The Vermont Academy Way
Embracing Entrepreneurship Alumni Leading the Way in Business
Announcing Our New Annual Giving Chair The 2021 Sabin Award Recipient VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1 ~ LATE FALL 2021
Dear Vermont Academy
Family
This year has started so well! I wish you could feel the amazing energy that is pulsing through campus right now. We currently have a 97% COVID-19 vaccination rate in our VA community, which has allowed us to ease so many of the restrictions we needed to put in place last year. It has been wonderful to see our student athletes board buses to compete against Lakes Region Schools and to welcome visiting teams to our fields and trails. Students and teachers are outside holding classes, taking advantage of our love of the land and our unique location. Our campus and our students’ minds and hearts are full. Leavitt House is on the cover because it is now our true welcoming point on campus. While many of you have visited the head of school in these quarters, I felt it was put to better use to support our recruitment efforts. Why have tour guides simply point to this majestic building when they can start inside? Its beautiful rooms and grounds will now serve as the first stop for families and potential students as well as a comforting place for student interviews. I look forward to you visiting these new offices soon. This edition of The Vermont Academy Way is full of wonderful stories about alumni and new things taking place on campus! A critical part of our strategic plan is the preparation of students for a dynamic world of work and technology. We need to give them experiences that might help them create their own jobs. We’ve
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now instituted an entrepreneurship track as part of our curricular offerings. We’re also sharing the stories of a few alumni who have created interesting and successful ventures. Herb Ellis ’53, stalwart friend of Vermont Academy, is the 2021 recipient of the Florence R. Sabin Class of 1889 Distinguished Alumni Award. We’ve included Herb’s citation, which chronicles his life’s success and his devotion to our School. Please join me in congratulating Herb! Andy Tyson ’99 is another alumnus who has stepped up to support Vermont Academy by taking on the role of Annual Giving Chair. Andy will help develop fundraising strategies to increase financial support and participation in annual giving from alumni and parents. Please join me in welcoming him to this major role. As the seasons change, I’m so excited by what this year brings! I hope you and your loved ones are safe, healthy, and invigorated by all that is happening around us. Warmly,
Dr. Jennifer L. Zaccara, Head of School
Peter Flatow ’62 Kickstarts
Entrepreneur Program
Peter Flatow still remembers the “Man and His World” lecture program that took place while he was a student at Vermont Academy. Local business leaders would speak to students to help them understand the dynamics of enterprise. He carried this experience with him as he built a company that helps Fortune 100 companies revamp themselves and smaller companies maximize performance in preparation for being sold. When Peter started living part-time in Naples, Florida, he became a mentor in a local high school’s business incubator. The high school had started the program with its most disadvantaged youth. Once a week he and other mentors would meet with students to help out with projects. He wanted to bring this experience back to Vermont Academy. “An entrepreneur program teaches problem solving in a way that is good for everything that you do,” he explains. “Building a business is a series of problems that you have to solve. The key is making sure you know the problem that really needs to be solved, not the one you think needs to be solved.” The entrepreneur program has three components: problem-solving, where students explore and work to solve problems they care about; mentorship, where alumni and local business leaders serve as volunteer coaches to help students refine their ideas; and business plan development, where students go through the process of gaining “funds” to start their business.
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Peter sees the mentorship piece as being critical to the program’s success and as a way for alumni to re-engage with Vermont Academy. “This is a great opportunity to get alumni working with students on how you do this and answering their questions and helping them build on their ideas.” The program will be run by math and history faculty member Mr. Drew Choos. Drew says, “My hope is that in ten to fifteen years these students will be mentoring others as they succeed in business.”
An entrepreneur program teaches problem solving in a way that is good for everything that you do.
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Alumni Leading the Vermont Academy Way … as Entrepreneurs!
Vermont Academy’s history is full of graduates who have climbed to great business heights. Whether they have created a new business or taken one in new directions, most of these entrepreneurs will tell you that their success stretches back to our campus on the hill. Have an entrepreneurial story you would like to share? Send it to us at alumni@vermontacademy.org! one of the top five Italian restaurants in North America. Howard is also the managing partner of the Sheraton Grand Seattle, a 1,236-room convention-category hotel ranked #2 in North America in Marriott’s Sheraton brand.
Howard S. Wright ’72 The success of Howard S. Wright ’72 can be seen from miles away. The owner of Seattle’s Space Needle, Howard has built a tourism and hospitality business that surrounds this iconic 605-foot-tall spire. When he founded Seattle Hospitality Group (SHG) in 2002, he created a holding company with interests in best-inclass event management, hospitality, tourism, and transportation companies in the Pacific Northwest.
“One thing we learned from the teachers at VA was that humans want connection. I get involved in projects and businesses because of the people, not the enterprise,” Howard says. He credits his teachers at Vermont Academy for helping him have the confidence to strike out into the world. “ It’s been a dark time this last year, and it felt that way the year I was at Vermont Academy, with Kent State, Viet Nam, race riots” he explains. “ When a math teacher believes in you and gives you a glimmer of hope that the world is going to be OK, it has an impact.”
“I don’t do a lot of things,” Howard explains. “I’m an inch wide and a mile deep.” SHG, ranked in the top 40 of private companies in Washington state, oversees 400 employees and enjoys revenues over $100 million. SHG’s Seattle-area properties include Kenmore Air Harbor, Ethan Stowell Restaurants, MTR Western, and Cascina Spinnasse, recognized as
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Learn more about Howard’s companies at www.shgllc.com.
After playing Division 1 hockey for three years, Chris DiVecchio ’95 moved into competitive bodybuilding, which led to an acting career. “My true passion for Chris DiVecchio ’95 the art of acting kept me going through 12 years,” he explains. “However, it started to reach a point where opportunities were slowing down and I knew I wanted more out of life.” Chris credits Vermont Academy with giving him the confidence to become an actor and take the risks needed to start a business. Coming to VA to improve his chances of being recruited by a top-level hockey
After careers in art, finance, fashion, and real estate, Corina BelleIsle ’80 has Corina Belle-Isle ’80 trained her creative energies on developing a modern take on switchel – a traditional apple cider vinegar beverage that has roots in the Caribbean and Colonial New England. After making a batch for fun, Corina’s partner, Russ, encouraged her to start a beverage company. “I’m the feet on the ground and he’s the head in the clouds,” she says. Corina’s Switchy is made in small batches from a blend of six fresh ingredients: carbonated water, fresh-squeezed lime juice, organic cane sugar, fresh-pressed ginger juice, organic apple cider
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program. Chris always wanted to act. Once he arrived on the Vermont Academy campus, he signed up for theater with Mr. Falko Schilling P ’03, ’05, ’11. “I finally experienced the potential of what I could do. It was a class I will look back on for shaping who I am.” Chris’s training and wellness business has helped everyone from athletes to high-powered business people transform their bodies and mindsets. His most recent venture is the Mobility Wall, which offers the softtissue benefits of a foam roller in an upright position. This makes it easier for people to target the most effective areas of their bodies. You can learn more about Chris at www.chrisdivecchio.com and see the Mobility Wall at mobilitywall.com.
vinegar, and aromatic spices inspired by her grandmother’s donuts. Her mother influenced her move into the natural beverage business. “My mom was a bit of a health nut,” Corina explains. “But she made food fun.” Corina credits Vermont Academy for her entrepreneurial spirit. “Starting a business requires a lot of perseverance and confidence,” Corina says. “Vermont Academy fostered my independence, and I’m grateful for that.” Corina is involved in all aspects of the product, from the creative packaging to the sourcing of raw materials like fresh lime juice and ginger from an organic farm in Brazil. Corina’s Switchy can be found throughout New England and can be ordered online at drinkcorinas.com.
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Our New Annual Giving Chair In addition to teaching, Andy has performed in Madrid jazz clubs, with the UAE Philharmonic Orchestra in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, at a piano bar in lower Manhattan, and Burdick’s Bastille Day celebration in Walpole, NH. Andy is currently the Director of Music for the University Glee Club of New York City, a choral group founded in 1894. Andy is honored
Andy Tyson ’99 Andy Tyson ’99 has accepted the role of Annual Giving Chair, succeeding Diane Wilder ’79, whom we sincerely thank for her service! Andy has long been a supporter of Vermont Academy as a class representative and is excited to take on this new challenge. While at Vermont Academy, Andy developed his passion for theater and music. He was the recipient of the Barrett Medal, which is the Academy’s highest award bestowed on a graduating senior. After graduating from Skidmore College with a double major in music and Spanish, Andy moved to Madrid to begin his career as a music teacher. He has taught at The American School of Madrid, an international school in Abu Dhabi, an independent school in Westchester, NY, and is currently in his eighth year teaching music at Connecticut’s New Canaan Country School. Along the way he earned his Masters in Music Education from Boston University.
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As much as an annual fund campaign is about financial support, I also see it as a great way to focus on community. and happy to lead Vermont Academy alumni, saying, “I’m excited about the opportunity to serve as the next Annual Giving Chair. As much as an annual fund campaign is about financial support, I also see it as a great way to focus on community. Vermont Academy has a wonderful community that we are all a part of long after our time on campus is done, and I look forward to doing my part in helping that community thrive.” Director of Annual Giving Tonia Fleming P ’18 adds, “It has been a pleasure to work with Andy in his role as class representative for the Class of 1999 and I look forward to seeing him engage with the full Vermont Academy alumni community in this new opportunity.” Andy encourages alumni who wish to join the annual giving alumni leadership program to contact him at mr.andrew.tyson@gmail.com.
The 2021 Sabin Award Recipient: In his Vermont Academy valedictory speech, Herb Ellis ‘53 called upon his classmates to make a difference in the world through application of the knowledge gained while attending Vermont Academy: How to approach a problem, whether it be how to do a job (or how to get out of doing a job), and to solve it using clear thinking and group action. He urged them to follow the words of Edward Everett Hale, which Herb has followed his entire life: “I am but one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I ought to do, and I will do.” Herb speaks about leading a life of successes and near successes. “Vermont Academy instilled strength to start anew when the ups occasionally turned to downs,” he has said. “I learned to always reach for the brass ring. You might not get it half the time, but if you don’t reach you’re not doing anything.” One summer Herb took a job as a part-time salesman at Paddock Pools in the Albany, New York area. Within a few short years he would become the company’s CEO, consistently pushing the company to new heights. He first shifted the company’s focus to public and collegiate pool installations before transforming the company into Aquatic Development Group, which has designed and constructed some of the most iconic water parks in the world. Lazy rivers, wave pools, and surf simulators are all waterpark advancements that Herb’s company introduced. Herb helped found the World Waterpark Association and has had such an impact on the industry that he was one of their original Hall of Fame inductees.
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Herb Ellis ’53
Herb says, “Vermont Academy is a part of my bloodstream.” His devotion to the school runs deep. He was deeply involved in the first annual fund with Headmaster Laurence Leavitt and served as the Annual Giving Chair from 2013 to 2014. He has put his devotion into action by serving on the Vermont Academy Board of Trustees for several terms and, most recently, by focusing on capital projects that help the school welcome new and returning families. Herb has also dedicated himself to the betterment of his hometown of Albany. He has served on numerous school and theater boards, was the co-founder of two semiprofessional Albany sports teams, and became a real estate developer responsible for the revitalization of several well-known business and residential complexes. We are proud to recognize Herb Ellis ’53, the 2021 Florence R. Sabin Class of 1889 Distinguished Alumni Award.
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