SPRING/SUMMER 2020
TOGETHER BUT APART
Reflections from the COVID-19 Crisis
2 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2020
BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2019–20 Allie Altman P’12 Treasurer; Chair, Finance Committee
James Bonsey Christine Chamberlain ’63 Vice Chair of the Board
Lise Charlier Head of School
Howard Cooper P’15, ’20 Phil DeNormandie ’67 William Feng ’20 Boarding Student Representative
THE GRYPHON, SPRING/SUMMER 2020 Lise Charlier, Head of School Emma Fedor, Director of Marketing and Communications Andrea Finnerty, Chief Development Officer Diane Stansbury P’20, Assistant Director of Alumni/ae and Parent Engagement Jeanette Origel, Communications Specialist
John Finnerty P’21 Mike Flanagan P’20, ’22 Ann Gorson P’16 Chair of the Board
Cynthia Harmon Snowden Henry P’16, ’18
CONTRIBUTORS Louisa Bertman Sherrill Bounnell P’19 Russ Campbell (P’19) Photography
Chair, Governance Committee
Jared Charney Photography
Ben Ibbetson
Tom Hill (P’20,’22) Photography
Faculty Representative
Ben Ibbetson
Eli Keehn Faculty Representative
Chin Lin P’18
Eli Keehn Jen Quest-Stern
Secretary
Anne Rearick
Ruby Russell ’20
Rachel Sontheimer ‘20
Day Student Representative
John Thompson P’05, ’07 Chair, Development Committee
Dan Wolf ’65
DESIGN visiondesigngroup.com
Alana Zola ’09 The Cambridge School of Weston is an independent, coeducational day school for grades 9 – 12 and post-graduate study. Inquiries for admission should be directed to the Admissions Office at 781.642.8650.
Editor’s note: Due to delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic, this issue of The Gryphon is hitting mailboxes a little later than usual. We apologize for the wait, and hope you enjoy reading the pages within!
The portrait illustrations in this issue were created by alum Louisa Bertman and feature actual CSW alumni/ae, faculty, and students. For every assignment she receives, Louisa donates a portion of her earnings “to a sister in need who could use some support getting through this crisis #mutualaid #supportwomen #blacklivesmatter.”
The Gryphon welcomes class notes and photographs by alumni/ae, parents, and friends. Please email submissions to alum@csw.org, call 781.642.8619, visit www.csw.org, or send to: Alumni/ae Relations The Cambridge School of Weston 45 Georgian Road Weston, MA 02493
CONTACT To contact the editor, email gryphon@csw.org Website: www.csw.org
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www.fsc.org FSC® C009908
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Spring/Summer 2020
THE
Gryphon CONTENTS 2 Leading Thoughts 4 On the Quad 14 Together but Apart: Reflections from the COVID-19 Crisis 25 Graduation 2020! 26 Seniors 30 Class Notes 39 My Five
Artwork by Elias “EJ” Wallman ’21, from “Drawing: Conceptual Strategies.”
2 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2020
LEADING THOUGHTS I know many of you are reading this and wondering what our plans are as we close out summer and transition to the fall. You will not find this information here. If there is one thing we have learned from this crisis, it is that anything and everything can change in an instant. Future plans are constantly being re-shaped and re-configured, making print an impossible medium for conveying such important details. For the latest news and updates related to CSW’s coronavirus response, I encourage you to visit www.csw.org/coronavirus-response.
Dear community, When we first started planning for this magazine, we envisioned doing an issue entirely focused on politics and the upcoming election. Primary elections were in full swing, and our students and staff were gearing up for an exciting spring. Then the coronavirus crisis hit and everything changed. In what felt like the blink of an eye, we were forced to stop and reimagine everything we do, ultimately making the decision to close down campus for the remainder of the school year, with Mods 5 and 6 taught completely online. Our feature story this issue presents a snapshot from that time, with written reflections from students, faculty, and staff, along with a timeline of events, beginning from the moment we heard of this worrisome new virus and ending with the close of the 2019-20 school year. The many faces depicted on the cover of this issue, beautifully illustrated by artist and CSW alum Louisa Bertman, include CSW students, alumni/ae, and faculty past and present, artfully conveying the notion that we are all of us in this struggle together. The CSW community is vibrant, supportive, and strong, and I am so proud to be a part of it. Take a close look at these portraits; you just might see someone you know!
I imagine many of you are also eager to learn more about our community’s response to the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks and so many others, and the resulting protests across our nation this spring and summer. In recent days, I have been in close communication with a number of alumni/ae about how we, as a school, can do more to fight systemic racism in our own back yard. I want you to know that these important questions of diversity, equity, and inclusion are deeply personal to me, and I am committed to doing everything within my power as head of school to lead our community through the hard work that must be done to educate and empower our students, faculty, and staff to perpetuate a more just, informed, and equitable learning environment. This being said, I also know from firsthand experience, that these things take time, and I want to make sure that when we communicate about these issues, that we do it right — that we do it justice. I am excited to announce that the next issue of The Gryphon will be entirely dedicated to the issue of race at CSW. It is my hope that this special edition will bring forward many voices of past and present students, parents, faculty, and staff, giving us a realistic look at what it really means to be black or brown at CSW, and what a path forward might look like. If you are interested in getting involved, I encourage you to reach out to me directly at lcharlier@csw.org. For now, I wish each and every one of you continued health and safety. You mean more to this community than you could possibly know. Sincerely,
Lise Charlier, Head of School
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BLACK LIVES MATTER
IN
the wake of the tragic death of George Floyd, and the protests that ensued as citizens have shown up in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Movement across the country, CSW has struggled with its own understanding of what it means to be committed to racial justice. Over the past few weeks, we have had challenging moments and conversations. We have also come together to create a path forward. The change does not happen in the acknowledgment of wrongdoing alone, but in the consistent acts that follow and are sustained. We are committed to meeting your expectations and living and embodying the values we so often articulate. It is important to acknowledge that members of our community, specifically black and brown students and faculty, are often the ones doing the hard work of raising awareness and supporting and taking care of one another and our students. This is a reality, and one of the challenges of a predominantly white institution. We recognize this and acknowledge faculty and staff of color for the important work that they do and the contributions they make to our community. This burden should not fall on them, or on our affinity groups. As an educational institution, it is our responsibility to challenge our students and adult community members to learn and grow. How do we embody the values we articulate? How do our students and adults support one another, do the personal work to be truly anti-racist, and find meaningful ways to contribute to positive change? This must happen in all aspects of our work — in the classroom, in our programming, in our meetings and committees, at the board level, etc. This work is never complete and we must continue to move towards improving as individuals and as a community every day.
Lise Charlier Head of School
Rosanna Salcedo Dean of Equity & Inclusion
We commit to: • Offering new and different forms of support: spaces to express and listen, and spaces in which to work towards change. • Convening a Racial Equity Task Force to examine our policies, practices, pedagogy, programs, and curricula, and propose any necessary changes to ensure CSW supports the needs of our black and brown students, faculty, and staff. • Consistent, ongoing cultural competency and racial literacy training for adults across all departments. • Collecting data that will guide our work towards racial equity at our school. Some of the areas we will examine include: the admissions process; access in all aspects of the school program; the college counseling process; academic advising and support; residential life; health & counseling; and leadership opportunities. • Engaging in required anti-racist education with our students and adults, through the curriculum, additional programming, and professional development for faculty and staff. • Sharing resources for how to further learning and engage in larger movements happening around our country. • Providing greater access to a wider range of families, with a special focus on recruiting black and African-American students, faculty, and staff.
4 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2020
ON THE QUAD CSW Celebrates Diversity Day Community members came together for a day of activities and performances centered around the theme of diversity in January, taking part in workshops like “Jewish Culture through Food,” “Media Definitions of Whiteness,” “Stepping through Bachata,” and “Asian and Asian-American Cinema.” This year’s keynote was: “Jose Obando: The 350+ Year Evolution of Salsa.”
ON THE QUAD • 5
Students Earn 57 Regional Scholastic Art & Writing Awards A total of 16 Gold Key awards, 15 Silver Key awards, and 26 Honorable Mentions were presented to CSW students across 11 different categories, making for a total of 57 regional awards. From this group, two students went on to receive national
Jack Zhang ’20, Complex for Residents and Nature
CSW Robotics Makes it to Quarterfinals The CSW First Robotics Competition Team #5347 entered their first competition of the 2020 season February 28 – March 1, making it all the way to the quarterfinal playoffs. Their robot had to collect balls, shoot them into an elevated target, operate autonomously, and lift itself off the ground using a variable height bar.
recognition. Lola Koepke ’21 won a Silver Medal for her piece, “Collision,” in the Painting category. Jack Zhang ’20 earned a Silver Medal for his piece, “Complex for Residents and Nature,” in the Architecture and Industrial Design category.
Lola Koepke ’21, Collision
6 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2020
Orion Douglas ’21 Elected Vice-Mayor for the New England Region of JSA
2020 Dance Concert Amazes Audiences We’re still basking in the wonderment of SONDER, the 2020 CSW Dance Concert. Congrats and thank you to everyone involved! Sixteen choreographers and more than 40 student-dancers across all grade levels performed in the show.
CSW congratulates Orion Douglas ’21 on being elected as next year’s Vice-Mayor for the New England region by the Junior State of America Foundation Northeast State, one of six elected official positions in the Northeast State. At first hesitant, Orion decided on running for vice-mayor the night before candidacy declarations at Winter Congress after some encouragement from members of the CSW JSA Chapter.
Artist Janet Echelman P’23 Presents at Assembly CSW was delighted to welcome worldrenowned artist and current CSW parent Janet Echelman to campus in January for an assembly presentation. In her talk, Janet traced her journey as an artist, describing the moments and experiences that have led her to create the incredible fiber installations for which she has become known.
ON THE QUAD • 7
8 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2020
End-of-Mod Shows We were fortunate to be able to host four out of six end-of-mod shows live and in person this year. The last two were conducted virtually, with students working from home — but that didn’t stop them from making some seriously stunning and thought-provoking work!
Lucinda “Lu” Beard ’22, Me in Bug Form
Shumpei Sato ’23, Virtual Portrait
Sara Cooper ’20, Angry Self
Ruby Antinori ’21, Hit Parade
Jesse Neuman-Hammond ’20, After Archimboldo
Dakota Evans ‘21, Untitled
ON THE QUAD • 9
Boys’ Varsity Basketball Wins Championship At the start of the 2019-20 basketball season, coaches Bobby Savino and Jordan Clark ’05 had a plan for the Boys’ Varsity Basketball team. They wanted to rebuild the program and realign the vision to fit with school values. “Our goal was to create a community that stood up for one another and knew they could rely on each other and needed to for the success of the team. It was important to teach the students that the lessons we learned on the court transcend that experience alone,” said Jordan. “When one falters, we all falter, and when one succeeds, we all succeed. That was the mantra for the season and we asked a lot of our students to uphold our expectations.” The players took on this new challenge head on and quickly began to see results. “From the start of the season, Coach Bobby and Coach Jordan told us how they wanted to change the culture of our team, and we did. We weren’t just teammates anymore, we were family, we became brothers. We were looking out for each other not just on the court but off the court as well,” said co-captain Xavier Guzman ’20.
Throughout the 2019-20 season, coaches noticed players begin to take on new roles. Some learned how to be scorers. Others found pride in their defense or rebounding. The selflessness that individuals displayed throughout the season is what allowed them to succeed as a team Bobby says. On Friday, February 28, their hard work paid off! The CSW Boys’ Basketball Team traveled to the Marie Philip School for the Deaf (MPS) in Framingham for the MBIL D-II championship. After splitting their two regular-season matchups, the final was a winner-take-all tiebreaker. MPS got off to a hot start in transition as CSW took a few minutes to adjust to the pace of the game. After the Gryphons’ quick timeout, they adjusted against the press and were able to get a few easy buckets in transition. Good team basketball from both sides made for a close contest coming into halftime. Just before the break, MPS pushed the lead to five after a Gryphon turnover. With under a minute to go, Zenji Hart ’21 hit a three to bring CSW within two at half. In the second half, the Gryphons came out firing. Quick transition looks from Xavier Guzman ’20 and Lucas Hill ’20 pushed the Gryphon lead to five. MPS answered back,
but Isaac Frankel ’20 nailed a three to hold the CSW lead. With under ten minutes to play, the Gryphons led 38-33. Warren Wang ’23 and Peter Posever ’22 both added to the scoring to hold the Gryphons’ lead. With under three minutes to go, CSW led by five. MPS brought some pressure and were able to claw back with a minute to go. In the closing minute, Jack Vanourny ’22 came up with two clutch steals. At the line with six seconds left, up one, Vanourny missed the front end of the one and one, but grabbed his own rebound! After hitting his next free throw to push the lead to two with 3.2 seconds left, he missed the second free throw but contested a half-court heave that came up short. The CSW Gryphons won the MBIL D-II championship by a score of 48-46. The team had their eyes on the trophy before the season began and proved that with hard work and dedication, anything can be accomplished. “Winning the championship has definitely been a dream come true,” says William Feng ’20. “We worked hard for it throughout the season, and I’m glad that we were able to pull it off. It is an experience I will always remember.”
10 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2020
A Conversation with JSA —
CHAPTER OF THE YEAR
CHAPTER OF THE YEAR • 11
CONGRATULATIONS to the CSW JSA chapter who were selected as the 2019-2020 Chapter of the Year! Founded in 1934, JSA is an American, non-partisan youth organization meant to equip high school students with the leadership and knowledge necessary to be effective debaters and civic participants. We sat down with members of CSW’s JSA chapter to learn more about their personal experiences with the organization. Congrats on being named chapter of the year! Why do you think CSW was chosen for this honor? Orion ’21: I think the great thing about our chapter is just the fact that we work on a base of community. We’re a tight-knit group, but we also do a lot of work outside of the chapter when we go to conferences. We’re always willing to bring other people into our space and introduce them to CSW and what we do. What made each of you want to join JSA? William ’20: I guess what I really liked about JSA, and what led me to join, was this chance to engage with different political ideas that were not necessarily my own. We often hear about this idea of the bubble of your high school, the bubble of New England, right? And I think JSA, the organization, provides an awesome opportunity to burst that bubble, but in a conversational way rather than a competitive way. Obviously, there is competitiveness when you’re debating, but I think the focus is more on your public speaking. JSA gives you exposure to all kinds of political ideologies that you don’t necessarily get to hear in a progressive school like CSW. Ayla ’21: I saw a documentary film about Ruth Bader Ginsburg and I got super excited and inspired and thought, I need to get better at debating in politics! So I texted Julian ’19, who used to be the head of the chapter, at one in the morning and was like, OMG. I need to join! and then I really liked it and I stuck with it. Katie ’21: I joined at the beginning of sophomore year and it was pretty random. The first conference, I signed up for a debate and I got in, and I had no idea what I was doing. I literally had no idea what to say about the debate topic — didn’t understand it. I did the debate, and it was so terrifying, and I did really badly. But it definitely inspired me to keep going, because the person I was debating against was a really confident debater. So I figured if I kept doing JSA, at some point, I would have to be as confident as they were in debate! Stuart ’22: I hesitated joining JSA at first because I didn’t think I really liked politics. I thought, politics aren’t really my thing and this is the club about politics so why would I like it? But then I realized there are things that I’m interested in that are in fact political, like science and the ethics of scientific
inquiry. I’ve learned that politics is a much broader term than many kids my age think it is. How have you changed since joining JSA? What skills have you learned? Ruby ’20: One of the things that I really appreciate about JSA is that you often end up debating something you don’t believe in. And even if you’re debating the viewpoint you do believe, you have to look deep into the opposite viewpoint in order to counter that. So you really come to comprehend the value of understanding multiple viewpoints. Katie ’21: I remember debating that the moon landing was faked, and it was such a silly debate. But the side that won was actually the side saying the moon landing was fake, because they just committed. It’s fun to take such a ridiculous thing seriously and to know that even if the topic didn’t really make sense, we were still gaining debate skills and still working as a team to do it. Has engaging in formal debates changed the way you view national debates between presidential candidates? Orion ’21: In terms of the presidential election, it’s really forced me to look at candidates holistically, instead of focusing only on their looks, or their platforms, or the initiatives that they’re trying to get across. I look at what they’ve done in the past, what they’re doing now, and who and what they’re advocating for. I’ve learned not to move based on my own implicit bias. I try to separate what I think the United States needs from my own needs as an individual. I find myself thinking for the whole group versus myself. Anna ’21: In addition to the debates, I’ve also learned a lot about campaigning through JSA, specifically from my work on Orion’s campaign for Vice Mayor. It really made me think, okay, what are voters actually looking for? It’s a little sad, but campaigns are so much about image and how you portray yourself, rather than who you actually are and what you actually believe in. Which makes me think, who am I as a voter and what am I looking for in a candidate? And how much can I tear those superficial walls down in terms of what I want in a candidate? And how am I seeing this in my community?
“What I really liked about JSA, and what led me to join, was this chance to engage with different political ideas that were not necessarily my own.”
12 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2020
“When you’re raised in a specific political structure, you often don’t examine the structure itself....”
How has your view of American politics evolved through JSA? Ruby ’20: JSA has this initiative called “Fight Apathy,” where all chapters are encouraged to take on a specific issue and raise awareness in your community about it. This year we decided to focus our issue on voter suppression and it was an issue that I was sort of always aware of, but working on it in this way allowed us to really deep dive into it. We had a chapter conversation about gerrymandering and really delved deeply into the technicalities and history of it. And so I think that that was one specific element that helped me engage with elections in a new way. Anna ’21: At Winter Congress, the states that come together are the Northeast State — which is probably the most liberal State — and the Southeast State which is probably the most conservative. And because of this dynamic, when we’re trying to pass bills or shoot them down it’s kind of difficult. But I think that’s what makes it interesting, is that it’s really ultimately about compromise. Sometimes you have to say, okay, I don’t love this amendment but for this bill that I’d love to pass, we have to add it on. Often, you only get a little bit of what you want; it’s ultimately all about compromise.
Elise ’21: I also think that right now things are very polarized, which makes it really hard to approach issues. I think one great thing about JSA is that it offers you a window into issues that don’t have that same level of crazy polarization, and you get to consider things most people don’t have a strong opinion about yet. And so you get to hear ideas unfiltered by extreme bias built up over time. You really get to approach something and just hear the facts and opinions on both sides, which I think is really lovely. Maya ’22: I think I’m a lot more centrist than a lot of people, and it can be difficult for me to see where I fall because there’s these two very polarized distances, especially right now in politics. And it’s difficult for me to really identify with either of them because there’s so many different complex issues where I may not stand specifically on party lines. And so I think JSA allows me to kind of separate these issues and understand that I don’t have to agree with Republicans on every issue or Democrats on every issue; that there’s a lot of middle ground in between. Do you think any of you will go into politics one day? Ruby ’20: Next year, I’m moving abroad. I’m moving to Israel and I plan to get involved professionally in politics there. While a part of me feels like I’m starting over in learning about a whole different political system, I think it will be beneficial to have the two systems to compare to one another. Because when you’re raised in a specific political structure, you often don’t examine the structure itself, you just examine what goes on within it. So to be able to compare the two different countries, in nuanced political environments, will be really valuable. Orion ’21: I’m thinking about Urban Development and trying to intertwine that with politics. I’m also thinking about education systems in low-income communities, and really getting resources for our students that so that they can thrive. JSA has really allowed me to identify with different ideals and different things that need to happen in my community that I now know I can take a stand for through activism and discussion. I know that whatever I choose to do, that I can make a change. Katie ’21: I would love to work on a political campaign team when I’m older. It’s been really interesting watching people campaign through JSA.
CHAPTER OF THE YEAR • 13
“JSA has really allowed me to identify with different ideals and different things that need to happen in my community that I now know I can take a stand for through activism and discussion.”
14 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2020
TOGETHER BUT APART: Reflections from the COVID-19 Crisis
TOGETHER BUT APART • 15
Introducing GryphOnline IN
mid-March of 2020, as coronavirus cases continued to spread across the globe, CSW students and faculty were on Spring Break, all of us wondering if and when we might get the chance to return to campus. First, Spring Break was extended so faculty and staff could engage in training to get up to speed on the latest tools and techniques for teaching remotely. They were given just one week to completely convert their courses to a digital format, an impressive feat deserving of recognition. On March 30, 2020, CSW launched GryphOnline, a distance learning program we thought would be temporary, but that was ultimately extended through the end of the 2019-20 school year. Here’s a quick at the structure, research, and thinking behind this highly successful program. The Challenges
The Design
• Creating an accessible, sustainable daily schedule for students logging in across five different time zones around the world
• All students fully engaged in active synchronous and asynchronous learning for a full four hours each week.
• Developing equitable standards for coursework, assessment, and grading to accommodate for varying levels of access to tools and resources at home.
• Each class engaged in at least two hours of synchronous learning per week, with attendance taken daily at the onset of each A-B-C-D block.
• Challenging students while also being mindful of their emotional needs during a highly anxious, stressful, and confusing time. • Keeping students, faculty, and staff physically active and healthy.
• At least two of four class meetings each week were fully synchronous for the duration of the block. • Each student had at least one teacher-initiated individual face-to-face with teachers per week for questions and feedback. • A-B-C Blocks were used for synchronous learning and/or individual check-ins. Each student created their own schedule for asynchronous learning tasks with clear deadlines set by the teacher. • Students were expected to have no more than six hours (total) of work for a given class each week. This included a minimum of one hour of synchronous learning each week.
CSW COVID-19 TIMELINE
JANUARY
• All work was assessed on a pass/fail structure.
January 2020 News of the Coronavirus spreads. CSW community education begins with school administrators paying close attention to CDC guidelines on travel, health, and hygiene.
ENGAGEMENT BLOCK In surveying students and families alike, one thing was very clear: our students were craving more opportunities for social engagement, even if that meant engaging over Zoom. We heard them loud and clear and were excited to launch a series of fun, unique, student-, faculty-, and staff-led activities in Mod 6. These activities were open to all students, faculty, and staff, and were completely optional. Examples included: • Brunch with Aaron • Trivia with Jenna • Letter Writing and Sign Making for Healthcare Workers with Jordan • Fermentation Workshop: Making Sauerkraut with Kevin • Kahoot! with Julie • Sports Talk with Bobby
16 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2020
REFLECTIONS FROM A MOD APART Soon after the transition to GryphOnline in Mod 5, we asked community members to share their reflections. The following short essays and quotes were shared in May 2020.
Eli Keehn,
English Department
guide, she can reveal the inner workings of your own consciousness to you, show you how you think.
of the truisms of life under physical and social distancing is its sense of timelessness. The routines that once governed our movements and choices over the course of each day disappeared in mid-March, and with them went the invisible inflections that made our lives seem structured and purposeful and that differentiated each hour from the next. Tuesday used to have a feel; it doesn’t anymore, or at least not in any recognizable way.
So, for me, working with Virginia Woolf in the timeless and spaceless realm of remote teaching made a kind of cosmic sense. I’ve taught Woolf and Mrs Dalloway for five years and found some new successes in each iteration of the course. But the pace of CSW’s mod system — remember how fast it goes? — meant that we were always pressed for time, and that my rereadings of the novel each year were cursory at best. At the end of every mod, I’d tell myself that before next time I’d read it again the way you’re supposed to, the way I ask the students to: slowly, with care, adrift on its prose, letting yourself be carried along during those stretches where the plot and characters feel just out of reach.
Virginia Woolf is the perfect writer for such circumstances, and Mrs Dalloway the perfect novel. With more specificity than any writer I can think of, Woolf’s writing explores the ways that individual human consciousness perceives and interacts with the flow of time. Our thinking can move from present to past to future with incredible speed, precipitated by the slightest sensations. Woolf replicates that movement with uncanny accuracy. Her work is difficult to follow, because our minds are. But with practice and a good
The structure of our remote learning environment allowed the students and me to approach the text with this exact attitude. We did all of the work we’d do in a “normal” class — we wrote, discussed, analyzed, developed claims and arguments. But in some ineffable way, we all worried a lot less about getting everything done, about doing everything right. As they always do, the students found the novel challenging, but they met its challenge with a degree of openness and flexibility that I’ve never quite seen before.
FEBRUARY
One
February 28, 2020 CSW cancels the Mod Abroad to Amsterdam.
It all clicked for me one day as we discussed Woolf’s essay “On Being Ill,” where she describes the paradoxical sense of freedom that accompanies confinement in bed during an illness: We float with the sticks on the stream; helter-skelter with the dead leaves on the lawn, irresponsible and disinterested and able, perhaps for the first time in years, to look round, to look up — to look, for example, at the sky. For Woolf, being sick means disengaging from the flow and routine of life, and operating at a much more individualized and languid pace. Time loses its relentless forward motion, instead slowing down, spreading out, leaving room for a kind of deep and intense contemplation that isn’t possible when we’re healthy and expected to participate in society. That’s what this class and I were experiencing, I realized — but together, not alone, the way Woolf’s essay assumes. There was no world continuing on outside us, no “normal life” from which we were disconnected. That shared sense of humanity helped my students and I to see the timeless nature of our circumstances as an opportunity to explore and experiment. We couldn’t worry about what we might be missing: we weren’t missing anything. We will go back one day to the way things used to be, or some approximation of it. I will teach Mrs Dalloway to a classroom full of adolescents, all of us occupied with all kinds of academic and social pressures. In those moments, I hope I’ll be able to remember what it was like to teach this way, when we had the time to look up at the sky.
February 29, 2020 CSW is one of few schools to announce that it will be keeping two dormitories open over Spring Break in an effort to accommodate international students unable to travel home due to coronavirus outbreaks in their home countries.
TOGETHER BUT APART • 17
Ryan Cooke ’23
For
me, this pandemic has been confusing. I’ve missed so much — I miss my friends, I miss giving people hugs and high fives, I even miss waking up early to get ready for school. It’s been difficult to get into a routine in this changing time. Nothing is certain, and it is very clear that no one knows what the future holds. But there have been good things too. I’ve taken the time to create more art. I’ve done sidewalk chalk; I’ve painted my sneakers. My friends and I started a book group. I’ve enjoyed spending more time with my moms. We’ve gone on runs and read books and cooked together.
I think I’ll look back on this experience with a mix of feelings. It’s been scary to see how unprepared the world is; it’s been sad to see so many lives lost and changed for the worse. It’s been frustrating seeing people not take social distancing seriously. But it’s also been special, because I’ve spent more time with my family than I was able to before this happened. It’s been happy, because I have noticed people coming together in a way I hadn’t seen before. People helping their neighbors, putting rainbows in their windows, just doing simple acts of kindness. I think that if we continue on as so many have during this crisis, we will come out of this stronger and better than we were before.
Emily Li ’23 I had thought this year would finish strong The first few mods, they were long gone And I would’ve had the chance
Fiona Huang ’23
To refresh a bit
Some
Then slowly everything was building up
Enjoy my plans
of the biggest challenges of COVID-19 have definitely been the amount of time you spend just in your head. I do think it’s valuable, in a way, because rarely do we get so much time to reflect on ourselves and various aspects of our lives. However, I miss being able to connect with people and the many accidental relationships that are formed when we’re on campus. Never before have I had to “schedule” times in my day to see and talk to people who I would normally just pop in to say a quick “hey, how are you?” I miss the feeling and the energy of campus. It’s truly all the little things that make each day worth looking forward to — that first breath of fresh air after a class ends, the rushed conversations in between class blocks, seeing different groups of friends in the various hang out spots all over campus and even just being able to look down at the quad from the front of Garthwaite…
I knew it was coming and now had run amok Now, until we all see this rather large bump through We need all, to sit down, I think it true That what I’ve missed most and sought for The chance to glance at someone’s door Knock without a glove and fort To sit down and have a chat The awkward silence will fill the gaps As we have not co-existed for a very long time
All that said, I believe that I have gained a lot from this time in quarantine. Quarantine has, in my opinion, really put different relationships to the test and so through this, I’ve realized the friendships that I definitely took for granted. But at the same time, quarantine has strengthened existing relationships as well. Regardless, I’ve learned to cherish more of those who have been with me when times were hard and I hope to tend to these existing relationships more once quarantine is over and form new relationships, as well for relationships are, after all, where we get to influence, impact, and change people’s lives.
MARCH
So I guess, in the end, I would be coming out of COVID-19 with a better sense of what things are most important in my life and a mindset to live as much as I can without regret, taking as many opportunities as I can. Therefore, despite the many challenges, I truly am grateful for this experience.
March 5, 2020 CSW cancels the Mod Abroad to France.
March 12, 2020 Campus is closed to visitors until further notice.
You’ve had yours and I’ve had mine Though similar, indeed, it’s hard to deny Our connections, they strain, while apart Not quite to the nines Face to face is different than screen to screen I feel an absence in this way Maybe later we can seal the seam I hope someday we can think back to this time Together, but stronger, not close to falling off a line
March 13, 2020 The start of Mod 5 is pushed back from March 23 to March 30, with all classes conducted virtually until at least April 13.
All large, school-sponsored public gatherings are canceled for the foreseeable future. Campus remains closed.
18 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2020
When I
said farewell to my Spanish 2 students and wished them a happy Spring Break on Friday, March 6, I had no idea that the next time I would see and teach them would be on Zoom. On March 6 I had heard of Zoom, but had never used it and only had a vague idea of what it was. One month later, I was beginning my second week of teaching Spanish 2 online using Zoom.
idea even existed just one month ago. I now have more time to learn things that I did not have time to learn before, which will (hopefully) result in a positive online learning experience for my students. I am utilizing the Spanish 2 course page and the MyCSW intranet portal in ways I did not know were possible until recently, and my students seem to appreciate the improved
My first Zoom meeting took place on March 23 with my advisory group. Seeing their faces in boxes on my computer screen reminded me of the Brady Bunch, and it was a little strange at first, but it was great to see them and catch up. We talked about ways in which we were staying active and using our time in innovative and creative ways. After all, before this happened, wasn’t a frequent complaint from students and adults alike that we all wished we had more time to do the things we wish we had more time to do? We have seen each other’s dogs and cats, discussed rising juniors’ schedules, discussed banana bread recipes, and laughed together. I taught Spanish on Zoom for the first time on March 30. It was great to see and hear my Spanish 2 students and re-establish some pedagogical normalcy. We have three hours of class time each week and individual check-ins once a week. During those ten-minute meetings, I alternate between providing feedback on writing and having oral proficiency assessments. These individual check-ins have been a great opportunity for me to help students improve their writing, practice speaking Spanish, and discuss each student’s progress and online learning experience. Despite the uncertain and scary times in which we find ourselves, teaching and learning online has presented a lot of great opportunities. I have never considered myself “tech savvy,” and I still don’t, but I know how to do things now that I had no
together, in our classroom at school. Maya always arrives to class early and eats an orange. I miss the way our classroom smells of oranges at 8:30 a.m. every morning. I miss seeing my students’ funny and informative stickers on their laptops. I miss Emelia’s artwork on the whiteboard. I even miss Stella’s Toast Malone shirt! I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I even miss fire drills, because at least we’re all together during them. I can’t wait to see everyone when we return to school. Not if, but when. In the meantime, we know that we can teach, advise, and learn online and we will continue to do so until we can be together again. We are fortunate to count several “tech innovators” as colleagues, so I am confident that the best that GryphOnline has to offer is yet to come and am looking forward to more training and more pedagogical inspiration moving forward.
Jordan Clark ’05, Ben Ibbetson,
Director of Community Programs for Equity & Inclusion
structure, organization, and efficiency. Having to do things very differently has made me reflect on what I value and prioritize as a teacher. When all is said and done, I think that I will be a better teacher and that my students will be happier and more successful. In-class tests have been replaced by one-on-one conversations in Spanish. The emphasis is where it should be: on learning the language, and not earning the highest grade possible. Yes, there is a silver lining in all of this, but make no mistake: if this experience has reinforced one thing for me it is that there is no substitute for teaching and learning,
This has been an opportunity for me to challenge myself to adapt. How do I grow and learn in turmoil and uncertainty? It has given me time to reflect and gain perspective. To reallocate my time towards the people and things that are most important to me. Often in times of comfort, we become stagnant, this moment has allowed me to reflect and adapt.
Languages Department, College Counseling
March 16, 2020 Virtual learning is extended until through the end of Mod 5 (March 30, 2020).
March 19, 2020 Alumni/ae and Development cancels all in-person alumni/ae gatherings through the spring, including Reunion 2020.
TOGETHER BUT APART • 19
Jen Quest-Stern,
Director of Community Health & Counseling current generation of young people impacts how we collectively forge ahead.
I am a
parent of two young people and work as a mental health professional. I both ask and respond to the persistent question: what will happen to the children who come of age during this global COVID-19 pandemic? 2020 has up-ended our collective routine in order to prioritize human protection, nourishment, and treatment. Young people are learning outside of the classroom. They are forging connections while physically separated from one another. Due to the dire circumstances of this time, the question of who these young people are becoming is uttered with fear. In response to this concern, it is critical to note that these young people are: the Re-Generation.
Our culture has a bad habit of belittling the up-and-coming generations: the Gen Xers (of which I am one) who were “causeless,” “directionless”... “useless” even. We criticize the “self-centered” folks of Gen Y and the Millennials, Gen Z, or Zoomers. We simultaneously pressure the next generation while judging them for not being able to save society from its own undoing. It’s time to quit the habit of negatively viewing how young people respond to a world that they inherited. How we name the
March 22, 2020 International Spring Break program ends; students return home.
Young folks meet the demands of the time as they lean in with their natural curiosity, protest, take developmentally significant risks, apply fresh perspectives, and share their affection. Their unique temperaments and circumstances mix together such that their responses and contributions are varied and dispersed. The youth in 2020 are regenerating our social, cultural, and even biological world, just by being themselves, just by growing. By seeing and naming the power of their creativity and resilience, we recognize the positive growth that is already present, even in the midst of crisis. As a person in the world, I see how large, visible acts of youth build awareness and impact policy. Shifts occur when young people spend their time and energy speaking up, speaking out and even sailing across the seas in an effort to change the world for the better. As a counselor in a high school, I see intimate moments as students show up, now over a screen, or through an email. They come, on their own volition, to talk through their experiences, lean into their own emotional landscape, plan their own care and explore their connective capacity. These young people get
no grade or credit for counseling — this is their own time, reflective and generative in nature. As a mother, living with my two sons, 24 hours a day, day in and day out, I see them finding their way. It is both heartwarming and heartbreaking to watch them participate in classroom discussions with their teachers and classmates over a computer screen. Poignantly, they have memorized the current equation: staying at home = contributing. The isolating stay-athome order, at its core, highlights the connection between our home and the community at large. In response to the question: “What will happen to the children?” I can assure you... I don’t know. The future is unfolding and we learn as we go. What I do know is that their future, our future, will be well served by compassionately recognizing that the young people around are clearly, already, bringing renewal and restoration. In my field of work, we say: past behavior is the best predictor. Let’s take cues from how young people are responding, five months into this deeply challenging decade. Take note of what young people are doing (not what they aren’t doing) as a way of both affirming their growth as well as honoring that young people (always) deserve to be held in high esteem. As we tread through this spring filled with unknowns, let’s see the current phoenix rising up from the current ashes. Let’s balance fears and soothe senses by knowing that we are raising, and living amidst, the Re-Generation.
Cadence Rosenblum ’21 I have been working towards finding my personal artistic voice as a dancer. I’ve been taking lots of live classes and learning as many combinations as I can. Although I miss the energy of the dance studio, when you aren’t there you aren’t comparing yourself to others, and you have time to harness your craft and rediscover why you are passionate about your art form.
March 24, 2020 Faculty and staff begin training for online teaching.
March 30, 2020 GryphOnline, CSW’s online learning program, begins for all students.
20 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2020
On my last day
Rachel Sontheimer ’20
of high school, I sat in a bright corner of my school’s art department, chatting with a group of friends. I was feeling cheerful; it was the last day before spring break and the sun was shining. A few minutes after 2:30 p.m., I said goodbye to my friends and walked down to the student parking lot, listening to one of my favorite songs. I didn’t realize those were my last moments on campus as a student. That was March 6th. In the weeks since then, hundreds of thousands of people worldwide have died, and millions more have sickened. Businesses have closed, unemployment rates have reached levels unheard of since the Great Depression, and we have witnessed multiple killings of Black people by white police officers. As if that isn’t enough, my class has also had to contend with college decisions and the loss of many beloved senior traditions. No dances, no graduation, no senior prank—honestly, it feels like the prank was on us. All our normal rituals, designed to help us celebrate and say goodbye, have had to be canceled or reinvented. I first had to wrestle with the impact of that when the time came to make a college decision. I started hearing back from the schools I applied to the week that Governor Baker issued Massachusetts’s stay-at-home order. The news was good—but the feeling of celebration didn’t last long, because soon it set in that I had to make a major life decision during a global crisis. Having choices for college is a huge privilege, and it’s not one I take for granted. All the same, making my decision pushed me to my breaking point in a time when I had little energy left to give. For weeks I agonized over my choice. I narrowed it down to two colleges, filled my journal with pro-con lists, and spent hours over the dinner table in conversation with my family about each of the two. I cried every day for two weeks. Finally, on April 30, one day before the deadline, I sat on my sister’s bed and worked up the courage to commit to my school. With tears rolling down my face and my sister gently rubbing my knee, I submitted my response and paid the deposit.
APRIL
I’ve always imagined making a college decision as a joyful occasion. I couldn’t understand at first why it felt like I was in mourning instead. I wasn’t sad because I thought I had made the wrong choice—weeks of research had convinced me it was what I wanted. I may never be able to explain everything I felt that day, but what I do understand is that when I pushed that button, it made it real to me like nothing else had that I wasn’t going back to high school. The grief I had been carrying for weeks spilled out of me. I will never count down the last seconds of the last day of classes with my peers.
April 14, 2020 Campus is closed for the remainder of the school year, with students engaging in GryphOnline through Mod 6.
I won’t wear a white dress and hold my best friends’ hands under a packed white tent. I will never again chat with my classmates between periods or hang out in a favorite teacher’s office or do homework in a pool of sunlight on the quad. I was mourning an early goodbye to the person I have been in high school. High school is not as sparkling or as glamorous as Disney Channel or movie adaptations of YA novels would have you believe. But if you’re lucky, as I have been, it’s a time of enormous growth, both personal and academic, and a time to be surrounded by wonderful and fascinating people. It’s also arguably the last time we have permission from society to be children. This won’t be the best part of our lives—god forbid—but it’s worth mourning. There is so much grief right now. We are mourning the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Nina Pop, Tony McDade, David McAtee, Elijah McClain, and countless other members of the Black community that have lost their lives to police brutality and white supremacy. We are mourning loved ones who have died from COVID-19. Most of my class is also mourning the future we thought we’d have. Fear for the future is something I’ve seen a lot in my peers, even before the pandemic hit. We’ve known that we will have to contend with climate change, crippling student debt, racial violence and police brutality, and the housing crisis, among other things. Now, as we enter adulthood, we also have to wrestle with the economic downturn—on top of family lost to the virus and struggles to pay rent. Our futures feel more fragile than ever. We’ve had to grow up too fast. The losses and the challenges we face, along with the rest of our country, are immense. Yes, we should have had our happy ending, and yes, the future is uncertain—but hasn’t it been all along? We don’t need false positivity. What we need is to accept each other’s grief and face the challenges of the coming years with clear eyes.
All school-sponsored, in-person celebrations and group gatherings through July 1 are canceled.
April 16, 2020 CSW holds its first virtual alumni/ae gathering with alumni/ae and friends from the DC area.
TOGETHER BUT APART • 21
Patrick Foley, History Department Jane Reynolds,
Director of Residential Life, English Department
I think
it is hard to say anything about silver linings right now. Hundreds of thousands of people have died unnecessarily and millions of people have had their lives forever changed by a virus that should have been able to be contained. That is not to say I haven’t learned a lot, though. If we get to the other side of this without learning something, about ourselves and our world, there would be no point to what we have experienced. I am grateful for the time I’ve had with my family, especially my five-yearold daughter who brought me joy every day, even on the really rough ones. I have learned that community isn’t just about living close to a bunch of people. I appreciate the little things more like a short walk in the woods or the smell of justbloomed flowers. I can’t wait to hug my friends and family, be back in the classroom and the dorms with my students and colleagues, and smile at a stranger without a mask on.
Our current
condition has been my teacher. I connect with the suffering of the world, and I know I am intimately part of it. I recognize the nature of impermanence and suffering, which leads me to examine the origins of my suffering. I am not waiting for some future time to be happy; I am practicing how to be happy now by removing my attachment to the desire for things to change, rather than being fully me, right here, right now. This condition has pushed me to practice living in the present moment and to stop longing for the past or hoping for future miracles. The miracle I have discovered is to be alive now, no matter what.
Anna Whitney ’21
Late Mod 5
into Mod 6 is just about my favorite time of year, so I do regret not being able to watch campus bloom again this year. It’s always so exciting when it gets warm enough to eat lunch outside on the beach, and I don’t have to bundle up to get from class to class. Still, as life slows, I’m noticing the subtle changes in the season and weather more and appreciating nature in a deeper sense. To be able to look out the window and observe that the wildflowers look like they’ve turned a slightly deeper purple that day or open the door and recognize how the air smells fresher following a warm day is a special experience.
Toni Singleton,
Owen Raiche ’22
School Nurse
2020 has been many things to me. As a human I am subject to many emotions and shifting viewpoints, meaning that my experiences cannot be boiled down to a simple pattern. In broad strokes, these are my views and experiences during COVID-19. 1) Life has become more boring as days tend to blend more easily. 2) My job as a service employee is a lot easier as there is less foot traffic (still no hazard pay though). 3) It was a breath of fresh air from the fast-paced way of living I had previously indulged in. 4) May my sleep schedule rest in peace. 5) I miss my friends and things that I never thought I could ever come to miss, like the tranquility of my campus after school was over and I stayed behind to do homework.
April 16-20, 2020 Head of School Lise Charlier hosts grade-specific, Zoom Q&A sessions for current parents.
April 29, 2020 CSW launches the CSW Resilience Fund to respond to the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic with flexibility and strength, addressing the immediate and future needs of CSW students, families, and faculty.
Mourning
the loss of so, so many people, globally...accepting the need for hypervigilance, celebrating cleaner air and the hope of helping nurture in a kinder, more gentle, and reflective world.
The CSW Day of Giving raises $150,000 in 24 hours.
April 30, 2020 CSW holds the first-ever virtual End-of-Mod Show
22 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2020
Social Justice Day Michael H. Feldman ’67 Social Justice Day at CSW serves as a permanent memorial to a young, socially conscious, highly motivated, and engaging CSW alumnus. This year’s focus was supposed to be the American criminal justice system, but given the current state of the world and the ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Social Justice Day Committee decided to postpone this topic for 2021, and instead turn the school’s attention towards COVID-19, exploring the disease through the lens of activism and social justice. On Wednesday, April 22, students began the day in advisory groups where they read and discussed articles highlighting the manner in which the coronavirus pandemic has exposed and exacerbated existing social inequities. Later, the school community gathered for a virtual assembly, to hear directly from Makam, Senior Program Coordinator, United States at WITNESS in Brooklyn, NY. In her address, Makam talked about her own trajectory as an activist and shared insights, strategies, and ideas for budding activists to implement in their own lives.
MAY
After the keynote, students, faculty, and staff were able to choose from 10 breakout student- and faculty-led forums to discuss specific aspects of the coronavirus pandemic as they relate to issues of social justice. Forum topics included: price gouging, PPE, xenophobia, issues of race and class, systemic structures, ableism, and environmental racism.
May 1-2, 2020 Over 150 alumni/ae gather together for CSW Reunion Reimagined, seven virtual events hosted over the course of two days.
May 4, 2020 CSW launches optional, online “Engagement Block” activities like “Breakfast with the Dean of Students,” to help keep students connected and engaged beyond the classroom.
May 7, 2020 Mod 6 begins with the launch of GryphOnline 2.0, a revised version of the Mod 5 online learning program based on feedback from students, faculty, and staff.
TOGETHER BUT APART • 23
Reunion Re-Imagined
A Song for the Times
At the beginning of the COVID-19 quarantine, Lion He ’21 began to realize how much he took his connections with others for granted, and found many of his friends felt the same way. As an artist and musician, he felt compelled to act.
When it became clear that CSW would not be able to host an on-campus reunion this spring, alumni/ae rallied together and partnered with the school to create a virtual platform for engaging and connecting as a community. With seven events over the course of just two days, over 150 alumni/ae, from across the US and around the world gathered together to share memories and catch up. We kicked things off on Friday, May 1, with a welcome address from Head of School Lise Charlier. On Saturday, classes came together for their own virtual reunions, with a special virtual faculty panel featuring Denise Chamberland, Orlando and Kelly Leyba, Marilyn Cook, and Lee Wilson. One particular highlight was the Class of 1970 and Friends’ choral performance of CSW favorites like “Hey, Ho, to the Greenwood.” Thank you to all, for helping to make this year’s reunion happen. This has been an experience none of us will soon forget. We look forward to seeing you all at 2021 Reunion Weekend, April 30 – May 2!
Planning for the Fall As we have all learned over the past few months, everything can change in an instant. Although many of you are wondering what is happening at CSW now, as we turn the corner from summer to fall, we feel this is information best shared online, where details can more easily be updated in real time.
JUNE
To learn the latest on CSW’s coronavirus response, please visit www.csw.org/coronavirus-response.
June 8, 2020 Head of School Lise Charlier hosts a “Head’s Holiday,” for seniors, excusing them from class and inviting local families to return to campus one last time to pick up a special graduation package.
“I feel like part of what being a musician means is to bring communities together, and to speak certain emotions to people. That’s when this project came to mind.” First Lion created an original track and song idea. Then he sent it to a fellow CSW student, who layered on top of it, and then another, and another, and so on and so forth. This continued along with lots of back and forth and bouncing off ideas, until it finally became a beautiful piece titled, “It’s About Time.” The song features Lion on rhythm guitar, Anna Whitney ’21 on bass, Ella Harrington ’21 on vocals, Jake Todd ’20 on cello, Zac Walker ’20 on keyboard and Josh Bass ’20 on guitar. Lion also produced the drum track and mixed and mastered the piece. And all of this was done, mind you, without the students ever getting together in person. “In the middle of this project, police brutality and systematic racism finally began to receive widespread attention, and it felt even more necessary to complete this project,” Lion shared in an all-school assembly. “We wanted to use our voices to speak out and to hopefully bring people together in the times that we most need.” Listen to “It’s About Time,” at https://bit.ly/37Bb1jG.
June 10, 2020 The Class of 2020 celebrates Senior Night with a virtual rave.
June 12, 2020 Members of the Class of 2020 join CSW faculty and staff on Zoom for a graduation video “watch party.”
24 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2020
S
chools across the country had to get creative with their graduations this year, and CSW was no exception. With strict restrictions on group gatherings in Massachusetts still in place for
June, school administrators found themselves faced with a difficult decision: hold a heavily
modified in-person celebration or conduct the entire program virtually? With the majority of boarding students (both international and domestic) having already returned home, administrators
decided quickly that an in-person gathering would not be possible. A ceremony accessible to some, but not all of the Class of 2020, would run counter to the school’s values of equity and inclusion.
In late May, speakers elected by the Class of 2020 returned to campus to have their speeches pre-recorded, and a team of staff got started working on a special graduation video, to premiere at 9:00 a.m. EST on Friday, June 12. In an effort to provide students and families with the experience of watching the ceremony together, administrators also hosted a special Zoom “Watch Party,” for graduating seniors and CSW faculty and staff. This allowed students to watch the pre-recorded ceremony on a split-screen, while also seeing each other’s faces and engaging with one another using the chat functionality in Zoom. The video began with images from campus, followed by a “processional” consisting of candid photos of members of the Class of 2020, with music faculty members Gustavo Brasil and Michael Weinstein providing the music. After moving speeches from Head of School Lise Charlier, Board Chair Ann Gorson P’16, History Teacher Ryan Jacobs, Visual Arts Teacher Tom Evans P’06,’10, and students Lev Goldman ’20 and Ruby Russell ’20, the video transitioned to the conferral of diplomas. In keeping with tradition, graduates were able to choose a select number of faculty and staff to confer their diplomas. Each of these 10 faculty members was pre-recorded saying each student’s name. After each faculty member was shown calling a student’s name, the video would show the student’s senior portrait, along with a special, personalized addition this year — a contemporary Haiku or Senryu about the graduate written by that student’s advisor. At the same time, Zoom Watch Party coordinators simultaneously cut to a live shot of the student in their home with their family, making for a surprisingly intimate and moving viewing experience. Plans are underway for an on-campus, in-person celebration of the Class of 2020 in 2021. CSW community members can watch the full 2020 graduation recording at www.csw.org/graduation.
GRADUATION 2020 • 25
Graduation 2020!
26 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2020
SENIORS
GRADUATION 2020 • 27
HEAD’S HOLIDAY FOR SENIORS On Monday, June 8, Head of School Lise Charlier excused graduating seniors from classes for a special “Head’s Holiday.” On this day, students and families from the Class of 2020 were invited to come to campus one last time to pick up their yearbooks and a special surprise package from the school with photos, items for Senior Night, and an assortment of CSW swag. In an effort to keep everyone safely distanced, families were excused from their vehicles, three at a time, with the opportunity to walk around campus for about 10 minutes each. Families were also afforded the chance to pose in front of the WeAre sign for a professional photographer.
30 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2020
CLASS NOTES 1930s Julianne Neaverson ’35 died in February 2020 at 103 years old. As one of our oldest living alums, Julianne was a very loyal donor at CSW with over 45 years of consecutive giving. During her life, Julianne was dedicated to many causes and organizations. She and her siblings were introduced to The Cambridge School of Weston by John French himself, who also was a family friend.
1940s Maggie Domini ’44 writes: I’m still alive!! My Domini family and my extended Colt clan are the center of my life. I am repelled and heartsick at the political situation but continue to feel grateful for a happy life. Ruth Nagano ’45 writes: After retiring as a Microbiologist from the Health Department Laboratory, I’ve been able to attend my son, Kent’s concerts. He is the Music Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and at the Hamburg, Germany, Opera and Symphony. The other son takes me to sporting events so that I can watch my favorite San Francisco teams...the Giants and the SF Warriors. My two daughters watch to make sure no one can pull a scam on an innocent elderly lady.
1950s Richard Fleck ’54 writes: I now have a website: Nick Fleck’s Blog: www.nickfleck.com. I plan to subtract/add material about every two weeks. And some of your teachers might like my “Teaching Memoirs,” which has excerpts from “A Little Book on Teaching,” essays about teaching, poetry, and nature photography. Bruce Beal ’54 writes: We divide our time between Palm Beach and Boston/Woods Hole, where fortunately we live beside Mary Lemann Goldman ’54. I have a grandson, Parker ’20, who graduated from CSW in the spring. I am still active in my business and several nonprofits. Life remains exciting, full of new adventures and experiences .
Lois Knight ’57 writes: I am all of 80 this year, spending time between Nashville and Captiva Island. Trying to contribute time and energy to my favorite place, The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, which I helped found in 1995. Husband Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert, is busy 24/7 with the coronavirus. Both busy and healthy! Enjoying lockdown with books, online bridge, and watching my husband on TV as a COVID-19 expert. Long walks in the neighborhood! Quiet life. Mary Doll ’58 writes: I retired in May from teaching, a profession that I have adored for 53 years in 5 states East and West. Next adventure: undetermined. Mulling the options such as singing in the Philharmonic Chorus, volunteering at the hospital, and of course reading and writing. The last issue of The Gryphon featured a photo of me with my son, Will ’91 and Gay Donham Quereau ’58. Here I offer a shout out to Lise, wishing her all the best in her new role at CSW. Tom Hinkle ’58 writes: My book, Small Wonder, a History of Small Point, Maine, will be published by year’s end — September 2020. It is the story of a village within the coastal town of Phippsburg, near the site of the first European settlement in 1607. It is also my own history. I hope that it will have broad appeal.
1960s Ed Freeman ’60 writes: It’s been a wild ride: after I (just barely) survived CSW, I lived in France, dropped out of college, went crazy, hitchhiked halfway around the world, played guitar and lute, worked on the last Beatles tour, wrote a lot of music, produced a bunch of albums (including American Pie), traveled around the world (flying this time) came out as gay; my proudest accomplishment from back then is that my dog bit Charlie Manson! These days I live a very temperate life with my partner, work 12 hours a day making fine art photographic images that end up in museums and galleries, and
teach Photoshop. Happy and healthy (finally) and life is good! Arthur Krim ’61 writes: Now retired-working on prehistoric archaeology research and CITGO preservation. Still in touch with Janet Whelan ’61 and Jeff Fine ’61 during the COVID-19 crisis and enjoying reruns of Columbo. Tom Kennedy ’61 writes: Not so long ago my wife and I visited Yoshi Kisaka ’60 and his wife Nobuko in Hiroshima. Yoshi is a doctor, like his father and grandmother, and his son and daughter are both doctors as well. He has his own hospital and nursing home. He is also very happy about the arrival of his first grandchild. He remembers his year at The Cambridge School of Weston with great fondness. He and his wife welcomed us very warmly, and we had a wonderful visit. Michal Goldman ’62 writes: What times my classmates and I have lived through since we met, and what times we find ourselves and each other in now. We’ve come around to Boccaccio’s Decameron again, almost 700 years after he wrote it. I’m enjoying my pleasures as much as ever. But I’m confused about where to put whatever remains of my shoulder against whatever remains of my wheel. Something I used to know the answer to.
Navy, where he served until 1972. He then moved to California for graduate studies in geology at UC Berkeley, and worked for a couple of years as a geological consultant in Teton County in Wyoming, before opening a small business servicing and restoring old Ferrari cars. We remember his dedication, his enthusiasm and his real joy in organizing all of us as a class, encouraging us to attend our 40th and then our 50th reunions at the school. The last few years were difficult for him, with medical problems accumulating, so just before Christmas of 2019, he moved back to New England to be nearer to some of his family. He loved the West, and he loved Vinalhaven, Maine, where he spent summers as a youth. We shall all miss him. Lisa Leyre ’64 writes: We have just learned of the death of our classmate Frances Powers ’64. Many of us remember her coming to our 50th reunion with her dogs, and can be thankful that she was able to meet up with those of us present at that time. Since I received this sad news, I’ve been in touch with the class of ’64 to inform them; all replies received indicate that our friends are doing their best to stay safe and healthy in the current situation. Here in France, we’re just beginning to emerge from a very serious lockdown, and I’m fine.
John Bowditch ’63 writes: I’m just finishing up the installation of a late 19th century machine shop in the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium in Dubuque, IA. This shop was originally located in Bellevue, IA. It will be running with compressed air driving the original steam engine that dates from about 1880. This is actually historically accurate as the original owners converted to air operation in the early 20th century.
Bob Fogel ’64 writes: Like many people during the pandemic, I have been reading, watching Netflix, having video calls, and working on long delayed projects. Four people I know have had the COVID-19 virus but fortunately in its milder form. I miss my volunteer activities, particularly at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. Hope everyone is well.
From the Class of 1964: The Class of 1964 is very sorry to announce the death of Will Haible ’64, our class president, on June 20, 2020. Will arrived at CSW as a junior in the fall of 1962. After graduating, he went to Harvard, majoring in geology, and in 1968 joined the
Peter Deutsch ’64 writes: I hope you’re all coping well with the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. As I did in 2019, I spent January through March 2020 in wonderful Vancouver, BC, continuing to lay the foundation for my planned
CLASS NOTES • 31
Helen Wilson ’66
emigration, which is looking much more feasible thanks to a preliminary job offer from a Canadian company. This time, I drove my Prius up and back, which I found much more pleasant than I expected. Michael, our canine family members Marta and Kanna, and I are all doing reasonably well in our constricted shelter-in-place life, aside from a tendency to do too much baking (we have two pear galettes, two lemon meringue pies, and a banana crisp in the fridge right now). We’re happy that Sonoma County has done such a good job of social distancing and other preventive measures that they’ve reopened the hiking trails at our nearby open space preserve. On the music front, I’m happy to announce the release of a new CD from PARMA Recordings, Through Glass, on the Navona label, that includes my piece “De Profundis Clamavi,” performed by Trio Casals, a fine ensemble who have recorded several of my works before. Fans of Renaissance-flavored polyphony will especially enjoy this piece. For those who know me from graduate study at CSUEB in 2009-2010, note that this is a new piece, completely different from the choral setting of the “De Profundis” text that I wrote while at CSUEB. I think I’ve missed announcing some of my CD releases (this one is #7!!), so you might want to stop in at
www.lpd.org for the complete list. If you just want to check out Through Glass, the release page is at www.navonarecords.com/ catalog/nv6289. I have some complimentary copies of the CD left; if you’d like to have one, while they last, just send me your mailing address. And I just completed a choral piece titled “When We Are Apart,” for choruses in the COVID-19 era. This is a very difficult time for performers in particular. Helen Wilson ’66 writes: I’m still in Wellfleet, living in the house I grew up in, keeping bees and chickens, painting, drawing, having my work shown, still working as a public servant (currently on the Town’s Selectboard), still feeling the loss of my partner of 47 years, Timothy Woodman. I had cataract surgery and a hip replacement, like so many people my age, and can see clearly, and walk without pain for the first time in many years! Hannah Dennison ’66 writes: Since spring 2016 I have been working on The Quarry Project, a site-specific dance/theatre piece being created for the Wells Lamson quarry, located in the small village of Websterville, VT. It is one of the oldest, deepest granite quarries in the country, now flooded and in “reserve.” Dancers and artists will perform on a floating stage while the audience views from an
additional floating viewing station. Performances slated for August 2020 have been postponed to August 2021. In 2018, the Quarry Project was selected for a National Dance Project (NDP) finalist award — a big deal for yours truly, first VT dance artist to be invited to the final round, and one of a tiny handful of sitespecific dance artists considered. Cradle to Grave Arts, the nonprofit I started in 1991, was honored by the Vermont Arts Council, along with two other longstanding VT arts organizations for our commitment to working in the community. The $5,000 award cited the Quarry Project as an excellent example of Creative Placemaking. Check out the Quarry project online at www.thequarryproject2020.com. Anki Wolf ’67 writes: We had a busy and exciting year last year, with both my sons getting married. Matt, my older son, was married in June 2019 in York Harbor, ME, and Jake, my younger son, was married on Labor Day weekend 2019 at the top of Mt. Sunapee, near our NH home. Matt and Caitlin are expecting their first child in late August 2020. Between the fall of 2018 and the fall of this past year, we had three weddings and a funeral (sound like a movie?!). My mother died at age ninety-eight, Mark and I got married, along with my two sons. Very busy family! Christopher Walling ’67 writes: Some of you know that I owe my career to a German torpedo — the sinking of the Lusitania, to be precise. One of our first women architects, Theodate Pope Riddle (a cousin of Phillip Johnson’s, btw), made a vow as
she saw it going down (in 18 minutes...) and 1,159 men giving their lives up so that women and children could get into the lifeboats that she’d design, build and endow a school for boys if she survived. She barely did, and built Avon Old Farms (in Connecticut) soon after, spending $7,000,000 of her own money to do so. She made the boys also choose a craft to learn. Dad chose jewelry; he taught it to me when I was eight and thereby put my feet on the path of what I love. Theodate’s house museum (Hillstead, in Farmington) is nearby (with arguably the best Degas painting in the country, among others). I visited it in 1990. They told me she was also a filmmaker but they didn’t have the money to save the film. I took out my check book and asked: “How much?” All to say that I got to thank Mrs. Riddle across the generations for the great, great thing she did “for me.” At Christmas this year I was invited to do a benefit exhibit of my work at the museum, and I did! Talk about “full-circles!” I’m choosing to remember this as I write rather than about the pandemic and the horrific state our country is in. Billy Keyserling ’67 writes: Hello, all. I remain busy and happy as the Mayor of the best hometown in the world. If you have never been to the SC sea islands it’s worth the visit. While I continue to love being the mayor of my hometown, after twelve years as mayor, four on City Council, and four in the SC House of Representatives, I am thinking it may be time to turn the job over to someone who has the spirit and vision I had when first elected. But whether or not I decide to go for a fourth term, I am very busy harnessing the opportunities we
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! Everyone is invited to submit news to the Alumni/ae Office. Please email news and photos to alum@csw.org.
32 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2020
achieved, after working for 16 years, with the establishment of the Reconstruction Era National Historic Park and Network. I formed a not-for-profit whose primary mission is to help grow and sustain the national park and to develop education programming around experiential arts infused throughout, which challenges 11-15 year olds to ask questions of our unknown past and to interpret them through video production, visual, written and spoken words, and song and movement. It is an exciting venture because it has the potential of unleashing this and future generations from the shackles of an unknown past and in doing so prepares them for the third civil rights movement. Money is a challenge so anyone interested in learning more please let me know. Paul McMahon ’68 writes: The headline is: Woodstock Mailman Sells Used Pizza Box for $3,000. Yes, it’s true folks! ’Pictures Generation’ artist Paul McMahon 1968 (c’est moi!) has sold a used pizza box at 321 Gallery in Brooklyn, where he had several on display until March 16, 2020 (321gallery.org). Plus, in January, after quite a few decades of writing and performing songs and 10 albums, I finally did my first tour as a singer/songwriter playing solo in DC, Baltimore, Philly, and Brooklyn for a fanbase of mostly 20-something musicians and music fans. It was remarkably successful and fun; something I’ll do more of soon, g-d willing! (paulmcmahon.bandcamp.com) I am also proprietor of the Mothership ’everything center,’ a creative community-weaving social sculpture and alternative space I have been running since 2007 in Woodstock. I became a part-time mailman on September 10, 2001 to support my single dad habit, and my twin girls Ginger and Hominy have both entered college this year. I am proud of all of my siblings’ accomplishments, especially Peter ’75, whose Cape Cod Modern project was featured in The Gryphon recently. My mail route includes Paul Shands ’70 and Miranda Haydn ’69 and I’m in touch with Bruce McCarter ’75. For more info and a look at my product lines — records, books,
bumper stickers, cat toys and more — go to paulmcmahon.tv and explore. I am eternally grateful to my parents for sending me to The Cambridge School of Weston. It was a lifesaver for me. Full stop. More than once. In memory of the educational visionary Dolph Cheek I humbly bow my head. And I’m very happy to report that my mother Alice McMahon, who was voted most popular teacher at CSW once or twice, is doing quite well at 93, in full faculties and getting around quite well considering all the considerings. Thanks! Bob Bowie ’68 writes: I owe CSW a lot. It continues to change the direction of my life, forever. I am a retired and “recovering” business trial lawyer now in my second life as a professional playwright and poet: robertbowiejr.com. When I graduated, it was as if I had been given a pocket full of seeds: a handful of friendships, the duty to question everything, and a wide Abandonings by Max MacKenzie ’70
ranging education of experiences offered as a CSW education. These seeds gave me the courage to be okay with being a little different, to start a progressive law firm and now, over fifty years after graduation, to be in a new world that scared me at first but that I now love. Thank you, my CSW friends and thank you, CSW. Bob Burkhardt ’68 writes: After 36 years in Sudbury, MA, we have retired and moved to Ashland, OR, largely to be closer to our sons and our new grandson, who all live down in the SF Bay area. Yes, that’s a six-hour drive from here, but it’s much nicer than the six-hour flight from Logan. And yes, I miss the BSO, MFA, etc., but from our house on a hillside in the Siskiyou foothills, we look out at the Cascade foothills across the valley, with great hiking and biking and skiing almost at our doorstep. And, with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the local university, we “got kulcha” here too. The 50th reunion
was a blast. When’s the next big one? Number 75? Don’t think I want to do the math! Susan Pomerantz ’69 writes: I live on the Cape with my granddaughter. I am a retired ultrasound tech. I started in the field when it was in its infancy, and it was quite an interesting ride keeping up with the technology as it advanced. I have kept up with drawing, pastels, and photography. It would be great to hear from fellow alumni/ae. Roger Conrad ’69 writes: I retired from a career with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Peace Corps in 2014. Just before the COVID-19 shutdown, we sold our home outside Washington, DC, and purchased a home in the town of Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island in northeast Florida. We moved in on March 12th and have been enjoying the prolonged stay-at-home period,
CLASS NOTES • 33
featured teaching his students online in a Boston College video (my son Peter is a sophomore enrolled there). Dossie Kahn ’80 and I meet on Zoom weekly to knit together, and Aishe (Lisa) Berger ’80 occasionally joins us from the West Coast. I’ve only spoken to Rebecca Dudley ’81 because her dog will not let her Zoom! I Zoom with Christopher Huggins ’81 while he does his laundry in Florida and I’ve nurtured a few email chains including Andrew Shalit ’81 and former history teacher, Steve Cohen, who wrote to us in one email about his son, a doctor on the frontlines of the pandemic in Boston. More than ever, it feels like our friendships are a precious resource and I am forever grateful for my years at CSW, where I reaped such abundance.
only leaving for food shopping, long walks, and bike rides. We are loving living in a place where we can walk or ride our bikes pretty much any place we need to go! Todd Sostek ’69 writes: I just retired after 38 years as Manager of Environmental Engineering for a large natural gas utility in Los Angeles. I also worked a few years at Sempra Energy in San Diego and the US Dept. of Energy in Washington, DC. Was blessed with a great career protecting the environment right from the start of the environmental movement. Happily married to Li Wang Chang and living in Glendale, CA. I am close friends with Patrick Moyroud ’69, who also lives in California.
1970s Jackie Reizes ’70: During quarantine Jackie shared her love of cooking and baking with her neighbors, often cooking and/or baking and bartering for eggs, yeast, and flour. This has also increased the communication and tight knit feel Jackie loves about her community. Gail Spilsbury ’71 wrote an article about Jackie in the May 2020 It’s All About the Arts magazine. Max MacKenzie ’70 writes: Four 48” x 48” color prints from my long-term and still ongoing ABANDONINGS series of empty buildings in my native Otter Tail County, MN, have been accepted into the TIME~SPACE~EXISTENCE exhibition, put on by the European Cultural Centre. The exhibition will hang in the Palazzo Mora, in Venice, from May through November 2020. I also have recently become a proud grandfather of Cleo and Zelda MacKenzie. Robert Friesen ’71 writes: COVID...whew! In two words: “went virtual.” I started a new business last summer that was getting traction in January and then imploded with COVID and needed to do some fancy footwork in “the new normal.” That is a continuing challenge, but it’s coming together.
Josh Rosenbloom ’76
Otherwise, I am delighted that one of my sons got stuck at home after subleasing his apartment before moving to Austin to start a new restaurant. We have done a lot of great virtual cocktail parties with his college roommates and the bartenders from the restaurant chain where he works. The other son came home for their twin birthday and stayed for a couple of weeks, which made me the happiest guy in the world. It was a welcome respite from my recent divorce (completed via Zoom — sign of the times). Next stop: ’71 + Friends… and that party BETTER happen. Sarah Perkins ’71 writes: In 2019 I was named “Master Metalsmith” by the National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis, TN, where I had a retrospective exhibition of my work. Josh Rosenbloom ’76 writes: I am now well into my 5th year as Chair of the Economics Department at Iowa State University, after four years of commuting between Ames, IA, and Lawrence, KS. Happily, my wife, Leslie Bennett, decided last year to join me here, ending four years of a commuting relationship. All four of our children are grown and more or less launched in life. The youngest turns 26 this
summer, yikes! We are fortunate to have secure jobs as much as we might complain about having to learn how to teach online, and deal with the other challenges of the current moment. Ben Brodey ’78 writes: I moved to Chapel Hill, NC, where I continue to do research at TeleSage, a company I founded about 20 years ago. My research is mostly focused on behavioral health diagnostic nosology and on developing tests to predict who might go on to develop early psychosis. My sister, Lisa Brodey ’76, moved to London this year to be in charge of science and technology exchange at the U.S. Embassy. My brother Ivan Brodey ’85 is working as an architectural photographer in Stockholm, where he lives with his Swedish wife, Ylva, and five-year-old daughter, Iris.
1980s Sarah Jane Liberman Horton ’81 writes: Gathering with my CSW friends has not been impeded by the terrible COVID-19 pandemic. I recently Zoomed with Phoebe Marshall ’80 who was currently very busy organizing virtual events for the English Language Library in Angers, France, where she is director. I saw Seth Jacobs ’82
Mark Culliton ’82 and Mary Dicicco ’82 write: We just saw our oldest son Oliver head off to California to live with my brother Chris Culliton ’81 for a few months. He may also stay with Jim King ’82 if he gets kicked out! Thankful for the progressive education we received to fight for justice in America today. Gordon Reynolds ’84 writes: My wife and I have settled into our new home in New Castle, NH, and are adjusting to life as empty nesters. I am in my third year of teaching computer science at Portsmouth High School and really enjoying it. Loving the seacoast area and this next phase of my life. Hope all of my old friends are well and it was great to catch up at the Reunion via Zoom in May 2020. Alex Barker ’84 writes: I co-wrote and edited the Academy Award nominated documentary The Edge of Democracy, about the dismantling of Brazil’s young democracy and got invited to the awards for the first time. Jess Schickel ’85 writes: It was so great to reconnect with the classes of ’84, ’85, ’86, and ’87 at this year’s reunion event via Zoom. These are such special people. So open and funny. There were many faces I hadn’t seen in 35 years, and it was
34 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2020
of Health Sciences program at the University of Bridgeport. Visit my website at www.dlev.tel for details. Amanda Haas ’89 writes: Many blessings from where the mountains meet the redwoods at the ocean. I have 3 kids, ages 14, 8, and 5. It’s an amazing life. Love to all.
1990s Erik Rosengren ’86 and husband Pierpaolo
such a pleasure to look upon those distant yet familiar mugs. Thanks to Erik Rosengren ’86 for being the loveliest host and to all who made it happen. Erik Rosengren ’86 writes: I’ve been living in Italy for a few years now with my husband, Pierpaolo. Our most extravagant news is that we miraculously won the auction bid for an ancient convent just outside Florence that had been abandoned for 20 years. Built of stone in 1489 up against a 13th century church and overlooking a valley of olive trees, it is the most ideal place to tune into the rhythms of the planet, listen to morning birdsong, entertain our family of friends and grow older. I’ve spent every day of our quarantine deepcleaning and renovating the place for permanent habitation — truly satisfying work. I’m constantly laughing at myself by doing things I never imagined this committed independent traveler would ever do: get married, buy a house and own kitchen appliances! Old friends, if you’re in Tuscany, holler at me. Hannah MacKenna ’87 writes: My band, Convertible (for which I am the lyricist), just released the first single, “Not a Cloud,” from our forthcoming album, Holst Gate ll. Releases always fill me with wonder; and with this one that is especially true. They are two very different songs of configuration landing upon a reconfiguring world... www.convertible.lnk.to/NotaCloud. My CSW colony and brethren have
been invaluable over this course. Family. Tribe. I am ever grateful and welcome further connections. Suzanne Rivera ’87: Congratulations to Suzanne, who was recently named President of Macalester College! Here is an excerpt from the official announcement: The Macalester College Board of Trustees is pleased to announce it has unanimously approved the appointment of Dr. Suzanne Rivera as the college’s 17th President. Dr. Rivera comes to Macalester from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), where she is serving as Vice President for Research and Technology Management.... Dr. Rivera holds a BA in American Civilization from Brown University, a Master of Social Welfare degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Doctor of Philosophy in public affairs from the University of Texas at Dallas. She is an accomplished leader having guided CWRU’s $400M research enterprise. In addition, she served in administrative and research leadership roles at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the University of California, Irvine. She is active nationally in research policy, and in a range of social justice and equity initiatives. Learn more about Dr. Rivera at macalester.edu/17th-president and about Macalester at macalester.edu. David Levavi ’89 writes: I have accepted an offer of admission to the Fall 2020 cohort of the Doctor
Constant Southworth ’90 writes: I graduated from college with honors and a degree in history on July 1, 2020. Thank you very, very much! Prageeta Sharma ’90 writes: I’m happy to report that I’ve moved from my job at the University of Montana to Pomona College, and I love my new home in Claremont. My recent collection of poetry titled Grief Sequence came out from Wave Books in the fall of 2019. I’d love to be in touch with any LA/SoCal alumni/ae from CSW. I didn’t graduate from CSW, but attended my junior year. Larisa Mann ’91 writes: I’m into my fourth year as an assistant professor in Media Studies and Production at Temple University in Philadelphia. I’m still maintaining my creative side with regular DJ gigs, event organizing, and public speaking. In Oct 2018, I gave the keynote at the Haus Der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, Germany, titled “Rude Citizenship: Jamaican Musical Challenges to Copyright(ed) Culture,” and also DJ’d there alongside Jamaica dancehall legend Sister Nancy and German dub techno maestro Mark Ernestus. Definitely living the dream! In 2019 I had an article on ethnic and pirate radio in New York published in the International Journal of Communication. I also DJ’d NYC’s SummerStage in Central Park and then went to Barranquilla, Colombia, for four months to learn about Colombian pics — DJ sound systems popular on the Caribbean coast. While I was there, I also gave a workshop for women DJs, and did some public lectures on my research, as well as doing a few gigs. Since I came back to the U.S. in late November, there were a few more gigs and public speaking, but now
Liz LaRaia ’95’s three daughters.
I am back in Philly, teaching, writing, and throwing bass music events with the Subversion collective. I’m enjoying getting to know Philadelphia, but still come back to Massachusetts regularly to visit my mother in Arlington. As I figure out the best way to fight and mobilize collectively against war and fascism in 2020, I have been thinking back when we at CSW organized a campus teach-in about the (first) Gulf War (after me and if I recall correctly, Anna Rosenblum ’91, called through the entire student phone book, me starting at the front and her starting at the back, to let everyone know about a protest downtown the day after it started). I’m grateful that CSW allowed us some space for critical thinking and activism, alongside the artistic expression. Liz LaRaia ’95 writes: Recently moved from living in beautiful Shelburne Falls to Amherst, where we have a large community with many of our CSW family close by. Our three daughters enjoy loving friendships with the children of friends that I have had since high school! I keep in touch with many of my CSW peers and it gives me great pleasure to see all the great work people are putting into this world. My next step is developing my new private therapy practice in Amherst, MA, as we settle into our new home.
2000s Drew Pappone ’02: Drew and his wife Cait welcomed new baby, Alder, on January 2, 2020.
CLASS NOTES • 35
Mike Golubitsky ’03 writes: Since my last update, I’ve lived in SF, traveled in the Himalayas, and moved back to the Boston area. I work in software. I’ve been listening to Bill Evans and practicing the keys again. Kris Hanrahan ’03 writes: I returned to Massachusetts with my family in early 2019. We’ve settled in Jamaica Plain just a few doors down from fellow alum Evan Greer ’03! Matt Warfield and I welcomed our second child, Cosmo Quinn Hanrahan, this past July. Annie Bickerton ’04: Filling a need in her community Annie and a friend created Westside Friends, a volunteer-led and volunteer-run mutual aid organization that assists with contactless grocery runs, prescription pickups, and other small errands. The organization serves Culver City, Palms, Mar Vista, Marina Del Rey, Del Rey, Playa Vista, Santa Monica, Venice, Brentwood, West LA/ Sawtelle, Westwood, and Rancho Park. Annie recently returned to CSW via Zoom to talk with CSW parents on how to inspire and help teens find ways to help in their local communities. Annie’s work was featured in an article in the LA Times. Lucy Bickerton ’04 writes: I am starting my fourth year as a medical student at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, which
IN MEMORIAM Hod Briggs ’51 Anne (Jinx) Douglass ‘65 Bob Ehrmann ’40 Ian Fitzgerald ’88 Sally Ford ’50 Stephen “Stephan” Gersh ’59 Will Haible ’64 Kit Hodgman ’48 Julianne Neaverson ’35 Sue Poverman ’47 Ellen Powell ’65 Frances Powers ’64 Karen Safford ’52 Ray Simmons ’73 Gerry Swope ’52
was designated a COVID-19-only hospital. After our rotations were shuttered for the indefinite future, I reached out to faculty in our Family Medicine department and proposed a phone outreach project. Our under-resourced patient population is experiencing huge tumult in the context of job loss, school closures, and social isolation, and I wanted to find a way to offer support during this vulnerable time period. We developed a Needs Assessment Tool that is being implemented by student volunteers across many of our largest outpatient clinics, including Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and OB/GYN. We had a few dozen student callers who were responsible for reaching out to each clinic’s entire patient list to identify urgent health-related social needs and connecting them to the right resources. When we piloted the project, we fielded refill requests and rescheduled appointments, but as the days pass, we are reaching the spouses of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who are stricken with fear, or those who’ve lost their jobs and are now unable to pay rent. We brace ourselves for the difficult time ahead and take small joy in the act of connection during this unprecedented time. Betsy Cohen ’04: Betsy was named Executive Director of Youth Communication (YC). Betsy is the successor to the founder of the 40-year-old nonprofit organization. YC elevates marginalized teens’ voices in New York City through a story-based approach. YC works with teens to write true, personal stories about their lives, and publishes those stories in magazines and curricula, and as part of professional development for teachers. She was married in April 2020. Katrina Semich ’05 writes: I am living in San Francisco and recently started working in philanthropy at the Institute on Aging, a healthcare service for the elderly. Emily Glassman ’05 writes: Our family was very excited to welcome a new addition this fall.
Naomi Pearl joined us and has brought much joy! Her big brother, Jack, is very attentive and loving. Molly Weinberg ’07 writes: Greetings to the CSW community! I just graduated in May 2020 with my MA degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a specialization in Drama Therapy, which is a branch of Expressive Arts Therapy, from Lesley University. I have been living in the Somerville and Boston area the past four years, after moving back from Nashville while working in museums and the music industry. I am not sure yet where my next opportunity will take me. I may be leaving Massachusetts or staying put! I can’t believe I graduated from this life-changing MA program during a global pandemic. We had a Zoom graduation that was still beautiful; even more personal than a conventional ceremony, while also feeling the deep heartbreak of the state of our world. I am currently job searching during this unprecedented time and I hope to land a job soon where I can combine my new mental health counseling clinical skills with my creativity and belief in the power of the arts to inspire growth, healing, and change to individuals and communities. Once I land a job in my new career path, I can’t wait to save up the money to bring a golden retriever into my life! CSW helped give me the confidence and courage to continue to think outside of the box, and imagine an innovative career that aligns with my life philosophy. I imagined it and then I made it happen. Thank you to CSW for that gift; I continue to hold it in my heart all of these years later, and will always treasure my CSW education. Angela Cheng ’07 writes: I recently opened up a soup shop in Seattle, WA, 19 Gold, named for the 19 spices in my family’s soup recipe Malatang. 19 Gold serves the Taiwanese malatang among other dishes at the restaurant. The restaurant recently received praise in the Seattle Times newspaper food and drink section. Harlan Lieberman-Berg ’08 writes: After almost three years in
D.C. serving a tour of duty at the United States Digital Service, I’m almost back to the warm embrace of the commercial sector. I strongly encourage anyone with even a slight interest in public service to consider it heavily; I’ve never worked on things as important as I have in the public sector, and I’m not sure I ever will again. Alison Schwartz ’09 writes: Hey CSW, I’m teaching preschool and writing a young adult novel! I’d love to get back in touch with lovely and epic high school friends; you may email me at alison.c.schwartz1991@gmail.com
2010s Sarah ’10 and Cooper Evello ’10: Cooper and Sarah, both graduates of the class of 2010, were married in April of 2019 in Vermont! The ceremony was filled with love and music and many CSW alum and faculty, both past and present were in attendance. Along with the bride and groom, Owen Scott ’04, Ella Brandon ’06, Siena Evans ’06, Meg Norton ’10, Zach Hamilton ’10, Mac Holmes ’11, Emily D’Angelo ’12, Barrett Lanigan ’14, Jack D’Angelo ’17, Simenesh Semine ’17 and current faculty members Eli Keehn and Tom Evans were all there to celebrate the special day. As an alternative to the traditional wedding name practices, both Cooper (previously Evans) and Sarah (previously D’Angelo) changed their last names to a combination of their former names to create Evello. Emma Ward ’10 writes: I am continuing my work as an Associate Casting Director in LA, and working on Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, and Doom Patrol. Abby Austin ’14 writes: I’ve moved to Portland, Oregon, to work in the puppet department of Henry Selick’s new stop motion feature, Wendell and Wild. The film is being produced by and stars Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key, and will premiere on Netflix in 2021. Elizabeth Clackson ’18: Congratulations, Lizzie! The Initiative on Cities (IOC) recently announced Lizzie (Boston
36 • THE GRYPHON Spring/Summer 2020
University Class of 2022) as their 2019-2020 National League of Cities (NLC) Menino Fellow. From the announcement: Elizabeth is a Political Science major who hopes to work in public policy and urban governance. Through this Fellowship, Elizabeth will spend the fall semester paired with IOC Director and Professor Graham Wilson in an on-campus Directed Study program. She will [later participate] in Boston University’s (BU) Washington, DC study abroad program, where she will take classes and participate in a paid internship in the National League of Cities’ Institute for Youth, Education, and Families. Through her Directed Study and her internship with the NLC, Elizabeth will look further into the Boston Centers for Youth and Families (BCYF) to see if equity exists between each of the locations in programs, pricing, funding, and facilities. She will evaluate BCYF’s accessibility to each community they serve by researching each center and the varying programs they offer per location and analyzing membership fees and comparing it with the average income per location. Elizabeth hopes to see if programs, such as these centers, help or harm the equity of communities and cities at large, using Boston as a case study. Julian Applebaum ’19 writes: I’ve started an internship with Freedom For All Americans, a bipartisan campaign to win LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections nationwide. I’m working on the Supreme Court Action Team helping with amicus briefs that will go before the Court later this summer! Also, this year I was appointed as a student representative on the Macalester College Alumni/ae Board. So Mac alumni/ae, you’ll be hearing from me soon! Charles von Peterffy ’20 writes: I am attending Emerson College next year as a media studies major. I plan to narrow down my field later on by becoming either a major in screenplay or directorial skills, but I am unsure of what major these positions fall under or when I will switch.
FAREWELL
A natural storyteller with a vibrant sense of humor, John loved the arts, had an eye for all things finely made, and believed in the goodness of people. An author, literary agent, consultant, and speaker, John was a lifelong learner who immersed himself in the world of ideas.
John Campbell Butman P’02, 69, died suddenly at home of natural causes on March 23, 2020. John was an especially important member of the CSW community. Parent of Jeremy ’02, John was head of the Parents’ Association, a long-term member of the Board of Trustees, and board chair. John’s great service to the school, and his outstanding leadership from 2001–2011, saw CSW through a time of vibrant growth. After stepping down from his trusteeship, John remained a faithful and dedicated steward to the school, frequently writing for The Gryphon and regularly attending CSW events with his wife, Nancy. John loved creative, strategic thinking. As a trustee, he led the board, and ultimately the school, in a significant project to clarify and focus our community values. John’s ideas about the spirited individual, the mindful community, and keeping an eye to the world framed the vital strategic planning initiated by John and then-head of school Jane Moulding. Carried on through the work of successive board leadership, these strategies and values have enormously strengthened all CSW programs, including CSW’s health and wellness campaign.
He published seven books, notably New World, Inc., a history, Townie, a novel, Breaking Out, on business strategy, and Why I Love Business, a satirical send-up of business gurus. John founded two communications firms, The Butman Company and Idea Platforms, Incorporated. His colleagues remember him as a compassionate and brilliant communicator whose best-selling collaborations won critical acclaim. In addition to his volunteer leadership at CSW, he belonged to innumerable arts organizations. Recently, he proudly joined the literary agency Kneerim and Williams. John grew up and spent most of his life in Concord, MA, but, with Nancy, he summered on Bailey Island, Harpswell, for over 40 years. John later moved to Portland, ME, and he loved discovering a new city. He relished walking to the movies, enthusiastically explored the city’s restaurants, and became fascinated by seagulls. John loved traveling with his family, hiking, skiing, sailing, and attending the theater, a baseball game, or a tennis match. Above all, John will be remembered as a devoted and loving father and husband, and an easy friend. All will miss his tremendous sense of humor, good-natured teasing, and his profound zeal for life. John is survived by his wife, Nancy, and their two sons, Jeremy ’02, and Henry. He is missed by all who knew him. His memory lives on in the lives he touched through his books, his volunteer leadership, and his generosity of spirit.
FROM THE ARCHIVES • 37
FROM THE ARCHIVES As most of you know, the school moved its upper school from Cambridge to the new campus in Weston in the fall of 1931. The first day of school was dependent on when buildings would be ready for occupancy. It was the timetable of the new construction that became an issue; though the deal for transferring the property to the school was finalized in November 1930, the land sale and architects’ plans were stalled until the spring of 1931, when zoning ordinances were amended and, finally, construction was allowed to commence. The main classroom building went up with astonishing speed (in just six months!) and the school was able to announce a September 23 opening date. That’s a story of overcoming challenges, for sure. But here’s where it gets even more intense. On September 9, headmaster John French penned an “Important Notice To Parents.” The letter is shown here, because it deserves to be read in full. This letter announced the postponement of opening day to September 30, no doubt a prudent decision given probable last-minute issues in completing construction and,
more significant, perhaps, the current epidemic of infantile paralysis (more commonly known as polio). French had been working tirelessly through many challenges to make the new Weston campus a reality. Turns out all three of Mr. French’s children also had infantile paralysis at this time, rendering this an especially stressful time for him. As the school’s opening was drawing near that September, all three had to be hospitalized as their cases were so severe. The contents of a recently discovered telegram reveal that the French children were in such dire straits that the school’s opening day was delayed yet again, this time to October 5. Thankfully, the French children survived, but it was not until mid-October that they all were able to rejoin their parents in the head’s house (then located at 62 Lexington Street). Another recently found item is a letter dated October 12, 1931, that recounts October 5, 1931. “Wish you could have been here for the opening exercises — very simple, but most
impressive. John, in spite of the awful fears and worries hanging over him, spoke so simply yet effectively that he had the whole school at ease from the start and wholeheartedly behind him in this great adventure.” And so, you can see, the disruptions caused by the
WAYS TO GIVE BACK TO CSW Each of us has something we value about our school and its community, and different reasons to choose to support the school. CSW offers a variety of ways to give back and ensure that future generations of students and families benefit from the same great inspiring teaching and learning that is student centered, justice-minded, and responsive to the moment.
WE ARE Partners in Progress T H E
C S W
A N N U A L
F U N D
COVID-19 pandemic are not the first of this kind the school has endured. We got through it back in 1931, and we will get through it again! — Sherrill Bounnell P’19, Executive Assistant to the Head of School, and resident campus historian
PARTNERS IN PROGRESS, the CSW Annual Fund, is a
powerful financial resource that is critical to the fulfillment of our school’s mission and programs. Gifts to the Annual Fund have an immediate impact in the current school year and support tuition assistance, professional development, diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and so much more.
THE CSW RESILIENCE FUND specifically supports emerging needs in response to COVID-19 now and future years (see p. 38 for more details). BEQUEST OR ESTATE GIVING is another effective way to leave a legacy at CSW. Through your estate or retirement plan, you can provide general support to the school, or fund a program, project, or area of study that is important to you. GIFTS TO ENDOWMENT offset important operational
expenses and capital gifts to the endowment can help to curb rising tuition costs, fund programs, endow faculty positions, and support school growth.
If you have any questions or wish to learn more about making a gift, please contact. Andrea Finnerty Chief Development Officer afinnerty@csw.org 781.642.8611
THE CSW RESILIENCE FUND As we continue to face the unprecedented circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, it is difficult to know exactly what lies ahead. What is certain is that we will need philanthropic support to help us address increased financial pressures and emerging needs for the 2020-2021 school year. Gifts designated to this fund will provide financial resources for Head of School Lise Charlier to react and adjust to the short-term and long-term needs of CSW faculty, students, families, and our program as they arise. Money from the fund can help by: • Keeping our community whole by meeting the increased need for financial aid both for current and incoming families; • Providing faculty with professional development critical to continuing with innovative and meaningful distance and classroom learning; and • Helping CSW with the considerable cost of addressing the many public healthrelated adjustments we’ll need to make to our campus before reopening and maintaining a safe campus throughout the entire school year.
THANK YOU! The Resilience Fund kicked off April 29, 2020, and in just three months the fund has already raised over $260,000… and that was just the start! You can make a gift to the Resilience Fund at any time and help the school respond to the demands of the COVID-19 crisis.
To make a gift, visit www.csw.org/resilience or contact Andrea Finnerty,
These last few months have shown us, in so many different ways, that we are in this together.
Chief Development Officer, at
EVERY GIFT OF EVERY SIZE WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
www.csw.org/resilience
afinnerty@csw.org or 781.642.8611.
My Five 1
2 3 4 5
MY FIVE • 39
By Ava Goodman ’20
SARAH MORALES, COLLEGE COUNSELING
LEV GOLDMAN ’20
SHI SHI JACOBS ’20
FRANTZ BATOH, FRENCH
DESCRIBE A MEMORABLE MOMENT FROM YOUR TIME AT CSW:
Graduation is a favorite for me every year. I’m so proud of everyone and all they have accomplished while also being excited for them and their next adventure.
My most memorable moment at CSW was being in a production of Lord of the Flies in the woods in the winter.
My first day of classes during the Mod Abroad in Taiwan consisted of six hours of Mandarin language class. By the fourth hour, most of my fellow CSW students and I were exhausted from the lesson. I remember the look of pure joy on everyone’s faces as Po-Wei and Anne-Catherine unexpectedly arrived at our classroom armed with trays of bubble tea. Who knew such a simple treat could be so rewarding and, of course, delicious!
It was during my job interview. I went to teach a class, and I was asking students their names. One of them happened to bear the same name as one of my former students. I expressed that publicly. Later that day, that student came to me, saying, “I truly like you, and I hope you’ll get the job.” That observation made my day. She didn’t have to say that to me, but she did it anyway.
IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME AND GIVE ADVICE TO YOUR MIDDLESCHOOL SELF, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY?
I would tell myself to set goals and work hard, but to be open to the endless possibilities. You’ll never know quite where life will take you so do your best to enjoy the ride.
Talk to people more. They’re mostly nice.
Don’t worry too much about trying to fit in. Stay true to yourself and pursue the things you’re passionate about.
My middle school time was very challenging. There was no room for the weak ones. I had to fight my way through. There’s nothing that I could give as advice.
WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH THE MOST?
My friends and family are all pretty funny, so I love to laugh with them, but I also love a good comedy movie.
Videos of kittens doing silly things.
Funny animal videos, particularly videos of cats in their most exhilarating or humorous moments.
My imaginary air supply musical band with one of my colleagues; every time we talk about it, people believe it until we start a demo. You should see the disappointment on their faces. Both my colleague and I start laughing about the whole scenario.
WHAT WOULD YOU SING AT KARAOKE NIGHT?
I am tone-deaf and can’t carry a tune for anything, but if I could sing I’d love to be able to belt out something by Adele.
“I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor.
“I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys
WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO START THE DAY?
During the week I’m an early riser and enjoy listening to good music and watching the sunrise during my commute. On the weekends I love sleeping in and having a slower start to my day.
Waking up really early and going for a walk as the sun comes up.
With a cup of English breakfast tea — milk and sugar are a must!
“USA for AFRICA” is my favorite.
The gym. It makes me feel light and ready to go!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! We are so grateful to YOU, our CSW community, for your strong response to this year’s fundraising efforts. A highlight was our Day of Giving on April 29, 2020! Parents, grandparents, faculty/staff, alumni/ae, parents of alumni/ae, past grandparents, and friends of CSW kicked off the Resilience Fund with over $150,000 raised in 24 hours. THANK YOU! Our tagline rang true as gifts came in from near and far, proving that distance doesn’t stop us from caring about our beloved school. Thank you to our donors, to those who left meaningful messages, and to those who participated in the various coronavirus community service activities. And you didn’t stop there! Your donations throughout the entire year made 2020 Giving a success, raising over $900,000 for the Annual Fund and Resilience Fund combined. Your gifts inspire the entire community, and especially our faculty and staff, as they work to provide the best teaching, learning, and support for all of our students during challenging times. We look forward to sharing the Report on Philanthropy with you in October with highlights on the impact of your generosity.
TEXT GOES HERE • 41
What’s the Next Adventure? Class of 2020 College Matriculation
American University (1)
Georgetown University (1)
School of the Art Institute of Chicago (3)
Amherst College (1)
Goucher College (1)
Skidmore College (4)
Bard College (2)
Haverford College (1)
St. Lawrence University (1)
Bates College (1)
Hofstra University (1)
Syracuse University (1)
Bennington College (1)
Howard University (1)
Tufts University (1)
Berklee College of Music (1)
Indiana University – Bloomington (1)
UMass – Lowell (1)
Boston College (1)
Israeli Defense Force (1)
US Military Academy – West Point (1)
Boston University (4)
Ithaca College (1)
University of Arizona (1)
Brandeis University (1)
Lewis & Clark College (2)
University of Denver (1)
Bryn Mawr College (1)
Loyola Marymount U./LA (1)
University of Miami (1)
California College of the Arts (1)
Macalester College (1)
University of Michigan (1)
Carleton College (1)
Northwestern University (1)
University of Redlands (1)
Case Western Reserve (2)
Oberlin College (3)
University of Richmond (1)
Champlain College (1)
Oberlin Conservatory (1)
University of Rochester (2)
College for Creative Studies (1)
Occidental College (1)
University of St. Andrews (1)
Drew University (1)
Olin College of Engineering (1)
University of Southern California (1)
Drexel University (1)
Pace University – NYC (1)
University of Vermont (4)
Duke University (1)
Purdue University (1)
University of Wisconsin – Madison (1)
Emerson College (2)
Reed College (1)
Vassar College (2)
Endicott College (1)
Rhode Island School of Design (1)
Washington U./St. Louis (1)
Fulbright University Vietnam (1)
Rochester Institute of Technology (1)
Wesleyan University (2)
George Washington University (1)
Sarah Lawrence College (1)
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (3)
NonProfit Org. U.S. Postage Paid N. Reading, MA Permit #211
45 Georgian Road Weston, Massachusetts 02493
Address service requested
Jessy He ’20, Body Echo