Faculty & Staff News and Milestones

Pierce Yamaoka Entertains and Inspires as Activist Musician Fifteen Represent Windward at Annual NYSAIS People of Color Dinner

WMS Teacher Pierce Yamaoka is smashing conventions around classical music, all while raising funds for worthy causes, as an activist musician and organizer with Protestra. Founded in 2017, this cohort of mainly orchestral musicians is based in New York City but receives donations and support from all over the country. Protestra aims to “use [their] art to speak out against injustice and speak truth to power.” As part of their mission, the nonprofit organization holds benefit concerts for likeminded charities, programs their repertoire with a lens toward highlighting diverse composers, shares resources, and invites guest speakers for panel discussions on timely topics. Mr. Yamaoka is an accomplished trumpeter, and he earned two music degrees before arriving at Windward. He was invited to join the group as an organizer and trumpeter in 2020, and he participated in their first concert on September 10, 2020, for the event series Take a Stand, titled A Concert for Black Lives. The concert was fully virtual, live streamed from musicians’ homes, and included a panel discussion organized by Mr. Yamaoka about current issues related to race. Intended to raise funds for the NAACP legal fund and Black classical music educators, the concert had an impressive turnout and raised $3,000. “Our goal with these popup concerts is to create an interactive experience for the audience, inspiring activism by utilizing multimedia education and engaging in dialogue about the theme of the show,” Mr. Yamaoka explained.

In May 2021, Protestra presented their first inperson concert for their Music in Action series, titled Heritage Against Hate. Timed to coincide with Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) month, the concert featured works by AAPIidentifying musicians and included an accompanying art show and a discussion hosted by Asian Musical Voices of America. The majority of the proceeds were donated to Café Maddy Cab and Heart of Dinner, two local organizations supporting the AAPI community in New York City.

“Our ultimate goal is to effect positive change by inspiring engagement in the community by showcasing diverse classical music selections,” said Mr. Yamaoka. “In the coming years, the organization hopes to move away from our current spontaneous, popup concert model and toward planning seasons that center around a social justice topic.” On March 10, faculty and staff members representing all Windward campuses attended the yearly gathering of NYSAIS professionals of color at Horace Mann School. Attendees gathered for a networking dinner followed by a keynote presentation by Dylan Marron. Pictured are: (standing) AV Production Coordinator Harri Ramkishun, WMS Teacher Atolani Ladipo, MMS Teacher Shirley Hwang, The Windward Institute Administrative Assistant Erikka Ramkishun, MMS Teacher Ilana Sinay, WMS Teacher Katherine Kaneko, WLS Teacher Allie Amazan, Benefits Administrator Isabel Hernandez, WLS Teacher Cortney Stanley, (kneeling) WMS Teacher Michelle Gonzalez, Associate Director of Digital Communications & Publications Stephanie Huie, MMS Teacher Karen Jimenez, Outplacement Director Tanya Ehrlich, and Director of Human Resources Jada Jones. WMS Teacher Andrew Tan was in attendance but not pictured.

Read Aloud Series for AAPI Heritage Month

To honor Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, the language arts department hosted a special readaloud series for students across campuses. MMS Teacher Shirley Hwang read Playing at the Border: A Story of Yo-Yo Ma by Joanna Ho to grades 6 and 7. Grade 6 also participated in a read aloud with Director of Information Technology Dr. Kwamé LaBassiere, who read Mop Rides the Waves of Life by Jaimal Yogis. WMS Teacher Katherine Kaneko read aloud Niki Nakayama: A Chef’s Tale in 13 Bites to grade 3.

First March Madness Read Aloud Tournament

When people think of March Madness, they most likely think about the popular college basketball tournament. But this March, Windward held its very own March Madness bracket... with read alouds! The idea for the read aloud tournament was suggested by WLS Teacher Kelly O’Neill, the books competing in the bracket were selected by WLS Librarian Joan Girardi, and Coordinators of Language Arts Jessica Sorna and Sarah Golden organized the effort across the lower schools.

Over the span of three weeks, special guest readers joined Manhattan and Westchester Lower School students in Grades 1–4 during their readaloud period. Each special guest read a book to the group. After every two books, the students voted for their favorite story to ultimately select a March Madness Read Aloud Tournament champion for their campus. The special guests who participated in the tournament were: MMS Assistant Division Head Jeremy Bletterman, Director of Language Arts and Instruction Betsy Duffy (pictured), Assistant Head of School for Enrollment Management Beth Foltman, Head of MLS and MMS Danny Kass, Director of DEIB Romina Pacheco, Head of WLS Alexis Pochna, WLS Assistant Division Head Amanda Rathbun, Associate Head of School Jon Rosenshine, MLS Assistant Division Head Lori Squillante, WLS Nurse Claudia Toledo, and Head of School Jamie Williamson.

At MLS, If Kids Ruled the World, read to the students by Mr. Bletterman, was the tournament champion. At WLS, the tournament champion was The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors, which was read by Ms. Toledo.

Laura Bellizzi Inspires Student Action Through Community Service

A true embodiment of living by example, Manhattan Coordinator of Social Studies and Student Council Advisor Laura Bellizzi gives back to her community in her free time as a volunteer for BUILD NYC, an entrepreneurship program that serves high school students in underresourced communities throughout New York City.

The BUILD NYC program teaches students how to establish and operate a successful business, with mentorship spanning from product development to manufacturing to sales. During sales pitches, students share their business proposals with a panel of volunteers in hopes of securing an investment (Imagine Shark Tank for teens.). “As a panelist, my role is to listen to student presentations, provide positive, constructive feedback, and determine who will receive an investment to grow their business,” Ms. Bellizzi explained.

As evidenced by her work with this program, Ms. Bellizzi is passionate about helping students find their voices and share their ideas with confidence. “BUILD helps students prepare for a future career in the business world by developing their communication, collaboration, problem solving, executive functioning, and innovation skills,” she noted. “One of the organization’s biggest goals is to promote social equity and create more diverse work environments in the field of business.” In fact, Ms. Bellizzi’s commitment to BUILD NYC has inspired two of her colleagues, MMS teachers Liz Cerabino and Casey Amos, to volunteer for the organization as well.

In her role as advisor to the MMS student council, Ms. Bellizzi imparts upon students a drive to serve their community, both internal and external to Windward. “Our primary goals within the Student Council are to promote kindness, to teach students how to be good citizens, and to give students a platform to share their voices,” Ms. Bellizzi shared.

As pandemicrelated limitations have lifted, Ms. Bellizzi has helped the MMS student council resume community service initiatives. By modeling service to others, Ms. Bellizzi inspires her students to do the same, empowering them to effect positive change within their communities.

Faculty & Staff News and Milestones

Tomas Endter Wins 7th Annual Yale Young Native Playwright’s Contest

In April, the Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program (YIPAP) announced that Manhattan Middle School Assistant Teacher Tomas Endter was one of two winners of the 7th Annual Yale Native Playwright Contest for their play Built on Bones. As one of the contest winners, Mx. Endter was paired with a professional Native playwright mentor and director to further develop the play before a staged reading performance at the YIPAP Festival in May. The entire cast of the staged reading constisted of Indigenous actors, and the performance is available on YIPAP’s Facebook page.

Built on Bones is set in the Saskatchewan province of Canada, where police are targeting Indigenous locals by picking them up in their vehicles and dropping them off miles outside of town in the middle of the harsh Canadian winter, leading to many freezing deaths. This practice, known as “starlight tours,” comes to the forefront as the play highlights how a couple— an Indigenous woman and a White male attorney—navigate their own relationship when the lawyer is called to defend a police officer who perpetrated one of the killings. Built on Bones explores the history of this specific type of police brutality towards Indigenous people and the moral dilemmas posed when confronting the complexities of integrity, justice, and truth.

Mx. Endter began writing Built on Bones during the Summer of 2020 but has developed several other plays over the years, all with a focus on telling Indigenous stories.

“I want to write Indigenous stories with majority Indigenous characters. They are hard to get staged, but I want to define the narratives for the stories that I want to do. My ultimate goal is to get something staged on Broadway that is Indigenous written, directed, or acted,” said Mx. Endter, who is a member of the Nehithaw Nation, from Lac La Ronge.

Although playwrighting is their preferred medium now, Mx. Endter has also acted and was a founder of the Fair Verona Shakespeare Company at their high school in Wisconsin. In fact, it was during a performance of The Tempest that Mx. Endter realized that theater was what they wanted to pursue in earnest.

“There’s something wonderful about how theater is temporal in nature, in that each individual performance brings something new and will never be the same,” said Mx. Endter. “The next day’s show might be similar, but every performance will be its own exciting capsule that can’t be repeated. Something can always go wrong or go brilliantly, and that is what’s so exciting about the stage.”

Mx. Endter graduated with a BFA in dramatic arts from The New School of Drama shortly before joining The Windward School as a noninstructional aide in November 2020 at the Manhattan campus. They were struck by Windward’s care for language as its core mission, sharing, “The ability for someone to have the capacity to tell their own stories is one of the most important things someone can have for selfdeterminism in life. Learning how to tell your own narrative and advocating for yourself is critical, and those skills have helped me become someone who can choose who I am and what I do. I wanted to get into education to facilitate that for anybody who might need it.”

This school year, Mx. Endter began a new role as a Manhattan Middle School assistant teacher, working in both language arts and drama classes. Although there have been some COVIDrelated restrictions for the drama program, Mx. Endter is looking forward to contributing to future performances at the Manhattan campus soon. Please note that they/them pronouns and gender-neutral honorifics are used in this article.

Windward Babies

1. Kofi John Glover was born on February 4 to Associate

Director of Development Alana ClementeGlover. 2. Maxwell Aaron Fulco was born on March 7 to Manhattan

Lower & Middle Schools Guidance Counselor Lauren

Fulco. He weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz. and was 20 ½ inches tall. 3. Manhattan Lower School Teacher Kate Sullivan celebrated the birth of Vaughn Margaret Sullivan on April 16. She weighed 7 lbs. 13 oz. 4. Ethan Joseph Litvinskiy was born on May 7 to

Westchester Lower School Assistant Teacher

Loredana Foti. He weighed 7 lbs. 7 oz. and was 20 inches tall. 1 2

3 4