Westminster Bulletin
Improving Sustainability One Person at a Time SPRING 2015
THE WRITE INGREDIENTS
Making Better Athletes and Better People
Westminster Bulletin
SPRING 2015
FEATURES
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30
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The Write Ingredients
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Improving Sustainability
Aspiring Early to Publish
Making Better Athletes and Better People
DEPARTMENTS
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Headmaster’s Message
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From the Archives
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Hill Headlines
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Martlets on the Move
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Athletics
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Class Notes
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Supporting Westminster
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Closing Thoughts
Cover photo, science teacher Grant Gritzmacher and Mimi Connelly ’15 use a Biltmore stick
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to collect data about a tree on campus for a new science course titled Science of Sustainability. Left, trees blossoming outside of Armour Academic Center. 1
FROM THE HEADMASTER
Dear Members of the Westminster Community, At this centennial anniversary of the onset of what was then called The Great War, campus tributes to the sacrifices of alumni in World War I seem especially poignant. The plaques we glance at as we exit Andrews Memorial Chapel, the trees lining the walkway from Cushing Hall to Memorial Hall, and Memorial itself, all remind us of the inspiring and selfless values of those alumni and the timeless importance of our school’s mission, core values and motto. Opened in the fall of 1927, Memorial was named to honor alumni who had given their lives in the war. John Greenleaf, Class of 1895, who had attended Westminster when it was located at Dobbs Ferry, designed Memorial to provide rooms for 33 students, apartments for three faculty, two study halls (one for First, Second and Third Formers as well as one for Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Formers) and classrooms, including those for chemistry and physics. Upon its completion, students enjoyed a special Hill Holiday while moving into the new building. To further honor each fallen alumnus, Mr. McIntyre, then the school’s groundskeeper, planted maple trees along the walkway from Cushing to Memorial. A few of those trees remain today, and thanks to the beneficence of Graham Gund ’59 along with his Class of 1959, we intend to plant additional large trees around campus to sustain this fitting tribute. Plaques were also placed on the wall in Andrews Memorial Chapel to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice. The inscriptions, which include their names as well as their years of birth and death, resonate powerfully: “Glory dies not. The grief is past.” “In his country’s service.” “He laid down his life for his friends.” “Answering life’s great end.” “Faithful unto death.” “Thy purpose firm was equal to the deed.” “In death a hero.” “In action faithful, in honor dear.” “But thy eternal summer shall not fade.” In total, 163 Westminster alumni served with the United States in World War I. Stories from their service emerge from their memorials and tales of heroism. Early in the morning on the second day of the St. Mihiel offensive, David C. Beebe ’15 flew a reconnaissance mission at an altitude of only 300 feet through the wind, mist and clouds, despite heavy fire that damaged his plane and killed the serviceman accompanying him. Upon returning, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by the commander in chief of the American Expeditionary Force. Daniel Waters Cassard ’12 was killed in action 10 miles behind enemy lines at Chateau-Thierry after bringing down two German planes. Marshal of France, General Petain, commander in chief of the French armies, described him as a wonderful pursuit pilot who always showed the greatest courage and finest audacity. He received a Croix de Guerre from the French government with the added honor of the palm. Still other alumni perished when their 2
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airplanes — a new invention often referred in reports from the war as “machines”— failed and fell suddenly to the ground. And others succumbed to the influenza epidemic, which swept so brutally through the ranks of soldiers. The war affected our school community deeply. Its reach extended back to day-to-day life on Williams Hill, as documented most dramatically by photos of students in the midst of military drills on campus. A story in The Westminster News also recounted an evening lecture and movie about drivers for the American Ambulance Service on the Western Front, which inspired contributions towards the purchase of a Westminster Ambulance. The brass identifying plaque for the ambulance remains in our archives today. Similarly, records show the Westminster Dramatic Association hosted a Benefit for Belgian Relief in the spring of 1920. To me, the most touching is about a 10-year-old Westminster student named Eddie Howe (remember, then, students entered in the First Form, or seventh grade). Eddie was featured on a poster titled “Wake Up, Simsbury!” that encouraged residents to purchase War Savings Stamps, which could eventually be exchanged for War Savings Certificates, helping to fund the military effort. Faithfully, Eddie donated all 25 cents of his allowance, otherwise intended for candy, to this cause. The poster concludes with the stirring challenge: “Edward Sets the Pace for Simsbury. Are YOU Going to Lag Behind?” The inspiring values at the foundation of our school community a century ago still echo powerfully today. Then as now, students and faculty pursue learning not as an end in itself but for a purpose that extends well beyond the confines of our campus community. We have always sought to prepare students to make a difference in the lives they lead and the world around them — from the Town of Simsbury, to Hartford County, to our nation and across the globe. Westminster School’s mission and core values remain as steadfast today as they were in 1915. With Virtute & Numine, Grit & Grace,
William V.N. Philip P’06, ’09 Headmaster
*Sources for Westminster School history include Reverdy Whitlock’s “By Grit and Grace” and the Westminster School Archives, which are overseen by longtime faculty colleague Larry Gilman. (Please see “From the Archives” on page 52.)
HILL HEADLINES
Visiting Historical Sites in New York City While on Ellis Island, the students were reminded of the Students in Nancy Spencer’s Outsiders in American History experiences of the thousands of immigrants who passed through class braved the extremely cold weather Feb. 16 to visit a its halls a century ago. “I imagined all the people who were once number of historical sites in New York City. The class is in those rooms and how they felt,” said Julia Cooper ’15. “I felt studying what it is like to be an outsider in American society and like I was immigrating on the ferry.” what happens historically to outsider groups in the United States. Later in the day, the students visited the National September The group spent the morning taking a walking tour of 11 Memorial and were stirred by its emotional impact. “It gave Chinatown and Little Italy. “My most vivid memory was seeing me the chills reading the all of the fresh food and fish, names,” said Emma Filler ’15. including the dried shrimp “There were so many names and fish sitting in a bin along and so many of our own the side of the street,” said people lost,” added Eliza Phebe Huth ’15. “I also liked Christman ’15. “The square at seeing all of the people the bottom of the foundation gathering everything they seemed to go down forever, needed and bargaining for taking the names of who died prices.” For Elizabeth Foster with them.” ’15, walking past two very The eventful day, which different churches on the also included a stop for hot same street was striking. chocolate to help everyone The group then had warm up, ended with dinner lunch at Katz’s Deli on the at a family-run restaurant in Lower East Side, where many Little Italy and the bus ride enjoyed turkey and corned Students in Nancy Spencer’s Outsiders in American history class visit Ellis Island. back to campus. All in all, beef sandwiches. it was a great trip, and a Following lunch, the wonderful opportunity for Westminster students to experience group boarded a ferry to Ellis Island that passed by the Statue of the vitality of New York City. “This field trip is special to me Liberty. “The statue was breathtaking because of its history and because I see how much the students get out of the visit,” said size,” said Bryan Connell ’16. Isabel Tibbitts ’15 was surprised Nancy. “They have the opportunity to literally walk in the by its color. “I’ve seen all of the pictures, but for some reason, I historical footsteps of 19th-century immigrants to America. thought it would be a foggy green and not as bright as it looked It’s an experience that they will remember for a long time.” in person,” she said.
Students and Faculty Attend NAIS Conferences Three Westminster faculty members and five students traveled to Indianapolis in early December to participate in annual conferences hosted by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). Katherine Eckerson ’17, Alexa Green ’17, Joel Groves ’17, Jeremy Mason ’16 and Shanntal Morel ’17 attended the 21st NAIS Student Diversity Leadership Conference, a multiracial gathering of high school students from around the country. Through sessions led by adults and peer facilitators, more than 1,600 student delegates focused on self-reflection, allyship and community. They also practiced expression and learned communication strategies. Simultaneously, Assistant Headmaster Kathleen Devaney, Dean of Students Lee Huguley and Director of Multicultural Affairs Lisa McGrath participated in the 27th annual NAIS People of Color Conference, where they heard numerous keynote speakers and attended workshops that ranged from “What I Said and What I Meant: Cross Cultural Communication” to “You Have Two Moms? How Can That Be?”
Alexa Green ’17, Katherine Eckerson ’17, Jeremy Mason ’16, Shanntal Morel ’17 and Joel Groves ’17 attended the 21st NAIS Student Diversity Leadership Conference. Spring 2015
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HILL HEADLINES
Fifth Former Plays in Prestigious Symphony Orchestra Fifth Former Joyce Cheng, who has been playing the violin for 10 years, performed in her first concert with the Connecticut Youth Symphony Orchestra Dec. 7 at the University of Hartford. Her selection to the prestigious orchestra followed two auditions. Joyce, who takes private lessons with a violin professor at The Hartt School of the University of Hartford, travels to the university’s campus in West Hartford each Sunday to rehearse with the orchestra. Joyce Cheng ’16 “I love chamber music over concertos,” said Joyce about the experience. “Chamber music is all about communication and harmonies, while for solo pieces you are all by yourself. I meet so many people who love music as much as I do, and I’m so glad that I have the chance to work with these talented young musicians. They inspire me to become better every day.” At Westminster, Joyce has performed during chapel, in the orchestra pit for school musicals and during concerts. She also has formed a piano trio with Henry Chou ’15 and Wonjune Kang ’16. “Music is now my getaway from stresses,” said Joyce. “I may not study music as my major in college, but it will remain The Connecticut Youth Symphony Orchestra gives a performance at the a huge part of my life.” University of Hartford.
Increasing Men’s Health Awareness During “Movember” Approximately 165 Westminster students and faculty members purchased $10 “license-to-grow” certificates for mustaches during the month of November in support of men’s health. Fifth Form Dean Grant Gritzmacher and the Student Council spearheaded the fundraiser as part of
a worldwide campaign of the Movember Foundation “to have fun while raising funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health problems.” While most of the participants were male “mo-bros,” females on
Faculty and students display their mustaches for a “Movember” fundraiser in support of men’s health.
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campus were encouraged to support the fundraiser as “mo-sistas.” A total of $1,679 was raised. While Grant was pleased by the monetary success of the campaign, he said the educational aspect of raising awareness of men’s health issues among the students was important too.
HILL HEADLINES
Mathletes Achieve Impressive Finish at Harvard-MIT Tournament
Above, photographer Sally Eagle discusses one of her photographs on exhibit in Baxter Gallery and, below, Viva Quetzal gives a performance in the Gund Reading Room.
Friday Night Arts On numerous Friday nights throughout the academic year, members of the campus community and the public gather in Armour Academic Center to attend author readings or musical performances. A Jan. 9 event featured the visual and performing arts. The night began with an opening reception for a photography exhibit in Baxter Gallery titled “Focus on Our World” that showcased the work of photographers Dan Mead and Sally Eagle, who live in Great Barrington, Mass., and travel the globe to take photographs. The exhibit, which ran through March 5, included high-impact visual images of wildlife, stunning landscapes and culture scenes from five continents. Following the reception, those in attendance went upstairs to the Gund Reading Room to hear Viva Quetzal, a multicultural musical group, give a resounding performance as a part of the school’s Friday Nights in Gund series. The group performed music of the Americas, including an eclectic mixture of traditional, folkloric and pop themes on a fascinating array of ancient and modern instruments.
Have you ever wondered how many ways there are to color the vertices of a triangle red, green, blue or yellow such that no two vertices have the same color? If so, then you would have been a perfect candidate to participate in the 2014 Harvard-MIT Mathematics Tournament. On Nov. 15, six members of the Westminster Math Club — Sixth Formers Tom Dudzik and Kevin Choi, Fifth Formers Grace Brentano and Wonjune Kang, Fourth Former Hyeonjo Jeong and Third Former Albert Gao — left campus at 6 a.m. to travel to Cambridge, Mass., where they spent 4½ hours tackling problems such as the one above. Club president Dudzik, their intrepid leader, had been administering problems from the tournament archive since the opening of school. They were ready to compete. The tournament, which is dedicated to promoting mathematical problem solving to high school students, attracted 134 teams consisting of more than 800 of the brightest and most mathematically gifted students in the world. It is organized and staffed entirely by Harvard and MIT undergraduates, who also come up with the tantalizing complex and challenging problems. By the end of the day, members of the Westminster team were tired and ready to return to campus. However, much to their surprise and delight, they woke up the next morning to discover that they had come in an astonishing 13th place in the team competition, by far their best finish ever. Special recognition goes out to Albert Gao, who finished an impressive 37th out of 738 students in the individual round. “So all in all, it was a fun and rewarding day for the Westminster mathletes,” said the Math Club’s advisor, faculty member Dan Aber P’16, ’18, who accompanied the students to the tournament.
Front row, Dan Aber, Hyeonjo Jeong ’17, Kevin Choi ’15, Grace Brentano ’16 and Tom Dudzik ’15 and, back row, Wonjune Kang ’16 and Albert Gao ’18
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HILL HEADLINES
Most Successful Appearance Ever at YMUN A delegation of 32 Westminster students headed to New Haven for Yale’s 41st Model UN Conference (YMUN) Jan. 2225. Westminster joined schools from around the world to discuss a broad range of topics. Committees argued about terrorism, disease, drug trafficking, climate change, war and peace, among other exciting issues. More than 1,600 high school students met over three days for more than 15 hours to try to solve the world’s problems. Duncan Kellogg ’15, Drew Brazer ’15 and Nicole Fox ’16 display their awards Delegates engaged in heated debate and also collaborated in from the Yale Model UN Conference. small and large groups. In addition to being intellectually stimulating, Model UN teaches students how to work with others and defend their Duncan Kellogg ’15 and Nicole In addition to being ideas. The Westminster delegation also Fox ’16 earned Honorable Mention intellectually stimulating, found time for some fun, including the designation for their contributions in delegate dance and a team dinner Model UN teaches students committee as well. Both delegates were in Saturday night. particularly interesting committees that how to work with others This was Westminster’s sixth and pursued alternative histories. Duncan and defend their ideas. most successful appearance at YMUN. participated in a re-creation of Churchill’s This year’s participants are particularly war cabinet and held the position of engaged in world affairs and their Viscount Halifax. Nicole was in Empire enthusiasm and preparation paid off. Eterna, a committee that represented the For the first time, a Westminster student elites of the Roman Empire who were earned “Best Delegate” for his committee. vying for control of the ancient political Drew Brazer ’15 was an editor in the system. Press Corps, a committee responsible for “All in all, it was a long but reporting on the activities of each productive and engaging weekend for committee. Drew had to apply to be on the delegates,” said Betsy Heckman, this special committee and clearly his the group’s advisor and head of experience as co-editor-in-chief of The Westminster’s History Department. Westminster News was integral to his “Students learned a great deal about the success. His committee oversaw the world while also developing important creation of more than 90 articles during academic and life skills.” the three-day conference.
Helping to Feed Hungry Children Students in Serving Our Neighbors (SON) spearheaded an effort in late February to raise money and package meals for Feeding Children Everywhere, a social charity that empowers and mobilizes people to assemble healthy meals for hungry children abroad and in their local communities. Westminster students, faculty and staff formed assembly lines throughout the day Feb. 27 in the old gym and packaged 13,824 meals consisting of pink Himalayan salt, dehydrated vegetables, white rice and lentils. The meals were then delivered to Hands On Hartford, an organization that placed them in children’s backpacks later that day.
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HILL HEADLINES
Winter Performing Arts Concert Members of the Dance Ensemble, Concert Band, Jazz Band, Chamber Choir and Chorale performed for members of the Westminster community March 5 during the Winter Performing Arts Concert held in Werner Centennial Center.
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HILL HEADLINES
“The 39 Steps” Westminster Dramat had audiences laughing throughout its lively production of the melodrama “The 39 Steps, ” which ran Nov. 6-8 in the Werner Centennial Center. The spy story takes place in 1930s England and Scotland. “I cannot say enough about how proud I am of how everyone pulled together to make this production something unique and spectacular,” said Director of Theater A-men Rasheed, who welcomed everyone to the play by impersonating Alfred Hitchcock onstage.
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HILL HEADLINES
“Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” After weeks of rehearsals, set construction and technical work, Westminster Dramat completed a very successful three-day run of the musical comedy “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” Feb. 20-22 in the Werner Centennial Center. The production, which was directed by Director of Theater A-men Rasheed, with music direction by Director of Music David Chrzanowski and choreography by Jewel Brown ’15, generated abundant laughter and thunderous applause from audiences all three days. “Overall, I was very happy with how everyone in the pit, backstage and onstage just clicked,” said A-men. “It was very rewarding for all.”
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Season Overviews Sports Information Director Peter Decoteau shares some highlights from the fall and winter seasons.
Sally Sandoval ’15
David Carter ’15 Stina Ladd ’15
Fall Season First Football With six wins and only two losses, First Football compiled its best regular season record in 20 years and was awarded a spot in the team’s first-ever bowl game, the Sean Brennan Bowl. In its final game of the regular season, the team fought its way to a big win over rival Pomfret, defeating the Griffins 22-16 and bringing home the “Mega-Bowl” trophy. Tri-captain David Carter ’15 had a tremendous game, rushing for three touchdowns and more than 260 yards. With this effort, Carter set school records for rushing yards and touchdowns in a single season. Carter, along with Corey Jean-Jacques ’15 and Greg Livingston ’17, earned All-New England honors for Class B. In addition, Carter, Jean-Jacques, Livingston, Chaz Ruffin ’16 and Ben Feola ’15 were named First Team All-Colonial League.
relentless attempts at goal. This tactic paid off, as goals from Emma Stevens ’16 (2) and Sarah Migliori ’16 led the team to a 3-1 victory. Leah Klassen ’17, who had 20 saves in the game and was outstanding all season in goal, made two phenomenal stops in the waning minutes to hold on to the lead. The Martlets were bested in the semifinals by a very talented Hotchkiss team, but it was an exciting tournament for First Field Hockey, with standout performances by Klassen and Maddy Paro ’17, who were named to the NEPSAC AllTournament Team. In addition, Stina Ladd ’15 and Susanna Baker ’15 were named to the WNEPSFHA All-Star Team following their phenomenal final season.
First Girls’ Soccer First Field Hockey First Field Hockey had a stellar season, capping off a 16-2 record with a nine-game winning streak and earning a berth in the NEPSAC Class A Tournament. With their impressive record, the girls were seeded No. 3 and hosted No. 6 Noble and Greenough at home Nov. 12. The Nobles squad was fast and disciplined, but the Martlets were able to put pressure on the Bulldogs from the start with tight passing up front and
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First Girls’ Soccer battled its way to a 12-3-1 record and rode a nine-game winning streak into the NEPSAC Class A Tournament. The team was seeded No. 4 in the tournament and took on No. 6 Phillips Andover Nov. 8 at home. The round-one game was a thriller. It was clear from the start that the teams were very evenly matched, and the game remained knotted at 0-0 until, with only a few minutes remaining, Sally Sandoval ’15 found some room at the edge of the box and sent a rocket into the bottom right corner of the
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Coach Charlie Griffith
Stephen Tortora ’15
goal. Andover answered with its own goal less than a minute later to tie the game at 1-1 and push the contest into overtime. In extra time, both teams were aggressive and determined but neither could find a breakthrough. A penalty-kick shootout appeared imminent, until the ball shot out from a scrum in front of Andover’s net to the foot of Katie Simeon ’16 who lifted it past the goalkeeper’s outstretched hands with just over a minute left in the game. While the girls fell in the semifinals to No. 1 Choate, they had a terrific season, capped off by the selection of Sandoval and Meg Richard ’15 to both the WWNEPSSA All-Star Team and the Connecticut All-State Team. Sandoval was also named to the Boston Globe NEPSAC All-Star Team.
First Boys’ Soccer First Boys’ Soccer had a solid 2014 campaign with a 9-7-1 record highlighted by some marquee wins. Early in the season, the boys beat a very talented Taft squad in a tight 1-0 contest and then went on to defeat Suffield 2-1 under the lights of Hovey Field. These early victories set the tone for a team that would be defined by grit and determination. Later in the year, the Martlets took on a perennially strong Bearcats squad from Hotchkiss and came away with a dramatic win after two goals late in the game.
Aaron Rubin ’15
Team standouts Stephen Tortora ’15 and J.P. Schuhlen ’16 were selected to represent the WNEPSSA in the NEPSAC AllStar game at the end of November and were named to the 2014 Connecticut All-State Team. In addition, the Connecticut Soccer Coaches Association recognized Charlie Griffith P’11, ’14, ’17 as Assistant Coach of the Year for “Large” Prep.
Cross Country Aaron Rubin ’15 had one of the best running seasons in Westminster School history. Rubin won the Richard Miller Invitational — one of only two Martlets ever to win this race — as well as numerous other team races throughout the season. He finished third overall in the Founders League Championship and third in the NEPSTA Division II Tournament, earning AllFounders League and All-New England honors. He completed the season with the fastest 5K time recorded by a Westminster runner, and set school records in the 1500m and 3000m races.
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Meg Richard ’15
Taggart Corriveau ’16 Erin Ozturk ’15
Colin Dougherty ’15
Winter Season First Boys’ Hockey
First Girls’ Hockey
First Boys’ Hockey earned a No. 2 seed in the New England Piatelli/Simmons Tournament with a 13-10-2 record. The Martlets faced No. 7 Vermont Academy in the tournament quarterfinals March 4. The boys rolled in the opening game, winning 8-0 on the strength of relentless offensive pressure and some standout goalkeeping from Nick Sanford ’16. In the semifinal game, the boys had a harder task, taking on the No. 3 seed, The Rivers School, in a Saturday afternoon showdown on Williams Hill. Westminster jumped out to an early lead and went on to win 4-2 to earn a spot in the finals. The next day, the Martlets traveled to St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., to play in the tournament championship game. Westminster faced a No. 1 seeded St. Mark’s School, which boasted a 24-4-3 record. Down 2-0 heading into the final period, Westminster came out storming and scored 13 seconds into the third to cut the lead in half. Westminster kept the pressure on, but the St. Mark’s keeper remained poised and deflected a number of good shots. He would finish the game with an amazing 43 saves. Despite some strong play for the Black and Gold, the boys ultimately lost 3-1. The Martlets finished their season with a solid 15-11-2 record, including a run to the Flood-Marr Tournament Championship in December. Taggart Corriveau ’16 was named to the All-New England Team for NEPSAC Boys Hockey.
First Girls’ Hockey compiled a 12-6-5 record for the season with outstanding play from co-captains Erin Ozturk ’15 and Katie Savage ’15, and from goaltender Leah Klassen ’17. The team’s accomplishments included 4-1 victories over Pomfret and Choate, as well as a run to the championship game of the Harrington Tournament in December. Catherine Crawley ’16 was named to the NEPSAC All-New England Team.
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First Girls’ Basketball Sisters Meg Richard ’15 and Jacqui Richard ’16, along with Sixth Formers Cynnie White, Lexie Miller and Olivia Tawney, led First Girls’ Basketball to its best record in more than 12 years. The season was capped by a 57-53 upset win over Pomfret, a team the Martlets had not defeated in nine years. The girls were down 38-26 at one point in the second half, but they kept their poise, executed on offense and cut the lead to 49-42 with just a few minutes to go. Meg Richard scored a school-record 31 points in the victory. Meg and Jacqui Richard were named to the NEPSGBCA All-Star Team.
First Boys’ Basketball First Boys’ Basketball had some banner wins during its 2014-2015 campaign, including a big 71-48 victory over The Gunnery, followed by a 72-54 win over Berkshire in the same week. Colin Dougherty ’15 led the team in scoring for the season, earning more than 30 points in multiple games, while David Ryan ’15 and Chris Jones ’16 also added crucial baskets throughout the season.
/ / / / / AT H L E T I C S / / / / / Left, Charlotte Lennox ’16, Emily Kunsman ’15, Alex Kavle ’15 and Leta Giordano ’17
Katie Deveaux ’16 Wonjune Kang ’16 Henry Chou ’15
Swimming and Diving The Boys’ and Girls’ Swimming and Diving teams finished their seasons flying high, recording individual best times, breaking multiple school records and taking high placements in the Founders League and NEPSAC DII Championships. The girls finished fourth in both championship meets. At the Founders League Championship, the 200 medley relay team of Elizabeth Brewer ’17, Alex Kavle ’15, Leta Giordano ’17 and co-captain Emily Kunsman ’15 set a new school record of 1:57.69 and finished in third place. Giordano took first in the 100 fly, lowering her own school record to 59.53, and later set a school record in the 100 free (55.05). In addition, Charlotte Lennox ’16 finished second in the 100 breaststroke. The following weekend at the NEPSAC Championships, Kavle lowered the breaststroke school record (set the previous week) to 1:10.29. Giordano broke the 200 freestyle record with a time of 1:59.47, placing second in that event and third in the 100 fly, before leading off two record-setting relays. The 200 freestyle relay team of Giordano, Nornia Xu ’17, Kunsman and Kavle lowered its own school record from last year with a second-place finish in a time of 1:44.84. In the evening’s final event, the 400 free relay team of Giordano, Kunsman, Kavle and Lennox raced down to the wire to eclipse a 14-year-old school record in a time of 3:49.30. The Westminster boys swam season bests at the NEPSAC Championships, placing fifth in a competitive field. The 200 freestyle relay team of co-captain Henry Chou ’15, Jordan Gabbidon ’17, Philip Wu ’16 and co-captain Tom Dudzik ’15 swam its fastest 400 free relay of the season to take fourth. Dudzik placed fifth in both the 50 and 100 freestyles,
with a lifetime best in the latter. In the diving event, Jack Norman ’16 had a standout day, placing third overall with his best score ever in the 11-dive contest. Overall, the boys had a strong finish to a great season, with captains Chou and Dudzik finishing their Westminster swimming careers with their heads held high.
First Boys’ Squash First Boys’ Squash finished fifth in the Class B New England Tournament despite having only six players representing Westminster. Henry Amory ’18 finished fourth in the No. 3 flight, Addison Cilmi ’16 was second in the No. 7 flight and Wonjune Kang ’16 took first in the No. 2 flight. In addition, Will Leathers ’17, Declan Horrigan ’16 and Sam Worcester ’16 all won two matches during the event to finish ninth of 16 in their draws.
First Girls’ Squash First Girls’ Squash closed out its season with a third-place finish at the New England Class B Tournament. Each player won at least twice in the tournament, and all displayed some of their best squash of the season. Katie Deveaux ’16 and Abby LeBlanc ’17, who were crowned champions in their respective flights, provided the highlights of the tournament. Deveaux, at No. 7, cruised to the semifinals with easy wins the first day but had to survive an exciting five-game semifinal before earning her trophy with a somewhat easier four-game final. At No. 2, LeBlanc took down a very accomplished player in a decisive 2, 6, 4 win in the final.
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The Write Ingredients What does it take to become an accomplished writer and a published — or even best-selling — author? The following is a look at the writing careers of six Westminster alumni who are authors — from a thriller writer, to memoirists, to a fisherman turned novelist, to a mother who titled a children’s book after her daughter. They talk about their passion for writing, the hard work it involves and whether their formative years at Westminster inspired their writing in any way.
“Writing is like baking bread. You research the right ingredients, mash them together in a bowl, cover it with a towel and put it in a warm place to rise.”
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Alone in his cabin for the past three days, the madman rocked gently on his narrow bunk, his eyes fixed on the dull sheen of his personal safe while fever sent alternating currents of heat and cold through his body. He was unaware of the great ship’s passage across the Atlantic, the rhythm of her four engines turning the large propellers, the spectacular service offered by the crew or even the cycles of day and night. It took all his mental ability just to keep his focus on the small safe.
Jack Du Brul ’86
FROM “HAVOC” BY JACK DU BRUL
“I think I took it as a challenge to learn as much as I could about a topic when the need arose, i.e., the Fifth Form term paper or establishing a character’s knowledge of hard rock mining.”
Walk into any bookstore and you are sure to see books written by Jack Du Brul on display. At an early age, he wanted to become a thriller writer and decided he would not let anything stand in his way. He started writing his first novel while a student at Westminster but abandoned the project after 600 pages. He started his second novel, “Vulcan’s Forge,” shortly after graduating from George Washington University with a degree in international relations and while tending bar and waiting tables in Florida. It was published after he moved back to his native Vermont where he worked construction for his father. Today, Jack’s best-selling Philip Mercer series includes seven titles: “Vulcan’s Forge,” “Charon’s Landing,” “The Medusa Stone,” “Pandora’s Curse,” “River of Ruin,” “Deep Fire Rising” and “Havoc.” They focus on a successful mining engineer and geologist named Dr. Philip Mercer who gets involved in various threats to the world. Jack is also the renowned co-author with Clive Cussler of seven New York Times best-selling Oregon Files thrillers: “Dark Watch,” “Skeleton Coast,” “Plague Ship,” “Corsair,” “The Silent Sea,” “The Jungle” and “Mirage.” Jack does massive amounts of research for his novels and has made it a point to try some of the things he writes about including flying an airplane, skydiving and scuba diving. He has also traveled to more than two dozen countries. He lives in Vermont with his wife, Debbie.
Westminster days, so it seemed logical, or hubristic I suppose, that one day I would try my hand at writing a novel of my own. For the record, that first effort was an absolute mess and will never see the light of day, but it did teach me what not to do when writing a book.
Was there anything about your Westminster experience that influenced this interest? Without a doubt, Mr. Gilman and Mr. McKinley were huge influences on me. Though the classes they taught were called “English,” both men made them so much more. I learned that language is more than words and rules. I learned imagery, symbolism and the cultural touchstones that run through all great writing.
What do you like to write about? I started writing back in the late 1980s when Tom Clancy techno thrillers filled the market, so that is where I thought I had the best chance of getting published. In truth, these were also the types of books I enjoyed the most, so it was logical I would stick with what I knew. That said, I do try to put themes within my books of at least a little import — ecology, the importance of loyalty, family or even the nature of revenge.
How have you developed as a writer over the years? When did your passion for writing begin? I have always been a voracious reader, even back in my
Over the years, I have learned one important thing about being a writer and that is no matter how cleverly you plot a book and no
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matter how thrilling the action or dastardly the villain, without a strong lead character, someone who grows before the readers’ eyes, the novel will be stale. Character trumps plot every time. If you love the characters, you will read about them eating a meal for page after page, while if you can’t bring yourself to care, they can save the world and you’ll just yawn. I’ve seen careers implode when authors forget this central fact.
What are some key elements in your writing process? Proper research is another critical component to writing a novel, and my time at Westminster is where my love of research began. I found it humbling to step into the library and realize there were thousands of books there on topics of which I knew absolutely nothing. I think I took it as a challenge to learn as much as I
Isabel Gillies ’88
could about a topic when the need arose, i.e., the Fifth Form term paper or establishing a character’s knowledge of hard rock mining. Love of research, or at least tolerance of it, is a crucial tool for everyone, professional writer or not.
What are you currently writing? As for my future, after co-authoring seven consecutive New York Times best-sellers, with my friend and mentor, Clive Cussler, I am back out writing my own novels featuring geologist Philip Mercer. The next one, “The Lightening Stones,” is due out sometime in 2015, and I am already researching what will be my 16th book. It’s hard to believe it all started back on Williams Hill, but then again it’s not a surprise either.
I don’t think you fall in love for the first time until something — or someone — feels dangerous. I don’t mean dangerous like going to jail, I guess I mean just different, really different. Different can feel dangerous, right? Like, I think it feels dangerous when your heart pounds so hard you are sure it’s visible beating under your shirt. Or when you can’t sleep, or catch your breath, or concentrate or listen, or when you turn a different color just thinking about his face, or when your relationships with your friends get all screwed up or when you fight with your parents. When you change direction or your mind, or when tears fall and fall from your eyes for hours, when your whole life gets put in a Cuisinart — all because of a single person. FROM “STARRY NIGHT” BY ISABEL GILLIES
After graduating from New York University with a B.F.A. in film, Isabel Gillies was an actress for many years and is now a noted author. As an actress, she is known for her television role as Detective Stabler’s wife on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” As an author, she has published two memoirs, a novel and numerous articles. Her New York Times best-seller, “Happens Every Day,” was featured by Starbucks as a nationwide selection for its book program and by NPR’s “Fresh Air” as a Top Ten Book of 2009. Her follow-up memoir, “A Year and Six Seconds,” was published in 2011. Last fall, Isabel published the young adult novel “Starry Night,” which is a sweeping love story about the wonders of first love, the agony of first heartbreak and everything in between. Her work has also appeared in Vogue, The New York Times, Real Simple, Cosmopolitan and Saveur. She lives in Manhattan with her husband and children.
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How did you get started as a writer? I never had an official interest in writing. I am very dyslexic and had a rough time in school for many years, so I never longed to be a writer or planned on it in any way. However, a time came in my life when I had a story to tell, and writing it seemed the only way to do it, so I gave it a whirl. Now I write almost every day, and if I’m not writing, I’m thinking about writing. It’s a wonderful and very surprising second career, a way of life really.
Was there anything about your Westminster education that influenced this interest? I think that every part of my education from kindergarten through the cooking class I took last summer informs me as a person and a writer. Westminster is a part of who I am; it’s a part of my gut, and that is the place I try to write from. I have memories of the steak sandwiches at the student center, walking
on that little path from Baxter to go get lunch, Mr. Hovey taking us to Holly Hill and sports. It all informs me as a writer.
What do you like to write about?
“Westminster is a part of who I am; it’s a part of my gut, and that is the place I try to write from.”
I like writing about love and family and wallpaper and food and feelings. I write about things I know, mostly. One of my favorite things I ever wrote about was making a bed. I like writing about things I am connected to. Some of it is very small. When eating peanuts recently, I felt like I could write an entire article about how great they are.
How would you describe your writing process? I use many of the same techniques I used as an actor to write. I try to write every day; I try to write from an open and available space; and I try to leave myself alone, get out of my head and listen to my instincts. I’m untrained, so I make a lot of mistakes and have to start over and cut things and listen to people who are smarter than me and take their direction. I think being a big feeler has helped me as a writer. I guess I’m still learning the answer to that question.
Art Gilliam ’59
How have you grown as a writer over the years?
I learn a lot every time I write. Sometimes something will just fly out of me and sometimes I struggle. Even though I think about writing all the time, I don’t overthink it. Again, for me it’s a lot about gut and trying to successfully translate that into something that people will connect with.
Do you have any future writing projects underway? I am starting to write a new book. Recently, I had an idea about it that I think will steer me in the right direction. You always have to be listening to what’s going on inside you and pay attention to what bubbles up to your brain. If you don’t, you can miss impulses that lead you to the story.
What do you like to read? Honestly, cookbooks. I find so much peace in them. Also Real Simple magazine because I love the tips. But I just finished both Donna Tart’s “The Goldfinch” and “The Secret History,” and they were great. Reading is a complicated topic for me because I was so tortured by it as a kid, but certain books come along and grab me, and then they have me forever.
When I went away to Westminster School in Connecticut, I left all of my classmates and friends behind. I was literally exchanging my life as a Negro child from an all-Negro environment in the racist South for a new life in an overwhelmingly white environment. It is central to my life that my mom and dad decided that in order for me to have a better life, I would need to leave the South. They were basically turning my development into adulthood over to strangers who would guide me in an environment where I was not automatically perceived as inferior and who would, by and large, try to ensure that I had an equal right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” It was something mom and dad could not provide for me in Memphis in the 1950s. FROM “ONE AMERICA: MOVING BEYOND THE ISSUE OF RACE” BY ART GILLIAM
Following Westminster, Art Gilliam graduated from Yale University, served in the United States Air Force and earned an MBA at the University of Michigan. Today, he is the owner and operator of WLOK Radio in Memphis, Tenn., and the author of “One America: Moving Beyond the Issue of Race,” a book released last year that chronicles his life growing up in the South
during the 1950s and his education at Westminster and Yale, and how those experiences impacted his view of race in America. (available at www.OneAmericaBook.com) When Art bought the radio station in 1977, he became the first African-American radio station operator in Memphis. But this was only one example of some firsts in his life. He started
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environment, was a good change psychologically and his work in the news media by writing a regular weekly op-ed emotionally for me. I was young, 13 years old, and Westminster column for the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper as the was a wonderful transition from what I had experienced in the first African-American to write for the paper. He then became South to what I experienced there. the first African-American television newscaster in Memphis as weekend news anchor at WMC-TV, an NBC affiliate. He left Why are life experiences key to your writing? Memphis for a time to serve in the Washington office of Congressman Harold Ford Sr., the first African-American to The reason I like to write about life experiences is that they are be elected to Congress from Tennessee. While in Washington, something you can touch and feel and to which people can Art was selected by the United States relate. The older you are and the Jaycees as one of the Ten more experiences you have had, the Outstanding Young Men in America. more you are able to bring to a “Growing up in the segregated Today, he lives in Memphis with his book. I like to write not necessarily wife, Dorrit. just from a racial standpoint, South and then coming to although this book is clearly about Westminster, which was almost When were you first interested race and growing up in the South, in writing? but I think it is a bigger picture than the opposite environment, was a I have been interested in writing that. Ultimately, the book is about pretty much all my life; in fact, I the importance of having one good change psychologically and even made a couple of contributions America. emotionally for me.” at Westminster to The Martlet. “One America” is my first book, although How long did it take you to write the book? I have written stories, editorials and columns in newspapers. When I first returned to Memphis from It took me a couple of years to write the book since I was doing college, The Commercial Appeal newspaper didn’t have a black many other things. Writing needs to be spontaneous for me. viewpoint and there was a lot of unrest, so they agreed in that There were times when I was writing this book that I would turbulent environment to commission me to write a weekly wake up in the middle of the night thinking about things to opinion column, and I did that for about seven years. include, and I would make notes and integrate those thoughts into the book.
What led you to writing “One America”? The book wrote itself in the sense that life can write a book for you. I had lived some experiences that I felt I should put in writing, and the book became more of a reflection of the life I have lived. I grew up in the segregated South, so I went all of the way from the back of the bus to seeing Barack Obama elected president of the United States. I realized there was a book in the course that my life had taken and also in the course that America had taken in my lifetime. I felt something needed to be said about all of this, and I did so.
Why did you decide to include mention of Westminster in the book? There is segment in the book about my time at Westminster and what it meant to me in terms of my life. Westminster helped form my life as a whole, and experiences in life are what lead you to write. Growing up in the segregated South and then coming to Westminster, which was almost the opposite
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How has the book been received? I am told by those with whom I work in publishing that it has done very well for a first book. I have given talks about it mostly in the Memphis area where I live. Recently, I talked about it in Nashville and am beginning to expand those personal appearances beyond the region.
Do you have future writing projects in mind? I think that future writing projects will expand on some of the concepts that are mentioned in the book, at least in the short term. I am honored to be a part of the Westminster family. It meant a great deal to me in terms of my development during the all-important early teen years. Many vital lessons I learned at Westminster have stayed with me for a lifetime.
Probably the wisest words that were ever uttered to me came from a therapist. I was sitting in her office, crying my eyes out over my then unsuccessful writing career and my husband’s challenges at work, and she said, “So let me get this straight. You base your personal happiness on things entirely outside of your control.”
Laura Munson ’84
“Yeah. I guess. If you put it that way,” I agreed. “I’m not writing novels not to see them published. Fourteen of them to be exact — spanning over half my life! I’m not raising kids — two of them — a girl, 12, and a boy, 8 — pouring my entire heart into every fiber of their beings not to make sure they’re healthy and happy and have the right size shoes and find a life that they love. I’m not married — to the same man, whom I’ve adored since my senior year in college — to live in loneliness. And I can’t control any of those results. But I want them to be good ones. I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t believe those positive results would make me happy.” FROM “THIS IS NOT THE STORY YOU THINK IT IS” BY LAURA MUNSON
Laura Munson is the author of The New York Times and international best-selling memoir “This Is Not The Story You Think It Is: A Season of Unlikely Happiness.” She is also the founder of Haven Blog, and the acclaimed Haven Writing Retreats, and speaks and teaches on subjects of empowerment at conventions, universities and schools, writing retreats/workshops and wellness centers. (see Lauramunson.com) Her work has been published in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, O magazine, The Week, Redbook, Time, Woman’s Day, More, Good Housekeeping, Ladies’ Home Journal, The Huffington Post and others. She has appeared on “Good Morning America,” “The Early Show,” WGN, NPR stations, London’s “This Morning” and Australia’s “Sunrise.” She is a graduate of Denison University and lives in Montana with her family.
When did you begin writing? Writing has always been a lifeline for me — a way to process this beautiful and heartbreaking thing called life. I have journals that go back to fourth grade. After almost three decades living the adult writing life, I know it is my practice, my prayer, my way of life and sometimes my way to life.
Was there anything about your time at Westminster that influenced this interest? I credit Westminster for teaching me how to put words together on the page with confidence and craft. I already had the heart language piece, as well as the voice piece. I still think about Mr.
McKinley’s caution not to use “deadwood” or “bombast” and God forbid, the passive voice! What a gift it was to be supported in exploring my relationship with the written word in my teens. And I still can recite Sonnet No. 14!
What do you like to write about? I like to write about the things that people do to each other and find some sort of grace in it. Grit and grace, if you will. I like transformational and redemptive stories, but I don’t feel the need to tie things up in a pink bow. I like to dig deep. I like to learn from my characters and my plots, real or imagined. I like to explore inconvenient truths and hold up a mirror to them. I wrote a best-selling memoir, but I’ve mostly written novels, which I hope to see published. Overall, I write to shine a light on a dim or otherwise pitch black corner to provide relief for myself and others. And that is why I show up for my writing every day, and have, no matter what, for most of my life.
How have you developed as a writer over the years? As a young person, I wanted to be an actress, never a writer. I took a screenplay class in college and was hooked. That turned into my first novel, which I started my senior year, and I’ve never stopped. I opted not to get an M.F.A. but rather to cut my teeth on “real life,” which meant that I took odd jobs and cultivated a committed, daily writing practice as a free agent. This is a more challenging way to go, and not the best route for people unless they really are obsessed with their craft like I’ve been — and have thick skin (which has not always been the case with me).
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I learned along the way that you don’t have to do it alone. That’s how Haven Retreats were born. I’m on a mission to support people who want to dig deeper into their creative selfexpression on the page, whether or not they consider themselves writers or care to be published. So while I still write every day, I’m now teaching, coaching and editing, and I love how it balances out my personal writing life.
How would you describe your writing process?
when I had bleak financial years, when my career took off … you name it. It’s just what I do. That’s why I started my Haven Retreats. I know how to do this work, and I know how to help others find their own voice through writing.
Do you have any future writing projects in progress? Currently, I’m writing a novel, another memoir and a book about writing, inspired by leading my retreats. The more I teach, the more I am inspired to write more. I can’t imagine not having a book in progress.
Most of us are in our own way when it comes to our creative self-expression, whether or not we consider ourselves writers. We What do you like to read? have loud inner critics that tell us that we’re not unique enough, or talented enough or worthy enough. Over the years, I’ve I think that as a writer, you have to be hungry for your own become highly aware of the destructive thought patterns of that stuff. I learned at Westminster that you have to edit and edit and inner critic, and I’ve learned that she’s just a scared child that edit before you submit your work. I still live by that rule. That lives inside me with a very loud megaphone. The more aware of said, writers need their teachers, and I find mine on the page. I her I get, the more I can put her read a lot of poetry these days. down for a nap and get back to That’s what is on my bedside table. work. This is at the core of why most That and stacks of my own writing “What a gift it was to be people are afraid to write or be that I am always reading and supported in exploring my creative. I’ve been mostly able to editing, as well as the work of my dodge her comments and live a Haven Retreat attendees. It’s a relationship with the written consistent, daily, healthy writing life beautiful, balanced, writer’s life, with all my heart and might for a and it’s taken a long time to word in my teens. And I still can long time. I’ve done it when I worked get here! recite Sonnet No. 14!” three jobs, when I had small children,
A display in Cole Library showcases many of the publications written by Westminster alumni and faculty authors.
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Martin “Rocky” Bartlett ’52
Viewed from a distance it could have been a biblical pilgrimage through the wilderness, a line of dark figures plodding through a black and gray landscape of weathered scrub vegetation under a leaden sky. Days of rain had released the pungent aroma of decaying foliage from sunbaked beach plum and bayberry that had somehow eked nourishment from the sandy soil. A streak of brightening sky over the Black Hills in the western bay promised a wind shift and clearing. But not even the wildly waging tail on the ample black butt of his canine companion, disappearing under a clump of scrub pine, could raise Leonard Hill’s spirits as he trudged along. He already hated this place. He had hated it ever since the scalloper Polly Eldridge died on the outer bar four years earlier. The smell of the place reminded him of the sweat of beaten men, the rain, the tears of their women. FROM “WIND SHIFT AT PEAKED HILLS” BY MARTIN BARTLETT
“I think I bonded
place before the use of monofilament Rocky Bartlett served on nylon mainline, chemical light lifeboat stations, icebreakers and with the ocean while at attractors and radio transmitter port security in the Coast Guard Westminster gazing at buoys. (available at amazon.com) during the 1950s. He ran boats and tagged hundreds of tuna with the Heublein Tower, which How long have you been a Woods Hole Oceanographic writer? Institution while promoting and was the closest thing to a documenting the U.S. East Coast My classmate Nick Cooper ’52, lighthouse in sight at night.” longline fishery for swordfish. Later, editor of The Martlet, wanted to with the National Marine Fisheries print a salty essay I wrote my senior Service and the University of year at Westminster, but it was too Georgia, he engaged in exploratory fishing and gear research lengthy. Instead, he used a four-line verse titled “The Mariner” resulting in the fishery for swordfish in the Gulf of Mexico. (see below) that was probably better than the essay. For the next 20 years as owner and operator of the longliner Penobscot Gulf, he fished from Nova Scotia to Texas opening up The Mariner the swordfishery between Florida and Cape Hatteras. He fished the food chain from swordfish and tuna, down to dogfish and Wildest for the mariner these skate wings before taking the Penobscot Gulf to the Gulf of The squall afar Mexico for a short career of sponging. A splintering spar Rocky has written articles for On the Water, Spritsail, The instant before giant crumbling seas. National Fisherman, Commercial Fishing News, Commercial Fisheries Review and several scientific journals. He is now From The Martlet 1952 “retired” to fresh water in mid-coast Maine with his wife, Joanne, running a summer camp for a dozen grandchildren and Was there anything about your time at Westminster that influenced this interest? keeping an eye out for the dorsal wake of an unlucky trophy brown trout. His first book, “Wind Shift at Peaked Hills,” which I think I bonded with the ocean while at Westminster gazing at was published last year, is a fictional tale of fishing. It is an Heublein Tower, which was the closest thing to a lighthouse in account of a longline fishing trip to Georges Bank that succeeds sight at night. in avoiding Peaked Hills Bars, a shoal near Cape Cod, and takes
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What other kinds of writing have you done?
How has the book been received?
While doing exploratory and commercial fishing, I wrote for trade magazines and scientific journals. With the decline of every resource that could support a fisher, I came ashore and decided to profile the “industrial complex” that enables harvesters to become “too big to fail” by controlling management, government and law enforcement.
Commercial and sport fishers love the book. Members of the establishment are sulking because it threatens their bottom line.
What inspired you to write a novel? “Wind Shift at Peaked Hills” is a piece of creative nonfiction that attempts to demonstrate that the ocean is the safest environment for a fisher, while the land and the business world present the real hazards. When I started the book in the ’90s, it was called “Malabar,” which was another name for Monomoy Point south of Chatham, Mass. As things came together, the area off Race Point became the focal point, and “wind shift” is a metaphor for the changing relationships among the crew of the fictional 70-foot longliner Tecumseh.
Do you plan to write other books? I am working on a hook fisherman’s manifesto called “The Last Supper.” It might be called constructive cynicism. It will have a fictional storyline based on my ground fishing days with a strong component of what management needs to happen to rescue the resource from devastation. I’m in the process of “reading the competition.” No one has come up with an answer, so there is time.
How has your writing developed over the years? I have become a better editor because most of the “hired help” are pretty bad. Writing is like baking bread. You research the right ingredients, mash them together in a bowl, cover it with a towel and put it in a warm place to rise. I make it a practice to read the competition and make sure I don’t make the same mistakes.
Later, back on the bus, Tommy got off and Jenny, Kitty, David and Peter headed over to Sally. “Sally! Why are you always so nice to Tommy? He is so mean.” “Tommy?” Sally questioned. “No, Tommy is very kind and observant, but I do think Tommy is sad and scared.” “Scared? Tommy? Why?”
Laura Ballentine Ferris ’93
“Well, …” Sally thought to herself and then continued, “Do you remember Tommy last year?” Sally asked them. Jenny, Kitty, David and Peter thought and thought, and then David gave up and responded, “Not really. He was just always with Robbie.” “Well, … maybe Tommy is sad and scared because his best friend Robbie moved and he doesn’t have him around anymore. Maybe he is scared that he may not make another friend like him.” FROM “LITTLE SALLY’S BIG LIGHT” BY LAURA BALLENTINE FERRIS
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experience led me to find the good in every experience and in everyone. While I was shy, I was observant. Mr. Reeves’ and Mr. Daly’s classes certainly furthered my interest in reading and writing. Mr. Eckerson and my dad helped me to push myself.
What led you to write a children’s book? I decided to write “Little Sally’s Big Light” after a long day with my newborn at the time, Sally. I was lying in bed and thinking After graduating from Westminster, Laura “Laurie” about whether there was something else I could be doing to Ballentine Ferris attended St. Lawrence University, where she bring in some income. When you have a newborn, however, you earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature. She grew up in have lots of things going on and really should not be thinking Minnesota and New Jersey but now lives in New York City with about taking on more! I had this random thought about how I her husband, Jeff; daughter, Sally; and son, Brewer. Leaving loved writing. Then I thought about what would I write about, behind a 10-year career working in fine jewelry, she stays at and the premise for the book came to me. I shot out of bed and home raising her children and has recently become a published wrote it all-out that night and went back to bed. I revisited it the author. next day and throughout that week. I then shared it with my Laurie published her first book, “Little Sally’s Big Light,” mother and sisters, and they encouraged me to go forward with last fall. It is a children’s book named after her daughter and was it, which is what I did. illustrated by her late mother, Susan Miller Ballentine. The story My mom was a wonderful is about a little girl named Sally who illustrator, so I begged her to illustrate helps her friends find the good in the book. I have always loved her “Then I thought about what everyone. (available at amazon.com) drawings, so it had to be her. That would I write about and the part took longer than the writing, When did you start writing? since she did a lot of research on how premise for the book came to to get some of the illustrations I have loved writing since I was in accurate. About three years later, it me. I shot out of bed and grade school in Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J., was published, but I’m sad to say she where students were encouraged to wrote it all-out that night and never saw it published. Our family is write daily and freely. I preferred glad that she left this to share. writing more than reading, however, went back to bed. I revisited it
reading was strongly enforced by my the next day father who gave me deadlines to finish my books or no television. I that eventually grew to love reading, and this grew to a love of analyzing what I read. I majored in English literature at St. Lawrence University, but my mother wondered why I didn’t major in writing. I should have listened to her advice, so here I am making up for lost time.
What do you like to write about and why? I would love to be able to write about something outside myself, but for now, I stay in my comfort zone.
Was there anything about your Westminster experience that influenced this interest?
and throughout week.”
Do you have any other writing projects planned?
I would like to write a children’s book with my son’s name in the title. That seems fair. I’m waiting for that “aha” moment. If I could ever write a novel, I’d be thrilled, but this isn’t the time in my life to be able to tackle that.
What are some important steps you take when writing? Revisiting and revising. There was a sign on the classroom wall in my grade school English classroom that said something about how “no writer writes right the first time.” If you follow that, you are not inhibited to write freely the first time. You can then go back and edit again and again.
I transferred to Westminster in the middle of my Fourth Form year, which was difficult. I was “young” for my age and the
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Encouraging students to become excellent writers and to publish their works are hallmarks of Westminster’s English Program. “Writing is a way of putting thoughts on paper,” said Head of the English Department Michael Cervas P’06, ’01, ’10. “All forms of writing have legitimacy. They all involve figuring out how to use words, phrases, clauses and the resources of language to accomplish purposes. The first two years of the program, we spend a lot more time on grammar, and the last two years, we do less of that and ask our students to take more risks in their writing and to write longer and more complicated pieces.”
Aspiring Early Teachers take a broad view of the teaching of writing by having students work in a variety of rhetorical modes including expository, personal, creative and analytical. Third Formers practice all four kinds of writing, often in very short papers, essays or overnight assignments. Fourth Formers do the same but in slightly longer papers that are two or three pages long. Fifth Formers tend to focus on analytical writing, and Sixth Formers work in a combination of forms, ending the year with a hybrid essay that combines personal, analytical, expository and creative writing. One of the distinguishing aspects of the English Program is the incorporation of visiting writers into the curriculum. Westminster hosts six author readings during the academic year as a part of its Friday Nights in Gund series and an annual visit by a renowned poet selected as the Westminster Poet. The authors read from their works and visit classes the next day. And when the annual Westminster Poet visits, he or she spends a day and a half visiting classes in addition to giving a reading to the entire school community. “For a significant number of our students, it is pretty important to have living writers in their presence,” said Michael. “Not many schools braid into their curricula works by visiting writers. We study the poems, essays, stories and novels by the writers who are coming. It is what makes our program different.”
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Top, English teacher Emily Neilson and, above, Head of the English Department Michael Cervas teaching English classes. Opposite page, from top to bottom, students participate in a discussion in Michael Cervas’ English class; author Monica Wood, English teacher Bryan Tawney and Jake Solomon ’16 give readings during the Friday Nights in Gund series; and display boards in Armour Academic Center provide information about Friday Nights in Gund readings and the English Paper of the Week Contest.
To encourage students to be serious about their writing and to aspire to publication, the department sponsors several writing contests including the This I Believe Essay Writing Contest, the James Joyce Short Story Writing Contest and the English Paper of the Week Contest. The winners of the competitions are invited to read their works alongside visiting writers at the Friday Nights in Gund readings. “The students love it,” says Michael. “We practice their delivery, and it is a wonderful opportunity for public speaking. As an added bonus, many of the entries in the This I Believe Essay Writing Contest evolve into chapel talks. They are slightly revised and put into the context of a public performance as opposed to an essay on paper.” Student writing is also showcased each spring in The Martlet, a publication that features student and faculty verse, prose, artwork and photography. Students are encouraged to enter writing competitions outside of Westminster as well. Most recently, Taite Puhala ’14 won the sixth annual 2012 Smith College Poetry Prize for High School Girls in New England and
to Publish was one of five winners of the 2014 Fresh Voices Competition. She read at the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival last August at the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, Conn. For the past several years, the English Department has also offered an Independent Studies in Creative Writing course, which students can elect to take as an additional English class. Students in this independent studies course join Michael to attend readings off campus several times each trimester, and they often participate in open mic sessions at these readings, another wonderful opportunity for aspiring writers to be real writers. And because the department likes to practice what it preaches, members of the faculty are encouraged to write The winners of the competitions and get their works published. “It is good are invited to read their works for students to have alongside visiting writers at the teachers who are going through the very Friday Nights in Gund readings. difficult and challenging task of putting words on paper,” said Michael. Recent current and former faculty members who have had their writing published include Michael, Emily Neilson, Molly Pilling and Brian Ford. Bryan Tawney P’15, ’17 has also written a number of chapel talks that were presentations of his writing. Emily and Bryan have been faculty readers at recent Friday Nights in Gund readings, just as Michael and Molly were in past years. “It has been a very creative time in the English Department,” said Michael. “A series of gifts to the Ford-Goldfarb English Department Enrichment Fund have allowed us to dream big and to make some things possible including supporting faculty publication and student writing contests. We also have the advantage of having small classes and a lot of personal contact. Our aim is for our students to become excellent readers, thinkers and writers, not only at Westminster, but in college and beyond.” Spring 2015
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Improving Sustainability One Person at a Time
Constructing solar panels are, clockwise from top, science teacher Grant Gritzmacher and Mike Heagerty ’15; James Sullivan ’15, Fred Baker ’15 and Mac McCormick ’16; and Mimi Connelly ’15.
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Thanks to a new science class at Westminster, students are immersing themselves in real-life issues of environmental concern. They are conducting projects and collecting data with an eye toward making an impact on sustainability efforts in the Westminster and local communities. Science teacher Grant Gritzmacher, who has taught AP Environmental Science for 10 years, often wondered what an environmental science class would be like if not constrained by preparation for an AP exam, where he must move students through material very quickly. He and other faculty members in the Science Department had talked about the possibility of creating such a class for years and finally decided to move forward with an elective titled Science of Sustainability during the current academic year. The class is for Fifth Formers and Sixth Formers who have typically taken physics and chemistry and possibly biology. There is no textbook for the class but rather assembled readings and long-term projects. The first unit of study is an introduction to sustainability. “We look at global issues such as climate change, population growth, disease vectors and the world economy,” said Grant. “The idea is to give students a framework to interpret all of the other material we will cover during the year. It grabs their attention. Once they start reading some of the current data, which is more alarming every year, they get an idea of what is going on with such things as climate change, air pollution, water
pollution, agriculture and population growth. I certainly do not preach to them about what should or should not be done. It is more, here is the predicament that we face and here is the science that supports the statements.” The second unit focuses on an ecosystem function with a forestry component. Students collect data about trees in quadrants measuring 400 square yards on campus and learn how foresters operate. They then mathematically scale up the quadrants to the size of the entire campus to predict what that percentage distribution of species could provide humanity and the ecosystem in terms of producing oxygen, storing carbon dioxide, preventing erosion and providing habitat for animals. “We are trying to put a vague value to humanity on the different things that “We are trying to put a vague forests do for us free of charge,” said value to humanity on the Grant. “We often think about the cost of different things that forests do cutting down a tree, for us free of charge.” hauling it to a sawmill and then shipping it to a store for sale, but we don’t consider the cost of what that tree is worth in place. Every time we lose forest, we allow carbon dioxide to go in the air which exacerbates climate change, soil erosion and so on.” Along with the forestry project, the students are creating a campus arboretum. They identified
Students discuss a black oak on campus as part of an ecosystem function and forestry unit.
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approximately 35 trees around the central part of campus near walking paths and are building Web pages for each tree that will include facts about the tree and seasonal photos. “The photographs will be dated, so we can track over time such things as growth and leaf patterns,” said Grant. “We will be creating plaques to mount next to the trees that will include each tree’s common and scientific names and a QR code, so passersby can hold up their cellphones and use a QR reader to reach the website about that tree.” The third unit of study concentrates on energy with a particular focus on renewable energy. Students study fossil fuels, energy production, the natural gas boom and the changing energy needs of developing countries. The capstone of the unit this year has been construction of three flat-plate solar collectors to help heat a large unheated swimming pool at the Simsbury Farms recreational complex, which is located about five miles from campus. “I had the idea for the solar panels last spring,” said Grant. “I mentioned it to the manager of the complex, and he seemed excited about it. I then met with town officials several times last fall, and they were enthused about moving forward.” Grant works at the pool in the summertime as coach of the town recreational swim team, the Simsbury Sprinters, composed of about 100 swimmers. “I think we would have more participants if the pool was warmer,” he said. Students constructed the panels in January, February and March in a classroom in Hamilton Art Studios. The panels are specifically designed for heating pool water and are 4 feet wide and 8 feet tall. When water flows through the copper pipes, the pipes will absorb sunlight and heat the water on its way back to the pool. Each panel will circulate about 7 gallons per minute. Grant says the panels are not expected to have a major impact on the temperature of the pool the first year since more panels would be needed to do that. They will be installed sometime in May when the pool is filled with water. “I have pored over the architectural schematic diagrams of the complex, been on its roof and met with the town staff to work out the logistical details of installing them,” explained Grant. “The town has been a great partner, and we are happy to be providing this community service.” What does he hope students will learn from the project? “I think they will learn that they have
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Science teacher Grant Gritzmacher gives a classroom presentation about the effect of dams on natural flooding.
the power to make things happen,” said Grant. “Perhaps they will also discover they have a knack for putting things together or want to major in engineering or environmental studies in college.” “I think the students recognize, The class’s fourth maybe for the first time, that these unit of study covers agriculture, including are real issues that humanity food safety, genetically modified foods, faces, and we are not just organic farming, conducting lab projects. Their biodiversity, species richness and habitat efforts will have an impact.” loss at the expense of farming. The project that goes along with that unit is creation of a composting initiative for the Westminster dining hall. “It will be a prototype for the future,” said Grant. “We would like to connect the compost from the dining hall to our community garden. Teaching students about where their food is coming from, where the waste goes and ways to
grow food closer to home or buy more locally grown food are all good lessons.” He has previously set up composters to create soil for his own garden beds. “This will be more institutional, but I think it is in our grasp,” he said. “It is just a matter of getting people involved.” As for the larger message for students about the class, Grant added, “I think there is authenticity to the work we are doing. I think the students recognize, maybe for the first time, that these are real issues that humanity faces, and we are not just conducting lab projects. Their efforts will have an impact. In the case of the tree arboretum, they will help improve the experience for visitors and our own community on campus; in the case of the wood lot, they will better understand the value of forests; in the case of the solar panels, they will help the Town of Simsbury; and through composting, they will help reduce the dining hall’s waste stream.” “Everything we learn about enriches me more about current issues with climate change, energy and sustainability,” said Mimi Connelly ’15, a student in the class. “Now that I know how important sustainability is and how cruel we can be to our Earth, it interests me to learn more.” She says there is never a dull moment in class. “Whether we are torching copper tubes together to make the solar panels or measuring trees to see how sustainable a certain area may be, there is always something new to learn about.” She has especially enjoyed constructing the solar panels. “It has been a very hands-on experiment, which is always exciting.” Fred Baker ’15, who already had a fairly good background in sustainability before taking the class and has advocated for sustainability for some time, also likes how relevant the class is to real-life issues. “Most of our homework assignments have been to read various articles written in the past year or so, and the issues of conservation and sustainability are two ideas that my generation must embrace to ensure a bright future,” he said. “My favorite project so far has been a failed state analysis. Every
Dalton Prendergast '15 waters some plants in the community garden last fall.
student chose a failing or failed state and analyzed its various issues and how each one relates back to the environment. It really opened my eyes to see how important it is to sustainability and conservation is to human society. Due to industrialization and manufacturing, I feel that as a society, we have distanced ourselves from the environment and forgot that everything we need ultimately comes from nature, and if we want to sustain our lifestyle, we must take care of the planet.” In the end, Grant hopes the students will learn not to depend on one silver bullet such as the government or industry to save humanity from environmental crises. “It is not going to be some top-down thing,” he said. “It is going to be widespread acceptance of small ways that we can reduce our impact and, hopefully, improve sustainability efforts one person at a time.”
Students are building Web pages for 35 trees around campus that include facts about the trees and seasonal photos.
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Director of Athletics Tim Joncas ’00 also serves as head coach of First Boys’ Hockey.
Making Better Athletes and Better People 30
Westminster Bulletin
Tim Joncas ’00 was appointed director of athletics at Westminster in 2012 and oversees a three-season athletic program that includes 52 teams, which compete in 14 sports in the highly competitive Founders League. While a Westminster student, Tim was a tri-varsity captain in soccer, hockey and lacrosse, and received awards for his sportsmanship, leadership and athletic accomplishments. At Trinity College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science, he was co-captain of the men’s varsity hockey team and won the Trinity Hockey Coaches Award for outstanding leadership.
In 2004, Tim returned to Westminster to work in the Admissions Office, where he had been a popular tour guide as a student. He was named head coach of First Boysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Hockey in 2007 and continues those responsibilities in addition to serving as director of athletics. Tim recently sat down to talk about Westminsterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s highly competitive athletic program.
What are your overall responsibilities as director of athletics? I oversee everything from the overall philosophy of our athletic program, to managing our association with various leagues to determining something as basic as what hat our baseball team should wear. It is a huge challenge, and I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get overly focused on one thing for too long because things are changing constantly.
What do you enjoy most about it? I enjoy the opportunity to communicate with our coaches and students, and to collaborate with athletic directors at other schools. What gives me the most joy is having time in the afternoons to get out to the fields or to our athletic facilities to watch practices and connect with coaches and students.
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What is the overall philosophy of the program? The philosophy of Westminsterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s athletic program is based on the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s core values of community, character, balance and involvement, and its motto, Grit and Grace. As a school, we do such a nice job of intertwining our values and motto into everything we do, and the athletic program is a place where that really comes alive. When you look at a school of our size and see the number of programs we offer, it is only possible because our students are very involved, not just in the afternoon program but also in all of the things they do. The fact that more than 90 percent of our students play more than one sport at Westminster and compete interscholastically for more than one season is pretty impressive.
In which league does Westminster participate? We are a Founders League school, which is an 11-school league that is highly competitive and filled with schools that have similar institutional priorities. We have been a part of it for many years, and it is really important for our school and our athletic program. We are the smallest school in the league when it comes to female and male enrollment.
What are the benefits of league participation? Besides helping with scheduling, being a part of a league adds a nice layer of accountability. You have to be compliant, and you have to act in a certain way since you are not only representing your school but are also representing the league. I consider myself lucky to be able to sit down with the athletic directors from other schools in the league and have enlightening conversations about where athletics are now and where they will be in the future. We talk about what we are doing at our schools to enhance the experience for our students while not compromising our values as institutions. We are not willing to compromise the integrity of our schools in order to win games, which is not to say that the athletic directors, the coaches and the heads of schools are not competitive. They are fiercely competitive, but they understand that athletics should complement what goes on during the course of the day, and it shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t exist in a vacuum.
What is the biggest challenge facing our athletic program? The biggest challenge facing us and other secondary schools is the idea of specialization. Colleges want diverse classes, but they want diverse classes filled with people who are specialized in one area such as playing the trumpet or shooting a lacrosse ball. Competing athletically at the level of the Founders League, we attract a very high-level athlete. Prior to coming to Westminster, most of our student-athletes have focused primarily on whatever their sport of choice is year-round. When they are at Westminster, they have to participate in our afternoon program and get involved in other seasons. When our students are in the Fifth Form and Sixth Form, we do allow them to apply for an athletic exemption, where they can opt out of one season to pursue a passion they might have. In order to be granted an exemption, the student must be in good academic standing, and his or her request must be approved by the Exemption Committee that consists of the 32
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Our coaches are our biggest strength
because they care so much about the students and
Westminster School.
director of athletics, the associate headmaster, the assistant headmaster and the director of studies. Ultimately, the goal is to move all of our students on to the college of their choice, and in some cases, athletics will play a role in that process.
Do all Westminster students have the opportunity to compete on a team? We try to avoid cutting students out of programs, within reason, so the opportunity to compete and put on a Westminster jersey and ride a team bus exists for any student who wants to take advantage of that. As an example, this year, we created Third Girls’ Basketball because there was such a demand. As a smaller school, which values the afternoon program and just getting students out on the fields or in facilities to get exercise, we want to make that happen when we can. The experience of playing on a Westminster team can help students figure out a little bit more about who they are, thus aiding in their development as young people.
What is the greatest strength of the athletic program? Our coaches are our biggest strength because they care so much about the students and Westminster School. I feel very lucky to work with people who really embody what it means to be a coach and are willing to sacrifice their time to make young people better, not just as athletes or even as students, but really as people. Our students are going to become better at many things, but I think my faculty colleagues would agree that we are, ultimately, in the business of making better people, and our afternoon program is a nice vehicle that helps in that process.
Given Westminster’s size, how can it compete, at the level it does, against much larger schools?
I get asked this question a lot, and my answer is that the size of the school does not measure the will or the grit of its students. I think our students compete harder, and our coaches do an incredible job of getting the most out of their athletes. When you are offered a choice between quantity and quality, you almost always take quality, and the quality of our students and faculty is very high.
Does Westminster recruit student-athletes? Many years ago, coaches used to just coach who showed up, but that model has changed for certain programs. We do have coaches who do a fair amount of recruiting. Our expectation for our first team coaches is that if a student visits campus and expresses an interest in his or her program, the coach needs to follow up with that student. We do not as an Athletic Department mandate that all first team coaches go out and recruit students to apply and come to Westminster. Do some programs do that? Yes, they do, but the coaches of those teams do it on their own time and are not missing school commitments. It is important enough for those coaches that they want to do it, and it does help the school.
What has led to the phenomenal success of the girls’ athletic program? Our girls’ programs have been dominant and competed yearly on the New England stage during tournament time. That is a credit to our female athletes and to the coaches of our teams at all levels. It is also a nice byproduct of having fantastic
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â&#x20AC;&#x153;
What gives me the most joy is having time in the afternoons to get out to
the fields or to our athletic facilities to watch practices and connect with coaches and students.
coaches who have built up their programs, and those girls participating in other sports in other seasons. Our lower team coaches also do a great job working with athletes before they move up to the first or second teams. In addition, Westminster has an incredibly positive culture for female athletes. They are able to see strong female role models and be empowered. Some of my faculty colleagues do a nice job of talking with the girls about Title IX and how important that is. In general, too, more girls are playing sports, which is fantastic.
Do many of our student-athletes go on to play sports in college? Because of the level at which we compete and the success that we have had, our students draw interest from college programs at the Division I, II and III levels. For a school of our size, we send a pretty high percentage of our students on to compete in the NCAA.
Do many college coaches visit Westminster for recruitment? Different sports recruit in different ways. A lot of the initial recruitment of a student might happen over the summer, but later, coaches visit Westminster to watch players compete. They want to see how students compete when they are with their team, playing for their coach and playing for their school. We do have a steady stream of college coaches visiting campus, which presents a nice recruiting platform for our students, and it brings people to our campus, which is always a positive thing. 34
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Are student-athletes committing to colleges earlier? The timeframe for student-athletes committing to colleges has gotten earlier. They seem to be committing to schools when they are Third Formers or Fourth Formers. However, it is a little frightening until they sign their national letter of intent or receive their acceptance letter to the school, since up until that point, there are really no guarantees. As my colleague Peter Newman says, “There is a big difference between commit and admit.” This early recruiting is something the NCAA needs to wrangle with. The premise is simple: all of these colleges are competing at very high levels, there is big money at stake and they want to make sure that they get the best athletes, not just for the next two years but for the next eight years. I am not sure where this will all go, but it will be interesting to see where it is in 10 years. Unfortunately, sometimes young people are put in situations where they have to make tough decisions at 15 or 16 years old.
The general issue of safety in school sports has been in the news a lot lately. How does Westminster try to ensure the safety of student-athletes? As a school, child safety is number one. We are overly cautious because we don’t want to risk students having longterm effects from injuries. Over the last five to eight years, more information has come out about the short-term and long-term effects of concussions. Dr. Davis Smith, Westminster’s medical director, and our Health Center staff have done a great job putting protocols in place with respect to concussions. We are lucky to have medical professionals who are well versed in the concussion protocol, as well as two highly qualified athletic trainers. Our students also do a nice job of policing each other. They will let a trainer know if someone sustains a hit or tell a teammate he or she should see the trainer. All students take a baseline test, and there is a protocol about return to play. When students feel they can return to play, it does not mean they can just go right out and do so. They have to go back and see our
athletic trainer, and the athletic trainers will spend days, even weeks, with them before they release them to play. We want to be 100 percent sure a child is fully recovered and rested before we will release him or her back to competition.
What are the benefits to students of participating in Westminster athletics? The reward is that students are given the opportunity to play and build relationships with their teammates and their coaches. On a team, everyone is working together toward a common goal. There is the attitude that we are all in this together, and if adversity strikes, that is when bonds are really forged. Also, the opportunity is not going to exist for most students to play at the college level. Even students who go on to compete at the NCAA level, often call or email me to reflect on their time at Westminster as the best time they had competing athletically. Obviously college is different, so when you receive those phone calls or emails you know you are doing something right. The biggest rewards are lifelong relationships.
What are your greatest rewards as a coach? As a coach, it is great knowing that when you go to bed each night, you have had the opportunity to make a difference in somebody else’s life. Wins come and losses come. If you are lucky enough to win a championship, that is fantastic, but I
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â&#x20AC;&#x153;
When you are offered a choice between quantity and quality,
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AT H L E T I C P R O G R A M
you almost always take quality, and the quality of our students and faculty is very high.
think the focus always has to be on the child, and if that is the case, I think you will always end up winning.
What are some of the changes on the horizon for Westminster athletics? The biggest change is that we will no longer be playing football in the Colonial League, which is now defunct. We also will no longer have postgraduate players on the field for football. We have crafted an entirely new schedule against schools that we feel share a lot of the same institutional priorities that we have. (Please see related story on page 37.) We have also been talking about live streaming games for a long time and tried it for two games. There are some logistical hurdles to get over, and some facilities are set up better for it than others, but it was really well received. It is something we are going to continue to look at and figure out how we can offer it. Tim Joncas has served as director of athletics since 2012.
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Football Looks Forward to New Schedule Westminster’s football program will undergo significant changes next season as a result of a shift in the direction of football for a number of New England independent schools. The team will compete against a new roster of schools and without postgraduate players. The changes follow First Football’s best regular season record in 20 years, with six wins and two losses last fall and the awarding of a spot in its first-ever bowl game, the Sean Brennan Bowl. For the past 14 or 15 years, the team has competed in the Colonial League, which was composed of schools of roughly the same size. Concerns among a number of schools, including Westminster, that the league had become unbalanced philosophically precipitated the changes. “Westminster prides itself on being an academic institution first,” said Lee Huguley, Westminster’s head football coach, form dean and an English teacher. “Some of the schools we were competing against in the league did not necessarily see it the same way. Their philosophy was football first, and this is not who we are. We wanted to align ourselves with schools that have similar philosophies.” The new schedule will include Berkshire Academy, Brunswick School, The Gunnery, Hopkins School, Kingswood Oxford School, Pomfret School, St. Mark’s School and Tabor
Academy, some of which Westminster played in the past. “It is a good mix of schools,” said Lee. “It is always good to have fresh competition.” Pulling out of the Colonial League was the result of extended deliberation among a number of schools and at Westminster. “At the end of the day, we felt the need to do it in order to preserve football at Westminster,” said Tim Joncas, Westminster’s director of athletics. “We are excited about the opportunity to play like-minded schools that are committed to maintaining football.” In addition to the league change, Westminster will no longer field postgraduate (PG) players on the team. “I am actually excited about having more students in the program for multiple years,” said Lee. “The whole reason we had success last year was that we had players who had been on the team for a number of years. I think if we continue that mode, as opposed to bringing in the one-year PG players, success is going to be a little bit more permanent. Given that we only lost six players from last year’s team, we have a lot of experienced people coming back, and we have a good recruiting class coming in, I am not overly concerned.” “With postgraduates on the field, there is a qualitative difference between an athlete who has been playing football for five years as opposed to one who has been playing football for three years,” explained Tim. “You could have a Fifth Former on the field playing against a postgraduate, and they are two seasons apart in football and that matters. Some of the schools on our roster for next year will still have a couple of postgraduates, and this will give those schools a year to make a decision
Head football coach Lee Huguley
about whether to continue with that in the future. There is not a binding agreement that we will play each other for the following year but that is typically how it goes.” “Football is a sport where population of school matters,” added Tim. “You need a lot of boys out there to compete. The Colonial League was a great league, but we felt moving forward that we needed to go in a different direction. I think football is a fantastic game, and as a school, we are committed to preserving it as best we can. Eventually, the schools will need some type of league, but right now, this is the best thing for us.” “It has been nice to see the enthusiasm and energy that has come out of a very successful fall 2014 football season,” emphasized Lee. “Our coaches and students are looking forward to next year and a totally new schedule. We have received a lot of positive support for this decision. People are glad Westminster will have a football program, and they are excited about what the future holds for the team. At the end of the day, we hope the players have a great experience.”
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Taking Your Chances Faculty member Scott Reeves P’03, ’05, ’05, who is retiring at undergraduate degree, this time in guitar performance, and a master’s degree in music. After completing his studies, Scott stayed never imagined that an early career teaching guitar could in Connecticut and taught guitar privately for more than a decade, including a few years at translate into a long career as an English teacher and Miss Porter’s School. Around 1981, when Westminster was seeking a part-time guitar technology expert. He credits a lot of it to happenstance. teacher, Scott’s name was suggested. “I knew the previous guitar teacher, and mine was Growing up in Virginia, Scott had an early love for playing among the names he dropped,” said Scott, who was soon the guitar. After earning a bachelor’s degree in English from giving lessons at Westminster. Hampden-Sydney College, he was casting about for a job when a By chance in 1983, Scott’s name surfaced again when friend asked him if he wanted to teach guitar. “I ended up in a Westminster was seeking a full-time faculty member to teach major music store in Norfolk teaching guitar lessons, and pretty English and help with music. The English Department chair at soon I had a lot of students and was actually earning money,” the time, Gordon McKinley, and the dean of faculty, Richard said Scott. Miller, both knew Scott already. Scott had often eaten lunch at To learn even more about guitar, Scott began taking classical Westminster with members of the English Department and had guitar lessons and was advised by his instructor that he needed sung professionally for many years with Richard’s wife, Linda. to study guitar at the college level if he wanted to pursue it “There were a lot of connections at work,” said Scott. “I was further. Scott returned to college and spent a year studying invited in for an interview, and Richard asked me if I thought theory and history at Old Dominion University. He then I could teach English. I told him my first college degree is in attended The Hartt School at the University of Hartford, English and that opened the door, and not long after that I which had a guitar department, and earned a second was invited to teach English. It was an unusual path.”
the end of the academic year after 32 years at Westminster,
English teacher Scott Reeves with students in his Topics in British and American Literature class. 38
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Scott started out by teaching three sections of English and assisting with music, including guitar and the secondary choir. He and his wife, Joanne Scattergood, who he had met at the University of Hartford where she was studying voice while he was studying music, lived in an apartment in Cushing Hall. Scott says his biggest challenge as a first-time English teacher was getting organized to teach. “I arrived on campus, and Gordon McKinley asked me to meet him in his office where he handed me a pile of books and told me these were the books I was going to read in class,” said Scott. “He also told me to talk with other teachers to get copies of syllabi. Luckily, there was a lot of sharing that went on at English Department meetings, which really helped.” Scott and Joanne Reeves Over the years, Scott has taught English 3, 4, 5 and 6, and has been with the English 6 program nearly all of the time. Today, he teaches English 5, English 6 and a coincidental to have taught two members of new class titled Topics in British and the same family in your first and last years on American Literature. He has also taught a the faculty,” said Scott. “It brings everything number of English 6 electives, and he coached full circle.” thirds tennis for nearly a decade. Scott has appreciated the close working Scott says one of the things he will miss relationships he has had with his colleagues most when he leaves Westminster will be in the English Department. “It is a pretty working with students. “Westminster students exciting department to be in,” he said. “The are terrific to teach,” he said. “They come to department, under Michael Cervas’ leadership, class to learn, and they treat one another with has launched a lot of new initiatives over the respect.” He especially likes sharing his love past 15 years. There is also wonderful of literature with them. “The beauty is there cooperation among teachers. We do a lot of is so much literature and so many ideas in any things together.” When new faculty members given piece of literature. Literature is about join the department, Scott says he always being human, and we get to talk about what Scott early in his Westminster encourages them to take advantage of every is required to be a human being. We share the career playing the guitar. opportunity that comes up because they will ideas of some of the greatest thinkers who have never know where it might take them. ever lived.” After all, taking advantage of an opportunity is what led Coincidentally, Scott has Duncan Kellogg ’15 in one of his Scott to become a self-taught technology expert and, eventually, classes this year, and during his first year on the faculty, he had Westminster’s Web manager. Duncan’s father, Hunter Kellogg ’86, in a class. “It is quite
“All of a sudden I was a guy who knew music and English and was also doing computers. It was pretty humorous.”
Scott working on the Westminster website. Spring 2015
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“Literature is about being human, and we get to talk about what is required to be a human being. We share the ideas of some of the greatest thinkers who have ever lived.”
“When Gordon McKinley brought Macintosh computers into the English Department in the early 1980s, he handed everyone lengthy instructions on floppy disks,” recalled Scott. “If you have ever tried to learn something by reading long paragraphs, you know that is impossible. After the first year of trying that, I asked Gordon if I could reformat the instructions into steps. I did that, and all of a sudden I found myself in charge of helping other English teachers and students learn how to use the computers. Then, after a major renovation to Baxter Academic Center, I was asked if I would be willing to be in charge of student computing. I didn’t know anything about it, so I started reading Mac literature. All of a sudden I was a guy who knew music and English and was also doing computers. It was pretty humorous.” The next major step in Scott’s responsibilities for technology came after Westminster’s buildings were wired for computers and the advent of the Internet and websites. He was asked to attend a Connecticut Association of Independent Schools conference on technology, and he came back with some recommendations about setting up a school website. “Rarely have I seen something move so quickly,” said Scott. “Suddenly, with my head reeling, we were putting in the Internet, and the vendor who was doing design for our publications helped us to design a website.” Over the years, Scott has spearheaded the implementation of a number of Westminster website designs and revisions of designs including the launching of a complete redesign last fall. He also manages the day-to-day operation of the website and chairs Westminster’s Web Committee. “I have enjoyed it,” said Scott. “There have been a lot of chances to learn new things, and I like to learn.” Although teaching music and guitar at Westminster fell by the wayside early on, over the years, he has kept up his interest in music as a soloist, as part of an ensemble and as member of various choral groups including Westminster’s faculty choir. He also plays the bass in a faculty quartet and in school musicals. Scott and Joanne have been married 33 years and are the parents of three Westminster graduates: Kenneth ’03, Donald ’05 and Edward ’05. After living in Cushing for their first few years on campus, they lived in Graduate House for two years and then Stretch House for the past 27 years. Joanne, who is a professional soprano, has taught private voice lessons at Westminster nearly the entire time. She has helped Westminster students prepare for auditions, recitals and other projects. She also teaches in the community, including at Central Connecticut State University. 40
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Being the parent of three Westminster students while serving on the faculty was never awkward for Scott. “All three would come through my office at some point in the day,” he recalled. “Sometimes it would be to sit down and talk and sometimes to ask a question. It was great.” After leaving Westminster in June, Scott plans to focus on making guitars, something he has been doing during his free time for years. He built his first guitar in 2008 and then took a sabbatical in Canada to study guitar building. He has since built 12 guitars and has two more in progress. “I have sold one, and am building one for someone right now,” he said. “This is my first commission. I will make guitars on speculation, hoping somebody will want to buy them, and if somebody asks me to build them a guitar, I will do that too.” He especially likes building classical guitars since their internal structure can be made in two or three different ways and steel string guitars that are intended to be finger picked. Whether Scott will return to giving guitar lessons is still up in the air. “It is going to depend on time and what I want to do,” he said. He is also giving thought to editing some guitar publications. Going forward, Scott and Joanne will be living in a home they have owned in Simsbury for 10 years. It has a shop in the basement where Scott can build guitars and space for Joanne to continue to give voice lessons. “Quite to my surprise, my neighbor builds mandolins and guitars,” said Scott. “What are the chances that there would even be another guitar builder in town, let alone next door? We are looking forward to sharing our interest.”
Scott building a guitar.
S UPPORTING W ESTMINSTER Part of the Conversation Visit one of Westminster’s various social media pages and you are likely to see a mix of followers, fans and commenters who represent a cross section of the Westminster community. Alumni from across generations, current students, parents, faculty and friends regularly log in to share their thoughts, “like” and “share” a post or simply find out what is happening on Williams Hill. Since David Werner ’80 wrote about Westminster’s burgeoning social media presence in the fall 2010 issue of the Bulletin, much has changed, both on campus and in the world of social media. Where Facebook and Twitter once dominated the digital landscape, there are now countless platforms on which people can connect with each other in different ways and with various points of interest. Westminster, recognizing the importance of building a robust online presence that includes as many members of the school’s extended community as possible, hired faculty member Peter Decoteau last July to serve as the school’s social media specialist and to spearhead the next chapter in this ongoing process. Peter came to Westminster from The Peter Decoteau Connecticut Forum, a nonprofit organization based in Hartford, where he not only managed the organization’s social media and digital presence but also served as the sponsor relations manager. His vision for Westminster’s social media is one that encompasses all facets of the school’s distinct community. “I think a successful social media presence always feels fresh, tells a story and, most importantly, is ‘authentic,’” said Peter. “For Westminster, that means sharing the unique events and moments that happen on campus and the exciting things our alumni are doing throughout the world. We try to do this in compelling ways and through a range of perspectives and mediums.” Along with taking the reigns of the school’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Pinterest accounts, Peter conducted a comprehensive audit of the school’s social media activities as they relate to peer schools and developed a content strategy for moving forward. One of the highlights of this strategy is The Nest, a new Web page that consolidates all of Westminster’s digital activities into one clean and easy-tonavigate format. Peter describes it as a “hub that tells the whole Westminster story.” The Nest features regularly updated stories that include alumni interviews, faculty profiles, selections from the Westminster faculty blog, articles from The Westminster News, special event recaps, classroom highlights and more. The page also includes videos, such as a new #MartletMoments series that highlights small but poignant moments and events that occur on campus, as well as live social media feeds and upcoming special events. With The Nest and the social media networks that feed into it, the school’s ultimate goal is to create an active digital community that reflects the Westminster community as a whole — one that captures the spirit of life on Williams Hill, as well as that of the diverse group of Martlet alumni spanning the globe. “I think nowadays, there is a tendency to over share online without really saying anything new or interesting,” explained Peter. “Our strategy is about sharing distinctive and interesting information that shows what Westminster is all about, while making sure everyone in our community has a chance to be part of the conversation.” Visit The Nest at www.westminster-school.org/TheNest Spring 2015
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A Window to Westminster: www.westminster-school.org Westminster is always working to enhance connections with members of its internal and external communities through a comprehensive marketing program built on quality print and electronic communications. The school dramatically stepped up its efforts in electronic communications over the past year by launching a new website and vastly increasing its social media presence. The goal was to utilize these “virtual connections” for more frequent and engaging communications, increased networking and constant, two-way information sharing.
New Website The new website was launched last fall featuring a new design, expanded content and improved functionality. “We wanted to provide a more engaging and resourceful site and a better representation of Westminster,” said Ken Mason, director of marketing and communications. The prior site, which was launched in 2006 and funded in part by the generosity of the Class of 2000, had served the broad needs of the extended Westminster community for many years. However, with dramatic changes in the function of websites in the intervening years, the school decided to examine how the site could better meet the needs of its principal users: prospective students and parents, current parents and alumni.
Left to right, the new website’s home page, alumni page and parent page.
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A Showcase for Admissions
“First impressions about a school more often than not come from a visit to a school’s website.”
A primary goal of the new site is to enhance the experience for prospective students and parents who use the site to compare options for secondary education. “First impressions about a school more often than not come from a visit to a school’s website,” said Ken. “We try to answer their many questions in compelling ways on our new site.” From their laptops, phones and tablets, prospective families from around the world can learn about what life is like on campus, the curriculum, the faculty and why they should consider Westminster. Campus life is showcased through the news stories, photography (much of it by alumnus Chip Reigel ’90), video and graphics. Special features include an aerial video drone tour of campus and an interactive panoramic photo gallery, both supported in part by a generous gift from the Korean Alumni Association. “We hope the new site creates an online experience that is the next best thing to visiting campus, which we hope is their subsequent step,” said Ken.
A Critical Source of Information for Parents For both boarding and day parents, the new website is a critical source of information 24/7 about what is happening in the daily lives of their sons and daughters. In addition to viewing videos, photo galleries and stories, parents can check on the latest schedules, scores and announcements; the week’s dining hall menu; and the live weather webcam. They can also access calendars, forms, event details and contacts.
Keeping Alumni Close to Their Alma Mater and Friends
For Westminster alumni, the new website serves as the “portal” through which they can remain close to their alma mater and connected with classmates and friends. There are links to register for Reunion and receptions, and for online giving. This is also the place for them to learn more about what fellow Martlets are doing, to download The Westminster News, to shop The Martlet’s Nest school store for Westminster apparel and to even order a custom blazer. Recent additions to the page include The Nest, a social media “mash up” page; Agent Sphere, an online tool for class agents and volunteers; Evertrue, a mobile app to access the alumni directory and an interactive map; and a link to submit class notes.
An Evolving Process Despite the many advancements of the new website, work on it remains continuous to keep up with evolving changes in technology and the needs of its users. “We stand ready to continue to adapt the site to meet the wide variety of needs of the Westminster community,” said Ken. “We encourage everyone to visit www.westminster-school.org, browse its many pages and share any suggestions with us.”
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New Assistant Headmaster for Advancement Named Ted Probert ’80
a lieutenant colonel with the United States Marine Corps Reserve Westminster School Headmaster Bill Philip has announced with deployments in the western Pacific and Iraq. the appointment of Ted Probert ’80 to assume leadership of the “No matter the venue, Ted embraces a passion for building Alumni and Development Office as assistant headmaster for personal relationships, team development and community,” said advancement beginning at the end of May. Ted’s wife, Andi, and Headmaster Philip. “Personally, I am gratified and delighted that his two children, Campbell, who is a junior at Dartmouth, and Ted has chosen this time to return to his alma mater in order to Tanner, who is a senior at Landmark School, will be joining him join us in advancing this school.” on campus. “The opportunity to return to While a student at Westminster, Ted Westminster at this stage of my career is served as president of the Sixth Form and tremendous, and I look forward to junior prefect as well as president of the “The opportunity to contributing to help make a great school John Hay Society. Upon graduating from return to Westminster at today even stronger tomorrow,” said Ted. Westminster, he attended Duke University, Numerous members of Ted’s family where he earned a B.A. in history as well as this stage of my career is have also graduated from Westminster a certification in secondary school education. tremendous, and I look including his sister, Leslie Sirbaugh ’82, his brother, David Probert ’88, and his niece, Presently, Ted is director of forward to contributing Emily Sirbaugh ’13. In addition, his father, institutional advancement at Phillips Exeter Ted Probert, served on the Westminster Academy, where he has been a member of to help make a great Board of Trustees in the 1980s, and his the administration since 2002. Previously, nephew, Ted Sirbaugh ’16, is a current he served as director of development and school today even student. alumni affairs at Kent School, and stronger tomorrow.” associate director of development at The Lawrenceville School. He has also served as
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Looking Back and Paying it Forward Have you ever asked yourself, “How did I get to where I am today?” Peter Caley ’76 asked himself that question, and he answered, “Westminster!” While there are many crossroads along life’s journey, Peter says choosing to attend Westminster helped him grow tremendously by building a strong moral foundation, instilling a solid work ethic and providing life lessons that guide him to this day. “As I looked back at my path and the decisions that led me forward, I realized the significance of my Westminster experience,” he said. “And that’s what compelled me to join the Thring Society and put Westminster in my future plans.” Peter believes that a strong education, like the one he received at Westminster, propels young people to succeed throughout their life — in college, in their careers, with their families and within their communities. He also knows that Westminster’s strength comes from the students it attracts. A key strategy in attracting the best students is enhancing Westminster’s financial aid budget. For this reason, Peter has designated Westminster a beneficiary of an IRA to endow scholarships. A gift from a qualified retirement account is also a smart financial move for Peter. As much as 70 percent of a retirement fund’s balance can be lost to income, inheritance tax and other state and federal taxes when passed to heirs. However, when passed directly to Westminster, 100 percent goes to build the school’s endowment and provide for future generations. Ready to join Peter Caley in the Thring Society? Ask Newell Grant ’99 about naming Westminster the beneficiary of your retirement account or other planned giving opportunities.
“As I looked back at my path and the decisions that led me forward, I realized the significance of my Westminster
For additional information, contact:
experience.”
Newell M. Grant Jr. ’99 Director of Gift Planning (860) 408-3058 ngrant@westminster-school.org
Corrections to the 2013-2014 Annual Report The following gifts were inadvertently omitted from the 2013-2014 Annual Report of Philanthropy. We apologize for this oversight and thank these individuals for their support of Westminster School.
Class of 1949 Ronald A. Mitchell Jr. ’49 has been a donor for more than 25 years. Keyes Club Timothy M. Stevens ’62
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1888: Harlem, N.Y. On Nov. 13, alumni, faculty and former faculty gathered for a reception at the Cove Lounge in Harlem hosted by trustee Rob Horsford ’89. It was an opportunity for the 20 people in attendance to reconnect, meet others for the first time and learn what was happening back at Williams Hill from faculty members Todd Eckerson P’09, ’11, ’17, Peter Newman ’80, P’16 and Dave Werner ’80, P’10, ’11, ’16.
Hector Gordon ’89 and Robin Worley ’76
Barry Deonarine ’86 and Rob Horsford ’89
John Hoag ’94, Demond Simmons ’93, Dorian Thompson ’93 and Ebony Roundtree ’93
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Araina Artis Linton ’05, Peter Newman ’80 and Freddy Linton ’03
Steve Decelian ’08, Sasha Hayes ’08, Carla Thompkins ’08 and Kevin Garcia-Ramirez ’08
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1888: Greenwich, Conn. Alumni, parents and friends gathered at Round Hill Club in Greenwich Feb. 11 for an evening of paddle tennis hosted by Ellen Brockelman Bailey ’90 and Curt Brockelman ’86.
Front row, Kerry O’Malley Hanson ’89, Alicia Eppler P’16, Tori Brown P’17, Courtney Kennedy and Scott Stevens P’07, ’09, ’12 Back row, Susie and Doug Kerridge ’85, John von Stade ’84, P’17, Hank Forsyth ’92, Ellen Brockelman Bailey ’90, Curt Brockelman ’86, Ryan Winger ’92 and Mike Kennedy ’00
1888: Brookline, Mass. Alumni, parents and friends enjoyed an evening of paddle tennis hosted by Tim Egan ’00 at The Country Club in Brookline Feb. 12.
Newell Grant ’99, Kevin Briggs ’05, Bob Santry ’86, Steve Barrand ’74, Hendon Pigeon ’79, Vince Jones ’73, Dave Werner ’80, P’10, ’11, ’16, Tim Egan ’00, Mark Wigmore P’07, ’08, ’16, Ben Roberts ’00, Scott Stevens P’07, ’09, ’12, Mike Frank P’11, ’15, Tad and Betsy Mayer P’13, ’15, and Helena Grant
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Volunteer Reception A reception to thank Westminster volunteers for all they do for the school was held Jan. 21 at the Yale Club of New York City.
Jeremy Zelinger ’09, Alex Lavoie ’06 and Alex Gerson ’07
Bill Philip P’06, ’09 and John Beinecke ’65
Erinn Sullivan Davis ’00, Blair Gallagher Sheehan ’00, Alexis Van Der Mije McAndrew ’98 and Margaret Obermeier Lardizabal ’02
Wayne Bellet P’17, Powell Holly ’82 and Chris Byrne ’82
Scott Stevens P’07, ’09, ’12, Kelsea Wigmore ’07, Alex Gerson ’07, Liz Armstrong P’04, ’06, ’07, Adam King ’07 and Caitlin Romaniello ’07 48
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Michelle Hatchette ’05 and Shane Spinell ’04
Seasonal Receptions Members of the Westminster community gathered at seasonal receptions in Hartford, New York City and Boston.
Boston The Boston reception was held Jan. 14 at the Museum of Fine Arts where “Goya: Order and Disorder” was on display in the Ann and Graham Gund Gallery. Jordan Dewey ’08, John Enright ’09, Tim ’80 and Liane French P’13, ’15, Ashley Jeffress ’09, and Jay ’81 and Cara Niles P’14, ’18
Caroline Moran ’09, Ali Bragg ’09, Ashley Jeffress ’09 and Jenny Philip P’06, ’09
Jordan Dewey ’08 and Fox Sutherland ’07
Lauren and Mike Wiernasz ’94, and Michele ’00 and David Puopolo
Jules Stafford ’03 and Scott Reeves P’03, ’05, ’05
Dave Werner ’80, P’10, ’11, ’16 and Jason Adams ’06 Spring 2015
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Hartford The Hartford reception took place Dec. 10 at the Hartford Golf Club in West Hartford.
Nancy Spencer P’13, ’15, Kathy and Jim Eder P’06, ’11, Ned Gow ’57 and Newell Grant ’99
Berney Smyth P’16, Peter LeBlanc P’12, ’13, ’17 and Debbie Ribaudo P’06, ’08
Corky and John Lavieri ’63, Johns Winship ’48, P’75, ’80, Bill Philip P’06, ’09 and Ann Winship P’75, ’80
Maureen Mahany P’10, ’11, Leigh Hovey P’09, ’11, ’14, John and Sara Papa P’07, ’10, and Scott Stevens P’07, ’09, ’12 50
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Ryan Balavender ’99, Jon Deveaux P’14, ’16, Dave Hovey ’78, P’09, ’11, ’14, Colin Campbell ’06 and Kyle Brewer ’06
Bob Sargent ’74, P’07, ’17, Brook and Michelle Seeley P’18, and Jenny Philip P’06, ’09
SEASONAL RECEPTIONS
New York The New York City reception was held Dec. 10 at the Yale Club.
Dan and Helen Fitzpatrick P’09, ’13, and Colette Arredondo ’97
Julia DeCiantis ’01, Lara Glaister ’01, Bill Sistare and John Grymes ’06
Robyn Nentwig ’06, Cameron Scott ’06, Jon Wolter ’06, Hank Dillon ’06, Sofie Garnett ’06, John Grymes ’06 and Cy Ryan ’06
Beth Baker P’09,’12,’15, Elise Mink P’11 and Erika Brewer P’17
Margaret Wyatt ’10, Margaret Miller ’10 and Riana MacKenzie ’10
Brock Bosacker ’06 and Andrew Webb ’07
Curt Brockelman ’86, Brad Mell P’14, ’16 and John von Stade ’84, P’17 Spring 2015
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From the Archives As Headmaster Bill Philip described in his message about the centennial anniversary of The Great War on page 2 of this issue of the Bulletin, 163 Westminster alumni served with the United States Armed Forces in World War I. A look at some of the artifacts from the Westminster School Archives related to their service include a photo, right, from the 1917 Westminster Annual of students participating in military drills on campus and, below, photos of some who served and a listing of boys in the service as of August 1918.
Stuart Phelps Dodge ’10
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Atwood Violett ’13
Robert Holden ’12
Lucius Tuckerman ’93
A.P. Hodgman ’16
Other artifacts include, clockwise from top left, Sumner Sewall â&#x20AC;&#x2122;16 at the front near Verdun, France, in spring 1917; plaques in Andrews Memorial Chapel that honor those who died in the war; a poster about a fund drive for Thrift Stamps that featured a Westminster student; a brass plaque from an ambulance that was used by the American Field Service in France for which Westminster raised funds; and an article from the Hartford Courant.
Edward R. Howe
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Reaching Beyond a Comfort Zone From student, to teacher to head of school, Meg Montgomery Morse ’87 has had a rich independent school experience. She has spent years as an independent school educator, running dorms, teaching all levels of English and most levels of math, and coaching field hockey, basketball and lacrosse. In 2013, she was appointed head of school at Steamboat Mountain School in Colorado, where she started in 1999 and has served as a math and English teacher, a college counselor and an academic dean. In addition to being a Westminster alumna, Meg served on the Westminster faculty from 1991-1994 and 1995 -1997, first teaching English and then adding algebra to her repertoire with encouragement from fellow faculty members. Looking back, she says she greatly appreciated the willingness of her colleagues to share instructional methods with her. “Westminster is a place that is the pinnacle of collegiality,” she said. “It was an amazing gift to a young teacher.” One of her biggest challenges was calling her former teachers by their first names. “Dick Adams had been my history teacher and coach,” she recalled. “It felt wrong to call him Dick.”
Meg Montgomery Morse ’87 with her son, Toby, and her husband, John.
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Meg earned a B.A. in English at Trinity College and an M.A. in English from Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English. She spent two of her five summers at Bread Loaf studying Shakespeare at its Oxford University campus. She also met her husband, John, while in the program. Now a teacher at Steamboat Mountain, John was teaching in Alaska when they met. Meg and John’s interest in a mountain lifestyle drew them to Steamboat Mountain School. The campus
sits on more than 50 acres in the Rocky Mountains and is bordered by 2 million acres of wilderness. Its students participate in a college-preparatory curriculum that combines rigorous academics, outdoor adventure, community service and a Global Immersion Studies program. “I loved my time at Westminster and Trinity, but stayed in my comfort zone,” said Meg. “It was a huge transition from a traditional education model to camping with students for a week in the fall.” The expansive Steamboat Mountain School campus is home to just 40 students — 21 boarding students and 19 day — representing 13 states and five countries. “It’s a small school that forces kids to try new things, and gives them great confidence and flexible skills,” said Meg. “They learn to handle anything.” Meg oversees the school’s Global Immersion Studies program that immerses students in the people, culture and landscape of an unfamiliar nation. After months of study, students visit the country to participate in homestays, community service, adventure and traditional cultural experiences. She has led four trips to Vietnam and Cambodia and one to South Africa. “You teach students, not subject matter,” said Meg. “Subject matter is a vehicle to give students skills for the rest of their lives.” As a Westminster student, faculty members Mike Jackson and Dick Adams were inspirational to Meg. “They lived what I wanted for myself: the art of teaching and learning,” she said. “They knew me so well. They gave me a hard time when I was not working up to potential, a pat on the back when I deserved it and a reminder to keep it up. They served as a model for understanding students and caring as individuals.” Meg was a three-sport first team player, participating in field hockey, basketball and lacrosse. She also served on Black and Gold, was a Fourth Form officer, was president of Chorale, participated in Dramat, was the recipient of the first Butler Bowl as a Third Former and won a prize for general scholarship as a Sixth Former. Today, Meg is an avid snowshoer and former skier, but leaves the slopes to John and their son, Toby. She travels east every summer to visit family and hopes to visit Westminster again with Toby. She says that what affected her most at Westminster was the strong sense of community. “Each person can become the best they can be, and that is the strength of the school,” she said. “We cheered for our team, not against others. I carry those lessons with me today.”
Pursuing Opportunity in Emerging Markets Powell Holly ’82 is globe-trotting for a cause. He is managing director and chief financial officer of Broad Cove Partners, a boutique investment firm that concentrates on social impact investing with a focus on real estate investment transactions in sub-Saharan Africa. Powell saw opportunity in emerging markets in Africa early in his career. He joined a Philadelphia investment banking group as an investment bond analyst after earning a B.A. in political science and managerial studies from Rice University. When two of the firm’s partners were approached to invest in a privately held bank in Ghana, Powell was given an advisory role. “It gave me the bug,” he said. “If there was ever an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of an emerging market, this was it.” Today, Powell is working in both Ghana and Liberia. Broad Cove helped establish and was a 25 percent equity owner in Ghana Home Loans, which provides home financing in an underserved market. “In a continent where mortgages are not commonly used, we are helping to establish best practices,” he explained. As a result of Broad Cove’s work in Ghana, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf approached the firm to look at opportunities there. Powell found that what was needed in Liberia was not a finance company but help rebuilding the housing supply since civil war had left widespread infrastructure destruction and housing shortages. Broad Cove, along with other partners, established Ecohomes Liberia which is now in the midst of developing a 300-acre site with homes built of local building materials by local labor. Broad Cove is a for-profit company, but Powell says they also seek noneconomic returns. Of the local residents hired to work on the project, some have trade skills, but others are being trained with the hope of enhancing local capacity. “We call it ‘patient capital,’” he said. “We don’t expect a return right away. It takes time to develop institutional practices and grow into something larger.” Construction was recently completed on the first nine homes in what will be a larger development that includes green space, common areas and soccer fields. While the first model home was being built, Broad Cove was also constructing another residence on land it purchased nearby for four families who had been informally residing on Broad Cove’s development property. By building for the relocated families, Powell says they were able to educate others about building quality homes with environmentally friendly building materials, such as compressed earth block (which is similar to adobe), bamboo and natural hardwood.
“Many people want concrete block houses,” he said. “We invested time and effort in our design to make the homes attractive and more energy efficient in a country where power is not always readily accessible and comparatively expensive.” Home to Powell is Fredericksburg, Va., where he has recently been able to spend more time. “I was on the road a lot for five to six years,” he said. “I spent more time in Liberia between 2011 and 2013 than I did in the U.S.” As a student at Westminster, Powell was the top architecture student in his class, served as a form officer and participated in Black and Gold. He was also an avid golfer, a pastime that he’s taken up again after several years without playing. Powell says that his studies with faculty member Peter Briggs, though difficult, affected his decision to pursue a career in economics. “His introduction to microeconomics and macroeconomics class gave me a foundation and was a catalyst to study business and finance.” As an alumnus, Powell is a member of the Westminster Alumni Association’s Executive Committee and has served as a class agent. He has kept in touch with classmates in spite of his intense travel schedule and has been back to campus several times recently, including a visit for Westminster’s 125th anniversary celebration and another in conjunction with his work with the Alumni Association. “The charm of campus hasn’t changed,” he noted. “The spirit of the school stays the same.”
Top, Powell Holly ’82, on the right, talking with U.S. Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware during a site visit in Liberia; above, Powell with two visitors to the site.
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Learning Career Lessons Early Jin-Pyung Kim ’94 was inspired to get involved in supporting Westminster’s alumni relations activities by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s generosity to his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University. “I also wanted to start contributing to my alma mater and quickly figured that together is far more effective than alone,” said Jin, who lives in Seoul and founded the Westminster Alumni Association in Korea in 2005 and was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Westminster Alumni Association last year. “I thought it was meaningful for Martlets in Korea to network with one another since they all spent quite a bit of time in their teens as members of the tight-knit Westminster community.” After graduating from Westminster, Jin earned a B.S. in materials science from Johns Hopkins University. He then returned to Korea, where healthy men between the ages of 19 and 40 are subject to military conscription. He attended the Officer Candidate School of the Republic of Korea Marine Corps, which he says is regarded as the hardest service of all in Korea. “Since my childhood, I had always wanted to be a Marine,” said Jin. After finishing Officer Candidate School at the top of his class, he received the Minister of Defense Award and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He served as an infantry platoon leader in the vicinity of the Military Demarcation Line. “Ironically, the Military Demarcation Line area amid the armistice was the most peaceful and untainted place probably in the world,” said Jin. “Even though my job was pretty tough, I learned a great deal about leadership by having 30 to 40 Marines under my responsibility.” Subsequently, Jin served as an interpreter officer, and met and translated for generals from both the Republic of Korea and the U.S. Marine Corps. “I also learned a great deal about operational planning, command and control, protocol and leadership,” he said. “I developed a lot of practical skills that can be used both at work and home. I still take great pride in serving my country as a Marine infantry captain in the reserve.” After three years of active duty in the Marine Corps, Jin worked as a research engineer at Hyundai Motor Company in Korea and then as a medical representative with Novartis. He currently serves as business development team manager with Shindong Enercom, a company founded in 1978 that is run by his father. Jin supervises the operation of its silicon metal production plant and develops its sales channel. He is also involved in facilitating the company’s cotton-trading business and in bidding for the construction of water supply pipelines in Uzbekistan. He was married to Yookyung Rhee in 2011. “A good friend of mine set up a three-on-three blind date, 56
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Jin-Pyung Kim ’94 and Yookyung Rhee were married in 2011.
and my wife and I were the only couple that clicked there,” he said. Jin always knew he would someday work for his family’s business. “Nevertheless, I wanted to be adventurous and explore various education options out there,” he said. “I wanted to totally immerse myself in the New England boarding school life. Westminster overwhelmingly fulfilled that goal.” Jin came to Westminster from the Fay School as a Fourth Former. He participated in swimming, tennis and soccer. He also served in the John Hay Society, was a member of SON (Serving Our Neighbors), sang in Chorale and Chamber Choir, and was a corridor prefect. Jin credits several Westminster faculty members with teaching him lessons he has carried with him throughout his career. “Mr. Eckerson immensely impacted how I read, think and write today,” said Jin. “I vividly recall the lessons I learned from his class.” And Jin credits Dennis Daly with teaching him how to speak in front of people. “Going through my Fourth Form and Fifth Form years, my English improved quite a bit, thanks to all my teachers,” said Jin. “Mr. Daly’s speech class was a final confidence booster for me before I graduated from Westminster and moved on to Johns Hopkins.” Jin says he hopes to attend graduate school and create his own company. He also plans to continue his support of Westminster. “I would like to contribute to my alma mater by helping it raise its annual fund contributions in Korea,” he said. “I want Westminster to continue to be one of the top-notch boarding schools in New England, so younger generations can benefit from its superlative education like I did.”
Finding a Niche in the Equine Community A passion for horses that began when Michelle McNally ’91 was a young girl has evolved into a career as a professional equestrian. Michelle is an instructor, competitor and owner of McNally Show Horses, a riding school she established in the Palm City area of Florida in 2013. The school, which occupies a 15-acre property with an 18-stall barn, offers students ages 5 and older beginner through intermediate instruction to improve their equestrian skills and develop their passion for riding. Its hunter/jumper program features show-quality school mounts consisting of two horses and four ponies. Michelle began giving lessons, training green horses and competing in combined training events while she was still a student at Tulane University, where she graduated with a double major in Spanish and Latin American studies. After graduation, she returned north and actively competed and continued her work in equine management as a barn manager, assistant trainer, equine veterinary technician and show groom. She returned to Florida in 2004 after a short hiatus to Hawaii, where she led trail rides part time on an 180,000-acre cattle ranch and trained students for local shows. Michelle’s love of horses started at a zoo in Mexico, where she recalls refusing to dismount a pony after her first-ever ride as a young girl. She started lessons in Miami when she was 7 and never stopped, even fulfilling her athletic requirement at Westminster with riding. Michelle boarded her horse, Soupy, near the Westminster campus, first at Folly Farm in Simsbury and then Lael Farm in Granby. “I remember one gorgeous spring day when I rode my horse to Westminster,” she recalled. “They had just made the cross-country course ready, and I got horseprints all over it.” While at Westminster, Michelle was a member of Black and Gold, worked on the yearbook, and participated in the Environmental Awareness Group, Women’s Issues Group and Peer Support Group organizations. She also worked on the National Student Campaign Against Hunger and volunteered at a homeless shelter. “I played soccer but got hurt a lot,” she added. “Mr. Jackson and I had a fun relationship. I drove the Zamboni and kept score my Fourth Form year.” Michelle still keeps a favorite piece of Westminster memorabilia: a yellow slip directing her to pit crew “for skipping chapel on premise she can’t be bothered with it.”
“I was inspired by faculty at Westminster,” she said. “It was a nurturing, challenging and comfortable place to be. It made me want to teach and give back.” In addition to riding and training, Michelle tutors young riders who need academic help. She also continues to compete with her New Hanoverian International Sporthorse. “It is tough to balance, but as a professional competitor, I hope to campaign him by competing at rated and recognized horse shows.” Plans are underway to expand McNally Show Horses. This might not have been possible had Michelle not crossed paths with an investor as she underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment for an aggressive form of breast cancer in 2013. “I was diagnosed with cancer in December 2012, had surgery Feb. 6, and the first pony came to the barn Feb. 25,” she said. “My relationship with clients and horses was pivotal in getting me through the first year. I also believe cancer propelled me to the next stage of my life. Positive relationships have come out of it. I met both my investor and my significant other on my journey.” Michelle and her investor are seeking a 300-acre parcel with extensive trails in Martin County, where she hopes to host dressage, jumping and cross-country events, and offer room for multiple arenas and housing for her and her staff to live on the property. As a certified instructor and judge for hunter, jumper and equitation, Michelle is also hoping to soon judge out-of-state shows. “The equine community is big,” she said. “It is a matter of finding a niche.”
Top, Michelle McNally ’91 with her older thoroughbred mare, Zoey, and, below, with students in a group lesson. Her riding school has ponies and horses for all levels of riding and ages.
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In Memoriam
1942
1946
Richard G. Oellers of Manchester, Maine,
Winthrop Carty, who died Oct. 10, 2014,
passed away Oct. 10, 2014. He graduated from Princeton University in 1947, following three years of service in the U.S. Navy. He was an aviation cadet and never lost his love of planes and flying. He spent most of his working years in marketing and sales, and retired in 1989 after 25 years with the Communications and Electronic Division of Motorola Inc. He developed and managed several zone manager positions for which he was awarded membership in the Optimum and Optimist group. Dick enjoyed music, especially big band jazz and classical, wild birds and antique autos (specifically 1936, 1937 and 1938 Buicks). In retirement, he and Rita enjoyed many years traveling in their RV across Canada and most of the United States. Dick was well-known for his quick wit and sense of humor and brought laughter to many. Family meant everything to him. He was a life member of the Lions Club of Winthrop, Maine, a Member of the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation and the American Legion, Post No. 40 of Winthrop. Classmate Tom Moseley writes, “Dick and I spent four years together at school, then he to Princeton and I to Harvard. Through the years, we ribbed each other, with good nature, over respective wins and defeats. His sense of humor and keen observations contributed to everyone’s pleasure and to his considerable skill at passing the ‘tin cup’ for school. The Oellers, Partridge and Moseley couples reunioned each five years on the Hill. Dick, like many, truly loved Westminster.” Dick is survived by his wife of 30 years, Rita S. Oellers, three daughters, one son, four stepsons, one stepdaughter, as well as many grandchildren and great grandchildren.
was born in Boston and moved to Forest Hills, N.Y., at young age. In 1953, Win married Lee Anderson. A year later, the couple moved from New York to Bogota, Colombia, where Win served as a string correspondent for Time and Life magazines during a period of dictatorship, revolution and economic recovery. After seven years, they returned to the U.S., where Win joined Visión, a Spanishlanguage news magazine, in New York and then was Washington bureau chief. Later, he became editor-in-chief of Americas, the monthly magazine of the Organization of American States (OAS). He then joined the Population Reference Bureau as in-house editor, where he organized and ran Global Edition, a worldwide coalition of journalists dedicated to reporting on environmental issues. Journalism took Win to many parts of the world, sometimes with uncanny timing. An assignment to Guyana in November 1978 placed him among the first international journalists on the scene of the Jonestown massacre, and in 1980, he found himself a couple of blocks from the assassination of exiled former Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza in Asunción, Paraguay. His writing revealed a dry insightful wit and encyclopedic knowledge of world events. These and many more travels yielded a large collection of folk art from around the world. Win is survived by his wife, Lee Carty, and three children.
1950 Stanley P. Clark Jr, of Boothbay Harbor,
Maine, and a former longtime resident of Westfield, N.J., died Sept. 23, 2014. He was born in Hartford, Conn., and graduated in 1954 from Dartmouth College. He married his childhood sweetheart, the former Charlon Cairns, in 1955. He served in the U.S. Army, and following his honorable discharge, they
lived in La Grange, Ill., and Shreveport, La., before settling in Westfield, N.J. He spent his career in sales for the steel industry. Throughout their life together, they spent summers at their beloved Ocean Point in East Boothbay, where they met as teenagers. They moved to Maine year-round in 2012. Stan played varsity football and baseball at Dartmouth, and golfed at courses all over the country. He was proud to have “shot his age” into his 70s and was a longtime member of the Plainfield Country Club in New Jersey. He loved to boat and fish for stripers in the waters off Ocean Point. Besides his wife, he is survived by a son, Brooks, and his wife, Tina Clark, of Buxton; a daughter, Cathryn (Catie), and husband, Michael Salmon, of Gloucester, Mass.; and two grandchildren. Classmate Bill Chittenden says, “Stan was the best athlete I knew at Westminster. He was on the football, basketball and baseball teams. He led Westminster to many victories until he was, unfortunately, injured and couldn’t play. Stan was a really good man.” John B. Kirby passed away in Branford,
Conn., on Dec. 1, 2014. During the Korean War, John served in the Army for two years and was stationed in Japan and Taiwan. When he returned, he earned his degree from Yale in Japanese area studies. He married Janice Chapman in 1958. Shortly thereafter, he completed his master’s degree at Harvard in Oriental fine arts. After working at local art galleries in Worcester, Mass., he became assistant director of the Yale Art Gallery. John continued his career as an architectural historian, specializing in Henry Austin’s work and Victorian architecture in the New Haven area. As his family grew, John penned four children’s books that were illustrated by his children. He pursued a lifelong interest in his family genealogy and in Branford history, writing countless articles and books. He is survived by his wife, four children and two grandchildren.
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In Memoriam
1951 John P. Friedler, born in Amsterdam,
died April 27, 2012. The family fled Europe in 1939 and settled in Mexico, where John grew up. He graduated from Hamilton College. He is survived by his wife, Carole (“Cookie”); his children, Mark (Anna), Nicole (Michael) and Elizabeth; and his sister, Monique Kunewalder. He was an avid sailor, MG enthusiast and biker/hiker with his beloved poodle, Blackberry. John was an elegant, dapper gentleman with flashing blue eyes and a bow tie.
the people I’ve known who I would choose to be in a foxhole with. As an entrepreneur, he made and lost millions. He either married (or didn’t) a string of beautiful women. Though an aristocrat, he had a common touch and a delightful, infectious sense of humor. When my first wife died (I was married to her for 45 years), Mark was out of the country. The first thing he did when he returned to the U.S. was come to visit me in Fort Worth. He also attended a wedding luncheon given for my second wife and me in New York. I was grateful to have been with him during his last days. He was a true friend for over 60 years, and I shall miss him.”
immersion, pre-eminent tackler can do, and Ed epitomized that full talent. Lip and teeth bloodied was Ed’s greatest nirvana on the turf.” Classmate Jim Lombardo writes, “I was saddened to hear of Ed’s recent death. I attended our 45th reunion in 2012 and had a wonderful time reminiscing and laughing with Ed and the rest of our classmates. I will remember Ed as a kind, caring and very funny man. He made a real difference in our world. Having lost my wife in 2014, I wish all the best to Lexy, Ned and Farleigh as they navigate the difficult months ahead.” Malcolm Swasey, a man with a huge
1955 Jared Haselton of Salt Lake City, Utah,
1959
died in March 2013. He is survived by his wife, Susanne Haselton.
Mike Keresey of Bronxville, N.Y., passed
1956
1967
John Barnes of Seattle, Wash. passed away in April 2014.
Edward Goss of Torrington, Conn.,
Mark ap Catesby Jones passed away Jan. 23, 2015, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He is formerly of New York City and Rumson, N.J. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps and attended the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1974, he co-founded Winmill Jones & Walker, a NY Stock Exchange member firm. He established a real estate development company, Continental U.S. Properties. Later Mark joined Robert A. McNeil and the University Group as a director. He served on the board of the Episcopal Mission Society of New York for many years as well as the Pilgrims Society. As an avid sportsman, his clubs included the Dutchess Valley Rod & Gun Club and Camp Fire Club of America. Other clubs were The Racquet & Tennis Club and The Union Club in New York City. Mark is survived by a son, a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. William Kilborne ’54 writes, “Mark ap Catesby Jones lived a full and colorful life. He was a marine — the person of all 72
Westminster Bulletin
away. He leaves behind his wife, Maggie.
passed away Aug. 12, 2014. He was the husband of 26 years of Lexy (Morrison) Goss. Edward was born in Waterbury, Conn., and was employed by the Timex Group and Connecticut Property Management. He was past grand master and past grand patriarch of the Odd Fellows and chairman of the Connecticut Eye Bank. He also belonged to the Madison Beach Club and Madison Lawn Bowling. In addition to his wife and mother, he leaves a son, Ned Goss, and daughter, Farleigh Barnhart, and grandchildren, Lucy and Lola Clare Barnhart. He also leaves a brother, Stuart Tysen Goss, and brother-in-law, Fr. Jack Morrison, and sisters-in-law, Jill Morrison and Cynthia Flanagan Goss. Classmate Tom McNichols writes, “Ed Goss was a bit of an outlier relative to the ‘in-crowd.’ I grew close to Ed starting my junior year after our First Football team went undefeated. Ed was one of those defensive linemen who could have taught Ray Nitschke, the wellknown Greenbay Packer middle lineman, a thing or two about what a full-
heart and a laugh heard round the world, died Feb. 3, 2015, in Manchester-by-theSea, Mass., where he lived. Those who knew him, cherished his intelligence, sense of humor and his great love for, and loyalty to, the many people he befriended throughout his life. Malcolm grew up in Tuxedo Park, N.Y., and Stockbridge, Mass. At Westminster, he captained the ice hockey and lacrosse teams and served as prefect his senior year. He then attended Harvard University. Malcolm devoted himself to a wide range of occupations throughout his life. He owned a small restaurant in Waitsfield, Vt., was a ski instructor in Aspen, Colo., and later developed and owned an insurance firm in Massachusetts. He was an avid sailor, skier and golfer. His entrepreneurial spirit and passion for life and new experiences brought him great distances and into the lives of many. He was a leader and an inspiration and will be deeply missed. He is survived by a daughter, a son and a daughter-in-law, and his beloved Jack Russell, as well as many siblings. Classmate Walter Earle writes, “After Westminster, I roomed with Malcolm sophomore year at Harvard. When a girl I met in Colombia came to see me, Malcolm put her up with his girlfriend, Critty Dreher. At the end of the school year, Malcolm married Critty in a memorable wedding on Martha’s Vineyard. At the beginning of senior year, I married the girl from Colombia in
Vermont, and Malcolm and Critty accompanied us as honorary best man and matron of honor. We couldn’t find affordable housing at Harvard, but Malcolm and Critty decided to move off campus and gave us their apartment, where we spent a yearlong honeymoon. Some 30 years later, long out of touch, we ran into Malcolm and a big bear hug in his comically anachronistic raccoon coat at a Harvard-Yale football game. With his typical generosity, he insisted on taking us to stay at his house. We will always remember his boisterous personality and his kindness.” Classmate Steve Kesman writes, “Malcolm was my roommate during my junior year at Westminster. We enjoyed a good year together. I admired his athletic ability, both on the ice and on the football field. The only time I saw Malcolm after graduation in 1967 was during the summer of 1969. I was working on Cape Cod, and he was working on Martha’s Vineyard. I don’t know if Malcolm ever made it to Woodstock that summer, but I didn’t (and just as well).” Classmate Tom McNichols writes, “Malcolm was a swashbuckling kind of guy. He was gregarious throughout his
Westy career and, yes, he stretched the rules unknown to many classmates and teachers of the day. But he was able to ascend the leadership ranks his senior year and go on to Harvard. Malcolm, in his later years, had to deal with his demons, which is certainly the sad part of his life. At some point, maybe Boenning, Bickford and I should grab an adult beverage with Dave Werner ’80 and relate to Dave exactly what mischief Mr. Swasey was able to get away with.”
1991 Joel Taplin of Winchendon, Mass.,
passed away Jan. 7, 2015, as a result of a motorcycle accident in China. He is survived by his parents, a sister, Kelly Taplin Jenkins ’87, and a brother, Todd Taplin ’85.
1995
Cheshire and Woodbury, Conn., before moving to Stafford Springs. He attended Rumsey Hall School, Westminster and graduated from The Gunnery. He earned a B.S. in computer science with a minor in business from SCSU. He was the director, Small Commercial Marketing Analytics, at The Hartford. He is survived by his wife, Rebecca; his daughter, Alexandra; his mother; his sister and her husband; as well as nieces and a nephew.
Former Staff Arthur R. Johansen of Becket, Mass., died Nov. 30, 2014. He was born in Hartford in 1943. He retired to the Berkshires after working as a custodian at Westminster for many years. He was an avid farmer, and enjoyed gardening and making Swedish cookies. He is survived by two sons, brothers, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, a grandniece and grandnephews.
William Mathias “Matt” Nolan died Feb. 27, 2015, from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. He resided in
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Closing Thoughts
A New Perspective: From Biology Classroom to Research Laboratory By Tom Dudzik ’15
Research. To some, the word carries with it nothing more than a vision of demanding and repetitive work completed within the confines of a laboratory. To me, however, the word means anything but that. In my eyes, research is synonymous with opportunity. It empowers you with a chance to make a change in the world, whether it’s a small contribution or something as large as finding an effective treatment for a life-threatening disease. Each and becomes worth it when interesting data that support Each and every time every time you take a step into the lab or jot down your hypothesis start to flow in. I spent a lot of time you take a step into the cloning DNA into 30 different bacterial clinical an observation, you become one step closer to making an impact upon society in some way, isolates, but as soon as I was able to finally collect lab or jot down an whether you realize it or not. Through participating and record data from the pictures taken from under the observation, you in the Discovery to Cure biomedical research microscope, I immediately knew that all those hours internship at the Yale School of Medicine this past become one step closer spent streaking bacteria to growth medium was worth summer, I gained exactly that: an opportunity. it. Even if it was in only a small way, I felt a sense of to making an impact When I first started my high school career at accomplishment that I had helped further our Westminster, now close to four years ago, I never generation’s understanding of biology. upon society in some really saw myself pursing biology. Although I knew At school, day after day, I have spent my time way, whether you from the start that I had an inclination toward reading textbooks and taking notes at lectures, math and science rather than the humanities, I attempting to understand and visualize the concepts in realize it or not. always imagined myself as a physicist or computer my mind. Although the knowledge is overwhelmingly programmer, and certainly not a biologist. It wasn’t fascinating in itself, working in a university lab was a until my Fifth Form year at Westminster when I enrolled in a biology completely different and invaluable experience. No longer was I simply course that I developed a passion for the study of life and living things. memorizing information for the sake of receiving an A on a test. Instead, Through the unforgettable and engaging teaching of both Mr. de Kanter I took all of the things I have learned throughout much of my life and and Dr. Hollebone, I became enamored of cells, microbes and metabolic applied them in a real-world situation, gaining valuable experience as I pathways. To think, let alone understand, that virtually our entire went along. Such experience allowed me to dig deeper into the realm of existence is based off only four nucleotides is truly one of life’s marvels. science, giving me hands-on exposure to what a career in this interest Last April, I received an email notifying me that I had been accepted would truly entail. Moreover, I formed a better picture of what it takes for as one of 35 students to participate in the Discovery to Cure internship. success in our rapidly developing, technological world. By stepping into From that moment on, I knew my plans for the summer were solidified. the shoes of a scientist as early as in high school, I am now one step Starting in late June, I was set to begin my eight-week experience under ahead of the game and already on the path toward my long-term goal of the mentorship of some of the world’s most respectable scientists. So, making a contribution to the world. fast-forward to the first day and there I was, standing alongside the other Knowledge and experience are only the beginning of what I gained 34 in front of the entrance to the main hall, all in white lab coats with from taking advantage of this opportunity. Spending my summer freshly printed ID cards clipped to our front pockets. It was time to put my participating in Discovery to Cure allowed me to grow as a person and knowledge to the test. develop my character through the connections I made with the peers Through this experience, I was able to get a taste of what realaround me. It was a test of maturity and true dedication, both of which world research is like, which turned out to be quite different from the are indispensable qualities to possess throughout the journey of life. rudimentary experiments required to be completed for the high school AP Certainly, I left the internship feeling accomplished and motivated, filled curriculum. Simply put, there is no correct answer, and as it turned out, in with lifelong memories and excited for what the future may hold. When biology there’s only gray, not black and white. A lot of the time I found I returned to the Hill last fall, I arrived with a new perspective, one that myself running experiments just to see what would occur, modifying will allow me to excel in my future endeavors, and that has proven to be subtle variables here and there and predicting the outcomes. While it the most valuable benefit of all. may be true that some of the work can be repetitive and tedious, it all 74
Westminster Bulletin
TRUSTEES
2014-2015
Lori P. Durham P’13, ’15 Denver, Colo.
John S. Armour ’76 Emeritus Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. Timothy D. Armour ’78, P’17 Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.
William C. Egan III ’64, P’92, ’95, ’00, ’02 Emeritus Skillman, N.J.
Elisabeth M. Armstrong P’04, ’06, ’07 Dallas, Texas
Colin S. Flinn ’82 Sanibel, Fla.
Beth Cuda Baker P’09, ’12, ’15 New Canaan, Conn.
Heather Frahm ’86 Weston, Mass.
Susan Werner Berenson ’82 Fairfield, Conn.
Joseph L. Gitterman III ’55, P’86, ’86, ’90 Emeritus Washington Depot, Conn.
Erika L. Brewer P’17 Ex officio New York, N.Y.
C. Andrew Brickman ’82 Hinsdale, Ill. Susanna S. Brown P’15 Batesville, Va. Abram Claude Jr. ’46, P’71, ’80, ’84, GP’02 Emeritus North Salem, N.Y. John A. Cosentino Jr. P’00, ’18, ’18 Simsbury, Conn. Edward V. Dardani Jr. P’14 Waccabuc, N.Y. John H. Davis P’05 Emeritus Longmeadow, Mass.
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William D. Brewer P’17 Ex officio New York, N.Y.
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