Senior Stones: Every Stone has a Story

Every Stone has a Story

In 1947, Wilbraham Academy Headmaster Charles Stevens sought a way for graduates of the Academy to leave a piece of themselves for posterity. For many years, students had engraved symbols into the foundation of Fisk Hall. Mr. Stevens’ idea resulted in the creation of the Alumni Wall, which is now a series of walls in various parts of the campus on which graduating classes leave their Senior Stones.

• The Ton-Morrison’s shared Senior Stone. From “The Hill” to the front of Rich Hall, along Main Street and Faculty Street, and now past the Athletic Center, Academy alumni have designed and left their own, unique 10-inch-by7.5-inch mark on our campus. All told, approximately 6,500 Senior Stones are permanent fixtures of both individual and Academy history.

Drew Ton-Morrison ’16 and Thy Ton-Morrison ’16 Drew Morrison and Thy Ton Nu came to WMA from very different places. Mr. Ton-Morrison came as a sophomore from Keene, New Hampshire, and Mrs. Ton-Morrison joined the WMA community during her junior year as an international student from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. However, the mark they left on campus in the form of their senior stone represents the union of two cultures, two backgrounds and, ultimately, two lives. The design of their stone “...celebrates how our cultures influence our relationship and make it stronger,” Mr. Ton-Morrison said. “We wanted something simple and recognizable, and the flags are a good representation of that.”

The couple first met during their junior year at the Spa, thanks to mutual friends Morah Palmer ’17 and Jeb Brown ’15. “Thy went down to the Spa with her roommate Morah to play some card games,” Mr. Ton-Morrison said. “My friend Jeb and I were on our way to the gym, but we went through the Spa first. Jeb and Morah knew each other, so Morah called us over to play (thanks Morah and Jeb!). We made lots of jokes, and in an absolutely cliché moment, our hands touched when playing cards (a pretty violent hand-slapping game, but still...) and we knew.”

That first meeting led to more talking, and the two started dating on Sept. 29, a date they still celebrate today. As students, the pair enjoyed hiking through the woods around campus.

Every stone has a story, and we want to hear yours! Email us at alumni@wma.us to share your Senior Stone story and maybe you’ll see it in future issues of the magazine.

“We wanted something simple and recognizable, and the flags are a good representation of that.”

— Drew ton-Morrison ’16

Mr. Ton-Morrison said their walking sticks are probably still on campus, leaning against a tree near the entrance. They also spent weekends visiting their favorite librarian Mrs. Smith because as Mr. Ton-Morrsion said, “how else would you spend Friday night?”

When it came time, during their senior year, to design their stones, the couple said they always knew they would design a single stone together (mainly because Mrs. Ton-Morrison was reluctant to carry the heavy stone during the graduation ceremony wearing heels). It turned out to be a good decision for more than one reason. Mrs. Ton-Morrison sprained her ankle shortly before Commencement, so Mr. Ton-Morrison would have been stuck juggling two stones during the ceremony. And while some might say that carving your high school relationship into stone is a risky proposition, for the Ton-Morrisons, the stone is a marker of the strength of their relationship. Just four years after setting down their stone in front of Rich Hall, the pair celebrated their first wedding anniversary. They were married July 12, 2019, in a small ceremony at City Hall in Boston, with their families and “lots of happy tears.”

Mr. Ton-Morrison graduated in Spring 2020 from Massachusetts College of Art and Design and has been working as an Architectural Designer for two years. He plans to pursue a master’s degree in Fall 2021. Mrs. Ton-Morrison has been working as a pharmacy intern at CVS for two years and is currently finishing her doctorate degree for pharmacy. Along with their busy work and school schedules, the newlyweds share a love of travel. They spent their honeymoon in New Orleans (“one of our favorite trips we’ve been on!”) and have also visited San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Disneyworld, Atlanta, Quebec, Portland (Oregon), Singapore and Malaysia, as well as three trips to Mrs. Ton-Morrison’s home country of Vietnam. They plan to continue to travel together and possibly hold a larger wedding ceremony with their old and new friends somewhere in Europe.

While 2020 has brought challenges to everyone around the world, the Ton-Morrisons have found comfort in their relationship. “For us, it’s really helped to have each other, so thank you to WMA for introducing us,” Mr. Ton-Morrison said.

• The Ton-Morrisons pose with their Senior Stone at their WMA Commencement in 2016.

• The Ton-Morrisons during a trip to Da Lat, Vietnam.

Class Notes

1955 Monson

At 85 years young, Dick Bailey is still coaching softball at Saint Joseph’s College in Standish, Maine, and is enjoying time with his family, including two great-grandchildren.

1960 Monson

1 Paul Kreminski continues to run an insurance agency in Sarasota, Florida. In his spare time, he enjoys time with his grandchildren, fly-fishing trips to Mexico and the Bahamas, and annual trips to Cuenca, Ecuador, to visit friends. Paul writes, “I enjoy hiking in Cajas National Park, but the 14,000foot elevation is getting harder to handle.” Earlier in 2020, Paul and his wife, Cynthia, enjoyed a visit from classmate Dick Harrington ’60M and his wife, Sandra.

1962 Wilbraham

2 Although interrupted due to travel concerns with COVID-19, Richard Taylor did complete more than 3,000 miles of a road trip earlier this year. He was also able to visit with classmate John Adan Jr. and his wife, Joanne, in Statesboro, Georgia. Richard writes that he enjoyed a “great visit to the 8th Air Force Museum and Fort McAllister, and the Adans provided excellent accommodations and food!” 1963 Wilbraham

Edwin Swarbrick writes from lockdown in the United Kingdom (on his 75th birthday!): “Being in the ‘high risk’ category is a little scary, but we are all still fit and well otherwise. I look back to graduation in 1963 and feel sorry for this year’s class, who I guess will miss out if your lockdown is like ours... My year as an ESU exchange student was an extraordinary developmental year for me. The cultural differences were much greater then, and I learned a lot about myself and how I wanted to live. I returned to England and started medical school in October 1963 and loved my career as an Internist/Gastroenterologist, retiring finally in 2017 at 72. To keep my brain working, I am taking a History of Art course at Oxford University. Otherwise I fish, shoot, sing, play my guitar and ski when I can. I have only managed to get back to Wilbraham once since graduating but think about my time there frequently.”

1965 Wilbraham

Rene Hebert checked in with the Office of Advancement in July. Rene has been living in Palm Beach County, Florida, for about six years and is enjoying retirement. He hopes to see classmates at their (postponed) 55th Reunion in 2021!

1973

Thomas Langer retired from BAE Systems, Inc. in July 2019 and moved to Amelia Island in Florida. He is enjoying biking and fishing and is weathering the pandemic. He has also formed a consultancy to keep his hand in the national security community. Thomas writes: “A salute to all the nurses, doctors, EMT’s, police and fire personnel in our alumni and their extended families. They are the true heroes of this pandemic, as are the service workers who have done so much with so little recognition. Many of us have worked those service jobs in high school and college so you know how it feels.”

1978

3 Anthony “Tony” Mangiacotti checked in with the alumni office in July. He reports some health issues, including a recent triple bypass; but he is doing well with the help of family and loved ones, and is feeling stronger every day.

1984

4 Kelley McCormick, a captain with the Boston Police Department, has come to WMA to speak to Mr. Cook’s Sociology class for the last six years. This year’s presentation looked a little different via Zoom, but provided students an opportunity to ask questions not only about his extensive background in law enforcement, but how COVID-19 has changed the dynamics of his work.

1993

5 Matt Koziol, of West Brookfield, Massachusetts, manages 265 acres of farmland in the Brookfields and surrounding towns. Much of the land he farms has been certified organic since 2015. His local enterprise sells grass-fed beef as well as certified and conventional hay. Matt also offers custom haymaking for many of the local farms. Farmer Matt, as he’s known, has 10 years of experience with five farm internships leading to starting his beef and hay business. He also serves as Chair of the West Brookfield Agricultural Commission and President of the Hardwick Farmers Cooperative Exchange.

1994

6 Tonie Fenton and her partner, Luis Pileta, welcomed a son last summer. Chase Nasir Pileta was born June 18, 2019.

1996

7 Beni Okwenje was appointed General Manager for Financial Markets at Centenary Bank in Kampala, Uganda. In this position, Okwenje will champion the development and implementation of the bank’s financial markets strategic plans; and manage, promote, control and coordinate its financial markets business. Okwenje previously served as a Fixed Income Trader at Stanbic Bank Uganda.

1997

8 Jason Laverty and his wife, Cassy, welcomed a baby boy to their family. Michael Jason Laverty was born April 20, 2020, and joins big sisters Charlotte, Zoey and Alyssa, and big brother Jack.

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1999

9 Edward Han-Burgess is a biopharmaceutical researcher based in Atlanta, Georgia, and London. He recently designed and led a clinical trial aimed at getting epilepsy patients at high risk of drug resistance matched to experts, and the right treatment sooner. His project was included as partner content in the May 2019 issue of National Geographic Magazine.

9 Dade McDermott has been named Spokesman & Partner for PureAg Organic Golf Products, which has developed a complete line of organic substitutes for turf fertility. McDermott, a Class “A” Master Teaching Professional and PGA award winner for extraordinary citizenship and teaching sport, previously served as the Master Teaching Professional at Lely Resort (a Top 50 resort course in the U.S.) in Florida before leaving to help make golf organic in 2018. He was named as a Top 10 golf teacher in the world in 2017 by the Professional Golf Teachers Association of America. Dade is an author, has mentored many aspiring teachers and has taught thousands of golf lessons and clinics in his career. He stopped teaching at chemical golf courses on July 24, 2017, in order to pursue his passion and help make golf organic and safe for all. 2001

10 Dawn Augustus and Demetri Tsolakis took a road trip this summer to check out the national parks. They are pictured here at Horseshoe Bend at the Grand Canyon with Dawn, right, sporting her WMA Basketball hat.

2002

11 Justin Danhof and his wife, Kristin, welcomed a baby girl to their family. Juliet Ruth Danhof was born April 16,

2020, and joins big sister Nora. 12 Adam Perron accepted a position as assistant men’s soccer coach at the University of Virginia. Adam previously served for two seasons as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at James Madison University. “It is certainly a dream come true to be with one of the top college soccer programs in the U.S. while coaching in the ACC,” Adam writes.

2003

13 Angel Ortiz took a new position as the wide receivers football coach with the Coffeyville (Kansas) Community College Red Ravens. Angel writes that he’s happy to continue coaching at the college level and hopes to continue to make his WMA family proud! He previously coached at Scottsdale (Arizona) Community College, Pima (Arizona) Community College, Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas, and Ottawa (Kansas) University.

2004

14 Chris Beck and his wife, Karyn, welcomed a baby boy. Thomas “Tommy” James Beck was born Feb. 29, 2020. 15 Shamika (Munnings) Starke and her husband, Myke, welcomed a baby girl to their family. Eila Quinn Starke was born March 4, 2020, and joins big sister Avah. The family resides in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

2005

Alexander Ely and his wife, Neha Ansari, welcomed their first child, Samina Elizabeth Ely, on May 5, 2019. The three recently relocated from Boston to Washington, D.C., where Alex is practicing law and Neha is completing a predoctoral research fellowship at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. They plan to raise Sam as a Red Sox fan.

16 Sarah (Merry) Mariucci and her husband, Adam, welcomed a baby boy to their family. Cameron David Mariucci was born March 6, 2020, and joins big sister Mason.

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17 Yung Ti “Mindy” (Chang) Laio and her husband, Jeff, welcomed a baby boy to their family. Cooper Laio was born Jan. 30, 2020. 18 Mark Robbins defended his doctorate in isotope geochemistry from the University of Michigan in December 2019. He is now an instructor in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department at UM. He was awarded “Outstanding Graduate Instructor” by both the students and faculty in the fall.

2007

19 Ali Mapplethorpe Balicki and Greg Balicki were married on November 8, 2019, in Woodstock, Connecticut. The couple met while students at WMA, and their wedding was attended by many WMA classmates, friends and faculty. Pictured in the wedding party: Chris Antonacci ’06, Pat Pio ’06, Nick Clement ’05, Carolyn (Weeks) Balicki ’05, Rob Balicki ’04, Ali and Greg, Mark Mitchell ’07 and Jonathan Kalmakis ’04. WMA faculty members Gary Cook and Christa Robinson also attended the wedding. In January 2020, Ali and Greg purchased their first home in Wilbraham, Massachusetts.

20 Courtney Petrone-Autry and her husband, Pierce, welcomed a baby boy to their family. Preston Petrone Autry was born Dec. 13, 2019, and joins big brother Parker, 2.

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21 Adam Reed married Stefanie Sonstrom on June 27, 2020, in an intimate wedding ceremony. They plan to have a wedding reception for family and friends in December at The Woodwinds in Branford, Connecticut. The couple resides in Shelton, Connecticut. Adam is an inbound sales executive for Xfinity Comcast in North Haven, Connecticut. Russell Dinkins is sharing his writing on Medium.com, and a recent piece gained national attention for influencing Brown University’s decision to reinstate its men’s varsity track and field program. Brown University initially cut men’s varsity track and field, and cross country, along with 10 other varsity programs, in May. On June 2, the former champion track athlete at Princeton University, wrote “Brown University, If You Were Actually Serious About Racial Justice You Would Not Be Cutting the Men’s Track Team,” in which he highlighted how diverse sports like track and field “provide a distinct pathway to an elite education.” Brown officially reinstated the program in June. Russell’s writing has been highlighted on MileSplit USA, ABC6 Rhode Island, CNN and was tweeted by Malcom Gladwell. Congratulations Russell! 22 Maoi Marcelino married Katrina Mendoza on June 7, 2020, at Blues Point Reserve, Sydney, in a simple civil ceremony. They now live happily ever after in Castle Hill, New South Wales. #nottodaycovid

2011

Jeremy Gilfor is living in Los Angeles, California, and working as the writer’s assistant on the Adult Swim show “Rick and Morty,” which has finished four seasons. Season 5 should be coming soon, and they’ve already begun production on Season 6! Jeremy had his first credit on Season 4, Episode 8, which aired May 17. Great work, Jeremy!

2009

2012 23 Will Awad and Katie Boynton were married on Sept. 22, 2019 in Sharon, Massachusetts. They reside in Lowell, Massachusetts.

24 Elijah Barrows has spent the last year working at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, rated by U.S. News and World Report as the No. 1 orthopedic hospital in the country. During the COVID-19 pandemic, HSS converted its various departments to critical care in order to assist with the overflow of patients experiencing symptoms from the virus. Elijah wrote this summer: “Now that things are winding down, I’ve turned my focus back to applying to PA (Physician Assistant) school to further my career in the surgical field. I look forward to expanding my medical career and life in New York City.” Read more about Mr. Barrows and his health care career on page 42.

25 Veronika “Nika” Hickson welcomed a baby boy. Babak Joseph Rabi was born Sept. 28, 2019. 2016

26 Brianna (Goncalves) Lacroix married Eric Lacroix on June 22, 2019. Their reception was held at Wentworth by the Sea in New Castle, New Hampshire. They live in Derry, N.H.

Ashleigh Morris is living in Brooklyn, New York, and works as an Executive Assistant/Marketing Coordinator at Asylum Records/Warner Music Group. In her role, Ashleigh supports executives in office organization and coordination and works closely with the A&R (Artists and Repertoire) team to keep releases on schedule.

2013

27 Amber Williams is currently one year into the NBC Page Program in New York City. The program offers early career development experience for college graduates interested in a career in media. Amber is enjoying the exposure to different businesses and opportunities that NBC has to offer. She expects to graduate from the program in March 2021, after which she hopes to pursue a career in TV development, PR or production. 28 Junhao “Mark” Xu will begin the doctorate program in Business Economics at Columbia University this fall. The program is hosted jointly by Columbia GSAS’s Department of Economics and the Columbia Business School. BusEc Students are enrolled in the GSAS Economics Ph.D. program, but can also leverage the resources at the Business School. Mark writes: “The program gives generous funding for six years, allows me to receive a very rigorous training in economics, and most importantly offers me opportunities to work with the worldclass researchers at Columbia and NYU. I consider myself to be incredibly fortunate, if not undeserving. I am extremely grateful for the resources and the opportunities I have enjoyed at NYU Abu Dhabi, a young but internationally-renowned institution that has contributed tremendously to my personal and academic growth. Thanks to its generous scholarships and globally-oriented curriculum, I am graduating debt-free (in fact with some savings), studied in five countries, interned in Guangzhou and London, conducted research for two summers in New York and attended an economics conference in Turkey.” Best of luck, Mark!

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29 president of the Manhattan College Jaspers’ Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) for the 2020–2021 academic year. Emma joins a group of seven other Manhattan studentathletes to make up the SAAC Advisory Board, which serves as the unified voice of Manhattan College’s studentathletes. In addition, Emma was selected as one of the captains for the Manhattan College Softball team and was recently named to the Epsilon Sigma Pi Honor Society, the highest scholastic honor that can be achieved by a Manhattan College student. global manufacturer for fiber optic cable and telecommunications equipment, announced that Dan Student-Athlete Leaders of the Month for February. Last season, Wesson became the first Terrier to win the Southern Conference individual 30

31 championship in air rifle. The sophomore earned All-SoCon honors in both air rifle and small bore. He also took the gold for men’s small bore and air rifle in the South Carolina Junior Olympic Qualifier. 2019 Alyssa Gaderon took a position as an alumni intern with KIPP Schools, a nonprofit network of college preparatory and public charter schools serving elementary, middle and high school students. Alyssa’s role includes connecting with alumni from the founding classes of KIPP to gain their input on future networking programs. In addition to her work with KIPP, Alyssa is studying at The George Washington University. Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, was named Men’s Lacrosse Rookie of the Week by the Northeast-10 Conference in March 2020. While the remainder of the season was canceled, Robinson said “we were on a roll, 3–0, every team we

2017

29 Emma Kindblom was named

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30 Wofford College and the AFL, a Wesson was selected as one of two

31 Jack Robinson, a sophomore at 32 played was nationally ranked, and we were climbing the rankings as well.” We look forward to watching Jack and the Hawks in the 2021 season!

32 Idan Tretout won the Hamilton Fish ’10 Most Improved Player Award for Harvard men’s basketball for the 2019–2020 season.

We’d like to hear from you!

Send your news to alumni@wma.us or call Molly McGill, Director of Alumni Relations, at 413.596.9118.