next generation.
Jenna Gambaro ’95 is a business affairs executive at Creative Artist Agency and a member of The Webb Schools Board of Trustees.
Credits
A D M I N I S T R AT I O N Taylor B. Stockdale Head of Schools Dutch Barhydt Director of Institutional Advancement
Executive Editor Joe Woodward
Peter Bartlett Director of Student Life
Contributors Lexus Beaman ’08, Debbie Carini, Andrew Farke, John Ferrari, Danielle Gordon, Harason Horowitz ’02, Don Lofgren, Aaron Severson, Laura Wensley
Jamila Everett, EdD Director of Admission and Financial Aid Donald L. Lofgren, PhD Director, Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology
Design Michael Stewart • Stewart Creative
Hector Martinez Director of College Guidance
Photography Lisa Blomberg P ’15, Phil Channing, Andy Dahlstrom P ’15, ’16 & ’20, Andrew Farke, Sarah Lantz, Andy Liu ’15, Don Lofgren, Nancy Newman, Cat Ngo ’15, Scott Nichols
Tracy Miller PhD Dean of Faculty
Printing Dual Graphics
Janet K. Peddy Director of Finance, Planning and Operations Theresa A. Smith, PhD Director of Academic Affairs Joe Woodward Director of Strategic Communications BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2016-2017 Sanjiv P. Dholakia ’87, Chairman of the Board Christina Mercer McGinley, PhD ’84, Vice Chair, Secretary David Loo ’79, Vice Chair R. Larry Ashton ’70, Chairman, Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology, ex officio Blake H. Brown ’68 Michael Chang ’92 Deval Dvivedi ’00 Jenna Z. Gambaro ’95 Wayne L. Hanson ’59 Janel Henriksen Hastings, PhD ’87 John Holliday ’84 Ming Chung Liu Roger J. Millar ’61 David Myles, PhD ’80 Mickey E. Novak ’70
Janet K. Peddy, Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary, ex officio RJ Romero Miles R. Rosedale ’69 Mary A. Schuck Taylor B. Stockdale, Head of Schools, ex officio Denis Yip LIFE TRUSTEES Hugh H. Evans Jr. ’49 Anne Gould H. Earl (Bud) Hoover II ’52 Murray H. Hutchison Claire H. McCloud Paul M. Reitler ’54
Volume 19, Number 2
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