WFS Spring 2013 Magazine by Wilmington Friends School

Friends

Wilmington Friends School Spring 2013

Quaker Pride A Voice for Justiceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; Bernice Johnson Reagon Alumni Spotlights

Friends

Wilmington Friends School Spring 2013

From the Head of School

For Alumni & Friends

Throwback Thursdays

From the Archives

Raising a Voice for Justice— QUEST Speaker Bernice Johnson Reagon by Bryan Garman

A Season to Remember — Winter 2012-2013

Winter Sports

Performing & Visual Arts

More School News

Class Notes

In Memory

In Closing

inside back cover

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Chair Vice Chair Treasurer Secretary Andrew Aerenson ’81 Christopher F. Buccini ’90 Denise Chapman Thomas M. Connelly Doneene Damon Meg Gehret Erskine ’83 Brett D. Fallon Reginald D. Flowers ’90 Alumni Association Board Liaison

Christopher W. Lee ’82

Home & School Association Board Liaison

Jane Hollingsworth

ADMINISTRATION Head of School Assistant to the Head of School Assistant Head for Academics Assistant Head for Finance & Operations Head of Lower School Head of Middle School Head of Upper School Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Director of Communications Director of Development Mission Statement Wilmington Friends, a Quaker school with high standards for academic achievement, challenges students to seek truth, to value justice and peace, and to act as creative, independent thinkers with a conscious responsibility to the good of all. On the cover: The student cheering section at the boys’ basketball state quarterfinal; this page, at the Early Learning Center/ Pre-Kindergarten Concert in December.

Spring 2013 • Friends magazine

Susan Kelley Darcy Rademaker Daniel Klein Russ Endo Ellen L. Gay Scott W. Gates ’80 J. Harry Hammond Deborah Murray-Sheppard Laura K. Reilly Jocelyn Sutton Stewart ’82 David Tennent Harvey Zendt

ALUMNI BOARD 2012-1013 Donald Altmaier ‘51 Melissa Fagan Billitto ‘87 Stanita Clarke ‘06 Carolyn Gates Connors ‘81 Alexandra Poorman Ergon ‘77 Tim E. Gibbs ‘76 Ona Murdoch Hamilton ‘67 Amy Curran Harper ‘94 Raven Harris ‘06 Omar Khan ‘90

Bryan Garman Ann Cole Peter Wenigmann William Baczkowski Annette Hearing Jonathan Huxtable Rebecca Zug Kathleen Hopkins Tracey Quillen Carney ’80 Judy Aliquo Josh Klein ‘98 Chris Lee ‘82 Kate Lester ‘02 Adrienne Monley ‘02 Donald C. Morton, Jr. ‘94 Kristin Dugan Poppiti ‘03 Tom Scott ‘70 Martha Poorman Tschantz ‘85 Joe Wolcott ‘97

Professional photography by Elisa Komins Morris and Larry Kuhn Design/layout by Jacquelyn Quinn Dickey With thanks to the alumni, students, faculty, families, trustees, and staff of Wilmington Friends School for their contributions to the community effort of Friends magazine. Please send any comments or corrections to info@wilmingtonfriends.org.

FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL Dear Friends, During the last week of February, more than 5,000 educators assembled in Philadelphia for the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Annual Conference, entitled “Revolutionary Traditions: Think Big, Think Great.” As a member of the planning committee, I had the extraordinary honor of introducing Dr. Tererai Trent, one of four keynote speakers. Born in a village in rural Zimbabwe, Dr. Trent is one of the most impressive and inspiring people I have ever met, a person who has expanded the boundaries of hope and possibility and let her life speak to the revolutionary power of education. In Zimbabwe, Dr. Trent was denied access to education because she was a girl. But using her brother’s textbooks, she taught herself to read and write and was finally admitted to the village school. Her studies were interrupted when she was forced to marry at age 11. Despite giving birth to five children and suffering from the abuse of her former husband, Dr. Trent refused to abandon the deferred dream of attaining bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees. In 1991, Jo Luck, former CEO of Heifer International, met Dr. Trent and encouraged her, insisting that any dream, no matter how improbable, was “achievable” if truly desired. In Dr. Trent’s case, the desire was unmatched. She wrote her goals on a piece of paper, placed the paper in a tin can, and buried it under a rock. She enrolled in correspondence courses, and went on to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Oklahoma State University, and ultimately completed a Ph.D. from Western Michigan University, writing her dissertation on AIDS prevention in Africa. After attaining each of her educational objectives, Dr. Trent returned home, excavated the tin can, and crossed the goal off of her list.

Bryan with Dr. Tererai Trent at the 2013 NAIS Conference. Photo courtesy of NAIS

Dr. Trent’s story has been widely celebrated, notably by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wu Dunn in their acclaimed book, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide; and by Oprah Winfrey, who has identified Dr. Trent as her “all-time favorite” of the 25,000 guests she has hosted. It’s no wonder. Dr. Trent is irrepressible and engaging, a scholar of serious intellect and purpose, a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. “The great hunger of all people is a hunger for a meaningful life,” she told us at NAIS. She found meaning in her own education, but, more important, in using that education “to give back” to her community. With Ms. Winfrey’s support, Dr. Trent has founded a school in her village (to educate both girls and boys) and is in the process of establishing several others. If we truly care—if, to paraphrase Gandhi, we are willing to be the change we want to see—Dr. Trent is proof that it is “achievable” to provide universal access to quality education and, as she has said, “to walk in peace and social justice.” You will find echoes of Dr. Trent’s eloquence through the pages of this magazine. The struggle for justice resonates in the work of Bernice Johnson Reagon, a civil rights champion and extraordinary musician who was our QUEST Big Ideas Speaker for 2012-13; in the service of Colleen Farrell ’04, who fought for equal rights for women in the United States military and for opportunity for women and children in Afghanistan; in the work that so many members of our community do to support the Auction for Friends, which raises funds for tuition aid; in the courageous documentation and dissemination of truth by journalist, and our 2013 Commencement speaker, Adam Ellick ’95; and in the lives of so many of our alumni who let their lives speak through their families, professions, and community leadership. With your involvement, it is, indeed, “achievable” for Friends School to make a difference in the lives of our students and in the world. We hope that you will let us know about your own achievements, and that you enjoy this issue of Friends magazine. In friendship,

Bryan Garman

Spring Spring2013 2013••Friends Friendsmagazine magazine

for Alumni&Friends

From the Alumni Association President Dear Friends, As I write this, there is a slight dusting of snow on the ground, and it’s hard to believe we are already planning for Alumni Weekend 2013: October 25 & 26. SAVE THE DATES!

Please note: Our spring magazine hits the mail (on a non-profit permit, meaning not first class) in early April, so with apologies, there’s a chance this invitation for April 27 could be cutting it close for some folks.

Melissa Fagan Billitto ’87

If the 2013 Reunions and Homecoming are as well-attended and as fun as 2012, it’s worth looking forward to. Be sure to check the new Alumni Weekend Toolkit on the school website—for hotels, caterers for reunions, or restaurants for get-togethers. The Toolkit also has helpful descriptions of the various events hosted by Friends. Visit www.wilmington friends.org/homecoming-2013. Speaking of “connecting,” have you jumped onto the social networking bandwagon yet? If so, don’t forget to join the Wilmington Friends School Alumni Facebook page, and the school’s group on LinkedIn. Both are incredible resources for alumni who want to keep in touch with each other and to utilize our alumni network for career inquiries and ideas. Interested in staying on top of the Quaker sports results and other headline (140 characters or fewer) news? Follow us on Twitter—#WilmFriends. By the time this issue lands in your mailbox, the Alumni Board will have chosen recipients for the annual Alumni Awards to be presented in October. Please be sure to add that event to your Alumni Weekend calendar; join us on Friday, October 25th, in the Middle/Upper School Library at 6:00pm. We will celebrate our honorees who serve as “representatives of all Friends alumni who let their lives speak.” This event is for all alumni celebrating reunions and will feature the third Annual Alumni Art Show. This year, the gathering will also include the school’s True Blue donors, who have so loyally helped Friends School to let its own life speak through the years. Happy spring. Mark your calendars for Homecoming, but we hope to see you sooner. Sincerely, Melissa Fagan Billitto ’87 2

Auction for Friends April 27, 2013 Barclays on the Riverfront

Spring 2013 • Friends magazine

Please join us for the biennial Auction for Friends, April 27 at Barclays on the Riverfront, sure to be another huge success! With new text2bid technology, featuring cell phone bidding and text alerts, an online auction, and silent and live auctions, this year’s event will be another wonderful community party for a great cause. 100% of the proceeds go to Financial Aid at Wilmington Friends School. In 2011, we raised more than $134,000! Visit the Auction web site, www.wilmingtonfriends.org/auction, or contact Stacy Gatti in the Alumni/ Development Office, 302.576.2975 or sgatti@wilmingtonfriends.org.

WFS quilt featured at the last Auction for Friends in 2011.

Summer Internship Available The WFS Alumni/Development Office offers a summer internship program with both range and depth of real-world experience. Our interns have an opportunity to develop skills in: writing, social media, web content development, fundraising, video production, event planning, networking, and more. Send us your resume, connect with us on LinkedIn, and let us know you’re interested! alumni@wilmingtonfriends.org

STAY CONNECTED We have so many great tools available to help you stay connected with your classmates and with Friends. Be sure to join us, as best fits your social media life, on Facebook, Twitter, and/or LinkedIn. And please don’t forget to update us on any changes to your contact information, including email. Thanks.

Throwback Thursdays We recently introduced “Throwback Thursdays” to the WFS Alumni Facebook page and have been inspired by the response. These postings are receiving some of the most social “chatter” since the group’s inception. Here’s how it works: our archive specialist, retired faculty member Terry Maguire, picks a photo from back in the day, and we then ask our alumni Facebook members (799 of them, as of this moment) to try to identify the people, place, and year of the picture. This is “crowdsourcing” at its best!

More than 600 friends of our Alumni Facebook page viewed this “Throwback Thursday” photo of longtime teacher Dan (“DJ”) Johnson with Kay Hewlett Ambrose ’76. And many of them identified Dan and Kay correctly, including Todd Whitaker ’76, Baily Bellenger Cypress ’78, Dan Fleming ’76, and Kay herself (who wrote, as would many of us in reviewing photos from that era, “Don’t you love my outfit?”). Join us on Facebook today, and take the next Throwback Thursday challenge.

for Alumni&Friends

From the Archives Needs and Riches What might you have? What might you want? The Friends School archives are located on the balcony overlooking the middle/upper school library. Most of the collection is divided between photos, from the late 19th century to the present, and material archives—printed material—the earliest of which has the date of 1775. Among the archive holdings are the alumni magazine, which began in May of 1941; and the yearbooks, which were originally the June issue, or Senior Issue, of the Whittier Miscellany. Both have had various titles. The policy of the archives is to have three or four copies of each issue of these publications. While it might be nice to have more, archive space is limited. In some cases we have many copies of some issues; in other instances, only one or two. Below are lists of the alumni publications and yearbooks we would like to give to any interested alumni, and also lists of issues we need if anyone is willing and able to share them with us. If either of these options applies to you, please contact Terence Maguire at tmaguire@wilmingtonfriends.org. Thank you. Alumni Publications to Share Alumni Bulletin, XIX, #2, May, 1959 Friends School Alumni Bulletin, XXIV, # 2, May, 1964 Friends School Bulletin, XXXIII, #2, Winter, 1973 Friends, Winter, 1987 Friends Alumni Magazine, Fall, 1998 Friends Alumni Magazine, Spring, 2004 Friends, Spring, 2004 Friends, Fall, 2004 Friends, Spring, 2005 Friends, Spring, 2006 Friends, Spring, 2007 Friends, Spring, 2009

Alumni Publications Needed Friends School Alumni Bulletin, XXXIX, # 2, Winter, 1979 Friends School Alumni Bulletin, XXXIX, # 3, Spring, 1979 Friends, Winter, 1993

Yearbooks to Share Whittier Miscellany Yearbook Issue 1950 Whittier Miscellany Yearbook Issue 1952 Whittier Miscellany Yearbook Issue 1953 Whittier Miscellany Yearbook Issue 1954 Whittier Miscellany Yearbook Issue 1955 Whittier Miscellany FS 1956

Yearbook Issue 1964 Prologue Epilogue 1969 Yearbook 1971, 1975, 1976 Wilmington Friends 1977 Wilmington Friends 1978 Wilmington Friends 1979 1980 Yearbook What Made It 1981 WFS 1982 WFS 1983 Wilmington Friends 1984 Wilmington Friends 1985 Wilmington Friends 1986 Wilmington Friends 1987 A Year in the Life of Wilmington Friends 1988 Wilmington Friends School 1988-89 WFS Images 1990 Wilmington Friends 1993

Yearbooks Needed Whittier Miscellany Seniors 1935 Whittier Miscellany June 1936 Whittier Miscellany Senior Issue 1938 Whittier Miscellany Senior Issue 1939 Whittier Miscellany Senior Issue 1946 Whittier Miscellany Senior Issue 1947 Wilmington Friends 1991 Continuum 2002 Continuum 2005

Edith Hubbard (1871-1964)

By Terence Maguire

In June 1936, one year before the School moved to Alapocas, mathematics teacher Edith Hubbard retired, after 29 years of teaching at Friends. That length of service is admirable but not exceptional in Friends School history. It appears, however, that few if any Friends teachers had a greater impact on their students than “Miss Hubbard.” Scarcely anyone now alive remembers her, but evidence from school catalogues and testimony of her From the senior issue of the former students speak clearly of Whittier in 1936, the year Edith the esteem she had earned. In her Hubbard retired from teaching at Friends. first year at Friends, 1907-08, she arranged that mathematics would have more periods per week than any other class in upper school. By 1911 her students were getting mathematics for ten periods every week, while English, history, Latin, and other classes had to settle for a mere five. When the Head of the Boys’ Division left in 1917 because of World War I, Miss Hubbard took over, as she did when Principal Herschel Norris became ill and left in 1921 (to die within the year). She was influential in other school organizations, as well, including the library and the Alumni Association. Though a highly demanding teacher, Hubbard was known for her kindness. Lee Reese ’20 spoke of “her sweet and even-tempered disposition,” and Tom Stephenson ’31 wrote of her “deep sympathy and sensitivity for people.” While a consummate math teacher, Hubbard introduced her students to the arts as well. Frances Baird ’13 (that’s 1913, of course) wrote that Hubbard “opened our eyes to innumerable beauties about us...the geometric patterns traced in the sky by great bridges...She introduced us to famous paintings.” Hubbard was a frequent traveler to Italy during summers, and she retired there, spending most of her time in Florence. She continued her study of Renaissance art and architecture and of the poetry of John Milton. She hosted many former students and their families on visits to Italy. She returned to America during the war years, but went back to Italy after the 200th anniversary celebration of Friends School in 1948. In the Hubbard era, after an especially valued teacher retired from Friends, the School would list her or him among the faculty as emeritus. Hubbard commanded such respect and affection that the School listed her as emerita from 1936 to 1963—almost as long as she had been engaged in teaching. She gave the School a piece of Plymouth Rock, from near her hometown, which is now enclosed in the date stone of the middle/upper school building. Stephenson compared her to a different rock, however, calling her the “Gibraltar of the faculty.”

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Spring 2013 â&#x20AC;˘ Friends magazine

Raising a Voice for Justice: Tradition and Transformation in the Work of Bernice Johnson Reagon By Bryan Garman, Head of School Bryan, who holds a PhD in American Studies from Emory University, is the author of A Race of Singers: Whitman’s Working Class Hero from Guthrie to Springsteen. As suggested by that title, much of Bryan’s graduate work focused on the role of American music in work toward social justice. “When we sing,” Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon once told Bill Moyers, “we announce our existence.” From the moment she took the stage at The Queen Theater as this year’s QUEST Big Ideas Speaker, Dr. Reagon proclaimed her unmistakable presence as a uniquely talented vocalist, brilliant scholar, tireless advocate for social justice, and American hero. Out of the silence that followed the audience’s welcome, she offered an evening of music and memoir, her powerful and captivating voice resonating into the corners of a once racially segregated balcony, reaching across centuries of struggle and hope, summoning the strength and structure of spirituals forged in slavery, remembering the music she learned in her father’s church, and reviving the songs of the Civil Rights Movement with a passion, purpose, and wisdom that alternately evoked pathos and possibility, resilience and reverence. “I don’t know how my mother walked her trouble down,” she sang, weaving together past and present, “I don’t know how my father stood his ground/I don’t know how my people survive slavery/I do remember, that’s why I believe.”

Her consciousness of the relationship between tradition and change deepened during her participation in the 1961 Albany Movement, a broad-based desegregation campaign that landed more than 1,000 demonstrators, including Dr. Reagon, in jail. Albany allowed Dr. Reagon to establish herself as a leader, when, following one of the larger mass marches, demonstrators repaired to the Union Baptist Church. “I was asked to lead a song,” she remembered. “I began the spiritual which opens with the words, ‘Over my head I see trouble in the air, trouble in the air,’ knowing that we were ‘in trouble’—I instinctively inserted ‘freedom,’ renaming where we were and what we were doing.” In 1960s Albany, it was impossible to pursue freedom and justice without being in trouble. By substituting the word “freedom” for “trouble,” Dr. Reagon elevated the cause and united those with her. “Over my head, I see glory in the air,” the students sang, voices reverberating with the pain and promise of a dream deferred. “There must be God somewhere.”

Bernice Johnson Reagon’s memory and belief run deeper than perhaps any artist I have ever seen. Music, she has repeatedly demonstrated, has the power to change the world, a credo that has its roots in her Baptist upbringing in rural Georgia. Although she was born in 1942, Dr. Reagon asserts that she was essentially a child of the 19th century, the resident of a preindustrial hamlet that allowed her to learn African American musical traditions relatively untouched by modern influence. Displaced from their homelands and enslaved in the New World, African Americans forged a rich and resilient culture. Traditional spirituals, in particular, formed the bulwark of that culture, in many cases reinterpreting Christianity, a religion that slaveholders had used to justify their economic position. Not surprisingly, spirituals are rife with dreams of escape and freedom; the singers long to “steal way to Jesus,” to “go to the wilderness,” to “cross the river Jordan,” to travel with Moses to the promised land, “Communal singing is to let their lights shine. As Dr. Reagon’s understanding of this tradition matured a way of announcing and her performance of it expanded, she you are here and poshad the big idea that tradition could be used to effect change, that it could be an sessing the territory.” essential and non-violent weapon in the Civil Rights Movement.

In unifying the singers, music propelled the movement forward, meeting, as Martin Luther King, Jr. advised, “physical force with soul force.” “Sound is a way to extend the territory you can affect,” Dr. Reagon told Moyers. “Communal singing is a way of announcing you are here and possessing the territory. When police or the sheriff would enter mass meetings and start taking pictures and names, and we knew our jobs were on the line, and maybe more–inevitably somebody would begin a song. Soon everyone was singing, and we had taken back the air in that space.” The role of the song leader had tremendous importance in using music to advance the Movement. In a conversation I had with Dr. Reagon prior to her Wilmington performance, I asked how she went about choosing a song for a particular moment. What was the connection to tradition? Was there a spiritual component to making the appropriate selection? She responded with a moving remembrance of her uncle, who was especially fond of a recipe for orange cake that the family had created during slavery. Her aunt, she explained, never liked orange cake, yet, years after her husband died, called Dr. Reagon’s Spring 2013 • Friends magazine

mother to ask for the recipe. The connection to the past, to tradition, was too strong to ignore. “You can leave,” Dr. Reagon explained. “But you are never really gone.” Tradition, the bonds of family, and deep connections of community forged the culture she has assiduously studied and renewed, and her gift as song leader has been to connect past and present, to recall the righteousness of struggle, to at once remind the congregation of how far they have traveled and to provide spiritual sustenance for the journey yet “Until you risk your to come. Ancestors and leaders life, you never know of the movement who you can be.” may leave—some, as Reagon told us in the “Ballad of Henry Moore” (a Langston Hughes poem she set to music), at the hands of violence. But their strength, their willingness to walk their troubles down and stand their ground, their insistence that “freedom never dies,” sustained those who walked the picket line and crowded the jails. The time that Dr. Reagon spent in jail during the Albany Movement marked a turning point both for her development as a leader and in further developing her understanding of tradition. “Sometimes,” she told us in November, “you don’t know the true meaning of a song until you lay it on a situation.” No tradition, no matter how powerful, can survive unless it is reimagined and adapted to the present. When asked to provide an example of how context changed the meaning of song, Dr. Reagon’s voice rang out: “I feel better, so much better, since I laid my burden down.” “Why would I feel better when I had been put in jail?” she interjected into the song. Then the return to music: “Friends don’t treat me like they used to, since I laid my burden to down.” She felt better—in fact, she felt liberated, even in jail—because she had decided to stand her ground against oppression. “Until you risk your life,” she told us, “you never know who you can be.” Thanks to Dr. Reagon, many of us left the Queen Theater “feeling better” than when we had entered. Why was her performance so moving, so inspiring, so transcendent? The answer is no doubt different for different people. For me, there was a crossroads where her material, her voice, and her presence met. African American culture is, according to Dr. Reagon, “one of the most powerful in the world” because it was the “territory we could create to take care of the business of making a people, because it was an area that we had control over and the place where my community taught me the full range of my whole power as a human being, about our specialness in the universe.” From spirituals to the blues, slave narratives to sermons, African American culture has defied the prevailing narrative, allowing people to assert their humanity, protect their dignity, and work to alter their situation. And it has done more. Whether you listen to “Wade in the Water” or Martin Luther 6

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Dr. Reagon’s talent and presence have much to do with convincing us that change is possible. Her stunning voice, which rises effortlessly yet mightily, is anchored in her culture and yet transcends it, expressing the deepest and most meaningful of human longings, and tapping into a spiritual source located well beyond the limits of this world. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, songs from this tradition have gauged the gap between the American promise and reality, at once profoundly articulating the political, spiritual, and aesthetic beauty of that promise, revealing that it has not been fully realized, and expressing unyielding hope that it someday will be. And while this culture was born out of a history of oppression, it transcends its moment, and can be applied, in Dr. Reagon’s words, “to any practical everyday situation talking about changing your life.” Dr. Reagon’s talent and presence have much to do with convincing us that change is possible. Her stunning voice, which rises effortlessly yet mightily, is anchored in her culture and yet transcends it, expressing the deepest and most meaningful of human longings, and tapping into a spiritual source located well beyond the limits of this world. Her voice resonates through her body as through the hearts and souls of the audience. And then there is her presence as a human being: small but strong in stature, courageous and resolute, a warrior for justice willing to put her life on the line for a cause greater than herself, opening her battle-wearied soul to share her wisdom with graciousness, intimacy, and acuity. In the last verse of “I Remember, I Believe,” an original composition with which Dr. Reagon opened the show, she sings: My God calls to me in the morning dew The power of the universe knows my name Gave me a song to sing and sent me on my way I raise my voice for justice I believe. By the end of the performance, she had made believers of us all.

Environmental Audit and Initiatives Bernice Johnson Reagon For more than a half-century, Bernice Johnson Reagon has been a major cultural voice for freedom and justice; singing, teaching, speaking out against racism and organized inequities of all kinds. Dr. Reagon is Professor Emeritus of History at American University, Curator Emeritus at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, and served as the 2002-2004 Cosby Chair of Fine Arts at Spelman College (her alma mater) in Atlanta, GA. In 2004, she retired as Director and singer with Sweet Honey In The Rock, the a capella, African American women ensemble she founded and directed for 30 years. Dr. Reagon was central in the conception and production of the 26-part, Peabody Award-winning NPR radio series Wade in the Water: African American Sacred Music Traditions; and she wrote the score for the four-part PBS series, Africans in America: America’s Journey Through Slavery, which also received a Peabody Award. In addition, Dr. Reagon was involved in the production of the documentary series Eyes on the Prize, the Emmy-winning We Shall Overcome, and the feature film Beloved. Dr. Reagon has been recognized with the Heinz Award for the Arts and Humanities (2003), the Leeway National Award for Women in the Arts (2000), the Presidential Medal for contribution to public understanding of the Humanities (1995), and the MacArthur Fellowship (1989). “These days, I come as ‘songtalker,’ one who balances talk and song in the creation of a live performance conversation with those who gather within the sound of my voice,” says Dr. Reagon. “As a student leader and activist in the Albany Movement, I sang and stood in the sound of the congregational singing of the freedom songs charging the air we breathed. For the first time, I understood how the singing not only pulled us together, but became our articulate collective testimony to all who stood within the sound.” Bernice Johnson Reagon is the fourth speaker in the QUEST Big Ideas Speaker Series, which began in 2009, following the founding of the Quaker Center for Understanding, Engagement and Stewardship at Friends. The QUEST Center has been recognized by the E. E. Ford Foundation as one of eight “projects of interest” at independent schools across the country. Previous QUEST Big Ideas Speakers have included Eboo Patel, founder of the Interfaith Youth Core and a member of President Barack Obama’s inaugural Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships; Eric Chivian, Nobel Laureate and founder and Director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment (CHGE); and Gish Jen, critically acclaimed author and Massey Lecturer at Harvard University.

QUEST Event Thank Yous Special thanks to QUEST Director Amina Baaith and Family Resource Coordinator Susan Morovati Finizio ’87 for their leadership in bringing Bernice Johnson Reagon to Friends as our 201213 QUEST speaker. Thanks also to our friends at The Queen, which was an ideal venue for Dr. Reagon’s public performance.

By Susan Morovati Finizio ’87 QUEST Environmental Stewardship Coordinator In November 2012, Friends hosted consultants from Sustainable Schools to conduct an environmental audit. Our consultants toured the buildings, ran some tests, and met with faculty, staff, and students. We were pleased when we read in their assessment that, “Wilmington Friends School is well on its way to becoming a leading example of environmental stewardship in independent education.” In addition, the report states, “On the curriculum side, there is ample evidence of the integration of environmental and sustainability concepts with all [divisions].” In a leading example of that curricular work, last year’s sixth graders did a project focused on landfill waste and implemented a school-wide “Zero Waste Lunch Week.” The sixth graders Lower school students participating in last studied the dynamics of social moveyear’s Zero Waste Lunch Week; compostments in addition to STEM design ing, recycling, and “Terracycling” efforts are ongoing. concepts, and applied skills emphasized throughout the Friends curriculum, like research, data analysis, organization, communication, and project management. From meeting with administrators to picketing the lunchroom to weighing trash bags, the sixth graders’ collaboration, leadership, and hard work inspired the entire community.

“Wilmington Friends School is well on its way to becoming a leading example of environmental stewardship in independent education.” In fact, the school decided to formalize the waste management collection system as a permanent undertaking in the cafeteria. We already had been sending kitchen waste to a commercial composter and felt the time was ripe to expand the compost collection. We also purchased new, clearly marked receptacles for both campuses to encourage singlestream recycling. Lower school students can sort their juice pouches, chip bags, and other non-recyclables into Terracycle bins provided by the Home & School Association; those items are shipped off for repurposing. Many other environmental stewardship activities are also taking place at Friends today. And by implementing some of the suggestions outlined in the auditors’ report, we hope to become even more green both in the classrooms and as an institution. If you have any questions about the WFS stewardship efforts, feel free to contact Susan, sfinizio@ wilmington friends.org or 302.576.2989.

The cafeteria waste sorting system includes receptacles for compostable, recyclable, and landfill waste. Spring Spring2013 2013• •Friends Friendsmagazine magazine

News & Events from Winter Sports 2012-2013

Winter

It was a season to remember. Thank you to the winter team coaches, to the student-athletes and their families, and to all the Quaker fans. Our teams made history. Winter varsity head coaches Paul Nemeth Indoor Track Carolyn Gates Girls’ Basketball Connors ’81 Wrestling Gregg Miller Swimming Robin Lebauer Brian Fahey Boys’ Basketball

Indoor Track

As the winter track program continues to grow and thrive, the team posted some impressive results this season, including five top-10 finishes at the state meet in February. After attracting interest from a number of top-level track programs, senior Cav Salvadori will do his college running at William & Mary next year. State Track Meet Cav Salvadori ’13 Thomas Connelly ’14 Erin Skibicki ’13 School records in boys’ Boys’ team

2nd in 3200m and 3rd in 1600m 6th in 1600m and 8th in 3200m 9th in 800m 4x400m relay and 4x800m relay 13th overall

2012-2013

The track team was led by five senior runners and two senior team managers, pictured in the third row: Molly Conces, Alex Gallicchio, Emily Horwitz, Erin Skibicki, captain Cav Salvadori, captain Joelle Napoletano, and Maggie Loughran.

Photos from the state track meet, courtesy of Friends parent Katie Zucca 8

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Girls’ Basketball The Quakers lost three starters from the 2011-2012 team, including both the starting and back-up point guards, so head coach Carolyn Gates Connors ’81 anticipated “an interesting season.” And it got interesting quickly, with an opening—and huge—win over Charter, a team the Quakers had not beaten in the last five years. Coach Connors also pointed to the second game against Sanford as a highlight; though a loss, the Friends team took pride in great defense and limiting the scoring of the #2 team in the state. More praise from the Coach for this year’s squad: “This was a team that carried each other through the season with many players having to adjust for the good of the team, like Annie Procaccini moving to fill the point guard position. This was a very selfless team. I loved the fact that these players would always dish if there was a teammate in a better shooting position even if they had a shot themselves.”

A highlight of every girls’ basketball season is the annual parent-player game, which had another great turnout this year.

Finally, Carolyn said of Blue Gold All Star selection Lauren Kerrigan, “Lauren is exactly the kind of person you would want to represent Friends School in the community.” All Conference Lauren Kerrigan ’13, first team Meryl Gatti ’15, second team Blue Gold All Star Lauren Kerrigan ’13

Blue Gold All Star Game & Best Buddies Blue Gold basketball benefits Best Buddies, a program that pairs students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in one-to-one friendships with other high school students. In 2008, Wilmington Friends became the first independent school in Delaware to start a Best Buddies chapter; WFS is paired with the Mary Campbell Center Teen group. The first year, there were 11 members of the Friends Best Buddies Club; there are now almost 40 students involved. Because of the club’s success, Friends was selected to participate in a national pilot program for Best Buddies. There are 12 high school Best Buddies chapters in Delaware, and Friends continues to be the only independent school that participates. Thanks to all the fans who came out to the Blue Gold Basketball Games on March 16 to cheer for the four Quakers selected for the All Star teams— Lauren Kerrigan, Sean Kirkpatrick, Malcolm Delpeche, and Sam Carney— and to support Best Buddies.

There were three seniors on this year’s girls’ basketball team; in the front row, Kim Shelton, Lauren Kerrigan, and Annie Procaccini. Spring Spring2013 2013• •Friends Friendsmagazine magazine

Winter

2012-2013

Wrestling

10-1 in dual meets Top-4 in Division II, best ever for an independent school Congratulations to the wrestling team on its best season ever. The team qualified for the team state duals tournament for the first time. By advancing to the semifinals to finish among the top four teams in Division II, the team posted the best finish ever for any Delaware Independent Schools Conference team. Four seniors shared the job of captain— Bowman Benge, Luke Magness, Will Maguire, and Chris Palmer. Unfortunately, Chris was injured. The other three seniors all won conference championships and qualified for the individual state tournament, in addition to leading the team to its incredible success in the regular and post-season. The usual motto for Friends wrestling is a community favorite, “Respect All, Fear None,” and this year, the team earned, “Making History.” Individual Conference Champions/ First Team All Conference Bowman Benge ’13 Luke Magness ’13 Will Maguire ’13 Individual Conference Runners-Up/ Second Team All Conference Conner Armstrong ’14 Will Beardell ’14 Ian Furman ’15 Bill Gordon ’14 Zack Hinderhofer ’14 Jesse Miller ’14 Individual State Qualifiers Friends wrestlers participate in one of the toughest qualifying tournaments, which includes other “independent” teams like Salesianum, St. Mark’s, Delaware Military Academy, and Caravel. Bowman Benge ’13 Luke Magness ’13 Will Maguire ’13 Jesse Miller ’14 Josh Pincus ’16

The Quaker wrestling team photo and warm-ups; individual photos are senior captains Bowman Benge, Will Maguire, and Luke Magness (the fourth senior captain, Chris Palmer, was injured) and an engaged head coach, Gregg Miller.

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Swimming Girls’ dual meet record 9-2 Boys’ dual meet record 8-3 State Championship Meet Girls’ team—10th overall Boys’ team—13th overall Elise Lankiewicz ’13 2nd in 100m freestyle, 3rd in the 50m freestyle Luke Morgan ’14 3rd in 100m butterfly, 4th in the 50m freestyle Noah Landis ’16 3rd in diving Girls 200m freestyle relay—6th Girls 400m freestyle relay—8th Boys 400m freestyle relay—13th Boys 200m medley relay—13th

The seniors on and captains of this year’s swim team: Max Davis and Arielle Sotiropoulos, Ellie Anderson and Meredith Erskine, Elise Lankiewicz and Natalie Wenigmann.

State Meet Qualifiers Individual & Relay Events Meredith Erskine ’13 Elise Lankiewicz ’13 Maddie Fruchtman ’15 Demetria Ruhl ’16 Ryann Schutt ’17 Arielle Sotiropoulos ’13 Natalie Wenigmann ’13 Caroline Wren ’16 Max Davis ’13 Luke Morgan ’14 Bron Nadal-Todd ’14 Charles Teague ’17 Ryan Beneck ’14 James Sepelyak ’14 Chase Conley ’14 All State Elise Lankiewicz ’13, first team Luke Morgan ’14, first team Noah Landis ’16, honorable mention All Conference Elise Lankiewicz ’13, first team Luke Morgan ’14, first team Charles Teague ’17, first team Meredith Erskine ’13, second team Ryan Beneck ’14, second team Bron Nadal Todd ’14, second team Max Davis ’13, second team

Luke Morgan and Elise Lankiewicz earned first team All State honors in swimming (Luke’s photo courtesy of Jason Minto/ Special to the News Journal). Noah Landis finished third in the diving competition, earning honorable mention All State.

Lankiewicz Named Bryan Scholar Friends swimmer Elise Lankiewicz received the Lowell Bryan Scholarship as a soon-to-be freshman scholar athlete at Davidson College. According to the Davidson press release, “The Lowell Bryan Scholarship at Davidson College, valued at $30,000 annually, recognizes two outstanding scholar athletes (one man and one woman) in each entering class who will contribute to their sports as well as to academic, intel-

lectual, and co-curricular life at the college.” Recipients are chosen on the basis of exceptional academic performance, evidence of strong leadership ability, and athletic talent at the NCAA Division I level. Elise, cited in the press release as “an outstanding swimmer, chosen from a field of more than 340 nominees from schools across the country,” is the second Wilmington Friends student in recent years to receive the Bryan Scholarship. Ben Altman ’06 was selected as a wrestling scholar-athlete. Spring Spring2013 2013• Friends • Friendsmagazine magazine 11

Winter

2012-2013

Boys’ Basketball

• Top-10 in state all season • Four players 6’ 4” or taller (five players who could dunk) • Of the six seniors in the seven-man varsity rotation, three have been at Friends since lower school; one came in middle school; and two (twins) came in high school, following their mother, who had been an associate teacher in the lower school, and sister, a member of the class of 2011. • Four of the seniors play other varsity sports at Friends, and among the six, they take 19 IB higher level, AP, and advanced courses. • Best win: 71-67 OT at home over St. Andrew’s, which was ranked #1 for most of the season. State Tournament • #8 seed, first-round bye • Second round win 65-49 vs. Tatnall • Quarterfinal loss 44-45 to #1 seed All State Larenz Thurman ’14, second team Marcus Delpeche ’13, honorable mention All Conference Larenz Thurman ’14, first team Marcus Delpeche ’13, second team Sean Kirkpatrick ’13, second team Sam Carney ’13, honorable mention Blue Gold Senior All Stars Sam Carney Malcolm Delpeche Sean Kirkpatrick

The 2012-2013 Quaker boys basketball team included eight seniors, starting front row left: Malcolm Delpeche, Ryan Broussard, Ben Hanson, co-captain Sam Carney, Zack Lessner, Marcus Delpeche, co-captain Sean Kirkpatrick, and right behind Sean, Jack Hall.

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Winter Concerts 2012 1 12/8 Chamber Singers at The Queen The Ministry of Caring’s Voices of Caring 2 12/10 Upper School Instrumental Concert

Lower School Meeting Room

3 12/13 Third, Fourth & Fifth Grade Concert

LS Meeting Room

4 12/14 Kids Choir

Brandywine River Museum

5 12/17 Middle School Concert

Thanks to our friends and hosts at P.S. du Pont Middle School.

6 12/18 Upper School Choral Concert

Thanks to our friends and hosts at First & Central Presbyterian Church.

7 12/19 Kindergarten, Pre-First, First &

Second Grade Concert LS Meeting Room

8 12/20 ELC & Pre-K Concert

LS Meeting Room (See photos on inside back cover, “In Closing.”)

9 12/21 All-School (ELC-12) Holiday Celebration

West Gym

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More from December....

January

• The Bioethics Club finished fifth overall at the Bioethics Bowl in Philadelphia. Seniors Maggie Snyder and Dunia Tonob and sophomores Meera Kohli and Luyolo Matyumza competed, and seniors Catherine Curran and Leah O’Brien helped to prepare the cases. Science teachers Ellen Johnson and Amanda Smaniotto served as the faculty advisors.

• Friends girls’ soccer coach Scott Clothier, the state’s Coach of the Year for 2012, was named Region Coach of the Year by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).

• The IB Visual Arts and Art Major classes Investigative Workbook Day included a trip to the Barnes Foundation. Thanks to Alison Egan Thompson ’81 and Daniel Thompson for helping to arrange the visit. • For the second year, senior Lauren Kerrigan was named Delaware’s Gatorade Player of the Year in volleyball. The award recognizes “not only athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field.” Gatorade informed volleyball coach Barb Trinsey that this is the first time a Delaware volleyball player has received the award twice. Lauren also received Player of the Year honors from the Delaware Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association. • Seventh grade dean and social science teacher John Hanson completed training to become a member of the Holocaust Museum’s Regional Education Corps. In 2005, John completed a fellowship at the Holocaust Museum, and since then, he has worked with educators throughout Delaware and Washington, D.C., to help develop effective methods for teaching about the Holocaust and genocide. • Among the service projects at school in December: the lower school continued its annual Mitten Tree tradition; junior Peyton Beard organized the “Quakers Can” holiday food drive to benefit the Food Bank of Delaware, collecting nonperishable foods at home basketball games; and Home & School organized a shoe drive.

Seniors Brett Tracy and Sean Kirkpatrick celebrated signing their National Letters of Intent to play Division I college lacrosse. Brett will play at Towson, and Sean will play at Holy Cross.

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• 320 student, parent, and faculty/staff volunteers participated in the school’s fourth annual Morning of Service on Martin Luther King Day. Lower school students made lunches and sixth graders baked pies for the Sunday Breakfast Mission. Seventh graders assembled “Meals-to-Go” kits for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House. Students from 8th-12th grade, along with parents and many of the staff volunteers, did service off-campus at nine community agencies: the Sunday Breakfast Mission, Urban Promise, Compassionate Care Hospice, the Delaware Center for Horticulture, Gilpin Hall, the Clothing Bank, Delaware Humane Association, Wilmington Parks, and the Latin American Community Center. • By late January, members of the Class of 2013 had been admitted early decision or early action to more than 75 different colleges and universities, including schools in the U.K. and France. Among those offering Friends students early admission: Amherst, Boston University, Bowdoin, Connecticut College, Cornell, Davidson, Delaware, Haverford, Lehigh, Michigan, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Penn State, Princeton, Richmond, Vermont, Villanova, Virginia, Wake Forest, and William & Mary. • Senior Elise Lankiewicz received the Lowell Bryan Scholarship (see page 11) as a soon-to-be freshman scholar-athlete at Davidson College. • Junior Molly Marcus was chosen for the All State Women’s Chorus for the third consecutive year. Molly starred in this year’s fall musical, Bye Bye Birdie, as Kim MacAfee.

The IB Group 4 project got underway, with 81 students in IB science courses participating in the studentdesigned project about material science, specifically the thermal properties of sports fabrics.

• The observance of Martin Luther King Day included special Meetings for Worship in each division; the lower school held its annual Peace March before gathering for Meeting, and the upper school traveled to the Fourth & West Street meetinghouse.

Middle school students competed in the state First LEGO League robotics competition in January.

February • The Parents for Multiculturalism Committee held its annual Dinner and a Movie event on February 1. This year’s event featured A Dream Deferred: Issues and Answers, the Events Surrounding the 1968 Wilmington Riots, a 40-minute documentary about the political, social, and cultural events leading to the race riots in Wilmington, following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. University of Delaware professor emeritus of Black American Studies Dr. James Newton was the guest speaker. • Freshman Caroline Wren performed at Carnegie Hall as part of The American High School Honors Performance Series. Participants in the Series qualify through auditions and nominations from directors. The Series is open to talented high school performers throughout North America and at selected international schools. • Junior Kenji Endo was recognized with an Honorable Mention for poetry, for his poem “The Rocketship,” in the Delaware Writing Region of The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. (Read Kenji’s poem, page 21.)

Freshman Caroline Wren performed at Carnegie Hall in February.

• With leadership from Mandarin teachers Xiaohong Xu and Yue Wang, Friends had a festive Chinese New Year celebration. To read about the events, and about other activities in the Chinese program so far this year, visit https:// www.wilmingtonfriends.org/chinese-program-newsletter.

Scenes from the lower school Peace March and Martin Luther King Day Morning of Service.

Winners of the annual Friends Geography Bee, pictured with middle school teacher Adrian Burston: Sixth grader Maggie Coons was the middle school champion, qualifying for the state competition. Sophomore Emilio Ergueta won the upper school event, and junior Ellie McGinnis was runner-up.

• Students in IB Visual and Performing Arts classes attended the Opera Company of Philadelphia’s dress rehearsal for Silent Night, winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Music. The opera recounts a moment of peace during World War I, when Scottish, French, and German officers defied their superiors to negotiate a Christmas Eve truce.

Scenes from Chinese classes and special events; to learn more, please visit the Chinese program’s online newsletter page on the school web site.

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Winter

2012-2013

• The Wilmington Friends delegation at the 16th annual Quaker Youth Leadership Conference included senior Dunia Tonob and juniors Laura Gates, Bevyn Mannke, Myles McDevitt, and Greg Szumel. Head of Upper School Rebecca Zug was the faculty advisor for the trip. The aim of QYLC is to bring together students from Friends high schools around the world for “an intensive retreat focusing on supporting, cultivating and connecting leadership through service, integrity and community.” This year’s Conference was at Sidwell Friends in Washington, DC, and featured keynote speaker Scott Rechler, Director and CEO of LearnServe International. • On February 19, Friends hosted a Delaware Humanities Forum event celebrating the “Better Angels” historical theatre project. Robert Seeley, a descendant of Quaker abolitionist and longtime Friends School Committee member Thomas Garrett, attended. The first play of the “Better Angels” theatre project focused on Garrett’s trial for helping a family to escape slavery, and writer/director Colin Toomey led the program at Friends.

• Congratulations to the Mock Trial team for placing fourth in the state competition. Seniors Katie Halpern, Jack Hollingsworth, and Chris DiMaria received best attorney “gavel” awards, and senior Grace Carey earned two best witness gavels. Also on the team were seniors Molly Conces, TyLisa Johnson, and James Kocher; juniors Eliza Durham, Mitchell Juers, Myles McDevitt, and Bron Nadal Todd; sophomores Emilio Ergueta and Elijah Jabbar-Bey; and freshmen Olivia Garber, Joslyn Gardner, and Clare Parsells. The faculty advisor for Mock Trial is upper school Chinese teacher Xiaohong Xu.

The Mock Trial team finished fourth in the state and earned five individual gavel awards.

Seniors Francisco Eiras (AFS student, Portugal) and James Kocher volunteered at the Blood Drive cookie table. • The Blood Bank Committee, clerked by senior Maggie Snyder, organized a February 25 Blood Drive. Math teacher Steve Jennings was the committee’s faculty advisor. • Lower school music teacher Genevieve Van-Catledge performed to rave reviews in the Wilmington Drama League production of Ragtime.

Kim and Robin Orth, parents of one Friends graduate and two current students, joined the February Meeting Circle Annual Fund celebration at the home of Bryan Garman and Karen Ballotta.

Three of our favorite 1-to-1 laptop program photos from middle school (thanks to Friends parent and professional photographer Elisa Komins Morris, who visited with her camera in February). 16

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A group of upper school students made a “climate dot,” part of an international awareness campaign to “connect the dots” between extreme weather and climate change.

Eighth Grade Musical, Brigadoon March 1, 2013 Sara Gaines and Margaret Anne Butterfield, Directors

Fifth Grade Musical, Schoolhouse Rock Live, Jr. March 12, 2013 Genevieve Van-Catledge, Director Every student in the fifth and eighth grade participates in their class musical; both productions were staged in the lower school Meeting Room this year, during the construction on the upper campus. When four eighth graders were asked about being in the show, they all talked about the sense of teamwork and how valuable it was to work with all of their classmates, especially the people they did not know as well. Congratulations on two great shows.

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Coming Attractions New Theater & Gym Much of the upper campus construction work so far this school year hasn’t been very satisfying to the eye (we can’t see much progress from the outside), but it has been critical. The first step of the project is to address the moisture problem that plagued the South (soon to be Neff) Gym for all of its first 50 years. Our Board of Trustees made the decision to do this step right, even if it means the project will take a little longer. The process involves the use of “Bentogrout,” which is applied to the exterior of the foundation, rather than the interior, so that underground water won’t get into the structure in the first place. The second, hardto-see step of the project is the construction of a new fire wall, a standard under current building codes (vs. those of 1961), to separate the theater/ gym wing where it joins the rest of the building. The next step of the project will be very easy to see, as the remainder of the theater roof will be taken down. And then it will really start to look like a construction site. If you would like to make a special donation to the school to support the new theater/ gym project, first, thank you (checks payable to “Wilmington Friends School” with theater/gym in the memo line); and second, for more information, please contact Director of Development Judy Aliquo at jaliquo@wilmingtonfriends.org, or 302.576.2980. Thanks again for all the ways in which you support Friends.

Architectural drawings of the new theater’s exterior (facing Alapocas Drive), entrance, and interior.

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More from Early March • Bryan Garman was reelected to the Board of the National group was able to bring author Blaine Harden to Friends for Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). Bryan was first an upper school collection. Harden is the author of Escape elected to the NAIS board in 2010. At Friends since 2006, from Camp 14, which chronicles the life of Shin Dong-Hyuk, Bryan previously worked at Sidwell Friends School in Washingwho was born and lived his first 23 years in a North Korean ton, DC, where he was a history teacher and department chair, prison camp before escaping in 2005. Director of Summer Studies, and Upper School Principal and Assistant Head of School. In 2005, he was awarded the George • Prism is the student literary magazine at Friends, and “Prism Olmstead Prize for Excellence in Secondary School Teaching by Night” is the annual fundraiser to support its production. Williams College. He has taught at the Johns Hopkins UniThis year’s event on March 8 had the theme “Eat, Play, Sing.” versity’s Center for Talented Youth, has served as a universityThe evening started with an informal concert by the Chamber appointed mentor to graduate students enrolled in the School Singers and Jazz Band, with refreshments kindly provided by Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania, and parents, followed by Prism Night with individual and smallhas been named to the faculty of the NAIS Heads Equity and group student performances, plenty of food, art projects, and Diversity Seminar (HEADS). Read Bryan’s full biography at a best cupcake design competition. www.wilmingtonfriends.org/bryan-garman-biography.

Bryan Garman speaking at the 2013 NAIS Conference in Philadelphia. Photo courtesy of NAIS. • With two teams (eight students each) competing in a total of 15 events, Friends was well represented at the High School Science Olympiad state finals. The teams brought home eight medals: two each for seniors Jack Hollingsworth and Francisco Eiras, who as a team earned third place in two events; juniors Dan Shaw and Joey Woodward earned fifth place medals; and juniors Chase Conley and Kenji Endo earned a seventh. The other team members were seniors Bobby Broderick and Lucy Yeatman, and juniors Thomas Connelly, Grayton Downing, Jamie Harper, Graham Haubert, Sonia Kumar, Jesse Miller, Matt Schmittle, and Tate Muratori-Levit. • Throughout the school year, the Amnesty International student group has organized events, written Whittier articles, and posted information to raise awareness about the history and continuing isolation of and oppression in North Korea. After an extensive and creative fundraising effort, led by junior Julia Rhodes (including a negotiated fee reduction, planning in partnership with another school, and using “indiegogo,” an online fundraising tool for charities and non-profits), the

The upper school Jazz Band and Chamber Singers performed as part of the “Eat, Play, Sing” event.

Author/reporter and guest speaker Blaine Harden with Julia Rhodes ’14. Spring2013 2013• •Friends Friendsmagazine magazine 19 Spring

Visual Arts From the Studio (and on the Road)

Above: Seventh grade students used a 3D modeling program to illustrate examples of green architectural design. Opposite: In an eighth grade visual arts project, students learned about illustrating a personally meaningful message using realistic and symbolic elements.

The upper school IB and Visual Arts Major midterm project was called “Self Identity Boxed Inside/Outside.” In this sixth graders photomontage project, part of an interdisciplinary study, students juxtaposed contemporary imagery with images from the ancient world to see what new meanings could be generated.

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Upper school visual arts students, often in partnership with performing arts and language classes, have taken a number of research trips—to the Barnes Foundation and to the opera in Philadelphia, to the Mall galleries in Washington, DC, and to New York City (pictured).

The Rocketship By Kenji Endo ’14

A boy is building a rocketship on the roof of his suburban home. Perched upon the chimney is a launch pad, held together with scrap wood and old nails. Long wooden struts expand from the base of the platform, like a hand grappling from inside the house below. The ship, a bright cherry red, built with the trembling arm of the boy, is almost ready for its odyssey.

Shooting past the clouds and birds, I enter the furthest reaches of our known world. The air is cluttered with remnants of past voyagers the ones who did not make it. The sky is thick with them.

There is no countdown, no word from command. He knows not the path, only the direction Up

I can breathe but faintly It is difficult to exhale a hand is grasping my lungs constricting refusing to let go

The launch shakes the foundation of the house. The home sighs with relief as a burden is lifted from its shoulders to the sky. The parents wave goodbye: Bon Voyage, they whisper. The crowd below shrinks first from fright, then laughter, then joy, finally just dust upon a car dashboard. This is no ordinary Rocketship. It is built out of dreams, of memories, So much stronger than the creations of science. There is so much riding on it. **** Rivets tremble as I ascend, threatening to release and give up. Vibrations shake my bones awake. I have never felt more alive.

I bid the craft to slow and land on the lunar surface. I flick the switch and arrive Complete silence

I spot the flag hanging listlessly It is not the same as the pictures and newsreels no longer vibrant with hope Tattered worn its color faded I forgot what I came here for Caught up in my journey not the destination it takes time to consider Memory like music is freer here not held down by the burdens of life it leaves you if you forget to grab on tightly Ah I remember now I kneel down and slowly engrave my words into the lunar dust I AM HERE.

There’s always something wonderful happening in the lower school art room; among projects so far this year, coil pots in fourth grade and “shape monsters” in kindergarten. Spring2013 2013• •Friends Friendsmagazine magazine 21 Spring

CLASS NOTES 1928

In January, we enjoyed a visit with Anna Elizabeth Dougherty in Maryland. She has earned the distinction of being Friends School’s eldest donor on record, and we are grateful for her ongoing support.

1951

Class Agent Chick Altmaier updated us on some of his classmates:

Persian Gulf in January for nine months. Tough on him since he has a four-month-old son, Cole, and knows that by the time he gets home, Cole will be walking and talking. Guess it goes without saying that as we approach Veterans Day, we are more acutely than ever aware of the sacrifices being made by our service personnel and their families.” Alice Pillsbury celebrated her marriage to H. S. Dan Boone in November. The couple will reside in Houston, TX.

Recent highlights for Charlie (Chuck) Davis include, “Dalmatian Club of San Diego, trying to keep his Mercedes fleet running, exercising his dog, keeping property pristine—winter garden in cabbage, beets, and onions about to be harvested and peas are up. Highlights of his wife Elaine’s travel included extensive trip to Sri Lanka and climbing Lion’s Rock palace and fortress—1200 steps up and then down. They still love California but not the taxes.”

Peter Duus (See story at right.)

1952

The Delaware State Chamber of Commerce presented its annual Josiah Marvel Cup to John F. (Jack) Porter, current Friends Jane Marsh Dieckmann and husgrandparent. The Alice Pillsbury’s ’51 wedding announcement band Dick Rosenbaum are doing award, presented well in Ithaca, NY. Their travel on Jan. 14, goes to highlight this year was a weeklong trip to a Delawarean who has “made an outstandsouthern Ireland plus Dublin. Dick paints, and ing contribution to the state, community, and Jane spends her time playing tennis and piano, society.” After a 40-year career, Jack retired and working on “endless projects.” They both as chairman and CEO of Delaware Trust. enjoy going to the Opera. Their most recent He has served as chairman of the Delaware grandchild Mya was born just before ChristBankers Association, president of the Business mas. Roundtable, and board chair of Nemours. He also has been active in leadership roles for Christiana Care, The Grand Opera House, and Winterthur Museum and Gardens. Bill Quillen (See story, next page.)

1955

Sara Hodge Geuder (See 2009.)

1965

Jane Dieckmann ’51 and husband, Dick in front of a peat fire in an Irish farmhouse near Galway. Art Hill had a busy year as acting Chair of the Board for Eastern University in Radnor, PA. Art and his wife Peg have a cottage at Cokesbury Village in Hockessin. They plan to eventually sell their place in Maine and settle here, but in the meantime, they only stay here when they visit Peg’s family or are on Eastern University business. Art Littman wrote: “Just a few tidbits of news. We became great-grandparents on Nov. 2. Our next to eldest granddaughter Hannah gave birth to Maximus Liam Bliley—quite a handle for a little tyke! Thanks to modern technology, Hannah’s husband Mitch was able to watch the birth and communicate with Hannah throughout via Skype from Afghanistan where he is serving in the Army. Our youngest son Rob, a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy (F-18 Fighter Pilot), will be deploying for the 22

Spring 2013 • Friends magazine

Sue and George Curme ‘65 with granddaughter Emma.

Good news from new proud grandparents, George Curme IV and his wife, Sue, of Roanoke, VA: Emma Ann Curme was born January, 14, 2013 to their son, Mike, and his wife, Emily. Emma’s birth stats: 8 lbs. 1 oz., 20 inches; she was born at the VCU birthing center in Richmond, VA.

Alumni Spotlight: Peter Duus ’51 Honored in Japan The Japanese government recently honored the work of Peter Duus with the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon. The Order of the Rising Sun recognizes distinguished achievements in international relations, promotion of Japanese culture, advancement of a profession, development in social welfare, or preservation of the environment. Previous American recipients of the Order have included other leaders in education and also military leaders like Douglas MacArthur, Secretaries of State including George Schultz, and Congressional foreign relations leaders and ambassadors including Mike Mansfield and Tom Foley. Peter was recognized for his contributions “to Japan Studies in the United States and the promotion of mutual understanding between Japan and the United States.” From his work as a “Peter Duus is teaching fellow at Harone of those rare vard in 1961 through historians who his 2003 retirement from Stanford, Peter excel at every has distinguished dimension of this himself as the leading American historian of profession.” modern Japan. He has written what are recognized as the standard university texts in the field, and has been hailed by colleagues as “the Dean of Japanese history.” He earned prestigious research fellowships throughout his graduate and teaching careers, along with the Berkeley Prize, the Hiromi Arisawa Book Prize, and the Akira International Book Award; and he is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Paula Findlen, Chair, Department of History at Stanford, said, “Peter Duus is one of those rare historians who excel at every dimension of this profession.” Peter has been a leader in the promotion of advanced Japanese education, serving for 15 years as the executive secretary for the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies (IUC), a consortium of schools in Japan founded by Stanford to meet the language training needs of future scholars and expert professionals. Peter received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Friends in 2011.

1970

Ken Haven (See story, next page.)

1971 Dolly Bochenek Wolf (See 2005.)

1975

Vicki Sann proudly shared that her daughter, Lauren, recently graduated from West Chester University, and is now working toward her master’s in Public Administration at Walden University.

Peter Duus ’51 speaking at Friends, fall 2011.

Class notes

Alumni Spotlight: Bill Quillen ’52 Receives Governor’s Heritage Award On February 27, Bill Quillen ’52 received the 2013 Governor’s Heritage Award, recognizing, “distinguished contributions to the recognition, preservation, and celebration of Delaware’s heritage.” Governor Jack Bill Quillen ’52 spoke at the Markell presented the Delaware Public Archives award at a ceremony after receiving the 2013 at the Delaware Governor’s Heritage Award. Public Archives, a facility whose construction Bill initiated and pursued with some determination when he served as Delaware Secretary of State. Bill also served Delaware as a judge on Superior Court, chancellor of the Court of Chancery, and justice on the state Supreme Court. He has written extensively about corporate law and the history of Delaware courts, including a book about the Court of Chancery. He also taught at Widener Law School in north Wilmington, and served as director of the University of Delaware Library Associates.

“The sense of the history of this country comes to me largely by instinct—I have studied it a little bit, but I have breathed it a lot. How lucky to feel part of our collective heritage, like feeling part of nature.” In his remarks, Bill noted that the state oath of office includes a commitment, “To respect the right of future generations to share the rich historic and natural heritage of Delaware.” He spoke of heritage as both collective—“based on generosity and a loving spirit; it is inclusive, not based on any fixed status”—and individual. “Love your kids and your grandkids,” he said, “and your country and your state.” He talked about his own experience of American heritage from living in New Castle, founded in 1651, worshipping at a church founded in 1657 and still housed in its 1707 building; he said, “My high school, Friends School Wilmington, was founded in 1748,” and went on to list his college, Williams (1785); law school, Harvard (1636 and early 1800s for law), and “Mr. Jefferson’s University of Virginia,” where Bill earned an LL.M. (1819, first LL.B. 1840). Bill concluded, “The sense of the history of this country comes to me largely by instinct— I have studied it a little bit, but I have breathed it a lot. How lucky to feel part of our collective heritage, like feeling part of nature.” Among those attending the award ceremony were Bill’s wife, Marcia Stirling Quillen ’56; sister-in-law, Barbara Flinn Quillen ’47; daughter, Tracey Quillen Carney ’80; and, as Bill said, “representing the judiciary,” Richard Cooch ’66.

1979

For the last 18 years, Martha Pardee Sandvold has been narrating books on tape for the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. Last year, Martha was awarded the Digital Platinum Award from the Braille Institute of Los Angeles.

1980

players, Jamie Harper ’14 and Michael Galardi ’13. Rudy was the Friends School Alumnus of the Year in 2000.

1983

Our condolences to David Venarde on the death of his mother, former Friends teacher Dell Venarde. (See “In Memory.”)

1985

The Robert Geuder Prize at the University of Delaware was awarded to a Friends graduate this year. (See 2009.)

Friends parent Tara Martha Poorman Tschantz Quinn sent a great (See page 25.) photo from this Jamie Harper ’14, Rudy Rudawsky ’80 and 1987 year’s Delaware Michael Galardi ’13 at this year’s All State Lauril Martis Jones sent this High School Soccer Soccer Banquet. update via email to Melissa Fagan All State Banquet. Billitto: “I remember my time at Friends Andrew “Rudy” Rudawsky, who went on as being one of the most fabulous times in to be the lead trainer for U.S. national soccer my life. You are very much a part of those teams, was recognized as a first team All State fond memories (Volleyball, A Chorus Line, soccer player his senior year at Friends. Rudy Halloween trick or treating, Prom). I still is pictured with this year’s Quaker All State

Alumni Spotlight: Ken Haven ’70—A Worldlier and Human-Centered View Acorn is a company of primarFrom an early age, ily mechanical engineers who Ken Haven ’70 had design and develop products a keen interest in all for clients in a wide range of things mechanical, industries; for example, engibut it wasn’t until he neers at Acorn have designed came to Friends in Bluetooth headsets, surveillance middle school that robots, and medical diagnostic he began to look equipment. beyond the technical world. “One area On a recent visit back to where Friends helped Friends, Ken sat in on science me was in broadenclasses at lower school, met ing my horizons Jenks Whittenburg, upper school computer with upper school faculty and beyond the narrow science teacher; Ken Haven ‘70; Matt staff, and spent some time with technical interests Schmittle ‘14, clerk of the upper school I had,” he said. robotics club; and Matt Cauchy, upper school Head of School Bryan Garman. “I was very impressed with the Ken described how physics teacher. level of work being done by Friends gave him both the kindergarteners and second grada great introduction to artistic drawing, ers,” Ken said. “I was also impressed with which is something he uses to this day in the cafeteria waste reduction project, since his career; how the Friends faculty helped it combined human, technical, and business him to develop his love of music, something aspects. Bryan Garman and staff are right on that continues to be a big part of his life; track.” and how the school mixed in a dose of philosophy in non-traditional places, like his As Ken’s firm prepares to celebrate its 20th Advanced Physics classes. anniversary, there remains a deep connection between his time at Friends and the manner After completing bachelor’s and masin which he has built his company. “Our ter’s degrees in mechanical engineering at core values here at Acorn include Respect Cornell, Ken began his career in the San and Inquisitiveness, which tie back into basic Francisco Bay Area working for HewlettQuaker values I was exposed to at Friends,” Packard. He credits his Friends education Ken wrote. “We encourage equality and with giving him an edge. “My education at diversity, and believe in taking action rather Friends gave me an advantage compared to than standing idly by.” my engineering peers, in terms of taking a larger and worldlier and human-centered Having fallen in love with Northern Califorview of my work,” Ken said. After HP, nia, Ken continues to live and work in the Bay Ken spent time working with Steve Jobs at Area. His wife, Casey, is an artist, and their NeXT Computers before starting his own daughter attends college in the Midwest, studyfirm, Acorn Product Development in 1993. ing soil sciences.

Spring 2013 • Friends magazine

Class notes

1998

live in Perth, Western Australia. I am a high school science teacher and work part-time in a Catholic school here. My husband, Lloyd, and I have two sons—Christopher and David. Christopher will be the equivalent of a senior in an American high school when he starts back in February. We are currently on summer vacation and enjoying a break from the craziness that is the school year.”

1988

Beth Lubaroff Pfeifer sent some exciting news: “We adopted a little girl! Ava Halle Pfeifer was born on November 21, 2012—the day after her big brother Shane’s birthday. We brought her home on December 1st (she was born in Boise, ID), and we have been a happy family since!”

1989

Dan Pfeiffer ’94, now Senior Advisor to the President, with classmate and current Friends teacher and coach, Donnie Morton, fall 2011. Thanks to Jay Sagar who sent us this photo, following a WFS get-together in San Diego.

Sons of Jordan Wales ‘97, big brother Gregory and baby Sebastian.

Emily Ferrara Tobia, husband Jim, and big brother Daniel welcomed Margaret Ann on April 13, 2012.

Beth Lubaroff Pfeifer’s ‘88 children, Shane and Ava.

Billy Michels lives in Baltimore and teaches fourth grade at a local charter school. In January, he jumped into a very cold Chesapeake Bay to raise money for Special Olympics. He was married in 2011.

Cooper Thomas Cartelli, son of Quinn Maguire Cartelli ’98.

1993

Scott Michels is living in New Castle, DE, and teaching a program called Media Matters to kids at the Ferris School. He recently took students to lunch at the White House with Vice President Joe Biden. He is married with two children.

1994

Erin Hill Gilbert wrote: “2012 was a busy year for me. I gave birth to my fifth child, Grace Antoinette, and completed my master’s degree as a Certified Nurse Midwife and Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner. I will always cherish the education and guidance that I received from Friends School.”

Erin Hill Gilbert’s ’94 children, from left to right: Colin (7), Kieran (12), Rowan (10), Mikayla (7), and Gracie (born May 16, 2012). Dan Pfeiffer has a new position with the Obama administration as Senior Advisor to the President, taking over from David Plouffe. Dan had been the White House Director of Communications. Dan received the Friends Young Alumnus Award in 2011. 24

Quinn Maguire Cartelli and husband Rob joyfully welcomed their son, Cooper Thomas, on November 6, 2012, Election Day. He is the first grandchild of recently retired WFS staff members Marilyn and Terry Maguire, who have been making frequent trips to southern Vermont to visit Cooper (and his parents).

Spring 2013 • Friends magazine

Class of ’94 gathering in San Diego, left to right: Bill’s girlfriend Charmaine, Bill Marin ’94, Mimi’s husband Allen, Mimi Joshi Vrable ’94, Mimi’s daughters India and Hartley, Meg Mckelvie ’94, Meg’s son, Arran, Meg’s husband Alex, Jay’s wife Paola, Jay Sagar ’94, Jay’s sons Liam and Noah, Katie’s husband Tony, Katie Taylor Gerran ’94, Katie’s son Jake and daughter Ellie. 1995

Adam Ellick will be the 2013 Commencement speaker at Friends. (See brief biography on page 27.)

1996

1997

Katie Wolf Martinenza (See 2005.)

2002

Maggie Ann Tobia (9 months) and big brother Daniel (3); their mom is Emily Ferrara Tobia ’98.

Elizabeth Hopkins Denenberg had a beautiful wedding at Greenville Country Club on November 3, 2012. Among the many WFS who attended, in addition to Beth’s brother and sister, were: Sara Titone, Kate Lester, Sarah Lester ’04, Adrienne Monley, Kate Goemaat Brown, Elana Caplan, Danielle Zimmerman, Richie Rockwell, Zach Williams, Pete Williams ’06, and Mary Williams ’09. Beth’s mother is WFS Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, Kathy Hopkins. (See photos, next page.)

Mandy Michels Lockley is living in Boston and is a sixth grade math teacher in Dorchester. She was married in 2010 and had a son, Tommy, in April. Jared Love has recently moved back to the United States from the UK and is working for NBC Universal, Inc. He and his wife welcomed daughter, Betsy, in December.

1999

Mandy Michels Lockley ’96 and son, Tommy.

Proud grandparents Anna and Bruce sent in this photo (top right) of their son Jordan Wales’ new baby, Sebastian, and three-yearold brother, Gregory.

Chris Scott shared news from New Hampshire: “My fiancée is Amy Bennett, whom I met four years ago when I was still teaching at Kents Hill School in central Maine. She teaches high school social studies at Laconia High School. We just bought a house in Meredith, NH, which is a wonderful little resort town on Lake Winnipesaukee, 45 minutes from the White Mountains.” Emma Timmins-Schiffman (See page 30.)

Class notes

Alumni Spotlight: Martha Poorman Tschantz ’85 Planned Giving as a “No-Brainer” For Martha Poorman Tschantz ’85, a Wilmington Friends education is a family affair, starting with her mother, Ellie Alexander Poorman ’53; brothers Jeffrey ’76 and Bradley ’78; and sister, Alexandra Poorman Ergon ’77. Martha and her husband, Jay, have three children— Dwyer ’13, Margo ’15, and Mason.

Newlyweds Beth Hopkins Denenberg ’02 and husband, Ben.

Beyond Friends being part of the family DNA, however, Martha’s personal experience was anything but traditional. After arriving in middle school by way of Brazil, Martha’s family moved to Florida for her freshman and sophomore years in high school. Returning to WFS as a junior, and determined to make the varsity field hockey squad while keeping her grades up, Martha knew she faced a challenge.

Beth with sister, Carrie ’08, and brother, James ’05. 2004 Kathryn Cunningham Hall is president of Power Up Gambia, a nonprofit that provides reliable electricity and water to hospitals and clinics through solar energy in the West African nation of Gambia. Kathryn is a pediatric resident at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She founded Power Up Gambia in 2006 while a pre-med student at the University of Pennsylvania. Forbes magazine recently listed her as one of its “Top 30 Under 30” in the energy sector. (See photo below.) Colleen Farrell (See story, page 26.) Abby Hughes-Strange is pursuing a master’s degree in Nurse Anesthesia from Webster University in St. Louis, MO. She lives there with her fiancé and they have an August wedding planned. Sarah Lester (See 2002.)

At the wedding of Alisha Wolf Emerson ’05: (top) Alisha Wolf, third from right, celebrated her wedding with WFS ’05 classmates Kristen Mraz, Natalie Rosenberg (bridesmaid), Jennifer Ljungqvist, who came from Sweden for the occasion, Ellen Johnston, and Katie Adams; (above) Laura Wolf ‘07, Brian Martinenza, Katie Wolf Martinenza ‘09, Jake Emerson (the groom), Alisha Wolf Emerson ‘05, Dolly Bochenek Wolf ‘71, Carl Wolf, Jennifer Wolf 2005

James Hopkins (See 2002.) Alisha Wolf Emerson married Jacob Robert Emerson on July 14, 2012 at the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club in Stevensville, MD. The couple honeymooned in Ocho Rios, Jamaica; they live in Smyrna, DE. Alisha is a 10th grade English Acceleration Specialist at Smyrna High School, and Jake is a physical education teacher at North Smyrna Elementary. Among the Friends alumnae at the wedding were: Laura Wolf ’07, Katie Wolf Martinenza ’09, mom Dolly Bochenek Wolf ’71, Natalie Rosenberg, Kristen Mraz, Ellen Johnston, Katie Adams and Jennifer Ljungqvist. (See photos above.)

“I learned to work hard for what I got, both on the field and in the classroom,” she recalled. The drive and determination cultivated at Friends have translated well in the “real” world, Martha says, certainly in her success as a marketing executive. Just as important to Martha, in making WFS a valued part of her identity, are the bonds of friendship and sense of community—another layer of Friends as a family—which she experienced most profoundly through sports. Martha and Jay have made WFS a part of their legacy plans. “When we had to redo our will for some other reasons, it was a no-brainer to add a bequest to Friends, directed toward athletics,” Martha explained. “This is a place I share with my mother, my siblings, and now my children and niece [Porter Ergon ’12], so the decision was an easy one” Thanks to Martha and Jay and to all of our planned giving donors, who help to ensure that future generations of Friends students will have the kinds of experiences that make them feel, forever, like part of the family.

2006

Pete Williams (See 2002.)

2007

Congratulations to Gabe Aliquo, who is engaged as of December to fiancée Emily. They purchased a new home in Wilmington— and adopted a puppy. Gabe is working as an Application Developer for Capital One.

Kathryn Cunningham Hall ’04 was recognized as one of Forbes magazines “Top 30 Under 30” for her work with Power Up Gambia.

Gabe Aliquo ’07 and fiancée Emily with their new puppy, Reginald.

Dwyer ’13, Martha ’85, Margo ’15, Mason, and Jay Tschantz.

Spring 2013 • Friends magazine

Class notes

Kelsey Burston is pursuing a career as a Freelance Theatre Stage Manager and Director. She directed the 2012 (and 2011) Friends upper school musical and also recently worked at Virginia Opera in Norfolk. Jon Culver graduated from Cornell University in 2011. He is living in New York City and working as a Software Engineer for an e-commerce company called Next Jump. Patrick (P.T.) DeGraff is “surviving” the snow in Boston. After graduating from Boston University, he stayed a little longer and earned his master’s in Economics. He works in finance at a local hospital. Joey Gutierrez wrote from California: “I’m currently a Business Analyst at a charter school network called Aspire Public Schools, helping our schools streamline processes through technology and data.” Sarah Hartman is in Sydney, Australia, studying international youth development in post-graduate school while also continuing her studies as an opera singer. In London, Jane Monari is working on her master’s at the Royal Academy of Music. Living in Philadelphia, Courtney Nix works as the Strategic Sales and Marketing Coordinator for Entercom Communications, one of the largest radio broadcasting companies in the United States. Lauren Schmittle works as a Registered Dietitian at Washington Adventist Hospital right outside of Washington, DC, and lives in Silver Spring.

Also in D.C., Brooke Sheppard recently got a new position as an Accountant for Skyline Innovations, a green energy company that focuses on solar water heating for small and medium sized businesses. She has enjoyed renewing her friendship with fellow Washington resident Lauren Schmittle. When we heard from mom Cathy, who lends her professional service to Friends as a substitute nurse, Katrina Siegfried was still in Colorado, finishing her mechanical engineering degree and all set to start graduate school in the fall to study integrative physiology. Ayana Suber wrote: “Currently I am participating in the NIHPREP (Post Baccalaureate Education Research Program) at the University of Michigan, where I am working in the laboratory of Dr. Kristen Verhey, performing biomedical research. Recently, I was invited to interview for the PhD program in Biological and Biomedical Sciences at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in addition to the PhD program in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.” David Walter is now a writer for The Wall Street Journal’s op-ed page in Hong Kong. After graduating with a Master of Arts in Teaching from Sweet Briar College in May 2012, Laura Wolf moved to Nelson County, just south of Charlottesville, VA. She is working as a Special Education Teacher for students in grades K-3 at a rural elementary school. Laura wrote, “The school is set in the Rockfish River Valley surrounded by the Blue Ridge (Continued on page 28.)

Alumni Spotlight: Colleen Farrell ’04 A Quaker (Woman) Marine We were delighted to have Colleen Farrell return to Friends this past December. She visited with three sections of the Global Peace and Justice class, and led a Lunch & Learn program for upper school students and faculty. Colleen shared her experiences as a Marine, specifically as a Female Engagement Officer in Afghanistan. A Quaker who attended Quaker schools since age four, including WFS and Haverford ColColleen Farrell discusses lege, Colleen applied for this highly competitive feminist issues with Marine program, which added four months of students in the Global intense training on top of her “basic.” After Peace and Justice class she was selected, Colleen became a leader and at Friends. liaison at the regimental level in charge of 20 female Marines. She spent eight months in Afghanistan. She and her teams worked in the field with women in villages “outside the wire” and managed several projects, including building schools, training midwives, and creating economic development with micro-lending for women. Upon returning from her tour, Colleen and three other servicewomen joined an ACLU lawsuit against the Defense Department, challenging the policy that prevented women from serving in combat. She described the policy as a blanket ban that barred women from important advancement. Additionally, Colleen said that her experiences in Afghanistan, as well as the female casualties there and in Iraq, showed that women were already in combat. The lawsuit argued that women were essentially shut out of being recognized and/or promoted for work they were already doing. In mid-January of this year, the Department of Defense agreed, and then-Secretary Leon Panetta ended the ban. In the meantime, Colleen returned to civilian life and joined a start-up management consulting company in Cambridge, MA, that will launch later in 2013. When Colleen visited campus, we asked about her Quaker background and the path her life has taken. How did your Quaker education affect the person you became? One of the things that really resonated with me always was service, and I wanted to truly serve my country, which is how I ended up going into the Marines. How did you come to that decision—to enter the armed services as a Quaker? I’ve always been interested in the history of the armed services, and I thought the discipline, physical fitness, and leadership of the service would be a great transition from college to working in “the real world.” How have your Quaker values guided you as an adult in the world, who happened to be a Marine? I am asked that a lot—Why would a Quaker go into the military?— but my response is always: “Wouldn’t you want someone with a conscience and with that kind of background to be in the military, making those kinds of decisions and leading others?” It seems like you might see the military a little differently than most people do.

The Class of 2007 gathered in December 2012 to celebrate its Fifth Reunion. First Row: Mandy Copeland, Brooke Sheppard, Sydney Stargatt, Kirsten Detwiler, Anna Haslinsky. Second Row: Katie Much, Lauren Schmittle, Katie McEnroe, Laura Wolf, Joey Gutierrez, Anne Kelsey, Drew Rizzo, Shira Tiffany, Celia Laskowski, Phil Montigney. 26

Spring 2013 • Friends magazine

When I was in the military, I was actually able to work toward peace, particularly with the women in Afghanistan—helping to peacefully build their trust as we worked toward training citizens to govern their own country.

Class notes

“When I was in the military, I was actually able to work toward peace, particularly with the women in Afghanistan....”

Alumni Spotlight: Joe Barakat ’08 Research in Chemical Engineering

Adam Ellick ’95 2013 WFS Commencement Speaker

This past February, we caught up with Joe Barakat ’08 during a quick break from his research at Stanford University. His experience at Columbia University, majoring in Chemical Engineering and working with Professor Faye McNeill, convinced him to pursue his PhD.

The Class of 2013 was pleased to announce that Adam Ellick ’95 will be the Commencement speaker on June 10.

When did you first know you wanted to go into Chemical Engineering?

Adam is a New York Times correspondent who reports on the world in video and print. His reporting has sent him to 73 countries. He witnessed the Asian Tsunami from Banda Aceh, Indonesia, covered Hugo Chavez’s violent land reforms in Venezuela, documented the Taliban’s crackdown on female education in Swat Valley, investigated Russia’s antiAmerican youth groups, and reported on the Arab Spring from Egypt and Bahrain, where he was detained by police.

I loved my chemistry, math, and physics courses at WFS, and then I spent my Senior Exploration shadowing engineers at a chemical plant in West Chester, PA. That experience was my first real taste of the field, and my interests evolved from there. How has the field of chemical engineering itself evolved? Chemical engineers are increasingly collaborating with chemists, biologists, and other engineers in order tackle a variety of interesting problems. It’s a really exciting time for the field, particularly the areas of energy, medicine, and environmental science. What sticks out in terms of your Friends experience?

Colleen Farrell served for eight months in Afghanistan as a Female Engagement Officer.

Note from the Editor: Why the Photo with the Gun? “Nonviolence has always been the most paradoxical, counterintuitive , and optimistic of Quaker ideals,” wrote Robert Lawrence Smith in A Quaker Book of Widsom. Citing the eternal “tension between the ideal and the necessary,” Smith described his own decision to serve in the military during World War II, out of “concern about the practical consequences for others, who were being so cruelly oppressed.” Many Quakers have confronted that same tension, and they have reached individual conclusions about how best to “wage peace.” The work of Marines, like Colleen Farrell ’04, in Afghanistan to build schools, train midwives, and create economic opportunities for women is surely an investment in peace. Yet as soldiers doing that work in a violent place, the Marines carry, and sometimes use, guns. Friends School students are asked to weigh such tensions, intellectually and morally, every day, in the context of their own beliefs, values, and experiences. Our hope is that readers of Friends magazine will do the same.

The IB program was incredible in terms of preparing me for college. Can’t think of a better way to be prepared, actually. The math program was amazing, and just the sheer amount of writing required in the IB program was essential for me. But on top of all that, Friends is a really nurturing environment and allows the students to find their own niche. How about the Quaker tradition at Friends? Did that influence you?

“Friends is a really nurturing environment and allows the students to find their own niche.”

Joe Barakat ’08 was featured in recent Columbia Engineering graduate profile (reprinted with permission; photo by Matthew Septimus).

Yes, it really taught me to take a moment to step away and take a break from an otherwise hectic lifestyle. It’s not just a spiritual thing—I think it’s a healthy way to live in our non-stop pace of life.

We have a lot of current students interested in pursuing engineering. Do you have any advice for them? Definitely take math (calculus) and physics in high school. And when you visit colleges, ask the senior and junior engineering majors how their school integrates fundamental courses with labs and design projects, because that’s how you get to apply what you learn in the classroom.

His coverage of Pakistan and Bahrain won consecutive Overseas Press Club awards, and he is a three-time nominee for The Livingston Award, which honors journalists under the age of 35. In 2009, he spent six months following a grassroots Pakistani educational activist named Malala Yousefzai, and brought her story to the world in a documentary called Class Dismissed. She was shot by the Taliban in 2012. Before joining The Times, Adam was a Fulbright Scholar in Indonesia, where he taught journalism, and was a freelance reporter for four years in Eastern Europe/Russia. He started his career at the Indianapolis Star as a Pulliam Fellow. Adam is a Term Member at the Council on Foreign Relations. He has taught journalism in Colombia, Brazil, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Pakistan, Indonesia, Russia, and at NYU. He is a graduate of Ithaca College and (pending May 2013) Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Join us for Commencement 2013 June 10, 6:30 pm

Spring2013 2013• •Friends Friendsmagazine magazine 27 Spring

Class notes

Mountains, and the view from my classroom rocks!” (Also, see 2005.)

Carrie Hopkins (See 2002.)

2008

Billy Broderick has been selected as a Luce Scholar, the first ever from Oberlin College. The Luce Scholars Program, launched by the Henry Luce Foundation in 1974, is a nationally competitive fellowship program. The program provides stipends, language training, and individualized professional placement in Asia for 15-18 Luce Scholars each year. Applicants may be college seniors, graduate students, or young professionals. Through the program, Billy will spend a full year in Asia. He previously spent a term abroad in the Budapest Semesters Mathematics program and was in Beijing China in the summer of 2012 for the eight-week “Princeton in Beijing” language immersion program. He is a Neuroscience/ Math double major at Oberlin, and played for two years on the tennis team.

Joe Barakat was featured in a Columbia Engineering (The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science) student spotlight. (See previous page.) At Columbia, Joe worked on a project with a church in East Harlem, did lab work with a leader in climate change studies, and developed his own study of ultrafine particle emissions, using computational chemistry methods to model reactions in the atmosphere. Evan Bartle’s mom, former WFS staffer Beth Maliner, sent in this update: “Evan graduated from Northeastern University in August of 2012 with a major in Music Industry (a BS in Music and Business). He spent eight weeks in Argentina and Patagonia in the summer of 2012, earning his last six course credits in order to graduate a year early from a five-year program. Evan spent a six month co-op working for Rhino Records (a Warner company in L.A.) in 2010.” This past year Alexandria (Allie) Hammons graduated from Emory University with high honors in Biology for her undergraduate thesis research, “Elucidation of the spatial and temporal patterning of BMP signaling in zebrafish ENS development.” She is now pursuing a PhD in Molecular Biology at Princeton University.

Young Alumni December 23, 2012 Kelly’s Logan House

2009

Kenny Rosenberg (See page 30.) Last May at the University of Delaware, Lindsay Schmittle received the Robert Geuder Prize. This award is given annually to an outstanding third year Visual Communications student who has demonstrated leadership and proven creative excellence. The prize was established by Sara Hodge Geuder ’55 and her husband, the late Richard Geuder, to honor the memory of their son Robert (Bob) Geuder ’85. Bob earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Delaware in 1989

Lindsay Schmittle ’09 received the University of Delaware’s Robert Geuder Prize. Pictured with Lindsay (at left) are the recipients who shared the prize in 2011, and Sara Hodge Geuder ’55. as an Illustration major. This field is now included in Visual Communications. Sammi Shay provided some summer 2012 updates: Mary Williams (also, see 2002) worked for the John Carney for Congress campaign this past summer, and Emily David (also, see page 29) worked in Washington DC. Cara D’Amico interned at the Delaware Children’s Museum, and Marlee Raber interned with Philadelphia Magazine. Kim Siegfried’s mom shared that Kim was headed to UPenn for vet school in the fall. Soccer standout Nate Squire is a Biology major at Muhlenberg College, where he was recently named to the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll for excellence in

Friends alumni from the years 2005-2009 gathered during the winter holiday season at the Logan House in Trolley Square. The annual Young Alumni event is hosted by the Alumni Office at Friends. This year, the 2005-2009 class agents also organized a fantastic participation effort for the Annual Fund. Thanks to all the attendees who donated to Friends!

From the Class of 2008, Vicqui Yu, Morgan Dorsey, and Sara Geoghegan.

Class of 2005 attendees included: Fazeel Khan, Michael Dalton, Cal Habayeb, Andrew Pieper, Nate Hoffman, Joe Sheridan, Zach Rowen, and Jim Geoghegan. From the Class of 2009, Emily David, Sammi Shay, and Mary Williams.

Spring 2013 • Friends magazine

Class Agent Mike Anderson with “the coaches” at the Young Alumni event: Coach (and upper school English teacher) Jake Rashkind, Coach (and always-young alumnus) Mike Coleman ’88, and Coach (and director of facilities) Ray Carbone.

Class notes

the classroom and on the field. A three-year starter, Nate ended his career with 23 points on nine goals and five assists.

2010

Troy Beneck continues to have a successful tennis career at University of Delaware. When last we received news, Troy had just won his singles match against Lehigh University.

2011

Kristin Siegfried is a sophomore at Delaware in the nursing program, and mom (and nurse) Cathy reports that Kristin “loves it.” Josh Zimmerman recently accepted an internship offer to work with Google Pittsburgh this coming summer.

The Class of 2006: Where Are You Now? Each spring, we check in with alumni who are seven years “out” from their Wilmington Friends commencement. Thanks to all who took the time to respond. Ben Altman works in Finance in New York City. He received a BS from Davidson College and MS from New York University. Sarah Bartle’s mom, former Friends staff member Beth Maliner, sent this update: Sarah graduated from Tufts University in 2010 with a double major in Gender Studies and Middle Eastern Studies. She was awarded a CLS (Critical Language Scholarship) from the State Department to study Arabic in Morocco for eight weeks during the summer of 2010. After working as a paralegal for 18 months at Crowell & Moring (a law firm in Washington DC) and taking three months to travel in Africa in the spring of 2012, Sarah started law school this September. Sarah is a 1L (first year) law student at Georgetown. Natalie Bloom is working as a pastry cook. She received her BS at Wilmington University and a degree in Baking and Pastry from the Art Institute of Philadelphia. Sam David graduated from the University of Southern California in 2011 with a BA in Interactive Entertainment from the School of Cinematic Arts. He still resides in California and works as an analyst for a real estate investment firm. In looking back on his time at WFS Sam wrote, “I’ll never forget wrestling for Gregg Miller for four years. In my mind, wrestling is very different than any other sport because of the level of commitment required not just during practice but outside as well. Mr. Miller taught me the value of the ‘team’ and self sacrifice. Academically, I would say a lot of my math teachers really prepared me for what I do today. Even though I did not have that many math classes in college, my job right now is very analytical.” Sam’s parents still live in Delaware, but are planning to find a place in California as well. His sister, Emily ’09, will be graduating from Dickinson College in May.

View from a third floor window, middle/ upper school building, February 2013.

After graduating from New York University with a Bachelor of Music degree, Dianne de la Veaux stayed in the Manhattan area and currently is the Beverage Director at Candle 79, a famous organic vegan restaurant on the Upper East Side. She creates cocktails using sustainable spirits and fresh juices, produce, herbs and spices, and also is the wine buyer for the restaurant. In December, she was featured on the back page of the Vegetarian Times for her work finding organic, vegan wines. She and her boyfriend of seven years live in Brooklyn, near plenty of friends and family. Dianne is also busy studying to become a chef at the Natural Gourmet Institute, a cooking school that focuses on health and nutrition as well as classic chef training. She has worked there for the past two years as an intern, but starts officially in April. Dianne described Friends as “energetic.” She wrote, “I remember my times at Friends School as a non-stop roller coaster of activities—sports, plays, classes, clubs, Whittier— and constantly feeling like I wanted to do even more. It offers so many different ways to excel, and the community at large encourages being part of as many groups as possible. Looking back, I have no idea how I got it all done! With that kind of constant involvement as my background, I was able to take advantage of all the amazing things that New York City has to

offer without getting overwhelmed. I think having been part of so many different kinds of groups and clubs and activities helped me branch out in my activities here as well. At the same time, it has worked to my advantage in the opposite way....Now I am trying to focus more on being truly great at a few things.” She described her volunteer experience: “I volunteer once a month at a small homeless shelter run by the 15th Street Meeting House in Manhattan. They provide dinner, beds, and a small breakfast the next day for 13 homeless men and women. The shelter is run entirely by volunteers—two every night, to make dinner, sleep overnight, make breakfast, and clean up the next morning. I have been doing this for six or seven years. I started in college to earn volunteer credits, and it has been so rewarding and wonderful to meet all the different people and hear their life stories, I haven’t wanted to stop!” Dianne has also been part of a food co-op since college and thinks it is important to support small, local businesses that care about farming organically, buying fair-trade, and minimal packaging. She volunteers at the co-op once a week, typing up financial data. Justin DePhillips is a chef at The Bazaar by Jose Andres in South Beach, FL. He attended the University of Richmond and the Art Institute of Washington receiving his AA in Culinary Arts. Linda Donatoni recently completed Teach for America. She taught high school science in Philadelphia for the last two years. She is now working as the Director of Community Outreach at a Philadelphia middle school. Linda is also working toward a Master’s in School Counseling. She received her BA from Gettysburg College. Zachary Dutton received his BA in Sociology from Haverford College. He recently moved back to the Philadelphia area after graduating from Harvard Divinity School and published his graduate thesis. Zac hopes to begin doctoral work in the social science of religion within the next year. He is currently working as Youth Activities Coordinator for a regional association of Quaker meetings in the Southwestern Suburbs of Philadelphia and Northern Delaware while he “gathers perspective and plans the next chapter.” Zac wrote that, “Wilmington Friends School affirmed my gifts and helped me to develop them. I would not be the thought leader, organizer, and teacher that I am without such affirmation.” Libbie Goodill is living in Oregon and serving for a year as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer at a local public health department. She completed her BA in History at Villanova University and her MA in Environmental Education at New York University. She wrote, “I had great teachers at WFS who encouraged not only my learning but also my development as a person.” Naomi Hamermesh is working as an Assistant Research Scientist at Michigan Tech Research Institute in Ann Arbor. After receiving her BA in Math with a Geography minor from Bryn Mawr College, she completed her Master of Science degree from the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University Spring 2013 • Friends magazine

Class notes

of Michigan. She is engaged, with a June wedding planned. After graduating from Haverford in 2010 with a BS in Biology, Raven Harris participated in the Columbia University Bridge to PhD program. She is a first year MD/PhD student at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, NY. In thinking about her own WFS story, Raven recounted, “There are many things I took away from my Friends experience. As a result of the dedication and commitment to service that Friends instilled in students, I often feel lost if I am not contributing in some way to my community. While at Friends, I always felt a deep sense that I was learning for the sake of learning, and I actually enjoyed it. Furthermore, the Quaker values of reflection and introspection have positively contributed to my entry into a science career, as research takes lots of patience and requires reflection, and one has to enjoy silence, waiting for thoughts to come. Every teacher at Friends made a difference in my life, and if it were not for the experiments in Mrs. Ellen Johnson’s biology class and the charisma I learned from Improv and Acting Class with Mrs. McManus, and the encouragement I received from my mentors, Mrs. Kathryn Kenney and Mr. Steve Jennings, I may not have developed the skills to succeed at Haverford College and eventually enter the MD/PhD program at Einstein. Ultimately, I suppose the only thing Friends did not prepare me for was a room filled with a lack of silence.” Raven volunteers through Columbia University Neuroscience Outreach as a mentor and guest teacher at schools in the New York City area. She also gives her time at Jacobi Hospital in the Bronx, spending time with patients in the pediatric inpatient unit. Katrina (Katie) Hunt lives in New Castle, DE, with her family and works in Blackwood, NJ, at Camden County Health Services Center. She is an Operations Manager for the Environmental Services Department. She is also working to obtain a Master’s in Secondary Education from Wilmington University with a concentration in Mathematics. After graduating from Friends, Katie attended Ursinus College and received a Bachelor’s degree in Business and Economics. She wrote, “Friends made me realize the value of education in a student’s life, and I am becoming a teacher because of the great bonds I built with my teachers at WFS. I want to have the same impact on a student’s life that my teachers had on my life. I was able to play field hockey in college because of everything Anne Brooking and Brian Fahey taught me while at WFS. I also want to coach field hockey at a higher level because of the impact these two coaches had on me, as well as Bix Bush during basketball.” Melissa Mitchell graduated from the University of Richmond with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. She went on to receive her Master’s in Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University. She is currently in Miami, FL, working as a Revenue Analyst for Royal Caribbean International.

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Eric Pacheco earned his Business Management degree from Penn State University. He is currently living in Conshohocken, PA, and works as a Sales Engineer for Sunesys. Taryn Pellicone graduated from the University of Delaware and is living and working in Washington, D.C., as a General Manager for Potbelly Sandwich Shop. Michelle Ramos lives in Delaware and is pursuing a Master’s in Healthcare Administration at St. Joseph’s University. She volunteers as a Sunday School teacher for three- to five-year olds. Michelle wrote that she enjoys teaching the stories of the Bible with age-appropriate lessons and activities. She finds, “Sometimes we have to change some of the details so the children can relate. It’s fun to hear the creative ideas they come up with.” Michelle earned a BS in Biology at Howard University. She wrote, “Friends taught me that it was okay to be different. This extended beyond race, sexual orientation, and social economic status. I was able to learn to accept myself for the quirky yet intelligent girl that I was. It prepared me in college and in life by allowing me to be more of a leader than a follower. I was able to be more of an independent person in society.” Jennifer Rosenberg graduated from Muhlenberg College with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and a minor in Public Health. She is working toward her MD and Master’s in Public Health at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Jennifer has completed the first two years of medical school, and this year is studying in the School of Public Health. She hopes to specialize in infectious disease and work with underserved communities. As part of her Master’s project, she volunteers at Prevention Point Philadelphia, a community-based organization that provides services to injection drug users, including sterile syringes and medical care. Reflecting on her time at Friends, Jennifer said, “I think that Mr. Reynolds’ Peace class had a huge impact on my chosen career path. Being exposed to concepts of social justice and human rights in high school led to my decision to pursue public health.” Jennifer also shared an update on her family: her mom is working at the University of Delaware in the development office, and her brother Kenny ’09 graduated a year early from Berklee College of Music with a degree in Electronic Production and Design. He moved to Los Angeles this fall where he works in sound for TV. Lindsay Rumer graduated from the University of Richmond with a Business Degree, concentrating in International Business and Marketing. She also minored in Chinese. She joined Google in Mountain View, CA, after graduation and works on Product Marketing. Lindsay lives in San Francisco, and was excited to welcome her sister there. Lindsay also serves on the Board of Directors for Loved Twice, a non-profit organization that provides gently used baby clothes for infants in need. Ethan Timmins-Schiffman received his BA in English from Williams College. He shared this update: “After spending the last school year teaching middle school Humanities at North

Shore Country Day School in Winnetka, IL, I have spent the last eight months traveling. My main stops have been Italy (three months on a farm) and, now, Beijing (three months in an office). Next, I am heading to Benin to serve the Peace Corps as an Environmental Action Advisor. There, I am excited to learn more about agriculture, become fluent in French, and, hopefully, learn more about teaching. My Peace Corps assignment will be to serve whatever community I end up in. I don’t know exactly what my role will be in that community, or exactly where in Benin that community will be. I do know, however, that my work will combine sustainable agriculture and education. I may work with an NGO, the Benin government, or primary schools. I may be asked to promote sustainable timber production, vegetable farming, or something else involving interacting with the land in a healthy way.” In looking back, Ethan wrote, “Wilmington Friends taught me that it’s important to approach new experiences with an open mind. Like a sticker on Mrs. Johnson’s desk said, ‘Minds are like parachutes: they only function when open.’ From Mrs. Johnson’s class, I also learned that video games can, and often do, improve one’s hand-eye reaction speed, though only if one doesn’t play more than 10 minutes. So, it’s important to be accepting, and childish games should not necessarily be dismissed as such. These two pieces of wisdom guide my interest in pedagogy.” Ethan’s sister, Emma ’02, brother in-law, and parents live in Seattle, and he hopes to settle in that area.

Leo Dressel was finishing his year as Interim Head of School in June 2006, and so “graduated” from Friends as an honorary member of the class. An update on Leo: He is now Head of School at All Saints’ Episcopal Day School in Phoenix.

IN MEMORY 1942

Charles (Charlie) Kenworthey passed away on July 22, 2012 at the age of 87. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Dottie Backenstoe Kenworthey, and three sons. Charlie received the Friends School Alumni Commendation Award in 1992, and his School connections include his cousin Alice Donaghy, wife of Bob Donaghy ’45. Charlie was born in Wilmington and attended the University of Delaware, majoring in mechanical engineering, before serving in the Navy in World War II. He was a petty officer aboard a landing craft on D-Day for the Normandy invasion. He graduated in 1949 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri where he was president of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. During his professional career, he was a police reporter for the Galveston, TX Tribune; news reporter WOAI Radio/Television, San Antonio; stringer correspondent, United Press and International News Service; public relations director, National Bank of Commerce and St. Mary’s University; vice president/communications, Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce; executive director/public relations, USAA; manager, San Antonio office, Hill and Knowlton, Inc.; president, BSM Consultants, Inc.; owner, CK Public Relations; executive director, Texas Public Relations Assn. Among the civic organizations that Charlie served as president were Parents Council for Special Education, North East School Dist.; United Cerebral Palsy Assn. of Bexar County; San Antonio chapter, Public Relations Society of America; Kiwanis Club of San Antonio; Revelers and Lamplighters dance clubs. He also served as board chair of Executive Service Corps of San Antonio; senior warden, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and St. George Episcopal Church; telethon chairman, 1988-89-90, Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital. He was active with Christus Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital Foundation Board, YMCA Camp Flaming Arrow, Business Committee for the Arts, Texas Open, United Negro College Fund, Navy League, and San Antonio Little Theatre. Charlie received a direct commission in the Naval Reserve and served as commanding officer of a Public Affairs Unit, retiring with the rank of lieutenant commander. He earned an Accredited Public Relations designation from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and was later admitted to PRSA’s College of Fellows in 2000. His awards included Golden Spur, Silver Spur and Best of Texas, Texas PR Assn.; Outstanding Service in Public Relations, St. Mary’s University; Distinguished Service, San Antonio Ad Club; Outstanding Alumnus, Theta chapt. Sigma Phi Epsilon; 1992 Alumnus of the Year, Wilmington Friends School; the Del Oro Tex Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award, San Antonio chapter, PRSA, for “outstanding leadership in the field of public relations”; 2006 Walter W. McAllister Sr. Community Service Award from San Antonio Kiwanis Club.

Aleece Mathews Stanton, 88, passed away peacefully at her home October 30, 2012. Aleece was born in Easton, MD, and lived all over the United States moving with her husband’s job for DuPont, then returning to Louisville several years ago. She was a member of St. Thomas Episcopal Church and had a love for playing bridge and golf. She most enjoyed gardening, spending time with her family and dogs, and volunteering her time to many fine charities and her church throughout the years. Aleece is survived by her loving husband of 64 years, Harry S. Stanton; her son and daughter and their families; and many loving nieces and nephews.

1943

Jane Burnham Eliason, age 87, passed away peacefully on January 27, 2013 at her home in Wilmington. Jane is survived by her husband of 64 years, Tom; their son and daughter; four grandsons; and two sisters. Born in Summit, NJ, Jane attended Summit High School in until 1941 when her family moved to Delaware. She graduated from Lasell College in Boston in 1945. Before her marriage to Thomas M. Eliason, Jr. in 1948, Jane was a social secretary and later became very involved in community service. She enjoyed working for the Flower Market, Garden Day, the Junior League of Wilmington, and her greatest interest was the Junior Board at Christiana Care, where she volunteered for many years and later became a Trustee. Jane was also a member of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in Delaware, the Wilmington Country Club, and Westminster Presbyterian Church. She will be remembered most for her love of family and friends and for helping others. An avid sports fan, Jane enjoyed watching tennis, following the Eagles, and cheering on her grandsons at their soccer games. She delighted in every detail of the family’s lives. Jane enjoyed traveling, bridge games and summers in Ocean City, NJ.

1944

Joann Brosius Shoemaker of Kennett Township, died on July 23, 2012, at her home. She was the wife of Charles G. Shoemaker ’41, with whom she shared 67 years of marriage. Joann was the flower arranger at Winterthur Museum for 30 years until 1983. During her tenure, she was instrumental in creating the Yuletide at Winterthur program and was a guest flower arranger at the White House. She was a grassroots fundraiser, was the founding Director and Board Chair of Delaware Hospice, 1984-86, and dedicated her time, resources, and design talent as a Director of Friends’ Home at Kennett, 1999-2010. In 1990, she became a member of the first Special Events Committee at Kennett Square’s BayardTaylor Memorial Library. A charter member of Greenville Country Club, where she loved playing tennis, Joann was a gardener, bridge player, member of the Wilmington Junior League and Kennett Seedlings Garden Club, and was active in Kennett Friends’ Meeting.

Survivors include her husband; two sons; her sister, Christine B. Beh ’50 of Burlington, NC; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren Her son, Charles M. Shoemaker, predeceased her.

1945

C. Thomas Attix, Jr. passed away on November 24, 2012 at Merwick Care and Rehabilitation Center in Princeton, NJ. His former wife, Cynthia Lake MacColl ’46, passed away last year. He is survived by their four children; his wife, Susan; his brother, J. Mark Attix ’48, and his sister, E. Patricia Attix Wanner-Serues. Tom was born and grew up in Wilmington, and after graduating from Wilmington Friends School, where he played quarterback for the football team, he attended the U.S. Naval Academy. He continued his education at Williams College, graduated cum laude and went on to earn his law degree at the University of Pennsylvania. Tom gained employment in the Astro Division of RCA and worked there for many years as a corporate attorney and vice president. Tom and Cynthia were married in 1949; they had four children while living in Lindamere, DE, before moving to and raising the children in Moorestown, NJ. Tom married Susan in 1991. They resided in East Windsor, NJ, and enjoyed annual trips to Stone Harbor each September to walk the beach, collect shells, and enjoy an ice cream cone at Springer’s. They went to Shaftsbury, VT, each fall for the beautiful foliage and in late spring to enjoy the countryside and relax. Tom was a passionate collector of American period antiques and coin silver, as well as fine oriental rugs. He enjoyed nothing more than scouring antique shops far and wide in search of the next great find. In so doing, he met interesting people who became dear friends. He was known and respected for his vast knowledge and was called upon to lecture on antiques and collecting. Tom was a big fan of the University of Delaware football team and as a season ticket holder, attended games there for many years. He enjoyed telling a good story and loved classical and country music. Tom met many people along his journey in life. He was a man of great strength and integrity who touched people’s lives and was, in all sense of the word, a true friend. He exhibited a caring nature and was generous with his help and support toward others in need whether they be old friends or new ones.

1954

Special thanks to Anne Bailey Donaghy ’54 for sharing her remembrances of her classmate and friend. Anne’s tribute is combined below with information from published obituaries. Cynthia “Candy” Kane Bender died on January 31, 2013. She is survived by her husband Doug ’53; four children; four grandchildren; and her sister, Meredith Tolsdorf. “Candy,” later known as Cynthia, grew up in West Chester and joined the Class of 1954 in the tenth grade. She graduated from Lasell College, later attending Tufts University and the University of Iowa. After 46 years in Swarth-

Spring 2013 • Friends magazine

IN MEMORY

more, three years ago, she and Doug moved to their vacation home on Lake Naomi in Pocono Pines, PA. Cynthia loved Swarthmore; one of her favorite signs in the kitchen said, “I wasn’t born in Swarthmore. But I got here as fast as I could.” During her 46 years in the town, she participated in a number of community organizations including serving on the Boards of SRA and the Swim Club. She was an energetic committee member for the Luminaria program for ABC. She loved the Swarthmore Presbyterian Church, serving multiple terms as an Elder and a Deacon. She sang in the choir and served as a Stephen Minister. Her passion was the Fall Fair for which she worked for diligently and tirelessly for many years. Cynthia was a devoted member of PEO for 50 years and served as chapter president. She was a charter member of the Hemlock Paddle Club and was an enthusiastic player for nearly 40 years and hosted many parties in her home. Some may remember her as the first pregnant bike winner at the Fourth of July celebration after taking a somewhat devious and shorter route. The Fourth of July in Swarthmore was one of her favorite days. She was an avid Philadelphia Flyers fan and wore her Bobby Clarke jersey with pride. (These are a matter of public record.) Classmate Anne Bailey Donaghy wrote, “Candy loved people and parties; she was always ready to open her home to friends. She had a great sense of humor and seemingly boundless energy. Any holiday was one to celebrate, but the Fourth of July was her favorite. However, Candy’s greatest gift was her love for others. She was devoted to her family and unselfishly shared that same concern throughout her community—with old friends, neighborhood kids, or a passing stranger—whoever needed a smile or a pat on the back. A friend said, ‘She brought sunshine into a dark room, love to people who felt ignored, and a spirit of ‘let’s get it done’ to people who needed a boost.’ “On Cynthia’s refrigerator was a 3x5 card on which she had written, ‘You have never really lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.’ One neighbor and friend said, ‘Whether she was wearing a toga, a jaunty Panama hat, her red cowboy boots for a little line dancing or cheek to cheek; she was vividly alive, caring, generous and loving. Make that ALIVE in all caps.’”

Though they divorced, Dennis and Amanda remained life-long friends. Later, Amanda married Tom Blankenhorn and, together with their children, they had lots of exciting adventures, traveling extensively. Amanda received her BS from UNM and began a career in education, teaching math and science at Taos Valley School, Taos Junior High, Taos High School, and several charter schools. In 1998, Amanda began a second career combining her love for animals and a retail store when she opened Taos Tack and Pet Supply. Amanda was active in the Sangre de Cristo Horseman’s Association and the Taos Saddle Club, winning numerous blue ribbons in competitions. Amanda had many interests and loved to ride her horse, read, garden, hike, camp, and ski. She is survived by her sister, her twin brothers, her former husbands, Dennis and Tom, Sal’s half sister, two stepdaughters, and many nieces and nephews. In addition to Sal, she was predeceased by her parents, her brother, John, and her sister, Kate.

1979

Craig Thomas Aronhalt age 51, of Glen Mills, PA, passed away on November 3, 2012. Craig was the husband of Nancy Kuniholm Aronhalt ’79. Craig is survived by Nancy and their four children, Todd ’08, Nina, Holly, and Mackenzie, and by his parents, Liz and Frank Aronhalt. He is also survived by his brother Christopher ’85, his brother-in-law Thomas Kuniholm ’75, and his sisters-in-law, Julie Kuniholm Weaver ’76 and Wendy Kuniholm Sullivan ’84. Craig worked in the investment and financial services industry for more than 30 years and was a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University. Craig was a beloved son, husband, and father, who adored his family and their time together. Memories of Craig will be cherished forever.

Former Faculty

Dell Lanier Venarde of Kennett Square, PA, previously a 55-year resident of Wilmington, DE, died peacefully on December 26, 2012, with family at her side. She was 79. Dell was a former math and physics teacher at Friends School, from which her son David graduated in 1983.

Amanda Bailey passed away in Phoenix, AZ, on June 28, 2012 from liver disease. She fell in love with horses when she was eight years old, and they were her passion for the rest of her life.

Dell was born in 1933 in Orlando, FL, and grew up in Georgia and Florida. She left the South to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating in 1955 with a BS in chemical engineering. She did not return to the South, but never lost the accent or the manners of her youth.

Born in Eugene, OR, Amanda grew up in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, leaving the East Coast to attend Antioch College in Yellow Springs, OH. Always adventurous, her education was put on hold to travel, and she arrived in Taos in 1971 to visit her parents.

After college she worked at Proctor & Gamble in Cincinnati, OH, where she met Jack H. Venarde. The two married at the then-new Eero Saarinen Chapel at MIT in 1957. They soon after moved to Wilmington, where her first child was born and where she had her

1967

Ever resourceful, Amanda had a variety of jobs before settling down and marrying Dennis Olonia in 1980. Their son, Salvador, was born in 1981, and lost his life in 2008.

Spring 2013 • Friends magazine

teaching career at Friends. Dell earned an MEd at the University of Delaware and taught math at Delaware Technical and Community College and Widener University. Jack died in 2006, not long after escorting Dell, the only female graduate of MIT’s Class of 1955, to her 50th college reunion. Dell is survived by her mother, Dell M. Trawick; her son, Bruce L. Venarde and his partner Jack Eckert; her son, David F. Venarde ’83 and his wife Sarah Horowitz; her grandchildren, Emma and Thomas; and many loyal friends old and new.

Friends of Friends

Robert J. “Bob”Almond passed away on December 19, 2012. Bob was the father of Aundrea ’90 and Alyssa ’94, and grandfather of Devin Wallace ’24. Bob is also survived by his wife, Tommie, and by his brother, William. A celebration of Bob’s life was held in the Friends Lower School Meeting Room in January 2013. A Texas native, Bob graduated from Texas Tech University. He retired from the DuPont Company after 35 years in technology management within the Electronics Division. Later, he became Director of R&D at MacDermid Graphic Arts, headquartered in Waterbury, CT. Bob was a talented wood craftsman, a skilled ballroom dancer, and a WWII buff. Above all, he was a devoted husband and father. Claudia Gladys (Nicolai) Pownall, 96, mother of Phyllis A. Pownall ’69 and Ron Pownall ’65 died peacefully at the The Overlook Masonic Home, Charlton, MA, on January 14, 2013. Also surviving Claudia are her husband of 71 years, Jay Pownall; her daughter-in-law; two grandsons; and her faithful grand-dog, Fonzie. Jay and Claudia were partners in their business, Jay C. Pownall, Inc., Lawn & Garden Distributorship in Wilmington, DE, until they retired to Fort Myers, FL, in 1982. They spent their summers in Wakefield, NH, where they entertained many newfound friends, longtime friends, and family. Claudia especially enjoyed visits from grandsons, Ben and Amos, where the days were filled with swimming, boating, fishing, and loon watching on Pine River Pond. She loved baking and making jams. At Christmastime, the family looked forward to delicious cookies, including the care packages sent go her grandsons at camp and college. In 2006, Claudia and Jay “re-retired” to Charlton, MA, to be closer to their children and grandchildren. They were among the first residents to move into The Overlook Community, where they developed many lasting relationships in their new home. With Jay, Claudia was a member of the Religious Society of Friends, and was well-known for encouraging everyone to hold hands and “Shake a Little Love Around.” She will be remembered for her gracious personality, her warm, infectious smile and her colorful and vibrant collection of scarves...all of which brightened up any room.

IN CLOSING

Early Learning Center/ Pre-Kindergarten Winter Concert, December 20, 2012 And Just One More Quaker Fan Sorry, we couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pick just one photo from the ELC/Pre-K Concert; and we have just one more Quaker fan, a big kindergarten guy himself, to thank. Enjoy this collage featuring some of our youngest Friends.

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2013 Coming Events April 27 Auction for Friends May 10 Lower School Grandparents & Special Friends Day June 1 Third Annual Alumni Spring Fling June 10 Commencement October 25-26 Alumni Weekend/ Homecoming/ Reunions

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Top: Lower school Peace Tree Left: Eighth grade art project