Class Notes
CLASS OF 1962 Bob Lessey has spent his time during the COVID-19 lockdown keeping in contact with medical colleagues via videoconferencing, which saves him traveling to Baltimore; taking an online acting class at the Academy of Fine Arts; and tutoring his 5-year-old grandson on reading and vocabulary via Zoom. CLASS OF 1970 Tom Scott shared this update from the ongoing service project that he is involved in with Christ Church, “Last summer while on their mission trip to the Dominican Republic, our youth began to build the water treatment facility on the campus of the Episcopal Academy for Little Kiddies. This facility will provide clean water for the school and will be sold to the community to raise funds for the school. This week, the facility is 90% completed and should be up and running next week. It is very exciting to see a project we started near its completion! A grant from our Outreach Committee has helped fund this project. The Episcopal Academy of Little Kiddies is in its third year of operation and has 90+ children registered, providing a preschool experience for the children of Jalonga and neighboring villages. The solar energy project is providing consistent electricity for the school and the water treatment facility. “This summer marks the 17th year for our Youth Mission Trip to the DR, and we’ll build a playground area for the school and install several raised beds to plant fresh fruits and vegetables for the community. It is such an honor and joy for our youth and mission team to serve and partner with our dear friends in Jalonga, Dominican Republic. It has been a life-changing experience for all.
WFS alumni attended the Class Agents, the Alumni Board, and Alumni lunch in the WFS Library Learning Commons in February 2020.
Many, many WFS students have been on these trips. The Solar project was initiated by Roth Johnson ’14 and his dad, Scott secured the panels and participation of an installation group and Katrina Winfield ’20 was the youth trip leader the past 2 years. Last year we started a water project to use solar power to provide fresh water to the village, which provides people with better access to fresh water at a lower cost, and the price then covers the maintenance of the solar and water systems. And it survived a hurricane!”
40 40 Summer 2020 • QuakerMatters
Amy Davis ’72 and nephew Eddie at Emerald Bay Overlook, Lake Tahoe, California CLASS OF 1972 Amy Davis shared this news with us, “I retired from PNC Wealth Management in 2018 after a 32-year career as a trust officer in Wilmington, Delaware. In my free time I have been studying Latin at the University of Delaware Academy of Life Long Learning. I also enjoy gardening, cooking, interior decorating, travel, and spending as much time as possible with my family.” CLASS OF 1978 Michael Pardee sent this update, “After more than 40 years of exile since my WFS graduation, I’m finally moving back toward ‘greater Wilmington,’ Philadelphia, to be exact. I will begin in July an exciting new role as a Master Educator at Revolution School in Philly. It is an innovative, place-based, project-based, civically-engaged school that is just getting started. Most of my career since HS and college has been in various educational realms. But I haven’t made it back to any WFS events since our graduation and my parents’ move away from Delaware. I look forward to breaking that string and reconnecting with some ’78 classmates soon.” CLASS OF 1979 Carol Quillen was quoted in a March 10, USA Today article, “How do we rebuild trust? A year after the admissions scandal, presidents say college must change. Six leaders of elite colleges tell USA TODAY the Varsity Blues scandal caused them to question the fairness of college admissions.” Carol, president of Davidson College stated, “It seems to me that the postsecondary education sector is being asked to educate many, many more people much more quickly at a much lower cost for an uncertain economic future. And so how do we participate in doing that? It’s our job to make sure that it’s available to everyone. Not everybody is going to
