WISDOM FROM THE EXPERTS FOCUS ON FILM PHILANTHROPY IS UNIVERSAL
VIEWPOINT VOLUME 16
NUMBER 1
engaged world
SPRING 2015
VIEWPOINT SCHOOL is a welcoming, vibrant, and collaborative community that offers a challenging and enriched college preparatory education in a nurturing environment for students in Kindergarten through Twelfth Grade. The School embraces students and families from diverse cultures of the world and teaches the history and wisdom of these traditions. VIEWPOINT INSPIRES a love of learning and develops those qualities which provide strength and direction for a lifetime. The School promotes among its students respect, integrity, responsibility, and optimism. THE SCHOOL CELEBRATES its love of country by
commemorating our nation’s holidays and honoring its finest traditions. Viewpoint affirms in its assemblies and programs the ethical principles inherent in all religions. VIEWPOINT’S STUDENTS learn the importance of
service to others and to the greater community with the expectation that this introduction becomes a lifelong commitment. VIEWPOINT RECOGNIZES the uniqueness of each child and is committed to the preservation and development of that individuality.
Left: Film IV Production of With Love, Tuck and Alex Photo: Catherine Dunn, English Teacher, Chair of the Film Department Right: Kristen Such ’15
INSIDE Spring 2015 52 53 54 55 56 57
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Film Begins in Middle School Leadership and Friendship A Student-Centric Education in Film Becoming a Storyteller A Film Program is Born Zaki Gordon’s Love of Storytelling Lives on
58 Three Students Participate
in the Prestigious YoungArts Los Angeles
59 Brian McBean Retires 60 Fall Productions
Pursuing Their Passions
AT HLE TICS 62 From the Athletic Director 65 Fall Season 2014 66 Athletic Director Patrick Moyal’s 25 Years of Leadership
LOVE OF LEARNING 4 Engaged with the World 6 Aware. Curious. Interested. 8 Compassion = Engagement 10 MOSCOW 1990 • BERLIN 2007
26 Wisdom from the Experts 29 Students Attend Los Angeles
14 Share Your Work 16 Entrepreneurship Meets
IN OUR CAN Y ON 34 First Crush: Faculty Voices 36 Pursuing Their Passions 40 Download: Faculty Voices
A Tradition of Travel Overseas
Philanthropy
18 Multiplicity = Understanding 20 Heritage Fair 21 At Our CORE: Blending Communities with a Passion for Community Service
22 Windows and Mirrors 22 Engagement and Empowerment
23 All-Star Clippers
Basketball Player Chris Paul Visits
24 Recognizing and
Celebrating Diversity
World Affairs Council Event Examining Nuclear Proliferation
30 Model United Nations at Viewpoint 32 Model United Nations
ADVANCING T HE MISSION 42 Philanthropy is Universal 46 Completing Our Vision 47 Tribute to Paul Rosenbaum
68 Viewpoint’s Community
Celebrates the Opening of the Balaban-Webster Team Center
COLLEGE COUNSELING 70 Plan an Enriching Summer Experience
DIR EC TION FOR A L IFE TIM E 71 Alumni Events 72 Aryn Baker ’91: Covering the World for Time Magazine
74 Alumni Class Notes 81 Contributors VIE WPOINT ON T HE W E B
AR T S FOCUS ON FILM
48 Filmmaking at Viewpoint 50 Major Success in Film Festivals
On the cover: Back row left to right: Andrew Salo ’15, Rachel Moszkowicz ’15, Sophia Stills ’17 Front row left to right: Harrison Raine ’15, Emma Antall ’15
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Letter from the INTERIM HEAD OF SCHOOL
F Photo: Bill Youngblood
or those of us who have been at Viewpoint a long time, the emergence of the Film Program has been a wonder to behold. The inspiration that film teacher Russell Cooper-Mead brought to a group of students in the 1990s has blossomed into a four-and-one-half year Film Program producing award-winning films and filmmakers. The achievements of our alumni lead us to see their names prominently featured as the cinematographer, producers, and director of major films and television shows.
In this issue of Viewpoint magazine, you will read about the positive effect the Film Program has upon our current students, who study with three enormously dedicated staff members, Ms. Catherine Dunn, Ms. Monica Hoenig, and Mr. Harry Maxon. The film alumni who lend their recollections here remind us that some of the best team experiences in education can happen in Middle and Upper School, and that today’s Viewpoint students are perhaps experiencing a better exposure to the art of film-making here than they can get anywhere else.
To see the range of artistic expression on the campus, one need only visit the Upper School’s beautiful Malcom Family Art Gallery. From stylized watercolors to life-size sculptures and displays of cuttingedge photographic technique, the creative products of student work abound. As the article on page 55 indicates, much of the growth in the fine arts here comes from the leadership of Art Department Chair Brian McBean, a consummate educator and truly gifted teacher of ceramics. Viewpoint has been fortunate to have benefited from Brian’s devotion to his students and his craft for the last quarter-century. Matching the range of involvement in the arts is the reach of our students’ engagement with the world. From the outstanding representation of our Model United Nations Program to the compassionate work of the five students featured on the cover of this issue, Viewpoint students truly invest themselves in making the world a more comprehensible and better place. On this verdant campus, it makes sense that ecology and understanding would go hand-in-hand. Throughout this issue, it is evident that care for the planet and devotion to people go together at Viewpoint School. President of the Viewpoint Educational Foundation Bob Dworkoski has written a touching reminiscence of the time we’ve spent together here for this issue. In closing out this last piece that I’ll be writing after 29 years at Viewpoint, I want to thank him for bringing me to this campus in the first place – and I want to thank all the marvelous students, teachers, coaches, administrators, staff members, workers, parents, trustees, and volunteers I’ve known here for working together to make a truly remarkable school.
Paul Rosenbaum Interim Head of School
Right: Paper Dragons from Chinese New Year’s Celebration in Kindergarten
Photo: Bill Youngblood
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engaged world WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE
ENGAGED WITH THE WORLD ? FOR OUR STUDENTS, THERE IS A COMMON THREAD.
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LOVE OF
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to engage with the world IS TO RESPECT OTHER CULTURES. WHENEVER POSSIBLE IT IS IMPORTANT TO GO OUT AND EXPLORE OTHER CULTURES AND OTHER ENVIRONMENTS. THAT UNDERSTANDING HELPS US APPRECIATE THE BEAUTY OF OTHERS AND OURSELVES.” -RACHEL MOSZKOWICZ ’15
‘‘
volunteering with the light OF LIFE FOUNDATION IN RURAL INDIA WAS A LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE. IT HELPED OPEN MY EYES TO THE WORLD. SO TO ME, TO BE ENGAGED IN THE WORLD MEANS THAT IT IS IMPORTANT TO APPRECIATE ALL THAT WE HAVE LIVING IN THE UNITED STATES, TO BE AWARE OF OUR GOOD FORTUNE TO LIVE HERE, AND TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND THE OFTEN CHALLENGING CIRCUMSTANCES OF THOSE IN LIVING IN OTHER COUNTRIES.” -ANDREW SALO ’15
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Photo: Bill Youngblood
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AWARE. CURIOUS. INTERESTED. By Mrs. Monica Case ’90, Associate Director of Communications
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Engaged with the world. What does this mean to you, and to our com munity? FOR EDUCATIONAL EXPERTS Veronica Boix Mansilla of
Harvard University and Anthony Jackson of the Asia Society, the answer is “global competence,” which they define as “the capacity and disposition to understand and act on issues of global significance.” In Educating for Global Competence: Preparing our Youth to Engage the World (2011) they go on to write: Globally competent individuals are aware, curious, and interested in learning about the world and how it works.They can use the big ideas, tools, methods, and languages that are central to any discipline (mathematics, literature, history, science, and the arts) to engage the pressing issues of our time.They deploy and develop this expertise as they investigate such issues, recognizing multiple perspectives, communicating their views effectively, and taking action to improve conditions. Students in Mrs. Schulhof’s Kindergarten Class celebrating Chinese New Year. From left to right: 1st row: Charlotte Young, Mikah Wolfson. 2nd row: Sophia Cruz, Dylan Kravitz, Angelina Habis. 3rd row: Brody Jones
AT VIEWPOINT we design the curriculum at every grade
level to create or enhance our students’ aptitude in all of these areas. The students and programs highlighted in the pages to follow demonstrate how our students are prepared to meet the demands of the world now and in the future.
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Photos: Bill Youngblood
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9 By Mrs. Monica Case ’90 Associate Director of Communications
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Emma Antall ’15, daughter of Dr. Ingrid Woelfl Antall ’87, is passionate about science and the environment. Inspired by her experience in St. John, Virgin Islands as part of the Viewpoint School/CSUN coral ecology research trip, she signed on for the EarthWatch Institute’s shark conservation project in Belize. This involved catching, tagging, and measuring sharks, then clipping a small sample for DNA analysis, and releasing the sharks back into the water.
UR FIVE COVER students
excel academically, are involved in athletics and the arts, and participate in a range of volunteer activities. By talking to them, I learned what they share above all else is compassion. Compassion for the environment, for incarcerated youth in Los Angeles, for the young people in rural India encouraged to leave school, and for the ongoing struggle of African Americans in the United States. They are engaged with the world both intellectually and emotionally. After our conversations, I felt excited for them and their bright futures, but also encouraged that the world has such thoughtful people in it.
Andrew Salo ’15, a member of CORE (Viewpoint’s Community Service Honors Society), is committed to supporting the Light of Life Trust, a non-profit in Karjat, India that provides after-school activities to encourage students to stay in school. In addition to raising funds and awareness, Andrew twice traveled to Karjat, where he taught classes and visited with families to discuss with them the importance of education.
Harrison Raine ’15, a recipient of Viewpoint’s
Environmental Science Award, is a lacrosse player with plans to become a wilderness firefighter. He participated in the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), and volunteers to work with boys incarcerated at Camp Miller, a L.A. County Probation Camp in the Santa Monica Mountains. Each summer he participates in cleanup projects on Native American reservations through the Sierra Service Project.
Rachel Moszkowicz ’15 is the Sophia Stills ’17 is a natural leader on the soccer field
and in the classroom. A founder of the Social Justice and Equality Club, she is making a documentary, Conceptions and Misconceptions of Feminism, in her Film II Class. With the Black History Month Committee, Sophia organized a series of panel discussions exploring such topics as privilege, micro-aggressions, and the media’s representation of different group-based identities.
editor of Aspects, Viewpoint’s literary magazine, and is active in chorus, dance, and art. Rachel founded Viewpoint’s Ecology Club and volunteers with Tree People. She participated in a National Geographic Student Expedition in Olympic National Park in Washington, working with biologists to count the salmon that had returned since the removal of the Elwha River Damn in 2011.
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MOSCOW 1990 · BERLIN 2007 A TRADITION OF TRAVEL OVERSEAS
By Dr. Bob Dworkoski, President of the Viewpoint Educational Foundation
‘‘I
SINCERELY WELCOME YOU, students
of Viewpoint School in California, to the Soviet Union.Your presence is yet another sign of the positive change… between our two countries.” The Soviet Union’s General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev offered this greeting in a letter to me in 1990, the year of Viewpoint’s first foreign exchange trip. That spirit was echoed by President George H.W. Bush in another letter to Viewpoint in January, 1990. “I am delighted…to welcome the exchange students from Secondary School 39 in Moscow…to Viewpoint School.” THUS, WHILE PRESIDENT REAGAN AND PRESIDENT GORBACHEV were thawing the Cold War and practicing glasnost
(openness), Viewpoint School played a small part in this warming of relations between the world’s two great superpowers. The twoweek stay of 10 high school students from Moscow in the homes of Viewpoint’s families and on campus generated local and national news coverage. We learned that those whom we perceived to be
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our mortal enemies were instead delightful high school students full of adolescent joy and an eagerness for a better world. They were our friends. THIS INITIAL TRIP TO THE USSR was followed by other
memorable adventures overseas. My favorite was the visit of 26 Viewpoint students and four administrators with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2007. We enjoyed an hour’s conversation in her gleaming new office, where we discussed world politics while overlooking the Reichstag building where Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, meets. As a student of history and international affairs, I was dazzled by this opportunity as were our students, though many of them were perhaps more excited about attending the presentation of the German GRAMMY Awards the following evening. THE TRIP TO MOSCOW was the beginning of a tradition of
overseas travel by our Upper Schoolers, and the establishment of sister-school relationships around the world. Since our first travel overseas in 1990, Viewpoint sponsored 66 trips to eight countries of the world, most of them to Spain, France, and China, whose languages we teach. Our sister schools have included ArndtGymnasium in Berlin, Germany; Queens College in Taunton, England; Harbin #44 High School and Shenyang Normal University in China; Osaka Sangyo in Osaka, Japan; the Leonardo de Vinci School in Florence, Italy; and of course Secondary School 39 in Moscow. Upwards of a thousand of our students were participants since 1990.
Photo: Charle Sitzer, Photography Teacher
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Translation of caption of photo in the Soviet newspaper, Izvestia: “In the beginning of the year, students from Moscow School 39 returned from California with a cordial, gracious greeting from the President of the USA, George Bush. Students of Viewpoint School in California, having flown in recently to Moscow, will also not travel home empty handed. On 19 June, in the Soviet Peace Fund directorate, Anatoly Kaprov read aloud to them a personal greeting from M. S. Gorbachev. “The bridge of friendship, which you are building together with our boys and girls, is the bridge to a new epoch in true peace – where there will reign mutual aid and mutual cooperation” - wrote the President of the USSR. In the photograph the caption reads: American children in the Soviet Peace Fund. Photo: D. Khupov. (Translated by Dr. Amanda Nowakowski, Upper School English Teacher, with assistance from Dina Hamer ’15)
IN ADDITION TO PRACTICING THE LANGUAGE that they are learning and visiting the historical and cultural sights of these countries, our students often make lasting friendships with our hosts. I’ll never forget an amusing moment on our first trip to Moscow that I chaperoned in 1990. That newly-found amity between the United States and the Soviet Union was mirrored in microcosm by budding relationships between Viewpoint’s students and the Russians who hosted them. My determined efforts to separate them nearly caused us to miss our flight home!
The author of The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman, wrote with insight in 2005, “Technological and political forces have converged, and that has produced a global, Web-enabled playing field that allows for multiple forms of collaboration without regard to geography or distance – or soon, even language.”
FRIEDMAN’S OBSERVATIONS are evident everywhere.
I often tell our students that all of them will travel globally in their lives, and many of them will live and work overseas. Many will start business ventures with entrepreneurs from around the world. Most large business enterprises are already multinational. Many of our students will marry someone born in another country. Indeed, the world is shrinking. VIEWPOINT’S COMMITMENT TO FOREIGN TRAVEL
and student exchanges coupled with the School’s Global Education Program are excellent preparations for our students’ later success in life. And, as I have personally found, these travels are fun, exhilarating, and memorable.
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A WELCOME FROM
Translation of letter from Mikhail Gorbachev, President of the Soviet Union, to Viewpoint School welcoming the students to the Soviet Union in 1990.
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Photo: Charle Sitzer, Photography Teacher
MIKHAIL GORBACHEV T O V I E W P O I N T S C H O O L
Original letter from President Gorbachev to the students of Viewpoint School.
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SHARE YOUR WORK V I E W P O I N T
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THE CLASS Global Economics
THE TEACHER Dr. Eric Steiger
THE PROJECT The final project in Global Economics asks students to choose a topic that will allow them to explore the economic interconnections of our modern world. Students research their topics independently, write a paper, and present their findings and conclusions to their classmates. This fall, topics ranged from video games to rare earth minerals to the challenges posed by a growing human population. Photos: Bill Youngblood
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MATTHEW JOHNSTON ’15
Matthew Johnston ’15 explained that video gaming is a powerful global industry with implications for both entertainment and education, and that it is producing alternative virtual economies that are opening new avenues of research in economic practice.
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NIKI PAZSITZKY ’16
Niki Pazsitzky ’16 explained that forecasts of future global population growth pose a challenge for world sustainability efforts because leaders are unable to manage an ever-expanding number of people.
03 ZOE WHITE ’15
Zoe White ’15 examined how the recent drop in gas prices that has left U.S. consumers and drivers celebrating might also be a dangerous trend for countries dependent on oil revenues for their national budgets. S P R I N G
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ENT REPRENEURSHIP
Meets
PHILANTHROPY
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Left: Fifth Graders Bianca Richmond Aria Assil
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By Mr. Tracy Wymer, Assistant Head of Lower School
C
lay Creations. Posh Pets. Magnificent Magnets.
Though these may sound like names of local retailers, they’re actually the names of products Fifth Graders sold during their recent Entrepreneurship Project. FOR OVER 15 YEARS, Fifth Graders
have created their own businesses to sell products to Lower School students using the proceeds to support a charity of their choice. With philanthropy as their goal, Fifth Graders are highly motivated to sell as many of their products as possible, and they are eager to discover which products sell and why. This business project gives them a chance to shine at entrepreneurship, while moving beyond the textbook and implementing real-world business practices. “The business and math connections are evident,” says Mrs. Julie Clark, Fifth Grade Math teacher and creator of the project. “This experience provides a way for all students to see that they don’t have to be the best math student in the classroom to be the best entrepreneur.” THE BUSINESS PROJECT lends itself to
student-centered learning, in which Fifth Graders explore business practices while pursuing products they’re passionate about selling. Students also have the choice to collaborate with other classmates or venture out into the business world as solo entrepreneurs. This is all part of the learning process. But the learning goes far beyond designing and making products.
“An important part of the success of each business is marketing,” says Mrs. Clark. “In order to learn this critical component, the students must go through the experience
“THIS EXPERIENCE PROVIDES A WAY FOR ALL STUDENTS TO SEE THAT YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE THE BEST MATH STUDENT IN THE CLASSROOM TO BE THE BEST ENTREPRENEUR.”
of actually creating a business and selling products.” The Fifth Grade students quickly realize that business success might begin with an excellent product, but it often takes more effort to turn a profit. “We made a tie rack to display our products,” says Josie Jennings, co-creator of Posh Pets, a business that sold casual and fancy clip-on ties for pets. “But then we had to learn how to set reasonable prices.” NOT ONLY MUST STUDENTS create
unique products and set fair prices, they also have to make products that interest Third, Fourth, and Fifth Graders. Shea Smith, who co-created Clay Creations with classmate Katie Rickards,
said, “The most fun part was making the products.” Shea and Katie’s business featured clay dragons.
“AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE SUCCESS OF EACH BUSINESS IS MARKETING.”
The Fifth Graders sell their products for one week. Every day presents new challenges to the young entrepreneurs. Leading up to the sale, students must consider many factors that they learn in the classroom, such as manufacturing and marketing costs, profit and loss, supply and demand, and customer satisfaction. This fun-filled week leaves lasting memories for many students. “Selling and being in the business atmosphere was fun,” says Owen Kolbrenner, cocreator of Magnificent Magnets, a variety of sports-themed decorations. AFTER WEEKS OF PLANNING and
creating, and then a week of selling products, Fifth Graders begin researching numerous charitable organizations. Later, each of the three Fifth Grade classes votes among themselves to select a charity to propose to the entire Fifth Grade. Finally, all of the students gather to watch the student-spokesperson representing his or her class explain why the charity chosen by that class is the most deserving of support this year. The Fifth Graders then vote to determine the charity to receive the proceeds from the business projects. This year, the Fifth Graders selected Shelter to Soldier, an organization that provides military personnel battling post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or other disabilities, with a service dog from a local animal rescue or shelter.
“I chose to present Shelter to Soldier because it helps animals and humans, especially the veterans,” says Bianca Gomez. “It’s a win-win situation for everyone.” Shelter to Soldier will receive over $3,500 from the Fifth Grade Class.
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By Mr. Greg Armbrister, Assistant Head of School; Head of Middle School
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N JAPANESE FILMMAKER
Akira Kurosawa’s groundbreaking Rashomon, we as an audience are given four divergent accounts of the same series of events. In the hands of a genius like Kurosawa, we are alternately utterly convinced of each tale’s veracity and then, subsequently, forced to sheepishly admit that we had it wrong all the time. By the end of the film, we’re left with the four versions and we’re not necessarily sure which, if any, is accurate. OUR WORK ON DIVERSITY AT VIEWPOINT
honors this idea that we must always be mindful of a multiplicity of voices and points of view. How can we understand reality without taking into account all perspectives? As a history teacher, I’ve often reminded my Sixth Graders that oral history, despite its evident limitations, is very useful (it’s also all we’ve got) when considering prehistory. One must simply keep in
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mind that we all see an event through our own eyes, and our understanding is therefore tinged through our own biases. In considering sources, then, as historians we must do the best we can to account for motivation, proximity to the event, and outside influences. Without doing this, any possible conclusions based on the examination are largely conjecture. NONE OF US SEE THE WORLD THE SAME WAY.
We have some common understanding, we share certain cultural elements that help us to reach consensus, but we each have an individual story all our own. This is the power of diversity and the moral imperative that comes with it. The majority cannot, ethically, set forth the guidelines under which we must all live without considering the voices of the minority. This lesson can be structured and defined in myriad ways, but essentially a higher plane of social justice must consider the experience of all participants. What is right and just for all must consider the needs of all. Those needs must be voiced, authentically, by those who experience them. Whether it is Seventh Graders exploring their families’ histories on Heritage Day, or welcoming guest speakers of different backgrounds to campus, or students attending the Los Angeles World Affairs Council’s events, our students are exposed to a range of perspectives and encouraged to consider a multiplicity of voices as they seek greater understanding of the world around them.
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From left to right are: Catherine Grey ’16, Miye Oni ’15, Matthew Salomons ’15, Samantha Salo ’16. Concept, Photography, and Digital Editing by Mr. Charlie Sitzer’s Advanced Photography Class S P R I N G
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Heritage
FAIR
By Ms. Elizabeth Mawn Scott, Assistant Head of Middle School
THE SEVENTH GRADE SPENT MUCH OF
February preparing for its annual Heritage Fair on March 10, which included not only a performance and banquet of international foods, but also a collection of student exhibits. AS PART OF THE SEVENTH GRADE ADVISORY PROGRAM’S
focus on identity, students explored how customs and practices from the past are still present in their experiences today. Learning from their parents, relatives, and academic sources, students sought the memories, stories, and traditions that make their personal heritage unique. Students investigated any aspect of their background that was important to them, be it national, regional, ethnic, or religious. One of the exciting things about this project was that students realized the many ways their Seventh Grade Class was diverse. GUIDED BY FACULTY ADVISORS, and grouped by their interests, the students met for several weeks to look into a specific topic such as music, dance, language, customs, cuisine, and the immigrant experience. Students shared compelling family stories of escaping military invasions, leaving friends and family for love, or heading west to start a new life. Names changed, heirlooms were cherished, and recipes passed down among generation to generation. A goal of the project was for students to see the commonalities among their varied backgrounds. Students contributed to the presentation in many different ways this year. While some performed on stage, others created a visual component, were in charge of the script, or designed pages in the program. One group even worked on a heritage cookbook. It was exciting to see what the creativity and innovation of the Seventh Graders produced.
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Heaven Ramos ’20 singing No Me Queda Mas (Selena Quintanilla) as part of the “Music and Dance” group performance
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At Our
CORE
Viewpoint’s Community Service Honors Society – Blending Communities with a Passion for Community Service
By Carly Price’16
PRIOR TO STARTING UPPER SCHOOL, I was skeptical about
having to complete mandatory community service hours. However, little did I know that being involved in community service would lead me to make a positive difference in the world, find an interest in community service, and connect with others who share the same passion for helping those in need. TWO SUMMERS AGO I started volunteering at Freedom School. This non-profit organization helps children from low-income families with their reading and writing skills, while also providing a summer camp experience. I fell in love with the program and look forward to volunteering there again this coming summer. My work with Freedom School surpassed my
Students volunteered at Project Angel Food in Hollywood, where they cooked and packaged meals to be delivered to homebound and sick patients throughout Los Angeles. Back row left to right: Rachel Furash ’16, Sarah Evans ’16, Carly Price ’16, teacher Paola DeCastro, Zoe Beckman ’17, Miriam Henerson ’17. Front row: Adabel Corrales ’17, Kristina Jenik, Director of Community Service; Assistant Director of Student Activities
expectations of community service. I believe that this is the ultimate benefit of community service: finding a project that means something to you and being able to help others while doing something you love. This school year, as a junior, I brought my passion for community service to campus when I joined CORE (Viewpoint’s Community Service Honors Society). Each member of CORE has a project or series of projects in which he or she enjoys volunteering. This is what makes each member unique. Whether it is volunteering in the villages of Costa Rica, or in the local libraries of the Valley, CORE brings us together and permits us to blend communities through our shared passion for community service. THIS YEAR, CORE IS WORKING WITH
Make-A-Wish Foundation. Members of CORE help raise money for MakeA-Wish, but also spread awareness of the organization to the students of Viewpoint.
CORE hosts a number of events throughout the year, each one providing our Upper School students with a unique opportunity to reach out and be of service. Our most popular event, Community Service Day, held on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, provides students with numerous opportunities to volunteer at a wide range of local organizations. This year 250 students and more than 20 faculty members volunteered at 12 different projects. This past November, I had the pleasure of volunteering at Project Angel Food. I spent the day packaging meals for people who are in need of food that Project Angel Food provides. THE OVERWHELMING JOY I receive from volunteering at organizations (such as Project Angel Food) is one of the many benefits of getting involved in community service. Having the chance to participate in local projects and learn more about organizations is one of many ways in which Viewpoint ensures students are connecting to communities inside and outside of school.
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WINDOWS & MIRRORS
Right: Miye Oni ’15 Basketball Player Chris Paul Errol Ashby ’17 Christian Juzang ’16 Sayo Denloye ’16 Aram Arslanian ’16
By Ms. Dana Gonzalez Ninth Grade Dean; Diversity Coordinator for the Upper School; Spanish Teacher
AS VIEWPOINT ENDEAVORS TO MAKE THE MOST inclusive
environment possible for our students, faculty, and staff, it is imperative to provide everyone with both windows to see the world, and mirrors to see themselves in all we do. Schools provide mirrors when the culture of the school appropriately reflects the individuals in their communities and their experiences. At the same time, curriculum provides windows by creating opportunities to understand the experiences and perspectives of those who are different from us. In today’s world, 21st-century schools must
create havens where each student can be listened to, seen, and heard, regardless of the cacophony of conflicting identity messages with which they are bombarded each day. IN HONOR OF DIVERSITY AND BLACK HISTORY MONTH,
Viewpoint’s students attended lectures, conferences, and workshops offering a variety of voices and outlooks. Our student-led affinity groups listened to speakers and role models, participated in empowerment conferences, and hosted lunchtime discussions based around topics such as privilege, micro-aggressions, and the media’s representation of different group-based identities. Each of these events helped to create awareness of ourselves and others, and aimed to provide a place for each student in the framework of our School.
engagement and Empowerment By Errol Ashby ’17 and Donovan Robertson ’18
LAST FALL WE WERE AMONG NINE VIEWPOINT STUDENTS TO ATTEND THE ENGAGEMENT AND EMPOWERMENT COALITION
conference at The Buckley School. The conference was geared toward African American male students, Grades Seven through Twelve, attending Southern California independent schools. At the conference we gained an understanding about the threat of stereotypes. We discussed the automatic assumptions that often are made because we are black, and the micro-aggressions that we face as we
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navigate our independent school education. We learned from alumni of independent schools who have had similar experiences as the ones we are currently living. We also networked with our peers and had the opportunity to speak about our own challenges. We were able to relate to one another and discuss various strategies for success. We had no idea how many African American students are attending independent schools around Los Angeles! Particularly moving was hearing college graduates speak about their experiences and realizing that they are models for what can be done. It was reassuring to see how
they have succeeded and to understand that we, too, are role models for the younger African American students who come through Viewpoint and other independent schools. The coalition was very powerful, and we are looking forward to attending the continuation of this conference in the spring. AT THE COALITION we learned the African proverb, “I am because we are, we are because I am.” As a community of young African American men we need to work together. If we are a cohesive group, our voices can be heard and validated.
ALL-STAR CLIPPERS BASKETBALL PLAYER CHRIS PAUL VISITS By Miye Oni ’15
ON MARCH 5, 2015, Los Angeles Clippers all-
star guard Chris Paul came to Viewpoint to talk to our students. MR. PAUL FIRST SPOKE to our Primary and Lower School
students. Upon entering the Rasmussen Family Pavilion, the roar of applause by the youngest members of our community was equal to that of fans at an NBA game. After Mr. Paul finished talking with the younger students, he walked to the Fletcher Family Library, where he spoke to Upper School students from affinity groups such as CORE (Viewpoint
Community Service Honors Society), Black Student Union, Social Justice, and Gay-Straight Alliance, and members of our Boys and Girls Basketball Teams. Mr. Paul spoke extensively on topics relevant to life in high school such as leadership, family, individuality, and peer pressure. Mr. Paul’s message to us was that to be a leader you must be your own person and not let what others do affect your decisions and lifestyle. His day concluded by congratulating our Boys Varsity Basketball Team on reaching the CIF Finals for the first time in the School’s history, and he wished the team luck as we prepared for our clash against Windward School for the championship game. Overall, Mr. Paul’s visit was a valuable experience for our students and faculty, and it taught us about maintaining balance and health in our lives.
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L E A R N I N G Lupe Martinez ’17 and Ryan Singsank ’18 in front of the Black History Month display in the Fletcher Family Library
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Recognizing DIVERSITY
Photos: Bill Youngblood
AND CELEBR ATING
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25 By Mrs. Anne Leonetti, Viewpoint Trustee, Co-Chair of the Multicultural Committee, parent of Charlotte ’18 and Thomas ’20
HAVE YOU EVER PARTAKEN IN A MULTICULTURAL COMMITTEE (MCC) EVENT?
Perhaps you joined us at the International Potluck in the fall, or you heard your children say they enjoyed a Taste of Africa today at lunch time, or even mentioned the Persian New Year displays in the libraries? These are only a few of the events that the MCC holds throughout the year for Viewpoint’s community – including students, parents, teachers, staff, friends, and family – that recognize the cultural contributions of the various ethnic or special population groups and reflect the diversity of the School.
Multicultural Committee Co-Chairs, Past, Present, and Future. Back: Doreen Uba, Anne Leonetti, Sara Singsank. Middle: Dana Gonzalez, Ninth Grade Dean; Diversity Coordinator, Marcia Balbín, Shelley Robertson White. Front: Toyin Fajolu
OUR CORE MISSION is to “enhance
excellence in education by attracting, celebrating, and including the richness of diversity and multiculturalism.” It’s about enriching the educational experience for the students and the community at large,
supporting an inclusive community where everyone has a voice, and where everyone benefits from and learns about the contributions of individuals with a variety of perspectives. WE BELIEVE THAT THE WORK of
inclusion is a responsibility held by all and done for all, person to person. It is a true parent partnership.
AND WHY FOCUS ON DIVERSITY
and inclusion? Well, ultimately it is proven that not only does this encourage academic excellence for all the students, but it also better allows and prepares them to thrive in today’s and tomorrow’s diverse world.
If you want to find out more about the MCC, we meet on a monthly basis, or simply contact 2014-15 Co-Chairs Doreen Uba, Sara Singsank, or Anne Leonetti.We would love to welcome you aboard.
Multicultural Committee members serving students. From left to right: Lily Landau ’18, Bridget Rosen ’18, and Hannah Schulhof ’18 at the Taste of Africa lunch in recognition of Black History Month
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WISDOM EXPERTS from the
By Mrs. Susan Kresnicka, Viewpoint Parent of Julia ’21 and Alexander ’19
I
FLASH FORWARD TO 2015, and I’m still hooked
N 1988 I first came to appreciate the way a speaker series can connect a school’s community to the world at large. I was an undergraduate at The University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and even though Knoxville is, in
some corners, a funky, globally-aware college town, it could feel decidedly insular much of the time. Every
couple of months, the Student Issues Committee would bring a speaker to campus to “stimulate and enrich the university community and spark dialogue amongst students.” I was a nerd – then and now – and I loved these events. I loved that I would walk away from each lecture with something new to drop into a conversation with my classmates and professors; I loved the chance to meet and talk with the speakers, individuals who were often at the top of their professions; and, mostly, I loved the way those lectures expanded my perception and made me feel part of something bigger that was happening in the world. It didn’t take long before I joined the committee and took an active role in bringing speakers to campus.
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on this role. As Co-Chair of the Viewpoint School Service Association ( VSSA) Parent Education Speaker Series, I work with my Co-Chair, Julie Williams (parent of Gillian ’19 and Clare, Fifth Grade), and the faculty of Viewpoint’s Human Development Department to connect Viewpoint’s parent community with relevant, meaningful, current thinking about parenting and education. Each year, we strive to curate a set of lectures that highlight a range of topics, presented by speakers who bring those topics to life with expertise and relatability. We look for topics that we know can be difficult to address, but have all the more value to our community by nature of their challenge, topics like diversity and inclusion in our community, healthy body image, sexual health, technology and the brain, and teaching our children about money. When appropriate, we enlist our speakers to address other Viewpoint audiences, including students and faculty, so we can expand our community’s conversation on these topics as broadly as possible. AT ITS HEART, the series is a celebration of our
community’s commitment to lifelong learning and the belief that learning together – whether we are students, faculty, or parents – strengthens our connection to one another and to the world. We hope to see you at one of our forthcoming lectures. You might just get hooked!
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OCTOBER
2014-2015
VSSA
PARENT EDUCATION SPEAKERS SERIES
“What Every Viewpoint Parent Needs to Know about Diversity” Alison Park, Founder, Blink Educational Diversity Consulting
ALISON PARK FOUNDED BLINK EDUCATIONAL DIVERSITY CONSULTING to help private schools
create authentically inclusive communities. Working with students, faculty, administration, staff, and families, Blink has helped over 50 schools and other organizations to critically rethink the purpose, practice, and outcomes of their diversity initiatives. HAVING BEGUN WORKING with Viewpoint’s faculty and staff over the summer of 2014, Alison Park extended her message about the value of diversity to our parent community in the school year’s first lecture. In a highly interactive session, Alison engaged the parent audience in exercises and conversations that helped illuminate how our everyday assumptions and mindsets can undermine our appreciation of human differences. Her session helped us to understand how diversity, when genuinely embraced, enhances the educational process, fosters emotional intelligence, prepares our children for life in a highlyinterconnected world and strengthens our communal connection.
NOVEMBER “The Beauty of Being You: Cultivating SelfEsteem and Healthy Body Image” Jess Weiner, Founder, Talk to Jess Consulting, and Dove’s Global Esteem Ambassador
AS FOUNDER AND CEO OF TALK TO JESS, a consulting firm specializing in
influencing the messaging sent to women and girls, Jess works with corporations to create dynamic content that challenges current social stereotypes. Considered this generation’s “go-to-authority” on women, girls, and confidence, Jess leverages 20 years of experience as a best-selling author, speaker, and educator.
IN AN HONEST AND FUNNY TALK, Jess Weiner shared the basic thesis regarding self-esteem: building self-confidence is a journey that starts in our youth and never really ends, even as adults. Jess highlighted a range of forces that can affect our confidence, including the role we play as parents, influencing our children through our dialogue and demeanor. Jess also emphasized the role that media representations play in shaping our expectations for ourselves. She concluded with a set of practical steps for navigating our journey to self-confidence, most importantly “striving for harmony, not perfection.”
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JANUARY “Inside Your Child’s Mind: What You Need to Know to Help the Brain Grow” Jeff Stibel, Brain Scientist and Entrepreneur, Viewpoint Parent of Lincoln, Fourth Grade and Dennett, Second Grade
CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF THE DUN & BRADSTREET CREDIBILITY CORPORATION and NewYork Times
bestselling author, Jeff Stibel writes about the intersection of science, technology, and the complex networks that influence people’s lives. He is the author of Breakpoint: Why theWeb Will Implode, SearchWill be Obsolete, and Everything ElseYou Need to Know about Technology is in Your Brain and Wired for Thought: How the Brain Is Shaping the Future of the Internet. He is also Chairman of BrainGate, a “brain chip” company featured on 60 Minutes that allows the severely disabled to control actions through thought. JEFF OFFERED a roadmap for nurturing
our children’s brains, emphasizing the role of reasonable developmental expectations, sufficient sleep (most recently understood to be the brain’s mechanism for waste removal), a healthy, unprocessed diet, careful selection of media content, and safety.
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FEBRUARY “Helping Your Children Develop a Healthy Relationship with Money” Ron Lieber, New York Times “Your Money” Columnist
NEW YORK TIMES “YOUR MONEY” COLUMNIST Ron Lieber writes and
lectures about the importance of teaching children strong values through family conversations about money. In his book The Opposite of Spoiled, Ron delivers a manifesto against silence about money in families. By teaching parents how to address their children’s toughest questions about money, Ron strives to help us raise grounded children, who know how to save, splurge, and give in the most mature and meaningful ways.
RON SHARED a set of accessible, common sense techniques to help children understand and develop a healthy relationship with money, including how to differentiate between ‘wants’ and ‘needs,’ the optimal approach to allowance and chores (interesting tip – they are not related!); allocating allowance to teach saving, giving and spending; and teaching responsibility through significant investments like cars and college.
MARCH “Nurturing Sexually Healthy Kids in a Sexually Unhealthy World” Deborah Roffman, Human Sexuality Expert and Educator
BEST-SELLING AUTHOR OF TALK TO ME FIRST: Everything You Need to Know
to Become Your Kids’ “Go-to” Person about Sex, Deborah is a master teacher on the subject of sexuality. She has been teaching children in Grades Four through Twelve for over 35 years. Her articles have been featured in the NewYork Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal. IN HER PRESENTATIONS Deborah
brought humor, experience, and practical advice to a topic that makes many parents squeamish. She implored us to embrace our responsibility to serve as our children’s most important resource for understanding sexuality, a topic so essential to life, health, and happiness. In this role, she explained, we are striving to meet our children’s five core needs: affirmation, information, values, limitsetting, and anticipatory guidance. Deborah then described how to meet these needs in age-appropriate ways as our children grow and mature.
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LOS ANGELES WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL EVENT EXAMINING NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION By Ms. Susan Elliott, Upper School Social Studies Teacher
ON MONDAY, MARCH 2, nine Viewpoint
students had the great honor of attending a Los Angeles World Affairs Council event featuring Valerie Plame and Joe Cirincione. The event focused on the timely issue of nuclear nonproliferation. Viewpoint students met privately with Plame and Cirincione, and afterwards they attended a formal dinner and a public address. VALERIE PLAME’S MEMOIR, Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My
Betrayal by the White House, outlines her experiences as a covert CIA operative the 1980s and 1990s. Her career ended in 2003, when she and her husband, former diplomat Joe Wilson, were at the center of the controversy regarding weapons of mass destruction allegedly in Iraq. Cirincione is currently the President of the Ploughshares Fund, a global security foundation, and he sits
on Secretary of State John Kerry’s International Security Advisory Board and the Council on Foreign Relations. He also is author of Nuclear Nightmares: Securing the World Before It Is Too Late. Both speakers were eager to talk to our students and were open to answering their insightful questions. Viewpoint students asked Plame and Cirincione questions about the fight against nuclear proliferation, and also about the delicate relationship between the press and the need to protect national security. Maya Tribbitt ’17 remarked, “It was incredible to have this opportunity and to be able to meet such important people.” Although the evening touched on several worst case scenarios involving nuclear weapons and terrorism, the final message was uplifting as the speakers encouraged our students to seek ways to reduce the nuclear arsenal around the world.
Photo: Left to right: Ms. Susan Elliott, Tyler Gibbs ’16, Alejandro Campillo ’17, Zach Oshin’16, Zachary Thompson ’16, Joe Cirincone, Valerie Plame, Maya Tribbit ’17, Zachary Friend ’16, Sydney Nebbens ’17, Hannah Wright ’16, Mrs. Susan Strumpf
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MODEL UNITED NATIONS at Viewpoint By Mrs. Susan Strumpf, Middle and Upper School Social Studies Teacher
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IEWPOINT STUDENTS FLOCK TO THE WEEKLY MEETINGS
of the Model United Nations (MUN) Club, motivated by their desire to learn about pressing global issues. Visitors dropping by will find Room 621 filled with the overflow crowd listening to an introduction prepared by the club’s Executive Board. They will hear students engaged in a discussion of topics ranging from the impact of the refugee crisis in the Middle East to the ramifications of potential responses to Boko Haram’s actions in Africa. The students have tackled complex issues such as the responsibilities of the international community for climate change as well as the scarcity of resources resulting from overpopulation. They have debated the effectiveness of international sanctions on Russia and Iran. Timely presentations on cyber-terrorism, the role of the United Nations in the global community, and the responsibilities of the United States as the ‘world’s policeman’ have all provoked lively conversation and debate.
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31 When MUN members were asked why this seemingly academic club is so popular and consistently draws so many students from Ninth through Twelfth Grade, the responses all struck a common theme. Our students eagerly give up a free period because of their desire to understand the complex and myriad issues they will need to solve as they assume their roles as global citizens and leaders in the 21st century. What they most appreciate is the opportunity to hear and to consider the diverse points of view freely expressed by their classmates. PART OF THE MODEL UN EXPERIENCE is participation in conferences where students assume the roles of ambassadors and advocate on behalf of the country they are representing with respect to specific issues and topics. Engaging in simulations of the United Nations gives students the opportunity to develop public speaking skills, negotiate with others, and formulate creative solutions to conflicts or problems. Through this process, the students develop empathy and understanding for the deeply held views of others.
EVERY FALL, VIEWPOINT SPONSORS an in-house conference on campus where students are introduced to the parliamentary procedures of the global town hall. They debate, caucus, and ultimately write resolutions containing proposed solutions to issues that affect the world community. Each February, representatives from the club travel to Washington, D.C. to participate in the NAIMUN (North American Invitational Model United Nations) Conference sponsored by Georgetown University. In this setting, and with over 2,500 students representing international and national schools, our students serve in many different committees confronting a range of issues. In some sessions, delegates face a ‘crisis’ component requiring immediate action or a solution. Research skills are improved as participants write and submit position papers containing background information on committee topics, their country’s views and record on the specific issue, and proposed solutions. Presentations by university professors and renowned international speakers on the topics considered by each committee further enrich the experience for the participants.
There is consensus among the members of the Model UN Club that participation in weekly meetings, conferences, and the annual Global Awareness Week sponsored by the group every spring are important ways to become more engaged with global issues and the global community. A dedicated Executive Board works diligently to provide information and resources for the club members and to plan meetings that will engage the confident and gregarious seniors as well as the more timid underclassmen. The common thread is these students all want to prepare themselves to understand and lead in resolving the difficult issues that affect the world today.
HANNAH WRIGHT ’16 ALEJANDRO CAMPILLO ’17 Model United Nations gives teenagers across the country the opportunity to learn about other cultures in a very open setting.
In Viewpoint’s Model UN program, students practice diplomatic skills, and learn how to become better public speakers. In addition to strengthening written and oral skills, Model UN encourages students to learn how to work together by writing resolution papers to solve global problems.
Since this is a student-led club, we have the opportunity to choose what we want to talk about based on whatever interesting events are happening in the world. Being able to discuss relevant, current events with my classmates and hear their individual views on certain problems is refreshing. During Global Awareness Week in the spring, Model UN expands its presentations to the entire student body. We have the chance to educate the entire community about an important issue that the club members passionately embrace.
This year we are focusing on the ramifications of conflict in the Middle East. The most exciting aspect of Model UN is having the chance to advocate for another country. When I have the opportunity to represent a perspective that is controversial, it can be very challenging, but what makes Model UN conferences so much fun is being able to see how it all plays out.
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MODEL UNITED NATIONS
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Back row left to right: Tara Rezapour ’15, Andrew Schoenberger ’16, Alec Berger ’16, Zack Friend ’16, Jamie Lipman ’16, Alex Barnett ’16, Zach Thompson ’16, David Miron ’18, Hannah Wright ’16, Daniel Pachino ’15, Zel Fortson ’16, Alex Granaroli ’18, Melanie Hoffmann ’18. Second from back row left to right: Raymond Boucher ’16, Evan DeLong ’15, Maya Tribbitt ’17, Julia Pfau ’17, Maleia Alejandre ’18, Ella Diab ’18, Sydney Nebens ’17. Second from front left to right: Tim Hoffmann ’15, Nika Gordy ’17, Alejandro Campillo ’17, Cailan Feingold ’17, J.T. Mann ’17, Jamie Hood ’17, Tyler Gibbs ’16, Molly Gross ’17 Front row left to right: Zoe Beckman ’17, Justin Lewis-Weber ’16, Zach Oschin ’16, Deeksha Marla ’17, Hannah Rosenberg ’18, Ethan Bahar ’15, Emily Garber ’18, Kate Kaplan ’18, Luke Jacobs ’15, Jacqueline Tang ’17, Samir Venkatesh ’17
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crush
FIRST
WE ASKED TWO TEACHERS TO WRITE ABOUT THEIR ACADEMIC FIRST CRUSHES,
HILARY HUNT Every Day You Teach Is an Adventure MS. HILARY HUNT EARNED
bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Zoology and Marine Biology at the University of Hawaii. She worked as a resident of the Waikiki Aquarium, as a researcher at the University of Hawaii at Mãnoa’s WormLab, on the Image Collection staff at the National Geographic Society, and as a professor at Howard Community College in Maryland. She began teaching Biology, Environmental Science, and Microscopy and Biological Imaging at Viewpoint in 2011. V I E W P O I N T
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the moment or experiences that motivated them to become educators. In this article both authors are the children of educators, and initially each resisted entering the family business. It was only after trying other professions that they realized that like their parents they belong in the classroom.
Ms. Hilary Hunt, Upper School Science Teacher
Some people are fortunate in that they know exactly what they want to do in life from an early age, and forge a path directly to that career. I am not one of those people. My path to the classroom was neither smooth nor straight. Lots of careers have sounded great to me, and they were, until they weren’t. I loved being a marine biologist, until the Dramamine no longer worked. Seasickness is an occupational hazard on a boat. I loved being a lab technician, until I moved to a new state where my skills were out of place. I loved working in scientific publishing, until the monotony of a desk job began to eat at my soul. After all these changes, I was worried I would never find a career that fit. I COME FROM A FAMILY OF TEACHERS
on both sides, and while I admired what my grandmother, aunts, and mother did, my idea had been to do something different; break the mold and all that.
However, I was reaching the limit of things I could do with my degrees in scientific fields. Family members (especially my mother) kept suggesting teaching. I really love science and I didn’t want to turn away from that field as my job. When the opportunity to teach college classes in Biology and Oceanography arose, I pushed aside my feeling that I was caving to family tradition and jumped at the opportunity. It was absolutely the best decision I have ever made, and being a teacher is the best job I’ve ever had. Every day is an adventure, a challenge, and just plain fun. WOULD I CHANGE THE PATH I TOOK
to get to where I am, now that I know what I really enjoy as a career? No! The experiences I’ve had and the people I’ve met have enriched my life in ways I would never have expected, and they have given me perspective that is valuable in and out of the classroom. So, the moral of the story is twofold. Not knowing what you
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Faculty VOICES want to do can be a blessing in all the experiences you accumulate; and you should always listen to your mother!
message each and every day.Yet, I didn’t choose teaching because I came from a long line of educators. I chose it because it satisfied a deep need in me; it filled my life. I STARTED TEACHING immediately
JANE SOPER Teaching Is in my Bones MRS. JANE SOPER WAS RAISED
in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Geology with a concentration in Education from Carleton College, and a master’s degree in Environmental Science from Yale University. She has taught for 20 years, the last 10 years at Viewpoint School. In January 2016, Mrs. Soper will become the Assistant Head of Primary School.
after college before graduate school. When I was 26 years old, I decided to try something different. With a graduate degree in Environmental Science, I thought I should explore other career opportunities. Perhaps I could find fulfillment in a job that would be more lucrative, as so many of my friends had done. So, I accepted a job working as an Environmental Manager at the Hertz Corporation Headquarters in New Jersey. I was thrown right into the business world: wearing business suits, meeting with consultants, making presentations, and looking towards acquiring the corner office. It was fast-paced and exciting, but strangely lonely. At a wonderful time
in my life when I was striking out on my own, falling in love, and planning a wedding, something deep in my core wasn’t aligned. An older friend said to me, “You have time, Jane, you will get where you need to be.” Those were the words that brought me back to teaching. I longed for the busy hum of a classroom filled with children. I took the courses I needed for the California credential. I have taught for over 20 years now and can’t imagine anything but working as an educator. WHEN I ARRIVE ON VIEWPOINT’S
campus every morning, I am energized by the possibilities for the day, by the interactions I will have with the children, and by the fun we will have as a class as we learn, discuss, and write. So, while it’s in my blood, and it’s part of the legacy my parents handed down, I think it was going to happen anyway.
WHY DID I BECOME A TEACHER? It was
With parents and grandparents who were educators, it was part of my DNA. From them, my life message was clear: Do something useful, contribute to the world, find meaning. My parents modeled this
Photo: Bill Youngblood
in my bones, it was in my blood, it was what I always wanted to do. The need to be a teacher was simply in me. As I look back, I showed teacher-like tendencies even as a little girl. I would set up my dolls and play school. I would take my mother’s old office papers out of the recycling bin and organize them into files and use them in my pretend school.
Mrs. Jane Soper, Fourth Grade Teacher
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PASSIONS
Student VOICES
By Mrs. Monica Case ’90, Associate Director of Communications
VIEWPOINT SCHOOL IS A COMMUNITY OF EXTRAORDINARY EDUCATORS AND STUDENTS who are passionate about their work –
in and out of the classroom – and committed to challenging themselves each day. I met with a few of our students for this article, and I am delighted to share their projects with our readers.
THE VIEWPOINT SCHOLARS PROGRAM offers students the unique
opportunity to develop a personal project over the course of their senior year. For some, this is the perfect time to devote themselves to an independent project. For others, they are eager to get started long before they are seniors. The profiles below are of both kinds of students. Their projects range from researching the circumstances of indigent medical patients to educating young people about space travel. It was a joy to hear how our students follow their passions with the support of our faculty and staff.
DURING THE SUMMER OF 2014, ZACH VOLUNTEERED at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar to work on a research study investigating how socio-economic status impacts access to health care. With a team of two medical students, two doctors, and one resident, Zach interviewed 200 patients to determine their demographic information, level of education, and what services would be of help to
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ZACH DYNE ’15
Zach Dyne ’15
37 ELIZA LOVES WORKING WITH CHILDREN and storytelling. She recently
Eliza Frakes ’15
them. As Olive View is a county hospital, few of the patients have health insurance, most are non-native English speakers, and many are in the U.S. illegally and fear that they may risk deportation if they seek medical attention. While the findings of this research were not surprising, the hard data is useful as the administrators at Olive View hope to partner with neighborhood legal services to provide greater assistance to this under-served population.
Peter. Pippa wants to play pirate out on the dock with the boys, while Peter would prefer to play princess on the shore with the girls. The story is aimed at five to six year olds, and written to encourage children to be themselves, and parents to think before reinforcing stereotypes of gender-appropriate activities or interests.
earned her certification as a yoga teacher, and she teaches yoga to children from low-income families. This year Eliza was awarded a prestigious National YoungArts Foundation Honorable Mention for her Film IV script, With Love,Tuck and Alex, which also deals with a sibling relationship. Eliza plans to marry her interests by studying education, environmental science, and international relations in college. She hopes to use her filmmaking and storytelling skills to make documentaries to educate the public on environmental issues.
JUSTIN LEWIS-WEBER ’16 JUSTIN IS A BURGEONING ENGINEER
and entrepreneur. In the spring 2014 issue of Viewpoint magazine, we profiled
ZACH WAS DEEPLY MOVED BY THESE STORIES, and decided to turn his
experience into a Scholars project. He presented the results of this research to his fellow classmates in April to raise awareness of these challenges in the immigrant population. Based upon his experience, Zach hopes to forge a career in which he can be of service to others.
ELIZA FRAKES ’15 FOR HER SCHOLARS PROJECT, Eliza
is writing a children’s book, I Don’t Want to Play Princess, with the goal of having her book published. She is working with children’s author and Assistant Head of Lower School Tracy Wymer on this project. Inspired by her summers spent playing outdoors on Lake Megunticook in Maine, Eliza tells the story of siblings Pippa and
Justin Lewis-Weber ’16
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turned his attention to the future of renewable energy. After reading hundreds of scientific papers, he is developing a proposal to solve the problem of our reliance on fossil fuels by producing solar power in space and sending that power back to earth. He sees great potential in the use of self-replicating systems to build factories on Near Earth Objects to create the solar panels to generate this power. While ambitious, Justin believes that in order to solve big problems (in this case potentially our biggest problem), one must think boldly outside the box, which is the theme of his 5UP talk, available on Viewpoint’s YouTube channel.
She also is committed to environmental sustainability, and hopes to combine her interests and become a nature cinematographer and photojournalist.
KRISTEN SUCH ’15 KRISTEN PLANS TO BE AN EXPERIMENTAL PARTICLE PHYSICIST.
She explained, “Particle physics is everything that you can observe.” Kristen is intrigued by the connection between theory and engineering, and this field covers them both.The aim of her Scholars project is to help a general audience to
TIFFANY ONG ’15 TIFFANY’S SCHOLARS PROJECT is
Tiffany Ong ’15
Justin on the use of his videorecording hexacopter. Although he is still interested in the potential of the hexacopter as a business opportunity, Justin has spent the last ten months focusing on a new project: Space-Based Solar Power via Self-Replication. While participating in the Stanford University Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes Engineering Program, Justin
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the making and then screening of a documentary film about a Vietnam War veteran she met through her father. Her original plan was to make a film focused on this veteran’s experiences in Vietnam – he had enlisted and later was strongly against the war – but she found his entire life story so captivating that the film became more about making decisions to choose one’s own path in life. Despite the deprivations of his youth and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, this veteran became a lawyer and a presidential speech writer. Tiffany so enjoyed talking with him that she ultimately had eight hours of footage to cut into a 15-minute film. Additionally, Tiffany is interested in science and photography. She is a member of the Viewpoint’s Vex Robotics team under the direction of Mr. Lance Argano-Rush, and made the video of their award-winning trophy delivery robot, which can be seen on our Web site.
Kristen Such ’15
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understand the history of “The Standard Model” of particle physics, to introduce the state of the research today, and to project what the future of particle physics will be. In her presentation she plans to explain the debunking of String Theory and to clarify other stories involving physics presented in the news or in popular media.
Photos: Bill Youngblood
Kristen moved to California from Texas in Tenth Grade, and immediately became involved in the Vex Robotics program. In her first year with the program, the Robotics team went on to both State and World VEX Robotics Championships. Kristen also is a competitive swimmer, and plans to swim at the University of Chicago in the fall.
Zach Oschin ’16
ZACH OSCHIN ’16 ZACH HAS BEEN FASCINATED WITH SPACE since early childhood when his
father began taking him to lectures at the Griffith Observatory. In spring 2014 he attended a lecture by an employee of XCOR Aerospace on the company’s plans to offer commercial suborbital spaceflight. Afterwards, Zach wrote to the speaker to suggest that the company reach out to young people in order to create interest in space travel and to build a future customer base. Ultimately, they hired Zach to do the job, and with Viewpoint’s encouragement he now visits
schools throughout Southern California talking to students about space travel. He even gave a TED talk on the subject! If XCOR is able to do full flight tests by the end of 2015 (and before Zach’s eighteenth birthday in December), it is possible that that he will be the youngest person ever to go into space. Zach also receives wide recognition for his skills as a filmmaker. This year he was honored with a National YoungArts Foundation Honorable Mention for directing his Film II project, Chris, which tells the story of a high school girl’s desire to ask another girl to the prom. Chris was invited to screen at 18 film festivals in the United States and abroad.
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Download 1 read was Running with the Buffaloes by Chris Lear. The story follows the University of Colorado cross country team through their 1998 season. From a scientific perspective, the intensity and volume with which those athletes trained was jaw dropping, especially considering that much of their training was done at over an 8000’ elevation!
Listening: Right now I’m
listening to Sting’s Ten Summoner’s Tales album, and get a kick out of trying to follow Vinnie Colaiuta’s drumming on my steering wheel. Earth Wind and Fire, Chicago, and Steely Dan also frequent my play list.
Watching:
I had a short-lived obsession with Alaska, probably due to my love of the outdoors, and have enjoyed many of the reality shows that take place in the forty-ninth state: Deadliest Catch, Gold Rush: Alaska, Alaska the Last Frontier, and Flying Wild Alaska.
Running: In 2014, I ran 1,900 miles. Many of those miles are put in while coaching Viewpoint’s Upper School Cross Country Team or Track Team, but I also run a fair number of those miles on my own or with the friends that I’ve made through the sport. My greatest accomplishment running was qualifying for the Boston Marathon; I ran 3:10:33 at the 2006 Napa Valley Marathon! However, most of my great memories come from the other miles that I have done.Whether it’s V I E W P O I N T
M AG A Z I N E
Andrew Harris MR. HARRIS EARNED HIS BACHELOR’S and master’s degrees in Earth Sciences from U.C. San Diego. Prior to joining Viewpoint, he worked as a geologist for a geotechnical firm in Southern California, monitoring grading operations and exploring potential new development sights. In 2006, Mr. Harris decided to switch careers, brought on by his introduction to working with children through coaching youth cross country. He joined Viewpoint’s faculty in 2007, teaching Eighth Grade Physical Science. Outside the Eighth Grade classroom, Mr. Harris has taught Upper School Physics, Environmental Science, Outer Space, and Math and Physics Games. Since 2008 he has coached the Upper School Cross Country Team, taking a team to post-season in each of his seven seasons. In 2011, Mr. Harris started Viewpoint’s first Track Team. And most recently, in December, Mr. Harris joined the parents’ club, becoming a first-time father to his daughter Abigail.
following a coyote along a ridge on the Oakbrook Trail, getting lost in the fog up in China Flats, or scrambling
Photos: Bill Youngblood
Reading: The last book I
through thick brush near Conejo Peak just to make a loop, these adventures continue to bring me a smile and help me stay stress free.
41
Faculty VOICES
D
2 anything and everything I can. My favorites are historical fiction. I love the Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series and suspense novels by David Baldacci. I also enjoy reading current young adult literature to keep in touch with what the students are reading. I enjoyed the Hunger Games, and I love Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and its sequels.
Listening: My radio is tuned
to a little bit of everything from Broadway and the Boston Pops station to Country and Top 40. I enjoy things I can sing and dance along with. The oldies station is a staple when doing my Saturday morning chores!
Watching: I love to cook and
some of my favorite TV shows are Hell’s Kitchen, Master Chef, and Chopped. I also love Once Upon a Time and Grimm, which takes me back to my childhood love of fairy tales. I have a large collection of the original tales, rather than the Disney versions.
Working Out: My goal is to
still be singing and dancing in my 90s, so I try to keep as active as possible. I love my Zumba classes once or twice a week. I do a circuit workout once or twice a week, and try to fit in yoga classes whenever possible. I have even tried the anti-gravity yoga, which is a lot of fun!
Laurie Montgomery MRS. LAURIE MONTGOMERY GREW UP in the San Fernando Valley. She attended San Diego State University, where she was a member of the Children’s Theater Touring Company and a founding member of their Musical Theater Touring Company. She also was a member of the Skull and Dagger Dramatic Arts Honor Society. Music was her minor and she enjoyed performing in operas. After returning to the Valley to raise her family, she began working part-time in a public school. Mrs. Suzanne Shisley, currently Viewpoint’s accompanist, was her accompanist then and together they began teaching at an additional local public school. Mrs. Montgomery began teaching full-time when her youngest child started Middle School. She has been teaching Primary School Music at Viewpoint for the past 15 years. Mrs. Montgomery spends a lot of her time looking for special new music and programs for her students including Mallet Madness and Musical Sharing. She wrote the “Rainbow of Character” presentation for the Second Graders and strives to add new music to it each year.
Photos: Bill Youngblood
Reading: I read voraciously
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PAGE
ADVANCING THE
MISSION
PHILANTHROPY
is Universal
A ‘‘
By Mrs. Jodi Schapiro, Chief Advancement Officer
TRADITION OF VOLUNTEERING,” the doing of “good deeds,” “taking care of others,” “lifting people up,” or “giving back,” are different ways of expressing the universal concept of philanthropy. Philanthropic giving – or charity to others – has deep roots in ancient civilizations. “To generous souls every task is noble,” is often attributed to the ancient Greek tragedian, Euripides. In more modern times, philanthropy has emerged and re-emerged in cultures around the world, manifested in a myriad of ways unique to those societies.
Our Community’s Views on Philanthropy I WAS HONORED TO INTERVIEW four Viewpoint families who shared their personal experiences with philanthropy in their home countries, and how those experiences have shaped their views on philanthropy today. I am privileged to share their stories below.
AT VIEWPOINT, WE ARE BLESSED to be a community enriched by the different
cultures of the world. The parents of our 1,215 students have ties to 66 different countries. Nearly 28 percent of the parents of Viewpoint’s students were born in countries outside of the United States, and our 2014-15 newly-enrolled students join us from countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, China, Hong Kong, Lithuania, Vietnam, Russia, and Belarus. What does this mean for our community and for our students?
RUSSIAN CULTURE
It means that our students will find their voices and learn about giving back to humanity in a community that reflects, honors, and teaches the wisdom of the world’s cultures – particularly as it relates to practicing philanthropy.
INGA GOODMAN, mother of Miles ’27 and married to Michael, came to the
V I E W P O I N T
M AG A Z I N E
of Philanthropy
43 boldly, and recognize an opportunity to make the world a better place for future generations.”
Photo: Bill Youngblood
The Goodmans remind us, “We are all part of one global community.”
Inga, Kindergartener Miles, and Michael Goodman
United States from Smolensk, a small town in Russia located about 370 miles south west of Moscow, at the age of 29 to seek new opportunities and to unite with her father. Mrs. Goodman was raised in the Soviet Union during a time of communism, “where most of the population’s earnings were about the same.” Adding, “We were not accustomed to the idea of philanthropy then; it was a tradition to volunteer. In other words, we were obligated to work on Saturdays without getting paid in our community’s schools, cities, factories, and apartment buildings, and were expected to give our talents to our country for free in exchange for what our country had to offer us.” In addition to this obligatory service, Mrs. Goodman shared a more personal community-based reason for giving back, “The majority of our parents and grandparents were raised in big families who lived in villages as a community, where everyone had to learn how to care for each other.” She continues, “Giving back was in the form of taking care of others, including sharing food and living arrangements. When young adults moved to the big cities away from their families, the sense of community remained very strong in their neighborhoods, dormitories, and apartment buildings. This helped everyone to survive.” Mrs. Goodman credits “Russians and their big Russian souls.” “When I immigrated to the United States the idea of philanthropy was a novel concept for me, however I quickly realized:
You can judge a country’s level of development and how strong its society is based on how well its wealthier people take care of those in need.”
In citing her many reasons for giving back to Viewpoint, Mrs. Goodman explained, “Giving comes naturally for me considering my Russian upbringing, my surrounding community with its values, and my experiences taking care of others.” When asked what influences her and her husband Michael to give to Viewpoint she stated that, “We are all here because of our children and for our children, to make this school the very best place for them. In my mind, Viewpoint’s values are very similar to America’s: stand up strong, lead, set a good example, respect diversity in culture, religion, and race, protect the world, guard humanity, challenge yourself, face challenges
CHINESE CULTURE of Philanthropy
JIE AND PEGGY CHEN, parents of Calvin ’18,
were raised in Beijing, China and came to the United States to pursue graduate studies and obtain master’s degrees in business.
“Our generation was born into Mao’s era, at a time when almost nobody had access to material excess and monetary wealth. We contributed by ‘serving the people,’ working hard, and being 100% loyal to the Communist Party and the country,” the Chens explain. “Through our years of being students in middle school, high school, and college, Jie and I would go to the local farms and villages to help with the farming and harvesting every year with our classmates and teachers. We participated in political and social meetings held in the neighborhood. We also donated used clothes, blankets,
Calvin ’18, Peggy, and Jie Chen
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M I S S I O N
shoes, and pocket money to those in need, including the people affected by a devastating earthquake in 1976.” “Benevolence is rooted in and advocated
for in the ancient Chinese philosophies of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism,” shared Mrs. Chen. “Compassion, gratitude, and karma were the foundations of doing good deeds. Giving back has been considered one of the top virtues of humanity. Everyone is expected to pay back in various forms, such as time, care, service, work, loyalty or money to parents, family, community, and country.” To quote Confucius,
“When wealth is centralized, the people are dispersed. When wealth is distributed, the people are brought together.”
Citing family traditions and values, the Chens explained their personal views on philanthropy, “Philanthropy is influenced by compassion, gratitude, and a sense of responsibility. These are the family traditions and values passed down from generation to generation. As we were always taught: Generosity and dignity are more important than wealth; Always give back when being helped; Everyone shares a common responsibility of the well-being of our community.”
The modern concept of philanthropy is
relatively new in China. “China has seen rapid economic growth over the past three decades…though many Chinese have grown wealthy, few have embraced the practice of philanthropy in a manner and scale comparable with their counterparts in the West. But I believe we are on the cusp of change,” shared notable Chinese philanthropist Zhang Xin in, “The Rise of the Chinese Philanthropist,” NewYork Times.com, December 4, 2014. “With a new generation of Chinese who feel grateful for the opportunities the country’s growth has provided, social consciousness is rising, contributing to a growing urge to give back in innovative ways and to contribute to the nation’s future and the betterment of our society,”
V I E W P O I N T
M AG A Z I N E
Photo: Bill Youngblood
44
A DVA N C I N G
Michael, Koady ’25, and Katelyn ’21 Murphy, and Inely Cassia Cesna
explained Ms. Xin. The Chens share this optimism that the culture of philanthropy will continue to expand in China. Viewpoint’s teaching philosophy is what motivates the Chens to give back to Viewpoint: “The vision, the support, the communications from the Head of School and the administrators, and the passionate teachers have created a strong foundation to prepare our children not just for excellence in continued education, but also for their satisfaction and happiness through their lives beyond.”
BRAZILIAN CULTURE of Philanthropy
INELY CASSIA CESNA, mother of Katlyn ’21 and Koady ’25 and married to Viewpoint trustee Michael Murphy,
came to the United States from São Paulo, Brazil to pursue a master’s degree in Intellectual Property after receiving her law degree from the University of São Paulo. Her father, of Lithuanian decent,
was the first to attend college in his family, and her mother of Portuguese and Italian decent, provided a loving home for her family while operating a clothing store. “I was fortunate to be raised in a middle class family, but as a child I actually thought we were rich. I could see and experience the slums under the bridges and abject poverty around me every day. São Paulo is a large cosmopolitan city, sadly plagued by huge disparities in socio-economic classes. Growing up in São Paulo it was common to see children without shoes, in ragged or no clothing and clearly in need of food and shelter. I was raised where philanthropy was a part of everyday life. If you had extra bread or clothing, you simply gave it to others in need.
This ‘consciousness of service,’ as I call
it, simply becomes part of everyday life by asking myself, ‘How can I be of service today?’ ” Mrs. Cesna explained. “For me, that is what philanthropy means – it’s about making the world a better place through simple acts of helping others. It helps us to feel better, and it’s just a part of my day,” Mrs. Cesna added.
She continues, “My husband and I are focused on how we introduce our children
45 to the needs of the world, gently and at their own pace. We do that through making service to others a part of our lives, and by taking our children to Brazil to experience life through the eyes of others who have far less material means – by showing our children the diversity in the world.” As a former Co-Chair of Viewpoint’s Multicultural Committee, Mrs. Cesna expressed her passions for continuing to build an ever-welcoming and diverse community at Viewpoint: “What I love about Viewpoint is that it offers our children the room to be diverse, the room to create, and the room to grow. We are a community that embraces diversity of all kinds.”
NIGERIAN CULTURE of Philanthropy
“MY MOTHER WAS EDUCATED in a palace,” Mrs. Toyin Fajolu often tells her two sons, Olumide ’14 and Gbolahan ’16, and her husband Dr. Oluwole Fajolu. It is
While Mrs. Fajolu herself was fortunate to be the product of a middle class family in a developing country, her father imparted to her the important lesson of giving to others from an early age. “My culture believes in sharing, which means giving to people and doing good deeds. As a developing country, there were many people in Nigeria in great need when I was growing up.”
Mrs. Fajolu recounts her times in
elementary school when her father asked her to keep, “a special eye out for what was needed in the classroom.” She goes on to share, “I remember one occasion when my father donated the supplies needed in our classroom; my teacher asked to walk with me to my daddy’s office so that she could thank him. I will never forget that experience – it really touched my heart!” Mrs. Fajolu’s views of social responsibility were further refined at the University of Lagos where she received her bachelor’s degree, and at the University of Ibadan where she earned her master’s degree, before spending a year in London. She
relates being overjoyed when her sons were admitted to Viewpoint: “We consider Viewpoint as part of our family, and they help to reinforce in my children the need to be kind and caring. Viewpoint offers the right balance of high academic standards, with an equal focus on developing moral character.
This balance has enabled our eldest son to
thrive in college, and my younger son to continually exceed his own expectations for himself at Viewpoint. For that, I am grateful.”
AT VIEWPOINT WE TEACH a respect
for the rights and feelings of others and instill a spirit of community service in our students. How our students live these values is largely influenced by the way philanthropy is practiced at home. With so many unique cultural views on philanthropy to choose from, it is exciting to see how our students find their own way to express their “big soul.”
not what one might think, she is quick to point out. “In Abeokuta, Nigeria”, a rocky and wooded province 50 miles from Lagos, the most populous state in Nigeria, “those too poor to attend parochial school were invited by the King to be educated in the palace,” Mrs. Fajolu shared. “Those who lacked food or shelter were often invited to seek refuge and shelter in the palace of King of the ruling clan,” she added.
The idea of a ruler directly caring for those
who are most in need is foreign to many. However, this idea of social responsibility and service to one’s community is at the core of Mrs. Fajolu’s view of philanthropy, and shapes her acts of charity today. “To this day, I think of my mother when I volunteer my time at Viewpoint or help the congregation of my church with their Bible studies. The responsibility to help others in need runs deep in me and my family.”
Gbolahan Fajolu ’16, Toyin, Oluwole, and Olumide ’14 Fajolu
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}
Tribute TO
47
}
Paul Rosenbaum
By Dr. Bob Dworkoski, President of the Viewpoint Educational Foundation
aspect of Viewpoint, to us who knew him best the name “Paul” became its own unique brand. If we had a question about technology or a poem or the name of a rock group, Paul had the answer. A knotty problem? Paul. Someone to oversee an evening event? Paul, of course. The answer to our questions and our problems was often Paul.
WITH GREAT EXCITEMENT
I accepted the Board of Trustees’ offer to become the new Headmaster of Viewpoint School in the spring of 1986. Soon after the initial exhilaration had worn off, I realized that I had a great deal to do in a short amount of time. Viewpoint School in 1986 sat on our original 7½ acres with 300 students. We needed a strong financial manager, a curricular expert, someone fluent in technology, and a skilled manager of the day-to-day operations of the School. Little did I know when I hired Paul Rosenbaum later that spring that I found someone who could perform all those tasks brilliantly. Though Paul began that summer as Viewpoint’s Business Manager, he soon demonstrated his talent also as an English teacher and as a coach. There seemed to be nothing that he couldn’t do. What he didn’t know, he learned with an earnestness and good cheer. PAUL WAS WELL-PREPARED for his
many roles at Viewpoint. He earned his B.A. and M.A. in English at UCLA, and was on his way to a Ph.D. when he changed course to earn his MBA, also from UCLA. He simultaneously and fluently spoke the language of the business world and of academia. A rare find. What I soon came to learn was that he had a keen
THE MONTHS BECAME YEARS and
then decades. The days were long but the years flew by. My parents always said with wonder, “Where did the years go?” Now I repeat these same words.
appreciation of the educational needs of children, and a passion to build a great school for them. THE YEARS PASSED, the School grew, and
new challenges became new successes. Our programs in academics, the arts, and athletics flourished. By the mid-1990s our enrollment had more than doubled and our campus was bustling with energy and ideas. There seemed to be no limits to what we could do. Optimism was in the air.
As the Upper School’s programs grew in depth and breadth, we needed a new Head of Upper School, someone knowledgeable about this crucial division. Who to fill it? Paul, of course. Later as the School expanded from 7½ acres to 25 and enrollment exceeded 1,000 students in 2000, I could no longer manage all of it and needed an Associate Headmaster. Again, Paul was the perfect candidate. WITH HIS KEEN INTELLIGENCE, wry
wit dispensed with his unique deadpan delivery, and his contributions to every
Throughout these many years we have had a core team of administrators and teachers who shared our commitment to Viewpoint and to our students. We wanted to create something unique.We set no boundaries to our aspirations. We were colleagues, and we were friends. We celebrated life’s milestones and together mourned our losses. All the time, I knew that someday, sometime, our shared journeys would find divergent paths. Now, we are at that moment in time. We will remain friends, ask about children and grandchildren, and reminisce. But those magical years together will be over. Things will not be the same. So, old friend, after 29 years of dedication to our School, the words “goodbye” and “thank you” seem inadequate.You will enjoy new opportunities and new colleagues. But in a quiet moment at the end of a long day, remember what we accomplished and what we shared at Viewpoint for decades. Smile, and say to yourself, “That was a time, a special time.” It was for all of us. And, be proud of the legacy you left today’s students and the thousands to come. S P R I N G
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PAGE
THE
ARTS
FILMMAKING AT VIEWPOINT By Ms. Catherine Dunn, Film Department Chair, Upper School English Teacher
V I E W P O I N T
M AG A Z I N E
FOCUS ON FILM
49
When I first came to Viewpoint to teach film almost 20 years ago, there were only three classes. Our equipment consisted of one old Arriflex 16mm camera and a Steenbeck flatbed editor that the students were convinced was haunted. Even when no one was working on the editing table, it would randomly spit out noises and words. I’m sure that the magnetic playback heads just got stuck and then eased open on their own. The students, however, in those early days liked to ascribe magic to the editing process, and who knows, they may have been right. Today the three classes have mushroomed into 15, and Viewpoint is one of the few 4 ½ - year middle and high school film programs in the nation. Students now shoot on 16 Canons from the Vixia R20 to the 5 and 7 D, and cut on Final Cut Pro X and Avid Media Composer. What a difference two decades has made!
AS FAR AS WE HAVE COME on the technical side, and it’s far, the films themselves are still the heart and soul of the program, and the content has changed very little over the years. I have come to realize that the core of a filmmaking class is always emotional. Students sweat blood and tears over their projects, not because they are struggling with an intellectual theory of filmmaking, but, instead, because they are exploring their own conflicted feelings and attitudes about Upper School and the teenage experience. The best films are about how the students fit, not always successfully, into the world around them and more specifically about their relationships and stresses in school. THE VERY FIRST ASSIGNMENT in Filmmaking I is a series of still shots that introduces the students to the tenets of mise en scene, shot selection, and storytelling. The Ninth Grade students, fresh from summer and Middle School, look at the blank storyboards completely flummoxed. Then, they stare at me with that “what are you asking us to do?” expression on their faces that all teachers have come to know. But after they work through the assignment and analyze their final cut, the most successful students realize that somewhere in the shots, they have invariably explored the unsettling feelings of what it is like to be new to Upper School. Happily, their journey as artists has begun. Mentoring this experience is why I look forward to walking into the film room every day for the last 20 years.
THAT, AND I JUST LOVE MOVIES.
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50 FESTIVAL ACCEPTANCES & AWARDS
MAJOR SUCCESS
in film festivals
This has been an exceptional school year for the Film Department at Viewpoint. Our students’ films produced in 2013-14 screened at 26 film festivals in the United States and abroad in recent months. Viewpoint’s film students and their films have earned festival acceptances and awards at 41 national and international film festivals and competitions since the founding of the Film Program in 1991.
2014 -15 SCHOOL YEAR Eliza Frakes ’15 2015 National YoungArts Foundation Honorable Mention winner in WRITING/Play or Script for Film or Video. Zach Oschin ’16 2015 National YoungArts Foundation Honorable Mention winner in CINEMATIC ARTS
2013-14 SCHOOL YEAR
ADDICTION BY FILM IV CLASS Alexandria (Virginia) Film Festival (Director invited to festival Q&A) Best Shorts Competition (Award of Merit for Direction) Calabasas Film Festival The Hollywood Festival of New Cinema (Director interviewed by festival) New York City International Film Festival Providence Children's Film Festival (Director invited to festival Q&A) Speechless Film Festival
JUMPING BERLIN BY FILM IV CLASS Calabasas Film Festival (Award of Merit for Direction)
MR. INVISIBLE BY FILM IV CLASS Calabasas Film Festival
INDIEGOGO DOCUMENTARY BY ELIZA FRAKES ’15, FILM III Raised $1,000 for a school in Fiji.
CHRIS BY ZACH OSCHIN ’16, SARAH EVANS ’16, FILM II
‘‘
23rd Annual OUTrageous! (Director Invited to Q&A) 28th Connecticut LGBT Film Festival
Our world has become increasingly media oriented; movers in all industries are making changes to the world by communicating their grand vision. Visual literacy is THE skill of the 21st century; it will separate the leaders from the followers. I credit my time spent in the Film Program at Viewpoint with giving me the passion to become a storyteller in business." - KEN ROY ’01
V I E W P O I N T
M AG A Z I N E
All American High School Film Festival Archer Film Festival Austin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (Director invited to Q&A) Calabasas Film Festival (Award of Merit for Writing) Chicago International Film Festival Fresno Reel Pride Festival Heartland Film Festival (Grand Prize Winner) (Students spoke at festival) (Featured on NPR’s “Film Soceyology”)
FOCUS ON FILM
51 Los Angeles Film Festival (Director invited to Q&A)
2004-05 SCHOOL YEAR
Hollywood Weekly Film Festival (Director invited to Q&A)
Malibu International Film Festival
LOCKER SPACE BY FILM IV CLASS Method Fest (Actor’s Award)
Melbourne Queer Festival Merlinka International Queer Film Festival Mill Valley Film Festival (Director invited to Q&A)
2000-01 SCHOOL YEAR
Santa Barbara LGBT Film Festival
THE LITTLE VISITOR BY KEN ROY ’01, FILM III
Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
National YoungArts Foundation (Gold Medal Winner – U.S. Presidential Scholar; Teacher Recognition Award – U.S. Department of Education)
Sierra Canyon Film Festival Topanga Film Festival (Director invited to Q&A)
SUMMER SOLSTICE BY KEN ROY ’01, FILM III
INVASION BY ALEC BERGER ’16, FILM II Calabasas Film Festival
Method Fest
Silicon Valley Science Fiction Short Film Festival
Santa Barbara International Film Festival (Grand Prize)
LOCKER BY KATHARINE CUTLER ’16, KELLY ALESIO ’16, FILM II
PSA BY KEN ROY, ’01 FILM III
RIP Horror Film Festival
STANLEY BY JAMIE LIPMAN ’16, FILM II All American High School Film Festival Calabasas Film Festival
Aired on Local PBS affiliate 2012-13 SCHOOL YEAR
MR. BROCKLEHURST BY FILM IV CLASS Chicago International REEL Shorts Festival
1999-2000 SCHOOL YEAR
Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema 2015
SMOKING PSA BY ASI LANG ’99, FILM III
National Film Festival For Talented Youth (NFFTY) (Finalist for Vitamin Water Hustle Competition)
Aired on Local PBS affiliate
Red Rock Film Festival Santa Monica Independent Film Festival Studio City Film Festival (Best Screenplay)
2011-12 SCHOOL YEAR
THE ROAD NOT TAKEN BY ZACH OSCHIN ’16, FILM II Conejo Valley Youth Film Festival
2005-06 SCHOOL YEAR
QUICK DIVERSION BY FILM IV CLASS Method Fest
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52
film
Photo: Bill Youngblood
MIDDLE SCHOOL
The students in the Eighth Grade Introduction to Film learn the basics of filmmaking while studying the history of film. Emphasis is placed on collaboration and problem-solving. Below are Intro students early in the semester, having fun as they learn to shoot with video cameras and booms.
From left to right: Eight Graders Cheyenne Assil, Sarah Williams, Kristen Lee (working camera), Chandler Sumpter Gillyard (hidden by camera), Maren Mahjoub, Nicole Kim
V I E W P O I N T
M AG A Z I N E
FOCUS ON FILM
Aashna Dev ’15 and Film Teacher Ms. Monica Hoenig
53
LEADERSHIP & FRIENDSHIP
‘‘
I was uncertain about what career path to take until I enrolled in Viewpoint's Film Program. Directing Open Your Eyes, our Film IV project, taught me how deeply collaborative filmmaking and production is. It takes a whole team and each person is vital, and because it's a team effort mutual respect and good communication are essential. I now work in the fastpaced, work-against-the-deadline world of television, and those lessons have become invaluable to the career that I love." - CATHERINE HAMILTON ’07
THIS YEAR GIRLS ARE IN THE DIRECTORS’ SEATS. They are at the helm of three out of the five student films in production, and one of the Film IV classes has an all-female executive board in place. Bonded by friendship and a love of filmmaking, this particular group of young women waited for the opportunity to work together again since taking Film II in their sophomore year. Their Film IV script, With Love, Tuck and Alex, by Eliza Frakes ’15, which received the 2015 National YoungArts Foundation Honorable Mention award in WRITING/Play or Script for Film or Video, originated out of a sophomore writing prompt. Now it has taken on a new life, carefully written, re-written, and developed by the girls.
According to both my Eighth Grade and Film IV students, the reinforcement of positive female role models in the faculty and staff and among their peer groups is a significant factor influencing girls to take on a creative leadership roles. At Viewpoint, girls are encouraged to write, direct, edit, and produce their own projects, and they are doing just that. THE POWER OF PEER EXAMPLES is equally compelling. The freshman and
sophomore female film students look up to our junior and senior girls who are now directing and writing. The influence of students like Porschia Adler ’16 (producer), who has led crews of upperclassmen since her Film I Class in her freshmen year, Eliza Frakes ’15 (writer, director), Aashna Dev ’15 (director), or Demi DeCesare ’15 (director, producer, editor) is indisputable. AND SO, THE GIRL EFFECT IS REAL. The Eighth Graders and freshmen know who these girls are, and they want to be them. They are finding their voice in film, just like their predecessors. And, they will most certainly have the chance to make themselves heard in the four and one-half years of their film education at Viewpoint. Girl leaders have claimed their voices in the Film Department and the force of their voices is staggering.
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Photo: Bill Youngblood
By Ms. Monica Hoenig Middle and Upper School Film Teacher
THE ARTS
54 couple of years ago, at the end of his Film III (junior) year, a student approached the Film Department and asked if Viewpoint would consider acquiring a Steadicam for him to use on his senior film. We knew this student was a hard worker who was considering Steadicam as a potential career.
A
WE SAID THAT WE WOULD consider the
purchase, but first he had to find another student who would agree to learn the Steadicam with him, because every Steadicam operator must have a dolly grip who helps keep the operator safe. He found a partner, so we began researching which model we would purchase and from where we would buy it. We talked with professional Steadicam operators and salespeople from various outlets. So how did it work out? The film student and his partner spent over 100 extra-curricular hours learning to safely operate the Steadicam. Their effort led to spectacular shots in their Film IV film. While both of those students have since graduated, the Film Department now owns a Steadicam for current and future Viewpoint film students to learn and to use. I AM PROUD TO BE PART of a program rooted in the desire to prepare our students to succeed in whatever college and major they choose. Our core film equipment and technology reflect this philosophy. We offer all of the professional tools that students will find at the USC and NYU film programs: Media Composer and Final Cut Pro for editing; Pro Tools for sound design; Logic for score; Canon DSLR cameras and lenses for shooting; LED panels and Kino Flos for lighting; and dollies, sliders, and jibs for camera movement. But, at Viewpoint we are driven to go beyond and to provide our most dedicated students with the tools and training they need to match and to extend their learning. We have purchased many new tools because our students have demonstrated an interest in learning how to use those particular tools. These include: After Effects for 2D visual effects; Cinema 4D for 3D visual effects; Anime Studio Pro with Wacom tablets for animation; and a Vocal Booth for dialog ADR and foley. Viewpoint offers the best high school film education anywhere in America. When dedicated film students express a desire to learn a new tool that we don’t already own, we’ll do our best to provide it for them.
V I E W P O I N T
M AG A Z I N E
By Mr. Harry Maxon Middle and Upper School Film Teacher
A STUDENTCENTRIC EDUCATION
in film
FOCUS ON FILM
55
Becoming a
Storyteller Starting from day one in Introduction to Film, you are not a writer or a director or a director of photography. You are a filmmaker and a storyteller, regardless of position, and this helps everyone discover his or her own artistic voice.
‘‘
‘‘
an Alumnus’s Perspective
By Matthew Carieri ’14
P
eople often say that you can’t learn how to make a movie at school. Quentin Tarantino didn’t, William Friedkin didn’t, James Cameron didn’t, and the list goes on. In some sense, this is true. One of the best ways to learn how to make a movie is to take some friends and a camera and shoot whatever comes to mind; you cannot learn how to make a movie only by being told what to do, and like a sport, practice makes perfect.
THAT DOES NOT MEAN, however, that film school
Photo: Bill Youngblood
is a useless venture. I am currently a freshman at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and the film program has offered me an invaluable education. The people, classes, and exposure to new pieces of cinema have helped me grow as an artist, but more importantly, as a storyteller. As a Film Studies major, I understand that film is one of the most progressive mediums for artistic experimentation. In addition, film is a viable business, with the U.S. producing hundreds of films for domestic and international release annually. However, I believe that film is most importantly a medium for telling stories. I RECENTLY HAD THE OPPORTUNITY to work on a USC senior thesis film that helped put my entire career path in perspective. I held the position of 2nd Assistant Camera, a crucial yet not-so-high ranking job. Though rigorous (with 12-hour shoots every Saturday and Sunday for a month and a half), it was an incredible experience that gave me some wonderful set exposure. However, it was also slightly discouraging. Throughout the process of the shoot, I became less and less enthusiastic as I realized that I was simply serving as a technician, and making no real artistic decisions. Unfortunately,
this is the way film shoots really work. There are directors, and there are production assistants. This opportunity also helped me reflect on my film education at Viewpoint. The School offers a unique approach to teaching film. Starting from day one in Introduction to Film, you are not a writer or a director or a director of photography. You are a filmmaker and a storyteller, regardless of position, and this helps everyone discover his or her own artistic voice. Whether I was pulling focus on a camera, color correcting footage, or directing a shoot, I always felt like I was contributing to a final artistic piece with every film I worked on. BY THE HIGHER LEVEL FILM CLASSES, Viewpoint asks students to declare a specific emphasis – some students focused on sound design, some on cinematography, some on writing, and so on. Yet, there still did not seem to be any sort of hierarchy. No one truly answered to another crewmember, because we were all taught to work as harmonious cogs in a film machine. And on top of that, Viewpoint Film always emphasizes that, with everything we do, we are telling a story, whether it is through sound, color, performance, or any other creative factor that goes into making a film. This story-centric approach to filmmaking that is unique to Viewpoint helps students produce thought-provoking, distinctive, and captivating works.
WHEN I ARRIVED AT USC, once again I was surrounded by people who were not concerned with what position they held on a film or whether they would become the next big director or writer or cinematographer. Instead, my classmates are storytellers who are passionate about telling stories through film. In a way, I found myself at Viewpoint again. I often tell Viewpoint film students not to take the program for granted, because in all honesty, Viewpoint Film really competes with most college film programs. When I show USC Cinema juniors and seniors previous Viewpoint Film IV projects and they tell me that most high school students do not have the opportunity to create films of that scale, I realize how grateful I am that Viewpoint helped me grow as a filmmaker, and a storyteller. S P R I N G
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A PROGRAM IS
Eric Steelberg ’95 and Nolan Pearson ’15. In the fall, Eric visited campus to work with the Film IV students on their scripts for their short films.
By Mrs. Monica Case ’90 Associate Director of Communications
In 1992 a small group of freshman photography students wanted to make movies. They approached Viewpoint’s Director of Development and English teacher Russell Cooper Mead, who they had heard taught film and media at his previous school, Concord Academy. Mr. Cooper Mead agreed to teach them, and he went on to develop the curriculum that marked Viewpoint as the first independent school in California to offer a Film Program. FOR THOSE EARLY STUDENTS,
Viewpoint’s Film Program set the course for their professional lives. Dan Dubiecki ’95 and Tim Crane ’95 established a film production company together, The Allegiance Theater, and currently they are shooting Money Monster, directed by Jody Foster and starring George Clooney and Julia Roberts. Dan, as producer, and Eric Steelberg ’95, as cinematographer, collaborated on the Academy Award nominated films Juno and Up in the Air with director Jason Reitman. Jonathan Krisel ’96 is one of the developers, producers, writers, and directors of the hit television series Portlandia. This group of young filmmakers also included Zaki Gordon ’94, who died in
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an automobile accident in 1998 after completing film school at NYU. The Zaki Gordon Cinematic Arts Center at Liberty University is named in his honor. When asked what he remembered about the beginning of the Film Program, Tim replied, “Will Morrow’s ’94 step-father, Larry Janss, a former Chair of the Board of Trustees, was a documentary maker during the Vietnam War, where he filmed “Hanoi” Jane Fonda. Larry gave us his old cameras to get started. We were thrilled.” With the equipment in place, the film program developed organically based upon the students’ interests. As Eric recalled,“The School was amazingly supportive of this essentially studentdriven program. When we needed to buy something new to make our films, somehow Russell and Dr. Dworkoski made it happen.” AS THEIR SKILLS INCREASED, so did
the sophistication of the filmmaking and the instruction in the realities of the film business. Dan remarked,“Russell’s wife was in the movie industry, so he had access to invite speakers to Viewpoint who worked on the business side.
We learned much more than just the technical aspects of making a film. We learned about the marketing and the distribution – the things that one must know to make a career in this industry. We learned how to tell a story, as well as the business of storytelling.” NEITHER DAN, TIM, NOR ERIC attended film school in college. Their formal training in film ended their senior year at Viewpoint, and everything else they learned on the job by making commercials, vast numbers of short films, and now features. For them, their film education at Viewpoint remains all-important and their nostalgia for that time quite poignant.
When asked about his memories, Dan said, “It was an extraordinary moment in time. It was like alchemy – the right teacher mixed with a group of students eager to learn everything we could about the film business. To this day Russell Cooper Mead remains the most influential person to me. From that first class in the spring semester of my freshman year, I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I will be forever grateful for the friendships I made and for my experiences at Viewpoint.”
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57 Shortly before his death in an automobile accident in December of 1998 at the age of 22, Zaki Gordon ’94 told his father, acclaimed screenwriter Dan Gordon, about his idea for a new approach to teaching film. Zaki had a lifelong love of storytelling and filmmaking, and had just graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts summa cum laude. ZAKI WAS WORKING AS A PRODUCTION ASSISTANT, yet he believed
that the students in his program graduated without the proper preparation for a career in the constantly evolving film industry. He thought there was a better way. When Zaki finished his detailed description of his proposed method for teaching film, his father was impressed. He said, “That sounds great, so what are you going to do with this?” Zaki replied, “Nothing. I am sharing it with you.”
ZAKI GORDON’S LOVE OF STORYTELLING LIVES ON By Mrs. Monica Case ’90 Associate Director of Communications
According to Dr. Bob Dworkoski, President of the Viewpoint Educational Foundation, “If there was a guiding spirit to the beginnings of Viewpoint’s film program, it was Zaki Gordon.” At 12 Zaki sold his first television script. At 16 he completed Viewpoint’s first 30-minute film. At 19, while a student at Columbia University, Zaki published a novel titled Davin, a copy of which is still in Viewpoint’s library. And at 20, Zaki wrote and directed his first feature length film, Waiting For Mo, which also was his Viewpoint classmates Dan Dubieki’s first feature credit as producer, and Eric Steelberg’s first feature credit as cinematographer. The film featured both Tim Crane and John Krisel, as well as Zaki’s brother Yoni ’98 and classmates Fes Aswat ’94 and Vanai Murthy ’94. Waiting for Mo was shown at the Telluride Film Festival. ZAKI’S FATHER DAN KNEW ABOUT FILM SCHOOL. He graduated from UCLA as a Film and Television major and went on to write numerous screenplays, including Passenger 57 (1992), Wyatt Earp (1994), and The Hurricane (1999), as well as several novels. Dan is someone who understands how to make things happen, and through a series of fortuitous circumstances, he was able to realize his son’s vision for a film program: first at the Zaki Gordon Institute for Independent Filmmaking at Yavapai College in Sedona, Arizona from 2000-2012; and now, at the Zaki Gordon Cinematic Arts Center at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, established in 2011.
As Dan explained, “The program at the Zaki Gordon Cinematic Arts Center offers more hands-on experience than other film schools, and provides mentors who are not just academics, but professionals in the field. They not only teach the skills of making a film, but the business and marketing of them as well. We are helping to produce the next generation of entrepreneurial filmmakers and storytellers, just as Zaki suggested all those years ago.” “There is no doubt that he would have joined his classmates in career achievements had he been blessed with the gift of years along with the gift of creative talent, which he had in such abundance,” said Dr. Dworkoski. At Viewpoint we honor an exceptional and inspirational filmmaking student each year through the Zaki Gordon ’94 Film Award. Photo: Dan Gordon at Viewpoint. Dan came to campus in March 2015 to talk to Upper School English students and film students about his career as a screenwriter. He also talked about Zaki’s experiences at Viewpoint and NYU film school, and the establishment of the Zaki Gordon Cinematic Arts Center.
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Three Students Participate in the Prestigious YoungArts Los Angeles By Mrs. Monica Case ’90 Associate Director of Communications
AS NATIONAL YOUNGARTS FOUNDATION HONORABLE MENTION winners for 2015, filmmakers Eliza Frakes ’15 and Zach Oschin ’16, and short story writer Sarah Ashdown ’16 had
the honor to participate in the prestigious YoungArts Los Angeles program from February 17-22.
EACH YEAR approximately 11,000 students in Grades Ten through Twelve in the visual, literary, performing, and design arts apply to YoungArts. From these applicants approximately 800 winners are selected. The YoungArts Los Angeles program includes 100 of these students, who take part in a week-long intensive working with masters in their respective fields. AT THE END OF THE WEEK, these talented young artists
presented their diverse range of projects at The Los Angeles Theatre Center. Film teacher Monica Hoenig attended the event and said, “Eliza Frakes performed an excerpt from her award-winning Film IV script, With Love,Tuck and Alex. I also saw Zach Oschin’s awardwinning film Chris, and heard Sarah Ashdown read an excerpt from her short story. It was a great source of pride for me to support our students and to represent Viewpoint’s community at such a prestigious award ceremony.” When asked about her experience attending YoungArts Los Angeles, Eliza remarked, “Young arts, both faculty and the incredible students, gave me the confidence and inspiration to recognize myself as a writer and an artist, and for that I am grateful.” The National YoungArts Foundation (YoungArts) was established in 1981 to identify and support the next generation of artists in the visual, literary, design, and performing arts; assist them at critical junctures in their educational and professional development; and raise appreciation for the arts in American society. including Doug Aitken, Josh Groban, Jenji Kohan, Desmond Richardson, and Kerry Washington, with over $12 million in awards; donated just over $60 million in college scholarships in the past two years; and enabled its participants to work with master teachers who are among the most distinguished artists in the world, including Marina Abramovic, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Plácido Domingo, Zaha Hadid, Robert Redford, and Bruce Weber.
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Photo: Bill Youngblood
TO DATE, YoungArts has honored more than 20,000 alumni,
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Brian McBean
RETIRES
By Mrs. Monica Case ’90 Associate Director of Communications
AFTER 32 YEARS OF TEACHING ART, 24 years
at Viewpoint, and 19 years as Chair of the Art Department, Brian McBean is retiring. During this time, Mr. McBean has helped thousands of students explore photography, sculpture, drawing, and especially ceramics.
AS THE CHILD of an artist mother and an engineer father, who would draw and make wood block prints in his free time, Mr. McBean grew up in a home where creativity was encouraged. At age 15, his father’s work took the family to Switzerland. While there, Mr. McBean visited museums and major monuments in Paris, London, and Rome, all of which made a lasting impression on him and helped to fuel his love of art.
Mr. McBean began college at UCLA with the intention of studying engineering. However, he quickly switched to art, and he went on to earn a B.A., M.A., and M.F.A. in Art there, specializing in sculpture. The 1980s were an exciting time to be in the Art Department at UCLA, where the faculty included celebrated painter and sculptor Judy Chicago as a graduate teaching assistant. Using welding skills learned as a teenager, Mr. McBean was inspired to create abstract kinetic pieces made with found objects that he would then motorize. He remarked, “I always loved working with materials. I suppose it is the convergence between engineering and art that has always fascinated me.” AFTER GRADUATE SCHOOL, Mr. McBean taught at
Chadwick School in Palos Verdes for six years, and later he spent a decade working as a professional graphic designer. Ultimately, he made his home at Viewpoint in 1991. His three children, Drew ’13, Evan ’10, and Marcy ’05, all graduated from Viewpoint. During the course of his teaching career, Mr. McBean has continued to show his own art work at juried exhibitions throughout Southern California. His current work includes drawings, watercolors, mixed media sculptures, and prismacolors. He is excited to have the time in retirement to devote to making and showing his work. While reflecting upon his long career at Viewpoint, he said, “I have loved it here. The School has always been so supportive of the arts. The facilities and the faculty are remarkable, and the students’ creativity is inspiring. I will treasure my years here.” S P R I N G
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LITTLE FIR TREE FIRST GRADERS Front row: Ben Chesed Bailey Baio Back row: Otto Maentz Skylar Helfer
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Fall
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By Dr. Julianne DeSal, Director of the Arts
OUR FALL PRODUCTIONS CELEBRATED the human spirit and the use of language – from The Music Man and the World of Shel Silverstein, to the clever repartee of SpokenWord, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and the lyrics of Company – we acknowledge the power of communication through the art of theater. As playwright Tom Stoppard states so beautifully through his character of Guildenstern, “Words, words – they’re all we have to go on.”
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61 THE MUSIC MAN MIDDLE SCHOOL Sophie Behzadi ’19 AJ Urban ’20 Carson Gilford ’19
Antonella Kissling ’21 John Kester ’19 Lily Andersson ’19
THE WORLD OF SHEL SILVERSTEIN
COMPANY
UPPER SCHOOL
UPPER SCHOOL
Robert Carieri ’16 Sam Howard ’15 Maya Tribbitt ’17
Carly Miron ’15 Nick Zakari ’17 (in background), Josh Knoller ’16
ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD UPPER SCHOOL Sarah Evans ’16 Josh Knoller ’16 Andrew Steele ’18 (hidden) Arman Monfared ’17 Hannah Taragan ’16 Robert Carieri ’16 Jimmy Nguyen ’17 Rachel Jacobson ’17
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AT H L E T IC S
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The real power
of Viewpoint athletics is not the scoreboard. It’s the lifelearning that takes place when you work within a team and you experience winning and losing together.” – M R. ROB WE BSTE R, P A R E N T O F B O B B Y ’ 14 , AT T H E O P E N I N G O F TH E BALABAN WE BSTE R TEAM CENTER
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This Page: Viewpoint Patriots Football Team at Homecoming Game
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From the Athletic
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By Mr. Patrick Moyal
VIEWPOINT’S GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY TEAM
had a remarkable season in 2014, in which they finished first or second in all league cluster meets. In the end, at the Gold Coast League Finals at Paraclete, Viewpoint fell just 4 points short of a League championship. Undeterred, the girls rallied to have strong performances in the CIF Prelims and Finals which earned them a spot in the State Championship. Coach Andrew Harris believes the team qualified because the seven girls trusted each other and their training. This attitude was evident in our excellent team captains, Caitlin Hogan ’16 and Melina Keighron ’15. They provided the leadership that their teammates listened to and followed.
Ellis Glickman ’18
Viewpoint’s CROSS COUNTRY BOYS also had an outstanding season. The team earned a victory at the Viewpoint Invitational and continued their six-year tradition of qualifying to postseason. At the front, the team was led by Jonathan Luner ’16 and Andrew Gu ’15. Both runners earned All-League honors for their eighth and ninth place finishes, respectively, at League finals. This was Jonathan’s first year being recognized and Andrew’s fourth year earning All-League recognition. On the heels of a magical 2013 season for the FOOTBALL TEAM, one of the most successful in the history of the football program at Viewpoint School, there was uncertainty surrounding the 2014 season. A young, but eager and athletic group kicked off the season winning its first six Dominick Brown ’15
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games including a 55-6 win over Windward School at Homecoming. The season ended with another big win over Windward in a Gold Coast League playoff game. An 8-2 record matched the School’s record set by the 2013 team. With a large number of starters and lettermen returning, expectations are high for 2015. Coach Frank Pontello’s GIRLS VOLLE YBALL TEAM entered the
season as defending CIF Division IIIAA Champions only to find out that the Gold Coast League, by virtue of its dominant playoff run in 2013, was moved up to Division II-A. After a solid second place finish in league, sweeping all league schools but one, the girls had another great year by making it all the way to the CIF Quarter-finals. Our 2013 Division III-AA ALL-CIF Player of the Year Colette Franz ’15 led the way for the Patriots with another All-CIF first team nomination.
From left to right: Honour Fottrell ’16, Alyssa Gengos ’16, Alex Lashever ’16, Niki Zahedi ’15, Ava Sambora ’15, Evelyn Montgomery ’15, Daelyn Weitz ’16, Jill Levy ’16, Alanna Barron ’17, Abby Rodgers ’16, Carine Lopata ’15, Carly Price ’16, Ellie Horwitz ’17
The GIRLS TENNIS TEAMS wrapped up one of its most successful seasons to date this past fall and Coach Travis Kikugawa couldn’t be happier with the direction of the program. The Junior Varsity and Varsity Teams improved themselves physically and mentality when it comes to learning how to compete; but more importantly they invested in one another and experienced first-hand the power of being a part of a team. Along the way, the Varsity Team finished third in league and qualified for CIF Division I Playoffs. From the court to the field, we turn to the cheerleading squad to promote spirit and energy at football games and other events. Coach Lacey Schmidt’s and Coach Simone Rankins’ squad started off a great year attending Universal Cheerleading Association summer camp at UCLA. The Cheer Squad continued to display their skill at Homecoming, performing a spectacular half-time show. The girls also entered a competition in December and qualified for the JAMZ Nationals in Las Vegas in January. Middle School Girls Delphic Swim Meet: Jennifer Marcus ’20, Julianna Penner ’21 (in background)
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Fall Season 2014 UPPER SCHOOL
MIDDLE SCHOOL
ALL-CIF SOUTHERN SECTION RECOGNITIONS
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
Girls Volleyball All CIF Division IIA First Team: Colette Franz ’15
San Fernando Valley Private School League Boys Boys and Girls Fifth and Sixth Grade Swimming
ALL-LEAGUE RECOGNITIONS Boys Cross Country All-Gold Coast League Second Team: Andrew Gu ’15,
Jonathan Luner ’16 Football
ALL-LEAGUE RECOGNITIONS Boys Cross Country All-Junior High Delphic League
Max Wolff ’20
All-Gold Coast League
Girls Cross Country
Jared Litmanovich ’15, Jack Rhodes ’15 Second Team: Dominick Brown ’15, Chandler Gee ’16
All-Junior High Delphic League
First Team:
Sarah Konopaske ’20 Tackle Football All-Junior High Delphic League
Girls Tennis All-Gold Coast League First Team Doubles: Lauren Angard ’16,
Katarina Ulich ’17 Girls Volleyball All-Gold Coast League First Team: Colette Franz ’15, Zel Fortson ’16, Rachel Furash ’16 Second Team: Masha Chernitskaya ’16, Jamie Schecter ’16
Elijah Newman ’19 Boys and Girls Swimming All-Junior High Delphic League
Boys: Kevin Zhang ’19 Girls: Julianna Penner ’21 Girls Tennis All-Junior High Delphic League
Lauren O’Connell ’19
From left to right: Rachel Furash ’16, Colette Franz ’15, Zel Fortson ’16, Masha Chernitskaya ’16, Jamie Schecter ’16 S P R I N G
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Athletic Director
PATRICK MOYAL'S 25 Years of Leadership
By Mr. Patrick Skahan, Director of Alumni Relations; Associate Football Coach
WHEN ATHLETIC DIRECTOR AND DEAN OF Co-Curriculum Patrick Moyal first arrived on Viewpoint’s campus in the fall of 1990 he took over a basketball program that had struggled to win games in the Heritage League over the past two seasons, and he oversaw an Athletic program that consisted of six sports and one gym. The Athletic Department, staffed by four physical education teachers, were housed in a small office in a modular next to the Rasmussen Family Pavilion, which, at that time, was a rubber basketball court with sheet metal for walls subject to the extreme temperature changes of the valley campus. Fast forward 25 years, and the entire scene has changed dramatically. UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF MR. MOYAL, Viewpoint’s Athletic Program now consists of 19 sports and 132 teams. He manages a staff of physical education instructors and fulland part-time coaches, two gymnasium facilities, two pools and weight rooms, and spectacular new team rooms. In addition, Mr. Moyal has successfully navigated Viewpoint’s athletic teams
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into progressively more competitive league and conference associations. Each development has been artfully managed by Mr. Moyal, yet they pale in comparison to the effect his coaching and mentoring has had on several thousand of Viewpoint graduates over the years. DR. NADER BANKI ’91 fondly remembers his time with Mr. Moyal, “He was an incredibly patient coach who made the most of our limited talent. Coach Moyal was at times a father-figure, someone we could turn to with difficulties outside the gym. He was easy to speak with and always made you feel good about yourself.”
Nader was a member of the first team that Mr. Moyal coached at Viewpoint upon arriving in 1990. The Boys Basketball Team had won only three games in the previous two years. Coach Moyal counts the first win that the team earned as one of his fondest memories in his time at Viewpoint. “I remember at halftime of that game we had a 5 or 6 point lead and we were playing a really athletic team from what was a good basketball school at that time. The entire team was buzzing and jumping up and down with excitement. We didn’t have a locker room at the time, so we gathered in a little hallway with people watching. It was all I could do to just settle down the players and make sure they knew we had a long way to go. At the end of the game, after we won, I remember the coach from the other team individually congratulating each player on our team for how far they had come since the year before.” Mr. Moyal not only has held an integral role in developing the athletic program at Viewpoint, but also in expanding the athletic
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He was an incredibly patient coach who made the most of our limited talent. Coach Moyal was at times a father-figure, someone we could turn to with difficulties outside the gym. He was easy to speak with and always made you feel good about yourself.”
Photos: Bill Youngblood
DR. NADER BANKI ’91
facilities. After the acquisition of 17 acres of adjoining poperty in 1998, Mr. Moyal held a meeting with the Athletic Department asking them a simple question: “What does the ideal Viewpoint School athletic program and facility look like?” Through that meeting and many other collaborative efforts, including the generosity of many donors who Mr. Moyal is quick to thank, came the beautiful state-of-the-art Paul Family Athletic Center, Balaban-Webster Team Center, and the Balaban Family Turf on the Ring Family Field in use by our students today. One of his most passionate stories involves the development of Ring Family Field and the many conversations to ensure the field would be large enough to support a full width soccer and football field. “Each yard we needed increased the cost exponentially as we had to expand the retaining wall to support the hill behind it.We fought for those yards to support the program we were trying to build.” Mr. Moyal has served our School in a myriad of different ways outside of the Athletic Department. His first summer at Viewpoint, Mr. Moyal taught a French class, a role that he continues to this day as a Middle School French teacher. In addition to teaching, Mr. Moyal serves as a chaperone for many of the trips that Viewpoint students take in the summer. He has led trips to Japan, Germany, France, Spain, and the UK. IN ADDITION TO THE MEMORIES FORGED as Viewpoint’s Athletic Director, a coach, a teacher, and as a chaperone, some of
his fondest memories are when his life as the father of Jason ’06 and Stephanie ’10 intersected with his role at the School: “We had a really good Boys Volleyball Team, and we were playing a team in the CIF Championship game that we had handily defeated earlier in the season. They went up on us two games to none, but we had a couple of great captains on our team who got emotional with their teammates. Fortunately for us, the school we were playing had decided to perform a ‘war dance’ in front of their fans between games two and three, and that really sparked us. We opened up the third game with a renewed focus and came storming back to win three straight. I was a basket case, I was a mess! It was by far the most emotional game that I have ever gone through at Viewpoint because my son, Jason, was on the team. As a father first and Athletic Director second, it was special to witness him earn that experience as a member of a great team.” THE STORY OF VIEWPOINT’S FIRST VOLLEYBALL CIF
Championship is meaningful to the dad, coach, and Athletic Director who has dedicated his career to providing numerous athletic opportunities for the students of all levels of athletics at Viewpoint. Patrick Moyal has helped provide countless students and their parents with special memories of Viewpoint School for the past 25 years in his many roles serving our community.
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COMMUNITY CELEBRATES THE OPENING OF the BALABAN-WEBSTER TEAM CENTER
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By Monica Case ’90, Associate Director of Communications
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N FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, more than 100 members of Viewpoint’s community gathered for the Opening Celebration of the Balaban-Webster Team Center (BWTC). The event honored alumni parents Jay and Adriana Balaban and Rob and Julie Webster, among other lead donors, whose generosity and commitment to Viewpoint athletics made possible the construction of the BWTC. Their visionary support is all the more remarkable given that their sons, who are now collegiate athletes, will never personally use the building. Bobby Webster ’14 is playing football at Williams College, and Adam Balaban ’14 is playing football at Colby College.
THIS 4,100 SQUARE-FOOT CENTER,
adjacent to the Balaban Family Turf on the Ring Family Field and the seven-lane competition swimming pool, provides additional locker and team rooms and strength and conditioning facilities to enhance the School’s athletic facilities. The BWTC will improve the competitive athletic experience for Viewpoint’s students and their visiting teams, both now and into the future.
During the celebration, there were several heartfelt speeches including one from Dr. Bob Dworkoski, President of the Viewpoint Educational Foundation, who reminded the audience of the power of our community coming together to boldly meet a need, as we have done many times in the past. Trustee Rob Webster spoke eloquently about what Viewpoint athletics has meant for his family, and his very personal reasons for spearheading this ambitious project. He expressed:
“The role that the Balabans and Websters have played in this building derives out of a shared passion. We believe strongly in Viewpoint’s commitment to academic rigor and excellence. We believe equally strongly in non-academic activities that lead to a balanced and full life.These activities may be theater or music or athletics. For our sons, Adam Balaban and Bobby Webster, athletics played a huge role in their time at Viewpoint and their development as young men...
"The greatest lessons life has to teach you, will never be spelled out, letter by letter in front of your face.The greatest lessons life has to teach, will be taught in the places you least expected. Four years ago, a small, stubborn, arrogant freshman wandered his way onto a football field. Four years later, a slightly bigger, just as stubborn, but humbled senior carries himself off one. Dylan Cotter ’15, Julie and Rob Webster, Jay and Adriana Balaban
Jay and I believe in the role that athletics can play for students in developing character and skills that will benefit them throughout their lives. We witnessed that not only in our boys, but I have seen this in so many boys and girls that I watched grow up here in the 14 years that I have been around Viewpoint… That is the real power of Viewpoint athletics. It’s not the scoreboard. It’s not the wins and losses. It’s not the individual statistics. It’s the life-learning that takes place when you work within a team and you experience winning and losing together. It’s the friendships that you make. It’s the character that you build. And, it’s the amazing doors that can be opened through a combination of great academic achievement and athletics achievement.” A FINAL HIGHLIGHT of the Opening
Celebration, was the thoughtful and moving words of Patriot football player, Dylan Cotter ’15. He impressed the audience with his mature insights and profound gratitude for the role that Viewpoint athletics has played in his life and what the BWTC will mean for our students.
So Coach Adamson, as much as it physically hurts me to say this, I will never run another gasser. I will never use proper drive block technique, and I will never think about how to properly skip pull again. In a way, I will never stop doing those things, because the lessons that those things taught me, the lessons of doing it for others, never letting the team down, and being aware of others, will never leave my mind, ever. In this building behind me, a kid will find his path to college the likes of which he never thought he could get into. A kid, through unbelievable circumstance, will discover what he wants to do for the rest of his life, and a kid will finally learn what it means to grow up. In this building behind me it doesn’t matter someone’s gender, or if they are black or white or how much money their family has. In this building behind me your sons will become men. They will learn how to help and ask for help. They will learn to never settle and always to push.This building behind me is where your daughters will become women. They will learn to stand up for themselves and for others.They will learn that being a women or a man is not an excuse nor is it a rite of passage. The greatest lessons life has to teach, will be taught in the places you never expected them to be, and they will be taught to all who walk though these doors.”
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COLLEGE
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Deepen our students’ understanding of the impact, challenges, and opportunities linked to constructive change that our increasingly connected world requires;
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Expand the worldview of our students, including their knowledge of and openness to diverse geographies, cultures, and value systems;
Enhance mutual understanding and commitments to promoting the wellbeing of the environment and of all members of the global community;
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SUMMER EXPERIENCE
Equip our students with essential skills, including creative and collaborative problem-solving, resilience, the ability to gather, critically review, and synthesize the best available knowledge from diverse sources;
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Plan an Enriching
Fortunately, opportunities for these types of development exist regionally, nationally, and internationally. The question is often asked, “How do I know if a program is good?” Beyond piquing a student’s interest, a productive summer experience will also:
Give students access to different kinds of time-intensive, multidisciplinary, experiential, and community-based learning;
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COUNSELING
Encourage students to strive for a broader perspective in their engagement with the world, informed by empathy, humility, compassion, curiosity, respect, awareness, conviction, and a sense of agency and urgency.
By Mr. Gregg Murray, Associate Director of College Counseling
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a specific place in our minds, conjuring up images of beaches and relaxation, of fresh air and freedom. Consequently, its role in helping students engage with the world and develop in significant ways is often vastly underestimated. In reality, it is during the summer season that many students have the opportunity to expand their horizons, to pursue or even discover their passions, to build new relationships, and master new skills – all experiences that support learning and development. Planning for a productive summer can curb the effects of learning loss in the summer and even result in learning gains. This learning is reflected in myriad ways, including, but not limited to, reading and test scores. Informal activities at camps or with family provide a framework and context for learning. They foster such habits as reading for pleasure and experimenting out of sheer curiosity; exploring interests and engaging in selfreflection; and opportunities to see the practical application of academic skills in the course of everyday life.
AN EXCELLENT SUMMER PROGRAM
may represent an ideal learning environment for students, one that supports broad learning and development
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in many ways. We know from research on the brain, as well as research on how experts master their own subject matter, that the ability to locate new knowledge is key to learning. As this research demonstrates, curricula that reinforce connections among physical, social, and cognitive domains will result in the greatest advances in achievement for students. Experiential education, which includes adventure education, projectbased and community service learning, world travel, part-time jobs, and outdoor adventure programs, can lead to outcomes such as increased self-reflection, stronger internal locus of control, improved leadership skills, and better grades. Most summer programs are experiential in nature or contain an experiential component. Clearly, this reaps rewards for the students participating in them. VIEWPOINT’S COLLEGE COUNSELING
Office touts the importance of planning a productive summer. As colleges and universities seek to admit “T”-shaped students who possess a breadth of knowledge and a depth of expertise, summer serves as a wonderful time for students to strengthen themselves in those areas. Exposing students to the increasingly global and interconnected world is essential for them to become engaged citizens and future leaders.
Mr. Murray earned his master’s degree in Higher Education Administration at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a focus on student affairs and student development theory.
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ALUMNI HOLIDAY PARTY
ALUMNI HOLIDAY PARTY
December 19, 2014
December 19, 2014
Alan Perillo ’11, Kaley Boyce ’11, Rachel Brauer ’11, Caroline Geckle ’11
Lindsey Jordan ’12, Jacob Hafey ’14, Michael Dix ’12
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DIRECTION FOR A
LIFETIME
ALUMNI COLLEGE LUNCH
January 6, 2015 Chris Jobson ’11, Stella Carnegie ’12, Chris Ashdown ’13
Alumni
EVENTS 5 FOR 5 SENIOR CLASS PLEDGE Class of 2015 – Back Row: James Clark, John Kyle Moseley, Colette Franz, Harrison Stutz, Curran Mody, Emma Antall, Tallulah Tepper, Pilar Flournoy. Front Row: Sierra Saki, Madeleine Johnson, Henri Salamati, Ashna Dev, Keaton Kitchin, Skylar Kutasi, Ava Sambora, Alexis Davalantes, Christina Collins, Melina Keighron
WE CONTINUE TO DEVELOP an outstanding calendar of events for you to reengage with Viewpoint and the alumni community. If you have an idea for an event and would like to help us plan a gathering please contact Director of Alumni Relations Patrick Skahan at 818-591-4430 or email patrick.skahan@viewpoint.org. To learn more about upcoming alumni parties and events, please visit Viewpoint’s Web site or follow us on Facebook. Check out these photos from the most recent events, and we look forward to seeing you soon!
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By Mrs. Monica Case ’90 Associate Director of Communications
Aryn Baker is the Time magazine Bureau Chief for Africa. She recently contributed to the "TIME Person of the Year for 2014" cover story on Dr. Jerry Brown, the medical director and general surgeon at the Eternal Love Winning Africa Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia. Aryn lives in Cape Town, South Africa with her husband and her five-year-old daughter, Zolaikha.
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Long before cooking shows made global superstars out of chefs, I decided during college – Sarah Lawrence in New York – that I wanted a career in the restaurant business. After a few false starts in New York City, first as a private chef, then at a downtown restaurant, I landed what I thought was my dream job in a Parisian restaurant. I was wrong. Restaurant work killed me, and I soon realized that success couldn’t be found in a job title, but in what made me happy. So I decided to start over, seeking a career that would enable me to travel, force me to keep learning, and bring continued challenges. Journalism ticked those boxes, so I went back to school, at UC Berkeley. A summer internship led me to Time magazine in Hong Kong, and eventually a job offer. I’ve been there ever since, first as an associate editor, then as the Delhi correspondent, the Pakistan-Afghanistan Bureau Chief, the Middle East Bureau Chief, and now the Africa Bureau Chief in Cape Town.
How did your education at Viewpoint help to prepare you for your current career?
Obviously the focus on writing was essential. I am not sure that knowing the plot of Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure has quantitatively bettered my life. But knowing how to argue a point by using examples and synthesizing information, as I learned to do in AP English, is at the core of my work. But that’s not what got me to where I am today. No, it was the pleasure of figuring out Shakespeare’s jokes in Dr. Levy’s classes, and understanding fermentation by making sauerkraut in biology. Mrs.Warren’s drama classes taught me how to put myself in someone else’s shoes, whether they belonged to Abigail Williams in The Crucible or Emily in Our Town. Viewpoint taught me to take delight in learning how the world works, and to never fear asking
Photo: courtesy of Jackie Nickerson
What was your educational and professional journey from Calabasas to Cape Town?
Aryn (wearing hat on right) interviews Ella Watson-Stryker, a health advocate working on Ebola for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International, in Monrovia, Liberia. December 2014.
“how” or “why.” That’s what I do every day – I ask questions, and I put myself in other people’s shoes. If I can figure out a local joke, all the better.
What motivates/drives the curiosity that keeps you working in the world’s hot spots?
A day that I don’t learn something new is a day wasted. I’m not seeking big eternal truths, just shifts in perspective that open up a new way of seeing the world. And a lot of that means that I want to know what people think that goes beyond the headlines. Obviously I have to spend time with Presidents and Prime Ministers, but I am more interested in how the guy in the corner shop sees the political situation, and why a woman would ever want to join a fundamentalist Islamic sect, especially one that curtails her rights. So I’m on a constant quest to be forced to reconsider my assumptions. I like to take what I learn and figure out a way to explain it so other people can see what I see. That’s the hard part, and the fun part.
What recommendations would you have for a student interested in a career in journalism?
Given the current media environment, I am beginning to think that being a foreign correspondent is more of a calling than a career. There always will be a need for witnesses on the ground, but I am not certain there always will be jobs for them. So with that caveat aside, I think the single most important piece of advice I can give is: read. Read everything: magazines, newspapers, blogs, and novels. Read articles from people you don’t like, and read points of view you disagree with. Read about things you don’t think you are interested in. When I’m not actually out in the field reporting, I easily can spend several hours of day reading, and it always helps to expand my breadth and understanding of a subject. It also makes me a more inspired and better writer.
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}CLASS NOTES} Alumni
The notes below include news received between August 30, 2014 – January 30, 2015.
1987
1983 After launching a business as an environmental consultant, Melina Watts is enjoying the process of working with new clients to find ways to implement their projects. Melina’s oldest son Vincent Scott ’14 graduated from Viewpoint last year and is now a freshman at Colorado University, Boulder. Melina writes for the Earth Island Journal and the Topanga Messenger, and she will publish a novel this year.
1985 Michael S. Morrison lives in Atlanta, Georgia where he serves as Founder and CEO of several companies. Michael also started Biggs Morrison Boxing in 1998
Jenny Lynn Burnett, center ’88
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with Olympic Gold Medalist Tyrell Biggs to work with at-risk youth in Atlanta.
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Karen Elowitt is currently living in Johannesburg, South Africa where she is the editor of an African travel Web site called AFKTravel.com. Karen married Rick Beal, a chef from Colorado, in November 2013.
1988
Brynlie, daughter of Doug Way ’88
Jenny Lynn Burnett recently wrote an
article for Ninety-Nines magazine, a trade journal for the International Organization of Women Pilots. The article featured a 100-year-old pilot and family friend Jeri Truesdell. As a fellow Civil Air Patrol (CAP) pilot, Jenny Lynn sponsored Jeri for the CAP World War II Congressional Gold Medal for her contributions during the war. Jenny Lynn escorted Jeri to
Washington, D.C. to attend the Congressional Gold Medal Ceremony. It has been a life-changing year for Jenny Lynn and she is reminded daily that we need to live each day to the fullest! Asha Sethi is
currently living in Montpellier, France with her husband and two children, ages 11 and 13. Asha’s husband has a research sabbatical from work, and they saw it as the perfect opportunity to become fluent in French and travel through Europe. She credits Viewpoint and its outstanding teachers for fostering her love of languages, as well as for the opportunity to participate in a French exchange program in Upper School. Asha is excited that her children are enjoying the same opportunity she had as they are immersed in French culture, attending public Middle School in a unique dual-immersion program for French students learning English and English-speaking students learning French.
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Doug Way and his wife Laura welcomed a
baby girl, Brynlie Way, to their family on December 19, 2014.
1991 Rosa O’Neill Foyle lives in Wiesbaden, Germany working as a certified freelance translator and English teacher. In September, Rosa will enroll at the University of Bristol in the UK to earn her master’s degree part-time while she continues to work and enjoy motherhood. Her two sons are now both in Middle School. Rosa maintains close contact with Seth Casden ’92 and Kristie Mackey ’92. Warm greetings from cold Germany!
1992 Pam Carlson Theriot and her husband,
Gregory, welcomed their second daughter, Alexandra Elise, into the world on January 14, 2015. She has a two-and-a-half year old big sister Emma Louise.
Pennsylvania; and Edinburgh, Scotland, and she is currently residing in Mainz, Germany where her husband is an Assistant Professor of Theology at the University of Mainz. Their greatest joys and challenges are their two sons, Christian and Michael, who are growing up bi-lingual and bi-cultural. In addition to her travels and motherhood, Colleen enjoys teaching English as a second or foreign language to adults.
1994 Sean Kelishadi recently moved back to
Southern California after 20 years. Sean graduated from Vanderbilt University, completed medical school at University of Tennessee, Memphis, and completed a General Surgery Residency at University of Maryland. Sean finalized his training in Plastic Surgery at the University of Louisville. Amidst his professional training, Sean married Sherry Kelishadi in July 2007, and recently welcomed their first child, a baby girl Nadia on Father’s Day, June 15, 2014. Sean opened a plastic surgery practice in Yorba Linda in August 2014. Brian Schultz and Rabbi Emily Rosenzweig were married on October 26, 2014, in Chicago. Brian will complete his residency in Psychiatry at Northwestern University in June 2015. Emily is a chaplain in the U.S. Navy. They are excited about moving to Hawaii in July 2015, where Emily will serve at the Marine Corps Base.
Alexandra Elise, daughter of Pam Carlson Theriot ’92
1993 In 2014, Colleen Baker Roth and her husband, Dieter, celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary. During those 15 years, Colleen has lived in Charlotte, North Carolina; Philadelphia,
Nadia, daughter of Sean Kelishadi ’94
1997 Amber Young Medina and her husband, Jose Medina, welcomed their daughter, Vivian Ellie Medina, on May 13, 2014. She joins her big brother, Diego Reed Medina.
1998 Summer Davis and her husband are
in their second year of owning and operating Los Angeles Urban Adventures, a local adventure responsible tourism
1995 Matthew Ogden and his wife, Alicia, welcomed their second daughter, Callie Carlin Ogden, on January 1, 2015. Her two-year old big sister, Autumn Ann Ogden, is very excited. Matthew is the manager of the Pritchett-Rapf Real Estate offices in Malibu and Topanga.
Brian Schultz ’94 and Rabbi Emily Rosenzweig
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empower students to make healthy choices by teaching them media literacy, how to read food labels, to choose water over sugary drinks, the importance of active play, and how to limit screen time. Nina is excited to pursue her passions of acting, theater, and education in one amazing job.
Vivian Ellie, daughter of Amber Young Medina ’97
company. Her tours vary from food and drink tours to city discoveries and getting off the beaten path in Los Angeles. Summer and her husband also have started Essaouira Urban Adventures in her husband’s hometown in Morocco with the same focus of introducing visitors to the real locals and hidden gems of the city, including its music, food, and traditional sights.
Daniel Lincoln currently lives in New York City with his fiancé Christopher, both of whom work in musical theater. Most recently, Daniel was the Associate Musical Director/Conductor of the first national tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Wizard of Oz. Daniel and Christopher will marry in May 2015.
2007 Catherine Hamilton married Mike
Richmond July 5, 2014 in Lancashire, England. Catherine and Mike now live in the Kentish town of Royal Tunbridge Wells, just outside of London. Catherine commutes into London where she works in factual/documentary television.
Debbie Fogel married Brian Schrieber on October 12, 2014 in Simi Valley, California. They enjoy being newlyweds and currently reside in Long Beach.
2002
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2010 After graduating from University of Southern California Marshall School of Business in 2014, Olivia Lassoff began a new job as a strategic consulting associate at LEK Consulting in Westwood, California. In her first few months, Olivia has worked cases in private equity, entertainment, sports, and healthcare.
2011 Jack Kleinman is finishing up his last year
at UCLA, and will earn his bachelor’s in History before he enrolls in medical school in the fall of 2015.
2012 Millicent Li studied abroad in London and
returned to the University of Redlands this semester as a junior. In the UK, Millicent lived with other British and international students, while attending the University of London as an associate student. She also had the opportunity to travel all over Europe. Millicent writes, “I can honestly say it has been the most rewarding experience, and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity. It has been an amazing journey!”
2000
Nina Harada began a new, full-time job working as an actor/health educator for Kaiser Permanente. One of the many ways Kaiser gives back to the community is through its Educational Theater program. Nina tours Southern California performing for Fourth and Fifth Grade students in The Amazing Food Detective, which includes two follow-up workshops. The show and workshops
Currently, she is a post-production coordinator on a BBC commissioned documentary series called, The Gift, about grand gestures of thanks or forgiveness.
2014 Christopher Ashdown is majoring
Olivia Lassoff ’10
in Human Biology at University of California, Merced, and he plans to double-major in Psychology. He just became a member of Phi Delta Epsilon and is busy with the fraternity’s charity work in the Merced area.
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Arts School at University of Michigan, and ran to be the vice-chair of the Public Activities Committee. Carly is a member of American Israeli Public Affairs Committee and attended a leadership conference this winter. Alexis Berkovits is
enjoying USC. She currently is on the pre-med track with a Human Biology major. She joined Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, and was selected to be a Spanish teacher for elementary school children as part of her Spanish class.
Jordan Blake is loving the University of
St. Andrews and all that it has to offer. He has declared a dual Economics honors program that will consist of two years at St. Andrews and two years at William & Mary in Virginia. Also, Jordan joined the club lacrosse team and plays semiprofessionally for Scotland. Morgan Bubman is enjoying her freshman year at University of Colorado, Boulder. She is majoring in Psychology and is a member of the Sigma Rho Lambda sorority. Ava Crandell will begin classes at
University of Colorado, Boulder in August 2015. In the meantime she has moved to Boulder and has secured a managerial position at a health food eatery called The Corner. Gabrielle Egnater recently completed a
Mike Richmond and Catherine Hamilton ’07
freshman in Northeastern University Co-op Program. He is working on combined majors in Computer Science and Music Technology.
Adam recently declared Economics as his major and will possibly pursue a Psychology minor. He also is an extremely happy member of the football program, and has found a true brotherhood amongst his coaches and teammates.
Adam Balaban is off to a great start at Colby College. He has had a seamless transition into college life and academics.
Carly Berger was recently elected student
Adrian Baghdasarian is currently a
government representative of the Liberal
three-week research class in Siena, Italy “Living the Past in the Present” with the Art Institute of Chicago. Gabrielle worked alongside conservationists at the Siena Art Institute and the University of Siena, while exploring how contemporary artists make work in such an historic society. Amanda Faucher is enjoying UCLA as a
Pre-Psychology major and joined Alpha Chi Omega sorority. Continuing with
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her love of performance, she is excited to have been selected to join the campus’ comedy improvisation group, Rapid Fire, which performs locally in Westwood.
leadership fellowship and has a weekly music blog called the Rad Report on Rainy Dawg radio.
International Studies/Political Science and a minor in Health and Environmental Science.
Jacob Hafey is studying International
Rachel Hsu is attending Barnard College, where she enjoys studying a broad range of subjects from astrophysics to acting and Shakespeare. She is the Design Editor for the Columbia Culinarian, and in her spare time finished a paid art commission. Her next project is to find funding for her recently developed App, which is aimed at helping young people take charge of their personal finances.
Savanna Fields is in the Business
Honors Program in the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas, Austin. She is the Assistant Head of Philanthropy in the Zeta Tau Alpha women’s fraternity. This summer, she will be studying supply chain management at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Relations and Mandarin Chinese at Tufts University. He hopes to obtain an internship in either Washington, D.C. or the Los Angeles area, which involves Chinese foreign or domestic policy. He also is planning on studying in China at Zhejiang University, which sponsors the Tufts-in-China Program.
Rebecca Gross is enjoying her time in Seattle and the surrounding communities of Fremont and Capital Hill. Along with her studies at University of Washington, she is participating in a Maimonides
Alexis Hamill has joined the Boston College dance/hip hop team and is one of the editors of the School’s international journal. She is in the College of Arts and Sciences pursuing a degree in
Mikayla Hubert, a freshman at the University of Vermont, volunteered with an after-school program at an
Middle and High School DREAM students at Rice University
Amanda Boone ’11 will graduate this May from Rice University with a Mechanical Engineering degree, and has accepted a job
with the oil services company, Schlumberger. Amanda joined the Rice cheerleading team this fall and in between cheering for games, she helped organize a spring 2015 leadership retreat for freshmen and sophomore Rice students. Amanda also is involved in DREAM, a Rice club that takes STEM to local Houston schools through semester-long design projects. This past fall, Amanda expanded the high school program to an all-girls local Middle School and plans to continue developing the program.
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elementary school in South Burlington, called the Integrated Arts Academy. Her job was to mentor children while completing artwork together, helping with homework, playing sports, and talking. The program corresponds with Mikayla’s Human Development and Family Studies major, and allowed her to advance her knowledge through observing the children throughout their development. Jonathan Hutnicki is currently studying
Flight Aviation at Purdue University. He already has earned his private pilot’s license, and is currently working on obtaining his commercial license. Jonathan joined the Air Force ROTC and became a member of the Arnold Air Society, a professional, and honorary service organization advocating the support of aerospace power. It is only open to those in ROTC and the Air Force Academy. Jonathan plans on traveling to Israel this summer through the Birth Right Program. Nathaniel Kaye is majoring in Music
at Lewis and Clark College. As part of his major, he is taking music pre-theory classes, classical guitar lessons, piano lessons, and is hosting his own one-hour radio show on Sunday nights. Miles Kilcourse is loving NYU and NYC! He has found incredible opportunities in the “city that never sleeps!” Miles is the Director of Events for the largest freshman dorm at NYU, and plans programs to ensure the residents enjoy living at NYU. In addition, Miles is an editor for a small entertainment company and is leading the development program for a start-up company. Brandon Kosikov is a Sport Management Major at the University of Michigan. He began an internship with U.S.A. Hockey, is a member of the Sports Business Association, as well as a member of the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity.
Nikolas Larsson is taking a gap year and will start Emerson College in the fall of 2015. He is currently working at a postproduction house in Stockholm, Sweden and is learning the craft of visual effects. Michael Lewis has jumped into college life with both feet at the University of Washington. He joined the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, and finds his academics interesting and energizing. Michael also plays lacrosse on the club team. Scott Lipman was in a performance of Hamlet and is in the improvisation group at Williams College. Darius Mackenzie loves the University of Wisconsin, and is excited about the tennis season, which started in January. Aida Marasli is studying in Ireland as part
of Northeastern University’s International program. She is majoring in Music Industry and continues playing the violin. Rachel Marlin is attending the Oxford
college campus of Emory University, and is studying science. She loves the charming campus and the close relationships she has made with her classmates. Matthew Miller is studying Sports Management at NYU, and is a member of the NYU Varsity Baseball Team. Christopher Moody is totally immersed
in life at Tufts and exploring Boston. He enjoys the academic rigor, and earned a spot on the Volleyball Team.
Mecca Nassiri is studying Biomedical Engineering at Columbia’s Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). Mecca earned himself a spot on the Football Team’s roster as a walk-on despite not being on campus for preseason practices. Mecca is making friends, learning the transit system in
Andrew Leon ’11
In the 2014 season, Andrew Leon ’11 worked for the Boston Red Sox in their Player Development Department at the Red Sox Dominican Academy in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. His primary duties were assisting the Red Sox coaching staff with analytics, postgame player evaluation reports, and in-game statistical compilations. Andrew also traveled throughout the Dominican Republic with the Red Sox International scouts, attending both private player tryouts and larger scale workouts. Andrew graduated early from Indiana University in 2014 with a degree in Sports Communication and minors in Telecommunications and Sport Marketing & Management. He now works for the Miami Marlins in their Player Development department in Florida.
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New York, and is excited to add more extracurricular activities in the spring. Andrew Ormond is majoring in
Engineering with a minor in Computer Science at Purdue University, and has earned a seat on the school’s Crew Team.
Jackson Price is studying Comparative
Brandon Schulhof is currently a pre-
business major at the University of Missouri, Columbia. He is a member of the Mizzou Society of Automotive Engineers “Formula SAE” team which designs, constructs, funds, and races a Formula 1 car against other clubs at universities nationwide.
Bobby Webster, a freshman at Williams College, is really happy with his college choice. The fall brought football season, and Bobby scored his first official college points kicking in his first varsity game appearance. Bobby has made great new friends on his dorm floor and with his football teammates. He also keeps in close touch with a number of his Viewpoint classmates. The Massachusetts winter was just a touch colder than in Calabasas, but he had no complaints as he made several trips to a ski resort that is only 15 minutes from campus. Bobby has enjoyed becoming part of the amazing Williams community.
Literature, with a concentration in Literary Theory, at the University of Pennsylvania. He played drums in the pit for Penn’s fall production of Gypsy, and currently plays in two jazz combos, and gigs around Philly with his band. They are currently planning a summer tour on the East Coast.
Peter St. John is studying at Southern Methodist University, and is on the university’s public speaking team. In their first tournament, against some much larger teams from other schools, Peter won first prize in the informative category and second prize in the persuasive category.
Declan Sander is enjoying his first year
Sebastian Ulfvengren is enjoying a gap
with a minor in Music at Chapman University. She is a member of the University Woman’s Choir and will be in the upcoming musical production. She is planning to study abroad next year. Alexi continues to focus her free time on giving back to the community and relentlessly pursuing volunteerism.
to spend the fall in China teaching English to Middle School students in Zheng-Zhou. While in China, he shared this report on his experiences there:
School No. 52. Every week I teach 12 Eighth Grade classes, as well as leading the Seventh Grade English club that I started, which meets Fridays from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. Each class has around 50 students, which makes teaching English quite challenging, but nevertheless a truly rewarding experience. When I am not teaching English, I am visiting Shaolin Temple (the birthplace of Kung Fu), enjoying Henan cuisine sold by street vendors, or getting schooled by my students in a game of ping-pong or basketball. In a few months I will return home to begin college, but I know my time in China has had a profound effect on what I want to study at Middlebury – Mandarin and Political Science - and later on pursue in life.
at Cornell. He is majoring in Computer Science, joined a drone building club, and is a member of a Technology and Media Investment Club. In addition to his studies, Declan started a food delivery business called CU Doorstep to fill a university market need.
Ian Driscoll ’14
Ian Driscoll ’14 enrolled at Middlebury in February as part of the program that allows for a semester break before beginning college. It gave Ian the chance
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year before beginning a Film major at Emerson College in the fall. Sebastian took his usual trip to Sweden this summer, and now travels and works in the film industry. He began work on a feature film in Montevideo, Uruguay, and then moved to Argentina in late 2014.
Working in China this fall has been such a fantastic experience for me. From the very start I knew it would be an adventure that I would remember for a lifetime. In Upper School I became very interested in Chinese history, language, and culture. I think taking four years of Chinese really impacted my decision to go work in China for a semester. For the first month, I worked on an organic farm in a village in Zhejiang province where I learned how to grow Chinese vegetables as well as cook up some fantastic Chinese meals. I live and work in the city of Zhengzhou where I teach English to students at Middle
Alexi Yegoyan is majoring in Psychology
CONTRIBUTORS
VIEWPOINT
A special thank you to those listed below for contributing information and photographs, and for assisting in the production of Viewpoint magazine.
A Magazine for the Community of Viewpoint School Calabasas, California
Mrs. Cathy Adelman Mrs. Claudia Antoine Mr. Greg Armbrister Ms. Aryn Baker ’91 Mr. Greg Bischeff Mrs. Jennifer Berger Mrs. Monica Case ’90 Mr. Cisco Dilg Ms. Catherine Dunn Dr. Robert J. Dworkoski Ms. Susan Elliott Ms. Katelyn Forero Mrs. Dana Gonzalez Mr. Andrew Harris Ms. Monica Hoenig Mr. Alan Howie Ms. Hilary Hunt Mrs. Susan Kresnicka Mrs. Anne Leonetti
Mr. Brian McBean Mrs. Amy Maentz Mr. Harry Maxon Mrs. Laurie Montgomery Mr. Patrick Moyal Mr. Gregg Murray Mrs. Mary Rodriquez Mr. Paul Rosenbaum Mrs. Jodi Schapiro Mrs. Elizabeth Mawn Scott Mr. Charlie Sitzer Mr. Patrick Skahan Mrs. Jane Soper Mrs. Susan Strumpf Mrs. Jennifer Townes Mrs. Candy Wallace Mrs. Julie Williams Ms. Lori Wineman Mr. Tracy Wymer
President of the Viewpoint Educational Foundation Robert J. Dworkoski, Ph.D. Interim Head of School Paul Rosenbaum Chief Advancement Officer Jodi Schapiro Associate Director of Communications Monica Case ’90 Graphic Design Dog Ear Design Printer Typecraft Wood & Jones Photography Jennifer Berger, Steven Chen, Greg Kessler, Charle Sitzer, Bill Youngblood Styling Veronique Melody Ganouna
Viewpoint School 23620 Mulholland Highway Calabasas, CA 91302-2060 Phone: 818-340-2901 Fax: 818-591-0834 E-mail: info@viewpoint.org Web: www.viewpoint.org
Viewpoint School admits students of any race, color, national or ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. The School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, its admission policies, scholarships, and athletic or other School-administered programs.
Viewpoint is published by the Viewpoint Educational Foundation. Every effort is made to avoid errors, misspellings, and omissions. If, however, an error comes to your attention, please accept our apologies and notify us. Thank you.
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